Although Cobal made sure to arrive a little bit before the promised time, Salandra was already waiting for him, standing next to the fountain. Her profile was lit up by a nearby fire pit and she was fidgeting with the sleeves of her jacket. Under her black jacket she was wearing a long dress that was a dark red, almost like the color of wine. It accentuated her figure nicely. She wore black boots that had these high but thick heels under them, making her seem taller than she was. When he came closer to her he noticed that she was wearing beautiful earrings that looked like dangling koi fish. He stood there for a second, just looking at her, before he walked over. She turned in his direction and smiled. “There you are,” she stepped up to him and gave him a hug. “I was already getting worried you wouldn’t show up.”
Cobal laughed nervously. “I wouldn’t do that to you.” He grabbed her hand. She wasn’t wearing any gloves yet her hand still felt warm in his grasp. He could see her cheeks redden from the cold. “Shall we go then, you know the way right?”
Salandra nodded. “Follow me.” They walked across the square and down an alleyway as it slowly started getting dark, a byproduct of living in a city covered in a canopy of leaves. Several of the restaurants and inns had small fires lit outside to keep the customers who preferred to sit outdoors warm. The restaurant they made their way to was no different. Above the door was a sign that said The Forest Bounty. Cobal walked in after Salandra and the sound of a small bell accompanied their arrival. As soon as they had made their way inside, one of the servers walked up to them. “Miss Fevezar, my name is Gardon and I will be your server for tonight. Your table is right over here.” He led them to a booth in the back of the restaurant, looking out over a small park. The table had a circular bench around it with soft padding that allowed them to sit comfortably near each other. At the center of the restaurant was a small fire pit as well, with a chimney leading out through the ceiling.
“I have a menu for the both of you but if you would like something to drink first, please let me know.”
Cobal looked at Salandra. “I think some red wine would be lovely,” she said.
Cobal nodded. “Is there anything you would recommend?”
“Well, I have a red wine from the Zenbarin region. It’s quite popular among some of the locals.”
“I’m afraid I haven’t tried that before, but I’ll trust in your expertise, we’ll start off with some of that.”
“Certainly sir, I’ll return with your drinks shortly, you won’t be disappointed.” The server had the most polite smile on his face he could muster before walking off.
Cobal looked nervously at the table. He could smell Salandra’s perfume and he was very conscious of how close she was. It smelled like a mixture of some sweet herbs that he didn’t quite recognize, but it was a very pleasant smell.
“I can’t believe you’re leaving again soon,” Salandra said, “it feels like you’ve only been in town for a little while.”
Cobal sighed. “We never intended to stay here very long. We had a particular job to do and it was always the plan to leave as soon as we’d accomplished that. I need to go home and speak with my father as soon as I can and even allowing Mana a few more days to study with Lysa was already something we had to seriously think about.”
“I know, I know, you’re an important prince and all that, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.” She chuckled. “If I had my way you would stick around a bit longer. I’m surprised you even let Mana stay a little while longer. She’s lucky that you’re willing to accommodate her so much.”
Cobal frowned. “We took her home from her without her ever being able to go back. Once I fully realized how cruel this was I knew I would have to do a lot to ever make it up to her. She has a lot of anxiety and although I can’t relate to most of it, I do see the pain she goes through even when she’s trying her best not to show it. Being away from home, having to learn all these new cultures and rules and to then also be a chosen hero that has many expectations put upon you, it’s a miracle she’s doing as well as she is.”
“It sounds like you really care for her.”
Cobal smiled. “Jealous? We’ve become very close over a short time. I didn’t expect that to happen either, but after we got over our initial hurdles I found her company very pleasant. Like an older sister that’s much wiser than you.”
“Not a high bar to reach,” Salandra joked. She leaned up against his shoulder.
“And here is the wine you ordered,” their server said as he put down the two glasses and filled them, “have you decided what you want to eat yet?”
“What does the future hold in store for you?” Cobal asked. They were about halfway through their dinner which consisted of a very tasty mushroom soup and some freshly baked bread stuffed with bacon and cheese. They ended up finishing the bottle of wine and ordered a second one during dinner.
“I will continue my research. I think I want to move more into field research than I have been. I’m still young so it’s probably best to do that sort of thing now and not when I’m older, but I never really had the courage or the opportunities before. Talking to your friend, Grac, has really motivated me and also given me the opportunity that I’ve been looking for. I want to build a bridge between our community and Tas’Irkan through the only way I know, sharing knowledge. I’m going to write a book on their culture and try to get it approved into the library. I’ll start with Tas’Irkan and if the opportunity arises I want to do the same for other cultures like the Wolsar.” She smiled. “It’s all very exciting and I have to admit I’m still a bit nervous. I’d be lying if I said that thought didn’t scare me.”
Cobal nodded. “New horizons can be very intimidating, but speaking from experience they can also be very rewarding. We would have never met each other had I stayed in the royal capital and tried to convince Mana to study there instead of going on this journey. I’m forever grateful to my father for giving me this job. Besides, I want to go to Tas’Irkan one day as well, so a travel guide would be nice.” He laughed. “I learned that word from Mana, it’s a book that tells you what to do when you visit a strange place.”
Salandra’s eyes widened. “That’s a great way to try and convince people to buy my books. I’m stealing that.”
“By all means, if it goes well I think Mana might have a trick up her sleeve to help you sell a lot of them.”
“What do you mean?”
Cobal waved his hand through the air. “Nothing to worry about yet, it’s just that she’s been working on something alongside a friend of ours that could be helpful when it comes to the distribution of books.”
“I see.” She didn’t seem convinced.
“Either way, I’ll definitely support your book once it comes out.”
They spent a couple of hours talking about each other’s pasts, their goals and their dreams before finally making their way out of the restaurant after finishing up their dessert. Cobal had ordered a very expensive piece of cake and Salandra had coffee with ice cream floating in it.
Arms locked they walked through the city, the cold evening air feeling refreshing after being indoors for a while. Cobal fidgeted with his pocket before pulling something out. “Here, I want you to have this.” He pulled out a small box that he gave to Salandra. “Open it.”
She carefully opened the box, revealing a small ring with the Blueyerd Royal signet engraved in it. It had a slight alteration that indicated that it was Cobal’s personal symbol. “This way you can always reach me through official channels.”
Salandra’s eyes sparkled. “Are you sure I can have something this valuable?”
Cobal nodded. “You’ve been an incredible source of wisdom over the past few weeks and I’ve greatly appreciated your companionship. It seems only right to give you something significant in return.”
Salandra put on the ring carefully and inspected it. It had a blue tone to it, as was to be expected. After a few moments of admiring it she reached into her bag. “Well what a coincidence, I got you something too.” She pulled out a small package wrapped in paper and handed it to Cobal. It felt light and soft in his hands. Cobal opened it up to reveal a beautiful scarf of deep red and purple colors. “Blue isn’t really my color so I hoped you’d remember me by the colors I like to wear,” she said with a smile.
Cobal smiled back and put the scarf around his neck. “I love it, thank you so much.”
As they walked they talked a bit more about Cobal’s travels with Mana. Cobal spoke of Dionil and Salandra asked him how he came to be such close friends with the old elf.
“Well, the story starts quite funny as he knocked me unconscious the first time we met.”
“Excuse me, he did what?”
“Well, I did kind of charge at him in a fit of rage so I suppose it was my fault as well. We made up shortly after though and he soon became like a mentor to me. He is very wise and kind.”
“I’d love to meet him some day.”
“Well if you use my signet ring I’m sure they’ll let you visit him near Milinia, he’ll recognize it at least.”
“Maybe someday in the far future, but not anytime soon.” After a while the Phantom Homestead came into view. The fires on each side of the road lit up the neighborhood with patches of darkness wherever there was a street going one way or another. Cobal opened the door to their inn and Salandra stepped in with Cobal quickly stepping in after her. He looked over in Clara’s direction, who was sitting at the bar with Eliana. She smirked in his direction and tossed him a set of keys without saying anything. Cobal blushed and gave her a quick nod.
He grabbed Salandra by the hand and the pair made their way up the stairs towards one of the empty rooms. Cobal unlocked the door and held it open, gently pulling Salandra into the room as she closed and locked the door behind them.

