“Any questions?” Vel asked the war room.

Vel answered various confirmation or clarification questions. They would be visiting the bank holding the bodies first thing tomorrow. She would also receive the list of mages tomorrow.

“One last thing. You are not going to like this but, each of you needs to hold the others accountable. If one of you is the spy, we will notice. You slip up, you make a mistake, someone will see, and I will kill you. I have no ties to this city other than my students wanting to help. I don’t care if I make enemies. I have had them my entire life, and I am old. So, trust me, you go against this city, and I will make sure you die. [Arbor] or not.”

Vel waved the others to follow, and they quickly made the exit. Vel’s last statement left the remaining people in various stages of shock. Most knew she wouldn't come after them, but one was silently thinking of a plan.

Bishop carried the two unconscious Elves, and Vel carried the water cage. They went back to the inn.

The door to the Garden of Globes chimed open.

“Welco-” The innkeeper went silent when she saw the group. Everyone looked exhausted, but the cage of water and two unconscious Elves was what surprised her.

“Miss? I’m sorry I've forgotten your name.” Bishop asked, ripping her vision from the Elves.

“Wha- my name? Belopi.” She answered. “Why are there-”

“Miss Belopi. I need you to listen closely. Those rumors you've heard. Remember?” She nodded. “They are true and getting worse. An attack on Esmel is imminent and this inn is our home base. I’m sorry, but we are going to have to turn it into a fortress.”

“What? I don’t understand.”

“We just finished a meeting with every [Arbor] of Esmel. I won’t tell you all of the details, but bad things are soon to happen. And since this inn is our home, we need to transform it.” Bishop gave her a small but sincere smile.

“I don-”

“That's okay. You don’t have to understand. Just know that we are going to add wards and runes to the building. We have the gold to cover the damages, and best-case scenario you walk away with a fortress when we leave.”

“Who are they?” She pointed to the Elves.

“We don’t know. That’s one of the reasons for the wards. Don’t worry, this has all been cleared by the [Arbors].”

Bishop waved Max over.

“You remember Max? You two were talking about him learning how to make globes. Why don’t you do that while we set up.” Bishop stood and cast a calming spell.

Max sat down and saw the sorry state the woman was in. He felt bad, but a war was about to start, and they needed an HQ.

“Hi.” Max said. She nodded back. “I don’t know much about enchanting or runes, so if we could start at the basics that would be much appreciated.”

Bishop had sat the woman down so that she was facing a wall. He didn’t want her to see what they were doing. It was for two reasons. She could potentially remember the rune locations and take them down, and that Bishop thought she would remain calmer if she was ignorant of their doings.

Vel had already carried the cage upstairs, and Clammy was waiting for Bishop's orders to move the Elves. He had her hover them up the stairs and into his and Max’s room. He told her to watch them, and he got to setting up wards. He thought himself as a dabbler, but his centuries of life had given him experience that most would consider masterful.

Brilliant white lines of pure mana formed and connected, creating intricate patterns. The first one he made was a not-so-simple fortification ward. It caused the wall it was on to be stronger, but when paired with an anti-magic ward, the wall was nigh indestructible. The spells and mages that could bypass this combination were few and far between but as luck would have it, Mallor and Buzluc both had the proficiency.

Next was silencing and obscuring wards. The former silenced any sound that came into contact with it, while the latter caused attention to slip when looking in its direction. The wards were typically used separately, but in situations like this they would prove important. The idea was to let no one know they were in. Anyone who tried to look into the inn would quickly lose interest and look somewhere else. Having no sound pollution also played into the “hidden in plain sight” theme.

After those, was a series of custom-made wards that allowed entry and exit to only white listed individuals. Their biggest weakness when it came to the inn was that people already knew where they were staying. It was hard to be anonymous when you are an outsider in an Elven city. They could only hope the wards would protect them.

Lastly were detection wards. From wards that triggered from people staring too long, to motion and tracking, Bishop pulled out all of the stops. It would take some time, but once he was finished, there would be a total of 108 wards in the small inn. In comparison the wards covering the sacrificial sites, totaled 22.

Max was getting deeper into his lesson when Bishop finished. He gave Max a nod and went to interrogate the Elves. Clammy and Reep came down a few minutes later, both unable to handle the torture. They saw Max and Belopi working together and decided they would make dinner. It would be a late dinner, but they were all starving.

Belopi had calmed down since the initial talk with Bishop. Talking to Max about one of her hobbies really helped her relax and open up. She spoke in a timid scared voice, and Max had Emi sit with her. As she slowly scratched Emi on the neck, she explained the difference between runecraft and enchanting.

