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Chapter 5

Tess

I left my cave an hour before sunrise while Dante was still sleeping. With any luck, I would have found something for him to eat before he traveled into Sleeping Sun. He certainly needed food for the kind of day that he was going to endure. Joining the knights in Sleeping Sun, if possible, wasn't going to be easy and doing it on an empty stomach would have just made things worse.

Leisurely, I strode through the woods, which were still filled by the black limbs of night that wrapped around every tree. No wild animals seemed to be around, except for a hooting owl that I couldn't see in the tree branches above me.

Eventually, I stumbled upon a wild rabbit, which was nibbling on a few blades of grass that were growing near the base of a tree, its fuzzy tail and white rump facing towards me. It doesn't know I'm here yet.

_ _ I stopped moving, fearing that the rabbit would notice me and flee if I walked even one step closer.

Slowly, I raised my arm and began to stroke the invisible tethers around me, feeling them with every movement of my fingers. I found one that was connected to the rabbit; only it was attached to the animal's hind leg, not its throat. I searched for the tether that would allow me to break the wild animal's neck and offer it a quick death, but had no such luck. I still have to kill it. Dante needs to eat.

_ _ Pulling my hand back and tightening my fingers around the tether, I tugged on the line and sent the prey flying towards the right. As it flew through the air, the rabbit spun and kicked its legs, screeching in fear at what was happening. Its screams were short lived, though, and hushed once its skull collided against the center of a nearby tree, dying instantly and dropping chunks of brain onto the ground.

After releasing my grasp on the tether connected to the rabbit's leg, causing it to fall into the pool of its own blood, I walked over and picked up the carcass. The wild animal's eyes were vacant of life and its pupils were dilated, making me almost forget that it had been breathing just a moment ago. Good. Not as clean or painless as I would have liked, but at least it didn't suffer for long.

_ _ I turned and began walking back to my cave, holding the rabbit at my side as it began to drip drops of warm blood down the fur of my thigh.

Soon, my thoughts turned to the wolf that was currently slumbering in my home. Dante certainly wasn't very bright. He had actually believed all of those lies about people who use magic. Didn't he know that the things he read were plagued by prejudice? I mean, I didn't expect him to know everything about witches and warlocks, but I didn't think he would have been entirely clueless, either. And why did he ask me if I could bring someone back from the dead? When he asked me about that, I couldn't help but begin to doubt my plan of having him save my sister. But what choice do I have? Gwen's going to be executed, or might already be dead for all I know. And it's not like I can just go into Sleeping Sun and ask someone about her myself.

_ _ I sighed and my shoulders sagged as the rabbit brushed against my leg for a brief moment, thickening the sheet of blood that coated my thigh. Everything seems so hopeless.

"Look at that," a mocking voice called out, stopping me in my tracks. "We usually have to take their clothes off before we rape 'em, but this one's already naked,"

I twisted myself around, my neck popping from how fast I turned my head to see who was there with me. A red fox, whose raised white-tipped tail flicked with satisfaction, stood proudly with his arms crossed. He, as well as the bear and the beaver that stood behind him with the same shit-eating grins on their faces, wore a yellow Talth armband. All three of the yellow armbands almost glowed in the dying moonlight of that early morning, their red hydras appearing as if they were laughing instead of roaring.

"Who wants to go first?" the fox said, keeping his smug gaze and raised ears focused on me. "I got first go on the last one, so I'm feeling generous,"

The beaver and bear both traded questioning looks behind the fox's back.

Then, the bear spoke, breaking his gaze with the beaver. "I'll hold her down for Lars, since I'm still trying to wake up,"

"All right," the fox said, continuing to smile at me, like he had played some cunning trick. "Don't bother screaming. We're three miles from Sleeping Sun and two miles away from Fort Balther. Nobody can help you,"

"If anyone is going to need help, it's you," I said, dropping my rabbit so that both of my hands could be free.

"You're a big mouthed bitch, aren't you?" the fox said, laughing as his tail wagged behind him. "Good. All the more room for me stick my cock inside ya,"

"I'll cut your cock off before you even pull it out, you cunt," I said, flexing my fingers at my sides.

"Good luck," the vulpine said, still smiling as he drew a knife that had been sheathed at his right side. "Bret. You take her legs. I'll get her top half. She won't try to fight when I have my knife over her throat,"

The Talth began walking towards me.

