Josh had walked multiple trails throughout his life. His parents enjoyed camping at parks with hiking trails during the summer. Sometimes they would roam through woods without finding an established path. They had found some beautiful spots of nature because of it, but in normal circumstances, Garajonay National Park would have been strong competition for everything else he had seen.

Too bad these circumstances were far from normal, and not because of the orcs they were tracking. It wasn't even the weight of a shield on his arm and the sword strapped to his waist. No, it was the godforsaken rain that pelted down against his cloak, challenging how much water it could hold back while making the terrain a slippery mess.

The mud squelched as he continued forward, glaring through the downpour. He could barely make out Akachi's back a few yards ahead of him.

A back which he almost ran into when Akachi came to an abrupt halt. Josh slid as he tried to stop, barely managing it in time.

Akachi turned to face Josh and Cale. "This must be where they first appeared," Akachi said, pitching his voice loud enough to be heard over the rain.

Josh's eyes widened when he saw what Akachi's body had obscured from his view before. Large footsteps overlapped each other, creating a wreck in the trail and leading straight to the shattered railing to their left. Even with the rain worsening his vision, he could make out the trampled roots and the gashed trees along the footsteps' path of destruction through the forest.

"At least they made it easy for us to track them," Cale noted.

He had a point, but Josh thought he caught Akachi frowning. "This rain is proving very annoying," he said after a moment. "It's getting late, and if it continues like this, finding them would be more detrimental than good, so we will follow their path until we can find a spot to stop."

Akachi went first. Josh's shoulders slumped as he trudged after him. I don't get why we don't just go back and forth between here and the Sanctuary, he grumbled, directing his thoughts toward Boomer. He felt the dragon stir at his words. I mean, we could just stop, have Jodas open a portal, sleep there, and then come back, right?

Boomer chuckled. Weren't you the one excited to get a mission like in one of your video games?

I was excited, but that was before nature decided to cry its heart out, Josh grumbled.

I don't see the problem. I miss the rain sometimes.

That made Josh pause. He had noticed it didn't rain on the Sanctuary, though he didn't know if it was possible to just be higher than the rain or if the barrier had something to do with it. Maybe if it wasn't such an annoying hindrance, he would appreciate his first glimpse of rain in a month.

Lightning flashed somewhere in the distance, followed by the crackle of thunder. A sense of longing shot from Boomer through the bond.

Josh took a deep breath and focused all of his senses on his surroundings—the damp wet earth mixed with the smell of rain, the droplets sliding down his cheek, the trickle of water down trees—before channeling those sensations through the bond.

Sorry, he said after a couple of moments. It's the best I can do since I can't really summon rain up there.

Warmth from Boomer spread through him, as well as the mental image of Boomer nuzzling his cheek. Thanks.

It continued like that for another fifteen minutes, and the rain no longer seemed as bothersome. Boomer sent memories of sprinting through forests during storms. Josh had to blink through one of those memories when Akachi came to a stop.

"This place should work," he said.

They'd veered a couple dozen yards from the orcs path and arrived at a mossy clearing. A small creek traveled beside it, made more ferocious by the excess water. Flat land and running water nearby. Seemed like a great place to rest.

Except that he couldn't see shelter anywhere.

"Uh, are we just going to lay in the rain?" he asked.

Akachi chuckled. "Cale, if you don't mind." He gestured toward the clearing.

Cale grunted and knelt down to place a hand on the ground. His brows scrunched together in concentration, his lips moving to form a word Josh couldn't make out. The ground tremored, and then three rectangular segments of earth burst from the middle of the clearing. Once they were a couple feet higher than Josh's head, the slabs converged together, thinning and expanding until they morphed into one large dome with a circular entrance tall enough for them to walk through.

Akachi pointed. "That is where we will be resting."

It took Josh a moment to realize he had a huge smile plastered on his face. "That works."

They ducked inside. Cale must have done something to the ground because it was dry. Once they had stripped of their cloaks and gear, Akachi placed a flashlight face-up to illuminate the area and Cale lifted another patch of earth so their doorway became a window. Josh found a spot on the ground and produced a water bottle and jerky stick from his backpack.

