Not long after a hasty breakfast, Lucinda was sat atop a large horse just in front of the Archer, Bryn. The horse itself was as majestic as its real owner had claimed, with a pure white coat, an immense, flowing mane and tail, and best of all: a very pleasant attitude. With packs and equipment stowed, and their destination set, their journey soon began through town towards the western exit.

“Weird you’re almost as heavy as me,” Bryn commented over Lucinda’s shoulder. “Or maybe it’s not too surprising even with me being almost a head taller.”

“I hope you’re not saying I’m fat…” Lucinda replied.

“That’s definitely not what I’m saying. I’ve hardly had any guys so much as look my way since we left the guild!”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

Bryn laughed loudly, jostling Lucinda even more than the movement of the horse beneath them already had been. “Just because I’m not interested, doesn’t mean I don’t like to be appreciated.”

“I guess… Sorry for being so top heavy? It’s not my fault. It runs in the family.”

“I think you’ll find my attention hasn’t been anywhere else much either.”

“An exquisite beauty, to be sure!” Etmer chimed in from Bryn’s horse beside them.

“Thank you, Etmer…” Bryn replied in a decidedly ungrateful voice. “Why don’t you take point? Keep an eye out for trouble.”

“As you command!”

The road west from Basarl was one that travelled all the way to Prilemia. Lucinda had already been assured that their planned route would take them off to the north long before reaching the actual border, but some amount of trepidation beset her even still. From the town itself – that was uncanny in its similarities to Malart – the landscape was a mixture of grassy fields and savannahs, interrupted by the occasional lake or forest; while the weather was that of a pleasant medium-hot summer’s day.

“Will you tell me more now?” Lucinda asked of her riding partner sometime after having left the town.

“Can do. So, it’s straightforward really. You stick with us, help out however you can, or how I ask you to, and in return you get to grow stronger, gain more experience, and earn coin.”

“You are planning on bossing me about then?”

“Well, I am the group leader. So, yes, sometimes. Is that a problem?”

“No! But if I… umm, wanted to leave for some reason? If I didn’t like adventuring as much as I thought I might? Or…”

“Don’t worry about that,” Bryn interrupted. “I’d be pretty sad to see you go, Etmer too I bet, but that’s okay. I’m not going to force you to stay. What kind of person do you think I am?”

“Not the mean bossy type?” Lucinda giggled as she delivered her teasing words.

“I can be if you want me to be…”

“Oh, no! That’s okay.”

“Good. So, some other things I should probably mention: I can be a bit… strict? Or nosy? I like to plan ahead as much as possible – Archers work better that way too really – which means knowing what the party is capable of.”

Uh-oh…

“That makes sense.”

“So, from time to time I’d like to talk about any choices you might be faced with; skills, and things. You don’t have to… But…”

“I don’t think I’d mind,” Lucinda interjected. “Having someone else’s opinion can be useful… Umm, especially if I have to make choices that will help the group and not just me. You… probably want to know what forms and skills I have already?”

“Knowing would be useful. Although, that could still wait until after we’ve completed this first mission. If you decide you don’t like it, or even us, no need to have shared all that.”

Oh…

“Aren’t we going to be fighting together?”

“I told you, it shouldn’t be too dangerous. I do have a pretty good idea of what you’re capable of anyway; thanks to a certain gift from my father.”

“Okay… Then, I have a brown bear shapeshift, and then the dragonling one too.”

“Mmm, I’m still waiting to see that last one. I suppose I have to believe you at this point anyway.”

“And, ah… I’m level 6.”

“You didn’t really need to tell me that yet.” Bryn sighed. “That’s fine though, I appreciate you trusting me.”

“Oh… I shouldn’t ask what level you are then?”

“Not that I don’t trust you, but maybe not just yet. Knowing that my age is 22 might help?”

“…That does a bit I think. Ah, thanks. I kind of thought you might be… Ah, sorry.”

“Older?” Bryn questioned, her voice sounding faintly amused. “It’d take a lot more than that to offend me. Etmer’s 23 by the way. And Trime, nearly 40.”

“He is older then. I wondered.”

“He sure is. You’ll have to ask him for the story if you want to know why he’s with us. But I can tell you his level is still close to ours.”

“Now I’m even more curious!”

“Well, sorry.” Bryn’s voice was still more amused than apologetic. “Best wait until we get back for that. Anyway, exploration… That’s something you were interested in?”

“Yes!” Lucinda replied excitedly.

