The sign was indeed pretty. A vibrant yellow duckling with sea-blue eyes resting by the edge of a pond. A painting of the sun in the background elicits memories of the summer moons.

The building itself is made of half-timbered stone built at an angle so severe it was leaning close to the tipping point. The frames were left exposed to the elements but have a fresh coat of orange paint on white painted stone.

It is of a starkly different motif from the other buildings and represents an aberration or the flourishing of a new style.

It has a wide base and extends far to the back with a stable. The main building consists of two main floors with an additional single room on the third floor at the front of the building on the left-hand side.

The second floor had many windows two of which protruded out of the building one to the left in a tubular shape and one on the right corner in a rectangular shape.

The bottom floor had four stone pillars a wide window inside and a wooden door on the right-hand side. The smell of decay comes not from the inn but the nearby animal stalls. Flies buzz feasting on rot and living flesh alike.

"It’s different." Says Gareth noticing me staring at the building.

"I can see that," I answer with a raised eyebrow.

"Well… let’s head inside the twins are waiting." He answers and walks in through the open door.

"Right." I reply nodding, as I walk behind him.

Inside is a small, wide porch beyond which was a group of merry people drinking and dancing. Sure, the inside of the place looked worse for wear with peeling paint and beer stains coating every surface but there was a charm to the place.

No, a charm to the people. Who wears a wide variety of clothing from many cultures.

Men in two grabs and women in one; as well as vice versa.

Two dwarfs down beers while arm wrestling. While a group of five Scaled ones ate and joked at a table by themselves. An elf sits with humans. I feel the strain of my worries ease for a moment as I watch the delight of the merry-makers dancing and drinking.

A dwarf stands behind the counter on top of a stool they wear a garb with green and blue hexagonal patterns with exaggerated shoulder puffs and pillow-like balloons with their waist bulging out from revealing a hairy belly button. They wear a skirt with a tartan pattern made with a woollen cloth over it is a sporran pouch; a kilt. The tartan pattern is green and blue squares with two black lines parallel in a cross form between a white line also in cross intersections.

They are a short fellow whose belly goes over their belt. Messy red hair streaked significantly with white at the temples and ruddy, red cheeks glow behind a thick ginger beard lined with tufts of grey hair.

"I see you’ve brought company, Gareth. Is this the friend you were speaking about before?" they asked.

"It is, Robert. Meet August. Warrior, mage and my closest friend."

"How goes it, August?"

"Better now that we have a place to stay the night."

"Of course, your food and board have been paid for, enjoy and cause as much trouble as you like!"

"I won’t, I’ll be on my best behaviour. I promise." I replied with a tense smile.

I’d got us kicked out of our last place because of the trouble I stirred.

"Dany, get our guest here a plate of food. He looks hungry as a horse." They ordered and chuckled.

"Thank you."

I wait for a little while. Then a pretty woman with long auburn hair tied into a braid drops a plate of steaming porridge on the counter. I offer her "Thanks." and dig in. The porridge is tasty. I eat the plate clean and we walked up the stairs to our room.

It is a medium-sized room with a cupboard, desk and some essentials. Inside the twins sit on a soft bed idly chatting. Each with their cloaks wrapping around their shoulders.

"Sorry for the wait, I’ve brought August back."

They nod in response and an awkward silence hangs in the air.

"How about you introduce yourselves?" Gareth asks, desperately.

"I’m Subia." Says the smaller one.

"I’m Lovia her twin." Says the taller one.

"Right. I’m August as Gareth said. I don’t know what he has told you but we are friends since our childhood years. We can do magic and fight."

"He said as much." answers Subia.

"I don’t know what either of you want from your lives. But you are free, your past is behind you."

"We don’t know what we would do if we were free so for now can Gareth and August. Can you be our Masters?"

We both look at one another. Gareth nods thoughtfully.

"Yes, if that is what you want." I respond.

"Until you are ready, you can live under our protection." Gareth adds.

"Thank you." Says Subia first then Lovia repeats.

"I’ve got a quest for us to try, we can go it alone, the twins can settle in?"

"We would like to come along. We can be useful, we won’t slow you down, I promise!" says Subia.

"You will, but I agree, if you want to stay, you should understand what the life of an adventurer entails. Including the risks." I say. "Are you okay with that Lovia?"

"Yes, I’m scared…. but… I want to see what it is like outside the city."

"I hope it is everything you dream it to be." Gareth says sweetly.

"Let us have lunch and be on our way.”

It is plain fare, which we eat while trading stories. We finish our meals and set off.

It doesn’t take too long before we pass the gatehouse and leave the city. Judging by the girl's expressions of disgust. The sight and smell of shitbrook are clearly at the forefront of their minds.

I form the mana in the palms of both hands. Their attention is immediately on the swirling balls of magic.

"Are you ready to see some magic, girls?" I ask rhetorically. I decide rather than anything too exotic I will summon two Gavlik horses. They were going to draw more attention than I would like on the road having something like a jaguar might terrify other people.

