To the Zargahal mountains

Layla III
It took multiple days of underground traveling during which Layla’s sense of day and night slowly became distorted but the tunnels eventually widened into the first dwarven village on her road towards the capital city of Zargahal. The worst part of the journey was done. Mainly because this confirmed to her that she went the right way. Etched into a marvelously smooth slab of granite was the name of the town: Trenfel.
Layla took out her map to make sure this was the right place, but she only did so out of habit. After putting the map back, she made her way into the town proper. Contrary to the larger dwarven cities that Raze told her about when they were both students at the academy, this village looked much different. At the entrance to the village, it split into three different tunnels. These tunnels came together again once more at the other edge of the village. Between each tunnel were buildings carved into the stone and the outer wall was used for homes as well. Following the middle road, Layla promptly made her way to the few public buildings that the village had, which included an underground bath and an inn. Marveling at the public bath, which used the dwarves’ runic magic to heat the groundwater and then used other runes to transport the steam coming off the heated water somewhere else, so it wouldn’t hang around in the tunnels, she stepped past it to head to the inn first. The ceiling had dim lights that Layla knew were also made with dwarven magic. Reading about the way how dwarves expertly used magic that didn’t require a constant flow of energy for their everydays was one thing, but seeing it in action was much more interesting. There were even runes set up that drew in air from the grassy valleys far above, to make it so the air in the villages didn’t get as stale as it did in the tunnels. Her cough reminded her of how not used she was to this environment as she made her way into the dwarven inn.
“A human lass, that’s not something we see every day.” A friendly looking dwarven woman greeted her as she entered.
Layla smiled. “That doesn’t surprise me, I’m here to visit a friend in the capital.”
“I see, I see, is this your first time in our kingdom?” The woman started pouring Layla some ale without even asking and put it in front of her.
“It is, and so far it’s been mighty impressive.”
The woman grinned. “We do our best to impress you surface dwellers, but to us it’s just business as usual.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll be equally impressed by the harbor city of K’tapur if you’ve never seen it before.”
“That would be a sight to behold, but who would run the inn in my absence?”
“No partner or kids?”
She spit on the ground next to her. “Bah, that good for nothing ran off ages ago, chasing wealth above ground. If I ever see his sorry ass again I’m chaining him to the hearth so he never escapes again.”
Layla chuckled. “At least he’ll be nice and toasty.”

The first thought that came up in Kaylirr’s head when he saw Bardoc waiting for them outside of his stone hovel was that the weird old man looked somehow taller and younger now. Not only had he cut his beard short, he also wore nicer clothes, proper boots and the hunch in his back seemed to be mostly gone. It was a noticeable transformation.
“Good morning friends,” Bardoc said with a wide grin on his face. “Lovely weather to set out, isn’t it?”
Kaylirr looked up at the dark gray clouds and blinked as a raindrop hit his eye. “It’s definitely been better,” he agreed.
Behind him, Sairoc was walking in a daze, still half asleep. He’d never been a morning person, but the past few days had clearly taken a toll on the dwarf who was getting up there in age. Right now he made Bardoc look like a spry young man in comparison. Despite Kaylirr’s worry for his old friend, he would be crucial in leading them to their destination or at the very least to the capital city of the dwarves. His friend had told him many years ago that even with a proper map it was a tough place to navigate. Kaylirr wasn’t terrible with directions like Kate was – one of their former associates – but he wasn’t great either. Usually he would leave that to Jarsen, but that was no longer possible. Luckily, Sairoc spent his youth in the dwarven tunnels and although much time passed since, he was confident he could still find his way home. Still, they first had to traverse a small corner of the empire and make their way through the dangers of the Celeran Canopy. Sairoc mentioned that new entrances to the kingdom might have popped up since he was last there, but he only really knew of the one he exited through all those years ago.
“Are we all ready to go then?” Kaylirr asked Bardoc, who had a large backpack sitting in front of him. The old man nodded. “I’ve packed everything I can’t do without and I’m leaving everything else behind for whoever decides to loot the place first.” He smiled. “I bet it ‘s that butcher, he’s always been vocal about me being a nuisance.”
“Does it really matter?” Kaylirr asked.
“Well, there’s some volatile substances in there so I reckon the first person to try will have a good scare and the real valuables will end up going to whoever is brave enough to go in next.” He chuckled. “I wish I could be there to see it, but alas.” Bardoc shrugged. “Oh well.” And with that, the trio made their way east, towards the edge of the Celeran Canopy that was only two days from here. The first part of their journey would be easy and although the sky had looked threatening when they first left the village behind, the weather didn’t turn unpleasant at all.
“So, are there any more villages or cities between here and Zargahal?” Kaylirr asked his friend.
Sairoc shook his head. “There’s Larania, but it’s a little bit away from the path we’re taking. There are some weird tribes and wild beasts that roam the area so it’s not particularly safe to settle down in the forest. At least it wasn’t a century ago when I traveled through it. Like I said, it’s been a while.”
“I often forget you’re that old.”
“Hmpf.”
They set up camp just beyond the treeline, so they were out of the open, but not too deep into the forest immediately. The huge trees that covered the sky above them gave them a sense of protection from the elements but there was also something eerie to them. Kaylirr had never been to the Celeran Canopy before but he had definitely heard stories. It was by far the largest forest on the continent after all, not even rivaled by the pine forests far to the north, beyond even the Zanian Kingdom. The forest covered the entire region from the eastern part of the empire to the Zargahal mountains and it followed that mountain range all the way to where the mountains met the ocean. What lay beyond the mountain range itself, no one knew. Well, someone probably knew, but it sure wasn’t Kaylirr. After setting up camp and leaving most of the difficult work to the others, Kaylirr sat down on a fallen log. If there was one lesson he’d learned in his years of traveling the empire it was that the best campsites were those that had a good place to sit down.
The sun had already gone down as the trio finished their dinner. Bardoc had mostly been quiet today, taking in the surroundings but not saying much. Breaking a rather long silence, Bardoc asked a question. “I talked to the spirit in your weapon, Elet, and she guaranteed me that you were on a path that aligned with my interests. Familiar as I am with spirits and their world, I decided to accept the request as it interested me personally, but I know scarcely little about what brought you folks to my door and what exactly you’re planning to do. A little bit of a backstory wouldn’t be so bad if I’m honest. As long as it’s not a real tearjerker, I don’t deal well with those.”
Kaylirr smiled. “I suppose we owe you at least that much.” Over the course of the next hour or so he told the old man about his work as a mercenary and how they were hired by a local nobleman to protect his collection, only for the mission to go poorly. He told him about his first contact with Elet and how that led them to Bardoc’s homes. Kaylirr also explained that he hadn’t really used any magic in his life, so this was all very new and very strange for him, but they were now fugitives in a large part of the empire, so now was as good a time as ever to leave on a dangerous journey into the dwarven mines.
Bardoc listened intently, drinking from his wineskin every so often.
“I see, so you’re amateurs in this world. I suppose it’s a good thing that Elet sent you to me. I know a thing or two about spirits and their world, and as your sword friend rightly guessed, I’ve not exactly been all that busy lately.” He smiled. “I see now, you’re here for a reason and not just because a spirit is dragging you along on a whimsical journey.” He looked at Sairoc who shrugged.
“Well, then that’s enough for me.”
“Do you feel the need to share a bit about yourself too?” Kaylirr asked.
Bardoc pondered the question for a moment. “No.” He took another drink from his wineskin and wordlessly got ready for bed.
The next few days of travel were mostly uneventful for the trio as they traveled the sleepy edges of the Fyrston Empire. Although Kaylirr had been in this region once before, many years ago, he’d spent most of his time in the core of the empire so none of the sleepy roads were familiar to him. Bardoc seemed confident in the direction he was leading them in, so they followed the old man. Only once they started reaching the edge of the forest did their journey slow down.
“What was this place called again?” Kaylirr asked.
“The Celeran Canopy,” Sairoc said. He’d let the old man take the lead on the journey, but he was the one who would have to lead them through the forest and towards the actual mountain range. “It’s been a long time since I last journeyed through this place.” he looked at Bardoc. “Been here before?”
“Once, I spent some weeks traveling with a friend in the forest. That was much further south than where we’re going though.”
“Further south, so deeper in the forest?”
The old man nodded. “There’s some nice folk living down there, but they’re not quick to trust outsiders. I spent a few days locked up in a cage before I finally convinced them to let me out.” He laughed. “Good times.”
Sairoc looked at Kaylirr who just shrugged. They hadn’t traveled with Bardoc long enough to know if the old man was pulling their leg or fully serious. All they knew is that he possessed some interesting knowledge about magic and he might be their ticket to finding out more about Elet and the assassin, so they weren’t going to take umbrage with any weird jokes. The weather had completely changed to sunny by now and the humidity was slowly fading as well, making their journey a bit more comfortable. The thick foliage however was quickly becoming a problem. It was clear to Kaylirr that both Sairoc and Bardoc knew the direction they were supposed to be traveling in but they weren’t familiar with any trails at all.
The next few days were spent hacking away at the plant life that blocked their way until eventually they stumbled upon what seemed like an old hunting trail. Glad to finally have some more freedom to move around, they ended up following the trail for the better part of a day, veering off from their original direction slightly, but not enough for it to be a problem. They finally set up camp in a clearing they reached. There under the stars, Kaylirr decided to speak to Elet once more to get some more answers about where they were headed and what exactly was going on. He just hoped that the spirit would answer him.
After dinner was finished and the fire was lighting up the clearing, Kaylirr found a quiet spot towards the edge and sat down cross legged. He then pulled the weapon from its sheath and closed his eyes, focusing on the sounds of the forest. When he opened his eyes again he was no longer in the clearing but instead in an unfamiliar space. 

“Hello Kaylirr, it’s been a little while since we last spoke.” Elet’s voice came from a dark corner, where he couldn’t quite make out her shape. Her tone was almost sickeningly sweet and Kaylirr was still confused as to where he found himself. Was this a space inside his own mind or inside the weapon, or were the two of them somewhere else.
“I’ve come to ask you for some clarity.”
“Then ask away, we’re a team, aren’t we?”
Kaylirr still had his doubts about that statement, but so far Elet seemed to have been helpful so he didn’t question it in this moment. He was prepared to ask her some questions at least. “Where exactly are we headed to?”
“A small village in the Zargahal mountains, it’s where a dwarven runesmith lives. I need his expertise on something.”
“And what does that have to do with finding your brother?”
Elet fell silent, as if looking for an answer instead of answering honestly. Eventually the sweet voice spoke once more. “I do not mean offense when I say this, but without some increased prowess you are no match for the assassin that wields my brother. The device on your shoulder allows me to manipulate the energies inside my vessel as well as your own energy. We need to power up the device significantly and to do so we require this runesmith.”
“And what is this runesmith’s name?”
Elet smiled. “Raze. You’ll find him, I trust in that much. Have some faith in me Kaylirr, I won’t do you wrong, I promise that.”
“I believe you.”

“You dozing off boss?” Sairoc said to him when he returned back to their camp in the forest.
“Something like that. I’m not the boss anymore, you know that.”
“Force of habit.” Sairoc shrugged and put another piece of wood on the fire. The smell of their dinner – which was long gone – still lingered near the camp. The sky was getting darker and it was time for Kaylirr to go to sleep.
“I’ll take the first watch as per usual, go get your beauty sleep,” Sairoc said jokingly.
“I think I should have started taking those many years earlier.” He looked at his friend. “And so should you have.” They both laughed.

The next morning, Kaylirr woke up for his watch. As he would sometimes do, Sairoc didn’t wake him up when it was time but let him sleep longer. Although he would never admit it to his friend, he did appreciate the gesture a lot as he’d felt exhausted ever since the attack. About an hour before sunrise, Bardoc woke up as well, stretching broadly and letting out a big yawn. He looked around confused for a few moments, seemingly forgetting where he was, before it seemed to all come back to him as he went about his morning routine as Kaylirr had seen the old man do a few times already. Bardoc would do some stretches and then a strange exercise in which he carefully seemed to stretch each part of his body individually. Kaylirr couldn’t quite figure out if it was stretching or a massage of sorts, but he’d settled for stretching. It almost looked as if the man was trying to figure out if his entire body was still in its place. The joke made him immediately grimace when he thought of his own missing arm. He took a second cup from his bag and filled it with tea. “Want some?” He asked the old man, who gratefully accepted it and sat down opposite of Kaylirr.
The steaming tea slowly trailed upwards in the crisp morning air as the duo sat in silence for a little while, only interrupted ever so slightly by the snoring of their dwarven companion who – as usual – had managed to fall asleep within seconds of laying down. Kaylirr envied that skill as he was often plagued with laying awake or having rough nights, even before he lost his arm. After a while, Bardoc spoke up.
“I know what it’s like to feel lost in the world. I was like you once, wandering and following an uncertain path that I didn’t really believe in myself.”
“I’m not sure what you mean?” Kaylirr replied. He hadn’t really opened up to the old man at all and neither had the old man opened up to Kaylirr before. This caught him a little bit off guard.
“I’ve been traveling with the two of you for only a few days, but I can feel hesitance in your every step. You walk as if you desperately want to find a purpose that isn’t there. I am definitely curious about what you can accomplish with this surge of magical power that surrounds you, but I worry for your health.” Bardoc pointed at Kaylirr’s arm. “I’m guessing that’s recent?”
Kaylirr nodded. “Only a few weeks ago. It still hurts whenever I move it.”
“May I ask what happened?”
“We were protecting some expensive merchandise when a thief came in and managed to best me. The thief ran off with one of two weapons, the second of which is hanging from my belt. You’ve met, I believe.”
Bardoc nodded. “They’re a capricious lot, the spirits. I’ve encountered quite a few in my years, and although many of them do not harbor ill will, their concepts of what is good, evil and most importantly of what is important are very different from ours. Make sure you don’t let yourself get swept up in their pace.”
Kaylirr smiled. “I appreciate the advice.” Aiming to move the topic away from his own wellbeing he followed up with a question. “How come you have so much knowledge about spirits?”
Bardoc scratched his knee absentmindedly while he stared off into the distance. “I grew up building things and tinkering. Eventually I realized I had a real talent and working with some of the spirits that were living in the village – not the village where I met you – I started making powerful artifacts. Not the kind of powerful that legends are written about, but definitely things that would be trouble in the wrong hands. I made a device that will pick any simple lock, I made a coin that would eventually corrode, damaging all the other coins in your purse, that sort of stuff. I was led along by the spirits for quite a bit as they seemed to find these things hilarious and although none of it was done in bad faith, I learned my lesson when one of my more potent creations fell into the wrong hands. I had to flee the village and I was a wanted… man for a while. Eventually I managed to escape the guards for long enough that things quieted down. Ever since then I’ve been trying to build my artifacts in peace, hoping to make some useful things.” Bardoc pointed at Elet. “I can sense that the spirit sleeping in your weapon isn’t just your average village spirit. She could see right through me when I touched her and that scared me. That’s why I’m warning you not to be too trustful. I’m sure she has good intentions, but her good intentions and your wellbeing might not align.”
“I appreciate the advice. Truly.” Kaylirr put his hand on the weapon and felt the soft leather on the outside of the sheath. There was definitely a presence to the weapon whenever he touched it, but Elet herself did not appear. He wondered if she could hear their every conversation. He returned his attention back to Bardoc. “Have you been living in this village for a long time then?”
Bardoc shook his head. “Couple of years. I’ve gone from place to place for a while. I’m not much of a people person, so I don’t make connections. When the two of you showed up I figured I would be of more help assisting the two of you than staying there, so that’s why I offered to come with you.”
“Well, we’re glad to have you Bardoc.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that.” By the time their conversations came to a close, Sairoc seemed to be waking up and the trio continued their journey towards the Zargahal mountains shortly after they ate breakfast together.

