With a loud creak, the blocks of stone started to shift and the tunnel we left just a moment ago was hidden from the sight, as if the wall now in front of us was always part of the basement.


    The cellar we ended up at was half the size of the study room at my manor.Lars and Ace were arranging backpacks at the corner and prince Alistair together with his cousin were checking the fake wall, probably searching for any flaws left by the mechanism. Even with a large part of the tunnel now collapsed, it was still in our best interests the exact place we left at remains a secret.


    "This way," the spellblade gestured for a narrow opening in the ceiling, and then, withthe grace of a cat, nimbly climbed over the ladder. Not a movement one would expect from someone his age.


    Shortly we followed his lead, well, mother did, I just observed everything through her eyes. Once on the other side, an empty house on the verge of collapse greeted us. Thick layers of dust, spiderwebs almost on every corner, stale air, and moss on the walls... it really looked like some long abandoned farmhouse and I had to admit that the cover for the secret entrance was quite convincing.


    By now Leo was waiting at the doorleading outside the house...although it wasup for debate if the door was even an appropriate term now.Nearly half of the frame was missing, rotten by the pass of time, rusty hinges somehow holding what was left.


    "I apologize ifthis will sound rude, but..." Leo still at the ''door'' faced in our direction, "is it possible to do something about your spirit of lightning? So far I have found no enemies close enough for it to be a problem, but it mightchange at any moment... it would be quite a challenge for us to stay undetected with a human torch in the midst."


    The lightning dancing over mothersbody was slightly dimmer than a torch but itwas really quite a severe handicap if our group wanted to stay undetected... especially so in the dark.


    "I am sorry," mother replied as she looked at her right hand, lightning arcing over the sleevegot slightly dimmer, but was still quite bright, "this seems to be the most inert stateit can reach at the moment."


    "Well, this certainly complicates the matters,"Leo winced at her words, "let''shope the luck will stay on our side... at least until we reach Arcae."


    "What a gentleman," mother giggled through our bond as she followed after him, "Our ''friends'' might change the tune later, but for now, I give two points for theattitude. You have no idea just how oftenpeople tell you to get lost in a situation way less dangerous than ours. Friendship,love... when survival is at the stake all previous morals quite often take a nap."


    "Direwolves?" she then asked aloud with a surprise in the tone... although the one genuinely surprised was probably only me.


    A pack of giant wolves waited just outside the building and it was quite a sight. Probably the mounts that were mentioned earlier. Even on all four, the beasts were as tall as the spellblade and their sharp teeth left no doubt abouttheir nature of a predator.


    "Yes,"Leo replied and when reached one of the beasts put a saddle he carried all this time on its back and started fastening the belts, "It would make absolutely no sensefor a welk orlagraito roam near an abandoned farm, it would only jeopardize the cover. Now a pack of direwolves roaming the forest is nothing out of ordinary. They might be slightly slower when compared to a trained battlewelk on the road, but it''s direwolves that have no equals in the forest."


    The spellblade then sighed when his gaze landed back on us, "And the cover of a forest is now more crucial than ever... Anyway, in battle, theyare worth their weight in gold.How many mounts can dodge a spell or the thrust of a spear in the heat of battle? And do that without even hindering the actions of their allies... the mentality of one with the pack should be never underestimated..."


    He then playfully hit the beast with a finger on the snout, "Especially when dodging the attacks is hardly the only thing they do in battle."


    I was slightly surprised by the lack of reaction from the said beast. Even if direwolves were tamed, Leo was kashir, the blood of a cat coursing through his veins... and yet it was a female lycan not far from our current location that actually had some difficulties with the beasts. The moment sheplaced asaddle on her target, the wolf started to growl and even bareditsfangs,clearly unhappy with the foreign object on its back. Although when Jade growled in return the giant wolf went silent just as quickly.


    "That sounds handy," mother admitted while looking at the beasts, "but why I never saw them in my father''s army?"


