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L ilith stirred to the smell of food wafting through the air. She yawned and stretched. Her body felt surprisingly good. Felicia was still asleep next to her, but the prince and Silver were not on the smooth surface they had used to rest.

She looked around and found Silver and Demetrius standing close to the valley overlooking the river of lava below.

They were standing on a thick sheet of ice that was steaming.

Silver was hunched over a pan. Both of them wore looks of boyish satisfaction.

They turned to return back to camp, spotting Lilith watching them. Silver beamed with joy.

“You won’t believe what we’ve just done.” He smiled at her as he set the hot frying pan down. Several slices of meat sizzled in the pan with some toasted pieces of bread topped with cheese.

“You used the heat from the lava to cook breakfast.” Lilith couldn’t hide her smile, but said her statement with little emotion.

“Oh come on. This is ingenious. Technically we didn’t cook it in the lava, but we found a hot spot that saved us from having to start a fire.” Silver took out some plates and began dividing the goods. Felicia stirred and wiped her eyes .

“What’s this about cooking in lava?” Felicia yawned and wrapped her blanket around herself. They wasted no time diving into the food.

“Wow. This is delicious.” Lilith smiled at Silver and the prince.

Prince Demetrius rolled his eyes but smiled back. “You have really low expectations of food. Let’s finish up and head out. We’ve got another long day ahead of us.”

Lilith watched the prince. He acted his usual self. Maybe they would act like nothing happened the night before.

The trek out was thankfully short. Within a few hours, they climbed out of the cave through an entrance that led into a forest. The prince had resumed his disguise and reminded them to call him Locke.

He pulled out a large map and set it on the forest floor.

They squatted around the map as Locke picked up a thin stick and pointed to where they were.

“We have detoured a fair distance, unfortunately. I would have rather left from a different exit, but the Khimaira blocked our way.” As Locke spoke, Lilith and Felicia shared a look.

Lilith was silently communicating that the prince’s explanation was a fair one.

Felicia shrugged her shoulders. They refocused on what Locke was saying.

“We are south, by The Everlade Mountains. Right now, we’re close to the southwest boundary of the Void. ”

The Everlade Mountains sounded familiar to Lilith. Juniper lived in The Red Forest over the pass. “Could we make it to the Red Forest and travel back up, or find a boat that would take us around?” Lilith offered .

“Travelling over the mountain is no small feat. We are not prepared for the challenges it poses.” Locke pointed out the small pass high above the mountain peaks.

Silver interrupted whatever Locke was going to suggest. “We could use this as a chance to see the Void for ourselves.” He looked at the others.

“Eventually we’re going to have to face whatever has been climbing out of the area.

Our knowledge of what’s going on there is dated and unreliable.

We could do a careful observation of what we’re dealing with and report this information back to Vanguard. ”

“I’m not sure we’re the right group for such a task.

We’re in a delicate position in regards to members of our group and the consequences we would face for taking this risk.

” Felicia was trying to remind Silver that if something happened to the prince, they would have to answer for it.

Silver nodded to Felicia in understanding. They all looked to Locke.

The long white haired man cocked his head.

“We could travel to the closest village and see exactly what is going on. When we make it to the capital, I will take responsibility for our detour, citing it as my idea. However, going that way would be equally risky as trying to make for the Everlade pass. Truthfully, we’re more likely to risk our lives by spying on the Void.

I cannot guarantee your safety.” He huffed and pointed to a route that narrowly cusped the border and led them westward to Lilith’s home.

“What if we put it to a vote? If we agree on the risky detour to watch over the village, and are unanimous in our vote, we move closer to the Void. Yes?” Lilith was somewhat confident that Felicia would vote no, but this was a wise move.

“Okay. Silver, yes or no?” Silver didn’t hesitate to say yes.

“Locke?” He, too, voted yes. “Felicia?” Felicia pressed her lips and furrowed her brow.

She let out a quiet ‘yes’. Lilith was shocked.

She unintentionally placed herself as the deciding factor.

Did she see the value in a little reconnaissance?

Yes. Having an up-to-date evaluation on what was happening would be a tremendous advantage for the army heading to the front.

But risking their lives and the life of the prince?

She looked at him and found his piercing blue eyes boring into hers.

She lowered her mental shield to him and heard his voice say, It is my choice to risk my life.

She let his words sink in. “Yes,” she voted. They would head into the Void.

Locke pointed to the map. “The closest village is here. Glattonshire. From what I have learned, moving during daylight would be safest. Our goal is to watch from a higher viewpoint.” He pointed to a location outside of town.

“We will have to improvise the specific location once we’re close.

We spend until mid afternoon and then leave.

Reports suggest that creatures in the Void are more lively at nighttime, even though the place is surrounded in darkness.

Once we’re done, we make for this route here.

” He pointed northward above the village to a trail that led northeast. “Understood?” They nodded.

He looked at them with a serious expression.

“If one of us falls behind or is taken, we leave them.” The other three immediately started talking over each other about how ridiculous that request was.

The prince stood to his fullest height, towering over them.

“There have been zero reported cases of successful rescue missions. Whole towns are taken over by the spread of whatever creatures are crawling out of there. If you are taken, chances are you are or will soon be dead. We cannot risk the entire group for one person, myself included. ”

They scowled at him in silence, but nodded. With a plan set, they headed further south towards Glattonshire. Locke cast a silencing incantation over them, so the sounds of their movement would not echo around them.

Entering the boundary of the Void was like walking into a different realm.

The clouds above were dark black and ominous looking, blocking the sun to form a large shadow over the land.

It took them longer than anticipated to reach the outskirts of the village.

They circled around it, walking uphill so they could view most of the town centre.

There was a T-shaped intersection with a single row of buildings packed in together.

The exterior of most of the buildings were covered in a layer of white clay with large weathered beams running vertically upwards.

The second story of the buildings stuck out at various degrees.

It had a magical feel to it, aside from the eerie quiet of the streets.

There was not a soul in sight. No chirping of birds or sounds of animals.

They listened to the rhythmic squeaking of shop signs swaying back and forth in the wind.

Almost half an hour passed before they spotted signs of life.

A woman came out of one of the buildings and started slowly walking down the road.

Her left foot was mangled and was dragging behind her.

She looked disheveled and her stained floral dress was torn in several spots.

“Do we go down there?” Silver ever so quietly whispered.

Before anyone could answer, the lady started frantically scanning the roads.

Silver’s quiet words must have broken through the prince’s silencing shield and carried through the air.

Her frantic movements drew out others in similar conditions to gather around her.

Some of them dragged themselves with their arms to get to her spot.

Lilith squinted. She could barely make out the lady’s face as her long tangled hair draped over it.

Lilith noticed that her eyes were pure black.

Felicia elbowed her and pointed down at a man that had his shirt torn off and was missing half of his right arm.

Long black veins were visible on his exposed white skin.

Eventually they calmed and began moving slowly, rocking back and forth as they stood in a crowd.

Lilith quickly counted the poor souls below.

She could see twenty seven people. A loud crackling sound echoed over the town.

The village people went stock still, some even fell to their knees.

A thick black mist seeped out between the narrow alleyways of the buildings, gathering around the people.

The crackling sound became louder, causing the group of four to cover their ears.

From the darkest part of the mist, a tall figure emerged.