Led by Princess Athena, Adrienne, Merlin, and Arthur continued along the northern road from the Imperial City towards Northpoint Fortress. The landscape had changed radically since they left the city two days ago. Changing from a large, sprawling metropolis, to the now open and sparsely populated frontier they now found themselves in. Princess Athena had informed them that the Imperial City is the northernmost major settlement in the Empire. There were some small villages here and there that they had passed through, but for the most part, it was just them and the open road…

“Princess Athena”, Merlin called from the back of his horse, “If there’s nothing really up here, then why is your father so keen on reestablishing this fortress?”

She replied, “You may have noticed by now, but the air here feels a bit different, doesn’t it? That’s because we’re close to the ocean, which means we’re almost there.”

“I see. Northpoint overlooks the sea and beaches to protect against seaborne invaders”, Adrienne commented.

“Correct, dark elf!”, Princess Athena responded.

Merlin had grown tired of hearing Princess Athena refer to Adrienne as ‘dark elf’. After putting up with it for the last two days he finally let his tongue slip. “Her name is Adrienne”, he said flatly.

The Princess looked at him, a little surprised at first, but then a smirk came across her face. “My apologies…As you may have guessed, Adrienne here is the first dark elf I’ve ever met, or even seen for that matter…you’re nothing like I expected. Nothing like what the others say!”

Adrienne didn’t respond. Instead, just concentrating on the road in front of her. Merlin took note of her silence and decided to keep his remaining comments to himself…

“Anyway, many years ago my father was forced to abandon Northpoint as the troops there were needed for a war in the south. But now that our continent is unified, he wants to repair and re-garrison the fort to protect our northern flank”, Princess Athena stated.

“Makes sense”, Arthur responded.

A short time later, the group crested a hill along the road and off in the distance they could see a large tower built of black stone. It was hard to discern the details at their current distance, but it was clear that the tower seemed to be crumbling. At the base of the tower was a perimeter fence, just above which they could see the tops of some small buildings.

“There it is!”, Princess Athena exclaimed. “Northpoint Fortress! Let’s hurry and get a closer look!”

She galloped off as the trio tried to keep up with her. They eventually settled in some foliage a few hundred yards away from the fort. From their position they could see a few figures active inside the perimeter fence.

“That’s them…the rogues”, Merlin said.

“How many did you guys see? Three? Four?”, Arthur asked.

“I saw four”, Adrienne answered. “Two spellknights and two mages.”

“So, four of them, three of us…How should we go about this…”, Adrienne pondered.

“What are you talking about?! There’s four of us!”, Princess Athena exclaimed.

Adrienne sighed in response. “Princess…I appreciate your willingness to help, but this isn’t something you should get involved in- “

“I have already made my decision!”, she protested, interrupting Adrienne.

“You already weren’t supposed to be here with us”, Adrienne continued. “And if you end up getting hurt…or worse, then our relationship with your country is ruined.”

“I. Have. Already. Made. My. Decision”, the Princess said again, slowly and defiantly.

Adrienne sighed again, relenting. If the Princess was going to follow them in no matter what, then she may as well account for her in their plan. “We’ll split into two groups of two. Merlin, you’re better with defensive magic than me, so you take the Princess.”

Merlin looked a little irritated at first, not wanting to the responsibility of having to babysit the Princess in the heat of combat, but after a moment he nodded his head in compliance. Adrienne got right into his face, so close that her nose was almost touching his, and spoke slowly. “Do NOT let anything happen to her.”

He nodded once again, understanding the potential consequences that would arise if Princess Athena was to be wounded…or even killed fighting some rogue mages and spellknights…

“Arthur and I will go around to the side facing the ocean. I’ll initiate the attack with some fireballs. Merlin, when they come running out the front side, you’ll be there to hit them with everything you’ve got”, Adrienne explained. “Arthur, your job is to keep me alive.”

“Yes ma’am!”, Arthur shouted.

Adrienne continued, “Merlin, in the event that they don’t run towards you, break through the perimeter fence and start hitting them. In either scenario, the objective is to trap them between us.”

Merlin and Arthur both nodded affirmatively. It was a solid plan. Now that just had to put it into action and hope everything worked out.

