Sun looked over his shoulder, barely able to see over Fen’s head. She and Xue were currently being carried piggyback as both of them had grown too tired to walk over the past several weeks. “Father, can you take Fen?" He'd been carrying her for the past several hours and was at his limit. They all desperately needed rest but it was hard to stop for too long. They were probably almost out of Tos nor which meant they'd finally be able to find a place to settle down…assuming Illyria was as good as reports stated.

  Yiting nodded as he walked up. "Yeah, I can. Thank you for the respite, tal." Sun wanted to roll his eyes at

  the honorific, but it was one of the few things binding them together and an intangible connection to their community. He was much, much too old for the silly little diminutive, but he knew how much it meant to all of them right now.

  Fen started to cry as she was taken off Sun's back and Yiting offered her some soothing noises as well as a song. "I wanna go home," Fen cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Why can't we go back?"

  Yiting sighed. "We'll explain when you're older, tal." Sun exchanged glances with his father. This was so hard on Fen and Xue who were too young to truly understand the gravity off what was going on. They had tried to explain, but it was simply too much for children so young to understand. All of the intricacies of politics, religion, and culture were simply too much for such young kids to understand. Even now, at twenty, Sun didn't fully understand everything." but prejudice didn't seem to make sense. No matter what form it took, it just seemed illogical.

  After Yiting took Fen, they started walking again. The walking seemed endless. He could scarcely remember what comfort felt like at this point. But they desperately needed to get to Illyria. Tosnor worshiped the Silent Ones as well. but with their dose economic ties to Has aeon, the family didn't feel safe. They had to make it to Illyria for their own safety. Maybe they could return to Hasaeon one day, but not anytime soon. It was far, far too dangerous; they had barely escaped with their lives.

  The sound of hoofbeats came to their ears, that of a small herd of horses. The family glanced at each other nervously, not sure what to make of it. A young woman that seemed around Sun's age sat atop a blue roan horse, more following. Black cat ears sat atop her head. twitching and rotating. She was a Faunus too? That definitely did feel a bit better. But who was she and why did she have enough horses for all of them? It was very unusual and they hadn't seen anything like it before.

  She dismounted and held her hands up as a show she was unarmed. "Can you understand me?" Her accent

  was thickly Illyrian as she looked at them.

  Sun glanced at his mother, then his father. They both bore the youngest children on their backs. So it fell to him to speak for them. He stepped forward and nodded. "Some of us can. The youngest can't." He wasn't sure how his accent made him sound to her ears i he had learned Illyrian in case anything like this had happened; now he was glad he hadn't eschew n his lessons from a young age. "Who are you and why are you here?" He eyed the horses warily.

  She dipped her head. "Blake Belladonna. Lorrick sent me some Ever wild horses and I was simply told to go with them." She patted the horse next to her. "This is Symphony, my Everwild companion. She told me there were people in need and we had to head out at Lorrick's behest." Blake looked at them. "Will you be able to ride? All of you look thoroughly exhausted. It's about three hours to Hazelmere."" Her ears twitched and she looked at them, concerned.

  Sun nodded. "It's getting to be dark so we'll have to." He saw his parents explaining things to his younger siblings. Xue and Fen looked crestfallen but accepting. They would have had to keep pushing forward regardless. He knew that continuing to push Xue and Fen wasn't good but it wasn't like they had much choice in the matter.

  He looked back at Blake. "Where will you be taking us? You said it was about three hours away. Where are we exactly?" He felt bad for inquiring so much, but he wanted to be sure they were safe. It was hard to trust outsiders when Hasaeon had been so hostile to Luminists.

  "You're in Illyria, though not by much. Tosnor is about a day's ride from here. Lorrick told me to come get you guys. My mother and father said you're welcome to stay with us as long as you want to." Blake's ears twitched a bit. Sun looked at her as did his parents. He knew that offers like this from strangers outside the Fold were dangerous to accept.

  Or, at least, they had been in Hasaeon.

  But this wasn't Hasaeon; it was Illyria.

  He looked at his parents and spoke to them in their native language. "What do you think?" he asked them. "The Silent Ones sent us no omen but sent her a direct message it so uns like. Is she trustworthy?" He knew he shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth,but he just... This went against a lifetime of conditioning. Accepting help from a random stranger in Hasaeon could have severe consequences and he and his parents couldn't afford to have something happen after having walked for so long and risked their lives for this Trek.

  His parents put Fen and Xue down, then started talking amongst themselves. He was pretty sure Blake could hear them,but he was also pretty sure they were using their native language and that meant she couldn't understand them. It went on for quite a while until they looked at Sun and then Blake. "We'll accept your help. Our youngest are weary and need a place to rest. We received no omen from the Nocthara about your help, but we will take it," Shufen, his mother, said. Fen and Xue had both been crying for over a week now about their exhaustion and hunger. Sun's heart wept for them and he wanted to see it come to an end.

