The next morning, Serin sat alone at the breakfast table. Mariel was fast asleep upstairs and her husband had merely grunted and hogged more blanket. While she ate she found it unusually stuffy inside. After eating up she went outside into the garden. The early morning dew was still visible on the leaves, turning their garden into a sparkling, beautiful space of calm. Serin sat down on the bench under the boughs of the biggest apple tree. Enjoying the peace and quiet, she replayed the last evening’s events in her mind. The biggest issue was Wimar. His words stung. Worse, he had uttered them in the presence of her daughter, whom now knew a great deal more than she had ever hoped she would have to know.

She remembered how smoothly her child had disarmed him. Without a hint of violence, she had resolved the tenuous situation quickly. A smile widened on her face. Her daughter had grown from a small, insecure child into a calm beauty that judged her surroundings calmly and acted accordingly.

“I guess I’m getting older…” She sighed.

“Oh? You are far more beautiful now than when I first met you.” The voice made her heart skip a beat, and she flew around.

“Good morning love.”

“… Arwaro… Consider yourself lucky I’m not that old yet, or you would’ve made my heart stop.”

“Sorry sorry, I was telling the truth though.” Her husband sat down on the bench next to her and leaned his head against the bark of the tree. “So tell me, what’s on your mind? You’ve been tossing and turning all night…”

“The past is catching up with me again honey… Wimar was at the banquet…”

Her husband’s face darkened considerably, and he ingloriously spat on the ground.

“I had hoped someone would have stabbed him to death long ago…” He grumbled.

“I nearly did kill him… You should have seen it. I was this close to frying out his throat, but then Mariel stepped up beside him and kicked his feet so he fell over and hit is head on the balcony!”

His sour expression was immediately replaced by a wide, gleeful smirk. “That’s my gemstone alright.”

“But…” She flashed a sad smile. “He brought it up again… He said I mingled in places above my status… And that I had yet another da…”

“Stop.” Arwaro placed his thumb on his wife’s lips. “Don’t say it honey. You know that’s in the past now…”

“But she knows now…” She gently removed his hand.

“Perhaps that’s our punishment then, we should never have kept it a secret.”

Mariel woke to the glistening heat of the summer day, her bedsheet stuck closely to her gentle curves, and she felt herself drenched in sweat. She After washing and eating what amounted to lunch, she put on her clothes and went outside. Her mother had decided to occupy the forge, while her father was trying to scrub some washcloths with increasingly audible groans.

“You are washing clothes today Papa? Mama must be really angry with you.”

“Oh! Morning Gemstone! Say, could you help me out with this terrible mess? I have no idea how your mother even manages to do this, but I certainly can’t… I’ll treat you to something afterwards.” Her father tried to dismiss the notion of his wife being angry, but his forced smile soon faltered.

“She’s angry alright…”

She rolled her eyes and nodded. “Papa, you truly are a useless man who can’t even do menial duties…”

“Hey… I can swing a hammer and any weapon you give me… But this? This is… precision work! Fine! I admit it, your mother is a saint sent here to sort me out, hear that love!?” Her father threw the washboard into the tub, the splash drenching him from the head down. With his eyes full of resignation, he pleaded for help.

Mariel sat down and began the apparently impossible task of teaching her father to wash his own clothes. After a long session of washing an insignificant amount of clothes and cloths, they emptied the tub and dried themselves.

“Thanks Gemstone… You really helped me out back there… As promised, let’s head into the city and buy something nice.”

“If… They force me to wear the collar again, can we go back? I really don’t want to.”

“That’s fine… Or you could wait outside the walls.”

The two got ready to leave. Serin gave no indication of leaving the forge, so the two simply headed out without saying anything.

Following an uneventful trip only once interrupted when Arwaro got into a small play fight with the local children out playing soldiers, they arrived outside the main gates. As they had drawn closer to the gates, Mariel expressed increasing lack of motivation to continue. Upon their arrival they were to their surprise, quietly shepherded into a small guardhouse and let out the back exit. The guards had wished them a safe trip, but insisted Mariel keep her hood on to avoid attracting attention.