I raised both of my hands and found a tether that was connected to the fox's forehead. Instantly, I tugged on the tether, bursting the fox's brow open like a grape and sending bloody pieces of meat everywhere. His body fell, still holding onto the knife, and lay facedown on the ground as blood continued to pour out of its open head.

"Holy shit!" the bear named Bret screamed, stopping in place. "She killed Fred! She fucking killed Fr-"

I moved my hands and gripped onto a tether that was tied to the bear's belly. I twisted the tether, morphing the Talth's chest into mud. Bret then fell onto his knees and gazed down as the mud that used to be his gut spilled forward, carrying forth bloodstained purple and pink intestines that were tangled together. His eyes were wide with shock and remained that way when he fell onto his side, which caused even more of his entrails to push out of his body.

The beaver turned to sprint away, not even bothering to try and beg for his own worthless life.

Before the Talth could escape, I found a tether that was attached to his leg and pulled on it, detaching the limb from his body with a loud snap, which was probably the sound of his femur breaking from his pelvis.

He released a scream and fell down into the dirt. Soon, the Talth began crawling away as the bloody stump where his leg used to be began leaving a path of red in the dirt behind him.

"Don't bother screaming," I hissed, walking towards the beaver with clenched fists at my side. "We're three miles from Sleeping Sun and two miles from Fort Balther. Nobody can help you. Remember? That's what your friend said,"

Once I was close enough, I kicked the sniveling Talth in the side and he rolled over, clasping his hands over his ribs in pain. "Please...don't kill me,"

"How many people have you raped?" I asked, looking down at the pathetic beaver, whose weeps grew shriller. "What compassion did you show them?"

He only sobbed harder.

"I'll show you the same mercy I showed your friends," I said, lifting my arm and finding a tether that was connected to the inside of the beaver's chest.

I rotated the tether, causing the Talth to scream so loudly that my ears began to ring. Yet I continued to twist whatever organ or bone that the tether I held was connected to, hoping that the beaver remembered every person he had raped and killed on the road as his miserable existence came to a agonizing end.

Moments later, the beaver's head silently fell back into the dirt and his eyes stared blankly into the sky.

It was then, when I released the tether from my hand, that I realized I was out of breath and that my pulse boomed in my ears like the sound of thunder. I better wait to take care of the bodies. Don't want to end up killing myself, too.

I picked my dead rabbit off the ground and walked over to a tree, leaning my back against it and sitting down in the soil. My eyes drifted closed as I tried to catch my breath, as well as relax my speeding heart.

Then, my stomach growled and I glanced down at the rabbit, which I had placed on my lap.Dante probably wouldn't care if I took a bite or two. I killed three Talth. That's worth a few pieces of meat.

_ _ After ripping off one its legs, I set the rabbit back down onto my lap, not caring about the blood that was spilling between my legs or the droplets that had somehow splashed onto my breasts.

I tore the fur from the leg with my fingers, which took much longer than it would have if I used magic. I resisted the urge to use magic, though, since I was still exhausted from my fight and wasn't sure if there were more Talth lurking nearby. I didn't even bother cooking the leg, either. Of course, that would not have been an issue if Gwen were still with me.

I sighed, remembering how my sister's life was in peril. Even though we had been doing it for years, hunting separately always made me nervous. Anything could have happened while we were apart, but, since Gwen was a much more powerful witch than me, I always told myself that I was just being paranoid That's what you get for assuming, Tess. Now she can only be saved by Dante, who you don't even know.

_ _ Once the fur was off of the rabbit leg, I raised the bare limb to my snout, biting into the raw meat. It practically melted like ice in a fire, metamorphosing into a pile of hot ooze after just a few bites. I spat out some of the excess blood onto the ground a moment later, when my mouth had become half-full of it. The taste of the raw meat was unpleasant, too. It reminded me of how cuts on the inside of my mouth taste. But, nevertheless, it was food and I wasn't going to risk trying to cook it with magic.

When I had practically cleaned the soft meat off the bone, I tossed the leg aside. My breathing had become normal again and my heart wasn't exploding inside of my chest, so I grabbed the remainder of my rabbit and rose from my seat on the ground.

I wandered over to the bodies. After waving my hand across the air in front of me, I found a tether that was connected to the bear. I tugged on the tether, turning the bear's corpse and the remainder of his organs into mud. I did the same thing with the other two dead Talth. Some streaks of blood could still be seen when I had changed the bodies, so I moved the mud around with my paw, dipping my toes into the cold grime that had once been a living person. A shitty person.

