Telsa

Telsa

Telsa woke up early and fixed herself a cup of tea. Today was the day. Her friends told her she was too young, too inexperienced, had no chance having been raised her whole life in the city. She was fourteen and lived in an apartment by herself. Her parents vanished two years ago, but the apartment was still paid for the next three years and a few months. She did not know much about her background other than her mother was an elf from somewhere to the north, and her father she remembered had wings he could make appear and could light up a room with the light radiating from his person. Keirn after not being able to convince her not to go, insisted on going with her. He was her friend as far back as she could remember and a year older than her. He was human as far as she knew, black hair and short black horns that were hidden normally by his hair.

"So where are you going to go?" Keirn had asked her. "It doesn't matter, there has to be more to life than living in this city and spending my life working for money." she had answered.

"You have never been out of the city, you have no idea how to survive out there."

"I have been camping with my parents and I can learn." she insisted.

They had gone back and forth for hours before he finally told her he was not letting her go alone. He had spent a year going to the Greenleaf Adventures training program and wanted her to wait a year and go through their schooling also, but she refused to wait that long. He used his training to help prepare them for their journey. The area around Kelleeshia was not a cold climate so basic sleeping rolls should serve their need. She only paid half attention to what he packed and decided to just trust his knowledge.

Telsa still had water boiling when Keirn knocked. She fixed him a cup of tea and insisted on fixing a quick breakfast before they took off. While she was cooking she checked her change purse, she had eleven silver and six copper, that should be enough, after all they were heading down the road and camping in the woods or wilderness.

“I brought a longsword to train you to use, and a bow to teach you that too.” Keirn said while she was cooking.

Telsa sounded frustrated. “I am just walking the roads, it is not like I will be getting into any kind of fighting.”

“You have not been outside of the city. You have no idea, it is nothing like walking the main streets in the city.” Keirn set his tea cup down, “Would you go walking the dark alleys by the docks at night?”

“No, but this is like walking main roads, not dark alleys.” She protested.

“So,” Keirn continued, “halfway between here and the next town you get attacked by a wild wolf?” He left it hanging.

“I am not going to argue, we can take whatever you think we should.” she set the breakfast plates on the table and sat down. “I just don't see why a wolf would come out on the road.”

“And that is because you are a city girl who knows nothing about the rest of the world.” Keirn took a fork full of food and continued with his mouth full, “This is why I thought you should take at least get some training from the Greenleaf school before going.”

“If I waited to do everything everyone thinks I should do before going out there I would die an old lady before I got out the gates of Kelleeshia.” Telsa made a pouting face, then went back to eating. “I am ready to hit the road as soon as we are done eating. Well, and washing the dishes.”

Keirn helped her with her sword belt and her quiver, then showed her how to carry her bow. He also geared up and then they put on their backpacks and headed out the door. Telsa took the time to lock the door and drop the key in her change purse before they stepped out on the street to make their way to the gates.

The hustle and bustle of the city went on around them as they made their way down the city streets. When they got to the gates a guard challenged them. “Where are you kids headed?”

“We are taking a journey to visit towns to the south.” Telsa announced proudly.

“You might see if you can hook up with other travelers, the road out there can be dangerous.” the Guard suggested.

“He is with me.” she pointed to Keirn. The guard shook his head, but let them go with a look of warning.

Their first day on the road started out peacefully. The sun was warm and there was just enough breeze to keep it pleasant. Telsa noticed a change in smell that started as soon as they left the gate. The smells of the city faded. There were still the smells of horses and animals in the air, but they were overshadowed for her by the smells of sun-warmed grass and grain brought in by the breeze. She lifted her head slightly taking a deep breath, enjoying the scents from the farm fields.

“Nice to see you have a keen sense of smell. This is just the beginning of changes.” Keirn smiled watching her.

It was a couple hours into the day when they reached a choice of roads, one leading east and the other south. “What is that way?” Telsa asked.

“That will take us past several farms on the south side of the road, and on the north side estates owned by noble folks on the north side.” Keirn looked as if seeing further down the road, “At the end of the road we could reach the Greenleaf Tower also known as the Tower of Tallund, where adventurers go for training and experience. We can go there if you like.”

“This is another attempt to get me to train before seeing the world?” Telsa smiled and shook her head, “And this other road leads to the rest of the world? I think we will follow south.”

Keirn shrugged, “As you wish, I am only here to try to make sure you live long enough to get back.”

Telsa did not know if she was supposed to be offended, but decided this amusing conflict would be their thing. “So, was it this Greenleaf Adventurers Training that has made you so paranoid of the world?”

“Actually it was a little good sense and wisdom you are calling paranoia that lead me to seeking training from those good people.” Keirn headed down the road south, “I am only a year older than you, but I have learned that people older than us tend to have more experience and it is wise sometimes to listen to what they have to say.” Keirn still lived at home with his parents, well when they were there. His father Jake worked on a merchant ship so spent a lot of time away. His mother did work for the Seventh Magus Tower, Sandbaruin which seemed to keep her a lot busier of late. His mother knew about their journey and told him they should pick up companions as soon as they can. His father would not be home again for another forty days.

“We are on our journey already, so look for the wise advice that will help us moving forward now. How far is the nearest town?”

“It is about four or five days on foot to Farm Meadows. We have to stay on the road south.” Keirn was looking at a simple map he had. “If we take the road that forks West, it will take at least two days longer to reach a town. There is another road east after that, but that could take weeks to reach anywhere.”

“Then south it is.” Telsa skipped a few steps, happy she was off on her journey to see new places and things and to meet new people. Keirn smiled at her delight, but was not at ease on the inside. He was afraid it may be too late before she realized just how dangerous this really was. “I am glad you are happy.” he offered in a quiet tone.

“Thank you!” she turned and gave him a hug, almost tripping him. “Just so you know, I know I am being foolish and there is danger, but this is something I have to do.”

He looked at her and thought he could see a glow around her. Suddenly she pulled him to the side of the road as a group on horseback raced by them in the opposite direction with three covered wagons.

“They are in a hurry.” Keirn gave a look of concern.

“Depending on where they are making their delivery of goods, they may be trying to get to Kelleeshia while the warehouses are open.” Telsa dismissed any significance to their hurried pace.

Between the farm fields there were patches of forest, some open areas with low brush and wild berries. They stopped a few times to observe wild animals eating, or resting, or rushing around. A herd went by in the distance lead by a beast with giant antlers and they paused to enjoy that hundreds of members of the herd move across their view and disappear into the forest.

“They smell different than the cattle on the farms.” Telsa noted.

“They are Eliko.” Keirn stated, “The most common wild herd animals on all of Ethar. They are wild animals so they wont smell the same as domestic animals.”

They followed the road until the second sun was low on the horizon and looked for a place to camp for the night. Keirn found a small clearing behind some bushes to the side of the road and at his suggestion they agreed to camp there. Keirn started a small fire.

“So we just roll out our beds and sleep on the ground?” Telsa asked.

“We can put up a tent if you want. One of us needs to stay awake and keep watch while the other sleeps. The fire will keep most animals away, but there are other things out there that may be attracted to the light.” Keirn looked around, “I can keep first watch.”

“We can sleep on the ground, the sky is clear.” Telsa pulled out some food she had prepared for the trip, and a pan to heat it. Keirn had to help her set up rocks to place the pan on over some coals of burning wood.

Telsa snuggled into her bedding after they ate. It took longer than she expected to fall asleep, but she was out shortly and Keirn was keeping his ears and eye open to the land around them. The first moon sliver cast a glow over the land and the second moon when it rose a couple hours later was more brilliant and made it easier to see farther. The light from the moons was different than that to the suns during the day, it gave the land a feeling of a ghostly presence. Like the suns, one moon had a bluish hue and the other more of an orange.

There was a disturbance in the brush nearby and Keirn drew his sword, moving between that noise and where Telsa was sleeping. He caught sight of the very large rodent, perhaps four feet long including the tail. Before he could get closer, there was a sudden rush of wind and a large bird swooped down and vanished back into the sky with the large rat. Keirn sat back down by the fire waiting for his nerves to calm. The large rat had him on alert, but the bird caught him by surprise and shook his nerves. Half the night was gone when he woke Telsa so he could get some sleep. He shared with her what happened and told her to stay alert and wake him if anything happens.

Telsa added a few sticks to the fire and looked up at the stars and moons. She stood up and looked around, enjoying the landscape under the magical light of the moons. She looked back and Keirn was already asleep. She had heard stories of dangerous things at night in the wild, but they were next to a road, not out in the wild.

About two hours passed and she heard some movement in the distance. She looked in the direction the sound came from and did not see anything at first. Suddenly a large fox or small wolf-like creature leaped and rolled in a scurry with some smaller animal. It settled for a minute then she could see the profile of the wolf shape holding a smaller animal in it's mouth. She was thinking she appreciated the nature of the situation, when something bat-like swooped out of the sky and picked the wolf up disappearing into the night.

Her first thoughts were how easily that thing could have picked her up, or Keirn in his sleep and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She tossed more wood on the fire. It felt like she could now hear and see everything as minute as a grain of sand shifting in the ground. She could smell her own fear, and the adrenaline rush that came with it. As awful as it was, it felt good too.

She felt the shape in the sky circling above them. She had no idea what to do with it, but she pulled out the sword Keirn had given her. It was descending. She turned and pointed the sword in the direction of the flying creature she could feel. Energy swelled up inside her and there was s sudden burst of light. The winged creature veered sideways and crashed into the ground, making an awful cracking sound and followed by a harsh wet gurgle.

“What, Whoa, ..” Keirn was awake, on his feet and sword drawn. The light still emanating from Telsa lit the corpse up of the demon bat looking creature about three times their size on the ground. “You were supposed to wake me.” “I guess I did.” Telsa's voice was trembling slightly, “I am not sure what happened.” The glow was fading and she appeared normal again. She dropped the sword she was still holding pointing upward and it clanged to the ground. The sound seemed to help pull her back from where ever her mind was slipping away to. She lowered herself down to one knee to avoid falling.

Closer examination showed that the appearance of mass was from the wings, the creature had very much a bat-like appearance with slight hints of more humanoid arms legs and face. Standing it would have been about six feet tall. “How did you create that light?” Keirn asked.

“I have no idea, I felt the energy build inside me and than when I pointed the sword, there was a flash, and everything happened.” Telsa was smiling so hard it looked like it might hurt. “I feel so great now.” She laughed and it scared Keirn a little.

“These things have parts that are worth money to magic shops and alchemists and such. I just don't know what, so I am going to collect teeth and claws.” Keirn went to the beast. “I am done sleeping I think too. So we can pick up camp and start walking again.”

“Alright.” Telsa was still laughing as she got up, picked up her sword and started repacking everything that was out.

It was still a few hours before the first sunrise, as they started down the road again. Keirn lacking a little for sleep, but by no means tired, and Telsa seemed to be delighted with events. He promised himself he would make sure she made her way home and survived her journey out into the world. They still had a few days before they would see a town and have the protection of a community.

By the time the first sun was rising, Telsa seemed to have regained most of her composure, but did still seem to be very pleased with the course of events. “You know, I never felt this alive before. I mean even though I am not glowing, I can still feel that power inside me. I don't know what I can do with it, but it feels like it is good, helpful, or something like that.” “I would recommend seeing the Grand Magus if we were in Kelleeshia, but perhaps there will be a caster that can help you in Farm Meadows.” Keirn was calming down, actually feeling a bit tired now. “You obviously have inherited magic from one or both of your parents. I discovered I had magic when I was twelve, and training has given me some control of that.”

“It would be nice to know how I can use it deliberately.” Telsa spun a full rotation, with her hands crossed on her chest as if in a hug. “My father used to glow, not sure what he was doing, but I remember the glow around him. My mother was an elf, so most elves have at least some magic.”

“So you are coming into what you are.” Keirn observed. “You know that normally happens for humanoids before the age of fourteen. I am guessing your routines have been normal enough you have not had reason to manifest anything before this.”

“You make it sound so detached, disconnected, like you are analyzing a wooden box, or a block of cheese you are thinking about buying.” Telsa settled into a steady walk.

“That is not my intent, I was just trying to understand the situation.”

They reached the fork in the road and continued south. The area between the roads was clear for a distance and light forest on the outer sides. There was a large house on the east side of the road. The house had two floors, about fifty feet across the front and about seventy feet deep. There was there was a small private road that ran by the south side of the house and the house was about a hundred feet back from the road they were walking. There were a couple adults sitting on the porch that spanned the front of the house and some children playing near by in the yard.

The people on the porch saw them looking and waved. “Should we visit?” Keirn asked.

“If it makes a difference of getting to the town in four days instead of five, I would rather we keep walking.” She gave a friendly wave back and did not slow down. “I am starting to think that I should have listened to you about getting training from those Greenleaf folks. I mean I depend on you to start a camp fire because I don't know how. When I pulled that sword I had no idea what to do with it other than point or swing. If I needed to use this bow, I would have to wait for you to show me how to string it, and then I have never held one or used one before. After we visit this town, I will go back with you and get training before continuing our journey.”

Keirn smiled, this was the first time she did not refer to it as her journey, she included him. “That sounds like a good idea if we survive that long. I am actually feeling better about that after last night.”

“We got attacked and that makes you feel better?” Telsa was a bit confused.

“Yup, and you were able to hold your own, even if you did not know what you were doing.”

Walking along they came upon a group with a wagon that was finishing breaking camp on the side of the road. The members of this group seemed upset as they packed things up, although they gave friendly enough glances.

“You kids out here traveling alone?” the tall human that seemed to be leading the others asked. The man stood almost six feet tall with medium brown hair and a full beard.

“We are.” Telsa responded faster than Keirn, “We are headed to Farm Meadows.”

“You can travel with us if you like, safety in numbers and all that.” the man said

“What happened here?” Keirn asked, “Not to pry, but you all seem to be a little low spirited.”

“We were attacked last night.” A female elf in long adorned robes stepped up. “Our friend, our healer, priestess Opal Beldane was slain in the attack, and Samuel here,” she pointed to the man sitting on the back of the wagon, “was injured.”

Pulled by her words, Telsa walked around the back of the wagon and placed a hand on the mans splinted and still bleeding leg. “I have no idea what I am doing.” she whispered, but the hand she had on his leg glowed and in moments the mans leg was glowing and the splint and bandages fell away. “Apparently there is a curse I could not remove.”

A large black and gold striped cat stepped around the wagon startling Telsa causing her to step back. The cat was wearing leather armor and gear, rose up on it's hind legs, “I can remove curses.”

“Introductions are in order.” the man they first spoke with stepped to the back of the wagon also. “I am Breldin Celtris, a hunter and trapper and leader of this small group that is returning from trading in Kelleeshia.” He pointed to the red haired elf woman, “This is Seranin Provost she is a Seer, she can see the magic around us and knows what she is looking at, and she has pretty good fighting skills too.”

“I am Kretsis Hestriss.” the Shadowkyn said looking at her, “I am a guard, and this is Samuel Talloon our merchant that you healed. Somewhere underfoot is Reldo Harlond our Goblin assistant.”

Seranin stepped to the side of the road, “It may seem moot, but that was our Priestess Opal Beldane.” She pointed to a mound of dirt about twelve feet from the road with a headstone.

Telsa walked to the mound and knelt down placing her palm on the ground, pushing an aura of positive radiance into the ground. She could feel the essence of Opal had moved on and there was a sense of peace. “She has moved on.”

Seranin commented, “You have sanctified that ground, thank you, her grave shall not be disturbed. You do a lot for having no clue what you are doing. Please, that is a compliment, no offense, I would want to see what you can do with training.”

“We should get moving.” Breldin called, “You two have already paid your way if you just want to travel in our protection, or you can join our team for the balance of the journey. If you join, that just means you share responsibilities, guarding each other and the wagon, cooking, cleaning, taking shifts at watch.”

Keirn looked at Telsa, “I think we can join for the remainder of the journey to Farm Meadows at least.” Telsa nodded her agreement.

Breldin took the lead, Kretsiss took up the rear and the rest walked around the wagon watching in all directions. Reldo was the exception, he road on the front of the wagon using his magic to guide the horses.

Keirn took the opportunity to start training Telsa with her sword as they walked.

The morning passed and they stopped for lunch. Everyone carried food for their lunches in their own backpacks. They all found a place to sit on the wagon, facing in different directions so they could see anything approaching. On the east side of the road the forest was thinning to more open space, more brush and less trees, but the West side of the road was shifting from forest to jungle.

“There are tribal animals that live in these jungles.” Breldin stated. “They accept offerings and may leave you alone or help you in exchange.”

“Have you seen them?” Keirn inquired.

“They stay out of sight mostly. You may catch movement, but never actually a good look at them.” Breldin looked as if he could see into the jungle. “They have been known to offer primitive tools and to accept tools as offerings. They also exchange for food and other things.”

“So, are they a race, or beasts? I mean they use tools, they have a social structure. They are self aware and they recognize other races, us, as such.” Keirn shrugged, “At what point switch from calling them tribal animals to primitive race?”

“I like your thinking.” Kretsiss had an undertone of a growl as she spoke.

“I'll leave that for the figure heads to decide.” Breldin made an expression that demonstrated his opinion of the governing structure. “As for me, I'll treat these strangers with the respect they have demonstrated and earned.”

“Hold it a little higher.” Keirn adjusted how Telsa was holding her sword.

“We can help with that training in the evenings when we stop.” Breldin offered.

“That would be great, at best I am still an amateur.” Keirn replied, Need training with the bow also..”

“So, not only were you two wandering around, with just each other, you have no experience or training.” Samuel mused, “Did nobody let you know the dangers of the world? That thing that attacked us last night would have finished the two of you off.”

“What was it?” Keirn asked, “We had an encounter early this morning, part of the reason we were already on the road again when you saw us.” “It was a winged demon.” Seranin replied, “A body the size of any of us, it could have picked you up and dropped you from the air before swooping down and taking out the other. Claws alone like daggers, they could have shredded any one of us. We woke up too slow to save Opal, but Samuel was the second target and we were up in time to drive it away. He would have lost his leg if it were not for you guys.”

Keirn hopped up and sat on the small space on the back corner of the wagon. He took off his backpack and pulled out one of the claws. “This is one claw from the bat demon thing that attacked us, very much like your description. It sounds like we were attacked a few hours after you, a few hours closer to Kelleeshia.”

“That was the direction that monster was headed.” Seanin stated walking up to take a look at the claw. “It may have been the same creature.”

“How did you kill it.” Samuel asked.

“I gave off some kind of radiant burst.” Telsa shared, “Then the creature crashed into the ground, I think breaking it's own neck.”

“You were lucky.” Breldin stated, “You can't live life counting on luck though. I am glad you were lucky, but you still need training and a larger group to survive out here.”

“Seranin, Kretsiss, and I can see if we can teach you to harness some of your magic with control.” Reldo suggested, “We all use different magic, but some of the basics are the same.”

