Narrator
Kyra
Alfieon
Gretchen
Leonie
Maribel
Sylvain
The Carriage bumps softly as the horses carry the four up the dirt path on their way home to Anvil. The night sky glistens with stars as Gretchen looks down to Leonie sound asleep in her lap.
Kyra: (Propping herself up by Alfieon) So Alfy, when are you and Kat going to join my guild?
Alfieon: Ugh, please don't drag my wife into your schemes Kyra. I told you before, Katalin and I aren't adventurers anymore. Honestly, this stunt you and Leonie like to pull, it's dangerous and your parents are probably worried sick.
Kyra: My parents? Dad's the only one that's concerned when I leave, mom couldn't care less.
Alfieon: I'm sure that's not true, your mother Stellana sends out dozens of search parties every time you go missing.
Kyra: She sends out search parties to look for Leonie, her star pupil. My mother couldn't care less about her screw up of a daughter.
Gretchen: A screw up?
Alfieon: It means a disappointment. Look Kyra I'm sure your mother means well in her own way; she's just been under a lot of stress ever since the Grimoire College incident.
Gretchen: Grimoire College? What happened there?
Kyra: It's a school for magic users, or it was before it was attacked by a demon. Then all the students went flooding into Anvil to be trained by the legendary Stellana Ortiz.
Alfieon: You say that like it was nothing, but I was there. That…thing wasn't just any old monster; it was the thing from nightmares. Towering over the entire college with legs like a giant insect and luminescent wings that covered the sky raining down the elements as it thrashed about the courtyard. It blocked the exits and started slaughtering teachers and students by the hundreds. That…thing was made of pure mana; magic was rendered useless against it. The arch mage and professors did all they could, but they didn't stand a chance. Katalin and I were of the few survivors. The scariest part was that the demon didn't just come out of the ground, it erupted…form another student.
Gretchen: Where is it now?
Alfieon: No one knows, we fled from the college and never saw it again. That's part of the reason Stellana has been having a hard time as of late. Everyone's afraid of that thing, and there looking to her for answers.
Kyra: She's not the only one in Dorell that knows magic though. They could have gone to anyone else.
Alfieon: But she has a title. She was once a great adventurer a long time ago, even killed the first demons that invaded Dorell and their leader, the Demon King. If anyone knows how to kill that thing it's her. She's always been a talented sorceress but never had to lead a group of magic guilds let alone teach a class. None of that mattered though, she had already become the beacon of hope, and now she has to uphold that image.
Kyra: (Angrily) She could have just told them the truth…She could have just not cared what they thought of her! But instead she disgraces her own daughter and practically abandons her family just for her own self-image.
Alfieon: (sighs) It's not that simple Kyra…
Kyra: It is that simple, between choosing some strangers or choosing your family!
Gretchen: I was once a stranger to you Kyra. You still took me in regardless of what you parents thought of me.
Kyra: Yeah, but that's…
Alfieon: Turning them away could have driven the magic guilds to extinction! You can't tell me that you would turn your back on all those people in need. These are the hard decisions that a leader has to make and no matter what they chose someone always pays the price.
Gretchen: I noticed before that you didn't include your mother when you mentioned the members in your guild. Is she not a friend?
Kyra moves to the back of the carriage and hangs her feet off the end as she buries her face into her hands.
Kyra: (weeping) I don't know.
After a long ride, the morning sun shines upon Gretchen's face as she slowly wakes to find both Leonie and Kyra asleep on her lap, one on either side.
Alfieon: We're coming up on Anvil. You might want to wake those two up.
She looks down at them peacefully asleep before abruptly pushing them off as they fall to the bed of the cart with a thud, then quickly perk up.
Leonie: I'm awake!
Kyra: Ouch! You know you could have just tapped us on the shoulder or something.
Gretchen: You're awake, aren't you? I don't understand the difference.
