Atop the highest point of the Brighthawk capital was a great palace of marble and gold. It was the Gates of Man, the place which once ruled over all of humanity. Even from the cultist headquarters, Vanemar and Jioh were close enough to see the high stone walls that surrounded it.

Taking a rest against the side of a building, they watched a guard pass through the battlements. "Think there’s any way out besides the entrance?" Jioh asked as they approached a wide moat in front of the walls.

"Depending on how deep this water goes we'll have at least two." Vanemar said as he reached for a small stone on the ground. Jioh crouched down to watch it impact the water and slowly fall to the bottom. As it reached the floor, Jioh guessed that it was at least deep enough for him to not have air if he were to stand inside. "Two escape routes now, hopefully we use neither." Vanemar said with seriousness as Jioh looked up towards the top of the wall.

"You expect jumping from that height will be a good idea?"

"Better than getting caught by the Brighthawks. At Least in your case it is.”

Jioh sighed and nervously rubbed his head. "This is the part where our luck gets tested isn’t it?"

They walked for a minute until they reached the main road. A wide stretch of stone that led from the port to a tall steel portcullis that was open and guarded. Two soldiers were on each side and a man in gold colored armor stood in the center. They wore the finest piece of armor Vanemar had ever seen, covering every part of the body with angles that made it appear even fiercer. The one who wore the gold armor carried a large halberd that stood as straight as their posture. Jioh fumbled with his bag as they approached the entrance. Nearly shoving the medallion into the guards face, Jioh waited nervously as the guard slowly glanced towards Vanemar. "Where is your token?" They asked without emotion.

"The man has no token. I have brought him in hopes that he can be recognized by the prince for his assistance with my expedition." Jioh stepped in front of his companion in an attempt to hide him.

"Fine, but if he wishes to enter he must give up all of his weapons." Vanemar nodded and handed his sheathed sword to one of the guards who disappeared into a door in the wall. The guard in golden armor nodded and backed away to allow them passage.

Behind the walls was a great garden the size of a small forest that encased the entire perimeter. Plants and trees of many different species were spread about in both an organized and disorganized manner. A few servants in worn clothing went about tending the garden, paying no attention to the two newcomers. Ahead of them was a long set of stairs that led up the rest of the hill towards the palace. Beyond that were the two tall, gold rimmed, dark wooden doors of the palace itself.

"I never thought that I'd see the Gates of Man in person." Jioh said in awe as they began to ascend the pearl white steps.

"And I never thought I'd leave Honea." Vanemar responded, his posture much less tense than before.

They walked up to the two large doors and stared at them silently for a moment as a single golden armored guard eyed them with suspicion. "Think this is the way we're supposed to go?" Jioh asked Vanemar, completely avoiding the man in front of them.

"Where do you intend to go?" The guard asked in a much kinder manner than the one at the gate

"We are here to meet Prince Kaleev." Jioh said formerly.

The guard stared at them for a moment. "You must be the Archeologist then."

"Yes."

"Head that way." The guard gestured towards the right side of the palace. "The front doors are only meant for those that have an audience with the king.”

Jioh nodded his appreciation and the two men went down a wide stone path to where the guard had directed. At the end of the path was a single door on the left and a path which led towards a large pond within the garden to the right. A few of the nobility could be seen there, speaking amongst themselves and strolling through the flora. As Jioh spoke to the guard, Vanemar took in the scenery which was composed of more colors than he had ever seen at once. A small flock of birds passed along overhead and descended into the trees gracefully. It had been a long time since he had time to look around without worries. Even if he had a job to do, he thought it necessary to take in the sights that he would likely never see again.

"I could escort you to the Great Hall if you’d like." Vanemar heard as he focused back on the conversation behind him. He turned back around as he heard the door open, the guard was ushering them in. Inside was a grand hall that stretched in two directions, towards the throne room and the end of the wing. Chandeliers lined a roof made of pale white marble that was complemented by luxurious golden designs. Square pillars lined the wall with doors hidden in alcoves on the right and tall windows on the left. The floor was made of marble and patterned a white and gold that reflected the light brought in from the windows. An ominous silence filled the room but was promptly broken by their own footsteps. "Unfortunately you may have to wait for the prince when you arrive. He is always late to his own feasts." the guard casually informed them.

"Why is that?" Jioh asked with genuine curiosity.

