A land of naught but ash, as far as the eye could see. Silica had seen this before, in a dream just before meeting Jil. She remembered she wore black armor and carried a worn greatsword.

This time though, it was different. This time she could see something… five shades standing in the shadow of the ashen pillars. Among them was a single green light that shone before them. There was a familiar feeling to it, a warmth Silica was certain she had felt before. Images began flashing before her in rapid succession, so fast that she could barely comprehend any of them. From what she could make out was broken armor, teeth, a statue, flowing white hair.

The images subsided so abruptly that it left Silica with a headache that woke her from her slumber. Slowly opening her eyes, everything looked blurry from the unfamiliar ceiling to the rest of the room.

“You were tossing in your sleep.”

Silica blinked and looked at her bedside table. Jil was there, sitting cross-legged. “Is something amiss,”

“Na. Just a weird dream,” Silica said, rubbing her eyes as she sat up. She recalled that they were in the main inn at Tesctan. They had gotten one room with a double bed. While it was relatively cheap to stay in, it was more well-furnished than anything back in Holbourgh.

“Morning Liana,” Stretching, Silica looked to the bed next to her. It was already made. “Liana?”

“I assume she arose before we did,” Jil said. Her wings began to flutter behind her.

“She always was an early riser,” Silica jumped off the bed, waving her arms back and forth. “Knowing her, she’s probably hit the markets for arrows and stuff we’ll need for the trip to Fawn.”

“I still have some serious trepidations about this,” Jil said, narrowing her eyes.

“Could you give it a rest,” Silica groaned. Jil had made her objection about going north to fight the orcs rather apparent. “If I’m gonna go all the way to Serendipity, I’d rather go knowing my home’s gonna still be there when I get back.”

“I suppose you have a point,” Jil bowed her head in defeat. “Just remember, it is both our lives at risk.”

“Yeah, I got it,” Silica picked up her top and skirt from the floor and laid them out on the bed. Sliding on her skirt and top, Silica retrieved her pouch, fastened her dagger to her thigh, searched the room for her sword before remembering she didn’t have one.

“Is something amiss?” Jil asked.

“Naw… still need to get used to that.” Silica said looking back at the perplexed Jil. “Come on. Bet’ya Liana’s waiting for us.”

Exiting the room, Silica walked down the hallway to the inn’s main lobby with Jil floating behind her. Sure enough, Liana was there with both her bow and quiver strapped to her back. Spotting them, Liana waved.

“Morning you two,” She greeted.

“Morning,” Silica gave her a small wave.

“Good morning,” Jil added nodding her head.

“Are you two all set?” Liana asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” Silica said as they walked to the door.

“Please take this more seriously.” Jil glared at her before turning to Liana.

The sun was rising above the horizon, painting the town in an entirely different atmosphere than the evening. More people were up and about on the main street of the town with the wall and gate insight.

“How far is Fawn?”

“It’s just to the north. Following the road it’ll take us about an hour.”

“That does not sound too perilous.”

“Cause not. It’s a small island.” Silica pointed out as they walked out onto the streets of Tesctan.

“True, but there are monsters prowling the road.” Liana pointed out. “Most common ones are ceskers. Giant insects emerge from the ground around the road.”

Silica puffed. “I can deal with a few bugs.”

“You will because I will be there to stop you from doing anything foolish,” Jil said, folding her arms.

“Sure, sure.” Silica waved her hand dismissively as she walked down the road. “Come on! We’re burning sunlight!”

Jil exchanged a worried look with Liana, who simply smiled weakly.

“Well, I leave sis in your hands.” She said as both of them followed after Silica. “Just a word of warning, she can be quite impulsive.”

“I’ve noticed….” Jil sighed. “I sincerely hope I don’t regret this choice.”

****

The sisters left Tesctan out the east gate. The walls surrounding the settlement were not overbearing like Silica had seen in pictures of those on the continent, yet they vastly excited the old wall in Holbourgh. The large oak doors were wide open, with island guards stationed at either side, one waving at the girls.

“Take care out there! There’s lots’ve monster’s on the highway today!”

“Thanks but we can take care of ourselves!” Silica waved back and winked that she’d always give the island guard back in Holbourgh.

