At the eastern part of Elkif lay a massive pit. The staircase leading down to its dark bottom kept winding on and on around the wall until it reached depths that could barely be visible from the surface. The four skulls placed around its entrance were all carved out of stone, and each of them was shaped to correspond to one of the four major species. This way, the people knew that all would be welcome to rest within its chambers. Unlike the institutions higher up the mountain, which would only bury the elven kind, the Unodes were willing to bless the parting of anyone, be they elves, dwarves, humans, or dragons.

[Why is everything here so depressing?] Surdi asked when he saw the pit of the dead.

"It's done to save space. Easier to just slide coffins into little tunnels than always dig new holes," the hunter answered.

"I doubt we are here for a cultural trip, are we?" Alma turned her eyes to Glavas, who was clutching the railing around the pit as if he was deathly afraid of falling in it.

"I want to visit a friend. I always do so whenever I'm home. I go to her and apologize."

[For...?] the dragon asked carefully.

"For what I've done to her."

The children looked at each other, too scared to ask further questions. In their minds, the wildest of scenarios were playing out. They knew that the hunter didn't like speaking about his past too much, but the idea that he could've killed someone he once called a friend seemed like something he would not be capable of. On the other hand, though, they remembered Rotler and the hundreds of dead. If their concerns would be true, then it would explain his reluctance to return here.

"Well, well, well," someone's words attracted their attention to the main entrance of the establishment. Out of the whole district, this building seemed to be the biggest and oldest. Its walls were begging for renovation and seemed to have been doing so for decades already. "I heard you were back, Glavie, but I refused to believe it until I saw you with my own two eyes." A wheelchair rolled out of the main door with a young female elf sitting in it. Her bright green tunic and skirt seemed to light up the murky place, at least until one would notice the numerous smaller bones and animal skulls hanging off of it.

"I'm... uh... glad to see you again Sizzy."

"Likewise. Seeing you come here so suddenly, with that necrotic stench and two adorable little creatures really makes me hungry for some backstory." She nodded toward the door behind her.

"I... promised I'd be home soon. I shouldn't stay."

"Pffff! What are you, thirty? Come on! We're adults now! So screw the curfew and come inside! We haven't seen each other in five years and I wanna hear everything about your trips."

"Umm..."

"Already out of excuses? Ha! You've grown rusty. Come on then, get your ass inside!"

She went back in, leaving the hunter completely stunned in front of the establishment.

[Charming.]

"Is she the friend you wanted to see?"

"Yeah."

[Well, that's a relief. I thought she'd be dead. You know, given the graveyard and all.]

Glavas did not respond and began slowly shuffling his feet inside the building. If there was one place in the entire city that would really deceive at the first glance, it would be the funeral parlor. The interior did not fit the previously observed crumbling outside at all. Everything in there was clean and seemed freshly renovated. There were ornate pieces of furniture all over the place, making it seem like a residence fit for lesser royalty.

"Wow, this place is amazing. How can you afford all this when the rest of the city looks so poor?" Alma spoke her mind, not hiding her honesty behind any polite words.

"Everything here is hand-made. See this table over there? Made by Glavie's mom. Usually, people give us a thing or two for our services. Even if they don't have to."

[Your mother is a carpenter?]

"Yes. She is quite known for it. When I was little, it was one of the first things she tried to teach me."

Sizzy led them all into a small and warm living room. Suddenly seeing a place with a window felt so strange to the children, but they did not complain about the extra comfort.

"So, start speaking," the woman demanded.

"Well, there is not much to say."

"Okay, then I will do this my way," she rolled her wheelchair closer to the children. "Hi there, I'm Sizzla, you may call me Sizzy. I used to be Glavie's childhood friend. And you are?"

"Alma. And this is Surdi."

[Pleased to meet you.]

"Oh, blind and deaf? Oh no, Glavie, what did you do? I can already imagine where you found them and I do not like it one bit."

"It's not what you think! And she's not blind. She's..."

"I'm soulless."

Sizzy's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "Eh?"

[Yeah. To summarize, we were attacked by a demon. I lost my hearing, she lost her soul but survived. We kept running until meeting Glavas. He saved us from some assholes and we thought it might be better to travel with him.]

"And now we're friends!" Alma added and grinned at the young elf, who still seemed to have trouble processing all the information.

