Ray

"Norrelius is his old name, if you know of it." Ray said as the Satyr’s face paled.

“I don’t know of it, but that is not a surprise. But I wonder how he managed it…” Elder Mar said, looking at Norman thoughtfully.

"Norman has trouble remembering things now, I don't think he even noticed it." Ray said.

The Dean grunted his annoyance, letting them know that they were on a clock.

Ray reached out to Norman mentally, trying to see if he could connect. The attempt was unsuccessful, Norman's mind was covered in a wall that Ray could not pierce through,

And then the wall gave way as he connected.

"I want more cookies. The ones in the bakery ran out. " Norman said, making his priorities clear.

"Do you know where we can get a Fae stone, can you sense anything?" Ray asked.

"No, Fae stones are notoriously hard to sense, though Fae illusion stones should have a record of where the stone was. The things were pretty useless, but they could store information quite well. Now, cookies?" Norman said, far more conscious than he was usually.

Ray sadly did not have any cookies on him, but maybe he could get his hand on some battle potions.

"Could you give some battle potions to Norman? I have an idea about the Fae stone." Ray said, hurrying towards the stone as Elder Mar followed.

"So, the brat wants me to give you, a super powerful cat with minimal memory, some very dangerous drugs." he heard the Dean mutter to Norman as he went away, "Well, it's not even the most dangerous thing I've done in the last twenty-four hours."

Ray reached the Fae illusion stone, tapping into the pink mana as he tried to extract information from it. The stone was quite helpful, telling him the last location of the stone. Camp Retherlec Ray knew where it was, the location was famous.

After all, it was the main camp of the Army, from where the Empire launched attacks into Elven lands. A place filled with hundreds of thousands of Empire loyalists.

"I know where it is." Ray said, turning back to see Elder Mar looking at the artifacts.

"The crown of a Fae Prince. A leaf of the Dancing Tree. The Elven Queen's hat." he said, looking at them.

"I knew that these artifacts had gone missing in the Empire, but to see them all here….how wondrous." Elder Mar said.

"I am sorry if those are offensive. The Dean did-" Ray began, but was quickly interrupted.

"Not at all, we already knew that they'd ended up somewhere, just not where." Elder Mar said. "I find it quite interesting that he managed to collect so many of them, we thought they were held by different nobles,"

"Now, where did you say the Fae stone was?" Elder Mar asked, looking happier than he had five minutes ago.

"I didn't. The stone is in the middle of Camp Retherlec, or at least, it was years ago. " Ray said, heading back towards Anita.

"I see, that might be a problem. The battalion doesn't have many high ranking members, but some will teleport in within moments if we attack. An investigation may be out of order then." Elder Mar said.

Anita looked even paler now, her condition worsening as time went by. The sooner they could get her healed, the better.

"Did you get it?' Uncle Trevor asked, noticing his presence.

"The stone was last seen within the Camp Retherlec. I don't know what they did with-" Ray began, but Uncle Trevor cut him off.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"I do. The battalion found a stash of Fae weapons when they moved in there. I am sure the Fae stone is among them." Uncle Trevor said.

"Do you know where those weapons are now?" Aunty Ariana asked.

"Yes, with Rempeste." Uncle Trevor said, making Aunty Ariana shake her head in resignation. The Ranger battalion was only a slightly less protected location than Camp Retherlec.

"I can get you to it." Uncle Trevor said, his tone firm. "Just leave the army to me, you have to handle the rest, though. I have an idea of where the stone is, but little more."

The Dean suddenly moved his staff towards the ceiling, releasing a huge wave of purple mana. Elder Mar tensed, but his attention too seemed to be drawn towards the ceiling rather than the Dean.

"A teleportation attempt." Elder Mar said. "Do you have any idea who it is?"

"No, I can't get a read on it." the Dean said, releasing more mana. Ray felt the other mana, pressing against the Dean's defenses.

"I can't eithe- No, wait." Elder Mar said. "Satyr mana, it's Elder Ro!"

The Dean stopped defending, letting the other mana in. "Do you have any idea why another Elder would be teleporting in from a location other than Satri?"

"No," the Elder said, sounding worried as he looked at the portal he'd made coming here.

