Morning still shackled the sun to the horizon, its flames peeking from behind the large white tower that sprouted from Bervolt. The trio and their new guest had found great success in teamwork, making the quest they held for passage far less daunting than it had been yesterday.

Tim wiggled his butt around, trying to squeeze through the narrow crack in a small face of rocks. Cody and Sariel couldn't hear a word of his muffled speech, but judging by the random spikes in volume, he was cursing as the nuttle dodged his hands.

Finally, he slid out with a cry of success, clutching a gooey and writhing tail while he cracked the biggest grin on the planet. Sariel was quick to follow suit, infecting Cody as he accepted her boisterous hug.

"We did it," Cody sighed happily, ending his half of the hug while Sariel still squeezed him. "We need to find the protagonist now."

"Protagonist?" Tim piped, drawling his voice in a mocking whine. "What the skat is that supposed to be? More fancy garbage you rich snobs keep makin up?"

Cody perked, his tone rising to a teacherly boom as he moved away from Sariel to stand over the child. "It is an individual driven by a just cause. A one in a million lucky draw carved soft so they may attain perfection at the end of their journey, and walk as the world draws and turns around them."

"Yup, sounds like a mighty big ego of an arse there," Tim replied, spitting to the side and picking at the slivers of food jammed between his teeth. "We don't got any narcissistic skattywoos unless ya count my brother. But th' only thing revolvin around him is fat black flies an what's left o' his loopy brain."

"We'll see about that," Cody said, pulling past the child as his silky cloak battered Tim in the face. "Bervolt will be the first to spread my name in this land."

Tim waited for Sariel to pass him, keeping in stride with the loony lady and her dinosaur pet. Cody was a couple skips ahead, his steps bounding faster with a spurt of joyous energy while he hummed. Far enough away to pay no mind to Tim's conversation.

"Hey lady, what's a protagonist?"

Sariel dropped her gaze on the boy, her mouth falling open with an airy hum as she grabbed her chin. "Now let me think..."

Tim rolled his eyes. "Careful, don't hurt yerself."

"I got it!" she yelled, barely receiving a glance from Cody as Tim leapt up in surprise. "A pro-tag-onist." She lifted a finger for every part, her smile laced with false promises and a cache of unconventionally erratic knowledge. "A professional tag... onist."

"Onist? What's an onist?"

"Well, when Rombel was still around he used to call my boss Medila an 'onist person'. That must mean Cody is lookin for a professional tag player that's just like my boss Medila. Though I don't think she was any good at tag, bristlbacks always got the best o' her face."

Tim slowly nodded. "An honest, professional tag player..."

Hord'anne snorted, moaning as Sariel ignored his shaking head.

"Well, we don't got none of those, and even if we did, Mudface is acting real weird," Tim said, pointing at the lanky magician as he tried to crack his knuckles, seemingly muttering short and indecipherable one-liners under his breath while he chuckled to himself.

Sariel laughed, patting Tim's shoulder with a couple sharp slaps. "Oh don't worry, he likes to have one sided conversations when he thinks nobody can hear him. He has quite the imagination if I do say so myself."

The group was close, mere seconds from the towering crown of wooden pillars, and few short minutes from the closest entrance. Cody didn't sneak this time, quest clutched firmly in one hand, with the amphibian stuffed satchel clutched in the other. His determination had turned him cocky, the trance of confidence nearly stopping his fragile heart when it was shattered by the first guard's fearful gasp.

Her knuckles flexed around her spear, every muscle in her body tightening at the sight of him. Nostalgia coaxed a smirk out of him. That was the proper reaction around here, meaning some of Bervolt had shirked the spell.

The woman remained rigid, her clear eyes digging into Cody while her partner stepped forwards. "Welcome to Bervolt adventurer." He jumped with a pitched scream, hugging his weapon before staring at Cody with an awkward smile. "O-oh! Wait... you finally got all the blasted creatures, haven't you?"

Cody held out the satchel, Tim and Sariel finally rounding into view, with Hord'anne's pounding steps to follow. The guard didn't pay Hord'anne his due screams, eyes clouded by malicious magic as he skimmed the paper, then pocketed the satchel without even looking inside.

"I can't thank you enough adventurer, now we can guard against the real dangers to Bervolt!" the guard announced, pumping his fist to celebrate the ironic victory.

The woman hesitated as her partner stared her down, hands trembling on her weapon while the sight of Hord'anne sucked the blood from her face and wobbled her knees. "Y-yes adventurer. W-w-we'd be hap..." She couldn't help herself, stumbling back a few skips as her spear held her up, the distance giving her a bit of strength. "Happy to have you all."

Cody gave the two a sharp nod, so submerged in his fantasies of ending the protagonist he didn't realise he was chuckling to himself again. But the eyes of the woman managed to pull him out, her cold gaze softened to worry as she stopped before the massive doors, her partner already working at trying to pull open the two man job.

