A growl rumbled from Rhys's throat as the nature fairy ducked and rolled away. The fairy put his arms forward but Rhys wasn't going to let him open his mouth to talk. "Hold on—" the man began. Rhys slashed his sword at his neck.

"I meant no—" Slash. Dodge. "Harm—!"

Rhys opened his hand and sent a tangle of weaving energy at the man's light brown head. The man simply sidestepped it before trying to speak again. "I'm not—"

"Shut it, hag," Rhys lunged at the man's unguarded side. He was sure to pierce the nature fairy's flesh when something grabbed his arms and sent him crashing to the ground. Who—

His sword clattered on the wooden floor. Pidmena's stockings. Where were the other two? Godsdamn it, he forgot about them. He tried moving his arms from the ground when he discovered that there's something preventing him from doing so.

"Look, whoever you are, we're sorry for the roof," the nature fairy stood shakily and began dusting his green robes. He shoved his light brown hair off his forehead. Rhys relaxed and exhaled through his nose.

"That's fine," Rhys answered. A sparkle blossomed in the nature fairy's eyes. Then, without warning, Rhys slammed his foot upward, straight into something fleshy even though he could see nothing holding him down. His grin widened. He had been right. The other two were brownies.

A surprised grunt tumbled off the figure pinning Rhys to the ground. Rhys opened his hands and his sword flew back to his hand. Ha, benefit of having weaved it to a certain degree. He slashed in a wide arc, making the air woosh around him. His eyes traced the strands of hair floating on the air as if they've just been cut from a head. Damn, missed.

Footsteps thudded lightly on the floorboards as the brownie gathered his wits. Rhys bit the inside of his cheek. He's there, by the door. Which just leaves...the woman. Where was she?

The air stirred somewhere to his right. Rhys's eyes flashed. There. He slashed his sword vaguely to his right and shot a blast of pure weaving energy at the shimmering air. A feminine voice gave a pained grunt and judging from the men's reactions, he'd hit true. From the corner of Rhys's eyes, the nature fairy raised his arm, possibly to cast a spell. The male brownie materialized and grabbed the fairy's arm. The latter shook his head.

Rhys wasted no time and lunged for the men while they're debating whether to attack him or not. He was about to slash his sword when an earth-shattering scream filled his ears.

Reeca was awake. He angled his sword at the newcomers, cursing them with everything he had deep inside. How dare they wake his sister? How dare they?

He growled at the back of his throat before sheathing his sword. His weaving energy wrapped around the wall and the two male fairies were pressed against it before they could even blink. Their cries of defiance rang in the air as Rhys rushed to his sister's side. Reeca. That should be his priority.

A woman with long dark brown hair materialized beside his sister's bed. Rhys drew his sword again and hissed. He doubted the woman heard him from the blaze of Reeca's screaming. His sister thrashed in her sleep, eyelids fluttering but remaining closed. She seemed to be stuck in a bad dream and couldn't find her way out. Rhys angled his sword at the brown-haired woman who slowly edged her glowing hands towardsReeca's face.

"Put that thing away if you don't want the Synketros to find you," the woman snapped, the glow in her hands reminding Rhys of lantern lights that once populated Arcole's night markets. He paused. The woman mentioned Synketros. Who were these people?

Rhys lowered his sword as Reeca continued screaming. The woman edged closer, pressing her fingers on Reeca's sweaty temples. The next intake of breath was sharp. "What is this...nightmare?" the woman muttered, the glow in her hands becoming brighter. She closed her eyes. "I must..."

"You must what?" Rhys stalked closer.Who was this woman and why was Rhys letting her have her way with his sister?

"Be quiet, boy," the woman didn't even open her eyes to regard him. "This girl has been through so much."

Rhys pursed his lips and controlled the urge to slap this woman upside the head but no matter how his thoughts of violence raged in his mind, his body couldn't seem to act on it. Why?

After a few minutes, the woman gave a sigh of relief and let go of Reeca. His sister gave a peaceful sigh before falling back to sleep.

"What did you do?" Rhys demanded as the woman stood up to face him.

"Rhystavien Torlin," the woman grinned, showing off perfect rows of white teeth. "It's nice seeing you here of all places."

Now, Rhys wasn't the type of person to be surprised at every turn. Usually, he could predict what people would say. Then again...usually. When he tried reading the woman or the two men stuck to the wall in the other room, he couldn't figure them out. They look ordinary yet remarkable, weak yet strong. It's throwing him off.

"I'm glad you can't figure us out," the woman clapped her hands once as her grin grew wider.

Rhys flinched. "Who are you?" He croaked rather unmanly when he realized that the woman just answered a question he never asked aloud.

"If you would release my husband and my friend from that wall, I'll gladly tell you," the brownie jerked her chin in the foyer's direction.

"Who says you're not working for the Synketros or Cardovia?" Rhys crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

The woman leveled her gaze at him. "If we are, we wouldn't bother with this hell hole," she pushed past him without suspicion and trudged towards the common area. "We're fugitives, just like you."

Rhys raised his sword again. "How do you prove it?"

The woman looked at him with the strangest brown eyes. "We would've killed you already if we're working for them."

Then, Rhys saw it. A flash of hatred and defiance at the mention of the two organizations glinted in her eyes. It's...enough proof. "Now," the woman turned to Rhys and gestured to the wall where the two male fairies were still squirming against. "Please release my companions."

Without a word, Rhys snapped his fingers and the men gave a pained groan as they slammed into the wooden floor. The woman glared at him. Rhys shrugged and tucked his hands inside the pockets of his armor. "You didn't say how."

