I could not find him anymore. I made another two rounds through the residence, looking for him. No trace of Ivar.

I wondered what to do. Was he taken by the shadows, or did he manage to hide somewhere?

There was one fascinating thing I found in the garden. It was a small cherry tree. It was alive, the only living thing in the whole residence. Well, except the witch that blasted me. But she came and went away.

The tree was not only alive but heavily covered with buds ready to blossom.

“What's with this tree?” - I wondered, touching gently one branch.

It felt like touching a cord, a piano string, with magic resonating in me.

“The few beings that survived the magic storm are marked by magic. Many interesting creatures and plants might evolve now in this area covered by heavy magic.”

“Should I try to take it with us?”

“No. It needs the magic environment to live, but we might want to visit here later to see what property its fruits have.”

Well, except that, nothing of interest happened. I was torn between searching for Ivar or closing my quest with Grackak.

After the second fruitless round, I gave up looking for the ghost. It could be that he was hiding somewhere. I will first close my quest, and then I could come back and have another look.

I returned to the carriage. They were a little impatient and probably worried due to my long absence. As they waved, seeing me, I heard the Lynx sighing, relieved. Alice raised a brow:

"Any problems?"

"I hope not. I got some shadows drama, and I think Ivar went into hiding; I could not find him anymore. What could the shadows do to a ghost?"

I instinctively did not want to go into details about my shadow weakness.

“I see you've improved your look again", - said the Lynx - "but my sweet lady, trust me, this darkly scorched look is not putting you in a favourable light. On the other side, the huge décolletée is sexy. However, the blouse must be adapted to show its full effect. One question, why do you keep destroying the jacket? Obviously, you need only vambraces, no jacket!? So why destroy it? Remove it! It would be sexier.”

I sighed, watching him askew, letting the tirade wash over me. Looking for that poor ghost, I forgot to put my appearance back in order after being scorched by that witch. The Lynx likes to sound like a big tough guy, but I think he cares, so I did not go ballistic on his poor attempt at humour.

“Lynx, that's not funny. Besides, just that you know, nothing will pop up no matter how often you say the 'sexy' word!”

He snorted:

“That's not fair! I've never seen something popping up!”

“Forget about it; I don't think it works here; that was in the lobby." - I shrugged - "Let's be serious, I met one of Grackak's witches and got scorched in a friendly bout. She seemed to have an incredible amount of mana at her disposal with almost no cool-down for the spells. OK, whatever. I got scorched. Important is that they seem to be halfway reasonable; let's close this stupid quest, and please stop putting salt on my wounds."

It was his turn to sigh.

“Trust me, we feel with you!”

I got a huge tongue slurp over my face. That was a surprise attack that I could not avoid. Too close, too sudden.

“Now, you look better!”

The Lynx said that with the satisfaction of a job well done. I remained petrified for a couple of seconds, trying to digest all that without exploding, and sighed again. I cleaned my face with the back of my arm.

I removed the 'vambraces' to allow the jacket's two parts to recombine themselves.

“What do we do now? It is late. Do we set up camp here for the night?” - asked Spartacius, watching me inquiringly as the second sun was closing to the horizon.

“No, we go talk with Grackak and the idiots there. We should be able to find an understanding.”

"If you say so..."

The Lynx was like always not expecting a positive outcome, whilst Tina was worried:

“What if they do not want to let us leave?”

I looked at her and nodded.

“I do not expect that, but in such case, we have to force our way out. We do as planned:" - I pointed at her - "You should stay in the carriage. If you hear my whistle, you pull off the two levers and use the portal. Please do that instantly, with no hesitation. We have the explosion set at 10 seconds. Ten seconds for all to use the portal before everything explodes. Ten seconds after you hear the whistle. Run for it as if your life depends on it because it does. Everything clear?”

“It will not work.” - said the Lynx shaking his head - “what if they want to take over the carriage before?”