  Blake nodded. "All right then; mount up and we'll head off." Sam looked at his parents who were still clearly wary, but they followed Blake's orders. Really, the family was too exhausted for more travel, but they needed to press onward. He wasn't sure if this was the end of their journey or not. Would they stay with Blake's family or was it merely a stopover until they continued on? He wasn't really sure. Granted, the Silent Ones often only sent messengers to the Veiled Lantern. He had no way of knowing if they were supposed to stay here or not.

  “Who are the Nocthara and where do you come from? As the Divarchon so often are, Lorrick was incredibly cryptic about all of this," Blake said as she clucked her horse into a trot.

  The rest of the horses followed easily and Sun's parents looked at him. His tail flicked a bit. It felt unfair for them to expect him to speak on the family's behalf; he was just as weary as the rest of them were. But they weren't leaving him much choice. "We're from Hasaeon, the other side of Tosnor." He didn't want to say much more than that, though. "What do you know about our nation?" That might help him gauge where Blake stood on the Fold and see if he felt like he could tell her they were part of it or not.

  Blake shrugged. "Not a whole lot other than you guys think the Stamenta are the real gods for some reason I don't understand." Her tone showed she didn't have much interest in the goings on of Hasaeon. "It's on the other side of Tosnor, far to the east. I know a fair bit about Tosnor due to living so close to the border and sometimes having to go there for a few days to trade. But Hasaeon is so far away that I haven't bothered to learn much about it; it's not like most people come here from there."

  He looked to his parents, but they were busy with Fen and Xue. He sighed internally. They really were leaving this up to him. He really wasn't sure how much to give away to this stranger. "Was the message from Lorrick to simply guide us deeper into Illyria or to let us stay with you?" Despite being a high-ranking member of the Fold, he really wasn't sure what communing with the Silent Ones entailed. He didn't know what sort of message they Would send.

  "That's not what the Divarchon do. They don't want to enforce their will on mortals. He told me that 'the wanderers need rest 'and 'they will be three suns away' while sending me horses. What my family and I do after you arrive at our house is up to us." Blake shrugged. "It's my father's house, but my mother rules the roost." He looked at her, questioning. He had no idea what that meant. Yes, he could speak Illyrian. but expressions were going to take time. "It means the house is her domain. She runs the house. It'll ultimately be her decision if you stay or go…" Blake's amber eyes glittered with humor. "...but I know her and she won't want you to go anywhere."

  Sun frowned. "We're strangers and foreigners. Why would your mother not want us to leave?" Of course, those in the Luminant Fold stuck by each other, but outside of the community, they had to be careful. If anybody from outside the Fold learned they were part of it, there was real risk. The Talsenian government had decided it was time to purge the Fold and had started systematically killing off Fold members. The Wukong family had narrowly escaped with their lives. After so much pain in Hasaeon, it was hard to believe someone would take random strangers in.

  "That's honestly just how my mother is. She'll give anybody the shirt off her back. Same with my father. They're both loving, caring people." She smiled at Sun. That…felt incredibly foolish and naive.

  "Will you have enough room for all of us?" he asked. There were eight of them in total. He had no idea how someone could have enough room for their own family as well as eight additional people. Granted, Xue and Fen would share a room as well as his parents, but that still meant six rooms. His family had been forced into a three-bedroom apartment which meant no privacy for any of them. Rong and Jian were in constant conflict due to both of them being teenagers. Sun had shared his room with Huan, Xue, and Fen since his parents hadn't wanted the younger kids between Rong and Jian. Would they be forced into just a few rooms again or would Blake's family have enough rooms for all of them?

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  "Oh, we have plenty of room. There are seven stories to our living quarters plus the apothecary. Granted, the top story isn't really fit for most people inhabiting it. It's meant mainly as an auroraswift aviary." There was a hint of sorrow in Blake's tone, but he didn't know why. Maybe he would learn in due time, but not right now when they were strangers.

  "Auroraswifts?" he asked. Aviary hinted at them being a type of bird, but the word felt strange on his tongue. He knew he'd run into plenty of words he didn't know while here in Illyria. But still, the word was incredibly strange to him.

  "They're a type of bird sacred to Rhyza that's been domesticated here in Illyria. They largely live at sanctums, but there are people who keep them due to the sheer joy they exude. They're warm, playful, and just plain joyous to be around." Her tone was matter of fact but he could sense pain behind it. Considering there was an aviary meant for them…someone in her family had raised them.

