Viola noticed Auther was missing before the sun fully cleared the tree line.
She told herself it was habit. That counting heads was what soldiers did. That absence was easier to spot than presence.
Still, the fact remained.
His bedroll was cold. They had not talked in a while she could not trust him in such a state.
She stood there longer than necessary, jaw tight, eyes scanning the perimeter as if he might simply materialize where she looked hardest.
Why can't that boy stay where I can guard him, she thought irritably. Is it arrogance, or stupidity?
Neither answer pleased her. An idea flashed quickly
He has been spending time with that alchemist since the potion incident maybe she knows where he is?
She turned toward the sound of muttering.
Lana was crouched near a fallen log, hair loose and wild, fingers stained with charcoal and sap. Symbols littered the ground around her—circles intersecting lines, numbers scratched over numbers, some violently crossed out.
She hadn't noticed Viola approach.
"…that doesn't make sense," Lana murmured. "It can't be continuous. Mana doesn't behave like that—why would matter?"
"Hey Lana are you okay?" Viola asked unsettled by Lana's appearance. She had seen disheveled idiots before but rarely crazy ones. Lana at the time looked crazy.
Lana jumped a bit clearly shaken trning to see Viola she quickly calmed down
"Why Actually no there is something bugging me." Lana said looking expectantly at Viola.
"What is it maybe it will get my mind of that boy. You know what they say an even bigger headache gets your mind off the others." Viola said trying to joke, though she cassually told Lana that she would consider their friendship, she now felt responsible for friendly conversations.
Lana looked at her weirdly chuckled a bit then looked up, frustration flashing in her yellow eyes. She looked crazy, "Everyone assumes matter is solid. Fixed. Whole. But mana passes through it. Interacts with it. Changes it. That shouldn't be possible unless—unless—"
She snapped her fingers.
"Unless everything is made of smaller pieces. Like mana is."
Viola stared. "You're saying the world is… crumbs?"
"Particles," Lana corrected sharply. "Tiny. Invisible. Everything built from them."
Viola scoffed. "That's lunacy."
Lana bristled. "You fool!"
"Madwoman," Viola snapped back.
They stared at each other.
Then Lana exhaled, rubbing her temples. "I didn't mean—look, that's not important."
"It is," Viola said flatly. "But not right now."
She stepped closer, eyes narrowing. "The real reason I came here was to ask if you've seen that boy."
Lana froze.
"Have you seen him or not?" Viola pressed.
Lana swallowed. "No. But if he left camp, he wouldn't have gone far."
"When was the last place you saw him?"
"Under a certain tree he was practicing magic."
"Take me there."
The duo left Lana's tent reaching the before mentioned tree Viola scanned the ground. Her posture shifted—soldier again. She crouched, fingers brushing the earth.
There were blood stains on the drag path. Lana spiraled into conspiracy.
Images rose unbidden—her father disappearing into trees like these. The silence after. The certainty that something had taken him.
Did Gia kill him early I thought we had a deal.
Viola herself was spiraling
Wait did he just die under my watch, why did I get so mad because of a stupid potion. I should have never let that drive a wedge between us maybe...No I have to at least get his body back. But I can't let Lana die here though of low rank she is too talented.
"Come," she said. "Stay close."
They followed the trail deeper into the forest. The air grew heavier. Darker. Lana's steps slowed, unease curling in her chest.
Looking at Viola who had a stoic expression she started getting false hope
'Maybe this isn't enough to kill him.' Lana thought
The marks weren't clean.
Something had been pulled. somewhere along the way fought back, skin fragments and fur were all over a path ridden with blood.
Both the ladies wondered who the skin was from.
The morning forest made sure the smell didn't spread far that kept Viola's hopes high.
In her mind she hoped that he somehow killed the thing and found somewhere to hide.
The trail led them to a very large cave at the side of a hill or a mountain who could say they were both big.
The smell hit first. The light never did.
The further they went the more unease Lana felt. Deeper i the cave they found that stones or gems to be more precise lit the room interior and littered on the ground were Blood and Fur.
The bear lay dead—massive, unmoving, throat crushed with brutal precision. It's body still mangled and burnt it was obviously a tough fight.
Auther sat nearby, leaning against stone, bandaged foot stretched out awkwardly. He looked up as they entered.
"Oh," he said. "Hey."
Lana dropped from Viola's back and crossed the distance in a heartbeat, wrapping her arms around him.
"You're alive," she breathed.
Her body trembled.
Auther stiffened.
Slowly, gently, he pushed her back.
"Lana," he said quietly. "Don't."
She froze, realization crashing in all at once. Her face burned.
"I—sorry," she said quickly, stepping back. "I didn't mean—I thought—"
"I know," Auther said. "But you told me not to flirt with emotionally confused women. I'm holding you to that."
The words weren't cruel. Just firm.
Viola watched closely.
Good, she thought. That wasn't posturing.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Bear," Auther said. "Dragged me from camp while I was asleep. Guess I smelled interesting."
Viola glanced at the corpse. Then at him. "You killed it?"
"Eventually but that guy did not want to go down."
She snorted. " Sometimes they are like that," she paused "I'll teach you how to skin it later."
A tone too warm for her.
Lana blinked. "Later?"
That was when the ground trembled.
Just slightly.
Dust fell from the cave ceiling.
Lana's eyes widened. "The bear—Viola. It was young."
Viola's expression hardened instantly.
"How it's so big as it is?" Viola questioned
"Why is such a big cave only occupied by one lonely bear and if Auther could kill it obviously it is not the top predator." Lana reasoned.
"Maybe it just lucked out." Auther tried dismissing, it was a defense mechanism he did not want his big moment to be trivialized.
"Auther luck won't keep predators away from following it back here." Viola defended Lana's thought
"A cub, so whatever is on it's way is the mother bear." Auther muttered.
"Why don't we run it will just get here and rampage." Viola suggested clearly scared she had never met anything that could shake the earth.
"The mother will track him," Lana said, voice tight. "Scent and even if we wash that off the mana residue left by the scars as easy to track for a magical beast."
Viola was already moving. "Lana, run back to camp."
"What are you planning to do?" Auther asked concerned.
"I'll draw it away," Viola said. "When I do, follow her."
Auther frowned. "That thing can cause the forest to shake. Are you sure you can kill it?"
Viola smiled grimly. "I've seen worse survived worse."
"You're lying." Lana pointed out.
"Do we have a better option if we all run it will track down Auther, if we all stay we all die." Viola said taking a small pause.
Behind them, something enormous moved.
The forest didn't just shake; it bowed. Trees snapped like dry kindling as a shadow blotted out the cave entrance.
Viola didn't look back. She didn't look at Auther's guilt or Lana's fear. She just gripped Linda until her knuckles were as white as the Queen's fire.
'Go,' she whispered.
Behind them, the mountain moved