Anith marched up to the army, stopping when she was in earshot. “I am princess Anith of Kitch, and I demand to know what is happening here!”

Her voice rang out, stopping the army’s march. Some turned in her direction, others looked over to someone out of sight. Parts of the army shuffled and an elf followed by five humans walked out. Azure and the others recognized the humans as the other five who were in the summoning room.

Liza waved over as she saw the others, relief on her face at seeing an old friend. “Sarah, hey!” The teen with the bow just stood there.

“Sarah, I’m fine! Azure saved us. And you would not believe what happened.” Again Sarah was silent.

“Miss Anith.” The elf interjected. “What a surprise to see you here.”

“That voice. Manal? Shouldn’t you be at brother’s side?” Anith questioned.

“I have been sent here on other duties, miss,” Manal replied.

“Doing what.” She commanded.

“Advising the new heroes of course.” They replied.

“And why are they here and not combating the demonic threat?” Anith pressed.

“Why, they are. Though it does make me wonder, why is there a demon with you miss?” Manal asked.

“The two heroes with me have succeeded in purifying this demon.” Anith smoothly replied.

“Indeed?” Manal looked surprised.

“Yes. The bookish one has an ability that purifies corruption.” Anith lied. “Now, tell me why an army and the heroes assaulted and burned a village belonging to our Ryumic allies.”

“Why demons of course.” Manal’s smile was patronizing. “Not all of us are blessed with the ability to purify. Thus we had to remove the village. It was really the only way.”

The heroes around Manal nodded, followed by the army.

“And has Ryum been informed of this?” Anith inquired.

“Why of course,” Manal answered.

The two stood staring for a second. “You’re lying,” Anith said.

Manal looked incredulous. “Miss Anith I assure you--”

“Save it Manal. I have an ability for these things. Do you know how many people have tried to lie to the princess? Of course, I don’t even need a skill for this. Not once have you shown me the proper respect. You keep addressing me as miss and not princess and you didn’t bow at all when we met. Now, what are you really doing here?” Anith’s voice had taken on a dark tone.

Manal blinked, his face unreadable. But Azure saw the symbols from the Deities language gather. He nudged Lin and pointed discreetly to the cloth. Nodding, Lin pulled out some of his own he had saved.

“Well, this is interesting Miss Anith. How is it you are questioning me? I was sure that we had a complete hold on you.” Manal’s brow furrowed in concentration. “You know we must do whatever possible to quell the demonic threat.”

Azure blinked in shock as the runes around Manal moved to his voice and empowered them. They washed over everyone present, taking hold inside of the heroes and army members. Some of it bounced off Anith, and all of it was rejected by Azure, Lin, and Liza.

Anith tried to reply. “Yes but--”

“That is why you bravely attacked the demon before. Because we all must do whatever possible to stop the demons.” Manal urged.

This time more of the runes entered Anith and her eyes glazed slightly. Azure saw that some of it even entered Lin and Liza! Whatever this Manal was doing was directly altering those around. Azure didn’t seem to be affected, but Manal’s voice did sound familiar.

But he couldn’t spend time wondering, he had to act. He nudged Lin again then spoke. “So doing whatever’s necessary means ignoring royal etiquette?”

Manal turned. “We must all do out part--”

“You say that but Ryum was never informed. How can they do their part if you don’t tell them?” Azure interrupted.

“As I said before, we did inform Ryum.” Manal frowned at Azure.

“And Princess Anith said you lied.” Azure countered.

“That’s correct,” Anith said. Some light had returned in her eyes.

Manal seemed to pour more power into his voice. “Are you really going to trust this demon over myself?”

The power once again flowed outward, but Azure was ready. This time, he activated a spell. He had secretly drawn a parasol connected to a person. Azure used his mind to power the spell, relying on his mental strength to resist whatever was happening. The spell activated an umbrella of protection, rejecting the power completely. Azure winced as his mind took the attack.

“The demon you speak of has been purified and has done nothing untrustworthy since. Yet, you are out here without informing Ryum and using an incorrect coat of arms. Now, tell me the truth or I will see you arrested by those here.” Anith spoke coldly.

Manal was silent. Then his face twisted into a sneer. “You truly have been corrupted then, princess.” He spat out the last word in disgust.

