Chapter 11

*THWACK!*

I blocked the sideways strike aimed at my temple with my bostaff, wheezing furiously. Rotating my pole counter clockwise forced my opponent's staff down, pinching it against the ground. Keeping their weapon pinned I swung sideways to the right aiming for the neck. My trainer ducked and wrenched their staff from my hold, countering with a swing to my right. The strike contacted my side, forcing out what little air my lungs had.

I quickly collapsed the top half of my staff and angled it downward in an attempt to snick it out and hit her stomach, but my sparring partner slightly jerked her weapon to the left, expertly timing it to redirect my weapon as it jutted out. The metal stick harmlessly snicked out under her arm, hitting nothing. My rival took advantage of my surprise and whapped my hand, causing me to drop my weapon before gripping hers like a pullup bar and pinning me against a tree.

After struggling a bit I relented, unable to move my arms or body. "I resign…."

"Hm, not bad," Whice smirked. "for two weeks you can hold your own longer than I expected, even if I'm going easy on you."

"U-huh…." I wheezed. "Let's call it a day, the sun's nearly down."

"..."

"Whice?"

I gulped at the musketeer still pinning me against the tree, her narrowed eyes staring at my neck like a predator.

"Whice?" I said a little more confrontingly, uneasiness seeping to fear. Thankfully that seemed to snap her out of it.

"Uh-, eh?"

"You okay?"

She blinked in confusion before averting her eyes. "Yeah, sorry." my friend sheepishly withdrew her staff from me.

"Uh, was it something on my neck?" I unconsciously raised my hand to the spot.

"No, it's not that," She scratched her cheek. "It's just my….urge for blood tends to surface sometimes."

"Oh, I see."

We stood there awkwardly for a few seconds until she unsheathed her rapier. "Let's get a campfire going, shall we?"

"Right." I nodded. "I'll get some fire-"

*krk*

"...Nevermind."

"Hehe." Whice gave a self satisfied grin at the sizable branches she lopped off the trees.

Once we got the fire going we broke out the wild game for roasting. Thank God I asked Scipio for that knockout drug, it made blowgun hunting almost too easy.

"Finally, some live game," Whice licked her lips at her roasting pheasant on a stick. "we haven't had fresh meat for far too long."

"We had roasted rabbit two days ago." I deadpanned.

"Yeah, two whole days. The elk jerky and hardtacks get old fast."

"You got a point there." I admitted while rotating my own pheasant. Even with the delicious aroma, my mind kept creeping back to that look she gave me twenty minutes ago. I trusted Whice, but seeing that hungry gaze in her eyes was terrifying. It almost caused a panic attack from memories of Tsutsumi and Shaula.

Whice seemed to notice my uneasy vibe. "Hey, I wanna say I genuinely am sorry for that look I had while sparring, I can tell it really freaked you out."

My eyes blinked from the fire to my companion. "Oh, it's fine, really. I know you didn't mean to, so no hard feelings."

"Glad to hear that." her lips quirked into a smile. "You don't hafta worry, it's only a slight craving now and then. I won't suddenly lose control and attack you."

"That's a relief." I rubbed my finger under my nose harboring a thoughtful look. Now that we were on the subject of her monster nature…. "Say, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Yeah?" Whice absentmindedly turned her meal above the embers. I was hesitant to continue, chances were this was a sensitive topic.

"Why are you doing this? I mean, trying to defeat the Demon Lord Lilith. I know dhampirs are more human in terms of morals, but most of them still support her conquest. You said yourself you regard love and pleasure as supreme, so why?"

Whice stopped rotating her pheasant and became unusually quiet.

"If you don't want to share then that's okay."

"No, I'll tell you. You have the right to know as my partner."

I shifted my pheasant off the embers and laced my fingers together, giving her my full intention.

"I've seen the suffering monsterkind brings upon humans first hand, both from the common people and my own father." The dhampir removed her hat and rubbed her thumbs against the fabric. "You've seen it too, but most monsters choose to selectively ignore these consequences."

