“If there actually IS someone who knows about this woman, it’s THEM. There’s this group of people who are all about magic and things. They would never allow anything like this to happen and if someone could help you out, it would definitely be them”, the crystal said. Crumble listened attentively. There might be help on the way! “What’s the group’s name?”, he asked.
“The Black Raven.”
Oh, damn. Of course, the duck couldn’t know what problems they had had with these people, and Crumble didn’t intend to tell him all of his adventures right now. He still had to be careful, even if the crystal would be of help later on it was surely on the side of the dwarves and the cat wasn’t sure which general side THEY were on.
He thanked him for the tip and they continued to talk a bit but couldn’t find any other idea.
On his way back home, Crumble was thinking about what the duck had said. Maybe… just maybe this even WAS a solution? Clemens had told him about these people but there was also a difference between them. Some had been rather aggressive and others didn’t like violence at all. It was a group with many different faces.
So this actually could be the right way…?

Everyone was shocked. “We need to stop someone who might try to repair the portal, with that strange woman around that person might even get killed!”, Stella said. Crumble wrote down his answer: He knew whom to tell, he would go right away. The others didn’t know what he meant because he had only summarized what had happened in the gemstone boutique, but the cat quickly rushed into the city again. Today was a real fitness day, so much running around and about! When he came near, he already saw the duck sitting outside in the sun, pretending to be advertisement for the shop. Noticing Crumble, the crystal started shining even more.
“Nice to see you again so soon”, the duck said. Crumble told him what he had got to know. “Oh, that’s bad”, the crystal sighed, “I will tell my dwarf to wait with telling someone to lay hand on the portal. Just make sure to give me a sign when everything is fine again.”
“Do you have any idea what we could do against that woman? If she already managed to break the portal, who knows what else she could destroy!” The duck thought about this for a while. “I might have an idea.”

Crumble ran faster than ever and arrived home out of breath. Everyone was looking at him expectantly and wanted to know if he had succeeded. Oh, the mission, yes… He had almost forgotten about that, there was something way more important now! Crumble summed up that the package was hidden and would be discovered soon, the mission had been a success.
The cat had to keep the others from partying now (they were so relieved that there was finally a way out of their (mainly Clemens’) miserable / fluffy situation) and quickly told them what had happened on his way home. He talked about the strange woman in the weird new shop, what she had said and what he had found:”There were plans in her bag, sketches and scribbles of something terrible! It’s this woman’s fault that the portal is damaged and now she plans on setting up a different portal… One that will steal the imagination of those who walk through!”

Crumble was satisfied and walked through the city back home in a happy mood. Suddenly he discovered a new shop which looked interesting: it was a magic utility shop (non-magicians would think this as well – it probably had backrooms with the real magic and the visible shop would consist of little ‘magic’ tricks for everyone to learn and impress the family). He looked through the windows and then quietly sneaked in. The atmosphere was magical indeed and there were lots of cool little items, most of which didn’t hold real magic though. Crumble looked around for a while and discovered the shop owner talking to a woman with a bag lying next to her on the ground. “… it was a huge success with the portal indeed. We had to stop those darn people using the libraries for good or at least long enough to finish the task. They won’t be able to do anything against it now, probably won’t even see it coming”, she laughed.
Crumble used his magic to send out his vision and searched through the bag which was a little bit opened: he created snapshots in his mind of what he could see in there until he was so shocked that he instantly had to stop. The cat collected his thoughts and then quickly hurried out of the shop to tell the others.

They talked a bit about what was happening in the world, finally also about the argument with the dwarves. “I know it might be a bit exaggerated and sound weird to other races. Dwarves (similar to elves) have a strong feeling of honor though and are severely hurt when it comes to scenes like this. They won’t give in because Gnol is a true hero for them and a symbol of skill and knowledge for the dwarves. I do hope you will succeed in getting the portal repaired though and get that magician back. I can imagine he’s quite adorable as a colored rabbit right now. Make sure to use the time and make him respect your power and skills, you’re a capable person. I hope to see you again some day!”
Crumble said good-bye and carefully sneaked out of the shop. This had been a thrilling mission!