“I have very little training and experience with my own magic, I did not think of that.” Keirn felt embarrassed.

“The common low level things are a good place to start, like flame, or light.” Kretsiss added, “I don't know how much my usage of magic will help. My magic draws from the primal source and it is a Shadowkyn skill, my profession is more in the physical realm, you know combat, getting in and out of places, avoiding traps, things like that.”

Breldin called a stop for the night while there was still at least an hour of sunlight.

“We could push forward another hour or so.” Keirn said more as a question than a statement.

“It is important to get enough rest so everyone can be their best. This also gives us time to set up camp, to eat, to get practice and exchange information.” Breldin responded, “The better we are as a team, the farther we will travel in less time.”

“You two come with me.” Seranin instructed, “We can start some training while the others set up camp and get dinner cooking.” She grabbed a block of bundled hay off the wagon and tossed it on the ground in a location with a slight mound behind it. She turned to Telsa and requested. “Let me see your bow.”

Telsa handed her the bow, “I have not used it, I have seen others use bows before.”

“Not a bad bow.” Seranin handed it back after looking it over and feeling the tension of the string. “Show me how you would hold it”

Telsa grabbed the staff close to correctly in her right hand and grabbed the string in the same manner. “Something like this.” she said.

Seranin adjusted her grip on the bow, “Hold the bow like this, if you have your hand turned in you will hurt your arm with the string. If your hand is higher on the grip you will overshoot everything, if it is lower your arrows will fly sloppy and you will wear your wrist out. You wrap your first finger and thumb around the top of the grip like this and your thumb is the guide for your arrow. Let go with your other hand.” Seranin put two fingers on the string, “You only use two fingers on the bow string, holding it something like this. See this mark on your string, not all bows have a mark, but this is mid string. This is where you notch an arrow and draw, pull the string.”

Telsa took the string with two fingers centered on the mark, “Like this?”

“Yes.” Seranin took her own bow and pulled an arrow from her quiver, “Watch, you lay the shaft of the arrow pointing away over your thumb like this, then take the back end of the arrow with the notch and slip it onto the middle of the string. With one finger above and one below like this. Then draw the sting back like this.” She lifted the bow and drew the arrow and string back. “You lime the string and the arrow so that it points to your target. Arrows normally arch and through practice you get familiar with how high or low on the sting you sight along to your target for how far away the target is.” She loosed the arrow and it hit center in the hay bundle. “Go ahead and use an arrow and pull your bow back ready to shoot.”

Telsa followed the example, only pulling the arrow accidentally off her thumb once before getting it notched correctly and drawn back generally aimed toward the hay. She lined it up with her sight thread splitting the arrow and arrow time lined up maybe four inches above her fingers and the tip aligned with Seranin's arrow and let the string go. Her arrow was lined up, but landed about half way to the target barely sticking in the ground. “What did I do wrong?”

“A couple things.” Seranin smiled, “Nothing we can't fix. When you aimed, you pulled the bow string back to the middle of your chest, shortening how far you can pull and reducing the strength of your pull.” She was demonstrating by holding her bow how Telsa had. “You need to turn like this so that the string is pulled across your body to get a maximum pull and lean your head slightly like this to aim. Go ahead and try again.”

Telsa pulled another arrow and gave it another shot. This time she overshot the target, but not by much. “This is the part where practice and getting familiar with how high or low I aim, right.”

“Actually, yes. Your form was perfect, so time to practice.” Seranin turned to Keirn, “Let me see what you have.”

Keirn shrugged, “I have some experience.” He took a shot and missed her arrow by two inches.

“Good, more experience is all you need.” She looked at Telsa, “Now you need to watch closely.” then back to Keirn, “Pull your sword and come at me.” she had her sword drawn and ready.

Keirn pulled his sword with uncertainty. “Are you sure?” he swung his sword with a basic swing, projected and easy to defend against.

“I need some real combat. If Telsa is going to learn to defend herself and fight, she has to learn from combat, not dancing.” She swung back at him, forcing him to have to defend himself.

“Wait!” Keirn successfully blocked, but fell down.

“There is no break or wait when we get attacked.” Seranin stated initiating another swing, “Combat is not fair.”

Keirn rolled her sword striking the ground where he had been. He swung his foot catching Seranin's leg and knocking her off balance. She recovered before he could get up, but he was up before she could attack again. “More?”

“That is enough to demonstrate my point.” She turned to Telsa, “Now, we can teach you how to use a sword, but the weapon is not the fight, it is only a part of it. You have to use everything you know and more if you are going to win a fight.”

Grelyen

G1 There were members of the tribe that believed the changes made by Lyamy to the Shadowkyn tribes were wrong and made them weaker. They also called the children of other races mixed with the Shadowkyn abominations. Their numbers were few, but they were organized. Grelyen read the books and knew that the Shadowkyn were on a path of self destructions their numbers shrinking and the largest tribe had been reduced to about seven hundred before Lyamy. More Shadowkyn were killed by ritual, rules, and the code of their culture. The only thing she had changed was the way they were interpreting them.

The population of the clan Lyamy was born to the Shadowkyn had risen from the divided seven hundred to several thousand as had the western half of the clan. Other clans throughout the savage continent followed after the same changes and the population of the continent rose to a higher level of stability. There were weaker Shadowkyn that survived, but the skills of the Shadowkyn expanded into other areas and pursuits that were previously not available or considered among the Shadowkyn. It seemed to Grelyen that the population was not all the Shadowkyn had previously lost, but also intellectual and creative pursuits.

Grelyen Stood up. He had come to Kelleeshia to investigate rumors he had heard of Shadowkyn who had taken over a floor in the Greenleaf tower. The rumors that he knew of were from Shadowkyn who were afraid to talk and has slipped away from their places in the organizations that opposed the new way of things. Krelled one of the prime members and a political leader Vanished a couple years ago, emboldening some of the underlings who decided he was crazy to finally speak enough that rumors spread.

So far there was no physical evidence to support the rumors, and the Greenleaf staff would not share information on who comes and goes from the tower. They did keep explicit records, so in spite of the fact they were not allowed to tell him, Grelyen shared what he knew of the rumors with Greenleaf. In the mean time he needed a place to stay in Kelleeshia, and gather more local information. Eventually see if he can make it into the tower and up or down to the right level to investigate further. The main roads into the City all had taverns that rented out rooms, but they were bound to be the more pricey places to stay. They were also very public and he was hoping to keep his visibility at a lower profile. He knew about a tavern on the south east side of Kelleeshia, that was where he would go first.

He left more than enough coin to cover what he had to drink on the table, picked up his backpack and walked out of the Greenleaf Tavern. They seemed to be very nice people and insisted that everything they did was for the safety of those who sought their services. Greenleaf seemed to own a block in the business area next to the Noble district. It was going to take him a couple hours to walk to the Boars Belly Tavern and get a room.

Grelyen still got looks from folks of other races, even though the Shadowkyn have been commonly mixed with the other races for decades they still looked like large cats standing upright and were mistaken for animals. He made it to the main road south. There were a lot of business types here, Taverns, and shops targeting people who come and go. He was only two streets from the South Gate when he turned left into the South Eastern district. There was one of the Magus Towers on the left and across the street was the Boars Belly.

Walking up to the Bartender Grelyen greeted him, “Greetings. I was told to ask for Vic and let him know Merlger sent me to ask for a room.”

“Greetings.” the bartender slammed a glass on the bar in front of him and poured a drink from an unmarked bottle, “I am Vic, we have some open rooms, but I have no idea who this Merlger is.”

“Alright, he had your location right.” Grelyen looked around, “How much is a room, and will my staying here cause any problems, I don't want to cause you trouble.”

“Ten Silver a night, if you pay for seven you get the eighth free, and check out is an hour before midday on your last day.” Vic answered.

Grelyen placed a gold piece on the counter, “How is this for starters?”

“That will get you two weeks or sixteen days as a package deal.” Vic pulled a key, “Second floor room six.”

8 “That I already discovered.” Telsa looked excited, even anxious to be a part of the combat. “What is in me took over when I needed it, but I don't know what it is and what it will defend me from.” “I would suggest we test to find out if we can trigger it, but that level of power, I would rather live.” Seranin laughed. “We will have to pay attention when we are in combat, but I think it is something you can learn to control and bring out at will. For now we just practice and train with the weapons you have.”

They spend about an hour learning sword movement and practicing, before joining the rest for dinner.

“Well?” Breldin asked, “Our new companions up to speed on defending the team and wagon?”

“They are green, but can hold their own with any category one or two, anything greater we need to shield them also.” Seranin shrugged, “Potential for greatness if they survive.”

“So typical green adventurers, only untrained too.” Kretsis seemed almost disinterested.

“You could link to them and upgrade their skills.” Reldo suggested.

Kretsiss hissed, “You are talking about bringing them into my Den, family, and we do not know if they have any intent of staying with us.”

“You know you can remove them from the Den at will. I am talking about making them up to par to help us make it to Farm Meadows alive. If all goes well, they may also return to Kellesshia with us before we depart company.” Reldo added, “Maybe they will stay with us after to fill out our team.”

“I'll think about it, and talk to them before we start our watches.” Kretsis was balancing gain and loss, virtue and risk of the new members so untrained. She touched the minds or the other members of their group with her Den connection. They all shared willingly their skills with the group. They all can learn skills from one another. These two would not add much to that pool of knowledge, but the team had lost their healer and the two of them came as a package deal. As the gathering for dinner was coming to a close Kretsiss asked Telsa and Keirn to join her off to the side from the group to talk. “How much do you know of the Shadowkyn?”

“Not much.” Keirn replied, “You are a race from the Savage Continent, you look like cats, you are natural sorcerers, all I know is general public knowledge and rumors.”

Telsa shrugged, “That was more than I know.”

“Most of the world is still not familiar with us.” Kresiss looked back and forth between them. “We have a bond that we can establish with those we consider Den, family, as you would think husbands and wives. It helps us share knowledge and skills. It creates an emotional bond along with the mental bond. I have this bond with the rest of the team.”

“It sounds like a serious commitment, something that you would refrain from using without knowing those with whom you share.” Keirn watched her eyes, “You are considering asking us to join your Den, knowing we may not stay or our paths may separate. The value for us seems large, but we do not know enough to make a sound decision, so what do you need from us to complete your decision.”

Kretsiss gave a low level rumble, “We have a need, you have a need. I need assurance you will not abuse what you can gain from this bond. I have made the decision if you are willing, and your assurances may be just words, I can not know until after the bond, but at least your words will give me the comfort I need to take the risk on you.”

“I give you my word, I will do my best effort to not abuse any kindness bestowed on us.” Telsa bowed her head to Kretsiss.

“You have my word,” Keirn agreed, “to do our bests to not abuse what you offer.”

“This bond makes you one with our den, until such time as death should separate us or I should separate you from the bond.” Kretsiss placed a hand on each of their shoulders, “The first thing I will do is enter your thoughts and show you how to control and limit what you share.”

Their minds came together, they could hide nothing from Kretsiss, but she taught them to hide their thoughts from the others and share only what they wanted. The bond was so much more than Keirn or Telsa could have expected.

G2 Grelyen went to his room. It was a simple room at first glance. Grelyen reached into his primal power and adjusted what he saw in the room. It took a few moments to disable the monitoring spells and locate other access to the room. It took another forty minutes to secure the room from unwanted access and set up alarms should anyone try. With the room secured he went back downstairs and grabbed an open table in a booth.

A waitress came over placing a plate of food on the table along with a large mug. “No options?” Grelyen asked.

The waitress laughed, “We have what we have. If you have a request for something specific, as long as you are buying we can send someone to get it. My name is Kahli.” She sat down across from him at the table.

When she sat down he saw the small black horns that were almost hidden in her hair. “You are Jinn? I mean the horns could come from other heritage, but, ...”

“You are correct.” she smiled, “I am also at your disposal for a price.”

Grelyen tasted the food and it was good. And he washed it down with the home-brewed ale. “I do appreciate the offer. If you are under debt that keeps you offering this service, I will help you pay your debt.”

“Oh, dear sweet kitty-cat, your offer is generous, but I am here by choice. I like the owner, and the staff, and the amazing variety of people I meet. Money is no object to me. I like your kindness. Give me your name and I will come when you call me for a favor.”

“I am Grelyen.”

She stood up, leaned over and kissed his forehead. “You have my promise. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you.”

Grelyen nodded, “Thank you, Kahli.” He returned to his eating as she slipped away. There were other patrons sitting at tables, talking, paying him no mind. He looked around and assessed that these were others who preferred not to be noticed so he averted his attention from giving them notice. He received one alarm, but finished his meal, dropped two silver on the table before getting up and returning to the room. As he approached he could see the attempt was made to get in through the door. They triggered two of his glyphs so it was an amateur attempt at best, or a cover attempt to test the target. With a slight whisper a trail he could see with his magic vision showed the way to the mark placed by the glyph. Grelyen followed the wispy trail and it turned into a blank area of wall between doors down the hall. There was still a slight magic aura on the wall where the would be thief pressed the trigger mechanism. Looking the hall was clear so he pressed the knot in the wall and went through the panel that opened. Dark-vision kicked in and he followed the narrow stair down to a passage along the outer wall at the back of the Tavern that was deep enough to pass beneath the window sills. The passage seemed empty in both directions.

Even with no observers, Grelyen went into slipped into the shadows to continue. Following the passage to the left, leading toward the office and staff areas of the tavern he passed several other passages back into the room areas of the Tavern. At the end of the passage was a stairway back up to the first level. Listening he could hear activity in the kitchen and voices.

A male voice asked, “So what did you find?”

A female voice replied, “He has secured access to the room. I could not get in short of breaking the door down. The hidden panels are all sealed too.”

“We better leave him alone then, might cause too many problems to pry.” the male voice concluded. The voices were not voices Grelyen recognized.

The door opened and the man stuck his head through and looked around. They did not see him. “I am not acting out those stupid lines again.” Grelyen could see she was the one who got marked by the glyph. “If we are not going to actually steal from this guest, we don't need to do side show performances just in case.” She turned and walked away through the kitchen. The man shrugged and closed the door.

Grelyen went back the way he came and went into his room this time. There were teleport traces in the room. Nothing else seemed disturbed and there were no other new magic signatures he could detect. Grelyen put porting wards in place. Finishing touches to his room protection. 9 It was morning already when Kretsiss finished her tour and training of using the Den bond. The others were already packing up camp, but had breakfast set aside for them. There were signs of a small fight near camp during the night. They wolfed down the food, and felt totally rested.

It was only about thirty minutes later they were moving down the road. Telsa and Keirn could feel where each member of the party was and it was not easy not hearing their superficial thoughts. There was an advantage to knowing and feeling the rest of the team, but also the distraction that they would have to learn to overcome.

After the first hour of travel Seranin insisted they draw their swords and move down the road doing their training forms with their swords. It was more work and challenging doing the forms while keeping up with the forward movement of the group. This also resulted in forced improvising. To top it off Seranin kept challenging their movements with a wooden staff also forcing them to make instinctive adjustments.

The group came to a stop, there was a wagon blocking the road, appearing to have a broken wheel. There were a couple people bent over the collapsed part of the wagon with what looked like a spare wheel.

Breldin called out, “Why are you blocking the road?”

One of the people at the wheel of the wagon stood up, looking like a wagon guard, called back. “Wheel collapsed pulling the wagon across the road like this.”

Breldin signaled and advised through the link be ready. “That does not work like that, the only way to block the road like that is deliberately. Why are you blocking the road?” he shouted again.

They were still about sixty feet away and the man shouted “Now!” There were four members from the wagon that started rushing toward them, four archers appeared from around the wagon and what looked like an arcane caster and a druid type.

Having been warned Breldin was the only member of the team that needed to tuck into cover Kairn, Telsa, Seranin sent arrows. Unseen Kretsiss had circled behind them and knocked their Druid unconscious, vanishing again instantly, with the druid the farthest back, none of the others noticed. Seranin was the only to actually hit with her arrows, striking the arcane caster twice, interrupting whatever they were casting. Reldo was hiding under their wagon and caused a second wheel on the wagon crossing the road to collapse and the archers that were propped against it lost their arrows in wild shots. Samuel murmured something about a breached contract and one of the fighters coming at them in the back attacked one of their own. The fighters had made it halfway to their smaller group.

The arcane caster was taken out from behind next. Reldo did something else and the strings on two of the archers bows snapped. Breldin rushed forward bashing one of the lead fighters with his shield, knocking him prone on his back, and swung his sword wide causing the second fighter to swing towards the blade and used the hilt to slam the side of his head, stunning him. The other two fighters had not gotten that close, preoccupied with fighting each other. Two archers got shots off in their direction, three arrows stuck in the wagon, and two glancing off Breldin's shield. Kretsiss appeared on the other side of the wagon long enough to summon fire and set their wagon blazing. Two of their archers were caught in the flames.

“Fall back!” The guardsman called getting up from the floor. “We are loosing too much fighting these people.”

Breldin had already stuck the other lead fighter with a fatal blow. Seranin, Telsa and Keirn all landed multiple shots. The ranged part of the attackers team were all out of commission.

“We can not let them just hide and attack the next innocent group that comes by.” Seranin shouted.

“Agreed, take them out!” Samuel shouted.

Breldin and the team attacked one more time, when a military unit came up behind them. “We'll take it from here. We have been after this group for weeks now.”

Breldin saw the Unit and sent the signal to all get back to their own wagon, “All yours he shouted.”

The Commander jumped from his horse and joined them. “You were outnumbered, but still managed to overpower them. There is a reward for their capture and your team deserves that reward.” He pulled out a coin-purse and handed it to Breldin. “We will take them back to Kelleeshia where they will face justice.”

“Thank you for this.” Breldin held up the purse, “Although we were just saving our own from the attack.”

“You folks just stay here and relax until we get that mess out of the road so you can pass.” The commander went to join his unit. They summoned a prison wagon and loaded the bandits. They used their horses to pull what was left off the road. When the road was clear they formed up and paused as they were passing, “You have free claim to anything you can salvage from their wagon and equipment.” then moved on.

Brendin instructed the team to go through the gear and what remained of the Wagon for anything they could use. They took the weapons and the arrows. There was a lot they took, but in the wagon they found what was obviously look taken from other travelers. The goods that were obviously stolen from other travelers Breldin instructed to put in one of the unburnt crates that they could give to the township of Farm Meadows to help others.

“Anything we leave will be pillaged by others.” Breldin stepped back, “We need to move on.”

There was little activity the rest of the day, although they did pass the occasional farm. That night they all took shifts on watch, but no incident. The end of the next day they would reach Farm Meadows. There was more traffic back and forth as they got closer to the gates of Farm Meadows. The gates were more a token than any real security. There was no fence around most of the town. There were also no guards or security keeping the gates. The population of the town was supposed to be between five and six hundred. This included the all the outlying farms though that stretched a day or two travel outside the town gates.

