Marcus and I walk into the kitchen and find Breeze, Crile and Percival chatting.

"How are you feeling?" Marcus asks the boy.

"Refreshed, thank you." Percy nods and quickly looks away again. Huh? Ok.

"Is everyone here already or is it you two only?" Breeze asks me.

"Just us. Why?" I look at her. She looks as if she’s blushing? Crile has a silly grin on him too. "Did something happen?" I ask them.

"Possibly so." Our Cleanser answers me.

"Ok, well are you going to make us guess or what?" Marcus sits down all curious too.

"Laira, you may wanna sit down for this too." Crile pulls up a chair for me with one hand, right next to the happy couple. I walk over and sit down all confused now.

"Should I be worried?" I ask looking the two over.

"Probably not. We’ll see." Breeze starts and takes a breath. "According to Percival, I may be, give or take, six weeks pregnant…"

"HUH! WAIT! WHAT!" I jump off my chair and feel my entire body trembling. "That’s wonderful!" I finally snap out of it and hug the both of them.

"Wait, for real?" Marcus stares at the boy.

"It might take a few weeks for us to be completely sure, as with Com, I mean the Lady's current condition it is a bit tricky to tell for certain, but there is a good chance…" Percival lowers his voice.

"Wow. Ok then… Congratulations?" Marcus extends his hand to Crile. I let them go.

"Thank you." Crile shakes the hand firmly.

"No way…" Rixa stands in the door way.

"You better not have any ideas of having your wretched litter here, Druid!" Culebra steps into the view.

"Does this mean we need to move out?" Jack’s voice reaches us too.

"I thought you said you guys are the only ones back?" Breeze stares at the others.

"We decided to end it early today." Jack speaks from the living room.

"Well. No helping it then. Saves us the trouble." Crile says.

"These two wanted to check in…" Rixa steps aside. Zaltem and Aodynna walk in.

"Sorry to barge in like this!!" The young Druid bows.

"We’ll come back later…" The girl seems to be uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"Oh? No, it’s fine." Breeze speaks softly to them. "I’m glad to see you are well."

"Thank you, Commander." The boy keeps his head down.

"How did you two end up together with Rixa and the others?" Crile’s a bit surprised. Come to think of it, so am I…

"We wanted to ask miss Evergreen about Commander’s condition, but she had already left." The Druid answers.

"We ran into them by the stables as we were leaving." Rixa adds.

"Zaltem has been training under me, so I don’t think it will cause problems." I quickly fill in the blanks.

"Ah, alright then." Breeze nods.

"This calls for a celebration!" I declare.

"Oh, miss, not for Commander, I mean, not for the Lady. She will have to stick to the usual menu for now. Pregnancy can sometimes have an impact on ones taste for food, so for the time being – I’d like it if she would have the usual." Percival explains.

"Not a problem. You guys can still enjoy yourselves." Breeze says with a smile.

"Perfect! Then I’ll get to it…" A dragon’s shriek reaches us from the outside.

"What was that?" Crile’s the first to react.

"Storm." Sis is right behind him. "Someone is out there. Nobody can know I’m alive!"

"Get out there and search!" Crile dashes out the back door. "Laira! Stay with her!" I hear him from the outside.

"Right!"

    Sir dashes out the back door. "Laira! Stay with her!" We hear him from the outside. Sir Marcus and Sir Rixa with Sir Jack have run out the front too. I stagger for a bit and run after them as well.

"Great! How are we supposed to track anyone without a Beast?" The CC scowls. Storm is looking at the forest. Direction of the Palace.

"One rider. Straight ahead." Aodynna points to the same direction. She has her legs transformed.

"Are you sure?" Sir Crile runs up to us. She nods.

"AXE!" Sir yells and a blood bay colored tiger-horse comes out the stables in a slow trot. Sir jumps on it.

"Lead the way." He tells the Shaman girl. She runs over to her palomino horse and takes off. The rest follow her lead. I too, take my dun horse and dive into the woods after the rest of them. Sirs Jack and Rixa are riding a bit more to the left. Sir Crile and Aodynna are going strong straight ahead. Sir Marcus and Zaltem are dashing more to the right. With me chasing after all of them.

"Surround them!" I hear Sir Crile give the command. A horse’s squeal follows suit.

"No! Wait! Stop!" A girl’s voice screams in the commotion. I jump of my dun and run over to get a better look. A person is squirming on the ground with Sir Crile and the rest surrounding them. Sir jumps of his Celodian and takes out a knife. It hits me.