Her grip tightened. "Not me. Lilith's disgusting methods have only brought me misery. The corruptive nature of demonic energy has destroyed any chance I had for a normal family or life, and monsterkind doesn't bat an eye to it."

She bit her lip. "Honestly, defeating Lilith isn't really my true goal, it's more vanquishing one of her generals. That person's the sole reason for my suffering, everything from my broken family to self loathing. I live to kill her."

I was about to ask the general's name but caught eye of the trail of blood running down her chin. "Hey, you're bleeding."

Whice blinked with an adorable 'Eh?' before shooting her hand to her lip. "Oh curses, I've done it again." She huffed while pulling out a handkerchief.

I smiled at her cute reaction. "Fang troubles huh?"

"Yeah, don't even have a use for these darn things…."

My question was pushed in the back of mind as a more important one surfaced. "There's something else I wanna ask."

"Hm?"

"How are we gonna tackle the problem of the monstergirls changing back to their original forms? I know if we kill Lilith it'll revert the world back to it's old genocide cycle, and nobody wants that."

"...I can't say."

"Huh? Why not?"

"No, I mean I can't say because I don't know either. There is a plan to prevent the old cycle's revival, but that information is strictly kept with the Three Sentinels of the Initium Novum. They'll tell you in time when we meet them."

I popped my knuckles regarding the info. "Any specific date?"

"They'll send a letter, most likely soon. They don't wanna risk more than one Drifter in one place."

"Ah, that's smart." I replied, picking up my meal to start roasting again.

"Mm." Whice followed suit and hovered hers over the fire. "There's something I've wanted to ask you too."

I looked up with slight curiosity. "Hm?"

"You seem to be know a lot on this realm even though you're not from here. Dragonia, the basic history, and the Order are all knowledge you shouldn't know given your time here. And before you say anything we both know your claim of a previous monstergirl educating you is bullshit."

My companion inquisitively stared at me. "So, how do you know?"

I near-withered from the pressure until something clicked. Why hide it? I lied previously cause it was my second day knowing her, but now I trusted her with my life.

Lacing my fingers again I took a deep breath. "Okay, this is gonna sound crazy, but I swear I'm not pulling this out of my ass. In my world there's a book called Monster gi-"

*Shsshshh*

Both our heads snapped in the direction of rustling leaves. It stopped as fast as it started, leaving the crackling embers the only tangible sound.

Whice slowly stood and drew her rapier. "Get behind me."

"Did you see something?"

"I think I saw a pair of eyes."

My blood went cold. Could it be an aggressive monster? A bandit?

The Musketeer creeped up to the bush at an agonizingly slow pace while I followed close. Now within slashing distance she waited….

and annihilated the bush into shreds.

The large shrub was dissolved into a pile of leaves and bark bits. Nothing was there.

"Don't let your guard down." The dhampir glanced back at me. We walked the perimeter of our campsite thoroughly checking the area, rechecking then checking again for good measure.

Once Whice was satisfied she gave me a confirming nod. "Let's put out the campfire and set up the barrier, our meat's finished cooking anyway."

"On it."

"Here." The short haired blonde handed me my talisman necklace which allowed me to pass through the barrier without any trouble.

"Thanks." I slung the item around my neck and snuffed out the fire with some water as she sprinkled some rune dust around our campsite. It was similar to Tsutsumi's tent, a transparent rainbow bubble that went wompwompwomp if anything hit it. We routinely set it up every night before we slept.

Once preparations were complete we nervously ate in the dark and rolled out our sleeping bags. The larger of the two moons was a tiny sliver, letting the other red planet tinge the night with crimson.

It didn't help our mood.

"Goodnight Whice." I adjusted my slightly shitty pillow trying to find the perfect soft spot.

"G'night, Mr. Cynical," she yawned. "we'll arrive at the tomb tomorrow, so be ready."

"Uhuh." I turned over to hide my frown. Going to raid the domain of a horny corpse at risk of becoming an eternal slave wasn't something I was prepared for.

When did my life get this weird?

Despite the anxiety of tomorrow's mission and the earlier presence the barrier was a nice security blanket. I ran through the nightly mental review of my identity and appearance, burning my actual 3D face and memories into mind. It helped me cope.

