Quest for the Mystic Blue

by Eight Star

When agents of the Order of Golden Lightning receive their orders, their missions can range from simple to overly complex. In any means, it is not often wise to disappoint the master. Ashmead and Darkmod team up for the first part of this story, which eventually ends with near-catastrophic results. The Apple Family plays heavy part in this story throughout the chapters.

3. Chapter 3

Quest for the Mystic Blue – Chapter 3

The large library loomed over the group as they approached. It was built out of a tree so large it could've only been magical influence which made it so big. It had windows and a balcony, and even though it was hollow – somehow the tree still had a full canopy of leaves on it. The multi-sectioned front door stood before them with a painted candle upon the top section. Applejack knocked upon it loudly. "Twi'?! Ya home?"

From inside of the building, a small explosion was heard, which was then followed by a frustrated groan. Applejack looked concerned, but whether the concern was for Twilight or herself was hard to tell. A few moments passed before the baby bipedal purple dragon known as Spike answered the door. "Oh, hi Applejack! Who're your friends?" He spoke with a great amount of education for one his age, but it came as a part of being the librarian's assistant.

Applejack bobbed her head towards the respective ponies. "Why, this here's my cousin Ashmead, and this here's his friend Darkmod."

Ash tipped his hat as she introduced him. "Howdy." He hadn't seen a baby dragon up close before. Spike was actually smaller than he imagined a baby would be.

Applejack finished with, "Is Twilight busy?"

Spike thumbed back towards a separate section of the library. "I think she's on her-"

"I'll be right there!" Twilight's voice projected from the other section, cutting him off in a rushed tone.

Spike chuckled. "That."

Ashmead, not one to intrude into someone else's home without invitation, stood outside of the library's door. That didn't stop him from trying to poke his head in through the doorway and get a good look at the library. "Is uh, she alright?" he asked Spike. The library was a general mess. Books were down from the shelves all over the room. It was some kind of chaotic organization, and on the desk in the corner he noticed a book open that had sketches of strange amulets. "What were y'all workin' on in here?"

Spike backed out of the doorway and shrugged. "Who knows? More of her usual experiments and studies. Come on in." He waved the ponies in.

Applejack responded by trotting in and giving a polite "Kind of ya."

As Ashmead entered behind his cousin, the purple unicorn known as Twilight Sparkle appeared coming through the doorway. Her straight and short mane was a little singed and curled, but she didn't seem bothered about it at all. A smear of dirt was left on her face from where she tried to clear it off. "Ahh, Applejack! Good to see you!" She laughed lightly and smiled. "How are things with you?"

"Fine, jus' fine." Applejack came closer to Twilight and looked back at Ash and Darkmod. "Twi', listen, mah cousin Ashmead an' his a-prentice are lookin' fer a flow'r in the Forest, but thar's a prob'em."

Twilight thought for a moment, then looked at Ashmead with a brow raised. "What's going on?"

Ashmead sighed and removed his hat. "Howdy, Twilight. Ah'll get right to th' point:" His voice was level and solemn, almost as if he were delivering a eulogy, or delivering very bad news. "It's the Mirror Leaf Blossoms. Now, 'fore you up an' tell me that there ain't no way Darkmod an' me are gonna get to 'em, Ah got a good reason few wantin' ta see them:"

Twilight continued to smile as best she could as she listened to him explain. "Ah don' know if AJ talks 'bout me much, but Ah'm a Bot'nist. An 'Alch'mist' if ya prefer. Durin' the course o' mah studies, Ah got ta findin' out 'bout this here Mirror Leaf Blossom. Norm'ly Ah don' go out chasin' every plant Ah see, but this'n piqued mah curiosity. Ya see, Ah'm sure ya know 'bout the tales 'bout the Mirror Leaf Blossom, how it shows ya yer innermost desires an' Ah got ta thinkin' that maybe this plant is related ta Heart's Desire. An' that got me even more thinkin' that if we were ta mix the two, that perhaps, the potion made from Heart's Desire could be even more potent… but without givin ya too much o' what ya wish fer, ya see?"

Her smile was becoming far more forced as she kept watching him as he spoke. "Then, Ah got ta even more thinkin' an' thought, 'What if somepony else got the same idea? Somepony whose intentions are…less than honra'ble.'"

