Original Torn Asunder, Brought Together

As this year comes to a close, I was looking back on one of my biggest accomplishments of 2023, completing a National Novel Writing Month project for the first time (this was my second attempt but my first time finishing). I meant to share this project a month ago when I finished but it apparently must have slipped my mind so I guess now it's my New Year's gift to you all. I hope you enjoy it if you feel like reading my 50,000+ rough draft which I hopefully won't forget to revise and rewrite into a proper novel.

You can find a link to the Google Doc file here, which comment enabled. But if you don't want to check that out then I'm also going to be posting the chapters here so that you can read it that way if you want to, instead.

Content Warning: Self-harm, major character death

Spoiler: Chapter 1 - Linus

They were called heroes. Alastor Starborne, the white wizard who was said to have been the greatest mage of their time and the youngest man to ever graduate from the wizarding college of Arahbeth. Cassandra, an orphan raised by the Holy Order to become the most powerful healer of her time. John Wolfe, an old soldier who had stepped out of retirement when his country needed him and the greatest marksman in the land. And of course their appointed leader, Linus Irons, a guy with a sword and a failure of a knight.

The four compatriots had been sent out on a journey to rescue a captive princess who had been stolen away from her home by a mysterious dark knight who appeared from nowhere one day to throw the kingdom of Rehlia into chaos. It was a long and arduous journey filled with many detours and adventures, but at long last they had managed to track down the villain's hiding place.

A shiver ran down Linus's spine as he stared up at the old ruined monastery but he hoped that his team members didn't notice. As the leader, it was his job to present an air of confidence at all times to bolster the others. Not that he ever felt confident.

A wave of reassuring calmness washed over him from the magical sword sheathed at his hip, as if the spirit of the blade itself was trying to comfort him. He tried to ignore it. It was the sword's fault that he was in this mess at all. If it hadn't called out to him that fateful he wouldn't have been in that mess in the first place. He would never have been made a knight. He would never have been assigned to guard the princess. Never would have met the love of his life. Never would have had her ripped from his hands, almost literally, by the vile sorcerer they were about to face. He wouldn't have to rescue her, just to hand her back off to an arranged marriage to some foreign prince she'd never even met, without ever being able to tell her how he felt. It wasn't his place to feel that way, after all, and it wasn't as if there was even the slightest chance she could return his feelings anyway.

"So this is it." Linus was pulled away from his intrusive thoughts as Alastor walked up beside him, leaning on his staff and squinting up at the ruins. "I thought it would be bigger. Oh, well, at least we can finally get out of the sun for a bit."

"Are you alright, Alastor?" Cassandra walked up to them, hand outstretched and glowing softly. "Do you need healing or anything?"

"Relax, my darling." Alastor smiled at the priestess with his blood-red eyes, which always stood out amid the mage's snowy complexion. "All I need is to see that beautiful face of yours."

Cassandra blushed nearly as red as her wild curly hair and turned away. She always got flustered whenever the white wizard of Arahbeth complimented her, though Linus noted that her reactions seemed a bit different lately.

"Save the flirting for later!" The final member of their party yelled as he caught up to them, bow still at the ready. "We've got a fight to win."

Leave it to John to be the most focused on their mission. If Linus had his way, then the retired knight would be the one leading their group. He was certainly more qualified than the rookie who managed to fail his only assignment, which was what led them to this in the first place.

Linus took in a deep breath and turned to his companions. He had never been comfortable giving big speeches but it was what was required of him.

"This is it," he opened, still working out where he was going with this. "Within these walls waits the dark knight and, hopefully, Princess Elenora. I know we've been through a lot these past few months and faced many hardships, but at long last we've reached our goal. We still don't know what the dark knight is capable of, and there's a chance not all of us will make it through this alive. But we are bound by duty to see this through to the end. Before we head in, I just want you all to know that serving alongside you all has been an honor."

"Ah, save it." Alastor smiled mischievously. "Let's just get this over with so that we can finally go home."

"For once I agree with the snow skin," John nodded while Alastor winced at the slur. If the old knight had one flaw, it was that he could be rather callous with his words. Linus was pretty sure he didn't mean anything by comments like that but at times it could be hard to tell. "Let's save the speeches for after we've finished the mission."

"Very well then." Linus nodded and turned back to the old monastery. "Let's go!"

The inside of the ruined building proved not to be as dilapidated as the outside, but there were still a few points where the old stone walls or floors had given out, making progression difficult. Linus wondered for a moment if they had the wrong place after all, until they finally reached the entrance to the main chapel.

"So, you've finally come." The dark knight sat casually upon a large podium at the other end of the room, clad in his demonic-looking armor, which seemed to shine blue in the sunlight filtering in through several holes and cracks along the ceiling. "I was starting to think that I would have to pay you another visit. To think that you would think so little of… Where is King Cyrus?"

The armored figure stood up and looked around, seeming genuinely confused that the king wasn't there.

"Do you really think that His Highness would come all of the way out here just to face the likes of you?" John asked, bitter malice in his voice. "He has far more important things to deal with and we will be more than sufficient to handle you."

Linus winced. He had been there when the dark knight had taken the princess and knew precisely why he was expecting the king.

"I told him that if he didn't face me himself, I would kill the princess," the dark knight explained, a hint of contempt in his voice. "Either he genuinely didn't care if his own daughter survived or he successfully called my bluff. It's always been hard to tell with that dastard."

"How dare you insinuate such things about the king!" John snapped. "He is ten times the man that a dog like you could ever be!"

"As blindly loyal as always, I see." The dark knight sighed and shook his head. "If anyone here is a dog, it is you, Sir Wolfe. You've always lapped at his heels like one."

"Wait a moment, I recognize your voice." John's eyes widened in shocked recognition and he drew his bow. "Curse you, you knife-eared cur! Even I never thought that you would stoop this low."

"A bit slow on the draw, aren't we?" The dark knight chuckled. "I would have thought that you would have recognized your old squire. I guess you've filled in your old age."

"Um, excuse me, but would someone mind filling the rest of us in on whatever's going on here?" Alastor spoke up.

"This… demon is none other than the disgraced knight Magros Tyl," John explained bitterly.

"You mean the one that kidnapped Princess Elowen twenty years ago?" Cassandra asked, worried.

"The very same." John nodded. "I should have known. Was it not enough for you to take the king's sister all those years ago? Now you must take his daughter as well? Hasn’t His Highness suffered more than enough by your hand?"

Magros folded his arms. "The king has not even begun to suffer. He is still the same spoiled princeling he was when I was charged with protecting Elowen.”

“I will make you eat those words, knife-ear.” John grit his teeth as he knocked an arrow, bloodlust in the old soldier’s sharp brown eyes.

Cassandra flinched, apparently in anticipation of the fight about to break out. Alastor gripped his staff tightly in one hand while conjuring a ball of flame above the other while their opponent drew a large poleaxe seemingly from nowhere. Linus prepared to draw his sword, though a question still weighed heavily on his mind, gnawing at him as everyone else seemed to ignore a very important detail. He was about to enter the fray along with everyone else, but prompting from the sword pushed him to finally ask.

“Where’s Princess Elenora?”

Magros turned his attention to the young knight. “Finally, someone asks the important question. I’m sure the princess will be glad to know that at least one person is actually willing to spare her a passing thought.”

With a wave of his hand, a spire of dark flames erupted beside Magros, burning away until all that was left was the princess sitting there. Her dress was torn and her hair was a mess but, to Linus’ relief, she didn’t appear to be otherwise harmed.

“Sir Irons!” Princess Elenora cried out once she spotted her bodyguard.

“Princess!” Linus called back. “Are you alright?”

“I…” She hesitated and glanced up at Magros before turning her gave back to Linus. “I am unharmed.”

Linus let out a sigh of relief, just then realizing that he had been holding his breath, then took out his sword. “As long as the Princess remains safe, I hold no ill will towards you, regardless of the crimes of the past. Let her go and we will spare you.”

“No! John shouted. “We can’t possibly let this monster go!”

“It would appear that there is one honorable knight still in service of the kingdom.” Magros chuckled. “If only there had been more like you in my time, things may have played out differently. The princess will leave this place unharmed, one way or another, but I am afraid that you will not be leaving without a fight. Now, the time for words has come to an end. Show me what you are capable of!”

Magros raised his free hand and a bubble manifested around the princess, then he brandished his weapon and the fighting broke out. The dark knight charged straight for John, the archer releasing his first arrow only for his target to swipe it aside with his ax. Alastor tossed his fireball directly in Magros’ path, only for him to abruptly stop before he could run into the flames, swinging his weapon in the mage’s direction and releasing an arcing slash of dark flames that launched in his direction. Cassandra managed to conjure up a protective barrier of light in front of him, which redirected the magical attack harmlessly to the side. Linus charged Magros from behind with his sword drawn but haltered before he could swing.

“Never hesitate the strike an opponent from behind in battle!” The dark knight spun on his heel and backhanded him across the face, sending the boy flying back onto the cold stone floor. “Chivalry is an admiral trait but a battle is no time to hold back!”

Linus rolled back onto his feet and braced himself for another attack, but Magros’ attention was diverted back to the others as dodged out of the way of another arrow and a bolt of lightning. Linus stood up, just as Cassandra ran up to him.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” Linus replied.

“No you’re not, you’re bleeding. Here, let me heal you.” Cassandra held her hand out to his cheek, which Linus only realized was stinging just as a pulse of magic relieved the pain.

“Thanks.” Linus nodded as she pulled her hand away, and scanned the room. John and Alastor were keeping Magros distracted, alternating attacks so that the dark knight kept having to switch his focus back and forth between them. That left Linus with with opening he needed. “Come on, we need to rescue the princess.”

“Right!”

Linus and Cassandra ran over to where the princess was being held captive and Linus reached a hand out to the dark barrier surrounding her. He had to pull back as soon as he touched it, as it sent a shock of pain down his arm that somehow both burned and chilled him to the bone. He could see the princess gasp and she reflexively reached out to him, banging on the shadowy barrier from the inside though no sound would pass through. Linus was relieved that at least the magic didn’t seem to be hurting her.

“Do you think you can dispel this?” Linus turned back to the red-haired priestess.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Cassandra nodded solemnly. “But my skills in magic primarily lie in healing. I’m not sure how much use I’ll be.”

“Just do your best. I’m sure you can do it.” Linus put a hand on her shoulder reaffirming, before bending down so that the princess would be able to more easily see him. “We’re going to get you out of there.”

Princess Elenora gazed at him intently, watching his lips to see what he was saying. Then she nodded and tried to smile, though Linus could see tears running down her cheeks. She tried to say something which he wasn’t able to make out.

“It’s no use.” Cassandra shook her head. “This dark magic is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and I can’t seem to dispel it.”

Linus clenched his fist and punched the floor in frustration. It looked like they were going to have to defeat Magros before they could free the princess. He could only hope that she had enough air in there, though Linus did feel that the dark knight seemed genuine in not wanting to hurt her, as paradoxical as that seemed when he was the one who had trapped her in the first place.

The voice pulsed through Linus’ mind, as his sword spoke to him. It didn’t communicate through words, he wasn’t sure that the spirit within could even talk in the traditional sense of the term, but he had always been able to understand the holy blade’s intent.

“It looks like this cage is made from some kind of… woven shadow?” Linus said, standing back up again.

“Yeah, that sounds right.” Cassandra nodded. “But I don’t know how to ‘unweave’ it.”

“Eos says that we don’t need to.” Linus raised the sword in question. “I should be able to cut through it.”

“Are you sure about this?” Cassandra asked.

“No,” Linus admitted. “But Eos is, and I trust her.”

More than myself, Linus mentally added, though he didn’t voice that thought as he readied to strike. He nodded to the princess, who backed away from the edge of the barrier, and swung his blade. It sliced cleanly through the dark magic and the cage evaporated quickly.

“Are you alright, Princess Elenora?” Linus knelt down and held his free hand out. The princess accepted it and pulled herself up before pulling him into a tight hug, tears streaking down her cheeks. He stood there stiffly, caught off guard, before patting her on the shoulder assuringly. He tried desperately to ignore her bosom heaving against his chest. She was just distraught and he would not, could not, mistake this gesture for anything else. “We’re getting you out of here.”

Cassandra held her hands, which glowed softly as she waved them around the air behind the princess. “She doesn’t seem to be hurt, at least not physically.”

“No, no, I’m fine.” Princess Elenora shakily took a step back. “Sir Tyl never laid a hand on me. I’m just a bit shaken up.”

“That’s good to hear.” Linus mentally kicked himself for wishing she hadn’t pulled away so quickly. “But he still abducted a member of the royal family and that crime cannot be forgiven.”

“I understand.” The princess shook her head. “But something feels off about this whole thing. I’m starting to question-”

“Watch out!”

Linus dove forward, grabbing the princess and rolling away as a surge of dark energy raced by, churning the grassy soil where they had just been standing before felling a nearby tree, and turned his attention back to the battle.

“Never turn your back on an opponent,” Magros said before ducking under one of Alastor’s fireballs. “Though I do commend your devotion to rescuing the girl. You remind me of myself when I was your age.”

Linus gripped his sword tightly in both hands, while Princess Elenora stood behind him. Alastor and John slowly circled their way over while Cassandra put up a magical barrier.

“You’ve all fought well.” Magros planted his blade in the muddy earth beneath his feet. “I’m glad that such heroes exist, Sir Wolfe of course being the exception to my praise, but I am afraid that there is one question that I must ask before we continue this fight. Where are we?”

Linus frowned and looked around. They were all standing in the middle of a forest clearing, which seemed normal enough. But wait… weren’t they fighting in an old monastery? How did they get outside? And now that he was thinking about it, the trees surrounding them didn’t look like any species that he could recognize.

“Where have you brought us, demon?” John demanded, knocking another arrow in his bow.

“If I had any idea where we were, then I wouldn’t have asked,” Magros pointed out. “I wanted this fight to happen in the monastery where I proposed to my love, just before our lives fell apart. Also, it would appear that we are being watched.”

Magros turned to the side and John took the opportunity to let his arrow fly. The dark knight simply grabbed it out of the air without even looking. After a moment, two figures hesitantly stepped out into the clearing the first was an old man with a long white beard, followed by a dark-haired young woman. Both were clad in strangely ornate robes of a style that Linus didn’t recognize.

“Who are you and where are we?” Magros demanded.

“Um, hello.” The old man cleared his throat, looking uncertain about himself as he spoke up. “A-are we interrupting something?”

“Yes,” John growled. “Now explain yourselves.”

“A-alright.” The old man took in a deep breath as if to calm himself. Linus understood the action well. “This certainly isn’t how I was expecting this to go, but… Greetings, heroes! I am known as the Great Sage Heim, but you may just call me Heim, and this is my granddaughter, Marie. You are currently in the Forest of Trolls, on the edge of the country known as Keluvia! Our world is currently under siege by the forces of hell, led by a being calling himself the Demon King! In order to combat these monstrous foes, we have studied the old legends of our people and recreated an ancient ritual to summon heroes from another world in accordance with the ancient prophecy! That spell is what brought you here, which means that you six must be the heroes destined to save us from ruin!”

Linus tried to process all of that? Another world? Demons? None of that made any sense, and he could see that the others were similarly confused. Princess Elenora grabbed his arm tightly and his heart began to flutter before he drowned that out. He reached his mind out to Eos, asking what the spirit of the sword thought about this. To his surprise, she seemed to believe the old man’s tale. The latent magic in the air was different, foreign, alien. Yet at the same time, only intrinsically familiar to it.

“What fools do you take us for?” John asked angrily, pointing the end of his bow accusingly. “Either you are mad or this is a ploy to confuse us, no doubt orchestrated by this disgrace of a former knight.”

“Whatever is happening, I have played no part in it,” Magros said, turning back to Linus and the others. “I, too, have a hard time believing these claims. But if their story is true, then we have no choice but to lend them our aid. I swore an oath long ago to help those in need and unlike some of the so-called knights of our kingdom I intend to keep it.”

“Are you trying to lecture me, traitor!” John snapped. “What makes you even begin to think that-”

“Enough! Both of you, you’re acting like children!” Princess Elenora shouted, squeezing Linus’ arm tighter as she did so. “Now, as improbably as this situation may seem, the facts remain that we do not know where we are and these people are asking for our help. So, I believe that for now, we should assume that they are telling the truth and that we somehow are in another world. If everyone agrees, I would like to go with these people and learn more about the situation. Any objections?”

“No, Your Majesty.” Linus nodded.

“By your word, Princess.” Cassandra curtsied.

“U-um… yeah, sure.” Alastor leaned on his staff, glancing nervously at the two new arrivals. For all of his strengths, the wizard had never been comfortable around strangers.

“Hmph, very well, Your Highness.” John seemed unable to look Princess Elanora in the eye.

Magros’ reaction came as the biggest surprise, dropping down to one knee and removing his helmet. Cassandra gasped at the sight of the pointed ears sticking out from his graying black hair, which signaled him as being half elf, while John simply growled.

“I will follow your orders, Princess, for now,” Magros said. “The sins of your father do not fall upon your head and I apologize for my earlier misconduct.”

Princess Elanora let go of Linus and walked over Magros, though the young knight stayed close at hand. He would not fail to protect her a second time.

“Atone through your deeds, not your words,” the princess said before turning to Heim and Marie. “You claim to have need of our help, but what can we do? From what you have said, it sounds like you would need an army, but there are only the six of us here. And if you were able to summon us from across worlds, then your magic is capable of things that we could only ever dream of.”

The old man tilted his head. “Are you not legendary heroes blessed with powers behind imagination, who have slain hordes of numerous foes and whose tales are told in song?”

The princess blinked. “No. I am afraid that I am but the daughter of a king. My knight wields a legendary sword of divine power and I believe that one day he will be remembered as a great hero, but that day has not yet come. Sir Wolfe is a veteran of immense talent but still just a retired soldier. Sir Tyl seems to have gained access to dark magics thought long lost but I doubt even he is as powerful as you seem to think. And while I am unfamiliar with the others in our group, I would assume the same of them.”

Everyone nodded in agreement at her assessment, as Heim appeared increasingly panicked.

“Then… I am afraid that we must have performed the ritual wrong,” the old mage held his head in shame. “I-I am sorry for bringing you to this world, on the brink of our doom. I will do everything in my power to try and return you to your home.”

“Wait a minute, Grandpa.” The young grabbed him by the sleeve of his robes. “You set your hopes too high to begin with. We don’t know who these people are or what they’re capable of yet. If they’re willing to help, then we should let them. Maybe they are the heroes we need.”

“Your right.” Heim perked up at that. “The prophecy only spoke of heroes from another world who would save us when we need it most, not of what they could do. Please, noble heroes, you may not think of yourselves as much but you are all that we have. Come, I will take you to our cabin, where I will fill you in on the details of what has happened.”

“Very well.” The princess nodded. “We will come with you but do not get your hopes up.”

With that, the group began their trek through the woods. Things seemed relatively normal, as far as Linus could tell. Sure, he couldn’t quite identify any of the various plants they passed by on the way but the animals that he spotted looked like what he would expect to see in a forest like this. Foxes and rabbits, and various types of birds. It certainly wasn’t what he expected a world besieged by demons to be like. Then again, he wasn’t sure what he would expect a world besieged by demons to look like. It wasn’t as if he’d ever seen one before.

“So, tell us a bit of your world,” Princess Elanora asked Marie while they were on their way.

“Well, I’m not really sure what there is to tell,” the young woman admitted. “It’s just like any other world, I would assume. The sun rises in the morning, the moons rise at night. The dragons place their blessings upon the lands and seas, creating the energy ley lines that we use to channel our magic. Our cities are filled with peoples of all shapes and sizes, from humans to dwarves to elves to the lizardfolk. A council of nobles rules the country. All just normal.”

“You call that normal?” Alastor asked, apparently starting to break out of his shell. “What do dragons have to do with magic? They’re just big flying lizards that breathe fire and enough meat to feed a village for a week.”

“Y-you let elves live alongside humans?” Cassandra stammered out.

“You have more than one moon?” Linus himself asked, having trouble visualizing that image.

“You would eat a dragon?” Marie seemed appalled by the very notion.

“Well, they’re not easy to hunt but they’re more than worth it,” John said.

“The legs are particularly juicy,” Magros added. “And now I’m hungry.”

“I’ve always been fond of a dish the royal chef makes from the wings, though I don’t recall what it was called,” the princess mused, and Linus nodded in agreement.

“Grandpa! We’ve made a mistake!” Marie called out to Heim, her eyes wide with shock. “These people are even more monstrous than the demons!”

“What’s that?” The old man turned back to his granddaughter. “What are you talking about?”

“They say that they eat dragons!”

“What?” Heim paled. “Why? How? Dragons aren’t just some wild animal you can hunt for meat! They’re the very embodiments of nature itself! Elemental spirits that rule over our world as gods! Even if you could do that, what kind of monsters would do so?”

“What? Elemental spirits?” Alastor repeated.

“Oh, I think I see what the problem is!” Princess Elanora spoke up. “The dragons where we come from are just wild animals. It would appear that we’re using the same word to refer to two different things.”

“Oh.” Heim and his granddaughter started to calm down again. “I suppose that would make sense. Our worlds must be even more different than I would have thought, we should remain wary of similar miscommunications in the future.”

“Can we get back to the part about your world’s moons?” Linus asked. “How many do you have?”

“Two, why?” Heim answered. “Does your world have three?”

“No, we only have one,” Princess Elanora explained.

“What, how would that even work?”

They continued to discuss the differences between their two worlds throughout the entire trip, with both groups becoming increasingly confused as to how the world the other group described could possibly function the way they explained until at least they finally reached Heim’s cabin.

It proved to be a moderately sized log structure of sound build. Quite a cozy home that didn't seem particularly out of place to the otherworlders. Once they were all gathered inside, Heim seated everyone around a large table and set out a map for them to look over.

“This is a map of Keluvia and its surrounding territories,” the elderly sage informed them. “We’re currently around here, in the northeast corner of the country. There are five major cities within Keluvia as well as a handful of smaller towns, the closest of which is Meldirk about half a day’s journey south from us. Apart from that, there is also Talark in the southeast, Morle in the southwest, Hohna in the northwest and, of course, the capital city of Valance near the center of the country.

“The forces of the Demon King seem to be primarily sequestered here, at the Frostair Mountain,” Heim pointed to a spot on the western end of the map, “which is likely where Demon King himself has set up his base. We do not know how he got here or how strong his forces truly are but so far no one has been able to even make a dent in their forces as they spread their way north to Hohna. The worst part, however, is that the Noble Council who rule over the country from Valance refuse to even acknowledge the Demon King’s existence, preventing proper military action against them. That is, in part, why we have to rely on outside help to stop this invasion before it’s too late.”

“Well, it’s good to have an idea of where everything is,” Princess Elanora said. “Although I don’t see how much help we can be without knowing more about the Demon King’s forces.”

“Ah, yes, of course,” Heim nodded. “Sorry, Marie, can you please grab the sketches?”

Marie grabbed a handful of parchments from a bookshelf and spread them about on top of the map. Each one contained a drawing of various kinds of monster, some of which were familiar to the group while others were not.

“I’m afraid that details about the enemy are scarce due to the embargo on information regarding the Demon King. These are some of the creatures that we’ve had reports on but are likely only a fraction of his actual army.”

“Who is ‘we’?” Magros asked. “You talk as if there are others with you but you have not directly mentioned anyone apart from yourself and your granddaughter.”

“Right, sorry,” Heim shook his head. “I am not used to just how little you know of our world. I was part of an order of sages who provided council to the nobles who ruled our country until recently. After we first caught word of the Demon King’s arrival and the nobles decided to keep the whole thing quiet, however, they started rounding us up and locking us away to keep us from spreading the truth. I am afraid that at this point I may be the only sage still free.”

“That must be horrible,” Princess Elanora said. “I can’t imagine being turned on by you our country like that.”

“I can,” Magros said solemnly. “I know that feeling all too well.”

The room grew quiet with that until Heim clapped his hands together.

“It is getting late and I am sure you are all tired. We can discuss things in more detail in the morning. For now, I suggest we retire for the night.

Spoiler: Chapter 2 - Alastor

Alastor stared up at the ceiling, unable to sleep. It turned out that the old man’s cabin only had one bedroom, which the girls were now sharing. That left the men in their group spread around the main room. Alastor himself was lying on a cot set up in the corner of the room. Linus, the lovestuck fool, had situated himself near the door to the girls’ room, allegedly so that he could better protect Elanora if something happened. Alastor was pretty sure that he had less altruistic motives than that, which he respected. He knew he would have liked to be sleeping closer to his beloved Cassandra, angel in mortal form. Sir Wolfe was of course near the door so that he could be ready if someone barged in for whatever reason, while Sir Tyl had fallen asleep in a chair across from the old sage.

Another world. The very concept seemed so absurd. It hadn’t been that long ago that he’d still been in school, learning the ways of the arcane arts and constantly blowing his teachers away with how skilled a wizard he was. They all thought it was raw natural talent. To an extent it was, but what no one liked to consider was that he needed to be that good just to stand at the same level as the others. He was, as they always put it, born with a snowy complexion. It was a rare condition. His skin and hair were white, not just lightly colored, but actually white and ensured that he burned more easily in the sun than anyone else he knew. He looked like a ghost and while no one refused to admit it he knew that most people were put off by his looks if not outright terrified of him. It certainly didn’t help that his eyes were blood red, and yet didn’t even work that well. He was never going to win a popularity contest, especially when he could barely talk in front of people he didn’t know well, so he had to double down on his research. Fortunately, he happened to love learning and magic, so in the end he guessed that things evened out.

The point, though, was that if they really were somehow in a completely new world, the research possibilities were endless. Even just in that one day, he’d already learned that magic in this world must work fundamentally different in this world than his own. Elemental spirits that take the forms of dragons, and somehow imbue their latent energies into something called laylines? Back home, casting magic was just a matter of bending reality to your will to alter reality around yourself. But here? There was so much he needed to know. So many thoughts and questions running through his mind that it was impossible to sleep.

After a while, Alastor finally had to sit up and start pacing the room. He had too much energy left to burn and he didn't know how long it would be until morning. How long were the nights here? How long were the days? Weeks? Seasons?

After a few laps, he decided to check something and held out his hand. Concentrating, he projected a small ball of light just above his open palm. Fascinating. His magic still worked. Was it that magic was still cast in essentially the same way as his home world, despite the differences in how it was fueled? Or perhaps he somehow brought his own magic with him? Maybe the magic of his world existed alongside the magic here, but the locals simply hadn't discovered it. That seemed the most likely, as it would be similar to the split between the different forms of magic that he already knew of, but without further experimentation it would be impossible to tell.

Alastor made his way to a bookcase full of dusty old tomes and picked one up to study it. He wasn't surprised to find that he couldn't read the words inside. The fact that they could understand the local language at all was impressive and was likely a result of some kind of translation magic ingrained within the summoning ritual that brought them here. It was a shame that translation didn't apply to written language but beggers couldn't be choosers. He wasn't much of a linguist but it hopefully wouldn't take him too long to work out. He silently wished he had a journal on him so that he could take notes on what he had learned so far but that would have to wait until he could acquire one.

There was a soft rustling sound outside. A deer, or whatever equivalent creature they had here, walking through the bushes. Alastor payed it no mind as he set the book back where he had grabbed it from and selected another to skin through. It was at times like this where he really hated how weak eyesight could be, but he made do.

After a while, Alastor felt the call of the wild. Neither Heim nor Marie had mentioned anything about a toilet, so he figured going in the bushes outside would likely be his best bet. So, grabbing his staff as a precaution, he opened the front door to head outside. Unfortunately, he picked exactly the wrong moment to do so and ended up with a strong kick to the chest.

A procession of armed soldiers loudly marched into the cabin and before anyone had a chance to get up, they were completely surrounded.

"What's the meaning of this?" Sir Wolfe demanded as he was slammed against the wall by two of the soldiers.

"Heim Vanclau!" One of the soldiers, presumably the commander, yelled while facing the old man in question. "You are under arrest for treason against the state by order of the High Council! All others present are to be held and tried as potential accomplices! Resistance of arrest will be held as admission of guilt!"

Alastor watched in horror as the girls were dragged out of their room and everyone was lined up to be searched. There were soldiers everywhere, crowding the room. So many people. The young wizard had to control his breath as his heart felt like it was going to leap straight out of his chest. Deep breaths. Steady breaths. So many people moving around him. He felt like he wanted to crawl out of his skin.

It was almost a relief when they finally dragged everyone out of the cabin. The open air was nice. There weren't so many people moving around him.

Sir Wolfe was continuing to shout at their captors, to no avail. Cassandra and Marie both looked like they were panicking as much as Alastor himself was. Linus was clearly worried but probably for the princess than himself. Magros was surprisingly calm but Alastor could see the calculating look behind his eyes. Alastor couldn't see Heim very well, as he was being held at the front of the group, but it looked like he was walking in quiet defeat.