_ _ I pulled my paw out of the mud and took a step back, noticing that my heart was racing again, but my breath was calm. The mud perfectly blended in with a few brown-stained twigs and leaves that were spread across the ground, seeming of little importance. It was almost as if nothing had happened.

Afterword, I turned and continued to walk back to my cave, wondering if Dante had woken up yet.

When I arrived home, Dante was snoring loudly on the ground in the center of my cave. I considered waking him up, but I didn't, since it was still dark.

Noiselessly, I crept over to my desk, which was located further into my cave, and placed my rabbit on top of the wood. I then turned and opened the chest that sat next to my desk. Inside were some books I had collected over the years, as well as all of Dante's possessions. My gaze strode over all of the wolf's belongings, inspecting his gun, sword, bow, quiver, knapsack and knife. It's all still here.

I glanced over at Dante, wondering if he would have killed me once I handed him his weapons. I'd kill him before he could even draw his sword.

_ _ After closing the chest, I stepped back over to my desk and sat down on my creaky wooden chair, watching Dante as he slept. Who was he? I knew that he was a wolf and, based on his clothes and weapons, a traveler. Might be a thief, too. How else could he get a gun? But where had he been traveling? Who was his friend that had been captured by Julian Vercer? I didn't even know the wolf's last name, for Christ's sake. Maybe saving him was a mistake.

_ _ No. He was the only hope I had of saving Gwen, if she was even still alive. And I knew Dante wouldn't run off, since he needed me to help him save his friend. I still need to come up with a plan for that.

_ _ As I tried to consider a strategy for breaking into Fort Balther, Dante's snoring stopped and the wolf sat up.

"Look who's finally awake," I said, picking the rabbit off my desk and walking over to the wolf.

Dante twisted his head around to face me, just before averting his groggy eyes as I sat beside him.

"What?" I asked, wondering what was wrong. Does he not like rabbit?

_ _ "Sorry," he apologized, looking at my face as he turned to face me. "I'm just not used to seeing you naked,"

My ears twitched with irritation as I sat down. "Tough shit. If we're going to be helping each other, you need to get used to it. Do you think my sister will be wearing clothes when you find her?" If he finds her...

_ _ Dante nodded. "I know it's juvenile. I'm sorry,"

Seeing how well he took my scolding, I collected myself and tried to speak with less anger in my voice. "Who are you?"

"What?" the wolf asked, his feathery grey tail shifting beside him.

"I don't know anything about you and you're the only person that can save my sister," I said. "I'd feel a lot better if I knew who you were,"

The gray wolf blinked and was silent for a brief moment. Then, he said, "I've been traveling on the road for four years. I have a few friends in the North and the South. And my favorite book is The Divine Comedy,"

"What's your last name?" I asked.

Dante's ear twitched at my question and his eyes darted away from me.

"What?" I demanded, feeling the fur on the back of my neck grow warm with impatience.

"I don't..." he said. "I can't tell you my last name,"

"Why the hell not?"

The wolf sighed and rubbed his eyelids. "I can't tell you that, either,"

"Do I need to remind you that I'm the only chance you have of saving your friend? I don't even know your friend's name!"

"Peter Gannish," Dante said, wearily. "That's his name,"

I felt my nostrils flare with fury. "I'm helping you save a fucking Gannish?"

"Yes,"

"Do you even know what the royal Families did to people like me?" I demanded. "They butchered us and called themselves heroes for it! They're no better than the kings and queens that slaughtered all the Muslims and Jews centuries ago when everyone in Alpis became Christian!"

"I know," Dante said, surprisingly calm. "Peter's different, though,"

"How? How is he any better than the rest of those pieces of shit?"

"He's gay," Dante said, his voice growing firm, "so he knows what being persecuted is like. And he doesn't want to be a king, even though he's his father's firstborn,"

That took me back a little bit. He's gay? I began to wonder if Peter really wasn't like any other royal person, especially since he belonged to a group of social outcasts like me. And, Peter being gay made me feel a little more inclined to save him, since I was gay, too.

The fur on my back then began to tingle with guilt.

I had always been afraid of telling Gwen that I liked women. It's not because I thought she would have been judgmental. She was a witch, meaning she knew what it was like to be born into something that wasn't socially acceptable. I just couldn't stand the thought of Gwen thinking that I was aroused by her naked body, even though I wasn't. She was my sister. But would she have known that? Maybe not. She was the only girl around for a few miles and, like me, never wore any clothes. If she knew that I was gay, would Gwen have questioned my intentions while we were together or whenever I looked at her?

