It took us two days to reach the border town. Flynn insisted we travel together despite my best efforts to go ahead and seemed to relish the chance to...well, he called it 'getting to know one another,' but it felt more like prying.

The damned noble would walk beside me, asking all manner of questions. These ranged from what type of magic I had studied since we last met to where I had gone, what place was my favorite, and why I enjoyed particular destinations. He seemed to revel in the conversation, prying for details I had not bothered noticing in the first place.

I tried several times to steer the conversation back to more interesting topics, but Flynn had a particular talent for guiding us back. After the fourth or fifth failure, I resigned myself to humoring the man.

It was almost enjoyable, strangely enough. I had grown cordial with Wallace during our last few months, but we had never become friendly. It had taken us too long to get past certain tensions, which permeated our interactions even to the end.

Flynn, by contrast, seemed to hold no such grudges. He laughed, smiled, and spoke with me like an old friend, moving with the carefree charisma I had envied in Leon. I might have even believed the performance had I not seen the real man behind the mask. Still, it helped pass the time, and I took comfort in knowing assassins would be less inclined to strike with a Duke's son fifteen feet from their target.

We reached the town's outskirts on the third day, several hours after sunrise. Small farms clustered the fields, separated only by short wooden fences and stone walls weathered by wind, rain, and the march of time. Our group walked past these places, and I glanced over the farmlands. Strange. They appeared almost overgrown, as if they had gone months without proper care.

I pushed down the first whispers in the back of my head, shoving my uneasiness aside as we carried on towards the town proper. However, that tension only grew as we drew closer and closer. Not only were the farms overgrown, but the small homes we passed seemed quiet.

No, not quiet. Silent as tombs.

The whispers in my mind grew louder, and with those came a knot in my stomach, twisting and painful. I drew on my Aether, shaping it into a spell with barely a thought.

"I need to check something," I said before pushing off the dirt road.

My Arcane Body spell had grown strong enough to make me very fast for a human. I suspected I could outrun a horse if I put my mind to it, but that felt utterly glacial at the moment. A handful of Flicker Steps cast in quick succession more than doubled that speed, and I soon left the rest of my traveling companions behind.

I followed the road up and around an incline, sliding to a stop at the top of a hill. In my memories, this would leave me overlooking a small town of stone and wood with several hundred people. And as I looked upon what lay there now, I felt my heart clench.

The town was in ruins, as if some great storm had torn it to pieces. Some buildings had been broken apart, others seemingly crushed, and others still had deep gouges taken out of their facades. Grooves marred the stone and dirt roads, and something had ripped trees straight from the ground, leaving them lying across the streets or atop destroyed homes.

I made my way down the hill in a daze, having lost control over the spell at some point. My stomach clenched painfully, and I wanted to wait for Flynn, but I pushed those selfish, cowardly emotions aside. I needed to see this.

Nature had reclaimed the town. Grass grew through the cracks in the road, vines crept and clung to the sparse walls still standing, and I spotted a rabbit hopping through what was left of someone's home.

My feet carried me through the town, seemingly without direction. I walked past houses, picking my way through what was left of countless lives. Bits of clothing, furniture, and family keepsakes lay scattered about, most already worn by exposure to the elements.

I stopped, kneeling by the road, and pulled away bits of clinging roots to find a child's doll. It was made of wood and cloth, with a slanted, painted face clearly drawn by a loving parent rather than a skilled artisan. The knot in my stomach grew tighter, and I dropped the toy to the ground before standing.

My wanderings finally brought me before the inn where we had stayed all those months ago. Memories of people eating, drinking, and laughing with one another rose in my mind. They had been uncomfortable, even fearful of us, but they had warmed up in time.

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I knew the drake had survived our battle despite our best efforts. I had suspected it lived even now, as the past year had proven just how little mages cared about those 'below' them. But this? This wasn't selfishness or carelessness. It was...

Apathy. Complete and total.

Any trained mage in the upper gaseous stages could have killed the drake, but none cared enough to bother. But it was worse than that. I hadn't cared either. It had always felt like someone else's problem. It had always seemed like a waste of my time.

I could not say how long I stood there, only that some time passed as I waited in the ruins of a hundred innocent lives. Footsteps came up short behind me, and I felt mana burning against my mind's eye like a setting sun.

"The last time we visited, there was a girl about our age," I said without turning around, "Warm. Friendly. She had a crush on Leon, I think, but she was kind to all of us. I spoke with her a few times. She...she brought me food once or twice."

I turned to Flynn. "She's probably dead now. Dead because I could not be troubled. But do you know the worst part?"

Flynn's face was reserved. He met my eyes, hesitating momentarily before shaking his head.

"I have no idea what her name was," I said, my voice catching, "I never bothered remembering it. It never struck me as important enough. She never struck me as important enough. What does that say about me?"

Flynn cleared his throat. "I suppose it says—"

"Watch Fortunatus for me," I said, shrugging off my backpack and pulling out the pieces of my spear.