Mana and Eliana were seated at the bar, talking with Clara about something that Cobal wasn’t paying any attention to right now. His attention was instead solely focused on his friend sitting across from him in the Phantom Homestead. There were no other customers but even with the privacy they had, Cobal struggled to start up the conversation. He had a hundred questions on his mind but he had no idea where to start or what to say.
“I’m sorry for what happened to your brother,” Selvia said.
Cobal looked up at her. “Mana told you?”
She nodded. “I had no idea he was with those people, he never showed his face to me.”
“I see.”
A long pause filled the space, the silence amplified by the fact that the conversation at the bar seemed to have died down as well. Eventually Cobal spoke up. “Start at the beginning, how did you get caught up in all of this?”
“Well, it’s not that long or interesting of a story. At least not for most of it. I was doing some business in Jasodar when I met a woman who told me there was a very talented jeweler living in Marsolin that she would recommend. She then also told me she herself lived in Marsolin and would love for me to come to her home to look at her collection. After finishing business in Jasodar I ended up traveling to the east until I arrived here. After three days of being in town, I suddenly came across this woman again, who was doing her shopping. She then invited me to her manor and once I got there told me to start working on this project that she had in mind.”
Cobal thought for a while about what she said. It did sound like it was just a pure coincidence that she got involved in all of this. Perhaps his brother had no hand in it after all. He resolved to believe this.
“So, what did you end up making for them?” Mana asked. Cobal didn’t realize she’d come walking up to them and she now went to sit down next to Cobal.
“I’m not sure what it was supposed to do, but they had me make a bracelet with specific runes carved into it as well as gemstones laid into it in a very precise pattern. If I’m honest with you, none of it meant anything to me, but it was clear that there was a method to it that they understood.”
“How much of what you made could you draw or describe to us if I gave you time and some paper?”
Selvia thought about this for a moment. “I’m not sure. I could probably give a decent general overview, but the specifics will likely escape me. I didn’t think I’d need to be able to reproduce this after all and I had a lot on my mind while I was there.” Cobal could see that she was still slightly shaking. “Well, think on it a little bit, we can go by Lysa’s office later today and see what we can get on paper. She’s an expert so she might be better at asking the right questions as well?” He looked at Mana who nodded in agreement. Looking back to Selvia he continued. “You should get some rest, the rooms are still available for a while after all.”
“I think I’d like to take a walk for some fresh air.”
Cobal nodded. “Very well, that’s up to you.”
When Selvia left the inn he looked over at Eliana. “Can you keep an eye on her?”
Eliana nodded. “Just for today, I’m not a babysitter.”
“Thanks captain.”

The reason Cobal didn’t accompany Selvia was because he had something else he wanted to do. After downing a drink he made his way to the slums. Once he went inside, it didn’t take him long to find Salandra, who was up on the first floor doing some reading. She looked up and smiled brightly when she saw him approach. “Good to see you again, how did the business you had to take care of go?”
Cobal smiled, albeit forcefully. “It went. Things never go as well as you would like and there were some hiccups. But Grac and his wife should be en route to Tas’Irkan right now. He mentioned he’d come back to visit at some point to see if you were still interested in coming with him to their town, but first he needed to rest up.”
Although he could see a hint of disappointment in her eyes, she nodded. “Good to hear that things have gone relatively well then. If you want to talk about any of it you know where to find me, but I won’t pry where it’s not wanted.”
“I appreciate it.” He looked at the book she was reading. “What are you studying?”
“Oh this?” She turned the book towards him. There was a drawing of a strange toad with weird openings in its back. “It’s a book about creatures that are said to live deeper towards the center of the continent, but have no solid proof backing up their existence. Some of the creatures living in the wildlands have provable existences, since people have brought them back or have brought back dead animals. Some have only been mentioned in the adventure journals of travelers so they are probably real, but there’s no definitive proof which makes it hard to really discuss them. This book talks about many of these creatures and compiles them into one comprehensive tome. It’s quite interesting and I was wondering if Grac could confirm or deny the existence of some of them, but I guess that will have to wait.”
Cobal looked at the page she was showing him. The fumetoad. This creature creates magical pollen in a special gland on its back and releases these pollen in fumes from the little holes covering its back. These fumes can do all sorts of crazy things and many adventurers have fallen prey to a sudden cloud of magic that turned into an exploding fireball or a frozen cloud.
“Sounds like a dangerous creature.”
Salandra chuckled. “Don’t they look sort of cute though.”
Cobal couldn’t help but smile at the way she marveled at these creatures. Although Mana had spent the last few days teasing him about how Salandra was around him, he was quickly starting to feel a similar way. Even after she learned that he was a prince, it didn’t seem like she was treating him any differently and that made him feel at ease. “What?” she asked.
He’d been caught staring. “Nothing, just taking in the view.”
She blushed. “I bet you’ve wooed many a nobleman’s daughter with those sly remarks.”
Cobal chuckled. “You should have seen my brother Nazuren. Rumors say that he has at least three children with different women that he’s trying to hide and between just you and me, I know that one of them is real. I’m not anything like him, I don’t have his charm.”
“You’re charming in your own way. How is he taking care of his children then?”
“Poorly, if I’m being totally honest with you. I know he’s making sure the mother is getting enough money to live a comfortable life, but that’s hardly good parenting.”
Salandra looked him in the eyes. “What would you do in his shoes?”
Cobal shrugged. “I honestly don’t know, I think I’d have to live through it to be able to tell you. But I’d like to think I’d take care of my children. Mana’s influence has turned me a bit soft.”
“She seems like a very smart and kind person.”
Cobal nodded. “She’s like the kind big sister I never had.”
“More like family than anything else then?” Salandra asked.
“Definitely.” After meeting his brother in such a painful fashion yesterday this comment made him feel a little bit more at ease. He still had family at home and Mana was here. It’s strange how much of a bond the two of them had gotten considering how fragile their relationship was when they’d first met. Luckily they’d long gotten over any of those hiccups.
Salandra closed the book. “I have some work to do today, so I hope you’ll excuse me.” They’d been talking for a little while already and Cobal had to go back to the inn as well to see if Selvia would accompany him to Lysa’s office.
“Good luck with your work.”
She smiled and walked away, turning around after a few steps. “Do you have any plans for dinner yet?” She asked.
Cobal shook his head.
“I know a great place nearby, see you in front of the library when the evening clock goes off?”
Cobal thought for a moment and nodded. “Sure.”
She smiled. “See you then.”

“Come on in,” Lysa’s voice sounded from her office. Cobal had brought both Selvia and Mana along to visit the librarian. She was sitting behind her desk talking with another scribe. “Jonas, if you’ll excuse me for a bit, this takes priority.”
“Very well, I’ll return later.” After the man named Jonas left the office, Lysa looked up. “It seems you were somewhat successful in your efforts then? Who have you brought with you?”
“This is Selvia, she’s a friend from back in Saphestan and has somehow been caught up in all of this. We found her in Solin Manor, working for the cultists that had taken the place for themselves.”
“I see, and you’ve brought her here for a reason I presume?”
“We’re hoping to figure out what it was that they were making her create.”
Cobal sat down. “Let me start at the beginning. When we got to Solin Manor we rather quickly managed to save our friend’s wife from the shed on the premises. We then snuck into the manor where we found Selvia. From there we went into the main hall and confronted the cultists that were there. Unfortunately we were one step behind them at every moment and it seems like they completed whatever their goal was, before leaving. But not before Eliana threw a dagger at my brother, who was never truly kidnapped but instead joined forces with these cultists. The ringleader of these cultists seems to be a woman by the name of Petriya Solin, a surviving member of their family.”
Lysa took in all the information. “That is a lot. Did you find out what their aim was in Solin Manor?”
Cobal shook his head. “Not quite.” He looked at Mana who said.
“Although we haven’t figured out exactly why they were there, the prince did mention something interesting. He said that my being here in this world is going to upset the balance in some way. Their order has an end goal of dealing with me and other people who come from outside of this realm. It’s an idea I could sympathize with if I wasn’t caught up right in the middle of it all. I presume that whatever they had Selvia make was required to unlock something in the manor. When they departed they were carrying a strange object with them after all.”
Lysa nodded. “And what exactly did they have you make?” She turned her attention to Selvia.
“I had to make an intricate bracelet with gemstones and runic symbols. Although there wasn’t an understandable pattern or logic to it, the person guiding me through the process knew exactly what had to go where. I think at one occasion I saw her thumbing through a book to figure something out, perhaps that book explained to her what she had to make. I just followed her directions and after a rather long and arduous process managed to make something satisfactory.”
“And after that, they just took whatever they came for and left?” Lysa asked.
“That seems to be the case,” Cobal replied.
“This is all very worrying. Of course small cults spring up all the time and they’re probably just one of many weird groups, but Shifeth is a known entity and seeing as how he’s been brought back once, their beliefs aren’t as unfounded as those of most. What I don’t fully understand is the connection between reviving an old mage and getting rid of outsiders.”
“Could it be a promise that this Petriya used to lure my brother into her plot?”
“That’s definitely possible, although it would just be an assumption based on hope. If I were you – and I hope you understand that I don’t want to be mean – I would make peace with the idea that your brother is opposed to your family’s actions and to Mana’s existence in our world. If you don’t convince yourself of that, how will you be able to act if your paths cross again.”
Cobal sank down into his chair. He still didn’t want to believe it, but he wasn’t one to reject reality either. “I have a lot to think about.” He felt Mana’s hand on his shoulder and smiled.
Lysa returned her attention back to Selvia. “Could I borrow you for an afternoon? I’d love to know as much as possible about what they had you make.”
Selvia looked at Cobal who nodded. “You can trust Lysa, but make sure a scribe accompanies you back to the inn, just to be safe. I doubt it’s necessary, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
“That can definitely be arranged.”
Cobal and Mana left Selvia with Lysa and each went about their day. Mana had more studying she wanted to do and Cobal wanted to take a nice long walk through Marsolin. He had a ton to think about and finally more time to waste now that all the chaos and stress of the past few days was slowly fading for more dread he desperately needed to clear his head.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Letters

