Daniel hopped down from the wagon.

The rain had thankfully stopped, but he kept the cloak on and his hood up.

Horace had joined a long line of carts and wagons that were being inspected, one at a time by the city guards.

The area outside of the gate was bustling with activity, with some expensive carriages being waved through, and people on foot talking to one another as they waited to go in.

He moved to join the line, waiting to enter, but at his approach, many of the people moved aside.

“I think the mask and cloak might be a bit much. I didn’t mean to scare everyone,” he sent Cinder.

“Funny,” the dragon giggled.

To the guards’ credit, the line to enter the city on foot moved quickly, and he soon found himself through the gate and approaching a bored guard sitting behind a stone booth connected to the city wall.

“Are you a resident of Scofrey, uh…sir?”

“No.”

“What is your reason for visiting the city?”

“Mostly, to visit the Temple of Honos.”

Daniel had noticed a small group of people nearby chatting and watching everyone as they entered.

A man in the robes of a cleric of Honos stood and walked over, followed by a woman also dressed in robes but bearing the yellow stripes of the city’s guards.

“Paladin of Honos, it is my honor to welcome you to the city,” the cleric said, with a short bow.

The man’s smile was infectious, and Daniel smiled back under his mask.

“He has two mana-gates open, so he’s definitely seen some action,” the woman stated to the cleric as she stared at Daniel.

“Of course. The god of honor and justice doesn’t bestow his divine blessing on just anyone,” the man replied.

“Put this one on my tab please, Larry,” he said to the guard as he walked over to Daniel.

Daniel bowed, matching the cleric’s own bow, and walked over.

“Thank you. I have one stop to make, to complete my task, before I go to the temple,” Daniel said as he held his hand out in greeting.

The man took his hand but froze at the mention of the task.

Leaning forward, the cleric whispered, “If your target is one of noble birth, please tell me so I can make preparations.”

Taken aback, Daniel was glad the mask hid his face.

“No, it’s nothing like that. I need to visit the guild to complete my quest,” he replied.

Smiling broadly, the cleric nodded in understanding.

“Of course. Please find me once you have some time. I’m dying to hear about your travels.”

“I look forward to it,” Daniel replied.

At that, he stepped fully into the city.

“Nice,” Cinder said as Daniel studied the long rows of stables that ran along both walls.

“He was nice, wasn’t he? I feel rather rude not introducing myself, but we need to visit the Guild first,” he replied.

Changing topics, Daniel gazed at the horses in their individual stalls as he walked.

“Do you know why the horses are inside the city, instead of out in a pasture?” he sent.

“Safe?”

“That’s right! They don’t want the horses drawing large predators to the city.”

“Bear?”

“Possibly, but there are much worse monsters out there.”

“Squirrels?”

Daniel laughed.

“Also possible. But probably creatures like the death-chicken.”

“Taste. Good.”

“You’re not wrong, though I think some spices would have helped considerably.”

So engrossed in his discussion and making sure Cinder had a good view of the horses, he nearly ran into a child watching the horses as well.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said as he stepped away from the young girl.

Turning to look up at him, she gasped at his mirrored face.

About to hurry away lest he frighten the girl further, he stopped when she stepped towards him.

“I like your face. It’s really pretty,” she said.

“…Thank you,” he managed to reply.

Taking a closer look at the girl, he saw she was dirty and thin.

“Do you work here at the stables?” he asked.

The girl shrugged. “Sometimes they let me clean up after the horses coming into the city.”

Daniel nodded.

“Do you know the city well?”

She smiled brightly. “I do. I know where everything is.”

Daniel grinned beneath his mask.

“Perfect! I’m brand new here and need to go to the Adventurers Guild.”

He made a show of looking around for anyone watching him, before moving aside his cloak and showing his damaged and stained armor.

“But my armor looks pretty gross, and I want to make a good impression.”

The girl covered her face and giggled.

“Would you be open to being my guide?” he asked.

The girl eyed him for a moment, then smiled.

“Sure.”

Daniel gave her a deep bow.

“My name is…Forge, Paladin of Honos.”

He had debated just giving her his name, but he was starting a new life and the old name needed to stay in the past. And for whatever reason, it just seemed right.

She gaped at him.

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“You’re a paladin?”

“I am,” he nodded.

“Wow! Have you killed monsters?”

“Yes, I have,” he replied.

“Like trolls and goblins?”

Daniel shook his head at her.

“Trolls and goblins aren’t monsters. They’re just people.”

Daniel took off his mask so she could see his face.

“Just like humans, there are good trolls and goblins, and there are bad ones.”

