To try to put some order in his mind, once dinner was over Michael decided to retreat to the library, losing himself for a while in the tranquility of one of those adventure stories that he had read as a child until he consumed the pages.

It was once so easy for him to be carried away by all those stories of valiant leaders and enlightened princes who always managed to achieve their goals with perseverance, and for years, he had dreamed of the moment when he could follow their example.

But reality was very different from a storybook, and as he grew up he understood this before he even set foot in Mickarn.

The Union could be many things, but definitely not a place where it was easy to bring about changes: too many disagreeing voices speaking over each other, too many different and opposing interests clashing.

Like a pack of wild beasts forced to share the same den to avoid dying of hunger and protect themselves from bigger and hungrier predators.

When Mickarn's politicians wanted to put that weight on his shoulders he had hoped for a moment that he could really put into practice those resolutions he had always dreamed of, but the more time passed the more he wondered if this would ever be possible.

The truth is, he felt inadequate; and in this he somewhat envied this Daemon, who, although younger than him, had literally turned an entire nation upside down and founded it from scratch, managing in just a few months to make it prosperous and powerful, enough to be able to face an invasion.

Old Betsy came to bring him a cup of tea, and he promised her, as when he was little, not to be too late.

Instead, as usual, he ended up falling asleep in the armchair, continuing to scroll through the pages until the fatigue of the journey prevailed.

However, this time it wasn't a slap from his elderly housekeeper that woke him up with a start, but the deafening ringing of the bells of Riverdale which in the middle of the night threw all the inhabitants of the city and the surrounding countryside out of bed.

"The general alarm!? What happened?"



Unlike other large Union capitals, Riverdale was not famous for its nightlife or trendy clubs where people gambled, ate and danced until dawn.

Therefore, after midnight it was quite normal not to find anyone around, even in the main square overlooked by the most important city buildings.

The soldier who stood guard at the secondary entrance to the prison had drunk too much and was struggling to stay awake; and that's why he didn't notice anything until a fist more similar to a war hammer fell on his head, threatening to split it like a watermelon.

"Damn Musk, you stupid ogre! I told you to knock him out, not kill him!"

"Don't worry Dahlia, he'll wake up soon. Maybe..."

While Musk was hiding that poor guard, Dahlia opened the door, and once inside the two headed towards the second basement floor with the awareness of someone who knew where to go.

"Are you sure of what you're doing? This place is huge, how do we find her?"

"Do you think I came with you just because I like your company? With my magic I can track down whoever I want, as long as I know what they look like. Trust me, she's right down here."

Just enough time to dodge some guards and stun a couple more, and the two adventurers finally arrived in front of the most heavily guarded cell in the prison.

"Damn, there are five of them. They really must care a lot. And with the little power I have left I can't even try to put them to sleep."

"In this case, we'll use the old ways! Charge!"

"Wait Musk, remember we can't kill! Musk! Curse it!"

Luckily, as excited as Musk was, he remembered not to break his contract and held back, limiting himself to putting the guards to sleep one after the other with the blunt part of his axe.

Then, once calm had returned, the two opened the cell.

"Are you here to bring me dinner?" Thecla said

"Very funny." Dahlia replied, releasing her from the chains and using some healing magic. "Come on, come with us. They hired us to rescue you. Can you walk?"

"Of course."

"Then let's move. With all the noise this idiot has made, I'm surprised the whole city isn't jumping on us already."

"How pessimistic you are. You'll see they didn't hear us."

No sooner said than done, literally a second later all the bells of Riverdale started ringing, producing such a racket that they could be heard even in that hole at least ten meters underground.

"Say it again, you idiot! Come on, let's go!"



Musk and Dahlia didn't know it, but it wasn't because of them that all of Riverdale was being woken up.

In fact, at the same time as the two of them entered the prison, another pair of thieves silently slipped into the archives of the prosecutor's office.

Their aim was to steal some documents hidden in the building's safe, protected by a lock so complex that neither the greatest thief in the world would have been able to unlock it.

"Unbeatable lock, don't make me laugh. A couple more taps and this door will open like a virgin on her honeymoon."