The teleportation completed, revealing Nora and her Mother dressed in full combat gear.

"So, who are we killing?" she asked.

"Where is Elder Ro?" Elder Mar asked, tilting his staff towards them.

"Elder Ro is securing the rebel base. The Xnarthan have started a 'cleansing' of rebels, though I think they are having a hard time finding one. I called them all into the base hours ago." the Rebel Queen said." How is Anita?"

"Not good." Aunty Ariana said. "Do you happen to have a Fae Duke somewhere in your base? I fear we're in great need of one."

"No, we haven't been able to get in contact with the Fae at all." the Rebel Queen said, shaking her head.

"I can't stay here for long, the base needs me. Can you tell me what the Xnarthan are planning?" she asked.

"The Emperor, not the Xnarthan. The Emperor is coming to Afrieal, and he wants to take the rest of the Elven continent while he's here." Aunty Ariana said.

"I see, so my source was correct." the Rebel Queen said, purple mana appearing around her as she teleported. "Tell me if you require any aid, the rebellion is at your disposal."

"Well, at least there is that." Aunty Ariana said, shaking her head as she looked at her comatose daughter.

"So, what's the plan?" Nora said.

"Ray will go and take some Trial in the Fae stone. I will get you there, you and Torrin can protect him while he does it." Trevor said.

"A Fae trial? But aren't those only for the Fae?" Nora asked, her confusion clear.

Ray coughed awkwardly, the secret wasn't really a secret anymore, but it was still awkward to tell it.

"I , ugh, am Fae. The Trial is the trial of adulthood." he said awkwardly, trying to gauge her reaction. Nora froze, looking at him in shock.

"Wait, you're Fae?…. Oh. I see." she said, deflating. “What does this Trial of adulthood consist of?"

Ray was confused. Why was she disappointed?

"I have no idea, the one part I gave was about the path I chose." Ray said. Wait, if he passed the Trial, then wouldn't he be a full Fae?

"I can take you back to Satri with me, if you wish." Elder Mar said, realizing what Ray had just remembered. The Empire would be barred to him after the Trial ended, it was risky enough after so many people knew about his Fae status, but after he had wings? The Xnarthan would discover him too fast.

"What do you mean? Why would Ray go with you?" Nora asked.

"I will be fully Fae after the Trial, it wouldn't be possible to remain here." Ray said.

"Oh." Nora said, a strange expression appearing on her face.

"I would suggest that we leave now. Anita doesn't have long to live" Uncle Trevor said.

The dean began casting, teleporting them into a forest.

"The battalion should be just a few meters from here, stay hidden while I deal with this." Uncle Trevor said, heading out as Ray conjured invisibility glitter.

"Rempeste Rantura! I challenge you to a duel of Generals! Come out and face your death!" Uncle Trevor shouted as arrows rained down on the encampment. So this was his master plan. Ray had no idea what a duel of Generals was, but he'd heard of General Rempeste. A powerful fighter with the ability to melt her opponents.

"What now?" Nora asked, whispering as they tried to hear what was happening.

"I guess we head out and try to not get killed." Ray said, stepping out of the bushes under the cover of invisibility. The guards were very distracted, watching as Uncle Trevor and General Rempeste circled each other in the sky.

The archers were aiming their arrows at Uncle Trevor instead of outside the encampment, giving them the chance to sneak in. Uncle Trevor must have known they would act like this, but it also meant that even if he won, he was going to die.

"Ray, move faster, we don't know how long we have." Torrin said. "Wait, do we know where it is?"

"No, but I have an idea how to find it." Ray said, heading towards the area with the highest amount of mana, The higher ranked people, and valuable items were bound to be there.

"Ray headed towards the big tent, walking through rows of soldiers, as they looked towards the sky. Hundreds of arrows, spears and other weapons were aimed towards Uncle Trevor, all prepared to kill him. The duel might as well be suicide.

But it did give them the opportunity to sneak in, the army was too obsessed with killing Uncle Trevor to notice the three teenagers sneaking in. The tent was guarded by an old man, the only one that didn't seem too interested in the battle. Ray cursed, this wasn't good. The old man was likely powerful, and thus not someone they could beat easily.