Viola stayed in the middle of the group, trying to hide her cluelessness. Everyone else appeared to understand the situation, unperturbed by the more exciting events of the day. She kept a steady hand on Julie, ready for an attack at any moment. The whole situation screamed ‘danger’, or ‘drug induced hallucination’. 

Drinking in the environment as they walked, Viola took note of every detail she could. There were two particular people in the group that were of interest. Sygma, the leader, who knew exactly what was going on. As least, that’s what she guessed since he was directly involved with the agency that sent them here in the first place. She made a mental note that when she got back, she would demand suitable compensation. There was nothing about magical dragons and portals that had to be opened with blood in the agreement. But that’s what I get for not reading the fine print, Viola chuckled to herself. Some of the others gave her a strange look, since this was not a laughing matter. 

But refocusing, she turned her thoughts to the man in the back of the group. He was older, but seemed very capable. The others seemed to avoid him for some reason, but the reason was something Viola couldn’t guess at. He also seemed to be knee-deep in this agency nonsense, but his bearing made her suspect he was being as cautious as she was. 

The walk seemed to take an eternity, but Viola estimated it was slightly less than a mile until the lights of a town appeared. Her legs were sore, but more from constant tension than actual tiredness. About five more minutes of walking, the group reached the outskirts of the town. Viola mustered up her courage, and asked the question that had been bugging her this whole time. “Excuse me, Sygma sir, what is going on and what are we going to do next?” She had wanted to add some expletives, but Viola had a gut feeling there would be a time for those later.