“You dare?” Said Anith.

“If you were not in league with the demons, then you would know that us elves are the best hope of stopping the threat.” Manal grinned. “That is why Kitch has so graciously given us control to fight them.”

Anith’s face froze. “What have you done to my father?” She demanded.

“Oh nothing yet, he’s still king. Though he sees how important it is to have an elf guiding him.” Manal replied.

“And the heroes?” Anith said quietly.

“Oh, they know their place.” Manal laughed.

Liza was horrified. “Sarah! Sarah! Hey, answer me dammit!”

Manal’s laugh took a dark edge. “You were friends then? Well, I guess this is only fitting.” He pointed at Sarah. “Shoot her.”

Sarah nodded, bringing her bow up. Liza screamed at Manal. “You monster!” She grabbed one of the rocks the had and whipped it straight at his face. Sarah released her arrow at the same time. Both projectiles flew. Liza twisted her body, dodging the arrow while Manal was protected by the heroes. Gregory had stepped in front to block the throw with his shield. The rock bounced off and returned to Liza.

At that point, Lin motioned to the heroes and his spell activated. A large wall appeared, then three more, boxing in the heroes. But even as the wall grew, a fist punched out and opened a hole.

“Daniel I’m your friend, stop this!” Lin cried. In answer, Daniel pulled a large greatsword out of its sheath.

“Enough of this,” Manal said. He motioned to the army. “Kill them all.”

The rest of the army marched forward, swords and spears at the ready. Azure had dropped the protection spell, his mind wouldn’t be able to handle that much damage. “We need to go.” He said.

“Not before we save our friends!” Liza declared. She threw more rocks, timing the bounces so she could keep throwing. Each rock would stagger someone back, but there were too many.

“No!” Azure yelled. “It’s too dangerous!”

“We have to try!” Lin answered. He too was casting spells, blocking off the army with earthen walls.

Azure couldn’t do it. These people could get hurt! He couldn’t let that happen. So instead, Azure wrote out a gate spell. He would take everyone back to the village. Lau was there, and everyone would be safe. He finished the spell and grabbed the others as a bright flash filled their vision.

The gate spell put Azure and the rest right back at the village entrance. He sighed, everyone was safe. And then he felt a fist connect with his face. He fell to the ground dazed.

“How could you!” Liza screamed at him. “They needed our help!”

“I couldn’t let you get hurt,” Azure said. His mind was spinning from the hit.

“I don’t need you to protect me! You’re not my dad!” Liza yelled back. Lin nodded along behind her.

“I have to keep you safe,” Azure muttered.

“Why! You don’t know me. And with your power, I’m sure you could have done something to stop everyone there. Instead, you take us back to this stupid village! My best friend is being mind-controlled by that creep, and you just ran away! So why!” At some point, Liza’s rant had filled with sobs.

Azure sat. Why did he save them? She was right, he didn’t know them. At least not any more than the others. And he could have saved the others. He knew so much of the Deities language. Sure, the time it might take to write out a spell strong enough to stop an entire army would be exhaustive, but the others were stalling reasonably well. So why?

Azure pondered. He thought about himself, something he had been trying to avoid. Lin and Liza were only teenagers, still kids in Azure’s eyes. Was that why? No, Azure remembered teenagers, and he had never cared this much for them. Though, he did care for those he advised. He made sure to keep them healthy and prevented anything too dangerous until the heroes came. Was he treating them all as advisees? But Azure didn’t want to turn these three into megalomaniacs. Maybe, a combination? That sounded right. Part of him was hardwired to advise, and another part wanted to protect and nurture. Oh Deities, he was trying to parent these people.

It must have all started when he saved them. The danger might have triggered something, something that told him to protect these kids. And then they asked him to teach them. That must have sparked the Advisor portion. Oh Deities this was embarrassing.

With his revelation finished, Azure stood up to look for the others. He had spent some time sitting there, so much so the others had left to do other things. Liza was throwing rocks and making them bounce multiple times before coming back. Lin was writing out more spells and Anith was over with Lau and the Muuki. Making his decision, Azure walked over to where Liza was practicing.

He stood next to her, waiting for her to say something. She did her best to ignore him, throwing her rocks harder and harder against the wall. Finally, Azure could take no more.