The trek through the forest was a relatively quiet one and although Kaylirr hadn’t expected anything big to happen, he was a bit surprised by how easy it all went. But this was the easy half as they now had to not only find the entrance that Sairoc didn’t really remember all that well but then they also had to navigate the tunnels of an ancient underground kingdom and find this dwarven runesmith that was somewhere in there. It wouldn’t be an easy task. The first hurdle appeared in front of them when they reached the edge of the forest and saw that towering mountain range in front of them. Kaylirr and Bardoc turned to Sairoc. “Lead the way,” Kaylirr said.
Sairoc looked at the surroundings, inspected the ground and measured the peaks of the mountains with his fingers before turning around and saying. “Well I have no idea where we are in relation to the entrance.”
Kaylirr sighed. “You had one job.” They both laughed. “Now what?” He added.
“I’ll see if I can figure out if the entrance I’m thinking of is further north or further south, that way we know which direction to head.”
“I think I can be of some assistance with that.” Bardoc said. He took off his rather large backpack and rummaged through it for a little while before pulling something out. The strange mechanical contraption looked almost birdlike in its design. Bardoc drew some runes on the ground, put the contraption in the middle and then tapped several spots in the runes with his walking cane before the metal contraption started to make a whirring sound and then slowly lifted up into the air. “If you can give me some landmarks that I might be able to find, Taka here will have a look around.”
“What in the world is that?” Sairoc asked.
“It’s one of my inventions, it allows me to ask a spirit of the wind for help in searching for something. The only downside is that Taka asks for some gold in return and I’m quickly running out of my supply, but besides that it’s very convenient.”
“It looks very impressive, that’s for sure,” Kaylirr said.
Sairoc thought for a few moments. “So the entrance into our kingdom that I’m thinking of is built into the side of a cliff. At the top of that cliff are three large trees that grow horizontally. That’s probably your best bet.”
Bardoc nodded and sat down cross legged. The invention, Taka, took off and disappeared beyond the canopy. After waiting for a couple of minutes it returned and landed in Bardoc’s hand before it ceased movement. The old man nodded a couple of times and then smiled. “We go a few hours north.”

Purple Flame

Layla II
The journey through the underground tunnels that led deeper and deeper into the Zargahal mountains was an exhausting one. Not so much due to the distance, Layla was somewhat used to traveling, but mostly due to the atmosphere. After traveling through open plains and forests, she now found herself slowly walking down a dark hallway. Of course she had a lantern with her and there were lights every now and then whenever the tunnels would split, but it was totally dark outside of those. She knew what she was getting into, but she felt her mood drastically shift after the first day of underground travel came to an end. Too tired to continue, she found her way to one of the alcoves that the dwarves had carved along these paths. They were little hovels of stone where a piece of cloth would separate it from the tunnel. Travelers could use them to camp for the night and there was usually room for two or three travelers in one of these hovels. If you had a bigger group, you would have to camp in the tunnels themselves, but travelers didn’t come through that often. It seemed like Layla had this alcove to herself as well as she carefully placed her lantern on the stone shelf and prepared her bedding for the night. Before going to sleep, she once again studied the maps of the tunnels she was in. She had been diligently keeping track of the tunnels she took and she was still confident she was going the correct way, but it was hard to know for certain if she was. Raze had told her that more people got lost in the tunnels than found their way through, but most people didn’t have a map that they knew as accurate. If she was right and she was still going the correct way she would be arriving at Zarvadon, the city where her friend hopefully still lived. If she was wrong and by the end of tomorrow she wasn’t in Zarvadon she would at least have her maps to lead her back. But if she messed up when retracing her steps she would be in big trouble, so the careful marking and updating of her map definitely slowed down her trek. It was necessary though.
Sleep came slowly to her in this dark tunnel but eventually she did manage to fade into sleep and get at least a bit of a night’s rest.

“I’m not sure about this,” Sairoc said as he was attaching the contraption he’d crafted to the hook on his stump. Kaylirr winced when the metal moved against his stump. The wound was healing well but the flesh was still quite tender and moving it around hurt a bit. Despite his pain he was committed to continuing. Sairoc had employed the help of a local glassblower to create the strange lantern that Elet had described to his dwarven friend. It looked fairly normal to Kaylirr but there were a few requirements that Elet had given the dwarf that had definitely given them pause for thought. For starters, the top of the lantern – which would normally be flat – had to be a perfect half sphere. This meant that the top was larger than the lantern itself in some places and required Sairoc to create bent plates that were then screwed into the metal lining of the actual lanterns. These bent places were also pierced in several places to create small holes. Finally, there was a small ring on the outside of the cage, which let Kaylirr hook the little door that opened up to light the lantern to it. This allowed him to keep the lantern open without the door swinging closed. He wasn’t quite sure why this was necessary as the only reason to open the little door to the lantern was to light it and if he kept it open it would just blow out the flame, but Elet insisted that this was a requirement and Sairoc followed the strange spirit’s instruction to the letter. Putting aside the strange requirements, Kaylirr was impressed with the craftsmanship that his friend had put into this. It looked very sturdy and although it was hanging from a hook on his arm, it swayed minimally, being surprisingly stable. “I still don’t understand the use of this, wouldn’t it be better to solder a dagger to your stump if you were going to make use of it.”
Kaylirr grimaced at the thought. “I don’t think I’d want to apply unnecessary force on this arm anytime soon if I’m totally honest with you.”
The pair was sitting on the side of the road with the sun slowly going down on the horizon. They were a few hours away from town and decided to test out the contraption here. After both of them were satisfied that it worked as intended they removed it again. “We’ll store it for now until we know more about what the point of this thing is,” Kaylirr said.
They’d traveled in silence for most of the day. Both of them had a lot on their mind after the last few days. On their way out of town, Kaylirr saw that there were wanted posters up for both of them. They probably assumed that the duo ran off with the weapons. They weren’t fully wrong of course, but the situation was obviously looking bad from an outsider’s perspective. Luckily they’d managed to avoid questioning and having left the big city behind them, they felt a little bit of the stress leave their body. Sairoc started on preparing some dinner while Kaylirr sat by the fire and stared off into the distance. He was still recovering so he wasn’t much help right now but his friend had assured him it wasn’t an issue. He felt lonely. He was used to traveling of course, but usually their group was larger than this. The loss of his colleagues had hit him hard. Risk was a part of the mercenary’s life and this wasn’t the first time that Kaylirr had experienced losses during a dangerous job, but it was the most brutal one. One person managed to do such an enormous amount of damage that it was frightening. This must be one talented assassin. Shaking off the negative thoughts he stood up and carefully filled a metal pan with some water to prepare tea for the two of them. Off in the distance he heard the sound of birds flying away. There might be someone or something approaching, he thought to himself. He took out his dagger. For some reason he felt uncomfortable using the sword. Knowing there was someone in the weapon made him hesitant to swing it around. A few moments passed before a startled raccoon came running to the edge of the camp and then promptly turned back around when he saw the two of them. Kaylirr put the dagger away, his heart pounding in his ears.
“You alright boss? You’re trembling something fierce,” Sairoc remarked. He hadn’t left his spot at the fire and seemed unbothered by the noise.
“I’m fine,” Kaylirr said, focusing his attention on the tea he was making.
Sairoc finished cooking their dinner and the two ate in silence before Sairoc spoke. “After we visit this village, what is your plan?”
“I don’t know yet. I want to help out Elet, partially because it lines up with figuring out who attacked us and why. I haven’t really been in the mindset for making big plans.”
“I don’t know if I’m up to that, a journey to avenge our friends against some crazy assassin.” Sairoc sighed. “I’m not as young as I once was, friend, and the wife has been asking me to come home more often. Perhaps I’ll find a new job soon.”
Kaylirr nodded. “I have no one waiting for me at home, so I’ll be fine going into danger. I wouldn’t ask you to risk your life for something you’re not completely behind.”
“I feel bad abandoning you though,” Sairoc said, poking the fire with a stick.
“Don’t. You’ve already done so much. I’ll be fine.” But even as he said those words to his friend, he wasn’t sure if he believed in them himself.

A few more days on the road eventually brought them to their destination. Serandir. An unassuming village on the edge of the empire that Kaylirr had honestly never heard of before Elet mentioned it to him. The buildings were made out of large bricks and stood in all sorts of forms that were clearly built by people of different skill levels and looked far from cohesive. Despite that, the quaint atmosphere made the sleepy village endearing to Kaylirr. If he had been here with better tidings he likely would have enjoyed his stay here. Unfortunately they weren’t here to sightsee, but instead to find someone. Elet hadn’t given them much information to go to except for the fact that they were looking for a tinkerer that lived in Serandir. After exchanging a glance, the duo made their way down the dirt road that led down the hill they were standing on and into the village that was situated in a dip between hills. This allowed it to be obscured from the road, perhaps to avoid unwanted attention or for some other reason, Kaylirr wasn’t sure. Some of the villagers looked up at the strange duo. Kaylirr’s missing arm was obscured by his coat so they didn’t look much more strange than any other travelers. Passing by several houses with men and women sitting outside of it, working on one craft or another, they made their way towards the center of the village where a tiny inn was built adjacent to a quiet town square. Sairoc opened the door and stepped inside, Kaylirr following behind.
“Good morning good man, we were hoping dinner was ready soon,” Sairoc said.
The innkeeper looked up from what he was doing and smiled, showing off several missing teeth. “You’re in luck, today’s beef day.”
“Excellent,” Sairoc smiled back at him and put some coins on the counter. The innkeeper scooped them up and went into the kitchen while Kaylirr and Sairoc found a place to sit down. There wasn’t all that much choice since there were only three small round tables with a few chairs around them. After getting settled the innkeeper soon returned with some freshly braised pork and some ale. “You folks in town for a reason?” He asked.
“Aye, we’ve been told about a talented tinkerer in town and that’s why we’re here, you know anything about that?”
The man chuckled. “You must mean ol’ Bardoc.”
“Tell me more,” Sairoc said, biting off a piece of pork.
The innkeeper sighed. “Bardoc moved in a few years ago and has been a menace ever since. The old man keeps blowing up his experiments by accident, or so he says. The first dozen times we’d rush to his house to help him, but after a while we just gave up and started ignoring them. Don’t be too surprised if you hear a sudden loud noise while in town. And if you’re here to see him, be ready for an eccentric geezer, that’s the best advice I can give you.”
Sairoc looked at Kaylirr. “It sounds like we’re in for a treat.”
Kaylirr nodded. “Should we go there now or wait till morning?”
“I reckon morning’s good right? We don’t have a reason to rush and I’d like to get some rest before talking to someone who has a bit of a reputation. Call it years of experience.”
Kaylirr smiled. “Then let’s get some rest after dinner.” He motioned over the innkeeper, which felt awkward to do with his left arm. “Good man, do you have a room available for the night?”
“I certainly do, that’ll run you four silver.” Kaylirr tossed him five and he grinned. “Second door on the left once you go up the stairs. It’s not much, but it has a bed and it’s clean. Somewhat.”
Sairoc grunted. “That’s all we need.” They continued their dinner and went to sleep early, they had an interesting day ahead of them after all.

“Are the two of you amphibians?” Hunched over what looked like a metal contraption was a short man, wrinkly skin on the back of his bald head.
“Why do you ask?” Kaylirr replied. The door to the shabby stone house was open so they’d walked up to the threshold and before they could even say anything to him he asked the weird question.
“It’s just that lately I’ve been getting weary of frogs.” The man pointed at a wrench laying precariously on the rickety chair that was leaning against the wall. “Get me that if you’re not a frog, would you?”
Without really questioning it, Kaylirr walked over to the wrench and handed it to the tinkerer. The man finally looked up at him and acknowledged his presence, piercing green eyes hidden within a sunken face that looked much more alive than the rest of his presentation made him seem. “Thank you, and please take a seat, I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
Kaylirr sat down on the chair he’d just removed the wrench from and with no more chairs available, Sairoc settled for the floor, sitting cross legged next to his friend. They waited as Bardoc continued his craft for another couple minutes before violently tossing the contraption into a nearby wall, causing it to break into several pieces, before letting out a frustrated sigh. “Another failure.”
“What are you trying to make?” Sairoc asked.
Bardoc looked up at him from the crouched position he was working in. “I’ve been working on arcane storage. It’s said to be one of the most difficult pieces of artifice to make, alongside flying ships and spirit havens.”
“What’s a spirit haven?” Kaylirr asked.
“It’s an intricate object that entices someone from the spirit realm to live in it. They’re incredibly rare due to the arduous process to make one and it’s even harder to make one ethically.”
Kaylirr unconsciously put his hand on his sword. To his surprise, the motion didn’t go unnoticed as Bardoc’s eyes trained on the sword almost immediately. “And who are you?” He asked>
“I’m Kaylirr and this is Sairoc.”
“No, I mean the spirit you carry with you.” Bardoc’s eyes had a crazed glare to them but none of his other motions seemed hostile. Kaylirr and Sairoc exchanged a look. Elet had sent them here to meet with this artificer, but the fact that the old man almost instantly clocked everything going on with them frightened Kaylirr a bit. He was still very new to this magic stuff after all. Throughout his long life as a mercenary, he definitely encountered magic and its users, but it was always a danger he tried to avoid or cut down before it came too close. Now that he was fully wrapped up in it, he wasn’t sure what to do. His experiences here were clearly lacking. Despite his hesitation, he came here for a reason. “A spirit by the name of Elet rests in this sword. Shortly after our meeting, she requested me to bring her to you. We are in pursuit of her brother, who has been locked into the other weapon that was part of this set.” Cobal put the weapon on Bardoc’s workbench. The old man stepped over some clutter and Kaylirr’s trained eye noticed the surprising dexterity the man showed for someone so old. What surprised him much more than a nimble old man was what he saw next. Bardoc put his hand on the weapon and for but a flash, Kaylirr saw a young woman with skin the color of snow and bright green hair that dropped all the way to the ground. Kaylirr blinked and he was once again looking at the old man, the illusion he saw for but a moment gone. Bardoc stood there with his hand on the weapon for a few moments before pulling back. A wicked grin on his face, he turned around and faced Sairoc. “The lantern?” he demanded.
Sairoc removed a leather bundle from his pack and unrolled it, revealing the metal and glass contraption he’d been working on before they left for Selandir. He handed the contraption to Bardoc who carefully inspected every little bit of it before putting it down next to the sword. “This is well made, I commend you, master dwarf.”
Sairoc nodded approvingly. “Aye, I am confident in my craft.”
“And for good reason.” Bardoc stepped into another room without saying what he went to do and came back a few minutes later with some coffee. “I’ll be working for a while, you’re free to stay or leave as you’d like.”
“I’m not exactly sure what you’re going to craft, what did Elet tell you to do?” Kaylirr asked.
“You’ll see when I’m done.” That seemed to be the end of the discussion and although part of Kaylirr felt like the man had treated him without much respect, a bigger part of Kaylirr was incredibly curious what this clearly crazy old man was going to do. Besides, the sword herself requested this, so it must be a good idea, right? He poured himself a cup of coffee and watched the tinkerer work.
Eventually night came and the duo returned to their inn. It seemed like Bardoc needed more time to finish his contraption and there was no point in them staying around. They would return in the morning.

