The Southern desert was dry and hot even in the winter months. Sandstorms could break out at any time and anywhere. The Sun scorched the earth as though it were a hot oven, and in the deeper parts of the desert, it was. It could reach temperatures hot enough to roast a heral whole. The deepest parts of the desert were simply too hot to survive in unless you were a mage or had some kind of magical item that could allow a person to walk into a hellscape unscathed.

Jamie wore a turban as he crossed sand dune after sand dune. By his side were two knights of his knights that followed him in more difficult endeavors he chose to take.

The female knight to his right said, "Lord Vallas, why must we go through the desert again? It's unbearably hot and filled with deadly monsters. How can some old lady be worth going through this hell hole!" She had short black hair cut to a trim and violet eyes. Mana radiated from her person as she cooled off the air around her, obviously unaffected by the intense heat.

Jamie smiled while looking her into her eyes, "You call the seer some old lady. I call her living gold. I'd been searching for her for who knows how many years, and the Merchant's Republic finally had some information on her whereabouts. What am I supposed to do ignore it and wait another ten years? Maybe I should ask her to go to the Far South toward a nice warm beach? Cassandra, this trip is more important than the war for Ayes. Haven't I taught you the most important thing in any war? Information. Information is everything."

The other knight walking to Jamie's left had dark skin and golden eyes. He was born in the southern part of the Dil Republic and had lived in the desert portion of the Republic his entire childhood. He was the perfect knight for this mission. Quiet, cold, and a man of few words, the man with golden eyes said, "Don't waste your breath out here. You may need it. Every bit of breath and mana are important."

Jamie beamed with his customary smirk, "Cassandra, listen to Aramesh. You might learn something."

"Shut up, Lord! I hate the desert!" Cassandra feigned throwing a punch but quickly stopped as though it was too much effort to complete the motion.

"Hahaha! As do I. No offense to you, Aramesh."

Aramesh just looked at the two of them for a few moments with an annoyed expression before shaking his head, choosing to remain silent rather than continuing the useless conversation.

While the group climbed to the top of a particularly large sand dune, they looked past the horizon to see a rather large mountain. Dark clouds rose high above the mountaintop, raining down an endless stream of lightning like millions of twitching blue snakes.

"That's where we are headed. Why the seer chose to take a vacation at the top of the most dangerous mountain range in the world? I'll never know."

Cassandra gasped, "That's ridiculous! We are supposed to go to that hell hole?"

"Not we. Me and Aramesh. Now that we've found the mountain, you can head back now, Cass. You have an important job to do back home."

"Lord, I hate it here, but I can't leave you here to take all the dangers alone. Aramesh is capable, but I am a 4th Circle mage. I can handle most things that come your way!"

Jamie pulled out a small blue gemstone and twirled it between his fingers, "You worry too much, Cass. I came prepared."

Lyla stood or floated in a large throne room at the bottom of the ocean. The blue-haired mermaid had taken her to a colorful underwater kingdom made from bright fluorescent coral of various sizes. Entire buildings and underwater caverns were filled with a wide variety of fish and sea creatures. Mermen with tridents swam at astonishing speed before pointing their weapons at Lyla gurgling some kind of command, "Zaustaviti! Sto si ti?" Small bubbles rose from the gills at the side of their inhuman necks as they aggressively questioned Lyla. She noted the male merpeople looked more fish-like than the female kind. They had fish heads and humanoid fish bodies. Like fish with a blue human torso and fishtails. Their faces were more disconcerting as they had fish and shark-like faces with clear emotions coming from their expressions.

"I have no idea what you are saying?" Lyla made two figures out of the water around her, which made the guards get into defensive positions. The figure was of her shaking hands with the two guards and following behind the mermaid to her left.

The blue-haired mermaid smiled at the guards before gurgling something back at them, "Ona Je prijateljica. Cudna bezrepa koju sam donio iz dubine!"

The two guards looked at her suspiciously though Lyla couldn't make out; what they were thinking from their expressions. The two guards glared with their shark fangs showing for a few seconds before moving to the left and right, giving room for the two women to enter. "Havala vam!"

The mermaid friend Lyla had made smiled before gesturing to come in. Before she could respond to her or move, Lyla was dragged past dozens of merpeople and dragged to the top of a massive purple clamshell. The clamshell was surrounded by bones that poked out of the sandy sea bottom far above the coral homes and reefs. They looked like massive natural pillars and told a story of sea monsters worthy of legends and fables. In the center of the clam sat a beautiful mermaid who had bright blue hair and even deeper blue eyes. In appearance, she was similar to the mermaid who had dragged Lyla into the depths of the sea, if not more regal and wise.

