The walk to the Adventurer’s Guild was quick enough. Most of the city’s residents were hard at work, either earning their keep by making repairs to the damaged parts of the cities or else taking to the fields to resume working on the farms. It would be a long and hard road to full recovery for the city, and a constant stream of food and supplies was still needed.

“I’ve heard that the druids are giving Milagre permission to pull a larger amount of timber than usual to aid in the recovery,” Leonov commented, as they passed the cleared out ruins of a former house. The structure had collapsed in on itself when one of the pieces of the palace had rained down upon it. “Is that true?”

Falynn nodded, watching the efforts of the workers as they put new support beams in place. “Yes. Mother sent me a message about it last night. They prayed to Lord Longfang for permission, and he granted it. Apparently, he’s a close friend of the Prime Magus, who made the request.”

That information may have been new to her, but the others didn’t look surprised. It was common knowledge that Archmage Bragg was a legend from the older days, after all. It wasn’t that far of a stretch to imagine that he might know a god or two personally. Such things came with the territory of being the Champion of the God of Arcana and the strongest mage known to the world at large.

“He’s doing a lot to help with the rebuilding and recovery efforts,” Leonov pointed out. “I wonder, is he being paid for the inconvenience, or is he doing this out of the goodness of his heart?”

“Whatever the reason, it’s helping,” Falynn said. “Even if he is an unnatural sort.”

“You just don’t like the metal butler,” Roni said. “Why bother wasting thought on someone that’s not of your world?”

“Because,” Falynn said, and they took note of the annoyance in her voice, “Lord Longfang has made it very clear what the laws of nature are. Master Bragg is living in direct opposition to those laws. How can I respect that?”

“Nobody’s asking you to,” the ranger said, but looked pointedly away, discouraging further argument.

They stayed quiet until they reached the Adventurer’s Guild. It wasn’t as busy as it had been the previous day, thankfully, and they were able to cross a peacefully quiet courtyard. Roni resolutely moved to the rear of the group and kept her hood pulled far forward onto her face. Only Falynn seemed interested in the strange behavior, however, but said nothing, even when the ranger paused just inside the gate, giving a small shiver.

Arthur met them at the door once again, to Falynn’s disappointment, and they hurried into the Adventurer’s Guild’s room. Here, there was the hustle and bustle of business. Members of the administration rushed back and forth carrying items and papers, completely ignoring their existence. Only the man at the desk, a tall and broad-shouldered elven man, paid them any attention at all.

“Welcome back!” he said brightly, offering them a warm smile of welcome as he noticed the leather medallions they’d each slung around their necks. “I am Duncan Silver. How can I help you today?”

“We’re supposed to report to Master Sennid for training,” Leonov told him, taking the lead for the group. “Do we have to wait, or is he available?”

“Ah, you must be the heroes that helped in the assault,” Duncan said, and his smile widened. “I’m sure you’re tired of hearing it, but thank you for your sacrifice and bravery.”

Leonov waved the gratitude away. “Just doing our jobs. So, is Master Sennid available?”

“Let me see,” Duncan said, looking a little thrown by Leonov’s casual dismissal. He slid a piece of parchment from the stack that took up one corner of his desk and read it, pursing his lips. “Master Sennid should be at the Issho-Ni compound right now. He’s teaching a class of soldiers, but after that, his schedule is open. If you go now, you should be able to catch him.”

Leonov nodded his thanks, and they turned to leave again. Roni let out a quiet snort. “All this way, and now we go back to the lower ring of the city? At least we’re getting plenty of exercise.”

They ignored the barbed comment, but Falynn at least seemed pleased to be leaving the building. She gave a delicate shudder as they passed the metallic servant again, and let out a relieved sigh once they’d passed through the gate. “I don’t like that place.”

“So you keep saying.” This time the retort came from Leonov. Falynn, though flushing a bit, accepted the hint, and didn’t continue to share her dislike of Bragg’s estate. In fact, neither of them talked until they were back down in the lower ring of the city, where they were brought up short by a disturbance. Two men were arguing in the middle of the street, their voices raised so high that everyone within a hundred feet could make out the subject of their argument.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“I told you, I ain’t got time for your conspiracies!” The younger man was shouting. He had to be at least thirty years younger than the one he was yelling at and had a strongly built body. The thick leather apron he wore made it clear that he was a blacksmith of some sort. “Now get out of my face, or I’ll call the guard!”

“Hold now,” Leonov said, approaching the pair. “What’s the matter here?”

“This weasel is interrupting my business!” The blacksmith said, his voice still loud, but he faltered slightly at the look on Leonov’s face. “Err, sorry. Didn’t mean to yell. But I’m tryin’ to make an honest living, and this cretin is scaring off my customers!”

“How is he doing that?” Taiki asked, stepping up to stand on Leonov’s right side.

