Daryl stood in front of the electrified Liam, his breath taken away as his eyes stayed wide and mouth slightly agape. He closed his mouth and straightened his lips, gritting his teeth. No, not this again...

Mallory had a similar expression to Daryl's except on the inside she felt a sense of wonder. "Amazing..." Mallory whispered.

Daryl shifted his eyes down at Mallory, taking note of the fact that she was mesmerized by Liam's display, and shot Liam a glare back. "Whatever this is, stop it!" Daryl ordered.

Liam laughed and shrugged, the sparks around him starting to stop and his hair and clothes starting to lower. His staff dimmed down a bit. "I figured you'd react like that!" Liam lifted the end of his staff towards Daryl. "But remember swordsman, you said you'd help us. And if you decide to turn your back now, well, good luck helping the girl find her father without my intel!"

Daryl huffed out of his flared nostrils, appalled by what he had just seen and felt. This is why he's been so secretive. His parents must not even know what he's been doing."How can I help you now?" Daryl asked. "My leader wouldn't allow an alliance like this! Sorcery is forbidden!"

"And murder isn't?" Liam retorted, returning to his normal appearance at that point and walking over to set his staff against the wall. "I understand acts of sorcery are taboo, often considered the devil's art, but how is anything you do all that different? You kill people, Daryl. That can't be any less devilish than anything I've ever done!"

"It doesn't matter what you think!" Daryl argued. "What you do here is unnatural, and nothing like anything anyone has ever seen. They won't allow it..."

Liam noticed how Daryl looked down on himself as he finished his argument, as if something was eating at him inside. He looked down at Mallory, who still appeared starstruck by his previous display. The sorcerer raised an eyebrow at Daryl and challenged, "Is it them who won't allow it, or is it just you?"

The image went through the swordsman's head again: the boy kneeling down, reading that book. Daryl felt a bead of sweat drip down the side of his head. Do I really have to go through with this?

Mallory stared at Daryl with concern. She had never seen him look so tense before.

Liam kept a slight smirk on his face as he took note of Daryl's disposition. "This stuff genuinely scares you, doesn't it?"

Daryl glanced back up at Liam, and then back down.

"Funny," Liam started, "ya don't seem religious. Maybe..." Liam began to rub his chin, trying to figure out what Daryl was so scared of. Then, he snapped his fingers in realization. "You just don't understand it! That's what it is!" Liam turned around and motioned for his guests to follow. "Come on, I wanna show you two something."

"No!" Daryl blurted.

Liam looked back at him with a raised eyebrow, a softer expression on his face. "Daryl, I'm telling you, this stuff isn't scary. It was given to us by the gods to use, not some devil! That's what I'm trying to tell you."

"Liam," the man from earlier interjected, walking towards Liam from behind Daryl. "I thought the swordsman was here to help us. Don't tell me we've been double-crossed."

"Ah, relax, Simon," Liam replied, "he just needs some convincing, that's all."

"Daryl?" Mallory started.

The swordsman met eyes with his apprentice, wondering what she had to say.

"Don't you think we should give him a chance?" she asked.

"You don't understand..." Daryl responded.

"Neither do you!" Liam cut in.

Daryl shot him a look with a furrowed brow.

Liam turned back around and spread out his arms to them. "Come on you two, just let me show you around."

Simon faced the two of them with a skeptical glare, seeming to expect a refusal. Not only that, but it seemed that he was prepared to retaliate if Daryl did so.

Daryl made eye contact with Liam's fellow sorcerer and took note of his expression. It was hard to be intimidated by his scrawny stature, but Daryl knew he could be far more powerful than he looked. The swordsman turned his attention back to Liam. His eyes aren't like his. They're welcoming, kind... Maybe it'll be different this time.

Liam closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He scratched the back of his head and started saying, "Look, Daryl, I'm—"

"Alright," Daryl decided, "show me what you will."

Liam jumped up a little with Daryl's sudden decision. "Oh really? Wow, and here I thought I was gonna have to apologize for my actions!" He let out an obnoxious laugh, hands on his hips.

