War of Dark Ages: A Unicorn's Journey
Chapter 4

Her ability to become invisible is handy as no one around her seems to see or hear her. Unfortunately, it will need to be used more wisely in the future. The silver-haired creature continues walking down the path toward the tavern and reaches the large pathway to the left. A lot of people are standing around talking to each other. She continues down the path towards the tavern and stops at the Forge on the right. Inside, no one is around and the forge looks empty. Her curiosity to see this small person working on such a large project for she didn’t have a chance to get a good look at him.

Drawing closer to the living quarters, not a single person is around. Pondering for a brief second when a large crash startles her from her thoughts.

A large human woman with two children behind her barges through the door of the Housing District Office.

An office employee in a uniform with straps coming down the shirt attaching to the pants storms out trailing behind them, “Miss, you don’t understand. The paperwork has been like this for generations!”

The large woman turns around and stomps her foot saying, “Generations My Arse! I am trying to feed these kids and make sure they have a place when they grow up and all you seem to care about is if you are doing Mr. Durdley’s Job! Well, you can take that Harem and Shove it where the Sun Don’t Shine!” She grabs the two kids, turns around, and storms off in the direction down past the forge.

Gazing back at the other man, he sighs and goes back inside, closing the door behind him.

The silver-haired creature turns and continues towards the tavern. The tavern doesn’t seem busy and is strangely quiet.

Inside, Torin is behind the counter serving drinks to a couple of soldiers. Riley is sitting beside them with a drink in his hand.

Making herself visible, Natasha stops in her tracks and breathes a sigh of relief. Natasha walks to the counter to pick up another tray of food and moves towards the table at the far end of the room where three people are sitting. She places the food in the middle of the table before walking back towards the counter area.

Torin briefly pauses and finishes pouring liquid into glasses. He places the two drinks in his hands in front of the soldiers before him. Torin smiles and starts washing a few dishes in front of him.

Taking a sip from his drink, Riley turns around, “You have a nasty habit of scaring people.”

“I do not like dealing with them very much,” Her gaze meets Riley’s. “I take it you’re here to discuss a venture of exploring the temple and Durdley’s property?”

Riley stands up and moves across the room to a small table near a window. “We can sit here; it will be easier, less traffic is over here.” He sits down on the chair with his legs spread apart, his elbows resting on the table. Even though his head is lowered, she feels his gaze upon her like a cat ready for its prey to come over.

Tilting her head slightly in Riley’s direction, turns walking up to Torin placing two finger taps on the bar with her eyebrow raised.

“I thought you did-,” Torin glances at Riley and looks back down at her expression of pure annoyance. Casting a smirk on his face, he brings out an empty glass and fills it with a strong drink.

Torin grabs a bottle called “Mother’s Ruin”, twirling it in his hands as two shots move from the bottle to the glass in the other hand. He places the bottle down and picks up another bottle with a white syrup called “Ara Syrup,” slowly dripping a few drops into the glass. Setting down the bottle, grabs a larger bottle with a smile on his face and twirls the glass around pouring a large amount of liquid into it. He stops and an ice symbol appears underneath the glass freezing the contents. The glass drink is placed on a small round device while he sets the bottle to the side. Ice streams upward while Torin grabs another bottle with red syrup pouring two shots into the drink. As the drink turns a dark red with bubbles forming, the device clicks and turns off. Liquid inside turns to a dark black and blue color with a few bubbles forming at the bottom of the glass. Raising his hand above the glass, he drops three large cubes of ice in it. He hands the glass over with a grin on his face, “This is called a Dark Nightmare, a very strong drink.”

She raises the glass in salute to Torin and walks over to stand in front of Riley. Riley glances up at her as she sets the drink in front of him, “You’re going to need something a bit stronger if you’re going to converse with me, Riley.” She sits down across from him with her legs crossed as a most daring look crosses her face.

