“Zoz, if you can kill the two to the right, I can get us out of the city before things get too bad,” Xi’ti whispered. “Wait for them to hit the intersection in the buildings,” Xi’ti continued.

As the group stood motionless outside the shop, Bella kept eyes on the gaurds to ensure attention was not gained until the appropriate moment. She shifted her gaze from left to right, then left again. The guards were still engaged in their conversations and hadn’t noticed them yet.

Zoz, preparing for the guards to reach the cross path, began to charge his palms with fire. As they reached the middle of the intersection, Zoz unleashed his bullet of fire. Upon impact with the pair from the north, the bullet swelled to a sizable explosion.

“Move now!” Bella ordered

The group took off, Zoz in the rear, as a shout from behind rang out.

“There’s an imp in the city shooting fire call for more guards and mages!” One of the guards said.

Glancing back, Zoz saw him shouting into a ring with a large purple gem on it. They continued their dash into the detonation area of the explosion, the smoke plume concealing their direction.

“This way,” Xi’ti said. The group made a sharp right turn upon Xi’ti’s command.

Xiti led the group through a series of lefts and rights. Various commands were shouted as close as one section of houses away. A final left and they found themselves before a large area. To their left, in the center of the large plaza, was a grand ornate fountain with several statues of individuals as a centrepiece. Khalid being the only one to notice it recognized four of them. The Dreka, the Elf and the Human from the academy were easily identified. To the left of the shield-bearing male elf was an unknown female elf with a bow. The fourth and fifth he recognized as they seemed to be the same person. They were a duplicate image of the gnome that Xi’ti had drained. There was a third gnome he did not recognize with a large book between the duplicates.

Bella, Xiti and Zoz were focused to their right, where a large open gate with two guards posted on either side.

“I’ll get left, you get right, Zoz, nothing loud or fancy,” Bella said

“Go it,” Zoz replied

“Khalid, you and Xi’ti rush the gate. Make sure it doesn’t close,” Bella continued.

“Very well,” Xit’ti replied

Silence…

“Khalid! pay attention,” Bella whispered loudly.

Khalid snapped around to face the gate seeing his companions ready.

“Right the gate, Rush it. Got it!” He replied

“Now!” Bell whispered

As soon as Bella spoke, Xi’ti and Khalid took off in a mad dash toward the gate. Xi’ti pointed legs tapped rapidly on the stone ground like castanets.

Two small daggers, formed of fire, emerged from Bella’s hand and shot toward the left guard. Simultaneously Zoz pointed his finger toward the right guard and fired three laser-like flames toward him.

The spells impaled the guards fired as the two began their dash toward the gate, Zoz hovering close behind Bella.

The two front runners arrived at the gate ahead of Bella and Zoz. The group looked around for a moment. No other guards in the area nor magical traps on the gate could be seen. Bella and Zoz had caught up slightly behind them.

“Huh, you would think there would be more here to stop this kind of thing,” Zoz said.

“Maybe they weren’t expecting an assault from the inside,” Khalid said.

“Easier for us. The south road should lead us straight to Dalyn,” Bella replied as she checked her map. The group continued out of the gate and began to cross the bridge on their way to Dalyn.

Two hours after they left, having travelled in mostly silence, Xi’ti looked up at the moons. The most prominent white moon and the smaller blue moons were visible in conjunction. When Xi’ti arrived in the city, the two blue moons were arranged very differently. One had been at the top right of the white moon, the other at the top left. They were now located directly in the center of the white moon and were about to continue their crossing formation. These moons lined up, Xi’ti guessed, signified the end of a day and the start of a new one.

Xi’ti Looked back at her group and noticed Bella had also come to the same conclusion.

“Should we?” Xi’ti questioned

Bella knew that the question was directed at her Bella replied: “Yes, we should find cover, though.”

The group prepared for rest after finding a recessed outcropping off the road. Khalid had gathered fired wood and created a suitable burning pit. Bella sat close to the light to continue her preparations, focused intently on her scribblings of formulas and arcane symbols.

“Whatcha working on, Bella?” Zoz questioned

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

“Some of us have to work for our magic Zoz. We aren’t born into it,” she replied. Even if we should be, she continued internally.

“This, once finished, will ensure I do not have to sleep on the ground when we find ourselves in the wilderness for extended periods.” She said

“Can I see?” He questioned

“You will see the result.” She said as she fixated on her work.

Figuring he would get no further, Zoz decided to abandon the conversation.

“So Xi’ti, how did things at the academy turn out with the invaders,” Zoz asked.

“We’ll they caused quite a bit of damage in the summoning room, but I think that was a distraction.”

“A distraction for what?” Khalid chimed in.

“I was rushing to catch up with you guys and heard an explosion behind me on my way into the summoning room. When I turned around, I saw an elf and a floating gnome with four bodies also floating around him headed for the same room. I rushed in as you teleported out and didn’t stick around to find out what happened next.” Xi’ti said.

“That’s insane! You would have to be exceptionally strong to even think about invading that place,” He replied

“I wanted to fight that Dreka,” Khalid said, looking up from the fire.

