They decided following Aten was the only option they had.

By nightfall, they found themselves passing through ruins. Most buildings crumbled away except two of the remaining structures patched by boulders held together by mud and straw. On top the hill, was a small shack with smoke rising from the chimney.

The place was a possible ambush site. Kihet drew his dagger but kept it hidden under his cloak as he vigilantly examined his surroundings and kept his ears out for any magic being casted. Before their carriage got within the building’s vicinity, Aten abruptly dropped from the sky and stopped them. The Dragonfly held out a spear as it was saying, “that’s enough”.

If they were to fight, Kihet was hesitant to know if he would win. From the moment he saw the Dragonfly shoot up in the air, he could only imagine its speed was almost on par one friend of his, Vol, maybe faster. However, if he were able to cut off the wings, it would hinder its mobility severely.

“We’re here. What do you want?”

[Where from?]

“Answer me first. Why did you bring us here?”

Aten lowered his spear and walked towards one of the mud-patched buildings. He went behind the walls then came back with an old diary. Flipping to the latest pages, he ripped them out and showed it to Kihet.

Scorpio 16th,

Witnessed a tower of light from Xu’s direction. Curious, attempted to fly over the border, but heavily guarded by the abyss. Impossible to pass.

Sagittarius 3rd,

While hunting, silver flames like the legends erupted at the borders. The abyss has gathered towards the source, trying to suppress something. Details unknown.

Sagittarius 10th,

another eruption of silver flames but this time, on Vivrus’ lands and close. Tried to track the source, but tracks were covered well.

Sagittarius 14th,

the flames drew closer. Investigated, but unable to find traces. Nothing charred, but strangely no abyss in the area.

[You?]

“You’re observant.”

From the contents of it and the Dragonfly’s boldness, Kihet suspected Aten knew he was the Oracle. The moment he saw Aten, Kihet realized the Dragonfly was overall different than the average Insectoid. He doubted it was a random encounter when they met in the middle of the jungle and Aten had actually been searching for him.

Aten’s antennas relaxed as he was satisfied with the answer he received. He walked back into the shack and this time he brought a child out in his arms.

Kihet and Lily’s eyes widened as they saw the child. They thought it was too good to not encounter any Shadows in Vivrus. Black squirming tentacles was covering its entire right side, dripping miasma on the ground. Unfortunately, the child was motionless as its arm dangled lifelessly.

“Is that his child?” Lily gasped. “He knows…, right?”

“Even if I remove it, I can’t resurrect this child.”

The Dragonfly’s head looked down and stared at the corpse he was holding and set it down.

[Want to give burial.]

“Yours?”

[Young tried best live. Nameless.]

For someone who only reignited the will to live recently, Kihet felt nauseous when his eyes laid onto the child. Even a powerless individual who was probably alone till their death had more courage than Kihet ever had, but in the end, it didn’t matter. The most he could do was clear the shadows off it and let Aten make a grave for a nameless child.

He hovered his hand over the body and cleansed the Shadows with the Oracle’s power. Aten then reached out and transferred the body into a hole he dug out.

“Have you heard of two Enuis that came to Vivrus a decade ago?”

That was when Aten stopped and nodded. [Twins?]

Now with someone who had information about his friends, Kihet braced himself for his next set of question. There was hope, but he was also afraid of the answers he didn’t want to hear. He needed to know about his friends’ whereabouts.

“Where are they?”

[Complicated.]

“But they are here, in Vivrus.”

[Yes.]

The hope he held a moment ago dropped as he exhaled. From that small information he was told, he assumed the twins went through a situation similar as he did in Rozzosea.

“By any chance, did you meet them before any of this happened?”

[Yes. One weird, other reserved.]

“That’s just like them.” Kihet muttered as he turned towards his carriage.

“Kihet, it’s holding another sign.” Lily called out.

“Name? My name?” Kihet read the slate. “Kihet.”

The Dragonfly’s body twitched as he slowly dropped his board.

[I return.]

“You didn’t have to tell me you’re leaving.”

[Something give you. Wait.]

“What’s it doing now?” Lily asked.

“It wants to give me something, I guess.” Kihet answered.

Aten moved over to a pile of debris and tossed aside rocks and boulders. Underneath stone and trash, there was a long package wrapped in different strips of ragged clothing. It was revealed to be a familiar battleaxe. It had an emblem from Kihet’s village and among his friends, the only friend he knew to have used that weapon was Malth.

Malth was a somewhat clumsy person. He would always carry his weapon with him to not lose it. When Kihet saw it in someone else’s hands, it only meant one thing.

“How did you get this?”