“And what should I do?!”, Princess Athena asked.

Adrienne looked at her smugly. “Follow Merlin and try not to get hurt.”

Princess Athena scoffed in response as Adrienne and Arthur moved to get around the far side of fortress. At the same time Merlin and Princess Athena made their way towards the perimeter fence, using the uncut grass and uncleared boulders for concealment. At the last boulder a few dozen yards from the perimeter fence, he turned to the Princess and looked directly into her blood-red eyes. “Stay behind me”, he said with as much of a commanding tone as he could muster.

The Princess puffed her cheeks out and rolled her eyes in defiance. “Don’t tell me what to do…”, she mumbled.

Merlin just shook his head and turned back to face the perimeter fence. In just a few minutes, Adrienne would initiate their attack. Merlin planned to wait around a minute to see if the rogues would come running toward him. He would try to finish them off quickly…he grew somber for a moment. This would be the first time he would aim to take the life of another person. He, Adrienne, and Arthur had killed various creatures on missions before, and even helped to capture a couple of rogues in the past. But killing? This was a first. “Do they deserve to die?”, he thought. “They’ve taken lives themselves though…perhaps this is justice…”

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of fireballs crashing into the stone tower. Some of them exploded on impact, taking chunks out of the decayed tower from the force of the impact as the flame dissipated harmlessly. Others glanced off the structure, landing on the wooden rooftops of the buildings and the perimeter fence, setting them alight.

“So, she used Fireball Storm…she sure does love fire magic…”, Merlin commented. He looked back at Princess Athena, her mouth slightly agape from witnessing the destructive power of magic for the first time.

“Not just a party trick, huh?”, he asked.

She didn’t respond with words, instead just glaring at him.

From his position he saw the gate to the perimeter fence swing open as a female spellknight clad in black armor and a male mage wearing black robes ran out of the fortress. “This is it…”, he thought.

Merlin left his concealment from the boulder, channeling his magical energy throughout his body. Although disoriented, the rogue spellknight and mage took notice of him.

“There!”, the mage screamed pointing at him.

“We’ve been surrounded!”, the spellknight shouted, drawing her sword.

Just as Merlin was about to prepare an offensive spell, he noticed Princess Athena standing next to him, her axe drawn and shield up.

“What are you doing?!”, he shouted.

He noticed an incoming magical bolt and thew a magical shield up in front of her just in time for the bolt to impact. It exploded on the magical shield causing Princess Athena to flinch in surprise and fear. Merlin then extended the shield to guard himself as well.

“I told you to stay behind me!”, Merlin shouted again.

“A-and I told you n-not to tell me what to do!”, she stuttered in response.

“This isn’t a game Princess! This tough girl act is gonna get us both killed!”

It seemed as though Merlin had finally gotten through to the Princess. She wore an expression of frustration, but finally relented and dove back behind the boulder. Merlin narrowed the magical shield to cover only himself, strengthening it as a result. He looked back towards the fort to see the rogue spellknight approaching, her sword drawn and shield up.

“She will return to us! She will be our salvation!”, she screamed.

What?! What are you talking about?! Who is ‘she’?!”, Merlin yelled in response.

“The Regalia will be ours!!”, the rogue spellknight yelled.

“Regalia?! What’s going on here?! Have these guys lost it?!”, Merlin wondered. “Oh well, gotta get rid of this spellknight quick… He crossed his arms in front of his face, fists pointed outwards while channeling magical energy into his hands. He peeked through the space between his fists to see the spellknight at the perfect distance for his spell.

“Umbral Serpentes!!”, he growled with a low hiss. He threw his hands forward, sending two shadowy, serpentine creatures flying over his magical shield. The creatures let out their own ungodly, screeching hisses as they arced through the air. The spellknight frighteningly raised her shield and batted the creatures to the ground and then cast a barrier spell keeping one of them pinned down… The other managed to dodge and quickly slithered up the spellknights body, sinking it’s spectral teeth into her neck…

“Urgh!!”, she cried in pain. Blood spewed forth as she desperately tried to claw the serpent from her neck, but this only caused it to bite down harder. She let out on final gurgle of blood before collapsing to the ground, and dying…

Merlin’s hands shook as he watched the creatures he had conjured vanish, their purpose fulfilled. He had just taken the life of another person. A large explosion against his barrier snapped him back to reality. The rogue mage was unleashing a barrage of concussive magical bolts causing cracks to form in the shield. He put both arms back up and channeled more magic, strengthening the shield once again.

