Brand dodged to the side of the jet of water but kept his eyes on the Twizard that fired it, knowing that the water was just a distraction for the more deadly follow-up.

Right on cue, he dodged the blazing fireball that had been sent his way. With his medium grade fire stone he'd take less damage from it than Tommen, but it'd still hurt him badly.

The Databeast they were fighting looked like a large two-headed lizard, around a metre and a half in length but its heads didn't get far off the ground. It was quite a flat creature.

Silly looking it may have been, the fireball that it sent out made it the most deadly Databeast to fight in the whole grasslands between Cabletown and Quartz Creek. One head could shoot water jets, the other shot fireballs.

Fortunately it was quite slow at moving, so could easily be avoided by novice adventurers. The only reason Brand and Tommen had tried it was that Brand had a fire element stone that gave him a modicum of fire element resistance, and he'd insisted on being the bait. Tommen had taken a little convincing, but he was comfortable with taking risks to get what he wanted.

Of course, Brand still hadn't told Tommen it was a medium and not low grade stone, so Brand knew that he was a little safer than Tommen thought.

Part of him wanted to tell Tommen, but he knew it would be stupid. Furthermore, he couldn't get away with explaining how he'd got one without discussing Kelvin and Ember also having medium grade stones. Even if he trusted Tommen, he didn't want to do anything that would put his friends at risk. If they were low levels and hadn't attuned the stones yet, they were in danger of being targeted for them. Brand simply didn't know what situation they were in.

Tommen brought his staff down on the head of the lizard that shot fireballs. The Databeast turned surprisingly quickly to face him. He was sprayed with water from one of the lizard's heads, but kept his staff holding down the fire head. This was their plan. Distract the dangerous part of the lizard, whilst Brand rushed in.

Brand took the head shooting water off in one clean swing. He'd been getting good with his sword, and it went through the Databeast like butter.

Tommen was still holding down the fire head with the end of his staff, but the loss of one of its heads caused the creature to panic to escape the pressure. It moved side to side erratically and then rolled over, firing another fireball, this time at Tommen.

He could feel the hair on his hands singing as he dodged and struck out with his staff, swiping at the creature but only hitting the body.

Brand followed up with another slash, taking the second head off. The Databeast’s HP dropped to zero and it dissipated, as Brand and Tommen absorbed some of the energy released in its death as element, EXP and BITs.

Brand felt an incredible rush of energy, like a dam breaking, and energy from his element stone joined it as it rushed around his body. He had become level 4.

“Whew! That's the most EXP I've ever gotten! You must have levelled up from that!” Tommen exclaimed, excited.

“Yeah I did!” Brand said, happily. “That felt great. I always forget what a rush it is. We’ve made great time. I didn't think I'd hit level 4 for at least a day more.”

“We've taken hard fights.” Tommen said. It was true. They'd fought any Databeast they could, and the Databeasts were only too willing to battle with them. The only one they'd avoided was a Gustadder, a venomous snake that used wind to help shoot its venom off. It was both quick and highly dangerous.

They'd learnt that lesson already, the first time they'd fought one. Tommen had taken a nasty spray of venom to the face. They'd defeated the Gustadder, only to find that some of Brand's antidote pills had been crushed at some point, likely when they'd escaped Cabletown, and they only just had enough to cure him. Without that he'd be in a bad way.

He still hadn't been great. Brand had insisted Tommen take the sleeping bag that night. He knew Tommen must have been bad, because he agreed without a fuss.

So after that they'd avoided any Gustadders they saw, which wasn't many. There weren't a huge amount of Databeasts in the grasslands, but there were enough that they could fight and rest consistently throughout the day.

They also kept an eye out, in case anyone was chasing them. They hadn't spotted a single other person yet, but that wasn't too surprising. They were somewhat out in the sticks and far from any roads. It reassured them that they'd made the right choice choosing Quartz Creek to go to. It was a small place without much going on. Of all the places to go to, it was one of the least useful for two would be adventurers. They liked the fact that they'd seen no-one on the way.

“Time to get moving then.” Brand said. “I already want to hit level 5.”

_____

Brand and Tommen walked into Quartz Creek feeling good. Brand had turned level 4 while they still had supplies to spare. They had spotted Quartz Creek from a ways away; had a fairly large fence surrounding it, albeit much smaller than Cabletown’s walls. There were lots of little pieces of quartz in the fence. By the time Brand and Tommen had gotten close they had to put on sunglasses to deal with the glare. A decent method at stopping Databeasts and animals from approaching, Brand figured. There was an unmanned gate made of heavy iron that Brand and Tommen simply walked through, closing it behind themselves. After the problems back at Cabletown, this was a welcome surprise.

