Chapter 8: Tracking Shadows

Alphinaud didn't know what to think as he stared at her face… unable to believe what was going on. He was struggling to perceive what was clearly right in front of him—kicking himself for not having seen the signs… yet… also realizing that everything seemed to click together with this revelation.

All he could do was go over everything that had just happened this last day as his mind tried to catch up.

*Earlier that evening*

Alphinaud had spent weeks meticulously planning everything out for this upcoming meeting. He could only hope that he was doing the right thing as he prepared to carry everything out even though a nasty part in his mind whispered to him that it was far too late to turn back. It had been another two weeks since he first made this decision before catching wind that tonight could be his only chance.

He had been following the movements of the Warrior of Darkness for a time now by listening to the many different rumors from the servants; though it was very difficult to try and predict where the Warrior would appear next. For one night they could be seen in Lakeland helping to defend settlements but then appearing across the deserts of Amh Araeng mere hours later… other times they were said to be in the middle of the Greatwood fighting off monsters and then guiding lost souls out of Il Mheg's territory the next night. They seemed to be able to get around fairly easily… sometimes multiple places in one night… but one location that they were difficult to spot in was around Kholusia. Not that he blamed them, after all, it was no secret that Vauthry both hated and feared the Warrior of Darkness and appearing on his doorstep was probably not the wisest move to make at the moment.

But despite all this, at last, Alphinaud got lucky when heard the rumors that sin eaters were spotted upon the shores of Kholusia and that there were warnings of staying inside until they were dealt with. There were precious few guards left around the island since Vauthry ordered the few who weren't forced to follow after Ran'jit to guard the castle until the General's return, so there weren't many who would be capable of dealing with such fiends.

But that was perfect for Alphinaud, for he suspected that upon hearing that the people would need to be protected from sin eaters then the Warrior would try to resolve this issue as quickly as possible, thus was he aware that this could be his only chance to meet up with them. He had planned it all out and since Ran'jit and the rest of the army were supposed to be coming back the next day to report to Vauthry anyway, tonight would be the only time that the Warrior could freely come to these lands and deal with the sin eaters without fear of their enemies appearing.

So he made sure that he was ready to go by the time that night fell.

He had been trailing the sin eaters movements thanks to eye witness accounts and was able to pinpoint their location to be roughly around Wright. Thanks to the recent outings he had been taking with Claire and Ryne—this time with Y'shtola often joining them—he was now familiar with the surrounding lands to have a reasonable guess to where they would next appear.

The next tricky part would be sneaking out of the castle because of their ridiculous curfew. Vauthry wanted to make sure that the princesses were in their rooms no later than when the sun went down. As such, Alphinaud was also forced to be in the tower by that point as well. Yet, since still didn't want to involve anyone else in his decision, he couldn't even risk asking Claire or Ryne for help.

He had wanted to speak with Thancred about his methods since the man seemed to come and go so easily that most didn't even realize when he disappeared… but Claire said that Thancred was away from the castle for a time, but didn't really disclose any more information than that.

Either way, after going through many different books on magic in the library, he felt that he had at least a plan. And it involved glamours.

He had found instructions in one of the many books on how to create simple glamours out of ordinary items and so he was able to make a couple out of practice and that was what gave him the idea.

When the day came for his plans to be put into action, he made sure to leave dinner early. He excused himself from the table, telling Claire and Ryne that he had a bad headache from reading all day in the library and wanted to go to bed early tonight. Claire seemed generally surprised by this when he asked her not to wake him when she retired; and instead pointed out that she had seen him plenty of times where he would spend all day reading and it never seemed to bother him before.

He had forgotten how truly observant she was as he cleared his throat and answered, "Right… well, I guess I was having trouble getting to sleep last night. Anyway, I'll probably be out like a light when you come up so don't worry about me. I just wanted to wish you goodnight now and I'll see you in the morning."

She tilted her head a little in confusion, and he could tell that she sensed something was wrong, but she thankfully didn't ask anymore. She nodded in understanding and wished him a good night before going back to her conversation with Ryne. He quickly left, making the show of going up to the tower after passing by the guards at the door on the way up as he prepared the setting for step two of his grand plan.

