Having given me her name Ael quickly realized that she had none to call me, so after we’d talked for a while she grandly declared she would allow me to borrow the name of one of her honored ancestors. She had been queen in an age long past, revered as a great witch who studied the magical language of the Stormqueens, which she named Nemoian for their goddess, Nemoi.

“It’s unthinkable that a personal friend to the Stormqueen and a warrior able to match me in a duel could have no name to give. Henceforth I shall permit you to call yourself Safkhet with pride,” she spoke with all the gravitas of a royal declaration, which I suppose it was.

“Thanks, Ael,” I said uncertainly. “Uh, but what did you mean when you said borrow? I can’t exactly give a name back.”

“The name belongs by rights to the Stormqueen line – you may use it as long as you do not sully it, but you cannot bequeath it to your heirs.”

I could understand that in a way. It actually made the ‘gift’ seem more meaningful. Of course that also made it impossible for me to turn it down without hurting Ael’s feelings.

So now I was called Safkhet. Saf for short. It felt odd being ‘lent’ a female name but trying to use a male one would have drawn more attention and embarrassing questions. On the bright side, I liked the sound of ‘Safkhet’ a lot.

It was hard to imagine I’d live up to the legacy of the original Safkhet, but Ael seemed to think I was a magical prodigy and I didn’t like to disabuse her of the misapprehension. I hoped I would be able to learn, but if not I could still impress with my physical abilities.

Ael had also promised me some proper clothing once we returned to her people, but eager as I was for that, her injuries meant that we couldn’t go anywhere that afternoon. In the meantime the harpy queen gave me a second gift, a handful of huge green and blue feathers that she’d lost during our fight.

After a few false starts and a lot of back-seat driving from Ael, whose hands were far too large for the task, I was able to tie them together with strips of tree bark to make a sort of feather poncho. It wasn’t perfect and I suspected it would quickly disintegrate if I started fighting in it, but it felt wonderful to finally have a little modesty. It was also surprisingly stylish if I did say so myself.

“How do I look?” I asked, giving a little twirl, the long feathers rigid enough that only the edges fluttered.

“Well you have a certain rugged beauty,” Ael grinned. “Like an ogre gathering flowers.”

I stiffened at that, giving her a glare. “They’re your feathers you know.”

“Indeed, they’re beautiful as flowers,” Ael nodded, chuckling.

“Whatever, I’m not trying to look pretty here,” I muttered back.

“A good thing, that,” Ael nodded.

I had to admit that was a good one. Perhaps since she’d failed to beat me with her venomous tail she was going to settle for skewering me with her poison tongue instead.

Having checked myself out previously I was confident I was actually a real looker despite her teasing. I still thought I’d done a good job with the outfit too, but what was more important was I had something to wear. Even if it was improvised, I felt a lot more relaxed now I was ‘dressed’.

“I don’t suppose you’ve eaten anything today, have you?” I asked, changing the subject.

“I’m not eating cursed tentacle fruits, Saf,” she answered bluntly.

“Come on Ael, have a little more faith in me than that,” I groaned. “I was practicing hunting before the, uh, ‘incident’, and I figure maybe I can catch something for us to eat that way. Curse free.”

“I’m not eating razorflies either, Saf,” she laughed.

“I can catch more than just gross monsters! I caught you!” I retorted.

Ael gave me an amused look. “Planning on eating me, are you?” she asked, her grin turning hungry as though she would turn the tables if I tried. I could feel myself blushing.

Perhaps she took mercy on me, as she was the first one to speak. “To dispense with the jokes, Saf, the Bloodsucking Forest has little either of us would enjoy eating, and less that you could actually catch.”

That left us with nothing we needed to do but rest, so instead of searching for food I took the opportunity to just ask questions and learn as much as I could about Ael’s world. We began at the beginning, with the name; I was living in Arcadia.

Arcadia was a world influenced by many deities, but the most powerful was the Sun-Goddess, Soleil. She was actually a goddess of light, sun and luck but Ael explained that it was her power which made the sun rise each day, so she was worshipped first and foremost as a goddess of the sun.

