-------------------------------------------------

The moment the boy finished crossing the portal borders it oscillated violently, its water-like surface began to shrink and close behind him.

The room was lit only by very few torches on the walls. Riou saw the same pedestal with the crystal counterpart and promptly approached it.

“This could be handy in the future.” he stored both crystals inside his money bag.

There were no guards near him, nor could he sense anyone moving in the nearby corridors. He was definitely underground and the whole place seemed handmade, the stones were smooth, no signs of ragged rocks that would indicate a cave. It appeared like the whole hideout was sculpted by magic.

Riou proceeded to remove the runes from the two unconscious men he brought with him and proceeded to head through the corridor.

He found nothing but silence and dark rooms wherever he went.

Searching the place he eventually reached a lit room. It seemed to be a laboratory with many substances and rare metals on top of the tables. Parchments and old open books scattered around, showing images of runes and magical circles.

On top of one of the tables, was a body… a dead man wearing a black robe. Distorted in his limbs and chest as if his bones had been broken, around him was a spell.

Riou recognized it immediately.

The body was surrounded by a white, almost translucent thin blue glowing chain.

“This spell still active? I thought it would only last a couple hours… not days” he was completely unaware of the extent of his power.

Riou approached the body and dispelled it. “No need for it anymore now”

He looked around but there was nothing of value or his interest in the room, so he proceeded on his search with caution. Eventually he reached a larger room. Differently than the others it had an eerie darkness to it, almost unnatural.

The square room was lit by torches on the side walls, very far from the center where he could notice the back of a stone throne.

Riou walked around to see its front. As he moved, he noticed a shadowy figure calmly sitting on it.

An old and dark mantle could be seen covering what he guessed to be the body of a person. Whoever it was, watched Riou moving, following his movements with its head in silence.

Riou kept walking until he reached the front of the throne. The boy was about 10 steps away from it and couldn’t see below the hood that covered the eerie figure sitting there.

Without warning it stood up. “So you are my sacrifice… you are older than what I requested, but it will suffice for now” A deep voice resounded in the room.

A black fog emanated from the figure and slowly advanced towards the boy that didn’t move.

Suddenly the black fog encased him in a quick twirl… the figure seemed pleased and opened its arms and inclined its head backwards, ready to receive it.

A few moments passed and nothing happened.

The figure returned its normal position and dismissed the fog with its hand.

Standing in the middle of the vanishing fog was the boy, with the same calm expression he had as he arrived.

“Who are you?” said the dark figure calmly to the silent boy analyzing him. “Doesn’t matter, you will die nonetheless” The dark one pointed his finger towards Riou.

A violet ray immediately came out of it hitting the boy right in the chest.

Riou felt the impact and looked up at the dark one “Drain soul, now death ray… what’s next, necromancer? Raise the dead? Vampiric touch?” Riou replied without concern.

The figure became unsettled. The fire on the torches flickered and burned intensely as the figure opened its arms once again.

The light intensified and covered the room showing for the first time an extremely pale, bald man with white, dead eyes beneath the cloak.

“I’m Callas the Undying, a mere necromancer can’t compare to my power!” Replied the mage as he released his power into the room. Bringing his fist up to the level of his face and concentrating his mana in his hand, he formed a violet ball of energy, very bright that covered his entire fist.

“Die…” He said shooting the ball towards the boy that prepared to receive the impact.

A loud noise followed, the powerful explosion launched Riou back with great force, throwing him against the wall at his back. The whole area ended up covered in dust, rocks and smoke as the wall he hit was mostly destroyed.

Callas was about to sit down again when he noticed movement.

The boy was walking out of the rubble and dust “That was unexpectedly strong… but not strong enough it seems” He said, cleaning the dirt off his unscathed clothes.

The mage showed hints of discomfort on his face and body, he clearly was not expecting the boy to survive that spell.

Callas promptly conjured many more energy balls like the first and as fast as they were forming he threw them at the boy without stopping. Each one of them exploded as fiercely as the first, creating a thick smoke screen and completely ruining the stones and walls with the impact and explosions.

After a few blasts the mage focused and an even larger death energy ball was created with both of his hands. And as soon as the boy emerged from the dust, Callas threw it at him with a massive energy ball.

