Cold seeped into Erith from the grass beneath him.

He dreamed of laying in tall grass swaying under the night sky. Moonlight scattered across the water just beside him.

He rolled, falling toward it.

Before he broke the water’s surface, a blinding white light tore through the dream.

His eyes cracked open as distant voices pulled him back into the world.

That must be Elian… I must have slept in again.

His head rested on a cloth vest, half-soaked with blood. He pressed a hand into the earth and rolled onto his back.

Birds chirped in the oak tree above.

“You aren’t the easiest to drag onto a horse, you know.” Amun sat cross-legged beside him.

“The Murasi…” Erith groaned, straining to pull himself upright.

“Take it easy—your distraction worked,” Amun placed a hand on Erith’s shoulder. “That was over an hour ago… Vision?”

“Huh?”

“Can you see?” Amun’s tone sharpened.

“Er… yeah.” Erith let his head fall back against the ground.

Amun let out a deep sigh, staring toward the shrubs where a small tent had been hastily pitched.

“Good.”

His eyes were red. Tear tracks cut clean lines through the dirt on his face.

“Rin!” Amun kept his voice restrained.

At the name, Erith dragged himself upright against the oak with great effort. The tent flap snapped open as Rin emerged, scanning the clearing before his gaze locked onto Erith.

Amun sprang to his feet, took a few steps toward Rin and stopped, turning back to Erith.

“You’re out of your mind, you know that?”

Erith couldn’t find the words.

“Don’t overdo it, Erith.” Amun turned away, meeting Rin in the clearing.

“How is she?”

Rin folded his arms. “Tal is doing everything she can. She doesn’t have the supplies. Even if we were in the Soliri…”

He shook his head.

“She isn’t able to speak,” Rin said, his voice thin. “Moons, you should go in there.”

Amun wiped the sleeve of his shirt across his face, and without a word, stepped into the tent.

“You're alright then?” Rin asked.

Erith nodded.

For a moment, only the chatter of the birds above filled the air. Rin surveyed Erith's blood-stained clothes—the tears in his shirt and pant leg, the cuts and bruises beneath.

“Wielders pull Kaida from gems,” Rin stated, forcing a casualness to his tone. “I have that right?”

His question was met with silence.

“You’ve been carrying one around.” He let the words settle for a breath. “But you don’t actually need it.”

Erith’s head sank.

“Kaida just… comes from you?”

“I don’t…” Erith muttered, each word strained. “I don’t really know.”

“And if you don’t have enough Mura in your body,” Rin continued, “you start to fall apart?”

Erith didn’t look up.

A few birds scattered from the ground, seeking refuge in the oak tree above as Rin leaned against the tree, lowering himself beside Erith.

“Your nose is broken.”

Erith raised a hand to his face, pressing carefully, wincing at the touch.

“...Moons will kill you if you die, Erith.”

There was a burning in Erith’s chest.

“I was never bothered by the Kaida smuggling,” Rin said at last. “Hell, I was proud of her for it. Spindle Hall’s always traded in secrets—didn’t matter what blood spilled over them… but her loyalty was never to coin.”

He glanced toward the tent.

“It was to family. To whatever kept us safe.”

Rin drew in a slow breath.

“Her parents died without warning. Back then, the Spindle had nothing but its reputation. She had me and Tal to worry about, and we were too young to be of any use. So she did what she could.”

Slow waves of canvas carried across the tent in the wake of a gentle breeze.

“It took me years to see that. More years to accept that I couldn’t fully forgive it, but that I couldn’t just walk away either.”

He looked at Erith.

“Maybe you’re Velora’s gift. Maybe you’re not. I don’t know what you are… I don’t think you know either.”

Rin’s mouth curved, a smile almost forming.

“But I’d like to help you find out. So let us help.”

He nudged Erith lightly with his shoulder.

“Besides, you’ll need someone to drag your body across the Dead Plains after you go destroying yourself again.”

Erith raised his eyebrow, meeting Rin’s gaze.

“Saryn gave us two weeks before she leaves for Loradun,” Rin said, answering the unspoken question. “She helped us with the Murasi lure.”

“But can Rhymera travel—”

Rin shook his head.

“She won’t make it, Erith.”

The words hollowed something out inside him. Erith’s mouth trembled, breath catching as his vision blurred.

Rin slipped an arm around his shoulders as a sob broke free.

For a time, the air went quiet. The afternoon sun peeked through the trees, light shifting softly across the grass.

“Guys,” Amun called from the tent, pushing the flap aside. “Come here.”

Rin extended a hand, bracing him as they crossed the clearing toward the tent.

Tal knelt beside Rhymera, vials, scissors, and a small scatter of bloodied bandages at her side. Part of the canvas had been cut away and wrapped tightly around Rhymera’s thigh.

An overcoat lay across her, another rolled up serving as a pillow beneath her head. Her neck was swollen and dark with bruising, blood dried along her collar.

Erith met her eyes. She was more lucid than before—holding on. There was warmth in her gaze, something that he had never seen in Rhymera’s careful, calculated expression.

A mother’s look.

Her hand inched forward toward Tal, who held a torn strip of tent canvas in her hands.

“She started marking this,” Tal said quietly, passing the canvas to Erith.

Two thick streaks of blood ran down the cloth, converging before branching into thinner lines.

Erith stared at it, then back at Rhymera. She gave the faintest nod.

“It’s the Twins,” Rin muttered over Erith’s shoulder. He glanced at Rhymera. “This is a map?”

She closed her eyes in confirmation.

Rin took the canvas from Erith, studying it.

“This mark… where the river forks.” He looked up, his finger held against the canvas. “You want us to go here?”

Rhymera’s fingers dragged weakly across the ground toward Erith.

He took her hand, holding it gently between both of his.

She watched him with quiet certainty, breath shallow, eyes fighting to keep open.

✦☽✧❖⨁☼✺☼⨁❖✧☽✦