Boggy was in the middle of a full-blown panic. He paced between the walls of an alley, an incredibly short distance to pace, trying to wrap his head around all the things that Edie had just told him. “So they left? They just left? No goodbye, no nothing?”

“Yes.” The fish was lying down on the ground, the picture of glumness. Even her sparkly scales seemed to glimmer with defeat, reflecting her depression. “I’m so sorry, Boggy. There was nothing that I could do. I.. I didn’t know what to do.”

“You could have woken me up. Or even tried to stop them.” Boggy heard the venom in his voice and immediately felt guilty. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

“It’s okay.”

A silence fell between them, only punctuated by the clanking of Boggy’s footsteps on the paved stone ground. A tempest of thoughts ravaged his mind, all of them unpleasant. Had Darkness never been his friend? Was this betrayal because of something that Boggy did? Could it be that Darkness didn’t want to be found?

No. Boggy shook his head, trying to organize his thoughts. Darkness was his friend, whether it wanted to be or not. It was the reason that he’d come to the human world; it was the only reason that he had. That hadn’t changed, only the object of his resolve.

Steeling his determination, Boggy took a deep breath. He grabbed the miserable Edie off of the ground and dropped her into the little compartment in his breastplate. “Boggy?” She asked, surprised. “What are you doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Boggy started walking towards the main street, where he’d found the large white building. “We’re going to find Darkness.”

It didn’t matter if it was an act of desperation; it was an act, something to do. Boggy could feel his sorrow fade away as he walked towards the hustle and bustle of the humans.

“No, wait. What’s your plan? Where are you even going to look?” Edie popped up out of the breastplate, spouting complaints. “You can’t just go somewhere and hope for the best.”

“That’s what I’ve been doing the entire time,” Boggy said, refusing to stop.

“Yes, but this time you’re going to be walking into a town square, where all the guards want you dead, and most of the citizens do too. This isn’t a plan, it’s suicide!”

“What do you expect me to do!?” The words came out half shout, half cry. Boggy stopped walking and looked at Edie. Tears started forming in his eyes, unbidden. “Darkness is out there, somewhere, and he doesn’t have me. Who knows how he’s going to survive, if he’s going to survive?” His worst thoughts started to surface, and the sinking feeling in Boggy’s stomach grew deeper. As soon as they came out of his mouth, it felt like they were destined to come true.

The next thing he knew, there was a sharp stinging on his right cheek. Edie had slapped him with her fin, and it had a surprising amount of strength behind it. Not enough to turn his head completely, but certainly enough to leave a red mark on his face.

“Stop it.” Her voice demanded attention. “Do you think that you’re going to help anyone, Darkness especially, by running into the middle of the city? I want to find him as much as you do, but you’re not going to find anything by getting yourself killed.” Her voice quivered a little bit near the end. “If you die, what am I going to do?”

Boggy tried to respond, but nothing came out. A deep shame came over him as he realized what she was getting at, and he stayed silent. Tears fell to the ground as he fought with himself to stay still. “I know. I know.”

He felt her fins on his face, gently caressing it, and realized that she was giving him a hug. Despite all of the negative emotions that were roiling inside of him, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit calmer, a little bit more levelheaded.

His tears abated, his sniffles stopped, and soon he was back where he started. But he felt just a little bit better, just a little bit less lost, now that remembered that there was still somebody at his side.

Panic all but forgotten, Boggy took a deep, shaky breath. He had to come up with a plan to find Darkness, that wasn’t in question, but he had a friend to help him. “So, do you have any plans?”

Edie gazed into the sky, as if it held the answers to their dilemma. “Well, I wouldn’t say that I have a plan so much as an idea.” There was a twinkle in her eye as she looked at the boglet. “Boggy, have you ever tried transforming into a different human?”

The thought rocked Boggy’s brain. It had only been two days since he’d transformed into the human that he’d seen at the Grove, and he’d already felt supremely comfortable in the body. It was a far cry from the uneasiness and clumsiness that he’d felt when he’d first taken the form. With a frown, Boggy opened and closed one of his hands, feeling it out.