Riley looks down at the drink before him and glances at Torin who appears amused by something else. Pressing his lips together, raises his eyes slowly meeting her eyes, and sees the steady determination in them. He sets his drink down on the table and reaches for the Dark Nightmare. Looking directly at her he brings the drink to his lips. In one swallow, inhales the drink tossing his head back as the glass falls down hard on the table trying to not gasp for breath. Riley looks at her with a frown on his face and realizes this silver-haired creature won the daring challenge.

Torin coughs in the corner, and Riley sends a scowl in his direction causing him to bend over, hiding his face.

With a sour look on his face, “Seems you won this challenge, Miss.”

The silver-haired creature tilts her head, “Let us call it even, I had help.”

“Fair enough, but I thought you didn’t drink.” Riley draws in a deep breath.

“I don’t, however this morning I saw a person performing as Natasha made him a drink. The person beside him was worried.”

Riley glances at her in amusement, “Very Well. We will call this even.” He reaches for the other drink, turning it on the table as his amusement fades. “Seems you know a lot more about this Mr. Durdley than we have been able to find in ten years. Something about a book with transcripts?”

“Seems this town does or a few people inside it. I still don’t understand why your men haven’t done anything about it since it was easy for them to obtain the information and not you,” she glances out the window observing people walking outside.

Riley sips his drink. “Well, it seems when someone is living in an area, they can learn a lot about it and still not be able to do much. Even though they could have come to us, the fact that the Temple of Dierie is involved puts this in an exceedingly inconvenient situation.”

“Difficult?”

“Well, because of the sour relations with the Temple of Dierie, it would be quite easy for us to go to war with them. And that would put many deaths on this path. One which we are trying to avoid.”

“By collecting information and using that to your advantage?” The silver-haired creature switches her gaze to Riley as this information is valuable.

Riley nods and looks down at his glass. “We have been obtaining certain pieces of information. The Temple of Dierie was founded at least 1,000 years ago by a man who has not been seen since. The temple for some reason has stayed on the other side of the mountains here. Lately, they have decided to spread themselves outward and encourage people to participate in their rituals. I honestly can’t say if the rituals themselves are dangerous. When either my men or I watch them, nothing happens and so we can’t determine. With this connection, if we find anything, we might be able to finally do something concerning the Temple as well as this Mr. Durdley fellow and his crew.” Taking another sip of his drink, Riley sighs and grumbles something under his breath.

“What is bothering you?”

“Every time we have searched his mansion and the temple, we obtain nothing. My crew is pretty good at finding all kinds of things but for some reason, we keep getting hindered and honestly, it infuriates me.” Riley throws his head back over the seat staring at the ceiling.

“The questioning didn’t go well?” The silver-haired creature watches the frustration in him mounting.

Riley looks at her, “You would be correct. They managed to sidestep our questions every time. And because we must adhere to the law, we can’t overextend our boundaries. This is the twelfth time we have searched their belongings, and I am sure we will come up empty. We might find something if you come along.” A scowl burrows on his brow, “Mind you I am still angry with what happened to that soldier, but as he was out of line in dealing with the situation, I can’t fault you for that.” Riley looks down at his drink, raising it for another sip.

“Why not?”

Riley pauses as the drink rests on his lips and glances in her direction as he slowly sips the drink before placing it on the table. “The reason I can’t fault you for it is because most of the soldiers we have right now are fresh recruits being trained. They have never seen situations like this arise. So, when someone who thinks their ego is bigger than them steps out of line, more than likely they die by their own stupidity.” His voice sounds incredibly sarcastic making comments about other creatures like him.

The silver-haired creature begins to see Riley in a different light and would need to be a bit more careful around them as they are very observant. “Very well, can I either question them or possibly look around their establishments? Perhaps I might find something as you mentioned.”

Riley pauses lowering his eyes before responding, “My men said that you would torture the people here, can I ask you to not do that?” He takes a sip from his drink.