Once back in the room, he stacked a few extra pillows on his side of the bed before he pulled out one of the small glamours that he made and cast his spell. Soon enough, the image of him sleeping had appeared in where the pillows had been and he smiled proudly at the sight of it. Good, so long as Claire didn't look too closely when she came up then she won't noticed. Since they still had the wall of pillows between them as a way to respect each other's space, he reasoned there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

After that, he quietly crept back down the stairs and waited just outside the door to where he heard the guards talking. There would be just a brief moment where the guards were to switch posts and so he had planned on simply waiting for them to do so…?

He didn't have to wait long, for soon he heard the voices of other guards joining in greeting and the two outside the door left their posts so as to greet their replacements. Alphinaud quietly stuck his head outside to find that the two guards had left the door as he had expected and spotted the four now having a quick conversation a couple yalms away… not even glancing at the tower.

With his heart beating fast, Alphinaud slipped to the other side of the wall, knowing that they couldn't hope to spot him like this before he made a break for it to the garden. The flowers had long since died thanks to the cold and the morning frost that caused the grass underneath him to crunch as he ducked down behind the tall hedges, the only sign of greenery left in this place, but there was still enough for him to hide in.

He hugged his cloak around him tightly as he huddled down in a quiet corner of the garden, knowing that he was lucky to have made it this far and that there was no point in backing out now. He hugged himself, just trying to wait for nightfall to come so that he could sneak out. He knew that the guards at the front gate usually change shifts about four times a night… so once night fully settled in and they changed, that would be his only chance of getting out… if not… he had another trick up his sleeve here.

So he waited… and waited… and waited… but as the sun slowly went down and the cold truly settled in to the point that his hands and feet were in physical pain, the resolve to sneak out seemed to fade as he thought longingly of a warm bed and even warmer hearth waiting for him. But instead of caving in, he doubled down, refusing to give up that easily, and promised himself that he was going to do this no matter how cold he got. After an agonizing wait that felt like days, the last few rays of light disappeared from the sky, casting a deep darkness around them.

At last, he was ready to fulfill the next part of his plan. After making sure that his hood was up and properly covering his head to hide his silver hair, he crept out of the garden, sticking close to the hedges, all the while slowly making his way to the front gates. Soon, he spotted the guards, but they were both shivering as well and were looking anxiously back at the castle, and he suspected that they were impatiently waiting for their replacements.

Good, that will make this next part a little easier because he was in no mood to wait around anymore. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small lightning crystal and prepared to make a run for it. He stayed as deeply buried in the hedge as he could, readying the crystal that he had made sure the purchase from one of the villages that he had visited with the others. He only had one chance at this… and his eyes fell upon a statue almost at the other side of the courtyard…?

That would do.

When he felt that the guards were successfully distracted, he used the lightning crystal to strike at the statue from a distance—and the effect was what he had hoped for. There was a bolt of light and a loud BANG and then a sizzling sound that sure got the guards attention. They about jumped out of their skins and let out cries of shock as they ran from their posts to investigate the source of the noise and bolted to the smoldering statue.

At that, Alphinaud ran for it, silently praying to Thaliak that they wouldn't see him as he slipped through the gate, and then made it outside to the grounds of Kholusia properly. He didn't stay still for long, knowing that the guards would quickly return to their posts and if he was still in sight when that happened…?

He panted hard as he just kept running, keeping his head down and wrapping his cloak around him a little tighter as he made for the shores, knowing that he could easily duck down below the dunes where he wouldn't be spotted. He kept running until he made it to the shores and was safely out of sight of the front gates before he finally collapsed next to the shore to catch his breath. He honestly couldn't believe how well things were looking for him. He had done it! He made it out without being seen! But now he had to ready himself for the hardest part… finding the sin eaters and, hopefully, the Warrior of Darkness.

He pulled out the map of Kholusia that he borrowed from the library and pulled out another crystal. This time it was a fire crystal—both to cast some light to see the map and to help warm him up. He sighed in relief as his hands were pleasantly warmed from the tiny bit of magicks as if he had sunk them into warm water.

Once he successfully warmed himself up as much as he could, he looked over the map and the familiar markings that he had made. Alright… so he was roughly able to track his location on the map and followed the trail he needed to make with his finger, where it would take him to just outside of Wright… which—according to his calculations—was the most likely location for the sin eaters to strike since there were plenty of people and aether for them to be attracted to. After he carefully tucked the crystal down the front of his tunic to continue to warm him, he rolled up his map before he began to make his way across the pitch-dark landscape.

