"According to my intelligence, the oracle's party should be arriving in this village," Weinstrad said simply. They were on top of a hill, with Daphne on her left and Weinstrad and his pegasus on her right. He had a hand up over his eyes, blocking the sun's glare. The village was sprawled out under the hill, too far away for them to be able to see much besides the buildings and the main roads. The people were merely dots that move around a little.

"What are we doing up here then?" Azalea asked. She wasn't used to the sort of politics that came with actually organizing an attack or even finding their target. She was letting Weinstrad do more and more, simply because he had the capacity and the confidence to do everything they needed. She only became a general somewhat recently, so leading troops on such a scale and making orders that were somewhat independent of her own orders weren't something she was exactly used to. At least Weinstrad was an interesting person, to say in the least. "And why did you send some of our own in there unarmed?"

"I can't fathom using our troops to fight right now, especially since I haven't heard back from Veiser yet about whether or not Russell actually did manage to take the royal family on. It's important to keep our presence here minimal until we have a better idea about what's going on," he said with a shrug. "I've paid bandits to cause some trouble for the oracle. Our troops are just there to watch and assess how his group is in battle, see if there should be anybody we should be worried about... and to see if they have anybody interesting." His lips curled into a wicked sneer.

That was the face he used whenever he had manaketes on the mind. She personally didn't care of his passion, Azalea was just happy he was interested in her work because of it. So long as he had something to play with, then she too had a project or something entertain herself with. He wanted long acting poisons, with symptoms would make anybody miserable. He also wanted poisons that could kill somebody quickly and quietly and while he didn't exactly state the reasons for such things, Daphne made an interesting observation. He reeked of blood, though she couldn't smell it herself. In other words, he didn't necessarily want messy kills. Or at least, not all the time. Whatever he was using the blood for, Azalea could understand the importance of getting as much as you can.

"So we're just up here to look pretty," Azalea mumbled.

"If you need ingredients, then feel free to go find some," Weinstrad mumbled. "I doubt I'd be much help."

"Actually, a lot of plants have both helpful and harmful parts to them. In some plants, it's only the berries or the bulbs of it that are poisonous so nobody thinks twice about them. Other plants are entirely poisonous. I'm sure I could do something with most plants."

"I see... it might be worth my time to brush up on plants," Weinstrad mumbled, keeping his eyes on the village underneath the hill. "But for now, I'll just watch here."

"Suit yourself," Azalea mumbled, walking away from him and down the side of the hill away from villages. Luckily for her, Fraedia was choke full of plants. She often took time to leave Zahan to visit Fraedia or Adoss herself, just to gather the necessary materials – it was hard to be interested in toxins and poisons while residing in Zahan. The only materials she could get in Zahan came from grinding rocks and minerals down to powder. At least Zahan had plenty of rocks. She now had an excuse to be in Fraedia and she might as well grab some materials while she was at it.

"I still don't like these people. Why do you continue to associate with them?" Daphne asked.

"The military is where people have an interest in my skills, both as an archer and as an apothecary. Even you have to appreciate the fact that the military appreciates you. I'm also ready for something to change... not just in Zahan but in Haelin overall," Azalea mumbled.

Daphne didn't look convinced. "You still have me. We don't have to be involved at all. But if you would rather be here, then I'll stay with you."

Azalea glanced down, pulling out a plant so that she had the full roots. However, she felt a little bad that Daphne just followed her around, joining in whatever she wanted to do. Surely, Daphne could do something else with her life. Azalea was grown up now, she while she welcomed Daphne's presence and often even sought it out, she could survive without her now if she really had to. She didn't have to depend on others. Maybe Daphne could change her name back and adopt another lost soul and guide them through life. She didn't look it but she definitely had a maternal instinct.

Daphne bent down and began picking plants with her.

It didn't take long for them to reach the next village and Igneous was thankful for that. For one, it was clear that the armoured guy, he later learned that his name was Zahreen, was starting to even wear on Igneous' patience. It wasn't that he was insulting everybody, he seemed to pick on Darren and his friends more than he picked on people who were new to him. However, it seemed like most people were just bothered by the fact that he had a sharp tongue in the first place. Igneous certainly didn't want to hear it.

The village gave them room to get away from each other for a little bit. Leigh, Garath and Elena were looking to add to their supplies, so they headed towards the middle where the small markets were. In the mean time, Igneous explored the village with a small group – Mira, Will, and Saikur. Will was sulking behind them, still barefoot and holding his bow. He looked defensive and he was clearly uncomfortable being there but Igneous figured that he was just keeping an eye out on Mira.