Awaiting them in the morning, when they arrived at Bardoc’s house once more, was a surprising sight. The old man was laying sprawled out on the floor and although Kaylirr worried for a moment that something happened to him, the loud snoring quickly dispelled his fear. Sitting on top of the table next to the sleeping old man was the lantern they’d given to him. It didn’t look all that different to Kaylirr, but they would have to wait for Bardoc to wake up to find out.
“Rise and shine old man,” Sairoc said, shaking the old tinkerer awake. Bardoc let out a big yawn and stretched his arms before standing up. “Right, you’re back. It took a little bit longer than I anticipated so I only got a couple of hours of sleep unfortunately, but your request is done.”
“What exactly did you do to it?” Sairoc asked, inspecting the lantern carefully. “I see some etchings but not much more.”
“Try it out.” Bardoc picked up the lantern and attached it to the small ring on Kaylirr’s stump, where the lantern gently swayed from. Nothing happened.
“Now draw your sword.” Bardoc was getting irritated. “I really need to spell out everything for you, don’t I.”
They had just made the man work deep into the night without promising any payment which was the sole reason Kaylirr didn’t get angry at the disrespectful tone the man was taking on. Instead he did as Bardoc said and slowly unsheathed Elet. A rush of hot air came from the sword and traveled up his shoulder and through his torso. A moment later the flame in the lantern lit up into a bright purple flame. “What the.” Kaylirr said, examining it.
“Look at that, it works,” Bardoc commented with a smirk. “If you look closely underneath your skin you can see where the magic gets channeled.”
Kaylirr looked at his arm and saw what looked like a fiery purple chain just below his skin. His body felt warm but not uncomfortably so. While inspecting this strange new change, a voice rang in Kaylirr’s head. “I had the genius artificer connect the runes on the lantern to my own runes. This way there is a harmony between the two and I can move my consciousness from one to the other. That should allow you to wield me with much more efficiency. You want your revenge right? This is the first step.”
Kaylirr looked at Sairoc but the dwarf showed no sign of hearing Elet’s voice, meaning only the person holding the weapon could actually hear her. “I’m assuming you have a plan?”
A flash appeared in his mind of an unfamiliar location. For a moment, Kaylirr found himself deep within an exposed gemstone deposit. There were many different gemstones here, and at the center, still part of the wall ahead of him, sat a beautiful looking amethyst. Before the vision flashed away again, a chill went down Kaylirr’s spine. Someone was there, behind him, but he didn’t have the guts to turn around and a moment later he was back in the rickety old house. “What was that?” Kaylirr asked.
“Us spirits have knowledge that is far beyond most mortals and we are loathe to share it. If you can convince the tinkerer to come with you, we can modify this lantern to be powerful beyond your wildest imagination. We can take out the person responsible for cutting off your arm, destroy their organization and find my brother.”
“I thought you were the kind one of the two.”
“Angering a kind soul is much scarier than you might think.” And for a moment Kaylirr feared he was making a deal with the devil. Despite his moment of hesitation, he still accepted. “So, how do we get there?” He asked.
“Find a scholar in the Zargahal mountains, her name is Layla.”
“That’s not much to go on.”
“Good luck.” And with that the voice disappeared from his consciousness, resting in the sword as the flame in the lantern dimmed to a small light. After he was convinced that Elet didn’t want to speak to him anymore, he sheathed the sword once more.
“So, what did the sword person say?” Kaylirr hadn’t realized that Bardoc was standing a hair’s length away from him, his face incredibly close to Kaylirr’s.
“Personal space isn’t your thing, is it?”
“What?”
Kaylirr shook his head. “Never mind. Elet told me to convince you to accompany us to a dangerous mineral deposit deep in the Zargahal mountains.”
“Alright, when do we leave?”
Sairoc laughed out loud, the sound ringing through the room. “I’m here with a bunch of nutjobs, aren’t I?”
Kaylirr gave him an irritated look. “Speak for yourself, friend.”
Elet looked confused. “What, it sounds like fun.”
“You’re the weirdest old man I’ve ever met,” Kaylirr commented.
“Is that a compliment?”
“Sure.”

That night, Kaylirr was restless. The vision that Elet had shown him was weighing heavy on his mind. It seemed like a memory of a place, but whatever was there, staring at his back, seemed to take note of his presence. Did she somehow send his consciousness to the actual place that he saw? He wasn’t one to understand magic as he’d not come into contact with it often, but Kaylirr was a smart man. Years of hard work and negotiating had sharpened his mind as much as his sword skills and he wasn’t one to quickly get confused or scared, but something about the presence in that vision terrified him. Where was this cavern filled with gemstones and what could they expect to find down there that could make him feel that way. Part of him wanted to unsheathe the weapon and ask Elet, but a bigger part of him worried that the answer would scare him more than not knowing. He looked at his nightstand where the strange lantern stood. The flame had died out when it idly stood there and Elet leaned against the nightstand, quiet in the little bit of moonlight that made its way through the small window in their room. Sairoc was fast asleep in the other bed, seemingly unperturbed by the events of the day. Kaylirr turned to lay on his other side, looking away from the sword and the lantern. Too many crazy things were happening to him in a short time. He hadn’t even fully processed losing an arm and now he was talking to a clearly crazy tinkerer who looked like a young woman for a flash of a second, who then made a lantern that burned purple fire and seemed to create a chain through his body that linked up with a talking sword. Things just kept piling onto the pile of weird and Kaylirr couldn’t keep up. Despite his reservations though, Elet’s words rang in his head. We can take out the person responsible for cutting off your arm, destroy their organization and find my brother. He couldn’t help but like the idea of vengeance. With his mind focused on that, sleep finally found him in the dead of night.

Broken and Battered

Layla I
After stopping in Larania to spend the night and stock up on supplies, Layla rapidly made her way through the dense forests of the Celeran Canopy. She’d heard many stories of strange folk living in this part of the world and she didn’t want anything to do with them. Not right now at least, she was in a hurry. Layla spent the past four years researching the strange appearance of a spirit that seemed to be living in her quill. While she was attending the academy she suddenly realized that the object had gotten a life of its own. It couldn’t form sentences but it would send her thoughts it had in the form of images. At first, Layla was utterly freaked out by this sudden change. She considered discussing it with someone at the academy but a sense of worry stopped her. Instead, she took her leave from the academy to study elsewhere and spent much time in K’Mirah before finally heading east. She didn’t head east due to any gained knowledge or information, but instead the lack of progress drove her to go and search for an old friend of hers. While she studied at the academy she met a young dwarf called Raze. Raze was a runesmith who paid for his education by teaching his craft to other students. Runecrafting was mainly a dwarven magic. It wasn’t exclusive to them by any means, but history had proven time and time again that dwarves had a general knack for it. For centuries, all different sorts of rock were used for runecrafting, marble proving to be one of the most effective stones. Raze had revolutionized the craft by using gemstones. You’d think dwarves would have figured out how to use those a very long time ago, and you would be correct. But the runes would damage the innate magic that precious gems often carried with them and this would be a massive detriment to the power of the finished product. Raze had managed to figure out how to make proper use of the gemstones without carving the runes into them. He crafted jewelry that was inlaid with both gems and marble, using the marble as a catalyst for the magic and the gemstones’ innate magic as secondary power, increasing the potency of the magic many times. Although the young dwarf couldn’t explain why carving the runes directly into the gold, silver or other metal jewelry didn’t work, he had created detailed lectures on the way energy flowed through the different parts of the jewelry he crafted and his research was praised by many. Layla now found herself at one of several entrances into the underground dwarven kingdom of Zargahal. Raze was somewhere down there, and she was determined to find her old friend.

The lantern hanging on the wall faltered. A gust of wind pierced through Kaylirr’s clothes as the room’s temperature suddenly lowered significantly. He was hired by a local noble to protect an art collection at night. Not exactly a difficult job at a glance, but after he accepted he started hearing rumors in town that someone was actively planning to steal from the place. There were a few items in the collection that were highly valued and a local syndicate apparently had their eyes on them. Kaylirr leaned against the back wall of the chamber, as far away from the only entrance as possible. The wavering lantern didn’t go out from the gust of wind but the flame got weaker and the already dimly lit room became even more difficult to perceive. His ears had already picked up the sound of someone moving around quietly. Kaylirr wasn’t worried as four of his men were stationed between here and the exit. Even if the intruder managed to sneak past the first two, who were stationed at the front door of the complex, they would still have to make their way past Devon who was patrolling the halls and Kari who was guarding the door to this room. The subtle sounds of moving were gone as an eerie silence filled the room before it was interrupted by the sound of a knife hitting the door leading to this room. Kaylirr unsheathed his sword and got ready. The silence felt like it took an eternity before a small crack of light appeared through the door as it slowly opened, followed by the thud of Kari’s lifeless body hitting the ground, a small pool of blood forming in the entrance to the chamber. Despite his friend’s death, Kaylirr stayed calm. Decades of experience taught him that losing your cool in a moment like this was akin to suicide. Looming over the slumped body was a short figure, face hidden under a hood and black robes hiding their figure. It was hard to see if this was a man, woman or child but it didn’t matter to Kaylirr. It was a foe regardless. He held out his sword and looked at the figure who was only armed with a dagger in each hand, one of them gleaming red with blood. “I’m afraid you won’t be leaving this complex alive,” Kaylirr said, adjusting the grip on his weapon.
There was no acknowledgement of what he said except for the dagger that flew at him. With unnatural speed for someone his age Kaylirr dodged the thrown weapon, which stuck in the wall behind him, just below two ornate swords that were hanging on the wall.
“Very well.” He took a step forward and before he realized what was going on the figure was right up in his face, dagger cutting open his left cheek. This wasn’t a regular thief, this person was highly trained. Kaylirr retreated from all other thoughts and focused solely on the flashing of steel, barely blocking each hasty slash. A quick back and forth taught him he was completely outmatched and when he had a second to look at the person’s eyes he realized that they didn’t even have their full focus on him. Their eyes were shifting from Kaylirr to the weapons on the wall behind him. So that’s what they’re after. Kaylirr adjusted his stance to make sure he was positioned between the assailant and the ornate weapons. If he could just stall for a few moments, surely one of his companions would come rushing over and they’d be able to get the upper hand. Just as that thought filled him with renewed confidence the assassin planted the tip of her boot in his calf, catching him off balance. He managed to block the following slash with his weapon but the force behind it disarmed him. Pushed from his feet and into the wall behind him, Kaylirr scrambled to get back up, bumping into the weapons hanging above him. It’s better than no weapons, he thought, before unsheathing both swords and holding them at the ready. The figure took a step back as he did so and he swore he could see a smile on their face. “That was a mistake,” a feminine sounding voice said. Before he could reply to her, a searing pain filled his head. Two different voices crashed into his consciousness at once, violently exploding into an argument that took place inside of his head.
“Elet, we have to help him, he’s about to die,” one of the two voices said.
“We’ll tear this woman apart, cut her limb from limb, turn her into a pupper, make her bleed from every part of her body,” the second voice said, with a crazed aggression behind it.
“Brother you’re sick, you need to rest.” the first voice said, sounding incredibly worried.
The second voice just laughed maniacally as Kaylirr felt his arm moving on its own. He slashed at the women who deftly stepped off to the side and in one quick – almost beautiful – motion severed Kaylirr’s right arm. He watched the arm, which was still holding on to the weapon, fall to the ground. The violent voice in his head vanished with it. The woman picked up the sword from his bleeding arm and winced in pain, before jumping back. The last thing Kaylirr heard before his consciousness fading was the sound of weapons clashing and footsteps quickly making their way towards him. Then everything went dark.

Kaylirr slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a dimly lit space. The sound of metal being worked on filled his ears in a slow rhythm. He looked up to see his friend, Sairoc, working a forge. After a few moments to collect his thoughts he felt the searing pain in his right shoulder and doubled over, falling off the bed and onto the stone floor. He grabbed for his arm but instead of flesh his hands touched something metal.
“Careful friend, you’ve lost a lot of blood.” The dwarven mercenary put down his tools and quickly walked over to Kaylirr, helping him back onto the bed.
“What happened to me?” Kaylirr asked.
Sairoc pulled over a stool and sat down next to the bed. “I’d like to know that as well. By the time I got to you, you had already lost consciousness. I’m surprised I got out of there alive, that thief seemed to be out for blood. She cut off your arm and stole an ornate looking sword.”
Kaylirr looked at the bedside table to see the other ornate sword sitting there in its sheath.
Sairoc followed his eyes and explained, “when I tried to put the sword back onto the wall, the bloody thing spoke in my head. Craziest experience I’ve ever had.”
“It spoke to you too?”
“Aye, and from the sounds of it, I didn’t make it up, since you’re saying the same thing.” Sairoc poured some water from a jug and handed it to Kaylirr, who gratefully took it. “The talking sword told me to create this metal contraption for your arm. I’m no doctor and you were losing a lot of blood so I did what the voice told me.” His eyes turned sad. “I’m sorry about your arm friend, but there was nothing I could do.”
Kaylirr took the time to inspect the strange metal casing that was crafted around the stump where his arm once was. It seemed to be bolted into his bone and moving his shoulder hurt a tremendous amount, but there was no bleeding and the wound looked relatively clean. “How did you manage that?” He asked Sairoc.
The dwarf shrugged. “I honestly couldn’t tell you. I followed the instructions that flowed into my head and I think that the sword did the rest.” He stared at the sheathed weapon. “Am I going crazy? I’m talking to swords.”
Kaylirr shook his head. “I don’t think you’re going crazy, I heard voices as well after picked up the weapons. But I heard two different voices. Was there only one for you?”
“I only heard one, aye.”
“And the other weapon?” Kaylirr asked.
“The thief ran off with it. I didn’t manage to hinder them much but I did see a tattoo on their ankle as they bolted. A fool’s hat.”
The Emerald Jesters. Kaylirr thought to himself. They were a well known crime syndicate that operated primarily in K’Tapur and here in K’Mirah. The two big cities in Fyrston.
“I’m guessing both swords have ghosts in them or something,” Kaylirr concluded.
“Your guess is as good as mine. But let’s shelf that for now. How are you feeling, besides the obvious.”
“Horrible. My eyes feel like they’re on fire and I’m missing an arm. But I got out of this alive and I have you and that sword to thank for it.”
“I did what I could, the healing process is up to you.”
“What about the others?” Kaylirr finally dared to ask the question.
Sairoc shook his head. “I was patrolling outside for most of it, which I think is why I managed to get out of this job alive, but the rest wasn’t so lucky. I’ve buried their bodies in the cemetery outside of town.”
“I see. And the job?”
“I’m pretty confident they believe we ran off with the items, so as soon as you’re good enough to travel I reckon we should leave this town behind us and stay out of sight for a while.”
“Great.” Kaylirr sank back down into his pillow. Pain filled head as he did and his body shook violently.
“Get some rest buddy, and if you need anything just holler, I’m only working the forge as a front, there’s nothing important I’m working on.”
“I’ll do my best,” Kaylirr said. He spent the next hour trying to find sleep which eventually embraced him.

