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Chapter 13: A Shadow's Triumph over the Sun

A serenade sung by gulls and waves was filling the sea as a small ship was traveling around in the sea on its voyage to long forgotten isles. Gaius walked on the deck, observing the horizon with his tired eyes before he eventually laid down on the deck and let the sun shine on his pelt.

"This island is a bit to illusive for my own taste," Tychon said as he joined the wolf on the ground and looked to the clear blue sky. "And, since it is well hidden, maybe we are doing it wrong."

Gaius gave him a nod. "Eternal Sun. I guess there might be a clue, but not one that is clear. I mean, what do we have to do about that?"

Tychon remained silent as he got no idea either and just got up from the ground to walk down to the cabins. "The world is safe, so we don't have to worry too much, right?"

"As far as it seems, no," the wolf replied and got up as well to follow the fox. At least, he tried to, but the sea water had sprayed all over the sides of the deck and he slipped away with his feet and fell painfully on his behind. "I am so happy once we are back on land."

A chuckle came from the fox's muzzle as he helped up Gaius and they both went downstairs to their cabins. "Alright, once we should find an island, we can take a rest on it for a while. Till then, we should take a rest in our dry cabins," he said as he stepped through the door and closed it behind him to lie down in the bed that was attached to the wall. Before he could proceed however, a hand was touching his shoulder and he jump around to face a strangely familiar figure before him.

Danica was smiling softly as she wandered around the fox and sat down on his bed. "Don't you know what to say when I just suddenly appear in your cabin? Not even a question of how I did it? Come on, I am not going to bite."

"Who, are you?" Tychon asked carefully as he sat down next to the goat-like entity, looking right into her glowing blue eyes. "You are, not one of our kind, are you?"

"What gave it away? My eyes, the fact that I lack a scent, or could we have met at an earlier point in time?" Danica gave back at him and looked right into his eyes. "I remember talking to a fox named Septimus once before."

Now the fox looked with a mix of confusion and anger at her and got up from the bed. "I am sorry, but you mistake me for someone else. That Septimus everyone is talking about, I never met him, I give nothing about him, and I don't wish to learn anything about him either."

"Well, to be fair, Septimus asked to never have been born. Hence, he never was. It was an easy task for me to alter his conception, so that his wish was granted, sort of. Instead, you were the conceived child, as the seed was altered," now the goat got up and laughed. "And yet, while it changed your body and mind to some degree, you are essentially just another version of his. A different name, a different personality, a different life, but the soul had to go somewhere."

"Are you implying, I am just a reversed version of his?" the fox now concluded as he looked at his feet. "That, I am only a replacement for someone who wished to disappear?"

Moments of silence filled the situation before Danica came closer to him and smiled. "Most would call it an improvement or a fix. So, any questions about me and how I do alter the past and such?"

Tychon remained quiet but then nodded. "It would be the best to clear it all up. To know that I am not just filling a gap, but actually matter in this world."

"In all honesty, Septimus would have jumped into the sea most likely and drowned, so it is not like there is much of a gap left to fill out anymore," Danica replied with a satisfied smile. "And yet, you exist only because of an alteration to an event of the past. Your very conception, the moment when Gaius's father decided to walk out of the house along the road where your mother was lying, it all has changed. Just don't think about it too much, I am a goddess, so if I do something to the universe, it is alright."

Confusion was all that showed on Tychon's face as he glanced over himself and then back at Danica. "So, did you only come to tell me this?"

"Oh, not just that. I also wanted to say that Septimus promised to protect Gaius," Danica replied with a soft smile before she disappeared into thin air. "Would you take his place in this regard?"

Shaking his head about the event, Tychon just laid down on his bed and tried to catch some sleep. It was difficult to him as he was reciting Danica's words over and over again in his head.

In the meantime, Crawford was screwing together several pieces of metal and wood into a new crossbow for himself. As he inspected his newest weapon, his face was forming a smile.

Lucille and Khaba, who have been watching him the whole time, were beginning to yawn as the journey was rather boring for them all. The fruit bat was leaning close to Lucille, as he closed his eyes and began to doze off.

"Hey, I know I am only assembling stuff, but this is really fun," Crawford called to Khaba and Lucille as he noticed that the two were beginning to slip into slumber. "You two are impossible, you know?"

Heavily Khaba yawned and just turned around. "We have been watching you doing this for days now. At some point it becomes boring," he said and turned back to face the male otter.