She wasn't looking at Cody anymore, nor watching Hord'anne in horror, and it was quite likely that she hadn't even acknowledged Sariel's existence. She was staring at Tim, her entire body anchored to the ground as she flicked her gaze left and right, before softly mouthing a word.

"Timber."

Cody paid the boy a glance, watching him sternly shake his head as the woman discretely motioned for him to join her side.

'They knew eachother. A mother and son?'

Cody frowned. That would make her one hell of an unqualified parent, going so far as to leave her kid outside all night to fend for himself. A sibling would make more sense.

Nonetheless, Tim didn't budge, tightly paired to Sariel with his arms folded and shoulders squared. The act of defiance pulled a sharp sigh from the woman, but her face only showed dread as she willed herself towards the door, paying the gargantuan beast and smirking magician her clear horror at their presence.

Despite her mind holding against it, she joined her partner, pulling at the door until it crack open a sliver.

"That should do the trick," the male guard huffed, dramatically wiping his brow as he held up Cody's crumpled quest, his voice falling to a griping mutter. "Course due payment is to be expected."

He tossed a small sack at Cody, which he tried to catch with one hand, only to fumble about bouncing it between his palms before dropping it in the dirt. Unphased with how he'd ruined the entire scene, the guard slipped a silver stamp out of his pocket, pressing it into the sheet with the faintest dusting of silver glitter shooting out.

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Cody quickly took the paper back, hoping to catch the spellbreaker before it faded. But the parchment in his hands was now useless, the magic ripped from its inked pores to create a key to their passage into Bervolt. The craftsmanship truly was a wonder to behold.

Cody snapped at the door, smirking while Hord'anne thudded forwards and jammed his fingers in. With the smallest tug, the gate ripped open, tearing up a mound of dirt and grass that had never seen the thick fortress move so far.

The woman gave the new landscaping a glance, training her gaze to the ground while she slowly backed into her position.

Cody smiled. 'At least she was smart.'

He passed her, another ghost to fade into parchment when he was finished his work. If they gave up the protagonist peacefully, the village would be a softer start to this tale. But he was ready for anything.

Any genre that didn't mildly rhyme with 'go dance'.

His determined strides stopped as Tim pushed past him, a small and starved blur running off into the town and out of a sight. Not a single warning to escape his lips as tragedy prepared to take its stroll through the spellbound community. Hord'anne's thundering steps behind him, Cody entered the space, stopped a couple meters from the gate where the path thickened with freshly paved stones, the clean trail welcoming him deeper into the lines of ornate houses and shops with open arms.

He felt the magic everywhere, a fine dusting that settled on every fence post to potted marigold. It was the same signature as the spell that had settled heavy into the minds of the guards he had disposed of, but instead of a fine dusting, that magic had been thick and clustered like the core of a spell he would expect from a familiar like Crow. He saw no source to the strange dust, either long gone, or hidden with deliberate magic that his senses would need more to detect.

Regardless, there was far too much. Far too much for a normal sorcerer, blessed, booned, or otherwise.

He discretely wiggled his fingers into his shirt as they walked the road, feeling Alina's crystal and clutching it. Listening for her guidance.

She never told him to run or flee, but he hoped she had some wisdom to ease his doubts.

He felt the presence in his mind, Alina's words echoing.

"As if threaded by fate, Cody entered the town with his companions. He told himself it was a hunt for the protagonist, but perhaps the strange magics around him were the true lure. A curious cat, a fly that had flown too close to the sweetest honey. Regardless, this thread he followed was but one in the web he had stepped into. Was the one at its center the protagonist he so desperately sought to destroy?"

"Do I belong in this story?" Cody hushed, trying to hide his frustration at how vague Alina had been. "Is the protagonist here?"

"You do now. One walks this town, enchanted by the world around them. Another seeks vengeance, for a past they cannot change. And a third wears a mask, so they may not find their turmoil in their reflection."

"Three?" Cody hissed, grabbing Sariel and Hord'anne's attention.

"And the fourth is the fool, knowing not boon from bane." Alina continued, her voice shifting to show some emotion. Humour perhaps?

Cody dropped the crystal once Alin'a presence withdrew, grinding his teeth in frustration. Four. Four protagonists. There was only three of them, that was hardly fair.

Unless that Maddison fellow Sariel was always on about would be meeting them soon. It was morning, they were in the town. He eyed Sariel, her usual smile downcast as she looked around at the bustling town for the person that had promised to meet her.

"I'm sure he's here." Cody reassured, his words reviving a light in her eyes as she nodded in agreement. "I know a way to get his attention too."

He swiveled around, eyeing the small audience that bustled around the streets and shops. Many of the townsfolk held the malicious magic in their heads, and were trapped in their loop of tasks. From chatting quietly on the side of the road, to reading the same page of a book on a bench, to even jogging back and forth up the main road, they were all tranced. But there was no telling how verbal commands would interact with the curse.

