“Hey, get up!” Ken heard Emilia’s voice, while slowly waking up from a dream.

“W- What’s happening?”

“Good morning! Our friend over there is already leaving!”

Ken stood up and saw Iris, who was about leave.

“Wait! I thought you were coming with us.”

“Not interested,” she said.

“You don’t want to see your people, possibly some of your friends?”

“I have always lived alone… I have no home.”

Iris was walking away and Ken tried to think of something that might get her attention.

“Your leg… you said it sometimes begins to hurt really bad, right?”

She stopped and seemed to be listening.

“I may know someone who could help you with that…” said Ken.

“All shamans are fakes, healing magic doesn’t exist.”

“It’s different, you see, in our civilization, we have experienced doctors specialized for things like this, and advanced medicine as well.”

To his surprise, Ken suddenly had her full attention, as she slowly approached him.

“Lead the way.”

“S- Sure…”

The forest was very harmonious, inhabited by all kinds of plants and creatures which resembled anything from small insects to bigger types of beasts. Definitely much more alive than the wastelands on Earth, which only reminded of pain and destruction. Other than the bright sun in the cloudless sky, there were two orange moons, just like the day before. They seemed to be a bit further apart though. After twenty minutes of walking, Emilia broke the peaceful silence.

“You don’t talk much, huh?” she asked Iris.

“What do you want me to say?”

“Well, I wonder… are there any cities, or villages? I would like to visit some!”

“Emilia, we are going straight home,” Ken said.

“I know, I know... But later!”

“On your left,” said Iris, “The capital of the Aeterran Kingdom.”

The view was obstructed by trees, so all that was visible was the top of a tall tower.

“Amazing! That’s our next stop!” said Emilia.

“It’s like a ghost town…” Iris muttered.

When they arrived close to the rift, Iris immediately hid behind a bush.

“Somebody is there!” she said.

“It’s just our friends,” said Ken, ”No need to worry.”

Aleric, Marco and a bunch of other people were setting up what looked like a big camp. They were transporting tools, supplies and weapons through the portal. There were a few horses too.

“Hey, hey, hey! Look who came back!” Marco shouted. “And he brought a catgirl with him as well!”

“Cat… girl?” Iris was confused.

“You better get used to the name of their race, Felingri,” Aleric said. “Tell me, what the hell were you thinking wandering off like this?”

“Umm… it was my fault,” Emilia said. “I was just impatient and dragged Ken with me…”

“At least you didn’t get into trouble.”

“About that…” Ken said, “Anyway, is Charlotte alright?”

“She’s fine. I was told someone entered the rift, so I went to see you at home, but she was the only one there, so I figured. Don’t worry, Enju is taking care of her.”

Aleric turned to Iris and said, “Hi there, I am Aleric, the Light Wa-”

“I know you. Nice to meet you.”

“What are you up to, guys?” Ken asked, “You planned to come here in… 2 days from now, right?”

“Yeah, but I have to do something here anyway, so I got few folks to help with making the transition a little smoother. So what do you think about this place?”

“Well… what can I say. It feels like being in a VR fantasy world, except it’s real.”

“Ken,” Iris looked at him, “Did you forget?”

“Oh, I didn’t. You will have to come with us through the rift and then we can find someone to help you.”

Iris walked closer to the rift and observed people going in and out. She almost touched the surface of it, but quickly backed off.

“The Felingri are naturally scared of magic,” Aleric said, “What does she need from there?”

“Just a check-up from the modern medical experts…”

“I see… Well then, I will be going now.”

“Where?” Emilia asked, “Can I go with you?”

“Enchoria, the capital of this continent. I need to check how are things going there, after all the rumours I have heard. And sure, but it would be better if you guys were armed, since the place could be swirling with the Cryth.”

“Hey Marco!” Emilia shouted, “Did you bring my baby over, too?”

“I knew you would ask that! Yeah, it’s over there, near the crate with the other guns.”

She immediately ran there excited.

“I see they made it for you after all,” Aleric said.

Ken took out his blade, “Oh this, yeah.”

As he unsheathed it to show it, there was a bit blood left from before.

“So you did get into trouble…”

“We were kinda unlucky and lucky at the same time. We got caught by a few Cryth warriors who wanted to sell us as slaves, but Iris showed up.”

“It must have been exhausting then,” Aleric said, “I would have told you to go get some rest before the big day, but you already spoiled yourself…”

Aleric tightened the reins on one of the horses and mounted it. Emilia came back with her customized sniper rifle and had a troubled look on her face.

“I would rather use a car… but okay, ” she said and mounted the seat behind Aleric.

Ken got on one of the other horses as well.

“You coming too?” Emilia asked.

“Well, I can’t return to Charlotte without fairies anyway,” he laughed. “Iris, if you have nowhere to go, come with us.”

They rode north through the immense forest, getting closer to that tall tower. It was still impossible to see the bottom of it.

“What about your hand, Aleric? Is it getting better?”

“It will stay like this forever… it’s the price we pay for using Puranite when we are already gifted with the ability to handle magic.”

The road was long and the forest seemed to be endless, but when they left the last tree behind, there it was. The huge and beautiful capital city, Enchoria. The architecture varied from district to district, but the most notable structures were the tall white towers, just like what they saw from afar. In the middle of everything, there was a royal castle on a slight elevation, which was surrounded by a crystal clear lake underneath.