The impact destroyed the rest of the walls and a good part of the ceiling, disintegrating the stones the violet energy touched completely, leaving nothing but dust behind.

The mage watched expectantly and calmly for the dust to settle down once again, certain that the boy was gone now.

But to his surprise, once again he emerged unscathed from the dust cloud.

Riou watched the mage with attention “I’m trying to figure you out… you are clearly dead. I mean, your body. But you are moving? Does that mean your soul is still attached to this body somehow? Or is it somewhere else?” Riou paused looking at him before continuing “Are all officers of the council like you?” Asked the boy analyzing the strange mage.

The mage raised his head curious “In a certain way… some of them are” Said the mage with his white eyes looking at the boy, in a very calm tone he continued “I gained the knowledge on how to become immortal from one of them, but this is just a step in a very long stair. By serving them I will be granted the chance to ascend into even greater forms”

The mage’s mana began to spread once again, like a thick dark purple fog that began to take over the floor of the room. It was heavy and was slowly spreading to all corners.

“So you know who they are? The Members of the council” asked Riou promptly and without any concern to what he was doing.

“One of them… the one who that taught me an Argonian spells for immortality, but it was a long time ago”

“How do you contact him?” asked the boy trying to pry for information.

“Foolish boy, you know nothing of our magic nor our plans. The council only commands and we obey” Answered the mage calmly.

Riou squinted his eyes. The smoke had covered over half of the room by that time.

Since he was so cooperative, the boy decided to throw a bait “I know about the spies… I know Roderick is part of the council and that he got Maximilian followed”

“The magus?” replied intrigued.

“You lured Maximilian… with the knight’s help” said the boy assertively.

Callas smiled cunningly “You are wrong if you think that a fool of a knight is a member of the council… he is nothing but a pawn that doesn’t even know the hand that controls him”

The smoke finished covering the whole floor.

“A pity the great Magus of this age had to die so young… I would have liked to have met him” The mage looked towards Riou “You as well… you have shown great promise at such young age, but your lack of experience was your demise… you gave me enough time to prepare with this rant of yours”

“Just when I thought we were having such a nice conversation here” Answered the boy, smiling looking at the smoke on the floor.

“You will fall into despair!” Said the mage beginning to chant in an incomprehensible language. Riou deduced it was argonian since it did not resemble the elf’s tongue.

From the fog an eerie violet glow began to appear and white ghostly hands began to reach out all over the room.

At the center of it, on top of the throne and the mage, a pale white dressed woman began to emerge, floating in the air towards the ceiling.

It was a specter of a dead woman with a deranged face and empty eye sockets. Her white hair floated as if it was inside of water.

“Wow! A banshee?” Riou was surprised and brought his hands up to block his ears to the mage’s surprise.

The ghost opened its mouth to huge extents in an unnatural and disturbing view.

An indescribable scream followed. Loud enough to shake every bone of the boy’s body along with the stone walls around the room.

It lasted for a moment and then it vanished together with all the fog of the room.

Riou removed his hands from his ears “That was too loud! I hope I don’t get permanent hearing damage” he said, checking his ears with his hand.

The mage seemed unable to believe the situation. A high spell of argos that could bring instant death to all living creatures did nothing to the boy.

“You should be dead!” he stated, not understanding how that boy survived.

“Well… If this was a game I would say that your level is just too low compared to mine. Your spells are easily predictable and the banshee’s scream, in theory should be negated by sheer fortitude or even will power. It’s not a rare spell to be honest, seen it thousands of times. Also, the amount of mana you used on it was too low, so I knew it would not affect me” He explained casually to the dark mage.

Callas was perplexed “How could he possibly know the spell name and effects? This is an Argonian spell of the highest rank, only a few masters in Argos could possess such knowledge… and even then they would not be able to survive it like this. I don’t know what he meant by low level, but it took me hundreds of years to have enough mana to even begin to conjure the first part of this spell. I covered the whole floor with manifested mana for the incantation, it’s preposterous to call it a low amount!”

“How can you say this amount of mana was low? You dare call hundreds of years of research… low? It manifested itself and covered the whole floor of this large room!” the mage said in an angered voice.

Riou shrugged “How about I show you a similar spell… but this one only affects undeads.”