When Cobal woke up in the morning it was already light out and he realized he’d overslept quite a bit. Not that he had anywhere to go in particular, but his body must have been really exhausted after the previous day. After getting some quick breakfast in his room he went to sit down at the desk. Mana seemed to be long gone, presumably at the library, so he had a quiet room to himself. He took out his writing utensils and got started on his letter home.

Dear father,

It’s been a while since we last spoke. I hope you’re doing well. I am hesitant to say that I have found my brother, Sapher. The circumstances under which we met were all but good. I will save the details for when I return home, but I can confirm a couple of things.
Firstly, the Rilodar kingdom is in no way responsible for the disappearance of my brother. Having traveled through the land there seems to be a growing worry of war and nothing is a sign that our neighbors are preparing for a fight.
Second, I have reason to believe that Sapher left of his own accord and is not returning to Blueyerd. He has been caught up in beliefs that worry me and in the brief conversation I had with him he appeared to me like a changed man.

Myself and Mana have been doing well, although it’s been a harrowing few days. We are currently staying in Marsolin as Mana is studying at the Ruby Observatory. We will return to Saphestan soon with more information about what exactly is going on but I urge you to scale down aggression at the border while that’s still possible.

Best Regards,

Cobal Blueyerd

Ps. Selvia is here in Marsolin as well. Would you be so kind as to send someone to tell her father, the jeweler Dorgan, that she is doing well and will be coming back to Saphestan at her earliest convenience.

Cobal folded the letter up neatly and sealed the envelope with his signet ring. Satisfied, he made his way downstairs where he found Eliana at the bar, chatting with Clara. “Morning sunshine,” he said to her.
She just grinned and winked at him. He turned his attention to Clara. “If I want to send a letter back home to Saphestan, where should I go?”
“I think there’s an office across from the Observatory where you could go. Shouldn’t be hard to find and else just ask someone.” She smiled. “Writing a letter to a lover back home?”
Cobal shook his head. “To the king.”
Before Clara could respond to his comment he was already out the door. The late morning air was already quite pleasantly warm as he made his way through the bustling street. The chaos of last night seemed so far away already. It all seemed surreal. Grac and his wife immediately left and he had no idea how to sit down and talk to Selvia later. So his quick little walk and delivery of the letter was a good excuse to postpone that a little bit.
The office that Clara was talking about was easy enough to find as a large wooden sign with a letter on it decorated the front. The inside was quite busy. With a city that’s so far away from the rest of the country and hidden deep within the forest there was a larger than average need for a mail delivery service and they’d definitely built this place to make sure they could keep with the demand. After waiting in line for a couple of minutes, a middle aged man with a clean shaven head helped him out. He asked for Cobal’s name and the destination and didn’t bat an eye when the palace in Saphestan was the answer to that second question. A true professional. After rummaging through the back for a little bit and checking some of the ledgers underneath the desk the man came back holding a letter and a small parcel. “It just so happens that someone left something for you the other day.”
“Oh? I don’t expect any mail.”
The man shrugged. “It’s addressed to Cobal Blueyerd, third prince of the Blueyerd Kingdom.” The man smiled. “Not everyday we get a prince come through town, are you here on official business, your highness?”
Cobal put up his hand. “Stop that, I’m not here in an official capacity, please just address me by name.” he took the letter and the small parcel from the man. “Do you have an express delivery option? It’s a bit of an important matter so some haste is appreciated.”
The man nodded. “I have a recent hire that’s incredibly fast, but he’s quite expensive.”
“Money isn’t an issue in this case,” Cobal said, well aware that although he had brought quite a bit of money with him from home, it was quickly running out. 

“Very well.” Cobal signed and paid for the parcel that was there for him and then paid the exorbitant sum for the express delivery before leaving the post office behind. After wandering through town a little bit he found a nice bench in the shade of a large tree with beautiful large leaves and sat down. He put the parcel on the bench next to him and opened the letter.

Dear Cobal,

I know we only spoke briefly but I did some digging into your person. I hope you can forgive me for the intrusion of privacy. My name is Zegred Solin, one of the last remaining heirs of the Solin family. When I told you that I worked at Solin Manor that was only half true. I did work there for a little while, under a different name of course, but I also spent some years there when it still belonged to my family. I was glad to see that someone was interested in my family’s history for two reasons. First, it hurts to have one’s name be scrubbed from history so much. Our family disgraced itself and that is not a truth I avoid, but I believe that much of what my father did has caused the people in charge of writing our story to change some details. You see, our family was deeply embroiled in a scandal that involved the royal family and a search for immortality. As you are certainly aware of by now, the Solin family was looking into Shifeth, the undead wanderer. The goal of our search was to figure out how to bring immortality to the royal family of Rilodar and allow them to rule for many centuries to come. What exactly my father encountered in his search was never made clear to me, but I know that it drove him mad. Eventually we were ousted for our misdeeds and the rest is history.
I am hesitant to write about this next part and if our family’s history was able to stay just that, I would love for nothing more. Unfortunately my niece, Petriya Solin, has been going around with the aim to finish what my father started. Not for the sake of the royal family, but for her own sake. She believes there is a way to reach immortality and she needs Shifeth reach this goal. I tried to stop her once but she almost killed me. So instead I wrote my soliloquy and waited for someone to appear who showed interest. Now that I have found someone it is time for me to find my niece and try one last time to convince her to change her ways. I have provided a gift for you that should surely be of aid in your travels. I hope you manage to stop my niece and prevent war between our two nations.

Best regards,

Zegred Solin

Cobal sat in silence for a little while, unsure what to think of the letter. So the old man we spoke with in the inn was secretly a member of the Solin family. He looked over at the parcel that came with the letter. He’d gotten quite curious about its contents and decided to open it. It was quiet enough in this part of town. To Cobal’s surprise, the parcel held quite a small object. It was light in weight so he hadn’t expected something big, but perhaps something that was light and big enough to require a parcel of this size. Instead, in the small wooden box, sat a single signet ring. He recognized the symbol on the ring immediately, it belonged to the Solin family before they fell from grace. “What does he want me to have this for?” Cobal pondered. Unable to come to a conclusive answer, he tucked the ring away in his pouch, together with the letter, and got up to return to the inn. 

Bit of a short chapter this week, couldn’t quite figure out this one so I decided to just leave it as is instead of force something out of it. Thanks for your patience 🙂

