We stepped out of the portal and into the backyard of the Solace Fellowship Market. I was really pushing to call it the Solace Shoppe, with the old time extra ‘p’ and ‘e’, but I kept getting shot down. Tammy and Fields ran the place, so I couldn’t really argue with them. They had their ears to the way the markets in Crossroads worked. If they thought Solace Fellowship Market was better than Solace Shoppe, more power to them.

  It wasn’t better but I let that fight go.

  The backyard had changed a bit. The Crafting Building had been modified, turned into a brewery. There were empty kegs stacked up along the wall, smoke rising from the chimney. The water wheel was spinning faster, a pump system set up to take some into the brewery. It was surprising how much water went into making beer.

  Crossroads Solace Brewing was the name. Sean had decided to keep it separate from his Northtown brand in Solace.

  “Different ingredients,” he’d said with a shrug.

  Which made sense. It would be a while before we got the first batch from the new brewhouse and I was looking forward to it. We were stockpiling different styles from all the breweries in Solacetown.

  It had been pointed out to me that I couldn’t play favorites and needed to let all the others be able to sell in Crossroads, not just Sean and Northtown. Who were my personal favorites. The folks that pointed it out, Tammy and Kat of course, were right.

  ***

  Walking into the back of the shop, Sunie kept going as I stopped at the fridge and got out a couple beers. I could hear him talking with Tammy.

  “Tammy, want a beer?” I called out.

  “Sure,” she replied.

  “Anyone else out there?”

  “Nope.”

  I grabbed a six pack of assorted beers and walked out to the front. Sunie was on the store side of the counter, his hood down showing off his handsome elf features. He was a better looking Legolas. Tammy was leaning on the counter, smiling at him. Her notebook had been pushed to the side.

  Setting the six pack down, I let them take the styles they wanted. I headed out back again and grabbed some chips from the shelf. I brought those out and set them on the counter, opening a bag and taking a couple, just watching the two make googly eyes at each other.

  “Get a room,” I muttered.

  Tammy glared at me. Sunie just looked confused.

  “A room?” he asked. “Why would we get a room? We are already in one?”

  I laughed, almost spitting out my beer. I choked on the back swallow but got it under control. Tammy was giving me a very harsh warning glare.

  Sunie looked from me to Tammy, still confused.

  “I think I missed something,” he said. “Is that an Earth idiom?”

  “It means,” I started to say but was interrupted.

  “Don’t,” Tammy hissed.

  I sighed. There went my fun.

  “Nevermind, it takes a lot of explaining.”

  “And wasn’t funny to begin with,” Tammy said, returning her attention to Sunie as the two resumed their conversation.

  Which didn’t include me. I was feeling very third wheelish.

  Thankfully the door opened. Mac walked in, looking like he always did. Which was surly and annoyed. He was constantly ready to yell out ‘get off my lawn’. Which was perfect for a bodyguard. His eyes scanned the room, seeing me, Tammy and Sunie. His posture relaxed seeing that I was relaxed. If I hadn’t been, with Sunie in there, Mac would have been on guard.

  He wore most of the standard Solace Fellowship Guard uniform. Metal leggings and shoulder pauldrons. Leather sleeves, metal gauntlets. Probably chainmail under his tabard. The tabard was dark green, bordered in gold, with the Solace bear in gold on the front. I really liked how that bear looked. I had picked it, so of course it was great. His armor was all darkiron.

  Sunie stood up as Mac walked over.

  “Want a beer, Mac?” I asked.

  “Thanks Nick but I’m on duty,” he asked, studying Sunie.

  “When are you off duty?”

  “Never,” he said.

  I chuckled.

  “Good man.”

  I really liked Mac. His full name was Mackenzie Tavish and he took his job very seriously. The man hadn’t been happy that I’d basically reassigned him from being Kat’s bodyguard to coming to Crossroads to be Tammy’s bodyguard. He was more than happy to protect her. The part he wasn’t happy about was not being there to protect Kat.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  There had been assassination attempts on her life before. She was more than capable of taking care of herself, but most of her Abilities were in Administration. She was a fighter, everyone was to an extent, but some extra protection never hurt.

