The younger gorgon went through the forest in search of his throwing knives. The task was thankless just as it was pointless. Clearly Aias was displeased with his brother and found a not-so-subtle way to punish him. There was a certain strictness to the race that made them appear distant and emotionless in the eyes of others. Having lived with a gorgon for years, Dallion knew that was not the case. The members of their race were just very direct when it came to a lot of things, also they seldom took comments personally, only secrets.

“You’re not here because of the hunt,” Dallion said. “There wasn’t enough time for that.”

“You’re both right and wrong. We were hired to keep an eye on you months ago. Ever since you humiliated the Archduke’s son.”

Dallion feared there would be repercussions for that, but he never expected things would escalate to this point.

“The whole thing about the phoenix just pushed us to go closer. To be honest, I didn’t think you’d notice us. You must have improved since the last time I checked on you.”

“Don’t we all?” Dallion asked, not a smile on his face.

“No. Only the otherworlders.” Even with the blocker ring still on, bitterness was visible on the gorgon’s face. “The hunt is an excuse, but a good one. Our orders were to keep an eye on you, but after your visit to the Academy, things were kicked up a notch or two. The next time we meet we’ll probably have to fight you or not—it all depends on the whims of the Archduke.”

“He hired you?”

“Of course. Directly. As I said, humiliating his son was amusing, but the ease with which you did it wasn’t. Even less amusing was working for a noble that might challenge him in a month.”

“Of course, it is.” Dallion sighed. “Thanks for the warning.”

“You’re very welcome. It’s nice to have a challenging target. Lately we’ve been dealing with pathetically easy prey.”

The goodbye was brief and not at all pleasant, feeling more like a warning than anything else. For the first few miles Dallion kept sending Gleam back to check if the gorgons weren’t following him. If they were, their skill had improved considerably since a while ago.

There was no interference for the next few days. Even so, Dallion chose to leave the forest from a different spot he had initially planned. His plan had been to take advantage of the forest to conceal his presence and continue through it north for as long as he could. Having been the subject of two attacks, though, he went straight west, leaving as quickly as possible. From there, he continued through the wilderness towards Lanitol, skipping all towns and villages on the way. More and more frequently, he’d come across patrols roaming the province. The hunter emblem did all the talking for him. Even so, the further north he got, the more frequently the roaming armies became, just as the questions got more focused.

Lying on the ground, Dallion flipped through his bestiary. All seven Moons were shining in the sky, making the night bright as day.

Harp, have you ever seen an aetherbird? Dallion asked. After everything that had happened, he preferred not to say anything regarding the bird out loud, even when he was almost certain that he was alone.

No, came the response. It was unclear whether the nymph guardian hadn’t seen one, or just refused to discuss the topic.

Vihrogon?

I was part of a hunt, the armadil shield replied. Back then, they were massive things, not the children’s scavenger hunt that passes for hunting nowadays. An entire army went out to hunt the creature, though the results were similar.

So, you didn’t catch it?

I didn’t even see it. The whole thing continued for two weeks. After that, the noble in charge decided we had better things to do than waste our time going through cliffs and forests.

Cliffs and forests? Is that where the aetherbird likes to stay?

If I knew that, I’d probably be a far happier dryad. Some people believed so. I didn’t care. It was a good opportunity to make yourself important. If you weren’t engaged, you could have tried the approach. You’d be surprised how much attention people get after casually mentioning that they were part of an aetherbird hunt.

And there’s nothing more you can tell me about it?

The mage told you everything there is to know. Just because it’s rare doesn’t make it any more special than most other wilderness creatures. Just immortal.

Dallion kept on reading the dragon section. Not too long ago, he considered them to be the strongest creatures in the world. From what Nil had told him, the Academy had spent a lot of effort and resources to learn as much about them as they did. Most of the information was centuries, even millennia old. At present, of the seventeen dragons mentioned in the bestiary, only one was confirmed to be alive—the father of the dragonlet Dallion had freed into the real world. In contrast, there was not a single sentence mentioned about the aetherbird. It seemed strange to keep the creature such a secret, given that the phoenix feathers were pretty much common knowledge. Maybe the average person wasn’t informed, but most nobles, hunters, not to mention the members of Academy and the Order of the Seven Moons, all were aware. The appropriate question was whether that was because they were imposing the secret through their area guardians, or was it the Purple Moon doing so?

“Gleam, Lux, keep an eye out,” Dallion said, putting the book away. “I’ll get some real sleep.”

The nap was only a few hours, but was filled with the usual chaos an awakened of Dallion’s level experienced. There weren’t any memories from Earth, thankfully, but more than enough about Eury. The gorgon seemed to be riding on a carriage with Dallion in the back. The territory they were riding through seemed somewhat familiar, although Dallion couldn’t exactly place it. Most likely, it was somewhere far north on the other side of the Empire.