Having formed sufficient mana I shout "Gavilk horse." Launching the mana in my right hand a few metres away. Then again with the mana in my left hand "Gavilk horse."

Appearing from the blue domes are the stunning horses.

The girls gasp. Subia stands motionless.

"They are beautiful!" Lovia says aloud the first of the two to respond. "Can I touch them?" she asks.

"Yes, you can." I tell her.

Trusting in my word she rushes to the nearest horse. Her bright smile shows her excitement. Standing far away she stretches out her hand to touch the horse’s forehead. The otherworldly creature with little concern about the cat-girl nuzzles its head to Lovia’s open palm. Hesitant she pulls her hand away. Then after a moment pets the horse’s forehead.

"I have never seen such blue before." She mummers. "Come over, he is really nice." She calls out to her sister.

I gaze at Subia. I suppose for a rational individual the strangeness of a horse is surreal. Eerily similar yet utterly different from the horses she knows. I can’t imagine what is going on in her mind. It isn’t fear, it is confusion and uncertainty that pins her in place.

"They are under my control. You can explore and play with them as you will." I tell her in my most assuring tone.

"Yes, Master." She summons her courage and rather than join her sister goes to the second horse.

Master?

Lovia calls out gleefully. "He is soft like a fancy dress and his hair is like snow."

"You’re right, he is wonderful!" Subia replies stroking the mane and shoulder of the horse.

I know for a fact that the horses are male. How they determined the horses were male I will never know.

"You can play with them again later, we need to head out." I tell them.

"Yes, Master." Subia replies.

"Okay." Lovia replies.

"Gareth, can I get a health augmentation. It should hopefully ease the pain of riding bareback."

"Of course. I will spell one for myself as well." He replies as he forms the mana in both palms. "It isn’t as big of an issue as you might think. They are remarkably comfortable to ride."

He launches the spell at himself. Then the other at me.

"There, that should ease any pain." He says.

"Right, I will ride with Subia. You with Lovia. If I remember correctly we take the first turn after exiting the other side of the forest." I say.

"Yeah, that’s right. Trebian is the village that lies between the city and the town." Gareth confirms my thoughts.

"Give me some rope." I tell Gareth who already thinking ahead passes me some rope along with some more for himself. We apply the rope to the horse so we have reins.

Gareth and I are experienced horse riders. I prefer other summons like my jaguar but as the Twins are riding with horses it is easier for beginners to ride when it comes to the wide variety of summons.

Gavilk horses stand about my height despite the that we all mount the horses with little difficulty due to our individual physical abilities.

Subia clears her throat and ask, "What is the most powerful magic you know, Master?"

I pause. There is only one true answer.

Atrioici. A summon from the lost dimension. The weakest variants are titled as the end of civilisations. They are as easy to summon as a rat, only slightly more difficult than a novice's mana bolt. Dark and forbidden knowledge, the casting of which is illegal in every know code of law and it a death sentence.

I lie by telling a different truth. "I can summon a pretty scary snake. Maybe I will show you it later."

She beams with exictement. "That sounds cool, can you do it now?"

"Later, I've got to save my mana."

We leave. Gareth and I are front leading the horse with the girls behind us.

"Hold on tight, Subia." I mummer and she tightens her grip around my waist.

"You lead Gareth we will ride behind you. Start slow then build up the pace. Give the girls a chance to adjust." I call out.

The journey starts slow but by the time we reach the forest I feel that the girls have gotten past the initial buzz.

I urge my horse faster and soon we are galloping through the trees and rabbits becoming a blur.

We pass wagons, carriages and patrols of soldiers. If we slowed down, I am sure we would witness their expressions of wonder and surprise. The few rabbits that do cross over the road never have a chance to spew their paralysing spit as we soar by like ravens in a wood.

Subia squeals and laughs in my ear the only sound I can hear as we slam into the wind.

"This is, he is amazing, Master."

Concentrating on riding as we gallop at full speed I don’t reply but I do give her hand a quick but firm squeeze.

It is a shame when I see the trees parting and Gareth slowing the pace. The road through the forest is an unerring straight all the way from the city to the town. It is also through the first layer of the monster zone for the majority of it. It is an impressive feat of construction. The benefits outweigh the cost of maintenance but I can only imagine how hard and costly it was to contrast the road in the first place.

Out of the forest, we see the mountain, a colossal peak towering over the many hills which stand between the forest and the mountain.

We turn to the right and head to the far rougher, steep road up the hills that leads to Trebien. The horses eat up the hilly terrain far easier than we would have without them. It is the peak of the afternoon by the time we reach Trebian.

Dispelling my summons Gareth and I deal with the official business of registering our presence at the adventure outpost and noting what quest we are doing to a dumpy human male. It takes all five minutes and we return to the girls. Lovia who has the least experience in combat holds the torch.

I catch the girls up on what we had been told about our destination by the receptionist.

"It is pretty much as we expected. Walkthrough the fields till we get to the mountain. Touch the mountain and a cave entrance will open up allowing us access to the first layer." Gareth explains to the girls.