Hushed whispers from a number of passersby on the street burned in my ears as they looked on at the strange spectacle. The gnomes off to the side off to the building chattered amongst themselves while peering over at me and the twins. My cheeks reddened. “Quit that already.” I said while pushing them into the guild in a panic.

I slammed the door shut and turned back to the twins. “What was that?”

“Us thanking you for saving our lives and saying we are in your debt.” Tawny answered, pushing a lock of her long brown hair behind her slightly sharp pointed ear.

“Yeah, but did you need to shout it for the whole district to hear?”

“I told you it was dumb.” Hait said to his sister.

“Shut up. How else were we going to adequately get our feelings across?” Tawny said to Hait before turning to me.

“A Thank You at a normal volume and some dinner maybe. I don’t know, anything other than yelling at the top of your lungs.” I said.

“Told you dinner wasn’t a bad plan.” Hait mumbled to his sister.

Tawny shook her head in defeat and shrugged. “Whatever. Shouting aside, we do mean it.”

“What?”

Both of the twins faced me, determination glinting in their eyes. “We want to follow you. You saved our lives and this is the only way we feel like we can truly give back.” Tawny said.

I opened my mouth to protest. I was flattered by the idea, but with how complicated my life was at the moment I didn’t want to drag others down with me, especially not some teenagers. And I was teetering on even staying in Laurelhaven right now. And what about their parents, surely they would find it strange.

“Guys, thank you. I appreciate the gesture, I really do. But I did what any splicer would that day.” The darker memory of that day spawned in my mind. The goat legged man I failed to save. His blood on my hands. “I’m nothing special.” I said holding back the emotion welling up inside.

I turned back to them, expecting to see saddened eyes and slumped shoulders. Nope.

“Um. I don’t know if you’re being humble or stupid right now. You are pretty special. Like I’m not trying to blow smoke up your ass. But dude, you were green and a full foot shorter when you first saved us.” Tawny said, her grin resurfacing.

“And how you fought Zaner, different sets of claws growing out of your hands, a cloak of pure void, and then to finish him off with whatever that rock move was. You even had a tail at one point. It was awesome!” Hait said, his eyes sparkling while he recounted the battle. I scratched my cheek, not sure what to do in the face of such blatant admiration.

“How do you do it? What’s your gene?” They asked together.

Being fully swept up by their excitement, I gave them the rundown on my gene and powers, even hopping into Gremlin form for a spell.

“Woah…That’s so freaking cool.” Tawny said, inspecting my now smaller and green body. “And it doesn’t hurt or anything?”

“Nope, nothing like that. Does it hurt when you use your powers?” She jumped back a few feet, a wide smile bloomed on her face. She brought her palms together, rubbing them for a second before opening them back up. A continuous stream of yellow jagged arcs streamed between her hands. She closed one hand and the electricity crackled in the other. Then she gave her brother a gnarly smile.

“No, Tawny stop—” Hait’s protest went utterly ignored as Tawny pointed the electricity filled hand at her brother. A bolt of yellow shot across the guild foyer before I could stop her. Just as I was about to activate Fight and Flight to push Hait out of the way, water poured out of the shells on his shoulders. The water flew in front of him, then stopped. It formed itself into a giant hexagon that covered the whole length of his body.

The bolt slammed into the water the moment it fully formed the shield. The bolt shattered once it hit the water wall. A single arc passed by my head, making each strand of hair stand up on that side of my head.

Tawny walked back over to us, hands behind her head. “Nope, I feel great whenever I’m shooting off blasts of electri—” A small veil of water lifted above her mouth and then in it, completely shutting her up. I turned to Hait, he had a palm turned up and pointed at his sister.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I told you if you pulled that again I was going to drown you.” Hait said in an exhausted tone.

Panic filled my chest as I watched the young girl writhe and drown on dry land, her hands frantically grasping at her mouth. “Stop, you're killing her!” I yelled, grabbing onto the boy’s shell shoulders and shaking him.

“She's fine.” He said, trying desperately to hide his amusement.

“No she’s not, look.” I turned back and found Tawny right in my face, the water veil still covering her mouth. The water’s slight movement distorted the smug grin on her face. Freaking teenagers.