Whice of course fell asleep within a minute, but given how tired we both were not even my night owl nature could fight my eyelids. My companion's familiar shallow breaths calmed my mind and lulled me to sleep.

Hnnnnngh.

My eyes slowly opened to the crimson moon overhead. An annoying throbbing in my heel pulled me from my slumber.

"Crap, forgot to take Doppio's medicine." I murmured, groping around for my glasses. After finding the spectacles and placing them on I quietly rustled through my backpack for a green vial.

There it is….

I downed the disgusting liquid and was about to conk out again when the slightest sound perked my ears.

*Myew*

A yellow glowing pair of eyes gazed at me beyond the bubble. The two dots brought a pang of panic until I squinted my eyes.

It was a cat. An extremely beautiful maine coon with an elegant cost of brown fur. Extra pointy ears twitched and a bushy tail swayed back and forth in the moonlight. It curiously tapped against the force field causing an ever so slight ripple.

I took in it's beauty with a child-like grin. Despite my allergies I adored cats, but was sadly never allowed one since my family hated them. My desire to pet the majestic 2D illustration was strong, but that wasn't worth the risk of stepping out the barrier.

*Myew*

My eyes caught a notable red splotch on its paw. The feline got up and started to walk away only to trip on and fall to the ground in a pitiful manner.

Leaning up from my sleeping bag I watched in concern. The poor thing was struggling to even get up.

Dont worry, I'm coming….

Fishing around my backpack I brought out my gauze. I briefly considered giving it some of my medicine before exing that out. Last thing I wanted was to vaporize a cat.

Walking to the edge I almost stepped out before halting. Could this cat by any chance be….her?

My suspicion was instantly voided when I noticed it was a he.

After glancing back to make sure Whice was still asleep I stepped out the barrier. The cat nervously tried limping away, but I gently picked him up before stepping back in the bubble.

Sitting criss cross with the animal in my lap I tenderly inspected it's wrist. Looked like a pretty bad gash.

I scratched the cat's head while bringing out some rubbing alcohol. "This is gonna sting a bit, but please bear with it."

The cat hissed at the bit of liquid seeping into it's wound but eventually calmed down. Once the gauze was wrapped around I scratched it's chin to it's pleasure.

"Yeah, you like that dontcha~" I cooed. His purring increased as he jumped on my shoulders.

"Hey, not too close, I'm allergic." I grinned as the cat gently headbutted my neck.

Wait….he's getting heavier. The weight on my shoulders suddenly dispersed as something pressed firm against my back. Fear flooded my mind as a large paw cupped my mouth and two furry tails binded my arms and legs.

"I just want to talk." A dainty voice whispered in my ear. "I apologize for tying you up, but you wouldn't have liste-ahn!"

My captor hissed and jerked wavy her freshly bitten paw as I sucked a large breath in.

"WHICE HEL-Mmnf!"

"Kusso!" The figure hissed and covered my mouth again, this time immobilizing my jaw. She shifted me on her back and made a mad dash through the barrier, try as I might to break loose those tails didn't budge an inch.

"Murnax!"

Through the dim moonlight I saw a quick blur in hot pursuit. My kidnapper took notice and wall jumped the birch trees in an impressive ascent, but the blotch only followed us upwards without losing speed.

The wind resistance of passing branches made me squint my eyes. My captor leaped every which direction; up, down, diagonal to shake off our pursuer while I tried to keep my whiplash to a minimum.

We suddenly flipped to a halt and launched off in the opposite direction. I caught the blur whip past, but it was already an increasingly distant spec in the forest.

"Doubt that homewrecker can catch us now." A smug voice tittered, though I didn't really pay heed to her words as a small light lit up in the distance. The white glow dropped to the ground and swung fast, spreading a large wave of light across the forest floor and slicing every tree at the base. The wave gradually passed under us, slowly toppling the surrounding birch logs.

My detainer frantically jumped the falling trees trying to get closer to the ground, but misstepped and took a hard tumble toward the ground. She clutched me tight and took most of the impact as we hit the floor and skidded across the leaves.

