The doors to the barracks' dining room flew wide open.

"Knew you'd be here. ''

Raylen had been studying a military treatise; he looked up.  Apparently Kamna, a fellow soldier and someone whom he could call a friend, had been looking for him.  She took a seat next to him on the bench.

" There's revels in the Eastern Night Grove tonight, and Tyr an' I are plannin' on going.  Wanna come with us ? "

"Kam, we're supposed to fight the dregyar, not rub shoulders with them.  Besides, it would be disrespectful to our fallen --- "

"Oh shaddap.  The dead are dead, there's nothing you can do about that.  Doesn't mean we gotta live like we are too. "

She had a point.   Still ...

"How are you going to sneak in there anyway? And what if you're discovered ? "

"I wouldn't be standin' in front of ya right now. "

Raylen's jaw dropped.

"You've been to the Grove before ? "

Instead of answering she held out her hand. In her palm rested a square bronze charm, small enough to be inconspicuously sewn into clothing.  Raylen didn't know what to make of it.

"There's powdered dregyar claw worked into the metal.  Conceals yer aura if you attune your aether to it. "

Before Raylen could ask how she had even gotten her hands on dregyar claws she produced a second charm, holding it in front of his face.

"So, are you comin' with us or not? "

Or indulging in pleasures of the flesh. From where he was standing he spotted Kamna passionately kissing a dregyar of indeterminate sex , her hands running over their body.  

He felt utterly overwhelmed.

"Care for some wine? "  

A dregyar woman had sidled up to him, holding a carafe  containing a dark purple liquid.

Mind already hazy, he let her pour a few drops into his mouth.  It struck him how her long black nails glinted in the light of a nearby torch.

"I'd like a sip of that too". Tyr came sauntering over,   his arm around a young man who in turn had possessively wrapped his scaled tail around Tyr's waist. Are you ok?" he asked Raylen, who nodded in a half-stupor.

"Y-yeah, I just have to... "  he stumbled over his words, abruptly walking off , leaving Tyr with a puzzled look on his face.

He wandered aimessly through the garden,  brushing past plants and the occasional dregyar until he was far from the lights and the noise.  

Where was he?

A small meadow of   silvery transparent, large-petaled flowers before him . And at the far edge of the meadow what looked like a shrine, a square building open on al sides with slender pillars supporting a domed top  . There was someone there.  

He approached with as much caution as he could muster in his current state, the flowers emitting flecks  of silver light as they bent under his step.

The first thing Raylen saw of the figure sitting in the shrine was a pale shoulder, bathed in moonlight.  

"Can I help you? "

He jolted, momentarily regaining focus, eyes scanning upward to a face.

Eyes, of a hue one generally expected to find at the fringes of the sky at dusk.

"I'm Erileus", the owner of those eyes said.  "But everyone calls me Eris You are welcome to do so as well."

 Unlike most other dregyar, who were either half clothed or not at all,  Eris wore trousers and a loose, thigh-length robe that hung off his frame and exposed his shouders. One that was held together by a sash that threatened to come undone.  In addition, he had no visible claws or a tail.

"I'm, uh, uhm..."  Raylen sputtered, taken aback.

"A heymnar, aren't you? "

Raylen was lucid in an instant . Shit. Had he seen through the charm's effects?

The young man - Eris - smiled. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. "  He patted the ground next to him. "Come sit . "

Still a little ill at ease, Raylen sat. "So what brings you to my mother's realm ? "

His mother?

"You have heard of General Seire, right?" , he continued.

Raylen nodded slowly. Seire was Marianna's child, one of the generals leading the dregyar army. He had been responsible for several devastating blows to the heymnar troops.

"I'm his younger brother. "

Raylen had every reason to get out of there right now,  yet he felt the tension leave his body, a pleasant warmth washing over him.

"I know what you're thinking. I could have alerted my mother to your presence right away.  " He sighed.

"I never wanted this war in the first place. I don't think anyone did. "    Eris was looking at the sky as he said this. The heymnar followed his gaze; a shooting star flitted briefly in the dark expanse.

They sat in silence for a while, until Raylen gathered his courage to ask a question himself.

"So why are you out here? "

A smile.  "For the same reason I believe you are. I find it all a bit much. "

Eris turned back to look at Raylen, and the latter found himsef captivated anew.

"Now tell me: Why do you  fight?"

So the dregyar did not only know that Raylen was a heymnar, but also that he was a soldier. His hand instinctively reached for the mark below his right eye, even though he knew the glamour Tyr had cast over him disguised it.  It showed which regiment he belonged to. 

Before he could think of a reply, someone shouted: "There you are! "

Tyr was walking toward the shrine. His pace was brisk this time, urgent.

" We have to leave, now.  "  He looked like he was about to state the reason why when he noticed the dregyar's presence. For a moment his eyes widened, mouth hanging open. 

Raylen rose, and doggedly followed after Tyr. Before he was completely out of earshot, however, he heard Eris speak once more.   The words carried softly on the night breeze:

"I'll await your answer. "