Follow the bird.

You and Niki proceed back to the streets. The others are there. They and everybody else have started to celebrate--eating and drinking all over this part of the town. Bards are playing music, people are dancing, and it's an overall joyous occasion. Though for better or for worse, people also aren't leaving Niki alone. She is the champion after all.

"Well, I am the strongest, after all!" Niki boasts proudly. Now that she isn't dealing with that magic collar anymore, it seems that she's more than content with basking in her fame.

"What about me, ladies? I made it pretty far," Hedi says with a smile.

Suddenly, Niki's mother and father appear. Her mom throws herself around her and sobs. Meanwhile, even her dad looks emotional.

"Stop it! You're embarrassing me," Niki says.

"I was so scared for you," her mom says.

Her dad grunts. "I don't really approve of what happened to you out there..."

Meanwhile, you feel a tugging on the leg of your pants. You look down to see a small boy, and in his hands is a piece of parchment and a thin chunk of charcoal. It looks like he's gesturing it up towards you. "Uhm. Excuse me," he says quietly. "Can you sign this for me?"

"Huh?" You pick up the blank piece of paper. "Like, an autograph?"

He nods. "The way you caught that attack... and shot it back at the lady. That was so cool!"

After signing, you hand it back down. "Thanks, kid. Maybe next time I'll make it to the end."

"Can you sign my sister's too?"

"Of course, I--"

Suddenly, a busty woman appears with short curly hair. She gives you a wink. Then, she starts to unbutton her blouse. Her hands stop at the fourth, and her hands push up to squeeze her cleavage almost right through the shirt. "Thanks, sweetie. I don't have any paper though. You'll have to sign something else..."

Your eyes widen. "Y-Yes ma'am!"

You feel a painful tapping all of the sudden on the top of your head. You swat up, and a black bird flies down onto your hand. It's black, and it has a feathered crest up from its forehead. After it lands, it taps on your wrist, and you try to swat it again. Then you remember what Sulta told you.

"Ah! I gotta get going." Stupid bird. "I need you to come with me, Niki!"

She peeks through her surrounding fans. "Oh yeah. Hold on. Everybody move! Your champion has important business."

"We'll be back in a bit, guys!" you shout.

Niki catches up with you, and the two of you follow the tiny bird hopping from rooftop to rooftop. It leads you a few streets over, and the sound of the busy arena softens to background noise. After a few moments of walking, you come to another small home. The bird lands on the windowsill, and it slips through the window--open a crack. The doorknob turns, and then the door slowly opens.

Suddenly, you feel a strange sensation in your mind. It's like a hot pulse. You hold your head, and you hear a woman speaking in your mind. The voice says, "Come to Tolis. That's where they are." After that, you shake it off. It certainly wasn't your imagination. It couldn't have been.

"Are you all right?" Niki asks.

"Yeah. I think so," you reply.

The two of you proceed inside. Leaning against the kitchen counter is the sorceress yet again.

After Niki proceeds forwards, you quietly shut the door behind you.

Vazeela Sulta steps over to the window and stares out to the empty streets. She pulls it the rest of the way down, and then she twists the string on the blinds to block out the view. After that, she moves to the kitchen table in the middle of the room and gestures to the other seats while she pulls up her own. "Apologies. I have no interesting teas or other drinks to offer."

"Why are we meeting with Vazeela?" Niki asks. She pulls out one of the seats and plops herself down.

You sit beside her. "She told me to speak with her afterwards. She's actually part of the Circle, and might know more about the Demon King."

"My, my." Lady Sulta leans her chin onto her hands. "You speak as if I'm not here, and use my first name as well. The two of you are rather bold. Normally, people refer to me as Lady Sulta, Archmage, or something of the like, and they tend to be too flustered to do much else. So tell me, Niki Vakila. What do you think of those that were targeting your family?"

Niki bangs her hands down onto the table. "Scumbags!"

"And what do you think of me giving Sir Warren here a little reward for helping take down these associates of Sa'dis?"

A tint of colour grows in Niki's face. "... What kind of reward?"

She grins. "Transportation. The two of you aren't from around here, and surely you want to get home as soon as possible."

"That's a reward to both of us! Why did you word it like that?"

Lady Sulta laughs. "I just wanted to see your reaction, darling. As a master transmuter, opening a portal is little trouble for me, depending on where you need to go."

"Awesome! I miss Avana already," Niki says.

"If possible, I think we should go to Tolis," you respond.

"How come?"

"I just had this weird feeling... like we should be going there instead. I think our friends might have travelled there after we left. Or maybe--I don't know. It might sound weird, but I heard a voice in my mind telling me this."

Sulta raises an eyebrow. "Someone who knows of you must have sent a message to you with a spell. So it's up to you if you trust this not to be a trap."

"We can't risk it," Niki says. "If someone reached out to tell you, then something might be wrong. If the others need our help, then we owe it to them to try! If it is a trap, we'll just kick everyone's ass and run back to Avana."

"It's funny that things have happened this way." The sorceress brushes a hand back through her beautiful hair. "I so happened to be heading to Tolis myself. If it does happen to be a trap, perhaps I can aid you."

"That's great news!" you say.

"Did the message sound urgent?" Niki asks.

"Not really. It was pretty short too."

"We shouldn't wait too long. Let's try to get that shield from the smithy as soon as possible, and then we'll rush to Tolis and find our friends!"

"So what takes you to Tolis?" you ask.

The sorceress' gaze turns to you. "Well, I am currently the Acting Grand Master of Redbloom Academy, the greatest institution of knowledge in all of Tivera. Even now I've likely been gone too long. But I simply couldn't miss this year's Golden Sword, and I'm glad that I didn't. I suppose it's time to go back to work, unfortunately. Meet me here when you're ready to leave. However, by end of day tomorrow, I'll depart on my own."

Niki throws herself up. "Then let's celebrate in the meantime!"

"What happened to that bird?" you ask. "Was that your familiar?"

"Oh. That was me." She smiles.

"So you were pounding on my head?!"

"Darling, if I didn't intervene, you'd have been ogling girls for hours. I was growing impatient. Play is fun, but work must come first."

Coming from the girl who skipped work to watch a tournament.