They appeared a couple hundred feet into the forest, the light around them fading as the teleportation ended. Sabin had to support Robin as his younger brother began to sway in place. Aurelia stored the crystal away as she waited for Robin and Sabin to get more stabilized. Before they continued, Aurelia also wanted to apply the stat points from her recent level-up. With nine points available, she considered what was most important for now. Looking through her stat sheet, Aurelia couldn’t believe how much she had grown in the last couple of days. It seemed unbelievable to her to see the difference from what it had first looked like.
Their goal over the next couple of hours was to mount a rescue mission and to do so without putting Robin’s team in danger. Aurelia’s greatest asset was her invisibility ring and her spells, so she decided to just put all of her remaining stat points into intelligence, which raised her mana pool. After confirming her choice, Aurelia looked through her updated stat sheet.
Name: Aurelia
Age: 22
Race: Human
Rank: Princess
Class: 1/4
Main Class: Spatial Mage
Level: 13
Health: 670/670
Mana: 1,150/1,150- 1,380/1,380 with 20% increase
Stamina: 390/390
Strength: 24
Vitality: 67
Agility: 67
Endurance: 39
Wisdom: 78
Intelligence: 115
Luck: 17
Perception: 49
Charisma: 36
Unspent Stat Points: 9
Skills:
Running: Level 7
Cooking: Level 6
Basic Non-Magical Healing: Level 2
Scholar: Level 4
Linguist: Level 4
Basic Magic Bolt: Level 8
Spatial Slash: Level 8
Basic Mana Shield: Level 5
Identify: Level 7
Spatial Teleportation: Level 9
Spatial Storage: Level 7
Lightning Chain: Level 5
Spatial Tracking: Level 6
Ice Wall: Level 3
Staff Proficiency: Level 2
Ice Dagger: Level 6
Hidden Meanings: Level 2
Her skills hadn’t gone up in levels at all since that morning, and she knew they wouldn’t until she slept again. Aurelia expected quite a few of her skills would raise in level after all that had and would happen today. She dismissed the glowing blue screens from her vision and looked back to Robin and Sabin.
“Are you going to be okay?” Aurelia whispered to Robin.
The man merely nodded, not answering aloud. Sabin looked a little worried, but after Robin gave his older brother a determined look, Sabin relaxed. There was time to be worried, but Robin seemed to be fully focused on helping out his team.
The group could hear loud voices coming from the direction of the dungeon, and Aurelia knew a large group of the duke’s men were concentrated in that direction. Her birds-eye view from earlier had helped her gain a better understanding of what was going on, but that view hadn’t included sound. Without being able to hear what the soldiers had been saying, she didn’t know the full picture.
“Do you want me to scout the duke’s men? I can meet you back here in fifteen minutes. Maybe I will learn something important.” Aurelia whispered aloud.
Robin seemed ready to refuse, but Sabin raised a hand to stall that objection. “I think that would be wise, go ahead.”
Aurelia motioned for them to sit still, and then she activated the invisibility ring on her finger. Not wasting any more time, she began moving in the direction of the dungeon entrance. As she moved, Aurelia looked over herself to make sure she was ready if a fight broke out. She first applied her mana shield, then took out her wand, ready to let loose any spell.
It only took her a couple of minutes to reach the tree line, and she could now see the full meadow spread out in front of her. On one side of the meadow, she saw a group she recognized to be the duke’s men, wearing the colors of red and gold. On the other side of the meadow, she spotted another group of soldiers, obviously under a different noble. They wore bronze-colored armor, and their colors included white and orange. Aurelia thought they reminded her of an orange creamsicle. The two groups were separate, but a couple of soldiers from each side stood together in front of the dungeon entrance. They seemed to be immersed in conversation with one another. She wanted to know why the soldiers were there, so she continued forward, relying on her invisibility to keep her hidden.
After reaching a certain distance, Aurelia began to hear bits and pieces of the conversation, until she could hear the soldiers more clearly. There were three of the duke’s soldiers and two of the new bronze and orange soldiers. The shortest of the duke’s men was the one currently speaking.
