Raile couldn’t understand what was happening. At least, not truly. During his time with Leilah and Kalina he had learned a great deal about the inner workings of Rosenites and how they interacted with the world, but it wasn’t until recently that he had truly considered becoming one. But, that was on hold due to a variety of different reasons. But now, there was one truly great one.

Droves of people were fleeing to Parvpora due to something devastating happening. Raile could barely keep up with the flood of magic users who had teleported or gated over. There were rumors about that some mage’s had lost their capacity to use magic at all. There were whispers about that the plant life was withering away, and the few that Raile could see from his shops were indeed struggling to stay upright. Overall, the situations seemed dire.

Leilah and Kalina had taken to the secret cave behind the shop to discuss amongst themselves what was going on. The merchant could have sworn he heard a familiar voice talking to them as they left; probably another Rosenite. Something big was happening, and they wouldn’t, or couldn’t discuss it in the shop.

That left Raile fairly alone, watching the front. With the panic overtaking the masses, he had to keep charge of the front of the store in case looters tried to take over.

Drake darted through the forest, weaving between the trees. Something was very wrong. Rhenakos was close behind, but struggling to keep up. All around them, the trees were groaning, as if crying out in agony as the world itself seemed to dull in color and life.

He kept trying to access the wealth of mana flooding through his veins, but nothing seemed to connect. It wasn’t that the well was dry, it just…wasn’t working. He growled in frustration, stopped to glance back at Rhenakos.

“Hey. Is that eye of yours working?” he asked with a snapping tone.

“No. I haven’t been able to see out of the damned thing since we started in this forest,” the demon hunter replied, smacking the side of his head. “Any ideas?”

Drake glanced down at the dying ground. “A few. There are memories from the other world….dead zones. Areas where mana ceases to flow.”

“Oh joy,” Rhenakos replied, rolling his eye. “Then keep moving! It can’t be over the whole area!”

It wasn’t long before they burst out of the forest and into a large field. Off in the distance, the duo could see a village. There seemed to be panic. There was a spark, and a wildfire seemed to spread across the village. There were screams, and then silence.

Drake was quiet for a moment before looking down to his hand. Work. He snapped his fingers, and a gate sparked to life. He looked to Rhenakos. “Go ahead. I’m going to-”

“No you don’t,” Rhenakos said as he slammed his foot into Drake, forcing him through the gate.

Rhenakos and Drake tumbled onto the table in the middle of Raile’s shop, causing the merchant quite a stir. Rhenakos waved sarcastically, and untangled himself from the dragon, righting himself. “Oh hey…I can see again.” He held out his hand to help Drake up, and the two looked to Raile, who was shaking his head.

“Sorry we dropped in on you,” Drake said as they all sat at the table. “Things aren’t…right.” He glanced to the side, failing to mention that he never seemed to have full control over his gates.

Rhenakos crossed his arms. “Os is here. I can smell her…I take it she’s with Leilah and Kalina?”

Raile nodded. “I’m still not sure what’s going on, but my best guess is that since it’s affecting all of the Rosenites this hard, that it might have something to do with Lady Angela.”

Drake winced. “I hope Lord Drae is holding up. I haven’t seen him since the Onnen incident.”

Rhenakos sighed. “All we can do is wait. At best, we’ll know something once they’re done deliberating. At worst….” He paused. He hadn’t actually thought that far ahead. The worst that could come to pass was the loss of the Goddess herself.

An eerie quiet settled over the shop.

“I shouldn’t have said anything,” Rhenakos muttered.