Did Peter face questions like these? He was a prince, so it was possible that his father probably would have disowned Peter if he found out that he was gay. Still, even if I could relate to Peter for being gay, I couldn't believe that any royal person wouldn't want to be a king.

"Why doesn't he want to be a king?" I asked. "Every royal person is greedy for power,"

"Not Peter," Dante answered with assurance. "When I first met him, he was drinking alone in some tavern up in the Danil Kingdom, all the way on the opposite side of Alpis. It was like he was trying to get as far away from his father and his royalty as he possibly could,"

"And?" I said, sensing that there was more to the story based on the wolf's tone.

"He told me later that he hated being a prince because everybody treated him like a god and would go out of their way to please him, even if it meant saying what they thought he wanted to hear. He just wants to be like everybody else,"

"Why is he with you?" I asked, wondering why Peter found Dante so particularly interesting. "Are you his boyfriend?"

The wolf laughed. "No. We're just friends. Peter's not my type,"

"So you're gay, too? Just like him?"

"No. I'm bi,"

I was silent and gave Dante a hard stare.

"What?" he asked.

"Don't touch my sister,"

Dante's forehead furrowed and he gave me a perplexed stare. "I wasn't going to,"

"Since you just told me that you aren't gay, I want to be clear," I said, making sure that my voice was uncompromising. "There'll be no touching my sister. If you do, I'll know and make you suffer,"

"Why are you telling me this?" Dante wondered. "I have no intentions of doing anything to your sister,"

"After living in the woods," I said, "and dealing with the Talth for years, I've grown very untrusting,"

Dante didn't have anything to say.

"So, if you aren't his boyfriend or related to him, why are you risking your life to save Peter?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Because," Dante said, urgency in his voice, "he's my friend! At first, I was just returning him for the reward money his father is offering for him, but now I actually consider him a friend. I enjoy his companionship and like talking with him. And, if I don't save Peter, he'll be killed! I can't have another friend's death on my conscience,"

"Another friend?" I asked, curiously.

The wolf looked down at his legs, which he pressed together and brought up against his chest, wrapping his arms around them. "I... We were traveling with another friend of mine. But, after we left Ansil, some Talth attacked us. She go hurt and..."

"And?" I pressed.

Dante's ear sank back with guilt as his eyes became unfocused and full of sorrow. "She asked me to end her pain,"

I stared at the wolf for a moment, examining his entire body for any sign of whether or not he was lying. Instead, all I found was sadness. His eyes were soft and stared down at his boots. His fingers tightened around the fronts of his legs, flattening the material of the trousers beneath them. And his tail curled up around him, hugging the side of his thigh. Clearly, Dante was hurt by the memory, but I reminded myself that, despite his pain, he helped a loved one be at peace. Would I have been capable of doing the same thing for Gwen? Upon asking myself that question, I was unable to come up with an answer, but I realized that I could trust Dante with the task of saving my sister. He's kind and strong.

"It's almost morning," I said, pushing the rabbit between us towards Dante and breaking the silence. "You'll need breakfast before you go,"

Dante glanced down at the rabbit and a look of surprise washed over his face. "Oh. I didn't know you were getting food for me. I was planning on hunting,"

"Well, I already caught it, so you might as well eat,"

"Okay. Wait. Am I supposed to eat it raw?"

"No," I said, giving him a look of confusion. "Why would you do that?"

"The smoke from a fire could attract attention," the wolf pointed out.

"We'll be fine," I assured him.

I extended my arm and caught a tether connected to the rabbit's back. After I curled the tether, the entire carcass was set ablaze, only to be extinguished later when I bent the tether back into its original position. Now, the rabbit was perfectly cooked and smelled so deliciously crisp that I could feel drool beginning to flood over my tongue, despite having already eaten.

Dante smiled at the cooked rabbit, letting his legs finally fall away from his chest as he stretched them out. "That will never cease to amaze me,"

The wolf then pulled his meal towards him, only to look up at me with concern. "Do you want to share?"

"No," I said, rolling my eyes. "You haven't eaten for almost a day,"

Dante thought for a moment, as if he were unsure of whether or not to offer some of his food again. But, instead of proposing to share the rabbit with me, he broke off one of the three legs and stripped it of its charred fur. He then began to gnaw on the meat very slowly.

