“Intern Amberkirke, Intern Shallowfin, depart immediately. The Eldritch powers of the Usurper’s Agents may be limited due to being so far south from their master, but their cleverness has no such weakness. Go,” said Yellow.

Kenneth Shallowfin has joined the party!

“Understood!” Elenore nodded, holstering her weapon in the space between her back and the rucksack she carried Caster in. She turned and strode out of the door behind Keith. As they did, Keith spoke.

“Keep the top flap over your head Minion. If anyone sees you, they’ll start asking questions. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”

“Not trying to draw attention? You look like how the word powerthirst sounds,” said Caster, flipping Elenore’s rucksack top flap over his head. Although there was only a thin line of light that crept into the rucksack, Caster could see-through just enough to see Keith shaking his head in frustration.

The clanging of Elenore’s boots resonated as they ran through the sparkly decorated halls of The Agency Headquarters. The building was built for functionality over décor. It felt like more of a concrete coffin or a sprawling tomb rather than some sacred gathering point for an important organization.

Soon enough, they reached another door. Elenore swung it open, and they stepped out of the headquarters. Keith quickly turned and locked the door with one of the many keys on his comically large key ring.

Caster looked around, pushing the flap of the rucksack open with his tiny mitten hand, he tried to soak in as much of his surroundings as he could.

Mainhelm, East Market

The sun was setting, and the sky’s amber rays were turning violet as they continued their journey through the city streets. From all-around men, women and children walked. Some carrying various workers' tools, others with sacks full of all kinds of supplies. The city was winding down for the day, and night would be upon them within the hour.

"The fishermen's stalls at the harbor should still be open. We can buy what we need just before we board the vessel to New R'lyeh," Keith said in his monotone way.

They began to jog down the winding city streets. Elenore's weapon was dull, but it felt far from comfortable having it rock back and forth on Caster's back.

Soon enough, after passing hundreds of city workers their pace slowed and the sounds of leather footsteps and wheelbarrows were replaced with waves silently crashing against a nearby shoreline. The scent of salt filled the air, and the caws of tiring culls came from the distance. Instead of townhouses, they were crossing market stalls. What few weren’t already closed, were currently in the process of locking up. Caster noticed that Elenore had made a slight turn and came to a stop at one of them.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Elenore began to speak.

"Howdy!" She huffed, trying to catch her breath. "Sorry to bother you so late, but do y'all sell any of those boxed meal preservers?" She asked.

“Sure do. You’re lucky that you caught us just before closing. What can I get ya?”

“Just a Meal Square, if you would.”

“That’ll be 3 coppers. Mike, bring out a Meal Square!” The shopkeeper shouted back to whoever was inside his small stall. Elenore dug into her pockets. The sound of jingling copper coins rose as they were exchanged. “Say, you work for The Agency, right? What happened during the match tonight? Ended before the fight even began, they said the spell was acting up or something. I had 5 silvers riding on Cairngowan to cut that prissy Boyerton lad to pieces.”

“Oh, well err, I’m just an intern. We’re kinda like mushrooms.” Elenore answered, but her sentence was completed by a teen boy who came out from the stall with a lighter-colored wooden box in his hands.

“They keep you in the dark and feed you shit?”

“Yuuup. Thank you kindly!” Elenore nodded, taking the box. The fishermen nodded and carried on with closing their stall.

Elenore opened the flap to her rucksack. Caster ducked as low as he could, hoping no one in the emptying marketplace saw him.

"Sorry bud, try leaning it up against the side, you'll get more room." She whispered back to him and closed the flap as she lowered the wooden box down. It reeked of seafood.

Caster grabbed onto the box that she handed back to him. As she said, it fit squarely against the wall of her bag, giving him a small barrier between himself and her weapon.

They turned away from the stall, and carried onward again, once again walking toward the sounds of the sea.

“Good evening gentlemen,” Elenore spoke again. “Could we get a ride to New R’lyeh?”

Caster peeked around the side of the rucksack to see who she was speaking to. It was a pair of soldiers. Though the sun had already set, the sparse torches lit throughout the stone harbor gave off enough light for Caster to roughly make out what they wore. Their armor was made of black and crimson with golden lining. Each held a spear upright and had a bow and quiver on their backs.

“Miss, travel to New R’lyeh is strictly forbidden. The Dagonians are not exactly the most reasonable folk.” One of the guards replied.

“We’re from The Agency,” Keith held up a palm-sized object, it shone like a flattened gold coin.

“Oh. Very well! Private Aims, you’ve got this.” The guard speaking turned to face his partner.

“I hate you.” He seethed. “How many will be going?” The second guard sighed.

“Just the two of us,” answered Elenore.

“Very well, follow me. We’ll be taking a Dart-Class to get there within the hour.” The guard turned, heading for a gangplank that lead to a small vessel, bobbing in the waters.

All they had to do to get a ride from the military was flash their member's badge to these soldiers? Wow. I guess The Agency really is a big deal.

Clever - Knowledge is Power, Activated! Arcane Level Increased! +1