I wasn’t sure I believed that, having lived on Earth, which didn’t seem to need any divine explanation for the planet turning. Still, I recalled Myr ranting about a Sun-God, and he really seemed to hate her, so clearly Soleil was alright. She was also fond of and popular among the humans, whom she had created, so I should be able to get along with her.

As for Myr, Ael didn’t recognize the name, but apparently there were a lot of lesser-known gods that held influence around the world. I’d hoped that she’d tell me he was reviled as an evil god or devil, but being relatively unknown wasn’t the worst either.

At least I wasn’t going to be branded a heretic by most people in this world.

Harpies didn’t worship Soleil or Myr however. The harpies followed the Goddess of Sky and Storms, Nemoi, who had according to legend granted them the magic of the Stormqueens and founded their royal line.

I wondered if that meant that the Sky Goddess was a harpy too, but according to Ael the gods could mate freely with lesser beings regardless of species. It was through these unions that the world was filled with demi-humans, demons and even some of the so-called monster species. According to the myth, harpies were the daughters of Nemoi and the great Roc who nested in the heavens.

Since their creation her people had ruled the skies of the Cyclopean Bones, a huge mountain range which bordered the Bloodsucking Forest to the South. According to Ael it was named for the vast skeletal remains of the fallen god around which it had formed. That was quite a bombshell in itself – gods could die?

Ael didn’t know the details of how it happened, as it was before the harpies were created, but she explained that it wasn’t unheard of for a god to lose their powers or even die if their divinity was expended. Neither of us knew what divinity actually was however.

It all sounded fanciful but I couldn’t help but take an interest. After what Myr had put me though I’d love to drag him down from whatever divine realm he was hiding in and make him struggle to survive on his ‘training’ planet.

I didn’t tell any of that to Ael of course. She still thought I was just an amnesiac. I felt bad lying to her but sharing a secret like that wasn’t something you could take back. There would be plenty of time later.

The lesson from Ael whetted my appetite – I’d always found history and geography fun back on Earth even if I wasn’t great at studying. Now I had a whole new world of history, stories and places to explore. Better yet, in this life I might even have the chance to do it in person.

Ael was overwhelmed by my growing zeal but she did the best she could to keep up with my curiosity. She probably didn’t want to lose face by admitting that she didn’t know her history very well. I sympathized with her there.

If an otherworlder had popped up on Earth and asked me to tell them all about my world I’d have been struggling to give them anything more than the greatest hits. ‘In 1492… something, something… the ocean blue?’ Yeah, I didn’t envy Ael there.

What I did learn was also limited to the perspective of the harpies, who seemed not to pay too much attention to the affairs of ground-dwelling humanoids, but she was at least able to tell me about the general state of the world.

It seemed the gods really had been busy creating intelligent species – this world was home to humans, demi-humans, demons and monsters, and they all had their own cultures and histories.

Human historians said the demi-humans were a variety of species created when gods mated with humans. They looked mostly humanoid and according to the humans they were of high to medium intelligence. The smart ones were those with valuable skills or knowledge like the elves and dwarves. The dumb ones were those who mostly got by as laborers and mercenaries like the beastfolk.

When I asked Ael what the harpies said about demi-humans she said that they didn’t care and I was lucky that I was talking to a queen. Most harpies didn’t study the other species at all, but Ael had learned about the attitudes the species had towards each other as part of her education – preparation for the day she took the throne.

The demons, meanwhile, were a category of species that were ‘tainted’ by the power of the Demon God defiling the species he mated with. They were highly intelligent, but cruel and cunning and not to be trusted. They didn’t get along with humans at all, but they sometimes coexisted with demi-humans.

I wasn’t sure how the specific god that sired them being bad made them so awful as a species, but then I thought about Myr having a whole race of little baby Myrs and suddenly I could see how that might work.

There were also species that were created when gods other than the Demon God mated with creatures other than humans. The harpies split that category into a whole variety of intelligent and animalistic species, but according to the humans they were all just ‘monsters’, be they sapient or not. It seemed that in this world if you didn’t have the right number of arms and legs you didn’t get much respect.

In the case of the harpies even that wasn’t enough. They had feathers, tails and wings and they weren’t interested in being servants to anyone else, so the humans declared them ‘monsters’ just like razorflies and slimes. If harpies weren’t too powerful the humans probably would have been hunting them too, to hear Ael tell it.

