“That's fantastic!” Chaiya said when Maleketh told her what Hunter had agreed to. “My emissaries will be so happy to hear that!”

Maleketh held in his sigh. “I want you to warn them about saying something stupid; but, I know that's an unreasonable request.”

Chaiya laughed. “Don't worry. I won't let anything interfere with this meeting.”

“Your influence there isn't that great.” Maleketh said. “Whoever is doing this has a much stronger hold there than the rest of us.”

“That won't matter in a few months.” Chaiya said. “Word of my emissaries and their accomplishments spreads even as we speak. The more people that hear about them, and me, the more that I am in their thoughts.”

Maleketh did sigh this time.

“Cheer up!” Chaiya said. “With the description of the star positions you gave us, it shouldn't take us long to find that world you were on.”

“I didn't recognize any of them and that worries me.” Maleketh said. “Especially if the star there is extinguished.”

“You worry too much over the little details.” Chaiya said. “The next time my emissaries call me to seal a crack, I will poke my head through and see if it is the same world. That is, unless Hunter calls you first, then you can do it and let us know.” She said and pat his arm, then started to fade. “Thank you!”

Maleketh didn't like letting her get her way; but, she had been a master manipulator for eons. He just hoped the enchanted ring that Hunter wore would counter her powerful influence that formed when the emissaries gathered together.

*

The next three days passed by before I knew it, even with having to stop and feed the horses more than usual. Nighttime wasn't unusual, either. We camped out in tents and bedrolls in relatively safe areas and with so many people available, standing watch over the camp was only a couple of hours and we all had a good night's rest each time. We arrived at the town without incident on the morning of the fourth day. It was a much larger town than the last one and no one batted an eye or gave us a second look.

I guess seeing adventurers is a lot more common here. I thought.

We had no trouble at all buying more horses from the stable, surprisingly for ten silver each, which was the same price as the two horses we already had, then we had to buy new saddles. I was very thankful that I had Afyne with me, because she was the expert. The man had tried to sell us inferior saddles for a much higher price, and she quickly put a stop to that nonsense with her superior knowledge and shamed the man. Not only did we get four new saddles, we also got the full kits with bridles and reins, grooming supplies, and the promise of new shoes for the horses... and all for the price of two expensive saddles.

“Remind me to give you an extra cuddle tonight.” I whispered to her as I helped her climb up onto my horse. She blushed and nodded and we led all of the horses over to the blacksmith to have their horseshoes checked. Only two of the horses needed replacements, so we had to wait for an hour while they were being worked on.

“We should start asking around about any trouble.” Imiryl said.

“Be careful. We don't know what these people are like.” I said.

“You make it sound like everyone is out to kill us.” Diofra the mage said with a laugh, and I didn't laugh. “You really think that?” She asked, surprised.

“I don't think they are out to kill us. Hurt, maybe. Delay possibly. Inconvenience, more than likely.” I said. “Especially if someone is making money from the trouble.”

“You don't have a favorable opinion of people, do you?” Evus the guard asked.

“Actually, I'm just suspicious.” I said. “Plus, you have to earn favor, just like trust and respect.”

“Wait.” Allirynn said. “You did that with us?”

“I do it with everyone.” I said. “It's much easier to be suspicious at first and have it develop into trust, than it is to automatically trust someone and have them become suspicious later and break that trust.”

Allirynn glanced at Imiryl and they both looked at Maylia, who nodded.

“Do you trust us?” Imiryl asked, and I could hear the concern in her voice.

“I accepted your pledge, didn't I?” I said and took her hand. “I also left Afyne by your side and had Evus guard her.”

Imiryl looked at my hand and then at my face.

“I wouldn't trust just anyone with her safety.” I said, gave her hand a squeeze, and let it go. “Maylia, Afyne and I will start with the inns. Evus, do you want the tavern or the restaurant?”

