It is good to be back! Thank you all for your patience!

This May 15th will mark the 9th birthday of Diablo 3, and I will do my best to commemorate it with a picture, hopefully on the day or a bit later. I'll post it on my DeviantArt and Tumblr blog of this fic. Make sure to keep an eye out for that!

In the meantime, if you'd like to see the occasional weird sketchdumps, illustrations and concept art, progress updates, or have a question you'd like to send in for the characters, or for me, check out the blog here!

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Chapter 60

Quiet shuffled across the meadow, carrying doll Leendonn by his side. The animals who answered his call were still some distance away, but the child did not want to wait for them. He strained his mind and could pick up Teeriel's hurrying footsteps far to the east. Thankfully his two sides have fallen silent since their agreement, but Quiet was still tired and skerred and worried, so his magic wasn't as strong as it could be. The fight on the big boat had taken a lot out of him, and it left him rattled to his core.

And, if he had to be honest, he was also angry with Teeriel. The big man had made a promiss that he would stop being mean and stop shouting, yet here they were. Did that make Teeriel a liar? He did lie, because he broke his word. Hm, maybe one lie didn't make a liar, just like Quiet hadn't turn bad because he made a big mistake and killed people back in that large house by the river. He had to see how Teeriel would talk to him once he caught up with the big man. If he was still mean, then… yes, he was a liar. And Quiet would happily go to the grassy place without him.

Satisfied with the answer, the little angel trudged on. He stretched his arms out and yawned widely, his steps a bit slower now. The chilly night air was definitely enclosing around him but he kept it at bay for now with a lazy wave. The animals were a bit closer now. Quiet yawned again. He wondered where Leendonn was, what was going on with him. Maybe his papa was looking for Quiet? The little angel hoped that would make meeting him again easier. Leendonn was very good at finding things, afterall.

Hm, the night was getting darker and chillier, Quiet noted tiredly as he stopped next to a bush. He could not feel Teeriel's steps in the distance, maybe the big man went to bed too? Now would be the perfect opportunity to catch up with him! But… Quiet was so tired. Despite the sker he had gotten, he was still very much exhausted, and his senses picked up no danger in his surroundings.

He needed some rest, he decided.

Quiet curled up under the bush with his doll, yawning ever wider. Maybe a bit of sleeping would do some good, he would be able to find Teeriel easier that way. Also the animals could finally catch up.

Yes, that sounded good. Quiet contently snuggled up to doll Leendonn and closed his eyes.

…

- Do you truly believe you can deceive me?!

Quiet shrieked and jolted up at the well-known and hated raspy dry voice. He found himself in a dark wasteland with thick fog and smooth black ground. He jumped to his feet, immediately looking for the tall skerry pale man, but all he saw was a strange dark plate-like thing standing on its edge not too far from him. The plate had a strange rugged shape, almost like a scale from that bad fish that had tried to chew the big boat, only even bigger. In fact, it was at least twice as tall as Teeriel was. Quiet eyed it warily, he did not like how big it was.

Finally the angry man appeared in the fog in his big snake-lizard form, hiding as always. His dark scales glinted in the haze as he moved around, all sneaky and evil.

Linarian! – hissed Inarius.

- Traitor! – grumbled Worrldston.

- What do you want, bad man?! – Quiet shouted at the big snake.

He was very afraid, but the combined anger of all three sides helped him combat it, and keep a hold of his magic more or less. The bad man's magic wasn't very strong here, making Quiet instinctively realize that he was still weak from the fight on the big boat. The little angel held onto this realization as he readied the black dagger (Undertaker, was it?) and held it like a sword. He made sure to hug doll Leendonn close with his left arm. If things got really bad, he could allow Inarius forward, he had been very strong against the pale man before, he reminded himself.

- Your insistence to cling to your mask of innocence is almost admirable – the big snake man hissed from the fog.

For a second, Quiet thought he could see two large yellow eyes flash up. He jumped away from his spot with a skerred yelp but no attack came.

- You are stoopid and you are a liar! – he regained his footing, lifting his dagger back up. – I did nothing bad to you, mean man!

- Where is Teeriel?!

- I don't know, I was about to find him but you interrupted!

- You killed him!