  "Why is your house so big?" Might as well get her off what was causing her pain. It was so rare for Luminists to own their own homes. The Hasaeonite government made it illegal for Luminists to do so. His family was lucky to have a three-bedroom apartment. Some Luminist families had only a single room with twelve people. He felt so awful for those families, but it wasn't like they had room to spare either. To think Blake's family had that much room to themselves…though they wouldn't for much longer, not with the Wukong family about to join them.

  "My family's been quite large in the past. Multiple generations living under the same roof. We needed the space. Not so much now, though. My father is an only child and my grandfather's siblings scattered to the winds. It's only my father, mother, siblings and I." That certainly did explain a lot. It was odd to hear of so many of the same

  family living under the same roof. Lamin ist families tended to be spread out due to the nature of the community.

  "That's strange to me, so many people living together and being related. We're lucky to have three generations living together. Generally, our elderly are cared for by the community." He had gotten to know his grandparents in their elder home, but he may very well never see them again... The elderly and in firmed had been the Talsenian government's first targets since they were so easy. He had no idea what had become of his grandparents... His family had been forced to flee in the dead of night with only a few outfits and nothing else. The past few months had been like Tempesus, completely wild and unknown and chaotic.

  "We're very family oriented here in Illyria. We usually stick together as a family." She sighed. "Usually. I'm not sure why my extended family left like they did. My father doesn't like to talk about it." She shook her head. "You didn't come to hear about my family issues, so what questions do you have about our culture?"

  "You can worship the Nocthara openly here?" Sun asked, looking over at Blake.

  "The who? You did use that name before, but I haven't quite picked up what it means." Her ears twitched a bit.

  "I believe you called them the Divarohon? The true gods: Heshia, Lorrick, Nira, and the others. What is a Sanctum?" He had to admit, he didn't know a lot about Illyria. As far as he could tell, they had no real alliance with Has aeon." at least if Blake was anything to go off of. There was no real telling, though. He had no idea of how close the common folk of Illyria would follow their government's edicts especially so close to the border with Tosnor.

  "Illyria has freedom of religion. We do worship the Divarchon as a country, but most people don't care if you follow it or not. You can believe in and worship… I don't know, the Great Celestial Sock made by the Great Cosmic Seamstress. As long as you aren't being aggressive with your beliefs, you can worship whatever entity or entities you wish to.

  "As for Sanctums. they're the holy grounds of the Tenfold Path which is our religion. Hazelmere has the largest mixed Sanctum for quite some distance." she looked at sun and the rest of the family. "I'm certain you must all be hungry and weary, but we should go to the Sanctuary of Second Blessings once we get to town. It'll let you all get some clothes. After that, we'll go to my house where we can have a meal and then you can rest. How does that sound?" She had to raise her voice to reach them all. Sun saw his parents exchange glances but they nodded. "All right then; let's make haste." Blake clucked the horses into a canter and they all fell silent.

  They altered the horses' paces enough to keep them from wearing out too quickly. Occasionally, Sun looked over at his parents and saw how weary Fen and Xue were. His heart hurt for his youngest siblings who didn't understand what was happening or why. They occasionally fussed but his parents would get them quiet again. It seemed like their long journey may finally be at its end. Four months was far too long to travel on foot for anybody, let alone a six year old and a seven year old. But it was that or stay and be murdered. He really didn't like either

  option, but at least innocent blood hadn't been spilled this way.

  Eventually, a gate came into view. The sun was nearly below the horizon but it wasn't hard to make out the stone walls even in the fading light. "Who goes there? "one of the guards asked. "And why are there so many of you?"

  “It's Blake. Lorrick Himself told me to find these people and bring them here. If you have a problem with it, go to the Sanctum or, better yet, the Everwild and take it up with Him." Blake's tone showed she had no patience for this. Sun could hardly blame her; he was just as weary as the rest of his family from the long travel. They would at least have somewhere to rest their weary minds and bodies after so long. They were dirty, hungry, thirsty, and soul weary from so much travel. He really hoped the guards wouldn't stop them from their destination.

  Thankfully, he heard the sound of the gate opening and they were soon trotting beneath the archway. "I know you're all weary, but hold on a while longer; I imagine some new clothes will go a long way in helping," Blake said.

  Yiting sighed. "Yes. We wore out all of our few outfits we brought with us on the road. All we have with us is what you see." Sun could hear the sheer exhaustion in his father's voice. All of them were well beyond their limits especially Fen and Xue. But at this point. what was a little bit longer? Sun wanted a good meal and a bed, but new clothes did sound appealing. This outfit was so dusty that it had changed colors. He could hardly remember the original shades at this point.

  "Let's hurry along then." Blake clucked the horses into a jog. The sun had set by this point, but Blake followed the streets as if they weren't darkened by the dusk. Some lights from houses helped illuminate the streets a bit, but it was largely dark. In the distance on a hill, though, Sun could make out a green flame. He wasn't sure how faraway they were, but even from a distance, it wasn't hard to discern the flame was massive and elevated while burning in some form of vessel.

