The mages stop what they are doing and walk over to Aron and the new girl that walked in. Gilan takes a seat and tries to take in what just happened.

“Is this your friend, kid?” The dwarf asks Aron.

“Yeah.” Aron smiles softly. The dwarf turns to Cierra and raises his hand to shake hands with her.

“Pleasure to meet you, kid. That one’s never told us your name.” He points to Aron and glares at him. Cierra chuckles and shakes the dwarf’s hand.

“Oh, my name’s Cierra. It doesn’t surprise me to be honest that Aron forgot to mention that.” She smiles warmly at the dwarf.

“Beautiful name, child. So nice to meet you.” Olvia chimes in, smiling as if she’s an aristocrat.

“Thank you. Who are you?” Cierra asks, confused.

“I am Olvia, the greatest water mage for over 1,200 years.” She smiles. Cierra’s jaw drops.

“The Olvia? Never realized you would still be alive.” Cierra puts a hand to her chin. 

“That was pretty rude. Humans used to live for very long periods of time. Something changed, though.” Olvia proudly states.

“What happened?” Cierra asks concerned. 

“I don’t know, but we started dying off sooner when Aldir did whatever he did to get magic. I am just trying to get answers from him on why he did it, and I can bet that he’s still alive.” Olvia responds seriously. Poco jumps toward Cierra, almost stumbling when he lands.

“Hello Cierra, pleased to meet you.” He grabs her hand and kisses it. She pulls away slightly.

“Nice to meet you too.” Cierra smiles at him awkwardly. She tries to go back to the conversation at hand with Olvia.

“So–” She gets cut off.

“Cierra, you feel it too, don’t you? The love we have for each other is so deep that you don’t even know what to say to me.” Poco rambles. Cierra facepalms and smacks him to the ground.

“Shut up, I don’t like you. I don’t even know you.” She sighs.

“Anyways, I forgot what I was going to say, so I’m gonna meet Aron’s dad, I guess.” She glares at Poco still on the ground, who is now rubbing his face where he got smacked. Aron runs up to Gilan and sits with him.

“What happened, Gilan? You’ve barely moved since we got back.” Aron shakes him slightly. Gilan shakes his head as if breaking out of a trance.

“Oh, nothing. It’s just, you pushed way past your limits, plus I had no idea that you’d make friends with a girl so fast.” He chuckles.

“Malleus really is more of a dad than you.” Aron chuckles slightly. He looks up at Cierra standing in front of him.

“Hey, Ci Ci.” He smiles and gets up, hugging her.

“Hey. Can I have a moment with your dad? Also kick that elf’s butt for me, would ya?” Cierra glares at Poco, now just barely standing up.

“What’d he do?” Aron chuckles at him falling again.

“Tried to ramble on about how he felt an ‘instant connection’ like I felt the same way.” She laughs.

“Well. Do you?” Aron asks half jokingly.

“No, just kick his butt for me, please.” Cierra smiles at him and sits down with Gilan. Aron goes over to Poco and picks him up, pinning him against a wall.

“Hey, Poco, right?” Aron clenches his fist.

“Yeah, why?” He asks, still reeling from the smack from Cierra.

“Don’t try to flirt with Cierra. She doesn’t want you.” Aron glares at him.

‘I have to be careful with him, I don’t know how to control my new powers.’

Poco nods and raises his hands in surrender. Aron lets go of him and smiles.

“Good.” Aron walks over to Gilan and Cierra.

“Hey, you guys done talking yet?” Aron smiles.

“Yeah, we can do whatever now.” Cierra smiles back. Aron clears his throat loudly and shouts.

“Attention, everyone.” Everyone settles and goes over to the round table.

“Now that Cierra is safe, we must figure out what to do. It’s only been five days since we started training. Do we want to continue with it, or stop for now and regroup before we attack the castle in full strength?”

“How do we know that she’s truly safe, and okay to have around us?” The dwarf asks.

“I wasn’t followed, and it’s about a two day travel from here to the prison.” Cierra responds.

“How can you be sure?” The dwarf glares at her.

“Well, I killed every guard except for the one in–” She pauses and her eyes widen. 

“No, no, no. I forgot the one in the basement. He’s by far the strongest there and I don’t think any of us could take him, even together.” Cierra puts her hand on her head worriedly.

“I’ll do it.” Aron stands up.

“No, you’ll be killed. None of us are strong enough. Even with all four elements on your side, there’s no way–” Cierra looks frantic.

“I’ve got this. If I live through it, I’ll tell you how.” Aron smiles at Cierra softly. She holds his hand.

“You better not die on me, idiot.” Cierra’s eyes well up with tears. Aron wipes them away.

“I’m not facing him right now, don’t worry.” Aron chuckles slightly.

“He’s the one who killed Trish, and all those mage guards.” Tears still flow from her eyes.

“Exactly why I’m not going to die whenever he gets here.” He smiles at her. She nods and her tears dry up.

“Now. I was planning on maybe attacking the castle in a year because we’ve barely scratched the surface of our full potential.” Aron proposes.

“What if Aldir moves locations?” Olvia counters.

“Fair concern, but, how long has Castle Rebol stood for?” Aron asks.

“Around 1,300 years. Oh, I see.” She smiles.

“Aldir has most likely been using that castle as his hideout for a while now, at least since it was abandoned 1,000 years ago, making him about 200 years old at that point, with our current information. The odds of him switching in one year are pretty low.” Aron explains. A familiar shockwave to Aron and Cierra pulse throughout the forest and near the tavern. The two look at each other in shock.

“You said it’s a two day journey to here, right?” Aron asks, worried. Cierra nods.

“How the hell did he find you so quickly?” Aron exhales deeply and clenches his fist. He hugs Cierra and Gilan before taking his first step on the stairs.

“Love you guys. I love you so much.” A tear falls from Aron’s eyes and he smiles before walking up the stairs.