Kael could fly now.
Not clumsy hopping. Not the short bursts of the Ember Dash. Real flight.
The cavern wind roared in his ears as he chased the Shadow Wraith through the vast hollows beneath the mountain. The construct flashed ahead of him like a smear of black ink thrown across moonlight, darting between hanging stone fangs and pillars slick with underground mist. It moved too fast for the eye to follow cleanly. Even with his new Kindling-realm senses burning hot inside his skull, Kael still could not properly catch it.
Again and again he lunged for it.
Again and again his fingers closed on empty air.
The thing flowed around him like living shadow.
"Damn!" he barked, laughing anyway. "You vicious little beauty!"
The Wraith streaked across the cavern ceiling, vanished into darkness, then exploded downward past his shoulder hard enough to stir his hair. Kael spun in midair and nearly smashed himself into a stone column trying to follow.
He missed it again.
"Good! Good!" he shouted wildly. "That's how an assassin should move!"
The thing was perfect.
No—better than perfect.
Ghost-Spider Powder hid its presence so thoroughly that even his Eye of Formlessness struggled to keep hold of it. The Warding-Vase Bamboo frame moved with terrifying smoothness, while the Illusory Flame Phoenix bone powder gave it a strange half-living fluidity that made it seem less like a construct and more like a predator born from darkness itself.
A grin stretched across Kael's face.
This was his creation.
His.
Then another thought struck him, cooling his excitement just a little.
Elder Greymantle.
Without the old rat's help, the Soul-Bonding Rite would never have succeeded. Kael might have spent months ruining materials before figuring out the flaws.
He snorted softly.
The old hermit had earned some gratitude.
"I ought to show him this thing," Kael muttered. "Hell, I owe him thanks too."
The thought immediately excited him again.
He dropped lower through the cavern and barked, "Darling Peria!"
The command word echoed across the stone.
At once the Shadow Wraith halted its murderous dance. It turned in midair and shot toward him.
Kael barely caught a glimpse of blackness before the thing dove directly into his shadow.
Gone.
He landed beside the underground stream and immediately started inspecting the ground around him. Then he twisted around checking his own shadow from different angles.
Nothing.
No distortion.
No strange outline.
No flicker of movement.
It simply vanished into darkness itself.
Kael clicked his tongue in amazement.
"Marvelous…" he whispered. "Absolutely marvelous."
He did not know whether he was praising the Wraith, the Artificer's Art, or himself.
Probably all three.
Still grinning like a fool, he hurried toward the cave entrance.
He had barely reached it when a figure flashed from outside.
Elder Greymantle entered so quickly that his robes snapped behind him.
But something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The old hermit's face looked grim enough to chill the excitement right out of Kael's chest.
"Do not leave the cave," Greymantle said sharply.
Kael blinked. "What happened?"
"Someone has entered the Bewildering Wood."
Kael frowned. "Who?"
"I don't know."
That answer confused him more than if the old man had named a dozen enemies.
"You don't know?" Kael said. "Is it an enemy? How many?"
Greymantle ignored the questions. He strode toward the cave mouth and raised both hands.
"You stand back," he said. "I'm activating the restriction."
Kael immediately retreated several paces. He had never seen the old hermit look this tense before.
"Whoever it is," Kael said carefully, "they're strong?"
Greymantle's face darkened.
"They destroyed the Lostford."
Kael froze.
"They what?"
Destroyed?
The Lostford was not some ordinary barrier. The restriction wrapped around the entire Bewildering Wood like an invisible sea. It twisted space itself. People could wander for months without escaping.
Even the Sevenfold Dominion's forces had only managed to discover methods for entering and exiting.
Destroying it outright was something else entirely.
Greymantle began murmuring old command-speech beneath his breath while his fingers formed seal after seal in the air.
Kael felt the cavern tremble.
"You think it's the Sevenfold Dominion again?" he asked.
"No." Greymantle's voice sounded heavy. "Last time they only deciphered the paths through the restriction. They did not possess the power to destroy it."
Light erupted.
A vast curtain of green radiance poured across the cave entrance like liquid crystal. Lightning crawled through it in branching veins while countless Ward-scripts rolled beneath the surface like a tide.
The pressure pouring from the restriction made Kael's skin prickle.
Even now, after reaching the Kindling realm, he could feel how dangerous it was.