A frown was the reply Crawford gave him as he put the now finished crossbow to the side and pulled out a small box from the corner. "If you think that I am boring, then I am not sure, if you deserve my newest creation, just made for you."

"Wait what?" Khaba now rose up his head and glanced at the box the male otter was holding before him. "Alright, you got me curious. What is it?"

Crawford now pulled the box open and revealed its contents to the fruit bat: two gloves shaped to fit the feet of the fruit bat, all equipped with sharp, retractable claw-blades. "Your weapons."

"My weapons?" Now Khaba tilted his head slightly to the right as he let Crawford put on the gloves. He then looked at the sheaths for the tiny blades and arched an eyebrow. "So, how do I get them out?"

"They are activating, if you channel your magic into them. So, be careful about them," Crawford warned his friend and then put away the box to the side. "Best, just channel through your wings and everything will be fine."

"It better should," Lucille said with a smile on her face. "Else I will be the one feeling it."

Now Crawford was rubbing his forehead and shaking his head. "Well, they are optional. I mean, Khaba does not have impressive claws, and we left Harshad at home to take care of Ayondtunde, while Rufus 'protects' Albanus in the library of Xandros, so we are at best average in the claw department."

"Can't argue against that," Lucille admitted as she let Khaba get back on her back and stood up from the bed. "So, we should check the horizon for the island, if you want your magic back, so come on."

As he simply followed, Crawford felt a bit more confident as he grabbed both his mace and crossbow. On the deck however, he lost this feeling as he saw several of the guardsmen from Xandros looking out for the island to no avail. "One would think an island with sun in it should be easy to find. But, so far shadow would be more," he paused for a moment and his eyes widened as he realized something. "No, the sun is too bright to directly look into it. The island is invisible due to a light based magic. Lucille, I have an idea!"

"I am listening," she replied as she looked at her brother. "But, since you already said a bit, I assume you want me to use dark magic to negate the magic that might be placed on the island, correct?"

"Yeah, and that is why we are siblings," Crawford said with a chuckle. "We actually understand what each other is thinking."

"Alright, let me deal with this," the female otter said and closed her eyes to channel her magic into the sky above. "A rainy weather should suffice."

Now the sea around the ship began to turn to steam as the water turned to gas that ascended towards the few clouds on the sky. Soon a layer of clouds was covering the entire sky and blocking the sunlight. "Island to the west! Island to the west!" one of the sailors called out as on the horizon a new island suddenly appeared.

Lucille however was completely exhausted from the spell and tumbled over to the ground where Crawford was able to catch her up. "I think I catch some sleep while we sail to that place."

"Sounds good. I will get Gaius and Tychon then," Crawford said as he helped his sister back to the cabins and let Khaba look after her for the time being, before he turned to the door of Gaius' cabin and knocked against it.

With a yawn Gaius got out of the bed and opened the door to look at the otter waiting for him. "Crawford? What is the matter?"

"We found the island!" the otter said with an excited voice. "Lucille used her magic to block out all the sunlight with rain clouds, and now the island became visible."

Gaius had to blink twice, and then dropped his jaw at the realization of what happened. "You solved the issue by making it rain? How is that even a solution?"

"Maybe the area here is always sunny, hence the name Eternal Sunlight?" Crawford suggested with a wink. "It really wasn't all that complicated."

"It is a very abstract solution, though," Gaius defended himself before he followed the otter up to the deck to look into the distance at the island. "Alright, we are just going to rip their wings off and then go home with your magic restored."

With a nod Crawford now returned underdeck and went into his own cabin as he waited for the ship to reach the island.

Half an hour later, Gaius, Tychon, Crawford, Lucille, and Khaba were leaving the ship on a small boat and landed at the strand of the Isle of Eternal Sunlight, which ironically was covered in rain clouds, which were pouring out onto the group.

"Alright, if there is a drought at some point, just note me on it, and I will be fixing it," Lucille said as she was still not capable to focus on her immediate surroundings and was supported by Tychon.

"Maybe you should remain on board, Lucille. You are clearly burned out right now," the fox suggested to her with some worry in his voice.

However, Lucille only shook her head and went further ahead. "I think that we outnumber them anyway, so we should get this over with rather soon. And their scent is already noticeable."

Now Gaius sniffed around and nodded at her remark. "This should only take half an hour, then we will be on our way back to Xandros," he said and led on the group into the direction of the scents of Rahotep and Ammon. The island itself was covered in a lush forest, which was more tropical than sub-tropical, and thus many plants were unlike anything the group had seen before. "I am wondering about this place. Why does it feel so out of place?"