Alastor wanted to ask the others for help, to ask what they should do, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. Back home, their group could have handled a group fo guards like this easily, but there were too many uncertainties here. Did any of these soldiers have magic? What their magic be like? How effective would his own magic be against them? Would it even be a good idea to pick a fight with these guards in the first place? He had too many questions and it didn’t seem that he would be getting any answers anytime soon. Not for the first time, Alastor found himself wishing that he had simply stayed home at the college.

“Where are you taking us?” Princess Elanora finally asked after what felt like far too long.

“To the capital, to be tried before the council,” the commander informed them. “We will be traveling by warp point from Meldirk.”

Warp point? What was that? From the context, likely some sort of fixed teleportation magic. Did they have that kind of thing here? Such a marvel was completely unheard of in his world. How did it work? Would he be able to somehow bring this magic back with him? The ability to travel instantly from one place to another would be invaluable if he could.

“I am afraid that we are strangers to these lands,” the princess said. “What can you tell us of these nobles?”

“Foreigners?” The commander questioned. “That certainly isn’t going to help your charge any. Keluvia is ruled by a council of twelve individuals selected from the various noble houses, who convene together to set the law for the entire country. Even if you are from another country, you should at least know that much.”

“I am afraid that we don’t know much of anything regarding Keluvia,” the princess admitted. “We have traveled a very long way to get here.”

She seemed to be avoiding telling the guards of their true situation. That was interesting. Alastor would follow suit if he ever found himself comfortable enough to speak up. He was still having trouble keeping his breathing under control. Did these soldiers have to walk so close to him? He felt like he could barely move.

The commander grunted. Alastor could tell that he was suspicious. Or at least, he assumed that he was suspicious. People were always so hard to read. They weren’t like magic. He always knew what to do with magic but people were still a mystery to him. Sometimes he felt like he barely knew even his closest friends, but that was a thought for another time. For now, he just needed to focus on walking and not being overwhelmed by the crowd.

It took several hours for them to finally reach their destination. The city of Meldirk was a wonder to Alastor and his companions. The orange and brown brick buildings were packed together tightly along intricately laid streets and alleys. It seemed like every corner and road they passed was bustling with life as people from all walks interacted and went about their day. As Marie had mentioned the day before, the citizens weren’t all human, either, with pointed-eared elves, thick-bearded dwarves and even different species that looked almost more like animals than people. Even more, the city itself was built along a large river, with grand bridges connecting the two sides that were far more ornate than any they had back home.

They were eventually brought before a large building that looked to Alastor like a church of some kind, though the people coming in and out mostly seemed like merchants. The commander held up a badge to a man standing behind a desk, who allowed them to enter without payment. Certainly not a church, then.

What awaited them inside was the most impressive thing they’d seen yet, at least in Alastor’s eyes. The largest crystal that he had ever seen was suspended in the air, shining a deep blue and apparently floating there under its own power. Alastor stared at it in awe as they were brought practically straight under it.

“Valance!” The commander shouted, and there was a flash of light.

At first, Alastor didn’t notice that anything had changed. Then, he realized that their group was surrounded by completely different people than before. There were also subtle but noticeable differences in the architecture, which made Alastor realize that they were, in fact, now in a completely different building than they had been before. They really had teleported.

Then they were marched outside and it was even more clear. Meldirk had been impressive, a city that could only be rivaled by the capital city back in Rehlia. Yet Keluvia’s capital was far beyond comparison to anything Alastor or the others had seen before. White buildings with startlingly blue rooftop tiles stood taller than any man-made buildings that Alastor had ever seen, with bridges and platforms suspended in the air between them. It was as if the entire city had been built like a tunnel system in the mountains but the mountains were taken away. Even the building that they walked out of was at least five stories up, opening up into a walkway leading to several other nearby towers.

Alastor was certainly glad that he didn’t have a problem with heights because the tower they were led to proved to be little more than a giant staircase which took them up even higher. The city was like an above-ground catacomb and they were headed to the very top. Eventually, they found themselves outside of what seemed to be their destination, a massive palace that put the one back home to shame, standing upon a series of towers that somehow managed to support its weight. Magic had to have been involved in this city’s construction.

“What is this place?” Alastor wondered aloud, forgetting himself for a moment.

“The Sky’s Crown,” the commander had a hint of pride to his voice. “You stand before the crowning jewel of the entire nation, the meeting place of the High Council and where you will stand trial. Come.”

The inside of the building was even more grand than the outside. Enchanting tile murals and stained glass art seemed to cover nearly every surface, ornate vases and cisterns were placed everywhere and even the people wandering about were dressed extravagantly. Alastor couldn’t quite tell if it was the ultimate artistic masterpiece or an overdone display of gaudy avarice. Likely both.

The guards filed their group into a large chamber overlooked by a set of twelve tall thrones placed in a semi-circle at one end. Each throne was occupied by what Alastor assumed must be the council people kept talking about.

“Heim Vanclau!” a bald old man with a high-pitched voice said, who was built like a twig with a pointed little beard and dressed in bright yellow and green robes. “We have you at last!”

The sage stared up in quiet anger.

“You’ve evaded us for far too long!” the most rotund man Alastor had ever seen bellowed. “As the last member of the Order of Sages, you stand before us accused of treason against the nation and disturbing the public. Your fellows have all already been proven guilty but how do you plead.”

“You are fools who deny the truth just because it inconveniences you and threatens your power!” Heim shouted angrily.

“Guilty, then.” A woman with long black hair and heavy makeup smiled, malice in her eyes.

“You claim there is some kind of Devil Duke invading our land?” the first man asked. “Preposterous.”

“It is the Devil King!” Heim corrected him. “And even your own soldiers have sent you reports of his activities!”

“Reports that were fabricated by your corrupt order.” Another noble said. “We’ve already investigated your claims and proven to be a plot to overthrow the nation.”

“Furthermore,” the fat one continued, “our guards claim that you attempted to perform a summoning ritual, which, as you well know, is in and of itself groups for your arrest and imprisonment. We have enough evidence to put you and all of your coconspirators will spend the rest of your lives in the dungeon keeps.”

“No!” Heim panicked for a moment. "You can throw me in prison but leave my granddaughter alone! She has played no part in this!'

"But grandpa-" Marie started but was silenced by the glare Heim sent her way.

"If you want to deny the truth and throw your country away, then so be it! But you will not harm her!"

"Very well," the skinny noble nodded. "The girl may go but you and your allies will spend the rest of your natural lives behind bars."

Alastor looked at his allies pleadingly. What was the plan here? Thankfully, the princess finally spoke up.

"Excuse me, but there seems to be some misunderstanding here," she said. "I am afraid that my compatriots and I do not know what is going on here. We are visitors to your country who were merely staying the night at a stranger's cabin. What is all this talk of treason and summoning?"

"Hah, you expect us to believe that?" The woman laughed. "It's clear as day that you're working for the old man!"

"I am afraid that they are not," Heim interjected. "These six strangers are not here of their own volition. You said that you have evidence that I attempted a summoning? It was more than a mere attempt and they are the proof!"

Whispers and murmurs passed between the noble council as they discussed that revelation. Alastor could imagine how absurd that sounded. He was living it, after all.

"A bold claim." The first man clasped his hands together. "These people certainly are dressed peculiarly but what evidence do you have to back that up?"

"If you don't believe me, then question them for yourselves."

There was more deliberation among the nobles. Alastor found his heart sinking and struggled to keep his breath steady. Why was everything going so horribly wrong?

"Very well. Your friends here will be taken in for interrogation to determine their dates. But your guilt has already been determined. Guards!"

The next few minutes were a blur. People moving about and pushing Alastor around. By the time he was able to focus again, he was seated at a table in a small room, across from an irate-looking man who Alastor realized was the skinny noble with the beard.

"So, another world?"

"A-a-apparently…" Alastor tried to retreat into himself like a turtle. Naturally, that didn't work.

"Alright, let's just get this over with," the man signed and placed a hand to his forehead, staring daggers at Alastor. "Detect truth!"

The nobleman's eyes began to glow softly.

"What was that? A spell?” Alastor asked, his natural curiosity getting the better of him for a moment.

“Of course,” the man raised his eyebrow questioningly. “I had assumed by the way you were dressed that you were some sort of mage. Are you not?”

“I-I am,” Alastor confirmed, and the glow of the nobleman’s eyes suddenly turned green. Was that to signal that Alastor was telling the truth? “I am a wizard from the College of Arahbeth, in western Rehlia. But what do my clothes have to do with that?”

The man looked at him incredulously. “Because you’re dressed like a stereotypical mage from an old storybook. You’ve even got the floppy hat and everything.”

“What?” Alastor looked up his hat’s brim at the top of his vision. “But I just dress like this to keep the sun off of me. I, um, burn easily.”

“Ah, right, because of your albinism,” the nobleman nodded. “That makes sense.”

“My what?” Alastor tilted his head.

“Your albinism,” he repeated. “You are an albino, correct? With the pale skin and red eyes?”

“Oh, my snowy complexion,” Alastor nodded.

“I suppose that’s a poetic way of putting it but let’s try to stick to formalities,” the older man said. “Now, I am Bron Hywin, member of the noble council. You’re name?”

“O-oh, Alastor Starborne,” Alastor answered.

Bron stared at him incredulously. “Starborne? Seriously? If I wasn’t using Detect Truth then I would have declared you a liar then and there. Now, Mister Starborne… I’m sorry, but I just can’t take that name seriously. Alastor, you say that you are from a place called Rehlia? Where is that, I’ve never heard of it?”

“North of the Blue Mountains, south of the Shimmering Sea,” Alastor explained.

“That doesn’t help in the slightest,” Bron frowned.

“Well, I’m sorry but there isn’t really much that I can say,” Alastor shook his head. “If this actually is a different world than the one my friends and I are from then it’s not like any of the landmarks I can mention are going to mean anything to you.”

Bron slowly clasped his hands together on the table and quietly sized the young wizard up. “Well, at the very least you appear to believe that. Now, tell me to the best of your knowledge, how you ended up here.”

"Well, I guess it started a few months ago, when I was asked to join a couple of royal knights and a priestess in a quest to stop an evil knight who had kidnapped the princess," Alastor began. "We just finally managed to track them down in an old monastery yesterday and a fight broke out but then halfway through suddenly we were all in a forest that none of us had ever seen before, where we met that old guy, Heim I think his name was, who said something about wanting us to fight someone called a Demon King or something. Then he took us to his cabin for the night and then a bunch of guards showed up and brought us here.

Bron nearly fell out of his chair. "That's quite the story and I couldn't detect any lies but what you're saying is absurd!"

"What's absurd is that this world apparently has two moons." Alastor could finally feel his confidence settling in. "What do you need the second one for? Your oceans must be nearly impossible to navigate with how much that would mess up the tides."

"Are you saying that you only have one moon where you come from?" Bron asked skeptically. "That's preposterous."

"And yet it's true." Alastor shrugged and leaned back in his chair.

Bron clenched his fists tightly and steadied his breath before replying. "Very well then. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you and your friends are from another world. What are your intentions with this one?"

"I don't know," Alastor shrugged. "I guess I want to learn as much as I can about your culture and magic while I'm here, and then head back home to report my findings."

"And what would you do with this information," Bron's glowing eyes narrowed. "Stage an invasion?"

"What, no!" Alastor yelled defensively. "I'm a scholar, my interest in this world is purely academic. Now if there's any knowledge I can take back that will help improve things back home, like farming techniques or medical stuff or something like that, sure I'm going to want to spread that information. But other than that, anything I learn here is just going in a library back home for people to look over if they're curious about the concept of other worlds."

"I see…" Bron leaned back in his chair. "Now, what do you know of the alleged Demon King that Heim claims is invading."

"Not much of anything," Alastor shrugged. "He said something about the forces of hell invading your world, I think he said they were attacking from the west, and that supposedly you were trying to cover it up to save face or something."

"And do you believe what he told you?"

"Well, if someone had told me two days ago that hell was real and demons were invading I would have thought they were crazy, lying or confused. Now I'm stuck in a completely different world that seems to run by different rules than mine, so anything's possible. If you're asking if I trust his word over yours, then kind of but I haven't seen any actual evidence one way or the other. Without looking into it further I just don't have enough information to know. For now, I'm just going to go with whatever Linus tells me because I trust his judgment, and he's probably going to do whatever Princess Elanora tells him because he's madly in love with her even if he refuses to admit it."

"I see," Bron nodded absently. "And that brings us to the topic of therapy who came here with you. Tell me who they are."

"Well," Alastor narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out how much to actually share. It occurred to him that he was getting a bit too friendly with a potential enemy. "First there's Linus, but technically he's a Sir Irons because he's a knight. He was the princess' bodyguard before she was captured and the leader of the team sent to rescue her, which I was also a part of. Then there's Cassandra, a priestess of the Church of Zera and our team's healer, and Sir Wolfe, who from what I understand was some old knight who came out of retirement for this mission. Then of course there's also Princess Elanora herself, who we were in the middle of reaching when we were brought here. And Magros Tyl. He was the one who we were fighting. They say he kidnapped the king's sister back in the day, too, but from what he's been saying since we got her he seems pretty insistent that he didn't. Honestly, I'm not sure what to think of him at this point but he doesn't seem like the villain we were told he'd be."

"Interesting," Bron nodded, clearly taking in all of that information. Alastor was starting to think that he may have overshared. "I think that will be all for now. You will be escorted to a waiting room with your compatriots until after we cross-examine your testimonies with each other to validate your claims."

Spoiler: Chapter 3 - Elanora

Princess Elanora sat quietly in the lounge she had been brought to after they had finished interrogating her, contemplating their current situation. The others were being brought in as well, one by one as the council finished with each of them. She wasn't sure yet what to make of those so-called nobles. Something about them seemed off-putting to her, but she often felt the same about many members of noble houses back in her father's kingdom and most of them, to her knowledge, were relatively decent people. Heim has suggested that they were tyrants only out for power and she was inclined to agree with him, however she really didn't know Heim at all. For all she knew, he actually was the one trying to lure them into helping him overthrow the rightful rulers of this land.

Her heart skipped a beat as Sir Irons was finally brought into the room. Linus would probably have a better understanding of the situation than she did. He was the greatest knight she had ever known and she trusted his council more than anyone else.

"Your Highness,” Linus bowed. “Are you well?”

“Yes, Sir Irons, I’m fine.” Elanora gestured for him to get up and take a seat in the chair beside hers, which he did. “What are your thoughts?”

“My thoughts on what?” Linus replied. “To say that a lot has happened would be an understatement.”

“The sage who brought us here claims that this land is being invaded and that the leaders are covering it up. These nobles claim that it is a mere plot to overthrow them. Who do we believe?”

“I am afraid that I don’t know.” Linus looked over at her with his deep, brown eyes. “We’ve been thrust into this crazy situation with nothing to go on. Who do you think we should trust?”

“I wish I knew,” Elanora shook her head. “At this point, I’m not sure that I trust anyone yet.”

“I suppose that is wise.” Linus closed his eyes for a moment as if contemplating something, then opened them again. “I believe Eos agrees with you. She’s keeps sending me feelings of unease. I think she’s trying to tell me that there’s something else going on her.”

Elanora glanced down at the sword in question, sheathed at Linus’ side. She was a little surprised that the guards hadn’t tried to confiscate the weapon but she supposed they did not know the significance of what it was and assumed they could handle themselves in one prisoner tried pulling out a sword.

“Well, I don’t think she’s ever let you down before,” Elanore smiled softly. “You know, I think I may be a bit jealous of your relationship with your sword.”

Linus turned beet red, exactly the reaction she was hoping for. “T-There’s no need for that. I am your swarn protector, after all. I may have let you down before but never again.”

“I know.” He had never let her down. He may have failed to stop Magros from taking her away, but he could never let her down. He meant far too much to her for that and she just wished that she could get him to feel the same about her. “What of Magros? Certainly you must have an opinion of him at this point?”

“He will pay for abducting you.” Linus clenched his fists tightly. “I will make sure of it.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Elanora shook her head. “Forget about that for a moment. What do you think of the man himself. They say he spirited away my aunt before we were born but he claims otherwise. They say he is a disgrace of a knight who turned away from his duties and yet he was the first to suggest helping people in need. What sort of man do you think he is?”

“I am afraid that I cannot simply forget what he has done,” Linus argued. “You’re asking me to form an opinion on him without taking what he’s done into account but it is through that action that he has shown who he is. Some part of him may cling to the knightly ideals he once served but he is a man who has unearthed dark arts thought long lost to history and used them to abduct an innocent maiden. Magros Tyl may try to play thepart of the tragic figure but he has still revealed his hand as nothing more but a villain.”

“I see…” Elanore felt a shiver run through her. “I understand why you would feel that way, and yet… I disagree.”

“What, how?” Linus had to restrain himself from rising to his feet.

“It is true that he captured me and held me prisoner for months,” Elanore explained. “And yet in that time he never raised a hand to me or mistreated me in any way, save for holding me against my will. I was, quite honestly, surprisingly well cared for in that time. And while we did not talk much, he did try to tell me his side of the story regarding the events leading up to his banishment and the disappearance of my aunt. I do not know yet if his words were true but if they were, then… there is much to consider. But we shall have to save that for another time. We have more pressing issues at the moment.”

A pair of guards walked into the room, including the commander of the squad who had taken them here.

"It is time for your sentencing," the commander said. "You will hear what the council has decided for your fate."

With that, Elanora and the others from her world, as well as Marie, were brought back into the council room from before, where the twelve nobles were seated once again. Once they were lined up, one of the nobles spoke up.

"After questioning each of you individually under the effects of Detect Truth and comparing your stories we have determined that, as improbable as it seems, the six of you really are visitors brought here from another world and that you played no knowing part in Heim's machinations. As such, we will not be charging you as his accomplices. However, the question still remains of what to do with you."

"Preparations are to be made in figuring out how to send you all home," another noble continued. "However, we do not know how long it will take our researchers to find a solution, especially since study into this field of magic is usually strictly prohibited. This, we have elected to arrange accommodations for your stay here in our lands. A house within this city has been set aside for you to stay in."

"Marie Vanclau!" A third noble addressed Heim's granddaughter. "While we have agreed not to imprison you for your role in your grandfather's actions, the fact remains that you knowingly aided and abetted in a plot against Keluvia. As such, we have determined that your punishment for your role is that you are to be these strangers guide to our world. You are to remain with them at all times and are required to assist them with anything they need within legal jurisdiction, to be enforced by a submission collar."

The girl's eyes widened and Elanora noticed Marie absently for her neck. It didn't take much to guess what a submission collar was and the princess already found herself turning against these so-called nobles.

"In addition, Captain Paulo will be assigned as a security detail to ensure that you all remain safe and that you all act in accordance with our laws," a thin nobleman said. "Do you have any questions regarding our ruling?"

Elanora expected one of her allies to speak up but no one did. She refrained from doing so as well. They were clearly going to be kept to a short leash while they were there and it would be best for now not to get on the bad side of their captors before they even had a proper understanding of just what was going on.

"Very well then!" One of the female nobles exclaimed. "Then Captain Paulo will escort you to your new home. We hope that you will enjoy your stay here in our country. But remember that you are merely guests here and should behave accordingly."

With that, they were separated from the room again by the commander, who was apparently the Captain Paulo who would now serve as their watch dog. He gathered them together in the Sky Crown's foyer.

"Listen up!" he shouted to get their attention. "I am Captain Ulyssius Paulo. You may call me Captain Paulo or just the Captain. Per the council's orders, I am to be your guardian until such a time as you can be returned to your homeland. Until then, you will not go anywhere without my knowledge, you will not do anything without my express permission and you will follow all laws and regulations to the letter. Now, I'm sure of you save for Ms. Vanclau are familiar with our laws which means that I will be instructing you on what you can and cannot do here while Vanclau tutors you on our history and culture. Any questions before we set out for your new living quarters?"

"I have one," the snowy wizard asked, and Elanora realized that she had not yet learned his name, nor that of the red-haired priestess.

"You will raise your if you wish to speak!" the Captain snapped at him, causing the apparently quite timid wizard to recoil before doing such. "Yes?"

"Do people in this world need to pee, because I've been holding it in all morning and I don't think that my bladder can take any more."

"Very well," the captain nodded. "There is a restroom behind that door over there. Make it quick."

The wizard raised his hand again.

"What now?" the captain grunted.

"What's a restroom?"

Captain Paulo sighed. "There's a big white bowl in a stall in there. Release yourself in the bowl, then… you know what, it will be easier if we just show you. Vanclau! Take these girls to the women's room and show them how it works. I will take the men."

Marie nodded and hurried into a room beside the one Captain Paulo had indicated, with Elanora and the priestess following her. She showed them how to use what she referred to as a 'toilet' and 'sink', strange yet marvelous devices which the princess would never have dreamed of. To think that the people of this world had developed a way to harness running water, it was truly astounding. It really made her wonder at what other things this world may have to teach them.

She continued to marvel at the various new things she saw until at last they arrived at the house which had been set aside for them. It was hard to tell just how big the building was, or at least the part of the building that was apparently now theirs as the entire city could in essence have been seen as one large building, but it seemed larger than what she would have expected. It dwarfed the small cottage they had stayed in the night prior and was likely larger than most of the homes back in her kingdom even if it was still much smaller than the palace she had grown up in. At the very least the place was large enough that they were all able to have their own rooms. That in and of itself was something of a small wonder to the princess as back in her homeland most families would only have one bedroom to spare. Even she had to share a bed with her sisters.

“The building has not been furnished,” Captain Paulo informed them after they regrouped in the main room. “Some basic furniture will be provided sometime within the next week but until then you will have to make do with just a few cots on loan from a local military base. I have also been informed that you will each be provided with a monthly allowance for spending money while you are here. However, that payment is dependent on your ability to handle certain tasks and assignments that will be passed on to you from the noble council.”

“So in other words, we’re to be pawns at their beck and call until they decide to let us go,” Sir Wolfe remarked.

Captain Paulo ignored the comment. “Ms. Vanclau, come here!”

Marie flinched and looked like she wanted to run away but begrudgingly walked up to the captain.

“By the council’s orders, you are to be given a submission collar.” He pulled out a simple black band with a red stripe at each end and held it out to her. “Put it on.”

Marie stared gravely at the collar. “Do I have to?”

“Either you put it on yourself or I will put it on you.” Captain Paulo nodded. “Those are my orders.”

“Very well,” Marie choked out before grabbing it out of his hand. Hesitantly, she put the cord around her neck. The ends snapped together loudly and the collar briefly flashed red before constricting tightly. Marie looked like she was choking and dropped to her knees. Everyone else in the room shifted into a defensive position as if a fight were about to break loose before the girl rose shakily back to her feet. “It’s on.”

“Good.” the captain nodded again and relaxed.

“Um, w-what exactly is a submission collar?” the wizard asked, raising his hand weekly.

“They are enchanted items that bind to wearer to will of the one who put it on them,” Captain Paulo explained. “If the weared disobays their orders then the collar restricts so they are unable to breathe until they pass out and it can only be taken off by their ‘master’. They were once used by slave traders and would kill the wearer when triggered, but since the slave trade was abolished long ago and now the non-lethal variants have instead been used to ensure that criminals follow the terms of their punishment while lethal ones have been banned entirely.”

“I-I see.” The wizard nodded solemnly.

“Wait, that doesn’t make sense.” The priestess tilted her head in confusion. “If they have to obey the one who put it on them, then why did you have her put it on herself. Wouldn’t that mean that she now has to follow her own orders and can take it off herself?”

Marie’s eyes widened. “You’re right. This means that I’m my own master. Why?”

“The order was that you had to wear one to ensure that you serve as these strangers’ guide, not that I had to put it on you myself,” Captain Paulo scowled. “This was a small mercy on my part, but do not expect more. Knowledge of this does not leave this room. As far as anyone is concerned, I am the one who put that thing on you.”

“Yes, sir.” Marie nodded. “Thank you.”

“Consider yourself thankful that I detest the use of these horrendous devices as much as any of you.” The captain grimaced. “Now, I suggest you begin your lessons of this world. We shall begin with the basics of Keluvian society. You will need to know how to act properly before you are allowed to set foot outside of this house again.”

And thus began their lives in this strange new world.

Spoiler: Chapter 4 - John

To say that John Wolfe was not happy with his current situation would be an understatement. A week had already gone by since they had been taken captive by these savage otherworlders and they still had not been allowed to set foot out of their prison. Sure, they may call it a house and it even looked like one now that they'd finally been given the furniture they had been promised, but John knew what it really was. They were all prisoners being held there against their will and the moment John saw an opportunity he would make his move to get the princess to freedom. None of the rest mattered. Starborne and Cassandra were mere civilians, not a priority. Sir Irons was another knight, ultimately expendable and expected to give his own life to serve the crown. And Magros Tyl, the monstrous half-breed that Sir Wolfe once foolishly called his squire, would perish in this gods-forsaken place if John had any say in it.

But for now, all John could do was wait and bide his time, keeping an eye on both Tyl and their captors. In particular, he had been doing his best to make sure that Tyl stayed as far away from the princess as possible. This was a difficult task when they were all stuck within the same building and Tyl seemed intent on wanting to spread his lies, but John was up to the task.

Captain Paulo had gathered their group in the dining room, where they all sat gathered around the table. John, of course, made sure to sit next to Tyl, ready to pounce if the knife-ear tried anything. He was almost disappointed that Tyl was too smart for that.

"What is this about?" the princess asked. She was a smart girl, canny. Unfortunately, most of their neighboring kingdom's rulers weren't interested in that as a quality for a prospective bride, which had been making it difficult for the king to marry her off. Though last John heard, the prince of Thantial had been showing interest. He expected the arrangement to be announced as soon as he was able to get the girl back to her father.

"I have received word from the council," Captain Paulo explained. He was a respectable soldier, for the most part. John almost had a measure of respect for the man. Or at least he would have if the captain were actually willing to commit fully to his role. Instances such as the obedience collar incident showed that he didn't have as much resolve as someone in his position should be expected to have. "You have received your first assignment. A large goblin camp has been spotted in the hills north of the city. You are to find this camp and wipe them out."

Goblin hunting, now that was a good sport. Giblins back in his homeland were bestial creatures that seemed to think they could pass for men and often had the cunning to back that up. From what they had been told, this world's goblins were smaller and less intelligent than what he was used to but should make for a good hunt nonetheless. And after so long, he was itching to kill something.

"Normally this would be a job for the local guardsmen, but the noble council wishes to test your combat abilities," Captain Paulo continued. "I will be accompanying you to monitor your performance and ensure that things run smoothly. I will not be assisting you unless necessary but I don't see that happening. Any questions?"

"I do not possess any combat skills and I have not fought before," Princess Elanora spoke up. "Will I still be required to go?"

"No," Captain Paulo shook his head, to John's relief. The last thing that girl needed was a sword in her hand. "You and Ms. Vanclau will be remaining here."

"I need to remain by the princess' side," Sir Irons stood up. The boy wasn't much of a knight but at least he knew his responsibilities. Though a part of him reminded John of a younger Tyl, which made Sir Wolfe constantly wary of him. "As her bodyguard, it is my duty to be there to protect her if something happens."

"Nothing will happen," Captain Paulo replied calmly. "There is no one after you here, the house is protected by a number of different enchantments and the local guards have been instructed to keep an eye out. Ms. Elanora will be perfectly safe here."

That was another thing about the captain that John didn't like, his complete disregard for their positions. It was one thing to ignore a foreign knight's status when you were in a similar position yourself, but he even refused to call the princess by her title.

"If there are no other questions, then we will begin preparations at once." Captain Paulo stood up and placed his hands on the table. "Dismissed."

It didn't take Sir Wolfe or the others long to get ready. It wasn't as if they had much besides the clothes and equipment they had with them when they were dragged off to this barbaric world. Soon they were marched out of the city and making their way across the Green hills of the surrounding area. They walked in relative silence until Tyl decided to break it.

"Are the goblins of this world intelligent?" He asked.

"More so than most other monsters," Captain Paulo replied. "The smartest goblins I've ever seen have seemed to be about as smart as your average bandit. Why?"

"Because I'm not sure that I can condone hunting people without a reason. The goblins in our world are treated as nothing more than animals even though they were

"Stop spreading your lies!" John snapped. "Goblins are just monsters, nothing more!"

"I have met plenty of goblins in my travels who would beg to disagree. They have their own villages, their own language, their own culture and mythology. Goblins are just as much people as you or I."

"I have heard rumors about that at the college," Starborne said, because of course that wizard was foolish enough to buy into this deception. "They say there's evidence of an ancient goblin kingdom hidden somewhere in the blue mountains."

"Fairy stories," John scoffed. "Nothing more than a flight of fancy spun up by some drunken wizard."

"Izkagorath, the city of gold," Tyl nodded, spinning more of his outrageous yarn. "I have been there, though it is not a proper kingdom. It is but one large city, crude in its design compared to what you would be used to but a marvel all the same. The goblins who live there do so under the rule of King Fellord. It was under him that I studied the arts of dark magic."

"So, you admit that they are evil?" John asked. "Practitioners of dark sorcery?"

"Just because our people call it dark does not mean that it is evil," Tyl pointed out as if that argument were somehow logical. "It is not an evil art, merely one that is not understood. There was a time that the arcane and divine schools of magic were treated the same."