“Silica… this isn’t Holbourgh.” Liana reminded her. Silica flustered, rubbing her head with a toothy grin.

“R-Right…”

The three of them began along the cobbled road that led to the north of the island. The geography was radically different from Chadd, consisting of flat, hilly plains among the shadow of the small mountain range along the island’s spine. The grassland was mostly clear of man-made structures, save for the road.

Along the road, they quickly encountered five ceskers. As Liana said they were large insects, roughly the size of a wolf that resembled a cross between a praying mantis. They had simply wandered onto the road before noticing both girls.

“There they are.” Liana drew an arrow.

“Come on, I got this.” Silica said walking out in front.

“Silica,”

“Hey if anything goes wrong you’ll cover me, right?”

Liana sighed, easing her grip on her bowstring.

Silica grinned and slammed her fists together. “Alright Jil! Let’s go!” She declared. “So uh… how does this work again?”

Jil floated towards her. “Envision the sword clearly in your mind.”

“Okay…” Silica held out her right hand and closed her eyes, concentrating as hard as she could.

“See the weapon in your dominant hand.”

Slowly she extended her right hand. Jil was suddenly engulfed in bright light, flowing like a stream into Silica’s right hand. When Silica opened her eyes she was greeted by Caliburn glittering in the morning sun.

“Alright, it worked!” Silica cheered.

“Don’t lose focus!” Jil’s voice snapped in her head. Silica had forgotten about that. Taking a deep breath, Silica took her stance facing down the five ceskers. She then rushed towards one, swinging caliburn overhead swiping it down on the insect. The blade tore through the exoskeleton, cutting the creature in half.

“Whoa,” Silica gasped before leaping back as a cresker pounced, swinging its scythed arms at her. Recovering, Silica rushed forward, stabbing the creature in its torso wrenching her blade upwards. It was astonishing how easy it was to cut through them.

“I’d imagine this is not what you are accustomed to,” Jil spoke.

“You're telling me, this is way too easy.” Silica cheered as a cesker lunged at her. She rolled to the right, recovering before swinging her blade horizontally, severing the torso from the lower body.

Silica then backed away from one of the final cesker as it pounced. She then sliced both appendages off before plunging her blade into its torso, wrenching it upwards. As it fell, Silica leaped over its body, bringing caliburn down on the final insect, slicing it in half.

“Ah ha! Got em,” Silica grinned, twirling her weapon in one hand.

“There’s one more!”

“Huh?”

“Behind you!”

Silica turned and saw a cesker scurrying towards her, raising its two scythe blades. An arrow then lodged itself in its head, killing it instantly. Silica turned and saw Liana waving at her.

“I-I could’ve handled it,” Silica pouted. Caliburn shimmered into sparks. Jil flew from the light, hoving beside Silica.

“Thank you Liana for your assistance,” she said in Silica’s stead.

“Don’t mention it,” Liana said, bruising her hair out of her eyes. “I did say I’d watch out for you sis.” With a wink she walked past her sister, continuing along the road.

Still pouting, Silica threw her arms in the air, resting them on the back of her head. “She always gets the last word in.” She looked at Jil who chuckled before floating ahead.

“I like your sister.”

“Yeah, I bet.”

****

Walking along the old road, it wasn’t long before the group came across two more ceskers that wandered towards them.

“Again?” Liana looked puzzled.

“Who cares,” Silica said walking forward. “More practice for me.”

Jil transformed back into caliburn as Silica confronted the two monsters.

“Mmmm. There are no others around. That would make this a perfect opportunity to channel your mana through me.”

“Huh?”

“During the battle with the lost one, you unconsciously channeled mana through caliburn, unleashing a quick bust of power.”

“Oh, you mean my art?” Silica vaguely remembered the battle but did recall she unleashed a dimension slash during the course of the battle.

“Yes. Try doing it again.”

“Uh, okay.” Silica charged towards one of the ceskers, leaping off the ground as caliburn plumed with mist. Dimension slash!

Her art made contact, slicing the monster across its torso, splitting it into two pieces.

“Wh-Whoa?!” Silica was amazed by the sheer power of it. She rolled back to avoid the second cesker before unleashing the same art. Like before, the cesker was split in half.

“Nice one you two,” Liana said as Jil transformed back into her original form.