    "For one, it''s very hard to tame them," the spellblade replied as his gaze lingered on the lycan, "and their number was never high, to begin with. But the main reason is probably food. Just grass on the road is enoughfor most of the mounts, butdirewolves... direwolves need meat... a lot of meat. It might be possible to feed a few or let them hunt on the way. But doing that for an entire cavalry? Definitely impossible."


    "I guess you are right," mother muttered, "By the way,how did you even gather them so quickly? I barely had any time to finishmy meal. I know that we are short on time, but... oh, wait... it''s me, isn''t? I really shouldn''t have altered that detect enchantment before getting some rest. That scholarwas right! No good deed goes unpunished..."


    The spellblade chuckled at her words.


    "The enchantment was indeed very helpful, for which I am very grateful, but I am afraid it would offer little help in this particular task. I am not that young and even Jade would be in dire stairs if had tochase them through the forest."


    He then pulled a horn from within the cloak and slightly blew. The pack of wolves looked at him allas one, yet not even the slightest sound could be heard.


    "Only direwolves and few particular beasts are able to hear the sound..."


    "Captain!"Jade growled while looking clearly annoyed at the spellblade, "At least warn when use the damn thing. You know well the sound gives me a headache..."


    "And lycans," Leo grinned, "Well, there might be more... it is said that back in the day the ancestors of my race could hearthe sound as well. Anyway since only humans are allowed to join the armies of our enemy, it''s quitesafe for us to use."


    The female lycan growled in response and then muttered a few curses under her nose.


    "Oh, come on, people," a voice reached from within the building, "How about you stop playing around and help us with these damn bags."


    Probably Lars.


    Definitely not the voice of Prince... and Ace, the male lycan from our group, so far hasn''t uttered a single word, I even started to suspect he was a mute. Apparently, the groupwas struggling to get all the bags outside, the opening to the basement was simply too narrow.


    "Why none of them use spatial storage tools?" I then asked mother through our bond.


    I havepersonally witnessed merchants a few times place all their wares into a tiny box... way more than it should be physically possible to fit into a box of that size...


    "That''s a very good question,"mother replied, "although, Iam not supposed to know the answer as Celina... which I guess means it''s time to play the role of an ignorant... again."


    And with those words, she asked my question aloud.


    "I prefer to live," Lars replied when finally managed to push one of the bags outside the basement and from the way the human looked at the bag in question, it was obvious, he wouldn''t mind an alternative.


    "You must have been asleep when the scholars have taught you the history of Targail incident," Gabriele stepped from the bush, I haven''t even noticed when she got there.


    "Targail incident?" Mother tilted her head to the side, "Can''t say I heard about it."This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Almost all in the group lookedat us with a weird gaze.


    "Surely you jest," Gabriellespoke with the shock clearly visible on the face, "With the number of times it should have been mentioned you would have to skip every single lesson for it to happen..."


    "Well, not exactly every single one, but I did skip a few here and there..." mother replied playing embarrassed.


    The gaze directed at us only intensified.


    "Oh, please, as if none among you did that when you couldget away with it!"


    Now even direwolves looked at us with weird gaze...although that was probably only my imagination... most likely they just copied the others... or were just curious about the lightning dancing over the body.


    "Damn," Lars eventually muttered, "I knew I should have tried harder. If even an heir to the House can skip all that boring stuff..."


    "I can''t believe it," Gabrielle exclaimed with a shock evident in the voice, "How could you do that?!"


    "Iwas very good at hiding," mother helpfully replied forcing the later to open her mouth even wider, "Anyway, what''s wrong with spatial storage tools? I might be missing something, but they would be a tremendous help in our current predicament, no? As impressive direwolves might be, I don''t think that all those bags will not affect their speed."


    "To put it simply, they are dangerous," the prince who just stepped from within the building replied as if he was there all the time. His gaze then slowly shifted to his left hand, a metal piece withglowing engravings on the inner side of the glove wasclearly some sort of enchantment.