- NO, I DIDN'T! – Quiet screamed angrily.

This pale man was-was—he was the worst! Why did he always insist that Quiet did very bad things he did not do?! Why was he always lying?! It is like he wanted Quiet to be bad so he can be angry with him for it!

- The Scale of Trag-OOL shall strip away your deception, Inarius! You cannot keep up your manipulation any longer.

The plate thing behind Quiet came to life with a sharp crack and started humming. The little angel turned around in alarm, just in time for a strange wave from the scale to wash over him. He stumbled back a few steps but he was too skerred to feel any effect on himself. He once again spun around and tried to run into the fog, but he collided with something cold and smooth that sent him flying backwards. He landed on his back with a painful grunt, almost cutting himself with his dagger. Quiet struggled to push himself back up, but he refused to let go of doll Leendonn. As he sat up, he finally saw the head of the big snake man: it was quite flat and covered in smooth black scales, his eyes were bright yellow, he had a greyish-white beard hanging from his chin, and he had long mustaches sticking out of his head. Quiet scuttled back as the big snake bared its fangs.

- I am sick and tired of your lies, Inarius!

- I am not lying! You are lying! – Quiet shouted back in tears, his fear finally conquering his anger.

Weakened or not, this big snake was still much stronger than he was, and he wanted to hurt Quiet, and Quiet did not have grownups now to protect him and—

"- H—hey, can you hear me?"

Both Quiet and the big snake froze up at the new voice, then snapped their heads in unison towards the scale.

- Papa! – Quiet cried out as he recognized the strangely muffled voice.

The scale was still dark but something in it was forming… like the glimmer of a very distant flame. For a second, a murky form flashed up in there.

"- It is alright! See? I'm not here to hurt you."

- What is this? – hissed the big snake man, now more confused than angry.

Quiet scuttled towards the scale. Leendonn's voice was getting clearer, although the image was still pretty much non-existent.

"- I have a few friends. We will bust you out of here, I promise."

- I'm here, papa! – Quiet shouted, even as he slowly realized what they were witnessing.

The image was forming finally, a hazy human form stood in front of them in the scale, holding his empty hands up.

"- Hey, it is alright. I won't hurt you, I promise."

- No. No, that is not—! – the big snake man tried to say but he fell silent.

"- Everything is going to be alright…" – whispered the human form.

The picture exploded into the scale. Leendonn became clear as he looked very worried, gently patting something in front of him. Quiet sobbed as he unconsciously patted his own head at the sight. A big flash of light washed away Leendonn for a second, then the image returned more hazily this time. Leendonn was looking down at them, confused and worried before scooping them up and hiding them from the very bad lady.

- No! This is not—! Inarius! Show me Inarius, damnit! – the angry snake man shouted and glared at the scale.

The image warped and Quiet cried out in anguish. The bad man was taking his memories away about his papa! Before he could push himself up from the ground and attack the bad man, the scale shuddered and the image simply jumped forward in time.

"- Leen-donn" – his papa said slowly, pointing at himself. "– Leen-donn."

Quiet let out a shaky relieved breath as he realized his memories were safe. He settled down and placed his palm on his own chest as he nodded. Leendonn then pointed at the very small Quiet in the memory.

Very Small Quiet started crying instead of answering, as he realized he did not know what his name was. What was his name?! He had no name! He was nobody! The scale practically radiated the sheer despair and sadness coming from the little angel.

"- Hey, it is alright! It's okay! No need to cry!" - Leendonn quickly scooped him up and tried to calm him down. "– I—I'm sure you will recall your name in time! It's no problem. We will give you a nickname, until then, alright? How about it? You like nicknames?"

Quiet sniffled and nodded alongside his past self.

- Quiet – he uttered his name the same time as past Leendonn did.

"- How about it? You like it? It's a nice nickname, right? Quiet" – Leendonn smiled at him.

- Yes. I like it very much – Quiet sobbed, sitting down on the ground, the big bad snake long forgotten behind him.

The little angel had not dared to dwell much upon it until this moment, but he missed Leendonn so dearly. It created one of those bad bubbles in him that caused stress and caused him to cry. Especially since he learnt that Leendonn was indeed his papa, it made Quiet very very sad that he wasn't there with him.

