John walked through the village, checking the buildings for anyone who might still be alive. As he did, he also looked for clues that might lead him to the group that had raided Northmoor.

He entered the guardhouse and saw the remains of a feast. Plates of food sat unfinished, and tankards of ale had been knocked over, spilling their contents over the tables.

The raiders had left in a hurry. Hoping that in their rushed departure someone might have been careless enough to leave something behind, he began searching the room.

As he made his way through the dining hall, he looked for anything that could be useful. Near the head table, he noticed something under a bench. He bent down and picked it up.

It was a ring, bright silver with a raven superimposed over a shield.

“I’ll have to get Amy to look into this for me.”

He placed the ring in his pocket and continued to look around. After thirty minutes without finding anything else, he left to continue searching for survivors.

Once the sun had begun to set, he set up camp in a house near the edge of town. It felt eerie to be staying in the town after dark. But he made a pallet on the floor of the sitting room and laid down, quickly falling into a restless sleep.

He set out early the next morning, wanting to return home as quickly as possible.

John checked his map once he reached the tree line. He had promised Liam and Kira that he’d search for their mother, and he intended to keep it.

After finding where they had entered, he followed the crushed undergrowth to the area Liam had told him she should be.

He didn’t have much hope, it had been four days since she was left wounded in the forest. It was unlikely that she’d be alive.

John began searching the area. He came across a tree with a large bloodstain on it and began looking around for a body but couldn’t find one.

“With the amount of blood she lost it wouldn’t be possible for her to move on her own. It’s possible someone found and helped her. A survivor maybe? Although it’s more likely she was captured, and they didn’t seem too keen on keeping prisoners alive...”

He sighed, glancing back in the direction of the town.

“Well, whatever happened, I won’t be able to bring her back with me. I’m sorry Liam, Kira.”

John felt indebted to the young boy and his sister for warning him of what was happening in Northmoor. With their information he was able to avoid walking into the situation completely unprepared.

Being able to use powerful magic was useful, but information was king. Those who had it and knew how to use it could reach heights not even the most powerful of mages could touch.

John suspected that Liam knew exactly what kind of position he had been in. The boy could have said nothing. Had he not told John about the attack, he might have missed the ships and the key piece of information they held in tracking down who might be behind it.

“Or I could have walked right into a trap if I didn’t have my guard up and they hadn’t left in a rush. I’ll have to keep an eye on that one. He has a lot to learn, but he has great potential.”

He searched the area around the bloody tree one more time, stopping when he saw something shining from under the leaves.

As he bent over to pick it up, he noticed it was a necklace with a small oval shaped silver pendant. A sky-blue stone in the shape of a diamond set into the center.

John let his mana flow into the stone. It projected a small image of a smiling family. The two young children being hugged by their parents on either side of them.

He stopped channeling to the mana stone and the image disappeared, placing it in the breast pocket of his shirt.

“It’s not their mother, but at least they’ll have this.”

Then he began the long journey back to Midwood Hollow.

----------------------------------------

Kira woke up to the sound of rustling sheets. She slowly opened her eyes to discover that she was lying on a bed in a room.

She had no memory of how she had gotten there.

Everything was a blur. The last week had been too much for her to handle, and nothing made sense anymore. Her mother and father were both gone. She knew Liam wasn’t telling her about it because he was worried about her. He didn’t think she would be able to handle hearing the whole truth.

And he was right.

Kira felt numb. Like all the joy in the world had been sucked out of existence and she was left standing in a void. She didn’t think she’d be able to cry anymore, even if she wanted to.

She noticed her brother climbing out of the bed they were sharing. As she looked around, she saw that they were in a plain small room with only the bed, a desk, and a small chest.

“Liam” she said softly.

He jumped slightly, startled by the sound of her voice.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you” he said.

“Where are we?”

“We are still at the Hunter’s Guild. They are letting us stay here until the Baron returns.”

“You mean that man we met in the woods?”

“Yes, Allen said that he was going to help us figure out what to do next.”

There was a knock at the door and Liam went to answer it.