Flynn's eyes widened, and he moved to step in front of me. I could sense his mana rise, not in an attack but clearly marshaling into a spell of some manner.

"Far be it from me to recommend caution, but are you sure that—"

I pulled on my Aether and Stepped away, putting extra force into the magic to get as much range as possible. My feet had barely touched the ground before I launched off again, pulling my Arcane Body spell into place as I moved.

The drake's trail was not hard to follow. If anything, it seemed to leave as obvious a path as possible.

I followed the torn-up dirt and stone, passed destroyed buildings and sun-bleached bones of humans and animals alike, heading north out of the town and into the wilds. It took me over an hour to follow that trail to its end. There, I found my quarry.

The drake lay within a wide hollow dug into the dirt and grass, lounging in the sun without a care in the world. If I hadn't followed its path back from the town, I might not have realized it was the same beast I had fought a year prior.

It had grown at least half again as large and was now a towering brute of muscle and bone. Its scales had deepened, turning the same shade as leaves at midnight, and a row of off-white spines ran down its back. A massive tail shifted lazily in its sleep, scoring the ground as it moved, and the teeth jutting out from its lips looked as long as my daggers and just as sharp. Even its wood mana aura had deepened, acquiring a strange sense of intent that reminded me...not healing, but restoration maybe.

I examined it for a moment, committing that observation to memory. Though I wanted to gut the beast, I couldn't afford to let possible inspirations pass. Then, I gathered my Aether, pulled it into my Traveler's Armor, reached into the daggers on my hip, and struck.

Three blades of solidified mana flew from my belt, drawn by the power of my will. The first hit the left side of the drake's neck. The second struck the right. The third, glowing faintly green with the strength of my Aether, slammed into the center of the beast's skull.

My plan was simple. I would carve open the drake's neck and pierce its brain. With some luck, it would die instantly. If not, at least I could inflict a nasty wound that would slow it down and leave it open to follow-up attacks.

The first two daggers struck true, sinking halfway to their hilts before coming to a stop. The third hit the beast's skull and deflected off at an angle with a wet thud. I felt the Aether within it quake, the impact causing the construct's stability to falter for an instant.

The drake woke with a roar, throwing away dirt and debris as it stood in a rush. Droplets of blood sprayed across the ground as it whirled, seeking out whatever had hurt it. Its massive head turned from side to side, and I could not just see but sense when it noticed me, like a shadow falling over my form.

There was no hesitation or consideration, no logical thought or long pause. The drake simply moved, pushing off with a roar as it charged. I was already in motion, drawing deep on my Aether and pulling it into place. Twin streams flowed through my body, one empowering my flesh and the other running through my legs. I was a blur, a Flicker Step launching me to the side just in time.

The drake's charge missed me by less than a foot, a mass of green scales and wood mana tearing past in a blur. I slid along the dirt in a low crouch, staying on my feet through one part magical enhancement and one part months of training.

I watched as the drake slammed into and through a tree. Pieces of bark and wood sprayed out in all directions, and it seemed to barely notice as it carried on a few steps before turning back towards me. My heart quickened, and I felt sweat bead on my forehead, even as I adjusted the spear in my left hand. It was already insufficient to stop such a foe, but now it felt laughably so.

The smart move would be to turn and flee, but that was also the cowardly choice. I had made a wager I intended to win. Besides, this monster was my responsibility.

I struck with the daggers again, drawing the three together into a group before hurling them at the drake's head. All three failed to hit anything vital, leaving only shallow furrows in its scales. Crimson trickled out from the wounds, flowing down its neck in thin rivulets, and I could sense the mana within that blood.

It roared a second time, and I felt its mana signature twist. The shallow wounds on its neck sealed shut, leaving behind thin scars that began to fade before my eyes. I swore, then Stepped to the side as the drake charged again. It missed me, but narrowly as it lashed out with its tail, coming within a few feet of striking me down.

I turned, watching as it crashed into a copse of trees, and as I did so, I made a decision. Although it rankled me, I had no real way of killing the damn thing. Not yet, at least.

The drake was bigger, stronger, faster, and tougher than the last time we fought. I would struggle to hurt it, and any wounds I did inflict would heal in seconds. Sure, regeneration should drain both its physical stamina and its mana, but was that enough? Could I win a battle of attrition?

I weighed the beast's mana signature against my own, considering the bulk of its flesh and the energy stored within the fat and muscle. I compared its strength and durability against mine and came to the unpleasant conclusion.

While I couldn't land a telling blow on the drake, it was under no such restrictions. My armor could withstand a glancing blow or two, but I couldn't guarantee it would weather anything more. This wasn't just a question of stamina, and I wasn't confident I could win.

The drake still hadn't charged me again. It was still tearing its way free of the trees and underbrush it had knocked over in its wild rush. I knew it was only a matter of time until it escaped, and I made my decision then.

I would kill it. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but someday and someday soon. No matter what it took, the drake would die by my spear or by my hand.

With that silent promise made, I turned and fled.

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