We asked around for a few hours, but none of the other shopkeepers would help us. The second they heard the name "Vral," we promptly got escorted out of every shop on the strip. By the time the evening bell tolled on the mountainside and the miners began pouring out of the mine, we weren't any closer to finding the goblin than we were that morning.

The wind had picked up throughout the day, and it was starting to get cold. We'd long since pulled our cloaks tight to preserve us from the chill. I was beginning to give up on finding any leads, and a glance at Tristan told me he was too. His cheeks were red from the cold wind, and he looked tired. I realized that, due to Farvad, he hadn't slept well. He probably would need a good night's rest.

However, something caught my eye just when I was about to call it quits. Down a side alleyway was a small boy, probably nine or ten, wearing little more than rags. He was far enough into the alley that he was protected from the wind but not so far that he couldn't be seen. A poor child sitting in the streets wasn't all that striking. Galden had a good amount of beggars, as I'd learned throughout the day.

But, something was off about him.

At first glance, he looked normal. Short brown hair and dirty green clothes. A small hat set in front of him for crystals. But he looked dirty in the wrong ways, almost like it was a costume. He looked well-fed too, with round, plump cheeks and a healthy pallor, setting him at odds with the other beggars I'd seen. It felt wrong to judge a beggar that way, but my gut told me something was up. I elbowed Tristan.

"You see that?"

"An urchin. Fascinating, Alex." He shifted to continue walking.

I grabbed his cloak and stopped him. "No, look closer. There's something off about him."

Tristan rolled his eyes and looked at the child again. "No shit..." Tristan's soft voice barely carried over the wind. "I heard they do that sometimes, but I didn't think it was real."

"Do what?"

"Halflings. I heard they sometimes dress up like kids as a con. Works great on the kindhearted. I guess we know how soft your heart is now."

"Ass."

"Just saying."

I shook my head. What a world this was. "Maybe we'll get some answers." I started walking down the alley to the man-child.

"Wait." Tristan tugged my shoulder. "Why do you think he's here? Beggars are supposed to be the eyes and ears of criminals and the like. Maybe we should walk away."

"Well, if he is a kid, I can't just walk by, now can I?" I pulled my arm free and kept walking. Tristan followed, albeit hesitantly.

"Sir, please" the kid said as we approached, his tone pitiful. He limply held out a small hat. He looked sickly and pale, but I could tell up close that I was right. The roundness in his cheeks and the twinkle in his hazel eyes told a story other than abject poverty.

"Of course, little one." I pretended to reach into my pouch and pull out some crystals. Kneeling in front of him, I turned my hand over. His eyes waited for something to fall into his hat, but when nothing did, I smiled. The man looked at me, bewildered and annoyed. I leaned in to whisper. "Cut the act. We're not idiots."

The man's facade broke. He leaned up and smiled. "That's not what I heard, at least about you. Heard you're pretty dumb." The man's eyes gleamed, but when the sound of footsteps filled the alley, his entire demeanor changed. "Oh, thank you, kind sir!"

I looked behind me just as an elven couple came into sight. The woman held her chest when she spotted the halfling, and the man immediately withdrew a few crystals and handed them to Tristan.

"For the lad." The man said, his deep blue eyes filled with compassion. "You're both doing a good thing, helping him." Tristan, bewildered, held his small hand out, and the man took it with the most sincerity I'd ever seen. "You do the Goddess's work in this cruel world."

"En la lumo," Tristan said, pulling out his holy symbol and waving it around as he said a few more words that I didn't understand. The elves nodded vigorously as he spoke.

"She's a priest, even! There is good in this world." The woman's voice was pure, like birdsong. I snickered at her words though. Everyone mistook Tristan for a girl.

"Come, let us leave the priests to their work." The man took her arm. Both of the elves bowed, their bodies bent nearly ninety degrees. They hung there for a long moment before standing back upright and walking away.

The halfling's eyes never left them until they were out of earshot. Once they were, he spoke normally again. "Heh, works every time on the pointy ears. They can't help themselves. So damn sentimental." He held out his hat to Tristan, who reluctantly dropped the elf's crystal into it. The halfling pulled his hand back and grinned a wide, toothy grin. "You two helped me good. Got more in that one haul than I did all day."

