It was decided to put our trip on hold. For the next few days we figured out what the magic items did and tried out our new equipment in the training rooms. Everyone was happy with the new items and itching to go out into the city to try them out on actual monsters.

  We decided to split up with Emily telling us the best places to go. Emily went with Torg and Lux while I went with Nix, Lin, and Ann. I may be wrong but I thought that Emily might be starting to have a crush on Torg. I tried asking the other girls but they wouldn’t say anything and chided me for prying into a woman’s business.

  The signs were there though. I had caught Emily staring at Torg on more than one occasion with a slight blush on her face. She also liked to sit near him whenever possible. I couldn’t tell if he liked her in return as he was too much like Lux. He rarely spoke or expressed himself, having a stone face most of the time.

  I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen when we made it back to civilization and there were other eligible men around. Would she still be infatuated with Torg then? In my heart I was still rooting for Torg though as he seemed like a nice guy.

  Shadow was being lazy again and stayed at the palace, not deigning to grace us with her presence on our expedition. After the trove of riches we found in the vault, we didn’t really need anything from the vacant shops so were mostly going to test our new equipment against monsters.

  I did still want to check the other towers to make sure there were no other summoning circles. Emily admitted she hadn’t been to them but thought the one in the palace was likely the only one. I had already investigated the one in the palace tower. At first, I thought the chances of us disabling it were slim to none.

  It was much stronger and fancier than the one in the tower I had been summoned from. Of course, my tower was in pretty bad shape already while this one was pristine. Even so, the materials in the palace were on a whole different level than the other summoning tower.

  With our upgraded equipment it may be possible now. When we got back, I would have a go at it. Emily had been confused about me wanting to disable the summoning circle at first. It was understandable since she had been hoping someone else would be summoned to help her.

  She had also thought she might be able to use the summoning circle to send herself back to Earth. After studying the books in the royal library this dream was quickly shattered. There was no known way to send anyone back. That wasn’t what they were built for after all.

  This didn’t stop Emily from doing her own research though. She had even experimented with making her own modified circles but was never able to get any of them to work. Finally, she had given up on the whole idea. When I explained my point of view, she readily agreed to help disable it so no one else would get kidnapped and trapped here.

  After crossing the invisible barrier of the palace, each group went its separate way. I wasn’t keen on fighting more spiders yet so Emily had told us where a pack of wolves usually hung out. The girls wanted to get some payback on the spiders but I convinced them we would do it another day.

  Truth be told it would probably do me some good to face my fears but I was procrastinating. I had even been having nightmares lately after my close call with the last spiders we faced. I promised myself next time for sure we would go spider hunting.

  The streets around the palace were relatively clear of creatures. I didn’t know if that was a residual effect of the strange barrier around the palace. We did catch sight of a rat or two scurrying down alleyways but nothing tried attacking us.

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  I was tempted to stop at some of the luxury shops along the way. We were definitely in the heart of the richest area of the capital. The girls were too excited to test out their new equipment though so just pulled me along whenever I fell behind staring at something. I was excited as well but would never be comfortable fighting monsters the way my companions were. If I never had to fight again, I would be ok with that.

  I bet if we found a bookstore, Ann would demand we stop to check it out. That got me to wondering if the city had a library. The royal palace had one but was there one for the common folk? Or maybe there was some kind of academy which would surely have its own library. I would have to ask Emily when we got back. If there was one, I’m sure she had been to it or knew where it was.

  After a few blocks we all stopped when we heard a howl in the distance. I decided to pay more attention to my surroundings and stop my idle thoughts. Nix went to scout ahead and then motioned for us to join her at a nearby intersection. We stayed hidden behind an empty carriage as she pointed out something in the distance.

  My eyes weren’t quite as good as my companions but I did see some movement a few streets down. “Wolves, I count at least five of them.” Nix whispered. “Make that six.” Lin said, pointed off to the side. I would have to take their word for it. “All right, we will each pick a target and fire when Matt and I are ready with our spells.” Ann said, taking command.

  We were all wearing enchanted armor but it was best not to let the wolves get too close. Ann and I were wearing our new robes. With the material they were made from and the enchantments, they should be better than steel armor. Nix and Lin also had pieces of enchanted armor but in their case, it was in the form of leather type armor.

  I’m not sure what exotic monster they were made of but they were both light weight and very strong. Their armor was also enchanted similar to our robes so we should all be well protected. Nix and Lin took out their new bows which also had enchantments on them and they were even using special arrows.

  Ann and I used our new staffs and prepared our spells. I decided to go with a modified stone arrow spell that tracked movement. Since I had trouble seeing my target from this far away it would hopefully hit my designated wolf.

  When we were all ready, we all released when Ann said go. I had aimed for the lone wolf that was off to the side which was a little closer to us than the rest. The arrows were faster than our spells so hit their targets first, instantly killing two of the wolves.

  My spell managed to hit the wolf but didn’t kill it. Ann had used a wind blade which cut the head off her target. The two unhurt wolves spun in our direction and howled before charging us. Lin fired at the wolf I injured to finish it off.

  Nix fired again and another wolf dropped to the ground. The last wolf decided that maybe it had made a mistake and tried to escape down a nearby alley but Ann and I both fired at it. The shots both hit, ending the last threat. Or that’s what I thought anyway.

  The howls of the last two wolves must have alerted others as a new batch came running at us from down the street. They were spread out across the street, charging at us at full speed. There must have been at least a dozen of them.

  “This is the perfect opportunity to try out my new spell. Let me handle this.” Ann said confidently. Nix and Lin had their bows ready just in case. I was also on guard in the event any of them got through. I thought I knew what spell she would be using and was interested to see the results.

  Ann stepped forward and pointed her staff at the approaching wolf pack. Soon wind starting swirling around in front of her and in no time a small tornado appeared. It got bigger and bigger as it swept down the street toward the approaching wolves.

  The wolves tried to stay to the sides of the street to get around the tornado that was barreling toward them down the middle of the street. It was a good idea but by the time it reached them the winds were already too powerful. The wolves were sucked up along with a bunch of other debris into the swirling winds.

  The winds lasted a few more minutes before dying down and dropping what it had sucked up onto the ground. At least half the wolves were dead while the rest were injured. We picked off the survivors from a safe distance. It had been almost too easy. Ann had a big grin on her face. I was glad she was on our side.