“It means that they are hostile from the beginning. You two," - I pointed at him and Alice - "you do not follow me inside; you stay out and defend the carriage. If they attack, Tina uses her whistle. The rest runs the same way; we will have ten seconds to evacuate. Spartacius, you stay behind me, between the coach and me. I only need to show you are there to have the quest fulfilled. In case of trouble, you don't wait for me; you run. I'll cast darkness and mind blast anybody who tries to stop you. Memorize your path; you need to know your way to the portal by heart. Don't worry about me; I trust I can escape them even without the portal. Again, I cannot imagine that they will attack us. Why should they do that? As I said, we are humans; we should be able to talk to each other.”

The Lynx just shrugged but did not comment further.

We advanced on the main street through the deserted town. There were houses with 2-3 stores on each side, shops, and malls, one near the other. The same choosy twister seemed to have streamed everywhere, probably depending on how much magic various items have had.

Most of the shops were still full of merchandise in various states of decay, the shopkeeper and the clients missing, fine, dark dust covering everything.

We stopped at the main market. The water was still running in the fountain, and on the other side, a big 2 storied hotel was the only building with illuminated windows. At one side, some fifty meters away, a group of about ten persons was relaxing in the light of the setting sun, but they ignored us. Probably our arrival has been announced by the witch.

I waved hello at them, and somebody waved back, pointing toward the two-story brick building that had HOTEL written with wide letters on top. I was tempted to probe them, but I decided against it. That could be seen as impolite. They did not make any high-level impression, but some decent middle-level ones, most above forty but under seventy. Maybe even under sixty.

Everything seemed so uneventful that I started to think I'd made all preparations for nought. Grackak appeared to have some unorthodox recruiting methods, but probably that was all. Just to impress and make you come and see for yourself. Was this all?

I approached the building and stopped in front of the door to listen. There were voices inside, but I could not understand what they were talking about. I looked around, and only now did I see the giant, black dragon watching me from the other side of the street. Once our eyes met, he closed his eyes and put his head back on the ground, with the gigantic chain rings clicking as they hit the pavement and disappeared under him, the dragon looking again like the mountain of stones I thought it was before. I made a hand gesture towards Alice. She nodded. She'll stay by the coach as planned, the dragon a wild card that we'll need to manage somehow in case of trouble... The Lynx was playing his brave mount role, bound by a simple wire to the coach. Of course, he could snap free at any moment. At the sight of the dragon, he snorted unhappily, same as the horses, as if saying: told you so.

I rolled my eyes.

I waited until Spartacius came by me, then I pushed the door open, and we entered:

“Hello! Hi, there! I'm Cala. I came as requested. This is Spartacius, the prisoner from the tower.”

There was silence once I entered the room. About 12 to 15 people were there. I also saw a couple of waitresses working, so Grackak did not kill all the people in the town, or maybe brought them from a nearby village?

“Hallo Cala, I see you did it.”

Only now did I see the gnome sitting at a table. I looked back and saw he was looking at Spartacius.

“Well, of course." - I raised my shoulders. What else was there to be said? - "How is it going? Do you guys…”

'.. have the same problems with the logout?'. That's what I wanted to ask, but Grackak interrupted me with a harsh tone:

“Silence! You do not come here and ask how is it going!? This is my town, where you speak when I ask you!”

I watched him bewildered. Is he talking seriously? Is he trying to play something?

This was the moment I thought to use the whistle as agreed.

Instinctively I put a hand on my neck. The damn bet-collar was gone. I am free!

My movement did not escape his eyes.

“Now stay here and wait until I come back, or else you are the next cleaning slut!” - said Grackak, pointing at the man washing the floor.

Several persons from the audience laughed out loud. He walked towards another room. One priest dressed in a white robe with red strips, who was watching me through a crystal, exclaimed suddenly:

“Well, I'll be damned if not! She must have a relic class item!”

One fucking good appraisal crystal. First, my anklet was not visible; even if it had been visible, it should have passed for a regular, useless anklet. Relic class items are incredibly scarce. Mine was primarily cosmetic, but it could have other uses too. I got it from an angel, and I needed it.

