"We should report," Ulres urged as the stars faded into the morning light.

"The last Master was chosen yesterday," Chrisfen said. "Make no false haste until we are done." He missed the soothing song of the birds. The chirping should have come out long ago. But it didn't. He could still feel the gloom in his bones; a restless night lay behind them.

"Come now. Is the little one afraid of a dark forest?" Lira asked, laughing weakly. "Are you homesick? Do you want to go back to your mommy?"

"Shut up," Ulres replied as he took the bait. "You'd be the first to run away." He resembled a giant. Wrinkles plagued his suit, and a fine knife hung from his belt.

Chrisfen ignored the two and stared at a golden amulet. It flashed green. Just the nerve of those greenhorns! Loud, careless, and, above all, not working thoroughly. Maybe he deserved to still sit in this frozen hell.

"Honestly, what do we want in Fuyuki anyway!" Ulres cursed. Lira giggled and poked him in the side. Her blonde, shoulder-length hair ruffled in the wind. She pulled on her black leather gloves and tightened the purple suit.

"Yes, yes, yes," Ulres growled. "Every sixty years, something is rotten in this city. And you want to know what? It's bloody heroic spirits! Dead souls. The heavens feel. I'll tell you something: this ritual is cursed. That the clock tower allows it is beyond me."

"You talk too much. The Clock Tower only fears that apostles seize the Grail, and they want a certain control, nothing more," Lira replied, buttoning her jacket over the zipper.

"Do you know that, or are you concocting something again?"

"WE HAVE ORDERS!" Chrisfen roared and waited for his words to settle. "We don't ask questions when the Clock Tower commands... understand? Better not to know any of this shit. We'll just check the area and leave tonight."

They both nodded, and that was that. The bare branches rustled. Damn, the trees always did that. Did they make fun of them? With or without the wind, nervous tension swept through the area. Their skin prickled, and he felt heavy eyes, but there were no magical clues. Nothing.

Chrisfen had been serving the clock tower for many years. He had seen many people come and go. Above all, he found one thing in fresh faces. Fear... it grew like a disease and often took the newcomer's lives. He had to force himself not to think about it. A shock like that never left one's bones.

This work was nothing more than routine. Hopefully! Taking readings and monitoring the surroundings. Everything seemed normal in this city. That's what he kept telling himself when madness came knocking. Death and cruel wars. The citizens didn't even know. Poor things.

The only important thing was that no apostles appeared in this city. Fortunately, the Holy Grail chose the last master. No longer pointless waiting. Something scratched at the back of his head and would not let him rest at night. It was there, but he couldn't put it into words. Ulres had to feel it, too. Why else would he want to disappear? But what was it?

"Kayneth takes part in this Grail War, isn't he?" Ulres said. "He arrives today. We'll provide the documents and be done. We've run tests six times in countless locations. If anything stood out, we would know by now," Lira nodded in agreement.

"A magus' intuition is worth more than tests," Chrisfen admonished. "The Clock Tower knows that better than anyone. Or would you like to stand before the High Ones with a naked answer? There's nothing worse than mistrusting your gut feeling. Remember that!"

"How many times are you going to say that?" they both asked harmoniously. Chrisfen raised an eyebrow, shaking his head. 'If you had understood, I wouldn't have to keep repeating it.'

Silence fell. Chrisfen pulled a map from his backpack and pinned it to the tree. Many glowing dots flashed green. At the harbor, the church in the north, the estates of the founding families, around the city, and in the center.

He hummed as he took a staff engraved with runes and other magic circles and plunged it deep into the frozen earth. A wide dot appeared on the map, completing the circle around the city barely a hundred meters beyond the forest edge. The dot flashed white, then the light turned green.

"See?"

"Maybe we're dealing with something else entirely," Chrisfen grumbled. "Ulres, what exactly did you say? Fewer people leave their homes in the morning. Maybe we should look for the cause. If it's a magical cause, the clock tower or the church has to intervene."

"Sir," Lira interjected. She hissed so strangely and barely seemed human for a moment. What became of the quiet girl who feared rumors, he wondered. Tales about the cruel grail. "Even if our report shows an unnaturally high number of measurements and measurement locations, we should start sending a report."

Chrisfen grumbled. "I'm concerned about the mana concentration."

"We're below three ley lines. Of course, the average value is higher."

