I woke in a cold sweat, my body shaking in response to the same dreams. Zanlis and Matin joined the ever-expanding list of people for whom I felt guilty and responsible. Each time I had those dreams I worried that Ghezin and Rana would join those screams. There was constant begging, and people were asking me to help them.

I looked over to Quinn, realizing it was the same for her. Hell, I barely know her. Was I so terrified of the dream that I would risk dying to keep others from joining it? I’m staying in Thaloria for people I have known for less than two weeks. It didn’t matter, I’d made my choice to stay and find them. I want to be able to save at least one of them before I escape myself.

Moving myself from my spot on the floor, I made my way towards the Galleon’s main desk. From the entrance of our room, I could see the main floor, and that the owner was at his desk.

The owner saw me coming down the stairs and called out, “Good morning sir, I’m hoping you slept well, coming down for food?”

Smiling I responded, “As well as one could ask for, regardless, I would like some food and a price for me staying in that room for another five days or so.”

He made a subtle growling sound that I recognized from my time with Ghezin, he was thinking to himself, “Well the food will be eight Hals, and in total the room will be 30 Hals. Call it a discount for continued purchase.”

“Sounds great,” I said while handing over the coins.

“Same as last night or do you want something else?” The man asked.

“The same sounds fine, didn’t know there was an option though”

He shrugged and then told me, “It was late, I was tired. Besides you liked it”

Looking around I noticed how empty the room was, “Where is anyone?”

He made a sound I attributed to laughing and said, “Everyone else is either asleep or feeling the effects of alcohol, didn’t you notice the celebration?”

I turned around and leaned against the bar, looking at all the tables I remarked, “You certainly cleaned up fast then,” It was certainly a lively place, but the wood floors were a bit worn. The walls themselves had chips in the stone, the windows had a nice touch. “Oh, anything I should know about Willowdale?”

As he replied I heard the man walking away, “Don’t stick your neck down too many holes, keep to your own business and you should be fine. Come back in ten or so minutes, I’ll have your food by then.”

Pushing myself off the bar I thanked him, then turned towards the stairs to head back to the room. When I opened the door I had startled Quinn awake. “Food will be ready soon,” I said as I got situated on the floor.

Quinn looked around, before realizing where she was and calming down. After a while, she asked, “You sleep well on the floor?”

I was in the middle of thinking about what to do for the next six or so days when she asked. “Huh, yeah it was fine.” I should spend the rest of today preparing, filling up my soul with ether. Making sure my body was still in relatively good shape was also a good plan.

“So what are you thinking about?” Quinn asked.

“How to spend my time before Ingratus eventually shows up at the door, besides that, I’m waiting for this food to be done,” I said, unlike last night my appetite was a lot better. The food sounded appealing this time.

Quinn didn’t seem to exactly like my answer, as she got up and made her way over to me. “Arthur, you look like shit. At least worse than you looked when working at the manor, so what’s wrong? And don’t tell me some excuse.” How do you look someone in the eye and tell them that saving their life was part of the reason you felt like shit?

So I didn’t, “Pretty sure there’s food at the main desk for you, let me deal with my own shit, you have enough on your plate.” With that I laid down on the ground, I had bigger issues to deal with.

For a while, Quinn tried to get me to get off the ground and talk. I didn’t budge a muscle, just ignored her while absorbing ether. I also thought of ways to deal with assassins coming after me, even if there were no guarantees, anything could help.

After a bit, I heard the door open and close and presumed it was Quinn leaving. I stayed in the room for over an hour before she came back.

“There’s a carriage leaving towards Abartil, it’s leaving in about forty minutes,” Quinn said.

“Zanlis’ pouch should be by the bed, just leave a few Gliders and I’ll be fine,” I remarked.

Quinn looked at me sympathetically, before grabbing the pouch and doing what I asked. She then stopped for a few moments, and opened her mouth a few times before saying, “Sorry for bringing that up,”

She started to move towards the door but stopped as I said, “Just promise me you won’t get kidnapped or lost, I would hate to add you to my list of people to look for.”