"He wishes to prevent shame being brought upon his guests by making sure they always arrive earlier than he does. Quite an honorable young fellow he is, Unlike his sis-" He silenced himself and his body tensed fearfully. "My apologies, I was getting carried away."

"Don’t worry, we are no nobleman."

"But it is not right to speak of her highness in such a way within her own home." The man sputtered awkwardly.

“I shall show no more concern than the common drunkard about what you have to say."

The guard sighed with relief. "Well if you say so. Unlike her brother, the princess is quite a... Quite a pain in the back you see. She always comes early to her feasts with the intention that she will gain pleasure from publicly shaming her guests. It makes me question why anyone besides desperate noblemen would ever consider going."

"I assume you've seen the feasts yourself?"

"I get assigned every once in a while. Seeing what the high class peoples of the kingdom do when you put them all together is always entertaining. Being a commoner yourself, you must have done something pretty important to get invited to one of the feasts haven't you?"

"I’m not allowed to speak on the matter." Jioh said with a sternness meant to end the conversation.

"I see. We’re almost there now." They walked the rest of the way in silence until reaching a door at the end of the hallway. There were many servants coming in and out, with plates and drinks and many other things. Another guard was there, holding the door open for everyone with a jaded look on her face. "Know where his highness will be seated?" the guard leading them asked her.

"I'll handle it." She answered with little politeness. "His highness hasn't arrived as expected."

"Alright, I'll be on my way then. These are the special guests of the event so make sure to treat them well!" The guard said with a wave as he went back to his original post.

"You." The guard at the door called to a servant with empty hands. "Take these two to the prince's table." The servant quickly bowed and led them through a room of many large round tables. They were all equally filled with a pile of food that slowly grew larger. The place was nearly full with well dressed nobles taking up the majority of the available seats. They took a great amount of interest in the newcomers, watching their every move until they reached the large table farthest from the windows. There were three other men occupying it. One of them being a mage in white which made Vanemar make a double take. He grabbed Jioh by the shoulder and pulled him back towards him.

"You see that man in white." Vanemar whispered. "He must be one of those men that the councilman was talking about, be extra careful what you say around him."

Jioh nodded, a deep frown appearing on his face.

As they sat down the mage in white gave them a friendly smile. "If it isn't the guest of honor." A man in an officer's uniform said. "Brought a friend have you?"

"Yes, I would not have achieved what I had without his aid."

"Ah, quite selfless of you to not give yourself full credit considering your position. Allow me to introduce the table to you. I am Zaheel, or Captain Zaheel as you would call me. To the left of you is Teca, a friend of his highness and governor of Guardsland. Across from you is the mage Polos, who has yet to give anything besides his name."

"And that is all that you need to know." Polos responded sourly. "I did not come here to hold conversation."

"Oh well. That is to be expected from you mages, no satisfaction of things besides your little light shows." The mage did not react to the comment and instead chose to stare at Vanemar.

"So how exactly did this man help you find an artifact?" Polos asked.

Jioh held up a hand. "I’d prefer to explain everything in one go.”

"Yes of course." The mage said as he continued to stare.

Vanemar gulped nervously, deciding to break away from his gaze to focus on the large variety of food that was taking up the length of the table. "I’m hungrier than I thought. Hopefully this doesn’t end up in throat cutting." He thought as his hand hovered towards where his sword would be.

As soon as the room had filled, prince Kaleev arrived. The man wore a bright smile and a long golden doublet of equal brightness. As he went closer to his desk the silence of the room increased until it was broken by the prince pouring wine into his own glass. The pair of men across from him did not dare move as he lifted his cup into the air in preparation of a speech. "This event is dedicated to the man who sits before me. He has accomplished the greatest of Brighthawk feats, finding an artifact of great worth under my command. I toast this drink for the future of our great nation. May God guide us to our old glory." Applause rang as the young prince sat at the last empty seat.

After the applause died down the two men finally realized how hungry they were and quickly began to reach for food to fill their plates. "So who is this man you have brought with you Ganyth? A friend of yours? The prince interrupted

"You could say that." Jioh responded. "He has lended me great aid in finding the artifact."

"That is wonderful. But why did you not speak of him in your letter?"

"Forgive me, I didn't realize that the guards would let him in and did not see the point at the time."

"That is fine, if he is who you say he is you have done good by bringing him here. Now about that artifact."

