Starry Resonance

"As you suspected, no guilds seem to have passed through this part of the wall in a long time," Yvain began giving his report. "Not only that but the stairs had been destroyed by brute force. I had to climb all the way up with Selt on my back."

Nelimir looked to Freya but she shook her head. "The time I spent in my past guild was short, and we never tried to venture out of Empryon," she said.

"There has to be a reason for guild management to abandon this section," Nelimir said.

"It might have to do with what we found inside the dungeon Selt and I discovered," Yvain said. Nelimir nodded and motioned for him to continue his report.

"When we arrived at the top of Great Divider a castle that was already in a state of decay was there to greet us. We didn't know it was a dungeon of course, and made the mistake of going in before investigating further, immediately getting stuck inside."

"There was so much gold!" Selt opened his arms wide and said. "We could have done anything we wanted if we had only taken it all out."

"We got stuck inside exactly because you grabbed said gold," Yvain said with exasperation.

"Sorry," Selt said with a sheepish grin.

"How about you try some self-control for once and that way you won't have to apologize anymore?" Freya said in a cold tone. Selt stuck his tongue out before looking away to play with the leftovers on his plate. Nelimir was quietly waiting for the rest of the story while Roesia was playing with strands of her hair lazily.

"Well, to be honest, we only managed to go inside the castle because of me. At first, the doors to it were locked, but something I can only describe as a spell activated by itself and attacked my mind. When I managed to endure the magical onslaught, whatever was holding them in place disappeared." At the mention of a spell Roesia finally seemed to perk up.

Yvain did as told and explained everything he could remember, even how he felt during the mental battle. Selt apologized when Yvain reached the part where he puked but he just waved the kid off.

"Were there any symbols etched on the doors?" she asked.

"No, just the eyes and flames that were engraved on them."

Roesia went deep in thought and everyone went silent, waiting for her to share her idea.

"If what you confronted was a dungeon, and the doors were sealed from the start, you may have already met the requirements to go in as soon as you defeated those eyes," Roesia said.

"Then what about the doors closing after Selt grabbed the gold?" Nelimir asked.

With a shrug, Roesia replied indifferently, "I don't know. Maybe since Yvain was the one to suffer and endure the magical attack he was the only one allowed to enter. Selt going in and wreaking havoc could have activated a defense mechanism."

Yvain looked at Nora. She might know more about what was going on in the dungeon considering it was where she fought her husband. Now that he thought about it, Yvain didn't know why the two of them were inside that dungeon in the first place. He wanted to ask her but he had to finish his report first.

"Regardless, since we were stuck we had no choice but to try and do the trial. Selt stayed behind in case the door opened up again or you guys arrived, and I went deeper inside." Yvain went quiet for a moment, trying to find the best way to explain what he went through without sounding insane.

"Killing you?" Freya asked in confusion.

Yvain shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "It was too powerful. I felt like an ant going up against a mountain. It ended up completely melting me down with its fire before I awoke in another room, alive." Looking at Freya he continued, "I lost the sword you gave me during that fight."

Freya gave the slightest nod when she heard that he had lost her sword, showing none of the anger from the day before. "Do you think I could survive the fight?" she asked. Yvain shook his head. "None of us could have put a scratch on it, not even if we worked together. Which brings me to the most important point in this report." Yvain looked at Nelimir with a somber expression.

"We can't venture out of Empryon yet, we are much too weak to survive."

Nelimir tapped his fingers on the table. "You know we can't keep running around in Empryon forever. And we've all reached a bottleneck in our training. I was planning on using our journey outside as a way to temper ourselves and hopefully become stronger."

"I might have a way for us to resolve that issue," Yvain said.

"But there's still more to report?" Nelimir asked.

Yvain nodded. "After the fight, I managed to arrive at another set of doors which gave way into a forest."

"Don't skip!" Selt suddenly yelled. As if he had been waiting for that moment all along he stood up full of spirit. "What he failed to mention is that before he went deeper into the dungeon there were two doors to choose from. He asked me which way to go, but in an act of gross disrespect went the opposite way from my choice."

Selt completely ignored him and continued his tale with a bit more flourish, "Little did the muscle brained fool know, the advice offered to him by his faithful companion was the correct choice all along. And when he finally finished his impossible journey, he realized that betrayal never goes unpunished." He started to stab the air with his fork in hand. "That same companion he mocked was already at the doors to the ravaged forest, waiting to pass judgment on-" A stream of water suddenly splashed Selt's face. With some of it going into his mouth, the kid started spluttering.

"You really love to waste our time don't you?" Roesia's fingers were covered in a soft blue light that was already beginning to vanish.

"Behave," Nelimir said. Selt, who was about to throw his fork at the girl, stopped his arm mid-swing.

"Sorry," Roesia said with no weight behind the word.