“We'll take the tavern.” Diofra said and hooked her arm through the guard's. “Neither of us looks like we are going to start a fight, just from the expression on our face.”

“I think she meant you, tall, dark, and mean looking.” I whispered loudly to Allirynn, and he smiled.

Imiryl laughed and took Allirynn's hand. “We'll take the restaurants, if they are open.”

“Meet back here in an hour.” I said, and we went about our assigned tasks. The first innkeeper was both glad and sad that we weren't there so early to get a room. He was quite happy to tell us everything he knew when we asked about any local monsters, though. We went to the next inn and received almost the same reactions. There were three inns, so we came back to the blacksmith's place just in time for the hour to expire and found the others already waiting for us there.

“You aren't going to believe this.” Diofra said.

“Monsters!” I fake shivered and Afyne giggled.

“By the stories we got from the innkeepers, it's only been a few months since they started getting overrun.” Maylia said. “From the descriptions... well...”

“They are cute and fuzzy little baby bears.” I said. “They also scavenge and eat everything they find.”

“The woman that owns the restaurant showed us the storeroom.” Imiryl said. “There's nothing left inside. Even the large wooden barrels were half-eaten and only scraps of burlap were scattered around.”

“They didn't touch the alcohol at the tavern.” Diofra said. “The barkeep's been getting a lot more business lately.”

“Anyone have any ideas how to find them?” I asked.

“Set out some food near the edge of town as bait and we wait.” Evus the guard said. “Either tackle them then or follow them back wherever they go.”

“We should do the energy locate spell after that, so we aren't looking at miles of map to find a black spot.” Diofra said.

“Good point.” I said. “I doubt basic rations are going to get much attention, so if it's all right with everyone, I'll use some of the actual food we have.”

“What are you going to do?” Afyne asked.

“I'm going to heat it up and make some delicious smells.” I said. “Diofra, any chance you have a wind spell or something?”

“I think so.” Diofra said and started to rummage through her bag of holding. “Let me check.”

“I might have something.” Imiryl said. “Before we left the capital, one of the men there gave me two focusing rods and some scrolls. I didn't need them, since I'm an elemental sorceress; but, I didn't want to be rude, so I accepted them.”

We all watched as both magic users dug around in their bags of holding.

Imiryl took out the two focusing rods and held them in one hand, then took out the first scroll. “How can you tell what spells they are?”

“They need to be opened and the title read.” Diofra said and pulled half a dozen of them out. “These have been opened already, so they aren't what I want.” She said and put them back.

“You should mark them on the outside after rolling them up.” I said.

Imiryl opened the scroll she had and read the title. “Fireball.” She said and tears came to her eyes.

“Let me.” Allirynn said and took the scroll and rolled it up. I handed him a coal pencil and he wrote 'fireball' on it and gave it back to her.

“Th-thank you.” Imiryl said and put it back into her bag of holding, then she took out the next one. It glowed slightly red, unlike every other scroll I had seen up to this point.

“STOP!” I yelled and everyone froze at my yell. “Are scrolls supposed to glow red?”

“What are you talking about?” Evus asked and looked at Diofra and Imiryl, who both had scrolls out, and they all looked normal to him.

“The one Imiryl has in her hand is glowing red.” I said and pointed to Maylia.

“He's right.” Maylia confirmed. “It's faint; but, it is red.”

“A red scroll?” Diofra asked and walked over to Imiryl and hovered a hand over the scroll. “It's... no, it can't be.”

“What is it?” Imiryl asked.

“It's cursed.” Diofra said and everyone froze still again. “If you had opened that, the curse would have been released.”

“Do you remember the man that gave you those items?” I asked with a little anger in my voice, and Imiryl shook her head.

“Use that pretty locator spell!” Afyne said, excitedly.

“You just want to see it again.” Maylia said and put an arm over her shoulders, and Afyne nodded.

“Give me a few minutes.” Diofra said and wrote out the same spell, except she left out the the detect energy part of it and added the cursed scroll instead. “All right, it's ready.”

