Chapter 9

“Sir, we cannot just wait out here until the world ends. It could be years until he exits through those gates again.” Errock groaned, clenching his broken left arm.

“You seen what that intruder did to Cormick.” Tunkor spat back. “These Transients think this world theirs, choosing to invade and kill indiscriminately, and you can’t be damned to wait a few days?”

Looking through the trees at the gate to Fort Moortin, the two remaining vrakir knew they were safe and out of sight for now. With Korrel dead, they had no Aura Sense to keep watch on them, and if Tunkor was being honest, it made him feel unsafe for the first time in years. That large man had come out of almost nowhere, killing three of their crew in a matter of seconds. If Tunkor hadn’t been there, Errock would have lost more than an arm in that fight.

“We wait,” Tunkor said after a long pause. “But not here. We can set up camp where Cormick is buried.”

“Aye boss,” the vrakir said. The two turned and headed back into the forest.

— — —

“I guess we will check out some of these Houses.” Dex echoed.

“Any of them catching your eye?” Princess asked.

“There aren’t any descriptions or anything, just names,” Dex explained. “This one does sound interesting, tho. The Sunblades. And their recruitment office is just around the corner.”

“Sounds good to me!” she replied

Dex pushed open the door to The Sunblades. Inside was only one man, sitting behind a desk. He was reading a book; it looked similar to the one that Melli had at the gate. The man was young and handsome, or at least what would have passed for handsome on Earth. Who knows what beauty standards were like in this world?

“Hello!” Dex said, approaching the man and waving like an idiot.

“Stop waving like that, you goofball.” Princess echoed. Dex dropped his arm, and the man dropped his book.

“Welcome to The Sunblades recruitment center. Looking to join our House?” The man asked, his voice a bit squeakier than expected.

“Well, honestly, I’m not sure. I’m new in town and am curious about what you guys would offer over another House.” Dex got straight to the point.

“Excellent question. I’ll give you the regular pitch.” The man cleared his throat and began reciting his pitch, clearly having given this a thousand times before. “We here at The Sunblades value our members and their contributions. We offer an industry standard of five quest options, per member, per day. Our point rewards remain in the top ten percent of Houses, as we believe in valuable compensation for our members. As well, our member shop is fully stocked with all your questing needs. Members of The Sunblades advance through class and race tiers twice as quickly as those who are not affiliated with a House.”

Dex felt like he was at a timeshare pitch for a moment. Shaking the feeling, he spoke up, “Interesting. I’m interested in getting started questing today. Is there a long process for joining?”

“You really aren’t from around here,” the man said. “You can join instantly for a trial period. If you succeed in three quests and show good results, you become a full member.”

“So, if I wanted to join, I could hop into a quest immediately?” Dex asked. “Is that also ‘industry standard’, to use your words?”

“Generally, to my knowledge.” He answered. “A few Houses that have Echelon members require a fee to join, but otherwise the barrier to entry is generally pretty frictionless.”

“Thank you for your time,” Dex said suddenly, smiling. “I don’t want to make too hasty a decision, so I think I will speak with some other recruiters as well.”

“I’ll be here until sunset,” the man said plainly, picking up his book and flipping it open.

Dex and Princess wandered through Fort Moortin, speaking with recruiters from The Fireborne Foxes, The House of Silver, The Obsidian Legion, The Shadowcloaks, and a few more. They all had similar pitches, none seemed to stand out above any others.

“Hopefully this one has something unique to it,” Princess echoed. “And I’m getting hungry. Can this be the last one before lunch?”

“Yeah, that’s fine, I’m right there with you,” Dex said, pushing open the door to The Frostsworn recruitment center. The room inside was nearly empty, save for a small table with three chairs around it. On one of the chairs, a young girl sat, playing with a small wooden toy.

“Mom!” the girl yelled, having seen Dex and Princess enter. “There’s a man with a pet mouse here!”

“A mouse!” Princess screamed into Dex’s mind. “That bi-“

“Whoa there, she’d just a kid,” Dex stopped her. “Give her a break. You’re so feisty sometimes.”