Moving on, we talked about what sort of countries Arcadia had. If Ael was on shaky ground before there was practically steam coming out of here ears now, as she strained for half-remembered details. I was grateful for the vague information she did give me.

Humans were the most populous of all the intelligent species, so unsurprisingly there were numerous human-dominated countries. Sometimes they fought together, sometimes they fought each-other. There were usually four or five big powerful human countries throwing their weight around, but which they were varied over time…. I could tell Ael hadn’t been very interested in human politics when she was studying.

A lot of human countries were also home to demi-humans like dwarves and elves who historically got along with the humans pretty well, and to others like the beastfolk who had fought wars against the humans in the past, but seemed to mostly coexist at the moment.

There were demi-human countries too, but they were generally smaller and less powerful than the human ones and got pushed around a lot. There used to be a powerful dwarven country called the Dweomer Empire, but since it fell the dwarves didn’t have any large nations of their own.

Ael had heard that the elves had a powerful and reclusive country where they worshipped spirits instead of the gods, but she didn’t know much about it – it was apparently pretty far away if it actually existed.

There were also several countries of demons that waged perennial war with the human countries, but none of them were near the Bloodsucking Forest, so Ael didn’t know their names.

She did at least know the name of the nearest country – Bellwood. It was a medium-sized country that claimed much of the Bloodsucking Forest, all the way up to the edge of the Cyclopean Bones. In actuality the harpies, naga and other monster species controlled most of the area, all of it part of the Harpy Empire. But the forest was still an important resource for the humans and they, the harpies and other intelligent monster species mostly tolerated each-other.

When I asked Ael why someone as powerful as her had to ‘tolerate’ anyone she laughed and looked rather pleased with the compliment. She explained that it came down to numbers; if the harpies were to destroy Bellwood then the neighboring countries would move to fill the power vacuum – and they wouldn’t want to fall victim to the same fate. Many a time powerful monster species had been overwhelmed by the weight of human numbers.

