It was only through quick thinking that Saiya avoided stumbling. She grumbled while trying to keep herself steady. The terrain proved difficult to traverse, as there wasn’t any flat ground to walk on. Instead, crumbled rocks and jagged stone formations covered the floor. The cliff a half dozen feet to her right made the situation dangerous. Just one slip could result in her falling over the edge. She held her mana light at the edge of the cliff. Just as before, the light failed to show the bottom, leaving only a shadowed abyss below.

  It was just her luck that she went in the direction that was awful to travel through. Zeltara had ordered them to find a potential path done the cliff. Saiya had no luck in finding one so far. The uneven terrain slowed her progress. That and the visibility had dropped to almost nothing in the last few hours. It was rather frustrating for her. She felt the need to push herself after their recent conversation.

  Saiya still felt guilty about what had happened. She knew her actions were out of line. It just annoyed her that Zeltara wasn’t able to see that Kaztos needed help. That, combined with the stress of the situation, made for an ugly combination. She lashed out at them. But it wasn’t Zeltara’s responsibility to force Kaztos to be okay. She and Kaztos had burdened Zeltara with a lot. No wonder she shouted at them like that. It wasn’t often Saiya felt ashamed of something she did. It was a feeling she hadn’t felt since getting in trouble with her parents.

  There was no point in thinking about that now. They needed to find a way down this cliff to get to that village. Saiya had some misgivings about just how welcome they would be, given the new world they found themselves in. The village may not be willing to share its limited supplies with strangers. It didn’t matter. Saiya will get those supplies through other means if necessary. Anything to make sure that the group was safe. That Kaztos and Zeltara were safe.

  Saiya cursed as she almost fell again. The stone she had just stepped on lurched beneath her. She growled, as it was almost time to regroup and she was making no progress. Saiya gave up and started heading back to the meeting point. They wouldn’t get anywhere if they went this way, anyway.

  It took her longer to get back than she had expected. In the ten minutes of travel, she had almost fallen several more times. Finally, Saiya saw the familiar light of Zeltara’s lantern in the distance. As she approached, Saiya saw her friends quietly talking about something. When Zeltara saw Saiya arrive, she turned to greet her.

  “Hey Saiya. Did everything go alright with you? You’re a little late.” Though the words were easygoing, she could see that Zeltara seemed a little concerned about her. Maybe the stumbles had scuffed her up.

  “My path was rough to travel. It took longer than I thought to get back,” Saiya said.

  “Well, did you find another way down? Kaztos just told me he didn’t find anything. I wasn’t successful either.” Saiya shook her head.

  “I found nothing. It would be too dangerous to go that way, even if there were something. I almost fell off the cliff a few times due to how bad the terrain was.” Kaztos and Zeltara grimaced hearing that as both talked over the other.

  “Are you alright, Saiya? You aren’t injured?” Kaztos asked.

  “If it were that dangerous, then you didn’t need to risk yourself like that,” Zeltara said at the same time. Saiya had to force down a smile at their concern for her and moved to reassure both of them.

  “I’m okay. Let’s focus on the task at hand.” Zeltara took a few seconds to look her over for any injuries. Finding nothing outside a few scratches, she nodded and turned back to the cliff face. She walked towards the edge as Saiya and Kaztos followed her. Zeltara appeared to take a few moments to think before speaking.

  “This cliff isn’t natural. It’s like the ground was pushed straight upward. Who knows how far it goes on either side? It’s similar to the crevice path we went through, except now we’re at the top this time. That wall of stone went as far as we could see. It’s safe to assume that this cliff does as well.” Zeltara seemed to be speaking her words aloud in thought. Saiya wondered if she always did this or if it was new. Perhaps she started now that there was someone there to listen. Saiya looked out and saw the village lights in the distance. The combination of natural and mana light swirled together to make for an eye-catching sight. Saiya let out a huff as she thought of something. Seeing Kaztos and Zeltara turn to her, she voiced her thought.

  “It’s just our luck that we find a literal beacon of hope on the horizon, yet it’s out of reach.” Zeltara smiled at the comment while Kaztos gave her a reassuring grin.

  “Don’t worry, Saiya! We’ll find a way down in no time.” Saiya smiled upon hearing that. It was good that Kaztos seemed to be back to his old self. His fake bluster grated on her. Still, they needed to find a way down the cliff.

