**Chapter 13: "Sisters Grief"**

Following Keal and Lyra's information felt like a scavenger hunt designed by someone actively trying to make our lives miserable. “Old safe location, outside the city walls.” It was a vague starting point.

“You sure this is the right lead?” I asked Lyra as we jostled along a poorly maintained cart track, the city shrinking behind us. My arse was starting to ache. “Keal didn’t exactly leave us a detailed map.”

Lyra adjusted her scarf, the ever-present wind whipping strands of dark hair across her face. “Keal wasn’t subtle, Elias. He wasn’t trying to make things easy. He knew they watched him. The subtlety *is* the point.”

I grunted. Made sense, I supposed. Still didn’t make my ass feel any better.

The first place we checked was the house she’d first lived in before joining the secret society. Nothing. Just a dilapidated shack, smelling strongly of rat droppings and broken dreams. He obviously didn’t want Keal to immediately find who the sister were.

That was my first thought, as we stood in the center of a place filled of rats.

Then there was the old tailor shop where Keal used to score illicit spell components. That was fun. The smell of exotic plants and dried animals filled the cramped space, and the owner was happy to show us things, if we gave him the money. The owner clammed up fast when I asked about Keal though, muttering something about “dangerous territory” and “folks who ask too many questions, ends up dead” before practically shoving us out the door.

Lyra was more successful with being nice, and at the bar, we finally got a piece of info.

“Keal… yeah, I remember him. Smart kid. Always poking around where he shouldn’t be, if you ask me. Something about him was like… an evil spirit to be afraid with.” The barkeep wiped down a counter that was already spotless. “ He used to talk about a hidden basement in his place. Something nobody except for those ‘in the know’ could find.”

A secret basement in his place… “Why didn’t the people from the cult say this?"

“Too obvious” She said with a sad smile.

We spent hours tearing through Keal’s apartment. I cast every detection spell I knew, feeling like a complete idiot as I waved my hands and chanted over a pile of ratty clothes and moldy furniture. Lyra, meanwhile, was meticulously taking apart the floorboards. What I discovered with all of my magic? Nothing.

“Found it,” she called out finally, her voice muffled. “Under the floorboards… a false bottom.”

Dust motes danced in the afternoon light as she pried up a section of the floor. Beneath it, nestled in a shallow cavity, was a small, oiled wooden box. She lifted it out carefully, brushing off the dirt. It was locked.

I stepped forward, ready to blast the thing open.

“No!” Lyra snapped, grabbing my arm. “Don’t. We don’t know what’s inside. Could be trapped.”

“Or it could be the one thing we need to do.” I said with a grim smile.

I sighed and relented. Lyra was right, or course and it took us a few tries, but finally we got to open it, without any consequence.

Inside, nestled on a bed of faded velvet, was a single, folded piece of parchment. Lyra unfolded it with trembling hands. It was a map. A map of the city outskirts, marked with a single, ominous red X.

Beneath the X, a name was neatly written in Keal’s familiar script: *Kael’s sister*.

"Okay, so he had a map to find a place that does exist. I am starting to regret everything, I wish that I chose another god to avenge me."

"I know your pain, but now is not the time. We have to get to her, before them."

Following Keal's map, we’ve now arrived a seemingly abandoned house outside the city walls according to Keel's record and instructions. It was raining now, and the air hung heavy with the smell of damp earth and impending doom.

I squinted through the gloom, trying to get a better look. "Feels too quiet, don't you think?"

Lyra nodded grimly. "Too quiet *indeed*. I’m trying to see the wards, but I cant - its being disrupted."

The house was definitely past its prime. The roof sagged, the windows were boarded up, and the paint was peeling like sunburnt skin. But there was something else, something… watchful, about it.

I laid a hand on the hilt of my dagger. "Let's be careful. Could be trap, could be full of dangerous guards."

I scanned every possible attack point on us, but nothing.

We approached cautiously, staying close to the shadows. The front door looked like it hadn't been opened in years, but as we got closer, I noticed something that made my blood run cold.

Barely visible in the fading light, etched into the wood above the doorframe, was the same symbol I'd seen on the original package. That crude, unbalanced set of lines that had started this whole mess.

My hackles rose. "They know we're coming."

Before I could even finish the words, the silence shattered. A dozen figures seemed to materialize from the shadows, surrounding us in a tight circle.

They were dressed in dark cloaks, their faces obscured by hoods. Each of them carried a sword, and light was reflecting by the metal from their weapons. All of them were the old guards, but there seem to be magic around them, making then faster/stronger/agile.

