Bjorn stood before his father, unable to say a word while his own son, Alf, looked from his father to his grandfather with a slack jaw. Friedrich, Marina, and Teleri refused to be the first one to break the silence, wanting to let the long-separated family have their moment.

At last, Bjorn ran around the counter and threw his arms around his father. “I can’t believe you’re here,” he said, his voice straining. “I thought for sure that you had died decades ago.”

“That little faith in me, eh?” chortled Pheston, clapping his son on the back. “Nah, it’ll take a lot more than monsters and time to kill a sturdy old bastard like me, boy.”

The two separated and Bjorn dragged his hand across his face. “I…I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe you’re here. Do the others know?”

“No, you’re the first I’ve seen,” said Pheston, shaking his head. “In fact, it’s for a very good reason that I’ve come to you first, Bjorn. Before all that, however, is this strapping young land my grandson?”

“The first of many,” said Bjorn. “Come on over here, Alf. Introduce yourself to your grandfather properly, eh?”

Alf walked around, his jaw still hanging open. He wasn’t sure how to react and simply held out a hand to shake.

“None of that nonsense,” said Pheston, pulling the young man into a hug. “Good to meet you, boy. You’ve got the family good looks, that’s for sure. You’ll have to beat the ladies away with a poker, no doubt.”

“Thanks?” said Alf as Pheston let him go and gave him a prod in the chest.

“You’ll be a fine blacksmith one day, Alf. Trust me, boy. It’s in your blood.”

“He’s getting there,” said Bjorn proudly. “He needs to learn how to deal with customers properly, but he’s got a good eye for craftsmanship.” Bjorn leaned past his father and looked to the two Mercians and the Alaurian standing behind him.

“Ah, I should explain,” said Pheston, following his son’s eyeline. “I owe a life debt to these three so before I start doing the rounds with your siblings and their mothers, I have an important task to see through. Long story short, I was trapped in Keldracht and, thanks to Friedrich, Marina, and Teleri, I lived to see Corobath once again.”

“A life debt,” said Bjorn, nodding understandingly. “Say no more, father. Whatever I can do to help see it fulfilled, I will do.”

“We can spare some time if you want to catch up,” said Friedrich. “We’ll acquaint ourselves with the city and return here in an hour or so.”

“That would be most appreciated,” said Pheston. “Thank you, Friedrich.”

“Come on,” said the Mercian, leaving the smithy with Marina and Teleri in tow.

The three stepped out into the fresh air of Lundstad and surveyed the misty sight before them. They were on a small road about forty feet above the ground level. It was a marvel of architecture to have built the city into the city, or rather, to have carved large parts of it out of the mountain itself.

There were countless people going about their business, whether that was peddling wares, hauling their carts along, or even the occasional bard singing a song that rang out across the nearby streets. It was a pleasant place to be and it felt as though everyone in the city knew each other, for they all stopped to give at least one greeting in every street they walked.

“Should we sit here and wait?” asked Marina, looking around unsure of where to go.

Teleri pulled her hood up. “Without Pheston accompanying us, I would prefer to remain unseen. The Northmen and the Alauri are not known for getting along.”

“Which nation hasn’t your people been at war with at least once?” asked Friedrich.

“Mercia has warred with every known nation too, Friedrich. Your propagandists simply do a better job of making mine look like the villains.”

“No fighting,” said Marina, pushing her way between the two. “I want to buy a new spell tome, so let’s find a magic shop.”

“Spell tome?” asked Friedrich. “Do you have the kupons for that? We’re not rolling in gems these days, you know.”

Marina winked at him and gave a sly grin. “I have enough, my red-headed friend.”

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“I’m more of an auburn,” said Friedrich, tussling his hair.

“Sure,” shrugged Marina. She walked along the street and Friedrich and Teleri followed her.

They moved from street to alleyway to staircase and all over again, with new sights to see each time. There was a man pleasantly fishing by the base of a waterfall that flowed into the river running through the city. There was a priestess hailing Hvitrald and requesting the god of the dead give safe passage to those who had perished over the past year. There was even a brown-furred wolven lying against the rocks and begging for enough kupons to eat for another day, but the empty bottles of mead that were poorly hidden behind him prevented the trio from sparing a single kupon.

Upon following the directions of an old and rather shifty man, the party eventually reached a shop called Sigurd’s Spells. They walked inside and were immediately hit with the smell of old books mixed with damp that left Marina wrinkling her nose as she walked to the counter.

“Excuse me,” she said to the old scraggly man who was didn’t look up from his book. “Where might I be able to find tomes dedicated to lightning magic?”

