After staying at the inn for two days to recover and make sure that the strange noises and lights stopped, Ilys and Kara left for Ebonwood. Kara tried to talk about what they saw and what they should do with the Eye of Avi, but Ilys would either avoid talking about it or steer the conversation in a different direction. When Stoneheart came into view, Kara confronted her about her attitude toward everything that happened.

“Why are you avoiding this?” she demanded. “You saw what I saw. Something bad is going to happen.”

Ilys sighed and shook her head. “I know, and that’s what worries me. That old man said that this thing is calling out to the Buquenian and Dimiosa. If we hadn’t touched it, maybe everything would be fine.” She rubbed between her eyes, feeling a headache forming. “I think we just started the events to end the world...”

Kara scoffed at that, looking at the orb in her hand. “This might be our sign that we could stop them. We could be the chosen ones to save the world.”

The Earth Elf looked at the orb in slight disgust as they walked. “I think you've been reading too many books. Give it to the Arcane Academy and let them deal with it. There’s nothing we can do even if it is true.” She looked at her sister and rolled her eyes when Kara looked at her in disbelief. “We’re not equipped or strong enough to deal with something like this on our own. There's enough gold in the world to make me take this job.”

The Snow Elf sighed, looking down at the road as they walked. “We didn’t go mad from touching it, but the old man did. Maybe we were meant to find this orb and stop the destruction that we saw.”

“And I think that’s a wagon full of cow shi-” Ilys yelped when her shoulder bumped into something hard and fell down. She was about to curse at whatever she ran into. Her words got stuck in her throat when she looked into the most beautiful pair of eyes she’d ever seen.

Pine-green eyes with white eight-point stars looked at her in concern. His wavy black hair was loosely tied back with some long strands framing his handsome face. She noticed the large scar on his left cheek, but it didn’t mar his looks one bit. 

“Are you okay, miss?” he asked her. He held his hand out to her and helped her stand. “My apologies. I wasn’t paying attention.”

Ilys shook her head and placed her hand in his. “It’s not your fault. I wasn’t paying attention either. But if you wanted me to fall for you, a drink would’ve sufficed.”

The man chuckled as he helped her stand. “I’ll keep that in mind next time, Miss…?”

“Ilys. Ilyssia Amber-Lilac,” she introduced herself. “And you are…?”

“Varrick. Varrick Gloom-Veil,” he replied, bringing her hand up to his lips. “Forgive me, Miss Ilys. I won’t be able to make this up to you right now, but I will should our paths cross again.”

She nodded. “I’ll remember this, Mister Varrick. I hope our paths will meet again sooner rather than later.” She saw him smile before continuing on his way to his destination. Kara nudged her gently, and she looked at her. “What?”

Kara blew a curl away from her face and huffed at her. “You don’t wanna talk about the issues at hand, but want to flirt with strangers? Where are your priorities, Ilys?”

“With that good-looking man,” Ilys replied without hesitation and walked away. “Oh well. Hopefully, the two of us will meet again.”

Kara sighed, walking after her. “Ilys, we should talk about the or-”

“You know what I think?” Ilys cut her off. “I don’t care how much it’s going to cost, but I’m hiring a carriage to take us the rest of the way to Ebonwood. I’m tired from our little adventure, and it's such a nice, sunny day. We should enjoy it.” Before Kara could say anything, Ilys quickly ran off toward the front of Stoneheart where most carriages were stationed.

Dolion let out a breath of relief when he put the last of the chopped wood in the pile. “All done, Alwyn.”

“Thanks, Dol.” Alwyn stopped sweeping and handed him a small coin purse as he sat down on the bench in front of the inn. “That group of mercenaries has kept us busy, and I haven’t had time to do that. They’re a very rowdy group, even though most of them can barely walk.”

The Vulpkith male nodded. “Sal and I will be here later. If anyone causes trouble, we’ll protect you.” He winked at her, giving her a mischievous smile. “No harm will come to you, milady.”

“My heroes,” Alwyn giggled. “Zilpher and Father should be back soon. Let's just hope nothing happens until then.” She sat down next to him and gave him a knowing smile. “So, I’ve heard you and Tegan have been together a lot. Why is that?”

“Dearest Alwyn, are you implying that I have impure intentions toward Tegan?” Dolion hinted, winking at her again.

Alwyn rolled her eyes, smacking his arm playfully. “Sal and I know there’s more to it. He won’t ask you anything because he wants to respect your privacy-”

“And you don’t care about my privacy,” Dolion interrupted.

She smacked him on the arm again and laughed. “Damn right I don’t! You always want to know about my business. It’s your turn. Now talk!”

Dolion leaned back against the building and looked up at the sky, sighing. “To be honest, I know he lied about his name. I could hear his heart speed up. There’s also someone after him, but he refuses to say anything about it. Said that if the threat appears in Ebonwood, he’ll leave so he doesn’t cause any trouble for the people. He has a pet daemon rabbit named Tulip. And I learned that he uses crystal balls as weapons, which witches are known to use. He said his mom isn’t a witch, but his heartbeat said otherwise. Have you heard anything about missing or wanted people fitting his description?”

