War of Dark Ages: A Unicorn's Journey
Chapter 10

Dawn breaks the next morning; San opens her eyes and blinks a couple of times as a cold and wet cloth brushes her forehead. Looking to her left is Commander Kail sitting on a chair beside her with a smile.

“Morning, how are you feeling?”

A frown crosses her brows and tries to move her arms feeling very stiff. With a movement from her wrists sits up resting on the pillows.

“San.” Commander Kail gives a stern glare.

San looks at him in surprise and remembers he was there when the carbuncle called her that name. She lowers her eyes, “I need to get some form of nourishment for myself.” With another moment, tries to move her arms to get out of bed and manages to sit up not realizing the covers slip down revealing her nakedness.

Standing up, Commander Kail places his hands on her shoulders moving her backwards against the cushion behind her. “You’re staying put young lady till you tell me what your nourishment is.”

A scowl descends as her hands move up to his shoulders to ward him off. “Is this how your kind treats monsters!”

In a soft voice, he still holds her steady, “If you promise to stay in bed, I will remove my hands. You do not have the strength to move yourself which tells me you need some form of nourishment to sustain yourself.”

Not wanting to admit he was right, averts her eyes.

He removes his hands and pulls the covers up. He sits back down on the chair.

The mere thought of consuming life as it was forced on her revolts her and sends a shiver of dread down her spine.

“I assume it is something you do not want to be known as of yet. Please let me know what I can do.”

Remembering the words the Guardian told her, she sighs and looks down at her hands. “Could . . you bring a large enough creature to fit in the room just freshly killed. Do not drain its blood or anything please.” Her lips press tightly together.

“Do I have your word that you will stay here?”

San not looking up at him nods her head in agreement. Not daring herself to speak at this moment.

Commander Kail stands up and walks to the door. He casts a glance back at her before exiting the room and closing the door behind him.

San closes her eyes trying to shut out the vivid memories from that time, the different methods they forced on her. It spreads throughout her body and she clenches her fists squeezing her eyes shut. Feeling the need to leave this place, opens her eyes and looks to the left with her thoughts suddenly vanishing.

To the left is the plant the carbuncle likes as quite a few flowers are inside the pot beside her. She reaches out her hand to gently touch its petals remembering the lovely aura these plants have. As the wind blows in, they start to sway back and forth reminding her of the creatures that liked frolicking in fields of them.

The door opens again and Commander Kail steps through carrying with him a tray with a container of water and two empty glasses.

San pulls her hand back and watches him walk over to the nightstand placing it down.

“I am glad they helped. Winfred brought them over as she was worried about you.” He glances at the flowers while grabbing the pitcher of water.

“Winfred?” San thought about it for a minute then remembered. “Why would she do that?”

A smile descends on his face as he starts pouring the water into the glass, “Seems you had a huge effect on quite a few people here. Both good and bad but at least it’s a start.” He sets the water pitcher down and grabs a glass sitting down on the chair. “I also wanted to tell you other good news as well. A few people helped to finish the task ahead concerning Mr. Durdley as well as Mr. Rysen. There is a thorough list. I have all the paperwork there in that folder on the desk.” Commander Kail points towards the desk.

“You mean they no longer need questioning?”

“Let me tell you the events that happened while we were currently resting. Riley finished reporting to me all the details this morning a few hours ago before you woke up.” He walks over to the dresser, grabs the documents and walks to the chair beside the bed and sits down. “I suppose we shall start at the beginning.” Commander Kail set down the glass of water on the nightstand. He opens the folder in front of him containing the stack of papers. “First off, do you know why I’m here?”

“To keep an eye on me?”

Commander Kail shakes his head, “I did so because, from the moment we met, I wanted to protect you.”

“Protect me? Why?” San questions.

“I honestly don’t know. But I do know when you came out of the wall, I felt it. I just knew that whoever you were or whatever you were, I had to protect you. The closer I tried getting to you, the more distant you became.” Commander Kail smiles slightly when San looks down at her hands. “Don’t worry, I am actually grateful. You taught us so much about ourselves and about you, even though you never said much.”

“I did?” A look of bewilderment crosses her face staring at Commander Kail.

“Every one of us, even the people that helped and the people that hate you. Seems you inspired them, For their own reasons of course. Me included. Shall I begin?”

San nods and listens carefully as Commander Kail starts the story.

​“As they were sorting out the documents, Latoyia and Raden showed up. Seems Latoyia was upset for using you for her own ends because they did nothing in the end. So, They went to the Barracks Storehouse to finish sorting the relics and weapons we found in the Mansion.”

San looks down with no questions.

“You were aware they were using you?”