They found little of note once behind the walls and Quartz Creek had many of the same rundown and abandoned houses that Cabletown did. Despite being more sparsely populated, it seemed they were suffering from the same problems.

One of the first shops they saw was by an old farm. A big bearded scruffy man with a wide-brimmed hat to block out the bright light of day was sitting outside the shop, making something.

He appeared to be a craftsman of some kind, and he looked up as the pair approached him. He stopped what he was doing.

“Don't stop on our account.” Tommen told him.

“That's quite alright.” Said the old man. “I've plenty of time to finish it later. Rare to see strangers around these parts.”

“What are you making?” Brand asked, curious.

“Little totems.” The old man held up a small wooden figurine of an insect Databeast. “It's an old superstition. Having one of these makes you more likely to get a Databeast of that type. For example this one is carved from wood deep in the forest, where this Databeast is found. This one,” he pointed to a stone otter he'd made earlier “was made from a pebble from the sea. But most people just buy them as trinkets.” He shrugged. “It keeps me going.”

Brand looked at the various species.

“Oh look!” He pointed out a Wyvern to Tommen, who looked embarrassed.

“Good spot.” Said the old man. “That rock comes from the Dragonsteeth Mountains. I knew what I had to carve as soon as I got my hands on it. He chuckled.

“How much is it?” Brand asked

“It’s a fair amount. 350 BITs.” The man admitted. “It wasn’t cheap to get a hold of.”

That was expensive - 350 BITs each had taken them a whole day to get from farming Databeasts. But Tommen looked tempted, so Brand decided to encourage him. He wasn’t sure it would actually get Tommen a wyvern Databeast, but he wanted to support him. Besides, they hadn’t exactly spent much over the last few days.

“You should get it! We ought to celebrate.” Brand told him. “I'll buy your supplies.”

“Don't you want one?” Tommen asked him.

“That's alright.” Said Brand. “I don't have any preferences. I'd be happy with any Databeast, so I don't need one.”

“Doesn't that mean you'd be happy with any totem, too?” Said Tommen.

“I guess so.” Brand laughed.

Tommen looked for a second before picking out a wooden carving with a nice finish. It was some sort of salamander Databeast, carved as if to look life-like. The craftsmanship was impeccable.

“For the salamander tamer.” Tommen guffawed. Brand raised an eyebrow.

This one and the wyvern then.” Tommen told the old man.

“375 BITs.” The old man told him, passing over the totems as Tommen transferred the money. “I hope they serve you well. You're looking for databeast eggs then?”

“Not quite there yet. We've only been out on excursion for a little bit, truthfully.” Brand told him.

Tommen handed him the totem. It was great. There was a thin cord attached to the top and Brand slipped it over his neck.

“Oh, wonderful! There used to be an attunement lab here in Quartz Creek, but not anymore. I'm afraid you'll have to head to the big city once you hit level 5 and get a decent element stone.” The old man chuffed. “Where are you hailing from?”

“Cabletown.” Tommen told him.

“You're from Cabletown?” The old man asked quizzically. “I heard they stopped letting people out on excursion months ago.”

Brand and Tommen looked at each other quizzically. They hadn't heard anything about this. As far as they knew, people had been leaving in their droves ever since it was announced that excursions were going to be banned. People, most young but some older, had been taking the chance to leave before they never could again.

“We left a while back.” Said Brand. “Took the scenic route to get here.”

“Nobody from Cabletown has come through since?” Tommen asked.

“Not a one.” Said the old man. “Only getting news about it from traders. It seems a little extreme what they're doing there, but I can understand why they are. A town needs people working. Half the kids here leave and don't come back. I haven't heard from my son in months. People get worried.”

“Well we've been working.” Brand assured him. “Now we're on an excursion, and we need to pick up a few supplies.”

“Right you are. Well you're in the right place. I'm Vince MacGill, and this is my general store. What can I do for you?”

They left the shop well stocked. Tommen was very pleased to finally have a new bag and bedroll, they'd managed to refill their food supplies, and they'd both bought lots of rope, given how important it had been to their escape of Cabletown. Not that they mentioned that to the old man.

