Aaralon sat and considered the offer. On the surface, it seemed rather good, but it could always be a trap by the College to test his loyalty when he was out in the field. Still, Aaralon had reason to doubt this. The story Celessa gave was quite frankly absurd to use as a cover story; it would not even enter the heads of anyone back in the College to pretend to be a relative of the Grand Magus. That, and Aaralon felt increasingly frustrated with his schoolmasters. From Sareth demanding a special task of him to allow him out of the College even on official business, to the elf twins' insistence on testing his nerves at every oppurtunity. 'Screw them,' Aaralon thought, 'this woman at least is offering something concrete for my help.'
"I agree," Aaralon said, finally, "I'll tell you whatever you want to know. But first, I at least want to know the location of my comrades."
"A wise choice," Celessa said, sounding faintly amused, "it would be good to know where you could send an animal messenger or signal in case this was a double-cross, hm?" Aaralon cringed, surprised that Celessa was capable of guessing his plans so easily. "Don't be worried, I'm rather impressed. Being around my brother breeds caution in the intelligent." Celessa then revealed her floating crystal orb once more, and it shimmered before floating over to Aaralon. From it, an image of the two elves, relaxing around a campfire projected into his mind. Aaralon frowned at their merriment before the image pulled away, revealing their position relative to Aaralon's own. Celessa continued, "As you see, they're still around a half a day ahead of you. However, there is a creek just east of here. If you follow it north, you should be able to reach the Tears of the Crying God before they do. They avoid it because of the chance of running across wood elves, but those people should not waylay a human."
"I see," Aaralon said, inwardly grinning. Already this deal would be paying off; those elves would certainly be humiliated to see him arrive there before themselves, "then I will fulfill my part of the bargain. I, along with those two high elves named Aura and Annex, were sent out to rescue the daughter of the nearby town's mayor. Another group also went out, consisting of two Diviners, Carrie and Camila." Celessa nodded, following Aaralon's speech wordlessly.
"Also," Aaralon said, "I received instructions from Grand Magus Sareth personally, to find and bring him a Virgin's Last Gasp." He waited for a reaction from Celessa, but she just seemed to weigh Aaralon's words for a moment before speaking. "You've spoken the truth. Now, as a reward, I will grant you one of my servants for a year's time." Aaralon's eyes widened. A whole year with an invisible servant under his direct command! "Only the most powerful of mages will be able to detect it, and even then only if they are looking for it. Use it wisely, Aaralon."
Aaralon opened his mouth to speak, but the floating orb abruptly flashed brightly, momentarily blinding him. He blinked, and when he opened his eyes once again he could feel... well, beyond himself, as if he had a new set of hands. He glanced at the fire, and bid one of the burning logs to rise. Slowly, it rose into the air. Celessa stood up. "Unfortunately, your news means that I had business to attend to now. I shall go for now, but perhaps we shall meet again. For now, feel free to rest in my tent for the night." Her voice softened slightly, "Goodbye, Aaralon. Do what you think it best for now."
Standing up, Aaralon was unable to respond before Celessa and her orb simply seemed to flicker and melt away into the darkness. His new 'servant', however, stayed. Setting the burning log back into the flame, Aaralon looked back at the tent.
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