The militia wasn't out for long. By the time lunch was ready and set up, they were back and covered in blood, with the exception of two people who must have been long-range fighters. They came back with large bags of loot that for the most part, one person was carrying, and they were dropped near the door. Ana handed out towels, which they used to wipe blood of their faces, and then disappeared into the back. The only people who were still missing were Brontes and Kalen, and Igneous really found himself missing Brontes in a sea of people he didn't know. The only other person who he felt comfortable around was Ana, and that was only because she also spent some time around him.

He recognized Hadrien, but the two of them never really interacted.

The group didn't crowd him though, giving him a chance to shovel food into his mouth. He barely tasted anything, he was simply content with just making himself feel full for the first time since the festival. Only a handful sat at his table, one of them being the youngest ursurine that Igneous had ever seen, though Igneous almost didn't recognize him as one. He didn't quite tower over everybody yet, though he was taller than everybody when they were all sitting, and his wrists were bare. When Igneous got a better look at him, he realized that he was there when he was rescued. He wouldn't be able to pick out anybody else, but he could recognize the person who carried him.

He must have caught Igneous staring, as he looked down on his wrists and then looked at Igneous with a sad smile. "Yeah, I don't have the stone bracers like the other ursurine do."

"What's stopping you?" Igneous asked. When he gave it a bit of thought though, he wasn't sure how ursurine got their stone weights. He never thought to ask Gerben or Orla what it meant to have them, he just knew that they were there to prove their strength.

"I don't know how to get them," he mumbled. "I don't know who makes them. Humans could make me metal ones, but they refused to even try making them from stone. They all say that a professional ursurine carver has to do it, and I don't know think there are any in or around Valburn. If I wasn't separated from my parents, I would know these things."

"Because of slavery?" Igneous wasn't sure if it was an appropriate question. The others at the table, a bookish man, a strong looking man, and a woman, didn't seem bothered by it. He sitting beside the bookish one, probably a mage, and the woman was on the other side of him. The strong looking man was beside the ursurine.

"Of course. It's hard for a humans for enslave a fully grown ursurine, so they get them as little cubs and make them think that they deserve to spend the rest of their lives doing all the heavy lifting that humans can't do. I'm out of that life now though!" he said with a broad smile. "Anyway, enough about me! What's your name, again?"

"My name is Igneous."

"I'm Tora!" he said. He turned and pat the man beside him on the shoulder, startling him. "Introduce yourself."

"My name is Brion," he mumbled, clearly not as excited as Tora seemed to be. "I was a slave too," he added quickly before digging back into his meal.

"I'm Laurel," the lady said with a wave, then pointed to the man between her and Igneous. "This is Marin, he doesn't talk too much, but he's a great mage. So, how did you end up in the hands of slave traders? I can see why they would want you, but you weren't travelling on your own, were you?"

Apparently, Brontes, Ana, and Hadrien kept their mouths shut. They didn't know his name, didn't know why he was around, and probably didn't know who he was either. He was just the guy they saved, who spent most of his time with them passed out on a bed. How much should he share, then? Would they crowd him if they knew? He looked at them all again, and decided that they probably wouldn't. Maybe Laurel and Tora would, but Brion and Marin probably wouldn't care. In the end, he decided to repeat most of his story, just cutting out some of the details that he didn't think were too important.

He was pleasantly surprised to see that Laurel and Tora kept to themselves more than he expected. Everybody at the table seemed to perk up when he declared that he was the oracle, and people from the other table seemed to go quieter as well, but nobody asked him to prove it or to read their futures. It was just like how Brontes seemed to take it all in stride for the most part. He still didn't ask about what Igneous saw when he first met him, and he was the only person Igneous could think of that had their future read and didn't seem to care about what it entailed. Even Igneous would have asked if he had been in Brontes' shoes.

Brontes and Kalen arrived just moments after he finished his tale. He was wearing the mask he had on earlier, though pushed up to the top of his forehead. The only thing that really differentiated him from the rest though was the sheer amount of blood was covered in. His teammates had splashes of blood too when they arrived, but he must have taken on the majority on his own.

He wiped his face off with an already bloodied towel.

"Did you find somebody to take them?" a woman asked as she got up. Igneous could remember seeing her before, but he couldn't recall her name.

