By the time Iskvold returned with supplies, Bird had pulled Lunish aside while the others chatted idly. Down on one knee, at eye level with the druid, the cat quietly issued specific instructions. She nodded intently several times before wordlessly heading for the courtyard.

  The drow flicked her head towards the hushed conversation. “What’s that all about?”

  “Reconnaissance,” Glynfir chirped, eager to seem in the know. “We need some little blind mice to play the pawn for our marks.”

  Whydah met Iskvold’s confused look with a long exhale and a head shake. “I think we may have created a monster with this one.” She tipped her head in the wizard’s direction. “We need an epic level diversion, so Bird sent her out before it gets dark, in owl form, to find a nearby tribe of orcs that we could trick into helping us.”

  Iskvold nodded. “I’m glad you’re here to act as interpreter, or we’d all be lost.”

  “Okay,” Bird spoke definitively, volume slightly exaggerated. He stepped back to the table as all side conversations stopped, leaning over with a wide grin and fully immersed in his role as the activity’s mastermind. “Everyone, gather round. You’ve each got a specific part to play if we’re going to pull this off.”

  Over the next ninety minutes, the cat brought his plan to life, complete with diagrams and descriptions, covering each team member’s role and the timing of their actions. When Lunish returned, dusk had crept in. Two pillar candles had been brought up from the vault to illuminate the spread of well-scribbled parchment covering the table. All eyes turned her way as she entered the mess.

  “So, how’d you do?” Bird asked eagerly.

  “Well, I didn’t find any orcs, but there is a pack of gnolls living at the head of a ravine less than half a mile from the base of the mountain. Will they do?”

  “Even better,” the cat purred.

  “Why better?” Tsuta asked.

  “They’re easier to manipulate.” Returning to the table, the tabby hunted through the sheets of well-inked parchment before plucking one from the spread. “With gnolls, we won’t even need this piece.” He crumpled the parchment and tossed it into the fire, turning to Iskvold with a grin. “Your job as The Roper just got easier!”

  “Also, the Sklir are back.” Heads pivoted in her direction at the mention of the demons. “It was hard to count them in the fading light, but I would guess more than twenty, and they’re crawling all over the mountainside, just like before.”

  The group’s focus turned quickly to Bird, his gaze fixed on the floor, stroking his whiskers as he considered this latest intelligence. “Sooner than we expected, but it doesn’t change anything. It just moves up our timeline. We’ll need to head out at first light and hope they don’t find it before we get there.”

  Leaning over the table, he tapped a piece of paper containing a series of lists, each topped with a name. “Make sure everyone prepares these spells tonight, so we’re ready.”

  “What about me? What’s my job?” Lunish asked hesitantly.

  “Don’t worry,” Bird reassured the gnome, guiding her toward a seat at the table beside Tsuta. “I promised yours would be the easiest. You’re The Rabbit. All you’ll need to do is run, or in this case, fly!”

  The druid studied the parchment in front of her seat and felt the knot in her shoulders relax. “I can do this!” she announced with renewed confidence.

  “We will need some of your magic skills in other places.” Bird pointed to three nearby papers. Lunish studied each one, nodding in confirmation before returning to the list of needed spells.

  She glanced around the table. “I think I can help here, and here as well,” she said, pointing to other pages. “I’ll have the spells ready.”

  Tsuta turned to Haft, who had been uncharacteristically silent throughout the planning session. “What do you make of all this, Sifu?”

  The old monk’s mustache twitched as he considered his answer. “I’m well outside my wheelhouse, but it’s certainly creative.” He fixed his gaze on Bird. “I have a new appreciation for rogues and their craft. I always considered you all thugs and cutpurses, but this is real artistry.” Bird gave him an acknowledging nod. Haft’s tone remained steady as he continued, “But what happens if it doesn’t go down as you expect?”

  “Then we improvise,” Bird said simply.

  Lunish leaned over to Tsuta. “Does everyone get a special title or just The Rabbit?”

  The high elf chuckled, “We all do, based on the job each of us is doing.” He pointed around the table. “Tiny is The Wheelman, or in this case Wheelwoman, Pinky is The Roper, Woodsy is The Instigator, Whiskers is the Mastermind, I’m the Fixer, and Mustache-”

  “I’m The Greaseman!” Glynfir announced proudly, mysteriously circling his outstretched palms around each other in midair.