The picture in the scale jumped again, going faster. It showed a lot of things: Leendonn teaching Quiet how to put on clothes and his first words. That very skerry night where bad men attacked and Leendonn and Quiet protected each other. The big but ugly city that had made Quiet so very happy and energized for the first time, with the seven statues who had been very strange but who also helped them at the cost of their lives. The very skerry battle at sea and the city with all the angry people in it and that horrible bad dog demon.

Quiet shuddered as he saw himself flee for his life, trying to fight back only to lose and get beaten terribly, and surviving by some insane luck. His past self dragged himself across the stone streets, feeling nothing but fear and pain but holding onto the thought that he had to find Leendonn.

"- I'm sorry—I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have left you behind! I should have never brought you here!" – Leendonn cried as he scooped the little angel up into a tight hug.

"- Leendonn arriyt… Kvaiett happy…"

And Quiet had been happy. He remembered that overwhelming relief when he stumbled into the dark house and saw his friend – his papa – alive. Every time Leendonn hugged him, or held his hand or bundled him up in a blanket and kept him close to his chest, Quiet felt safe and loved and happy. He knew nothing truly bad could ever happen when Leendonn was around.

Even when the cause of that bad thing was Quiet himself.

The big snake hiss-growled dangerously behind him as the scale showed how Quiet killed the bad men who had tried to hurt Leendonn in the forest while he was asleep, but Quiet did not care about him. Leendonn did not know that happened, so of course he did not tell Quiet that was a bad thing. But when it happened again in the big stone building by the river, Leendonn made sure Quiet would not turn bad. That slap had been so sudden and stinging that it knocked the vengeful angry part out of Quiet who had admittedly wanted to make everyone pay horribly for even looking at his papa wrong.

But that was a very bad thing, and the scale also showed that Leendonn taught him how to be good, and how hard Quiet actually listened and wanted to learn. His papa was very clever and he said a lot of important things that made Quiet think and understand.

"- Quiet, I love you, I really do, but what you did back there was horrible. Very bad. We are better than this. You are better than this!"

- I am. I am better, papa. I help people now. Teeriel said it too – Quiet whispered, pressing his palm against the scale.

"- I will be good!"

"- I'm sure you will be, firefly. You need to learn a lot, but you will get there. I promiss."

Their split-up had been horrible – running for their lives from Johhana, only to be separated by that strange magic circle thing. Being stuck with Teeriel who was just so mean and angry and annoying in those first days. Quiet had not felt safe or happy around the big man, he had not felt like he could ask Teeriel for help when he felt very bad or hurt. They argued so much and Quiet… Quiet almost killed Teeriel because of it. He almost became bad again. But Leendonn's teaching was with him, and the very nice lady Soffia also said a lot of clever things that helped Quiet along the way. It felt so weird but Teeriel and Quiet actually made up on the road and even became friends. Teeriel even helped him realize just how close he and Leendonn was. And yes, the big man has broken his promiss just now, but Quiet wanted to give him a chance and see if they could be friends again.

The same way how Leendonn had given him a chance to be good.

- I will see you soon. Promiss – Quiet waved at the picture of his papa, smiling sadly.

He had listened to a bad inner thought that he had to make this journey alone. That was a bad decision, he saw it clearly now.

Forgive me… I was… confused – Inarius mumbled sadly.

But he has come this far already. Might as well see this journey through.

Quiet hugged doll Leendonn and closed his eyes. Behind him, the big snake slowly retreated into the fog.

- This… I don't—I can't… – he muttered to himself in utter confusion, unable to muster anything more substantial.

The fog retreated with him.

And Quiet opened his eyes finally. He was lying on his side under the bush, his doll by his side. The morning sun covered everything in a very yellow light as it was already climbing on the sky. The little angel sat up with a yawn and rubbed his eyes. Not far from him, the helpful animals were eating grass, it seemed an entire family came to help him. They were tall and thin and looked very nice. Quiet waved at them sleepily and they snorted back in return, wishing him a safe morning. Safe? Yes, he was safe, now that the big snake—

Oh.

