The road to Kandras was packed. Partys upon partys of adventurers were heading out into the world, cheerful and carefree. Monsters would be killed. Riches would be found. Heroes would be sung. You could read it on their faces. Battle cloths on, their pace was assured. Their hearts filled to the brim with courage. Their eyes hungry for blood. This close to Kandras the road was fairly safe. The forest however, would be their first test. How many would turn back after the first night in the wild? How many would venture forward recklessly and never come back? I passed by them, quiet as a tombstone. I just spent weeks in the woods for nothing. I was a disheveled mess, my cloths were torn and ripped, and no matter what I did I could not fully erase the lingering smell of blood on my body. I was tired, bitter, and really needed a bath. Gun on one shoulder, owl on the other, I was a sorry sight for all these bright young warriors. A dreadful sight. Something they didn't wish to see. A lingering feeling in the back of their mind. As I walked by, the songs died out. Laughter got stuck in throats. The streets of Kandras are packed with guys that looked like me. Hollowed-eyes madmen, brave fighters turned raving beggars. The race to wealth and prestige is run on the trail of broken men, and there is no pity for the ones left behind. Someone cracked a joke. It must have been quite funny, because most of them couldn't stop laughing. Hopelessness and failure vanished. Tension released, they proceeded to ignore me and quickly got back to their endless bickering. I was quite happy with that. Let themseleves drown their insecurities in meaningless songs and loud speeches. I was just too sour to deal with anyone.

  After two months of exhausting travels, I finally reached civilisation. The city of Kandras was lazily stretching on the banks of the Kand. I entered through the Docker's gate. Kandras is the major inland port of the region. Huge cargo barges, easily ten times the height of a man were lined up at the Riverport. Dozens of dockers were unloading and reloading the fret as fast as they could. The city is a must stop for every merchant sailing up and down the Kand. With all the wildlands nearby, It attracts adventurers like moths to a flame. Only here could you find the best armors, weapons and magical artefacts, shipped from every part of the continent. The best guilds and the best smithies. The best friends, also. It is said that a party founded at the Bright Buck inn - the most famous drunkard hole in the city- was sure to find success and wealth. The lucky ones would come back in the city wealthy beyond any man's dream. They told inflated tales of their quests and made sure some kind of destiny was always at work behind the scenes. They should be set for life, but it wasn't rare for a lot of them to squander their wealth in a few days. Only in Kandras could you be rich as a king one day, only to live on the muddy streets the next.

  So much money is sure to attract the most dubious minds. It is said there are as many adventurer's guilds as criminal syndicates in the city. Honestly, it is hard to define which is which. Adventurers certainly aren't a gentle bunch, and you were as likely to be robbed by one as a real, certified mugger. Men fell like ripped apple from the tree in this cesspool. In fact, people get uneasy in Kandras if at least one body isn't found in the gutter at dawn. On the hill overhanging the city was the baron's estate. It was a magnificent manor that you could see from miles around.-Being easily spotable seemed like a De Vermeer tradition-. Nobles might rule the land, but no one really could rule Kandras. Every dog wants to chew on the bone and it certainly isn't the baron's money that makes the guards look away when a poor fellow gets shanked. Ruthless town for a ruthless world. However, I didn't settle here for the endless greed or violence. No. Kandras is an old city. Said to be the where one's secret wishes becomes reality, no matter what that wish may be. Every play, every story, every bard's songs somehow begins in this city. I'd read somewhere that Kandras means hope in an old, forgotten language. At dusk, when the dockers, heroes and muggers are all already on their third pint, I sit on the docks and watches the river, slowly rocked by the creaking wood of the barges. It reminds me of another time. Another place. Warmer, filled with friends and family, with love ; a world where I didn't have to kill anyone or destroy anything just to survive. It reminds me of home.

-------

  Teeco was hungry and flew away. I walk through the town and made my way home. I had a decent shack in a decent neighborhood. Rent was higher because it was in the merchant's quarter, but the streets were safer. It wasn't much, just a room, a bed a few furnitures, but that's way more confortable than the dirty soil I've been sleeping on the last two months. I had so badly wanted to sleep on a real bed again. I climbed the stairs leading to the second floor and opened the door... Only to find a young couple going at it on my bed. I snapped. They were into it and didn't notice me. I grabbed the man by the neck and yanked him backwards. The girl's pleasure moans suddenly tunred into horrified screams. I grabbed him by the foot, dragged him away and threw him down the stairs. Mayhem ensued. The girl grabbed a knife and tried to shank me. I evaded and got her by the hair, threw her on top of her lover who was trying to get back up. My landlord showed up, seemingly pissed off about the commotion but his face became paler than a ghost when he saw me. I reached their stuff and threw it haphazardly on the street, spewing my rage with words that would even make the dirtiest whore uneasy. The couple came back up but the man got knocked out when I threw a shield that randomly bounced on his head. The girl cried and tried to wake her lover, to no avail. The landlord tried to intervene but couldn't stop me until I had nothing left to throw. I looked around. I had attracted quite a crowd of curious Joe's. I threatened them with my rifle and they were gone as fast as they came up. They might have not known what bullets are, but you always know when a crazy guy points a deadly weapon at you. I calmed down a little when I couldn't find anything or anyone else to vent my fury on. The landlord came cautiously and explained to me he thought I wouldn't show up anymore. Grace Fairlight had come by a while ago and told him I was gone. Gone! I pushed him away and headed for the guild.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  I slammed my fist on her desk. I was outraged. Grace, the guildmaster, did not react.