“I’ll try, but you better not take too long getting back to your family. Don’t want your mom killing me for leaving you behind.” Quinn said, I could hear her grinning even though I couldn’t see her face.

I watched her leave and I sat there for a while. Not particularly doing anything, just sitting there. The moment was nice, to have someone to talk to.

After lingering there for a bit I left the room towards the main desk.

“Was wondering when you would come down, the mis just left, and your food’s been getting cold” The owner remarked.

“The ‘mis’ won’t be back, she’s off traveling. I’ll take the food now though, and do you have any rules on alcohol here?”

“Sorry lad, can’t sell to someone without their soul awakened, and I don’t feel any ether coming off ya,” He informed me”

Smiling, I stopped keeping my ether intake matched my output and started absorbing excess ether to fuel my core. After months of cycling, I had gotten pretty good at how much I could handle.

Turning around I faced the owner, “So about the alcohol, anything you would recommend?” It was a fun night, and I remember returning to my bed to sleep after singing songs in different languages, feasting, and drinking with too many people.

All that changed on my fourth night at the Galleon since Quinn. I wasn’t holding out too much hope that my next few days would continue in peace. Chances are Ingratus knew where I was, and they would either be sending someone to capture me or more possibly, an assassin to kill me.

“Great night ain’t it?” A Kythraxian woman to my left said to me.

“I would hope so,” I responded, worried that she would get caught in what I thought might happen. “Grunag can I get another Alta?” I asked. After trying however many drinks, the Alta was still the best one I’d been served while here.

The owner of the Galleon turned to me, “I’ll get it to ya after getting these dishes handed out.”

“So what are you doing here?” The woman to my left asked me.

“Well, to be blunt, waiting for an assassin to either try to capture or kill me.” I hadn’t been quiet for the past four nights, letting my intentions be known clearly so they might reach the attention of Ingratus.

She stared at me for a few moments, then started laughing, “No really, what are you doing staying at an inn like this, I’ve seen how you spend, you must have some money.”

“Why wouldn’t I spend lavishly? Let me ask you then, what would you do if you probably annoyed a powerful group of people?” I questioned. Even after a few nights in Willowdale, I was still curious as to what the regular citizen did.

“Well, that depends on the group,” She paused to take a few sips of her drink. “Well, I would probably ask the person beside me to bed,” Huh, where’s the assassin when you need it?

While thinking about how to dig myself out of the shallow grave I had a foot in, Grunag arrived with my drink.

Taking a large gulp I drowned the awkwardness and said, “Certainly an idea, too bad you didn’t annoy a group,” Turning towards Grunag, “Thanks for the drink.”

I started to get up from the bar however I felt a hand on my shoulder start to push me back down. When I turned my head to look at who did it I saw that it was a human male in a leather-like tunic, and on this tunic, I saw a Kratt symbol.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

After pushing me into my seat he got situated beside me in the seat to my right, and we both sat there for a few moments. The woman to my left kept trying to grab my attention but I was solely focusing on the man who had just arrived.

After half a minute or so of silence I asked, “Quick question, can we take this outside? I would prefer to not potentially break something.” The man got up from his seat which I assumed was him agreeing, we made our way outside.

“Another question, are you here to kill me, or just bring me to your guild?”

“I’m here to kill you for killing one of our recruits,” He replied.

“Well, shit.” In preparation for the fight, I started to increase the flow of ether in my body, increasing the rate at which I could react, and the strength of my muscles.

We stood apart from each other on the stone street, a few steps was all it would take to reach the other. Our bodies were tense, ready to move at a moment's notice. I kept watch over every single part of his body, trying to make sure that whatever he did wouldn’t be a surprise.

He made the first move after he closed the distance in a single bound, a dagger from his side. He brought up the blade with his right hand, aiming it directly at my neck.

