Cassana PoV [https://i.imgur.com/GIbD7E2.jpeg]

The Dirty Deer Inn and Cassana’s Hidden Scabbard were two completely different establishments. One was constructed with brick and wood, the other made entirely of timber. One sat on a small plot of land thus, the rooms were smaller and the halls narrower, while the other was very spacious. One was situated in an urban center, the other in the middle of nowhere. Yet, despite all that they felt completely the same for the young wizard.

Though admittedly for her, every inn felt the same, even back when she was in Ad-Nilem. She always felt at home inside an inn so much so that she would often catch herself walking straight to the back of the bar, or to the kitchen, merely out of habit.

Tonight was no different. After Minos pissed her off, she went straight downstairs, bringing her old staff and her new Focusing stone. She waltzed into the kitchen absent-mindedly, looking for a drink, before she realized this wasn’t her inn. Nevertheless, she grabbed a glass and pulled a half-empty bottle of liquor stashed behind a shelf of ceramics. She poured one and took a sip.

She first noted the tangy zest in its taste before she tried to check the label to see that the paper was ripped off from the bottle. However, she was quite sure it was one of those new kinds of spirit she first tasted in Ad-Nilem. Far from the cheap liquor she grew up with.

Her Uncle Euric would often joke that Cassana started drinking beer the day she was born. Apparently, her mother had problems producing milk and so her uncles nursed her with only beer and mead.

She sat down on a stool and started reminiscing about her fun uncles. Her mother was almost always busy during the day tending to their family business, so it was her mother’s cousins who took care of the little redhead most of the time. Her early memories were all about horsing around the mud with grown men. Sadly, her Uncle Euric was the last one among them to still be alive.

Cassana was sure her uncles were only joking when they used to say that because she can fondly remember the first time she tasted alcohol. She was around eight and their village was celebrating the Feast of Spring. She sneaked a bottle of mead from their cellar and dared Ashvell, and some other kids in their neighborhood to each other to drink from it.

She found the taste pleasant and sweet, and she didn’t hate it as much as the rest of the children. It was the first time she thought that she could be different from the others. She also remembered that it was around this time that they met the little Robb.

Cassana remembered the couples Rik and Nissa visiting their inn a couple of times before that. She remembered the latter being pregnant, and the former talking to his father in private inside his secret room. She didn’t understand what it meant back then, until she became a teenager and realized that Rikhart was a wizard.

She heard about the news of Nissa giving birth, but she remembered not seeing her for a long time. The next time she did, she was carrying a young babe in her arms. She introduced him to her as Robin.

She remembered being fond of the little toddler. She always prayed to the gods to give her a little sister or a little brother, but the gods never listened. Only when she was older did she find out that her mother had a complication during birth that made her infertile.

Robb’s family lived outside the village in a little cottage at the edge of the woods. She had only visited them twice or thrice throughout; however, their family was a regular patron of the Hidden Scabbard. They would come once a month, all three of them, and they would eat breakfast at the inn where his parents and her parents would hang out.

She would sometimes babysit little Robin while his parents headed to the market to buy food and supplies. She remembered getting paid five silvers for her trouble. She eventually earned and saved enough money to buy a small book about magic.

It was Rikhart who recognized Cassana’s skills. Her own father would rather choose to ignore what she could do.

When she was about to turn thirteen, a small coterie of wizards from Ad-Nilem visited the village, claiming to have received an anonymous letter about a young prodigy living among them. The villagers brought them to Cassana’s doorstep, and thus began her dream of becoming a wizard herself.

Rikhart never admitted it, but Cassana always assumed it was him who sent the wizards that letter. Nevertheless, they were amused by her wits and potential, and they offered her financial aid so she could afford a scholarship at the Tower Academy.

She accepted it, despite her father’s objections. A few months later, she went off to travel to the continent’s center of magic. Rik, her mother, and Ashvell’s father sent her off, accompanying her to the port of Soliton where she rode a ship to Ad-Nilem.