The mage smiled “A spell that only affects undeads does not exist! You think death scares me? I’m a follower of the death god! He bestowed me eternal life! Such nonsensical spells would never harm me” he said confidently.

Riou smiled wryly “That’s something I wanted to ask… your death god seems such a good guy you know? He allows undead to be summoned like it’s no big deal and even lets people like you have eternal life, does he grant it to any fool who asks for it?”

“How dare you mock the Death God!”

The boy shook his head “I’m just saying… because where I come from, the god of death is much harsher. It does not give in to plead nor concede wishes, the god of death that I know let’s no one escape its grasp. I say you guys have it too easy over here”

“I am Callas the Undying! The god of Death Khor bestowed his blessing upon me, for I am worthy!”

Riou smiled “I’d like to test this Undying status of yours”

Callas was furious at Riou's lack of respect, he who devoted his entire life towards the black god, to hear such words drove him off the edge.

“Blasphemy!” Shouted the mage pulling something from inside his robe. A big black stone with a red rune engraved in its center. The stone seemed to have been created around the rune itself.

The mage smiled once again “You are an excellent adversary, to have known about the banshee and how to counter it showed me you came prepared. Your master must be proud.” Said the mage showing the stone to Riou.

“But that’s all you are… for you do not possess the power to kill me. And for disrespecting the black god of Argos, I will show you my true power!” he then held the black stone in his hand and began to chant.

The black fog around the mage began to concentrate around the stone and was being absorbed by it, sucked in faster and faster.

Riou felt something evil emanating from the stone, play time was over.

“I got plenty of information, I know he was from Iris and that the master contacts him through some magic, that means he is indeed the officer of the council in Allard. They think Max is dead. So once he is gone, my job here will be done”

Riou then said slowly while looking at the mage.

“Undeath to death” as Riou finished the words, instantly his mana covered the whole room from top to bottom. A shiny blue circle made of light appeared in the ground and ceiling covering the whole place and having the dark mage at its very center.

The moment the mage noticed how quickly the boy’s mana covered the place and created the circles of magic, filled the dark mage with awe and surprise.

And for the first time in many years he felt fear, “I underestimated this boy, now I understand his words...”

A white light emerged from the lines engulfing everything inside it for a moment before disappearing completely afterwards.

Callas' body quickly decayed transforming itself into ashes even before hitting the ground, only his skeleton covered by his clothes remained.

“Not so undying after all” Riou approached his remains, the strange stone was near his robe.

He was about to take it from the floor, but stopped, remembering what happened with every crystal he touched so far.

“Yeah… let’s not do that, who knows what that thing can do”

Not wanting to activate it, he wrapped it in a piece of the mage’s cloth and stored it inside his pouch.

“Why do I feel like a cheated high level character inside a low level dungeon?” Riou said to himself looking at the result of his spell. “It’s weird… it really feels like I’m inside a game collecting loot after a boss”

He looked around the empty room.

“I doubt this Calas showed any of the thugs how to communicate with the council, without him they will probably disperse or run out of mana eventually. So if I thrash this place on my way out it should be enough to disrupt their whole operation here… now, where the hell is the exit of this place?”

---------------------------------------------------

After roaming the corridors and dealing with a few remaining mage-thugs there, Riou destroyed the place once he found the exit.

It was night and he could see a village’s torches lighted up not too far away.

He decided to stay the night there and begin his journey back to the capital the next day.

It was a small fishing village, there was only one tavern. Luckily it had a spare room and a warm meal. It was nothing like the Drinking Bear, but was good enough for one night.

The next morning he asked the locals for directions to the city. Luckily there was a caravan that was headed to the capital.

It took him a couple of days to return, given the far distance he had traveled with the portal and the caravan speed.

He used the time to review all that had happened so far and his encounters with the enemy. Especially the conversation with Callas. Riou was already thinking on an excuse to say to Bhalrom and Ursula once he arrived at the capital.

------------------------------------------------- At the capital - Riou’s View

It was morning when he arrived and he decided to go straight to the castle. After all, the trip back wasn’t very fast and he seemed to be feeling odd because of the uncomfortable carriage. He felt his muscles aching for the first time in a long time, all over his body and even his stomach seemed to be upset.

