[A/N] Aaaaand we're back. With something just as dark as the last one, I imagine. Also, probably a bit shorter. I was hoping for these chapters to be longer than they are, but I'm not having much luck right now. Maybe the next one will be better.

Ophilia's final boss is another that I've had a few ideas bouncing around for. The setting is also a personal favourite of mine, and I'd rather like to see what can be done with it.

The group made their way out of the cathedral, Ophilia leading them.

"So where do you have to go next, Phili?" Alfyn asked.

"Back to Flamesgrace," Ophilia told him. "Then the Kindling will be complete." She smiled warmly at the group. "But my journey won't, of course. I intend to travel with you all for a while longer. After visiting Lianna and His Excellency, of course."

The sun was high in the sky above Goldshore, bathing the group in its rays. Having lived in the Frostlands for so long, the warmth around her was still a feeling to get used to. But Ophilia enjoyed it nonetheless.

"Is that it?" Therion asked seriously.

"Well, yes."

"Those two guys from before didn't worry you?"

She was silent for a moment. "They did, yes. But-"

"No buts there, Sister," Therion interrupted. "You're a target now. Now that those guys got taken out, someone else is gonna come after you. I'd bet a thousand leaves on it."

"Oi!" Alfyn said. "You're scarin' the lady!"

"All I'm saying is she's gotta be on her guard," Therion snapped. "She's no use to her faith with a knife in her-"

"Enough!" Olberic barked.

The thief scowled. "I'm just telling it like it is," he muttered.

Ophilia was saved from having to come up with a response to all that by a very familiar voice calling her name. She looked around to see who it was, and was greeted by a very welcome sight. "Lianna!"

The cleric's sister was just ahead of them, and Ophilia ran forward to embrace her. "Oh my goodness! How are you? What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you," Lianna said. She smiled. Anyone could see that it was forced, but Ophilia was so overjoyed at the prospect of seeing her sister again so soon that she didn't notice. "Something's come up at home, and... I wanted to talk to you in person." She shot a pointed look at the rest of the group. "Alone."

Therion barely stopped himself from saying something that would worsen his situation - something like "so the old man kicked the bucket, huh?" Still, he thought something about the visit was fishy.

"That's fine," Ophilia told her. She turned to the rest of the group. "You don't mind, right?"

No, they did not. The rest of the group decided to stop at the tavern for a spell while Ophilia and Lianna talked.

Lianna led Ophilia to a room in the inn. "I... I made some tea, Phili," she told her.

Indeed she had, and poured two cups. Ophilia sipped from hers politely. It tasted... exotic.

"So, what happened?" the cleric asked.

Lianna's lip started trembling so violently that Ophilia almost regretted asking. She knew the words that would escape her lips even before she spoke them.

"...F-Father's dead."

Ophilia had been preparing herself for this event. After she'd seen him last, he seemed to be in such bad shape that she privately thought to herself that it was simply a matter of time - she hoped this would be wrong, of course, but sometimes it paid to think realistically. And though hearing the news sent her head spinning a bit, she managed to hold herself together.

"I see," she murmured, taking another sip of tea to occupy herself.

"I-it happened a few d-days ago," Lianna said, tears flowing freely now. "And I... I-I knew I had to come and t-tell you..."

Ophilia got up and moved to her sister's side.

Or, at least, she tried to. She took a step and fell to her knees, suddenly feeling very tired. She saw Lianna looking at her mournfully.

"Li... Lianna..." the cleric whispered. "What's..."

She saw her sister get up and stand above her as her eyes closed.

{asterisks}

Therion took a big swig from his mug as Alfyn chastised him.

"You gotta learn some tact, man," he said. "Ophilia turned white as a sheet when you said that stuff."

"Could've been worse," Therion mumbled around his mug. He kept glancing out the window, a habit he'd developed when he was young. It was definitely a coincidence that the window was facing the inn, and he certainly wasn't doing it because he was worried about Ophilia.

"It can always be worse," the apothecary said. "Doesn't mean you can just shoot your mouth off like that."

The thief rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll think about it." He took another sip from the mug and buried his face in his scarf.

There was silence for a second before Therion noticed that Tressa had a smug grin on her face. He debated with himself for a moment, but curiosity won out. "What?"

"I know why you're acting like that," the merchant said in a sing-song voice.

Therion rolled his eyes. He knew what was coming, and didn't bother trying to refute her. It wouldn't work on Tressa anyway, the brat.

"Therion's got a cruuuuuuush!"