Cassana took another drink from the bottle of spirit she was coddling. She looked at her wooden staff and she was reminded of how hard difficult it had been for her being away from her family for so long. Specifically, she recalled three incidents that challenged her motivation to study.

First, was the news of the breakdown of the ceasefire agreement between Auhros and Zephyrus, bringing the two kingdoms at war again. Several able-bodied men from their village were conscripted, including her uncles, who eventually died during the hostilities.

Second, was the disappearance of Rik and Nissa. Her mother didn’t write any specific detail, only that they just disappeared one day, leaving the little Robin behind. He did learn from Otheric, however, that the couple left Robb to the care of Ashvell’s father. Apparently, they traveled to Soliton for an errand, and promised to return immediately. But they didn’t.

The third and final news that she received from her hometown was about her mother’s sickness. It was enough to make her decide to stop her studies and go home.

Her mother’s condition didn’t get any better, however, despite Cassana being around. She was able to use her limited knowledge of magic and potion making to relieve her of pain, but she eventually succumbed to her disease. They buried her, and life went on, but it was never the same.

If her father was detached before, he became even worse after her mother’s passing. In reached a point that when he himself died during the closing months of the war, Cassana didn’t even feel that it was much of a tragedy. She, however, lamented the fact that her life was now headed in a different direction, and her dreams of being a wizard were now shattered to oblivion.

She tried pouring another glass, but the bottle was already empty. She placed it under the table and began preparing her staff and Focusing stone.

Earlier that night, Cassana and Ashvell were already finalizing their plan to infiltrate Captain Hrothgar’s mansion to find Robb and Minos. She couldn’t afford to wait for Lira, and she wasn’t sure if she would even side with them. All she knew was that if they don’t do something, they may never see the young boy again. It was reckless, she acknowledged that, but she was getting desperate.

She didn’t expect that Minos and Robb would be walking into their room, just as they were figuring out a way to save them.

The young nobleman was already too exhausted to function, so they threw him in a bathtub and cleaned him up. Robb was in a much better shape, for some reason, so he managed to answer their questions about what happened to them.

As noteworthy as his experience was, it was what they brought with them that spurred Cassana’s curiosity.

Of course, he felt relieved the two were alive, Robb in particular. She was also somewhat glad to hear about Rikhart, but also felt awful knowing about his condition. But seeing the Grimoire and the Focusing stone on the hands of her companions left Cassana disconcerted.

First, the book was his father’s, she was sure of it. She used to see it among his collection of books and tomes, hidden away in his secret room behind their inn’s cellar. However, when she returned home from The Tower after her mother got sick, she remembered noting that it wasn’t on his shelves anymore.

There was no way she could be misremembering it, because that day was of particular import to her. It was when she stole the map to the Bow of the Fae Queen. She was mad at her father at that time, and she wanted to get back at him. Feeling petty, she took his precious map and gave it to Otheric.

It gave Cassana some satisfaction. She wasn’t even sure that he noticed it was missing, since he never commented on it. But knowing that she had put one over her father was enough for her. The redhead’s memory then started tracing forward, to the consequences of that paltry action, but she took a pause and waylaid her thoughts. It was all still fresh in her mind that she didn’t need any reminding.

Nevertheless, it was clear now why that Grimoire was missing. Rikhart had it. According to Robb, his father instructed him to return it to her father, so it was safe to assume that Tullius loaned the spellbook to his friend.

Cassana quickly opened the Grimoire the moment Robb handed it to her, and she skimmed through its pages. She found some of the spells, runes, and arkograms familiar, but most of the stuff in there was way advanced for someone like her.

Second, was the matter of the Focusing stone. According to Robb, Cassana’s father commissioned his father to synthesize the stone, as a gift for her Ranking Exam. Cassana refused to believe it, for it made no absolute sense.

Tullius had never shown any concern about Cassana learning magic. In fact, he was completely against it. Why would he bid somebody to create a Focusing stone for me? The only explanation was that Rikhart lied. Her father didn’t make him do it, he took it upon himself to create the Focusing stone for her.

Knowing full well what Rik had done in the past to support her in her dreams, it was the only thing that made sense.

