"Where...the fuck...am I?"

The last thing Maximilian remembered was the feeling of Dragnïr's soul leaving his body. Like a splinter in his skull finally being pulled out, his friend's soul had left a feeling of emptiness as well as relief, though he didn't feel any different than before.

When he opened his eyes, he was...not in the inn, that was for sure.

The room he was in was circular, a wall of stone without any opening all around him.

Looking up, Maximilian realised there was no ceiling, the wall going up as far as his eyes could see before disappearing in the feeble light lighting up the room.

"Well, I guess I could climb..."

Crouching to prepare a powerful jump, Maximilian pushed with all his strength, going...one meter high.

As he came back on the ground, he looked at his feet for a second, arching an eyebrow.

"That...was pretty bad. Let's try again..."

This time, Maximilian ran for the wall, wanting to jump from one side to the other and climbing like that. All he managed to do was to hit the wall as he jumped against it then to fall down, hitting the ground hard as he did.

Cursing as he put his hands on his head, Maximilian realised something was clearly wrong.

"I...don't have any power anymore..."

"That's not exactly true."

Maximilian jumped around to face who had just talked from behind him. He faced a man, nearly two meters high, quite large with semi-long light brown hair and deep blue eyes with golden sparks in it...Maximilian was facing himself.

"That is strange..."

His look-alike tilted his head on the side.

"What is?"

"You look just like me."

"Maybe it's you who look just like me, haven't you thought about that?" asked the look-alike with a little smile.

"Oh please no! Don't start this little game with me!" said Maximilian on an exasperated tone.

"What game?"

"You know exactly what kind of game! The kind where you try to mess my mind up, 'am I me or am I you?', 'Who is the true one between us?', this kind of game! Every time I had to face this kind of things in video games, it was pissing me off!"

The look-alike didn't say a thing at first, a pleased smile appearing on his face.

"So you remember facing this kind of situation in games before?"

"Well, yeah, it's not that uncommon and...oh! I get it! I know where I am!" said Maximilian as he hit his palm with his fist in realisation.

"Would you humour me and tell me?" asked the look-alike.

"I'm in my own mind, is that it?"

The look-alike nodded.

"And you must be...the personification of my mind?"

"Good guess, that's exactly it." confirmed the look-alike.

"I knew it! But what I don't know is why you look exactly like me..."

The look-alike shrugged.

" I look as you want me to look, Maximilian. I'm your mind, you decide."

"Really? I guess this makes sense...so..."

In a few seconds, the look-alike had turned into an actual pin-up, blond hair, blood red lips and an opulent chest, dressed with a jean short and a shirt clearly too tight for her.

The pin-up looked at herself then at Maximilian, arching an eyebrow.

"Really?"

Maximilian chuckled a bit, clearly having fun.

"Sorry, I was just testing. Let's be serious for a bit..."

Once again, the pin-up changed in a few seconds, this time taking the appearance of a man.

A bit smaller than Maximilian, with shoulders a bit less large, brown eyes and a receded crane on the back of wich was short dark brown and grey hair. The man had a bit too much weight, showing by his prominent belly, but not fat either, as his big belly was balanced by a strong physique.

The man looked at himself before looking at Maximilian with his naturally judging eyes.

"Is this how you want me to look?" asked the man with a gentle tone.

A bit moved by the man in front of him, Maximilian nodded with a smile.

"I think it would be perfect...so, this is how the inside of my head look? A bit empty if I have to say..."

"You said it, not me..." said the man as he came next to Maximilian. "Watch out for the fall..."

"Watch out for whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"

Before Maximilian had the time to finish his question, the ground under him had disappeared and he began to fall.

It lasted for what seemed to be hours, days, years, then the ground appeared once again, right beneath him.

"Aouch..." said Maximilian as he was laying on the ground, face down.

"Stand up, you couldn't hurt yourself that much." stated the old man as he appeared next to him once again.

"I didn't know giving you his look would give you his way of being too..." said Maximilian as he stood up.

"I'm acting like you think he would. Don't forget I'm an incarnation of your mind, your imagination. But let's not waste time with this, look at this." said the man with a smile as he patted Maximilian's shoulder.

Looking in front of him, Maximilian saw a single door on the wall. Two meters high, one meter large, made of wood and blocked by massive chains locked together by a golden padlock.

"This...", explained the old man, "...is a memory door, one of the numerous who has been locked because of your friend's soul. Now that he is gone, you can finally start to open them again."

"I thought him leaving would automatically give me back all my memories, why isn't it the case?" asked Maximilian.

"You have to be patient, it won't be long before you retrieve all of your memories. It's just that opening everything at once would be...unpleasant for us."

"Unpleasant how?"

"Brain explosion unpleasant, if you see what I mean..." explained the old man.

"Oh...How long till I get everything back?"

"Not that long I think, your new powers have reinforced your mind too, it will allow me to open the doors faster once you'll be gone. I think the stimulus you will have when you will get an idea will help me in my work."

"So what you mean is that I'm going to have ideas once again...like before I came to this world?"

"Exactly, your mind is finally able to work correctly again, and your imagination will soon be able to run wild."

"Then...why am I here? Isn't it better if I'm awake to have ideas and such?"

The old man nodded.

"That will be for the best, yes, but you first need to reactivate your memory, figuratively of course."

Maximilian looked at the door for a while, thinking hard.

"How am I to do this?"

"Think hard, there is a padlock in front of you...I'm sure you can figure this out." said the old man, clearly taunting him.

Maximilian looked at him, a bothered look on his face.

"I do know I need the key, thank you. What I don't know is where to find it..."

The old man sighed.

"Sometimes the answer is in the palm of your hand..." stated the incarnation of Maximilian's mind.

"What is that? Some kind of mind enigma made to open my chakras?"

The old man slightly slapped Maximilian at the back of his head.

"Just look at your hand, dreamer!"

Maximilian passed a hand on his head, hissing, but smiling at the same time.

"It feels funny to hear you calling me a dreamer, more so now that I live in a fantasy world..."

The old man smiled at him.

"You have always been a dreamer, Max, going to another world will not change that."

"Yeah,...you're right..."

Doing as told, Maximilian looked at his hand and discovered a golden key in it.

"Why is the key in my hand?"

"because you thought it would be."

Observing the key between his fingers, Maximilian was dubious.

"Simple as that?"

"Simple as that, Max."

Maximilian approached the door, stopping right before it.

"What will happen when I open that door?"

The old man shrugged.

"Who knows..."

"I think you know."

"Indeed, I do." said the old man as he chuckled. "but telling you wouldn't be fun, so I won't tell."

Maximilian stayed silent for a second or two.

"Will...will I be able to see you again?"

The old man nodded.

"Every time you will close your eyes and think about me. As long as I will have a place in your heart, I'll be here if you want to see me."

Maximilian silently nodded as he approached the key from the padlock.

"Maximilian...I'm glad you are doing good." said the old man with a loving smile.

And, as the key turned in the padlock, Maximilian looked one last time over his shoulder and smiled with all his teeth to the old man as the light engulfed him.

"I'm going, Dad."

...........................................................................................................................................................

"Maximilian? Are you okay?"

As he opened his eyes, Maximilian was greeted by the worried face of Lin-Lin right above his.

"I'm fine...were you going to kiss me to wake me up?" asked Maximilian with a little smile.

Lin-Lin jumped back, her face red.

"Don't...don't be stupid, Maximilian! I was worried you know!"

Laughing out loud as he sat, Maximilian noticed the golden scaled egg in his hands.

"Interesting...so that's how it's going to be?"

"What is that, Maximilian? It looks like an egg."

"It is an egg, Lin-Lin, a dragon's egg, to be exact."

"And...Your friend Dragnïr is in it?"

Maximilian closed his eyes, focusing on the egg. In it, he felt an energy, pulsating like a heart, he recognised his own energy, mixed with a familiar soul.

"Indeed, he is inside. I think he is taking his time so he will be able to reborn correctly."

Lin-Lin nodded.

"And you? You said you needed him gone to regain your memory...did it worked?"

Maximilian tilted his head on a side, then the other.

"Yes...and no. My memory has been awoken, I can feel it, but I don't have all of my memories back yet...nonetheless, I can feel them coming back to me quickly, it shouldn't take long for everything to be back...talking about memory, there is one I already can use. Could you turn around?"

Lin-Lin seemed surprised.

"Turn around?"

"Yes, and take off your upper dress, please."

His request made the panda lady turned red once again as she jumped back a bit, dubiously looking at him.

"Wh...WHAT!? WHY?!"

Once again, Lin-Lin reaction made Maximilian laugh out loud.

"God I love the way you react. I need to see your slave mark, that's all."

Mentioning the mark calmed Lin-Lin in a second.

"My...my mark of ownership? Why do you need to see it?"

Maximilian scratched his neck.

"I might have remembered a way to take it off...but I cannot be sure before I try, are you willing to..."

Lin-Lin interrupted him by suddenly turning around, actively taking off her upper armour, then the clothes under it.

Once done, she faced him, hiding her breast with an arm.

"What...what do I need to do?"

"Come, sit on the bed and show me your back." said Maximilian as he put Dragnïr's egg down.

Doing as told, Lin-Lin sat on the bed, showing her marked back to him.

"Now listen, this may feel strange...even hurt, I have never used this kind of magic before...I want you to tell me if you want to stop, I promise I won't be angry if you do."

Lin-Lin energetically shook her head.

"I'm ready! I trust you, do what you can."

"Very well then, stay still..."

Maximilian closed his eyes, placing his palm on the mark.

*Now if I remember correctly...in that story, they saw this kind of mark like a curse, a binding spell going through the salve's body like a parasite...let's see, a normal scan won't do, but if I use magic to look through her...*

Focusing magic in his eyes, they took once again their draconic appearance. Before him, he saw Lin-Lin's body, but not how he was used to. Before him wasn't the flesh, nor the skin, but the flow of energy. He could clearly see Lin-Lin's energy, her heart beating, her lungs inflating and deflating as she breathed in and out. He saw her head, with inside a storm of energy, the ideas and emotions creating a literal dance of lights. All those different energies, of different colours and brightness, were coming and going in all her body.

Then, he noticed it. It was like a black barbed wire circling around the different flows, from her head to her toes, and all coming from the slave mark, where the black barbed wire agglomerated and seemed to pulsate like a black heart filled with dark energy.

*For God sake, that's horrible...no wonder the slaves feel so much pain when they activate the mark...*

Now that he had a visual, Maximilian could work on it.

