The market was noisy and crowded, as usual. Vendors shouted from their little wooden stalls, people raced both across and along the paved roads, and farmers brought their carts of fresh produce to sell to passersby’s and vendors alike. Maria didn’t like it here. It was much too hectic for her taste. But regardless, she tugged along with Sarah, moving from stall to stall trying to find the best bargain. Maria always wondered how Sarah had the patience to be so meticulous with her shopping. To be completely honest, it was quite impressive. Even with their less than average wages that Sarah made from working as a cleaner lady, they had managed to buy themselves enough food to last them another month. Assuming, of course, that they ate with restraint.

Though, shopping was not the only reason why they came to the town. It had taken them about an hour to finish the task but now, they had other errands to run. Maria frowned at the thought. Her magic was already disgraceful when she practiced alone, it would be outright terrible with people assessing her.

“It’ll be okay.” Sarah encouraged as they approached the stone building. Its large wooden doors towered over the two women.

“Easy for you to say.” Maria replied, her face the portrait of pure dismay.

“Just do as we practiced.” Sarah said as she walked up to the door and rang the iron knockers.

A man soon appeared and peered through the key hole. “Who is it?” he asked.

Sarah bent down and made eye contact through the door, “The cleaner lady from the west.” She said and then rose back up. Almost immediately, the man opened the door. “Right this way.” He said as he bowed them forward and closed the door as they entered.

“You know Roon, you don’t have to do that every time.” Sarah scolded, “Honestly, it’s quite bothersome.” Sarah eyed the thin, relatively short man that allowed them entry. He wore a red jacket over his long sleeved shirt, which when combined with his moustache and neatly combed hair, gave him the appearance of a dignified butler.

“It’s just protocol.” He replied as he led the two ladies out of the hallway and into another room where five people sat and waited, one of them wore a black robe that made he or she stand out even amongst the group of already questionable individuals. Maria thought it to look quite silly but she supposed it was important to keep hidden the identity of a member of the Guardian Elite.

“You took your time, didn’t you?” the robed man spoke. Maria was now sure that it was a man, either that or a woman with a ridiculously deep voice.

“I’m afraid being part of a secret guard doesn’t pay well enough for me to risk losing out on bargains.” Sarah paused and placed her finger over her lip, tilting her head back a little and then saying as though it wasn’t obvious. “Actually, I don’t think it pays at all.” Sarah brought her face forward again and smiled, “So don’t complain about my timing, okay?”

Even though Maria couldn’t see it, she could picture the man’s face in shock at Sarah’s brazenness. “Fair enough, just begin already.”

Maria felt a tap on the shoulder and looked up to see Sarah’s warm smile. With a determined face and clenched fists, Maria stepped forward. She looked at the persons assembled at the circular table. Other than the robed man, all the faces were familiar. There was the pastor, the old mayor, some random vendor woman and a boy barely old enough to qualify as an adult.

Her first test, as always, would be spells. Spells were actually quite easy for Maria. They were two types, rune and worded spells. As Sarah once explained, they basically did the same thing, that is, form a link between the user and the source of magic. The only difference was that you spoke for one and wrote for another. Because of this simple difference, runes were often used for traps while spoken spells were better for battle since they were often quicker to activate.

A rune was first, Maria drew the invisible symbol in the air. Her eyes glowing bright purple as she wrote. When she was finished, she focused her magic as the symbol became a white light in the air that sooner summoned forth a ball of flame that danced around Maria’s head.

“Well done.” The robed man spoke. “Now on to the next.” He commanded.

Maria relaxed and ceased her previous spell, severing the flow of magic that dimmed her eyes to its original shade. Now, she spoke a single word in an unspeakable tongue. And from that word came a gust of wind that blew past the examiners’ faces, the robed man held tightly on to his hood.

“A simple spell but quite powerful for such. You indeed have talent.” The man complimented her. “On to the next. Roon, bring a flower from the garden please” He said, this time Maria’s face grew nervous. If they’d ask her to take the life from the flower, she could do that easily. But to give it back, she could not do that.

Roon brought the flower and gave it to Maria, she clutched it between her hands. Nervously, she looked at the robed man. He nodded and said “Begin.”

