Ezekiel stood awkwardly as both Drez and Davis laughed uproariously, playing with Korlac, who had become caught up in a game of chase with the boys on the pier. The whole situation seemed ridiculous, watching the giant chase a goblin and a young boy around the docks.

"You'll have to excuse them. It's been almost six months since we were last here. Korlac missed both of them so much, and he was up early this morning talking about how excited he was to visit Greencoast again."

Ezekiel, regaining his composure, addressed the woman, whom he took to be Liarra.

"I'm sorry. This is the first I've heard of either of you, though to be fair I only just arrived yesterday myself. I am Ezekiel Graystone of the Forgotten Isles."

"A moon elf. Been a while since I've seen one of you," the woman commented as she proceeded to check her backpack, making sure all her vials were secure.

"Yes...yes! I'm a moon elf! You've seen my kind before?!"

"Yeah, both Korlac and I have. Granted, we've traveled further around Terrial than most, and it was a few years ago, but we've seen a moon elf other than yourself before."

"I'd be most eager to hear your story, and I'd be happy to pay."

"Tell you what; I've spent the last several weeks aboard that ship making sure they didn't blow themselves up with the payload of gunpowder they were delivering. The benefits of paying a proper alchemist to travel with you. Reduces the chances of the ship and everyone on it exploding," Liarra said, joking to Ezekiel’s astonishment.

"Let us get a room at the Firefly and shake off the sea from our gear. I'd be happy to answer all your questions there, free of charge. Any friend of Ella and her son is a friend of ours," Liarra offered with a tired smile.

Ezekiel nodded and followed them with Onyx in tow, the whole entourage in high spirits. Drez and Davis chased Korlac around, raising eyebrows from other villagers. The sheriff lounged outside the jailhouse but merely waved at Korlac and Liarra while giving a nod to Ezekiel as they passed.

The sheriff called out to Liarra. "Keep him out of trouble, would you kindly?"

"That's a truly sad state of affairs, if we're the ones trying to set a good example," she teased in reply.

The group trudged up the hill further until they reached the tavern. Entering the common room, both Liarra and Korlac removed their boots in practiced form, placing them on the shelf as if they'd been here dozens of times before.

"Korlac! Liarra! You're back!" Ella reacted loudly as she rushed out from behind the bar counter. She threw herself at Korlac, hugging him around his midsection, her head barely coming up to the bottom of his chest. Korlac patted her back affectionately as Davis still hung from his forearm. Ella then turned to Liarra and gave her a friendly hug as well before escorting the two to a large table.

"Sorry Ezekiel, Liarra and Korlac are frequent guests of ours. Their travels always seem to bring them back to Greencoast."

"Not by accident, I assure you. The warm food and clean beds here are rarer than you'd think, plus your sheriff does a decent job keeping the peace here despite all the ne'er do wells who visit," Liarra explained as she took off her backpack and potion harness. Korlac also disarmed, removing his sword to lean it against the wall near the front door.

"Do you include yourselves in that description?" Ella asked as she started mucking around behind the bar, preparing platters and mugs.

"Especially us!" Korlac bellowed in a deep voice, causing the other patrons to look up curiously.

"Have you had lunch yet?" Ella asked.

"I did, but it wasn't very...good."

"Had some of the fried fish down by the docks, did you?" Ella asked with a smirk.

"How'd you know?"

"Cause they're always looking to sell that slop to travelers who don't know enough to avoid it. Let me get you a cup of tea and something to save your digestion."

Liarra raised a questioning eyebrow at the banter. "When did you start serving tea, Ella?"

"Colonel Graystone brought some with him. I inquired about it at the docks, and they found a small crate bound for Farwall that they let me purchase some packets from."

"Interesting. You don't find many who drink tea around these parts. But then again, you're not from around these parts, are you 'Colonel?'" Liarra commented with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, yes, a title I don't use anymore, from a bygone era."

