No one said much to each other the next morning. Prince Isgellian had replaced his glamour and had bandaged his own arm. Decian noticed the skill with which the Prince did so. Even on his own arm, Prince Isgellian had the precision of a trained medic. He didn’t say anything about it, of course. Nor did he say anything about the strange way Jedd’s shirt hung over his chest before he excused himself from the group and came back ten minutes later. He recognised what the dwarf was hiding, of course, having seen the same with his own king a number of times. But he said nothing. He didn’t ask Ridley about the long blue pendant that hung from around his neck. He didn’t question the way a deep frown slowly seeped across Avaeon’s face as he stared off into the trees, before something startled him, and his nervous smile returned. He didn’t question anything, only observed. He wasn’t here to make friends, after all. He was here to do his job.

But then Avaeon pulled his ocarina from the pouch. “I wonder if the siren can be affected by music the way she uses it against people…” The satyr mused, turning the smooth black instrument in his hands. Decian looked over, curious at what he meant, but when he saw the instrument he shuffled back.

“What is that?” He asked, staring at the thing as if frightened by it. And frightened, he was. Because he could see what no one else could. He saw a black mist shrouding it, long shadows curling away and pulsing around the instrument like smoke.

“It’s just my ocarina? Been in my family for decades?” The satyr asked, confused by the soldier’s reaction to such a little instrument.

“Are you aware that it’s been enchanted? O-Or rather… cursed?” Decian frowned, unable to remove his eyes. It was a strange type of magic he’d only seen very few times. Those few times were…

“What do you mean?” Avaeon asked, looking between Decian and his beloved instrument.

“It’s full of magic. Soaked in it. Very, very dark magic. Magic I’ve only seen… shrouding monsters.” Decian frowned at the memory. “The most fearsome beasts I’ve ever faced…”

“Is the big, fearless soldier scared of a little flute?” Isgellian mocked, rolling his eyes. “How are you supposed to keep it together around the siren if you practically shit yourself at the sight of an instrument?” Ridley snickered, and whispered something to Jedd, earning a sharp glare from Isgellian. “What?” He growled.

“It’s just weird to hear you swear.” Ridley grinned.

Jedd nodded, “Yeah. Ya say ‘em so… dainty.”

“My point still stands.” Isgellian rolled his eyes and turned back to Decian. “You are not as tough as you say.”

“The ocarina is cursed. Shrouded in black magic that I’ve only ever barely escaped with my life. I believe that justifies a certain amount of concern.” Decian said, keeping the promise he’d made to himself the previous night. He kept his expression blank, and his voice level.

Avaeon just gulped and put the ocarina back in its pouch.

“Look, you’ve frightened the satyr!” Isgellian huffed, “Though, it isn’t much of a difficult feat…”

Decian turned to Avaeon and gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m sorry if I’ve alarmed you. I’m… sure there’s some other explanation for the magic.”

Avaeon just nodded quickly. “I-It’s alright. W-We should… um… Go, shouldn’t we?”

Decian looked around to the rest of the group, who’d suddenly gone quiet. “Yes, we should get going…” He sighed. “The Heart isn’t going to find itself…”

“The central lake’s r-really big… How a-are we going to find it?” Avaeon asked as they got up and began tying their packs to their mounts’ saddles. Decian summoned Krenn, taking his time in case she’d been sleeping.

“Legend says the fight was by the north shore. That’s where we’re goin’.” Jedd explained, “We just gotta go by the ruins of the ol’ dock. That’s where they say it happened.”

Decian patted Krenn’s neck, but frowned as her head swiveled, staring wide-eyed around the trees. She shifted her paws and crouched a bit lower. She was anxious. “What’s wrong?” Decian murmured.

“Oats… calm down…” Ridley said over to the side. That’s when Decian noticed that the others’ horses were acting up, too. Master oats reared, and when he landed back on the ground, he ran. Ridley tried to chase after him, but a few seconds later, he had to focus more on not getting trampled by Isgellian or Jedd’s horses. “Fuck!” He shouted. “What—Why are they--?!”

Krenn looked up at Decian, her ears flat. She was terrified. He could tell she wanted to run, too. He sighed and kissed her head. “You’re doing well.” He whispered, before unsummoning her. “The prophecy. Animals flee south.” Decian said quietly, looking to the others.

“Fuck… They were fine until just now…” Ridley groaned, and raked his hands through his hair.

“My pack. I-I just tied my pack!” Isgellian growled, frustrated. “As if this damned quest could get any worse.”

“Hey, lighten up. We still have to go fight a mythical beast who hasn’t been defeated in hundreds of years!” Ridley chuckled, trying to make light of the situation.