"Yes, it is right here." Jioh reached for his bag and revealed the map for the table to see. "Unfortunately, I cannot read what it says. I was hoping that you could, your Highness."

"Bring it here." The prince took the map and looked at it for a moment. "The lone path resides behind the walls which hinder the beast." The prince glanced over it a few more times before giving it back to Jioh. He scratched his short beard in thought. "Must be a riddle of sorts. You should take it to the mages in the archives afterwards, they may have a better idea of its meaning.”

"Thank you highness." Jioh said with a nod before hiding the map.

"Where did you find such a thing anyway? After so many years of searching, no one has ever found a map such as that!”

"In Honea your highness. It was being sold by a merchant outside of the ruins of a castle."

The prince choked on his drink as he tried to respond. "You found it in a place such as that?" he said dryly. "We must look outside our borders more often. Perhaps we have already found everything within our own." The prince held up a fist. "You have done a great deed for your nation Ganyth. This discovery may have just changed everything! Imagine if this map leads to the secrets of our ancestors. A step to returning to our former glory!” He grinned enthusiastically as the two men across from him looked at eachother with tense frowns. The prince eased down, looking towards the provided food. "But for now, lets eat. All this excitement has been making me hungry."

As they ate the prince was eventually approached by a guard who whispered in his ear. With a waning smile the prince informed the table that he would only be gone a moment and began to follow the guard with haste. The two men made small talk as they ate, but as their plates became bare Vanemar whispered to Jioh, "We have what we need and that guard that came in made me nervous. I think it’d be better if we leave now." Jioh nodded and excused the both of them so they could make a quick getaway to the door from where they came. As soon as they reached the door a shout rang out loud enough to make them freeze. "Don't take another step!" The voice of the prince commanded them. The two slowly turned towards him in shock. "You must get away from that man Ganyth!" urged the prince as an army of guards surrounded him. "He is an assassin from Honea. A man who is paid to kill royalty!" He looked at Vanemar with disgust. "Capture that man, but leave him alive so that the Honeans may deliver their judgement!"

Vanemar's eyes widened. "Honeans? Here?" He looked to Jioh, who’s fear had made him indecisive. "Act like you’re fighting back!" He fiercely whispered as he went for the sword at his waist.

Jioh began to struggle and stepped away as the sheathed weapon was forcefully yanked from his person, "Get back here you bastard!" He said in an exaggerated manner as he began to chase after him.

Vanemar cracked a smirk as his companions' shouts became quieter. “Quite the actor.” Hearing the loud stomping of the soldiers chasing him, he went into a sprint. The empty hall went by quickly as his burning legs pushed him to the exit, toppling over the guard with a forceful collision. Realizing how vulnerable he was, he rushed straight into the garden where he could remain hidden. Reaching for where his grappling hook would be he cursed at its absence. "Damn it! Just when I need it the most." He looked up towards the wall which surrounded the palace, far downhill from where he was. "There must be another way out somewhere. Either that or I’ll have to somehow get through that front entrance." He pivoted his head from left to right in an attempt to scan for a way out. "I'll have to check by the entrance then, better to realize it's the only way out when I’m nearby."

Nearing the entrance, Vanemar crept down into the brush as a group of guards rushed towards it with shouts to alert the others at their post. The portcullis came down quickly as the other guards set up a defensive formation that kept eyes on every angle. Vanemar directed his sword to the sound of footsteps at his rear and before they could reach him he had his sword at the source’s neck. Only when he saw who it was did he lower it. "You trying to get killed on accident?" He said as he saw Jioh before him.

Jioh exhaled nervously. "I thought I was a goner for a second." He crept down with him. "Seems not all of them were chasing after us."

'Yeah, and that's a problem. See that opening in the wall there?" He said as he pointed to an opening in the wall beside the portcullis. "That's the only way out that I've seen and if we make a run for it those guards will have no problem stopping us.”

"Lucky that you reminded me of this spell earlier today then.” Vanemar began to watch in interest as Jioh reached for a vial full of water, a thin metal pen, and an alchemy book that he quickly began to sift through.

"Better be quick, more guards might show."