  Zeltara hummed as she glanced down at the ground. She then picked up a rock and said, “I need to check something out.” She then held the rock over the cliff’s edge and dropped it. After a few moments, the three could hear it hit the ground far below. Zeltara said, “That was a little over two seconds.”

  “Why does that matter?” Saiya asked.

  Kaztos answered. “Because how long it takes to impact the ground can tell you our elevation. I learned it back at the academy. Good thinking, Zeltara.” That made some sense. Saiya’s education wasn’t her strong suit. Like Zeltara, she didn’t continue her schooling after primary school ended. Though it appeared that Zeltara continued to self-study afterward. It looked to have come in handy. Maybe Saiya could try learning in her own time.

  “Do you remember how to calculate the height, Kaztos? I can’t remember the formula at the moment,” Zeltara said.

  “It’ll be harder to calculate since I’ll have to do it off the top of my head. I should be able to give you an estimate, though,” Kaztos answered.

  “Let’s say it took two and a half seconds to hit the bottom.” Kaztos’ face scrunched up in concentration. Both waited for several moments as he figured it out. Kaztos’ face relaxed as he gave his answer.

  “It should be around a hundred feet. Give or take a few in either direction.” Zeltara grimaced at the answer.

  “That’s too deep to work with. Give me a moment.” Zeltara then picked up several rocks and went back to the edge. She walked along the cliff face and sent rocks tumbling down. Each one would hit the ground just after two seconds. Saiya saw what she was doing and went to help. She picked up some rocks and went in the other direction. Each one she dropped hit the ground when expected. However, after a minute of doing this, a rock landed much sooner than expected. Saiya turned to let the others know about her discovery.

  “I found an outcropping here.” Kaztos and Zeltara ran over. When they arrived, Saiya pointed at the place she had dropped the rock from. Zeltara looked down and held her lantern over the cliff. Saiya could barely make out the edge of the outcropping. It was large enough to hold several people easily. Zeltara then dropped a rock, which hit the outcropping after a moment or two. She turned towards them.

  “Good work, Saiya. Hey Kaztos, the rock fell for just under two seconds. Can you give me an estimated height?” Kaztos hummed as he calculated the height.

  “Well, it’s harder to determine because of how vague the time is. I guess about fifty feet. That’s just a rough guess, though.” Zeltara seemed much happier with this answer. Saiya didn’t know why, and voiced her doubts.

  “So we have two deadly falls instead of one. How is this supposed to help us exactly?” Her sarcasm seemed lost on Zeltara, who opened her large satchel and looked inside. After a few moments of rummaging, she pulled out a mechanical device. It resembled a crossbow with a large box attached to the back end. She then presented it to them.

  “Let me show you another invention of mine. I call this the auto-grapple crossbow. With this, I can shoot out a grapple line, which will attach to a surface. I can then have it pull me over to where I fired at. Neat, huh?” Kaztos leaned closer to take a better look at it. As he did, Saiya poked some fun at the Zeltara.

  “So, you just had this thing the whole time? Why didn’t you say anything about it?” Saiya asked. Zeltara appeared nonplussed as she answered.

  “It just hasn’t come up before. Remember that the original plan before all this went down was to practice by the caves? I brought several of my inventions to test out. Guess this is the time to test it.” Saiya nodded in acknowledgement.

  “How are you planning to use it?” Kaztos asked. In response, Zeltara opened the top of the box and reached her hand inside. Saiya heard some mechanical noises before Zeltara pulled out a line of rope tucked together. It was surprisingly thin, which Saiya supposed helped with storage. One end of the line had a grapple hook attached to it.

  “I have a spare one in my satchel as well. Each is forty feet long. We can use them to climb down the cliff using the outcropping as a halfway point,” Zeltara said. Saiya recognized a problem with the plan.

  “The ropes aren’t long enough. We’ll have to take about a ten-foot drop. We’re risking injuring ourselves. That’s also not accounting for the danger of climbing down.”

  “Well, do you have any other ideas?” Zeltara asked. Saiya could only shake her head. Kaztos gave a similar response. “Listen, I know this isn’t the safest option. But we need to get down this cliff. Unless we’re willing to risk losing more time looking for another way down, this is the only way.” Saiya begrudgingly agreed with that. They didn’t have all the time in the world to be stuck in one place. She just wanted it to be made aware of how risky this was.