However, Igneous didn't feel comfortable in the village either. He had yet to see much of the corruption that Fraedia seemed so famous for but he supposed that the corruption was something seen closer to the capital. However, in the absence of the corruption, he could clearly see the poverty. It was clear that most of the homes were single roomed buildings in varying states of repair. Some lacked doors, making a thick curtain the only protection the citizens had against the elements. Other houses clearly had different types of wood added on as repairs or small extensions, completely homemade.

It was also clear to him that the children were the only ones were making the best of their situation. They were still smiling and running about the streets. Igneous was never quite that innocent as a child, mostly due to the teasing he got from everybody, even the adults. Even if it wasn't for the teasing, some of the visions he had as a child were rather dark in nature. He was more used to the dark matters now, having seen death and other tragic events over the course of ten years he lived at the temple but they weren't exactly easy as child.

The other thing that really bothered him was that the village was full of fortune tellers. He was instantly filled with anxiety, enough to make him pull up his hood and tuck his bangs behind his ears, the best he could at any rate. Igneous personally had no dealings with fortune tellerd, the normal everyday people who didn't have the gift he did, and that was because Adoss didn't have many fortune tellers. Most people went to the oracles because of the reputation they held, the reputation of being 'true' and 'right', enough so that some even believed in a god of some sort as the origin of his gift. Where else could such a gift suddenly appear from? Igneous wasn't so sure about a god but he knew that some of the people at the temple believed in a god or goddess some sort. A vague deity that nobody could agree on, only that it must exist, whatever it is.

The fortune tellers in Adoss didn't have such a reputation. The citizens of Adoss seemed to have more or less all decided that most fortune tellers were scammers. Suddenly, they were all people would want take money and tell lies in return. Between the competition with the oracle and their sour reputation, most of them left.

So while he had nothing to do with the migration of fortune tellers from Adoss to Fraedia, and the fortune tellers that lined the streets looking for patrons would not be the same ones would had to move, he felt like they would blame him. He was the continuation of the legacy that displaced their parents or grandparents. He felt more comfortable hiding in his hood, hoping that nobody would recognize him as the oracle. He did look remarkably similar to the other oracles, according to everybody who knew Vulcan and apparently, Vulcan heard a lot of about how he was similar to Mayon. His appearance alone was what attracted the attention of the knights who were passing through his village, singling him out as the oracle before he could even prove his talent.

"What are you doing?" Mira asked curiously, in a sing-song voice. She looked a little uncomfortable too but he knew it wouldn't be for the same reason as to why he didn't feel comfortable. He wasn't exactly sure of what happened to the siblings, he was sure that slavery was in their past since slavery was a concern brought up by Mira, but he was sure that was enough for them to be uncomfortable. As long as they were in Fraedia, there would be a chance that the group would come across more slave traders to remind of them their past.

"I'm hiding," he answered back quickly. This caused Mira to look around curiously while Saikur merely gave him a strange stare, like he was wondering if he should be worried about him.

"From what? The fortune tellers or the children?"

"The fortune tellers!" He felt a little silly about it when he said it out loud. "If one of them recognizes me, it's just going to be a lot of drama. They're mostly here because of the oracles."

Will mumbled something under his breath but Igneous missed it.

"Sounds like they would be jealous of you," Saikur mumbled quietly. "But aren't they all liars?"

"I don't know. I haven't met any of them!" Igneous shouted in a whisper. He was actually interested in other forms of divination. He heard of people using cards, bones, or reading the skies for signs from the other priests before but that was only because he asked what people used before the oracles. He had a passing interest in it, at least for the fact that it might help him understand himself a bit more. He just wasn't sure if anybody would tell him anything. The people at the temple seemed to discourage it, encouraging him to continue to do what he knew how to do, and he didn't feel like the fortune tellers would tell him anything. Why would they?

"They tell people what they want to hear," Will said quietly. "That's worth something in a hopeless place like this."

"Is it really hopeless?" Igneous might still be naive, he could believe that, but there had to be somebody who cared about Fraedia somewhere. There had to be somebody who cared enough to do something.

Will huffed. "The nobles will just keep perpetuating the system that works in their favour. They've been doing it for centuries and nobody's ever been loud enough to put a stop to it. I don't think there exists a time in Fraedia's history where slavery wasn't apart of it! There's never been a successful uprising, the people know this and the nobles uses it against us!"

