Chapter 39

It was just past noon by the time we arrived at the ruins of the chapel in the middle of the Closterwoods. None of us spoke to each other the entire time. If Hannag was at the chapel, I didn't know what was going to happen. But we were about to find out for sure.

When we emerged from the brush and saw the decayed walls of the chapel, we heard several noises coming from within it. Instinctively, we crouched and slowly approached the west wall. We lined up against the wall and listened in. We heard several sounds: electricity, fire and even morphing sounds. Under all of that we could hear the shouts of Magisters.

I looked up to see a little hole in the wall on the second story. I tapped Ifan on the shoulder and pointed to the hole. Ifan nodded and looked at Sebille and the Red Prince. He signaled them to stay put. He walked up to me and I unfurled my wings. Once we reached the second story, I retracted my wings and kneeled with Ifan. We found ourselves on a balcony with the whole roof of the building missing. We crept up to the edge of the balcony and peeked over into the remains of the main chamber. At least six Magisters were bunkered down behind the pews and rubble as flashes of electricity and fire raged around them. It was then I looked at the altar of the chapel. Standing there was a single yellow-scaled lizard waving her arms left and right. Around her, portals emerged sending fire and electricity at the Magisters. That must have been Hannag and she wasn't going down without a fight.

I looked over at Ifan and he nodded. We crept back to the hole in the wall and looked down at the others. Ifan signaled them the number of enemies inside and told them to sneak into the chapel through the front door. The Red Prince shot a thumbs up and both he and Sebille started making their way to the front. As they did, Ifan and I crept back to the edge of the balcony. From our vantage point we had an angle on three of the hunkered down Magisters. I looked at the balcony on the other side of the chapel and found another vantage point. I pointed it out to Ifan and he nodded. Slowly but surely, I crept across the balcony to the other side. Once there, I peeked over. From where I stood, I had a clear shot at two targets. I looked to the entrance and saw the Red Prince and Sebille hiding behind the pillars by the front door out of sight of the hunkered down Magisters. They looked up at me and Ifan. Ifan got to work signaling to us what targets to take out. We nodded and prepared ourselves.

After Hannag summoned another flash of lightning, Ifan fired his arrow. It landed into the exposed neck of one of the Magisters. As soon as he fell, the other magisters took notice. It was then I reared my head back and unleashed a fireball from my mouth. It landed square into the chest of a second Magister and caused one of his nearby friends to jump away from the flames. Unfortunately for him, he was now in Hannag's line of sight. Before he could do anything, a solar beam roared out of one of her portals. The beam burned through him, causing his scorched body to fall to the ground in two pieces.

Sebille and the Red Prince emerged taking on the last three Magisters: her one, him two. With careful precision, Sebille dodged her opponent's attacks and maneuvered herself around him. She landed small stabs around the exposed parts of the Magister's armor. Each wound weakened him. Eventually, the wounds took their toll and he fell to his knees. Sebille finished him with a graceful slit of his throat. The Red Prince danced with his two opponents so gracefully, neither I nor Ifan needed to help him. He parried every attack with his shield and sword, causing imbalance between his opponents. Eventually, he slammed his shield against one of them, forcing him into a nearby pillar. The Red Prince then went on the offensive on the other Magister. The Magister parried and tried to turn the tide but exposed himself. The Prince maneuvered his sword and pierced the exposed area of his armpit. The Magister dropped his sword and put his hand on the wound while falling to his knees. Before the Red Prince finished him off, the other Magister recovered and charged at him from behind. Right as the Magister brought his sword up to being down onto the Lizard, the Red Prince ducked and, in a fluid motion, swept the human off his feet and threw him over the Prince's shoulder. The Magister landed on the ground square on his back, dazed. Before the human could recover, the Red Prince, plunged his blade into his exposed neck, finishing him off. When he withdrew the blade, he looked to see Sebille standing behind the remaining wounded Magister just as she withdrew her blade from his throat. With his neck gushing blood, he fell onto his belly and gargled his final breaths.

The Magisters were finished. I looked over at Ifan. He stepped over the edge of the balcony and hung from it before dropping to the ground level without any broken legs. I unfurled my wings and floated to the ground level too. I retracted my wings and turned to the alter that was obstructed by a broken pillar.