“Good morning you two” Eric said as he stooped to fit through the doorway.

Kira remembered seeing the giant of a man the evening before but was startled to see just how big he looked in their tiny room.

“Good morning, Eric” Liam said, moving out of the way to make room for him.

“Allen asked me to help yuh get settled in here” Eric said. “I figured you’d wanna start with a bath and a fresh change of clothes.”

Liam and Kira both nodded.

“There’s a bath down the hall to the left, just before the stairs. Wash up and then meet me outside.”

As Eric left the room, Liam grabbed a change of clothes for Kira from his knapsack.

“You can bathe first” he told to her.

Kira got up from the bed and they moved down the hallway until they found the bath. Finding the tub empty Liam decided it would be a good time to teach Kira how to use the faucet.

“Do you know anything about magic circuits?” he asked her.

Kira shook her head.

“Magic circuits are essentially a preset flow path for mana. They can be used in all kinds of applications, though they’re mostly used as a convenience for people who need to use a service such as running a bath or connecting mana lamps to mana stones so that they don’t need to be manually recharged” he explained.

“Anyone who can control their mana can use them” he continued “Does that all make sense?”

She nodded.

“For this faucet all you need to do is place your hand over the symbol and channel your mana into it.” He walked over to the faucet and pointed out two symbols on it. “If you look here you’ll see a water drop and a flame. When you channel into it, you’ll feel like your mana hits a fork in the road, you can either divert it to one side or you can split it between the two. This is just simple hot and cold-water creation, but you’ll eventually see more complex circuits. This will be a good chance for you to practice mana channeling.”

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Kira walked up to the bath and placed her hand over the symbols. Closing her eyes, she followed the flow of mana from her core out through her arm. Letting it flow into the faucet, she felt the split that Liam had mentioned. At first, she channeled it to one side, getting a feel for how her mana moved though the circuit. Then she split the flow between the two.

As she increased her mana output, the flow of the water also increased.

“That was really good, are you sure you’ve never done this before?” Liam teased.

Kira recognized his attempts to make her feel better but all she wanted right now was to bathe and change into clean clothes.

Her head felt foggy, she wanted to crawl back into bed and curl up in the blankets.

“I’ll be waiting for you in the room, so take your time. Looks like there’s soap on the table in the corner.” Liam said as he left the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

----------------------------------------

Liam felt much better after getting cleaned up. He had more energy now and wanted to go explore their new surroundings while he did.

Back in the room he found Kira sitting on the edge of the bed lost in thought.

“Come on, let’s go see what Eric wanted.”

They headed downstairs, saying good morning to Amy and Jefferey as they passed by the bar.

It was a beautiful morning. The sky was a bright blue without a cloud in sight, a cool breeze making it slightly chilly. Autumn was about to be in full swing.

Eric was hauling armfuls of split wood to a pile by the door of the Guild Hall. He set his load down and stopped when he saw the two children walking out.

“There yuh are, I was beginnin to think you weren’t coming” he said jokingly.

“Where are we headed to, Eric?” Liam asked as they approached. It wasn’t lost on him that the man was carrying loads of wood as big as he was like they were bags of feathers.

“Allen was figurin that you two might want to check out the town and get some clothes and supplies” Eric said as he dusted himself off.

“But we don’t have any money” Liam said.

“Ah don’t worry about it, he gave me a purse for yuh to use” Eric replied, grinning as he shook a leather pouch full of coins.

The matter of money settled; they headed out down the road to the left of their temporary home towards the market. Liam made a mental note to thank Allen.

As the group walked, Eric rambled on about life in Midwood Hollow, but Liam and Kira were too entranced by the town’s scenery to pay attention.

The street they were on was wide enough for two carriages to pass by each other with room to spare. The log cabin-like houses varied from one to two stories tall and were spaced out to prevent fires from spreading easily. They could see several three-story buildings in the distance, which Eric explained were mostly warehouses.

The three of them stopped by one of the street vendors selling meat skewers, eating while they walked.

