Sorry for such a long gap between updates! Writing this chapter was a bit difficult because I had to do a lot of planning, since there are more characters now. I also started up at college again, and while I didn't fully load up my schedule, updates may continue to be a bit slow. I am always working on the story though, so there will always be an update on its way eventually! Again you can check my WordPress to check the status of the story or for any bonus chapters.

Oak and Holly

Grim Discovery

Conall was in a fairly good humor as he followed Paralee's bouncing steps into the wilderness that sprawled beyond Carderock's barricade. Though she had so far only talked of things he didn't comprehend and made wild claims that he supposed any child would be prone to making, he did enjoy her company.

Elora did not. She had responded coldly to Paralee's claim of time travel and all of her efforts to explain herself, growing more and more irritated with each word.

"I don't think it's completely impossible for a machine to use magic, but you talking about stuff I don't get isn't convincing me that it's really true. Especially since no one—not even Kasarana herself—would think of using magic that way, and I've never seen a machine that special."

Conall had immediately jumped on the child's suggestion she show them the technology she had brought with her so she could prove that such a machine could exist. He was mostly hoping to avert a literal explosion, because it would certainly require them to go outside where the sorceress couldn't follow. It'd give her a break. "You can show me, and I'll report it all back to Elora."

Now they were deep in the woods, and Elora was sulking in Adeline's living room—though she had put her palms together in thanks as he had ushered Paralee out the door. He really didn't know if it had been the claim of time travel, apparent abuse of magic, or Paralee's rapid fire chatter that had been the problem.

"Elora really takes that time magic seriously," he muttered.

Paralee regarded him with some confusion. "Of course she does. The sorceresses are very serious about all of their magic, especially with how it's used. It's caused them trouble in the past; I really should have been more sensitive about the subject."

His pace became a slow drag, the realization that he really didn't know much about anything dampening his enthusiasm. Even Paralee, years younger than him, knew more about the people around him. "I had no idea."

"Really? Well," she sighed, stopping and adjusting her glasses, "Don't feel too bad. Not many people do, unless they're older, or study history—I fit into both of those categories, by the way."

Conall fought every nerve in his face so he wouldn't smile sympathetically at her announcement of being older. "So what happened?"

To his surprise she shook her head and crossed her arms. For a moment he felt like she was the taller one, looking down at a child that had said something unreasonable. "I can't tell you too much. They've had trouble since the Astral Coven was founded, and it was exacerbated by someone misusing their magic. The same thing may happen again, since even the monsters are starting to steal and use their magic."

For not wanting to tell him too much, she certainly had talked awhile. "You're being kind of vague."

She pursed her lips, drawing pinched fingers across them like a zipper. "If you want to know more, why don't you just ask Elora! She's a sorceress."

"Ask—ah, that's right, I forgot to ask how old she was," he grumbled, rubbing his forehead. "Paralee could you remind me when—"

"She's sixteen. Why did you want to know?"

Conall lowered his eyebrows in confusion. "Uh, Braedon wanted to know is all. How did you…?"

She put her hands on her hips, her chin lifting. "I told you, I'm from the future! Did you forget why we came out here?" There was a very brief pause where he may have been able to answer her, but she took a deep breath and shouted: "Alfredo!"

There was a strange creaking and groaning, a large figure crashing to the ground in front of her. Just as quickly as it had raised its fists Conall drew his sword, but there was no attack from either side. It seemed that they were both thinking defensively, and they mutually lowered their guard and—well could he really say the thing was staring at him?

He remembered, belatedly, that Fergus had mentioned a little girl with a robot had been running around; he knew Paralee was the girl, so certainly this must have been the robot. A strange metal machine, shaped like a man and painted yellow beneath the grime of age and nature and smoke, which seemed to constantly issue in short spurts from its shoulders.

"This is my butler and bodyguard, Alfredo! I made him myself, when I was younger," Paralee announced proudly, patting one of its hulking arms. Conall wasn't sure if he could have done anything to hurt this thing if it had decided to attack him. Its hands looked like it could crush a boulder into dust.

"Conall? What do you think?"

"A butler… I guess that's… why it has a bowtie, huh?" He really had no idea what else to say. He hadn't even realized that he'd taken note of the metal bowtie screwed into its chest until he'd mentioned it out loud. "Can it really see me? Its eyes are just lights or something, aren't they?"