"It is magically hidden from everyone's sight. According to that handbook I got a while back, lifeforms do change according to their environment in order to survive," Crawford noted as he looked at a plant that bore huge oranges. "I am not sure what those fruits are about, though."

Khaba flew over to one of the oranges and tore it off to hold it with his wings as he grabbed onto Gaius shoulder. "Not that I mind, I have a feeling that this island is especially fitting for fruit eaters."

"Might explain why your father and grandfather picked it," Gaius noted as he felt some juice dropping down into his head fur as the fruit bat began to eat from the enormous orange.

After a while the group reached a clearing which led to something even more peculiar then the plants. Ruins of buildings, all almost turned to scraps and dust, were plastering the area, with a single tower in the center, which was only up to it sixth floor, as the rest crushed down on the left side a long time ago.

"This is, like the ruin close at home," Crawford said as he glanced around the plaza of the settlement ruins and took a glance on one of the few still remaining walls. "But they are made from stone, rather than metal. However, I can safely say, it is belonging to the Old Ones."

"Great, we won't get rid of those any time soon, will we?" Gaius groaned as he tracked down the scent further to the broken tower. "We need to enter the place and get them good. Since we are five, we outnumber them, so let us overwhelm them."

Lucille nodded as she pulled out her chakram, while Khaba flew back on her to cast a shield around her. A moment later, they opened the door to the tower and saw it was still kept together inside, with some of the furniture already rotten or crumbled.

On the other end of the entrance, a pair of fruit bats rather familiar to the group was now looking at them, with a white-furred mouflon in their company. The sheep stepped back a little and glanced over Lucille, Khaba, Tychon, Gaius, and Crawford. "I was not expecting more customers of yours, Rahotep."

"Not that we expected anyone either, but those are not really here for that business I assume," the elderly Rahotep replied as he turned to face the newcomers. "So, you found this rather well hidden place after all? How convenient, now you can explain our customer why he won't have his hands on the gem you stole."

Now the mouflon arched an eyebrow. "So, you are the people those two here were calling names? I must apologize, but the gem is something I require and am willing to pay a lot of money for."

"Did the blood of others already ran out?" Lucille now asked as she kept her chakram ready and stepped forward a little. "Because, you guys already were willing to kill the emperor for the other gem. Not to mention all those people Vidar was friends with."

"I can understand your anger," the mouflon replied as he turned around and let his head sink down. "But all those events had to be done for a greater purpose. What are a few warriors or an emperor compared to the entire world? Trust me, if I could do all this without bloodshed, I would."

Gaius now stepped closer and draw out his modal blade from its sheath. "So, you are Seleukos. The one, who used the hand-writing of Markus Avitus Vinicius, but still his own name?"

"In a way. My full name is Markus Avitus Seleukos, his son," the sheep said as he drew his own blade and looked at the wolf. "I simply used his hand-writing to emphasize it a little bit to get Incitatus for my cause."

"What cause?" Gaius yelled as he now pressed the button on his weapon and let it form into a spear. "You are a murderer; what cause could you have that justifies your actions?"

Seleukos now turned back to look at the wall and sighed. "Peace. Have you ever thought what the true issue in this world is? People kill each other left and right for things like money, power, and recently even religion. In their creeds, they only destroy, destroy, and destroy, till nothing but ashes are left. And yet, nobody tries to change this, they even praise those acts as heroism. In Hela, a long time ago, the god Ares was seen as a lost cause, but his equivalent Mars is praised by Urbulchem. Our world, it only marches on towards its own destruction."

The face of Gaius twisted in disbelief. "You got to be kidding me. Peace? That is hard to belief, I am sorry. But you have allies that are torturous bastards, make deals with those two arses over there," he now pointed at Rahotep and Ammon," and generally I can't believe you. You might only try to play a trick."

"A trick? I cannot deny that it would be plausible, but I swear to you that I am not deceiving you. It is, simply put, just a lack of communication between us," Seleukos replied as he let his weapon drop to the ground and took of his cloak to expose his torso. Several scars were covering him, and most looked rather fresh. "For every single death I have punished myself, in order to repent for my sins. I am well aware that my actions are condemnable, but they need to be done."

"So, tell me the details then. What do you need those gems for in order to create peace?" the wolf asked as he readied his weapon and showed his teeth.