Even if monster species were generally much more powerful than the average human there were also ‘freaks’ like me as she put it. Humans and demi-humans who trained, studied or fought, and accumulated ridiculous amounts of power that could rival the strongest monster species even one on one. While I objected to the term ‘freaks’ I couldn’t deny that I’d met some genuinely scary people so far in Arcadia. Ael was definitely the scariest though.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

~~~

The sudden thunderstorm out of nowhere had felt almost fitting after the events that had already befallen Lyanna and her party that day. After escaping the run-in with the mimic they’d chosen to make camp, rather than forcing the already anxious dwarf Gar to keep going. Lyanna had been secretly glad of the excuse to not to travel any deeper into the forest that day.

When the sky turned black she had thought for a moment that the mimic had tracked them somehow and was controlling the weather. It might sound mad, but Lyanna could tell that the formation wasn’t natural – it was an incredibly powerful spell, one orders of magnitude greater than anything she could conjure.

Thankfully as the storm built the ironically named Thunderbolt party soon realized that it was centered on a point around ten miles to the west, far enough that they didn’t have to worry about getting caught up in whatever nightmare was happening out there.

That didn’t make it any less terrifying when the spell completed.

A thunderclap shook the earth even where they stood and blinded them for several seconds. By the time they had come to their senses Gar was laying face-down on the ground passed out. Luckily the dwarf had fallen on the rock of their campsite, not needlegrass, so he only had a broken nose rather than suffering anything more serious.

The dwarf himself didn’t seem to think he was so lucky when he woke up however. Gar had already been shaken up by the aqualash attack the previous day and now he’d, as he put it, ‘almost died’ twice in one day.

Lyanna had tried to explain that the spell hadn’t been directed at them and that Gar hadn’t been in any actual danger, but he was having none of it, the bookish researcher working himself into a full blown tantrum. Lyanna couldn’t entirely blame him. Whatever had created that spell terrified her just as much as the mimic. She didn’t want her party to run into it next.

“So is that it then?” Marcus spat, sitting dejectedly on a boulder after the dust had settled and the sun was setting. “We just give up and go home? Give up on the treasure?”

Gar had stormed off – to his tent safely within range of the Thunderbolt party – leaving the adventurers to talk among themselves about what to do next. They had been planning to press on in the morning, but the dwarf had made it clear that he wasn’t going a step further into the forest. That left the party little choice but to escort him back to town. There would be a cancellation fee for them, but nothing like the rewards Gar had promised if they found his lost ruin.

“You wanna keep going after the sky almost fell on us?” asked Dolm. The tall, dark skinned archer was drinking mead instead of water that evening. It calmed his nerves when he was stressed. He needed it that night, even if Lyanna always told him not to drink on the job.

“Take it steady with the mead, Dolm,” Lyanna said as she watched Dolm liquoring up.

“Ahhh… I thought I was being sneaky,” he sighed. “But you’re not gonna tell me to stop?”

“As long as you keep it under control this time,” she said, “I think I’ll have a little myself.”

“Drinking away our sorrows just like we did in the capital, huh?” Dolm grinned, passing the drink to her.

“We were broke then too,” Lyanna sighed, taking a gulp from Dolm’s wineskin.

“Guess I’ll join you too then, I have to make up for all the drinking sessions I missed out on,” Marcus said hopefully.

“Think again, little brother,” Lyanna smiled. Marcus knew that smile. “You know it would be too dangerous for the whole party to let their guard down while we’re in the forest. Someone needs to be clear-headed tonight, and Dolm and I have both drunk already. That leaves the responsibility to you.”

Marcus wanted to argue, but he knew he’d never win. Instead he returned to the original subject. “What about the ruins then? We were counting on the pay from that job to help mom.”

Lyanna sighed, seeing the look on her little brother’s face. “We’ll find a way. Perhaps Gar will agree to us searching without him if we draw up a formal contract.”

“We should tell the guild about the mimic,” Marcus replied. “I know we can’t go after it alone, but if we can lead an expedition to capture it alive then even splitting the rewards we’d have enough to fix everything!”

“Marcus…,” Lyanna sighed. “Things aren’t always that simple. Sometimes there’s no magic spell to solve the problem.”

“But we should at least try!” Marcus insisted. “Mom’s never going to wake up if we just sit around here drinking and feeling sorry for ourselves!” The young adventurer regretted those words as soon as he said them, seeing the hurt look on Lyanna’s face despite her attempt to seem unaffected. But he was too frustrated to take back what he said.

“We’ve lost Gar, he’s too cowardly to go on and he’s way too suspicious of humans to ever give us the job without being around to watch our every step! He’ll probably hire a bunch of dwarves or something, they’ll all get rich and where does that leave us?! This mimic’s our big shot, we have to take it. For mom.”

Lyanna sighed, taking another long drink of mead. If they reported the mimic the guild and the baron would both start getting involved. There would be an expedition and a grand reward of course, but there would also be no backing out if the mimic proved too much to handle. Not once the reputations of the town lord and the guildmaster were on the line.

Still she couldn’t deny that Marcus was right about one thing – their mother wasn’t going to recover without treatment and they would never be able to afford it with their normal hunting and exploration in the forest. If Gar was a lost cause then perhaps the mimic was the lifeline they needed….

~~~

After talking with Ael into the night I’d asked about whether someone should keep watch, but apparently none of the denizens of the Bloodsucking Forest were stupid enough to pick a fight with a harpy, especially the Stormqueen.

It wasn’t a very comfortable night sleeping there on the ground, but at least with our tough bodies neither of us had to worry about bruises from the rocks or cutting ourselves on the needlegrass.

The following morning I woke to the thuds of Ael getting to her feet, the titanic harpy towering over me even more now that she was standing. Her elegant green and blue scales glittered in the sunlight as she stretched, feathered wings quivering as her muscles warmed up.

“Morning Ael,” I said as I rose and made a simpler stretch of my own. Ael had to be ten times my height but she moved with ease, even grace, belying her scale. This world didn’t seem to have the same limitations as Earth, perhaps thanks to the existence of magic here, so why shouldn’t there be flying giants like the Stormqueen?

The same lack of earthly logic seemed to apply to injury and healing here too; I was glad to see that Ael’s tail spike had already grown back.

“Are you all better now?” I asked.

“Mmh,” she nodded, “aside from some stiffness. We harpies heal quickly… even if not at your abnormal pace.” She shook her head as if still in disbelief. “Are you sure you’re truly a human, Safkhet?”

