Hamond couldn't deny it was a strange feeling, going from fighting for his life to rushing to buy supplies, all in a single day.

  He knew it ought to be rexing, having to worry about mundane concerns now, but he was still on edge. How could he not be? There was nothing in all of Hyarch that could have prepared Hamond, or the rest of them, for that battle. Even with the Witch of Wrath defeated and sent far away, the tension lingered, eating at him, telling him to be ready to fight again.

  It didn't help that Hamond was the safest one to send to buy the supplies. The reasoning was simple enough: there was no time to waste on dealing with merchants who refused to sell to Elefae, and with Edeline's ear that just left him. They needed the supplies now, before the sun set and the stores closed for the evening.

  It had been close - Hamond had just managed to get inside the st shop before the shopkeep locked up. But now they were now well stocked for a journey, with plenty of food, water, and other supplies. He'd even been able to buy some extra herbs for Ne to work with. He'd figured she would've liked having some myrrh leaves for the whole First Ascension thing back in Faehaven. At least if something like that happened again in the hexdays to come, she'd have enough for it.

  As the four of them reached the south entrance of Kelshir, with Ugots lurking unseen yet again, the sun had already dropped below the horizon. No one had made any real effort to clean up the remains of the gates, with the way now open save for a single guard.

  Anthy had apparently sent word ahead, for the guard simply nodded as they walked through. Better than having to fight their way out of Kelshir...and there it was, another surge of fear. It took all of Hamond's focus to keep his gaze forward, instead of staring at the man.

  A gentle hand rested on his should. Hamond looked over to see Edeline there, worry in her eyes. "Are you alright?" she asked.

  Hamond had no idea how to answer. He knew Edeline bmed herself for her attempt to combine spells going wrong, and being unable to do much during the battle. Being honest here would only make her feel worse, but the st thing he wanted to do was lie to her. Even if he did, Edeline would likely recognize it at such anyway.

  And Edeline could see his indecision too. "Why does it feel like we lost, even though we succeeded?" she asked, drawing close to him as they walked on.

  "I don't know," Hamond admitted, putting one arm over her shoulder. That wasn't entirely true, as there was one clear fact that stood out starkly. The Witch of Wrath had been holding back, only using four different spells against them. Someone of that skill and reputation would have far more spells to use than that. Why, Hamond wasn't sure, but that was the only reason they had prevailed.

  "Remember what you said before, about needing to do better?" Edeline said quietly.

  Hamond just nodded, recalling the aftermath of the fight with the Aetheric Knights. Then, he had meant it as a reminder that they were far from perfect, and had room to grow stronger and smarter. Now, it was a dire warning that the two of them were not ready for the battles ahead. Especially since they needed to guarantee they could fight Ugots's fellows, if it came to that.

  "My thought had been to overwhelm the Witch with as much power as I could muster," Edeline continued, "That was a foolish mistake."

  "And what I did wasn't?" Ne had apparently been listening, even thought she and Myronel were several paces ahead of them. "What matters is that we won, not how we did it. I don't see why you'd think refighting it in your head is going to change things. Especially with how tired the two of you look now."

  Hamond couldn't deny the events of the day had left him drained. Perhaps it was for the best that he leave evaluating the battle for another time. After all, they would have plenty of opportunities on the road to Lasfont. There was no threat that demanded they improve before dawn tomorrow.

  "I'm not that tired," Edeline protested weakly.

  "Really?" Ne retorted, "You want to try walking without holding each other up then? Because that's what you're doing right now."

  Edeline's face reddened, but she didn't try to pull away from Hamond. He cursed inwardly, realizing that Edeline had been hiding her condition earlier. She'd insisted she'd recovered enough to make it back to Faehaven, but that was just her stubborn pride speaking yet again. And from her reaction, even that had hit its limit.

  Hamond didn't think he was that close to colpse himself, but he knew to trust Ne's judgment. "Let's get to Faehaven before it gets dark then," he said, eyeing the dimming sky. The first stars were beginning to appear. It would not be too much longer before they would need torches or some other light to see. At least that wasn't a huge problem, with them being thaumaturges, but it was better to get to Faehaven before then.

