"Jack…" Ms. Jill called from the front of their group.

Jack — he had already scolded Grim for calling him 'Mr'… — thumbed through the thick journal, totally obvious to the thick crowd around them.

Well, it would have been thick… if most people weren't pressed to the sides of the market road. Grim wasn't sure if people in Ashdale were just really polite to strangers… or if the massive wolf-like creature strutting down the middle of the road had something to do with it.

"Jack!" Ms. Jill tried again.

"Just a moment… still need to finish this part…" Jack mumbled.

Grim shook her head. Over the weeks she'd spent with the humans, she'd learned Jack had the habit of hyper-fixating on whatever he was doing. Often to his — and other's — detriment. If it wasn't for Grim flying behind the young man, gently nudging them along in the right direction, who knows where — or what — he would have wandered into.

Thankfully, Grim was here, and being helpful! She liked to be helpful…

"JACK!" Ms. Jill said forcefully.

"Jill, will you hold on?! This is imp—oomph!" Jack looked up at Ms. Jill… only to run face-first into Little Red's behind.

Little Red yelped and sat down.

Ms. Jill sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose while Jack flailed underneath Little Red. Grim, for her part, tugged at one of the young man's boots in an attempt to pry him free. Unfortunately, Little Red was heavy, and Grim's Anti-Grav thrusters didn't offer much leverage. Suddenly, a vine-like stone tendril pushed itself out of the road and grabbed Jack's free leg. Then, with a tug, the tendril pulled him free, too much sputtering and coughing.

The tendril lifted Jack into the air until he was at eye-level with Mr. Gopher, who stood atop Little Red's head. Mr. Gopher narrowed his eyes and chittered angrily at the young man for scaring Little Red before dropping him.

OOF! "What was that for?!" Jack glared at Mr. Gopher, only for Ms. Jill to smack him upside the head with the journal he'd been reading.

"Stop goofing around, and pay attention." Ms. Jill said. "We're almost at the Adventurers' Guild."

She turned and pointed to a large wood and stone building that felt oddly out of place next to the otherwise rustic building surrounding them. Like someone had plotted down an old-timey fortress in the middle of a quaint mountain town. Despite its 'out-of-placeness,' people and carts streamed in and out of the thick metal gates at a regular pace. Several groups of heavily armored figures spoke to each group — Adventurer and civilian — who passed through.

Jack blinked and stood, dusting his robes off. "Oh? Are we here already? It feels like we barely left!" he said.

"It's halfway across the bloody town, you…" Ms. Jill sighed and shook her head. "Regardless, I need you to pay attention."

Jack laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Ya, ya, I got you… What were we here for again?"

Ms. Jill stared silently at her brother for a moment, then pinched the bridge of her nose again. "We need to sell all the junk we collected on the way here and register… Little Red… with the Guild as a tamed beast before anyone gets any funny ideas. After that, we're searching the archives for any clues to the [Pure Waters] spring. Progenitor Ashdale's journals are a start, but they don't do us much good without reference points."

Jack folded his arms and nodded. "That's fair. Though speaking of registration. What do we do about…" Jack let his words trail off as his eyes flickered to Mr. Gopher.

Ms. Jill glanced up at the creature, who raised a furry brow. "I considered registering him as a tamed beast as well —" a string of furry expletives rained down from above, "—but that would raise uncomfortable questions when the truth comes to light. Alternatively, registering him as an Adventurer will raise more questions than we can answer right now. If I was honest, I was hoping to just kind of… wing it and hope no one noticed. After all, who would suspect anything of a Root Gopher?"

Jack grinned from ear to ear and patted Ms. Jill on the shoulder. "Don't worry, sis! I've got an idea!"

Ms. Jill only narrowed her eyes and frowned at her older brother.

—————————————————————

The young man stood before the Guild Officer and wept bitter tears. The small furry bundle cradled in his arms moaned dramatically. Jack wiped away a tear and looked up.

"And that's our story, good sir. Now we travel north, on rumors of a Great Mage who might be able to reverse the spell living somewhere in the mountains!"

The Guild Officer started down, one brow twitching as he looked between Jack and Mr. Gopher. He'd stopped recording about halfway through the rather outlandish tale and was frankly stumped at how to respond now. Instead, he turned to his partner, an older Mage carrying a large staff beside him.

The Mage in question was shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose.

Thunk! Thunk!

The old Mage whacked both the young man and the gopher on the head with his staff.

"Owe!"

Angry gopher noises.

"This is why I keep telling you young fools to stay away from polymorph! I don't care that the spell formation can technically be cast as low as [Second Circle]! Casting it isn't the hard part; reversing it is!"

Jack rubbed his head and looked away.

The Mage pointed his staff at Mr. Gopher. "And you! Stop with the drama. You'll get no sympathy from me if you agreed to this tomfoolery!"

Mr. Gopher sat up straight, folded his arms, and tsked.