  “These make a lot more sense now.” The druid nodded, re-examining the pages, connecting the titles to her friends around the table.

  “So, what can you tell me about the layout of the ravine itself?” Bird asked, his eyes twinkling.

  When the evening meal was laid out, the party’s perceptions of the plan’s prospects had shifted from initial skepticism to cautious optimism. Questions on finer details dominated the conversation, until the peal of the abbey’s bell echoed throughout the Luminarium. Conditioned to the implications, Iskvold and Tsuta were the first to react, grabbing their staves and heading for the courtyard with the others on their heels.

  Spilling into the warm evening air, the group found Esmi pulling on the bell’s cord. Without a word, she pointed down the trail to the east. A lone figure, in no great hurry, approached the abbey. Cloaked and hooded, the humanoid leaned on a staff and carried a pack.

  “That’s far enough!” Iskvold called to the stranger. “State your business!”

  The figure stopped, but didn’t speak. Tsuta picked up a stone from the ground nearby. The energy flashed from his fingertips, causing the rock to radiate intense light. He tossed it towards the stranger’s feet, bathing the surrounding area in a warm glow.

  “Is this how you treat all your guests?” the figure croaked as a hand rose, pulling back the hood to reveal white, scaly hide framing pale blue irises with black vertical pupils.

  “Mister Glamos!” Lunish squealed. “You came!”

  The draconian’s lips stretched into a thin smile as he slowly nodded in response.

  “Miss Lunish. It’s good to see you again, though the lack of hospitality makes me second-guess my decision.”

  “Nonsense,” she said dismissively. “You know what’s been going on around here with the demons. Don’t be such a grump.” Throwing open the gate and quickly closing the distance between them, she embraced him in a hug that he reluctantly accepted. “Besides, you’re hardly qualified to advise on gracious hosting. I seem to recall being singed by a ball of fire as we approached your door!” The draconian wizard made a sound resembling a chuckle as a puff of frost burst from his nostrils.

  Glynfir stepped to the open gate. “Hello again, Mister Glamos,” he said, smiling.

  “Well, if it isn’t the World’s Okayest Wizard!” Glamos returned the smile as the two shook hands.

  No longer fearing the visitor, the abbey’s bell fell silent while Lunish made introductions in the courtyard. When she reached Sifu Haft, an air of detachment fell over the two men.

  “Welcome to the Luminarium, Mister Glamos, is it?” The old monk’s tone was frosty. “We’ve been neighbors for over 20 years; this is the first time I’ve heard your name.”

  “I didn’t move up here for the nightlife. I just wanted to be alone, but things have changed,” Glamos replied flatly.

  “Why? What’s happened?” Lunish interjected, concerned.

  The old wizard turned to her. “First, you were attacked…” He turned and nodded to Sifu and the other monks in the courtyard. “…I’m sorry for your loss. And then late yesterday afternoon, I saw smoke coming from the other abbey, with the orange robes.”

  Haft’s reaction was visceral. “What? We need to help them! Esmi, prepare the horses…”

  His voice trailed off as he watched the draconian look down and shake his head. “I had the same instinct and hustled over there immediately. I couldn’t find a single survivor. That’s when I decided it was time to go.” Glamos slid the pack off his shoulders, placing it on the ground at his feet. “I grabbed what I could carry and came straight here. I’m guessing from your reaction that the bastards didn’t come this way?”

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  Muttered denials and shaking heads provided the answer. “But we know where they went,” Bird quipped.

  Tsuta laid his hand on his master’s forearm. “Where are Ayre and Kellam?”

  Haft nodded across the high grass towards the mountains. “They’re rebuilding the northern outpost…have been since first light.” His eyes cast around the group standing in the courtyard, before settling on one of the acolytes. “Jin, go and fetch them, please. Tell them what’s happened.”

  Without a word, the initiate nodded and took off towards the mountains.

  Surveying his darkened surroundings, Haft added, “I’m suddenly feeling exposed out here. Why don’t we take this inside?” Turning back to the wizened draconian, his earlier aloofness forgotten, he said, “Thank you for coming. You’re welcome to stay here.”

  Glamos offered a silent nod, reaching for his pack. Glynfir got to it first, and in a mixture of shock and hushed tones, the group migrated back into the abbey’s mess hall.

  Haft guided the draconian towards a seat at the table. “You must be famished after all that walking. Please, have some supper while you tell us everything.”