"What kind of monster can break the Lostford?" Kael muttered.
Greymantle stared at the glowing barrier without blinking.
"There are not many stronger than the Sevenfold Dominion," he said quietly. "But there are still enough to frighten even old creatures like me."
Inside, the old hermit's thoughts raced darkly.
Then who had come here?
"What do we do now?" Kael asked.
"I will go see who entered my forest."
"I'm coming too."
"No."
Greymantle's refusal came instantly.
"You stay here. I've sealed the entrance. This place is safer."
Kael frowned.
"If someone can destroy the Lostford," he said, "then hiding in here probably isn't safe either."
Greymantle slowly shook his head.
He stared at the green curtain before speaking.
"This restriction is called the Unanswering Gate. It is the work of several thousand years." Pride flickered briefly across his old features. "Its power is smaller than the Lostford's, but its killing methods are far crueler. Beneath the primary restriction lie seventeen separate hidden restrictions."
The old hermit's eyes narrowed coldly.
"If someone ignorant forces their way through…" He paused. "The formation will erase flesh, marrow, and soul alike. Their three souls and six spirits will be ground away so completely they will never enter the Six Paths of Return again."
Kael inhaled sharply.
Even after everything he had seen lately, that description made his scalp tighten.
The old rat truly was terrifying.
"Someone in this world can probably break it," Greymantle continued. "But I guarantee there are fewer than ten who could."
Then laughter drifted through the cavern.
Soft.
Musical.
Dangerous.
"Perhaps," a woman's voice purred, "I happen to be one of those ten."
Greymantle's body jerked violently.
The green barrier shattered apart into drifting fragments.
A streak of golden light burst through the opening.
Greymantle instantly retreated backward at full speed.
Kael barely saw what happened next.
A second figure appeared behind the old hermit like a ghost attached to his shadow. Both of them shot upward across the cavern wall in a blur until they halted more than thirty feet above the ground.
Only then did Kael finally see the intruder clearly.
A woman.
Her hair rose in an elaborate palace knot pinned with gold. Flowing rainbow silks wrapped around her body like drifting sunset clouds. Her figure was tall and unnaturally elegant, with long legs, narrow waist, and lush breasts straining softly beneath layered fabric.
In one hand she held a sheathed sword.
Or rather, a treasure disguised as a sword.
The scabbard gleamed like forged sunlight. Gems glittered across its surface so densely they resembled a river of stars.
And the tip of that still-sheathed weapon rested lightly against Elder Greymantle's chest.
Kael's hand snapped.
The Eight-Claw Flamescourge spilled from his sleeve with a metallic hiss.
But he did not dare strike.
Not while Greymantle was pinned.
The old hermit's face had gone pale.
"You…" he breathed.
The woman smiled.
"Long time no see, Elder Brother Greymantle."
She floated effortlessly in empty air, silk ribbons hanging motionless around her as though the world itself refused to disturb her.
Greymantle stared bitterly at her.
"So it was you." He exhaled heavily. "No wonder the Lostford fell."
The woman pouted almost playfully.
"It was troublesome," she said. "Your restriction wasted nearly an hour of my time."
Kael's heart jolted.
An hour?
Destroying the Lostford in only an hour?
Who in the hell—
Greymantle's voice turned hard.
"Yvaine Trillance," he said. "Why are you here?"
Kael's mind exploded.
Yvaine Trillance.
The Three Supremes.
The greatest traitor in the history of the Ascendant Covenant.
First in martial arts.
First in formations.
First in construct-work.
A monster whose name still lingered inside Order legends.
She was supposed to be ancient.
Instead the woman before him looked scarcely older than Lyra Farrow.
Yvaine's beautiful eyes shifted toward Kael.
"I heard," she said softly, "that a little fox was hiding here."
Kael's chest tightened instantly.
She came for the Primordial Sigil.
"What do you want?" Greymantle growled.
Yvaine smiled lazily.
"I want to take him away."
"You will not."
"Can you stop me?"
Greymantle suddenly became calm.
Too calm.
"Sovereign Vaela knows he's here."
Yvaine laughed.
"I know." Her smile deepened. "But she has troubles of her own at the moment. Otherwise I would not have dared come."
Greymantle's expression changed.
"What troubles?"
Yvaine ignored the question completely.
Instead her gaze dropped toward the gray-green gourd hanging from the old hermit's waist.