"Wait!" I call out and run over to the girl. I pull the hood off.

"Levi?" Sir Marcus gets off his black horse.

"Yes!" The Balli Ice Mage cries out.

"What the heck are you doing, sneaking around like that?" Sir Crile sheaths his knife. The girl’s lip twitches and she screams out.

"Nobody asked for me in weeks!! I got worried!!!"

"Oh Gods…" Sir Crile covers his face with one hand. "My bad, Levi. I’m so sorry." He leans in and hold his hand to her. She hesitates. I help her up instead.

"Is there anyone else?" Sir Marcus asks Aodynna.

"No. All clear."

Sir Rixa bursts into laughter. "Idiot." The Warrior mocks the Assassin.

"Yeah yeah. Shut it." Sir answers him getting back on his Celodian.

"Can we go back now?" Sir Jack asks turning his grulla Robastant around.

"Sure." Sir Crile nods.

"Then we’ll take our leave." The Shaman says getting on her palomino.

"You’ve come all this way, might as well stay for dinner. It’s getting late too." Sir Marcus adds.

"Besides, Laira’s probably preparing a feast anyways." Sir Crile seconds. "You too, Levi."

"Well, if it’s alright with you." Zaltem turns his white Celodian around.

"Perfect. Then let’s go." Sir Rixa’s chestnut Celodian is the first one to dash off. I help Levi get back on her pinto horse and climb back on my dun. Everyone takes off one by one. Soon enough we are all gathered in front of the cabin again.

"There’s plenty of food and water for all the mounts." Sir Crile announces. Zaltem, Aodynna, Levi and I take our time settling the horses in.

"Is it really ok for us to be here?" The Druid asks quietly.

"I feel out of place like this…" The Shaman follows.

"All will be fine. They are a lot more welcoming than they seem." I try to calm them.

"Is anyone going to tell me what is going on?" Levi stares at me with her sandy brown eyes.

"You’ll find out in a moment." I smile at her and we go inside. The smell of the food hits me as soon as we step over the threshold. Everyone is gathered at the kitchen table. The four of us stand in the door way. I see the Commander’s astounded sky-blues stare at Levi.

"This is Levi, the Ice Mage." I quickly announce. Everyone else quiets down.

"Right. Of course." The Lady shakes her head. "Levi." Her face has a slightly sad expression. She must’ve thought that it is Burla standing here… The same salmon colored skin is rather confusing. Not to mention the same light colored burlywood hair, tied at the back… The Balli people aren’t known for their height. Levi and Burla were about the height of a teenage Primerian, and so was Tonso. The Balli resemble shorter versions of Noxians. Their skin tones range in a variety of red. Maybe a slight shade of brown or even maroon… Besides their skin colors, the Balli have one other unique feature - slightly disproportionate limbs. Their hands are longer and bulkier than they should be for that height. Ancient stories tell us that their colors and their limbs come from the earth’s core. They say the Balli people had to claw their way out of the bowels of Hell… Probably referring to the lava. I’m not sure how anyone could live in scorching pools of liquid fire, but magic is full of mysteries… On the other hand, that might explain the burnt look their skin has… Like a sunburn, but way worse… Levi and Burla have the same-colored skin. Only Burla had bright orange-colored eyes… Levi’s are a bit paler in comparison… Tonso, on the other hand, had a very dark colored skin. Almost blood red… With his ginger hair and beard, he looked like a walking campfire. He had warm grey eyes… Commander stands up and bows her head.

"Thank you for your hard work. I am sorry to have worried you." She looks straight at Levi. I give the Mage a nudge.

"Happy to see you well!" She bursts out and bows.

"Thank you all, for everything." The lady looks all four of us over.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"With pleasure." Zaltem smiles.

"Sure." Aodynna mumbles.

"Perfect;" Miss Laira picks up a few plates; "everyone, grab something." She walks past us and sets the plates on the coffee table by the couches in the living room. Others follow her lead. Everyone begins to settle down on the couches. I take two kitchen chairs and set them down on the other end of the table, by the front door. Lady Culebra has taken up her, now, usual spot, on the far end of the left couch, closer to the door. Levi makes camp on the same far end on the right couch. Sir Jack has brought two more kitchen chairs and sits them down by the other end of the couches. Sir Crile has taken the chair by the right couch, with lady Breeze on the couch next to his chair. Sir Marcus and miss Laira have settled next to the Mancer. Aodynna finally takes the empty spot between Levi and Commander. Zaltem sits down next to me, on the other chair. Sir Rixa sits on the highchair at the end of the table, facing us. Sir Jack takes up the last kitchen chair, on the left side, by the couch. The Shaman girl helps passing out the wooden glasses that the CC is quickly filling up with vine. Zaltem hands me one. His long arms are a quicker reach.