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Cassana studied the stone in her hand. It was a purple chunk of amethyst, rough and angular. She glanced inside her glass, at the miniscule drops of alcohol left remaining and she couldn’t help but smile at the inside joke. An amethyst stone for the drunk wizard.

A few hours earlier, she was thinking about how to get a new Focusing stone for her staff. She even thought about loaning a spare stone, or a nugget from Firroth and Auren. But now, all that worry was for naught. Rikhart went through for her, like he always did before.

She placed the staff on the table, and then placed the stone beside its empty slot, as she tried to remember the incantations for the spell that attaches a Focusing stone to its receptacle. It wasn’t a common spell to use, and she hasn’t casted that since she was back at the Tower. It took a few moments for it to come back to her, blaming her current state of inebriation.

When it did, she carefully casted it, drawing energy from the stone itself. It slowly moved towards the empty slot of her staff as the end of the wooden stick splintered into tendrils, taking in the gem and securing it in place.

Cassana let out an audible sigh of relief. That is one less problem for her to worry about. With Rei’s condition getting better, and Robb safely back with them, the only thing left for her to do is think of a way to rescue Rikhart. If Minos isn’t going to agree with her, she might as well just do it all by herself.

She stood up from her seat, holding the bottle of liquor in one hand and her staff in the other. She moved towards the back of the counter and placed the bottle on top. She rummaged underneath the bar, looking for a piece of paper she could write on. She found one that had no writing and laid it flat on the wooden surface. She then grabbed some silver coins from her pocket and put them over the parchment, holding it down with its weight.

She couldn’t find any writing implements near the counter, so she pulled her staff and performed her first spell using her newly fixed equipment. She concentrated while pressing her finger over the paper, and as she finished casting, a note appeared on the paper: for the spirit, room 3E.

After cleaning up after herself, she heard a noise coming from the cellar downstairs. Curiosity got the better of her, so she climbed the familiar steps. This was where they surfaced after meeting with The Guild the other night. She followed where the sound was coming from and found the trapdoor that they went through.

Somebody from underneath it was pushing against the hatch. Cassana stood aside, thinking of what to do. She remembered Lira mentioning that members of the Guild use various secret entrances scattered across the different establishments that are allied with the Thieves’ Guild. One of those must be trying to get it.

Still, she braced herself to face whatever it might be that comes out of that trapdoor. Finally, the hinges and lock of the hatch breaks and the wooden panel flies upward away. A pair of hands reached over the surface, and Cassana held her staff tight, ready to recite a spell.

Unexpectedly, a tiny, furry creature climbed up, stepping over one of the gloved hands. Cassana recognized it immediately, it was Scout, Lira’s friendly animal companion.

As the person trying to exit the shaft climbed, the young wizard took a step back, looking befuddled.

“Lira?” she asked the drow huntress as she pulled herself up.

“Ah, it’s you, good,” she sighed.

“What are you doing down there?”

“It is a long story,” she dismissed. Lira gestured for Scout to climb over her shoulder as she took a breath. She seemed tired and weary, having more wounds than Cassana saw her had earlier.

“How did you get there?” asked Cassana.

“You would not believe what happened…” said Lira, as she braced herself to tell a lengthy story.

“Where’s Ashvell? And Minos?” Cassana interrupted.

“What?”

“You were with them a moment ago, you were all upstairs, how did you get there?”

Everything dawned on Lira’s face. “Oh shit,” she said, alarmingly.

Cassana stared at her, still waiting for an explanation.

“You know where we can get salt around here?” asked Lira.

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

A faint boom cracked across the hallway as Cassana blasted the door to their room open with her magic, while Lira jumped in aiming her crossbow. They were hoping to catch by surprise whoever was masquerading as Lira, and immediately alert Ashvell and Minos that something was wrong.

However, what they saw inside wasn’t what they were expecting.

Minos was laying on the bed, resting his head over his hands, awake. Ashvell was sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning on the bedpost. The little Robin was on the floor, sitting cross-legged. The three boys were in the middle of a conversation, and they all paused to look towards the door, their mouths open.