As they came closer, there didn’t seem to be any signs of Cryth, but instead, the city was full of people.

“A ghost town, huh?” Ken thought.

Something was weird. Even though they have just passed the entrance, they still didn’t hear any of the citizens talking at all. Everyone was minding their own business while Ken and the others were completely ignored. The citizens were interacting with each other, but without words.

“What’s going on here?” Emilia asked, but that question was probably on everyone’s mind.

They were observing the city and its people as they wandered around. Elves were the majority among the various races. Ken watched an old man walk up to what seemed like a merchant. The merchant gave him two pieces of bread and got paid in return. The old man then left the small trade district, and this whole situation happened without a single word. Emilia was checking out one of the street shops, but talking to the woman owning it was futile. She didn’t flinch when Emilia waved her hand around. Even if an individual was pushed away, they would get back to their place or continue walking in the original direction.

A soft female voice came from behind, “Vessels without souls…”

It was a young elf-girl with long silver hair. Her eyes were blue like topaz.

Ken and the others stared at her, as nobody was sure if that person was someone actually alive, unlike the rest. She was holding a bowl with some kind of yellow stones inside.

“You should see your faces,” the elf said and laughed. “Welcome to Enchoria!”

As she twisted in happiness, the bowl slipped out of her hands, but Ken caught it.

“Despite the dire situation, you are rather cheerful,” he said.

“Of course!” she took one of the stones and began drawing something on the ground. “Me and my beloved sister are just a few days away from restoring our home.”

“Restoring it?” Aleric asked, “You mean you can save these people?”

“We have been doing everything by the book so far, so it will work… Oh my, I barely recognized you, it’s the Light Warden himself, Aleric!”

“Ah, no need for formalities… these guys are Ken, Emilia and Iris.”

“Oh, I am Mei, nice to meet you all! But wait, does this mean you came back from the rift?”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that.”

The elf stood up and took the bowl back from Ken. What she has drawn was a circle filled with runes and glyphs.

“That was the last one,” she said. “Why don’t you come over to our place? My sister is making dumplings, you will love them!”

Ken was hungry for sure and hearing about food made it worse. Not to mention Emilia, who looked like she’s about to burst from excitement, but for a different reason. After all, a delicious recipe from another world would certainly enrich her kitchen.

“Make yourself at home!” said Mei, after they entered a small cozy house. “No need to take off your shoes, we will be cleaning up soon anyway.”

The scent of steamed meat filled the atmosphere.

“Oh my gosh, this smells good!” Emilia said.

They went to the next room, which seemed to be the kitchen. Another silver haired elf-girl was there, preparing food.

“Oh, you are back already!” she said, “I see you brought guests.”

“This is my twin sister, Rin,” said Mei.

They both laughed and happily hugged each other. The twins would have been almost indistinguishable from each other, but Rin’s amber eyes made it easy.

“Good that I am making extra dumplings! We haven’t met other people for months, so this is quite unexpected. Take a seat over there, they will be ready soon.”

After everyone sat down, Mei began distributing plates and cutlery.

“Now tell us guys, what brings you here?” she asked.

“I have been hearing rumours,” Aleric said, “That citizens all over the cities were cursed. I didn’t understand, so I went to investigate… What did you mean by vessels?”

“It happened shortly after the last battle. Groups of Cryth mages visited every city and cast this spell, which turned everybody to this… weird way of existing.”

“How come the two of you were unaffected?” Ken asked.

“We don’t know, honestly. But it gave us the opportunity to undo this curse. After a long time of studying ancient spell books and preparations, we are almost ready.”

Emilia wasn’t interested in the conversation, so she went after Rin, probably to ask about the dumplings. Rin was kind and seemed to be showing and explaining everything to her. “Hydra meat?!”

“What else do you need to finish your spell?” Ken asked.

“I have to gather some ingredients in the forest to make a special ink, which is needed for the ritual. Then, we just have to wait for both moons to align on their separate horizons before using Pura to activate the spell.”

“Moons align…” Aleric said, ”Wait, that happens only once every two years, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Mei smiled, “But we will make sure to execute it properly, so that this lovely city will be sparkling with life and happiness again! Right, sis?”

“Yes, yes! Hopefully we will be able to talk to some experienced mages about other means of doing this. Otherwise it will take decades to save all of Aeterra…”

The smiles of the twins were truly charming. The way they looked at each other, it always showed the strong bond between them, and the city they wholeheartedly loved.

“Can we help you, somehow?” asked Ken.

“Hmm,” Mei walked away to another room and returned with a thick spell book. “I am very grateful for your interest in helping us. Let me see.”

It had a lot of bookmarks and she was focused when trying to find the page she was looking for.

“Here!” she slammed the heavy book on the table, shaking up the plates and cutleries. “Can you read this, Aleric? It’s one of the ancient languages we had a hard time deciphering…”

“I can try.”

Aleric took the spell book and mumbled for himself. He seemed to partially understand what’s written in there.

“The ink...”

As he ran his finger through the page, a few more words came out of his mumbling.

“Crimson clover… rhino… boil in water…”