The wagon jumped up as it hit a rock. Audra’s head flung back as it hit the wooden edge where the cover and body of the wagon met.

“Fuck!” She said, rubbing the back of her head.

“Good morning sleepy head. Sleep well?” Zadkiel asked.

“What do you think?”

“Not too good?” He guessed, tilting his head and raising his eyebrows.

“Obviously.”

“You know we’re almost back to Daemerall.”

“I do know, just worried something might happen that stops us. Vasuki and I encountered a dragon on the way to Daemerall, kind of worried about it showing up again.” She pointed out, rubbing the scales on her arm.

“We got Cabana, she’s one tough son of a bitch. Couldn’t she handle it? If it appeared, I mean.” Audra repositioned the way she was sitting.

“I’m not sure. In her current state I think she could.” She felt that electric touch in her mind.

“I wouldn’t worry about a dragon appearing, I don’t feel much wildlife nearby. Awls’ presence has affected the nearby wildlife.” Faust claimed.

“Do you think she’s making a new dead zone?”

“Perhaps, I feel her in the same spot where Daemerall rests.” Audra, angrily, became worried for Vasuki’s well-being. Was he still alive?

“Yes, I feel his presence. I will try to pin-point the location.” Audra blushed, embarrassed by the fact that she completely forgot that Faust could read her mind.

“Thank you Faust, I appreciate it.”

Audra stood up and went to the front of the wagon.

“News?” Zadkiel asked.

“Yeah, none of it good.” She poked her head out of the cover, next to the driver. “Keep going forward, but don’t go to Daemerall.”

“Somthin’ goin’ on?” He asked.

“I got the feeling that it’s dangerous there.” Audra looked out and saw black inky clouds, slowly spreading out in one giant arc across the sky.

“I’ll take yur advice, jus let me know when we’re there.” The man said, gulping audibly.

“I will.”

When Audra brought her head in, Cabana had appeared in the back of the wagon.

“Any news?” Cabana asked.

“I think Awls has destroyed Daemerall. According to Faust she’s in the exact same spot, and he can’t feel much else.” Audra sat next to Cabana, across from Zadkiel. They both looked at her in shock. The most defended city in the kingdom, second to only the Capital, was just gone.

“And Vasuki?” Audra could see the fear in her eyes, panic threatened to burst free. Audra forced a smile.

“Yeah. He’s trying to pin-point his location right now.” Cabana gave a sigh of relief.

“Thank the Maker for your contact with Faust. How does the contract work exactly?” She asked.

“Yeah, to be fair you haven’t really talked about your contract. What can you do with it?” Zadkiel added.

“It’s actually pretty useful. I have constant contact with him, we can put up a mental barrier so we’re not overloaded with each others thoughts. The agreement goes as such: He is an aquatic creature, he can feel presences but he doesn’t know what’s going on inland, I can give him that information. In exchange he lets me know points of interests for me to investigate, and anything that might be going on in the ocean. If we’re ever in a tight spot we can also borrow power from each other.” She chuckled, “Though with how powerful he is, I highly doubt he’ll need it. It was the exact same contract he made with Lusalene.”

Zadkiel laughed and brought his hand to his forehead, then combed his fingers through his hair from back to front.

“So let me get this straight, say you were about to die, you could just get the power of a Zenith demon?” Audra smiled proudly.

“Yeah I guess so, don’t fuck with this bitch...wait.” She tilted her head at him, “How did you know that he was a Zenith?”

“Oh, you told me, remember?” Cabana looked at him suspiciously.

“I don’t remember telling you that.” She looked at him closely, she could have sworn she saw a faint pink glow next to him, but it vanished almost as soon as it came. She was about to investigate until she heard Faust speak up.

“Vasuki is roughly 30 miles south of your location. You will have to cut through the forest if you wish to reach him.”

“Stop the wagon!” She shouted. The driver followed her orders and reigned the horses in.

“I feel him, two other humans, one of which is shrouded in a powerful aura. I suspect a demon but I can’t be sure.” Audra quickly grabbed her hiking gear and hopped out the back.

“South of here, 30 miles away.” Audra said, relaying the information. Cabana was mid-way out when her ears flicked.

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Zadkiel asked.

“Thunder, might be Felix. We need to hurry.” Cabana claimed.

Audra quickly noticed a prickling in the air, she felt like she was being watched, not just inwardly but outwardly. She looked up the road and saw the man, the green scarf flapping in the western winds. He stared down at her with pure malice. She felt her breathing quicken something deep within her began to take over as she unconsciously began walking towards him. Only to feel a hand on her shoulder.

“Where are you going?” Zadkiel asked. Audra looked back to see his concerned face, she shook his hand off of her shoulder and looked back at Felix but he was gone.

“Sorry. I was just seeing things.” Audra claimed, turning back to the wagon. “I saw Felix.” Audra said to Faust.

“I don’t feel Felix’s presence. You’re tired, perhaps just another hallucination.”

“We’ve been getting too many of those.”

Cabana was speaking to the driver of the wagon when Audra returned.

“Don’t go to Daemerall, obviously, not until you know it’s safe. Best course of action is to go back to Trudid.”

“Well I thank ya for the warnin’. It was an honor to have such a respected figure in this here wagon.” He claimed. Cabana gave a smile.

“And we appreciate the ride. You drive safe.” She said walking away from him, “Let’s get going.” She said to Zadkiel and Audra, “Audra you’re up front. Does Faust feel Noelem anywhere?” She asked.

“I do, he’s heading towards you, I believe he feels your presence as well.”

“Yeah, he knows where we are, he’s coming our way.” Audra claimed.