They had asked him about an inn, as they were tired of the outdoors, and he'd pointed them to the village centre. When they got there they realised how the place got its name.

The small stream running through the middle of the village practically glowed as it reflected the light of day. Most of the rocks in the creek were some type of white quartz and the water glistened and sparkled with iridescent light.

Brand and Tommen paused on the small stone bridge they were on and peered over the walls. It was quite a sight.

The area they were walking through was quaint, but fairly run down. It wasn’t run down in the overly depressing or criminal sort of way, it had just been abandoned. The grass around the houses looked like a wildflower meadow and some of the windows and doors had been boarded up with fairly nice wood.

They'd passed a few people on the street and nodded to them. The people had nodded back and seemed fairly jovial, no doubt accustomed to adventurers. Brand couldn't help but wonder where it was they were going, with seemingly nowhere to go. They hadn't seen anyone on the road approaching Quartz Creek, although they'd only got on it themselves when they were almost at the village.

All in all, it was a strange place.

Brand felt quite comfortable here despite that. He found himself thinking that if it weren't for the fact that he had to find Kelvin and Ember he wouldn't mind staying here for quite a while. It had a different feel than Cabletown did, it was less stulted and more picturesque and free. That being said, he hadn't seen much of it yet. Maybe he'd feel the same about Cabletown, he wondered, if it weren't for the fact that he knew everyone there. It was nice to have a home and a tight-knit community, but it could also be extremely stifling in its expectations and social niceties.

Here he had no obligations to anyone here though, save perhaps to Tommen.

They had decided to stay at the inn for three days, getting the lay of the land before making their next move - or moves, if they decided to go their separate ways.

It was called the Silverstar Inn, and they were impressed when they reached it. They saw the closed down lab next to it that the old farmer mentioned. Again, it hadn't been destroyed or ruined, just shut down. Brand wondered whether they simply had no-one to staff it.

If not for the farmer telling him it'd been shut down, Brand might have thought it had simply closed for the day. On the other side was an item shop, the kind that sold weaponry to adventurers and disposables to be used on Databeasts. It was a large imposing building with a sign displaying it as being MacGill’s Item Emporium.

Brand and Tommen decided to check that out first.

It looked less like a shop and more like a hunting lodge. Weapons were displayed on the walls at dramatic angles and cabinets were interspersed around the shop floor showing the various things on offer. Some looked like simple pills, there were lots of potions, whilst other items were more esoteric in nature. The element stones were on the wall at the back behind the counter. He had the standard selection - fire, wind, earth, water, lightning. A cosmic stone hung in the corner.

Similarly behind the counter sat a late middle aged man. The man was bald with a short, trim beard and wore pristine adventuring leathers with metal vambraces that gleaned in the light. His face was somewhat reminiscent of the farmer they’d met earlier. Beside him a large purple ball with eyes, ears, a mouth and a tail was bouncing on the counter. Brand guessed it was in the Instar stage. It looked small and weak, but Databeasts could change between their lower and higher forms somewhat freely. If the man and the Databeast were a high level, that Databeast might be able to turn into a higher stage in a moment.

The first Databeast stage was the Instar stage, and they were normally round and cute. There was not a huge variety in these, but they had a lot of variety in what they would transform into. These were mostly harmless to people and in the wild would fight amongst themselves to get to the next evolution.

The next stage was the Juvenile stage, sometimes called the Bandit stage for their aggression towards merchants and travellers. These made up the bulk of the Databeasts in the grasslands Tommen and Brand had travelled through and every Databeast they’d fought had been in this stage.

After that was the Vanquisher stage. These were very uncommon where they were but they would be more common in other places. These Databeasts had defeated enough opponents to evolve, which was very rare. Normally the guards from multiple towns had to come together with some serious weaponry to defeat them, although sometimes a high levelled adventurer could be relied on to put one down. They were rare in these parts.

Beyond that was the Master stage, followed by the Apex stage. There was also the emergent stage, a strange half-stage between Juvenile and Vanquisher. These were slightly stronger versions of the Juvenile stage with some of the features they would gain from the Vanquisher stage. A Juvenile Databeast usually had many different Vanquisher evolutions it could turn into, so the emergent stage was very useful in giving hints towards which it would be.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“Welcome to MacGill’s Item Emporium!” Called the shop owner from across the room. Brand and Tommen approached the counter. The Databeast on the counter bounced quicker, as if excited.

“Don't mind him. That’s Chance.” Said MacGill. “He likes customers!”

