Glyn and the others stand on the shore with Pepper staring down at them from a cliffside. Mila grabs hold of her sword while Tisha readies her bow only for Glyn to signal for them to stand down. Confused they do as Glyn approaches the strange woman.

“You said you wanted us to kill you both? Can you explain what you mean?”

She pauses for a moment and nods. “I cannot fully explain. Such explanations would be a breach of my contract.”

“Contract?” Glyn pauses on the word and nods. “Alright let me ask you this, proof do we have that we can trust you and that this isn’t a trap.”

She pauses once again. “There is something I can show you. It does require me to lead you into the nearby village. But if you feel suspicious you can have the Elf or the Orc kill me, I swear I will not resist any attempt at harming me from your group.”

“Glyn I don’t like this.” Tisha says.

Glyn nods. “It’s suspicious but I have some suspicions that she doesn’t mean to intentionally harm us.”

“Huh? How?” Tisha asks.

“Let’s just call it intuition.”

Glyn turns to her. “Fine we’ll go to the village. But Tisha, Zanrit, I want to the two of you ready to kill her at a moment’s notice.”

“Right.” Zanrit says.

Tisha nods.

Mila looks away. “I…...”

“It’s fine if your uncomfortable with the idea. I won’t ask you to do something you feel bad about.” Glyn says to her.

Mila nods. “Sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize for that.”

Pepper smirks. “Your surprisingly kind hearted. From the rumors I expected you to be colder towards your subordinates.”

“Oh? You’ve heard those old things. Let those idiots gossip I’ve got more important things to deal with.” Glyn walks forward towards the cliff. “Now show us to this village your so eager to show off.”

“Of course.”

After scaling the cliffside Pepper leads Glyn and the others over the mountainous terrain towards a small village sitting at the bottom of the mountain. As they approach thick clouds of fog and ash mixed as one form and grow thicker the more, they approach. The smell of sulfur and burning ash also fills the air and before long the group covers their noses in an attempt to escape the stench but their efforts are wasted.

“What is this?” Tisha asks.

“A curse of some kind?” Zanrit asks.

Glyn shakes his head. “It’s a curse. But it’s not a magical one I can tell you that.” He says cracking open his book as he takes notes about his surroundings.

“I smell blood in the air.” Mila says.

Pepper nods. “Yes. All will be answered when we arrive please hold your questions until then.”

Tisha shakes her head. “If this was a trap then it’s way to obvious.”

The group walks into the village where the clouds and stench are the thickest. Piles of ash litter the ground and rooves of the various buildings as if it rained down from the sky. As they walk closer a frail man spots the group and turns his eyes to Pepper.

“Lady Pepper!” He shouts.

Hearing his voice on the winds a score of other people rush out of the buildings around the entrance. The crowd rushes to Pepper’s side as they crowd around her.

“Lady Pepper please my son has fallen ill!” An older woman screams.

“My daughter was selected by that idiot Lord. I need your help!”

“Please grant us protection from the battles to come!”

Pepper holds out her arms. “Please everyone one at a time I’m going to handle everything I can but I’ve also brought in some extra aid for this manor.”

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She points to Glyn and crew before the villagers turn their attention back to her.

“Please lady Pepper!” They all scream out at once.

She sighs and is lead about by the crowd as Glyn and the others watch on. With Pepper out of sight he takes a look around the small village and then turns to his allies.

“Okay everyone. Let’s do a little investigation. Let’s try to ask the villagers what’s going on and let’s see what’s going on with this place. It’s to dangerous for us to scout about on our own but we can at least to the basic of information gathering.”

Tisha shakes her head. “You have a point that we could use more knowledge about this place.”

“The people here may not want to talk though. Especially to outsiders.” Zanrit says.

“Your right. But we can still learn from the things they don’t say if we’re paying attention. Besides I’m pretty sure our guide wants us to figure things out on our own.”

Mila nods as her tails twist about. “I’ll try my best!”

“Alright everyone, let’s get to work!”

The group separates and moves through the village. Tisha and Mila try questioning the villagers with most ignoring them and others pushing them away. Zanrit tries observing the comings and goings of the people as Glyn wanders about questioning others and keeping his eyes out for anything strange. Before long the four gather once more in the village square where Zanrit sits about waiting for the others.

“Was it an informative trip?” Glyn asks the group.