Quiet perked up a bit more at the memory and quickly reached out with his mind. He felt no bad magic anywhere near him, spotted no black smudges from the corner of his eyes. Nothing that was supposed to be dead moved either. Where was the big snake angry mean pale man? Was he hiding? Did he get skerred? Quiet did not remember fighting him in his dream, but maybe they did? All he remembered were the initial sker and very stupid lies the bad man told him, and then memories of his time with Leendonn.

Maybe the pale man decided to finally stop being mean… Or he was planning something. Again.

We will strike him down then, all three of his sides thought in unison. The pale man was very very annoying with these stupid traps.

Having no better idea, Quiet got up and walked up to the tall animals, resuming his search for Teeriel. The one animal with the big, uhm… branches? … growing out of its head allowed him to ride on its back, and Quiet wasted no time poking and examining the branches. Well, they weren't like tree branches, but they were also very hard and bumpy. They had a very nice form, however, and he made sure to compliment the animal for it. He decided to call his mount Berry Bush because of the "branches", and the others that did not have branches Brownies, because they all had brown fur.

They trotted across the meadow while Quiet tried to find Teeriel with his mind again. He still could not feel the man's footsteps and that skerred him for a second. What if he got hurt or worse?!

Maybe he merely sleeps – Inarius tried to evade the panic.

… Right. It was morning after all. But Teeriel always woke up so annoyingly early.

He had slept little last night as well – Inarius offered again.

Hm, maybe he would sleep for longer then. Quiet could only hope that was the case.

The talking ground called Zaim promiss-d he and the other gods, whatever those were (more talking ground, maybe?), would help him search but they did not speak up yet.

I remember the gods - Inarius said in his head. – I have created them to help humanity, before… before loneliness conkvered me. They needed guidance, spirits to keep the order.

- Soooo… they are friends – Quiet concluded, trying his damnest to translate the thought.

Inarius talked a lot like Amaniel and Teeriel, he noted, they all used big and confusing words.

Yes, they are friends.

- They remember their duty well, unlike some others – Worrldston grumbled.

- That's good then – Quiet nodded, latching onto the feeling of understanding between all three of them.

Teeriel has also come around and protected Sanctuary when nobody else would – Inarius tried to argue. – You must see this as well, Eye. We need his aid.

- Hmph.

Thankfully nothing skerry or interesting happened for a long time, as Quiet tried to locate Teeriel and the animals travelled in the direction he last sensed the big man. Breeze raced across the plains, but it got caught in more and more trees and bushes as they went further to the east. The place definitely got livelier around them, Quiet could sense more animals rushing about their daily business. Their presence calmed him a little, although he wished he could ask them if they saw Teeriel. Clearly they could offer no answer to that.

Quiet and the tall animals stumbled upon a road snaking across the trees. The Brownies and Berry Bush snorted, slightly agitated.

- Men hurt. Hunt – they told him worriedly.

- I will not let them hurt you, do not worry – Quiet shook his head as he did his best to decode the animals' meaning.

They reluctantly started following the road to the east as the sun was reaching its height. Quiet could finally pick something up in the distance, although it wasn't Teeriel. Signs of life, distant and murky, but there – a town, maybe? Perhaps Teeriel stopped there? Quiet urged the animals forward a bit. The town wasn't perfectly to the east, they had to turn a bit upwards to reach it. Quiet couldn't find the trace of the big man anywhere, maybe the town was masking it from this far away.

It took them a long time to get to that small town. The sun was already setting when they reached its borders. Quiet had ample time to think through what he wanted to say to and ask from Teeriel. Grown-ups talked things through, he reminded himself of Soffia's clever words. He wanted to ask why Teeriel got so angry and mean all of a sudden, and he wanted to tell him that the little angel wanted to be friends with him again, because he could actually be very kind and clever when he wasn't boring or used very big confusing words.

Right. That is what Quiet would say to Teeriel.

The people in the town looked very surprised as they stopped whatever they were doing to look at him and the Brownies. The animals were worried, but Quiet shushed them. Instead he led Berry Bush closer to one man who looked very funny with those big eyes.

- Hi! Excuse me, have you seen a big man around? – Quiet waved at the man. – He has very dark brown skin, no hair and he wears nice clothes and he has a big glowing sword.

