After asking a servant for directions, Kara walked around the interior of the castle to check all the rooms with Detect Presence, then she went outside and walked around the grounds.
He's really not here. Kara thought as she arrived back at the main entrance to the castle. Did we beat him here? She asked herself and went inside the castle and back to her room. She passed by the room that the mages had gathered in and saw them in deep conversation with Jessica and Josh. With the way the queen reacted to what I said, we might be here for a while.
Kara closed the door to her room and went to the bed, climbed onto it and sat in the lotus position, and entered a meditative state. Her train of thought became slightly derailed as she remembered what the queen's daughter had said about her lying to herself.
I'm not. Kara thought adamantly and used a technique to calm herself and her emotions. I did teach him for almost four years, I care a lot about what happens to him, and we need him. She took several deep breaths. The Goddess Chaiya chose him to lead this mission, so he needs to be here with us.
Kara wasn't crazy enough to try and do Josh's chant alone to talk to the Goddess and ask for guidance, and possibly for Hunter's current location, mainly because she was sure that she would be overwhelmed and would probably fall unconscious from the effort.
I have to wait for Josh and the others to finish their deliberations, then we can ask for guidance. Kara thought. The sooner we find him, the sooner we can start hunting these cracks down again and finish the Goddess' work.
Kara was sure of that course of action, so she relaxed and her thoughts thinned down as she pushed everything aside and focused on Hunter, despite her attempts to push those thoughts aside, too.
*
“That is a very interesting story, Imiryl.” Queen Celestina said a couple of hours later. She was still in the same room she had been in to meet with the Emissaries of Light, except that this time, there were two more chairs and Allirynn and Imiryl had been invited to sit down. “Can I ask you what you expect me to do about it?”
Imiryl started to speak angrily. “Your majesty, you need to...”
The queen held up a hand to stop her rant. “Please, don't make the mistake that most people make and react emotionally.”
“The man I love is dead!” Imiryl spat angrily.
“As are...” The queen shuffled a few papers around. “...fourty-four others at the hands of those nefarious people, who are also dead.” She said and looked at Imiryl. “The lamia wasn't involved in any of those other deaths. She was only involved with your group.”
“That doesn't matter!” Imiryl almost yelled. “She betrayed us to them!”
“Unfortunately, betraying your friends is not a crime.” The queen said and Imiryl jerked as if she had been slapped. “Don't get me wrong, because I believe it should be.” The queen said and then sighed. “Besides Allirynn, did she actively try to hurt you or your friends, or killed them with her own hand?”
Imiryl opened her mouth to say yes, which would have been a lie, so she changed her mind and sighed as she shook her head no. “She might as well have.”
Allirynn had been quiet for most of the story that Imiryl had told and the queen suspected that his version of events would be similar, except for the start of it, which happened before he had met the others that had become his friends.
“Because Allirynn would have died from her poison without extensive healing, she will be charged with murder. I will have her sent to the cells in the basement and will hold her for trial.” The queen said and looked at Allirynn. Her ability let her see who he was, what his abilities were, and where he was supposed to be. She wasn't sure what she should do with the first two parts of the information; but, she knew exactly what to do with the third.
“Allirynn, Imiryl, I have a job for you.” The queen said.
“No.” Allirynn said.
“Don't you want to hear what it is before saying that?” The queen asked.
Imiryl took Allirynn's hand and they looked at each other. He saw in her eyes that they couldn't just outright refuse, especially since the queen had seen to their healing. After a moment, he looked at the queen and nodded slightly.
“I need you two to deliver a message to my personal vassal.” The queen said. “It's very important that he gets this message as soon as possible.”
“What message?” Imiryl asked.
“It's vital information for him to have, especially since he's out there trying to fight the evil trying to take over this world.” The queen said. “I've almost finished writing it. I only need...”
“They did it!” Milly said as she ran into the room without knocking.
“Milly.” The queen admonished with just the tone of her voice.
“I'm sorry, mother. You said to tell you right away.” Milly said, and the queen nodded. “They constructed a really complicated spell to detect the energy the cracks give off, then the archmage adapted it into the locate spell!”