“Like I said, Captain, Duke Gladys has given clear orders for us to secure the dungeon entrance. Your men are welcome to help us with that duty, but that does not give you any right to poke your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
The other captain replied, “I also have orders from the baron, soldier, and I outrank you here.”
The shorter man looked angry at this, “You may outrank me, but Duke Gladys is Baron Redford’s superior. The baron was asked by the duke to assist in dealing with Lord Gray, nothing more. Baron Redford has no real authority here.”
“I see,” the captain replied.
“You may stay here to help us keep anyone else away from the dungeon, or you may assist the baron in securing the perimeter around Rainy Hollow and keeping the citizens under control.”
The captain didn’t reply, merely motioning for the other bronze and orange soldier to follow him back to their group. The duke’s men continued to stay in front of the eerie cave opening. When the baron’s men were out of earshot, another of the duke’s men spoke up.
“What an imbecile,” he scoffed, “It seems the baron has been lax when recruiting his new captain. His predecessor actually had some decorum.”
The shorter soldier replied, “I agree. If it weren’t for the villagers mustering enough strength to rescue the Gray children, we wouldn’t have any need for the Baron’s soldiers at all.”
The last soldier spoke next, “It was Captain Northwood who failed in this scenario, he-” the soldier cut off when the shorter guard punched him in the stomach.
“Don’t let anyone else hear you say that, Don. If it gets back to the Captain, he will have you as dragon bait.”
As the three guards continued to banter with each other, Aurelia felt they wouldn’t be saying anything more of note. From what she had gathered, the baron’s men had officially joined in the takeover, which would make it doubly hard to not only save Robin’s teammates but also to free the villagers from the other nobles. Aurelia had only been here for a short while, but the free spirit of Rainy Hollow and the helpful members of Moon Raven had grown on her. She didn’t want the village to become oppressed by nobles who seemed to desire power over the well-being of their citizens.
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Aurelia wanted to make it back to Robin and Sabin, so she left the meadow behind. She found the two brothers pacing in a small area of the forest, safely out of sight. Aurelia deactivated her ring, appearing suddenly in front of the two men. Robin almost jumped out of his skin, the sword at his belt suddenly making an appearance in his hand. Aurelia jumped away from the offending weapon, holding her hands up in a placating gesture. When both men calmed down enough to recognize her, Robin put his sword back in his sheath.
“Nine Hells, girl, don’t do that again,” Robin breathed out.
“My apologies!” Aurelia replied.
The two men came closer to her and Sabin asked, “Did you learn anything of use?”
“Only that the baron’s men have officially joined forces with the duke’s men and both groups are keeping men by the dungeon, around the town, and within it as well to keep the villagers obedient. We will have a much more difficult time getting Rainy Hollow back with all the new soldiers. We had a hard time with just the duke’s small retinue by your home, now I don’t know how many are around the village.” Aurelia said.
Sabin cursed in outrage, his hands flying to his head. “Unbelievable,” he muttered.
Robin looked upset at the news, but only said, “I don’t care how many of them are out there, I’ll do what it takes to save Eagan and Maia.”
“Alright, but we should move quickly,” Aurelia said. “Let me scout out the entrance to the village, and I’ll see where your teammates are being held. I think it would be best for you two to stay here for now, you won’t be of help if you get caught again.”
Sabin looked thoughtfully at her and said, “I don’t know you well, but I believe we can trust you. Corbin had enough faith to create a team with you and I trust his judgment. We will wait here for an hour, but if you don’t return by then, we will make our own way to the village and find a way to get to Robin’s team. Is that agreeable?”
Aurelia nodded and looked at Robin, “Can you wait here for an hour?”
Robin seemed reluctant, but eventually nodded, “As long as you don’t appear suddenly in front of us again.”