“Wh-what was that just now? I don’t remember it being that powerful.” Silica said startled. “Jil, did you do anything?”

“In a way,” Jil said. “That ability requires you channeling mana through caliburn, so it would stand to reason you are able to channel the strength of the blade in addition.”

“Man, that sounds handly.” Silica said, chuffed.

“I must say, you have a particularly high mana level, even for someone your age.”

“Uh, mana what?”

“Mana level. Come on, I know Garo drilled it into you,” Liana said narrowing her eyes.

“Uh… must’a slipped my mind, haha.” Silica chuckled awkwardly.

With a sigh, Liana continued. “Mana level means your innate affinity with magic and arts. Arguably, higher the level more powerful your abilities can become.”

“Ohh, so I’m kinda strong?” Silica said with a grin.

“Strenght and power are two different things. Just because you have power to enhance your body or perform miracles doesn’t mean you’ll be instantly strong. Nor does it mean you should lax on the skills necessary for combat. You can still get hurt if you’re not careful.”

“... Okay, that lecture I do know.” Silica sighed as she began to walk off.

“And I would reiterate that lecture,” Jil said sternly. “Caliburn will only enhance what power you do have. The rest will be by your skill alone.”

“Got it.

“You are not listening, are you?”

“I am.”

“Then what did I say.”

“That I need skill, need to be careful and I’m strong and powerful.”

“.... Good enough.” Jil flew after her.

“I have a feeling this’ll be a regular thing…” Liana said to herself letting out a weak chuckle.

****

Barely a few miles down the road, another threat reared its head. This time, a pack of five avian monsters Silica had never seen before. Large gray birds with razor-sharp talons dived the girls. Silica equipped caliburn and took a few swings at them. Each time she did, the birds would simply swoop upwards again, staying high in the air before making another dive at her.

“Ahh come on!” Silica ended up growling, missing one of the monsters by a narrow margin. “Jil, can’t you do anything?”

“Like what?”

“Uhh… I donno. Make some art that can shoot projectiles or something!”

She dodged another dive from the monsters, swinging at it and grunting at the miss.

“Hey sis, let me deal with them,” Liana said stepping forward with an arrow drawn. As one of the monsters dived, Liana fired, catching the monster through its long neck.

“Sure be my guest.” Silica retreated back as Liana drew another arrow and took aim. One of the monsters flew in circles before an arrow struck it through the body with pinpoint accuracy. Liana then jumped out of the way of the third that dived at her. Bow already drawn, she fired. The monster was caught in the back, fell to the ground and toppled to Silica’s feet.

“Sis still got it,” Silica said to herself. In front of her, Liana drew another arrow, aiming at the final monster. Guess she’s not a portoće for nothing.

As the monster dived, Liana waited until it was closed before losing her arrow. The monster flew past the right side of her head, an arrow embedded in its mouth. The monster toppled on the ground right by Silica’s feet.

Stowing her bow away she smiled at Silica. “Alright. Let's continue.”

“I really do like your sister,” Jil said.

“....” Silica flicked Jil in the back before continuing.

****

While encountering little in the way of opposition besides the odd monster, the girls' journey to Fawn was mostly unopposed by the supposed orcs that had occupied the town. However, the further north they went the worse the devastation was. Farmhouses and small out-of-the-way huts in this region were completely destroyed, crops and livestock and anything that would be of value had been stripped down. Even some of the trees and forests in the surrounding area were cut down. In the wake of the devastation, monsters of the island were in greater numbers.

“Gosh… I never thought it would be this bad.” Liana said as they passed by another destroyed farm.

“Kinda makes me realize how lucky Holbourgh’s been.” Silica said somberly.

“This is awful….” Jil said remarking at the devastation. “What reason is there for this level of destruction.”

“Their orcs. It’s what they do,” Silica said coldly. “Fawn must be close by, right?”

“Y-Yeah. Just up there,” Liana pointed to the distance. “The army should be up ahead…”

“You are uncertain?” Jil asked.

“.... Just a bad feeling,” Liana said walking ahead.

****

Finally, the group reached sight of a walled settlement at the foot of the mountain range. Hiding behind a nearby rock, Silica and Jil peaked out to the walls. It was a simple wooden wall, big enough to keep out most beasts, yet some of it was reinforced in a crude way from planks of wood to hedgehog stakes. All around the entrance, large totems were erected.