"The gems hold a potential power within them. As they seemingly convert magic into light, they actually absorb it until someone holding them all can unleash it. The spontaneous outbursts are a result of excessive energy, hence, they already have enough power to grant someone immortality and divine power," Seleukos said as his body began shaking. "And no, this someone could not be me, for I am just as unfit as most people. It requires someone who would not abuse the power for their own personal gain. Finding such a person has proven rather difficult."

Gaius now looked with annoyance at the mouflon and then glanced over to Rahotep and Ammon. "It is no longer possible for you to complete your task anyway. And we are here for what those two bastards did to Crawford. I demand you reverse whatever you did."

"Quite a demand, considering the loss of money you caused to me," Rahotep replied as he folded his wings and glanced to the wolf. "But, I am a businessman, offer me something."

"Alright, my offer is that you can keep your lives," Gaius replied as he now held his spear towards Rahotep. "So, reverse the effect or,"

"Silence!" the elderly fruit bat now exclaimed as he spread his wings and a wind burst pushed Gaius to the ground. "I am not going to just throw away money, because you think you have some justification. You stole the gem in the first place, so I took something from you. Can you truly call me worse than yourself?"

Now Seleukos went in between Rahotep and Gaius, holding out his arms. "Please, there is no need for this conflict. I shall be paying you for the elementals by myself, in order to resolve this without bloodshed."

Rahotep now folded his wings again and nodded. "Fine, I am going to sell you the elementals back. Anything else that needs to be taken care of?"

"Yes, I would do this under a condition of course," the mouflon said as he now turned to Gaius and the others. "I plan to grant this world peace. Surely you can't deny that the goal in itself is just, even if my methods were not."

Now Gaius took a deep breath and lowered his weapon after Seleukos was just not showing any hostility towards him. "Okay, if you need to talk this out, we shall listen. But you have to pay for your crimes nonetheless, do you understand?"

"Whatever I deserve," Seleukos replied as he walked past Gaius and then to the exit. "Let us talk outside, if that is okay for you."

The wolf nodded as he followed Seleukos outside, but gestured the others to remain in the room. As he and the mouflon stood in the lush forest, his eyes wandered over the sheep's scars. "So, you planned to use the gems in order to create a Messiah, a person to bring peace to this world. Can I honestly trust you?"

"You cannot. That is the issue we face as enemies. In the end it does not matter anymore, since without the one gem you sank into the ocean, I have failed," Seleukos now pulled out a bag from his robe and threw it towards Gaius. "The payment for Crawford. I am not going to need it any longer."

Hesitatingly Gaius took the money and then looked with confusion at Seleukos. "I am not really thinking you as trustworthy, but still you confuse me. You act all friendly, and tell me you work for the benefit of the people, yet your actions speak otherwise."

"That is the problem. I cannot let my own feelings get in the way of my goal. So, I am not even sad or angry at the moment. You had your own reasons after all," the mouflon replied as he sat down on the ground. "If you want, you can end it all. My plan has failed."

Gaius now grabbed his spear and closed his eyes. "Your plan, it had a flaw that you need to know about. Those gems are not means to grant you power, but fragments of a being that wants to be revived. The gems need to be separated forever, or else we may unleash disaster upon our world."

"Is that so," the mouflon now chuckled sadly into himself and sank his head down into his lap. "Have I misjudged it all in the end? In that case, I almost did something even worse. Before you finish me, allow me to say thank you."

Hearing those closing words, Gaius moved around his spear in a spinning motion and was about to pierce it right through the heart of Seleukos as he heard some noises coming closer to the them.

"Step away from him, or else I will kill you," a lion with black mane threatened Gaius as he was showing off his knife and coming closer.

"It is alright, Chizoba," Seleukos said to the lion with a sad smile. "My sins are to grave to be shown mercy for. And the gems. We need to stop our plans. Else we might achieve the opposite of what we were striving for."

"Seleukos," the lion now sheathed his dagger again and stepped carefully closer to Gaius. "He acted out of good intentions. I beg of you to leave him be."

The wolf now stepped back a little and rammed his spear into the ground. "Are we all in a big gray area at the moment, which makes all of us fine people somewhere deep down? I wish I could just move on without bloodshed, but justice has to be served for the treason towards the emperor, and the murder on Vidar's comrades."

"In which case I need to remind you, it was me and Incitatus, who committed those crimes. Seleukos never wanted those events to happen, and even demanded us to avoid it if possible. I took the easy way in order to get closer to the gem," Chizoba said as he grabbed the spear of Gaius and aimed its tip right at his heart. "Punish those actually guilty. Take this spear and ram it into my heart, if you so desire."