Grackak turned suddenly back.

"What? Now that explains some..."

I don't know what he thought this would explain, but I was sure he was wrong.

The priest shook his head:

"I don't know which one, but she must have one. I've never seen this reaction in the crystal!"

Wait a minute, was this because of my anklet, a thing that they should not have been able to detect, or because of White Flower?

"Don't make any sudden movement!! Put your clothes down there! Everything in a neat pile!"

Does it matter what the reason was?

White Flower was nervously whispering in my mind:

"Say your darkness spell and run!!"

"Just a moment!" - that was my answer to White Flower - "Now, really, do you want me to strip here?"

"Everything. Undetermined relic class item? Girl, we want to see that!"

"And more!" - added a voice in the background like in a live show.

He raised his staff, ready to shoot his ice spells.

"Or, we strip you ourselves!"

"Yeaaah!"

Several nodded, whistled, and even applauded.

I felt like in a bad western movie playing the damsel in distress. Now was the time for the cavalry to run to my rescue.

I should have reacted the moment when that damn priest spoke. That was the moment when I should have said darkness. Outside there was some commotion. Something was happening outside. What do I do? Everybody was tense; everybody was watching me. I had no chance to take them by surprise.

I slowly took my jacket off. I'll need to take unobserved by them the whistle in my hand. Then I'll say darkness and blow the whistle. I need to jump away at the same time so that they do not hit me with their spells. I took my time to pack it, searching the pockets for my whistle.

"Take your time, girl!"

I watched the jackass. It was a mage. He grinned. I grinned back. I had the whistle now in my hand, but just as I wanted to say my spell, a terrible roar resounded outside, and Tina erupted in the room, followed by a man. Both screamed at the same time:

“Her mount fights Fify!!”

“They take the carriage!” - said Tina

Who the hell is Fify?

Tina should have stayed in the carriage. She should have opened the portal and used the whistle if they were attacked. What is she doing here? Where is Alice?

Everything exploded in action.

>

The moment I said darkness, I saw Spartacius throwing something at Grackak. It was some kind of a package. Fuck what does the idiot do? We need to run out!

Anyhow Spartacius action seemed to have blocked Grackak from casting any spell, which was good.

Grackak's scream turned into a furious croak, and then I heard him coughing and screaming.

I did my > against the image in my memory of the man that came in with Tina. It works if you concentrate and do it fast enough. I had no other choice as I could not see him now with the darkness, but I still got him. Not a perfect hit, but good enough to send him flying.

I heard further screams and curses. I was surprised that Grackak did not freeze us all with an ice explosion spell.

>

I started moving at more than double speed. I grabbed Tina and tried to find Spartacius. Where is he? I made a couple of steps, and as Tina tried to drag me in another direction, I simply put her on my shoulder. At least she did not fight me and endured my manhandling her calmly.

There he is! I jumped at him, he was still throwing some small packages, but these did not seem potent. I saw no explosions whatsoever.

I grabbed his hand, thinking about how am I going to fight with Tina on my shoulder and Spartacius on my other hand when it happened. I was speaking of no explosion, but the moment I grabbed his hand, a terrible explosion outside made the whole wall collapse over us. Good that I had the two with me as White Flower healed us all instantly. Good that the explosion was strong enough to break the wall into pieces but yet not that strong to break me into pieces. Especially here behind the wall. I dragged them in front of me to protect them as much as possible, then turned towards where the wall was.

Fuck, here goes my escape plan in flames. That was our carriage that exploded. Did Tina pull the levers before she came inside? Why did she not pull the whistle to warn us?

We need to run and hide, but where? Next moment I was hit by a giant blob of mangled fur.

“Follow me!” said the Lynx whilst my tattoo was healing him. “Come, I'll take Alice!”