Deep down, Kihet prayed for any excuse to drive away the thought, but Aten was silent as ever. The Dragonfly’s board was down, not writing an explanation or anything.

His mind went blank. His body felt heavy, his head throbbed, the seal on his arms flared up. In a fitting rage, he seized Aten by the neck.

“Say something! What happened to Malth?!”

The Dragonfly remained motionless as if it played dead, but tiny dots in his compound eyes were fixed on Kihet. There was no sign of him writing anything soon.

Kihet raised his dagger he hid under his cloak and was about to plunge the blade in Aten’s shoulder. Before that, Lily held his arm back.

“Stop! Kihet, I don’t even know what’s going on, but let’s calm down and talk this over!”

She did her best to wrestle the weapon out of his hands, but the physical difference was too much. Kihet yanked his arm free and the blade’s direction went into Aten’s eye.

Blood gushed out like a geyser all over Kihet, then the two watched the Dragonfly dropped on the floor like a marionette whose strings were suddenly cut off. A pool of blood gradually expanded under their feet.

“No…! We-.” Lily in shock, fell to her bottom at the edge of the growing puddle of blood. She was completely scarred as she hugged her elbows, trying to control the trembling and looked at Kihet terrified.

M̸̨̡̧͇̫̩͉̰̜̠̥̝͉͔̣͔̖͔͇̱̙͔̉̂͋̎̀̈́̈̈̽͒̓̔͆̂͗̊̇͘̚͝U̴̡̢̨͔͚͉̻͚̣̻͓̬͕͙͕̟͈̲͚̥̟̣̜̳̬̟̮̓͋̅͒͛̃͂́͆́̑̋̆̿͐̌̃͒͘͜͜R̶̹̠̠̞̲͉̥͕̲̦̟̬͔̎͜Ḑ̵̧̢̡̱͓̯͖͖͔͔͖̳͖̗̥͕̳͎̺͚̹̳̯̾̿͒͂̿͗̿̒̾̇̾̉̊͑̂̅͗̈͒͋̎͒̂̂͘͜͠͝ͅE̴̛͉̔̓̃̄͐͐̆̌͒̊̈́̏̀͐͌̈́͊͗̒̓̎̄̊̾͘͠͝͝͝R̵̛͋͆̾̓́͂̂͂͐͒̓̃́̕͝ͅE̴̢̨̡̢̞͚͕͉̖̬͔̞͍̙̺̟̹̻͎͍͚̩̻͈̬͈͛̀͛́͆̆̿̋̏̇̎̊̔̓͗̏̽̐̆̿͌͌̕͘̚͠ͅŖ̴̢͗͑̌̌͐́͛̽̋͝͝ͅ!̵̡͈̳̱̤͒̐ͅ