  Their conversation was interrupted by a raspy, inhuman wail that echoed in the distance from the direction they had come from. The horrifying sound reverberated for several moments, leaving Saiya feeling as if her bones were shaking. She felt nauseated just listening to it. The screech lasted for ten seconds before stopping. Fear froze the three of them in place as they stared out into the darkness.

  “What the hell was that?” Zeltara asked, her voice wavering. Before anyone could answer her, the three heard a scuttling sound. Something was moving around out there. Saiya couldn’t imagine how many legs this thing had to produce that sound when moving. The scuttling was getting closer, yet didn’t seem to head directly for them. Rather, it would shift from one side of them to another as it grew closer.

  “That must be the monster that killed the man earlier. It followed us out here,” Kaztos said. Saiya feared that was the case. She didn’t like their chances against something that could kill a grown man so easily. Immediately, she turned to Zeltara.

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  “I don’t have any objections anymore. We need to get out of here now,” Saiya said. Zeltara nodded and set her lantern down. She then looked for a place to attach the grapple hook. Saiya pulled out her wand and pointed it into the darkness in front of them. She was ready to fire at the first sign of movement. Kaztos followed suit and pulled out his hammer. The blond girl cursed the fact that now, of all times, the night had become dark again. She would feel much better if they could see whatever this thing was coming.

  Another monstrous wail washed over the group. This one sounded much closer than before. To Saiya, it sounded like the scream of someone being tortured. She gritted her teeth and tried to keep an eye out. From the corner of her eye, she could see Kaztos’ knuckles turn white from the tight grip he had on the hammer. Both of them were ready for anything to pop out at them.

  “Okay, I have the rope secured. Who’s going to go down first?” Zeltara’s voice made her jump in surprise. She turned to see Zeltara standing there next to the rope hanging over the edge. Saiya took a moment to consider her question.

  “Allow me to go last. I’ll cover our retreat and smash this monster into the ground if necessary,” Kaztos said. Saiya turned to see him looking at them with a determined look on his face. It gave her the bravery to give her own answer.

  “You go first, Zeltara. I can use the wand to protect us. Besides, you need to go down and secure the second rope.” Both of them seemed surprised to see her volunteer to be in the dangerous position. They didn’t realize it yet, but it was the practical choice. Zeltara wasn’t as equipped to fight something head-on as both of them were.

  Zeltara looked like she wanted to argue at first. Saiya gave her a look daring her to challenge the decision. Seeing this, she said, “Fine. I’ll go first. Stay safe ok? And remember to bring my lantern with you. I don’t want to lose that. It took forever to make.” Saiya just nodded in response. Zeltara gave both of them one last look before she started to climb down the rope.

  She and Kaztos stared out into the darkness with weapons at the ready. They could hear the monster creeping toward them. Saiya wondered what was taking so long. It should be almost on top of them by now, but it seemed to take its time. Perhaps they were being stalked in the darkness as it waited for an opening to strike? All the better, Saiya would prefer to avoid fighting this thing if possible. But the thought that this thing might be intelligent was a terrifying prospect.

  A sharp gasp from behind them startled them. Immediately, Kaztos turned his head and yelled out, “Are you okay, Zeltara?” The few moments of silence afterward filled her with dread. Did Zeltara fall off the rope to her death?

  To Saiya’s relief, she called up to them and said, “I’m fine. I almost slipped, is all.” She felt herself exhale in relief. She’ll make sure to hit Zeltara for scaring her like that.

  After another minute, the pair heard a quiet thud behind them. Almost immediately, they heard Zeltara call out, “I made it down okay. The outcropping seems sturdy enough. You can come down, Saiya. Just be careful of the fall. It’s hard on the knees.” Kaztos glanced at her and motioned to the rope with his head. Seeing her nod, he turned back to face the darkness again. Saiya could still hear the movements getting closer. However, a new sound reached her ears. Ragged, uneven breathing washed over the two. It resembled someone’s final desperate gasps as they clung to life. Saiya couldn’t fathom what nightmarish visage this monster took. It must be just outside the lantern’s light for them to be hearing this.

  She looked at Kaztos and said, “Be careful. If it’s too dangerous, then come down the rope after me.” He nodded in acknowledgement, but kept his eyes forward. Saiya walked over to the cliff’s edge and looked down to see the rope descend into the abyss. A feeling of trepidation overtook her. “This is such a reckless thing to do.”

