The wagon rolled to the village checkpoint and was let through after a quick check by the guards. Jareth then drove the wagon to an inn that was the planned stop for the night. As Axel hopped out, he noticed that while the village looked a lot bigger than his home from afar, it seemed more spread out. The streets were widened, and many homes had large buildings attached, which quickly became apparent were for the Storm Drakes, as a Vortan was giving one a cleaning in one of these stables.

The inn was a nice building with three floors and a common room where food was prepared. Axel paid extra to have a room for himself and Aria to share one of the two larger rooms. After the last few weeks of training and cramped accommodations, he felt it was more than worth the extra expense. Dinner was a nice stew, and the hall was filled with many Vortan and Aurelians sharing drinks and food. There were a few humans, but they were in the minority, and Axel almost did not notice them in the room.

Axel while eating sent a journal update to the Goddess about what had happened and several worries he had. After eating and being told by Jareth that they were leaving early in the morning, around the seventh bell when the gates opened, Axel decided to take a walk around the town to have a little time alone. Knowing that this could be a risk, he told Aria and Lyra about his plans but just could not take being almost locked up all the time. Neither protested nor just told him to be careful while he walked and turned back to talking to each other.

The village had a smell of ozone about it, but with the amount of lightning-using drakes, Axel was not surprised. As the sky began to fill with reds, Axel stopped his wandering and turned back to the inn when he heard a growl and snapping noise coming from a park. Curiosity overtaking his caution, Axel moved quietly to see what was happening when he saw a young Vortan feeding a young Storm Drake with malformed wings. Axel scanned the Drake with his eyes, and his index pulled up information on it.

Index basic mode Storm Drake Known Dangers:

* Talons and claws

* Electrical discharges

* Fast flight

Estimated Age: Youth stage, just out of infancy due to the size of scales and head along with the overall size of the beast.

Beast Potency Level: Novice Low

Axel was no expert on Storm Drakes, but it did not look like this one would ever fly. Based on the adult one he trained against, those wings would not hold it. Axel could see other health issues based on predators he knew, such as from the scarring. It likely lost a lot of fights for food, and its right eye was inflamed but healing, meaning something tried taking it out recently.

The Vortan was throwing Gar from a hunting bag that the Drake was snapping out of the air. Axel found it odd that a young Storm Drake was in this park and being fed by someone. Not making a sound, Axel just watched until the Vortan was done and led the Drake to a fenced-off area and put it in a pen. As Axel read the sign on the pen, he learned that this was a training ground for Drake Riders and not a park like he first assumed.

The last confusion, though, was every other Drake there looked perfectly healthy and much more filled out. The one Axel saw, on second glance, was very lacking in weight, muscle, and size. The Vortan left after giving the Drake a good rubdown with a cloth that was oiled. Wanting to know more, Axel leaned against a tree just near the training ground's exit and watched the Vortan, male now that he had better light to see by, creep out.

“So, I am not from around here, but I get the feeling that this is not normal,” Axel said in a dramatic voice, causing the Vortan to leap in the air.

“Goddess!” The Vortan exclaimed. “Who are you?”

“Just a traveler, but I heard a noise as if someone was being eaten, so I checked on it out of community concern,” Axel told him with a straight face. “I am a hunter, and that looked like a malformed runt. Quite the surprise that it is kept around, given how much Drakes are known to eat.”

“Ummmm,” the young man said while looking around guiltily. “It's there for training purposes and because its parent saved the village, so it is kept around.”

“Interesting, but why are you here after hours feeding it if it is being kept around for training? Should it not get fed regularly?” Axel kept leaning against the post, but as cool as this seemed in his head, there was a knot in the pole that was very uncomfortable.

“Uhh, it should be, but the person in charge does not like it and wants it out of the school,” the Vortan shuffled about from foot to foot while looking down. “I don’t want it to suffer.”

“That is fair, but what is going to happen after you leave for your Trial?” Axel asked while nodding to the young man.