They continued to the center of town. There was a Town Hall, one Tavern, one Mercantile, and a magic shop. They dropped the crate of stolen goods off on the porch of the Town Hall. Seranin got them rooms at the Tavern. Samuel and Reldo took the wagon and goods to the Mercantile. Breldin went off to talk to the members of the town council. This left Telsa and Keirn standing in front of the Tavern, so they followed Seranin.

Seranin went to the tavern keeper behind the bar, Keirn and Telsa sat at an empty table and looked around. The tavern was about half full. Keirn guessed by the clothing that over half the patrons were locals and three tables may be adventurers or other merchant teams. A young woman about their age came to the table.

“Good evening, I am Leiahla, would you like food or drink?” she asked.

“A light fruity tea for me would be wonderful.” Telsa smiled.

“What do you recommend that wont get me drunk?” Keirn asked

“We have a variety of teas, we have some wine and ale that are low alcohol.” Leiahla bowed her head slightly blushing.

“I'll have a light ale then.” Keirn saw her blush, “This is not your primary work. Do not worry, you are doing great.”

Leiahla's blush deepened and she turned quickly away.

Telsa laughed, “She likes you, that is why she blushed, not her job.”

Keirn had a momentary confused expression that he coughed off quickly, “Really?”

Keirn seemed to lose his ability to speak when Leiahla returned with their drinks, so Telsa handed her a few coins, “Thank you for the drinks. Apparently he likes you too, seems to have lost the ability to speak.”

Leiahla glanced at Keirn and looked down again before turning away, mumbling something incoherent.

Seranin joined them at the table with the room keys and the others were joining them. Leiahla did not seem to have a problem serving everyone as long as she did not look at Keirn. As the evening progressed she gained enough confidence to speak with Keirn and he with her. The charm that had incapacitated them briefly passed and they still had a friendly enough like, but the overwhelming infatuation faded.

11 Breldin cleared his throat, getting the attention of everyone at the table. “We have done well. We have the commission for the delivery, and the rewards of defeating the brigands on the road. Keirn and Telsa, you have slightly less from the delivery commission and previous encounters we had, but a full split of everything you were a part of.” He handed out coin purses to everyone.

For both Keirn and Telsa, this was more coin than they had seen in their life times. “They both uttered “Thank you .” over the top of each other.

“You are welcome,” Brelden said, “but it is us who need to thank you. We would not have made it passed those brigands without your help. It may not have felt like much, but having you in our group made the difference between winning that fight and losing it. The meal is already paid for, you can tip the waitress as you see fit.”

A round of ale was served, “Drink up!” Samuel lifted his tankard in the air, “Too our success and many more.”

Keirn watched the others and saw the coins they handed to Leiahla as she was serving, and gave her a silver coin. “Thank you.” he whispered as he handed it to her. The others including Telsa had all given her one or two copper coins.

She palmed the coin quickly, her eyes shows slight surprise, “It is my pleasure.” She smiled as if there were more meaning than he was aware of. When the others were starting to head up to the rooms, she grabbed his hand and started leading him to a back room.

“Where are we going?” Keirn asked.

“You paid for my services.” Leiahla smiled more warmly than he expected and he blushed.

“I did not know, ...” he stammered for words.

“Oh, this was not what you wanted? We don't have to. ...” She blushed now. “You would be my first. We can still do this.” she pulled him into a room.

Keirn smiled looking at her more than he felt like he should, appreciating what he saw before averting his eyes. “You are wonderful, but I have never done anything like this before. I like you so we can just talk if you want.”

She pushed him toward the bed, “It will be for both of us then, first times together.”

Telsa went upstairs with Seranin and Kretsiss, the women had a separate room from the men. After settling their belongings in, Seranin created illusions to conceal everything. “Let's go to the bathhouse so we can be fresh in the morning.” She lead the way and they all slipped into the flowing water of the pool.

“Time for breakfast.” Breldin bellowed. Keirn flew up out of bed. “I see you survived last night.”

Keirn blushed, “I did not know, ...” he stammered again.

“We could tell.” Reldo laughed, “She is a nice country girl, she could steal your heart.”

Keirn dressed quickly and grabbed his belongings ready to go. “She is nice.” he left it at that and followed Breldin downstairs. He was glad and disappointed that Leiahla was not working this early.

“Breakfast comes with the room.” Breldin stated as they sat down.

Grelyen sat in the corner of the room and pulled out his notes. He can go into the tower alone as long as he is registered with the Adventurers Guild and with Greenleaf. You can take missions or you can just go in and explore. They warned him that things are not always the same next time you go in. To get past a certain point he would need a group. You have to defeat level one before you can go up or down to level two and you have to beat the respective previous level up or down before you can go to the next. He did not know if Krelled lead his group up or down. He would have definitely gone to a level that was of a higher difficulty. Of course that is if the rumors he was here are true.

Something crashed in the hall. Grelyen paused in hit contemplations. There was murmuring and footsteps walking away what sounded like two people. An attempt to teleport into the room had been displaced. Did they think he was not in his room? Back to plans. Grelyen knew he would need a team. There were options, he could get Greenleaf training and they would stick with him as he got to higher difficulty levels, he preferred something more discrete. He could sign up and get grouped with others, small groups or individual entries. He could work on making friends in the area and forming a new group and registering a team.

He was here to investigate. It was supposed to be a stealth mission. Gather information and report back. For now he would go in solo and get a feel for the first level, learn a little about how this tower worked.

Grelyen stood up and slipped his notes back in their pocket. And headed downstairs walking back into the bar. “Vic, please warn your staff to stop attempting to steal from me. Like I said I don't want trouble, but if they keep bungling they way they have been they may get seriously hurt of find themselves short on life.” Vic looked up and laughed, “That is their business, but I will relay your warning.”

“Do you know where I can pick up a discrete team that I can work that tower with?”

Vic laughed again, “Two words that are somewhat lacking at the Boars Belly, 'discrete' and 'team'. You probably should have brought friends, come with a team if you wanted that. The other option is to mix with people in other parts of town to make friends and form a team.” Grelyen sat down at the bar, “You are probably right. I'll have one more, then call it a night and work on things in the morning.” As he sipped his ale, another alarm went off. “You may have a medical emergency on your hands.”

Moments later two of the kitchen staff came stumbling down the stairs. The thin galley woman had blood coming from her left leg and the assistant cook had an injury on his right arm. He let her go at the nearest table where she collapsed laying back on the surface as he grabbed his arm.

Grelyen emptied his ale and stood up. He turned and started towards the lady. The man started to step in his way, but with a look Grelyen forced him to back off. He pulled her up on the table better so he could see her leg. There was a major would and the bone in her lower leg was cracked. He pulled the leg and used primal magic to mend the bone. He pulled out a poultice that looked like dirt and leaves, but instantly stopped the bleeding. Handing her a small vial, “Drink this.”

“Who are you?” the man asked. “You know how we got injured and you help us?” “Do you want to be my enemy?” Grelyen looked at his arm and handed him a small vial also. “I expect you want to live so you will not be attempting to break in or interfere with my work again?”

“We will leave your stuff alone.” The man conceded.

“Then we are not enemies.” Grelyen shrugged, “Perhaps you may even settle your debt and we may consider a friendship.” He was already climbing the stairs back to his room when he finished, leaving no room for an answer.

Morning came without further incident. Grelyen got up and re-secured the room when he left, not that he was actually leaving anything of value there everything he traveled with was on his person. Kahli served him breakfast. He had eggs, strips of fried meat, hard bread, and fried potatoes. She was flirtatious and reminded him to call on her if he needed her.

He gave Vic a nod as he headed out into the street. He tried to locate the secret passage through the city wall, a shortcut Merlger had told him about. It seemed Merlger may not have been straight with all his answers. After losing a couple hours searching for the landmarks and secret passage Grelyen gave up and headed for the South Gate. Two dead ends and almost midday when he finally reached the gate.

Grelyen could go faster if he dropped on all fours, but he found that running like that is a good way to get the wrong attention outside of their homelands. He headed south and then east when he reached the road. There were farms to his right as he walked and fancy house of the lords who chose to live outside the city walls. It was well into the afternoon when he reached the giant doors of the Greenleaf entryway to the tower. The doors stood open and he wondered why they bothered with doors that could close in a place like this.

Registration for entry was to the left. There were groups that were looking for others to join them, calling out near the entry. He thought to himself, 'Maybe next time'. There was a line to the registration counter, but it was not long. He could hear the questions being asked as he was waiting.

“Did you want to join the queue to get in a random group?” “Does your group want to get random additions from those waiting?”

“Do you have quests, want quests, or just exploring?”

There was other conversation, but those questions seemed to be asked to everyone. There were four clerks moving the line quickly. The next space opened and Grelyen walked up. “Going in solo, no quests, just exploring, how much?” He pointed to his adventure Guild tag and was reaching in his coin bag.

The clerk noted his Guild badge scanning it with a wand. “There is no charge unless you are requesting training or some other type of assistance. There are no restrictions on how long you can take inside, but try to keep track of days to avoid confusion when you come out.”

They had not told him before it was free, but then he never asked. He dropped his coin pouch back under his tunic and turned toward the tower. There were groups doing final preparations before going in. Leaders with final instructions. He walked past those who were not moving and in through the twenty five foot tall door that stood open into the Tower. To his right side he looked down the stairway at a dead end, to his left was another stairway that ended at the ceiling. In front of him walking in was another door he had to open to go through. It was odd, a large door with smaller doors inside it to accommodate different sized people going in. A group walked by him and entered the door while he assessed the situation. He followed them, opening the door and going in himself.

Grelyen noted that the group that went in ahead of him was right in front of him when he went in. It was not like all these people going in were going to different places, well unless they had access to different floors. There was a short cave like path that lead in to the open area. There did not appear to be a ceiling inside. He looked up and there was sky and clouds, the suns were about half way down in the east. He reached out with his primal magic. It felt different, like he was in a different plain. He had been in dimensional spaces created by others and mini-plains, that was what this felt like except it did not seem to have the limits he had felt in those.

Breldin Pushed his plate to the side when he finished eating. “So, Keirn, Telsa, we need some decisions from you. We know you want to go back to Kelleeshia and get your training with Greenleaf and honestly we would be happy to go through all that with you. In two days we will have a load ready to go back to Kelleeshia that gets you guys back to the city. First are you good with continuing as part of the Den and waiting to go back with us? Which I am pretty sure you are good with. After that though, we can stay a Den, if you want to continue with us, from what I understand that training can help us also, but we need your commitment at least for a year after we get back to Kelleeshia.”

“You have already agreed to the return trip to Kelleeshia when we talked.” Kretsiss interjected, “and I think we can wait for your decision on the rest. You can let us know any time before we all sign up, although the sooner the better for the rest of us.”

It lifted the pressure to answer right away, but Telsa did not hesitate. “We're in.”

Keirn shook his head at her impulsiveness, but added, “Agreed.”

“Well, with that settled Samuel and I have to go take care of the business end of things to make sure the wagon is ready to roll.” Breldin and Samuel left the Tavern together.

Seranin looked at the two newest members, “You two come with me, we have some training to do while we have time.”

“I thought we would explore this town and see what it has to offer?” Telsa said more as a question than a statement.

“Really? The town is farms, a mercantile, this tavern, the town-hall, and a few houses.” Seranin mused, “Perhaps we can do both. We can start right here.”

“You have fun with that.” Kretsiss and Reldo got up and started heading to the door, “Let us know if you need help.”

“How can we start right here?” Keirn inquired.

“We all have the Den bond, focus on me, see what I am doing and what I am sharing through the mind link.” she looked at them, “There you go, I can see you are doing both. I am casting a simple spell to see magical auras, what the casting and the thought. My mind measures out the magical power I use, my body does the ritual, if there were sounds or words, I would have to utter those. Now look through my eyes.” “There are things that have a glow to them.” Telsa observed.

“Alright, each of you copy what I did.”

Both Telsa and Keirn were successful the first try.

“I have used the spell before, but never thought through the nuances.” Keirn had an edge of excitement as a student in his voice.

“Telsa, you remember when you healed Sam's leg when we first met. You exerted all your energy for a very short burst and it was done. That is one way of healing, but you could have used a lot less of your innate ability if you had focused and controlled how much energy you were pushing into what you were doing. Schools and rules will teach you this spell has this cost and you have only so much you can do in a day. I am telling you magic is more of an art than a science. You have a cut on your finger they cast a heal spell, for a cut on your arm ten times as big they cast the same spell, use the same mana or magic power for a different amount of healing. Both of those used up a full spell casting for the day and did not accomplish the same results.”

Telsa looked slightly confused, “So how do you avoid that?”

“There are different ways. Some ignore lessor injuries until there is enough damage to justify the use of the spell. That has advantages, but major disadvantages too. Mending an arrow takes the same spell as mending a hole in a door, but the volume of damage repaired is very different, but the arrow can take out an enemy and the door can't. The point being if you just use standard spells wasting mana on something small may be the better choice. That scratch may be minor, but may make the difference between your friend bleeding out or surviving a major wound in battle. I am sure there are other ways to manage the use of what you have, but I choose to control the power I put into every spell I use. You can heal that tiny scratch on the finger with a small enough amount of energy that it does not even count as using a spell would. The see magic spell you are using right now will see more if you push more into it, and with experience you will be able to start identifying magic you know.”

Seranin took them outside and pointed out the buildings in the center of town. The Mercantile was next to the Tavern and those were the names of the buildings and businesses. Farm Meadows Town Hall was next progressing south through town. There were other houses on either side and across the street. There was an intersection south of the Town Hall going east and west.

Seranin pulled out a candle and set it on the ground in the middle of the intersection. “Telsa, pay attention through the link to Keirn. Keirn light the candle.” Keirn pointed to the candle with two fingers and a flame ignited on the wick. “Basic.” he said.

Seranin closed her hand and the flame went out. “Now you try, Telsa.”

Telsa pointed to the candle with two fingers as Keirn had, but the burst of flame engulfed the entire candle and left a pool of wax burning in the dirt. She has a distressed look on her face.

“That may be useful in a fight,” Seranin laughed, “but for lighting a candle try starting with no energy push and increase it ever so slightly. Remember what you did though, it may be useful later.” Seranin squelched the fire and pulled out another candle. “Try again, but the effort or energy you need should be near to nothing.

This time Telsa lit the candle like it was something she had done all her life. “That was like not even using any of my energy.” She rose up on her toes like she was about to start dancing.

Seranin walked them around, there really was not a lot to the town. She taught them all the zero level or no cost spells she knew, most of which Keirn already knew too. “There are a lot of no cost things you can do that fall under general labels for spells like 'Prestidigitation', or any no cost zero level things you can do with magic that we have not labeled yet.” Seranin laughed, “Keirn see if you can split a pebble with insignificant magic, Telsa see if you can make a weed grow into the shape of a circle with almost no magic.”

Both of the young apprentices were successful at what they were asked. “So if there is anything we want to do that seems trivial, just try it, and if we can do it with almost no magical energy it is like this prestidigitation?”

“That is as good a way of saying it as any.” Seranin shrugged. “The next step in magic depends a lot on who you are and what you are good at. See, Wizards you formulas and ingredients and written or spoke spells to do things, sometimes even for zero level magic. Everything they do has to be prepared. There are some things that just require certain physical components, but we have innate magic, it is a part of who and what we are. Like me Keirn also uses some wizard magic, but most of what we do we learn and do working the power that is in us or using that inner power to manipulate the power around us. Telsa you have demonstrated some of this ability, starting that fire you used arcane magic from within, but you have a massive amount of natural divine magic. Do you have any of the ancients of Ethar that you favor?”

“I have not really thought about that, they seem to be mostly disconnected from our every day lives.” Telsa looked at the sky as she thought about it. “I guess I like the stories I have heard of ShadowDancer clothed in fire and shadows, helping the outcast and mixed breeds. I am a mix breed and I don't feel outcast, but I have nobody as far as family to turn back to.”

“That can be a good choice, take your time.” Seranin continued, “You can also serve more than one, they don't all work against each other.”

“I heard that Bonny and Eric are the most powerful ancients humans can serve.” Keirn tossed out.

Seranin laughed again. “Possibly true, I don't get into the politics. You like Telsa are also a mixed breed though.”

“What do you mean, I am just a human.” Keirn protested.

Seranin ran her fingers through his hair deliberately bumping into the small horns he hid. “I would guess you are at least part Jinn. That is probably where you get your innate magic ability.”

“My mom never said anything about that.”

“What about your dad?” she asked. “I do not really know, he works on the docks.” Keirn sighed slightly, “I have never seen him use any magic.”

“Sounds like you also may be lacking for extended family? Uncles, Grandparents, cousins or such?” Seranin asked leaving it open if he would answer.

“I have friends, I don't know of any family other than mom.” Keirn looked in the general direction of Kelleeshia, a little worry on his face.

Grelyen reached out into the environment, a dimensional pocket would have clearly felt like a space in a random dimension usually with no resources in any reasonable reach. It was not a mini plain, they had resources according to the creators will, usually limited in size and round. The sky and light has a different feel he could normally the difference. The felt the same as the normal material realm.

Reaching down into the ground beneath him he examined the content, elements he could draw and form. He placed his right palm on the ground and pulled an iron ingot from the ground. Looking around he slipped it in his pocket making sure nobody noticed what he did. He was a Shadowkyn and had the primal sorcery of his race, drawing material from the environment was part of that skill.

The group ahead of him were gone and he moved forward along the path. The ground and grass, and bushes seemed normal for the region of the world around Kelleeshia. Even the wildlife was normal, small animals that he saw were mundane and normal. He left the path stepping into the woods on the left. A small eliko darted by, with the sounds of predators following. Grelyen concealed himself in the brush and saw the wolves approaching. There were four of them, they paused sniffing at the air.

Grelyen did not draw his weapon, as the wolves started in his direction sniffing. Before they knew he was there he leaped over them taking two out with his claws bursting with fire, landing behind them the other two yelped and ran. He was not a novice, but not wanting to make the kills a waste he harvested the skins, claws, teeth and scent glands. He cleaned them and field scraped the hide, rolled everything together and slipped it in his pack.

“I better keep my guard up, that was sloppy.” he said to himself. It was late in the day, maybe a couple hours till sunset. He found a place to camp, first he set up parameter alarms so he could sleep. Then he set up a campfire and cooking tripod to heat the food he had in a pot already. It did not look like rain, but he setup a lean to to sleep under just in case.

Sitting by the campfire on the ground, Grelyen took time to reach out and feel the environment around him. There were enough elements in the ground for him to make a living just drawing them out even without shaping them as he did so. His reach was not limitless, but the world seemed to go on in all directions, even behind the entrance that brought them in. He could pick up the scent of another party camping not far away. They were to the east and the breeze made his fire clicker. Removing the pot he pulled a spoon from his pocket and ate without transferring it to a plate. He was alone, no need for the nuances required in good company. As he finished he set the pot down and used a cleaning spell before stowing it away. He turned and looked to the east. Perhaps just a look to see how prepared the group was. Most groups in here were probably training groups or starting out first time adventurers.