By the time he arrived at the city, he wasn’t feeling well. “Some of that fish must have been bad… Am I sick? But I was fine just a couple hours ago”

Riou continued on his way and recognized some of the guards at the entrance of the castle, they were surprised to see him alive, word was that the boy had disappeared mysteriously at the mine.

Inside, the castle was busy once again, some norse nobles were visiting the king, Riou went on looking for the knight captain.

“Is Bhalrom with the king?” he asked the guards guarding the throne room.

“The king is in a closed audience” answered the guard abruptly, Riou noted the green colors on the guard’s emblems. They were not the usual first army soldiers.

He nodded and continued his search on the castle, to see if he could find someone he knew and get some answers. Not finding anyone he decided to go to the training room, it was possible that Eileen was there with Lilly.

As he approached the training hall he heard noise coming from inside, there was someone there.

The door was open as usual.

As he stood in front of the door and looked inside, he heard the sound of metal falling to the ground. He sees the blue rapier on the floor, besides the princess feet.

There was someone there, right in front of her, blocking his view of the princess. Long blond hair with a single braid to the right side of his head. He was dressed in North noble’s clothes. Riou could see only his back.

By the way they were, it was obvious that the man’s face was way too close to Eileen’s face, she was there, standing still with him while his hand was resting on the side of her waist.

The man noticing someone at the entrance slowly moved away from the princess while glancing towards the boy on the entrance with a satisfied smile.

Eileen quickly looked after him.

Both locked eyes for a moment, she was very surprised to see him like that. Quickly her expression changed into a fearful surprise, as of someone that was just caught red handed.

Something snapped inside of him, his stomach twirled and his guts heavy, the muscle discomfort seemed to greatly increase.

Stranger to his own emotions, he felt his heart sinking and his mind went racing.

He couldn’t focus on anything.

The princess was looking at him, but his mouth moved but no words came out, even though he seemed confused because of it.

A heat sensation began to burn him from the inside and his skin stinged all over his body.

He quickly turned away and left the place in an impulse.

Before he even realized it, he was already on the very top of the side wall, jumping down the humongous cliff towards the city and landing without any issue on a remote part of the city.

By the time he recovered himself he was already inside the city, the strange sensation was disappearing slowly and his body as well was coming back to normal as if nothing had happened.

“Finally, I’m starting to feel better…” the recent events snapped back to his mind.

A deep jealousy suddenly filled the young boy’s heart, a feeling of betrayal and anger also began to grow inside him.

Harboring those feelings he walked through the city streets towards the only place he knew he could go to clear his mind.

As he walked, he just couldn’t stop thinking about it, and the reason why he was so upset about it.

“Why does it bother me so much? It shouldn’t. There is nothing going on between me and the princess. I mean, think about it rationally, I’m a kid, a 15 year old for fuck’s sake. This makes no sense to me… oh, maybe, it's a hormone thing? At this age the body is peaking with all crazy stuff...”

He sighed “Damn, she is beautiful beyond reason… It's not odd that she likes someone. I mean she didn’t mention anyone. And she didn’t have to, right? Maybe all she meant was that she didn't want a political marriage. Maybe she had someone she was fighting for… why would she bring that up anyway, we barely met each other after all, yeah, that must be it. Now put it out of your mind, there is no reason to be like this, you’re not actually a 15 year old boy, so get a grip”

But he just couldn’t rationalize it out of his mind at that point.

“What the fuck is wrong with me? I’m barely recognizing myself in my own thoughts. Why the hell am I acting like a 15 years old? I’m not like this!”

By the time he was getting near the tavern he was finally calming down and getting a better control of his emotions “Is this puberty? Am I going through it again? These hormones must be fucking with my head. Why all I can think about is how much I want to kill that bastard! Slaughter that son of a… oh, it would be so easy, nobody would even know, he’d just disappear from existence” Riou took a deep breath and sighed once again noticing his mind derailing down a path he knew it wasn’t right.

Anger finally turned into conformity and then sadness settled in.

“Why didn’t she tell me? Why wouldn’t she say anything… shit, shit, shit, stop it already. Calm down… suck it up, you are not 15 for fuck sake, snap out of it. She is an adult, you are an adult trapped in a young body. You are here to do a job and then find a way to get home. There is no time for livin la vida loca... Don’t be delusional and stop this mental whining, you’re not a baby, stop acting like it”

He nodded at himself and took a deep slow breath in.