“That's actually a very smart use of both spells.” The queen said. “Did they say when it will be ready?”
Milly smiled and help up a piece of paper. “They said it requires a lot of mana, too.”
“That won't matter.” The queen said and took the piece of paper, copied it onto a new piece of paper, then added the new piece to one she had already filled out, rolled them up together and sealed them with wax and the royal kingdom seal. “My message is finished.” She said to Imiryl and Allirynn. “This relates to the security of the entire world and not just my kingdom.”
Both Imiryl and Allirynn perked up at those words.
“What do you say?” The queen asked. “Will you deliver this message for me?”
“It really does involve the safety of whole world?” Imiryl asked, and the queen nodded. “Then, we can't in good conscience refuse.”
“I am so glad you said that.” The queen said and stood up, walked around her desk, and handed the scroll to Allirynn. “Hunter is several miles outside the town called Agotorn.”
“Hunter!” Allirynn said and shot to his feet.
“You will take my fastest carriage and go there to deliver the message.” The queen said. “It's two days travel from here. He's going to be there for several days, so that's not a concern.”
“We will leave immediately.” Imiryl said and stood up as well.
“Not like that, you won't.” The queen said and rang a little bell.
Gavell came to the room and saw the door was already open. “Yes, your majesty?”
“Ready the fast carriage. These adventurers need clothes and supplies for a week, any equipment that they need, and...”
“Jessica has our things.” Allirynn said.
“Give them bags of holding and take them to the archmage as well.” The queen said. “Choose our strongest mage to go with them. They will not leave here unprotected.”
“What about guards?” Gavell asked and glanced at Allirynn. “At least two will be needed for an official escort.”
“Only if they can fit on the back on the carriage.” The queen said. “They will not ride inside and the mage will sit with the driver.”
“Yes, your majesty.” Gavell said and bowed to her, then turned to Allirynn and gave him a big warm smile. “Come with me, please.”
Allirynn and Imiryl left the room and followed Gavell to the front of the castle, where he arranged the fast carriage and gave them two bags of holding. He brought them back inside the castle and took them to the room where Jessica and the others were still talking to the court mages.
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“Excuse me, Archmage.” Gavell said.
Jessica stopped talking and turned to face him. “Yes, what is it?”
“Allirynn requests that his things be returned.” Gavell said.
“What? Oh!” Jessica looked at the tall tanned man behind Gavell and smiled. “I'm glad you're feeling better, Allirynn.”
Allirynn didn't say anything and just nodded as he held out his bag of holding. Jessica smiled and opened hers, waved her staff at it, and all of the things Alliryn had around him on the stretcher flew out of her bag. They landed on the floor with a clatter and several thumps. Allirynn quickly put all of them into his bag of holding and was relieved to see that everything was there. He tied the bag to his belt and turned away.
“You're not even going to say thank you?” Josh asked, slightly scandalized.
Allirynn turned back around and squinted his eyes at him. “Why would I do that?”
“We rushed to get to you, I healed you, and we brought you to the capital.” Josh said. “You would be dead now if it wasn't for us.”
Allirynn made his hands into fists. “We should have been healed a week ago.” He said and let anger color his voice. “We wouldn't have suffered in agony all this time if you had.”
“Hey, I was busy saving the world!” Josh countered. “If we don't seal those cracks...”
Imiryl stepped forward and took Allirynn's hand. “If you were half as good as you claim to be, you would have healed the two people that were suffering right in front of you and then worried about the people you might potentially be saving later.”
“He was doing his best!” Evangeline said in Josh's defense and took his hand. “Even blessed by the Goddess, his energy isn't limitless! He needed to rest a lot after each time we called her for help!”
“Yes, and isn't that special!” Imiryl said and her face showed her anger. “Why didn't you just wait for a few hours, or even a day, before travelling to the next crack and calling for her help again? Does it always take up all of your energy to call for help, or is just the calling itself that drains you? Why didn't you use up most of your healing on us first and then called her for help? You were going to be unconscious afterwards anyway, weren't you?”
Everyone fell quiet at those words. None of the emissaries, Josh included, had tried to do anything else, or even considered doing something else, as they travelled back to the capital and sealed the cracks.