“That went… Well.” Her father mumbled as they walked out into the market square. “Anyway, what would you like to eat?”

“Before that Papa… Can we go somewhere?”

“Sure Gemstone, where to?”

The two went together across the river to the eastern bank. The choice means of transport was by boat. The boatman was a lively old man who kept going on about how far the city has come during his lifetime. On the opposite bank the scenery turned from economically beneficial buildings to more decorated, built-up and extensive living spaces. Parks, smaller plazas and more greenery along the many streets and alleys. After a good while of searching they had arrived outside a newly refurbished tavern. The exterior pillars smelled freshly of paint.

“Sorry Gemstone, I know I told you I’d get you something, but alcohol was not really what I meant…”

“I don’t want that awful sludge called ale… “Mariel threw her father a glance. “Yes, I know what it’s like… You thought it was really funny to make me chug my apple juice… Didn’t you?”

“What?! So your protest… It was… Oh gods… Mariel? Hey! Wait!”

Mariel headed inside the tavern. Despite being in the middle of the day, the tavern was surprisingly crowded. A variety of adventurers, some apprentices and soldiers, were all busy talking and drinking. The counter was manned by a man in a similar suit to the one she remembered from last evening, and as soon as he spotted her, he jumped over the counter and came over at an unsettling speed, accompanied by a small round of applause for his athletic move.

“Haisevel little missy, and welcome! I can’t serve you anything with alcohol, but I got some decorated fruit juice recipes!” The bartender swiped a bowl of dried fruit from the nearest table and offered her a piece. “Do you need shelter? Or a place to hide? I see you’ve managed to get rid of your collar.”

She shook her head and helped herself to a strange, orange dried fruit. “No, I’m just here to visit Siravin?”

“Oh hoh… What has my naughty assistant got himself into this time eh?” The bartender drew breath and hollered Siravin’s name. A moment later, Siravin appeared in the doorway leading to the kitchen.

“Boss, you’ll wake the dead like that, what’s up?”

“Get over here, right now!”

Siravin came over and spotting Mariel, greeted her.

“Do you know thi… Wait.” The bartender leaned down and closely scrutinized her. Slowly, a smile began widening on his face.

“Mariel… Bluegale. You sure have changed... You grew up to become so beautiful! I had hoped to find you and your family when things settled down…” The bartender looked up. “And here’s your good for nothing father too eh?”

“I don’t want to hear that from you Traren… Besides, you owe me a platinum coin. I told you she’d grow up just fine.” Her father appeared in the doorway. Mariel thought for herself that he had remained outside to curse himself in private.

Traren looked extremely hurt for a moment, but retrieved a coin from his pouch and threw it with some distain at her father, whom caught it with a delighted smirk.

“Well why don’t you go wait in my office upstairs while I finish serving the next round?” Traren grinned and pointed towards a door upstairs. “Siravin, you’ll help me, afterwards you and Mariel can go for a walk or whatever young people do these days.”

Mariel and Arwaro headed upstairs and immediately, Arwaro put his feet up and laid back. The office was a dimly lit attic room furnished with a desk, two chairs, a bookshelf and a couple of chests with paper poking out through the cracks. The room smelled of malt.

“So Papa, can you explain why you two know each other so well?”

“Sure. It’s not big secret. You remember that guy Wimar? From the party yesterday? Your mother told me. Well Traren was a promising law student in the Empire before Wimar smeared his reputation and accused him of corruption…” Her father picked up an expensive-looking fountain pen and twirled it between his fingers. “He opened a small store right here actually, but arson got the building and all his stuff… So out of options, he turned to us.”

Her father cast a long look out of the small window. “That was just after we found you… We had no idea how to really care for a baby, but he somehow did. He stayed until you got old enough to speak a little and eat normal food. We paid him to babysit while we finished up our last adventuring contracts.”

“And then what happened?”