“Lira!” they all shouted in varying tones of surprise.

Ashvell glanced to the other end of the room, and Cassana and Lira followed his eyes.

A woman was sitting on the chair, with rope tied across her body. For Cassana, she recognized the woman as Nissa, Robb’s mother. But for Lira, she was Lieutenant Deniece Von Schreiber, an officer of the City Watch.

“You got her!” grunted the drow huntress.

Ashvell and Minos hesitated for a spell and exchanged glances. But soon as they found Scout propping its head up from under Lira’s cloak, they both sighed.

“Of course we got her,” Minos blustered.

“He figured out she wasn’t you…” Ashvell gushed. “Can you believe it? We were talking to her and apparently that wasn’t Lira!” He was almost too embarrassed to explain what happened to Cassana.

The redhead carefully walked towards their captive, curiously studying her face and features. Her mouth was covered with a cloth, but her eyes watched over Cassana, following her movement.

“Why does she have Nissa’s face?” she asked.

“Uhm... I guess she was trying to fool me...?” Robb answered. “I think she wanted me to help her, set her free.”

Cassana’s eyes remained fixed on the young boy, as if waiting for him to finish his story. “...and?” She finally said when he didn’t go on.

“And she failed, obviously,” Minos proclaimed.

Cassana teetered on the edge of her patience and growled at the young nobleman.

“Hey, hey, I know, sorry… I only said those things because I wanted to check how that thing would react!” explained Minos.

“Yeah, Cass,” Ashvell added. “Minos didn’t mean all the things he said. He only did that because he knew that the real Lira would be angry at him for it.”

Cassana appeared more confused, but she did feel less mad about Minos.

“You see, Lira likes you...” cajoled the young nobleman, “Which I don’t get cause you are detestable.”

Ashvell threw a pillow at Minos’ face for his added comment, and the two boys laughed.

“Kidding,” Minos sang. He threw the pillow back at the young driver’s face and added: “You don’t even know what ‘detestable’ means.”

“Yes, I don’t, but I’ve got a feeling it’s something horrible.”

“DING, DING, DING! You got it right!” Minos cheered.

“What?” Ashvell faltered.

“Can we guys, just…” Cassana waved her staff around trying to get everybody in the room to focus. They have a man to rescue after all. “Lira, what the hell happened?”

Lira put aside her weapon and got herself comfortable by the small table. “This one here,” she gestured her hands towards the captive, “... had been posing as Lieutenant Deniece von Schrieber, for the last three or four years. Using her family connections, she managed to put herself in the most powerful organization in Soliton, the City Watch.”

“So where is the real Deniece?” asked Cassana.

“According to my sources, Deniece, the second child of Baron Von Schreiber, disappeared more than a decade ago. Right after she got married to a wizard, by the name of Rikhart. Her parents did not approve of the union, being massive magic haters.

“And then, a few years later, she ‘returned’, claiming that she had separated from her husband and that she was welcomed back in her family,” explained Lira.

“Which is a lie, obviously, because Nissa was with us, at the village,” added Cassana.

“Up until three years ago, right?” Minos inquired, looking at the three people in the room who resided at the village by the mountain. “That was when she disappeared, along with her husband Rikhart.”

“They told me they were going to Soliton,” Robb added.

“So, something happened when they got here…” Minos started theorizing. He stood up from the bed to get to his full affect. “Whatever that is, it ended up with Rik being captured in the dungeon of…”

“The Von Schreiber Manor!” Cassana announced in chorus with the young nobleman. The two ended up facing one another, one mirroring the other’s motion. Both of their index fingers were raised up, and both of their faces were filled with glee. For a spell, they looked like two people who were getting along just fine.

It took a minute before the two remembered that they weren’t, and their moment of achievement turned into awkwardness.

“So that’s where we’re headed? Instead of the Captain’s house?” clarified Ashvell.

“Once we find out where it is…” answered Cassana.

“I already have that covered,” declared Lira.