“Yes, but I was also using them so I can’t fault them for that.” She glances up at him. “What did they replace?”

“We found where the items came from and how each payment was made. Seems you were right to be suspicious of them because currency would come in different forms, while organs, people, and other materials were shipped out. A lot of the resources are unknown to us.” He hands a few documents from the pile to San. “Do any of these look familiar to you?”

The first page documents several materials supposedly found in this Cave of Solace. The next few pages document different items, one page catches her attention. “I am familiar with this symbol. It is of the old world. But I didn’t see or sense any of these symbols on the relics we found except for that old one. That one wasn’t used.”

“You would be correct. Latoyia rechecked all the relics and weapons to make certain. Seems they haven’t made it yet. So, my assumption is whoever the mastermind is behind this has knowledge of the old world and is attempting to recreate it. Perhaps.”

San looks down at the documents and silently hopes he will be correct. “They did this for me?”

“Yes, they wanted to help you. This helps us with the beheading of Mr. Durdley and Mr. Rysen. They are currently waiting in a jail cell for transportation to the capital as we speak. So, you need not worry about them or any other subordinates under them hurting you as we continue to the day of the destruction of the trees.” Commander Kail grabs the water on the nightstand and takes a sip.

She hands the documents back to him.

Putting the documents together, he sets them aside on the nightstand. Grabbing a few more documents he glances up. “And it seems Mr. Durdley and Mr. Rysen told us a lot about what they were really doing here. I ordered them to get answers from them by whatever means necessary.” His voice hardens for a second.

“You mean torture? But surely, they were against that?”

“If you mean my soldiers, yes, I taught them to value life. However, by what you have shown me. Sometimes we must do what others would call cruel in order to protect what we would call the greater good.” He pauses for a brief second. “I thought Riley would be the one to take the mantle. It seems Ragnar was the one who took it.”

San observes he seems a bit shaky. “You didn’t want him to do it?”

“Well, he had a bad event happen so I was sure he wouldn’t do this. But it seems he wanted to stop running and took the mantle. Ragnar is like a brother to me, so I’m very protective of him. He did get a lot of information.”

“What did he replace?”

“In these documents are reports of who they were reporting to. The small shrine of the Temple of Dierie was not in any way connected to the one up North.” Commander Kail takes another sip from his water. “Based on the information we obtained, the ships were directly transported to the Temple of Dierie and from there by ship to the towns South of Feldorea. Unfortunately, we have not been able to track it to the direct town as there are a few towns down there not affiliated with any kingdom.”

“Affiliated?”

“Sometimes towns and areas don’t belong to a kingdom. They have their own way of governing. The problem with down there is there is a conflict among the three towns over governing. It causes our relations to sour and makes it harder to obtain information.” He takes a few more documents and puts them on the nightstand. “Unfortunately, we also found there is an organization called, “The Dark Ones.” It seems they are connected somehow down there. The people from the Temple served a specialist who performed experimentation but nothing could be proven at the moment.” Upon looking up at San to see her pale, “Was it something I said?”

Her eyes lower, “Perhaps. Please, will you continue?”

After a minute’s pause, “There is a search ongoing to replace out where the money transfers came from. On a brighter note, those two magical stealing devices that Rysen and Durdley have were able to be destroyed. Seems Gringel and Brooks from the forgery had some information on them, stories mostly of your time that gave them hints on how to destroy the artifacts since magic doesn’t work on them.”

“They had stories of the old world?” A look of complete astonishment crosses her face and body posture. “It’s not possible!”

“Gringel said when you were ready, you could read it yourself. He was worried it would give you nightmares since only a few of us have read it. Mind you, it gave me horrors. I’m still having a hard time understanding all of the information contained there.” With a frown on his face gazes down at a few more documents. “The experiments mentioned in them were horrifying. I couldn’t even imagine someone doing something on that scale.”

San doesn’t respond and gazes at the flowers beside her. Painful and horrific emotions cross her eyes. “Anything else?”

“Also it seems the Temple of Dierie is being taken care of as we speak.” He watches her carefully as her eyes change expressions from painful to curious.

“Taking care of?”

“The Count and his men are currently there now forcing them out of the country with the evidence we have. Our King has been told most things concerning this situation as well as the Duke giving this town a Public Apology.”

“How does this help?” San gazes intently at Commander. “I do not understand.”

“Let me explain. By issuing the town an apology, no one from this Kingdom or any other Kingdom that has an alliance with us can start any fights or other problems concerning anything that is currently in any ongoing investigation. That means anything pertaining to you and the people of this town cannot be harassed by either our own Kingdom or any else as they will be severely punished because of this unknown threat we face. However, I know there will be times when we will have people trying to intervene for whatever reason. Those that hold true to the values we set will follow the rules and ensure they are enforced.”