"Will, that's enough!" Mira said, raising her voice slightly. Will didn't look too fazed but he didn't meet her eyes. Igneous could feel the tension building, so he eagerly looked about for a way out of it, something to distract the two of them or at least distract him.

And he quickly became thoroughly distracted. He noticed three men approach them with an air of malice, each of them holding a weapon in their hands and grinning. They weren't all big and burly, which surprised Igneous somehow. Only one of them matched what he always imagined a bandit to be, large – covered in scars, wiry hair, missing teeth, and holding a weapon that Igneous was probably about as long as he was tall. The other people would have passed for ordinary people had they not been so close to the the big ugly guy. One carried a bow and the other carried a sword.

They attacked first, the swordsman slashing his sword at Will, who nimbly dodged and in one quick motion, he pulled his bow out and fired an arrow. However, he only managed to hit the bandit's arm and it was clearly not enough to keep him back. The swordsman didn't event bother removing the arrow, he just followed with a succession of attacks and managed a shallow blow on Will's arm.

"You two need to run!" Saikur shouted, stepping in front of them with his axe. Mira and Igneous nodded and turned around, running in the opposite direction.

"Be careful this time!" Mira said as they ducked into an alley and into the first open door they saw. There wasn't any sign of those bandits, so they took a moment to catch their breath. They ended up in a tavern of sorts and it was busy at that, which was odd since it was so early in afternoon. He supposed that in Fraedia though, the bars would be busy all the time. The place was small but every unstable looking chair at each table was occupied.

"Hey, aren't you guys a little young to be in here?" one of the patrons mumbled as they brought a drink to their lips. Most of the patron were a little rough looking, not like that bandit rough, but it was clear that most of them saw battle or saw something terrible in their lives. Igneous didn't get a good vibe from them.

"They look about as young as that chick, maybe even younger," another said, jerking their thumb to a small table set for two. In seat, was a girl that did look about their age but Igneous guessed that she must have been older, since she had a mug of ale. She had dark skin, like she was heavily tanned, and she wearing mostly grey. She had most of her teal-coloured hair wrapped in a grey head shawl, she wore a grey, long sleeved shirt, and black pants. She had her feet up on the table, leaning her chair back as she drank her ale.

Her drinking partner did look older. He had the same, dark skin that his partner did, with unruly, dark brown hair. He had a headband but it didn't seem to keep the hair in check so Igneous guessed that he wore it because he liked it. He had a tattered, open vest that Igneous guessed was once white, and brown pants of similar condition, torn at the knees. He was chugging the ale back.

In the moment that both Igneous and Mira were distracted, the big bandit from before burst through the door. Igneous and Mira jumped but the man grabbed Igneous' arm. He refused to let go. Igneous found in a tough situation – he was himself trying to get away but since he didn't want to injure himself too badly in the process. He could only struggle so much before he could feel intense discomfort in his shoulder, just because the bandit would tug on his arm. However, the problem was solved when somebody threw a chair at the man and he was finally able to safely pull his arm away.

The guy Igneous was watching from before jumped and tackled the bandit to the ground, instantly going for a shot to the face. Mira gently pulled on Igneous' better arm.

"Igneous, we have to get away."

"Where are we going to go? They're blocking the door."

"You guys are probably safe now." It was the man's companion. "Cyrus doesn't know how to back down. Besides, you can pay anybody in here to kill the guy. Heck, they might even do it for free."

Igneous watched, stunned as the bandit punched Cyrus' nose and rolled him onto his stomach. It was in that moment that he realized that Cyrus was actually a fair bit smaller than the bandit. He wasn't as tall, his muscles lean, not bulky like his opponent's muscles were. In size alone, Cyrus was at a disadvantage but Igneous knew from people like Saikur that size wasn't the only factor in a battle. Saikur definitely didn't have the body of a fighter, he looked more like he should be carrying a sword, but he never seemed to have any problems with his axe. Cyrus looked to be the more skilled of the two, faster and capable of delivering more devastating punches that made both Mira and Igneous look away a couple of times before he was finally able to knock the man out. He stood up and that was when Igneous noticed the black eye and the blood nose.

"Well, good job, Cyrus." She had her arms crossed, clearly not impressed. Apparently, it was so common place in Fraedia that nobody batted an eye at a bar fight. The barkeep didn't even seem to be bugging the two of them for damages, like it happened all the time. He was a little disturbed just by the relaxed attitude that happened around a fight.