Twilight and Applejack quickly exchanged glances, as if they had somepony in mind already. "So, Ah gathered up mahself and mah 'Prentice here, an' we headed right out here. Then we heard that somepony, you, sealed up th' entrance ta' the Mirror Lake where the Blossoms grow. Then Ah thought, 'Whew! That takes a load off mah mind…' But then Darkmod, bless 'er heart, brought up an interestin' point: What if that somepony is strong enough ta lift that there rock all by himself? We ain't got no backup plan!"

"What Ah say is, we go back 'ere, an pick up this Mirror Leaf Blossom, fore anypony else can get to it an' get some samples. Some leaves, an' maybe some seeds an' such." To finish, he attempted to reassure the fillies. "Y'all, you an' AJ, can even come with an' make sure we don't, say, go jump in th' lake 'r somethin'."

After the long pause from Ash's explanation, her forced smile quickly left and she rolled her eyes to Applejack with a burst of emotion. "Am I the only pony here who doesn't know these little Ponyville-only stories?!" Applejack shrugged, and Twilight turned to Spike for support… but he also just shrugged. She stomped a hoof and began ranting. "Are you crazy?! Not only is the Everfree Forest a dangerous place, but there's no telling what the plant might actually do! Spike, do you have that old volume that we found with the story about the Mirror Pond?"

Spike looked around at the strewn piles of books and sighed. "I'll start looking for it…" and he begrudgingly began going through the books.

Ashmead drew back as Twilight began ranting. Swell… he thought, Ah said somethin' wrong, he cast a glance toward Darkmod, again.

Applejack chimed in. "It might not be that dang'rous, what wit' all of us there."

"I'm just astounded at how much comes out of the Everfree Forest that I don't know about before hand, and even more surprised at how my friends seem to know more about it first," Twilight lamented. "The parasprites, the poison joke, the cocatrice, the Mirror Pond." She looked like she was getting a might crazy when she suddenly stomped a hoof. "I got it! We can talk to Zekora! She would know what this Mirror Leaf Blossom thing is!"

Applejack chuckled. "C'mon sugar, I don't think we ought ta be botherin' her 'bout it."

Ashmead straightened up when he realized that Applejack seemed to be on his side, and he felt even better that he was only half-lying to them at this point. He really was curious to see what the Mirror Leaf Blossom could do, and wondered more why the Boss would want it.

Applejack pointed out, "'Sides, Pinkie made the journey durin' the day an' came back wit'out injurin' 'herself."

"Yes, but that's Pinkie!" Twilight responded. "I've almost got the inscribed seal done, too… to make sure nopony sets hoof down there again."

"A what-now?" Applejack tilted her head quizzically.

"An inscribed seal, a form of crystal magic. I've already etched into the rock the runes of power, now all I need is to get the proper mixture of catalysts, and I can keep the Pond out of bad hooves." She narrowed her eyes at Applejack. "What do you think would happen if he got his hooves on it?"

Applejack shivered. "One'a him's intoler'ble enough!"

Spike called out, "I think I found it!" As he held it up, Twilight quickly levitated it out of his claws and began to read at it in concentration.

Ashmead noticed that he wasn't the only one wondering what would happen if the Boss got a hold of the Pond. As Twilight stared into the book, he asked, "Uh, He who? If'n ya don't mind my askin'. Ya think somepony's got their eyes on the Mirror Lake?"

"Don't worry 'bout it, sugar." Applejack turned to Ashmead. "Jus' rememb'r, if'n ya'll come 'cross a red unicorn in that forest, ya'll steer clear of 'im, ya hear?"

Ashmead nodded, "Right. No talkin' ta red unicorns in th' woods. Gotcha." Darkmod opened her mouth to speak, but turned away and curled her lip, not wanting to ruin anything, so she occupied herself by chewing on one of her lip piercings.

Spike shrugged and commented. "Aww, he wasn't that bad. Once we knew what was going on, he-"

"Created copies of us just to spread fear to power a dangerous artifact?" Twilight interjected, leering over at Spike, who immediately backed down. She turned back to the book and nodded. "It does say something about the Mirror Leaf Blossoms:

Beside the waters in that cavern so deep, lie glowing blue blossoms, their treasure to keep.

To ponies who gaze so very close, they'll see what they desire the most!" Twilight put a hoof to her chin, thinking deeply.

Ash listened to Twilight reading from the book and wondered why all old books had to talk in riddles and codes. Why can't they jus' be straight forward, huh?

