Rosalia led their small squad into the stone guild hall, except she wasn’t Rosalia when they crossed the threshold. She had an enormous mustache, a balding scalp, and was wearing a faded brown suit.

She grinned beneath her whiskers as Hazen gapped at her. “I can’t register as myself,” she said. “I’d rather the Archmagus not know… She’s pretty strict on mages running off on adventures. It's why this guild hall is so small despite the size of the city.”

“The name is Titus,” she said to the yawning, scrawny young man behind the counter. “I’ve come to register a party of adventurers and take on some quests.”

The young man looked at ‘Titus’ skeptically but his scowl relaxed when he saw Tano and Hazen, he broke out into a smile grin seeing Dina. “Best archerer in town!” he exclaimed. “It was about time you signed up for a quest. What was holding you back?”

Dina rolled her eyes but really she was just avoiding his gaze.

The young man handed them a form. “Registration is 10 silver for the group, plus 3 silver per member. I need the name of your adventuring party and the names of each participant.”

Rosalia fished out the money for all of them- the ‘Titus’ persona she was adopting looked like the sort to both have money and be in dire need of it.

Hazen was the last to scribble in his name. He was ready to finally use that signature he’d been practicing since childhood, but he stopped the pen above the paper at the last second. Rosalia had written ‘Titus,’ at the top. He didn’t want his sister knowing he was around. Not yet. He wrote “Anders,” hoping his mentor would consider it an honor and an ode, rather than an insult to his own (supposed) heroic history.

“And your group name?” the guild staff member asked.

The four party members shared a glance, but Tano spoke up before any discussion could begin. “MahoganEye,” he said, gritting his teeth in determination.

“You mean mahogany?” Hazen asked, scratching his brow.

“No, MahoganEye. Mahogany + Eye.”

“Why?” Hazen asked.

“Mahogany is a water-resistant wood, maybe it's a commentary on our endurance?” Dina wondered.

“No,” Tano, shaking his head.

“The idea of nature, symbolized by the tree, and sight. So it's about our ideals- looking out for the natural state of being…” Rosalia/Titus muttered.

“No,” Tano said. “It just sounds cool.”

“Does it?” Hazen asked; Tano’s glare was a full-on tackle. Hazen sighed. This was the guy who had named a broken down bar “The Fortress.”

“MahoganEye it is,” Hazen said.

“Now then, what quests do you have available?” Rosalia/Titus asked

“The Order of the Half Moon takes care of most things around here, so honestly not much,” the guild staff member said. “Sometimes we even have to pay them to leave some tasks undone.”

“The Order really is terrible,” ‘Titus’ agreed.

The staff member looked to Dina. “You know, there’s a hunting job. A pretty serious one. Usually we’d want an adventuring party to prove themselves, but seeing who's here…”

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“We’ll take it!” Hazen said.

“Hold on,” Rosalia/Titus said, reading the flyer that the staff member was holding. “Let’s do something a little easier first, if you have anything on hand…”

“Not sure it’s easy,” the staff member said. “There’s an herb the local temple of the healing arts was looking for. They posted it with us a few months back. They compete with the mages for medical clients so it makes sense they’d rely on us.”

He pulled out another crumpled flier. He spent a few seconds flattening it before handing it over.

“It’s a flower called Alma’ tears,” Rosalia/Titus said. “They’re asking for a full flower or at least a bulb. It grows at the peak of Mt. Sorano.”

The moment they left the guild house Rosalia transformed back into her normal self. Hazen breathed a sigh of relief.

“I almost kept it,” she said. “Your reaction is priceless.”

“Oh come on,” Dina said. “You waste enough magic power.”

“Now that I think about it,” Tano said, scratching his square chin which was speckled with thick black beard bristles. “I think I’ve seen that ‘Titus’ illusion before. A man who looked just like that established an account at my bar a few months back. Drank up enough of a storm that I trusted him. And then he never came back, or paid…”

“I must have based the illusion off someone I saw,” Rosalia said, looking straight forward as she led the group.

“Sure,Sure…” Dina said. “How many alt identities do you have?”

“Well there’s this family that pays me to impersonate their deceased mom…”

“Stop! That’s terrible!” Tano roared.

