The armored man called Thomas pulls Darian along as the group exits the dungeon. The rope is tight and leaves no wriggle room. Darian considers moving his arms and hands to try to give himself more space, but doesn’t want to risk gaining their attention again. The rope is tied in such a way that his hands cannot touch. “They are obviously very wary about me. They tied me up and made sure I can’t form a path. Not that forming a path would do me any good since I still can’t use evocations.”

He looks around as they traverse through the dungeon. Cold, crumbling rooms filled with scraps of wood and fabrics. Most of the dungeon seems to be ancient, but the symbols on every wall in every room still give off light. Darian wonders who made them and how. Though he thinks he might have some ideas. Occasionally, a room will have similar statues to the ones who attacked him. “Maybe the statues are of the people who made the dungeons? Thankfully, these statues seem much less active.”

“What’s your name, lad?” Darian is pulled from his thoughts as the large woman leading the group suddenly speaks.

“Darian.”

She turns to face him, bright blue eyes look him up and down. “Darian, huh? Well, my name is Giselle. Darian, I don’t think you’re a demon, and I’m usually pretty good at guessing these things. Seen a lot of them. I don’t get the demon feeling from you. That said, I think the feelings of my men are important too, and they find you suspicious. Don’t hold it against them, though. You’re a weird kid in a weird place. I hope that after Alice takes a look at you, and we get that rope off ya, we can have a proper introduction.” A friendly grin grows on her face, revealing a few missing teeth.

Darian squints as they exit the dungeon and bright sunlight bathes the group. After a moment, his eyes adjust, and his eyes explore his new location. A flowing sea of tall grass covers rolling hills as far as he can see. The warm breeze gently brushing through the grass, making it seem to dance. In the distance, an enormous mountain reaches up into the sky. Unnoticed to Darian, Giselle has a smirk on her face as she watches Darian’s reaction. She states assuredly to herself. “Knew it.”

Darian looks backwards at the entrance to the dungeon. It’s reminiscent of the Ell Woods dungeon. However, there are a few differences. There are no pillars with light connecting the entrance. There are also no statues guarding the dungeon. Much of the dungeon is buried, but just like the last one, the entrance has pierced the ground. Darian notices one strange thing about this dungeon when compared to the last. Any spot the dungeon is visible above ground, there is no grass growing within a foot of it. He looks at it curiously before directing his attention back to where they are going.

In the distance, Darian can see a sprawling city, larger than any city he is familiar with. Large walls surround the city, leaving the inside up to Darian’s imagination. Darian asks, “Where are we? What city is that?”

The bowman speaks up from Darian’s left while watching their surroundings. “That’s the great city of Einion. We’re on its outskirts.”

Darian eyes focus on the city as they approach. His thoughts go to his hometown. It burning down as enemy soldiers infest it. “Is it safe?”

The bowman looks at Darian like he was speaking a different language. “Of course it is.” He stays silent for a while before continuing. “I think you might have a misunderstanding about the war. We’re winning. It was a surprise attack that burned down Elwood. They tried moving further but were pushed back every time. They won’t attack Einion.”

A look of concern grows on Darian’s face. “Did anybody make it out of Elwood?”

The bowman looks Darian in the eyes before averting his gaze. “It was very sudden. Not many made it out.”

Darian looks at the path they are following. “I had a friend there. I hope he made it out.”

The bowman looks back at Darian with a pained expression. He sighs. “I’m sorry to hear that. I hope he did as well.” The bowman takes off his helmet and wipes the sweat off his cropped brown hair. His sharp brown eyes meet Darian’s. “My name’s Ragnachar. Sorry for shooting at you earlier. You caught me off guard when you ducked under it. Though, now I’m glad you did.” A small grin grows on his face.

Darian nods. “I’m glad I ducked under it too.”

Ragnachar chuckles. “I think you will like the city. There’s plenty to do. I hope your talk with Alice goes well.”

“Who is Alice? What will we talk about?”

Ragnachar fastens his helmet back on his head and goes back to looking at their surroundings. “Sorry, Darian, I won’t say anything else. You will find out when we get to the tavern.”

Darian presents his hands to Ragnachar. “Can I at least be untied?”

Darian yelps as the spearman behind him jams the back of his spear into Darian’s ribs. “Don’t push your luck, whelp.”

Darian mumbles under his breath as he attempts to reach the sore spot on his back. The path they’re following eventually connects to a large dirt road. They follow the road for about an hour before the gate to the town comes into view. Giselle looks back to Darian. “I’m going to untie you now, but don’t do anything stupid like run off. If you give me a reason to believe you are a demon, I will deal with you like I dealt with every other demon so far. Also, don’t say anything to the guards. I want to sleep in the tavern tonight, so don’t give them a reason to deny you. Got it? Then, let’s go.”

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“Why untie me now? Not that I’m complaining.”

She looks him up and down. “Take a bloodied, almost nude, tied up boy to the guards? We can at least untie you, so it looks like you’re coming with us willingly.”

Darian realizes he doesn’t really care why, so long as they untie him. “Sounds good to me.” He presents his hands to her.

She unties him and gestures to him. “Stay behind me and remember, nothing stupid.”

