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Mummified and dry, the cadavers strode silently but gracefully, from the Astinato's gangplank. Each carried a richly-carved, deeply stained wooden chest, clasped in bronze fittings. Two black-and-blue-robed young girls preceded them with an old faerie woman following. Each of the living bore symbols of the High Necromantic Order of Midnight Shadow embroidered with silver thread into their robes. The young girls were obviously apprentices to the elder faerie. Crew aboard the raider ship busied themselves with their work, trying not to look relieved at the departure of their passengers. People at the docks, below, parted before the processing, some even bowing. While necromancers were not, by definition, people of aristocratic standing they, nonetheless, commanded incredible (if not disturbed) respect.Adam frowned at the processing, neither showing deference nor fear as they passed. The corpses, he knew, were supposed to contain nothing of the soul that once dwelled within but, still, he found the practice of using cadavers as servants ... disturbing. Given the vision of his father, it was doubly so."Fucking wizards," Eris muttered.Adam raised a brow, forcing his companion to roll her eyes and clarify."Not you, obviously.""I'm a Spellsword; there's a difference.""If you insist," she replied. "I just don't see why they have to flaunt their power.""Says the tahvic who can out-fight just about anyone.""That's about cultural heritage; pride!""Says the newcomer," Kaia added in a whisper to the other two. At Eris' frown, their new companion just smiled more broadly. "Hey:  you don't have to like me ... just take my money.""Let's go," Adam said, interrupting before anything could escalate, "that looks like the captain."The tall, lanky gryphon woman disembarking the gangplank was dressed in turquoise and red:  a billow-sleeved shirt laced with blue-dyed,

leather strips and pinched at the wrists with bronze clasps. She wore a ring on each finger of a bluish-silver matching the slender belt at her waist. She wore a rapier and leather money pouch on that belt above her scuffed leather pants. Like most gryphons, her feet were bare to allow her broad talons to spread, wide, as she walked on leonine legs. She was talking over her shoulder to two attaches who followed with open books, making notes as she went."Just make certain that Baelis comes through on the dry goods. When we winter in Port Fal I don't want us to lose half the rations, again.""Yess'm," the human aide said."And Catilan," she said to the jessai'id of the pair, "arrange a blessing before our departure; tell the priests we'll donate a thousand crescents in the Hexagon's honor.""Right away, mistress.""Good. After a solid night's sleep, I want to be underway. Got it?"Both aides nodded and went their separate ways, the gryphon striding towards the dockmaster's office at the end of the pier. Adam and the rest of the company approached."Excuse me:  Captain Lassiter?" he asked.She stopped and turned. She looked the dragonkin and tahvic up and down, assessing them with her eagle eyes, before nodding in affirmation. "What is it you want?""We were sent by, well, by Martek of Solemnwood; he tells us you may have a ship that could be chartered in the near future."The captain nodded and ran a long fingernail along the side of her beak. "Possibly; if the money's right. Winter's coming and we have no big clients at the moment. We were planning on taking the season off. What's the voyage?"Kelmore stepped forward and smoothed his tunic before bowing. As such, he didn't notice the amused look the captain gave him at the gesture."We are seeking an old ruin; it is of religious significance to myself as well as the dragonkin, here.""Religious, eh? We're not talking heretical curses and banned cults, are we? I've dealt with temples, before, and I have a policy of not embroiling myself in their zealotry."Kelmore shook his head. "Not in the least, captain. It is on the windward edge of a nearby island, though, so the aerial maneuverability may be a bit dicey.""Although Martek tells us your ship is one of the best in the skies," Irri said. "So I doubt it will be that much of an issue."Seeing the small whimsy for the first time, the gryphon captain snorted. "I'll be the judge of that; what island are we talking about?"Adam decided the tired captain was not the sort to take the knowledge he had to share and run with it. Besides, it wasn't as if anyone knowing of the island would necessarily gain much from the knowledge."Dorath," he said."Ahhh... The trailing island," she acknowledged. "Fair enough; fair enough... For how long?"Here, Adam looked to Kelmore. He honestly didn't know how long they would need."Well, if you wish to just drop us off at our destination, I suspect no more than a couple weeks," the derroni said."Passage alone would not be worth my time. Dorath is scarcely a few days distant ... even its farthest shore. Paying my crew, outfitting for a journey of any size, has its costs. If it will take you 'a couple weeks' then you will be paying me for that time, whether or not I and my crew stay."Adam and Eris understood what was happening. Right then and there they were negotiating for the trip. The captain, regardless of where she had been going moments before they intercepted her, was taking the time to haggle and work out the details. Eris couldn't hide her smile. She respected this gryphon. Adam couldn't help but respect her, too, as she laid out expense after expense that Kelmore would have to pay.And they made sure that the costs would come from Kelmore.Eventually, he managed to not only promise twelve hundred gold crescents (more money than either Adam or Eris had ever seen) but also swore to bless the Astinato both before and after the journey. Pleased with her negotiation skills, Captain Lassiter agreed that they would set sail from the high hill docks the day after tomorrow. Kelmore looked as if he'd had the blood drained from his body and Kaia was not smiling much, either, but both agreed. They would soon be on their way.Adam wished he didn't feel so uneasy about it.That night and the next, his dreams were dark and uneasy.With six hours until departure, the sunlight filtering through a wide crack above the window in the common room of the mercenaries guild hall, Adam and Eris awoke. The ceilings were high and adorned with the carved signatures of thousands of mercenaries who had come before them. Arching some twenty-five feet above, supported with thick, hexagonal beams, the common room stood as large as a warehouse. Palettes and hammocks and beds filled almost all available space save for a thin row of tables and benches down the center. There, the members of the guild stacked their belongings overnight. Many would, of course, sleep with them:  holding them, tight, in arms that would never let go. It felt like a homeless shelter and, as both Adam and Eris had concluded, was little else.It was half-full but, come winter, even the trestle tables would have sleepers each night.Adam sighed. At least it would be warm.Not every guild hall could devote this much space to a common room. Not even the capital city of Tarharras featured one this large. Of course, in Tarharras, most of their space was devoted to combat training, rooms and rooms featuring books and maps of past campaigns, and even a hall devoted to the memory of fallen, prominent members of the guild.The mercenary guildhall in Granwall was spacious enough for all the unwelcome elements of such a guild:  the hollow eyes, the alcohol-fueled camaraderie, the haunting nightmares at night, the empty hopes during the day, and the echoes of all the battles fought in the name of gold. Every country the size of Kellendar, no matter how many provinces it had, held a guild hall like this. Sometimes more. The mercenary guild was the largest

