Rylan didn't know what to make of the woman arriving by kelpie, but either way, he didn't like it. The speed at which she was riding through the fog at night suggested a level of urgency that tied his stomach in knots.

Has some distant person somehow noticed I'm accessing this console?!

"Ethereon, please deactivate the console," he whispered.

《Command acknowledged. Closing access to Peronia region local network.》

At long last, the prism stopped glowing. Letting out a sigh of relief, Rylan pulled his hand off the crystal and straightened.

His eyes flicked towards the doorway he'd come from. He hesitated.

Outside, the hoofbeats came to a halt.

"Milord Fleetfoot!" a feminine voice cried from outside. "Urgent tidings!"

The green and blue orbs of light in the distance started to move simultaneously.

Biting his lip, Rylan decided to sneak closer. If something was afoot, it would be better to find out now. And if they really were on to him, he couldn't leave Leahna behind anyway.

'Arphin,' he sent. 'Can you relay what they're saying?'

[I'll do you one better, Boss!]

By this point, Rylan was used enough to Arphin sharing his view of the world that he barely even broke stride when the sensations started rolling in.

The cold fog outside was far less empty than Rylan had thought; it was actually full of life, from tiny little fogfish flitting around chasing bugs to little seeds and spores that drifted by, waiting for a good place to land and grow.

However, his attention quickly shifted to the man that was speeding forward, his passage through the fog sending ripples of pressure through the air that continued even after he came to an abrupt halt in front of the panting kelpie.

"You called?" Dash stated questioningly.

The woman mounted on the kelpie by means of a leather saddle brought a fist to her chest, a sign of respect to a superior officer. "Milord, the city is besieged; I carry orders for you to abandon the Stellar Temple and return post-haste!"

Rylan physically jerked, his split attention almost causing him to trip over his own feet before he regained his balance.

For a moment, Dash stared at the woman uncomprehendingly. "Wha—besieged?" he sputtered. "Show me these orders!"

Even as he said it, the woman was already rummaging inside a small pouch attached to the saddle. A moment later, she pulled out one of several scrolls and leaned down to hand it over.

The kelpie danced a step aside as Dash grabbed it, but calmed down again as its rider tugged on the reins and made soothing noises.

Dash unfurled the scroll with a frown, his foot restlessly tapping the sand as his eyes rapidly flicked back and forth.

Rylan frowned as well as he crouched down near a doorway. Unfortunately, Arphin's senses didn't lend themselves particularly well to the written word.

"The city is under attack?" Leahna demanded as she came jogging over as well. "By whom?"

"The Talons... milady," the courier replied grimly, tacking on the title after a brief hesitation and a glance down at Leahna's outfit.

"The Talons? But why..." Leahna gasped. "The Princess! Wait, is she already in the city?"

"She arrived last night," the woman confirmed, before turning back to Dash. "Milord Fleetfoot, I have more posts to visit—though yours was the most urgent, of course—so by your leave..."

Dash waved a hand without even looking up. "Go."

As the kelpie galloped off with its rider, Dash rolled up the scroll and tucked it away, the muscles on his jaw twitching. "Milady, I'm afraid I must be off. I am sworn to protect the city." He paused. "Normally, the next shift would have arrived in a few hours, but under the circumstances... Perhaps I could carry you back to—"

Leahna waved him off. "No, please. My Mana and Mana Shell are mostly drained, and my ankle is still healing; I would only slow you down and be of no use when we got there. Just go, I'll be fine."

Dash nodded. "If you insist, milady." He held out a hand, and when she met it with her own, he bent down and kissed the back of hers. "It has been a pleasure to make your acquaintance; may we meet again swiftly, and under better circumstances."

And with that, he turned around and rushed off like the wind, leaving behind eddies that sent the sand and fog swirling.

Leahna glanced around, waiting only a few seconds before she hissed, "Rylan?"

"Over here!" Rylan answered as he turned the corner and stepped outside.

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"Did you succeed?" she asked, rushing over. "Did it work?!"

"It did," he replied, grasping her outstretched hands in his own and squeezing tightly. "Dad's Restrictions are lifted."

"Thank the spirits... but, the city is under attack, the Talons—"

Rylan nodded grimly. "I heard. We better hurry back. Dad may have his abilities again, but he's nowhere near fighting shape..."

He made to let go of her hands, but Leahna held on, staring at him.

"What? What is it?"

"I... wasn't sure you'd be willing," she admitted. "Not that you haven't demonstrated your filial piety—you obviously have—but we're talking about trying to enter a city besieged by the people that put a bounty on your head. Are you sure about this?"

Feeling the corners of his mouth draw up into a menacing smile, Rylan huffed a breath out of his nose. "Oh, I'm sure all right. I didn't become a Quinthar so I could sit on the sidelines and wait for others to come back from adventures, you know?"

Leahna smiled at hearing her own line repeated back to her verbatim.

"Besides," Rylan continued. "I haven't been training all this time for nothing."