Simon rolled his eyes and walked back over to the door where Daryl and Mallory came in. He sat down at a small desk next to the door and cracked open a book that rested on it.

Daryl narrowed his eyes. "So, are you going to show us what you wanted or are you going to just keep laughing?"

Liam's laughter got softer and softer and then he cleared his throat. "Yes, of course, uh, right this way then!" He went through one of the aisles of the room made by the rows of shelves.

The girl looked up at her master, and he nodded to her. The two of them followed Liam through the aisle.

Mallory looked around at all the books they were walking by with curiosity. There were titles written on the spines of many of the books, none of which the girl was able to read, much to her disappointment. What could all of these books be about?

As Daryl observed the books around him, though, he felt much more apprehensive about what kind of information they could be spreading to their readers. His gaze went back to the red star on the back of Liam's cloak. The end of his cloak fluttered around through his enthusiastic stroll through the aisle. Daryl narrowed his eyes, still skeptical of what these books could be teaching. What is this guild's plan, anyway?

Liam's stroll came to an abrupt halt when one book to his left caught his eye. "Ah, here it is!" He took the book off of the shelf and read the title out loud to Daryl and Mallory. "The Element of Lightning!" He showed them the book. It was relatively thin, with a yellow hard cover and somewhat dingy pages. "This book right here teaches you just about everything you need to know on how to harness the power of lightning."

"Can I see?" Mallory asked, reaching out to the book.

Liam nodded in delight and tried handing her the book, but before he could, Daryl pushed the book back towards Liam and interjected, "No! Just...hold on."

Mallory looked up at him with an annoyed expression.

"What's wrong?" Liam asked. "The girl just wants to learn. It's natural, especially for her age."

Daryl glanced at the book, then back at Liam. "How could a book possibly teach someone how to do what you just did?"

"Well, it'd probably take me hours to explain it all myself," Liam explained. "The book makes it pretty clear, though."

"How?" Daryl demanded. "What is that book teaching people? It can't possibly be as simple as you're making it sound."

"I mean, it's not simple," Liam continued, "but if you wanna know the basics of how it's possible, the book was written by a man who discovered what he titled the Lightning Shrine about three hundred years ago. The shrine is somewhere on a mountain of black stone..." Liam sighed with disappointment. "If only the book told us more than that, we may have found it by now. Anyway, on that mountain, there were these strange symbols carved on the side of it in a certain area. When the man touched one of the symbols, he felt like he'd been electrocuted, and a voice came in his head. It was instantaneous, but after years of studying each symbol, and trying to make out what the voice had said to him, he was able to figure out what the symbols meant. Once he figured that out, he became the very first sorcerer of lightning!"

"Symbols?" Daryl questioned. "A voice? Where did all this even come from?"

Liam smiled and pointed upwards. "The gods, of course! There's a god for each element, you see. The Lightning Shrine came from the god of lightning, just like the Fire Shrine came from the god of fire, and so on."

Daryl jerked his head back. "You control fire, too?"

"I wish," Liam scoffed. "It took me years just to figure out how to do lightning." Liam held up the book. "It's a short book, but fairly difficult to master its teachings."

Daryl narrowed his eyes. "These gods you speak of, why did they give us these shrines, and these powers?"

Liam rubbed his chin. "That, I cannot answer with certainty. All I know is that the answer must lie in this world's history."

Daryl felt a twinge of pain run through his entire body upon hearing those words. "This world's history... This world's history..."

"If you're interested, Daryl," Liam continued, holding the book to him, "I could lend you this copy, or perhaps you could borrow The Element of Fire since you—"

"No, I've heard enough about this," Daryl interrupted.

Liam shrugged. "If it really scares you that bad, it doesn't have to be about sorcery or magic." With a snap of his fingers, he exclaimed, "Oh! Maybe you'd be interested in reading about tribal African culture! Or maybe Indian culture for your apprentice here?"

"I'm not interested in reading any of your books," Daryl explained.

Mallory looked up at him with intrigue. Why does he hate books so much?