“Everyone is protected, and they can continue searching for this threat. Will I be able to continue my search for answers?”

A look of surprise crosses his face and instantly calms down. “Of course, this allows you to travel through our Kingdom freely. In fact, we are hoping we can work together for the time being, if that is ok with you?”

The words from the Guardian Carbuncle come back to her, reminding her that in order to face this darkness again, she needs to learn from them and their ways. Lifting her eyes to gaze at Commander Kail ponders how for some reason, this person doesn’t make her afraid and wants to trust him. Uncertain of her own feelings decides to try and take a chance hoping for a better path than the one lying ahead of her.

“I hope in time you can learn to trust me and a few others. Remember, it does not hurt to ask for a little help every once in a while. Lord knows I got yelled at by Riley because I knew the Duke and the Count a bit better than he did.” Commander Kail gives a short laugh. As San looks at him, he stops and has a serious expression on his face. “I now need to tell you this part of what we found out in this town but, I guess like your friend the carbuncle, I want to shield you from it.” He sighs and puts a few more documents on the nightstand, “I figured gathering stories around this town would be the hardest for any of them to replace.” He pauses for a minute staring down at the pages in his hand.

“Surely, Torin is good at gathering information?”

“Yes, but gathering stories from the people in this town is something else entirely, especially when you have to go to the stories and not let the stories come to you.”

“Oh.”

“We learned quite a bit about this place. And those creatures up north past the ruins of Talmeshia. Winfred and Trise came into the tavern as they wanted to know if there was anything they could do to help. Upon searching the town, they found out some interesting stories dating back more than a hundred years.” He passes a couple of documents to her.

San reads the documents and listens to Commander Kail.

“The original owner knew about the creatures, and they were not always considered sacred. Seems they would venture down repeatedly destroying the trees. The other people who lived here tried defending them and were slaughtered in the process. When they were slaughtered, the trees ate them. It seems the creatures are connected to the trees, but we could not determine whether they were friends with it or they were enemies trying to restore something. That is still being investigated as we speak.” Commander Kail takes a sip of his glass of water. “I thought this might be the first story you wanted to know as you seemed interested in these creatures.”

“Yes, I got to look at the statue of them. They look vaguely familiar to a Guardian I once knew.” An intense sad look rests in her eyes. “But I don’t know what happened to them or if they are connected.”

“We can investigate that later. As you read further down you replace there are more stories. Ones about the missing children and people, and someone performing experimentations on them. . .,”

Great fear spreads across her frame as her hands start to tremble. As she looks up at him with terror in her eyes, her voice trembles, “They were turned into monsters?”

Rising from the chair, he places the pile of papers on the nightstand and sits on the side of the bed. “Are you all right? San?”

Averting her eyes, “What else did they replace?”

After a few seconds pause, “The Cave of Solace to the north is currently under investigation. It seems at the Temple of Deirie they learned everyone had disappeared and everything was taken. The Town of Isitural that lies beside it also has our interest as it seems no one has been in contact with them for quite a few years. Quite a few soldiers and rangers joined them in that search. Commander Kail watches her as she becomes incredibly still not moving an inch, “San? Please tell me what is wrong.”

Her voice barely becomes a whisper, “T-hey had c-creatures like me eating the dead?” She looks up at him with her eyes dull and dead holding no light in them.

His arm instantly pulls her close to him with her body stiff and unmoving. The papers fall to the bed with no other sound made. “Please tell me what has made you so frightened?”

San doesn’t respond but closes her eyes tightly knowing the information uncovered and a part of a truth she doesn’t want to admit.

His hand strokes her hair as more minutes pass. “San, are you alright?”

She gives him a slight nod, not daring herself to speak.

“You read the documents telling of the creature’s looking similar to you eating corpses? And the chef that saw them?”

“Yes.”

“What-”

A loud knock causes both of them to stiffen and look towards the door. Commander Kail releases her drawing up the covers around her and walks to the door slightly opening it. The Duke, looking extremely uncomfortable, is standing outside.

Commander Kail glances back towards San, “One moment, I’ll be right back.” He steps out into the hallway.

San looks down at her hands thinking about that one story. Taking a deep breath tries to calm herself knowing full well the impossible trial ahead. Looking to her left at the flowers doesn’t calm her down or bring her peace like before. Instead, a feeling of hopelessness threatens to consume her with little hope of her trying to quell this emotion.

In the next moment, Commander Kail returns with the Duke beside him. “I have some bad news, it seems the creature is too large to be brought inside.” He walks forward kneeling by the side of the bed. “It seems he will have to teleport us here. I have asked Natasha to come in and help dress you. Is this alright?”