He used his stealth skills to get close. The camp was actually only about five hundred yards from where he setup. Underbrush, trees, and the uneven landscape were the only reasons they could not see each others campfires. There were two people keeping watch, seems the rest were already laying down for sleep. It looked like a female human and by the slim build he would guess a male elf. They were talking softly and nervously watching the darkness around them. The activity of small animals in the woods at night was keeping them on edge.

Grelyen was about to go back to his own camp when he picked up noise from the other side of their camp. He smelled the air, dirty leather, and rust, along with the smell of goblins. The young adventurers seem to be dismissing the sounds as just more of the night time woodland creatures.

Suddenly several short spears hit the ground around them. One hit the girl in the leg where she sat. There was a moment the two did nothing but look in fear. Grelyen ran forward on all fours, pulling the spear and slapping a poultice on the girls leg. “Wake your friends, I'll hold them off till you are ready.”

The young elf jumped back from Grelyen, but it broke him out of his inactivity and he ran and woke the others. The girl was also snapped out of her fear and cast a spell on her leg that Grelyen recognized as a healing spell.

He could feel ten goblins. With a whisper and a gesture the area ahead of him was filled with tiny lights exposing the goblins and causing them some confusion. It was the goblins turn to flounder caught off guard.

Seranin put a hand on Keirn's shoulder, “We will see your mother when we get back to Kelleeshia.” Seranin caught a vision of Keirn's mom and a large male Shadokyn with gray fur. There was also another Jinni fighting with them, making the group total ten. “How curious.”

“What's wrong.” Telsa asked.

“I get visions of the future sometimes. I just got a vision of all of is in battle somewhere with three others that join our party, including Keirn's mom.” Seranin shrugged.

“Was the other person my dad?” Keirn looked hopeful.

“Not unless your dad is a Shadowkyn.” Seranin lead them into the Mercantile as they spoke, “You kids have some money now, if you want to restock you travel food, or need anything else.”

Telsa and Keirn did restock their food and they looked around. Keirn grabbed more arrows. Telsa was drawn to a stick standing in the back of the shop. “Is this for sale?”

The merchant walked back to see what she was talking about, “That is just a stick my daughter dragged in. If you want it you can have it.”

Telsa held out a silver coin, “Give your daughter this for her stick. It is a good choice for me and she deserves compensation for it.”

The Merchant gave her an odd look, but accepted the coin.

When they walked outside Keirn stated, “I am not even going to ask you why you bought a worthless stick.”

Telsa seemed to not hear him, she held the stick out in front of her and whispered, “Alright, ShadowDancer, I have heard you in my heart, I will serve you.” The stick transformed into a staff of a priestess of ShadowDancer.

Seranin raised her eyebrows, “How did you know?”

“She called to me when I saw the stick.” Telsa shrugged as if it were something normal. “She is going to have to teach me now how to be what she has called me to.” Telsa picked up the staff and it appeared to disappear into her arm.

Seranin had seen this before, but was a little surprised the Telsa did it with no training. “You have no idea how you did that, and you do not know the gifts granted you by your Ancient ShadowDancer?”

“No, but she knows me. She has talked to me before.” Telsa spun around a few times in a girlish dance. “The land will yield its bounty. We will help those in need.”

Seranin looked at the positioning of the suns, “We should meet the others at the Tavern.”

The rest of the group was already sitting at a table with plates of food waiting for the three of them. They quickly took their places at the table.

Breldin waited for them to be seated, “Let the food be blessed.”

Telsa touched the table edge and the food glowed for a moment.

Breldin looked at her, shrugged, “Dig in and pass the serving plates to your right.” once the commotion of getting the food to their plates settled he continued. “The Wagon will be ready to head back to Kelleshia the day after tomorrow. That gives us some time and we have new blood in the team. I grabbed a contract so we can train and practice working as a team. The most common contracts in these areas are getting rid of rats for farmers. There was a contract for a pack of wolves near the farm we are going to. I did not take the contract, but if we see them we can grab the job off the board when we get back.”

Samuel piped up, “We'll head out today, spend the night and return before tomorrow evening.”

“I was getting to that.” Breldin feigned slapping him in the head. “Anyway, what he said. We still have the room for the night if you have things you don't need to carry to the job.”

They made ready after lunch and Breldin lead the way. They followed the road west from the middle of town. While most of the land was open farmland, the trees and underbrush they did find suggested it extended from the jungle. There were a mix of other trees, but vines seemed to grow on everything. It was a couple hours when they reached the farm they were seeking. Breldin went to the door while the rest waited about twenty feet back to avoid intimidating anyone.

The farmer walked with Breldin down the steps and waved everyone to join them. He lead them around to the barn behind the house. “There are a few that occasionally get into the barn, but our dog takes care of that. There are as best I can tell three nests along the edge of the forest over there.” He pointed as he spoke. “The nests have grown big enough Jebb, our dog wont go near them.” “We will take care of this.” Breldin assured the farmer. When the farmer was out of earshot he continued. “This may just be ordinary rats, if it is that will be easy, but farm dogs do not normally shy away from regular rats, unless there is an overwhelming number. Demon rats have been a common problem, and undead rats are also not as common, but an issue since the Lich Wars. Either way, we need you Telsa to stay back from the fight and cleans the area when we are done. You can do range, and healing, but try to stay back from actually encountering them. Everyone else, we want to do as much range damage, weapons and casting as we can to minimize risk and injury. Kretsiss you are the best scout among us right now, bring us a report on the first nest.” Kretsiss drop on all fours and raced through the fields.

“We can get closer, so we are ready when she reports back.” Seranin started moving towards where the first nest was indicated to be. They all moved together.

Reldo saw a stray Rat in the field and threw something small that exploded into wires leaving the rat a bloody mess, but dead. The throw actually missed the rat by about five inches, but the wires cut everything up in a two foot radius.

“Reldo likes toys.” Seranin laughed at the expressions on the faces of the young ones.

They stopped about a hundred yards from the mound they could see at the edge of the farm field. Seranin stood up as she got close to them. “It is a very active nest, maybe twenty five to forty normal looking rats, at least a few two to four foot rats. The entry could accommodate me on all fours. I don't smell sulfur, but I can not get that close without alerting them. There are bound to be strays around the area and out collecting.”

“We will move in until we can start seeing them running about. Samuel will stay back at that point with Telsa to protect our healer. Keirn you stay with Seranin and Reldo with me. We do as much as we can ranged, as long as we can.”

Breldin pulled a strange device from his side loading it with a round device and it threw the round object landing near the mound. “Traps.” Seranin whispered.

He did this five times, then there was a burst and a cloud of bluish purple smoke. The rats they could see started running back toward the mound. There was another flash and a twenty foot wide fire was burning around the mound. There were three more flashes, and the squealing of the rats. Reldo threw several of his small objects landing around the mound. Seranin cast a spark flew followed by a twenty foot radius ball of fire bursting from the top of the mound. The Ground was scorched. Keirn shot three rats with his bow. Breldin was also shooting his bow and Telsa followed that example. Kretsiss was sending bolts of lightening from her sword.

Larger rats came out of the opening, looking around trying to locate the attackers. Three dropped skewered with arrows. Eleven started rushing in their direction. Seranin started firing arrows that exploded with a blue light when they hit. Keirn pushed magic into his arrows so they ignited with fire when he shot them. Breldin continued using regular arrows, as did Telsa. Kretsiss moved right and a step forward of the rest with her lightening sword.

As the last of this wave of rats fell, Seven rats twice their size came out with eyes glowing. Regular arrows stopped being effective, so Breldin switched to a different quiver and the arrows he was now using were ripping large holes taking them down in a couple shots. The magic enhanced arrows and the lightening were working although it took more to kill. Telsa's arrows started to glow and when she did hit, the eyes stopped glowing and they were easier to kill.

Three more rats came out that burst the ground around the opening being too large to fit through the space that was there. Telsa hit one first with her glowing arrow. The rat let out a screaming roar and started to charge straight for her. Everyone targeted the one rat doing a lot of damage, but it did not seem to be slowing down. Breldin dropped his bow pulling his blade and stepping between the rat and Telsa. Samuel said “Broken bargain.” casting some kind of spell and the rat reeled in pain rising up and giving Breldin a clean thrust and a fatal blow dropping the creature.

The other two were still coming toward them. Samuel whispered “Viscous competition.”, another spell and the two rats attacked each other. Some damage was done, but the rats quickly turned back to the group.

Telsa closed her eyes and shouted, “ShadowDancer bless our weapons.” As she spoke the staff appeared in her hand and blots of golden light jumped from the staff to the weapons everyone was using.

Breldin swung his blade at the rat on the left, Seranin sent her blade forward to fight for her. Reldo tossed what looked like oil at the feet of the enemies and they seemed to flounder loosing footing. Keirn stepped back and aimed for the eyes. Kretsiss brought her sword down on the one Seranin's sword was fighting.

Telsa saw Breldin take a swipe and pushed a flash from her staff instantly healing the wound. Then healed a bite that Kretsiss received just as fast. Telsa became as busy healing as the rest were fighting. The fight did not last long, but Telsa had healed seven serious wounds and five minor ones before it was over.

“We are not done yet.” Breldin said not exactly shouting but loud, “There is going to be some kind of pack leader or boss inside still. Judging by the eyes of the last waves this will be a demon rat.”

They paused long enough to use their magic to mend their armor and gear. Breldin was the only non-caster so the others fixed any damage they saw. Breldin pressed forward to the entrance.

Seranin cast a series of lights down the sides of the entrance that went down and then forward out of sight from where they stood. “We don't know how big the chamber is, a fireball might have too much back blast and hit us.”

Breldin stepped forward, Kretsis followed, then Seranin, Keirn, Reldo, Samuel, and last Telsa. The chamber expanded so they could move two by two. A few random normal rats skittered around and Reldo's toys took care of them. There were two glowing eye ahead of them.

Seranin cast more lights so they could easily see the giant rat and the dug out walls of the chamber about twenty feet wide and thirty to the back where the demon rat remained.

“Range attack, only magic attacks will work.” Breldin started slowly forward with Kretsiss.

Lightening and arrows flew, but most were getting deflected by a magic shield or barrier.

Reldo turned to Telsa holding two of his metallic wire balls in each hand, “Bless these.” and she did.

A cone of magma spray burst from the rat hitting Breldin and Kretsiss, the rest were too far back for it to reach. Reldo rolled his toys along the floor and they made it past the shieldand burst open under the demon rat drawing its attention to the damage it was taking underneath. The shield faltered, range attacks got through and Breldin and Kretsiss charged in. Telsa was sending healing bolts from the staff to the forward members of the party.

They overcame the demon rat, but not without injury. Telsa however was healing their injuries as fast as they were forming. When it was over Telsa ran up to look at Breldin who had taken most of the damage. It was then she saw he wore magic armor under his outer garments that were not full of holes and torn. She laughed when she looked at his face, wounds were all healed, but his beard was full of holes. Telsa turned to Kretsiss and she did not bear the marks of battle, she had used her innate primal sorcery as a shadowkyn to protect herself. He bent over and picked up a piece of Breldin's tunic, “Well, at least we are all in one piece.” she spun around on her tiptoes twice laughing, thrilled at the battle.

“You need to consecrate and clean the area.” Seranin told Telsa, “We don't want it drawing other demons.”

Telsa knelt, placing her hand on the ground and a glow began to spread from her hand. It reached the lava stone the giant dead rat was still laying on and resisted a battle of wills began. Telsa pushed harder and was slowly winning. She whispered “ShadowDancer.” and fire and shadow streamed from the staff she was holding in her other hand and the resistance failed. The stone turned to ash and the demonic power was gone. “I am stronger with you.” Telsa giggled and stood up. Then turned to the others “Done.”

“Alright, search for any loot you can find.” Breldin started extracting teeth and claws and anything that they could get a price for back at the Adventurers Guild in Kelleeshia.

They gathered coins, jewelry, precious stones, tools, weapons, a rather large collection of random things of value. Everything that looked like farm tools they bundled and carried back to the corner of the barn. The suns were both down, but the glow of their setting still filled the air. The farmer had offered rooms in the house, but agreed to let them camp in the barn for the night.

Grelyen took out the two goblins near him with his claws. He could hear the commotion in the camp behind him, they are too slow, they would have been overrun. He deflected a spear with his bracer. Stepping back he lit the bushes around the goblins on fire. They were temporarily preoccupied with not burning and rushing out of the brush into the open.

Finally an arrow from behind him took out another goblin. Grelyen moved backwards slowly doing things to slow the goblins down. This was their encounter, he was determined to let them do as much of the fighting as possible. The last goblin fell and he turned, the camp had their weapons all trained on him.

“I just saved all of you, and you are going to attack me now?” Grelyen walked over to their fire, “Sit down and listen to me.” He sat on the ground.

One of the female elves said, “Lower your weapons.” He assumed she was a leader.

“You did good having a watch, but you need to learn the sounds you hear.” He looked at the two who had been on watch, “Did they sound the same as the small animals and birds? Couldn't you smell them coming? If you are not sure of the sounds you hear, it is better to wake you companions and have it be a mistake, than to not wake them and everyone dies. Survival is not a game.” Grelyen scanned the others with his eyes. “The rest of you took way to long getting up and ready, if I was not here you would have been over run and dead even if these two had alerted you immediately. You need to sleep ready to jump up and fight. Are you a Greenleaf training group?”

The elf that told them to lower their weapons stepped forward. “No, we heard the first level was easy so we thought we could do it without training.”

“I don't know their training, but anything is better than this.” He stood up, “I recommend you get out of here in the morning and get training from someone with a little experience at the very least. How did you get past the registration anyway.”

She looked at the ground. “We told them we had some experience. They did not ask what kind, so it was not a lie.” She lifted her eyes to his. “Will you train us?”

He hesitated, “I will move my camp to join yours for the night, to make sure you survive until morning, but I am on another mission and this Greenleaf outfit will train you for a year, you should take their deal.” He had difficulty believing he was recommending a group he knew very little about and had avoided working with himself.

Grelyen moved his camp over and set his alerts around their camp. “You guys continue your watch, I'll be up if anything else comes along.”

He expected that there would not be any more encounters the first night, but this did not mean to drop his alertness. He awoke on his own after about six hours of sleep. He looked at the camp. Two different members of their team were on watch. They appeared to be playing some sort of game instead of paying attention. They did not notice when he took down his tent and packed all his belongings. Grelyen sat there watching them.

There was a rattle from the south, that did not sound exactly like sticks to him. The two on watch paused and listened a moment, but hearing nothing else went back to their game. Grelyen pulled his bow and fired an arrow into the ground about thirty feet south of the camp. The burst of flames lit up the area and revealed seven skeletons walking their way.

The two on watch started shouting and had to run over to their weapons and pick them up. The camp was up much quicker and they were not doing bad fighting, although this was a very weak enemy. One of the team was attempting to shoot arrows which just passed through between the bones. Their healer was up in the fray swinging her staff more effectively than those using swords. Grelyen picked up a rock and threw it at a skeleton coming up behind her. The rock hit true and with a cracking sound the skeleton went down.

The skeletons were all down. There were a few wounds that got healed. The group was excited that they won.

“So what happened?” Grelyen asked.

“We won!” they started thinking he missed it.

“You were a disaster.” Grelyen cut them off from their excitement. “You two on watch heard the clatter, stopped, listened and went back to playing a game, they were thirty feet away when I lit up the area so you could see them. You started shouting in panic and had to run over to get your weapons, why were you not carrying them? The rest of you responded well this time, but if I had not alerted you, you would have all been dead. Then there is the problem with your healer being the best fighter against them and nobody covering her back. You need blunt weapons against skeletons, not arrows and swords. If I had not thrown that rock, your healer would have been gutted from behind, who else here could have brought her back from death or the brink of death? You are all too green to be in here without training.”

The excitement of their victory had vaporized. “Do you know where the entrance is we do not know how to get back.”

Grelyen looked at them and sat down by their fire. “I will show you the way. Collect your loot from the skeletons and the goblins from last night. Have breakfast, and then break camp. Before you all give up in defeat, you have potential. You did better after the little bit of instruction I gave you, so you can learn. Go get your training and give it a year to decide if this is a life you want to live. Adventuring is always a risk and mistakes can lead to death, but success and effort can lead to great rewards also. You have learned you need training, you can count that as your first victory.”

Their spirits picked up a little and they tried offering him some of their loot. He turned it down telling them they needed it more than he did. It was less than an hour before they were ready to move.

“They will train you how to not get lost too.” Grelyen started forward. “The path should be not far in this direction, odd that is where the skeletons came from.”

As they moved forward they started hearing a clanging sound. The young adventurers all pulled their weapons and whispering concerns.

Grelyen laughed, “Well done, but that is the sound of a blacksmith hammer. We will use caution, it could be an enemy camp, but it sounds like it is on the trail so probably a blacksmith trying to work his trade inside the tower.”

Grelyen pointed through the brush and trees at the young blacksmith who had set up a shop by the path. They stepped out and Grelyen walked up to him and pulled out the iron ingot he had.

“The best I can offer sir is ten silver. You can get more than that outside.” the blacksmith said with a slightly nervous voice.

Grelyen knelt down stuck his hand in his pocket and drew two more ingots from the land. He stood back up pulling the other two ingots out and said, “You can have all three for ten silver. Work your skill and perhaps one day you will make me the best sword in all the land.”

“Why?” one of the group asked him as they followed.

“Make friends at every opportunity. You never know when you may need help, or one of those friends will provide for your need. He will remember me and in twenty of forty years, he very well may be a grand master of his trade.”

“You have saved us, three times over if you count finding the way out. We will remember you.”

“I suppose you will. I was here and you needed me, perhaps a slight delay in my own affairs, but I think you are worth that.”

The path lead to a small cave with a gravel path that lead the way out.

The members of the young group all gave him a hug before heading out.

Grelyen watch them leaving. He asked himself why wasn't he working with Greenleaf. It was not like he had to reveal his mission, or that they would even care. It would make it easier to come in with a group, even if they were as green as these guys, they would learn. Perhaps when he was done exploring this level he would consider it when he came out.

The farmer met them early the next morning and Breldin confirmed that they were dealing with Demon Rats, sharing a little of the fight against the first nest. The farmer accepted the farm tools although most were not tools he lost and most of the tools he had lost were not there. The farmer offered to have his wife fix them a good breakfast. Breldin declined explaining this was also a training mission for some of the team. Afterwards he explained that sometimes there is a pact between a demon rat and a person who owns or works on the property, so it is best to minimize accepting anything until the job is done. The second nest went on a par with the first, the attacks of the second demon rat were different from the first, but on a par, some damage taken and they leaned heavily on Telsa and her healing. Telsa leaned heavily on the staff to accomplish the healing done. The loot was also on a par, nothing spectacular, but enough to collect a reasonable amount for their time.