  They eventually got to the flame and it was indeed massive. San let out a low whistle. "Is it really that impressive?" Blake asked.

  "What is it for?" Sun asked. It was probably a sacred flame of some sort, but the size was unlike anything he'd seen before. Non-Luminists didn't have anything like this, let alone Luminists that needed to hide in plain sight. He had seen sacred flames to Vanya and Raelan before, but never like this. This was absolutely insane to him. How was it maintained and why was it green? The color was beyond unusual.

  "It's Vareya's sacred flame. Each mixed Sanctum or ones dedicated to Her have a flame like this. The flame resists wind and rain due to its magical nature. Plus, from what I understand of pyrelarks, they consume embers from such fires." Blake didn't stop the horses from continuing their pace, so the fire continued to move. He wanted to see more of it. He could detect other buildings in the vicinity as well. He was intensely curious what an open worship area to the Nocthara looked like despite his intense weariness. But there would be time for that in the future when he was better rested and recovered.

  They went past the sacred flame and toward a building with a flickering light in the window. They dismounted once there and Blake led them inside. A young woman about his age stood behind a counter, looking over a book. She looked up when they entered. "Hey, Blake, it's a bit late to be here— I should've already left but—" She glanced at sun and his family. "I'm guessing there's a story here?" Her purple eyes flicked back to Blake.

  Blake looked at sun and his family. "this is the Sanctuary of Second Blessings. Take what you need. There's no cost. And this is Yang. She's a Flamekeeper to Vareya though she doubles as a Morningward for Rhyza sometimes." With that, Blake turned to Yang and started chatting which left Sun and his family a bit adrift. This was free? They didn't have any currency as what they'd had on them had been spent months ago.

  Hesitantly, they began to fan out and start looking through the clothes. It took some time but they all found about a week's worth of outfits. Once done, they headed back up to where Blake and Yang were. Yang smiled at them. 'Get everything you needed?" Yang asked. "Normally, we do want people using the Sanctuary to give thanks to Rhyza, but it's late for all of us. Feel free to come back when you've rested and recovered."

  "Thank you," Shufen said, her tone weary.

  Yang put all of their clothes into bags and they were soon on their way.

  Blake led them through the darkness once again to a tall building where a light flickered in a

  high window. Blake explained how to get to the upper stories. "I'll take care of the horses, so don't worry about that." Sun could hear the smile in her voice. "My mother's probably the one waiting. I wouldn't be surprised if she has a hot meal waiting. Don't be afraid; she's a lovely woman." Sun was pretty sure his family felt as nervous as he did since it wasn't like going into a stranger's home was normal in the Fold. But they were all hungry and weary without much choice in the matter.

  They found their way to the staircase and carefully made their way up to the lighted portion. A dog greeted them at the door, booting at them. They hesitantly followed it until they reached the kitchen. A woman that looked a lot like Blake greeted them. "Oh, you must be the ones Lorrick told Blake to find! It's nice to meet all of you! I'm Kali Belladonna. Come in and get something to eat." Between her and the dog, the eight of them were herded into a room with a long table. It was laden with food, more than enough for all of them.

  "Thank you," Shufen said. She quickly introduced everybody then they all sat down to eat. Yiting said a quick prayer in their native language to the silent ones then they started to eat. The flavors were unlike what they had in Hasaeon, but they wouldn't complain. A meal was a meal at this point and they were grateful.

  "I won't interrogate you tonight, but I will warn you my son, Samuel, isn't fond of changes to his routine. Guests upset the environment and so he won't like that you're here. It's nothing against you; it's simply how he is. He'll get over it in due time, though." Kali smiled at them, but Sun, Shufen, and Yiting all exchanged glances. They didn't want to upset their host family unnecessarily. This was already a lot for them. Kali's smile didn't change though. “It'll be all right, I promise."

  "Okay," Shufen said. At this point, Fen and Xue were practically asleep. "Can we rest now?"

  Kali nodded. "Follow me, dears, and then you can rest. We have more than enough room for all of you." she stood floor. She handed them a candle. She explained where to find of them on the level and led them back out to the staircase and to another more of them on the level, promising she'd bring up wood for fires. Shufen and Yiting nodded then Kali left. After finding the promised candles, they all dispersed to different rooms.

  To Sun. it was strange to have an entire room to himself. He was too used to sharing his room. He'd had his own room until Jian had come along, then he'd shared with Rong for a while... He really had no idea how to handle having a room to himself. Then again, he wasn't going to complain. And he was tired. So he changed into some of the clean clothes from the Sanctuary then blew his candle out. The silence of the night embraced him, lulling him into the best sleep he'd had in months.