"Wow... haha! You are full of surprises Glavie. Literally all the time. Whenever you come here, you are so full of stories. This one though, wow, that is the craziest so far. A soulless human?! I mean... that can exist? Man, an anomaly like you would give our priests a headache. They are always talking about souls and where they go when we die, but man, yours is gone and yet you are still here! There are so many things I want to ask."

Alma shrugged. "I don't think I have the answers. Most of this is a mystery to me too. How come I live and where my soul is, or if I can ever get it back? That's all in the wind."

"Oh wow, so, lost and searching for answers? Man, I really wish I could travel with you sometimes. If only to see how this journey ends."

All of a sudden, she noticed a strange change in Glavas' demeanor. His face scrunched up slightly, he clenched his teeth, and his eyes slid down to the floor.

"Oh stop sulking already!" Sizzy growled at him.

"Yeah, seriously, what is wrong with you? Since we came here, you were all grim and serious. I thought it was because your friend died, but she's right here! So why that sad face?" Alma turned to him and gave him a nudge to force him to lift his head.

"It's a long story," he mumbled and although his head was now raised, his eyes avoided making direct contact with anyone.

"Glavie, come on, it's been over eighty years."

"But the consequences don't disappear."

"For me, they did. I found a new calling in life."

"Only because I took away what you really wanted."

"I have forgiven you decades ago. It was a mistake and an accident. And even I acted immaturely. You have to move on! I did."

The children's heads kept bouncing back and forth between the two speakers. Surdi already began raising his hands to ask, but Alma quickly stopped him.

"I've got this," she whispered to the dragon. "HEY! Can you two please explain what the hell is going on here?!" she shouted, demanding direct answers.

Sizzy sighed and for a moment, she left Glavas to his feelings. "When we were little, we trained to be hunters together. We were even companions for a long time."

"Stop, Sizzy..." the hunter interrupted her.

"They should know. It's not a catastrophe."

"Yeah, but I should be the one to tell them. It's my responsibility."

"Oh? Well, please, go right ahead." She waved her arms toward him.

The sun was just setting and the two young hunter apprentices were sitting on the edge of a cliff, looking over the entire Unode district. In their hands, each of them was clutching the same instrument. It was currently the girl's turn. Her hand was slowly turning the crank and her fingers were dancing on the keys, producing a melody so smooth that even the people below them, who could still hear it, would stop for a moment and listen to the notes drifting through the air. The boy was watching his companion with eyes for nothing but her. The way she slightly swayed her body with the music, and how her fingers gently pressed each key with such precision, was all like watching the most wonderful magic. Eventually, she stopped and Glavas accompanied her slight bow with one-man applause.

"Thank you, thank you. I will be here all week!" she giggled and turned to the side, now sitting crosse legged and facing her friend. "Okay, your turn, what did you learn?"

"Umm... Yeah, about the notes you gave me..."

"You lost them, didn't you?"

"Eh... not exactly. Let's just say I found something better." He grinned and reached into his bag, eventually pulling out a beautiful, ornate grimoire.

"Ohoho, sir, you want some fancy music, huh? Okay, let's hear it!"

"Hehe, alright, but don't judge me, okay? I only had a few days to practice it."

The boy's performance was perfect. Last week, Sizzy helped him tune his instrument and it clearly had a wonderful effect. The previously emitted sound of an angry bee was now replaced with tones that flew like honey, sweet and smooth. It didn't take long for the girl to once again start swaying left and right, following the rhythm. It was a slightly more depressing tone, but she did not mind. Music could touch all kinds of emotions. They didn't always have to be positive. For about a minute, the softness soothed both their souls, before a sharp cut of a misplaced finger interrupted the performance.

"Ah, shit! I missed," Glavas muttered and his heart sank a bit. His mentor was now surely about to judge him. "Okay, so how was it? Until, the wrong tone, I mean." He turned his eyes to Sizzy, who sat there in front of him, slightly leaning to the right, not moving an inch. Her eyes were wide open, staring at him like two lighthouses sending out signals for help.

"Sizzy?" the boy asked, but there was still no response.