Not long after, the group entered the sprawling town market. The center was filled with stalls selling various goods, and several traveling merchants had laid out blankets to display their wares. The buildings surrounding the plaza consisted of stores and restaurants, each one different from the last.

Eric led them to a store that had a sign with a spool of thread on it.

“We’ll stop here to pick out clothes for yuh. I’ll need to visit the smithy after” he said.

As they entered the shop, Liam immediately noticed just how different the clothing style was here compared to Northmoor. Where he was more familiar with the heavy denim and leather clothes that the miners wore, these were made from furs and cotton or wool.

He picked up a pair of black trousers, noticing that they were baggier than the ones he was currently wearing.

“Most people around here wear pants with baggy legs that can go over their boots. Then they wrap strips of cloth around their shins to help keep those little biting bugs out when they’re in the forest” Eric explained.

Liam nodded, understanding perfectly what he meant. He had been bitten more than a few times by the little bugs in the last week, crawling in through the top of his boots.

He found a size that would fit him and then grabbed the same pants in a few different colors. Finding the shirts on the rack next to them, he picked up three tunics that looked comfortable but durable.

He looked down at his boots.

“Eric, how much money did Allen give you?” he asked.

“Don’t you worry about that, we’re here to get you everything you’re going to need” the big man replied.

They walked around until they found an elderly woman helping Kira out of a gray phase fur coat.

“Were you able to find one you like, Kira?” Liam asked her as they approached.

She nodded, hugging the coat to her chest. It reminded him that she was a lot younger than she sometimes acted. He felt his chest tighten, and he wished there was more he could do for her.

He was not alright either, but he had Kira to protect, and that kept him moving.

Eric paid for the clothing as Liam put the items into his backpack. They then headed towards the smithy.

The smith’s shop was a massive building made of stone at the end of the street. As they entered, the sound of metal striking metal reverberated off the walls.

The actual store was only about a third of the building itself. The rest being taken up by the workshop and storage rooms. Swords, spears, and other weapons lined the walls to the right. A rack of bows and buckets full of arrows took up the space on the floor in front of some massive battleaxes that were leaning against the wall. To the left were rows of armor stands and shelves holding various tools. There was a clear path down the center of the shop that led to a counter, behind which Liam could see a large man through a doorway hammering a sheet of steel.

The siblings walked around looking at the metalworks while Eric went to greet the smith.

Liam noted the quality of the weapons.

He picked up a short sword made of a metal that reminded him of a crow’s feathers, an iridescent shimmer of colors in shades of blues, purples, and black. There was a dark blue stone set into the flat face of the pommel.

Swinging it experimentally, he was impressed by how balanced and light it felt. The hilt fit his hand like it had been made for him. There was an odd feeling to the blade, but Liam couldn’t figure out what it was.

“You’ve got a good eye lad” a burly voice came from behind him.

Liam turned to see the smith approaching with Eric. He was big, not as big as Eric, but just as well muscled. His olive skin was darker in spots from the soot that covered him. He was wearing a black leather apron that had various tools in its pockets. His shirt, which may have once been white, was stained with various shades of brown, black, and rusty orange. The plain brown leather pants he wore were also stained. A pair of thick leather boots covered his feet.

“The sword is very well balanced, but there’s this weird feeling I have when I’m holding it. It sounds strange but it feels like it wants something” the boy said, looking over the blade in wonder.

“That’s because it does. That there is a magic sword, I did the circuits myself” the smith said proudly. “Try channeling your mana through it.”

Liam let his mana flow into the sword. As he did, the stone set into the pommel began to glow a deep steady blue, like it contained an ocean of power.

“It’s a mana stone!” Liam exclaimed.

Mana stones weren’t necessarily rare, but it was uncommon for them to be incorporated into to tools or weapons since they needed to be connected to a magic circuit to be of any use other than as an expensive decoration. They were mostly used in fixed infrastructure as a power source. Many buildings generally had one large stone connected to all of the mana lamps since it was more cost efficient than supplying each light with a smaller one.

