Tenebres's eyes went wide, and he looked from Allana to the blushing, nervous girl who had brought them out to the shrine. Only… she wasn't blushing anymore, and she didn't look very nervous, either.

"Impressive," Nelly said. Her voice had dropped an octave lower, and her words were smoother now, as she no longer feigned innocence or nerves. "When did you figure it out?"

Allana shrugged casually. "I knew you weren't who you claimed to be from the beginning. At first, I thought you might be the hag, but the rambling about the history of this place gave you away."

"Interesting," the girl murmured.

"Wait, so she's right?" Tenebres asked, baffled. "You're really the Mendicant?"

"I am," the girl confirmed, turning her gaze towards Tenebres. He couldn't help a shiver at the feeling of those gray, almost colorless eyes settling on him. Allana was right–there was no way this girl could be anyone but the sage they were looking for.

"Why all this run around, then?" Tenebres asked. "Why not just tell us who you are?"

"Because," Cadence answered for them, "knowledge freely given is knowledge with no value, right?"

The Mendicant turned that empty look on Cadence, and Tenebres felt his spine relax minutely, as if a weight had been lifted from him. "Quite right. I expect you've learned that lesson before."

"Storyteller wasn't always great at following through on it, though," Cadence admitted.

"I suspect you'll find me a fair bit different," the Mendicant observed.

Tenebres looked between the two, getting increasingly frustrated with the opaque conversation. "Fantastic, so we guessed your identity. Does that mean you'll answer our questions now?"

The Mendicant shook their head. "Some, perhaps, but not all. You've not earned the truly valuable answers quite yet. I already have some idea of what you seek–but I cannot just hand out the truth of mythic gifts, not even to two candidates."

"Why not?" Tenebres asked, exasperation creeping into his voice. It sometimes felt like the entire Realm was conspiring to keep him from learning about his gift!

The Mendicant began to respond, then paused. Instead, they pointed a slender finger at Allana. "I suspect your friend here already knows that answer."

Allana rolled her eyes. "Because we didn't actually come here for that answer, Seo. We came here to help with the plague–the chance to get information is incidental."

The Mendicant nodded, the solemn gesture odd from the seemingly youthful girl. "It is not fitting for an adventurer to be more concerned with their own quest for answers than for helping those around them."

Tenebres felt heat rise in his face, and he bit his lower lip. They were right, of course–he was so desperate for answers that he had, briefly, forgotten anything else.

"You'll help us with that, then?" Cadence asked.

"Of course. Why else would I be here?"

"The other healers seemed convinced otherwise."

A brief flicker of a smile passed over the Mendicant's face, like a breath of fresh air. "The Apothic Order's healers have many strengths, but just as many limitations–foremost among them being the rigid social hierarchy of Arsilet, which has been drilled into their souls. The idea of a Master healer helping some low level travelers is all but inconceivable to them. But enough of them." The Mendicant flicked a hand, and their pink shawl darkened to a brilliant crimson–one that matches the mantles of the Apothic mages. "Tell me why a cadre of adventurers felt the need to come to Valley Hearth."

"In short," Tenebres explained, "we have reason to believe that this disease is the working of a major coven, a group of seven hags that have unknown designs on the heartlands."

The Mendicant frowned, the most reaction the group had seen from the sage since they dropped their act. "I suspected that the plague had magical origins, but to be a hag working… I suppose that makes a certain sense, unfortunately."

"How so?" Tenebres asked, unable to help himself. "I have only a passing knowledge of animism, but I would've thought that a Master level healer would have no problem handling such an illness, hags or no hags."

"Perhaps," the Mendicant admitted. "The disease is potent and deadly, but I have no doubt that, given enough time and energy, I could cure the worst of the affliction. Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple–were I to bend my workings entirely to curing the disease, those relying on my efforts to stave off the worst of its symptoms would likely die. I suspect I could cure, perhaps, one in four of those afflicted, but only at the cost of the other three-quarters of the infected population."

"Too many," Allana muttered, her face dark with worry.

Even Cadence looked troubled by the thought, her normally irrepressible energy absent. "What about the other healers?" she asked. "Couldn't they help?"

"They already are," the Mendicant said simply. "But not enough."

"How can that be?" Tenebres asked. "The Apothic Order are supposed to be the most skilled and well-trained mages in the Realm!"

