As soon as we passed the gates to the Keep my world exploded with sights, sounds and sensations. After nearly two whole days in the wilderness, I was overwhelmed. For the past forty-eight hours there had been only the grass, the trees, and the winding dirt road. But here in the Keep life exploded all around me.

This was not just a Castle, there was an entire city within these walls!

The first thing I noticed was the people. There were so damn many of them.The crowd of peasants who had been let in by the guards slowly surged forward, headed towards the heart of the city. All around I saw shops, taverns, playhouses all overflowing with people. And there were all manner of people! From well dressed noblemen down to peasants and even, despite the concerns of the guardsmen, beggars.

The second thing I noticed was the smell. The city reeked. Piles of rotting refuse littered the streets and I noticed not one but multiple chamber pots being emptied from the upper floors of the buildings that lined the narrow cobblestones streets. I attempted holding my nose shut to block the smell but somehow it still leaked through.

Pri and I walked with the crowd, pushed along by its momentum. I followed her lead but realized after a while that I had no idea where we were going. I turned to Pri to ask when I felt something large and furry skitter across my feet.

What the…

“A rat! A huge freaking rat!” I screamed.

I shook my foot and flung the creature away towards a nearby gutter. My heart pounded in my chest, adrenaline kicking in

Gross, gross gross! I hate rats!

I heard not one but a series of loud braying laughs come from all around. I looked up to find several farmers looking at me, their faces full of amusement.

It seemed I had screamed a little louder than I thought.

I glanced over at Pri who was staring daggers at me. “Are you insane Joseph? You are drawing attention to us. No true peasant man would be so afraid of a little rat! They are everwhere in the villages and the lower areas of the Keep.”

Little? They were bigger than my cat!

“Wait, Pri. We made it in…but.. what’s the plan now?”

She flashed me a mischievous smile. For some reason a picture of her in her revealing pose earlier flashed into my head and I shook away the dirty thoughts.

Not the time nor the place Joseph.

“Now you ask huh? Well don’t worry. I’ve got a plan. To get you your amulet. And for me to find out what happened to my sister. We are going to make our way to the Royal Palace. But first we are going to get help from an old friend.”

Quest:

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Friends In Low Places:

You have a new ally, or so it seems. But where is he? Who is he? You must seek out this new friend in the heart of the City.

But beware, the deeper you go into Rathgar’s Keep, the more dangers await.

Rewards:

20xp

That was it? A measly 20xp and a warning? And that was all I had to go off of? Maybe we should just get out while we could. The city was already staring to wear me down.

But Pri didn't share my trepidation. She grabbed me by my arm and began to lead me quickly away from the crowds, deeper into the heart of the city. I had to choice but to follow. My gaze shifted downwards as we continued to walk through the city streets, scanning for more rats.

“I assume you know where this ally of yours is?” I asked after some time had passed.

Silence greeted my question.

“Pri, I asked if you knew where this guy was? Don’t tell me you are leading us totally blind?”

A hand on my chest stopped me in my tracks and I looked up, temporarily leaving my feet vulnerable to rat attacks. Pri had led us down an alleyway that ended abruptly in a dirt wall. There were two brick buildings, one on either side of the alley and neither of them looked very inviting. Both were blackened with age and grime. The one on the left had, at least, two braziers burning low and lighting up the large wooden door.

“Mind telling me what we are doing here, Pri?”

Pri was lost in thought, looking between the two buildings. She kept shaking her head, her hair swaying back and forth as she seemed to be caught in some kind of internal mental debate.

“I thought it was here… I could have sworn. But there is no sign!”

“Pri!” I raised my voice even louder. “Can you talk to me? What exactly are we looking for?”

"Well, well, well look wot we 'ave here!"

Unless something had changed radically in the last thirty seconds that was not the voice of my favorite elf maiden.

I turned and saw not one, but two men barring our way out of the alleyway. They were a rag-tag lot, not much compared to the Kings Watchmen we had seen at the gates, but they had a hungry and dangerous look in their eyes. The first was a tall skinny pale faced man with a whispy goattee. He wielded two small daggers. The second was short and stocky and wielded a large axe that looked as though it might be used for chopping wood.

Two health bars and titles appeared above the two men.

Thief Level 1 - 20/20 Health

Thief Level 1 - 25/25 Health

"Uh Pri, you might want to turn around and cast some of that sleep magic of yours. I think these two are not friendlies."

I drew my sword, leveling at the enemies. Pri turned too but made no move to strike.

What the hell was she waiting for?

The first thief, the skinny one, took a step forward and brandished his two daggers. "Now now, no need fer that is there Lichon?". The second thief bobbed his head in agreement and then spat onto the cobblestones to punctuate his agreement. "Not 'a all Renferd, we is 'onest folk. Jus' lookin' to get our coin and be on our way. If you take our meaning, outsiders?"

I blinked. Outsider? So our disguises were not working as well as we had intended. We were clearly out of towners at best, and at worst we looked even more suspicous. A druid and an Elf. We needed to get out this situation quickly. I prodded pri with my free hand and hissed: "Do it! Put them to sleep!"

"You idiot," she whispered back, "I can only do that once a day! I told you!"

"Time's up!" The skinny thief said with a smile that revealed blackened teeth. And with that, he raised his daggers and leapt straight at me.