Maria took a breath, and slowly felt herself drain the energy from the flower. She took heed to notice it entering her body, to remember exactly how much she took so she could return just that. The flower grew weak and fell forward. Maria then gritted her teeth. She focused herself, twice as much, as she returned the energy that she had stolen. Slowly the flower rose, she calmed herself. From all the practice that she had endured, she could estimate just about how much life the flower could contain. And eventually, the flow of energy approached the threshold. Any more than that and the flower would be destroyed. Any less, and it would be properly revived. She desperately tried to stop at the mark. She really did. It was just a little, but she returned more than what was needed and the flower withered away. Though, at the very least, it didn’t decay into ashes. Surprisingly, she had actually improved. But had she impressed the robed man?

“That is all.” The robed man said to Maria and then looked to Sarah. “I would like to speak to you.” Sarah then gestured for Maria to leave, which she did promptly. As she walked exited the room, Maria glanced at Sarah who smiled and nodded. Maria returned a forced smile and left the room.

~

“Will she be able to do it?” The robed man asked Sarah, his fingers knitted together and rested on the table.

Sarah didn’t lie. “I doubt it. She still has a ways to go until she can master her ability.”

“You must try with her.” The man pleaded. “She is only one who has a chance at reinforcing the barrier.”

Sarah’s face became disgusted “And is that all you could come up with?” She asked, batting an eye at the man. She continued “Using the power of a child who’s yet to master it? Is that really the only solution you could ponder?”

“What else would you suggest?” the man asked, his voice raised slightly. “The **** gain tremendous power every full moon and with it, they shave away at the barrier keeping them locked away in the forest. On the next full moon, the barrier will cease to exist. Unless there was someone who could create a new barrier or,” the man paused “conveniently give enough energy to repower it, then they will escape. And havoc will follow.”

“Wouldn’t that only delay the inevitable? Surely there must be someone who understands the workings of that spell.” Sarah suggested, though she doubted that. The only man who understood the spell that created the barrier was the great wizard, who has been dead for thousands of years. It was such a shame that the greedy old man refused to share his learnings with anyone.

“You know very well that if that were the case, we wouldn’t need Maria.” The man stood up and walked to Sarah. He placed an arm over her shoulder. “Please, you have to try.” He pleaded again.

Sarah looked up to him. “I’ll do what I can. But I doubt that she will be ready, so I would advise that you ready your selves instead.” Sarah then turned around and walked out of the room.

~

Where are they? Steven looked amongst the stalls, he couldn’t find them. He ran along the paved roads, through bustling crowds of people searching desperately for Maria and Sarah. But he couldn’t find them. They weren’t at any of the small stalls, or at the fishery, or the butcher’s shop or even at the clothes store. Perhaps Steven would have to ask someone else for help? But after about ten minutes of searching, hope came through. He saw Maria outside of an unfamiliar building, supposedly waiting for Sarah. A nicely dressed man bowed to them as Sarah came outside and then shut the door. Why were they here? That didn’t matter right now.

“Mama! Maria!” Steven called, waving his hand as he ran through the crowd to meet them.

“Steven?” Sarah reached forward and grabbed Steven on the shoulders as he panted for a breath. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Quickly.” Steven stood straight. “You have to come help us. There’s a man in the forest, he’s chained down and can’t leave. We need someone to break the chains.” Steven explained as best as he could, without any stammering. He thought he’d sound like a mad man to them. But they didn’t say anything, they glanced at each other and Sarah commanded as she walked forward, “Show us.”

Steven looked at his sister and mother, their faces didn’t show any sign of shock whatsoever.

“What are you waiting for, dimwit?” Maria insulted, her tone as annoyed as ever.

“Won’t we need something to cut the chains?” Steven asked, to which Sarah retorted “There will be no need for that. Just show us the way and I will take care of the rest.”

Steven stared into Sarah’s velvet eyes, they were strong and determined. These two definitely knew something which Steven and Arthur did not. But that would be a matter to be discussed at a later date. For now, Steven walked with the two women towards the forest. How were they to break the magical chains? Steven desperately wanted to find out.