"I propose a toast!" The Warrior gets up from his chair, holding his glass up.

"Great. To what?" The Ram mocks the CC. A quick giggle rolls over in a wave.

"To Life." I hear my own voice announce as my body stand up on its own.

"To Life!" Lady Breeze and Sir Crile raise their glasses.

"To Life!" Sir Marcus and Miss Laira stand up as well. Zaltem follows. Aodynna and Levi too. Sir Jack stands up as well. The only one left sitting down is lady Culebra.

"Whatever." She murmurs and sips her vine.

"You’re the life of the party as always." Sir Crile mocks the Mancer. Another wave of laughter rolls over.

"Cheers!" We say and thud the glasses.

"Dig in!" Miss Evergreen proclaims cheerfully and the noise picks up. I take an empty plate and pack it up with food, saving me the trouble to have to reach for it. I soon realize I’m stuck. I put my glass on the floor.

"Hold on." The Druid next to me, picks the glass up and hands it back to me. I take it and wait. He put’s a pouch on the floor between our chairs and Vines slither out of it, forming themselves into a small, rounded top stand with one leg.

"Impressive." Lady Breeze is looking at us. I put my glass down. Seems sturdy.

"Thank you, Milady. I have been practicing a lot…" The young man’s grey colored skin blushes. The teal eyes gazing down.

"I can tell." The lady raises her glass to the Druid. He nods his short cut, indigo head and quickly sips his vine.

"By the way, Aodynna, how were you able to track Levi?" The Lady addresses the Shaman. The girl puts her plate down.

"I transform my feet and legs and merge them with the earth. That way I can pick up on the vibrations in the ground. A galloping horse is easy to spot in a quiet area."

"I must say I am rather proud of you. I had no idea the Overtake could be used in such a way." Commander praises the Shaman.

"Neither did I. The old man told me."

"Tonso?" Lady Breeze turns more to the girl.

"Yes." Aodynna confirms.

"That’s not the only thing she picked up from the old man." Sir Rixa mocks the young Shaman.

"What do you mean?" The Lady looks at the Warrior confused.

"He’s referring to this." The girl stands up dangling a pouch of water. "It’s vine."

"Excuse me?" The Lady stares surprised.

"The old shaman said that one becomes a true Earth Shaman once you no longer feel the taste of vine… Or food…" She sits back down… "He also said that abusing the Overtake too many times will cause for the taste to come back, however, the caster will have a few years left, at best, after that…" She adds quickly and doesn’t say anything else. Nor does anyone else for a long moment. Suddenly Tonso’s excessive drinking habit makes sense… I had no idea that the Overtake has such a side-effect…

"We better not waste any of this delicious food;" Sir Marcus breaks the silence; "not unless we want to incur the old man’s wrath." He tries to laugh, but it back fires. Miss Laira begins to giggle and suddenly bursts into laughter.

"You don’t have to tell me twice!" Sir Rixa guzzles down his vine and shoves a giant piece of meat into his mouth. Suddenly everyone is laughing and chatting again. Well, almost everyone. Our Necromancer, remains indifferent to the most of the scene, as usual. I focus my gaze on the older Primerian woman. For someone in her late fifties, she had a rather good figure. Staying in shape wasn’t really a priority for casters, but Lady Culebra seemed to be keeping up nicely. The long, grey hair paired rather well with the pale skin. I heard she lived in a swamp, which explains the lack of color. Yet somehow, she did not look sickly. Her piercing blue eyes gave the entire look an almost divine vibe… The Mancer reminded me of Lady Devona. Same long, silver hair. Same blue eyes. Except that Lady Devona has pale blue skin… The Mancer’s main feature is the unreadable facial expression. Always giving off the bored and unimpressed gaze… Next to Lady Culebra is Sir Marcus. As any Primerian’s skin, his is beige. Slightly tanned. His dark blonde hair is in the typical Primerian short cut too. His pale green eyes are tracking every movement Miss Laira makes. The Miss’s lilac hair is put up in a messy bun, with a red ribbon holding it in place. She seems to be enjoying herself.

