The woman stood the length of the room; with her feet floating just off the floor. She was clothed in white robes, had black lines running intricately across her sky-blue skin, and was completely transparent. She stretched her neck and looked down at the pair with their mouths agape.

“Who has awaken me?” She asked with a commanding, yet flowery voice.

The princess bowed and encouraged Pluto to do the same.

“My name is Erxa. I am the princess of Nevus and this is friend Pluto.”

“Nevus?” The woman said, with a groan of disdain. “That town of thieves is still around?”

“I beg your pardon? Nevus is wonderful place! Where do you get off calling my people thieves?!”

“Tell me, little one, do you know whom the city is named for?”

“Well, yes. The Royal Line all know that the city is named after a goddess that used to rule the sky and then came to the planet to help banish a great evil, but was destroyed in the process.”

“That story is not wholly accurate, but you are correct in the fact that the city was named after a goddess named Nevus; I am she.”

Nevus was going to continue her story when she paused and stared at Pluto.

“What is in your pocket?” She asked.

He reached in and pulled out the bag of stones and showed Nevus. She gasped at the sight of them.

“You have all of them. How did you come by them?”

“They were given to me to protect them. There are rumors that the Cult of Cheron are looking for them. We were looking for answers about them when we discovered this place.”

“Cheron?!” She exclaimed. “What a despicable being. My partners and I gave our powers to seal him away. That’s the true nature of the stones you hold; the essence of our powers.”

She waved her hand and a small opening in the wall was revealed.

“I am going to send you on an assignment. You can keep the stones here safe with me. Should you return with the item I seek, you’ll have my aid and more importantly, my trust.”

Pluto waited for a moment, then hesitantly placed the bag of stones in the recess.

“What do you want us to find?” Erxa asked.

“Long ago, when the city was forming and the people were good, they took care of my children, the birds that made their homes in the skies. Eventually, there were some who looked to the birds as a source of profit and soon hunted the birds. I wasn’t suppose to interfere, so I had to watch as the birds were hunted and sold.

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Then there was Arren, king of all birds, and my friend. He fought against the thieves, but wasn’t able to defeat their malice. They defeated him and took one of his feathers as a trophy. The leader of the thieves kept it on his persons until the day he was drove out from the city by the Cult of Cheron. The rumor is that those band of thieves fled into the Arkomoak Mountains.

My task for you two is to go to those mountains, find the bandits and retrieve the feather of Arren, the bird king. Then, and only then, should you return alive, will I offer trust as well as belief that your city is changed in its ways.”

“But how are we supposed-” Erxa started.

“These are my conditions; how you fulfill them is up to you.”

With that statement, the image of Nevus vanished. The stone fell from its place and Pluto quietly placed it with the others in the secret recess. Erxa and Pluto were left standing alone in the chamber.

“Well, that was rude.” She huffed. Then she sighed and said, “I guess we have no choice but to find this feather if were are to gain anymore information.”

The two made their way out of the chamber, found Mortimer and thanked him for his help, then exited the library. Erxa led Pluto to an inn and gave him a silver pendant that had two small, pink gems in it.

“This will get you a room and any food you will need. Get some rest for now and tonight I’ll find you after dark. I have to fill my double in on how long we might be gone.”

She promptly turned and walked back to the castle. Pluto went inside the inn and found a large dining room as the main room. There was a bar counter that the Innkeeper was cleaning, looking bright-eyed. Pluto went over to him and asked for a room, showing the royal pendant he was given. The Innkeeper’s eyes went wide when he saw it.

“I didn’t expect to be housing a guest for the royal family! I’ll show you the finest room we have available. Do you want any breakfast?”

Pluto hadn’t realized how hungry he was until the idea of food was presented. His stomach roared and his mouth salivated. He ordered a large meal, ate until he felt like he was going to burst, and then the Innkeeper showed him his room.

His room was bright and filled with plants. There was a wide, round bed covered in blue sheets. There were two windows on the western wall and the sun was shining through. There was a wooden desk and chair in the corner of the room opposite of the bed. The Innkeeper left him to himself. He went and closed the curtains on the windows, took off his shoes, and lay in bed. Exhaustion swept over him in waves. His eyelids fluttered until we was fast asleep.

Pluto stirred in his sleep as a noise broke through his peaceful rest. There was the sound of something small hitting the window. He pushed back the curtain, opened the window, and stuck his head out. He saw Erxa, now dressed as Xera, looking at him with a handful of stones.

“Come on down, sleepyhead. It’s time we get started.” She said.

Pluto put on his shoes and made his way across the inn. There was a buzz of excitement at the inn as the days workers and travelers all ate and sang and laughed; Pluto was able to slip out completely unnoticed.

“Your decoy is already then?” Pluto asked Xera.

“Keep you voice down,” she remarked. “She is well versed to handle royal duties for the next several days.

“Let’s just hope we make it out of this.”

“We’ve encountered some interesting things since we’ve met, but how hard could some roaming bandits be compared to a wrathogg? You will have to learn to fight proper if we are to return with all our limbs intact.”

“If I remember correctly, you abandoned me while I was being chased by the wrathogg.”

“Who do you think alerted the Riders? Listen, are we in this thing or not?”

The pair shook hands and slipped stealthily out of the city.