“Before we go out, take this.” Andric held out a small class vial and a thin pipette. Inside was a murky brown fluid.

Zoe stared. “What is it?”

“It’s for your eyes. A few drops should mask the redness for a few hours. Lily had me cook it up while you were taking a bath.”

Zoe hesitated and then took the pipette and vial, holding it up in the candlelight.

“Go on,” Lily insisted. “I’ve done it myself before. It’s rather unfortunate, but Andric does know what he’s doing sometimes.”

Zoe licked her lips. It wasn’t some trick to melt her eyeballs out or something, right? Sighing, she leaned her head back and dripped a single drop into her eye. After all, it seemed pretty ridiculous to go through all of this only to trick her into blinding herself.

She blinked on instinct as the fluid splashed over her eye. It wasn’t painful at all, but it was still super weird and uncomfortable. Blinking again, Zoe steeled herself and readied the pipette over her other eye. After repeating the process, she blinked again several times and glanced between her two new companions. “Did it work?”

Lily nodded, and Andric took the vial and pipette back. The two items vanished from his hands, and Zoe arched an eyebrow. He must have a storage device like she had. Or an ability.

“I’m afraid that I’m not sure how much it will mask their luminosity, however,” he said. “It looks fine right now in the light, but a little of the red might shine through under lower light conditions.”

“Well, we’ll get to test that soon enough,” Lily said. “Come on, the Guildsmaster is probably waiting.”

Belatedly, Zoe realized that the alchemist had changed out of his pajamas. Instead, he now wore boots, trousers, a padded vest, and a long, royal blue coat. She frowned. It didn’t look like an outfit that was particularly practical for either fighting or cleaning out a mine, but who was she to judge?

Silently, the three of them filed out of the room and headed down the stairs. The common room was a bit emptier now, though it smelled better. Not because there were fewer people, but because the people who were there appeared to be eating dinner.

A few people looked up at them, their gazes lingering until they met Zoe’s eyes. I hope it’s because I’m new here and not because my disguise isn’t working.

“They’re just curious,” Lily whispered to her as they entered the street, as if reading her mind. “It’s rare to see new people in a tiny nowhere town like this. Especially not bounty hunters.”

“Us clearing out the mines is probably the talk of the whole town,” Andric added loudly, evidently not caring about being overheard. “And you coming up from the Underworld, of course.”

It was even colder now, as the sun had set and the first stars had come out. Warm lights shone through foggy, frosted window panes as they passed. Zoe frowned. They weren’t going back in the same direction as where she had exited.

“I’ve been meaning to ask — why is there a tiny town guarding the entrance to a cultist lair? I don’t get it.”

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“The town is here because of the mine,” Andric explained. “The passage to the Underworld was here first, but travelers to and from the surface soon discovered the mine right next to it.”

Zoe nodded. “That makes sense.” She paused. “Do you think people come through often?”

Lily shrugged. “Probably not, but you never know. I guess you probably don’t know, but the Underworld shifts around a lot. The passages always stay in the same place in the Overworld, but it’s a whole art form of figuring out where they’re going to lead and when.”

“Huh.”

They traveled for a few minutes in silence after that. At first, Zoe studied the town around them, but quickly grew bored of it. It was all the same, and none of it was interesting. So instead, she studied the distant landscape, which was far more beautiful.

And the night sky. She half expected there to be a second moon, or rings, or something like that, but it wasn’t very different from Earth as far as she could tell. The moon was smaller and darker. She didn’t doubt that the stars were different as well, but she wouldn’t be able to tell that. She had never remembered how to even find basic constellations like the big dipper, even though she had taken several astronomy courses.

As she marveled, something caught her eye. One particularly bright star was moving. Not like a shooting star — it was much slower. Passing overhead, it traced a steady, regular arc across the night sky.

“What’s that?” She asked, pointing.

Lily and Andric both looked up, trying to follow her pointing. “The moon?”

“No, that star. It’s moving.”

Her two companions stopped and shared a glance. “Oh, that,” Lily said. “The encircling star.” She paused. “The elders say it appeared in the sky twenty three years ago, just three years before I was born. That was at the same time as our sect was established, and we’ve taken it a sign of our destiny ever since.”

Andric shrugged. “If you want to believe so, that is.” He pointed up at it as it neared the far horizon. “There have been stars that move as far as even the oldest grandmasters can remember. Although, those are much slower, changing course over entire seasons.”

Planets, Zoe thought. The star vanished, and the three resumed their walk. “So which direction is it headed? East?

Andric glanced back. “No, South.” Returning his attention ahead, he continued. “It moves North or South, depending on the season. You’ll see it several times over the course of a night, though it starts more on the East side and drifts West each time.”

“Andric has his theories,” Lily interrupted, “but I’d advise you not to repeat them before the elders. Personally, I don’t really care what it is. It’s a special star and our sect has a claim to it, which is what matters.”

Andric scoffed at that, and Zoe frowned. It obviously wasn’t actually a star, but she wasn’t going to say that. At least not now. She wasn’t sure what to do with her knowledge from Earth yet.

Before long, the buildings began to thin out and then disappeared altogether. The ground began to slope upwards, and Zoe saw that they were headed up a winding, snow packed path towards a small dark cave set in the mountainside.

She shivered. It was way too damn cold.

After a short few minutes which were still way too long, they reached the cave. Lily and Andric stopped. A voice called out to them.

“You’re late.”

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Lily teased as a gruff, older man stepped out from the darkness. He had several scars, gray hair, and wore only an assortment of old furs. Zoe took a moment to analyze him.

{Elementalist (Lightning) - 52}

Holy cats. That was the third highest level she had seen so far, after the cultist chieftain Basil and the paladin. What the hell was he doing here and why did the town need to send for bounty hunters with him around?

“The only reason you’re here at all is because your companion is an alchemist,” he grunted. “I would take him along and do it myself if I could.”

Zoe tilted her head. Why couldn’t he?

“Anyway, I thought there were supposed to be two of you. What’s with the third?”

“She’s a healer,” Lily explained. “We decided not to take chances. And we’re taking the same pay, if you were worried.”

“I wasn’t.” He snorted. “You wouldn’t have gotten more even if you asked nicely.” Turning his back, he walked back into the cave. “Come on. Don’t wanna stand around out here making chitchat any longer.”

Andric trudged forward immediately. Zoe and Lily shared a glance. Lily shrugged, and then she strode forward as well. Zoe sighed.

Why did all of the high level people have to be assholes?