This is not treachery.
This is freedom.
In the middle of Heaven and Hell, the days of rain and mist are long gone. Now, the Gap World is a kingdom of light and darkness, goodness and evilness, sunshine and clouds. When clandestine forces weave toget...
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IN THE NICK OF TIME, ten days had passed by. Ten beautiful and lighthearted days, filled with Denfer and nature, card games and trying to combine our magics just for fun.
He'd grown up in a village like Kiparissi, he'd told me one day while we'd been taking breakfast in the garden. The village had been on the south coast of Asternal—the country in which magic had once thrived, and had then created monstrosities; had created Lantra. Despite his family living in poverty, he'd had a great childhood, something more than great even. Between basking in the sun and exploring other villages with his friends, he'd been helping his father, who'd been a cowman. On the other hand, his mother had been a dressmaker, the only one in the village, and Ian had been spending his days next to her, intrigued by what she'd been doing for a living.
Every evening we waited for Denfer's messengers to come and inform us about what was going on in the capital. The news was both somber and great. Despite Amanda being in a special prison that nullified her magic, her dirty games were still unfolding in the capital—even without her. Thankfully, the majority of people still supported Denfer.
A few hours ago, Jersen, Vanensera and Normant had shown up here, all three of them bearing news that had turned out to be more urgent than what we'd like to admit. Vanensera had traveled all the way up here from a small town a few miles away from Kiparissi, carrying the news of a wild animal emerging from the darkness each night and scaring those who lived on the outskirts, the traders and the pilgrims. As for Jersen, he'd come from the capital to take a short break from the healing process and the patients who desperately pleaded for an antidote to their paranoid thoughts and visions.
Now, all five of us were sitting around the kitchen table, ready to talk about every little thing we knew regarding Amanda, her motives and her powers.
Denfer was completely focused on Normant, who was complaining for the millionth time since he'd come here about his Nefern's temper, how it had almost thrown him into a narrow stream the moment they'd landed. Denfer had laughed every time Normant had recalled the story, and he was also laughing now. I couldn't say the same for Vanensera though, who couldn't be looking more annoyed at the red-haired general, who spoke loudly and dominated the room with his bottomless energy. She gave me a look of irritation, and before I could say something to calm her down, she stood up, a finger pointed at Normant. "We're here for a reason!" she shouted.
Denfer was the first one to stop laughing, paving the way for his childhood friend to do the same. But as Denfer placed an ankle over a knee and remained completely silent, Normant laughed even harder.
"You scared him," he said, his eyes searching for Vanensera's blue ones. She just sighed, ignoring his attempt for another dose of laughter and went back to her chair on my left.
"I'll go first," Jersen said and placed his fists on the wooden table, the sunlight that crept in through the window behind him illuminating his hair, making it look the warmest shade of orange. Denfer nodded, his eyes turning to me for the slightest confirmation that I agreed. There was no reason not to. "I won't talk from firsthand experience, but I'll try my best to tell you what I've figured by working with my patients," he continued, his voice not revealing any kind of emotion.
