"I'm glad you were able to stay for dinner, Sara. It's quite rare for you to actually take us up on our offer. Am I not scary anymore?" Paige asked with a chuckle, clearly enjoying having company. She used to be well known as a social butterfly when she and Rebecca had been traveling together and she loved the feeling of meeting new people and helping others. Well, that and knowing she would hardly be able to stay in a single location for more than a century had always cemented the opinion that knowing more people was better than less. It was possible to uncover hidden talent in less time, so long as you took the time to meet new people.

Sara squirmed under her gaze, answering Paige shyly. "I did have a good time. Most of what I know is from the teachers at the academy, so it's nice to get a refresher course. It's always good to see a master archer at work," Sara mumbled quietly.

"Ha, hear that Nick! You've advanced from a Bowyer to a Master Archer in the blink of an eye! How does it feel gaining an apprentice, Nick? Care to set a wager on who would win; Markus or Sara? Within a range of one, three and five years." Her eyes twinkled with light as the wager lit a fire in both Sara and Markus's eyes.

Nick scoffed at the bet, clearly knowing what Paige was up to. "We both know that's not a contest. Now, let me choose time, place and scenario and maybe I would take you up on that bet."

Zenith laughed from the side as a light-hearted argument arose on the feasibility of a fair duel. Even Markus started to participate more freely. 'For all her quirks, Paige really was a people person. A little pushy, yes, but she knows how to interact with others,' Zenith thought to herself.

And for whatever reason, she was in a good mood. "We had a good time, Paige. Maybe next time you should come. Sara practiced trick shots and estimating yardage while Markus practiced shooting. Even I tried my hand at shooting. I suppose it's easier for me since I can practically see the wind, but Nick showed them a few ways to predict how the wind will affect an arrow. So, that was our day in a nutshell, Paige. How was yours?"

Paige stopped and smiled enigmatically. "You passed by Boary earlier. Did you notice anything...special? Different?"

"He was sleeping more than usual?" Markus said hesitantly.

"He was bleeding." "He smelled differently." "There was a foreign mana signature on him." Sara, Nick and Zenith responded.

"Yup to all four answers. He was fighting something when I found him, so I helped him out a little. Guess what it was." Paige said a little too seriously for Zenith's liking. Something that could force Paige to join in ... "Was it an elder monster?"

"Sort of. It was a juvenile elemental monster. First one we've seen here in ages."

"Was it a Flame Bear?" Sara said venomously, her hands balled into fists.

Zenith watched as Paige shook her head slightly, though the look in her eyes was already indicated that was probably going to start looking for that monster herself. "Haven't seen one of those in these woods. No, it was far stranger actually. It was a Frost Beholder of all things."

Everyone blinked at that. "A what?" Markus asked. Nick and Sara also had a blank look on their face. But Zenith knew the importance of what Paige had seen.

"A Frost Beholder. You know, it has lots of eyes and floats. Shoots laser beams from it's tentacle eyeballs. A Beholder... Come on! That's a classic monster!"

Nick laughed at her description. "That has got to be the worst monster I have ever heard of, Paige. Is it's natural enemy a sand storm? And what, pray tell, is a Beholder good for."

"An adult can see through most deceptions and illusions. And they can see pretty far too. You can make some pretty neat stuff with their eyeballs. Most use it for goggles and the like." Zenith quickly said. "But tjat's not the important part. A Beholder -" Zenith started before Paige shot a warning glance at her. She stopped and amended her words carefully for everyone, "A Beholder is rare enough of a find for a Battle Mage. Most if not all high-class mages will have at least a Beholder amulet of some type, just for its illusion dispelling capabilities."

"So what monster parts did you gather, Paige? If you don't mind me asking." Sara asked innocently.

Paige gave Sara a hard look. "No no, before we talk about that, let's talk about this Flame Bear you are looking for. Now, I usually look the other way when you come to these woods to hunt, but that was before I knew what you were looking for. Before you start looking for elemental creatures to fight, how about you come here and get one of us. There is no way you are going hunting in these woods without at least Boary following you from now on."

