Gavric tried to focus on the demonstration, but his mind was elsewhere. The shock of the last few days made it difficult to keep up appearances, but he didn't want news spreading until he had a chance to contain any rumors that might spread with it.

"What do you think?" Chesha asked, his face hopeful.

Gavric blinked. "I'm sorry, I was momentarily distracted. Could you please repeat the demonstration?"

Chesha's lips formed a thin line, but he didn't argue. He grabbed another piece of paper and started scribbling the runes he was supposed to be demonstrating.

The man had changed over the last few months. Gavric wasn't sure if he had finally figured out how to interact with people, or if his preoccupation with his current task led him to forget that he had a sour disposition. Either way, there had been far fewer complaints to deal with since Gavric gave him permission to pursue this line of study.

It had yielded significant results in terms of magical advancement. Runic researchers from both worlds were going to pore over these findings for decades, if not centuries, but the situation had changed, and Gavric wasn't sure they had time for this anymore.

"I'm prepared to repeat the demonstration," Chesha said, patiently waiting for Gavric to give him the signal to continue.

Gavric dragged his mind back to the task, not wanting to force the poor man to repeat the demonstration a third time. "Go ahead."

Chesha held the runes over a bucket and whispered the activation word. Water erupted from the paper, filling the bucket until it was three quarters full, then the flow cut off and the paper disintegrated.

Gavric frowned in confusion. "Were you not working on the entrapment spells?"

"I am," Chesha said, wiping his hands on a towel. "The runes have been overheating due to the level of energy we need them to hold. We're working on a cooling system that can output a precise amount of water to diminish the risk of explosion. We experimented with ice and cold runes as well, but the water seems to be the most effective, as it will turn to steam, which we can collect to recycle back into the system."

Gavric nodded. "I see. And how close are you to a formal test?"

The employer was getting antsy, though he didn't say as much out loud. He asked for more updates, was shorter in his communication and at the last meeting, he had let something slip that Gavric was fairly sure he meant to keep to himself.

He had no right to do so. No one in the facility had seen Ashen in months. They had assumed that no news was good news, but that had been a lie.

"I can be ready by next week," Chesha said proudly. "There are a few more safety tests I would like to run. We're working with a crystal medium that is mostly stable, I just need to be sure—"

"I'd like a demonstration tomorrow," Gavric said, cutting the man off before he devolved into a creative ramble. "Get every runesmith in the facility to help you if you need it, just get me results as fast as you can."

Chesha grew concerned. "Aren't we doing this the safe way? I can't do my tests by tomorrow. If something goes wrong, I don't know if I can keep it from melting down."

"It doesn't have to be a large test," Gavric said. "Just something I can show our employer. Some sign that the final results will be following soon."

Chesha's frown deepened. "Why the rush?"

From the man's tone, Gavric was sure that he had already guessed at least some part of the terrible news.

Gavric shook his head. "I'll explain everything at tonight's meeting. Our timeline is going to be considerably tighter than we first envisioned."

Gavric left without explaining more. He needed some time to think over what he would say. So many thoughts were running through his head, he didn't know if he could organize them all by that evening.

He spent most of the day holed up in his room, scribbling notes in his journal. Gavric wasn't one to rehearse speeches before he gave them—he felt that it diluted the sincerity of the words and cheapened the message—but he didn't think he could improvise this one. There were too many emotions involved; too much loss.

At dinner, an air of tension hung over the room. Every person in the dining hall was at least partially aware of Gavric's mood and it didn't help to stop any rumors from spreading, which was exactly what Gavric had been trying to avoid.

He caught snippets of some of the rumors as he stoically ate his meal. Some thought that war had broken out. Some suspected that the alliance with Ellis had fallen through. Still others were convinced that a dungeon had collapsed, releasing a horde of monsters on a nearby city.

If only the news was so light.

Gavric tried to find anything positive to keep his mind from falling to despair. He wasn't sure where their employer had found so many Lerians who would be willing to join the project, but the room was practically bursting at the seams. Despite gaining new members every few weeks, their group had become a cohesive unit. Lerians and Corvi sat together, so intermixed that Gavric could hardly tell which was which.

Even with the nervous whispers, there was hope on their faces that Gavric hadn't seen of late. They knew that Chesha was close to a breakthrough. The more optimistic of researchers thought that the coming announcement would be about that, telling their companions that they worried too much.

As the chatter died down, Gavric moved to stand before the crowd, his face grim. His news wouldn't be easy to hear, but they needed to know. Everyone in the facility needed to understand why they were out of time.

"The kingdom of Lepran has fallen," Gavric said without preamble. "An Essence surge poisoned the water. Many died before it was even discovered, others succumbed to Essence poisoning soon after."

