As soon as they saw the explosion, Xain, Larkin, and Zee hurriedly made their way toward the town Larkin had mentioned, their hearts racing with the fear that it might indeed be Amara. Ercale confirmed Xain's suspicions, adding in his mind, *That was powerful fire magic, so it's most likely her, unless they have another powerful sorcerer chasing them.* The distant sounds of more explosions only fueled their anxiety.
After sprinting for about 10 minutes straight, they finally came to a halt. Larkin was doubled over, huffing and puffing, clearly out of breath. They had put enough distance between themselves and the forest, and the deafening explosions had subsided. "Holy shit, I can't breathe," Larkin gasped, utterly exhausted. Xain, although tired, still had some energy left, while Zee appeared completely unfazed by the run.
Xain managed to calm down his racing heart with a few deep breaths before turning to Larkin. "So, how far are we from this town?" he inquired. Larkin held up a hand, still panting heavily. "Hold on a sec," he replied irritably, clearly needing more time to catch his breath. Meanwhile, Zee observed them both, not a single drop of sweat on her brow after the intense sprint.
After calming down, Larkin extended his hand to Zee, who handed him the map. He examined it for a moment before sharing the good news. "We've only got about a 4-hour walk ahead of us, and we'll reach the town," he announced. After giving the map back to Zee, Xain let out a sigh of disappointment. "Why couldn't they have given us an Iron Cruiser? It would've made the journey so much faster," he lamented, clearly dreading the long walk.
Xain couldn't help but get a mischievous idea. He turned his thoughts to Ercale with a cheeky tone. *Hey uh Erkie, do you have any magic that could get us there faster?* he asked, really not looking forward to the long walk. Ercale seemed exasperated but eventually relented, saying, *You know what? I don't care anymore. But if you want me to use something like that, then I need control of your body again.*
Xain agreed without hesitation, saying, *Sure, just don't kill anybody.* He braced himself for the discomfort that came with Ercale taking control of his body, remembering their previous experience.
As Xain closed his eyes, bracing for the pain, Zee looked at him, her confusion evident. "Xain, are you alright?" she asked, perplexed. Larkin, too, turned to look at him.
Xain waited for the expected discomfort, but to his surprise, none came. He cautiously opened his eyes and found himself inside a strange-looking building. It was filled with things he had never seen before, like unfamiliar furniture and strange objects. On one wall, there was some sort of window displaying the puzzled faces of Larkin and Zee as they looked at him.
"Where am I?" Xain said aloud, his confusion palpable. Then, Ercale intervened, *Inside your own head, now stay quiet while I talk to your friends,* he said, attempting to regain control of the conversation.
But instead of following Ercale's request, Xain protested, shouting, "This is my head!" His outburst bewildered Ercale a bit, but before the demon could respond, Larkin's voice rang out.
"Wh-who the hell? Wait a sec, are you Xain's brother?" Larkin's voice trembled with fear, every instinct urging him to flee from Xain's brother. Zee, too, shared a similar reaction, her expression mirroring her unease.
As they talked with Ercale, they couldn't help but notice a chilling transformation in Xain's appearance. His once-blue eyes had shifted to a malevolent shade of purple, a stark contrast to the familiar, warm gaze they were used to. Larkin recognized those eyes; they were the eyes of someone who had taken lives.
"I am indeed Xain's brother Cain," Ercale confirmed, his presence still unsettling to them. Zee, her initial fear gradually fading, inquired further, asking, "Why are you out?" Though Ercale found her phrasing peculiar, he didn't comment on it. Instead, he provided a simple response, "Because Xain didn't want to walk."
Larkin, processing this revelation, couldn't help but express his amazement. "He did this just to avoid a walk?" he marveled, incredulous at the lengths Xain had gone to. Ercale, unperturbed, responded with a simple nod, confirming Larkin's observation.
Inside Xain's mind, he piped up, *Hey! Don't make me sound bad; we've been doing nothing but walking for a day straight.* He continued to poke around the room he found himself in, curious about its contents. Ercale chose to ignore Xain's comment. Larkin was still coming to terms with the situation as he cautiously asked, "So, um, can you do that?"
Ercale rolled his eyes and replied, "If I couldn't, then I wouldn't have come out," Ercale reached his hand out toward Zee, mirroring Larkin's earlier gesture. Zee understood and handed the map to Ercale. With the map now in his possession, Ercale directed a question at Larkin, "Is this map completely accurate?" Larkin considered it for a moment before responding, "Give or take." Ercale nodded in acknowledgment and returned the map to Zee, leaving them to wonder what he had in mind.
Ercale held his right hand aloft, and suddenly, a purplish, sparking energy materialized in his grasp, stunning both Larkin and Zee. Upon closer inspection, it resembled a handful of stars, their brilliant glow mesmerizing. Larkin couldn't contain his astonishment, exclaiming, "What form of magic is that!?" He had never encountered or heard of anything like it, and the feeling of danger and fear in the air only intensified.
With the energy gathered in his hand, Ercale made a swift upward motion. A deafening rip echoed through the air, as if the fabric of space and time itself had been torn asunder. Before them, a portal materialized, revealing a distant town on the other side.
As both Larkin and Zee stood there looking at the portal, Ercale, growing increasingly impatient, snapped them out of their stupor. "Stop gawking and get moving!" he barked at them.
Shaken from their trance-like state, both Larkin and Zee approached the portal, their eyes meeting briefly. Larkin took the first step with a sense of trepidation, his eyes clenched shut as he ventured into the unknown. As he moved forward, he noticed a palpable shift in the air. When he opened his eyes, he found himself facing the town, mere minutes away from their destination. Zee followed suit, taking cautious steps through the portal, and then Ercale followed, closing the magical gateway behind them.
As all three of them stood there, Ercale asked Xain in his head, *Okay, done. You take back control.* However, Xain seemed reluctant to take back control and responded, *What? No, I want to explore more in here. You stay in control for a while.*
Ercale's eye twitched with annoyance as he asked, *Are you serious?* Xain remained determined, replying, *Yup, I wanna see what all these things do.* Ercale sighed, reluctantly agreeing, and shifted his attention toward the town, Larkin, and Zee, before finally saying to Xain, *Fine.*