"Halt! Who goes there?" one of the Archers called down from their tower.
"It's Spencer Lennox, Rownan, I'm traveling with Prince Leviticus and Princesses Avangelina and Lorane. As well as some of their friends."
"Ah yes, the King sent a messenger ahead. You are allowed to pass through and have a safe journey, my friend," Rownan smiled down at the group as he opened the gates. Spencer nodded and led the group through the checkpoint. They rode for a few more hours before making camp. Chores were divided up and completed, and the group went to sleep. The next day was the same as they made it through the final checkpoint. For the next two weeks, as Marco led the way to Beauchamp Manor the group's routine was the same. Kildoana's words weighed heavy on Spencer's mind, but he couldn't force himself to ask Mordo and Ava about it.
"We'll stop here for the night. The manor is just about half a day's ride from here. If we leave early enough tomorrow we should be there by noon," Marco explained.
"And from there it should only take a few weeks to get you to the Royal capital Princess," Kara soothed Lucy. She nodded in response.
"I'm not worried about that so much as the river is farther away from this campsite than the other ones. How are we going to get water for dinner?" Lucy asked looking around the group.
"I thought of that and yesterday I could bargain with the nymphs to get extra for tonight." Vincent smiled absently in her direction. "But I uh won't be able to hunt for today's dinner," He told the group rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
"What do you mea- Vincent… where are your glasses," Roma asked trying to stay calm.
"Um, I sorta lost them earlier today. They fell off when Rayna got spooked by that rabbit. I heard them get crushed under her hooves also so," Vincent trailed off with a shrug, looking absently in Roma's direction.
"Well, I guess someone else will have to go hunting tonight. You're lucky I have a spare pair of glasses that can be enchanted," Roma glared at Vincent.
"I'll go," Spencer volunteered quietly. Roma nodded her head and divided the rest of the chores up as he walked towards the woods. As Spencer started setting up snares he heard the crunching of dead leaves. Spencer looked around trying to find the source of the sound. Before he could locate the source a woman's scream ripped through the still forest air.
"HELP ME! PLEASE!"
All the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He dove behind a bush; peeking out trying to find the source.
"HELP! PLEASE I NEED HELP!"
"What is that thing? Where is it?! Come on Spencer think. You learned about all the creatures of this world." he quietly scolded himself. As the creature stalked closer its voice changed from a woman's to a raspy strangled howl.
"Come out! I'll find you!"
"Oh no it's a confringenal!"
As the confringenal stalked closer to the bush Spencer noticed a strange purple glow around the creature.
"It's being controlled?!"
"Assassin! Dragon! I know you're here. Come out and face me like a man!"
"I need to get someone's attention," Spencer whispered looking around in a panic. He noticed that Lady Ava was walking down the path looking for him.
"Lady Ava, there's a confringenal sentimonster," Spencer called out, jumping out from behind the bush and facing the monster.
"Get out of the way!" Ava yelled at Spencer while charging up one of her orbs. Spencer ducked back behind the bush as Ava threw the orb at the confringenal. When it made contact with the creature the orb shattered and bathed the confringenal in a warm yellow light. The creature dropped to the ground as it turned to ash.
"We should probably check the traps and get back," Ava said, staring at the ash pile. Spencer nodded turning back towards the edge of the forest. They emerged from the forest with a couple of rabbits. Roma butchered and cooked the rabbits over the fire. After the food and dishes were cleaned up the group sat around the fire talking.
"Roma… I uh have a question," Lucy stumbled over her words.
"What is it?"
"How does Vincent use glasses? He told me that he was blind," Lucy asked quietly. The group was silent for a minute, and then Vincent started to laugh.
"I don't use glasses the way most people would think. For example, Levi uses his glasses to see, and our teacher, Laeken uses glasses to read. I use them to help me channel my mana for spellcasting. They're kinda like my wand if you will," Vincent explained; a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.
"So does everyone who uses magic have something like that?" Spencer asked.
"No. People like your brother are born with the ability to use their powers without the help of a magical object. But people like that are very rare," Roma added.
"So these magical objects act like a conduit for the mana of their holder?"
"Yes, Lucy. Vincent has a pair of glasses, I have my mother's ring, Lorane has a peridot necklace, Ava has a yellow sapphire bracelet, and Leviticus uses his family's signet ring which has rubies on the band," Rom said pointing to the items everyone was wearing. Lucy looked at them.
"Is that why Ava's necklace started to glow the other day when she fell off her horse," Lucy asked quietly. The fire crackled softly as the group stared at Ava. She shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of her friends.
"You had a vision again, didn't you? Why didn't you tell us?! You can't always keep these things from us, Ava," Lorane seethed.
"Oh shut up Lorane you have no right to tell her that," Leviticus declared. "Ava, why didn't you tell us about the vision?"
"Because it wasn't anything to do with what we are doing. I just saw Father and Mother reading your letter," Ava said, lying through her teeth. Everyone seemed satisfied with her answer.
"I think it's time we went to bed now," Vincent stated. The group nodded and started to get ready to sleep. Marco woke up just before sunrise. He woke up Vincent and Kara.
"Vincent I need to tell you something about Mom's illness."
"What about it Marco?"
Marco looked at Kara and she nodded to him.
"Well, um, she doesn't have long to live. She has Crutzfled Jakobs Disease, and she's slowly losing her mind. The last doctor we had come check her out said she had months to live at best," Kara told him.
"Why are you telling me this? That is what the Plague curse does when one doesn't use an object as a catalyst. She knew what the consequences of her actions were and chose to do it anyway."
"Yes, but your master, Laeken, is a world-renowned healer. Doesn't he know how to heal her?" Marco asked.
"No. There is no cure for this. Be grateful for her sacrifice, don't prolong her suffering trying to save her," Vincent explained, walking away to wake everyone else up. Roma cast a sorrowful glance at the triplets.
"I'm sorry this is happening to your family. My father is a master healer but can't even heal diseases of the mind."
Marco and Kara nodded, their grief apparent on their faces. Vincent shook Spencer awake behind Roma. She turns around to study Vincent's face. His features are cold and emotionless, but his eyes are full of tears. She set her hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile.
"If you want we can stay at the manor longer," Lucy told Vincent. "You said the journey to the Royal Capital would only take a few weeks."
Vincent nodded and mounted his horse, Marco and Kara took the lead heading west towards the Beauchamp Manor. The journey took them just under five hours.
"Vivienne! Look, Marco and Kara are back! They must have found Vincent!" An elvish-looking man called to an elvish-looking girl behind him. His obsidian skin glinted in the spring sun as he walked up to the gates. His light blue cotton tunic and pants, brown sandals, gold bracelet covered in magenta stones, frosty blue eyes, and strawberry-blonde hair complemented his dark complexion. The girl also had obsidian skin and long strawberry-blonde hair pulled into braids that wrapped around the back of her sliver circlet and into a bun. Her circlet was covered in stars that had blue sapphires in the middle of them. She wore a light pink cotton dress that fell just above her ankles and brown sandals.
"Oh. So they have Lucas. Let us open the gates for them, Brother," Vivienne said calmly. Lucas nodded and held out his hands for her to take. She took his hands, they started chanting, the jewels on their jewelry started glowing, and the gates opened for the group. When the chant ended the jewels stopped glowing and the elves bowed as the group passed by.