Now Gaius groaned as he pulled away the weapon out of the lion's hand and smashed it into a tree. "Okay, if you two want to die so badly, just jump of that tower, alright?" Realizing it was a bad idea to put his weapon into a tree, Gaius now tried to pull it back out again and then looked towards the door leading to the building the others were waiting in. "Just solve the issue with Crawford first."

The mouflon nodded as he got up and followed Gaius back into the building, Chizoba right behind him. He then glanced over to Rahotep and Ammon, who were staring at Lucille, Crawford, Tychon, and Khaba without saying a worth. "Alright, we are ready for the transaction."

"So are we. But, we thought about a new offer. Since whatever purpose those gems served is for naught, I am willing to take those useless gems and sell those later on," Rahotep said as he looked down at the ground.

Seleukos nodded and pulled out two peculiar gems from his pocket, both red and green. "Take them. I got no more need for those trinkets," he said and handed them over to Rahotep.

"Ah, beautiful," the elderly fruit bat said as he glanced over the two gems as he held them in his feet. "Ammon, would you please put them into the bag and give me the container?"

Ammon nodded and took the gems to stash them in a bag he was carrying with him. "Okay, there is however one thing left for me to say. I am not playing this game," he said and now grabbed his father's head and spun around, breaking his neck before he glanced at Gaius. "You know, you tried to tell our customer a story about the gems being keys to unleash disaster to this world. But, if you think about it, either god-like powers or gaining the favor of a deity is rather good for oneself."

"So, you only played along until you could get those two gems? The third is forever lost," Khaba now said as he got off from Lucille's back and looked indifferent at the dead body of his biological grandfather. "There was no need for this."

"Apart from a big inheritance, his constant nagging about me only doing everything wrong, and the fact that he was getting soft. While we were waiting here the past few days, he was actually considering to have you be accepted as my son, because our bloodline got some lack of young blood," Ammon replied with a wicked smile. "But that is the way I like it. And with the gems, maybe I never need to bother about you anymore."

Khaba only shook his head at that remark. "You are a murderer, a psychopath, and a rapist. I would never call you my father," he said calmly as he spread his wings and let his blades pop out of his gloves. "Now, drop the gems, or we will be forced to take them!"

Ammon chuckled at that threat and glanced over to all the others, which were already reading their weapons to attack. "You can try, if you catch me!" he exclaimed and suddenly the room was filled with a burst of light, which caused everyone to shield their eyes before they saw that Ammon had disappeared.

"Now seriously, does he realize the flaw in his way of thinking about the gems?" Khaba said and sighed. "I could care less about a dead grandfather right now, but Crawford's magic needs to be restored."

"Um," Chizabo now cleared his throat and looked nervously around. "I fear there is an issue. Lesedi has been using magic to find the gem in the sea in the last few hours and found it."

Now Gaius heart began racing as he was realizing what was about to happen. "That idiot. Those three gems are already enough for a catastrophe. We need to find him and get rid of those gems as soon as we can."

"Alright, I am going to observe from the sky, you track his scent," Khaba said as he flew off to the door and opened it right away to ascent towards the sky in order to get a glimpse on Ammon. It was rather difficult due to the rainy weather to make out details, but he could see something flying towards the sea. Hastily he flew right after, seeing Ammon just after a while.

Noticing the young fruit bat behind him, Ammon descended lower towards the sea to cause Khaba to lose his tracks.

Determined to end this chase however, Khaba just increased his speed and tackled Ammon to the ground. "It is over. You can't flee from us, and we will never stop hunting you down."

"How pesky of you," Ammon replied as he got up from the ground and threw the bag of his to the side. "A while earlier, you were cowering in fear and hiding behind that whore otter. And now you dare to challenge me?"

"At this point I can no longer afford to be scared," Khaba said as he landed to the ground and folded his wings. "My entire life I was pushed around, hurt when I failed to obey, and insulted for my short comings. Those times are over. I will no longer run away, no longer be pushed around. And," he now spread his wings to their full length, "I will make you swallow dirt for insulting my Lucille!"

Ammon chuckled at his son and spread his own wings. "You think you can defeat me? Well, let me show you the hubris of your words," he exclaimed and several spheres of light appeared around him.

A moment later they were all rushing towards Khaba, who could barely block them with his magic before he was pushed back by the intensity of the impact.