Liam cocked an eyebrow, and then raised both of them with realization. "You don't know how to read, do you Daryl?"

Mallory's head shot up to see her master's reaction. His frustrated expression seemed to confirm Liam's suspicion. Her eyes widened with surprise. He doesn't know how to read? Even I can read a little bit!

Daryl huffed in irritation. "I don't need to."

Mallory expected Liam to laugh, she almost wanted to laugh herself, but instead, Liam shook his head with a sympathetic grunt. "Pity," he noted. "You've missed out on a lot of awesome stuff, then."

"Is this all you wanted to show us?" Daryl asked, getting more and more annoyed.

"Oh, that's right!" Liam said with a snap of his fingers. He motioned for them to follow him and practically jogged to the end of the aisle to approach a desk on which sat a small, round glass. He picked it up and showed it to Daryl and Mallory. Inside the glass were two small, wiry strands. "See this?" Liam started, observing the cluelessness on both of their faces. "I read about it in an old book, and I had it made by the Craftsmen's Guild. They had no idea what it was either, but I do. Watch!"

Some sparks of lightning emitted from the tips of Liam's fingers that clutched the glass. Daryl and Mallory jumped back a little at the sight of it. The two wires in the glass glowed, and a brilliant light shined from the glass and spread across their vicinity.

"Ha, ha!" Liam laughed. "It's called a light bulb, you two! It seems that a few hundred years ago, mankind was on the verge of a technological breakthrough, but then, well, I'm not all that sure what happened to set us back. That's what I'm still trying to figure out. But don't you see what we can do with the power of sorcery? If we can learn how to properly harness the power of lightning like this, we can change the world!"

Mallory looked at the glass ball of light with amazement, her eyes wide and reflecting the yellowish white light of the bulb.

"Alright," Daryl started, "that's enough."

Liam rolled his eyes and set the bulb back down, the light instantly fading from it. "C'mon, Daryl. Are you seriously telling me you aren't interested in this stuff? Not in the least?"

Daryl could not necessarily deny the value that Liam's knowledge could have for the Swordsmen's Guild, as well as the rest of the world, but he still had his doubts. This is too much, too soon for me. But for the others...

"Look," Liam continued, "I won't force you to like this stuff, but—"

"I'll help you," Daryl decided.

Liam and Mallory both looked at him with surprise.

"I don't wish to partake in any of this sorcery or reading myself," Daryl explained, "but for the good of my guild, and the chance that the strengthening of your guild could potentially help others..." Daryl looked down at Mallory. "...including my young apprentice, I will do what I can to ally the swordsmen with the sorcerers."

Liam smiled widely, his eyes beaming with delight. "I knew you'd come around! I promise you, Daryl, you won't regret this!"

Mallory looked down and allowed herself a slight smile. She felt excited about what she was learning about the world, and more importantly, she felt excited that they were already one step closer to being able to save her father.

Daryl rolled his eyes and replied, "Save it for the head of the Swordsmen's Guild." He turned around and tilted his head toward the front of the room. "Let's go, then."

Liam raised his eyebrows. "Oh, right now?"

"Why not?" Daryl asked. "Yes, right now." He started walking away with Mallory following behind.

Liam hopped up on the tips of his toes slightly. "Oh," he sighed excitedly, "okay then, getting to meet some people today!" He hurriedly followed his guests through the room, grabbing his staff that had been leaned against the wall. On the way out, he looked to Simon, who was still reading, and said, "Hold down the fort while I go make us some new friends, Simon!"

Simon looked up from his book with intrigue, seemingly surprised that he managed to convince Daryl of accepting them. He nodded slightly as the trio left the headquarters and closed the door behind them.

They walked out of the cave and Liam yawned and stretched out his arms toward the sunlight. "Boy I love the sun! Too bad we can't get much at our headquarters."

"Ever heard of windows?" Daryl asked, making his way to the horses that waited atop the cave.

"Ha!" Liam laughed, following the two of them. "Funny, Daryl, but a smart man like you should know that if we had installed windows, we'd be a lot easier to find, now wouldn't we?"