Mira looked a little less surprised than he did must have looked, but she didn't look like she enjoyed it either.

"You never seemed impressed, Alissa."

She huffed. "That's because you get into bar fights all the time! We can't ever have a nice, peaceful drink without you getting into some sort of trouble! We're lucky we're in Fraedia and fights in general are so common nobody gives a shit anymore. Come, we should get out of here."

Cyrus shrugged and followed her out. It took a moment for Igneous to follow after them. "Excuse me," he mumbled, making them both turn around. "Thanks for saving us."

Alissa was seizing him up. She stepped up close. "What the heck are you doing here anyway? You don't look like you somebody who would bother with Fraedia. No wonder that bandit followed you in. You're asking to be mugged at this rate."

Igneous quickly put his hood up. He didn't know when it fell down, perhaps during his run from the bandits.

"We're looking for mercenaries," Mira said, her voice more calm and collected than Igneous would have expected. She didn't look calm and collected, she looked a little rattled by everything, and yet she was still willing to help when he ended up being distracted and wordless. "So if you're interested, we have gold."

"Well, Fraedia's the best place for it," Cyrus mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"If you're offering, we're not going to say no. It's basically an escort job, isn't it? Pfft, that's easy. It's more relaxing than bandit hunting anyway." Igneous blinked. They didn't even get into the details of the job yet. It wasn't bandits that they were worried about, it was the looming threat of Zahan, with whatever they wanted or wherever they were. It worried Igneous more that he had no idea what they wanted or if they were even an immediate threat to him – he hated that he didn't have more control over what he saw, then his gift would be useful!

"Are you sure you're going to agree to it so quickly? It's not just the bandits but we also have Zahan on our trail. They killed the king of Adoss. That's why we're here," Igneous said.

Alissa raised an eyebrow. "If the king of any nation died, we probably would have heard of it. How come you know that? Were you there?"

"No but I just know," Igneous sighed. He didn't want to get into the oracle bit just yet. It was easier to just avoid it then say that he wasn't there but still saw it. "The Fraedian king is probably in danger too, not that you guys probably care about that. Zahan might even be better than who you have right now." He received a shrug from Cyrus and Alissa. "But the point is, they're still after us and they are a threat. If you're going to agree, you have to know that."

Alissa waved her hand dismissively, surprising both him and Mira. "I already said yes. Sure, it might not be as relaxing as I thought it might be but a job is a job. Besides, I'm not good at sitting down and thinking about things. It might be a bad idea but whatever." She shrugged at that. "I'll take my chances."

"The more you try to talk us out of it, the better it starts to look," Cyrus said with a grin, which settled into a smaller grin when he noticed that more bandits turned to the corner. A look of realization spread across his face for a moment before he bent down and picked up the axe from the unconscious bandit. He met their weapons with the stolen axe. "Hey Alissa, are you going to be helpful today or not?"

"I'll go get the axe you forgot," she said, running back into the bar.

"I'll take that," Cyrus mumbled as he buried the axe into the belly of a women. The other bandit, seemed to decide that it wasn't worth it and fled quickly. "You have a group, right? Mind if we go everybody else?"

"We're going to go check on my brother first," Mira said with a nod.

When Alissa returned with their belongings, Mira and Igneous led them back to the spot where they left Saikur and Will, who thankfully stayed in the same spot. Will was already inspecting his wound and he didn't seem to get anymore. Saikur stood guard. Igneous noticed that the biggest difference between the scene before he fled and the scene after was that the kids were gone and there were bodies on the ground. The fortune tellers didn't look amused but they seemed to be in the same spots they were in before.

Saikur saw them immediately, quickly sizing up Alissa and Cyrus. He ran up to them while Mira dashed to her brother's side.

"I'm starting to notice a pattern here," Saikur mumbled quickly. "Are they coming with us?"

"I'm impressed!" Cyrus said loudly. "You're quite small for a fighter! Good job, kiddo."

Saikur looked away. "I... thanks, I guess."

"We should get going. If they attacked us, the rest might have been attacked too," Will mumbled as Mira tightened a cloth around his arm. He began walked down the street, Mira following close behind him, but looking back at Igneous with a worried looked on her face. They followed them in silence, as they found the rest of the group. Apparently, not everybody was involved in a battle, apparently. Zahreen was with Darren, Ajax, and Fara, and they didn't seem to know anything beyond the fact that there was a commotion. Charles was minding his own business when they spotted him taking a stroll around in the town. Amaryllis was busy posing in front of two young men in what Kaetar assumed wasn't an entirely innocent interaction. Orla and Gerben were hanging out in a different tavern, and didn't see anything either, and Orla was talking about how she liked to put honey in her ale when they found them.