It was shortly after midday when they approached the third Nest. Seranin whispered, “I have a bad feeling.”

“Stay alert.” Breldin barked, “There is something different about this one.”

The numbers of small rats were greater and even though he kept recovering arrows when he could Keirn was down to his last twenty. For the second wave of rats he used his magic casting various elemental bolts which lasted until it was time to go into the den. His magic power was down and he felt as if he would be useless helping against the demon rat. They went in with the same formation Breldin and Kretsiss, Seranin and Keirn, then Reldo followed by Samuel and Telsa.

The demon rat spewed fire, but Seranin had a magic shield up in time to block it. They used their ranged attacks and the rat had no barrier, but seemed to be taking the damage in stride. Tentacles shot out of the demon rat with hard sharp tips. The four team members in front managed to slash them before anyone was hurt. Breldin and Kretsiss thrust into the main body with their blades. Two more tentacles shot out. Kretsiss managed to damage one with her claws on her off hand. Seranin missed, and Keirn swung around her cutting the tentacle, but not before it went though Seranin's chest, entering behind her left breast through the ribs and exiting her right side and through the back of her upper right arm. She dropped with a look of shock on her face and her eyes remained open.

Telsa was not sure what she did, but she encased Seranin in an amber glow, she was dead, but her flesh was not dying, suspended seemingly in time. The remainder of the battle was short. Keirn pulled Seranin's body out into the light. Telsa sanctified and cleaned the area before she came out.

Kretsiss was slumped in tears over Seranin, “Not you too.” She pulled a large diamond out of her bags and knelt before Telsa holding it out. “Bring her back.”

Telsa stared for a moment then took the diamond. She had no idea what she was doing. After stepping next to Seranin she knelt down and pulled the tentacle out. She placed the diamond on Seranin's chest. “ShadowDancer, I do not know what I am doing, but they are willing to pay the price and from her previous vision it is not her time. Guild me and bring her back.” Telsa laid her hands on her staff pressing it into Seranin and pushed her energy through the staff into her. The body glowed brighter, and the wounds closed. The glow faded and Telsa stood up. “I have done what I can. The rest is up to her.

Several minutes passed and Kretsiss was crying again when Seranin suddenly took a breath. “I have seen death and she told me it is not my time.”

Kretsiss through herself on top of Seranin, this time crying with joy. “Don't you ever try leaving me again.”

The group took a few minutes to regain their composure. Telsa looked up and saw he image of a woman dressed in flames and shadows standing behind them watching. It was ShadowDancer. Telsa whispered “Thank you.” She smiled and disappeared.

“What's this?” Seranin was looking at her chest. “I have been marked with the flame of ShadowDancer.” Just above her armor below the small of her neck was an image of a flame in brilliant color and the dark black of the shadow-flame.

“We need to clean up operations before dark and get back to town.” Breldin pulled them all back to the situation at hand. “Finish up looting, drop off farm tools and let them know we are done here.”

They searched the area and the nest and collected what they could. They dropped all the farm tools by the corner of the barn again and went around to the front of the house. Breldin went up to the front door, knocked and talked to the farmer for a few minutes. The farmer went in and came back out before the bid each other farewell and Breldin returned to the group.

“So how did we do?” Samuel asked.

“He paid what he could afford which would have covered things if they were not demon rats.” Breldin shrugged, “and promised four full crates of food if we come back at harvest season.”

“Think we will come back for the food?”

“Probably not.”

The walk back to town was quiet for the most part. It was late when they got back to the Tavern. Leiahla greeted them and offered to stay and cook something for them if they wanted to eat. They thanked her for the offer letting her know they would be fine for the night. She gave Keirn a smile before turning and leaving for the night.

They gathered in the guys room to eat before sleeping. They shared rations and drink. Seranin spoke for the first time since her comment when she was first back from being dead. “Somehow I never imagined me getting killed, even after Opal died. I have always had this sense of going on forever.”

“Sounds morbid, but what was it like?” Kretsiss looked at her.

“Honestly, I don't know. I knew that strike killed me, but mind mind went places before I was dead, like I lived an entire life in moments. Then there was dark, vague recollections of voices. After that I was in a still place being told I had a lot more to live for. They asked me if I was willing to return to my life. It was my choice to come back.” Seranin smiled. “I think when we die and come back, we remember what we think we should have experienced. I do think I have touched another level of consciousness, but I am not even sure what that means.”

Telsa took her hand, “You feel okay now though? No more injuries, everything as it should be?”

“Yes, dear, and thank you for bringing me back.” Seranin gently squeezed her hand back.

“It was ShadowDancer, not me, I do not know enough to take credit for such a powerful thing.” Telsa suddenly perked up, stood up with a little hop, “But I am glad you are back with us.” She was back to her random excitement.

“We should call it a night, our shipment will be ready to go in the morning.” Breldin shook his head a little and smiled. “See what trouble we can get in on the way back.”

“Can we bring Opal back?” Kretsiss asked, almost pleading, “I have more gems of value.”

They all looked at Telsa. “I told you she has moved on. Even if we were to bring her body back to life it would not be her.”

“How could it not be her?” Kretsiss asked.

“She has moved on, so something else would fill the gap, maybe a demon, or devil, maybe anything else that may have died and not moved on, like animals or someone from a hundred years ago, who knows.” Telsa looked Kretsiss in the eyes. “Would you really want that with Opal?”

Kretsiss was forced to think about her request being directly addressed, it was not what she wanted. “No.” she agreed and left it at that.

“How did you know I was not going to come back like that?” Seranin asked.

“First, I could feel you had not moved on. Second it was not your time, remember the visions you shared of fighting with Keirn's mom in our group. Then, it really was ShadowDancer that brought you back and I don't think she would have made a mistake like that.” Telsa shrugged

“How do you know all this?” Keirn asked and looked like he was embarrassed he had. The question had come out before he thought about what he was asking.

“I think ShadowDancer is teaching me, when I sleep and between the moments of time.” Telsa looked uncertain, “I will need to consult one of her priestesses when we get back to Kelleeshia.”

Everyone settled in for the night, tomorrow would begin the return to Kelleeshia.

In the morning Leiahla was anxiously waiting to talk with Keirn before they left. “Here I made this for you so you could remember me.” She handed him a small piece of fired clay that was flat and round. It had her name on it and said you were my first.

Keirn was not sure what to think, but felt obligated to do something in return. He dug out an onyx black bird his father had given him. “You can use this to remember me.”

Leiahla kissed him on the cheek and ran off.

“Well, that happened.” Breldin slapped him on the back. “Remember we take care of people, and emotions can be tricky things. Alright, breakfast and we are ready to go.”

They all sat down at the same table they had been using and a hardy plate of breakfast was placed in front of each of them. They were all in good spirits, but conversation was minimal. Their minds were all contemplating the events and conversations of the last few days.

“I hope we have a smooth return trip.” Reldo put out there.

“Oh, yeah, everyone gets a share of the reward from the farm clean up.” Breldin handed each of them a small coin purse. He stood up. “Samuel and I will get the wagon and meet you all out front.”

Samuel followed Breldin out the door. The rest got up and headed out also, leaving a few coins on the table.

As the wagon pulled up Seranin stated, “We could move faster with mounts.”

Breldin laughed, “But we can move further each day without them.”

Keirn picked up this was an ongoing thing between them. “We could teleport.”

“I suppose if we knew the rules as to where we could land and had someone skilled enough to safely do that on target, or built teleportation circles between specific locations we could do that the way the Grand Magus does.” Seranin seemed to be deliberately making it sound complicated.

“Besides,” Samuel added, “you need to practice your sword play.”

They headed up the road north. The first stretch would be passing all the farm lands and farmhouses. Breldin expected that to be without incident. Nobody was scouting ahead or behind, everyone just needed to stay alert to their surroundings. They could practice or do the things they wanted during this stretch. Some of the time Telsa and Keirn did their sword practice, a routine they started doing every day. Seranin and Kretsiss showed them some new forms to practice.

“So, why do we need to practice these forms against the air?” Telsa asked Seranin.

“You are practicing moves so that they can become second nature, instinctive if you find yourself in battle. Your body remembers how to move. Sparring also helps because you learn to read your opponents moves so you can react to counter properly. We can do the same thing with magic to some extent, but you really need special environments to do that. Spells can be destructive to everything around you. Also when practicing you don't want to actually accidentally kill your sparring partner.” Seranin paused. “Training, practice, and experience are the wools we have to learn to survive as adventurers. We also have to be quick thinking to adjust to situations we have never seen before.”

Telsa randomly did a triple pirouette, throwing her sword in the air and catching it, but somehow making it look like there were a dozen swords spinning in the air at the same time. She saw everyone watching her. “Oh, I am sorry, I just get excited.”

“Can you do that at will?” Seranin inquired.

“Of course, once I do something by inspiration, I can repeat it at will.” Telsa repeated the performance.

“There are legends of an ancient land of elves who danced in battle with unnatural skills.” Seranin was looking into distant thought. “I wonder if you are descended from them. They were thought to be extinct. Can you cast magic while dancing also?”

“I can try, but I don't know a lot of spells yet.” Telsa replied

Seranin pulled out four candles handing two to Keirn, “We will hold these out one in each hand, and you light them while dancing.”

Telsa giggled and started dancing. The candles were all burning in moments and when she stopped she had a fifth candle balanced on her fingertip also burning. “It seems I can.”

Seranin put the candles out with a gesture so as to not waste them and examined the new candle. “So how did you get a new candle?”

“I just thought it would be fun and there it was.” Telsa giggled again.

“We need to get you training.” Seranin put her four candles away and held the other one to Telsa who slipped it into her backpack.

It was a few days out of town when they were beyond the farms associated with Farm Meadows. There were still Random farms and houses that could be seen from the road occasionally. As they were passing one large house that was a few hundred yards from the road Keirn asked, “Why would anyone want to live so far from civilization?”

Samuel laughed, “This is not far from civilization, it is on a major road, but it is far enough away that they do not have to deal with the politics of a town or city. They don't have to pay any taxes. That house was big enough it probably has rooms and back houses for hired hands. They don't have to deal with the noise and the hustle of living in the city. If you notice, they have their own farm area, so they don't have to buy food supplies. They may even have cattle, sheep or other animals, although just hunting in the area would provide enough meat. Who knows, you may even decide you want to live like this one day. It takes money or time to get a place like this started, but the once you are set up it costs less than an apartment in the city.”

The idea gave Keirn and Telsa something to think about.

“The things you can harvest in the wild, like eliko hide or meat are more valuable than those raised or grown on the farms.” Breldin paused, “Well, wild fruits and vegetables can go either way. That house had a lot of stonework, so it is possible they have a stone quarry on their land too. That would be enough to pay for everything they own if they are selling cut stone.”

“The more I learn of the world, the more it seems I don't know.” Keirn pondered, he had never even questioned where the stone that build Kelleeshia came from. As far as he could remember it was just always there and if you wanted to build something else you got it from the stone yard. You got leather from the shop, although part of him knew it came from cows, he did not think that there were different types of leather. There was a lot more to learn about the world.

There was more wildlife in the distance from the roads when they were farther away from houses and towns. The rest of the team was constantly pointing things out in the distance that the youngest two members of the team missed and instructing them on what to look for and how to be more aware. As evening approached they found a place to camp as they had every evening.

“We are about halfway back. Do not drop your guards.” Breldin pressed, “we have had good fortune so far, but getting overconfident cost us dearly heading out, lets not make the same mistakes again.”

Keirn recognized the implication that the mishap they came upon may have been due to the team not staying alert. He took mental note of that and committed himself to not letting his guard down. As he laid down he considered Telsa's choice of Ancients to follow. He had never selected any himself, even though he knew you could follow more than one. Keirn considered following ShadowDancer to show his support for Telsa. He was contemplating this when he drifted into sleep.

He was dreaming, ShadowDancer was standing before him. “Look at me young one. I help the poor, the downtrodden, those who are outcasts born of multiple races. Yes, I would accept your service, but choose who you want to serve, you will still support your friends no matter what Ancient or Ancients you choose to serve.” She lifted her hands and others of the Ancients appeared around her. “We are many and do stand for different things. You are a special sorcerer, Lyamy could teach you to tap into the Primal magic. Darvel could grant you access to the magics of the Shadow Realm. Eric would magnify your power, and you could gain access to the plains. There are many more. You have the blood of thirteen races and will grow to be a Jinni of power. If you wish you can pick me for now and keep the option to change later. I give you a moment to sleep.”

Keirn suddenly woke up looking around. He came out of his tent. “Did I miss my watch?”

“You barely went into your tent.” Kretsiss looked at him, “You could not have gotten any sleep that fast. Are you alright?”

“Do you follow Lyamy, she is the Shadowkyn Ancient right?” Keirn did not answer her question.

“She is, and sometimes. I also follow Darvel sometimes since he made us.” she grabbed his shoulder, “Are you sure you are alright?”

“Yes, I am fully rested. I had a dream.” Keirn stated

“Tell me your dream.” Seranin requested as she stepped up. Kretsiss took a more attentive position to what was around the camp, but stayed in earshot.

“I fell asleep thinking about following ShadowDancer to support Telsa's decision. Then there she was talking to me, telling me if that is what I wanted she would accept me, but started telling me advantages I could have if I picked others, like Lyamy could grant me Primal magic or Darvel the Shadow Realm. So I thought I would ask Kretsiss about this Primal magic.” Keirn was looking around. “Are you sure I have not gotten a full nights sleep?”

“Did she mention a 'moment'?” Seranin asked.

“Something like giving me a moment to sleep.” Kerin replied

“She gave you a full sleep in a moment of time, you wont sleep until tomorrow night now.” Seranin stood up, “Take some time and explore the magic we share in our minds, get a glimpse of some of what she was talking about that we know or understand.”

Keirn sat down, and followed the link to Seranin and Kretsiss and let them guide him through glimpses of magic and things he could not fully understand. He saw the source of primal magic that Kretsiss used. He saw the purity of elven magic from Seraninand then glimpses of the Shadow Realm. Both Kretsiss and Seranin seemed to have uncertainty concerning Eric and Bonny, too powerful and not from this realm.

An alarm went off through the link, almost instantly everyone was up with weapons drawn. A group of twenty brigands were rushing the camp from the north. Magic was being cast. Tesla began to spin and dance appearing to be half asleep, but a wave of light pressed out forming a dome around them and blocking the magical attacks. Telsa was glowing and dancing around, drawing the attention of their attackers. Breldin started toward the left flank, and Kretsiss to the right.

Keirn threw a flame at the ground in front of him that streaked in a line towards the enemies. The ground under the Birgands burst with flame at the same time Seranin's ball of fire blew up in their midst. Reldo did something that rained oil down on the enemy and it caught fire coating them in flames. There was a lot of loud shouting and unpleasant language from the brigands, but they kept running toward the camp, at least those who were still on their feet. Breldin and Kretsiss attacked from the side catching them off guard and slowing their approach. Out of twenty there were ten left and three of them turned and ran the other way.

Telsa was moving fast dancing and spinning right through the middle of the enemies and four of the last seven fell to the ground asleep. The leader stabbed his sword in the ground and said, “We yield.”

The fight was over. Seranin put the flames out. “We don't have a prison wagon, should we just kill them and save the effort?”

“I still have favors I can call in.” Breldin started pulling something out of his pocket.

At hand held him back, “I'll take it from here” ShadowDancer standing there. With a wave of her hand the brigands all vanished armor and all their belonging dropping where they were. “I was watching the young ones.” she laughed a gentle pleasant laugh and vanished.

“So, Keirn, it was not a dream, it was an actual visit.” Seranin shrugged.

Telsa let her glow subside. “I am going back to sleep.” She vanished back into her tent.

“We can collect whatever they left in the morning.” Breldin looked around, “Everyone get what rest you can and keep the watch rotation.”

“I am going to be up all night, I can start gathering.” Keirn offered.

“Just don't get out of sight of whoever is on watch.” Breldin warned and dropped into his tent.

Seranin and Kretsiss were still on watch, and Keirn started collecting armor and items that were left behind from the brigands. He watched them as he worked. Seranin was preparing or crafting magical items while on watch and Kretsiss was pulling materials from the ground, seeming to shape them as she did so. From what he could tell, gems and metals, but he was too far away to see what she was shaping. They had told him Shadowkyn with their innate primal magic could do that, draw materials from their environment, shaping them as they did so. Telsa had said something about the land will yield its bounty to followers of ShadowDancer.

Turning his back to the camp so he could hide what he was doing, Keirn tried to copy what he saw, and draw material from the land. In his mind he shaped it into a ball. He felt the ball form under his hand, but when he looked it was a ball of dirt and stone.

“You were not specific.” Kretsiss said from right behind him, causing Keirn to jump. “You need to focus on what you want to pull from the land. With practice, you will be able to reach out and feel what is available. The shaping will improve with practice too.”

Seranin woke Reldo and Breldin who took over watch. Kretsiss and Seranin went to their tent. Breldin looked at the piles Keirn had collected. “How much more is there?”

“I think I have collected about half of it.” Keirn looked out over the darkness, “I have it separated, metal armor, weapons, leather, clothing, coins and gems, and miscellaneous.”

“I see that. It will make it easier to sort out in the morning.” Breldin approved, “Any signs of the three that ran? I know they attacked up, but they were injured and burning when they left. We should probably take a little time to see if we can find them in the morning.”

“I have not seen or heard them.” Keirn was curious, “Why would we look for them?”

“They could be alive and need help. An enemy can be made a friend or ally when things like this happen.” Breldin looked into the dark the direction they ran. “Imagine if the two of you had been captured and recruited by those same brigands when you were headed out. You would have joined them to survive, but like those three loyalty would not be strong to persist in supporting them when things got bad. It was also an opportunity to run away. They may not be bad people as much as caught in a bad situation.”

Keirns thoughts went from being afraid they would come back to being concerned for the well being of the strangers. “I had not thought about that.”

“The world is a place where you want to make friends where ever you can. A stranger you help may one day prove to return the favor.” Breldin gave Keirn a glance and surveyed the surroundings in all directions. Reldo seemed to get preoccupied with some device he used to make the exploding balls of razor wire. “Goblins, good to have a few around, but cant rely on them be alert for anything.”

Keirn went back to gathering, pausing every so often to practice trying to pull something else out of the ground, slipping another ingot of metal or gem into his pocket. As he was gathering the goods farthest from the camp, Keirn heard some low level sounds not too far away. Through the link he fold Breldin he was going to investigate. With caution he moved forward stepping as softly as he could. His sword was drawn and he used it to part the tall grass and weeds in front of him.

There was a soft groan about five feet away through the weeds. Parting the plants he could see the body of one of the brigands laying there barely breathing. He started to rise up a little and could see the other two also on the ground next to the first.

“They did not make it far.” he said through the link, “The smell might attacked things and they may not be here in the morning.”