Darkmod finally spoke up. "Why, that sounds amazin'!"

Ashmead agreed, "Sure does!"

Twilight looked over and reminded; "Yes, but it says it lies in the cavern of the Mirror Pond. My guess is that only the water of the pond can grow them… and so that means the only samples would be obtained there." She continued to visually ponder the possibilities.

Then, it was Ashmead's turn to talk. "Then, it soun's like we don' have too many options. If we want the samples, we'll have ta go to th' pond. Lake. Whatever." He pondered for a moment. "Ah'm sure that Ah can help ya with these cat'lysts yer talkin 'bout. We can go in, get th' blossoms, then seal up th'entrance as we're leavin'."

Twilight raised her head from the book and stared at Ash as he spoke, then looked at Applejack. Applejack smiled and nodded lightly, then Twilight rolled her eyes. "You seem like a fairly educated alchemist. Some of the catalysts I require are a few plants that I haven't been able to get my hooves on for staying here in Ponyville. One of them is Desert's Flame, which while abundant in the Mild West, it's a bit of a trip for me. If you happen to have some, we could take it with us and I could finish the seal right after getting the materials. Then, of course, if the Blue Mirror Blossoms end up being something really special, then I can always teleport through my seal to gather more."

Darkmod turned to Ashmead and gave him a short nod while eyes were on him. He tapped his chin. "Desert's Flame, huh? Well, Ah ain't got any on me at the moment, but Ah'm sure Ah have some back at Th' Lab… er, mah place. Ah could trot back 'ere an' be back 'fore sundown t'night if Ah hurry."

Then, as if he just realized that he'd gone almost twenty-four hours without sleep, added, "An'… Ah should get a quick nap in 'fore, anyways… A'course, Darkmod'll be comin' with me, what with bein' mah 'pprentice an' all."

Twilight smiled and nodded. "Right! Well, take your time. I'm going to head out to get one of the other remaining catalysts from Zekora. You just come back when you're ready and we can go out."

Applejack agreed. "Yah, no need ta rush… speakin' of rush, I oughta be back ta buckin'. Take it easy, Twi'!"

Applejack and Ashmead tipped their hats in near unison before heading out of the library with Darkmod in tow. Applejack turned to Ashmead before going on her way. "Ya'll just lemme know if'n there's anythin' ya need, alright?"

"Sure thing, cousin." With that, Applejack headed back to Sweet Apple Acres, and Ashmead began to lead Darkmod back in the direction of home.

Once Darkmod was sure the two of them were alone, she spoke. "We could probably make the trip shorter if we went to the sanctum. The Boss probably has some of that… Desert's Flame flower." She stopped as a blue pegasus with a cream colored mane suddenly landed in front of her.

The pegasus pointed out a hoof. "There you are!" She smiled and laughed cheerily. "When you didn't come back, the old unicorn got worried for your safety." She saluted quickly and bobbed her head. Her mane moved like it was just a big puff of cream. "I'll just report back that you're alive and well."

Darkmod swallowed hard and looked at Ashmead nervously. "Am I in… trouble?"

The pegasus shook her head. "Nah, he didn't sound angry." She suddenly looked up and tapped a hoof to her chin. "Hungry, maybe, but not angry."

This let Darkmod sigh in relief. Ashmead smiled at the pegasus and addressed her. "Y'all don' need ta worry 'bout Darkmod. She's perfectly safe with me. In fact, we're headin' back ta' see th' Boss as we speak."

"Well good! Then you can tell him yourself. I've got some groceries to pick up and bring back." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "He's cranky without plums, and they don't sell them here in Ponyville." She cleared her throat and smiled. "Well, toodles!" With that, she turned and bounded off into the bountiful blue sky.

Well, that might explain mah feelin' of bein' watched earlier… Ashmead thought to himself.

Darkmod blew strands of her mane from her face. "Okay. Good to know somepony cares that I'm still alive." She turned away quietly and looked back in the direction of the forest.

Against his better judgement, Ash gently asked, "Y'all directin' that at somepony in particular?" He didn't want to step on anypony's hooves, but he genuinely wanted to know more about his Apprentice. He knew for sure that she was more than meets the eye, but he couldn't quite put his hoof on it.