The crowd was utterly silent, too stunned to even react. There were no shouts of surprise, no crying; they just stared at Gavric with distant expressions as they grappled with his news.

In truth, they all knew this was coming from the beginning. This was why they toiled in secret; why they left their families and lives behind. Some had even faked their deaths so their loved ones wouldn't wait for their return. But it was one thing to know how urgent their mission was, it was another entirely to learn that they had failed. They hadn't moved fast enough, and people had died as a result.

"The country of Presh has taken in the survivors," Gavric continued, hoping to bring at least some comfort. "The land that was Lepran has been quarantined until such time as it can be cleansed of the Essence." Gavric scanned the crowd, trying not to linger too long on any of the grief-stricken faces. If he did, he might break down himself and he needed to be strong. He needed to lead them in this time of darkness.

The first wail split the air as a woman in the back of the room fell to her knees. Gavric curled his hands into fists, digging his nails into his palms.

"There will be a memorial held in the lab later this evening, for those who—" The words caught in Gavric's throat. "—who want to say goodbye to their loved ones."

Several in the room broke into sobs, others cried quietly. Lerian researchers tried in vain to comfort their Corvi allies.

"That is all," Gavric said, barely holding himself together enough to walk out of the dining hall.

He retreated to his room, locking the door behind him. The others who shared the room would have to wait, for he refused to cry in front of his researchers.

He collapsed next to his bed, deep sobs wrenching his body. He wasn't going to cry. He had promised himself as much. But there was nothing to do as the sights of his grieving comrades stirred in him emotions he had tried to push down.

Lepran was Gavric's home. He had his mother there; his wife and children. Their employer didn't bring him news of their fate, but he knew what it must have been. His hometown was right next to the Essence surge.

He allowed himself half an hour to grieve before he wiped away his tears. He was responsible for the lives of everyone in this facility. He couldn't allow himself to wallow. He had a job to do.

Gavric would use this tragedy to push himself forward; to fuel his work.

They would stabilize the cracks for both Ember and Ashen's sake, so nothing like this would ever happen again.

* * *

Emma turned the page, frowning at the blank piece of paper. She turned to the next page, but it was blank as well.

That was the final entry.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Emma snapped. "That's how it ends?"

"Abject failure or boring success?" Nathan asked, idly flipping through a journal that he was barely reading.

"Neither," Emma said, slamming the book closed in disgust. "Cliffhanger."

"Mine too," Andrea said. "She just stopped writing with no explanation."

"I got five journals all quitting right before some big announcement from Gavric," Britt said. "Which is odd because these people were very diligent about keeping their journals. Even if it was just a sentence, they took notes every single day."

"Maybe the meeting was to say they were packing up and heading out," Nathan suggested. "It would explain why no one's here."

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"It doesn't say," Britt said. "No one was sure what the announcement was about. Some of them were pessimistic, assuming this was bad news from Ashen, but a few hoped it was a breakthrough from Chesha."

"The pessimistic ones were right," Emma said, passing Britt Gavric's journal. "There was a huge tragedy in Ashen. Maybe they stopped writing because they lost hope."

Britt grabbed the journal and started reading the last few entries.

"That doesn't make sense," Nathan said. "Didn't you say they were making progress? Chesha was ready to prototype."

"Maybe he was wrong," Britt suggested. "This test they were supposed to do the day after the announcement, I haven't seen it mentioned in any of the other journals. I've been reading the last few entries only to speed things up. We have more than a hundred researchers here and not one of them mentions a practical test."

"I don't think the test went well," Andrea said. "Look, all of the journals stop on the same day." She had five journals open in front of her, all flipped to the last page. "The fifth day of the tenth month, in the year twenty-seven-ninety-eight."

"Yeah, we said that already," Nathan said. "That's when the announcement happened."

"And the test happened the next day," Andrea pointed out. "If all of them were in the lab when things went sideways, then it would make sense that no one got out to write another journal entry."

"Hang on," Nathan said, his brows knitting together. "This one's dated the sixth."

He held the book up, pointing to the date.

"What does it say?" Britt leaned across the table to get a better look.

Nathan slid the book over to Emma. "I'm not good at reading aloud."

Britt rolled her eyes as Emma picked up the journal. She didn't mind being the designated reader.

The entry started out almost mundane, but the further she read, the harder it became to read; Not only because the words were smudged and angled oddly, but also because the contents became more disturbing toward the end of the entry. It also seemed that the entry covered several weeks instead of a single day. The author had simply stopped dating her entries after the first one.

