The beginning of that dreadful night

Mazzi arrived in front of the tavern adjacent to the modest inn with Sicil and Xena in the meantime. It was prowling around with natives and forboding bandits. There were drunken folks singing and dancing, and they had gorgeous young men and women in alluring attire serving and enjoying themselves with them. The tavern has a Nek-asrof ambience within the Egur walls. Sicil approached the reception counter, where a middle-aged woman sat with bright red lips, displaying her cleavage and drawing customers.

"Madam Elsie, How have you been?" He flashed a toothy grin.

"Can't you see how well I'm doing here, my sweet little Sicilian," she tenderly brushed Sicil's face with a hand which had extended coloured fingernails. "What brings you here? Looking for your posse, are you? How is my Mazzi doing? Is he here?" She enthused and questioned.

"As always, you ask a plethora of inquiries, old lady. Quiet down and inform me of Welly's room," Mazzi took off his veil. "Who? Mazzi?" His oddly bandaged face astonished Madam Elsie; "What the hell happened to your face? The Egur guards did it, right? Your gorgeous face was harmed, how dare they?" Out of wrath, she trembled.

Xena smiled and said, "It's not that Madam, we did a little ruse to get him in unobserved."

"Oh! must be from Sicil's head," she chuckled in reprieve

"No, it's Xena's suggestion this time," Sicil answered.

"Welly and others are in upper room 12," she said, totally disregarding Xena's presence.

"Old crone! I'll murder you once," Xena hissed.

"Huh! Romi, this awful wild creature needs to be fed," she yelled at her servant.

"Fight me, old twig." Xena screamed again, but was carried in by Sicil; "It's not over, I will murder you," she shrieked on her way to room 12.

"Madam, why are you treating Xena in this manner?" enquired Romi, a young child servant.

A young man explained, "That's because our Madam is envious of her always being surrounded by men, especially Mazzi and Sicil."

"Who is envious of whom? return to your work..." she commanded and walked out. Romi and the young man giggled; "It's truly jealous," they remarked to one other.

While Mazzi, Sicil, and Xena entered, Welly was logging all of Banami's shop's daily transactions. Others in the room were dozing off. "Sicil, Xena and... Oh my god! who is this? Has he been hurt? Welly jumped up in shock.

"Quite Welly, It's me. Where are Vera and Father now?" Mazzi questioned as he carefully removed his bandages with Xena's aid.

"Oh! Worry not; they are safe. We disguised them as lords and hid them in the most opulent inn in this town. "No one will discover them," he replied. Sicil sat down and drank the gruit Welly was sipping; "as anticipated from my student, you made me proud, Welly," he remarked.

"We don't have time to talk right now; let's go meet them. The light has set, and the Loistava men have arrived in Egur. Taking father and Vera back to Frook is safer for now. Sicil and Xena, you two discover the princess and the hero. I'll go to the inn with Welly. also wake up our men," Mazzi changed into his apricot-coloured linen shirt, brown waistcoat, black trousers, and tall boots. He strapped his dagger belt around his waist and covered it with a long veil cloak. Similar to him, others prepared themselves and followed their instructions to proceed.

Mazzi went covertly towards the direction of the lodge where Vera and Banami are staying, guided by Welly. When they arrived, Helga was standing in front of the inn with a few Utshani and Egur guards. She noticed them spying on them from the shadowy nook of a different building and alertly grasped her sword. When Mazzi emerged from the shadows, she recognised him.

"Mazzi? How come you're here? Does something occur?" She queried, astounded. Upon hearing Mazzi's name, the Egur guards raised their spears to confront him. "Please stand down, he is ... someone important to the one we seek," she ordered hesitantly.

"Brother... Princess, I am his brother. And I've come to save them. A man named Marcus and his men are here searching for them... from Loistava," he replied.

"What? Marcus, you say... Marcus Trova, the youngest prince of Ostrova. He recently became Logan's vessel," Helga was speechless. "So he's here... Logan's on the move," she continued.

"I don't believe he is alone either because I clashed with them and was suddenly struck by an arrow. It came from a dark, barren space. I suppose he got support."

She said, furrowing her brows, "An arrow from black vacant space... that sounds like Logan's shadows. "If they are here, we need to find Vera and your father right away. The only word Logan is familiar with is," she scowled, "Massacre."

"I see; princess, you're in the exact place; they're here. My lads disguised themselves as nobility and hid them here. Now, what exactly are shadows?" Mazzi enquired. "Huh! they... his dowry from Inci. I shall explain later. But it's a relief, let's take them to the royal guest house, Mother is expecting us there," when they were about to step in, an arrow flew in their direction and hit straight on the plank of the entrance to the inn. As everyone looked around in terror to find the cause, Marcus and his soldiers unexpectedly appeared.

"I appreciate the information. Our predictions came true. The late king's bastard is here," he smirked. Helga drew her sword, as Mazzi pulled out his daggers. In front of the inn, a scuffle erupted. The Utshani knight burnt a sheet of crimson paper with ancient tongue spells inscribed on it to connect with Ceasar and others. It instantly began emitting crimson smoke, which rose into the air.

"The crimson smoke is there, my lord. It's the princess, and they're in danger," one of Ceasar's soldiers shouted. "Let's hurry... faster," they hastily moved to the place where they noticed the smoke. Jugo, who was on the other side of the Egur market, noticed the smoke, as well as the shadows and Jaser. Their goals are unified.

At the same moment, another person was observing everything from the inn.

"What shall we do, my lady? The boy they search for is inside the inn," a man appeared to be a butler whispered into the ear of an exquisite lady. Her aquamarine eyes gleamed in the moonlight, and her delicate pink lips moved to the corners, charmingly beaming. She had gorgeous golden hair that was incredibly long and streaming like a heavenly river of life. She wore an olive-coloured round gown with white filigree work to adorn her pale skin and slender figure. "Bring me the owner of this inn, will you Rollins?" she grinned as she rose from her seat.

(TBC)