"You are such a weakling," the older fruit bat exclaimed as he now jumped onto Khaba and grabbed onto his throat. "Big words don't make big deeds. Let that be a final lesson before you die."

Struggling to get air into his lungs, Khaba now moved his feet towards the head of Ammon and grabbed brutally into his face.

With a painful scream Ammon pulled away from Khaba and covered his face, as the blood was dripping out of the scratches Khaba's gloves left. "You little," he now spread out his wings again, exposing his bloody face. A moment later, another, much larger sphere of light appeared above his head and rushed towards Khaba, who was now pushed away even further as it hit his magic shield.

"I am not going to lose," Khaba said as he was feeling his body giving in and he collapsed to the ground. "I am not going to lose."

Now Ammon stepped further, and held on to the head of Khaba. "You already lost," he said with a wicked smile and was about to snap Khaba's neck before a blast of ice cold mist hit him right in the chest and off from the smaller fruit bat.

"You are not going to do anything," the voice of Gaius exclaimed as he stepped into the scene and readied his spear for battle. "Are you okay, Khaba?"

"I am, thanks," the small fruit bat replied as he was crawling away from the battle field towards safety. "Where are the others?"

"We split up, but they should be here any time now," the wolf replied as he stepped closer to Ammon and held his weapon towards him. "It is all good now, I will end this."

Ammon however only chuckled as he crawled towards his bag and pulled out a larger, round object. A moment later it opened and several small spheres came out of it. "You are forcing me to spend an entire fortune. But, it is worth it," he said through his teeth and several of the spheres began to infuse themselves into his body.

Gaius was about to pierce through Ammon's heart before his weapon was heating up and he dropped it as his hands got burned by the metal. Instead of staying to fight, he turned around to grab Khaba and run, till he felt a sharp pain going through his chest before he fell down to the ground.

"End it all? You were a fool for playing the hero," Ammon said as he looked at the hot spear that was now sticking from the wolf's back. "Now, how does it feel to die a hero's death?"

"Gaius!" Khaba now pulled himself up as he saw the slowly dying body of the lupine lying on the ground. In desperation he tried to fly over, but was pushed back by a strong gust of wind from Ammon. "Gaius!"

With laughter Ammon now pulled out the spear from the wolf's back and threw it to the side. "Isn't it interesting. How easily I just killed your friend? With all the magic I just now possess, the same could happen to you and the rest of your friends."

"Murderer," Khaba's eyes turned glassy as he saw the life of Gaius fading away. His body began to pulsate, and now several of the elementals that were floating alongside the container of Ammon began to fly towards Khaba and infused into his body. Moments later a dark substance began forming around his wings and eyes, soon covering the entirety of the surrounding area, and hiding Khaba completely in the black fog.

"What? What is this?" Ammon now began panicking as he couldn't see anything anymore. With an attempt to echo locate Khaba he was realizing that even the air around him was changing.

"Murderer," Khaba screamed from the shadows as he now rushed at the disoriented Ammon and grabbed onto his wings. A moment later the darkness was enlightened by a flame, which descended down into the face of Ammon.

Struggling to get free, Ammon could only see how the fire was soon devouring his face, and then began to go over his entire body, while it didn't even affect Khaba at all. With a scream that was only muffled by Khaba's magic he was soon completely engulfed in fire.

For moments Khaba only focused on the deed. Once the struggling ended, he got off from his father and the darkness around him dissolved completely. With the last of his strength he wandered over to Gaius, and channeled all the energy he had left in him. With hope he saw the body restoring, but as Gaius was not moving, not even breathing, it was no longer possible for him to hold back his tears as he collapsed onto the wolf.

"Sssorry for your lossss," a strange female voice said from the woods, now as the short skirmish had ended. The figure that came out was peculiar, showing a long and slender body that was moving on the ground without legs, while a set of arms was holding onto a bow. "I just sssaw the darkness and went towards it, but I would not have thought to sssee this."

"He tried to protect me. It all happened so fast, I can't process it right now," the fruit bat replied as he rolled Gaius over and closed his eyes before he walked over to the snake. "I assume you are Lesedi. The other servant of Seleukos."

"Ssservant? Sssurely you missssunderstand our relationssship," Lesedi replied as she glanced over to the woods and then to Ammon. "Ssso, what exactly happened?"

Khaba took a deep breath and tried to keep himself from passing out. "Ammon wanted to get ahold of the gems himself, and killed Rahotep, and then tried to kill me, before Gaius could step in."

