The four of them were granted access to pass by the Katshinese border garrison, allowing them closer access to the lake. Aizawa, Mr. Ryujin, Catherine, and Carter made their way through the forest, stepping through the snow that piled to their knees. In the crimson moonlight, they could all see the reflection of the ice, bathed with a blood-red glow.

  Aizawa, whilst cautious and vigilant, also exhibited great concern as he moved forward, approaching the edge of the lake before signalling to the others to stop.

  "They said stay here; the search patrol will be here shortly."

  Even whilst he wasn't permitted to move, he still scanned the area of the lake with what the crimson moon offered him. The ice was foggy and untouched for the most part. Using his left hand, he filtered out the moonlight to scan the lake better.

  "See anything?" Mr. Ryujin chimed in.

  Aizawa remained silent, eyes narrowed in palpable focus. Catherine and Carter remained still, but they too were scanning the lake. Just then, illusory purple energy coiled around Aizawa's neck and shoulders, taking the form of the spiritual binding cloth. Upon seeing this, everyone's eyes widened.

  "I saw you use that at Tavaran's, but I never had the chance to ask," Catherine said as she gazed at the cloth.

  "I don't know why it's reacting now—" At this moment, the cloth began to harshly tug and pull in the direction of the lake, keeping an unyielding hold on Aizawa's neck. Aizawa planted his feet in the snow, pulling his heels back in an attempt to stifle this.

  "We're not moving onto the lake; we could fall through!" Aizawa gritted his teeth, pulling the cloth back with enough force to send himself back too.

  He landed in the snow and let out a groan, the cloth falling limp at his side—its countless eyes closing as if falling asleep.

  "Why'd you react like that?" Aizawa held the cloth, asking it a question.

  "Are you alright?" Catherine quickly made her way over, reaching out a hand and helping him to his feet.

  Just then, she glanced at the cloth in his arms. "What is this?"

  Aizawa's cheeks flushed a small amount as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Last night I had an encounter with my own spirit body. Before our operation, it bestowed me with this new binding cloth, saying it's my Spirit Creature."

  "Spirit Creature?" Upon hearing this, Catherine's brows furrowed slightly.

  She looked back to Carter, scoffing. "Did you give him the extra potion?"

  The freckled man shook his head immediately, raising his hands. "I'd never."

  "Then why do you have a Spirit Creature if you hadn't ingested a potion?"

  "I-I had a dream last night," Aizawa recalled.

  He fell silent for a moment, the edges of his eyes glistening slightly. "It must have been some kind of warning, because I saw Shinso, Ayumi, and Isaac... were all dead."

  "A warning..." Catherine's voice softened as she rubbed her chin. Just then, her eyes widened slightly.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "I was once told as a child that dreams are warnings of things to come, and often the representation of our biggest fears."

  Hearing this, Aizawa was suddenly puzzled. "Then why did I access supernatural powers only accessible to Seekers?"

  "I don't know exactly... but a running theory is proximity. You've talked with those children more times than I've counted. You came here with them, you've protected them... it may not be logical, but perhaps it's the cosmos way of saying 'thank you.'

  "But... Why would they thank me all of the sudden? I have no idea where the hell Isaac is; he could be dead!"

  Catherine put a hand on Aizawa's shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze. "I hope he's not dead. But all I know is that heroes, those who have power, know how to use it. Sometimes the effort, the strain and the pain is more than succeeding."

  "You called him a hero... even after seeing all that carnage in the room. Why?"

  Catherine looked out at the lake, her expression turning solemn. "While whether or not he's actually a murderer is uncertain, we do have something that can prove very useful."

  She looked back to Mr. Ryujin. "I've heard you've been talking with Isaac about his journal?"

  The dragon-like man nodded. "He has brought up some weird stuff. Some entries in his journal are written in a red liquid...and he mentions someone named Silas. Heh, he has the same name as a captain."

  "Silas?" Aizawa muttered the name under his breath. "What do you know about this Silas person?"

  "Well..." Mr. Ryujin looked back at the kingdom, sighing. "He wrote a letter to him the night before he was supposed to do something very... dangerous to his father."

  "Murder him." Aizawa quickly made a logical deduction.

  Mr. Ryujin nodded. "He gave him clear instructions, telling him to hide evidence—something only a meticulous and intricate planner could make."

