Books 1 and 2

Copyright © 2014 by Michael Anthony ­

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly

journal. ­

First Printing: 2014 ­

ISBN 978-1-312-75110-1 ­

> ­

Hammonton,NJ 08037 ­

www.jerseyimperator.com ­

                                                                   Dedication

To My Son, Michael Anthony the 3rd

“Train the heart, train the body, and train the mind. That is the

Warrior Way”

Written by Michael Anthony Cover Art by Myah Sundvall

<Dec 2014>

Mez tapped his foot out of frustration. Not his usual calm self, the rogue was quite upset with the current trail of events that had reached him to this conclusion. Only a few months after being released into the world by the Adventurer’s Guild known only as Taunch, Mez had already performed less than adequately on his last two missions. Most recently his original partner, Darek, a fellow rogue, was reassigned to a more lucrative area while Mez was sent to be sent to another assignment with a different partner.

And Mez knew the truth of the move, it was a demotion. It was a lateral move to a less lucrative area with probably little wealth to be gained from reputation. There were only two things that Taunch cared about, building reputation in the far reaches of Mutzi and earning gold, most of which was collected by the more senior members of the guild as dues for favors and other assistance while adventuring.

Mez sat at the corner of a bar in a small inn at a settlement on the outskirts of a region unknown to Mez. He had been travelling many days and shown wear for his woes. He wore a black, short brim hat with a once white now turned brown from dust and grime band going around it. A brown, low cut shirt covered his leather armor that adorned both his chest and legs. His black pants were muddy and worn, showing frayed edges that brushed at the tops of his brown leather boots. Behind him flowed a black jacket with that

stopped just above the top of his boots. It mainly served the purpose to conceal the six daggers he kept along his back in sheaths attached to a belt that belted into his shirt. The first two of these daggers pointed outwards just below Mez’s shoulder blades. The other four sat just above the small of his back also facing in a manner that would make it easy for Mez to go from a calm posture to hands on the hilts of his weapons in a blink of an eye.

Or so he though anyways. Apparently Taunch believed Darek to be the superior rogue, and therefore sent him to the trade peninsula to pursue opportunities there. While Taunch usually allowed most members to adventure freely and would only appear when it was time to collect dues or pass information, there are times where the needs of the guild would necessitate the strategic placement of members. Although usually such assignments entailed seeking strong, young, ambitious and most importantly potentially powerful members to attend one of their various academies spread out across Mutzi dedicated to training these recruits in the ways of the guild and to hone their gift that was discovered by their recruiter.

For Mez it had been his deft hand at acquiring one such recruiters bag of gold right from under his sash that started his path that has now led him to sitting in this very inn, awaiting the arrival of another guild member, who was probably also found in a similar way. “Your life or your death, you decide”. Mez remembered the guild member telling him as he stared down the pointed end of the most amazing sword he had ever seen a man carry. Although Mez was only 11 years of age then, he was one of many orphans who ran the streets of his town getting food and coin any way they could. They were orphans to the ever growing threat right outside the gate that kept most of the humans of the keep on the correct side of the walls. But

every human city was intimate with war, Mez’s was no different.

While the guild member always knew Mez was approaching him from behind, could feel the child’s mischievous intent emanating off his eager frame, he instantly took note to how quiet this one’s approach was, for one his age and of no formal training. So his experiment a success, seeing the child had the potential to make a fine guild member, he allowed him to make a go at his bag, and promptly punched him in the back of the head as he tried to make his hasty retreat down an alleyway, sending him sprawling to the ground. “To deny me the coin for food is death anyways, what does it matter” and he spat on the ground close to the man’s feet to emphasize his disdain towards the situation.

Mez touched himself on the neck as he vividly remembered then the man walking right up to him and pricking him right below the chin with the tip of that magnificent sword. Blood dripped freely from the wound and down the sword and to the ground. “Do you not desire strength? The strength to not have to beg for your meals?” The man calmly spoke to Mez as he adjusted his position to come eye to eye with him from across the sword. “Would you rather my sword or a feast celebrating your entrance into a world you never knew open to you slide into your throat tonight?”. 8 years later and Mez had never eaten so well still. That next day he was on the back of a horse and within a tenday he was training at the Taunch School for Rogues.

It was the approaching sounds of footsteps that broke Mez out of his silent contemplation. He looked up from his glass, still half filled with the ale that was originally poured for him an hour earlier, as a human figure strolled through

the entrance. A woman of no particular interest other than the fact that she was a woman at an inn which typically only seen men patrons due to its secluded location in a town where the farmers probably were required to fight on a regular basis without the protection of an army. She wore a full length wizard’s robe, black fading to white as it flowed to the ground, six intertwined dragons was the design stitched across the chest of the robe. Mez knew this design to be the symbol of his secretive guild, to see it boldly worn out in public was unusual to say the least.

The rogue turned back to the bar, and at that moment he was the only man in the establishment not eyeing the stranger who had just entered. She sat at a position across from the three sided bar from Mez, two chairs to the left as the emissary from the guild explained. She looked up at him from under her upturned hood. Deep brown eyes locked with his, the wizard then willed them to change color in the blink of an eye to one blue eye and one red eye, then back to brown. That was the signal, Mez knew, not that he needed it with that robe she was wearing. He flashed a hand sign to silently notify his soon to be partner that he had acknowledged the signal and to continue with the next phase. She gave him an inquisitive look which meant to tell Mez that she had little understanding of what he had just signed. Hand signals had recently been incorporated into the training of the various schools of Taunch after extensive research was done into the history of the dark elves by the guild. Although their hand signs were nowhere near as complex as those used by the drow, it did serve its purpose in communicating quickly and silently. It seemed unusual that a guild member wouldn’t know the intricate language, but it also seemed unusual for a guild member to walk into an inn where a covert meeting was supposed to take place wearing guild attire. He began to wonder, if she was actually an imposter.

He threw down a few copper pieces for the drink, and made his way to the stairwell that would lead to the room that the guild had set up for his meeting. He gave not a glance to the wizard, in case this one proved indeed to be an imposter, he didn’t want to give any clue to his suspicions.

Mez sat in a corner of the small room that was adorned with a bed, table, and chair. A thick layer of dust coated the entire room, while it appears to be used often; the room hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. He gave a side glance to the bed and could only imagine how many germs and various bodily fluids it contained. A shudder went down his spine and he turned his focus back to the door. Through the door strolled the wizard from downstairs, Mez felt comfortable that the small size of the room allowed him the advantage in case this wizard did in fact end up being an imposture. He sat with his arms crossed at his waist, his hands only inches away from the hilts of the daggers located on the top of the small of his back.

The wizard stopped right in front of Mez, only two strides from the entrance, and bowed gracefully. “Well met, Mez the Unremarkable”. Mez winced at the sound of his official title with the guild, one he felt he unfairly earned during schooling. “Indeed....” he motioned for her to also give her name. “Rasia the Firedancer” she promptly responded with a wide, disarming grin.