“MacGill?” Asked Tommen. “We met a MacGill on our way here. He owned a general store.”

“That’s my brother, Vince. My name is Marius. He used to recommend me when people came through town, but now he thinks I filled his son’s head with tales about adventuring, and that’s the reason he’s not come back. But you two look like adventurers yourselves! What can I do for you?”

“We’re quite new. This is our first excursion.” Brand told him. “We were looking to buy some antidotes and maybe a healing potion.”

“Sensible!” Said MacGill. “Rare to see such level headed young'uns! How many do you want? Antidotes are 200 BITs. Poor grade healing potions are 500.”

Tommen and Brand looked at each other. That was most of the BITs they'd collected, and they still needed some for the inn. Healing potions were useful as they accelerated natural healing of wounds, particularly cuts, but they weren't absolutely essential.”

“Maybe we should drop the potion.” Said Brand to Tommen. Then he turned to the owner. “Do you know how much the inn charges?”

“How long are you sticking around for?” Asked MacGill.

“Three days, we think.” Brand told him.

“The inn charges 50 BITs a night. Tell you what, I'll give you the health potion half-off if you do something for me. That should give you some wiggle room.” Said MacGill.

“What do you want us to do?” Asked Tommen warily.

“Nothing you can't handle. In fact, it'll benefit you too. This town used to be famous for its mine, called Silverstar Mine.” The owner explained.

“Like the inn?” Brand asked.

“Exactly! The mine was full of these rare crystalline formations called silverstars, because of their jagged shape.” Said the owner. “My brother used to like carving the silverstars into these little totems. But ever since the mine shut down it's become populated by Databeasts and he can't get down there anymore. How's about you collect some of those silverstars for him? About 10?”

“That works.” Brand said. He thought it was a good deal. “We were going to ask you for somewhere to hunt Databeasts anyway.”

“I thought I'd just got out of the mines.” Tommen groaned.

“Sounds like I chose the right man for the job!” Laughed MacGill. “If you come round before you head up there I’ll lend you some pickaxes. There should be a lot of silverstars lying around, but they’re good for some of the tougher Databeasts”

Tommen and Brand left the shop with two antidotes and a potion. They felt good about their agreement with the owner and had told him they’d see him tomorrow. They’d decided to try and complete the quest but if they couldn’t they’d just farm some Databeasts and pay him the rest of what they owed on the potion.

Now they walked next door, into the inn. It was a quaint old building but fairly large. There was a group of people in there eating their lunch on a large table and an old couple sipping their drinks at a smaller one, but apart from that the inn seemed empty. There were many unused tables in the spacious room. There was a large log fire in the centre of the room, but it wasn’t set ablaze. All in all it seemed quite cosy to Brand.

A bell rang out as Brand and Tommen entered. It had been connected to the door. There was a bustle as a young woman about their age with short red hair rushed out of a door behind the counter. She took one look at the forms of Tommen and Brand, dirty from living outside for days, and beamed. “Adventurers! Welcome to the Silverstar Inn!”

Tommen and Brand were taken back by her enthusiasm. Tommen took the lead. “Thank you. We were hoping to get two rooms for three nights.”

“Perfect!” She grinned at them. “That’s 50 BITs for three nights, 150 BITs each. Breakfast is complimentary. What names should I put that under?” They transferred the BITs to her and gave her their names. “Do you want your rooms ready now, or later?”

“Later is fine. Is it possible to get some lunch too?” Brand asked. He’d had nothing but reconstituted meals for days and was craving some proper food.

“Of course! You’re right on time for our lunch rush.” She smiled enthusiastically at him. Brand looked around weakly, a little uncertain of whether she was being serious before smiling weakly back. He had never left Cabletown before, and didn’t want to presume. “I’m joking!” She broke character and laughed. “I don’t think my mum has turned the aga off yet. I’ll put it on your tab.” She passed them some small menus. Many of the food items were crossed off.

“You’re missing a lot.” Tommen commented.

“We pretty much only get in what the regulars order. There’s another adventurer staying here right now, but we don’t see much of him. Very mysterious.” She told them.

Brand ordered, but Tommen took longer to decide. Brand decided to use this opportunity to get to know the girl - and maybe ask about Kelvin and Ember. He thought it was unlikely she’d have heard anything, but if she had and he’d missed it he would hate himself.

“So what’s your name?” Brand asked.

“Rosie.” The barmaid said.

