“So, what do we do now?” Elany looked up at Reylor with her bright eyes.

“What would you guys think of checking up on Lucy?” He replied.

“Oh, can we?!” Elany squealed. Aileen’s eyes also perked up.

“We can’t disappoint the girls, now can we?” Eric said with a smile, wrapping his arm over Khes’s shoulder. Khes gave an uncomfortable smile.

“Alright! It’s decided. You guys pack up camp, while I have a little preparation of my own to do.”

The group began to clear out the camp while Reylor returned to the zone of spatial energy.

“Earth!” a large clump of dirt broke through the ground to hover in the air.

“Split.” The clod split into multiple equally-sized portions.

“Modeling: Mirror” the small portions of earth formed a ring around him, each perfectly spaced apart from each other.

“Matter, physical, Gold” spatial energy began flowing through him, as the dirt clumps turned from their earthen colors to a golden yellow.

“Aetheric art: modeling” The space around him shuddered, as a ball of pure aether gathered in front of him. “Matter, abstract, runic” The ball of aether condensed into a small, inky black ball.

He then closed his eyes, as he silently processed spatial shapes and figures in his mind. The inky ball split, and a stream of microscopic runes flowed to each ball of gold, seamlessly integrating with the metal. These runes were abstract- meaning that effects to physical materials would not be able to affect the runes themselves—truly a godly ability.

“Remodeling—Rings!”

The floating, rune-imbued golden clumps morphed into plain golden rings. He smiled, as he slipped one on as he returned to the camp.

By now, the camp had been completely broken down, and the group was standing around the fire pit.

“Alright, ready to go? He said, walking up to the fire pit.

“Yep, we… Huh? Reylor?

“Yeah? Is something wrong, Elany?”

“No, I mean… You are Reylor, right? You look like Reylor, but I can’t match your face…” She tilted her head to the side in concentration.

“Alright, I’ll stop now.” He said with a chuckle, before slipping his ring off

“Woah, you definitely are Reylor… But what was that?”

“It’s a little gift for us in our travels,” He said, handing a ring to each person. “It is a ring that inhibits recognition. While wearing this ring, no one will be able to memorize what you look like, and it will be extremely difficult to match your appearance with their memories. It allows you to be extremely inconspicuous. This should allow us to travel with relative safety—at least from people specifically looking for us.

Now, to start out with, does anyone know where Shildwell palace used to stand? I believe that may be the best place to start our search.”

Elany nearly choked, trying to stifle her laughter. “You are so funny” Flint also gave a wry smile, as Elany continued. It’s right next to the Otium territories! We were practically neighbors.”

“Well, then… I guess it’s off to Otium!” Reylor said, before shaking his head.

“Void Gate!”

Reylor waved his hand to materialize a teleportation gate, leading them to a dirt path within the Otium territory.

“Lead the way, Elany.”

“Yes sir!”

*** *** ***

At the edge of the Sylva region, a lone figure sat; his legs crossed and his palms facing up in a meditative position. It was a man with many runes inscribed on his body. He was an overbearing existence to nearly all he met; but one would notice a strange phenomenon if he or she were to see him in this situation. His aura slowly melted away, as if his existence had nearly reached its end. This, however, was not the case.

Soon, his aura had completely disappeared. He gradually stood up and walked forward, the trees and vines seeming to welcome him in. His figure soon disappeared from sight.

Hour after hour passed as he slowly made his way in a specific direction. Eventually, he arrived at his destination.

Walking through a barrier, the world around him changed. The facade of an endless forest broke to reveal the gates of a massive city: Statera, the capital city of the elves.

“Thud, thud, thud, thud” “creak”

In an instant, he was surrounded by twelve elven swordsmen, and many figures drew back their bowstrings, aiming at his vitals.

“Who are you, and what are you here for, human?” One of the swordsmen asked with a numbingly cold voice.

“My name is Xendus, and I have come to talk with your king,” the man said, with an even tone and empty eyes.”

“We would normally send tell you to leave, but since you know where we are, we’ll have to ask the captain what to do with you. Do not resist.” The elf snapped a vine off a tree, preparing to bind Xendus. He did not follow through, though.

Xendus spread his fingers, lifting his right hand. The Elven spokesperson instantly paled at the sight of an artifact—a ring embedded with an emerald, which bore the crest of the royal family.

“Is this how you treat the king’s guests?” Xendus said bluntly.

There was silence.

“Ssss, thud” The vine slipped from the Elf’s hand.

“Uh, please come this way,” the elf said with a pale face.

The gates opened, and Xendus was respectfully escorted into the city.

In the years leading up to the isolation of the elves, Xendus had discreetly helped the Elven kingdom in many ways, which ended up saving many lives during Vilnor’s conquest. As a show of gratitude, the king had bestowed him with a royal seal, vowing to return the favor if the opportunity came.

The opportunity arrived. The overthrow of Vilnor’s empire necessitated a covert operation within the palace. Unfortunately, there were too many enchantments to make it possible to see inside with magic. The Elves had something that could not be counteracted by magic, however—spiritual abilities. To make things go as smoothly as possible, Xendus had come to ask for the help of Elven spiritual practitioners.

Xendus was escorted into the palace, and took a seat while awaiting an audience.