Instead of answering, the man kept blinking at him. Quiet returned his stare with confusion, before trotting off to ask the same of another man. This one was a bit more helpful, he raised a hand and pointed at the setting sun… wait, no, he was pointing west.

Teeriel went west? Did he not want to stay here? Quiet mused as he stopped more people to ask for their help. To be fair, the big man did not like the idea of going to that grassy place in the first place, maybe he wanted to go back home now. Quiet had to catch him before that happened!

Everyone else in town pointed to the west, some could even say a few words like "he rode that way with a lady". It was a strange town, most of its people were very silent indeed. Still, Quiet thanked everyone who helped him in some way. Confirming his suspicions, he urged the Brownies to quickly leave town to the west and follow the dirt road. It was getting dark, and Quiet did not want to waste another night sleeping.

He picked up the being in the ground a split second before it talked:

- Allfather!

- Zaim? – Quiet glanced at the earth.

- We have found the subst—I mean, Teeriel, he is headed to the west on horseback by the side of a woman. It is difficult to talk to him, he seems distant – Zaim said faster than usual, he almost sounded worried.

- Distant?

- Sire, we sense great danger further down the road! – the ground rushed on without an explanation. – You must reach him before that!

Quiet perked up on the back of Berry Bush and reached out with his mind. He could finally sense Teeriel and his horse, along with someone else who felt a bit familiar to him, but he couldn't place them. Beyond them, however, he could pick up something dark and suffocating, waiting and hiding in the dark. Quiet jerked violently, almost falling off of Berry Bush.

Mephisto

Fear seized him, he wanted really badly to run and hide, and hope they didn't find him and—

Quiet had to forcefully drag himself out of that fear. It was very sudden and very powerful, and it came from Inarius. But he couldn't run, he had to warn Teeriel! They were still far away, he feared he would not be able to make it in time, however. He jumped off of Berry Bush for a second and placed his hands on the ground.

- Zaim! – he shouted.

- Here, sire!

- I need your help. Call your friends and go after Teeriel! Try to warn him! If he doesn't hear you, try to protect him. I will go after them too!

- Sire, our bonds hold us still yet. We can do little.

Bonds? What bonds?! Quiet needed their help now. Frustrated, he looked with his mind into the ground. He did sense a… a mind there? And strange chain-like magic around it. He got the distinct feeling those chains were there for a reason.

- Call a friend! Quickly! – he ordered angrily.

He instinctively knew he couldn't remove those chains entirely. Perhaps his two other sides understood it better than he did, but those had to stay in place so the world could remain safe. But he could loosen them, could he not?

Zaim disappeared for a second, and returned with another that sounded like a girl to him.

- B'rua of the Jungle hears and obeys, Great One! – she told him.

- I am actually still very small, but thank you – Quiet nodded to the ground then reached out.

He pictured himself grabbing the chains and yanking on them, loosening them a bit so those two could do things better. A small shake ran across the earth around them, Zaim and his friend, B'rua seemed very surprised.

- Now go, help Teeriel! – he ordered them.

- Yes, sire! We shall! – they answered in unison before rushing off to the west.

Quiet looked at Berry Bush and the Brownies. They had been very helpful up to this point. He couldn't drag them into danger, he realized. They were fast and nice, but they weren't fighters. He gently touched the nose of each animal.

- Thank you for your help – he told them sadly. – You were all very kind. But this will be very dangerous, and I need to do it. Go now and be safe!

The animals snorted in worry, but did not argue. They rubbed their noses against Quiet's forehead in return, then bounded off into the trees together. Quiet looked after them for a second, then turned to west. He adjusted his hold on doll Leendonn, and the sneaky dagger holder on his body. He then took a running start and raced across the forest. Under his feet the ground rose and gave him a boost, he was jumping long and far, his small wings flapping to help him further. The trees reached out and gave him a hand, flinging him along as far as they could. Quiet practically flew across the land at the last rays of the setting sun. His fears forgotten, he only focused on one thing – that he had to save Teeriel.

He could sense the danger more clearly now. Many men were hiding, waiting to attack. They practically oozed the very evil aura that made Inarius so very skerred, but Quiet pushed past that. These weren't just men protecting something, no. These were evil men. Leendonn would fight and kill these men to protect others, Quiet knew.