"Well then," she purred, "why don't you let me hold onto your precious gourd for now? I really don't wish to taste those eleven Voidbreaker pearls."
Her sword remained against Greymantle's chest while her free hand slowly reached toward the gourd.
Greymantle's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Elder Brother," Yvaine said sweetly, "I truly do not want to hurt you. Even with the Treasure-Hoard Blade still sheathed, my armor-breaking arts should be enough to pierce your protective Vitae."
Her fingertips moved closer.
Closer.
Then Greymantle moved.
His body slid sideways against the cavern wall with shocking speed. One sleeve swept toward the gourd—
—but the golden scabbard appeared against his chest again.
Impossible.
Kael did not even see the motion.
The scabbard tapped lightly against Greymantle's heart.
"Tsk," Yvaine sighed. "I told you not to struggle."
With a flick of the scabbard, she hooked the gray-green gourd away from his waist.
Greymantle's body suddenly froze midair.
Then he dropped.
Straight down.
Kael's eyes widened.
"Old man!"
He lunged upward—
—and the world blurred.
Yvaine appeared directly before him.
Kael roared and attacked instantly.
The Eight-Claw Flamescourge exploded outward in a storm of dragon-scaled lashes, fire ripping across the cavern in all directions.
Every strike missed.
Not blocked.
Missed.
It felt like trying to hit smoke.
Then the golden scabbard slipped through the web of fire and touched lightly against his throat.
Kael went still.
Above them, Greymantle crashed into the underground pool with tremendous force, sending water spraying everywhere.
"Are you alright?" Kael shouted.
From the water came the old hermit's strained voice.
"I'm… alive… Run…"
"Why should he run?" Yvaine said with mock annoyance.
She descended gracefully onto the stone steps beside the water, though the tip of the Treasure-Hoard Blade never left Kael's throat for even an instant.
Now Kael finally saw her clearly.
And for a moment, he forgot to breathe.
Her beauty struck like a physical blow.
Her skin glowed smooth as polished white jade. Her eyes shone deep and liquid like autumn water under moonlight. Every glance carried dangerous seduction.
She looked almost divine.
Around her slim waist drifted a seven-colored ribbon that shimmered constantly with shifting light—the Heaven-Crossing Arc.
Her left arm remained bare from shoulder to wrist, pale enough to shame snow itself. Several coils of black cord wrapped around her lower forearm, tied to a strange ancient dark-gold coin engraved with tiny wings.
Kael stared despite himself.
He had heard stories about Yvaine Trillance's beauty.
Stories had not prepared him.
She could not quite rival Sovereign Vaela's impossible perfection, but she stood frighteningly close to Lyra Farrow.
And like Lyra, she possessed that intoxicating mixture of danger and femininity that made sane men ruin themselves willingly.
Though where Lyra radiated sultry charm, Yvaine radiated wicked temptation.
Yvaine studied him too.
There was surprise in her eyes.
Genuine surprise.
"Come on then," Kael snapped angrily. "Stab me."
"You are Kael Ashvane?" she asked.
"What if I am?"
A smile curled her lips.
"Then perhaps you should call me Elder-Aunt. I ranked seventh among the third generation disciples. Slightly ahead of your Master."
Kael barked a harsh laugh.
"Don't pretend closeness with me. You betrayed the Order. You aren't one of us anymore."
"Alive gods…" Yvaine laughed softly. "And are you?"
The words hit him like a hammer.
"I heard your Master cast you out already."
Kael's face stiffened instantly.
The arrogance drained from him so fast it almost hurt.
Yvaine watched him quietly.
Then she sighed.
"So the rumors were true." Her voice softened. "How tragic. Now you and I are both wanderers abandoned by our homes."
Her eyes gleamed.
"You should come with me."
Kael blinked.
"Where?"
"To a very interesting place." She smiled. "You'll enjoy it there."
From the pool below, Greymantle suddenly shouted hoarsely:
"Don't listen to her! This demon woman lies as easily as breathing!"
Yvaine rolled her eyes.
"Why would I lie to him?"
Then she looked back at Kael.
"Pay no attention to that old rat."
Kael glanced at the sword still aimed at his throat.
"You expect me to trust you while you're pointing that thing at me?"
Yvaine laughed softly.
"Well, neither of us belongs to the Ascendant Covenant anymore. Whether you call me Elder-Aunt hardly matters."