“I don’t look anything like a damn mouse,” she protested.

During their internal bickering, a tall stout woman entered from a door in the back. She had no standout features, save for her light blue hair that matched her pristine clothes.

“Greetings,” The woman said, her voice was calm and polite. She clasped her hands in front of her. “Welcome to The Frostsworn. A cup of tea?” Dex never cared for tea, but he accepted to be polite. The woman sent her daughter off to go fetch three cups. “Your friend may enjoy a cup as well?” She asked, motioning for them to sit around the table.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“She said she will try it, but she’s never had tea before.” Dex answered, helping Princess down to sit on the table between them.

“Oh, you can talk to her?” She asked.

“This is my familiar, Princess. I’m Dexter, Dex for short,” He said.

“Ellia Frostsworn,” she said, holding her hand out to Princess, who accepted some light scratching.

“Frostsworn? Like the House?” Dex asked.

“Yes, I am the director and founder here.” She smiled. The girl returned with the tea and placed the cups on the table.

“It’s an honor to meet you.” Dex murmured. “I’ve visited several Houses looking to join today. I was just curious what makes yours standout above the others. I want to make a good decision, of course.”

“A wise young man,” Ellia said, sipping her tea. “Unfortunately, we are not accepting new members at this time. Unless, of course, you have something unique to offer.”

“I’m a Weapon Master class?” Dex said, entirely unsure if that would impress her or not.

“A Weapon Master, here in Fort Moortin. Yet you are not affiliated with a House already? I must say, that is unusual.” She said warily.

“I’m new in town,” Dex replied, resorting to his usual excuse. He knew The Titan Guard were inviting of Transients, but he figured it was best to keep that close to his chest just in case other were not accepting of him.

“You must be the rumored Transient,” Ellia said, setting down her tea.

“Well, that flew out the window quicker than expected,” Princess echoed.

Dex nodded reluctantly, hoping this didn’t ruin his chances of joining this, or any other House.

“That is unique indeed.” She pondered. “Have you heard of the Echelon of Heroes?”

“Only from this pamphlet,” Dex said, pulling the folded paper from his jeans pocket.

“Flip to the back, if you could.” Ellia pointed at the paper.

On the back was the list of those at the top of the Echelon. And there she was, number nine: Ellia Frostsworn. He hadn’t memorized the list, or he might have not been made to look so ignorant.

“I hope you understand why I scrutinize my members, Dex.” Ellia said.

“I, uh,” Dex paused, “I apologize for wasting your time, ma’am.” He bowed his head and got up from the table, holding his hand out for Princess to join him.

“Please, stay a moment.” She insisted, “I may be interested in making an arrangement with you, if you’d hear me.”

This piqued Dex’s interest, and Princess agreed. They had been looking for a House that had something to offer, something that could give them an edge in this world where they currently had only disadvantages. Having their leader be a member of the Echelon sounded like an advantage.

Dex returned to his seat and sipped his tea. Yuck, he thought, but showed nothing on his face. “What kind of arrangement?” He asked politely.

“I don’t know what you’re complaining about,” Princess echoed. “This tea is scrumptious.” She was lapping aggressively at the cup.

“I would be willing to accept you into my House on an exclusive trial basis.” Ellia explained. “To be completely honest, new Transients have been… absent for some time. I believe it could benefit the both of us to have you.”

New Transients? This was the first time that Dex had thought of other Transients having been here for some time. Who knows how many there are, but the more you thought about it, the more likely he realized there were probably many in this world still living.

Choosing not to dwell on it too much, he replied, “I don't really want to be put on a pedestal. I want to earn my keep like everyone else.”

“Clearly I have misused my words slightly,” Elia said. “You will likely have to work harder than the rest of our members. I will arrange for you to follow a strict training line that could get you up to par with some of our weakest. Assuming you don't die in the process, then we can consider you for full membership.”

“This could be what we were looking for,” Princess echoed. “Having an Echelon member as our leader sounds better than anything the other houses were offering.”