"The Order does, indeed, have no small number of skilled healers," the Mendicant acknowledged, "but none of them are here. What few Master and Expert healers the Order counts amongst its numbers are occupied by the Wastes, keeping the sentinels in fighting shape. The same is true for even the most promising Adepts–I have only a pair of Adept animists on hand, both matured and skilled but limited in their own ways. The rest of the healers working with me are merely Initiate level. Given that paucity, I have my hands full every day merely suppressing the worst symptoms of the afflicted, that the others might have a fighting chance of helping some few patients. If not for my presence, the Valley likely would've been lost months ago."

"Wait," Allana interrupted them, "there has to be a thousand patients in that hospital. Are you telling me you're taking care of them all, at the same time?"

"Nine-hundred and eighty-seven, to be exact," the Mendicant confirmed.

Tenebres's eyes went wide as he tried to even comprehend that claim. Allana and Cadence had only a fleeting knowledge of the workings of magic, but while Tenebres didn't have much direct experience with it, he had studied animism a bit during his time in Correntry. To staunch the afflictions of that many people simultaneously… he didn't even know where to start figuring out how that would work.

"So that's what it means to be Master level," he breathed, mostly to himself

The Mendicant nodded. "There are only two others in the Realm who have reached my level with healing gifts, and none of that have surpassed me." They made the claim not boldly, but as a simple statement of fact.

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"Then… this hag, you must be able too–"

"No," the Mendicant said simply. "I am a healer. Given my power I am, perhaps inevitably, able to defend myself, but little more than that. Certainly, it's not within my limits to try to take on an outsider by myself, even if I could find it–and with the time it took me to do either of those things, more people would die."

"You've been waiting for us, haven't you?" Cadence accused. "Someone to help you deal with all of this."

The Mendicant shrugged, unconcerned. "I had my suspicions–and I knew, if they proved correct, help would arrive. Storyteller would see to that."

Cadence froze, the mention of her mentor once more taking the wind from her sails. "So you do know him…"

"Of course I do."

Allana held up a hand before Cadence could steer them any farther away from the topic at hand, and though Tenebres could see the conflict on the celestial's face, she subsided. "So any suggestions on what we can do from here, then?"

The Mendicant studied them thoughtfully for a moment before they nodded. "There's a village called Cobblestone, a day or so north from here. It is there that the first cases of this illness were reported, weeks before even I arrived, much less the rest of the healers. If, as you suspect, this plague is the work of a coven, you may be able to find evidence there."

"Weeks old evidence," Allana muttered.

"It's better than nothing," Tenebres said. "We've done this sort of search before, at least." He didn't add that then, they had Geoffrey and his gifts aiding their investigation, but he didn't need to. He saw the same worry reflected on Allana's face.

"What about the plague, though?" Tenebres asked. "We won't do much good if we get infected."

The Mendicant nodded. "That, at least, I can help with. Give me a day to speak to the healers–we've already made a few items capable of slowing the disease's spread. Now that I know its origin, I should be able to properly attune them to combat the magic of the Chained World specifically."

"Okay, "Tenebres said with a nod. "We're staying at the Silver Grain. I expect our friends will want to meet you soon, too."

"Yes, your knights, correct? That can be arranged." Thoughtfully, the Mendicant turned back to the shrine, studying the overgrown wooden structure. "Although… if we're dealing with a hag, you must know it will not be safe to discuss this within Keystone's bounds."

Tednebres gritted his teeth. "I had considered it, but I didn't think it likely the hag would have a proxy within Keystone itself."

"There's little way to know," the Mendicant acknowledged, "but we must err on the side of caution."

"Agreed," Allana said immediately. "I already thought those hunters seemed a little shifty–better we play it safe than have someone working with the hag get our plans back to her."

"This place should be safe," the Mendicant claimed, gesturing around the glade. "Few come here, and I suspect the Lifetree's magic would prove uncomfortable to any outsiders. Meet me here with your friends, tomorrow at sunset."

"One more thing," Cadence interjected. Tenebres arched an eyebrow at her, before figuring out what she meant to bring up. "One of our friends, Oli. Olivia. She came in the hopes of asking for your aid with her transition."

The ancient healer's youthful face turned toward Cadence, their expression opaque. "She's eclipsed, I assume?"

