"Devvyn Arkwright." Maelis stood in the doorway with her arms folded, her expression like a dark thundercloud. Her coat was soaked through, water dripping steadily onto the floorboards beneath her boots. "What part of grounded do you not understand?"
Devvyn hunched his shoulders, scratching the back of his neck. "I… left a note," he mumbled, avoiding her eyes. "I didn't go far, I swear. Just went to Aela's. To apologise. We had a fight—about, um… me telling you she wanted to do the Gauntlet Trials."
"Right. She was quite annoyed when I talked to her about that." Maelis sniffed.
"Wait, you're soaked!" He hurried over and gently ushered her inside, shutting the door behind them. He grabbed the thick quilt and wrapped it around her shoulders.
"What happened? Where did you go?" he asked.
Maelis pulled the quilt tighter around herself. "To the Black Market," she said. "To find the man who sold you that cursed whistle."
Devvyn paused. "Grandmother you shouldn't have gone alone…"
"I wasn't really thinking in the moment Devvyn. But you're right. When I found him and asked about the whistle, he took one look at me and bolted. I would have caught him if I'd gone with you or Jelric."
"He ran?" Devvyn asked, speaking more to himself than Maelis.
"Like his life depended on it." She gave a humourless chuckle. "He ran the moment I mentioned the whistle. He knew. He knew what that thing would do. The question is… why give it to you, specifically?"
"That's what I want to find out," he said quietly. "And if the Remnants were just an illusion."
"Find out about the whistle and the remnants, and then we'll figure out how to get that thing off you, together," she said, her voice a little softer now. "But I don't want you getting into more trouble, Devvyn. I promised your mother I would do anything to keep you safe and seeing you looking half dead in the bathtub, I thought I'd failed her. So promise me, that no matter what you'll stay safe and you won't go chasing Echos."
Devvyn glanced at her. Again, he felt the familiar presence of guilt embrace him. He wished he could tell her everything but the book was now entangled with the dead Hunter and the fact that Jelric's father was part of the Unbound. Gaur had said to keep quiet for the sake of everyone's safety.
"I'll be safe. I promise." Devvyn said as he went to Maelis and picked up a side of the quilt, using it to rub her hair dry. "No Echo chasing either," he added. For now…
"So, here's what I'll do. You're still grounded, but I'll adjust the terms. You can move around the Lower City but you cannot leave it for now. Not until we're sure that whistle won't send you into another fit."
Devvyn's face lit up with surprise and relief. "That's totally fine with me."
"Good," Maelis nodded. "We've got work to do anyway. That machine isn't going to build itself, and I don't really feel like sleeping."
They worked in the workshop late into the night. Eventually, Maelis paused and sat back slightly. "Do you think you can replicate the cold ball I used to lower your body temperature?"
Devvyn looked up from his sorting. "I guess…it's mostly about temperature regulation through layered mana dampeners. I can reverse engineer using the original one."
"Good. I put it in the crate beside the shelf. If you can make a few more, you'll have backups to carry around. Just in case."
"Right," Devvyn said, already wiping his hands on a rag.
"Grandmother," Devvyn said not looking up from his work. "Have you decided where we're going to move to yet?"
Maelis leaned back. "Still thinking about somewhere in the Lower City," she said. "Maybe farther out near the workshop district. The rents are high, but not as bad as the Upper Rises. I'm hoping something opens up soon."
Devvyn nodded slowly. "What if nothing opens up?"
Maelis sighed. "Then we might have to look outside. Maybe the Golden Fields or Eternis. Aela can come with us if she wants. There'd be room."
Devvyn paused. The idea of leaving the Lower City left a weird, hollow feeling in his chest. "I'd rather go to the Golden Fields," he said finally.
Maelis let out a dry laugh. "Really? I thought you loved Eternis."
Devvyn frowned. "Not so much anymore. Eternis just feels… fake, now." And unsafe, he thought, remembering the gang.
The next morning, Devvyn rapped lightly on the door.
Beside him, Aela stood, her arms crossed as she shifted from left to right on her feet.
The door creaked open.
Jelric's father filled the doorway. He wore the same stern expression as usual.
"Good morning, Mr Vergahn," Devvyn said quickly, stepping forward with a polite smile. "Is Jelric inside?"
Beside him, Aela had gone still. Her face had drained of colour, and she was suddenly very interested in the space between her boots and the doorstep.
Mr Vergahn didn't return the greeting. He glanced between the two of them, lips pressed into a thin line. "No. I sent him out on an errand."
Aela glanced up. "To where?"
Just then, a faint sound echoed from inside the house. Both Devvyn and Aela turned their heads slightly, but Mr Vergahn didn't move. His jaw clenched. Then, with a glance over his shoulder toward the noise, he turned back to them. "I don't see how that concerns you," he said coolly.
Devvyn stepped in again. "Right. Of course. Thank you, Mr Vergahn." He reached out and gently took Aela by the elbow. "We'll just come back later."
Without waiting for a response from Jelric's father, he turned them both around and started walking.
Aela didn't speak until they were halfway down the street. "I don't know how you were able to be around him after finding out he was Unbound."
Devvyn exhaled through his nose. "I don't know either." He glanced at her, brow furrowed. "Do you think he knows that we know? He acted pretty weird back there."
Aela wrapped her arms around herself, still walking. "I don't even want to think about it right now." She shook her head. "Let's just get to the library. We'll find Jelric later."
They made their way down to the old wing, where the library was located.
Devvyn pushed open the termite-ridden wooden door.
Behind the front desk sat Mrs. Morsefield, spectacles perched on the bridge of her nose, scribbling something in a ledger.