As she spoke, she lowered the sword.
Instantly Kael attacked.
The Eight-Claw Flamescourge erupted like a fire dragon lunging from a volcano, whipping toward her from every direction.
The attack stopped midway.
Kael froze.
The golden scabbard rested lightly against his wrist.
Again.
He had not seen her move at all.
Yvaine smiled slowly.
"You naughty little fox." Her eyes sparkled with amusement. "You tricked me into lowering my guard."
Kael's face burned red with embarrassment.
After a long moment he muttered, "So you never trusted me in the first place."
"Fortunately for me," Yvaine replied sweetly, "I didn't."
Kael blinked twice.
Then, despite the blade at his wrist, a crooked grin slowly appeared.
"If this is how you act," he said, "how could I possibly dare go anywhere with you?"
Yvaine tilted her head.
"And what," she asked softly, "would make you willing to come?"
"Three steps back each," Kael said. "We get ready proper, then fight fair. If I win, you follow me."
Yvaine Trillance answered without hesitation. "Fine."
She stepped backward lightly across the stone stairway.
Kael attacked before her heel touched the next step.
The Eight-Claw Flamescourge exploded outward in a storm of fire. The dragon-scaled whip shrieked through the cavern like a living serpent lunging low for her legs. Kael had already abandoned the idea of fighting honestly. Her skill was monstrous. If he fought straight, he would lose straight.
So he cheated.
Again.
Again it failed.
His body locked stiff in humiliation.
The flaming whip froze halfway through its strike while the tip of the golden scabbard rested against the center of his brow.
"Didn't we say three steps back?" Yvaine asked mildly. "You're cheating again."
Kael's heart pounded.
He had moved first.
He had the initiative.
Yet somehow she had crossed the distance and subdued him instantly, and he had not even seen her move.
Not even a blur.
This woman's martial skill was terrifying beyond reason.
"That's called battlefield cunning," Kael muttered stubbornly. "Never heard of it?"
Yvaine gave him a thin little look full of mock annoyance.
"Your skin really is thick." A faint flush touched her jade-smooth cheeks. "Exactly like someone else I used to know."
Kael ignored that entirely.
"Again," he declared loudly, as though she were the one pinned helplessly beneath his weapon. "This time I won't take advantage of you."
Smack.
She tapped the scabbard lightly against his forehead.
"Come on then, little rogue."
Kael inhaled deeply.
The Sundering Flame Art surged through his Channels.
Vitae poured into the Eight-Claw Flamescourge in violent torrents. Fire erupted across the weapon, roaring hotter and larger until the burning dragon-whip thickened to nearly the width of his forearm. Flames coiled and snapped around him, scorching the stone steps black.
The sheer pressure startled even him.
His eyes widened.
My Vitae got stronger again.
Much stronger.
Across from him, Yvaine barely seemed to notice.
She stood with her scabbard lowered loosely at her side, staring upward toward a shaft of sunlight spilling through a crack in the cavern roof. Dust drifted through the golden beam around her face.
She looked distracted.
Far away.
"Coming!" Kael roared.
He struck with everything he had.
The fire-dragon lunged forward with enough force to shatter iron gates.
Halfway through the attack, the golden scabbard pressed against his stomach.
Yvaine tilted her head slightly.
"Still want to fight?"
Kael stared down at the weapon touching him.
Then up at her.
"You…" His mouth hung open stupidly. "What kind of demon trick is this?"
"It's martial skill," Yvaine replied.
"I don't believe you." He shook his head violently. "There's no martial skill in the world like this."
Yvaine studied him for a moment.
"Do you know the story of Seraph Manthian's disciple?"
Kael blinked.
"The little crown prince?" he asked. "The one who helped his master subdue the Sea Mother?"
"Yes. Him."
"Of course I know him. They say his combat skill was unmatched. Nearly invincible in close fighting."
Yvaine nodded once.
"He came to Phoenixspur once. Specifically to challenge me."
Kael frowned.
"You fought him?"
"I did."
"How many exchanges?"
Yvaine looked at him calmly.
"He lasted one."
Kael's jaw dropped open.
"One what?"
"One exchange."
Silence.
The cavern suddenly felt very cold.
Yvaine's tone remained perfectly flat.
