It had been a couple of days since Kotlin had last departed and hadn’t come back yet. Eve to her discontent was recovering and had already started training with Shaiyla. She however couldn’t think of anything else other than Tok. It had been way too much and she was getting paranoid each day. On the other hand tho, she really started getting all the crap that Shaiyla was teaching her and she was becoming more aware of certain things. For example, everyone no matter if they were capable of doing magic or not had energy. Everytime you did something or used magic this energy diminished and you’d get it back by resting of course. There were some potions that could recover it for you but Shaiyla was unaware on how to do them. Either way, if this energy reached its limit the carrier would be at a severe risk. When Eve firstly heard this she was shocked. She remembered everytime she had been on her boundaries and she somehow made it always alive. She could only imagine how close she had been.

Shaiyla didn’t per se have any ability, as far as Eve could tell, but she was a competent warrior nevertheless. She was a patient teacher though, and helped Eve thoroughly when she didn’t get stuff. Eve had thought about Kotlin too. She had come up with theories of him being a traitor and finally leaving to report them. In a way she still trusted him, but her gut told her he still couldn’t be trusted.

One day while they were practicing in peace Kotlin suddenly appeared.

“Hey ya’ll, it’s been a while.” said Kotlin.

“Oh my, I thought we weren’t gonna see each other anymore.” replied Eve.

“Don’t be silly.” responded Kotlin. “I was just prolonged cause I was infiltrated on the fortress. I initially went with the idea of just finding out passages but then I spotted a guard alone and beat him down. Got his stuff and followed the other ones inside the fortress. I saw all type of things there. But the good news is that Tok is well! They haven’t planned anything yet on what to do with him so we still have time.”

“Oh thank God. We need to hurry then.”

“We have to. Tonight we gotta make our move.”

“Sounds fine to me.” said Shaiyla.

“Alright, let’s do this then.” continued Evelyn.

“Good. Here’s the plan. They have some canals underneath the city that lead directly to the inside of the fortress. Usually it’s patrolled by guards, but tonight they were all called to guard somewhere else so there might only be 1 to 2 guards at max. I got a map of the place so we need not worry. I also know the way to the entrance so we are all settled. Get a well rest cause it’s gonna be a long night.”

***

The Devil looked tense. What started as a normal meal, ended up in bad news. Or were they. He didn’t particularly feel keen on what he had just heard, but he was open to explore the possibilities.

“What has my son got to do with all of this?” finally said the Devil.

“That doesn’t matter as of now. What really matters is that they are heading to Lum. Towards the fortress.” replied Tomal.

“What business do they have with the fortress? Wait, don’t tell me..”

“Yes sir, that’s exactly it.”

“The portal.” both said unanimously.

“It should’ve been clear to me at first. Dammit. We don’t have to let her go there at any point. Double- no triple the security and make sure to protect the portal with everything we have. Call Jome and Clida as well, we need their assis—

“NO!” interrupted Tomal. “I got this on my own. Trust me sir.”

“It’s too much of a risk to take. We aren’t in position to make mistakes.”

“Please sir, lemme do this for Merian. I promise I’ll avenge her.. no matter what.”

The Devil was silent for a bit then he nodded.

“Depart immediately, we don’t have time to waste. And be sure my son serves you right.”

“Oh he will, he will.”

***

The squad in the meantime had already penetrated in the fortress. The canals were totally unpatrolled and it was a piece of cake to just follow the route that took you to the fortress. The whole thing was prolonged nonetheless though, cause they had to double check everything instead of blindlessly going in. So they took more than they would’ve wanted to. Either way, they were inside. That’s what really counted now.

After exploring the place for a while they came to the conclusion that the entire place was empty. They had checked everywhere and they hadn’t found sign of the living. It felt too good to be true, but they didn’t have time to waste.

They entered the main hall and to their surprise they found Tok. He was tied to a chair and Eve immediately rushed towards him and liberated him.

“YOU HAVE TO LEAVE NOW, IT’S A TRAP!” screamed Tok.

They were suddenly surrounded by guards everywhere. Her pet woke up as well.

It was party time.