    "When spatial storage tools were invented many started to use them almost on a daily basis, and even tools in the shape of rings or amulets were quite common at the time. But all has changed whenit was revealed that a simple ''distort'' spell is all it takes to disrupt the enchantment..."


    "The statement is a bit misleading, cousin," Gabriele joined, "The spell was simply not known before the incident. Well, the elves probably did,but they always guarded their secrets like there is no tomorrow, kind of explains why they never even bothered with spatial storage enchantments despite their superiority in the field. If I have to guess probably had an incident of their own, but found no need to warn the others. Anyway, while distortspell todayis mostly usedto counter other spells, itsdebut wasquite different in nature. You see, when spatial storage enchantment is affected by the spell, the very space and everything stored inside is released all at once with a devastating force."


    Gabrielle then looked into a distance, the walls of capitalalmost invisible from our current location.


    "As heir, you should have attended quite a few balls, and probably remember just how many people usually gather for the occasion. And as my cousin just mentioned spatial storage tools were very popular at the time. Almost every noble attending the ball during Targailincident hadone or two in their possession and when a certainmage demonstrated his ''new'' spell, the entire manor was reduced to a ruble.A large part of the city was also affected by the blast, countless people dead, priceless gems and jewels piercing their bodies and walls alike. Those attending the ball on another hand were completely shredded to pieces. There were no survivors, only with the help of death seers, it was even revealed what truly happened back then."


    Mother chuckledin my mind, "You guys are lucky there are no Alrium crystals in this world. Brittle, plain looking, almost no value in crafting anything useful really, but...has a devastatingside effect when affected by the collapse of pocket dimension. Had to end one of my ''adventures'' a bit premature when found myself at wrong time and place."


    "What does it do?" I asked now genuinely curious.


    "Let''s just say that you wouldn''t want to be in the same country when it happens... hmm, no, actually even staying on the same Continent might be a terrible idea. All depends on the size used as a catalyst."


    Despite our secret conversation, her words aloud were quite different, "But why then merchants even use them if it''s so dangerous?"


    With what she just toldme, the question sounded almost like a joke to me. No doubt her knowledge on the subject surpassed everyone gathered there by a large margin... it''s just that she was onceagain not supposed to know any of that as Celina.


    "No bandit mages?" Lars replied while removing a saddle from one of the bags.


    But just when he was about to put it on a direwolf, the beast in question snapped the jaws in a threatening manner forcing him to jump away. The lycan female nearby grinned wide at the reaction.


    "Well, as long as there is profit to be made their kind always liked to take high risks, but yes basically what Lars just said," Prince Alistair replied before his cousin could do that, "The probability of meeting a group ofbandits for someone in their trade is much more likely than meeting a mage with a twisted sense of humor. And..." his gaze shifted to one of the wolves,"with a proper mount, it''s quite easy to escape from the former if all your wares can fit inside the ring. Besides, only magescan use ''distort'' spell,andthat in turn means nobles of very high standing. Why would one even risk the problems with authorities when the cause of death is so obvious?"


    *


    One after another the trees moved at bothsides at maddening speed and I felt dizzy just from the sight.Maybe the forest has somehow affected my perception, but I started to suspect that even on the road direwolves would have no equals when it comes to the speed.


    As the heir of Darkmoon House, I was no stranger when it comes to riding. It was actually one of a fewtypes of exercise I enjoyed, for once my tutors had no need to search me all over the manor like it was usually the case for the scholars.


    But this... this was a completely novel experience.


    A blur at the corner of my vision drew my attentionto the side anda massive wolf entered my sight. For a moment, the beast ran next to us and despite Jade and Gabrielle, both sitting onits back, smoothly navigated among the trees as if it was sprinting in a straight line.


    Makes one wonder just how fast could it go on its own.


    More shadows darted among the trees, each beast with the rider keeping the pace seemingly without effort but then astrand of golden hair suddenly obscured my view and I started to wonder just why of all people mother had to ride withthe prince. With onlyfive mounts, it was only natural that some had to carry more than one passenger, but still...even Jade kept her hair at least twice as short.