“We’ll have to share our rations with Isgellian and do the rest of the journey on foot.” Decian told the others, who hadn’t lost their packs when the horses ran. “It happened, it sucks. We carry on. Come on, let’s go.” The soldier nodded in the direction they needed to go and began walking.

The forest was calm that morning. Eerily quiet, but by that point in their travels, the five had gotten used to quiet. Past the leaves, the sky was blue. Decian would have admired the beauty of the green forest they were travelling through, had he not been worried about the upcoming encounter.

Avaeon seemed calmer than normal. He skipped along, looking around the trees, humming to himself. At one point, when they had stopped for a rest, the small man gasped and ran off.

“Where are you going?” Ridley called after him, following slowly. “We’ve got to stick together!”

“I found berries!” Avaeon grinned. “Fire berries!” When he came back, he had a handful of small, bright red berries. His tail was wiggling happily, and his eyes were shining. “I love these, they’re so yummy… Try one!”

Ridley raised an eyebrow but took one of the berries between his fingers. Decian watched Isgellian slowly wander over. If he dares ruin that man’s mood… The nocten frowned. This was the first time any of them had seen Avaeon excited.

“Why does it feel warm?” Ridley asked, looking over to Avaeon.

“Because it’s a fireberry.” Isgellian rolled his eyes. “You really don’t want to eat that…”

Ridley narrowed his eyes at the elf. “Why not?”

“It’s poisonous.” Isgellian crossed his arms.

“What?! No, it’s not! We eat these all the time!” Avaeon insisted, his brown eyes going wide. “They’re especially good to have in the winter!”

“They’re going to burn you.” Isgellian didn’t even look at Avaeon.

“Oh, yeah, I wonder who I’m going to trust. The elf who’s likely never left his precious city before, or the satyr who lives off what he finds in the forest.” Ridley drawled, rolling his eyes.

“Fine. But can I just do one thing, before you put that thing in your mouth?” Isgellian asked.

Ridley frowned. “I suppose…”

Isgellian reached in his pocket and put a glove on. “Give me your arm.” He said, holding out his ungloved hand.

The human watched the elf warily but did as he was asked. Isgellian grabbed his arm, then with his gloved hand he took a berry from Avaeon’s handful. He squished it between his fingers. Slowly, he pressed the juice-covered glove against Ridley’s. The man gasped, and yelped, trying to pull away, but Isgellian held on tight until he’d drawn an ‘I’ on Ridley’s arm.

“O-Ow! F-fuck, what--!” Ridley winced. The skin was already beginning to blister.

“So, who are you going to trust? The elf who knows plenty about plant life, thank you, or the satyr, whose race is descended from gods, and can eat most plants that are poisonous to us with negligible effect?” Prince Isgellian raised an eyebrow at the human soldier, who’d grabbed his canteen and did his best to rinse the juice off his arm.

Avaeon looked like he was going to cry. “I-I’m so sorry! I-I-I didn’t r-realise!”

“It’s okay. Just... Keep in mind that we’re completely different races, next time.” Isgellian sighed, his voice borderline kind for just a moment.

Everyone was too confused by the princes near compassion to risk saying much for the next hour. Ridley was the first to approach Prince Isgellian. “So,” He hummed, stepping up next to the elf, “How much do you know about plants?”

Isgellian eyed the man warily. “… Plenty. Why?”

“Do you know what this is?” Ridley pulled out a flower from behind his back. Decian looked over just as Isgellian’s eyes lit up. He grabbed the stem Ridley had picked, with a few small yellow flowers clustered on the ends.

“Where’d you find this?” He asked, suddenly looking around, trying to spot it.

Ridley laughed loudly at the elf’s excitement. “I mean, I found it back there, a way… What is it? What’s it do?”

“It’s St John’s Wort…” Isgellian explained, going so far as to even crack a smile, “I like to put it in tea. It's my favourite.”

“Ooh, I know this one!” Avaeon said as he walked over. But then he paused and looked at the prince, furrowing his brows. “I-Isn’t it used for--” Avaeon looked almost pitying, but the prince didn’t let him finish his sentence.

“I find it calming, that’s all.” Isgellian's smile was replaced with a scowl as he tucked the plant into the little pouch that hung from his hips.

Ridley kept doing that throughout their travels. Finding random plants and asking the elf if he knew what they were for. The brief moments before the Prince could reel in his enthusiasm were the only times the others saw him smile.

The day seemed to drag on forever, but all would have agreed that it came to an end far too soon. Thanks to the loss of their mounts, they didn’t reach the lake until evening. It wasn’t the sight of water that informed them of their arrival, however.

It was a skeleton.