"Leaving already?" I ask, a playful smile on my face.

"Already? What, being here for more than a month wasn't long enough?" Isao replies, a pack slung over his shoulder. It's the day after the opening day of the festival, and we're standing at the gate of the manor.

"Thank you for all you've taught me, master," Bodelee says with a reverent bow.

"Come now, there's no need for that. It was quite interesting seeing your skills as an armorer. I suppose sticking around for a while had its benefits. Meeting new people and sharing new experiences is always worth the time, I've found. I hope we meet again somewhere down the road, my friends," Isao says with a wave as he walks out the front gate.

Bodelee gives a sigh as we watch Isao walk off down the street, "Well, it's about time we were moving on too, eh?"

"Yeah, tomorrow."

"Guess we'd better start gettin' ready for a fight then, eh?"

"Seems like it."

"Gimme your sword, I'll set to polishin' it before the morn."

I feel a bit uneasy as I take my rapier out of my belt loop but Bodelee says, "Oh, c'mon an' give it already. The thing ain't seen any use in near a fortnight so might as well give it some lovin' before a scuffle."

"I suppose so," I say, handing it over.

He chuckles a little, "Guess I should be happy you value it that much, most people treat the stuff I make as disposable. My wife included, but don't tell her that."

"You're saying she doesn't really value your armor?"

"Oh, she values it alright. She just seems intent on seeing how far she can push it. Not that I mind terribly, it's an excuse to constantly improve the design." With a small wave, he too walked off with my rapier in hand.

With nothing better to do I wander back inside after looking over the garden. As I walk through the foyer I glance at a stairway down and think to myself that at the very least that hellish training is over. I never did manage to figure out domains while we've been here, but I feel somewhat close.

I find Orelio in a spare room shirtless and doing pushups. "You do realize today is meant to be a break, right?" I ask.

"Meh," Is his only response as he finishes his set and sits on the floor, "It's so boring here, what else am I supposed to do?"

I shrug, not really having a good answer to that. Really when we're confined to a single place the only real ways to keep our minds occupied are hobbies or getting up to trouble, and we've already done that more than enough.

"Kind of surprised you've stuck around this long," I say, looking for a conversation starter, "I didn't take you for the particularly loyal type, especially not for people you barely know. We're not exactly raking in that mercenary money while on the run, and I know you already cleaned out the pockets of most of the manor guards somewhere around two weeks ago."

Orelio sheepishly scratches the back of his head. Without being allowed out into the city, his gambling tendencies had led him to seek more local game opponents.

"It hasn't been so bad. The grumpy mage taught me how to be stronger, so it's not as though this has been a waste of time."

"Yeah, but you didn't tag along knowing he'd help you get stronger, so why?"

"Hmmm… It's interesting, I guess?"

"You have a funny definition of interesting."

"Do I? It's not so often you meet a blessed person, you know? Is it really that strange that this situation is far more appealing to me than leaving to find another meaningless battle between squabbling nations? I want to see where this goes, where you go."

"Sorry, but I'm not sure I'll be able to live up to such lofty expectations. I don't have any big plans besides following Zeph around."

"Somehow I get the feeling you'll wind up doing something grand whether you want to or not. As I'm sure you've noticed, blessed people don't really get left alone."

"Yeah, I have noticed. Anyway, I don't think I ever asked you how you ended up in this life. You're not hardened enough for a tragic backstory, so what's your deal?"

Orelio shrugs again, "Just wanted to make a name for myself, I guess. The life of a farmer didn't sit right with me, and I've always been more active than most. Figured I'd make use of my talents, and if I can make a name for myself I'll be able to stick it to all the people back home that didn't believe in me."

"Okay, but why a mercenary? It would have been just as easy to be an adventurer and gain fame, maybe easier."

"Somehow adventuring seemed too soft. Sure there's danger and plenty of fame to be had, but I know that adventurers like to coddle newcomers and I know that would've driven me mad. I may have chosen to swap over from merc to adventurer at some point once I gained more strength."

"You still could, you know."

"What?"

"You could still swap over. I mean, you know how to use a domain now, which is a pretty significant advancement. I can't imagine any seasoned warrior trying to coddle a second tier sorcerer."

"Mmm. I don't feel like it."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Too interesting to take off?" I ask with a smirk.

"Something like that," He says with a light smile back.

I decide to leave him to his workout and continue my manor wandering, while distinctly avoiding a certain area. Eventually, I settle down in a side room and practice my magic. As Orelio said, it's quite boring to simply hang around with nothing to do.

I stay like that for a few hours, alternating between practicing magic and watching the clouds pass by above the massive treetops. More than once I get the urge to go back onto the roof, but I abstain since I've been expressly forbidden from laying about in areas viewable to the public. Eventually, the door to my room opens and the figure I've been trying to avoid walks into the room.

"Hey," I say casually, "You figure out our next move yet?"

"I don't see any other option than south," Albatos says, "Though it'll be predictable. And we're still more than a month off our scheduled rendezvous. I'm sure you already know we'll be in for a fight as soon as we leave."

"Yeah, I know."

An awkward silence descends over the room. Strangely, the chastisement I've been expecting never comes.

"Figured you'd be here to tell me off," I say, breaking the silence.

"As I thought, that's why you've been avoiding me. No, I actually don't intend to."

I scoff lightly, "Who are you and what have you done with our elf?"