"IT'S OKAY, HANNAG!" I called out to the Source Master. "THE MAGISTERS ARE DEALT WITH. WE'RE FRIENDLIES!"

I could hear a spell that was ready to be cast, but it was suspended.

"Come out slowly!" she shouted. "One at a time!"

I was the first to do so. I walked around the destroyed pillar with my hands up. Hannag stood at the alter at the top of a shallow flight of six steps with her palm facing me, ready to send a lightning strike at a moment's notice. Next to come out was Sebille, then the Red Prince, then Ifan. Hannag's eyes shifted between the four of us.

"I sense you have Source within you. Thus, you cannot be of the Divine Order."

Slowly, she lowered her hand and the electrical aura around it dissipated.

"You have my thanks. But why are you here?"

I opened my mouth but before I could utter a word, Ifan shuffled violently past me.

"YOU!"

Time suddenly stood still. I was frozen with my hand just out of reach of Ifan. He had his crossbow trained on Hannag while she had her lightning infused hand pointed at him. I did not move a muscle. If I did, I feared it would cause either one of them to attack each other. I couldn't see what the Red Prince or Sebille were doing but I imagined they were as petrified as I was.

"You made the Deathfog that annihilated the elves," Ifan shouted at Hannag. "Who do you work for? HOW DID YOU TRICK LUCIAN!?"

Hannag kept her hand pointed at Ifan but I saw her stern expression faulter. I could see a flicker of realization spark into her eye.

"You…" she said. "You're the one. You're the one Lucian sent with my device."

"ANSWER MY QUESTION!"

I felt my body tighten even more. Any more tension and I felt I was going to snap in half.

"I didn't trick anyone," Hannag replied. "I just made the device the Divine himself ordered."

Though I couldn't see his face, I saw Ifan's body tremble. His hands holding his crossbow shook.

"So, it…it was Lucian's idea? H-his?"

His voice reflected betrayal. Like the way I spoke when I discovered Sadha's decision to merge the Empire's Houses to fulfill the prophecy.

"Yes," Hannag said, "Him and his son."

Alexander was in on this too?

Ifan kept staring down Hannag while his hands and body shook. I could feel the anger flowing out of him. But would that anger cause him to fire his bow? My body shook with the helpless feeling of not being able to do anything.

"GAAAAAAAUGGGHHH!"

The scream scared me. But thankfully, it didn't come with the death of any five of us standing in the chapel. Instead, Ifan turned away and threw his crossbow to the side. He stormed over to the nearest pew and, with a raging roar, threw it over its side. Then he took a piece of rubble and smashed it against a destroyed pillar before he continually punched and kicked it. Eventually, the venting ran its course and Ifan slouched to his knees and rested his forehead against the pillar. His eyes were squeezed shut and his teeth were gritted hard in his jaw.

"Is that why you're here?"

I turned my gaze around to Hannag. She put her hand down but held it in relaxed-ready position.

"Are you here to kill me?"

I felt the tension of the stand-off release from my body. I took a deep breath and calmly replied.

"No. We discovered that part about the device earlier today. But we're not here to judge you for what happened."

"Then what are you here for?"

I opened my mouth. But before I said, "To channel more source," I suddenly remembered. I reached into my pocket and pulled something out. I slowly ascended the steps to stand in front of her. I held out my hand and opened it. Her eyes widened as she looked at the ring resting in the middle of my palm.

"Where did you get that?" she asked nervously.

"From your apprentice, Gwydian."

Her mouth hung open.

"He's okay," I said before she asked the question. "We managed to save him and his family from the Magisters at the Black Pits."

Hannag sighed and her body relaxed with relief. She took the ring from my hand.

"I believe you," she said. "You've proven to me to be a friend by saving me from the Magisters. But now, I need to repay you more than once for saving my apprentice."

She put the ring into her pocket and stood in a relaxed stance.

"So, what do you need of me?"

I looked back at the others. Ifan had managed to stand back up and recover his crossbow. His face was still dreary, but he managed to nod with Sebille and the Red Prince. I faced Hannag again.

"We need your help to channel more source," I said.

She raised her brow. She squinted, seemingly observing me.

