He was right, of course: Miala and Amas did eventually get their happy ending. With Canaria's awakening the Monastery was more or less defunct, as its entire reason for existing was to protect her tomb. With the tomb empty it was only a matter of time before they abandoned their way of life and were assimilated back into the temple, removing the last few barriers between brother and sister.

It was probably for the best. Only a week or so later, Canaria would be destroyed by UnFae. It would be a massacre, and by that point Huan would no longer be there to stop it.

Huan Strongarm: A Bartfort Folktale, by Lufas Maphaahl

Leon tore through the countryside, crashing through trees and monsters alike and pulverising them into nothing. In less than half an hour he was back inside the Blood Barrier, his claws skittering across the rocks as he ran full tilt towards the Monastery.

The leapt across the red lake, shrinking himself until he could use the elevator and impatiently wagging his tail as the lift golem slowly hauled them upward. "C'mon. C'moooon… Yes! Finally… What the hell?"

The grounds were littered with passed out monks, filling his nostrils with the scent of puke, faeces and alcohol. The kegger promised by Abbot Laurent had been of truly epic proportions: many of the monks were in various states of undress, and discarded brassieres and other unmentionables hung from the branches.

Leon padded through the silent Monastery, looking back and forth in mystified confusion. "Damn. Maybe we should have stayed."

"Why?" Onemore chuckled. "Neither of us can drink anything."

"True." The Chamberlain suddenly shoved past him, leaning over the battlements and violently vomiting over the side. "At least they had fun."

"If you say so."

Leon politely averted his eyes as he walked past Wid and Sama, who were out cold and snuggling under a tree. Wid was wearing a wildly slutty maid outfit, while Sama was wearing woolly grey socks and nothing else. Sister Bilan was hustling back and forth with an arm full of blankets, covering anyone who happened to be naked.

She did a double take when she finally spotted him. "Lord Huan? What are you doing back so soon… Ah, did you forget something?"

"Kinda, yeah," he nodded. "I need to see Canaria. Can you take me to her?"

"She's not here."

Leon just stared at her. "She's not… W-W-What do you mean she's not here?"

"I mean she's wandered off during the night," said Bilan distractedly. "I'm sorry sir, but I really need to hand these out before someone catches a cold." She wandered off, leaving the wolfdog to sit back on his haunches in total silence.

"I'm sorry, Master," whispered Moz sympathetically. "I know she was your last hope…"

Leon blinked in genuine confusion. "My last ho- No, don't you remember? The Harp of Dreams said that she would turn me back if I killed Elodach."

The Comet General had to think for a moment. "Oh yeah," he said eventually. "So… what's the problem?"

"The problem is that she's been in a coma for like a million years!" Leon's tail thumped anxiously. "What if she gets hurt? Moz, what if she's already dead?"

"We can just find out for ourselves," Onemore pointed out reasonably. "You can just sniff her out, can't you?"

Leon blinked. He panicked for a second there, and had legitimately forgotten his supernaturally powerful sense of smell. "Yeah, I… I guess I can. In fact, let's do that now."

He turned to leave, only to yelp and leap a foot in the air out of surprise. Miala screamed, having approached him from behind while he was distracted. "By the sandy cheeks of Xek, don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry!" Leon blurted. "I just… I was thinking about something else. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She didn't look fine. She had placed her hand on the wall for support, and was clutching her chest as her shoulders heaved. "I… I'm not great with surprises. I'm sorry for sneaking up on you."

"It's fine." Leon suddenly remembered that he was doing a sidequest for this woman. "Moz, can you give her the necklace?"

"Will do." Sir Onemore morphed back into a knight, the gem on his chest flashing as he pulled out the Iomani Necklace. Miala's face went blank as he placed it in her hands; he switched back into a bracelet as she ran her fingers through the beads.

"My mother's necklace," she breathed. "How… But how could you possibly…" Leon told her everything he had heard from her brother, about how he could no more travel to the Monastery than she could leave it. "He's alive," she whispered, her wobbling lips curling into a smile as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Amas is alive! Thank you… Thank you so much!"

"Anytime," said Leon gently. He desperately wanted to smile, but by now he had accepted that smiles were terrifying on a large dog like himself. "Is there anything else I can do?"

"No! I mean… This is more than enough." Miala took a deep, steadying breath. "I find solace knowing Amas is alive, but my brother is right. We have chosen paths that may never cross."