“He left to study brewing… You were so distraught when he left… You clung on to his leg and refused to let him go. You cried yourself to sleep for five whole weeks afterwards.”

Mariel blushed. “Please don’t embarrass me.”

The door opened. “I studied brewing and wine-making in the kingdom of Hordarik, they also had some fabulous mead recipes…” Traren entered carrying a tray loaded with tankards overflowing with ale. “How about you and Siravin go do something together, while your old men sit down for an ale and some reminiscing? Unless… You want one?”

“No! I’m just fine without!” Mariel shouted, stood up and quickly walked out of the room.

“Soo…” Traren sank down into the now free chair and slid a tankard across the table. “Let’s get re-acquainted.”

Downstairs, things had started to die down. The guards had left and some of the merchants had left to witness the afternoon price adjustments. Mariel headed down the stairs and spotted Siravin in the back room cleaning some empty tankards and flagons.

“Hi.” She smiled while leaning against the doorframe.

“Hi.”

“So… What do you want to do?”

“Clean this mess… Care to help?” He continued scrubbing a flagon, before washing it out with water, sending a couple of bubbles flying.

“I got some questions… What you said yesterday, what did you mean by it?”

“Help me and I’ll answer.” He said dryly, handing her a dry cloth.

The two began cleaning up. Mariel found herself wondering why all men had to keep their hands busy to hold proper conversations, but her experience told her they were all the better to listen when occupied with something. What more, their work served as an ample excuse to think, and she felt like she was less of a nuisance.

“Can you show me some magic?”

He put the tankard in his hand back into the bowl, and emptied part of the dirty water into a bucket on the floor. Then he held his hand above the bowl and the light from his heck re-appeared. A small stream of pure water flowed from his fingertips.

“Amazing…”

The two continued washing, while Siravin continued to talk.

“All demonkin can do this from their first year… We are a magical kind, with powers at birth to rival a well-trained human. But to tap into this, we have to be unlocked so to speak.”

“Okay… Explain how it’s done.” She nodded eagerly, almost ignoring the soaking tankard he held out for her.

“It’s tradition that if the child survives the first year, it is proof that the parents are ready for the responsibility. At that point, the father will touch the crystal of the child with a drop of his own blood to unlock the child’s potential, and thereby, take responsibility for their child’s actions.”

“Only the father?”

“Nah, it’s just customary… If the mother is of higher birth, she will do it… Or lacking parents… Anyone related by blood and within one generation can technically activate the crystal, it just doesn’t happen that much with peace, and not living in caves…”

Mariel nodded slowly, absorbing every detail of his explanation. It was clear that the person who bore her into the world, were not in possession of her at the time of her first birthday. This fact saddened her, but she found comfort in that her current parents had taken care of her at such an early time.

“So there’s no way for me to wield magic is there?”

“Not unless you stumble across a relative or your real parents no…” Siravin’s arms stopped moving, and his grip on the wooden plate tightened.

“But you are also lucky… Because you are of no interest to the Empire.” Siravin paused, and steadied his voice before continuing. “If the imperials capture a demon with his or her crystal activated, they will cut it out, grind it down and add the dust into those awful collars… That’s why they are magical… I’ve seen it.”

Mariel gasped, and nearly dropped a crystal flagon on the floor.

Siravin reacted, but seeing that she caught it before it was smashed, simply continued in hushed tones.

“Usually, losing the crystal means death, but those that survive are known as Livegnar, thrallbound. They are… A little crazy to say the least.”

“Hmm…” Mariel furrowed her brow and tried to wipe the image of a piece of her being inside a metal contraption.

“How did you and Traren come to know each other?”

“It’s a long story… And not particularly interesting.” He said, trying to dodge the subject, but only caused the effect of Mariel becoming even more interested.

“Tell me?”

“I’d rather not, but if you have to know, he bought me from an imperial slaver.”

“Ohh… I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Sorry… Yeah. It’s in the past anyway, so no reason to be all sappy about it.” He shrugged and passed her the last tankard. “That’s all done then, now to…”

The main doors swung open, and a group of soldiers entered.