"Did you also notice the dead animals on the way here?" Ulres said suddenly.

Confused, he scratched the back of his head. Where had that come from so suddenly? Why had Ulres only mentioned it now? Chrisfen licked his lip. He knew the taste well... fear. And yet he pressed forward. A cold wind would not intimidate him. Perhaps a plague? The giant suddenly seemed rigid and stiff. His eyes looked empty, without a hint of emotion. But, wherever he looked, Chrisfen only saw white snow, not a single dead animal.

"What... did... I just say?" asked Ulres. His sweat-covered face looked pale.

"I don't feel like jokes in this cold," Lira cursed with clenched fists. "In the run-down neighborhood. Dead animals, remember? Or do I need to jog your memory?"

Something was strange. Chrisfen watched Ulre's eyes. The young man never blinked, then wiped his fingers across his wet forehead. By God, it was winter! "Ah. Yes." He seemed to remember.

"Let's check this out quick, shall we?" Ulres suddenly looked a little dazed. He staggered to one side as if his body wasn't quite obeying him. His movements looked sluggish and heavy. Was he that frightened? Chrisfen could hardly believe it.

He took the map from the tree and put it in a backpack. All lights glowed green. More to do. However, he took this realization indifferently, as if something was pressing on his emotions. It felt strange; usually, something like this only annoyed him, but today he found it interesting, a slight tingled in his fingertips. Perhaps the cold had brought an illness after all.

They had come a long way. He shrugged his shoulders and pushed all doubt away. "I'm hungry. We can combine this with our breakfast break."

Lira nodded. Her foot tapped impatiently. Dirt stuck to her dull blue pants. Then they started moving. Tools and other materials rattled as Ulres swung the heavy pack over his shoulder and led the way.

"Maybe it's just the cold."

"You think so?" Chrisfen asked in surprise. How could they be so indulgent? They were looking forward to the departure more than he thought. "Animals adapt well to their circumstances. But I see no reason to investigate when it's just a bunch of dead rats."

But as they entered Fuyuki, all the tales of the Last Grail War suddenly came back to life. His heart raced. He could hear it pounding in his ears. Even blinking became hard. There was a pressure in the area. Were there heroic spirits nearby? If so, they should hurry.

"As if high-ranking apostles would consume the unclean blood of animals," Ulres muttered. "Even newly turned humans prefer human flesh." He was right. At least the words reassured him a little. The door of the car creaked open. Ulres threw his backpack onto the back seat.

"We'd better walk. It's right behind the house."

A beautiful old building with high stone walls and a few conifers rustling rose over their heads.

"Right by our marker?" Chrisfen asked, slightly surprised, and got out of the car again. He opened the map. The light glowed green. "That can't be; I would have noticed it yesterday!"

They followed the road and turned the first corner. A foul wind flowed through the street like a ruthless river. A horrible taste cursed the air and instinctively urged him to leave this place.

"This wasn't here yesterday." Mice, rats, and even two cats lay dead on the ground.

Chrisfen grumbled. He pulled a bag of powder from his belt and threw a handful into the flowing wind. The particles stuck to the road, the houses, and the dead animals, but the powder did not discolor anything. There were no traces of magic and no signs of a fight.

"When did you notice that?" he asked suspiciously. A sudden pain throbbed in his skull.

"It wasn't so extreme yesterday. I had assumed that buried chemicals were responsible."

"That's not our responsibility," Chrisfen admonished, "but you should have told us about it. After all, we drink and eat here."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Ulres apologized sheepishly.

They should go now. His gut told rumbled a warning. However, he was a trained Magi. It was his job to investigate such mysteries. A pair of dead animals should not upset him, yet Chrisfen felt his arm trembling.

The pain in his head was unbearable. He swallowed a pill, took an amulet with a golden chain out of his jacket pocket, and let it swing like a pendulum. It swayed in the wind. Nothing... Slowly, the pain subsided.

"Whatever is responsible for this... It's not magical." Carefully, he put the pendulum back in his jacket pocket. Lira examined the pin in the stone. The runes pulsed with an invisible light, but some had deactivated. Someone must have pulled it out.

Chrisfen was crouching by a cat while Ulres hid his hands behind his back. Lira's blue suit fluttered. Without either of them noticing, she pulled a bottle from her belt and hid the glass in her long sleeve.

