It took the four of them a long while before they reached Brike Port. They were tired, their feet hurt, and the sun finally set behind the palm trees. Only the dim light of a crescent moon lit their way through. After an entire day of walking, they were rather hungry.

Serra stopped to take a break on a rock. Just as Neil had predicted, the entire trip was uphill. The terrain was steep and the plant life overgrown on the pathway. Difficult as it was to navigate, they had finally reached the top. Drenched from the moist air, they took a well-deserved rest.

"It got dark quick." Edmund pointed out. He grabbed a canteen from his bag, took a sip, and handed it off to Serra. "How much longer?"

"At the top of the hill, it should be a steady descent. Not too far." Neil promised. He rolled the map back up and slipped it inside one of the pockets of his bag. It was heavy, and although he was used to carrying it long distances, his shoulder was beginning to hurt. His eyes fell on the canteen the siblings were sharing. Had his supplies not fallen into the water with his teacher's boat, he too would be partaking in sweet hydration.

Edmund noticed his stare just as he took a rather large gulp of it. Looking into the hole of it, there was a fair amount left. "Here." He passed it over.

Neil grinned, at first not moving. "Are you sure?"

"If we're near town it shouldn't matter. We've been walking all day with no food or water." Neil didn't move. "Take it."

"Ah, well, if you insist." He took the canteen and took a sip. The cold water felt nice against his tongue. A welcoming feeling on his parched lips.

"What about...her?" Edmund gestured to the demon. 

Neil poured the water in his hand and offered it to Val. She licked it up, careful not to get it on her fur. "Now that the sun is gone, it's gotten a bit cold, hasn't it?"

"We're soaked from the humidity." Edmund guessed, glancing at his sister. "You're alright?"

"I'm fine, Ed." She smiled and put on a brave face. Still, she squeezed her ankle. 

He noticed. "I can carry you on my back if you're tired." He offered, but she shook her head. "Are you sure?"

"I'm fine."

Edmund did not believe her but decided to let the matter rest. He turned his attention to Neil. "Have you ever been to Brike Port?"

"No." He answered quickly, getting Val to look up from her drink. Her tail flickered. "But we've been to Rimswell."

"Where are you from?" Edmund asked. "You said you weren't from Gramore."

"I'm not from Gramore." Neil suddenly stopped moving. "And I'm not from Rimswell."

"Then?" He wanted to pry further, but the emerald-eyed man was making the most peculiar face. It was almost as if... he was scared? 

Val's fur flickered once more and brought Neil out of thought. "You should put your flames out. We're close enough to the port."

She did so without much debate. Extinguishing them was never the painful part. It was reigniting. However, without those flames, she felt naked. Like a newborn baby. Once her flames were out, her eyes seemed to return to a fox's natural black color. At that point, she was indistinguishable from an ordinary fox. 

"Now, are we all rested up?" Neil asked suddenly, jumping to his feet energetically. "Should only be a bit longer."

They got to their feet again and continued through the forest. The moon provided very little light, being a crescent and hidden behind the canopy of the trees. Without Val's tail, navigating the rest of the forest became a challenge. However, Neil suspected the time of day would make it easier to conceal their identities if any Gramorian military were stationed at the port. 

"Are you sure we're close?" Edmund asked after some time had passed. "You're not reading the map wrong?"

"I've been reading maps since I could read Gramorian," Neil promised. "Trust me, we're right at the border between the forest and Brike Por-aaahhh!"

A sudden ambush cut him off. Before he even knew what was happening, a rope tightened around his ankle and brought him up into the trees. Men in masks armed with guns jumped from the bushes. One grabbed Serra and pinned her to the ground. Another threw a basket over Val. Edmund put his hands up and was about to put all his years of training to work, then froze. 

He looked down the barrel of a gun.

"Vatayo ma'r samei?" One of the armed men demanded. He wore a much different attire from Edmund. Whereas the Gramorian men dressed more formal, in traditional suit, the Rimswellians consisted of mostly farmers in light gray, loss fitted clothing.

The other men surrounded them. 

Edmund stared at him, perplexed. He had no idea what the man said. 

The man, who a brightly colored skeleton mask with small holes for his dark brown eyes to peer from, grew impatient with Edmund's silence. He nudged the gun, as if believing Edmund simply hadn't seen it. Repeating himself, "Vatayo ma'r samei!" 

"I don't understand!" Edmund finally reacted only after hearing his sister whimpering behind him. He didn't dare turn away from the gun. 

Turning his head to the side, the masked man motioned another, younger-looking boy, forward. "Vatayo havargar?"

"Yun aimno havar." The boy replied.

Grunting, the man turned to Edmund again. "Eh, tutno. Vatayo govom ma hatha'r?" 

Just as Edmund heard the bullet load into the chamber, expecting this to be the first and last time he'd ever witness a gun in person, Neil fell from the tree. He landed so hard that the trunk he landed on broke under his weight. Half stuck inside the tree, Neil grinned stupidly at Edmund. "Hello."

The man glared at Neil. "Yun kayro mourge!" 

Neil's smile faded instantly. "Eh, zei, zei." He insisted, attempting to pry himself from the trunk. "Mayar como yunk."