“Shit.” Cobal kicked over the bench where his brother sat earlier. “What do we do now?”
“There are a few things, but let’s start by making sure Grac is alright. I’m confident that with that flashy exit they’re not coming back anytime soon so that shouldn’t be one of our worries.” Eliana seemed to have recovered very quickly from her restraints. One of her arms looked to be bent in a strange way. She walked over to Mana and said, “hold my arm here and don’t let it move.”
“What are you going to?” Cobal asked, but he couldn’t finish the question as Eliana yanked hard on her arm. A weirdly wet sounding pop indicated that her shoulder went back into its proper position. “Thanks, good as new.” Eliana said. The sweat dripping down her forehead indicated that she was all but fine.”
“You’re right though, let’s check in with Grac. It’s quiet at the front of the manor right now and that can be good or bad news.” Luckily for the gang, it ended up being good news as they met up with Grac in the main hall. The lifeless body of one of the cultists was bent in such a strange way that Cobal winced when he spotted it. The big man must have had a lot of anger left in him.
“Remind me to never get on your bad side,” Cobal remarked.
“You alright, big guy?” Eliana asked.
Grac nodded. “I dealt with them, how did it go on your end?” He looked at Cobal who shook his head. “It turns out that they didn’t kidnap my brother. The hunch that Mana and I had for a long time was unfortunately right. He is one of them.”
“And he’s going to kill me,” Mana added.
“I won’t let him,” Cobal said, surprising himself with how quickly he reacted to this.
The Irkan grabbed the trio and pulled them into a big hug. “Each of you will forever have a place at my dinner table for what you did for me today.”
Cobal smiled. “You helped us just as much as we helped you, big guy. Without you this would never have worked. You’re welcome in my home as well.”
“I don’t know if I’ll fit into your homes.”
Cobal laughed. “I live in a palace, we’ll figure something out.”
They all laughed, the tension finally going away a little bit. “I don’t know how well I’d feel at home in a palace,” Grac said.
“You get used to it,”Mana replied.
“I’ll have to take your word for it.” Grac looked past them and Cobal turned around to see Selvia standing at the top of the stairs. “It got quiet suddenly so I came to see what was going on,” she said.
“Who is that?” Grac asked.
“Grac, this is Selvia, a friend of mine who happened to be caught up in all of this. While Eliana, Mana and I go through this place to figure out if there are any clues left, would you be so kind as to bring her to the Phantom Homestead in town? If you tell Clara she’s a friend of ours she’ll make sure a room is available.”
Grac nodded. “I can do that.”
Selvia looked a bit nervously at the big guy and then turned to Cobal. “Will you explain what’s going on when you’re back?”
Cobal nodded. “Most of it, at least.” He looked at Grac and nodded. “The Irkan put his big hand on Selvia’s back. “Let’s go, I’ll make sure to get you back to town safely, you can count on me.”
Selvia nodded but didn’t seem fully convinced.

Cobal turned his attention back to Mana and Eliana. It was once again quiet in the manor although the many torches that were still burning throughout betrayed the life that had just been here a few moments ago. “Let’s see what we can learn from this place before we return back to Marsolin. We still have work to do.”
Eliana nodded. “We’ve at least figured out a lot more than we knew before we came to Marsolin. Heading to this place was the right choice.” They stepped back into the manor and through the doors into the main hall where they’d encountered Ada and Sapher but a few moments ago. There were still some traces of blood where Eliana had managed to hit Sapher in his leg. The first place of interest to them was obviously the stairway that went into the cellar. That’s where the other cultists had come walking out of, after all. Eliana once again took out her lantern but after turning a few of the strange buttons on the side the brightness of the light went up significantly and with much more light at their disposal the trio descended into the bowels of the manor. The stairway was cramped and they could only walk down it single file with Cobal in front and Mana in the back. Cobal held the lantern that Eliana handed to him as he descended and soon they found themselves in a long hallway. It didn’t look like it was dug out of the ground but instead constructed. It seems that whoever built this manor a long time ago – probably a member of the Solin family – knew they were going to hide things down here and prepared for it. The function this place served might have changed over time though. The hallway curved slightly and after a minute of walking it widened into a larger chamber. Cobal hadn’t realized they’d walked at a downward angle but the room they found themselves in had too high a ceiling for that not to be the case.
“This must be what the Solin family was hiding,” Mana said.
“I don’t know,” Eliana replied, “the entrance didn’t seem that well hidden to me.”
Mana nodded. “You’re right, but when we walked down the stairs there were signs of magic. Runes carved into the wall that had been slightly destroyed. I would guess that this magic is what prevented people from finding this place easily. Now that the magic has been nullified it’s just a regular old cellar.
“That does make a lot of sense,” Eliana said.
Cobal carefully lit a few of the torches in the room and put the lantern down on the ground. They now had a proper view of the room.
The room was not all that large, perhaps only fifteen feet in each direction. At the center there was a raised platform with runic writing on it. Not in a circle, but written as normal text. Without saying a word, Mana took out some paper and started copying the runes onto it. Meanwhile Cobal inspected the different pillars that decorated the corners of the room. They also had similar looking runic symbols inscribed on them but these looked more decorative than anything else. The way they were drawn was different and there seemed to be less structure to them than the circles and the runes at the center of this room.
“Does any of this mean anything to you?” He asked Eliana and Mana. Neither of them answered.
“Look at this,” Eliana suddenly said. Cobal walked over and saw that in the far end of the room there was a large slab missing from the wall. Beyond it was a small alcove and when Cobal looked closely with the help of Eliana’s lantern he saw that it was covered in scorch marks. Most of it at least, for there was a square that was completely untouched by fire. The size more or less matched up with the chest they took with them so the connection wasn’t difficult to make. “Now what was it that was hidden here that the cultists so desperately wanted to find?” Cobal said out loud. He then walked over to see how Mana was doing. She was still copying the runes onto paper but he noticed she was shaking. He put his hand on her shoulder. “You’re doing great, we’ll be out of here shortly.”
Mana nodded but didn’t say a word. Eventually she finished copying the text and put the paper away. “Let’s get out of this creepy place, maybe we can ask Lysa for some insight on what we found. Worst case scenario we can also run it by Dionil.” She smiled. “It would be great to see him again, after all.”
Cobal agreed. “Although I don’t think it’s likely, that would be nice.” He hardened his resolve. “First we need to cure Dylon and find Mirgia and Kimi. We also need to inform my father about what we learned here. Maybe then we can finally go and see Dionil again.”
“We also owe Miyara a visit.”
Cobal thought back to the old woman in Arana and the crazy adventure they had after only just meeting each other. “I would like to go back there as well, and I need to speak with Diana Vadier as well when we have the chance.” He sighed. “So much to do.”
“One thing at a time,” Mana said.

After thoroughly looking through every party of Solin Manor, the trio finally decided it was time to go back to town. Cobal held Mana’s hand as they walked back. She seemed to appreciate the gesture. It was hard for him to see her so stressed. It reminded him too much of their early days, before they became friends. Now she felt much less like a stranger and much more like a big sister to him. That thought hurt especially considering what he just went through with his brother.
“I hope we can figure things out soon,” Cobal said.
“If not I have a lead at least,” Eliana commented, her face grim.
“Oh?”
“Rafah. If that woman went to Rafar with me that means she had a reason to do so. Perhaps we’ll learn more when we speak with Larach.”
“That’s the arachnaya you mentioned in your story right? The one you and Kayzel met?”
Eliana nodded. “It was a brief visit but it’s the only thing I can think of.”
“Let’s talk with Lysa first and send out some letters,” Cobal replied.
The lights of the city soon came into sight and as they got closer two large shadowy figures approached them. “I’m glad to see nothing happened after we left,” Grac said, his wife two steps behind him.
Cobal smiled. “We’re tough.”
Mesra stepped forward. “I haven’t properly introduced myself yet but I am Mesra, Grac’s wife. I owe my freedom to the three of you from what I understand.”
“Just friends helping friends.”
“Well friends of my husband are obviously friends of mine too.” She smiled. She was quite attractive, Cobal realized when he saw her smile. Some people just had that charisma. His mind drifted off to Salandra who had a similar charisma.
“So what’s next for you two?” Eliana asked.
“We’re leaving for Tas’Irkan in the morning. It’s been an exhausting and traumatic experience and we could really use some peace and quiet for a while.”
“Then this is where we say goodbye,” Cobal said. “Did Selvia get to town safely?”
Grac nodded. “I brought the young lady to the inn you told me about and Clara said she would take it from there.”
“Thank you so much.”
Grac reached out his arms, squeezing all three of them in a big hug. “I’ll miss you, friends. Make sure you come and visit sometime.”
“We will, I promise you,” Mana said.”
“Good, Tas’Irkan is a beautiful place and you would be remiss to never see it.”
Mana laughed. “Maybe Cobal can take Salandra there on a date.”
Grac and Eliana laughed and Cobal felt his cheeks redden, but also smiled along with them.
Mesra shook each of their hands and after a few more moments of lingering they waved each other goodbye.
Too tired to do anything else, the trio made their way back to the Phantom Homestead. The guards at the wall raised an eyebrow at the late entry they made but luckily didn’t ask too many questions. They got a quick drink at the bar and when Cobal and Mana realized that Eliana had snuck off somewhere with Clara they decided it was time for them to head to sleep. 