Aurelia laughed softly and agreed, “Okay, I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
With that, Aurelia activated her invisibility ring once more and headed back through the forest towards the village. She skirted around the meadow, not wanting to risk going near all those soldiers again. When she finally reached the treeline overlooking the neat wall and rows of wooden buildings, she had to pause. The sight before her shocked Aurelia to her core, and worry began to work its way through her. All around the walled village, she could see soldiers bearing the colors of the duke and the baron. She couldn’t see the other side of the wall, but there were dozens of soldiers just like those who had paraded through town, dragging the unconscious Robin like a sack of food. From her viewpoint, she could also see part of the buildings inside the village and noticed a couple of the buildings were in the middle of being burned. The sight of the people’s homes and businesses going up in flames, made Aurelia quicken her pace. She had to find out what was going on, and fast.
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Belle took a deep breath in and out as she listened to the world around her. The amount of chaos and fighting going on in the village filled her with sorrow, but she couldn’t dwell on those feelings at the moment. She listened as a soldier yelled at a woman to move out of the way. Belle heard a young boy cry out for his mother. Someone was using a sharpening stone on their blade. She could hear the sound of crackling flame as a nearby building burned. These sounds weren’t what she was after, so she moved on each time. That was until she heard the sounds of two men talking quietly to each other.
“There are no signs of them anywhere, sir. We have searched every building and home in the village at this point.” the first man said.
“This is unacceptable, soldier!” the second man hissed back, “The duke will have our heads if we don’t bring the Gray siblings back.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” the first responded.
“Well, if they are no longer in the village, then they must have made it out unseen,” the second muttered.
“Should I update Captain Northwood?” asked the first man.
“No, he will only be upset at the lack of progress, continue searching inside the village, perhaps we have missed something.”
After that, the two men parted ways, and Belle continued searching for useful information. A couple of minutes later, she was able to listen in on a new conversation of interest to her.
The woman currently speaking had a rough voice, as if it was difficult to talk, “Where am I?”
Belle then heard a slapping noise, followed by a grunt of pain. Someone had hit the woman.
“You don’t speak unless spoken to, is that understood?” a man growled at the woman.
Belle didn’t hear a response from the woman, but another male voice spoke up instead.
“Don’t touch her, you bastard,” the second man spoke up, his voice also rough like the woman’s.
“Wait-!” the woman shrieked and Belle could hear another slap, followed by a thud. This time, the second man had been struck rather than the woman.
“Please don’t hurt my companion, we’ve done nothing wrong!” the woman cried out.
“Maia, I’ll be okay, just-” he didn’t finish as the first man hit him once more.
Belle jolted out of her state of concentration, her eyes wild with worry. She turned to see Zen beside her, sitting on a bag of flour. “I found them!” Belle exclaimed.
Zen turned to her with a surprised look on his face, “Really? You found them?”
“Yes, I have a general direction of where they are, but we will have to get closer in order for me to get a full lock on their location. We have to tell the others!” Belle scrambled to her feet, Zen following her close behind.
They moved to the corner of the storage room, pulled open the trap door, and scurried down the ladder to the underground tunnels. Belle rushed towards the meeting area, hoping they could get there faster.
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Moving around the village, still invisible, was more difficult for Aurelia than she had imagined. She had almost been run over by other people multiple times in the past few minutes. Rainy Hollow had changed a lot since that morning. It was closing in on sunset now, causing the burning buildings to cast an eerie glow on the streets around them. Aurelia felt worried at the sight around her, the villagers in a panic and the invading soldiers causing trouble everywhere they went.
Aurelia finally made it to the orphaned hen just in time to see a chair smash into the wall beside the open door. She watched as Ivan hurled another chair, this time crashing into the soldier in front of her. Aurelia shrieked as the man almost fell into her, wooden shrapnel flying all around her and the three remaining soldiers. She dodged to the side, missing the armored man by inches.
Making sure that she was still invisible, Aurelia assessed the situation before her. Four of the duke’s men were inside the tavern with Ivan the only other occupant in the common room. The three soldiers still standing were clustered around the door, the fourth man slowly getting to his feet. Tables and chairs were scattered all over the room, with many reduced to splinters. Aurelia came back to herself when another chair came flying in her direction. Not wanting to become collateral damage, Aurelia moved away from the doorway.