Narrowing her eyes at him. “I can’t defend myself if they decide to try something. You do realize you are asking too much from me. I have been nice so far and the two we are dealing with are not.” Annoyance spreads throughout her face and looks out the window. A few seconds pass turning her head and gazing at Riley, “I can say this, I will not intentionally torture them as I need a few answers. From what you told me, there is something they use that allows them to get away with the questions. I would like to see how they are doing this.”

Riley looks at her for a minute before drifting his eyes down to his drink. He gives a nod and takes a full swig of the drink in front of him before placing the empty glass on the table. “We will have to take this up with Commander Kail, you are right. We do need to figure out how they are side-stepping this.” He stands up, pauses, and looks down at her with a questionable expression, “Before we go, can one of the soldiers copy the book you have?”

As the silver-haired creature makes the book appear in her hand and hands it over to Riley, Torin gives another distant cough.

Riley sends another scowl at Torin shaking his head and placing his hand over his face. Sweeping his hand over his face through his hair, he gives an exasperating sigh and reaches out to grab the book in front of him.

She gazes at Torin, “Is everything alright?”

“I’m fine, dammit.” Riley scoffs and hands the soldier standing beside him a book.

Torin snickers.

“Copy this book, soldier.”

“Yes, Sergeant Riley.” The soldier takes out a small circular device with two different colored rings around it. Holding up the device above the book, a blue light scans the book starting at the top and going down to the bottom. Moving the device above the table, another scan is shown as a copy of the book is produced.

She raises her eyebrows and looks at this device. “What is that device called?”

The soldier hands the book in his hand towards Riley. Riley takes the book and turns towards her, “It’s called Maori. This device allows you to copy any document and make reproductions of it. It comes quite handy during investigations.”

The book disappears in her hand. “This device doesn’t retain the information in case you need to look at it again?”

Riley stands with a look of astonishment on his face. The other two soldiers are staring at her with shocked expressions. “No, that type of knowledge doesn’t exist.” His face is calming down; however, his eyes hold a question in them. “When you go back, make sure to go over everything in that book. It is our only lead right now.” He walks past the woman in front of him and leaves the tavern.

Following him matching his footsteps with hers, they walk down the lane.

An Enchanted shop on the left with the young woman standing inside at the counter with her head in her hands causes her to stop.

Riley walks towards her and looks inside the shop. “Is there something wrong?”

“Do all people look sad and angry like she does when they give someone an envelope?”

“An envelope?”

She nods at Riley, “I saw it when I first arrived yesterday, this person was arguing with a couple of people, and they left after she gave them the envelope.”

Riley makes a mmm sound. “This way.” They reach the Barracks. “One moment. I need to check with my men on the questioning.” He starts towards the door and pauses at the entrance with Ragnar there.

Ragnar is scowling while whispering something to him.

Riley is shaking his head replying something back to him. He returns, “Seems they still have not gotten any answers from them.”

“What do you mean by not having answers from them?”

“Follow me.” He turns and walks back into the barracks with Ragnar by his side.

Ragnar keeps glancing at Riley.

The silver-haired creature passes the threshold, and Commander Kail stands a few feet away shaking his head with Riley in front of him spreading his hands out to his sides.

With his hands on his hips, Riley moves to the side a few feet.

Commander Kail looks at her with a welcoming smile, “Allow me to welcome you to the Barracks.” He motions with his hands all around him.

This room has a lot of desks with shelves around them. On the shelves carry devices that are unknown to her. To her left she catches a glimpse of the enclosed rooms with glass on the upper half of the wall. Desks reside inside with cabinets on the wall.

Commander Kail watches her gaze, “Over there we have our offices, mine is in the front. If you have any questions, it is where I am most of the time. I can’t guarantee I will be there all the time. If you have any questions, ask one of the soldiers and they will inform me.”

Some of the guards look a bit angry with that remark.