*Let's see, if I try to analyse it, it appears as an incarnation of dark energy, exactly like a curse would do...would holy magic work? Is it that simple?*

First, Maximilian used holy magic to 'heal' the mark. He saw the holy energy going inside Lin-Lin body, then inside the black barbed wire and slightly breaking it, but the dark energy coming from the mark repaired it almost instantly.

*So you can't 'heal' a slave...very well, if dark energy is the problem, let's destroy the dark energy at the source.*

"Lin-Lin, I think I've got it. Try to hang on, okay?"

"Okay."

Maximilian used holy magic once again, but this time in a more offensive way. His idea wasn't to heal the dark energy but to destroy it. He let his magic flow inside Lin-Lin, like an army of light attacking an army of darkness. At first, it didn't seem to work, the black wire not really reacting to it.

Then, as quickly as it took to think about it, the black heart of energy in Lin-Lin's mark turned into light, the black barbed wire progressively changing from darkness to light too.

"It's warm..."

Maximilian heard Lin-Lin speak, not necessarily to him.

" Are you okay, Lin-Lin?"

The panda Lady nodded slowly, a light smile on her face.

"You said it could hurt...it doesn't...it feels good..."

Maximilian continued to pour holy energy in his companion's body, making sure the black wire couldn't counter attack. Then, after a minute or two, it was done. Lin-Lin's body had been purified from the binding and, as if her body had rejected the simple idea of being a slave, the mark soon disappeared too.

*It must be the holy magic healing it, but I like the idea of her body breaking free...* Thought Maximilian has he nodded to himself.

"It's done."

Lin-Lin straightened as if electrified by the news.

"I...I want to see!"

"Of course, take a look."

Maximilian made a mirror of water appear and Lin-Lin jumped off the bed to go see her back.

She stayed there for a minute or two, touching the place where the mark used to be. A smile on her face, some tears began to form in her eyes.

Maximilian stood off the bed too and came near her.

"Will you be okay, Lin-Lin?"

Without a warning, the beastkin jumped on him, her arms around his neck and her head on his shoulder.

"THANK YOU!!! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" quickly exclaimed Lin-Lin, crying of joy.

Moved by his companion's reaction, Maximilian hugged her in return.

"You're free now. No one will be able to hurt you with this mark again, you're a free beastkin, Lin-Lin."

"...Greenearth."

Lin-Lin's word surprised Maximilian who looked at her.

"Greenearth?"

Lin-Lin nodded, smiling heartily.

"This is my name, my complete name. When you become a slave, the binding forbid you from using it, it takes away your identity...but now I'm free! I am Lin-Lin Greenearth and I am free!!!"

.........................................................................................................................................................

"By decree of the King, to face the possibility of a beastkin attack, all non-human have to leave the castle immediately! Those not willing to obey will be arrested for treason."

The soldier having finished his reading came back into the rank standing before the throne where the King was seating, the Cardinal standing next to him with a satisfied smile on his face.

Behind the soldiers rank, standing on the march leading to the throne were Inquisitors and Paladins, forbidding any from approaching.

Facing the soldiers were two or three dozen servants, soldiers and guards who had been unarmed beforehand, all beastkins, plus one or two elves, orcs and dwarfs. Before them was the Queen, the Princess and Kitsu, standing at the side of her Queen.

"My King! This is madness! You can't send away your subject because of a lone message written on a wall. We don't even know who wrote it!"

The Queen knew perfectly well, thanks to Kitsu's report, that the message had not been written by a non-human. She was sure this was once again some plan from the Cardinal.

"Enough, Queen Alexandria! The King is tired of your incessant interruption. You will now obey your husband and be quiet! Or, maybe this vitality you put in protecting those traitors is nothing but a fraternal loyalty..."

"Spit your venom, Cardinal. For once in your life, try to act with a little bit of dignity and speak without detours." imperiously said the Queen, once again acting as a protector for the ones behind her.

"If it is your Majesty's will...I think you, Alexandria, Queen of Griffinia, has been playing a part in the plan the unholy ones have to murder the King!"

The words were said, the accusation had fallen.

"How...HOW DARE YOU!" shouted the Queen, raising her voice against the fat man who was happy to finally have been able to make her lose patience.

"TO EVEN THINK I COULD CONSPIRATE AGAINST MY OWN FAMILLY IS MADNESS! YOU ARE MAD, CARDINAL!" stated the Queen, pointing at the Cardinal in an accusing way.

It was at that moment that, coming from the non-human crowd, a crossbow bolt flew in the throne direction, an Inquisitor receiving it right in the head, dying in an instant.

"TREASON!!! THE UNHOLY ONES ARE ATTACKING THE KING!!! SOLDIERS, PROTECT THE KING!!!" shouted the Cardinal, pointing at the crowd in front of the throne with his religious staff.

As the soldier rank aimed at the crowd with their spears, the inquisitors prepared their crossbows.

"Mother!" worriedly said Arima as she grasped her mother's hand.

"They have all lose their mind. Your Majesty, you have to flee!" quickly stated Kitsu before screaming for the crowd. "EVERYONE! FLEE THE CASTLE!"

The crossbow bolts flew as one while the non-humans ran away. All the projectiles were, though, clearly aimed at the Queen and Arima, currently running away with the group. As the bolts came close, they were stopped by two large shields handle by Menthe and Framboise. Some soldiers came a bit too close but were quickly taken care of by the rest of the rainbow guard.

"No one attacks the Queen!" stated Mandarine as she faced some very surprised soldiers.

"Rainbow guard, retreat!" ordered Kitsu before she took out her wand and created a wall of ice spikes between the fleeing group and the soldiers.

"DON'T LET THEM GO AWAY!!! PURSUE THEM, CATCH THEM ALL!!!" ordered the Cardinal while the King, like a puppet without strings, was silently sitting on the throne, barely moving.

...........................................................................................................................................................

The group of non-humans was running as fast as possible to get out of the castle, knowing perfectly well the ice wall wouldn't hold very long.

As they reached the principal entry, they were stopped by two dozen of soldiers and a dozen Inquisitors commanded by the Chancellor, Gastonar.

"Chancellor Gastonar? You too?" asked the Queen as she came before the group once again, facing the thick man.

"I'm afraid so, your Majesty..." said Gastonar as he snapped his fingers.

The Inquisitors aimed their crossbows at the Queen then, all as one, died.

Just as they were preparing to shoot, the soldiers had come behind them, two soldiers for one inquisitor, and used their spear to attack them in the back. Tough it wasn't really honourable, it did the trick, the surprise attack not leaving any reaction possibility for the Cardinal's pawn.

"...it seems like I've been blind about the Cardinal too. But, until death will I stay faithful to the crown." finished the man with a polite bow, quickly imitated by the soldiers behind him.

All the group was surprised to see the soldiers step on the way to let them pass.

"Come, my Queen, I've made sure the way has been cleared to the lower level. Me and my men would be honoured to escort you." said the Chancellor as he pulled out his sword.

"Chancellor...thank you, really." thanked the Queen before continuing.

"I have to be honest...I had doubts concerning you, Chancellor. Allow me to apologise." said Kitsu as she respectfully bowed to the man who smiled at her in return.

"One day I'll have to introduce you to my wife."

"Isn't she the lady always wearing beautiful hats?" asked Kitsu.

"Indeed, and her long white ears under it are even more beautiful."

The Queen seemed surprised.

"Your wife is a beastkin, Chancellor? I didn't know that."

"Half-human would be more exact, you Highness. Her mother was a rabitkin, from whom she got her ears. Being human everywhere else, it is not very hard to hide them so we aren't bothered by some...narrow-minded people."

Once out of the castle, the group hurried to quickly pass the front court.

"Your Highness, is there a mage with you?" inquired Gastonar.

"I can use magic, yes." answered Kitsu.

"Then use your magic to teleport the Queen and the Princess out of here. We will evacuate the rest of the group."

"But...I cannot go and leave everyone else behind, it..."

"Your Majesty! Do not worry about us, we will be alright!" said one of the maid, quickly imitated by others.

"What about you all? Will you be alright too?" asked the queen to her rainbow guard.

"It is our duty to worry about you, not the other way, your Majesty." answered Mandarine with a smile. "We will be fine, just go somewhere safe, we will join you later."

The queen sighed.

"Very well...Kitsu, Arima, let's go."

Arima ran to Mandarine and held her in her tiny arms for a second or two.

"Please! Be safe, alright?" begged the princess.

Mandarine smiled as she patted the girl's head.

"Do not worry, we will see each other again soon, I promise."

Arima nodded and grabbed Kitsu's hand before the three of them teleported elsewhere.

"Alright, everyone, let's hurry to the lower level!" commanded the Chancellor as the group continued to advance as fast as possible.

"So? Any ideas about the one who shot?" asked Framboise to Citron.

"No, it clearly came from the crowd, but I doubt it was one of the soldiers, they all had their weapons confiscated before coming in the throne room."

"One of the servants?"

"Possible, although highly improbable. This bolt was shot by an experienced fighter."

.........................................................................................................................................................

"You did well, Inquisitor." complimented the cardinal.

"Everything to help you enlight the world, your Holiness" answered Milne, a knee on the ground, humbly looking down. As she looked up to him, a red light passed in her eyes for a second.

"I'm happy to see the light of Carendar I have bestowed you has found a true believer's soul. Tell me, Inquisitor, how do you feel?"

"Enlighted, your Holiness."

"And what about the doubt in your heart?"

"There is no doubt in this heart of mine, your Holiness." answered Milne.

Once again, her tone was one of a puppet more than a human.

"This is a good thing. Now, Inquisitor Milne, hear my next commandment. I want you to pursue the one responsible of the shattering of Carendar's flame in the capital, the one who has brought shadow in this holy place. I want you to hunt down the demons disguise as our dear Queen Alexandria and Princess Arima. They have abused everyone, and it is our duty, as bringers of light, to make sure they will not cause more pain to the innocents." ordered the cardinal, his newfound position in the throne room giving him more confidence in his words than he already had.

"Your wish is my command, Cardinal. I'll hunt down those demons in disguise and bring back the light in the capital."

"I'm glad to be able to count on a virtuous soul like yours, Inquisitor Milne. But know that you won't be alone in your holy quest..."

Snapping his fingers, the cardinal signalled a paladin to approach, bringing with him a blade. It was a rapier like she was used to handling, only this one was clearly better forged.

"This blade has been blessed by my prayer and will help you on your quest. Take it, Inquisitor, it is yours to use."