The boy sat down once more with a grumble but didn't continue his story.

"What did he mean by ravaged forest?" Nelimir looked at Yvain and asked.

"Behind the new doors was a forest that was almost destroyed. It held the signs of battle, but on a scale I have never seen before."

"Was it an illusion or an artificially created space?" Roesia asked. Yvain didn't know the answer to that and was about to say as much when Nora joined the conversation for the first time since they began. "It was an artificially created space, but what Yvain faced in his trial was an illusion," she said. The sudden revelation came as a shock and relief to Yvain. He had his suspicions but knowing none of what he experienced was real was somewhat comforting.

Roesia looked at Nora as if she hadn't known she was there this whole time. She quickly regained her composure though and asked another question, "Was the illusion inside an artificially created space?"

Roesia's eyes were starting to change. The light she usually got when theories and magic were involved was starting to shine out. "Yvain, explain to me what happened in that battle of yours against the dragon."

Curious as to what the witch would come up with Yvain did as told, yet in his attempt to explain the fight without mention of the baby he made a fatal mistake.

"What are you hiding from us." Freya was the first to catch on.

"What do you mean?" Yvain asked, trying to keep his expression neutral.

"The way you fought that beast makes no sense unless you were trying to protect something," she said, her eyes telling him that he wouldn't fool her.

Yvain looked at Nelimir but his friend was curious about the answer too. Next to him, Nora had the same expression. It wasn't something he felt he had to hide now that he knew it was an illusion, but the idea of letting them know still didn't feel good.

"At the start of the trial, I found a child that was about to be killed by some skeletons so I saved it. Then I had to face the dragon while shielding it with my body." Focusing his gaze on his plate he continued, "In the end, I couldn't protect it at all and we both perished together." Yvain closed his fist in anger as he remembered the defenseless baby that had depended on him for protection. He realized that even knowing it was all fake didn't save him from what his mind experienced and felt.

Before he went too deep into his self-blame Nora's hand enclosed his own. She slowly pushed his hand open until they were both intertwined, her warmth quickly lifting his somber mood.

"It's not your fault you failed," Freya said with sympathy.

Roesia, oblivious to the mood in her current state, spoke with excitement, "If what you just told me is true, then this is something way beyond the scope of what we know about illusions. To create a spell that can best you so easily, create such destruction, and at the same time leave you mentally unscathed? I can only think of an existence akin to a god being able to create it. It's not just imprinting an image into the mind, but the heat, the smell, the sounds, the way it affected every small part of your body. It was enough to even affect reality." The girl was completely lost in her own world now.

"I'd like to be excused," she said, already standing up to go to her room.

"I guess we don't have a choice at this point," Nelimir said with some amus.e.m.e.nt.

Before Roesia went into her room she turned around and looked at Nora, "Whenever you're free, I'd like for us to talk more in-depth." The witch gave a rare smile and left.

"I guess your wish is coming true after all," Yvain said.

"She's a lovely girl, and her greed for knowledge rivals that of a dragon." Nora seemed genuinely happy to have the opportunity to be able to talk to Roesia. It made Yvain wonder if she had any friends back home.

"Miss Nora-"

"Please, Nora will suffice," Nora said in a light tone. Nelimir nodded. "Then, Nora, I have a few questions of my own. The first one being what your role in all of this is." Nora was about to answer but Yvain beat her to it.

"That goes hand in hand with what Selt and I found inside the forest," he said.

"It is. After investigating the forest for more than half an hour we found a dazed Nora wounded and walking toward us."

"We shouldn't have helped her," Selt said with some hostility.

Yvain was about to reprimand him but Nora stopped him with a look. Nelimir didn't miss this of course. "Did something happen?" Nelimir asked Nora.

Nora smiled apologetically, "As I'm sure you've deduced by now, I was in the middle of a battle when these two gentlemen found me. Unfortunately, the first one that met me while conscious was Yvain, while Selt met with my opponent."

"He was going to kill her, so I chose to kill him instead," Yvain continued the story in Nora's place.

"Do you even know who you killed!" Selt slammed the table and glared at Yvain.

"I'm getting tired of your tantrums." In a combination of his knowledge of Selt's luck and his protectiveness over Nora, Yvain released killing intent for the first time against one of his companions.

"Yvain!" Freya shouted in a controlled voice that snapped him out of his current state. He immediately realized his mistake, but it was too late. The kid was glaring back at him the same as before, but Yvain could now see the hurt he was trying to hide.

"Fine," Selt said and headed for the exit. No one said anything as the kid stomped up the stairs and slammed the door that led to the carriage.

Nora didn't say anything and just did her best to comfort Yvain. Freya looked like she wanted to ask him something but couldn't quite put it to words. It was Nelimir who broke the silence.

"So who did you kill?" he asked Yvain.