With a little bit of hesitation, he said, “Maybe? I don’t really know. It would have to be someone that I either know very well, or that I care a lot about.” Boggy felt a small wave of embarrassment talking about it, although he didn’t exactly know why. “This was the first human that I ever saw, so I know his form very well. I don’t think I would be able to mimic any random person nearly as well.”

“Hmm.” Edie pondered on the words for a couple of seconds. “What if you--”

“There you are!” Another voice gasped from the mouth of the alley. Edie stopped speaking mid-sentence and plopped back down into her little compartment. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

Boggy squinted with confusion as Edie whispered the translation to him. The human looked incredibly familiar, although he couldn’t quite place him. Then, with a start, he realized that it was the very same guard that had been at the gate. And the one that had been at the Market.

His brain wasn’t moving particularly quickly, so it took a second for him to put the pieces together. A guard? That knew about Darkness? That was looking for him?

Boggy ran away.

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###

Teeger felt like today was stretching on forever. While most of his monetary worries had evaporated from the sudden treasure that had landed on his lap, his concerns were far from over. Now that he’d landed the hero a job with the mayor, the only thing left was to inform the hero himself of the arrangement.

Finding him was troublesome. Luckily, Teeger knew the streets around the Governor’s Building like the back of his hand. He was able to maneuver through the winding streets with clinical efficiency, despite the poor planning and clearly drunk architects that had plagued this city.

Despite his frequent visits to the district, Teeger couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy around all of the richer denizens of Intigo. Most of them had the pale complexion and finer hair of the Northerners, immigrants sent here in search of a better life, out of the Emperor’s eye. Teeger doubted that they would find what they were looking for in Intigo.

Out of reflex, he kept his eyes glued to the ground and his feet constantly moving, despite the fact that on paper he was more than their equals. It still hadn’t sunk in that he was rich. Disgustingly rich, even. Teeger gulped as he remembered the value that the assessor had given the gold coins. Not to mention the attempted robbery that had taken place shortly afterward.

His coin pouch had never felt heavier. Teeger had insisted that he keep the money on his person; what if somebody tried to rob his house for them, and, Esmira forbid, hurt his family in the process? Teeger felt his fists clench at the very thought, and tried to relax by concentrating on the search.

That said, there wasn’t too much to concentrate on. The methodical approach that he took ensured that he would find the hero given enough time, unless the hero had somehow managed to get away from the city. And given how much effort the Lieutenant was putting in to catch him, that was near impossible.

Teeger eyed the duo of soldiers that walked down the street, glancing into every stall and alleyway. It was no mystery who they were searching for, and the populace was more than happy to accommodate them. He watched as an elderly couple stepped aside and allowed the soldiers to inspect their fish stall.

Anger flared up from within him, but Teeger suppressed it. It made sense that the people from Intigo didn’t trust the hero; after all, all they knew about him was from the incident at the Market.

Teeger wasn’t entirely sure what had happened there either, but he’d seen it with his very eyes, and it was clear that the hero hadn’t been practicing witchcraft. No, the darkness and flames had erupted directly on top of him, with no chant or circle to be seen. This hadn’t been a spell cast by him; this had been a curse placed on him.

The very idea sent tingles down his arms. He’d known all of the wizards in Intigo before the Empire had arrived, via his enchanting master, and none of them had ability even close to that. This was something that only somebody supremely experienced could have made.

Maybe even a witch. The thought smacked Teeger in the head, but he brushed it off. There was nothing in Intigo to even remotely interest a witch, after all. One hadn’t been seen in centuries, and he had no doubt that any that would be seen would be burned at the stake before they could cast any curses. That was one execution that Intigo’s citizens would have no problem with.

But the matter of who cast it made no difference. Even faced with such extreme danger, the hero hadn’t blinked an eye in dispelling it. He’d no doubt saved everybody at the Market, and what was his reward? Fear.

It disgusted Teeger to no small extent. Even the friends that he had that did follow the old ways, like Kerfly, refused to see what truly happened. Her sons were even on some kind of harebrained scheme to catch the hero!

