“Hey, Bill, you see what I’m seeing?” the guard asked.

“Not again,” Bill replied, letting out a low sigh.

The pair of guards were adorned within the chain mail of the guard, and covering their chain shirts were red tabard, with a tree imprinted against it. They wielded spears in hand, with a shield within arm’s reach. They guarded the town, though one would be far more impressed with the walls, made of heavy stone, around three Adam’s tall, with several towers running along the perimeter.

“Good afternoon,” Adam greeted, pulling up his visor to reveal his handsome half fae face. “How do you all fare?”

“We fare well,” George replied, glancing between them all, taking note of their bronze adventurer tags, their gear, all their mounts, and finally the half dozen giant wolves. George threw a glance to Bill, who exchanged the same look back, before they eyed up the group together once more.

Jurot reached into his shirt, sliding out a plaque made of silver. It was fairly large, about the size of a letter, with various symbols all across it. One symbol was the that of a noble’s family, but there were many other symbols and runes engraved against it.

George reached up for the plaque, before his eyes scanned across the Iyrman who had handed it. “Who gave you this plaque?”

“My brother,” Jurot replied.

“Your brother?”

“Duchess Eastsea gifted us the plaque,” Adam explained. “I handed it over to my brother because it’s the safest place.”

George replied with a nod. “Alright. That’s a silver per head, per mount, per vehicle.” The guard handed the plaque back to Jurot.

‘They’re not going to check it?’ Adam thought, half prepared to small talk with the guard while they checked on the plaque. “The elks are magical steeds.”

“All four of them?”

“That’s right.”

“We don’t include them,” George replied, waving his hand dismissively. ‘Right, it’s not just the orders who have magical steeds.’

“I’ll just pay the three gold so we don’t have to deal with change,” Adam said, palming the guard three gold coins.

“If the wolves cause any bother, we’ll have to put them down, and you’ll have to pay the fine.”

“You don’t need to tell me how much the fine is because they won’t cause any issues,” Adam replied, looking back towards the four awakened wolves and the two dire wolves. “Ain’t that right?”

“Yes,” the awakened wolves replied.

The pair of guards jolted for a moment before reaching for their chests, having forgotten Adam had an awakened beast with him. ‘I knew I forgot something about this queer fool.’

“No issues with the awakened beasts, are there?” Adam asked.

The guards eyed up the group once more, counting the Iyrmen again. George sighed, motioning with his head for them to enter the town. Once the group were inside the guards glanced between one another once more.

“You sure we shoulda let them in just like that?” Bill asked.

“You gonna stop a group with all those Iyrmen from coming inside?” George replied. “They sent a hundred passed this way last year for the war, and I heard they didn’t allow any of theirs to come out.”

“Right, yeah, forgot about that,” Bill replied, slowly bouncing his head as he thought. “They said something about closing their gates? For the war?”

“For the war? You think Iyrmen close their gates cause they’re at war? You been drinking, Bill?”

“Just a sip in the morning to keep me warm.”

“You sure you haven’t been slipping any from that skin of yours?”

“An’ get chewed out by the captain again? He almost knocked me out with that slap of his.” Bill stretched out his jaw awkwardly, though it had happened months ago, he could still feel the phantom pain of the ache.

“Ain’t never heard of the Iyr shutting its gates, ever. None of the stories from my pa said anything about that. Ain’t never heard of them refusing the King to enter neither.”

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

“Let’s not talk about this anymore, s’bad luck.”

“You’re bad luck.”

“Jump a goat,” Bill muttered.

Hundreds of boots hit the stone floor as porters carried various goods, and men and women carried home their groceries.

“Carol! You’ve got to order the bread!” a woman shouted to another as she carried a basket of ropes and twigs.

“What of the wine?” the other woman shouted in return.

“I’ll get the wine!”

Horse hooves struck the ground as the mighty beasts pulled along carts and carriages of some fellow or another, a rhythm sound which caused people to step aside to give space. Adam could smell the industry from afar, the wafting scent of street food, and the smell of hard labour as people carried sacks full of various vegetables, grains, materials, and more.

Many of the buildings within red oak were made of wood, though only some had bits and pieces of the titular wood, a single frame along the window, a strip atop the door, a square within the roof. Most of the red oak the group saw belonged to the people of Red Oak, who carried such trinkets with them, typically rings, though some carried clubs made of the wood.

The Adventurer’s Guild stood tall. The ground floor made of sturdy stone, while the next three floors were made of wood, each floor slightly smaller than the previous. To one side was a large field, full of adventurers training, in the way of the archers who typically used the field, while the smaller field on the other side was full of adventurers chatting away.

“I’ve never seen the guild so packed before,” Adam admitted.