Teeriel reached their spot and Quiet cried out mid-flight as he sensed a battle starting.

- ZAIM! HURRY! – he shouted into the air.

He was still too far away to do anything! Teeriel was getting hurt! Quiet tried to jump further and higher, but he could do little more than he already was. It was tiring to keep this fast race up for so long but he pushed himself.

He almost laughed out loud in relief when he sensed Zaim and B'rua erupting and attacking the bad men. They shook the earth and grew angry plants, Quiet could only hope Teeriel could use that to get away from them. People in that spot were dying, that much he could tell, even if he couldn't gain strength from it like he usually does. And hated to do so.

He could make it! He spotted the raging battle already, he could land there and drag Teeriel away and they could make a run fo—

Zaim and B'rua screamed so loudly in his head, Quiet stumbled on his next jump. There was a large flash of light, a very familiar and truly evil magic lashed out and hurt the two gods. Fear seized him and Quiet missed the next jump, smacking hard into the ground with a choked cry and rolling over his head for long. He finally stopped on his belly, arms and legs spread wide. Doll Leendonn fell away from him. Pain raced across his body, but he moved his arms and pushed himself up. He could see the haze of the bad magic not too far from him, so he struggled to his legs, gathered his doll and started limping. He could sense the aura of the last person he wanted to meet from there, he wanted nothing more than to run and hide and hope she would not notice. But Teeriel was still there, with her. He had to do something!

Quiet pressed himself against the ground and crawled forward to a bush.

Hide, all three sides of his thought in unison, trying to hold their magic back so it wouldn't be noticeable.

Reaching his hiding place finally, Quiet peaked out from under the leaves. Broken ground and many burnt roots and plants shrouded in smoke greeted him. Many evil men were dead among the wreckage, wearing strange masks and white robes smeared with blood. Even in death they gave off that skerry aura, and Quiet could not find any reason to be sad about seeing them gone. Still, some were clawing their way out of the roots, or were checking on the dead. One had red robes and a golden mask, he seemed to be overseeing the whole thing. Quiet could feel his rage over all this.

Heavy armored boots fell on the ground in the smoke. The little angel immediately pressed himself against the ground and almost hid his face in it too, but forced himself to keep watch. The bad lady Johhana trampled across the battlefield, looking very angry as she was kicking half-burnt roots and dead men out of her way.

- What a mess! Of course Inarius would create such pesky troublemakers for "gods" – she hissed.

- Zaim? – Quiet asked fearfully from the ground.

He could sense a very faint, very distant "ping" of acknowledgement. It felt like Zaim was hurt and tired, but he was alive at least. Quiet refocused his attention on the scene, not daring to move any muscles.

- That madman got most of my soldiers killed! He almost beheaded me too! – the strange man in the red clothing and ugly mask said angrily.

- So what?! – Johhana barked back as she walked up to the motionless Teeriel.

- You are more trouble than you are worth, you know that, angel? – she grumbled, flinging her skerry chain-weapon thing in the air. – I guess I could use this to shape Kormak into a far more dangerous weapon, but I'm going to have to listen to his constant lamentation! What a damn bore! And I'm a henchman shorter because of you too.

Quiet almost screeched but his throat seized up. Johhana seemed to stop and think.

- Then again, you are technically broken already, aren't you, Teeriel? If you have gone this far – she clicked her tongue then, tucking her weapon into her belt.

Quiet's heart dropped just a tad bit lower in his throat, even if not by much.

- And if I kill you, your soul might return to the Arch, eh? – she went on, walking in circles around Teeriel. – Retaining all your memories, but getting those pesky powers of yours back, won't you? No, we cannot risk the possibility of that. Not yet, not like this.

Quiet craned his neck, trying to see Teeriel as best as he could. The big man was lying on the ground, the back of his head was bloody. The little angel could sense his breathing, hazily as he could over the remaining chaos of the battle. Not far from him lied the body of a woman with no head.

Johhana turned to the red-robed evil man.

- Get this wretch back to Kurast! – she ordered.

- Wha—you cannot be se—!

- NOW! – the woman roared in a very non-human way, making Quiet rear back in terror.