Rasia sat and removed the hood of her robe, exposing long, bouncy, bright red curls. She wasn’t as dark skinned as him, but she had a tan tint to her complexion as if she had also come from an area of perpetual heat and sun. Her eyes had changed to a lighter, hazel color, the beauty of which wasn’t diminished by the various scars and cuts she carried along her face and arms. Rasia was also a human, he noted,

and also of young age. "She couldn’t be a day over 18 winters" Mez thought to himself has she sat down at the chair adjacent to his, her curls bouncing playfully and her smile beaming.

“It’s not often that you see human wizards, especially one as young as yourself,” Mez skeptically commented. “Well unlike you rogues, wizards aren’t actually considered released from school when we begin taking assignments,” she explained “I will have to return to school from time to time to receive additional instruction. I’m excited to start our first mission together though, when do you think Taunch will contact us next?” Rasia was eager and bubbling full of excitement.

“First mission,” Mez mouthed under his breath. He didn’t like the sound of that, although he was relatively new to adventuring, he didn’t like the idea of taking on a fresh fish from the school. At second glance, he deduced that the robe she was wearing was probably school uniform. He also wore a similar pant and vest combination when he was in school but discarded it immediately after being released. He looked back up at her “get rid of the robe” he announced after a few moments of silence.

“Why?”

“You attract attention, our jobs are usually easier if we attract less attention.”

“But are we not here to build reputation?” Rasia asked, and for the first time since they met, scrutinized the rogue that sat before her. As with Mez, she was also not told anything about the meeting other than the details of how they would identify one another and what to do once that identification was made. Rasia had expected to be teamed up with a senior wizard as most apprentice wizards usually were until her field training was complete, so she didn’t expect Mez to

be sitting at the other end of that bar that evening.

“Our jobs are easier accomplished when done so with discretion,” Mez replied coldly and in a way that would end any further discussion on the topic. Rasia gave him a stare that edged on threatening, then she rose and slowly removed her robe, exposing her skin tight leather breeches that accentuated the curves of her hips and thighs, a red blouse that buttoned from top to bottom that matched her hair. Her arms showed many scars and burn marks then what Mez originally noticed on her hand, neck and face. She wasn’t slender, but her build was athletic for a female. Tight leather boots completed the outfit; Mez also noticed a small blade attached to her ankle running along the boot. He had never seen a wizard carry such a weapon, which only made him question the abilities of his partner that much more.

“For someone who has seen no battles, you sure seem like you’ve taken a hit or two,” Mez smirked as the words left his mouth. “Well it is known that mage training is more, uhm, intense, than that of the rogues,” Rasia returned the smirk which then erased the one off of Mez immediately. This only made Rasia begin laughing.

“I see you two are getting along already,” a strong male’s voice entered the room but his presence was not known to either Mez or Rasia. Rasia immediately dropped into some semblance of a defensive posture. Although she didn’t reach for her sidearm, her hands shot out wide and she began mumbling the first verse of a spell. Mez remained seated, unmoving, unthreatened by the disembodied voice. “Do they not teach you anything about real operations in that school of yours?” Mez said to Rasia, the whole question dripping with condescending sarcasm. “How do you think Taunch communicates with adventurers on the

road? Hawk?” as he said that Mez stood and faced what Rasia now noticed to be a growing shadow in the corner of the room.

A figure walked out of the shadow, much smaller than the voice led on to be. A Halfling, wearing the finest blue and yellow cloth armor Rasia had ever seen. Blonde hair flowed down around his uncharacteristically slender face which made his bulbous nose stand out that much more. Which the Halfling was obviously proud of since he possessed various loop, stud, and dangling rings all along the nostrils. When the Halfling turned to regard Mez his blue and yellow cape flowed perfectly as if it magically extended not to impede the Halfling. He wore rings on every finger on his hand, some of them glowing, but outshined by the bands of what appeared to be gold and silver. Although Rasia’s knowledge of magical items was still elementary, she deduced that each one of those rings had magical properties. And as if to complete the ensemble, in his left ear the Halfling possessed more rings of various shapes and types which included one that dangled from his ear lobe and seemed to get lost in his hair.

“Well met, Taunch,” Mez bowed, although the tone of his

voice betrayed his obvious feelings of disdain towards the Halfling. “Humor me Mez the Unremarkable, why is it that Darek has achieved such greatness since leaving the school, yet here you are, dirty, smelly, an embarrassment to the guild. Why do I waste my time assisting you?”

Mez remained in his low bow, his face blushing with rage. Rasia, who by now had stopped spellcasting and just watching, recalling what she was told by her mentor before leaving to meet her first partner. She knew that every guild member was given a guild title after being released from the school and it would only change when a new one was earned. She knew Mez to only be a few months ahead of

her in adventuring so his title was likely his first. So what did he do in school to earn such an abysmal title? Apparently whatever it was continued to follow him because this seemingly high ranking member of the guild was talking down to him as if he was on the edge of expulsion, Rasia thought. She hoped his luck didn’t rub off.

“Aahh yes, because Taunch is forever charitable. And I couldn’t stand to see you waste the talents that we spent so hard training you to perfect so you can go out and support those who would want to follow in your footsteps,”

“And those who have, it would seem. Or are all those rings you wear spoils of war. Did you pull each one of those off of a corpse of a man you killed Taunch?” Mez dared to say, still in his bow.

“Most,” the Halfling chuckled, he held out his hands and began admiring them “although I admit a few are gifts from strong adventurers. Oh much stronger than you Mez the Unremarkable I assure you. This one for instance,” the Halfling held his arm straight out so it rested right under Mez’s bowed head, with the other hand he pointed to his pinky to a sparkling silver band with small stone set in it. But it appeared to be more than a stone, inside the stone waves appeared to be splashing back and forth. “This one was acquired by the great Darek-” he stopped suddenly and looked up as if to recall something very important, than a smile appeared on his blemish free face and his blue eyes began to sparkle. “Oh, has no one told you Darek’s new title?”

Rasia was beginning to feel insulted for the stoic Mez, who was standing there taking a verbal beating for a reason unknown to her. She began to step up and stand up for her new partner but before she could get a word in the Halfling

dramatically snapped a hand up towards her and no words came out. At first panic swept over the wizard until she realized that all sound had ceased around her, the boards didn’t creak when she walked and the heavy breathing of Mez was silenced.

“I am talking now!” boomed the Halfling, although there appeared to be no extra effort in his speech. Surely if the room hadn’t been magically silenced the boards would of shook. “Darek Waverider the Goblinbane!,” he continued at the same volume “He is growing a great name for our guild and you walk around looking like a street urchin barely able to pick a pocket.”

