Chapter 48: 48. Arriving at ShadowGraves

The silence stretched between the four of them as Yuki and Felicity stood frozen with eyes locked across the guild’s entrance, the air between them crackling with unspoken accusations, guilt, and grief that had festered in their hearts for a month.

“Felicity—” Isaac spoke with a gentleness in his deeplvoice.

But Lyra moved first. She stepped between them hoping to navigate away from this dangerous encounter of emotional confrontation.

“Not here,” Lyra said firmly, her voice cutting through the tension in the air. “Whatever needs to be said, we’re not doing it in the middle of the guild where everyone can watch like it’s entertainment.”

She gestured toward an empty table in the corner, away from prying eyes and gossiping hunters.

“Sit. All of you. Now.”

The command in her tone left no room for argument. Even Felicity, who looked ready to explode, found herself moving toward the table. Isaac followed, his massive frame creating a physical barrier between the two women as they walked.

They settled around the wooden table, Lyra and Isaac on one side, Yuki and Felicity on opposite ends, as far apart as the table would allow.

The silence that followed was suffocating.

A barmaid approached nervously, but Lyra waved her off with a look that could freeze fire.

Minutes ticked by. Nobody spoke. Felicity stared at cracked in the table. Isaac’s fingers drummed against his shield. Yuki focused on controlling her breathing, feeling Owen’s concerned presence through their bond even though he remained in the Beast Space.

Finally, Lyra broke the silence.

“Yuki,” she said, her voice measured and calm. “Where have you been? We searched for you after… after the bandit camp. You vanished. No trace. No word. It’s been over a month.”

Yuki steadied herself, She had rehearsed this conversation a dozen times in her head during the flight to Fort Nox, but now that the moment had arrived, the words felt clumsy in her mouth.

“I left the city,” she began quietly. “After what happened, I felt partly responsible because of my weakness, so, I needed to get stronger.”

She continued speaking as she glanced at felicity, chosing her words very carefully, editing out the parts that couldn’t be shared. Nothing about Drak’thar. Nothing about the Tower of Royals. Nothing about the Greater Dragons or the true nature of Owen’s bloodline.

“During my travels,” she continued, “I came across information. About the Dragon King’s missing egg.”

That got everyone’s attention. Even Felicity’s eyes flicked up from the table.

“There’s a location,” Yuki said. “The Shadowgrave lands. Between the three kingdoms. I have reason to believe the egg is there.”

Lyra and Isaac exchanged meaningful glances.

“That’s… remarkably coincidental,” Lyra said slowly. “We received similar intelligence three days ago. Other members of Glory Road has been investigating the egg’s disappearance, and our information also pointed to the Shadowgrave.”

Isaac leaned forward with a serious expression. “We were planning to mount an expedition…”

“I want to join,” Yuki said. “Your expedition. I want to help retrieve the egg.”

Lyra studied her for a long moment, those sharp eyes seeming to weigh Yuki’s worth. Finally, she nodded.

“We could use another capable hunter. Your dragon gives us an advantage few other parties would have. You’re in.”

“Just like that?” Felicity’s voice cut through the conversation like a knife. “She shows up after abandoning us, and you’re just going to let her join back?”

Her voice was bitter and filled with rage.

“I’m sure she’s been having the time of her life this past month, training and leveling up while Oak and Lucien are rotting in their graves because she was too incompetent to—”

“Enough!” Lyra’s voice shot through the air. “Felicity, that’s enough.”

“No, it’s not!” Felicity stood abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor. “Oak died protecting me! Lucien burned his own life force to save all of us! And she just—”

“I know!” Yuki’s voice exploded out of her, loud enough to make nearby adventurers turn and stare. She rose to her feet with hands clenched into fists, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

“I know what happened! I was there! Do you think I don’t replay that moment every single night? Do you think I don’t see Oak’s blood on my hands every time I close my eyes? Do you think Lucien’s last words don’t haunt me?”

Her voice cracked, but she pushed on.

“You’re right. I should have summoned Owen earlier. I should have been more prepared. I should have anticipated the threat. Those deaths are on me, and I’ll carry that weight for the rest of my life.”

She met Felicity’s tear-filled eyes directly.