“Not Rosie MacGill, I hope.” Tommen murmured whilst looking at the menu.

“Hah!” She laughed loudly at that. “I see you’ve already met our two most famous residents. Not MacGill, Rosie MacGowen. It used to be called the MacGowen inn before it was the Silverstar inn. We’ve been debating changing it back.”

“Nice to meet you Rosie. Your family has had this inn for a while then?” Brand asked.

“So long. It’s had its ups and downs, but we’ve been here as long as the town.” Said Rosie.

“Wow. That’s incredible.” Brand was impressed.

“It’s nice.” Said Rosie. “I’d love to do some adventuring though. Would it be weird if I asked you to tell me about your adventures? I love hearing about it, but hardly any adventurers come through here anymore.”

“It wouldn’t be weird, but you might be disappointed!” Brand laughed. “We haven’t been at it for very long.”

“First steps, how exciting.” She said. Tommen ordered his food. “Let me just get this order through and I’ll come back to pester you about your grand journeys.” Rosie winked at Brand before disappearing through the backdoor.

______

True to her word, Rosie came to sit with Brand and Tommen after they'd finished their meals. Both had eaten more than their fill and we're in a good mood. Rosie had left them alone while eating, seeing that they were ravenous, but she had been hovering around. Brand figured she was bored.

They'd met Rosie's mother and the owner of the inn, Lily, when she had come and asked them how the food was. She was a frail but stern looking woman. They'd told her it was some of the best food they'd ever eaten, which was true. They hadn't been eating rations for long but had quickly grown bored of them. Brand had resolved to have as much good food as he could in the few days they were spending in Quartz Creek. All the locals had milled out after lunch, whilst Tommen and Brand were still waiting for their food.

Rosie pounced shortly after they'd finished eating.

“Where are you from?” She asked.

“Cabletown.” Brand told her.

“Oh you must have had some adventures then! I heard they stopped letting people out months ago.” Rosie exclaimed.

Brand and Tommen shared a look. Brand wasn't sure how much to say. There'd practically been a massive exodus over the last few months since the mayor of Cabletown has announced that going on excursion was betraying the town. It was possible that none of them had passed Quartz Creek, and that travelling merchants had given the residents here bad information that'd been passed around like Chinese whispers, but Brand thought it was unlikely. What then, had happened to all the adventurers? And how much should he say? Tommen seemed to feel the same.

Rosie picked up on the moment of awkwardness and leaned in conspiratorially. “What is it?”

“Well…” Brand said.

“You're not the first person to say that.” Tommen told her. “But we left five days ago.”

“And they just let you out?” Asked Rosie.

“Well they weren't pleased about it.” Said Brand, understating the event a little. “But people have been leaving for weeks. The rules were supposed to be enforced the day after we left.”

“Oh really?” Rosie was surprised. “It's been the talk of the town for months since it supposedly happened. Other adventurers have been talking about it too.”

“Hmm…” Brand mused. “Theres something weird going on here.”

Tommen made eye contact with Rosie. “Maybe don't spread that we only left when we did.” He turned to Brand. “And we should start telling people we've been out for a while. At least until we figure out what's going on.”

“Oh wow.” Rosie said before making a zipping motion over her mouth. “Your secret is safe with me. So where are all the other adventurers from Cabletown? Why did they let you out but not them?”

“Truthfully, we had to find our own way out. But we thought the guards were just abusing their power.” Said Tommen. He gave Rosie the rundown of how they would have gotten out of there had been no guards to stop their escape over the wall. He just told her about him boosting Brand and Brand throwing down a rope. He didn't want her to think they were mad ruffians with no respect for the law.

“That's incredible!” Rosie's eyes glittered with imagination. “I can't even bring myself to leave Quartz Creek, and you guys are climbing walls and breaking out of Cabletown!”

“It was a little dramatic.” Brand conceded. “You want to go on an excursion then?” He followed up.

“More than anything!” She exclaimed.

“Well why don't you?” Asked Tommen. “The gate we came in didn't even have a guard. Quartz Creek seems pretty different to Cabletown.”

“I want to! But it's just me and my mum here, and she needs me to help her out around the place. Enough of that! Have you fought any Databeasts?”

“The first one we fought was a Thunderkiwi.” Brand told her.

“Nice!”

“We took the scenic route here to farm some Databeasts in the grasslands.” Tommen said.

“The strongest we've fought is a Twizard.” Brand bragged a little. He was proud of what they'd managed to do.