When next Kaylirr woke up, it seemed a few more days had passed. The weather had changed significantly and the rainy gloominess had been replaced by much lighter spring showers. The forge was quiet and there was no sign of Sairoc anywhere near him. His shoulder still hurt tremendously but the burning pain behind his eyes seemed to have been reduced to a light throbbing. He sat up on the side of the bed and let his toes gently touch the stone floor below. Lucky for Kaylirr, his friend had left him some slippers that he quickly stepped into. He stood next to the window for a little while, staring out at the quiet street. Some people were running up and down, quickly making their way through the rain, but the bustle of a city was nowhere to be seen. He recognized the style of buildings in the area and knew which part of town they were in. It made sense for Sairoc to bring him here, it’s where they holed up for a while after they botched a mission several years ago. They never were caught back then, so the place was safe enough. A cold shiver ran through his body and he made his way to the firepit which took some effort to light. It seemed to have been on for a while but with Sairoc not around to keep it going it had slowly gone out. The cold was probably what woke Kaylirr up. After getting the fire nice and toasty again he warmed himself some water and brewed some tea. That warmed him right up. He saw the stolen weapon in the corner of his eye, still on the nightstand where it was the first time he woke up. After a few moments of hesitation he walked over to pick it up. It was in its scabbard and nothing strange seemed to happen. It did feel weird in his left hand, he was so used to picking up things with his right hand, but that was no longer there. After some hesitation he pinched the scabbard between his legs and drew the sword. It slid out smoothly and after a moment of nothing happening the world suddenly crumbled around him. He blinked once and found himself in the dining room of a large manor. The floor, walls and ceiling had black and white pattern tiles that seemed to be moving ever so slightly, immediately causing Kaylirr to lose his balance. After he leaned on the table with his good arm he noticed that there was a flame jetting out of the stump of his missing arm. Before he could really process the very sudden shift his attention was grabbed by the sound of wet, squishy footsteps. He looked up to see a figure descending the staircase. Or the staircase was moving? He wasn’t quite sure, everything around him looked and felt like a dreamscape. The figure looked like a young woman, no older than twenty. She had white hair that reached all the way down to her knees before it curled back up again. Instead of eyes there were bright gems in her eye sockets, a ruby and a sapphire. Her feet looked like they were cut into a thousand pieces, leaving behind bloody footsteps as she walked closer to him. “Fear not this space, Kaylirr, for it is but an illusion of the mind. I’ve been wanting to meet you.” The voice sang to him as if the words themselves were musical. Besides that, the voice sounded familiar. It was the same voice that spoke to him when he first pulled the swords from the wall, before the assassin cut his arm. Except this time around the painful second voice seemed to be absent. “Who are you and what is this place?” He asked. He looked down again. “And why is there fire coming from my arm?” Despite it looking like a gout of flame, he couldn’t feel any heat emanating from it. He watched the young woman climb onto the dining table, stepping on the food that was laid out and leaving behind a mess of food and blood as she made her way to where Kaylirr was. She was rather short and even standing on the table she was only about a foot taller than him. “My name is Elet. I am the spirit that lives in the blade you hold in your hands. This place is the realm inside the weapon, where I live. The other voice you heard when you first pulled us from the wall was that of my brother. My brother is very ill and I need your help to save him.” She jumped down and he watched her legs buckle from under her, a sickening snapping sound signaling the breaking of bones. After a moment of worry on Kaylirr’s face, it seemed like the girls’ bones snapped back into place and she stood up, now much smaller than he was. “Are you alright?” He asked.
She smiled at him, revealing rows of dark black and red teeth. “I’m fine, thanks for asking. We spirits take on weird forms when we try to materialize like this and our energy is low. It doesn’t hurt me at all, it just makes it hard for me to appear like this.” She looked at his missing arm. “I’m truly sorry about that, but my brother couldn’t control his own emotions when you suddenly picked him up. That distraction was all the attacker needed to cut you down. I’m glad you made it through alive and it seems like your friend did as I instructed him.”
Kaylirr followed her eyes and looked at the strange metal cover on his shoulder. “Thank you for that, I suppose.”
“As for the fire, it seems that your innate magical energy is leaking out of it, which is the reason I had that device made in the first place. There’s a second part to it that I will need to explain to your friend so that he can provide you with it as well. If he does so, you’ll be able to wield me without dangerous side effects and I’ll be able to regain some of my power.” She jumped back up on the table and sat down, droplets of blood falling from her toes down to the floor below. “As for the rest, there is a lot I do not know. An evil mage put mine and my brother’s souls into two swords, hoping to make them stronger. He succeeded, but he never bothered to ask our permission, leaving the two of us stuck in this form ever since. I wish to find my brother, who went mad after he was locked into the sword, and find the mage who did this to us so that he can undo the magic and set us free. And for that, I wish to request your help.”
“I don’t know how much help I could be without my arm,” Kaylirr said, sadness seeping into his voice. He would have to retire from being a mercenary, that much was certain.
“Well, the evil mage did succeed in creating an incredibly powerful sword and if you learn to wield it with your other hand, you will become a much stronger fighter than you ever were. Together I’m sure we can find the assassin, save my brother and then figure out where this mage is hiding.”
A thought occurred to Kaylirr. “Do you need the mage at all costs? Or would it suffice to find a different solution to remove you from this weapon?”
Elet thought about it for a while before shaking her head. “I suppose there are certainly options and those would be preferable over not finding a solution at all, but if I want to have any chance of returning to my own body I would certainly need to find the mage first, for he knows where our bodies are. If we can’t find the mage, then perhaps we should find another who can at least put us back into some bodies that we can operate on our own, then we wouldn’t have to rely on your kindness.”
Kaylirr weighed his options. “Very well, I’ll support you for the time being. I would like to get some revenge for my arm and it’s not like I have anything else to do. Where do we go?”
Elet looked surprised by his quick acceptance. “Are you sure? You’re pretty quick to agree there.”
Kaylirr shrugged. “I’m not a big thinker, and I’m angry about my friends dying, it’s not a difficult decision to make.”
“Very well. Then the first step we need to take is to go visit a mage in town named Serandir. He’ll help you on your way. But before you go to him, make sure your dwarven friend speaks to me so that he learns how to create the second part of your arm.”
“I can’t wait,” Kaylirr said, the sarcasm not well hidden. A flash of light blinded him and he was back in the forge, alone, watching the soft spring rain hit the window. He let out a deep sigh and went to prepare some food, waiting for Sairoc to return.

“So you’re telling me that the strange voice I heard was actually a spirit that’s been locked into the weapon by an evil mage?” Sairoc took another puff from his pipe and breathed out deeply and slowly. “I’ve heard weirder stories throughout the years, but not many.”
“Well it’s definitely up there for me too. But I’m pretty confident that we both saw something similar. So I want you to listen to Elet.”
“That’s the lass’s name then?”
“From what she’s told me, yes. She wants you to craft some sort of strange focus for my missing arm. I’ll leave it to you to see if what she says is reasonable.”
Sairoc nodded. “I’ll do what I can for you, friend.”
With that, Kaylirr tossed the weapon to Sairoc who held it in his hands. As soon as he did, his expression went blank. For about a minute or so, Sairoc sat there staring into the distance before suddenly he blinked and started laughing.
“What’s so funny.” Kaylirr asked.
“Oh, nothing. It’s just that this is such a weird request that I don’t know what to think of it. It’s also going to require some help, so I’ll have to go talk to a buddy of mine.”
“What are you going to make?”
Sairoc pondered for a second, a tiny wisp of smoke coming from his still smoldering pipe. “You know, I think I’ll just show you once it’s done. It’s more fun for me that way.”
Kaylirr shrugged. “Whatever suits you best, I need more rest anyway.” The wound on his shoulder might have been covered up with metal, but it was still very itchy. He also needed to maintain it properly so it wouldn’t get infected. Years of being a mercenary had taught him many things about healing wounds and it looked like this one would heal quite well. Despite the missing arm of course. Kaylirr picked the weapon back up from the ground where Sairoc had leaned it against the table. He felt Elet’s presence on the edge of his consciousness but he didn’t go to the strange illusory space he was before nor did he hear her voice. It was a strange feeling. A few more days would pass before Sairoc finally finished the project, working in tandem with a local glassblower that he knew from a few years back. Once they’d left town, they would fit it onto his arm, which Sairoc had since attached a small hooking mechanism that could hold onto his new creation. With all their possessions tightly packed, they made their way out of the city and south, towards the small village of Serandir.

The Arcane Archipelago

Miranda IV
After the unfamiliar woman took her time strolling through the library and left again, Miranda felt a little bit more relaxed. Throughout her visit this person had been friendly and polite to her at all times, but something about her demeanor made Miranda feel on edge. She had an uncomfortable feeling as if she were in danger in the back of her mind. Now that the woman had left again, that feeling was gone and things were much more peaceful. She still missed Liari, of course, but she had spent many years here before Liari came and she would spend many more years here in the future. After a surprisingly stressful day, Miranda decided to spend the afternoon reading in a nice place in the forest. It was still cold out, but not too cold to sit outside, especially not for Miranda. She loved finding a quiet place in the forest even in winter. Unsurprisingly, the librarian was a pretty big reader herself. She wasn’t all that interested in magic and this often bothered Fesquera when he visited, but she loved history. Picking up a book about a foreign land and reading about their cultures, their holidays, their language and what made them unique was a special kind of joy she didn’t find anywhere else. Today she was going to read a new book about the nearby mountain kingdom of Zargahal. The dwarven kingdom may be direct neighbors to the Celeran Canopy and the Foxire Library, but they were  a closed off sort and Miranda knew very little about them. She’d been there once, to a city whose name she couldn’t even remember. This city was on the outskirts of the kingdom and one of the places where outsiders were freely welcomed. This book, one that Fesquera only recently added to the collection, was a recollection of a trader that traveled through the kingdom itself, talking about the things he saw and experienced there. Bringing a large jug of tea with her, she found a spot next to the babbling book and opened up the first page.

“That would be me, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Layek stepped forward towards this stranger that just stepped aboard the ship. “My name is Layek Gindir, captain of this ship. Can I presume that you are with the Astrianara Academy?”
The man nodded enthusiastically, reaching out his hand to shake Layek’s outstretched hand. “My name is Ludwig Staras. I am in charge of contact with outsiders. May I ask you why you are visiting our archipelago? It doesn’t sound like you’re just floating through our waters by accident.”
Layek nodded. “You’re certainly right about that.” The tall, broad shouldered captain always took up a lot of space in any conversation he was in, but Ludwig somehow had an equally big presence in this moment despite being a much more bookish person. “I have several people aboard my ship at the moment who are hoping to enroll at the academy.”
Ludwig smiled. “That’s why most people visit us, may I ask who all want to apply, seeing as you said several?”
Layek nodded. He looked around and saw that Accipiter, Danae and Liari were all looking on from nearby, having spotted the man arrive. “One of them is currently below deck, I don’t think the open seas have treated her well. The other three are standing right over there.”
Ludwig looked over at the trio for a moment, nodded at them politely and turned his attention back to Layek. “Well you’ve certainly provided us with some interesting candidates. I think I’ve seen enough.”
“But you only just got here,” Liari remarked.
The mage turned back to Liari. “I know, but it’s my job to see if there’s anyone interesting enough to hold a proper interview on each ship that comes by. The real interview will be done by myself and four of my colleagues.”
“And you can see in an instant if we’re interesting enough?”
He nodded. “I have my talents.” He turned his attention back to the captain. “If you follow my raft in a north-western direction you’ll soon find the nearest island in the Arcane Archipelago; Staras. There you’ll find a small dock. Meet me there.”
Layek nodded and shot a look at Accipiter, who immediately started yelling orders at the other sailors to adjust their direction.
“Well then, I’ll see you all in a few moments then.” Ludwig nodded politely once more and then stepped off the ship, softly landing on his raft before taking off at an impressive speed. The ship quickly steered to follow in the same direction.
After Ludwig left the ship, Liari went down below deck to go get Charlotte. She’d missed the entire ordeal, taking a nap trying not to focus too much on the swaying of the ship. “Oh, so we’re about to be off of this blasted ship?”
Liari nodded. “Yes, we’re coming up on a town called Staras, it’s where people first enter the Arcane Archipelago according to this Ludwig guy.”
“Well, that’s good news. That does mean the most stressful part of this journey is ahead of us.”
“More stressful than fleeing the first town we visited?”
Charlotte thought back to that moment, that already seemed strangely far away. “Maybe not that stressful, but close.” She stood up. “Well then, let’s go up to the deck then, we wouldn’t want to keep them waiting, lest they use that as an excuse to send us away again.”
“Do you really think they will be that strict?” Liari asked.
Charlotte shrugged. “I have no idea, but it’s not something I want to find out.”
“Fair enough.”

Staras looked much more normal than Liari expected. Coming from quite a magical place, she realized not everywhere in the world was as nice as her home. But a town nestled on the archipelago of a magic school would sure look fantastical as well, right?
Instead, what Liari saw first was a pretty unassuming fishing village. There was a decently sized dock where the raft that Ludwig had traveled on was already being taken care of by a few dockworkers. A little bit beyond the dock itself were a few shops and a large open space where fish were being prepared. Further into the village were what looked like a shopping street, a small church and a residential area. The only two things that stood out in the unassuming village were the two tallest buildings in town. The first one was a large building, taller than most others and fairly large. Liari wasn’t sure what it was. The second building was much clearer in its design and also more familiar to Liari. This looked very similar to Fesquera’s tower. She wondered if a mage lived in this tower as well. They were about to find out as the ship docked and the plank was lowered. Liari, Danae, Accipiter and Charlotte were all invited to come along. Layek and the rest of the crew were welcome to visit the shops in town and get any supplies they may need, but only the four that wanted to apply to the school were to join him. As they followed the mage through town, Liari walked up next to him and asked. “I noticed two tall buildings when we sailed by, what are those?”
“I assume you’re referring to the dormitory and the tower. The first one is a place where visitors stay. Although we don’t allow people to just stay here whenever they like, we do often encounter students that have friends, family or just visitors that they want to keep nearby. For them, we have a place to stay temporarily. Depending on the reason for their visit they can stay anywhere from a few days to a few years.” He pointed at the tower ahead of them. “And that is the tower of acceptance. It’s where we’re headed right now and where every applicant is interviewed before they’re either accepted into the academy or sent back home.”
“I see.” Satisfied with the explanation, Liari had no more questions as they walked. She was far more occupied by looking around at the different people. Compared to the empire, it was a much more mixed group of people. Most of the people they walked past glanced in their direction or were outright staring at the group. Liari guessed that they were all curious about the newcomers. The other three in their little group didn’t have the nerve to ask any questions so the rest of the short walk to the tower was filled with silence as the cold ocean air blew through the village.
Eventually the small party of strange folk made their way up to the foot of the tower. The tower looked quite impressive up close. Fesquera’s mage tower looked fine in its own way but it was built for comfort and functionality. This tower was built to make a statement. “We are powerful and wealthy and this is the threshold to our world.” That’s how it felt to Liari at least as she followed Ludwig out of the sunny morning and into the mage tower. “If you’d please wait here for a moment, I’ll make sure the room is available right now,” Ludwig said. He pointed to several empty chairs near the corner with a table with some cups and water on it. He then made his way up the spiral staircase that went all around the side of the tower and disappeared into the floor above.
Liari looked around the room, taking in all of these new environments and experiences one at a time. It was a relatively empty room. Besides a few corners where people could sit and wait, there wasn’t much to see. There was a painting of a majestic tiger-like beast on one of the walls staring at them as they sat there. The stairwell that led up was made of expensive looking marble and the walls were a dark mahogany wood on the inside, even though the outside of the tower was made of gray, black and white bricks.
After a quick moment of waiting in the room below, Ludwig came back to them and called them up the beautifully carved spirit staircase that led to the next floor. Arriving on the first floor of the tower, the four found themselves in a beautiful study. Light wooden exterior with darker wooden interior finished with green fabric and leather cushions. At the far end of the room were five chairs standing empty behind a curved desk. Strangely enough – even though the tower had looked much taller than a floor or two – there didn’t seem to be a staircase leading to another floor here. “If you’d please wait here for my colleagues to arrive,” Ludwig said with a smile. “Can I get you all some coffee or tea?”

