Islwyn felt like an idiot shortly after they made their way out of the secret underground hallway and back into the forest. Nothing else of value had been discovered down there, no matter how much the girls poked and prodded at the desk. The star was still fairly high in the sky, keeping the forest well lit as they trudged through the leaf litter and foliage.

  “How long does it take to travel to Porthladd? We’ll have to make sure to pack enough supplies!” Katriona asked.

  “I’m not sure,” ?sahild replied, her eyes narrowed. “I don’t think I know anyone who’s travelled all that way before. Maybe we could ask some of the knights? Not all of them are from the capital, surely at least one or two would have some idea of the travel time.”

  Eydís shook her head. “There’s no way we’d be able to carry enough supplies to cover the whole trip without a full on caravan coming with us. We’d have to make stops along the way to resupply.”

  Islwyn had let himself get caught up in the moment, Katriona’s determination to “save” her brother swaying him temporarily, but the more the girls talked about their plan, the more moronic it all felt.

  Katriona hummed. “You have a point. Trying to carry all that stuff would be a huge pain… where should we go first then? I’ve never left the capital, and my geography scores were always… well…”

  “I think it would be wisest to follow along the main trade routes,” Eydís suggested. “They’re relatively well travelled, so there’d be less worry about any monsters coming for us, even if that wouldn’t be the most direct path to the jungle.”

  The knights had confirmed that Bhaltair was dead. Islwyn might lack details on how they’d gone about confirming it, but what reason would the knights have to lie about that? Porthladd was pretty damn far away, but it’s not like it was an insurmountable task to make it back to the capital. If Islwyn suspended his disbelief for a moment and argued that Bhaltair really had been transported there somehow, he could feasibly escape whomever his captors were and work as a bodyguard for caravans travelling towards the capital. The knights proclaiming that Bhaltair was dead, and then having him show back up in the capital a few months later, would be a horrible look, especially with how big the funeral was. It would be a huge stain on the reputation they had, and for what?

  Islwyn couldn’t think of a single motive.

  “Who cares about some stupid monsters?” ?sahild countered. “Who knows what sort of trouble Bhaltair has gotten himself into? We need to get there yesterday so we can save his dumb ass, which means we resupply at the villages and outposts rather than the trade hubs. They might not have as much variety, but they’ll have the basics and that’s all we’ll need.”

  “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed,” Eydís’ voice dripped with sarcasm, “but this isn’t exactly a group built for combat. The monsters are a concern whether you like that or not.”

  And even beyond the motive for the supposed lie, did the girls hear themselves? Well, moreso ?sahild and Katriona, but still. ‘Let’s just drop everything and rush off to Porthladd right away. Who needs a caravan? Surely we can just do it with the four of us! We’re a dream team! We totally won’t die within the first week of the journey!’

  He had wanted to protect Katriona’s feelings after she got a glimmer of hope, but her safety came first. Hunting down this spot was something they could probably have done, and potentially gotten killed doing, without him. That’s why he’d had to come along on this little hunt for information, but Porthladd… that was a different story.

  ?sahild clicked her tongue. “So what, you’re a coward? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “Ah- well, hold on, I’m sure that’s not what-” Katriona tried to intervene, but quickly got cut off.

  “No, I’m saying that you’re sorely lacking when it comes to using anything but brute strength, and you should consider the logistics of a journey like this,” Eydís remarked. “Do you really think you can take on every monster between here and Porthladd Jungle without any issues?”

  “That’s a bit mean, don’t you-” Katriona tried and failed once again.

  “Well excuuuuse me for thinking that the one person here who has actual experience fighting monsters might actually have an idea of what it will take!” ?sahild shouted.

  Islwyn sighed. Bhaltair’s death had made his sister unexpectedly more bold while emotions were high, if today up until they left the hidden hallway was anything to go by, but this was more along the lines of what he expected of her. Even back with the map, ?sahild had been the one to suggest that they hunt down Bhaltair’s supposed location and Katriona had just immediately latched onto the idea.

