As Alan and Dominic came down the stairs, they were greeted to a large amount of people excitedly chatting over their breakfast. When they arrived last night the streets seemed mostly deserted, so they were quite surprised by the opposite image in front of them. After surveying the area they saw their companion, Eileen, signaling them from the other side of the the room.

“Took you long enough, sleepyheads!” Eileen exclaimed.

“My bad,” Dominic said, greeting his two party members as he approached. “These poor scholar legs of mine are not yet used to field work. I cannot hope to keep up with an experienced ranger such as yourself.”

The two men sat down at the table. Alan started looking around.

“People seem to be in high spirits today. What’s the occasion?” he asked.

“Morning my good sirs!” said the innkeeper, who had appeared out of nowhere. He was carrying a large tray with food and coffee for the party, which he carefully started placing on their table. “I believe that’s due to the harvest festival,” he said.

“Harvest festival?” Dominic asked. He had taken the coffee cup the innkeeper had offered him and was about to take a slice of cheese and some bread from one of the plates the man had placed on the table.

“Ah, yes. You see, every year the town organizes a big festival with feasts, music, dancing, and other fun activities to celebrate the year’s bountiful harvest,” explained the innkeeper. “It’s century-old tradition that has gained a lot of popularity in recent times, so many travelers come into town to wind down and enjoy themselves.”

“That sounds lovely!” Kaya said. The innkeeper had finished distributing breakfast and was headed back for the kitchen. “Why don’t we stay? I’m sure it will be fun, and we all could use some rest.”

“Bad idea,” Alan said, as he took a sip from his coffee. “That would delay us too much.”

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Kaya replied. “It’s the first time I’ve been to a festival! Can’t we at least stay for a couple of days?”

Alan knew he wouldn’t be able to convince Kaya on his own, especially when she was looking so expectantly at him with such an innocent face. He turned towards other companions for support. Eileen was munching on some toast without a care in the world, so that meant his only option was to rely on Dominic, who was about to take a bite of his handmade cheese sandwich. He expected the scholar would not show interest in such a frivolous celebration and would agree with him that the best course of action would be to continue their journey as soon as possible.

When the scholar noticed his gaze, he smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, Alan, old chap. I have to agree with our apothecary friend here. The way traditions are shared across generations is a fascinating topic, so I’d very much like to spend some time here and have a look around to take some notes for my research.”

Alan grunted. “Fine… we’ll stay.”

“Really?!” Kaya said, excitedly. “I’ll go get ready and meet you at the entrance so we can have a look around town together!” As she said this, she quickly got up and walked towards the stairs that led to her and Eileen’s room.

Once she had left, Alan placed his head over his hands on top of the table. “Why is it so hard to say no to her?”

“You have to consider her circumstances,” Eileen said. She was looking at the contents of the cup she held in her hands. “She’s always led a secluded life, even if it wasn’t by her own choice. Everything is a new experience.” She paused to drink some of her beverage. “What’s wrong with humoring her, even if it’s just for a bit? Besides, I doubt the town of Alderside is going to just disappear any time soon.”

Alan lifted his head and sighed. “Yes, I know.”

Having finished breakfast, and as Kaya had suggested, the party met at the entrance of the inn. It seemed like the townsfolk were still finishing their preparations and the festival would officially begin the next day. As the innkeeper had mentioned earlier, food stalls were being set up all around town, as well as grandiose decorations in the central plaza, and some bonfires at the meadow right outside town.

After walking around town for a while, each of them (mostly due to Kaya) decided to pitch in and help the townsfolk with their preparations. Alan went to help unload and transport cargo from the carts that had been arriving during the morning, carrying crates with the harvested produce that would be employed in the food stalls. Shortly after, Kaya decided to help a group that was crafting some flower arrangements to decorate the central plaza with. Knowing that this would be the perfect opportunity to obtain some firsthand knowledge for his research, Dominic chose to help set up stalls while cheerily chatting with the the people around him and taking mental notes that he would later add to his journal. Lastly, Eileen thought to make the best use of her agility and went to the meadow to help hang decorations on top of the trees surrounding the area where the bonfires, an immense one surrounded by smaller ones, would be located.