“You've only been out for five days and fought a Twizard! What level are you two?” Rosie exclaimed. Twizards had a reputation for catching rookies off guard. Most people wouldn't attempt them until they'd started to hit some of the higher levels.

“That fight got me to level 4.” Brand told her. “Tommen is level 5.”

“That's really good. You'll have no trouble pretending you've been out for a while. I was proud of being level 3! We're the same age, right?” Said Rosie.

“I'm 20.” Said Brand.

“Same.” Said Tommen.

“That's even worse! I'm 21.” Said Rosie dejectedly. “I wish I’d trained more. I’ve been out with Marius a couple times, as well as others, but apparently it’s not enough.”

“You can come out with us now if you want. We're going looking for Databeasts to farm anyway.” Said Brand.

“Are you serious? I wouldn’t be taking all the EXP?” Rosie asked.

“Of course not. It’d be good to have you with us. Besides, we were thinking of making it a more casual training anyway.” Said Brand. Tommen eyed him sceptically, but kept silent.

“If it’s just low levelled ones it should be fine… and I’d have to tell Marius where we’re going. I should be able to go in half an hour but I’ll have to talk to my mum, see if there’s anything else she needs me to do. There shouldn’t be much.” She pondered, before getting excited again. “It’s been too long since I’ve been out hunting Databeasts!”

“Perfect, we need to rest and let our stomachs settle anyway.” Said Brand. Rosie took their plates and left.

“What was that about?” Tommen asked him, once they were alone again.

“You didn’t want her to train with us?” Brand said.

“I’m okay with that, though frankly I’d prefer it if you asked me first.” Tommen told him. “Just surprised me a little.”

“Well, there’s a couple of reasons. One is that I have a good feeling about her.” Tommen raised an eyebrow at that but Brand continued. “Two is that I feel like she’s good to have on our side. She seems to know a lot of people in the town. And if anyone does come looking for us you can guarantee the first place they’ll look is the inn, followed by the shops. We make a good impression on her and they might cover for us.”

“Wow.” Said Tommen, dubiously impressed. “That’s… well thought out. And rather cynical.”

“It’s being smart. And I meant what I said, I have a good feeling about her. I can sympathise with her, I’d like to help her if I can.” Brand insisted. “It’s just weird what we’re hearing about Cabletown. Sets me on edge. It’s our town, we should know what’s been going on within it.”

“And now you think, what exactly? There’s some big conspiracy going on?” Tommen asked, not unkindly.

“I'm just a little worried after talking with Rosie.” Brand confessed. “What if there really are guards coming after us?”

“To be honest.” Said Tommen. “The guards are lazy and craven. That’s why they’re guards. That one who chased after us was probably just bored. I doubt they care much about enforcing a rule that hadn’t even come into effect when we broke it.”

_______

Four days prior

“You’ve got a visitor.”

Harlow was having a bad day. He had been excited when he initially joined the guards, but it was mind-numbingly boring. Not at all what he’d expected. What he’d really wanted was to go on an excursion. But he’d been convinced - as well as bullied and henpecked - into staying. His parents had encouraged him to go to the guards as an alternative - a healthy middle ground. He’d thought they were being hypocritical when they’d said that. They’d gone on plenty of excursions outside the walls. But they’d explained that they were wrong for doing so and deeply regretted it, and that he would too. And that if he had any respect for himself or them he’d stop bringing it up.

They had to think that of course, being so close to the Mayor. Thinking anything else whilst wielding that much power got you labelled as a traitor, and quickly.

Several nights he’d stayed up, travel bag half packed, but he could never bring himself to leave. So he joined the guards. Great. He could stand on a wall for most of the night, occasionally patrolling from side to side. It was a mostly pointless job. Anything that could scale the wall could eat him for breakfast anyway. Maybe he could radio in what he saw a few seconds before his death. Maybe there were mercenaries and bandits hoping to scale the walls of Cabletown, but were somehow too poor to pay the measly entry fee. Hell, a mercenary band could probably just move in if they wanted. Cabletown desperately needed people.

So he’d taken a nap in the middle of his shift. It wasn’t the first time he’d done it, nor the second or third. But it was certainly the first time he’d woken up to strange sounds, like something hitting into the wall. At first he’d thought it was coming from outside the walls, and got scared.

Then when he’d seen the face of a young man pop over the battlements he’d remembered that the sound was coming from the human side. He was confused. What was the protocol for that, after all?