Everything was so different at night. Whereas he felt safe travelling through the day—now his over active imagination was playing tricks on him so that he was jumping at shadows. He kept imagining some sort of monster would emerge from the darkness and swallow him whole or even worse… Ran'jit would appear and drag him back after another punishment.

With that thought, he had to remind himself that the general wasn't scheduled to be back until tomorrow evening… though he thought it funny that he was now more afraid of the old man that he was of sin eaters. Especially since there was no guarantee that the Warrior would be here. But surely they must have heard of sin eaters in these lands and they would never dream of letting such creatures roam freely if they were a threat to the people? He had faith that the Warrior of Darkness would appear, the only question was if he had found the right location.

He continued to move fast through the dark, stumbling along the uneven hills as he managed to find the neglected path and continued on to the north. He hugged himself as he silently wished that he had someone, anyone, beside him just so that he didn't have to be so afraid alone. He gulped down, knowing that he had to stay focused on this matter and hope that the answers he needed were to be solved soon. That was his only hope of returning home…?

He thought longingly of his parents and sister and he began to move a little faster. He wondered how they were all doing right now? He knew that they were surely starting to ask questions by now… maybe even forced the truth out of Krile. He knew that Krile was clever and would likely find ways to keep their answers satisfactory for the time being… but he could only imagine the look on their faces once they finally learned the whole truth.

Alphinaud could imagine the shocked expression on his mother's face… the stunned disbelief of his father…? As for his sister…? Well… he could believe that she would start smashing everything around her in a fit of rage before laughing at his misfortune in a heart-broken way. That thought was the worse out of all of them.

It would all be alright though. The only thing that was keeping him imprisoned on this godsforsaken isle was this stupid piece of gold around his neck! Once he found the way to tear it off, he would make for home at once. He would be sure to get Claire and Ryne away as well, let them taste proper freedom for once, and bring them to Sharlayan to seek sanctuary. He reasoned that there shouldn't be any political problems here because he had the right to visit his homeland and parents. And with her as his wife, it was only proper that he bring her with him to introduce her to his family… as for Ryne, she was part of Claire's family and would be more than welcomed with them since it wasn't kidnapping. As for the others like Y'shtola, Tataru, Thancred, and the others… he suspected that many of them were still here for the princesses sakes, so once the two of them were free then they would also be free to leave whenever they want. At least, he hoped so.

He was going over these plans in his head, feeling his spirits slowly rise at how this could all work out if given the right planning. These thoughts were also able to calm his heart from his active imaginings from the dark, and he had settled down to a point that he was just walking down the side of the road. It wouldn't do to waste his energy in such a manner anyway as he reminded himself that he was in dangerous territory at the moment.

He crept and snuck, making sure to keep close to the road but not actively stay upon it, for it would surely give him away to any fiends that were stalking the area. How long he kept at this, he wasn't sure, only that he was growing cold again very quickly and the moon had fully risen. It must have been at least a few hours now and he found himself circling the small village at least twice at this point as he kept an eye open for any flash of white.

After another hour of stalking the area, he truly began to believe that he must have gotten the wrong location or perhaps the sin eaters just weren't coming. He sat down on a nearby set of boulders as he caught his breath, shivering as he rubbed his hands with the fire crystal, and began to wonder what to do now.

He had been so confident on his calculations that he didn't stop to think what he would do if it turns out that he was wrong…? Now what?

He frowned, feeling frustrated and angry at himself for not thinking about such a clear hole in the plan and wondered if he could not try sneaking back to the castle now and try again another night? He couldn't risk being caught out too late otherwise he would surely be noticed. He didn't want to return for his deception to have been discovered…?

But as he was all but resigned to head back early empty-handed, he heard a loud shriek echoing in the distance. He immediately leapt to his feet, heart hammering, as he turned his head in the direction of the sound. He could just make out the faint glow of something in the distance and didn't waste another second as he ran towards it, hoping that the furious cry was that of battle…?

And to his luck, he discovered that it was.

