Havillah walked into the town through the western gate. Now that the fog had lifted, the town  looked lovely in the bright morning sunlight that was streaming in through the jungle trees that surrounded the walls. She walked down the path that Sophir had once led her through. The same one that they had travelled last night while she was speaking to her mother.

She was aware that she had been banished and that alone was enough cause for worry, but considering that they were here too, her mother had seemed awfully troubled last night. Why had she come out after and why had the two idiots followed her? She understood Cjaira's impulsive nature but Moriella, Havillah had thought her to be more sensible than this. Cjaira had nothing to lose so to speak but Moriella had a family and the Elder Tamaar, well she had left her husband and twin boys back in the city. What was so important that they had to follow her here knowing that they could not return? Or could they? She stilled as she stopped walking altogether to ponder the words that her mother had previously spoken.

Back then she had been too engrossed with the issue of Sophir to pay attention, but now that she actually thought about it,  she seemed to recall her mother saying something about there not being much time, but time for what? Havillah racked her mind for anything else that she may have missed and finally, she recalled something that Moriella had said. That the Hub had helped in tracking her, but how? It was impossible that they had sensors way out here and unlike before, there was no way of distinguishing the red dots after heat sensing. There was bound to be other people and even larger animals out. Therefore, it was not practical. So, how had they done it?

Even as she thought hard on this issue, Havillah recalled that there had been an unusual number of techguys in the team with Killion. Usually, a team was assigned a single techguy and usually, these were combat soldiers like Gabriel who hapenned to be multi talented. However, she had seen plenty of the white coats here today. The type that usually remained in the Hub to monitor the terror's activities. She had also seen one of the chiefs of the techguys and she wondered, what was a man like that doing there?

Had Jharey been right in suspecting her? It seemed too convinient that the Bethesdans would show up equipped like that in the name of a search party. She was not a citizen of Bethesda and Killion could have easily turned her mother down. Therefore, did this mean that they had exploited the opportunity to get into the mayor's territory? It seemed so. For why would the man, who had sworn to protect her bring Calla along with him?

Her mind went back to their confrontation. Had he been using her? It made a lot more sense that way. From what she had learnt of the true nature of the humans, is that they were fundamentaly treacherous. The same treachery that had led to the Great Ascension. How foolish she had been to completely disregard the Elder's teachings.

"But there are still good humans." the voice said with what she imagined was a smile.

"And what are you so happy about? " she could not help herself so she snapped back.

"You are amusing when you are angry, both you and that captain."

"Why should it matter to you what he is also feeling?"

"It matters more what YOU are now feeling."

"Oh, I had forgotten that you are particularly concerned about my negative emotions. "

"They are not something that I would want you to give into. If you allow them, they have the power to twist you into something grotesque. Imagine that. Just now you were agreeing with sentiments of your previous mentor. What does that say about your present disposition? "

"But-" she started to protest but he cut in before she could continue.

"It does not matter if you have been wronged or misunderstood. To walk this path you cannot give in to such fickle emotions. Anger and bitterness will never be a part of the solution."

"Then how am I supposed to move on from this? I am being made to be malicious and it is soiling my good name."

At that, the voice chuckled.

"Why do you care for a good name. People will always think what they want to think and words will rarely convince them. Let your actions speak for themselves and let them decide whether you are 'good' or not."

"Huh..." Havillah deflated. " I guess you are right." she had always known that it would take more to convince people especially for her, the alien. For how long had Killion known her, just weeks and just because she had saved his life, it was unfair of her to expect more from him.Something like instant trust. She had placed higher expectations on him and had been solely disappointed when he had voiced his doubts. At least, he had spoken to her about it and how had she behaved in turn? She had thrown a tantrum and refused to explain things to him. He was human after all, not that Great were any different on that note. Her own mother had questioned her innocence and rightly so, since people did change. There were liars too and truly malevolent people. Those that appeared to be okay on the surface but were actually rotten apples.

"Thanks. She finally mumbled as thr anger lost its hold on her. "I truly needed that."

"And that's why I am here. Anyway, for the reason I am truly here,"

"There is another reason? "

"Yes, the main reason."

She breathed out a tired sigh. "I was going to see Sophir like I promised."

"What do you plan to do about the Sleepers?" it ignored her.

"Well, I don't imagine I can hold them in my lap like I did with Sophir. They are also bound to rash out. What I am not able to understand is why Sophir did not wake up. She was not yet a Sleeper and the others that were asleep woke up, right? "

"Yes, it would seem that she was specifically targeted. Hence, the reason why she was pulled into the very heart of the miasma."