“I’m sure we’ll be able to accommodate you. We travel around pretty frequently, visiting the various guild halls along the way. You being against travel to Prilemia is a shame, but that still leaves the other nearby countries… Unless you don’t want to visit them either?”

“Oh… No, just Prilemia… Ah, what about overseas travel?”

“Very adventurous, I approve! We do do that from time to time. None of us are particularly fixated on one specific place, but we do seem to end up back in Chakog’mar pretty often.”

“I see. Even after Malart…?”

“Mmm, probably. Just maybe not necessarily Basarl. It’s… not the same somehow.”

The conversation hit a lull as Lucinda’s question seemed to dredge up unpleasant memories for Bryn. Lucinda herself was still far from okay with what had happened, making her more than willing to sit in silence as the white horse beneath them continued its steady trot through the countryside.

A small village finally came into view just beyond the two hour mark since their departure. Located at the foot of Chakog’mar’s northern mountain range, beyond a path that was barely visible amongst the surrounding greenery, it proved to be perhaps the smallest village Lucinda had ever laid eyes upon. Five simple houses and one multi-story tower were all it really had to show for itself, apart from a few pens for various animals.

“Not even a tavern,” Trime complained as the group dismounted from their respective mounts. “Maybe we should have just stayed back in Basarl? If it’s really as simple as you claim.”

“I think we’re about to find out,” Bryn replied.

A young woman in a loose turquoise robe pushed off from the nearby fence she had been leaning against to move towards the group. Lucinda tensed as it became clear the woman was likely a Wizard, though she felt foolish at the involuntary response despite the small justification she might have had.

“Oh thank goodness! You are from the guild, are you not?” the woman asked.

Lucinda felt even more annoyed at herself as the woman’s sweeping gaze passed across her and brought another similar reaction with it. Taking a deep breath to try and calm down her troubled impulses, she then forced herself to smile politely in return. It helped that there was not much in the way of similarity between the young Wizard and certain Necromancers: her skin fair, her hair red, her eyes a curious orange in colour and bespectacled.

I’m being stupid… She’s just a Wizard…

“Angrad?” Bryn asked.

A wave of relief seemed to pass through the robed woman at the sudden address.

“Yes, that’s me. But please, we have to hurry. If my master gets back before the job is done he will be most upset!”

“Left you here to deal with it, did he?” Trime asked. “Sounds like a nice bloke.”

“Oh-no, it was my fault…. He’s….” Angrad shook her head vigorously. “Can we start? Please?”

“Why don’t you tell us what’s up while we take a quick rest?” Bryn suggested.

“Really we need to….” The persistent agitation of the Wizard woman faltered alongside the abrupt end to her sentence. Her shoulders slumped before she continued in a still frustrated voice. “Very well.”

As the rest of the group helped themselves to water from their respective packs, Lucinda instead chose to lavish some affection upon Marrow before doing likewise. Even the simple action of leaning over and petting the large bird revealed some small aches brought on from two hours spent in a saddle, but it did not diminish her enjoyment of the trip, nor the excitement she felt for what was to come.

“There’s this certain kind of device in my master’s tower,” Angrad began. “I can’t tell you what it does, but it is the cause of this… trouble. I… was trying to run a test on it, and… uh… it didn’t go so well.”

“No sense blaming yourself,” Bryn said. “More details wouldn’t hurt though.”

“I know… It’s just so embarrassing how much of a mess I made. Ah… Sorry. The device I was working on went… wrong. It started spewing out these shadowy creatures. They weren’t hostile at first, but that soon changed…”

“Denizens of darkness,” Etmer declared with obvious distaste. “They shall not be permitted to thrive here!”

“What do they look like exactly?” Bryn prompted.

“Uh, man-shaped? Some tall, others less so. They have… claws, and you can see right through them!”

“Nothing else?”

“I don’t think so.”

Bryn turned a smile upon Lucinda. “Hope you’re ready for some fun.”

“Fun!?” Angrad exclaimed. “This isn’t… Can’t you take this more seriously?”

“Relax, girl,” Trime said. “We’ll have your troubles sorted in no time.”

The robed-woman sighed in an abundantly unhappy fashion. “Just so long as you get it done… But you’ll have to be careful of everything in there! No breaking anything. Please!”

“Think you’re up to that, Lucinda?” Bryn asked, her amused smile still present.

“Me? Ah…” Lucinda looked between the faces of those present. “With help?”

“Absolutely, my dear!” Etmer replied. “I shall happily escort…”

“Lucinda and me are going it alone for this one,” Bryn interrupted.