“But I didn’t run away. I left because staying would have been selfish to you. I left to get stronger so that what happened to Oak and Lucien would never happen again. So I could actually protect people instead of watching them die.”

Felicity’s lip trembled. Her hands shook. Then, slowly, the anger drained from her expression, and gradually got replaced by Grief.

She sank back into her chair, her head dropping into her hands.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I just…sigh…I guess I just needed someone to blame. And you were there. And you were lower ranked. And it was easier to blame you than to accept something for universally obvious that sometimes… people just die in dungeons.”

Lyra reached across the table and squeezed Felicity’s shoulder and on the other side, Isaac’s expression softened with understanding.

Yuki sat back down slowly, emotionally drained.

“The rendezvous point is one week from today,” Lyra said quietly, bringing them back to practical matters. “There’s a staging area on the eastern road, about half a day’s ride from the Shadowgrave border. Other parties will be gathering there. We will leave at dawn.”

She slid a small map across the table to Yuki, a location marked in red ink.

“Don’t be late.”

Yuki took the map, nodding. “I won’t be.”

The three of them stood: Lyra, Isaac, and Felicity, preparing to leave. Felicity paused at the table’s edge, looking back at Yuki one last time.

“I really am sorry” she said.

“Me too” Yuki replied.

And then they were gone, disappearing out of the guild.

—

Yuki left Fort Nox within the hour, returning to the forest clearing where she had first landed. The moment she was certain she was alone, she released Owen and Uru from the Beast Space.

Owen materialized in his humanoid form, immediately pulling Yuki into a tight embrace.

“You did good,” he said.

Yuki let herself sink into that embrace, allowing the tears she’d been holding back to finally fall.

Uru jiggled comfortingly, settling on her head and pulsing with warm, soothing energy.

They made camp there, in that hidden clearing. For the next week, they just trained by defeating wandering goblins.

Yuki drilled with both her katanas, getting used to the weight and balance of Veridra’s venomous blade and she had Uru experiment with its shapeshifting abilities, forming tentacles with it’s gelatinous body.

The days passed quickly.

And then, finally, it was time.

—

The rendezvous point was exactly where the map indicated, a cleared area on the eastern road where multiple parties had already gathered. Carriages lined up. Hunters checked equipment. Tents dotted the landscape.

Yuki arrived alone, Owen and Uru hidden in her Beast Space to avoid unnecessary attention. She spotted Lyra’s group immediately, Isaac’s massive frame was hard to miss.

She approached, and Lyra nodded in greeting. Felicity offered a smile and Isaac grunted acknowledgment.

“Climb in,” Lyra said, gesturing to their carriage. “We’ve got a long ride ahead.”

Yuki settled into the carriage, and the similarities to that fateful journey a month ago hit her like a physical blow. Four hunters in a carriage, heading toward danger. The main difference was the two empty seats where Oak and Lucien should have been sitting.

The thought brought a sad smile to Yuki’s face.

“You okay?” Lyra asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Yuki replied. “…A-Okay”

The carriage lurched forward, joining the convoy of hunters heading toward the Shadowgrave lands.

The journey took hours. The landscape gradually changed from farmland to Forrestry, then to rocky barren lands.

The nearer they reached, the more the air grew colder and the sky darkened despite it being midday.

And then, finally, they arrived.

The Shadowgrave lands stretched before them, a vast valley of desert shrouded in thick, unnatural mist. The sky above was perpetually dark, choked with clouds that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it.

The convoy came to a halt at the valley’s edge. Hunters disembarked, staring at the ominous landscape with varying degrees of anxiousness and concern.

Yuki stepped out of the carriage and looked at the crowd. There were at least fifty hunters, maybe more, from different guilds and ranks, all with the same goal.

Then her gaze caught on a familiar figure standing apart from the others.

Silver hair. Violet eyes. Expensive hunting gear with silvery designs.

And coiling through the air above her, an azure serpentine dragon that Yuki recognized immediately.

“Odessa!” Yuki breathed.

The other dragon tamer stood at the valley’s edge, her Azure Sky Dragon’s crystalline scales catching what little light penetrated the gloom. She seemed to sense Yuki’s gaze, turning to look directly at her.

Their eyes met across the staging area.

Odessa’s expression shifted from a neutral observation to a surprised recognition.

Then a wide smile tore across her face as she ran towards Yuki.

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