To say that Dalthan Sol’Magor was less than satisfied with his current state of affairs would be a significant understatement. Zaplixel was ruining everything. Everything. Dal knew there was a reason why he hadn’t simply murdered the old asshole, but he was struggling to remember what that reason might have been. Inwardly cursing the bald [Swindler], Dal tried his best to restrain the frustration that lent his words a vicious, jagged edge.

“How the fuck did you two get a key to my room?” the [Rogue] seethed.

Sylvia’s amused snort led him to believe that his best hadn’t been good enough to adequately soften his tone. Not that anyone in the room was particularly surprised. Who could blame him for being mad? He’d literally brought a forest nymph back to his room. If he were back in Wavecrest, the story would have been good enough to earn him free drinks for life at any tavern in Low Town. It was the stuff of legends. Except in the legends, the steamy encounter between the vivacious nymph and the rakishly handsome hero never got ruined by a slimy [Swindler] and the bloodthirsty [Sharpshooter] that followed him around like an attention-starved puppy.

Zaplixel, looking insufferably pleased, idly twisted one of the many rings he wore as he spoke. “We didn’t need a key. We told the receptionist at the front desk that Lady Belial sent us here on official business. She led us upstairs and let us right in.” The grin slashed across the old man’s face only widened as he let his pale eyes drift appreciatively across the nymph at Dalthan’s side. “I hope we’re not interrupting anything,” the wizard positively sneered.

Dal’s fingers brushed against the hilt of his dagger as he considered slicing the smug smile right off Zap’s face.

“We didn’t know you’d already hired one of Polly’s girls,” Keysha drawled as her gray eyes slid from Dalthan to Sylvia. Zap gave a start and turned as if he were on the verge of correcting her, but with her attention focused on the other woman, she never saw Zaplixel’s warning look. “I don’t think they give refunds and we’re not going to sit around here while you get what you paid for.”

“Oh, I don’t work here. Don’t worry about the mistake, though.” Sylvia spoke to Keysha with an overwhelmingly sweet tone, like tea flavored with too much honey to hide the spike of cyanide within. “First impressions are easy to get wrong. I thought you were one of Ancev’s zombies when we first walked in.” The [Druid] spoke a kind of casual malice while she unhooked her arm and stepped around Dalthan. The tips of her slender fingers drug lightly down his arm before she moved to take a seat.

“My name is Sylvia and I’ve been independently contracted to join your crew on this chore.” The nymph drew back one of the many chairs lining the long table and folded herself primly onto the empty seat. If she noticed the glare Keysha sent her way, she didn’t let it impact her professional demeanor.

Zaplixel and Keysha shared a suspiciously significant look before Zap pointed rudely at the nymph. “I don’t give a damn if she’s with Experience and Levels. Nobody told us anything about adding more people to the crew.”

Dalthan’s shoulders lifted in a nonchalant shrug as he moved to take a seat on the opposite side of the table from Sylvia. “You’re being told now. What difference does it make?”

“What difference does it make?” Keysha sounded scandalized as her gray eyes shifted from their study of the [Druid] to look toward the thief. Her leather armor creaked as she lifted her arm to stab an extended finger toward the [Rogue]’s chest to punctuate her words. “It’s another cut of the profit that isn’t going into our pockets. I’d say that definitely makes a difference.”

“You better get used to the idea of having a smaller cut of the profits because we haven’t finished adding people to the team yet.” Dal, embracing a moment of showmanship, let the bewilderment linger on Keysha’s face for a drawn-out moment before he continued. “Come out and say ‘hi’ to everyone, Vex.”

Like an iceberg suddenly rising from the depths of the ocean, the blue abomination’s flat head broke the surface of Dalthan’s shadow. Its coal-black eyes glanced dismissively across Dal’s old companions before it turned its attention to the now familiar room. As more of the massive creature rose from the floor, Keysha stiffened in shock at the sight of the slaad’s wide, tooth-filled maw and the hard knots of powerful muscle chiseled across its hulking frame.

“I do not like this place,” Vex croaked sullenly. “Why have we returned? Are we going to reclaim my sparkly hat and bathe in the blood of those who took it from me?”

“What the fuck?!” Keysha shouted in alarm as she snatched at the massive bow propped against the edge of the table.

“I told you he had a frog in his shadow,” Zaplixel said calmly, but Dalthan didn’t miss the way the [Swindler] began to fidget nervously with one of the shiny necklaces he wore.

Keysha hadn’t missed the mage’s display of anxiety either. “Yes! You said he had a frog in his shadow. A frog, Zaplixel.” The archer growled, trying to watch the slaad and glare at the wizard at the same time. “In what fucking world is that thing a frog?”

“She’s right,” Sylvia said while she calmly poured herself a glass of water from the pitcher on the table. “A frog is a natural creature. A blue slaad, like Vex, is about as unnatural as you can get.”

Dalthan waved to the nymph and silently gestured for her to fill a glass for him. Sylvia arched a brow, looked at the pitcher of water, and then pointedly sat back down. Once seated, she responded to the thief’s betrayed look by lifting her glass for a long, refreshing drink.

“Exactly,” Keysha said, momentarily forgetting the barbs she’d exchanged with the other woman only moments before. Apparently, the [Sharpshooter] was willing to accept whatever allies she could find in the face of Vex’s wickedly curved claws. “It’s not a frog, it’s a fucking monster.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“Vex is not a monster,” Dalthan said, his emerald eyes narrowing as he turned toward Keysha. “It’s a person. And, before we waste any more time debating it, a person deserves their fair cut of the loot.”