“I have already done my trial and even completed my second cycle,” the young man looked Axel in the eye. “I am up for the choosing ceremony soon and even picked up creature summoning as is required, but the only beast I want is that one.”

“Interesting to tell a stranger on the street,” came a voice above Axel, making him jump. Axel then saw Aria sitting on the top of the post, trying to hold in her laughter. “Sorry, Axel, but Aria was worried about you and followed you. We will need to work on your ability to spot being followed at some point as you were way too easy.”

“We will talk about it!” Axel growled at her, making her do a faux lean back in fear.

“Anyway, her question is valid as I was only curious about why a little runt with malformed wings was being kept around,” Axel said and stopped leaning against the pole. “You are sure comfortable talking to a stranger on a street corner.”

“I saw your group coming in this afternoon and knew you were hunters or were on an expedition,” the young man said and looked Axel in the eyes with his violet pupils. “I was planning to try to see if I could talk to one of you, but the common room was way too crowded for that, but you stepped out.”

“I was hoping you would walk by here as this is one of the more beautiful locations in town,” the young man kept going. “I hoped you would stop when I was training Star, but you did not appear until I was feeding him.”

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“Ok?” Axel asked as this seemed to be a little convoluted to him, and he was not sure where it was going.

“I want to join your hunting group,” the young man then bowed deeply to Axel. “We don’t get many groups coming through, and if your group had not come through when you did, I may be forced to give up Star for a different drake.”

Axel just blinked and was feeling very confused now. “Forced to choose?”

“Yes, my uncle wants me to follow in the family tradition and become a Storm Rider like my father and mother before me,” the young man got up from his bow and wiped the sweat from his head. “Star is the child of my parents' Storm Drakes but did not form correctly, and now my uncle wants me to choose one of the others in the stable for my life partner.”

“Alright, I think I am getting you, but I am not from around here, so can you give me a more concise rundown?” Axel asked while holding up his hand.

“So, every young in this village of Vortan heritage tries to be a Storm Rider for the Storm,” the young man restarted and waited for Axel to motion for him to go on. “My parents were well-regarded riders that retired here and had me, rare as they were both experts, and about five years ago, there was something that caused the unbound Drakes to go into a frenzy, but they solved it, costing their lives.”

“I have been raised by my uncle, and he wants me to continue their legacy, but since Star would not allow me to join the Storm as a rider, he is trying to force me to choose another Drake.” The young man kept going. “I am pretty sure that he is paying the keepers to try and make it so Star does not make it to the end of training.”

“Ok, but how is my hunting expedition involved in this?” Axel asked while listening.

“I plan on leaving the academy and calling on my heritage rite to take Star with me, but without proof of employment, my uncle has ways to block it through a Trial.” The young man’s voice took a hard note. “If he does, he will use it to put Star down, as if I leave, there will be no one to stop him from having an accident.”

“Take him with you,” came a melodic voice from everywhere. “He will help you survive and make the task later six percent more likely to complete.”

Axel looked to the side but did not see anything until he noticed that there was a small Goddess on his shoulder that was rhythmically swinging her tiny legs. She was the size of a small doll just sitting on his shoulder, but he could not feel any weight.

“I have looked over the quick journal entry, and while I don’t have the computing time to search through all current journals, a subprocess that tracks trends finds your guess has a high likelihood of being true but has found nothing that is allowed to be shared in any companion journal at this time,” Hope informed Axel. “Each of your three new companions does have abnormalities in their journals, but due to privacy restrictions, I cannot tell you anything about them without permission being given.”

“Aria gives Axel permission to access hers if it is ever needed,” Aria chirped from above, causing Axel to look up to see her looking at the tiny Goddess on his shoulder.

“Accepted and added to permissions,” the Goddess said with a nod. “I can now say for sure based on Aria’s Journal that she was not involved in that attack directly.”

“Ok,” Axel nodded. “I also give Sky, Aria, and Lyra access to my Journal if it is needed.”

“Umm, what are you two talking about?” the young man asked.

