Watching the somber flames sulk under the wet wood, Decymber felt the pang of misery she had so often felt before. Only, this time it was different. This time, there was nothing she could do to help.

It had almost seemed worthwhile to throw her life away into prophecy, almost. Decymber had been born with the gift, and had known about its dwelling since she was about three. Of course, she had always been a serious child and the blame for it could be placed on prophecy's shoulders. But, that was to be expected when one could see futuristic events. However, as the years dragged on through her life, the visions she received took a higher toll on her soul. Though outwardly she looked to be in her late sixties, inwardly she was over one thousand.

As she made a wish to be young again, Decymber turned her eyes from the fire to the air around it. There was no difference in the mood, all was melancholy.

Trenton had been nursing the fire with no luck-- it was futile to get the wood to catch a spark. Finding wood that was somewhat dry was an even harder task than enabling it to catch fire. Though there had been no rain, the land acted as if a storm were brewing somewhere. Now that doom had befallen them, there was no way to tell if this was even abnormal now.

Cira was still lying helplessly on top of a broken piece of marble. Li imagined that it was quite uncomfortable, however, whether or not Cira could feel the stiffness of the stone was an entirely different story. His seat on the rotting piles of wet wood was nothing comparable to comfort, however, his rump would be able to tolerate it for the moment. He could be sitting on a jagged rock, so to speak.

Trenton blew through the flames once more, hoping that they could gain a healthy heat. For one brief second, the fire flew up into the night sky taking a clean taste of the heavy air. One moment after, the flames had dissipated back into a few glowing embers. Just like the group's hope.

Xander had volunteered to find food. He said that "a full belly would keep our hopes in high spirit, it would". He was ever so wrong, however Li had to agree that his stomach was quite empty and had been nagging for something to nibble on for days. But now, Xander was gone. It had been almost four hours since he left, and Li imagined that it was well past Midnight. His eyes were getting heavy, slowly descending. He hadn't slept in almost three days. Li couldn't even imagine how long Decymber had been awake.

Slowly, the fire disappeared into a thin trail of gray smoke. As laces of it crept up into the sky, a quick wind swept it away. Trenton let out an exasperated breath and just sat there on the log.

"It's not worth rekindling the damn thing. It's bloody hopeless." Li detected a slight accent from the northern parts of Erole.

"I don't know about you, Lieutenant Mars, but I would like to have a fire nice and ready when Alexander returns with our supper."

Decymber stared at the dead ashes, not even hearing what Li and Trenton had said. Li knew she was listening though.

"I doubt Xander will bring back any food out here," Trenton swept his hand around the landscape, indicating the vast wilderness there was around. "It's just not worth it, Wizard Li."

"Well, I could use the warmth with these old bones, and I'm sure the women could too."

Li flicked his wrist in his once white robes, casting the illusion of wings. Immediately, the fire had sprung back to life causing Trenton to jump. His face matched the flames.

"Why didn't you just do that before? Why did you make me slave over that damned fire for so long? Tell me why!"

Li met the soldier's voice with nonchalant tone, "Well, I had to have something for you to do."

"You old coque! You wanted to keep me occupied so you could contemplate on our situation? You know I care too! I'm not just some oblivio--"

"There's no need for profanities in front of the women, Lieutenant."

"They aren't even listening to us! Listen, I didn't work over that fire all day so that you could sit around and think about our situation! I care too you know! I'm not some oblivious--"

"That will be enough, Lieutenant Mars."

Trenton protested through the Silence incantation with a muffled profanity or two.

"Would you like to know why I made you slave over that fire all night, Mars?" Li didn't wait for a muffle from the speechless lieutenant, and instead continued on with a venomous tone in his voice, "Would you like to know? I'll tell you why I made you slave over that futile flame, Mars. I'll tell you. I did it because I didn't want you to have to think about what's going on now. This sort of thing involves magic--you don't need to be involved, what with your military mind and skills. It's something a wizard can handle! We don't need to burden others with what we think! I was sparing you, Mars. I was trying to save you from deadly thoughts. That is why I made you slave over that pitiful flame all night long. That is why!"

An unsteady silence plagued the next couple of hours until finally, there emerged a shadow in the darkness. Decymber was barely even able to distinguish Xander's large frame from the darkness that was behind him. She imagined that the sun might peek out over the terrain within a few minutes, at the longest it would be half of an hour. She had been eager for the soldier's return, she was curious. Only, Decymber wasn't curious about the food that might be in Xander's possession.

Xander's pace was slow, almost as if he were dragging another man behind him. Li wasn't too excited about the way he walked, especially since he usually had a quickened step.