  Eydís seemed more level-headed, but if ?sahild was in this little “rescue-party” then the Wessk was going to lead Katriona to her death.

  “Or maybe Eydís just realizes what’s actually happening here and is trying to keep you alive,” Islwyn finally spoke up.

  The group paused their walk back to the capital to turn towards him, and he looked at Eydís.

  “Do you actually believe that Bhaltair somehow found himself all the way in the Porthladd Jungle?”

  She grimaced as the other girls looked towards her. “...I believe that there are things that do not add up, and that this is our best lead.”

  ?sahild scowled. “What is that supposed to mean? You think I’m pulling this all out of my ass or something? What’s next, you think Bhaltair is dead like this moron?!”

  She swung her arm out haphazardly, smacking Islwyn in the chest with more force than he expected, leaving him wheezing as the breath was knocked out of him.

  Katriona’s voice was weak. “You- you think he’s…?”

  Eydís glared right back at ?sahild. “No. I don’t think Bhaltair is dead. But you know what I do think? I think that it would be awfully convenient for us to just stumble upon a map that led us right to him after he disappears. I think it’s a bit contrived for the knights to just up and declare him dead without any evidence of remains. I think it’s quite strange for the knights not to be all over the place still, when that thing is still embedded into the ground and leaking who-knows-what into the forest. And I think you’re an idiot for looking past all of that and deciding that we should march to our deaths because a boy you like went missing!”

  ?sahild’s face flushed a golden hue. “Y-you don’t know what you’re talking about at all! I don’t have some sort of stupid crush on Bhaltair. But more importantly, you sound like some sort of lunatic right now! You think the knights set all this up? For what?! They just make Bhaltair disappear in front of Islwyn because…?” She trailed off, waiting for an answer.

  The blue skinned girl’s glare softened into something more troubled. “I don’t know.”

  “Oh, you don’t know? Well, isn't that rich? Let’s drop our only chance of finding him because you have some sort of vague feeling that this doesn’t add up.”

  “I’m not saying that we just give up on it, I’m saying we need to temper our expectations, go about this in a safe manner, and see where things lead us.”

  “W-why don’t we all just calm down for a minute?” Katriona quickly cut in before they could start shouting again. “We all want to save my brother, right? S-so let’s just, um… calm down a bit…” Her voice was shaking, her panic clear in her expression.

  “There’s nothing we can do, Kat.” Islwyn softly stated.

  ?sahild rolled her eyes. “Oh, not this again. You’re really gonna say that to his sister, you heartless bastard? The state of my eye says that you care about Bhaltair at least a little bit,” she pointed to where bruising had set in around where he had apparently punched her, “so I really don’t get why you’re so dead set on denying that there’s something more than meets the eye with all of this.”

  “Someone has to say it,” Islwyn stood his ground. “I want Bhaltair back just as much as you girls. You know I do. The difference is that I’m not letting myself be blinded by my emotions and chasing a lie. Are you going to be the one to tell Mister and Missus McNaughton that you lost them their other kid? I doubt it, because if you’re the one charging into fights then you’re gonna be the first to die. You’ll just be creating a mess that someone else has to clean up, and I don’t exactly feel like being put in that position.”

  She scowled, but that seemed to shut her up, at least for now as she looked away from him, deeper into the forest.

  “Wait, Islwyn, that’s not fair to-” Katriona started, but stumbled over her own words as tears started to well up. “You can’t just….”

  “If your concern is the danger, then we can just go with my plan, can’t we?” Eydís offered, trying to salvage things. “Slow and steady, avoid threats where we can.”

  Islwyn shook his head. “Where we can being the key words. Even on the main routes, there’s no avoiding monsters completely, now is there? Honestly, I don’t even know what your plan is. If you don’t think he’s in that stupid jungle, what are you going to do? Follow a scavenger hunt across the whole world so long as ?sahild can keep finding maps that point somewhere new? You just think this is all suspicious… Why do you even care? You…. Do you even have a reason to be here? Katriona is here because he’s her brother. ?sahild is here because of her crush on him.” He ignored the way the red skinned girl clenched her fist at that remark. “I’m here because I want to keep Kat safe. But you? Bhaltair apparently knew you, but I don’t recall him mentioning you much. You couldn’t have been so close that you’d go all the way to Porthladd to try and find him.” His eyes narrowed as pieces started to fit together in his head. “If anything, you seem much more concerned about this supposed cover-up than the man himself.”

