“You guys are late,” Smokey said as he stood and made his way to the door. His smoke-black fur covered his entire six-foot-tall body. The slender yet muscular build was covered with gray studded leather armour leaving his clawed feet bare. A gold red-lined sash crossed from his left shoulder to his right hip and met with another encircled his waist. Inch long black class extended from his fingers, his hands covered with blue fingerless gloves that rested on two colourless metal daggers. In their blue holster, the daggers rested along the front of his hips, pointing outward. A large red gem could be seen on the bottom of each handle, adding to its length. His outer garment was a blue tabard draped and tucked into his waist sash.

Coming face to face with Khalid, He looked up slightly.

“You were supposed to be here four nights ago. Your boss is not happy. That makes my boss unhappy.” Smokey said.

“Yeah, we kinda had a situation and had to pick a place fast, and Narrz was about as clear as sludge where we were supposed to be going, so…. were here now,” Zoz said, poking his head through Khalid’s legs.

“Well, better late than never, I guess. Your spider girl is waiting out back in the stables. We’re expected at the hideout for our first job.” He said as he turned to the right wall of the tavern.

“Our first job?” Bella questioned

“Yup, boss says I’m to be your escort while you’re here,” Smokey replied as he arrived at the eastern wall about four feet from the south wall with the group behind him. He raised his clawed index finger to the wall, tapped it rhythmically three times, then dragged the claw to draw an invisible design. As he withdrew his claw, the wall shifted open and revealed a hay-layered wood flooring. He ushered them in, and the door closed behind them seamlessly.

“Cool secret entrance,” Zoz said

“Comes in handy for smuggling things or creatures,” Smokey replied

“So where is Xi’ti?” Zoz asked

As various taps were heard from above, the group simultaneously looked up to see Xi’ti perched upside down on a wood beam.

Xi’ti released her position and fell to the ground. They rotated their bodies moments before the impact and landed directly in front of the group.

“I said it last night. I’ll repeat it you would make an excellent assassin,” Smokey said

“I am a natural predator, but I prefer preventing death or what comes after death. It’s more interesting,” Xi’ti said

“Alright, to the hideout. We’ll have to take the underground entrance. I don’t think Xi’ti will fit the hatch.” Smokey said as he led the group out the stable doors.

The group was led through the open field behind the stables toward the platforms to the east. They arrived at the bottom of the lower platform, the dirt-faced cliff before them. Smokey led them south across the eastern path that led upwards in the cliff break and around the side as they crossed a small stone fence and entered a forest.

After twenty minutes of following the northern treeline of the forest and the southern cliff face of the bottom platform, they arrived at an opening in the cliff. Smokey ushered them into the large ten-foot by ten-foot hole in the dirt and stone.

After ten minutes of walking in silence underground, a light became visible at the end of the tunnel.

“Welcome to the Bluebrands’ hideout. You’ll be meeting with the Vocri,” Smokey said

“What is a Vocri?” Khalid said

“It’s the title of the leader of the Bluebrands. They don’t use their name anymore. They are just the Vocri,” Smokey said, stepping into the light, the group following him.

As Khalid Bella Zoz and Xi’ti stepped from the tunnel, an expansive cavern greeted them. The two massive stone pillars were visible in the dimly lit cavern—one directly in front of them, the other about sixty-five feet to the northeast. The pillars reached the thirty-foot natural ceiling of this cavern lined with stalactites. A scarlike pit ran the length of the cavern to their right with a north and south bridge for crossing.

“That’s for the bodies,” Smokey said

To their left was a narrow six-foot hallway of stone where smokey led them. When they reached the end of the forty-foot hallway and turned right, after another twenty feet walk, they entered a room with several blue and gold pillows scattered on the floor. In the northwest and southeast corner were two large round tables with five chairs each. Variously sized blue-cloaked entities sat playing some dice game. The various drawings and writing on parchment with a large central piece of parchment on each table with what looked like a map of somewhere drawing in great detail. As they approached the north door, Smokey knocked.

“I found ‘em,” Smokey said to the door.

“Good, bring them in,” A voice spoke from behind the door.