"He has a point," the idiotic wizard said. "All wizards were once treated as heretics."

"No, divine magic is a gift from the gods," Cassandra argued. Smart girl. "It is when they lend us a fraction of their power to perform miracles. Humanity would never fear that."

"That's what the church claims, anyway," Tyl said, proving himself a heretic on top of everything else. "But we only have their word for it. Have you ever communed with your god?"

"N-no," she stammered. "But the high priest has-"

"The high priest tells you that he talks with your gods but you have anything but his word for it, or the words of the other church leaders?"

"I… I…" Cassandra trailed off and remained silent, apparently seriously contemplating his blasphemies. They may have just lost the most skilled healer John had ever seen. If she lost her divine power over this, then that gave John one more reason to hate his former student.

"I apologize for disrupting your conversation," Captain Paulo interrupted, "but if what you say about your world's goblins is true, then it a very different situation than ours. It is true that our goblins could be considered people and research has been done into their language and culture. However, goblins are far, far more violent and brutal than what you have described. We hunt them not because they are different from us or because we've deemed them monsters, but because it has been proven time and time again that goblins are bloodthirsty, despicable creatures who delight in causing harm to others. We cannot allow them to live because they will always attack anything that crosses their path as soon as they are given the opportunity."

"I see…" Tyl nodded. "I would like to believe you, but that is not too different from what they say of goblins in our homeland. I will have to reserve my judgement until I can observe them myself."

It didn't take long after that for them to find the site of the camp. Around a dozen of the creatures were gathered around a fire, where they seemed to be roasting several large animals on a spit. John recognized a cow and horse but could not tell what the third one was, perhaps some kind of ape?

The goblins themselves seemed smaller than what John was accustomed to, with vivid green skin instead of muddy grey, larger ears and elongated faces that managed to make them look even more animalistic than the ones back home. Though their skin was noticably quite smooth.

"Ugh, is that what I think it is?" Cassandra asked, looking as if she were about to lose her lunch.

"I am afraid so," Captain Paulo shook his head. "This is why we can't allow them to live."

"I see," Tyl nodded. "Perhaps you were right. The goblins I know would never eat a human."

John's blood ran cold as he realized what the others already had. That wasn't a ape on the goblins spit.n ape after all. He grabbed his bow and sent an arrow flying into a goblin’s neck. With that, the battle began. Starborne fried three goblins with a bolt of lightning fired from the end of his staff, while Tyl raised his hand and dark chains erupted from the ground to bind five more. Not to be shone up, John continued raining arrows on the camp. It didn’t take long before the three of them had wiped out the entire group.

“An impressive showing,” Captain Paulo admitted once it was over. “You managed to take them down even faster than my own soldiers would have. Your magic is particularly interesting. Not having to perform incantantations for your spells certainly seems like an impressive boon.”

“Did I really need to be here for this?” Sir Irons asked. “I didn’t even do anything.”

“Neither did I,” Cassandra added.

“Yes, I suppose bringing the two of you along didn’t end up serving much purpose this time,” Captain Paulo admitted. “But I did not know what to expect from this battle and had assumed that you would all be needed. Perhaps next time you will be able to show off your skills. For now, let us return.”

“No, we should bury the body first,” Cassandra said firmly, then faultred. “Er, if that is how you treat the dead here. I suppose we shouldn’t force our customs onto you.”

“No, you are right,” Captain Paulo nodded. “We do not know who that person was or what fate must have led them to a gruesome end but we should at least make sure that they are sent off properly.”

They then headed down to the former goblin camp. Sir Irons and Starborne removed what was left of the corpse from the spit while Cassandra said a small prayer. Captain Paulo stood a few feet away and held his hands out.

“Move earth!” At his command, a large chunk of soil was scooped out from the ground and hovered in the air. Once the body had been placed in the hole, he dropped his arms and the dirt returned where it had come. They held a moment of silence for the poor man, or woman, before turning to leave.

“I didn’t realize that you knew magic,” Starborne said.

“Most people in this world do,” Captain Paulo explained. “Though what spells a person can learn can very. Is that not how it works where you come from?”

“No,” Starborne shook his head. “While in theory, anyone could learn it, even the most basic of magic can take years of study to learn. Arcane magic, which is what I know, requires a deep understanding of the world and how it works in order to bend it to your will.”

“Divine magic is similar,” Cassandra added. “Most priests and priestesses are taught from a young age how the human body works as well as just how our gods’ power works and how we can use it.”

“The dark magic I have learned works much the same but most of the knowledge surrounding it has been lost,” Tyl said. “Learning it was quite difficult as I had no history with the subject of magic prior. It took me over a decade to master what I know and that is but a fraction of its true power.”

“Interesting,” Captain Paulo considered this. “It would appear that the different forms of magic in your world are all based off of intense learning and dedication, while our world’s magic tends to be based more off of intuition and natural talent.”

John tuned out the conversation after that. He had never cared much for the craft of magic. Wizards were all stuck up know-it-alls, priests gained their power from the gods and the dark arts were a blight that needed to be eradicated. That was all he needed to know.

Sir Irons was characteristactly quiet on the walk back into town at first, though after a while he seemed to grow aggravated. Knowing the boy, he was probably just getting anxious about the princess, as if there were any need to worry. Still, the boy’s intuition often proved to be strong and the way he was gripping the hilt of his sword suggested that it was communicating to him the way it often did. He didn’t quite understand it himself but knew something must be amis.

“What is wrong?” John asked the younger knight.

“There’s something nearby,” Sir Irons replied. “I don’t know what it is but it feels… wrong.”

“Hmph, you’re probably just sensing Tyl.” John scoffed. “I’m sure that his dark presence would be unsettling for anything that can sense magic.”

“No, it’s not him.” Sir Irons shook his head. “Eos is fin with Magros. His dark magic is a bit off but Eos considers it… natural, I guess would be the right word. This is something else, something wrong, and whatever it is, it’s watching us.”

John scanned the horizon, not sure what he was expecting to find. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, though.

“Worrysome,” John said as he considered what to do. “Keep your eyes open. We still don’t know much about our current situation. It could be nothing, but it could also be connected to this Demon King we were told of. Certainly the forces of one refered to by such a moniker and who’s very existence is being covered up by those in charge would be unnatural."

“Possible,” Sir Irons nodded. “It’s too early to tell for sure. We should hurry back to the house.”

“Agreed,” John said. “I may not trust these people but if we’re being watched then we will be less likely to be attacked in a crowded area.”

“Is something bothering you?” Captain Paulo asked, noticing their hushed conversation.

“Nothing,” John replied before Sir Irons had a chance to open his mouth. “We were just debating whether or not it’s going to rain.”

“I see.” The captain’s eyes narrowed before he looked at the sky. “The clouds are coming in but I do not believe it will rain today. Perhaps tomorrow, though.”

“My thoughts exactly,” John replied. “It’s nice to know that at least the weather seems to be the same here.”

“I’ve always loved the rain,” Cassandra said somewhat whistfully. “There’s just something so calming about it. I’m not quite sure how to put it into words.”

“I understand,” Tyl said. “There’s nothing more relaxing than a light shower.”

“And if it doesn’t rain for a while, then it just gets uncomfortably dry.” Cassandra nodded.

“Huh, I guess I never really noticed,” Starborne said. “Then again, I generally spend most of my time indoors. But I suppose rain means the sun isn’t out, so it has that going for it.”

“Rain is dangerous,”John was beginning to regret picking this specific topic but now he had to commit. “It makes it dark and drowns out noise. It makes it easier for enemies to hide.”

“True, but you can always just use Detect to sense anything nearby,” Captain Paulo said, then frowned. “Or not, I suppose you wouldn’t be able to do that.”

“Interesting.” Starborne had that look that always crossed over his face when he was deep in thought. “You’re going to have to tell me more about your magic when we get back. Marie’s started telling us some of the basics but I’m intrigued by just how much variety in the spells you can learn here.”

Things continued like that for the remainder of the return trip. John and Sir Irons never did kind out what the sword had sensed, which made John extra wary as they made it back to their prison.

Spoiler: Chapter 5 - Cassandra

Dinner that night was as unpleasant as always. The food was good, and Cassandra found that she quite liked this land’s cuisine. It was the company that always made her uneasy. It had been like that ever since she had been forced to leave the monastery she called home. She was, to her own regret, the most skilled healer that the cult of Zera had to offer, or at least the most skilled who was available to go on a quest when the princess had gotten kidnapped, and thus she had been forced to go out into the world despite her protests on a mission to save her.

Sir John was intimidating and spiteful, and Alastor just would not stop hitting on her no matter how much she tried to make it clear she wasn’t interested. The only good thing about being sent on that quest, she thought, was being able to meet Sir Irons. Linus was dashing, brave and noble. Everything that she could have ever wanted in a man if she hadn’t been raised by an institution that didn’t allow its followers to even consider a relationship. But unfortunately, her knight in shining armor only had eyes for that stupid princess of his. She hated that stuck-up royal. Or at least she had right up until actually meeting her and finding out that she actually quite liked Ely. It was just a shame that they both had to have eyes for the same boy, and there was no way that Cassandra was ever going to win that battle. Actually, if they went home then neither of them actually stood a chance with him for different reasons. But that was a thought for another time. For now, she tried to focus on what was in front of her.

At the moment, that proved to be Magros Tyl, who was sitting directly across from Cassandra at the dinner table. She still wasn’t quite sure what to think of the man. As a practitioner of black magic and a supposedly fallen knight who was said to have murdered a member of the royal family and definitely abducted another, he was everything that she had been taught to hate by both national loyalty and the faith she served. But she had never actually cared about her nation or the church she was raised by, and the man in front of her honestly seemed kinder and more respectable than most of the priests she’d known. Handsome, too. Perhaps she could get her mind off of Linus for a bit… no, Magros was old enough to be her father. For all she knew, he could have been her father. It’s not like she had any idea who her parents were. In fact…

She found herself looking at his ears. They weren’t the shape of a full-blooded elf, of course. Their ears, both back home and apparently in this world, shot straight out from the head in a distinctive shape that had led to the derogative term ‘knife-ear’ that she had heard so, so many times. No, he was half-elf at best, his ears mostly human-like except for the pointed tips. She felt her own ears start to ache as they tended to from time to time before she caught her staring.

“Does it really bother you that much?” Magros asked quietly. They were seated at one end of the table, and the others didn’t really seem to notice as they were caught up in their own conversations. Except for John, she could never let her guard down around him.

“No, not at all,” Cassandra said quickly. Perhaps a bit too quickly. “It’s just… what was it like for you, being…”

“Half elf?” Magros finished her question. “It was rough. My parents were split up in the last war when I was just a baby and I never met my father. I didn’t even know anything about that part of myself and yet was still relentlessly mocked and bullied as a child, even as an adult. I had to work and scrape for everything that I had. Eventually, I managed to earn myself a knighthood. I was proud of it at the time but looking back, I think they just wanted to use me as an example to other elvenborn. ‘Look, if you work hard enough and lick enough boots, even you can be seen as almost equal to everyone else’. Being a squire under Sir Wolfe here wasn’t exactly easy, either. I’m sure you’ve worked with him long enough to understand why.”

Cassandra nodded. It was hard to find anyone who hated elves quite as much as him, which was saying something.

“I was then appointed to be the personal knight of Princess Harlow, much as Sir Irons currently is for her niece Princess Elanora,” Magros continued. “The princess and I grew close in that time. Too close, as far as her brother was concerned. He moved to have me removed from my position, and with anti-elf sentiments on the rise, it wasn’t hard for him to find others more than willing to root out the token demi-elf. Soon I found myself sent out on a wild goose chase in Palortva and by the time I finally figured out that the sphynx I was supposed to be hunting didn’t exist, I found myself being framed for Harlow’s disappearance. Suddenly I was a man with no country, no home, no family or friends. But none of that mattered to me nearly as much as that the woman I loved was gone. I never found out what happened to her.”

“Oh,” Cassandra looked down at the half-eaten stake on her plate, unsure of how to respond to that. Even with what she had been through, she couldn’t imagine having everything taken away from her like that. In her case, she had started with nothing. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not like you had anything to do with it.” Magros returned to his own meal. “But I’m sure you probably understand a bit better why I’ve done the things I’ve done since then.”

“Yes, I do,” Cassandra gave a slight nod, considering her next actions carefully. “Perhaps more than you realize.”

Sucking in a deep breath to counter her nerves, she casually swept back the hair from her left ear, so that no one else would be able to see. Magros’ eyes narrowed and he nearly dropped his fork before regaining his composure as she quickly covered it again. She noticed that his motions grew tense, and wasn’t surprised.

“I see,” Magros glanced over to make sure that no one else had noticed. To Cassandra’s relief, not even John seemed to have. “We will have to discuss things later, in private. Thank you for sharing this with me. It can’t be easy.”

“It isn’t,” Cassandra whispered, more to herself than him.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before Magros finally spoke up again, with a single, painful word. “Who?”

She had been expecting that question, but it was still hard. She found her hand absently reaching for her knife but was able to stop herself before grabbing it. Instead, she weekly shook her head. She wasn’t ready to admit that yet. Even after all of these years it was still too painful and would lead to too many follow-up questions.

“I understand.” Magros cut up his stake a bit more forcefully than he should have. “That couldn’t have been easy, I’ll drop it for now.”

Cassandra silently thanked him. Dinner progressed quietly after that and soon Cassandra found herself alone in her room. She sank into the chair by her desk and looked over at the full-length mirror hanging on her wall. I large mirror like that would have been extremely valuable back home, not something a girl like her would have been able to have. Not to mention the fact that it was somehow made out fo glass instead of polished steel.

She stared at her reflection. At the face of the filthy demielf who stared back, framed by her curly red locks. She pulled back her hair, to uncover her ears. The scars she hadn’t been able to heal properly when she was a child, cutting off the tips because she hadn’t been able to face who she was, who everyone else made her think she was.

She leaned back in her chair and staired up at the ceiling before closing her eyes. Her scars ached. Not just ones on her ears. After a few minutes, she finally stood up and slipped out of her robes before standing in front of the mirror. With her hair back over her ears, there wasn’t a mark visible on her body. But she could still feel the scars. On her arms, her stomach and everywhere else. They weren’t actually there anymore, she’d learned to heal properly by the time she made them. That was why she was the best healer at the Temple of Zera. Not because of her faith, because she had none. Not because of her connection to her so-called god, she was pretty sure he didn’t exist. She was the best healer because she was the most experienced healer, and she was the most experienced healer because of how often she always needed to patch herself up.

Silently, Cassandra pulled out the knife she always kept strapped to her thigh. No one knew she had that. She was supposed to be a pacifist, someone who was only there to defend and heal. She gave the blade a flourish before sliding it harmlessly down her arm. Then she cut. Then she healed. A cut, and a heal.

She hadn’t been able to do this at all while she was adventuring and she had been making up for lost time the past few days, since realizing that she had enough privacy. It was nice to finally put herself under the blade again. She knew people weren’t supposed to enjoy hurting themselves like this.

Finally, she decided that she had enough for the night and slipped the knife back in its sheath, not a drop of blood on it. Nor was there any mark left on her body. She sat down on her bunk and laid down, staring back up at the ceiling again, and wiped away a tear.

She didn’t know why she was this way. She wanted to stop. She wanted to leave her old life behind, find a good man who could love her for who she was and settle down as a new woman. Away from the church, away from elf haters and away from herself. It probably seemed like she was on the verge of accomplishing that goal. She was away from the church. Elves were just people in this world. She could never run away from herself. She cried herself asleep that night, as she did whenever she could spare herself that luxury.

 

Spoiler: Chapter 6 - Linus

Linus sat at a table, looking at a book. He couldn’t actually read it, of course. Apparently, Alastor had already learned how to read it but Linus was still struggling to memorize the letters, which all looked like a bunch of random squiggles to him. Of course, he was sure that someone from this world like Marie or the captain would say the same about their own language.

He was mostly just trying to keep his mind off the uneasy feeling he’d had since getting back from the goblin camp the day before. They were being watched. He still didn’t know by what, but Eos was certain that something was off, which meant that he was, too. It was almost as if he could feel someone watching now.

“Good book?” Magros asked as he took a seat opposite Linus at the table, holding a carving knife and a block of wood.

“No idea,” Linus set the book down as Magros started whittling. “I think it’s a collection of short stories or something.”

“I haven’t figured out how to read here yet, either,” Magros admitted. “You’d think that learning ancient scripts would help but this world’s written languages are just too different for me to get a hold of.”

“At least it’s only the writing,” Linus replied. He wasn’t used to Magros talking to him and he wasn’t really sure what to do. Elanora said that she was at least willing to give him the benefit of the doubt but he hadn’t decided whether he trusted the former knight or not.

“True.” Magros nodded. “I’m sure the language barrier would make things even more awkward than they are now.”

The two sat in silence for a few minutes. Linus watched as Magros slowly chipped away at the wood in his hands, giving it form.

“You’d think the two of us would have more to talk about,” Magros mused after a while.

“Why?” Linus asked.

“Well, you’re a princess’ personal knight,” Magros hesitated. “As was I, once.”

“They say you killed yours,” Linus watched the other man closely for his reaction. “I would never hurt Princess Elanora.”

Magros froze for a moment before setting down his knife, a mournful expression on his face. “And I could never hurt Harlow. I was in another country when she disappeared, following orders from the man you call king. My biggest regret is not ignoring those orders to stay by her side.”

“So you say,” Linus said.

“Your princess is the niece of the one I failed,” Magros pointed out. “I do not know her well but I do know that Harlow would have loved her niece. Promise me that you will not make my mistake. Never leave her side.”

“I won’t,” Linus said quietly, “but even when I didn’t, you were still able to take her away so easily. I couldn’t do anything.”

“I see,” Magros nodded solemnly before returning to his whittling. “That is not how I remember it, though. I may have been able to overpower you but I am a veteran knight who’s spent the last twenty years learning the mysteries of dark magic from the Goblin King. You are still wet behind the ears and yet you managed to put up more of a fight than most men who fought that day.”

“That was the sword, not me,” Linus looked grimly down at Eos, sheathed at his side as always. “I’m just the guy she chose to wield her.”

“And I respect the holy sword’s decision,” Magros said. “You have the potential to be a great knight and a great man if you but give yourself the chance. If you wish, I could teach you.”

“I have no interest in dark magic,” Linus replied quickly, his eyes widening at the thought.

“Sorry, I should have been more clear. I meant sword lessons,” Magros clarified. “It might help you build up your confidence if you could improve your skills with a blade. At the very least, it will help you fulfill your duties as Princess Elanora’s knight.”

Linus pondered that for a moment, taking his time to reply. “I’ll think about it.”

The silence returned as Magros continued with his woodwork and Linus stared absently at the wall. He decided to mentally reach out to Eos to see what she thought. The reply was a feeling of calm assurance, which Linus took to mean that she trusted the former knight. Perhaps he would take Magros up on those sword lessons once they were finally allowed outside so that they could spar.

Linus' thoughts were disrupted as Princess Elanora walked into the room. Looking around, she spotted Linus and went over to sit by him.

“How are you this morning, Your Highness?” Linus asked her.

“I am well,” she replied curtly, an uncertain expression crossing her face for a moment. “ How are you?”

“Fine,” Linus lied, he was actually still on edge. “Perhaps a bit bored, there's not much to do while we're still confined to this house.”

“Agreed,” the princess nodded. “I hope that it won't be too much longer until we're allowed outside. I’d love a chance to finally get to explore this new world that we’ve been brought to.”

“It would certainly beat being cooped up in here,” Linus said.

“By the way,” the princess hesitated before continuing. There was definitely something important on her mind. “I’ve been thinking about things and… I think… while we are here, I would like to forgo our usual formalities.”

“What?” That certainly caught Linus off guard. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Princess Elanora paused to consider her wording, “Back home, I am a princess and you are my knight. But here, that isn't really the case. Our kingdom doesn't exist here. I have decided that I want to take this opportunity to experience things as… well, just a normal girl, I guess you would say.”

“You're not just a girl,” Linus replied before he knew what he was saying.

“I know that, but…” the princess reached over and grabbed Linus by the shoulders. “Look, what I’m saying is that until we return home, I want us to be able to treat each other as equals. I want to be able to just call you Linus, and you to just call me Ely.”

“Um…” Linus' face turned red, as he considered the implications of what she was saying. If they were to disregard each other's respective positions then… no, he couldn't think that way. But still, this was a direct request so he had no choice but to accept. “Very well then, prin- …um, Ely?”

“Thank you, Linus,” she leaned back in her chair again.

The moment was interrupted by a chuckle from Magros.

“Is something funny?” Elanora asked him.

“No, nothing’s funny,” Magros replied with wistful sigh. “You just reminded me of when your aunt first asked me to call her by her first name. We were on a horseback ride outside the summer villa, the morning after a rainstorm. The path was muddier than we expected and her horse slipped, causing her to fall off. I went to her side at once to see if she had been harmed and she ended up pulling me down into the mud with her. By the time we were both up and on our horses again, we were both absolutely covered in it. Then, on the way back, she told me that at that moment we were both the same, and as such we should refer to ourselves as equals. I miss those days.”

Magros placed the block of wood he had been carving on the table, transformed into a figure of a woman riding a horse. It was rough and crude, yet there was still something about it that stood out to Linus.

“I have often heard you speak fondly of my aunt, since… since we met,” Elanora said. “She must have meant a great deal to you.”

“She was the love of my life,” Magros replied sincerely. “And I, hers.”

Linus’ eyes widened at that.

“Are you saying that…” Elanora trailed off, unable to finish her question.

“Yes,” was Magros’ blunt reply. “She had even begun talking of us running away to be together before… before I lost her. In another life, I could very well have been your uncle.”

“I see…” Elanora stared at the woodcarving, which was most likely meant to be a depiction of Princess Harlow, now that Linus thought about it. “I supposed that would have been a better life, for all of us.”

Linus and Ely shared a glance. There was hurt in her eyes and Linus wished, not for the first time, that he could understand what she was thinking. He was quickly pulled away from that thought, however, as Eos suddenly sent him a strong message. Something bad was about to happen. He lept to his feet just as Captain Paulo rushed into the room.

“What’s happening?” Linus asked the captain before he could speak.

“A pack of wyverns has been spotted approaching!” the captain explained. “At the latest report, they will be here within minutes. We need everyone available to defend the city! Prepare yourselves for battle quickly!”

“At once!” Magros rose to his feat and rushed to his room.

“Wyverns,” Linus muttered. “If they are anything like the ones we know, then I will not be of much help. A sword isn’t exactly effective against flying monsters.”

“Yes,” the captain agreed. “But you can still help with the evacuation efforts, both of you. People’s lives are at risk and I trust that you will do your parts to help.”

“Of course,” Ely nodded. “What shall we do?”

Spoiler: Chapter 7 - Elanora

It didn’t take long for the wyverns to begin their assault on the city. Giant reptilian beasts with two legs and bat-like wings, large enough to grab a fully-grown stallion in their talons. They may not have been as dangerous as dragons but even a single wyvern was still more than a threat. By Elanora’s estimates, there had to be well over a hundred flying around the city.

Ely was currently running around one of the northern districts, Linus at her side. They had been sent to gather any citizens who weren’t able to make it to shelter in time and help them to safety. Unfortunately, they didn’t know the area at all since this was only the second time that they had been let out of the house since they arrived, the first time in Ely’s case. But they still did their best to search.

They found a young boy, who couldn’t be more than eight, crying in the middle of the street. Ely didn’t know what happened to the child’s parents but hopefully they were alright. For now, they had to worry about the boy’s safety as a wyvern dropped down nearby. It’s leathery golden wings brushed the ground as it stalked over to the child, and Ely instinctively ran to grab him.

Linus didn’t hesitate to charge the draconic beast, sword drawn and at the ready. The wyvern let out a terrible roar as it approached and lowered it’s head to take a bite at the knight. Linus dropped into a slide, and the wyvern’s massive jaws snapped shut on the air above his head before he thrust Eos up into it’s neck. The wyvern shrieked and flapped its wings, returning to the air as blood dripped from its wound.

“Are you alright?” Ely rushed to her defender’s side, carrying the still-crying child.

“I’m fine, what about the kid?” Linus replied.

Ely looked down at the crying boy in her arms. “Hey, it’s alright now. The big, scary monster is gone. Now, can you tell us what happened to your parents?”

The boy continued to sob, but eventually managed to speak. “I-I d-don’t know! I d-dropped my ball and w-went b-back to p-pick it b-back up b-but then they were g-gone.”

“I’m sure they’re out looking for you right now,” Linus tried to assure the boy. “Now, what’s your name?”

“Odmen,” the boy replied.

“Okay, Odmen, we’re going to help you find your parents. Where were you when you got separated? They’re probably still somewhere around there looking for you.”

Ely set the boy back down.

“It was over this way,” Odmen told them, and the two followed him along the street.

Ely still wasn’t used to these strange roads, suspended in the air like bridges. Walking around on them made her a bit uncomfortable, but at least they all had tall railings to prevent accidentally falling over the edge. As they made their way, Ely spared a glance over at Linus, who seemed agitated. That was understandable given the situation, she could still see three wyverns hovering around in their area, but something felt off.

“What’s wrong?” she asked him.

“Everything’s wrong,” he replied. “If these wyverns are anything like the ones back home, they wouldn’t just attack a huge city like this out of the blue. But more importantly, Eos senses something else. I wish she could be more specific than just sending me these vague feelings but there’s definitely something else we need to be worrying about.”

Odmen turned a corner into an alleyway, and Ely and Linus followed.

“Like what?” she asked.

“I don’t know but…” Linus slowed to a halt. “Wait, this is a dead end.”

Ely looked up and, sure enough, Odmen had stopped just in front of a wall and started crying again.

“Is this where you lost your parents?” Ely asked as she walked up to the boy, crouching down. Something felt off.

“N-no,” Odmen said between sobs… no, the boy wasn’t crying at all. He was… laughing? “I can’t believe you bought that.”

Ely barely had time to process that before she found a knife in her stomache. The boy looked up at her, but he wasn’t a boy at all. His face had grown twisted and contorted, his skin turning red and small horns sprouted out from his head. She heard a yell as Linus charged. He pinned the demonic creature to the wall, Eos’ blade pierced through its shoulder.

“Who are you?” he yelled furiously.

The demon laughed harder. “That doesn’t matter, stranger! I’m not important at all! I’m just a messenger, sent to tell you not to get in our master’s way! If you try, then you’ll all end up like her! You’ll all die-hurk!”

Linus slashed upward at an angle, and the demon’s head and arm were completely severed from the rest of its body, which fell to the ground in a bloody heap. He then rushed back to Ely, who was crouched on the ground, clutching at her bleeding stomache.

“Let me see,” Linus pulled up her blouse to check the injury. If she wasn’t in the middle of bleeding to death, she would have been flustered and embarrassed, but as things were she was mostly focused on not dying. “It doesn’t look like he hit anything vital but we can’t remove the knife without risk of further injury. I’m going to carry you and look for Cassandra. She should be able to patch this up easily. For now, just keep applying pressure.”

With that, he scooped her up into his arms. If it weren’t for the knife wound, she would have relished being held so close to her chest but as it was she was mostly concentrating on not passing out from blood loss as Linus quickly rushed across town. Fortunately, it didn’t take as long as it could have to find Cassandra, who was treating the injured at one of the designated evacuation points.

“What happened?” Cassandra rushed over as soon as she say Linus walking into the shelter.

“We were ambushed, I’ll explain later,” Linus said, laying Ely gently on the floor. “Can you save her?”

“Of course,” Cassandra knelt beside Ely and hovered her sofly glowing hands around the wound. “Pull the knife out.”

Linus did so and Ely could feel the wound sealing itself up as Cassandra literally worked her magic. Even the pain quickly subsided at the hands of the expert priestess.

“Thank you,” Ely whispered, slowly sitting up and clutching absently at where she had been stabbed.

“You need to rest for a few minutes,” Cassandra instructed her. “That injury was serious and your body will need time to adjust to the fact that its already healed.”

“Alright,” Ely nodded.

“Now, what happened,” Cassandra took the knife from Linus. “Clearly a wyvern didn’t do this.”

“There was a boy,” Linus started to explain. “We were trying to help him find his parents but it was a trap. He turned into a monster and attacked, saying something about how we shouldn’t go after his master.”

“That is worrisome.” Cassandra pondered that for a moment. “Probably that Demon King thing we were supposedly summoned to defeat. He must think that we’re still trying to take him out.”

“That seems like the most probable reason,” Ely agreed. “Too bad he didn’t realize that we weren’t actually after him. We didn’t even know for sure he existed before now.”

“But now there’s little room for doubt,” Linus nodded grimly. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he orchestrated this entire attack as a distraction.”

“Probably,” Ely turned to him, “and if so then we will have no choice but to fight him. We cannot allow anyone who would wilfully harm civilians like this to be left loose.”

“I know,” Linus replied. “I’m going to head back out there and continue helping with the evacuations, and see if I can find any clues about what happened. You should stay here for now.”

“No, I’m coming with you.” Ely rose to her feat and nearly fell over before Cassandra caught her.

“I already told you that you need to rest for a while,” she pointed out.