Leonie: (Gasps) Look at the sunrise over the city
The three look forward as they take in the view. The sun shines across from the east over a large city with a towering chapel, backdropped by an enormous blue lake to the north and surrounded by farmlands and hunting villages to the south. Beyond this, a woodland hillside in which the carriage peeks over the tree line. As they pass the forest a small home can be seen under a steady stream of smoke, like one from a forge.
Kyra: Quick Leonie we need to hide Gretch before we get there.
Leonie: Right.
The carriage closes in on a small elven home just outside the main city as Sylvain can be seen arguing with an old hag just outside his forge. White hair and adorn in a pristine purple and gold dress, Kyra and Leonie know this woman to be Maribel, one of Stellana's most trusted servants.
Maribel: Stellana will not be happy about this one-bit Sylvain. You ought to be more responsible with those two girls.
Sylvain: Look they snuck out, but I know exactly where they went. Just tell Stellana that I'm going out and I'll bring them back by night fall.
Maribel: They shouldn't have gotten out in the first place. Kyra has always been such a bad influence. You should really lock that little delinquent up and let Stellana take care of Leonie.
Sylvain: They're children, they act up from time to time, and they're also sisters you can't just separate them like that. I'm their father, I take full responsibility for their actions. I'll find them and bring them home safe.
Maribel: This is not simply acting up and Leonie is not just any ordinary child. Need I remind you what could happen if she loses control for even a second?
The sound of horses trotting near causes Sylvain to turn from the conversation. He sees the carriage approach as he rushes over to it and Maribel shakes her head before mounting her horse to return to the main city.
Sylvain: Oh, thank the gods you're both okay.
Kyra: Hey dad!
Leonie: Hey, Mr. Ortiz.
Alfieon: Here they are my lord, two troublemakers as per usual. No charge is necessary.
Sylvain: (Looks at them suspiciously) Mmhm, where's the orc?
Kyra: What, an orc I haven't seen one of those in a while.
Sylvain: She was here two days ago, left the same night you two went missing.
Kyra: Oh yeah, see that was so long ago I hardly remembered.
Sylvain: Leonie.
Leonie: (Nervous) Oh, uh um…yeah…it was uh, s-so long ago and uh um…
Kyra: (nudging her) be cool.
Sylvain: (Sighs) Alfieon how much did they pay you?
Alfieon: wha!? Me? You think I would what, smuggle an orc into town because two little girls bribed me? You wound me my lord.
Sylvain: (Stares at him blankly) Mmhm, so if I take a look behind your seat she's not going to be there?
Gretchen: Enough of this. (She stands up from a small compartment behind Alfieon's seat) Mr. Ortiz as a member of the adventures' guild Lyra I greet you as a friend. (She punches her chest.)
Sylvain: (Lowering his face into his palm) Of course she already asked her to join the guild. (Calls out) I've never known a clan orc to use the word friend.
Gretchen: I am still learning what it means myself, but your daughters call me their friend and Alfieon calls us his business acquaintances, though they seem to have similar meanings. Please allow me to prove my…
Sylvain: Come on, I'll get breakfast started. It's probably been a while since you ate.
Sylvain turns to the home with Kyra and Leonie following quickly behind him cheering with excitement.
Kyra: Yay pancakes! You're the best, Dad!
Leonie: Come on Gretch, Mr. Ortiz makes the best pancakes in the world!
Sylvain: Awe thanks girls but if you think buttering me up is going to make me forget what you did your severally mistaken. (He stops by the door) Come on Gretchen, I cook for everyone in the guild. Get a move on before Kyra takes yours too.
Gretchen: (Baffled) …Did Sylvain really just accept me into his home?
Alfieon: In summary, yes.
Gretchen: And what kind of animal is a pancake?
Alfieon: A rather delicious one, but alas Lady Gretchen, it seems as though this is where we part ways.
Gretchen: Thank you Alfieon…and good luck.
Alfieon: Good luck to you as well Lady Gretchen, on your many adventures, (he stares pensively at her, almost desperate) and may we meet again soon.