Alfyn grinned at that one. Therion glanced at the other four travelers, who were significantly more mature than the two that were teasing him, but they were just watching with amused looks. No help from those yahoos.

Tressa and Alfyn had started singing a tired old rhyme about Therion and Ophilia sitting in a tree when the thief caught something out of the corner of his eye. Immediately, he stood up.

"Who the hell is that?" he asked, pointing out the window.

The two that were teasing him glanced at where he was pointing. Alfyn squinted. "It's a guy. Looks weird."

Indeed, there was a guy who looked weird. He was entering the inn - a normal sight in itself. But that wasn't what made Therion notice him.

"He's dressed the same as those jokers from yesterday," the thief said. Before anyone could respond to him, he was out the door.

He heard some voices behind him, and then some footsteps. They were following him, but he'd be the first one there, clearly.

It didn't take very long to get there, but just before he did, the door opened and the man came back out. He was dragging Ophilia's sister by one hand. In the girl's other hand, she was clutching a familiar-looking lantern.

They took one look at Therion and high-tailed it in the other direction.

Therion gritted his teeth, and skidded to a halt, looking toward the inn.

Ophilia wasn't coming out.

He was faced with a tough decision now. Go see what happened to her, or chase the culprits? They were escaping quickly, but Ophilia might be hurt - or worse.

He was saved from coming up with a solution by the other six arriving behind him. Olberic barked out orders, which the thief barely registered.

Alfyn entered the inn. That was good enough for him. He sprinted toward the thieves, and Olberic and H'aanit were hot on his heels.

An arrow flew past him, aimed toward the man, but he ducked and kept running. The thieves were a fair bit faster than the travelers chasing them.

Therion grabbed a dagger from his belt and chucked it in desperation - but it went wide, as expected. He'd never been skilled with throwing knives.

They chased the culprits past the town limits, and he watched as they turned off the path. He poured on the speed, but they left his sight for just a moment as they turned a corner.

When he caught up, they were gone. No trace had been left behind. Even their footsteps had simply stopped. Therion swore under his breath as H'aanit and Olberic caught up to him. "They're gone," he grunted.

The older man was panting. "Gone?"

H'aanit's nostrils flared. "They escaped?!"

"Disappeared into thin air."

H'aanit spat something under her breath. Therion didn't recognize the language, but it wasn't hard to tell that she was swearing.

"We're no use standing here," Therion said. "Let's go back to the inn and see what's happening."

His stomach definitely wasn't doing backflips as he thought about what could've happened to Ophilia.

{asterisks}

Ophilia's eyes flickered open slowly.

I was asleep? she thought, thinking back.

Well, let's see. She completed the second leg of the Kindling after that scare with those two men in the caves. She met Lianna soon afterward. They went to the inn, had some tea, she learned that His Excellency was dead-

She immediately sat up, remembering what came next. As she did, a hand landed on her chest, which quickly moved to her shoulder and eased her back down on the bed.

"Whoa there, Sister," a voice said.

She yelped, and jolted a little as she looked at who was there.

"T-Therion?" she asked, breathing quickly. "What...?"

He held his hands up defensively. "Calm down. You aren't dead."

She nodded a few times, propping herself up against the bed's backboard. Her breathing eventually slowed down. "Okay..."

Therion sat back then. "What do you remember?"

Ophilia frowned. "After Lianna talked to me, I... I drank some tea, and fell asleep... and now I'm awake..."

The thief's expression was unreadable. "And that's it?"

She nodded. "Did something happen?"

Clearly unwilling to break the news, he pulled away the blanket that still covered her body.

She looked down at herself, not really seeing much different. She still had her robe on. Nothing was really out of ordinary. The only thing that was missing was...

She panicked immediately, feeling the space around herself. "W-where's Aelfric's Lanthorn?! I must... I must find it...!"

"Ophilia!" Therion barked.

She jolted, and looked at him.

"It's not here," he said bluntly. "Your sister took it."

Those last few words didn't quite register. She shook her head. "Excuse me... I-I must have misheard you, Therion. What did you say?"

He spoke slowly. "Your sister took the Lanthorn."

She shook her head again. "N-no, I... that can't be right." Her tone changed to one of faint hope. "Perhaps... perhaps she's decided to finish the Kindling for me."

Therion sighed, and rubbed his face with his hands. "Ophilia, be realistic. I'm begging you here. She was with a big guy in a black cloak and she took it."

Ophilia's lip trembled a little. "Truly...?"

"Yes."

She sniffed a bit and dried her eyes. "We must... we must get it back. Did anyone follow her...?"