“How are you, what are you, why are you here?” Cobal couldn’t even find the right question.
“I should ask you the same thing, why are you in a foreign country sneaking into a destroyed building.” Selvia gasped. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but it’s very dangerous here.”
“Is this someone you know?” Eliana asked. Her dagger was still only a step away from Selvia’s throat, ready to strike at a moment’s notice if things went wrong.
“Lower your weapon, she’s a friend.”
“Then what the hell is she doing here?”
“That’s what I would like to know too.” Cobal turned to Selvia, who looked a lot thinner and more tired than when he last saw her. He cursed. “We don’t have time for this, why are you here?”
“It’s a long story, what is going on? I was hired to create some very specific necklace for these people and after they approved of what I made, they wouldn’t let me leave until I made another, much more difficult project for them.”
“What did you make for them?” Mana asked, seemingly realizing something important in that moment that Cobal did not.
“I made them this very particular bracelet. It had all sorts of gemstones in it that had to be placed in specific places and directions. It was very complicated and it didn’t even look that good.”
“What about the band, was there anything carved into it?”
Cobal began to catch on to what she was saying.
“Yes, how did you know that?”
“Were they runes of sorts that you didn’t understand?”
Selvia nodded.
Cobal still wasn’t sure what link Mana had made, but he understood that the bracelet was probably magic. “Mana?” He asked.
She nodded. “I read about this in one of the books we found in Lysa’s chambers. A long lost way to create artifacts includes talented craftspeople imbuing the runes with power while they craft. Did someone keep a close eye on you at all times while you were working?”
Selvia nodded. “There was a woman watching over. Why are you asking all these questions? Who are these people Cobal and what are you doing here?”
“That is a long story as well. But there are some very bad people in this manor and we’re here to figure out how to deal with them.” While Cobal had been talking to Selvia, Eliana had already started moving on, acutely aware that they had limited time to continue.
Eliana turned around from the doorway. “Quickly, I hear movement downstairs.” She looked at Selvia. “You better say here and not get in our way or I will put you out of commission, is that clear?”
Selvia nodded, pure fear in her eyes. Cobal forgot how scary Eliana was the first time they met and for a moment he truly appreciated that they were on the same side.”
Cobal quickly faced Selvia. “How many people are in this manor?”
“I don’t know, maybe ten or twelve, possibly less.”
Cobal looked at Eliana. “No more than a handful left probably.” He looked back at Selvia. “Stay here, I’ll explain everything when I’m back.”

Before Selvia could argue, the trio made their way past her and through the door that led to the connecting hallway. The light of several chandeliers and wall sconces lit the place but it was still quite dim due to the sheer size of the interior. Eliana walked up front with Cobal and Mana close behind her. There was no one in this main hallway and ahead of them were the main stairs. As they quickly made their way over there, since Cobal assumed that any people here would likely be in the main hall, there was a loud crashing sound as one of the cultists came flying through the splintering door, his neck bent further than it should have. Cobal winced at the sight but he was happy to see that Grac was doing alright. They were still outnumbered if Selvia’s estimate was correct, but not by much. Still, a nervous feeling wouldn’t let Cobal’s stomach settle. Something was very wrong. He pushed the feeling back as they reached the bottom of the stairs, the main hall in sight and the doors leading to it slightly ajar. “Speed is now more of the essence than stealth, keep moving,” Eliana said. She kept charging forward and was several steps ahead of the other two when she stepped in through the door, ducking as she did in case someone was ready with a weapon on the other side. Cobal stepped in behind her and saw a large room where much of the furniture had been pushed aside. A desk was standing on a raised platform and two benches were still standing. Next to the desk was a trapdoor leading to a cellar. Some torches were lit, but the room was quite dark overall. There were two people in this room. A hooded figure was sitting on the bench facing away from the entrance. Standing behind the desk was an elven woman, a familiar face. This was the same woman they encountered in Milinia, who attacked during the harvest festival. At least Cobal thought she was, it was hard to see since her face was still partially concealed by the hood of her mantle. She looked up from the book she was thumbing through and smiled. “Welcome, honored guests, how good of you to make it here.”
Cobal froze. Something was wrong here. Eliana didn’t freeze. She took two more steps forward. “Well, well, well, nice little bandit camp you’ve got here.” She said.
The woman on the chair laughed, her face now more clearly lit than before. She revealed that her face was scarred by burn marks that weren’t there the last time they encountered her, but it was very clearly the same person.
Although Eliana had her back turned to Cobal and Mana, he could see that something in her demeanor had changed. With one smooth motion she pulled a second dagger from her belt and threw it at the woman. She narrowly managed to dodge it, the dagger clinking off the stone wall behind her. “Now, now, is that how you treat an old friend?”

“You,” Eliana said through clenched teeth, as she took another two steps forward. Suddenly her arms and legs gave out and she fell to the floor. None of them had seen the magic circle on the ground before it was too late. As Eliana lay there, unmoving, the woman took her dagger and threw it back at Eliana. With one smooth motion, Mana stepped forward past Cobal and from the page of the book she was holding appeared a gust of wind, blowing the dagger back before it could reach Eliana.
The woman smiled. “I figured it was only fair to throw it back at her, it was hers to begin with.”
“You know each other?” Mana asked.
The woman nodded. “We met once before, on an expedition to Rafah. Your friend here was incredibly helpful in our research of our master’s location.”
“So it’s true then,” Cobal said, “You’re with the Jasmine order?”
She smiled. “You’ve done your research. Yes, I am. My name is Ada and I am one of the high priests of Shifeth. Is that a problem?”
Mana shook her head. “It’s not a problem in and of itself, but the way your little cult has treated us and our friends is unacceptable.”
“I see that you didn’t appreciate our previous meetings as much as I did. That’s a shame, I feel like we could really get along if we tried.”
“Then why did you attack Milinia, kidnap our friend’s wife and not to mention kidnap the crown prince of Blueyerd?”
The hooded figure sitting on the bench stirred and a chill ran down Cobal’s spine.
Ada laughed. “Kidnap the crown prince? Why would we do such a preposterous thing?”
Cobal’s eyes were fixed on the hooded person.
Ada continued. “I might have gotten a little bit excited the last time we met and wanted to test your capabilities, you can hardly get mad about that.
“You’re dodging the question. Why did you kidnap my brother, and where is he?”
The hooded figure finally stood up and walked to where Ada was, slowly removing his hood. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”
Cobal’s heart sank. “Brother?”

“Hello Cobal,” his brother’s familiar voice said, “it’s been a little while since we last spoke.” He turned his attention to Mana. “Breaker of balance, we finally meet.”
“What are you talking about brother, why are you here?”
There was a sorrowful look on his brother’s face as he turned his attention back from Mana to Cobal. “We were warned, Cobal. Our family summoned a hero and almost destroyed the balance of the world. Luckily our ancestor managed to right his wrong by dealing with the threat. Then father went ahead and repeated the exact same mistake. The balance of the world is at stake, you understand that right?”
“Father thinks that the Rilodar kingdom kidnapped you, we’re on the verge of war.” Cobal continued, not making sense of what his brother was saying.
“That is only a small price to pay. These otherworlders,” he glanced at Mana, “are an incredible danger to our world. They wield powers that we could never begin to match and if they’re left to their own devices they could get powerful enough to rival the gods. Their knowledge could spell disaster.”
Cobal didn’t disagree with what his brother was saying, but the shock of seeing him here like this was stronger than his logical reasoning right now. “Why didn’t you convince father to abandon this plan?”
He laughed. “You know father. He would never listen to us.”
Cobal knew his brother was right.
“No, things had to happen this way, it was the only way.”
“Then what about Selvia, why did you have to involve her in your schemes?” he asked, anger welling up in Cobal’s voice.
Sapher’s smile vanished as he searched for the right words. “For involving your friend, I am sorry. Her talent falling into our lap was an unexpected boon, and we couldn’t let it slip away again. I promise we meant her no harm and were planning to let her go as soon as our business here finished.”
Mana stepped in, her hand still on Cobal’s shoulder. “And what exactly are you doing here?”
“We’re bringing back our master,” Ada said with a smile. “And with his might, we will deal with you and the other problem children that have infected our precious world.”
Eliana stirred, seemingly slowly getting back control over her body. Ada seemed to listen for something and then smiled. “I believe that is our cue to get out of here.” She looked at Sapher. “Anything you have to say to your brother before we leave?”
Sapher looked pained but shook his head. “No.”
Cobal drew his sword and was ready to step forward, but Mana held him back. He looked at her questioning, but she didn’t say anything.
From the trapdoor appeared two people carrying a large chest, roughly the size of Cobal’s chest. Ada reached beneath her robes and Mana’s hand vanished from Cobal’s shoulder as it rapidly moved along the page, throwing up a wall of wind between them and the cultists.
Ada looked up and smiled, revealing an intricately carved bracelet. “Don’t worry, we have no plans of dealing with you quite yet. Call it a gift from your brother.” She put the bracelet on and runes started appearing on the floor below her, slowly forming a circle.
“They’re getting away,” Cobal said to Mana, who put her hand back on his shoulder and shook her head. “We have to let them leave.”
“Sapher, stop this nonsense,” Cobal said as his brother stepped towards the other three, onto the magic circle. There was a hint of sadness on his face quickly followed by resolve. “Goodbye brother.” A flash of metal shot through the air and a dagger embedded itself in Sapher’s thigh. The surprised prince looked at Eliana who grinned. “It’s only fair to give you a present as well.” And with a flash the four people, carrying the chest, vanished. 