“Talking to the Goddess,” Aria said without missing a beat.

“Ok?” the young man said, taking two steps back and giving both Aria and Axel strange looks.

“Just take it as a religious thing,” Axel told him and motioned for him to keep going from where he left off.

“Anyway… I can take Star with me if you hire me,” the young man continued. “After we return to the city, I can join the Storm, get jobs, or become a Flame Seeker.”

Axel looked at Aria, and she shrugged, leaving the decision to Axel. Thinking about it, Axel did not have too much of an issue, and the Goddess took the time out to pop into existence now, so this added weight to the argument.

“Alright,” Axel said, “If I agree, and I have not yet, we are missing the most important information from you.”

“What?” the young man asked with an eager look on his face and leaned forward.

“My name is Roran Redsky,” he said with another bow.

“Well, it is nice to meet you, Roran,” Axel said and looked up to Aria. “Think we can get him on the contract?”

“Hum,” Aria said while thinking about the question. “There is a clause we could use for local support help, but whoever brings them in must take their pay out of their share.”

“Alright,” Axel looked over at Roran and reached out his hand. “We leave in the morning after the seventh bell when the gates open. Meet us at the inn, and I will take it out of my share.”

Roran shook Axel’s hand and headed back into the training grounds. Aria landed lightly near Axel and hugged him while looking to a side street. Axel also looked over to see Sky and Lyra peeking out at him, causing him to sigh.

“Alright, Aria, we do need to go through that training, I guess,” Axel admitted. “You all heard that, so I am guessing you don’t disapprove?”

“Nope, and we both gave both of you access to our journals,” Lyra said.

‘I am fine with it,’ Sky added in. ‘Always wanted to work on Storm Drake gear.’

“Alright, Aria, we are going to rely on you to give an amended contract to Jareth and to hand it into the local Storm branch for legal reasons,” Axel looked at Aria, saying. “Also, everyone please meet me in our room before bed as there is something I want to go over.”

Aria sighed, and the others nodded in agreement. With his group, Axel returned to the inn to see Pearl playing cards with the locals, Larimar reading a book using the hearth's firelight, and Jareth talking to what Axel guessed were local merchants as they seemed to be arguing over their ale cups about the price of some local fruit.

Axel led his group to the room and had Sky check to make sure there were no items that should not be there. Learning about circuits from her, he felt paranoid that there were ones that could transmit sound elsewhere. Sky did not find anything but noticed Axel’s worry and pulled something from her pack that looked like a palm-sized box.

‘This will make a bubble around us that will not let sound out,’ Sky told them and activated it. The box hovered in the air, wrapping each of them in a bubble where they could hear each other but nothing outside the bubbles.

Axel then went over what he noticed in the ambush and his worries about Jareth or his nieces, but he did not have any evidence, and the Goddess did not find anything in their journals that showed anything she could share. Axel’s running theory was that they were there for Jareth, as those Adepts were not acting like normal bandits and just going for the kill.

“Aria noticed the gear,” Aria added. “They also were pretty organized with their skills and not like most criminals that Aria knows.”

“I thought it was strange that their journals were wrecked but did not think of the gear,” Lyra added.

‘I found the poison and teleports the strangest,’ Sky added. ‘While most teleports are not restricted, you are kept on a list if you have one, which does not lead to banditry as you would be more easily tracked down.’

Axel did not know that if you picked up a teleport, you would be added to a list, but Sky then told him that this list was under lock and key at the Vanguard and needed to have an Enforcer on a hunt for that kind of criminal to even have a chance to access. This was denied about nine times out of ten unless there were multiple murders or other heinous crimes to be able to access even for an Enforcer to get a look at.

After this, Sky shut off the bubble, and everyone relaxed as Aria kept trying to teach everyone poker until it was time to sleep, at which point Axel pointed out she still had a contract to write, which got him a drooping set of wings and a pout but was needed. Aria then spent several hours writing up the contract for the morning before joining Axel in bed to snuggle.