“Yeah, Sis Roxy! Show him your awesome arcane ability!” cheered Arwen with excitement. It’s comprehensible that the young elf was relieved to find a reinforcement in her mystic companion, because she had been having trouble with the stubborn sentinel, to the point that she barely managed to stand up properly.“Hmph, I don’t need a cheerleader, elf! And stop addressing me so casually like we’re friends!” grumbled Roxanne while focusing her attention to the rhino of a guard.Roxanne would have to execute her preparation fast because the sentry didn’t seem to be running out of vitality yet. He had been charging here and there since the beginning of his clash with Arwen and outperformed her, while still having the energy to chase Roxanne around.“Such a big mouth for a wench! Let’s see how can you handle this without the help of your pointy ears friend!” exclaimed the guard, taking a stance to propel himself towards Roxanne.“I’ll prove it to you and

The group now had arrived at a safe area of the wood. It was calm and hidden, surrounded by lush trees and bushes that helped cover them. Arwen then let Devon sit on a big stone and said, “stay here, Devon. I’ll need to cure Francesca and Roxanne.”The man nodded nonchalantly as the elf left him with the newest addition to the group from the brothel. Arwen opened her bag and took out some quack remedies. She carefully poured the hand-made medicine into a spoon and then gave it to Roxanne. “Take this, Roxanne. You look quite unwell.”That one of Dietrich’s pupils then take the medication and washed her throat with water. Arwen then gave Francesca the medicine, to which she responded in disgust after feeling such a bitter aftertaste behind her tongue. “Blergh! What on earth is this?” she complained.“That’s a drug antidote,” explained the elf calmly, “you and Roxanne need it after being drugged.”The elf’s job wasn’t done yet, since she had to help

While Roxanne swept the floor, Francesca and Arwen arranged the furniture hand-in-hand across the room. Cecilia joined in and wiped the dusty surfaces from the windowsills. The girls bonded together as they chatted and joked about anything. As Cecillia giggled upon hearing the joke, her hand reached for something from the cupboard. It was an old photograph in a rustic white wooden frame. The girl ignored any background noises and started to caress the dusty glass surface, revealing a picture of four people. It was young Cecillia, standing between her father and mother who carried a beautiful baby boy, her little brother. A faint smile was curved on her lips as she reminisced the past memory of her lost family.-----A horse carriage stopped by the house’s front door. A man in his thirties hopped down from the vehicle and was greeted by the loves of his life: his beautiful wife and a young girl with two braids on her hair who immediately rushed her little feet to hug the man.

Devon’s eyes felt heavy as he struggled to open them. As his eyes opened wide, a flickering candle cast a faint glow in the unfamiliar room. The man blinked a few times, trying to comprehend and guess his whereabouts now. He glanced over to the right and left just to see cracked walls with an arch leading to the unknown. Devon groaned as he tried to sit from his rest and ran his fingers through his hair. Tons of questions were going around inside his head like a carousel. Where was he? How did he come to this place? Where are his friends?As he pressed his fingertips on the temple, Devon heard an indistinct chattering from a room across the long hallway. He sharpened his hearing and realized that the voice belongs to a group of women. He sat in silence and mumbled, “who are they?”The man grew more curious as the laughter was heard. The pleasant and appetizing smell of something cooked made him salivate and his stomach was grumbling heavily. After a few moments, Devon pulled the blanke

Having more people in the group would risk their identity to be discovered, they also didn’t want to endanger a civilian for this, so Roxanne politely refused the offer.“Uh- No, thanks! We’re kind of tight on the budget, so I’m not sure that we can afford to hire a guide to reach Byron. Thanks for the offer though, we will be on our merry way!” Roxanne answers awkwardly, she tries to escape the conversation along with Devon who skitters away from the Town Hall.“Ma’am? Ma’am! I can give you a discount price!” Yell the officer trying to haggle with now running away Roxanne and Devon. His voice began to diminish into thin air as Roxanne and Devon hurried their steps.“That was a close call, that officer was quite persistent” Sigh Devon.“Yeah... But at least we know that Byron City is way farther than expected. But how are going to get there?”“You heard the officer, we could probably ask the guide for the map that leads to Byron City and