Soon, they were all seated on the dusty floor, the three fairies sitting opposite him. Rhys kept his arms crossed as menacing as he could. The nature fairy smiled like nothing was wrong. Annoying. That smile was annoying. "Why are you here if you're not coming to get us?" Rhys asked.

"We're running as well," the nature fairy's silky voice somehow fit his soft features.

The male brownie crossed his arms, matching Rhys's stance. Even a bit scrawny and lanky like the nature fairy, his glare could cut flesh. At least, it's enough to make a normal fairy squirm in one's seat. But not Rhys. "What are you running from?" Rhys inclined his head to one side. "Criminals?"

"You could say that," the brownie male said. Okay, he wasn't much of a talker.

"What's more interesting is you and your sister," the female brownie interjected. Rhys's gaze hardened when she gestured with her chin towards where Reeca slept. Leave his sister out of this. "You're in the Narfalk raid, aren't you? At least, your sister was. She witnessed it first hand."

"How do you even know all that?" Rhys's fingers clenched atop his thighs.

The female brownie sighed. "I can sense some stuff in the memories and dreams I view," she tapped a discordant rhythm against the floorboards. "To ease your sister out of her dream, I had to divert her attention into calming memories and that happened to be of you. She trusts you with her life."

Rhys raised an eyebrow when something clicked. "A Thyminka who can vanish as well," he scratched his chin. Ah, yeah. He had heard of someone like this from his adventures. He met the woman's eyes with newfound respect. "You're remarkable indeed."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Do you know about us?"

"Of course, Airese," the male brownie turned to his female companion. "He's Rhystavien Torlin. The only one who got in and out of the Synketros without the Sovereign noticing."

Rhys's hand crept to the hilt of his sword. He's ready to strike these people no matter how nice they were. "How do you know that?" His tone honed into an edge.

"Take your hand away from your sword," Airese, the female brownie, said. Then, she groaned and massaged her temples. "Honestly, your wild emotions are making my head ache. Such young and raw emotions they are. What are you, twenty?"

These people...

"To answer your question," the nature fairy interjected in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "We know who you are and of your activities because we belong in the same trade as yours."

Rhys frowned. "Which is?"

A strange twinkle flashed in the nature fairy's eyes. "Espionage."

"It's fairly easy to infiltrate the Synketros," the male brownie inclined his head at Rhys's direction. "But getting out? The Sovereign sees everything. She watches her people like a raven. No one gets out without her knowing about it."

"And you say so because...?" Rhys rolled his wrist, prodding.

The male brownie leveled his gaze at him. "Because I was once there."

Rhys's throat dried. The nature fairy laughed and slapped the male brownie's chest as if easing him. "Come on, Marthiaq, stop glaring at the kid. You're going to scare him."

"Eldan, let him do as he pleases," Airese backhanded the nature fairy lightly on the arm. "You're not his mother."

The names swirled in Rhys's head. His mind took him back to the ones Reeca had said through their trailwhisperer in one of the many correspondences they had over the months. These people. They're connected to something close to Rhys and Reeca.

"You wouldn't be Phiaris Torlin's children, would you?" Airese said.

Rhys really got his sword out of its sheath. Something white and furry slipped past his view and as soon as he could think again, his sword had clattered to the ground and a short-furred cat was hissing at him from the floor.

"Sahili!" Eldan hissed at the cat who hissed right back. "What do we say about biting fairies?"

The cat yowled and Eldan's eyes widened with surprise. "Is that how you want to play this?" he asked. The cat answered in a series of hisses and yowls.

Rhys knitted his eyebrows. An elika keiju? Oh. The next few minutes were spent watching fairy and cat trading a series of verbal jabs. Airese rocked back and forth from her perch, her face arranged into a bemused expression. Marthiaq just rolled his eyes like it's an everyday occurrence.

Eldan huffed and waved his hand at the cat after it mewled something long enough to be a sentence. It's something offensive, judging from Eldan's reddening ears. The cat slunk somewhere into the east room without waiting for Eldan to say something back to it.

The nature fairy clicked his tongue before flicking his wrist at the floorboards. A plant with scarlet stalks grew up from the wood, blooming into a single flower with red, whorled petals before Rhys's eyes. What in Umazure...he's a kaviste keiju as well?

Was that possible?

Eldan flexed his fingers and the flower turned into fine dust, right there on the floor. From a satchel slung behind him, he drew a small vial of transparent and sticky fluid. "Give me your hand," Eldan ordered. What...?

Rhys raised his hand until his eyes registered two puncture wounds between his forefinger and thumb. Blood oozed in lazy droplets from it. Oh. Eldan didn't wait for Rhys and just gripped his wrist. Rhys didn't bother fighting as he watched the nature fairy mixed the sticky vial-liquid and the powered flower. The nature fairy draped the mixture into the wound in a series of light jabs.

Rhys winced as it stung a bit. Then, before his eyes, the wound absorbed the flower mixture before closing up on its own. His tongue turned to steel inside his mouth. A layer of clouds coated his mind. "What..."

"Now you've done it, Eldan," Airese's eyes sounded far away. "He's drowsy. Good job."

A fairy capable of sarcasm. How rare. Airese blew a sharp breath. "Let's give him a moment to process things before we tell him we're going to the Ice Capital."

Rhys's world tilted. "Ice...Capital?"

Eldan turned to Airese. "Now you've done it."

Done what? It's the last thing on Rhys's mind before he keeled sideways and darkness claimed his consciousness.