You know when you have a fight in the family, the ones when only two people fights but everyone takes sides? And then there is that awkward atmosphere when your granny forces everyone to sit together for dinner? Where everyone is angry or bothered with each other but are forced to be polite since they are all stuck in the same room? That is how I felt, just that the granny, in my case, was a magic gateway to another world we couldn’t open until the time was right and the dinner was a 5 by 5 bunker

I would like to say that the situation didn’t bother me, but it did. I was pissed with the kid, just the paperwork I would have to do to justify abandoning this small outpost was enough to make me grind my teeth. But what was really annoying me was how much heat he would get because of it. Not that that he doesn't deserves it, but what troubled me was his Godfather reaction.

I’ve been sitting here trying to rationalize that it was his own stupidity that brought what is to come. Twice. First for searching for a patron with the unseelie, if he had done his research, he would know that price is rarely worth it and we always get the bad end of the deal. Second for his stunt on the mission. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t find a way around the fact of how young he is. Could I live with myself with not doing anything? Yeah I probably could. Would I like to live like that? Probably not. Dammit. All that talk about guilty is coming back to haunt me. The kid does not utter a single word and still manages to guilt trip me.

I make a decision and then start writing the mission report, finishing it a few minutes before our departure time. Time for the pep talk.

- “Ok everyone, I just finished our report, here is how it goes. We arrived here with no problem yesterday. We did a preliminary scouting around the safehole to determine if the mission was a go, and prepared to do it today. Today we went to collect the northeast crystal first and it went without a problem, we got in, grabbed the charged crystal and left an empty one. Then we went for the one directly north of the hideout. We got inside without a problem, but while we were securing the room and starting to remove the charged crystal we heard what it seemed the sound of a big piece of masonry hitting the ground. It sounded like a wall had fallen somewhere in the vicinity. Right away our divination specialist.” I give Erick a nod. “noticed that previous magical signatures that were dorment started stirring. I made the decision of just finish removing the charged crystal and set a new one on another time. While doing it we heard noises indicated that the local population of undead had reached an active state and further noises indicating the presence of bio-magical mutations…” And kept rambling on until I finished describing the whole operation and my reasoning for closing shop on this outpost.

“But the main point is that we don’t know what caused the wall to fall. Everyone understands that?” I look at each one of them. Johnson looked like he saw a light at the end of the tunnel, and nods eagerly. Erick stares at me for a few seconds, looks at Johnson whose face now was full hope of expectation, and nods. Lilian also agrees right away. I look at Lis who has a small enigmatic smile on her face, almost like a cat toying with a mouse it caught.

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“You know I can’t lie Artharian”. She tells me, Johnson face goes from almost jubilant to hopeless.

“Right, but you don’t need to tell all the true. You wouldn’t be lying by saying that what what disturbed the residents was the sound of a falling wall. And if someone asks you what could have the wall to fall, you tell them that many things, like it lost supporting beam for example. So cut the chase Lis, this kind of thing is bread and butter for the sidhe.

Her smile gets bigger. “True, but why would I do that? I guess having Johnson here”. “Because I’m calling it a favor for a debt.” I interrupt her before she goes further, last thing I need is to save the kid from one Sidhe displeasure by getting him indebted to another one from the opposite court nonetheless. Lis straightens up her back right away and take a much more serious air.

“Your proposing that my debts to your are paid if I do that? I snort at that. “Of course not, this would be hardly of the same value of what you own me. I propose this as payment from the time I prevented you from burning a whole residential district on Net town.

She thinks for a few seconds and nods “I agree to keep up this story as long as not directly questioned and it as long it doesn't go against an higher obligation.”

“Directly questioned intensely, you will try to deflect questions as long as it’s viable” I counter.

“Done, done, done.” She says it three times. “Thrice said and done Pyralis of the Salamanders.” I answer and feels fae magic stirring around us as the oath is finished.

Johnson and Lilian are observing us with wide eyes, Erick also seems surprised, but being with me much longer it’s not the first time he seen this kind of exchange.

“Ok everyone, now that this is out of the way, time to get back to Fairy Land, grab everything useful and be ready to leave. Lis, be a dear and open the gateway please.”

Although, part of the magic I use is Fae in origin, I only tap in to it and use as fuel to power my own spells, like passing electricity through a circuit, or I meld it with my own magic, transforming it before using it.

Pyralis, like all Fae, uses it as if it’s a part of herself, for any magic users, it’s a beautiful and terrifying sight to watch the Fae use magic. It’s like comparing a human swimming with a dolphin swimming. We aren’t made for water, but we learned how buoyancy works and how to use our body to create propulsion, and so we can swim. But the dolphin was born in the water, to swim for him is instinctive and he does it so well that we can only look and be jealous. So when Lis reach for the magic circle and start using her magic to activate it, I can only look in admiration on how easy she makes it look.

Soon the gathered magic on the circle starts a reaction and a rift opens in front of her, big enough for two people to pass shoulder to shoulder and close to two meters tall.

From where I’m standing I see what looks to be a trail on a dead forest, and shattered pieces of the moon on the night sky. Lis looks back at us, then back at the portal and crosses over. Had she opened the portal directly with her magic, it would have quickly closed after her, but the magic circle will keep the spell going for a couple minutes more.

I motion for everyone to move, and one by one they follow Lis. I take a last look around, sight and pass through the portal.