After a short wait, Ludwig returned with their drinks. Liari thanked him and sat down. She looked at the table where the mages would sit down when they arrived. Only then did she notice that one of the chairs was no longer vacant. Sitting in the chair closest to the door was a spindly looking woman with almost creepily long arms. Her hair was tied into four separate buns that were on top of her head. In her hand rested a staff that was made out of glass. She smiled when Liari noticed her but didn’t say anything. Her eyes were black color, almost creepily so. There was definitely something different about her, but Liari wasn’t one to talk. She was about to ask her how she got into the room undetected when footsteps behind her distracted her. Stepping up the stairs was an older man, gray hair on his head and a twirly gray mustache on his face. He wore flamboyant robes and had some beautiful purple and green eye make-up on. Leaning heavily on his wooden staff he made his way into the room with a bright smile. “Well hello there, so nice to meet you all,” he exclaimed to the room as he made his way to the desk. “Beatrice, you’re here first, as usual.”
“I was in the area,” the woman with the long arms replied, her voice almost hissing as she spoke. “And I don’t take twelve days to walk up a set of stairs like you do.”
The older man chuckled. “Now, now, no need to rush here when we know that Garath will be late either way.”
“Garath is actually dealing with some business in the harbor and should be here shortly, he might not even be the last one to appear.” Ludwig said as he took his seat at the far end of the desk, on the opposite end of Beatrice.
The old man sat down next to Beatrice and looked at the room, his eyes tiny under his heavy eyelids. “Four applicants today, that’s quite rare. My name is Donovan, good to see you all show interest in our lovely institution. We could use some youngsters.”
“Everyone’s a youngster compared to you,” a stern voice spoke from the staircase. Contrary to Donovan, whose arrival was announced through his careful and slow footsteps, this new person who entered the room made no noise whatsoever. “And it’ll be a dark day when I arrive later than Garath.” The voice belonged to a woman who looked to be in her early thirties. She wore a tight fitted beautiful white suit and had a bright blue mohawk. Her green eyes were almost hawkish, looking at each of the four of them intently before she made her way to the middle chair. She walked with confidence but there wasn’t a sound when her feet hit the floor. Her leather boots looked like they must make noise whenever they made contact with the ground yet there wasn’t a sound. Liari realized that she hadn’t even fully processed that when the woman was already sitting down. These were some strange people and unbeknownst to her she hadn’t even seen the strangest of the eclectic bunch yet.
Finally, as they were starting to get a bit impatient from all the waiting, the last mage entered the room. Where all the others had entered quietly or with a normal amount of sound, this person was different. Liari heard a strange noise from outside and a moment later the wall next to them exploded as something came tumbling into the room. After the initial scare they could all see that an extremely muscular man had come barreling into the room, destroying the wall and the bookcase in the process. He got up and dusted off his clothes before picking up his staff which looked like a sunflower made out of precious gems. He carefully tapped several of the yellow gem leaves and after a few seconds of humming coming from the staff they all watched as the wall and the bookshelves repaired themselves, leaving no damage from the crash. He grinned at them and sat down on the desk itself, ignoring the fourth chair.
“You know that we have a door, right?” Ludwig commented.
“I missed.” this new man gave as an excuse, seemingly believing that to be a satisfying answer.
With all five mages present the woman in the center deemed it ready to start with introductions.

“Well then, I’m sure that Ludwig here has done some rudimentary introductions of our stations and what we do here at the Astrianara Academy, but allow me to formally explain the process of enrollment. First I’ll tell you who we are.” The woman in the suit pointed at the thin and spindly woman with the long arms and her hair up in four buns. “To my right is the arcanist Beatrice Serath. Beatrice is the arcanist of shadows. Ludwig is the arcanist of diplomacy. Donovan is the arcanist of artifice. Garath is the arcanist of strength.
The woman smiled at them. “And I am Lisette Duress, archmage of stars and one of the eleven council members that run this institution.” She looked at all four of them intently for a few moments, then turned her attention to Beatrice. “Beatrice, dear, what can you tell me about our applicants?”
The woman with the spindly arms and hair tied in four buns leaned forward on the deck and crossed her fingers. She looked them all over, making several curious expressions before speaking. “Accipiter Avaroth, first mate of the Varshen. Grew up near the ocean and has been involved in sailing for most of his adult life. Looks up to Captain Layek but sometimes worries about his actions. Aptitude for magic is low, but not completely absent. Reason for applying is unknown, but likely has to do with accruing power for his crew.” She smiled. “No need to start sweating, many people come here for power.” She moved her attention to Danae. “Now you’re interesting. I heard your name is Danae, but I truly do not know much about you. You carry within you an incredible power that isn’t yours originally.” She absentmindedly tapped the table with her nails. “I am incredibly curious where you got this power.”
“I have no idea,” Danae admitted.
“That makes me all the more curious.”
The sound of someone scraping her throat brought Beatrice back to focus. “Either way, you have incredible potential, dangerously so.” She moved her attention to Charlotte. “The former princess of the empire, Charlotte Fyrston.” She carefully looked Charlotte up and down. “Unfortunately there is no aptitude for magic in you.”
Charlotte wanted to protest but Beatrice shushed her. “No interrupting me.”
Anger rose into Charlotte’s face but she didn’t try to speak up again. Finally, Beatrice turned to Liari. “You, my dear, are the most interesting person I’ve seen walk through this building in quite some time.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I can see the flow of magic in people, dear. This tells me a lot about them. I can tell who you are, what your name is and what your potential is. Of course, potential can be increased and can also decrease if not utilized, but I’m often accurate in my assessment.” She stood up and walked around the desk, eyes trained on Liari. “But you, you elude my sight. Your potential is distorted.”
“What does that mean?” Liari asked.
With a swift step Beatrice was right up in her face. “Your potential is limitless,” she whispered.
“That’s quite enough, Beatrice,” Archmage Lisette said.
Beatrice nodded and retreated to her chair, still keeping her focus on Liari who felt a chill go down her spine. She didn’t know why she would be an exception.
Lisette also looked at Liari. “I have a pretty good idea of who you are and why Beatrice cannot read your potential, but let’s save that for a later date. I will now give you my suggestion and then call a vote.” She looked around and the others nodded.
“All in favor of letting Liari enroll?” All five hands went up.
“All in favor of letting Danae enroll?” Four hands went up, Beatrice was the one abstaining.
“All in favor of letting Accipiter enroll?” Two hands went up, Ludwig and Garath.
“All in favor of letting Charlotte enroll?” No hands went up.
Beatrice looked at Garath and Ludwig. “Make your case.”
Garath spoke up. “I see potential in the lad, he has keen eyes and I have selfish reasons to want to train someone like him.”
“So would you like to sponsor him?”
Garath nodded. “I would.”
Liari was utterly lost in the incredible pace at which this conversation was heading towards a conclusion. She’d expected a proper interview that would include questions and a back and forth. Instead they just looked at her and let her enter. Not to mention that the archmage might know who she was and that there was something blocking her potential? Everything was much more intense and confusing than she was used to and she was completely overwhelmed.
“Excuse me, but does that mean I will have to leave?” Charlotte said.
Liari forgot about that part. If Charlotte would have to leave, would she go with the princess? She decided right now that she would.
“Well, you seem to not have any potential for magic, so we can’t let you enroll into the academy.”
“But,” Ludwig interrupted Beatrice. “She is a former princess and could be a great asset.” He looked at Charlotte, “no offense.”
“Counterpoint,” Beatrice said. “She’s no longer a princess and harboring her could put us in danger with the new rulers.”
“So you would send her off to be hunted on the mainland?” Garath suggested.
“She is not our responsibility.”
“If Charlotte has to leave, I will leave with her,” Liari said. She was confused and overwhelmed, but she did understand that she was different and if there’s one thing that arcanists liked – according to Fesquera – it was people and things that were different.
Ludwig winked at her, apparently that was a good move. If he supported them, why did he not vote for Charlotte?
“I have a suggestion,” Ludwig said, as if he heard Liari’s thoughts. “Although we do not take students without an aptitude for magic, we do make some exceptions of course. As you all might have seen by now, there’s an entire town on this island and most of the people here aren’t enrolled in our institution. They just work for and with us. How do we feel about letting princess Fyrston stay here for the time being while her friend attends our school. You’ll have access to our main library – which is on this island – and are free to come and go as you please.”
Liari looked at Charlotte who still looked angry. But Charlotte likely knew that this was as good of an offer as she was going to get. With no aptitude for magic it was a coin toss if she would be perceived as a possible ally or as a liability. And it seemed the general attitude here leaned more towards liability. This offer was probably Ludwig’s way of giving her a chance, he seemed to be on her side. That or he had ulterior motives. That didn’t matter to Charlotte right now. The main library here was likely also full of useful information and Liari would still be able to learn magic and grow powerful while they stayed here. Besides – as Ludwig just pointed out – she would be free to leave at any time, so there was no downside. “This would be acceptable to me,” Charlotte said, trying to sound as dignified as she could in this difficult situation.
She looked at the other four arcanists to gauge their thoughts. Eventually Lisette spoke up. “Very well, we will allow the former princess limited access to our facilities. In the meantime, the other three present will be accepted into our academy. Is that satisfactory with the arcanists present?”
No one argued against it.
“Is that satisfactory with the applicants?”
They all nodded.
Lisette stood up. “Then our work here is done, please follow me to the enrollment office.” She rang a small bell on her desk and from the staircase came a young man in cyan blue robes. “Marcus here will help you get settled in town, princess Charlotte. After the others finish their enrollment process here, we’ll have one of our mages show you the premises.”
Charlotte followed the man named Marcus down the staircase while the rest of them looked back at Lisette. Liari noticed that both Beatrice and Garath were already gone. Donovan patted her on the back, almost pushing her off her feet. “Welcome to our academy, come by my office sometimes for a chat.” With that he bouldered down the stairs.
The rest of them followed Lisette up the stairs, which were cleverly disguised as being part of the bookcases, but once a switch was hit, some of the shelves moved, revealing that the more empty spaces in the bookcases were actually a built in staircase. It seemed like the wonder of this place was only just starting.

Miranda III
A full month had passed since Liari and Charlotte left the library. They were likely already at the academy by now, if everything went well. Things had gone back to a normal rhythm at the library. It was still quiet, but Miranda was getting used to the quiet again. As great as Rimah and Moroc were as company, they were here primarily to study so they were busy a lot of the time. It was the morning of a particularly pleasant day when a visitor appeared at the door.
Wearing bright greens, reds and oranges, the woman was a striking figure standing in the door.
“Can I help you?” Miranda asked, putting some scrolls down on the desk next to her.
The woman smiled. “The name is Mel, I’m here to pay my respects to an acquaintance.”
“And who might you be referring to?” Miranda asked, knowing the answer.
“Fesquera and I had a complicated relationship, but he was a great mage that deserves respect now that he’s passed away.” She reached under her cloak and pulled out a thin leather bound book. “This book was precious to him but it was confiscated by one of the archmages at the Astrianara Academy for breaking their rules. It sat in a drawer in a dusty office for a long time but I feel like he would prefer it to be here.” She handed the book over to Miranda. Pressed into the cover and painted in silver lettering it said “The endless possibility of the creative mind” and below that it said in beautiful lettering “Inari Foxire.”
Miranda smiled. “Thank you, I’m sure he would appreciate this.”
Mel nodded. “Do you mind if I have a look at this place?”
“Go right ahead.”

Liari stood off to the side while Charlotte talked with the two men that they’d approached. One of them was the captain of this ship, Layek. Charlotte seemed to be well acquainted with bartering with favors, something that was alien to Liari. She had never really wanted for anything and most of the time when she asked something from Miranda she’d get either a yes or a no back and that was the end of that conversation. She missed Miranda. Standing here in the harbor of a busy city it became all the more real to her that home was far away.
“Are you and your friend trying to book passage to the Arcane Archipelago?” A voice asked from next to her. It was the second person who they saw when they approached, a young elven man with dark blond hair, currently tied neatly into a ponytail. He had kind eyes that showed a hint of mischief.
Liari nodded. “We’re trying to get enrolled there.”
“Your friend must be quite the important person if she can boss the captain around like that.” He smiled. “I’m Accipiter, who do I have the pleasure of talking to?”
“I’m Liari, nice to meet you.”
“Well then Liari, where are you traveling from?”
Liari hesitated. They had been very careful the past few days not to share any personal information with strangers in case they would figure out who they were. But these were the people that would sail them to the Academy, if Charlotte’s friend was right. It probably wouldn’t hurt to tell them. “I’m from a village on the edge of the empire called Larania.” Liari figured that wasn’t too far off from the truth. “And as I said, we want to get to the Academy safely. Charlotte is trying to convince the captain to bring us there.”
Accipiter laughed. “Well if that isn’t a bizarre coincidence, I don’t know what is.”
Liari looked confused at him. “I’m not sure I follow?”
“Your friend seems to be in a heated argument trying to convince our captain to sail somewhere he was already planning to go. He must be laughing on the inside right now.” He put his finger to his lips. “Don’t tell either of them I said that.”
“Why are you headed to the Academy?” Liari asked.
“Some business. One of ours is going to try and enroll there. I’ve never been close to the Archipelago at all so I’m excited to see it in person.” He paused. “Assuming they let us in, of course.”
“Is it difficult to enter?” Liari asked.
“It’s far from easy, that’s for sure, you need to have a talent for magic that they can determine and even then they’ll gladly reject you if they think you prove a risk to them or aren’t going to be of value.”
That didn’t bode well for Liari and Charlotte. They had hoped to leverage Charlotte’s former position to get in easily, but maybe this would actually hinder their chances. If the leaders of the Astrianara Academy saw them as a threat, then negotiations could break down very quickly. Right as Liari was thinking about all the possible ramifications of this, Charlotte walked over to her with a smile. “The captain has agreed to sail us to the Arcane Archipelago.”
Accipiter walked past the two of them, winking at Liari and giving a polite nod to the approaching Charlotte. “I’d best help with preparations then.” And he deftly walked up the plank and started helping one of the other sailors out with moving crates.
“I’ve convinced them that they’ll take us to the Archipelago. It took some convincing, but eventually he said it was fine.”
Liari smiled. “So the difficult part is done now?” She figured she’d keep what Accipiter just told her to herself and let Charlotte enjoy this little victory.
“Well, I hope so. It’s known that being allowed into the Academy is very rare, so for all we know we get rejected as soon as we get there. I don’t even know what the entry requirements really are. For all we know there’s a test involved.”
“Stop it, you’re making me all anxious.”
“Tell me about it.”
“So do we board the ship immediately?”
“We have a few hours, so I figured we could go into town and have a look around. I’ll keep my hood up and if we keep a low profile we should be alright here I think.”
Liari nodded. She wasn’t fully convinced, but her curiosity beat her wisdom and she followed Charlotte away from the docks and back towards the city center. 

Where they avoided K’mirah as much as they could, they felt a little bit safer in K’tapur. Not only was it further away from the center of the empire and thus the new rulers, but it was also a much seedier place. As long as they steered clear of the richer districts they would be able to mingle with the smugglers and thieves that frequented this town. As much as Charlotte would probably deny it, their family was never very good at dealing with organized crime in their empire and now that the entire region was in chaos, this problem was multiplied several times. Regardless, this was neither the time nor place to worry about it. Instead, they would get some last minute supplies before making their way off shore and towards an isolated academy. Their first step on the road was a jeweler. Charlotte needed to pawn off two pieces of her jewelry. They had some money when they started the journey but due to having to flee town and leaving their bags and magic chest behind, and the costs of traveling through the empire they were now close to broke. The jewelry wasn’t sentimental to Charlotte, she kept those pieces separate. These were just two expensive rings she was wearing when she fled the castle. Perhaps they could get a good price for them here. At least enough to get them out of here with proper supplies.
The jewelry store they entered was a fairly large one, but simple in presentation. It seemed like the owner had bought up a big storefront, but contrary to most bigger storefronts didn’t care about luring in customers but instead used the space to stall out as many wares as they could. Large tables were set up on which the jewelry was spread out. Charlotte walked up to the counter immediately, with Liari following behind her. A woman with a powdered face and several rings through her nose, lips and ears looked at them approach and smiled her best merchant smile. “Good morning, how can I help you ladies.”
“We’re hoping to sell off some jewelry, we’re strapped for cash.”
“That can possibly be done, what did you have in mind?”
Charlotte opened a pouch on her side and took out the two rings she had.
“Mind if I inspect them?” The woman asked.
Charlotte nodded. “Go ahead.”
The woman took out a small monocle and started inspecting the ring rigorously, using a piece of cloth to remove some minor dust from it. “This is fine craftsmanship, where did you buy it?”
“I’d rather not say, if that’s alright.”
The woman gave her a peculiar look but then nodded and continued. She repeated the process for the second ring before coming to a decision.
“These are worth about two hundred gold each if I’m being generous. Obviously you’re trying to get some quick money and I need to make a profit off of these. For those reasons I’d be willing to pay you 250 gold for the both of them.”
250 gold was a lot of money, Liari thought to herself, but this was also the only thing remaining of Charlotte’s family fortune, so she wouldn’t be happy about underselling it.
“I understand all of that,” Charlotte said, “but these belonged to my mother before me, if I sell them for anything less than 300 gold she will surely haunt me.”
The woman smiled. “I understand.” She considered it for a moment. “I can do 300 gold.”
What Liari didn’t realize, and Charlotte had to tell her later, was that she probably decided on that amount beforehand, so that Charlotte wouldn’t ask for more than that.
Reluctantly they came to an agreement, and Charlotte and Liari walked out of the store with a hefty sum of money.
“I know I sold off my own rings for this, but I want to make sure that both of us pick up anything we need. For starters, we should definitely pick out a few new sets of clothes. They won’t let us into an esteemed academy looking like this.”
“There’s also a few other small things I would like to pick up,” Liari said. She felt a bit bad about it, but she had very little money herself.
“Sure, we’ll get everything we need for the journey.”

