Garry and Julia stood next to the west gate, watching Markus pace back and forth. His chain mail jingled every step and clanged against the other parts of his armour when he turned. His sword, shield and pack where on the ground next to Julia's and Garry's. As soon as he had received his father's message, Markus had made Julia and Garry get there packs and weapons before heading straight out to the west gate.

It wasn't long before they heard the sound of shifting plate armour and hurried feet on stone. Markus turned, expecting to see his father walking towards them, only to find the sisters Luna and Ana walking alongside a paladin. A short half elf wearing the same armour as the others they had seen ride in. Next to her was a short male wearing a worn tracking outfit and carrying a pack about twice the size of him. However he didn't appear to be struggling with it at all.

Once the Paladin reached the west gate, Julia, Markus and Garry all did the formal greeting and learning that she was called Tari. Major Tari. Although she had been a Captain when the sisters had run into her. The three had yet to learn of the paladins and their order in depth but the ranks where more of a formality and only really came into account during times of great conflict or when giving out assignments. The politist and formal way to greet her would be Paladin Tari and leave it at that.

They were just finding out how the sisters had met them, and how Ana had came to have her new bow, when the sound of footsteps and rattling armour drew their attention. What appeared to be a King's mage accompanied by two knights, All of whom had their hoods up and heads bowed. They stopped in front of the group but kept their hoods up. Before Terrance had a chance to speak Markus recognised him.

"Father? Why on earth are you dressed like that? Where's your armour?"

Terrance grumbled with annoyance before he pulled part of the robe aside to show the chain mail he was wearing under it, along with his sword. Before any more questions could be asked he started speaking in a low whisper.

"Paladin Tari, Adam. Julia, Garry, Son. You are to accompany myself, Sean and Jayden on our trip West, out of Fargus and to the other Kingdoms."

Before he had a chance to continue he was interrupted.

"Sean? As in the head of the royal guard?" Garry said looking astonished.

"And i assume when you say Jayden you mean the king?" added Markus.

Terrance grumbled again at the questions and the volume they were asked at.

"Yes those two."

Markus opened his mouth to ask a question.

"And before you ask any more questions let me finish!" Terrance added as he saw the puzzled looks on the faces surrounding him.

In the next few minutes Terrance conveyed what was happening and why. As few as people as possible where to know of the king's departure. Since all the new King's Mages were now traveling with mentors, the group wouldn't look to out of place as long as they had two mages present. A few paladins where also being dispatched with the recruits and mentors to help with the process and to make the group stand out less. They would also teach them as they went, killing two birds with one stone. As for why it had been them who were chosen, Markus and Julia were both know of before they joined and thus were trusted and by that so was Garry. Tari, it turned out, had been volunteered by Ellis Lightbringer after she had heard the plan. And the last thing was, since the whole point was to keep their identities hidden, they were to be treated as equals and nothing more. And to treat them like it at all times, for you never know when someone could be watching.

After hearing the what was happening Julia bit her lip.

"I can understand you being able to train Markus and maybe Garry but what about me? As far as i recall none of you guys are mages." She had no trouble adjusting to the whole 'everyone is equal'.

Terrance grumbled for a third time but before he could reply, Jayden stepped forwards, however he kept his hood up.

"Despite being a king I know a thing or two about combat, and i've spent enough time around Mages to know about Magic. Besides it would be a grave mistake to know nothing about a large portion of my country's population."

The king's voice was gruffer and slightly lower than what it usually was. No doubt a spell put in place to help hid his identity. Seeing Julia's confused expression, he continued.

"You try spending years around Arinath and not learn something. Myself, Tari and Adam should be able to teach you all you need to know, maybe more."

Everyone but Markus appeared a bit taken back by the king speaking. It seemed so openly to them. However it didn't taken long for the group to be on its way. They were to walk past the city limits to a stable where it had been organised for horses to be waiting. Ana and Luna seemed dumbfounded at what they had gotten themselves into. They had asked Tari to help them train so they could make a difference and be able to help people. They had no idea that they were going to end up being dragged along on a King's quest.

As they travled through the city they kept quiet and moved quickly as they could without drawing attention. However once the building where becoming less and less frequent the silence was broken by a torrent of questions. Most of which werent answered. It was only when The answers became so vague did Julia give up. Although now she wasn't talking, Julia noticed that her pendant and being vibrating ever so lightly. As they walked she inspected it closely, well closely as she could whilst making sure she wasn't walking into anything. It was the second time it had done this. Yet as far as she could tell nothing was different. Perhaps the lines in the star Ruby were slightly thicker and bright but that could just be her imagination.

Upon reaching the stables, they found 6 horses waiting for them. When asking why their were less horses than people, they only got the answer of 'you'll see'. Tari gave a short sharp whistle which was quickly followed by a flash of ethereal light. There stood the horse which Tari had arrived at the palace on. She seemed to have a quick conversation with it before mounting. At the same time, the three mentors muttered the same phrase and performed similar yet slightly different hand movements. Again flash of ethereal light was followed by horses appearing and the summoners having a conversation with them. Once the others had mounted up and they had set off again did they decided to explain.

"It is one of the most useful spells you will ever learn. And yes we will get around to teach it to you. Now i'm sure you can understand its usefulness to be able to summon a horse at a moment's notice." Jayden's voice was still gruff but he was now talking much louder than when they were in the city.

"However what you need to know..."

The king went on to explain how the horses were from the an ethereal realm, so not only did you summon the same creature each time, but also the fact that they were intelegnt beings. Summoning the creature created a bound and a telepathic link, as long as the horse is close by. The other benefit being that a summoned being is the conscious from another plane placed in a temporary body, meaning if its body were to die here, it would not be dead. However it might be irritable and unsettled the next time it was summoned because of it. Terrance then took over and went on to explain that paladins gain a link to certain planes due to their closeness with the light, so they find it much easier to call the mounts to them as well as granting a few other benefits.

It wasn't just Julia, Garry and Markus paying close attention to what was being said but also Ana and Luna. They two were eager to learn more about the paladins and Magic in general. And so the teaching continued as they travled, with Tari chipping in here and there to add a bit more detail to a subject. It wasn't until they dismounted and started setting up camp for the evening did the lessons stop. By that time Markus' head was pounding and he was very grateful when Tari and Adam offered to take the first shift in watching that night. Something they were going to have to get used to.

Tari wasn't expecting much to happen. They were only a days ride from Salos and well inside the taint barrier. Despite this she didn't, let her guard down. Not until Sean and Jayden took over the watch did she relax. She removed her full plate and set it to the side. Tari glanced up to see that Adam had shifted back to his true form and had curled up like a cat next to a fire after muttering something about feeling couped up. The dwindling fire danced across the silver dragons scales, reflection the light and causing the ground to glitter. Tari looked back down at her chain mail and debated if she should leave it on or not. Deciding better safe than sorry, tari lay down placing her sword it arms reach before readjusting the chainmail to be slight less uncomfortable. It was a set of decisions she was thankful for later on.