Linus took Ely’s hand in her own and gave it a gently squeeze. She felt her heart fluttered and briefly wondered if that was a bad thing in her current condition. “I will be back, Ely. I’ll always come back to your side as long as you need me.”

“Of course.” Ely felt her cheeks grow warm and hoped that they weren’t as red as she thought. “Just… be careful.”

“I will.” With that, Linus turned and marched out the door, back into the chaos of the battle outside, leaving Ely with Cassandra and the various citizens taking shelter there.

“Ely?” Cassandra said inquisitively.

“Oh, um, yes.” Ely turned her gaze back to Cassandra, embarrassed. “I figured that our titles didn’t really mean anything here, so… I asked him to start calling me that.”

“I see,” Cassandra looked pained.

“You can too, if you want.” Ely told her.

“Um, sure,” Cassandra looked uncertain about something and Ely noticed her fists clench slightly before relaxing again. “And I guess if we’re going by nicknames now, you can call me Cassie.”

“Alright, Cassie.” Ely smiled. “Now, since I’m here I might as well help you with what you’re doing, so what do you need.”

“At the moment, not much.” Cassie turned and started walking over to the other end of the shelter. “I’ve been able to heal everyone that’s sent to me, so for now we’re all just waiting out the attack. Just focus on trying to keep everyone calm, and if anyone else comes in, send them to me.”

“Right, I’m on it.” Ely nodded. She wished she could do anything to help the others out there, but for now she would have to fight the quiet battle of making sure everyone here was alright. It was, after all, the least she could do for these people who were unknowingly playing host to Ely and her friends.

Spoiler: Chapter 8 - Alastor

Alastor had dedicated his life to the study of the arcane arts, ever since he was a young child and first began showing an aptitude for the field, and his parents had sent him off to the college. He was, simply put, an expert in magic and while he generally preferred the more theoretical and academic side of things, he was no stranger to the practical applications and had recently grown well versed in using his skills for combat. These bat-lizards didn’t stand a chance against the sheer force of nature that Alastor could become when he let himself cut loose.

Another wyvern crashed into the ground, a charred wound over its heart where it had just been struck by a lightning strike fired from Alastor’s staff. Lightning was a particularly troublesome element to control, as unlike fire or something else along those lines, Linus couldn’t safely channel it directly without hurting himself. That’s part of why he always carried that staff with him, so that he could use it as the focal point for his magic without having to worry about electrocuting himself. It also didn’t hurt that it looked cool.

“Razor Gale!” Marie spead out her arms and a row of glowing green disks spun to life above her head before rocketing towards a wyvern that was diving towards them. The disks, apparently some kind of highly condensed wind from how she had described the spell, tore through its wings like knives through paper. That was a neat trick, which Alastor wished he could learn. Unfortunately, his attempts to learn this world’s magic had all failed so far and while he could control the wind, he couldn’t get it to do anything like that. He could create a tornado if he wanted to but the collateral damage of unleashing that in a city would be even worse than what the wyvern’s were causing.

Unfortunately, the injured wyvern kept its momentum as fell towards them and he had to think fast. They didn’t have time to get out of its way before it would crash into the suspended bridge.

“Ice Wall!” Marie yelled and, as the incantation implied, a thick wall of solid ice sprung out of the ground in front of them like a mighty shield. Seriously, how did she do that?

The wyvern smacked into the wall with a sickening crunch as the force of its own momentum broke most of he bones in its body before the corpse fell to the earth far below. Alastor was no slouch when it came to combat magic but he was beginning to feel like a novice next to the young woman and even she was nothing compared to the actual combat mages defending the city. It had only been a couple hours since the wyverns had reached the city limits and they’d already taken out almost all of the invading monsters.

“Are you alright?” Marie asked him as they ran over to the next bridge.

“I should be the one asking you that!” Alastor replied playfully, before grabbing her hand and creating a powerful updraft that blew them up to the next level in a single bound. “Now come on, we’re almost done.”

Another wyvern was clinging to the side of a nearby tower, biting at the archers stationed on the nearby platform. Alastor pointed his staff and let another lighting bolt loose, managing to strike it in the eye, turning the entire left half of its face into a smoking crater.

“Ha, take that, you stupid imitation of a dragon!” Alastor taunted the dead monster. “They can’t even breath fire like the real thing, you know?”

“I keep forgetting how different the dragons of your world are,” Marie replied.

“Oh, right, your dragons are, like, elemental spirits or something,” Alastor remembered. “You think we’ll ever get a chance to see one up close?”

“Unlikely,” Marie shook her head. “Dragon sightings are exceedingly rare. Very few people have ever been granted that honor.”

“Shame.” Alastor shrugged, then looked around. “Alright, on to the next- Oh, is that Linus?”

The knight in question was running up to them, obviously in a hurry. Alastor went to meet him, Marie following close behind.

“What’s up?” Alastor asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be a few blocks over? And wasn’t the princess with you?”

“I left her with Cassandra.” Linus said, quickly catching his breath.

“Oh, and how is my darling?” Alastor perked up at the mention of girl he regarded as the love of his life.

“She’s fine, they’re both treating the injured right now,” Linus replied. “But that’s not what I’m here about.”

“Then what is it?” Alastor asked. “More wyverns?”

“Not exactly,” Linus looked grim, and Alastor could tell he wasn’t going to like whatever the knight was about to say.”

“Ely, er, Princess Elanora and I were attacked by some sort of shape changing creature. It had taken on the form of a young boy and lured us into a trap. It turned into a demonic-looking creature and attacked the princess before we realized there was something wrong, though I was able to kill it and get Ely to Cassandra before it was too late.”

“Was it a changeling?” Marie gasped.

“I don’t know but that certainly sounds like a fitting name for the monster.” Linus said.

“This isn’t good,” Marie shook her head. “There haven’t been any confirmed changeling sightings in centuries. Did it say anything?”

“Yes,” Linus nodded. “It claimed to be a messenger sent to tell us not to go after its master. We believe that it was working for the Devil King that your grandfather warned us of before he was arrested, and that this entire attack was most likely a distraction for it.”

“The Devil King.” Marie grew faint. “To be honest with you, I doubted Grandpas stories were true, but you are likely right. But if it is true, then what are we going to do?”

“We’ll have to decide on that later, when everyone is together again,” Linus said. “For now, we should just focus on defending the city. I just came here to warn you to keep an eye out in case that monster that attacked us wasn’t the only one. I’m off to find Sir Wolfe and Magros now.”

“Good luck out there,” Alastor nodded. “We’ll be fine.”

With that, Linus turned and ran off in search of the others, leaving Alastor and Marie to get back to fighting wyverns. Alastor spotted another one circling the skies nearby and took off. Marie followed him quietly, even though she was the one who actually knew her way around.

“So, the Devil King’s real?” Alastor asked to break the silence as they rounded a staircase up to an upper level.

“It would appear so,” Marie replied. “I'm ashamed to say that part of me is actually surprised.”

“But wasn't your grandfather the one who was telling us about him in the first place?”

“He was, along with the other sages,” Marie confirmed. “But to be honest, I wasn't entirely sure if what they were saying was true. Tensions had been high between the sages and nobles for a while, and I never really saw any direct proof that the Devil King story was true. Part of me really was suspecting that my grandpa and the other sages were manufacturing the whole thing as a way of weakening the noble council’s power.”

“Really, Heim didn't really seem like the type for that,” Alastor noted.

“You didn't know him very well,” Marie pointed out. “You barely had one conversation with the man before he was arrested.”

“True,” Alastor rounded a corner and the wyvern they were after came back into sight.

“I’ve been raised by him since my parents died when I was a kid and I can tell you that he can be more manipulative than he might let on.” Marie raised one of her hands. “Wind Blade!”

This wyvern was smarter than the last and dodged the green blades of magical wind by diving to the ground and landing. With a roar, it charged towards them. Surprisingly, it even managed to leap out of the way of one of Alastor’s lightning bolts.

“Divine Arrow!” Marie motioned as if she were pulling back an invisible bow and a bolt of solid light materialized as an arrow, which she loose towards the dragon. Alastor tossed a couple of fireballs as well to reduce its movement.

The magic arrow struck the wyvern in its shoulder before dematerializing, the mighty beast letting out a howling shriek as stumbled towards them. Alastor decided to get a bit creative and condensed the air in front of them to create a soft barrier that slowed the wyvern to a halt.

“Divine Arrow!” Marie called again, making the same gesture as before to fire another arrow straight through the wyvern's head. The giant creature collapsed, dead.

“That's another one done,” Alastor looked up, scanning the surrounding area. “I think we're pretty much done here.”

“I hope so,” Marie sighed and walked over to the side railing to rest. “This is taking a lot out of me.”

“Yes, from what you've been saying it sounds like your world's magic definitely takes a lot more effort than mine.” Alastor walked up beside her and leaned against the edge. “You’ve mentioned something about mana?”

“Yes, that's what we call the energy that we use when casting spells.” Marie nodded. “Every time I cast a spell, it uses up a certain amount of my mana, which won't recover until I get a chance to sleep.”

“Interesting,” Alastor said. “We haven't really been able to quantify how much energy using magic uses back home but it's generally accepted that it simply uses our stamina, like running or moving around heavy stuff.”

“That sounds more convenient,” Marie noted.

“From the sounds of it, both systems have their advantages and drawbacks,” Alastor replied.

Marie's eyes widened and she pointed at something outside the city limits.

“Oh, no!” she gasped. “There's more coming!”

Alastor looked over at where she was pointed and tightened his grip on the railing. An army of monsters were coming down from a nearby hill. There had to be hundreds of them marching in formation.

“I don't suppose you have any crowd-clearing spells, do you?” Alastor chuckled nervously.

Marie shook her head. “No matter how you look at it, this is going to be a full-on battle.”.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured.” Alastor sighed. “So, I guess we head down to ground-level and wait for everyone else?”

“I don’t think we have much choice,” Marie confirmed.

“Right, then.” Alastor vaulted over the railing. “Here we go!”

The albino mage fell several stories, controlling the wind to slow his descent. After landing safely, he waited until Marie finally managed to catch up to him, by which point numerous other mages and soldiers had started to gather as well. He spotted Sir Wolfe and waved for him to come over.

“What’s going on?” the gruff knight asked.

“An army of monsters coming in from the north,” Alastor explained. “I don’t know much more than that, as they’re still pretty far away.”

“That’s just great,” Sir Wolfe grumbled. “As if we didn’t already have enough trouble with the wyverns.”

“Could be worse,” Alastor shrugged.

“Don’t say that,” Marie said. “Never say that.”

“Did Linus find you?” Alastor asked Sir Wolfe.

“No, I haven’t seen Sir Irons,” Sir Wolfe emphasizes the title. “Why, was he looking for me?”

“Sort of, but it can wait,” Alastor shrugged. “This is more important right now.”

“I see you’re already here,” Captain Paulo approached them. “Do you know the situation?”

“Just that an army of monsters is coming,” Alastor replied.

“Trolls,” the captain nodded seriously.

“Trolls,” Alastor repeated. “Let’s see, back home those are basically just giant, uglier goblins. If I remember from our lessons, here they’re supposed to be… What was it? Big ape-lizard things?”

“That’s a simple way of putting it,” Marie said. “A troll is a giant, reptillian monstrosity that walks on two legs, has hands, and has skin as hard as stone that can resist almost any physical attack and most magic. Even a single troll often takes an entire party to defeat, the most ever seen in one place is around three, and there are hundreds of them marching upon us.”

“Alright, that sounds bad,” Alastor noted. “But they’ve got to have some kind of weakness to exploit. They always do.”

“If they have such a weakness, then it has yet to be discovered,” Captain Paulo shook his head solemnly. “As Ms. Vanclau said, they resist physical attacks and are nearly immune to magic. The most effective strategy we know if is to use ice magic to slow them down enough to bludgeon them to death and even that is a long, drawn out method that doesn’t always work. They are one of the most feared types of monster in our world.”

“How about fire?” Alastor asked.

“Completely immune,” Marie replied.

“Lightning?”

“You might push one back a few feet.”

“Water?”

“If you want to make them slip and fall, though that would mostly just make them angry.”

Alastor scratched his chin as he thought of other possibilities.

“How about chains? Can they be bound in place, or suffocated?”

Everyone turned to see Magros approaching them from the city, bloodied ax in hand.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” he said. “This city is like a maze.”

“Are you referring to that trick you used on the goblins yesterday?” Captain Paulo asked him.

“Yes.” Magros nodded. “I should be able to wrap a number of them up in my dark chains, holding them in place. Would I be able to wrap them around their necks and choke them out?”

“I am not sure,” the captain admitted. “But I do not believe so. Still, just preventing them from moving would give the other soldiers a fighting chance. How many would you be able to bind at once?”

“I do not know.” Magros shook his head. “I haven’t fought this many opponents at once since learning this power. My guess would be only a few dozen.”

“That’s still better than none,” Captain Paulo replied.

“What if I can trigger an earthquake?” Alastor asked.

“You can do that?” Marie was stunned by this.

“Sort of.” Alastor shrugged. “Earth magic is among the hardest fields to master in my world, as the ground is generally pretty stubborn and doesn’t want to be moved against its will. But I might be able to make a fissure or two to bury some of them. It’ll take a lot out of me, though, so I’ll be pretty much out of commision for awhile. Possibly a couple days, if I really overdo it.”

“Any help would be invaluable.” Captain Paulo nodded. “Now, we must prepare. It will not be long until the trolls arrive.”

Spoiler: Chapter 9 - Linus

Linus had been running all over the city, looking for the others. Unfortunately, his lack of familiarity with the area was making it difficult to navigate, especially since he didn’t know where any of them were. The fact that he had even managed to find Alastor at all was surprising. It didn’t help that the soldiers were starting to clear out now that the wyvern problem had almost been taken care of, meaning that the roads and bridges were mostly empty now. He would have been relieved that the attack was almost over, if Eos wasn’t telling him that things were somehow about to get even worse.

Running out of ideas, Linus decided to head to the ground and search the edge of the city. He wasn’t sure what he would find but it seemed like his best bet. What he was not expecting was to see what seemed to be the entire defensive force of the city gathering around the northern side, both soldiers and mages alike bracing themselves for something. Fearing the worst, Linus ran over to see what was happening. He got there just in time to see a horde of monsters charging down from the hills. Hundreds of scaly green giants running towards them, giant clubs and axes swinging overhead. If he remembered correctly from their lessons, then these hideous beasts were this world’s trolls, far deadlier monsters than the ones of his homeland.

He gripped Eos tightly. He couldn't do this. There were far too many. It was best just to let the city’s forces fight these monsters. His allies were probably with them and with their magic they could probably stand a chance. He should just stay out of their way and let them save the day, again.

“No… fight…”

Linus stared down at the sword in his hands. Did she just speak to him? That had never happened before. The sword had only ever communicated through vagued emotions and feelings before.

“You… have got this… We can do this… together…”

There was no doubt in Linus’ mind. This was Eos’ voice. The spirit of the sword was somehow managing to communicate with him more directly than ever before. He didn't know what that meant but he knew one thing. If Eos thought they stood a chance then he had no choice but to follow her.

“Fight!” The sword's voice echoed through Linus' mind as the young knight ran towards the incoming army of trolls.

The sky darkened and a torrent of black chains erupted from the ground around the troll army, wrapping around to hold them in place. The earth shook violently and a series of massive tremors opened up under their feet, swallowing up the monsters. Linus slowed as the city’s defenders clashed with the trolls and the fighting began in earnest. Clearly they had this. He should just stand back and avoid getting in the way.

“No!” the voice thundered even louder than before. Linus had no idea why Eos was being so insistent on this. “They cannot win this battle on their own! You must be the one to finish this!”

“Why me?” Linus demanded. “Why does it have to be me?”

“Because you are the only one who can do this.”

“No I'm not!” Linus collapsed to his knees. It took him a moment to realize that he was crying. “I can't do this! I can't do anything! I'm just a blacksmith and not even a good one! Why did you even choose me in the first place? I'm not a knight!”

Linus stared painfully at the blade that had turned his entire life upside down, waiting for answers that he didn't know if he even wanted.

“I could have just stayed at my family's forge. I would have found a nice girl, settled down and had kids. I could have been happy! But no, you had to call out to me that night! You had to pull me out of my life and force me into a position that I was never meant for! Made me fall in love with the one woman I could never be with! Why did you do this to me?”

Every second ticked by like an hour as Linus waited for a response. Finally, one came.

“You would have been content,” Eos agreed. “But you would not have been happy with the life you would have lived. I know you, better than you know yourself. I did give you anything you were not meant for. I gave you what you needed to be who you were always meant to be, a hero. Now, stop doubting yourself and fulfill your duty, not for me, the princess or the people of this world, but to yourself. Be the best you that you can be and save these people from a force they are not prepared to face. Rise, Linus Irons, and take a step forward towards becoming the hero that I have always seen in you.”

Linus just stared at Eos, speechless. He didn't know how to act, how to react. After a while, he didn't know how long, he finally looked up again, at the clash between men and trolls. He had thought that the troll army had been utterly debilitated, that it would just be a matter of the city’s army sweeping in and wiping them out. But he could see now that wasn't the case. The reptilian beasts were on the offensive, climbing out of the ground and even breaking out from Magros’ chains. Soldiers and mages alike we're falling one by one.

It was as if all other parts of Linus' brain shut off. There was no way that he would let this stand. Rising to his feet, Linus broke into a run almost instantly. Each stride took him farther than any step should have carried him on his own and in nearly and instant he was standing before a soldier about to be struck by a troll’s club. The weapon never reached its target, falling down upon Eos' blade and slicing neatly in half. The troll stood there for a moment, confused by what had just happened. A second later and the troll’s arm fell to the ground, followed by its upper body before the legs finally slumped over. The others on the battlefield barely had time to take this in before Linus had bisected three more trolls in a single, fluid moment.

A troll swung its lance towards Linus, only for the knight to effortlessly jump over its head and plunge his sword through the base of its neck, then swing outwards to cleave another troll’s face in two. All of the trolls now had their attention fully on Linus and the army moved on him at once. Linus dashed back to the edge of the crowd, swinging his blade as he went. Two rows of trolls fell at once as he came to a halt.

Linus turned back to the attacking trolls and held Eos skyward. The sword began to glow with an intense, burning light that expanded well beyond the edges of the blade. Nearly a hundred trolls were felled in one powerful slash that seemed to cut the air itself. What was left of the troll forces began to panic, many deciding to cut their losses and run. None of them left the battlefield alive or in one piece.

Eventually, Linus was left standing alone amid a sea of blood and severed corpses, his breathing ragged and heavy. He vaguely registered the forms of his friends and some of the city soldiers cautiously approaching him before he slumped over and the world faded to black.

“Well, that was rather more visceral than I had intended but it looks like things worked out in the end.”

Linus found himself lying on the floor of a white, marbled hall held up by carved pillars depicting the various gods of his world, some of which he didn't quite recognize. He slowly sat up to find himself before a grand throne that put the ones back in the royal palace to shame. Sitting there casually was a tall, ethereal woman with the distinctive ears of an elf sticking out from her flowing white hair, her voluptuous figure barely a revealing blue dress the likes of which Linus had never seen.

“I must admit, it was nice to finally see action again. It has been far too long since I've been allowed to let loose like that.”

The woman stretched as she got up from her throne and Linus had to avert his eyes, his cheeks flushing red.

“Huh, what’s wrong with you?” The woman looked down at herself. “Oh, right. I suppose we had very different standards of modesty back in my time. Here.”

With a flash of light, the woman's dress had somehow transformed into an elegant gown of the style that Ely or her mother would be seen wearing at a formal ball.

“Wh-who are you?” Linus stumbled out as the woman came closer. “Where are we?”

“This is the Palace of Heavenly Flames, or at least a mental image of the palace imprinted into your mind. We're currently in your dreams, as you are passed out in the real world.” The woman smiled. “As for me, you should know who I am.”

“Eos?” he guessed, as it was the only answer that seemed to make sense.

“Yes,” the woman who was very much not a sword did a twirl, showing off her body. “Though back when I still looked like this, I was known as Queen Meridia of Alturia, but you can still call me Eos. I think I'm more used to that name at this point.”

“Okay, I think I'm even more confused now.” Linus said as Eos, or Meridia, or whoever she was pulled him up to his feet. “What's going on?”

“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure,” Eos admitted. “I’ve had countless wielders since my soul was sealed within my husband's sword but you're the first since him that I’ve ever been able to communicate with directly like this. I think it may have something to do with this world's magic. Come, let's take a walk. My legs may not be real but I would still like to use this chance to get to use them.”

Linus followed Eos out of the palace throne room, down a corridor that led to a garden outside.

“Ah, it's exactly as I remember it,” Eos gasped excitedly, clapping her hands together. “But I suppose that makes sense, seeing as this place was created from my memories. Or at least, I’m assuming that it was.”

Linus nodded, not sure what to say.

“You don't know much about me,” she said. “I suppose this is the best opportunity that I’ll ever get to tell my story, long after my mortal life was forgotten. This place was the capital of an ancient kingdom that thrived long before your people still have records of. Alturia was a prosperous nation that communed in harmony with the gods themselves. My father, King Astero, was even able to win the heart of the goddess Galai and subsequently I was born.”

Linus turned from the fountain he was looking at to face the ancient queen again. “Wait, but that would make you-”

“A demigod,” she finished his question. “That's what we were called. My kind weren’t very common but we commanded power far beyond mortal abilities and were often marked by unusual traits, such as my white hair, or the pointed ears that were passed down to our descendants, the people you now call elves.”

“The elves are descended from the gods?” Linus asked, stunned at this revelation.

“Yes, but I'm getting to that point.” Eos shook her head. “One of the ‘gifts’ that we demigods inherited from our divine lineage was that of near immortality. Although, it could more accurately be called a curse. Living longer lives than what nature intended is only good if those you love share that gift. I held the throne inherited by my father for over three hundred years and in that time I never allowed myself the pleasure of taking a lover because I was scared. Scared of outliving him, our children and our children's children. But then one day he came into my life.”

They rounded a corner between rows of trees, the path opening up into a large field of every flower Linus could imagine, planted around a series of large pools that seemed to be fed by some kind of artificial waterfall. To call the sight breathtaking would have been an understatement to Linus, who found himself wishing that he could bring Ely to this place.

“I remember when I first felt that way,” Eos sighed. “Oh, sorry, it would appear that I can still read your thoughts. Anyway, it started as just a normal day. I was sitting on the throne, the one you saw earlier, as my citizens lined up to tell me their problems so that I could try and work out solutions. You’ve seen Ely sit in while her father does the same plenty of times. In between farmers asking for blessings on their crops and shopkeepers quarreling over each other's wares, one man came to me with the most unusual of requests.”

Eos sat on a ledge next to one of the pools and placed her hand in the water, staring dreamily into the distance. Linus took a seat next to her.

“I wish I could say that it was love at first sight but to be honest I didn't think much of him at the time. He was handsome, to be sure, but so were countless others who could stand beside him in that regard as his equal or greater. What did catch my attention, though, was the burlap sack he carried with him, from which he procured the head of a demon.” Eos looked back at Linus. “The man was a shepherd from the north, who's name would be Ashwood in your language. His village was under attack by such demons, what proved to be the first skirmishes of a full-scale invasion, and to prove his outrageous claims he had slain one of the beasts himself to bring me proof before requesting aid in fending off the armies of hell.”

Linus' eyes widened at this. “Demons invaded our world, too? Why have I never heard of this?”

“It was a long, long time ago, in an era long forgotten by the time your kingdom was founded.” Eos stared into his eyes and he could see the pain behind hers. “War broke out, but we were prepared thanks to Ash’s warning. It was long and difficult, we lost much. Ash proved himself to be one our nation's strongest warriors, fighting side-by-side with me and other demigods as our equal in battle despite being mortal himself. It was in that time that we grew close and, eventually, married. But unfortunately there was little happiness to be had in those troubled times. It was only two years later that I lost my life on the front lines.”

Eos flinched as she remembered the pain of whatever must have finished her off, and grabbed his stomach tightly.

“I… was with child at the time, as well.”

“Oh…” Linus stared down at the water unsure of how to console a grieving mother.

“It would have been our second child, after our daughter Tisera.” Eos gazed out at the horizon. “Where was I? Oh, yes… I fell at the hands of the demon’s leader, Belphage, and my husband would have lost his own life as well, which in turn would likely have meant the end of Atlura as a whole. So, with my last breath I imbued what remained of my divine power into Ash’s sword, so that he could use it to slay Belphage and win the war. I did not know at the time that my soul would be sealed within the sword as well, though I would have made the same decision regardless.”

“And that sword is Eos.” Linus drew the most obvious conclusion from that story and absently reached down to where the sword in question would normally be sheathed at his waist, grabbing empty air.

“That's what you call it now, though the blade has been known by many names throughout history,” the woman confirmed, standing up again and stretching. “I’d nearly forgotten what it’s like to have a body.”

“So, what now?” Linus asked, standing up as well. “Should we find a way to release your soul from the sword so that you can move on?”

Eos looked down at him and smiled softly.

“Thank you.” She shook her head. “Perhaps one day it will be time for me to finally be reunited with my family, but this is not that day. Sadly, my power is still needed. I also have no idea what would even happen to my spirit if it were to be released in this world, so if I ever do ask you to release me, it will be back in our homeland.”

“I understand.” Linus nodded.

“As for what we do now, I am not sure,” Eos said. “You should be waking up soon, Cassandra is currently healing your body from the fatigue of overusing my power. I suspect that it will be some time before I will be able to directly communicate with you again but I do not know how long it will be. I suggest that you discuss with the others what your next course of action will be. That princess you love has a good head on her shoulders.”

Linus sputtered at that. “I don't…”

“You don't love her?” Eos smiled mischievously. “Linus, I share the thoughts and feelings of my wielders. I have felt every form of love that you can imagine. I can tell you with complete certainty that you are in love with her.”

“Alright, I guess maybe a part of me does.” Linus admitted. “But it’s not like there's anything I can do about it. She's a princess and I'm just a knight and even then only because of you.”

“I was a queen, yet I married a shepherd,” Eos pointed out.

“Who was also your kingdom's strongest warrior.”

“As you will be when you are older.”

“Look, let's just drop that for now,” Linus stared off towards the palace, unable to meet the ancient queen’s gaze.

“I will not.” Eos shook her head, a disappointed frown on her face. “I am not going to just sit here idly while you continue to belittle yourself so much.”

She suddenly pulled Linus into an unexpected hug. Due to the drastic height difference, the young knight’s face ended up smothered by the queen’s ample bosoms. He mentally kicked himself for how that started to make him feel.

“Look, I admit that I may be overstepping my bounds here,” she pulled him away quickly as she started to feel his hormones kick in and instead chose to kneel down beside him with her hand firmly on his shoulder, “but I think of you as a son, or perhaps grandson would be more appt, and I only want what's best for you. You have potential, Linus. More than you’re willing to admit. So I need you to stop looking down on yourself so much and embrace the fact that you are special.”

There was a loud rumble and the palace grounds began to tremble as the horizon gave way in the distance.

“It looks like our time here is coming to an end.” Tears began to steak down Eos' cheeks and she pulled Linus into another hug, this one more comfortable than the last. “I love you, Linus. Please learn to love yourself.”

Spoiler: Chapter 10 - Cassandra

Cassandra plopped down on an old wooden chair and nearly collapsed on the desk beside her, exhausted. She couldn't remember the last time that she had to heal so many people in a single day and she’d forgotten how much it could take out of her.

She was currently in Linus' bedroom, one of its three current occupants. Linus himself was lying in bed, still unconscious after whatever it was that had happened. The people she had talked to had been saying something about him taking on an entire troll army single-handedly but that didn't even begin to make sense. Beside the unconscious young man was Ely, who had pulled in the ornate white chair from her own room and was now holding his hand as she waited for him to wake up.

“You know you don’t need to be here, right?” Cassandra sat up again. “He’s going to be fine with just a bit of rest. He just used too much energy, like when a wizard uses too much magic or if someone tries running for too long.”

“I know,” Ely tightened her grip and Cassie felt a tinge of jealousy creep up on her. Why did the princess get to be the one to do that? “I just… I don’t want to leave his side and I know he would do the same for me.”

“I guess you’re right,” Cassandra sighed. Why was she getting worked up over this? It was nothing.

Linus began to stir and in a moment both women were practically hovering over him. His eyes flickered open and Linus slowly sat up.

“How are you?” Ely asked, hastily letting go of his hand.

“I’m fine,” Linus grunted as he looked around blearily. “Is this my room? What happened?”

“I was hoping that you could tell us,” Cassandra said. “The others brought you here already unconscious and were saying something about you fighting an army of trolls. They said you were moving faster than they could follow and using some sort of strange magic that none of them had ever seen before.”

“That… sounds right, yes…” Linus began rubbing his forehead and he tried to remember. “Eos was calling out to me, telling me to fight, and then… I think I was tapping directly into her power? It’s never worked quite like that before, though.”

“So you really did take out all those trolls on your own?” Ely gasped.

“No, not on my own. Eos did most of…” Linus looked around frantically and jumped out of bed, nearly knocking the princess over. “Wait, where’s Eos?”

