As promised, the group would fish by the river. An activity Damon seemed to very much enjoy. Of course, they didn’t bring any rods. What they did was not really fishing. It was more like standing in the water and attempting to grab a fish. Something that was not too hard. Sure, the fish were fast, but the fish were of quite the size. The fish away from Ratier only got bigger, likely due to mana differences in the environment. The fish they would catch were the size of a small pig.

Of course, as they had fun. Damon didn’t talk about what he discovered about his sister during the whole time, pushing it aside for a bit. Kazius would not pry about it either. The whole group understood the Werewolf was likely doing a lot of thinking. Something that was fine with them.

After fishing, they would set up a decent camp with what they could scavenge. They even played some games. It was very much like any regular camping experience.

Soon night fell. Tomorrow night… They all knew what would happen. Rather than fretting though, Damon would just lay down with the group, looking up at the stars. The sky was clear, and every little star could be seen. It was quite different from Ratier, which had light magic orbs lighting up the whole place even at night.

‘It is so beautiful out here… I really am glad I left.’

The group was almost oddly silent, just looking up at the sky without a word. It was as if everyone had a lot on their mind. The mountains, the stars, the trees, it all was oh so calming. After a draining day, it was refreshing to just take in the moment.

Kazius kept thinking about things he had learned, what he could do… It all came to him like a second nature… But what was he? He supposed that all of them had a lot to do to understand themselves. As he thought about such things, he would turn and look at his group. He would study them, pleased that despite the betrayal he had felt… He still found a way to make genuine friends he could trust.

He would gloss over their faces only to then look at Alice who was to his left. He wasn’t sure if this would all be possible without her initial help… He would end up staring at her a bit.

‘She looks mesmerizing in this light…’

He would perk up, surprised at his own thoughts only to then notice she seemed to notice his staring. She would grow a bit flustered, quickly averting her gaze. She would keep giving him looks from the corner of her eye though, something he would notice. Kazius at this would study her for a bit longer, not understanding why she looked away. He, sadly for Alice, did not dwell on it long, his mind preoccupied with his other thoughts once again.

“Do you have any interesting stories, Damon? About your people.” Azanor finally spoke up, breaking the silence in the group. “I don’t have any memories of your people, I don’t think I encountered them either… I do remember this land vaguely… You were not originally from here, were you?”

Damon would look surprised, perking up at the question. “I used to hear stories about it when I was a kid… Legends… I wasn’t too sure myself if they were true… But if Vind is real… I think maybe the stories could be real too.” He admitted.

“Apparently, we were originally from the far North, a very cold place with mostly ice and little food. We struggled a lot to survive… And our neighbors would often fight with us over the food that the area had. Our people were good at fighting, but we grew tired of the misery, so we left. Then we traveled South until we ended up here. Legend says that the first Chief was welcome to the valley by Vind herself… There is a different version though. About how the first chief actually married the Goddess… But I never wanted to believe that one. It is such a sad version.” Damon admitted as he kept staring up.

‘I can’t decide which makes the most sense… She does spend her time at the top of a mountain singing… Is it for a long-dead lover? Or is she just enjoying herself? I don’t know if it was because of sadness or not… She was also so aloof I barely got a read on her personality.’

“Is that so… That does explain why I don’t have memories of that… I was sealed away for a 1000 years.” Azanor stated.

“What? So that story Caleb told me was true?” Damon questioned in shock.

“Story?” Kazius questioned in confusion.

“Well, Caleb would tell me stories when I was younger… Caleb… I know he may seem uninterested… But in truth, he is a loner… He never intervened with Luna… But… He did treat me like a brother. He would tell me stories his dad would tell him.” Damon admitted, seeming to smile at the memory.

“My people didn’t know about Demons… We don’t fear them out here. We don’t care too much… Us… What did he say… Apparently, Humans, Elves, and Dwarves call us Monsters right? Buahaha! I remember those two back when we met, they must really not like us! Anyway… Caleb’s old man was different though… He agreed that not all Demons were bad… He didn’t think Monsters were bad either… Since he married one… He seemed to not trust most Humans a lot though… He spoke about only knowing one that he liked… But he was dumber than a box of rocks… His exact words, or so Caleb said... He also spoke about even having a Demon friend once… A real sneaky one that was a total pushover to his wife… He always sounded like such a funny guy and dad…” Damon would trail off while in thought.

“Pft, he sounds like a loser.” Azanor mocked with a smirk even though Kazius knew the Demon would do anything for Eve.

“What did he have against humans?” Alice asked in surprise, “Then again… I guess I am not crazy about my own kind… So I guess I understand any criticism he may have… he likely was chased out if he ended up out here… I am guessing he criticized other Elves and Dwarves too, right?”

“Yeah, Caleb said he would talk about them a lot, but he also had friend that was Dwarf.” Damon admitted.

“Wait… You said he had a Demon friend… I just realized… But Demons have been sealed for a 1000 years so he must have been a very old Elf…” Kazius stated.

“I guess you’re right… I never thought of that!” Damon exclaimed in awe at the realization.

“Buahaha! Now I really wished I had met Zelphar… Or that he had been my dad too…” Damon laughed out goofily.

“Yeah I bet he was-” Alice would begin only to go wide-eyed and freeze. Kazius and Azanor too also grow shocked.

“WHAT!?” They whole group would exclaim in unison, the sound echoing through the fairly calm and quiet valley. Eve too would join in, likely not realizing anything… But she wanted to not be left out in the fun yelling.

“What?” Damon questioned in confusion.

“That little shit…” Azanor would trail off, cursing which was something he didn’t typically do. He had an offended expression, his face grumpy.

“What do you mean Zelphar?” Alice questioned Damon, springing up from her laying down position.

“What? It was his name? Oh! Is it rude to say the name of someone exiled or something?” Damon asked in confusion.

“No! I mean, we are basically exiled too… But… Uh… Geez… He was a friend of one of my ancestors is all… And I guess it makes sense for him to have been alive… Elves live forever unless someone kills them… But I heard he had been murdered… According to the History books.” Alice stated.

“Well… To be fair… Would Ratier have you written as dead?” Kazius pointed out.

“True…” Alice trailed off, looking to be thinking about it.

“Some ancestor of yours was friends with him? Buahaha! He really did know a lot of people!” Damon exclaimed contently. He seemed to have no clue how important of a figure the Elf was… Then again, he likely didn’t tell anyone about such a past… But that did bring into question… Did something like with Alice happen to Zelphar? Were all 3 Kingdoms corrupt?

Alice would plop back down, “I already had so much on my miiiiind and now this.” She would whine out with a sigh, sounding defeated.

As this occurred, Azanor would grumble to himself about something.

“We can ask Caleb about him if you guys are that interested… I don’t know if he will talk though.” Damon stated. It seems despite the conversation steering in an odd way, the Werewolf was cheered up fully now, any hint of gloominess gone.

“We will try, but if he doesn’t want to… I won’t force him.” Alice sighed out.

“Alright… Well, I think that is enough running around for one day… How about we all sleep? Tomorrow we can have some more fun.” Kazius suggested, knowing everyone was truly exhausted by now… They had been staring at the sky for hours.

With agreement from the group. They would all head to bed.