“This is no good! I can’t just stay like this! I’m gonna have to try and hold it with one arm…”, he muttered to himself. He kept his left arm on the shield and drew his right one back, channeling magical energy into his right hand to try and finish the rogue mage off…

Before Merlin could complete his offensive spell, cracks had once again formed in his barrier from the rogue mage’s magical bolts. “Damn! With just one hand it won’t last!”, Merlin shouted. Another bolt caused his barrier to shatter. Merlin recoiled and then threw his left arm up again to try and reform the barrier, but another bolt struck his arm and exploded.

“Gyah!!”, he cried out.

Merlin was thrown to his back and felt a searing pain coming from his left arm. The sleeve of his robe was in tatters. Most of the skin on his left arm was blistered and charred as blood poured down it.

“Agghhh!!!”, he cried, trying to move it.

He looked back up towards the rogue mage and saw another bolt of magic hurling towards him. His eyes went wide in fear, knowing that this would probably be the end… He closed his eyes tightly, waiting on the bolt to make impact, but it never came…

Merlin opened his eyes to see Princess Athena standing in front of him facing towards the rogue mage, her shield held high as blue light radiated outwards.

“What…?! You have magic?!”, Merlin shouted in disbelief.

“What’s this?!”, the rogue mage screamed.

Princess Athena herself was shaking. Adrenaline and fear coursing through her, she dropped her shield and drug Merlin back behind the large boulder she had been using for cover.

“Princess! You have magic!”, he said to her.

Her body still trembling, tears began to form in the Princess’ eyes. “I-My body just moved! B-but I can’t have magic! My father…”

Merlin thought back to their meeting with Emperor Alexander. He had made his hatred of magic quite clear. But would he really become hostile to his own daughter?

An explosion against the rock brought Merlin back to his senses. The rogue mage had renewed his offensive, and Merlin knew they wouldn’t have long if they just stayed hiding behind the boulder.

“Princess!”, he shouted.

“H-he’ll disown me…”, she muttered, tears falling down her face.

“Princess!”, he shouted again.

She didn’t respond. She simply sniffled and wiped at her face.

“Athena!!”, Merlin yelled, grabbing the collar of her armor with his right hand and shaking her violently.

She stared back at him, unsure of how to react.

“Look, I know you’re scared and you’re freaking out, but I need you to work with me or we’re both going to die!”, he screamed.

“Y-your arm…”, she said, meekly. “W-what can we do…?”

“I’ve still got one good arm, which means I can still use magic!”, he answered. “You’ve got that axe; I assume you know how to use it?!?”

She nodded her head slowly in response.

“Good…I’ll bind him up, then you finish him off!”, he said.

Merlin darted out from behind the boulder before the Princess could respond. Using his good arm, he put up a magical barrier as the rogue mage concentrated his magical bolts on Merlin.

“Only gonna get one shot at this!”, Merlin said to himself. He moved his right arm in front of his face, concentrating magical power into his hand. “Umbral Serpentes!”, he growled, throwing another of the shadowy serpents he had used earlier over the barrier.

The rogue mage recoiled, firing his magical bolts at the creature now attempting to kill him. With the mage now distracted. Merlin dropped his barrier and charged the last bit of magic he had left into his fingertips.

The rogue mage was able to strike the serpent with a magical bolt just before it reached him. As he signed in relief, he heard Merlin’s scream out from across the field.

“Omni Fulmen!”

Golden bands flew forth from Merlin’s fingers, wrapping around the rogue mage and restraining him.

“Princess! Now!”, Merlin yelled.

Princess Athena emerged from behind the bolder, axe drawn. She launched herself at the rogue, letting all of her fear and frustration out in a bloodcurdling scream.

“No!!!”, the rogue cried out, trying in vain to free himself from the bindings.