My kidnapper couldn't hold on any longer and lost me from her grasp. Thankfully we slowed down enough to not break anything, but the ragdoll roll still wasn't pleasant.

"Oomph!"

The following tree collision jumbled my vision, criss-crossing between four and eight pictures before melding into one. Across from me was equally dazed catgirl splayed on the ground with swirls in her eyes.

"Murnax!"

A distant call snapped my attention to what looked like a white glow stick piercing the dark. It called out again, steadily coming closer.

"WHI-Ffm!" I scrambled up towards the voice only to be tackled down from behind.

"Why do you make this so hard?!" My kidnapper angrily whispered. "I said I just wanted to talk!"

"Leh me gho!"

"No! Just listen to what I-"

She roughly ducked as a white crescent shot above us and sliced a random tree in half.

"Stupid blondie doesn't know when to give up." She snarled, preparing to take off with me again. Before she could a barrage of crescents phased through a handful of leaning trees, collapsing them around us.

My captor whipped around in search of another route to only be met with a pointy rapier.

"Release him." The silhouette demanded. The moon's glow revealed a girl in silk pajamas and flattened hair. Despite her silly bedhead Whice's glower oozed bloodlust. One wrong move and it was over.

Tsutsumi slowly rose from her crouch glaring at the short-haired blonde, but complied and uncurled her tails.

I hastily joined the Musketeer's side. "Thank you so much Whice, I dunno what I'd-"

"Don't think you're off the hook either." She snapped her Medusa gaze at me causing me to clam up. "I thought I told you to wake me if you needed to leave the barrier for any reason."

"I….well….there was this cat and-"

"Whatever. You'll explain once we get back to the campsite." She thankfully directed her scowl back to my kidnapper. "As for you, get moving."

Tsutsumi stuck her chin up with a haughty "hmph!" and started walking, her swishing tails almost taunting Whice. The dhampir trailed behind with her sword at the feline's back while I sheepishly followed. One awkward walk of silence later we reached the bubble, the musketeer touching Tsutsumi with her talisman and entering.

"Get the rope."

"Okay." I fumbled through our camping gear and grabbed the twine in record time trying to avoid her wrath. Once we tied Tsutsumi's limbs together the dhampir folded her arms at me wearing an annoyed frown.

"Care to explain how you got captured when the barrier's spic and span?"

I sheepishly stared at the ground. "I stepped outside to bandage an injured cat."

Her frown dropped in concern. "Did it end up okay?"

"More or less, it's kinda….right there." I trailed my eyes to the bored Nekomata blowing at random gnats.

The frown was instantly back again as she quickly pulled her sword on the Mamono.

"Heyheyhey what'd I do?!" Tsutsumi yelped.

"Why didn't you tell me she could transform?" The dhampir snapped at me. "She could've easily escaped her binds!"

Before I could bumble an apology for my idiocy the feline sighed and lightly pushed away the blade. "Calm down, if I wanted to escape or attack I would've done so already. I only took him cause I wanted to talk."

Whice pointed her sword closer to her face. "How stupid do you think we are? You really think we'll believe a Mamono's story of taking a man just to talk?"

I folded my arms with a scowl. "Yeah, you kinda shattered any trust I had when you near raped me."

"Murnax, I'm-"

"So you did try and assault him!" Whice narrowed her eyes in conviction. "I'll tell you right now that-"

"Just hear me out okay?!" In her outburst Tsutsumi unintentionally pressed her cheek against the blade leaving a little cut. "Yes, the first time we met I almost raped him, but that's not my intention anymore."

She looked at me with drooping ears. "Murnax, I'm sorry. What I did was heinous and selfish. After giving it some thought I realize I can't force a Drifter like you to love me like ordinary men."

Her eyes drooped to the ground and tails went limp. "The shame I feel is suffocating. When I reflect back to the look of pure terror in your eyes it fills me with self-disgust and loathing. So pIease,"

She knelt down and prostrated her head against the leaves. "accept my selfish request and forgive me. I'll do anything to atone, whether it be fighting for, serving, or even taking my own life."