“Guess this is Fawn,” Silica said. Jil landed just beside her on the top of the rock. “Looks like the orcs are still here.”

“I have a bad feeling about this place.” the fairy numbered.

“Welp. Let’s get to it.”

“Hm? W-Wait! Where are you going?!”

Silica walked out from behind the rock before stopping and turning to Jil. “Uh, to the camp to kill the warboss. That’s our job, remember.”

“Pray tell how we get in without the brutes jumping us?”

“Uhh…. fine a way to sneak in.”

Jil didn’t look convinced. Ignoring her, Silica squinted at the fortifications. “There must be some way we can sneak in. Maybe a gap through the wall or… Say,” She then looked at Jil. The fairy quivered at what she was likely to suggest. “Come on, they’re not likely gonna notice a fly on the wall,”

“I am not an insect…”

“Either that or I guess we’ll have to charge through them,”

“Alright! I’ll go!” Fuming, Jil flew past Silica towards the camp.

“Okay. Now we just gotta wait for her to get back,” Silica said pounding her fist into her palm. “Good plan, huh Liana?”

Liana didn’t respond. She seemed deep in thought.

“Uh… Earthena to Liana,”

“Hm?”

“Something bugging you?”

Liana looked towards the camp. “Don’t you think it's strange?”

“What’s strange?”

“Yanes said there was an army sent out yesterday, along with some adventurers.”

“Yeah, that’s why we’re out here.”

“But.... The island isn’t that big. If the army was sent out, it should be around here, and most likely have attacked.”

“Well… Now that you mention it…” Silica looked back out to the town of Fawn. Liana did raise a good point. The imperial army would not likely waste any time in assaulting a settlement the orcs occupied only recently. Van Jorhan often told her and Liana about imperial doctrine in the hope of them joining the army instead of becoming adventurers (much to his disappointment). One thing was that when an orc raid occurs in which they try to establish a camp, it was imperial policy to try and retake it before they dig in too deep.

The area around Fawn was desolate. The grassland had been eroded back by what would have been the constant back and forth of the hoard. Stubbs from trees that had been cut down, likely most of which were used for reinforcing the wooden wall. To the left, smoke rose from beyond a ridge lined with cannons-

“Huh?” Silica stooped and squinted. “H-Hey Liana! Over their!” She pointed to the ridge where she could clearly make out imperial guns. Where there was smoke, there would likely be the army waiting for the attack.

“Come on!”

“Wh- Silica Wait!”

****

“Who does she think I am? I am a fairy of Serendipity, not a scout…” Jil grumbled to herself as she floated towards the town. “Although… It is logical… I am the smallest and not likely going draw much attention.”

Flying towards one of the totems embedded in the ground, Jil poked her head out from the side. There was the entrance. It did not seem guarded, bar from two small green creatures slumped at the side looking board.

Perhaps… sneaking in is a viable option.

Pulling her hand away, she noticed something sticky on it. Her palm was covered by a red dye with small black chunks.

“What is this?”

Jil looked up at the totem. Her eyes bulged as she floated back in terror. There on the totem was a dead human strung up upside down. It wore the same armor that Jil had seen on the soldiers in the city. As she looked around, she noticed all around her was more stakes, each with a human corpse strung on it. Carrion birds were perched, pecking at the decomposing flesh exposed.

“Oie! What’ya doin’?” An angry grunt made her heart jump out of her chest. Ducking back behind cover she saw two orcs emerging from the town, one with a log on its back while the other beat one of the goblins. The orc with the log planted it just right of the camp. It also had a body strung up.

Jil slowly realized that these totems were not decorations. They were warnings.

Shaking off her revulsion, Jil flew closer to the camp, praying the orcs and goblins wouldn’t notice her. Unfortunately, there was no visible gap for them to pass through, and the stakes wedged in the ground meant climbing over the defenses was not feasible.

With no way forward, Jil fled back to the rock where the girls were hiding. When she got there, she noticed both of them were gone.

“Silica? Liana?”

Jil looked around, wondering if the two had found another place to hide.

“Ah, the nerve of them,”

Something pulled her to a nearby ridge, likely the bond she had with Silica. As she flew forwards, she failed to notice something was watching her.