The other Guild Officer sighed and looked between his partner and the two before him. "Riiiiight, either way, your friend will have to re-registered with the Guild. Polymorph messes with a person's soul signature something fierce, I hear. Better safe than sorry. As for your… other friend —" the officer looked up at Little Red, who was happily panting to one side. "—bring them to the kennels, and the Beastmaster will do an overview. Be aware that Lykos' don't have a good reputation around these parts, regardless. The Guild will handle any disputes you bring to it, but it can't stop someone from attacking while you're in the wild."

Jack sniffed, nodded, and spoke, "We understand. Hopefully, we won't be in the area long enough for it to be an issue, but we wanted to be careful, nonetheless."

The Guild Officer sighed once more and tore a sheet of paper out of the notepad. "Bring this to the clerk. Now get going; you're holding up the line."

Jack grabbed the sheet and then walked away as the rest of the group followed behind.

Jill fell into step beside Jack and whispered. "… I can't believe that worked."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Jack grinned and high-fived Mr. Gopher. "Ah, but it did! Problem solved. Don't you love me?"

Jill narrowed her eyes and frowned at Jack. "Jack… how did you know polymorph worked that way?"

Jack's eyes snapped forward as he laughed nervously. "D-don't we need to get to the clerk before the line gets too long? We've got quite a bit to offload! Don't want to make them wait!" He then quickened his pace and rushed ahead.

Jill furrowed her brow and walked faster to chase after him.

"Jack! Don't you change the subject! Get back here right now!"

—————————————————————

"Your total comes to... 15 high-grade spirit stones, 150 mid-grade spirit stones, and 400 Marks," the clerk said, placing a small chest and a steel card on the counter.

Jill's eyes bulged at the numbers. That was an insane amount for an individual. A typical mission for someone of her and Jack's rank would run between five and ten mid-grade spirit stones. Such missions could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, depending on what they were doing. At 20 mid-grade spirit stones to 1 high-grade stone, it was not exaggerating to say this was their most profitable trip by far.

Even the Marks, the small gold coins Halirosa used as the base of their mortal currency, were no small amount. A typical mortal family could live comfortably on 50 Marks a year — even less outside Halirosa proper. Even a single low-grade spirit stone could run as much as 25 Marks on the open market.

Jill audibly swallowed, then pushed the box and card back across the table. "Please place all but 5 mid-grade stones and 200 Marks on the Rubyseed Clan account."

While keeping such wealth for herself was tempting, the clan needed them far more than she did currently. It wasn't like she could make much use of the spirit stones in her current state, anyway. Jack could technically use the spirit stones, but Mages didn't cultivate with them in the same way, instead using of them in alchemy and rituals.

Besides, it wasn't like they couldn't do this again. Jill side-eyed Grim with a frown.

There was something to say about not carrying around too much wealth at any one point in time, either. Ever since they'd started pulling things out of the drone's cargo, Jill hadn't liked the look some of the Adventurers in the main hall were giving them.

I knew Grim's storage was vast… but I'd lost count of how much we'd actually stuffed in there…. On any other trip, we would have had to leave 90% of what we came across, but ever since we met her, I don't think we've passed up a single resource. I should have asked for a private review…

There was no point in complaining about 'should haves,' however. What's done is done. If any of the other Adventurers got any smart ideas, she'd like to see how they dealt with Little Red and Mr. Gopher.

Speaking of which, they still had to get both registered. Mr. Gopher was easy enough — soul signature scans only took some blood — but Little Red would take an appointment with the Beastmaster. That could take days… if they didn't already have a letter from Baron Ashdale, that was.

As Jack and Jill stepped out of the line and walked toward the counter for new Adventurer registrations, someone approached them.

"My, my, what an… interesting artifact you have there. I have to say, I've never seen one quite like it," a silky smooth, feminine, if somewhat deep voice called out from behind them with a light drawl that was rare to hear this far north.

Jill froze and slowly turned around, trying to maintain a friendly smile. However, that quickly faltered as her eyes went wide when she got a good look at the speaker.

A Dragonkin.

The young with charcoal-grey colored scales leaned to one side, her elegantly arrayed robes highlighting a curvy figure that would have made Jill jealous if not for the woman's muzzle filled with razor-sharp teeth and her lizard-like golden eyes. As their eyes met, Jill felt her breath catch. The woman only smiled, took a drag of her long pipe, and then puffed out a small ring of smoke.

Despite their name, the Dragonkin weren't actually related to dragons. In fact, they weren't even Awakened Beast, as far as anyone could tell. Or if they were, no one knew who their Progenitor was, or where they came from. They were closer to the Dwarves or other such humanoid races, though their isolationist tendencies made them a mystery to much of the world. It was rare to find the outside of their scattered conclaves. Rarer still to find them so far north.

Jill had never met a Dragonkin before, despite rumors of a few in Halirosa, and she'd never understood why people said they were so different. Here, in this moment, she felt that was no longer the case. Where clashing with the bloodline of another Awakened Beast felt like two equals fighting for dominance, staring into this woman's eyes felt like looking into the eyes of a predator.

Like Jill's every movement was being observed in the tiniest detail, just waiting for her to slip up so the woman could strike.