  Surprisingly, she wasn’t the one to defend herself.

  “Why does it matter?” Kat spoke up. Or maybe it’s a stretch to say that she “spoke up” with how soft her voice was. “I don’t care why they want to help. I just want my brother back! Why can’t you fight for him this one time? He always fought for you, didn’t he? He got you that job! He always dragged you out to do things. You… if it weren’t for Bhaltair, what would you do besides rotting away in your apartment?”

  He clenched his jaw. The answer was probably a whole lot of nothing. They both knew that.

  “That doesn’t change the fact that dropping everything to try and hunt him down in Porthladd won’t bring any results. You know that as much as I do, Kat. If… if Bhaltair really is out there…” Islwyn knew that he wasn’t, but arguing that point now wouldn’t win him anything, “then he’ll make his way back on his own, won’t he? He’s… Bhaltair.”

  Tears started to well and truly streak down her face at that. The others didn’t make an effort to argue further. Whether that was because they genuinely thought he had a point, because they just didn’t want to upset Katriona anymore, or because they fully intended on ignoring his opinion now that they’d gotten their use out of him, was unclear.

  It hurt. It sucked. He didn’t like having to be the one to reign in their… active imaginations. Their hopeful thinking. But things were better like this.

  If only things could have stayed that way.

  “Sorry to interrupt, but I could not help but overhear your very interesting conversation, and I would love to join in!”

  Every one of them startled at the unexpected fifth voice, and ?sahild went so far as to draw her sword.

  A bright smile framed by red twintails greeted them.

  /~/~/~/

  ?sahild let out an unsteady breath and lowered her sword, posture relaxing. “You can’t just come out of nowhere like that…”

  Eydís, on the other hand, only tensed further. “Did you follow us out here?”

  She giggled, and in the quiet of the forest, every word out of her mouth had an almost… otherworldly quality to it. Something on the edge of musical. “Why would I need to do that? It only makes sense for me to check up on the impact site, does it not? That does fall within my purview.” Her smile fell into something more somber. “I am also meant to ensure that there are no further accidents in the area. I am sorry for your loss.” She bowed her head slightly to Katriona.

  Vibrant red hair hung in twintails to about the midpoint of her thighs, secured and separated by black metallic clips. What wasn’t tied up into them was cut shorter, messily framing her face and barely staying out of her eyes in a way that was almost intentionally chaotic. Amber eyes practically sparkled, her gaze never wavering from who she was speaking to. Her figure was slim, lacking any obvious muscle, and her pale skin was perfect, with not a single blemish visible. Black tights clung to her legs and thigh high boots kept to that dark tone with the exception of the red soles that matched her hair. Her tunic was much the same, a form fitting sleeveless piece that flared out into a skirt that stopped just above the top of her boots, the only splash of color being her signature red on the collar and hemline. Leather gloves covered her hands and didn’t stop until just below her elbows.

  She hardly looked like a knight, if you ignored the red scabbard hanging from her back, but with her being who she was, nobody ever mentioned that, least of all to her face.

  Katriona shook her head profusely. “It’s not your fault! Bhaltair… he always was the type to run head first into things…”

  “I cannot accept that. As a knight, this is my failure to struggle with. The loss of a citizen in a situation like this is something that never should have occurred. I should have been more diligent in scouring the forest for dangers like that place. Speaking of which….” Her gaze turned towards Islwyn. “I suspect that the location in question has recently had some visitors that should not have been there. Did you all find anything of note? I believe you mentioned the Porthladd Jungle just a moment ago.”

