I was still riding the high from our little scheme with the blacksmith. Though we had to be careful. Moderation would be key here. If we just started clipping and smithing coins like there was no tomorrow, we'd surely get caught. The local economy would inevitably take a visible hit. Inflation. No good. I suppose we could also try minting our own. Maybe our new friend knew what they were composed of.
This was going to be fun. I could feel it.
My daydreaming was cut short when I realized we were standing in front of what I assumed to be the Scourger’s Guild. And let me tell you, it was a sight. Not your run-of-the-mill adventurers’ hangout with a bunch of washed-up sellswords nursing their fifth tankard of ale. Nope, this place was classy, in a weird, gritty way.
The whole building looked like it was made to intimidate you right off the bat. Dark stone walls, sleek like they were polished yesterday, and these massive bronze doors with carvings of battles, beasts, and what could only be described as people running away from said beasts. It basically told you yes, this is where people go to get killed. Above the entrance, a huge iron emblem - coiled whips and a blazing sunburst. The Scourge of Sol, apparently. Lovely.
“So this is it?” I mumbled under my breath. “This is where they hand out contracts for near-death experiences?”
Zilra led the way with a smug smile. “Welcome to the Scourger’s Guild! Try not to embarrass us already.”
Rheka tucked on my wings. I could feel her hand shake. This was more excitement than I was willing to handle. “We’re really doing this, Argi!”
“I guess we are.” I said, trying to sound as enthusiastic as she did. But the building? The more I looked at it, the more I could practically hear it whispering, Come inside if you want to die. Great vibes.
To be honest, I didn't care much for getting lost in the wilderness on some gamble of an adventure. At first. Seeing this place was slowly getting even me excited. Sure, I would have to play babysitter for three once more, but they'd tagged along with me for my scheme. I might as well tag along for their little exploration adventure. After all, I was feeling a bit more confident.
Why? Well. Not only had I finally been granted the blessings of the bloody arcane, but we'd also undergone some serious training over the last month. If another green-haired brat showed up to disturb us, this time we'd shred him to pieces before he could escape. That's right. This time I was feeling a tad adventurous myself. But I digress.
The inside was no less impressive. An open layout, with high ceilings and beams of light filtering through stained-glass windows. Unlike the marketplace, this place didn’t smell of sweat or desperation. More like leather, steel, and adventure. There were three massive boards on the far wall, each overflowing with papers, maps, and contracts. Adventurers of all shapes and sizes milled about, checking the postings or haggling over prices with merchants in the corner.
The counter at the front was manned by a very bored-looking clerk, who seemed entirely unbothered by the fact that a princess just waltzed through the door with a tiny dragon at her heels. Not exactly the reception I expected.
Zilra marched right up to the counter. “We’re here to get a mission!”
The clerk, a tall guy with tired eyes, barely looked up from his paperwork. “Are you signed with the guild?”
Zilra raised an eyebrow. “No? But we’re here now.”
That got his attention. He looked up, noticing Zilra for the first time. “You’re not... signed? And you’re…” His gaze shifted from Rheka to Tavrin and back. “You’re all too young. We don’t hand out death wishes to children.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, are we supposed to wait until we’re old and decrepit to get started?” Zilra shot back, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
That made me smirk a bit. I was glad I wasn’t the one in her line of fire.
The clerk sighed, clearly used to dealing with entitled brats. “Listen, kid-”
“Kid?” Zilra’s voice went up an octave. “I am Zilra Silthalia. Daughter of the King. I don’t need your permission to take a mission.”
The clerk’s expression didn’t change. “Don’t care if you’re the Queen of Dragons. If you’re not signed with the guild, you’re not getting a mission.”
Then a booming voice from the back of the hall cut through the tension.
“Zilra Silthalia, eh? And here I thought you noble types stuck to your fancy courts.”
The man who stepped forward was… something else. Huge, for starters. Built like a lion, with a wild mane of golden hair and a beard that made him look like he could tear a door off its hinges. His eyes gleamed with a kind of energy that was equal parts intimidating and charming. Just like someone else we knew, but in gold.
“You…” Zilra squinted, as if trying to place him. “I’ve seen you before, at court. But we’ve never spoken.”
