“We’re here,” Argo spoke softly as he pushed off his horse's stirrup, landing softly on the grass by his side. He still needed to name the damn thing, it really was dragging on at this point. Winston’s hooves clopped along the dirt beside him as Nyx brought him to a slow stop.

“What are we hearing?” Ryle asked through ragged breaths, lightly tapping his ear with one of his hands. He was bent over, his spare hand planted firmly on his thigh, using it as a surface to hold himself somewhat upright. A wry smile crept along his pale face as he finished speaking.

“There is no way, on god's green earth you just said that Ryle.” Argo shook his head, stifling the start of a laugh as Nyx’s eyes glanced to the side, staring dully at Ryle.

“So, where exactly is ‘here’?” Nyx asked as she looked back towards Argo, dismounting Winston as she spoke.

“Riverfell.” He looked out towards the open field in front of them, mounds of moss in varying sizes and shapes covered the various ruins of structures. All of them having once been the houses of those who lived in his village. He knew them, he knew which wall of vines and moss designated Cinn’s and Iri’s houses. Only one building did not seem to be completely destroyed, the council’s, yet even it was coated with vines. At the far back of the open field stood a mountain, he knew what had once been his home rested atop it.

“It’s been ten years Argo, do you really think any trails will still be around?” Nyx asked sceptically as she led Argo’s horse and Winston towards a tree, loosely wrapping their reins around the trunk. She reached into their travel sack and took out bundles of hay for the horses to eat before she left them and returned to Argo and Ryle.

“Hopefully, if not maybe Ryle will be able to find some.” Argo began to move off through the ruins of the town. His eyes stared into the floor below him rather than looking at the forests which coated the mountain. He couldn’t look at them, there was a reason he hadn’t returned to Riverfell, each moment spent here dragged him back to the days he spent living in that freezing forest, to the day the bandits attacked and he lost Iri.

“Hold up!” Ryle called from behind as he ran forward, Nyx trailed slightly behind him. “I know you said you wanted me to gain knowledge of truth Ar…” He trailed off, his eyes glancing down at the ground. “But I really haven’t gotten much of an understanding yet. I can do a little, but if the trail is truly dead then I won’t be able to learn anything.”

“It should be fine. Your eyes should do fine.”

“That’s good then.” His shoulders raised slightly and he looked up. “So where are we headed then?”

“Up there.” Argo pointed to the mountain peak as a deep frown fell over Ryle’s face. 

“Ar, Seriously? I thought you said we were here already.”

“Stop complaining, we’re practically a step away,” Nyx spoke as she took over them. Argo raised his gaze to her back, she was a shield to the sight of the mountain. He smiled at the sight of her, they had only been travelling together for a bit over a week, yet she had really warmed up. Especially compared to how much she had spoken on their first day of travelling.

“Yeah, you say that Nyx but I’ve been running nonstop the past few days, you two have had plenty of time to relax.”

“I’ll let you have your break when we’re done here, Ryle.”

“You better.” He crossed his arms and stalked off ahead. Nyx and Argo followed shortly behind and they began their ascent.

It had changed, well of course it had, but still, Argo was surprised by the change of terrain since the last time he climbed the mountain. An air of silence hung in the air, haunting the three as they went. Argo looked from tree to tree, focussing on anything but the path ahead and found the forest empty of the life which once filled it. No monkeys climbed the trees, trying to open nuts, no critters scuttled from bush to bush eating overripe berries, no family awaited him at the destination nor did any friends wait for him in the town below. He was, to his knowledge, the sole surviving free man from Riverfell.

He took in a slow and shaky breath at the thought of his friends, at how he had failed them. Iri’s sale was on his shoulders, Wren’s death was on his shoulders and Cinn’s death was on his shoulders. They were a weight which would have long since crushed him had he not a goal left. It was that same weight which had crushed Cinn.

Wind wrapped around them as they passed through the final layer of trees, arriving at a plateau near the peak of the mountain, the place where his home once stood. Now, in front of him rested its husk, a rotting corpse which had once held nearly all of his memories. Moss and vines climbed around the darkened wood walls, the fence which had surrounded their small courtyard farm had clearly broken apart, the plants which were growing within it were now nowhere in sight. 

“So is this it?” Ryle asked from his side as Argo came to a stop. Nyx looked at him, her cold glare softening as she met Argo’s blank face. He simply nodded. “Well then, Nyx let’s go see if we can find anything.” He continued from Argo’s side, heading towards the doorless frame of the house. 

Nyx paused by his side. “Is everything fine?”

“Yes.” His voice was flat, his lip pulled at the edge, it was only recently he had started struggling to lie to her. “Let’s go in.” Why was he growing soft? His master had taught him to be able to lie to anyone, he had been undercover for months at a time and only once had his identity ever been revealed. He lightly shook his head, disappointed in himself, as he followed in behind Ryle. 

“It’s dark,” Nyx spoke as she stepped in behind Argo. The hallway itself was nearly entirely painted black with shadows, only light near the entrance and the balcony at the far end of the hall.

“Didn’t notice,” Ryle replied, his voice flat as his focus was spent on searching the house.

“It’s fine.” Nyx reached into a small pouch resting at the base of her hip. She pulled out a piece of steel, flint and a hand sized torch. A single strike later the torch ignited with flames.

“God’s Nyx!” Ryle swore as light, amplified through his knowledge of sight, flooded his eyes with the force of a hundred suns. He slammed them shut immediately as he waited for them to adjust to the light. “Give me a warning next time.” He rubbed at his closed eyelids, letting the searing pain fade before finally letting them creek back open.

“Yeah, sorry about that.” She whispered half under her breath, as she passed through the room. Argo stood slightly behind her, looking at the dried bloodstains on the living room floor. Dulled weapons littered the floor, the holds which had kept them had long since worn out. Footsteps of blood led towards the door, where they Wren’s or the masked man’s?