He had just ran up the side of the hill that over looked part of the ocean when he saw that there was a pile of dead sin eaters, glowing sickly white as they dissolved into aether. Meanwhile, there was a hooded figure wrapped all in black leather and armor still standing tall with a large broadsword in their hands as they faced off against two remaining sin eaters.

They were actually here!

Joy rushed through him as he ducked down, not wanting to get in the way and distract them as they finished off their battle with the remaining two eaters. All the while, Alphinaud could hardly believe his luck! He carefully poked his head out from behind some more rocks as he watched them move with a steady grace that would make even dancers green with envy. It was almost poetry in motion as they all but twirled upon the dead sin eaters, slashing at the winged creatures, and already striking at another eater which dropped out of the air—dead before it even hit the ground.

Alphinaud felt a sudden hot flush across his cheeks at the sight of it and gulped down, feeling strangely light-heated at the sight before the Warrior turned back to the final eater, readying themselves as the creature lunged at them. He remembered what Ran'jit said about them once, how they were mindless creatures that didn't have a single thought in their head as they reacted purely on instinct… which was almost always hunger.

Alphinaud could fully believe that at the sight of how pathetic the beasts were and he actually felt somewhat sorry for them before the Warrior of Darkens was able to split the last sin eater's skull open with their sword and put an end to the fight. At the sight of the final beast on the ground, Alphinaud carefully stood as he watched the Warrior panting hard, sinking the tip of their greatsword into the ground as they leaned upon it, catching their breath.

He watched how the Warrior reached up to their helmed face and seemed to be speaking—that was when he realized that they must have a linkpearl. Alphinaud had suspected that the Warrior had a wide range of friends and allies to help them, which would explain how they were able to keep watch over all the lands of Norvrandt seemly at once… but also that they couldn't be acting alone. This might be good news as well.

Alphinaud carefully stepped forward as their muffled voice was carried upon the winds, and he heard them speak, "Yes, I know that there were supposed to be six of them but I only killed five. So that means that there may still be at least one more stalking these parts. I'll hunt it down and then get back before sunrise." They remained silent for a second before they shook their head and answered to the person on the other end, "No, I don't think that he suspects anything yet. He didn't so much as twitch when I left. Hopefully we can keep this up for a while longer before he starts asking questions."

He saw how they nodded before finishing, "I'll let you know when the final eater is dead and when I'll be back. See you soon."

They lowered their hand and sighed in a tired way as they pulled the sword from the ground and looked ready to take off. He made to cry out, but as he opened his mouth to speak, the figure turned and they were bathed in the feeble moonlight where his voice died upon his lips. He found himself utterly frozen in place as he stared at the Warrior, dressed all in black with silver accents, a tattered cloak wrapped around their shoulders while a darkened mask covered their face.

He took half a step backwards and as he did so, his foot knocked over a couple stray pebbles, which barely made any noise… but enough to get the Warrior's attention. Their head turned immediately towards them as they demanded, "Who goes there?"

Their voice was very muffled so it was difficult to make out if it was a man or a woman's voice, but it commanded attention as they spotted him standing there. Alphinaud watched as their hand tightened upon their sword before he held up his arms, showing that he was unarmed and meant no harm.

"W-Wait! Please stop!" he cried as he reached up and pulled down his hood. "I don't mean to fight you! Please! Listen!"

The figure froze at the sight of him and even took a step back where he could feel eyes from behind the mask boring into his own.

Alphinaud could only imagine that the sight of him may not be the best thing right now, surely they must be aware that he was married into the royal family…? Therefore had ties to Vauthry of all people. But the Warrior seemed to regain control of themselves as they slung their weapon upon their back.

"Go back to the castle now," they commanded. "It's not safe for you to be out here."

"No, please, I came all this way just to talk! I need your help," he pleaded as the figure moved slowly backwards away from him.

"I'm not with Vauthry," he added, still holding up his hands in surrender. "I hate the man! But that why I came out here… I wanted to speak with you."

"I got nothing to say to you," the Warrior said and there was urgency in their voice, "Please leave! There's supposed to be another sin eater around here and it's not safe!"

"I'll leave after I talk with you," Alphinaud said firmly as he took a few steps towards them, but still keeping a respectful distance.

"Fine! Then speak quickly and leave!" the Warrior said, looking around wildly, as if expecting to be ambushed at any second.

