Moving through the shadows with reptilian grace, Jess snuck closer to her prize. The wyvern's nest was visible at the top of the cliff, bits of vegetation and fluff dangling over the edge. It was a big one, about thirty spans in diameter, and she'd bet her scales it had a nice, large clutch to match.

She climbed the remainder of the distance and stopped, prying loose a branch from the bottom of the structure. Then she thrust it up and waved it around. There'd been a giant rock viper guarding the last nest she'd raided. After a minute or two of waving the stick without eliciting a response, she confirmed that her misfortune hadn't been repeated and hauled herself up onto the nest.

Wyverns were carnivorous predators. A half-eaten goat stared pitifully at her in greeting, its legs gone. Colorful stones and feathers arrayed around its carcass formed an artwork of savagery, and beyond that, at the very back of the nest, was a heap of bloodied pelts.

Stepping carefully, Jess made her way to the pelts and shifted them aside. It didn't take long to reach her prize. There were four eggs— four!— but that wasn't all. The smallest was a dark lapis lazuli with silver whorls. Trembling, she examined the blue egg for cracks. It had none. The corners of her snout curled upward as she stored the queen egg in her pack. She was rich!

Feeling generous, she grabbed only one other egg, leaving the rest to mollify their soon-to-be-enraged mother. Today's find was more than enough for her to achieve her dream. Standing, she looked out over the edge of the cliff to the canyon below. Blackrook village was a speck on the horizon, its drab, gray confines blending into the monotonous landscape, a tiny pocket of civilization in the middle of nowhere. She detested it with every fiber of her being and refused to be trapped by it anymore.

The lizard started her descent, carefully wedging her claws into cracks in the rock face. Going down was always harder than climbing up. She had to resist the urge to look down or risk vertigo. Keeping her balance was also tricky, since the strain from the ascent left her weak. On any other climb, she'd take a break between trips, but she couldn't do that now. She didn't know when the nest's owner would return.

Jess reached the ground safely and thanked her lucky stars. After a sip of water from her flask, she jogged back to Blackrook. There was an old, faded dirt path running through the canyon that led to the outskirts of the village. It ran through a set of mysterious ruins that had been around since Blackrook's founding. Crazy Chet liked to tell stories about how the ruins had once been a transportation hub, but the beggar was forever spinning tales, hoping to wheedle more coins from his audience to spend on booze. Nobody believed him.

Which was why Jess yelped when arcane symbols appeared on the ground beneath her feet. Spinning frantically, she saw that the entire path stretching behind her had symbols, too, and the broken spire jutting from the ruins off in the distance had begun twinkling with different colors. Arcs of light formed a protective dome around it, and the air filled with a loud rumbling sound.

Gaping, the lizard watched on in shock. The event lasted only a handful of minutes. The rumbling gradually ceased, the lights dimmed, and the symbols disappeared as though nothing had ever occurred. But Jess wasn't fooled. She knew what she had witnessed with her own eyes. Hiding her pack behind a nearby boulder, she retrieved a knife and her sling. They weren't the best weapons, but she wasn't planning on getting too close— she just wanted a look at whatever in Taesak's name had happened to the ruins.

Jess crept low to the ground, scales adapting to camouflage with her surroundings. Only her throat crest was noticeable, the small red frills flaring with excitement. She tasted the air as she moved, monitoring for any animals in the vicinity as she approached the ruins.

Everything seemed normal. The spire was tranquil, and the area around the ruins was undisturbed. Jess shifted for a better view of the entrance. There was no movement there, either, and she relaxed in disappointment. Then a greasy human with soot on his face stepped out of the entrance.

He squinted and raised a hand to shield his gaze from the sun. "Outstanding! We're lost."

A nondescript young woman in a servant's uniform came up behind him. She studied the sight of the barren landscape and said, "Err, it's possible that I might have made a slight miscalculation..."

"Well, it can't be that bad," an armored woman replied as she moved to stand beside her companions. Her face slackened. "Oh."

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A hulking man in a suit of armor and a gallant butler were the last to come out of the ruins. They stood quietly at the back as the rest of their party deliberated, looking entirely out of place.

"What do we do now?" the greasy man asked. "We're running low on supplies, we've got no idea where to look next, and I'm pretty sure that was our last crystal. Am I right?"

Flushing, the nondescript woman nodded. "Yes, but we can surely obtain more. We just need to do some trading at the nearest city."

"And where would that be?" The greasy man gestured around them. "You see a road anywhere?"