  "Hold on, someone's coming," Myronel warned. Looking ahead, Hamond could make out a pair of figures pushing their way through the brush towards them. The day's light had faded enough that he couldn't tell who they were, although in all likelihood they were people from Faehaven.

  The pair emerged from the brush, and Hamond corrected himself. It was Galian and his wife Caroletta, the couple from Verdan. The ones who had pnned on selling them out to the knights, only to be betrayed in turn. Why were these two here?

  "Can't say I expected either of you," Myronel remarked.

  "The elders told us to be on the watch for you," Galian said. Hamond blinked, confused. Why were they taking orders from the Elefae orders? The second he thought of the question, he saw the answer.

  Both Galian and Caroletta - if he could even call them that now - had the pointed ears of the Elefae. They had undergone the First Ascension.

  Ne immediately noticed too. "So, you're both elves now? Huh, I guess Astorel did it for you. But why?"

  "We talked about it," the woman expined, "With the elders, with some of the vilgers, and just with each other. After what we did, the mistake we made in trusting the knights...we realized we needed to start anew to earn forgiveness."

  "There wasn't much left for us in Verdan anyway," the man told them, "Not that it stopped some people from wanting to go back. But there's a few others like us, who decided that our future y with Faehaven and the elves." His gaze went over to Myronel. "And I see you decided the same."

  "We were never pnning on staying in Faehaven, but yes, I underwent the First Ascension too." Myronel briefly gnced over at Ne. "Much for the same reasons. I go by the name of Myronel now."

  "Galianel," the man said, revealing he'd taken the same simple solution Hamond had advised Myronel to do. Likely the others did the same, at least as long as their previous names allowed for it.

  "I've shortened my name to Caro. I'm still not fully used to it though." Caroletta - or rather, Caro - gave a small smile. "I hope it will come in time."

  "Of course it will," Ne remarked, "But you'll need to get it right before the child's born."

  "A few more months." Galianel smiled in turn. "Hopefully we'll be fully settled in by then. We've already marked a pce to build a new house."

  "You're a hunter, right?" Myronel asked, "I suppose that's what you'll be doing, getting meat and furs and such."

  "That and more. Was also thinking I could teach a few of the elves how to hunt too. It's what Tedrick would have wanted. Besides, it's not like any of them are going to be spending much time in Kelshir."

  "You might be in for a surprise then, since-" Myronel started to say.

  "Wait a moment," Ne cut him off. "You said would have wanted. You mean that old hunter's dead now?"

  Hamond froze with the realization. He hadn't even noticed Galianel's choice of words, possibly due to his exhaustion. As for Tedrick...was the man really gone? What had happened?

  "You didn't know?" Galianel asked, confused.

  "I think they left right before we found out," Caro said softly, "Yes...he passed away. Galianel found him id out under a tree."

  "I knew he hadn't been in the best health this past year." Galianel looked every bit as miserable as he had when facing the anger resulting from their attempted betrayal. "But I didn't think it would be this soon. He was...a second father to me. I wanted him to be proud."

  Thinking back, Hamond recalled what Tedrick had said when he called out the Elefae elders. "Now, I'm going to find some pce quieter than this. My old bones need their rest." Even as he saved the children of Verdan, even as he came to defense of Centur and Astorel...he knew, didn't he? To some extent, the man had realized his time was drawing near, and rather than spread worry and grief, Tedrick sought to go away quietly and not worry anyone.

  "He would be," Myronel said, reassuring the man. "And I think he'd also be delighted to know what we accomplished. The Faehaven elders will also want to know, so we should get moving."

  "Sorry. It is getting te." Galianel took in the darkening sky, then looked over at Hamond and Edeline. "And those two look about to fall over. Let's head back then."

  "Good," Edeline muttered. Hamond didn't bme her for not wanting to stand around and chat, not in her condition.

  "Lead the way," Ne said, gesturing ahead. In the far distance, Hamond could see the faint glow of light that marked Faehaven. And with it, food and rest.

  ProfessorMitchell