After a full round of shopping that lasted a couple hours, the duo made their way back to the ship, where the crew seemed to be mostly done packing things up. The captain and the same guy that Liari spoke with earlier that day, Accipiter, were standing on the bow of the ship. Upon their approach, they both walked to the plank and greeted them as they came aboard. “Accipiter here will show you your rooms. Unfortunately we’re a little bit full so they won’t be particularly comfortable, I hope you understand.”
Charlotte gave her best smile. “I’m happy enough we’re getting to our destination, we can manage a few days of discomfort.” Liari nodded in agreement.
“Please follow me then.” They followed Accipiter below deck. As they walked down the small and steep staircase, Liari noticed a young woman, roughly her own age, standing near the railing. She looked lost in thought and didn’t notice Liari looking at her, before she descended down the stairs and out of sight.
“This right here will be your quarters.” Accipiter held open a curtain that served as a wall into a nearby makeshift cabin. There were a few of these setups throughout the ship, to allow the people a little bit of privacy and comfort. There were two hammocks for them to sleep on and not much more.
“Thank you,” Liari said.
Accipiter smiled. “If you need anything, just find me on the deck and I’ll help you out.” He turned around again. “I’ll be finishing up preparations for a bit, but after that I should have time to help you out with anything you might need.
They waited for Accipiter to leave again before sitting down on their hammocks.
“It’s closed off a little bit at least,” Charlotte commented.
Liari chuckled wryly. “It is going to be fine, it’s not a super long journey. We can deal with a little bit of discomfort. It can’t be much worse than being on the run from guards.” The memory of having to flee town without their stuff was still fresh in Liari’s mind and had been a massive shock to her.
“I can agree with that much at least. Let’s go above deck to watch the harbor disappear in the distance when the ship departs.”
Liari’s eyes lit up at the thought of watching a continent turn into a thin line on the horizon while being surrounded by water.
The two made their way up to the main deck. The sailors were just finishing up hauling the last few crates onto the ship. At the bow of the ship stood the guy they spoke with earlier, Accipiter, as well as a young woman. Liari and Charlotte walked up to them. “Coming to see the departure?” Accipiter asked.
Liari nodded. “I’ve never been on a ship before.”
“Well this is a great ship, so you picked a good one to start with.” He put his hand on the shoulder of the woman next to him. “This is Danae, she’s also heading to the Astrianara Academy. Perhaps the three of you will get along.”
The young woman with bright pink eyes gave a small nod, shoulders tense and a nervous look in her eyes.
“I’m Charlotte and this is Liari, it’s nice to meet you,” Charlotte said.
“Can you use magic?” Liari asked.
Danae shook her head. “No, but we think I might have some magic in me that I need to learn about.”
“My dad was an archmage once. But I only found out about that recently.”
Accipiter smiled. “I’ll leave the three of you to it, I’ve got work to do.” And with that he walked off towards two other sailors, helping them secure some stuff. Danae quickly excused herself too.
Watching the harbor slowly disappear in the distance was an experience unrivaled by anything else in Liari’s life. Even after Charlotte had gone back below deck to take a nap she was still staring at the horizon, where the mainland was no longer even visible. Charlotte said she didn’t do well on ships, feeling a bit sick already, but Liari didn’t seem to have the same problem. The fresh air, the smell of salt water and the sun high in the sky all felt great to her. It was a very different kind of atmosphere to the forest but it was still a part of nature. As she stood there, she heard someone approaching. Turning around she saw the young woman that spoke with them earlier. “Danae, right?” Liari asked.
Danae nodded. “I wanted to ask you something, if that’s okay.”
“Sure, I’ll see if I can be of any help.”
“You said your dad was an archmage?”
Liari laughed nervously. “I did blurt that out, didn’t I?” She leaned on the railing. “I grew up in a library away from civilization. It’s been only recently that I left. There was a kind mage that taught me many things who lived there as well. I found out recently that he passed away and left me a letter. In that letter he explained to me that he was actually my father. Pretty wild, isn’t it?”
Danae nodded. “So you don’t really know much about what it means to be a mage?”
Liari shook her head. “No, I’ve been studying a bit lately, especially after I learned that we’d be headed to the Academy. So my knowledge is rudimentary at best. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, you’re already more knowledgeable than me.” Danae paused for a while and nothing but the sound of the wind and the waves filled the air for a moment. As if shaken back awake by the sound of one of the sailors yelling something she continued, “I don’t know anything about magic. I was attacked in my village and all I remember is fire. I only recently came to be aboard this ship and join these sailors. The reason they picked me up was because they believed there might be magic in me. That’s why we’re going to the Astrianara Academy. To find out more about what’s going on with me.”
“So we’re in the same boat.” Liari’s eyes lit up. “And we’re actually on a boat as well.”
Danae laughed at the silly joke Liari had made. “Well, perhaps we can figure things out together.”
Liari smiled. “That would be nice.”

The morning of the next day they were called into the captain’s chambers. Entering the room, Liari and Charlotte saw that the captain as well as both Accipiter and Danae were present. An unfamiliar sailor had been at the door, letting them in when they arrived. He didn’t enter with them though.
“I’m sure you know why I called you in here, we need to have a discussion about our destination.”
“I’m all ears,” Charlotte said. Liari was impressed by how quickly she jumped into her important persona. She was used to commanding a room and you could really see that in situations like this. The captain didn’t seem all that impressed although he did seem to recognize her status. “Now, we’ve already been thinking of how to get Danae and Accipiter here into the academy. With two more people here, things will become even more difficult. I doubt we’ll be able to convince them at all.”
“I’ve got a solution to that,” Charlotte said.
“Please, do tell.” The captain leaned forward, his presence far more impressive than Charlotte’s somehow.
“My name is Charlotte Fyrston. I’m hoping my family ties, albeit currently not worth much, will convince them to let me in.”
The captain leaned back in his chair and an awkward silence filled the chamber before a chuckle interrupted it. The chuckle then turned into a full belly laugh. “Well I’ll be damned, we’re in the presence of royalty.”
“Former,” Charlotte corrected.
“Your empire still stands does it not? Just because a usurper sits on the throne does not mean it’s fallen forever.” His eyes narrowed. “Unless you have no intent to retrieve what is yours.”
Charlotte met his gaze, holding strong against the captain’s intense personality. “I will get back what is mine, you can count on that.”
The intense gaze turned back into a smile. “You hear that Accipiter? We have a future queen in the room. I should have ordered some cake to celebrate.”
“We can still sail back if you want,” Accipiter remarked before continuing, “I think that increases our odds a little bit, but there is no guarantee that they will let you in purely because of your name. What if they side with the usurper thinking there’s more benefit in that?”
Charlotte shook her head. “I don’t think they will. They might send me away for safety reasons, but I think it’s in their best interest that I owe them. At least my family is known to be trustworthy. Dealing with those humans from Zanian is a risk they’re probably not willing to take.” She looked at the captain, who was also human. “No offense.”
“None taken, I’m not from Zanian after all.” He stood up. “So that’s step one. We have our ticket in. Then we need to figure out how to convince them to let all four of you enter. None of you know how to use magic, so it’s going to be a pretty difficult task.” He turned to the wall. “Any ideas?” he said, seemingly staring off into a corner for no reason.
The room fell silent for a little bit again. “Not all at once please.”
Accipiter spoke up. “I think our best bet is to simply convince them that the power that seems to be dwelling inside of Danae as well as the potential that Liari here seems to have is enough reason to allow us to enroll. Besides, and I don’t mean to be rude, but you have a fairly unique appearance. I hope that ups our chances a bit more.” He looked at Liari who blushed and suddenly felt self conscious. She’d mostly hidden her tail and ears on the way here, just to avoid any stares, but now that they were on a ship she was walking with her hood down. “I don’t know if it’ll help or hurt, but we’ll just have to try.”
“So the odds are terrible and we have absolutely no plan for what to do, is that right?” The captain looked at everyone, with none of them being able to give an argument against it.
He smiled. “Excellent, we thrive when pushed into a corner.”
“You said that when we were gambling the other day and then you lost all your money,” Accipiter reminded him.
“Bah, even I’m wrong sometimes.”
“Most times,” Accipiter mumbled.
“What was that?”
“Nothing captain.”
“That’s what I thought. Well then, enjoy your stay on the ship, we should get to the Archipelago within the next few days, it’s not terribly far from the mainland. When we get there, please let me do most of the talking. I’ll convince them that Danae and Liari are interesting enough for them to let all four onto the island. If that fails we can reveal that Charlotte here is a princess of the Fyrston Empire. If that also fails, then we’ll just have to take what we can get. I’m pretty confident I can get what I want most times but even I’m not stupid enough to fight a bunch of ancient mages.”
And with that final thought they all dispersed and Liari and Charlotte went back to their room, if you could call it that.

The rest of their relatively short journey towards the Archipelago, located slightly south-west of the coast of Fyrston, was uneventful. The mild weather continued and the waves stayed relatively calm. Despite those factors, Charlotte spent most of the journey being miserable. She very clearly wasn’t made for ships and Liari felt really bad for her. Liari herself enjoyed the journey on the ocean tremendously. She spent quite some time talking with Danae, the young woman they’d been introduced to by Accipiter, and although they had very little in common and Danae wasn’t very talkative, they still seemed to appreciate each other’s company. Liari had never had any friends her own age. She saw Charlotte as a friend, but that was the only friend she even really had and she was – understandably – not in the most amazing mood for the short time they’d known each other. Danae seemed to enjoy Liari’s stories as she herself didn’t remember much about who she was. She asked her questions about the library, Miranda, Fesquera and some of the visitors that she mentioned came through from time to time. Liari was eager to share these stories and the two would spend hours on the deck of the ship, watching the waves roll by as they talked. Accipiter would come and sit with them from time to time, mainly when he was on break. He usually just listened in on what they were talking about and didn’t add much himself. He seemed to be quite important on the ship and would often be called away shortly after he sat down. Liari wondered if the sailors would be okay without him if he were to actually join them at the Astriana Academy. Danae and Liari also discussed what sort of place they expected the Academy to be. Liari had a basic concept in her head due to the books she’d read on the topic but a lot of those were very factual. They talked about the archipelago as a landmass, the academy as a political organization and mentioned some of the important mages by name. None of them really gave her much on how it would be to walk the halls. It was during one of these conversations that they spotted a person standing on what seemed to be a small raft. They weren’t the only ones who noticed the figure as voices were shouting across the ship and they slowed down. The figure approached them pretty rapidly and precisely and not long after Liari spotted him, he was standing right below the ship. After the ship had come to a halt and one of the sailors threw a rope ladder over the edge the man climbed up onto the ship, dusted off his tunic and looked around. “A pleasure to meet you all, who is the captain of this vessel?”

I promise I had this entire chapter finished for at least two weeks. My overworked dumb ass didn’t upload it and then promptly forgot that I didn’t upload it. I apologize to those of you waiting for this chapter, but it’s here now, don’t be mad at me 🙂

Miranda II
“Let me tell you a story,” Miranda said. She’s just finished preparing dinner and was sitting around the kitchen table with Rimah and Moroc. Their son was fast asleep on a pillow in the corner of the room, exhausted from chasing bugs. “When Liari was still a child she once came to me and asked me about this tree. She was worried that the tree would feel ticklish. Obviously I didn’t get what she meant at first, but then she proceeded to explain to me that we were walking around inside of it, and it must be ticklish. She said that if someone would walk around in her body that would also feel ticklish.”
Rimah smiled. “That’s adorable.”
“I know, right? I had to explain to her that although plants and trees and flowers were alive in their own way, just like us, they didn’t feel things the same way as us. The tree likely didn’t mind that we built a library inside of it, as long as it could still collect the water from the rain and the sunlight that fed it.” Miranda chuckled. “Guess what she said next?”
“What did she say?”
“She said that we should put some tea bags near the base of the tree so it would get some nice tea instead of water for a change.”
Both Moroc and Rimah bursted out in laughter. “That’s so precious, I love it.” Moroc looked over at his son, who was still curled up in a ball. “I hope he turns out half as curious as Liari did.”
“I’m sure he will,” Rimah replied.

Traveling from Larania all the way to the harbor in K’Tapur would take them a couple of weeks. For starters, they needed to reach K’Mirah to talk to Charlotte’s contact. K’Mirah was in the center of the kingdom and although it wasn’t as crowded as K’Tapur, it was almost as big. The royal family even had a second castle there, where they would spend quite a lot of time. Obviously all of that had been taken over by the Zanian soldiers now. After the capital fell, the rest of the country fell with it within a very short time. But before they could reach K’Mirah, several smaller villages dotted the road they were taking. The first of which, Sarivan, is where Liari and Charlotte would reach today. The weather continued to get more and more pleasant and the road was quiet although a few travelers passed them by every so often. Between Larania and Sarivan there wasn’t much and although there were villages to the north-east of Larania, none of those seemed to see a lot of travelers. Beyond them were the Zargahal mountains after all. “Shall we stop for lunch?” Liari suggested. They’d been walking for a few hours and her legs were starting to hurt. They sat down. “I’m not used to walking this much,” Liari admitted.
“I’m not doing much better than you,” Charlotte agreed. “But we’ll stop in Sarivan for a day or two to recover a bit.”
“What is Sarivan like?” Liari asked.
Charlotte thought for a bit. “It’s a rather unassuming village. If I remember correctly, it’s relatively small but it has a few shops and a quaint little tavern that I stayed at on my way here.”
“How were the people?”
“I didn’t really spend any time there besides sleeping and continuing. The innkeeper seemed nice though.”
“How much longer until we get there?”
Charlotte looked at the rolling hills ahead of them. “We should get there today, if all goes well.”
“Great.” Liari looked around at their environment. “You can see so far,” she remarked.
Charlotte smiled. “That’s what happens when there’s not a tree every other step.”
She sat down and pulled out her waterskin. There wasn’t a lot left, so it was good that they were almost at a village. This part of the country didn’t have too many lakes and rivers, so they had to be careful to not run out of water. Luckily they refilled to the brim in Larania and a nice side effect of running out of water was that their packs were getting lighter. That only worked because a village was nearby, otherwise it would be quite a problem.
Liari had wandered off a little bit and was reading a road sign. Charlotte laid down in the grass. It was still a bit wet from the rain but that didn’t bother her all that much. Where Liari had to get used to being outside of a forest, Charlotte felt much more claustrophobic when holed up in the Foxire library and was glad to have some open air around her. Different strokes for different folks. After a while, they each finished their meager lunch and they continued down the road. Rolling hills came and went and by late afternoon, as the sun was slowly going down but still in full view, they saw the first farmsteads that signaled the edge of where Sarivan was. “Another hour and we’ll be having a nice cold drink,” Charlotte said.