Several hours had passed. Eileen was on top of a tree hanging the end of an extensive red cloth that she had previously tied to the tree beside the one she was currently on top of. Once she had finished tying the last know, the ranger wiped away the sweat on her forehead and turned to look at the main bonfire. They had cleared the grass and set up a ring of stones that should prevent fire from spreading through the meadow. Close to the bonfire, she could see Alan dropping some logs he was carrying, and Dominic sharing a drink with his new acquaintances. Right before dropping from her vantage point, she also noticed a group of four soldiers marching towards Clearvale.

“How odd,” Eileen said as she approached her two companions. Alan had now taken a set next to Dominic and both of them were having a drink. “I think I’ve seen a small group of soldiers approaching the town.”

“Yes, I’ve also seen a couple of small groups of soldiers walking around throughout the day,” Alan said. “You think they are here for the festival?”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Dominic replied. He had finished his drink and had started to write down something in his journal. “There’s a rumor going around saying that they are looking for a thief. Apparently some grand treasure was stolen recently and several units have been dispatched to cities around the kingdom.”

“For a scholar you sure know how to gather strategic intel,” Alan said, astonished. “Anyway, where’s Kaya? I haven’t seen her around for a while now.”

Eileen sat on the grass in front of them. “She came by earlier to tell me they had finished their work in the central plaza, and that she’d be wandering around for a bit.” After pondering for a moment, she exclaimed. “Oh! Perhaps she went to that hill over there. I overheard someone earlier saying that the scenery from the lookout at the summit is breathtaking.”

She pointed towards a nearby hill that oversaw the meadow in which they were located. There was a slope that climbed up to the top, where several wooden fences could be discerned.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to check it out. Anyone coming?” Alan asked.

“Nope, sorry,” Eileen said as she lied down. “I’m exhausted from all that tree climbing and I think I’m going to stay here for a while. What about you, Dom?”

“They are going to light the smaller bonfires in a bit, so I’d rather stay and take some notes,” he replied without looking away from his journal.

“Alright, suit yourselves,” Alan said. He started walking towards the hill. The sun was starting to set and, as Dominic had mentioned, he could hear the townsfolk making preparations to light the bonfires.

It took him a couple of minutes to climb the slope of the hill. As he did, the murmur of the people by the bonfires started to fade and only the sound of the grass and trees moved by the light evening breeze remained. Once he reached the top, he found the lookout Eileen had described, surrounded by wooden fences for security. Leaning over one of those fences he found Kaya, distantly staring at people below, her robes gently waving in the wind.

Alan called out to her. “Kaya, are you alright?” He continued to approach until he was leaning on the fence next to her.

Without turning to look at him, she replied. “Yes… just, thinking about something.” There was a tint of sadness in her words. “I wonder why the rest of the world can’t be as happy and peaceful as this little town in this very moment. In this world there will always be someone trying to steal power for their own, and use it against those who oppose them. But here? None of that matters. People from all over come together to enjoy life to its fullest, not caring who they are or whence they came.”

Alan looked into the distance. “I’m sorry, I suppose the world isn’t what you expected.”

After a brief moment of silence, Kaya slowly got up and turned to leave. “No, what worries me is that it’s exactly as I expected.”

With those words, she started descending the hill to join the revelers by the now lit bonfires.

Morning arrived. The festival was seemingly in full swing and music and cheering could be heard all across town. The night before, Eileen, Kaya, Alan, and Dominic had joined in the celebration by the bonfire and shared drinks and stories, as well as some clumsy dancing, with the people around them. They had returned to the inn right after midnight in order to get enough rest for the coming day.

Eileen came down the stairs and strolled towards the table where two of her companions where seated. Alan was calmly drinking some coffee while Dominic’s head was lying on the table.

“What’s the matter, Dom? Can’t handle a bit of drinking?” she said, laughing.

Dominic groaned. “Why does literally everything in this plane of existence have to make so much noise?”