Alwyn shook her head and grabbed the two bottles of mead she’d left beside the bench. She gave one to him after opening it and sat next to him. “A lot of people are wanted or go missing every day, but none that fit his description. Whoever wants him must wanna keep it low profile, or they haven’t realized he left. Wonder what he did that someone is after him. He seems so nice. ”

The Vulpkith male shrugged, drinking some of his mead. “He is. I don’t sense anything off about him other than him lying about his name and his mother being a witch. Let me know if you learn anything about him?”

“Will do.” Alwyn took another drink as she watched people walking around. She saw a speck of black from the corner of her eye. “Your new favorite person is here,” she pointed out, nodding to where the Light Elf was.

Dolion’s ears twitched at that and looked where she was staring. He saw the younger man wearing his dark blue cloak with the hood down, walking to the town exit with a basket in hand. He figured Tulip was with him, but Dolion decided he would join them either way. “Well, my dearest Alwyn, I’m off to join a secretive beauty.”

She shook her head at his nonsense, chuckling at that. “Whatever you say, Dol. Just don’t run him off. Miss Glory already loves him more than you. And put your shirt on.”

“I will when I cool down,” he told her, grabbing his shirt and putting it over his shoulder. He finished the rest of his mead in one gulp, handing her the empty bottle. “See ya tonight, Alwyn!” He rushed over to the young man, seeing that the Light Elf was already outside the town and walking down the path. “Hey, Tegan!”

The ebony-haired male jumped in surprise and looked over his shoulder, breathing in relief when he saw who it was. “D-Dolion! You s-startled me,” he spluttered, putting a hand over the cloth in his basket. He pulled it back so Tulip could see. “It’s okay. It’s just Dolion. No need to fear, Tulip.” Len looked back at the Vulpkith, feeling his cheeks heat up when he saw that the other man was shirtless. He could see some sweat dripping down his lean-muscled body and looked away to keep himself composed.

Dolion laughed as he approached them. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you two. I saw you walking out and wondered if I could join you?”

“U-Umm, sure,” Len replied nervously and continued walking. “I-If you don’t mind my asking…why are you shirtless?”

“I was chopping wood for Alwyn and her family,” Dolion answered. “I got hot and I’m just waiting to cool down. Being a Vulpkith means I run a little hotter than the average elf and human.” He looked down at the basket, seeing Tulip looking around. “What brings you and Tulip out here? She looks a little on edge…” He noticed the way she was looking around was different from the last time. It looked almost like she was…hunting.

Len looked down at her and petted her head. “W-Well, Tulip is a daemon…”

“So she needs to hunt,” Dolion finished. “What does she like?”

The Light Elf looked down nervously as they walked off the trail. “She likes…wolves and mountain lions.” He looked up at Dolion and gave him a wry smile as Tulip jumped out of the basket and sniffed the air for a few seconds before hopping off into the woods. “Ironic, isn’t it? A rabbit hunting predators, but she’s a daemon and needs meat. Fish will only fill her up so much.” He sat down on a rock by the river while Dolion lay next to him, using his shirt as a pillow. 

“I’ve heard that, but didn’t know if daemon animals like her still needed meat,” Dolion stated. "Where did you find her? It’s rare for her kind to be in this realm.”

Len nodded as he pulled out a journal from his pack. “My older brother found her. Said she was the only one alive in her family after a mountain lion attacked them. I was very sick at the time, and he thought I needed a friend. She’s never been aggressive toward me and my family. I’ve only seen her attack a few people, but that’s because they were threatening me. I wasn’t just holding her back to keep her safe from that Wolfkith.”

The Vulpkith male laughed at that. “That would’ve been funny to see. She didn’t attack me or act aggressively. Does that mean she likes me?”

The Light Elf blushed at that question, knowing exactly why Tulip didn’t snap at him. After he met Dolion, he told the daemon rabbit about the handsome man and how he rescued him from the same men who bothered him at the inn. “If she didn't, she would have bitten you by now.” Len looked over at the older male and smiled shyly at him. “Should I be worried about being around you?”

“I think my charm is the only thing you have to worry about,” Dolion replied, winking at him. 

Len was about to say something until he heard some rustling in the bushes behind them. Both of them quickly stood up. Before he could say anything, Dolion tackled him to the ground just as an arrow shot past them. Len gasped as the wind got knocked out of him when they hit the ground, and felt the other man’s body on top of him. The fall would’ve hurt his head had Dolion managed to put his head behind it to soften the impact. 

Dolion pushed himself up, looking down at the younger man below him. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Thank you.” He noticed that his hands were on his friend’s chest, and felt his cheeks up when he felt the lean muscles flexing under his hands. He quickly pulled them away. “S-Sorry.”

“Well well well, look what we have here,” a man commented. It was the same man who harassed Len at the inn. He and his men approached, grinning down at the duo as one of them aimed at them with his bow. “Looks like we’ve come across our favorite prissy boy and his savior.”