"Kci? Zasto ste doveli covjeka preda me?" The regal mermaid rose from her throne as the water around her grew chaotic.

"Hello, my name is Lyla. Lyla Nyx." Water surrounded Lyla as though it were her best friend, her lover, her servant, her heart, and her body. A vortex surrounded her as she made fish of water and ice and created an entire replica of the mermaid kingdom that she had only gotten glimpses of in a miniature form. "I come as a guest. I followed this sweet one here. I have no ulterior motives, nor any reason to come here, but I came because I was invited." Lyla placed her palm on her face as she said, "You can't even understand what I'm saying. I have no idea why I came."

The regal mermaid swam closer, "Oh, I understand you, human. I know your tongue, and I've learned it well. I was just asking my daughter Ivana why she would reveal our kingdom to a human stranger."

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Lyla was caught off guard before saying, "If you wish me to leave, I'll be happy to. I dare not offend you or your kingdom, Queen. A monstrous foe defeated me in battle, and I've been recovering at the bottom of the sea ever since A man on the surface capable of destroying cities and kingdoms struck me and cast me down. So, Queen, I have no interest in your home other than natural curiosity." Lyla felt a little nervous as an army of mermen were surrounding the clam in every direction. They all stroked their tridents as though they were ready to descend at any moment.

"I am Queen Bura of Antliska city of sea shells and warriors of the sea. I am happy to treat you as a guest, Lylka, but I must punish my daughter for not speaking with me first."

Lyla cringed slightly from her name being mispronounced but chose to ignore it as she said, "Please, your majesty. Don't punish her. As long as the punishment isn't too great. I'm willing to take the punishment for her." Lyla hurriedly spoke without giving her words much thought.

The Queen raised an eyebrow and said, "You wish to eat one hundred seaworms? They have a putrid odor and foul smell that won't leave your mouth or nostrils for days. Are you sure you are willing to do that?"

Lyla panicked, "I-I."

"Hahaha! I find you funny, Lylka! My daughter has been punished for less! You need not worry about her punishment. Just relax, human! Haha! You are welcome to stay. We will have a feast, and you can share with me your stories of the human's surface world." The Queen pointed to her daughter and then the guards saying, "Kceri, tvoja kazna dolazi kasnije. Straze postavljene, ugostit cemo covjeka kao gosta neko vrijeme!"

Ivana turned pale next to the Blue Tower Master as she turned around and fled. "Miss Lylka, I'll deal with my daughter later. Please come. I am curious about your world and what it's become."

Lyla could only nod her head as she moved toward the Queen.

"Father, I'm hungry. Are we almost there?" Sir Vince and his son were traveling by carriage to the City of Renee. Vince was worried and had taken the long road to get to Renee. Bandits had become a more serious problem as the Red Tower, nobles, and military could not police them as well as before. The war had caused chaos throughout the continent in more ways than one.

"We'll be there soon probably in a few more hours. We can get something to eat at an inn. I've heard about a good one in the City of Renee that we can try. They are supposed to have the best pies."

"Pie!"

"Yes, pie. We'll go to the Tower tomorrow. Today we'll get situated in town and settle ourselves in..." Vince suddenly stopped. He looked into the forest while straining his eyes. "Whoa!" He brought the heral to a stop and yelled, "Let's stop to eat!"

"Dad?"

"Shush!"

Vince hopped out of the driver's seat on his wagon while whispering to his son, "Take hold of the reins!"

He dropped to the ground immediately while chanting, "Oh spirit of the earth, lend me your ears! Earth Ear!" Vince took deep breaths while he placed his ear on the ground. At first, he heard nothing, but when he focused his attention, he could hear slight vibrations from several positions beyond the treeline. 1...2...3...6...9. At least 9 people hid behind trees. Vince could probably take out the bandit group alone, but not without risking his son's life. If he chose to fight, the Heral would be targeted and would be killed by the bandits without exception.

Vince walked back to the carriage while whispering harshly, "Get in the back and stay low!" His son got to the back of the wagon, and Vince took his place in the driver's seat once more.

"The weather is so great today we should go for a picnic, son!" He yelled once more hoping to distract whoever hid behind the tree cover.

He slowly inched his wagon forward until he made a harsh pivot. The wagon made a full 180-degree rotation, and the Heral started dashing a moment later. The bandits in the tree line rushed out of their hiding places and began to chase after them. Arrows pinged as they flew toward the wagon, making holes in the tarp covering the wagon.

"Shit!"