“She is gorgeous and was nice to you, that’s not a reason to be so jealous… be reasonable!” he shouted mentally at himself before sighing deeply.

By the time Riou finally calmed down he was standing at the door of the well-known tavern. He slapped his cheeks with both of his hands before taking another deep breath to clear his mind.

------------------------------- Eileen’s View from a week ago

Eileen was watching the soldiers returning from the deadwind pass, when she did not see Riou amongst them, she quickly went to find Bhalrom.

“Where is he? I couldn’t find him with the soldiers” she asked promptly.

Bhalrom sighed “That damn boy vanished princess…”

“Vanished?” she asked puzzled.

“Yes, he went alone inside that cursed mine… we left no stone unturned, but we still could not find him.”

Eileen nodded “I will go there with a search party then, he might still be there” she said a bit too invested on the subject.

“Princess… I assure you, he is not there anymore…our best bet to understand what might have happened, is the prisoner” Said Bhalrom trying to reassure the princess and trying to divert her out of such a crazy idea.

“Fine, but I want to be informed as soon as you discover any new information”

But a day passed and no new information had been uncovered.

The prisoner denied vehemently any knowledge of any boy, as if his life and very soul depended on it.

Having to wait, Eileen spent her time with the rapier in the training hall.

Deep down she knew he would turn up, it was a matter of time, despite what she heard that happened in the mine. It was the same as it happened in the castle. He knew what he was doing. And the fact that he brought Ursula back and then dived into the mine once again was more than proof for the princess.

In her mind, he couldn’t be beaten and was definitely on his way back to the castle.

But nonetheless her heart was heavy due to the uncertainty.

The boy’s possible whereabouts constantly assaulted her thoughts.

And every passing day she grew more and more restless.

After a few days passed, the boy’s fate was more than a common thought for the princess.

Amidst the current crysis of losing most of the court mages right after an attack of unknown enemy, the castle received unannounced guests from the norse.

But as tradition demanded, the royal family received them in the throne room.

“Askjell!? It’s been awhile since your last visit… look at you, a grown man now! I’m sorry if we can’t receive you as you deserve but we are dealing with a dire situation” Said the king to the blond nobleman approaching the throne.

He was tall, with long blond hair and a long braid to his right side. He was wearing noble’s dark clothes with a wolf pelt on his back. All his men were from noble families as well. All dressed in a similar fashion, porting swords to their side and a round shield to their back.

“King Elrik! Torwald and my family send their best regards. And I’m sorry if I arrived at a bad time, but we didn’t know any better when we left the north. But if a sword can help your trouble, just say the word and we will bring your enemy’s head upon a shield as a gift for you!” said the north man loudly.

The king smiled “You are the same boy as I remember, don’t worry about our problems, we are dealing with them. So, why have you come all the way here from the norse?” asked the king already imagining the reason.

Askjell looked at Eileen’s direction and smiled.

“I wish to challenge the princess Eileen once again! I intend to take her off the path of the maiden and make it my path of the warrior! She will be my wife this time… with the king’s blessing of course!” said the man eloquently.

“It is not my wish that matters, Askjell… my daughter is the one that needs convincing” Said the king looking at Hanna and Eileen, waiting for her response.

Eileen for the first time wasn’t with her mind clear for a duel, she wanted to give word to her thoughts and openly deny the challenge. Such things could wait as there were more important matters at hand.

But by the rites, she couldn’t.

So without uttering a word she just looked to her father.

The king sighed “Let’s give about a week from now so you both can prepare… until then, Askjell and his warriors will be guests in the castle” The king said in a monotone as it was the protocol he had to follow.

Another day came and Eileen was in the training hall very early that morning, she was having trouble staying in bed and decided to get some exercise in.

After a while, Askjell appeared unannounced at the training hall.

“So, this is where you hide Eileen” said the nord looking around “This is bigger than I remember… I could help you train if you wish”

The princess stopped and remained quiet looking at him with a cold expression.

“For the elements, you are even more gorgeous than before.” He said slowly approaching her.