Sarivan was as quiet as Charlotte remembered it to be. There was one street that ran through the village where all the shops and the inn were adjacent to and there were a couple of small backstreets where people lived, but if you had a keen eye you could see the edge of the village from anywhere. Some farmers stared at them as they passed by the fields before continuing their work. The main street was fairly quiet as well, a few children playing with a leather ball and an older lady sitting on a bench watching them. Above the door to the inn was half a sign that read The Grumpy before it cut off. It must have broken off at some point and no one bothered to repair it. Charlotte opened the door and it creaked heavily, scraping along the floor for a bit before properly swinging open. The inn was small. Two round tables were set up with chairs around them and a few stools stood near the bar. In the back was a staircase that was steep and about as wide as a person. Behind the bar stood a young man with a bored look in his face who perked up a little bit at the sight of customers. “Good afternoon, how may I be of service?”
“We’re looking for a place to stay the night.” Charlotte said, putting some coins on the counter.
The man scooped them up and smiled. “May I ask what brings you to Sarivan?”
“We’re just traveling through the area, we’re making our way west.”
“I see, well there’s a room free on the first floor, here’s the key.”
“Thank you,” Charlotte said. She took the key and went up the stairs, Liari following shortly after. “Don’t you want to explore the town a bit?” She asked.
Charlotte shook her head. “I don’t know if it’s smart to show my face. News from the empire doesn’t really reach the library and although I asked elder Grahm if he knew, his knowledge was limited too. It does seem like there’s more soldiers running around and I’m hoping they’re not searching for me. I think the king has told people that my entire family was killed during the invasion, but he himself has to know that I wasn’t among the dead. There’s a good chance that I’m in danger if I’m spotted by the wrong person.”
“I see, you’re right.” Liari was a bit disappointed by this. She really hoped to have a look around town.
“We can take a short walk when it gets a bit darker out, I doubt I’ll be recognized that easily if I just wear my hood, but only a short walk.”
Liari perked up at this offer. “Let’s do that.”
They put their stuff down, Liari putting the chest at the foot of her bed. “Let’s get some food first,” she suggested. “I’ll go see what’s on offer.”
Liari walked downstairs and saw the innkeeper talking to someone at the door. He seemed a bit nervous when he saw Liari walk down the stairs. “Is there any food we can bring upstairs?” She asked.
He smiled nervously. “Of course, I have some stew going with some fresh bread, just wait a moment.” He went behind the counter and into the kitchen, coming back a moment later with two bowls of stew and some fresh bread that still had some steam coming off of it as well. “There you go.”
Liari took them and carefully walked back up the stairs to their room. They creaked ever so slightly as she was careful not to lose her balance with her hands full. This building was also mainly made out of wood, just like the library and Elder Grahm’s house, yet it felt so different to the two. It felt almost alien, not alive. It was hard for Liari to put into words but it made her a little bit sad. Her home and most of the houses in Larania were not so much taken from the forest but instead coexisted with it. They were almost living in a sense. This was just dead planks built into a shelter. Liari knew there was nothing wrong with that, most buildings were like that, but she also felt that it would take some getting used to. The door to their room was still open and she pushed it open further with her food. Charlotte was laying down with her eyes closed but she opened them to look up when Liari entered, before closing them again. She put the food on the small table in their room and closed the door. Charlotte sat back up and the two ate their food.
“I’m not super comfortable here,” Charlotte admitted. “I don’t know if I’m paranoid, but I feel like I’m being watched.”
“I feel the same way, but I think that’s for different reasons.”
Charlotte nodded. “Let’s leave early in the morning, I’d like to get out of the empire and onto a ship as quickly as possible.”
“You and I both.” They finished their meal and after putting the plates back on the counter, which seemed to be unattended at the moment, the duo made their way outside.
For how quiet Sarivan was as a town, Liari was still impressed by it. The stone buildings, the town square with the fountain, the patrolling guards, it was all new to her, and it took a lot out of her to take in all these new sights. Some of the shops were still open and at one of the stands they bought some meat on a stick to eat while they explored the town. The vendor was a friendly older man who gave them a discount for ordering two at once. Charlotte reckoned he did that for everyone though. They walked through the moonlit streets and when they got tired they sat down on a bench looking at the stars. “At least the night sky is the same here. Besides the lack of trees in the way.”
“It’s comforting though, to know that the stars will still be in the sky at the end of the day.”
“Yeah.” They sat in silence for a little while. They heard a commotion after a few moments and walked over. It turns out a few people had gathered in front of the inn. “What’s going on?” Charlotte asked a random elderly man.
“I’m not quite sure but a bunch of guards just went into the inn in a hurry.”
Charlotte’s face went pale and she looked at Liari. “Do you think?” Liari asked.
Charlotte nodded. “We need to go.”
“But my stuff is still inside.”
“We can’t risk it.”
It suddenly dawned on Liari. “That’s why the innkeeper seemed nervous when I went to pick up our food.”
“Shit,” Charlotte cursed as she grabbed Liari by the hand. “Let’s go.”
Downtrodden and shit out of luck, the duo fled the quiet town of Sarivan. After they made sure they were far away enough, they sat down and cried for a bit. “What did we lose?” Charlotte asked Liari.
“Most of my stuff, and most importantly the chest we got from my father. Luckily I had my other gifts on me, so I didn’t lose everything, but that’s a big loss. Could we go back for it?” She saw the look in Charlotte’s eyes and knew the answer. It wasn’t happening. She was probably right, her entire family was killed by the usurpers, so there’s no way she would walk back into a village that was actively looking for her. Still, Liari wondered if she could go back in alone. After thinking about it for a few moments she knew that wasn’t happening either. It would be far too risky, there would probably be guards waiting there for her.
“Well then, this sucks,” she said.
“It could be worse,” Charlotte said. But not much worse, she thought to herself.

The subsequent days on the road were much more somber. Charlotte cut her hair short and hid it under her hood so that they wouldn’t be recognized again. She should have done so from the very beginning, but they were careless. Liari’s homesickness was really starting to set in and although she was holding it together, deep down she was worried that she had made the biggest mistake of her life in traveling outside of the forest and into the dangerous world of people. Nevertheless, they pushed onward and soon found themselves near K’Mirah, the most dangerous place to be right now.
Charlotte’s contact was likely inside the large city, but with the gates being manned by guards and checking everyone who entered, they were not going to risk being found. Instead they made a small detour to an abandoned grain storage a few miles away from town. There they would have to wait until a messenger approached them. Charlotte was eternally grateful to her sister, for including her in some of her escapades outside the palace. Thanks to her, she had at least some contacts she could use in these dire times. With the grim mood getting worse, luck finally seemed to return to the duo for a bit because not but an hour after they settled in a dark corner of the grain storage did a young boy approach them. The boy looked to be no older than twelve, perhaps even younger than that. He looked like a street urchin but Liari quickly noticed that he had sturdy shoes on and that the daggers hanging from his belt were of high quality. He was no regular street urchin, this must be who they were waiting for.
“What is the password?” The boy asked.
“I don’t have the password, but I need you to deliver a message to Kirat for me.”
“Without the password that’s going to cost you dearly.”
“Tell you what kid, here’s a silver for your effort. Tell Kiran that the baby sparrow is waiting here for him. If you do, he’ll pay you the rest.”
The boy eyed her up and down, not quite trusting of what she was saying. “If it turns out you’re lying to me I’m sending the guards to lock you up.”
“I’m not lying to you, I promise.”
The kid hesitated for another moment, then snatched the coin from her hand and quickly left the building.
Seeing as the building was abandoned a long time ago it had fallen into a state of disrepair. The roof partially collapsed and one of the tall windows was completely broken, letting in the wind. Still, it was not as cold as sitting outside in the wind. Charlotte rubbed her hands together and looked at Liari. “Are you alright?” She asked.
Liari didn’t realize she was trembling. She breathed in and out deeply a few times before nodding. “I just hope we can get to our destination safely, I’m sure everything will be alright then.”
“It’ll at least be fairly safe there, that’s for sure.”
Liari nodded. They waited another hour or two before a different person finally entered the building.
This person was armed with a shiny rapier and dressed much nicer than the boy. “Four of my men are outside this building right now, identify yourself or this will be your grave.”
Charlotte took off her hood, revealing her short but still scarlet red hair. “Kiran, it’s me.”
The man’s eyes went wide and he put his weapon away. “Is it really you, Charlotte?”
Charlotte nodded.
“I was sure you would have been caught by now, we didn’t hear from you for so long.” He looked at Liari. “Is this a friend?”
Charlotte nodded. “This is Liari, she’s kept me safe through the winter.”
Liari smiled. “I didn’t do much at all,” she said.
“Nevertheless, she goes where I go and we’re close enough that you can speak freely around her.”
Kiran nodded. “Understood. Where have you been since we last spoke?”
“I traveled to the Celeran Canopy. I knew there was a mage there, an old friend of my father, and wanted to get his help. When I got to his place, I learned that he died recently. Liari here is his daughter. She found out about this, as well as the mage’s death, the same time as I did.”
Kiran nodded. “That’s a lot to process.”
“Tell me about it,” Liari said.
“So you stayed there in the Celeran Canopy during winter and then traveled back here. I’m assuming you came to me because you need help?”
He looked at Charlotte expectantly.
“We’re on our way to the Astrianara Academy. It’s a place where I’ll be safe and where Liari can find out more about her heritage.”
“And you need me to?”
“Find someone who can sail us there.”
“I see.” Kiran nodded. “That makes sense, that’s probably not super easy without connections.” He smiled. “I can do that for you, free of charge.”
Charlotte’s eyes narrowed and she looked at him suspiciously.”
“Oh come on, princess, you know what I want by now, don’t you?” He walked in a small circle through the room before spreading his arms wide. “My plan of cozying up to the royal family and becoming a fat noble hasn’t changed a bit since we last spoke.”
“Wouldn’t it be smarter to cozy up to the new king?”
Kiran shook his head. “Perhaps in due time, but in these chaotic changing times, it’s best not to rock the boat too much. Besides, there’s still many people in the kingdom that are loyal to your family. You could very well return and I’ll be there as your loyal supporter.”
“You’re surprisingly open about all of this,” Liari said.
Kiran looked at her. “Honesty is the best road to gaining someone’s favor, is it not? If I help the princess here and pretend I’m doing it from the goodness of my heart, wouldn’t that be super suspicious? She would quickly come to suspect that I’m planning something. She would be correct, of course, so why not save us both the time and hassle and just be open about the plan from the very start.”
“That’s an interesting way to look at things, but it doesn’t sound wrong.”
Kiran smiled. “You seem to get it, excellent.”
He looked back at Charlotte. “I’ll write you a letter of recommendation to an old captain I know. His ship, the Varshen, is in K’tapur fairly regularly. Just stay at an inn near the docks and you should be able to find him within a week or two.”

Charlotte nodded. “You’re a big help, Kiran, really. Ulterior motives or not, I’ll gladly take you all the way to the top if I ever get the opportunity, I will swear this one my life.”
“And that’s all I need.” He took out some paper and ink from a small bag he brought with him, and after a few minutes he produced a nicely sealed and stamped letter. “This should do the trick. The fellow you’re looking for is called Captain Layek. He’s a jolly man with big ambitions. If you show him this letter and tell him I sent you, he’ll take you to the Academy without issue.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do, and I suggest that the two of you don’t hang around the big city for too long. Times are strange, after all.” He waved them goodbye and quickly exited the grain storage, leaving the two women alone. Liari looked outside. It was slowly getting dark but they could probably still travel for an hour or two if they really wanted to.
“Want to get a little bit further away from the city?” She asked Charlotte.
Charlotte nodded. “I would feel safer if we did.”
The remaining journey from near K’Mirah until they reached the harbor town of K’tapur was mostly uneventful. They had a scare when some traveling soldiers passed them and struck up a conversation, but they didn’t seem to suspect that anything was wrong and after they told them a story that they were traveling to visit a family member up north, they were let go again. Tired, hungry and with very little money left, they finally made their way into K’tapur. The city was bustling and although there were guards at the gate checking everyone who entered, they seemed to be mostly focused on the contents of people’s wagons and carts, and the two women were able to slip in with just a quick glance and a nod from one of the guards that then quickly shifted his attention to the people behind them, who brought in a cart full of spices and silks. That was much more interesting to the guard, which was a boon for Liari and Charlotte.
After finding their way through the many different and snaking streets of K’tapur, the two finally made their way to one of the inns near the harbor. It was a rather cheap looking inn, but with the severe lack of money in their pockets it would have to do. The Sawblade Tavern was cheap and efficient, and the room they got had barely enough space for two beds and a little table and chair in the middle. The window looked out over the docks and Liari tried to spot the ship of the captain they were looking for, but to no avail. “Let’s check in the morning, I’m exhausted,” Charlotte suggested.
Liari nodded. “I’m fine with that too, let’s get a quick bite and then call it night.”
Four more days passed while the two spent their time mostly nervously pacing their inn room. It seemed like there were not a lot of guards in this area, and the presence of all the shadier people in town was kind of soothing in a strange sense. Late in the afternoon, on the fifth day that they spent in town, they finally spotted the ship they were looking for. On the dock, right next to the ship that seemed to already be ready to depart, stood two people having a conversation when they noticed Liari and Charlotte approach.

Fear, Pirates and Cervello Island

Meloreana IV
“I see what you’re saying.” Scarlet said. She was pacing around the room, as if to polarize Mel’s calmness. “So how do we get to this Opal Kaharis you speak of?”
Mel smiled widely. “That’s the difficult part and it’s quite complicated. Fortunately, your task in this is quite simple compared to the larger plan.” Mel stood up and turned away from Scarlet as she continued speaking. “You see, this plan has been in motion for a while now, but we need your network of informants. There’s a certain artifact I’m looking for, and have been for several years now. It’s called the Emerald Splendor.” She turned back to face Scarlet, who had stopped pacing and was now intently looking at Mel. “Obviously not many people know the artifact’s name or what it does, so it’s been hard to dig up. All I know is that it’s an earring made of platinum with a large emerald stone embedded into it. It’s somewhere on this continent, that much is certain. It’s one of a bigger set, but for the vengeance you seek, just getting my hands on the Emerald Splendor should be enough.”
Scarlet pondered for a while. Mel waited patiently. She wasn’t asking much from the former crown princess – at least not that she would know of – but trusting her outright would be crazy. Scarlet hadn’t gotten this far in life despite her circumstances by being dumb. But the offer was too hard to resist, as Scarlet bit. “Fine, I’ll use my network to figure out where this earring is and I will get it to you. If I do so, you will do as you promised, right?”
Mel held out her hand. “I promise.”
Scarlet hesitated for a moment, but then reached out and shook Mel’s hand.
Mel smiled. “Glad to be partners.” She pulled out the ring from her pocket and put it on the table. “I’ve got business elsewhere, but if you need to contact me, use that.” And with that, she turned around and left the room.

Flashes of colors moved quickly across her vision as Danae found herself floating in a large body of water. She felt water entering her lungs as she stared at the colors. Flashes of blue, green, yellow, pink and bright white shot through the darkness. It was weirdly calming. Then suddenly all the flashing colors got really intense to the point where it started to hurt. She tried to move but she had no control over her body. As a wave of panic washed over her she felt like she could hear voices.
“Waking up.”
“Get the captain.”
“You okay?”
Danae only caught small bits and pieces of the voices and then suddenly a rush of air pushed her out of the dark water and she jumped up, finding herself in a room. Two people were sitting next to her. One was a man with a large scar on his face and a sword on his hip. The other was a woman, a familiar looking woman. Danae struggled to place where she knew this woman from while trying to process where she was. The man with the sword scared her and she instinctively moved away from him, until she had her back against the wall. She was in a bed in a small room with wooden planks. She felt herself sway. She felt dizzy.
“Are you alright?” The woman asked.
Danae looked around. There was only one door to this room and it was slightly open. She could hear the sound of people moving about as well as waves. Waves? Was she on a ship? Why would she be on a ship? She was just at home. Wait, was she at home? Where was home? What was she doing before she slept? Then the memories washed over her. She remembered the screaming and burning, she remembered the wagon and the rain. Then she remembered the thunder. Each flash in her mind made her recoil.
“Hold her down, gently,” she heard a voice say and she felt someone grab her arm. She let out a scream.
“It’s okay dear, you’re going to be okay, we just need you to calm down so you don’t hurt yourself,” a voice said, but it didn’t get through to Danae. The sound of thunder, the smell of burning flesh and fire, the sickening nausea of being on the move and the sound of thunder and the sound of thunder and the sound of thunder and the sound of thunder. Danae screamed out once more and everything went dark again.

