Why would Stratford be here? He wasn't alone either, another cultist was there. Is he a member of the cult? Alberto looked angry, he was about to lunge at Stratford. I could see him holding himself back because he knew he wouldn't win that way. My heartbeat was racing, sweat ran down my cheeks, as Stratford, the cultist, and we were dead staring at each other. The only reason why we could see was the moonlight brightening up the room. The outside is now quiet, I wonder if Fayette got those people to safety. The blue moonlight went through the window and highlighted the white clothes that Stratford had. He was not wearing his usual captain uniform, but he was wearing an elegant suit the color of the moon. He must not want people to know he was involved. Our eyes locked for what seemed like days, still having that mischievous smile on his face, Stratford broke the silence.

"Tried to look for all of you over the city," said Stratford. "Never had any luck, but it looks like you guys became adventurers!" He pointed his rapier towards our silver and gold badges.

"Why are you with the cult?" I demanded an answer from him.

"I wouldn't call them a cult anymore. That priest wasn't bluffing. Cevine has fallen, they took the land and named it The Leora Theocracy, fear has been growing in the nearby cities, including the capital. At this point, war is inevitable, and I'm just trying to profit from it."

“Why the mask, if you are siding with them?” I asked, in a clear voice.

“Why not? I’m wouldn’t say I’m siding with them, they let me sell my slaves there, so I’m helping them out a bit, that’s it. I wouldn’t want anyone knowing I'm involved.” He wants to silence us, we might not get out of here alive.

Alberto spoke up, raising his tone. "Why this city? It's nowhere near Cevine!" He said, almost screaming out the question. Stratford looked at him, enjoying his frustration and anger. I tightened my grip on my ax, ready for any action. The other cultist was also ready to wave that wand around.

"How's your family Alberto? You know, you really should pay them some visits, especially after…" Alberto ran after him before he completed that sentence. I was caught off-guard, as he charged him without giving me any kind of warning or signal. I charged them after him, slightly too late as the cultist already finished casting Blast. He shot that spell straight at my abdomen, as I got blasted down the stairs. I swear if I get hit by that spell again. The cultists walked down from upstairs before I could get up.

"Stratford shall have his fun, and I shall have my own," said the cultist, as he laughed. I looked at the face under the hood, is this the man that locked me in my own room? Like he was reading my thoughts, he smiled a foul smile on his face. "Looks like you have recognized me after all, I promise to kill you outright this time around, so don't worry!" He started laughing, a burst of horrible laughter, a laughter that revealed the person he is, a mad man. Enraged by his provocation, I immediately charged him with my ax in my hand. It was dark in this building, yet the rage made me see more clearly than ever. He wasn’t moving as I charged to him, I thought I got him, as my blade was an inch away from his neck, but when I sliced through, he wasn’t there any longer.

“Hee hee, so close!” A voice said behind me. I turned my head as I saw a firebolt being shot at me. It was a clean hit, as the pain went deep into my bones. I tried to ignore it as I stood up again. He’s strong. The pain stopped slowly as I stood up, it wasn’t a very high-level spell. It didn’t take me long to notice that the spell Fayette had cast on me had worn out, it was just my strength against the cultist. I thought back to the time I spent in solitude, the man responsible for that is right in front of me. He is not leaving here alive. I ran at him again, and like before, he teleported behind me, shooting another firebolt, but I barely dodged it this time. I need to do something about that. Even if I die, I must bring this man down. I charged him again, and he teleported like last time, but I feigned my attack and turned around, swinging my ax at the area behind me, just as I thought, he was behind me, but he managed to duck down, sticking my ax into the wall. I pulled my ax out of the wall and dodged the incoming firebolt. I quickly recovered, as we started to circle each other. I can’t keep on fighting him like this, I must kill this man and hurry back to help Alberto. I decided to try to overwhelm him with speed, as the runes on the ax lit up as I made myself lighter, and I rushed him again. I hit as fast as I could before he could teleport, as the cultist realized he couldn’t chant fast enough for the spell, he chose to dodge instead. I kept on coming at him with my speed, as he was losing his footing. He was panicking, I could tell from the look on his face. His hood has been dropped down from all the dodging, revealing a clear face of a young man with tattoos of religious texts on his face. I kept on slashing him, over and over again, until he couldn’t dodge it anymore. One of my slashes cut his leg, separating it from his body. He fell down with a scream, as he cried out in pain. In my rage, I pulled up my ax and dropped it down onto his body. He wasn’t screaming after that. I looked at his split skull for a moment and realized that Alberto might need some help upstairs. I was so focused on my own fight I forgot about Alberto and Stratford. I ran up the stairs, I was afraid because I could not hear the fight. My mouth gasped as I walked into the room they were at, as I saw Alberto on the ground, holding on to his chest, with Stratford looking out of the window, fully unscathed.

“Ah, I see that cultist has failed to kill you. I didn’t expect him to,” Stratford said as he turned back to me. He then walked over to Alberto. “Without magic, he will die by bleeding out. He deserves it, for opposing me.” He pointed his beautiful rapier at me, shining by the color of the moon. “And now, you shall join him.”

“GET DOWN!” A voice called out from the window. I instinctively ran over to Alberto and ducked down. Fayette flew straight into the room holding out her hand to cast a spell, as light covered the entire room, blinding anyone who looked at it.