Obligatory Chapter Heading:

Chapter 23:

What had ended up happening, was that I'd heard a noise and went to inspect what it was. A nagging feeling in my stomach telling me I should. It was Charti and Karahan. She was leading him somewhere.

I told the others, and it was agreed that I would follow them instead. They would trail behind me.

So, that's how we got to where we were now.

Where were we? We were in the Inter Sanctum. Watching as Cidel ran up and started shouting for the girl to not listen to the shady mage.

"Shut up!" She yelled back, her good hand wrapped around her bad arm's elbow at her side. "Why can't you listen to me, instead of that witch?! I trust him!"

"You shouldn't! He's going to betray that trust! He's just after the gem!"

"And your precious witch isn't?"

"You heard the girl, boy." Karahan made a shooing motion.

Cidel's face turned red, and he pulled out his spell book. Ready for a fight. Whether he'd be the one starting it or not, I wasn't sure.

Charti turned her back on him, effectively dismissing him and whatever he was thinking of doing. Walked up to- Wait.

Had her grandfather died...? He was supposed to, before this was even a possibility. Because she was supposed to be the new chief.

Oh. That's why they were here. She was showing him where it was, and he was going to take it. My stomach dropped. I was going to have to stand by and merely watch it unfold...

She said something too quietly for me to pick up, and a green glow slowly started oozing from the ground. Rose up, surrounding a green gemstone with smoky tendrils actively moving within it. It looked a lot like Geraint's, when he'd died.

The green dragon's gem. Tainted, it seemed. I wasn't sure how, but there was clearly something wrong with it.

Karahan's eyes drifted over everyone present, including me. Stayed on me a little too long, if I was being honest. Then, he reached out for it. Charti inhaled sharply and grabbed it before he could.

Almost instantaneously, the vines at her feet came alive, more liquid than plant. Wrapped around her legs, climbing up her body until she was fully encased. She screamed and tried to break free, but it happened too fast. It absorbed into her, the gem going into the hand of the monster that stood before us. A large, liquidy fiend. That was the only word I could think of to describe it.

It was as tall as Karahan, a green and black sludgy substance in constant motion covering its entire body. Before anyone could react, it was gone, fleeing deeper into the marsh.

Karahan vanished from sight. Just blinked out of existence. I didn't realize he could teleport, too. I knew Illaria could, over very short distances and usually only used that talent in a fight, but it hadn't struck me that he could, too.

I gotta say, I was feeling stupider and stupider, the longer I was in this world.

"What... What the hell just happened?" Elried shouted, exasperated.

"We should go after her!" Liam already had a hand on the hilt of his sword.

The others nodded.

Cidel shakily called out before they could make a move. "Wait. I think I might know where she's going."

"Where?"

"I'll take you..."

"Hurry up." Elried barked, stomping her foot to emphasize her words.

He jumped, then scurried off in an almost parallel direction to where she'd gone. It was angled away, though. Just slightly. By the time we were free of the trees, I knew we were on a wholly separate path.

"We're not following her path." I whispered through their minds.

"Where are you taking us?" She demanded. "We need to find her and help her."

"I'm taking you, I swear! This way is faster than the way she went, though."

"You're sure she went to wherever you're leading?"

"I am. One hundred percent confident."

"Why would she go there?"

"It's... Her grandfather died last night. I'm sure she'll go there, to where he's buried."

Oh. I'd missed it.

"Oh." She sounded much more subdued now. Still looked fiery, but a little more somber, with that news.

The rest of the trek only took maybe fifteen more minutes and, through a break in the brush, we saw Karahan thrust a hand through the monster's chest. Pull free the gem, the sludge leaving her body as quickly as it had consumed it.

She collapsed in a heap on the ground, not a single sound escaping her. He looked over his shoulder at us and then vanished again.

He'd been right: she'd been suffering. And he'd put an end to it.

Cidel bolted to her side, pulling her into his arms. Cradling her on his lap.

After a few soft words between them, her head lolled to the side. He broke, bursting into tears. Everyone stood around him, shielding him from anything that might happen upon the scene.

I didn't know what to do.

A shame.

One so young.

Her death will have meaning.

But did her life not, as well?

"Guys, I cannot deal with this right now." I responded wearily in my head. "I know. I know. ...I know."

Things may start falling into place rather quickly, now.

There wasn't much time between Elried and Illaria's deals with Death and the girl's demise.

Your visions showed them to be one shortly after the other.

That was something I hadn't put together yet.

"We'll have to wait and watch."

A Few Hours Later

It took some time, but Cidel was persuaded to take Charti's body to her tribe, where they would bury her properly. After that, he took us back to Karacule's hut.

She was coughing an awful lot during his recount of what had happened. How her brother had stolen the gem.

"And then, he... killed her. He ripped the gem from her, and she... died... from the injury."

She sighed, which brought on another coughing fit. A few minutes passed before she could gather herself.

"Leave us." That was it.

My friends filed out, leaving the three of us in the room.

"Cidel, I need you to listen carefully."

He wiped his eyes and hesitantly looked at her. Dipped his head in acknowledgment.

"I am naming you as my successor." His face went slack, too shocked to react. "I will pass soon, and you need to be ready to lead Fairystar. Have those adventurers undergo training for their second specialization in the time I have left. Organize them. They're going to need to be stronger, to prepare for what's to come. Now that Karahan has the green dragon's gem, you have a limited amount of time before you see the dragon rise again. You must be ready. The coven, as a whole, must be ready to act, in case they are needed. You shouldn't rely wholly on the travelers, no matter how strong that lot is. Remember this. I don't have much time left in this world. Now, dry your eyes and go tell them not to come back before they each have their second specialization."

He nodded dumbly for a solid minute, inhaling sharply when he came back to himself. "Right. Okay. I can do this."

With that, he walked out the door, going to inform those waiting outside about their next task.