A slew of retorts came to Mez’s mind at that moment. Although it didn’t matter since he was magically silenced anyways. Considering that he was use to receiving more lectures than praises in his short time as a professional adventurer, he was use to the tactics used by Taunch’s emissaries to express the anger of the organization.

“Get to Fallcrest in the Cyrilwood Plains,” he continued in a calmer but still magically enhanced voice, “we have little invested in that region. So if you mess up there won’t be much to clean up. Grow our reputation and earn some damned gold so you can pay dues. Or else you will earn your dues by way of volunteer cleaning services for one of the brothels we pay for information. And put a damned uniform on, never again do I want to see you not wearing an item of clothing that has our brand on it.”

The Halfling held out his hand with his palm down and from it dropped two packs and two sets of clothing appropriate for a male and female human. A black and red travelling jacket the same length of Mez’s was included. On the back of it, the six intertwined dragons that made up

the guild’s symbol. “Guarantee this is the last charity you will receive from us Mez the Unremarkable,” As he finished the sentence, the darkness around him began to spread again, and soon breathing was heard in the room again. Mez stood back up to see a confused and exasperated Rasia staring at him. “And you should get a move on; it appears you have company...” the disembodied voice of the Halfling remarked but sounding as if he was much further away.

“Was that Master Taunch?!” Rasia suddenly blurted out. “Hardly, just an emissary,” he replied.

“But you referred to him as Taunch”

“You are required to refer to all emissaries of Taunch as Taunch; their will is the will of the organization, their word the word of Master Taunch himself. It not always the same person, but their entrance is always the same. Some are nicer than others, he’s one of the nice ones.”

“Him?”

“Well when you aren’t on a cold streak” “That’s what you call it?”

Mez’s response was interrupted by the sounds of four pairs of feet heavily stomping down the hall but in an attempt to silence their footfalls. Both adventurers stopped and listened to see if the footsteps would stop at a room further up the hall. The reservation of a room at the end of the hall was not an accident. A loud and self-defeating “Shhh” from one of the people approaching confirmed that the Halfling was correct in his advisement on his departure.

Rasia’s hand began to glow blue and Mez’s hands went to the hilts of the daggers on the top of the small of his back. “Oi! little brat. We know you bought yaself a wench. Be a good lad and open the door so we can partake on ye tab or else we’ll open it for ye and neither of ye walks out with

any coin at all,” lewd laughter echoed down the hallway. Mez heard the thug press his head up against the door as if he was waiting for a response. Mez responded by throwing one of his daggers into the door, it went right through and stuck into the face of the thug. A hush came over the hallway; it was obvious that the other thugs in the hallway were reconsidering their current course of action. Rasia looked over to Mez, her mouth wide open in a dumbfounded expression. Mez nodded towards the door “Well, are you going to do something?” he calmly pointed to her hand, still glowing blue, and back at the door. “Oh...right” she stammered.

The door was blown off its hinges by the force of Rasia’s magical bolt. The thugs fell back to shield themselves from the fragments of door flying at them, but they hadn’t even unsheathed their swords by time Mez let loose another the daggers, each striking center mass on each of the thugs. Mez and Rasia slowly strolled out their room, packs on their backs with the newly acquired clothing hastily strapped on top. Mez began removing the daggers from the corpses. The original thug looking the worst of the bunch, the dagger penetrated right through his ear, and if that didn’t kill him instantly the explosion surely did. He lay on the floor with his head twisted around so that it was facing his back. Rasia turned away from the grotesque sight and noted that Mez had already replaced the four thrown daggers and had two more daggers with larger hilts in his hands. “I think it’s time for us to leave,” Mez remarked and started walking back towards the stairs.

The looks on the faces of the patrons remaining in the inn verified Mez’s fear that the explosion had been too loud and that the entire inn was aware that a battle had just took place. The growing shouts and sounds of chairs being shuffled about followed them as they left and hastily

walked down the street.

“That magic bolt of yours was entirely too loud. What did I say about discretion?” Mez snapped at Rasia as they walked down the hill towards the residences that led to the intersection that the town was built around. The town proper mainly consisted of small, flat, one story houses. Off in the distance amongst the rolling hills farms were placed, larger houses could be seen dotting the tops of some of those hills. The town itself only existed as a trading point where two major trading routes intersected. The intersection itself contained a small market.

“You didn’t even have to kill him! We could've taken them in hand to hand combat. Maybe their threats were a bluff,” Rasia retorted with equal venom in her voice. Mez turned hard on her and stared her directly in the eye. “If you spend your life guessing the truth behind bluffs instead of acting upon them then I assure you that life will be a short one,”

Mez said with all seriousness

“...says Mez the Unremarkable” Rasia responded unceremoniously, as she crossed her arms across her chest. Mez scowled and turned to continue walking down the hill. Mez noticed that in the short time it took them to walk down the hill, many more houses shown candlelight than earlier. The evening grew late and he knew such a small town wouldn’t have so much activity going on unless an event of interest had just occurred. “Like the murdering of four of their own by outsiders...” he said to himself out loud as he stopped to regard their surroundings again. People were peering from slats behind closed shutters. A silence hung in the cold evening air. Soon the air would turn colder, Mez was never a fan of the winter. Rasia strode up next to him a moment later.

“You continue down the road, I will pace you and cover your flanks from the rooftops,” Mez whispered to Rasia. “We should just both disappear from sight”

“That would only work if we hadn’t already been spotted”

“Where are they?” “Everywhere”

With that Mez performed a backwards somersault into the air and on top of one of the structures. Against the backdrop of the night sky, Mez was near invisible and only moments later Rasia could not spot him at all.

Rasia had hoped to rest before setting back out. Her trip to the town with no name that sat at the intersection had taken her two straight days of travelling with very little sleep and rations just to make it on time. Before she was even able to order any food at the inn Mez had sent her the signal to begin the meeting and now here they were fleeing the town like criminals when they were the ones who were assaulted. Well not really, Rasia thought, the thugs never did get a chance to defend themselves.

The town filtered down to just a few houses and smaller farms if you took the road south. East led to a mountainous region and west was the direction Rasia came from, where the road was dry and with little shade. Plains and small shrubs was all she saw for scenery for the duration of her trip.

Rasia reached the town’s intersection at the same time two men carrying swords wearing farmer’s attire entered the intersection. Their pace betrayed their behavior; they were surely supposed to meet her at that very point.

“Hey lady, slow down. Around these parts you respond when addressed by the local militia”. One of the farmers

called out to her as the other one slowly drew his sword. “Your friend doesn’t look in the talking mood,” Rasia responded as she turned to face the men who had approached her from the west. “News from the inn says ye got yaself in a little trouble tonight, care to explain yaself?” said the man whose sword was drawn. The other farmer stood with his hand on the hilt of his weapon, the ease of his voice not showing in the tension that showed in his posture. These two came to fight, Rasia knew, “And where did ye friend go!” the guard asked forcefully after Rasia had realized that she never responded to the first question.