“Can’t you teleport me?”

“No, I can’t.”

Her disposition doesn’t change and gives a nod of her head. Both men leave the room as Natasha enters and helps her get dressed. Once Natasha finishes her task, leaves the room as two individuals return to see San sitting up with her legs on the floor.

Commander Kail walks over and picks her up in his arms. “Ready?”

San nods, still not daring to speak.

Spreading his arms out, The Duke starts a small enchantment as symbols appear underneath them. Green magical particles flow upwards encasing them in a white light. In the blink of an eye, they disappear and reappear in the forest to the east of town where Riley is standing near the creature ahead.

Walking forward, he places her on the ground before the large beast and steps back standing beside Riley.

Gazing at the poor creature, San reaches out to touch it. Its three horns glimmer as the sun gleams its rays over the beast. Casting a shadow down its large scaly frame with feathers on each side with its massive claws lying underneath. Hating herself for what she must do to continue her journey, silently hoping to be forgiven for the crime that must be committed. “From what you heard from that story, that is one way the higher ranks can consume their food. There are also two other ways.” A shiver runs down her spine.

Commander Kail looks at Riley who stands there with his hands on his hips looking unsure how to help. He walks up to San kneeling beside her. “If you do not want to tell us you don’t have to. I am listening.”

Not responding, continues, “The other way for the lower ranks is to make a recipe by boiling the creature down into a blood liquid with other ingredients and drinking it.” Her gaze grows with more sorrow and pain with each second passing. “If you’re of a high rank, you can consume their body slowly, draining it into your body as the creature becomes nothing but ash.” San presses her lips.

The Duke casts a questioning glance at Riley.

Riley shakes his head.

​“What do you mean to consume their body? From what you said, all three options sound horrid, and with the expression you don’t want to do it. They forced you to, didn’t they?” Commander Kail questions with worry.

“Would you please stand back?”

Commander Kail hesitates for a few seconds, before walking between Riley and the Duke. All three of them watch her.

Her hand rises above the creature with her fingertips pointing downwards. In the next second black particles descend from the tips of her fingers down to the creature casting a dark hazy aura over it. Black dust particles suddenly start to appear as the poor beast disintegrates from the top near the horns slowly moving downward.

Meanwhile, the group of men watching this nasty ritual freeze in their steps as they watch the feasting on this animal. The creature slowly loses its hide starting from the top of its face and moves down to its body revealing the muscle and joints underneath. Next the muscles slowly float upwards leaving no trace of joints, tissue, or anything as this evil magic continues to eat.

At the same time, San’s closed eyes betray her feelings of agonizing pain even though the more her cheeks return the blush that was never there. Her skin turns to a dazzling white moon glow as her silver hair flows back and forth spreading its light across the area. A few more minutes pass with the last of the dark magical particles flowing up to her fingers.

Riley draws a deep breath as no tissue, organs, or flesh is left alive. All that remains in the bone structure it once was made of.

The wind blows gently from the east causing the bones to glide further in the forest spreading its ash in great care.

Blood tears slowly caress the sides of her eyes as she lowers her head bowing to the ground. “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me!” Her shoulders tremble with the intensity of her feelings. “I-I wish there was another way.”

With a swift movement, Commander Kail places his hand on her back.

She looks up as a single blood tear falls to the ground.

“Would you care to walk back instead of teleport back?” His voice is gentle, noticing her eyes still were dull with very little light in them.

San, with her eyes cast down towards the ground, raises them to meet Commander Kail’s eyes, “Yes.”

He reaches down his hand and helps her to her feet. “Let’s go.” They turn around and start walking back towards the road a bit further up the distance.

Riley and the Duke follow behind.

As they walk back, Riley keeps a sour expression on his face.

After a moment, the Duke questions, “Riley?”

Riley briefly glances over at him, “Yes?”

“What is troubling you?”

Nothing is said for a few minutes as they continue north turning left towards the North Gate. “For all that I have seen of San since the beginning, not one moment have I ever seen her terrified. I just thought it might be because of how she had to get nourishment.” Riley sighs and places his hands on the back of his head, “But I know that isn’t it because she is still terrified. I don’t like it. I also don’t want to sound like a pest about it.”

“You have never seen her terrified? Surely that is normal for someone like her?”

Both Commander Kail and Riley glare at him.

“I only ask because I don’t know her.” The Duke holds his hands up.

“Nor do I, but I want to.” Commander Kail sighs and glances at San. “But I think this might be something she is struggling with. I guess like Riley, I don’t want to be pushy about it. I’m sure whatever it is, it is causing her great pain and I want to see it gone as well.”

San stops and gazes at him. “You do?”

