Desari shifted her footsteps, taking the group down a side street, darting into an alley between burnt and broken buildings till she was satisfied no one else was around.

“Okay, we’re going to need to blend in here. They’re going to be looking for fighters. Do any of you have skills other than fighting?”

“I know how to farm? Work with wood?” Petor shrugged.

“I know how to put nets together, fix ships…a fair bit about necromancy, runes, and rituals.” Mya glanced around. “Oh, and I know how to trade. It is a fine art form.” She winked.

“I know of smithing and inscriptions,” Valter said. “I can create the copper plates I’ve seen the Adventurers wearing.”

“Good, that will make things easier. Will you need anything from us?”

“Having one to copy would be best.”

Mya coughed and held out a couple of copper plates with different strings or chains looped through them. Each about a finger long and half a finger wide.

Quick with her hands. She was skilled with her weapons and able to raise the dead. Reminds me of those idiot savants. Some troops were always getting themselves into shit, or out of it by the skin of their damn teeth. While they seemed like idiots on the outside. Once you talked to them you realized the devilishly smart intellect and raw ability that lay underneath.

The kind that joked all the time, but it was when they grew quiet and focused that their real ability came to the fore.

Then there was the stray comments and ad-lib she added in. Each of them are interesting in their own ways.

“That will do.” Valter took them and looked them over.

“Do you have any non-fighting skills?” Petor asked Desari.

“I know of alchemy and spells, though around here alchemy looks to be about the depth of their knowledge.”

Valter pulled out a block of copper and a dagger. The edge of the dagger glowed as he cut off slivers.

“We need to come up with a story of how we got here,” Desari said.

“Roaming Adventurers all over the place.”

“Ornell and the Riders of Cadenfell saw us fighting. They can back us up about fighting for the city,” Petor said.

“There’re tunnels in the mountains here, for metals and coal.” Valter rubbed the metal slivers, checking them against the originals for the right size. “Can see the signs of a mining industry around, and there’s a number of disguised tunnels around where the cathedral is.”

“Say we were here to look through the mines for materials for Valter to smith. Then the fighting broke out and we joined in?” Mya said.

“Don’t like saying we were in the mines. It’s close to the temple. Though it’s a simple story and should work.” Desari said.

Valter took out a hammer and a small anvil, the slivers now plate-sized. Heated words appeared on his hammer; he hit the first plate and checked it.

“What you’d think about that temple in the mountain? It didn’t look like the cathedral,” Petor said.

“Older, been here a long time. Another god’s place of worship, and then a new group found it and claimed it as their own. Happens all the time,” Mya said.

“Catch.” Valter tossed a finished tag to Desari.

It was rough and worn, smoothed as if from use, with her first name stamped into the metal.

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The rain hissed on the stamped sections as she waved it back and forth.

Four hits created four weathered plates.

Valter put his tools away again.

“Impressive,” Petor said.

“This should get us past the front desk of the Adventurer’s guild at least. Come on, we’ll follow the other Adventurers back.” She led them back to the main street.

Fighters trudged through the streets. Horses ran up and down the middle, carts laden with supplies on the move.

No one spared them a look.

***

Petor adjusted the copper plate on his hip and shifted the waterskin he’d thrown on against the rain that had turned into a regular deluge.

Valter’s arms didn’t fit all the way inside his, but he didn’t seem to mind.

The Adventurer’s guild hall came into sight: three stories tall with a large courtyard, stables on either side. The hall extended across the entire block, general good stores on either side, to supply their neighbors’ needs, dark with the early hour. Forges released smoke into the sky. The sound of metal on metal rang through the streets; the apothecaries lit, releasing multicolored streams of gas from their chimneys. The hall’s lanterns illuminated the courtyard, and the smoke spoke of a fire lit within.

The gates lay wide open.

“Not even a guard,” Mya said.

“Remember, we’re all Copper Adventurers, newly formed party called the Four Horsemen.” Desari looked at each of them before leading them across the courtyard and up the stairs into the hall.

A basic tavern lay to the left. A few fighters ate breakfast as servers moved between the groups. The wall to the right was covered with papers grouped under copper and silver signs. Counters stood right ahead.

Two people sat at the desks, looking overly tired and bored.

A man spoke in the lady’s ear at the counter and disappeared into the back.

“The guards send you back?” she asked.

“We were down in the tunnels. Didn’t hear about the fighting till we came out.” Mya flashed a smile.

The woman raised an eyebrow. “You got a request?”

“No, we were looking for ourselves. Our friend is a Smith.” She clapped Valter on the arm. “And our leader is an Alchemist.” She grabbed Desari’s arm too.

“Oh.” The lines on the woman’s face relaxed. “How good are you at smithing and alchemy?” She flipped through papers under the counter.

“I have a fair understanding of refining and working on simple tools,” Valter said.

“I am still learning alchemy and can only make basic potions,” Desari said.

The woman grimaced, clicking her tongue, eyes focused on her papers, speaking under her breath. “Well, the church has said that they want every Alchemist and Smith.”

She pulled out two papers, eyed Petor and Mya. “Do either of you have any skills?”

“I make holes in things.” Mya shrugged.

And then bring them back to life Petor quipped to himself. What was the point of a good punchline if he was the only one that heard it?

“I also know how to sow things, nets, sails, clothes and the like.” Mya tilted her head, tossing the question to him.

“Good with a spear, with a sling. I’ve worked as a woodsman for a long time. I can navigate forests well, track things down. Basic camp stuff, cook, setup.”

The woman behind the counter muttered to herself as she scanned through something under the counter and pulled out a third piece of paper.

She tapped the first. “This is a request from the church to make potions. You prove your ability, they’ll let you make stronger stuff till you can’t.” She pushed it toward Desari and tapped the second. “Same thing, but with smithing. This last one is a supply run. The armories and caches down near the wall were hit by saboteurs. Church needs people to help move gear from the storehouses and warehouses around the city. I’ll need your plates.” She held out her hand.

They placed them in her hand. She put ink on them and stamped them on different forms, pushing over papers with a plate on each.

“All right, you’ve accepted the requests.” She started to put her copies away in a drawer.

“Thanks.” Petor gathered up his and Mya’s combined request and plates.

Valter picked up his sheet and started reading with Desari.

“What did ya get?” Mya asked.

“Supposed to head to Alan’s Forge. Going to be refining metals,” Valter said.

“Ingredient harvesting.” Desari grimaced. “I’ll have to figure out which ingredients they’re using. I hope they tell me how they want me to refine it. Remember, we want to keep a low profile.” Desari stared into Mya’s eyes.

“But it’s so boring!”

“Boring keeps us safe. You coming?” Desari looked at Valter.

“Where are you going?” Valter asked.

“The forge and alchemy stores are open still. They must be working around the clock. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to get started before any others pile in.”

“Good idea.” Valter nodded.

“See you here for dinner?” Petor asked.

“Sounds like a plan.” Desari nodded. “See if you can find somewhere for us to sleep.”

“Keep our ear on it,” Mya said as they reached the front door of the guild. “Doesn’t look like this rain is going to let up today.”

“Hopefully it’ll clean the streets and put out some of the fires,” Petor said and held out the request to Mya.

Desari stepped out into the rain, Valter following.

Mya squinted at the small map on the bottom. She half closed an eye. “All right, yeah, I think I know where that is.”

“How?” Petor asked.

“I read that map Desari got from Limos.” She said it as if it were commonly known.

“Once and very briefly,” Petor said.

“I have a good memory when it comes to those things.” She shrugged and stepped out into the rain.

Petor pulled his scarf up against the rain and followed.