“Sure does! If the stone is fully charged it will power the enchantments for quite a while. That way you’re not expending mana on your weapon during a fight!” the smith said happily.

“What kind of metal is this and what enchantments does it have?” the boy asked.

“The metal is an elven alloy called black steel that’s a blend of steel and dragon silver. It’s particularly useful in magic weapons since you can channel mana through it easier than plain old steel. Plus, it won’t rust! The enchantments are a combination of durability magic and elemental magic. Keeps the blade sharp and allows the wielder to cast a fire or lightning spell through it! Though you’ll have to cast those spells yourself, all the enchantment does is give the power a conduit to follow without blowing up” the man said.

“What’s dragon silver?” Liam asked.

“You know how normal silver is pretty soft?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, this stuff’s as hard as dragon scales, which is where the name comes from.”

“It must be a costly material.”

“Eh, not really” the smith said, shrugging as he explained. “The Dragonspine Mountains to the west are full of the stuff... Which might also be where the name comes from now that I think about it. Ahem, anyway, the town trades mana stones, and the mining process produces the silver as a biproduct so it’s fairly cheap.”

Liam was looking over the weapon when Eric walked up to him.

“You look pretty comfortable wielding a sword” he said to Liam.

“Yeah. My stepfather has been training me for the last few years. Well, he was anyway” Liam said sadly.

“Hmm, I see. Well, a swordsman needs a sword. And I doubt you’d find better quality even in the capital” the big man said nodding to himself.

Liam looked up at him in wide eyed shock.

“There’s no way I can accept this, it’s way too expensive!” Liam exclaimed.

“Call it a gift, I have a feeling you’ll need it in the future. And if yuh feel that strongly about it, you can owe me a favor”

Liam wasn’t sure what to say.

He turned to the smith.

“How much does this sword cost?” he asked.

“Hmm, considering I got the materials pretty cheap, and the Guild does do a lot of business with me… Let’s call it two gold” the smith said, rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

Liam’s jaw nearly hit the floor. One gold coin was the equivalent of fifteen silver coins. A hundred copper coins equaled one silver coin. The average person made roughly one gold and five silver per year. Alex as Vice-Captain of the Guard had made almost four gold per year.

“One gold, you tryin to cheat me, Xavier?” Eric said, glaring at the man.

Liam had just realized that he hadn’t gotten the man’s name until now.

Xavier looked at Eric, mock hurt on his face.

“I would never! You know you’re my best customer, don’t you? But fine, one gold seven silvers” he said.

“One gold two silvers, and that’s my final offer” Eric countered.

“Deal” Xavier said as they shook hands.

Liam was aghast at how the two men were discussing a normal person’s yearly wages like it was pocket change.

Xavier took the coins from Eric and slipped them into his apron. Then he grabbed a scabbard off a nearby rack and handed it to Liam.

“You got a sword belt?” He asked the boy.

“Uh, no sir” Liam replied, still in shock.

“Wait here a moment, I might have something that’ll work for you” Xavier said as he walked to grab a belt from the other side of the shop, returning a few moments later.

“Try this” he said.

Liam handed him the sword and took the belt. He put it around his waist and pulled the leather strap through the ring then tied it, the tail hanging down nearly to his knee. Xavier handed him the sword and he attached it to the belt.

“Thank you, both of you” he said sheepishly.

“Looks good on yuh” Eric said, giving him a pat on the shoulder that nearly knocked him over.

After saying goodbye to Xavier, they left the smithy, heading to the cobbler next door.

Liam and Kira picked a pair of boots each, changing into them as soon as they were paid for.

It was well into the afternoon now. The sun sitting low on the horizon, visible just above the trees. The two siblings wanted to return home and rest, still weary from their journey.

They were walking back towards the Guild Hall when Kira suddenly took off running, Liam quickly losing track of her as she weaved her way through a crowd of people leaving the market.

Eric pushed a path through the throng to follow her, Liam trailing behind him.

After several minutes of searching they found her down an alleyway, standing with a massive black shepherd dog.