The next time Danae awoke, things were a little bit less intense and painful. She still felt a terrible stinging pain in her head. When she looked around, she was apparently moved to a different room. Instead of several people being near her, she only saw one woman next to her, the same woman who was there the first time she woke up. “Where am I?” she asked, her throat hurting with every word she pushed out.
“You’re on a ship called Varshen, I am the first mate Lisanna.”
Danae tried to sit upright but she struggled. She felt a hand hold her as she almost fell over. “Careful now, you’ve been asleep for quite a while.” Lisanna smiled at her. “You’ve been through a lot but you’ll be alright now.”
Danae heard the words and tried to process them, struggling to do so. How was she going to be alright, did these people free her from her captors? If they did, why did they do so? And what happened to her? Everything still hurt and there was a feeling going through her body that she could only describe as energy coursing through her veins, pulsing with every heartbeat. It didn’t hurt, but it wasn’t a comfortable feeling either. As the minutes went by, she finally started to regain some calm. She could now make out more of the room she was in. It seemed to be a small cabin aboard a ship, as Lisanna had said. The woman called Lisanna was a beautiful looking elf wearing simple clothing. Comfortable but functional. “Where is this ship headed?”
“We’re on our way to an uninhabited island a few days off the coast of Fyrston. That’s where we’ll set up camp for a little while.”
“And what will happen to me?”
Lisanna gave her a long look and Danae couldn’t quite figure out what thoughts were happening behind those eyes that seemed to pity her. She didn’t like it, that was for sure. “I don’t know yet. For now I hope you’ll try to rest up as much as possible. Are you hungry?”
Danae nodded. She hadn’t noticed it before Lisanna pointed it out, but if she’d been asleep for a long time, that also meant she hadn’t eaten in a long time. Not to mention that the days leading up to the auctions weren’t much better.
Lisanna stood up and peeked out of the door. She could hear her talking to another person, followed by footsteps slowly fading.
“I’ve sent someone to get us some dinner. It’s a bit early for dinner for me, but I suppose it can’t hurt.” She picked up the book that was on her chair and closed it before putting it away in a nearby chest. She then sat down. “Now, how do you feel, and can you tell me a little bit of what you remember?”
Danae thought to herself, the process of which hurt her head a little bit. She remembered little of what happened. “I was captured after our village was raided. They transported us to this auction. There we were fed and bathed and then made ready for the auction itself. I remember waiting for someone to call me up, and when they did, the sound of thunder got louder and louder and I felt a strange burning sensation inside my head. Then I saw someone in the crowd and my mind went completely blank.”
“And what were you doing before your village was attacked?”
“I don’t remember. I haven’t been able to remember since I first woke up in that slavers’ wagon.”
Lisanna thought about what Danae had told her for a while, long enough to give her time to look around a bit more. She could feel the swaying of a ship and there were quite a few books strewn throughout the room. There was another chair beside the one Lisanna was sitting on, but it was relatively bare besides.
Eventually Lisanna spoke again. “I’m sure this is all coming at you fast, but do you remember being able to use magic at all?”
Danae shook her head.
“I see, and what color are your eyes?”
Danae was taken aback by the question. “Ehm, they’re brown, why?”
“One moment.” Lisanna stood up and moved to a nearby cabinet. She unhooked the lock which was likely there to stop the doors from swinging open while they were at sea, and took out a small handheld mirror. The mirror was made out of wood which was painted into a navy blue color and the handle seemed to have some sort of leather covering the grip. It looked very expensive, to say the least. “Have a look at yourself.” Lisanna handed Danae the mirror.
Danae pointed the mirror at her face and saw her own eyes. She blinked a couple of times, convinced she saw something that wasn’t there. “Is this some sort of magical mirror?” It looked expensive enough to be something made out of magic, so maybe that was it.
Lisanna shook her head. “I’m afraid it’s just a normal mirror. I stole it from a noble back in,” she chuckled, “that’s not important right now. What’s important is that your eyes are bright pink, and seemingly this is a recent development.”
Danae thought for a moment. “Why do you think I remember the color of my eyes?”
Lisanna shrugged. “Same reason you seem to remember your name, or how to use language, or what a mirror is. I’m not a healer, but I know that our memory is something strange and often does things we can’t really explain. Whatever happened to you that led you here was probably traumatic enough for you to block it out of your memory, but that doesn’t mean it blocked out other things as well. That also probably means your memory – or at least some of it – might return as time passes. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”
“And my eyes?” Maybe Lisanna had an answer for that too.
“That is something entirely separate I think. I haven’t seen someone undergo sudden eye color changes before.” Lisanna muttered to herself, “and to such a vibrant color too, it must be magic.”
Danae thought back to the strange old man she talked to back in the slavers camp. “Do you think someone did something to me?” she asked.
“Hard to say, if you remember someone doing something to you that could be it, but it could also be something unrelated. Like I said, it’s a type of magic I’ve never seen before.”
“You know magic?” Danae asked.
Lisanna nodded. “I am actually pretty well versed in a lot of magic, it’s something I’ve been studying for many years. But it’s also a field of study that is extremely broad and has many unknown factors. Honestly your best bet to find out more about your eyes is to go to the Academy, but let’s worry about that later.”
There was a knock on the door and a man came in with some plates of food. All interest in talking about magic left Danae when her stomach rumbled in hunger.
Only once most of the meal was already in her stomach did Danae consider the possibility that it might be poisoned. She then quickly dismissed the idea, since there would be no reason for these people to poison her. After finishing the meal she noticed that Lisanna had barely touched hers. She hadn’t said anything to her since she started eating though. Now that she pushed the plate away, Lisanna continued. “Feeling a bit better now?”
Danae nodded. Truthfully this had been the best meal she had in a while, and she could feel an immediate boost in energy, even if it was partially in her head. “I’ve been worse.”
“I can imagine.” Lisanna stood up and put her own plates away.
“Let me tell you where we’re going, so you have a bit more of an idea of what is going on. She pulled out a scroll from one of the drawers and unfurled it on top of the small desk. “This is where we took off, near Viras. From there we traveled a little bit south and now we’re on our way west. There’s an island, about a day from where we are right now, that we discovered a while back. It’s not exactly hidden, but it is completely uninhabited. Our sailor crew has been planning to set up a base there, a village and a place to stay in between journeys. It’s a long story that makes more sense than this short explanation, but that’s the gist of it. The reason we were at the slave auction was to get cheap labor.”

Danae nodded. “So, do you want me to work for you then?”
Lisanna paused for a moment. “I’ll lie if I say it’ll be that easy. The reason things escalated back on the shore is the fact that you collapsed in the way you did. The type of magic that caused the strangeness is limited to only a few people which makes it very interesting.”
“I don’t know what that means.” Danae replied.
“Basically, once we get to Cervello Island, we’ll have to sit down and figure out what to do with you.”
“Oh.”
“I’m sorry I don’t have a more concrete answer than that, but I would be lying if I said I did.”
“I understand.”
“Get some more rest for now, you can use this room until we reach the island. If there’s anything you need from me, I’ll leave someone on the other side of the door that you can ask.”
“Thank you.”
With that, Lisanna left the room and Danae got some time with her own thoughts. She was still in a bad position, but it seemed like things had improved somewhat. Perhaps this magic weirdness at least meant she was more important to the people in charge and perhaps that upped her chance of a decent future. Maybe she would even be able to learn magic or something. She sat back down and focused on her breathing for a while. After she calmed down a little bit, she picked up the mirror again. Her eyes were indeed a bright pink, almost creepily so. There was definitely something very unnatural about it and she didn’t quite know what to feel about it. But there was also an excitement bubbling up deep inside of her. It first sat in her stomach, uncomfortable as if it was a flame that she couldn’t put out. Then she slowly started giving it a place in her mind and grew from a burning flame to a pleasant warmth. Without really being able to explain why, she felt powerful. Yet at the same time she was completely powerless in this situation. The duality of it all gave her a headache and after drinking some water she went back to sleep.

When Danae next awoke, she was alone. She heard the sound of people outside and after getting up and putting on a jacket that was on a nearby chair. She hoped it was left there for her and if not she hoped that whoever left it wouldn’t mind. When she exited the door, an elven man, probably not much older than Danae, with an unshaven face and his blond hair tied in a right ponytail was sitting against the wall, seemingly asleep. When Danae stepped out of her room he looked up, definitely not asleep. “Good morning, are you feeling better?” he asked. His blue eyes were the color of the summer sky and Danae was captivated for a second before she answered. “I’ve been worse.”
The man stood up. “Sometimes that’s the best we can ask for.” He reached out his hand. She shook it. “Accipiter, first mate of this crew.”
“Danae.”
“Well then Danae, as you can see we’ve made it to Cervello. If you feel well enough, we can hop on land and go talk with the captain.”
Danae wasn’t too excited about the idea of talking to the person who had tried to buy her for labor just a few days ago, but she didn’t really have a choice in the matter. “I’m feeling well enough for now.” She still had a headache but it was subsiding quickly and the fresh air was definitely helping with that. She followed Accipiter off the ship and the two of them walked along the shore until a camp came into sight. Well, the beginnings of a camp at least. Looking at where the sun was in the sky, it probably hadn’t been that long since they started working and although some tents were standing, and there was a small pavilion set up that seemed to serve as a temporary base, it was all still quite bare bones at this point.
Accipiter led her to the big tent, where they found the captain as well as a couple of other people.
“I highly suggest we start with building a basic shelter. We can move from there, but there’s no efficiency in tired workers and without proper shelter you workers will be tired.” A burly elven man, looking well past middle aged was talking to a human man with piercing eyes. The two looked up as Accipiter and Danae entered the tent.
“Ah, you’re awake.” The human man looked at the elf and said. “I’ll trust your judgment on this, I have other matters to attend to.”
“Very well.” The elven man collected the scrolls he’d laid out on the table and gave a friendly nod to Danae before leaving the tent.
“She just woke up, captain, she says she’s doing a bit better.”
“That’s good to hear, I would hate for my people to make poor decisions on someone’s behalf and it then not go well.”
Danae immediately decided she did not like this man. Where both Lisanna and Accipiter had seemed friendly – for the situation she was in – there was a coldness in this man’s eyes that she recognized all too well.
“You’ve caused quite a stir amongst my people, for better or worse.” He pointed to one of the pillows on the floor. “Please, sit.”
Danae sat down and waited for him to speak. Instead he got up from his chair behind the makeshift desk and sat down on one of the other pillows. “My name is Layek. I am the captain of this crew. What’s your name?”
“Danae.”
“Before you ask her, she lost her memory from before she became enslaved and has no idea what happened to her since.” Danae and Accipiter both looked up to see Lisanna walk up to the small pavilion. She smiled at Danae before sitting down next to her. “I like what you’ve done to the place,” she said, looking at Layek.
“Spare me your mockery, I’m in a bad mood.”
“You knew when you took me in that there would be good days and bad days.”
“I know, I know. You can’t just hire a powerful wizard and don’t expect them to have their own agenda, but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.”
“If it makes you feel better, I think I’ve come to a decision on what to do with her, and she’ll be out of your hair soon.” She put her hand on Danae’s shoulder as she said this.
“Please, share your plans with the rest of us.”
“I believe it’s best to send her to the Astrianara Academy.”
“And how does that benefit us?”
“We send young Accipiter here with her, and when she’s figured out what is happening to her, perhaps we can make use of whatever magic she has. If she allows us to, of course.”
Layek rubbed his temples. “You realize what you’re saying is crazy, right?” He looked up at Lisanna. “Right?”
“While the two of them are at the Academy, they can try to find any information that their library has on your little pet project.”

Layek’s eyes went wide. “Of course, if there’s any place that would have information on the Azure Lagara, it would be the Academy.” He looked at Lisanna. “Maybe what you’re saying is not so crazy after all.”
“Darling, when have I ever had a bad idea?”
Layek seemed to want to answer but Lisanna cut him off immediately. “That was a rhetorical question.”
Layek sighed. “That still leaves us with the question of what exactly happened to her.” He turned his attention to Danae. “So you’re saying you have no real memory of anything that happened to you before you lost your memory?”
Danae nodded. “I remember my name and basic things about life, but I don’t remember anything about my life leading up to waking up on that cart.”
“I see.” Layek looked her up and down. “Well, you don’t like a fighter, nor do you look like someone who’s done hard labor their entire life. On the flip side of that, you don’t look like a noblewoman either. If I were to guess you might have come from a seamstress family or something like that. Not that it matters now, anyway. Do you remember anything strange happening to you in your time since you were enslaved?”
She did, obviously. Her mind immediately went back to the strange man that talked to her in what felt like riddles. But she wasn’t sure if that man did something to her, and if he did, she wasn’t sure if she would trust that person more than she would this captain. So she lied and shook her head. “No, nothing strange has happened until I lost consciousness.”
Layek looked at Lisanna. “We’re going to need to discuss this in detail, but I do like your plan.”
Lisanna smiled. “That’s why you pay me so well. And Danae, I know this is a lot for you to process, but I think going to the academy is probably the safest thing for you to do as well. As much as Layek knows about sailing, his knowledge of magic is lacking. And although I know quite a bit about magic, the old farts at the Academy know much more than I do. What do you say?”
“Do I get a say in this?” Accipiter interrupted.
“Not really,” Lisanna said. She laughed. “As if you’d object to such a rare opportunity. Chances are you’ll be denied entry anyway, since you’re not the magic type.”
“Can’t you vouch for us?” Accipiter asked Lisanna.
She shook her head. “As much as I’d love to help you out, I’m not really allowed anywhere near the Archipelago after what my old tutor did. I’m sure they would love to hold someone accountable for his actions and with him gone, I’m the closest person they have. Besides, I have other leads to look into.”
Layek let out an annoyed sigh. “You people are bent on making my life as difficult as possible, aren’t you?”
“You chose this life.” Lisanna shot back.
“I sure did.”

After the conversation more or less died down, it was decided that Danae would stay aboard the ship for the time being. The rooms there were more comfortable, at the very least the couple of nicer rooms that the captain, the first mate and a few others were in. Danae learned that the room she was using belonged to Lisanna. Lisanna said it was no bother for her to sleep elsewhere and Danae didn’t have the energy to really object. Besides not having the energy, she was still very uncertain about her future. Everyone around her was treating her much nicer than she was used to in the days leading up to this, but she was still very aware of where she was. They could flip on her any moment, so she had to make sure not to offend anyone. The one thing that gave her a bit of breathing room was the idea that she was somehow valuable to them. Valuable enough to send her off to some sort of magic school. Danae hadn’t heard of the Astrianara Academy before and if she had, it wasn’t among the memories that stayed with her after she first awoke in the cart. Accipiter, the man who had accompanied her today, promised her that he would show her around the island and make sure she was doing okay. He seemed nice. Lisanna also seemed nice, but there was a strange aura around the woman, as if she was somehow always far away. Danae didn’t like the captain. He hadn’t been mean to her, but there was a look in his eyes that she just didn’t like. After thinking everything over a few times, and trying to recall older memories without any success, she eventually went to bed. Sleep came slow and she didn’t rest much that night, but it was at least a step up from the past week. Maybe her future wasn’t as horrific as she thought.