"So," Dante began, after swallowing his first mouthful of rabbit, "where did you and your sister live before you became witches?"

I shrugged and answered him, unable to think of a better way to pass the time besides talking. "We lived in a small town far north of here. My sister and I are the same age, so we were both sixteen when we discovered magic,"

"What happened next?"

"We were just able to start moving things and set them on fire. Of course, we wanted to keep it a secret, since we knew we'd be killed for being witches. But there's this strange thing that happens when someone is first able to use magic. Your spirit just...explodes. Similar to puberty, I guess, in a way. A body that goes through puberty is doing all of the things it can and should be doing, but it goes to the extreme. You digest food really fast and your muscles are unusually stronger than before. The same thing happens to witches and warlocks. Their spirits become too sensitive to what's around them and they can accidently pull on all the tethers nearby. It also effects the weather around them, too,"

"What's a tether?" Dante asked, putting down his rabbit leg, which had no meat on its bone anymore, as he reached for another.

"Tether's are what connect physical things in the world," I explained. "Witches and warlocks are able to sense these tethers and use them to change whatever they are attached to,"

"Oh," the wolf said, stripping the rabbit leg of fur. "Fascinating,"

"Anyways," I continued, "Gwen and I went though that together and discovered our powers on the same night. Even though we were out in the woods, practicing our abilities on some trees, the weather started acting very weird. A storm came through and so did a heavy wind.

"Gwen and I had set some trees on fire, which the wind spread. The flames reached our town and started burning down several of the buildings. Even though we had figured out how to start fires, we weren't able to learn how to put them out in time. We then realized that we were dangerous to everyone and everything around us, especially because we didn't know how to fully control our abilities.

"We decided that it would have been better for everyone if we just left. So that's what we did. We were sad at first, of course. But we knew our friends and parents would be safer if we weren't around. With the two of us gone, the town would be fine and we could be ourselves without the fear of being put to death.

"We walked through the woods for a while and used our magic to catch food. That went on for about a month or two. Then, we found this place and have stayed here ever since,"

"And how did you get all of your furniture?" Dante asked, pointing over my shoulder and back towards my desk.

"Over the years," I explained, "Gwen and I have found a lot of abandoned wagons on the main road, which usually belonged to some merchant that the Talth had robbed and killed. The Talth only take gold, food and weapons, so we always find books. We got that desk and chest from the same wagon, which was owned by a carpenter. They were the only two pieces of furniture that we needed and liked, so we took them. We found our beds and sheets from another wagon,"

"You have beds?" Dante asked after swallowing a mouthful of meat. "I didn't see them,"

"They're further inside the cave, just past my desk,"

Dante nodded and silently ate the rest of his rabbit without any more questions.

When the wolf was done with his breakfast, he rose with the scraps of food in both of his arms. "I'll go throw these outside,"

"All right," I said.

Dante then proceeded to walk towards the entrance of my cave. Eventually, he stepped outside and his pawsteps faded away.

Did he run off?

_ _ The possibility of Dante fleeing bothered me so much that I stood up and quickly walked towards the outside of my cave, hoping that Dante would be there.

I found myself standing in a fog of orange sunlight, which was barely able to glow through all of the dreary clouds in the sky. And, in front of me, Dante was tossing the rabbit remains into a shrub. He then brushed his hands together, ridding his fingers of crumbs, and turned to face me with a smile.

"I should probably head into the City now," he said. "How long of a walk was it again?"

After my fear of Dante running off melted away, I answered, "Not long. Follow the road south and you'll get there,"

Dante's grin grew. "I never like using the main road. Too many Talth. But, since there isn't much time, I suppose I don't have a choice,"

"No. You don't,"

"Well, I guess I should get my things,"

"Wait here," I told him. "I'll get them,"

I turned and walked back into my cave, heading towards the chest that contained Dante's possessions.

After throwing the lid of the chest open, I grabbed Dante's belongings and shut the chest again with my paw, since my hands were completely full. Then, I trotted outside, meeting with Dante, who was staring at the sunrise as it illuminated his grey fur. His blue and brown eyes seemed to glow like gemstones as they curiously glanced over at me, tearing their focus away from the sunlight that could hardly pierce the clouds that morning.

"Here you are," I said, holding his possessions out towards him.

"Um..." he said.

"What?" I asked. "It's all here. I didn't steal anything,"

"No, it's not that," Dante explained. "But, if I'm going to try joining the knights of Sleeping Sun, I probably shouldn't bring my gun with me,"

"Why?" I wondered, uneasiness prickling my stomach. "Did you steal it from Queen Talis?"