Date: 10.6.2798 (Ashen Calendar)

Medris Lanica, Librarian

It's typical of me to get sick on the one day in which something interesting is happening. I tried to convince Gavric to let me join anyway but he insisted that I would compromise the safety of the test. Perhaps he was worried I would sniffle too loudly and distract Chesha from his demonstration.

In truth, I complain only because I wanted to see progress. I wasn't hit as hard as the others. Many of them had family in Lepran. I knew only a few people, and all of them lived at the edges of the kingdom, far from any large sources of Essence. Perhaps they had been affected, but the odds are, they are safely tucked in a new kingdom, living out their fantasies of traveling abroad—if they haven't succumbed to grief and hidden themselves away, that is.

It sounds callous of me, but I find it difficult to understand why this news is so shocking. My family is long dead, and we all knew what we were fighting to stop. This is merely confirmation of something we already knew was coming.

With nothing to do but await the end of the test, I plan to lock myself in the library amidst my beloved books. Perhaps they can bring me comfort or at least, the alleviation of boredom.

They've been in there a long time… When they moved up the test, I expected it to fail more quickly than this. It's been hours since anyone came in or out of the lab. Could it be that the test actually succeeded? Were I not worried about interrupting delicate processes, I would storm in there and demand to know what is taking so long.

Something isn't right… the lab is sealed, but the alarms haven't gone off. I'm starting to get worried. Something has definitely gone wrong. It's been almost ten hours since they went in, and I haven't heard a peep. I continue to await their return surrounded by my books.

It's been two days. I'm trying to wait patiently but every time I pass the door I can't help but wonder if they are all dead in there. I want to see what's inside, but I'm too afraid to override the locks. I'm also not sure if I really want to see what's inside… what do I do?

It's been… a week now? I'm honestly not sure. I've been trying to pass the time with reading, but I find it harder to focus on the words. Has my illness gotten worse? A rash appeared on my arm. It itches terribly but all the skilled healers are inside the lab. I've put some ointment on it for now.

I can't open the door without risking my life, but not knowing what happened is killing me.

The door is still locked. I've enough food to last me a decade in here, but I don't think I could stay sane if I spent that much time alone. My condition is getting worse. My nose bled yesterday for no reason. The rash has spread to my other limbs and my stomach. I can't shift back to my natural form without agony overwhelming me, so I have stayed as a Lerian for now.

They're dead in there. I know it. If both my Lerian and my Corvi form are in pain, it can only mean one thing: there is both Essence and Miasma in abundance here. The wards aren't blocking out the energy so it must be coming from inside the facility and the only source I can imagine is the lab. I am the sole survivor.

I tried to leave the facility. I am writing with my non-dominant hand because my other hand is useless. I have learned a valuable lesson: don't test the air for Miasma using a limb that you need for daily living. I regret ever coming to this project. I expected to die here, but not like this.

The next few entries were barely legible, so Emma skipped until she could read the words again. She assumed that either the woman's hand healed, or she got better at writing with her non-dominant hand.

There's a man at the door demanding entry. What do I do? If he forces his way in he will break the wards and soak the area in Essence. Medris tells me I can't let him in. I'm too weak to defend myself, but Medris doesn't trust anyone; not even herself.

He's still there…waiting… he claims to be the employer but I'm not stupid. It must be some trick to get me to open the door. I won't fall for his lies. Medris agrees with me. We are not stupid.

He claims he's here to help. Medris doesn't believe him, but I'm starting to. It's been over a week, and he just waits outside the door. If he was a bad man, wouldn't he force entry. I just want this rash to go away. Medris would rather die than let someone in the lab without permission. I don't think I will listen to her anymore.

Medris is angry that I let the man in, but he has already helped my rash. He was distraught—or horrified, I can't really tell—at my appearance, which was a bit rude of him, but I suppose it isn't his fault. I look truly awful. My hair has all but fallen out and my teeth are a strange color lately. He demanded to be let into the lab, but I told him it wasn't safe. It was locked for a reason.

The man has a magic cloak. It's magnificent! He put it on me and the itching stopped entirely. Medris hisses when she sees it, but I am pleased to have such a boon. I let the nice man into the lab in exchange for his cloak.

Afterwards he came out looking grim. He told me and Medris to go with him, but I'm not sure I want to go. What if the outside world is worse? What if the rash returns? The man could stand outside, but that doesn't mean I am able to. I don't want to lose my other hand too…

I am leaving. Medris screams in my ear that it isn't safe, but I refuse to listen to her. I would rather die than go back to how I was living before. The pain is too much. I agreed to leave this journal in case others find the facility. The lab has a combination to open. Press the first rune on the floor to reveal the keypad. The code is a string of numbers that I don't remember, but Medris does, and she says she leaves this information as a last stroke of defiance. Four-three-two-seven-nine-eight.

Don't open the door. It's not safe.