“I need to come too,” Angrad hastily added. “I have to… fix the device. You can’t just break it!”

“The three of us then. Anything else we need to know?”

“No. Oh… There were quite a few of them following me when I shut the front door. I don’t know if they’re still in there, but…”

“Ah-ha! Maybe we’ll get to fight after all, eh?” Trime nudged Etmer with one elbow. Achieving little considering the armour his target wore.

“Do not be so greedy, friend,” Etmer said. “While it is imperative these unholy creatures are purged, there is no reason not to grant Lucinda the bulk of the experience while doing so.”

The old rogue’s cheerful demeanour soured in an instant, while his response was barely more than a mutter. “Tsk. She isn’t the only one that needs it.”

“Sorry, but can we please get started?” Angrad interrupted. “It really is urgent!”

A short time later, Lucinda was stood beside Bryn just outside of the tower. It was far smaller than Saseligan’s tower in Kloip, but with its windows suggestive of four floors, and its girth easily surpassing all the other nearby structures, Lucinda had no doubt that fully exploring it and cleansing it would take some doing. Of the remaining party members, both were off to one side, having agreed to keep themselves and the horses company during the mission.

“You’re really not bringing your bow?” Lucinda asked of her new party leader. “In case it’s too cramped in there?”

Bryn shrugged. “It’d be fine. Not ideal, but fine. But it’d also be a pointless waste of arrows.”

“They’re not that strong?”

“Shouldn’t be. But if they are, we’ll lure ‘em out and that’ll be the end of it.”

“There was quite a lot of them…” Angrad warned.

“And my friend wasn’t wrong.” Bryn added a strong smile to go with her words, then turned her attention back to the tower. “You mind opening it up? We’ll see how aggressive these things are and go from there.”

At a motion towards the door, Angrad began a Wizarding spell cast. A few faint lines drawn in the air was all it took for it to complete, producing a shimmering glow all over the wooden door to the tower, which was swiftly followed by a faint clicking sound.

“It’s… Waaaa!”

The door to the tower burst open suddenly. Lucinda managed only a small glimpse of what lay beyond before her attention was fully consumed by the small horde of shadowy creatures that sprang forth from within. Numbering five in total, they were largely as the Wizard had described: Ranging in height from shorter than Lucinda to taller than Etmer, each of the humanoid figures was mostly a featureless mass of darkness, with only the two off-colour eye-like spots in their heads, and elongated claws on both hands being exceptions. The bizarre appearance of the creatures was beyond sufficient to give Lucinda pause, even as they rushed forwards with obvious menace.

“Friend?”

Lucinda was shaken from her inactive state of surprise by the mental intrusion. Her hands flew together for a hasty casting of her Wooden Flesh spell, while a faint grimace spread across her face at the hesitancy she had inadvertently shown. Bryn, however, had already moved past Angrad to head off the rapidly approaching creatures, sword held at the ready.

“Stay close. We’ll attack together,” she commanded Marrow.

“Etmer!” Bryn shouted out.

“They… uh… Help?” Angrad stammered.

Though somewhat distracted by the need to perform the shaping steps of her spell, Lucinda did not fail to observe that the shadowy creatures were heading straight towards the young Wizard woman. The shout from the party leader indicated that such an observation had already occurred to her, and potentially to the Paladin she had called out for, considering he had already been on his feet with weapon at the ready.

As the creatures reached Bryn, she unleashed a wide horizontal slash that caught two of them in their respective, strangely transparent midsections. However, while the attack seemed to snare the attention of the two victims, the remaining three veered around her and continued onwards to their initial target.

Lucinda’s spell finished at the same moment that Bryn unleashed an aggressive lunge towards one of the creatures she had failed to waylay; yet, the effort proved wasted as her target skittered beyond her sword’s reach at the last instant.

“Marrow! Help…”

Shifting into brown bear form as she began her mental instruction, the latter action halted as a golden projectile of an obviously magical nature flew into view to strike the leftmost shadow creature of the three still rushing towards Angrad. A loud burst of noise followed on from the attack, and then repeated itself as the curiously flat object then bounced between the remaining two foes.

“You dare assault an unarmed woman, you cursed fiends!?” Etmer bellowed out, revealing the source of the attack beyond a doubt.

“I’d say they dare, mate,” the voice of Trime called out, sounding strangely amused despite the tense situation. “And don’t forget you were planning on giving our newest friend the experience!”

