Seekers of the Stone Maker

The fire warmed him, but Rhokhishi’s variety of booze from the many flasks she carried on her was more than enough on the cold evening. Mr. Muffins sat with Rotkyl and Gilra, laughing and joining in on the performance Rhokhishi was presenting, juggling the small pet she obtained and the balls that she carried in a pouch.

Across the way, he watched the rest of the troupe moving around. Some were on their front porches, Ana and Gisela were talking with Kohl, Myla, and Shaynth had disappeared a little while ago, and he assumed they were training again. Mostly, people were relaxing and enjoying the break. Then, he saw Leaf walking up to Ramona’s cabin, where Lyla was already standing. Leaf took the lantern down, lit it, and walked inside. He sighed heavily, took another drink, and tossed it into the air, where Rhokhishi added it to her juggling act.

“It looks like one of the twins and the Archmage are getting into trouble,” He said aloud to Rhokhishi.

“Yeah?”

“Yup,” He pointed behind her.

“Should we get involved?”

“It’s probably for the best that we do.”

Mr. Muffins grunted and stood, then nodded to Gilra and Rotkyl and walked away.

What are they getting into now? He thought to himself.

They slowly made their way over because he couldn’t imagine them getting into much trouble quickly. As they reached the front porch, he could hear them talking.

“Ow!”

Leaf paused and looked over to Lyla, who was sitting on the bed rubbing her temples.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. My head just hurts all of a sudden.”

He moved his pearl over to her and looked for enchantments.

“Lyla. Something’s wrong.”

“What’s wrong?” Mr. Muffins asked Leaf.

They both jumped, not realizing they were being watched.

“I don’t know how to explain it, but something is going on.”

Mr. Muffins took one step in, and his head exploded with pain. He brushed it off and pushed himself in, but he winced, which they all saw. Leaf lifted his pearl and looked through it, then gasped.

“It seems like you are affected too.”

“What in Hell are you talking about?”

“Look.”

Leaf handed the pearl over. Mr. Muffins looked through the enchantment and focused on Lyla. Her body had some energy rippling off her body. He turned and looked at Rhokhishi, to much the same effect. Lastly, he looked down at his hand, covered in the strange arcane power.

“The only one not affected is you, Leaf. What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

“This isn’t the time to lie, Leaf. What did you two do?”

“We found the pouch of coins she had for controlling people, but that’s about it,” Lyla answered. Her teeth were clenched, and her eyes were closed as she pushed through the pain.

If the pain was anything like what he was feeling, he understood. It grew by the second with every glance around the room.

“It might be a curse. We need to get out of here now.”

Rhokhishi rushed in, focused solely on Lyla, and helped her out of the room. Mr. Muffins turned once outside and saw that Leaf was still in and looking around the cabin.

“Leaf! Get out of there!” He commanded.

“Fine!” Leaf screamed back.

Leaf made his way out reluctantly, but Mr. Muffins saw the anger on his face.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Archmage, but rushing into a room owned by the person who tried to kill us just a couple of weeks ago is a stupid move. You need to be more careful.”

“I knew what I was doing, and we needed answers.”

“You should have had more help.”

“I had Lyla.”

“And what would have happened if things got worse?”

Leaf stared at him for a moment, then spoke. His voice was just above a whisper, but the anger rang through.

“I don’t know why you get off on telling people what to do, but I’m not part of your troupe. I’m here to stop something bigger than us from happening.”

Leaf turned and stomped off.