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The tent flapped open and in came a flustered looking Lady Thalassa, followed by Mistress Rhodes. She did a double take on her students.

“How are you here? Why are you here?” She gaped at them and then spotted Silver laying on the cot. She rushed to his side and inspected the wound. “By the gods, what happened?”

Locke filled her in with most of what happened, leaving out their run-in with the Khimaira.

By the end of his story, Mistress Rhodes paled and held up her hands.

“You went into the Void? Knowing you lot, it’s more likely you willingly ventured into the Void.

Am I correct?” The three of them looked away. Locke ran his hands through his hair.

“You are all fools and lucky that you’ve returned at all.” Mistress Rhodes now had her hands on her hip and was outright reprimanding their behaviour.

Lady Ashmore shared the disapproving looks.

“Mistress Rhodes, I wonder if you could be of help. I am not confident if this will work, but if it does, I will need you to get these four out of here as discreetly as possible. Mistress Rhodes agreed. Lady Ashmore continued, “We have some records of experiments done on those that were lost to the darkness. They too had these black veins appear. It seems that they are repulsed by light and that is why they haven’t moved outside of the darkness, it burns them. In fact, fire is proven to be quite useful against them.” She spoke softly and the orb shone brightly in the tent.

She rested it next to the veins, which faded as the light came closer.

“It is unfortunate that we cannot fill the wound with liquid light.” Lilith said.

“There is something I want to try.” Lady Ashmore held up the vial of glowing white liquid.

She held out a small knife and pressed it into the recently closed scab.

The tissue pulled apart showing the muscles that had taken on a darker appearance.

She uncorked the vial and poured the substance on the wound.

Immediately she covered her hand over the liquid and began chanting.

Lilith, Felicia, Locke and Lady Thalassa gasped as the black veins were drawing back, sending the black poison into the shimmering liquid.

Lady Thalassa, sensed that her mistress wanted the orb moved as close as possible to the wound.

It helped push the poison further into the fluid.

It clouded the white substance and turned it a dark grey.

Lady Ashmore continued to chant as she pulled the liquid up using her mana, creating a sphere of black poison.

Lady Thalassa uncorked a large glass vial and quickly replaced the stopper after Lady Ashmore finished syphoning the poison and disposed of it into the vial.

Lady Ashmore poured purple liquid of Gertwood into the site. Slowly it began to heal.

“What is that shimmering tonic?” Mistress Rhodes asked her, as her eyes widened watching his leg heal. “You’ve done it, you’ve drawn out the poison.” She grinned at Lilith and Felicia, who looked equally delighted.

“It was once said that the gods, who were saddened by their worshipers, sent stars to rain down upon the earth. One such star landed in a bay, which then caused the waters to have unusual mana. At night the waters shone brilliantly and the surrounding vegetation thrived and became abundant. The bay became sacred and protected by those that lived nearby. They called it the Kiss of the Gods.”

Locke picked up the vial now containing the black poison. It was turning lighter grey. “I mean, that’s great, but where did you find it?”

Lady Ashmore finished binding the healing skin and looked at Locke.

“Part of me is relieved that it worked, the other part is filled with regret. If I share this knowledge, then others will exploit the sacred bay. Your father’s new council will see that the area be destroyed and the waters drained and stored in the palace keep.

” She pointedly looked at Mistress Rhodes.

“You need to return to the capital. The prince needs to take his father’s place and bleed out the poison that seeks power.

” Just as Lady Ashmore finished her lecture, the entrance of the tent folded up and in marched several soldiers, along with General Flavian and behind her, Amiriel, Arlen and a few others wearing matching dark armour.

Arlen’s eyes immediately snapped to Lilith's.

He went to open his mouth, but the general beat him to it.

“What is going on here?” The general looked around the tent and then paused, a fleeting look of shock passed as she found her daughter in the tent. “Felicia? Why are you here?”

Felicia turned a deep red. “We’re trying to reach the capital and ran into some issues.” She kept her explanation short and simple. The general eyed the others suspiciously .

“You were supposed to arrive days ago! Tell me what happened.” The general waited for Felicia to answer, but Locke spoke for her.

“We were travelling together, when our route was blocked by a group of rebel enthusiasts. They were trying to take the children of certain higher ranking officials that worked at the palace. We had to escape and unfortunately headed too far south into the boundary of the Void. We came across a creature and managed once more to escape, though our friend was injured.” Locke explained how they ended up here.

When he was finished, the general walked over to Silver and peeled back the bandage.

Thankfully, it looked much better. Lilith hoped that Silver would remain unconscious and not wake up screaming about what really happened.

She looked away from the general and quickly glanced at her brother. He was focused on her.

Arlen , she mouthed. He looked at her with an expression that told her to wait until this was done.

Her gaze fell on Amiriel, who was staring at her.

She spent months fueling her hatred towards him, and here he was standing in front of her.

She didn’t know what to feel now. A movement caught her eye, a yellow haired woman wearing his matching armour.

She glared at Lilith. She smirked back. Lilith felt an unusual caress on her mental shield.

Is he trying to get in her mind? She stared at Amiriel and cautiously opened a small door to my mind.

Amiriel? she thought.

A voice that sounded deep and calm entered her mind. Lilith. It sent a shiver up her spine.

The general returned to stand next to her soldiers.

“Well, I will need to keep you here until this gets properly documented and we will need to go over everything that went down while you were in the boundary of the Void.” Lilith and her group relaxed.

They managed to evade any issues with the general.

She began speaking with Lady Ashmore, but Lilith was distracted.

Why is Arlen here? Is Jasper here too? she asked the voice.

They’re here under orders of the King. Your brothers are fine. They’re under my supervision. Are you headed for your home? You should know…

“Commander Armirel, I asked if you could retrieve their weapons and escort them to the meeting tent.” General Flavian looked annoyed. “Felicia, you can remain behind.”

“Yes, General. Please follow me.” He motioned for Lilith and Locke to leave the tent.