  Islwyn grimaced. “Against my better judgement, yes. ?sahild played with the desk in there and discovered that the… voice says things when you press certain spots. There was some sort of map that marked the jungle as a point of interest, but…” he shook his head. “Aidel, will you talk some sense into them? They’ve got it in their heads that if we follow this trail that we’ll somehow find Bhaltair alive and well, and I just….” He trailed off from there, clearly hoping that she would be able to make more of an impact than he had.

  The knight surveyed the group. “I see. Is there truth to what he says?”

  Katriona nodded nervously and ?sahild scoffed, “Of course.” Eydís hesitantly smiled afterwards.

  There was silence for a moment as Aidel thought.

  “Even if you ignore the fact that Eydís will be abandoning her duties, ?sahild’s mother will never approve, and Katriona’s parents will be terrified of losing another child, which are all things that should be considered but can ultimately be cast aside if you are truly determined to do this, a group like this would be hard pressed to survive the trip to Porthladd, let alone scour the jungle itself. Not one of you has the experience nor the raw ability to ensure everyone survives.”

  Islwyn sighed in relief, but ?sahild grit her teeth. “I do! I don’t care what sort of monsters are out there, I can take them on!”

  Aidel stared her down impassively. “Your combat prowess in comparison to your peers is impressive, but you are not at the level of a knight, nor can all of the obstacles in such a journey be solved with violence.”

  “Tch. Then either I need to hit it harder or one of these morons can figure it out!”

  A disapproving hum made Aidel’s thoughts on that clear. “Can they? If you are out in the middle of nowhere and there is nobody else around to save you, what would your response be to this?”

  The red-head waved a hand glowing with the light of the spirits, and Islwyn suddenly let out a wet, garbled sound, falling to his knees as his hands shot to his throat, water spilling from his lips as he went into a wide eyed panic. He bent forward and tried to expel what he could, but there was more and more and more water that just wasn’t coming out fast enough.

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  Katriona froze in shock, unable or unwilling to comprehend what had just happened. “Wha-?”

  Eydís was dropping to her knees in an instant. “Shit, shit, shit! Okay, um, excessive fluid… is it in his lungs?! Islwyn I need you to cough as hard as you can! I don’t have anything to suck it out, but maybe…”

  Where Eydís switched to a rescue mindset, ?sahild was true to her word and went in swinging. Her blade cut through the air, striking Aidel’s with the harsh screech of metal on metal. The knight had intercepted the attack with ease, despite her sword having been hilted but a moment ago. “You bitch!” ?sahild screamed.

  Aidel was unfazed. “Only one of you reacted correctly, and she is incapable of actually saving him. He will die because of your foolishness.” Not a word sounded strained as she stepped to the side and practically danced around ?sahild’s blade. The Wessk girl went for strike after strike, none of them coming close to actually landing on their target. The surrounding foliage sustained plenty of damage, leaves falling to the forest floor and chips of tree bark being sent flying off into the distance, but that was all she accomplished with her flurried efforts and wild slashes.

  Islwyn coughed and coughed, his face changing color and his body collapsing as he drowned on dry land, completely helpless.

  Eydís slapped his back as hard as she could repeatedly, and more water was coughed up, but it just wasn’t enough. She pushed him onto his back and pressed her hands to his chest, forcefully pressing her weight down on it, water being squeezed out of him in the process.

  Katriona stepped forward, her legs trembling and eyes wide, hand outstretched slightly but wavering as she fought with fear, indecision, and general confusion. “N-no, you- why would you-?!”

  A rushed but powerful overhead swing was parried off to the side with grace. A kick to the torso with ?sahild’s right leg was side-stepped, but the infuriated girl managed not to over extend herself and regained her footing before Aidel could take advantage, not that she seemed particularly inclined to do so regardless. A frustrated yet simple thrust was blocked with another hiss of screeching metal, ?sahild’s arms straining as she brought the other up to try overpowering the knight and failed. Instead, Aidel deflected it off to the side, where the Wessk girl’s strength sent the tip of the blade piercing into the trunk of a tree. “What the fuck is wrong with you?! I’ll kill you!” She shouted as she yanked it free.