“The kids know it isn’t real,” Rosalia said with a hint of vehemence. “I wouldn’t trick anyone about family. They just want to feel like they’re getting a little more time.”

“Where Mt. Sorano?” Hazen asked, changing the subject before Rosalia made any more dramatic reveals.

“About 100 miles east,” Rosalia said, as she gestured to the destination of their walk: a stable.

Hazen flexed his knees. He could travel that distance in less than an hour… but knowing the general direction wasn’t enough to get him there.

“Tano, would you mind?” Rosalia said, gesturing to the stablehand.

“The amount you owe me grows and grows,” he muttered.

“Do this and I’ll make you look pretty at the next ball,” she said. “And I’d rather the Archmagus not find a financial record of me getting a horse.”

“Oh, whose eye is he trying to catch at the ball?” Hazen asked eagerly. Anders had given Hazen advice to stay away from romance, and he’d never been tempted to be heedless. But he enjoyed Anders’ (dramatically altered) stories of his past.

“Well-“ Tano started.

“He’s not trying to catch anyone’s eye that way,” Rosalia sighed. “He wants to look good so he can be hired as a caterer the next time.”

They saddled the horses and made their way. Hazen was sore within an hour. He’d practiced riding before-- hero-work could require a horseback duel after all. But never for very long… because he could run so much faster than any horse.

They’d made it 30 miles before they called it a night. Hazen’s whole backside ached as he tried to adjust himself on his sleeping bag; he attempted to count the stars in the clear night sky but it did nothing to help. He still wasn’t used to seeing them everywhere- the dark plumes from the dark lord’s castle used to block out the stars in half the country for days at a time.

The others had fallen into deep sleep as soon as they hit the sack, knocked out by the journey.

Hazen wobbled around restlessly. He thought about what Anders would say when he needed to be carried home after a long night out. ‘Don’t wait around for others to catch up; carry them with you.’

Hazen picked up Tano in his sleeping sack, hoisting him over his shoulder. Then he grabbed Tano’s horse under one arm, and ran due east. His footsteps were steady, and he made almost no sound. The movement rocked the man and animal further asleep. It took him about 45 minutes to drop them off 60 miles to the east.

He rushed back, and repeated the process with Rosalia and her horse. The mount woke up and struggled, kicking him when they were half way. He didn’t even stagger.

He stroked its neck, and it quieted. He thought he had a way with animals but really it just realized he could snap its neck.

When he returned for Dina, she wasn’t in her cot. He tensed, searching the trees, expecting to find her with her bow drawn. If she woke and saw her companions all gone, she might have assumed the worst and reacted violently. He was confident he could catch an arrow but he’d rather not explain things to her. Anders had said many times- demonstrate prowess in heroics and people admire it. Demonstrate it in daily life and they’ll label you a monster.

Leaves rustled. He dashed over and saw Dina ambling behind the brush.

“Shoot,” she said. “The target is right there. That’s it- NOO! You hit Toto? How could you hit Toto? How?! Never- never shoot again!”

Her rambling descended into sobs and then snores. It took Hazen a moment to realize she was sleep walking. He picked her up gently, went back for her bedding, and then grabbed the horse.

He paused before taking off. He adjusted her position, resting her one his right shoulder, and then grabbed her horse and his horse, one under each arm. It was still dark out when he reached the clearing where he had set the others down.

He yawned and went to sleep, until a shout woke him up four hours later.

“Where are we?” Dina hissed. There are no animal tracks, it doesn’t make sense. How did we end up here?”

“Don’t complain, it’s mighty convenient isn’t it?” Tano said. “The trees mostly obscure it, but you can see a tiny bit of the mountain from here!”

“I've heard of spontaneous movement, magic embedded in the earth. Where one place switches with another, or transports someone over,” Rosalia said. “I don’t see any lines of power, there’s no residue. But…”

Hazen stretched his arms as he got up. “Are we closer?” He asked innocently. Joy bubbled inside him but he grimaced to mask the smile. He had gotten the direction right. If he’d gone the wrong way and added more time on the horse he might have picked them all up when they were awake too.

“Somehow,” Rosalia said in wonder.

They reached the mountain’s base before Hazen’s bottom got sore.

“What.. What is this?” Hazen said as he looked up towards the top of the mountain. This time it was his voice that was filled with wonder.