“Fine, I'll bring Seranin, we can bring them back to the camp. Stay where you are, we'll come to you.” Breldin replied.

Keirn held his position, but a few moments later he heard the low growl of some kind of wild dog. “Something else is here.” As soon as he said it through the link a wolf stuck its head out sniffing the farthest of the brigands. It nudged the body with its snout a few times, and as it started to grab the leather to pull, Keirn leaped forward. The wolf was caught by surprise and Keirn brought the hilt of his sword down, knocking it unconscious. There was other growling, but before a bigger fight broke out, Breldin and Seranin showed up and the wolves backed off.

“I guess you were right, they would not have made it till morning.” They each grabbed one of the brigands, rolling them on their back and sitting them up they wrapped their arms through under the shoulders and dragged them back to camp.

Telsa was awake waiting for them. The stripped them of weapons and removed their armor to assess the injuries. Telsa gave a radiant glow that started the healing process on all of them. One was a female elf, one a male elf, and the third was a young human male not old enough for significant facial hair. Seranin mended their clothing while Telsa healed them. Everyone was awake at this point, and as the three slowly regained consciousness it took a lot of effort to keep them calm. The injuries were bad, another hour and two of them would not have survived the injuries, but Telsa managed to heal them without any scars. "Why would you save us." The elf girl asked in a soft voice, not having fully gained her strength. "We were part of those who would have killed you and taken all you had."

"They were not your people, and we freely give you a second chance." Breldin stood over them. "Do not waste the opportunity we offer you."

The strangers were given blankets and slept while recovering. There were no other incidents that night. It seemed they would have slept through breakfast if Breldin had not instructed the others to wake them. "Come, sit, and eat." he barked from by the fire and the three joined him."Tell me how you came to be part of such a bad lot. Let's start with you, young elf girl. Tell us your name, age, and how you wound up in such bad company."

The girl set down her eating utensil to speak. "I am Zanerae. I am Fourteen, I think. I have had trouble keeping track of time. I was in a wagon with my parents, I don't know why. Something hit our wagon. I think my parents died. When I woke up my hands were tied and I was in the camp of, as you say, brigands. They were mostly men. They told me I had to do what they wanted to earn my way."

"You are free from that life." Breldin comforted, "We will make sure you have a good opportunity to live better when we get back to Kelleeshia. Now your turn, he turned to the elf boy."

"I am Chelder. I am not sure how old I am, maybe fifteen. I was taken shortly after my tenth birthday, I don't remember. When she was captured I tried to do what I could to protect and help her. If we did not do what we were told we would have died."

Breldin nodded, "You are safe now. I will do what I can to make sure you can stay together if you wish that. What about you?" He looked at the Human boy.

"I am Markus Williams. I am sixteen. I was with a wagon that got overturned in a storm about a year ago. They found me trapped with a broken leg. They offered me help if I would work with them. I did not know they were criminals when I signed on. I have been looking for a means to escape, but they did help me and they had a sword at my back if I turned against them."

"Were you on an Adventurers Guild quest or registered with any organization to be with the wagon? Would there be records somewhere that might verify who you are?" Breldin inquired.

"There were four of us contracted to help guard the supply wagon headed to Farm Meadows for Kelleeshia's Malicurk Merchants Company." Markus replied, "We were hired direct, not through the guild. I have family in the city also, but they did not know about the work I was doing, just that I would be gone for a little over a week."

"We will have to follow up with them also when we get back." Breldin paused, "Does your family have rooms, I mean these other two I am guessing you made friends with, if they need a place to stay for a few months while they got on their feet?"

"I am sure that can be arranged, more so if they can start paying for room and board at some point." Markus shrugged, "We have been conspiring to escape together, I guess that makes us friends."

"Alright, Zenerae and Chelder, you have spent a couple years, while not by choice, adventuring. Would you consider training with Greenleaf in Kelleeshia. They will train you on adventurer survival skills and set you up with quests to earn your keep." Breldin finished his breakfast handing his plate and utensils to Seranin who used magic to clean them and then put them away.

Both of the elves agreed with nods and anxious looks, muttering affirmations with their mouths still full of food.

"It might not be a bad idea for you also Markus. It would help you be better prepared if you are hiring out to guard Merchant deliveries." Breldin stood up and addressed everyone, "Let's get wrapped up and rolling we have a delivery to make. Our guests will be traveling ahead of the Wagon, but behind our front spotters. Let them have their swords to defend themselves if we do get attacked. It took maybe ten minutes for everyone to finish up. The prior brigands were also allowed leather gear to give them some protection. The three seemed cautiously excited.

The wagon was pulled back onto the road. Kretsiss and Keirn were now out front. Markus, Zenerae and Chelder were about ten feet ahead of the horses pulling the wagon. Reldo road the wagon with Breldin on the right and Samuel on the left. Seranin and Telsa wandered forward and back as they willed. The Kelleeshia military seemed to be doing exercises along the road, which resulted in safe travels the rest of the way to Kelleehia.

Grelyen turned back around and this time followed the path, nodding to the novice blacksmith on his way by. The deeper he got, the less he ran into others that were training, or questing through the depths of the level. The encounters he expereinced all seemed like they were at a level that a group of novices stood a reasonable chance of winning. The landscape varied and so did the types of encounters. There were wild animals, magical beasts, goblins, gnolls, undead varieties.

The resources he could draw from the land seemed endless, like traveling the world outside the tower. The loot from his first three encounters was enough to pay for his room at the Tavern for a Month. The weather also had a natural flow and change. After five days of exploring his backpack which used dimensional space to hold a large capacity was full. He needed to get back to the tavern, The Boars Belly, and check on his room anyway.

On his way out, Grelyen stopped at the Greenleaf Merchant counter in the entrance area to the tower. The prices they offered were reasonable, lower than if he went around town finding the appropriate merchants for things, but it saved him the time and gave them a margin for profit. He kept to himself and the walk back was uneventful.

Grelyen stepped into The Boars Belly. "Oh, you are still here." Vic bellowed from behind the bar.

"So did they survive? I could tell when attempts were made to access my room." Grelyen walked up to the bar. "I did pay for two weeks right?"

"Um, Yes you did, but you have not been around and I have to know if you have abandoned your room or if you are going to be gone for a period of time." Vic started defensive, but changed as he spoke to more terse, "I am responsible for the safety of this building and other guests. When someone just disappears like that, I need to know that there is not a threat to everyone else. I am holding you fully responsible for the consequences of attempts to access your room after being gone for so long."

"Shall I get a constable and see how this plays out?" Grelyen turned the threat back on Vic. "Where do you have posted you require tenants to report their coming and going? Perhaps you posted some where you need access to peoples rooms when they are not around? Remember you were standing here when I gave the warning that attempting to break into my room could be fatal and there were no objections at the time."

Vic backed off. "You are correct. Nobody successfully got into your room. As long as you do not have it sealed up like that when you are done with it, you are good as long as you are paid up."

"In that case here is an extension." Grelyen dropped four gold pieces on the counter. "Let Kahli I have not called upon her yet." He laughed and headed up to his room. "I'll be back down for a meal."

Grelyen approached his door. Someone was behind the hidden panel in the hall. There were to roguish looking characters standing by a door diagonally across from his, seemingly about their own business. The next room up from his the door was slightly ajar. He made like he was fumbling with the room key, dropping something on the floor. He unlocked the door and pushed it open about eight inches. He stepped vanishing and turned back from the window in the room as his door was rushed.

None of the traps were down and the glyphs were specific to respond to anyone other them Grelyen himself. Just because he was there did not make it safe to enter. Grelyen shook his head, all six were injured and did not make it into the room. “I warned you. Now one of you crawl to the stair and call for Vic.”

The least injured hopped on one leg over to the stair can called down for Vic. Vic came up to the top of the stair. “Kahli, there is some clean up needed up here. Idiots! I told you fools to leave hi alone.”

There was a cloud of magic and the attackers were all gone. “All clear, daddy.” Kahli sighed.

“Is it safe for us to come in?” Vic inquired.

Grelyen shut down the defenses. “Come on in.”

Vic and Kahli came in. Vic shrugged, “What are you protecting?”

“Honestly my right to privacy. If anyone had succeeded in getting past the defenses, they would have been very disappointed.” Grelyen waved a hand taking in the room. “Look for yourselves by whatever means you can. The spying and access that should not be here has been disabled, including the secret passages.”

“He is hiding nothing.” Kahli laughed and rubbed up against his shoulder. “I like him.”

Vic gave a deep sigh, “I can't say those who attempted to steal you nothing did not get what they deserved. I am glad you are not my enemy. If there is anything I can do for you, let me know.”

“How much do you know about Greenleaf?” Grelyen lowered his backpack to a chair.

“Well, honestly, I have heard nothing bad about them.” Vic shrugged, “The Boars Belly is lacking what they need as far as a place to stay. I wish I could find dirt on them. They are a part of the Celtan house, actually the Second house of Celtan formed by Tallund. Why would you, staying here ask about the upper side of the social structure?”

“I suppose I can share a little bit of why I am here. I need to investigate some rumors about a group that may have taken up occupancy in the Tower at one of the more difficult levels.” he paused, “The problem is I will need a team to get to the deeper levels, up or down, or both. It seems you can't go past level five either way without a team. Greenleaf does training and put teams together, and I as considering using that route to find or build a team I could work with.”

“I guess there is sense in that.” Vic nodded.

“I want to be on your team.” Kahli did not hide the excitement, seeming to accidentally bump into his gesturing arm.

“If you take her, her safety is on you.” Vic was more gruff than normal. “Who am I kidding, you wont be able to control her any more than I.”

“Shall we go and enjoy a meal together?” Grelyen re-shouldered his backpack and started for the door without an answer and the others followed.

They sat a a table closest to the kitchen. They exchanged random stories from their adventures. The Boars Belly was more a cover than a business for Vic. The company was good and before they were done, Vic offered him a room in the lower levels and access to his underground passage out of the city. “Just show this coin and nobody will question your passing.” Vic said dropping a very unique coin in Grelyen's hand, “I may have use for your services from time to time if you are willing.”

“We shall see. I would honor the friendship you offer, but timing sometimes is everything and I am obligated to an agenda.”

“It will always be your choice, but I do believe we will have our arrangements.” Vic laughed with a sense he could see into the future. Kahli leaned over toward Grelyen pressing her shoulder into his. Grelyen glanced at her staring at his eyes.

“Perhaps it is time for you to show me the room you offer so that I can get some sleep before morning.” Grelyen left a reasonable tip on the table for the staff that had been serving them as he stood up.

“You are an individual of integrity, is is odd having you in this part of town. I will let Kahli show you to your new room.” Vic walked back behind the bar.

“This way good sir.” Kahli lead him through the Staff Only door about twenty feet, halfway down the hall there was a stairway on the left that took them down. They only went down one level, but it was about twenty feet. The lower hall had stone walls, floor and ceiling about fifteen feet up. They turned right and she took him to the seventh door on the fight, there were also six on the left and the seven foot wide hall had double doors at the end. She handed him a key, “This is your room, for as long as you wish to hold it. Your privacy will not be intruded upon under the protection of the house of Zergas. I can show you all the special features if you wish.”

“Thank you, milady, perhaps another time.” He opened the door and stepped in. The floor was inlaid darker wood with a rug that covered most of the floor. The furniture had a very elegant style. There was a large wooden bed with a mattress and covers, a wooden dresser with a mirror and accommodations. Next to that was a wardrobe doors closed. The room was a good twenty feet, by twenty feet, much more accommodating than the one upstairs. The Opposite wall also had a door, bolted shut from the inside of the room. “Perhaps I spoke too soon.”

Kahli stepped inside, “You are a guest of the house of Zergas. The Boars Belly is actually the back entrance, but we can worry about that later. Victor Zergas is one of the lords who maintains his manner on the outside of the city wall. He has close associations with a few of the top noble houses, but does not care as much about the running of the affairs of the city. He does not seek the power.” she sat on the edge of his bed. “Vic does not fully approve of my fondness of you, but he sees something in you or he would not have allowed you behind our illusion. That door leads to the labyrinth and meeting halls of the Zergas estates.”

“Interesting for a house that does not have a lot of concern for the affairs of the city.” Grelyen noted.

“You mean the above ground city.” Kahli laughed, “Zergas is concerned when it comes to matters that may impact the Undercity. Zergas owns the land and structures above their underground construction, with the exception of the travel routes that correspond to the roads above. This is a well guarded secret, that we expect you will keep.” She placed a hand on his arm, “We have our private access to affiliations with the other noble houses. This allows us to set up trade and other things outside the standard venues. The range and population of the Undercity is also kept in confidence. Victor has chosen to trust you. I suspect the favors he may be wanting from you may involve helping with security, you seem to have a good set of skills in that area.”

“Keeping secrets is one of my skills. Which ever way the wind blows this situation, I will guard the secrets I know.” Grelyen sat next to her leaving a reasonable space for propriety. “We should go early to the Adventurers Guild and to the Greenleaf registries tomorrow, so sleep would be the primary agenda for now.”

Kahli leaned over and kissed his cheek, stood up and left the room without another word. Grelyen watched her leave and the door for several seconds after it closed. Deciding to trust the protection he was promised Grelyen set up alarms to alert him of any foul play. And prepared for sleep. He laid Querelous backpack next to him on the bed. As far as he knew his clan were the only ones to make these backpacks and bags. The bags created a dimensional space for the user that only that user had access to put things in or pull things out. It also picked upon what the user was wanting to remove and would bring that to the top. If someone else grabbed the bag to them it would be empty, creating a new space specific to them, or showing them only the things they put in and he would not have access to their stuff. If someone tried to sneak something into his bag it would go into their space, not his. If he shared the backpack with others it would literally be able to hold up to 20 cubic feet of belongings for each individual, and they each would only have access to what they put in. All the Querelous bags and backpacks worked this way.

Grelyen prepared himself for sleep and curled up as any cat would to sleep.

As they approached the gates Breldin showed his papers to the guards who waved them in. The brigands that joined them were treated as part of the team. “Seranin, take the rest and get us rooms at The Red Fedora. Samuel and I will deliver the goods from the wagon and meet you there. Make sure Keirn touches base with his mother. We can take care of random business for today and head to update the Adventurers guild and Greenleaf tomorrow.” Breldin and Samuel took off with the wagon.

“Alright everyone, this way. It is still early, but we have a lot to get done today.” Seranin smiled at them all.

The sign in front of the Tavern had The Red Fedora in large bold letters, but hanging from the top sign, also hanging by two chains a second sign with a Fedora seemingly struck by a tomato covering it in the red juices.

“What is The Red Fedora?” Keirn asked, “I do not remember seeing this place before.”

“This is a stretch for visitors to Kelleeshia, so having a place to live in the city you probably had no reason to come through this area.” Seranin explained, “The Red Fedora is a tavern with a couple of large bars that have stages where performers can get in the line up to perform, and potentially make some extra coin, or if they are not liked there is a large supply of tomatoes and they may get tomatoes thrown at them till they get off the stage. Breldin enjoys the revelry here.” she walked in and lead the way to the clerk and Checked out three rooms hoping that would be enough. “Let's go to the rooms and get organized.” she gave the key to the guys room to Reldo, handed the third key to Kretsiss, and opened the middle room.

“So I need to let my mom know I am back and safe.” Keirn offered.

“Kretsiss will go with you.” Seranin nodded to Kretsiss

“Let's take care of that right away, we can stay in touch.” Kretsiss lead Keirn out of the room and back out into the streets.

“That leaves me and the three of you.” Seranin said in a comforting voice. “You will be welcome to stay here for the night if you wish, but we have things to take care of for you. Markus, you said your family may be able to put these two up while the three of you start your training? Where in town do we need to go to meet them?”

“The Noble House of Williams, Lady Provost.” Markus replied, in an off-handed manner.

Seranin knew where that was and realized she had not considered he may be a noble off-spring. “Very well, we shall all go there first. Considering you are of that house, I will need the authority of your family to register you with the Adventurers Guild and Greenleaf.”

They made their way into the Western side of Kelleeshia among the Noble houses. Williams were an independent house, of fair means and modest influence. Seranin knocked on the door.

“I live here, I can just take you in.” Markus started to the door.

“Wait, you have been missing for a year, it will be better to ease back into the situation.” Seranin held him back with a gentle touch.

The door opened and a servant asked, “Who may I say is calling?” the elder gentleman looked at Markus almost recognizing him.

“Please let the Lord or Lady of the house know that Seranin Provost is here with Markus and would like to speak with them.

The man started turning and the door closed. There was a bit of commotion inside. When the door opened a woman rushed past Seranin and embraced Markus delightedly welcoming her son back home. The man who came with her, perhaps mid forties, looked pleased seeing the boy, but turned to Seranin, maintaining his composure. “Please all of you come in and have a seat.” He gestured to a room to the right side past the foyer that had a large table with chairs around it and walls with shelves of books and papers. Seranin lad the others, including Markus with his mother clinging to him to the room. “Have a seat.” he said, “I am sure there is a story here to be told.”

They were all seated. “Thank you for giving audience, Lord Williams.” Seranin began, “As you have been told I am Seranin Provost, having learned this is your son, in addition to bringing him home and after we explain events, I would like to ask your permission and authority to do a few things for your son and these other two youngsters.”

Lord Williams assessed the two youngsters and turned back to Seranin, “You can call me Albert for this conversation. Thank you Lady Provost for the return of my son. Do tell the tale that brought you here.”

“Let me start with the misfortune that lead to these young ones being caught on the wrong side of events.” Seranin began, sharing the stories the three had shared getting caught up in the organization of the brigands. She shared the battle and their effort to escape, Keirn saving them in the middle of the night and Telsa healing them back good health. The three young ones looked at her with some surprise when she finished saying. “They helped protect our wagon of merchant goods the rest of the way back to Kelleeshia, so I will need to get them back to the tavern to collect their payment for service.”

Lord Williams raised an eyebrow at the last part. “After being a part of the attacking party you trusted them to help. You must see something good in them,of that I am pleased. Now, what favors and permissions do I need to extend to you?”

“These youngsters need training and guidance if they are going to survive in the world and do good. I would like to enroll them in the Adventurers Guild and get them signed up with Greenleaf for training. As a favor I would ask that you house Zanerae Kelt, and Chelder for their first year of training, or till they get on their feet enough to afford other housing. None of them are evil and they do not deserve the fate of the brigands they were with. While we are at the Adventurers Guild we can have them look through their records for any reports that might lead us to Zanerae's parents. Unfortunately we do not know Chelder's last name and are fairly certain from his story that his parents are probably no longer with us.” Seranin paused, “They have a friendship of sorts with your son Markus. I trust after getting all the paperwork done and their share given to them that he will take responsibility for leading them back here.”

Albert, Lord Williams pondered for a moment taking in all that was said, stroking his beard with his left hand, making the streaks of gray more evident. “Your words have wisdom, such training would do them all good.” He started to reach for his coin pouch.

