Before the sun started to set, Kyra stood and stretched. “Well, with us arriving in Taos soon, I think it would be a good idea to give Gene a real rustic kind of feast.”

  She smiled at him, catching him off guard and he returned it excitedly.

  “That sounds both frightening and intriguing after seeing what passes for food in this world,” said Gene.

  “Kyrie, think you can get off your lazy but and help a delicate young woman with the haul?”

  Kyra puts on a mocking tone that Kyrie laughs off before replying. “Sure, you know where I can find this delicate young woman?”

  She swatted him playfully when he stood. Eonis spotted the awkward energy in their exchange, took a drink from his mug, and said, “If you get lost, just knock on a nearby tree. I always know how far away you two are from me.”

  Kyra looked at Eonis for a moment before nodding and saying, “Worry not. Aliyah’s flame will always light my path.”

  They set off into the woods and Kyra cast a spell when they were a short distance from the camp. They walked in silence for a long time, guided by a floating flame Kyra conjured. Kyrie watched her back as she strode ahead of him and he counted. When they reached 101 feet away from the camp, she stopped and turned to face him.

  “Ky.” Kyrie sighed and closed his eyes.

  “Don’t ‘Ky’ me, Kyrie. You don’t know what this is about. The gods called me, all of them, and I was given a divine revelation about Gene.”

  Kyrie’s eyes shot open and Kyra let her words hang in the air.

  “What–what does that mean? What was it?” he asked in a panic.

  She took a deep breath to steady her nerves before retelling her terrifying encounter. He was quiet for a while, eyes stuck to the ground as he tried to take in everything she said.

  “A dragon,” he said, breaking the growing silence. “I…think I understand but I don’t think that’s as bad as you’re thinking.”

  Kyra groaned, expecting that reaction from him. “Kyrie!” she exclaimed, slamming her staff into the ground.

  “Ky, we would be dead without him!” he yelled in reply and she quieted. “I would be dead twice over at this rate and we would’ve never accomplished what we did at the spire. He took on two of the generals to save us and came out on top. His single contribution here halted the expansion of the veil and has set the dark lord’s conquest back by at least 6 months. You have to give him the benefit of the doubt for now at least.”

  Kyra pursed her lips and folded her arms in consideration. She took in everything he said and she wasn’t happy at his level of resistance. Had he been bewitched? She wondered for a time before saying, “We speak with the guild mistress about what really happened, of what Gene really is, and then we go from there.”

  Kyrie agreed to this too quickly. She felt her request was a poor attack on his defense. She had a feeling he was already planning that, if only to get Gene some type of accolade.

  “Dumbass.” She cursed to his surprised delight. Whether by his hormones or Gene’s mental manipulations, she realized Kyrie was smitten. “Come on. Let’s get the food. Your boyfriend’s waiting.”

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  Kyrie shot up straight in surprise and she walked away without waiting for him to follow.

  Back at the campfire, Gene watched Winnie work. She spoke in overlapping voices and sentences, forging a bracelet out of thin air. She finished with a gasp and fell to her knees, panting.

  “Put that on and don’t ever remove it. I wear something similar to hide my subclass,” she wheezed.

  He slid the bracelet on and felt bad looking at the state of her. He wondered if she was still recovering from the anti-magic trap. He was so far out of his depth when it came to magic that he didn’t know how to be helpful. His mouth opened but Winnie’s hand shot up to silence him before he could speak.

  “Don’t worry yourself one bit. This is the least I can do to pay back the life debt I owe you. Not only that, but being near you has helped me even more.”

  Gene raised an eyebrow, questioning what she meant.

  Winnie sat up and took a deep breath before saying, “I’m a Pact Witch, one of the forbidden subclasses of New Venturis. I’m able to forge pacts with beings known as Aeons and subvert the standard power structure of our magic system.”

  “Interesting. I guess even fantasy worlds have table restrictions,” said Gene with a small laugh to the confusion of Winnie. “Never mind that. Why is it banned?”

  Winnie looked up at the night sky and said one word, “Balora.”

  He waited for her to elaborate but Winnie just shook her head and continued explaining her class.

  “Anyway, I currently have a rank 1 pact with The Crystal Coffer, The Celestial Mother, and The Keeper of Secrets. Or so I thought. It seems being in your presence has progressed my pact with the Keeper of Secrets to rank 2. The Keeper believes your secrets are of significant cosmic importance. The information you shared about the hero system is far greater than any the Keeper has ever encountered.”

  Gene was taken aback by this revelation and he smiled. The thought that he could be helpful just by existing was foreign to him but a question did pop in his head at that moment. All he could say was wow. Winnie smiled at him but a knot started to form in her stomach. She wasn’t fully honest. She heard the whispers of the Keeper and it salivated at the potential secrets Gene could uncover with his powers.

  “Thank you, for all of this.” His eyes bounced between Winnie and Eonis before he continued. “I’ll thank the twins too when they get back. I’m…not used to this. The lengths you’re going to help me. Back home, I was the problem solver, the fixer. I just don’t know if I would’ve had it in myself to ask for help if I didn’t fall in your lap the way I did. I’m just so grateful.”

  His voice quivered as he closed his eyes to suppress the emotion. Winnie and Eonis locked eyes before she said, “Think nothing of it. In fact, I need to apologize. I was reluctant to have Kyra heal you completely after what you did to the cadre. To tell the truth, I was afraid of you and grew more afraid when my identification magic didn’t work on you. That was…foolish on my part. Out of anyone else here, I have the most experience dealing with beings beyond our comprehension. Now I know better and will do better.”

  Winnie smiled at Gene and wiped away a tear that had managed to break free. Eonis was silent in contemplation. He gave a polite smile but said nothing. All he did was watch Gene.

  The twins returned to the group with a bundle of goods in tow to a rousing applause. They went about the work of setting up a feast, Eonis joining Kyra to help her clean her quarry. The others worked on the sides with Winnie conjuring cooking equipment. After a minute of silence, he spoke up.

  “Copper for your thoughts? Seems like the two of us are the only ones not giving them so freely right now.”

  Kyra froze. The chance that Gene could overhear her thoughts or words frightened her. She looked to Eonis, eyes urging him to be silent. He simply shrugged in response.

  “Kyra, I’ve known you since you were a twinkle in your mother’s eye. I was the first elf you ever set your eye on and what have I always told you? We elves are a part of this world in a unique and intrinsic way. As a being of it, things not a part of that natural order feel wrong.”

  He paused to look over his shoulder and see Gene sitting and laughing with Kyrie. He activated his truesight and said, “I can only pray this feeling I have isn’t right.”

  With his truesight activated, he saw Gene as he really was. A swirling black void full of stars sat laughing at the fire and its voice sent chills down Eonis’s spine.