Ugh, Ael, I got enough of that from the adventurers yesterday.

“Definitely,” I nodded firmly. “I’m human born and raised!”

The harpy cocked her head at that, a smile playing around her lips. “Born and raised you say? You remember now?”

I really needed to be more careful with my words. I wanted to get to know her better before trusting her with everything, but maybe Ael was too smart for me to keep the charade going. That or I was too dumb.

“Uh, no, it’s just a figure of speech I guess,” I replied after a brief hesitation. “But I’m definitely human, I’m just tougher than normal.”

Ael nodded at that, a soft yet cryptic look on her face. I couldn’t tell if she bought it at all, but she didn’t press the issue. “If you have no objection we will depart for the Cyclopean Bones today, Saf. My people expect my return and the Bloodsucking Forest is… unpleasant. A queen should not be spending her nights sleeping on trees trunks and boulders.” She scrunched up her nose as she looked around the clearing.

I probably shouldn’t have been too surprised that a queen was at least a little high-maintenance, but then I was just as eager as she to get back to some modicum of comfort. Even if everything would be giant sized, the thought of real clothes, a hot meal and a soft bed sounded like heaven to me.

“I definitely don’t have any objection, let’s get out of this forest!” I nodded enthusiastically. “But how are we getting there? Am I going to ride on your back?”

She glared at me. “A human riding the Stormqueen like some mount?! I think not!”

“Ah, sorry Ael, I didn’t mean it like that.” Though I hadn’t intended anything by the suggestion, after hearing about how humans looked down on monster species yesterday, even hunting them, I could see how the idea brought up some nasty associations. I should have been more careful.

“But how am I getting to the mountains then? I can’t fly!”

“Hmph, I’ll show you,” she replied with a dangerous gleam in her eye. “Hold your arms up over your head and try not to squirm, Saf, you wouldn’t want to fall after all.”

Against my better judgment I did as she told me. A moment later a huge hand enveloped my small form, lifting me with trivial ease. As I was squirming uneasily, feeling my body compressed in her fingers, her four vast wings spread. With a single rush of wind she was airborne, and in seconds we were climbing high over the treetops towards the distant peaks of the Cyclopean Bones.