Igneous didn't know what ale tasted like, he wasn't allowed to have any sort of alcohol, but he wasn't sure if those two flavours mixed.

Everybody else though, was aware that there bandits and even fought them. Caalya was cleaning off her lance with a rag when they reached her and pegasus. Reina was with them, thankfully unharmed. While Igneous knew she was half-manakete, he was beginning to wonder if she would ever use her powers. Arder and Charlie bumped their fists together with Iniabi watching, still on edge. Everything was fine with Garath, Leigh, and Elena were fine as well and still ended up getting more supplies. Thankfully, injuries were all minor, nothing that Elena couldn't take care of. They were quick to leave the village behind.

"Wait, so why didn't the bandits attack everybody? They should have gone after Darren too! He's a prince!" Igneous asked as they were on the trail leading out of the village. It just didn't make sense to him. Surely, Darren, a prince on the run, was just as wanted as he was. The biggest difference would be that he was sure Zahan wanted him alive but they would probably want Darren dead.

"What?" Darren growled. "Did you see my death now too?"

"No! It's not like that!" Igneous growled back. He tried to ignored the feelings of anger that washed over him because really didn't have much reason to be angry. He was upset that Darren gave him dirty looks all day but that shouldn't be a big deal. He could see how angry Darren was, even if he tried to conceal it, so he knew Darren would want to pick a fight. "Even if I did, why should I tell you anyway? You wouldn't believe me!"

"It's all just self-fulfilling bullshit, that's why! My father truly believed he was going to die. He didn't even think about trying to get away, he didn't do anything to try to stop it. He just accepted it! He trusted you more than he trusted me! In fact, all of Adoss does that! Nobody ever has to think for themselves because they all know they just have to ask the fucking oracle. You could have said they were on fire and they would have believed you! All you oracles did was create dependency!"

"Language," Fara warned.

"He didn't think about getting away because he wouldn't have! He would have stayed for his people and for his children! If I didn't say anything, it probably would have still happened anyway because I'm just a messenger! In fact, you and your sister would probably be dead! Do you think I like telling people that they're going to die? You think I like being the odd oracle out and the Oracle of Death on top of it? I don't need you criticizing me just because you have daddy issues!"

Darren jumped off his horse and lunged at him and he was only stopped because Zahreen grabbed him and held him in a headlock before he could do anything. Darren didn't struggle against the man but he kept the sour look on his face. Igneous didn't go after him because he knew better but Iniabi grabbed his hands and pulled him back anyway. He had to admit, he was riled up but Iniabi and Arder holding him back upset him even more. He hated being touched. He tried in vain to thrash his way out of their grip, not so he could go pounce on Darren but just so that they wouldn't touch him.

"Hey! Let me go!"

"I don't know what problems you two have but we have bigger things to worry about," Arder mumbled, keeping his voice calm. Igneous would calm down too, if they let him go. He knew Arder was strong but he was stronger than he looked, as was Iniabi. He couldn't move his arms very much. "We were just attacked by bandits. Shouldn't we talk about that? "

"Because it's Fraedia!" Charlie called out, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Bandits happen all the time! If there are people they didn't attack, they probably knew better. I would attack Zahreen."

"What a smart little boy you are!" he said with a snicker, laughing even harder when Charlie shot an obscene gesture his way.

"Regardless, we need you two to attempt to get along," Iniabi said.

"Or you just let them wrestle it out on their own," Elena mumbled with a shrug from the top of her horse. Her horse even seemed to whinny in agreement. "I mean, they both said things that sound like they were bottled up. It might do them well in the long run to yell at each for a bit longer and just let it out."

"That's not much fun for the rest of us... but I guess we could just let them scream at each other while we're not around. Let's go back the arena and we can let them scream somewhere else," Charles said thoughtfully, the bell around his neck jiggling slightly.

"No, we're not doing that," Leigh mumbled. "We'll let them talk it later but for now, we need to keep moving. Let them go." Iniabi and Arder were quick to let Igneous go and Zahreen was quick to let Darren go too, more or less tossing him towards his horse. Igneous couldn't believe that somebody like Darren ended up just letting Zahreen do whatever he wanted without any sort of consequence.

