Ugh. I slowly became aware of pain, radiating from the back of my skull in waves. I groaned, shifting slightly and trying to turn my head, before a wave of nausea put that to a quick stop. So I just lay there, breathing slowly, trying to piece where I was together. I cracked my eyes, blearily blinking away the confusion and weariness. The wooden ceiling above was unfamiliar, and quite a bit dustier than Mrs. Havers would have ever permitted. Not at home then. I turned my gaze a bit farther, finding plaster walls lit by what was clearly candlelight just out of my currently limited range of vision. Even moving my eyes threatened to make me sick. I felt around, slowly so as not to jostle my aching head. I was obviously in a bed, and a fairly standard one in my experience. I could feel straw poking through the linen, which smelled fresh. Much fresher than my own, to be brutally honest. An inn, perhaps? The muffled sounds of clinking tankards and conversation rising through the floorboards certainly lent credence to that theory. But why an inn? It’s not as if the apartment burned down too… Ah. Everything began to click into place. The guild had burned down! And with the way the blaze had been progressing, likely down to its foundations, though that person in the fancy gown may have saved some of it.

I blinked. That was a real mage that did that! True magic, without a doubt. I sighed wistfully. Wish I’d gotten to see all of it. Seeing real mages in action was akin to seeing a unicorn, perhaps even a dragon nowadays. Surely the whole city would be talking about it, and I was probably the only person in the entire quarter who didn’t see it. Ah, well. I was alive, and that was something to be grateful for. Hmmm. I frowned. I was alive, which was somewhat surprising. Vera had pulled me out of the building, but that had very little bearing on my future safety. Nor Vera’s, to be truthful. Tyrion was clearly spiteful enough to come after us both for petty vengeance, and that was before he’d burned the guild hall down. The Magistrate would likely pay for the damages to the hall to continue his son’s membership, but there had been quite a crowd during the scuffle preceding the fire. Tyrion didn’t do embarrassment. I’d seen him destroy a local’s shop, publicly ridiculing the wares and spreading rumors of cut corners to the wealthy of the city after his daughter had beat Tyrion in a game of cards at the hall. Of course, nothing could be proven, and a public inquiry by the Magistrate’s “investigators” had found that the potions being sold were less effective than advertised, and no one would dream of even insinuating favoritism.

So, that was going to be a problem. Unless it already was, I still didn’t know where I was, though I had some information to go on at least. An inn, and very likely still within the city, or nearby. There was only one inn he knew of outside the city that was within a day’s journey, and it was… well, certainly not well kept enough for the sheets to have a pleasant smell. So, likely still within the city walls. That narrowed it down somewhat, but the city was a pretty damn big place, with several inns I could recall off the top of my head. Straw mattress narrowed it down a bit, a cheaper place. Obviously has a bar on the main floor, no music though. Could be one of a few places, but someone had to bring me here, likely Vera, which meant-

The door banged open from beyond my feet, surprising me enough that I jolted upright enough to see Vera standing in the wan light of the hallway, holding a pack of some sort in one hand, and paper sack in the other, before the nausea hit again and I dropped to the pillow again. I had to focus to wrestle the bile back down.

“Aha! Back just in time I see.” I could practically hear the grin in her voice as I pinched my eyes closed. “I brought you some food, if you can stomach it. And we’d best get some water in you. Dehydration is a warrior’s greatest enemy!” I heard her drag a stool across the floorboards, plopping down next to the bed. “So, how’s the head?”

Speaking was an effort, so my voice was quiet. “Not great. Think I might puke from that. When you came in, I mean.”

Vera gave a throaty chuckle. “You must be a hit with women. I can tell you know just what to say. I do understand though, pretty common with a solid hit to the old brain bucket. Here, have some water.” She wrapped my hands around a waterskin, helping guide it to my parched lips. “That and some food, you’ll be up and out of that bed in no time. Speaking of, uh, I didn’t know where you lived, so I brought you here to my room. Oh, and you haven’t been out too long, less than a day.” I reopened my eyes, finishing long draught, swallowing several times to clear the roughness in my throat.

“Thanks, I really appreciate it. And yeah, probably best we didn’t go back to my place. Picking a fight with Tyrion… well, I don’t really blame you at all, but you’ve definitely got a target on your back now, and likely I do too.” The water was working wonders already, and I risked turning to look over at Vera fully, rewarded with only mild dizziness this time.

She raised an eyebrow. “That little pipsqueak can come after me if he wants. I certainly wouldn’t mind putting him out of our collective misery.”

I chuckled darkly, slowly pulling myself up into a sitting position. “No disagreement on that front, but it wouldn’t be that simple. His cronies didn’t step in yesterday, but I guarantee he’ll have backup next time. That’s not the real problem though.”

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“Oh?”

“His father is the City Lord, has everyone in his pocket. He could hire any number of less than savory sellswords to erase us, and nobody would bat an eye. His father would simply make something up, or have ‘investigators’ find evidence we were agents of some nefarious cult, it doesn’t matter. So even if we did manage to get rid of Tyrion, and I’m not saying that I’m at all confident in that, we still have to deal with a pissed off Magistrate and an entire city of guards on his payroll.”

Vera rested her chin on her palm, seeming to mull it over. “I see. Not an insurmountable problem for me, but you probably have an interest in not getting that kind of attention. Got family nearby?” I nodded, grimly thinking of my mother. “Hmmm. Yeah, so just killing him is probably off the table. Got a suggestion then?”