Smokey turned the handle and pushed it into a large, ornately decorated room. In contrast to the rough dirty stone, the floor was lined with a gold inlaid red carpet and a large central wooden table polished with a dark stain. The left wall was lined with bookshelves to the ceiling filled with various sizes and colours. Multiple oddities and spell components littered the table and several large iron bowls with strangely coloured liquids. At the far head of the table was seated a human covered in red and black leather. A red and black balaclava covered all but his eyes, and a red metal mask covered his nose and mouth, reaching to his ears.

“I am the Vocri. Welcome to my village.” The man spoke through the breathing holes in his mask. The device no doubt deepened his voice and added a hollowness to it.

“Vocri, this is Bella, Khalid, Xi’ti and Zoz,” Smokey said. Pointing to the individuals as he spoke their names.

“Narzz has told me what he requires of me and what I require of you. There is a fortress to the north of this town in the Southern part of the Kelavir Wood. Once you hit the main path, it’s about an hour into the forest. There is an Orc There named Grol. Agatha needs him killed.

“Woah Woah Woah, why are we doing work for Agatha?” Bella asked. Smokey turned to Bella with a shocked expression on his face. Before he could say anything, the Vocri leaned forward and placed his hand on the table.

“You are doing work for Agatha for two reasons. One, this is her domain. The second is because this orc, my spies tell me, has within his halls a dwarf. A dwarf who knows how to find what you are looking for.” The Vocri said

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“So why doesn’t Agatha just go and kill him?” Zoz questioned.

“Well, as Narzz has informed me, Agatha cannot act openly against this orc. Something about his uncle being well connected with higher-ups within your organization.”

“You said a fortress. Is it well guarded?” Khalid said

“From what my spies have informed me, at the front gates are two ogres, about twenty orcs that patrol the area and several goblins inside, among other things.”

“Finally, a good fight!” Khalid said.

“Anything else we should know?” Bella asked

“Well, the rumour is the dwarf in there is only one of the brothers. Some adventuring party has guarded the other since this one went missing into that fortress.”

“Alright, we’ll leave first thing tomorrow morning,” Bella said

“Smokey, you’ll be joining them,” The Vocri declared

Bella turned to leave past Khalid and Zoz.

“You’ll be wanting these,” The Vocri said as he stood, withdrew four metallic blue and gold symbols from his pockets, and placed them on the table.

“These will gain you more favourable service and prices with the local shops,” He said

Bella turned back, grabbed a symbol and resumed her departure. Khalid Zoz and Xi’ti followed her lead, grabbed a symbol, pocketed it, and departed.

“Be careful, Smokey. They play in a larger game. You may learn a lot. Pay attention to everything.”

“I will, and thank you for everything,” Smokey said, following the four out of the room. They made their way down the hallways into the cavern and departed through the tunnel.

As they emerged into the forest, Smokey rushed to the front of the group.

“Xi’ti, you’ll have to stay in the stables until tomorrow. Is there anything you need? I can grab it for you,” Smokey said

“Maybe a nice gnome?” Zoz said snickering

“I would enjoy a gnome, actually, or maybe something larger?” Xi’ti said

“Are..? Is this like a thing or..?” Smokey said, confusion on his face.

“Well, I am getting quite hungry,” Xi’ti said

“Oh…. um.. hrm. Why don’t I leave the stables unlocked, and I’ll let you handle that after nightfall.” Smokey said.

“Oh, I guess that will work,” Xi’ti said. “In the meantime, I will need some potions. If there’s a blacksmith in town, a collapsable metal staff with a spot to insert a small gem with a leather case to carry it in would be quite useful.”

“Oh, that sounds a bit expensive,” Smokey said

“I have twenty-eight gold if you can find it or have it made by tomorrow,” Xi’ti said and handed Smokey a purse of coins.

“I’ll take it and try,” Smokey said

“I’m going back to the tavern to work on some things,” Bella said

“Khalid drinks?” Zoz asked

“Definitely!” Khalid replied.

“Alright, I guess bright and early, we’ll all meet at the crossroads north of town,” Smokey said. Zoz Khalid and Bella left and headed towards the town and their sleeping arrangements. Xi’ti followed the path they had taken here and returned to The Sleeping Giant. Smokey’s mission set and a purse full of coins made his way to the market circle.

Smokey walked through the crowd and approached the weaponsmith counter that opened into his shop via the open-faced wall.

“Hey Miko, I got a rush order for you,” Smokey said to the grey-haired human behind the counter.