“There are two parts to making runes. There's the rune of power and the spell that activates it. Enchanting is similar but makes use of a different kind of spell with self-powering capabilities.”

“Self-powering? Could someone, hypothetically, create an infinite rain cloud using a self-powered enchanting spell?”

“Hypoth-? No. The self-powering part is a pre-known spell. I guess you could think of it like enchanting takes two spells, while runecraft takes a rune and an activations spell.”

“Oh, I see. Say I wanted to make inventory rings, or necklaces or whatever medium. I would have to know an inventory space spell and pair that with an activation spell?”

“Close.” She said with a smile. “Enchanting requires no activations spell. The activation comes from the user’s mana. The second spell you need, would be a glue spell. A spell to stick the other spell to an item.”

“Interesting. Does the item matter in that case? Would a powerful spell break a weak item?”

“Yes, that is a possibility, but that is getting too advanced for me. I just know the basic theory and how to make globes.”

Max nodded in understanding. “Let’s move to the globes then.”

“Sure.” She retrieved a small wooden slab and a parchment. “It’s quite simple really. You just need this rune, and then the activation spell.”

She handed him the paper where she sketched the outline of the rune. It was a triangle with big open areas. It was the least detailed rune Max had seen. She pointed at a small circle within the triangle. It had small squiggles and interconnecting lines.

“That is the “memory” rune symbol. If you ever learn more advanced runes, memorizing the symbols will be crucial.”

“Memory symbol? Is there a fire or water symbol?”

“Among others, but I don't know them. That’s actually a big part of what makes runes difficult. See, you have to have the symbols and connect them with other symbols to get them to work. Expect to have a lot of trial and error. That's also why most venture the path of enchanter, most find spells easier than rune creation.”

“But aren't ward’s similar?”

“Sure, on the basis of symbols. But wards have their own set of symbols and don’t often explode when you get them wrong.”

Belopi moved a glass ball on top of the wooden slab. She closed her eyes and spoke “Miteno” quietly. The engraved rune lit into a bright connection of white light. The light almost seemed to pour into the glass, like fog being sucked into a vacuum. Slowly the light dwindled, and a picture emerged in the glass.

A picture of a small smiling child moved along with the memory. She was wearing a sun hat and her cute polka dotted dress blew in the wind. Belopi quickly covered and hid the globe. Max saw her sadden, red eyes, and knew it was too personal of a memory to share. Belopi excused herself.

She came back a few minutes later without the globe.

“Sorry. You shouldn’t have seen that. With all that's been going on…”

“I understand.” Max interrupted. “Just know, we were sent here for a reason, and that reason is to protect this town. Trust us.”

She nodded, but a lone tear showed her true feelings. She was scared and no matter how many reassurances she was given, she would remain scared.

“Alright!” Max said in a chippy voice, hoping to end the sad moment. “I know the rune, I know the memory I want to recreate, what is the spell?”

She went on to explain the spell. Max had never had any formal training, he had always just felt his mana and operated from there. But trying to learn complicated preordained spells was difficult for him. He would go with his instincts and push mana where it wasn't supposed to go, thus making the spell fail.

Max wasn’t sure if speaking the word “Miteno” did anything, but he said it non the less. Eventually Reep and Clammy finished with dinner and brought out a large feast. Bishop had still not returned, but Vel had, and she looked pissed. When she came down, she walked straight to the mead and flopped into a corner seat.

Between her big gulps, he could hear her muttering something about, “Godforsaken city” and “weak Stalkers”. Max assumed she contracted with the Stalker and got moot from it.

Max took a break from the spell to eat. He was pretty upset with himself. It was unlike him to fail repeatedly like this. He felt so close, but far at the same time. It was like he was about to solve a maze, but a wall would shift, and he would have to start over. His mental state was also not being helped when Emi sent mocking and downright rude images. Max did get a chuckle at the image of his reaction when he failed a particular close attempt.

Dinner was a downcast serving of vegetable soup and bread. It was simple but comforting. The younger girls went to bed, exhausted. Max stayed up, his ego forcing him to continue the spell. Vel sat closer this time, occasionally glancing at Max’s progress. Belopi sat with Max, after all he was the only form of comfort she had at the moment.

The wooden slab eventually lit with glowing white lines. Max let out a quiet victory cry. The light cascaded into the glass and an image was formed. A group of people wearing strange clothes stood on a small metal bridge, Max included. The overgrown background gave evidence that the bridge was only used to cross a small creek or stream. Everyone was smiling and talking to each other. Even though they made no sound, you could tell from the posture and familiarity that they were close.

