Over by the lake, I would construct an inn with a wharf that pushed out into the water, perfect for those visitors who like to fish. I'd build an aqueduct next to the inn too, ensuring fresh lake water to an entire city.

Yes, a city. I honestly hadn't planned it when I first arrived at the tower, but now after speaking to so many merchants, the possibility of building something that would last appeared inside my mind's eye.

I could imagine the stone houses rising up from the ground around the reinforced circular wall. I could see fairies and humans walking along the cobblestone paths paved around the many shops and merchant stalls. I could even see the tower growing ever higher as more floors were added to it until at last, it reached the sky, a s.h.i.+ning beacon of hope in the Fayne where all were welcome—a literal kingdom of heaven.

My eyes shut themselves to the sight. No use thinking of the what-ifs when there was an uneasy feeling already creeping up my back. Ty was still missing.

I felt Aura's hand on my shoulder. I didn't have to glance behind me to know it was her. The warmth flowing out of her hand, pus.h.i.+ng its way into my body and calming my nerves was already a dead giveaway.

"Leprechaun for your thoughts?" she asked playfully.

I didn't need gold to tell her about my vision.

After a short time of contemplation, she spoke up, "It seems you'd build a new Shärleden here…"

There was no mockery in her words. In fact, it sounded more like she believed I might just be able to achieve it.

"For Luca," I said thoughtfully. "In case he never leaves the Fayne… I at least want to give him a home here… one where he won't ever be alone again."

"You're a good brother, Dean," Aura said. "But I think you can stand to be a bit greedier too. There's nothing wrong with building the greatest city in the Fayne and saving Luca from his prison."

"Maybe…" I replied, wondering inside if my Sims and Civilization Six experience was enough to make me a city builder.

"So which of them got you thinking of this new dream?" she asked thoughtfully. "Besides Shaqs' brother."

I glanced back at her and found her smiling at me in that way which always filled me with the good kind of vibes. I grinned as well; although I was half-sure my smile wasn't nearly as nice as hers.

You see, Shanks had given us two reasons to be hopeful. The first and more obvious reason is that he'd given us a clue about Ty's possible whereabouts. The second reason was less obvious, but also equally important. Should Shanks and his fellow merchants do find the time to set up shop on the tower grounds it would mean we had a part of our old comrade Shaqs back in the fold, even if he was an extremely different model to his older brother.

"Luc, the material goods merchant, and the artifacts appraiser, Fantasimo," I said.

"One can get us imported goods not found in this central region and the other one brings with him a prestige found only in those who cater to n.o.bility," Aura noted, getting my answer down to the letter. "They'll pair nicely with Shanks, Lilipold, and Kal Duenne."

I nodded. Still, I couldn't fully appreciate the possibilities we discussed. Something else needed to be done first.

"Saving Ty comes first," I said.

Aura nodded. "Yes, let's go visit Kallista now."

That was when Luca showed up to let us know that our caravan was ready.

"All aboard the troll train," he said.

Other than the agreement we'd made with him starting his new shop at Hoodwink Tower, returning his brother's body from the frontlines also earned a second request from Shanks. He would let a small team of Foolhardies join his caravan as it made its way across the Westmarch and back southeast to Broken Sellsword's Canyon.

This was necessary because I didn't want anyone—particularly a well-informed salamander auctioneer—to know that we were coming for a visit. Of course, I didn't think Kallista was the mastermind of Ty's disappearance, but I would be a fool not to take precautions.

We set off from the tower that very night, but it would be an entire three nights later before we reached the great iron gates of Broken Sellsword's Canyon. In between that, especially during the daytime, I'd spent the time skipping school in lieu of researching fairy abductions with Arah at my dad's study.

To be exact, I'd reread and reviewed all materials we'd already covered during our search for Luca hoping there was something we'd missed. Sadly, we couldn't find anything else apart from the clue the McCord twins had given us. This meant Arah had gone increasingly more irate with our lack of progress, and more often than not, this seething irritation was directed at me.

It had gotten to the point that I'd begun dreading the days spent with her, making me wish more and more for my nights in the Fayne. At least there, I was actually doing something. Plus, Aura had decided to spend the nights telling me more about the lost monarch, and our nights with the caravan served as the perfect cutscene moment for her storytelling.