“Oh that’s right, I’m so sorry, I just heard others use that title and it stuck in my head.” Ella fussed as she left to make the group lunch.

"Uh huh. So, a military man. Which unit? Calvary, archery? Obviously not a frontline man," she asked, pressing the question.

"Please, I thought we were to discuss the other moon elf you saw?" Ezekiel asked, trying to redirect the conversation.

"Officer. I should have figured. You look too fancy to get down and dirty with the regular grunts," Liarra said dismissively as Ella brought a platter of meats, cheeses, and bread with two mugs of ale and a steaming cup of tea. Korlac downed his mug of ale in a quick gulp just as Ella finished putting everything on the table, and Korlac placed the empty mug back on the server tray as Ella walked off to refill it.

"We don't like officers," Korlac grunted, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Yes, well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm not overly fond of them either," Ezekiel said firmly.

An awkward moment passed as Liarra held his gaze, taking stock of him for a brief moment. As he stared into her eyes, Ezekiel saw a glimpse of a bright flame cross her irises, causing him to blink in disbelief.

"It's okay Korlac, he's good," Liarra said, leaning back while sipping gingerly from her mug.

Korlac was still glowering at the much smaller Ezekiel, until he suddenly shrieked out, having only just noticed Onyx sitting next to him, giving the orc her own baleful stare.

"Now that is interesting, you have a planar aligned pet. Those are rare indeed,” Liarra commented while nibbling a piece of cheese. "Seems to be aligned with the Plane of Earth..."

"Please...my brother," Ezekiel prompted, tiring of the banter. He knew Liarra was trying to show off, revealing that she knew more than most of the common peasants or even the sheriff, but Ezekiel wasn't in the mood after having his hopes raised mere moments ago.

"Alright, alright, but only because Ella might actually kick us out if we tease you any further. No, you're not the first moon elf we've encountered, though you are the second one. The first Korlac and I ran into about... how long ago was that, Kay?"

Finishing his second mug of ale as quickly as his first, Korlac chewed a fistful of meat and cheese all squished up together. "Four years, on that stinky ship."

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"You'll need to be more specific, Kay. They're all stinky."

"Where we freed the slaves," Korlac explained.

"Oh, that's right. So, get this: we were traveling far, far out, near Ashland port..."

"That is far, nearly on the other side of Terrial," Ezekiel commented.

"Yeah, so we're that far out, working with a transport ship. We often get hired on, Korlac for muscle and me to help tweak the munitions on the ship so they get the most out of their powder without blowing themselves up. So, there we were, guarding another shipment, when we found a dingy with a few naked people in it. Turns out, they were slaves en route to Ashland. Never been a fan of slaving myself, and the ship captain found it distasteful as well, so we took them aboard, clothed and fed all of them. Captain was also happy to give them work to earn some coin along the way."

Liarra took another sip of her ale, pausing a moment in her retelling.

"So, as we're traveling, it turns out a slaving vessel was looking for their lost cargo, and they caught up to us. Now the captain, he was torn. He really didn't want to turn over the slaves, but he also didn't want to risk the wrath of King Tal'Dar, seeing as the slaving vessel was operating under his flag."

Ezekiel flinched at the mention of Tal'Dar, but kept any other outward reactions at bay, though he knew Liarra caught his recoil.

"Anyways, so there we are, being boarded and in an impossible situation, when out of nowhere came this other vessel. It was fast and sturdy, and it whacked the crap out of the slaving vessel. They boarded it, and basically killed all the slavers and freed the slaves. We didn't really do anything, as we were just sort of stuck there in shock."

"No, we helped. We killed a lot of..." Korlac interrupted, causing Liarra to raise her eyebrows in stern response.

"Kay, you are misremembering, because any act against the slavers would be an act against the king, right?"

"Oh, yeah, we were shocked..." Korlac agreed, nodding insincerely.

Liarra sighed.

"So, I'm confused, where did you see the moon elf, exactly?" Ezekiel asked.