"Gaston, if you're done singing your praises, how about you hurry up? It's almost time for the changing of the guard."

"Come on boss, try to be a bit more optimistic. Everything is going great. Here, now another turn to the left... Now to the right... here I raise a little... and done! As I said, everything was smooth as silk!"

Even if Gaston noticed it in time to tell Sadee to cover her eyes, the light that was released with the spell was so strong that it slipped through the cracks in the floor, alerting the guards downstairs.

"What happens? – Let's go check it out! – Sound the alarm!"

"Damn it, I knew this was going to end badly!"

"How could I imagine that they would have placed something like that? Let's get out of here!"

"Not at all, let's look for that document!"

"Are you crazy? In fifteen seconds every damn guard in this place will be jumping on us!"

"If we return empty-handed they won't pay us, have you forgotten? So stop babbling and give me a hand!"

Luckily what they were looking for was particular enough to immediately catch the eye, and after managing to get their hands on it they ran away, jumping out of the window just as the guards entered the room.

"Damn, I wish I knew how we got into this mess!" Sadee screamed as the whole city was awakened by the bells

"Save your breath and run!"

Unfortunately, Sadee and her gang hadn't been hanging out in Riverdale for long, and they soon ended up getting lost in the maze of alleys and streets of the old town.

"Here they are! – Don't let them escape! – Take them!"

"Boss, they've surrounded us!"

"Then we'll force our way out!"

Having drawn their weapons, the two adventurers threw themselves into the fray, but between being clearly outnumbered and the categorical order from the client not to kill, they soon found themselves in difficulty.

It would certainly have ended badly if from one moment to the next, appearing like a ghost from the darkness of the night, an unexpected ally hadn't come to their rescue, intercepting and breaking an arrow before it could wound Gaston.

"You!?" the thief shouted at the Torian with the masked face who had just saved his skin

"I cleared the road. Continue straight past that arch and you will reach the others outside the city. I'll handle it here."

The two didn't have to be told twice, without however failing to address unflattering names to their savior who, once left alone, got rid of all the soldiers with shocking ease.

"You can come out, I know you're here."

Michael, caught red-handed, took a few steps forward and came into the light of the magical street lamp that illuminated the small square in which the battle had taken place, now covered with unconscious soldiers.

"You took something that didn't belong to you and created havoc in the city. Surrender yourselves, and I promise you a fair trial."

"It's too late now. My companions have already escaped."

"But you are still here. And I'm sure that by questioning you we'll find out something about this Free State spy ring anyway."

"Go ahead, if you think you can do it. Or would you rather wait for someone else from your subordinates to come and give you a hand?"

Michael responded to the provocation by drawing his sword and taking a guard position.

"That's how I like it. Although sometimes hiding behind your men is not necessarily a sign of cowardice."

"How could I ask those people to risk their lives if I don't set a good example? A commander doesn't demand respect, he earns it."

"Well said. In that case, allow me to test your legendary swordsmanship, President Medici."

Michael had received the necessary education from the age of five, and was rightly considered a young fencing prodigy.

Nonetheless, his opponent managed to put him in serious difficulty from the first moment, among other things showing off a weapon never seen before; it seemed like a cross between a Patrian straight sword and a Torian curved blade, impractical for thrusts but lethal in slashes, but still light enough to be used one-handed.

However, Michael was as quick of mind as he was of arm, and once he had taken the measure of the enemy he started to answer the attacks, keeping his defense always high and in the meantime carrying out precise thrusts that the Torian barely dodged.

The duel went on for several minutes, seeing Michael increasingly take the lead against his opponent, who, despite being in difficulty, seemed almost pleased. This was at least until the Torian was almost disarmed by a precise thrust that broke his guard, leaving him dangerously exposed.

However, before Michael could attempt to inflict a thrust strong enough to wound the enemy without killing him, the latter took a sort of small crossbow out from his cloak made of wood and steel without a bow, but with two holes one above the other at the 'end.

The moment the Torian pulled the trigger, not an arrow came out of the weapon, but a small iron ball - preceded by a huge noise and an explosion of smoke - which hit Michael's sword, making it literally fly out of his hand.