“That’s preposterous,” Zap said as he poured Keysha a glass of water and slid it to her. He immediately emptied the rest of the pitcher into a second glass. While an expectant Dalthan looked on, Zaplixel lifted the water to his lips to take a long, satisfying sip. “We may not be able to keep your groupie from joining us,” the [Swindler] said, “but I’m drawing the line at the slaad.”

Zap’s pale eyes stared challengingly at Dalthan, daring the [Rogue] to disagree. While the two faced off, tension began to crackle through the room. Shale, the [Stone Golem], seemed to be immune to the rising tide of bloodlust drifting through the air like a haze of dust simply waiting for a spark.

Vex, seemed equally uninterested. Not due to his implacable nature, but because he had much larger concerns.

“Look, Human Dalthan! They brought my sparkly hat and cape back!” The slaad sprang from the thief’s shadow and began hurtling across the room like a blue boulder rushing down a mountainside. The slaad crossed the room in the blink of an eye, nearly bowling over the chair beside the fireplace when it tried to halt its considerable momentum. For there, sitting upon the plush cushion of the ornate chair that’d served as Vex’s throne, was a neatly folded cape with a crown placed atop it.

Dal couldn’t help the lopsided smile that twisted his lips when he watched Vex triumphantly hoist the twinkling crown onto its flat head.

Where it immediately fell off, striking the floor with a resounding clang that sent sparkling pieces of costume jewelry scattering across the far side of the room.

The thief winced as Vex glanced furtively around before it quickly scooped up the dented crown and placed it, more carefully, atop its brow.

When the murder toad began donning its fur-trimmed cape, Dalthan turned his attention back to Zaplixel and Keysha. The two evil doers were still focused on the slaad, not even giving the thief a passing glance until Dal pointedly cleared his throat. Only then did the wizard and warrior drag their attention away from the blue monstrosity.

Dal leaned forward, catching Zap’s pale blue eyes with his vibrant green. “Do you want to be the one to tell Vex that he doesn’t get a share of the spoils?”

The old [Swindler] puckered his lips as if he’d just bitten into the multiverse’s most sour lemon. The mage half-heartedly mumbled, “He’s your friend. Why don’t you tell him.”

“Because friends don’t cut each other out of the loot,” Dalthan said. The thief waited a beat before he continued with a switchblade smile twisting his lips. “You’d know that if you had any.”

Sylvia’s light-hearted giggle was matched by Keysha’s derisive snort. Both women smothered their sounds of amusement as quickly as they’d been born. In the silence that followed, Sylvia tossed Dalthan a positively lecherous wink while Keysha glared at the nymph as if the [Druid] had murdered Fluffy.

“Alright,” Dal said, moving things along before the two women could escalate their conflict beyond giving each other dirty looks. “Now that we’ve come to an agreement, why don’t you hand over the quest scroll.”

Dalthan’s irresistible charm fell unfortunately flat when confronted with an audience of heartless evildoers. When confronted with the full weight of his dashing good looks, he’d expected Keysha to happily comply and then, perhaps, offer to join him and Sylvia for the remainder of the night. Instead, the archer pointedly folded her leather-clad arms across her chest and looked down her nose at him as if she were trying to decide if he’d look better with one black eye or two.

“Or,” Sylvia said, her silky tones dripping disdain like juice seeping from an overripe fruit, “we could go find Lady Belial and let her know that you refused to cooperate. I don’t know why Dalthan is trying to play along with you two, but I’ve got better things to do with my time. Hand over the fucking quest, right now, or I’m going to walk out of this room and head straight to the Well of Sins.”

The [Swindler] and the [Sharpshooter] shared a glance, but it was the third member of their trio that chose to act.

Moving like a giant tiptoeing through a house full of sleeping children, the [Stone Golem] carefully stepped toward the nearby table. Even with all its care, the golem’s heavy footfall rattled the dishes set out across the table and sloshed water over the rims of the delicate crystal glasses. Undeterred, the golem continued to advance until it silently loomed over the angry [Druid].

“Shale,” Dalthan said, holding one hand out toward the golem as he gracefully rose to his feet. He wasn’t entirely sure how one kept a living rock calm, but he was damn sure going to try before he watched Sylvia get turned into a pile of gooey meat paste.

The nymph’s amber eyes were still blinking up at the golem in mild confusion when Shale presented a rolled-up sheet of yellowed parchment. Held between the golem’s three stone fingers, the magical scroll looked as tiny in its grip as a toothpick would have in Dalthan’s. Sylvia looked up at the paper and then let her eyes trail to the pumpkin-sized stone that appeared to be Shale’s head.

“Thank you,” the nymph said, offering the golem a positively radiant smile as she reached up to wrap her slender fingers around the offered scroll.

“Gods damn it, Shale.” Zaplixel cursed as he watched Sylvia quickly offer the newly acquired quest to Dalthan. “Now we’re stuck with the green floozy until after we finish this chore.”

Dal tuned the prick out and eagerly unrolled the scroll. A part of him had been looking forward to another quest. All the talk about his father and his past had ignited a powerful need within him to simply get away. He couldn’t think of many ways to put more distance between himself and his problems than traveling to an entirely different plane of existence.

Quest

Make your way across the Quartz Valley to the Fortress of Scorched Stone. Once there, find a way to release Rimewyrd, The First Frost. You have fourteen days to accomplish this goal and return to the Hub with Rimewyrd.

WARNING: The Fortress of Scorched Stone contains an interdiction field that prevents planar travel. Returning to the Hub will only be possible once you have escaped its boundary.

Time till quest activates: 4:12:33

Dalthan blinked and read the quest again, paying especially close attention to the timer that had just over four hours remaining on it. When he finally looked up, he found everyone in the room watching him expectantly.

Never one to disappoint, Dalthan said the first thing that passed through his mind.

“Who the fuck is Rimewyrd?”