He frowns but lets the remark slide, "I never expected this to be permanent, and with the conditions in the city it's a wonder the Baroness' hospitality hadn't run out sooner. I wanted to say you shouldn't blame yourself. Well, not completely. You did fuck up a few times."

I smile a little. If I heard that out of context I'd likely think it was coming from an imposter. Still, "Hard not to feel a little responsible, even with fuckups aside. Lleig never would have come to this city to cause problems if I wasn't here."

Albatos gives a little nod, conceding the point but not commenting on it.

"So, how should we go about leaving the manor tomorrow?" I ask, "It would be extremely risky to take the streets. We could leave through the passages below…" I trail off, seeing something out the window over the city. Noticing my reaction Albatos comes to stand next to where I'm sitting by the window.

"Smoke," he says, "But I don't see a fire. Must be coming from below. Maybe some careless brats played around a fire trying to celebrate the festival."

"Mmm," I say, not convinced. The anxious feeling I've had all day starts to bear down harder.

"Regardless, I know for a fact that this city has extensive fire suppression systems. Whatever it is, it shouldn't last long."

And yet as time wore on the smoke seeping through the floorboards of the city only seemed to thicken. In the distance we can see people start to converge in the streets.

"All right, what the hell is going on here?" Albatos asks, visibly frustrated.

"Let's go see if Andora knows what's happening," I say leaving the room.

We don't even make it halfway down the hallway before we hear voices in the foyer. As we enter the grand entranceway we see several messengers all being given instruction by Andora. As we draw closer she sends them off with a wave.

"Care to fill us in?" Albatos says.

"That damn psycho just couldn't wait one more damn day it seems," Andora says through gritted teeth. "Just one more day and this would've been your problem, not mine. Yet here we are. That lunatic has set his followers to set blazes in a multitude of locations across several levels. They've set so many I can barely spare the men to actually hunt the bastards down to put an end to their wanton mayhem, we're too busy fighting the fires."

"And if the fires get out of control?" I ask, fearing the answer.

Andora gives me a mocking laugh, "Please, boy. This city has stood for several centuries. If I were to let it fall under my watch I'd never live down the shame, both from my ancestors and my sisters. However, there may come a point where the smoke and heat poses too much of a threat to the people. Listen for the sounds of bells that will signal the evacuation."

"We can't evacuate," Albatos says, surprising both Andora and me. After a brief bit of thought, I understand why.

"Yeah, I see now. This manor is one of the most defensible locations in the city, and it's one we know like the back of our hand by this point. If we give up this position then we'll be sitting ducks for an ambush." Albatos nods, confirming my sense of his strategy.

"And when did I give you permission to trash my beautiful home," Andora says, fuming, "I forbid it, I absolutely won't allow it! Screw tomorrow, get out now!"

"No," Albatos says in a flat and deadpan voice.

"Excuse me?"

"As of this point, we're no longer your guests. I recognize this. That means we're no longer bound to each other." A dangerous light glints in his eye, "Which means our own well being trumps anything you would desire of us."

"You… Do you believe I'll let you get away with this?"

"Tomorrow's problem is tomorrow's business. I've always found that the best way to prepare for tomorrow's problem is to survive today. Besides, we were already planning on leaving."

"You…! You…!"

"Sister, please," Annora says as she descends the stairs from the second floor, Bodelin close behind.

"You as well?" Andora says, a mix of emotions on her face.

"You cannot expect to abandon someone to their fate and have them continue to care about yours, sister. Regardless, I still do."

"Hah! What a joke, sister. You haven't truly cared about anyone but yourself in a long time. I was such a fool… I hoped we could go back to the times when things were good, even if only for a moment. Alas, that moment has passed and you're still the same person you were back then. You play nice when you need something but turn your back at the flip of a coin. I was so stupid to agree to this."

The creaking of the main entrance doors, the feeling of the stillness of mana that comes with the expansion of an Area, and a new voice sends chills down my spine, my nerves not having forgotten the last time I heard it, "Yes, baroness. I have to say you were quite foolish to accept a diseased stray into your home. Unfortunately, your precious city is paying the price for that mistake today.

Every eye is drawn to the scarred man standing in the entranceway. Lleig has two accomplices on his left and another two on his right, but a gut feeling tells me that isn't all the cronies he's brought.

"You…" Andora's gone from fuming to white as a sheet in an instant, "How did you get past-"

"Your guards? Did you think that skeleton crew posed any threat to me? To us? They may have, had you not scattered them trying to fight something that is wildly beyond your control. Sorry baroness, but today is the day the wooden city burns. To the ground."

"W-why? Just to get to some boy?"

"This wasn't my first idea, but I must say… I've been so terribly frustrated." His gaze shifts from Andora to our group, "A month you people have hid behind the shelter of bureaucrats. I have been lurking, watching, waiting. I thought our… initial encounter would be enough to draw you out, to make you challenge your fate. But no, followers of that pitiful idol never change, do they? Even the one opportunity you gave me was squandered by that monster."

Damn it, I should have tried to convince Isao to stay an extra day. I didn't want to drag him into our fight more than he already was, but I didn't expect these lunatics to drag the entire city into the fight!

A crash echoes down the corridor and with a start I realize it came from the direction of the room Orelio was working out in.

"Now, let us begin the requiem of flame and death," Lleig says with a horrible grin on his face as the sound of a cacophony of bells rings in the distance.