I knew morning came when my door burst open and spat Revery out. "Seline..." she started, her breath catching up to her. Why was she running around this early in the morning?

A groan rumbled deep in my throat as I pushed myself off the bed and rubbed my eyes, glaring at the sunlight streaming past the curtains drawn over the windows. "What?" I scratched my ear. Never did well with loud noises after waking up.

Revery strode towards my bed and shoved a box into my hands. I sputtered, raising my eyes to meet hers. They had never been so full of worry. "He asked me to give that to you," she said, without saying who we were talking about. Who's going around giving me jewelry now? "We must hurry. He could be in trouble."

I frowned, throwing my covers aside and edging off the mattress. There went my sleep. "Who's in trouble?" I followed Revery out of my room and into the inn's kitchen. Seated on the dining table were the rest of the team. "What's up?"

Heather mussed her hair, her claws snipping some of the locks in the process. Was that why it was always uneven? "Kora stepped out with us this morning," she reported. "We were supposed to buy stuff for dinner but he and Revery got separated from us."

Revery jerked her chin at the box in my hands. "He asked me to go with him to that vendor from yesterday," she said. "Then, for some reason, he just ran off."

My eyebrows scrunched together. " 'Ran off' ?"

The summoner bobbed her head. Unlike me whose hair was still a wild nest, hers were pinned and stuck in her signature bun. Maybe I'd get her to teach me how to do that. My hair has been a pain in my ass for numerous occasions now.

"He said something about an opportunity not presenting itself a second time and that's why he had to go," Revery said. "I looked around town before I got here for the thing he might have seen. Got nothing."

Trink exhaled through his nose, his arms crossed over his chest. His ears twitched despite his stance of nonchalance. "You might know something," he tilted his head at me. "You two seem to know each other well."

I'd pretend I didn't hear that if they weren't talking like Kora had announced he'd throw himself into the nearest dungeon and did so. "That was before," I admitted, not even caring about the things I'd be implying to them with my words. "I hardly know him now. Sorry."

Revery chewed on her fingernail—something I didn't even notice her do until now. Was she always a nailbiter when she's stressed? "He should still be in town," she said. "We must find him."

"What are you so worried about?" I asked. "I'm sure he just needed to cool off and get some air. He tends to do that at random. He'll come back. He might be on his way already."

My world spun for a second when Revery gripped my arms and turned me to face her. The last thing I expected to see shining in her eyes were tears. "You don't understand," she said. "He had the same look as Sonii did that night. Like they knew they were chasing some unknown thing bigger than them. I don't..."

She paused to collect her breath. Her nails dug against my skin. "Believe me when I say I know what I'm talking about," she said. "We need to find him before he does something that can't be undone."

Sonii. Their dead member. The one I was replacing. They never really told me how he died. Just that he did. I pulled myself off Revery's grip. "I still don't see the reason to get worked up over this," I said with a sigh. "But we'll still go out and find him, okay?"

Relief flashed across Revery's face. Her expression was more of fear than worry. It wouldn't be far off to assume her memories of the past were playing at the back of her mind. Something about this whole situation triggered her. I should at least put her at ease. Kora would be alright. He always was. Even if he wasn't, he'd find ways to make it seem like so.

Still, what Revery said about Kora being similar to Sonii unsettled something inside me. Something I couldn't yet place.

"Let's go," I said with a brief nod. Together, we filed out of the inn where our rented rooms were. After this, we would have to go back to Dragnasand to update our stats. The Demon Springs proved to be the most useful, like I predicted it to. Then again, he had been right about the infestation so we didn't get to finish the dungeon there. I still had to rub it into his face.

That's why I needed to find him.

We split up at the town's center, each of us tackling a different road. They said a woman's instinct was never wrong. Was that true for this world too? Revery had been worried to the point of tears. The sight of her face and the feeling of her nails digging against my sleeve...it was just her fear and regrets talking, right?

Right?

Kora was fine.

He had to be.

A building with a wooden facade whizzed by my periphery. Seated on the tables propped on the patio, right before the cobbled roads started, were a group of men dressed in fur coats despite the heat in Naskali. Their boisterous laughs rang across the street, catching my attention. Judging from their gear, they're either a scouting party or an adventuring one.

They might know these streets better than I did.

"Excuse me, can I trouble you with something?" I said.

The man with gelled-back hair the color of store-bought mac-and-cheese turned to me with a sly grin on his angular face. Underneath all that fur, I could tell he was bulky. How many animals did they skin just to dress themselves this way? "As long as you're willing to give us that pretty face of yours later, sure," he said.

Ew, no.