****

Over the ridge, Silica stopped by the damaged cannons. Her eyes widened at what she saw within the gully below.

“Silica hold on! Don’t run off on your… own...” Liana finally caught up to her. “Wh-what?”

Below them were the remnants of a large encampment that had been burnt to near ashes. Across the ground lay the broken bodies of what were the imperial army, simply left out in the sun likely killed where they stood.

“Is this… the army they sent?” Silica gasped.

“How horrible,” Liana held her hand to her mouth.

Silica rushed down the ledge, stopping at the edge of the burnt-out tents. Her foot brushed against a discarded helmet that toppled towards one of the collapsed tents until it hit a large green hand. Silica walked towards it, seeing the rest of it buried in the tent that had collapsed and yet to be reduced to cinders. Lifting it up she saw the body of an orc, its skin stained by the ash from the fires.

“This looks fairly recent,” Liana said, studying the rest of the camp. “It’s probably a safe bet that this happened last night.”

“Damnit!” Silica jumped up and kicked the discarded helmet deliberately, sending it flying into the camp.

“What now?” Liana said folding her arms.

“What else! We still got a job to do!”

Liana looked at her sister worried. “Sis… they just took out an entire army. What can we do?”

Silica pointed at Liana, trying to think of something to say to convince her. Yet she drew a blank.

“L-Let’s just wait for Jil to come back. For now… uh let's see if there’s anyone still alive.”

The two walked into the remnants of the camp, walking over the broken remains of the camp and the dead that still remained. Weaponry lay broken, spewed on the ground. What little canvas remained from the tents was trodden into the mud. Bodies lay everywhere, from imperial soldiers to orcs and goblins that were likely missed by their brethren.

At the heart of the camp, Silica came across a headless corpse of a large man, slumped beside a broken axe. Unlike the others, he was not dressed in imperial armour, instead wore a leather harness.

“Guess he's one of the adventurers,” Silica said leaning beside him.

“Sis! Over here!” Liana crouched by a small mound. Six more bodies were there, both men and women dressed differently from their imperial counterparts. They were the other adventures Yanes sent along with the army.

“There you two are!” Jil suddenly flew towards them, navigating through the ruins of the camp. “Don’t just leave me all alone after sending me off to scout.”

“Oh, sorry.” Silica waved. “So did you find a way in.”

Jil shook her head. “I dare say their defenses are quite formidable. I doubt we will be able to penetrate them without alerting the brutes.” She then looked around. “What happened here?”

“If I had to guess, I’d say the orcs ambushed them,” Liana said standing up. “Doesn’t look like anyone survived.”

Silica looked back again at mound where the dead adventures lay. Despite the dire state of their garments all of them, seemed to have been experienced or rich enough to afford that kind of gear. A chill ran down her spine. It seemed these orcs were far more dangerous than the burrow back on Chadd.

“Sis,” Liana and Jil walked up to her. “I really think we should go back to Tesctan. At the very least, Yanes needs to know about what happened here.”

“.... We can’t just give up without doing anything,” Silica retorted folding her arms. “We came all this way so-”

“Silica…” Liana sighed with exhaustion.

“Well please share with us what your plan is,” Jil said skeptically, clearly in agreement with Liana that they should cut their losses.

“...” Silica then smiled as she turned to the two. “What did Garo always say about dealing with orcs?”

“Uh, target the leader which results in the remaining hoard fighting amongst themselves,” Liana said with dread.

“Right. All we gotta do is sneak in, find and kill the leader and let the hoard wipe themselves out.” Silica said confidently.

“I have told you there is no way in,” Jil said bluntly. “Brutes though they may be, their defenses are sound. We won’t be able to even break through the wall without alerting the inhabitants.”

This was a good point that even Silica felt herself being shot down. If they didn’t have a way in, there was no chance she could convince Liana or Jil to stay and see the job through.

“I know a way.”

“There we go,” Silica smiled and nodded. “.... Huh?” Slowly, Silica turned her head. “Wha-?!” Then she squealed, jumping back to her companions with her heart pounding in her ears.

“Yo.” Standing directly behind her was a girl with blond hair, rusted gauntleted hands, a green cloak, painted on whiskers, and disturbing blood-red eyes.

