As the group made their way to the surface Silachlume walked alongside them, He had not left the library in many ages.
"The connection between us through the staff will allow us to communicate while I am not physically present. It also gives you full access to my being. You can read through the entirety of my spell core and understand how I work at your leisure." He walked with his arms clasped behind his back as if he were a nobleman.
"So I don't even need to call you out? What about when I get to spell casting, I was told the spell core can be used to assist?" Mercer was eagerly asking questions while he also let the information stream from his staff slowly creep in at a pace he could process it.
"Yes, I can supplement the casting speed, this works as I am treated as a secondary caster. Multiple wizards can cast spells at much faster speeds than single wizards. An advanced spell core has an advantage though as I can directly store the spells in order to create an instant cast of them. This only works for lower level spells generally."
...
They continued talking for most of the way, Lera looking antsy and always moving a little to fast and having to wait for them to catch up.
"Oh wow..." Silachlume looked around at the forest, "I have never seen such greenery..." He was totally immersed in the wildlife.
Lera's eyes Immediately shot up, "Mother!" She took off running in the direction of their house.
"Lera wai..." Mercer reached out to grab her but trailed off as he looked up and saw a massive black cloud of smoke billowing up from the direction of their home. He Quickly began sprinting to catch up with Lera, Silachlume following a short ways behind.
...
As they came to the edge of the forest they found Mirnia holding down Lera. Mercer ran over to her, she had tears pouring down her face, she was so out of breath she could speak. Just gasping breaths in between silent screams. Mercer looked up towards the house, getting up to go look.
"don't..." Mirnia was barely audible. It was clear she was deeply affected by something, just like Lera. As Mercer went to the edge of the forest Lera's eyes never strayed from where the house would have been behind the trees. When Mercer reached the tree line he froze look out to where the house stood. He wobbled and fell to his knees. Where the house used to be, know was only a smoldering ruin. The wood was gone, and even the stone had melted. In front of their house stood two things. A flag, and a burning pile of wood, at the center of which was a woman's corpse. The flag was that of the Grand Duchy of Ligeria, the burning woman was most definitely their mother. He sat without a sound, in the distance he could hear the thumping of hooves and clank of armor slowly fade away. When it was finally gone Mirnia let up on Lera who stood up and sprinted for Mother Ara, stumbling a few times on her way. Mirnia went over and helped Mercer stand. He followed her over to the flag, where a small parchment could be seen hanging. Silachlume followed close behind, staring in silence at the destruction, wondering what could have brought about such a horrendous thing.
"can... put out fire..." Mercer looked at Silachlume while stumbling over his words. Silachlume simply nodded and turned towards the stake, performing a smooth gesture with his arms and saying a single word. Immediately the fire was out and cool air descended in it's place. Lera took the remains of Mother Ara down from the stake and laid her out on the grass, crying over her mother. Mercer reached for the letter.
'For the high crime of Witchcraft, the devil Aliara of the Tric'trrel a convicted fugitive of the Shiragagian Theocracy is hereby sentenced to burning at the stake by the Grand Duchess Etara of Ti Bon at the instance of discovering the location of her hideout. There will be no trial for a devil who has committed crimes of her caliber. signed - Etara of Ti Bon'
Mercer folded the page and placed it in his pocket. He then went over to Mother Ara.
"We should bury her, let me go find a shovel." He left without another word heading straight for where a shovel should be in the house. He came back in a minute with an old shovel that was rarely used and began digging. He dug for hours without taking a break, and when He finished, they lowered Mother Ara down. Once she was placed at the bottom, they took a moment of silence for her, then filled in the hole.
Mercer went back to the house, and pulled up a floor tile. Underneath was a chest. Inside this chest was a small pouch of gold coins, as well as a beautiful gold inlaid sword and the old leather outfit Ara had used, still in decent condition. Mercer laid the items out of Lera.
"These are yours now. Mother's old gear." He turned and stepped out finding what he could of his stuff from their room, including his pack. When he came back, Lera was wearing the leather and had the sword strapped to her hip. The leather was beautiful, it was covered in designs sown into it. It was obvious that it had been well worn, it was old and there were plenty of small scars in it.
"We need to go back to Tumuo now. It's time to see him." Mercer turned and left, not waiting for a response. Lera went and grabbed the things she could find in her room before following, she also spent a few minutes gather a couple of Mother Ara's things, mainly a simple amulet that was a gift to Ara from their father, before she left.