"There was something of value, after all."
Vestiges were special items that bound themselves to one's celestial core, meaning that Yun could bring them with him outside the First Vision. They were an invaluable part of a Divine's arsenal, often being the difference between life and death.
In fact, some Vestiges became famous enough to be synonymous with the Divines that wielded them, and vice versa. The one that came to Yun's mind was the Triskele Spear, a powerful weapon wielded by the Morrigan Clan Lord. Its legendary profile even inspired the clan's crest.
"Now, which one do I get?"
[... received a Vestige: Loneliest Heart].
Yun sighed.
"Doesn't sound promising, but names can be deceiving."
He closed his eyes and summoned the fragments once again, focusing on the words "Loneliest Heart". Immediately, the fragments aligned into one cohesive image. What appeared was a bracelet made of marble-like beads.
Two stones dangled from separate strands — one dark, one light. Short strings of text lingered below the image.
Vestige Type: Charm.
Vestige Rank: Yellow.
Vestige Grade: Mortal.
Vestige Description: [A memory of frost. A child huddled in the corner of a dark cave, protecting the last remnants of a dying pyre. In her hand was a charm sold to her by a wandering salesman, promised to bring her warmth on the coldest of days, and guide her steps in the darkest of nights. The salesman lied. Now, only her wish for light remains, waiting to be granted to others. The deeper the darkness, the brighter the light.]
"What an elegant way to call it useless."
A Vestige's rank measured its overall strength and effectiveness, and being yellow-rank meant that it was second-to-last in that regard. Dormant-rank Vestiges would be the equivalent of normal household items.
As for grade, it was safe to assume that it measured the amount of spells imbued within a Vestige — spells being the various enchantments and magical effects Vestiges could perform.
The number of spells corresponded with the number of vital cores the slain person or creature had.
Since a Mortal had one vital core, this Vestige had one spell, which was the abilty to produce light.
"How exciting."
Yun's first Vestige turned out to be just a nightlight. He was starting to wonder if the Curse discriminated against the Tainted as they did in the Stone District. As unlikely as that sounded, he didn't put it past something as invasive as the Curse.
"Oh, well. It's the first of many, I guess."
Just as he was about to summon the Loneliest Heart, a voice called out to him from behind.
"What are you doing?"
Miri had returned.
Yun paused momentarily. He began removing the cloak Haska wore, careful not to get more of his blood on it. He retrieved a cloth from his pack, wiped the cloak clean, and put it on.
Only then did he turn around to respond.
"I was feeling cold."
Miri eyed him incredulously and shifted her gaze to Haska's corpse. The world slowed to a creep, and the only sounds were Miri's strained breath and the crashing of waves. She turned to face Yun again and stepped towards him.
Yun willed himself to stay still despite his instincts screaming at him to run. Running wouldn't end well for him. With vital essence in the Forsaken Realm, even yellow-cores like Haska had to be superhuman. What more of the captain's second-in-command?
Even if Yun's celestial core was fully saturated with Authority, he wouldn't be able to exploit any physical enhancements from it unless he wore specialized Divine bodysuits.
A few hours into the First Vision, he had come to a distressing conclusion: celestial essence grants absolutely nothing outside what your Lineage Path specifies.
Miri shuffled her way up to Yun, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Good. I'm pretty sure he was suffering like that."
Yun let out a quiet sigh while his knees steadied themselves. When his mind began working again, he realized something. Miri spoke as if she knew of Haska's suffering… and let it persist. Yun wasn't going to pretend to be a moral judge of character, but wasn't he a fellow clan member?
There must have been some bad blood. Had to.
Just then, he caught a glimpse of the rope in Miri's hand. He knew what it meant. Miri had just lost her brother, the leader of their clan. The weight of its survival and pride had fallen onto her shoulders now.
It was easy to say the clan needed to settle and rebuild when the responsibility wasn't hers, when the generational pressure wasn't hers to bear.
What about now?
Yun didn't wait to find out. He kicked up sand as he took off in a sprint.
He was fast. Miri was much faster.
Wind blew as a blur materialized in front of Yun. He bent down, grabbed a handful of sand, and threw it at Miri's face. He hadn't seen her yet, but he knew her exact height and aimed for where her eyes would be.
Yun turned right, planning to disappear into the treeline. But it was all for naught.
A heavy boot caught him in the back, planting him in the sand face first. He tasted copper.
"I was tempted to paralyze you. Luckily, I held back."
Yun opened his mouth to shout, but all that came out was a string of dry coughs. Grains of sand entered through his nose, exacerbating the coughs.
Shit, shit, shit!
"I know this is a fool's request, but hopefully you can forgive me for this."
"Why?" asked Yun.
"The situation's changed. I caught a glimpse of Mortin, and it looks like the prisoners escaped and left her injured. They took the map."
What is Smoky up to?
"We're going to meet at the base of the mountain path that leads to the Temple and track them down."
Miri helped Yun up and carefully restrained his wrists. At first, they were a bit loose, but after a pause, she drew them tight.
Then both the captor and captive began their journey. The journey to the Falling Sky Temple.