“On the battlefield where you dropped her. No one but you can wield that sword, remember?” Ely reminded him.

“Apparently Magros tried to bring it back here with him,” Cassandra added. “I had to use more of my magic to treat his burnt hands than your extreme fatigue.”

“Is he alright?” Linus asked, concerned.

“Yeah. Like I said, I already treated him,” Cassandra pointed out. “I’m more concerned about you. Do you remember anything else?”

“No, not really.” Linus sat back down on the bed. “Although, I feel like I had a dream. I don’t remember much but I think it was important. I was in a palace and… there was a woman there? She was trying to tell me something.”

“What woman?” Ely asked, a bit too quickly.

“I don’t remember.” Linus struggled to think. “A queen, maybe? Wait… I-I think it was Eos!”

“Your sword?” Cassandra questioned.

“Yes, yes, I remember now!” Linus perked up. “The woman was Eos, or rather, she was the woman who’s soul is inside the sword, that gives it its power. She was talking to me about… something. I can’t really remember it now.”

“I’ve never heard of the spirit of the sword coming to its wielder in a dream before.” Ely said. “If she came to you now, then in must have been important.”

“I’m sure that it was.” Linus nodded and stood up again, walking towards the door. “I need to go get the sword.”

“Of course.” Ely stood up beside him and followed him. “I’ll come with you.”

“You don’t need to,” Linus pointed out, clearly worried.

“But I want to,” Ely countered, “and it’s not like you can just go out there on your own.”

“Can I come, too?” Cassandra perked up, then blushed. “Um, in case something happens, you’ll need a healer.”

Linus sighed, reaching for the door. “I have a feeling I’m not going to be able to talk either of you out of this, so fine. But if anything happens, we’re headed straight back here. Your safety takes priority over everything else.”

“Very well,” Ely agreed, and Cassandra nodded along.

The trio left Linus’ room and headed for the house’s front door. They didn’t have permission to leave but Captain Paulo was busy giving his report on the battle to the noble council, which meant that there was no one to stop them. No one except Magros, apparently.

“Where are you going?” the dark knight asked, leaning against the wall beside the front door, dressed in a loose-fitting tunic and trousers.

“I need to go get Eos back,” Linus told him. “Don’t try to stop me.”

“I have no intention to,” Magros replied. “In fact, I’d like to go with you. Attacks of this scale don’t just happen spontaneously and I want to investigate what’s left of those trolls while I get the chance.”

“Alright then,” Linus sighed. “Should we bring the others as well?”

“Alastor and Marie are both resting to recover their spent magic, and I’d rather avoid the Gray Wolfe. You’ve seen how poorly we get along.” Magros said.

“Sir Wolfe is certainly an acquired taste,” Ely agreed quietly. “And to say that your personal history is far from pleasant would be an understatement. Let’s go before there are any more interruptions.”

“Of course, Your… Ely,” Linus said as he opened the door.

Cassandra went along with the others as they hurried across town. She wasn’t entirely sure why she had asked to go with them. Linus led the way, with Ely sticking close to his side. Cassandra trailed behind them, starting to question her decision to come. Especially once she realized that Magros was keeping pace beside her. It was the first time that they’d been more or less alone together since the previous night’s dinner, when she had revealed one of her biggest secrets to him, and she suspected she knew exactly what he wanted to talk about.

“How old are you?”

That was not the question that she was expecting him to ask.

“I’m nineteen,” Cassandra answered. “Why?”

Magros sighed. “That’s what I thought.”

That response just made Cassandra even more confused.

“I noticed the moment I fist saw you when you came to the old temple with the others, but I dismissed it at the time. It had to have been a coincidence, there was no way that it could have been anything else,” Magros went on. “But then I saw your ears and I haven’t been able to get the idea out of my head since then. It shouldn’t be possible but the more I think about it the more everything seems to add up.”

“W-what are you talking about?” Cassandra asked the increasingly distressed knight. “What’s not possible?”

Magros stared longingly into Cassandra’s eyes and she stared back into his. She hadn’t really payed that much attention to them before but they were the same shade of amber as hers. That must have been another elven trait that they shared.

“Twenty years ago, I was banished from the kingdom and my love, Princess Harlow, vanished without a trace,” Magros began. “I always knew why the King and his conspirators would want me out of the way but I never understood why the current king and his conspirators would go after his own sister as well. It would have made sense to have simply tried to bury our relationship and broker her marriage to a foreign prince. Given what I knew at the time, I could never come up with any solid idea of what could have happened to her or why. But now… now I find myself entertaining a theory that I never would have considered…”

“What theory?” Cassandra asked as they descended a flight of stairs leading down to ground level.

“I now believe… that Harlow may have been pregnant with my child at the time of my banishment.” Magros sounded like he had to force the words out. “If so, then the king would likely have felt the need to hide the pregnancy by sending Harlow to live the rest of her life in one of the temples, cut off from the outside world so that no one would ever find out. That was twenty years ago and, if she truly was pregnant at the time, would likely have only recently conceived as she was not yet showing and, I would assume, did not know about it herself until after I had been sent to Palortva, meaning that she never had a chance to tell me. That means the child would only be nineteen.”

Cassandra stared out at the horizon, her gaze unfocused as he took in just what the former knight was implying. There was no way, that couldn’t have been true.

“This is just a theory and I have no evidence to back it up.” Tears started to stream down Magros cheeks as he continued. “But the timing adds up and the more I consider it, the more likely it seems.”

“You… said that I had her hair,” Cassandra could feel her eyes burning. “...and we have the same eyes.”

“And you are part elf, as any child of mine would be,” Magros nodded.

“I was told that I was left at the temple as a baby, that no one knew who my birth parents were.” Cassandra looked back at him. “But… they would say that… if I were…”

“I-I’m so sorry.” Magros shook his head, burying his face in his hands. “I wish I had known. I would have come for you as soon as I could. Nothing could have stopped me.”

“I-it’s alright. There was no way for you to have known.” Cassandra wiped her cheeks with the back of her sleeve and looked back at Magros. At her father. “But I am glad that I… that I finally get to meet you. I always… I always thought that my parents had abandoned me. That they didn’t want a filthy mut for a daughter.”

“Don’t ever call yourself that,” Magros said as he smiled down at her. “You are an amazing young woman. I-I would be… I am proud to have you as a daughter, Cassandra Tyl.”

“T-thank you… Dad.”

Cassandra was about to hug her long lost father, when she suddenly remembered that they were not alone. She quickly turned, horrified, to see a dumbstruck Linus standing next to Princess Elanora, who’s eyes were as red as Cassandra’s felt.

“Is this true?” Ely asked.

“I cannot say for certain,” Magros admitted. “But it does seem to be the case.”

The princess began slowly walking up to Cassandra, who began to panic. If she truly was Magros and Harlow’s daughter, what did that actually mean? Wouldn’t that make her an illegitimate member of the royal family? Would Elanora see her as a rival to the throne? Those worries were pacified almost as soon as they began, however, as Ely pulled Cassandra into a deep hug.

“I believe new introductions are in order, Cousin!” Ely pulled herself away after what felt simultaneously like a mere instant and an eternity. “I am Elanora Pendula, but you can just call me Ely!”

“I-I’m Cassandra. Cassandra… Tyl?” She looked up at Magros uncertainly, who nodded in return. “I am Cassandra Tyl! Call me Cass!”

The cousins embraced again and both girls started crying in earnest. After a moment, Ely motioned for Magros to join in, and he reluctantly did so, wrapping his arms around his daughter and… niece probably wasn’t the right term but Cassandra suspected that Ely would now consider Magros to be her uncle, regardless.

While her focus was mostly on her newfound family, Cassandra noticed Linus walk away silently. Part of her wanted to go after him but the rest didn’t want to let go of the relatives that she never knew that she had. Eventually, it drew time for the three of them to finally end their hug and pull away from each other. After wiping away what was left of her tears, Ely turned and looked around for a moment.

“What happened to Linus?” she asked, suddenly sounding distressed.

“It would appear that he went on without us,” Magros observed. “I would imagine that he would have felt rather awkward with the situation. Don’t worry, battlefield was just over this next hill. You can smell the corpses from here.”

Cassandra hadn’t even noticed, too caught up in everything else that had just happened, but now that she acknowledged it the smell quickly became nauseating. She was used to the smell of blood, and the various other foul oders that the body would release when its insides suddenly found themselves on the outside, but not to this extent. A field of carcasses was far more potent than a few injured soldiers and she was pretty sure that the trolls’ oders were even more pungent than humans’ would be.

“Um… on second thought, I think I’ll wait over here for Linus to return,” Ely said, reaching to plug her nose.

“Yes, you never quite get used to the putrid smell of entrails,” Magros grimaced. “Especially when they’ve been sitting in the sun for a few hours.”

“Oh, wait, I think I should have something for that,” Cassie suddenly remembered as she reached into the pockets of her robes, procuring a small vial. She poured a single drop onto the tip of her finger and dabbed it under her nose, shuddering briefly as caught a brief whiff of the foul-smelling liquid before it took effect. “This stuff is used to bock out your sense of smell temporarily. Just make sure that you don’t use too much, or it will take longer to ware off.”

Magros and Ely took turns applying the potion. Magros reacted to it much the same as Cassandra had, while Ely ended up having a small coughing fit, being far less used to such pungent smells.

“I guess that’s better,” Ely said after regaining her composure. “So, shall we go?”

The three then walked up to the top of the hill, the bloodsoaked battlefield of earlier that day sprawled out before them like a sea of gore and severed bodies. Cassandra could see Ely almost throw up at the sight and couldn’t blame her for it. Linus was searching through the mutilated corpses and Magros walked up to help him. Cassandra and Ely stayed back, as Linus finally found his sword and retrieved it from the mess, holding the bloodsoaked blade in the air before ripping off a troll’s loincloth to wipe it off. The knight then made his way back to them, while Magros continued to search the slain monsters.

“Did you really do this all on your own?” Cassandra asked Linus as he came into earshot.

“I don’t know.” Linus shook his head and looked back. “I still don’t really remember anything.”

“So getting Eos back hasn’t helped?” Ely asked.

“Not really,” Linus held up the sword. “I can barely even feel her right now. Whatever happened must have drained a lot of her power. Hopefully it recovers before we need her again”

“Well, there’s no point in dwelling on that now,” Ely replied. “I’m more concerned with how you’re doing.”

Cassandra noticed Linus tense up at that.

“Oh, um… I’m fine,” Linus said nervously. “A bit tired, still, but I’ll be alright.”

“As I said before, it’s just a bit of physical exhaustion,” Cassandra said. “All he needs is a bit of rest. Speaking of which, we should probably head back soon.”

“Indeed,” Magros walked up to them, his arms and legs drenched in troll blood. “It does not appear that we will be able to find anything of note here. All I was able to recover was this.”

Magros held up one of his hands, in which he held a brass ring with a large red gemstone held within.

“Most of the trolls were wearing them,” Magros explained. “They have an inscription on the inside which I cannot read but I would presume is likely important to figuring out why this happened. I suggest that we get Marie to translate it for us as soon as possible.”

“Of course,” Ely nodded. “Hopefully it will bring us one step closer to defeating the so-called Demon King plaguing this land.”

Cassandra looked to her cousin, then up to her father. She still was still struggling to fully process that. She had a family now, something that she never thought she would ever have the chance to experience.

 

Spoiler: Chapter 11 - John

Sir Wolfe wandered around the prison they called a house. It was unusually quiet. After such an eventful morning, it was no surprise that most of their small group would be resting up in their rooms. But something seemed off. Starborne had apparently passed out in one of the chairs in the main room and he could hear a faint snoring coming from Ms. Vanclau’s room, but there were no signs of anyone else in the house. He knew that Captain Paulo was away but that didn’t explain where the others could have gone. He suspected that Tyl must have used the opportunity to finally make his move. He would have to gear up and head out in search of his traitorous former apprentice at once, before he could do anything to the princess.

The front door opened and Sir Wolfe ducked behind a wall. He suspected that either the captain had returned or they were being ambushed, but to his surprise it proved to be the four missing members of their party who walked in. It appeared that Sir Irons had gone to retrieve the holy sword. John was almost disappointed that he didn’t have an excuse to go after Tyl afterall.

“Where have you been?” he demanded, walking back out into the room to confront them.

“Oh, um…” Sir Irons stammered. That boy really needed to grow a spine one of these days. He was simply an embarrassment of a knight sometimes.

“We went to the field of battle to reclaim the holy sword Eos and investigate the scene for any clues regarding why this attack happened.” The princess stepped up, coming to Sir Irons’ rescue as always.

“That was reckless,” John replied. “You should have brought me with you.”

“We had considered that but decided that someone needed to be here to guard the resting mages in case anything happened while we were away,” the princess claimed. “We also did not wish to bother you, as you were still resting in your room when we left.”

John was about to come up with an argument when the door opened again and Captain Paulo walked in, looking haggard.

“I thought that was you four I saw walking over here,” The captain sighed. “I would scold you for leaving without permission but there are more important things to discuss right now. Are Ms. Vanclau and Mr. Starborne awake yet?”

“Did someone say my name?” the red-eyed mage grumbled as he stretched and got out of the chair he had been resting in. “Hm, is something else happening now?”

“We’ll be meeting in the dining room to discuss what has happened,” Captain Paulo said. “I expect everyone to gather there are soon as you are ready.”

John took a seat at the dining table and waited for everyone else to gather. It took a while for everyone else to get read but once they were all seated, Captain Paulo stood at the head of the table and prepared to address them.

“First off, I would like to thank you all for your aid in this crisis,” the captain began. “An attack of this scale is unprecedented and it is likely that there would have been far greater casualties without your help, if we could have even defended ourselves at all. The council of nobles have also acknowledged your role in defending Valance and wish to reward you for help. As such, from now on you are no longer confined to this house. You are free to come and go as you please and to explore the city at your leisure, so long as you obey local laws and customs.”

“Well, it’s about time,” Starborne said, leaning back in his chair.

“Officially, that is all that I have been asked to tell you. The council has assigned a team to investigate the attack and find out how and why it happened. For now, you are simply supposed to wait until your next assignment from them.” Captain Paulo sighed and placed his hands on the table. “But I cannot just sit here idly while my nation is under attack and its people are in danger, and I do not believe that you will take this sitting down, either. That is why I am asking, unofficially, that we work together to get to the bottom of this and end whatever threat we are facing.”

“Of course we will,” the princess nodded seriously. “We will do everything in our power to defend this world, even if it is not our own.”

“Thank you,” Captain Paulo nodded. “Shall we begin by reviewing what we know of today’s events so far? The attack began this morning when a flock of wyverns of unknown origin attacked the city, followed afterward by the largest formation of trolls ever recorded reached the city in an organized formation unlike any recorded behavior in their species. At present, that is all that I, and the army, know.”

“There were more than just wyverns in the initial attack,” Linus spoke up. “Ely and I were attacked by another monster, one that initially took the form of a human child until after it had led us into an ambush and turned into a more bestial creature. Based off of our description earlier, Marie said that it was likely something known as a changeling. It claimed to be a messenger sent by someone, likely whoever was behind this attack, to tell us not to interfere with their plans.”

Ely? The boy was disregarding the princess’ position altogether now? This would have to be corrected. But for the moment the news of this ‘changeling’ attack was the more pressing matter.

“A changeling?” Captain Paulo repeated the term. “I thought those were long extinct. For one to appear now is… most concerning. This would also confirm the theory that this was a coordinated attack, with someone controling the monsters somehow. Do we have any more information.”

“I have something.” Tyl leaned forward and held up a bronze ring. “While we were retrieving Sir Irons’ sword from the battlefield, I noticed that the trolls were all wearing these. There is an inscription on them written in your language. I cannot read it, but I believe that it may contain some sort of clue.”

“Let me see that.” Captain Paulo reached out his hand and Tyl gave him the ring. The captain took a moment to read what it said, and paled before passing it off to the Vanclau girl.

“In Service of Death, Bring All to Destruction,” she read.

“That sounds ominous yet vague,” Starborne replied. “Does that mean anything to you?”

“Those words are from an ancient legend passed down from long ago,” the captain explained. “A legend about the forces of hell rising up to invade the land.”

“So in other words, this is just pointing us back to the Devil King that supposedly doesn’t exist,” Tyl said.

“It would appear so,” the captain nodded solemnly.

“Then I think we can all agree to assume, for the time being, that the Devil King is a real threat after all and that he was the one who orchestrated this attack,” the princess said. “And if so, then it is likely that this is just the beginning of a full-scale invasion. What can we do to prepare for another attack?”

The captain took a seat and contemplated. “I don't think that there is much we can do for the time being. My hands are still tied by the noble council’s orders and they continue to deny the possibility that the Demon King may be real. We could try to discover where the Devil King’s forces came from but I doubt you'll be allowed to venture too far from the city right now, as they are still wary of you.”

“And I'm not sure how we would even fight another army like that if it came to it,” Sir Irons said. “I'm still not sure what happened against the trolls but I don't think that I’d be able to pull off something like that again, at least not anytime soon.”

John looked around at the others, seeing the uncertainty in their faces. As far as he was concerned, all of this Demon King nonsense wasn't their concern. Now that the walls of their prison had expanded outside the house to encompass the whole city, this was their time to begin investigating a way to get back home. But he knew that none of the others would see it the sensible way and that the idea would be shot down if suggested it so he kept his mouth shut for the time being.

“I say that for now we should just try to keep our eyes and ears open,” Starborne said. “We just don't know enough yet to be able to make a solid conclusion yet, so I think we should wait until we can find out more. If the Demon King has agents that he can send into the city undetected, like the one that attack Linus and the princess, then he likely has spies stationed around the city. If we keep our heads down and keep a lookout, then we might be able to catch one and bring them in for interrogation.”

That seemed like a far more reasonable plan than what John would have expected from the young wizard.

“That might be our only option for the moment,” the princess said, stroking her chin in contemplation. “Although it may prove difficult for us to spot a spy, when most of us aren't familiar enough with the local culture to notice what behavior would be out of place.”

“It's still the only plan that we have for now,” Magros nodded. “I wish there were more that we could do but for now it would appear that we will just have to bide our time and do our best to be ready for whatever happens next.”

“Indeed, that may be for the best,” Captain Paulo sighed. “Fighting an enemy that you know nothing about is difficult enough on its own, without their very existence being covered up by the ones in charge. Thank you for your help. I will let you know if anything else comes up.”

Captain Paulo got up and left the dining room, leaving the others sitting around the table. After a quiet moment, Marie stood up as well.

“I suppose it's getting rather late. I'm going to get started on dinner.” She started to head towards the kitchen, but paused and turned around. “Then again, if you guys are finally allowed out of the house, then we could go out to dinner for once. You know what, yeah! I know a great restaurant we could go to and celebrate this victory properly. How about it?”

“What's a restaurant?” Starborne asked the question now on everyone’s mind.

Marie just stared at them blankly for a moment before responding. “You guys don't have restaurants in your world? Where do you go if you want to eat?”

“Well, as a princess I’ve always had members of the royal kitchen staff prepare my meals,” the princess replied. “Though obviously I’d be the only one here who had that privilege.”

“The academy also had cooks make our meals,” Starborne added.

“We would rotate kitchen duties at the temple,” Cassandra said.

“We did the same thing at the knight’s barracks.” John decided to say. “But when we were away, we’d usually have to hunt for ourselves or visit local taverns if we were close enough to a village.”

“I mostly had to fend for myself,” Tyl said. “In the goblin city I stayed at for several years, they had a communal dining hall that I would sometimes eat at. Goblin food wasn't particularly good, though.”

“Huh,” Marie thought for a moment. “I guess the taverns would be the closest thing to a restaurant out of those. Sort of a different environment, if your taverns are anything like ours, but the general idea of paying for a meal is mostly the same. I guess you’ll see for yourselves if you decide to come.”

“Very well,” the princess stood up. “I'm looking forward to trying something new.”

After getting ready, the group made their way to a large building downtown. Or at least John assumed the building was large. It was hard to tell when the entire city was basically just one large building. He had no idea why this place was built the way it was but it seemed like the most impractical feat of urban development he had ever seen.

The inside of the building seemed to consist mostly of one large area full of smaller dining tables, with a kitchen visible at the far end. A woman met them at the entrance and led their group to one of the larger tables to sit down and handed each of them a piece of paper before walking off.

“What's this?” John asked, holding up his paper which had a lot of writing on it in the local language that none of them had really been able to learn yet.

“We call these menus, they're a list of the various meals that you can order along with what's in them and how much they cost,” Marie explained, then gasped. “Oh, right, I keep forgetting that you guys can't read yet. Here, I’ll read it for you.”

It took a while for everyone to pick out what they wanted to eat, but eventually everyone had decided on something and the woman before came back with a cart carrying glasses and several loaves of bread and jugs of water that she placed around the table. She wrote down each of their orders and left again.

“It will be a while before the food gets here,” Marie explained. “They still have to prepare all of it. That’s why they give us the bread as an appetizer.”

“I guess that makes sense,” the princess said. “You know, a lot has happened and we’ve been pretty focused on… certain issues that have come up, but I feel like it’s been a while since we really caught up with each other. How’s everyone doing?”

John mostly tuned out the idle chatter that followed. He had never been one for small talk and he wasn’t particularly interested in his companions’ daily lives. He instead chose to focus on working out what his objectives were for the time being. His main directive, of course, was finding a way home to Rehlia. He was a knight in service to the crown and it was his duty to serve the king, even if his apprentices, past and current, seemed to have forgotten where their loyalties should lie. His secondary goal was making sure that the princess remained safe until he could get her back to her father. There was also the matter of Magros Tyl, his former apprentice. John was going to have to find a way to get rid of him. Doing so would not be easy, as the dark sorcerer had somehow managed to charm the others into thinking of him as an ally, which meant that John would not be able to openly make a move against the half-elf without first showing them who he really was. Although, if he played his cards right then perhaps he wouldn’t have to take any direct action. He just needed to find a way to make sure that Tyl stayed trapped in this world when they found a way back to theirs. Still, he should find a way to-

“By the way, we have important news,” the princess said excitedly, glancing first to Cassandra and then to Tyl, snapping John’s attention back to the conversation. What was this about? “Would you like to share?”

“Um, right.” Cassandra nodded hesitantly. “So, as most of you were aware, I was an orphan raised as a priestess in the Church of Zera after having been abandoned at the temple as a baby. Or at least, that’s what I’ve always been told and I always thought that I would never know who my parents were or have a family, but… well, now it looks like that was a lie.”

John would have grabbed the grip of his sword tightly if he had it with him but instead had to make due with simply clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. He didn’t know where this was going but he could already tell that he didn’t like it. Especially as that foolish girl looked up to Tyl expectantly.

“As improbable as this seems, after sharing stories and comparing details, it would seem that…” Tyl looked down at Cassandra and smiled, wrapping his arm around her shoulder before turning back to the others. “Cassandra is my daughter, and if so then I am proud to be her father even if I haven’t been able to be a part of her life until now!”

“What manner of blasphemy is this!” John rose to his feet and slammed his hands down on the table, unable to tolerate this level of blatant lies and slander. “I never thought you would stoop so low as to fill this poor girl’s head with such obvious nonsense as this, but you never cease to sink to new depravities you knife-eared cur! How dare you even insinuate that a priestess of the Church of Zera could possibly related to your tainted seed!”

Tyl stared intently back at Sir Wolfe but it was Cassandra who spoke up first, shaking as she did so.

“N-no! I know that it may seem unlikely but it’s true!”

“Think, girl!” John shouted down to her. “This dastard is elvenborn! How could you be his spawn?”

“B-because I’m also elvenborn!” she shouted back, throwing John off his guard, then pulled her hair back to uncover her ears. It was hard to make out their shape, though, with the horrendous scarring. It was as if someone had cut off the tips of her ears and hastily tried but failed to heal them. It was almost sickening to see and he could see the princess gasp at the sight. “I-I know I hid that from you all, and I’m sorry. But I’ve been so relentlessly bullied and mocked for as long as I could remember that I felt that I had no choice but to-”

“You elven brat!” John snapped at her. “How dare you impersonate a member of the clergy!”

Tyl rose to his feet, anger burning in his yellow eyes. “You can insult and belittle me all you like, but you will not talk to my daughter that way!”

“Nor my cousin!” The princess stood as well.

“Your what?” John asked, his anger momentarily suplanted by confusion.

“Cass’s mother was my aunt, Princess Harlow!” the princess replied.

John felt his anger reach beyond its boiling point at the revelation that Tyl had defiled a member of the royal family, the king’s own sister, and everything after that turned into a blur of rage.

Spoiler: Chapter 12 - Alastor

Alastor had never been inside of a jailcell before. He would have preferred to keep it that way bit it was too late now. He was currently leaning up against the irons bars, staring out into the hallway. As it turns out, getting into an old-fashioned brawl in public was just as illegal here as it was back in Rehlia. He certainly didn’t regret giving old John that black eye, though. No one talked to Cassie like that. So what if she was part elf, she was still an angel in mortal form.

“Well, this is a bit of a setback,” Linus said, looking over from the cot in the back of the room.

“I’d say that’s an understatement,” Alastor replied, then looked over to Sir Wolfe in the cell across from theirs. “You know we were supposed to not break any laws, right John?”

The retired old knight glared back at him. Alastor had never been particularly found of Sir Wolfe and his opinion of him had only managed to sink even lower now.

“I’m just hoping that we don’t stuck back in the house again over this, or worse yet, being left in here for the remainder of our stay” Magros said, warily eyeing his cellmate, John.

“I just hope the girls are okay,” Linus sighed and stood up.

“We’re fine,” the princess, apparently now going by Ely, called from another further down the hallway. “A bit shaken up, though.”

“I can imagine,” a vaguely familiar voice said as a thin, bearded man in fancy clothes. It took Linus a moment to recognize him as Bron Hywin, the noble who had interrogated him back when they had first been captured. “Now, what in the world are you doing here?”

“Taking a vacation,” Magros answered sarcastically. “What does it look like?”

“Let me rephrase that,” Bron sighed. “What did you do, mere hours after we finally gave you permission to leave your house, to get yourselves thrown in jail? I was told you got into a fight in a public restaurant!”

“I’m afraid that is what happened,” Ely replied.

“John started it,” Alastor said.

Bron turned to the knight in question, who remained silent.

“He was openly insulting my daughter and I over our elven heritage,” Magros explained. “Eventually the argument turned physical.”

“Daughter?” Bron questened. “You didn’t mention a daughter before.”

“We didn’t know until earlier today,” Cassie said. “But yes, he is my father.”

“Well, I suppose congratulations are in order for you, then.” Bron shook his head. “But the more pressing issue right now is what to do with you. Your freedom was dependant on your ability to follow our laws and stay out of trouble, which you have failed to do. However, you have done our city a great service and words of your exploits are already being spread among the population. They’re calling you heroes and I would have been inclined to agree with that assessment if you were capable of conducting yourselves in a reasonable manner.”

The door to the jail opened and a pair of frantic footsteps grew closer as Captain Paulo ran up to them. He stopped as he saw Bron, standing at attention and saluting.

“Sir!” he said, though he was breathing rather heavily.

“Captain Paulo!” Bron snapped. “It was your job to keep our visitors in line! Where were you during all of this?”

“I was meeting with several of the heads of the city’s security force to discuss how to prepare for another attack, in the unlikely event that something like this morning’s events were to happen again. We were only able to defeat the enemy forces thanks to the aid of our guests here but we may not be so lucky next time.”

“Hmph,” Bron glowered at him. “A reasonable excuse. Now tell me, Captain, you’ve spent more time with these people, how do you think we should deal with this serious breach of conduct?”

Captain Paulo considered that for a moment, glancing around at the members of their party. “Going by the briefing I received, it would appear that the conflict was primarily started by John Wolfe after a series of highly specist remarks. From what I’ve observed of his behavior so far, he does seem to hold incredibly deep prejudices against most, if not all, non-humans. I believe the rest of their group to be well behaved enough to continue being allowed to explore as they please.”

Bron nodded and whispered under his breath, Alastor noticed his eyes start to glow green before turning to John. “And what do you have to say to defend yourself?”

“I have done nothing wrong,” John grumbled. “Tyl is a manipulative schemer who’s plotting something, and his apparent daughter takes after him in that regard. No elven mut would be able to ascend to as high a level within the Zera Church as she claims to be.”

Bron grunted and turned to Magros. “Is this true?”

“I will admit that I have a checkered past, as I have admitted to before,” Magros replied. “But that comes from a personal grudge against our country’s king and I am trying to put that behind me.”

Bron nodded and walked over to the cell that the girls were apparently being held in. “And what do you have to say to these accusations?”

“I have not lied about anything, save for hiding the fact that I am elvenborn,” Cassie said and judging from the way that Bron flinched, Alastor assumed that she probably showed him her scarred ears. Alastor felt like he wanted to hurt whoever had done that to such an amazing girl. “I was raised by the Church of Zera and appointed as a priestess within the church despite my heritage. However, the hatred towards elves that permeates our culture is strong and I have had to deal with rampant abuse and insults for as long as I can remember because of it. It would get so bad, that… that when I was a kid, I… I wanted it to stop so much that I cut off the ends of my ears just to get the other children to stop.”