The gray wolf shook his head. "No. I had a bounty put on me by Osric, the leader of all the Talth in the North. His description of me involved my gun,"

"The Talth are after you?" I nearly screamed, seeing the plan of saving my sister quickly falling apart.

"Not anymore," Dante assured me. "I killed Osric and burned down his hideout. I'm sure everybody in the North knows that he's dead by now, so nobody will give me any trouble. Why kill a wanted man if there's no reward?"

"Still," I said, growing unsure about sending the wolf into Sleeping Sun, "some Talth in the City might recognize you and try to avenge Osric,"

"Doubtful," Dante said, raising his arm to point at his missing right ear. "See this? I lost my ear while fighting Osric. So the bounty never mentioned me only having one ear, since I was only seen before then with two. I'm sure that'll be enough to keep anyone from being suspicious,"

I sighed, realizing that there was no point in delaying Dante any longer. After all, there was a chance that he wouldn't see any Talth in Sleeping Sun. But all it would take is for one person to start asking questions. And I'm sure some of the knights heard about the bounty.

_ _ "All right," I said. "I'll hold onto your gun. Is there anything else that you want to leave with me?"

Dante thought for a moment, staring at his goods, which became heavier with every passing moment. "I should probably leave behind my knapsack. My quiver and bow, too. And my hunting knife. Pretty much everything except for my sword,"

"Are you sure?" I asked. "If the knights let you join them, you probably won't have a chance to come back and get them,"

"I'm sure,"

I lowered Dante's things onto the ground and stood up, now only holding his sword, which was still inside its sheath. I then handed the weapon and its container to him.

"Be careful, Dante," I warned the wolf. "You're the only chance Gwen has of escaping, if she's still alive,"

"What should I do if she isn't alive?" he asked, tying his sheath onto his belt.

I thought for a moment, realizing that I didn't have a good answer. "Just... Come back,"

"Okay," he said, probably noticing how much the possibility of my sister being dead bothered me. "Goodbye, Tess. I'll see you soon,"

"Hopefully," I said.

Dante began walking away, only to stop and turn back around. "Is there something I should to tell your sister if I see her, a message or something that could prove that you sent me?"

I had to think of an answer for a moment, since I was caught off guard by the question. But, after some thought, I told the wolf, "Tell her peaches taste like piss,"

Dante's ear twitched and a small smile crawled over his muzzle. "What?"

"It's something I said after we left our town," I explained. "We were still learning how to use magic, so we didn't catch much prey at first and had to eat what we found growing in the woods. Mostly, we ate peaches and I got so sick of them after a while that I started to say they tasted like piss. She thought it was a funny thing to say and, every once in a while, she'll still joke about it. If you tell her that, she'll know I sent you,"

"Peaches taste like piss" Dante whispered to himself, giving a small laugh. "I'm sure I'll remember that,"

"Good," I said. "Now get going,"

"All right," he answered. "Goodbye, Tess,"

"Goodbye, Dante," I replied. "Good luck,"

"Thanks," he said, turning to head through the woods and find the main road. It only took a few moments of walking between the trees before the wolf finally disappeared amongst the sea of brown and green. Gwen... I hope he reaches you in time. If only he...

_ _ Suddenly, a realization hit me like a rock to the face. Of course! How could I be so stupid? It's so obvious!

_ _ After scooping up Dante's possessions from the ground, I turned and ran into my cave again. In an instant, I dropped the wolf's things at the bottom of my desk. I then bent over and started searching for the book that I needed to find inside the adjacent chest.

Qon's History of Alpis. No. Usher's Teachings of Medicine. Not it. Janston's Guide to Herbs and Healing. Where the hell is it? Preston's Findings on Witches and Warlocks? Uh-uh. Pergan's Elixirs and Potions. Yes!

_ _ I took the book out from the chest and sat down at my desk.

Even though the elixirs I had tried to make after originally finding the copy of Pergan's book didn't work, I still had to give this one elixir I read about a chance.

I flipped through several dusty brown pages and found the section that I had in mind. Quickly, I skimmed it, making sure that it was the right one. It was, fortunately.

I was so proud of myself that I nearly leapt out of my chair and began to scream like a little girl. Instead, I started re-reading the faded old ink on the pages, planning on how I would gather the necessary ingredients. I soon found that it was impossible not to smile. _This is how we'll save Peter. _