THREE DAYS PASSED FROM YUKAN'S FUNERAL and activity in the Saisei Coalition came to a standstill, at least from an outsider’s perspective. At the same time, however, the kingdoms of Akuni and Aotoshi also slowed to a halt. Although Lanya and Musuko were ready to defend their native country from these internal threats, Queen Ite had entirely shut down. The only man that she had ever loved was no longer on this mortal plane. She looked contemplatively at the ring which she wore on her hand. It was a symbol of her bond to Yukan. She then looked at the ring on the chain around her neck, representing a bond broken through death. Ite spent most of her time during those three days staring into a fireplace, watching it as the fire slowly ran out of fuel. Little did the three of them know that another fire was due soon.

July 27th of 2047 arrived and Lanya was awakened by a pained yell. Wondering what the problem was, she left her room in a hurry, still wearing her pajamas. As she peered out of the window, she saw that the villas for Akuni’s nobility had been engulfed in a flame. The inferno had grown so intense that she’d initially thought it was already daytime despite a nearby clock showing that it was only 11:23 PM. In a panic, Lanya rushed over to Musuko’s bed to wake him up. She found that this was not necessary, however, for he too had been woken up by the screaming.

“We need to tell Mom!” Musuko told Lanya. She couldn't agree more. The two of them left their bedrooms for the master’s chamber, where Ite sat in her throne, vacantly staring into the fireplace.

“There’s a fire outside, Mom!” Lanya yelled, trying her best to rally her mother.

“I know,” she bluntly stated, “but what are we going to do about it?”

“We’re going to help them out, of course!” Musuko said to her. “What other options do we have?”

“We could let the people who actually have a chance of doing anything do the work,” Ite retorted. “What are we going to do against them? You saw what they did to-” Ite choked on her words, struggling to muster up the strength to finish this statement, “-to Yukan. We couldn’t save him. We failed to protect one person, what makes you think that we’d be able to protect scores of them? If we’re the last line of defense for the nobility, then they are truly doomed. So tell me, Lanya. Why should we bother going out there and risking our lives if we wouldn’t accomplish anything?”

“Because it’s what Dad would have done!”

This statement caused Ite to pause for a moment.

“He always told us stories of how he would help those weaker than him,” Lanya continued. “He was willing to risk his own life to protect the lives of others. He knew of all of the risks, but that never kept him from doing what was right because he knew that, even if he died, it would not be a wasted life. His life was not and shall not be a wasted one, and helping these people out just as he would have done is a way to prove that.”

The silence that followed seemed to drag on for ages. One of the logs in the fireplace, weakened by the flame to such a degree that it could no longer withstand the weight of those above it, collapsed, launching embers into the air before they cooled and gently fell back down. Ite looked over at the Nukenai Bow. She knew at that moment what she had to do. At last, she could avenge Yukan just as he had done for so many others during his youth.

Her arms shook slightly as she stood up from the chair, having not left it since Yukan’s funeral. With a staggering gait, she approached her old comrade and took it off of the hook it dwelled upon. She looked it over and saw that it was remarkably still in the pristine condition that it had been in since she first had it. Not one new scratch was to be found from the first day the two of them met at Kashikoi’s hut.

“Lanya, Musuko,” Ite began, “if you would mind following me?” As the two descendants of Yukan followed their mother, they knew that this was going to be something that they would not soon forget.

When they arrived at their destination, Ite stood before Brildingjr and the Fabled Swords.

“Musuko,” Ite began as she gave the boy his weapon, “you will take this staff. Its name is Brildingjr, just as your father told you. It was once used by a marvelous magic-user named Kadaina Meiji. This staff bears his knowledge and shall guarantee your success.”

As he gripped onto the staff, Musuko felt empowered. Brildingjr has an ability that, up until recently, had not been properly understood. Through Musuko’s testimonies, however, people finally understood another trait of garnium-based weapons. Garnium-based weapons, like the Nukenai Bow and Brildingjr, possess a power referred to as “power inheritance”, where the strength of one user is applied to a weapon when one uses it once they have died. To put it bluntly, all of the strength of one who uses a weapon made of garnium is sapped from their body after death and implanted into that weapon, giving that power to the next person.

Musuko felt as his meager magical prowess increased exponentially as each second passed until it hit a plateau. Once the peak of his power was reached, he looked upon the staff in amazement, gazing at the “KM” etched into its surface.

“And you, Lanya,” Ite continued, “I cannot give you your weapons. You will have to grab it yourself.” She then gestured toward the Fabled Swords.

She approached the blades and grabbed onto both of them. She felt an intense power surge as roses and bones grasped onto her arms. By the time the ordeal ended, she held the Fabled Swords up and gazed upon her wrists. On her right wrist was a design of a karlek rose, and on the left was a design of a dragon skull. Ite slung the Nukenai Bow over her shoulder once the bonding process had completed.

“Let’s waste no more time. These people need our help and by God, they’re going to get it.”