Doing as told, Milne took the blade and bowed once again before going to the exit.

"Go, Inquisitor, go and punish those responsible for your sister's death!" encouraged the cardinal to the fully angered Inquisitor.

...........................................................................................................................................................

"What are you doing?" asked Lin-Lin as she was reattaching her upper armour.

Maximilian had taken out Arca's arm and was now using some spell on it as it was on the bed.

"I'm trying to find Arca. It is her arm, if it still contains one bit of energy, I should be able to determine her general position."

"I don't understand, how does it work?" questioned Lin-Lin as she came closer, looking with interest at her master's work.

"It's...like an echo. I'm using magic energy to create a wave with the little bit of energy in the arm, and when the wave finds the same energy elsewhere, it comes back to me, sending me in the good direction."

"...It's like a compass?"

"In a certain way, yes. Good comparison, I hadn't thought about it."

Seeing Maximilian frowning in front of the arm, Lin-Lin got curious again.

"Isn't it working?"

"It's strange. I get an echo as soon as I produce the wave. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, maybe I'm putting too much energy into it..." wondered Maximilian, using the same spell again and again, always getting the same result.

"How come I get an echo as soon as I create the wave..."

"Couldn't it be because Arca is near us?" suggested Lin-Lin.

Maximilian tilted his head to the side as he crossed his arms.

"Well, it could be...but for the echo to be this soon, she could very well be in the same room as us...or in the inn! Good thinking, Lin-Lin!"

Maximilian jumped off the bed, put back the arm in the Havenbag and quickly went out of the room, followed by Lin-Lin.

...........................................................................................................................................................

"Sir, there is a thing we have to talk about!"

As Maximilian arrived near the innkeeper, the man was actively being spoken to by the lizardman in a language Maximilian didn't understand at first. The innkeeper was nodding or answering by small words in the common language, showing he basically understood what the lizardman was saying, but was clearly unable to speak like him.

Lizardkin language skill obtained.

*...It's been a while. That could be useful, let's maximise it quickly*

"Is there a problem, dear customer?" asked the innkeeper with a friendly smile.

"Sorry to interrupt you both, but the situation is quite urgent." said Maximilian low enough to not get attention from the other people in the room. "Me and my friend are looking for friends of ours, and we think they might be hiding here."

"Friend of yours? You have to be more precise or I won't be able to help you, Sir."

Maximilian looked left and right, checking if they were listened by anyone, then continued.

"A hurt semi-orc, probably with an elf and soldiers. Is it precise enough?" asked Maximilian.

"Boss! They're looking for them! We have to warn them they've been found before it's too late!"

The lizardman had spoken in lizardkin language, his mouth and tongue clapping and clicking several times as he spoke, the language was harsh like a rock and sharp like a blade, sounding exactly like, Maximilian imagined, a speaking raptor or alligator would.

And, making the lizardman, the innkeeper and Lin-Lin opening their eyes wide, Maximilian answered in the same way, although his own jaw wasn't making the clapping noise when he did.

"So they are here, thank you for the information, K'yrch."

Quickly shaking out of his surprise, the lizardman got in a defensive position, showing his long claws.

"Please, I don't want to get more attention than needed. Run to them, tell them Maximilian Baltazard Van Nilmerus is here, they should ask you to bring me to them. Hurry, I need to see them as soon as possible."

K'yrch looked at the innkeeper who nodded to him. Once the lizard man was gone, running in the kitchen direction, Maximilian smiled at Lin-Lin.

"Once again, good guess on your part."

"What? Why? I didn't understand a single word you just said, Maximilian! All I heard was a succession of small clicking noises and some little shrilling noises...what did you do that caused this lizard man to run away?" questioned Lin-Lin.

Maximilian explained to her he had simply spoken to him in his own language and that was what had surprised him.

A minute or two later, K'yrch came back.

"He k'said the truth. They know him, they want to k'see him."

The innkeeper nodded and signalled them to pass, making sure no one was looking.

"Hurry!"

Maximilian and Lin-Lin followed K'yrch to the kitchen where Litel and her mother were working. When they saw the duo enter, the look on their faces was clear: the duo wasn't supposed to be there.

"Itk's alright, madam, they know them."

"Is it true? In that case..."

The tall woman stepped on the side, revealing a trapdoor under her feet. K'yrch quickly opened it and the duo went inside.

The hidden room under the trapdoor was dark, lighten up just enough for the ones inside to see who they were talking to or what they were doing. The room was almost empty, only some basic beds had been installed there, bedcovers were used by most of the soldiers to not sleep on the stone ground and to get a bit warmer. Even if the warmth of the kitchen above protect them from freezing, it was still cold and humid.

All looked up when Maximilian and Lin-Lin arrived.

"It's dark and cold in here."

"Can't lit more fire, would burn ceiling." quickly explained K'yrch.

"True..."

Snapping his fingers, Maximilian created several small spheres of light. They flew around and got close to the soldiers, lighting up the room and warming it too, the sphere emitting a warm light like a fairy in the night.

"Lord Maximilian?"

Maximilian heard a voice coming from the back of the room. As he got closer, he saw Alariel sitting next to Arca, laid on a fortune bed with bandages around her shoulder.

"I'm glad to see you again, Alariel. How are you all doing?" asked Maximilian in a concerned tone.

"As well as you can see, I'm afraid." answered the elf with a feeble smile.

As his spheres light up the room, Maximilian saw how in bad shape the elf was too. It was clear she hadn't been sleeping for a long time, even before the jailbreak. Her hair were rudely combed back, her tired eyes looking straight at Maximilian. Her dress had been torn apart at several places, used to make Arca's bandages.

"Don't worry, I'm here to help. Could you give me space? I will start with Arca."

Alariel stood up, exceeded by the events.

"Do what you can, Sir Maximilian, but I'm afraid there is nothing to be done for her...Our friend keeping the inn had given us as much as they could to eat and drink, but they aren't wealthy enough to nourish us all, and you can imagine we don't have anything to pay them with. As for Arca, I managed to burn her injury strongly enough for it to stop bleeding but...she hasn't been really conscious since. We managed to make her drink a bit, but nothing more and...her fever is getting worse I'm afraid. "

Alariel took her face in her hands, sobbing slightly.

"I feel so weak, not able to do anything to help my friend, Sir Maximilian!"

Maximilian patted her shoulder slightly.

"You did good, Alariel, you lead those people here and you managed to keep her alive. Now it's my turn to act. Lin-Lin!"

"Maximilian?" said Lin-Lin, ready to do what was needed to help.

"Here, take this!"

Maximilian threw her a small purse who made a metallic noise as she caught it.

"Take K'yrsh, maybe Litel too if she's okay with it, and go to the marketplace. Buy everything you can to eat, meat and vegetables, bread if there are some. K'yrsh, you know the good places?"

The lizard man looked surprisingly at Maximilian, not understanding what was happening.

"K'yrsh know, but..."

"No time to waste, don't worry about the money and bring back as much as you can, those people need strength, they need to eat."

"Yes, Maximilian!" answered Lin-Lin before running out of the room, quickly followed by K'yrsh.

Once that was done, Maximilian came next to Arca, kneeling next to her bed as he took off his mantle and coat to move easily.

"What are you going to do? Even a health potion won't be able to help her this time." said Alariel as she stood next to Maximilian.

"Indeed, what we need isn't a potion, but magic. Fortunately, I happen to be a mage, isn't that neat?"

Alariel sighed as she massaged her closed eyes.

"Sir Maximilian, please. I have far too little energy to endure your wittiness..."

"Sorry, Alariel. Let me work, I think I can help our friend here. But before that..."

Pointing up, Maximilian traced runes midair. They flew and came on the ceiling.

"I'm afraid she's going to scream. With this, we won't be heard."

Maximilian examined the injured semi-orc. She was gritting her teeth unconsciously, the pain clearly too much to endure, and her forehead was far too hot because of the fever. She was sweating profusely and the bandages around her injury were tainted red because of what was inside.

"First thing first, I must give her more strength or she might not survive the operation."

Acting as he spoke, Maximilian put his hands on Arca's forehead and chest. He closed his eyes for a second, before reopening them, visualising Arca's health state.

*Not good, she is clearly getting worse. Let's start with a healing spell...*

Alariel opened her eyes wide as she saw Maximilian's hands beginning to shine.

*If she has a fever, it must mean she has an infection causing it, I must focus on it.*

Like he thought it would, the infection was situated around her injury, slowly eating her flesh like a parasite.

To help her get better, Maximilian used the hand on her forehead and put it directly on her injury, tearing off the bandage around it.

"WHAT ARE YOU...!" exclaimed Alariel.

"Not a word!" cut Maximilian, not even needing to shout to make the elf lady stop talking.

The injury was ugly, burned by Alariel as the last resort to save Arca. The burned flesh had been washed several times before bandages had been put on, but the infection had appeared on it nonetheless, pus oozing from the black flesh.

*Ugly...time to use som magic.*

Maximilian put his hand directly on the injury, his hand right on the burned flesh. As his shining hand touched the injury, the light became brighter and Arca awoke with a scream.

With the hand on his chest, Maximilian maintained her on the bed, preventing any dangerous movement from her.

It lasted for a minute or two, then it stopped. Arca was breathing loudly and deeply, her eyes stopped on Maximilian.

"You...what are you doing here?"

"Saving your life, as the Princess asked." Answered Maximilian with a kind smile.

"Don't bother...I'm dead already, look at this..."

Showing the non-existent arm with a head sign, Arca sighed in desperation.

"I'm a failure as a soldier, as a guardian. I couldn't protect the Princess, I couldn't even protect the soldiers under my command...and know I won't even be able to handle a sword...Why should you waste energy on saving a failure such as myself?"

"It's my energy, I do what I want with it. I already managed to take care of the infection, your fever is dropping, it won't bother you for long."

"And then what? I'll be nothing but a crippled semi-human. What could I do? Becoming a beggar? No, I know! Why not being an attraction on the market place, to show everyone what a failure looks like!"

Arca went on like that for a bit, her still existing arm raised before her as if trying to grasp thin air.

Maximilian patiently waited for her to finish. Once she was done, she realised he hadn't said a word and looked at him, almost surprised.

"You're done?" asked Maximilian.

"Done for? I thought I was clear enough..."

"No...What I'm asking is if you're done complaining about your situation?"

Arca laughed without any joy.

"Oh, I'm sorry if complaining about my situation is taking on your precious time! But tell me, what should I do? You, who seem to know everything, tell me!"