"Alright…" Alphinaud said as he panted, gulping down as he went over what he had been mentally preparing for these last few weeks. "First of all, I want to thank you for saving my life when I first arrived here. You took that hit for me… and I'm so sorry for any pain that I caused you."

"You're welcome," the figure said briskly, and Alphinaud could see how tense they were all over and seemed to decide that Alphinaud had gotten close enough as they took a step back away from him when he moved. So he stopped moving before he took another deep breath.

"My name is Alphinaud Leveilleur," he said firmly and clearly. "I've been brought to these lands from Sharlayan and forced into marriage with this land's princess."

And he quickly summed up everything that had happened to him during these couple months as well as the problem with the chokers. The figure listened to him, still standing very still but listening to each word that they were saying without interrupting before Alphinaud finished with, "And that's the problem. We need help. Please, is there a way that you can remove these collars so that we can win our freedom? I will take the princesses with me back to my homeland and I'm sure that the Forum can offer them protection if they were to hear the entire story. But to get that far we need the key to our shackles and…?"

"I cannot help you," the figure finally interrupted and Alphinaud felt his voice catch in his throat. The figure lowered their head sadly before shaking it in a defeated way.

"I know all about the chokers… and believe me… I've searched. But it's not possible," they answered before explaining, "Just recently, I was able to find out that the chokers were used before long ago during the time of Allag."

"Allag?" he repeated and the figure nodded.

"From what I was told, Unc—I mean, Vauthry was able to secure purchase of a handful of these collars from the black market," they went on as Alphinaud listened in. "He found out that they were once used upon prisoners of the Empire to keep them from rebelling against the Emperor. Upon learning what they could do, Vauthry decided to use two of them upon his own nieces in an effort to control them. As well as you it seems."

"Yes, but there must surely be a way to remove them?" he asked as the figure sighed.

"In truth, I have been looking for a way to do just that," they said, "But it's not been easy. For Allag is truly the most advanced civilization that has ever been known. So it would take nothing less than an expert in such technology to be able to assist in getting these off. Vauthry uses certain words to activate them. In this case, his prisoner's own names to trigger the effects to subdue them… they act as passwords."

Alphinaud frowned at that as he thought it all over before, realizing that this wasn't just magic… but advanced technology that was serving as his chains. But he knew previous little of such technology!

"What else do you know of?" he asked desperately. "Where there other ways to get them off? Surely there had to be other than just the passwords?"

The figure nodded back before answering, "From what my recent sources have told me, that there was a kind of… what did he call them? A failsafe? They had special keys used to be able to unlock the devices if the commander who handled them wasn't around to speak the password to unlock the collars. But…?"

"But we're talking about keys that have been lost for several thousand years…?" Alphinaud frowned. Now what? If what they said was true, and he had no reason to believe that they were lying, then they would need to track down a key to some shackles that were from a lost empire… or find someone who knew a thing or two about Allag…? His mind was swimming with so many questions, something that the Warrior seemed to sense and was turning away from him, getting ready to head off before Alphinaud realized this.

"H-Hey! Wait!" he cried as he took a few steps closer, "Please, there must be something else that you can tell me…?"

"I cannot help you," they said as they began to walk away.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" he cried, going after them and grabbing hold of their shoulder to stop them from leaving as he pleaded, "Please, just hear me out. Please tell me what you think of our situation. I can't think of anyone else that I can speak to about this and I'm desperate, surely you have some idea…?"

"Look," the Warrior retorted, pulling away and still not able to look at them, "I told you, I don't know anything else about the chokers, I cannot help you."

"Surely you must know something," he pleaded, "You're seen as a great hero to the people and you are so well travelled, surely there is something that you can tell me that could be of use?"

"Listen, I don't know how to help you," they repeated, finally turning their masked face towards them and he realized that they were almost a full head shorter than him. "I know about the chokers and what Vauthry is doing to you, but I fear that there is little I can do get them off you. If we were to try, then the chokers would activate automatically and most likely kill you. But for now, you need to get out of here before…?"

But before they could continue, they seemed to freeze up and Alphinaud stared, wondering what was going on before he heard it too. The sounds of many voices and he turned about upon the ledge that the two of them were standing upon and stared down in horror to see that they weren't alone… Ran'jit had returned with his army and they were quickly storming up the beach towards them.