“Hoy! Barkeep! A serving of ale for all of us!” The group leader shouted while taking a seat.

“Coming right up!” Siravin answered and motioned for Mariel to follow him. “You feel like getting tipsy, drunk or plumbed today sir?”

“Aye, Plumbed it is! We’re off duty after all!” The leader’s bold comment brought out the laughter in his men.

“What does plumbed mean?” Mariel whispered while Siravin filled the first set of tankards.

“It means they’ll drink till they throw up… And then some… Very messy, but it’s a really good sale, just help me place the buckets later.” Siravin handed her a big tray and began loading the tankards onto it as they were filled.

“Start passing these out will you?” He handed her the tray with six large tankards filled to the brim. The excess started spilling down the sides. Without time to protest, Mariel took the tray and began serving the ale. As she did so, she could feel the soldiers appraising her from every angle.

The first round of ale was consumed among loud cheering and loud talking among the soldiers. A few women were mixed in the lot, but they drank and occasionally cheered when one of the men put on a display of chugging.

The second and third rounds came and went, as the intoxication really began taking hold of the less resistant, usually the youngest guardsmen. Mariel noticed how their appraising looks started blurring into looks of questionable morality.

“Hooohy little missy! Why don’cha put on a show eh?” One of the guards rambled.

“Easy there Yldarek.” One of the women interrupted. She leaned closer to Mariel and whispered. “If they try something, tell them that they’ll lose something important… Your kin has magical powers after all.” She smirked.

Mariel backed away slowly and hastily returned to the counter.

Well into the fifth round, the real rowdiness began. The guards began to arrange impromptu feats of strength. Arm wrestling appeared to be a favourite, tied with wild chugging of whole tankards in a single go.

“Lishen to this!” An old scarred veteran began, while swinging his tankard around like it was a kind of morning star. “Dem loushy imps will tossh in som of dem Demon Huntersh for de yearly summet!”

“Dat’s bad newsh!” Another guard groaned and took another deep swig from his drink.

“Yesh, they’ll be goin all boshy thish year too! I sayh we give em a wallop!”

“Yeeaahhh!” The whole group join in on a drunken cheer.

“Shut yer trap, dat’s a shecret!” one of the women grinned and shoved a tankard in the old veteran’s face.

Mariel placed the last drinks and retreated behind the counter where Siravin was busy taking stock and counting sales.

“Haven’t they had enough? Yet?” She sighed.

“Nah, they’re just starting out.”

“I should check on my father.”

“Wait, they’ve been up there the whole time?” he raised a brow.

“Yes, and drinking heavily.”

His eyes widened, and before she had blinked, he had rushed upstairs and roughly kicked open the office door. Mariel followed closely behind.

An indomitable stench of vomit filled their nostrils. On the floor, hanging over a bucket each, was Arwaro and Traren. The empty tankards were strewn around.

“…” Siravin made an exasperated sigh and gently closed the door again. “Let’s head back downstairs. There’s nothing more we can do for them. They just have to sleep it out.”

It was late in the evening when the last of the guards finally half stumbled, half crawled out of the tavern and Siravin could close up shop for the night. With great effort, they put together a pair of makeshift beds and put Traren and Arwaro to sleep.

Without any hope of returning home, Mariel arranged for a message to be sent to her mother to let her know their location. The office still reeked of alcohol and vomit, and the two made no effort of cleaning it up beyond the actual vomit. Using old crate covers for sheets, they had taken to the cellar for the night.

“This is impossible…” Mariel sighed. Three full hours in and she could not sleep. Her whole body ached and she had been shifting constantly on the straw covered-floor. Her neck gave her no break.

“Hey… Siravin?” She looked over to the spot Siravin had claimed. Instead of him being fast asleep, she found him staring dumbly at her from atop a large barrel. He held a small knife in one hand and a piece of wood in his other.

“I was wondering when you would finally stop shifting…” He continued chipping the wood with his knife.

