The First Mage

With the decision to go back to Alarna having been made, we spent the rest of the day discussing our plans. The very first hurdle would be just getting to Alarna. The future of our deal with the mayor was uncertain at this point, and we didn’t know how he would react if we told him that we wanted to leave. He had treated us well up to this point, but if he decided to cut his losses and sell us to Alarna, we would have a problem. He could act friendly on the surface at the request, but then stab us in the back. It would be much safer to just take out our two guards and then leave.

If we went that route, however, the moment we stepped out of the house, we would be surrounded by more guards. Reurig had informed us that there were quite a few of them, even though they typically stayed out of sight for some reason. If they knew about us, they would presumably also know that we were supposed to be with our guards, in which case they would stop us if we walked around without them. It would be good if we could just walk out of the house somehow.

Miles had originally proposed that we flee when the soldiers came back and the mayor would’ve brought us somewhere else to hide. With him and Cerus’ guards being distracted, we could’ve slipped past the army and then left. If we couldn’t trust the mayor anymore, however, this wasn’t a great option. The moment the soldiers arrived, he might sell us out, so it wouldn’t be a good idea to wait for them. Before they got here, we had to get out of the house somehow, ditch our guards, and then make our way through the tunnel that Reurig had entered the town through.

Tunnels that lead in and out of town apparently existed in both Alarna and Cerus, though their locations were top secret, to the point that not even Berla had known about them yet. Due to a lack of Fighters, they weren’t usually guarded, though they were locked, and only very few important figures would have a key. Luckily, Reurig would be able to pick the locks, so at least that part wouldn’t cause us any trouble. Ditching our guards shouldn’t be an issue either, which left the problem of how to leave the house without raising any red flags. Though we didn’t have any great ideas yet.

At least we wouldn’t have to get anything once we were out of here. Since we could produce water without blue stones now, the only thing we needed to worry about would be food. Not only would we be able to go a few days without, we would also be able to hunt animals and maybe beasts in the Wildlands. With the ink and paper we had in our room, and everything we had brought from Alarna, we would be good to go. A few more white stones might’ve been nice to have, but we still had the ones we had siphoned off the resources given to us during the tests, so we would be good if we needed a few for some tests.

Going through the Wildlands to Alarna would most likely be the easiest part of the plan, assuming that we wouldn’t have any unexpected encounters. Instead of taking the road, we would go through the woods, to reduce the risk of running into the soldiers. The normal beasts had not been an issue on our way here, so there was no reason to assume that it would be any different when we went back. Once we got to Alarna, we would set up camp in the woods, a little bit off the beaten path, and then we could approach Gean, to gradually set our plans into motion.

Two days passed as we discussed what we would need, what to do next, and everything else that would become important in the immediate future. The one part of the plan we still hadn’t finished yet, was how to get out of here. We had been holed up in our room the entire time, and the mayor had refused to talk to us, saying that he still needed time to think. We had reached the point where the soldiers might return any time, however, so we had to act, and we decided to simply request permission to take a walk around town. Just to get out of the house for a change and maybe check out the shops, which would justify me bringing my bag, to transport our money and whatever we might buy.

“A walk around town?” Pyran asked me after I had brought it up to him. “I’ll have to discuss this with the mayor.”

“Would you, please? We’ve been stuck in this room for two days already, and after being in the Wildlands for so long, we are starting to feel a little claustrophobic in here,” I said jokingly.

“Alright,” he said and left for a little while. Since it was the middle of the day, neither the mayor nor his wife were home, and Pyran had to go wherever the mayor did his work.

Whether we would get permission for this would presumably depend largely on what the mayor’s plans were and how much he trusted us. If he was going to sell us out, he might want to keep us prisoners, to ensure that we wouldn’t be able to flee. However, since he didn’t actually know how much firepower we had, he might think that even two guards would be more than enough to stop us, a group that included only one actual combatant in their eyes, the uninjured Fighter Reurig.

It took about half an hour for Pyran to get back, and he brought good news. “I’ve gotten permission from the mayor for you guys to take a walk around town for an hour. It seems to be safe at the moment, but it would be better if you stayed here afterwards, in case soldiers from Alarna arrive.”