A wave of deafening silence washed over the jail as everyone took in that revelation at once. Alastor had just assumed that some violent bigot had done that to her, and he assumed the others probably had thought the same. But… she did that to herself? When she was still just a child? Somehow that seemed even worse. He thought that the level of bullying that he had to deal with as a kid for his ‘snowy complexion’ was bad but he’d never considered doing anything like that.

“I… see…” Bron recomposed himself. “Well, I hope that neither of you will have to deal with anything like that while you are here. I would be lying if I said we don’t have specists and bigots here who would look down on you for being elves, or at least being part elf, but to my knowledge, most of our citizens are respectful of such things.

“As for the fight, I feel that I will trust Captain Paulo’s opinion on the matter and let you all go,” Bron continued, then turned back to John. “Except for Mr. Wolfe, here, who will be placed under house arrest for the foreseeable future, at least until our next mission for your group. We don’t need people like you wandering our streets.”

With that, Bron turned and started to walk away. Captain Paulo nodded to them and followed. After a few minutes, the guard who had put them in their cells came and released everyone. The guard led them back to the prison’s entrance and handed them their personal effects that had been confiscated. Once they were ready to go, Marie, who had been in the girl’s cell with Ely and Cassie, and the captain led them back home. It wasn’t long before the group found themselves seated around the table again with a seething captain standing over them.

“What was that?” he yelled. “You finally get let out of the house and the first thing you do is get sent straight to jail?”

“We’ve already explained this,” Alastor said with a sigh. “It was all John!”

“No!” Sir Wolfe slammed his hands down on the table. “This is all part of one of Tyl’s schemes! That elven dastard is trying to separate and turn you all against me so that-”

“I have had enough out of your mouth, you paranoid lunatic!” the captain shouted. “Now, I don’t know how things work back where you’re from, but here if someone is sentient then that means they’re a person! We don’t go around just accusing people of things because of their species! Now, either you learn to grow up and accept that fact, or I’m going to make sure that you end up right back in that jail cell!”

“How dare you try to order me around like that!” John stood up. “I am a knight of the Kingdom of Rehlia, I will not sit idly by while such a blatant plot against the thone is-”

“Stand down, Sir Wolfe!” the princess snapped at him, a fury in her eyes that Alastor had never seen from her before. “I will not hear another word of this from you! Sir Tyl is twice the man that you’ve ever been and Cassandra is my friend as well as my family.”

“SIr?” John snapped back. “Tyl is no knight! You may be the king’s blood but your authority only stretches so far! As the senior-most knight here I am excorsizing the authority granted to me by His Highness to take command of this unit! You will follow my orders until we return home, Princess, and when I report this this to your father I can assure you that-”

“Sir Irons!” The princess rose to her feet, an air of authority carried on her voice. “Escort Sir Wolfe to his room, where he is to remain for the rest of the night!”

“Yes, Your Higness!” Linus jumped up and ran around the table, grabbing John’s arm firmly and pulling him away.

“Unhand me, you fool!” John practically spat at the younger knight as he spoke. “I am in command here!”

“I am the princess’ knight,” Linus pointed out. “That means I am to obey her will, regardless of the chain of command, even if King Cyrus himself were here. Now, you’re going to come with me as the princess ordered or else I will be forced to make you submit. Which will it be?”

“You will regret this, boy,” John growled, but stopped struggling as Linus pulled him away. “The king will have your head when we get back.”

Linus escorted John back to his room while everyone else sat there uncomfortably. Alastor couldn't say that he had ever really liked John but it was still a shock to see how bad he could get. He was starting to get uncomfortable just thinking about the fact that they lived in the same house. Captain Paulo cleared his throat, drawing their attention back to him.

“With that uncomfortable business out of the way, we’re now straight back to square one,” the captain said. “You’re all staying the rest of the night here. It's late anyway, and you’ve certainly caused enough trouble for today. Tomorrow you can go out again but I expect you all to keep a low profile. Now, goodnight.”

Captain Paulo turned and left the room. He didn't actually live with them like Marie did, so presumably he was headed back to his own home. It occurred to Alastor that he didn't actually know anything about the captain but he had more pressing issues to focus on at the moment.

“Are you alright?” Alastor asked Cassie almost immediately.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine,” she replied a bit hesitantly. “Just a bit shaken up.”

“I'm sorry,” Magros shook his head. “It's my fault this happened.”

“No one is responsible for Sir Wolfe’s actions except for Sir Wolfe,” the princess replied. “I feelar that my father does not choose good company when it comes to his knights. Though, I am loath to admit that he himself is far from the good man I saw him as when I was younger.”

Alastor noticed Linus look down at the floor at that comment.

“She didn't mean you,” he told the younger knight.

“Yes, Linus, you are the kind of man that the other knights could learn from,” Ely agreed. “Both you and Sir Tyl are shining examples of how a knight should act.”

“I don't think that I would include me in that, if I were you,” Magros said. “Firstly, because I am not longer a knight but also because I have done a lot of unsavory things in my time. I did kidnap you, in case you’ve already forgotten.”

“That may be true, but I can no longer find myself able to hold any I'll will against you for it,” Ely replied.

“You are far to trusting.” Magros shook his head, then smiled. “But thank you. If you and Sir Irons are still interested in combat instructions, then I would be happy to start them tomorrow, if we can find a suitable place to train. That goes for the rest of you as well, of you are interested.”

Ely turned to Linus. “Is that alright with you?”

“Of course, if that’s what you want,” he nodded.

“Then yes, I would like that.” Ely turned back to Magros.

“Um, thank you for the offer… Dad…” Cassie said hesitantly. “But I’ll think I’ll pass on that for now. Uh, not that I don't want to spend time with you or anything, it's just that…”

“I understand,” Magros nodded. “Perhaps we could find something else to do together later.”

“That would be nice.” Cassie smiled, her adorable, sweet smile that Alastor could never get enough of.

“What about you? Alastor, was it?” Magros turned to the mage in question.

“Hm, what?” It took Alastor a moment to remember what they had been talking about. “Oh, no thank you. Swinging a sword around isn't really my thing. I’ll just stick to my magic.”

“Suit yourself,” Magros shrugged. “But in my experience, training your body helps strengthen your mind and in turn can increase your magical abilities. Ms. Vanclau?”

“I think I might watch, if you don't mind,” Marie replied, “but I’m not really a big fan of fighting.”

“Very well,” Magros nodded again and slowly stood up. “I think for now I'm going to get ready for bed. It's been a very long day and I'm sure that I’m not the only one here ready for some sleep.”

There was a general note of agreement to that and soon everyone had retired to their rooms for the night. Alastor stayed out, though, mostly because someone had to be the one who put out all of the magic candles that they used to light the house.

These candles were one of the biggest conveniences that Alastor had discovered about this world so far, in his opinion. At a glance, they looked like normal wax candles, with a wick sticking out the top that would be lit to produce light. But the wax was enchanted in such a way that it didn't melt and the wick never seemed to burn away like a normal one would, plus the flames themselves didn't seem to produce any smoke at all. They weren't even hot, with Alastor being able to sniff them out with his bare fingers without even feeling them. They really were quite the marvel and Alastor felt like he needed to learn how to make them himself sothat he could bring that knowledge home with him.

After a few minutes, Alastor put out the last candle, the house now almost completely dark save for the faint lights outside coming in through the windows. The sun had already set by the time they'd gotten back from jail yet Alastor hadn't realized until he saw the night sky then just how tired he had gotten. That nap he took after the battle hadn't been nearly enough to recover from the morning’s battle, it seemed.

With a yawn, Alastor turned and started to walk back to his room only to bump into Marie in the hallway.

“Oh, I didn't realize you were still up,”Alastor whispered, not wanting to bother any of the others as they tried to get to sleep.

“I like to pace before bed,” she replied just as softly. “I find that it helps me sleep. Haven't you noticed? It's been a few weeks now, hasn't it?”

Alastor shrugged. “I guess I just haven't noticed. I’ll leave you to it, then. Good night.”

“Good night.”

With that, Alastor headed to his room and plopped onto his bed. It wasn't the most comfortable one he’d ever slept in but he wasn't one to complain. He’d found himself having to make his bed on piles of hay in old stables a few times while traveling for his studies and compared to that, almost anywhere seemed like a more reasonable place to sleep. Especially if he wasn't surrounded by the stench of manure. As such, it didn’t take long for him to drift off for the night.

Spoiler: Chapter 13 - Elanora

Princess Elanora stood firmly, a wooden training sword gripped tightly in her hands. She wasn’t used to the weight of it yet but she did her best to follow the basic slicing strikes that Magros had shown her as she struck a straw dummy repeatedly. Magros had somehow managed to talk Captain Paulo into letting them use one of the city guard’s training facilities, just outside the city limits on the western side. Magros himself was currently busy sparring with Linus at the other end of the small dirt field. Marie was seated on a small wooden bench off to the side, while the guards themselves were absent, apparently all being sent out on patrol that day in case of anything suspicious happening after yesterday’s fiasco.

She continued slashing at the dummy, trying to focus on the position of her feet as Magros had instructed. She was pretty sure that she was starting to get the hang of it but also knew that it was just a basic warmup exercise to help her get used to just using a sword at all. She was a long way from being ready for even a practice fight, let alone going all out like Linus and Magros were. She was trying not to let their fight distract them but it was hard not to have her focus drawn as they went at each other. The two were both decked out in their full armor, Magros’ full plate armor notably bulkier and more-encompassing than what Linus wore, and were fighting with wooden polls as if they were spears. Both warriors seemed to be putting their all into it, at least as far as Ely could tell, as if it were a real battle. Ely didn’t think that she’d ever be able to fight that fiercely and not just because of her lack of experience, though admittedly she was mostly just doing this for the sake of learning self-defence and because she thought that it might help deepen her connection to Linus if they shared another interest.

After a few more strikes, Ely had finished the number of repetitions that Magros had told her to do, so she relaxed and wiped the sweat from her brow. She wasn’t sure when the last time she had gotten that much of a workout was and she could already feel her muscles getting sore, so she walked over to Marie and took a seat beside her. Marie offered her a cup of water, which Ely gratefully accepted.

“How was it?” Marie asked.

“Exhausting.” Ely hadn’t realized how heavily she was breathing until she started to speak. “I’m not used to that much physical activity.”

“Yes, I suppose the life of a princess must be pretty spoiled. At least if it’s anything like the old stories grandpa used to tell me.” Marie replied.

“That’s right, you don’t have royalty here, do you?” Ely realized. “It’s hard to imagine a country run by anyone other than a king.”

“We used to have one,” Marie explained. “But that was a few hundred years ago.”

“Oh, what happened?” Ely asked.

“Well, they say the last king, Valter the Wasteful, was a generally terrible leader who was leading the country into the ground, and kings before him weren’t much better. Eventually, it got to the point where the people had decided they’d had enough and rebelled, putting the entire royal family to death in an event we now call the Red Summer. After that, the country needed a new government, so our current system of a council of nobles ruling together was introduced. Since no one person has all the power, the nation is no longer at the mercy of any one individual.”

“Huh, I suppose that makes sense,” Ely mused, having never actually considered an alternated to the monarchal system she grew up with.

“Or at least that’s the theory, anyway,” Marie sighed. “What they didn’t take into account back then, or at least didn’t want the citizens to think about, is that all of the nobles on the council could be corrupt together, causing the same issues as before, just with more people in charge.”

“I see…” Ely continued watching her knight and sort-of-uncle fight. “And what happens when the people have decided that they’ve had enough of the nobles?”

“I suppose another revolution would break out to overthrow them and we start the whole cycle over again.” Marie sighed.

“It sounds like the political situation here is a lot more unstable than back home.” Ely observed. “Although that does seem to leave more room for growth and change. I think we're more set in our ways.”

The sparring match finally drew to a close as Magros managed to get the upper hand and pinned Linus to the ground. Ely watched as the older ex-knight helped Linus get back to his feet while giving him a few pointers, and the two made their way over to the girls.

“I think that should be enough for one day,” Magros said as he gathered the training equipment they had borrowed. “We’ll pick this up again tomorrow.”

“Well, I suppose that was interesting. Marie stood up and turned to leave. “I think I’m going to go get groceries from the north market, if anyone needs me.”

Before she knew it, Ely found herself alone with Linus, who was in the middle of taking off his armor nearby.

“Would you like a hand with that?” Ely asked.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ve got it.” Linus set his breastplate down on the bench seat. “How are you holding up?”

“I'm fine,” Ely replied, absently rubbing the shoulder of what was now her sword arm. “Just a bit sore.”

“Yeah, a lot of the squires I’ve practiced with complained about that back when I was training.” Linus pulled off his gauntlets and set the rest of his armor. “One of the advantages of growing up in a smithy is that I’d already been swinging around hammers and other heavy tools for as long as I can remember, so I didn't have to worry about my muscles having to get used to it.”

Linus walked around the bench, out of sight. Ely stiffened as she suddenly felt his hands on her shoulders, then relaxed again as he proceeded to massage them. She had forgotten how good he was at that.

“Thanks,” Ely said. “Do you want to swap places when you're done?”

“Oh, I couldn't possibly ask that of you,” Linus said quickly, because of course he would say that.

“It's fine, I wouldn't mind, really.” Ely wished she could finally get him to see her as a woman, not just as the princess.

“Um, thanks for the offer, I guess.” Linus' hands continued to work their way around her shoulders. “Perhaps another time, then.”

Well, that was progress, she guessed. After a moment of simply enjoying the massage, Ely reluctantly decided that it was time to get up and gently pulled his hands off of her.

“Thanks for that,” she said, making a show of batting her eyelashes as she turned to him. He didn't seem to notice, of course. She decided that was enough futile flirting for now. “Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?”

“Not really,” Linus shrugged as he picked up his pile of armor. “Other than dropping this off back at the house. How about you?”

“I was thinking about checking out that market that Marie mentioned earlier,” Ely said. “It sounds like a good place to get more of a feel for what this place is like, now that we can actually go out and explore it.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Linus nodded. “But I should come with you, in case of another ambush. There's no telling who could be a spy, waiting to attack like yesterday.”

Ely absently clutched her stomach, where the changeling had stabbed her. Now that she was thinking about it, she could almost feel the knife piercing her skin and digging into her flesh. That certainly wasn't something she wanted to experience again anytime soon, even if it had been healed almost right away.

“Yes, that would be good, thank you.”

After a quick stop at the house so that Linus could drop off his armor and they could both change into more suitable clothes than what they had been training in, Ely found herself walking through the streets of Valance with Linus at her side. The strange city was a very different place than it had been the day before. It was almost as if the people had already moved on from the devastation the wyvern's had caused and had returned to the normal hustle and bustle of life. Almost being the key word there, as many people did seem more on edge than she would assume was normal, and the wreckage of the attack was still being cleared up and repaired.

Still, it was nice to finally get the chance to see what the strange, layered city was like on a good day, instead of being rushed from one place to another by an armed escort.

The north market was, as the name implied, along the north side of the city near where they had been helping the citizens evacuate during the attack, and seemed to stretch from the third floor of the city up to the fifth. Carts, stalls and tents of every color Ely could imagine were set up back-to-back along every street and bridge along the area, filled with merchants selling all kinds of different wares from the mundane to the exotic and everything in-between. Elanora had dragged Linus off to a few markets back in their homeland but those all paled in comparison to this. It felt more like a festival than anything to the young princess.

Linus of course was mostly focused on the people around them, keeping a watchful eye out for any suspicious behavior. Though actually noticing anything in this crowd would have been quite the feat as it felt to Ely like every time she turned around there were at least a dozen people standing there.

“Alastor would hate this place,” Linus commented as Ely looked over a rack of decorative necklaces of a style she had never seen before.

“Oh?” She picked one that she liked and handed the seller a handful of the strange, colorful papers that were used as money in this world. “And why is that?”

“He’s not good around people.” Linus walked with her to the next shop which appeared to be selling paintings. “He tends to freeze up when he's around strangers and would probably be panicking in a crowd like this.”

“Really, I wouldn't have guessed.” Ely took some time to admire the artwork but nothing particularly caught her eye. Plus, she only had so much spending money and didn't want to waste it all on one trip anyway. “He always acts so outgoing and, well, boastful.”

“Yeah, when he starts to get used to someone he opens up a lot,” Linus said as they made their way to a booth selling what Ely assumed to be some kind of candy. “It took him a few days to really start talking to me. I don’t think that he even wanted to come with us at all but his instructors thought it would be good for him. It helped when Cassandra joined us. I think he may have a thing for her, if I’m being honest.”

“I noticed, though she doesn’t feel the same about him.” Ely turned to him and decided that she needed to ask a question that she wasn’t sure she wan’t the answer to. “What about you?”

Linus looked at her quizzically. “What about me?”

“What do you think of Cassandra?”

Linus considered that, then shrugged. “She’s a nice girl, a talented healer and a good friend, and I’m glad that she was the one that the church sent with us. I’m also glad that the two of you seem to get along well, even before you found out you were cousins. You… didn’t seem to have very many friends back home.”

“No, I guess I didn’t.” Ely hadn’t really thought about that before. “But I did have you.”

“I was just your bodyguard,” Linus was quick to point out.

“But you were also my friend,” Ely countered. “And before you try to argue against that, I’ve seen how my sisters’ knights act around them. They’re cold, distant and don’t seem to care about anything beyond their assignment to protect their princess. You’re different. You’ve always been there for me, for everything.”

“Oh, um…” Linus looked around awkwardly. “...sorry?”

“Don’t appologize when I’m complimenting you.” Ely playfully shoved Linus, who didn’t budge.

“Sorry,” Linus said again, causing Ely to let out an exasperated sigh.

“Come on, let’s just check the next place.” Ely headed to another stall, where an older man with long, wavy gray hair was selling bottles of… she had no idea.

“Ah, hello to you!’ the man said excitedly as he saw her walk up to him. “I have not seen you in these parts before. Are you new here, or visitors? Or perhaps our paths have simply never crossed, in a city as large as this?”

“I guess you could say that we’re visitors.” Ely curtied, as it seemed like the polite thing to do.

“Then may I welcome you to our quaint little town, or rather, the bustling metropolis that could make even the dragons themselves marvel in awe?” The man bowed in return. “I am Mercutio, proprietor of potions and expert elucidator of elixirs! So, my potential patrons, what brings you to my humble shop? Looking for something to boost your courage or calm the nerves? Maybe a draught to ward off malicious malcontents? Or perhaps the happy couple are here on your honeymoon and wish for something to liven up your evening?”

Ely turned beat red as the man wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Linus stepped in front of her.

“We are not a couple,” Linus pointed out to Ely’s mild disappointment, “so please refrain from making such suggestions.”

“Ah, my apologies.” The man shook his head. “I seem to have prematurely prepared postulations. Though, something tells me that I was not so far off. Regardless, what kind of potions might you be interested in?”

“I’m afraid that we’re not really looking for any potions at the moment,” Ely told him. “We were just looking around the market.”

“Ah, that is fine, too.” Mercurio nodded satisfactorily. “At least now you know that I am here, if you ever need me. Whenever you do find yourself in want of a potion, charmed brew or any other such magical concoction, please consider Mercurio as your first stop in acquiring what you need. Here, why don’t you take a free sample to commemorate the occasion. Do not worry, this is merely a perfume, though one made of ingredients said to ward off demons. I’ve never met a demon to be able to verify that claim, however.”

“Thank you, we’ll be sure to think of you should the need arise.” Ely hesitantly accepted the small green vial he held out, and nodded before turning to leave.

“That was awkward,” Linus said once they were safely out of earshot.

“Yes.” Ely couldn't think of anything else to say as she slipped the vial into the small bag hanging from her shoulder. “Well, I think that I’ve had enough excitement for one day. Shall we head back to the house?”

“If that's what you want,” Linus said noncommittally. Would it kill him to be a little more forward with his own wants?

The pair made their way back out of the marketplace, though it was hard to stick together through the crowd. Seeing an opportunity, she decided to seize it by wrapping her arm around Linus’. He stiffened for a moment and glanced at her uncertainly but quickly relaxed. Perhaps she would finally be able to win him over after all, with a little more work.

“I wonder why they built the city like this,” Ely said as they made their way up a flight of stairs. “There's plenty of open land all around it, so why did they build up instead of out? That first city we passed through seemed more normal.”

“I remember Marie saying something about the magical energy of the area being heavily concentrated in this one spot and that they didn't want to build outside of that for some reason.” Linus replied.

“It still seems odd,” Ely said. “You know I don't recall if I’ve asked you what you think about this world.”

“It's hard to say right now but I think I prefer ours,” Linus said. “Although that's probably just because it's more familiar. This world does have some good things about it, with more conveniences such as restrooms and the like, and the relative peace they seem to have between the various species liking together here is certainly much better than our history with the elves, but something about this place just feels off.”

“I like not having to worry about things like social position or class,” Ely replied. “Although that’s not really a part of this world so much as just being away from home. It feels weird to say but sometimes I wish I wasn't a princess. I kind of wonder what my life would have been like if I wasn't. Maybe I would have been a farmer’s daughter, living a quiet life in the countryside and doing chores until I finally found a nice blacksmith to settle down with and start a family. It might have been nice.”

“Um, maybe?” Linus said sheepishly as his face turned red, but then he gave a content sigh and smiled. “You know, maybe that would have been nice. I know if I didn't get dragged into being a knight, then I would have taken over my family smithy, making tools, armor and whatever else. Maybe I would have found a cute farmer’s daughter to try and court.”

“Knowing you, she’d have to spend every day hanging around your shop and dropping hints for years before you finally even thought about it.” Ely giggled.

“...maybe,” Linus admitted. “But of course, things would have been simpler in that life. I wouldn't have to worry about…”

“Worry about what?” Ely skipped ahead and turned to face him, cocking an eyebrow curiously.

“Nothing,” Linus said reflexively. “Just forget that I said anything.”

“If it's nothing then you can just say it,” Ely pointed out. “Now tell me what you're worried about.”

“It’s really not something that you need to worry about,” Linus tried to walk past her but Ely stepped in front of him.

“You should know by now that I don't like giving you orders, so please don't force my hand,” Ely said firmly. “Tell me what it is that's made you so worried.”

“Alright, fine!” Linus finally snapped. “If I didn't become a knight, then I wouldn't have had to fall in love with a princess, a woman I could never hope to be with!”

“A princess?” Ely furrowed her brow. “One my sister's? Which one is it? Primrose? Anna? I bet it’s Tiffany, isn't it?”

“What, no! I don't even like your sister's that much and Tiffany's a spoiled brat. I'm talking about you.” Linus' eyes widened as he realized what he had just said. “Er, that is… I mean…”

Ely couldn't keep a straight face any longer and burst out into laughter.

“What? Why are you…” Linus frowned. “Wait, did you know?”

“No,” Ely replied honestly, wiping away a tear. “But I had hoped.”

“What?” Linus looked like his brain had ceased to function.

“Well, it would have been embarrassing if I had fallen for you if you didn't feel the same way about me.” The princess smiled up at her knight.

“You… I… huh… You what?”

“I said that I love you,” Ely repeated herself, starting to lose her temper. “Now, I believe this is the part where you tell me you love me and then kiss me!”

“B-but…” Linus stammered. “You’re a princess! And I'm just a commoner! We can't-”

Ely pressed her finger against his lips, trying to squash that thought before he could finish it.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I don't care about any of that? I didn't back in our world and here in this one it doesn't even matter.” She sighed and pressed herself up against him, wrapping her arms loosely around his waist. “We don't know when we're going to be able to go home again, So for now let's just forget all of that stuff. We're just a girl and a boy, madly in love. If father, or anyone else, has a problem with that when we get back then that will be their problem. Now make me finally feel like the woman that I’ve been trying to get you to see me as.”

As Linus pulled her in for a kiss, Ely thought she could hear a woman’s voice in the back of her mind, crying out ‘Finally!’ She didn’t pay that much thought, though. Her attention was… elsewhere.

Spoiler: Chapter 14 - Cassandra

Cassie sat on a bench in small park on the uppermost level of the city, idly fidgeting with her hair as she waited. The park itself was fairly nice, if somewhat small, and consisted mostly of grass field with patches of trees scattered about. She was impressed that they had managed to make such a place so high in the air. Though mostly she was just anxious.

After what felt like forever, Magros arrived, dressed in a simple blue tunic and brown trousers, and carrying a small bag. Cassie got up as soon as she spotted him and ran over to her father. This was the first time that they were doing anything together as a family and the idea just felt weird to her, though pleasant.

“Um, hi, dad!” she said as she reached him.

“Hello, Cassandra.” He nodded. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”

“No, I’m fine,” Cassie shook her head. “I just… I’m not really sure what to do, this is all just so new to me.”

“For me as well.” Magros held out the paper bag in his hand. “I picked up some pastries on the way, some kind of lemon cake. They reminded me of some of your mother’s favorites from when… from when we were together.”

“Thank you.” Cassie nodded as she accepted the gift. They did smell delicious and she pulled the two spongy pastries out, handing one back to her father. “Do… do you miss her?”

“Always.” Magros nodded grimly as he took the cake. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her.”

“I wish I had a chance to meet her.” Cassie looked forlornly out at the trees, then took a bite. “This is great.”

“Yes, it is quite good.” Magros nodded as they began to walk together. “So, have you decided on what we should do?”

“Yes, I was thinking we could go see a play,” Cassie told him. “There’s apparently a theater nearby that’s putting on a performance based off of an old elven legend. I know it’s not… our culture… but I figured that it might be nice to learn a bit more about this world’s elves.”

“That does sound nice,” Magros agreed. “I am curious to see what the elves of this land are like compared to our ancestors. Though, to be honest, I do not know as much about our people as I would like.”

“We should learn more about them when we get back.” Cassie brushed her hair back with her free hand.

“Yes, I suppose we should.” Magros turned to Cassie, and his eyes widened as he noticed what she was hoping he would. “Your ears!”

“Do you like them?” Cassie asked, rubbing her fingers across one of the pointed tips. “I… decided that it was finally time to heal those old scars. I feel like I’m finally at a place where I can accept that part of myself.”

“I’m glad.” Magros smiled down at her, his eyes growing watery. “I didn’t realize that you could heal them.”

“It wasn’t easy,” Cassie admitted, “but I probably could have done it a long time ago if I really wanted to. I just… there was a part of me that didn’t want to be healed, like a voice in my head. It’s not gone but it’s quieter than before. I don’t think it will ever fully go away, to be honest, but at least now I feel like I can move forward.”

“That’s good.” Magros held out his hand, then hesitated for a moment before wrapping it around her shoulder. “I wish I could have been there for you when you were growing up but I suppose we just have to keep moving forward.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Cassie said. “It feels weird being able to call you that.”

“I’m sure it’s probably about as weird as it is for me to hear it,” Magros chuckled.

Cassie laughed along with him, and started walking again. “Come on, we should get going if we want to get to the theater before the play starts.”

It didn’t take long for them to find the venue, mostly because of the large crowd gathering around the entrance, mostly consisting of elves but there were quite a few members of other species as well. Cassie and Magros got in line and bought their tickets at the entrance before shuffling into the theater, where they found their seats shortly before the play began.

The Ring of Volknes, as the play was called, proved to me unlike anything that Cassie or Magros had seen before. Cassie hadn’t had much opportunity for such things, but the few she had been able to attent were simple affairs, often just a handful of actors in simple costumes playing their parts on a nearly empty stage while the audience had to use their imaginations to fill in most of the details. What the Greenleaf Production Company put on was an entirely different beast than that, with elaborate set designs that changed with each location, detailed costume designs and heavy makeup that each character completely unique and distinct even without the actor’s heartfelt performances. Cassie found herself swept away within the tale of a courtly romance within the midst of a terrible civil war as if the events were actually unfolding before her eyes. By the time the curtains fell for the final time on Queen Scaith of the Southlands as she mourned the loss of her lover Elremaine the Dragonhearted and swore her undying curse upon the north, Cassie had found herself moved to tears over the tragic story and stood with the rest of the audience in applause.

“That really was something,” Magros remarked as they left the theater. “The use of magic for the extra effects really added an extra dimension to the visual appeal.”

“Yes, and the performances were breathtaking,” Cassie agreed. “At times it was easy to forget that they were just actors. And the story itself was so complex and interesting. You really got the sense that it was happening as part of a larger world.”

“I’m glad you liked the show!” A man walked over to them, who Cassie recognized as one of teh actors. It took a moment to recognize him dressed plainly but he had played messenger who died in the first act. “Um, sorry if I’m interrupting but I noticed you in the audience but don’t think I’ve ever seen you around before. Are you two visitors?”

“Yes, we’re from… quite for away,” Magros replied. “My name is Magros and… this is my daughter, Cassandra.”

“Nice to meet you, and welcome to Valance,” the actor smiled. “My name’s Tristan. So, what brings you here?”

“That’s complicated,” Cassie said. “We’re… staying with some friends for the time being and we don’t know how long it will be until we can return home, so we decided that we might as well enjoy our time here.”

