Ogden was beautiful at night, Mia thought to herself. There were festive lights everywhere. Colorful banners and sashes hung overhead as she looked at the vivacious people roaming the streets. There were street vendors everywhere, selling baked goods that smelled divine, beaded necklaces, colorful robes and cloaks—and that was only what she could see so far. Mia approached a vendor that sold fresh bread that smelled like home. She produced a small brown pouch and paid the man in silver and copper coins.

“Where did you get that?” Kate demanded.

“I had it the whole time.” Mia said, side-eyeing her friend.

Kate glared at her, then gave her a wry smile. “I knew you weren’t going to let them take a whole gold coin off you.”

Mia smiled as she stashed the pouch in her cloak securely on the opposite side of her book.

“Looks like you two are still the same.” Pip said, shaking her head. “And don’t think I don’t hear that book clunking in your pocket Mia. I swear that thing is attached to your hip.”

Mia rolled her eyes as Kate doubled up with laughter.

Ogden was a small town on the outskirts of the Forest of Atrean. The town still held old traditions such as celebrating the summer and winter solstice as well as the festivals of Kel and Yaz that happened once a year. Mia smiled at her luck. The Festival of Kel was a seven-day long celebration and today was day one.

The night seemed to be wrapping up for most of the shops and merchants. Kate kept probing Pip with questions, but Pip had few words other than, Just see for yourself.

“So, tell me, what brings you two all the way out here? I thought you lot stayed back for palace duty.”

Mia and Kate shrugged as they both smiled.

“Uh uh, somethin’s up, I can smell it on your faces.”

Kate grinned. “Mia has magic. Like actual magic. And I’m pretty sure she was going to keep that secret from you, but I don’t believe in secrets between friends.”

“Kate!” Mia exclaimed.

“Oh, come on, Mia, it’s not like she wouldn’t have figured it out back at the palace—I’m just saving you the trouble of having to brood.”

Mia blinked as Pip laughed. “Looks like everything is closing up,” she observed, leading their way down the stone streets. “Best head back and see if we can snag a snack from the kitchen.”

“Didn’t you just eat?” Kate asked, looking at Pip incredulously.

Pip shrugged and as if on cue, her belly rumbled.

Mia and Kate snickered as they made their way back to the inn. Mia saw the sign of the Goose Egg Inn as it burst into view. She noticed someone standing on the stairs outside. Kate and Pip must have noticed too, as they all quickened their steps.

“Pip, I need you to come inside qui…” Pip’s mother didn’t have a chance to finish her sentence as a blast went off inside the inn. A loud boom followed and fire erupted from inside, shooting out of the doors and windows. The blast caught Pip’s mom directly from the side, sending her flying into the air.

Pip screamed as Mia was thrown off her feet in proximity to the blast, her head hitting hard against the pavement. She yelped, not able to see much in front of her. Attempting to stand, Mia’s knees buckled and she was unable to focus. Her ears were ringing as she tried to make sense of what was happening. With a supporting arm on the ground, she steadied herself. Screams and wails filled the skies as red alerts kept cycling through her Akasha Vision.

“Akasha Vision…can you tell me what’s going on?” Mia didn’t know what to say, but she knew she had to do something. Nothing happened. She looked around and didn’t see Kate or Pip. People were running and screaming from the inn, and the fumes made it almost impossible to see. Think, she thought to herself.

“Mia!” She heard Kate’s voice through the chaos. Residents of the inn were still trying to escape. They called for loved ones that had yet to make it as buckets of water were being passed along from the local residents outside. Mia ran to Kate, who had flown a good 30 meters away.

“Where’s Pip?”

“I haven’t seen her. Everyone started pouring outside and I couldn’t find either of you.”

“We need to see if we can find her, she might be looking for her mother.”

“Wait,” Mia said frantically looking at Kate, “Where’s Lily?”