"Maybe you should get out more then," Daryl suggested.

"I get out plenty!" Liam contested. "Matter of fact, all I do is travel. I wouldn't know nearly as much about the world if I didn't."

"Hmph," Daryl grunted, untying Stalwart from the wooden pole, "I suppose traveling is one thing we have in common."

"Y'know Daryl," Liam started, standing by his own horse, "traveling is exciting and all, but you could know so much more about the world if you learned how to read."

Daryl started leading Stalwart down the rocky hill, with Mallory following carefully behind. "Once again," Daryl started, "I'm not interested."

Liam chuckled and started leading his horse down behind Daryl. "Y'know swordsman, I have to say, you're awfully witty and articulate for someone who's illiterate. Who did you learn from?"

"My master," Daryl answered.

"Huh, he must've been very astute!" Liam acknowledged. His horse whinnied and bobbed its head around. Liam laughed and rubbed its mane lovingly. "Aw, Betsy, don't be rude! You can talk with his horse when we're done with our conversation! What's his name, Daryl?"

"Stalwart."

Liam jerked his head back. "Stalwart? What kinda name is that?"

Daryl looked at his steed and rubbed its mane. "An accurate one."

"What does stalwart mean?" Mallory asked, as they stopped their stroll at the front of the cave entrance.

"It's someone who's super serious and boring," Liam answered with a grin, mounting his horse and motioning towards Daryl with a tilt of his head. "Sounds familiar, doesn't it, Mallory?"

"No," Daryl argued, climbing onto Stalwart's back, "a stalwart is someone who's hard-working and loyal. Stalwart's stuck with me for a long time now. I would guess maybe seven years or so, not long after I claimed my title."

"Speaking of that title," Liam started, riding up next to Daryl, who was hoisting Mallory up behind him, "how exactly did you get it? I mean, you're pretty scared of books and lightning, so it isn't entirely—"

"I killed over a hundred men, armed with weapons, in one night. On my own," Daryl answered, shooting Liam his most menacing glare. He felt Mallory tense up as she held onto him.

Mallory felt petrified upon hearing Daryl mention that so casually. Her entire body stiffened, and she lost her breath for a moment. How could he murder so many people? Do I really have to be like him to save my father?

Liam's eyes got really big and he shrank a little as he leaned away from the swordsman. "Oh..." he said with discomfort in his voice. "That's...quite an accomplishment. You're very talented, sir."

Daryl grunted and yanked his horse's harness. Stalwart took off at a brisk pace, leaving Liam behind for a moment.

Liam watched them go off for a while, dumbfounded and almost terrified of the man he had been so eager to befriend since he had met him. Is...this really a good idea? With a final gulp, he tugged the harness of his own horse and followed the swordsman and his apprentice.

***

Before the three of them headed out of the village, they went back to the inn so that Liam could bid his parents a hasty farewell. Daryl and Mallory waited on their horse as they watched Liam talk to his parents from afar. They kept looking back and forth between their son and Daryl, seeming to wonder how and why him and Daryl were suddenly close enough to travel together. Liam went inside for a while and came back out with a hefty-looking bag slung over his shoulder. He started walking back to his horse and threw up his hand for a final wave.

As the elderly couple started to go back inside, Mallory waved and called to them, "Bye Miss Anna, bye Mister Daniel!"

They looked back at her, smiled, and waved back.

"Thank you for everything Miss Anna!" the girl called.

"You're very welcome, dear!" Anna called back as she and her husband went back inside.

Daryl looked back at Mallory. Hearing the upbeat tone of her voice, Daryl expected her to be smiling, but when he saw her, she was on the verge of tears, her bottom lip quivering. As much as he wanted to console her, all he could say was, "We'll see them again. Some day."

Mallory squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. She nodded and replaced her hold on Daryl's sides.

Liam took note of Mallory's emotional state as he climbed back onto his horse. He raised his eyebrow with a soft look on his face. "What's wrong, little one?"

Daryl glanced back at her, and then at Liam. "She'll be fine," Daryl answered.

Liam grunted and looked away. "I wasn't asking you..."