"Yeah, they're being escorted home now. At least those mercenaries were decent people and took them all for a relatively cheap price," Brontes said with a sigh, before his eyes landed on Igneous. He walked over. "Oh hey, nice to see you out with everybody else. And eating! Hey, Kalen, didn't you say you knew the person he was looking for?"

"Oh, Amaryllis? She's one of the assassins I talk to sometimes. She comes to me if she needs some extra information for one of her targets, but I've also passed some targets to her from others," Kalen answered. "How do you know her?"

"We met her target, I guess, and she decided to tag along after."

"Huh, that's a little unusual for her. Maybe she'll come looking for me then."

"Can we get her to fight for us?" Brontes asked suddenly. "Along with the rest of your group? There's a good chance that we started a civil war today and we need everybody we can get. "

"Brontes, that's hardly appropriate," Hadrien said with a scowl. "He doesn't have any reason to fight for us, and I'm sure he didn't intend to stay in Fraedia."

Igneous shook his head. "I want to leave Fraedia in a better state than I found it. The only problem is, I don't know if any of my allies feel the same way. Maybe I'm the only one who wants that, and everybody thinks I should be going to the places I saw in my visions a while ago. I don't know how use magic yet, so I'm not going to be any use on the front lines anyway."

He could see it now. Gerben would join him, while Saikur and Leigh would probably try to convince him otherwise, but they would join him once he made it clear that he wasn't going anywhere. He really wasn't sure about anybody else though.

"It's still worth asking them when they arrive," Brontes mumbled. "Anyway, I need to go see what our funds are like now. Tora, if you would please."

Tora got up and went to the bags he dropped earlier. Since lunch was mostly over, Tora dumped the bags on the table Igneous was sitting at. Igneous peered inside, resting his knees on the table in order to be high enough to do so, and found that they were filled with masks, similar to the kind that Brontes wore, and small bags that had emblems stitched on the outside. He could vaguely remember seeing people wearing masks like that when he was on the platform, but he didn't know why they were wearing them.

He found a red half mask with golden diamonds painted over the eyes, with some yellow gems attached on the top and bottoms of the diamonds. He wanted to try it on to see how it looked on him, but seeing them also made his stomach drop, so he decided to drop the mask back into the bag with a frown.

"Why are we keeping these anyway?" Brion mumbled as he stared at the ones in the bag.

"I was thinking we could burn them all when we're done. It is fun to wear one when sweeping the corruption, but everybody should know our faces... Maybe we'll just let everybody who had their life ruined by those masks get rid of them."

"Sounds fitting," Igneous mumbled.

"Anyway, come around everybody, it's time to count coins," Brontes said. There was a collective moan, but regardless, everybody joined him.

Igneous woke up late in the night when he heard somebody shuffling down the hallway. It struck him as odd, since he wasn't usually a light sleeper, but maybe it was because he slept for so long before. He got up quickly, and followed them down the hall, only to find that it was Brontes with his sword in its sheath. Near the door, Kalen was holding somebody.

"What are you doing, Kalen? Who is this?"

"I'm Calum, the former..." he paused to groan, practically falling out of Kalen's grip.

"Prince. He means prince."

"Put him down and guard the door," Brontes mumbled, drawing the blade from its sheath, pointing it at the man's throat. "Give me a good reason why I should let you live. You're the embodiment of everything wrong in Fraedia. Everyone is suffering around you and yet, you've done nothing to help them!"

Without hesitation, Igneous ran and slipped himself between the sword and the prince, his arms raised. He respected Brontes for everything he wanted to do and for everything he already did, but he wasn't going to let him just kill somebody without hearing him out, especially when he was already injured. Brontes didn't lower his sword. It was pointed at his belly, but he couldn't feel it.

"Brontes, he asked to be here, and I think he might be helpful," Kalen said, raising his hands. "I wouldn't have helped him get here if I didn't think so. He escaped Zahan, he's horribly injured-"

"Kalen, stop. I'm looking for Calum's explanation, not yours!" he said, his voice low. "Igneous, get out of the way."

"No, I'm not letting you just kill somebody without listening to what he has to say first!"

Brontes sighed, keeping his sword in place, but he didn't demand that Igneous move again either. A small win, Igneous decided.