“That’s right!” he said with a grin, crossing his arms. “I tend to stay out of the political squabbles. Too much scheming for my taste.”
His attention shifted to me, and his grin widened. “And who’s this fierce dragon by your side? I’ve heard rumors of a tiny protector in the royal family.”
Oh god. This guy.
“That’d be me.” I said, trying to keep my cool. “Fierce and... tiny, apparently.”
He let out a laugh that shook the room, prompting every person in the room to turn towards us. “Well met, little one. And you must be Rheka then.” he added, nodding toward her. Rheka beamed up at him, clearly charmed that he knew her name.
It was an interesting sight. We'd never met this man, yet he already knew us. I wasn't quite sure if this was a good or a bad thing. I suppose it depended on how we'd play it.
“I’m the Guildmaster here.” he said, resting his hands on his hips. “Name’s Tyrius. What brings you to my fine establishment? I’m guessing it’s not just to admire the architecture.”
Zilra straightened up, all traces of her previous annoyance gone. “We want to join. We’re here to explore.”
Tyrius raised an eyebrow. “Explore, huh? Most people come here looking to fight or hunt monsters, but exploring… now that’s something I can get behind. What branch were you thinking?”
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“Explorers, I guess.” Zilra said with confidence. Though probably not with as much as she'd planned. “We want to go on a mission.”
Tyrius scratched his chin, considering. “Alright? We can arrange that. But as fresh recruits, you’ll need something beginner-friendly. Don’t want you getting in over your heads on the first day, now do we?”
He reached into a drawer behind the counter and pulled out a scroll, handing it to Zilra. “There’s an abandoned Synaist temple on the outskirts of the city that’s been rediscovered recently. Explored and looted, but there’s always something left behind if you know where to look. It’s beginner-friendly enough, and you’ll be competing with other explorers who are already there, so you’ll have backup if things get hairy.”
Rheka’s eyes lit up. “That sounds perfect!”
Tyrius smiled. “Glad to hear it. Just remember - stick together, don’t wander too far from the main paths, and if you see anything moving that shouldn’t be… run.”
I couldn’t help but groan internally. Great advice.
“Right.” I said, glancing at the others. “Sounds like a great time.”
“Good luck, Scourgers.” Tyrius said with a grin, waving us off as we left. “And hey, little dragon - keep an eye on them, will you?”
“Don’t worry.” I said, already regretting the whole thing. “I’ll make sure they don’t die.”
***
As we headed down through the billion - okay, thirteen - gates of the city, the streets were as chaotic as ever. Gipuzk was ever the chaotic labyrinth. We headed through several marketplaces, plazas and public forums. There were always new things to see. Every time you'd head up or down this wall of a city it was different. Like the city itself shifted with every visit.
The Synaist temple wasn't far, just outside the city in a small village. But I couldn’t shake this odd feeling creeping up the back of my neck. The kind of feeling where something seems too familiar, but you can’t quite place it. Like I’d been here before, which, logically, made no sense. Yet, the moment we reached the outskirts and the village came into view, that uneasy feeling only got worse.
The Déjà vu was hitting me hard.
The temple itself, if you could even call it that, was... underwhelming. Just a tower of rubble stacked on top of a hill, the stones balancing precariously, like they might tumble down with the next strong breeze. The whole thing looked ready to collapse at any moment, but somehow, it had stood for centuries. Apparently.
Synaism. Now there was a religion with some emotional baggage. Literally. I'd read about it, though I deemed it to be mostly irrelevant information. The people who worshipped this crap were far away from Juskarria. By now, anyways. The whole thing revolved around emotions and how they connected to nature. According to the Synaists, every living being had a spirit that could shape the world around them, depending on how they were feeling.
Have a bad day?
Nature might throw a storm your way.
Feeling especially Zen?
Maybe you’d get a nice breeze.
“Are we sure this is a temple and not just some leftover pile of rocks?” I asked, glancing at my fellow Scourgers.
“There’s more to it.” Zilra said confidently. “Old temples like this always have hidden chambers or tunnels. You just need to know where to look.”
Oh, great. Secret passageways in a place held together by prayer and luck. What could go wrong?