Lesedi gave him a nod. "I mussst sssay, thisss isss rather unexxxpected. He ssseemed more like the unimportant guy that wasss sssomewhat dragged along."

"A role he grew tired of," Khaba added as he sat down on the ground and tried to regain his focus about the situation. His eyes grew wide as he remembered something. "Lesedi, if you got a gem with you, get to Seleukos immediately!"

The snake was tilting her head as she pulled out the gem from a bag she was carrying around with her. "Thisss gem? Ssseemsss harmle," she was interrupted as the gem began glowing, and from the bag of Ammon the other two gems did the same as they began floating out of it and towards Lesedi, who threw the gem she was holding into the woods, but was too late as it was freezing in place right before it reached a bush.

As the other two gems got closer, they were beginning to resemble a triangle together, which was soon filled with a white light. The next moment the gems and the white light disappeared, and left Lesedi and Khaba startled at the scene.

"Khaba!" Now the fruit bat was pulled out of his surprised state as he heard Lucille running towards him, and soon felt how she was embracing him. "I was so worried when I saw the cloud of darkness forming here. But you are safe, that is all that matters."

Now the others were coming towards the scene, and looking at the battlefield, which Khaba left behind. Tychon immediately ran over to Gaius and tried to shake him awake. "Gaius. Gaius, do you hear me?"

"He can't" Khaba said as he sadly glanced over to the fox. "Ammon killed him. The darkness, I caused it as I wanted vengeance."

"No," Tychon now stepped up from the ground and walked over to a tree to lean against it. "I was," an image now flashed before his inner eye, an image of a young wolf reading a scripture. "not able," It was followed by the image of an adolescent Gaius wandering towards the gate of Urbulchem. "to keep the promise," And at last he saw the image of a dying old wolf before him and how he promised to protect Gaius. "Of protecting him." He now punched the tree and screamed out loud into the woods as he was not able to stop his eyes leaking tears. "No, those are his memories, not mine!"

Lucille and Crawford both looked confused at Tychon, as the fox was now beginning to shake. It was Crawford who took the initiative. "Tychon, what are you trying to say."

Now snapping back to reality, the vulpine began shedding tears and then turned to the young otter. "You guys were always saying I looked like Septimus, the brother of Gaius. Well, he made a pact with an entity called Danica. The same Danica that came to me this morning, and told me why it is that Gaius does not remember him, and why I have his appearance," he now sat down to the ground and looked at his right hand. "Septimus never existed as far as history itself is concerned. Danica erased his existence, entirely. I myself am only the replacement, looking like him, but a completely different person."

"So, your reaction was essentially a temporal anomaly," Crawford concluded as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "We remember a person that no longer exists in our past, so it would not be surprising, if you have leftover memories of Septimus as well."

"I might not want to interrupt this conversation, but the gems are a thing we need to discuss now, before we can mourn," Seleukos said as he stepped over to Lesedi. "Where are the gems?"

"Kind of disssappeared when they got together," the snake replied with her eyes averting the mouflon. "I have no idea what happened."

Seleukos rubbed his forehead and then looked over to Gaius. "Maybe, for now we should return to Xandros. And give his body to be transported back home. And at the same time, I will be delivering myself to my judgement."

"If you won't mind," Crawford now looked a bit ashamed. "I would like to go through the ruins a little. The Old Ones are connected to the gems, so maybe we find clues here."

Tychon nodded. "I shall at least bring him to Albanus. Take all the time you need, and I shall come back for you. Just meet me at the tower," he said and then channeled his magic, forcing a portal open next to him. "See you soon," he said and let Chizoba carry Gaius through, before he, Seleukos, and Lesedi followed.

Being now by themselves, Crawford, Lucille, and Khaba were walking back towards the ruins of the old settlement together.

"I cannot believe he is gone," Lucille spoke with a heavy heart as she placed her hands over her chest. "Just like that. He was our mentor, friend, and a little like a father."

Crawford let out a sigh. "I know. He was one of those people, who believed in their own ideals, rather than those of others. The world is in dire need for those. I hope at least his soul can rest peacefully."

"We still have a mission ahead of us," the female otter remarked as they were reaching the little town again. "Let's finish this for Gaius!"

As they entered the tower, Crawford was looking around the main hall and focused on his surroundings. "If this is built up like I think it is, then there is a basement accessible by staircases."

"Well then," Lucille now walked over to one of the doors and opened it wide. "Empty room. Kind of to be expected, considering that it is a miracle that this building is still standing."