  "He had a plan to kill his father, but apparently he never went through with it. If he did, he would be arrested," Mr. Ryujin continued.

  "But he was taken to the police station after an incident with a boy at his school. They collapsed, showing immediate signs of decay and withering away—alomost like a corpse that's been left alone for a long, long time." Aizawa recalled the incident from over a month ago.

  "And... this was the day after the murder attempt?"

  Aizawa nodded. "Yes."

  Just then, Aizawa looked back to the lake, a few rogue tears flowing freely down his face. He quickly wiped them away, scoffing. "He has powers, people that care about him... but he's still reckless, curious, and desires to learn anything he can."

  His fists clenched at his sides as he continued, Aizawa's voice gaining a slightly trembling edge. "Even if I told him the new rules, he still disobeyed me. I know him; he most likely didn't mean it. Isaac isn't the type to run away because things are tough... but at the same time... he fled the moment we saw him."

  "I saw his eyes, he was terrified of what he had seen. The boy's always been queasy with blood." Mr. Ryujin stepped forward, making his way next to Aizawa.

  Aizawa suddenly looked up at the crimson moon, wiping away the tears. "I hope he's alright... he's strong, he's brave... he wouldn't fall through the ice that easily."

  Just then, the four of them heard footsteps behind them. Jasmine, clad in winter attire, stood at the top of the hill with a lantern in hand. She gazed at them and announced that help was here.

  ...

  After eating the wolf meat, I still found myself incredibly tired. My eyes constantly drifted open and shut, and the voices around me were blurry. The Umbridge remained still, the enigmatic figure watching my every move with ambiguous eyes. They had shrunk their body to sit in the carriage, the tip of their cloak gracing the roof of this caravan.

  "I apologize if it wasn't cooked to perfection. If you do contract a parasite, you'll either shit it out or it'll succumb to the powers inside you." Kael nonchalantly looked back at me, smiling.

  "You have anything I can vomit in?" I asked, my voice half-mumery as if I were asleep.

  Kael shook his head. "If you open the window, you can always puke outside; the cold air will do you miracles."

  Without thinking, I exerted my body up, wincing as more pain shot through my back. Making my way over to the window, I pushed open the hatch and opened my mouth, unleashing a torrent of chunky, unwanted vomit onto the rocky, snow-covered trail beneath us.

  "Just don't stain the wheels; they're loans worth of money to repair." Kael rolled his eyes.

  Just then, he stopped the caravan, sending me hurling back into the bed. I extended my arms to stop me from hitting the floor, but every action of mine felt hundreds of times harder to do. I landed on the hardwood floor with a clatter, curling up as I groaned.

  "Oh dear, they're gonna love you," Kael said with a smile, standing up and walking over to me.

  He slowly lifted me up, hoisting me over his shoulder. The area where the bullet had impaled my back, still wrapped in bandages, was held most securely. In the distance, I could faintly hear people chattering, sounds of open fires, and dogs barking.

  "What do you ...mean by that?" By the time I asked that question my eyes were half-lidded threatening to close entirely and never open again—that's how tired I felt at this moment.

  "They always want to help, and so do we." Kael went down the small, foldable staircase of the caravan, his boots crunching on the powdery snow as he turned to his right. The evergreen trees had now cleared, and the previously narrow road had expanded. A large field stretched as far as the eye could see, lined with houses and yards with chimneys that spewed out smoke.

  A small group of people were nestled in a crowd near the front of the town, all with worried looks and whispering amongst each other. Kael slowly walked forward, handing me off to a middle-aged woman with straight brown hair.

  "Welcome to Clifton Capital, Isaac."

  Kael looked to the woman who now held me, nodding without saying a word. As if sensing his instructions with a mere glance, she turned around and set off, a portion of the crowd following her.

  "You're back," an old farmer clad in overalls made his way over to Kael, planting his shovel in the ground.

  "Yes, it appears I am," Kael replied with a smile.

  "The agricultural recommendations you've made for us were really helpful. I didn't know planting seeds at an angle would increase growth rates!"

  As Kael was showered with praise, he calmly bowed as a sign of gratitude, before parting the crowd and making his way forward, following the woman who held me as she made her way to a comfortable-looking house.