She kept avoiding contact for a few heavy seconds… and just before Ash thought it was a lost cause, she spoke. "My parents." She sighed in depression. "They never cared about what I did. Whether I was home or out… they were both always absent. I tried to bring my problems to them and I would be ignored… and any attempts to make friends in Phillydelphia were stupid." She looked at Ashmead. "Actually, I've never felt wanted before I joined. Never really experienced a good family until I saw yours. Any friends in Phillydelphia were always after the money my parents had. Always after somethin'. I ran away a few times and they didn't even notice. I'd see other families happy together, and wished I could be there, but I had nothing." Then she smiled lightly. "So yeah… I guess I really am glad somepony cares that I'm alive."

She took a deep breath. "Uhm… sorry for dumpin' that on ya."

After hearing her tale, Ash trotted closer to Darkmod and lightly bumped his shoulder against hers and smiled. "Not a prob'lm, Darkmod! If yer ever lookin' fer a fam'ly, th'Apples 'r always accepin'." After a brief pause in which Darkmod could've taken Ash's words to mean…well, anything…the colt dipped his head for a moment. "Shucks. Ah only known ya a few hours an' Ah know yer somethin' special… an' everypony needs ta know that they're wanted." After another brief pause, and a slight cough, he continued. "Fer me, it wasn't about bein' wanted… It was about…findin' a place fer mahself. Ah love mah Fam'ly an' all, but Ah never felt like Ah really belonged ya know. Ah don' know if ya noticed, but Ah talk a bit…diff'rnt than AJ an' Big Mac. The words Ah use an' all. Plus, mah accent is a bit diff'rnt."

He sighed. "Ah'm ramblin'… Th' point is, Ah had always been more inta' book-learnin' than applebuckin'." He grimaced. "The word, 'Egghead' got bandied about quite a bit when Ah was younger…" Ash sighed. He didn't want to burden Darkmod with his issues. Issues which, to him seemed pretty petty compared to hers.

She looked at Ash and smiled lightly, then bumped him back. "Hey, if you're gonna be an egghead, be proud to be one. Though, I think your head's shaped more like a… pear." She smirked. "The hospitality you and your family have shown me is… heartwarming, actually… and it was a lot more lively in Ponyville than the Chaos Sanctum."

He feigned a frown and replied, "Pear? Don' y'all be tellin' that ta any Apples. They'll kick me outta th' Fam'ly fer sure." After a warm chuckle, he decided to get back to the issue at hand. "We got that Locatin' Stone, right? We can use it ta fine the Sanctuary right quick."

She sighed happily. "Well, did you want to try out the stone, or would you like me to use it? I've done it before."

"Ah think mebbe Ah'll try out the stone first, an' see if Ah can get it workin'. If not, Ah'll pass it to you." He drew the stone from his saddlebag and held it aloft with one hoof. After a few second of nothing happening, he shrugged. "Ah guess Ah gotta concentrate 'r somethin'." With that, he tried to open his mind, and concentrate on telling the stone that he wanted to know where the Sanctum was located.

As he began to open his mind to the communication, he began to feel lost; like the world around him was a new and strange place. Whispers in another language came as numerous as the grass, and from all directions. Amidst the glow of the gem in his hoof, the world, once green and full of life, slowly faded to grey. Only one straight path stayed lush and green, and it led straight to the forest. The whispers slowly died down, but remained on a quieter level, and Ashmead could feel a strange pulling from the direction that was filled with life, and the tugs came like slow heart beats. A pull came to him with every pulse of energy from the gem.

"Is it workin' for ya? It's glowing, so that's good." He couldn't really hear Darkmod when she spoke, trying to listen to her was like trying to hear through water-logged ears. He didn't even reply, standing and blinking for several seconds. A wide and almost goofy grin was suddenly plastered upon his face as a feeling of excitement overcame him.

"C'mon! It's this way!" He began to merrily trot down the lush and green path, leaving a bewildered Darkmod to stop and blink before trotting after him.

The path through the forest had its twists and turns, but Ashmead was far from lost. The colorful path became more contrasted to the grey, making the world around him darker to his destination. It was as if the world around him was so unspecific and meaningless, while the trail became the important trail to follow. There were a few times when Darkmod attempted to warn him of watchful eyes or dangers around him, but Ashmead trusted fully in the reassurance of the welcoming and friendly whispers that told him there was nothing to fear from the forest at all. Creatures kept at bay, and brambles crawled from the path, parting the way for Ashmead as he followed the trail.