  ?sahild’s anger got her nowhere when Aidel was able to shut her down so easily. The knight wasn’t even fighting back, really, and her unperturbed reaction made it clear that this wasn’t enough to even count as a warm-up. There were no fancy maneuvers, no eye-catching displays of skill, simply small and efficient movements that prevented the knight from coming to any harm. When ?sahild’s assault had Aidel stepping into a ray of starlight peeking through the canopy, there wasn’t even any sweat to catch the light. The longer the “fight” went on the more ?sahild seemed to realize this, pulling back for a moment to reevaluate.

  “You do not have what it takes. None of you do.” Aidel stated plainly as ?sahild stepped away from her.

  Islwyn was fading fast. Barely any time had passed at all since Aidel made her move, but he was paling and barely hanging onto life.

  “Breathe!” Eydís demanded as she gave up on trying to pump his lungs for him, smashing her mouth against his with a painful clack of teeth and forcing her breath into him instead.

  “Stop it!” Katriona yelled as she ran into the scuffle, throwing herself at Aidel pathetically and wailing her fists against the knight like an angry toddler might to their father.

  ?sahild paled. “Kat, no!”

  “You can’t do this! You can’t!” Katriona cried out, tears streaming down her face.

  But Aidel didn’t attack Katriona like ?sahild clearly expected. She just stood there and let the girl hit her as she raised the hand not holding the sword, letting it glow with the light of the spirits.

  As Eydís pulled her mouth away and moved her hands to Islwyn’s chest again, he suddenly broke into a much more lively coughing fit, gulping down air. “Wah-? I dun-” His eyes darted around as he babbled incoherently.

  Eydís sagged in relief, ?sahild looked between Aidel and Islwyn with clear confusion and unease, and Katriona kept wailing, having failed to notice the change.

  “It’s alright now, Katriona. I’ve removed the water.” Aidel informed her, like she hadn’t just nearly killed someone.

  The purple-haired girl turned and ran to Islwyn, relief as clear on her face as the tears and snot, crushing him in a hug that probably wasn’t great for someone trying to catch his breath.

  Eydís was the first to recover from the second unexpected change in attitude.

  “What the fuck?”

  /~/~/~/

  Islwyn was dazed and disoriented. It hurt to breathe, and his eyes were unfocused. He felt weak, and like he was being crushed.

  Loose strands of hair brushed against his face, something shuddered against his chest, and his shirt felt wet.

  Ah. He was being crushed. “Kat, too tight,” he managed to wheeze out.

  She ignored him, so he tried to take in the rest of the scene.

  ?sahild had her sword drawn against Aidel, and Aidel was the same with her, though the twin-tailed knight was obviously much more lax about it. Eydís had positioned herself between him and the knight, caught halfway between continuing to check up on him and keeping a wary eye on their attacker.

  He…. Had he been drowning? It was all sort of a panicked blur.

  “I trust my point has been made?” Aidel asked.

  “What point?!” Eydís demanded. “That there’s something wrong with you and the council needs to- to- I don’t even know what they should do to you! Strip your knighthood? Imprison you? You almost killed him!”

  The twin-tailed girl hummed. “Incorrect on multiple counts. I was referring to your inadequacies both as individuals and as a group. But to your points, the council lacks the authority to do such a thing and I would not have allowed Islwyn to die.”

  Oh. Aidel had called upon the light of a spirit, hadn’t she? She had done that to him. That was… hard to swallow.

  “So that was just to teach us a lesson?” ?sahild said through gritted teeth, her grip tightening on the hilt of her sword. “Aren’t you supposed to be the paragon of the knights or something?”

  “Aren’t you supposed to be the well behaved daughter of a council member?”

  ?sahild flinched.

  “What is and what should be are two different things. Unfortunately, my hands are tied due to the foolishness of youth and circumstances outside of our control. Were I able to stop the impact and prevent all of this from happening, I would, but as you can see that is not within my current self’s abilities. Thus, it is my duty to course correct. I will not fail, even if you find my methods unpleasant.”