"Fight, of course." answered Maximilian on an 'as a matter of fact' tone.

Arca looked at him mouth opened for a second.

"What? Were you waiting for an answer disguise in an obscure riddle or something like that? Sorry but I don't have time to humour you. You have two choices, fight or don't fight. You can lay here and wait for death to come, or you can choose to stop whining and let me help you get your arm back, although this will hurt you far more than it did to lose it..."

Not waiting for the semi-orc answer, Maximilian stood up and turned to face the rest of the people in the room.

"You have been beaten up, forced to hide like criminals, but you still live. They didn't manage to kill you, don't give them the pleasure to drop dead now."

Pulling his arms behind him, Maximilian focused two kinds of magic, one in each hand. In one hand he materialised wind magic and in the other holy magic. In a swift motion, he put his two open palms before him.

"Healing wind."

From his hands came a wave of golden dust that rushed to reach the other side of the room, passing through every soldier and Alariel.

One after the other, they looked at their hands, amazed to see their slight injuries from their precedent journey closing rapidly. That, and the painful feeling they had accumulated while in jail and the last day hiding went away too.

"What...what was that?" questioned Alariel.

"Holy magic, mixed with wind magic to win time. Arca's injuries were more serious but you all should be fine with this. Now excuse me I have meals to prepare."

Alariel grasped his arm as he passed next to her.

"What about..." Alariel didn't need to finish her phrase, showing Arca with a head sign.

The semi-orc was silently palpating her shoulder, where her arm used to be.

"Her injury is treated for now. For her arm, it's a decision she needs to make by herself."

Alariel let go of his arm and he went out of the room, thanked by the healed soldiers on his way.

Once he was gone, Alariel sighed and came to sit next to Arca, still focused on her injury.

They stayed like that for a bit, not saying anything, then Alariel decided to break the silence.

"Do you still remember our first time meeting each other?"

Arca chuckled with a slight smile.

"If I remember? I couldn't forget for all the gold in the world. You, standing next to the King. And the Queen, pregnant with Princess Arima, chuckling with Kitsu about your desperate face when you saw me."

"Can you really blame me? I was told someone had passed the test to become a new captain in the King's army. I was expecting a strong looking barbarian from what I had heard about your fights. And then, coming before the King like it was the most natural things to do, was you, a young semi-orc barely old enough to be called a Lady."

"I never pretended to be a lady, Alariel, you know this perfectly."

"Oh that I know, from all those times I tried to invite you to one of the parties where I'm sure you could have shined and you refused, I know perfectly well you don't consider yourself a Lady. But, you want to know something? I have never lost hope to finally see you happy in a pretty dress."

This made Arca chuckled a bit.

"I think you're going to have to wait a long time for that to happen, Alariel."

"Who knows...didn't he told you he could help you have it back?" said Alariel as she nodded in the missing arm direction.

Arca sighed.

"I know what he said but...Alariel, you are a mage, a good one. From what you know, is this even possible? Growing back a missing body part, I mean."

Alariel thought for a bit.

"Presently? No...but..."

"But? Please, Alariel, if there is something you know..."

Alariel lifted a hand to stop her fellow guardian.

"Please don't get excited...I've read stories...heard legends, old times legends. In ancient times, ancient even for us elves, it is told that mages were far more powerful than they are now. It is told they were so powerful they were almost equal to the Gods. They could raise an army of golems by their simple will, cast magic without a catalyst, bring back people from the death, or almost dead at least. Growing back body parts was certainly possible for them."

Arca listened to Alariel as she laid back, sighing.

"So...what do you think? Is it possible for him?"

"I don't know Arca. But, the more I see, the more I believe. He can use magic without a catalyst, he can use high-level spells from different schools without any troubles, by the Goddess he just mixed two different spells before my eyes and I still have trouble believing it!"

The two stayed silent for a bit after that.

"Arca...have I ever told you how I came to serve the King and Queen?"

Arca wondered for a bit before answering.

"Not that I remember..."

"I was sent to Griffinia by the Elfic Kingdom."

"By Eternia? Why?"

"It is a custom. Each century, the two leading families, one for the high elves and one for the Drows, reunite and chose a representant who will go to the leading human kingdom as an Emissary of good will, bringing a gift to show the Elfic kingdom is willing to maintain an amicable relation with the human kingdom. I was the one chosen this time."

"It's true that you act a lot like an Emissary, always polite and all..." taunted Arca with a little smile.

"More than my role, it is how I was educated, Arca. Since birth, I have been prepared to serve as an Emissary. Being polite and ladylike his only parts of my education."

"Me, I was educated with fists and feet hitting me...but I suppose It's only a cultural thing..."

"Anyway, Mother and Father, as part of a noble family, knew perfectly well that having their daughter serving as an Emissary would bring honour to us all, so they did what they had to for that. I was trained, modelled, formed to be the perfect lady, the perfect Emissary, and years later, I presented myself before Aremik, young King of Griffinia, recently married to the beautiful Alexandria, pregnant with the prince at that time."

"So...you came as an Emissary...what happened then?"

"I did what I was told. I presented the good will of my people before the throne, bowing before the King and Queen of Griffinia, presented the gift of good will, then my duty as an Emissary was done."

"That was all? Was it all you had to do to fulfil your duty? Talking about a long preparation for nothing..."

"That's because I'm telling you the short version. In reality, before being allowed in front of the King, there are a lot of modalities, nobles to meet, dinners to attend to...you know, the kind of things you love."

"Okay, okay, sorry to have interrupted you...and then? If your duty was done, why did you stay?"

Alariel chuckled a bit before answering.

"I fell in love."

Arca seemed surprised by that.

"Really? Who is it? Do I know him?"

"That's not a man..."

"Oh, sorry, what is her name, then?"

"...nor is it a woman."

Seeing her friend's interrogative face, Alariel chuckled a bit more.

"What I fell in love with was you, the short-time ones. The elves live for a long time, several centuries, some even a millennium, but they...how to say this...they are just there, they exist more than they live. You all, who have only a short time to spend alive, are so full of energy, so alive. That is what I fell in love with. The first one who made me understand that is the Queen herself."

"The Queen? How?"

"Have you ever see a pregnant elf, Arca?"

"No...I don't think so."

"It is not surprising, elves tend to live longer, but it is harder for them to conceive. It is not that troubling because of our long lifespan, but we tend to forget how beautiful a mother-to-be can be. The first time I saw her, the Queen carrying the Prince in her belly was one of the most beautiful people I had met until then. And she was so curious too! When my duty was done, she asked me to stay for a bit, to tell her more about my people, she wanted to learn. To see a Queen like her being so humble, so willing to learn from others was a revelation to me. Before I realised it, the Prince had grown up and the Queen was waiting for a second child. Now that I think about it, Kitsu and I must be the two other people who had the privilege to carry the Prince and Princesses on our knees other than the King and the Queen."

Saying the last sentence, Alariel was lost in her memories for a minute or two.

"Say, Alariel. Kitsu, how was she when she was younger?" questioned Arca, her valid arm on her forehead.

"hmm...'savage' would be a good way of describing her. Did you know she was an adventurer before?"

"I didn't know that."

"She was. In fact, the wife of the innkeeper was a member of her group."

"How come I have never heard of that?"

"A lot of people don't know about Kitsu's past life. I am an exception because the Queen, Kitsu and I had a lot of time to discuss around a cup of tea when she was waiting for the children, at times when she wasn't in condition to really work."

"So that's why...did you learn anything else?" questioned Arca, interested in the elf's story.

"Not a lot. Her group was made of four girls, all gold blond. Kitsu was the mage of the group, although her beastkin traits allowed her to defend herself in close combat, the innkeeper's wife, as you can guess, was the heavy fighter of the group, being an amazon and all...there was also a sister."

"A white mage? Like the healers in the church?"

"Exactly. She was the one taking care of the injuries. And finally, a thief, dagger and bow, locked doors or chest, that was her kind of thing. Because of their hair colour, they were called 'the Goldies'. ".

" The Goldies....the Goldies...I've heard that name before. They were some famous adventurers before, they stopped early to retire quite young, isn't that true?"

"Indeed."

"Did Kitsu told you why?"

"She said they had managed to do what they wanted to and went their separate ways, but they also swear fidelity to each other, to always be there if something bad would happen. Kitsu came to serve the Queen who was more than happy to welcome her, the amazon married and got a daughter...as for the two others, I don't really know."

Once again, the two stayed silent for a while.

"Alariel...why did you become Princess Arima's guardian?"

"I could ask you the same question..."

"Would you believe me if I told you it was for fame and money?"

"Not a second." answered Alariel with a smile.

Arca chuckled.

"I liked the idea that the Queen herself was trusting me enough to entrust her daughter's life to me, although I sometimes wonder what made her choose me amongst others..." said Arca

"It was me." simply said Alariel.

Arca raised her head a bit as she heard that.

"You? What do you mean?"

"For years, I have served as an advisor to the Queen and King, I was even allowed near the King as a mage protector when he had to receive important visits...or name a new captain, in your case...But, even with me looking after him while he was on the throne, someone or something managed to poison the King's spirit."

"How could this happen? Weren't you suppose to protect him?"

"I did, believe me, I did. But, as much as it pains me, I don't know everything about magic, all the curses and black magic that exist in this world aren't part of my knowledge, and someone has found something unknown to me, something that allowed the corruption of our King."

"What did you do?"

"What could I do? When I realised something was wrong, it was already too late, the King's soul was gradually becoming imprisoned in his own body, his spirit only able to be heard from times to times. As time passed, it was only getting worse. Soon, the Queen herself wasn't allowed near the King, the one controlling his mind making him see his own wife as a potential danger. I think the only thing that saved the Queen is the love her husband have for her. Deep inside, behind the curse, the true King knows how much his wife and children love him. Even with a curse, the one controlling him didn't manage to change that. Me, on the other hand, the Queen understood very quickly that I couldn't stay near the King or my life would be threatened. She understood it clearly the day her own son was accused of treason and I tried to defend him, if it wasn't for her intervention, I wouldn't be here today. As a servant, and I think as a friend, she couldn't simply let me go like that, she wanted me near her family like so many years before. And that was then that Princess Arima came up with the idea of her quest. She immediately asked me to become one of her guardians, I accepted of course. And when she asked me if I had any idea on who should be the other guardian, I thought about you."

"But...why?"