“Both me and Riley do, yes.”

“But why? I have brought nothing but more misery to your kind. Surely since you are their protector you would want me destroyed?” She gazes at all of them with a dumbfounded expression not understanding their reasoning.

“Remember what the Guardian Carbuncle said? He said that this darkness reappeared 20,000 and you were somehow locked inside the wall. Even with us not knowing this, I still would protect you. I guess I think of you like my little sister who has experienced incredible pain and yet at the same is still learning. So I will do what is needed to ensure the balance of this kingdom along with protecting you.”

“Same.” Riley places a hand on his hip giving a slight smile to her.

With her eyes downcast, gives a nod and continues walking. “You know about the ranking I mentioned?”

Commander Kail glances at her, “Yes, and how you said different rankings ate different things. The lower rankings, the ones above that, and the higher rankings.”

San pauses a minute before responding, “There are also rankings that rival the powers of His Lord, The First.”

“The one you mentioned to me and asked me if I worked for him?”

“Yes.”

A frown crosses his brow, “Who is this His Lord, The First?”

“The first of the damned who was created at the start of the War of Dark Ages.” She simply replies in a calm voice.

They all stop and stare at her in shock.

San stops and turns to face them. “He is the most powerful being to be created by your kind and turned this world into blood and ash.” She turns around and continues walking, with them following her.

“I guess I’m having a bit of trouble following your reasoning. I can’t even begin to imagine how powerful someone like him must have been.” Commander Kail exclaims.

The Duke replies, “Neither can I.”

“It’s why I have been hesitating to explain this to you.” They reached a path where a sign read Cave of Solace with an arrow pointing north. Another sign read Town of Runbay pointing to the west. They turn west and continue their way to the town in silence. San glances at Kail’s direction a few times, but he has a frown on his face. She wonders if he maybe was second-guessing his decision about her and wouldn’t fault him for it. He had been nice enough.

Commander Kail sighs. “I still can’t reason it out. I mean if we compare it to anything in this current world, I still couldn’t imagine a being as powerful as that.”

Riley crosses his arms. “I know, I’m still having trouble with it. It’s not that I don’t believe you San. It’s just that I can’t understand the difference in power levels. I mean we still have the trees, the creatures, and other things here that we are dealing with. How do you measure that?”

They pause and look behind as they just pass the North Gates.

A look of astonishment crosses San’s face realizing a way to explain this to them.

Commander Kail turns around, “San, is everything alright?”

Gazing at Commander Kail ready to tell him, a familiar voice comes crashing down on them.

“Here you are, Commander Kail! About time I found you! Now see here, you and I have something to discuss!” Madame Fortun yells while striding towards them.

Commander Kail groans and puts his hand over his face and his hand on his hip.

Riley takes a step back with a pout on his lips staring up at the sky.

The Duke looks to and from Kail and Riley before looking at the woman of higher social standing coming their direction and realizes they don’t want to deal with her. Stepping forward, he gives her a courteous bow as he reaches for her hand and brings it to his lips. As he stands up, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Madam, My name is the Duke of Bringenton and to whom may I have the pleasure of speaking?”

Madam Fortun stops and blinks a couple of times before a smile caresses her lips. She gives him a small curtsey and replies, “I am Madam Fortun, Your Grace. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance. I have heard of your tales of heroics that have spread far and wide throughout the land.”

The Duke offers her his arm and Madam Fortun lays her hand upon it, “Then perhaps we have matters to discuss so we can ensure the safety of this town.”

San watches as the Duke and Madam Fortun continue walking down the lane toward the tavern.

“I’m going to owe him one big time for that save,” Commander Kail comments.

Riley glances in their direction and snickers. “Yes, you will. Glad we don’t have to do that one all over again. I mean Madam Fortun is nice, but she talks more than anyone I have ever met. Honestly, I would rather do a week of hard-core training than talk to her.”

“What do you mean she talks a lot?” San tilts her head at them.

“Well, we are talking right now, correct?” Commander Kail hints.

San gives a nod. “mhm.”

Riley intercedes, “Well, she has a bad habit of talking to you from sunrise to sunset and then some more.”

At that moment San gazes at both of them in astonishment and they start laughing.

Commander Kail shakes his head. “Never mind. Now then you look as if something came to you?”

Riley crosses his arms and waits.

San ponders a minute. “Oh, can we go to the trees?”

Commander Kail nods and all three of them walk down the lane past the Barracks to the alley towards the trees. He nods towards the soldiers still guarding the entrance as they pass them.

They walk ten feet and stop to gaze at the trees, both of them standing behind her. “Do you remember Riley when the trees attacked that one man?”

“I do,” Riley replies.

