“I’m not sure. Have a look at this though.”

  Myst picked up one of the Scales and began to channel her aether into it. After a few seconds, the scale started to glow slightly red before she turned to hand it to Kai.

  “Ow!” Kai screamed, dropping the scale onto the ground as soon as his hand touched it. He looked accusingly at the sorceress for answers.

  “That was hot. What was that?”

  A mischievous grin greeted him back.

  “Just a simple trick. They seem to react to my heating ability, so I was thinking of how I could use them.”

  Kai continued to glare at the woman for a few seconds before giving up and turning to look at the still-red scale.

  Wasn’t that ball red when it nearly hit me?

  Kai’s eyes trailed in the direction of where the large metal ball had landed, he suddenly shuddered at the thought of what might have happened if it had hit him.

  “Do you think you can control how hot it gets?” He asked the sorceress, still facing the distant mist.

  “For low or high, yes, if you want exact measures of heat like the makers, then I’d need a while to practice or a lot of tools I don't have. It’s not like warming a body or flash crystal.”

  Kai thought about her answer for a second before he began explaining his idea.

  As she listened, her eyes slowly widened in shock, and a huge smile crossed her face as a plethora of thoughts and concepts began to spin through her head.

  “That… That might work… Go get the twins, I’m going to experiment here for a bit. Give me half…No, give me a couple minutes.”

  With that, she had turned away from him and began to collect and restack her reactive pile into new groups with a fervent speed. Sparks and waves of heat occasionally rolled off the scale in her hand before she would place it in a pile and quickly pick up the next to repeat the process.

  ***

  Harold and Lily were walking the camp perimeter on watch duty. Despite being unable to see anything ahead or around them, they walked with a calm and steady gait.

  “So I take it you’ve settled into this little group now?” Harold asked the young lady to his right while keeping his eyes forward.

  “I think I have, yes. Everyone has been very kind to me.” Came the sincere reply.

  Harold looked at the young girl briefly before returning to the mist and opening his mouth to speak.

  “And what do you think of everyone?”

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  Lily thought for a second before answering with a sincere smile.

  “Well… Kai and Myst are very strong, Song is unpredictable, the twins are quiet but earnest, and Beri is my favourite - she’s so cute, like the little sister I never had.” Her smile positively beaming by the end.

  “Hmm… I see.”

  The two continued for a few minutes in silence, seemingly not paying much attention to their surroundings. Eventually, Lily broke the quiet atmosphere with a strange question.

  “So, why did you follow Kai down here?”

  The old man looked at her for a minute, picking up on the hidden questions beneath.

  Smiling, he proudly answered,

  “I’m looking for something that I think is here. If I'm right, I will achieve a goal I've been chasing for a while.”

  Nodding in response, the two continued into another briefly silent march.

  “So which one are you, after?” He eventually asked.

  “Vaal is nice, but he’s already taken. His brother has been looking at me for a while… and I like the tall, quiet types.” The girl casually replied, her polite smile and steady pace never wavering.

  Harold thought for a moment.

  “I’m tall–”

  “–And old.”

  He was suddenly quieter.

  “I see…”

  The pair continued their walk in absolute silence, their steps leaving no footprints or sounds behind.

  ***

  “Here you go.” Vaal handed a bamboo water container to Beri.

  “Th-thank you.” She nervously replied as she carefully took the drink from his hands.

  The two sat on the ground next to the pit Baal had created earlier. She stared at the container before opening it and carefully sipped the water, ensuring to not waste a drop.

  She twisted the lid back on and passed it back once she was done.

  “You’re very kind.”

  Her cheeks turned slightly pink as she smiled sweetly at the older man, an affectionate gleam poorly hidden behind her eyes.

  “I’ve told you already…” Vaal stated with a heavy tone, his eyes weighted down as though tired.

  The young girl lifted her knees to her chest and held them tightly, her fingers digging into the seams down the sides.

  “I know… But it doesn’t change how I feel.”

  She buried her head into her legs and closed her eyes.

  “I wish you weren’t so nice,” she whispered.

  Vaal looked at the young girl. His ever-calm eyes filled with a storm of thoughts before he spoke.

  “Where I’m from… The marriageable age is nineteen winters for a woman.”

  The young woman looked up in surprise.

  Vaal’s voice took a strange tone as he spoke.

  “There were some problems a while back with young orphans being sold as child-bearing partners to the rich. Our city lord raised the age of marriage to show his opposition to the practice. I agree with him.”

  “So, if I was two winters older…?” The young girl asked, her mind in a new blaze of thoughts.

  Vaal turned his head away and stared into the far mist.

  Beri’s gaze remained fixed on the silent figure opposite her, patiently and nervously awaiting a response that never came.

  Eventually, Vaal’s brother came over to break their silence.

  “Hey, good news. Myst found a way to cook the meat. I’ll need your help for a bit, Vee. How’s your aether level?”

  “I’m good.” He stood up to follow his brother, turning to say goodbye before he disappeared in the mist.

  Beri watched him leave before closing her eyes and burying her head back into her knees. She felt more confused now and needed time to think.

  Unbeknownst to the pair, a small black lizard had seen their entire reaction a few meters back, its body half buried in the ground. When no one came back, it slowly sank into the ground and disappeared…