“Her nose isn’t blocked so she can breathe just fine. She really likes to pull that dumb prank.” Hait said, bringing hands back down to his side. The water from earlier rushed back into his shoulders. My head dropped down and shook. What else could I do after such a terrifying display from the two of them. Sure, Hait could waterboard a living creature with a literal flick of the wrist, but Tawny’s electricity was no joke either. Why would these two want to follow me?

“I don’t know why you guys are so interested in me. Your powers are way, way more impressive than me changing colors and growing claws. Oh and turning into barrels. Almost forgot that gem.” I said, unenthusiastically waving my hands in the air.

The twins pondered on my words for a moment before answering. Hait spoke first.

“If we had to put it into words. It's probably a combination of it all: saving our lives, your mysterious powerful gene, how cool you are with everything stacked against you.”

That last one made my head tilt to the side. “What do you mean?”

Tawny chimed in for this one. “A Feral who jumps blindly into one of the bloodiest raids in recent years. You could have left it alone but no. Not only do you enter the fray, you manage to push the monsters back, saving dozens if not hundreds of lives. Then you enter the city and get citizenship. It’s a shake up, an upheaval even. There’s a lot special about you, Liam, and we want to be a part of it. We’re betting that the story doesn’t end there either. We both have a hard time seeing you as just another Legionnaire. And we want in on that.” The two nodded at the same time, confirming each other’s thoughts.

I felt blood rush to my face, more than it had at the start of this conversation when I dragged them in here. I couldn't find the words to reply to them. I didn’t deserve the praise, half of what they said was given to me by Len or others. But how do you say that to such beaming faces? A part of me wanted to believe their words, or at least become someone deserving of their words.

“Sounds like you came to the right place then.” Len’s voice called down from the top of the stairs.

We all turned in time to see the man float down from the second floor. “You two are most certainly correct. Liam is special, and not just your ordinary Legion soldier. He’s a founding member of this Guild. Welcome to the Explorers Guild young ones.” Len shot off a few small explosions in his hands. Ever the one for theatrics.

Even though I rolled my eyes at his grand entrance, the twin’s faces were absolutely dazzling.

“L-Leonard Ainsworth?” Hait said in awe. Tawny stood stock still.

“That’s me. Head of the guild and Liam’s mentor, among other things.” He said with a wink. Tawny made the girliest squeak imaginable.

Len walked over to me and threw his arm around my shoulder, something he’s never once done. I’m not sure he’s ever touched me for that matter. Hit me plenty of times with that damned stick, but never direct contact. I rolled my eyes as I was certain I was currently being used as a recruitment tool for a guild that isn’t even ready.

“Liam, is that true? Are you the Leonard Ainsworth’s apprentice?” Hait asked, trembling. Tawny, still starstruck, slowly turned to me as well.

I shoved Len off my shoulder and nodded. “Yep.”

“AHHH!” Tawny burst out. She ran up to Len and grabbed his hand. “I’m a huge fan Mr. Ainsworth sir. I’m an elemental just like you.” She rolled up her robe sleeve and showed off a yellow lightning bolt that shimmered on her skin. It looked very similar to the flame one Len had. Elemental gene trope was my assumption, but what about her brother? Why the shells?

She grabbed Hait and thrust him forward. “And he has the Turtellan gene with a water manipulation focus. Not quite an elemental but still fights just like one. Could you take us under your wing?”

Guess that makes me chopped liver then. It took all of one second to get over me and follow the all powerful flame mage who one-shots bosses by himself. I realized what I just thought. Never mind that tracks, I’d do the same in their shoes.

The two gushed over Len for a couple of minutes longer. I went to the guild kitchen and grabbed some water in the meantime to get away from the fangirling. I paused briefly at the wall hiding the entrance to Rita’s lab. I wonder if she’s made any progress on my gene? I shook my head, I had too much going on to worry about that one. And I really wasn’t up for any poking or prodding today.

I returned to the guild entrance. Len was laughing and patted the twins’ backs. All signs of his earlier sour mood were gone. There was something so wholesome about the scene. Like a grandfather teasing his grandkids. It was a nice change of pace from the somberness that bothered me for the last couple of days.

CLANG!...CLANG!...CLANG!...

A resounding bell ring filled the air. All the brevity, the cheerfulness that once permeated the room, vanished as the third knell ended. Each face in the room turned serious. The twins walked away from Leonard who turned over to me and said one word.

“Raid.”