in Talvali. And its members, the most numerous.Adam and Eris left the hall after a cold water washcloth bath in the clean room. The smell of hot oats drifted from the kitchen but they ignored it. There was never enough for more than a half bowl for everyone. And although they were awake with first light, early enough to get nuts and dried fruit mixed in with their meal, they left it for the others. Instead, they went out into the light of an autumn Granwall morning to get their food with the meager funds they had.Sitting in the public square, a sward dotted with evergreens and benches just over an acre in size, they ate and went through their morning ritual.It was a ritual they embraced every day before a contract.Adam bought a fish ball from a rosey-cheeked dwarven child and gave them an extra copper nug' for their troubles. Eris preferred a puffy, hot roll stuffed with goats cheese and currants.The dragonkin sat at a bench, quietly, with wings expanded. The tahvic, after finishing half her roll, took to jogging around the square's perimeter. They didn't talk before engaging in a contract. Even after the relatively few they had taken, it felt wrong to compare notes. To discuss the coming dangers. Awkward.Adam closed his eyes and felt the sun break through the clouds over the tops of the Greensward Hills. While not cold-blooded, he still loved the feeling of heat sinking into his hide and warming his bones. Even back home he enjoyed nothing more than getting a cup of coffee and a flakey pastry as he sat in his sun room watching the dawn spread across his back yard.He took several deep breaths and sighed.People walked by and, when he caught their glances, he saw the expectation in them. He saw them tense, ever so slightly, at his presence. It wasn't a tension based in his race or size; it wasn't a tension owed to a battle-scarred veteran of distant battles. It was a tension that the older people, up at this time of day, had for the younger. And it wasn't fear:  it was knowing anticipation. The young of this world, no matter which continent, which kingdom or caliphate in which they belonged, were expected to do great things. They were expected to explode like a firebird:  soaring high and leaving a trail of sparks and ashes.