"Hi, Mrs. Morsefield," Devvyn said as they passed.
The two of them moved toward the shelves.
"Alright," he said, lowering his voice as they rounded a corner. "I'll start pulling anything that might have references to rune instruments, mana-binding, old relics—anything even remotely close to that whistle."
Aela nodded. "I'll hit the back section, near the records archive. That's where they usually keep stuff about the Trials. Historical accounts, survivor interviews, old Academy publications."
"Good. We'll compare notes when we're done reading," Devvyn said, already turning toward the section on magical artefacts.
He began skimming through the worn spines. Finally, near the bottom of the shelf, he found something promising: Instruments of the Old War: Artefacts and Their Arcane Applications.
The pages were yellowed and smelled faintly of mildew, but the index included a section on The Remnant Incursion. Tucking the book under his arm, Devvyn made his way to the study tables. Aela was hunched over four open books, her brow furrowed, fingers buried in her thick curls.
He slid into the seat across from her and glanced at her stack. "Four books? You're really determined to push yourself huh?"
Aela shot him a sideways glare without lifting her head. "One more word and I'm chucking this history volume at your head."
Hours passed like minutes; the silence filled only by the rustle of turning pages.
Aela groaned and leaned back in her chair. "I swear if I read one more sentence about how 'the mind is the battlefield of the third trial,' I'm going to scream. My brain's going to burst."
Devvyn closed his book halfway and rubbed his eyes. "Alright, what've you got so far?"
She flipped through the book on top of the stack and jabbed a finger at a highlighted name. "Most of the winners had Echos backing them, no surprise there. But there were a few without. One guy made it all the way through with nothing but a broken staff and a big brain. So that's… encouraging, I guess."
Devvyn raised a brow. "So you're saying there's no chance?"
Aela gave him a dry look. "There is but barely. I'll have to be prepared. The trials change every year, but all the records say the same thing: physical strength, mental strength, endurance. That's the structure. They'll disguise it with weird scenarios or puzzles, but those three things are always tested."
She slumped forward, folding her arms over the book. "I'm definitely lacking in strength and endurance. Mental stuff I can handle, but running and punching? Not exactly my strong suits."
Devvyn leaned back, crossing his arms. "Then we'll train. I'll help you. If it follows the usual schedule, we have two to three months before the Gauntlet."
Her smile widened slightly as she looked at him. "Thank you, Devvyn. You're the best when you're not being an annoying little beast. So…anything on the whistle?"
Devvyn flipped open the book he'd set aside and thumbed to a bookmarked page. "Sort of. It says here that during the war, Valorians and Bloodbound soldiers were gifted the whistle by a powerful rune magician. No name available."
"Apparently, the whistle emits a frequency that causes the Remnants to freeze up long enough for soldiers to cut them down. After they were pushed into near extinction, the whistle disappeared from the necks of its wearers. The end."
"That's it?"
"That's all," Devvyn said with a shrug. "So, uh… yeah. Nothing really useful either."
Aela leaned back in her chair again, groaning. "So, we're basically two for two on dead ends."
"Yup," Devvyn replied. "But at least we now know the whistle technically isn't supposed to exist."
"Which begs the question…" Aela muttered, "Why is one here?"
Devvyn looked down the page, still open in front of him. "Yeah. And why give it to me?"
"To you?" Aela frowned, sitting up straighter. "What do you mean?"
Devvyn shut the book with a soft thump. "Maelis went looking for the guy who sold me the whistle. She found him, but the moment she described the whistle, he ran. Which means he knew what it was. And he gave it to me on purpose."
She looked at him, face pale. "Ignisara's hot, fiery flames. Devvyn. What if the Remnants are truly back and you weren't hallucinating when you saw them?"
Devvyn didn't answer immediately. His gaze dropped to the open book again. "The book says they were pushed into near extinction. Not total."
Aela was already shaking her head. "If they're back… if that's why he gave you the whistle—"
"Why me, though?" Devvyn cut in, his brow furrowed. "Why not someone who can actually kill a Remnant? Why give it to a nobody from the Lower City with no Echo and barely any training?"
"He was in the black market selling toys. Maybe he didn't have any customers until you."
"That makes sense."
Aela groaned and dropped her head into her hands. "Ughhh, all of this is stressing me out. There's the book, the Remnants, the Gauntlet… we're too young to be dealing with this!"
Devvyn leaned back in his chair, arms folded behind his head. "Which is why I've decided," he said slowly, "to take the book to Lord Pyrethorn. Like Eamon instructed."
Aela's head shot up. "What? No, Devvyn, I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not?" he asked, trying to sound casual, but her reaction already had him on edge.
"Because," she said, lowering her voice and glancing around the quiet library, "we can't be sure Eamon Wynstros didn't lie about who he was. For all we know, that wasn't even his real name. What if he made the whole thing up and you've been holding onto this book from some fraud? Or worse, Lord Pyrethorn thinks you're part of it?"
Devvyn frowned, the thought settling uncomfortably in his gut. "So what, we just sit on it and do nothing?"
"No." Aela leaned in, her voice firm now. "We confirm who Eamon really was first. If we can prove his identity, if we can verify his story, then we take the book to Pyrethorn."
He hesitated, then gave a small nod. "That… makes sense."
Aela sat back with a breath of relief. "We can check the missing and death records in Eternis. If his name shows up, we'll know he was telling the truth. And if it doesn't…" She trailed off, the implication hanging in the air.
"Then we'll know not to trust anything he said," Devvyn finished. "Alright. Eternis it is."