Pointing his finger to the right, Commander Kail continues, “The Jail Cell beyond the offices is where Mr. Rysen is currently being held. We keep all our criminals there until it is determined where they shall go and which transport shall take them there.”

She walks forward to stand in front of Commander Kail. “Do I get to question Durdley?”

Commander Kail raises his eyebrows, “Of course, are you curious as to the reason why magical devices are not working?”

Given that thought, perhaps it would be best to learn about the magical devices they carry. But comparing their technology to hers from that dark time, the magic involved is so different. “Very well.”

“We have quite a few devices here, some are used as bindings.” Commander Kail walks to the back shelf area and takes a ring connected to another out. It looks familiar to the devices they used earlier when arresting those men. He beckons Riley to his side.

Grudgingly Riley walks over to him. He places both hands in front.

Commander Kail places the bindings on his right hand. It glows as the one ring moves over his skin placing itself through his wrist. The other ring pulls his other hand closer, and it goes through his wrist clasping them together. “Few can break these. To release them you simply press this switch over here behind their wrist.” He presses the switch and the bindings on Riley fall off. Riley catches them in his hands before they fall to the floor. “Any questions?”

The silver-haired creature shakes her head listening to the next explanation. The door bursts open from behind and her eyes grow large taking a few steps back. Madame Fortun steps through the door.

Commander Kail gives a huge sigh and shakes his head.

Madam Fortun stops a few feet short of the silver-haired creature pointing a finger directly in her face, “You need to lock this creature up before she ruins the town! I swear the things I must clean up to ensure this place runs smoothly is just too much at times!” Her voice echoes through the room.

She stares at the plump finger in front of her face as Commander Kail puts his head in his hand.

Ragnar groans twice and moves a few feet backward.

Riley places his hands on his hips and his lips are pressed together. Other guards are grimacing.

Commander Kail raises his head and takes a step forward when the silver-haired creature asks, “Does the upside-down cluster of bellflowers work for Mr. Durdley?” Her face has a questionable look on it with no hint of malice or anger.

Commander Kail stops and places a hand over his mouth.

Ragnar starts to snicker, moving to the corner of the room.

The other guards start snickering.

Riley holds his hand to his mouth.

Madam Fortun went red in the face. “The nerve, have you no honor or shame? Do you even know who I am?” She stands with her hand on her hip tapping her foot.

Not sure how that question should be answered, her expression unchanging, “I do not know what honor or shame is, and you are Madame Fortun who looks like an upside-down cluster of bellflowers?”

Laughter suddenly echoes throughout the Barracks.

Ragnar crouches in the corner double over with laughter.

Riley excuses himself in the other room where the offices are kept.

Commander Kail gives a couple of hard swallows and keeps looking at the ceiling.

Madame Fortun stomps her foot and looks at Commander Kail. “You will hear from me on this Commander!” She turns around and stomps outside the barracks with her man Henry trailing right behind her.

Commander Kail stands there for a minute with the laughter continuing. “Alright everyone, that is enough. Pull yourself together.”

The silver-haired creature looks at the commander with a puzzled expression.

Commander Kail grins and starts to laugh.

One of the soldiers says, “Sure Sir, you’re laughing as hard as we are.”

Commander Kail quickly rights himself and shakes his head. “My apologies Miss, what you said to her as truthful as it was, was still considered an insult by our book. And I am sure even if I explained that to you, you would still not understand. So can we leave it at that and get back to work?”

The soldiers quickly regain themselves after that remark.

Ragnar approaches them with that same stern look of his, his eyes looking as if they were still laughing. Then the laughter fades as if a shadow has replaced them.

Riley walks out of the office heading over to them with an expressionless face. He looks at Commander Kail and stands with his hands behind his back.

Commander Kail gazes at her with a stern expression, “Would you like to know the process for which we do our questioning?”

She nods.

“When we bring people in for questioning, we always use a device that scans the person allowing us to see if anything extra is being displayed on the clothing or if they are hiding something,” Commander Kail explains.

“Hiding something?”