  There hadn’t been anyone Mac was satisfied with as a suitable replacement for him. So we had all settled on four guards going forward. Kat hated it, but she understood. She was probably already working out ways to reassign those guards. I’d have to make sure that there was at least two on her at all times.

  I’d rather Mac be there. One of Mac was worth four of almost anyone else. But right now, Tammy needed him more.

  I’d never asked Mac what he did before the System. It was obvious he’d been in the military for some length of time but had he been a career soldier? What else had he done? I’d known the man for years but didn’t know much about him.

  I guess that was true with a lot of people in the Clan. I was so busy being the leader, advancing and everything else, that I really didn’t know most folks outside of the core group I dealt with regularly. Folks like Mac, who was surly, didn’t seem to want to open up. And I was okay with that.

  “Mac Tavish,” I said, pointing at him with the beer bottle. “Meet Sunie Teralei.”

  “Hello,” Sunie said, holding out his hand.

  Mac shook it, glancing at Tammy, who blushed a bit. That was interesting. Seemed Tammy might have been talking with Mac a bit more than I would have figured. I smiled. Good, maybe Mac could get her to lighten up a bit.

  “You’re in a party with him?” Mac asked, pointing at me after giving Sunie’s hand a good squeeze.

  “Sadly,” Sunie said.

  “I’m sorry for you,” Mac said.

  “Hey, I’m right here,” I protested, taking the last drink of my beer. I looked at the empty bottle, setting it on the counter. “Anyone want another round?”

  Everyone but Mac asked for one.

  “Great. I’ll get some more and then we can start going through the loot.”

  ***

  “How many Sound Essences do you still need?” Tammy asked, making notes.

  I pulled up my Status, giving it a quick glance.

  NICHOLAS MARCUS HOWELL

  Path Of The Blitzstriker

  Level 103

  Strength: 147

  Endurance: 163

  Dexterity: 169

  Willpower: 179

  Perception: 147

  Arcanum: 2,450

  Primary Essence: Motion Level 105

  Secondary Essence: Manipulation Level 106

  Support Essence: Force Level 106

  Support Essence: Resistance Level 107

  Support Essence: Regeneration Level 105

  Support Essence: Sonic Level 61

  “At least forty more. That would put me at Level 101 in that Essence. But the others are all around Level 105 to 107.”

  “You scare me,” Sunie said, shaking his head. “I still can’t believe you entered the Infinite Tower with only five slots filled and not the total six. That’s just crazy.”

  I shrugged.

  “Okay,” Tammy said, pushing aside some of the hides that had slid off the stack on the counter. Mac had taken it upon himself to start stacking the stuff in the storeroom. There were a lot of Resources we’d gotten in that last run. “We’ll aim for fifty.”

  I tipped my beer bottle at her.

  The door to the back burst open, Mac reaching for his sword. I swung on my chair, facing the door, already channeling power into my fists. Sunie was raising his staff. We all relaxed, seeing that it was Fields.

  “What’s the rush?” I asked, seeing that he really had been rushing.

  Our adapted bodies did tire out, but we really didn’t get out of breath from exertion anymore. We did from drowning, gas and such. But running really didn’t do it. He had been rushing, and it was more from anxiety than anything.

  “Nick,” Fields said, relieved to see me. “Thank goodness you’re here.”

  “No bad news over beer,” I warned Fields, but could tell from his expression that I was going to get bad news. “What’s happened?”

  “Kat needs you back on Earth,” he said. “I was there and she had me come immediately back to get you and bring you home.”

  “What’s happened?” I asked again.

  “That new Clan? The Gray Wolfs? There’s a monster surge in their territory.”

  I grimaced. Monster surges were bad news and if Kat needed me, that meant it was a pretty bad one. I chugged the rest of the beer, never let it go to waste. Setting it on the counter I turned to Sunie.

  “Looks like we’ll have to hold off on hitting the Whitemoss Forest Biome for a couple of days.”

  “No problem,” he said. “I can keep myself busy.”

  I nodded, heading for the backdoor and the portal beyond that would take me to the compound and then back to Earth, but I stopped, turning to Sunie.

  “Want to come?” I asked.

  “What?”

  “Want to come to Earth?”