“These souls have been returned,” the raventaur witchdoctor said from behind her wicker desk.

It was a relief to finally have that done. There was heavy pressure to having five souls depending on my survival. Had I died in some idiotic fashion, I’d have cost my friends another true death. But now they were safe—likely waking up in a warm bed at an inn in Firemane’s Run.

I turned away after thanking the witchdoctor and pushed my way through the crowded aisles of her shop while headed to the door. A warm tavern bed sounded nice about now. There wasn’t much time to rest considering Kaloriann’s encroachment, but we deserved at least a short break after what we’d been through.

I opened the door to find Hendrix, Nikk, Max, Wolfgang, and, to a lesser amount of joy, Manalolz. They stood in a loose semi-circle, each bearing the same perplexed look of one ripped from sleep.

The bard grunted as I charged him with a bear hug. “Are you gonna do this every time?” The rest of the party laughed, save for Manalolz. Scallion and Buttons ran at me. The white tiger pushed her head against my lap as the green wolf spun in excited circles. I exchanged a nod with Max and shook Wolfgang’s hand.

My eyes met with the healer’s. Silence. We stared into each other’s souls and never said a word. Our eyes spoke more clearly than our tongues ever could.

“How did you do it?” Wolfgang asked. “Once I realized my health was plummeting, I thought we were done for. That monster was still hanging on to about a third of its health.”

I was about to recount the tale, but Hendrix spoke first. “Tell us on the way to the Sun-Touched’s palace. We’ve got rewards to claim.”

* * *

The group was silent at the end of my story. I left no detail behind. My recounting started from the moment Wolfgang died. I mentioned my loss of temper and how I buried Manalolz in stone, the strange area behind the boulder perch that forced Mongrim to switch directions, and Brinson finishing the job for us with a deadly arrow. I told them of Mongrim and Brinson’s fight and how Brinson asked for forgiveness before showing me the way out.

“You really are heartless, Manalolz,” Wolfgang said.

“Me?” Manalolz raised his voice. “Were you not listening? I was the one who had a rockcicle dropped on his head.”

“You deserved every pebble,” Wolfgang said.

“It’s fine,” I said. “We’ll never have to deal with each other again. There’s no use wasting any more energy on it.”

“You’re damn right we won’t be dealing with each other,” Manalolz said. “Not only will I be avoiding you guys until the end of time, but I’m also making sure every other healer knows to keep their distance, too. Nobody is going to join your pathetic guild.”

“You really think you have that much influence?” Wolfgang forced a laugh.

“You’re one to talk…” Manalolz said.

We reached the Sun-Touched’s palace and were let in without question as if the guards already knew what we’d accomplished. The Sun-Touched himself slouched on the golden perch. The roof was closed, blanketing the room in darkness. A few of the other perches were vacant, but most were topped by a sorrowful raventaur guard.

“It is done, then,” Sun-Touched said. “Brinson is dead. It comforts me that my brother was seemingly able to see the error of his ways in his final moments.”

“How does he already know what happened?” I asked.

Hendrix shrugged.

“Alas, I see that Koray and his scout shave not returned with you,” Sun-Touched said. “Most great deeds carry a greater cost, I suppose. Their deaths will not be in vain. We will make sure of that.”

The raventaur guards spread their wings and cooed a soft chant. They sounded more like doves than mighty raventaur.

“I would ask one more favor of you, adventurers,” Sun-Touched said. He produced a dagger from somewhere within his black feathers. “This belonged to Brinson. It was his weapon of choice when we were both boys. He used it to protect Dark-Talon. Take it to the Rocky Highlands and place it at the Dark-Talon shrine atop the Ancient Wing Plateau. Do this so that my brother’s spirit may rest in peace.”

A euphoric sensation engulfed me from head to toe as massive golden ‘tens’ floated above each party-member other than Wolfgang. We were a quarter of the way there.

Manalolz left the room without saying a word.

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“God, I hate that guy,” Hendrix said, watching the healer as he departed. “Him and his pink robe can get lost.”

That reminded me. “I got this for you.” I handed the purple vest to the bard.

He unfolded it, studied it, and grinned. He pulled it on as fast as he could. It matched his hat and pants perfectly. When I’d first met Hendrix, he’d been a suspicious-looking bard with tattered rags and a purple hat. Now he resembled a proper gentleman, garbed in fine attire from head to toe. His wool-wrapped feet caught my eye. Fine attire from head to ankles, then, but it was a massive improvement nonetheless.

“Thanks, buddy,” Hendrix said. “Recruiting guild members might be a bit easier now that I don’t look like a copper-starved beggar.”

“Level ten,” Wolfgang put an arm around my shoulder and escorted me outside. I looked back to see if the Sun-Touched had anything else to add, but he and his guards seemed almost frozen in their grief. “Congratulations, Billington. You should have the magnetism ability now. This is when gadgeteers start coming into their own.”

“You should know by now that I’ll be asking you what magnetism is,” I said.