"Happy we could help. Now what the hell do you know about us?" I said, doing my best to be intimidating. The halfling wasn't impressed.

"Oh, you know. A little this, a little that." He coughed and shook his hat.

"Ass..." I pulled out a few crystals and dropped them into his hat.

"Ah, I think I'm remembering more now. "Maybe some rumors are spreading that some dumbass tried to stop the Slashers during a job."

"You heard what happened to me?" I blinked in disbelief. Word traveled fast.

The halfling adjusted his sack of cloth pants as he leaned against the wall. "Word has it Vral spared you after you pissed yourself. That true, pissboy? Did the mean green gobbo bitch scare you so bad you couldn't help it?" He gave a sly grin.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Despite myself, I smirked. "Yeah, got her right in her eye too. She could barely handle my stream of justice. A little longer and she would've drowned. You should've seen it."

The guy cracked a smile, then burst out laughing. "Now that's something I'd pay to see." He grinned and held out his small hand. "Name's Arturus."

"Alex." I shook his hand and waved Tristan over. "And this is my trusty sidekick Tristan."

Tristan huffed. "Yeah, don't listen to him. He's my comic relief. Nice to meet you, Arturus." He nodded to the man.

"Likewise." Arturus sat up. "Now, how about you tell me why you were snooping around askin' about Vral, eh? Not many people would do that if they didn't want to die. You looking to end up in the river? Or maybe you wanna be buried down in the quarry? Either way, it's not pretty." He chuckled.

"Well, she stole a bunch of shit from Farvad, and now I'm on the hook for it." I shrugged.

"You signed one of the old coot's contracts?" He covered his face with his palms and laughed again. "You really are dumb."

"In my defense—"

"I believe you now, lass. He's gotta be your comic relief," the Halfling laughed and pointed at Tristan, who smirked.

"Again, in my defense—"

"He's an impulsive idiot who doesn't listen to his best and only friend, who consistently is proven to have all the brains in our little duo." Tristan crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, mostly that actually." I looked up at Tristan and smiled. He puffed up with pride at being validated. Turning back to Arturus, I asked, "so can you help us out?"

The halfling shook his head and smiled. "You and the girl an item?" He eyed Tristan.

Tristan hid behind his hood. "Um... no. Nothing like that."

"Guys aren't exactly my type." I felt Tristan bristle next to me.

Arturus looked Tristan over for a moment and squinted. "Oh, my apologies. Mistook you for a dame." Tristan ignored him. "Anyway, yeah, I could help you two out if you made it worth my time. How about ten crystals to lead you to them? That'd be worth my time. Ain't made shit today anyway outside those elven softies."

"I'll give you three extra if you promise we can find them without issue."

He smirked. "Seven, and I even throw in some information."

I looked to Tristan, who shook his head. "Five."

Arturus glared at Tristan. "You'd do well to listen to the dame more often. Smart one." The halfling spit in his hand and held it out. "Done."

I took his hand and immediately regretted it, but it was too late. Then, I took a handful of crystals out of my pocket and pressed them into the halfling's soft, tiny hand. He chuckled as he counted them, stood up, and dropped them into his pocket.

"Well, that's a fair payment. I'll be eating well tonight. Follow along, newbies. Let's get you where you're going.

***

We followed Arturus for over an hour as he wound us through every part of town imaginable. I guessed it was intentional to lose anyone who might be trailing us, which I supposed made sense. Along the way, he taught us a little bit about Galden's politics.

From what the man told us, there were three competing civil guilds in town. The miners' guild, the merchants' guild, and the crafters' guild. Since this was the only city to mine glowstones for a hundred miles in any direction, the competition between the groups was intense. Each one controlled various parts of the city and had different levels of influence everywhere. More importantly, they regularly hired mercenaries and adventurers to do their dirty work.

