Chuck and Tess said goodbye to Torj and Kyt and returned to the guild. Raz and Maz rushed to greet them, happy that everyone was ok. He was tired so said a quick goodbye to the guild members and they headed home. Feli would undoubtedly want to reward him again but he hoped there wouldn’t be another banquet. Chuck felt like he needed a vacation and crossed his fingers that there wouldn’t be another crisis in a while. On the drive back, he remembered that he still hadn’t shown Tess around the house. There were still two rooms available but he had a feeling that she would be staying in his room, which was fine by him. When they got back, Maz seemed the most excited to show Tess around so he left her to it. Even though he was tired, Chuck figured he better try getting the spider blood and guts off the front of his vehicle before it dried. He was already dirty and it shouldn’t take that long. Raz offered to help so they made quick work of it. They then washed themselves off and went inside. Maz was already making supper with Tess helping, which warmed his heart.
That night Tess gave him a hero’s reward which he would never be too tired for. She had changed into a cute Asian girl about his age, complete with a sailor schoolgirl uniform. He didn’t know what memory Tess had pulled it from since he had no recollection of the girl. Maybe she was from some tv show or something. In any case it didn’t really matter, he wasn’t about to criticize her choices. They slept in the next morning and the siblings didn’t disturb them. That afternoon they were summoned to the governor’s mansion, which was sooner than Chuck was expecting. Tess was in the form of a dark elf today with dark skin, silver hair, red eyes, and of course pointy ears. Raz and Maz stayed home while he and Tess got in the carriage that had been sent for them. On the way it looked like people were returning to the city, which was a good sign. When they arrived, Fol greeted them and they went directly to Feli’s office.
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”Greetings otherworlder, it is good to see you both unharmed. Your Molotov cocktails worked magnificently. Without them, the city would have been swarmed by those creatures. I hear you also performed well in eliminating the few that got over the wall.” Feli said standing up from the desk and heaping praise on Chuck. “It was a team effort. I’m just glad we were able to stop them.” Chuck replied shrugging. “Indeed, the hunters Torj and Kyt will also be rewarded for their efforts. Now to your reward.” Feli continued, motioning to Fol who placed a large, intricate carved gold key on the desk in front of Chuck. “This is?” Chuck asked, eyeing the key curiously. “This is the key to the city’s vault. For your continued service to the city you may each choose one thing from the vault. There are several artifacts and other curiosities. I’ve even been told some of the items came from previous otherworlders, although I can’t say for sure.” Feli said, looking at the key. That instantly got Chuck’s attention and Tess looked surprised as well. “I gratefully accept.” He said, standing up and bowing. Then he carefully picked up the key which was a lot heavier than he thought. It made him think it was actually made of solid gold.
They followed Fol out and back to the carriage. Evidently the vault was in the main city bank that was run by the merchant guild. Fol accompanied them to the bank, excitedly asking about their battles with the spiders on the way. The bank was a large white stone building close to the center of the city. They followed Fol inside and after some discussions with the merchant guild members, were led down some stairs and into the basement. The vault seemed to take up most of the basement and the vault door was made of some kind of silvery metal. Chuck thought maybe it was one of the magical metals like mithril or orichalcum, if they had those in this world. He would add it to the list of things to ask Tess. Chuck was excited to see what treasures awaited him inside the vault.