“That man is no friend of mine, and those men in the inn were killed in self-defense, I accept no guilt for their fates,” Rasia turned to walk away after her confident claim, assuming that Mez was somewhere watching her back to make sure a sword wasn’t plunged into it at that very moment. Sure enough both men began to approach her from behind as a third appeared from the side of a small shack. Rasia began to channel another magic bolt to strike the guy until she noticed the dagger sticking out from behind his head. She snatched the dagger out from the back of the man’s head as he continued his zombie like, wide eyed stroll to oblivion. The man must have had no idea of where he was or what had transpired but a few seconds later he fell face first into the dirt to die, eyes still bulged.

Mez dropped down from a rooftop and plunged a dagger right into the neck of the farmer who hadn't yet drawn his sword. The one who did sensed his aerial approach and instinctively put his blade up to block the attack and managed to stumble back and out the way. With the dagger buried deep in the neck of the twitching farmer and the other dagger free, Mez began approaching the other farmer with the body dragging behind. The farmer threw a straight thrust as soon as Mez was within range but Mez used the

farmer’s fallen comrade as a flesh shield. So while it felt as if he had made solid contact, when the farmer looked up from his blow he only saw the back of his friend, his sword driving right into the spine.

Mez ripped his dagger out of the man’s throat and spun to place it in the throat of the other but he was suddenly jolted back by an unknown force. A bright searing light and intense heat is all Mez knew for those first few moments. He retreated behind a few houses and stumbled to the ground. His feet shook and teeth clattered, every hair on his body felt as if it was standing on end. “So this is what it feels like to be shot by lightning” Mez said out loud, to the pile of horse droppings he began to brush off the front of his shirt. He leaned on the wall and attempted to gain his composure. He needed to get back out there and assist Rasia, he knew, but as he took his first step, his knees buckled under him and he hit the ground again.

Rasia followed the streak of bright light to its source; a plain looking human male standing on a rooftop about two buildings down from the intersection. She let loose a magical bolt his way and went into chanting as she sprinted to the left to make space between her and the other farmer who was now approaching her since Mez had been taken out of commission. The farmer made chase as Rasia moved towards the building closest to the mage to gain cover. Rasia spun back around when her back was to the wall of the structure to see the farmer coming straight on sword in hand and Rasia with no way of defending herself. The spell she had channeled was too dangerous to use is such close quarters and she hadn’t yet prepared any more magic bolts. She never imagined her adventuring career would end so early.

It had to fly true, and it did. Over two merchant booths the

dagger flew end over end, its final destination being the side of the face of the farmer that was chasing Rasia. The farmer fell back and howled in pain, his thrust being cut short by the dramatic turn of events. Rasia stared down the length of his short sword. Inches from her chest, if for only a brief moment before her attacker fell over; she saw her death staring her right in the face. As the farmer fell over in swears and protests she retrieved his dropped sword and placed it through his chest before he could begin to recover. A moment of elation swept over Rasia, a bright smile beamed across her face. That is until her first kill looked back up at her. The man looked so pathetic, even without the dagger in the face and being covered in blood, she thought. This man was no great warrior or evil villain or goblinkin on the other end of the sword she held. Just a man, who probably had no idea that these outsiders would enter his home on this day and end his life. Great grief came across Rasia at that point. She watched the man’s final moments, the extinguishing of that last flicker of life behind his eyes. She just stood there then; she didn’t notice the lightning strike go soaring past her.

Mez dive rolled hard and broke into a sprint as the wizard disguised as a peasant continued to strike bolt after bolt in an attempt to incapacitate the nimble rogue. Mez slid behind a building right as another blinding flash struck at the corner of it, blowing debris and rubble down the alley Mez had retreated into. Mez was sweaty and bleeding from multiple small wounds. He was breathing hard and hadn’t the willpower to recover himself from the trash and wood he found himself under. If that wasn’t the worst of it he began to hear the cursing of many angry males making their way towards his location, probably ready to blame the outsider for the damage to their house before the resident wizard, he thought. He had no idea if Rasia was ok or if his dagger had reached in time or if it had even struck true. She

might be dead, he thought. While that thought didn’t sadden him, he was regretting how he was going to explain to Taunch how he managed to get his fresh out of school wizard killed within hours of their partnership.

“Where’s the rat! We’ll run a pike up his arse for bringing trouble to the crossroads,”

“There was another one too, a female, where did she go?!” “Find them!”

The shouts from villagers marked the awakening of the entire village. Janir, the wizard who had engaged the pair in combat (and as Mez expected the resident wizard of the small colony) smirked as he hopped down from the small building that had served as his command point for the ambush. He had a general idea of where he had downed the rogue and was going to move in to finish him off and have first dibs at any “spoils-of-war”. Then he would move to loot the corpse of that female that he watched disappear under the building with one of his thugs, never to come back out. Maybe if she wasn’t dead yet he would have his way with her before killing her, he thought and his smirk turned into a full on smile. Janir knew his worth to the small community that had appeared only in the past few years. First as a security block sent out by the local nationstate to secure the road from bandits and to open it for more lucrative trade. Eventually the “security” turned out to be as dirty as the bandits they were hired to defend against and the law of the land became to listen to whoever had the most power. So easy it was for Janir to walk into town and display his magical prowess and immediately find himself a high ranking member of the corrupt local militia.

“You should have let my boss rape her,” the mage began to speak aloud as he strolled down the alleyway, confident that he was in close proximity of the rogue. “They would of

had fun, she would of had fun, I’m sure they would've let you watch”,” Janir began to laugh at that statement. He wore a lewd smile on his face, “You know you might of even been able to join, after they were all done of course, but instead, here you are, about to die, just like that wench!”

“Jump!”

That’s all Rasia had to say, she knew. She knew Mez had been watching her approach from the rubble. She knew he would be ready to react when she gave the signal; maybe it was their training or her growing confidence in a man who had saved her life twice that day. But at that very instant Mez leaped high and far into the air. He twisted and turned into a somersault onto the nearest rooftop right as Rasia let loose a Fire blast down the alley, Janir had nowhere to run, and no spells prepared to protect himself. Totally caught off guard, he didn’t even manage to get a scream out before he was incinerated.

Rasia stared down the alleyway in awe, a small tear found itself on her face as she watched the husk of the man once known as Janir fall away to ashes. Buildings on both sides of the alley had caught fire and the sounds of approaching villagers were upon them. “Let’s go!” Mez screamed as he threw his hand down to Rasia. Awakening from her daze she reached up and grabbed it and they sprinted from rooftop to rooftop out into the night and out of the settlement.