We went to the outskirts of town and set everything up, and I took Diofra's hand. She shook as I immediately shared my mana and a little anger, and she read the much shorter spell. I kept sharing and maintained the crystal as the spell took effect and drained it, and the twenty foot wide slightly green bubble appeared and showed the entire First Sothen Kingdom. I filled the crystal again and two dots appeared on the map.

“That's us!” Afyne said and pointed.

“That's the capital.” Evus the guard said and pointed to the other dot.

“Zoom in on us, please.” I said, and when the locator spell did, it wasn't the scroll that was lit up. It was Maylia.

“You were the target.” I said, and my anger flowed out and through Diofra, who gasped as the bright green energy of the mana crystal turned dark.

“Hunter, stop sharing!” Diofra exclaimed.

“Show me who sent it.” I said and ignored her, and the bubble whirled as the countryside passed by and it stopped inside the castle and showed a green robed man walking in a hallway. Almost as if he sensed he was being watched, he stopped walking and rubbed a spot on his throat.

“That's where my blade touched him when I threatened him to hurry up and have Hunter healed properly.” Maylia said.

“Diofra, can you send a message to the queen?” I asked and tried to keep my anger in check.

“Y-yes.” Diofra said. “I... I'll need to purge the crystal of the negative energy first.”

I looked down at the dark crystal and let her hand go. As soon as I did, the dark color started to fade and it returned to the bright green it had been. So, mana is affected by intent as well. I thought.

“Um... what message should I send?” Diofra asked and dismissed the modified locate spell.

“I want the green robed man put in jail for trying to curse Maylia.” I said. “I don't know if it's a crime, so I just want to prevent him from going anywhere. I'll kill him when we return to the capital in a couple of weeks.”

“We're going back?” The guard and Imiryl asked with surprise on their faces.

“I agreed to meet with the emissaries to discuss things.” I said, and everyone heard the sadness in my voice. Both Maylia and Afyne hugged me to comfort me.

“I thought you hated them.” Allirynn said, and I saw the anger on his face.

“Like you do?” I asked, and he nodded. “I don't hate them personally, only their actions, or lack thereof, and what they stand for.” I said. “Except for Josh. He annoys me a lot for some reason.”

“He is full of self-importance.” Imiryl said. “I don't know if it's his abilities or if it's having an automatic following with the acolytes.”

“It's probably a combination of both.” Maylia said. “Some people can't handle the adoration properly.”

“We're getting off-track here.” I said and turned to Diofra. “I'm sorry for scaring you. Can you send the message, please?”

“I wasn't scared.” Diofra said and the Presence wavered slightly.

“You might want to leave off the 'coming to kill him' part.” Evus the guard said.

“No, I want the queen to know my intentions.” I said. “I wouldn't have said it, otherwise.”

Diofra nodded and after a quick chant, spoke the message into the mana crystal. A little wisp of light appeared from the top of it, then it shot off faster than most eyes could see. I noticed that both Maylia and Allirynn had watched it with me. Diofra stored the still charged mana crystal into her bag of holding. I took out the broken barrel with the black tome hidden inside it and asked Imiryl to put the scroll in the barrel, then I stored the barrel back into my bag of holding.

“Why did you do that?” Imiryl asked.

“I want to destroy it; but, if that somehow counts as opening it and puts the curse on Maylia, I can't take that chance. Right now, it's in this extra-dimensional space and can't hurt anyone.” I said. “Maylia, look around for any tracks and see if this is a good spot for the food trap.”

Maylia spent about twenty minutes looking around and found quite a lot of odd tracks not far away from the road. We went over there and I took out some of the actual food we had and started a small camp fire. I set up a rack on top and laid out the best smelling food we had and let it warm up, and Diofra finished looking through her things to find the wind spell I requested.