  Kaztos chuckled from behind her. “You say that about everything we do.” The joke helped to calm her nerves.

  “Yeah, and it’s your fault.” Another wail stopped Kaztos’ response. Saiya turned back on the cliff and focused. She could do this. Grabbing the rope, she began her descent down the cliff.

  It took only a few feet of travel for Saiya to find herself in almost complete darkness. As much as she tried to hurry down the rope, her nerves made progress slow. Saiya feared that at any minute, she would hear Kaztos scream as he was attacked. She hated leaving him alone, but there wasn’t any other choice. A poorly timed release of her hand nearly caused her to fall to her death. She tightened her grip and stopped for a moment to regain her nerves. To think, if Saiya hadn’t met Kaztos and Zeltara, she would be peacefully reading a book in her orphanage bedroom. Saiya pushed that thought away and continued her descent. After another minute, she reached the bottom of the rope.

  Saiya tried to find the will to let go. However, her nerves were getting to her. It was pitch black at this point, and she couldn’t see the bottom. What if she mistimed the fall and missed the outcropping? Or perhaps her fall caused Zeltara to be knocked off. Saiya let out a shaky breath just thinking about it. She couldn’t will herself to let go. Zeltara interrupted her thoughts by calling up to her.

  “It’s okay, Saiya. Just drop straight down. I’ll make sure to catch you.” The closeness of the voice helped to calm Saiya’s nerves. The drop wasn’t that far. Zeltara was there to break her fall as well. So, before she lost her bravery, Saiya let go of the rope and braced herself. After a second in the air, she collided with Zeltara, collapsing on the ground in a heap.

  Feeling sore, Saiya rolled off of Zeltara with a groan. “I thought you were going to catch me.” At first, Zeltara only grumbled in response. Saiya could hear shuffling as the other girl stood up.

  “I caught you, didn’t I? I just wasn’t expecting to have to use my entire body, is all.” Saiya felt a hand grab her arm and assist her in standing up. She jumped in surprise when Zeltara yelled beside her. “Ok Kaztos. We’re both down safe. Get down here now.” The lantern light allowed Saiya to look up and see the cliff’s edge.

  She heard Kaztos shout back a response. “Fantastic news! I’ll be down-” Kaztos cut off his words with a scream. The sound caused Saiya to flinch in surprise. Dread filled her as she heard Zeltara curse. She could hear movement beside her accompanied by grunting.

  “Damn it! I can’t reach the rope. Kaztos! If you can hear us, get down here now!” Zeltara’s shouts initially had no response. Saiya feared he might be dead, suffering the same fate as the man from earlier. She felt helpless, able only to stare up at the cliff and wait for some sign.

  After a minute of agonizing waiting, Kaztos shot over the edge and started to slide down the rope. Panic washed away the relief Saiya felt as she realized how fast he was descending. He clung precariously to the rope, barely preventing himself from plummeting.

  “Brace yourself. We have to catch him,” Zeltara said beside her. Saiya followed her instructions and prepared. She waited for the inevitable impact and, after a moment, felt Kaztos fall onto her. All three of them fell onto the ground in a heap as Kaztos cried out in pain. Saiya disentangled herself and wiped the dirt off her clothing. She heard Zeltara talk while standing back up.

  “Are you okay, Kaztos? What happened up there?” She could hear Kaztos groan again before recollecting himself. She heard him shuffle and assumed he was standing up.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not hurt. That monster got too close. I could almost see it in the light. It terrified me just from the brief look I got,” Kaztos said.

  “I’m glad you’re alright. What did it look like?” Zeltara asked. Kaztos took an unsteady breath before answering.

  “It was appalling. I’ve never seen anything like that before. Something straight out of a nightmare. I couldn’t even count all the limbs it had. The way it moved wasn’t natural. I thought I heard a soft creaking noise as it moved its limbs.” Kaztos trailed off, unable to describe it further. Saiya couldn’t bring herself to blame him. It sounded like a monster from the depths of hell. Just hearing about it made her nervous. Hopefully, they wouldn’t have to worry about it once they got down.