He found a single tree that was colored a warm brown with a lush green canopy, and as he approached, the trunk of the tree split apart like a doorway. The tree was hollow, revealing a circular room that was glowing with life. It was as if his surroundings were happy to see him, and a wave of euphoria washed over him, as the gem shared its happiness with him. As he entered with Darkmod, the tree closed like a warm embrace around them, and then it felt like the room was falling, drifting down from clouds and dreams. The whispers chanted and cheered, and slowly faded out as the gem's glow diminished.

As the gem's light faded and the darkness was all that was left, Darkmod commented gently. "I've never had this ride down with anypony else before."

Ashmead, not quite over the euphoric feeling of the Seeking Stone, just managed a soft, "Must' been lonely."

As the room continued to fall, he started to regain his senses and composure a little more. "How's it? With somepony else? Ah can't even recall th' last time Ah've been down here at all."

"Have you ever been down here? I know each Seekin' Stone gives their user a different experience, and you really seemed to enjoy yours. I swear you had a smile plastered to your face the whole time." Then she paused. "Sorry… I mean, it's much more comfortin'. Actually, I'm really glad you talked me into goin' with you. It made me realize how lonely I've felt."

"Well, Ah'm glad ya decided ta come along. It's been good havin' ya." Ashmead, who had never seen the inside of the sanctum, (since his initiation task didn't go so well,) got to see one of the sides open up into a dull sandstone hallway.

The hall was lit by a strange white line of magic that flowed along the ceiling, and Darkmod stepped out into the hall first with a gentle sigh. "The Boss is probably in the library." She started a slow trot down the hall towards a large chamber.

He smiled lightly as Darkmod stepped off the elevator. "Lead th' way, sugarcube." As he stepped out and followed her. "Ya know, now that Ah think about it, Ah don' think Ah've ever been down here." He glanced around, then resumed talking. "Ya see, mah first task… didn't go so well… Ah got paired up with a rocker. Ya mighta' heard a' him. Went by th' name a' Rough 'N' Tumble." He chuckled, then winced slightly. "Darn near broke mah ankle, too. Long story short, we didn't exactly… get along too well. Had diff'rnt ways a' doin' things."

"You mean that singer from the one band? Ugh, can't believe he's so popular." Leading Ash through the main entry room, they passed by a large statue. It had limbs like a diamond dog, including the large hands, but it had no head, and was encased with a lot of black metal in locations like a warrior. A grated form plate covered a glowing red light, and as the two ponies passed by it, the statue turned slowly to watch them pass by.

"Like, seriously, I can imagine a short craze, but after the first album, all his songs sounded the same." Ashmead found her reaction unexpected, but just snickered and listened as Darkmod went on about how she couldn't stand Rough 'N' Tumble's music. As they went through another hallway, they passed a pair of unicorn mares talking quietly. As they passed, the one mare, who had a pear green coat and a short chestnut mane, lowered her head and turned away shyly. Ashmead had to perform a double-take at her, swearing to himself that he'd seen her before somewhere. The other unicorn mare giggled lightly.

"Sheesh, and his drummer looks disgusting, like she has a disease or somethin'." Darkmod finally stopped as the two of them stood before a doorway clearly labeled Library.

Ashmead glanced upward at the sign. "This must be it." He pushed open the heavy door and called out. "Hey, Boss! Y'all in here?"

There was a shuffling of papers, and then a low droning sound. The well-lit library suddenly became fairly dark, and in the darkness a pair of golden eyes lit up only one pony's distance from Ashmead. "Indeed I am." The deep and calculating voice spoke moments before the lights gradually re-lit. Before the pair stood the scarlet unicorn, Eight Star. He had a warm half-smile as he looked over the ponies before him. "So, what's your opinion of the inside Sanctum, Ashmead?"

Ashmead examined him for a few moments. He could see why AJ and Twilight were so leery about him, even if he didn't know exactly what he did to get on their bad side. He just seemed like he had, as AJ would call it, bad ju-ju about him.

After those few moments he tipped his hat and glanced around the room. "Ah was ak'chully expectin' it ta be… I dunno… Ah guess it just ain't what Ah was expectin'… 's nice, though. A pony could get a lotta work done here in peace."