"Didn't need to," Therion said, speaking a little bit more gently now. Not much, though. "The bishop or whatever said he heard of a town that worshipped a Saviour, like those idiots from yesterday were going on about."

"And what town is that?"

"Wispermill, in the Flatlands," he confirmed. "We're heading out as soon as we can."

A little smile spread across Ophilia's face. "Thank you, Therion..."

He pulled back a little and looked away. "Don't thank me. Wasn't my idea."

She hugged him anyway. "You're still helping."

He mechanically raised one arm and used it to return the hug. "Why're you so damn affectionate..." he muttered, more to himself than to her.

She didn't answer. "Let's leave, then," she said when she pulled away.

"Hell no," Therion said immediately, shaking his head. "Alfyn doesn't want you up and about for another day at least. He wants to make sure that whatever you got drugged with didn't do anything permanent. H'aanit and Cyrus went on ahead to make sure they didn't do anything weird with the Ember. We have time."

Ophilia bit her lip. "Well... alright." She was silent for a second. "Why were you watching me?"

He buried his face in his poncho. "Everyone else roped me into guard duty because of the crap I said to you before. So I'm your acting butler until you're ready to get up."

Ophilia got an impish grin on her face. "So you have to do whatever I want?"

He narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

She giggled. "Can you bring me some food?"

Looking positively thrilled at the order, Therion dutifully left the room, leaving Ophilia alone.

It took a few seconds, until Therion was out of earshot, but the tears flowed freely from Ophilia's eyes now.

She could barely believe what Therion had told her. Lianna, the one who stole the Lanthorn? Impossible...

It was true that strange things had been going on since she started the Kindling, but this was too much. Lianna wouldn't have taken the Lanthorn, she knew exactly how important it was.

Something must have happened to her, she decided. Or maybe it was someone who looked like her.

The cleric shook her head sadly. Therion's words had stung her, but he was right. She had to be realistic. If Lianna took the Lanthorn to Wispermill... well, she would just have to march right there and get it back.

But if the time came, Ophilia wasn't sure she'd be able to...

No, don't think about that, she thought forcefully, pushing it far out of her mind. This would end peacefully, she was sure of it. No one would have to die.

The door opened again. Ophilia hurriedly dried her eyes and tried to smile at Therion.

He raised an eyebrow. "Your eyes are all red," he noted.

She dropped the smile. "M-my apologies."

He set down the tray he was holding on her lap. "Don't. I get it."

Her lip trembled. "You do...?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I, uh... I had to deal with the same thing, a long time ago."

She watched him curiously.

Therion sighed. "Do I have to tell you?"

The cleric looked away. "Not if you don't want to." She paused. "But I would like a way to pass the time, since I'm bedridden for the day."

He stared at her incredulously. "You're spending too much time with Tressa."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Therion."

He was silent for a moment before waving away the thought. "Nah, you'll find out sooner or later." He sat back in his chair. "I met a guy called Darius when I was younger. I got caught stealing some stuff, they tossed me in a gaol in Saintsbridge, and he was my cellmate. He was..." The thief thought for a second. "Uh, four years older than me. We were stuck in there for a while, and became friends, I guess."

Ophilia munched on the food he brought her, listening intently.

"We got sick of being locked up, so one day, I stole the key from the guy guarding us, and we beat the crap out of him and ran away. That was the start of it." His expression grew a little bit wistful. "We lived on the streets, going from town to town for a while. We stole to survive, and didn't give a damn who we took from. Darius and I made a good team."

"How old were you?" the cleric asked.

"Twelve when I met him," Therion said. "Seventeen when everything went to hell."

"What happened?"

"It started off normal - we stole some crap like usual. We didn't find out what happened until later. Turns out the guy whose house we broke into was a part of this crime family called the Ciannos, and it pissed them off. We skipped town to try and get away from them, but they've got influence all across Orsterra, so it didn't work. They tried to kill us for a while, but we kept escaping, somehow." Therion took a shaky breath, clearly not wanting to think about what happened next.

"Therion, if it's too much, you don't-"

"It's fine," he snapped. Ophilia stopped talking.

"Eventually, they gave up on that, and they approached Darius instead. I don't know what they offered him, but he took it." Therion's voice turned bitter. "He lured me to the Cliftlands, and... he shoved me off a cliff."

Ophilia gasped, horrified.

"I don't have a damn clue how I survived," he said flatly. "But I did. Recovered for a while. Got back to thieving. I haven't seen Darius since."

The two of them were silent for a moment. "I-I don't know what to say..." Ophilia said eventually.