*** *** ***

The group of Reylor, Khes, Elany, Flint, Khes, Eric, and Aileen all made their way toward the ruined city according to Elany’s leadership—though Flint, himself had been to the city in the past.

Time slipped by as they leisurely made their way through plains, hills, and valleys alike, finally arriving in what could be considered Shildwell territory.

“Wow.” Elany gasped. This is nothing like it used to be. The walls were tall, made of stone, and looked really pretty, but now…”

The city before them, one of the many in what was the Shildwell Empire, looked like a pauper’s town. The wooden walls were not even up to the standards of Splendor. Half the houses looked decent, though it was obvious that they were new, while the other half were makeshift. Apparently Vilnor had razed the entire city, walls, buildings, and all. They hadn’t even entered the city yet, but the walls were so poor, that they could easily see inside from their current position.

“Let’s go inside,” Reylor said. No one disagree, so they continued to the gates, which were locked.

“Bang, bang, bang.” Reylor knocked on the wooden gate. As mages, they were all quite capable of jumping over, but needless to say, it would not leave a good first impression.

“Shhunk” “Get in, quick!” A board was moved, and the gate was partially opened. Strong hands quickly reached out, dragging them in quickly before the gate was slammed shut. Glancing around, they saw a few people dressed in shoddy armor. Apparently these were city guards.

“What are you guys thinking going out at a time like this!” a guard admonished.

“Actually, we are not from around here. So that being said, could you explain to us what is going on here?”

Reylor spoke while the rest were still processing the fact that they had been so suddenly and violently dragged inside.

“Huh? Outsiders?” The guard’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell you this. These parts are thoroughly infested by the shade. Not having any mages since the war, the previously manageable numbers have grown greatly. To make matters worse, a pack leader has recently decided to make its home on the outskirts of the city. Citizens have been forbidden from leaving the city for now, until the fire mage comes around.”

Elany and Reylor glanced at each other.

“I see. Well, we won’t be here for long, but it’s getting late, so is there a perchance a piece of land where we could camp for the night?”

The guard thought for a moment. “There is the training ground, if you want it.”

They accepted the proposition and camped there for the night.

“Plink, plink, plink plink!” Reylor and his group shot out of their tents at the sound of arrows hitting the barrier they had set up before the night. They were surrounded by sixteen guards armed with crossbows.

The sclera of Reylor’s eyes turned black, leaking out traces of spatial energy. This was not because he was about use Seldin abilities. This was rage.

He stretched out an arm as he spoke slowly. “Void suppression.” Clenching his fist, the crossbows of the guards—all sixteen—simultaneously exploded.

Their faces showed shock, while turning sheet white. “Oh, no. They’re mages. We’re finished!”

“Void suppression” This time the guards felt their muscles give out, as half of them fell to the ground, the others simply fainted on the spot.

“Flint, secure them”

“Chains of Earth, bind!”

Earthy chains erupted from the earth, binding the guards’ arms and legs to the ground, one by one.

Reylor made a motion, seemingly grasping at the air, which caused moisture to condense in to a ball of water in front of him. He split the ball into eight parts and sent them straight into the faces of the guards who had just fainted, awakening them to their plight.

“Lowly beings, give me on reason why I should not end your insignificant lives right here and now,” Reylor said, with the authority of a king. The guards could not do anything but shiver and their entire beings wanted to scream out in fear—and oddly enough—reverence.

Flint, Khes, and Eric were all think the same thing right now: “These guys don’t know life from death.”

Actually, Aileen was thinking the same thing, until she heard Elany snickering. “What’s so funny about this?” she asked, tilting her head in a charming act of confusion.

“Oh, it’s… Hehe… It’s, it’s nothing” she replied, though obviously thinking about something else. “The Gatekeeper is calling them lower life forms, hahaha!”

The guards weren’t having so great a time, though.

“Oh, no one has an answer?” Reylor continued.

“To tell you the truth—I really feel like killing you.” The guards’ faces sank. “But—you are in luck, because I realize that the city is not in good condition, and it would be dangerous for the citizens not to have anyone to protect them, should a creature breach your dismal walls.

“So, we will settle for this. Tell us where the palace is, and we’ll leave.” “Flint, Unbind one of each of their arms.”

“Crrrr” Several earthen chains shattered.

“I-i-its that w-w-way” One of the guards motioned to the east. Reylor sensed the man’s karmic aura become slightly darker.

“Khes, he’s lying. Kill him.” Khes shivered slightly, but not at the idea of killing someone—rather at the extreme change that had come over Reylor. Reylor usually seemed pretty laid back and easy going, but now—now he was like a sovereign emperor dealing with royal traitors. Nevertheless, one swipe of his blade ended the man’s life.

The remaining guards shivered visibly. One of them had even fainted again from their fear.

“Where. Is. The palace.”

“Finally, another spoke up. S-s-south. Directly south of here, past two more cities.”

“Good. You and the rest may live for now. But let this be a lesson. Do not deal treacherously with those you do not know. If this happens again to me, you will die.” Of course, they were all still wearing the rings, so once Reylor and his group left, the guards would have to be weary of everyone, since they would be unable to remember what Reylor or his friends looked like.

“Release them”

The rest of the chains crumbled to dust as they left. This time they didn’t bother about a gate, but simply vaulted over the wooden wall and continued their journey to the palace.