Part of Jill wondered if the Dragonkin were named such not for their resemblance to the powerful beings, but because of those eyes…

"Oh, come now, dear, don't give me that look," the mysterious woman said. "I'm not here to steal it from you, I promise. My curiosity is purely academic. You see, I'm a bit of an Artificer myself, who specializes in constructs. I've never seen one quite like yours, however."

Jill shook her head and frowned, but before she could speak, Grim rushed forward.

"HI! My Name's Grim! What's yours?!" The drone stuck out one of its chubby arms.

The Dragonkin's eyes went wide before she smiled and reached out a hand, shaking the drone's own.

"My, my, you are special, aren't you, Ms. Grim? It's very nice to meet you. Your creator must have been someone equally as fascinating," the woman said in that same silky voice as her eyes wandered all over Grim.

"Thanks!" came Grim's response. "Mr. Alpha made me to fight a giant Space Chicken!"

The woman paused and tilted her head. "A… space… chicken? I… see. I must say, I would love to see what makes you tick. It feels like it could be… enlightening."

Grim slowly backed away and scratched her face plate. "Ah, I'm sorry, but my construction is proprietary technology limited to Federation military use only. If you wish to purchase the blueprints for a standard-issue civilian model rated for Vidaasi use, you can do so at any—Murph! "

Jill appeared next to Grim and covered her speakers.

"Hahaha, I'm sorry, but our clan Artificer would tan my hide if he found out we were letting others poke around his work. Again, I apologize," she said, pushing the drone back as she nervously laughed.

The Dragonkin grinned, sending a shiver down Jill's spine. "No need to apologize. I understand. An Artificer's secrets are their life, after all. Still, are you free? I would love to speak to… Ms. Grim… about her creator more."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Mrs. Greyscale." a third voice cut in. An old, grey-muzzled Ashdale woman rounded the corner. Though her back was slightly hunched, and she walked with a cane, her strides were steady and powerful, with the air of a seasoned warrior.

The Dragonkin's eyes went wide, and she bowed slightly. "Guildmaster! I wasn't aware you had plans with our new arrivals. I apologize."

The older woman waved the Dragonkin off and shook her head. "No need. I wasn't aware I would either until a few moments ago." The Guildmaster then turned and smiled at Jill. "Hello dear, I just got a request from my grandson to look after you a lot while you're here. I hope you don't mind the company of an old woman."

Jill only stared at the old woman in shock for a moment. Grandson? Was this really Baron Ashdale's grandmother? Was she really Ashdale Valley's Guildmaster? The man was no spring chicken himself; how old did the woman in front of Jill have to be? How powerful?!

As if reading the thoughts playing through Jill's mind, the Guildmaster grinned, then laughed, patting Jill on her back. "Come, come, my dear. I'm sure that fool of a grandson of mine nearly bored you to death with all his politicking and… paperwork —" the old woman spit the word out like it was rotting, "—let me show you what real Ashdale hospitality is like."

She then gently — but firmly — turned Jill away.

"Ah! Wait!" The Dragonkin reached out, only for the Guildmaster to give the woman a glaring eye that drew a bead of sweat from the younger woman's scales.

The Dragonkin stepped back but flicked her wrist, producing a high-quality metal card. "Please, pass my card on to your… clan Artificer when you can. I would love to meet someone who can produce such… fine work."

Jill stared down at the card, unsure of what to do. The Guildmaster spoke up the next moment. "You should take her up on her offer. While Mrs. Greyscale here is still young, her work is quite impressive. At the very least, if your artifact ever becomes damaged, it would be good to have someone like her in your pocket, so far from home."

Jill paused, then nodded, taking the offered card. What harm could it do? Besides, having an 'in' with a Dragonkin Artificer could turn out to be a major boon. After all, they were often said to be the leaders in the field.

The Dragonkin smiled, gave Grim one last wave — who enthusiastically returned it — and turned away.

The Guildmaster then began walking in the opposite direction. Jill gave the Dragonkin one final look, then followed after the Guildmaster.

—————————————————————

The Dragonkin sank into her chair with a sigh.

"Well, that was a bust… you think the Guildmaster knows something?"

Her partner, another Dragonkin, a male with deep blue scales and silver armor, took a swing of his mug and shrugged. "Doubtful. Who would make the connection but us?"

The grey-scaled Dragonkin nodded. "That's true. At the very least, this confirms reports from the Radiant Sea."

The blue-scaled Dragonkin turned and raised a brow. "You don't think it's a coincidence? It could be a remnant. It wouldn't be the first time someone's dug something up. Especially this far north."

Greyscale shook her head. "No… Not this time. There's no way anyone here could have gotten something like that functional. I doubt even I could. No. It's far too… new."

Bluescale let out a laugh. "Well, bloody hell. I guess that confirms it, then… They're really here. Wait till the higher-ups learn. It's going to be a shit show, however you toss it. What do we do?"

Greyscale sighed. "We do the same thing we've always done…"

She turned toward the direction the group had gone.

"Adapt."