As for our situation, Arturus didn't know much, but he knew that Farvad had defaulted on some job he'd taken for the crafters' guild, and the Slashers were hired to deal with it. From what he said, the Slashers had been a registered party with the Fighter's Guild, but they'd been kicked out a while back for taking on unregistered jobs. They'd since become unaffiliated mercenaries. I didn't quite understand what all that meant, but it was interesting. There were apparently multiple competing civil and adventuring guilds here.

After weaving through the streets a while longer, he guided us to the mountain. We walked along the stone face for maybe twenty yards before he found something. Pulling back a facade, the halfling revealed a metal grate, pulled it back, and led us down a short staircase into a long stone tunnel. Our footsteps echoed off the stone walls as we walked, and it was damp and smelled like mildew.

"Where is this?" I asked, my voice echoing in the gloom.

"Shhh, not now. Monsters sometimes hide in the tunnels. Wait until we get where we're going."

Monsters? I unslung my shield and placed my hand on my sword.

Finally, after a solid five-minute walk in the gloomy tunnel, with only small glowing crystals in the walls lighting our path, we came to a crossroads. Taking a left, we walked further. As we did, I could make out the barest hint of voices in the distance, and a bit further long I could smell something. It smelled good. Like... food?

"Do you smell that?" I asked.

Tristan nodded.

"Yeah, we're down in the Dregs now. All kinds of good food to eat down here. Just don't ask what goes in it."

"The Dregs?"

"The lowest parts of the city. It used to be where the first mine shafts were dug. Today, it's where the poor folks live." He gave his signature toothy grin. "And all the criminals."

There was another branch in the tunnel ahead. Light poured out of the right side, and the sounds of hundreds of voices bounced off the stone and dirt of the tunnel. Taking the right, Arturus led us into a huge cavern. Glowing gems adorned the walls and ceilings as far as I could see. Scattered about in the dim light were hundreds of ramshackle structures. Some were made of dirt and wood, others of stone, and others were little more than cloth tents. They were packed tightly together, and the streets that ran through them were packed with people. Many people in the crowd had dull clothing in varying states of disrepair, and many others were well-equipped. Most wore hooded cloaks that hid their faces.

"Welcome home, boys." He spread his arms wide with a proud grin. "It's not much, but it's better than life up top for some. Down here, the rules don't matter. Come on, it ain't far. Stay close."

He pushed into the throng with practiced ease. We did our best to trail him, but it wasn't so easy. Due to his small stature, he shoved through the crowds with almost no resistance. We normal-sized folks weren't so lucky. I did my best to follow him, but the constant stream of people slowed me down. After a few minutes of pressing through the mass of bodies, I saw a narrow gap form ahead and spied Arturus about fifteen feet ahead of me, hands on hips and tapping his foot. I grabbed Tristan's thin wrist and ducked through the crowd. A moment later, we were beside the little man again.

"Sorry, I forget how awkward you tall folk are," the man grinned, then nodded at a nearby stone structure set into the cavern's wall. "That's what you're looking for."

The structure was by far the largest in the Dregs. It was carved from stone and spanned the entire height of the cavern and was at least as wide. There were no identifying markers on the building.

"So what am I looking at?"

"That's the only inn in the Dregs." He slapped my stomach playfully, then pointed to the building. "Everyone who's anyone on this side of the law stays there, so I'll bet my mother's ashes she's renting out a room."

"Why's she doing that? Is it cheap or something?"

Arturus scoffed. "Hell no, that place costs an arm and a leg. But anyone who's not spoken for comes here for work. All you unchartered mercs." He looked around then leaned close. "Vral works for a company called The Slashers. She's been taking jobs from Jorgan." He stood back tall and brushed his coat off. "Now, if you'll excuse me," the man gave a two-finger salute, "my job's done, and I'm starving. Until next time." Arturus walked into the crowd and was gone.

Tristan looked the structure over. "Now what?" His blue eyes met mine. He was nervous. I scanned him and realized something. He wasn't looking great. He was pale and clammy, and he was breathing heavier than usual. His night out in the woods did a number on him.

I did the math and came to a decision. Patting him on the shoulder, I gave him my best smile and answered, "We know where to go, now. Before we jump into anything stupid, let's go back to the inn and get you some rest. We'll come when we're ready."

The look of shock on his face was priceless.