She seemed to think about his statement for a moment before nodding.

“Okay.”

Pleased, Daniel put his mask back on and looked out toward where the cobblestones of the stable area broke off into three separate streets.

“First things first. Let’s get something to eat. I’m starving.”

The girl readily agreed and led him down a street lined with tall buildings.

“Like,” came Cinder’s voice.

Daniel grinned beneath his mask.

“The girl or the horses?” he asked.

“Both,” the dragon replied happily.

“Me too,” he sent.

Daniel wasn’t unfamiliar with children. He had friends when he was young, but they all disappeared after he lost his parents, and the orphanage took him in.

He had done what he could to help with the younger children at the orphanage. As one of the older kids there, he felt it was his responsibility.

Like him, many of them had lost their parents during the monster wave. Some had lost their parents like he had; civilians stuck outside the gate. Others were the children of guards that had lost their lives protecting the town.

In the end, they were all in it together, and some took to their new situation worse than others.

The temples had done their part, providing guidance to the children, but the orphanage had been kingdom run, and really wasn’t much more than a glorified daycare designed to keep them out of the way.

Not wishing to broach the subject of her home life, he followed her as she led him through alleys and behind buildings, staying off the main street.

Reaching their destination, the little girl led him over to a small, open-sided structure.

Two women were ladling out stew into small metal bowls and topping them with a piece of bread they retrieved from a large burlap sack.

One cook spotted him and froze, causing the others in line to turn and look at him.

A few of the people that had been waiting ducked their heads and hurried away.

“Hi Greta! This is Forge! He’s a paladin!” the girl said happily.

Daniel reached up and removed his mask, moving it beneath his cloak, then storing it in his ring.

“Hello. How much is lunch for the two of us?”

Seeing his face seemed to put her at ease, and she gave him a polite nod.

“One copper for a meal,” she said.

Reaching into his ring, Daniel retrieved a silver and handed it to the woman.

“We’re really hungry. Can we each have two bowls, please?” he asked.

The woman nodded and quickly filled four bowls, topping each with a torn piece of bread.

Excited, the girl picked up two of the bowls, smiled brightly at him, then sat cross-legged on one of the many blankets that dotted the area.

Collecting his own bowls, he followed her and sat down.

The girl had been ravenous, it seemed, as she had nearly finished one meal by the time he had sat down.

“What’s your name?” he asked her, as he took a bite of the bread after dunking it into the stew.

Swallowing her own food, she gave him a lopsided grin.

“Angela.”

She paused for a moment as if waiting for him to say something further, but then started working on her second bowl.

Daniel saw the woman that had served them the stew walk over, clutching her hands together.

“I’m sorry, sir, you forgot your change.”

She held out the coppers to him, but he waved it away with a smile.

“Keep it, please. This stew is amazing! I’ve been dining on rabbits for the past few days, and this is incredible.”

Greta gave him an uncertain smile and nodded.

“Do you have the cooking skill? Because I’ve been thinking about taking it. Good food is worth its weight in gold, outside the cities,” he continued.

The woman gave him her first genuine smile and seemed pleased with his interest.

“I have a minor blessing from Mercurius to cook,” she said.

Her face fell.

“Um…I don’t mean to be rude, mentioning him, if you serve another.”

Daniel smiled warmly at her.

“I’m a paladin of Honos, and where would the honor be in criticizing a god that made delicious food like this possible?”

Her smile returned to her face, and with a pleased wave, she returned to her job of ladling stew for her hungry customers.

Angela had already finished her second bowl and was watching him.

“Are you really going to take the cooking skill?” she asked in a whisper.

“Maybe,” he said as he continued to eat.

She eyed him speculatively.

“What’s the worst thing you ever ate?”

Daniel pondered the question while digging into his second bowl.

“Once I ate a death-chicken, but it really wasn’t too bad. Though it made me realize I needed a better way to cook than just heating meat over a fire,” he said.

She nodded with wide eyes.

“What’s a death-chicken?”

Finishing his second bowl of food, he stacked the two metal bowls and added them to Angela’s.

“Imagine an enormous chicken, but with sharp claws and teeth.”

“How big?”

Daniel gestured to the small building that Greta worked in.

“A little bigger than that.”

Angela stared at the building before turning back to him.

Anticipating her question, he gave her a smile.

“It was in a dungeon, a long way from here.”

She nodded, then smiled again.

“Where to now?”

Looking down at his clothes, he grimaced. His armor was a travesty.

“Some place where I can buy some clothes and armor,” he said.

She nodded.

“Got it!”