"You don't have to," Therion replied. "It's in the past. You wanted to know and I told you, simple as that."

Ophilia shook her head. "N-no, that's... Therion, that's terrible! I can't... I can't believe you've been through something like that..."

He held up one hand. "Save it. I told you, it's in the past. Nothing to worry about now. Besides, we have your situation to deal with."

Ophilia chewed her lip a bit, but nodded. "Alright. If you're sure... but if ever you need someone to lend an ear, Therion, I'm willing to listen."

He snorted.

"I'm serious."

After a second or two, he responded with "I know. Thanks."

Ophilia smiled.

{asterisks}

The next day, the group of six left Goldshore behind. Alfyn had decided that Ophilia was fine to get out and about again, and so she did. She walked at the front of the group as they made their way north, toward Wispermill - and Lianna.

They had a long walk ahead of them, for sure. Wispermill was a small village in the furthest reaches of the Flatlands, and despite the region being the closest to the Coastlands, there was still a large patch of ocean in between there and Goldshore. As such, the only road they could take was a very long and meandering one that would pass them through several other towns before reaching their goal. The group had prepared the best they could, but the walk was still expected to take four days at the least.

No one complained. This was an important mission, after all. Whoever would steal Aelfric's Lanthorn from the Flamebearer herself certainly wouldn't have good plans for it.

They passed through Stonegard first, which was a full day's walk in itself, and stopped there for the night. The next few days took them through Rippletide and Atlasdam before the group finally made it to the final stretch on this journey. It was nearing the end of the fourth day when the town of Wispermill finally came into sight - but a short vote ended with them making camp outside. Everyone wanted to make sure they were in the best shape they could possibly be in, lest a fight break out.

Ophilia couldn't get a good sleep to save her life that night. She'd had restless nights before, but nothing like this. The cleric tossed and turned for a long time, but no matter how comfortable she got, she still felt wide awake.

She sighed, clearly knowing the reason.

Maybe some fresh air would help. Slowly, quietly, she removed herself from her cot and left the tent.

She mentally berated herself for feeling the need to move so quietly. With Cyrus and H'aanit temporarily out of the party, Olberic and Ophilia, their usual bunkmates, had ended up sharing a tent with each other instead, and Ophilia quickly learned that, unlike H'aanit, Olberic was a very, very heavy sleeper. Nothing short of an explosion would be likely to wake him. She needn't have bothered acting stealthy.

She left the tent, at first intending to take a short walk and think a bit, but something rather strange made her stop.

The buildings of the town of Wispermill were illuminated with a faint purple glow. Wisps of smoke, the same shade, curled off of the tile roofs, and every so often, there would be a brighter flash that momentarily lit up the area.

Curious and suspicious, Ophilia felt herself being drawn to the light.

She realized later that she should've woken someone else before going forward, but her curiosity had won out. Besides, she had no intentions of doing anything except observe... whatever this was.

Moving as quickly and quietly as possible, Ophilia made her way toward the town limits. The light, no doubt supernatural in nature, got brighter toward the center of the town. That must've been its source. Ducking behind a nearby house, she peaked at what was happening.

The town center held a flickering flame of deep purple, with spots of black appearing and disappearing from time to time. It reminded Ophilia of the Sacred Flame housed in the cathedrals she'd visited throughout the Kindling, but far more sinister.

Surrounding the point of flame was a circle of perhaps twenty people. One person, cloaked in black, stood with hands spread wide, speaking words in a rolling tongue that Ophilia did not recognize. The language sounded ancient.

The other people in the circle were all looking toward the flame with heads bowed and hands at shoulder height. They spoke too, but Ophilia could understand them.

"Glory to the Saviour... who will deliver us from this life... and join us in the bonds of our Lord Galdera..."

The words were spoken in the same reverent tone that she herself used when praying. Ophilia gasped.

Why would the people of this town be worshiping Galdera?

She kept an eye on everyone in the circle, but nothing else seemed to be happening. The figure in black, who seemed to be the leader - perhaps they were the Saviour she kept hearing about - twitched occasionally. Once, Ophilia thought they looked her way, and she ducked back behind the building, but nothing happened.

She decided that she'd seen enough. Ophilia thought herself to be quite tolerant of people from all walks of life, but the worship of the Dark God Galdera was too much for her. At the very least, it warranted further investigation. She couldn't see Aelfric's Lanthorn, anyway, and she wasn't about to start breaking into houses to look for it. She turned around to go back to the tents.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain on the back of her head, and Ophilia Clement was rendered unconscious for the second time in a week.