I ran as fast as I could behind him with Tina on my shoulder and dragging Spartacius by hand. The poor slob could not run as fast as me, so he was just dead weight that I pulled behind me, but at least he did not complain.

I trusted the Lynx blindly. He must see at least as good as I do in the darkness or maybe even better. How can he do that?

Once he stopped, I wondered where Alice was. Only now did I realize he was carrying an unconscious Alice in his maw as he dropped her down and spoke:

“Terri, we need you now!”

We were about to get out of the 'darkness' area. Before I could say anything, he added:

“Put Tina, Terri, and Alice on my back until Alice recovers. You and Spartacius follow me close. No noise, please!”

Behind us, a cacophony of screams and a couple of blasting spells fired blindly. However, many of Grackak's people must have been wounded if they were not dead from that damn explosion.

Terri healed Alice, and to my relief, she recovered instantly, so it was only Tina and Terri riding the Lynx. Another run-for-your-life exercise!

I whispered:

“Alice, can you run?”

She nodded. I turned to the Lynx.

“Can you take Spartacius too? He may be too noisy and slow.”

He nodded:

“Good idea. Climb Spartacius!”

I don't know why, but the idiot started laughing. He did all he could to not laugh out loud, but I did not have the time to check what he did find so funny.

Next moment we were on the run. The sun had already set, but it was not yet completely dark; the sky to the west was still dark blue.

Soon I was out of my speed spell, but I still could run very fast even without it.

I was happy to see that our Terri could also erase traces in the dust. I don't know if it was also an illusion what she did or if she effectively erased the traces, but it was very efficient.

As soon as we left the town, we did not run on the road but straight over the field. A couple of riders were running along the streets, and others with flying mounts were spying from the sky, but it seemed that White Flower's magic was good enough to keep us safe. They probably assumed we had used a portal as the search was not as intensive as I expected; however, only after about one hour of running did we stop.

It was now completely dark, with no moon yet in the sky full of stars. I stood there agape for a moment watching the wonderful display until Spartacius broke the silence.

“I need some water!”

The Lynx and Alice both nodded.

“Yes, me too!”

Drinking slowly from my cup, I watched the myriads of stars in the sky. Fuck, what a show! It is worth all your money!

Spartacius grinned, putting a larger bowl down for the Lynx:

"We did it!"

I turned angry at him:

"What was so funny that you had to laugh just when we had to keep silent?"

"Oh, sorry, you should hear your voice when you are under the speed spell!"

OK, that might have been funny, but I did not intend to let him escape like this. I just remembered his action with Grackak in the beginning:

“What on Earth were you doing there instead of running out?”

“What do you mean?”

He watched me bemused. The fact that he delayed us had been, in the end, helpful, as we were protected by the wall from the explosion, but yet I still had to ask:

“You threw something at Grackak and then at the gang?”

“Oh, that? That was pepper. Hot pepper powder packages. I just threw it in their general direction as I could not see them in the darkness. At least for Grackak, I saw him, and I got him right in the face!”

I had to chuckle, then I had to laugh. The Lynx could not contain his admiration:

“That was good! That explains why they were so delayed in following us. You probably saved us, God of Food!”

“Nah”, - replied Spartacius - “without you fighting the dragon, we would have had no chance.”

Oh, that must have been Fify.

“You fought the dragon? That was a black dragon, wasn't it? Can you fight one?”

The Lynx shook his head.

“I can keep him busy and hold him up for some time. As long as I avoid being bitten, or being blown to cinders by their dark breath, or being trampled...”

“Did it attack you?”

“Those guys came to talk to us and then suddenly attacked. Alice fought back, and one of them ordered the dragon to kill her. One idiot grabbed Tina before she could blow the whistle, so I freed her then I had to distract the dragon. As she was already dragged out of the coach, Tina ran inside to warn you. Meanwhile, another idiot entered the coach and probably pulled the levers. Alice was overwhelmed by a group, who then took the brunt of the explosion. With a rampaging dragon there, Spartacius' pepper, and your darkness, they were well occupied!”