A little note here for those who have been paying close attention. When I first wrote the “witch” that attacked Cobal and Mana in volume 1 I didn’t have as solid an idea of where the story was heading as I do now. For this reason I added her flashback with Eliana in volume 3 to make her more of an interesting character. That means that the character who introduces herself as Ada has changed a fair bit from what we encountered in volume 1. As I’m currently in the process of writing the final version of volume 1, I will be making sure to align these parts of the story more closely. For now, please understand that there might be some inaccuracies throughout. Thanks for reading!

As they had planned, Cobal and Mana met up with Eliana and Grac on the outskirts of town. They’d excited through the western gate so as to not tip off anyone to where they were going. It was unlikely that the town guards were in cahoots with the cultists but Eliana assured them that it was much better to simply not take that risk at all. The wind had picked up quite a bit and now that the sun had gone down, the dark forest seemed increasingly ominous. It would be hard to move through it without any light, but they wanted to stay hidden as long as possible. Luckily, Eliana had something prepared for a moment like this. She had a small artifact that functioned like a hooded lantern but emitted much less light. It was risky, but it was likely better than traversing the forest in total darkness. After Eliana activated the artifact and a dim light was lighting up the path ahead of them, the four made their way down the path. The plan was clear. Get to Solin Manor and take out the guards near the shed where Grac’s wife was presumably being held. If that went well, Cobal, Mana and Eliana would sneak in through the rubble on the far side of the manor and Grac would create a distraction out front. If they were spotted before that, there were a bunch of different ideas that they discussed, but they were all desperately hoping their first plan would succeed. The quiet of the forest was eerie. Cobal never realized how two forests could feel so very different. The forest and clearing near Milinia was tranquil and pleasant and even at night he would feel at ease there. This forest felt suffused with magic in its own way, but the reason they were walking through it put a very different feeling in his mind. Fear. Cobal was far from a coward, but he was scared of what was about to happen. Too many things could go wrong. Grac’s wife could be elsewhere, Eliana’s count of the amount of cultists in the manor could be off or they could simply be caught off guard on their way there and the entire plan would fall apart before it ever began. Despite his many worries, Cobal was determined to go through with it and to his relief they made it all the way to where the manor came into sight. Eliana dimmed the light completely and they carefully inched closer.
“Now then,” Eliana said to the group, “everyone knows exactly what to do, right? I’m the one with the most experiences so I’ll take charge.” Eliana pulled out her dagger and ran her finger along the flat side of the blade. “And a final reminder that we’re not a prince and a hero here, we’re here to deal with some very dangerous people in the best way we can. Quick and easy, I’ll take out one of the two guards and you all will focus on the other. I’m counting on you to come through here, is that clear?” They all nodded. Although Cobal had killed a man before, he was still extremely uncomfortable with the thought of doing so again, but there was really no other option. Eliana turned to Grac. “If things do go poorly, it’s up to you to break open the shed as quickly as you can. We can’t be of much help with that, understood?”
“Understood.”
The shed was on the west side of the manor, while the east side was the collapsed part of the building. For this reason it was very important that they didn’t get spotted early on. The fence around the property was in disrepair and Eliana had already found a good place to enter the premises through her earlier reconnaissance. They snuck in through it and got low, which was difficult for Grac, as they crossed the courtyard. Eliana split off from the rest of the group and before Cobal even realized how she did it, she had completely disappeared from sight. They waited for a few moments until Cobal spotted her again, behind the shed. How she got there that quickly and quietly, he had no idea. Just like Eliana had gathered during her time scouting, there were indeed two guards next to the shed which all but confirmed that something worth guarding was in there. One of the guards was sitting against the shed, eyes closed and presumably asleep. The other guard was lazily leaning on their spear. When Eliana and Cobal exchanged a glance, the captain duck low and in a sprint so fast it took Cobal by surprise, she shot towards the man and with her dagger glimmering in the moonlight she struck him in the neck, killing him immediately. Cobal didn’t hesitate and dashed forward as well towards the second man who was asleep. He wanted to stab him in the stomach but hesitated. Killing a sleeping man wasn’t something he was prepared to do. Right as he was in his moment of hesitation the man’s eyes opened and went wide. Cobal panicked and it looked like the man would have screamed for help if not for the dagger that pierced out the front of his chest. Eliana looked at Cobal. “I get it, but don’t screw up again.” A moment passed and the place was quiet again. Cobal nodded to Eliana and got started on the lock on the shed. Luckily, one of the two guards had the keys hanging from their belt and it didn’t take long to open the shed. While he did so, Mana and Grac quickly walked up.
After shining Eliana’s lantern into the shed, they saw that there was indeed another Irkan inside. Grac quickly pushed Cobal out the way and stepped forward. “Mesra?” He said, his voice quivering with emotion.
The other Irkan stepped forward, thin brown hair covering her eyes a bit. “Grac, is that really you?”
Grac nodded. “I’ve come to get you, we’re going home.” His face hardened. “After we finish business here.” He quickly got to untying her. “I need you to be quiet and make for the edge of Marsolin to the south of here, can you do that for me?”
Mesra looked at him worried. “What’s wrong, aren’t you coming with me?”
Grac shook his head. “There’s more work to be done here. My friends here helped me save you, now it’s my turn to help them.”
Cobal nodded. “We’ll make sure he comes back in one piece.”
Mesra wanted to argue but Grac squeezed her hand and shook his head. “I need to do this, wait for me at the edge of town.”
She nodded. “Be careful.”
“I will.”

After Mesra left the premises and was out of sight, Grac returned to the other three. They were standing outside the shed and Eliana had moved the bodies inside while they waited for Grac.
“Well, we split up here.” Eliana grabbed Grac by the arm. “Be careful big guy, we need you out of here in one piece. Remember that you’re here to distract, not to be a hero. The moment things look dangerous you run, am I clear?”
Grac nodded. “I’m the last one here who wants to be a hero, although I’d like to get a good punch or two in before I retreat.”
“Don’t worry Grac, we’ll take care of that part for you.” She looked at the other two. “You kids ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Cobal said, the pit in his stomach sinking even deeper.
“Good. Then wait roughly five minutes before you put a big dent in that front door.” Eliana said to Grac. Then the trio split up while Grac stayed behind the shed, out of sight from the manor itself.
As they crept towards the broken down part of the manor Eliana stayed slightly ahead of the other two. They reached the base of a broken down wall and Eliana stopped and turned around one more time. “Remember, self preservation is what has gotten me this far and I recommend you both to keep that in mind. It’s better to fail and try another day than to push your luck. These are dangerous people and although I think we’ll be okay, given how few of them seem to be here, we do not know what they’re truly capable of. Besides, we don’t even know if they’re holding your brother here or elsewhere. It would be an awful story to tell if one of you dies only for me to find out that the prince is in another castle.”
Mana chuckled at this comment although Cobal couldn’t really see the humor in it. “It seems like you’re more worried about us than about yourself,” he added.
Eliana smiled. “Don’t worry about me, I’ve been doing this for a long time.” With the dexterity of a cat she leapt onto the first bit of wall and quickly grabbed hold of the beam that was part of the first floor foundation before swinging up and hooking her leg around the splintered wooden floor of the first floor. Once she was properly situated she reached out a hand to help Mana up. Both Mana and Cobal went up the wall a lot slower than Eliana had, but with her help it wasn’t terribly difficult. They found themselves in what seemed to be a small storage room of sorts. This was as far as Eliana had managed to scout out so from here on out they had to figure things out as they went along. The dank space was incredibly dark and the musty smell of goods gone bad over the years mixed with the smell of the forest made for an unpleasant odor that irritated Cobal’s nose. He had to be careful not to start sneezing loudly. They walked through the room, the creaking of wood being a worrisome accompaniment in the otherwise quiet manor. They had to hope that the people inside were far enough away from the broken down part of the manor that they wouldn’t be spotted easily. The door to the room was slightly blown off his hinges and no one seemed to have bothered repairing it. There were still traces of burn marks and a lot of the wood was completely blackened. Looking at the way the wood was splintered Cobal couldn’t help but wonder what really went down here. It looked like some sort of a massive explosion happened inside the manor. “This door should open fully, but I don’t know how much sound it will make. I suggest taking the other door leading to the room next to this, although I don’t know what we’ll find there.” Eliana said.
“We’ll follow your lead.”
As Eliana got to the door she let out a curse. “It’s locked. Of course it’s locked.” She rummaged through her pocket and pulled out some lockpicks. “Luckily I’m always prepared for something like this.”
“Dionil wasn’t lying when he said you were dependable,” Cobal jokes.
“The old man said that? How nice of him.” She crouched next to the lock and after a few clicking sounds it quietly opened. The three of them were instantly on edge for there was no light inside yet the smell of a recently blown out candle still hung in the air. They weren’t alone.
The trio stepped back and both Eliana and Cobal reached for their weapons. Blade in hand, Cobal held a close eye on the doorway while Eliana fiddled with the lantern. Cobal was ready to pounce on whoever was here, knowing that the person here might give their entire plan away.
The light turned on and shone into the room. Cobal was the first one to spot the shape, crouched in the corner. With two quick steps he was looming over them, ready to swing his sword at the figure holding a small knife in front of her.
Cobal’s eyes went wide. “Selvia?”
“Cobal?” The woman replied.
Whatever she said next was drowned out by the sound of something heavy crashing into the front of the building.