“Give us a little wind, pointed away from the town, Diofra.” I said and stepped back. She cast a weak wind spell that made the fire increase slightly and the smells doubled, then the smoke from the fire was whisked out and away. “Good. Keep that up.” I said. “The smell is making me hungry, so you know those cute little things won't be able to resist it for long.”

“Something's coming.” Maylia said and pointed where the wind was going.

“Hide!” I said and we all scattered and hid behind trees and bushes. I had Afyne with me, and she whined with need when the first little bear showed up. I covered her mouth with a hand to keep her quiet and used Presence to push our sound down and away, as the one foot long and one foot high brown colored bear cautiously stalked through the trees. It looked like a toy and even had beady little black eyes and nose. The claws on its paws were quite real, however.

After almost ten minutes of it coming closer and backing off, it apparently didn't sense any danger, so it crept over to the low burning fire with its snout constantly sniffing the air. When it was close enough, it reached out with a single claw and poked the rack. It rattled a little and scared the bear enough to make it jerk. When nothing else happened, it poked the rack again and didn't scare itself. The little bear's confidence grew and instead of poking the rack, it hooked the edge of it with a claw and pulled.

The rack fell over with a loud clatter and scared the hell out of the little thing. It took off running with a little yip and Afyne laughed loudly into my hand. Since I was using Presence to push our sound down and away, the bear didn't hear that, either. I did hear a masculine laugh close by, then a whispered 'sorry'. We stayed still and waited for a few minutes, and sure enough, the little bear was back and walked almost normally over to the spilled rack of food.

It was still cautious with a touch of recklessness, probably because the food had been disturbed and the smell of it had doubled again, then the little bear practically dove into the mess. Afyne laughed again as the little bear wallowed in the great smelling and tasty food. A minute later, another bear, a much lighter brown, crept out of the trees. It saw the first bear eating and ignored all of its other instincts and ran over to the pile and dove in, too. Afyne laughed and mumbled that she really wanted one and I could give her one as a present.

“I don't think they'd make good pets, even though they are almost as cute and cuddly as you are.” I whispered to her.

We waited for another ten minutes or so, until both bears finished off the food. When it was all gone, they walked around the campfire and sniffed, probably looking for more food. When they didn't find any, they sauntered away back into the woods. I waited until they were close to the edge of my detection range before I stepped out of hiding and extinguished the campfire.

“Maylia, can you track them, or should we follow them right now?”

“Now that I know why those tracks looked so odd, especially with such small gaits, finding them again will be fairly easy.”

“Good.” I said. “Diofra, we need another crack sensing spell.”

“I'll limit it to the local area before casting it this time.” Diofra said and prepped the spell.

“I really hope it's not here.” Afyne said.

“They didn't seem to be menacing, did they?” Imiryl asked.

“They're still animals.” Maylia said. “If there's too many of them... well...”

“Now I'm imagining being swarmed by cuddly little bears.” I said.

Afyne had a slightly euphoric look on her face and Evus the guard laughed.

“Okay, here we go.” Diofra said and a ten foot wide bubble appeared. We spent another ten minutes looking, and none of us could find any black spots. Diofra expanded the bubble a little and we looked for another few minutes, and we still didn't find anything.

“I guess that means they're local.” I said. “We should head into town and see what they want us to do about them.”

“I don't know.” Maylia said. “Some of them didn't sound too happy about losing all that food.”

“There could be hundreds of these things.” Evus the guard said. “I think we should find them and see how many there are before making any decisions.”

“That's a good point.” Imiryl said. “We might need to...” She paused when she saw the sad look on Afyne's face. “...remove them from the area.”

“Okay, we follow and find them first, try to see how many there are and the threat they represent, then we can decide what to do after that.” I said, and everyone nodded. We went back into town and gathered the horses, then rode out of town to track down the cuddly little creatures.

“I still want one.” Afyne whispered, a little sadly.

I didn't tell her that we might have to kill them all, because she knew that already, so I just hugged her with one hand and guided the horse with the other.