The words grew more jagged as if the woman were writing with her fist clenched around the pencil.

They should be laid to rest. Please don't let them rot in there. Don't let it end like this.

The journal ended there, with that last desperate plea. Emma closed the book and set it down on the table, feeling like she might be sick.

"I don't think I want to know what's on the other side of that door," Nathan said, his face pale.

"We can't just leave them in there," Britt said. "And it's not like it would affect us. We're not sensitive to either energy, as far as I can tell."

"That's not really the point," Andrea said. "Who knows what kind of diseases could be locked up in that lab with them. It isn't worth the risk."

Emma stared blankly at the journal. There had been only a single survivor from the experiment—if you could call Medris a survivor. A lone woman driven mad by the solitude or the slow destruction of her flesh. That was hardly surviving.

"If whatever was behind that door is still there, we've already been exposed," Britt said. "Medris wasn't in the lab when the accident happened. She didn't even open the door until that man convinced her to do so several weeks—maybe even months—later. Everything that could harm us is already airborne."

"It's too much of a risk," Emma said, returning the book to her Inventory. "Collect everything you can put in your Inventory. We're leaving as soon as we find a way out of this hole. Britt, you think you can figure out the runes to fly upwards on that broom of yours?"

Britt tapped her fingers on the table, looking troubled. "I think I can," she said slowly. "But it might take me a few days."

"Good," Emma said, stowing the rest of the journals. "We'll sleep in the cave until then. The sooner we get out of here, the better."

* * *

Britt waited until the others were asleep to go back inside. She stared at the door, her hand itching to open it. She hadn't meant to do this at first, but she couldn't get the thought out of her head.

Mixed runes weren't just unheard of, they were impossible. Runes were designed specifically to handle one type of energy.

But if they were designed in the first place, couldn't someone design a new set, as Chesha had done? What possibilities lay beyond the door?

Britt set her hand on the doorknob.

"What do you think you're doing?" Andrea's voice startled Britt so badly she jumped.

"Nothing," she said, spinning around to face Andrea.

Andrea raised an eyebrow. "You're a bad liar, you know that?"

Britt rolled her eyes. "Come on, you can't tell me you're not even the least bit curious about what's behind this door."

"I can honestly say that I have zero interest in seeing a bunch of corpses in a disintegrating lab."

"No, but that's just the thing!" Britt said. "It's been thousands of years, hasn't it? There won't even be bones in there. I doubt they used the same preservation magic on themselves that keeps the journals good. Their research should just be sitting on the tables, and we can skip the gross parts entirely."

"That sounds like a reach, even for you," Andrea said, crossing her arms. "For all you know, there's a giant three headed snake monster in there."

"Are you going to stop me?" Britt asked, her eyes narrowed. "Because I'm not really feeling up to an all-out brawl. Maybe we could think about this rationally. The door is no longer blocking the energy, or Medris wouldn't have been affected. The man opened the door a long time ago, so whatever's in there has also had a chance to get out—meaning no monsters or pathogens." Britt shook her head. "Pandora's box has already been opened; I'm just looking in to see what she found."

Andrea didn't look convinced, and Britt wracked her brains for something to convince her.

"This could be our way off the island," she said quickly.

"How do you figure?" Andrea asked.

"The wards," Britt said, the explanation forming in her mind as she spoke. "The ones keeping us from teleporting, they're designed to block runes, but what if they didn't work on mixed runes. Chesha's new rune set is entirely new and unknown. How would you ward against that? If we use them, we might be able to get off this damn island and somewhere where we can actually prepare for what's coming. We're sitting ducks on Lapis! This way we would be doing something at least!"

Andrea pressed her lips together, looking like she was about to cave, so Britt pressed on.

"And if we do master the runes, we might be able to use them to get home. We would have a whole research lab that we could use to figure out how to get a portal back to Earth." Britt didn't think at first that she was being sincere, but as the words spilled out of her mouth, she realized that every one of them was true. "I don't want to be stuck on Ember forever. I have parents. I have a cat. I want to go home."

It was the last sentence that finally broke through Andrea's hesitation.

She took a deep breath. "Please tell me you have some sort of plan for if this goes south."

"Here," Britt passed an energy shielding charm to Andrea. It was basic and probably wouldn't do much if there was an issue. Britt had found the rune combination in one of the journals and made the charm just in case.

"Then what's protecting you?" Andrea asked.

"I've got another one," Britt lied. "I was hoping to convince the rest of you to go in with me."

She touched the rune that would reveal the keypad and turned back to Andrea.

"Last chance to vacate the area before I open this up," she said.

Andrea wordlessly shook her head.

Here goes nothing. Britt braced herself and opened the door.

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