"This is playing dirty." said the young man with a mixture of sarcasm and resentment

"But you disappoint me, President Medici." said the Torian holding him under the threat of his strange weapon "Did you really think you could trust the honor of an adventurer?"

"I was hoping you were an exception to the rule."

Between the duel and the din produced by the weapon, a few moments later a loud sound of footsteps heralded the imminent arrival of a new handful of guards.

"Sorry that our meeting ends too soon, but I can't afford to be captured. However, before we part, I want to tell you something. You believe the Free State is a threat. Well know that this world is about to be hit by something far worse."

"What are you talking about?"

"What is destined to happen will be of such a magnitude that it will sweep away everything we know. It will take a concerted effort to survive this storm. And when the time comes, I expect you to do your part. See you!"

Having said this, the stranger threw a small leather ball to the ground whose explosion produced a very strong light; Michael had to close his eyes, and when he reopened them, he was alone.



Sadee and her group regrouped at the prearranged location, an abandoned farmhouse not far from the city walls.

"What the hell happened?" Dahlia protested "I've seen so many soldiers to last me a lifetime! Wasn't it meant to be done quickly and silently? I bet you had something to do with it, you worthless pseudo-thief."

"It's not my fault. There was no mention of magical safety devices!"

"Why are you being so resentful? It went well."

"Big words coming from you." Sadee replied. "If you hadn't gotten caught we wouldn't have had to risk so much to get you out. Can we know what's so important about you and those documents?"

"I have another more important question." Gaston replied piquedly as Daemon, after appearing out of nowhere among them, took off his mask. "Can someone tell me why we worked for this infamous snake again?"

"It seems to me that this snake has just saved you. You could at least say thank you."

"Thank you!? He wants me to say thank you! As if it wasn't his fault that we find ourselves in this situation!"

"And to answer your question, you did it because you haven't gotten a decent contract since we last met. By now you were reduced to camping in the woods, since you no longer even had the money to pay for a tavern."

"If you want to rub it in and give me one more reason to kill you, I ask for nothing better." Sadee replied, clenching her fists.

"And anyway, I understand the explorer, but was it really necessary to save this pile of paper too? Rapport sur le Président de l'Union... what kind of language is this?"

"Do you really think I would pass on confidential documents without encoding them? Right now we are full of enemies, and knowing them all is the key to our survival."

Sadee, however, was starting to get impatient: "You can continue this talk later. Now make sure you pay what you owe us."

Daemon sneered, then tossed the elf his strange weapon, as well as a bag full of cartridges.

"What would this be? You promised us great riches."

"Wrong. I promised you a very precious artifact. And what you now have in your hands is probably much more than you deserve, given the mess you made and from which I had to get you out."

"Every time you open your mouth my desire to kill you increases a little more." Musk grunted

"You can do what you want with it as far as I'm concerned. Use it, sell it, I don't care. But I guarantee you that anyone would pay for it."

Sadee and her companions had also heard the rumors about what had happened at Gael Pass, so they had no difficulty in believing that after all it was a far from trivial reward.

"Okay, we accept the reward."

"I'm glad to hear it. There's more ammo than you could use in ten lifetimes, but just to be safe, I've also left you instructions on how to create more and how to take care of the weapon. I trust you will make good use of them."

"And with that, I sure hope we part ways here."

"Who knows. If so, I'll get back to you. Something tells me we'll have another chance to work together."

"Honestly, I don't hope so." Dahlia replied. "And if that's really the case, I hope it's as late as possible."

Daemon and Thecla then remained to watch the four adventurers who left once they had obtained their reward, walking along the road that led east.

"Thecla..."

"Yes I know. I didn't see anything."

"Good girl."

"Anyway thanks. I didn't think you would expose yourself so much just to save me."

"Such valuable information and my best scout are worth this and more." the boy winked. "But if you want to repay your debt, I already have a new assignment for you."

"Anything you want."

Daemon took out a envelope closed with his personal seal: "I don't care how or by what means, but this letter has to reach its destination by the end of this month. And you'll have to make sure the recipient is the only one reading it."

"I understand. Leave it to me. Who should I take it to?"