"You wanna know the truth? I had been watching you for a while. Following with interest the way you were handling things, how you were treating those under your command. One time or two, I had the chance to discuss with some of your underlings, and even with you several times to learn about you, even if just a bit. You, apart from Kitsu and the Queen, are the one I trust the most, Arca. I had that feeling when I started to learn more about you, and it was because I trust you that I suggested you should be Arima's guardian...beccause I couldn't imagine anyone more worthy of watching my back than you."

Finished with her explanation, Alariel became quiet once again, looking at the ground for a bit.

"Thank you..."

The trembling voice of Arca surprised Alariel. When she looked at her, she saw the semi-orc had covered her eyes with her remaining arms, certainly to hide the tears coming from them.

"I...I'm happy...you are here with me, Alariel."

Putting a hand on Arca's shoulder, Alariel smiled at her.

"That's what friends are for..."

.........................................................................................................................................................

"I have rarely seen so much food in my kitchen..." said the Amazon in awe.

Lin-Lin, K'yrsh and Litel were back from the market, carrying each two full baskets of victuals. Meat, vegetables and bread, they had a bit of everything.

"Could you lend me your kitchen, Madam?" asked Maximilian as he rolled up his sleeves.

"Please, call me Tallel. Only if you let me help you, those are Kitsu's friend after all." answered the tall woman.

"As you wish, Tallel. With this much to cook, a bit of help would be welcome."

Getting to work, Maximilian and Tallel, helped by the trio back from the market, prepared enough stew for everyone hidden under the trapdoor.

"I must say, Sir, you are quite skilled in the kitchen for a noble." complimented Tallel.

"That's because I'm not a noble, Tallel. I am well dressed, but only because I had the chance to find those on my journey. Another thing is that I find it very pleasant to cook, more so when it's people I care about."

"Is that so? Does he cook a lot for you, Girl?" asked the tall woman with a big grin to a blushing Lin-Lin.

"Mum! Stop bothering our customers like that!" scolded Litel.

"How do you think I seduced your father? I didn't meet him in my bed you know, I cooked for him before we..." taunted the tall woman.

"I don't hear a thing!!!" sang Litel as she went to bring back several bowls, making her mother laughed out loud.

A bit later, the meal was ready and they started to bring the ration down to everyone.

"Wait, this one is specially made for Arca, okay?" precise Maximilian as he gave the bowl to Lin-Lin.

She nodded and went down to give the semi-orc her meal.

"Why specially for her?" asked Tallel, busy serving the meal for the others.

"I added one or two things in her portions, it will help for what is to come."

"Could you be more precise?"

"Certainly. If she's willing to, I'm going to grow her arm back, so I boosted her meal a bit, she will need energy. Now if you'll excuse me..."

Maximilian nodded to the mother and daughter then went down, leaving the two alone in the kitchen.

"Mum? Did this man said he was gonna grow the semi-orc lady's arm back?"

"That's what I think I heard, Dear..."

"But...growing a lost body part back is impossible, right?" questioned Litel.

"That's what I've heard..."

"Do you think he is crazy? Or maybe he is lying..."

"That, or we could very well see something special happening. You know, my family said I had to be crazy to marry your father, but when I see you, I think the result is quite satisfactory..." ended Tallel with a loving smile for her daughter.

"You were talking about me?" asked the innkeeper as he passed by to grab an apple.

"...for the most part, at least." quickly added the amazon with a chuckle.

.........................................................................................................................................................

"How is it? Better than prison food I hope." asked Maximilian as he came to seat near the guardians.

"It's a bliss, Maximilian, a bliss." stated Alariel as she, in a very unladylike way, gulped down the meal.

"Glad you like it. What about you, Arca?"

The semi-orc, sitting with her leg crossed, was looking at the bowl between her legs, playing with her spoon.

"Maximilian?"

"Yes?"

"You said you could give me back my arm...is it true or was it only you giving me hope?" asked the semi-orc as she looked at him.

"I may have a way to give it back to you. It's risky, though, and it will depend on how hard you're willing to fight the pain."

"But you can do it, right?" expectantly asked Arca.

"In theory, yes, I can."

Arca looked once again at her food, playing a bit with it as she stayed silent.

"Fine...do it."

"Come again?" asked Maximilian.

"I said do it! I want my arm back! You said if I was willing to fight, you were willing to help. Then, I'm willing to fight, so help me!" stated Arca with conviction.

"May I ask what made you retrieve your guts while I was gone?" asked Maximilian, happy to see Arca's spirit back.

Arca took a look at Alariel, busy eating.

"I know there are people counting on me, friends who would be sad to see me give up. I want to fight for them...I want to fight for myself too."

"Fine then, start by eating what I made for you, and I want you to leave nothing in that bowl, am I clear?"

"O...okay..." said Arca as she started eating. "Hey! That's freaking good!"

"Of course it is, what do you take me for?" answered Maximilian on a mocked angry tone.

While Arca was eating, Maximilian went to see Alariel who had finished her bowl and was now drinking some wine brought by K'yrsh, graciously offered by Tallel and her husband. She explained to him what had happened to them since they came back, in the throne room and in the prison. How they managed to escaped thanks to Paron and other members of the group.

"Paron...he truly was a nice guy..."

"Indeed, It's a shame he had to die like this."

They talked a bit more while everyone was finishing their meal. Once done, Maximilian and Alariel went back at Arca's side, seconded by Lin-Lin, and also Tallel who had come to see if they needed anything.

"You said you could give me back my arm, but how are you going to do this?"

"I'm going to use this..." answered Maximilian as he took out the severed arm from the Havenbag.

The ladies took a step back, excepted Arca who lost a bit of colour on her face.

"Is it...."

"Your arm? Yes, Kitsu found it in the prison and I took it, I thought I could use it to find you. Seeing this worked out well, I have good hopes for the rest. I need you to lay on your back, Arca."

The semi-orc did as told.

"So, to explain this simply: I cannot create life, nor produce flesh. Some pretend they can do it but it's only manipulating dead corpse by necromancy, that's not what I'm going to do here. What I'm going to do is use your severed arm as raw material to replace it on your body. Unfortunately, it has started to rot already, even if just a tiny bit. To be sure you won't suffer from any bad after effect, I will have to dispose of all the unusable parts. Because of that, I risk to have too few raw material, that's where the meal I made for you will become useful."

"The meal? What does it have to do with this?" asked Alariel, not missing a single word of the conversation.

"I made something very nutritious for all of you, but I boosted up Arca's portion a bit. By using a mix of health potion ingredients and energy potion ingredients, I manage to produce a mixture allowing you to 'create flesh' by yourself."

"Sorry but...I don't understand." stated Tallel.

"How to explain...when you cut yourself, after some time, thanks to a good nutrition and rest, your flesh heal, right?"

He waited for all of them to nod before continuing.

"What I put in your meal is a mixture speeding up this natural effect to an abnormal pace. For the next minutes, I boosted your natural regeneration so much that..."

Maximilian took a small knife and slightly cut Arca's leg.

"Hey!"

"Don't worry, look..."

Everyone looked at the semi- orc's injury as it closed in a few seconds.

"Impressive..."

"As you see, her body is currently generating flesh at an abnormal pace. This will be vital for my work to go smoothly. Now, Arca, listen to me well. This will take a bit of time, and it will hurt like you never thought something could hurt before."

"That much?" asked Tallel.

"If I had to guess, I would say ten times giving birth at the same time and all the time while the operation last."

"Oh..." Tallel disappeared out of the hidden room for a bit, only to come back a few seconds later with a piece of thick wood handle covered by a leather band.

"Bite this, my dear, it helps..."

"Thank you." Said Arca as she took the offered biting tool and put it between her teeth.

"Couldn't you, I don't know, make her sleep or something?" asked Alariel, worried for her friend.

"I'm afraid I can't. She has to be conscious. If she faints, I'll have to restart everything, and I risk to waste the raw material I have. And before you ask, I won't be able to do this with flesh coming from anyone or anything else."

"What do you mean?" asked Tallel.

"Think about it like this, It's Arca's flesh I'm making, I can only use Arca's flesh as material, no other flesh would do...it is too risky, It could kill her if her body was to reject the foreign flesh. And to produce a big part like an arm without any raw material at first, it would take too much from her."

Seeing some of them hadn't understood, Maximilian sighed.

" Let's summarise it: this is your only chance to get your arm back. If I have to interrupt my work, if you lose consciousness, it will be the end. Do you understand, Arca?"

The semi-orc gulped loudly but nodded nonetheless.

"Very well...I'm going to attach you now, Only to make sure you won't hurt yourself by moving too much."

Once again, Arca nodded.

With a finger snap, Maximilian made several chains of earth appeared from the ground. They turned around the semi- orc's body, securing her remaining arm and legs as well as her head and torso.

"Comfortable?" asked Maximilian.

The look on Arca's face was saying a lot of things, but certainly not that she was comfortable.

"That's what I thought. If any of you have a question, it's now or after I'm done..."

Maximilian looked around him and saw no one had anything to add.

"Very well, let's begin."

Maximilian loudly clapped his hands, making a circle of magic appear under Arca.

*First, get rid of the rotten flesh.*

Maximilian threw the severed arm up and, as it stayed midair, analysed in an instant the parts needing to be removed. Using his knife, he quickly cut the small unusable parts who disappeared, evaporated in the halo coming from the magic circle.

After he was done, a good half of the arm volume was gone, as well as some fragments of bones.

*Done. Now I take the raw material...*

He took the arms between his hands and, in a swift movement, crushed it between his hands under the amazed look of the ladies around him.

*...and I use it to rebuild what was lost...*

"Ready Arca?"

Maximilian saw the conviction in the semi- orc's eyes, she was as ready as she could be.

"Alright then!"

As he separated his hands, the arm was completely gone, leaving nothing but a kind of thick dark brown dough.

*I visualise what I want to create...I focalise my magic on it. I infuse holy magic in the process...First, the bone...*

The burned injury shined for a second, the burned layer disappearing to open a clear view to Arca's inside without, strangely enough, letting a single drop of blood coming out.

As soon as the injury began to shine, Arca bit hard on the stick, screaming in pain with her mouth shut.

From the point where it had been cut, Arca's bones started to regrow, remaking themselves slowly as the dough floating midair right above was disappearing in dust, like the upper part of an hourglass slowly filling the down part.

* It's going well, her bone is regrowing nicely...While I'm at it...*

As the bones were growing back, Maximilian who was guiding the reconstruction, used the tip of his fingers to wrote runes on Arca's bone, the magic symbol appearing like golden pictures on the white bones.

All the time he was making the bones, Arca was screaming her pain, luckily muted a bit by the stick in her mouth.