"I can sense that you're Sourcerers. But if you want to expand your source then that must mean…"

"We're Godwoken, yes," I replied.

She brought two fingers up and grazed them across her lips.

"Well then, I can most definitely help you with that."

I grinned.

"Alright. Tell us what we need to do."

She nodded and backed herself up. She beckoned me and the others to stand before her. The others walked up the steps and lined up next to me before Hannag. As they did, I caught a suspicious look between Hannag and Ifan. But thankfully it didn't lead to anything bad. Ifan just stood silently next to me. Hannag began.

"I can increase your powers by taking the source from the world around you; from the animal world."

The animal world?

Instead of sucking the souls of people, we'd be sucking the source out of animals. I looked down to my left at Sebille. She looked up at me with a pondering face. Eventually she spoke.

"We did agree on not sucking people's souls. I don't have a problem with this."

I looked over at the Red Prince standing next to Ifan.

"Neither do I," he said.

I looked down at Ifan. He looked up at me with his still dreary eyes. To my surprise, he took a step back. Everyone else turned their heads to him.

"Do what you need to do," Ifan said. "I can't do this with Afrit bound to me. It might kill him."

He did have a point. Though I was surprised to see that he was able to resist the urge. When I tried to stop Ryker, Zorl-Stissa paralyzed me so I wouldn't interfere. But he simply was walking away from this. But I didn't dwell on why. Ifan descended the steps and sat down against the same pillar he punched and kicked. The rest of us turned our attention back to Hannag.

"Let us begin," she said.

She held out her hand to us. Sebille placed her hand on top of hers. Then I placed mine on top of Sebille's and the Red Prince placed his hand on mine. Hannag then placed her other hand on top of the Red Prince's. Hannag closed her eyes and focused her mind. Through her hands, I felt a vibration travel through my arm to my mind. I could feel the humming of life around me. Thousands of tiny heartbeats, the true rhythm of the forest. I felt myself reach out to the woods. The heartbeat rhythm quickened. The creatures of the forest sensed us pulling at them. I could sense their fear. They tried to escape but they were too late.

I felt their Source be pulled from them and brought to me. I felt the combined Source of the creatures surge from Hannag's palms into mine. It rushed up my arm and entered my heart. Once again, another chamber opened in my heart to be filled with source. I felt stronger. More capable.

Hannag let go of our hands. My hand fell to my side. I inhaled as the great feeling passed and my mind returned to reality. It was then I felt the forest around the chapel feel quieter. Emptier. All the souls of the woodland creatures were gone. Nothing remained. I felt a chill surge up my spin and my hand shook. I tightened my fist to try to make it stop. It was only when I took a deep breath that it did. But even when the shaking stopped, I still felt a lingering sense of remorse for what happened.

If Rivellon is to be saved, there are sacrifices that must be made.

Zorl-stissa's words were meant to justify my actions. Even so, I still felt tainted from what I had to do. I looked over at Hannag who nodded her head to me.

"I've paid my debt to you for saving my life," she said. "But… I worry about your heart. The time will come when you must choose between the many and the few. I hope that then you will remember your good heart."

"Oh, don't worry," Sebille gestured toward me. "She's the most good heart you can ever get in a Godwoken."

I looked over at Sebille. She wore her sly smile and gave me a wink. When I looked back Hannag, she narrowed her eyes at Sebille.

"A bold statement."

She glanced at me for a moment before looking at Sebille again.

"But considering she saved my apprentice; I'll take your word for it."

She looked at me again.

"I've repaid you for saving me life. Now I must repay you for saving my apprentice."

She took a step back and held her hands up by her sides. From above her, two small portals opened: one above each hand. From each portal, an object fell out and landed into both of her hands. As the portals closed, she brought her hands forward and presented the objects to us. My eyes widened.

They were small pyramids, the size of a human adult's palm. One was red, the other was blue. But they weren't just any antique pyramids you'd keep on your desk or have on your private display stand.

"What are those?" Sebille asked.

"Teleportation Pyramids," I answered her.

She looked over at me with a surprised face. The Red Prince was surprised too. Then both of their faces turned to intrigue. I took the blue pyramid while Sebille took the red one.