̸̢̡̧̜̦̫̮̥͇̮̠̣̣͙͙́̓̌̔̀̏̆̌̋̆̇̾̓S̴̡̲̦̘̣͕̼̠̯̫̃͌̎́͐͒̐̀̾̕͠Ö̵̡̥́̈̈̌̽͌̈̿̿̐͛̓́͘͜͝O̷̢̟̗̘͎͖̣̤̪̓̿̚ͅṆ̸̜̯̮͈̳͚̗͍̬̮̬̪̗̓̀̃͐͊̓͗͜,̴̡̛͓̱̘̣̰͚̪̑͆̀̏͊́̑̍̒ ̸̧̹͚͙̯͇̳̼̟̙̾̈́P̴̧̗̬͕͎̠͙̥̅́̄̓͑̐̄̓̍͒̈͒̕͘͘Ȩ̵̗̳̻̥͔̘͍̩̋͂̆̀͜͠ͅÖ̵̢̧̨̢̫͉̤̱̪͈̓̐͠P̸̧̬̼̖̟̫̥͎͔̦̲̒̋̄̇̎͊̀̽̌̊̐Ļ̶̘̰͎̙̯͊̅͒̋̅̊́͐́́̕͘͜È̶̯͓̻͔͉͚͖̄̽̒̈́̊͌̎̍͛ ̴̨͙͈̹̰̜̼̤̯͋̔͛̎̈͜Ẁ̴̟̜̱̲͎͖̟͔́́̏͑̚H̷̬͙̹̋̀̀͑̉͗͊Ớ̷̡̙̠͍͚̞̳͚̱͒̇̉ͅ ̴̡̢̛͔̗͎̹̠̺͎͇͉̾̐̊̈́̃̑̔̊T̴̤͇͍̯̰͕̳͔͛̐̒͒̽̀̀̇͒̊̓R̴̢̡̠͖̜̦̻̞͍͑̿͑͑͊͗͠Ų̵̢̫̲͈͇̤̙̪͈̤̀̎̑͒͆̇̽̊͜S̶̨̧̖͈͈̔̉̇͐̉́̾̔̕̕̚͠ͅT̴̨̩͛̇̾͛̀̔̏̾̈̓́̍̈́E̸̤̹̳̮̞͙̓̈́͛͂̈́̓̀̒̾̇͂̉͑D̴̦̗̻͚̮̯̝̗͈͖̝͙͚̱̓̈́͌̎̄͛̂̏̋͑͝͝ ̷̙̼̭̭̯̬̟̭̲̪͕͖̗̎͛͝Y̸̧̙̟̒̉͆̍͊̀̎́̊̿̀̈́͆͝͝O̶̼̙͙̰͆̒̐́̿Ǔ̵̙̼̲̇̆̔͛̐̆̈́͊̓ ̶̢̛͉̖͙͈̞̲̈́̉͋̈́̍̇̀̏͐͑̈́͋W̶̡̞̪͇̞͎̼̾͌̈́̊̋̾̇̕͝ͅI̶̢̟̪͎̮̣̱͈̤͐̽̑̊̓̀̇̐͋̂̕̚ͅL̶̢̦͈͍͂̃͆́̐͋͛̊̾̿̓̀͝L̶̛̯̯̣͕̤͙̓̄̔̐̔̓͑̄͆̔̿́͘͝ ̸̦̐̌͠͝Ļ̵̨͓͚͈͈̝̪̦͉͕͖͈̮́͗̌̅͌̓̈̒̈́͊̿̋͋ͅẺ̵͖͚̱̥̱͈̏̓͑̂̉͗́̾͜Á̴̡̠̰̪̰̺̝̖̦͍͋̌̃̏̄̂͘͝͠V̸͉̾̑͊͗̕̕Ȅ̶̢̨̧̮͉̣̦͓̼̭̓́͌̾̽́͊̕ ̴̥͇̬͙̻̞̪̼͇͔̥͙̝̳̎̒̎̆͌̈́́́̅̑̆͐́Y̸̡͊̋̈́̏̓͠͠O̵̡͕̘͔̭̖̔̊̄̑̾̏U̶̦͎̞̝̞̫͎̗̳̣̽ͅ!̷̟̤̩̣͙̣́͋

̷̨̛͔̭̥͉̤̠͇͒̆͜͜Ÿ̶̛͕͇͓̫͍̪̘͉̲͉̙̩͇́͆͂̆͒̿͒̈́͂̃̄̇̕ͅǪ̵̛͖͑͆̃͋̀̐́͝͝Ự̵̪́̇͑̅͊̔͆̿̃́͂̕͠ ̸͖̩̤̓͂͋͗͜Č̷̨̘͚̦̼̜͜͜͠A̸̢̠̞̠͖͙̥̟͛̉́̑͛͆̿̈́͜͠Ń̵͙̹͈̼̣̤͚̦͍̝̽̿̇͆͛̀̋͜͝͝ͅŃ̴̢̼͚̠͚͕̬̗̺̬̪̞̝̪͝͠ͅO̷̡̡̞̙͖̙̖̜͍͎̮̦̣̙͑́̒͐͆͒̉̑̍͛̿̏͐̿͝ͅT̶̢̡̤̯̭͇̣̣̬̖̙̣͍̾͆̿̀͐̓̋͌͊͋̇ ̷̦̘̥͙̤̥̼̦̳̘̃̿̔̑ͅB̵̨̬̣͇͓͔̠̙̩̞̩͓́Ë̴͕͕̌͠ ̵̡̧̺̘̝͖̻̖̤̞̎̀̈̃̌̏̇̈́͛̔͠͝Ş̴̟̪͛͆̽͋̒͛̾̄͛̓̐͠͠A̵̤̳̩͋͂̄̇̾̅̄͂͗̚ͅV̷̧̛̪̫̥̮͙̠̜̰̀̔̈́̀̂̀̾͋̑̆̓͆͠È̸̺̗͕̰͚̰͓̰̘̪̤̔̒̋̐͋̐̎̈͘̚͘͘͠͝D̸̛̻̝̻̥̥̟̆̇̍̀͌̎͒̿͛͘͜͝͝!̶̧̡̭͕̩͇̤͕͂̌̋̀̍͠ͅ