"Hey. Watch it," admonished the hulking knight at the back.

The greasy man huffed. "Sorry, Lucy. It's just that it's been days since I've had a bath or a change of clothes, and it's starting to grate on me."

"And me," added the hulking knight. "You stink."

"Thanks, Big Guy."

"I can try casting a sensing spell. That should give us some idea of the terrain of our surroundings. From there, we can make a map and determine our next course of action." The maid looked to the female knight, who nodded. Then she closed her eyes. A moment later, they reopened. "Whoever you are, you can come out now. We mean you no harm."

In her hiding spot, Jess blanched but held perfectly still. She wouldn't fall for that amateurish trick.

The maid pointed directly at Jess and continued, "I know you're right there. We're lost, and we just want to ask a few questions to get our bearings straight."

Rat dung. Jess quit camouflaging herself and stood sheepishly. Her sling was loaded and drawn, ready to be used at the first sign of trouble.

The greasy man whistled appreciatively. "Good disguise! Almost had me fooled."

A snort rang out.

The servant woman continued politely. "Hello. My name's Lucinda, and these are my companions, Lady Azora, Relius, and Cronk. The dirty one there is Jacobin. How might we address you?"

"Jess." The lizard girl tried to feign calm, but her body was tense. She didn't know what to make of these mysterious strangers. Normal people didn't show up in a ruins. Or wear plate armor. Or use magic— especially not servants.

"Jess, could you please tell us where we are?"

"This is the western province of Arith, Ma'am, near the Elusian Mountains."

The servant woman coughed, and a light blush colored her cheeks. "And that would be in... which country?"

Jess gawked. Yep, they were definitely not normal.

"Rinkara," she said slowly, wondering how anyone could be so clueless.

"Right. Of course." Lucinda, if that was really her name, twisted a ring on her finger, and a book dropped out of the air. The title on the cover was written in a language Jess couldn't understand, and the things Lucinda muttered as she flipped through it were equally incomprehensible. Jess's eyes bulged at the phenomenon, but everyone else seemed to take it in stride. Another mark against them, the lizard decided.

The servant woman displayed the book triumphantly. "You said Arith in Rinkara, correct? Please point to our location on this, if you can."

The book was open to a map of Rinkara. However, Jess noticed that the names were spelled funny, and the lines drawn for the borders were wrong, including Arith's. She traced the contours of a blue squiggly line. "Whoever sold you this thing gave you an old map. And I mean seriously old. Arith hasn't owned the Pale River since my great-great-grandad."

She'd know. To hear Aunt Mae tell it, that war had cost the family their entire fortune and forced them to move to this desolate backwater.

Lucinda protested, eyes darting to the butler behind her, "It's not that old! Only a few centuries. That's still young by anyone's standards!"

Jess shrugged. Wasn't her fault they bought a defective product. She tapped on a specific dot on the map. "That's the village. Doesn't say Blackrook, but it is."

"Thank you, Jess. You've been a great help." The lady knight stepped forward. She was pretty, but intimidating, with strong cheekbones and a piercing gaze. From this close, Jess could finally see that her ears were pointed. An elf, huh? What was she doing this side of the Elusians? Well, the entire group was strange, so the discovery didn't surprise Jess much.

The lizard girl nodded. "Sure thing, lady. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to know what a bunch of adventurers are doing way the hell out here."

It wasn't the smart thing to do, overtly prying into their business, but Jess wasn't going to stand aside if they meant harm to the village. She might hate Blackrook, but the people were a different story. Besides, she was no traitor.

"We're on a quest for our lord."

Jess didn't understand.

"Ah, what she means is, we're on a sacred quest. The details are secret," explained the small, soot-covered man. What had his name been again? That's right, Jacobin.

"Precisely. A sacred quest for our lord Father," the lady knight repeated, and this time, Jess could hear the deference in her voice. Apparently, she was the devoted religious type.

"You're not going to hurt the villagers, are you?" the lizard girl asked just to make sure.

"Nope. Not if they don't hurt us first," Jacobin said. The rest of the adventurers shook their heads in agreement. For the most part, they seemed sincere, tired, hungry, and perhaps a bit smelly. Altogether kind of pathetic. The plate armor did pose a bit of a concern, but Jess had faith that the men in the village could outnumber them if things got out of hand.

Satisfied, the lizard girl started walking in the direction of the path.

"The village is this way. You can follow, if you want. Makes no difference to me."