“Informative? I guess you could call it that. We learned most of the people here are assholes.”

Mila nods. “Only three or four people answered our questions but they didn’t know anything.”

“What did you ask them anyway?” Glyn asks.

“We asked about that lord asshole and why everything here is so bleak.”

Glyn pauses. “Ah. That’s probably why they didn’t answer. Their most likely to scared to answer anything about Fenwick directly and as for the conditions depending on your tone they might’ve seen it as an insult.”

“Huh!?” Tisha yells out.

“Calm down!” Mila says.

She shakes her head. “Damn it. Why are islanders always so finicky.”

“Some could say Elves are the same way.” Glyn says jokingly.

Tisha glares at him. “Care to say that again?”

“Never mind.” Glyn turns his gaze to Zanrit. “You figured anything out?”

Zanrit nods. “Questioning others is not my strong suit so I wandered about and gathered observational information.”

“Oh and?”

“The buildings around us are all relatively new. It’s as if this village was only recently constructed over the past year or so. But the layers of ash tell a different story.”

Glyn nods. “I figured as such. The soot is excessive. But it might be that it appears old because there’s just so much of it.”

“How is that possible?” Mila asks.

“It’s likely because of the mine nearby.”

“The mine?” Everyone asks at once.

Glyn nods. “There’s a mine that’s nearby. I noticed some mining tools and some scattered stone. Most likely there’s a mine close to here.”

“You are correct.” Pepper returns to the group with the same expression across her face. “I have finished my tasks from the other villagers, I assume you’ve already done your initial investigation?”

Glyn nods. “Yeah. I think I’ve figured out what’s going on. There’s a mine that I imagine Fenwick’s been investing in heavily.”

“You are correct. Lord Fenwick has invested in a mine nearby. Originally this village was intended to be a temporary home for miners, but he’s been forcing people from the other villages to move here and work the mines.” Pepper explains.

“That doesn’t explain all of the ashes.” Tisha says.

Glyn nods. “Unless, he’s extracting something he’ll need to process. There has to be a refinery as well.”

Pepper nods. “Yes, there is a refinery near the mines and the ashes from that fall down here coating the village.”

“Why couldn’t you just tell us that?” Tisha asks.

“It would go against my contract.”

“Again, with the contract. What’s with that?”

Glyn smirks. “That confirms it. You’re a Fae, aren’t you?”

“Correct.”

“A Fae?” Mila asks.

“The Fae are a race of magical beings that form contracts with mortals and have to abide by the terms and conditions of the contract.” Glyn explains. “To get his hands on a Fae Fenwick must’ve pulled a number of favors.”

Pepper opens her eyes revealing their deep purple coloring as they glow with magical energy. “Your very wise Glyn of house Mattox.”

“I try.”

“It may be wise to put my hopes in you to stop Fenwick.”

“So, it’s more than just the Queen Piece preventing you from fighting him yourself.”

She nods. “Fenwick currently holds my contract and I cannot outwardly oppose him without breaking it.”

“What happens if she breaks it?” Mila asks concerned.

“No idea. I’ve never encountered a Fae and I’ve never heard any tales of Fae breaking their contracts.”

Pepper closes her eyes. “If I were to break my contract, I’d suffer from the nullification costs. At the best I’ll be struck ill and cut off from Mana for a time. At worst I could die being erased from this world all together.”

“That’s……” Mila pauses.

Pepper smirks. “Your quite kind hearted. But there is nothing to worry about. As Fae I know everything about my contract so I can easily circumvent the terms by working along the bylines.”

“Fae are rather clever beings. They always say to be careful when you form a contract with them, and now I can understand why.”

“Your caution is well advised. But unless ordered I do not have any intent to harm you.”

“Thanks for that.”

“Now there is one more location we should visit before you make any major plans.”

“Where?” Tisha steps forward.

“To the mountains. We have to meet with the others who oppose Fenwick. I’m sure the two of you will need each other in this endeavor.”

The group climbs the side of the mountain with Pepper leading the charge. As they approach a large boom echoes over the side of the mountain.

“What was that?” Mila asks.

Pepper pauses. “Oh no.”

“No what?” Glyn asks.

“But how…. How did she find this place?”

“Hey explain what’s going on? Why’d you stop?” Tisha asks.

Pepper turns back as her body shakes. “One of Fenwick’s bishops has founds them. She’s attacking their base right now.”