The man silently raised a finger and pointed to the bookshelf at the left side of the shop. With a quiet thanks, Marina hurried over and started perusing for a book that would be both useful and affordable.

“Once we have rescued your father, we must take a jobs that will ensure our financial wellbeing,” said Teleri. “You will no longer be putting most of your money aside for a boat, correct?”

“Correct,” said Friedrich, but something else about what Teleri had said caught his attention. “You want to keep travelling together even after I rescue my dad from the tower?”

“Of course,” said the elf, cocking her head to the side. “Considering you are both effectively exiled from your home, I presumed that was the intention. Am I mistaken?”

“No, no,” said Friedrich. “I don’t want to separate from any of you. It’s just nice to know that we’ll remain united after that.”

“What is going to happen to the other nobles?”

“You want to know the great irony?” asked Friedrich with a sigh.

“What is it?”

“At least a few of the nobles are dead already, at least as far as I could discern from my few subtle questions in Akatfall. I don’t think they’ll be making a play for the throne anytime soon, but we’re also still too under threat to risk going home. Our situation is as in limbo now as it will be once my father is free.”

“You will need to find somewhere safe to hide him, yes?”

“Yes. I don’t know where yet, but I reckon it’ll take a lot to convince him to leave Mercia.”

“There are no shortage of places to go in Mercia, Friedrich. You know that as well as I do.”

“Yes, but if I keep on the road with the rest of you, I need the assurance that my father will be safe when I’m away. If word of his escapes reaches the other True King Believers, they have enough wealth and influence to employ the best bounty hunters to track him down. We need to make sure he’s considered dead. If I’m hunted, I can handle it.”

“We will devise a plan,” said Teleri. “When you are in my company, I will ensure that nobody sneaks up on us. My eyes and ears are keener than any human’s.”

“I know,” said Friedrich. “And I appreciate that you care so much.”

Teleri rolled her eyes. “I do not understand the human desire to continually show affection. Is it not enough that it is demonstrated through action and intent?”

“I’m only bringing it up because it bothers you,” chuckled Friedrich. “Nothing’s funnier than seeing you get all riled up.”

“Hmph,” snorted Teleri, looking away with a red face. “The nerve…”

“I found the one I want,” said Marina, returning with a tattered leather-bound tome. “Storm Shield.”

After Marina had finished paying, the trio walked around Lundstad for a while before returning to the smithy where they found three generations of Pheston’s family chortling at a stupid joke Bjorn had told. Not only did the three look similar, but they shared the same juvenile humour.

“You’re back?” asked Pheston, wiping away tears of mirth. “The time flew in.”

“Friedrich,” said Bjorn, standing up and clasping the young man’s hand. “My father explained everything and I promise that we will make our way to the Forge of Ages once you have what you need from the Undercity. Rest assured that I will do everything in my power to help you rescue your father, the same way that you rescued mine.”

“Thank you, Bjorn,” said Friedrich.

Pheston’s son then turned to Marina and Teleri. “And not to diminish the role the pair of you beautiful ladies played,” prompting a frown from Teleri. “I have gifts for all three of you that I will share once we’ve gone over the plan.”

“Ah, the plan,” said Marina, looking to Pheston. “Your father’s famously neglected to give us anything other than his surface level intention. What is the Undercity?”

“You haven’t told them?”

Pheston wriggled back and forth. “In a manner of speaking…well, no. I didn’t want to put them off considering how dangerous it could be.”

“Dangerous?” asked Friedrich. “When have the three of us ever shied away from danger? What do you think we’re going to face at the Orion Tower if not danger?”

“Alright, alright,” shrugged Pheston. “It was never about the danger. I just wanted the perfect moment to capture your faces when I told you what ingredients we needed to source. It would be unfair to deprive my son—and grandson, might I add—of something that will keep my laughing for days.”

“Just tell us what we’re looking for,” said Friedrich, his stomach twisting in knots.

“Well,” said Pheston, standing up and straightening his belt. “This city is built on the ruins of an even older structure that’s since become known as the Undercity. We Corobathians like to take trophies so, what better trophy to take than the home of one of our peoples’ greatest foes.”

“Dragons,” said Friedrich breathlessly.

“Dragons,” said Pheston with a smirk. “Steel yourselves, my friends, for we go on the hunt for dragon bones once we’re kitted up. No time like the present, eh?”

Pheston, Bjorn, and Alf began guffawing loudly upon seeing the looks on Friedrich, Marina, and Teleri’s faces. While Friedrich and Teleri were perturbed and it showed, Marina was aghast to the point of her face being unrecognisable.