The soldier approached the poor excuse for a campsite with empty arms, "Couldn't find anything out here, I couldn't. Not an animal in sight."

Trenton, who had been lying on the damp ground for quite some time, finally, was able to speak, "What about plants?"

"Nothing. I went out quite a ways, a good trip northward. Not a living thing." With an exasperated sigh, Xander sat upon a rotten log next to Decymber, who barely moved.

"It's like we're in a… a… dead zone."

"A Novi Zone," Li corrected Xander's lack of knowledge on the subject.

"A what?"

"A Novi Zone. An area of the dead."

"So, you're saying that we are in a," Xander tried to pronounce the new vocabulary, "Novi Zone?"

Li sighed and began fiddling with one of the loose threads in his robe, "Well, it would be, if the Council of Aryne had pronounced it so," Li looked towards the ruins of the city, "But since they can't…" Li didn't finish his statement.

The aged wizard sat contemplating about what had happened in the past few weeks. Things were going terribly wrong now. But, he didn't know why. Or what was truly going on. He did know, however, for a fact, someone did know what had happened the night the Palace of Varulami fell. So he asked that person.

"Decymber… Why did they attack so soon?" He did not have to mention that "they" referred to the country of Erole. Li knew that his sister would know exactly what he was talking about, especially since she was the head Priestess of the Council.

The woman's unnatural eyes stared into the green ones of Li, "There was great need. The Council all knew something was coming-- nobody knew what it was. It was agreed that a decision had to be made as to how to stop this evil."

"And the evil was Palace of Varulami?"

"Obviously not. But… we thought it was. So, it was attacked."

Li sat silently, staring into Decymber's eyes. He searched them for something, a clue, as to what really happened, "And which mental member gave the order?"

Decymber turned her eyes away, "I did." The woman looked back up at her brother, her eyes reflecting the guilt of her decision, "Li, you don't understand. It was chaos, it truly was. One of the Council members, he went to the people and told them of the danger, of the evil. The entire city was in panic, people from the outskirts of the country flooded into the Palace. They were all scared, Li. Riots, everywhere. I had to do… something."

Li continued to stare at her with the same icy glare he had once had before.

The old woman strained to find the right words, something she could say to make it right, "Li, I couldn't just let chaos engulf the city. I am a prophet, I was supposed to know what would happen. And I didn't. I didn't know what the evil was, when it would strike, or even what it would cause. I didn't know! Yet, Council members, townspeople, anyone in the area, they kept coming to me, asking for answers I just couldn't give. There was only so much avoiding I could do before eventually, someone finally found me."

The eyes on her felt like fire burning through her soul, "So, I told the council I had seen a prophecy. It was false, and it was illegal, I know. But… desperation has no laws. I told the Council that Varulami would set magic loose upon Erole. I told them that we had to attack now if there was any hope of saving the country. They listened to me and the riots died down. People felt safe again. Li, they felt safe again."

The glassy, green eyes Li possessed looked directly at the woman before him, the one he thought he knew as his sister, "You wanted Varulami for something. You wanted to attack them for a reason, Decymber. What was the reason."

"Li…"

Trenton stared at the siblings. It had never occurred to him that his soldiers had been the victims of a false prophecy. Trenton felt, for the first time, that he was truly doing something to help his country as he left the city in a march. That what he went to fight for… was valid. He didn’t know that thousands of lives could be lost fighting for a lie. He just didn't want to believe that.

The stare from Xander's hard eyes captured the woman. She looked to be an animal caught in a cage. An animal that knew it was about to be dead. Xander raked his hands through his once blond hair, whether it was from frustration or just pure anger, no one knew. He didn't really know what to think anymore, he just acted, whether it was under orders or under his own will. He just acted, and that was all there was to the soldier. But he acted like a fool this time around. He had just been a fool who had fallen for a trap, and ended up killing over it. Digging his foot into the ground, clumps of dirt flew onto the fire. It hissed in anger at the man.

Li once again looked at the person he thought he knew. He couldn't believe that this was the person he had grown up with. He just couldn't understand why she did what she had done. Why she had killed like that.

"Decymber. What was the reason."

Li felt as if his world had been turned upside down and twisted into a knot. Decymber knew what had happened at the Palace during the attack. Somehow, she knew everything that had gone on. She knew who had died at her hands-- Li loved who had died at her hands. Decymber, the prophet, his sister, had known what was going to happen. And she had a reason for what she did. Li knew in his heart, she had a reason. A good one and he was ready to hear it.

But Decymber didn't answer.