The morning air is cool enough for heavier garments, but Zendi is ill prepared for it, only wearing last night's armor and her ragged clothing underneath. She sullenly declined any offers to pick up something warmer for her, going so far as to return the clothes she borrowed from River.

They arrive at the adventurers guild early, even though it's always open twenty four hours of every day. Sparse foot traffic leading to and around the two story building makes it navigable, but a voice from across the street stops them.

"River? Is that you?"

After waiting for a carriage to pass, someone dressed head to toe in a suit of brigandine armor, including a full metal helmet with one, long, narrow eye-slit, jogs up to them, clinking all the way. There's a massive, rectangular shield on their back, as well as an unblemished, round shield made from a dark wood with metal trim all around as well as a metal bump in the middle [the shield boss].

"Miss Fyrg?" River asks, gesturing to the two ladies with him, "You've already met Lady Baker, yes? And this is Miss Zendi."

Shocked at hearing River's sudden change in this manner of speech, she cocks her head slightly, "Who? You mean--"

She's cut off by a subtle hand gesture from Sarna, telling her not to speak the next words meant to come out of her mouth.

"--ah... er, yes. Good morning, Lady... Baker? What brings you two to the guild so early this day?" She kicks at a pebble on the ground, trying to focus on something other than how badly she may be ruining their little act.

"We've got a little business with the adjudicator, my dear." Sarna says, placing a hand on Zendi's shoulder. Her hanging head droops further down, dragging her shoulders with it.

"I-- I see. Is there any way I can help?"

"Actually..." Another, gruffer voice calls out to them from further down the sidewalk.

Sarna takes a few steps to position herself in front of Fyrg while River makes sure no one is approaching from behind.

Standing in front of a mixed group of five, is a bald, giant of a man River recognizes from the sundie where he and Sarna had the icy treat. His massive, crossed forearms look like a normal man's thighs covered in leather bracers. As tall is he is, River could still see the handle of a greatsword peaking out from over his shoulder.

There's a big grin on the man's face as he leers at Zendi in particular. "We'll be taking her from here." He aims a cudgel-like finger at the Archer and she flinches hard.

Fyrg steps forward but is stopped by Sarna's arm. Her indignant voice reverberates in her helmet, "Who the hell are you and why do you think we'd be okay with that?"

His pointing hand rests on his hip, "Her little party was on a Heart King mission..." The man gives Sarna a knowing glance, but says and does nothing else.

Sarna's hand, which was only barring Fyrg from stepping any further now grasps at her wrist. Fyrg tests her grip with a tug and finds it as immovable as being trapped under a boulder.

"What the hell, Miss Wi--wah-- Baker? Let go!"

Sarna guides Fyrg over to the side, closer to the guild building, leaving Zendi and River standing side by side in the middle of the sidewalk.

Other pedestrians avoid the intensifying situation by crossing the street. People from the guild who spotted them and came out to intercede hear the man's last statement and head back inside, resigned looks on their faces.

River looks back and forth from the leering man and Zendi, before landing on Sarna's masked face. The silver hair sways gently from a delicate head shake and he perceives her intent. He doesn't understand, but he's willing to follow her lead.

He remains rooted to his spot when the man's grin widens and steps closer. The group chuckles amongst themselves, but the big man makes them shut up with a over-the-shoulder glare.

Fyrg struggles in vain against Sarna's surprising strength, "Let me go! River! What are you doing? Don't let him take her! This isn't right!"

River's impassive expression stays locked on the big man as he stops in front of him, craning his neck to keep eye contact.

"Is there gonna be a problem?" The big guy asks.

Several heartbeats pass. Everyone, including any brave enough to peek in on the scene, holds their breath as they wait for his response. Even Fyrg stops her struggling for a brief moment.

"No problem, Mister...?"

The big man's grin spreads into an almost genuine smile, "Barque, like on a tree, but spelled different. Mister Barque. I like the way that sounds."

"My apologies, Miss Zendi." River says with as blank as an expression as he can manage, "I was unaware of your HK status..."

River trails off, but remains visibly inscrutable. Barque reaches forward in a slow and deliberate movement, forcefully guiding Zendi next to him with a muscular hand on her shoulder.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Fyrg resumes shouting and fighting against Sarna until River shoots her a look. There's a flash of something in his eyes and she abandons her escape. Her frustration and despair is only visible in her slumped posture.

"Why...?" Fyrg asks meekly.

"This girl is a slave. An HK slave to be exact--" Barque responds, "--they all were, except for the swordsman. He was on punishment detail."

"How hard was it to abduct this bitch with the mask?" A man from the group bemoans to the others, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at Sarna. This earns him a glare from Barque that he can't see from how he's standing. "I mean, it's just some rich chick and her butler, right? We shoulda just--"

As if Barque's looming shadow causes the air temperature around the man to drop even further, he shivers hard and turns to him slowly.

"Guess we know who's going on the next HK mission..." Barque says with a grinning growl that everyone can hear.

The man doesn't say anything else, but visibly swallows.

After returning to his leadership spot in front of the group with Zendi trembling by his side, he turns both himself and her toward River.

"Anything you want to say before we go?" He asks her, his hand gripping her shoulder firmly, but not painfully.