“I’m sorry.” He said.

Liza stopped throwing to turn at him. “For what?”

“Acting like a parent. You never asked me to.” Azure conceded. “It’s just, a part of me is built to advise people. Before, I spent an entire life doing that. Each time it was my job to make them grow into what they were meant to be. The other part of me saw you as kids, something to protect. I think both those feelings combined into what you saw. I really did act like a parent, and not the good kind.”

“Alright fine. As long as we can save Sarah and the others I’m fine. But don’t treat me like a kid. I’m fifteen for gods sake. I have a license and a car already.” Liza went back to practicing.

“Um, about that…” Azure started.

“What?” Liza turned back.

“I can’t actually teleport us straight back.” He admitted.

“What! Why not?” Liza snapped.

“You remember how I said spells require power?” Azure asked. Liza nodded. “Well, what counts as power can be pretty flexible, in a way.”

“Okay?” Said Liza.

“So when I first used a gate spell, I used the money everyone had. Because money has value it can sort of ‘pay’ for a spell. Energy works as well, but the amount of energy required to power a gate spell would change the land around it, and I wasn’t going to ruin the environment when there was another way.” Azure babbled.

“Out with it already.” Liza bossed.

“I used the ‘journey’ we made to reach the army as the power source.” Azure answered.

Liza looked confused. “What?”

“I used the symbol for a wheel as the power source. The wheel has a lot of cyclic meaning. What goes around comes around and such. Since we had already made the journey to the army, the wheel can bring us back to where we started. But I can’t use the wheel for it again because we haven’t made the journey again.”

“I can’t believe this!” Liza yelled. “So we have to make that stupid journey again to save them?”

“Well that or find enough of something to pay for the spell,” Azure replied softly.

“Gah! Lin!” Liza stomped off towards her companion.

Lin looked up from his writing as Liza angrily told him everything. She was so loud Anith and Lau were distracted from their conversation with the villager. Soon all of them turned to Azure. Embarrassed and ashamed, he looked away.

As the others conversed, Azure recalled the encounter. Looking back, he realized how clouded his judgment was. If he didn’t argue with the teens before, Anith wouldn’t have stomped off and they could have made a plan. Deities was he stupid. And then he tied the protection spell to his mental strength, what if Manal had been more powerful? But at the time all he thought about was keeping the others safe. He could even have written a spell to isolate everyone from the army. He had an unlimited number of options but didn’t even think about anything other than protecting the others.

It would have been simple enough to use the protection spell with sound energy, lowering the power of the spell and the elf’s voice. He was still amazed at how familiar it sounded. There was an ethereal quality to it and whenever Manal spoke he was reminded of all the happy times in his life.

Then it hit him. Manal sounded a bit like those angels! Or maybe they weren’t angels, maybe something else. Winged creatures. Anyways, the elf and the creatures were similar. Is that why he wasn’t affected? He had already heard the professional orchestra, so the kid’s band sounded terrible by comparison.

So did the creatures use mind control as well? That might explain some things. He didn’t know what they were doing when he was in the queue, but he did remember how they acted towards him. They weren’t friendly at all. It didn’t really matter though, the elves were the main threat here. It sounded like they used their powers to create a bloodless coup.

A hand rested on Azure’s shoulder. Looking up, he saw Lau next to him.

“Heard of what brothers and sisters did to Kitch. Want to help. Sisa here does as well.” Said the Kupua. The villager nodded next to him.

“We need to get word to the king of Ryum,” Spoke Anith. “Can you make a spell and take us there?”

“Hold up!” Liza jumped in. “He needs to take us to save Sarah and the others first.” Lin nodded along.

“If Kitch has been usurped by Elven rebels, the other kingdoms need to know,” Anith argued.

“Those monsters have our friends brainwashed and we can save them! Who cares about your stupid country.” Liza argued back.

“Who cares!? I care! Plus, it is foolish to run back into danger without any equipment or plan!” Anith shouted.

“Says the princess who walked towards an army without one.” Liza scoffed.

Anith looked offended. “I did have a plan you useless--”

“Enough!” Azure shouted over the two. “You both make good points. So here’s what we’re going to do.”