I started to move to the next table where I spotted another circle of people with weapons displayed from their belts or thrown over the wooden surface of the table. Over the months of being here, I came to realize adventurers liked to flex their gear, and they liked it a lot. A hand closed around my wrist, jerking me back to the man with pasta hair.

"Now, where are you going without finishing our conversation, love?" he said. "What's bothering ya?"

"I'm looking for someone," I said, giving this man a chance even though I was utterly disgusted. "Do you happen to notice a young man with red hair about this tall,"—I raised a hand folded at the wrist to demonstrate— "pass by around here? He's like a walking celery. Hard to miss."

"Don't know what a celery is, but I think I have your guy," the man turned to his friends who watched the conversation and, by extension, me with unhampered attention. "Didn't we, lads?"

The rest of the men nodded their agreement. Good. They saw him. That meant he was still alive when he passed through this part. "Do you know which direction he went?" I prodded. "It would be more helpful if you could tell me if you know where he's going."

The man sneered, tightening his grip around my wrist. His eyes narrowed at the same rate his grin widened. "Not so fast, love," he rasped. "I run a business, you see. Information is a commodity nowadays. Don't you know that?"

"Then, you really didn't see him?" I squirmed against his hand but his fingers were like leeches stuck to my skin. And I knew what fate those vermin would get if they messed with me too much. "I don't appreciate you wasting my time."

"No, no," the man answered. "We did see him around here. Let's just say I'm generous enough to a beauty like you. Consider it a free trial. As for where he went and where he's going...now that's what you have to pay for."

I gritted my teeth. "What do you want?"

The man's face brightened. He had me now—or at least that's what he's thinking. Pathetic. "How about sitting on my lap for now?" he said. "We'd move further with every question, if you'll have it, love."

Okay. That's it.

"Let go," I yanked my hand from his grip but it wouldn't budge. "I'm done talking to you."

"Come on, stay! We're just having a bit of fun. Right, lads?" he turned to his entourage and they all bobbed their heads like mindless slaves. Ugh. "I'm thinking of giving you another free trial. I like my women feisty."

"No thanks," I planted my foot on the ground and squirmed harder. The skin around my wrist started to sting. "I'd rather ask another bunch."

I stared down at him when his grip didn't loosen the slightest bit. "Let me go," I said. "While I'm being nice."

He didn't. Well, he asked for it.

Without a word, I summoned my sword. It glowed like ink against the morning sun. I slashed it towards his hand, the one gripping my wrist. My blade passed through air. Ah, he's got some brain cells left, then.

The absence of a force hauling me forward sent me stumbling a few steps back. I righted my stance just before a flash of orange flashed into my periphery. "You witch!" the man shouted. "How dare you draw a sword on me!"

I rolled my eyes. "Why? This is your first time?" I sidestepped as he barreled straight into my line of vision and smacked the back of his head with the pommel of my sword. Any more and I might kill him by accident. "Do you know what I charge people for wasting my time?"

He gurgled, lunging towards me again. He took a swing. Too slow. I dodged and hooked my leg around his, sweeping him off his feet. The cobblestones cracked as his whole weight came crashing over it. "I gut them like fish," I said, throwing in a smile to finish the effect. "With this sword, it wasn't a far-off possibility, was it?"

The man's eyes darted from my blade's edge, his face being reflected back to him in the most unflattering way, towards his friends standing idly by. "What are you waiting for, you pricks?" he spat. "Hold her down!"

I sensed a storm of footsteps behind me and blew a breath. What a bother. Without whipping to spare them the smallest bit of my attention, I ran through my memory for the spell I've always been wanting to try. "Divine Fire," I chanted.

A sudden whoosh of wind and heat, and the panicked screams of grown men showered the alley. A notice blinked in my vision. Divine Fire. One of the advanced spells of a crafting spiria. Unlocked by the Book of Darkness. This spell creates fire on the object of the caster's choice and will never be extinguished unless the caster releases it. Cooldown in 30s. 29s. 28s...

It's even got a quick cooldown time. Nice.

As his men ran around and patted their clothes that were aflame, I placed my foot against Mac-and-cheese's shoulder and angled my blade under his chin. "I'll ask again," I said, keeping my voice into a whisper with an edge as deadly as my sword. "Where did he go?"

The man's face paled. He raised a finger and pointed in a specific direction. "T-that way," he said. That's a path leading to the forest. What was Kora doing? "Please spare me."

Oh, the moment he knew he was screwed, that's when he'd beg for his life. I decided to turn it up a notch. I drove my sword deeper, the edge drawing a thin line of blood. A whimper escaped his lips despite how hard he tried. All around us, a crowd of spectators began to gather, all whispering under their breaths about adventurers being violent. I needed to finish this quickly.

