'Come inside and I will tell you all I know,' the elder said. The group followed him inside his house and he led them through to a kind of living room. There were cushions and futons arranged in a circle on the floor. 'Please, sit down,' he said. He gestured to a woman who was standing nearby to indicate the fetch drinks for their guests. The Mages each took a seat and sat down.
'First of all, thank you all for coming,' the old man began. 'I cannot express my gratitude enough for your help. We here are beleaguered by the people calling themselves the Children of Zeref. They come to the ruins everyday, demanding entrance. We do all we can to fend them off, but many have been injured by them, and we are fast running out of able-bodied men to protect the ruins.'
'There are at least seven of them, is that correct?' Okami asked. The elder nodded.
'They appear in cloaks and hoods, sometimes all at once, sometimes in twos or threes. But only two of them have ever used their Magic in front of us. Nevertheless, they nearly overwhelm us every time.'
'What is their Magic like?' Sniff asked.
'One fires blasts of light, as if from the son. The other attacks with his legs.'
'They sound like the two that attacked me,' Athena said.
'And they probably have the same two attack every time so that the others don't have to give away the types of Magic they use,' commented Sniff. 'But if two can nearly overpower all the guards then why don't all of them attack at once?' he wondered.
'Even if we let them past, we can only have the power to open the door into the first hall of the ruins,' the elder said, is if answering Sniff's thoughts. 'The door leading further inside is locked with powerful Magic, and even we have no way of opening it.'
'Do you know where their base is?' Athena asked.
'No; they take us by surprise, appearing out of nowhere. But they must be stationed somewhere nearby.'
'Too late to lay a trap for them,' Sniff was thinking. 'They probably know we're in the village by now.'
