''So, let me get this straight.'' Elain asked quietly, sneaking a peak around the corner of a building, ''The stone talked to you, and told you to hide in the shadows?''.

''Yep.'' Eric said, pressing his body against the alleyway wall. After his miraculous escape from the guards, he had stepped out of the shadows, and had, according to Elain, ''Appeared out of nowhere.''. She had helped him up and over the wall, and they had continued their escape.

''Tell me what you saw happen again?'' Eric asked.

Elain nodded, still peering around the corner. ''You kind of just stepped into the shadows at the base of the wall and vanished. There really isn't much to say. It was instantaneous. And than the guards came, I hid, they left, and you reappeared out of the shadows. All clear, by the way.'' With those words she turned the corner, gesturing at Eric to follow, which he did.

''Right,'' Eric said, ''So what do you think happened?''

Elain shrugged. ''Well, from what you told me, it appears this stone is sentient. It probably used it's abilities to help hide you from the guards, because it wanted to preserve itself as well, and assumed that staying on you was a preferrable option to being confisticated by the guards.''

As she spoke, Eric thought he could hear a faint chuckle in his mind. ''This one is smart. I like her''

He yelped, clutching his head. Elain turned her head. ''What's wrong?'' She asked, and Eric thought he could hear a note of concern in her voice.

''Voice spoke again.'' Eric said, now rubbing his head, ''Damn, that feels weird. Like I'm getting brain freeze or something.''

''Really?'' Elain rasied an eyebrow, ''What did it say?''

''Uh....'' Eric frowned. ''Something about how you're smart. And it likes you.''

''Huh.'' Elain said, her mouth curving into a frown as well, ''That's....annoying. So it can hear us. Try talking to it?''

Eric nodded. ''Hello?'' he asked, bringing the stone up to his mouth as he spoke.

Nothing happened. ''No voices.'' He reported to Elain. She nodded. ''Guess it prefers to talk when it wants to. Well, whatever, we can discuss this more later. Come on, let's head back to the hideout.''

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After several more long minutes of hiding in alleyways and blending in with whatever crowds they could find, Eric and Elain finally found themselves in the slums again. Eric never thought he'd be more happy to see rundown buildings in his life.

It was only than that a question that had been nagging at him for awhile now popped up.

''Hey, didn't you say that Talfryn, Siana and you were small time criminals?''.

Elain nodded. ''What about it?''

''Than why were some random members of the city guard able to instantly recognize you? Doesn't make a lot of sense, since you guys aren't major criminals.'' Eric pointed out.

Elain nodded again. ''In most cases, yeah, they wouldn't be able to recognize us, but the Carnasca City Guard have access to powerful mages. One of their spells essentially creates a mental network, which allows for multiple members to share information between each other. In this case, the faces and names of every criminal believe to live in the city is implanted onto this network. Because of this, everytime a city guard spots a criminal, the network activates, and notifies them that they're looking at a criminal.'' She explained.

''Wow,'' Eric said, ''That sounds....creepy? Or just plain weird.''

Elain nodded in agreement. ''Additionally, since you were seen with me, they've probably put your face onto the mental network as well, assuming they got a good enough look at you. Which they might not have, so hope you're lucky.''

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''Wonderful.'' Eric sighed, ''I suppose the best part of today is that we managed to escape with the groceries. Or atleast one bag.'' he held up a single brown bag of food.

Elain frowned. ''What happened to the other one?''

''Dropped it somewhere during the chase. Honestly, I was panicking hard enough that I didn't notice until only a few minutes ago.''

''Great,'' Elain sighed, ''Just great.''

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''Oh! You're back!'' Talfryn said, stepping out into the entrance hall with a smile, as Elain and Eric entered the house, shutting the door behind them. He looked them up and down, taking in their dirty appearance, the smile fading. ''What happened?''

Elain sighed. '"The city guard. That's what happened.''

Talfryn grimaced. ''You serious? Dangit. Did they get a good look at Eric?''

''Not sure, don't think so. We were running the whole time. Why, is it a problem?'' Elain asked, slumping against the wall.

Talfryn nodded. ''Somewhat, yes. But if they didn't get a good enough view of his face to put him on their mental watchlist, we should be fine. Anyways, this shouldn't affect tonight's plans by a major margin. Anything else happen that I should know about?''