They were expected to see the world and face its numerous challenges and dangers. They were, in short, expected to make the future.It was the one through-line that every species, every race in every country and culture, shared.How different was that from his life back home? When he'd been young, he'd done great things. He'd explored, scrapped, challenged himself and others. But that was over decade ago, now. He'd earned a nice life in his nice home with the rewards of his challenges. But that home was gone, now. If anything remained of it, it was broken and shattered by the storm that swept it and the rest of his city into the skies over Talvali.And yet, still the people stared.A shout caught his attention and, then, several more. A ring of steel made him frown and the steam escaping his nostrils became mingled with smoke.Eris.Five young toughs surrounded her on the cobblestone path that circumnavigated the square. She was a third of the way around and had her short sword drawn. It was stained with a few patches of red. Two of the gang accosting her also had blades. Two humans, a dwarf, a wolfen, and a goblin:  two of them men and three, women. They staggered, probably still drunk and heading home after a night of revelries.Adam sighed and rose.Despite Eris being shorter than anyone but the goblin, she held the five at bay. The human woman with the drawn sword limped, favoring a leg that had a cut in the thigh."You'll regret that, tiny," she snarled.Eris didn't say a thing. In combat, she never said a thing unless it was to call to a fellow fighter. Other than the necessities of fighting in a group, she was as silent as the grave. Other tahvic, native tahvic, saw it as odd. They were vocal about their combat. Eris was almost always marked as a newcomer by this trait, alone.Not that the hungover youths could see that.Flexing his fully-healed muscles, Adam

expanded his wings to their full sixteen foot span and launched himself into the air.In the time it took to reach his compatriot, she had disarmed the bleeding human and given her another wound on her forearm. The unarmed three had backed away but were shouting slurred taunts. The final one, the wolfen fellow with a pair of long dirks in his grey-furred hands, was trying to circle around behind Eris. He was crouching, trying to compact himself into a smaller area to deprive the tahvic of a decent target. He, out of all of them, looked to be the most experienced in a fight. Adam targeted him.Swooping down, clawed-feet first, the dragonkin bellowed, "Enough!" The wolfen looked up, startled, and swung one of his blades up in an unskilled attempt to block.Adam hadn't even unsheathed his sword. He just twisted in flight, kicked down, and knocked the blade from the youth's hand. Still in the same movement, he lashed with his tail, swatting the wolfen with its hard surface and sending him staggering back. Coming back around to face the boy as he landed, he spit a small arc of flame into the air above the wolfen's head to punctuate his cry.The five, scattered.Eris, breathing heavily and with a gleam in her eyes, shouted after them, "Yeah, you'd better run! Run home to mommy and daddy:  tell them you need a few more fighting lessons!" Then, without missing a beat, she looked up at her compatriot and frowned. "You know I had that, right?""Yes," Adam said. "I was saving their lives, not yours."She snorted and re-sheathed her sword, flipping on the peace-bonding strap with a casual flick of her thumb. "You know I'm good enough not to kill them.""Yes, but you don't want to have to explain that to the constable, do you? We have a flight to catch, remember?""Bah:  constable Baers doesn't care. I've helped him enough around here."The dragonkin rolled his eyes. Not saying anything, he started walking back across the city square towards his bench. He felt the expectations of others upon him, again. Eris fell in at his side."Are you worried about this contract?" she asked."I'm always worried about every contract.""And they always go well."He cast her a disapproving glance but said nothing."We're still alive," she continued. "And with a derroni who can invoke the powers of the gods, themselves, on our behalf and a few healing ungents, I'd say we'll be safe on this contract, too.""You don't know what you're talking about," Adam said."No? Who usually gets our contracts? Me. Who usually comes up with our strategies and tactics? Me. Who usually makes sure we get paid? Me. I think it's safe to say I know more about our business than you do.""That's not what I meant," he said.He reached his bench and wished, not for the first time that morning, that Kellendar had something akin to coffee available. Even the high-minded arcanists of Tarharras hadn't ever heard of the roasted bean drink. Instead, they enjoyed tea. He'd heard that there were some lands, in far-off corners of Talvali who had something that sounded like coffee but he'd never been there."Yeah?" Eris said, sitting down next to him. "What did you mean, then?"He looked down at her and was silent for a minute. Then, he said, "Why do you risk so much? I mean most people here outweigh you by two-to-one.""Not goblins; not thaylene...""And the rest of the twenty peoples:  they're human-size or larger.""And I can take any of them," she said with confidence. She beamed. "You know my people have a reputation, right?""That's just it, they're not 'your people'! You were transformed, just like me, into something else! Why we didn't stay human, considering