“All you did was rush to the next crack and exhaust yourself, while Allirynn and I writhed in pain.” Imiryl almost spat.
“Why didn't you say anything?” Jessica asked. “We could have...”
“We were too exhausted from fighting the pain and our throats were damaged!” Imiryl exclaimed. “You know this! You were right there! Didn't you hear us whining in pain? Didn't you see how uncomfortable we were?”
Jessica closed her mouth, because she had seen and heard them... and she had ignored them because she couldn't help them... which was what the others had done, too. Tears sprung to her eyes, because she had failed to do the very thing that she had promised to do. She only helped them a little to stop the poisons from killing them, then didn't help them any more. She caught the tears automatically and stored them to use later.
“Well, at least one of you still has some compassion.” Imiryl said and glared at them.
“Diofra, the queen has asked for a strong mage to go with these adventurers to deliver a message.” Gavell said and the woman nodded and came over to him.
“I can... deliver a message.” Jessica said as her tears stopped and took out her staff to perform the spell.
“It's not that kind of message.” Gavell said. “Thank you.”
“Oh.” Jessica said, slightly disappointed, and put her staff away.
Gavell led Allirynn, Imiryl, and Diofra back through the castle to the large area where the blacksmiths, tailors, leather workers, and other artisans were. Allirynn was surprised to find a strong and lightweight leather wrapping for his arms and legs at the leather workers, and a nearby tailor saw what he was doing with it and quickly altered a thick tunic to remove the sleeves and shortened the hem on the bottom to allow easier movement, then asked the leather worker for the widest belt that he had. The leather worker had to look around and then handed over a six inch wide belt with a large buckle.
“That's perfect.” The tailor said and waved to Allirynn. “You need this.”
“I have clothing.” Allirynn said, and the tailor laughed.
“Not like this.” The tailor said and held the tunic up. Allirynn looked at the missing sleeves and at the tailor's face. “I saw you are using straps of leather to squeeze your muscles and give them resistance. You're a combat fighter. You need your arms free.”
Allirynn was reluctant, since his motives had been read so easily, then he felt a hand on his arm. He turned his head to look at Imiryl and she nodded. He held in his sigh and turned back to nod at the tailor. The tailor handed him the tunic and Allirynn started to put it on.
“You'll need these for your hands.” The tailor said and hopped around his small stall like a kangaroo and kept grabbing little things. “This for your forehead to keep the sweat at bay. These to wrap your ankles.”
Allirynn was surprised at the energy the man expended gathering things, which he piled on the table, then he handed the huge belt to Allirynn for him to wear. Once it was put on and the things from his old belt were transferred to it, the tailor handed over all of the things he had gathered. When the tailor was done, Allirynn was almost covered from head to toe in protective wrappings that each had their uses.
“How does it feel?” The tailor asked and carefully eyed Allirynn. “Can you do a punch or two?”
Allirynn quickly did a one two combination and added an uppercut, and heard a satisfied sigh. He wasn't sure who it was from, though.
“Now the lady.” The tailor said and turned to Imiryl. “What would you like?”
Imiryl shook her head, because she didn't feel like shopping.
“I'm not sure of your class; but, you're not wearing anything even close to armor, so you must have a magic base instead.” The tailor said and went back into his stall. “Hm. Magic. Magic. What do I have that... no, she needs better movement...”
They all stood there and watched the tailor as he went through a bunch of clothing.
“No. No.” The tailor tossed things from one chest to another. “No. N... wait.” He stopped and went to the other chest and picked up what he had just thrown. “Maybe.”
The tailor walked over to his pedal powered sewing machine and started to work.
“We don't have a lot of time.” Gavell said.
“I'm... almost... done.” The tailor said with strain and concentration clear in the tone of his voice. He worked for a few more minutes, then he barked a laugh. “Yes! This should do it!”
Everyone stared as he picked up the ugliest and misshapen brown lump of clothing they had ever seen. It had sewing and thread marks in a haphazard pattern all over it. He saw their reactions and laughed.
“It's inside out.” The tailor said and dug his hands inside the lump of cloth, then flicked his hands once, then again, and pulled. With an almost popping sound, the piece of clothing turned right-side out.