    The one to blame for our predicament wassurprisingly Gabrielle.


    When it was a time to select the mounts she ''accidentally''blocked our path, leaving only one option viable... well, unless mother didn''t mind putting the prince in an awkward situation by deliberately seeking an alternative.All parties involved seemed happy with the outcome though.. well, save for one unborn child perhaps... and the wolf. All direwolves were actually warry of my mother. Tamed or not butlightning wasalways the force of nature that induced a primal fear into every living being. Luckily the inert state of Little Thunder was completely harmless and the wolf eventually let us climb on its back.


    Our group has traveled for quite some time now, only occasionally slowing down to let our mounts some rests, but the main aim was still to put as much distance from the capital as possible.


    As for our ultimate destination... it was toleave the kingdom of Raldus and seek the shelter withAizerus Alliance.


    Even with direwolves that was a vast distance to cover, although if luck was on our side it might be unnecessary. Redwater''s Edge was one of the cities close to the borderwithAizerus Alliance and the portal leadingto it at the city of Arcae made it our next target. There were more cities with the portals connected to the cities not that far from the border,but the possible help at Redwater''s Edge deemed this as a very lucrative option. As long asbothportals on either side arestill operational our escape was set in stonethe moment we reach the city of Arcae.After all, Redwater''s Edgeat that point would be just a step away and the Kingdom of Zolmor would take a huge risk by sending its armies this close to the border...


    *


    Eventually, our group has stopped near the cave for the night. Leo and Ace quickly departed to hunt and the rest were left with the task ofsetting up the camp. Neither Alistair nor Gabrielle was good at it though and the less is said about my mother''s performance the better. Luckily there was still Jade and Lars who stayed behind, otherwise, this might have taken a month. Although even they were only halfway done by the time Leo and Ace were back with the corpse of a bear.


    I am not exactly an expert on how the hunt normally should go, but... wasn''t this a bit too fast? I guess that detect enchantment really makes a difference.


    Despite the size of our group, only a small part of the bear was roasted for the dinner. Some of the meat was stored for later, but almost two-thirds was wolfed down right on the spot by our mounts. Even when all I did was look through the eyes of mymother, who was actually a god-like entity in disguise, the sight of our mounts fighting over the last scraps of meat, a pile of bare bones in the background, it was all quite intimidating. I think I just found one more reason why they are rarely used as the mounts.


    *


    It was hardly morning when Leo raised everyone back on their feet to resume the journey, myriads of stars still in the sky. Only the moonlight made it even possible to see where you put your leg, but it was no longer Tamro that illuminated the path.


    "What happened?" Leo got closer when saw mothers gaze directed into the sky, "Is someone in the air?"


    One hand was already within the cloak pulling out the orb.


    "Mmm?No, I don''t think so," mother replied, "Was just lost in my thoughts. Beautiful isn''t?"


    The spellblade said nothing and just followed our gaze at the moon.


    At this time of year, Kalos was still dark blue in color, but it shouldn''t be that long before itchanges into a shade of green. Later Mother told me that it''s because our world enters a cloud of gasand it changes the way the light is reflected.


    "You might say it''swhere my soul lies..." mother continued.


    "Your soul?" the prince joined the conversation and looked at the moon as well, "Ah... you mean the name ofyour Household? Darkmoon... hmm, yes, Kalos is definitely darker among the two... it''s so obvious now that I think about it."


    While Kalos was indeed the moon our household''s name has originated from... for some reason I had a feeling that mother''s meaning was quite direct in this case.


    "Your soul is on the moon?!"


    "Inside the moon," mother replied through the bond and her eyes now looked at her arm, "Atiny body like this is simply not enough tocontain my full essence... but if there is anything I hate more than being called agod then it''s being called a devil. For some reason, people tend to do exactly that if learn that I hide within the deeps of their world. Now a moon is a completelly different story, at worst I would be calleda spirit."