The fire was beautiful. Her father had long ago taught her to appreciate the awesome power it brought with it, but also to treasure and revel in the magnificence that was the hues of flame. He had always been fascinated by it. He likely would have found it somewhat ironic that his death was caused by a monster that snuffed out all light, fire, sun, life, and otherwise.

Feeling a hand on her back, she looked up and Ben nodded so his messy blonde hair danced over his forehead. Touching her shoulder, he led her away from the torch at the door of the temple. Together, they walked into the ancient building. Kirvi inhaled slowly. It had been too long since she had been in the temple. Years, it felt like. Her father had always taken her here every week when she was still a little girl.

In silence, Ben led her into the main room. Kalin was kneeling next to one of the slabs of rock placed on the floor. Across from her was the priestess, hunched with her hands spread overtop the slab. And laid upon it was a lump of a man. Dressed in royal finery, with his weapons, beautiful and well-loved, laid out beside him, he looked as though he was simply asleep. His mouth hung open, and his messy grey hair flopped over his pale forehead. Unnaturally pale. Dark circles surrounded his eyes and lines seemed abnormally pronounced. Sand and dirt coated his clothing from an obvious hike through the desert.

"Kirvi," Ben whispered, holding out a hand, "meet Sir Walter Beck, Logan's former advisor, and Chris' mentor and best friend. Besides myself, of course."

Kirvi stepped closer to the slab and bent over the unconscious man. Evidence of the Crawler's attack was everywhere. The blackness and fatigue of his eyelids, and the bags beneath, as well as the rattling breaths that came slowly and unevenly. What few survivors there were after the Darkness' attacks on the City of Aurora all appeared in similar states of disrepair before they eventually succumbed to the illness.

When he spoke again, he sounded as though he was right behind her. "You know, I haven't seen Chris at all since you took him away to get clothes. And that was five days ago. Did something happen? You didn't kill him and bury him behind your house, did you? Sacrifice to the Crawler and whatnot?"

Kirvi stiffly shook her head. Sir Walter Beck was so pale he looked to be grey. "After we bought clothes for him, I took him to the demon door near town and he fell on the cliffs. I took him back to the loft to help him, and when he asked for something to kill the pain, he got drunk. After sleeping it off all the next day, we got into an argument, made our apologies, and…" She sighed heavily. Had that really been four whole days ago? "I have not seen him since."

"Any sign of Logie?"

"His goat? No."

"Hm." Ben rubbed his scratchy chin. "He's vanished. Bollocks. Come on, Walter needs his rest." He took her arm and led her away from the slab. They walked in the quiet of the evening until they left the temple and stopped on the precipice overlooking the City of Aurora. A pleasantly warm breeze blew in from the desert mountains, washing over them and sending sand into their clothes.

"So what did you and Princey get in a fight about?" Ben asked without preamble. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his trousers and flipped his hair out of his face, staring out over the city.

Kirvi shook her head and tied back her hair into a messy, floppy bun. "I accused him of knowing no real pain and he told me about his fiancée and family. I feel like the biggest fool," she groaned, rubbing her forehead to ease the memory. "He was so hurt by my words."

"Ah." He clucked his tongue and sighed. "Elise. He told me about her when Major Swift died. Bit of a bad day for the both of us, really. I think that's when I decided Logan really needed to be kicked off the throne of Albion. He made his little brother decide whether to kill a handful of people he didn't know, or one person he intended to spend the rest of his life with. He did the right thing, but it's been killing him ever since."

Kirvi bit her lip and folded her arms beneath her bosom. Where could he have possibly taken himself? Nobody had seen hide nor hair of Christopher and his goatdog since he had left her alone at the oasis outside the city. "He has known as much suffering as any man in Aurora. It is a different kind, but certainly as much."

Ben grunted his agreement. "He knew Elise since he was eight. Beat the pants off another boy for kissing her. Inseparable since, according to him, and to Walter, and to Jasper… got caught sneaking her into his room more than once when they got older." He laughed softly and his uniform and weapons clicked as he stretched. "They've been engaged since he was seventeen; they had only been waiting for the right time. Logan's tyranny made it hard, but he had given his blessing. So had their folks before they died."