After several long minutes, the bones were completely reconstructed.

*Now, the flesh...*

Once again starting from the shoulder, Maximilian used the ball of dough to remake Arca's flesh, nerves, muscles,...

The semi-orc, who had breathed a bit better the short second Maximilian had taken to replace himself at her shoulder, was screaming even louder now, the pain worse than before.

*Everything is going just fine...the raw material will last until the elbow, after that, I'll have to use Arca's own flesh. Hang on, Arca!*

Doing is best to be as precise and fast as possible, Maximilian couldn't make the pain less painful for the semi-orc who, fortunately, was still fighting to not lose consciousness.

Arrived at the elbow, the dough completely disappeared. The second it was gone, some little parts of Arca's flesh started to disappeared from her body as if she was skinned alive, only to regrow a second later. The new pain added to the other one was too much for Arca who started to scream less and less, losing consciousness.

"STAY AWAKE!!!" roared Maximilian, surprising everyone as the wall around him literally shook a bit.

But it worked, Arca opened her eyes wide, exasperation mixed with the pain in her scream, tears of pain dropping from her eyes.

*It's tearing me apart to inflict this to her...Hang on, Arca, it's almost done.*

After a time who must have seems like an eternity to Arca, her arm was almost done, only her skin was missing.

*Every bit of air on it must feel like a thousand blades cutting through her flesh, I have to hurry.*

One last time, Maximilian returned to her shoulder. This time, he put his hands against her flesh, making the semi-orc screaming even more. Golden waves came from his hands, covering the flesh around them. Bit by bit, centimetre by centimetre, green skin started to form around the body part.

Maximilian advanced steadily, not missing a single spot on the arm and, after long minutes, he was finally done.

*Now that the arm is done, let's stimulate it...*

Snapping his fingers on both hands, he made small electric arcs appeared between his thumbs and index. Arca looked vaguely in his direction, certainly wondering what pain he still had to inflict her to finally be done with it.

"Arca! Grab me!!!" ordered Maximilian has he touched her shoulder and fingertips, making the electricity run along her arm.

The pain was, once again, something Arca wouldn't wish to her worst enemy. The electricity was piercing her, burning her, freezing her, cutting her, there were so many sensations running through her body, she wanted it to stop, she had to make it stop!

"S....st....STOOOOOOP!!!" finally roared Arca as she broke the stick between her teeth, her new arm moving to grasp Maximilian's arm, making the pain stop in an instant.

A heavy silence fell on the room, nobody saying anything. Around Arca, the earth chains disappeared, setting her free. The semi-orc breathed in, slowly and deeply, feeling light and tired at the same time. The pain was gone, and so was her energy, she was so tired now.

"Arca? Are you alright?" inquired Alariel, worry about her friend.

Arca simply nodded before finally letting go of Maximilian's arm, drifting away to unconsciousness.

"Maximilian, is she okay?!!" asked Alariel, her eyes going from her friend to the man who was torturing her a second ago.

"She will be. Didn't you see, she made me stop by grasping me. Her arm is back, she made it. But, as I feared it would, this operation took a lot from her, she will sleep for a bit. When she'll wake up she will certainly be hungry, I'll prepare something for her to eat and drink."

Maximilian stepped back from the table, shaking his hands as if to get the feeling on them off.

"Maximilian? Are you alright?" kindly asked Lin-Lin as she put a hand on his back.

"I'll be, thank you Lin-Lin. I feel horrible to have inflicted so much pain on her, that's all." answered Maximilian with a little smile.

As he looked at the other soldiers in the room, he saw how they looked at him, thankful, impressed, but more than anything else, terrified. They were terrified by the man who had helped their captain, a woman so much stronger than them, and had made her scream in pain so much they were certain she would die.

"Let this be a lesson for everyone in this group, be careful when you fight. Losing a body part isn't pleasant, but retrieving it is even less enjoyable..."

Seeing his words weren't helping the uneasy feeling coming from them, Maximilian let a kind smile come to his face.

"...With that being said, I'll be more than happy to help any of you, you all who have fought and prove your allegiance to the Queen and Princess Arima. I salute the brave soldiers in front of me and hope we will all be able to correctly enjoy a true feast when this is all over, I promise you wine and food for everyone, music and song until our ears cannot take it anymore, and enough joy to wash away the pain of this last days."

Was it because of his high charisma stat or simply because his words had been rightly chosen, Maximilian didn't know, but what he knew was that the soldiers in front of him were feeling a lot better now, and it was showing on their face.

...........................................................................................................................................................

"Lord Nilmerus?"

While he was waiting for Arca to wake, Maximilian was once again using the kitchen, this time preparing something who was emitting a sweet sugary smell in the room. It was Tallel who came to talk to him, Lin-Lin had gone back to his room to get Dragnïr's egg, taking the time to hide it in a big bag he had given her, he didn't want everyone to see it.

"Please, Tallel, call me Maximilian, Nilmerus was my f....how do you know my name?" asked Maximilian, pretty sure he hadn't told it to her.

"Your friend Alariel told me." answered the tall woman with a little smile.

"Is that so? I wonder what other things she could have told you..." wondered Maximilian out loud, slowly turning in the big cauldron with one hand, using a long spoon to turn inside a smaller cauldron on the side.

"Some interesting things, actually. It is cute to see how willing she is to talk about you. For example, she told us you were the one who saved her and Princess Arima's group in the dungeon, using magic, operation and cooking skill. She also was disappointed to not be able to know more about you or where you come from."

Maximilian felt the tall woman coming behind him, bending over him to smell what was inside the cauldron.

"What an intriguing smell...what are you making?"

"Just a moment. I think a taste is worth a thousand words."

Making a small stone bowl appeared, Maximilian filled it with what was inside the big cauldron before using the long spoon to cover what was in the bowl with a light amber coloured cover. Once done, he gently blew on the bowl, slightly freezing the cover who became hard.

Presenting the bowl to Tallel with a spoon and a satisfied smile, Maximilian said.

"Here you are, hot milk rice with frozen caramel cover."

Taking the bowl and the spoon, Tallel observed it for a second or two, smelling what was inside, examining it. Then, using the spoon, she broke the caramel cover and took a spoon of the inside plus some pieces of the cover. As she put it in her mouth, you could have sworn she was gonna faint for a second, red coming to her cheeks.

"It's hot! But cold at the same time...It's smooth, but crunchy too and...and...it's so sweet!! How did you call this?"

"Hot milk rice with frozen caramel cover."

Using her spoon to search through the bowl, she picked one single grain or rice.

"Rice?...It's ben so long since I've eaten some...but I have never tasted it like that...how did you make it? How did you find rice in the first place? You can't find rice anywhere out of Orïanil!"

"I didn't find it, Lin-Lin did. She brought back a bag full it earlier, she was convinced by a foreign merchant to buy it for cheap because no one would buy it from him. She was well inspired to do so."

"Were you talking about me?" asked Lin-Lin as she came in the kitchen, a big bag under her arm.

"In fact we were. I was telling Tallel how inspired you had been to buy this..." said Maximilian as he showed the half emptied rice sac.

"Is it good? I wasn't sure about it, but the merchant seemed honest and it wasn't expensive so..."

"Taste it, see for yourself." said Maximilian as he prepared a bowl for her too.

The reaction from the beastkin was approximately the same than the amazon.

"Alright, I've made more than enough for everyone down there, bring this to them, would you?" asked Maximilian as he started to prepare one bowl after the other, Lin-Lin putting them on a plate and going down to bring them to the group.

Before that, she had put the bag down near Maximilian, next to the kitchen fire. Tallel, still observing Maximilian to learn more about how he had prepared the desert, took an interest in the bag when she heard the heavy sound it made when it touched the ground.

"What is that?" asked the tall woman, pointing at the bag.

"A bag..." answered Maximilian in a light tone.

Tallel smirked at his answer.

"That I figured. What I wondered was what was inside..."

"I could tell you...or you could ask me what you've wanting to ask since you came into the kitchen to see me..." said Maximilian on a calm tone, still preparing the bowl one after the other.

Tallel seemed surprised.

"I...how did you know?"

"Tallel, Alariel has told me a bit about you too while she was eating. You are a friend of Kitsu and you two were part of an adventurers party, her as a mage, you as a close fighter. And, like a lot of close fighters, you tend to be straightforward in your way of being, honest, honourable in your case, but quite bad when it comes to hiding something, like a purpose for example...that and I remembered recently that I could use magic to have a better apprehension of what people I'm talking to are thinking, so tell me, are you going to tell me."

"You...you can read minds?"

"Even if I could I wouldn't. I think knowing people thoughts would be a nightmare. I prefer to guess, it's funnier."

Tallel stayed silent for a bit, then nodded.

"Very well. What you did to Arca was wonderful. I had never seen something like that, even when I was travelling in my younger days."

"Thank you..."

"I was wondering...would it be possible for you to do it again?"

Tallel question made Maximilian look above his shoulder, arching an eyebrow.

"Why? Are you planning on losing an arm?"

Tallel chuckled.

"After seeing how painful it is to get it back? No, thank you. It's not for me, actually. It's for..."

"Mother, some customer are asking what is smelling so good, what are you doing in h...Oh, sorry! I didn't know you and Sir Maximilian were discussing."

Litel, who had come inside the kitchen while talking, apologised quickly as she saw the two in the middle of their discussion.

"Sweety! You come at the right time. Maximilian, I was asking this for her."

Litel looked from her mother to Maximilian, curious.

"For me? What are you two talking about?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong but your daughter seems to still have her two arms..." stated Maximilian as he started to prepare smaller bowls.

"Her arms are fine, what I want you to look at is her e..."

"Mother!!" interrupted Litel, ashamed.

"Sweety, he could help you..."

"But...it's..."

The tall girl quickly replaced a lock of hair before her face, hiding almost half of it.

"I see what it is. There is something wrong on her face, that's it?" calmly stated Maximilian, finishing to prepare the smaller bowls.

"I, well..." hesitated Tallel as she took a look at her blushing, almost teary daughter.

"Here..." Maximilian presented a plate on wich he had put two or three dozen little bowls of the desert.

"It costs me approximately three copper coins of ingredients per portion, sell it at the price you want and we share the profit, Tallel. Now get out and do not come back before I'm done. Litel, come over here, please."

Maximilian stomped two times on the ground making two stone chairs come out. Tallel quickly thanked him before taking the plate and going out of the room, nodding to her daughter as she passed next to her.

Once alone with him in the room, the tall girl fidgeted a bit, not really knowing what to do.