Reaching her target, Princess Athena planted her axe into the mage’s head, killing him instantly. Blood sprayed from the wound as his lifeless body collapsed to the ground, the axe still embedded in his skull…

“AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!”, the Princess screamed, all of her emotions now pouring out.

“I know it’s not easy…”, Merlin said, somberly. “But you did good…” Merlin began teetering due to exhaustion and the pain in his arm. “Gyah!”, he shouted as he stumbled into Princess Athena’s arms.

“I’ve got you…”, she shakily said.

“Thanks”, he chuckled. “We should find Adrienne and Arthur.

Princess Athena draped his right arm over her shoulder and the two hobbled into the remains of the fortress. Adrienne’s spell had burned most of the perimeter fence and the wooden portions of the buildings, coating the air around them in ash and soot.

They rounded the corner to see Arthur removing his bloody sword from the body of another rogue mage. His face and armor were covered in dirt and sweat. His eyes lit up when he saw them, but he grew concerned upon seeing Merlin’s injured arm. “Merlin!”, he shouted. “Your injured!”

“Took a magical bolt to the arm. Hurts pretty bad…”, Merlin replied.

“Let’s go get Adrienne! I’m sure she has some medical supplies with her!”, Arthur suggested.

They found Adrienne around another corner, standing amongst the smoldering remains of the wooden structures and the perimeter fence. Merlin and Princess Athena noticed a burned body on the ground nearby, no doubt the remains of the other rogue spellknight. Adrienne gasped upon noticing that Princess Athena was practically carrying Merlin, along with his damaged arm.

“What happened?!”, she asked, frantically.

“Just took a bolt to the arm, but we took care of the two on that side”, he replied, trying to keep Adrienne from getting more worked up.

“I don’t know any healing magic….”, Adrienne muttered while digging through her supply pack. “But this should do until we get back!” She held up some bandages and a small roll of cloth. She also pulled out a small vial of clear liquid.

“This will help clean the wounds, but it’s not going to feel good… Why don’t you sit down?”, she said.

Princess Athena helped Merlin to the ground as Adrienne prepared the medical supplies. “Hey, what is that stuff-“, he asked, being interrupted by Adrienne dumping the clear liquid down his arm.

“GYAAAHHH!!!!”, he cried out, squeezing Princess Athena’s hand as his arm seared in pain and tears formed in his eyes. “W-why’d you do that!!”, he yelped.

“I’m sorry, but I figured it would be better to just do it!”, Adrienne replied. “It’ll keep the wounds clean until we can get you some proper healing magic”, she continued as she wrapped a bandage around his arm.

“Aside from your arm, I guess everything went well then?”, Arthur asked.

“Y-yeah…”, Merlin replied, still trying to catch his breath. “We had some…interesting developments though…

“What do you mean?”, Adrienne inquired.

Merlin looked at Princess Athena, who just stared at the ground, her knees trembling. “The Princess can use magic…”, he replied.

Adrienne and Arthur both jumped in surprise. “What?!”, Adrienne shouted. “No way!”, Arthur screamed.

“I-I just put my shield up…it just happened…”, Princess Athena said in frustration. She clenched her fists and tears started rolling down her face. “T-this can’t be right! M-my father will…he’ll…”

Adrienne placed her hand on the Princess’ shoulder, trying to comfort her. “Hey, we’ll deal with your father later. For now, you should come back to the temple with us.”

Princess Athena nodded as Arthur helped Merlin back to his feet. “There was something else”, Merlin stated.

“What is it?”, Adrienne asked.

“The rogues were babbling about something called Regalia. And they kept referring to this ‘she’ person. Saying that ‘she’ would come back and be their salvation”, he explained.

“Actually, now that you mention it, I think I heard one of them say something similar!”, Arthur responded.

Adrienne pondered what this could all mean. “Hmmm…this is certainly interesting… Alright! We should all get back and report to Ms. Crystal!”

“H-how to we get there…?”, Princess Athena asked shakily.

“With this!”, Adrienne answered, holding up the tablet that would teleport them back to the Camelot Temple. “Just get in close!”

The four of them huddled close together and Adrienne threw the tablet to the ground. The tablet broke apart on impact, releasing magical light which enveloping the group, transporting them away…