“Audra I must warn you.” Faust began, as they trekked through the roots, dirt, and vines of the forest.

“What is it?”

“I felt a powerful presence come from you when you saw Felix, I think your soul is becoming more and more corrupt.”

“I know, I feel Lusalene watching me at all times. I can feel myself losing control. I know that Lusalene is gone and replaced with something else. At least for now.”

“Do you suspect that she will return?” He sounded hopeful. Audra bit the inside of her cheek.

“I...don’t know.”

“Audra!” Zadkiel yelled. She jumped and looked back at the man.

“What is it?”

“I want to talk to you about Vasuki.” He said, his tone had lost all of it’s playfulness and was replaced with a deep serious one.

“What about him?”

“I need to know-Whoa!” He tripped over a root and caught himself on the tree it came from, “I need to know what you’re going to do the next time you see him.” He said.

“Isn’t it clear? I’m going to kick his ass.”

“But what if you can’t? He’s bound to be much stronger than he was last time.”

“Last time I beat him to the ground while barely getting touched. I’ve grown much stronger than that. And I highly doubt he has access to a pool of demonic power like I do.”

“Ocean.” Faust corrected. “Something’s wrong with Vasuki. It’s definitely him, but his presence has surged suddenly. He feels more similar to Boreal than your memories of him as of right now.”

“Okay, so maybe he’s gotten stronger too.” She commented, “Cabana you will be happy to know that Faust thinks he feels-” She was cut off by a loud burst of thunder. Zadkiel jumped and tripped over another root.

Audra looked back to see her holding her ears.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine!” Cabana claimed, standing up straight, “That’s definitely an ascended Royal Knight. I doubt that’s Felix, he only Ascends when he’s in a tight spot.”

“So Vasuki is fighting a fully-fledged Royal Knight?” Zadkiel asked. Cabana nodded.

“He’s much stronger than the last time I saw him.” Audra gulped. She didn’t know how strong she was comparatively and it made her nervous.

After trekking for a few hours Audra sat on a fallen tree, her hiking bag thrown off of her and was leaning against the stump. Sweat fell from her body and she was desperate for respite.

“You’re just out of range for the average Dragon variant to smell, a little further on you will be able to smell Vasuki. He hasn’t moved from his position since you started making your way towards him. Roughly 12 miles away.” Faust claimed.

“Thanks for the info.” Audra answered, mentally and physically exhausted.

“It’s as good a spot as any.” Cabana said, as she began to set up her tent.

“Now that’s something I can agree with!” Zadkiel exclaimed. Audra could feel the hairs on her neck begin to stand.

“Another surge of dark energy, I’d suggest keeping away from reflective surfaces.” Faust pointed out.

“I'll keep that in mind.” Audra replied, taking a gulp of water from her waterskin.

Night quickly fell after they got the fire going, and Audra found herself deep in her tent, taking a bite of some of the rations they had packed before leaving Trudid. She was nose deep into Cabana’s journal.

The king is a fucking idiot, raise taxes here, raise taxes there. Ignore the pleas of help from the north, see this is what starts a revolution. We’re already getting news about people taking arms against the king from the south. No telling what kind of people will come from the north. I’ve had to set off three squads of knights to send food to Kashan. And now he’s raising taxes on ways of travel. And Felix will never disagree with him, I feel he doesn’t even agree with the King, he’s just doing it in spite of me. I just want to fucking scream and tear his head off. Of course it’ll just come back when he revives himself. Phoenix bastard...I don’t think he can be trusted. I don’t think he realizes it, but sometimes, especially when he’s looking at prisoners, I see this sadistic smile and his eyes, his eyes change to this multi-colored orb, it’s like looking at this deep and dark rainbow. I just can’t explain it, but it gives me chills.

Audra looked up to the entrance of her tent as Zadkiel pulled the flap of it over to the side.

“Mind if I come in?” He asked. Audra scooted to the far side, and gestured for him to take a seat as she took another bite of the jerky.

“Go ahead.”

“What’cha reading?”

“Just Cabana’s journal, it’s full of her adventures. And some tips on monsters and demons.” Zadkiel nodded in approval.

“You nervous about tomorrow?” He asked.

“Because of our meeting with Vasuki? Definitely nervous. From what Faust has told me, his presence reminds him more of Boreal than the Vasuki we once knew.”

“Boreal Ssirm right? Son of the Ancient Dragon of winter?” Audra nodded her head. Zadkiel scooted a little closer to her.

“You know Noelem got here and went into Cabana’s tent, no telling what they’re doing in there.” He joked.

“I can hear them, they’re sleeping.” She retorted.

“I can tell you’re stressed out...I can...assist you with that.” He said as he began to crawl toward her, his eyes slightly narrowed and a slight smirk on his face.

“What the fuck are you doing?” She demanded, crawling away from him, but not turning her back to him.

“Let me take care of you.” He said, crawling over her. He placed his hand on her stomach and began to trail down to the hem of her pants. Anger flared and she felt the familiar cramp in her right arm as Etherea flowed into her hand and her palm met his face forcing him to fly out of the entrance of the tent.

By the time Audra came out of her tent Zadkiel had managed to come to a sitting position, but the fact that the entire front of his clothes had told her how he had landed. He rubbed his jaw and rotated it. Noelem and Cabana had both escaped from their shared tent, and were watching the situation. Audra grabbed him by his collar and lifted him up to meet her eyes.

“Don’t you dare try that shit again. If I catch wind that you’re even thinking of entering my damn tent I will put my foot so far up your ass the front of my shoe will pop out your mouth!” She threw him back to the ground and entered her tent, zipping it behind her.