The sun was high in the sky before the pair stopped moving. They had ran the trail for the few hours of night that remained and then took to the wilderness as the sun came up, taking detours and doubling back a few times to cover their tracks. They finally made camp at the edge of a

tree line. Rasia fell out on her bedroll immediately after setting it, while Mez took a position in the trees to maintain watch and apply bandages, although he was asleep only a few minutes later. He awoke hours later to the sight of Rasia preparing some of the rations from their packs, the sun hung low, sunset was almost at its end, he realized.

“Have you healed? We should eat and get on the road soon,” Rasia said as she looked up to Mez. “I’ll live,” Mez responded as he hopped down from the tree. Rasia and Mez exchanged stares, at first a short glance but then immediately re-met for a much longer time. Rasia’s expression was blank and unreadable. Mez began to scowl, but then realized that she wasn’t angry at him, but she wanted him to say something, but he didn’t know what. But Mez knew that look, he knew it very well. He just hoped that whatever caused it, Rasia would come back to her wits soon. He hoped she would handle it better than he had.

~~

“That was a very lucrative trade area, I want to know what happened,” a very angry half-orc leaned over to a come eye to eye with a much smaller by comparison human who was on the brink of urinating on himself in fear of angering the boss of their band of bandits. “th-th- they burned it!” he barely squeaked out. The small camp shuffled around nervously, knowing the murderous rage possessed by their leader Udogold Winterclaw. Udogold grabbed the human by the neck and lifted him from the ground with one large, grotesque, misshapen hand that was attached to a disproportionately large arm. He began to squeeze the human who then began voiding his bowels for all to see.

“Ok, well let’s try it this way. I want to know who these impertinent fools are who waltzes into MY territory, burns down one of MY storefronts, destroying MY rightfully stolen gear and still draws breath!” Udogold screamed at the human, with each “my” he violently jerked him by the neck. By the end of his rant, the human was surely dead, limp in the infamous claw Udogold possessed. He threw the human to the ground with a great enough force that he bounced along the ground and came to a stop at the feet of a doppelganger. “Find out,” Udogold said as he settled back down in his chair adorned with the skins of various goodly races. The doppelganger bowed and walked into the night, his mission clear to him.

“Now communicate to me that you will be taking my left flank and I need to push forward to draw the enemy out,” Mez communicated to Rasia as they marched down the road. Rasia replied by flashing various hand signals and Mez nodded with approval. They had been on the road for three days since their encounter in the corrupt town that ended with many of small farming and merchant town dead and half the town in burnt rubble. Their hasty retreat made it impossible for them to procure horses for their long journey to Fallcrest and Taunch, their Adventuring Guild, was not pleased with what happened that evening and decided to punish them by not allocating them any gold or rations until they made their final destination. Mez wasn’t happy that Rasia hadn’t known any of her hand signals at their initial meeting and took the long walk as an opportunity to catch her up on the subject matter. However, Rasia had a grasp on the intricate hand signals after the first day of non-stop training and grew weary of the training.

“You know we can stop this now, I have it, I’m not a slow learner, I just wasn’t taught,” Rasia said with a bite in her voice. The newly partnered duo weren’t exactly fond of one another, but they understood that they were going to have to work together and work well if they were to gain prestige and recognition within their guild. “Besides,” Rasia continued “we haven’t said a word to each other in three days, this silence is maddening. Shouldn’t we be learning about one another-”

“Why?”

“The strongest teams are built through camaraderie and trust.”

“Did you just quote that out of the General Student Manual?”

“Of course, you don’t know it?”

Mez let out a full on belly laugh, and Mez was not the type to laugh.

“That whole book is dribble, it's full of bedtime stories and

principles that they use to get the young members excited about their indentured servitude they are destined to face.” “You should be more grateful, you wear their clothes, fight with their gear, and eat their food,”

The accuracy of Rasia’s statement was right on point. They were both wearing matching uniforms of Taunch. Mez in his black pants, shirt and boots over top his leather armor was traditional and generic enough, but the floor length traveling coat he wore was black with red trim and on the back was the symbol of their guild: six red dragons intertwined. Rasia’s apparel was almost identical in design, but she just wore her wizard’s robe and her leather armor. The six daggers Mez wore along his back under that coat was also issued by Taunch, but as Mez’s stomach began to growl, he was reminded of one amenity that their guild wasn’t providing for them.

“If you so believe in our leadership then tell me why we are walking all the way to Fallcrest with no gold or horses and only enough rations to last us, oh i don’t know, YESTERDAY!” Mez screamed the last word with much emphasis at the slowly lightening sky. It was pre-dawn and the late fall chill was biting at them already. Rasia’s long, curly bright red hair blew hard in the breeze while Mez kept his hat in his pack so that it wouldn’t blow off back down the path. There was no rebuttal from Rasia, as she too hadn’t ate well since they began their journey, skipping many meals to make their first encounter on time and eating as little as possible to ration the last of their food until they were able to come upon more. Even with such rationing, the prior evening marked the last of their

provisions, and it wasn’t a hearty meal.

“Well it was punishment for destroying that town back there,” Rasia began saying after a few moments of silence. “Oh yes the town that wanted to rape and kill us in our own bedrolls, I weep for them.” Mez sarcastically chimed in, which to his surprise, drew a smile from his partner. “Well our jobs are to grow the reputation of our guild across the land as a good entity whose goal is to explore and protect, not to burn down farming villages, innocent or otherwise,” she commented with a smile beaming on her face. Mez stopped walking and regarded Rasia, who in turn faced him. “Do you really believe that?” He asked with a serious expression etched on his face. “It’s in the Manual,” she responded. Mez shook his head and continued walking “We should have stuck to hand signals,” he muttered under his breath, not low enough for Rasia not to hear him.

Before the sun reached high into the air, the pair reached the fortified city of Trafford. Although it was much larger than the settlement they just left, Trafford was considered considerably smaller than other fortified human cities. Mez and Rasia gazed upon the wooden ramparts dotted with watchtowers with relief. “Ok we need gold and transportation,” Rasia stated.

“Ok, you get us gold, I’ll procure transportation.”

“How do you plan on doing that?”

“I’ll ambush some travelers on the way out the gate, I’ll meet yo-”

“NO!” Rasia’s eyes flared blue and red, Mez noticed, and back to their brown hue as she shouted her objection. “There will be no unnecessary killing today,” Rasia started breathing fast, visibly agitated. Mez observed her for a few moments and then responded “Ok, Firedancer,” his voice full of contempt “You get the transportation and I shall get the gold.” Mez began to walk off after the proclamation in

the direction of the city. “And how will you do that!” Rasia called out to him. Without turning to face her, Mez responded with a simple wave and continued his walk.