"Eh? Sara's been coming here often?" Zenith asked, surprised at the revelation. Was Paige able to tell when someone was close by? Or maybe only when they are nearby and hiding?

"She's a regular in these woods. She's here at least once a week or so. And before you say anything, Boary and I make sure that your campsite stays safe at night." Holding up her hand to stop Sara from arguing, her tone softened, "You could have come to us, Sara. I know that it wouldn't feel closure unless you killed it yourself, but if you want we can all go and take a little closer look around these woods, as a group."

Sara blushed and looked at her plate, clearly avoiding Paige's gaze. "I, I might ask for your help once I find that monster. But right now I want to try doing it myself."

"Let her be, Paige. We will have to change some of our defenses around here though. Markus, no more wandering without us." Nick said after a short moment. "And I agree with Paige, Sara. You need to have someone nearby as well from now on. At least until we say its safe in these woods."

"Well, what about you all? How come you aren't worried about fighting elemental type monsters alone in these woods?" Sara challenged back.

"Look me in the eye and ask me that Sara. Ask any of us that question," Paige said quietly. Sara sat in silence. "You already know Nick and I are stronger than we appear. An elemental monster though is something none of us should be fighting against alone. Get our approval, or go with a partner from now on. Even if it is just Boary."

Looking between the three of them, Zenith decided to throw Sara a lifeline. "Sara, this is a good opportunity. Paige and Nick aren't that busy that they can't teach you some tricks and the like. Without Tyler and Lily here, Markus will need someone to practice with as well. I'm going to be teaching Xavier soon, so if you don't mind some company we can head this way as a group."

"That sounds great!" Sara beamed at the suggestion, not forgetting to throw a thankful gaze over. Zenith could tell that Paige was hiding her smile from behind Sara. 'At least I get to be the good guy this time,' she thought to herself.

Heading to the kitchen Grabbing to grab the food, Zenith decided it was time to shift the mood and put all of this behind them. Plus, now they had something to talk about after Sara and Markus was gone. "Sara, you can stay in the guest bedroom in the stable. I could use a travel companion for tomorrow, after all. Markus after we eat it'll be time for bed."

--

"So you deflected the talk rather quickly, Zenith. What is so important about Beholders?" Nick asked after Sara and Markus had left. The room was lit by candlelight, their shadows dancing silently on the walls. Paige was already standing by the door, making sure that Sara and Markus were asleep. Seeing the slight nod from Paige, Zenith started back where she was in the past conversation, prior to Paige cutting her off.

"I've never personally hunted a Beholder before, but they are an attractive enough target for any Mage that they are the most common case study for theoretical hunts. It also helps that most countries, as well as the Guild Hall, have a rather detailed description in their bestiaries of you have some gold to spend perusing their collection. The main thing is that while Beholders are usually only found in mana dense locations, Elemental Beholders can only be found in its specific biomes. A Frost Beholder can only survive in Tundras, Flame Beholders in Volcanic Areas; Aqua Beholders underwater; etc. So that begs the question: how could a Frost Beholder be found in a forest? Paige?"

Paige was silent for a moment, but warily asked, " What was the highest-ranked monster the two of you have fought?"

Zenith thought for a second, going through her past hunts. "By type or by size? Type wise I have helped fight off a Winged Drake before, but if we are going by size then I would say a Hurricane Swallow. And before you ask, both of those hunts were coordinated between the Appealte Army and the Founding Houses."

"Elder Direwolf pack. A group of seven. Nothing noteworthy or elemental though, if that is what you are looking for." Nick said quietly, the look he was giving her was causing her to blush a little. Too bad Paige was here, so nothing was going to come from that look tonight.

"So nothing higher class..." Paige said with a frown. That stuck Zenith as odd, since a Hurricane Swallow was technically a more powerful Wind Sparrow. "Well, I really have no clue about this. I've fought many higher class elemental monsters, but none outside of an environment that suited it." Paige said, clearly perplexed about the matter.