Ỷ̸̪̯̞̎̊̌̋̍̌O̸̳̳͙̪̠̮̰͉̞̼̰̗͈̝͒̀̾̑͒͋̍̐̋̇̊̑͒̓̉ͅṶ̷̡̢̢͈͇̲̻͎͆̃̇̄͑̐̊́ ̷̛̩̖̲̖̬͔̣̳̬̬̙̌͑̋̋͛͛́̀̓̕͜͝ͅͅẆ̵̘̠̣̥̒̄̒͌̽̉̔Ĩ̸̬̹͙͚̮̤̬̜̻̰̬̯͇̎̋̚̚͜͝L̸̛̠̥̥̜͉̈̐͘͜͠L̸̻͈̠̍͐̇̋̈͂̀̾͗́́͛͠ ̷̺̬͇̺͖̞̰̺̔B̴̢̜͉̝͉̳̜̩̦̱͔͔͈͓͛̏̋̑̀̾͆̏͑̈́̈́̓͆̆͑ͅE̵̡͙̞̟̘̽̀̀̚ ̵̢͎̩̝̙͎̪͚̹̭̟̲̟̀̿̌͋̊̈́̅̏̈́̀̈́̽̏̒͜͠A̷͇̼̠͎̺̼̰͇̓̈́͗̓̐̃̈́͗̚͜͜L̷̥͎̂͂̃͂̌͜͠Ọ̸̰̥̣͚͑͌̏̏ͅN̴̨͚̹̮͌̉̊̌͠Ẻ̴̡͉̼̦̭͎̪̯̋!̵͇̹̦͙̹̅̊̌̔͗̇̆͑̏̓̊̍͋̊͝ͅ

T̷̨̡̢̫͕̥͉̭̪̤̥̟̙̲̾̃̆̑̈̇̉̌̐̍͘͜͠H̶̢͎̝̥̥͉̱̤̫̬̳̗̭̜͔̑̓̅̎̅͛̿̈̉͆E̴̬̼̱̳̓̔͒̄̀͆̂R̶̪͉̙̀̕ͅË̵̢̮͕͚́́̿̋̆̈́̕͠ ̸̗̥̖͕̦̞̫̪̺͙̼̫̭̅̇͌̎I̷̞̙̺̊̃̋͑̄̉͊̐̓̓͘͜͠Ṡ̷̰̖͈̯̣̫͓̻̟̭͛́͐́́͐͠͠ͅ ̶̧̧̡̬̻͐̅̈́N̷͓̮̦͉̍̉̀̒̃̍̂͗̑̀͆͒̋O̸̼͙̅͑͊̔̕͝ ̷̠̯͕͉̮̳͍̣͎̭͈̗͍͈̓̈́̃̄̃̈́̍͝S̷̛̛̛̝̣̲̮̼̱̹̠̟̠͚̲̹̓́̍́́̈̑͝À̸̢̦͓̲̹̩̙̺̀͋̈́Ḻ̵͕̼̮̂̈́͑̀̀V̴̤̣́̿̍́͂̐͛̇͊͒̋͝͝A̶̛̼̣͎̪̟̥͔̳̱̱̻͙̪͊̎͐̓͆͜T̴̖͕̻̊͑͒̏̽͆̽̌̌I̵̯̰̳̞̬̻̭͓̜̯̙͕̺̍̅̀̄̄͐̆̃͑͘ͅO̴̖̍͛͗̒͂N̸̛̬͎̤̪͓̲͉͙̯̜̩̗̯̈́͋̔̓́́̐̚͝!̷̛̣̼͚̜̠̲̫̊̑̎̔̈́͂̈́̒̅͝

Noise. They were returning. The voices of the dead gained another companion, screaming louder. Their words pounded into his mind, instilling fear. He was scared to be left alone again. Was he going to ruin everything already? It looked like everything was starting to end. Lily’s afraid of him. She looked like she was going to run away. She’s crying. She must’ve hate him.

“Ori, cal…”

Kihet’s senses came back when he felt a tug on his cloak. Lily wasn’t near him.

Black miasma suddenly erupted from the Dragonfly’s body, sending Kihet and Lily sprawling back. After the initial explosion, every ounce of the fog was sucked back towards the singularity where the body was being reformed.

Aten emerged on all six in the middle, shakily standing upright. He clawed his chest as shadow tendrils grew out of every joint of its body and struck the earth around it. The Dragonfly then stretched an open hand at Kihet as if to warn him, to which two Shadow tentacles thrashed at him.

In amidst of a very confusing scenario, Kihet cut one down while the other grazed his cheek.

“Lily, get up!”

“B,But you, he-.”

-Not good, she’s confused.-

Similar to the screecher, the tentacles grew back two more whenever one was chopped off. More of them barraged Kihet as he pushed them back using his flames. The second wave returned with larger numbers, giving Kihet little to no time between intervals to dodge. Using minimal footwork to weave between attacks, he severed the feelers before they reeled back.