A flustered Rasia walked down the bustling main street of Trafford. She chose not to enter the city with her rogue companion after their discussion. I could use some time away from the blowhard anyways, she thought as she allowed the aromas of cooking meats and freshly prepared breads and pastries intoxicate her. Soon enough she found herself inside one of those shops, a restaurant that also had a large array of intoxicating weeds and herbs available. The ceilings were high to accommodate the perpetual haze of smoke that floated above the relaxed patrons. Rasia knew this was the place to grab a free meal, with a little charm and a little more magic, she thought and smiled as she gazed over to a table full of old men who looked a tad bored.

~~

Mez ran from rooftop to rooftop without regard, this is where he felt most at home. Acrobatics training was where he excelled. His talent was not due to any naturally given ability, like everything else he did it took more practice than the average student just to become proficient. But unlike other topics of instruction, Mez truly enjoyed acrobatics. He loved the feel of the wind against his face as he moved at high speeds, the incredulous looks he would get going across the roofs or performing a rather difficult maneuver. He loved even more when those people didn’t even know he was there. Like a shadow against the wall that disappeared just slightly faster than it was noticed. He left witnesses wondering if they had seen anything at all.

However, this was not the case today. A young human girl, no more than 7 years old, watched Mez intently. The doppelganger chose his form well, because if any adult, or even a boy of the same age, would have watched Mez with the same intensity, he would have taken notice almost immediately. People rarely question the motives of a young girl, the doppelganger thought as he observed his boss’s prize bounty go passing by. To the rest of the world, the doppelganger appeared to be a jubilant girl enjoying the last days of the waning season. But the giggle she let out would have sounded much more sinister in his original form, because it signified that the assassin had found its prey.

Rasia wow’d and dazzled the inebriated men sitting around the Halfling sized table on pillows smoking exotic herbs and drinking mug after mug of ale. It wasn’t long until they were buying her drinks as well as sharing their food and pipes. Cheers and jeers erupted in sporadic bursts as Rasia used minor fire spells to light the men’s cigars and pipes.

“Oi! Do it again girly!,” an excited old man who looked as if he was about to explode with excitement.

“Ok ok, settle,” Rasia said with a big grin as she motioned

for the table to quiet down by motioning her palms downwards. She then slowly turned them upwards and held them aloft as if holding a large mug in each hand. On the tips of her fingertips, small balls of magical energy began to appear. At first they appeared sporadically on various fingers until each finger possessed one. Then she turned her palms upwards and the balls of energy began hopping around from finger to finger amongst the hands and the old men at the table stared with a dazed awe. Then with a flick she tossed all the balls up in the air at once and right before they came back down to her fingers, she clapped her hands

together hard and they all collided and exploded in a harmless flash that sent the men reeling. Shouts and claps ensued, and Rasia couldn’t have worked them better. She was eating and drinking well, but also she took note of who was paying special attention to her minor talents. Her show had served a dual purpose, because while she was relaxing and having a good time with the men, she also knew that in a town of this size, a wizard could always get what they needed as long as the right people knew they were there. She also knew there might be others who might want to make a name for themselves by eliminating her. But she hadn’t used any magic in days and was well prepared for any misguided thugs that may venture her way.

“A drink for ye, from master dwarf,” the well-endowed waitress announced as she plopped a mug down in front of Rasia and pointed to the other end of the room where a male and female dwarf sat. They didn’t appear to be warriors from their look, Rasia thought as she lifted her glass in their direction. The male and female dwarf both smiled and raised their glasses in response, in a blink they downed those mugs and were already slapping down coin for more. The dwarves were barely visible over the multitude of mugs that sat upon their table, but from her vantage point, Rasia saw that they were dressed more extravagantly than the average peasant. They both wore rings and jewels on their fingers and their clothing, while not overly expensive, definitely showed a higher level of craftsmanship and detail than the typical garb of the region. Seems like she had a new friend to make she thought to herself as she rose up to approach the table.

Mez watched with amusement as a pair of young street thugs shook down a man passed out in the alleyway, obviously from too much drink the night before. The boys were not aware of his presence, perched three stories above

them hanging under a balcony of one of the larger structures of the city, his legs tucked so that his whole form would be hidden in the shadow of the structure, They pulled a few bronze coins from the man and Mez shook his head “Too small,” he muttered out loud. He thought back to when he was one of those street urchins, shaking down drunks; pick pocketing visitors to his town and disappearing into crowds and down sewers before they even knew their purse had been pilfered. He knew Rasia was right; he couldn’t just take from peasants the way he used to, if for no other reason than he was better than that now. He thought he would be more suited ambushing a lightly protected caravan or sneaking into the camp of some highwaymen and killing them in their sleep before utilizing their campsite for the evening. No one ever missed highwaymen.

“So he’s not the protective type, good to know” is what the doppelganger was thinking as he laid face down in the alley. He had hoped that his “drunken helpless victim” act would entice the would-be hero into action and an easy ambush. Changing forms multiple times a day took its toll on the creature and he was too fatigued to continue at the pace he was going. He was going to need to take a different approach, the doppelganger thought. He rose up from his prone stance in the alleyway and began to meander onto the main street, playing the role of a drunkard to its fullest, knowing that Mez was probably still watching him. He didn’t want to blow his cover, not yet.

“Well met,” Rasia bowed and the two dwarves motioned for her sit at an available pillow across from them. “Well that's yet to be determined, now isn’t it,” the female dwarf remarked, eliciting laughs from the male sitting next to her. “Ease up on the young lad, she probably hasn’t even seen her second decade,” the male dwarf replied and extended a

hand that appeared to be sticky from spilled beer. Either way she shook it but wiped her hand down her robe as she sat but smiled to disguise her disgust. “Those parlor tricks I saw ye doin over there, ya got more lethal ones?” the female dwarf cut right to the point. She leaned over and looked Rasia right in the eyes. She willed her eyes to turn blue and red momentarily (which was actually their natural color, not the hazel color that she would magically apply when in public so not to elicit unwanted attention) and then changed them back before responding “A few, enough you could say,” The female dwarf leaned back, seemingly unimpressed, but the male with her was so startled that he shot ale though his nose and started laughing again. “Bwahaha, I bet there’s some real fight in this one,” he leaned over to regard the wizard, “I can tell”. “Yeah that better be all that you’re tellin’” the female dwarf responded that just made the other dwarf laugh all the harder.

“We’re leading a caravan south and we require security, you want the job?” the female dwarf asked bluntly. “Do you go past the Cyrilwood Plains? That is my final destination,”

“Ours as well,”

“What does it pay?”

“10 gold each for you and the three others we have hired,” “Others?” Rasia remarked. “I have a partner, the pair of us are more than capable of providing security for your caravan, and we will do it for 15 gold each,”

The two dwarves put a serious look on their faces. “We have 4 wagons, 8 men, and plenty of gear to protect. The road we are going to travel will be difficult; highwaymen have been attacking almost every wagon that leaves this post. You expect us to leave our lives and our gear in the hands of an amateur wizard and a partner that we’ve never met?” The male dwarf was no longer laughing; the

expression he wore was grave. Rasia leaned in close with a sly smile on her face, “We are adventurers from the Taunch guild,” she spoke barely above a whisper. Rasia’s expression shown that she expected the dwarves to be awe struck and taken back but instead the dwarves were unmoving. “Bah I’ve seen some o’ ye type. Always getting killed trying to make a name for themselves. You can bring your partner but only if you split your portion of the gold with him. You Taunch guys are usually more trouble than you’re worth,” the female dwarf stated.