We moved closer, noticing a few people milling around outside, though whether they were explorers like us or not, I couldn’t tell. The entrance, a gaping hole between two crumbling columns, didn’t exactly scream "safety," but we’d come this far. Might as well go all the way.
As we stepped inside, the dim light threw long shadows across the dusty stone floor. Thank heavens I wasn't allergic. The scent of old earth and stale air entered my nostrils and in the flicker of torchlight, I saw faint carvings on the walls. Circles, shapes, and what I guessed were symbols of the Synaist pantheon.
The Wheel, a set of deities representing the eight basic emotions - you know which ones. Look it up. The theory was, if you mastered your emotions, you’d achieve something called Pure Balance. Not my kind of thing, really. Too much self-reflection and emotional restraint for my taste. Plus, let’s be real - who really masters their emotions? Sounds like a recipe for constant failure.
The whole place radiated this eerie kind of quiet, like we’d stepped into a tomb, though this one wasn’t exactly a palace of riches.
“Tyrius mentioned branches earlier.” I said, breaking the silence. “What did he mean by that?”
“Oh, the guild’s split into three parts.” Zilra explained as we walked. “Mercenaries - like the muscle for hire. They do the guarding, the fighting, all that glorious, stabby business. Then there are the Hunters. They’re monster hunters, but also take on bounties. Kill contracts, you know?”
Monster hunters? So monsters were a thing. Actually, who was I acting suprised for? I was a damn dragon!
“Right, kill contracts.” I repeated. “Because we need more of those in the world.”
“And then there are the Explorers.” Zilra went on. “They go into ruins, chasms, and other dangerous places - treasure hunting, rescue missions. We asked for an exploration mission, so that’s what we got. Tyrius probably figured it’d be ‘safe enough’ for us beginners.”
“Right, because nothing screams beginner-friendly like ancient, crumbling ruins.” I said, nudging a loose rock with one of my forelimbs.
We entered a long hallway. To our sides statues were fused into the wall. Stretching as far down the hall as I could see. Carving those must have been one hell of a workday.
So far we'd found a whole bunch of nothing. Pebbles, dust, cobwebs, some more dust, broken tools and yet more dust. Not much to bring back for this mission. Wait. What even was the goal here? Did we have to bring back anything specific or just explore? And what was the reward?
Oh, well. I'm sure the Peasant Princess has it all figured out.
This was a brat adventure after all. Might as well leave it to them.
As we continued through the temple, I noticed Tavrin was quiet. More than usual. In a place like this I'd assumed he'd be trying to teach us all sorts of things. Even if we didn't actually listen.
I bumped into his leg. “You alright?”
Tavrin hesitated looking down, then shrugged. “Yes, just... thinking.”
"About what? Your brother, by any chance?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.
He let out a sigh. "Amongst other things. I miss him."
Zilra glanced over. “Actually, you never told us how you two get separated?”
"You never bothered to ask." Tavrin chuckled.
Then his expression darkened a little. I immediately regretted asking. “We were on a ship, coming here. My brother and I... we have relatives in Juskarria. On the way, our ship got boarded by those people. They... they separated us, took me to my relatives to ransom me. But my brother... he never arrived.”
The air in the room felt even heavier.
Those people? What - the Eternalists?
“And you wanted to find him?” Rheka asked in a soft voice.
Tavrin nodded. “That’s why I went back to them. Stuck around. I thought maybe... maybe they'd bring me to him if I travelled with them.”
I shook my head. “That was a pretty dumb plan, Tavrin. Just saying.”
Before he could respond, something shifted in the shadows. A low, grinding sound echoed through the chamber, and we all froze.
“Did you hear that?” Rheka whispered, gripping her torch tighter.
Then we saw it. One of the many statues in the hallway started moving. Slowly, at first, its massive stone limbs creaking as it rose. Its head was adorned with a single, glowing circle - a filled orb that pulsed with an eerie light. The rest of its body was bulky and rough, like it had been carved out of the very walls themselves. Actually, in the place where it stood was now just a black hole. It was part of the wall. Some sort of ancient golem, lumbering toward us.
"Ah, crap." I mumbled. “Of course there’s a golem."
Why wouldn’t there be?