"Anyway," Daryl began, remembering how many tokens he had spent since he had visited the village, "I've been meaning to ask you, you're a citizen of the village, right?"

"Yeah, and?" Liam asked.

"Do I have to pay another thirty tokens just to leave?" Daryl asked.

"Not if you're with me, no," Liam answered.

Daryl sighed with relief. "Good. I didn't bring a whole lot with me when I came here."

Liam smirked. "Y'know, I'm sure those guards wouldn't be too much for you to handle. Ya could've just forced your way through, right?"

Daryl scowled at Liam. "Maybe you'd abuse your power, but I don't abuse mine."

"Alright, alright," Liam replied, "I misjudged you, is all. No need to get so scary."

Although Daryl felt relieved about not having to spend more money, he was annoyed that he would still have to face Hutch once again.

***

As they made their way through the village, Liam's stomach started to growl. He clenched his gut with a grimace on his face and looked over at Daryl and Mallory, who both stared at him in response to the sound of his stomach. Liam gave them a half smile and pointed with his thumb to a path at their left. "Mind if I grab a bite at the bakery?" he asked.

Daryl shrugged and said, "Fine."

They both directed their horses to the left, and Mallory tensed up behind Daryl, remembering the bakers she had stolen from not too long ago. Maybe they won't recognize me...

The trio stopped in front of the open entrance to the bakery and Liam hopped off of his horse. "I'll only be a moment, you two," Liam assured, resting his bag on the ground and fidgeting with the staff tied to his side.

Mallory peered to see the inside of the bakery and saw the young man and his father who had chased her down that day. She shrunk back behind Daryl, who looked back at her with a cocked eyebrow.

"Hey there, Kyle," Liam greeted, "Mr. Wellman."

The old man nodded back at him.

"Liam!" the young man greeted back with outstretched arms. "Haven't seen ya in a while, man!"

"Ah, well, y'know," Liam continued, "just been exploring the world as much as I can. Lots of valuable information out there."

"That's great, that's great," Kyle remarked, looking past Liam and at Daryl and Mallory.

"What are ya gettin'?" Mr. Wellman asked.

"How about a few rolls?" Liam ordered.

"Good choice," Kyle responded, reaching under the counter and putting together a small basket of rolls, "these came up fresh not too long ago. Three tokens."

"Sure," Liam said as he went through his pocket to pull out the tokens. After he handed Kyle the tokens, he noticed that he kept eyeing Daryl and Mallory. Liam chuckled and said, "Pretty great, right? Colored people! An African and an Indian, in the flesh!"

"Yeah..." Kyle replied, narrowing his eyes at Mallory, who tried to subtly cover the side of her face with her hair. "Y'know, uh," Kyle continued, putting the basket on the counter, "that girl looks awfully familiar..."

Liam raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then you must know her! I kinda doubt there are many others around here who look like that one."

"Hey Dad," Kyle said, nudging his father.

"What?" Mr. Wellman asked, who seemed to be dozing off.

"See that girl over there?" Kyle asked, tilting his head toward her. "Seen her before, haven't we?"

His dad shrugged. "I don't really care."

"I can introduce you!" Liam suggested. He turned around and called, "Mallory!"

The girl jumped up upon hearing her name and tried to lightly shake her head no to Liam.

Daryl looked down at the girl behind him and whispered, "Something wrong?"

Mallory opened her mouth to speak, but she felt too nervous and too embarrassed to explain why she did not want to talk to the baker.

Liam chuckled and looked back at Kyle. "She's a shy one." He grabbed the basket of rolls and motioned for Kyle to follow him. "C'mon, I'll get you two acquainted!"

Kyle nodded and walked out from behind the counter. His fixated eyes turned into a glare, saying, "Yeah, sounds good."

Watching the two men approach them, the baker fuming with anger and Liam completely oblivious, Daryl placed a firm hand on the hilt of his blade.

"Mallory," Liam said, approaching her with a smile and gesturing to Kyle, "this is Kyle, you two seem to know each—"

"You!" Kyle shouted.