“If that is the deal you are offering, then we accept,” Rasia smiled and stood, hiding her anger towards how the dwarves spoke about her guild. Taunch was everything that she knew, everything that she cared about. The nonchalant way Mez had dismissed the core principles earlier had her already on the defensive, now her new employers already had a dislike for her because of her affiliation. The dwarves stood up and introduced themselves, “Nororin” the male said, “Eilella,” said the female as they both returned Rasia’s bow with a small of one their own. “Meet us on the main road going south right before the gate preceding dawn, you’ve already met our drivers,” Eilella pointed over to the table Rasia had been sitting at earlier and the men all threw their hands up and shouted a cheer of sorts before drowning their ale, a few taking pulls from their herbs. This is going to be a fun trip indeed Rasia thought as she let a small smile break on her face and she returned to the table where her new friends, and responsibilities, were ordering another round.

~~

The sun wore heavy in the sky when Mez spotted the pair. A couple of nicely dressed dwarves whose pockets were bulging with coin coming out of one of the more upscale eating and drinking establishments in the area. He knew that he wasn’t the only pair of eyes on the two, that’s what he was hoping for. What he didn’t expect, was to see himself in the alleyway intersecting the dwarves path, poised to strike. Mez stared in disbelief as he saw an exact replica of himself hiding in an alleyway and not in the stealthy way that Mez usually did. Despite his looks, this character before him did not possess the same skill in stealth as he. Mez bounded from rooftop to rooftop to try and get a better angle on the imposter but not in time he thought as the doppelganger hopped out from behind his post on the side of the stone structure and appeared in front of Nororin and Eilella, daggers out and twirling threateningly in his hands.

The two dwarves threw their hands up in front of the fake Mez as if in surrender. But from those hands came a bright light, and against the dark backdrop of the setting sun it was bright enough even to blind the real Mez who was on a rooftop opposite from the one the fake Mez had been hiding behind. When his vision readjusted, the dwarves were already out of sight and the would-be thief was stumbling back into the alleyway, still appearing to be blind. He jumped down from his post and let a dagger fly towards the back of the assailant. Whether it was luck or instinct Mez was not sure, but the imposter managed to get his dagger up to deflect the throw and continued to stumble away and around the corner of the back of the building. Mez made all haste to get around that corner but when he arrived he saw no one, his twin was nowhere to be found. “Now this is an interesting development,” he said out loud

before turning to scale the nearest wall to get a better look of the area.

What Mez didn’t know was that there was no way he was going to find the doppelganger, who was now in the sewer scurrying along on his belly in his newest form of a rat. The assassin was angry and exhausted, he did not anticipate having to shift again between forms, and especially from one foreign species to another without shifting back to his original form, which took exceptional stamina. Now he was stuck as a rat for at least the evening. But he couldn’t be too upset; he knew the town guard would now be looking for Mez. And being the outlaw that he is, the doppelganger knew Mez would put up a fight and hopefully be killed. If Mez was apprehended, the doppelganger would simply shift into a jailer the next day and end his life from the safety of a jail cell. He had him checkmated, the doppelganger thought, but what he didn’t know is that he had caused many more layers of difficulty for the rogue that night that even Mez was not aware of yet.

~~

As night fell, Rasia was hoping that Mez had obtained enough gold so they could at least secure a room in an inn, but she hadn’t seen him since earlier in the day. She was excessively inebriated and barely able to stand, the world spun around her but she was still able to take note of various young boys pacing her from behind the various structures that lined the narrow streets of Trafford. She

began muttering the beginnings of her fire blast spell while preparing both hands with magical bolts, just in case. It took her so much concentration to prepare spells that she had been practicing since her first days at the mages’ school that she didn’t notice the tall, fully armored elf standing right in front of her. She bumped into him head on and bounced off of his pate armored chest and fell to the ground. She looked up at him unsteadily and then with a scowl, and then sickeningly as she began vomiting all over the elf’s freshly shined plate armor boots. “Well met...” the elf said sarcastically as he shook his foot off to the side of them “...I see even in this state you can tell that you are being stalked.”

Rasia looked up to take in who had addressed her, tall and statuesque the elf stood, with long flowing hair, pale skin and ears and nose equally pointy. His eyes shone a light, almost reflective blue hue that glistened off his silver armor even in the starlight. A large sword was strapped to his hip and a steel shield across his back. “So I suppose you're the hero who has come to save me?” Rasia managed to say as she used the elf’s hand and then shoulder to ease herself back to her feet. “You know what's easier than fighting these low rent thieves? A show of force and what's a stronger force than that of numbers?” He spoke as he helped her steady herself. Rasia smiled but then said “You know I have enough force to handle a few children with rusty swords,” before starting to walk past him. He grabbed her arm and tucked it under his “Well then may I have the honor of escorting you back to your room?” he asked sweetly but with enough force to convey that it was more of a suggestion than a request. “You know there’s an outsider starting trouble on the streets tonight; everyone is on high alert for a rogue in a black and red coat that has been using magic to shake down wealthy vendors. There’s already rumors of a bounty,” Rasia then snapped her arm

away from him and said “First of all I don’t have a room, secondly if there is money to be made on the street tonight I shall join in the hunt, gold isn’t exactly flowing from my pockets right now,” then she turned and faced all about while screaming “You hear that you nasty little street urchins, I’m broke, go hunt elsewhere before you become the hunted!”. She breathed heavily, her bouncy curly red hair having fallen all over her face she looked vicious indeed the elf thought. “Maybe we can help each other....” the elf motioned towards her. “ “Rasia,” she said as she turned back. The elf stared for a second before bowing down low “Johan, well met Rasia. Beautiful eyes, very exotic,” Rasia realized that in her drunken rant she must have allowed her enchantment that changed her original eye colors to slip. She wasn’t about to let this ‘Johan’ know though that her concentration was so hindered that she couldn’t even maintain a low level enchantment such as that, they needed gold, and this guy seemed a suitable temporary replacement for the temperamental Mez. Maybe he would even invite her back to his room.

~~

Mez moved from shadow to shadow, building to building as he took note of the heightened level of tension and excitement that wafted through the air. He knew that he was a hunted man once again. Once again stuck in a situation that isn’t his fault. An obvious setup but by who? A wannabe? He wasn’t that famous he thought. As a matter of fact he was sure that he wasn’t known at all in this

region. “Except in that last town...” he mumbled out loud. So it would seem that trouble had followed them and that he and Rasia might be in danger. He had to find her immediately, if they hadn’t already gotten to her he thought as he began to move with more urgency.