"..."

A blank stare was all I could muster. How do I even respond to that? She seemed genuinely ashamed, but I couldn't just get over the traumatic experience she put me through, much less forgive her.

A small scoff escaped Whice's lips. "Are you serious? You really expect us to just trust you won't pull anything like just barely?"

"I'm not saying you have to trust me at all. You can keep me as a prisoner for all I care."

"And carry a sexual aggressor. Sure."

Tsutsumi lifted her head and bared her fangs. "This choice is for Murnax to make, not you. So lay off a bit, busu."

"What did you call me?"

"I called you busu, busu."

"Keep that up and you'll have one less tail you-"

"That's enough." I stepped forward to garner their attention. Whice shot me another glare before dropping her eyelids in an unimpressed half-mast.

"Fine. let's go discuss this in private."

We left the catgirl in the barrier and walked out of earshot into the forest. After a few more steps the dhampir abruptly stopped and faced me with folded arms.

*CLUMPF!*

"OW! What was that for?!"

"For being an idiot and stepping outside without me." She shook her hand from the hard dope slap. "I was this close to losing you Murnax, if I didn't level the entire freakin' forest you would've been screwed out of your mind. Literally."

I rubbed the comically large flesh bump on my head. "Right, I'm sorry. I'll be more careful from now on."

"Good. Now," The dhampir cooly leaned against a tree staring at the sky, the red moonlight highlighting her inhuman beauty. "whaddya think we should do with Furball?"

I ran my hand through my animated curls in thought. "I don't even know. On one hand I want nothing to do with her, on the other I'm paranoid of getting jumped again."

"Well I'm firmly against taking her with us. If she truly claims she'll do anything for you just tell her to leave and never come back."

"What if she just uses that chance to capture me again? She's crafty, she even disguised herself as a male cat to lure me out."

Whice's upsidown checkmark of a frown deepened. "I still can't stand the thought of letting her near you like that. If she takes off with you again who knows what'll happen."

"Well I'd rather keep her where we can see her than let her stalk us. At the very least it'll be harder to break free and catch me."

The Musketeer stood silent at the tree before leaning off it. "Fine. But if she tries anything even remotely suspicious I'm cutting her down."

I watched her trail off towards the campsite, slightly off put by her tone of voice. It had a certain pettiness to it that I've never heard before.

Shit, what have I done…. I mused while following after her. Knowing this pandering fantasy hellhole I've probably tripped a huge flag sure to cause many cliches and headaches in the future.

When we re-entered the bubble Tsutsumi quickly shot up in excitement. "Murnax!" Have you decided my fate?"

"Uh, yeah..."

"We decided your fate." A cold voice droned next to me. "Don't think it'll be pleasant."

The Nekomata narrowed her eyes at her rival. "I'll listen to what Murnax has to say, not you."

"Go choke on a furball you floozy!"

"Go inhale some garlic you mosquito!"

"Do not call me a-"

"Stop. Both of you."

I ignored the dhampir's ice glare and walked up to our captive. "Tsutsumi, I'll be frank here. You scare me. Even if you genuinely want to atone, I can't just forget what you attempted."

Her face became completely crestfallen at my words along with limp tails

"Because of your actions, we've decided to keep you prisoner for the foreseeable future. It's too risky to let you go when you could kidnap me again."

Her depressed expression faded to surprise. "You're letting me….stay by your side?"

"As a prisoner. Nothing more."

Tsutsumi had a dumbstruck look until her cute button nose wrinkled with a sniffle, tears welling in the corners of her eyes.

"Look, if you don't cause any trouble we'll treat you nicely, okay?" Whice said sympathetically. "We won't torture you or anything."

"It's not that I'm sad….It's just I'm so overjoyed to be able to accompany my love on his travels…."

"Grk!"

Our faces went red for completely different reasons. I was rendered a blushing mute while Whice became a steaming kettle.

"Scratch that, I gotta teach Furball here a lesson." I snapped out of my fluster and rushed in front of her.

