“This is the artifact? Urie was surprised.

“Isn't this just a mirror?” Stella remarked.

A day had passed after their discussion. Stella, Urie, and Luca were at the house looking at a small circular mirror that Ashur had placed on the table. It was about the size of a plate a foot long in diameter and was encased in an ornate frame.

“You know what it is, child?

Ashur felt intrigued, Urie was looking at the item as he thought it looked extremely familiar.

“No elder, I don't but, I did see one just like it. It was in the room inside the tower, placed in the middle between the pedestals.”

“Just like that! That's what we need to do, place this mirror in exactly the same position as the one you saw.” He explained.

“That's all? What will happen next?” asked Luca.

Ashur rubbed his chin as he tried to recall more information about the mirror.

“I don't know but I am sure doing that will restore the tower's connection to the other side.”

“Then let's go already, what are we waiting for?”

Stella strapped her katana's sheath on her waist and at her signal, Luca also stood up and wore the Flame Brigade's uniform coat.

“I hope you find success, child. Remember this old man when you get back.” Ashur handed the mirror to Urie as he planned to stay behind.

“You aren't coming with us, elder? Urie asked.

He didn't think Ashur looked old, just middle-aged. His image of old men was based off of his grandfather and the headmaster, bearded, and wrinkly.

“Elves can't see the nifyr, young one.”

Ashur didn't have mana roots, one could only see the nifyr if you possessed them.

“That old man will only hold us back,” Stella mocked. “We'd best leave him behind.”

Urie noticed a bit of bad blood between the father and daughter pair, but he felt it wasn't his place to ask so he placed his curiosity at the back of his head.

“Little Urie, take this.”

Stella slung a leather bag around Urie's shoulder, took the mirror from his hands and placed them inside, along with a few other supplies.

“I'd also like to give you the smaller katana but it'll only slow you down as you are now.”

Urie understood what she meant and nodded.

“Thanks, mama Stella, I'll come back for it someday.” He grinned.

“I'll be waiting, be sure to bring Celeste along, alright?” Stella said, with a warm smile on her face.

“Are everyone's preparations done?” Simone entered from the front door, “I've notified the brigade, captain. I got half of them prepped and ready to go.”

Behind him, a rowdy group of people wearing clothing of similar design to Luca's uniform coat were filling the wide streets. Urie peeked at them from beside Simone and saw humans and elves mixed together,

“I thought elves couldn't see the nifyr?” He tilted his head and asked.

“They are half-elves, child. Half of their blood is from elves, the other from humans.” Ashur leaned down by his side and told him.

Urie still didn't understand but he thought that maybe seeing the nifyr had something to do with being human. Luca walked by them and stepped out of the house. He took a deep breath,

“Listen up!!! There will be activity from the nifyr so I want all of you to be on your toes!!!” He yelled.

“Yes sir!!!”

The people who were loitering about immediately stood straight and responded. With the presence of their captain, they quickly organized themselves and formed ranks.

“I want half of you to form a perimeter around Erden's Tower and the other half to continue to patrol the city!”

Luca gave his orders and split the Flame Brigade into a few battalions, Simone took over the members going to patrol the city and Luca took command over the perimeter battalions.

“See you later kid!” Simone waved goodbye.

“See you later!” Urie returned his wave.

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“Come on little Urie, you'll be with me.”

Stella was to guard Urie on their way to the tower and help him set the artifact in its place.

Urie clenched his fists, he was no longer feeling overwhelmed. Everyone was kind enough to help him, he wasn't going to waste their determination. He had to get home.

He glanced towards Luca taking charge of the brigade, he was in awe. A man capable of commanding a great number of people, he wanted to be one. A small seed of aspiration began to sprout within him.

“Kid, Stella, time to move!” Luca called for them.

Stella and Urie positioned themselves in the middle of the brigade members as they marched on towards the direction of Erden's Tower.

“Little Urie, when you get back... Say hello to my daughter for me, okay?” Stella whispered.

“Mama Stella... I'll be sure to tell her all about you, as well as uncle Luca and uncle Simone.” Urie declared.

All the more reason to get this child back to his home, Stella thought. She was nervous. Would things work out smoothly? What if Ashur's idea didn't work? Such thoughts filled her head.

They made it to the square without much of an incident and the brigade members spread around, forming the perimeter.