~

The darkness was unsettling. If some strange being were to return now, then Arthur would be trapped along with Robert. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to leave the man alone. Who knows what had happen to him? Though Arthur didn’t see Robert, he could tell that he’d been badly hurt. But who or what did this?

“Robert, what happened to you?” Arthur spoke and waited for an answer.

Arthur heard Robert clap his tongue against his lips before replying. “I was captured by them.”

“By who?” Arthur asked.

“The people living here.” Robert spoke again.

People? Arthur didn’t know what to make of that especially since it came from the town’s madman. But then again, he did climb invisible stairs today so that may not have been impossible.

“Where are the people now?” Arthur inquired, as he sat down and braced his back against the trunk. A minute or two passed before Robert could muster the strength to reply. Arthur wondered if he was being a bother.

“There still here.” Robert replied.

That thought sent a shiver through Arthur’s spine. He felt a mixture of fear and excitement. Although, he wondered why he hadn’t seen any of these people. Where were they? Maybe they were invisible. It made sense considering the building and stairs. But if that were true, Arthur was in deep trouble. Still, as much as he wanted to question Robert, he could tell that Robert grew increasingly tired and weak as time passed. For now, he would wait until Steven returned. The questions would come after.

~

They were almost there now. Steven led Sarah and Maria up the invisible stairway. He made sure to notice the way they walked up it easily. Unlike Arthur, they knew where to walk. They could see it too.

Quickly, they ascended the stairs and went through the building. Steven noticed Maria staring at the men before sharply turning away. From her expression, he could tell that she’d never seen the people but knew of them. Steven then took the two under the invisible building and into the tree trunk. He called out as he neared the trapdoor. “Arthur, I’m back!”

Sarah then cut in sharply and spoke in her usual motherly tone. “Arthur, I want you to come out of there.”

“But why?” Arthur asked.

“Just come out of there.” Sarah commanded, her tone growing from concern to displease. “Right now.”

Soon after, Arthur emerged from the trap door. As he came out, Sarah returned in his place. “Now you three stay here.” She said as she descended the ladder and closed the trap door.

“What is she going to do?” Arthur asked Steven who replied with raised shoulders and hands, suggesting that he didn’t know.

Both Steven and Arthur then turned to Maria. “What?” Maria asked.

Steven spoke. “You know something. Don’t you?”

Maria turned her back and faced the edge, the scenery falling off the tree and leading up to the open skies. “I don’t know anything. Now shut up. You two are annoying me.”

“Oh common!” Arthur exclaimed. “Just tell us or we’ll go in and find out for ourselves.”

Maria glanced towards the two boys and smirked coyly. “Sure go on in. You’ll get it from Mama.”

Maria was right. Sarah gave us clear instructions. If Steven and Arthur went in there now, they wouldn’t hear the end of it.

“Whatever, I’ll just find out later.” Arthur sat down, arms crossed and sunk his face down on to his arm. His other hand grabbed the book beside the trap door and began to flip the pages.

Steven looked at the trap door. He considered the option of opening it. Was it worth Sarah’s fury? He sighed. Perhaps he would find another option. He walked towards Maria and stared at the sky. It was early afternoon by now and the scenery was actually quite nice. Nothing but sky and the forest canopy for some distance. And that was about all you could see from here.

“Can you see them too?” Steven asked out of nowhere.

Marias eyes grew wide. She faced Steven and feigned ignorance. She wasn’t very good at it. “See who?”

“The people. The ones sitting down at the table.” Steven continued.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Maria used her same excuse.

Steven begged “But you do. Please just te-”

Sarah emerged from the trapdoor and pulled up a bruised and exhausted Robert Bullock on her shoulder. Robert seemed to be quite handsome if not for his beaten and malnourished face. His hair was brown, long and messy, falling halfway along his broad back. He also had a scruff of a beard growing on his face. How long was he here? If not for his current condition, Steven wouldn’t have thought of him as a ‘madman’ at all.

“Arthur, give me a hand.” Sarah called for Arthur to take Roberts other hand as she carried him through the hut and down the invisible staircase. And just like that, Sarah carrying his right and Arthur on the left, they made their way back to the cabin with a half- dead man. Maria and Steven followed quietly behind.