"If you think I could stop anything, then you really have no idea how any of this works," Calum grumbled, his words slurring. He was weak, but he could still speak surprisingly well despite the slurring. "It doesn't matter if I was the prince. If I was seen being nice to a slave, I would be turned into a slave myself. Maybe not by my parents, but by other nobles. If my parents decided to outlaw it, they would have been killed or also sold into slavery, and the rest would fight to figure out who gets the crown next and reinstate it. How is that helpful?"

"I'm sure you could have done something."

"I have," Calum mumbled. "I paid attention to the noble rumour mill. I have names of nobles I believe would probably help a third party. They're not going to risk losing everything they had, but I doubt they would mind helping somebody win if they didn't think it could be traced back to them."

Brontes' eyes continued to drill into Calum, his hand still holding the sword steady, just in front of Igneous' belly, like he was the one being threatened. He scowled. "And when were you planning to give somebody else this information?"

"... When I was king." Calum's voice cracked. "I wanted my parents to be safe. I was going to pass the information along when I was king and give up the throne. My parents were planning on letting me inherit the throne within a few years but... I mean, they weren't great monarchies but they were still my parents..."

Igneous didn't look behind him, but he could hear Calum beginning to quietly sob behind him. He felt bad for Calum. By the sounds of it, Brontes was working slowly too, he just split more blood than Calum did. Brontes really couldn't judge.

"Brontes, seriously, put the sword down," Kalen said once again. "You were going slowly too. It's not like he was just sitting there doing nothing! Don't be mad at somebody because their parents weren't great people! He's also the only one who knows what happened in the palace!"

"I don't want to talk about it," he whispered.

Brontes lowered his sword, letting it lean against the wall. His expression softened a little bit, his eyes losing the fiery anger they had before. His shoulders sagged, which was enough for Igneous to relax himself and finally let his arms rest at his side. "Kalen, where did you find him again?"

"Near the palace. I don't know how he managed to escape, from what you've told me."

"The mage let me out to piss everybody off," Calum mumbled quietly, his voice still cracking. Igneous finally decided to look back at him, finding him sitting on his knees with his hands resting beside his legs. He could see how wet he still looked, especially around his cheeks, but it wasn't the same kind of wet that made his clothes seem to stick to his body. Brontes face scrunched up again, his brows furrowing.

"Stay here. I'm going to wake up our healer, and you can tell me more about what information you think will be of use to me when you're feeling better." Brontes whirled around and walked away, down the hall.

"My name is Igneous," he offered, holding out his hand. Calum stared at it, but he slowly took his hand. Suddenly, he was surrounded by water. He was floating in it, his arms and legs spread out, his hair weightless and floating. He could hear some vague voices, but he couldn't understand what they were saying since the water went past his ears, but the effect was strangely soothing. All of it was strangely soothing. He was weightless and free. He blinked it away. "What... do you plan on doing after all of this?"

"I just want to get out of Fraedia... maybe that's wrong, but... this place is too much for me."

"From what happened in the palace?" Kalen asked.

He nodded, his eyes glued to the floor. "Their general is a complete monster."

Brontes returned with Ana shortly after. Kalen helped Calum to one of the tables, since he lost the strength to stay upright on his own, and Brontes lit some extra torches to give Ana more light. With proper lighting, Igneous wondered how Calum survived to get out of the palace at all. Most of his skin was covered in scratches, half healed and open wounds, and bruises in various stages of healing. His right eye was swollen, and his right ear was notched near the top, which didn't seem to be healing.

"I'm going to need the staff, Brontes," she mumbled, sending Brontes away again. "He told me who you are... and I'm surprised he spared you."

Calum said nothing. Ana continued to look him over.

"No signs of infection. Impressive," she continued, just as Brontes came back with the staff. She grabbed it without looking away, and Igneous watched as the most grievous wounds closed up, and even some of the bruising cleared, or at least shifted colours from purple to yellow. Kalen and Brontes took him upstairs shortly after.

Calum was asleep for most of the next day, so Igneous found himself truly bored for the first time since the festival. Most of Brontes' regulars were on high alert, so they were constantly going in and out of the building and didn't stay around long enough to chat. The only exception was Ana of course, since she didn't often seem to leave the building due to her age, but instead of leaving the building, she was constantly checking in on Calum.

He knew better than to sneak out too. Hadrien and Ana didn't even want him to go near the windows.