“Allow me to demonstrate.” Commander Kail looks at a soldier to his left and beckons him forward. As the soldier comes forward, he takes a few steps behind the soldier and picks up an item at the desk.

It is a grey flat-shaped rectangle device with a blue gem in the middle.

He turns around facing the soldier’s back and raises the device with the gem pointing in the soldier’s direction.

The grey area on the device turns a shallow off-white color as the gem glows and casts a scan from the top of his head to the feet. Another image appears beside him casting a see-through frame in blue. On certain parts of him, symbols appear with names beside symbols and what they represent.

Commander Kail walks over to the image and points to the midsection just below the stomach area. “This symbol is a magical device. As you can see by its name, it is called “Galician.” In other words, bindings. As you can see it allows us to see what other items are on him.” Commander Kail looks a bit lower to his left pant leg and the soldier flushes. “I think you’re done here soldier, please be assured that your clothes are not fit for hiding snacks.”

The soldier grows more embarrassed as a few other soldiers snicker and walks away to the corner of the room.

“This is done with pretty much everyone, with criminals we use another item to help us determine if they are lying, telling the truth, or hiding something if they refuse to answer.” He walks over to the table again placing the Galician on the table and picks up another device.

This device is a grey flat square with a round symbol in the middle. The symbol in the middle has red markings.

The silver-haired creature continues to observe him and the items being displayed.

Commander Kail turns around and raises the item in his hand, “Allow me to explain the process for questioning. This device turns green if you are telling the truth and the device turns white if you are lying. Allow me to demonstrate.” He turns around and motions with his hand for a couple of soldiers to come forward. They stand before him a few feet from the desk while he takes out a dagger from its sheath hanging on his waist and cuts himself on his left thumb. He places his thumb on the device for a moment before lifting his hand back up, the device glows for a brief second.

She looks at Commander Kail and tilts her head at him, with a questioning glance resting on her brow.

Commander Kail sets the dagger on the desk beside him, takes up a cloth from the desk, and wipes his thumb of the fresh blood. “This allows only me to question the subject. Anyone asking other questions will be meaningless as the item will not light up.” Commander Kail looks at the soldier on the left and orders, “Ask him a question, soldier.”

The soldier standing on the left turns and faces the other soldier. The soldier asked, “What is your name, soldier?”

“Braystag Sir.”

They waited a few minutes to see if the item glowed. Commander Kail looks at her before asking, “Would you like to question him?”

“Where do you come from Braystag?” The silver-haired creature questions.

Braystag responds, “Over the Moon Miss.”

Immediately this was a lie, and the device still didn’t glow. Commander Kail continues, “Because my blood is tied to the device, no one else’s question will work. It also lets us know if they are willing to answer a question from someone who is not connected to the device instead of someone who is.”

“To sidestep anything that might be revealed?” She tilts her head at them.

Commander Kail nods, “Correct. I am going to ask Braystag another question and he will tell a lie. This way you can see what the device will do. What is your station, soldier?”

The soldier pauses a moment in his reply before responding, “I work for the meat department, Sir!”

The device lit up brightly to a white color.

“How does this help or hinder you from getting answers from those two individuals?” She questions the Commander.

Commander Kail responds with an annoyed look moving from his shoulders to his hands betraying the feelings inside, “Because no matter what we do, the object in front of you does not light up. For some strange reason, any magical item brought near them will not work. We have searched them all over repeatedly, and we come up empty-handed.”

Riley grunts.

Ragnar crosses his arms and looks down.

“I’ll let you question them. I would rather you didn’t torture them for answers.” Commander Kail waits for her response.

“I can make no promises, it is interesting that you mentioned no magical devices will work around them.” The silver-haired creature raises her hand to her chin. “They must be using something you can’t see or sense.”

Commander Kail nodded in agreement, “Probably. Because of a few accidents concerning myself, I haven’t been able to go in there and talk to either of them directly.”