Everyone settled in. Akachi sat cross-legged and closed his eyes. Cale produced a book from his pack and started reading. Josh pulled out a book of his own, scrunching his nose at the history text. Stupid homework. Only the rain pelting the earth dome provided noise for their group.

By the time half an hour had passed, the words in his book blurred together as sheer boredom almost drove Josh to sleep. He rubbed his eyes and took another swig of water. He glanced at Akachi. Maybe he could try meditating like the combat teacher, but he was tired of silence.

"So," Josh said, closing his book, "how did you guys get officials to close the park anyway?"

Akachi's eyes slid open and focused on Josh. "Hm?"

Josh made a vague hand motion toward the forest. "I'm guessing the people who run the park didn't conveniently decide to close it for a few days, so how did you get them to do that?"

"Oh." Akachi stretched his arms for a moment, then leaned forward. "Well, as I'm sure you've been taught, normal humans aren't supposed to know about our part of the world. That's mostly true. Most humans don't—and hopefully never will—know about the supernatural parts of the world, but to make sure it stays that way, we have to let a handful of people know."

"So there are normal people who know and don't live on the Sanctuary?"

Akachi nodded. "Each soul-bound group has select people of power they interact with to help complete their respective missions," he said. "Usually government officials who can help keep our work hidden and whose intents and wishes align with our own."

Josh had gotten used to thinking of the Paladin life as separate from the normal world, but it made sense that they would have to interact. How many American government officials had known that dragons existed? Had the Paladins helped any of them? His head throbbed. The magical world could have influenced so many things in his life, and he never would know about it.

"The Sages interact with governments the most to help keep things a secret. They contacted someone they knew, and they got the park shut down, but that's not all the Sages do. Did you notice when you were attacked by the possessed boy that nobody came to your aid?"

"Yeah," Josh said with a nod. His mind flashed back to the moment he realized it. People walking straight past the toy section, not sparing a glance in the direction of a magical battle. "It was like they didn't even notice."

"Because the Sages made sure they didn't. Unlike Shadow Knights and Paladins, Sages manipulate pure energy, something given off as a sort of by-product of the various natural energies. They manipulate the field around a certain area to create a magical field that we call a barrier. The barrier alters a human's senses so they don't notice the magical happenings, and it also unnerves anyone who isn't soul-bound to keep them from trying to breach the area."

"Huh. That's pretty... cool." And made Josh's brain swim because he realized more so how possible it was he'd been around the magical and never noticed. "So that's what they're doing around the park now?"

"Correct," Akachi said.

Josh didn't have any other questions, so they lapsed into another silence. It was only broken occasionally, but after a few hours, Akachi suggested he and Josh get to sleep. They would be doing the second watch together so Akachi could teach Josh what to do during one.

Josh jumped at his chance to escape his assignment. He stretched out on the ground and wrapped up in his almost dry cloak. The park was at least a few hours ahead of the Sanctuary, but the hours of dull reading and sitting around left him exhausted.

With the crinkle of Cale turning pages of his book and the patter of rain as his lullaby, it didn't take long for sleep to claim Josh. Before he succumbed, though, he had this odd sense of being in another forest, laying under the clear night sky, two warm presences surrounding him.

Fun Fact: It never rains in the Sanctuary, if you didn't catch that.  The barrier keeps the rain and stuff out.  Although it can be seen around the Sanctuary, it is never within the Sanctuary.  The crops are given water by Hisato and others able to use water magic.  As for the Sanctum... Nature magic :D 

Yes, yes, the age old question of how nobody noticed the store battle is finally answered!  Took a bit of time, I know, but hope all the new information and the reasoning came out well :D Figured I would give a bit more world building before we get to some of the fun stuff ;) 

Let me know your thoughts on the chapter down below, and if you enjoyed it, don't forget to vote and comment! I also have a discord open to anyone who wants to join, and we have a section there to discuss the book :D It's in my bio if you'd like to join!