Leonidas was making a stew as Jeanne, Hypatia and Silvius were sitting comfortably by the fire. He lifted a spoon with some of the brew and sipped it gingerly. “Hmm,” he said as the herbs delighted his tongue.

“Almost ready,” he said to the others before moving to grab a couple bottles of wine.

“It’s sort of nice to relax by a fire and not be in the middle of a large crowd at an inn,” said Silvius.

“The murmur can be nice for ambiance,” said Hypatia, “but I agree with you entirely.”

“I do enjoy a nice brawl once in a while,” said Jeanne, laying on her back, her hands behind her head and one leg crossed over the other.

“You start one here, and I will turn you into a newt,” said Leonidas.

“You’ll have to kill me first,” said Jeanne.

“You would say that,” Leonidas replied.

Jeanne mockingly imitated the doctor before he threw a dish towel at her.

“How rude,” said replied, rolling it up and placing it under her head.

There was a knock at the door with Leonidas moving towards it, “I’ll get it,” he said to the others. He reached the door and saw Cid and the rest on the other side.

“Oh good, dinner is almost ready, come inside,” Leonidas said, waving them into his home.

“So how did your day go?” Leonidas asked them.

“Well, most of our previous contracts had already been turned in,” said Cid. “So that means we’re going to be waiting for the next wave of ne’er do wells to have a price on their head.”

“I mean in the city like this, that shouldn’t be a long wait,” said Jeanne.

“I didn’t say it would be. But we also will want to see which ones might help ingratiate us into the Council’s eye.”

“And in the meantime, we can get look for leyline maps from the archives,” said Hypatia, “That’s going to take more than a day or two to find all the ones we’ll need.”

“Good,” said Cid, “That’ll give us some idea what Belthory might’ve been doing in the fortress.”

“I don’t remember hearing from the stories that she was well-trained in the magical arts,” said Kveldulf.

“I don’t think she was,” said Silvius, “She was more of the political force for her husband’s reign while he attended to learning magics few dared to tread.”

“But why would she turn herself into such a monster like that?” Maeryn asked.

“Power has a very blinding affliction on the mind,” said Jeanne.

“Added with unhealthy doses of apathy and hubris, it can lead a person to become a creature surpassing the monstrosities written in ancient myths,” said Kveldulf.

“And those serving her?” asked Benkin.

“The desire to have some of that power for themselves, or for at least to protect themselves from a tyrant’s wrath, a little of both?” said Leonidas as he began grabbing mugs from a cupboard.

“Hmm,” Cid growled as he rubbed his eyes. “I’m starting to think we might’ve bitten off more than we could chew.”

“I believe that is a sentiment we’re all sharing,” said Leonidas, placing mugs on the table before grabbing four large bottles of ale.

“I thought we were supposed to be a simple lancer company,” said Kveldulf.

“That’s what I was told,” said Jeanne, “but I think our brave leader has hoodwinked us.”

“Hey, I was hoodwinked, too,” said Cid, grabbing a mug of ale as Leonidas poured him a drink.

“To be fair,” said Silvius, “If we didn’t have you to help us out, we may not have come out of those ruins as well as we did. No offense Ben and Maeryn.”

Benkin shook his head. “Oh no, I didn’t want to deal with that snake woman all by my lonesome.”

“That would’ve been a hard one to do with just us,” followed Maeryn.

“Though that does kind of bring up another question,” said Kveldulf, “What are we doing when we’re down with whatever the hell is going on here?”

“Well,” said Cid turning to Ben, Sianna, Hypatia and Silvius, “if you want, you’re more than welcomed to be a part of our company.”

“Oh right!” Maeryn exclaimed, “The Wolves!”

“The what?” Leonidas asked.

“Oh yes,” said Cid, “That was the name I told the Council. I … might’ve panicked a bit there.”

There was a short pause between everyone.

“I like The Wolves,” said Hypatia.

“Sounds quite epic,” said Leonidas.

“Aye, I thought that was the name you picked from the beginning,” said Benkin.

“You would’ve thought that,” said Kveldulf, “But we didn’t get that far into the process things kind of escalated.”

“That seems to be our lot in life,” said Jeanne.

“Only when you’re involved,” said Leonidas, handing out bowls to everyone and ladling out stew for supper.

“Yeah, I’m the bad luck charm!”

“You saw that, Cid, she admits it.”

“Oh gods, I have two of you now,” said Cid as he sunk his head into his hands.

“Perhaps we could do a recruitment drive,” said Silvius.