In response, I took a step forward and brought up my left arm to stop his dagger from reaching me. I saw a look of surprise on his face as he ended up overreaching with his arm, probably expecting me to not be able to react at all.

While making sure that he couldn’t bring the dagger any closer to me, I brought up my right knee into his stomach.

He saw my knee start to move ether towards his stomach, reinforcing his body to lessen the impact. What he didn’t expect was how much I had augmented my body, increasing its strength and overall performance. As soon as my knee made contact I could feel how little he managed to bring towards it.

When my knee hit him he started to move up into the air, so I quickly brought my leg back and kicked his feet out from underneath him. He only barely went off the ground, but with no leverage on the ground, I got his legs out from underneath him.

The assassin landed on the ground awkwardly, and before he could move or react I pinned him to the ground.

“You high enough in the guild to make a deal?” I asked the man.

He squirmed awhile before realizing he couldn’t get out. After he stopped resisting he asked, “For what?”

“I want to purchase a slave from your guild, or earn it, as long as you aren’t too picky,” I told him.

“I can’t offer the guilds assets, but the next person they send should be able to. If I don’t succeed or don’t return they should send someone higher in the ranks,” He explained.

“Great, so why so cooperative?”

“Code of honor and the person who sent me will be the next person to go after you,”

“Alright, make sure they get here by tomorrow,” I said as I took his knife and let go of him.

I didn’t want to kill again, was it a stupid ideal? Probably, but I’d try to stick by it, especially considering how the nights have been.

The man was obviously confused by my behavior, but I didn’t pay any attention and walked back towards the Galleon, then directly back to my seat at the bar.

I found that my seat was still empty and my drink was still there.

“Thanks for taking that out of my inn,” Grunag told me. I nodded before nursing my drink. All I could think was how interesting tomorrow would be.

I slept how I usually slept that night, it was all tossing and turning with only a few hours of actual sleep. The nightmares continued as usual, so my little hours of sleep didn’t feel refreshing in the slightest.

I woke up sometime during the night, my body covered in sweat and I felt like I was burning up. I was gasping for breath and was trying to tear the sheets off of me. When I got up I sat on the edge of the bed, with my hands covering my face. My chest was heaving, drawing in any air it could.

Exhausted didn’t even begin to cover how I felt, physically I was alright at best, but mentally was a different story. Having horrible nightmares, with very little sleep just kept my mind from shutting down. It felt like I could never get good sleep. I could only stand because I constantly had ether strengthen my limbs.

After collecting myself, at least a little, I hopped off the bed. I continued to pace the room for a while, trying to alleviate at least some of the angst I felt. It didn’t help.

Giving up on pacing I turned to something I used to do when I was younger. Simply sitting down and moving my ether from my soul, to around my ether circuits, then returning to my soul, completing the loop.

It was a simple, but continuous movement, allowing my mind to focus on something so menial helped it calm. I couldn’t help but chuckle, as this was so close to cycling my ether, the only difference was that I didn’t regulate how much I absorbed. Focusing only on keeping my ether flowing throughout my body.

It was nice, to let myself focus solely on one task. It was also a mistake, as I soon found a knife pressed against my throat.

I felt the cold blade pressed onto it, feeling it push, threatening to cut me. I felt it press even deeper when I took a deep breath in.

“I heard that you wanted my attention,” A female voice said from behind me, I couldn’t tell much else, besides the fact that I couldn’t immediately sense her ether. I was going to shift my body on instinct to try to get away from the blade, but I felt it press deeper into me, and a body coming into contact with mine, stopping me from backing up from it. I heard a tongue click from behind me, “If I feel you or your ether change, move, or anything I will slit your throat. Now, why did you want to make a deal?”

Now that her body was touching mine, I could easily feel the ether circulating through it. The sheer amount she had going through her body was terrifying, but the fact she could hide this much was even more so.