She showed no reaction or intent to reply, making clear his presence was not welcomed.

Askjell smiled “Don’t think it will go like the last time… you had the advantage back then, but now” he shook his head “Now I’m the one with new tricks” he said, just a few steps away from her.

Eileen brought the rapier up and pointed it towards his face, making him stop his advances immediately.

He then walked around her but the tip of the sword followed his movements “I heard a strange rumor on my way here, that the princess dueled with some noble of Allard, someone in full plate armor and she used nothing but a thin sword. An amazing feat I must say, on the norse such weapons are considered ineffective at best.” He paused for a moment looking at the weapon at her hand.

“And curiously, I also heard that right after that fight she was challenged by a commoner… a young boy… whom she played around for a while until he finally gave up” He stopped and looked at Eileen.

“This is the intriguing part… I also heard later on that a commoner boy was following the princess around. That some say she even took him to the city for a stroll”

“But the Eileen I know would never allow such a thing. She hates the presence of men, even more the ones that challenged her before... So I wondered if such a person even existed” he looked around for a moment “but it seems it was just a rumor, I didn’t see any boy here yet”

Eileen lowered her sword and remained quiet, clearly disliking the conversation and especially the way Askjell was speaking of Riou.

The nord smiled “All gossip it seems. Don’t worry with it too much, once our marriage is announced you will come to Thanes and leave these gossiping people behind”

Every word he spoke felt poisonous, his way of moving and talking were cold and calculated, Eileen felt entrapped and an urge to respond raised up to her mouth.

“You will not win” She replied coldly and sharply.

He seemed way too happy with her response “I’m not the kid you once knew” He said approaching her a bit more.

“You will be mine” He said and quickly lunged at her.

Askjell reached for her hand that was holding the rapier, forcing her to let go, knowing full well the princess would kill him otherwise.

The rapier fell down, one of his hands holding her arm and the other holding her waist so she couldn’t move away, his grip was far too strong. She couldn’t push him back nor break free from it, it was an unnatural strength he possessed.

With her restrained, Askjell approached to kiss her.

Eileen continued to struggle, but her strength was not enough to even budge his balance, much less loosen his grip that remained still despite her efforts.

Askjell got very close to her lips and looked at her in the eyes for a moment before forcing his lips on hers.

She closed herself in disgust and turned away, his slimy mouth near her made her nauseating. But even worse was the sensation of impotence and failure to avoid such despicable acts.

Even if she didn’t believe he was capable of such dishonorable behavior. She at least believed to have the power to prevent it.

Eileen was furious and ready to retaliate the moment she could.

But as he finally moved back and noticed Askjell overjoyed expression looking at the door.

She instinctively trembled.

Her heart skipped a beat as if she already knew who was watching at the door.

She was furious with Askjell, but overjoyed by Riou’s return… but then she realized what he might have seen from there.

Riou was standing still very surprised.

His mouth moved, but no sound came out of it, he seemed strange.

Air escaped the princess's lungs, she wanted to talk to him, but before her words could take form the boy was already gone from sight.

Eileen rushed outside, the fastest she could, but he was nowhere to be found.

She kept looking, desperately as he must still be nearby, maybe inside the castle.

But mysteriously, he was completely gone, as if vanished in thin air, not even the guards had seen him after he entered the garden.

“There is only one place he could have gone…” she thought while she hurried.

Askjell was left in the training room, smiling wryly to himself. “So the boy exists…” he takes the rapier from the ground “I’m the stronger one now Eileen, you won’t be able to withstand my power this time”

---------------------------------------- Therese’s View

It was morning in the Drinking bear. Therese and Leona were inside waiting for Syldis when something caught her attention.

She quickly got up from her table as her eyes gleamed showing unusual, cat-like, vertical pupils. She was on edge.

Noticing Therese's behavior, Leona stood up and and keened her senses. A moment later she widened her eyes as well, she also had noticed something.

“Do you sense it?” Asked Therese without losing her focus.

Leona nodded “What do you think this is?”

“I don’t know… but it is closing in” She said looking around as if trying to pinpoint its direction.

“Human? Beastmen? Monster?” Asked Leona trying to feel it.

“No… this is something else entirely… whatever this thing is… it’s massive and angered” Said Therese unsure of the direction it was coming from.