Liam whipped his head back with raised eyebrows.

Kyle pointed a shaky finger at Mallory. "This little thief stole from me about six or seven times! Ya think I forgot, ya little rat?"

Mallory ignored him and tried her best to avoid eye contact. Daryl slowly began to lift his sword out of its scabbard.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Liam exclaimed, setting down the basket of rolls and putting a hand up to ease Kyle away from them. "I think there's just a misunderstanding here! Mallory, you never stole from this man, have you?"

Mallory glanced at Liam with shame in her eyes. Liam's eyes widened, realizing he was wrong, and then Mallory looked away again.

"She was starving," Daryl explained, his sword slightly lifted from its scabbard, "what was she supposed to do?"

Liam looked down, eyes darting back and forth, and then he turned his attention back to Kyle's rage.

"She was supposed to pay for the food she stole!" Kyle argued. "And from the looks of it, she's been stealing more food from people, huh?"

"How dense are you?" Daryl asked. "I've been taking care of her. She doesn't steal from people anymore, so go back inside."

"Not until she pays for what she stole!" the baker yelled, grabbing Mallory's arm.

Mallory gasped and tried to pull away, as Daryl fully unsheathed his sword, his nostrils flared.

"Hey!" Liam yelled, pushing Kyle off of her.

Kyle stumbled backward and looked at Liam with wild eyes as if he had been betrayed. "Seriously? You're gonna stick up for that dirty little—"

Liam grabbed his staff and planted the end of it in the ground. "Don't even think about finishing that sentence!"

Daryl cocked an eyebrow. He's really defending her...

Kyle jerked his head back. "Really Liam? You're gonna fight me for her?"

Liam wore a fierce glare that neither Daryl nor Mallory thought that the man was capable of. He warned, "Take another step towards her and find out for yourself."

Kyle scoffed. "Yeah, right. You're no fighter. Now why don'tcha step aside and let me teach that rat a lesson?"

Kyle began to march towards Mallory again, but before he could get close, Liam picked up his staff and swung it right at Kyle, striking him right across his jaw. The baker groaned and staggered backwards holding his face and rotating his jaw. He shot Liam daggers in response Liam shrugged, keeping that unusually burning look on his face and said, "I warned ya."

Mallory watched the scene with wide eyes. She was reminded of when Daryl found her almost a month ago, but this time seemed different. This time, she was receiving outside help from someone who had a desire to do so, not just because it was convenient for him.

"What's gotten into you?" Kyle barked, baring his red-coated teeth. He began marching towards Liam with clenched fists. "You crazy—"

Liam shoved the end of the staff into Kyle's chest. He hunched over with his hands placed where Liam had struck. Liam pivoted to the left, his body facing Mallory and Daryl, while he spun the staff between his fingers. The staff finished its spin with the end of it landing on the back of Kyle's head, sending him flat on the ground. The man twitched his fingers a bit, and then he did not budge.

So, he can fight too... Daryl sheathed his sword and started looking around. People were starting to walk towards them. Kyle's father showed up at the entrance of the bakery and looked down at his out-cold son, then at Liam. Daryl turned his attention back to Liam. "You've done enough," Daryl said, "we have to go!"

Liam looked at Daryl and then at the crowd forming around them. He fastened the staff back to his side and picked up the basket of rolls. He hopped onto his horse's back and yanked the harness. "Let's go, Betsy!" Liam commanded.

Right as the group took off, Mallory spat down on the back of Kyle's neck. The crowd of people watched them take off as Mr. Wellman and some others tended to Kyle.

"Well, then!" Liam exclaimed, trying to get a good grip on his basket as Betsy bounded across the road. "Seems we've worn out our welcome here!"

"Then I guess it's a good thing we were leaving anyway," Daryl noted. "Looks like you're stuck with us, Liam of Lightning."

Liam laughed. "No one else I'd rather be stuck with!"

Mallory caught Liam's eye. He smiled at her with a comforting reassurance and she looked away. She rested her head on Daryl's back and felt herself blush. He's not as bad as he seemed at first, is he?