"We'll go to the back," Fara mumbled, waiting until Darren was up on his horse before moving her own. She was saying something to him quietly but Igneous couldn't hear any of it. Ajax followed behind them on his own horse but Zahreen apparently didn't feel the need to follow them. Igneous huffed, taking a moment to calm down before he continued on the trip. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

But when he opened his eyes, he was suddenly in a dark place. The sky and the ground were both pitch black and the only person he could see was Reina, looking at him with a concerned look on her face. She looked bright in the darkness, her silver hair and dress almost glowing due to the contrast with their environnent. From behind, a bloody figure rose from the ground, hoisting its weight up on one arm and raising its other arm towards her. Everything dripped with blood and the figure seemed to be made of it, rather than covered in it. She managed to turn around just in time to avoid it complete, stepping back to get away from it.

He blinked and suddenly, he was back with the group.

"Igneous?" Leigh asked.

"Huh?"

"Did you see something? The new ones almost went on without you," Leigh mumbled. "Did you tell them you are the oracle?

He shook his head but it wasn't like he was going to say anything now. He wasn't even going to say what he saw out loud, he would just find time to talk to Reina later and that wasn't hard to do since she stayed up so late anyway. If she was better with combat, she would be perfect for night watch.

"I'm ready to keep going," Igneous said.

"Then let's go."

After they settled down for the night and he had his lessons with Iniabi – nothing practical yet but he had a feeling they were getting there – he found himself in front of Reina's tent. He called from outside and she let him in. She wore a white night gown, that covered her arms and most of her legs in a soft, silky-looking material. Igneous wanted something in that material and it almost made him forget just what he was doing there. He had to focus!

He explained the vision to her, in as much detail he could muster. She frowned.

"I was in Zahan about... two years ago? Time kind of loses some meaning when you live for so long," she mumbled quietly. "It wasn't my first time there but until everything blows over, it will probably be my last for a while. There was a rumour that there is a man there who kidnaps manakete, tortures them, and bathes in their blood. I even heard he grinds up their bones to use in a potion."

Igneous could see how terrified she was. She was shaking and had her hands over her mouth, taking a break to collect herself before she could continue.

"I don't really look like a manakete thanks to my rounded ears but... I didn't want him or anybody associated with him to see through me. I didn't want to take that chance so I just ran back to Adoss and stayed there in Mira's troupe until you came along. It just reminds me of all the pain my mother went through before she met my father and I don't want to be close to that! If he was from Zahan, he could be after us!"

"Reina... remember, he didn't touch you in my vision." He? When did it turn into a he? "But you need to be careful. I'm still worried."

"I know. I feel like I'm the safest here even though my heart wants to run. I don't get along with everybody... and I'm not sure if anybody outside of you, Caalya, and Mira consider me as their friend but even then, I still feel like everybody would protect me. I mean, that's what they have been doing. Even so, I can't let my guard down." She looked calmer but she was still wringing her hands together by her chest.

"Are you going to be alright?" Igneous asked. He never saw her so freaked out before.

She hung her head. "I don't know what to do sometimes. It hurts to make friends... friends that I know I will outlive. The longer I stay here, the more friends I will make but I still like it a lot here. It's more fun than being on my own and I'm sure my parents would want me to have friends. I want to run and yet I know I'm safe here. If I run now, he could get me. If he could take down so many manakete, then I don't have a chance on my own."

"I think staying here is the right call," Igneous said seriously. "Enjoy the happy times instead of being scared of being hurt at all. Maybe we'll also find another manakete for you to be friends with."

"You're right," she said softly, a small smile appearing on her face. "It will be hard but I'll stay. It's what is best right now. For now though, I think you need to get some sleep. I know you enjoy your sleep."

"Yeah, I'll go to sleep," Igneous mumbled, backing out of her tent. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight," she said quietly.

Igneous left. He was beginning to think that maybe they should start doubling up because he was surprised they still even had enough tents for everybody. Alissa wasn't even in a tent, she was relaxing up in a tree. He shook his head and headed inside his own tent.

To clear things up, I want the support conversations to kind of feel like they have a place in the story, so the ones that get their own separate chapters will be between actual chapters of the stories. I don't want to do two supports in a row but it might happen on day, who knows?

Also, somebody wanted more from Zahan. It isn't much but enjoy! I'll be jumping around a lot more in the next chapter too for some political stuff. I don't have a politics degree. Why do I do this to myself? .