Paralee laughed. "Oh no, he can see you! He can see, hear, and understand, just like a real person! It's pretty complex technology, and I'm lucky he survived the crash. I have enough things that I need to repair, including his storage system."

"Crash?" he echoed. "What crash?"

Alfredo slowly eased himself to the ground, the creaking and clanking becoming more of a quiet hum as the smoke slowed down. Paralee was looking at him very solemnly now. "I traveled to this time, mostly on accident, in a machine, like I told you earlier.

"It malfunctioned, and crashed in the mountains outside of Mana Ridge; I believe part of that malfunction also caused me to physically regress to a thirteen year old body. The technology was always a bit experimental, it even changed my hair from blond to—this," she sighed and lifted a braid to display the strange gray color it was now.

"What were you even doing in that thing then? You're—" he stopped himself from yelling that she was a kid, but given her scowl she had guessed where he had been going, but she seemed to appreciate how alarmed he was over her safety.

"Barring a sudden fire, I was perfectly safe inside. And I was perfectly safe outside, too, between Alfredo and my cannon." The hulking robot lifted his head slightly at the sound of his name, slowly looking at Conall because that's where Paralee was looking; between the silent guardian and the huge weapon, he couldn't deny that she looked well protected.

More well protected than he had looked at thirteen, he was sure of that. There was no way he'd be able to suitably describe Alfredo, or the appearance of Paralee armed to the teeth. "Elora really needs to see this. I'll carry her out here, if I have to," he decided.

"I'll wait here. There aren't too many monsters in the area, because of Alfredo, so I'll be perfectly fine."

He completely agreed that she would be fine even if the place was swarming in monsters, but he felt uneasy when he sheathed his sword and left her alone. No matter how much she insisted that she was an adult, Conall still saw a child, and leaving a child alone in the dark woods left a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

The worry slowed him down, but he found himself wondering if that was for the best; he hadn't gotten far before Paralee was calling for him, and if he had been walking at a normal pace he might not have heard her at all. When he rushed back he found Paralee unharmed, but frantic.

"What's wrong? I thought—" He was hushed by a wave of her hand, which she then used to grab his wrist and drag him into the woods. "Paralee, tell me what's… wrong."

They both stopped, looking at the bottom of a steep incline where two bodies clearly lay. Conall reacted immediately; he easily scooped up Paralee and slid and jumped down through the mud and rocks and leaves, cursing the entire way down. Paralee only made a few sounds of surprise, holding onto her glasses so they wouldn't fly off her face, and she scrambled over to the bodies as soon as she could jump out of his grasp.

Conall stumbled after her, jarred and unsteady from the trip down. She had crouched down next to them, checking for some signs of life, but before he could even ask Paralee was shaking her head. "They've been dead for a while," she muttered.

Though there was no point in sticking around Conall crouched down next to her; they were looking at the bodies of two boys. Covered in blood and dirt and debris, it was hard to tell how they had died. He supposed that they had been two adventurers, judging from their clothes and bags. He couldn't guess how old they were exactly, but they were certainly older than he was. "Where are their weapons?"

"That's certainly a good question. I would imagine they're lying in the mud somewhere or they were stolen." Paralee's expression was grim. "I've seen these two before. They warned me about Marcus and Kieran."

"What should we do? Take them back?" he stood slowly, drawing his sword and looking around the area in case whatever had killed them was still lurking nearby. Paralee didn't seem quite so worried, and she examined the bodies almost leisurely, taking quite a long time. "Are you listening?"

"I'm listening. I'm also thinking, so just wait a moment."

Conall fell silent, feeling for the second time that he was definitely the child in this situation. It was not his first time coming across a body, but he was not quite as calm as she seemed to be; in fact his heart was racing, so loud he could hear it in his ears. He didn't know why she had called him back if she wasn't scared, and he asked her as much.

"I am scared," she admitted. "I know I have Alfredo, but if something happens and I survive, who's going to believe me when the only other witness is a robot that can't speak? No one thinks they can do any wrong."

"So… you think this is Marcus and Kieran's doing," he realized. "And if they attacked you I would be there to confirm it."

"And keep me safe, I hope!"

Though Conall didn't feel comfortable with the whole situation, he took offense to that. "Of course I'd keep you safe. That's why I'm a warrior, that's our job."

Paralee looked up at him, adjusting her glasses with grubby fingers. "For some of you, yes. But there are many warriors now whose interests are not protecting those that need it. I think we should tell Deckard. I'm sure he was the one that sent them out here."