The door opened and Igneous looked towards it to see who was coming in. He was surprised to see two people he didn't know, and he wondered if he should go find Ana, because he was starting to get worried about all of the visitors Brontes seemed to be getting. There was a young man, probably only a few years old than he was, with wavy, dark purple hair. Some of it was tied back into a small ponytail, but most of it hung around his face. He had a light tan, which seemed somewhat typical of Fraedians, and blue eyes. His clothing was plain – a cream coloured shirt and dark pants, though he also had a lance strapped across his back.

For some reason, the young man seemed oddly familiar. It took him a moment to put together – he resembled some members of one of Adoss' noble houses. He read his family members, but he wondered how closely related he could be, if he was living Fraedia.

The other person was a woman with greying brown hair, pulled into a neat braid, and wrinkles on her forehead and the corners of her eyes. She also had similar clothing to the younger man, who may have been her son come to think of it, with the same coloured shirt, but she wore baggy, maroon coloured pants. While was clearly aging, she still had a lance in her hand, standing with a straight back and sharp eyes. When she laid eyes on Igneous, she dropped that lance in favour of running up to him, cupping his face with her wrinkled hands.

He yelped, jumping out of her hands. He almost lost his balance and he had to jerk forward for his hands to find the table again, finally steadying himself.

"Oh, you don't like to be touched? I forget that Vulcan was like that too around others. I can't believe the new oracle would be at my sister's though! I've waited sixteen years to meet you! My name is Clara, and I was Vulcan's guardian and-"

"Mother, please," the young man mumbled, pulling his mother away from him. "He's clearly uncomfortable."

Once she was away from the table, Igneous could finally relax to process everything she said. "Wait, you were Vulcan's guardian?"

"I was much closer to that. Max here is proof of that," she said, patting her son on the shoulder.

"I thought that the previous oracles didn't have relationships with anybody," Igneous said with a frown. They always spoke about how the oracles seemed to give everything to their job, even giving up whatever romantic feelings they may have had for other people. He always got the impression that it would be odd, or outright discouraged, if he hooked up with anybody, and that it would be another thing that made him different from the others. Maybe the elder ones at the temple hadn't meant to imply that when they mentioned it, but Igneous wasn't sure how else he was supposed to interpret that.

"We kept it a secret because Vulcan didn't think it was wise to let anyone at the temple know. He was worried that they might try to find a new guardian for him if they knew about our relationship. That didn't stop us from taking trips into town every weekend to be intimate though! It's a surprise really that Max was the only kid we had!"

Igneous felt his cheeks burn. He felt like his entire view on Vulcan just crashed and burned. Not only did he probably lie about his relationship status, and probably about Max, but he was apparently quite active in bed. Igneous only knew Vulcan from the others as stoic, somebody who took his job very seriously, but he had a saucy side. How did he manage to hide such a passionate relationship?

"Did you hide him too?" Igneous asked, pointing to Max.

"She said my father was one of my actual father's brothers," Max said with a shrug. "It was the only way they could explain some of my similarities to his family. That meant that they thought it was cute when I referred to my father as 'dad' though. I only got to know my father for a bit though. He died when I was four."

Igneous frowned.

"How long are you going to be here for, Oracle?" Clara asked suddenly. "I have something for you from Vulcan. Max will run and grab it after dinner."

"I don't know," Igneous said with a frown. "Hopefully, for a while longer."

"Great! I'm going to go find my sister and see what the heck is going on," she mumbled, taking the stairs up. Max laid his mother's lance on the table, then sat his lance down beside it, and joined Igneous, sitting on the bench close by. He was sure to give Igneous some personal space, which he was thankful for since he still felt stressed from his mother.

"What's the thing your mom wants you to get?" Igneous asked, once they had a moment of silence to themselves.

"Probably the journal," Max mumbled. "My father apparently left one behind for the next oracle. I don't know what's in it, since mother and I never read it, but I guess he always meant it for you."

And he just left it with his lover? What did it contain that Vulcan thought he couldn't tell anyone at the temple about it? He probably saw that Igneous would get the journal at any rate, but what was with all of the secrets? Was there a reason that Igneous should be worried about, or was Vulcan just overly paranoid?

The only way to find out was to wait for the journal, he supposed.