"Well, I haven't seen this since before," one of them rasped, his voice rough as gravel. "Thought you were dead, mage, but it seems destiny wants to see my blade on your neck, and die."

"So many guards..." Lyra whispered. "It looks like a security measure, even more than anything else."

More guards even than anyone could have expected. It was overkill. A deliberate attempt to throw anyone off the scent. It had worked, until we got help.

"Wasn't expecting this much resistance so that Keals name does not get cleared," I muttered.

I drew my dagger, the familiar weight reassuring in my hand. "Looks like we're doing this the hard way."

A wave of raw energy erupted from me, knocking the guards back, but they are still standing and ready for action - the people in front were guarding the sister.

The first guard lunged, his sword flashing in the dim light. I sidestepped the blow, twisting to bring my own dagger around. Fire blazed and burnt his cloack.

Lyra was chanting. "You won't get through to us."

A bolt of energy streaked from her fingertips, slamming into another guard. The others surged forward, a wave of steel and desperation.

I was fighting with my life, protecting against Lyra's incantations.

It was a brutal, desperate brawl. The guards were relentless, their movements precise and deadly. It was like they were not people, only the intention to do harm. I was able to use wind magic to try and throw then somewhere else, but no success. As soon as I gave the opening, the others came with the metal swinging, like if I was on a metronome.

The guards had training, and they all were doing everything flawlessly. The sister had to be important, and those guys were doing the job flawlessly. Some of the guards fell to the ground screaming and being burnt, but most if not all, were fully unbothered.

Lyra was doing what she could but this was too crazy.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the last guard fell. I stood panting, my chest heaving, my body aching. Lyra was next to me on the ground, clearly doing everything that she could to help, but with a simple gaze at each other, we both knew that... we are far away from the mission.

"Okay," I gasped, "Okay, let's not get any more people hurt."

I turned to face them while standing in front of her. Before I could open the door again again, two figures ran from the door, and had many magic shields for themselves for no damage. Not even fire.

"Elias! Lyra!" Keal's sister started crying while doing everything. She looked pretty hurt.

"Seems that all of your effors were worth nothing." the man with the helmet did not said anything.

I was running out of everything. If I keep all of this at bay, I might die.

I decided to take drastic measures. "LYRA FIRE EVERYTHING NOW!"

She responded immediately. He was no longer being burned at all, due to the new man shield.

I summoned my soul, and started burning them for a change. The man was struggling, but he had the skills to.

Before I knew it, there was this new woman screaming with rage on me, because I was hurting her partner? I don't know who she was, just a distraction right now.

Before anyone could do anything, the woman was blasted away from all the noise. "They are here to save you!"

“I guess there is no time to lose, right?" I told Lyra that, and both of did everything to protect the sister, but we were outnumbered, outskilled, and well... this was the start of a loss.

We opened the door.

We lurched into the house, but the scene inside was anything but a triumphant rescue. The interior was dimly lit by a single sputtering oil lamp, casting long, distorted shadows on the walls, all of it inside the house, making it feel a lot more claustrophobic and uncomfortable.

Keala was huddled in a corner, her arms wrapped tight around herself. She was young, only in her late teens maybe, but her eyes held an old, haunted look that made my stomach clench. There was no joy in her face and there wouldn't be any joy.

Across from her, two figures stood like silent sentinels. A stern-faced woman with steel-grey eyes, and a man that looked more like Keal. Royal, noble.

"Keala I am here to help you." I said that with all of the conviction I could ever want.

Lyra took a step forward, her hand outstretched in a gesture of peace. "We don't want to hurt you. We just want to get you out of here."

"Stay away from her!" The grief was iminent on her face. Was this her sister?

Keala flinched, shrinking further back into the corner. "Don't touch me! I don't want anything from you. Just leave me alone. You are terrible!"

I glanced at Lyra, my expression pleading. "Look, we know this is a lot to take in. We knoe the things that happened to Keal"

"You're here to use me, aren't you?" Keala's voice was barely a whisper, thick with pain and resignation. "Just like they all do. Want to treat someone like whatever."

The woman with the grey eyes stepped forward, her gaze fixed on me. "Leave now, mage. You are not welcomed here at all. Your presence only causes more trouble. I can't protect you from others any more." Like the people in the sect and shadow.

"We are the only ones," I started, but then I paused. "She is not good, and she will never be good. Stop this, just trust me." I am starting to sound like a insane person, but its better to believe me than to be on a whole.

"And I'm supposed to trust you?" Keala spat, her voice laced with bitterness. "You're one of *them*. You used my brother. Now you're here for me.". My mind was a whole blank and I had a heavy, dark and very sad face from being called that.