“Uh… Who are you?” Silica asked.

With little expression, the girl gave a simple wave. “Name’s Fay. I’m uh, something of a wanderer.”

“A… wanderer?” Liana said confused. “You mean an adventurer?”

“Wait… were you here when the orcs attacked?” Silica asked.

“Nope,” Fay nodded to Liana. “and definitely not.” Then to Silica. “Though I did see the tail end of that carnage. Poor bastards put up as much of a fight as they could. But in the end, they were overrun and cut down.”

Fay then turned around, looking towards the mound where the adventurer’s bodies lay. “Those guys put up one hell of a last stand. It was the warboss that killed them in the end, and all by his lonesome.”

“You… don’t say,” Liana exchanged a worried glance with Silica, hoping that she was fazed by this revelation. She wasn’t moved. Sighing at her sister’s stubbornness, she looked to Jil for some support. The fairy however was staring intensely at Fay, never once breaking eye contact.

“Uh, what? Got a bug on my face?” Fay asked after noticing.

“.... You seem familiar,” Jil said folding her arms. “Have we met before?”

Fay shrugged. “Can’t say we have. I mean, I’d certainly recognize a little bug like you.”

“E-Excuse me! I am not a bug!” Jil exploded.

“But seriously, what the heck are you? A fairy?”

“S-She’s my familiar.” Silica said quickly, hoping to end another stand-off like that with Yanes. “Cute huh?”

“A familiar?” It was difficult to tell whether she bought it or not, given her flat expression and her lazy, monotone voice. “Weird. You don’t pass me for a wizard.”

“I-I don’t?” Silica shyly rubbed the back of her head.

“If anything, you look more like a thug.”

“The hell’s that suppose to mean?!” Silica exploded.

“A-Anyway,” Liana quickly jumped in front of the fuming Jil and Silica before either of them could retaliate. “You said you know a way in.”

“Yep.” Fay nodded. “If your seriously about going after the orcs, I know a way that’ll get you in without being ripped to shreds.”

“... Well, thanks I guess,” Silica said cooling off. Fay approached her and stuck out her hand. “What?”

“That’ll be 1’000 libs.”

Silica blinked several times. “Wait, are you seriously charging us?!”

“Hey, this is my bread and butter as they say,” Fay said resting her hands on her hips.

“So you’re an informant?” Liana pondered.

“Eh, something like that.” Fay shrugged.

“But a thousand libs?! That’s daylight robbery!” Silica protested.

“I’ll have you know information is like gold to the right person. I mean, you guys wanna take out the warboss but need a way to get into the mines without getting killed on the spot right?”

“She does have a very good point,” Jil said as Silica ground her teeth.

“Doesn’t mean I should be happy about it.”

“.... Uh, fine.” Fay sighed deeply. “Tell you what. I’ll make this one free.”

“Huh?”

“J-Just like that?” Liana asked, confused by the swing.

“Think of it as a free trial for my services,” Fay said nonchalantly. “Only ask that you guys come back alive long enough to become a regular of mine.”

“Sweet. Guess we’ll take you up on that,” Silica said cheerfully. Liana then tugged her arm, huddling close to her.

“Excuse us,” Jil said to Fay before flying in front of Silica.

“What? We have a way in now.” Silica hissed at the two.

“Do you really think the three of us alone can take on a warboss?” Liana said in hushed tones. “You heard what Fay said. It took out the other adventures,”

“Hey, we took out that lost one in Chadd. How much harder could a warboss be compared to that monster.”

“I feel you're downplaying the severity of the situation,” Jil said narrowing her eyes.

“Beside’s if we can’t take out a warboss, there’s no way we’ll survive the dark continent.”

Both Liana and Jil exchanged weary glances at one another, finding it hard to disagree with Silica’s logic.

“I still have a bad feeling about this…” Liana groaned, knowing nothing she could say would sway her sister’s mind.

“You always have a bad feeling,” Silica grinned.

“That aside, how do you know we can even trust her,” Jil said folding her arms. “For all, we know she could be leading us into a trap.”

“I can hear you, you know,”

Jil jumped and flew towards the startled Silica. Fay was standing where she was, seemingly appearing out of thin air.

“Would you quit it!” Silica snapped.