"-So because I took a little time you told everyone I wouldn't come back. Which is it Grace, did you think I was dead or did you think I ran away with the runes ?

  The old lady wasn't fased by my sour temper. Calmly, she answered :

"-Killian, I didn't hear from you for nearly two months! Of course I would be worried... Everyone in their right mind would be. Take a look at your last message."

  She opened a drawer and handed me a hastily written note. My note. Thief went to the forest. Following him.

"Everybody knows there are orcs in this forest! Orcs! Do you know how many men I lost trying to root them out?"

"- Tracking a thief, realising he got jumped on by the greenskins, stalking and counting the savages, finding a good time and a good spot to take them out. All of this in the boondocks, far from civilisation of any kind. I'd say taking only two months to do all that is quite a feat... Unfortunately, someone got in my way and set the runes ablaze with her wild magic! Where the hell did you find an embermage anyway?"

"- She is the daughter of baron De Vermeer. At first I ignored her request, but weeks kept passing without a word from you! She seemed capable of handling herself so I pointed her in your direction. I heard she took down three orcs. "

"-She almost got jumped by them! Goddamn nobles!"

"- Anyhow, I've sent word to the baron, his daughter is back home already. Since I didn't received word from them, I assume they wish to forget about this... mess. Or they might be thinking about a punishment of some kind. You never know with nobles."

"Great. So I just hope the daughter won't lie and pin all of this on me?"

"Pretty much. Nobles do what nobles want, Killian." She smiled. "Don't worry Killian, the gallows aren't as bad as you think!"

"I don't think your bad sense of humor will be enough to get me out of this dump."

"I'm already working on it. I won't leave you hanging. You are one of my best after all. " she looked at the flea ridden young man she had in front of her. "That'll get you time to get a bath, a haircut and fresh clothes. I'll send word if there is any developpement and I'll see what I can do for your housing issue. I am sorry Killian, I shouldn't have doubted you."

I sighed. "Fine, fine. I... Nevermind. I'll be at the thermal baths." I couldn't possibly stay mad at the only person I trusted in this town.

I laid down in the steaming pool. The thermae were huge in Kandras. Unexpectedly, in a city where murder was common currency, you wouldn't expect your killer to be really mindful of his own cleanliness. But he was. The pools were a neutral zone, no one was allowed any weapons or magic inside, and hurting someone in the baths was a grievous offense. It was one of the few haven of precious peace in an ever increasingly chaotic whirlpool. The baths were old. Very old. It is said the first De Vermeer had them built, but there were no records of it. Whatever the case maybe, I dropped in the hot, steamy bath like a rock at the bottom of the ocean. For the first time in what seemed like years, I could finally relax. It was the best time of the day, they were almost empty, and would be until nightfall. I felt drowsy and my thoughts wandered. I felt my owl, he had caught a mouse and was ripping it apart, as he couldn't eat it whole. It was disgusting.

-And what do you think I feel when you eat chicken or duck? pointed my companion.

-It's not the same thing! Besides, duck breast is delicious.

  I smiled. Not everything was awful in this world after all. In all my wildest dreams, I never would have guessed that my best friend would be an owl. I do not have a habit to talk to animals. Most, I can't stand. I do not understand how or why we can talk to each other, but we do. For a while I thought I was sick because I felt like vomiting my dinner everytime I ate, turned out that it was only him regurgitating his preys. He showed up at my window one day, saying he could hear and feel my every thought. Since then, we stuck together.

- Teeco, how would you feel about a little trip to Maÿlam, or Ghist, maybe?

- Why, in the Great Avian's holy name, would you want to go in Maÿlam? Magic? I'm pretty sure you have absolutely no ability for magic.

- I do not know Teeco. I just want to go. I'm getting sick of all this. Sick and tired.

-Meaning you don't want to go questing anymore?

-What for? Another "fetch this, kill that" in another random location, just to come back empty ended after weeks of dangerous travels? The first time it feels like a challenge. The second time hurts your pride. After a while, you really don't care anymore.

- You know, you could always throw a party and invite your friends over if you are feeling down.

- Beside a very peculiar bird, I don't have any friends here. Much less a girlfriend, before you ask.

- What about getting home?

-That's impossible!

- The ancients believed that it would be impossible for humanity to survive. Yet, thousands of years later, the continent is littered with humans towns and villages. More so than every other races.

-Well I don't have thousand of years, Teeco ! All the sorcerers I asked told me that travelling to and from another world is impossible. From what I understood of their magical mumbo-jumbo, it would akin to the difficulty of travelling faster than the speed of light.

-Yet you did it.

-I don't know how! Unless there's a magical tornado that'll swallow and swipe me back to Texas, I'm at a loss at what to do.

- Well I don't know about any magical tornadoes...

-Figure of speech, the point is, as much as I'd like to get home, I can't. I'm stranded.

-Alright, alright, fair enough Mr Grumpy. All I'm trying to say is : being carried by the wind like a tumble weed isn't such a great idea. I understand that the glitter of adventuring wore off. You've seen enough, done enough. A change of pace is indeed in order, but don't throw another rock on top of the mountain. Find something that inspires you. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to finish my dinner in peace.

  Leaving him to his rodent, I dosed off. I woke up only hours later, skin crumpled like an old man. A messenger caught me outside the thermae and handed me a note.

"Couldn't get your room back. Trying to find new lodgings. All your stuff is at the guild. Sleep there tonight. -Grace."

  Sleeping at the guild meant sleeping on rock hard bunk beds, I tried them once, and promised to myself : never again. I knew just where I would spend the night. I just needed a quick trip to the barber.