Despite what Ael might say I definitely didn’t scream.

~~~

Flying was exhilarating once you got over the shock.

As Ael soared effortlessly through the skies my eyes traced streams winding through the woods and merging into rivers. The largest flowed down towards the Northern edge of the forest, where a human town straddled it, high walls tiny from my new perspective. It was no wonder Ael could be haughty when this was how she saw the world. I probably would have thought terrestrial species weren’t very significant too.

The harpy noticed my wonder and smiled as she climbed higher. By the time we leveled out we were above even the clouds, which had become fluffy patches against the vast landscape below.

Looking out from her hands at that sprawling vista I saw the entire Bloodsucking Forest spread out like a green carpet across the rolling hills. It stretched all the way to the distant Cyclopean Bones, which rose up in a jagged line like a spine, taller than any mountain range I’d ever seen on earth.

“Wow, Ael…,” I murmured as I drank it all in. This was nothing like watching a video shot from a plane. I’d even forgotten to be afraid.

The air was surprisingly calm for how high up we were. I didn’t know if it was some special magic Ael had used or if that was normal, but it meant that I heard Aellope’s giggle clearly after I spoke. One of her fingers patted my head.

“Don’t relax too much Saf, you have to watch for rocks while flying,” she teased.

“Hey, I apologized for that already. Besides, it takes two to level a forest,” I shot back. Ael grinned.

“A shame your decorum remains forgotten amidst the rest of your past,” the harpy said, “if you ever had any that is.”

“Most people probably never even see a queen you know, Ael, let alone end up on a first name basis.”

“That I grant you, but most can’t fight a harpy to a draw either.”

“Draw? Come on, I totally won that!” I insisted, grinning back.

“Did you? As I recall you passed out too, no?” Ael replied huffily.

“Whoever faints first loses, that’s just obvious!” I retorted, resisting the urge to reference boxing or martial arts rules from Earth.

“If that’s to be the case I want a rematch,” Ael had a predatory grin that I didn’t like at all. For a queen she seemed entirely too fond of fighting.

“Uh no, you’re right, we should call it a draw,” I said quickly.

Even if she didn’t break out any fresh terrifying magic the spell she used last time hurt like hell – literally. I also doubted I could pull off another surprise win now she knew what I could and couldn’t do.

Ael was probably the worst possible matchup for me; it would be all too easy for her to rain down attacks on me from the sky, and I would have no way to retaliate.

Even if I could catch her the last thing I wanted was to accidentally injure my only friend in the world.

“You should consider yourself honored Saf, to have fought a duel with the Stormqueen and won her respect.”

So it was a duel now, was it? This girl sure liked to retcon anything that didn’t suit her. I couldn’t say that I didn’t admire her positivity though.

Ael’s tone grew more serious as she spoke on. “If your movements weren’t those of a complete novice you would be as fearsome as any humanoid I’d ever known.”

“Are there other humanoids you ‘drew’ fights with?” I asked, curious.

“Most assuredly not. A queen does not fight unless certain of victory.” She paused. “At least in theory. As you prove it is a wide world, with many strange and mysterious creatures.”

“So I’m a strange and mysterious creature now?”

“Most assuredly so. I can think of no-one stranger than you, Saf,” she replied. I couldn’t help but join in her laughter.

“Okay, you got me there, Ael,” I admitted. ”But does that mean there are lots of people as strong as us in Arcadia?”

“If anything I would say there are perishingly few, but those with power inevitably ascend and come into conflict. The humans and demi-human species all have their heroes and leaders - heroic generals, famed adventurers, archmages and so forth. Monster species are no different; every society has their chiefs, warriors and mystics.”

Arcadia sounded like a place where might made right. I had a pretty good share of might, so perhaps that was good for me, but I couldn’t help but wonder how hard it must be for the commoners who didn’t have any special powers or magic.

“Hey Ael?” I asked slowly. “Can anyone get strong? Or is it only a few people?”

I was surprised when she had to think about that for a moment. “How would one tell?” she asked back in the end. “The strong are those who rise to the top and expand their power. The weak are those who languish or die. It could be luck, breeding or devoted effort. Who knows why one succeeds where another failed?”

“So it’s not just destiny or the blessings of the gods then?”

“The gods watch over us but they seldom interfere. Only the most powerful earn their blessings. As for destiny… that would be a question for the gods themselves, or their priestesses,” she said solemnly.

“Have you ever met a god, Ael?”

“Hoh hoh hoh,” boomed her smoky voice, “no mortal meets the gods, Safkhet! Only the most devout and powerful of their followers are permitted to receive their messages. Actually meeting them… you never cease to amuse me. But these questions are better posed to a priestess. I may be a faithful follower of Nemoi, but my education is secular, as befits a ruler.”

The day I could tell Aellope about my real past seemed more distant than ever, but at least I didn’t have to worry about Myr popping up to torment me here in Arcadia.

~~~

A few days after strange lightning had been sighted over the Bloodsucking Forest a message came for the guildmaster of the Faron branch of the Adventurers’ Guild. Guildmaster Bomond was informed that the Gold-rank party Thunderbolt had returned after a cancelled quest and wanted to see him immediately.

The demand prickled at Bomond’s pride. As an adventurer he had often boasted of never losing a member of his team in battle, and after retiring to the position of guildmaster Bomond had turned his talent for defense to the fortification and protection of Faron. It would be no exaggeration, as he told himself, to say he was the second most important person in town.

The walled town was a thriving settlement on the Sanguine River, at the Southern tip of the populated regions of Bellwood. It was founded along a major trade route back in the days of the Dweomer Empire, but in modern times it was adventurers who flocked there. Faron sat at the edge of the vast Bloodsucking Forest, which was both the greatest resource the nation possessed and the greatest threat it faced day to day.

It fell to Baron Faron and the Guild to see to it that the monsters of the forest were kept under control and never allowed to stray into populated regions. Primarily the task involved responding to any reports of monsters leaving the forest, but there was also the need for regular scouting trips to check on the conditions inside.

If monster populations were found to be on the rise they would also have the duty of organizing and funding expeditions to cull dangerous buildups before they turned into swarms and grew more aggressive.