“Are you still not taking…!? Aieeee!”

Angrad’s obvious complaint turned shriek was all the encouragement Lucinda needed to finally join the fray. Though a part of her considered it highly likely that Etmer and Bryn were more than capable of both protecting the young Wizard and defeating the present foes, sitting back and watching was not something she could resign herself to.

Kicking forwards with her back legs, she powered her brown bear form forwards straight towards the nearest shadowy creature. Her trajectory brought her in-between it and the turquoise-robed woman in just a few steps of her furry brown paws; yet, even in that short distance she could not fail to notice that the battle had already begun shifting towards an obvious victory. One of Bryn’s opponents had been dispatched, collapsing into a barely visible puddle; while Etmer’s sudden charge had similarly demolished another of the insubstantial monstrosities.

“Definitely should have stayed back in Basarl,” Trime’s voice called out in the same amused tone. “Even if I was allowed to get in on the XP, doesn’t look like there’s much to be had… How much did you say that reward was, Bryn?”

“Enough with the whining already…” Bryn replied tersely as Lucinda caught sight of her slashing away at her remaining foe out of the corner of one ursine eye.

“Are you alright, my dear?” Etmer asked.

Though seemingly directed in Lucinda’s direction, whether the question was addressed directly to her or the young Wizard nearby she could not say. Unlike the rest of her new party, Lucinda herself was not really in a position to be idly chatting while facing off with the shadowy creature before her. Her initial charge had successfully caught the attention of the monster, likely thanks to the reassuringly solid hit she had delivered to it with one hefty paw; however, the ferocious assault the transparent fiend had subsequently unleashed had immediately demanded her full attention to even partially avoid. And if not for Marrow’s timely arrival at her side, she may well have suffered far more damage than she had. Fortunately, even against a decently powerful foe, two versus one was quite obviously a significant advantage.

Very little communication was needed between Lucinda and her companion as they battled the single shadow creature together. Relying on her Wooden Flesh and bulky bear form, Lucinda stayed close, while Marrow dove in for vicious beak attacks and savage talon rends from behind whenever possible. It was a simple tactic, but proved more than adequate for besting their opponent, who showed little in the way of intelligence despite its vaguely humanoid form. Barely a half-dozen solid hits later, the shadow creature succumbed to the accumulating damage and collapsed into a small puddle like those before it.

“Superbly done, Lucinda,” Etmer called out, dragging Lucinda’s attention away from the defeated foe’s unusual corpse. “I have another restrained here, would you do the honours and send the fiend back from whence it came?”

“Umm, sure…” Still distracted by the rush of battle, the intended words came out as a single bear growl instead.

Lucinda took in the sight of the one remaining creature. It was stood just in front of the tall Paladin, its body straight, rigid, and suffused in a faint golden glow.

“A holding spell,” Bryn explained as she shot a grin in Lucinda’s direction while sheathing her sword. “He’s not completely useless as it turns out.”

“It is truly disheartening how little trust you place in the powers granted to me by my God.”

A pang of sympathy appeared within Lucinda as she saw a reflection of the Paladin’s words upon his face.

“Yeah, boss!” Trime said. “Where’s the respect? The love? Haven’t we been through enough trying times to be best buds already?”

“I don’t mean to interrupt…” Angrad spoke up. “But is this really the time? Shouldn’t you kill that thing!? And did I mention we’re in a hurry!?”

Despite the relatively benign start to the interjection, the rapid descent into obvious agitation didn’t fail to bring a smile to Lucinda’s furry maw. After attempting to shoot an encouraging look in the Wizard’s direction – whose effectiveness was hard to ascertain coming from a large brown bear – she then waddled over to the bound monster. Up close the effects of the holding spell were more apparent: The glow brighter, and a faint humming audible in the air around it.

Another holding spell? And one that works on monsters? I should ask about it later… If that’s allowed?

Shaking herself out of inner pondering, Lucinda confirmed the creature was still bound before moving up behind it and rearing up onto her hind legs. Deciding to end things in a manner that she hoped would be swift and decisive, she opened her impressively sized jaw, and then unceremoniously chomped down on the transparent head of the held foe.

“Pretty sure she said kill it, not eat it…”

Ignoring the Rogue’s teasing jab, and the curiously squishy texture of the creature she was biting into, her attack soon proved to be more than enough to fell the target after only a brief stint of aggressive gnawing. Like the others, it collapsed away into a small transparent puddle; yet, the defeat left Lucinda feeling greatly relieved for the battle’s safe conclusion.