“What are you working on?” She stretched and came over to him, trying to look up at his hands.

“It’ll be a bird… Or maybe just a fish… An acorn? It’s really down to how much I have to remove when I make a mistake.” He jumped down from the barrel and landed beside her. Before she could press him further he had produced another knife and a freshly cut branch.

“You can’t sleep, and I can’t sleep while you keep shifting around, so let’s make something instead.”

“Do you always have something in your hands?” Mariel sighed and made a few quick shavings.

“Yes I do. It makes me calm, feel safe… If I am productive, I won’t be…” He blinked a few times, and fell silent, cutting strips of wood from his figurine. “Forget what I just said.”

Mariel woke early next morning. Splayed out on the stone floor with the crate cover and a fistful of hay under her head. Her body felt stiff and her joints hurt from the stone floor. At some point she had dozed off, and slept for the remainder of the night.

“Morning. As I expected, you kept on shifting and snoring the whole night through…” Siravin came climbing down the ladder with a small tray in his free hand.

“I don’t snore…”

“Psh, sure you do. Like a busy saw… If each snore amounted to a tree… You split apart… Oh… Eh, I stopped counting after three thousand.”

“That’s not true!” Mariel pouted and turned away.

“Sorry, sorry… Please accept my peace offering.” He placed the tray on her lap. It had warm toast, a freshly boiled egg and a simple spread of salad and with a small cup of some strange purple liquid in it.

“Oh, uh the drink?” He had caught her staring. “It’s a fruit juice mix, it’ll make you feel better.”

“Thanks…”

“You’re welcome. Your father and my boss are awake; they’re complaining about an army marching through their heads with a band playing.”

She ate her breakfast in silence, while Siravin lazily waltzed around lifting the lid off some crates and checking its contents. She could hear the heavy, and exceedingly slow footsteps of her father and Traren, and some intermittent groans of pain. By the sound of it, they were both walking around aimlessly in the alcohol-induced haze, trying to get their bearings.

“I guess I should get my father and head back home… By what it sounds like, it’ll be a while…”

“You need some help? I can join you until you reach the city gates.”

“Thanks.”

The two went upstairs to find Arwaro splayed out over a table. They got him on his feet while he mumbled incoherently about the sun being too bright. Under loud protestations, they brought him outside and began the trip to the city gates.

Down by the river, huge crowds were gathering around the many, but insufficient ferry services. Boats rowed overloaded to the opposite bank and barely anyone returned with the boats. The crowd was unruly, but queued in an orderly manner.

“Is it really true?”

“Imperials here? What do they want?”

“I heard there’s going to be an announcement in the market square.”

“You’re going there too? I just heard about it myself!”

The crowd continued to speak among themselves.

They lined up in queue and after a long time of waiting, they were finally allowed on-board a fine gondola. The owner helped them find their seats.

“Welcome on-board, I’m Dars, Where to?” The boatman asked. He wore a simple straw hat, a simple fisherman’s wool pants and a leather west.

“Market.” Siravin passed the man a couple of copper coins and sat down. The boatman pushed his boat off the strip of sand and used his stake to move the boat across the river.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s going on today?” Mariel asked and the boatman shrugged.

“Some sort of commotion, I was out early to fish but all of a sudden the riverbank was crowded to no end… I guess something big is about to happen.”

Their boat came up alongside another boat heading in the same direction. On-board was a young couple who were talking happily between themselves.

“Hey Umar, what’s going on?” Dars asked the other boatman whom retrieved a crumpled and sweaty note from his leather vest and handed it over. He quickly skimmed the note and sent it back.

“There will be an important public announcement in the market square, some sort of imperial decree.”

“We can just listen while we pass through.” Siravin commented dryly.

The boat slid up onto the sandbank, and Mariel jumped off, followed shortly by Siravin, supporting Arwaro. The boatman waved them goodbye and began the trip back across the river. The market side of the river was equally crowded, and long lines had formed between the tight housing and the stairs leading away from the dockside. It took a long time of waiting, but soon they had managed to arrive at the outer edge of the square. At the central monument, the crowd had formed a large circle, it was cramped, stuffy and uncomfortable.