Cadence nodded, her face set. "She is. And you're her best chance at getting the body she needs."

The Mendicant slowly nodded, the gesture carefully considered. "Intriguing… I would, normally, be more than happy to facilitate such a transition."

"Normally?" Allana asked, her own tone growing a shade belligerent.

"Indeed. As I've already explained, however, I have little time nor energy to spare at present. A physical transition is a ritual that takes no small amount of time and dedication–time that would cost my patients their lives. So long as the plague continues, I cannot help her."

Allana's face began to heat up, but Cadence nodded, however reluctantly. "Fine. We'll take care of the hag and break the worst of the plague–but then you help our friend and answer our questions."

"A fair plan," the Mendicant agreed, "and one much more fitting of a cadre of young adventurers. So be it."

#

"You already met the Mendicant!?" Oli said, half rising from her chair.

Adeline promptly reached out and slapped the eclipsed girl on the back of her head. The squire flinched and plopped back in her seat, rubbing the back of her head.

Allana threw back her head in a loud laugh that only those closest to her would've recognized as (mostly) fake, trying to pass the whole exchange off as a joke.

"Subtle," Tenebres muttered.

Under the cover of Allana's distraction, Adeline whispered, "We know you're excited, Oli, but did you miss the part about needing to keep this all quiet?"

The girl, still rubbing her head, nodded. "Sorry. I just…"

"We know," Cadence said, reaching a hand out to reassure the eclipsed girl. Next to her, Adeline's face softened, and she put a gentle hand on Oli's shoulder.

"I don't blame you," Adeline reassured her, "but we can't get too excited and risk catching more attention that we already have."

"That ship may have sailed," Tenebres pointed out.

"Perhaps," Adeline replied with a shrug. "But that's no reason to get sloppy."

Before they could get any further, one of the inn's few serving women came by, a middle-aged woman with tired eyes who Tenebres took to the innkeep's wife. "What can I get you?" she asked, her voice toneless from exhaustion. That was odd, considering how quiet the inn was. There didn't seem to be anyone staying there besides the adventurers.

"Do you have any cider?" Cadence asked eagerly.

"No," the woman replied, "and we're low on beer as well. It'll be five rings a mug."

"What about wine?' Oli asked.

"That we've got more of. Keeps well," the woman said, as if that was all the explanation that was needed. "Light or dark?"

"Light, please," Tenebres suggested. Oli and Cadence nodded, but Allana pulled a face.

"Do you have anything stronger?' the rogue asked.

"A few jars of grain liquor," the woman replied, her tone verging on bored now. "Three rings a pour."

Allana looked to Adeline, clearly unfamiliar with the drink, and the silver knight shook her head sharply. "Maybe a brandy? With some potency?" she suggested.

"A scepter a glass."

"Fine," Adeline said, sliding the woman five silver coins. "And a bowl of whatever's in the pot for each of us."

Tenebres watched the woman go, moving with that same listless despondence.

"Grief, maybe?" Cadence suggested, noting her behavior as well.

"Maybe," Tenebres mused aloud.

"So what did you get from Garol?" Allana asked.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Besides that he doesn't want us here?"

"He did seem a bit territorial," Adeline agreed. "But he admitted there were some attacks at a village a day or so to the southwest, Millstone. His hunters hadn't been able to find any source and wrote them off as frost monsters. I figured we'd go check them out, see what we can turn up."

"We got a lead of our own," Tenebres volunteered. "Cobblestone–the village where the first infected were reported."

Adeline bobbed her eyebrows with obvious interest. "Very good… then perhaps it's best we continue separately from here."

"Really?" Cadence asked.

"As our friends back in Correntry pointed out, there are some places a few travelers can go that two knights cannot. So Oli and I will travel to Millstone to investigate these attacks, you three go to Cobble and see if you can't turn up any leads there. Figuring a day's travel time each way, two days stopover…"

"And a day of rest tomorrow," Tenebres insisted. The boy had hardened up since he had left Emeston months before, but that didn't make rest any less alluring after two weeks on the road.

"We have a meeting tomorrow evening," Cadence agreed.

Adeline nodded. "Alright, then five days hence, we'll meet back here."

"Fine," Allana said. "Plans made–now where's that server? Sounds like this is my last chance to get drunk for a while."

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