"Just focus your mind on the image of the opposite pyramid and you'll be transported to its location," Hannag said. "While it's on the ground, you, and anyone touching you, will be transported leaving the pyramid behind. But while holding it in your hand, it'll be transported with you."

"Quite useful," the Red Prince said. "Could have helped out greatly during out adventure at Paradise Downs."

I huffed. He was right, it would have helped greatly because I wouldn't have to go back and forth to carry everyone over the cliffs and gaps of the fractured land. But now, I wouldn't have to do that again if we came across another problem like that. Hannag then continued.

"Just remember that after every use, it takes a few minutes for them to be used again. So, time your uses carefully."

A small limitation. These things would give us an almost unfair advantage against our foes if they could be used indefinitely.

"Thank you, Hannag," I said. She bowed her head to me.

"It's the least I could do," she said. "Now, I think it's time I leave this place before more Magisters show up."

"Agreed," I said.

"Farewell, friend. May you succeed in your quest for Divinity."

With that, Hannag turned around and gathered her belongings. She proceeded down the steps and walked past the corpses of the Magisters out the front entrance. To my surprise, Ifan, who still sat with his back against the pillar, didn't move at all. He just buried his chin into his knees and stared at the stone floor.

When Hannag exited the chapel, I looked over at Sebille and the Red Prince. After they glanced at each other, they nodded at me and walked through the chapel to wait outside the entrance.

I slowly approached Ifan. Without moving his head, his eyes looked up at me but then went back to looking at the ground. In that brief glance, I could see that he had the life drained out of him. He looked like how I felt when I sulked in the cargo hold after my revelation about Sadha.

I sat down next to him and stared at the same spot he did. All there was between us was the eerie silence of the chapel and the now empty forest around us. We didn't speak for a full minute before I decided to start the conversation.

"Is Afrit okay?"

It took a moment, but Ifan eventually lowered his knees to have both of his legs lay flat on the stone floor.

"Yes. He's fine," he said. I saw the life drained from his eyes. Now I could hear the drained life in his voice. Once he was a jolly and charming fellow anyone would have a good time with. Now, he was a drab and broken man. Much like how the Red Prince acted after Sadha was kidnapped. But unlike the Prince, it hurt me seeing Ifan this way.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

He glanced up at me. His eyes carried a lingering sadness. He closed them again and tightened his fists. I felt he wanted to get angry, but he didn't look to have the energy to do so. He opened his eyes and released the tension in his body.

"She…she disgusts me," he said. "What kind of person would knowingly craft something like that?"

His question made me pause. I thought about it. Then I remembered Stingtail. He was forced to put the scar on Sebille and he regretted it. Perhaps Hannag was the same. At least I hoped that was the case.

"I don't know," I said. "Perhaps she was just a soldier following orders."

Ifan's eyes moved up to look at the sky through the missing roof.

"Following orders…" Ifan said. "Just like I was."

I placed my hand on his shoulder. Slowly, he turned his head and looked up at me with his empty eyes.

"I don't blame you, Ifan," I said. "It was Lucian who gave the order. It would have happened anyway if someone else was chosen to do it."

Slowly, I saw life return to his eyes. He lifted his hand and placed it on top of my hand. A grin gradually grew on his lips.

"I appreciate that you don't blame me."

But the grin disappeared as well as the life in his eyes. He turned his head away and pulled his hand from mine.

"But would the elves forgive me if they knew about this?"

He pursed his lips together, looking like he was going to cry at any moment. I could feel my empathy telling me I shouldn't let that happen. Then an idea popped into my head.

"Well, let's find out."

Ifan turned his head to me, his brows raised in confusion. Before he could say anything, I took his hand and stood up.

"Wha-" Ifan moaned as I pulled him from the floor. I firmly held onto his hand as I pulled him to the entrance to the chapel. Once we stepped outside, the Red Prince and Sebille turned their heads to us. Ifan stumbled in front of them as I let go of him.

"Sebille."

She looked over at me.

"Do you blame Ifan for what happened to your people?"

Sebille moved her eyes to Ifan and I did the same. Ifan brashly looked at both of us before locking his gaze with Sebille. I could see some contemplation in her eyes as she stared at him. She shifted her gaze to the ground before she spoke her answer.

"No. No, I don't."

Ifan's eyes twitched. Sebille then pulled her right sleeve up to look at the names on it.