“Feeling more confident now, Lucinda?” Bryn asked as she delivered a gentle pat to Lucinda’s furry head. “Ah…” Bryn’s smile faltered as she seemed to suddenly think better of her action. “Should I not…?”

Shifting back to human form, Lucinda offered the Archer woman an amused smile.

“It’s okay,” she replied. “It’s different when I’m shapeshifted. So I don’t really mind. Umm, as long as you don’t get carried away I guess.”

The similar smile Bryn returned in response to Lucinda’s statement was more than enough to diffuse the slightly awkward situation, much to her relief.

“I… sorry…” Angrad interrupted. “But, could you please hurry things along a bit? The tower’s still full of those things, and I…”

Although a small pang of guilt blossomed into existence inside Lucinda’s mind at the abundantly dissatisfied outburst from the turquoise-robed woman, the cheeky edge Bryn’s smile took on, combined with the over-the-top rolling of the Archer’s eyes, proved more than enough to push Lucinda into some quiet giggling. Her guilt then deepened as a loud harrumph reached her ears, making her quite thankful when Bryn opened her mouth to respond.

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Angrad. The danger’s passed and no one’s hurt, we’ll get to killing the rest in just a moment.”

“My knickers!? Why…!” The young woman’s irate reply didn’t get far before her shoulders slumped once more and her demeanour returned to a more calm state. “…I see. Very well.”

“Look, you seem like a nice enough girl,” Bryn continued in a friendly tone. “But you have to understand what most of us adventurers are like. We’re not soldiers, or mercenaries… We don’t take orders, okay?”

“I know that… But…”

“We’ll do this job of yours as we see fit. You bet you’re still welcome to advise us on how things are, but otherwise…”

Bryn held out one hand as she trailed off suggestively. Though facing away from Lucinda, the underlying message was still clear enough.

“I understand…” Angrad belatedly replied.

“I’m glad. Now, before we rush in and save your master’s beloved tower from these shadows, I want you to tell me everything you can about the interior layout. Can you do that for me, Angrad?”

“Of course I can. I spend nearly all my time inside…”

“Wonderful. Then let’s sit down, have a bit of drink, and you can tell us all about it.”

Joining the two other women on a small patch of nearby grass, while the two men stood guard near the tower’s entrance – with greatly differing amounts of enthusiasm – Lucinda welcomed Marrow onto her lap as she waited for the young Wizard to answer Bryn’s request.

“Friend?” Marrow sent.

“Of course you did good, Marrow! That shadow creature never stood a chance against the both of us! I think we’ll be okay even if there’s a lot more of them… I think…”

“Marrow! Marrow fight!”

“We still have to be careful, Marrow. There could be more powerful ones in there… And you won’t be able to fly about either…”

“Marrow!”

Lucinda couldn’t help but laugh at the equal parts agreement and continuing confidence her companion delivered in her response. The worry that the young bird could put herself in danger due to a surplus of that confidence was not new by any means, but also easily chalked up to her young age, and likely to diminish with suggested caution and reason. Or so Lucinda hoped.

“…She might if she was listening to us.”

It took a moment before Lucinda’s mind finally realised the conversation around her had ceased, and a moment more before she realised her lack of attention was the cause.

“Sorry?” she directed at Bryn with an apologetic smile.

“Talking to your bird were you?” the Archer replied with a smile of her own.

“Oh…!” Angrad blurted out, one hand jabbing a finger in Lucinda’s direction. “Telepathy!”

“Umm, yes?” Lucinda replied cautiously in response to both questions. The intense look of sudden interest in the young Wizard’s eyes was somewhat concerning.

“Nnnn, I really want to know how that works…”

“Druidic magic?” Lucinda suggested unsurely.

“There’s more to it than…!”

“Are you forgetting the tower we’re here to clear?” Bryn interrupted with obvious amusement in her voice.

“…Shit.” The angry curse from the young Wizard was swiftly followed by a look of intense regret. “Aieee! You didn’t hear that! I didn’t say that!”

Lucinda struggled not to laugh as she shared a bemused look with her Archer friend.

“Maybe you two should talk some more after we’re done here?” Bryn suggested.

“Yes… Yes! Good idea! Then the layout… Uh, I’ll start with the first floor…”

Don’t I get a say in that? Oh well… maybe she’s not as uptight and strange as she seems…

Sighing to herself under her breath, Lucinda then turned her full attention to the details of the building she had been tasked with assaulting.