Leon desperately wanted to tell her that Olivia was going to bring a new era of cooperation between the Monastery and the temple, meaning that soon they would meet in person, but he decided that it would be better left as a surprise. "While I'm here, I met a ship full of Muthavi back in Holfort-"

"They left about an hour ago," smiled Miala, rubbing her eyes with her sleeves. "A man with Xek colouring and a Muthavi accent arrived for her and mentioned a black dog with a jewelled bracelet. Sister Qelah is now on her way back to her homeland." She looked around furtively before leaning in close. "Please tell no one. Only the Abbot knows."

Leon's ears perked up. "Laurent? Is he conscious?"

"Not anymore, no. He was only up long enough to rustle up something for his hangover and caught them by chance. Apparently he had a vision of her leaving in advance."

"Oh." That was a shame; Leon had been hoping to say hi.

"He asked me to pass on a message: he said not to look for Lady Canaria. She doesn't want to be found."

"Right," nodded Leon slowly. "Good to know." He trusted Laurent's judgement. "Well, I should probably be heading back. I, uh, left a little abruptly."

"I see. Well, I hope you-"

"My liver!" There was a sudden scream from off in the distance; oddly, this time Miala didn't look surprised. "Why? Why did I betray you?"

"That was Lyene," she chuckled. "He's a big girl's blouse."

Leon galloped at full speed back to the city, never feeling remotely tired or out of breath. Olivia was just arriving at the front gate and seemed surprised to see him. "Huan? Did you… Have you already made a round trip?"

"Yeah. Why?"

This got a bemused smile. "Nothing. It's just that I set off from the palace as soon as you left and only just got here. I was going to wait for you."

Leon was legitimately impressed with himself. "Wow. I'm really fast." They wandered back through the from gate; Ragneli and the other merchants gave him nervous looks, but the guards were well and truly out of fucks to give when it came to the magical dog running in and out of the city.

"So, bad news; Canaria's in the wind. The Abbot says I'll never find her, and since he can see the future I believe him."

"Oh dear." Olivia absentmindedly petted him as they walked. "So does this mean we're going with the backup plan? The… The magic harp thing?"

"Yep. Which means bringing down Elodach and his UnFae. Maybe I should make a list, like in Kill Bill." He caught her blank look out of the corner of his eye. "It's like a revenge drama sort of thing. The guy who made it was legendary for his foot fetish."

"Right…" Olivia looked deeply uncomfortable and changed the subject. They said hello to Guts and Earis as they crossed the Devil's Bridge into the market square, getting waves from Bibrus, Jarl, Cattleya and many other people as they passed through. The amount of friends they had made with their rampant sidequests was slowly but surely starting to build up. "What if this doesn't pan out either? What if the Harp can't follow through on its promises?"

"Then I'll just have to find Canaria," shrugged Leon. "I'll probably wander the countryside until I trip over her. You can come with me, if you like."

For some reason this took her by surprise. "I can?"

"Sure! We can make a road trip out of it, raid some dungeons and get ourselves some decent equipment. Act like adventurers. Maybe let the idiots come along, provided they don't piss me off."

"Yeah. Yeah!" Olivia's face lit up at the thought. She began happily chatting about all the things she had dreamed of doing after entering the human world, like eating chocolate and wearing things on her feet; she clearly wasn't thinking about the Greatest Wolf to Ever Draw Breath, and Leon didn't feel like reminding her.

For a beautiful, shining moment there were no worries and no looming threat of unavoidable death. There was just him, his friend and the sunny day. As he watched her laugh and smile, Leon imagined how Olivia might react after the Wolf came for him. How it might make her feel.

The very thought of it broke his heart.

He knew, then, that he would never abandon her.

Never leave her alone.

That he would stay in Holfort.

With her.

By her side.

He knew, then, that he would never see his family again.

"Are you Olivia?"

Their way was barred by a beautiful young woman standing in the street, her arms folded authoritatively below her breast. She had red eyes and blonde hair that she kept tied, her fantastic figure causing Leon to immediately lose his train of thought. She was wearing a noblewoman's riding outfit, with white pants, black boots and a red waistcoat.

As with almost everyone Leon had met since arriving in Holfort, Leon already knew who she was.

"My name is Angelica Rapha Redgrave. I would like to ask you a few questions about my fiancé."

End of Part 2 of 5