《You are eligible to obtain the Skill: Stealth. Do you accept?》

Rylan raised his chin. "I accept," he said loudly, before lowering his gaze back to meet Leahna's as Ethereon's warm breeze came swirling in from the distance. "If those bastards think they can lay a hand on my family again, they've got another thing coming."

"Did you just get another Augmentation?" Leahna asked with fond exasperation as she finally released his hands and they started jogging back towards the kelp forest.

"Nope. I've got a new Skill!"

"So let me get this straight," Yuel drawled, tapping his fingers on the fuselage of the cloudcrank, which once again stood at the top of a sandy slope. "You're saying the city is under siege by the Talons... and you want to go towards it, rather than take this beautiful machine and run? What if they're looking for you?"

Rylan shook his head. "The timing is too conspicuous. They're definitely here for the Crown Princess."

"They might still send some men over to yer Da's home," Nazyr grunted, his arms folded over his chest. "Thar Tamina knows ye got off in this city, and they know yer family lives there too..."

"All the more reason I have to go," Rylan replied determinedly. "My father can't even walk unaided since the last time he got interrogated."

"Please," Leahna pleaded, wringing her hands. "Just help us get back, that's all we're asking. After that, you can take the cloudcrank and flee as far as you like!"

Yuel and Nazy shared a glance, some unspoken communication passing between them.

"Nah," Nazyr said with a grin as he turned back. "That sounds boring. If we're coming with, we're coming all the way."

"Wait, are you serious?" Rylan asked in surprise. "You're willing to actually enter the city with us?"

"Well, they do say danger and opportunity go hand in hand," Yuel replied with a wink. "Besides, there's no way we're leaving when things are finally getting exciting again! Everybody aboard, we're off to adventure!"

The lift-off ramp Yuel and Nazyr had prepared was a little rougher than the one at Raya's shack had been, but it did the job, and soon they were once again whirring through the fog.

The way back would be easier to navigate thanks to the Eye of Auris. The massive lighthouse produced enough light that it was visible through the fog, as long as they flew up high enough.

However, there was also a disconcerting orange glow coming from right beside it...

Rylan sincerely hoped it came from the breaking dawn, and not a city on fire.

While all the buildings in the city were made of limestone, many of the houses in the lower ring had bamboo floors and thatched roofs...

"Yuel," he called over the rushing fog. "Can you take us up to the driftline, to take a look?"

"We can certainly try!" the blonde former pirate called back. "The fog up there is relatively thin, though; we may be too heavy!"

The propeller spun up even more, flaps shifting on the wing behind Rylan as they started to accelerate, then rise.

The multi-coloured glow coming from the Eye of Auris slowly shifted from a hazy blob to a more focused spot as they flew up. However, the progress slowed down and then stalled out while they were still in the fog.

"This is as high as we're getting, I fear!" Yuel called over. "Though we might still get lucky and hit a big wave or something!"

Rylan cursed, but then caught a glimpse of yellow from the corner of his eye. "Izzy," he quickly whispered under his breath. "We really want to go higher; can you lift us up?"

The little yellow spirit flashed past him, briefly brushing past his spirit to show him an image of a breeze rolling over a field of izillias carrying along its aromatic pollen.

Rylan took it as a yes. "Please!"

Mere seconds later, a stiff wind hit the cloudcrank from below.

"Whoa, updraft!" Yuel called gleefully. "Here we go!"

The cloudcrank soared up and burst through the driftline, where they ended up riding the swell of a wave of fog caused by Izzy's interference.

Not that Rylan had much eye for it.

The orange glow in the distance was thankfully mostly the light of dawn. But it was also fire.

There was an armada in front of Cliffport. Huge triple-floaters clad in what looked like cloudmetal plating. They surrounded each of the city's three harbours, and as Rylan watched, several of them launched massive burning projectiles onto the walls that, upon landing, splashed apart into huge conflagrations.

The assault seemed to be concentrated on the central, western harbour, where a dozen or so ships had invaded the docks and soldiers were streaming out on the streets below the wall, seeking cover between the buildings there.

There were more ships spread out between the harbours as well, adding extra pressure on the defenders with massive harpoons lodged into the city's walls. Incredibly long bamboo ladders full of soldiers were being extended from those ships along the thick cables attached to the harpoons.

Of course, the city's defenders weren't standing idly by either.

Massive arbalests fired bolts down at the ships and soldiers below, and a hail of arrows rained down in deadly volleys.

The occasional flash of light betrayed the presence of Skill-enhanced attacks from Quinthar on either side, and even from where they were, the sounds of wardrums, horn signals, and the crash of projectiles could be heard.

The breeze died down, and they sank back below the driftline, the sights and sounds dimming and fading away in the thick fog.

For a moment, everyone was silent.

"You kids still want to go there?" Yuel asked, now with a hint of trepidation in his voice.

"Yes!" Rylan and Leahna answered in unison.

"All right, all right, just checking... I guess we better hurry."

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