"Sire, my men are ready." "Let's go, then! I have to save my mother from her madness." Leo quickly mounted his horse.
"If that's still possible." He mumbled under his nose as the twenty-so people rode north-west.
*kzzzzt*
~~Final Chapter~~
IN EXACTLY SAME MOMENT BUT IN VASTLY DIFFERENT LOCATION:The group went in a line on the thin stairs, with rooftops of the middle floors under the thin ascending bridge. And they entered a small antechamber, which quickly opened into a small, tiled room.
It was illuminated brilliantly by candelier above and sets of torches on the wall. It was that place - Prixima's inner sanctum, her secret laboratory... which was sparsely furnished.
There were sets of empty black cauldrons and copper bowls hastily packed at the corners and nooks of the room; a smaller heap of wooden bowls rested near the archway between antechamber and main room; these were stained with some food leftovers, with the one at the bottom already growing mold.
And at the wall away from the entrance, there was a table, with several pulsating gemstones sitting on top, most of them in various states of being shattered; some even resembled piles of dust rather than actual gemstones.
And leaning above it, was a woman, in her early forties, with shaggy black hair, mumbling something under her nose. Prixima Kesselring.
Mannan looked at Gregor, while something at the table sizzled and bubbled quietly. Then, the bishop took a careful step forward, and opened his mouth to talk.
"What do you want? Don't you see I'm busy? Leave." A rather dry, feminine voice interrupted Mannan before he managed to utter a word. It came from under that shaggy hair - Prixima didn't even turn her head - the voice was barely similar to the soft but cold and demanding voice Gregor and few of his companions knew already.
//Valor's party is no longer active!//Derick, Edwin Westbringer, Riven, Tantallos Forsaken, Charlotte von Hexham, Gregor von Hexham, Raquel Torriani, Ami Storm and Christopher Shields are in!