  “What does…” Islwyn rasped, “that have to do with… all of this? I don’t see how attacking us corrects anything.”

  Aidel’s unflinching gaze turned to him. “You have caused me a great deal of trouble, Islwyn.”

  That didn’t clear anything up at all. What could he have possibly done to piss her off so badly? Unless… well, as a knight, and a high ranking one at that, she probably…. She probably knew that Bhaltair was dead because of him… but even then, did that justify her sudden attack on him?

  “There are things that you must know and things you must do,” she continued. “There are also things you must not know and things you must not do. Your actions since the impact have violated these principles, so I will correct things to the best of my ability, as is the duty entrusted to me.”

  Katriona frowned, pulling her face away from his chest to look back at the knight. “I’m just more confused now…”

  Eydís stepped back. “You… don’t take orders from the council, do you?”

  Aidel’s gaze snapped to the blue skinned girl. “I would suggest that you do not follow that line of inquiry any further, lest I be forced to correct more than I already must.”

  The rest of them shared a confused look. The council oversaw everything. The idea of a knight not taking their orders from the council… it just didn’t make any sense. Nobody held authority like they did.

  Islwyn could see Eydís’ fists clench, but she nodded. “Then… in that case… what exactly do you need to correct? I believe I understand the point you were trying to make…”

  Aidel smiled. “I am glad we could come to an understanding. Firstly, all information regarding this interaction, future interactions on related matters, and everything learned from the location you just departed from, is to be kept confidential unless it is otherwise stated by myself.”

  They should probably tell the council that their best knight had gone mad, but if she had been willing to fill his lungs with water just to prove a point, Islwyn wasn’t sure if that was the wisest move.

  “Secondly, you are all to make your way to the Porthladd Jungle effective immediately.”

  ?sahild scowled. “Didn’t you just try to ‘teach us a lesson’ to get it in our heads that going would be a death sentence?”

  “Incorrect. I stated that you would be hard pressed to survive the trip, not that it would be a death sentence. It is imperative that you do survive the trip, and thus necessary for me to demonstrate just how feeble and weak-willed you truly are in a controlled environment. It would not do for you to learn that lesson at the expense of a life or even multiple the first time you encounter something stronger than you away from the safety of the capital.”

  “She really is insane…” Eydís mumbled.

  “Your opinion of my sanity is noted, but irrelevant.”

  “So, wait,” Katriona spoke up, “if you want us to go to the jungle… does that mean that we were right? That Bhaltair really is out there?”

  Islwyn grimaced. This was shaping up to be a huge mess, and yet here Kat was latching onto the small bit of hope she could find. But Aidel knew that Bhaltair was dead. Now that he thought about it, hadn’t she been one of the knights that investigated his disappearance? She could very well be the one who declared him dead.

  “There are things that you must know and things that you must not know.”

  ?sahild squinted as she tried to work that out. “So he’s alive, but for whatever reason you-”

  She was cut off when Eydís slapped a hand over her mouth and whisper-hissed. “What part of must not know do you not get, you moron?!”

  And now the others were jumping to conclusions as well. Aidel hadn’t actually said anything of the sort.

  Not that it mattered at this point. Whether they believed Bhaltair was alive or not wouldn’t influence the outcome when they were being ordered to travel to Porthladd regardless at threat of… more drowning? He wasn't sure he wanted more detail on what would happen if they didn’t comply, given his experience with the knight so far.

  Breathing still hurt.

  Actually, he was still feeling pretty weak. Lightheaded, almost.

  ?sahild furiously dragged Eydís’ hand off of her mouth, the two of them in a tense argument that got harder and harder for Islwyn to understand as it progressed. Aidel’s mouth moved, but he didn’t get a word of it.

  The next thing Islwyn knew, everything went black.

  /~/~/~/

  When Islwyn next woke up, there was an unpleasant smell in the air. No longer laying on the forest floor, stone walls surrounded him and he laid on a cot that obviously went for function over any sort of comfort.