“You’re probably right, Princess,” Dex replied out loud so Ellia could hear him. “I think this does sound exactly like what we are looking for.”

“Excellent.” Ellia smiled. “I will send you a trial membership invitation. Please accept it and I will show you around our campus.”

[Ellia Frostsworn, leader of The Frostsworn, has sent you an invitation.]

[Join The Frostsworn?]

[Yes] [No]

The prompt appeared in Dex’s vision, and he accepted. Following Ellia into the back room, they went down a staircase that was behind a magically sealed door. She did some sort of magic to unseal it, but of course, neither Dex nor Princess had any clue about this type of magic.

The stairs let out into a massive room. It reminded Dex of the auditorium at his highschool where they would play basketball. He never played, naturally, but he was forced to sit and watch major games. His school always lost.

Surrounding the walls of the room were several large door arches with shimmering lights of varying colors where the actual doors should have been. In the center was a familiar sight; a giant crystal just like the one in the town square. Its blue shimmer was the only light in the room. Despite it being bright enough to see easily, it did not hurt to look at as Dex had expected.

There were two people seated at a table towards the right side of the room. One appeared to be a young male. His smiling face contrasted with his missing left arm. The other was an older man who held the face of someone who was mad about missing an arm, despite having both of his. They both wore similar clothes to Ellia, although much less elegant and more masculine in nature. On each of their chests was an insignia, three water droplets in a circle, boasting a watery-blue color.

“Oren, Finn, please welcome our newest member. Dexter is here on a trial basis.” Ellia introduced Dex to the seated men.

The younger of the two got up and shook Dex’s hand. “Oren Prem, welcome to The Frostsworn.” His smile was uncanny, almost too perfect.

Struggling slightly from his seat, the older man stood slowly. “Thought we were full up, Ellia.” He groaned. Despite his obvious objection, he politely held his hand towards Dex as well. “I s’pose it’s nice to meet ya, nonetheless. Oh? Who might this one be?” He pointed at Princess, now seated on Dex’s shoulder.

“This is Princess,” Dex said. “And Dex is fine.” The old man’s grip was incredibly strong, almost like he was testing Dex.

“Isn’t that something, a bearer with a rat? Ya see something new every day, even at my age.” Finn said.

“This young man,” Ellia paused, gathering her words for a moment. “He is the Transient we’ve been hearing about.” She said bluntly. “He was in search of a House and I decided it would be greatly beneficial to both parties if he joined with us.”

“Always the experimenter, Ms. Frostsworn.” Oren said. “Say, from what world were you sent, Dex?”

“Earth,” He answered plainly, realizing that he was going to have to get used to this line of questioning.

“Earth? Never heard of it.” Oren frowned.

“A magicless world,” Finn said. “One of the few we know of that are like that. If my memory serves me, you have some inherent resistance to magic. That right?” Finn glared down at Dex, looking deep into his soul as if he’d find the answer written on the back of his eyes.

“Yes, I have a passive ability. Earthling Magical Resilience,” Explained Dex. “I’m not sure how it works exactly. It just says I am innately resistant to magic, but it won’t inhibit me from learning magic myself.”

“Fascinating,” Oren’s eyes went wide. “I’d love to have something like that.”

Waving away the two men, Ellia stepped in. “There will be plenty of time to mingle later. I must continue showing Dex around our facilities.” She motioned towards a doorway near the table they were just seated at. “Shouldn’t you two be getting on with your quest now?”

“Yes, of course, ma’am.” Oren smiled and stepped towards the door. “Coming?” He looked back at Finn, who joined next to him. “Nice meeting you, Dexter.”

The two men stepped into the shimmering light, Oren waving back at Dex with his one arm as he disappeared. Finn did not look back.

“Please excuse Finn, he’s older than he looks and is sort of a... curmudgeon?” Ellia apologized.

“He looks pretty damn old. How old is that guy?” Princess echoed.

“Be nice,” Dex echoed in reply. “But also, you’re right. He looks at least seventy.”

“Well, now that there will be no more interruptions, please allow me to show you around.” Ellia smiled.