A bone white arrow cut through the air at breakneck speed, whistling through the air as it travelled. Announcing to the world that it is here. But, it didn’t matter. It’s mark, a boar, could not react in time. It punctured the skin and punched through the skull, and tore through brain matter until it reached the other side of the skull. Unable to go through, the remaining momentum pulled the boar’s already lifeless carcass across the ground. A solid thunk echoed as the carcass was pinned against the trunk of a tree.

The soft prickly grass, cold, the way he likes it. Klaus made himself small. He stared at the red hot stone tablet, the meat sizzled on it. The flame underneath seemed to enjoy its only task, it danced as it feasted on a buffet of diverse dry and figs to keep itself going, just a little longer. It danced to the music as well and so did the attendees. Except for Klaus, or maybe not, it depends on what you would classify as dancing. If swaying side to side in tandem with rhythm is dancing, then, by all means, Klaus is dancing.

Aurora returned home after the dinner. While Klaus returned the morning after, as everyone slept at the campsite. To be more specific, he’s outside of it. Hearing the sound of stone against stone, as it produced an uncomfortable sound. I don’t even mind the sound, it’s just that it takes SO DAMN LONG! I need to fix this at some point. His eyes followed the door lazily as it entered a slit. Why did we even make this go downwards.

A week later the whole team gathered at Lucien’s home. Lyris, Abdo, Luden and Lucien himself. Today’s subject: Luden’s numbers. The oh so important subject.

“We’re on track.” Lucien concluded. He slumped into his chair, and drank from his cup until he was out of breath, exhaling sharply before letting his arms dangle off the armrests." Lucien is tired beyond measure, as was the rest of the team. A full eighteen hours of work. Lyris buried her head in the desk, not a single thought in that head of hers. Luden laid on the carpeted floor. Etiquette was the last thing any of them were thinking about. Abdo however did not stop. The occasional hard clink of stone was heard as Abdo sifted through stone tablet after stone tablet. He was looking for information, anything that would provide an edge for Luden to ensure his ascension. From the carpet, Luden tilted his head towards Abdo. He pushed himself up, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. Abdo obeyed his silent command and stopped working but after he stacked the tablets neatly. “Lucien, call for Harald. We break bread.” Lucien’s response was a simple clap. That was more than enough; a battalion of servants entered. Some were empty handed, some carried dishes and some carried refreshments. Servants that carried nothing, cleaned the desk with precision and speed, instantly removing all tablets, pens, papers, and whatnot. Next up dishes and refreshments were placed on the now empty tablet. In the mean time, the team washed their face with some water magic, something they desperately needed. Water washed across their face, ripping heat from it, cooling them off. A gentle breeze circled them as the servants cast a simple spell cooling them further, and of course, relaxing them. “Enjoy your meal.” The servants said with a bow before leaving.

The entire family and a guest gathered at the dinner table. Abdo was a week into his work and it yielded great results, the only thing left to do was to confirm his theory. Before that he’d like to relax. Klaus was happily reading tablets that the guest brought over. He’s always enjoyed those that Elaria brought over. She’s quite curious about it as well! Klaus thought to himself, feet swaying underneath the chair as he read the latest regarding the Dustsong.

“You never bring me anywhere.” Aurora piped up as the crowd moved around them and they moved through it. Abdo ignored it and pushed forward dragging her along with him. He held her hand to prevent them from getting separated. “YOU NEV-” Abdo quickly covered her mouth.

“I heard you the first time, I’ll simply answer later. Silence for now, sister.” His swift reply was met with annoyance from Aurora. How was she supposed to know that? The two kept moving through the crowd.

The familiar grinding stopped and the two stepped out of their homes. It had just rained, and everything was exceptionally clean. The sun is at it’s apex, “Conserve your energy. We have lots of traveling.” Klaus’ short lived sprint came to a halt and he waited for Aurora to catch up. She pointed at the sun, “We’re early, we can take our time. If you’re hot, you know what to do.” Klaus nodded and ice cubes began forming on his skin. Aurora much prefers using wind and so her clothes began fluttering.

Aurora groaned, woken up by the harsh mid-day sun. She flipped onto her side, got a nose-full of petals and rose up bothered, now her nose was itchy, and she kept rubbing the sides of it. Klaus was snoring beside her, mouth agape. She rose to her feet with a yawn, and moved to the dining table, and on it, was the lower half of the king otter. Demitri took the top half, and Toskr didn’t need any, all he needed was the blood. She placed the palm of her hands on the frozen carcass, and blew a raspberry. She smacked her lips, and it felt dry. Water well up in her hand, and she drank straight from it.

“Oh that’s funny!” Letr said breathlessly. Notes filled the air as he strummed some tune on his lute.

Bang, bang, bang, echoed throughout the home as Toskr repeatedly slammed his fist into the ground. “More!” He yelled, “More!” Punctuated by another bang.

“Nope, that was it. It took me a while to come up with that joke, alright?” Demitri answered. It was assumed that he had a smile on his face. Back against the wall, Abdo listened to the lively chatter, the scene of what happened was affixed by his mind onto the colorless grey wall that filled his vision.