Eric took the opportunity to speak up. ''Yep. Some old lady gave me this talking stone.''

Talfryn raised an eyebrow. ''Come again?''.

Eric proceeded to give Talfryn a brief explanation of his experience. Talfryn listened attentively, not commenting once. As Eric finished, Talfryn sighed.

''I see. Well, again, it shouldn't impact what happens tonight. Keep the stone on you, though. From what you've told me, it seems to be quite the useful item.''

''Sure.'' Eric nodded. ''Right, now that that's all settled, why don't you tell us what this plan actually is, Talfryn?'' Elain asked.

Talfryn nodded. ''Sure. Let's go to the living room, Siana's waiting for you guys there.''

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The living room hadn't changed much, with the exception that Siana was still sitting on the couch. Like always, she was clad entirly in her armour, right down to her helmet. Eric was seriously starting to wonder if she slept in it. She didn't even glance up as Eric, Elain and Talfryn entered.

Talfryn took a seat on the couch as well, leaving Elain and Eric to take seats at the two chairs.

Talfryn took a deep breath, before he began speaking. ''Alright, allow me to explain just what exactly we're going to be doing tonight. As you all know, I've been thinking of trying out some....unscrupulous activites, in order to make some gold. The first stage of those plans commences tonight.''

Elain rolled her eyes. ''Enough with the theatrics, Talfryn. Just get to the point.''

Talfryn grinned good-naturedly. ''Alright, alright, I'll get to the point. I've been reaching out into the criminal underworld, here in Carnasca, and I've found a place we can start. There is a certain individual in this city, goes by the name of Brion Patterson. He runs a small pawnshop in the Shopping District, but he's also involved in the black market trade as well. He's rather small time, as criminals go, but he's big enough to be making a decent amount of money out of his buisness.''

''And what are we going to do?'' Elain asked curiously, ''Rob him?''

Talfryn laughed. "Far from it. We're going to offer our services to him.''

''Wait, what?'' Elain asked, her eyebrows shooting up, ''You mean we're going to sell our team out to him as what? Bodyguards?''

''Bodyguards, mercenaries, people he can use for dirty work, that sort of thing. I looked a bit into Brion. He keeps his buisness as small as possible, largely because he's too afraid to expand, since he's the only one currently running the buisness. I believe that with our services, he may be more inclined to expand his enterprise.''

''Right...'' Elain nodded, ''I think I see what you're getting at.''

''But how exactly do you plan to get in contact with him?'' Eric spoke up, ''Are we going to his shop?''

Talfryn shook his head. ''We are not. I've been asking around, and I've found where Brion is going to be tonight. There's a fight club, held near the docks every week night. Brion attends there quite frequently. We should be able to go there tonight to meet with him.''

''Gotcha.'' Eric said nervously, ''But what if Brion refuses your deal?''

Talfryn smiled mysteriously. ''He won't, trust me. I've taken precautions to ensure that he will accept our deal.''

''Right...'' Eric said, deciding to not press Talfryn on what these 'precautions' were. ''So whose going?''

Talfryn spread his arms. ''Why, all of us.''

Eric's eyes widened. ''Wait, me too?''

Siana finally spoke from her spot in the corner. ''Absolutley not. He has no combat experience. He'll be a liability, at best.'' She folded her arms.

Eric nodded in agreement. ''In most cases I'd be insulted, but I do agree with her here.'' He told Talfryn.

Talfryn smiled easily. ''Doesn't matter. We won't need you to fight. Besides, that magic stone of yours might be some help, who knows? And if tonight goes the way I expect, we'll need all the help we can.'' The last part was clearly addressed at Siana as well. Eric couldn't tell what her reaction was, since she didn't move at all.

''Well? Any more questions?'' Talfryn asked.

''One more,'' Elain spoke up, ''What should we bring with us?''

''All your equipment. Including your robe.'' Talfryn said. Elain's eyebrows went up. ''Seriously?'' she asked. ''Seriously.'' Talfryn said. Elain nodded. ''Alright.''

''Good. Anything else?'' Talfryn asked, glancing around at everyone in the room. When no one responded, he rose from his spot on the couch. ''Alright than. We leave in an hour. Everyone, get ready.''