“Zeph…, Zeph, wake up”

I slowly opened my eyes and light blinded me for a few seconds. I felt a hand on my left shoulder, gently shaking me front to back. When I looked up I saw Amber kneeling down in front of me.

“Hey, we're here. Let's get your sister to someplace more comfy shall we.”

Amber stood up and walked to the back of the carriage and while she jumped out from the back my gaze had followed her. This had the added effect of turning my head to the right and seeing my sister come into view who was resting on my shoulder. The carriage was full and we didn’t really have a place to lay down my sister so we wrapped her in a blanket and sat her down next to me. She was resting against me with her head on my shoulder, soundly sleeping with easy shallow breaths.

Why are all these weird sensations seeping through? I thought I blocked it all. And for some reason, it feels like she is burning through my own energy as well. Better focus, for now, don’t want us both to end up in bed.

I took a deep breath and slowly stood up, picked up my sister, and left the carriage. When I stood behind the carriage I heard Amber call out to me.

“Zeph, this way!” she said as she walked through a large gate that was opened by 2 people who were… guarding the house? Even though I only had a vague idea of where I was, I followed Amber to the front door. The house was huge and looked more like a mansion. It had a red, brownish color from its bricks and many windows along the sides that were painted a white color. It looked pretty modern from the outside to the point where it almost felt like it didn’t belong in this world. The street, however, had all sorts of buildings with similar esthetics.

Probably all normal stuff over here. But never knew a city in this world could look like this. I thought as my mind went back to the few times I visited Sunfrost, North in Silverdew Valley

The front door opened when we got close and 2, what looked like, servants of the family opened the door.

“Miss Ikthiosh, welcome back,” they said in stereo.

Lucian meanwhile was distracted by everything around us. He had never been to a city this big before and his eyes wandered everywhere. It took him a few minutes to get back on target which was Amber's home.

When we were greeted by the servants I made a mental note of the name ‘Ikthiosh’.

Don’t know what is happening but I will ask about it when Sis is in bed.

You’re not going to tell me that Amber is the daughter of the Ikthiosh family, are you?

With some hesitation, I carried my sister inside and followed Amber’s instructions to follow her to a guestroom on the first floor. The inside of the building looked like one of those aristocratic interiors from the early Earth days. Massive portraits hanging on the wall and the big stairways were intimidating for someone like me and Lucian. We both grew up in a village.

After climbing the stairs and a short walk through a hallway with multiple rooms connected to it, we arrived at one of the guest rooms. It had a white door with gold-colored paint that decorated intricate patterns. Again, it looks like the old Earth aristocrat days.

“Come on in, The bed is always made and the room should be cleaned this morning. Let's let her rest here and then talk a bit in the living room.” As she walked to the window to close the curtains, 2 servants, who had been following us, made off back the way we came.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

As I walked to the bed I noticed my sister was waking up.

“Hey sis, we are at Amber’s house. You can rest here for a bit.” I said with a concerned voice. Though it was just an act for the outside world.

“Ow,” Amber said surprised when she heard me talk to my sister. “You’re awake. That’s good. Sit down on the bed and let me help you undress so you can get some sleep here.”

At that moment I forgot one very crucial part. A part I didn’t have to deal with up till now.

There was a short awkward silence in the room as I stood near the bed and Amber sat next to my Sister.

“Well?” Amber said with a very pronounced rising intonation.

I looked at her with a questioning face. “What?” Was my only reply.

Amber stood up and came up to me, turned me around, and pushed me outside the room.

As the door closed she, with a somewhat annoyed voice, told me off.

“My god, you are not staying in the room while I help you sister,” she said as the door closed.

As I waited outside she walked back to my sister while commenting on the situation.

“Men really don’t know anything about women, do they.” I heard through my sister's point of view.

It took a few minutes but eventually, the door opened and Amber asked to join her in the living room. Meanwhile, my sister was already asleep.

As we walked back we didn’t really say anything aside from the occasional comment on a painting or one of the statues that were littered throughout the house. After reaching the main hallway where we entered we went to the left into a large room that was completely in line with the theme of the rest of the house.

“Have a seat,” Amber said as she pointed to a couch while she set down on the other side of an antique-looking table that split the 2 couches.

“So what is your story? Why were you guys in such a hurry to skip town in Stonebridge?”

So relaxed in her seat, crossed her legs, and signaled a waiter to get us all some water.

“Well,” I started. “Me and my Sister are from a town in Silverdew Valley. Something happened over there and we wanted to get ‘answers’ from the one responsible. After leaving the valley we met up with our Uncle and he told us that we should get in contact with the Ikthiosh family. Apparently, they might just be able to help us. But I think I have a good idea that we have found the place.” I finished with a slight smile. The chances of meeting her were slim at best and getting here so fast even less.

“This here is Lucian,” I put my hand on his shoulder as started to introduce himself.

“Again, nice to meet you, Amber. I don’t really have a big adventure story like Zeph here. I grew up alone in Stonebridge and later moved to Birchbridge. Been helping children there with my healing magic.”

“Nice to meet you too Lucian,” she said as her eyes turned back to me. “What is your uncle’s name? If I may ask.”

“His name is Kelan,”

Amber’s eyes showed a good amount of surprise as mine turned into question marks.

“Do you know him?”

“Well…” she hesitated. “Yes, I know him. It has been a few years since I last saw him but he helped protect me and my father during one of our expeditions in some ruins up north. How is he doing these days?”

“He is fine. He is a guard in Birchbridge and the town seems to really appreciate his protection.” As I finished the door to the room opened and a waiter came inside with the water.

As he put down the glasses Amber came to the point.

“So, you said you were looking for my parents. What do you need them for?” She leaned forward, completely focused on what answer I was about to give her.

“I’m searching for a place called the ‘Celestial Plain’” I began, but was cut short right away.

Amber jumped from her seat and leaned forward over the table that was between us, knocking over the water glasses in the process. Her expression was frighteningly serious, but there was also something else. Something I recognized. Some I could relate to.

Without thinking I called out. “Revenge!”