Instantly in a flash of bewildering light, a shower of flowering petals, and possibly colored paper. A figure burst out from a side street sending shocks of jolting fear through the witch and young warrior, who were now too stunned to move. 

“HELLO!” A voice shouted, crying out into the dark, a shrill sound halfway between a song and an applause, announced for all to hear, but directed specifically at the two victims. Before them, without warning, the thing stood, a man perhaps? 

“Hello hello, I didn’t mean to startle the two of you, such a wonderful witch, followed by a precious little thing” the creature flung out a long nail towards Al, who instinctively reached for his sword handle in a direct yet subconscious gesture. 

Albatross flicked his eyes over to Galena who was in some awkward half shriek, half scared hands up position, the boy could only assume it was some mage combat stance. The thing addressed them with a massive grin which stuck to its face like a drawing, it looked human enough, extra-human enough. With light blue skin that flowered like the stars in the night, a flamboyant nature that matched the creature’s clothes. Almost carnival or circus in effect, it was clad in an oversized trench coat, unbuttoned at the top, with a generous amount of chest on display. Al’s eyes blinked as they pondered the jester’s pants, vertically striped red and black, leading down to deep leather boots, curled at the toe, resembling mystical attire from old elvish folklore. 

The nail, which it had so rudely gestured with, was also patterned red and black in a devilish checkerboard, matching the whole maniacal facade. Most interesting however, was the creature’s head, two red shards protruded from its skull, acting more like horns, than decorations, they jutted out from shaggy gray hair mixed amongst strands of yellow and orange. Two very long elvish ears jingled in their own mass of piercings and rings, the creature stared at them with piercing violet eyes, which looked past its jolly upturned nose, all with a gaze that could melt the soul. 

Lean, young, and fit was the thing, it smiled at them like only a snake could “I do apologize for the entrance.” It spoke, with a singing smoothed voice, deep and melodious, only changing key as it reached each verse. 

“I smelled some truly delicious magic and I wanted to scope out the competition, I didn't mean to frighten.” It bowed, a deep elegant bow, splaying arms and hands through fantastic twirls, his two audience members still standing stunned. “The name is Loki, just like the trickster” Loki laughed a harlequin’s laugh, placing a fabulous hand to his exposed chest, idly fingering the leather. 

“Not to be rude, but I’m not particularly impressed with the current competition in this area, alas, I shall have to move my show elsewhere” he paused his act, “however, you are still free to come and watch” Loki sneered, turning with one foot outstretched, straight legged like some puppet doll. The jester twirled and spun away with a dastardly swiftness, before anymore words could be uttered. 

“By The One Divine, what on earth was that? Never seen one of those before, never even heard of whatever that was.” Al expressed, watching the marionette dance away into the darkness. 

Icy silence shattered as his companion mentally recovered, “I don’t” Galena paused, “I don’t know what that was, an extra-human I presume, although I have never seen or heard of anything close to that either, magic?” the woman discussed with herself, “A parlor trick magician to be sure, extra-humans don’t have magic, weird, very weird.” 

She paused again, “well that was a whole ordeal… somehow, yet I’m not even sure about what just happened, or if I should be insulted or amused.” 

Al looked over at her, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his cheeks, “the powerful witch, confused?” Galena whipped around, staring devils into the boy’s heart, Al’s face instantly falling neutral in response. 

“Sorry” was all the young warrior could muster, with an awkwardly silent twist, the duo begrudgingly continued their walk down the perplexing alley. Cobble and brickwork of all different types and colors, molded their landscape. Some of the buildings, Al could barely believe, potion shoppes, enchanting stores, relic shops, apparently this whole alley, or district, was actually a place where mages and those who dealt with magic congregated, or so Galena expressed. As she explained it, there are often locations in most large cities and towns, where the mystical come to meld, since mages like to be around their own kind, and sometimes the normal denizens feel uneasy having them around. 

After a bit of browsing, Al’s arms were full of bags and boxes, each different in their own way, struggling the boy tried his best, following behind the witch who was lucky she was so tall. Al tracked her by the top of the head, as the small party meandered back to the main lane. Within the swimming square, witches and warriors regrouped, Galena rounded the party back up. Their previous location now bustling with people gathering around the small central stature, Every and Argjend were already there, no doubt the first ones to have arrived. 

