After discontinuing conversation with his sister, someone knocked on the door of the room of the house Darius had been using. He opened the door and one of the members of his company was grinning at him. "Daniel! The locals brought us food!" he said excitedly.

Darius frowned slightly and followed the man into the main room of the small house. A table full of steaming food was set up. Their leader was practically drooling and reached for a steaming loaf of bread with one hand, and a small roasted bird with the other. "Don't eat this!" Darius said and reached out with his telekinesis and knocked all the food off the table.

Almost twenty tired, starving soldiers exclaimed and turned on him with anger. "Daniel! What are you doing!" Guennit, the company leader demanded, grabbing him by the collar.

Darius remained calm, looking up at the tall dark faced man. "These people's harvests have been stolen by mountain trolls. Where did the wheat for the bread come from? Where did they hunt the birds? The vegetables? They claimed to have barely scraped enough money to hire us," he reminded them.

"What are you trying to say?" a comrade who was closer to him asked hesitantly. 

"The mountain trolls are strange," another mercenary muttered.

Guennit let go of Darius. He looked at the food and then at Darius. "How did you do that? Do you know magic?" he asked, almost fearfully. Those who can do magic on Thelessia were rare, highly revered, and feared. 

"That doesn't matter," Darius said. He grabbed his cloak and flipped it over the table, leaving behind several baskets. "Eat. We'll need our energy," he said.

The men were shocked, and cautious, but then one of them opened one of the baskets. The food inside was still steaming. "Where did the food come from? Did you make it appear out of thin air?" he asked in a hushed tone.

Darius snorted in amusement. "No, my sister makes me plenty of food before I leave. I just keep it in a magical storage space. Eat," he said. The men needed no further encouragement. They all knew how well his sister cooked. Darius left them to it and walked outside. Although he wasn't an empath, he could still use his mental energy to sweep the surrounding area. He found that several villagers were lingering nearby. 

He reached out to his sister. <Where are you?>

<We've arrived. Lord Raziel brought us near the village. We're making our way to you now,> she answered.

<Be cautious. Villagers are lingering nearby. They are very strange.>

Britiana scanned the area where she and the others gathered near the nearby tree line. She winced slightly. The fear, greed, and maliciousness were nearly palpable. <I know.>

Chrystianna noticed her expression. "Don't scan. I'll scan," she said, patting her daughter soothingly on the back.

Britiana smiled gratefully. "How should we get to Darius?" she asked.

"Follow me," Sariya said and took the lead. With her dynamic vision and hearing, she easily led the others toward the small house on the outskirts of the village where they said Darius was. There were a few close calls as some of the male villagers were creeping around, wanting to go to the house but seemingly afraid to do so.

Darius saw them coming and smiled. Chrystianna and Britiana had long dropped their glamor, but they were wrapped up in cloaks that hid their more outstanding features. He didn't see the Voidstalker that was supposed to be with them.

Chrystianna's eyes felt wet, and she paused as she looked upon her son for the first time since he was a baby. He also wore a glamor, making him appear human and dulled his skin and features a bit. Like with her daughter, she could tell who he was immediately. "Darius," she murmured and rushed over to hug him.

Darius hugged her back. He nodded in greeting to his sister and Sariya. "Where did the Voidstalker go?" he asked.

Sariya shook her head. "He disappeared shortly after we got here," she said. She had no idea who or what the Voidstalker was. She didn’t really care either.

"He'll show up when we need him," Chrystianna said.

Darius nodded. "We should go in. I can't leave now and leave my company," he said and opened the door of the house to allow them inside.

The mercenary company he worked with was very alert and immediately stopped eating when the strangers came in. They vigilantly went for their weapons.

"Steady. It's my sister, mom, and friend," Darius said as he closed the door behind them.

Britiana made a cute hand sign at the men, then turned, and began creating wards around the house. "Keep eating, don't mind us," she said to them as she worked. "You eat, too," she told her brother. She pushed back her cloak hood and then took Sariya's quiver. "And you," she said. She moved to a small unoccupied corner of the main room of the small village house. She took a stool and small table from the folds of her dress and set the quiver on it, took a small glass bowl, a writing brush, and a needle.

The men watched her with open mouths, in shock while Sariya watched her in confusion. She had no idea why her quiver was taken or why Britiana was now approaching her with a needle. Britiana just smiled vapidly and then took her hand and poked her finger. She squeezed a couple of drops of dark purple-ish blood into the bowl. She then bustled back to the table and sat on the stool. She set the bowl down. She pulled out a crystal vial of sparkling water and added some to the bowl before putting it away again.

She began humming to herself as she swirled the blood and water together. She used the writing brush to begin drawing on the quiver with the liquid.

Sariya glanced at Chrystianna. "What is she--"

"Just wait. It won't be a bad thing," Chrystianna assured her.

Guennit had long cornered Darius. "That doesn't look like your sister. That's an elf," he said quietly. "A magic elf!" he shout-whispered.

Darius chuckled. He waved his hand over his face, dropping his own glamor. There was no need for it now. "We're not Elves, but yes, she's magic," he said. "There's a situation. I need to discuss it with you in private," he said.

Guennit wasn't the leader of the mercenary company for no reason. His temperament was as stout as his body. He nodded. He wasn't stupid. Although he guessed that maybe mountain trolls had aligned with someone, he only thought it was better to attack whoever the villagers had hired to protect them. After the rich food incident, he realized things weren't as normal as they seemed.

The two went into the other room so that Darius could fill him in on the situation. The other men weren't in shock for too long and went back to eating delicious food. Sariya shrugged to herself and joined them. She was starving and eating for two. Chrystianna hovered over Britiana while watching her write spells onto the quiver with a smile, recognizing what she was up to.