The bush rustled and leaned over him as if to shield him. The red-robed man glanced in the plant's direction, but quickly shook his head and audibly scoffed. He barked orders at his men, while Johhana summoned a ghastly looking horse ghost in full armor. She climbed into the saddle while the evil men dragged Teeriel to a nearby hidden cart.

Quiet tensed under the bush. They were taking Teeriel, he had to do something!

We cannot win here – Inarius protested, and since he knew how to fight, Quiet had to agree.

The little angel was so skerred, he couldn't even twitch, just like when the big bad dog demon hunted for him in that bad dark garden. Teeriel was being taken away and he could do nothing because the bad lady would kill him if he showed himself… or worse. The aura of the evil men was getting overwhelming, he did not want to go back to the mirror room, he did not want to be chained up again—!

With some truly titanic effort, Quiet resurfaced from his terror. Body and wings trembling uncontrollably, he realized the bad people were all gone, although he could sense them going north from the road. Tears ran down on his cheeks as he forced himself to crawl out of the bush and stand up, almost tumbling forward.

- Teeriel… – he whimpered, looking north.

He couldn't do anything, he couldn't save his friend! He was too weak, too small, too afraid to do anything. Quiet glanced down at doll Leendonn on the ground. What would his papa do? His papa was never afraid, he had told so many stories of big and skerry monsters he had faced and won against. Leendonn would go and win against all these evil men and would save Teeriel. But Quiet could not do the same. He couldn't win against the angry pale man-snake, he couldn't win against these people!

He sniffled, rubbing his eyes. He did not recall the battle of the big boat very clearly, but he remembered Teeriel and everyone else fighting the horrible ugly dead monsters bravely. Teeriel, especially, he fought with the largest ones who were much bigger than he was. He even attacked and killed the big cloud monster that was bigger than the boat itself! Could Quiet do the same? He didn't know.

But he had to try.

Quiet lifted doll Leendonn from the ground and ran after the evil men and Johhana, the ground giving him a boost.

Go, Quiet, go! Save the day, kick some ass and take some names! That is how grownups do!

Now, cupcakes, you may be asking: "Kenyizsu, you glorious bastard, what took you so damn long with this chapter?" And the answer is: I have no damn idea. The scenes simply did not want to line up. They didn't fit together, they didn't feel right, or the characters simply refused to act in a normal manner. A good friend suggested it might be an early sign of burning out, and I hope to god he is wrong about that. I am planning to keep up my schedule as best as I possibly can until the ending of this Act. I hope it can wait until then.

I'm not sure if the actual May chapter will be done in this month of chaos, but I guess we'll soon find out, huh?

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, comments are always welcome, and see you at the end of May hopefully maybe!

Lore & Trivia Corner

- Scale of Trag'Oul: Trag'Oul, the great Dragon, Protector of Sanctuary sports quite a baffling array of traits, from his unexplained origin and role in Creation, to his weird powers that I honestly have no idea why translate to necromancy. His most peculiar quirk, however, is the fact that his scales apparently show the entire lifespans of people, future included. Why? How? Do they show possibilities like Talus'ar, or certainties like Myriam's visions? What does he gain from this when his magic basically only deals with the already dead? Your questions are as good as mine. Trag'Oul is probably the single most frustratingly vague creature in all of the lore, and Anu be my witness, I have tried to set him straight multiple times already, but it never worked out.

- B'rua: my addition entirely. She is an Umbaru spirit of plants and the jungle from the so-called "Unformed Land". We know very little of the actual pantheon of those tribes, leading me to believe that the Umbaru don't have a set of gods, but believe that everything is filled with spirits their Witch Doctors can call upon at any moment. Still, I think we do need some names here.

- The fate of Tyrael's soul after his death is up for debate. There is no official affirmation of this, but I do have my own theory. I believe Tyrael would be reborn as an angel, should he die. He is still the Aspect of Justice, and since Storm of Light we also know that it had been the Arch itself that subtly nudged Tyrael to accept the mantle of Wisdom. This means that he still has a strong connection to it. There can only be one Aspect of each Virtue, the clearest notes of Anu, so I highly doubt some random new guy would just replace him as Justice. If the Evils are preserved fully when coming back after their deaths, so are the Archangels. Fight me on that.