"Well, it was a little hazy, and the blur of combat can make for bad memories, but the captain of the other vessel, the one that attacked the slavers and freed the cargo, was a moon elf. He had a shaggy beard, and long hair tied up into a ponytail. To be honest, I never would have associated it with the parchment that has your brother's image if it wasn't for..." Liarra trailed off.

"The smile," Ezekiel finished.

"Yeah, the smile. All during the fight, as he fought the slavers with a rapier in one hand and, well, a power of some sort in the other, he wore a demon’s grin the entire bloody time."

Ezekiel's heart soared, knowing exactly what she was talking about. Zeldren always had that smile during combat, especially when he felt the fight was righteous. It was him, it had to be, he thought.

"And all of this was near Ashland?"

"Yup. All that way out. Honestly, after that, the heat got bad on us, hence why we work here now, finding our way back to Greencoast as much as possible," Liarra explained.

"Well, that's something I can at least work with. Thank you, thank you very much," Ezekiel said as he tossed a coin purse on the table.

In a swift and deft movement, Liarra's hand shot out and swiped the coin purse, hiding it on her person in a practiced motion leaving Ezekiel mystified as to where the purse could even be.

"So, I guess that means you'll be leaving us soon, Mr. Graystone," Ella said, a hint of loss evident in her tone.

"I'm afraid so. I was looking to leave soon anyway, so this works out just fine."

Ella nodded, her face a mixture of emotions. "Just, could you make sure to say goodbye to Davis either tonight or in the morning. He's gonna be all sorts of broken up about it. He was really thrilled you'd be sticking around for a few weeks."

"Of course, Ella. I wouldn't dare think of departing without saying goodbye to both Drez and Davis. But, like you said, we can save that for the morning. With that in mind, I'll take my leave of you all. I have preparations to make, but I'll be back down for dinner."

"We'll be off in the morning as well, Ella. We've already got work lined up on another ship. Can't turn down good coin these days," Liarra said.

Korlac moaned, not caring to hide his disappointment behind common civilities. "Ahhh, but we just got here, and Drez and Davis said they were going fishing tomorrow."

"Sorry, Kay, but I've got a feeling we shouldn't stay too long on this trip," Liarra replied, giving Ezekiel a look. He simply nodded, confirming what she was asking without words.

**********

Evening came quickly as a fog rolled into Greencoast, causing the lamps to flicker dully, and leaving the town blanketed in eerie shadows. In his room, Ezekiel read his grimoire at the desk, refreshing his memory on various spells for the journey ahead. Onyx lay on the rug, snorting from time to time in Zeke's direction.

"I don't know why you're in a huff. You know we have to leave," Ezekiel replied to Onyx, easily reading her tone. "Besides, we're a bigger liability to them if we stay here. If the Inquisition finds us they'll surely put us in chains, and the last thing we want to do is come under the attention of the Church, or worse, the king’s guard."

Onyx yowled, her claws flexing on the floor.

"Listen, I like them too, and besides the dockmaster, it's a cozy little town. I figure once we find Zeldren, we can return here now and then, like Korlac and Liarra seem to do. But first we need to find Zeldren," Ezekiel explained. Onyx nodded lazily before her attention was rattled by dancing lights outside, followed by knocking at his door.

Opening it, Ezekiel was faced with a very concerned Ella, her face pale and devoid of humor or small talk.

"Mr. Graystone, it's Davis. He..." Her face was contorted in concern.

"What's wrong, where is he?" Ezekiel asked, donning his jacket.

"I heard something outside, and the fog is fierce this evening. I was worried something was wrong, and Davis heard me discussing it with Liarra as I was asking if she and Korlac could check it out. Well, Davis, he's got it in his head he needs to step up, said something about everyone else leaving and him needing to do something, so he took a torch and ran outside to check it out."