“Even now, I already am aware I can cast that spell to destroy the trees, however, it will take a small amount of time for me to prepare and finish casting the spell. The First could with a snap of his fingers destroy this entire region without blinking an eye. The trees included and all the species around.” San simply states.

They stiffen and stare at her in astonishment.

Riley looks back at the trees, “Well, that does put him on a different level entirely.”

“Indeed, that is a rather terrifying thought.” Commander Kail puts his hand on his chin.

“My level would be that of the generals which is a higher rank, but nothing compared to The First. Still, I couldn’t even stand up to them with the devices they used,” San turns around to face them. “You saw the experiments they were doing, turning people into monsters from the stories and the book you read?”

Commander Kail glances at Riley before giving her a nod.

San looks at the trees, “From what I remember and what I heard back then, only people whose rank rivals The First were allowed to know the knowledge of turning creatures into monsters and other experiments.” She draws in a deep breath, “As I remember, even though there were people under them that used the technology, only they were privileged to the information.” She walks forward to the wall and touches it. “As you know the sigils from back that time are coming back and not just similar, exactly like the ones from before. Which means whoever is behind this, knows exactly how the devices work and is trying to recreate them for whatever purpose they have.”

With his hands on his hips, Riley asks, “This is bad, isn’t it? I mean from what you’re saying, only one of those ranks that rival The First could cause this much damage.”

Commander Kail taps his foot. “Then we need to be careful about this. It seems that for the past 20,000, this person has been experimenting with replaceing a way to recreate it. But why has it taken him so long?”

“That is easy if he woke up 20,000 years from his slumber. This world would have changed drastically from the world I am from. I imagine replaceing resources and creatures would be hard as The First always controlled what resources went where and who went with them,” San turns around to face them.

Commander Kail grows thoughtful, “This does help us out a lot in understanding why you’re so frightened. Thank you for explaining that to us.”

“You’re not frightened?”

Commander Kail lowers his hand from his chin. “I’m terrified, I’d be lying if I said I was fine. But I can only do what is in front of me. Worrying about it won’t do me any good. And I can’t help anyone if I just worry all the time.”

“You’ll be fine, Your strong San. You have been fighting them for a long time, but this time you’re not alone! You have us with you, and it seems the Guardian as well,” Riley smiles at her.

San looks at Riley with surprise and for the first time, she truly didn’t feel alone in this battle of hers that has been raging for years. She lowers her eyes for a brief moment, then raises them giving a full-fledged smile.

They look at her in shock for it is the first time either of them saw a smile caress her lips reaching her eyes. It was as if the smile brought a beautiful person outside who had been hiding inside. Both stood smitten at the sight for it was more beautiful than anything either of them saw.

San stops smiling, giving them a questioning glance. “Is something wrong?”

Riley quickly replies, “No, it’s just well. . . you should try smiling more. It’s very lovely on you.”

“I couldn’t have said it better,” Commander Kail responds. “How much time do we have till the trees need to be destroyed?”

The trees have not changed very much, however, the wall has quite a few more cracks with dust falling. “Five more days till this area starts spreading the miasma. I can destroy it tomorrow if you are worried about it.” She glances at them observing their reply.

“No, let us wait at least two more days. Even though you just had your nourishment, I want to make sure you are well-rested in case anything else happens in the next two days.” His hands move to his hips and Commander Kail tilts his head to the side.

Riley casts a smirk at Kail as his eyes gleam with amusement. “Shall we go explore the empty building then?”

“Empty building?” San gives a perplexed glance to Riley.

Commander Kail groans and thrusts his hand through his hair, “I didn’t get to that part of mentioning the exploring Granger and Torin were doing there.”

Riley chuckles.

Meanwhile, San keeps looking at both of them with a bewildered expression on her face.

“They went last night to explore the old house that was the original Mayor’s house here forty years ago.” Riley’s lips twitch.

Commander Kail scowls at him.

“You mean the mayor who sold his land to Durdley?” San asks.

“Correct. Let’s go this way and we can tell you what they found over there.” Riley points towards the east side of town. They start walking towards the other side of the lane. “There had to be a special reason this building was never used and when Kail did some exploring, he found out that is where the Mayor used to live.”

Commander Kail glances over at Riley walking beside San.

“He wanted it explored because perhaps the Mayor hid something there. Durdley had his men go in several times and they always came out empty-handed.” Riley held up his hands displaying nothing in them.

“There might be more information on Durdley and perhaps.” She stops gazing at Riley in surprise. “You mean there might be information pertaining to the Dark Ones or even something else?”

“Mhm,” Riley turns right and continues walking towards the south gate.

San follows behind with Commander Kail walking beside her.