“Oh, you did, did you?” beamed Minos. He gestured his palm up to have his former mentor slap it with her own palm, but Lira simply stared at him a little nonplussed.

“What is that?” asked the drow huntress.

“It’s a thing, kids do this…” Minos moved over to Robb and gestured for him to demonstrate what it was. “Come on, Robb, show her how it’s done.”

Robb stood up and reached for Minos’ hand, which he moved a bit lower. The young boy slapped his palm against his and they both cheered.

The three-hundred-year-old drow huntress shook her head with a smile. “You both look stupid.”

“I was complimenting you for a job well done, okay?” added Minos.

“Everyone, can we focus up, please?” Cassana announced, trying to manage the clamor in the room. “Let’s talk about what to do with this one,” she pointed to the fake Nissa tied on the chair.

Lira pulled out a leather pouch that she filled up with salt from the kitchen below and offered it to Cassana.

“Okay, I was meant to ask you earlier, but what’s that for?” inquired Cassana.

“Her wounds heal, right?” Lira glanced at Minos, then at Ashvell, “Salt prevents that. It also makes it hard for them to transform into someone else.”

“That would have been helpful a few minutes ago…” complained Minos.

“Wait, you know this, how?” followed up Cassana.

“Because I fought something like that before. We used to call it a fetch,” explained Lira. “Did they not teach about this in the Tower Academy?”

Cassana paused to think of an answer, “I may have heard of it… but we studied a lot of aberrant in class, it’s hard to remember all of them. Plus, I hate the Occult subject.”

“In any case, we can’t just leave her here…” said Minos.

“We surrender her to the government?” suggested Ashvell. “Like we did with the drow sorcerer at the village.”

“Not a good idea,” countered Lira. “She works there. Who knows how many soldiers are loyal to her. It will be hard to convince them to arrest their superior officer.”

“Wait a minute,” interrupted Cassana. “So, when Frederick said he saw Hrothgar giving the orders to falsify the records, it was actually her, in disguise?”

“Yes,” snapped Minos. “That’s it! And earlier, she even encouraged us to sneak into Hrothgar’s mansion, knowing full well that it would lead to us getting arrested…”

“Because we won’t find anything there…” continued Cassana.

“Foxy little minx!” commented Minos.

Lira nodded, agreeing with their conclusions. “How about to the Legate?” she proposed.

“Professor Arcturus would be happy to have her there,” Cassana affirmed. “He’s fond of monsters, and weird creatures, and shit.”

“So, let’s bring her there,” decided Minos.

“We can also get help from Firroth and Auren…” considered the redhead.

“Who?” asked the young nobleman.

“The wizards who work at the Small Tower,” answered Ashvell.

Minos nodded.

“Okay, lastly, Robb,” mentioned Cassana. “We can’t just leave him here. This place is compromised already.”

“Wait, I’m not coming with you?” asked the young boy. “But it’s my Dad.”

“It’s too dangerous,” said the young wizard.

“I agree,” acknowledged the young nobleman. “We don’t know what other monsters they might have there. The shadow creature alone is going to be--”

Lira raised her hand to interrupt Minos. On her other hand, she produced a spherical ball made of glass, as small as a tomato fruit. It’s filled with what looked like black mist. “He won’t be bothering us anymore.”

The drow huntress shook her container and a white shape appeared from inside the ball. It looked like a single eye.

“That’s the shadow creature?” Minos boomed.

“Cool!” exclaimed Robb.

“How?” asked Cassana.

“I am a hunter by trade,” explained Lira. “In any case, Cassana is right, it's not safe for you to come with us. And like Minos said, we have no idea what sort of other creatures we are yet to face.” He gestured for the sphere on her hand and their captive to add to her point.

“Okay…” Robb faltered.

“I guess I can ask Professor Arcturus if you can stay there in the meantime. It’s the safest place for you to be,” Cassana concluded.

Minos and Robb shrugged while the rest kept quiet, having nothing more to add.

“And I guess it’s time for me to meet this Professor you’re all talking about,” commented Minos.

“You’ll love him, Robb. He’s a real wizard,” smiled Cassana to the little Robin.