When the blue Drakari led me down to her basement she still hadn't told me her name. I hoped to get a few answers before I was led down a dimly lit staircase.

My right hand gripped the hilt of my sword as tightly as possible. Ready to attack if necessary. The wooden floorboards creaked ominously under the thick soles of my boots as I made my way down after her.

I could hear the echoes of many voices arguing with each other as we got closer to the bottom.

“Kaelin, don’t you have to be running the stall?” A female voice asked as we reached the bottom of the stairs.

“I mean yes, but I got someone to cover for me!” Kaelin assured her, from in front of me, a few petals floated to the bare concrete floor. “ This isn’t like last time I promise, I actually do have a reason for being here this time!”

My shoulders tensed up as her blue tail wrapped around me from behind to push me toward the people gathered around a table.

“This is… wait what is your name again?” Just as I was about to open my mouth she shushed me. “Ah, no time for that. All that matters is that she’s here to help us with our operation.” All the words that spilled out of her mouth tumbled over each other as they raced to get out.

An elvish woman with bright orange hair nudged her away from me, as she started speaking. “Kae, let her fucking talk. She’s gotta at least know what she’s getting herself into first.”

“Sorry.”

“So what’s your deal stranger? You look like you just blew in from stupid town.”

I wasn’t completely sure how I was supposed to answer that question so I just continued with what I was going to say earlier. “The name’s Rowan. I heard you’re planning a jailbreak and I have business with who you’re breaking out with. I’ve been working as a mercenary for the past four years, so I'm not completely useless.”

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The elvish woman snorted, “What kind of business does someone as serious looking as you have with a buffoon like Seraphina?” She stretched her left hand out to shake in greeting. “Well, my name’s Alania. Nice to have you on the team Rowan. I just hope you aren’t expecting too much compensation from us.”

I awkwardly tried to shake her hand with my right hand but she grabbed my left hand instead and pulled back my long white sleeve. The shiny metal of my prosthetic stood out against the dim light in the basement. Glowing ball joints allowed my elbow and each of the joints in my fingers to bend.

A noise of awe spread through the room. I just sighed. Everyone was always the same. Once people found out they were always likely to coddle me or just completely dismiss me.

I yanked my sleeve out of her hand with one swift tug and started to turn for the door.

“Hey wait! Where are you going?” Alania asked, “I was just checking if you were the real deal. You wouldn’t believe how many people have tried to scam us.”

My brain ran in circles to make sense of what she just said. Only a few people who had hired me before even looked at me twice with anything more than pity.

“Kieran here has told me before of the exploits of the one-eyed, one-armed mercenary. Not many other people have an arm like that.”

Another Drakari with a similar face to Kaelin stepped forward and actually shook my right hand.

“I’m not sure if you remember me, but I hired you two years ago to rescue my sister from traffickers,” he said, “She said that you were calm and confident throughout the entire thing and really made her feel safe. Especially considering you’re two whole years younger than her.”

He walked over and intertwined his tail with Kaelin’s. On closer inspection, I could see a few faded scars running along her tail and arms. It hadn’t even been that long since the job and yet I still somehow didn’t recognize her.

The last time I had seen her, her hair had been ratty and knotted and her face had been stained with tears. But the sound of her laugh was the same and so was the faint gleam of hope in her golden eyes.

“We are all outcasts too,” Alania said, “You don’t have to be someone you’re not any longer.”