-Callen-

  The opening comment from the elf completely threw me off. I just stared blankly. I couldn't recall a single instance that Callia had interacted with an elf other than Freema. The only other occasion she had even encountered elves, Callia had assured me that she had hidden and wasn’t spotted by them. Still, any past connection was irrelevant to the subject at hand.

  “I’ve only ever met and spoken with one elf in my life, and you are not her. While your comment has made me curious, we have more important subjects to discuss. Most important of which is, why are you invading human territory?” I watched as she seemed to struggle with the answer. I figured I wouldn’t get a straight answer, but instead she started spilling every detail as she knew it without hesitation, and as far as I could tell, without deception. She described the voice that seized control in her youth and how it had clung to her throughout her life. It gave her the illusion of control, but when the voice spoke again, it seized control of every elf in the tribes. In total the main coalition of elves was a force that could be counted in the hundreds. The majority of which were launching a simultaneous invasion across the entire human north. As for the purpose of the voice, it was seeking a stolen treasure. Some of the human-hating elves had influenced its decision and directed it towards humanity.

  Beyond that, the questions seemed to hit a dead end as I struggled to dig up any useful information, but that didn’t mean I didn’t know what the voice's target was. I could only think of one thing that would evoke a response like the one we were seeing. Freema’s moderator status was the kind of treasure that anything with the ability to want would stop at nothing to have. I wasn’t sure how Freema stole it, but her journey to find an army was likely expressly for the purpose of facing this Voice’s retaliation. As I judged the interrogation at an end, she asked a question that made me freeze.

  “You mentioned meeting and speaking with an elf before. Was it a younger girl named Freema?” I slowly sat back down and answered with a question of my own.

  “Before I say anything, I want to know why you’re looking for her.” I couldn’t rule out the possibility that even here the mysterious voice had influence on the woman. With the level and depth of control it had shown, manipulating memories and brainwashing were easily something it could do. After all, it had been controlling the elvish tribes to send it their young for generations.

  “She’s my daughter. She had completed her trial far too quickly and went south to hone her skills before returning to the tribe. However, now that I look back without the voice interfering, I’m certain she somehow escaped the voice. I don’t care about the rest of my tribe. We are well and truly lost, but if I can be with and protect my daughter, then nothing else matters.” I considered lying and saying Freema had died or just that she passed by, but this was a mom looking for her daughter. None of her statements suggested deeper knowledge into Freema’s goal of assembling an army, so I relented.

  “Freema visited our village under the guidance of a friend. She stayed briefly, learning archery from my sister, before we set off on a journey to the capital. Along the way the friend lost her mind, and we were split. The last place we knew her to be was the castle of Duke Harlanou.” As I finished, Paladin Jonas grabbed my arm with a grave expression.

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  “Your friend who ‘lost her mind.’ Is she the reason you only have one arm? Was it flesh and blood that she sought?” I pause, realizing I might’ve exposed my trait. Then again, letting the professional know about the circumstances and Lexia’s change might be a good idea. I glanced over to the elf, who was smiling happily at the news that her daughter was ok. I nod carefully and explain the details of the events. I notice the tension in the paladin’s stance increase, clearly communicating how concerning the information was to him.

  “Mayor Callen, I would ask you to visit the citadel, but with circumstances as pressing as they are, I will not insist. Instead, I ask you to send me back to the capital with all haste. Your former friend has perished and is now a demon’s puppet. A humanoid demon is a rarity of utmost urgency that must be purged. Even more concerning is it claiming more chosen blood. Once transformed, the divine power of a chosen is toxic to demons, so the only use of your blood is to awaken more demons.”

  I nod in understanding and alert Callia of the development. She might only be able to deliver the paladin into the dungeon, but that should still be faster than running through possessed elf territory. As the thought crosses my mind, the elf sitting across from me stands up.

  “If my little girl is with a demon, then I want to help. Shiny armor, man, let me come with you!” I looked between the two of them as Jonas nodded solemnly before offering his hand.

  “You may call me Paladin Jonas. Please remember that a demon like that which we hunt is not something we are capable of standing against alone. Do not cause me trouble, or I will leave you behind. Alerting the citadel is more important than anything else at this moment.” As Jonas finishes his statement, Callia’s door opens, and I watch as the two of them head out. I look through the portal and wave to Callia as she smiles back, relieved, returning my wave.

  The door closes, and I contact Nightshade to open the gate back to Port Town. Instead of running off into the city, I climb up the steps to Nightshade’s garden. The once vibrant room was still and nearly lifeless. In the center, Nightshade was still blooming peacefully. I sat down and carefully meditated to check up on her to make sure she was ok.

  Prison life with Callia

  Hew just sat down in a plush chair that Callia had used in furnishing the prison cell. While this was his first visit to a cell like this, he felt it had been unreasonably nice. When he imagined dungeons, it involved shackles, starvation, and abuse. Well, their arrival certainly suggested that was how it should be, but Callia broke the shins of the man in charge of watching their cell and promised to make him eat his own manhood if he got any funny ideas like telling the other guards. After that, Callia didn’t hesitate to adjust the dingy and unpleasant experience into a comfortable confinement. Even the guard, who she had originally threatened, now sat on the other side of the bars chatting with Callia while munching on some of the delicacies she had shared.

  The whole experience felt surreal, and it quickly became even more strange when Callia summoned a door that a paladin and a starving elf came out of. The guard fell on his ass, not knowing whether to arrest the paladin or run screaming. In the end he went with the sensible option that had been taught to him by Callia, sitting back onto the recliner Callia lent him and taking a nap. That event spiralled into even more confidence from Callia as she decided to go visit the queen.

  Again the guard didn’t interfere in the slightest, instead leading Callia deeper into the dungeon. From the casual banter between the two, it was abundantly clear that the guard had even gone so far as to send the other guard watching away for a lunch break. Hew eventually decided that he would never understand the twins' antics. He got up carefully, sitting at a small table position next to the bars, joining Callia and the guard in a game of Monopoly Talia Kingdom edition. The focus on commerce over noble rule and the complete disregard for the danger of travel between the locations listed felt so foreign. When he lost his beloved property Port Town because he landed on Callia’s Baron Mecca territories that had fully constructed castles, tripling his expense, he cried bitterly.

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