"It's my fault these people are dead because I ran away to be captured by the Master."

She pulled her sleeve back down and looked directly at Ifan again.

"But you… you did everything the Order asked of you when they were doing good things. Then you left when they started doing bad things. You've been a good friend to me, and I won't start blaming you for something that wasn't your fault."

Ifan's eyes showed some relief from her words. Then everyone turned their eyes to the Red Prince. At first, I wondered why we did that. He wasn't really a person to look to for emotional support. But even so, the Red Prince glanced at each of us before he crossed his arms and took a deep breath.

"Soldiers are expected to follow orders. When I was leading my armies, my soldiers did what they were told. When I ordered them to attack, they spilled the blood of the enemy. When I ordered them to round up villagers, they locked them up in the cages to be wheeled off to the Empire."

He placed his hands on his hips and shifted his stance.

"But there were those few who refused to follow through with my orders. Several times, I've ordered the executions of those deserters. But some of them slipped through the cracks and escaped into exile. Now I've come to see why. They no longer believed in what they were ordered to do when they knew what would happen."

He looked over at Ifan.

"You left when you no longer believed in the Order. And I'd imagine you'd have left earlier if you knew what would really happen in your situation. So, my answer is no."

He paused for a moment then sighed.

"Of course, I don't believe I'm the sort of person to make that sort of judgement. I've done terrible things to elves in the past after all."

A silence followed. Ifan's eyes were racing with many conflicting emotions. As for me, what caught my attention was the Red Prince's words, particularly the ones about the deserters. Eventually Ifan opened his mouth.

"I… appreciate everything you've said to me."

I felt a grin slowly grow on my face. He continued.

"It's going to take some time for me to process this. But, I'm still a member of this team. I'll continue to do my part and we'll finish our journey to save the world."

Sebille walked over and placed a hand on Ifan's shoulder with a smile. Ifan smiled back and put his arms around her. She hugged him back and when they were finished, I moved in and gave him a hug of my own. I felt his arms pull me hard against his body. I rested my chin on top of his head as he nested his face into my neck. When he pulled back, I looked into his eyes to see the appreciation for the support we were giving him. Ifan looked over at the Red Prince. The lizard gave a simple nod to him. Ifan nodded back.

"Right then," the Red Prince said. "What's the plan now?"

Just then, I felt the same feeling I had when we gained source power from Ryker. Zorl-stissa was calling to me again. When I looked over at the Red Prince and Sebille, they had the same look on their faces. Ifan took notice.

"Did your gods contact you?" he said.

"Yes," I said. "But you didn't?"

"No," Ifan said. "I guess worrying about Afrit really cost me, didn't it?"

"Perhaps," the Red Prince said. "But I seem to recall that we've only found five out of the six Source Masters here on Reaper's Coast."

"That's right," Sebille said. "The last one is supposed to be near Bloodmoon Island."

She looked over at Ifan. He pulled out his map from his bag. When he opened it, we looked to at the image of the chapel we were at. When we looked over at Bloodmoon Island, it was an island at edge of a large lake to the east.

"We could make it there in an hour," Ifan said. He looked at the rest of us. "If it's worth it for me to get my source to the same level as you."

The three of us looked at each other.

"The way I see it," I said. "We're a team and everyone needs to be at their best if we're to accomplish our goal."

Then I remembered.

"Also, we've got to find the other piece of Anathema."

Everyone else raised their brows remembering Tarquin's request. My eyes rested on the Red Prince.

"I still don't trust that devious necromancer," the Red Prince said. "But I agree a unit is effective when there are no weak links in the chain. Let's get to Bloodmoon Island."

I looked over at Sebille.

"This feels a like another sidetrack to our main goal. And the last two times that happened, it turned out for the best. So, call it a gut feeling."

I chuckled.

"Alright then. Off to Bloodmoon Island."

Before I could take a step though, I heard a rumble from my stomach. I heard Sebille giggle.

"…after we take a break for lunch."

"Agreed," the Red Prince said. Everyone else nodded.


Author's Note: Had to take a little break. But now I'm back and determined more than ever to finish the Driftwood Arc.

As always, thank you for reading my story and a review goes a long way. See you next chapter.