“Sure thing, Smokey whatcha need?” Miko said

“I need a collapsable steel staff with a slot to insert a small gem and a Leather carrying case to hold it both collapsed and extended. Any chance you can do that by tomorrow?”

“It’ll be tight, but I think mid-morning I can have it ready for you,” Miko said

“Thanks. Can I pay in advance?” Smokey said

“I’d say for you ten gold even I can have all that done. I’ll take care of getting the leather done to save you the trouble,” Miko said.

“Thanks a bunch,” as he placed the twenty gold coins on the counter. “See you tomorrow morning,” Smokey said as he turned and departed the shop counter into the crowd. Smokey made a final stop at a small stall, retrieved five health potions from the stand, and paid the two gold fifty silver. His task for Xi’ti was completed. Smokey returned to The Sleeping Giant, returned the remaining coins to Xi’ti and prepared for his first big adventure.

The night passed for Zoz and Bella, similar to the previous, as Bella continued to work on developing her new spell. Zoz sat across the table should Bella require assistance and enjoyed various drinks from the bar.

Khalid, bored, decided to take a stroll. As he wandered through the northern part of town, he saw a light that began to approach from the east outside of town. He walked up to the three-way intersection of the path.

“Hey, Khalid, if you here to watch, don’t spook them.” a familiar voice whispered from the bushes to the right.

“Xi’ti? What are you doing here?” Khalid replied as Xi’ti poked out of the bushes.

“I’ve been waiting on this for the last two hours. I need to feed once a day, or I start to get weak. I can get by on animals if needed for a couple of days, but I need living blood to be at full strength”. Xi’ti said

“I just figured I would rob the guy and take his stuff, but if you just wanna eat him, then we can take his stuff that works too,” Khalid said as he joined Xi’ti in the bush.

Twenty minutes passed as the figure got closer, and his features appeared clearly.

“Is that?” Khalid whispered.

“It couldn’t be!” Xi’ti replied

The profile and details of the tiny gnome came into full view of the moonlight. The gnome was dressed in a fine black and white leather outfit. One hand rested on the opening of his vest with jewelled gold rings on various fingers, the other pulling a small cart behind him. He had short white hair receding aggressively, showing he was on in his years, even for a gnome. His long imperial moustache and goatee were finely maintained.

“Is that the Mcguffin guy from Vetur?” Xi’ti asked.

Khalid recalled the statue he’s seen at the entrance of Vetur with the identical gnomes.

“I think I think that’s his brother,” Khalid said

“I think that’s dinner,” Xi’ti said

As the gnome past the bush, Xi’ti darted from the bush and charged toward the tiny gnome. She grabbed him from behind, lifted him into the air and pierced his neck with fangs as she began to drain the blood from his body.

Khalid strolled out and began to check the cart for anything interesting. Some food, water and trinkets were mainly the contents. Khalid continued rummaging until he found something wrapped in a small cloth. He unravelled it to find a shining purple crystal. As he dumped it into his hand, the crystal immediately drained its colour and turned to dust.

“Huh, that’s weird, “Khalid said. “I found this purple crystal, and it just turned to dust when I touched it.”

Xi’ti, having completed her meal, tossed the gnome’s body into the bush.

“Oh, I may have picked a bad meal. I found this in its pockets and a pouch filled with coins,” Xi’ti said as she handed Khalid a piece of parchment. Unfolding it, he saw a picture-perfect colourized drawing of the figures from the fountain in Vetur.

“Oh… huh, I guess they were friends with the Dreka,” Khalid said

“Yea, maybe don’t tell anyone about this. We can discuss this with the others tomorrow,” Xi’ti said, grogginess audible in her speech.

“I don’t want them coming for us after I saw them at the academy.” Xi’ti continued.

“I actually would kinda like them to find us. I want my shot at that, Dreka!” Khalid said

“Can you get rid of that cart for me? It’s getting late, and I don’t want to be tired if we’re going to be fighting a lot tomorrow,” Xi’ti said

“Sure. Have a good night,” Khalid said as Xi’ti skittered off back to town and her place of rest in the stables.

Khalid grabbed the cart, dragged it back into town and left it in the centre of the market.

“That’s probably good enough,” He said as he headed back to the Tilton to wait for the others to wake up. He arrived back in his room, sat on his bed beside the door and began to imagine the fights that would be had tomorrow joyfully.