“My father was an elf but he passed away when I was young and I never really had the opportunity to learn much of our culture,” Magros explained.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Tristan frowned. “So you’re probably not familiar with the old sagas, then. I’m sure the play must have been quite confusing without knowing about the legends it was based off of.”

“I was able to follow most of the plot without any issues,” Cassie replied. “Although some of the details did seem a bit confusing.”

“Indeed,” Magros nodded. “I take it that most of the side characters were likely figures from other legends?”

“Yep,” Tristan confirmed. “Like my character, Renuvia the Fox. He was said to have been the son of a lightning dragon who went on a handful of misadventures as the fastest elf to ever live, before his final run in the Volkenring when he failed to get Elremaine’s message to the queen’s uncle when he was fatally shot by that guard. Something that wasn’t explained in the play was that the guard who shot Renuvia was actually his mortal enemy Deisense in disguise as part of a larger plot.”

“Interesting, I’d love to hear more but I’m afraid that it’s starting to get late.” Magros gestured up to the evening sky, which was already orange as the sun set.

“Oh, right, I won’t take up any more of your time.” Tristan bowed. “It was nice meeting you, and if you ever want to learn more about elf history, then I suggest checking out a bookstore called The Written Willow. The owner’s a friend of mine and he carries a decent selection of books on our history and legends.”

“We’ll be sure to check it out, thank you.” Cassie smiled, not wanting to admit that neither of them could actually read yet, so visiting a bookstore would not be much help.

“No problem, have a nice night!”

Tristan headed back into the theater after that, so Cassie and Magros began walking back to the house.

“That guy seemed nice,” Cassie commented.

“Yes, though possibly a bit too nice,” Magros replied. “Although that might just be me looking too far into things. In my experience, people who make a show of being friendly at first are often hiding their true colors.”

“I suppose that I’ve known people like that, too,” Cassandra admitted. “They start out nice enough but then that goes away the moment they find out I’m elvenborn. But this world seems to be different.”

“So it does,” Magros nodded. “I think I’ll check out that shop when I get the chance. At the very least, a chat with the owner should prove enlightening… Is that Alastor up ahead?”

Cassie looked where her father had gestured and noticed a familiar wide-brimmed hat in the distance. As they walked closser, she could see the wizard’s distinct white hair.

“Yep, that’s him alright.” Cassie waved a hand and cried out, “Hey, over here!”

Alastor turned at the sound of her voice and seemed to beam as he hurried towards them.

“Hey, Cassie! Fancy running into you out here!” he said cheerily.

“We were just on our way back to the house and… um, what’s that on your face?” Cassie asked.

Alastor held a hand to the strange object he was wearing over his nose, which seemed to consist of two round shards of glass in front of his eyes, held by a thin metal frame. “Oh, these? Apparently they’re called spectacles. Marie mentioned them the other day and I decided to get a pair now that I finally had the chance. The glass lenses somehow bend light in such a way that they adjust for… well, poor eyesight. Looking through these things, it’s like everything’s in sharper focus than before and I can see more clearly than I ever have. It’s almost overwhelming, actually.”

“I wasn’t even aware that you had that problem,” Magros replied, “but I’m glad that you were able to find something to help with it.”

“I hadn’t even realized how bad my eyes were,” Alastor said. “But the guy who made these was saying that apparently it’s common for… albinos, is the term they use in this world.”

“Ah, so they have people with snowy complexions here, too?” Cassie asked.

“Yeah, from the sounds of it, we’re actually more common here than in our world, though still pretty rare.” Alastor explained.

The trio continued making their way to the house and before long they were walking along the bridge leading to it. Just as they were about to reach their house, though, they could see two figures walking up from the other direction.

“Ely! Linus!” Cassie called out to her cousin and the knight as they came closer. “What happened to you?”

“You look like you just walked out of a hurricane,” Alastor commented as the group gathered just in front of the door. Indeed, both Ely and Linus looked windswept, their hair ruffled, their clothes were askew and it looked like they had just run a mile. Or two miles, in Linus’ case, as he was a pretty good runner as Cassie had seen during their adventures together.

“Oh, um, we’re fine,” Ely replied, notably avoiding eye contact as she looked off to the side.

“Yes, quite.” Linus cleared his thoat uncomfortably. “Let’s just head inside and… get ready for dinner.”

Cassie glanced over Alastor and Magros. The wizard seemed baffled but her father just had a smug smirk on his face.

“Yes, I’m sure Ms. Vanclau already has something prepared for us.” Magros pulled his key out and stuck it in the lock before opening the door.

As they headed inside, Cassie caught a brief glimpse of a bruise on Ely’s neck, and a smudge on Linus’ cheek, and things finally clicked into place. She was going to have to have a private talk with her cousin as soon as she had the chance. She wanted details.

“Welcome home!” Marie called from the kitchen. “Stew’s almost ready!”

Cassie freshened up quickly and went to help Marie set the table while the others got ready for dinner. After a few minutes, everyone was seated at the table once again. Everyone except John, that was, who hadn’t come out of his room. Cassie was glad, as she really didn’t want to see him again so soon. She was at the point where even being in the same house as him was starting to make her worried, though at least she had the others around to help her feel more safe. And, if worst came to worst, she always had her trusty knife and the ability to alter the human body to her whim.

“I’ll bring Sir Wolfe his dinner,” Linus said, filling up a bowl with stew and grabbing a spoon.

“Please ask him if he’s willing to come out,” Ely told him. “We will need to talk eventually.”

“I will.” He nodded before heading down the hall.

Cassie picked up her spoon and began to eat, as everyone else at the table did the same. They all stopped almost as soon as they had started, however, as Linus hurried back to them and placed the bowl he had taken on the table.

“John’s gone!” he said frantically.

“What?” Magros stood up.

“Where did he go?” Ely asked.

“I don’t know,” Linus shook his head. “His room was empty and there’s no sign of him. He must have left while we were all out. There’s no telling where he could have gone.”

Cassie shuddered. Sir Wolfe had been growing gradually more unstable since they’d come to this world and there was no telling what he would do. Then she heard the front door open and she wasn’t sure whether on not she wanted it to be him. She turned and stood up, only for Captain Paulo to be the one who walked in.

“Captain, we have a problem,” Ely said as soon as she saw him.

“What is it?” the captain asked.

“John’s gone missing,” she answered seriously. “We just found out he’s not here and we don’t know where he might have gone.”

“That is concerning, I’ll make sure that some of the guards are assigned to look for him,” Captain Paulo nodded. “However, we have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment. I have your next mission from the council.”

“Well, don’t just leave us hanging, then. What is it?” Alastor pushed his new spectacles up his nose.

“I was about to tell you when you interrupted,” the captain sighed. “It would appear that Valance was not the only city attacked yesterday. Another army of monsters invaded the wester city of Morle as well. We don’t have many details as only one of our scouts was able to make it back but it appears that the invaders have occupied the city. An army has been sent to defeat them and rescue the citizens but we believe that the monsters were led by some sort of leader. The Nobles have elected to put us in charge of taking down that leader. We’re to leave at once.”

Cassie plopped back down on her seat. She didn’t know it yet but once they left the house that night, she would never be able to return to the life she was learning to call normal and she had already seen the last time that they would all be together in that room.

Spoiler: Chapter 15 - Linus

A trio of ogres sat around Morle’s southern gate, stationed to keep watch as the morning light peered over the horizon. They were hulking, monstrous brutes that seemed nearly as wide as they were tall, with bulging muscles that seemed like they wanted to pop out of their brightly colored skin. One scratched at its fur loincloth while another sharpened the horn emerging from its forehead against its club. The third ogre bit into a human leg, getting blood over its face as it sloppily chewed with its mouth open. That one was the first to die as Alastor fried the large monster with a bolt of lightning. The other two slowly looked up just in time to see Linus and Magros charge up to them. Magros launched a jet of black flames from his outstretched hand that practically melted the first ogre while Linus lept up and plunged his blade into the second’s blubbery neck. All three fell dead before they could alert any other guards to the party’s presence.

Linus waved his hand to signal that the way was clear, and Cassie, Ely, Marie and Captain Paulo caught up to them. Together, the group of seven entered the city unnoticed. Most of the monsters were distracted by the army attacking from the east, leaving Linus and the others to take out as many of the invaders as they could from within the city before they could track down their leader.

Marle was a much more conventional city compared to Valance, made up mostly of small brick and wood buildings lined up along paved roads. This made it much easier to navigate so they were able to make their way without much trouble. Every once in awhile they would stumble across monsters out on patrol or just lounging about, mostly ogres, goblins and direwolves but with a few others mixed in as well. Fortunately they all fell without too much trouble.

“Where are all the people?” Marie asked as they slunk down an alleyway. “You don’t think they… that they…”

“Hopefully, they’re just being held captive somewhere,” Captain Paulo whispered back, keeping his sword at the ready. Linus noted that the handle seemed oddly shaped, curving in his hand so the blade was held at a weird angle. “But the city has likely suffered heavy casualties and there’s no tellng how many survivors may be left.”

“Where do you think the leader is?” Magros asked. “We should prioritize taking him out before we do anything else.”

“It’s hard to say with monsters,” Captain Paulo said. “They’re behavior often seems erratic. But if I were to hold a city like this, I’d want my base to be somewhere large, near the center of town. That makes City Hall the most likely location. Follow me.”

They continued navigating the city streets, taking out more monsters as they went. Eventually they found themselves standing before the entrance to a large marble building with a set of stairs leading up to the shadowed entrance. It certainly seemed like the kind of place that a monster would hole up in, in Linus’ experience.

“This is it,” the captain confirmed. “We don’t know what to expect, so stand ready for anything.”

Linus and Magros followed the captain up the stairs and through where the front doors had been ripped from their hinges. The smell of fresh blood wafted from inside. Alastor and the girls were hesitant to enter but eventually followed them in. Linus made sure to stick close to Ely once they were inside. He didn’t like that she had come along but she had insisted that she needed to start carrying her weight. Linus had tried to point out that she’d barely had time to pick up a sword, let alone learn how to defend herself properly but there was no changing her mind once she’d made it up. Normally he liked that about her but not when she was putting herself in danger. Especially not now that they were… well, he wasn’t quite sure what they were now but he did know that she was still his princess even if she didn’t seem to want to be called one anymore.

The building seemed empty, too empty, as they navigated through the halls. The captain led them to a large open hall similar to the one that they had met the noble council in, though smaller. It was a mess, much like the rest of the building had been so far, with scratch marks and blood stains everywhere. A tattered banner lay at the floor in front of a wall that it had presumably been hung on and thick gashes had been carved out of every surface that Linus could see.

“This is where the city’s leaders meet,” Captain Paulo whispered. “This would be the most obvious spot for someone who’s taken over the city to be but as I said earlier, monsters rarely make sense.”

“Not necessarily,” Magros countered. “You could also make the argument that a leader waiting in a place such as this would be too obvious, in case someone were to try and take them out like we’ve been sent to. It’s also possible that what seems like an obvious place of authority may not come across that way to them. The monster in charge could simply see this as nothing more than a large, empty room and prefer to lead from somewhere that has some more obvious value to it.”

“Regardless, they’re not here,” Captain Paulo replied and started walking towards another doorway. “We should continue scouting out the rest of the building.”

It took a while but eventually they finally managed to find where the monsters who had wrecked the place were hiding, as they could hear whooping and hollering coming from what was apparently a mess hall. Peaking inside, Linus could see all manor of goblins and imps running around, jumping up on tables and swinging from large chandeliers that looked like they were ready to fall out of the ceiling. A couple ogres were sitting around as well and there was even a troll sitting in the corner, feasting on a pile of corpses. Children, judging from their sizes. Linus could feel his blood boil at the sight and he wanted little more at that moment than to completely wipe them all out. However, he hesitated as he say what must have been their leader.

It was a tall, vaguely humanoid creature with large, clawed hands and feet, a pair of draconic wings spread out from its back and gnarled, twisted horns sprouting from its face. The skin of its head and chest was red but the rest of it was an ashen color, with a sharp line of contrast where the two tones met around its abs, almost as if two different bodies had been sown together into one. He, or at least Linus assumed that it was a he as it certainly had the features of a man in its musculature and face, was lounging back on a chair with his head hanging off one of the armrests and his legs draped over the other as it lazily plopped what appeared to be eyeballs into its mouth from a bowl placed on a nearby table. That made it hard to tell exactly how big the demonic creature was but if Linus had to guess he would have had to say it was at least twelve feet tall, and powerfully built.

“That must be it,” Magros said as he and the others all backed away from the door. “I don’t see how that thing could be anything other than a demon.”

“I am afraid that I’m going to have to agree with you on that.” Captain Paulo solemnly nodded. “I can only pray that it will fall as any other monster.”

“Do you think you can do that magical sword thing you did against the trolls?” Alastor asked Linus. “That would sure come in handy right now.”

“I’m not sure.” Linus looked down at the sword in his hands. “I still haven’t been able to hear Eos very strongly since yesterday, I think she’s still recovering her power.”

“That will be a no, then,” the captain said. “Unfortunate timing, indeed.”

“Wait, I think I have something that can help,” Alastor spoke up. “But I’ll need everyone to back away from the door.”

Everyone did so as the wizard picked up a rock on the floor and began rubbing it in his hands quickly.

“I’ve always wanted to try this.” Alastor threw the rock, which was now glowing bright red and turning white as if it had been superheated, into the rooms and shut the door before running off. “Everyone, close your ears!”

A sound rumble echoed through the building like a crack of thunder as the walls shook violently and the doors to the mess hall were blown clear off their hinges. Smoke billowed out as they watched.

“Sometimes you just can't beat an old-fashioned explosion.” Alastor clasped his hands together excitedly. “That should have taken them all out.”

He was immediately proven wrong at the sound of coughing coming from inside the room. Taking a quick look inside, Linus could see the demon stumbling around inside, covered in ash and soot.

“At least you got most of them,” Linus tried to assure Alastor. “Now we can focus our efforts on just the big one.”

“What was that?” A deep voice rumbled from inside the room. “What happened?”

“It sounds like I might have just made him angry,” Alastor said sheepishly. “Who's up for a strategic retreat?”

Before they could consider whether or not to flee, however, the demon stuck his head out the doorway and glared at them.

“Hey, did you guys see someone throw a bomb in here?” the demon asked. “Wait, you’re not some of my goons. Who are you?”

“Um…” Linus tried to think of an excuse but his mind went blank.

“Hey, wait, are you the madmen throwing bombs at people? Do you have any idea how rude that is?” The demon scowled. “You guys completely pulped all my goons! Do you have any idea how hard it is to replace those guys? Actually it's not that hard but it's still annoying!”

The demon stepped out into the hallway and unfurled his wings, making himself as large as possible. If his goal was to make himself intimidating then he more than succeeded. Linus stepped in front of Ely reflexively.

“You, demon!” Magros shouted at the huge beast. “What is it that you're doing here?”

“What are you doing here?” the demon asked back

“I asked you first,” Magros pointed out.

“Gah, you’ve got me there.” The demon actually seemed to back down at that. “I'm on orders from the boss to watch over the city. But that was boeing so I was just hanging out with my underlings. No sense in doing more work then you have to, right?”

“Am I correct I'm assuming that this boss of yours is the Devil King?” Ely asked him.

“Yep, the big man himself.” The demon smiled smugly. “Now, what are you guys doing here?”

“We're here to do this.” Magros raised his hand and dark chains burst out from the walls and floor, binding the demon in place. “Now!”

Linus took that as his signal and plunged Eos into the demon’s chest. Or at least he tried to but the demon effortlessly reached his hand out and grabbed the blade before it could reach it's mark.

“Ooh, neat trick,” the demon smiled. “Hmm, trying to use dark magic on a creature of darkness probably isn't a smart idea, though. The holy sword was a nice touch, though. I can already feel it start to singe my fingers. Might have even got me if you had gone for a sneak attack instead. So, I take you’re heroes here to stop me? Guess I should do my intro now. Ugh, what a pain.”

The demon ripped off Magros' chains, tearing abort the stone around him as he did so. Then he did a backflip back into the dining hall and struck a pose, hold one hand in front of his face as his wings flared out dramatically.

“Cower, mortals, for you stand before Acedia, Arch Demon of Sloth,” he said, rather unenthusiastically. “Now, stand down and submit to the will of the Demon King, or face your end at the hands of the incarnation of stagnation and embodiment of atrophy.”

Linus gripped Eos tightly, preparing for a fight. There was no telling what this thing was capable of and he could feel Eos trying to warn him to be careful. She seemed scared.

“We will not back down before the likes of you, demon!” Captain Paulo pointed his sword at Acedia and pulled some sort of trigger sitting just beneath the guard. A blast of something shout out from either side of the blade and Linus could smell smoke. The demon’s head was throne back and he stood their for a moment, unmoving.

“Ouch, that actually hurt,” the demon finally said, standing tall again and running the mark that had appeared on his forehead. “I'm starting to think I might actually have to put in some effort in this fight. So much for being able to just relax today.”

Acedia took a step back and was immediately shot in the chest by one of Alastor's lightning bolts. He staggered and clutched his chest but unfortunately seemed mostly unharmed. Magros then thrust with his poleaxe but the demon sidestepped out of the way and kicked Magros in the helmet.

“Then again, maybe not,” Acedia shook his head. “That the best you got?”

“Razor Gale!” Marie thrust her hand out and a series of spinning green disks shot out at the demon who didn't even flinch as they struck him.

“Hm, did I feel a breeze just now?” he asked with a smile. “Now you're just messing with me, right? I remember human warriors being a whole lot stronger than this but you guys aren't even putting up more than a fight than the villagers I slaughtered yesterday.”

Linus let out a sigh and braced himself. It looked like he was might be the only one who could fight this infernal creature and he was prepared to lay down his life of he had to. Though preferably not, he still has the princess to think about, after all. He charges forward with his sword ready to strike and the demon pointed his open hand towards him. Suddenly Linus' footsteps grew heavy and he slowed to a stop, barely able to keep his grip on the sword. It took all his efforts just to keep himself awake as he suddenly felt a wave of fatigue wash over him.

“Good grief, you actually got me to use my powers,” Acedia mused. “Let’s just get this over with quickly, I want to take a nap.”

Linus fought back a yawn as he slumped to his knees, steadying himself with his sword before he could collapse entirely. He was vaguely aware of the fight continuing in front of him but he didn’t have the energy to follow what was happening. He just wanted to sleep. Perhaps he’d be ready to fight once he woke up again. Yes, for now he just needed to close his eyes and-

“Linus, wake up!”

His eyes snapped open again to see Princess Elanora’s face mere inches from his own and he coud feel her hands clutching the sides of his face. Her deep blue eyes were like the sea, her face was that of an angel, and suddenly Linus remembered what was happening and he stood up before he could be further distracted.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I’m not sure, you just started to fall asleep in the middle of the battle,” Ely answered.

“Right, that demon cast a spell on me or something,” Linus remembered as his head cleared. “He said he was the Arch Demon of Sloth, that must mean he has the ability to instill tiredness and fatigue into anyone. We’ll need to be wary. You should stay back for now.”

Ely nodded and walked back into the sidelines while Linus set his focus back on Acedia. The demon was currently fighting back Magros and Captain Paulo, who were attacking him from both sides while Alastor and Marie tried to distract him with various spells. Unfortunately, Acedia seemed more than capable of blocking their blows with just one arm each while deflecting the magical attacks with his wings. It was both impressive and intimidating at the same time but did mean that he was likely too distracted to notice Linus, who should have still been out of commission. That meant that he was open to try what the demon had suggested earlier and go for a sneak attack. Thus, while Acedia’s back was turned, Linus rushed forward to impale the demon from behind.

What Linus was not prepared for was Acedia suddenly sprouting a tail that struck him in the chest, winding the young knight.

“Huh, wasn’t expecting to have to pull that one out,” Acedia sighed and pulled his wings in close. “Alright, I think that’s been more than enough work for now. I think I’m just going to get this over with.”

With a flap of his wings, everyone was sent flying back by a powerful shockwave that left them all momentarily stunned.

“Let’s see… you’re the biggest threat right now, so I’m taking you out.” Acedia began walking slowly towards Linus, who struggled to climb back to his knees. “Ugh, I knew I should have tried to get one of the other Arch Demons to do this. I should have waited for a cushier job after the initial invasion had already gone through.”

The demon raised one clawed hand as if preparing to lash out at Linus with it. Linus tried to stand up but found himself drained of energy again. At least he wasn’t falling asleep this time, though on the other hand at least then he wouldn’t have to watch as his end came so indignantly. He tried to brace himself as Acedia was about to strike, only to gape in horror as Ely jumped in front of him, holding her arms out wide.

“Do not hurt him!” she screamed as the whole world seemed to slow to a halt.

“Save the girl.”

Linus didn’t need to be told twice, power flowing through him as he jumped in front of Ely before the effect faded and everything returned to normal speed for him. Acedia’s claw struck the flat of Eos’ blade and bother Linus and Ely were sent flying into a wall.

“Huh? What was that?” the demon stared blankly at his hand, which was now covered in blisters.

Linus scrambled to his hands and knees, his focus firmly on Ely. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah I think I’m fine.” Ely stirred, slutching her head. “Just a bit dazed. Was that Eos’ power just now?”

“I think so.” Linus grabbed the princess’ hand and pulled her up to her feet, but then a clawed hand dug into his shoulder.

“Excuse me, but it’s rather rude to ignore your opponent in the middle of a fight,” Acedia said coldly, then wrinkled his nose in disgust and recoiled. “Ugh, what’s that smell?”

Linus stared blankly as the large, monstrous demon stumbled back and looked nauseous. He then turned back to Ely, who seemed just as confused. Sniffing the air, Linus could smell a vaguely floral scent he didn’t recognize but couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Ely pulled out her bag and when she opened the flap, the smell grew even more pungent. Hesitantly, she pulled out a shard of broken green glass that seemed to be dripping. It took Linus a moment to recognize the shard of the perfume bottle that Mercurio the odd potion salesman had given her earlier, which must have shattered when she hit the wall.

“Ugh, that’s repulsive,” Acedia grabbed his nose with one hand while crawling away from them on his back. “Get that stuff away from me!”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Magros walked up to the demon, weapon in hand. He swung his poleaxe down, striking Acedia in the chest. The blow should have left a heavy gash but didn’t even leave a mark as Acedia scrambled for the exit.

“What did I tell you about dark magic?” Acedia gagged as he stood up and ran to the doorway.

“He’s getting away!” Captain Paulo shouted as he ran up to them. “Hurry, we need to go after them!”

“Hold on a moment,” Cassie walked up behind him, hands glowing. “We should take a moment to recover first. If we just rush in blindly, who knows what could happen.”

Linus stood still as Cassie worked her magic, and the various scraps and bruises he had sustained so far healed up. The Arch Demon of Sloth was shaping up to be the most powerful opponent they had faced so far and it was going to take some sort of miracle to slay him.

“Don’t worry,” Eos’ voice sounded in Linus head and he held up the sword. “I know that we can do this.”

“I just hope you’re right,” he muttered back.

 

Spoiler: Chapter 16 - John

Outside the eastern gate of Morle, a battle was raging on. Soldiers fought valiantly against a horde of monsters with the might of their steel and the power of their magic but the horrendous beasts weren’t going down easily. Still, the army was able to gradually whittle away at their enemy’s numbers and would, eventually, win this battle even if they did suffer heavy casualties in the process.

John watched the battle rage on, from a position he had succured atop the top of the city wall. When he had heard that the city had been taken he had hurried over as quickly as he could. Not because he cared about what happened to the people here but because defeating the Devil King seemed like the most efficient way of finding a way back to his homeland and he had heard that a high ranking member of Devil King’s forces was likely here. He hadn’t seen any indication that was the case, however, and was about ready to leave. This wasn’t his fight and saw no reason to intervene if he didn’t have to.

Just as he was about to head out, however, a mighty explosion from deep in the heart of the city caught his attention. Something was going on and it seemed like his biggest lead for the time being, so he picked up his bow and went to check it out. If he were thirty years younger, he would have run across the rooftops, the buildings were placed close enough together that he could easily make his way across the city that way, but unfortunately his age had caught up with him and he wasn’t as spry as he used to be. So, instead, he climbed back down to the ground and rushed along the streets. With all of the monsters nearby focused on the battle, it was easy for him to make his way without drawing attention to himself.

He wasn’t quite sure what building the explosion had come from but in the end that didn’t matter. As she turned a corner around what seemed to be a butcher shop, he spotted a large figure running out of one of the nearby buildings and quickly moved into position to observe without being seen. What he say could only be described as a demon, red and black with large wings, sharp horns and a prehensile tail that seemed to end in a clawed hand.

“Ugh, this is way too much work,” he heard the demon say as it dusted itself off. “I could be taking a nap right now, but no. Stupid wannabe heroes.”

John took that as a sign that his former companions were likely here as well and had already engaged the demon in battle. Though he did note that was only a possibility as there could be others in this world who could also face such a creature head-on. He doubted it, though.

“Alright, alright, this shouldn’t be too hard,” the demon continued. “I just need to call in some backup to fight for me.”

The demon put its hands up to its mouth and let out a loud, shrill whistle. Within minutes, every monster in earshot was running up to him. John remained hidden within the butchery, peering out an open window. He would have been worried that some of those monsters, particularly the giant wolves, would be able to sniff him out but thankfully the scent of meat and blood eminating from the shop would drown his oder out. All he had to do was sit and wait to see how things played out before making his move.

“Alright, goons, time to earn that paycheck you don’t get!’ The demon gathered the other monsters around himself. “A bunch of humans are going to be headed out of that building any moment now and you guys are going to take ‘em out while I wait over there. Got that? Oh, and watch out, they managed to take out my other guys without an issue so make sure you do better. Alright, bye!”

The cowardly demon jumped onto a nearby rooftop and, to John’s befuddlement, seemed to fall asleep up there while its moved about. They seemed rather shaken up by their leader’s statements but apparently their loyalty was strong enough that they stood their ground despite essentially being told that they were all probably about to die.

As the demon predicted, it didn’t take like for the others to run out of the building and, as John suspected, he could see that it was the others from his world as well as the captain and their housemaid. It seemed they were prepared for the ambush or else had good enough reflexes that they were able to fight off the ambush as soon as they passed through the doors. Ogres, wolves and goblins attacked them to no avail. John even fired off a couple of sneak shots to assist them, though no one and nothing noticed in the heat of battle. Soon, the last ogre fell dead from a swing of Tyl’s weapon down on its head.

“Where did he go?” Captain Paulo asked the others, looking around. “I knew we shouldn’t have waited to go after him.”

“He’s up there.” Linus pointed his blade to where the demons as resting.

“I will protect the girls, as I seem to be unable to harm him,” Tyl claimed, though John figured that was some kind of ruse. He had never taken his former squire as a coward, though, so he decided that he needed to keep an eye on him to make sure that this wasn’t some kind of trap. “The rest of you, be careful. There’s no telling what he can do now that he’s out in the open. I doubt those wings are just for show.”

The group assumed their positions, Tyl, his spawn and the princess huddled near the building they had just exited from, while the mages Starborne and Vanclau stood behind Sir Irons and Captain Vanclau in the middle of the open street. Vanclau pointed his odd sword at the demon and there was a loud crack as something fired from it to strike the demon.

“Augh, again?” The demon stood up, holding its arm where it had just been hit. “Really, you took out all of those goons, too? I know they’re basically just trash mobs but still, this is just getting ridiculous. Can you please just all go ahead and die already? I’ve already had to put way more effort into this than I’d like.”

With a flurry of its wings, the demon dumped back to the ground.

“I’m afraid that we have no intention of falling this day, Acedia,” Captain Paulo told the demon, presumably addressing it by name. “So, if you don’t want to put any effort into this, I believe the best option for you is to make this easy for us and just go down without a fight.”

“Yeah, no, that’s not happening,” the demon, apparently named Acedia, replied with what sounded like a sigh. “This may be annoying but it's nothing compared to what the boss’d put me through if I did that. I’ve heard you people have a phrase that ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’. Clearly you haven’t actually been there yourselves, then. Do you have any idea how much paperwork I’m going to have to do after this, regardless of how it turns out? Ugh, I’m just going to finish you off now.”

The demon charged forward in the blink of an eye and took a swipe at the captain but was nocked off course by a fireball from Starborne stumbled off to the side, instead. Irons took a swipe at the demon who deflected the blow with one of its wings but didn’t manage to go unscathed, a large, burnt gash being cut through the thin membrane. The demon grunted loudly before spinning around, striking Irons with its tail and knocking him back. Starborne, Vanclau and the captain fired off a volley of various projectile attacks forced the demon to take a step back before thrusting forward with his arms outstretched and yelling. Both of the mages collapsed while Captain Paulo’s movements grew noticeably sluggish. It must have been the effects of some kind of spell.

Sir Irons began to attack Acedia in ernest but the demon was able to stop him by wrapping its tail around his arms. With a flick of said tail, Sir Irons was thrown, spinning through the air, into a wall. The demon then set its sights on the others. It didn’t matter to John what the demon did to Tyl and his spawn but his duty declared that he needed to try and protect the princess. However, it did not seem that there was anything he would be able to do against such a creature. The only thing that had really damaged the demon was the holy blade Eos but only Sir Irons could wield that blade.