Monster control was only one of Bomond’s many duties of course and normally adventurers with business would request an appointment rather than disturb the guildmaster uninvited, yet Thunderbolt wanted to meet with him that very afternoon. At first he assumed they wanted to complain but according to his assistant that wasn’t it. Lyanna had been very cagey and was insisting on meeting Bomond in private to discuss something important.

If Lyanna was insisting on meeting that very day and wouldn’t speak publically about why Bomond could guess that meant that Thunderbolt had discovered something alarming while on their failed quest. He briefly mused about whether it involved the source of the lightning a few days earlier, but even Lyanna couldn’t conjure magic on that scale.

~~~

A short while after they arrived at the Faron branch of the Adventurers’ Guild Lyanna, Dolm and Marcus had pulled aside one of the staff and asked for an urgent meeting with the guildmaster.

After that they had waited anxiously in the main hall of the stone building. Guild buildings were large and sturdily built structures. Like most the Faron branch had a variety of services for adventurers and clients, so there were always people coming and going or waiting around, even at night.

Thunderbolt stood out among the bustle for their nervous demeanor, unusual for one of the top parties in the town. Casual observers might have assumed they were upset about their cancelled quest. In actuality they didn’t have time to think about filing for the cancellation fee. Time was of the essence.

They couldn’t let the mimic stray too far or it might cross into territory outside of Bellwood control. That meant that they needed to convince the guildmaster of what they’d seen fast. After that they would need to help him convince the baron. Thankfully the guildmaster was in and agreed to see them right away.

Naturally Bomond’s office was the largest in the building. Expensive wood paneling covered the bare stone walls of the expansive third floor room. A glass window looked out across the streets and rooftops of the mostly one and two storey structures of the town, towards the Bloodsucking Forest.

The office was filled with various papers and books as well as keepsakes from the guildmaster’s adventuring days. Behind his imposing darkwood desk hung an enchanted metal greatshield that was almost as large, and looked several times heavier. The guildmaster had supposedly carried it into battle, back when he served as the frontliner for a Diamond-rank adventuring party. Lyanna had wondered at times if her Thunderbolt could have lifted it, even with all three of them working together.

Bomond himself was an older human, a former Gold-ranker who had taken to shaving his head when he started going grey a few years ago. He was waiting for them not at the desk but in one of the more comfortable chairs arranged around a table at the other end of the room. He had his usual stern expression as he looked down his bulbous nose at the party. “Lyanna,” he said, nodding. “Have a seat. I believe you have something important to talk to me about?”

~~~

Guildmaster Bomond had the young adventurers repeat everything they’d just told him a second time, to be certain he missed no details. The story was fantastical but Thunderbolt was well trusted and had nothing to gain fabricating such a tale. He had also never known Lyanna to be so foolish as to lie to the Guild about a matter such as this.

When she finished he sank back into the soft leather of his chair, looking up at the candles burning in the candelabra over the table, pondering the tale he’d heard. The legendary mimic, sighted in his forest – and up close by a party who were experts in tracking and searches.

It was huge news if it was true. The last time a new monster had been discovered researchers and governments all over the continent had sent delegations to the nation where the creature was found to observe and study the beast.

The prestige alone had seen the territorial lord who oversaw the capture elevated in noble rank. Both he and the guild members responsible had also enjoyed huge rewards from the Queen, including promotions for their service to the country.

If they could really catch a living mimic it would be even bigger. Mimics were legendary. Bellwood might not be a large nation, but any state lived and died on its prestige. If they could show the world the people of Bellwood were superior by proving once and for all that the tales of mimics were true then the rewards would be astronomical.

“Lyanna.” After contemplating for several minutes the guildmaster spoke suddenly enough that it made Dolm and Marcus jump. “This story you’ve told me, can you swear before the gods to Baron Faron that it’s true?”

“Every word,” she nodded without hesitation. That was good, Bomond thought. If they mounted an expedition on a scale befitting prey this dangerous then heads would roll should they fail.

“Then if we were to prepare to mobilize with the army to hunt down this mimic you would be able to lead us to the beast?” he asked.

“Of course,” Lyanna nodded. “I’ve recorded its mana resonance with my search. It can’t run from us.”