The old warrior stood next to the bubbly girl who sat on a stone bench surrounding the fountain surrounded construct. Every swung her feet, a satchel next to her, wrapped up tight in greasy paper. Al arrived behind Galena, things piling up as he set them down upon the bench, right next to the bouncy girl. 

“Any trouble?” The witch asked Argj as they settled into the pack, “no not at all, you Galen?” she sighed at his words “we ran into a very… interesting creature, but it was of no issue or consequence, where’s Sonne?” She asked, to which the old man replied with a grunt as the sound of clanking metal emanated from behind. 

“Aye did ya miss me lads, lasses, and everything else?” Sonne pushed out, shining against the afternoon sun, a series of sachets slung over the orc’s left shoulder, all stretched into flat square shapes, gonging as they clacked together. “Got the materials Galen, Lusmine said hello, what a sweetie he is.” Galena smiled at the warrior’s words, a genuine smile that Al had never seen until now.

 “Well, now that we have reconvened” said the purple figurehead, followed by a wide sweeping of her robes. “Might as well get going, we’re almost to the capital anyways, should be there by around dawn tomorrow, we can rest at an inn before our… mission.” The witch said with a slightly apprehensive look. 

Recuperating the grouping of wannabe adventurers made their way down a different stone path, this time snaking along the main road, heading north towards the capital of Parrino. Once again, they stepped back out into roads of dirt and dust, winding the way through darkened trees, carts and cattle drawn pulls of all different sizes. 

After some mind-numbing minutes, or perhaps hours, the boy decided he needed a change of pace, jogging past his allies, heading for the front of the line. Saddling up, he passed the young girl and orc, mid conversation, shyly approaching with a tentative formality, as he walked shoulder to shoulder with the raven. 

“Um Galena, I had a question… well more of a curiosity” Al proposed to the taller woman, who didn’t even bat an eye or turn a head, “yes yes boy, do elaborate” she said, still forwarding their route.

“Earlier when we were talking about the ghouls… I mean the living, you said humans have mana, and extra-humans have something else?” he paused mid thought, “spirit” she replied, eyes forwards. “Yes spirit” Al spoke, reprising his rambling, “I was just curious, about what… even is that exactly? I know I should have asked earlier, but I got to thinking that I don’t really know anything about mystical things, or just extra-humans in general…” his voice trailed off as Galena pressed out a little sigh from her plush wrinkled lips. 

“If I must” the woman replied, exhaling her large heaving chest, “if you are to travel with us, and be my potion keeper… or gatherer, then magics must be in your curriculum, magics of all different types that is.” 

Continuing forwards, trekking the track without a hint of wavering, the witch kept her energy high, all while conversing with the boy, whose boots fell through squelching mud. 

“As you know” Galena started, “humans have mana, mages have a significantly greater wealth of mana within them compared to normal people. They use this abundance of energy to alter the elements, which you call magic, however they can never create, nor destroy, only change… standard stuff.” 

Al nodded at a profuse rate, even though he had not fully comprehended those last little details. “Spirit, in rudimentary terms, is the energy of the soul and the heart, ‘will’ if you will” she laughed at her own wording. 

“Some extra-human races have spirit so strong, that they almost appear like mages in a sense, able to do incredible feats, speak to animals, call nature to their aid, even summon and speak to their ancestor’s spirits. Truly interesting stuff, where we have mages, they have shamans.” 

Galena paused “even more interesting, is the fact that we do not know what happens to humans when they die, of course there are many theories, but in contrast we scientifically know what exactly happens to extra-humans.” 

She paused to make sure the boy was still paying attention, “when an extra-human passes, especially one of considerable ‘spirit’, they become a specter or ‘ghost’ while the ones with lesser spirit have their souls incorporated back into the flow of nature, and the earth itself. Until they are eventually reformed and reborn anew, death is not something they fear or deal with often, as spirit passively prolongs their lives by nature, sometimes increasing their lives by hundreds of years, or indefinitely in the cases of Ancestrals.” 

Galena continued after a light cough, “spirit has a lot of benefits sure, sadly though, mana is stronger in a way, more useful and practical when it comes to weaponization, and us humans sure have weaponized it. The wars were brutally one sided, we advanced but at a cost, most of our research came from the horrific experiments that were rampant at the time, however I do not wish to discuss such deplorable matters.” She took a deep breath, letting her shoulders relax back down, as she finally made eye contact with Albatross, for the first time, since their conversation had begun.