"Damnit! I didn't think that he would be back until the morning!" the Warrior cursed before grabbing Alphinaud by the hand and pulled them along. "RUN!"

Alphinaud didn't wait around for another second to question them as he pulled up his hood once more and followed after the Warrior who was moving quick as lightning across the frost-covered lands, making towards the cliffs.

"What do we do?" he panted, already feeling a stitch in his side as they clung close to the wall, wondering what on earth the Warrior was planning as he watched how they were feeling about in the cliff's solid rock face. "We need to get out of here!"

"Yes, I know that!" they retorted darkly before they seemed to find what they were looking for and Alphinaud saw how their hand turned a part of the rock in the wall before his jaw dropped open in shock when a small doorway opened up. He stared—the rock having been able to blend into the wall so perfectly that no one could ever guess that it was there.

"How did you do that?" he gasped.

"The Dwarves have tunnels all over the island," they answered as they dropped to their knees and crawled inside. "You can never have too many friends."

Alphinaud just stared after them, finding his throat oddly constricted as they disappeared into the tunnel. But when he heard the sounds of shouting from the army, he snapped himself out of it and dropped down to follow them inside. As soon as he was in, the door closed behind him and he let out a startled gasp before the Warrior commanded up ahead, "Come!"

"I'm coming!" he gasped as he moved as quickly as he could despite the small space, though with no light to guide him, he had trouble begin able to move without knocking his head into a wall. That was when he remembered the fire crystal and quickly pulled it out from the front of his tunic to cast a golden-red glow about them and light filled the tunnel. He sighed in relief, feeling better that he can somewhat see and moved forward as he tried to find the Warrior, just barely able to make out their form a little bit ahead of him.

He hurried as fast as his body could allow but an Elezen in a tunnel that was made for Lalafell… or Dwarves in this case… that made it very difficult. The Warrior was smaller than him so they were able to move easier than he was, causing him to want to cry out for them to wait. Yet, he couldn't blame them for wanting to get out of here as soon as possible with the army appearing as suddenly as they did. What were they doing here anyway? He was told that they wouldn't be back for at least another full day! Now the odds of getting back to his room before sunrise are all but slim to none. He was sure that Claire would figure out that he wasn't there by the time that the door was unlocked in a few hours… but if it was someone like Tataru who came to the door then he figured that they could try to play dumb should anyone ask and he may be able to slip inside later today…? But if someone like Ran'jit went to fetch them…?

He gulped, knowing that she would be the one to pay the price for his little escapade. He had to get back before sunrise if he wanted to have any hope of avoiding anyone getting hurt.

"W-Wait!" he cried out as the shadows were now almost completely out of sight, "Please! I need to get back to the castle! I can't do it without you! I swear, I didn't know that they were coming tonight!"

At first, he thought that the figure would only continue on without him…? But to his surprise, he realized that they were waiting for him to catch up and he almost ended up running right into them. He came face to face with the masked warrior far sooner than he expected and despite the rather terrorizing appearance of the featureless mask looking back at him he found his blood racing rather more wildly than it was before. What was the matter with him?

"Fine," the figure retorted coldly. "I'll help you get back to the castle, but once you're in, you don't speak of this to anyone, you hear me?"

Alphinaud nodded in agreement as the Warrior moved on, their body brushing up against his own and he felt a sudden heat from where they touched and he gulped down at the foreign feeling before he followed.

It was here that he realized that they were crawling upwards, the tunnel built as a slant so it was like they were moving up a steep hill and he worried where they were going to emerge out to. He didn't dare speak to the Warrior to ask though, despite how they seemed to move as if they had taken this tunnel many times before. He had a feeling that they were in no more mood to speak with him and he didn't want to push his luck.

All the while though, he had to wonder more and more what they had said before and thought of what he knew of Allag. He remembered his history classes where they spoke greatly about the Allagan Empire and how they were close to uniting the world under a single flag… at least before the Fourth Umbral Calamity where their Empire was all but destroyed in the earthquake. He tried to remember all that he thought he knew of the technology, but he had never heard of such collars…? He would need someone who was a true expert when it came to such matters of technology to be able to even try to understand how these things worked.