The three moved through the crowd towards the exit.

“Mariel, Arwaro! There you are!” Serin came hurrying over to them.

“Mama? How did you find us?”

“I would find you wherever you went baby. I got your message… Oh.” She saw Arwaro slumped over Siravin’s shoulder. “I see its worse than you made it out to be… Wait, who are you?”

“That’s Siravin Mama, he’s the same as me, and is Traren’s apprentice, Siravin this is Serin, my mother!”

“Oh… Thank you for taking care of my child and my silly husband.” She bowed and took charge of the weakened Arwaro.

“No, thank you my lady. Your daughter is… Remarkable. I am honoured to meet you.”

Just then the sound of the crowd died out and a silence fell over the market.

“Hear me good people! I bring important news from the emperor! Six weeks ago, a ship from the elven lands were intercepted en-route by a ship carrying the flags of the despotic lord of the demonkin!”

The crowd roared out in anger and surprise.

“The ship carried magical artefacts, and was an unarmed ship on a strictly mercantile mission…” The speaker was suddenly interrupted by a shout from the crowd.

“We don’t give half a care about what you Imperials lost at sea! Don’t drag us into this dispute!” A round of heads nodding and comments agreeing spread across the square.

“I must remind you good people, as a tributary kingdom that you hold both military and civilian obligations to the empire!”

“Then solve this mess without military force for once in your empire’s existence!”

“Yeah!” The crowd continued its resistance. The envoy visibly reddened and angrily shouted:

“If you resist! That means war!”

“Get down from there, filth!” The first vegetables began flying, coupled with rocks and a variety of different foodstuffs. The crowd jeered and calls of shame rung out in the square. The envoy covered himself with his arms and tried to dodge the incoming food.

The envoy’s sudden scream quieted the crowd. An arrow was embedded in the man’s throat, and he sank to his knees. Out of thin air, a strange group of eight hooded individuals appeared. Their faces further obscured by metal masks. They wore dark leather armour and were heavily armed with bows and daggers.

“Run.” Siravin said, and they turned and began heading in the opposite direction.

One of the dark clad individuals raised its arms into the air, and the other seven were lifted into the air. From their chests, a turquoise mist flowed forth and coagulated in the air in front of them. The six began dissolving, and the mist turned red. The orb pulsed, and grew bigger and bigger.

The orb exploded in a cascade of light, and in its stead, a dark void began pulling in all living things, starting with the fleeing crowd.

“Lady Serin… Aurora barrier, now!” Arwaro, whom had been observing the proceedings over his shoulder called out to Serin, whom promptly stopped and knelt on the ground, forming a protective barrier around them both. Siravin also bent in a similar fashion and cast his own, keeping Mariel close to him.

“What’s going on!?” Mariel shouted while watching in horror as the first dozen people disappeared into the void.

“You’ve really been living under a rock… Trust me, whenever blood sacrifice happens, it’s never good!”

The first mounted objects began to be sucked in, by that moment, hundreds of people had disappeared into the void and the culprits were nowhere to be seen.

“It’s too strong…” Siravin’s barrier began flickering. Mariel also noticed that the glow from his crystal was diminishing rapidly.

““Mariel! Stay right there… I will save you!” Serin was slowly trying to inch closer to them. Arwaro had also awakened, and was reinforcing Serin’s barrier.

“Can’t hold on…” Siravin sighed. His barrier flickered with increasing frequency.

“Why not?!” Mariel shouted back.

“Because you didn’t let me get any sleep!” With one roar of defiance, Siravin’s shield shattered.

Immediately, they were both hurled towards the void. Mariel barely caught a glimpse of her mother crying out to her in panic before the darkness closed its mysterious veil around her. She could feel her body falling, and waited in silence for the moment of impact… But with what?

Her thoughts were interrupted by her fleeting consciousness.