He watched as she stood up, giving the bodies one last furtive glance. "Why are you so sure it was them?"

"I don't know if they murdered them in cold blood… but I do believe that they were somehow involved. Everything I've heard and know indicates that they're involved," she explained. Her stubborn demeanor stopped Conall from arguing, and with Paralee clinging to his back and complaining about his sword, he headed back up the incline.

He knew that he looked like a complete mess, but no one in town seemed to pay it any mind; it was normal for an adventurer to get dirty and tired. It seemed it was also normal for an adventurer to disappear and never return. Deckard was on the whole unmoved by their news, which angered him as much as it did Paralee.

"Young adventurers get in over their heads and die every day… there's not much we can do about it. Even the most experienced adventurers in the league have met the same fate. It's a grim occupational hazard, and a reality we have to learn to accept."

It was obvious that Deckard had learned to accept it a long time ago, but that wasn't good enough for Conall, who felt his stomach twisting in rage. "But you sent them out there! Shouldn't you at least bring their bodies back?"

"I can't risk more lives to bring back the dead, and I don't recommend you risk your lives for it either!" He sighed, looking down at them both sympathetically. "I've done my best to stop the younger adventurers from going out there, but if a youth wants an adventure they'll find a way to have it. You two shouldn't have been out there at all, especially you, Paralee."

For all her talk of being an adult, Paralee shrunk beside him and Conall looked away from Deckard's gaze, overwhelmed with a strange sense of guilt. He should have brought the bodies back, for one, but he was sure the only reason that Paralee had been allowed out of the town was because he had been with her.

"It's getting late. Get on back to Germaine's, and stay out of trouble, alright?" Deckard frowned at both of them and they obediently turned and left. Conall didn't know what he could say to Paralee, so they walked in silence. He couldn't imagine what was on her mind, but he knew that two adventurers they had left behind were on his.

They both barely noticed Braedon approaching them, until Conall walked right into him. Braedon put a hand on his shoulder, looking between both of them with genuine concern. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Conall was reluctant to answer because Paralee seemed to be, turning and looking away from Braedon and mumbling something that neither of them could make out. Without warning she suddenly left, heading back inside Germaine's without so much as a glance. Confused, Braedon turned his attention fully to Conall, who sighed.

"We found two bodies," he admitted quietly. The cleric's alarm was only obvious in his eyes, and he quietly dropped his hand from his shoulder. He seemed to be looking for the bodies in question, baffled.

"Is someone going to get them?"

He shook his head, and was a bit pleased that Braedon seemed just as upset. The older boy turned to look at Germaine's with a serious expression. "I'm sorry that Paralee had to see that. And you. If I can do anything… I don't know what, but if I can—"

"Can I talk to you about something?" Conall wasn't sure why, but he felt that if he was going to talk to anyone right now, it should be Braedon. He nodded in agreement, and followed him to a more quiet area near the barrier, away from anyone that could overhear them.

"What is it?"

"Paralee thinks that Marcus and Kieran were involved… I think they've been threatening her." Conall waited to see Braedon's reaction, and though he certainly became more tense he waited for him to continue. "She knew the two adventurers we found. They warned her to be careful, and then they end up in a ditch in the woods."

"Do you think she's right to worry? Have you heard anything about them yourself?"

He hesitated, and shrugged. "I tried to ask one of the clerics about the rumors about them. He insisted they weren't true but… if Paralee thinks she's in danger I can't ignore it. There are other adventurers that warned her about them. That has to mean something."

Braedon was quiet for a long time, his head tilted downward in thought. Finally he looked back up at him. "I agree. If Paralee feels she's honestly in danger, I will help you keep her safe as best I can… and the rest of you, if it comes to it."

Conall was grateful and he smiled and relaxed; though he still wasn't sure how he felt about Braedon's fighting tactics, he was relieved that they were on the same side. Out of battle Braedon turned out to be a reassuring and warm person. "Oh, I found out that Elora is sixteen. Same as me!"

It seemed that he didn't know how to really take this information, his expression a strange mix between surprise, disappointment, and disinterest. "Is that so? I suppose like you she also considers herself to be pretty old," he mused. Conall only laughed, welcoming the distraction from the woods that loomed above the barricades, and trying not to wonder what else had been left inside it to be forgotten.

This is only the second time that any of my chapters have clocked in at only 2k... they're usually twice as long!