The keys that they would need were thought to be long lost… that much he was aware of so there was no point in trying to track them down. But then… where were they to go from here? The main ruins of the empire were in Eorzea—having never come to Norvrandt in the ancient days—and he knew that the odds of going there were practically non-existent thanks to Vauthry. Now what was he supposed to do? Despite the information he managed to learn, he was still no closer to figuring out a way to free them from their prison? Now he understood what Claire meant when she told him that the Warrior would be of no help to them. Could it be possible she went to the Warrior in the past only to discover this truth? But if so… why did she never tell him?

He wanted to speak with her as soon as he could and hoped that she hadn't caught on to his ruse just yet.

"So… where are we going?" he found himself asking before he could stop himself.

"These tunnels will lead to the upper cliffs where we can figure out the best move from there," they answered firmly without looking back. "We can then borrow an Amaro from the Dwarves. Under the cover of the dark, it shouldn't be difficult for us to fly over the island. We may have to work out where the army is at the moment to avoid being spotted by them, but we should be able to land near the castle for you to sneak back in."

He had never thought of that, but now that the option was open to them, he thought it was rather brilliant. Hopefully it would work.

"I see you've done this before," he panted, his knees really starting to hurt at this point from having rocks digging into them.

"I've used that trick to get out of trouble more than once," they answered back, still without looking at him and he fell silent, sensing that they were trying to concentrate and were clearly in no mood to speak to him.

He kept the questions to himself as he stuck close to them and let them lead the way, doing his best to keep up with them through the dark as they continued up and up the dark tunnel. He didn't know how long they were in that cramped space, but long enough that he felt himself slowly going crazy and a part of him wanted to scream out of frustration—finding himself oddly claustrophobic the entire trip until they came to a solid wall of stone. He wanted to cry out in horror, thinking that there was no way out, but the Warrior calmly put their hand upon the stone and with a bit of heaving, was able to roll it out of their way to reveal the night sky.

Breathing in the crisp air in relief, he followed and stumbled to the ground as they climbed gracefully out.

"Oh, thank gods that we're out," he panted, not realizing how much adrenaline he was pumping from that long crawl and how his body was hurting all over from the effort.

"Yes, come on, we haven't a moment to waste," the Warrior said as they hurried away, causing Alphinaud to scramble to his feet and follow after them. He looked up to the sky to see that it was still pitch black but the stars were shining clearer than ever, silently informing him that it was still very late and that they had some time yet to make it back to the castle.

He then looked back down to get a good look at the surrounding land, well as good as he is able to at this hour, but he realized that he had been here before and that they must have come out near Amity. He made to speak out about this, but then again, the Warrior probably knew these lands better than he ever would.

"Why do you think Ran'jit came back so early?" he asked as he had to jog to keep up with their fast pace.

"Knowing him, he was hoping to catch me off guard," the Warrior answered back, clearly on alert for anything right now. "He's been pretty sore about my little escape from him last time and he probably came back hoping that I would use the time he was away to take care of any problems like the sin eaters."

Alphinaud watched how they paused, their head turned to the direction of the west as if they had just heard something and they cursed under their breath.

"What is it?" he asked anxiously as the Warrior grabbed hold of their hand and pulled them off in the opposite direction.

"The Ladder is moving!" they gasped as they pulled him along with them. "No one would be using the Ladder this late unless…?"

Unless the whole of Eulmore's army commanded it. As soon as they had mentioned the Ladder, he suddenly realized he could hear the distinctive clanking of the moving gears and platforms behind him. He bit his lower lip anxiously as he clung on tightly to their hand while letting them guide him more to the East, though he could not see how they were to escape now.

"Good news is that with the army up here, the pathway back to the castle should be mostly cleared," they said as they panted. "I'm sorry, I had no idea that they would come up here."

"It's not your fault," he reassured them as he felt his lungs burning. "But how could they know that we're up here?"

"No idea," they answered back, only looking back when the sounds of the distant clanking of the Ladder stopped and Alphinaud moved faster to keep up. "Perhaps someone spotted us talking and followed us to the wall? Or he had planned to come up here first for some reason? Either way, I don't think we want to be around to find out."