Stopping in front of the old, abandoned building, Ragnar jumps down from the top giving a deep bow. “Let me show you inside.”

While Ragnar turns around to open the door, Both men in the back gaze at each other with a knowing expression that the fear is no longer on her face.

Inside, San stops at the sight of many symbols displayed just slightly past the door, on the walls, windows, and throughout the room.

“You don’t need to worry about those. Granger and Torin disabled all the traps and left them visible to see. Seems these traps were good at creating a maze inside this house so people wouldn’t replace the loot he was hiding downstairs.”

“The loot?” San questions.

Ragnar beckons with his hand, “This way.”

Walking to the right is a staircase leading down with a large symbol over it. Before they can walk down, a familiar voice floats upward.

“Well, hello there Miss San! Why don’t you come down here, there is a lot that man hid down here. Some of it was stuff we didn’t even know about.” Torin steps to the side as they descend the stairs walking into the room.

In the room stretching twenty feet to the left of San are piles upon piles of unknown artifacts, trinkets that sparkle, and books looking incredibly old as well as other items. To the right another ten feet is a wall with Granger sitting in the middle working on something by a door.

“What are all of these?” She had never before seen a creature that would hoard this many items in one place feeling interesting and yet at the same time horrifying giving her mixed emotions.

Ragnar walks into the middle of the room spreading his arms and twirling around to face her, “This is called a treasure trove. Basically, all of these items are incredibly old. Seems the old mayor liked to gather all kinds of stuff. Most of these items are at least 1,000 years old. To our kind, it’s basically like replaceing hidden knowledge.” Ragnar pauses and glances in her direction. “It’s why we haven’t let anyone else in here, because some of the knowledge might be from your time and I wouldn’t want any of that getting into the wrong hands.”

Suddenly a loud groan followed by swearing sounds at the far end of the room. Granger stands up pointing his hand downward. “Dammit it all! I hate this damn contraption they put in this Damn Door!”

Torin starts laughing and walks over, “Let me guess it’s one you are having a hard time breaking?”

Granger snarls and turns to look at Torin pointing a finger at him, “You can’t break this lock You Numbskull! This Door will not Beat Me!” He swears again and sits back down working on the contraption in front of him.

From what Ragnar said, it seems they were protecting this information in case it could be hurtful, and wonders why it gives her a small sense of comfort. “May I look around?”

Ragnar replies, “Of Course.”

A soldier stands at the end of the room with a report as Commander Kail walks over to him. Meanwhile, Riley and Ragnar gaze over some old documents in a pile near them. Torin bends down over Granger helping with the contraption.

Gazing at the trinkets in front of her, doesn’t sense any magic of any type from them. Her eyes rest on the books further down and wonders about the book Gringel has on him. Were they truly stories from her time?

A loud sound echoes off the walls as gears start turning. Everyone looks at the wall on the other side moving towards.

Gringel stands up with a huge grin taking a few steps backwards.

In that instant, several large symbols appear on the wall turning in different directions. They have a shield over them with circles surrounding it. Once it stops, they disappear and the wall separates, splitting the door apart. It reveals a larger room inside with more trinkets, magical artifacts, and an odd crystallized statue in the middle of the room.

As Torin moves a step forward, they hear a loud thud on the floor behind them. Everyone looks in the direction and San collapses on the floor with a stricken expression on her face staring straight at the crystallized statue before them. Before anyone can approach her, she pleads desperately, “Please don’t hurt her!”

Ragnar stands still.

Commander Kail orders, “Everyone stand back please.”

They step back away from the creature while Ragnar kneels beside her. “Miss, are you alright?”

Right as Commander Kail kneels on the other side, San looks up at him still terrified. “San, do you remember what Riley and I told you to do in situations like this?”

Her gaze looks back at the statue. “You do what you can.”

“Mhm,” Commander Kail watches the stricken expression start to pass.

Ragnar asks, “You said her, is there a way to help her?”

“I don’t know. I only know what happened to them that day. The day they were all imprisoned in that form.”

Everyone looks over to the creature as a pause descends on the room.

“Ya know, I think I can decipher the text in that book where this creature might have been found. There might be more of them. Wouldn’t hurt to replace out if we can save them, would it?” Granger asks.

Torin smiles at Granger, “Why not?”

San looks at Granger as he winks at her, and looks back at the crystallized creature standing there. “But I don’t even know if she is alive.”

“One way to replace out?”

They watch as she steps forward slowly raising her hand to the large pointy shard tilting forward. Her hand moves over slightly touching another crystal much larger connected to another that stretches out four feet hanging in midair. “She is alive, that shouldn’t be possible!”