“I believe our scholarly friend may have had one too many drinks,” Alan grinned. “Hey, where’s Kaya?”

Eileen sat opposite of him and grabbed a piece of bread. “She wasn’t in the room when I woke up, so I figured she would be here with you already.”

“Perhaps she’s already at the festival. She did seem to be very excited yesterday,” Dominic managed to say, without lifting his head.

At that moment, Alan remembered their talk at the top of the hill and started growing uneasy. He placed his cup on the table and stood up. “I think I’ll go have a look around the festival as well.”

“Great! We’ll join you once I finish breakfast and Dominic is feeling better,” Eileen said. Dominic slowly lifted one of his hands with the thumb up in response.

The streets were packed with people, making it difficult to traverse the town without constantly bumping into someone. Alan wondered where Kaya could have gone and decided to look for her at the places they had visited, and helped set up, the previous day. He went to the food stalls, brimming with local produce and homemade dishes. Nothing. Then, to the central plaza where people were dancing to upbeat music played by a group of travelling bards. Nothing. After that, he went to the town hall, where a puppet show was being held for the children. Still no sign of her.

More than an hour had passed, and he had yet to find any trace of the apothecary. Remembering his companion’s ominous words, his uneasiness grew even more.

“Wait, that’s it,” he muttered. “Maybe she went to that hill.”

Just as he was about to leave the town hall square, Alan stopped abruptly. Something wasn’t right. He suddenly noticed something obvious, something which his mind had completely ignored until that moment, due to his urge to find Kaya. He noticed the soldiers. There were many soldiers patrolling the town, more than he had seen the day before. One particular group caught his attention: there was a captain among them and they were marching towards the town hall accompanied by the aide of the mayor.

Trying not to draw any attention to himself, Alan took a right turn and entered an alleyway which surrounded the town hall and connected with other minor residential streets. After a brief search, he found an open window above a set of stacked boxes, which undoubtedly had at one point contained decorations for the festival. The man crouched under the window, hiding himself between the boxes, and listened to the conversation between the mayor and the captain.

“Are you sure about that?” asked the mayor. He seemed agitated. “A criminal roaming our streets?”

“Indeed. We’ve been searching for them for quite some time now and, according to our intel, they are here at this very moment. Probably trying to pass unnoticed among all the people attending the festival,” informed the captain.

“Then we must warn the people at once! Ask them to stay in their homes until the matter is resolved!,” exclaimed the mayor.

“I’d recommend against that,” calmly replied the captain. “We don’t want to alert this person of our intentions. Sorcerers are a force to reckon, especially this one. After all, they did single handedly steal an artifact from the kingdom’s treasury. Just know that, if we don’t manage to find them, we may need to take more… drastic measures in the name of the safety of the kingdom.”

After a brief moment, the mayor replied. “I understand. My people will collaborate in every way they can, I guarantee it.”

The captain stood up from his chair. “I hope so, for their sake.”

Alan was dumbfounded. If what he had heard was true, the town was not safe. A clash between a sorcerer as dangerous as they had described and the soldiers would prove fatal for anyone caught in between. Furthermore, he dreaded to think what the captain and his men would do to the town if things turned south. They would probably treat it as collateral damage and burn the town down with the sorcerer inside, all in the name of justice.

“We have to leave right now,” he murmured.

Suddenly a quiet chirp startled him. He looked around and saw a small bird on top of the boxes next to him. He didn’t know for how long the bird had been there, but it seemed to be looking directly at him, and even though he waved at it to leave, the bird stayed in place, staring. Then, the bird slowly turned and seemed to look in the direction of the main entrance of the town, and turned back again to look at Alan. After staring for a couple of seconds, it took flight.

The man slowly stood up and, without knowing why, he followed the bird as if he were compelled to do so.

The bird led him through streets that were not crowded, and even waited for him whenever he had some trouble keeping up. Several minutes had passed and, as he anticipated, they had reached the entrance of the town. There were some people eating and drinking by the bonfires but, while Alan expected the bird to go in that direction, instead it turned and flew towards the hill he had visited the previous evening.