The betrayal gave him a burning sensation in his heart, as well as a splitting headache. He was filled with doubt for the future, and more importantly, the hero’s safety.

But he rounded another corner, and his worries dissipated as soon as the target of his chase appeared before his eyes. In front of him, cloakless and just as proud as the day that Teeger had met him, stood the man in shining armor. “There you are!” He shouted hoping to get the man’s attention.

He was facing the mouth of the alley, his face dreadfully pale. Teeger had caught him in what appeared to be the middle of a conversation, although he couldn’t find the other participant. The hero’s face turned towards Teeger, startled by the shout. Teeger realized that there were tears running down his face.

Teeger froze. The hero in front of him was weak, vulnerable. Not hero-like.

The hero stared back, taking a second to process the information. His tear-streaked face clouded with fear, and he turned tail. Something else that Teeger never would have expected to see. He felt a deep-set shame, the kind that one felt when they saw something that they knew they shouldn’t have.

The hero bravely ran away. Teeger, still stunned by the encounter, quickly deliberated. Leave the hero to his own devices, or tell him about the mayor?

It was an easy decision. He had complete trust that the hero would find his own way, but the information Teeger had was too important, too vital. The hulking man started running, bursting down the alleyway like a boulder down a hill.

He was quick to speed up, and found himself almost directly behind the hero. The man was sluggish, as though he’d just woken up, or he’d taken some sort of injury. A pang of sympathy spiked through the former guard as he realized that something must have happened to the hero in dispelling the curse.

All the more important that Teeger helped him, as an expression of gratitude if not as his own civic duty.

As carefully as he could, making sure not to injure, Teeger tackled the hero. The duo tumbled to the ground in a mess of limbs and armor. Teeger ended up on top, preventing the hero from moving.

That didn’t stop him from trying to escape. Teeger was almost bucked off multiple times, an astounding achievement considering his larger weight, but to no avail. In a low voice, Teeger said, “Please stop. I know why you’re crying, and I can help you.”

The hero stopped struggling, stunned by the declaration. Teeger continued speaking. “It isn’t easy, feeling like the world is against you. Right now, all of the town Guard is after you, and even the citizens don’t trust you. Even though all you did was protect them.”

With a deep breath, he said, “You know, I’ve been there too. There was a time, right after the Empire took over Intigo, when I was in a similar place to you. I took a job from the Mayor, and that turned the rest of the citizens against me. It was a hard time for me, a hard time for my family.

“But I persevered. I survived through it, with the help of my family. That allowed me to help you, and Esmira blessed me for it.” Teeger stepped off Boggy’s back, allowing him to get to his knees. The hero hit Teeger with a perplexed stare, as though he didn’t understand the point of the story.

With a small smile, Teeger said, “What I’m trying to say is that there are still people in this city that believe in the Old Ways.” He knelt on one knee, head bent lower than Boggy’s. “And that means that there are people who will do whatever it takes to make sure that your goals are accomplished. Remember, Chosen of Esmira, that as long as you stand in this city, you are never alone.”

There was a moment of silence as the hero regarded Teeger. A quiet voice sounded, in the same deep crackle that he was used to. “Thanks?”

The word itself seemed to relieve some of the tension that Teeger was feeling. “Don’t thank me yet.” He stifled a groan as he got back to his feet. He was getting old. “I have an offer for you which can solve at least some of your problems.”

“Which is?” The hero’s voice was strong once more, his moment of weakness passed. Teeger couldn’t help but grin at that. It wasn’t a hero’s job to stay strong at all times, but to stay strong at the right time. What stood in front of him was the essence of that.

“I’ve talked to the mayor on your behalf, and he’s agreed to meet with you, provided that you act as his bodyguard for a short amount of time. I’m sure that if you talk to him, you’ll be able to convince him to get the guards off of your back.”

“Bodyguard?” The hero’s gaze turned wary.

Teeger grimaced. He hoped that it wasn’t going to be too hard to convince him to take the job. “Have you ever heard of the Cantankerous Tankard?”