Imiryl caught her breath at the sight of the beautiful dress-like suit outfit. “It's beautiful.”
“Ha. You say that now.” The tailor put the outfit down onto the table and leaned out of his stall to wave to a woman two stalls over. “I've got some coloring work for you!”
“I'll be right there!” The woman yelled as she tumbled out of her stall, then she ran towards them, almost drunkenly. Her clothes were dishevelled and her hair was a mess.
“How many times do I have to tell you to stop running when I call you?” The tailor asked with a smile as he caught the woman before she fell. “You know I hate calling the healers because you rushed.”
The woman laughed “You always have such great things for me to alter!” She said happily and didn't seemed to be drunk at all. She saw Allirynn's and Imiryl's startled faces and laughed again. “I'm not drunk. I have a condition called Hobbled and it makes me terribly clumsy.”
“How did you...” Imiryl started to ask.
“I was born with it, so it's not a spell, a curse, or something that can be healed.” The woman said. “Thankfully, my children are fine and didn't inherit it.”
“You didn't think that the risk...”
“We love each other and would love our children just as much, whether they had the condition or not.” The woman said and looked at the tailor. “Now, what do you have for me?”
“This.” The tailor said and waved to the outfit.
The woman caught her breath, just as Imiryl had. “It's beautiful.”
“We just need a color scheme from the lady.” The tailor said and the woman looked at her.
“Red. Like fire.” Imiryl said without having to think about it.
“Ooo, fire! I haven't done fire before!” The woman said. “Give me a minute to look at it.”
“Take your time.” The tailor said and pat her hand, then glanced at Imiryl. “What type of magic do you use?”
“I'm an ice maiden.” Imiryl said, and a hush fell over the people nearby.
“...and you want clothing that looks like fire.” The tailor asked, and she nodded. “Well, the customer is always right.” He said with a smile. “You are going to look great in this.”
“All right, I think I have it.” The woman said and put her hands on the cloth. Both her hands and the cloth glowed green and then the cloth started to ripple. Mana flowed over it and as it did, the clothing changed from the ugly brown it had been and became shades of red, orange, yellow, and bits of white. The collar, cuffs, and hems of the outfit all changed to a fiery blue and the fire pattern emanated from them, so the brightest colors were in the center and the darkest near the edges.
“Would you look at that.” The tailor said and picked it up. “I've never seen you do something like this before!”
“I was inspired!” The woman said. “Quick! Let her change into it!”
“Yes! We need to see it in use!” The tailor said and motioned for Imiryl to enter the stall, then closed over a changing area with a curtain and they all waited. A few minutes later, the curtain slid back and Imiryl stood there wearing an outfit that she absolutely adored. It was the perfect combination of her and Jarcon's colors, her ice and his fire, and her face was covered in tears.
“He would have loved it.” Allirynn whispered and took her into his arms and let her cry.
“A masterpiece.” The tailor said and admired his work. “Even I'm impressed and I made the thing.”
The woman laughed. “I told you that you make great things!”
“You made it look spectacular.” The tailor said and put an arm around her to hold her steady.
“I still need to do the boots.” The woman said, and the tailor laughed.
Imiryl handed her boots over without a word and the woman changed them to match the rest of the outfit. A man walked over and gave Imiryl two focusing rods and a handful of scrolls.
“What are these for?”
“You'll need them.” The man said and walked away. Imiryl stared at them for only a moment, then she put them into her bag of holding.
“Diofra, do you need anything?” Gavell asked, and she shook her head. “Then let's get you all to the carriage and on your way.”
They walked over to the small courtyard where the carriage was and Gavell introduced them to the driver, then Allirynn and Imiryl climbed inside and Diofra climbed up to sit beside the driver. Gavell motioned to the guards and talked under their breath for a few moments, then one of the guards climbed onto the back and sat down on the small shelf there and strapped in so he wouldn't fall off.
Gavell went to the carriage and opened the door, then held out a small sack of gold coins. “Good luck.”
“Thank you.” Imiryl said and took the sack, and Allirynn nodded.
Gavell smiled and stepped back, waved at the driver, and the carriage left the courtyard at its best speed.