Crows cawed among the dead trees, as a small party of people sneaked within the dark forest. The grass made a slight sound, as the girl who looked to be the leader of the party crouched by a dead tree at the end of the forest. Her eyes weary, she looked around and then did a hand gesture to move the party to prepare for the attack that may commence. Mentally preparing for what may happen she unsheathed her sword.

"Everybody, we are now at the stone structure that has just appeared out of the sky." the girl began to speak, "Be careful, it may have monsters in it."

One boy pulled an arrow from his quiver and drew it back, as others unsheathed their sword and began to prepare their spells. The party began once again to walk towards the stone castle. The castle's bricks were clean and looked as if they were brand new. As the party reached the front gate of the castle, a voice called down to them.

"Stop where you're at!" yelled Ilya looking down at the party.

"Who are you and what is this?" the leader shouted up to Ilya.

"Our home and I will be asking the questions here." Ilya shouted once again back down to the party, "Drop your weapons, or I'll have to shoot you all down."

"And how can we trust you won't just kill us?" replied the party leader.

"Do you think people would normally risk letting a party they've never met in," spoke Ilya, "When they have two healers?"

"Now I'll ask again drop your weapons and come inside," Ilya said as she dropped a rock near Leo who was at the gate, "Or I'll have to shoot."

The party leader thought about it for a minute, before she decided to drop her weapon. The others shortly after dropped their weapons as they looked at their leader. Ilya then shot an arrow down to Leo who began to push the gate open. It let out a creaking sound, as it slowly began to open. The party swiftly ran into the castle, before Leo pulled back the gate as it made a loud noise before shutting.

"Leo you take them to Sena, I'll continue guarding the gate," Ilya shouted from the watchtower.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"How did you just make this castle appear?" asked the party leader, as she looked around at the lower city that surrounded the second wall enclosing the castle.

"Our friend, but we don't know the exact details since he passed out," Leo said still surprised by what had happened during the previous night.

"What's your name?" asked Leo as they walked to the broken gate at the second wall.

"Violet," replied the girl, as she looked at the sinking sun.

"And your guys' names?" asked Leo looking back at the others in the party.

"Lia ," "Chandra," "Ena," "Ino," "Ichi,"

"Well... Welcome," Leo said as they reached the entrance to the castle. Leo pushed it open, as Alicia walked over to him.

"Who are they nya," asked Alicia looking at Leo.

"They just appeared at the walls," replied Leo, Alicia shrugged as she walked behind the party.

"Toshiro! Sena!" shouted Leo as he walked to the throne room.

"I'm here," Toshiro said sitting on the throne.

"Sena, left for the pantry, shortly before you got here," Toshiro said before noticing the people.

"Who are they?" Toshiro asked looking at the party.

"We came here as soon as we noticed the large castle fall from the sky," replied Violet as she walked in front of Leo.

"Now that you've gotten here what will you do?" asked Toshiro looking at the girl.

"We will leave now that we know it is of no threat to our group," Violet replied before continuing, "Though many more small groups or even kingdoms may send out parties to investigate the appearance of this castle."

"Do you have an allegiance towards any kingdom?" Toshiro asked as he got up, "It seems as if everyone is working in groups now."

"No, we've just wandered the lands clearing dungeons as we pass by," Violet spoke, looking at Toshiro.

"I want to make this land a kingdom, where we can live peacefully," Toshiro said looking at the group, "My group has already chosen me as the king, but we're always looking for new people since this place is so big and it needed to be guarded."

"You could join us," Toshiro said, as he snapped his fingers enlightening all the torches within the throne room, "You'll have all the food you need, the housing you need, and we can even supply weapons."

The girl thought about the idea for a while, before walking to her party which was out of hearing distance. She'd give an occasional glance to Toshiro and the others before turning her head back around to her party.

"We've decided we'll settle here on one condition," Violet said, "Let us handle affairs of letting in people at the gates."

"We've met many groups, and some such as Trethna are evil," Violet said as Toshiro's eyes widened.

***

"Well done men! Another kingdom has fallen!" exclaimed Skendreth looking at the group of people pillaging the small village.

"Let them run! Sooner or later we'll find them in another kingdom and pillage those lands!" he laughed as he looked at the burning houses.