Ambigious walked next to Unchosen at the rear end of the group. They were in a wide open grass plains area that was entirely clear of trees, the black walls of Rockhaven towered in front of them, the sun setting behind the group dramatically illuminated the scenery.

From afar Rockhaven's walls didn't look much out of the ordinary but as they got closer, Ambigious could see that they reflected small amounts of light and shimmered in the colors of the sunset. Above the walls he could see a slight distortion, he figured that it was caused by whatever protective spells were in place above the city.

Half an hour of walking later the sun had almost disappeared but they had arrived at the foot of the walls. Four guards stood where Ambigious would have assumed to be a gate but he just saw a regular section of wall. The guards wore diamond armor that entirely covered them in a similar fashion to his own armor.

As they walked closer, one of the guards stopped them. Judging by guard's voice it was a woman. "State your name and business."

Fire and Shadow threw Ambigious and the others a quick look, then Shadow began talking: "I am Shadow, a citizen of Rockhaven. Me and my apprentice" she pointed at freeZe "wish to enter the city. The others are mercenaries hired for our protection."

The guard nodded. "Do you have your citizen pass?"

Without words, Shadow took a small orb out of her pocket, it seemed to be made from artificial bedrock. The guard took the orb and then gave it to another guard who placed it in a small golden device. The device emitted some crackling noises and after a few seconds a voice, obviously demonic in origin, said: "Clear."

The guard said: "You and your apprentice can go in, your mercenaries have to stay."

Fire said: "I am Fire and I too am a citizen of Rockhaven and those three are my apprentices."

Before the female guard was able to say anything, the guard holding the device asked: "Not the Fire, right?"

Shadow replied: "Exactly that one."

While Ambigious was slightly confused by what the guard and Shadow meant, the guards suddenly seemed to be tenser than before.

One of the two other guards said: "Lady, if you can hire a former Guard captain for your protection you must be really worth protecting."

The other guards immediately shot him scolding looks. Meanwhile Fire handed them his pass. The demon in the device again responded with "clear", but then also added something else that Ambigious couldn't quite understand. He assumed that it was something in the demonic language since his head began to hurt when he tried to make any sense of it. Ambigious had no idea what the demon said but whatever it was, it seemed to amuse Fire.

The guards gave Shadow and Fire their passes back and stepped aside. Fire took the lead and walked straight at the city walls. A few seconds before he reached them, a small crack opened, which then expanded to a size that the group could walk through comfortably. Ambigious was surprised that the walls were only a few centimeters thick. As the walls closed again, he looked back, curious if he could see the door mechanism but all he saw was the walls closing again without leaving a trace. Magic probably, again.

After the walls had closed, Ambigious noticed that the air around him was different from the air outside, it stood completely still and had a different temperature and humidity, just so that you wouldn't notice that it was there at all, it was also the freshest air he had ever breathed.

Ambigious turned forwards again and was met with a view he wouldn't forget in a long time. He was on a wide street, it seemed to be made from artificial bedrock as well, only roughed up so that you wouldn't lose your foothold. It shimmered in all rainbow colors but was still predominantly black. The street was ever so slightly glowing, providing all the light that was necessary to see everything clearly. Every time somebody set their foot down, a wave of slightly brighter light radiated outwards. The buildings too were made from artificial bedrock and had all the hallmarks of Mencur-Besh architecture. They were generally simplistic at first glance but once you looked at them for a bit you could notice incredible details in the form of ornaments. The doors were made to be used by both humans and Mencur-Besh, Ambigious noticed that opposed to those in Drandin, the doors here did have locks.

The streets weren't very populated near the gate but there were more people further in. Every once in a while he also saw a Mencur-Besh in the streets. The people wore many variants of colorful clothes made from what seemed to be nether wool, Ambigious couldn't quite tell if they looked formal, casual or practical and in the end decided that no matter the occasion, you couldn't really go wrong wearing them.

He asked Fire: "So, do we get those pass ball things too?"

Fire replied: "No, those are only required for entry, once you are inside the city nobody asks questions about where you came from, except out of personal interest. There is only one way in and out so the checks at the gate are enough to ensure that everyone who is in the city is actually allowed there."

When they reached an intersection, Shadow pointed straight ahead. "We'll go this way. We're going to the tower, I want to speak to the new keeper. From what I heard she's only been in the position for a few weeks."

As they walked to the center, the tower came into view more and more. It reached almost up to the magical barriers, Ambigious could see the eye looking down onto them and shivered. TehLulz had told him about his excursion to Drandin's tower and the purpose of the eyes, he wasn't scared of the eye but just the image of an eye in a tower staring down onto everyone gave him some rather sinister vibes.

The tower stood in the middle of an expansive circular plaza, the outer edge of which was lined with what looked to be the various guild houses. Right behind the tower was the royal palace, which occupied exactly the same amount of space as a guild house. The plaza was divided into sections, each had patterns with illustrations of the respective guild's work.

They crossed the plaza and went straight to the tower's door. Shadow knocked and said: "Hello. I am Shadow, former archmage of the Mage Guild, I would like to see how you are settling in."

freeZe whispered to her brother: "Didn't know that Fire and Shadow both once had such important positions here."

The door was opened by a tall, red-haired woman wearing a green robe that had subtle but effective red and golden decorations. Her voice was soft and a tad higher than average. She said: "Oh, hello. I didn't expect such an important visitor today, come in."

Shadow introduced everyone to the tower keeper, who answered: "Good to meet you all, I am Carol."

Ambigious said: "With that name it's a good thing that this isn't a bell tower."

Carol smiled. "I have thought about that before and believe me, I'm glad that it isn't."

The ground floor of the tower was Carol's living quarters, nothing was out of place and there wasn't a speck of dirt or dust on anything. They sat down on a round table while Carol made tea for everyone on a blaze powder operated stove, then sat down with them.

Shadow asked: "How is it so far?"

Carol answered: "The beginning was rather sudden, only hours after I heard that the old keeper fell and broke her neck on the stairs it was announced to me that I was the new keeper."

Fire asked: "Mage Guild, right?"

Carol hesitated but then answered: "Yes, I am an Ender mage and actually hoped to become a professor at the University but I guess that will have to wait for a while."

Ambigious wondered why Carol was so reluctant to answer Fire, Mencur-Besh were more common in Rockhaven than anywhere else on the server, save for Drandin, so she couldn't possibly be scared, right?

Carol then surprisingly turned to him. "You are mercenaries, correct? Tell me some stories of your battles, it's been a long time since I have spoken to anyone from outside."

Ambigious started off with a story Andras had told him and slightly changed it just in case Carol had read any of Andras' books. The others joined in with their own made-up tales, Fire soon took over for them, he definitely had no need to make up battle stories. As a finale freeZe told the tale of their encounter with the ghoul, although the staircase had become a regular cave and her usage of black flames disappeared entirely.

After about two hours Carol was satisfied and beaming with excitement about the tense stories they had told. She poured all of them a final cup of tea, then they left the tower.

Fire said: "Now that we are here already, I'll have to see when I can get a proper audience with the king. Shadow will take you to her house near here."

Shadow nodded and said: "This way."

Shadow's house looked just like any other from the outside, on the inside it looked not unlike some of the rooms they had seen in the base. A clock on the wall indicated that it was past midnight already and they were feeling appropriately tired. Shadow showed them each their rooms, then disappeared into her own.

Ambigious' room looked similar to the one he had chosen in the base, very simplistic but still homely. As he got into bed he wondered what else would happen in Rockhaven. Fire's plan to diplomatically get the Axe surely would work but by now Ambigious knew that nothing ever went down completely without side events.