“Albert,” Seranin caught his eyes with the compassion in her eyes, “You owe us nothing, except the care of these other two who share the fate of your son.”

There was subtle look of surprise that she was not interested in his coin and it registered this was all about the care of the three youngsters. “You have my word, I will do my best to make the futures of all three as good as I can.” He looked at the two elves, “You are welcome in my house and shall be treated as children of the family as long as you stay.”

“We will prepare a banquet to celebrate tomorrow, you and your company who have spared our son are welcome to join us around midday.” lady Williams said. A few of their servant seemed to rush around at her words.

“That is very kind of you Lady Williams. I will advise our leader, Breldin. Please do not wait for us though, we will try to send word if we can't make it. We have a fairly busy agenda tomorrow and it is not my decision to make for the entire group. The young adults here will be back in a few hours, perhaps I can find out before then and send word with them.” She stood up and everyone stood.

“Very well.” Lord Williams gave a slight sigh, “We will wait for your word and hopefully see you tomorrow.”

Seranin brought the three to the adventurers guild where they all signed up and she covered the cost. The could not find a record for Zanerae, but promised to keep looking. After that they went by Greenleaf and the three were signed up as a team for training, to start in five days. This would give them time to settle in first. When the returned to the tavern Kretsiss was there with Keirn and another woman.

“Greetings, I am guessing you are maria Seldis Koulden, Keirn's mother?” Seranin gave a slight bow of her head in greeting.

“Thank you, I have decided I am going to join your team to get these two training in Greenleaf. I have been curious about the workings of Greenleaf anyway.” Maria stood and gave Seranin a hug of greeting. “By your equipment, you are a seerer and I am guessing you knew I would join you.”

“You are observant, Maria.” Seranin laughed.

Breldin and Samuel walked in and Seranin introduced Maria and whispered softly “There are two more who will be joining us. At some point.”

“Telsa, would you come with me?” Kretsiss asked, “I need to return Opal's pendant to the Temple of Amiara, it I would be more comfortable if you were with me.”

Telsa spun a double pirouette and gave a bow, “Of course Kretsiss, I would be honored.” She followed Kretsiss out.

The temple was a small building on the east side of the Port Authority, tranquility was favored by those who spent time on the seas. The door was open and they stepped in. A voice whispered, “What do you seem in the house of Tranquility?”

Kretsiss leaned her head slightly forward, “I would seek to speak with the high Priestess of Amiara concerning a sister of hers who has fallen.”

There was a soft gasp, “Bring the divine one with you and go to the alter. You may sit upon the carpet there as honored guests.”

They walked forward and sat down. A priestess came forward and greeted them. “Welcome tot he temple of Amiara. Please speak you piece.”

“Your sister priestess Opal Beldane fell attacked by a demon beast on the road south.” She held out the pendant. “As I have promised so I deliver to you her pendant that the circle may be closed.”

The priestess took the pendant, a tear in her eye, “Thank you for this kindness. Amiara will keep a guiding eye on you.” She turned to Telsa, “Thank you for your divine witness.”

Telsa held out her hand as if holding an invisible hand in the air. “ShadowDancer says to bless Amiara.” The air glowed and the golden light had the form of the images of the Ancient Amiara holding Telsa's hand.

“Thank you child.” The image stepped back as joining the priestess in front of them. “As you have given me honor, I will honor you.” The glow subsided.

The priestess had a look of peaceful satisfaction. “Take this, it can be used once and again three days after the previous use. It will bring a calm over any situation for a short period, but giving you a chance to change the events.” She handed the coin that looked like it was made of water to Kretsiss, then turned to Telsa, “You are a rising light, I am honored to have had a chance to share your company, you will know my gift to you, at the time you need to use it. Go and share that which you have to give.”

Kretsiss seemed a little confused by the riddle, but Telsa seemed to understand. They stood up and took two steps back before turning and walking out of the temple.

“ShadowDancer was with me again. Amiara has been avoiding her in fear for a long time.” Telsa gave one of her innocent smiles, “She knows now that ShadowDancer will do her no harm and will not force her to do anything.”

“So now you are being dragged into the politics of the Ancients?” Kretsiss lead them back to The Red Fedora.

Everyone was in the room. “Good we are all here.” Breldin started handing out pouches of coin. As he handed pouches to each of the young adventurers now signed up with Greenleaf he offered, “You can stay with us until after dinner before heading home, or you can head off now and get started with your new lives. Any time you see us, we will welcome you as friends.”

Markus stepped forward, “Will you be attending our celebration tomorrow?”

Breldin looked at Seraning, she shrugged, “I was getting to that. The family is celebrating the safe return of Markus and his friends. We are invited to come by and join them around midday. I did not commit because we have a lot to take care of, but I think if we can it would be a good thing.” Breldin nodded, “Then we will make a point of attending. There will be eight, maybe ten of us.”

Markus smiled and held out a hand to shake on it with Breldin, “We will see you tomorrow. I think it is best if we get home and get as settled in for the evening as we can. Thank you all so much.”

Breldin shook his hand, “Tomorrow it is.” They all said their farewells, and Seranin gave each a hug on their way out.

“So tomorrow morning we go by the Adventurers Guild for Telsa and Keirn, then we sign up as a group with Greenleaf. What name should we sign up our team as?” Breldin asked.

They tossed around several at best corny ideas at first. Telsa held out her hand quiet for a moment till all were listening, “Humbled Hope”.

“That has a nice ring,” Seranin said, “but more for a community organization than an adventure team.”

“Hopes Bounty.” Samuel suggested.

“Not too pretentious, but a positive and rewarding feel to it.” Breldin agreed.

“Something that wont be embarrassing if we become famous too.” Kretsiss threw in.

They all agreed and decided to go down to the main rooms for dinner and entertainment. They were seated at a table large that could have accommodated half again the size of their group. They were each given a place setting and serving dishes were placed on the table. Without decorum everyone started dishing up their plates and passing the serving containers and food around.

“I think we should all take a moment and be thankful things have been going so well for us.” Telsa suggested. They all took a silent moment that seemed to diffuse a little of their stress and jumped right back into the meal.

There was someone who stepped up on the stage for the room they were in and introduced themselves as the first performer for the evening. He seemed to be tuning his stringed instrument, but is sounded awful and got worse instead of better. It was like everyone was waiting to try to give him a chance, but then he started singing worse then the the sound of the out of tune instrument. A tomato smacked him and then a barrage and he started dancing about the stage laughing his way down. It was seemingly a disaster, but set the mood and everyone wash laughing and throwing comments about.

The next performance stepped up, a Satyr with a flute and a Nymph that started singing an Erie melody. Kretsiss snapped through the link, “They are attempting to control the audience, including us.”

Reldo replied, “Their are three others with them behind the crowd that look like they are up to mischeif.”

Telsa touched the table in front of her and the entire party began to glow, then the low level glow spread. Others who were getting mesmerized suddenly appeared to just become aware of their surroundings. The three Reldo had noted, plus one more were caught attempting to take coin purses from others in the audience. The spell was broken, and blades were drawn. Several wanted to slay the performers and accomplices where they were.

“I can't believe I am going to use this so soon.” Kretsiss pulled the coin from her pocket and there was a calm that suddenly came over the room. “Get ll those involved gathered by the door and bind them. Reldo go out in the street and call for a constable.”

Samuel said, “I'll see if the barkeep can get a room open on the first floor were we can take them so the authorities can question them.”

Under the calming everyone was cooperative. Reldo brought three constables back with him, and the barkeeper lead them all to a back room. The constables took over the situation and they all went back to their table.

The barkeeper came up to their table. “Evening folks. Thank you for that, todays meal will be on the house.” Their mugs were all filled with a fresh round. As the rest of the crowd came out of the calming aura, the evening returned to a normal night at The Red Fedora. There were performers that were well rewarded, and others that got tomato-ed off the stag. There were no other attempts to steal from the crowd.

Eventually Breldin stood up, “We should get some sleep.” there was a general agreement and they headed back to their rooms.

As they approached Seranin commented, “Well, we probably didn't need three rooms without the youngsters, but that means more beds the doors between rooms are open so enjoy.”

Keirn helped Seranin with security measures and everyone found a place to sleep.

Grelyen was up before the sun. His night passed without event, no intruders. He gathered his things and went up to the main level stepping out into the tavern through the staff only door. Walking behind the bar he drew a tankard of ale and dropped a silver near the till under the counter. A disheveled looking gentleman in the corner said, “I'll take one of those.”

Grelyen shrugged as the man walked up to the bar, drawing another tankard full, dropping his coin also by the till. “What has you drinking so early??

“Late for me lad. Just got off from street cleaning, it is a job you know.” he took a swig. “We are also responsible to make sure there are no dead bodies in the allies. For most of us that also means helping those desperate enough to be sleeping there.”

Grelyen grabbed about half of his haul from the previous day and drop the coin bag in the old mans hands. “You can use this to help your cause.”

The mans eyes widened slightly, but he accepted the offering. “Was just talking, but thank you kind sir. This may actually help some of them off the streets.”

“Happens too easy in bigger towns and cities, seems the more people the easier it is for people to get lost in the cracks.” Grelyen finished his ale leaning on the bar from the server side.

Vic came in stretching and Grelyen moved around to the correct side of the bar. Vic opened the till and tossed the coins in. “Food will be ready shortly. Good morning, Del.”

“Good morning back at ya.” he pushed his tankard forward on the counter, “Looks like your new hand beat you to the draw.”

Both Grelyen and Vic let the comment go uncorrected. “Kahli's special tea with your food this morning?”

“Absolutely, that tea eases the aches and lets me sleep through the day.”

Kahli walked out of the back with four plates of food, one for each of them, and a cup of tea for Del. “Good morning everyone.” she spoke in a very perky voice and sat down to eat at the bar with the others. “You are up early, Grel?”

“I am always up early, but we have to head to the Adventurers guild when they open.” Grelyen looked at her, “That is if you are still insisting on joining me.”

“Of course, dear, you know I am.” Kahli laughed and fluttered her eyes at him. Vic just shook his head.

When Grelyen finished eating, he got another ale and drank while he waited for Kahli to also be done eating. He caught himself staring at her appreciating her black wavy hair and the finer features of her golden skinned form. Generally she was an attractive human, but if you caught the horns they were a give away to her nature. “We should be going if we want to beat the lines.”

“So you think they have enough business to have lines?” Kahli wiped her lip and stood up. “This could be fun.”

“They always have lines. Then Greenleaf has lines and wait lists. They teach classes, and require certain classes before they will support field training you.” Grelyen shrugged, “Not that we need field training, but I do need a group to get to the higher and lower levels.”

“It may be amusing seeing what they have to offer.” mischief was written all over her face.

Grelyen lead the way out the door. “Be careful out there.” Vic shouted behind him.

The streets were almost empty at this hour of the morning. The night sky was getting paler as the suns light was waxing before the crest of sunrise. They made their way to the main roads and headed toward the Adventurers Guild first. They would go to Greenleaf after registering with the guild as a group.

Most of their party was already awake, but Breldin called out, “Breakfast time, we need to be at the Adventurers Guild early and get our team and name registered before we head over to Greenleaf. We want to make sure we can claim Hopes Bounty and not have to come up with another name.”

They all felt a little sluggish after watching the entertainment so late into the night, but nobody was willing to let it show. They gathered their belongings and geared up.

“Why do we carry all our gear in town like we do on the road?” Keirn inquired.

“We are adventurers.” Reldo responded, “We never know when or where something may come after us, or our assistance may be needed. So we need to be always vigilant and always ready.” he looked at Brelin for confirmation that he got it right.

Breldin chuckled and nodded, “You got it.” With everyone ready, he lead the way heading down into the large tavern room to the table they used the night before.

“Any special orders, or will our standard breakfast be sufficient?” a young waitress asked.

“Your standard fair should be fine, and a good breakfast tea for all.” Breldin nodded.

Most of the tables were empty, and a few other customers straggled in taking seats. Several of the staff brought the food to their table and the members of the party thank them. They ate mostly in silence and the strong tea helped them wake up and shed the lethargic feelings they had started with. They each left a few coins on the table when they finished eating to show appreciation, nothing gaudy that might draw the wrong attention.

When they were all done filed out of the tavern and grouped up before heading up the street toward the Adventurers Guild. The first sun was barely breaking the horizon, but stepping out into the light they all squinted against the brightness. It did not take long before they adjusted and trivial conversations began. Reldo was talking to Samuel about maintenance to the wagon. Breldin, Seranin and Kretsiss were bouncing between talking about their surroundings in Kelleeshia and strategies and organization as a team. Keirn and Telsa were sharing with Maria recent experiences and meeting with Breldin and his group.

As they were approaching the Adventurers Guild Seranin pointed and said, “That is them, those two waiting for the door to open. We should talk to them before we register.” They all looked and saw a large Shadowkyn and a woman with black hair. Having also heard Seranin, they were looking back inquisitively.

The dark and light gray striped Shadowkyn stepped toward them with an outstretched hadn of greeting. “Grelyen. You may be the group I am looking for. This is Kahli my companion in adventure.”

Breldin accepted his hand in friendship. “Greetings, I am Breldin and,” He glanced over his shoulder, we can introduce everyone shortly. We have two new members that are, well, green. So we are registering here and then headed to Greenleaf to see if their training program will help them be prepared.”

Seranin stepped up, “I am Seranin. We are also curious about their program and their tower, we have heard rumors, but wish to learn more about them, so we are all going in as part of the training group. I have seen both of you in a vision fighting by our side.”

Kahli placed her hand gently on Seranin's shoulder, and it seemed the two of them shared more than a touch. “I think we should join these folks and register as one team, they will provide everything we need and we will be able to help them in their quest.”

They took a few moments to introduce everyone. “So you two are the new green members. I will do what I can to help share wisdom and experience with you.”

The door was opened by a tall red-haired man, taller than most approaching if not seven feet tall. Breldin lead the way in with Grelyen. Seranin and Maria took the Keirn and Telsa to register them as individual members of the Adventurers Guild. Breldin and Grelyen wen to register the team. The rest followed to the team register. Breldin filled out the top of the form with the team name Hope's Bounty, and his name as the team leader, then let Grelyen list himself and Kahli. Below their names Breldin listed the rest for a total of ten members.

They all had to sign and by the time the rest were done the other four had returned from the individual registry and also signed. The clerk certified the charter and with a wave of his want made copies for each of them and copper name plates all with the Guild seal. “Were you seeking to get a job today?” The clerk asked pointing over to another counter.

“We are going to GreenLeaf, this is about getting our newest members trained.” Breldin deliberately did not make indication as to who that was.

“Very well, we will see you when you return for other work.” The clerk was filing the papers and added, “You have a prosperous day.” Then seemed to forget they were there.

They all slipped their copy of the charter into a safe place, and each pocketed their name plate, not really needing it except for formal Guild activities.

Back out on the street, there was a moment of confusion as to order and they all laughed a little. Breldin took the lead with Grelyen and Kahli dropped back with Seranin, Kretsiss and Samuel took to protecting the rear, leaving Maria, Keirn and Tesla in the middle and Reldo shifting through the group doing random repairs, mending, and other tasks without interrupting their movement.

“I have gone into the tower and looked at the first level.”Grelyen offered. “It is like a world to itself and everything in that level seems to be on a par for trained or partially trained Novices, or green adventurers. It makes sense that GreenLeaf actually teaches classes on basics before sending anyone in and only allows novice adventurers to go in in groups. My experience allowed me to go in solo.”

“I heard that the size of encounters is proportionate to the size of the group you go in with.” Maria shared. “There is a lot of talk and rumors around the city. I have not been there myself, so the best I can offer is rumor.”

They were approaching the Greenleaf school and offices. “Should we have one person go in to represent us?” Kretsiss inquired, “We don't want them to feel like we are invading or something.”

“We all have to register, and we are going to all be sitting through their classes as a group, we should probably all go in to take care of whatever administrative details are needed together.” Breldin responded, “I am sure they have their defenses if anyone tried to do something stupid.”

Grelyen looked at the entrance and what he could see inside when someone opened the door. “Indeed they do.” His approval was evident in his voice and expression.

They walked in GreenLeaf had similar activity to the Adventurers Guild, but there was a much more uplifting attitude. More friendly than business, but business was being taken care of just as fast. They took care of the registering the individuals and the group at the same place. Hope's Bounty was determined to have enough experience as a group to enter the first level of the tower and they were scheduled for a class once a week starting in about an hour. The first couple trips into the tower, maybe more a GreenLeaf associate or two would go with them.

They looked around while they waited. There were signs with rules, guidelines and phrases that expressed possibly things taught in the classes. Grelyen recognized one basically said what he told that novice group: Any noise you don't recognize is a potential threat. In short order they were called back to a training room where there were chairs, an instructor and a couple other members of the order, GreenLeaf was an order, not a guild, and not a Noble House.

The instructor Piora Stent, called the class to order, apparently they were the class, because a class size was ten. “I will go over the basics, but there are some things I will glaze over since you are all members of the same team or group.” The instructor began. There was a lengthy list of basics, and the experienced members of the group may not have thought to include some, or perhaps had not even consider a few things. It was basic to survival and the survival of the team, or any group caught in the wilderness of a place of potential danger. Keirn and Telsa were caught up in the instruction, most of which was new to them.

Both Breldin and Grelyen were assessing the operation, so were paying attention with a critical mind. So far they approved of everything that was being taught. They held their piece and after a couple hours they were done with the days instruction.

“This is Keltsie Bratsch and Farlden Celtan. They will go with you to pick up a quest and see how you handle level one of the tower.” Piora Stent stepped to the side. “You will be spending a night in the first floor to verify the lessons learned. I will be here when you return in two days. Depending on how things go, you will have the option to continue to have assistance, or to just come back each week for additional lessons.”

“I am Keltsie Bratsch.” Red haired female elf took a step forward. “I am a sword master with a few extra tricks up my sleeve.” She stepped back.

The human man stepped forward. “I am Farlden Celtan, a Healer of Tallund.” He lifted his unusual long staff that had a few odd crooks to its shape, “I am also adept at clobbering things from time to time.” They each introduced themselves, starting with Breldin, each standing to introduce themselves and then sitting back down. “Breldin Celtris, I am trained with weapons and the leader of Hope's Bounty.”

“I am Grelyen Arghrahther.” He seemed to almost growl his name, “I am resourceful with some weapons training.”

“Seranin Provost of the northern continent. I use magic and a long sword of my people.”

“Kahli Zergas, I mostly dabble with magic.” she gave a haunting laugh.

Maria pushed Keirn, “Keirn Seldis Koulden, sword and magic.”

Telsa glowed as she spoke, “Telsa, priestess of ShadowDancer.”

“I am Maria Seldis Koulden, his mother and a sorceress of the Seventh Tower.”

“Samuel Talloon, Merchant.”

“Reldo, I improvise things.”