The wagon was full of crates. Opening one, it was quickly revealed that they contained weapons of some sort: explosive bolts large enough to fit a crossbow. Dallion had no idea where they were transporting them, or why, but he knew that it was very important that they did.

“Don’t be nervous,” Eury said. “We’re almost there.”

“I’m not,” he lied. He could tell that there was some unspecified danger linked to the whole thing. “I’m thinking of leveling up soon.”

“Eager to become a noble?” A cluster of Eury’s snakes turned in his direction. “Don’t be. Things only get more complicated.”

“At least I won’t be stuck dealing with the minor things.”

“If you’re having difficulty with the trifles, how will you handle the really important things?”

Dallion had no answer to that, not that it dissuaded him. If he became a noble, he’d no longer have to run around serving them all the time. Becoming a new player was much better than remaining the leading piece.

Two Moons appeared on the horizon. One was the Green Moon that Dallion was following. The other one had a pale yellowish color he hadn’t seen before.

“That’s that Moon?” Dallion asked.

“Felygn,” Eury replied without even turning around.

“No, not that. The other one.”

The comment got a quick reaction. The snakes on the entire back of the gorgon’s head stretched out, looking at the horizon for several seconds.

“There’s just one Moon,” the gorgon replied with a sigh. “Dal, did you skip sleep again?”

“I slept,” Dallion lied. And still, he could see two Moons, one of which wasn’t supposed to exist.

“If the Star was a Moon, maybe the sun could be as well?” he asked out loud.

In all the scrolls it was written that there were Seven Moons and twelve suns, which represented constellations of skills. Yet, if that was the case, what did the real sun correspond to? It wasn’t mentioned anywhere. Could it be the lost Eight Moon? Or maybe it was the Star—the scorching, merciless ball of power that burned everyone that tried to get close to it.

“Just hang on a little longer,” the gorgon said. “Once we deliver the shipment, we’ll be able to get some rest.”

Dallion was just about to ask what exactly the shipment was when he woke up. The sun was just starting to appear from under the horizon, marking the start of the day.

You’re awake! The dartblade floated just above Dallion’s face. Morning, boss!

“Hey, Lux.” Dallion winced, pushing the weapon away. “What happened while I slept?”

A bear tried to attack, but big sis cut it up! The firebird guardian said eagerly. It was really cool!

“You’ve been hanging around Onda too much,” Dallion grumbled, slowly standing up. “Gleam, what really happened?”

A wilderness creature got too near. I trimmed its ears, and it ran off, the whip blade said. Ruby did some drawing again.

Rummaging through his backpack, Dallion took one of the tasteless rations the Academy village had given him and started eating. Both the taste and texture were terrible, but he persisted, swallowing it with a gulp of water.

This was usually the point at which Dallion would either fix or destroy the “picture” created by the shardfly so as not to leave obvious tracks. With Linatol being half a week away, this time Dallion decided not to bother.

“Ruby, can you manage not to draw anything until we get to the capital?”

The shardfly flapped its wings in rapid succession. It didn’t like being made an example of, but rarely complained much about it, either. Fluttering a few times around Dallion, it finally landed on his shoulder, then closed its wings.

“Let’s go,” Dallion said. “Gleam, you know the drill.”

There’s one other thing that happened, the familiar said. There were a lot of clouds in the sky. Too many.

“Think there might be a storm?”

Gleam didn’t reply, bringing the whip blade back into its sheath.

Splitting into a dozen instances, Dallion prepped his backpack, picked it up and started walking. As time passed, he found that Gleam wasn’t exaggerating when it came to the clouds. There were a bit too many for his liking. Rain and storms weren’t something out of the ordinary, especially in the wilderness. However, where there were clouds, there was also a chance that there were furies. If Archduke Linatol had hired a pair of gorgon mercenaries to keep an eye on Dallion, it was just as possible that someone else had hired furies to do the same.

The days passed slowly. All the time Dallion kept one eye on the sky. Thankfully, the only thing that came from it was rain. By the time he arrived at the capital, the clouds started to disperse, ensuring that the city always had a clear sky above it. It was part vanity, part paranoia. With both Nerosal and Linatol having a large fury population, one could never be sure who exactly a fury supported.

Get ready, Dallion said in his awakening realm. We’re going back to the den. But before that we’ll pass by an old friend.

Are you sure, dear boy? Dallion asked. Wasting time isn’t the best strategy.

No one will risk harming me in a citadel of the Order.

The stakes are a bit higher now. With the aetherbird being hunted, someone might take the risk. Of course, it’s your decision.

There are a few things I need to check out, since you refuse to give me answers.

I’m telling you everything I’m able to. Anything more and you’ll have too many distractions on your mind.

Dallion shook his head. There was one more reason he wanted to visit a temple. It was the perfect place to level up, not to mention he could try to talk to Jiroh again.