there are so many here, is beyond me! But you're not a tahvic:  not really!"His tone was sharper than he'd intended and she looked surprised."Calm down:  what's gotten into you?"He frowned, the steam from his nostrils again becoming black smoke. "You risk too much.""And you don't risk enough," she answered. "What's with you? What's got you so ... shaken?""I'm not dragonkin; not really. Damn it, I've only met a few others of my adopted race and it was clear I don't fit in.""You don't fit in because you don't try," Eris said. "And, yes:  you are dragonkin ... and I'm tahvic. We were changed body, mind, and soul by the storm dragons. Whatever language we spoke before, changed. Our memories were altered. Don't you ever wonder if half of what we can recall about where we came from is actually accurate? Skyscrapers:  were they even a real thing? It seems impossible, now!""That's because the dragons transformed them, too. Everything that didn't seem to fit in Talvali was changed. I saw buildings of glass and steel transformed into materials more commonly found, here, and then collapsing under their own weight.""That just proves my point," she continued. "Everything was transformed:  I am tahvic ... you are dragonkin.""And we're still in the process of crumbling," he muttered.Eris didn't say anything but she shook her head, annoyed. "Y'see, this is why we don't talk before going on a contract. You get all maudlin and broken-sounding.""And what if we don't come back?" he asked. "Why are we even doing this?""Because it's fun and puts money in our pockets?"He looked around at the early-morning residents of Granwall milling about the streets:  going from vendor to vendor or opening up their small shops. The few looks he saw still seemed

expectant."I'm too old for this," he finally said."Adam:  you have a young dragonkin's body. You're barely, what, eighteen?""I'm over fifty," he said, sourly."But not in body; the storm dragons saw to that.""I'm over fifty," he reiterated, looking directly into her eyes."And I'm twenty-two," she answered. "You've got decades, centuries, ahead of you! Dragonkin are long-lived, right?""Three-hundred to four-hundred years," he said."You're just a kid!""No! No, I'm not!" His shout drew even more glances, but Adam didn't care. "We weren't perfectly put into these bodies; not really! I mean, yeah:  I understand, intrinsically, how to fly. I speak High Trade as if I was born to it; some of the knowledge I had is gone, now, replaced by different lessons about alchemy and ... and magic. I don't know what it used to be, but some things that didn't fit, here, were changed. But I'm still fifty-years old; I'm tired, Eris. I don't know why you keep wanting to get into fights and go on adventures!"She set her jaw and hopped off the bench. She shook her head and sighed. "Because tahvic don't live that long," she said. "Why do you stick around with me, anyway, if don't appreciate what I bring to our team?" Then, turning, she walked away.Adam stared, watching her head to the far side of the square, and didn't move. He looked around at the stares that now, unflinching, were rooted on him. Several of them were tahvic. He looked after Eris but didn't rise to follow. He couldn't. She had arrived, here, when she was sixteen. The dragons transformed her, reshaped her body and life into that of a tahvic. She'd been growing up alongside him but he had never thought to ask her about the life she had inherited. How long did tahvic live, anyway?He watched her dash across a street and down an alley. She looked like she was heading for the earthen rise that would

take her from the lower tier of the city up to the second. The high hill docks overlooked the city from the heights of Greensward. The Astinato would be awaiting them.He wasn't sure he wanted to go.Still, he knew he was going to. He had to.Old as he was, tired as he was, he needed to go.Eris needed him, even if she didn't see it.And he needed her.And so did his father.