"Don't be shy, Litel. I'm here to help you, not mock you. By the way you hide your face, I understand it bothers you a lot. If I can offer the world the pleasure to admire your pretty face, I'll be happy to do it." stated Maximilian with a kind smile.

"I...alright..." sighed the girl, not really hoping for anything.

She came sitting in front of him, the lock of hair still hiding her face. Slowly, Maximilian put her hair behind her ear, revealing what the girl was so desperately hiding.

"What happened?" asked Maximilian as he examined the girl's face.

"When I was very young and only starting to help my parents to serve the meals, an alchemist came to stay for a while. One day, as he was checking his potions and poisons at a table, I brought him his meal, but I stumbled and hit the table before falling on the ground, face up. The man didn't have time to react before one of his flasks fell from the table and...well, you see the result."

Behind the hair, from the eye to the ear, all the side of the pretty girl's face had been burned, gnawed, eaten away by some kind of acid. The place where her eyes should have been was empty, her other eyes looking at him with sorrow.

"It was some acidic poison. Fortunately, the man had a health potion with him and he used it on me, I lived but...he couldn't do anything about...this. Mother and father have tried to ask for Carendar priest's help, but the priest himself told us he wouldn't be able to repair the damages, it wasn't in his reach. The only way would be to find a saint level holy magic user, but there isn't any way for commoners like us to contact someone so high in the church hierarchy." finished the girl with a sight.

"Does it hurt?" asked Maximilian.

Litel nodded slightly.

"Every time the wind touch my face, it feels like I'm being tortured and, as you can guess, my vision isn't that great."

"I figured so...Litel, I can heal you."

The words from Maximilian were answered by a long silent, Litel looking at him with her lone eye while her mouth stayed a bit open. Using his hand to close her mouth, Maximilian smiled at her.

"I need you to listen to me carefully, Litel. I can heal you, but I'm afraid it will hurt, a lot. But, fortunately, There isn't a lot to do, so it will be quickly over...now that I think about it..."

Maximilian carefully put his hand on the burned part of the girl's face. Litel hissed, but nothing more.

"If this work, I should be able to do a lot without hurting you, don't move for a bit..."

Focussing holy magic in his hand, Maximilian used a strong healing spell on her. Soon, a golden wave ran along her face, quickly giving the girl's skin her natural appearance.

"Good news, I already treat the burned skin."

Not believing it at first, Litel carefully touched the place between her eyes and ear, checking if he was telling the truth. When she realised it was true, she almost began to cry.

"Don't cry know, there is still a thing to do... and I'll need you to be strong for that."

"What...what do you need me to do?"

"I'm going to remake your eye. Because it is a soft part of the body, I won't need flesh, I think, some blood would be perfect. Your blood, of course."

Taking out a small knife, Maximilian took Litel's hand and cut her palm.

"Don't worry, I'll heal it after we're done. Don't be afraid if you see your blood beginning to float, it's only because of the magic I'm using."

Using magic, Maximilian made some blood float out of the girl's hand, forming a small sphere between his fingers.

"I'll be as fast as possible, bite this." said Maximilian as he presented her a spoon.

Litel took the spoon and bit it strongly, waiting for him to begin.

"The important thing is for you to stay conscious or I'll have to start again. If it can help, tell yourself it's a terrible feeling, but it's for your own good."

Maximilian prepared the sphere as much as he could before starting to operate, forming the centre of the eye before starting to hurt the girl. Once he had done all he could, he used one hand to maintain her eyelid opened and, with the other, lead the blood inside her eye-socket.

As soon as he started to operate, Litel screamed. Fortunately, her scream was muffled by the spoon or it would have alerted the peoples in the next room, noisy at this time of the day.

...........................................................................................................................................................

"Tallel, is this your daughter we hear?" asked one of the men at the table nearest the kitchen.

"It must be her, Sir. I'm afraid the silly girl has burned her fingers on a hot pot. A friend is tending to her wound but, as you can hear, she is still a little girl screaming for nothing sometimes." explained the tall woman, showing a marvellous talent of acting.

"Oh, well...STAY STRONG, LITEL!!" encouraged the man, seconded by others at the table.

Tallel nodded at them and went back to her husband, worriedly looking in the kitchen direction.

"Tallel, don't you think we should...?"

"Honey, please, we mustn't go in the kitchen for now. Not until he has finished."

"But, why?"

"Because to help our daughter, he needs to hurt her I'm afraid."

"Isn't it bothering you? We should be by her side!"

"Of course it's bothering me! If I was in there, I certainly would be unable to let this man hurt our daughter, just like you. That's why we mustn't go before it's over, or we very well might try to kill him before he is done."

"Yeah...as alway, you're right..." said the little man as he took his wife's hand, holding hers as she held his to give each other courage.

...........................................................................................................................................................

The blood quickly went inside and formed the eye. A blood red sphere at first, who slowly became normal whitish.

*For the form and colour, let's use the other one as an example...*

In a few minutes, it was done. Maximilian let go of Litel's head, the tall girl crying because of the pain.

"One last thing to do..."

Litel looked at him, horrified, as he approached his index covered by electricity. For a second, Maximilian touched her eyelid, provoking a strong electric shock.

Litel jumped off her chair and stepped back, a hand on her face.

"Breath in, it's over. Now, look at me..."

Slowly, Litel took her hand off her face and opened her new eye. For the first time since long ago, she was able to see entirely what was before her. No trace of her injury remained, her face had retrieved all her beauty.

"I'm honoured to be the first one to admire you, Litel. But I shouldn't be the one enjoying it, you should."

With a simple gesture, Maximilian made a water mirror appeared. Hesitantly, Litel approached the mirror and, as she saw her face, she couldn't suppress a slight scream of surprise.

This time, not able to resist any longer, the couple entered the kitchen.

"That's enough!!" ordered the innkeeper before stopping in his track when he saw his daughter.

"Mum, dad..." mumbled Litel with tears in her two eyes before jumping in her parent's arms, holding them as she cried with joy.

Tallel, not believing what she was seeing, put back her daughter's hair, admiring her face.

"Oh Litel...you are so beautiful, so beautiful..." repeated the amazon as she started to kiss her daughter everywhere on her face, crying as much as her.

While the mother and daughter were holding each other, the innkeeper came to face Maximilian who had just make the mirror disappear.

"You...you gave back her face to my daughter...Sir Nil....no, Maximilian! Know that I will never forget what you've done today. You can consider this place your second home, stay as long as you want, you will always be welcome here. We might not be the richest people in the capital, but I'll be sure to repay what you did today!"

The innkeeper extended his hand, Maximilian was more than happy to shake it.

"You and your family are good people. I'm happy if the power I have has been of use. You don't owe me anything, being able to admire your daughter's face is more precious than any gold." said Maximilian with a kind smile.

"On that, we share the same idea!" answered the little man with a laugh.

The two laughed all heartily. After a minute, Litel and her mother came to Maximilian, the innkeeper going back to serve the customer, humming a joyful song.

"Sir Maximilian, I want to thank you for what you did for me..." said Litel as she bowed to him.

"I'm happy for you, Litel."

Maximilian and the two ladies conversation was interrupted by the inn door slamming open. Some guards and an Inquisitor stepped in.

"ALL HEAR THE WORD OF THE KING! THE QUEEN ALEXANDRIA, THE PRINCESS ARIMA, THE HEADMAID KITSU, THE CHANCELLOR GASTONAR, THE BEASTKINS WORKING AT THE CASTLE AS WELL AS THE SOLDIERS UNDER THE CHANCELLOR AND QUEEN COMMANDS HAVE BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF TREASON!! ANY CITIZEN HAVING INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR LOCATION MUST PRESENT HIMSELF IMMEDIATELY TO THE NEAREST INQUISITOR TO TELL EVERYTHING HE KNOWS! ANYONE FOUND HELPING THE FUGITIVES WILL BE JUDGE AS TRAITOR AND EXECUTED!" shouted the inquisitor, the three guards following him not really happy about the speech but following orders nonetheless.

The inquisitor came in front of the wall where the wanted posters were and nailed the notice on it.

"Innkeeper! Your establishment will be searched right now! Show us the way to your pantry this instant!"

The innkeeper opened his eyes wide for a second.

"My pantry? Why is that, Inquisitor?"

"Orders are to search any place big enough to hide large groups like the one who has escaped. Refusing to comply will be considered as treason!" stated the Inquisitor as he put a hand on his blade pommel.

"We don't want any trouble, Inquisitor, it's just that...." the innkeeper was desperately trying to find an excuse, but was clearly having trouble doing so.

"The pantry is currently being reconstructed, Inquisitor." calmly stated Maximilian.

"Are you making fun of me? And who are you to begin with?" questioned the Inquisitor.

"An earth mage, Inquisitor. The innkeeper hired me to look at the pantry because he hoped I could dig him a more spacious one. I was here today to examine the place, to be sure I could work without any troubles. There is nothing to see, the food and drinks have been taken out to be sure nothing would be spoiled, do you want to see the place nonetheless?" innocently asked Maximilian.

"Yeah..." dubiously answered the Inquisitor.

He followed Maximilian in the kitchen, the guards with him.

"So? Where is this pantry?" asked the Inquisitor.

"Under this trap, Inquisitor. Bring a torch or two, it's dark down there." suggested Maximilian before opening the trap and going down.

With a single hand gesture, Maximilian made the sphere of light disappear, the room becoming pitch dark in an instant. Speaking loud to be sure the ones inside would hear, Maximilian said.

"Watch the stairs, they are quite old, Inquisitor. I may look strong but I sure wouldn't be able to carry you and three soldiers up in one go."

Talking politely with a kind chuckle, Maximilian took a torch from the Havenbag while the group following him weren't seeing. Lighting it on, He gave it to the nearest soldier.

"Do you want me to go first or..."

"No need to, mage, stay where we can see you, that will suffice. Soldiers, search the place!" ordered the Inquisitor.

"Sir, it's pitch black in here!" said one of the soldier as he and the two others started to advance in the room.

"Try to be quick, this place is filthy!" stated the Inquisitor as he spat on the floor.

Once the soldiers were far enough, Maximilian snapped his fingers. The trapdoor closed as the spheres of light reappeared, revealing everyone in the room.

"WH..." Tried to shout the Inquisitor but he was quickly taken care of by Maximilian with a single hit at the back of his head.

"The rebels! To arms!!" said the youngest soldier of the trio, only to be stopped by the other two.