"So fighting me is pointless. No matter how tricky you are, no matter what schemes you use, you won't win." She smiled gently. "Come with me now."
"Bullshit!" Kael barked instantly. "Absolute bullshit! No way somebody like that lost in one move!"
Yvaine sighed.
"Fine. We'll keep playing." She lifted the scabbard lazily. "This time I'll move slower. Watch carefully."
Kael attacked again.
And this time he truly saw it.
Saw her shoulders shift.
Saw the angle of her wrist.
Saw the movement of her feet.
Clear as daylight.
Yet he still lost instantly.
The scabbard touched his throat before he finished striking.
Kael attacked again.
And again.
And again.
Every single time, he saw the movement perfectly.
Every single time, he failed to stop it.
Sometimes it seemed Yvaine merely stood waiting with the scabbard raised casually before him, and somehow he himself delivered his own forehead, throat, eye, chest, or lower abdomen directly into her attack from impossible angles and speeds.
It was maddening.
If she had truly wanted him dead, he would already have died a hundred times.
More.
Kael's scalp prickled.
His confidence cracked apart piece by piece.
For the first time since learning the Sundering Flame Art, he suddenly doubted his own martial ability.
"Idiot!" Elder Greymantle shouted from somewhere deeper in the cave. "You'll never beat her!"
The words jolted Kael awake.
He stopped attacking immediately and stepped back, chest heaving.
"All right." Yvaine lowered the scabbard. Her voice softened unexpectedly. "Enough playing. Come back with me now."
The tone hit him strangely hard.
Not like an enemy.
Not even like a master.
More like an older sister trying to coax home a stubborn younger brother who had wandered too far.
Exhaustion washed through him all at once.
For one dangerous instant, he nearly agreed.
Then Elder Greymantle screamed:
"Don't fall for her tricks! Your last disaster had her fingerprints all over it!"
Kael froze.
A cold tremor ran through him.
Suddenly he remembered Lyra Farrow's warning.
If Phoenixspur captured him, they would imprison him forever.
Never release him.
Never let him see daylight again.
"Don't listen to that old rat," Yvaine said softly. "I would never hurt you."
Kael stepped backward.
"This place isn't safe," she continued. "Right now, I'm the only one who can protect you."
Kael said nothing.
He raised the Eight-Claw Flamescourge across his chest defensively.
"Wake up, fool!" Elder Greymantle roared again. "That woman's playing with your head! Run!"
Yvaine sighed quietly.
"Do you trust him," she asked, "or me?"
Kael watched her without blinking.
Yvaine met his gaze directly.
"Listen carefully." Her voice dropped almost to a whisper. "Anyone in this world might harm you."
A pause.
"Except me."
Kael stomped backward hard against the stone.
Then he fled.
"Idiot! Don't run!" Yvaine bit her lip and launched after him.
Kael burst from the cavern mouth into open air.
The instant his Vitae surged outward, his body shot skyward.
The sensation nearly made him laugh aloud.
Flight.
Real flight.
Not the crude Ground-Sprint Art skimming across earth and treetops.
This was freedom.
Wind exploded past him. Clouds rushed beneath him. The world opened in every direction while blazing Vitae thundered through his body with intoxicating force.
Faster.
Far faster than before.
But Yvaine followed like a shadow.
Not falling behind.
Getting closer.
Too fast.
Too damn fast.
What do I do—
Kael's thoughts spun wildly.
Then inspiration struck.
He muttered a Binding Curse and ripped open his storage pouch.
A skeletal war chariot burst into the sky.
Kael leaped onto it instantly.
Before the chariot, a thin bone serpent emerged from swirling darkness. The creature expanded at horrifying speed, bones cracking and lengthening until a colossal crimson skeletal dragon erupted fully into existence.
Over a hundred feet long.
Its eye sockets blazed scarlet.
Yvaine gave a surprised little sound.
"Hmm?"
The distance between them widened immediately.
Kael nearly shouted with joy.
"Yes! Run, you ugly bastard! Faster! Faster!"
The skeletal dragon tore across the sky like a blood-colored comet.
After a while Kael glanced backward.
Yvaine had shrunk to a tiny point in the distance.
His grin spread wider and wider.
"Hah! This dragon's incredible! Saved my ass again!"
Then a brilliant rainbow suddenly flashed overhead.
Kael blinked.
A seven-colored arc streaked across the sky before him.