  “Well, at least we’re halfway down now. And it looks like it’ll be easier the second time around with nothing rushing us. Now, let me just light my-” Zeltara’s voice cut out. Knowing what she meant, Saiya looked up to see the glowing light at the top of the cliff. “You forgot my lantern.” Never had something said so calmly made Saiya so nervous. She found herself glad of the darkness, as she didn’t want to see the look on Zeltara’s face.

  Kaztos must have picked up on her mood. He chuckled nervously. “Ah, well, it appears that I forgot it in the rush to get down. My apologies.”

  “You left. My invention. Behind." Only an awkward silence followed. Saiya couldn’t see, but she knew Kaztos must have been shaking. “I specifically told you to take that with you when coming down. Do you know how much time it took to make that Kaztos?”

  “I don’t know Zeltara. How long was it?” Kaztos’ voice was meek at this point.

  “It took me months, Kaztos. Months. That lantern might as well be my child. You left my child up there, Kaztos.” Saiya made a note to herself not to do anything to Zeltara’s inventions. She didn’t want to be on the end of the lecture that Kaztos was about to have.

  Fortunately, the apparent monster from hell saved Kaztos from Zeltara’s wrath. Its wail caused all three of them to look up. There was a shuffling sound before the lantern was hit off the cliff. As it fell past them to the bottom, its light allowed Saiya to see Zeltara’s look of horror for a moment. The three heard a crash beneath them, signaling the fate of the invention.

  Saiya, against better judgment, poked the bear. “Hey look, the lantern made it down.”

  “Well, at least we’ll be able to retrieve it now. It’ll be fine, Zeltara.” Kaztos tried to sound reassuring, but Saiya could pick out the undertone of nervousness. The two waited in complete darkness and listened to see how Zeltara reacted.

  “Let’s just get down from here. One of you, create a mana light so I can secure the rope.” The tone of Zeltara’s voice made Saiya rush to follow the order. Two mana lights ignited, filling the area with a teal light. Zeltara’s expression made Saiya almost wish that it was still dark. She turned away from them and rummaged through her satchel. Zeltara pulled out her spare rope and secured it to a large stone on the outcropping. Wordlessly, she threw the rope over the edge and began the climb down. Kaztos and Saiya waited a minute before they heard Zeltara yell up at them to get a move on. Kaztos gestured for her to go next, so Saiya grabbed the rope and climbed down. The coward.

  The second journey down was a much easier affair. Without the immediate threat of death forcing them to rush, they could take their time. Saiya took a few minutes to reach the bottom of the rope. Zeltara helped her get down, which was easier since the drop was only six feet compared to ten. Once she landed, Saiya called up to Kaztos, letting him know to come down. She then created a mana light to scout their surroundings.

  They couldn’t see much from the limited light, but from the looks of things, the terrain was flat. More charred vegetation lay scattered around than before. Saiya wondered if it was a sign they were getting closer to actual plant life or if it was just a coincidence. Now that there was a source of light, Zeltara looked around for her lantern. Saiya also took a quick glance around, but didn’t see it. Seeing the lantern wasn’t there, Zeltara turned to look at her.

  “Could you follow me so we can look for my lantern?” She seemed much calmer than before. Saiya was glad to see it. An angry Zeltara was not one to be trifled with. It made it easier to point out something she had forgotten.

  “We should wait for Kaztos to make his way down. It’s not a bad drop, but we should be there to help him.” Upon hearing this, Zeltara went red in embarrassment.

  “You’re right, I’m getting too carried away, sorry. I just really care about my inventions, you know? I put a lot of work into them.”

  “I understand.” The two waited for a minute for Kaztos to make his way down. Soon, they could see him shimmy his way down the bottom of the rope. She and Zeltara moved to help him land. But before they could, Kaztos dropped off and landed on his feet. He turned to them with a big grin on his face.

  “Marvelous! I am overjoyed that we all made it safely. That wasn’t an easy obstacle we just overcame.” A smile crept onto Saiya’s face as the relief of making it down hit her. They were one step closer to reaching that village.

  “That was a great job, guys. I know that wasn’t the safest thing to do, but we made it through perfectly. Now we don’t have to worry about that thing up there.” Zeltara then turned towards the cliff wall. “Now, can we please find my lantern? I want to have it before we continue on.”

