Death, Devotion, Dissonance

The morning after the time came for Ssatsko and the rest to walk through the Cosmic, Rith's portal. Lora and Sasha were excited and fearful of the idea of portals, the little girl excitedly chattering about the Cosmic and her magical ways.

Ssatsko smiled at the sight… and then had to sigh, reminded of the gulf between the common man and a mage. He looked at Evin, talking to Rith about a Cosmic contact in Khuutam city. The conversation was polite, professional, and down to the point. Seeing the 10-year-old, some might've thought he was trying too hard to act like an adult, but Ssatsko knew they would be wrong. Evin did talk like this, and apparently, it was the least of his secrets.

When Evin first reappeared in Lora's life, Ssatsko found the boy rather vain. He seemed like the typical kingdom's mage - arrogant, used to getting what he wanted, and also trying too hard to look mature. He looked like extra trouble on Lora's hands and Ssatsko wondered how he was going to be rid of the boy, without hurting Lora.

Gradually, Ssatsko learned he was wrong, and honestly, he was glad for it. Evin was sincere, and he genuinely wanted to make his mother happy. And his maturity wasn't the fake, wannabe type either. Sure, he acted childish sometimes, but the same could be said for Theor, and even Ssatsko himself. Ssatsko was confused on why that was at first. How could a 10-year-old be so mature?

When he first thought about it, Ssatsko found the reason why quite easily. For Evin, both his parents were failures. One of them simply gave birth to him, and the other was in charge of feeding him. Ssatsko didn't know how, but Evin somehow must've reached the conclusion that his parents weren't really proper adults. Ssatsko couldn't blame the boy.

He still thought of Lora as his baby girl, and even Edmund - who was reaching 40 when Ssatsko last saw him - seemed like a child who was only then learning about the world.

"Well, is everyone ready?" Evin asked, turning around.

Everyone nodded to him, and Evin looked at the Cosmic. Rith nodded back and started working on the portal. A golden circle appeared in the air, and with it, a violent gust of wind.

The first to go through the portal was Rith, followed by Melayn and Theor. Evin gave his girlfriend one last hug, took Lora and Sasha's hands and he ushered them into the Portal. Sasha suddenly seemed reluctant to enter, but with Lora's sweet words and Evin's genuine encouragement, the little girl walked through. Evin seemed genuinely happy as he shared a look of pride with Lora before disappearing through the portal.

This gesture of love and care was what Ssatsko was so surprised to see in Evin. Despite his parents failing him, Evin still managed to learn how to love. Ssatsko wondered if he had goodwilled friends in his childhood, but hearing Evin's story, he couldn't really say so. Every kid that Evin could get close to shunned and isolated him.

When he first heard Evin's story, Ssatsko couldn't believe it. A parent like Edmund only served to raise hateful and rebellious children. Sometimes, the abuse was so bad the child would simply be too terrified to trust others. But here Evin was, the exemplar of proper love and care, and only ten to boot.

'Damn mages…?' Ssatsko frowned and followed behind.

An unnatural moment of him existing between the border of existence and nothingness passed, before he found himself in heavy fog. Ssatsko wondered if it was some effect of going through the portal, but as his mind cleared a bit, he realized it was just the Third Cataract's fog all around the place. He could tell by the ear-splitting sound of the giant waterfall in the background.

In front of him, the figures of his family could be seen. Lora's family were on the ground, lurching, while Evin, Rith and Melayn were helping them out.

"You alright?" Evin asked, noticing Ssatsko.

"Not my first time going through a portal," Ssatsko replied.

"If you must puke, then just puke," Rith's was saying behind Evin. "You'll feel better if you do."

"Bleargh!" came the reply, though Ssatsko couldn't tell if it was Sasha or Lora.

He smiled, remembering his days in the army, being forced to get used to going through portals. He even used to skip breakfast sometimes, knowing he would lose it by the next hour.

"I knew the Cataract would be foggy, but not this much," Evin said.

"It looks even more daunting from afar. A patch of white, blotting out everything in your front. It takes real bravery to willingly enter such a harrowing place," Ssatsko chuckled.

"Well, I'm glad we didn't have to walk at the place," Evin replied. "All hail the Cosmics and the-" the boy's head turned sharply to the right. "Who's there?" he shouted out.

Ssatsko turned his attention to where Evin was shouting at, but he couldn't really feel anyone's presence.

Evin seemed positive someone was around, and started casting. Ssatsko wasn't sure what spell the boy used, but the fog around started swirling. Ssatsko squinted at the fog and could briefly catch the outline of a person in it. A loud boom sounded from next to Evin, followed by the thud of an impact.

'Shit,' Ssatsko cursed, startled by Evin's sudden attack.

"What are you doing?" Melayn came from behind Evin.

Evin ignored her and another bang resounded in the area. "Rith, can you clear this fog?"

"Alright," the Cosmic said and a wave of searing heat pulsed out from her body, vaporizing the fog.

They could now see their surroundings, but they still couldn't see this mysterious figure that Evin was seeing. Evin and Melayn ran over to where Evin cast his magic and found a bloody stone on the ground.

Frowning, Ssatsko filled his two horns with mana and crouched closer to his Lora and her family, ready to strike at anything that seemed odd.

"It lodged itself into someone, but whoever it was, he's no-" before Evin could even finish his own sentence, another bang sounded, followed by some disturbance further away. Evin and Melayn ran over there as well, but there was nothing other than a patch of blood on the ground.

"Dammit," Melayn cursed. "How can you tell where they are?"

The kingdom's mage was trying to work the World Energy Detector she pulled out from somewhere, but the thing didn't seem to be working as intended.

"If you want me to tell my enemy how I'm finding them?" Evin replied, not hiding his annoyance. "Just get close to my family and try to protect them."

Melayn looked like she wanted to say something, but decided not to, and came next to Ssatsko.