Max watched the globe with glazed eyes. He fought back tears but had to occasionally wipe his face anyway. Max remembered this day clearly, after all, it was his memory. But seeing it like this sparked his emotions more than any memory in his head could.

The group of people lined up, shoulder to shoulder. Smaller people were in the front while taller in the back. They all stood with big smiles. A flash of light eventually came, and the people started moving again. The memory reset.

“My family.” Max said. Max removing the globe to his inventory. He looked to the others. Belopi was sobbing. Seeing Max try to fight his tears only caused hers to fall harder. Even Vel was slightly red-eyed.

“I hope they are doing well.” Max said, sobbing. Finally letting his tears fall.

Max completely ignored trying to manipulate his tears like he had seen Vel do. He knew he was in a safe space with safe company. He had no need to look strong.

“She was my daughter.” Belopi said when the tears finally lulled. “In the globe from earlier I mean. I hadn’t made a new one of her in decades. But with all of the stuff going on...”

“What happened to her if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Her and her father were traveling from our home to the closest village to sell our wares. We were simple trinket makers at the time, a silver coin never went to waste with us.” She chuckled. “I think that is why they took her. Slavers I mean. They took her when they found my husband had no money. He was able to make it back to our village and explain what happened before his injuries took his life.”

“I went to look for her. I took what little savings we had and traveled to every slave sale I could find. I searched for seven years before… Before deciding she was dead. Elven female slaves have the lowest survival rate among the races. Especially the young ones. Something about their bodies makes their owners do dastardly things.”

“But she could have been alive right? Had a nice owner?”

“Sure. But I couldn’t look anymore. I couldn’t. I was too poor to buy food. I often had to steal or sell my body to find funds for travel. I couldn’t. Not anymore…”

Max nodded. It was a lose-lose situation. Either she kills herself trying to find her daughter or has to live with the guilt of quitting. A shitty world doing shit things to good people, once again. Max thought.

“Anyways, my sister took me in, here in Esmel. She was actually the one who taught me how to make the memory globes. She thought it would help and I guess she was right. It did. Seno was always like that. Always knew what was right for me.”

Max cocked his head. “What is your sister's name?”

“Seno. Do you know her?”

Max removed the letter he had been given from Celenia. There, written in poor handwriting was the name Seno. Max stared at the letter. Could it be? Max had remembered the letter, but never found the time to deliver it.

“What’s your last name, Miss Belopi?”

“Longstem. Why?” She eyed the letter in his hands.

Max and Vel both gasped. Max moved an unused globe to the rune slab. He concentrated with all of willpower to get the spell correct. It worked on the first try, and Max thanked however was watching over him at that movement. The memory started with a familiar autumn haired Elf. Max realized Belopi had the same hair. The cute Elf was smiling and laughing. She, Emi, and Max were playing in the river by the mansion. They were in a heated splash battle, but the utter joy was apparent. Max spoke over the memory.

“Is your daughter's name Celenia?”

Belopi's eyes went wide. She started shaking her head, unable to think. Staring intently on the globe.

“I-I. I-her-”

Vel cast a calming spell.

“...How?” She finally was able to say after a few watch thoughts of the memory.

“Celenia is a friend of mine. My team found her and some other slaves. We dispatched one of their masters and captured the other. She is free. In Lesterwood. She’s actually better than free. She apprenticed under [Druid] Dreamstem.”

A burst of tears erupted from Belopi. She hugged Max with all of her might, and Max hugged back. It was a bittersweet moment for Max, however. Max tried to limit his cynicism, but coincidences like this didn’t happen. Max had suspected it earlier, but now with this and Tiodepth, he was convinced. Someone was pulling strings in his life. Max glanced at Vel. The look on her face made Max think she was having similar thoughts. But she quickly put on a mask and spoke.

“Max, isn’t it great to meet your soon to be Mother-in-law?”

Max watched the old woman's sly smile turn sadistic. Max mouthed you fucker, before Belopi released her hug. Vel’s smile only got larger.

“Mother-in-law?” Belopi asked.

“No. That is a miss understanding purposely created by my wicked and ass, mentor, Vel.”

“Oh, come on! We all saw that kiss she gave you right after you took that letter. We all know it’s inevitable at this point.” Vel mocked.

“It was on the cheek!”

The night proceeded to turn into Vel mocking Max, and Belopi being confused but simultaneously scared. Scared that her daughter would not want to see her. Scared of what she would say when they were reunited. Scared of rejection.