Jurot’s eyes fell across the number of adventurers around, before he nodded to Nirot, motioning with a finger. Jaygak noted the movement, before reaching up to rub her helmet gently in response. The teen Iyrmen guided the wolves and elks to the side, the attention of many adventurers quickly falling upon them.

“We expecting any trouble?” Adam whispered.

“No,” Jurot replied.

The group made their way into the guild, pushing the heavy, red oak doors open. A counter with a pretty face welcomed them ahead, the guild’s work posted to the wall to the left, the guild’s bar claiming the adventurer’s coin to their right. The young woman was tall, with long red hair loosely draped past her shoulders, only slightly lighter than the red shirt she wore. Her face held an earthly beauty, with sprinkles of freckles all across. Adventurers sat like land mines all across the area, though they were still fairly spaced out, due to the guild’s regulations.

“Afternoon, Emma,” Adam greeted, flashing her a smile as he opened his visor. “Busy day?”

“A day like any another,” Emma replied, smiling in the practised way she did. “There’s a message for you from the Vice Master, and one of your companions, I believe.” Emma rifled through the unseen notes. “Two of your companions, a Jeremiah and a Rick.”

“Those two make sense, but the Vice Master?” Adam asked.

“He presumed you would be making your way to the guild at this time and wanted me to pass the message that he wanted to see you.”

“Alright. Is he busy?”

“I’m sure he is, but I will inform him of your arrival.”

“Alright.”

Once Adam had settled their affairs, he found the gaze of the Vice Master against him. An older man with pale bronze skin, salt and pepper hair, and dark eyes. He wore a breast plate, which had a stylised sigil stamped against the front, and pieces of segmented armour across the rest of his body.

“Vice Master,” Adam greeted, clasping the man’s forearm. “Are there new wrinkles I spy?”

“Being the Vice Master isn’t easy work,” Paul admitted. “I pray you’re free to talk for a moment?”

“For you?” Adam flashed a playful smile before following the Vice Master around back. “What do you need?”

“We have received news of several outbreaks in the near future,” Paul began, leaning up against the wall, letting out a long sigh. “I’ve gathered several groups together, but I still need more adventurers, those with experience.”

“It’s rather fortunate for you that a group of thirty adventurers, each at least an Expert, many of whom are Iyrmen, have suddenly fallen onto your lap. Actually, we’ve got another half a dozen who might be joining too, with the farmers and the porters.”

“Mother Soza truly blesses me,” Paul replied. “I’d like for your group to head back to the area you had protected before.”

“I’ll speak with the party, but I don’t think they’re going to refuse,” Adam offered. “Would you mind sending word to the porters and the farmers? I mean, not you, obviously.”

“Of course.” Paul bowed his head. “Thank you, Adam.”

“I hope I get some more tags,” Adam said, patting his bronze tag.

“Of course.”

“When’s the rank up, anyway?”

“When you receive forty stamps.”

“Oh! I have thirty six, I think. Is this going to rank me up?”

“I am certain it will.”

“Nice,” Adam whispered. “Alright, well, I’ll leave you to it.”

Adam returned back to the noisy guild, glancing around the group. His eyes fell across the large form of Nobby in the corner. ‘Right…’

“More outbreaks,” Jurot mused aloud, his arms crossed as he thought of the matter. “Strange.”

“Yeah, well, last year we didn’t come across much,” Adam said. ‘Did Ulaveil have anything to do with it?’

Jurot could see what his brother was thinking. The previous year they had barely come across any beast waves even though a Great Twilight had passed. Then they had come across Crowseer several times, but more importantly, one of the Lesser Divine, Ulaveil, the daughter of the Goddess of Balance.

“I say we help, but what do you guys think?” Adam asked.

“Okay,” Jurot replied.

A wave of agreement washed over Fate’s Golden, the party which had once consisted of Adam, Jurot, Jaygak, and Kitool, and within the span of a few years had ballooned up to almost forty, each at least Experts.

‘I’m pretty sure the rest are all Level 5 too…’ Adam thought. He recalled back to the previous year. ‘Ah, no, wasn’t it a couple of years ago? Was it really that long ago? What the hell did we do last year? Oh, right. The hydras and then the tournament.’

Adam’s eyes fell to Nobby. He leaned in to whisper into Jurot’s ear. “Jurot, would you mind taking Nobby to his home? Let the boy relax with his family.” Adam pressed a gem against the side of Jurot’s hand before the Iyrmen slipped it into his palm. “Oh, and hand Anne this.”

Jurot felt the cool metal press against his hand, before slipping the coin into his hand. “Okay.”

“I’d go, but I think I’d just get us into trouble.”

“You are growing wiser.”

“I wish.”