“This is unsettling. With our numbers, we should have attracted a lot more nifyr than the ones we encountered.” Luca thought.

On their way here, they were attacked by a dozen nifyr, less than what they had expected. Nifyr were attracted to mana signatures. With this many people gathered together, there were too few that appeared. He cautiously scrutinized the shadows along the surroundings, wary of any abnormalities.

“We're here, lets go inside.”

Stella took Urie by the hand and walked past the fountain, they were about to head into Erden's Tower but stopped as Urie felt something unusual. Something in his shoulder bag was vibrating. The closer they got to the tower, the stronger the vibration got.

“Captain!” A couple of the brigade members exclaimed and pointed at a particular direction.

“Hold your positions!” Luca commanded.

Something was wrong. A huge patch of black moved along the ground and passed the members, heading straight for Urie and Stella's location. It was quick.

“Everyone! After it!” Luca yelled out and ran as fast as he could.

What was that thing? Was it a nifyr? The size of the shadow was massive, the largest he had ever seen.

It stopped just short of Urie and Stella and maintained its position. It looked as if it was waiting for something.

“Captain! Behind us!” Another brigade member shouted.

Luca stopped and glanced over his shoulder, what he saw caused his eyes to open wide. Following the shadow from earlier were numerous other ones, with sizes that the Flame Brigade members were familiar with. They emerged from the ground and outnumbered them three to one. The nifyr were coming in force.

“Little Urie, stay back!” Stella unsheathed her weapon and placed herself between Urie and the silhouette on the ground.

Urie didn't notice the shadow, however, as his attention was on the bag hanging on his shoulder. He reached in and took out the mirror he received from Ashur. It was glowing with white light, reminding him of the column of light he had seen in the central pillar's room.

[As I thought...]

Urie was startled.

[Child, I'm sorry but you'll have to stay here for a bit longer.]

Volcanus' voice resounded in his head.

[We'll have to do a bit of cleaning up before you can go home.]

Wisps of flames began appearing all around Urie and gathered towards the mirror in his hand. The white hue that the mirror was giving off turned crimson and started shining brighter.

This seemed to have agitated the huge shadow as it had started to move again. Along Urie's line of sight, his attention shifted from the mirror to an enormous, pitch-black arm surfacing from the ground.

Another identical arm emerged from the same place, followed by a large head. The head looked pretty much like a regular nifyr's except, there were two large protrusions on the top, resembling horns.

As it raised its body from the ground, something unfurled from its back. Wings, a pair of wings proportionate to the size of its body.

Could this nifyr fly? Urie wondered.

[So this was its plan? ] Volcanus sounded angry,

[Child, lend me the mirror.]

The mirror became engulfed in fire and was whisked from Urie's hands. It hovered in front of him and expanded before splitting down the middle to reveal the figure of a man.

He didn't appear human as in place of his flesh was the glow of red mana. Flowing from his head instead of hair, were dark curls of fire, and adhering to his body like clothing were vigorously dancing flames.

“Girl, stand back.”

He spoke with his own lips, his voice deep and husky.

Stella was surprised and moved back to Urie's side.

“Is that...?” She mumbled.

They stood back and watched as Volcanus raised his arms sideways.

“Minor spirits, gather.” He commanded.

Summoning countless will o' wisps, he sent them to assist the brigade members struggling against the unending offensive of the nifyr. He then turned to confront the mother-of-all-nifyr's sized shadow.

"Child, I learned something from you yesterday," He directed his voice to Urie.

Urie was puzzled, “What did he mean?” He asked Stella.

She was observing, Volcanus placed his arms in front of him, towards the nifyr that was still halfway from emerging. If looked at from another angle, the scene was similar to one she had witnessed the day before.

“No way!” She exclaimed.

Volcanus' arms glowed brighter than the rest of his body as flame sparks emerged and released two large pillars of fire towards the ground and began torching the creature.

The nifyr started flailing about as it was being set on fire, it opened its massive jaws and began to attempt to devour the blaze.

“Eat! Eat until your stomach bursts, glutton!” Volcanus yelled, he was smiling.

The monster opened its mouth even wider in Volcanus' direction, its throat moving as if it were swallowing down water. With every gulp it took, its body grew a bit smaller and with every reduction in its size, Volcanus grew a bit dimmer.