Kirvi wished fervently that he would just stop talking about Christopher and Elise. It only increased the self-loathing she had felt for the past four days; she had reminded Christopher of such a deep and unending ache in her own selfish anger, and she hated herself for it. Talking to Ben only made her realize more and more just how much Christopher had loved—and likely still loved—his betrothed.

"Gorgeous, from what I heard. It's a shame, really." Ben shook his head and looked over at her. "Are you all right, Kirvi?"

She nodded shakily. "I am fine. I just… I wonder where he could have gone. I wish I could take back my words. I had no idea…"

"There was no way you could've known, love. It's not something people usually advertise. You'll be fine, and so will he." Ben took her in his arms and she pressed her face into his chest. His beautiful crimson waistcoat was amazingly soft, and she nuzzled against it, feeling her lips wanting to twitch into a smile. They had nothing that soft in Aurora. These visitors truly were wealthy.

Kirvi glanced up at his smiling face. "Do you know where he is, Ben?"

"Nope. Thought I already clarified that. I mean, I have an idea. After all, the boy can't have run off all the way home to Albion without a ship now, could he? And he's too much of a goody-two-shoes to steal one of the Auroran ships. He's probably just gone on one of his Hero trips."

Kirvi frowned and pulled away from him. Ben watched her, his own brows furrowing. Hero. Christopher had told her that he was a Hero. She was sceptical; in fact, she thought he was downright crazy. "He is a Hero?" she asked cautiously, as if the words would burn her.

"Yeah. Hasn't he told you?"

"He did…"

"But…?"

"I did not believe him."

Ben shrugged and ran a hand over his messy sand hair. "Well, it is a bit thick to swallow, isn't it? But it is the downright truth. When I first met him, he nearly blew up a whole contingent of soldiers with his will." When he spotted the blank look she was giving him, he waggled his fingers and added, "Magic."

"So…" Kirvi's face screwed up and she grunted softly. "What is a Hero trip?"

"Oh. Sometimes he just vanishes. Straight up disappears in some blue light. Walter told me a bit about it, but I still don't really understand. Hero stuff isn't really common knowledge anymore, eh?" Ben shrugged again and wandered over to the tip of the precipice. Leaning over, he whistled and shook his head. "It's his Sanctuary, I think Walter said. A place for him to be at peace. It really is something he needs, now that he's the leader of a revolution. The poor bugger."

Kirvi sighed and gracelessly lowered herself onto the ground. Crossing her legs, she leaned her face in her hands. "Is there no way to call him back?"

"No. Not that I know of, at least. If we had another Hero here, I'm sure we could try. But as far as I know, neither you nor I are of Hero blood, so…" Ben made himself comfortable across from her, frowning thoughtfully. "Look. Try not to worry too much about it, Kirvi. He'll come back when he's ready. He's just taking some well-deserved time off from this whole thing. He'll be back soon enough, and he'll be fine. And I'm sure your little spat won't matter at all to him anymore. He's probably just blowing off steam."

Kirvi smiled at him and held her hands together, bowing her head. "Thank you, Ben. You are a good man."

He grinned and scratched the back of his neck. "Ah, ha-ha, I don't know about that, but thanks. I do what I can."

She giggled and patted his knee before standing up. "If you see him, will you tell me?"

"I'll send him your way without a second thought," he promised, saluting from the ground.

Kirvi nodded and bade him goodnight before slowly wandering back into the city. She didn't want to go back into her house, but she knew she had no choice. It would feel so empty without Christopher and Logie joining her family to eat, to tell stories about Albion—the exotic, foreign land they knew so little about.

Dragging her fingers along the stone wall next to the stairs, feeling the rough bumps and rock beneath her skin, she realized with a heavy sigh that there was much she knew little about. Albion was just one of many.