The poet, clad in but simple clothing; wearing a hooded cloak, started speaking, and the crowd watching him went silent. He would start humming a soft melody that was pleasing to the ears.

An unfortunate hero, swept away by the tides,

His tale yet to be told; his fate yet to be woven,

Soon, forced to pick sides,

The forces of nature, or man’s erosion?

To be a God, or to be a mortal?

Dreams yet to be dreamed, fates yet to be fulfilled,

His path, ending immortal,

A coldhearted woman’s path, ending chilled,

A little boy’s path, ending astray,

A warmhearted woman’s path, ending in sorrow

A warrior’s path, ending mid-way,

Another boy’s path, ended in harrow,

The Gods have shunned our prayers,

Their blessings, now scarce.

 The crowd would applaud his performance, it seemed like he was a regular performer here at the plaza, but it felt eerie. As if his poetry was directed towards someone… Towards me. He’d wave at the crowd, and I don’t know if it was my imagination, but he looked directly at me.

I’d keep walking around, Thud! I bumped into someone, it was a large Rahasan clad in armor with tattered clothing underneath, “Oh! My apologies, I didn’t see where I was-” It was Qantheos! I could recognize that crimson red mane anywhere! He’d turn around and be pleasantly surprised, “Qantheos! It’s you! It’s really you!” I’d yell out, just as surprised as he was.

“Well! If it isn’t the Storm’s Wind, Talis!” He’d hug me tightly, and it felt as if I was suffocating. He quickly noticed and let go of his grasp. “Ahem. My apologies! I thought you already made it to the Last Light!”

“Who told you we were headed to Parthia’s Last Light?” I’d ask, confused as to how he knew.

“Why the young lad Damian told us, that’s how!” He would exclaim, just as puzzled as I was. Damian… He was alive… “We thought that you had already met up with him, we arrived three days ago and he immediately took off on a ship headed to the Last Light.”

“Damian… He’s alive?! How!” I yelled, my eyes tearing up just at the thought of him.

“We found him barely alive, multiple vines piercing through his body, all while standing on top of the corpse of a dead deimos, holding its head that was chopped off its body. When we asked him what happened, he simply replied with ‘I was just watering the plants.’ It brought chills to my spine, truly a splendid warrior.”

I started crying profusely, ignoring the people around me. Qantheos would lightly huge me, the warmth of his embrace reminded me of my father. It just felt like the burdens of the world were lifted off my shoulders. I really couldn’t wait to tell everyone the good news. “I’m so glad… I’m so glad…” I couldn’t stop the tears that just kept on coming, and just kept on crying in his embrace.

“Don’t worry, Talis. Everything’s alright now.” His word resonated with the deepest parts of my soul, and the only word to describe how I felt right now was relieved. “And about Glenn… We decided to toss his body into a small pond, since we didn’t think he’d want to be with the plants again.”

Sniffle… Sniffle… “T-Thank you… Thank you so much, Qantheos.”

“It is always my pleasure, Talis.” He’d let go of his embrace and pat my shoulders. “We’re off to the Last Light now, if fate allows, may we meet again, friend.” He’d say as he left with his group of Rahasans, headed towards the dock to cross the Passing.

I fixed myself up and kept walking around the city, waving goodbye to Qantheos and his group as they left. I felt absolutely ecstatic at the thought of being able to see Damian again. I’d spot Viella and Iferos walking by in brand new clothes and equipment. It looked like Viella was babysitting the boy, as he kept going around excitedly wanting to see everything the city had to offer.

“Oh! It’s Talis!” Iferos would shout, grabbing Viella’s hand and rushing towards me. “You look very good!” He’d exclaim, inspecting my outfit. “You didn’t buy any equipment?”

“Ah, I’m having it custom made!” I’d tell him, describing everything I saw in the workshop as if it were an art museum.

“I want to go there too! Take me with you!”

“In two days, I’ll be going back there.” I’d tell him, patting his head and affirming to him that I’d bring him along when I came back. “So, how was touring around the city? And where’s Reanne?”

“Oh, we haven’t seen her at all.” Viella would say, “Would you like to join us, actually? We’re just touring around the city since we didn’t have much to do anyways.”

I’d agree, since I didn’t have much to do either aside from waiting two days for my equipment. And so, we went around the city trying out all kinds of things and all kinds of food! The two days went by in a flash, with Reanne even joining us on the second day. The four of us would pack our belongings and check out of the inn we were staying at, “T-Thank you for choosing to stay with us!” Ayala would say, bowing her head towards us one last time before we left.

“Lead the way, Talis.” Reanne would say, as I took us to the Elindal’s smithy by Alatrea street. After quite a while of walking and Iferos getting side tracked, we made it. We all entered and he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I led them down the staircase to where Elindal’s personal workshop was, and found him… Asleep on the cold, hard brick floor…

“Erm… Excuse me… Elindal…?” He’d abruptly wake up, and hastily greeted all of us.

Yaaawn… “Please pardon me for my rudeness, I had totally forgotten that you were coming here today!” He’d say, his face looked droopy and exhausted due to his eyebags, his eyes looked as if he was about to fall asleep again anytime now.

“It’s alright, don’t worry.” I’d calmly tell him, taking a look at the table and armor stand, and seeing my equipment covered by cloth. “I’m guessing it’s complete?” Me and Elindal would both approach it, and he’d take off the cloth that was covering the armor first.

“Yes, it is.” It was beautiful. The chest piece was colored a dark silver color, with a hollow sphere embedded into the middle. A single pauldron made of lightsteel, a precious ore that can only be found in the mines of Illetis, went along with it, engraved with the sigil of a teal-colored lightning bolt. The leggings were made of leather, lined with dark silver colored threads, matching the chest piece. To complete the set was a simple cloak made with the fur of a winged lion, with a dark-teal hue fading into black as it reached the bottom of the cloak. “I can proudly say that this is my life’s greatest work.”