Fyrg renews her efforts, swinging her shield arm at Sarna, but she catches it with ease and brings it back down without letting go.

Zendi clears her throat and all eyes turn to her. A woman in the group scoffs, causing the only other female to giggle.

"Th-- thank you... for the meal... River..."

"River! Don't let him do this!"

"Shut it, missy!" The woman who scoffed earlier has a long, thin knife drawn aimed at her, "You're lucky this uppity bitch has you restrained before you do something really stupid and things get really nasty."

Barque speaks firmly through his grin, "We're not here for a fight, guys, we're here for what is rightfully ours by the Heart King law."

"She's a slave! That law was never meant to be fair!" Fyrg argues, still trying to break free, "This whole thing isn't right! It isn't--"

One of the men draws two, stained, wooden batons, "You wanna take her place, missy? Why don't you give us a view so we can see which brothel we might drop you in for work?"

"She's got all them heavy shields, must be a meaty one," another man adds, "Not too much market for one of them right now."

The group devolves into an argument over Fyrg and Sarna's possible uses and they become quite passionate about the idea of finishing the original mission.

Barque rolls his eyes.

"I don't have time for this... I'm taking 'Zendi' back to the base." The way he says her name makes it sound like it may have been made up.

"Listen, you idiots... I'm not telling you to finish the mission. But, if you do, then you can claim the reward. If you fail, however, don't you dare come back to the base. This is an HK mission after all."

He pulls a wooden key covered in glowing blue runes out of his pocket and pokes at the air in front of him. He gives it a twist and it turns to ash, crumbling into the streets.

Thick, black vines with similar runes burst up from the ground, forming the shape of an archway tall enough for him to walk through unimpeded. The space inside swirls with violet and silver energy.

Barque firmly sends Zendi into the vortex and speaks low over his shoulder, his usual grin dropped for a grim expression, "Make sure you take the quest as soon as the guild posts it, River."

With those words, he, too, steps into the portal. The vines reverse back into the depths of the dirt and return the street to its previous state.

"What an asshole," one of the group says, cracking his knuckles and drawing a mace from his belt. "Oh well. He said we'd get a reward if--"

A fist flying up from under the man's chin snaps his head back, ending his statement and his consciousness. The follow up strike to his defenseless throat makes a disgusting crunch and the rest of the group finally reacts to Sarna's initial attack.

Her movements are sharp and fluid, and she manages to evade a few attacks before River takes the stage with his pair of knives.

Sarna moves back, drawing away two from the group and biding her time for an opportune moment to strike.

Fyrg has yet to move, still in shock from the twists and turns of recent events. The clash of metal from River's fight snaps her out of her daze in time for her to realize how close Sarna's fight is to her.

She takes a step back, squats a few inches, and dashes forward shield first. It smashes into the knife wielding woman from the side, sending her flying into the middle of the street. She lands awkwardly on her head and lays like a puddle on the cobblestones.

"About time, my dear. I was beginning to wonder about you." The laughter in her voice disorients Fyrg after Sarna's silence throughout the previous encounter.

"Triburst flash ignite!"

River's triple elemental attack hits the man attacking Sarna from behind and she takes full advantage of the painful distraction, performing her two-hit combo of death.

"What the fuck kind of spell was that?" One of the men trying to hit River exclaims.

"Fuck this!" The other man, an axe and buckler wielder, shouts in exasperation. He grasps the axe handle with both hands and swings it hard at the ground.

Instead of chipping the axe's edge on the flagstone sidewalk, the strike creates sparks that ignites the air around him. A column of fire erupts all around him for a few seconds. River doesn't react fast enough and one of his legs from the knee down is caught in the blazing wall.

The man's partner isn't as lucky as River, just about two thirds of his whole body cooks in the fire. The squealing is unbearable, but the smell alone is almost enough to stop the fight completely.

The fire skill user laments his actions loudly as his teammate rolls on the ground, trying to put the magical fires out.

"Regain a fragment of life."

With the distraction, River heals himself enough to dull the pain from his leg. His pants have [Self Repair] but this much damage could take another day to return them to normal.

The wailing man drops to his knees, trying to help his friend, but Sarna chops the back of his neck and knocks him out cold.

"Finish this one, please, River?"

With a clinical efficiency, he hurls three metal spikes at the rolling man and he rolls no more. A ball of water coalesces above the body, falls, and puts the fire out. They turn and see a woman leading two others in front of the guild's entrance.

Sarna nods to them, "Ah, the street sages are here. Thank you for your services. Please accept any gear and essences you are able to gather with our gratitude."

The three bow to her at the waist as their leader speaks, "As the dispatchers of the Player Killers and rightful inheritors of their goods, your boon is most generous and accepted with much appreciation."

Sarna blows her a kiss, "Who doesn't like a big tip?"

The woman blushes, but smiles, batting long lashes at Sarna.

Fyrg points at the axe wielder and the woman in the street, "I think those two are still alive."

"Wonderful!" The Sage leaders smiles appreciatively, "We'll keep them in our holding cells until they can see an adjudicator. Miss Fyrginia, do not worry about the paperwork. I shall see to it myself."

"Thank you, Lady Garni. Do you think I can borrow a conference room? I would like to talk to Miss Baker and my friend, River, about what just happened."