"Just give us your best guess, Paige. You have more experience dealing with random and weird stuff than Nick or I."

"Har, har. Very funny Zenith. My best guess is a portal of some type or some type of random event, but both options would be troublesome to deal with. Most monsters never leave their natural habitat, especially since most predators will focus especially on atypical monsters. That Frost Beholder being here though is a problem. Even if it was just a juvenile monster, I can usually sense when there are monsters nearby that could pose a problem. But I didn't notice that Beholder until I was practically at the battlefield."

"Paige. Do you think the forest is still safe for us?" Nick asked from the side. "I don't have the same experiences as either of you two, but I know forests. A healthy forest doesn't tolerate lots of monsters. From what I have seen in the past few years and based upon the herds and packs we've encountered, I would say the forest is in relatively good shape. Hell, it's almost comparable to the ancient forests in Leit in terms of how the mana feels. If something is changing in the forest, it is happening either really gradual or really fast."

Paige sighed. "Nick, clear your schedule for the next few weeks. We need to check the forest again. Let's just all hope it has nothing to do with the ritual we went through," Paige sighed as she stared at the ceiling above. "I think we need to figure out how that Beholder got here, Zenith. In any case, that Beholder could not have gotten here by normal means."

"So, what parts did you get from the Beholder, Paige? Hopefully, you saved the core and the main eyeball. I personally never had a Beholder amulet before, but I do know some of the more common items you can make from its parts." Zenith shuffled closer to Paige from the side. This was an important question to ask. Beholder parts were always in demand, and the complexity of fighting one without destroying all the useful parts was a tough task for any competent bounty hunter. She really hoped that Paige wasn't in that category of people.

"Boary ate the core. But I did harvest the main eyeball and six subsidiary ones. So overall, I had a fairly good haul."

Zenith nodded but was inwardly saddened by the fate of the monster's core. The lack of a Beholder core was disappointing, as a Beholder core was arguably the most important part for a Mage. To be used as a snack for an Elder Boar was almost the epitome of feeding diamonds to swine. Literally in this case.

Pulling out her ring, Paige quickly showed her the fruits of her labor, taking great to not damage the large eyeball. Zenith was not expecting to see one as big as that. Seeing the eyeball was amazing, yet also quite eerie. As the large eyeball reflected the light off of the candle, Zenith noted something odd; no matter where Zenith stood, she could swear the eyeball was following her.

"Don't stare at the eyeball too long, Zenith. I don't know what class you took on it, but it clearly missed one point. Staring at the main eye is a bad idea. A Beholder's gaze can charm an enemy quite easily, and most of the fatalities against Beholders often happen because of a lack of attention."

"I, I wasn't staring that much."

"It's been almost ten minutes. Honestly, I thought after the first five you would have realized something was wrong."

She could see from the corner of her eye that Paige threw something on the eyeball and suddenly her interest in the eye quickly vanished. Zenith blushed as the realization she had indeed been mesmerized by the eye, but luckily for her the candlelight hid most of it. "The lighting is bad here, so I needed a closer look."

"Mhmm. Anyways, the main eye is fairly large. Zenith, could you incorporate it into a magic circle? I suppose we could make it into a shield, or possibly a scrying mirror? But with only one eye, I don't know how I feel about doing it ourselves. Is there anyone in Appealte that can process this, Zenith?"

Zenith didn't need a moment before she shook her head. "Not with the circumstances we are in right now. I know a few Mages who dabble in craft making and would love to get their hands on this, but our identities are the main problem. The questions that would arise from us even having this would be fairly problematic to deal with."

Paige sighed. "True. And suspicious. I know of few underground groups who could process it, but none of them are based close to Alcudia."

Storing the materials back into her ring, Paige sighed as she stood up. "For now I'll hold onto these. We can try to make something ourselves, bit I think it would be better to wait for Tyler to get back to decide our best course of action. Nick, get a good rest. We will definitely have to check out the forest again."