She wanted to say many things. So many different calls for help. Her body, however, would not listen. As if her mind was now held captive. All the muscles were cast in stone, not willing to surrender to the brain for even a moment. She felt herself leaning more and more to the right, being pulled down by gravity. And then finally, a wave of relief washed over her. The spell broke and she could move again. In a state of panic and shock, her arms and legs waved and wiggled, waving goodbye to her balance. Glavas saw what was happening. He saw her falling over the edge of the cliff. In a second he jumped out to catch her, gripping the sleeve of her old tunic. Before he could even decide what to do next, the seams and fabric, already quite worn out by the decades of their existence, decided that they can no longer take it. With a loud tearing sound, the sleeve came off. The boy's eyes filled with tears as he watched the girl fall down, directly onto the buildings below her.

A fall from such a height was, fortunately for her, not fatal. However, it seemed that all her luck was spent merely on survival. During training, Glavas admired his older classmate. The way she always stayed positive, despite even serious mistakes during their hunts was part of her magical charm. No injury ever seemed to keep her down for long, and she proudly showed Glavas all her scars as if they were trophies. There were many things she could always bounce back from. A fractured spine, however, was not one of them.

Glavas was not allowed to see her for what seemed like an eternity. The local healers and doctors were gathering around her home like they had a conference there. Unodes assembled by the nearest church of the Odimai, demanding the assistance of the priests, but they did little else than look at the visitors and avert their gaze once again. When the boy was finally allowed to visit his friend again, her fate had just been sealed. The verdict was said and her future derailed from the path of her dreams. The words he told her back then and the tears he shed he could not recall. What never left his memory, however, was what she said to him.

"I hate you. Get out of my house. Out of my life. You've always ruined everything."

The children watched him tell the story with so much pain accompanying each syllable that he reminded them of a tortured man. It didn't take much longer for the little ones to scurry over to his side offering him hugs and comfort he deep down thought he didn't deserve.

"Yup, that is the gist of it. Ever since then, I can't walk. He went on to become a hunter, while I stayed here. But that is only his version of the story."

[There is more to this?]

"Yeah. My side."

"Does it end well?" Alma asked, on the verge of tears.

"That, my dear, depends on Glavas."

The young girl's soul was shattered into pieces, ground into the finest dust, and then scattered in the wind. Her father was a huntsman. She was raised to follow in his footsteps and she loved it with all her being. When Glintwood and Sina, the local workers, came to them if they can show their son a thing or two about hunting, just to see if he would like to pursue such a career in the future, the girl was ecstatic. Finally, she had a friend her age. Together, they shared many things, including their hatred for local customs and religion. The boy spoke of his dream to travel away, see the world, and eat all the delicious food one could find, while Sizzy listened to his every word with sparks of happiness in her eyes. They made a promise to one day make that dream reality. And so the girl swore to teach Glavas all she knew. The process was slow and tedious. Unlike her, he did not seem to possess a speck of talent for hunting, but her kind encouragement and friendship always kept pushing him forward. He had someone to look up to. Someone to follow.

When the dream was taken away from her, she did not know how to handle it. All the emotions in her piled up and accumulated, waiting to explode. The first victim to enter her room that night was the poor boy. His apologies reached no ears. The full blow of her wrath was directed at his heart. She pushed him away, but much farther than she realized. The next day, she regretted her words deeply. As soon as her father came home, she begged him to take her to Glavas' place, so that she may apologize and set things right.

The boy was gone. Nobody knew where he went, and she was the only one who knew why. His brief goodbye letter only stated that he headed out into the world, just like he always wanted. Days, weeks, months, years, she waited. Without her friend, and without her dream. And then, on the eighth anniversary of his departure, he suddenly came back. No longer a boy, but a man, with hide hardened by the hardships he endured in the outside world. She went to see him immediately. Their apologies were shared, but his mind seemed to not be able to forgive nor forget. Only now did the girl realize what she had done. The seeds of pain she planted had sprouted and were now rooted far too deep. It was no longer in her power to pull them out.

"You are the only one who can do that, Glavie. I have forgiven you a long time ago. It was not your fault. It was an accident. What I said back then was not something you deserved. For decades, you've been visiting me, saying the same things, growing more and more distant. But now, your life has finally reached a turning point. Things are changing. I can see two such changes beside you right now. So please, can you finally pull the roots out? Can we please be friends again?"