Crawford sighed as he opened another door. "Well, this one has something that has been rusted to oblivion," he said and closed the door as he passed the body of Rahotep. "Maybe we should bury his body later on."

"Don't bother," Khaba said weakly as he glanced over to the dead body of his paternal grandfather. "Just let us look for whatever might be here first."

With a shrug Crawford continued and opened another door, and dropped to the ground in surprise as he saw something rather peculiar. "Lucille, Khaba, I found something!"

Carefully Lucille got closer with Khaba on her back and blinked twice at what she saw. "If I am correct, a similar machine stood in the other ruin. But, what does this one make here?"

"It would relate to its purpose," Khaba concluded as he got off from Lucille and looked over the machinery before he looked nervously around. "Thankfully, it seems we don't get some angry spirit this time around."

Now Crawford pulled out his small handbook and looked through the pages, till he found one bearing an image of a machine quite similar to the one in front him them. "Hermes Devise, based on technology of Moirai Corporation from 2032 Anno Domini," he began scratching his chin as he read those words out loud. "Year of the Lord? What does that mean? Anyway, you know those small pillars with Hermes' head and, well, penis attached to it? Those hermai are symbols of protection for travelers, and thus the name of Hermes is used for those machines, which function as portal generators."

"Now that you mention it," Lucille giggled a little bit as she glanced on one of the levers of the machine. "So, essentially those machines connect to each other. Quite a way to travel, isn't it?"

Crawford nodded. "Though, unless we can climb up that chasm at the other location, it would only be useful to seek out the remaining spots. Hmm," he now took a look at the lever and pulled on it, causing a screen to light up. "Now, if I am correct, we could locate the city of Adamas, if we can decipher the map."

Khaba and Lucille looked at the screen, but shook their heads after a few minutes. "Unless you have a letter sheet somewhere in this book, we are screwed in that regard."

"Well, no unfortunately not," Crawford said as he leaned with one hand on the screen. Moments later the device began to shake and shutter and the young otter jumped away in shock as the screen was glitching out and the next moment a rift opened right on the side of his, with such a force that it pulled him, Lucille, and Khaba right in.

An hour later Tychon stepped through a portal into the building and tried to locate the scents of the two otters and the fruit bat. Without interest he passed by Rahotep's now cold body and then looked at the open door through which he saw a small rift in space itself still open. "What in the name of Athena? Are they?" He shook his head and decided to focus his magic through the rift to form a proper portal from it. "I should have planned this eventuality," he said as he took a deep breath and jumped through the portal.

Groaning from pain, Khaba blinked a few times as he was looking around himself. He only remembered a sudden flash of light after Crawford accidentally started the Hermes Device. And as he now found himself in a place he could not even begin to describe, he was panicking as neither of the otters were with him. "Lucille, Crawford!" His yell went through the many tall buildings, but found absolutely no reply. "Lucille!"

"It would be no use for you to call her here," a voice now said as footsteps came closer to Khaba. "This place is vast and massive, to a degree that Urbulchem does only look like a village in comparison."

With worry and fright Khaba turned around, facing the mysterious person approaching him: a she-wolf dressed in fine linen and carrying a bow made from pure ice. "Who are you?"

"The guardian and judge of the living," the canine replied. "Miakoda, one of the Celestial Sovereigns as some mortals know us."

"Miakoda?" Khaba now tilted his head. "Okay, so where are we here?" he asked with confusion in his tone as he looked around the city. The buildings were all made out of stone and glass, though a peculiar sight was their height as they were reaching up towards the sky, or rather a dome of metal that was now just partially intact as it imitated a clear summer sky.

The she-wolf was walking past him and stashing away her bow as she began to hum a tune. "The city of Adamas, once populated by countless people, now only parts of it remain, with this district being abandoned, while others may still be intact, either prospering or long since collapsed. It would be best, if I give this to you, Khaba," she now pulled out a small piece of clothing from her satchel and put it around the fruit bat's neck. "It holds my blessing for you. One that can help you in the coming days."

"Um," A smile went over the fruit bat's face. "Thanks, but what is this exactly for a blessing? Just so I know what it is good for."

"It is an energy source for your spells, so you can put up your fullest potential," Miakoda explained as she was now stepping towards an alley. "Soon you will see why you need it," she said and disappeared into a white mist.

Khaba meanwhile decided to get going and flew upwards in order to scout for Lucille and Crawford in the forsaken city of Adamas.