"That may be a good thing... Ah! here it is." He picked up the pen and began to engrave something onto the cap of the vial, as if it were the signcaster of a magiglove. When he was done the liquid inside began to glow with an orange hue and there was no doubt that it was magic. "A little modification to the sleeping magic, one of the perks of working with the black market." He explained before chucking the vial towards the group of guards at the entrance. Vanemars eyes widened with fear as he saw Jioh reveal their position. The glass vial had exploded into a wide area of smoke, enough to obscure the entire entrance. The guards began to cough loudly when Jioh tapped his shoulder to get his attention. "Cover your mouth when you run through the smoke." He warned him as he stood up. Vanemar nodded and immediately went for a sprint towards the wall's entrance.

"What's going on down there?" He heard from above as the two began to ascend a spiral staircase. There was a response to his question, which immediately warned the two that more help had come. As they reached the top Vanemar heard the bending of a bow. "Surrender yourself criminal, you’re surrounded!" The guard warned as he faced the newcomer with an arrow at the ready.

"We're jumping." Vanemar said as he went in first. It had been a long time since Vanemar had jumped without a rope but as soon as he did his body was filled with adrenaline. He felt both fear and exhilaration that was intensified by the intensity of the drop. Natural water in Highlands was rarer than the Highlands themselves and he was not entirely sure whether he could live through such a fall. As his body collided with the water he let it envelope him, allowing the arrow to sink into it without doing harm. He quickly reached the rim of the road so that he could avoid Jioh who came not long after. He quickly shook the water off himself and glanced back up the wall. The archer had given up, instead watching as a man in white robes appeared and engraved something into his magiglove. It was Polos, with a furious and murderous expression. Vanemar recognized the danger immediately and pulled Jioh out of the water as a bright flash of magical light struck it. The moat was filled with a web of sparks which became a large splash that clapped loudly enough to make ears ring. "We need to run." Vanemar informed a shaking Jioh who had no intention of doing anything else.

The two men ran until they were out of sight and out of breath. They ran and ran until they eventually found themselves in the carriage of a man too oblivious for his own health. As they sat down, the man stared with quickly fading suspicion. They were drenched in water and sweat that caused them to shake. "Take us close to the harbor." Jioh said to the driver outside through chattering teeth. "You can take the quickest path, it doesn't matter where you drop us off." As Vanemar rested his head against the rough seat, Jioh paid the fee and immediately closed the front window. He looked at Vanemar and exhaled many different emotions at once. "I don't know if that was good luck or bad luck."

Vanemar's head slowly turned to him. "Bad luck. For me at least. If the Honean's hadn't shown up it would have been good luck." He now had a pained expression. "I guess I won't be able to go near the kingdom anymore, now that all the nobility know that I’m nothing more than a killer.”

"Who’d want to live in this place anyway." Jioh said as he found a comfortable spot on the seat. "Better to go off and live in another race's borders. They'll probably never even know about that bounty of yours."

"I don’t think I’d get used to living with non-humans. Maybe if I lived in Nelympionis I could handle it." He frowned. “Or maybe I should stop being so finicky about these things, it’s not like I really have a choice anyway.”

"Nelympionis isn’t too bad of a choice though. Although I did hear the place is on the edge of another war, being so near to Felinebar."

“Uh, I swear the cult will start spreading like a plague soon enough.”

"Goes to show what can happen if you don’t put them on a leash like the Brighthawks did. It took only one Highland coming out of the ground to turn everyone into a cultist and now they won’t stop fighting. By the time you get to Nelympionis human's might not even be in the majority anymore."

"Well, as long as nobody there wants to kill me I think I'll be fine."

"If I were you I’d want to be anywhere else than here.” Jioh looked at the window thoughtfully. “Shouldn't take too long now, All we have to do is find out where the map leads and report our findings to my boss. After that you’ll have the life you say you want to live.”

“To think I almost had it just a few weeks ago.” He shook around in uncomfort. “Any ideas on what the words on that map meant?”

Jioh looked at Vanemar with concern before answering his question. "I've got a few ideas. Since it's so old it must be referring to something that occurred during the time of the empire. The only thing that I think they would refer to as a beast is the Zalgust, so it must be something that was meant to defend against that."

"I've heard of that name before. It isn't a real monster is it?"

"No idea, historians say that it was either an actual monster or an army strong enough that they were referred to as such. I'm not sure what it would be myself either, both are good reasons for creating the Highlands. I'll have to see the map again once we get to the ship."

The carriage abruptly came to a halt and Vanemar's eyes widened as soon as he looked out the window. "How did they find us?" Jioh said frightfully as he learned the reason for their stop. It was the same High Mage, staring back at them from horseback.