Clenching onto the cane in his hands, Arx started with introductions. Not that it was necessary. She was a prominent figure in Carpathia, gifted by God with a rare aptitude for magic that rivaled even the most skilled Vazeer from history. 

Arx continued, "Vazeer Vos will accompany you to the front."

A forced smile found its way to Nadia's lips. She offered her hand, but the Ikhorna made no effort to return the gesture. Adeline hadn't even blinked. She was like a quiescent ivory statue, still and silent.

Ignoring the maladroit introduction, Arx got to his feet and limped further into the tent. Across from a large bed stood a circular table. Scrolls were wrapped tightly, tied together by a red thread, and stored in glass jars. Quills were neatly laid out, and a single ink pot rested on the King's royal seal. Twirling his finger over the jar, Arx carefully selected a scroll and spread it out on the table, weighing down the corners with the ink pot and seal. 

The map illustrated Litis and Carpathia's border. Marking their medical unit was a large X. An hour's train ride from the frontlines. More Xs marked the battles taking place along Carpathia's borders. Nadia's eyes drifted over the map, her gaze following past the Capitol, further south. Where the harbors lay and, across the sea, the remote island nation of Ezterra. 

Her thoughts fell on her brothers and their mission, on Emery. Clenching her fists together, her chipped nails marking red against her pale skin, she prayed to God they were safe. 

Arx's voice pulled her out of thought. His finger followed a dotted line from the medical unit to the north, resting on a valley between the mountains that separated Litis and Carpathia. "I'm sending you to Ozryn. Sightings of the Healer were on this front." 

Ozryn might have been one of the smallest cities within Carpathia. Still, without it, Litis would have safe passage through the mountains. The valley would be theirs, and victory assured. 

Nadia shivered at the thought.

"We can not lose Ozryn," Arx's voice was sharp as ice. Golden eyes fixed on Nadia. "We can not afford any more casualties.

Nadia nodded, though her hands trembled. Thoughts betrayed her conviction as phantom images of the dead plagued her eyes. All the blood, screams, gunfire, and bombs. That mountain was their only natural defense against Litis. The only thing that prevented their enemy from entering Carpathia by the thousands. Just one little valley, and whoever claimed it decided the turn of this war.

Her heart lept, and her throat tightened; thoughts ran frantically in her head. There may be hope if they could understand how to harness the stones' power for themselves or at least learn how to shatter them. But how could they gamble it all on an Ezterrian thief? 

It was thousands of years ago, but the wounds between their people were still fresh. Ezterra had every right to condemn Carpathia to hell for all they had done. 

Monroe and Emery might be wasting their time chasing a lead based on the lies of a man who thought only of himself. 

"Is there a problem?" Arx asked, tapping his cane into the dirt floor's carpet.

Nadia stared up at him, her eyes tearing away from the map. "No, Master." 

He leaned in over the table to roll the map back up. "Mind your health, Nadia. You are of no use unconscious in a war." 

"Yes, Master."

"Good." He turned to Adeline, who was so motionless Nadia had almost forgotten she was there. The woman nodded, and Arx returned the gesture. "Dismissed. The both of you." 

Adeline moved first, disappearing through the canvas flaps that made up the door. But Nadia remained, her lips closed tightly together, her unease growing more tremorous by the minute.

"What concerns you?" Arx asked as he cleared the table.

She bit her lip, daring herself to speak out of turn. "My brothers. Have they reported back yet?" 

With a pause, Arx reached for the thread and began to wind it around the paper. Once it was tied, he dropped it into the glass jar, repositioned the ink, and the seal back to their original positions on the table. Plopping down on the bed, he let out a sigh. The cane rested against the side of the wooden frame as he removed his Vazeer jacket. 

"The train was ambushed." 

Nadia's breath ceased. She could barely feel her face. "Wh…what? Are they okay?" Her voice squeaked, suddenly frantic as her pupils dilated. 

"They're fine. They are continuing on to Ezterra as planned."

Nadia sank into the chair beside her. Her body felt away from her. The world around her didn't feel real. As if she were caught between, something like a dream. Without her brothers, she didn't have a family. Knowing they were alive calmed her, but that fear still lingered like a graze on the skin. 

"Sir. Forgive me for asking." Already she could sense the frustration building in the older mage. Arx arched his brow, daring her to continue. "I-if…" Nadia breathed, willing herself to be steady. "If the thief is lying and the girl doesn't know anything," or worse, there was no girl in the first place. "What are my brothers to do?"

A hot seeth leaked between the old man's clenched teeth. It was clear to her that he'd been mulling over the same possibility. Were they this desperate? Things were bleak, but she didn't think they were this bad. She'd known this man for most of her life. She knew him better than to waste time on distractions.

"I've no choice." Voice melancholic, Nadia wasn't even sure she'd heard him right. Arx peered up, a fire still burned in his eyes, but it was faint, waning to a flutter. "If we continue down this path, Litis will win the war."

Nadia felt stiff. It was one thing to consider their fate on her own, but with his words, a man she respected most in the world. He affirmed her beliefs. 

"Those stones are the most powerful source of magic I have ever seen." Arx rubbed his face, fingers combing nervously through the gray curls of his beard. "Try as we might, Carpathia will fall, and all of us with it." His words came out in such a whisper as if telling her was the world's greatest secret. It very well might have. 

If the Kingdom knew that its highest general, the King's right hand, was resigned to their defeat, there was no hope for anyone else.