Lastly, “Kretsiss, Shadowkyn Guard.”

The GreenLeaf trainers avoided acknowledgments of the significants in the last names and affiliations, but recognized the potential impact. Keltsie gestured them all to come forward. “We are staying with you primarily to assess your training, skills, and to make sure you all survive. I don't think that last part is a worry. Breldin we can lead you through getting the first quest and more if you like, or you can take over and we will stay with you to observe and help as needed.”

“So we number twelve.” Breldin stated, “I can take from here, understanding you may interject with advise or instructions per the requirements of GreenLeaf. So, technically we are all now members of GreenLeaf's Adventurers, or students of the school?”

“Students.” Ferlden answered, “You will have the option of being members if you choose later and pass the required evaluations.”

Breldin nodded, “then we shall head to a couple shops to make sure all our members are properly equip with the gear recommended by our training. To comply with training we will work with the class standards before we deal with unique inventory.”

Including stopping and filling in gaps in inventory it took them an hour to reach the gate. The sky seemed to be threatening to rain, which helped keep it from getting too hot. The road outside the city was wet, as if it had rained before they got there. It was a short way south and they took the road east. It was another hour and a half before they reached the entry to the tower. They all made the exaggerated effort to follow all the alertness protocols they were taught, even though they were confident there would be no threat along this road. The exaggerated practice would actually help reinforce the concepts for when they were needed.

This was their first time here. As they approached the tower was massive at the ground level, but seemed to get a ghostly appearance as it went up. It was like the second floor and above was only hinted at being there. They entered between the large wooden doors that could accommodate most giants. There were doors on the right side that were closed. On the left side there was a gathering area with tables and chairs larger than most Taverns, but no staff attending to it. The next area on the left was counters with GreenLeaf people either helping others or waiting for the next in line.

Breldin walked up to an open counter with Keltsie. “Greetings, I guess we are here to get a first floor quest.”

“Greetings!” The young man responded, then looked to Keltsie, “Hello Keltsie.” and back to him. “Yes, that is an option here and if your group is in training as it seems we should already have one with your groups name?” he framed the question as a statement.

“Of course, Hope's Bounty.” Grelyen started to reach for the contract. “You wont need that, magic verifies what we need to know. We have a training quest right here. It may not seem like much, but it is to collect ten quart size baskets of cloud berries from along the creek to the south east. The berries are a high demand item at the market, here are the baskets. While you will get paid for the quest, that will not be as much as you might make from the loot off encounters you have on the way there and back. Good fortune to you.” He handed the document to Breldin.

They rejoined the group and Breldin said, “We should probably eat the lunch we packed before we go in. We can pick a table in the waiting area eat, then head to the tower.” They watched the people coming and going. Most of the people coming out were going to counters on the other side of the Quest and registration counters. Keltsie explained they were GreenLeaf Merchants who purchased most loot at prices, just under what they could sell them to merchants in the city. This helped the adventurers if they wanted to go this route because they would not have to travel all over finding the right buyer for each item. It was completely separate from the ten percent the GreenLeaf school got during training periods. The ten percent helped keep the school running. She also clarified that, when members like her and Farlden, they went as part of the party and got their share of the split after the ten percent went to the school. After a successful evaluation trainers would only go with a group if invited, or the group wanted them.

“Well, we best get started.” He lead the way through the rest of the long extended building. Reaching the outer door of the tower, they opened it and went in as a group. It was an outer changer, with a stairway on the left going up and one on the right going down, appearing to go nowhere.

Grelyen explained, “We can't see where they lead until after completing level one. You have to complete levels down to keep going down and up to keep going up.” this had been explained in class, but having it repeated where they could see the enigma helped clarify.

They opened the inner door, “Stay alert.” Breldin heeded, “At best all we have is rumors what we might face in here, and never assume because you have encountered something before that you know what it will do.”

They seemed to be entering a new land coming out of a very large cave. The path was gravel that seemed natural. Stepping out of the cave it seemed to be in the side of a small mountain. Onto a seemingly well used dirt road that went east from their location. There was a grassy area around them that gave way to a lightly forested area. There were hills or small mountains they could see around and over the nearby trees. It was not quite like the area around Kelleeshia.

Breldin pulled out a lodestone and it seemed to work normal. “We are facing generally east, the lodestone agrees. The destination where we will gather berries is South East.” He pointed, “So generally in that direction. The mountain we came out of seems a little taller than others in the area, but that could just be we are standing next to it. The quest is a little ambiguous not knowing the lay of the land, we do not have a distance, just a direction.”

“Kretsiss and I can use our instincts to find our way back.” Grelyen offered, “I am sure the casters all have their own means. The rest will have to use memory, landmarks and training.”

Keirn added, “They did suggest in class to keep a diary or log of things we do and landmarks we pass. This will help us remember accurately. Noting sounds and smells also will reinforce memories.”

“Very good, Keirn. You were paying attention.” Farlden nodded approval.

“There are rarely any encounters here by the entrance.” Keltsie waved a generally encompassing hand, “This gives teams a chance to organize and do final preparations. Most encounters in here will see you with a neutral attitude, or a hostile attitude. You might find scattered friendly encounters, but other than other adventurers, they are uncommon. There are also some other adventuring parties that are hostile.”

“You mean there are others who come in here and intentionally attack Those who are here to learn and grow?” Grelyen seemed a little concerned, “I mean someone who can fight on the say level twenty can come in here and attack a Novice group?”

“It has happened,” Farlden shrugged, “but those who do that start finding they also have a minimum level they can access, more on a par with their skill level. Anything restricted to higher levels, can not come hunting in the numerically lower levels.”

“That is good to know.” Grelyen was thinking about Shadowkyn rumored to be living somewhere in the tower.

“Form up we are going to move, double file.” Breldin started moving southeast, “Keltsie, Farlden you can fit in wherever you feel is best. As long as you are with our group, I will expect you to comply with out group and instructions.”

The grassy field extended a few hundred yards. There was no trail of path in this direction and the surroundings gave way to bushes and underbrush and then trees. The trees made for easier walking, there was less underbrush on the forest floor. For a less experienced group, it may have been easy to get turned around or loose their sense of direction. Those walking next to Telsa and Keirn were pointing out the natural indicators of direction under the canopy. Everyone was watchful and spoke in low voices when they needed to speak. There was random scavenging of berries and plants that could be useful, along with fruit from some of the trees.

They had been walking several hours when Breldin signaled a stop and pointed. Seranin took a single shot and dropped the four legged herbivore similar to, but not an Eliko. It was dressed and cleaned quickly and they found an area to set up camp not too far away and hung the beast. Grelyen set up a mostly smokeless fire that could be used for cooking. The light was fading and the glow of the fire took over their needs. Maria hung a large pot, that looked too big to have fit in her bag, over the fire filling it with vegetables they had scavenged and chunks of meat from the catch, along with spices and seasoning some of which was also scaveged.

Keirn found a moment alone concealed by the tent to test if he could draw things from the land here and it worked. He pulled Telsa to the side with him and showed her. “This is because we follow ShadowDancer, you should see if you can do this also, and we should practice it whenever others are not watching us.”

Telsa tried and it worked. “We will keep this a secret from the others for now.” she agreed.

The group wove Grelyen, Kahli, Maria, Keltsie, and Farlden into their watch schedule. There were twelve of them so they could do four per watch, or four watches, or just change up the schedule each night and take turns getting extra rest. The casters put up certain protective barriers and alarms while Maria was cooking. They all sat down and enjoyed the meal together with idle conversation. They all felt like they were being evaluated, including the evaluators, so conversation was kept light and non-personal. Everyone eventually turned in leaving Breldin, Keltsie, and Samuel on first watch.

The forest made noises. The leaves rustled, and the trees made eerie ghost like sounds with the shifting wind. There were random sounds of tiny animals scurrying about on the ground or in the trees. A bird screeched in the distance. They kept the fire going and stayed alert. Hooves passed of maybe three four legged animals maybe a couple hundred yards away. A raccoon came into the edge of the light, sniffing at the air before turning and leaving their camp. Seranin woke from her meditation, indicating four hours had passed. It was time for the second watch to take over. Grelyen, Seranin, Telsa and Reldo.

First shift was just starting to get ready to sleep when Grelyen sniffed the air, “Wait, we may need to wake the others. There are wolves coming from,” He sniffed the air again listening, “from the north.”

The rest were awakened. Maria sent magic eyes out in the direction Grelyen indicated. “Two large wolves followed by ten smaller ones. The large two have a magic aura.”

“That could wipe out a novice group our size.” Samuel readied the crossbow he carried.

Everyone was up and ready, holding low profile positions when the first growl was heard. Kretsiss pointed left and right, “They are trying to flank us, wolves are smart.”

The wolves leaped forward, arrows and spells flew sending some of them reeling. The two large beasts were heading straight at Breldin, intent on taking out the leader of the group. Grelyen rolled under them yanking back on their hind legs forcing them out of the air to the ground.

Telsa stood up behind everyone and it was like someone turned on the sun under the canopy as she started dancing. There were injuries, but bolts of light flew from her staff healing the group. The wolves flinched back from the light, and half the group capitalized dealing lethal blows, the other half flinched at the burst of light themselves. The two large wolves reassessed their situation and called the remaining pack to turn and run. Kretsiss caught the pack leader with the locking of her eyes with his. She used her skills and training as a Shadowkyn to claim dominance in his mind. He knelt in submission in front of her.

“Stop fighting.” she commanded. With her mind she commanded the wolf to gather his group and let them know these folks are friends to protect. And the wolves gathered passively around their leader. “Please heal the injured.”

Telsa giggled, “Of course.” She danced through the wolves and all their wounds were healed, even those that had been down and close to death were back up.

Kretsiss stood up and spoke what she told the pack leader through the new bond. “Go and hunt freely, we are heading Southeast and back,” She pointed, “ if you wish to travel near us. We will give you the remnants of our catch if you would like so we do not have to carry it as we travel.”

Breldin grabbed what was left of the hanging animal and handed it to the pack leader. The wolves moved about a hundred yards away and enjoyed their meal.

“I will never stop being amazed when I see that.” Breldin laughed. “Back to bed.” “I am good for the night.” Telsa smiled and sat by the fire. “Kretsiss and I can curl up by the fire and stay alert while getting our rest. The ways of the old school Shadowkyn.” he laughed a growl that left some uncertain if it was friendly.

Seranin also confirmed “I had my four hours I am good for the night.” Keltsie said, “I'll be up in four hours myself, sounds like we have watch covered until morning, and if our new friends are hanging out, nothing else will get close enough to attack.”

Farlden spoke up, “You are not a normal novice group, and one of you has been in here before. Somehow the level adjusts encounters, although never exceeding the max limits for the level of the tower. Loot seems to be proportionate to the challenge. In this case you let the encounter live, which may mean no loot.”

“Actually, they will collect things for us.” Kretsiss said as she curled up by the fire.

There were no more encounters through the night. Everyone was up early. They had breakfast and prepared for the day. As they were finished cleaning camp the wolf pack leader came up to Kretsiss with a couple companions and dropped what looked like some torn up outfits wrapped around other objects on the ground at her feet.

“Thank you.” Kretsiss vocalized for the benefit of those around her. The Wolves bowed their heads slightly and turned and vanished in the underbrush. “Gifts. We should see what is here, but leave nothing behind.”

The others helped open the bundles. There were gems, jewelry, coins, some weapons and tattered items of cloth and leather. There were a couple pieces of armor. “We can pack this stuff if anyone has room and sort it out when we leave. Is there anything anyone can immediately see they can use?”

“I hope this was not taken from the wolves attacking other adventurers.” Farlden sounded concerned.

“I asked. This stuff was scavenged from the forest floor. The wolves promised not to attack other adventurers.” Kreltsiss picked up the last rags., “They will defend themselves if others attack them, but they also promised not to pursue if adventurers ran and they would leave injured instead of killing if they could. That was a lot to get from them. The compromise was they can take whatever loot they can grab off their attackers.”

“I must have missed that conversation.” Keltsie laughed.

“She talks with them through a mental link, anything she says out loud is for our benefit.” Grelyen expressed in disgruntled manner.

Telsa randomly started dancing and giggling, “We should continue our journey into the unknown corner of the world to get our berries.”

“You are right, Telsa, we should continue on our way.” Breldin moved in the general direction they were going. “Let's form up.”

Breldin and Grelyen took lead. Kahli and Seranin took second behind them. Samuel and Kretsiss chose to protect the rear. Keltsie and Farlden took positions one up from the rear where they could observe everyone. Maria, Telsa and Keirn mixed in the middle. Reldo moved freely up and down the ranks. When needed Grelyen would do forward scouting and Kretsiss would scout the sides and behind them. The wolf pack was pacing with them, moving around behind and up on one side or the other.

The suns rose and the day got warmer. The majority of their travel seemed to be through a leafy forest with occasional evergreens, there were also fields and meadows. It was about the middle of the day when they stepped out into an open area that was somewhat like a field, except the grass and ground covering seemed to be dead. Instinctively Breldin slowed and became more alert.

“This is a bad place.” Telsa began to have a soft glow, “We are surrounded.”

As she spoke the ground around them started to erupt with dirt patches coming up and skeletons and corpses rising out of the Ground. Breldin already had his sword draw. Grelyen pulled a small club-like weapon with one hand and claws came out on the other moving so there was space between them. Seranin transformed her sword into a staff, Samuel held his walking stick as a weapon, Keirn and Keltsie also all stepped up forming a circle around the others. Telsa dropped down placing a hand on the ground as she sang. The glow emanated from her hand, spreading until it reached out twenty feet in each direction. It encompassed the group and ten feet beyond. The undead within the area writhed a bit as if in pain. The fight began.

There were a half-dozen that went down almost immediately, but not without getting a few hits in, Farlden started healing the minor injuries. Seranin sent fire out with her staff, four of the risen corpses were burning and two skeletons took damage. Reldo rolled two of his toys out that burst open doing less damage to the skeleton and risen corpse than they would against a living creature. Maria caste something that threaded through the party and increased their speed, a time altering spell. The others were all doing what they could to strike down the attackers and Telsa joined in the healing with her staff.

Several skeletons threw axes at the group, the seemed to miss the defenders going between them. One hit Farlden causing him to fall. Telsa spinning, dancing and singing as she healed was missed. Reldo was tossing another two of his metal balls when he was hit causing the balls to drop at his allies feet instead, Keltsie and Keirn were taken off their feet by this. Maria managed to dodge the two axes that came at her. The four that went down were hit by bolts from Telsa's staff and back on their feet quickly. Farlden and Telsa were kept busy healing and when they were done there were the remains of thirty five enemies on the ground around them.

While the others looted, Telsa went around sanctifying the dead ground so that those dead creatures could not return. She danced from point to point pausing to place her hand on the ground, until the entire area showed signs of life again. Telsa sat down in the middle. “I am tired.”

Maria made a floating magic disc. “Here lay on this and sleep for a little while. It will stay with us and we will wake you if need be. You expended a lot healing the land.”

Keirn helped Telsa up onto the disc.

“Who has bag space?” Breldin asked.

Two others had backpacks that used dimensional space, Keirn and Kretsiss. Grelyen volunteered, “I have a Querelous backpack. It will hold twenty cubic feet of goods for each of us, but you can only pull out what you put in. That goes for me too.”

“You are good with all of us piling this stuff in there and sorting everything out on the way out?” Breldin asked.

“That works for me if all agree.” Grelyen set his backpack down to be loaded up.

While the others were loading the backpack Kretsiss pulled Grelyen, Kahli, and Maria to the side. “We are linked by the Shadowkyn Den bond. It is a mental link that is supposed to be only for family. I can add the three of you if you choose. It involves a lot of trust by all parties involved. By tradition it is as if we were all married by your standards. We are using it as a means to be able to communicate without talking. The others have agreed to let you join if you are willing. I can teach you after you join how to only share what you want to share.”

“There is a chance that things may get unintentionally shared when we first join.” Grelyen stated. “I will join, I know we can break the bond later if we choose.”

Maria pondered a moment, “I trust you, so you can link me in.” Kahli laughed, “I will join. I am surprised you so easily trust a Jinn.”

They rejoined the rest after a few moments. Maria used her Sorcery fire to destroy what remained on the ground after looting. Breldin called for them all to move forward again. As they walked Breldin pulled the contract out again. “There is nothing here that tells us how far it is to this Creek. There is no map, and so far it is not like we have a village or something where we can ask.”

The area they were traveling through was more open now, fields and meadows. There was lots of wildlife, small animals, birds, grazing animals in the open. The wolf pack was somewhat concealed in the tall grass, but much easier to keep track of visually than in the forest.

“There is a farm ahead and to the left.” Seranin announced, “Do we want to stop and ask anything of them?”

Grelyen turned to the GreenLeaf evaluators, “How is there a farm out here? Are they of this place, or adventurers spending a long time here?”

“The Ancient Tallund created this tower. We do not know how everything works, and there are surprises for us sometimes, even though we have had people in and out thousands of times.” Keltsie began, “I have heard rumors that there are people of the land, but I am also aware that people from the outside have come inside to work their skills. From what I have heard and seen, you can develop skills faster in the tower than in our regular world.”

Farlden added, “There are stories of people who have moved in here to live. Some of the rules in here are different from the world outside.”

“If they have a farm here, they may be able to help us with information about the creek we need to find.” Breldin suggested, “Let's drop and dress out one of these herd animals. They are a little different from what we have on the outside where the dominant natural herd grazers are Eliko, but similar to the less common Deer and other varieties. The meat and hide may be a reasonable exchange for information.”

“It will take a day to properly drain, dress out and clean the hides.” Grelyen pointed out. “We could set up camp here. It is midday, which will give us time to hunt and do what we have to, camp here for the night and be ready in the morning.”

“I can stay and help set up camp,” Samuel offered, “with whoever else wants to help set camp. We have enough that we can still have two groups go out and bring back their catch.”

“I'll take Kretsiss and Keirn.” Breldin stated.

“Then Kahli and Keltsie can come with me.” Grelyen offered. “Seranin and Maria, I'll check the camp security you set up when I get back.”

“Is that a challenge?” Kahli laughed

Samuel dug out a rectangular area and lined the sides with stones. Then he built a fire in the middle. He pulled a metal rack out and laid it across the stones at one end, and four metal poles with a chain hanging down in the middle over the other end of the fire. There was a hook on the end of the chain to hang a pot. The wood was wood he had been gathering as they traveled. He stacked some logs near, but not too close to the fire.

Reldo set up his area, then helped set up tents for others. Seranin and Maria were busy setting up perimeter alarms and protections around the camp area. At some point Telsa woke up and was using her magic to fill the pot now hanging over the fire with water. When she finished with the water, her and Farlden set up additional protections around camp. When camp was ready, those in camp settled down into their own tasks.

“When they come back they will need a place to hang the meat.” Maria stood up and summoned a shelter. “That should serve until morning, and we can sleep inside.”