I shrugged. “Eh. We could probably just lay low, and he might let it go. I’m not sure, he’s a tyrant, swinging his little dick around. As long as he feels like he won, he probably won’t feel the need to do anything else. Problem is, I have to work… Well, actually I guess I don’t, the hall is ashes.”

Vera nodded, grimacing. “Yeah, that place isn’t going to be doing regular business for a while. And don’t worry, I spoke to Nicolaus, he showed up while we were bailing. I gave him the whole story of what happened.”

I let out a sigh of relief, tension I hadn’t realized I’d been carrying dissipated. My boss was fairly even tempered, but I had been worried about having to tell him how the hall had burned down on my watch. “Good, that’s… good. But it does leave me out of a job until the hall is rebuilt. Not to mention everyone in the guild…”

“Yeah, I was thinking about that. When I was talking to Nicolaus, he told me a bit more about why you’re working behind a desk.”

I averted my eyes, staring at the down at the bed. “Ah, I see.”

Vera blew a loud raspberry. “Pffft. ‘Ah, I see.’ What the hell is that about? You think I’m just going to tell you to kick rocks because you froze up, what, 5 years ago?”

I raised myh head, brows drawn together. “6, actually. But I mean… yeah, I guess. I’m not exactly useful in a fight. Probably best I just get out of town for a while.” I could practically hear Vera’s eyes rolling in their sockets.

“Wyvern shit. You jumped across a desk and tackled a guy who can shoot lightning out of his fingers, to protect me. You call that freezing?”

I paused, taken aback. I… had done that, hadn’t I? Vera gave me a moment, before pressing. “Bram, that was badass! Trust me, I would know. And I knew it the moment I met ya, you got the right stuff. Guts. Or just the right kind of stupid, I dunno. But I’ll be damned to every one of the hells if I let you limp off to some shop to beg for a job, when you could be out there kicking ass with me.”

I chuckled. “Vera, you’re like… 3 of me in a fight. Maybe more.”

“Definitely more.”

“Exactly. Sure, I helped you out with Tyrion, and I really appreciate what you said, that really means a lot to me. But… I don’t have a binding, and I can’t afford gear of good enough quality to make up for it either. I’m a liability.” My cheeks flushed. Money was always the problem for prospective adventurers wanting to make it big. If you weren’t born with magic, which was extremely rare among humans, you needed money- a lot of it. With it you could buy a core binding through a few different paths, or enough enchanted gear to make you strong enough it wouldn’t matter.

She rolled her eyes again. It was becoming habitual in this conversation. “Yeah, no shit. You’re not going to kill much of anything as you are right now. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get better! And not to stroke my own horn, but I’m a damn good teacher. Not to mention a consummate badass. And yeah, I know most of you humans aren’t born with magic, but you want to make enough to get it? Hunting scary shit with me, that’s how you rake it in.” She raised her eyebrows, grinning infectiously. I couldn’t help it, I grinned right back. And she was right, after all that had been my plan originally. Save up enough coin and scavenged shards to form a core binding hunting small fry, then use the magic of the binding to hunt bigger and badder creatures until I could afford whatever he wanted, and make sure Mom was truly comfortable.

“Okay, I mean, yeah it’s not the worst idea. But the guild’s out of commission, how are we going to make any money?”

She waved his concern away, like some errant cobweb. “Did your brain get scrambled worse than I thought? I still have that contract to clear out the sewers. And there’s a standing bounty on kobolds and rats from the city. We just have to keep clearing it out. Plus, being down there keeps us out of the blondie bitch’s sight.”

I sputtered, before laughing out loud. “Blondie bitch! Ha, that’s great…” My smile gradually dimmed before I continued, “And yeah, I get it but… I mean… I’ve had some trouble with kobolds.”

Vera's mouth twitched up in a knowing but kind grin. “I know, I know. But the best way to conquer fears like this, and freezing problems is to face them. Trust me, I know. Used to have an absolute mortal fear of wolves. Not even the dire kind, just regular garden variety. Couldn’t even look at ‘em. My Da trapped one in a cave near our home, then tossed me in there alone. Never been scared since.” I just stared at her, aghast. “Oh don’t look at me like that, it was a little one, and I’m fine. Plus, I promise I won’t trap you with one, alright?”

“Why are you going out of your way to help me so much, Vera? We barely know each other.” I asked, brow furrowed. We were practically strangers, after all.

She sat up straighter, tapping a finger on her chin as she mulled it over. “I just have a good feeling about you. And anyone who would try to save a relative stranger from an asshole like that Tyrion guy is worth being friends with in my book. And friends help friends.”

I just shook my head, unsure of just what kind of friend I was making here. “You’re obviously crazy, but… Yeah, I guess I’d rather be a little bit crazy than waste my life behind a desk.” I reached out a hand, and Vera clasped it up to the elbow, grinning madly.

“That’s what I bloody well like to hear. We’ll get started as soon as you’re fit, we’ll see how you’re feeling tomorrow. Get some rest, and eat this. I need to go shopping.” She sat the paper sack she’d been holding earlier in my lap, clapped me gently on his back, and was out the door before I had a chance to find any more to say.

Shaking my head again, and wincing at the receding dizziness, I dug in. I was absolutely starving, and I'd certainly need every bit of energy possible if we really was going to face my nightmares tomorrow. I shuddered slightly, but firmed my resolve. It was pretty good food, after all.