I’d take off the cloak I was just wearing and put on the chest piece, and it fit perfectly. It was an armor made for me exclusively. I went into a separate changing room upstairs to take off what pants I had been wearing, and put on the new leggings, it felt comfortable to move around in and didn’t restrict my movements whatsoever.

I went back down to finally complete the set, wearing the cloak and everything would just seem to complement each other. “This is amazing, Elindal!” I’d yell, hugging him tightly and thanking him for such beautiful armor.

“Don’t get too excited yet, there’s still your weapon.” He’d say, pulling the cloth cover off the sword, and compared to the armor, it looked plain. The sheathe was made of the same materials used for the leggings, and when I unsheathed it, the blade seemed to shine just as brightly as the sun did! It was a single edged blade, resembling the swords that the Elves used. “This is a blade made of pure lightsteel, and while the armor took mere hours to make, this took the two whole days just to finish.” He’d say proudly.

The hilt was shining in a bright golden color, contrasting the dark silver palette that my armor had, and it was perfect, just absolute perfection; a work of art. I grabbed it and held it tightly in my hands, the weight of the sword was as light as swinging a branch, and yet the force it had was enough to crush steel. “I named it Tempest Song, after the harmonizing sound it makes whenever it’s swung.”

A magnificent name to an even better blade, I couldn’t ask for anything better than this.

As I was testing out my new weapon, he’d interrupt me. “Try imbuing your Numen into the blade.” He’d say as he had a big grin on his face. I concentrated my Numen into the blade, and as it began to be imbued with it, the blade started glowing a beautiful bright teal hue, and it would grow as long as I willed it to.

“It’s amazing…” I’d tell him, inspecting every inch of my sword, which was handcrafted to perfection.

“Don’t worry about how much it costs.” He’d say, tidying up the cloth that had been on the equipment. “Just give Yani my regards.”

“Wait, you knew?” I’d ask, confused as he looked at me and smiled.

“Why, of course! He is a dear friend of mine, and alongside Ethanael, saved me and my daughter, Ayala from a siege a few years back.” We’d all look at him surprised at the fact that such a chubby looking Rahasan was capable of doing so.

“Who even is Yani and Ethanael? And Ayala’s your daughter?!” Viella would ask, and we were all curious about who the duo’s identity and how much influence they had.

“It’s quite a long tale,” He’d clean the dust off his glasses and put them on, “Those two are renowned adventurers- nay, heroes in all of Parthia. A few years ago, the capital city was under siege by the Laurei Empire, it was sudden, we’d look up at the walls from our homes and all looked in horror as the gates were breached, and the guards slaughtered.” What he then proceeded to describe was a bloody battle, countless people being killed left and right, the soldiers of the empire didn’t discriminate between killing the children and elderly; no one was escaping their dishonorable acts. “And then out of nowhere, Ethanael and Yani appeared, as if the Gods themselves were sending angels to help us. Yani, who was armed with a fishing rod that could change its form whenever the user willed it, drove them out with his playful fighting style. And as soon as the empire’s reinforcements came, Ethanael, armed with the twin blades, ‘Ethanael’s Regret’, and ‘Ethanael’s Pride’, cut down a hundred men all on his own just outside the gates of the castle, hacking and slashing his way through the hordes of soldiers; mowing them down and driving them back down the plateau.”

We all went silent; it was a tale like no other. We couldn’t believe we were traveling with such a renowned person! “Tell us more, Mr. Elindal!” Iferos would say, the way Elindal portrayed Yani and Ethanael made it seem as if they were mythical heroes from tales of the past.

The Elf would pat the boy’s head, “Perhaps another time, boy. These are stories for another time.” He’d say, bringing us back to the main area and telling us to pick anything else we’d want. While the others were searching, a simple silver ring caught my eye.

I’d hold it and inspect it; it was the right size to fit around my finger. This ring stood out from the rest of rings and accessories that were laid out in front of me. While the others all had unique patterns and engravings on them, this one was just as simple as anything you could find anywhere else. “Ah, it seems you’ve taken a liking to that, I’m guessing?” He’d come closer to me, “It’s a simple ring imbued with my Numen, whenever it gets too dark, it’ll light your path.”

I’d try it on and he’d tell me I could have it, since that was one of his works he made when he first started the art of smithing. “Ah, that reminds me! Do you know anyone that could bring us to Parthia’s Last Light?”

“Find a tall shirtless man with scars all over his body, you’ll recognize him in an instant.” He’d say, “Just tell him you’re acquainted with Yani and he’ll get you there in around a week.”

“Alright, thanks for everything, Elindal!” I’d tell him as everyone was done picking out the things they wanted. Reanne got a simple necklace, Viella got a few rings, and Iferos got a cloak that seemed a bit bigger than him.

“Drop by here next time, let’s go for drinks with everyone!” He’d say, before we left his shop and walked our way to the docks.

As soon as we arrived on the docks, Iferos felt like throwing up. It seems he wasn’t used to the smell of fish, there were a lot of stalls all selling different kinds of fish, and the shopkeepers were all mostly Piscine Rahasans, who were more adept in catching sea life.

On the docks there were a lot of ships of varying sizes, and immediately we’d see the person Elindal told us about and we approached him. “Excuse me… We’re acquaintances with Yani Gella, and we’re hoping to get passage across the Passing and the Rest going to Parthia’s Last Light…”

“Huh?” He’d say, the stench of booze and the sea was coming off of him, “Are you now?”