“Accidents?”

Riley sighs, “Ever since that incident about five years ago, Kail can’t question them. May I tell her?”

Commander Kail gives a brief nod with his arms crossed.

“Kail entered the room with two other guards. Every one of us possesses magic and some of us can even use it. Kail is powerful when it comes to using magic. We never thought of this as a problem till he entered the room.” Riley pauses.

Ragnar walks a couple of feet away and leans on the desk.

“Kail stopped immediately in the doorway, feeling slightly dizzy. But knowing how stubborn our Commander can be, continued to stay in there and ask them questions. After two minutes of asking questions that got nowhere, Kail decided on another tactic and turned to leave the room. Commander Kail opened the door and fell instantly to the floor. We were lucky Ragnar was around. Ragnar took Kail immediately to the Office where he gave a magic vial to revive some of the magic back into Kail.”

When Riley said that her gaze immediately went from Riley’s face to Commander Kail’s. “The device took magic away from him but not anyone else?”

Commander Kail confirms, “Yes. Even though we knew something was wrong, no one could find it. And anyone else with magic similar to mine, I have not let near them.”

“What is the magic difference between you and a magical device?”

Ragnar and Riley look at her in surprise.

Commander Kail raises both eyebrows, “You know, I never thought to ask that. I was just worried about other people.”

Riley gives a thoughtful look placing a hand on his hip, “True but even if we did ask that, it is not like we can determine a good ratio.”

Ragnar looks down.

She asks, “Why is that?”

Commander Kail responds, “Well, we have the means to determine the magic level of any device for the most part. When it comes to people, there is only so much we can measure.”

“Even with an Academy we have, we still can’t measure the true potential of people,” Riley states.

“Why not let me measure it?” The silver-haired creature asks.

Commander Kail, Riley, and Ragnar look in her direction. “If we can figure that part out, perhaps we can find a way to determine how they are doing this.” He waves his hand to the table where the items are resting. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ Find ɴøᴠel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

She walks up to the desk and grabs a Galician. The closed magic inside feels very distant. Placing the item on the table, the silver-haired creature places her hand over the device sensing the magic lying inside. A frown rests upon her brow. “Would you mind if you allowed me to measure at least a couple of your men with what you call normal magic?”

Commander Kail glances at his soldiers hoping he will have a few volunteers. No soldier volunteers.

Riley gives an exasperated groan, spreading his hands out beside him exaggerating his annoyance, and walks towards her. “Oh, for crying aloud, she wants to measure your magic not torture you. You can take my measurements, but I don’t have much magic. I was not born with the ability to wield it.” He stops in front of her.

Her hand lays in front of his chest and senses the magic inside. She lowers her hand and nods.

Riley steps back.

Ragnar walks forward.

She raises her hand again, feeling the magic inside.

Ragnar walks back to Riley and they both continue watching her.

The silver-haired creature looks towards Commander Kail moving forward and places her hand on his chest. The magic inside him causes her to stiffen. She takes her hand back and looks at this man as an astonished expression spreads across her face by the presence felt by him.

Commander Kail watches her. “Is something wrong?”

She looks down at her hand and frowns, confused by the magic inside him. The presence felt vaguely familiar to her since it felt like a magical creature she knew a long time ago. “You have immense potential for magic. Not all of it is unlocked. I suspect what lies deep within you is old magic. But I can’t determine what it is. This is why you were affected more deeply than the others.”

“Anyone with magic similar to mine is affected. How does that compare to the devices?” Commander Kail asked.

“Your magic is greater than the devices.”

Riley and Ragnar look at each other and look towards her.

“Ragnar’s magic is similar to the device, however the device holds a more concentrated form of magic. That is why the devices will not work around them.”

Commander Kail places one hand on his chin and another on his hip. “We did suspect they targeted those devices because they were concentrated magic. But as you have just stated, that may not be the case here.”