Being that they were only a block down from his current location, it didn’t take long for Mez to locate the duo of Rasia and Johan strolling down the street. And he didn’t have to get close to tell that Rasia definitely wasn’t herself. Who was this heavily armored elf she was conversing with he thought to himself. He dropped down behind them and made his silent approach. He didn’t desire to accidentally startle the elf with the long sword and risk getting cleaved in half, so he was sure to call out “Rasia” before he came within reach.

“Mez, took you long enough, I have a new partner now,” she remarked in a slurred voice as she threw her arm over the shoulder of Johan and a giant smile broke out on her face and they both turned to face the rogue. Johan drew his sword and pointed it at Mez before saying “You are the scoundrel that is being hunted in the streets tonight, yield or draw your weapons”. “Not this again, where did you find this loser, eh? I grow weary of being chased from towns under false pretenses,” before Rasia could respond to the inquiry Johan had set his sword in motion and was unslinging his shield. Mez ducked the overhead swing and quick stepped backwards and even hopped back a few more steps to gain distance from the charging elf warrior. He reached back and launched two daggers from his shoulder sheaths that thudded hard into the upraised shield of Johan, generating a loud clanking noise as they did. He followed up by running low towards Johan expecting him to drop his shield in defense. He was shocked as he took to the air in a great leap to somersault over the head of Johan that the

elf’s shield was actually up in the air ready to block his downward thrusts. Mez made direct contact with all three stabs to the shield but quickly threw his head and chest back to avoid a straight thrust that came within a breath of his neck. He back pedaled and found himself standing next to Rasia. At that moment Mez smelled why Rasia seemed so incoherent. “A little too much of the ale eh? Damn rookies, can you at least help me out here? Why is this friend of yours attacking me?” Mez shook Rasia to snap her out of her stupor but she only responded with more vomit, which Mez quickly jumped back to avoid having sprayed all over him.

She isn’t going to be any help he thought as Johan renewed his charge. Mez readied himself to parry another stab from the sword the elf was carrying but the act was feigned and instead Johan shield bashed Mez and he fell back many feet, barely able to hold his balance. The world spun for a moment and blood flowed from Mez’s nose. That was exactly the opportunity Johan was looking for but as he moved in to strike, Rasia grabbed him by the arm. “Wait,” she spoke, Mez stood up straight and was about to sheathe his daggers thinking that the assault would come to an end once Rasia vouched for him , “ I have some words for this one” She said and began to approach her partner. “So, your idea to make money was to rob somebody eh? No wonder they call you Unremarkable, just a common thief,” she continued and Mez gripped at the hilts of his daggers hard and his palms blanched from squeezing so hard. “While I’m out getting us legitimate work providing security for a caravan you're out shaking down innocents,” Johan seemed to take interest in her last statement and Mez noticed that sudden piquing of interest. The two met eyes and Rasia’s rant continued “well I’m done being chased out of towns thanks to you, the next time Taunch contacts me I shall tell them that our partnership didn’t work out, Leave me,” she

said with conviction, although slurred heavily. “They don’t work like that Rasia, they shall-” Mez began to explain but with a dismissive waving of the hand she turned around and walked back towards Johan.

It wasn’t until then that Mez glanced around and noticed that a crowd had gathered to the sounds of fighting and more than a few were beginning to draw weapons. He came at Johan on a straight sprint, and Johan came to meet him, thinking that he was about to attack Rasia from behind. Mez used that to his advantage, knowing that the elf wouldn’t risk swinging his longsword from out wide with Rasia so close he expertly predicted the shield bash and spun around the elf instead, hooking Rasia by the arm and taking her along for the spin. Before Rasia managed to get out she exclaimed, “What are you doing?” Mez had already sheathed his two main daggers, reached down and snatched up the others that were lying on the ground from earlier and was halfway up a wall and on a rooftop making all haste for the nearest gate. Shouts of protests erupted from the bystanders and even a few arrows were heard by Mez as they hopelessly stuck into the side of the wall he was already up and over.

Johan watched Mez go over the wall with passing interest. He was a lot more interested that the young, beautiful mage that he had come upon by chance on the road was to leave on the same mission as him at dawn. “Did that charlatan trick you into joining him? No matter, he’s gone now” he said to Rasia who was still staring over the wall dumbfounded. “Just a common thief, and a killer, that’s all he is. I never wanted to partner with him anyways,” she spoke without even facing the elf.

“I would make chase but we have to rest, we have to be up early in the morning. You may sleep in my room tonight if

you so desire. All of us are rooming together tonight,” Johan made sure he walked right in front of Rasia to grab her attention and avert her gaze from the rooftop. “Us?”

“The others hired by Nororin and Eilella, you are the

fourth, aren’t you?”

She paused momentarily before finally saying “Yes, I am the fourth, let’s go meet the others shall we? If the others are anything like you then this will be an enjoyable mission indeed,” she smiled and took his arm and they walked off while the rest of the onlookers were already pursuing the fleeing Mez. Only one bore witness to the conversation the two had just exchanged. From the grates of a nearby drainage ditch a rat sat with his head poked out. He had watched the entire fight actually, and knew that his job would now be much harder with his two assignments now splitting up. Although he had a feeling that if he stuck close to one, they would eventually go to the other. But there was nothing the doppelganger could do until he could change out of his current form. He knew that the two would probably get a whole day ahead of him by carriage before he could pursue. But to a creature that could change into a flying animal whenever he willed, no head start would be enough.

As soon as Mez was clear of the wall that guarded Trafford he let his rage play out in full. He shouted and stomped and threw his daggers into a random tree in the middle of an empty field. He was livid. Why was it that everywhere he went he was treated as a criminal when it was never him doing anything wrong? And now it appeared as if there was some vile creature going around imitating him and ruining his reputation. If that didn’t beat all, once again he was stuck with a partner that had no sense of loyalty or discipline. Who gets drunk while on mission, he thought as he continued to stomp and kick dirt around. He knew that

he couldn’t just leave Rasia to her new elf friend and move on, Taunch would punish them both severely if they just decided to reassign themselves. He decided that he would stay close to her until she could see the error in her ways. She did mention that she was heading out with a caravan; all he would have to do is watch the gates.

He felt as if no matter what he did he would never escape his reputation as a thief, an expendable rogue of no importance. If that’s how they all felt then he decided that’s how he would behave. True to a rogue, he would do what it took to survive and not hesitate to do otherwise no matter what the moral implication. He saw a campfire not too far off in the distance. He had no intention of being cold and hungry yet another night. He felt sorry for whoever he would come across in that camp. Then he stopped and thought about that last sentiment, “No I don’t” he mumbled to himself and began moving faster, daggers drawn.