The mayor’s decision was difficult to interpret. He wasn’t trying to keep us in here by any means necessary, but he also didn’t want to give us too much freedom. On the surface, it seemed like this room was the safest place to be, but since this wouldn’t be where we would hide from the soldiers, it shouldn’t matter too much whether we were somewhere in town or in this room. My theory was that maybe the mayor wasn’t certain what he should do yet.

“Great! Thanks, Pyran,” I said and grabbed my bag. We all got up and finally left the house, walking down the stairs and through the front door, presumably for the last time.

We made our way north towards the main street, where most of the shops were. While browsing the wares in the shop windows, we slowly made our way west, towards the main square. Outside of the market week, it wouldn’t actually be used a lot, but to get to the tunnel, we would have to go through there and then north, passing the road that led to the ritual square. Initially, everything went well, but when we arrived at the main square and then vaguely went in that direction, Pyran stopped us.

“Wait. I’m sorry, but I have to ask you to not go that way. Actually, maybe we should head back,” he said.

He either was wary of us going to the tunnel or the mayor had instructed him to not let us near the platform, because of what we might do there.

“Is it because of the ritual platform?” I asked.

Pyran seemed like he wasn’t sure how to respond, but eventually he nodded. While it was unfortunate that he wouldn’t let us go any further, at least they didn’t appear to suspect anything. Now we’d just have to find a quiet place, where we could knock out our two guards and then we would be good to go. As I was looking for a good place, however, the town bell started ringing. Everyone turned in the direction of the town gates, where the alarm was coming from.

“Huh? The bell? Is it a beast?” Berla asked.

It would be rare to see a beast appear in town at this time of day, but what was even weirder was that Riala and I were here, in the middle of town. Based on our theories, beasts were supposed to be avoiding us, so they shouldn’t come here. Pyran quickly corrected her, however.

“No, that’s the general alarm. That means something is wrong at the gate, and it’s something big... I’m guessing the Alarna army is here,” he said, seemingly at a loss for what to do now. If the mayor hadn’t made a definitive decision yet, he might not have had a clear order for what to do with us in this case, since the mayor was hoping we would be in our room when the soldiers arrive.

“Damn it...” I said, feigning disappointment. “Do you know where we are supposed to hide?”

“Yes...” he said, clearly still uncertain of what to do right now.

“Well, then we should probably go there, right?” I said, trying to get him out of his daze. We had been told we would be hiding in one of the mines, which were essentially mazes. If the guards were to bring us there, it would get us back on track to walk through the main square, in the direction of the mountain in the west. The two guards briefly stepped aside to talk to each other, but they quickly made the decision that we would go to the hiding place for now. We walked up the main street and crossed the main square. Just minutes before, I had still seen people walk around here, but now it was empty, with the citizens presumably having gone somewhere safe when they heard the bell.

The plan was going exceptionally well so far. There was nobody around, we were relatively close to the tunnel, and there were only two guards with us. Meanwhile, the soldiers would have to wait for the mayor in front of the gate.

After leaving the main square, we walked down a road that would eventually bring us to the mine, but at my direction, our group suddenly turned down a dark alley, with the guards hurriedly following us.

“Hey, where are you going!? The mine is that way!” Pyran said, pointing at the road we had come from.

“Yeah... Unfortunately we have other plans. I’m really sorry, Pyran. It’s nothing personal,” I said to him and then addressed Reurig. “Let’s do it.”

He nodded and immediately went for the guard on the left to occupy him, while I knocked out the unsuspecting Pyran on the right, by throwing him into a wall with a water blast. Afterwards, I did the same with the other guard. The plan had worked well, and with Riala not having done anything, her secret of being able to do the same thing was still safe from the mayor for the moment.

I looked down sadly at the two unconscious guards. They hadn’t done anything, and they hadn’t deserved this. However, we didn’t have a choice. We didn’t know how good these two were, and had we given them an opening, they could’ve possibly taken us by surprise instead. At least Fighters were tough enough to get through this without much of an issue, so hopefully they would be able to forgive us for this.

After hurriedly carrying them around a corner, so they couldn’t be seen from the street, we made our way back in the direction of the main square, and north from there. The tunnels awaited.