"Calm down Whice!" I pushed against her shoulders digging my heels into the ground, only slowing her march.

"Don't stop me Murnax."

Through her crying Tsutsumi started hiccing with laughter much to my annoyance.

"Don't just laugh when I'm tryin' to save you here!"

The catgirl only tittered harder. "I can tell, *hic-*, even as a captive, I'll have a splendid time."

My eyes glazed over in exasperation.

Gimme a break…

The smaller of the two moons shone brightly in the darkening sky, bathing the medieval nation below a dim red. Even with the emerging spring warmth the nights were still bitterly cold, any peasant with a functioning cranium knew better than to stay out past dusk, especially in the shiftier parts of the city.

While the outer ring of the kingdom was near blacked out to deter thieves and cutthroats, the wealthier circle bustled with lamplight and mirth. The central district was especially dazzling at nightime, Aristocrats walking to and fro in various shops and eateries looking to indulge their lavish lifestyles.

In the nation's center Lord Castor Bistoa Lescatie observed his subjects from one of the many overlooks of Mariejois Castle. His wrinkled fingers rapped against the golden knob of his cane, mulling over various responsibilities; infrastructure costs of new chapels, the ever increasing taxes and resulting riots, not to mention the endless power struggles among the nobility for his position.

Ruling the Theocracy of Lescatie was a tall ordeal to say the least.

"My Liege, Priest Noscrim has arrived." Announced a deep voice from behind. The wizened man turned around to the guard in pristine white and gold armor, giving a small nod and slinking towards the Cathedral.

"Um, Lord Lescatie, I should mention that your daughter is suffering extreme seizures and vomiting again."

"So? Just increase her herb intake as per usual."

"We've….tried that, but it's proven ineffectual."

"Well she's beyond help then. If the nation's best plants cannot heal her, nothing can."

"Y-yes, my Liege."

The Lord snorted at the thought of his greatest disgrace. How dare Francisca waste all their herbs like that, useless brat.

The King passed through the fanciful halls, reaching the large blood red doors to the Cathedral. Two guards bowed in unison to the Noble and pulled the heavy doors open, revealing the interior lined with towering stained glass windows and Renaissance artwork.

"Greetings, Lord Lescatie. How do you do?" A polite voice asked at the end of a large circular table. Sitting there was a man in white and gold trimmed robes befitting a Holy man, head of one of the kingdom's oldest and wealthiest families. He seemed fairly young for a Priest with ungreyed hair and minimal wrinkles, but those shining spectacles hid a cold cunning which shot him through the ranks of the Church and nobility combined with his family's generational wealth and influence.

"I am doing splendid, thank you." Castor replied as he took a seat on the opposite end. "May I inquire on why you didn't invite our fellow Bluebloods?"

"Simply because these matters don't involve them." The Priest responded matter of factly while waving at the guards to exit the premises.

Once the Paladins were out of sight Noscrim laced his fingers and leaned forward on the table. "I did not request your presence to discuss the petty blood feuds between Nobles, no."

He set out a large map of the Order continent and placed his finger on a small village. "This is about the unusual silence of one of my subordinates."

"Do you refer to one of your Inquisitors?" The King suppressed his desire to scoff. "It is no surprise one would be felled at the edge of our borders, many would jump at the chance to kill a holy enforcer."

"This was not some weak simpleton who hides behind his soldiers." The priest retorted. "Ozech had superb skill with his elemental, I put him in charge of collecting Aubernbeuge's technology for a reason."

"Do you know if he's dead?"

"I do not, and pray not, but the evidence makes it likely. The halting of his weekly letters and technology imports indicates something has happened."

Lescatie relaxed in his seat and put hand on his temple. "And why does this concern me? I'm already plagued enough with domestic affairs, managing the Inquisition forces lie with the Priests alone."

"Firstly, it concerns you because those machina were groundbreaking for our crusade and warfare department, secondly, the force that stopped Ozech is who I believe to be a Drifter."

The old man's eyes hardened at the Priest. "Explain."