Kate sucked in her breath as Mia ran into the building. She didn’t have time to practice any other spells on their way into Ogden, as they hurried along to make it before dusk. Mia looked around to make sure there wasn’t anyone who could see her before she cast her water whip. It was like trying to put out a barn fire with a tin cup. The backdraft of the fire started to get to her and fumes filled her lungs, making her cough hard as she made her way back to where she last saw Lily.

Suddenly, four dark figures surrounded her, their faces covered by the diminishing fire and long hoods they wore. Her body began to pulse a soft white glow and she felt as if energy was draining from her body.

Akasha Vision Alert: Akasha Vision has detected seeker crystal in use, spirit element allows you to block jin detection?

Block jin detection? Yes/No?

“She’s one of them,” came a gruff voice from under one of the hoods.

“Yes,” she barely managed to croak as the swords gleamed in the fire.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Mia cast air blast to knock them off their feet, but it only seemed to make things worse.

“Mia, when I say run, run back towards the front door,” a voice shouted at her somewhere within the fiery smoke. She faintly recognized the voice and thought any option was better than this. Then another thought hit her. Mia could barely see in front of her, and she didn’t know her surroundings. She wasn’t sure where the front door was, or any door for that matter.

“Don’t let them get away!”

“Run!” the guiding voice yelled. A burst of light shot into the group of shadowed figures, and she ran back in the direction she thought she had come from, the flames smoldering around her. Her lungs screamed at her for more oxygen, but she knew she couldn’t inhale too much. She was coughing in spasms now, each one burning her throat as she frantically searched for an exit. To her relief, Lily’s light beams moved towards her as she heard the voices of the invaders who were still in the room. She recognized their armor as the same ones worn by those who attacked the palace.

Akasha Vision Alert: Debuff in Effect - Burning

Warning, you have a burning status inflicted. 1 percent hp deduction per 10s while status is ongoing.

Mia cursed to herself as she made it to the front door. She ran fast just before a large wooden beam broke, causing the inn to slowly cave in and collapse. I’m right behind you, she thought she heard Lily say right as she jumped through the door, narrowly escaping the crumbling rock as it crashed down behind her. Mia looked up panting, her eyes wide from shock. She couldn’t see Lily.

People close by got caught by flying debris that crashed to the ground in waves. More chaos erupted around her as people tried desperately to escape.

“Lily!” Mia called out, but as far as she could see, there was no way back inside.

She decided to change course and look for Kate and Pip. Maybe they could help her find a way back inside the inn, she thought. It was difficult to navigate her surroundings. She was weaving through families running away from the scene or trying to reunite with one another, attempting to determine who was unaccounted for. Some ran to get help, calling others to come aid those who were severely injured. Those who were unable to walk were either carried or left behind.

“Kate! Pip!” Mia shouted.

“Mia!” She recognized the faint voice in the distance. Mia ran towards it, avoiding the crumbling, smoke-filled rubble that was once the Goose Egg Inn.

Mia found Kate and they both turned to look at the looming ruins of the inn. Screams and cries filled the night air as many were lost. Pip and Lily were still nowhere to be found.

“We need to go find them,” Mia said to Kate, who nodded in agreement.

“Let’s try to get to Lily first, she might still be trapped inside.”

They dashed towards the inn in spite of others warning them against it. The fire had since stopped, but the smoke still billowed into the night sky. Acrid fumes filled her nostrils, causing her to cough more. Mia nudged Kate towards the back of the inn. The door was still intact as Kate kicked it in and they made their way inside. The walls were charred and still crumbling. Mia and Kate wrapped their hands in their cloaks, pushing aside large chunks of wall that was scattered in what used to be the hallway.

Mia cast her air blast to clear away some of the debris. Mia yelled out for Lily. No response. Mia cast her fireball into her hand and it lit a small path forward.

“Mia, over here!” She heard Kate call out to her. She ran and saw Pip lying on the floor, unconscious.

“Let’s get her outside,” Mia said as she scooped up Pip’s limp body. They hurried out the way they came.

“Lily!” They both called out again just as they exited. Still nothing.

They ran with Pip around to the front of the inn. Mia wished she had some sort of healing spell, just as the rest of the building came down in a pile of rubble. Kate cried out as those who were able to assist ran to help with Pip. Mia watched everything happen in slow motion around her.