“Get out of my tavern!” Ivan shouted at the soldiers.
“You have no authority over us, innkeeper!” one soldier shouted.
“Captain Northwood has ordered for every building to be inspected. You are not an exception!” another soldier said, anger in his voice.
“I don’t care who ordered it, Lord Gray is the only noble I answer to, and you lot killed him!” Ivan shouted. Another smash echoed his words, and Aurelia guessed another chair was thrown.
Deciding she would not be able to go through the front door, Aurelia made her way around the side of the building. She vaguely remembered that there was a door leading from the kitchen to the outside, so she figured she could enter there instead. As she scurried through the alleyway, she almost ran right into two of the baron’s soldiers, their bronze armor shining in the evening light. She swerved to the side, barely missing the two of them.
“Hey, did you hear that?” one of the soldiers asked.
“Hear what? There is so much going on right now, you’re going to have to be more specific,” the other replied.
“Never mind, I-” Aurelia didn’t hear the rest as she moved further away from them.
She jogged to the side door of the tavern and tested the handle. It was locked. Aurelia groaned in annoyance, before pulling out her wand. Not wanting to waste any more of her time, she used a mana bolt to blast open the door. She pushed the splintered door open and rushed into the kitchen. Aurelia stopped in place when she wasn’t exactly alone. All around the kitchen men and women held out knives and other weapons, ready to fight whomever had barged in. Aurelia ducked as a knife left one of the men’s outstretched hands, the blade aimed right at her face.
The knife buried itself into what was left of the broken door, missing Aurelia. As she was still invisible, the occupants of the room couldn’t tell the knife had barely missed her. As she took another couple of seconds to take stock of the situation, Aurelia realized she recognized a few of the people. Two being barmaids Aurelia had talked to in the past.
She quickly turned off her invisibility and said, “Lia, it’s me!”
Aurelia held her empty hands up in a placating gesture, and the tavern’s staff as well as a few others gasped at Aurelia’s sudden appearance. Lia’s eyes widened in recognition, “Aurelia, is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me! I am so sorry for scaring you guys, I didn’t realize anyone was in here.” Aurelia paused when a crash from the common room and a bellowed yell from Ivan interrupted her. “Is he going to be okay?”
One of the male cooks spoke up, “Ivan can take care of himself, but even he has his limits.”
Lia said, “We didn’t know what to do, none of us have combat classes and those guards are way too high level.”
Aurelia nodded, “Alright, I’ll go help him out, can you guys meet me in the storage room?”
An older woman looked at Aurelia skeptically, “Why would we meet you in the storage room?”
“How can you even help Ivan?” another asked.
“I don’t have time to explain, you can either go in the storage room or stay here. It’s your choice.” Aurelia started to push through the crowd to make her way back towards the common room.
“Do you need any help?” Lia asked her.
“No, I got this.”
Aurelia activated her ring once more, wanting to keep her presence a surprise from the other guards. She entered the room to find Ivan punching one of the guards in the face. A second guard was knocked out on the ground, and a third was preparing to skewer Ivan from behind with his sword. Aurelia quickly aimed a mana blast at the third guard, and the man flew across the room from the sheer force of the attack. The fourth guard faltered at the noise, his arrow missing Ivan by a foot.
Ivan seemed to be dealing with the guard in front of him just fine, so Aurelia turned her attention to the guard with the bow. She sent another mana bolt his way and was able to take him down too. Neither guard had died from the attack but had taken a good chunk of their health. Ivan finally managed to down the guard in front of him, then turned towards Aurelia’s direction. “Who’s there?” he asked.
Aurelia revealed herself, and the large man laughed. “Will you be okay by yourself?” Aurelia asked, “I need to find Belle.”
Ivan waved a hand, “You helped me out enough, go ahead. Belle should be down in the tunnels the last I saw from her.”
“Okay!” Aurelia turned around and raced for the storage room.