Vince did his best to make obstructions in the road with earth spells and made small shields of earth and rock to protect the Heral from the focused fire shot of particularly nasty archers.

"Get the bastards! Shoot down the beast!"

As Vince was outrunning them, all of the archers chose to focus on his Heral, but Vince only needed to defend a few more arrows. In less than a minute, they got out of range of the bandits, and after five minutes, the bandits were no longer chasing them.

"Dad, where do we go now? I thought this was the safest route?"

Vince frowned as he looked at his shaking son, "What do you mean, where will we go? We will go down this road." He pointed his thumb back toward the road where they had escaped from the bandits.

"How?"

Vince smiled while slowing down, "Because I'm going to go back over there and talk to them."

"Dad! Don't do that. I don't want you to die!" Shaken and scared, the boy moved the box he was hiding behind and approached his father's side, grabbing his shirt.

"I'm not going to die, son. You watch the Heral and our goods. If someone approaches that isn't me, take the reins and head back to the last town we were last in. If I don't see the wagon when I get back, I'll walk back to town, and we'll come back down the road."

"Those men had swords and spears and bows! There were a lot of them maybe ten!"

Vince only snickered at his son, "That's why knights are so impressive. A little bit of magic is all it takes to take out the group. You'll do the same in a few years. You'll probably surpass your old man before you even reach adulthood."

"Really?"

"Really. Now watch out for any people and make sure you don't poke your head out too much, or you'll be in the line of sight for another archer. If someone were to shoot poor old henry, our loyal heral, just run. Don't look back and run back to town as fast as you can."

"Yes, father." Roderick could only pray that his father would be alright.

Vince pat his son's head before getting low to the ground. He placed his ear directly in contact with the earthen road and closed his eyes. He waited two full minutes before rising from the ground. "Either someone is in a tree somewhere, or there's no one nearby. Near enough for me to catch a whiff of them, that is. Stay inside the carriage and make sure you keep moving about while watching the woods."

Vince started walking down the road in the direction of the bandits. His gait was steady and firm, and his shoulders broad.

Roderick looked at his father with eyes of dread. He was afraid he'd lose his dad, but at the same time was excited to see what his father could do. He could never see his father losing to anyone. He was invincible after all.

***Talia Pov***

"I'm going to give the three of you a brief lesson on mana manipulation."

My heart skipped a beat when the young master said he'll be taking care of me. I was terrified of being sent back. I'd do anything to stay out of that hell. I can't believe he said he'd take care of me and call me family! No one has ever said that to me before.

My heart started hurting. Leaving the other girl's behind and coming here made me feel dirty for some reason. I could only shake the feeling when I remembered my promise to save the other girls and bring them out of that place.

"Talia... Talia, this isn't the time to zone out. Pay attention."

I looked up from my stupor, and the young master looked me right in the eyes. I yelped, "S-sorry, young master! It won't happen again!"

I was expecting a slap or a kick, but it never came. He just said, "When it's time to learn something, pay attention. Focus."

"Y-yes!"

"There's no point in you guys learning the basics if you can't move the mana within your body. This is unconventional and contrary to normal teaching, but I'm going to teach you guys the right way. My way."

What's un-unconv-unconfishtunnel? I didn't understand half of what he just said. The boy sitting to my right. I think his name was Aaron. He must've agreed with me because he said, "You are going to teach us magic? And you are going to teach us outside of the norm? Young Master, I don't mean to be rude, but you are the same age as us. We should all be learning from an appropriate teacher."

I was terrified of what the young master might do after hearing back talk from Aaron. I scooted away a few feet so as not to get caught in any backlash. The young master simply raised an eyebrow, "If that is what you want, Aaron. I can make that happen. Feel free to go back and ask Miss Linda for a lesson. You will all get a respectable mage as your instructor when my father finds one suitable."

Aaron stood up and bowed toward the young master before leaving. I felt incredibly uncomfortable. He looked at me and Daniel next and asked, "I am young and must not know what I'm doing. For my father to trust me with your initial teaching even though the three of you will be responsible for my life and safety Aaron must be making the right decision." He crossed his arms and continued, "Would the two of you like to join him? I have no reason to teach the two of you. I'd be better off training on my own, but if you'd like to stay, I am more than happy to teach you."

Before I could speak, Daniel had already given his reply, "I will stay, young master Darius. My father has already taught me a spell in the last year. So I am curious how your teaching will be different than what I was taught.

"Me too! Young m-master! I am happy to learn from you!" I practically blurted that out when Daniel finished speaking.

"Very well, I will start with the building block of all spells and all magic. Today's lesson will be on mana."