How did the invaders find them? She didn’t know where they had gone in the chaos and hadn’t seen them since. She thought about telling Kate but decided that making sure Pip woke up was the first priority.

“Lily has magic, she should be alright. Right?” Kate asked frantically as they stood next to Pip. Those with ability to do so did what they could to bring Pip back to consciousness. After what seemed like an eternity to her, Pip finally coughed and sputtered awake. Ash covered Pip’s face as she looked at Mia, the sadness in her eyes unbearable.

***

The next day, small camps of tents were set up to aid the injured as clouds covered the sky making the area look grey. The tents were set up in a large open field around the ruins of the inn in Ogden. Priest healers were sent from all seven churches around in Ogden and the nearby towns to bandage those they could and say prayers for those they couldn’t. Surrounding villages and provinces also sent workers to help with the aftermath.

Over one hundred rooms in the inn were full of patrons, many of them dying in the fire. There were almost just as many patrons in the restaurant downstairs. Nearby shops also caught fire, but thankfully, no one had been caught in them. The residents of Ogden were able to separate the rubble and pull out the remaining bodies.

A priest insisted all three get treated for their wounds and sent them to a nearby tent. Mia had spent the better part of the day hoping Lily escaped. Even after all of the bodies were collected, Lily was still nowhere to be found. Some of the victims were unrecognizable, but Mia was sure that none of them were Lily.

“Do you think she used her portal thing to escape?” Kate asked, looking grimly at the priest who was bandaging her arm from the explosion. The priest raised an eyebrow before checking on Pip, who sat motionless, then moved on to tend to the next group of wounded.

Mia paused as the priest left, she didn’t see the flash of white light like she was used to with Lily’s portals, but that wasn’t to say she didn’t use it after Mia jumped through the front door.

“I’d like to think so, but there were invaders that I swore wore the same armor as the ones who invaded the palace.”

Kate and Pip looked at her sharply. “They knew I was an Akasha. It felt like they were trying to steal my magic before Lily shot out light blasts and I was able to escape.”

Mia sighed. “She said she was right behind me.”

Kate shook her head. Pip’s red swollen eyes looked hollow as Mia watched her friend. No words would come to ease her friends’ pain so she decided to just sit with her. They all sat in silence as Mia watched families come to claim their dead or tend to their wounded.

“Piper Gibbs?” A tall slender priest wearing black robes walked in with a shorter priest by his side. Both wore a necklace with a large green symbol that looked like a tree on it. He held a book in his hand, but Mia wasn’t familiar with any of the churches.

“Yes?”

“I’m Master Lynn and this is Master Cho. We are from the Church of Kel and have been looking into what happened with the inn as requested by your town governor. I’m sorry, lass, we still don’t know what started the fire. We tried to do what we could, but I’m afraid there’s nothin’ left.” The taller priest sighed. “Let us know if ya need anything. May the gods be on your side.” With that, they left, and Pip was once again speechless.

“Pip, you know we’re with you right?” Kate asked.

Pip stared into the distance then sighed.

“She can talk when she’s ready.”

Pip held a blank stare, not acknowledging any of their words. Mia looked at Kate who shook her head.

“Still no sign of Lily, either. What do we do now?” Kate asked.

Mia sighed. “Lily made me promise to make it to Sagev. I plan on keeping that promise. I’m hoping that somehow she got out and will meet us there.”

“What makes you think she made it out?” Pip quietly asked.

Kate and Mia looked at each other. “Lily has a way of getting out of dire situations.” Mia replied softly.

“Oh.”

“What about Tess?” Kate interjected. “Do you think she’ll still come after us?”

“Who knows.”

Pip looked at Mia. “I want to come with you,” she said.

“What? Why?” Kate asked astonished that Pip would ask.

“My ma and aunt were the only family I had left, and they’re gone,” she managed to choke out. “Going with you is the only plan I have until I figure something else out. Plus…Till Kingdom Come right?”