When the third wave attacked, Kihet unleashed a wall of flames. Like all Shadows, the shadows shuddered away from the flames.

“Lily, stop daydreaming!”

“H-huh? I just…”

“I’m not going to force you to fight, but if you can’t go back to the cart!”

“I-I can…!”

Upon her decision to fight, Kihet waved his hand over her equipment providing her arrows the ability to cut through the layer of miasma Aten released. After the firewall extinguished, they charged in with Kihet taking the lead. He swatted two of the tentacles spearing at him, taking the enemy’s attention for Lily to snipe Aten.

Out of the barrage she unleashed, she was only able to land an arrow into his shoulder. Aten deflected the rest with his spears.

“I’m going around!”

“Got it!”

Kihet lunged at Aten, cleaving through Shadows growing from its body. An infinite number of them thrust towards Kihet, but he held his ground cloaking himself in silver flames and slowly closed the distance with tiny steps.

By now, Lily drew her sword and had Aten’s back within reach for a quickdraw. A flash of light arced in front almost moving at sonic speed from his perspective. Lily quickly jumped back and watched Aten’s head fall after a delay.

“You got to be kidding me!”

As the head rolled on the ground, the Shadows picked it up and reattached it. Lily drew her bow, anticipating that the Shadows would turn to her. To her surprise, she was ignored as the feelers dove at Kihet instead.

Perhaps Aten directed its anger towards him, but it didn’t look that way. They moved in a strange pattern, fanning out before attacking. The Shadows latched on the Dragonfly looked hesitant that Kihet suspected most attacks should’ve hit but grazed instead. It’s as if Aten wasn’t trying to hurt him but accomplishing something else by landing hits on Kihet.

“Kihet, it’s your cloak!”

“What about it?”

“Take it off! It only wants its blood back!”

The ground below Aten was spotless. There wasn’t a single drop left on the ground, but on the other hand, his cloak was stained with the Dragonfly’s blood. Now that Kihet thought about it, his face doesn’t reek of iron anymore. The attacks that grazed him were actually the feelers returning Aten’s blood back to the body.

He took off his robe and threw it to its direction. The feelers that were about to attack quickly changed target and immediately wrap around the fabric, sucking the blood from it. In no time, Kihet’s cloak was stain-free, and the raging tentacles withdrew into Aten’s body with their thirst satiated. The Dragonfly collapsed.

“Lily, are you hurt?”

When Kihet reached his hand towards her, she grabbed her arm instead.

“I-I’m, I’m fine. Just, don’t fight anymore and umm… talk to it, first.”

He powerlessly watched her sit on the back of the cart wondering how he could undo that horrific scene he exposed her.

But he had preceding matters.

Turning to Aten, Kihet asked, “Why do you have the Shadows in your body? Are you something that the towers created?”

It shook his head and as it looked for its writing tablet, they noticed it was broken in pieces from their confrontation. Seeing this, Kihet tossed a branch to its direction.

Scratch, scratch.

[Will, attack?]

“I need answers, but I’ll kill you if you use those Shadows again.” He growled. “What are you?”

[Two thousand years ago. Cursed.]

Kihet couldn’t believe he learned Aten was older than he was. Insectoids were known to have about forty years life span, but this Dragonfly was questioning his knowledge about Vivirians. Kihet learned when insectoids were first discovered, they were mistaken as monsters because of their vast numbers. Over time, they evolved quickly, reforming their society and changed their appearances to be closer to the other six races.

What’s more disturbing was Aten’s curse. Kihet only saw instances of monsters infected by Shadows, but never of the seven races that was alive with it.

“How were you cursed?”

[Earliest, remembered attacked by creature. Saved by unknown person. Memories unclear.]

-That sounds like what happened to me. It doesn’t look like he knows anymore than I do.-

“What about my friends? Why did you have the axe?”

[Entrusted.]

“Malth entrusted his weapon to you?”

[Yes.]

“Do you know about Megith’s whereabouts?”

[Vigilgladis.]

-The Capital? I have to go there anyways.-

Aten held up Malth’s battle axe and pushed it towards Kihet. When he looked away for a second and back to Aten, the Dragonfly vanished without a trace. His weapons, traces of the words he wrote, vanished. All that was left was a wooden plank with a message on the ground he stood at.

[Oracle, I was unable to save your friend during that day. Nothing I say or do will bring him back. I’m sorry. Please make full use of the cabin atop of the hill. There is an insignia on the table that will allow you pass through any checkpoints without problems.]

After learning one of the twins did not make it and the other one was missing, Kihet gripped his chest as he made his way back to Lily.