The jarring sound of boots thunking against the wooden floors along with a light as bright as three suns flashing across his dream-state vision shook Zephèl awake in an instant. Although he said he would sit and watch the door, at some point he must have dozed off. Kaoli and Mathias were already well awake, shielding their eyes from a blinding, other-worldly light glaring outside the window. Many of the villagers were awake now, too. Their worried screams and the cries of their children could be heard well within the walls of the inn. People were moving about the Inn too, and it was not just the people in their own party. Shouts could be heard from the bar room and the Inn keeper could be heard trying to keep a few men from forcing their way upstairs. Lyrian, Allia, and Jania were all awake as well as they had slammed on the door to the men’s room just seconds after Zephèl had woken up, saving himself from a likely head injury in the process.

Still feeling groggy and confused, the Prince half crawled, half shuffled his way awkwardly towards the window and the blinding light with the three women behind him. Being careful not to trip over anything that they may have left on the floor, Zephèl leaned on Mathias’s shoulder the moment he was in reach. Kneeling on the bed for further support, the prince gazed through slimly parted fingers to get a look outside the window.

“How long has this been going on?” He shouted as if there was noise to speak over.

“Only since a few minutes before you woke up,” Mathias replied in a softer tone, though there was a clear tension with the way he spoke.

The Prince turned around to face his company, stealing a glance at each one of their faces,

“Can any of you tell what kind of Aeastalth magic this is?” His voice was filled with panic and worry.

He continued to stare into the eyes of his men, searching for an answer. When none came, Zephèl turned to Mathias, his grip tightening on the man’s shoulder. Mathias could feel the smaller man shaking nervously through the hand that rested on him for support, “We need to get out and find what’s causing this! Judging by brightness, it cannot be too far from—“

“Get down!”

Mathias shouted as loud as he could just as a monstrous gust of wind blew through the cracks in the window pane, blowing out the glass along with it. He dove to protect his prince as the rest of them ducked down to the floor, covering their faces and vitals with their arms and hands. The larger man shielded Zephèl with his body. The prince’s eyes were wide with surprise as he looked into his friend’s features. The glass cut his head and the sides of his face as blood neatly trickled down, dripping onto Zephèl’s clothing and the bed. The gust blew with full force, but Mathias would not budge. He stared into Mathias’s eyes as he slowly reached up to wipe the blood that started to drip into the man’s eyes with the tip of his thumb. The prince ran his finger’s across the man’s long eyelashes as his muscular friend looked down at him with a crooked smile. It was as if Mathias knew what Zephèl was about to say.

“I can take care of myself, you know.” The prince was grinning with his usual childish facade.

“Somehow, I doubt that,” Mathias returned.

The man’s entire body acted as wall against the strong wind that the company could only assume came from the strong magical energy that had erupted somewhere nearby. The wind gust lasted a good while, and Zephèl remained trapped by Mathias who looked ready to collapse any second. As the wind died down, so did the light. The light dimmed on one spot not too far, definitely close enough that it was walking distance. Lyrian’s gaze shifted to Allia who nodded. Taking her bow, which he had strung and ready before she came into the men’s room, she jumped to her feet and fired three shots in quick succession all at the same target.

“It would be a fools gamble if we all go,” Zephèl said as Mathias collapsed on the bed next to him, “Lyrian and Allia come with me, Jania and Kaoli, watch Mathias. Be sure he receives any and all medical attention that’s needed,” The prince’s eyes were serious as his mouth was set in a hard line, forcing himself to keep is composure.

Taking one last look at his friend, whom he passed on to Jania, Zephèl ran out the door with Lyrian and Allia in tow. Rushing down the stares, the prince caught the attention of the innkeeper. He produced another pouch of gold coins and an envelope with his father’s seal on it, “Please use this to pay for the damages. The envelope will grant you access to Kingdom and to the king’s audience chambers. I will inform him of what happened and he will send aid at once.”

The man nodded quickly as Zephèl, Lyrian, and Allia shoved past a crowd of the townsfolk who had gathered in the inn for safety. The three of them rushed outside, around the back of the inn into a far off field where the light had dimmed on.

“By the Two Heroes, I swear I’ll kill the lot of them! How dare they get this close to our lands,” Lyrian cursed under her breath as they ran.

Allia was checking the surrounding foliage when two arrows caught her eye, flying past her in neat succession, followed by a third. She ran over to them and drew them out of the earth with all her strength and immediately started searching for the third one

“The third one can’t be too far,” She called over her shoulder to the prince and her commander as she hurried further into the tall grass.

“Allia! Stop! Don’t go off on your own!” Lyrian ordered the girl who ignored her,

“You don’t know what is out there!” Zephèl followed, shouting and sprinting after her into the darkness.

They had been too hasty to think about bringing torches and Zephèl panicked as he searched for his underling in the darkness. He blindly followed his senses in the darkness, twisting and turning within the tall grass. It had only been a minute at best but he felt like he had been searching for the girl for eternity. Suddenly, the Allia’s voice could be heard in the wind,

“Commander, your highness! Please come!”

The voice repeated and Zephèl followed it until he reached an unnatural clearing in the grass where a dim light floated about his feet. Lyrian entered the clearing not long after him and they both set their eyes on Allia who was on her hands and knees in the grass, holding onto what appeared to be glowing black fabric, “Commander, it’s a person! A child!”

Upon hearing that, Zephèl broke out of his stupor and rushed to her side,

“Is she from the village? Is she hurt?” He sat down beside her as he gazed upon the face of the mysterious, bloodied body of beautiful person, a young woman perhaps.

The prince took the child from Allia and started to inspect their wounds. Upon closer inspection, the prince noted that he was holding onto the body of a young man. His hands were bound with a crude rope behind his back and there was a knife protruding from his chest. What struck a nerve with Zephèl was the boy’s features. The pale skin, high cheekbones, and incredibly slender appearance were already foreign, but his clothes were of a material that was not manufactured in his own kingdom. In fact, there was only one place Zephèl knew of where you could buy such expensive cloth. “Maybe he was kidnapped by the Stone Empire’s soldiers and they killed him when they knew we were coming?” Allia inquired.

The prince silently shook his head as his senses cleared and everything hit him like wall. The light that filled the clearing was rolling off this boy’s skin and into the earth. He was not dead, either. Zephél brushed his hand over the boy’s face and hovered his hand close to the boy’s mouth. His skin was cold to the touch but a soft breath escaped his pale, thin lips. The boy should have been dead in his condition but somehow clung to life and was merely asleep.

“No, Allia. This boy is from the Empire,” Zephèl said as he got to his feet. He had a stern, confused look on his face as if he was at a lost for what to do. He could not kill their only lead to what the Empire was planning, yet at the same time the boy appeared to have destructive power beyond his imagination. Taking a deep breath, Zephèl turned to Allia, “And he’s alive. Dress his wounds but don’t untie him incase he wakes up. I can’t put these villagers at risk anymore than I already have.”

With that, Zephèl started to walk back towards the inn, deep in thought. Lyrian stayed behind with Allia and attended the boy as the prince went back by himself.