"Ozech had a trump card which granted him hindered immortality. The only way to truly vanquish his soul was with anti-magic properties, namely Shiryu."

"Even so, you base this all on assumptions." The King frowned. "I cannot acknowledge your words without definitive evidence."

"Do not undermine my authority, Castor." Noscrim dripped with venom. "My word is the Chief God's will, even my daughter was blessed as the strongest Hero destined to vanquish Lilith."

"Yes, no need to flaunt that fact for the umpteenth time." Castor deadpanned, dropping all politeness. "Speaking of which, what's the progress of Wilmarina's relationship with the First?"

Noscrim's face soured at the question. "Even though they've been wed for three months, they both still vehemently refuse to consummate."

"Still?" The noble fumed. "What's stopping that Amexlus brat? He effectively owns her and every part of her being!"

"Some ridiculous notion about remaining faithful to his lover."

A haughty scoff escaped the Ruler's lips. "As if he'll even be able to return to her in another realm. Just force the two to copulate."

"You think we wouldn't have feasibly done that already?" The holy man spat. "He has to freely consent to intercourse to amplify Wilmarina's power. The effect won't take place otherwise."

The grinding of fake teeth echoed throughout the Cathedral from Castor's jaw. "We don't have time for this, Lilith is amassing power by the second. If she possesses even a single Drifter he'll undoubtedly become an energy source for her strongest harlots."

"I'm well aware of that fact, Lord Lescatie." Noscrim said calmly. "I am looking into memory alteration methods to make him forget his previous love."

"It must be with haste, the clock is ticking."

"Yes, which is why I have a proposition." The Holy man laced his fingers again with shining spectacles, mirroring a certain bastard of a father. "We should dispatch a Hero of the Ice Flower each month to locate the following Drifters, starting with the Fourth."

His bid was met by a fist slamming on the table. "Are you mad?! I will not send our strongest warriors on a wild goose chase and leave my city vulnerable!"

"The Drifters are the key to winning this war, Castor." Noscrim snarled. "It is absolutely essential that we procure them to our ranks."

"You treat heroes as if they are expendable. I've already spent one too many on fruitless endeavours to Royal Makai, I cannot afford any more losses."

"You say that, yet you send our Combat Engineer on a trivial reconnaissance mission to Dragonia, hm?"

Castor's brows furrowed even more. "Intel has shown one of Druella's generals and a sizable number of her army are traveling there this very moment. If those two nations ally the consequences will be catastrophic."

"Need I repeat myself Castor?! The Drifters should be given priority above all else, no matter the consequences! We must get them on our side!"

"No!" The King slammed his hands on the table as he shot up. "The Drifters are undoubtedly crucial, but you fail to see the immediate problem. Druella is scheming something, she's contacting old acquaintances and corrupting more soil than ever. We have to be prepared to defend Lescatie." The old man slumped back in his seat. "We're through here, Baltus. The Ice Flower stays within these walls."

The Priest lowered his head, the light revealing his cold blue eyes full of malice. "Mark my words Lescatie, you will regret the day you ignored my voice."

"You dare speak treason against me?"

"Of course not, and even if I did you'd be unable to silence me anyway. We need each other."

"Get. Out."

"..."

Priest Noscrim slowly rose from his seat and walked towards the exit. He snapped his fingers, causing the large french doors to open as he trailed out with his arms behind his back.

Castor gave a heavy sigh and pulled out a thin stack of posters. He filtered through them until a sketch of a stoic young lady came into view. Her raven hair was tied into a ponytail using a large red bow, bangs covering half her face. An emotionless frown lined her rather dainty lips giving her the look of someone indifferent to killing.

I pray that you'll accomplish your mission, Assassin.

The fics not dead, yay! I apologize for the month long hiatus, got burned out from writing then the end of term proceeded to kick my ass. I'll try to update more frequently and say whenever I go on hiatus again, but the fic is only dead when I announce it's dead. (Which hopefully won't happen lol) Also, I hope the pacing wasn't too painfully slow here, I feel that's my weakest point as a writer which I'm actively trying to improve. I'll try and pump out the next chapter soon!