Chapter Eight Part One: Finding a Way In

It was morning, and the gang spent the night on the starry sky. Everyone slowly began to wake up from their night slumber. They could've taken a couple more hours, since they were up really late; but they knew they must press on. They can't have a good night sleep until their journey is complete. The gang started to gather up their things and pressed onward to Oured.

"So you're really a witch?" asked Seth, trying to start a conversation to the group.

"Well, sort of." Said Sam, as she shows her birthmark from her right arm, recognizing everyone that she's a witch. "It first shows three black dash marks. Sort of like claws marks too. But as the person masters their powers, it spreads around its arm, creating a tattoo on its user."

"So how good are you with your magic?" Asked Luke, as he wants to join the conversation as well.

"Well I can show you guys right now," she says as she hopes to gain experience from it.

"Sure, just don't hit us." Says Seth, as he fears that her spells could backfire and hit them by accident.

Sam nods and takes out her staff. She opens up a small spell book that contains certain spells to choose from. She then chants some words from the book and instantly a fire blast come out from her staff. Seth and Luke were amazed by her skills. She then cast an ice blast, then a lightning bolt, and a few other spells. To them it was almost like seeing a magic show, only without the tricks to fool the audience. She ended her performance, realizing that she started to get exhausted from the spells she casted. She knew she was running out of mana.

"Well that's all I can show you. I could show you a few more, but you'll just have to wait til I have enough mana left to use." Said Sam, as she was exhausted from her mini-performance.

Seth and Luke applauded, seeing that it was worth watching as they drew near to Oured.

"Glad I could be of entertainment for you guys!" she smiled as she put away her staff.

Soon after they've arrived at Oured. The gang sees a marvelous view of the city from a hill they're standing. The city was

"Well here we are. Oured." Said Seth as he gazes towards the city.

"Wow. It's beautiful," Sam said to them.

"Yeah, but how are we going to get through that?" Said Luke as he points to the gates. The gates of Oured were closed, and they're only to be open a person from the outside world is allowed to go in. In this case, they need a pass to get in. The checkpoint is enforced with guards standing from the ground and from the look out tower that's placed in between. Making sure that no unauthorized person can get by.

"Man, how are we going to get through that? We don't have the manpower or the will to do that." Said Seth as he doesn't have a clue on how to get past it.

"Hmm…I wonder." Said Sam, thinking she might have an idea.

"Hm? What's on your mind," said Luke, as he wants to know.

"I have something in my bag that can transform us into animals."

"What kind of animals?" Asked Seth.

"Well it depends on what kind of animal is put in the mix. A feather from a crow will make us turn into a crow. And fur from Ayame will make us turn into wolves as well."

"So what kind of animal is best for this situation?" asked Luke

Sam opened up her bag and searches for something that will help them. She then pulls out a rat's tail and shows it to them.

"Is that a…rat's tail?" asked Seth. Sam nods to his question. "O geez, I wonder how this is going to work" Seth doubts that Sam's plan would work.

"Well here's what I can do. You two will be turned into rats, while I turn into a crow. That way I can just carry you guys by my talons and just fly all the way to Oured without any problems with the guards."

"What about Ayame? How would she come with us?" Asked Luke.

"She's going to be a crow too. Don't worry it also works on other animals as well."

"How long will this last?"

"Not long, so we'll have to make haste with what we got."

She created four batches of the potion, two rat potions for Seth and Luke, and two crow potions for Ayame and herself. They all drank their potions, and they both slowly transformed to their designated animals. Ayame and Sam first turned into crows, and then Seth and Luke turned into rats. Not a moment too soon, Sam and Ayame carried Seth and Luke using their talons, and flew them to Oured. They were amazed on how high they can carry them upward in the sky. They reached the castle walls of Oured, hoping that they would get inside without confronting any of the guards; when suddenly they hit a barrier that protects any magic that come in. The gang was hit by it, causing them to turn back to their normal selves; and since they were very high up from ground, they started to fall back to the ground. They screamed, knowing that they were going to die the moment they hit the ground. But at the last minute, Sam used a gravity spell to stop them from falling. The spell worked and they stopped at mid, just inches away from falling to their deaths. After a few seconds the spell wore off and they landed to the ground safely.

"Ow, that hurt," said Luke as he gets up. "What was that just now?"

"I…I don't know," said Sam as she was in disbelief. "Since when did Oured have a barrier that will protect them from magic?"

"Well, looks like plan A didn't go smoothly as we thought," said Seth as he helps Sam get up. "Looks like we'll have to find another way in."

"But how? My magic won't be of any use," Sam said. Ayame was disoriented from the shock of the barrier and starts to whine. Sam notices it and calms her down by rubbing her head with her hand.

Just then they spotted a horse carriage heading to Oured. Seth had an idea on how they're going to get in.

"Hey look. Horse carriage." Seth said to them. They looked where Seth was pointing at the carriage.

"Yeah. What about it?" Luke asked.

"Well we can hitchhike it and we can get in the carriage without having the guards noticing us."

"But how?" Asked Sam.

"I'll tell you. Now listen."

Seth discusses his plan to Sam and Luke. His plan calls for Luke to be "injured", Sam to be a blind woman, and Seth to be the guy who escorts them for medical aid. If Seth convinces the driver to have them on the carriage, they should be able to reach Oured without any conflicts with the guards.

"What do you guys think?" He asked them.

"Well it's a bit risky." Said Luke as he thinks about this for a moment. "But I think it'll work."

"Yeah, and if it doesn't go well I can use my mind spell to make sure it'll work."

"Great, then we're all at an agreement then." Just then, Seth hears the horse carriage closing in. If they were going to hitchhike it, now would be their time doing so. "Alright here he comes.

As the horse carriage draws closer and closer to the gates of Oured, Seth started waving to the old man driving the carriage, hoping to get his attention. The man notices him and stops his horses from moving.

"Morning fellas," he said, as he tips his hat off to him. "What do you younglings need?"

"Sir." Seth Said to him honorably. "We're old refugees fleeing from the soldiers of Arson. We've been traveling a long way without food or drink." As he said this, Luke and Sam come out from the shadows; acting as they walked 2000 miles in a desert without food or water. Sam was using her staff as a cane and Luke was acting as a blind person. "Can you sir, please help us get through the checkpoint that will allow us to enter Oured?"

The old man looked at the three, thinking that something wasn't right. He thought long and hard about it. The gang was a little anxious and nervous, worrying that their plan didn't work.

"You've come a long way you say?" He told them. "You're all weak and weary from your journey. Climb aboard." He tilts his head towards the carriage, signaling them that they can get in.

"Thank you sir." Seth said to him.

They slowly climbed aboard and are relieved that it worked after all.

"Well…guess we don't need to use my spell after all," Sam said in a whispery voice.

"I doubt it. Just make sure you have your staff ready in case. Who knows what's going to happen next," Luke whispers to her.

"Listen. Getting is was the easy part, now entering to the castle and meeting Lord Nato will be the hard part. So keep your guard up you two." Seth whispers to them.

"Is everyone ready?" said the old man.

"Yeah we're all aboard, let's go." Seth said to him.

"High-ho yippy away old dolly! We got work to do. Yeee-haww!" The old man shouted to his horse and he kicks it into high gear.