John grumbled as he drew his bow. This was a terrible idea and he was probably going to get himself killed but it seemed like the only option. With all of his strength, Sir Wolfe let an arrow fly before quickly ducking out of sight again. He heard the demon let out a hiss, signalling that he had hit his mark.

“Alright, who threw that?” The demon roared. John didn’t dare look up to see what it was doing. “I know you’re there!”

John held his breath as he notched another arrow. He just had to wait until he thought the demon was distracted and he would hit it again. He doubted his arrows could pierce the skin of such an infernal creature but he didn’t need to hurt it. He just needed to keep it busy and stall for time while the others recovered so that Sir Irons could slay the monster. He wasn’t sure that he liked the idea of letting that naive young fool be the one to save the day but it was all he could do.

“Hey, you down there!”

John looked up, to see the demon leaning in through the open window and staring down at him. Without thinking, he aimed his bow and immediately fired strait at its face.

“You know you can poke someone’s eye out with one of these things, right?” the demon asked casually after it had grabbed his arrow right out of the air.

John rolled to the side and jumped out the doorway, firing another arrow at the demon from behind. The demon didn’t even react to being shot as the arrow bounced right off of its back, before turning around. John could hear startled reactions from those still conscious enough to notice him there but payed them no mind.

“How many of you people are there?” the demon asked, clearly annoyed. “You just keep popping up out of nowhere.”

John fired a a quick shot and quickly notched another arrow. Before he could launch it, however, he suddenly found himself being lifted in the air by the irate demon, its hand lapsed firmly around his face.

“You know that’s not doing anything but annoying me, right?” it asked. “Are you just trying to irritate me as much as possible?”

John smiled, trying to aggravate the demon further. An angry opponent was a distracted opponent. He then pulled an arrow from his quiver and tried to jam it into the demon’s eye. Instead, it shattered against the demon’s raised tail.

“Okay, now you’re just being stupid,” the demon said irritably. “Just go take a nice long nap that you’ll never- AUGH!”

The demon released its grip on John and stumbled to the side, screaming and clutching the cauterized stump on its back where its right wing had just been a moment before. Sir Irons stood, holding his sword in the air, where he had just struck the demon from behind.

“That was a cheap shot!” The demon growled. “Aren’t you supposed to be some kind of heroes, or something? Fighting dirty like that doesn’t seem very heroic.”

“You’re the one who told me to, back when we first started fighting,” Linus pointed out, apparently referencing something from before John showed up.

“Ugh, you’re right,” the demon sighed and rolled its eyes. “See if I ever give out advise aga-Ow! Stop shooting me in the back!”

Captain Paulo raised his sword, twin trails of smoke rising from either side of the blade. It would appear that he had recovered from whatever the demon had done to him earlier, and the mages were also standing up again with the aide of Tyl’s spawn. At least the false priestess was good for something, unlike her father.

“Surrender, demon!” the princess ordered. “We have you surrounded and outmatched. If you really are as lazy as you claim, then I suggest you make this easy for yourself.”

“As I said, that won’t be happening.” The demon hunched over, then stood up tall, screaming in pain as four appendages similar to its tail sprouted out of its back, where its wing had been before. The writhing appendages swayed through the air, each one ending in a nasty set of almost metallic-looking claws. “You know, I really think that I’m starting to hate you people.”

Starborne launched one of his lightning bolts from his staff at the demon who somehow managed to jump over the blast in time to dodge it completely, meaning that the attack overshot and nearly struck Sir Irons. However, the young knight ran faster than the eye could see, seeming almost to teleport out of the way. Eos’ blade glowed brightly and it was clear for all to see that he had managed to activate its power again as he had done the day before. John took satisfaction in knowing that the filthy demon would soon meet its end at the hands of divine justice. Sir Wolfe may not have been particularly fond of Sir Irons but he knew that the sword, at least, was the real deal. He was so focused on that, however, that John failed to realize until it was too late that the demon had specifically jumped behind him and he didn’t have time to react before he found himself being suspended in the air. The demon’s new claws dug into his shoulders and legs, pain shooting through his entire body far greater than what he should have felt from such injuries.

“One more move and the old man gets it,” the demon said.

Linus lowered his sword, the idiot, and the others also seemed to back down. Only Captain Paulo had enough sense to keep his weapon held high but even he made no sign of taking action.

“Don’t hesitate, boy!” John snapped at the younger knight. “Attack him while you have the chance!”

“Oh, joy, my meat shield has a death wish,” the demon sighed as Linus hesitantly raised his sword again and shifted as if he were about to leap forward. “Alright, how about this!”

John howled in excruciating pain as Acedia’s clawed tail pierced his stomach. He could feel the warm blood dripping down his legs and began to cough up blood as well. Normally, I blow like that would ensure his slow, agonizing demise, though as long as he managed to stay kicking long enough, he knew that Tyl’s daughter would be able to patch him up again. He didn’t know how the knife-eared girl had managed to con her way into being able to use the blessings of Zera but he did know that she was still one of the best healers that he’d ever met. He just had to keep on breathing, even if his lungs felt like they were on fire.

“Yep, you hero types are all the same,” the demon gloated in response to Sir Irons backing down again. “Hurt one person and you completely shut down. How do you people even function in your line of work? You know what, I don’t actually care.”

“You talk far to much,” John said as he finally realized how close the demon was holding him.

Using up the last of his strength, John grabbed his final arrow and jammed it into the demon’s eye. This time, that forsaken monstrosity wasn’t able to react to him in time and the arrowhead dug into its flesh, causing the soft, squishy eyeball to burst. The demon let out an unnatural noise somewhere between a shriek and a roar, and stumbled back, reflexively releasing John in the process. He fell to the ground and collapsed but quickly managed to climb back to his feet, despite the pain and how quickly he was bleeding out. He took a shaky step towards the others, struggling as hard as he could to stay upright. Then the last he felt was the sickening crush of his ribs shattering and he looked down to see a clawed hand sticking out of his chest. He barely had time to process what had just happened before everything grew cold and the world faded to white.

Spoiler: Chapter 17 - Elanora

John’s lifeless body fell to the ground in a bloody heap of broken bones. The whole world seemed to stand still for a moment as Ely stared, horrified, at the fallen visage of her father’s knight, a man she had known for longer than she could remember. She could vaguely hear Linus let out an angry shout but it seemed muffled. Everything seemed distant. All she could focus on was the mangled corpse lying in a pool of blood.

She wasn’t sure how much time went by. It felt like hours but likely wasn’t more than a few minutes when she was snapped back to her senses when Magros grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her away from the fight raging on in front of her. She hadn’t even realized she had been crying.

“He’s gone, Ely, there’s nothing we can do now.” Cassie put a hand on her shoulder.

“Staying here is too dangerous, we should leave,” Magros said. “None of us will be any help in this fight.”

Linus was exchanging blows with wild demon, moving almost faster than Ely could keep track of while Acedia lashed out with an increasing number of the tentacle-like extremities that he continued to produce from his body. Alastor was providing support by firing off a variety of spells to keep Acedia at least partially distracted but even Marie and Captain Paulo had backed off by this point. It was a fight far beyond what any of them were qualified for and Ely’s heart sank as she realized the very real possibility that Linus wouldn’t make it out alive. She had always known, intellectually, that it would be likely that he would one day end up laying down his life to protect her but the idea had never been this real to her before.

“We should regroup with the main army,” Captain Paulo suggested. “If they have defeated the monsters’ forces then they might be able to provide some aid in this battle.”

The people around her agreed and started to march off but Ely stood her ground, trembling like a scared child she felt like at the moment. Magros grabbed her arm to pull her away but she shook out of his grip, not really registering what she was doing.

“No, I can’t just leave him alone to die!” Ely screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“There’s nothing we can do at this point,” Magros pointed out.

Linus leaped forward and slashed through several of the dark appendages, cutting clear through them. He was almost holding his own but a few of the demon’s strikes managed to hit him and with every blow he took, Linus’ movements became ever-so-slightly more sluggish than before. The Arch Demon of Sloth’s abilities were wearing down on him and Ely had no idea how much longer he was going to be able to hold out. There had to be something she could do, anything.

“I know it’s hard,” Elly told her. “I wish there was something that I could do, too, but we’d just get in the way!”

By this point, Acedia had become little more than a writhing mass of razor-clawed tentacles lashing out at Linus, completely ignoring Alastor’s attacks as if he wasn’t even there. Linus continued to sever and cut his way through the demon’s bombardment but it was too much for him. He deflected one claw with his sword, which sent him stumbling back as another lunged at him, followed by another. The fourth hit managed to slash his arm and the fifth hit him in the stomach. With three more hits, Linus was on the ground, Eos flying out of his hand. This was it, Linus was about to die and there was nothing that Ely could do to stop it.

She knew the others were shouting at her to come back but their voices were completely drowned out over the sound of Ely’s own heartbeat as she rushed towards the love of her life. She didn’t even know what she was doing but before she knew it she was kneeling by his side as the demon was about to begin another volley of attacks. She quickly spotted Eos on the ground and picked her up, assuming a defensive stance as she had been shown before. She didn’t know how to fight and she’d barely even held a sword before, let alone the most powerful holy relic that her world had ever known which was known to burn anyone who so much as tried to touch it beside its proper wielder. Except, it wasn’t burning her. In fact, it felt unusually light in her hands, almost as if she were holding a wooden stick instead of a metal blade.

“Relax,” a woman’s voice echoed through her head, which she couldn’t recognize but seemed oddly familiar. “This will not be easy but we can do it together. Let me guide you and this demon will be no match for us. We will save him.”

Ely didn’t have time to question what was going on. Acedia’s tentacles closed in on her quickly, but not as quickly as they should have. It was as if everything around Ely was slowing down and Eos’ blade began to glow with an intense light that seemed to expand past the edges of her blade. Ely slashed Eos through the air, though it felt almost like it was the sword itself perform the action instead of her, and the first tentacle dropped to the ground, severed from the demon. Another slash and two more fell. Before she knew it, she had managed to cut through all of them and the amorphous form of the demon before her was back to a heavily injured humanoid form.

“Ugh, well this is just great,” Acedia sighed. “So, I guess now’s the part where I surrender and you take me in for interrogation or something?”

“No, now is the part where you perish for you sins, Arch Demon of Sloth, that you may never harm another mortal soul again.” Ely could feel her mouth moving but neither the words nor the voice were hers.

The next thing that Ely knew, she was standing directly in front of Acedia, the demon’s eyes growing wide with fear as she thrust the blade through the empty air between his legs. With one fluid movement, Eos was brought straight up, vertically bisecting the demon in two. The halves of his body fell in different directions as a pile of bloody guts and entrails pooled on the ground between them. Ely barely had time to process what had just happened when she grew faint, her knees trembling as she stumbled back and all of the strength left her body. She collapsed into Linus’ arms, her knight having apparently gotten back up and dashed to her before she could fall. His bloody and bruised face was the last thing Ely saw before everything blurred into nothingness and she lost consciousness.

The memory of those last moments was mostly a blur when she woke up again. She didn’t open her eyes at first, she was just too tired and sore to bother, but she could tell by the way she was being rocked around that she was lying on one of the wagons they had traveled in earlier. Whether it was the same one or not she didn’t know yet but that wasn’t important. Thankfully, she had been layed down on a thick blanket that muffled most of the bumps to make it a smoother ride. She could also feel a thick blanket on top of her as well. Wait, no, that wasn’t a blanket. It was… an arm? Ely then realized that she could feel a slow, warm breath blowing on her face.

Finally opening her eyes to see what was going on, Ely let out a small peep as she discovered Linus lying there with her and she thought that she could feel herself blush. He had been healed and cleaned up a little so that at least he wasn’t covered in blood anymore, and she could feel that she had been as well. She was still sore and tired, though, but healing magic couldn’t really help with that.

“Oh, you’re awake!” That was Casssie’s voice, and Ely looked up to see her cousin sitting in the wagon with them. It looked like it was just the three of them in there. “Are you okay? I tried to heal you up as best as I could but whatever it was that you did back there did a number of you.”

“I think I’m alright,” Ely replied quietly. “How’s Linus?”

“I’ll be fine,” Linus said, opening his eyes slowly. “I woke up a few minutes ago but I didn’t want to wake you, plus I’m so tired that I can barely move. That took a lot more out of me than last time.”

“Thank goodness.” Ely let out a sigh of relief and smiled at him. Then her eyes widened. “That you’re alright, I mean. Not that you’re so tired.”

Linus lifted his arm and brushed a lock of Ely’s hair out of her face before resting his hand on her cheek. “I knew what you meant.”

Ely could feel her heartbeat quicken, which probably wasn’t a good thing in her current condition, and she shifted closer to him, pulling him into an embrace that he returned. As she reflected back on everything that had happened she couldn’t help but break into something between a laugh and a cry, even if it hurt to do so.

“Did we really manage to do that?” she asked.

“Looks like it,” Linus replied with a smirk. “We managed to fight a demon and live to tell the tale. I guess that makes us demon slayers, now.”

Ely suddenly gasped, as she realized something. “Wait, are we heading back to Valance already? What about Eos? We can’t just leave the sword back there!”

“She’s behind me,” Linus reassured her. “I managed to cary her onto the cart before I passed out.”

“Oh, good.” Ely looked down, then back at him. “I-I was able to wield the sword back there, wasn’t I?”

“I know, I saw.” Linus nodded, his expression turned serious. “I could also still hear her as she was speaking to you.”

“What does that mean?” Ely asked. “I’ve never heard of the holy sword ever having more than one wielder at a time before.”

“I don’t know,” Linus replied. “And it will be some time before we’ll be able to get any answers from her. I think she used up pretty much all of her power in that fight when she was already still recovering from before.”

“I guess that will be a question for later, then,” Ely said. “For now, let’s just rest.”

The rest of the ride back to the capital was fairly quite and Ely ended up falling asleep again for most of it. Eventually they found themselves back in Valance and were brought before the Noble Council once again, after making a brief stop by the house to freshen up and get changed into clean clothes.

It took them a while to brief the council on their version of what had transpired, after which they were sent to wait in another room while the council deliberated what to do, but eventually they were lined up before the nobles again. Ely wasn’t sure what to expect from them.

“First off, we’d like to thank you for your heroic actions in saving the city of Morle, and the whole of Keluvia for that matter, from such a dangerous threat,” one of the nobles said. “There’s no telling how much damage that a demon such as that could have done if left unchecked. You truly are heroes.”

“We are also sorry for the loss of your fallen comrade,” another nodded solemnly. “We had been hoping to be able to send all of you back home together safely but it appears that we have failed in that duty.”

“Speaking of sending you back, we have made some progress into that goal,” a third noble added. “Our researchers have been able to coax the details of the summoning ritual that brought you here out of the former sages and have diligently gone over it. They have not yet found a way to reverse the spell and send you home but at this point it will only be a matter of time.”

“In the meantime, however, we hope that you will continue to aid us in defending our country,” the first noble said. “There is no denying at this point that the Demon King is real after all and is mounting an invasion of our country as we speak. Now that this news has been brought to life, we will be releasing the sages that we had wrongfully imprisoned for treason, including Heim Vanclau who was responsible for bringing you here in the first place.”

“We’d like to thank you once again for your service,” a fourth member of the council spoke up. “If there is anything you require during your continued stay here in our country, please feel free to send a request through official channels so that we can see what we can do to accommodate you.”

“I’m sure that you’ve had a very long and trying day, so we shall not be taking up any more of your time.” Another noble nodded. “You are dismissed. Please return to your home and get some rest.”

Ely left with the others after that, tired and exhausted. Marie, understandably, didn’t feel like cooking after everything that they had all been through, so they stopped by another restaurant for dinner. They managed not to cause and incident this time, and mostly ate in silence. Ely found herself reflecting on the fact that Sir Wolfe was gone.

Plenty of knights fell in battle. She had attended the memorial services for many that she had known personally. But this was the first time that she had witnessed someone die before her very eyes and she was still shaken up. It made her consider her own mortality and that of her friends, in particular the fact that she had almost lost Linus almost as soon as they had finally been able to get together. She wanted to go home. This world was nice in many ways and there were things that she wished they had back in theirs. But Keluvia was dangerous and full of the unknown. Rehlia, at least, was familiar. But just thinking about that wasn’t going to solve anything and she tried to resolve herself to remain steadfast.

Back at the house, Ely went straight to her room and collapsed onto her bed. She didn’t even get bothered to change again before drifting off to sleep. Tomorrow would be a new day and, she hoped, a better one. She would later come to regret that decision.

Spoiler: Chapter 18 - Eos

It had been countless millenia since Eos had last been used to cut down a demon and she wasn’t sure how she felt about having to be used for her original purpose once again. On one side, it felt good to finally cut down one of the horrific monstrosities that had once layed waste to all that she knew and loved, even if she had no way of knowing if these demons had any connection to the ones she had fought against so long ago. On the other side, it meant that the infernal threat they posed had been unleashed once again.

But, things simply were what they were. If demons were back then she would do whatever she could to end them. Though at the moment, there was little that she could do in general. She had exhausted the last of her reserves in that fight and it would likely be at least a few days before she could even project her feelings to Linus as she usually could. She hated being so completely cut off but there wasn’t anything she could do about it now. She could only wait until she had regained enough energy to communicate with him again.

There was also the matter of Princess Elanora. Eos had not been expecting to be able to forge that connection with her but somehow her bond with Linus had allowed her to reach out to the princess in the heat of battle in a way that she would normally only be able to with her proper wielder. In fact, their connection in that moment had been even stronger than what she had with some of her past wielders. She wasn’t even sure if that connection would last past that fight but she could still feel Ely’s thoughts from the other room, not that it was much at the moment since the girl had already drifted to sleep. Linus, on the other hand, was wide awake on his bed, staring up at the ceiling as he went over thoughts that Eos really didn’t like.

After awhile, Linus stood out of bed and walked over to his desk, grabbing a paper and pen. Eos tried to call out to him, to tell him not to do what he was about to do, but it was no use. He wrote out a lengthy letter explaining his actions, going through several drafts as he worked out the complicated thoughts and emotions that he was wrestling with. Eos wished that she could talk to him about those feelings, to guide him and talk him out of making a huge mistake before it was too late. If she had a heart, she likely would have felt it drop as Linus set down his pen and left the final draft of his message on the table.

She silently screamed at him as he pulled on a thick coat and walked out the door. He couldn’t leave. He shouldn’t leave. But there was nothing that Eos could do as Linus left the house for what could very well be the last time. She tried calling out to Ely, to get her to stop him from leaving, but she didn’t have any more success with that. All she could do was continue in vain to try and reach out to Linus as he made his way through the city.

By morning, she couldn’t even feel his presence anymore. He’d manage to hop on a merchant caravan headed out of the city, meaning that he could be anywhere by the time the others noticed that he was gone and by the time Eos would be able to talk to Ely again, assuming that she would ever be able to at all, she’d have no way of tracking him down.

Eos viewed Linus as being like her favorite grandson, so it pained her to watch him walk away from his life like this. She understood his reasoning, even if it was stupid and misinformed. If she had a head she would have been banging it against the wall when there was finally a knock on the door to the empty room.

Ely hesitantly opened the door. Eos felt a painful twinge at the young woman’s anxious excitement, wanting to meet with her love to share words, and maybe more, after the harrowing event of the day before. Ely grew nervous when she saw that Linus wasn’t there and continued to look around. Since Eos was still there, and Ely didn’t think that he’d ever leave without his sword, she came to the wrong conclusion that he must have been out in the other room and she simply hadn’t seen him. Thankfully, she spotted the letter on his desk and stopped before leaving the room, curiously coming over to see what it was. She picked up the parchment and reading it, letting out a sharp gasp. Eos understood her reaction perfectly as a tear rolled down the princess’ cheek.

‘To Princess Elanora Rosery al pen Rehlia,

By the time you read this, I will already be gone. I have served dutifully as your knight and, more importantly, your friend for the past few years. I have grown to cherish our time together and a very big part of me wishes that we could remain together forever. That is why it is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that I will be stepping down from my service, effective immediately.

In light of recent events, I have realized something important. When I was chosen to wield the divine sword Eos, many people believed that I was some sort of hero meant to save our land from anything that threatened it. But in my time since that fateful knight I have accomplished nothing and consistently failed every time that an obstacle has obstructed my path. I now realize that this is because I was never meant to be the hero, I was just there to hold the sword until the day its true master was ready and yesterday was that day. That is why I must leave the sword to you, its rightful owner, so that you may seize your destiny that you may save both this world and ours. I just wish I could be a part of that destiny but no matter what way I look at it, that can simply never be. I would only get in your way.

I would tell you where I am going but I am not entirely sure myself at this point, and I know that you would only try to stop me. Please, don’t try to find me. My time with you has meant more to me that I could ever express through words and I do, sincerely, love you. But our lives must take different paths. You belong back in your kingdom, to rule it one day as Queen. You may not be first in line to the throne but I know that you will be far better suited than your older brothers and sisters. I don’t know where I belong, yet, but I intend to find out. Perhaps, one day, we may meet again. But I do not expect that day to come. That is why I will simply leave you with these parting words.

Goodbye, Ely. You’ve been my world and I can only hope that you will meet another man who will feel for you the same way that I have.

Sincerely, Linus Irons, Apprentice Blacksmith

May the gods shine their light upon your path.’

Cassandra Tyl was the one who finally found Ely huddled in the corner of Linus’ room, sobbing uncontrollably and clutching the tearstained letter lightly to her breast. Eos knew that the boy could be something of an idiot at this time but this was a new level of stupid even for him. She could only hope that they would be able to track him down soon to correct this mistake but she wasn’t about to hold her breath, even if she had breath to hold. A part of her wanted to track him down and give him a good spanking but, seeing as not only could she not move under her own power but that most of her body was a sharp metal blade, that would be a bit extreme.

Unfortunately, by the time that the others began their search for Linus, it was too late to track him down. With no leads and without the resources necessary to search the entire country, assuming that he was even still in Keluvia at all, they were forced to focus their attention on preparing themselves for the next invasion. Ely continued her sword lessons with Magros and even managed to pick up a bit of healing magic from Cassie, but she never gave up hope on finding Linus. It would be over a month before the second Arch Demon finally appeared but that was a story for another day.

Spoiler: Epilogue 1 - ???

Armored claws tapped rhythmically against the cold stone arm of an ornate throne, as the Demon King starred irritably at magical projection in front of him. Acedia, the first of his seven Arch Demons, had fallen but a day after he had been sent into the mortal plain. This was an unexpected and unwelcome development. The Demon King had known that his invasion would not go unhindered but he was not prepared for such a massive setback so early into his campaign.

With a dismissive wave of his hand, the magical display showing what was left of Acedia’s corpse lying in the street blinked out of existence and the Demon King stood up with a flourish of his dark purple cape. He would not get anything done by simply sitting around, so he decided that his best course of action was to see what he could learn of these mysterious otherworlders who had come to oppose him. It appeared that he had been right to assume they could be a threat but had underestimated their power. From the second throne, his queen stood up hastily and followed him into the other room.

“That was certainly an unexpected development,” the queen said. “I did not expect Acedia to accomplish much in his invasion but for him to be defeated so easily by mere mortals is an insult to our dominion. We must squash these mortals at once, before they have a chance to cause any more trouble. You should send Ira up their to take them out. He is the strongest warrior in our army and will surely be able to accomplish the task with ease.”

The king responded by silently turning to his queen and staring at her coldly from behind the ornate horned helmet that served as his crown.

“No,” he said authoritatively. “We do not know enough about what these people are capable of. If we were to send the Arch Demon of Wrath after them right away and it turned out, by some miracle on their part, that they were able to take him out then that would cripple our forces for the rest of the invasion.”

“It would only be a temporary setback,” the queen pointed out. “We would simply have to wait for his essence to recover from within the Cauldron of Souls.”

“That may be so but it is still not a sacrifice that I am willing to make at this time,” the king turned away and resumed his walk, his queen following. “No, for now we will simply wait and bide our time as our scouts observe them further. Then, when the time has come and they drop their guard, it will be time to strike. From what we have seen, I believe that I know procisily what weakness to exploit in them. The twins should be able to do the most damage, as they are now.”

A viscous smirk spread over the queen’s lips. “Ah, an interesting choice. Those two will surely cause quite the stir. Such a delightfully insidious plan. You truly are the most intelligent and devious mastermind, as befitting my husband and king.”

The Demon King had to suppress a sigh. Sometimes he really wasn’t sure why he put up with his pompous fool of a wife. Though, it wasn’t as if he could expect anything else from Vanagloria, the Arch Demon of Vainglory.

The king at last reached his destination with his palace’s lower levels, a large chamber lit by magical green and purple flames. Within the center of this large chamber was a massive, glass-like sphere set within a intricate golden frame that serves as a base. Within the clear ball swirled a dark red miasma unlike any natural phenomena that a mortal might comprehend. This was the Couldron of Souls, the key to the Demon King’s true power.

Pressing his gauntlet-covered hand against the Couldron, the Demon King reached out his mind to the swirling souls of the damned within until he found the one he was searching for and pulled it aside. Soon, the spectral figure of a familiar face materialized within.

“My liege!” Acedia gasped and would have bowed if he had a body with which to do so, though it would be some time before that would be possible. “I am sorry, I failed you.”

“Correct,” the king said matter-of-factly. “I should have known that sending you up there first was a bad idea but there is nothing that we can do about that now. So, how to propose to make up for this blunder of yours?”

“I don’t know,” Acedia replied. “What would you have me do?”

“For now, nothing. I just want to to dwell on your mistake and know that you have been a disappointment. I may think up a more fitting punishment for you later but for now that will be enough. Farewell.”

“Thank you, my liege,” Acedia said before his form was dissolved back into the swirling mass.

The Demon King turned again and left the room. The queen, who had waited outside the chamber, greeted him as he emerged.

“I think I’ll check on the troops, next,” the king told her. “We will need to plan our next attack wisely if we do not wish to draw attention.”

“Of course, my husband,” Queen Vanagloria nodded. “By your word, King Superbia.”

Spoiler: Epilogue 2 - Bron

Bron Hywin sat at a table with the other members of the noble council, in the private meeting room reserved for when they wished to meet in private. Few people were allowed to know that this room existed and only council members themselves were the only living souls who had ever set foot within. Lord Cecil Parlyle was the one to call this meeting but Bron knew that they all had been thinking it would be necessary with all that had happened.

“We have a problem,” Cecil said. “These visitors from the other world may have been able to stop a demon this time but we cannot rely on complete strangers to defend our country.”

“You’re right,” Helena Thornewick agreed. “The commoners are already beginning to view the otherworlders as heroes. But a hero that we do not control is a dangerous thing. Especially when we have already been having to much trouble squashing the rebel ideals as of late. If we don’t get this under control then our guests may be propped up as a symbol against our authority.”

“My spies tell me that one of their number has left the city,” Orville Waters added. “There’s no telling what he may be up to. I think we should put out a hit on him.”

“I wouldn’t be so hasty on that,” Bron interjected. “If we were to take action like that it could easily turn against us. I think we should hold off for now until we can get a better idea of where their loyalties are. I believe that there is still a chance that we can make their our pawns. Heroes not under our control may be dangerous, but heroes that are under our control could make for very valuable tools.”

“I agree,” said Yorvick Alabath. “As long as we hold the only key to them returning to their home, they are at our mercy and will have no choice but to follow us. Even if one of them left, we still have the others and with another dead, I am sure that they will be even more willing to work for us lest he not be the only one to perish before they can return.”

“I think that you’re all overlooking a rather important detail.” Everyone turned to Corvus Beck. He was by far the least talkative of their group and they all knew that when he spoke up, that was when they should listen. “These visitors were brought here by one of the sages to fulfil that ancient prophecy that they’ve always been so obsessed with. That means that they’ll never fully be under our control, since they’re not just heroes to the masses but actual, proper heroes here to save us from destruction or whatever cosmic nonsense those old mystics dreamed up. But, what are heroes without villains?”

“What are you getting at?” Helena asked, growing impatient. “Are you saying that they need something to fight, because they’ve already got that Devil Lord or whatever.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Corvus chuckled. “Perhaps I should just get down to it. What I’m proposing is that we perform the summoning ceremony ourselves. The heroes that old Heim summoned may not be willing to assist us if they knew our plans. But I’m sure that their world isn’t without like minded individuals who would be more than willing to follow our lead.”

That notion sparked an interest within the others and Bron idly listened to the chatter that quickly filled the room. He himself considered that proposal as well. It could be risky as they would have no idea of who, or what, they could ende up calling to their world if they were to do this. It seemed like too much of a risk to him but unfortunately he could already tell that he was alone in that idea, which meant that he would have no other choice but to go along with this plan. He could only hope that this didn’t backfire on them. Bron was a lot of things but, deep down, he really did care about his country. Just, perhaps, not as much as he should.

Unfortunately for Keluvia, Bron was right to be suspicious. Things were going to get very messy and the Noble Council’s attempts to gain a new asset were about to backfire spectacularly, for the Goblin King was a force that no man could hope to control.