  That was all concerning enough, but the fact that he was now in a white gown rather than the clothes he remembered wearing before is what really caught his attention. Someone had stripped him.

  Although as mortifying as that thought was, it did make his unfamiliar surroundings less jarring. He must be in the council’s medical building. A medical gown was the only thing that made any sense for someone to change him into.

  The room was fairly barren. Five other cots filled the space, but none were taken other than his own. There were no dividers between them, but there were small nightstands next to each of them. He was tucked into the cot furthest from the doorway. Starlight was shining through the room’s only window. He couldn’t have been out for long if night hadn’t fallen yet, right? Hopefully that meant the medical office was still fully staffed for the day…. “Hello?” He called out, his voice raspy.

  He really didn’t feel great. Nothing really hurt in the sense of sharp pains or anything of the sort, but there was definitely a general ache all over his torso and definitely around his chest. Had the water really messed him up that badly?

  It was as he was musing his injuries that someone peeked their head through the door.

  “Ah, you’re awake! Excellent!” The man who stepped into the room had skin a slightly darker shade of blue than Eydís, but otherwise very much looked the part of a typical Veska. He had a thick, tapering tail and slitted eyes, though his ears were rounded like Kat’s rather than pointed like Eydís’ and his own. Short and very dark blue hair framed his face. He wore a white tunic, matching the one Eydís wore for work, though his clearly didn’t struggle to contain his… upper torso. “Mr. Sadwrn, correct?” The man asked as he picked up some paperwork from the foot of Islwyn’s cot.

  “That’s right,” Islwyn nodded.

  “Do you know why you’re here today, Mr. Sadwrn?” The man continued as he looked over the papers some more.

  Now that was a question. If he were to take a guess, it had something to do with complications from the water in his lungs, but telling this doctor about how Aidel had attacked him might make the man think hallucinations were another symptom. He took a moment to answer, and the doctor gave him a slightly worried look before he eventually settled on “I’m not quite sure. I remember having trouble breathing, and then I passed out or something…”

  The doctor nodded along, frowning. “Right… Mr. Sadwrn, I feel the need to remind you that I am a medical professional. I’ve surely heard stories more embarrassing than you can even imagine, so there’s no need to hold back for the sake of shame.”

  Well shit. What had they told the doctors?! “Sir, I really don’t remember. I’m sorry.”

  The doctor squinted. “Memory issues? That’s concerning. Young man, can you tell me what day it is?”

  Well that was just lovely. “Yeah, it’s….” …what day was it? He hadn’t exactly been keeping track of the calendar up until… “Actually, I’m not sure of the exact date, but I went to Bhaltair’s funeral earlier today.”

  The doctor’s frown worsened before smoothing out. “A terrible thing. Also incorrect, but that’s on me.”

  “Incorrect?”

  “Indeed. Perhaps I should have led with this, but you’ve been out for almost a full day now. Eydís insisted that you’d had a frankly outrageous amount of water in your lungs so we ran plenty of tests in that time, but-”

  “Islwyn!”

  This time the face rounding the corner was more familiar. Eydís rushed to his side, looking absolutely exhausted, the bags under her eyes being much more prominent than he remembered them being.

  “Are you feeling alright?” She asked. “When you passed out like that I was so worried!”

  The doctor cleared his throat, looking between the two of them oddly. “Ms. Vindheim?”

  She blushed. “Ah- um- my apologies, sir! I just…” she awkwardly laughed.

  “Riiiiight….” He looked down at the paperwork and then back at the two of them. “Well, with the level of attentiveness you’ve shown the patient, I’m sure you can take things from here. As far as I’m concerned, he can be dismissed.” He handed the paperwork off to her before stepping out of the room.

  Eydís groaned for some reason, her cheeks still purple.

  “Uh, Eydís?” Islwyn prompted. “Mind filling me in on… well, everything I guess?”