Saikur's mood didn't improve very much. Every time Darren saw him, he was busy brooding or scowling. The only improvement was that he didn't blow up at people anymore, even at Arder who apparently made up the truce with Zahan in the first place. Darren didn't know the names of many of the oracle's friends, but he learned Arder's pretty quickly, mostly because Saikur wasn't very forgiving.

Although Saikur didn't blow up at people anymore, he was still upset and it made a point to be in a constant state of broody and withdrawn. It pissed Darren off, it pissed off the other people who had shorter tempers in the first place, and most of all, it turned Zahreen's attention on him. He was busy watching Saikur all day, so Darren knew he was up to something, and he couldn't look away. It was one of those rare times where they weren't marching during the day, since Ajax and Leigh wanted more information about Valburn before going in, so it was likely that Zahreen was bored and wanted to picked on somebody in the first place. Saikur was brooding and angry at the wrong time.

"You're being pathetic, you know that?" Zahreen said, jabbing Saikur in the chest with a metallic finger. "You haven't taken any responsibility for being a failure of a guardian. You know that the oracle's guardians are the last people who should be wondering where the fuck he is, right? One of you should be with him at all times, but you guys let him be a bratty kid who pushes the rest of you around. It's ultimately your fault that he's gone, so why are you so pissed off at everybody else?"

Saikur had nothing to say in response.

Darren could imagine Zahreen grinning from ear to ear behind that helmet of his. "Besides, I know that if you did happen to be beside him, you wouldn't have prevented anybody from taking him. This would have happened anyway, except that you would be dead or taken as well."

Saikur went red in the face, his hands curling into fists. "Fuck you! I could have done something. I would have held on until somebody could help. I wouldn't just let them take him!"

"I'm not saying you would have just stood there," he said with a chuckle. "I'm saying you're just too fucking weak to be the guardian of anything. Who would have guessed that they could just ask random people off of the street and get the same result? I guess you're special though, since you're crushing pretty hard on him, right?"

Darren didn't like Saikur, but even felt a little bad for the kid. Even he got the impression that Saikur wanted to improve, that he wasn't satisfied with how he was doing, but he couldn't ask for help for some reason. The oracle had two other people who could use axes, so it wasn't like there nobody around who could help, he just refused to ask for it. Darren never saw Saikur really training with anybody else, and that would be what would help him the most.

Saikur did nothing, but just stared at his feet. He didn't even try to come up with a reasonable defence. Suddenly, he lashed out, punching and kicking Zahreen, who didn't seemed fazed at all. Instead, he slipped behind him, grabbed Saikur's arms, crossed them in front of his chest, and then launched both of them backwards. Saikur's shoulders landed on the ground with a loud thud that made Darren cringe. Zahreen's back was surprisingly straight, it was his knees that did most of the bending, but clearly, not even he could remain in that position for long. He released his grip on Saikur and let himself land, quickly rolling and jumping back to his feet.

It was amazing how Zahreen didn't seem to be impaired by his armour at all. It was both a compliment to Zahreen's sheer skill and willpower and to the person who outfitted him in the first place. The only reason he could bend so well was because his armour was well articulated, fitted with many joints and interlocking plates that most armour just didn't have. It could be a source of weakness as well, but he was sure that Zahreen was well aware of the limitations of his armour.

"Oh, is Zahreen kicking somebody's ass?" Darren turned around to see one of the oracle's recruits. The masculine girl. "You're a prince, right?" she asked, watching Zahreen and Saikur

"Oh, yeah. Darren."

"Charli. I take it you were the one who hired him in the first place? He's a good find, you know. I feel lucky to even be around to watch him fight. He has one the best reputations in Fraedia as an independent mercenary."

Saikur groaned, but managed to get up a few seconds after Zahreen did, only for Zahreen to wrap his arm around his neck, pulling him into a tight headlock. For a second, Darren was worried that maybe his hired bodyguard was going a bit too far, but his worries were unwarranted as he let go, letting Saikur fall to his knees. He was gasping for air.

"He sort of found us when we were in trouble, but yeah, I agreed to pay him."

Zahreen grabbed him by his hair, pulling him up. "Somebody who would actually want you dead wouldn't have let you go. It's easy to knock somebody out doing that."

"Fuck you."