“Have you read that story before?” Mana asked Cobal. She’d finished reading it much quicker than he did and had moved on to another story but when he closed the book she looked at him for his opinion. The book itself had some more stories included and then a biography of the author, but Cobal wasn’t much interested in that part.
“I liked the story. I hadn’t read it before and I wonder if it’s based on a real event.”
Mana’s eyes brightened. “Are there humanoids in your world that look like big talking mice?”
“You mean Wildfolk? They’re not a very common species on our continent, but I hear that they have large kingdoms across the sea.”
“I want to see that some day.”
“Why?”
This seemed to give Mana some pause for thought. “I don’t know, it just sounds incredible. It’s something so alien to my own experience. We’ve seen some folks that are strange by my standards already, but a mouse that’s like a human is a fairy tale story. I would love to learn more about them.”
“You sound almost like Salandra,” Cobal joked.
“That’s just because she’s on your mind constantly,” Mana joked back. “But I do understand her urge to learn more about things that are unfamiliar. It’s what life is all about.”
Cobal shrugged. He was perfectly content without learning about Wildfolk. “There’s a Wildfolk warrior in the palace guard back home, perhaps when we return you can ask him about his people’s history.”
“That would be nice.” The duo spent another few hours reading before their attention got taken up by something else.
The floor below where they were reading was the entrance hall and it seemed like someone had started a performance on the piano that was there. The sound was pleasant and almost felt like waves coming over them so after exchanging a quick glance they both put their books away and went downstairs to see the performance.
Sitting behind the piano, barely visible above it, was an older man. He had just finished his first musical piece and his fingers were trembling as he moved his music sheets around to prepare the next one. Thin graying hair rested softly on his shoulders and although he looked to be quite old, his eyes had a youthfulness to them that almost caught Cobal off guard. Not only that, he looked familiar in a strange way.
Cobal and Mana weren’t the only two who were curious about the performance and the man had already drawn quite a crowd even though he’d only just started. Cobal flagged over a nearby scribe who came running up after he did so. “Excuse me, was this a planned performance? There’s so many people gathered here so quickly.”
The scribe – a young boy who couldn’t be much older than twelve, nodded excitedly. “This is Sala’Thania, a pianist who has been performing at the Sapphire Respite for years. He’s soon planning to retire so people are eager to catch some of his last performances.”
“I see, so he’s quite good then, I presume? I mean, the first song was already very pleasant to listen to.”
The boy smiled. “He’s one of the best if you’d ask me.”
Cobal smiled. “Thank you for the information.”
The boy scampered off and Cobal exchanged a look with Mana. “That’s an interesting name to find here, isn’t it.”
Mana nodded. “We’ll definitely have to see if we can get the chance to chat with him.”
Their conversation quickly paused as the old man put his fingers back on the keys of the piano and started his next piece. 

The music started calm and then slowly picked up in tempo without ever feeling rushed. Cobal couldn’t help it but close his eyes and feel his consciousness travel elsewhere. First he found himself sitting in Ravadier, worried about his future while eating one of the local pasaja fruits as Mana sat behind him working on her schematics. The music changed tempo and he found himself standing in the crowd at the harvest festival, watching his friends perform and laughing and drinking with the elves of Milinia. Another tempo change and he found himself watching his breath turn into small clouds that went into the sky as Mana spent some time playing with the kids in Fitseren that they encountered early on in their journey here. Picking up the pace significantly the piece went towards and end and he saw the night sky above the hot springs that they visited after they had freed Grac and killed several of the bandits. The uncertainty that Cobal had felt about killing several men during their travels was slowly washing away from him as he soaked in the hot water while listening to the beautiful music. Then a high note rang through the main hall of the library and he found himself back where he started, looking at the old man finish his performance. Without Cobal ever realizing, tears had started streaming down his face. When he looked around it seemed like he wasn’t the only one who this happened to as many people were quickly wiping their face while others were just letting the tears flow freely, not worried about how others would perceive them. Mana seemed to be one of those people as she was standing there remembering something just like Cobal had. He wondered if her memories were of their journey together or if she also recalled things from her old life. He also knew that he was not going to ask her. A thunderous applause erupted throughout the room as the old man got up and took a short bow, before shuffling off towards the back.
After recovering from the emotional shock that the song had delivered, Cobal quickly made his way through the crowd towards Sala’Thania. “Excuse me, Sala’Thania?”
The old man turned around to look at Cobal, his eyes sunken deep into his wrinkled face yet still shining with life when they met Cobal’s gaze. “Yes, young man?”
“I was wondering if I could have a few moments of your time, I was wondering if you know a friend of ours.” Mana had followed shortly after him and was now standing just behind him.
“Is this friend of yours a performer here?” Sala asked.
Cobal shook his head. “My friend is Kimi’Thania, spirit of music.”
The old man’s eyes narrowed even more before a smile crept on his face. “Well follow me then.” He motioned over a nearby scribe. “Excuse me, Silvander, could you get me and my guests some wine?”
“Tea for me if that’s alright,” Mana added.
The boy nodded and ran off.
“Follow me please, I have a private chamber nearby where we can chat.”
They followed Sala’Thania down the hall and into one of many chambers that were closed off from the public. There they sat down on a comfortable pile of pillows as Sala’Thania straightened his back and stretched. He still looked like the old man from the performance, but here in a private chamber he portrayed much more vigor. “Now I won’t drop my glamor completely, but I’m sure I can let my guard down around you folks. At the very least you probably know this isn’t how I truly look.” He grinned.
“So you are Kimi’s family then?”
Sala nodded. “Kimi’s my sister’s daughter. I’ve been wondering how those little rascals have been doing.”
Cobal’s face darkened a bit. “Well, last we saw her she was teleported away by the magic of a strange cult, so I wish I came bearing better news.”
Sala laughed. “If that’s the worst of it all then I don’t think I have to be particularly worried. Us spirits are resourceful. I’m more curious about how her music is compared to when she was still wobbling around as a toddler belting out false notes.”
“I would have liked to see that,” Mana said. She was about to continue but the door opened and the boy named Silvander brought in the tea and wine. After he left Sala said. “Please, what were you about to say?”
“Well, we met Kimi in strange circumstances along with her brother. She was locked behind strange magic and we helped her free herself. After that she wanted to continue traveling with us, so we brought her with us to Milinia where she gave a wonderful performance that I still remember vividly. After that we traveled together to the capital of Blueyerd after which we eventually got separated.”
“I see, and what of Kori?”
“He stayed behind near the place where we found them, and didn’t feel like traveling.”
“Fair enough. I should pop by when I retire here and see how they’re doing.”
“Yeah, what’s up with that, you’re clearly not as old as you’re portraying yourself to be,” Cobal remarked.
Sala chuckled. “I’m that old, but us spirits obviously age differently. I’ve let my glamor age normally so that I can retire and find a new place to live after this. Staying in the same place for decades can get boring after all. It’s much better to move on to new horizons.” He looked over the duo. “But enough about me, I want to know more about Kimi’s friends so I can tell my sister all about them when I visit home.”
“I see, so you’re a prince and you were born in a different world. That makes you a little bit like a spirit.”
“How so?”
“The spirit realm is separate from the rest of the world. We live in our own little world and travel freely to and from. So we’re not technically from here.”
“Can we visit the spirit world?” Mana asked excitedly.
Sala paused. “It’s possible. But traveling there needs to be done with the guidance of a spirit and we have very strict rules surrounding the practice. You wouldn’t be the first to do it, but it is far from common.”
“I see, then I suppose that’s not going to happen anytime soon,” Mana said, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
“Anyway, I’m glad to have met you folks, I was actually hoping to go find Kimi when I finished up my performance here.”
“Oh?”
“You see, my sister wants her to come back for some important family business. I’m not quite sure what she was talking about but she asked me if I could go and find her, as she hadn’t contacted home in quite a while. If you could relay a message to Kimi then that would be most wonderful. I will head to where Kori is by myself.”
Cobal nodded. “I’m sure we can relay a message, although I am not quite sure how long it will be before we meet her again, as we got separated.”
“That’s fine, if she hasn’t shown herself yet I’ll go find her after I talk to Kori.”
“What message exactly should we relay to her?”
“Just that her mother has been asking for her presence in the family home. She should be heading that way as soon as possible. That is all I have to share with her.”
“We can certainly relay that, no problem at all.” Cobal shifted his weight to one side and took a sip from his tea. “Your performance in the main hall was great, I felt myself drawn into my own memories while listening to it.”
Sala’s eyes brightened and he smiled broadly. “I’m glad to hear that, that means I’ve done my job.” He got up. “I’m afraid I have other business to attend to so I will see you out now if you don’t mind, but it was nice meeting some friends of Kimi. If we ever meet each other again let’s catch up a bit, shall we? If I had more time I would have loved to learn more about you two as well.”
Cobal shook his hand and Mana followed suit. “If we find the time we’ll definitely come and have some more tea.”