No rain.
No storm.
No reason whatsoever for a rainbow to appear.
The rainbow descended gracefully.
Colors scattered.
Yvaine emerged from the light directly in front of him.
Kael's eyes bulged.
He yanked the skeletal dragon sharply sideways.
The rainbow flashed again.
Yvaine blocked him again.
Smiling.
"The Heaven-Crossing Arc travels nine hundred leagues in a single leap," she said. "Did you really think this pile of bones could outrun me?"
Kael tried another direction.
Rainbow.
Blocked again.
Another direction.
Rainbow.
Again.
Again.
Again.
No matter where he fled, she intercepted him effortlessly.
Yvaine's smile slowly faded.
"That dragon isn't bad," she warned. "But if you keep running around like this, I'll dismantle it."
Kael's stomach dropped.
Gods damn it…
What if she really drags me back?
What if they lock me up forever?
Panic hammered through him.
Then suddenly another thought flashed through his mind.
Kael hurriedly tore through his storage pouch.
"Stop now," Yvaine warned coldly, "or don't blame me for getting rough."
The golden scabbard blazed with frightening light.
"Wait!" Kael shouted suddenly.
To Yvaine's surprise, he obediently halted the skeletal dragon.
Then he leaned back casually against the war chariot's seat and grinned at her.
"All right. You win. I surrender."
Yvaine frowned slightly.
The fear from moments ago had completely vanished from his face.
She approached slowly through the air.
"Don't be afraid," she said gently. "I truly won't hurt you."
"Oh, stop admiring yourself already," Kael scoffed. "When did this saint-lord ever fear you?"
Then suddenly he raised his hand and bit deeply into his fingertip.
Blood welled instantly.
Yvaine's eyes narrowed.
Something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
"What are you doing?"
She accelerated instantly, gliding onto the skeletal chariot with dancer-like grace.
Kael slammed his bleeding finger against a silver-marked white ward-script.
Blood spread across it like crimson soaking through snow.
Kael grinned broadly.
"See you next time."
Yvaine's expression changed sharply.
"What ward is that?"
Her hand snapped onto his shoulder.
At that exact instant, Kael's body rippled strangely.
Like disturbed water.
Yvaine's pupils contracted.
Her fingers suddenly grasped nothing.
She tightened instantly—
Too late.
Kael vanished from the skeletal chariot completely.
Gone.
Yvaine stood frozen for half a heartbeat.
Then she sprang upward into the sky and scanned the surrounding heavens.
Nothing.
No Vitae trace.
No spatial ripple.
No scent.
No shadow.
It was as though he had evaporated from existence.
"Idiot," she hissed through clenched teeth.
For the first time, genuine anger flashed across her face.
She murmured several lines of old command-speech.
At her waist, the seven-colored silk ribbon erupted with radiant light.
Then she transformed into a streak of rainbow brilliance and shot toward the Bewildering Wood.
---
The ward had been the Heartseek Ward.
Cornered beyond escape, Kael had suddenly remembered Eya Verdane's gift.
The instant his blood touched the ward-script, his heart had lurched violently inside his chest.
An ache flooded him.
Longing.
Yearning.
It truly felt like the torment of lovers separated by impossible distance.
Then the world vanished.
Now he drifted through some strange in-between place filled with flowing dreamlike colors. Crimson, silver, violet, gold—countless lights twisted around him in blurred currents he could not properly see.
But most importantly—
Yvaine was gone.
Kael nearly laughed from relief.
"She was literally grabbing my shoulder…" he muttered. "This ward's insane."
His body relaxed for the first time since fleeing the cavern.
"Only two left now, though…"
And once his fear faded, another person immediately filled his thoughts.
Eya.
Her face appeared in his mind so vividly it almost hurt.
The clear green eyes.
The soft mouth.
The strange transparent skin.
Gods, he missed her badly.
The realization hit him all at once.
His pulse began hammering.
Am I really about to see her?
What's she doing right now?
Still inside that giant mountain full of nightmare beasts and ancient constructs?
Working?
Eating?
Walking somewhere?
Sleeping?
Kael's imagination wandered wildly.
Then suddenly another thought struck him.
His eyes widened.
"Oh no…"
A grin spread slowly across his face.
"She wouldn't happen to be bathing right now… would she?"
The thought alone made him beam like an idiot drifting through the strange colored void.