“I’m not sure. I don’t know your ways very well.” The silver-haired creature ponders how this place is different and so much to try and understand.

“I understand. Would you still want to question at least Mr. Durdley? He is in the room waiting for more questions.” Commander Kail glances towards the back hallway.

She nods, not betraying her thoughts about Commander Kail and his strange magic or the effect it had on her.

“Riley, would you show her the way? I will arrive in a minute or two,” Commander Kail glances at his friend.

Riley raises his hand and beckons her to follow him, “Follow me.”

They continue down the hallway and pass two doors to the right. As they stop at the third door, past Riley is a mirror to see through to the other side.

The silver-haired creature steps past him looking through the window. The room is very small with a small table in front of Mr. Durdley. He is sitting in the chair on the opposite side with chains binding to his arms and the chains are latched to the chair with no magic in them. Without looking in Riley’s direction, “The chains he is wearing, why keep them on him if the magic is not working or not there?”

Riley steps beside her to look at Mr. Durdley. “To keep up appearances. Even though the men here know that the chains are not working, it helps them to feel a bit safer. I wish I could say I felt the same, it puts me on edge every time.” He stands with his hands resting on his hips looking thoroughly annoyed.

She looks back into the room and notices Mr. Durdley is looking at them. “Can he see us out here?”

Riley glances at her, “No, more than likely they know this is here, but they can’t see who is behind it or even listen. No magic is being used with these mirrors or enchantments.”

Must be some skilled artisan to make something like this as a feeling comes over here making this item feel vaguely familiar to her. But more importantly how he is canceling any magic around him. “Very well, may I question him now?”

Riley nods and steps aside to let her pass.

She walks into the room standing in front of Mr. Durdley and an odd and horrifying feeling draws closer to her.

Riley follows inside and closes the door behind him. He grabs a chair and moves it to the corner sitting down near the door.

Something familiar from the old world is in this room and it is making her incredibly angry. The silver-haired creature casts a glance at Riley, but his expression remains bored with watchful eyes.

Mr. Durdley pales while he waits and hasn’t moved an inch since she came inside.

Her hand rests on the table and taps her foremost finger on the table. She gazes down at the table before raising her eyes, looking directly at him.

He flinches.

“Do you have anything. . ..,” her voice trails off as her body stiffens. Her face turns whiter than it already is, and her eyes harden with pure and intense hatred. The silver-haired creature presses her lips and lifts her hand upwards causing Mr. Durdley to suddenly be thrown upwards.

His arms and hands are thrown down to his sides, freezing him in place.

Riley stands up, “Hey-.” He is cut off when she gives him a silent glare and shakes her head.

Commander Kail is behind them on the other side of the mirror .

She looks in his direction and shakes her head. Incredible rage fills inside her. She lowers her hand and looking down at the table in front of her, the rage inside her holds steady.

Riley hesitates and glances in her direction.

She nods.

He remains standing observing her.

Her pointy finger lands on the table. Without moving, the table splits apart in two perfect forms shattering against the walls. With her hand palm up, her nails grow five inches longer, looking hard and sharp enough to cut through anything. She moves her fingers up and down, not moving her hand.

Mr. Durdley’s fear intensifies by each passing second.

Commander Kail and the other two men outside hasn’t moved.

She moves forward and approaches him, with her hand reaching up to his face, not touching him. From there her hand glides down him causing a shudder of fear to spread out his body. Her long nails can sense anything that doesn’t feel right. A sealing magic could be cast on him, but knowing how weak this creature was would not survive and therefore would die. This would put the terms of her agreement with Commander Kail on hold as would her ability to have less distraction in destroying those trees. It would make everything harder which is why she is trying hard not to let the rage inside get out of control.

Mr. Durdley shudders.

Stopping at his waist below, the silver-haired creature can tell it is somewhere above. She steps behind him and moves her hand along the bottom of his waist. Her hand moves up, never touching the material or him and pauses midway. It is behind the first piece of clothing, and it gives off that same pressure as before. She looks at Riley, and with her other hand motions him to stand beside her.