Argo shook his head and went towards a broken hall table. On the floor next to it was a still intact weapons holder, it had two slots for two combat knives, one was missing. He knelt down by its side and lightly ran his finger across the worn and decaying wood before pulling out his knife and slotting it into the holder. He had once thought the weapon lost, back when he tried to save Cinn and Iri from the bandits. He had of course found it again the night that Cinn left him. He pulled the blade free, paused for a moment and then withdrew its sister blade from the holder, strapping them both onto his right hip.

“Find anything, Argo?”

He paused, thinking for a moment. “No, not yet. You had any luck Nyx?”

“No.” He stood back up and moved to the living room, the stench of dried blood had long since left the house, and while it painted the floor it could of just as easily been paint, if not for the simple fact of Argo’s memories and the haphazard nature in which it coated the floor perhaps Argo would have dismissed it as such. Though could he even trust his memories? He knew he had asked the man for his name, he swore he heard a response and yet he couldn’t figure out what it was. It was an itch, slowly biting away at his mind, if only he remembered it he could already be on the man's trail. Yet he couldn’t bring the memory to the surface, and so he continued to examine the room searching for anything that could remotely be thought of as a clue.

“You don’t remember his name right Ar?” Ryle spoke softly as he looked towards the blood, a strained expression pulling on the corners of his face. 

“No. No, I  can’t remember it.” Argo moved through the living room towards their balcony which overlooked the mountain’s forests and the mountains which lay further east within the roughs. The sky had begun to adopt an orange hue, the sun was setting. He thought back to the nights spent with his father watching the cliffs.

“And Nyx, what colour is your hair?” 

“Are you okay Ryle?” Nyx turned to him, stopping her examination of several of the weapons which covered the floor of the building. 

“Just answer the question.” Ryle shot back as Argo turned to face Nyx. The flames of the torch she held flickered a red and orange light against the side of her face. It cast light onto the several sets of footsteps planted firmly on the bloody floor. He felt a smile pass on his lips.

“Fine.” Her eyes rolled. “My hair is black.” Her tone was dull, she placed her hands on her hips as she turned to look down at Ryle who was crouched just above the floor examining the dry blood. His face grew pale at her response. “Why do you ask that?” 

“Argo, are you sure that you don’t know the man's name?” His voice was harsh, striking into Argo like a cart. He turned away from Nyx and began to pace towards Ryle, who slowly lifted his gaze from the blood stained floor. 

“Yeah, why?” He asked as he came to a stop just behind him.

“Because you are lying.”

“What do you mean?” Anger flashed onto Argo’s expression as his eyebrows furrowed downward. He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before letting his expression return to normal.

“You told me to learn truth did you not?”

“And you said you didn’t.”

“I said I only had a small amount of knowledge on it. I can’t use it to track someone, to pick up a lead that has long since died. To tell if they’re lying though…” He paused for a moment. “I used Nyx to assure myself when I realised what you said was a lie.” 

“But I’m not lying. It has to be wrong.” Confusion paled Argo’s face.

“I really hope that isn’t the case.” Ryle came to his feet, stepping away from the blood mark he had been looking at. “Because if that’s the case then whoever this person is has managed to make you unaware of what you know.”

“A changer then,” Nyx spoke, standing up and walking towards the hallway. Her hands gripped into fists.

“It’s the only thing that makes sense to me,” Ryle spoke softly, his eyes not meeting Argo. Nyx reached into her pocket and pulled out two crowns. Her eyebrows furrowed down and one of her canines dug into her bottom lip. She took in a long sharp breath before turning to meet Argo’s gaze. Her beautiful pale blue eyes shook as they looked at Argo and she was forced to break eye contact.

“I’m done, Argo. I can’t get involved with a changer.” She flipped the coins back through the air. Argo barely caught them before they struck the rotting wood of his old home’s floor. Nyx’s face grew progressively more pale as she spoke, sweat began to form on the edge of her brow and her breaths became louder and shorter.

“Wait, Nyx-”

“Yeah, I’m sorry Ar, but once we leave the roughs I’m going to go back to Galad.” He too seemed pale, though to a lesser extent than Nyx had. “I would keep helping you, but. It’s just not worth it, I don’t know why you are going after this person, but leave him be.”

“Ryle, Nyx,” his voice wavered as he spoke, his plans crumbling around him. “Please wait.” He knew the man was dangerous, he always had, yet a changer being involved made it far worse. Still, despite his fear increasing slightly it sated the itch which had formed on his mind that day nearly ten years ago. He knew he had been given a response when he asked for the man's name, now he knew why he couldn’t remember it.

His hands clammed up as they shook by his side, only stilling when he actively willed them to stop. His ears felt as if they had flooded with water, more pumping in with each beat of his pounding heart. Why did a changer need to get involved? Why were they leaving him? He needed their help, he couldn’t be alone again.

Both Nyx and Ryle turned towards him, distrust hung behind their eyes and it was fairly placed. He knew how powerful the man they were hunting was. His parents were two of the strongest fighters he had ever met yet they had both been taken down by this man. “I need you.” He turned to face Nyx. “Please.” His voice croaked with desperation. For so long he had been alone, it had been over four years since Cinn had left him, four years since he had travelled with someone other than his master.  

“I’m sorry Argo. But I’m not getting wrapped up if a changer is involved.”

“Well.” He paused, his mind engulfed in thought. “So long as I don’t get involved in any fights then I guess I’ll come with.” Ryle continued. “But I need the whole story. From the look on your face, you seem no more intimidated after learning that. Who exactly is it that we are chasing down Ar?”

“Let’s head back, there is something I need to speak to the master about. I’ll fill you in on the way.”