"Look at them, youngster, this are not rebels..." stated one of the two as he showed Alariel with a head sign.

As the elf approached the trio of soldiers with other members of the group, the two older soldiers saluted her.

"Respects, guardian!"

The younger one looked at the two, not really knowing what to do.

"But...those are...what are you doing?!"

"We salute one of the guardians of our Princess, trusted by our Queen. Do you truly believe the Queen and Princess could be traitors?" asked the oldest member of the trio.

"I...but the orders are..."

"Orders from the Inquisition have nothing to do with us. The Inquisitor has been taken care of, I sure as hell am not going to risk my life for him."

"But it was signed by the King!!"

"You think the King would have willingly signed an order stating his wife and daughter were to be treated like rebels? You may be too young to know this, but the only thing more known about Griffinia than the beauty of its castle is the love the King have for his family. I don't know how they managed to do that, but an action against the Queen or her children would never come from the King, ain't I right you all?!"

The soldier's last sentence was addressed to the soldiers around him, a murmur of approbation ran through the group, smiles appearing on several faces.

Defeated, the young soldier let go of his weapon pommel.

"I...you are my superior, Sir, not the Inquisitor. If you tell me to trust those people, I will."

Alariel nodded with a smile.

"Thank you for your trust, Soldier. What your superior has told you is the truth. Me and my companions here are victims of a machination made to weaken the throne."

Pulling the Inquisitor behind him, Maximilian joined the conversation.

"But I'm afraid you brought worrying news, Soldier. The Queen and Princess have been attacked?"

"Fortunately, they managed to escape. Seeing the things becoming stranger and stranger with the King, Chancellor Gastonar has organised some kind of secret resistance. He has reunited the most faithful subject of the crown and gave us a single mission: protect the Royal family from the throne."

"The King?" asked Maximilian.

The old soldier shook his head.

"My King may be in the throne room, but it is not him who leads Griffinia at this moment, it's the Cardinal. The Chancellor remarked it, too late to prevent it I'm afraid, but early enough for us to organise. Me and fellow soldiers and guards have secretly contact retreated companions, old soldiers and guards faithful to the crown. With their help, we managed to evacuate the innocents from the castle when the Cardinal started to reveal his true face. We separated into two groups: one would stay at the castle, spying for the resistance and help if necessary, the other directly looking after the Queen and Princess."

"Do you know where they are right now?" questioned Maximilian.

Once again, the soldier shook his head.

"Sorry, Sir, I don't. To reduce the risk, we don't communicate between the two groups unless it's absolutely necessary. The last time I had news, the Chancellor was leading them to the lower level, but the Queen and Princess teleported with the Headmaid Kitsu, they could be anywhere in town now."

"Hmmm, I guess I'll have to find them myself."

"We'll help..." said a voice coming from behind them.

As they turned, all could see Arca standing up, not very assured on her feet.

"The Princess needs her guardians, we have to find her..."

Maximilian sighed as he slightly pushed Arca, making the semi-orc fall back on her bed.

"In your current state, you would only be a bother. I'll be more efficient by myself."

"With your strength, you could very well kick open every door and go on until you find them..." growled Arca, not pleased by the way she had been pushed on the bed.

"Of course, and what do I do when innocent gets between me and the Paladins I'm sure to alert by doing that? The best thing to do for now is to lay low for a bit. I'm going to find the Queen and Princess, the peoples need to see them, to have someone to unite behind against the church. If I go against the church by myself, It would only make things harder for them afterwards."

"He is right, Guardian. Me and my friends only wait for an order from our Queen to turn against the Inquisition. If we do it now, we risk losing the battle before it begins."

Arca sighed loudly.

"And what about the King? You could heal him, no?"

"I still have to examine him before I can answer that. And while I do this, they could find the Queen and Princess. I have thought about it, Arca, and that is what appears to be the best way."

"I don't like this...but you may be right. What about this one? We clearly cannot let him go out of here or we can be sure he will call reinforcement..."

"But we can't go without him either or the peoples who have seen us come inside will know something's wrong.

"...I have an idea." said Maximilian.

...........................................................................................................................................................

"Everything is in order, good day citizens." said the soldier as he went after the Inquisitor who had the hood of his coat on, followed by his two companions.

Four had entered and four had gone out. One of the soldiers from the Guardian's group had proposed to dress as the Inquisitor to go out in the streets, posing as him to not attract attention.

The Inquisitor woke up, looking around to see two things: one, he was in his undies with his hands and feet attached. Two, he was surrounded by rebels and heretics.

"Rise and shine, sweetheart." said Maximilian with a broad smile.

"What the...WHERE AM I? WHO ARE YOU?!" started to shout the man before Maximilian put a hand on his mouth, shutting him up.

"Two things before we begin. One, this place his enchanted, no one will hear you scream. Want an example? Everyone!"

Everyone in the group took a deep breath and shouted out loud, provoking a lot of noise. Once done, they shut up and listened, all they could hear was the normal sound of the people talking and eating in the inn above.

"See? No ones will hear. The second thing we have to agree on, no one will come for you. We made sure everyone thinks you went out with the soldiers. So to resume your situation: you do not exist anymore. No one knows you're here and no one will hear your call for help. So? Do you think we can talk at a normal volume?"

Maximilian let go of the man's mouth and he nodded, horror in his eyes.

"I'm happy to see you are an intelligent one. I'm a busy man and don't want to lose time, so...I have a present for you."

Maximilian took a seed from the Havenbag and snapped his fingers, making energy gathered inside of it. He wrote some runes on it and pushed it inside the man's mouth.

The Inquisitor tried to spit it, but the seed seemed alive, going on its own inside the man's throat than inside his stomach.

"What...what is this?!!" worriedly asked the man.

"This, my dear Inquisitor, is a little something to encourage you to be honest with us. What I made you swallow is what I call a seed of lies. This marvellous little thing will feed on your lies. Each time you lie to us, it will develop, slowly becoming a magnificent flower. I'm sure you will find it beautiful, so colourful and it also has a delightful perfume. Although, there is a teensy-weensy but ever-so-crucial little tiny detail I think I must warn you about...It will literally use you as loam."

"What?" asked the Inquisitor with a smirk.

Apart from him, everyone around Maximilian was clearly having a hard time believing him.

"You tell me that if I lie, this thing you made me ate will grow through me? I say bullshit!"

"Why don't you try to lie then?" innocently proposed Maximilian.

"Why not...I find your non-human friends very beautiful without any chain around them!"

As soon as the words had left the man's mouth, he opened his eyes wide, a tremendous pain coming from his guts. He tried to scream, but no sound came from his mouth.

"What is happening to him?" questioned Alariel.

To answer her, Maximilian simply pointed at the man's belly. Under the skin, it was clear something was moving, growing, expanding. It quickly stopped, though, leaving the man alive, breathing loudly and shortly.

"T...Take it out!" ordered the Inquisitor.

"I'll think about it when I come back. I suggest you tell those people all they want to know. Oh, and before you do anything stupid, know that this flower won't kill you..."

"It...it won't? How do I know you're not lying?!" asked the man with a bit of hope in his eyes.

"No, it will continue to grow and grow, pushing through your entrails, then your legs, your feet, your toes, your arms, your hands, your fingers..." enumerated Maximilian, each time poking the said places. "...It will parasite your chest, making your lungs its own, then it will start to grow along your throat and skeleton, going for your brain. Finally, the flower will go out from your mouth, not needing you to lie anymore. You still won't die, though, you will stay forever as a pot for this flower, condemned to be awake for eternity, unable to speak or move, your body will be an eternal prison. And you know what the best part is?" still innocently asked Maximilian.

The Inquisitor shook his head, to horrified to answer.

"Once she will be too big for your body, the plant will bury itself in the ground, feeding from the earth itself and you, making one with her, will never know the relief of death. So you see, Inquisitor, I'm not lying when I say this plant won't kill you."

Maximilian ended his speech with a gentle tap on the man's cheek.

"This is what happens when you mess with my friends. Enjoy your talk with those heretics you hate so much." concluded Maximilian with a false wry smile.

...........................................................................................................................................................

"Maximilian, shouldn't I accompany you?" asked Lin-Lin as she followed him out of the improvised interrogation room.

"I would like to, Lin-Lin, but There is something else I want you to do. I would like you to go to the Town principal door, disguise yourself to be sure no one bothers you. Look for Octavia and Binvo, bring them back here and you three will wait for me. I shouldn't be long, but if needed, the chamber is paid for a while."

"Even if it wasn't, my husband told you this place was like your own, Maximilian, this is the same for your friends." said Tallel as she arrived in the kitchen.

"Thank you Tallel. I'll be gone for a bit..." making sure they weren't listened to, he continued. "I have to find the Queen and the Princess."

Tallel thought for a bit.

"If Kitsu is with them, there is a few place you could search."

"That's true, you know Kitsu personally! Do you know where they could be?"

"You know we were four in the group, yes? We promised each other we would always be there to help. She didn't come here, and our priest would be a bad choice considering the situation...If I had to guess, I would say they are hiding with the thief." thought out loud the tall woman.

"And...where can I find her?"

Tallel chuckled a bit.

"That shouldn't be too hard, her place is quite known actually..."

"But...isn't that a bad idea to go there if the place is well-known?" asked Lin-Lin.

"Yes...and no, it is known, but I think it is the last place where they would think to look for the Queen." continued Tallel, still chuckling.

...........................................................................................................................................................

"Be careful, Maximilian." said Lin-Lin for the third time in the last ten minutes.

"I'll be, I'll be. Why do I get the feeling you are more worried knowing where I have to go?" innocently asked Maximilian on a slightly singing tone.

"I....Well, it's not...STUPID!" concluded Lin-Lin as she went back to the kitchen, pouting.

"You are having fun?" asked Tallel with her arms crossed, a sly smile on her face.

"A lot...can you look after her for a bit, please?"

"You know I'm only a poor innkeeper's wife, right?"

"Maybe, but an innkeeper's wife whose level is 48 nonetheless..." said Maximilian as he adjusted the long shoulder strap from the bag with Dragnïr's egg on him, under his mantle.

"Interesting...you can read my level, I wonder what's yours..." wondered Tallel.

"What do you say we discuss this after we're done with the current affair?"

"Fine, I'll wait, but I am tenacious."

"I figured so, be well."

"You too, come back...in one piece." added the amazon with a sly smile.

"I'll do my best!" saluted Maximilian as he went out of the inn.

In the street, Maximilian breathed in, nodding to himself.

"Now, where is that Flower Treasure Chest?"