Riley is about to open his mouth when her finger is placed over her mouth. He quietly walks over and waits.

The nails slowly reduce size back to their original form and she grabs his shirt pointing to it. She lets go of his shirt and points at Mr. Durdley, never uttering a sound.

Riley gives a nod of confirmation.

The silver-haired creature walks to the other side of the room where the mirror is standing in the corner with her arms crossed.

Riley takes out a couple of nasty-looking daggers from his sides that look twisted and holds them in a crisscross form in front of him with his head lowered. He lunges forward slicing through the air and stands up with Mr. Durdley behind him, the daggers sheathed.

Mr. Durdley’s two shirt garments are suddenly shredded into pieces and falls to the floor. A larger piece of fabric slowly falls to the floor and makes a large thump sound when it hits the floor.

Riley kneels and gazes closer at the large piece. He picks up the cloth with another cloth. Rising, he turns and gazes in her direction.

With a shake of her head, the silver-haired carries a look of pure disgust on her face as the item in his hands makes her angrier. With a wave of her hand, Mr. Durdley moves his hand reaching up to his neck with complete fear in his eyes. She looks away, closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath.

Riley glances at Mr. Durdley, “Deactivate it now, or I will give her permission to slaughter you and your men, with no consequences. I think she would rather make you suffer from the look on her face before you die. Which would you prefer? Slow death by her hand or quick beheading by ours?”

Mr. Durdley seems to hesitate for a moment before he reaches out his hand and presses a switch on the fabric.

Riley looks towards her again.

She nods and starts breathing as the evil fades from the device. At the same time, she walks to the door, Mr. Durdley collapses to the floor.

Commander Kail calls out to her.

She ignores him and leaves the barracks hurriedly. She stops quite a few feet away from the barracks and bends over trying to control this rage inside.

In the next moment, Commander Kail stands behind her and places his hand on her back.

She glares up at him with rage and hatred.

He reaches out his arms and draws her to him, placing his right hand on her lower back and his left hand in her hair.

Her face is pressed against his shoulder, and her desire to want to kill him grows even larger. She bites her lip trying to resist the darkness. From out of nowhere, blood tears flow and stream down her cheeks falling onto him.

Commander Kail stands there holding her till her body stops trembling. After a few moments, “Are you feeling better now?”

Her tears stop as her feet move away from him and wipes the tears away. She looks away. “Why do you care?” She wipes away the blood on her lower lip and flings it down on the ground.

Commander Kail stands there with a hopeless expression. “I suppose I care about a great many odd things; something tells me whatever you went through is more painful than anything I can imagine.”

A look of astonishment crosses her face, becoming aware that this person is a lot more intelligent. Quickly trying to regain her composure, she lowers her eyes. “I’m fine, you will need to do something about those things as Mr. Rysen will have one on him as well.”

Commander Kail gives a slight nod, “Alright. I will make sure they are permanently destroyed. From what I observed there, they can’t be destroyed by magic?”

“No, they are magic-stealing devices, and the greater magic you have, the greater chance it has to eat your very life. Familiar to the trees but not the same.”

Commander Kail grows quiet and turns around as Riley and Ragnar approach them. Riley raises an eyebrow at Commander Kail, but he just shakes his head. “Did you find the other device on Mr. Rysen?”

“Yes, we did, waiting on you for instructions on what to do,” Riley remarks..

“I will take care of that myself. Would you mind taking her to the mansion outside of town?” Commander Kail looks back towards her, “You can leave it to me, I will make sure they get destroyed. I think it is best if Mr. Rysen questioning waits a bit until we have explored his temple and the mansion.”

Not daring herself to speak at the moment, she nods. Knowing he was right and hating the fact he calmed her down, leaves her shaken.

Commander Kail walks back to the Barracks.

A mental note is made to never let this creature help her calm herself down again.

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