The journey had begun, Xenia sat across from Jacob, staring at him as he stared out of the small window, the roles were reversed now.

Still he could feel the sting of her eyes on him, her dark crimson pupils, like arrows, piercing his skin.

After a moment of uncomfortably staring out on the the dirt tracks, he looked back at her.

"What is it Xenia?" He inquired, his voice was calmer than expected.

"Nothing." She responded, still looking at him.

’All women are really the same!’ He thought to himself briefly, forcing himself not to smile at the thought.

"I can feel your eyes stinging my skin, tell me what is wrong."

"Good, I hope they cut even deeper," she replied again.

’Oh my, what have I done this time!’ He mused, furrowing his brows and shutting his eyes momentarily.

"What did I do!" He asked, in a higher tone than before.

"You were supposed to tell me where you went." She responded, her expression unchanged.

"Ohh! Is that why you’re upset?"

"I am not at the liberty to get upset, I am simply reminding you."

’Well you have a funny way of doing so.’ He mused, then shifted his gaze back to the road.

"Well..." she said, "Tell me!"

"Okay okay," Jacob conceded, realizing she wasn’t ever going to stop asking.

"I went to visit Savant Hardin—"

"Why?" She asked.

"I went to ask if he can push back the time on joining his sect."

"Why?" She asked again, curiousity written all over her face.

"Because I’m going to the Ten Thousand Beast forest."

"Hm."

She remained silent, looking out onto the dirt road now.

"What is your aim for visiting the forest?"

"I want to get stronger, I don’t think I’m strong enough yet, plus I want to try cultivating in the wild."

"Interesting."

_ _ _

A woman walked over to a small building in the middle of a small forest.

She had long, silky black hair and very enthralling facial features, a small birthmark on her chin.

She placed a hand on her hip and looked at the building.

"Where is this man? I just visited his office , there was no sign of him—now he isn’t here." She muttered to herself.

She looked around, there appeared to be no signs of struggle or anything of the sort.

Her eyes darted around slowly until she saw a small opening in the forest behind the house.

"What is he doing in the forest, is he trying to start something kinky again?’ She mused, trying not to laugh at the thought.

The second she got to the forest and looked in, she saw it.

An open space, covered in rubble and ash. Destruction was written all over; from the tree stumps, to the burnt leaves, the smell of molten ash was everywhere.

’What happened here?’ She asked herself as she walked in slowly, a realization washing over her.

"Did he fight with someone?" She crouched down and pinched some of the ash between her index finger and thumb.

She rubbed her fingers together and sniffed the ash.

’Still fresh." She thought, ’what could have happened here?’

She instantly brought a small ball out of a small sack she carried, she twisted it and opened it lightly.

The inside of the ball glowed a bright red: she pinched some more ash and dropped it into the ball.

"Melarda, Melarda, show me what happened here."

She chanted in a soft voice.

She jolted, flashes from the night before rushed into her brain, she could see Jacob, appearing as the demon Jaran before Savant.

Images of their battle, of Savant’s corruption, of Jacob ultimately defeating him, it all deposited itself into her memory.

She slowly stood up.

She tightened her grip on the ball so hard, if she tightened any harder, she would have crushed it in pieces.

A single tear ran down her left cheek as she growled.

"Jacob Ironfell, I will never forgive you for this! Never, I will never forgive you!" She screamed, causing a ripple effect which blew the remaining trees slightly backwards.

She stormed out of the forest and wiped her tear with her free hand. Within moments she had left the vicinity, with only one thing on her mind.

_ _ _

"Look look, I’m done with the letter!" Elena announced like a child that had just discovered something new.

"Is that so. Let me see it." Rhoarin responded, widening his eyes and grabbing the small piece of paper from her.

"Hoo! Very subtle of you Elena," he said, chuckling as he read the letter. "Anybody else reading this would think Jacob had been gone for eleven years."

She rushed over and snatched the letter from him.

"I don’t care, I don’t care, Jacob will understand my message." She said, her eyes darting around for a raven to deliver the message.

A thought suddenly crossed her mind and she looked at Rhoarin, who mirrored her gaze in an instant.

"What is it?" He asked, raising a brow.

"What do you mean ’what is it?’—is there nothing you’d like to tell your son?"

"Oh! That’s why you’re giving me that stare. Okay, bring the letter again. I’ll write something."

She hesitantly gave him the piece of paper and watched as he carefully inscribed his message into it.

By the time he was done, she stamped the Ironfell insignia on it and tied it neatly with a ribbon, placed it in a raven’s pouch and sent it on its way.

"Ohh I hope he sends one back soon." She said, clutching her hands together against her chest.

"He definitely will, I’m sure of it."

"What do you think he’s doing right now?" She asked him, determined to get his full attention.

"I don’t know, I’m not able to see what he’s doing." He responded, confused at her question.

"I’m asking you to guess, dummy."

"Well my guess would be that he’s doing what every young man does at some point in his life, figuring the world out."

"Ugh... you’re no fun," she said, throwing a pillow at him.