Sir Rixa gets struck on the back a few times by Sir Jack. Everyone laughs at the CC warrior as his azure face turns bright red. His gold eyes bulging out of their sockets. His shoulder length, navy hair, half braided, get rough up by Sir Jack’s hand. The CC smacks the hand off, earning another wave of laughter. The Ram has a standard heavy-type warrior bulky frame. Everything about the man resembles a Primerian. Except for the horns. That’s a trademark of the Cornutese people. Symbolizing the dabbing in dark magic their ancestors did… His horns are short, with the ends curling up. The skin tone has a nice tan. As expected from someone spending time outside, training. The brown hair is barely visible. It’s an extra short crop. Fitting a fighter. The brown eyes seem almost black. The Ram’s sitting between two Noxians, the tallest humanoids, yet his broad shoulder’s make the Warrior seem bigger than the Ravo and the CC. My gaze slips away from the two warriors and focuses on the happy couple. It makes me smile, seeing Commander lighten up. She has a knack for overdoing it… I wish the both of them all the best. I catch Zaltem stealing a glance at the Shaman girl. I look her over. Black hair. I do believe it was longer six months ago… The hazel eyes throw a glare at me and the Druid. We both quickly look away. I look up again and notice Levi dozing off. Her glass slips out of her hand. I catch it.

"My, seems we have lost track of time." Miss Laira smiles.

"I’ll say, when did the Mancer disappear?" Sir Marcus stares at the empty spot next to him.

"A while ago." I answer.

"Well, I guess this is a good place to call it a night. Some of you have work in the morning anyways." Lady Breeze stands up and glares at me. "Not you though." I open my mouth to say something…

"Don’t." Sir Crile cuts me off picking up the plates. I shut up. A quiet group giggle mocks me ever so slightly.

"Excuse me;" Aodynna raises her hand; "where’s the restroom here?"

"Straight through there, all the way to the back and to the right. The bathroom is the door straight up ahead." Sir Marcus points to the hallway next to the staircase. The Shaman nods and gets off the couch.

"It’s ok, Rixa. We’ll handle it." Commander takes the trays away from the Warrior. "You guys go on ahead."

"Oh, well, if you insist, Commander." He salutes her back with a wide grin.

"Drop the “Commander”, will ya." We hear coming from the kitchen.

"Goodnight everyone." Jack nods and drags the CC by the collar with him.

"Night!" The Warrior manages to weez a word out. Levi’s sleeping body keels over and she almost crashes head first to the table. I grab her by the shoulder, put my hands under her and pick her up. I get stopped by the stairs by Aodynna.

"What are you doing?" She asks, glaring suspiciously.

"I was going to offer the room that I’m staying at, for you girls to sleep in tonight. I was planning on taking the couch here."

"Then I’ll be crashing down here too." Zaltem raises his hand. "The couch looks big enough."

"They are Noxian sized." Sir Crile comes back to take a few more plates back into the kitchen.

"Just like everything else in here." Sir Marcus winks at us. "I’ll get the boys some covers from the closet. Goodnight, ladies." He nods to the Shaman girl.

"Alright, goodnight then." Aodynna nods. "Lead the way." She tells me. I walk up the stairs and take her to the far end of the hall. I point to the door on the right and she opens it. Two beds are set up along the walls, with a chair and a night stand next to each bed, the back wall has one giant window on it. The heavy drapes cover it up. To the right of the open door, stands a small sized basin, with a water jug next to it and a mirror above it. To the left stands a large chest of drawers. I put Levi in the bed that I slept in and tuck her in.

"If you want to wash your hands or your face, you need to pour the water here. Once you’re done, just pull on that." I show the cork at the bottom of the marble bowl. "The nightstand is simply hiding the marble trenches that let the water flow down. The towels are in there." I add quickly, pointing to the chest.

"No, yeah, I figured that out after using the restroom." She stares at the basin. "Why aren’t they using normal pipes and such?"

"I think the metal pipes tend to freeze up in winter more easily. This is all wood." I knock on the wall. "So, the marble trenches keep the water flowing. That’s also why they have barrels of clean water in the kitchen and the bathroom – the water isn’t as cold when it sits room temperature like this." I point to the jug. "Especially in summer. Of course, for more warm water – there are the Heat and Spark Stones under the basin and a mini fire place too. See." I pull on the marble drawer and slide the plate to the side. The Shaman leans in and takes a look.

"I see." She leans back and I close the drawer.

"Let me know if you need anything else."

"Sure. Goodnight." The girl tells me and I leave the room. I get back downstairs. Some pillows and blankets are already set on the two couches. I go into the kitchen. To my surprise, the guys have taken care of everything. I stand in the doorway like a lost puppy.