“You mean that big orange hulking thing? That thing would have eaten you, Khalid!” Xi’ti said

“That’s what I said,” Zoz said, chucking. “Even Bella was scared of that thing.”

“That’s because it felt like I was standing in front of my father without the protection of being his daughter,” Bella replied

“Levi is a bit more chill, but I’ve heard Dispa can be terrifying,” Zoz said

“I’ll get a piece of him one day,” Khalid said quietly as he turned his gaze back to the fire.

Bella closed her book, whispered something to Zuzou and looked at the group.

“You should get some rest. Zuzou will wake us in eight hours. We need to make good time getting to Dalyn.”

They all chose their sleeping arrangement and prepared for their rest. Khalid, never having required sleep, volunteered to keep watch through the night. The majority of the night passed without incident. Occasionally Zuzou would adjust their position, but it was quiet. Khalid sat silent, thinking about that Dreka, then another thought crept into his mind.

The gem, he thought to himself.

As he retrieved it from its pouch, he noticed the fabric was now pure black.

“What are you?” he questioned

He began to turn the gem carefully in his fingers, inspecting it closely as he did. As He focused on every inch of it, he felt it start to pull his vision into it. Deeper and deeper, it pulled him in until his entire scope of sight was a kaleidoscope of blue.

Suddenly he found himself looking upon a scene from above. He saw a male elf with chains on his wrists and ankles. The elf was surrounded on three sides by stone walls and on the fourth sturdy metal bars. He tried to shift his vision to look at his hands, but his vision did not move. As if by its own decision, his perspective went to a third-person viewing of the seated male elf. He seemed to be in well enough shape. His pure white hair was messy and marred with blood. His clothes were nothing but tattered brown fabric, and his feet were bare. A beautiful High Elven woman in a delicate blue silk dress turned the corner into his view. A gold emblem of two swords crossed over a crown upon her left breast. A male elf accompanied her with some parchment clad in regal armour. A large blade sheathed on his back, only the hilt visible, but the cross of the hilt bore the same emblem in silver. They stopped just outside the bars.

“This one will pay for his crimes in blood. He will be sent to the front lines with no armour or weapon.” The female elf declared

The male nodded slightly and scribbled on the parchment before the two turned and left.

Khalid’s vision was pulled outwards until it morphed into a blue kaleidoscope.

The kaleidoscope shifted and zoomed back in rapidly. Khalid found himself again in the third-person view of this same elf. The setting was very different, though. As far as he could see were armoured elves clashing with a multitude of devils of all sizes and shapes. The elf was untouched by the massacre on both sides occurring around him. Bodies of elves and demons had been felled all around him.

The field of vision shifted slowly to above the elf kneeling in the same position as within the cell. The view began to pull upwards and upwards, combat between elf and devil all around him until it faded to black.

Khalid awoke to Bella Xi’ti and Zoz standing above him.

“I thought you didn’t sleep,” Xi’ti questioned.

“I didn’t think I did either,” Khalid replied, sitting up.

“I remember inspecting this gem,” he said, holding the gem up to show the others,” and then I saw a bunch of weird stuff.” Khalid continued.

“You were freaking out a lot whatever was happening,” Zoz said

“Sounded like you were being tortured,” Xi’ti added.

“We need to get moving,” Bella said, cutting them off as she sent Zuzou into the air to keep watch.

The next three days and two nights passed without incident for the group. Khalid continued to ponder on these visions. Bella continued her work on her arcane formulas throughout the nights but made little progress. Xi’ti and Zoz engaged in whatever conversation could be found that night.

A small village came into view on the third night shortly after nightfall. Several windows shone candlelight around various small hills. The group turned left on the trail split and headed toward the town. About an hour later, arriving at the edge of the small village. Turning south into the town trail on the left were various small farms. Continuing down the path, they saw a small stone fence thee guessed encircled the town. The group continued inward toward the center of the village. They passed various houses, some with candlelight shining out from windows, arriving at a large opening marking the center of town. To their left, a smattering of market stalls emptied and closed for the night. To their right, a human stumbled out of an open doorway. The muffled sound of music coming from inside was audible only in the quiet night setting. The human continued to struggle toward a cluster of housing south of them. A sign above the doorway etched into the building ‘Dalyn’s Trilton - Inn and Tavern.’

“Khalid and I should be fine. You and Xi’ti should cover up, though,” Bella said, gesturing to Zoz and Xi’ti.

Zoz hovered over to one of the marker stalls and tore a piece of fabric from it. He began wrapping himself in it and tucking various parts into themselves.

“There, I’m a gnome,” he said, landing and tucking his wings into the fabric. He finished by leaving a fold behind his neck and drew it up into a hood hiding his face.

“I’ll just wait outside until you get a room, then climb in through the window,” Xi’ti said. Xi’ti began making her way to the right side of the building to find cover in the shadows. Coming to the end of the inn, Xi’ti found a gap between this and the next building, nestled in the shadowed alley and waited.

Bella, Zoz and Khalid passed through the doorway into the illuminated, sound-filled Trilton - Inn and Tavern.