Worried about what he would find at the summit, he started the ascent. Each step he took grew heavier on him, as if his subconscious was screaming at him not to continue, to simply run away. Much like last time a slight breeze, and his steps on the path were the only sound around him. As he came closer to his destination, the uneasiness in him grew.

Three steps. Two steps. One step. He had reached the top, but he didn’t dare to look up from his feet. Once he had steeled his resolve, he lifted his head and searched for the chirps of the bird he had been following. It was resting on top of another person’s hand.

Kaya.

She was carefully stroking the feathers of the bird with her other hand. Slowly, she then turned to face Alan, bearing the same expression she had shown the day before.

”… Kaya?” Alan asked.

She looked again at the bird. “We can temporarily bond with some animals, ask them to be our eyes and ears.” Kaya gently extended he arm and the little bird flew away, never to return. “So they found me.”

“You? That can’t be right…” Alan said. “They said they were looking for a dangerous sorcerer!”

“Truth can be twisted. People believe what they are willing to believe,” she replied. Once more, she looked into the distance. “It was foolish of me to believe I’d be able to get away without consequences. I’m putting everyone in danger just by being here, you, Eileen, Dominic, this town… I can’t run away anymore.”

Alan took a couple of steps forward. “Kaya, I don’t understand! What is going on? Who are you?!”

As he continued to approach, he felt his strength failing and fell to his knees. He could feel his head spinning and his vision blurring as Kaya turned to him and extended her open left hand towards him.

“I never liked farewells,” she muttered.

“Kaya… Wait…”

Although he tried to resist, Alan was thrown into a deep sleep as his body slowly fell on the ground. The last thing he heard before completely losing consciousness was a distant voice filled with sorrow. “I’m sorry.”

When Alan woke up he could not tell how much time had passed. He was feeling disoriented and had yet to regain all of his strength. After he finally managed to stand up, he took a look around him and noticed the weather had turned for the worse. Although it had been a sunny and warm day, dark clouds now covered the sky and a storm was brewing in the horizon. After the dizziness had subsided, the man started to slowly make his way back to the inn.

In face of the sudden change in the weather, there weren’t as many people around town. But more noticeably, he had not seen any soldiers.

“What have you done?” Alan murmured to himself.

Eventually, he reached the inn and went straight up the stairs towards his room. He intended to gather his equipment and go search for Kaya once more. Yet, when he opened the door, he found his other two companions inside, with no source of light except for the open window. Dominic was seated on a chair with his arms crossed and looked at him with a gloomy face. Eileen was leaning over the window frame, looking outside.

“Took you long enough,” Eileen said. The serious tone of her voice was completely uncharacteristic of her.

“What happened?” Alan asked.

“They… they took her away. She was the one the soldiers were looking for,” Dominic explained.

Silence fell in the room as each party member organized their thoughts.

“We have to help her,” Alan said, finally.

“Why?” Dominic asked.

“What do you mean why?” Alan replied. “We can’t just let them take her away!”

“Even if she lied to us?” Eileen asked. She didn’t turn to face her two companions, but Alan noticed her shoulders were trembling slightly. “Think about it. Who is she? Where did she come from? Why should we risk everything to help her?”

“None of that matters,” Alan said, taking a step into the room. At that moment something dawned on him and he remembered the last words Kaya had told him. “People believe what they are willing to believe. And I am willing to believe that she is our friend, and that there is no way that she is the evil being the soldiers are making her to be.”

Eileen nodded and turned to face him. “Alright, then what are we waiting for?” She walked past Alan and disappeared through the door.

Dominic also stood up and adjusted his bag over his shoulder. He grabbed Alan’s sword and offered it to him, while also giving him a gently pat on the shoulder. “Come on, old chap, we have a friend to save.” Then, he followed after Eileen.

Alan gave a final look outside the window. Lightning could be seen in the distance, and rain would be arriving soon.

“Yeah, we do,” he said, as he chased after the others.