Chrisfen was the first to stand. "Surprising," he murmured, fearing that someone might have heard his uncertainty. Slowly, he gripped his dagger. "Bite marks... No blood on the road and yet sucked out like water ice."

He thought it impossible, but the proof was before his eyes. Did apostles sneak into Fuyuki unnoticed? What had moved them to suddenly seek the Grail? The frosty wind became softer. Each blow hummed like the silent playing of a page. A terrible sound indeed. Then, there was a clatter in the distance.

"That's not funny, you two," Lira suddenly cursed loudly. Chrisfen whirled around. No one laughed. Lira was still crouching next to the magic sensor. She must have spotted something.

"Hey, guys? Where are you two?" She called out uncertainly. "Did you plan this? If so, that's a terrible joke."

"We're here, aren't we?" Chrisfen replied, slightly puzzled.

"What, where? How can you see anything in this sudden fog?" Fog? Chrisfen asked himself. It hummed slowly and steadily like an off-key violin. Shrill, almost resembling a scream. Suddenly, the alleyway shook.

Something invisible tore the stones apart. Glowing blood rushed howling out of the walls and poured into the alley like a flood. The heat scorched his skin and hair. He quickly tore the cloak from his body, which burst into flames.

Shocked, Chrisfen jumped onto a gentle island. Not a word escaped his lips. Around him, the alley had turned into a pool of lava. The sky disappeared under a layer of gray stone. Fountains sprayed into the sky, while unrecognizable figures lay like stones by the sea.

The animals stirred, casting a curved, unnatural shadow around them with up to eight eyes. There was no sign of Lira and Ulres. Voices spoke, resembling commands. Soft and harmonious. But he couldn't understand a word. The world was spinning, his bones swayed like rubber, and his eyes suddenly wanted to fall shut.

The shock lasted only a moment before the muscle memory took over. His hands clapped together. Mana coursed through the Magic circuits, "Dream Release.".

The soft, undulating chant turned into a howling shriek. The entire area trembled. The glowing liquid cracked. Chrisfen clenched his hands to suppress the trembling. Sweat dripped down his chin and hissed on the floor.

Suddenly, he was back in the alley under a cloudy sky. The soft, slow screech seemed nearby. It grew louder, but it didn't resemble a song. Both colleagues remained motionless while his leather jacket lay on the cold stone.

"Lira, Ulres! An illusion!"

No one moved. Chrisfen immediately grabbed Lira's shoulder. "Dream re..." A blow hammered deep into his stomach and threw him against the wall. The reinforcement of the shirt cushioned the impact, but the force sucked all the air from his lungs.

He coughed. With his shoulder against the wall, his gaze crept up. Ulres stood before him like a soldier waiting for orders, with swollen eyes.

Chrisfen coughed again and wiped his mouth. His head was pounding. He fought just to breathe. "Pull yourself together! You're in an illusion! Do you hear me?" With wobbling legs, he pushed himself off the wall. Ulre's fist narrowly missed him and shattered stone.

All hair stood on end! There was something at work here that the clock tower needed to know about.

Suddenly, Lira stood up. Her pupils shared the same lifeless gray. As if on command, both knelt and lowered their heads. The jacket vibrated on the asphalt. The amulet shimmered through the thick leather and burst. The shrill song died down.

"What the," whispered Chrisfen, backing away. Kayneth would soon reach Fuyuki. He had to hurry. Mana flowed over his magic circle. The world cleared, and his cheeks flushed, but the winter cold did not disappear.

Soft, naked steps splashed behind him. They were so close; how had he not noticed them? Even the wind fell silent. A moist breath touched the hair on his neck gently. Slowly, white air passed his ears. It tasted sugary sweet.

The knife weighed heavily, and his whole body felt numb. A crushing gaze paralyzed his consciousness, trying to wrestle him to the ground. The countless eyes stared at their prey. He immediately spun around.

Suddenly, everything became peaceful. Carefree. Lights glittered blurry between the tears. Something stroked his hair. Soft, comforting, soothing... Chrisfen stared at his kneeling friends. A falling object echoed beneath him. He was so tired... It was so cold...

"Too bad," a voice whispered. "I would have given you a beautiful dream... Like your friends. A great purpose..."

Then everything spun in a weightlessness, and the darkness embraced him before it hit the ground next to his body.