Hidden comfortably within a burrow in the woods was a lovely little family of foxes. Mother and father fox had made their nest next to a clearing so that their young could venture out and explore the world without getting out of their sight. And so the family lived comfortably for a few weeks until one day the smallest of the litter decided to journey past the edge of the clearing. Initially the strange environment with wondrous sights and smells was fascinating to the little fox, but soon it started to get dark and the panic started to set in. In his panic, the little fox ran in the wrong direction, missing his home and running past the clearing just out of sight of his parents and siblings. By the time the little fox stopped running it had gone completely dark and rain had started to fall. Tired, hungry and scared, the little fox found a hole in a nearby tree and nestled there for warmth, struggling to fall asleep.

When next the little fox awoke, two green eyes were staring at him. These eyes were unfamiliar and the fox immediately pushed himself back into the tree, making himself as small as possible.
“Don’t worry,” a flowery voice told him, “I’m not here to hurt you.”
The fox didn’t believe the voice, but curiosity ended up winning out over fear and he poked his little head out of the tree to see who was talking to him. There he saw a giant creature. It looked like a mouse, one of the things his parents would sometimes catch for food. But instead of being a small animal – like the fox was – it was a huge creature, towering over him and standing on its hind legs. It was covered in a bunch of strange furs and had a large stick in their hands. “Hi little one, my name is Jozefin, who are you?” the voice said softly.
Out of all the things that the little fox was curious about, he was most curious about the fact that he could understand the strange creature. Most animals made noises that he could figure out a little bit, but this creature was speaking to him directly and he could understand exactly what she was saying. “I am Jap, the fox. My sister is Jozefin too”
“Nice to meet you Jap. What are you doing here in the rain?”
With his fear subsiding a little bit, the fox took in his surroundings. He was still in a strange place and rain was hitting the little leaf that the mouse was using to cover her head.
“I am lost.”
“Oh dear, I’m sorry to hear that. Can I help you out?”
“Would you do that?”
“Of course I would, helping those who need it is my favorite thing to do.”
“My favorite thing to do is playing with my brothers and sister,” the fox replied.

Jozefin, the mouse lady, smiled at Jap. “That’s a marvelously fun thing to do as well.” She held out her bag. “Here, sit in my bag and I’ll see if I can find your home.”
Jap hesitated for he didn’t know if he could trust this strange woman, but she seemed nice and he was very worried he wouldn’t find his parents again if he went alone. “Okay.” He jumped down and nestled within the bag which smelled of strange plants and honey. He then poked his head out the top and looked around.
“Where do you live, little one?” Jozefin asked.
“I live with my family near the clearing.”
She smiled. “Right, you wouldn’t exactly know where big landmarks are, would you.”
The fox looked at her quizzically. He understood her words but not their meaning. “Landmarks?”
“Right, are there any things near the clearing that stand out?”
The fox thought for a few moments. He didn’t exactly know what something that stands out would have to look like, since the clearing was just the clearing. Eventually he thought of something. “There’s a big tree with nice fruits at the center of the clearing.”
Jozefin nodded. “I think I know where to find this clearing then.” She turned around and started walking, the fox still carefully peeking over the edge of the little bag to see where they were going.

After only an hour of walking, the fox’ ears suddenly perked up. “I think I know that tree,” he exclaimed excitedly.
Jozefin looked in the direction that the fox was looking in and nodded “Then the clearing you’re talking about is a place that I know.” She went in the direction of the tree that the fox pointed at and went past it. The way the leaves smelled here was familiar to Jap and eventually the clearing came into view. Waiting for Jap at the center of the clearing were his mum, dad and all of his siblings. He quickly crawled out of the bag and tumbled to the ground before sprinting to them. They all gave him a big hug. His mother then said. “I’m glad that you were in the area, Jozefin, I worry what would happen if you weren’t.”
The woman smiled. “You know you could have called on me and I would have come immediately.”
“You’re a busy woman.”
“Family comes first.”
Jap looked confused. “Mom, do you know this nice lady?”
His mother smiled. “She’s your grandmother.”

Jozefin chuckled. “I don’t know if I like that yet, it makes me sound old.”
“Compared to us, you are pretty old.”

“So how is the nest going?” Jozefin said, sitting down cross legged at the center of the clearing. “It’s going well, although one of the kids is a constant source of worry.” She shot a look at Jap who made himself small. He was very happy to be back home, but now that he was safe he feared his mother’s anger more than being lost. It’s strange what gains and loses importance depending on where you are. The rain continued to fall so eventually the little family moved back into their burrow, inviting the kind lady in as well. There, the lady started doing something strange together with Jap’s mother. They walked to one of the walls of the room and started writing something on it, then adding twigs and flowers to the writing. They did this for quite a while as the rest of the family looked on in silence. Eventually they seemed to be done and then Jozefin – the lady, not his little sister – took out her wooden staff and touched the center of the circle they had created, making it ripple like it was water from the spring that ran past the clearing where they would often drink. Then the wall turned light blue and kept rippling. With a soft crackling. sound, the staff that Jozefin held started opening up and a similar rippling blue circle appeared in the space between the staff. She looked at Jap’s mother. “Want to test it out?”
His mother nodded and turned to her family. “Kids, follow Jozefin outside to see something interesting.” Jap and his siblings all followed the kind lady outside, where she turned bigger again, for she had made herself small to fit into their home. There, the staff split open once more and the blue ripple that went through it for a moment was soon disturbed as his mom stepped through the staff.
“How did you do that?” Jap’s big brother asked.
“Magic,” Jozefin answered. “Now your mom can come visit me whenever she wants.”
“Why would she visit you?” Jap asked. His mother had never left the burrow.
His mother moved up to him. “Jozefin and I are old friends, I traveled with her a lot before I met your father.”
Jap looked from his mother to Jozefin and back. Jozefin added. “Your mother is the fox of good fortune.”
His mom smiled. “That’s just what people call me because you’re the one that brings good fortune to others.”
Jap felt a sudden urge and blurted out. “I want to be a fox of good fortune too.”
Both his mom and Jozefin looked at him and then exchanged a glance. His mother put her paw on his forehead. “Maybe one day when I’m old, you can take my spot as the fox of good fortune.” She looked at Jozefin, who nodded in agreement. “Of course, when you’re old enough you can maybe come with me sometime.” She smiled. “Here, step through the portal to see if you have the talent or not. If you don’t have any talent, the portal will not let you through it.”
Jap stepped up to the portal and hesitated. He wondered if he had any talent. His mother then gave him a gentle push and before he knew it he was standing inside their little burrow, next to their father. It was a miracle, he clearly had talent.
What Jap didn’t know is that outside of the burrow, Jozefin told his siblings, “anyone can go through the portal if they have my permission, they don’t need a special talent,” upon which the rest of the family started running through the portal as well, tumbling on top of Jap who was still standing next to the portal in awe. Finally, their mother stepped through carefully as well, making sure not to step on any of her children. “Looks like we’re one very talented family.”

Jap would end up becoming the next familiar of the witch of good fortune, thus becoming the fox of good fortune that his mother once was before him. And Jap’s children would one day take over the role for him, until the family was so big that the burrow was four times as large as when Jap was a child. And he would be far from the last family member to get lost in the nearby forest, for they were a curious bunch of foxes. And without fail, Jozefin would come back to bring the lost children back to their worried parents. Whenever the fox of good fortune was spotted in a town, it meant that the kind witch wasn’t far behind, which is why the fox was known for bringing good fortune.