Onyx was already on her feet at the door as Ezekiel stuffed his grimoire back into his dimensional pocket, eliciting a curious raised eyebrow from Ella. There wasn't enough time to address that as Ezekiel had a pretty good idea what lurked in the fog.

Racing downstairs, he found Liarra and Korlac already at the door, adjusting their gear as they prepared to exit the tavern.

"Sorry, Colonel, but this might not be the best place for an officer to play hero," Liarra teased as she adjusted her potion bandolier.

"Your jabs were more amusing when a child's life wasn't on the line." Ezekiel retorted as he rushed out ahead of Korlac and Liarra.

Stepping outside, Ezekiel squinted, his ability to see in darkness thwarted by the thickness of the fog. It rolled lazily through the town, bringing with it an unpleasant odor.

Running behind the tavern, through buildings and into the sparse tree-line, Ezekiel cursed under his breath as he no longer saw the dancing light he had seen previously from his room.

"Davis! Davis, can you hear me!?" Ezekiel called out as he ran through the brush.

"Ezekiel!" A panicked voice called out from far away into the trees.

"Davis, I can barely hear you! Can you find your way to me?" Ezekiel called out again, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from.

Echoing his calls for the boy, Liarra and Korlac both trudged through the fog, becoming equally disoriented.

"Do you have any sunstones?" Zeke called out to Liarra through the fog.

"No. Korlac and I don't really have much need for them," She hollered back.

Cursing under his breath, Ezekiel determined the risk was worth the safe return of Davis as he cast a light spell, focusing it onto his palm. Holding it high above his head, Ezekiel started waving it around.

"Can you see my light, Davis? I'm waving it back and forth!"

"Yes...I... I can see it! Hold on, I'll head your direction!"

Ezekiel remained in place, waving his light back and forth as a beacon for Davis to follow. Soon, he was joined by both Liarra and Korlac, the alchemist wearing a smug look as she saw the light hovering in his hand.

"So not just an officer then."

"We can discuss the details of my service at another time, if you're that intrigued," Ezekiel snapped back as he waved his hand back and forth above his head slowly.

"I'd be happy to. It's not often you meet someone who knows what things were like before the Fall.”

Ezekiel met her gaze, seeing her curiosity piqued.

Running with a limp, Davis emerged from the fog, his face white with fear. He held a burned-out torch in a tight grip with both hands.

"Ezekiel, there you are!" Davis cried out as he flung himself at the moon elf, hugging him around the waist.

"It's okay, we're all here. Why on earth did you run out of the tavern?" Ezekiel asked, leaning down to check on the boy and make sure he was okay other than his sore ankle.

"It's my job, to make sure mom and the tavern are safe."

"Davis, I know you think that's your job, but honestly, you're not old enough to..." Ezekiel started to lecture until he saw Davis staring at the orb of light in his palm.

"Whoa, what is that?"

"It's a simple light spell, one of the most basic incantations you can possibly learn," Ezekiel explained as Davis reached out to touch the orb. Normally a light spell wouldn't react to anyone but the spellcaster, but as Davis touched the orb, it rippled softly, the light flickering wildly.

"That's amazing..."

Staring at Davis's interruption of his spell, Ezekiel was dumbfounded at the boy's innate ability to bend his magic.

"Davis, have you... have you done this before?"

"Five years ago, my dad showed me some stuff like this. I was able to do the same thing then," Davis admitted.

Ezekiel looked bewildered and annoyed. Liarra and Korlac merely watched, both a bit dumbfounded at the interaction.

"I think your mother and I need to have a conversation."

The group walked off, working their way through the shadows and fog, oblivious to the presence of Greggory lurking behind a nearby tree, a dagger in his hand. He had intended to ambush Ezekiel, hoping the boy had lured him far enough away from the village, but knew his opportunity was gone when Liarra and Korlac approached. Though, after seeing what the elf and the boy had done with the light, his plans started to shift.

"Two heretics will fetch more coin than one," he mused softly to himself.