"Don’t sweat it. You can help tomorrow with breakfast." Miss Laira smiles at me. She saw right through me. I step out to the living room. So many Light Stones shine on the walls. Light Stones are one of the magical artifacts that were created by Primerians. Artificial lights. Light Stones are the same as Heat Stones – safe to use, but require magic to be activated. The difference between the two is that Light Stones are made out of glass or crystal. The clearer the surface, the more light shines out of it. Those also are the more expensive ones, as well. Light Stones also come in all shapes and sizes, and colors. They resemble the Fire Vials that Mages and Shamans carry round. Only the Light stones are made from thicker glass and reinforced by enchantments, making them harder to break. The glass used for the vials is thin, on purpose, to be easily broken when needed and the only reinforcements they use are fire proofing.

Heat Stones are the same way. Except that they are darker and thicker than Light Stones, and are usually made from rock. The stone is full of holes, same as Light ones, so that the fire would not die, after it has been put inside the stone and sealed. That gives it two ways to keep the fire going. By feeding it mana or thin straws of paper or wood. Of course, if the fire inside of the stone goes out it becomes nothing more than a paperweight. The Spark Stones are just as popular because they do not require any magic. All one needs is two rocks and some dry grass, wood or anything else that burns well. By hitting the two stones together you get a spark and voila. Fire. Heat Stones vary in size and are popular to use on ships, since they don’t have an open flame, and stone ovens sometimes are too large and heavy for some ships… So, if you have the flame going already, then all you have to do is keep it alive by pouring mana into it. In theory anyone with mana can be a Mage of any Force of Choice… It’s simply easier to keep something alive with mana rather than twisting it, to make it obey you…

"Oh, if it’s too bright for you, pull on that and the lids will come down. We usually never have anyone staying down here, so the stones are always lit up." Sir Marcus shows me the chain, by the stairs. The lids? I focus above the metal holder where the stones are put up and notice the carved out metal lids. A thin rope connects all the lids and goes around the entire living room.

"Same here." Sir Marcus shows me another chain, on the outside of the kitchen door. "That’s for the hallway."

"Right, thank you."

"Well, sleep easy, see you in the morning." He waves to me walking up the stairs.

"Sleep well."

"Right then, all settled?" Miss Laira comes out from the kitchen.

"I think so, thank you." I nod. Zaltem walks out to the living room too.

"Goodnight, Miss Evergreen. Thank you for your hospitality." The Druid nods.

"Goodnight boys." Sir Crile.

"Rest well. I mean it." Lady Breeze glares at me for a quick moment and smiles.

"Of course." I bow lightly and smile back.

"Goodnight." Zaltem bows too. I watch them disappear upstairs and pull on the chain to dim the lights in the living room. The lights from the hallway don’t seem to be too bright, so, I leave them alone.

"Is it always like this here?" The Noxian asks, preparing the couch for bed.

"I’m not sure. I’m not always here, but I can imagine that yes."

"A lot of people see Milady as a rude, suicidal nutcase, but she’s quite caring… Even Sir Shadowkill…"

"Think so? Wait, suicidal nutcase?" I turn to the Druid.

"Mhm. The week of challenges was hard to bear… We did end up learning new ways to use our skills, but the heat, towards Milady from the troops was…" He lowers his gaze and his voice. I laugh.

"Don’t worry, nobody gave her more grief about it than Miss Evergreen."

"I see." The Druid slips out of his gear and is left standing in his undergarments. Good idea. I do the same, fold the clothes nicely and set them down on the table. I feel a chill run through me and quickly slip under the blanket.

"I think that Commander acts the way she does only because a War Chieftain cannot be soft hearted. She puts on an act for the sake of the title… Besides, I think her personal belief is that if she alone is enough to handle something – she’d rather not pull others into it…"

"What makes you say that?" The boy asks.

"Her challenger series. I think she wanted to send a message to the troops that if they can’t beat her – they don’t stand a chance with the Rebirth…" I snuggle up under the blanket.

"I can see how that would make sense, but in reality…"

"That was a suicide mission for her. The King threaten to wage war against Noxanda if Commander refused to follow through with his plan…" I whisper.

"WHAT!" The Druid jumps up and sits back down covering his mouth. "She is caring, isn’t she." He whispers laying down.

"They all are. Once you are part of their group, they will look out for you. That’s simply who they are…"

"I’m happy I could be part of this, even for one night…" Zaltem whispers.

"Me too…" I whisper and drift off.