Walking up the other side, Commander Kail touches the other shard hanging in the air. “Perhaps the same way you are?”

“No, I am a damned creature that is neither alive nor dead.” Her eyes show grief while gazing down.

Riley walks up to them staring at the statue. “What do you mean neither alive nor dead?”

“If you were to injure me by cutting off my arm, it would regenerate at an alarming speed. Creatures that have been turned would also fall into this category. You could still slay us, however the higher the rank, the harder it would be to ensure they stayed dead. As the story told, if any part of me was dead, the trees would have gone after me.”

Commander Kail places his hands on his hips with a thoughtful expression. “I always assumed that parts of your body were dead, but if that is the case. No, never mind. I told myself I wouldn’t be too curious.”

“About?”

Riley speaks up, “About how you were turned, and what it means to be neither alive nor dead.”

She looks down at her hands, “I guess I am still understanding that myself. All I know is I am neither alive nor dead. As such I am something else, but I don’t know how else to describe it.”

“It’s alright, we will figure this out as we replace out more about these Dark Ones and the technology. Perhaps once we do that, all of us will replace a lot of answers. About the creature, why did you think it couldn’t stay alive?” Commander Kail drops his hands from the crystal, noticing the magic it gave off was quite high.

Continuing to stroke the crystal, San continues, “Other magical creatures like this one can live a long life, but they can’t live forever as one of the damned can.” Another shiver runs down her spine as if remembering the price of immortality by these creatures.

Riley walks over standing beside Commander Kail. “That sounds like a nightmare, I mean living forever would be nice, but by what you have to eat,” A shiver runs down his spine, “No Thank You. I’ll pass on that one.”

“Yes, and the downside to being turned, is you’re forever chained to the one that turned you. You can never disobey their command.” San comments.

“That would explain why the Higher ranks were afraid of The First. It seems he controlled everything. Even if you disagreed, they couldn’t defy his orders. But what about you?” Commander Kail questions.

“I,” San reaches up, placing her hand on her throat. “I don’t know but he never put a chain around me. I knew once, but for some reason, I can’t remember. I defied him at every turn.” Her gaze rises to meet Commander Kails. “Others who defied them were brought into torture chambers and it never lasted long as they couldn’t withstand the torture. For some reason I did, and even now I know I still would. That’s why I can’t understand how she is still alive.”

With a hand on his chin, Riley glances at her. “You mentioned experiments. Perhaps this is one they used, and this is what happened. Have they used this device again after using it on them?”

San continues to look at the creature, “No, they only used it here on them but I can’t be certain.”

“Then perhaps that is the reason she is in this state. And there might be others.” Commander Kail gestures with his hands towards the creature.

“Well while you were talking, I may have found a few areas to look at, if you’re up for it.” Granger teases them, tapping the book in his hand.

Both Ragnar and Riley look at Graner and say in unison, “Count me in!”

The sound of rushing footsteps from the door upstairs to the stairs caused all of them to look towards the stairs. “Commander Kail! Commander Kail! We Need Your Help Sir!” A Royal Guard enters the room stopping at the entrance and breathes heavily. While Commander Kail walks over, she keeps rambling, “Sir, Sir! Please, we need you to come with us! Uri is outside waiting, please Sir!”

Commander Kail slaps the royal guard across the face, “At ease, officer. Tell me what happened.”

A stunned look crosses the royal guard’s face and draws in a deep breath calming down. “The Town of Isitural, the people, Sir, were enslaved by some sort of chains that we can’t break! And they look slightly different. The Count has requested you and The Duke join him.”

His fingers twitch, betraying his annoyance, and crosses his arms behind him.“I take it, the instant teleportation is up?”

“Yes Sir, Please.”

With a glance at Riley, “Help here and see if you can free the creatures.”

Riley smiles, “We were already on it.”

“Be careful! If they were experimented upon, things will not be what they seem.” San pleads.

Commander Kail looks directly at San and spots the determination in her eyes. Giving her a nod, he walks upstairs.

Ragnar walks over to her, placing his hand on her shoulder giving her reassurance.

While Commander Kail walks upstairs, Granger snaps the book closed, getting her attention. “Don’t you worry, Kail can take care of himself. Besides, with everything we are being told, it helps to be more careful. No worries lass, We will save them both.”

Torin smiles, “Indeed we shall. Shall we get started? By the way, what type of creature is it?”

Gazing back at the crystallized statue, San takes a deep breath. “The creature is a Winged Pegasus.”

As Riley and Ragnar leave to look for the location of where the Original Mayor found this creature, Torin and the others work throughout the hours deciphering anything in the book that describes the whereabouts of the creature. San takes great care in measuring the crystal replaceing a way to break the chains that held this creature hostage.