Page 107 of The Awakening of Essensia

When Galfri looked up, his eyes flashed with alarm. “You move like a shadow,” he said, relaxing once more and returning to the book.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said, her voice rough. She was surprised it worked at all.

His fingers drummed once against the edge of the table then turned a page. He seemed distracted, his jaw twitching every few seconds.

“What are you reading?” she asked, walking between the shelves and lowering herself into the chair across from him. Her muscles still ached. Whether it was from the fight in the chapel, or from curling into herself these past three days, she couldn’t tell. It was probably both.

Galfri’s gaze drifted to the shelves as if he expected them to speak for him. “There’s no mention of him here,” he began. “No mention of Maerin Vireldane in these archives at all, but I found fragments in the library. Old census records, healing registries from the Heartlands. Maerin Vireldane was a trained medic. Respected. He was born over a century and a half ago. He had a promising future and then… nothing. Any mention of him simply stops.” He paused. “It’s too abrupt. It’s as if someone came back and removed the pages, like they wanted to bury the link between the two.”

Vaelira’s pulse quickened. “When do the records stop?”

“Shortly after his mother’s death. He would have been around your age,” he paused again. “It was exactly seven years before the Great Fire.”

“You think that's when he abandoned his Praen and took a Nexa.”

Galfri nodded. “Veyrakh.” He said it like a curse.

Vaelira leaned forward and rubbed her temple, the threat of a headache pulsing behind her eyes. “Where was he born?”

“A town in the Heartlands called Korveth.”

She repeated the name under her breath. It didn’t sound familiar, but why should it? The town would have been ash a long time ago.

“Even knowing all this, we’re no closer to finding his Veritas,” she said. Once they worked out how to wield it against him, his true name would be the key to defeating him.

One step at a time.

Galfri shook his head. “I’ve found nothing on the three peaks either. I don’t think it could have been in Eastvale, but all maps of the Heartlands were destroyed. Even the one here shows only an outline of the continent. There’s no landmarks outside of Eastvale.”

She frowned. “Why?”

“People fear the Wastelands and the demoncursed who live there. They believe those who survived the fire could only have done so by wielding dark magic or allying themselves with the Abyss. Why map such a place and allow curiosity to grow? Better to keep people afraid of the unknown.”

She pressed her fingers to her eyes and dragged them down her face, like she could scrape the tension from her skin. “Even if we do find his Veritas, we don’t know how to use it, or where he’s bound. For all we know, it’s the flowerpot outside The Seven Squids.”

The more she spoke, the more helpless she felt. She gripped the edge of the table and the lamplight sputtered, mirroring the ache in her chest. She willed it down, pretending not to notice.

When she looked up again, Galfri’s eyes were soft and filled with worry. “All we can do is try.”

Vaelira stared at the grooves in the table, the throbbing in her head transforming from an ache to a sharp, unrelenting pain. It felt useless, but the thought of doing nothing was worse.

There was silence for a few moments, and then, because he hadn’t brought it up, she asked, “Did you hear about the chapel?”

He nodded solemnly. “My best guess is summoners brought it down.”

Vaelira swallowed. “Not exactly.”

By the time Vaelira got back to her room, even the thought of having to leave again to eat made her head pound. She removed her boots, preparing to climb into bed, when a knock sounded. She cringed. She thought she’d successfully avoided Elijah for the day.

A few beats of silence passed, and it came again.

“I brought dinner,” Ressa’s muffled voice called from the hallway.

Vaelira’s shoulders sagged. “Coming.”

Ressa stood in the hall holding a plate piled high with food. Behind her, Fang carried two more. Vaelira stepped aside, and they crossed to the dresser, setting everything down.

“So,” Ressa said, turning with her hands on her hips. “Where have you been?”