Then, he remembered why he came in the first place. "Oh, right. Ah don't know if y'all know, but we ain't done quite yet. Twilight's all ready ta let us in ta get the Mirror Leaf Blossom, but we need a Desert's Flame plant first. Darkmod said ya might have one we could use."

Eight Star's smile faded when Ashmead mentioned he wasn't quite done yet. "Well, at least she's convinced. I do… sort of… have Desert's Flame. However, since I do not use them for catalysts, I gather a nice sized crop of them when they first bloom and then turn them to powder, since they work best for their purpose that way. I doubt it will be what she is looking for." He turned and looked around the library a little in thought, his tail swaying to the side. "Well, if you're up for the trip, I can get you a train ticket to the mild west. Otherwise, I can get a message out to my materials gatherer. She's a pegasus, so it wouldn't be a problem for her. Then you can either spend a few days here, or wherever you like until she returns."

Ash hung his head and sighed. "Figgures… Ah knew it wasn't gonna be all smooth sailin's."

Eight Star waved a hoof in the air and turned towards them, looking upwards. "You can think it over if you like, it's up to you. I've got room to spare and books to occupy the mind, but if you'd rather take the trip, you could visit family in Appleloosa if you like."

Ashmead turned towards Darkmod. "Y'all up fer meeting more a' mah fam'ly? Ah ain't seen cousin Braeburn in who-knows-how-long."

Darkmod looked at Ashmead with weary eyes and smiled a little. "I'd like to keep travelin' with you, but I'd love to get a full sleep in before doin' anything else." She laughed a little. It wasn't as dry as it usually was, this time it was more apologetic. Then she turned towards Eight Star. "You're not mad at me… are ya, Boss?"

Eight Star rubbed a hoof against his chest and raised a brow. "Doesn't seem like I should be. You completed your task by delivering the message. At no point did I command you to return immediately, and I can tell that so far your little adventure has helped you warm up to the rest of the world. So, officially, at least for now, you are allowed to do as you please, and report to me once you are ready for your own tasks again."

She smiled brightly and perked her head up, nodding gently. "Thanks, Boss." She turned back to Ashmead. "Stay or go, if you wouldn't mind me hangin' with you until this whole Mirror Blossom thing is done, then that's what I'll do."

"A'course Ah don' mind, Darkmod! Ah'd love to have ya." Ash yawned shortly after responding.

Eight Star threw in: "Of course, if you stick around for a bit, I could use another pair of hooves at the Alchemizer."

Ashmead cast his glance at Eight Star. "Ya know… helpin' ya with th' Alchemizer doesn't soun' like a bad plan. How'ver, Ah think Ah'd like ta get a little shut-eye first, if'n ya don't mind." Then he turned his attention to Darkmod and added, "If yer gonna be mah 'Prentice, y'all should know at least a little 'bout Alch'my."

Eight Star nodded. "Then I shall get to writing the letter. I should still be here when you wake up." He said it like it was a very matter-of-fact thing that he… probably never slept. Then he trotted off towards his work table.

Darkmod smiled and nodded. "At least a little bit. Sounds like fun."

Ashmead nodded to both Eight Star and Darkmod. "Alright, then." He glanced around. "So, uh… where do ponies get sleep around here?"

"Here, I'll show you." Darkmod led Ashmead off to the resting quarters. There were two separated large rooms with bunk beds, one for colts and the other for fillies. There were also a few rooms that were more like small guest rooms. Two of them had closed doors with an occupied sign hanging on them, but otherwise the sleeping quarters were more of necessity. Those who used them had to sometimes bring their own comforts to make it more like a home.

Ashmead glanced from room to room, deciding what he wanted to do. Anythin' with a bed'd be fine… he thought. He slowly opened the door to one of the unoccupied single rooms and without a word, he flopped down onto the bed. He had the need to flop, after all, and being the middle colt he knew that wasn't a proper option with bunk beds. His hat fell over his face as he commented, "Ahh… this is much more comfy than mah own bed."

Darkmod just stood at the doorway for a few moments, then smiled. "I'll be in the filly's section. You just let me know when you're up. Maybe I'll be awake too." She gave a weary chuckle, but still stood in the doorway for a few moments. She watched as he fell asleep before pulling the door nearly shut, and switching the sign to occupied before heading off.

So, over the next few nights, Ashmead spent some time learning a few new tricks under Eight Star, and Darkmod spend time pretending to learn how to be a better alchemist, but really – just enjoyed the company of a friend.