Alphinaud felt fear really rise up inside him at the thought of being caught and he didn't know how they were going to get out of this one. Could they take the tunnel back down? But when he suggested this, they shook their head and answered back, "If they did spot us going into the tunnel then he will be expecting us to use it again. If he's smart, which he unfortunately usually is, he would have it guarded."

"So then…?" he panted, trying hard not to panic.

"There is another village, Komra, on the other side of the mountains. We can borrow an Amaro from there and fly back to the ground," they answered back. "After that, we can make our way to the castle and sneak in that way."

But unlike before, their voice was stressed and Alphinaud could tell that they were making this up as they went along. He knew that they were quickly being cornered. Why did Ran'jit always have to ruin things for them?

He trailed close to the Warrior as they managed to make it to the mountain walls and stayed close to the craggy rocks as they moved along it. It was only a few minutes later did Alphinaud spot the faint lights of the Dwarves homes built right into the walls of the mountain did he see where they were heading to. He felt a little more optimistic at this point and even allowed himself to hope that they could make it back in time after all… but of course his own thoughts had to doom them just when things were starting to look up.

They had just stepped away from the mountain, planning to make a beeline straight for the village, when the Warrior tackled him out of nowhere. Alphinaud let out a startled cry, wondering why they were attacking him for no reason and tried to push them off when he saw the flash of white covering his vision and let out a scream.

It seems that the final sin eater they were looking for had managed to make its way up the cliff and had set its eyes upon them. It was enormous, and in the form of a massive beast with large wings as it let out a hungry roar.

The Warrior pushed Alphinaud out of the way just as the eater went barreling straight towards him. The Warrior stood in between him and danger like how they did that night and fought against the eater, standing their ground even as the massive beast, the size of a gigas, pounded into them, sending them flying through the air and smacking against the mountain of stone behind them.

Alphinaud looked up as he saw them hit the stone and slid down, hitting the ground in a crumbled heap.

"No! Are you alright?!" he cried, getting up before the sin eater noticed him and Alphinaud felt his entire body freeze in terror as he stared up at the massive fiend, it's mouth opening wide so that he could see its pure white fangs bared and dripping with saliva. It lowered its head with the intention to devour the weaker of the two first and he could only tremble, too shocked to even move, mentally preparing himself to be eaten…?

But without warning, the sin eater froze up itself—its body seemingly trembling as a half choked cry of pain erupted from its mouth. Alphinaud came back to reality and moved away quickly as the creature statured… and it dropped, falling forward as if it were a mountain of boulders. Alphinaud, who managed to side step the eater, was breathing hard as he couldn't understand what happened until he got a good look at its back. The Warrior's blade was sticking out of it, having been thrown from its owner despite its great size and weight, and having found its mark when the eater had its attention turned on him.

Alphinaud didn't know what to think as he tried to grasp what just happened. Once again, he had been saved by the Warrior of Darkness from a stray sin eater because he hadn't been paying attention. He looked around, his heart still hammering, and he saw that the Warrior was struggling to get back to their feet, holding onto their ribs with one hand and leaning heavily against the wall of the mountain.

He ran back to the Warrior once the remaining eater finished crumbling into dust and the sword remained embedded in the ground. He was alright… only slightly scratched up from where he fell, but otherwise unharmed.

But the Warrior…?

He had raced to their side as they sank to their knees, doubled over in pain where they held onto their ribs. Guilt filled his entire being as he moved closer, still panting hard, only filled with guilt over the thought that they were suffering right now because of him…? But as he drew closer… he saw that part of their mask was crumbling away, having hit the side of the cliff face with such force that it was cracked down almost in half…? And when he approached them, with only the light of the moon directly above them… he could see part of their face… part of their long hair that escaped from the tight bun that was hidden beneath the hood. It was here that he realized that the Warrior of Darkness… was a woman.

But not just any woman… for he recognized those long pink locks anywhere.

"C-Claire?" he choked out as his wife slowly looked up at him where he could see her face appearing from behind the destroyed disguise.

(Wow… so the truth is finally out! And yes, Alphy seems to be into the strong and mysterious, if not dangerous, types if he was getting turned on by just looking at them. This is going to make their future conversations very awkward. But now that he knows, they are going to be having a very interesting talk soon enough… assuming they can get back to the castle in time! Hope you're looking forward to next chapter where they have to risk a reckless plan to get back to the tower before being spotted.)