He sucked in a deep breath, his voice travelling down the main road, through every open door and window, and through the alleys closest to him. "People of Bervolt! I have an important announcement to make, join me in the town center!"

In unison, they stopped their tasks, slowly turning their attention to Cody.

Hord'anne grunted in discomfort at the reaction, the large beast gently grabbing Sariel to coax her onto his shoulder. Cody unlatched his spell book, turning to keep down the path, and realising the many crunching footsteps that mimicked his own. Almost everyone that had heard his call were following him now, a few steps behind in a blanket of silence that smothered his mind. Very few still kept to their tasks, keeping their heads down or rushing in doors at the sight of him. He had seen a man tanning skins follow such an action, giving him a wary look before walking into his house with a bundle of papers.

None of the villagers were going to the town square as he had requested, they were simply following him, and him alone. So he was hoping the white tower was a good guide to find it.

The walk felt like a hundred years, the air growing tense as Cody noticed the crowd behind him growing. Each cursed townsfolk he passed mimicked the ones that had first heard him speak. He gripped his pendant again, hoping to hear Alina's voice as the nerves began to build up.

Was this really a town for a protagonist? Already befouled with magic?

The silence behind him crawled into his mind. Alina had nothing else to say, and he was a part of this story now. There was no escaping it until he finished it.

Soon the streets opened up to a courtyard of grass, lined with shops and stalls. Many of the villagers manning and browsing the area had already noticed Cody's crowd and joined it, but few remained silent spectators. One was a woman with dusty gold hair, she eyed Cody from the door of her shop, shook her head, and went back inside what looked to be a bakery. But the tower had indeed lead him to the town square, sitting aloof upon a dark mansion that likely housed a person of importance. A lord or a mayor, or perhaps the sorcerer that now held the town under a spell. It was too far for him to see any magic that may have emanated from the structure.

"Say... Cody." Sariel said, her voice a quiet squeak above his head as she sat on Hord'anne's shoulder. She was pointing ahead, through the large courtyard of grass they had reached, and to the towering effigy of a stone woman. "Ever seen a gal that tall before? Big as a tree, colour me jealous."

Cody laughed, finding some serenity in Sariel's offhanded comment. "Can't say I have. At least not a human that big..."

He beheld the statue on the stage for a moment, skimming her long chiseled dress for any symbols or runes that would give her name. But her clothes were plain, her arms bare, and her hair unbound and waterfallling over one shoulder. She was just a woman, dusted with the same magic that settled over the town, and standing before three wrought cages. Empty and polished to shine in the sunlight.

Cody looked up at Sariel, "Do you recognise her?"

Sariel shook her head.

Cody hummed in deep thought, ever aware of the quiet footsteps behind them as the crowd grew, and the townsfolk came so close he could feel their breath at the back of his neck. He turned to the masses, holding up his palm for them the wait, and smiling as they complied while he stepped onto the grass. The stage was too far for his voice to have any effect over the courtyard, so, he found an empty bench to stand on. He knew words to be the fastest cry of attention, it would take a simple few to call an entire village to his presence. And within this village, the protagonists undoubtedly sleuthed and festered. And perhaps the one to curse the townsfolk would join their side as well.

He pulled in a deep breath, raising his arms in dramatic preparation for one of the many rehearsed speeches under his belt, but Sariel's ringing voice had him choking instead of speaking.

"Why Cody! Hord'anne's noggin has a red light!"

Cody cleared his throat, eyes squeezed tight in irritation before he cocked his head over his shoulder to meet her gaze. "Excuse me?"

Her glowing eyes double sized as she flicked her gaze above Cody's head, killing the glare he was holding as he went a little red in panicked embarrassment. Now would be a horrible time to have something on his face.

"You've got one too!" Sariel hollered, intensely pointing at whatever she saw above him. "Why I never saw anything like it before, I swear. It just popped right up!" Sariel cocked her head up like a frightened cat, feeling her straggly bun. "I don't have one, do I?"

Cody stared at the empty air above her, shoulders sinking with disappointment until he looked at Hord'anne. Like Sariel had thoroughly pointed out, a blood red beacon hovered above the beast. Fragmented light magic sticking to his presence and spotlighting him with an eerie glow.

He shuddered at the thought of such an unnatural spell holding him as well.

"Well, do I have one?" Sariel said, moaning in disappointment when Cody wordlessly shook his head. "Why do you suppose you two got one? I completed the quest too!"

"It's just a light anyways," Cody muttered, eyeing the townsfolk as they shifted and muttered at the edge of the grass. Not a single one crossing the threshold. Raising his arms once more, the little strength in his cracking voice cut through the space. "People of Bervolt, what a pleasure it is to gaze upon your insignificant faces!" He popped on the biggest smirk he could muster when heads started to lift for him, a little more life sparking in the eyes of the spell struck people. "I'm Cody, and these are my friends Hord'anne and Sariel. We heard you have a new hero in town." Cody dipped his voice to a growling whisper, eyes glinting with the raging fire of battle. "So where is he?"