  The three walked together, looking for Zeltara’s lantern. Saiya was feeling tired from the traveling they’d done today. They had been going for hours so far. Between the walking, the emotional conversations, and the perilous stunts, Saiya was ready to lie down and sleep. Hopefully, morning would come soon and they could get some rest. Maybe this time, Kaztos won’t thrash around in his sleep, waking her and Zeltara up several times.

  It took only a few minutes for them to find the lantern. Upon spotting it, Zeltara gasped in dismay and ran over to it. Saiya walked closer, expecting the worst. Surprisingly, although the glass was shattered and the metal pieces were bent, the lantern remained relatively intact. Zeltara seemed to think along the same lines as she adopted a thoughtful expression while looking it over.

  “It’s in rough shape, but I think I can fix it. I’m surprised at how it held up. Guess it’s more durable than I thought,” Zeltara said. She then put it into her satchel and turned towards them. “I guess I’ll have to stick close to you guys for now.”

  Kaztos patted her on the shoulder. “I’m sure it will work in no time. Perhaps you can work on it the next time we take a break. Until then, let’s continue on to our goal.” His words cause the three to look north. They couldn’t see the village lights anymore, but they knew it was there. Safety was somewhere over the horizon.

  “It should be sunrise anytime now. We can rest then. Let’s try to cover more ground in the meantime. Come on, the hardest part should be over already,” Zeltara said as she started walking. Saiya and Kaztos followed her. Relief filled the blond girl as they continued on their journey. Now that there was a much lower risk of danger, she could finally relax. The three walked along in much higher spirits.

  Those feelings vanished as they heard a familiar wail from behind them. To their horror, it came from the bottom of the cliff. All three whirled around and drew their weapons. From the corner of her vision, she saw Zeltara try to light the oil lantern. Unfortunately, even after repeated attempts, it failed to light.

  “Are you serious? Alright then. Saiya, keep the mana light going. Kaztos needs both of his hands, and we need to see. Brace yourselves.” Kaztos released his mana light, leaving Saiya as their sole source of light. With only one hand available, she pulled out her wand and pointed it into the dark. Hopefully, the monster won’t target her, or they’ll be plunged into darkness.

  The shuffling sounds were closing in. They seemed to come right at them. Before, the monster seemed to go back and forth as it crept toward them, almost teasing them. Now it was aggressively approaching them. Saiya wondered what caused this change of behavior before deciding it didn’t matter. They had to focus on the matter at hand.

  The three huddled together and braced themselves for battle. At the rate the monster was approaching, it would be on them any moment. Saiya shook with fear and anticipation. She didn’t like their chances against this thing. It managed to kill and mutilate the man from earlier. Who knows what it was capable of? The scuttling of countless legs was almost on top of them. She could hear the hollow gasps of its breathing. It’d be here any second now.

  That’s when light peeked over the horizon. The sky turned purple and pink. The monster let out a screech. To their surprise, they heard it leave. It retreated at such a fast pace that by the time the area lit up, there was no sign of it. The three lowered their weapons and relaxed.

  “Why did it leave?” Saiya asked. Zeltara rubbed her chin in thought. She stared off in the direction the monster had gone.

  “I’m not sure. Whatever the reason is, it’s gone now. But we need to find a place to rest.”

  Kaztos asked, “Why don’t we just head for the village today? We’ll make better time that way.”

  Zeltara shook her head as she said, “No, we shouldn’t unnecessarily push ourselves. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.”

  “We could rest until the next morning to regain our energy,” Saiya said. Now that safety was so close, they could afford to take it slower. It looked like food would carry them through at this rate.

  But Zeltara seemed quick to disagree with this idea as well. “No, I don’t want to stick around here at night. It’s too much risk of that monster lurking around. In fact, we should get an early start this afternoon to get some distance from it. For now, let’s backtrack to the cliff and find some shelter.”

  Saiya asked, “Are you sure? We’ll lose time going back.” Zeltara started walking back with them following.

  “I’m sure. We walked for only a few minutes before getting stopped. We’ll sleep better without the sun beating down on us.” She and Kaztos agreed, and they made it back to the cliff in a few minutes.

  With the benefit of the morning light, the three could easily spot a cave to shelter in. They confirmed the monster wasn’t present before making themselves at home. It was quick work for them to distribute rations and lay out their outer clothing to sleep on. The three exchanged few words, as fatigue had long settled in on them. Saiya laid down next to Kaztos and Zeltara. She barely heard them exchange good nights before sleep overtook her.