“He’s spouting off about some evil wizard tramping up and down the countryside,” the blacksmith said irritably. “Says that doom is coming for all of us. A right nuisance, I tell you. Damned stories are making people avoid my shop.”

“It’s no story!” The older man said, completely abandoning his attention on the blacksmith in favor of addressing the new arrivals. His eyes gleamed with fervent desperation. “I’m telling the truth, you gotta believe me, sirs! There’s a mage causing all kinds of trouble back home! Nobody believes me, but he’s got whole villages under his control!”

Both Taiki and Leonov seemed disinterested in his words. Leonov in particular put a hand on the man’s shoulder, pushing him back out of his face. He might not have had any authority to order the man around, but he could be intimidating enough to hopefully clear away the trouble. “Truth or story doesn’t matter. If there’s a problem, talk to the guard. Don’t bother people in their businesses.”

Something in the firm look he gave the man made him take a step back. In an instant, he became timid. “Yes, sir. Of course. My apologies sir. I won’t trouble you no further.”

He gave a hurried and respectful, if slightly sycophantic bow, then stretched out a hand, presumably to shake Leonov’s before going away. But this time, it was Taiki that reacted. She reached out with one hand to slap the older man’s arm away. As she did, there was a strange flash of light, and the stranger was knocked back a few steps, looking shocked.

“Don’t you dare!” She growled. “Try that again, and you’ll lose the arm.”

Falynn let out a gasp, but not at the sudden hostility. Belatedly, she recognized the magic that the old man had tried to use on Leonov, and her face betrayed a flicker of fear and even slight anger. Roni and Leonov looked lost. Leonov in particular, though he took a step back out of the man’s reach, looked at Taiki with a confused expression. “What did he try to-”

But before he could finish the question, the old man moved in a strange way. He swiped one hand up and made a strange sign with his fingers. Again, Taiki reacted with lightning speed. The kanabo came off her shoulder and swung down in a vicious arc that the man only just barely managed to avoid by jumping back, showing a speed that belied his age. When he stood straight again, they were surprised to see that he was smiling.

“It is true,” he said, his yellow teeth bared in a grin that was almost predatory. “We couldn’t believe there was a survivor, but Master said you were out there, somewhere.”

Taiki didn’t reply but stepped forward to attack again. She swung and swung the kanabo while the others stood back, shocked, but the old man continued to weave out of the way of her weapon, not bothering to attack. She snarled in anger as he continued to duck around her, letting out a quiet cackle. “You can’t kill me, girl. The master will find you and finish what he started long ago. Just like your family, you too-”

He got no further. Taiki darted forward at that exact moment and feinted an overhead swing. When he ducked to the left to avoid it, she twisted her wrists and changed to a sideways stroke that caught him in the ribs unexpectedly. He was knocked sideways by the blow, and landed with a crash into some crates that were stacked neatly beside the road. He let out a groan, still clearly alive, but not moving. The spikes on Taiki’s weapon had done significant damage, slashing his chest, quite apart from the crushing impact of the weapon itself.

“Taiki!” Falynn shouted, running over to her. “What’s going on!”

The blacksmith, who’d witnessed the exchange between Taiki and the older man, let out a stammer, “I think you went too far there, miss. He didn’t deserve to be attacked!”

And, before any of them could think to address him, he took several steps back, and shouted. “Guards! Guards!”

Taiki made a move toward the blacksmith, and her intent was clear. Thankfully, she got no more than a step or two toward the man before vines appeared out of the ground and wrapped tightly around her. They pinned her arms to her sides, and more reached out to take the weapon from her hands. At first, Taik was enraged, thinking that it was Falynn who had cast the spell, but when the vines turned her around, she saw that it was a stranger’s magic. The stranger in question was running towards them, his eyes hard, and his expression angry. He was accompanied by three others.

“Stay where you are!” he shouted, his voice commanding. He was dressed in the uniform of the Royal Guard, as were those behind him. He addressed his underlings next. “Tend to that man.”

One of his party, a mage by the look of her robes, ran over and dropped to her knees in front of the old man Taiki had sent flying. He’d stopped groaning. After a second or two, she turned back to her leader, shaking her head. “It’s too late, Sergeant. He’s dead.”

“So,” the sergeant said, his voice quiet but still full of anger. “In the aftermath of what this city has suffered, you thought you’d attack common folk? You’ll have a heavy price to pay for this, criminal. Round up the others!”

Too stunned by the events they’d just witnessed, Falynn, Roni, and Leonov didn’t realize the meaning of his last order until there were restraints being forced onto their hands, and they were being pushed onto their knees. Only Falynn seemed to have an emotion apart from the shock and surprise. She was fearful. And not of the guards, either. Her look of fear and indecision was directed only at the tall woman in full plate beside her.