"Toto como sakirn?" 

"Aye."

"Vatayo ma'r samei?"

Neil paused. He cleared his throat then replied, "Rimswell." When the man clearly didn't believe him, he added. "Eh, mavok sakaro slailm." 

The men looked between themselves, then back at Neil. "Vatayo havargar?" He asked, gesturing to Edmund.

Biting his lip, Neil took in a deep breath. "Eh... Zo..." He looked at the sky. "Ma-movak sakro slailm, eh, havargar ud." He paused, then added. "Yun'r avar Pragn ze Dorelli."

Whatever Neil had said to the men caused a stir in the group. They began talking over each other, some repeating the same nonsense thing until finally, the man with the gun quieted them all down. He let the gun fall to his side. His eyes landed on Neil. "Tek sakirn uso?"

Neil blinked. "No."

"Avar se pu na svink. Tek. Sakirn. Uso?"

"No."

"Zen hor." The man commanded. They released the Azbien siblings and handed Val back to Neil. She was angry but barred her teeth instead of igniting her flames. Glaring at him, the man said, "Vainglorin skor." 

Neil nodded.

As they dropped her, Serra fell into her brother's arms and allowed him to carry her. They walked in the middle of the group of men. None of them understood what was happening. Edmund nudged Neil. "You speak their language?"

Neil nodded. "I told you. I've been here before."

"What did you tell them?" 

Neil was silent. When Edmund attempted to ask him again, he elbowed the Gramorian's side. "Quiet." 

They kept walking. It didn't take long for them to reach the edge of the forest. Directly ahead of them was a quaint looking village with wooden buildings. It was so peculiar looking. Not even the rural areas of Gramore looked so...impoverished. And still, torches lit the cobblestone streets, music played somewhere in the far distance, and children played outside. However, everyone seemed to move to the side as the masked men moved through the streets.

There was a heavy air to the place as they moved through the town. He could feel the glares on them. Almost, he could swear, he heard exactly what they were thinking. His heart pounded loudly in his chest when he looked up to see buildings destroyed. An entire roof collapsed into a house. What remained of it barely standing under the moonlit night. 

His heart sank when he saw the splattered blood that stained the cobblestone. The piles of dead bodies others were busy cleaning up. And just a few steps down the way from where the children were playing before. The further in they got, the heavier the weight of the world became on his shoulders. It was such a beautiful place, full of color and life within the forest. And yet, here, in the village that should have been their home, monochrome and dead. It's the only color being the splattered crimson that matched the eyes of his people. The ones who did this.

Shaking, he felt Serra's hand wrap around his. Her head rested gently against his shoulder. "Are you alright?" 

He flinched. "I'm fine."

The men stopped at the bottom of narrow steps, instructing Neil on something in their language. They exchanged words for a brief moment before Neil gestured for the Azbien siblings to follow him.

At the top of the hill was a house. It wasn't particularly special. It was small, wooden and bare, with open windows. He let his sister down and looked back at the men who appeared to be waiting for something. Edmund looked at Neil who appeared to be frozen in place. "What's going on?" He asked. Even Val seemed still as a statue. 

"I know her," Neil explained. 

Edmund looked up, noticing a woman with her back turned to them who was taking clothing from the line and placing them in woven baskets.

"Then why didn't you mention her before?" Edmund asked, annoyed only until he saw a small tear escape from Neil's eye.

"I never intended to be her."

"Why?"

Neil held his hands together. He knelt to the grass and held Val close to him. 

"Neil, why?" Edmund asked again, this time out of concern. "What's wrong?"

"I have to tell her."

"Tell her what?"

Neil kept Val close to him as he walked very slowly and reluctantly to the old woman. Out of respect, Edmund and Serra decided to stand further back. They watched as Neil hesitated a few times to reach out of her. Then, finally, Val tapped her shoulder. 

The woman spun around quickly, then locked eyes with Neil. She, too, froze in her spot. Her lip quivered. Throwing her arms around him, she pulled him close to her. Her grip on him was tight as if she feared he would disappear if she let go of him. Tears escaped her eyes and fell over her wrinkled face. 

She managed to pull away from him. Her eyes looking into his and scanning his features as if preparing to memorize his face. Despite her tears, she was smiling. "My boy." Her voice came out muffled and weak. 

Neil took her hand. His other wrapped around her waist as he held her take a seat on the chair beside the house. He knelt to her, his hand in his, as he prepared himself for what he was about to say.

"Dorelli..." He let the words out, but they were weak and barely audible. It didn't matter. None of his words would be heard by her, but he knew she could understand everything he spoke. "Dorelli I..." 

Val crawled under his arm, her body warm in his lap. "You need to tell her, Neil."

He knew he did. And he knew by not telling her he was doing something even worse. But he didn't want to bring her any more pain. "Onagi is..." He couldn't do it. The pain ripped at him from the inside. His hands began to shake and his eyes stung as they welled up. "Onagi is...he's gone."

Dorelli's face drained of color. "What?"

Neil sucked in a harsh breath. "Dad's dead."

He watched as the tears fell from her eyes, but she barely reacted. Her voice was barely audible. "Dead?"

"Onagi's was killed."