  She sighed before taking a seat on the cot next to his. “Where do I even begin….” There was an awkward silence as she flipped through the papers. Then, in a hushed voice, she continued. “After you passed out, Aidel helped us get you to the city before ditching us. ?sahild had to bring you here, so be sure to thank her for that.”

  He nodded. That was an improvement from how she seemed to have regarded him earlier… although he thought most people could put aside grudges to save a life.

  “If I’m being honest, we don’t know why you passed out after all that. It could be any number of things. The lack of air would be the obvious cause, but you passing out after the water was removed makes that theory less credible. Shock might explain it, but those cases typically result in a very short period of unconsciousness, not something like this.” She sighed, dropping the papers to the side. “At the end of the day, nobody here is very worried about it happening again, so you’re probably in the clear. But Islwyn… did you know Aidel was like that?!”

  “No? Obviously not?” If it weren’t for the trip to the medical building acting as proof, he wasn’t sure he’d believe it even after having seen and experienced it first hand.

  “She filled your lungs with water and then removed it! I was worried about damage to them, but as far as we can tell they’re perfectly normal… Do you understand how little sense that makes? Perfectly normal! After being filled with water! The amount of precision needed to fill your lungs but not damage them in the process and then remove just that water? And that’s not even getting into what that implies! Two spirits, perfect for the job… she must have planned to do it from the start…”

  “Yeah, that’s… pretty crazy…” Crazy was probably an understatement, though. A feat like that was unheard of, as far as he knew. “So…. I’ll be fine, then?”

  Eydís regained a bit of her composure at that question. “Yes, you should be fine. Well, physically. For now….” She licked her lips before biting the bottom one.

  Islwyn frowned. “For now,” he repeated. The implication there was clear. “She was serious then? She wants us to march off to the Porthladd Jungle? On our own like a bunch of morons?”

  Eydís nodded. “She said we have a day from when you wake up to leave the capital before she… well, she didn’t exactly elaborate on what would happen if we refused.”

  “...and if I just pretend to not wake up?” If the order didn’t start until he woke up, then he could just leave her under the impression that it hadn’t happened. That wasn’t a plan that would save them in the long term, but maybe if they had more time they could come up with a plan to get out of the situation. Aidel said she didn’t answer to the council, whatever that was supposed to mean, but surely they could get her to back down…

  She scowled at him. “I know you don’t want to go, but we don’t exactly have a choice here. Not even ?sahild is dumb enough to fall for something like that.”

  Islwyn tilted his head back, staring up at the ceiling and lamenting the life choices that had brought him to this point.

  He was going to march off into monster infested lands to die because Bhaltair had convinced him to do something stupid. With the way things had been working out so far, it felt like he’d survive the trip, only to be dragged into something that was somehow even worse at the end of it.

  Maybe it would be easier to just refuse and let Aidel do as she pleased. She didn’t seem the type to drag things out. She’d make it quick, wouldn’t she?

  Inaction would be… So much easier…

  But then what would happen to Kat?

  He couldn’t leave her to deal with all of this. Bhaltair would kick his ass for letting his sister come to harm if he weren’t…

  Islwyn sat up on the cot, swinging his legs off of the side. “Guess we better start packing.”

  As he stood, though, he felt a bit… bare.

  The gown they’d put him in was a bit minimalistic. There was a draft on his backside.

  “...do you know where my clothes are?”

  Eydís coughed as she turned away from him, a hint of purple on her cheeks. “Ah, yes, the nightstand next to you, in the drawer.”

  He opened it up, and sure enough they were there. Her quick response did make him wonder, though. “You know, I’ve never ah… who…?”

  She awkwardly laughed. “What was that thing Aidel said? There are things you must know and things you must not know, or something like that? I should get going, tell the others you woke up. We’ll swing by your place in the morning, so get everything ready tonight!”

  She was quick to leave the room, ignoring him as he shouted out “Eydís? Eydís! Answer me! Who stripped me?!”

  https://discord.gg/Cw2YWKkmNe

  Chapters 3 and 4 are up on my right now if you want to get ahead, with 5 coming out this week