Zahreen chuckled again. "You can keep using that sort of language on me if makes you feel better, but it isn't going to make you any stronger. If you can admit that you're weak, pathetic, can't protect yourself let alone protect anybody else, then I'll help you out. I'll give you a moment to think about that."

With that, he dropped Saikur and waltzed up to Darren and Charli. "Enjoy the show?"

"Is that going to help him?" Darren asked. Saikur looked pathetic enough already. He was like a kicked puppy. It was pretty tragic, really.

"Some people are motivated through proving assholes like me wrong. I might as well use his anger for a bit of entertainment, and he should use it for his betterment. You and Fara aren't as fun to insult anymore," he mumbled, resting his hands on the hilts of both blades. "See? You guys are living proof of that."

"And what if you're just tearing somebody down who can't build themselves back up?" Darren asked, his attention flickering to Saikur, who finally picked himself off of the ground. Saikur seemed like he could go either way – either wallow in self pity, or do as Zahreen predicted he would, especially if the oracle wasn't around to help his self-esteem.

"I wouldn't lay it on them, then. I'm a jerk, but not the living embodiment of evil. If I insult somebody, it's because they need to realize that they aren't the tough shit they thought themselves to be, and once they realize that they were nothing but hot air, then they can begin to learn."

"I dunno, that guy has problems," Charli mumbled, crossing her arms.

Zahreen shrugged. "I think he'll pull it off. I had to learn that lesson too, so I know just well as they do how it feels to be torn down, but I also know how rewarding it is to become somebody new."

"I didn't expect you to be so thoughtful," she mumbled, blinking.

Zahreen paused, then chuckled lightly. "It's expensive to get to know me."

Saikur approached them from behind, his stance a little shaky but his eyes burned with an emotion that Darren couldn't quite identify. He was either pissed or determined, perhaps even both.

"Teach me how to fight like you," he mumbled. His voice shook too, but he didn't waver.

Zahreen laughed for a good bit, then patted Saikur on the shoulder with his right hand.

"You better get used to the taste of dirt, then."

Saikur scowled but said nothing more.

Before Darren could get another word in though, a pegasus landed beside them. The rider had blonde hair, so he could recognize her as one of the newer recruits, but her name eluded him. Saikur stood straighter, the scowl on his face quickly disappearing.

"How did the scouting mission go, Penny?"

"It was interesting," she mumbled. "There were a lot more bodies in Valburn than I was expecting, and they didn't seem to be bandits either. It's a little strange. Where's Ajax and Leigh?"

"Should be near the centre of the camp."

She thanked them, then led her pegasus away.

"Huh, that is a little strange for Valburn. Valburn's shitty, but not that shitty," Charli mumbled. "Is it that Brontes guy?"

Darren blinked. He never knew how small of a world Fraedia truly was. Charli seemed to have heard of everybody, and Zahreen seemed to be able to keep up. People just didn't stand out like that in Adoss, unless you were the oracle. Saikur and Darren exchanged a confused look, one of the rare times they were both on the same page.

"Maybe, but I kind of doubt it. He never seems to do enough fast enough to make a difference. Maybe he finally snapped though. If he didn't kill bandits, then it must be the people who buy slaves for the nobles. I'm only guessing though, I tend escort merchants, so I don't end up close to the slave auctions," Zahreen mumbled with a shrug.

Charlie nodded. "I'm guessing that must be the case. I've seen a few auctions before and the audience always has a bunch of people wearing masks. He must have killed those freaks."

"Who the hell is Brontes?" Darren asked.

"He's somebody who decided to make a private militia to combat the corruption in Fraedia," Zahreen muttered. "But he's been at it for years and hasn't gotten anywhere. He's slowly amassing an army, but it doesn't mean anything if they don't actually use that army. From what I hear, he's actually a pretty good warrior, so he's just letting it go to waste on some small time bandits. He might just have just changed his mind though."

"So a really careful man suddenly did something reckless and stupid?" Darren asked.

"Doesn't really sound like Brontes when you put it like that," Charli said with a shrug. "But as far as I'm concerned, shit happens. The only way we'll know what's going on is to go in there but no, we have to wait."

"We'll be going soon enough," Zahreen said, placing his hands on the handles of his sword. "Tomorrow, probably."

"Tomorrow, huh?" Saikur mumbled. "Can't wait."

I live, don't you guys worry. Happy holidays!