"I know I don't deserve it," I said, my voice low. "But I swear, I'm not here to hurt you. We can get you out of this kingdom, anywhere you want."

But it mattered never, I already fucked up. It felt like I was back to square one: this quest of revenge and sadness.

“How about, let us make amends for saving you” I said with honesty.

She laughed back at me. "Don't be an idiot"

The woman with the grey eyes narrowed them, she was having an hard time in seeing who to protect, or not. "Enough. I can protect for now, but she needs time. Too much blood has been spilled"

"And they are here to spill even more" Lyra adds herself to the equation. "Let us show ourselves. We know a way where people get hurt as less as they could."

Silence hung in the air for a moment, thick with distrust and unspoken grief. It was clear that Keala had been through hell, and she wasn't about to trust anyone, least of all me—the guy who sold her brother's soul to a demon.

"Tell you what, Keala?" I said softly, trying to meet her gaze. "Do you know that your brother trusted us?"

She flinched at the mere mention of Keal's name, her eyes widening with a raw, almost animalistic pain. "Don't talk about him."

"I have to," I insisted quietly. "I need you to know what kind of person I am. What are we." I hesitated for a second. "I would like to say, please forgive your stupid uncle. But with all that I have done, I can at least help your brother."

Lyra gave me a slightly surprised look. I usually don't talk about my family, especially to the targets.

I took a slow, deliberate breath. "I know you are mad at me, I would be as well. Tell us anything, anything that make you believe about us."

Her silence cut me deep, like a knife wound.

"Gareth" I said.

Keala's head snapped up at the name, her eyes focusing on me with a newfound intensity. "Gareth? How do you know Gareth?"

I saw for a moment what the expression of the world looked like.

A ghost did. “Gareth helped us, and thanks to time we are this far. He made the ultimate sacrifice to protect us and give us a chance to help you."

Keala seemed to deflate slightly, but she was still far to trust me.

"Gareth always spoke of you with the utmost respect, and happiness for you. You were always the star of his time." I continued with the lie, but that at least helped Keala with opening her heart.

"I knew that those two were friends," I explained. "Then your brother started distancing himself."

"He... always tried to find good on everyone. Too good to be honest." I tried to have his brother with the best version of him, but it hurted to know about what he did because he was protecting.

Keala continued to stare at me, her expression unreadable. "Let's stop what is going to came or what is right to follow."

I nodded, meeting her gaze. "I'm not going to lie. What I did was terrible, and the pain is real. I am never going to replace your brother and can't fill him this way, but I can at least follow his steps to protect you."

I extended my hand to it, showing my intentions that that I was sincere. "It’s your choice."

For a long time, Keala paused over the hands that I have extended.

"One mistake should not define what ends." and she said. I looked into his eyes, as a form of gratitude and comprehension and not of greed.

She finally relented. “He left something for me to read” Keala whispered hesitantly and walked back to the corner. She reached beneath a loose floorboard. She struggled at first, but eventually, she got what we needed. With slightly shaking hands and trembling fingers, she lifted the floor again. “It was a letter”

And inside this place that Keala had showed… to our great shock… the letter was full of symbols.

But before anyone’s emotions boiled, she gives something else: Documents after documents, sealed with the family trait symbol I had never seen.

I kneeled on the floor. This was better to do it. It's all for him.

The letter was written, and it was a complete shock of emotions, and so here it goes: “Please tell me that this world is alright”

“If you are reading this, Elias then let her know this. I am deeply worried about what is coming. You had been my friend, but I should not say anything else.”

“I am not so noble to not be scared of what might happen.”

With that expression, the document that Lyra has, was snatched by the woman. She had an expression that made us want to stand up to her, but we were not dumb as that.

Elias took it all with him, one of the few letters that he knew about what was coming, and what was truly going on.

I slowly and quickly, read the whole thing;

*To my dearest Keala;*

*If you’re reading this, then things have gone completely sideways. I wanted to protect you. I’m not sure if I succeeded, but I did this, because I still can’t forgive Elias and what he did to the world.*

*I didn’t want any of that to happen. And they gave me no choice*

*If the others are on your side, then don't do anything! This can be bad. And stay away from Elias!*

*But I know… that this can’t be true.*

*I love you forever.*

With all of that in mind, all that I knew, was sadness. All that I wanted, was… closure. I am afraid that I am not good the whole time.

I quickly stood up and said what had to be said: "I won’t let you down.".

And with a new found grief, a letter and two broken hearts, the day was here. Now we know the key.