The two felt as if the thing was somewhere nearby, but still, nothing could be seen nor heard. For such a thing to be in the city, there should be commotion in the streets and sound of destruction to indicate its direction and distance.

But the whole place seemed too calm for something so powerful to be raging about.

Not only that, it seemed to be approaching and the sensation only grew stronger every passing moment.

Didn’t take long for them both to feel overwhelmed and ready to fight.

“Is it really coming here? I can’t tell anymore… it’s everywhere” Said Leona looking concerned.

“It’s coming… and it’s close… dangerously close” Said Therese reaching for her sword and looking towards the walls and entrance.

Suddenly the presence began to vanish, completely gone as if it was never there to begin with.

Therese’s eyes turned back normal again while her senses continued on edge. She wouldn’t fall for any ambush or trap..

A moment later a boy in his 15 with dark blue eyes and messy brown hair came inside from the front door looking around. The boy caught Therese’s attention immediately, she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

Leona looked at her master with a puzzled expression not understanding what she had seen.

The Lioness squinted her eyes at the boy that approached the counter near the kitchen.

Her instincts screamed that the boy was extremely dangerous.

Like a predator, she began to move, slowly approaching him from the behind, as a lion stalking an unaware prey.

Once she was in reach, her sword came out of her sheath quick and very powerful swing towards him.

To her surprise, the boy instinctively drew one of the short swords from his back and was ready to block it.

But before their weapons even clashed, something stopped her blade in the middle of the swing.

A voice came from above them.

“What are you doing Therese?” Asked Syldis holding her sword with her bare hands as if it was nothing.

“Do you know him?” Asked Therese without taking her eyes off the boy.

“It’s Riou… the boy I told you about, the one I’m taking care of!”

Therese calmed down and stepped back as Syldis released her sword. The lioness sheathed her sword calmly. Leona watched the interaction closely from behind her master.

Therese was still apprehensive. But if Syldis word had a great weight on her. So the Lioness approached Riou with caution and raised her hand above his head, as if requesting to touch him.

--------------- Riou view

The boy was unsure of her intentions and flinched as he noticed her hand and very sharp nails right above his head.

Confused, he turned to Syldis.

The big woman smiled and nodded, assuring Riou he had nothing to be wary of.

“Ok then… I guess she is not an enemy then” He stood still and lowered his head for her.

The moment she touched him, her eyes changed once again, vertical pupils with widened eyes instantly appeared.

Riou was taken by surprise by her change, but it lasted just for a moment and she went back to normal.

“I see…” she said plainly to the boy before looking at Syldis and smiling faintly. She nodded, thanking the big woman for the help.

Without another word she turned around and went to sit at the table, followed by the other woman right behind her.

Riou looked puzzled at Syldis “What was that?” he asked unable to understand what was going on.

Syldis looked at the two at the table, “That’s Therese… a friend of mine. But I don’t know what got into her, she’s a hard one to read. I don’t know why but she was testing you for some reason”

“You mean the sneak attack or the hand on my head? And what the heck were those eyes? They changed completely!” Riou was clearly surprised.

“She is from the beast lands… a member of the Lion’s clan. She has feline features because of her ancestry. And the touch to the head, well… the beastmen are more in touch with their primal instinct than us. So they say they can tell a lot about a person by just looking and touching them. But to me it’s a customary thing you know? A way to say hi and make amends"

Riou looked towards Therese’s table, she was quietly sitting there, as if nothing had happened. On the other hand the woman with her was looking directly at him with suspicious eyes.

“Who is the other one with her?” Asked Riou looking back at her concerned another attack might come from the other one now.

“That’s Leona, she is from the wolf clan. She’s Therese’s apprentice since a very young age. I will get some food for us and then we will join them on their table, they are waiting for you actually, they want to hear about your new swords.”

Noticing the boy was not very comfortable since the sudden attack, Syldis smiled "Fear not Riou, she won’t attack now you were properly introduced.”

Syldis whispered to him in a humorous tone “If she really wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have been able to stop her sword”

“That’s very reassuring, Syldis…” he said, not too comfortable with the whole situation.

“I knew you would understand” Said the big woman tapping on his shoulder before going to the kitchen.