Then he’d heard his superior shouting something, so he grabbed for his staff and started swinging. Then all hell broke loose.

Now he was sitting up in a nursing ward with a busted leg. Definitely bruised, likely fractured. Could take weeks to heal properly. And even longer before he was moving normally. He’d be out of the guards for at least two to three months.

If he thought it was mind-numbing before, this was worse. So hearing he’d got a visitor was welcome news.

Seeing it was the notoriously angry guard captain that had been threatening him throughout the early hours of the morning, however, was not. He'd been forced to give several reports of what had happened to different people already, so he assumed it was more of the same.

“There you are.” The captain practically growled at him.

“Captain Rizzo.” Said Harlow, with what he hoped sounded like a measure of respect.

“Why did you let those two get away?” The captain demanded.

“Well one of them took me off the wall, and then the other one sneaked up behind me and-” Harlow tried to explain.

“I've seen the reports!” The captain cut him off. “You never should have let it get that far. A guardsman should have been able to hold them off at least. Improperly trained, you are.”

“I was beating them when they didn't get the drop on me!” Harlow felt a little heated.

“And just how did they get the drop on you?” The captain snarled. “You should have had 100% awareness while patrolling. If I find you were slacking off…”

“No.” Harlow said weakly. “I just didn't expect any movement from inside the walls. I don't even know what they did.”

“Violation of the mayor's orders.” Rizzo replied.

“Which orders?” Harlow asked.

The captain gave him a stinkeye. “I'm the one asking questions here. Did you recognise the traitors?”

“No.” Harlow said, truthfully. They were a little older than him, and likely went to a worse school.

“You've only been in the guards for a couple months, right?”

“Three.”

“Level?” Asked Captain Rizzo.

“4.” Harlow replied. He was proud of his level. Between the accelerated levelling course his parents had got him on and all the extra hours he’d put in combat training in the guard’s exercise halls he was beating out a lot of his peers.

“Do you have an element stone?” Rizzo demanded answers.

Harlow nodded. He'd been given one as a gift from his parents upon joining the guards.

“Well? Type and rank!” The captain barked.

“Poor grade cosmic!” Harlow spluttered.

The captain eyed him with an open contempt that had been barely concealed before. A poor grade cosmic element stone cost just a little less than a low grade earth element stone. Earth element stones were the standard found in Cabletown, given its extensive mining operations, so they were the cheapest you could get. A cosmic element stone was much rarer, so were exorbitantly priced. Yet, a poor grade cosmic was about as useful, if not less, than a poor grade earth element stone, to say nothing of a low grade earth element stone, which Harlow’s parents could have bought him.

As such, a poor grade cosmic was the standard element stone for the striver families, intent on showing off that they had wealth and didn't need to be practical in how they spent it. They wanted their son to be able to flaunt his element stone, and a low grade earth was unflatteringly common.

The captain was a true believer in the Cabletown project and truly disliked such wasteful displays - especially when they came from his superiors, as they so often did. He was a practical man, and he expected others to take things seriously, so he was less than impressed with the rookie's element stone.

“Right. You're coming with me.” The guard captain told him.

“Where are we going?” Harlow asked.

“We're following those two traitors you let slip through your fingers.” The captain snarled. “Get moving.”

Harlow paused in the middle of grabbing his crutches. “The doctor told me I won't be able to put weight on my knee for a week. I haven’t even seen my parents!”

The captain measured him up and seemingly felt satisfied that he was telling the truth. “You've got a day. There’s a merchant caravan leaving tomorrow. I'll get you a leg exoskeleton. Military grade. You'll be able to walk with that. Let whoever needs to know that you're leaving know now, because there won't be another chance until we've got those traitors.”

Harlow felt numb as the captain walked away following his proclamation. Admittedly, he had wanted to leave the city. But doing so with a probably broken leg and the irate captain of the guard barking orders at him all day wasn’t his idea of a good time.

Besides, he didn’t want to see those again. Sure, he’d been having revenge fantasies from the moment he watched his own staff being used to smash his own leg and he’d had to just stand there and take it. But his life had been almost taken less than 24 hours ago by a sword-wielding madman. He just wanted to stay home and relax. Settle a bit. Maybe let his leg heal. Then think about revenge.

All in all, this wasn't how he wanted his first time leaving the town as an adult to go.

Harlow sighed deeply. He hoped his parents would visit him soon.