“One problem at a time, Silvius,” said Cid, “My sanity can only take so much at once.”

“I might have a tonic for that,” said Leonidas.

“Please stop talking,” said Cid.

“So …,” said Kveldulf lifting his mug, “The Wolves?”

“The Wolves,” said Hypatia, lifting her mug.

“The Wolves,” said Benkin and Silvius, together.

“The Wolves,” Cid, Jeanne, Maeryn and Leonidas said, together.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“The Wolves!” they all said together with pride, before giving a martial cheer.

As the cheering calmed, there was a tapping on the door.

“I’m not the only one who heard that, right?” Kveldulf asked.

“If you did, my earing is falling terribly,” said Maeryn.

A second series of knocks struck the door, Leonidas rose from his seat and moved downstairs. “Hey, Cid,” he called out from the first floor.

“Yeah?”

“There’s someone here to see you.”

“Oh gods,” said Cid, “What did I do this time?”

“What it is, I want nothing to do with it,” said Jeanne.

As Leonidas came back upstairs, he was followed by the official Kveldulf met at the docks and a figure towering over the two. They were equal in Benkin in height, and dressed in full plate armor.

“Oh!” the official said to Kveldulf, “So good to see you again.”

“You as well,” said Kveldulf.

“I hope my friend here hasn’t caused any trouble,” said Cid.

“Far from it,” said the official, “In fact I might have something of use to your efforts.”

“Perhaps we could know who we are working with, before we get into any business dealings.”

“But of course,” the official said with a chuckle, giving a courtly bow. “My name is Conall Crowe, and this is my guard, though you need not worry about their name.”

“My name is Cid,” Cid then introduced the others before turning back to Conall, “Now what is it we might be able to do for you?”

“Well,” said Conall, “I was given word someone with high influence in the city had something of theirs stolen by some rather unsavory characters. And they would very much like to have their property returned to them.”

“What type of item are we taking about here?” asked Kveldulf.

“Hmm?” Conall hummed curiously.

“Is this an heirloom, does it have magical qualities, does it have dangerous magical properties?”

“It is a necklace with a pendant and ring hanging from it. I take it this isn’t your first foray, is it?” Conall asked him.

“Not mine, but I don’t know about the rest,” Kveldulf replied.

“I like to think I’m somewhat aware of these things,” said Silvius.

“Sil, you thought sharks would attack you in a pool,” said Hypatia.

“I was five, I was an idiot, and you swore never to bring that up.”

“Oh, is it, story time?” Jeanne exclaimed with delight, “Doc fucked a spider-lady.”

Everyone turned to Leonidas, including Conall, wide-eyed.

Leonidas looked at the others, then to Jeanne. “You just had to tell them, didn’t you?”

“That wasn’t a denial,” she said innocently.

“You fornicated with a spider-woman?” Silvius said, his hand on his mouth.

“If you had met her, you would not be judging me,” Leonidas replied.

“And on that, I think we should get this conversation back to its original purpose,” said Cid, “If not to save all our dinner from making a return trip.”

“Yes,” Conall said slowly, great concern writing all over his face, “In any case, we’d like to hire your services in getting this artifact back from these thieves.”

“And do you know where we’ll need to go to find this artifact?”

“Oh yes, the isle of Victual,” Conall replied.

“Ah, the central hub for all pirate,” Kveldulf said, letting out a heavy groan.

Jeanne’s head perked up, and exclaimed, “Pirates!”

“Oh gods, no,” Cid said, his head resting on the table and wrapping his hands over.

“Argh, matey,” said Jeanne, leapt onto the table, pretending to hold a sword in hand. “We be sailing the seas for gold and fame.”

“Get off my table!” Leonidas demanded.

“You make you filthy landlubber,” Jeanne replied., closing one eye tightly playfully sneering at the doctor.

Leonidas tried pulling Jeanne off the table, eventually causing both of them to fall over. Jeanne called out, “Help I’m being dragged into the depths of the dark sea!”

“Stop thrashing for gods’ sake,” said Leonidas, trying to wrestle her off of him.

“Never!”

Cid, watching this unfold with a look of growing concern, turned back to Conall slowly. “Another question,” he asked, trying to ignore the scuffle nearby, “if we are able to acquire the item and get it back to your associate, would this help gain an audience with Lady Alliana?”

Conall pondered the question for a moment. “If you get this artifact, you will more than wake waves to catch her attention.”