She had to be someone of importance in their guild, at least high enough for what I needed. The question was if I should lie or not.

Making up my mind I said, “I want to purchase a slave from your guild, one purchased from around three weeks ago.” She stood behind me for a while, silently, and with how close she was each breath she took hit the back of my neck.

“How did you manage to hide your ether from our recruit?” She asked.

The question interested me so I asked, “How are you hiding your ether?” The answer was the blade against my throat pushing into me. “Alright,” I thought for a moment, trying to think of the best way to explain it.

After thinking it through I said, “It’s easier to show, as long as you are touching me you should be able to feel the ether still, I’m not entirely certain. I won’t try anything, I’m also going to lower my output,” and so I did as I said. First lower my output from what it was I brought it down to around a freshly awakened soul’s flow rate. Then I started to absorb ether, I could’ve kept my output where it was, but I wanted to keep how much I could manage a mystery.

To sell the idea that I couldn’t bring my ether much higher than it was, I gradually amped up how much I absorbed, until the point where they matched, masking my ether.

“Happy?” I asked.

“Not yet, but remember what happens if you move. Don’t turn, don’t run,” she said as she took the blade away from my neck. I felt her back away, and even though I didn’t hear a step I knew she backed away from me.

I stood there for a while, time seemed to stretch as I awaited what might happen. I had no idea if she was even in the room still. I couldn’t sense her ether in the slightest, and I couldn’t hear her footsteps.

Then her voice broke the silence, “Move your left up straight up.” A weird request, but I complied. “Do you have a concealment device?”

“No. I don’t even know what that is,” I replied.

I heard nothing. I felt nothing. The next few minutes passed in darkness. Then it hit me. I felt pain for a moment, just a singular moment. Then it went back to nothing.

For the first time in weeks, I slept without dreams. I don’t know how long it lasted, but it felt like hours, hours of actual rest.

When I woke I was in a building. Instead of the smooth stone walls, and wooden floors I was used to, the walls were made of blocks. Very finely placed, and overall coming together to make a nice pattern that you could trace throughout it all. The floors themselves were also made of stone, near the same shade, but a bit different, instead of the rougher walls, the floor was smooth.

The room itself had the same amenities, a bed, and the things I had in my old room. This included the clothing I had gone out to purchase, a brown and a black jacket, with clasps to hold the two sides together. Two black pants and two white shirts.

I was in the room for a while, the door itself was locked and made of wood. I could’ve easily broken it, but I waited.

Eventually, the door opened, and a woman entered, she was a human with black hair with brown highlights. I assumed that she was my would-be assassin.

She spoke, which confirmed my suspicion, and said, “You have no record at any vaults, and you had nothing on your person. So seeing as you have no money to your name, and aren’t a citizen of Thaloria, you have nothing to bargain for your slave. Am I wrong?”

I narrowed my eyes, staring at her. “No.”

“Well then, I’ll tell you some options. First, you can leave, make some money, and return. If you are lucky your slave might still be here, even luckier if she’s alive. Second, you could give up, not a bad option considering how many different slaves there are, I’m sure you could find a new one to set your heart on.” She walked over to the bed that I was sitting on. When finishing her sentence she started sitting beside me and putting her hand on my shoulder.

I gritted my teeth, then asked, “And what if none of these options work?”

She smirked while taking her hand off my shoulder and lying back on the bed, “That brings us to option number three. Work under me as an apprentice. If you point out your slave I’ll make sure no one else will get to own her. Then, if you impress the bosses enough, you’ll be able to ask for a boon, the slave. This does of course come with its downsides, but you’ll be able to work out of them. Such as your slave’s crest being owned by the guild, but you should be able to work that off eventually. It would probably take a boon or two,” She paused for a moment, bringing her hands around me on both of my shoulders, “So what will it be.”

I sat there, completely still. She waited, ever so patient while holding my shoulders, never letting that smirk fall from her face as she scoured mine for any hint of what I would do.