"Where is he going?" I asked.

"I-I don't know!" Mac-and-cheese screamed, every movement of his mouth brought his skin closer to my blade. "He was tailing some men and they're going to the forest. They could be anywhere now."

"What did those men look like?"

His eyes never left my sword. He better keep watch. He wouldn't know when it'd hit him. "Dressed like townsfolk," he said, his mind probably doing its best to remember. "Had some strange bands around the arm. Symbols. Yes! Some unusual symbols 'round their arms. Could be cultists. I'm sure they're cultists. It's cultists."

Cultists? Was there such a thing in Solarlume?

I blew a breath and shoved Mac-and-cheese back into the ground. I snapped my fingers and the fire plaguing his men snuffed out. "Don't follow me or try to attack me," I said, brandishing my sword between his eyes. "You know what fate would visit you if you do."

Before his mouth could spout words that's sure to annoy me, I turned and followed the direction he pointed me into. If he's wrong or pranking me, I was going to rain hell on him. But at least I knew what Kora was doing now.

The symbols—the ones I saw sketched on his notebook, the same subject of the correspondence I was supposed to deliver to him—that's what he's after. Which made it all the more suspicious. Why would these cultists, or whatever they were, show themselves in town after staying hidden for such a time that no one knew what or who they were? Why would they appear now, in this town, out of all times and places?

Unless they knew Kora was onto them.

Unless this was a trap.

Revery's tearful face flashed in my mind. He had the same look as Sonii did. And where was Sonii now?

Dead.

My gut twinged. No. He would never—

I cursed, picking up my speed. Damn him for getting curious. If he was killed...

I shook my head. Stop thinking about that. He's not going to die. He'd be fine. He might even be back in the inn and I'd have wasted my time running around. I would get angry at him about it, maybe stop talking to him for a day or two, but it'd be fine then. Because he would still be there. He'd still be alive.

So, why...

Why couldn't I breathe properly, as if a huge stone was lodged in my throat? Why was I tearing through the street, with the people, the buildings, and the cobblestones all but a blur in my periphery? Why was I feeling the same way as I felt that night, like my whole world was ending?

I cleared the town and burst through the forest. Various howls and skitters rang from the rustling leaves and the flaky undergrowth. Never mind that. I've got bigger fears to stare at the face. Because as much as I deny it, I was still afraid.

I was still scared I'd lose him.

Minutes bled into hours. At some point, I stumbled against a trunk, put my hands on either side of my face, and shouted into the leafy void as loud as I could. "Kora!" I yelled. "Where are you?"

Every single time, I was greeted with as much silence as the forest could afford. I clutched my side when it began to hurt. How long was I here? I craned my neck to the sky. It had started turning orange and pink in between the gaps in the canopies. Still no Kora.

No. It couldn't be. I should look more. Should...

The leaves rustled behind me. I turned, summoning my sword once more. Lowering into a stance, I prepared to swing. A weak chuckle made me freeze. "Hye-jin?" a familiar voice bled from behind the bushes. "What are you doing here?"

"Kora," I rushed forward and began untangling the vines. A sliver of a cloak and red hair peeked from the spaces. "What are you thinking, going all the way out here? Do you know how worried we are?"

"Hai, hai," he squeaked, switching back to his mother tongue. Was he drunk?

Then, he stumbled out of the bushes and slowly raised his head to meet my gaze. I should have noticed something was wrong right there. He was staggering, like it was taking everything to keep himself upright. His eyes drooped. A splotch of something dark bloomed from the shoulder of his cloak.

His legs folded and he began to topple forward. Without thinking, I surged forward, catching his body against mine. He fell limp. "Kora?" I patted his arm. Once. Twice. He didn't move. Then, more seriously, "Kora! Hey! Wake up."

Still nothing.

My hand moved to his arm and my fingers brushed against something warm and sticky. It's...

Blood.

I gasped, recoiling in shock. He tumbled to the forest floor and remained there, as limp as a sack of flour. When I brought my hands to my face, they were painted red. I fell to my knees, gripping his shoulders. "Wake up," I shook him. No response. I tried again. Harder. "Wake up!"

Tears blurred the rest of the world as I pressed my forehead against his. It was cold. So, so cold. "Stay with me," I begged the heavens and whatever god they believed in this place. I should have said those words while I still could. But here I was, begging. Pleading with my tears, hoping the universe wouldn't be this cruel.

"Stay with me," I whispered. "Stay with me, Rin."