"What miasma? "

"The fog dummy! The shadow wolves are both a predatory and toxic terror. They prey and poison the mind and that is the reason why the physical manifestation is one of a diseased person. The venom not only erodes the bridge but creates a portal through which more of the terrors can invade." he said even as Havillah thought back to her fight with the terrors.

"Then how do we help restore the Sleepers? "

"This terror is very much like the real thing."

"Wolves? "

"They have one mind despite their numbers, and of course there will always be an alpha. Another thing to note is that terrors are often territorial. If you don't do something about this territory, they can always come back."

"What do you mean that they are territorial?" she asked, thinking back to the wyverns of Bethesda. Was it that her presence back there had truly kept the terrors at bay? What was going to happen now that she was gone?

"It's your fault! You told me to leave!" what made it even worse was the fact that her leaving Bethesda had drawn their captain out there. Who was guarding the town? Who was monitoring the terrors? she thought even as she recalled the abundance of Tech guys in the area.

"Relax. Bethesda is okay. I made sure of that."

"How? "

"We marked the territory so to speak, by activating that giant scale."

"How, I cannot recall-" she stopped as she recalled the urgency with which the voice had pushed her around. It acted more laid back these days and she guessed that it was then that that had happened.

"Why do you think those other Great are able to move around here? They are using your crystals to create an artificial environment that similar to that of Triberias."

"They are using the crystals to induce the atmosphere of the Hope? "

"Exactly. But at a much smaller scale therefore their virtues are much more diminished. The elder understood that and used her knowledge to petition the captain to help her. She seems to have an ulterior motive though. I would be wary of her if I were you." he told her but Havillah was not listening.

Her mother was a clairvoyant. A power that had been used to trace and find the victims from the scaffold collapses on Triberias. Therefore, tracing her should have been easy. But, if she was now struggling with her Virtue, courtesy of being away from the hope, then it all made sense that she would go to Killion for his help.

"You are not paying attention!" her Guide scolded.

"I am! It means that I must find the scale of Denevieuh, but if this town had a temple, wouldn't I have been able to spot it by now?" she recalled that the temple in Bethesda was massive. It was impossible to miss such a building in a borough as tiny as this one.

"It doesn't have to be big. A Chancel can be small enough as long as it is able to house a scale."

That was not very helpful. She mused. How was she even supposed to look?

"Come. " a sudden gust of wind pushed against her and she ground her feet in return.

"Not this again! " she complained. "why don't you just tell me where to go and I will head there."

It ignored her and instead, it continued shoving her towards the town square. She was weaved past the Sleepers in the square. Most of them were still on the ground but she noticed that they were slowly becoming active even as a fog stirred up again. She now knew that it was a miasma and as the Sleepers became more active more of it would flood in as well.

The wind pushed her past the square and up the little hill. Was the Chancel housed within the mayor's compound? No,  she realised as they continued ascending. They left the forked road that led to the wooden fortress and continued up the slope to the top of the hill. Then, the wind suddenly ceased.

She was now standing on a flat surface that overlooked the town. From here, she realised, that the town square was placed to the west of the hill. There were more houses to the east though and another path that led to the mayor's compound. To the north was the ravine and in the south the jungle had encroached inside the walls. With the mountains to the west she could see how the western front was protected. Therefore, the western gate was actually a gate to the orchard and the farmlands. She finally surmised.

Recalling why she was there, Havillah looked around for anything that could be housing a giant scale. Well, maybe not giant considering the size of the town but it had to be huge in relation to the other scales.

Bushes,  bushes she turned around and there were even more bushes. However, at the more central point of the top of the hill was a single tree with vines hanging from its branches and leaves. In fact, the vines had completely covered it and only its shape had caused her to believe that it was a tree.

She drew closer and she realised that what she had initially thought to be the branches was actually a tiled roof with missing shingles. What she had thought to be the trunk were four pillars covered with Lianas and creeping ivy. Havillah rushed forward and began untangling the vines. They had grown crowded over time and the older ones were too thick to be removed with just her bare hands. She needed help. She finally surmised. But from whom? She wondered. Killion was the last person she was going to approach and considering their little tiff earlier, he was definitely still mad at her. In extension, that also meant that she could not ask any of the Bethesdans for help. And then there was the issue of this being the Jharey's territory. She was sure that he would frown upon the action that had Bethesdans running around.

"Need some help little girl? "