"The lost monarch was a great king, fair and strong, loved by all who served him," Aura began. "He brought order to the Fayne, bringing together the scattered clans to repel the invaders from beyond, triumphing over dragons and giants, and demons."

"Dragons, giants, and demons… I've never met a dragon in the Fayne before," I said as I patted the back Myth Chaser beneath me.

"Neither have I," Aura admitted.

Riding atop Starlight, her head, like mine, hidden under an inconspicuous green hood, I could imagine her with a sword in hand, off to slay Smaug, the Terrible, or some other fantasy creature not found in the Fayne.

"But they were real once… a very long time ago," Aura explained. "So did the giants. There are enough artifacts left over from the age when they terrorized us to prove it."

"So~~o, we had dinosaurs and you guys got dragons," I noted. "What about demons?"

Aura shook her head. "We don't speak of them much… and I once thought them nothing but myth and legend… but" Aura glanced over at me. "The poison that killed my family… I was told by the s.h.i.+eldmaidens that it was an infernal concoction born of a demonic recipe."

Just like that, Aura had dropped several big reveals that made my head feel woozy.

I glanced behind me, to Luca riding Jade Shadow and was dressed in a similar getup of green hood and cloak, and said, "Hear that, Luca… there's a chance you and I might get to see some dragon bones, after all."

Luca smiled wanly. He hadn't been feeling a hundred percent since hearing of Ty's abduction. Probably because it reminded him so much of his own. ­

"But if he did all that… then why did he disappear?" Luca asked.

It was a question I'd had forever. I mean, some fairies age to be thousands of years old. They were practically G.o.ds to us mortals, and this lost monarch sounded like the kind of dude who had enough power to reign for centuries. So why would he give it all up?

"No one knows," Aura said, glancing over to Ashley and her pearl white swifthart, Moonray. "But the s.h.i.+eldmaidens believed that he'd been betrayed by someone dear to him right before he disappeared… perhaps even one of his Sense Knights."

"Sense Knights?" I'd nearly put my foot on the proverbial brakes at hearing that term for the first time. "What exactly are these sense knights?"

Aura glanced back at Ashley. "Would you like to take over?"

Ashley nodded, but just for dramatic effect, it would take her another five minutes to continue the tale.

"Even back then, viseres were common in the Fayne," Ashley said, wrapping her white cloak around herself like she'd felt the cold night air touch her. "Although there weren't any human slaves then… that practice didn't start until fifty years after the lost monarch disappeared."

Ashley patted Luca on the shoulder. Like me, she was attuned to his mood. This was most definitely because she'd been sold off like he was.

"Back then, serving the fay n.o.bility was something of an honor for humans… and there were none more honored than the chosen five," Ashley revealed. "Five knights, handpicked by the lost monarch to serve him as his elite warriors."

"Why were there five?" Luca asked, looking up from the gloom of his thoughts.

"One for each of the five senses," Ashley said. "Touch, Taste, Smell, Hearing, and Sight…"

"Sight…" I repeated while thinking what was up with this night and all these freaking bombsh.e.l.ls

Aura laughed, possibly because she'd felt the turmoil in my mind.

"Yes, it's not certain, but Fool's Insight could very possibly be the lost fairy gift of sight," Aura admitted. "That's one of the reasons the Pavilion values your work with us."

"You shouldn't have said that," Luca sighed. "His ego is big enough as it is."

The three of them laughed. I didn't join in. I was too busy imagining it in my head, the thought of five incredibly cool warriors in multicolored costumes facing off against giants and dragons like the Power Rangers.

Another thought occurred to me. "There are other sense viseres around, aren't there? Wonder when I'll get to meet one of them."

In hindsight, I really wished I hadn't said that. It was basically tempting fate to send one of these bada.s.s sense warriors my way.

Well, with all that talk of Fayne history, I didn't even notice that we were in sight of Broken Sellsword's Canyon. Some sense knight in training I was.

A short distance beyond loomed the famous iron front gates surrounded on either side by cliff-sides and their carvings of giant stone sculptures depicting the wicked act of slavery. My insides boiled just looking at them, especially now considering Ty was the third human I knew who'd been spirited away.

But as I got closer and closer to those iron gates, the clearest thought crossing my mind was a simpler one, "Huh, I kind of get now why Zarz wanted iron gates for the entrance of Hoodwink Tower. They're appropriately imposing, aren't they?"