Daniel returned the bowls to a pile of others, replaced his mask, then turned to follow Angela.

Sighing, he watched as she once again avoided the street and instead walked behind the buildings.

“Not a great view of the city, but at least we’re avoiding the crowds,” he told the dragon.

A feeling of warmth came from the dragon as he followed the girl.

It seemed Cinder approved; he thought as he hurried to catch up.

***

Angela stopped in an alley between two twin-story buildings and waved him over.

“This is the shopping district. Across the street has a place that sells clothes and next to it is a place that sells armor.”

She smiled at him.

“I’ve seen the armor through the window of the shop. They have one that’s really shiny, but don’t get too close to the window, or the monster in the glass will get you.”

She made a growling face and held up a hand like a claw, miming it attacking someone.

“A monster in the glass?” he asked.

She nodded emphatically.

“I heard it. It said, STAY AWAY!” she said in as deep a voice as she could muster.

“Huh. Weird,” he said, looking across the street at the shop.

He stepped out of the alley and then turned back to her.

“Are you coming?”

She shook her head.

“How am I supposed to get you some new clothes if you don’t come with me?”

Angela stared at him dubiously.

“They don’t want me there.”

“Tell you what. I’ll get you some clothes and we can see if we can find a piece of armor for you as well,” he said.

She straightened.

“You mean like an adventurer?”

He nodded.

“This city is confusing, so I’ll probably need your help for a while.”

She thought it over.

“Oh, and I forgot your pay,” he added.

He summoned two gold to his hand and held it out to her.

Her eyes bulged as she looked at the coins.

She reached out to take it, then stopped herself.

“If anyone found out I had gold, they’d take it from me.”

Daniel considered that.

“Alright, how about this? While you’re helping me, I’ll pay for everything, and if you see something you want, we’ll get it for you.”

Still hesitant, she reluctantly agreed and followed him out of the alley.

They crossed the street together, stepping around any pedestrians that didn’t move out of his way, when they spotted him.

Entering the tailor’s shop, Daniel looked around at the fancy clothes.

They were worthless to his eye. Well made, but completely impractical.

Moving further into the shop, a young woman spotted him and hesitated before approaching him.

“Hello, uh…sir. Is there something I can help you find?”

He turned his attention to her.

“I need some clothing that looks nice, but isn’t quite so…bright,” he said, gesturing to the gaudy tunics and brightly colored jackets that surrounded them.

The clerk nodded.

“Of course, right this way, sir.”

She led him further into the store, where more muted clothing was on display.

His old clothing had always been shades of browns, but with his new cloak, he decided to go with black.

Avoiding the hosiery completely, he picked out a few pairs of straight legged pants, two black tunics with gold stitching, and a few sets of silken brales and other small-clothes.

When he turned to find Angela, he glanced down and realized she was practically clinging to his hip.

“I like black. What about you? What would you like?”

She stared up at him; her face quivering.

“I don’t know,” she said in a tiny voice.

Daniel wanted to smack himself. She was clearly outside of her comfort zone.

Turning back to the clerk, he saw her looking down at Angela with wide eyes.

“Can you help us find some clothing for her? Something nice, but practical and muted.”

The woman only hesitated a moment, then put her hand out to Angela, who tentatively took it, and led her over to some clothing more her size.

Daniel picked out two pairs of boots and carried them with him over to where Angela and the woman were looking over some clothes.

To his surprise, she completely disregarded the dresses and focused on what he would consider boys’ work attire.

Daniel had never shopped in a place like this, and the price came to what he considered a mind-boggling sum.

Ever thankful for his mask that hid his expression; he paid the few hundred gold and promised to return in a few hours for a proper fitting.

They left the shop with only a few items in two small boxes and headed next door to the armor shop.

If he had thought the prices were expensive at the tailor, the armor shop was on another level.

Daniel examined the sets with a critical eye. He really didn’t know all that much about armor, but he knew how his own worked.

The shining, heavy plate on display was completely impractical, as far as he was concerned.

He passed by pairs of fancy bracers before finally finding some lighter armor.

The leather armor was well made, but seemed designed more for looks than practicality. Open spaces clearly designed for noble crests were on each item, and the hardened leather and metal accents looked nice, but didn’t actually provide much protection.

He debated on asking the shopkeeper if he had anything more in line with what he wanted, but one look at his sour face told him he was in the business of pampering nobles rather than outfitting adventurers.

“Come on, let’s go get cleaned up for our fitting,” he told Angela.

Nodding, she stayed close to him as they left the store.

Hopefully, the Guild will have some recommendations on where to go for proper armor, he thought.