“Ugh! We’re finally here!” Ilys shouted, jumping out of the carriage. She handed the man some gold coins. “Thanks for bringing us, Aviur. I know you don’t normally make stops in towns, but this saved us a lot of time and walking.”

The man smiled and tipped his hat to her and Kara. “Not a problem, Ilys. I’ll actually make it home before my son goes to bed for once.” 

Ilys waved to him as he rode off, yawning as she tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. “I’m still tired even though we didn’t walk. I’m going straight home.” 

“You’re not coming to the temple?” Kara asked as they walked. “We need to tell Father Hammond about what happened. He might know something.”

The Earth Elf snorted at that, shaking her head. “Kara, I don’t care about that damn orb. It’s obvious it’s cursed, and whatever it showed us means something bad is coming. There’s not much us normal folk can do to stop it. Probably a prince or some noble is meant to stop whoever was in that vision.” She saw their brothers standing outside their house, talking to each other. Dolion was in rough shape and doing most of the talking while Sal just nodded to whatever he was saying. She looked at her sister and shrugged. “Do what you want with that thing, but leave me out of it.” She ran to their brothers before Kara could say anything to her.

The Snow Elf sighed as she watched her siblings talk amongst themselves. As much as she wanted to go over and greet her brothers, she had to talk to Father Hammond. She walked to the chapel to hear his thoughts on it. A yell from Ilys stopped her.

“WHAT!?”

Kara looked back to see her sister’s shocked face and rushed to her siblings. “What’s wrong?”

Dolion looked at her sheepishly. “Oh, Kara. Hey. Um, nothing’s wrong. Everything is okay.”

She looked at Sal. “Sal, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Sal replied.

Kara huffed and crossed her arms. “Surely it can’t be that bad. What’s wrong? Maybe I can assist you.”

“No, no. You definitely can’t help us,” Ilys told her firmly. “Just go to the chapel and tell Hammy about that orb. Guys, let’s go.”

Kara frowned as she watched them leave before walking to the chapel. No matter how many times they’d done this, she felt left out and almost like a stranger. Even back when they lived in the chapel, the three of them often stuck together. Ilys often tried to get Kara to join them in their fun, but she usually refused and used that time to study. She’d hoped one day the four of them would work as priests and priestesses. That dream had been crushed the day Ilys moved out. It hurt when her brothers moved out, but Kara was devastated when her sister left. 

When she arrived at the chapel, she saw Mother Cornelia standing in the courtyard with some acolytes. She smiled when she saw Kara and walked over to her. “Dearest Kara. I’m so happy you’re here!” she greeted.

“It’s good to be back, Mother Cornelia,” Kara said. “Is Father Hammond in the chapel? I need to talk to him right away.”

The older woman nodded. “Yes, he should be. Is everything okay, my child? You look a little worn.”

Kara smiled reassuringly at her. “I’m fine. Just a little tired from the journey. I need to ask Father Hammond about something.”

“Speak with him and get some rest after. It’s been a slow day at the chapel. We’ll be fine without you,” Mother Cornelia assured her. 

Kara nodded and walked inside the building. There were some townspeople sitting in the pews or praying at the shrines. She didn’t see Father Hammond in the main hall and figured he must be in his study at the very back of the chapel. A few priests and priestesses greeted her as she walked there. When she reached Father Hammond’s study, she saw the door was open and gently knocked on it.

Father Hammond looked over to her and smiled. “Kara, good to see you made it back safely. How was the job you and Ilys went on?”

She sat down on a chair nearby, holding her pack close. “It was…interesting,” she began. “We went to the Mornspark Selpucher to find out what was causing the strange noises and lights coming from it, and we found this.” She pulled out the orb and showed it to him. “A man living in the ruin said it’s called the Eye of Avi.”

“A man was living in the ruins?” Father Hammond questioned. 

“Yes,” she replied. “He was from the Arcane Academy. From what I read in his journal, he’d been living there for nine months. How he survived, I have no idea, but he attacked us. All he did was shout about two people known as “The Dimiosa” and “The Buquenian” ending the Incarnates and the world. Ilys subdued him, but he tried to kill her, so she had no choice but to…”

“I see. I’ve never heard of these beings.” Father Hammond frowned, looking at the orb. “Was this the cause of the lights and noises?”

She nodded. “Yes, but there’s more…” She looked at him nervously, her hands shaking a little. “When Ilys and I touched this orb, we saw a vision. The vision showed us a person dancing in the middle of dead bodies as a town burned down around them. It was caused by someone with eyes the same color as the orb.”

“Hmm, that is curious,” Father Hammond wondered, thinking back on the books he’d read. “I’ll send a letter to the Arcane Academy in Luxivita to find out any information on this orb.”

“That could be a problem. The man wrote that no one believed this artifact existed and the Academy wouldn’t provide any funding for his expedition,” Kara explained, pulling the journal out of her bag. “I wasn’t able to read all of it, but I read that much.”

Father Hammond took the journal from her and opened it, eyes skimming over the pages for a few seconds before closing it. “I’ll read the journal and see if there’s anything more about this artifact. I have a colleague at the Arcane Academy. Even if he was one of the ones who scoffed at this man, he’ll listen to what I have to say. In the meantime, keep the orb with you and go rest up. You look worn out.”

“I am,” she admitted as she put the orb back in her bag. “When Ilys and I touched the orb, it threw us back and knocked us out. Ilys’s head was injured, but I healed her when we returned to the inn.”

“Take the next three days off to recuperate. I’ll read the journal to see if there’s anything more about this artifact and inform you if I hear anything from my colleague,” the head priest said. 

“Thank you, Father Hammond.” She left the study and headed to her room. After a long journey, she was ready to clean up and relax. This job had taken a lot out of her than she thought. Even though it’d been a few days, her body still ached from hitting the wall. She could only imagine the pain her sister had been in since she’d hit her head. Kara healed her as best as she could and got rid of most of the pain, but Ilys said her head still ached a little. 

She walked into her room and sighed when she saw some things had been rearranged. No matter how many times she asked Mother Cornelia not to do anything to her room while she was gone, the head priestess always did something. This time, her mother figure decided to rearrange her books and the items on her desk. Kara pulled the orb out and tossed her bag on the floor. She looked at the orb as she sat on her bed. Right now, the light streaks in it weren’t as bright as they were before. If she didn’t know better, she’d think this was just some random crystal ball that had a little magic in it.

“Why did you show us that vision?” she wondered. The images of it ran through her mind and made her shiver. The orb hadn’t shown her or Ilys anything since then and remained in this dormant state. She put it on her nightstand before lying down. She hadn’t told Ilys about the voice she heard that night, but it hadn’t said anything since. “What could it mean…? 

The Snow Elf sighed to herself and kicked off her shoes to get comfortable. She would wait to hear back from Father Hammond’s friend before deciding what to do with the orb. After closing her eyes, she swore she heard a faint laughter in her head.