“Beside’s, you guys got a fair idea of what you’re walking into. Any sain person would just walk the other way and forget about all this,” Fay said.

“So… why are helping us?” Liana asked.

Fay simply shrugged. “Call it a hunch. I just got a vibe that you guys’ll be just fine.”

“That… is not particularly reassuring,” Jil narrowed her eyes. After looking at Silica and seeing the determination in her eyes, the fairy ultimately admitted defeat. “I have a strong suspicion this will not be the only time you lead us into danger.”

****

Fay led the girls through the destroyed camp into the woods deep within the gully. The dense undergrowth of trees with a canopy that almost blotted out the sun. The trees inside were strange, crooked and overgrown like out of a children's picture book where the heroes would venture into an evil forest. The sun barely penetrated the canopy, leaving it in a deep shade.

“Perfect blindspot, huh,” Fay said as she leads the girls through the tangled branches. “Only one way in or out with no way around unless you’re looking to get caught. Bet’ya those imperials thought the same thing. That proved their undoing.”

“So the way into the mines…” Liana spoke up.

“Yep. Right through here.”

Silica then tripped up on something. “Stupid branch,” She looked down and noticed it was a hand, belonging to an orc with a burn mark on his chest.

“Look,” Jil pointed. To the right was a large stone structure. Surrounding it was a large group of dead orcs, some with puncture wounds, some with strange burns on them.

“What’s this?” Silica asked, looking at the stone. It looked like a ruin, but nothing like she had seen in the Chadd catacombs.

“Nice,” Fay said as she and Liana approached the object. “An Ashire waystone. Though looks like it’s long past its use.”

“Ashire?”

“You know, elves. Or ancient elves to be exact.”

Everyone in the colones knew of the elves; an elusive race broke up into two distinct factions. The first was the fair-skinned ‘wood’ elves who dwell deep within the forests of the world. The second was the tanned skinned ‘dark’ elves, who live in hidden cities of endless night cut off from the rest of the world. Both kinds rarely ventured away from their homes so many people often dismissed them as a mith. Even elven buildings and ruins were a rare sight, even within the continents and the islands.

“Wow, this the first I’ve ever seen of an elven structure,” Liana said, running her hands along the indents with them.

“Probably the reason behind the whole invasion,” Fay said folding her arms.

“Really? Do you know something?” Silica asked.

“Sure,” Fay held out her hand. “5’000 libs.”

Silica frowned. “Alright, forget it.”

Jil meanwhile flew among the bodies of the orcs and goblins. “I wonder if there were survivors that fled into the forest,” She said.

“It’s possible,” Fay said. “Then again, they may’ve also been killed unless they knew where to go.”

“Geez, your pretty grim,” Silica said to her.

“Hey, I didn’t say that for certain. Whoever was here may’ve gotten lucky.”

Leaving the ruin behind, Fay continued leading them further in until they reached a dead end. “And here we are.”

Right in front of them was a cave entrance.

“Is that it?” Liana ran towards the cave.

“The way into the mine without the orcs or goblins knowing.”

“Is it safe?” Jil said as Liana took out her manasite.

“Of course not. The orcs may be dumb, but even they wouldn’t leave this place completely unguarded. I’d expect some kinda resistance at the other end.”

“Well, better then nothing I guess,” Silica said bringing out her own manasite. “Well, thanks a lot Fay. Guess we owe you one.”

“Wanna thank me, come back alive and bye some info next time.”

“Ha, sure. I’ll do that.”

“Alright, I’ll go first.” Liana lit up her manasite and walked in.

“Ready for this?” Silica said pumping her fist.

“As I’ll ever be,” Jil sighed. “Just remember to do everything I say.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Silica and Jil moved towards the cavern entrance.

“Hey hold up.” Fay stopped them. “I didn’t catch your names.”

“Mm? Oh right.” Silica just realized they hadn’t introduced themselves. “Names Silica.”

“I’m Jil,”

“The other girls my sister, Liana.”

“Your… sister?” Fay leaned in closer to Silica. “Huh, could’a fooled me.”

“Yeah, that’s everyone’s reaction,” Silica chuckled to herself. Lighting her manasite, Silica entered the cave with Jil flying close behind.

“Silica Hale, huh?” Fay muttered to herself. “Interesting one, I’ll give her that.”