Darian rubs his wrists as they walk to the gate. The red marks make it obvious he was tied up recently. He wonders if the guards will ask about it and what the group’s excuse will be if they do. Darian gets a good look at the gate as they approach. The gate is made up of two huge wooden doors guarded by four soldiers wielding spears and shields with a metal portcullis hanging in front of the gate, waiting to be dropped when needed. The guards check each person as they try to enter. Archers are stationed above the gate on the wall. “If anyone was to try something, they would be target practice for the archers.”

As they approach the guards, Darian looks down at his wrists again. To his surprise, the red marks have completely disappeared. He looks up to Giselle as she walks up to the front guard. The guard looks her up and down, before looking at the rest of the group. His eyes lie on Darian for an uncomfortably long moment. He looks back at Giselle. “Name and reason for entry?”

“Giselle Aegstald. We’re returning after a successful job.”

“What job?” He asks while staring directly at Darian’s bloodied and unseemly appearance.

Giselle steps in front of the guards gaze. “We rescued this young boy from some bandits on the outskirts of the Great Plains. We’re the Holy Harriers. Maybe you’ve heard of us?”

The guard is unable to hide his surprise. “Yes, I have heard of you. You’re the band hired to investigate the rumored demon appearance.” The guard seems to get lost in thought for a moment. “Why are you rescuing lost children?”

“You mean other than just to help people?” She looks at him as if he just said something terribly offensive, and he shifts under her gaze. She continues, “We’ve been investigating any disappearances because they might lead to other demons. This boy was just a victim of an abduction though, and we’re returning him to his family. So, can we enter now?”

The guard steps out of her way. “Of course. Welcome back to Einion.”

The group steps through the gate and Darian is immediately struck by a variety of sights and smells. The streets are filled with citizens going about their day. Carriages drawn by horses roll down the busy streets. The pleasant smell of baked sweets drifts past Darian’s nose as the group walks down the streets to the tavern they’re staying at. Giselle looks back to Darian. “What do you think? Pretty good excuse, right?”

Darian simply nods as he looks around. Giselle notices and nudges his shoulder. “Never seen anything like it, huh? It is quite the sight. Alice had the same reaction when we got here around a week ago. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. She wouldn’t let us start working until she had explored a bit. Which was fine to me, exploring is part of the job. Anyway, Einion is one of the largest cities in The Kingdom of Triturum. Definitely the largest I’ve been to. We’ve got a tavern pretty close to the entrance, so it won’t take us long to get there.”

Darian looks up at her. “Who is Alice?”

She rubs her chin. “Well, she’s life-connected, to start with. A prodigy for sure. A little odd though. But, I’m sure you want to know what she will be doing, don’t you? Whatever her source is, it allows her to get a pretty good read on people. She will tell us if you are a demon. Though, I’m pretty sure you’re fine, getting it confirmed wouldn’t hurt, right?

Darian glances nervously at her. “What is a demon?”

A demon is a person who has been possessed by their source or a creature made of energy. People usually call the creatures capable of possession dark spirits. It’s a little confusing since intelligent lesser sources are also called demons. Kind of funny when you think about it. A person could be possessed by a demon and would then be called a demon themselves. Oh, this is the place.”

Darian looks at the building in front of him. It’s nothing like the taverns in Elwood. The building is large, but modest. A sign out front shows a drawing of a bull standing in a bed, wrapped in a sheet. He looks back at Giselle, as she stares at him with a wide grin. “Guess what they call this place. Go on, I’ll give you three guesses.”

Thomas taps her on the shoulder. “Come on, Giselle, stop with the bull sheet.”

“Ah! Thomas! Why would you spoil it?”

Thomas laughs as he walks through the front door. Giselle turns to Darian and let’s out a defeated sigh. “Well, let’s go introduce you to Alice.”

The rest of the group walks into the tavern. Inside, people of many walks of life sit around tables drinking and chatting. Some groups sing tales of legends while others speak of their daily life. It’s much more lively than Darian was expecting for a city supposedly worried about demons. Most of the group heads to a table to talk and drink amongst themselves, but Giselle leads Darian upstairs to the second floor to a long hallway with many doors on both sides of the hallway. They walk to a room, and she knocks on the door four times.

The handle rattles before the door slowly creaks open. Behind the door, is a young girl maybe a year or so older than Darian. She has a pale, round face and thin black hair that nearly reaches her shoulders. She examines him with piercing green eyes, but he doesn’t notice. The only thing he can see at this moment is the green gem covered by her black hair as it leaks energy.

Darian stumbles forward as Giselle slaps him on the back. “Go on Darian, sit over there.” She gestures to a mat on the floor in front of a chair. She then looks over at Alice. “This is Darian. I want you to examine him and tell me if he is a demon.”

Alice continues to examine Darian as he sits down. Darian feels as though she is staring into his soul. He wonders what she sees. Alice walks to her chair in front of Darian and sits down. “Feel at ease, Darian. It won’t hurt. Close your eyes and open yourself as much as you can.”

Darian stares at her for a moment before closing his eyes. “It doesn’t really matter, I suppose. Even if they tried something, I would see it coming with my eyes closed too.”

He observes her with his energy vision as she places her palms together. A small amount of energy surrounds her hands. She separates her palms from each other until they are around a foot apart. Energy coats both her palms. She reaches forward and positions her palms on both sides of Darian’s head. Suddenly, the energy around her hands flares out and connect her palms to each other through Darian’s head.

Darian’s energy vision goes blank, and his eyes shoot open. He stands in a thriving forest, next to a calm river. On both sides of the river, flowers of all colors bloom. “Welcome to my space, Darian.”