***

Kveldulf stood outside of Leonidas’s house, watching the stars. He could hear the occasional call out in the distance. In one of the nearby taverns there were the sounds of singing and indistinguishable chatter. The faint smell of food and drink touched his nose as he tried to steady his thoughts.

“You seem to be troubled, my friend,” he heard Cid say to him, gently closing the door behind them.

“Yeah, just had a lot of my mind.”

“Is it about Allania?”

“She’s a part of it, yes.”

“And well else is troubling you?”

“For five hundred years, my family has been synonymous with everything a person should not be. I must hide who I am in order to keep people from knowing who I belong to. And now that I have the chance to finally start changing that … I am starting to feel every inclination to run and find some refuge in a hole.”

“I won’t lie in trying to imagine what you must be feeling. Even with my own trials and tribulations, I have had to go to such effort just to find some semblance of peace. And a person of your quality should be forced to endure the punishment of generations long past,” Cid put his hand on Kveldulf’s shoulder. “Whatever it is I can do to help you in this, I’ll be there.”

“Thanks Cid,” said Kveldulf, “That means a lot.”

“Anytime, my friend.”

“So, what do you think of The Council.”

“Not much, if I’m being honest.”

“Do you think they’re working with Calanband’s supporters?”

“That I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were,” Cid looked up at the night sky, letting out a long whistle. “The night is gorgeous tonight.”

“It is,” Kveldulf said solemnly.

“You miss them, don’t you?” Cid asked. “Your parents.”

Kveldulf nodded. “Yeah,” he said with some reluctance, “They used to tell stories of what created the stars by the sparks made from divine forges. Or other tales from my kin’s past:

Here I ask from the holy races,

Of Guardian’s kin, high and low;

Of the All-Father who I call kin,

The legends of so long ago.”

“I forgot how much you enjoyed poetry,” said Cid.

“Blame my parents, they always a warrior who well-versed in art was better versed in war.”

“They weren’t wrong,” said Cid, pulling out a pipe, stuff it with weed and lighting a match with the heel of his foot. He took a long draw from his pipe and let out a long puff of smoke. Rolling a stone back and forth with his foot.

“You seem to be mulling a few thoughts,” said Kveldulf.

“A few.”

“Any in particular?”

“Part of me wonders if coming here was such a good idea.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Kel, the idea was to do few small bounties, start making a name for ourselves, and maybe getting hired for protecting a lord who wanted more than to collect coffers and honors behind tall walls and unmovable walls. I was expecting to ride head first into the machinations of monsters, wizards, and political intrigues which I care not.”

“And here I was thinking you wanted to earn glory and fame for you and your house?”

“I have not yearned to give my house such fame in many a year, good friend.”

“Then I can imagine interacting with the betters of this city is not your cup of tea.”

“No, but it is a taste I’ve come to tolerate, if only for necessity.”

“You do it better than I.”

“Exceptionally true, you look as if you’d prefer to take your sword to such betters at times.”

“Am I that obvious?”

“And then some.”

“I guess I should probably learn to tailor my thoughts for such things.”

“It would give me a little more peace of mind.”

Kveldulf growled as he turned his eyes upward.

“I know it is asking a lot, I truly do. But if you want to help your family regain any of the honor its lost, you cannot antagonize those who hold the key to the door.”

“I do hate it when you’re right.”

“I’m always a fan either, if that’s any consolation.”

“What do think of this new contract?”

“I don’t know,” Cid said, snarling out of the corner of his mouth, “and that’s what worries me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Usually in these situations, I am able to sniff out a trap or something to that liking. But this time I can’t tell whether this is a sincere thing or if we’re being set up for something we cannot get out of. And that does not sit well with me at all.”

“The method of our solicitation didn’t help.”

“No, no it did not.”

“So, what do you want to do?”

“As much as I would love to turn down this offer. With everything else going on, we might be the only people capable of getting a word in to someone who desperately needs to know.”

Kveldulf nodded, staying silent.

“I know it is not what you’d want to hear.”

“No,” Kveldulf said, “but I may finally seek an answer I’ve been wanting to find for so long.”

“Then let us find the answers together, and bring to light something which has long been cloaked in night.”

“Where ever you lead, you know I’ll follow.”

“I know, that’s why I’m glad you and Jeanne are with me. It makes the burden less so on my shoulders.”

“Well, I guess we should get some rest before we do this.”

“Yes, it would be good idea before we embark on this little excursion,” Cid said as he put out his pipe and gingerly opened the door and he and Kel made their way back into the house.