He smirked. “I’ll let you learn that one on your own. Trust me. I know you feel like you should have everything explained to you to avoid as many mistakes as possible, but to be honest, being new to all this is the most enjoyable part. I’d give anything to go back to the start of my adventure and view this world through the eyes of a newcomer again. Enjoy it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

He nodded and halted. “I’m off. Come and get me when you reach the next dungeon. That should be in Snagroot Jungle…” His voice trailed off, and he stared into the horizon with wide eyes.

“Wolfgang?”

The tank shook his head free of whatever thoughts had implanted themselves there. “I’ll see you all again in Snagroot. I’ve uh… I’ve got some reading to do in the meantime.” He turned and fled in the same direction Manalolz had gone, leaving the four of us behind in front of the Sun-Touched’s palace.

Nikk crouched before Scallion and fed a suspicious slab of meat to the green wolf. Max concentrated on an arrow pinched between his thumb and finger. His brows furrowed, and the tip of the arrow ignited in blue flame.

“Whoa,” Hendrix said. “Is that your level ten ability?”

“Indeed,” Max said. The blue flame extinguished, and he reached over his shoulder to drop the arrow back in its quiver. The elf smirked. “That will come in handy, eh lads?”

“Will it ever…” Hendrix stared at the elf’s quiver in awe.

“It was a pleasure meeting the both of you,” I said. “I don’t think we could have gotten through Dark-Talon without you.”

“Pleasure is ours,” Nikk gurgled, still facing his wolf.

Hendrix and I exchanged a wordless glance. I wasn’t sure if the bard was thinking the same thing I was, but I had a good feeling he might’ve been. “How would the two of you like to join our guild?”

Nikk and Max froze at the offer. They exchanged looks of their own and pondered in silence. Max spoke first. “There is no question that we value your company, and traveling in a group of four is undoubtedly more beneficial than traveling as a pair. However, I fear it would be dishonest of us to accept your offer.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Nikk and I have no interest in running off to faraway lands to rescue the princess and save the royal family,” Max said. “Nor are we in any real hurry to do battle with the Dark Lady.”

“What are you guys doing out here fighting gnolls, then?” Hendrix asked.

“We are on our way to Ambertop,” Max said, “the homeland of the elves. Our goal is to build a home there and live off the land.”

“That explains why you’re an architect, and Nikk is a carpenter,” Hendrix said.

“Correct,” Nikk gurgled.

“Tag along with us until Ambertop,” I said.

Max counted something on his slender fingers. “I suppose that would be mutually beneficial. We have the Rocky Highlands, Snagroot, and Cold Beach left to conquer before we arrive home. The only thing I fear is a goodbye made more difficult by more time spent together.”

“If your only fear is the growth of a friendship, I think the matter is settled,” I said.

A sly smile stretched over Max’s broad chin. “Settled, indeed. Come to think of it, I have one more stipulation. Next time we pug a healer, the bard does not have complete authority to choose said healer.”

I laughed.

“I’ll be the first to agree to that,” Hendrix said.

“Great,” Max said. “I propose we take a few days to rest and to take care of a few errands. We can all meet at the entrance to the Rocky Highlands in, let’s say… three days.”

“Sounds good to me,” I shook the elf’s hand. “Welcome to the Keepers of the Book.”

Max’s eyes narrowed for a moment. He nodded and turned away. Nikk and the pets followed him, and they made their way out of town.

I collapsed onto a nearby bench the moment they were out of sight. Everything I’d gone through was just the first ten levels of my adventure, and there were still thirty more to go before I reached forty.

Hendrix left for a stroll and stopped beside a large bulletin board and read the various posts. I exhaled a long, exaggerated breath. What could possibly happen in the next thirty levels? From what I understood, it only became more difficult as time went on. Hitting forty wasn’t the end either. In fact, it might’ve been just the beginning. The Dark Lady was out there. Her eyes were set on Goldmill and my family. There was no way I would let her mists encroach and further snuff out the light of our world. I was still just a dwarf with a wrench, but after everything I’d gone through, I now not only felt that I could make a difference, I knew that I could.

“Hey, Billy,” Hendrix said. “You might wanna see this.”

I left the bench and joined him at the bulletin board. He pointed to the largest piece of parchment. The pointing was unnecessary as the particular sheet caught the eye before anything else on the board.

“The answers we’ve all been seeking for years have finally been found,” the parchment read. “Alas, they are being held hostage by a greedy, selfish dwarf. He refuses to share. He wants the glory for himself. The name of his guild confirms it: Keepers of the Book. Billington, the gadgeteer, is the enemy of the people.”

“That’s not good,” I said. A hot wave of shame and fear flowed through my veins. I’d just taken my first step into the world, and I’d somehow already managed to turn it against me. “How does that damn healer know about the book? Did you tell him?”

“Manalolz didn’t write this,” Hendrix pointed to the bottom right of the post. A wilted rose was stamped in black ink.

“Champions of Velour?”

Hendrix nodded. “We’ve got five members, and we’ve just been declared war on by the world’s strongest guild.”

“What do we do?”

Hendrix plucked a string and tuned the note until it was perfect. “We level up, and we win the war, of course.”

The End