  After another nod of thanks, Glamos ate ravenously. “There isn’t much more to tell, unfortunately,” his voice muffled by a mouthful of ham. “I saw the smoke and arrived about an hour later. The demons were already gone.” He shrugged as he reached for a biscuit. “The scene looked just like Miss Lunish described here—corpses everywhere, the abbey itself still smoldering…brutal.”

  “What about their beacons? They watch two passes west of the abbey.” Haft pressed the visitor.

  “Now that you mention it, I did see smoke rising from two other locations to the west. Not as much, and I didn’t have the time or energy to make the trip.” Glamos admitted.

  Haft’s brow furrowed. “There could be injured monks at those outposts.”

  “I can go, as an owl.” Lunish offered. “I’ve got the juice for one more shift and can see in the dark.”

  Haft nodded in reply. “Thank you.”

  She squeezed the old wizard’s shoulder. “Really glad you came, Mister Glamos. I’ll be back in a bit,” she announced to the room before exiting the mess.

  Tsuta probed his abbey master, “Should we delay our departure and head to the Crystal Dawn at first light?”

  The old monk shook his head emphatically. “No. As I understood the plan, your timing is critical.” He looked at Bird with raised eyebrows. The tabby returned a silent nod. “The initiates, Ayre, Kellam, and I will go to the Crystal Dawn.” He turned to Glamos. “We could use your magic if you’re up for coming along?”

  The draconian swallowed another piece of ham. “Yes, of course. I’m more than happy to help.”

  “Good. It’s settled then.” His hand slapped the table. “You all carry on as planned, the rest of us will bury our brothers and sisters of the Crystal Dawn.”

  Whydah, a confused look on her face, took advantage of the break in conversation to ask a question. “Why attack the Crystal Dawn? It doesn’t make sense. Their beacons don’t overlook that mountain. Are we missing something?”

  The room was silent momentarily as everyone considered her words, until Iskvold sat bolt upright. “The orange robes!” She looked expectantly around the table, waiting for her friends to connect the dots.

  “What about them?” Segwyn prompted, finally.

  “The robes Tsuta and I are wearing are from the Crystal Dawn. They brought them over after the fire.”

  “But no one saw us.” Segwyn countered. “We left nothing alive on that mountain.”

  “We didn’t leave any demons alive.” Glynfir corrected him. “There could have been something else watching us.”

  “Like a familiar.” Glamos offered. “You said you suspect a powerful wizard is involved with this somehow, right?” The draconian raised one spiny eyebrow, tilting his head in a half-nod. “That would be my guess.”

  “What’s a familiar?” Bird asked.

  A wry smile crept across the old wizard’s scaly lips. Holding the tabby’s gaze, he snapped his fingers. With a flash of blue energy, a small lizard appeared on the table’s surface.

  “This is Hink—my familiar. He does what I tell him, and I can see through his eyes. We can even communicate telepathically. The best part is, since he’s a magical construct, and not truly alive…” Glamos unexpectedly slapped the table’s surface, crushing the tiny creature. The old wizard paused for dramatic effect before lifting his hand to reveal no trace of the lizard. “If he gets destroyed, he just disappears into a pocket dimension until I call him again.” The wizard repeated his summoning snap, and Hink promptly rematerialized on the table.

  “So, someone could have been using a familiar like this to watch the demons’ activity. It then saw us destroy them and reported back to its master.”

  “Exactly, and keep in mind, the intelligence of these creatures is limited to the capabilities of their living counterpart. So, if its master wasn’t nearby, it would be reliant on the familiar’s account of what it saw.”

  Iskvold lowered her head, her voice cracking, “We caused the death of everyone at the Crystal Dawn.”

  “You can’t think of it that way, Pinky.” Tsuta countered. “Personally, I’m using it as extra motivation to get to the bottom of who did this and deliver a beating so severe that they’ll need to make up a new word to describe it!”

  The drow brightened up with a nod. “I like that perspective much better, thanks!”

  Demonstration completed, Glamos snapped his fingers again, dismissing the lizard. Pushing his empty plate towards the center of the table, he gave an up-nod towards the stack of parchment. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the plan for tomorrow? Maybe I can help.”

  Glynfir leapt to his feet. “Ooh, that’s a great idea!” Turning to the rest, he began to lobby. “Mister Glamos has a trunk full of spells and magic items, plus he’s far more experienced than I am at—”

  Bird promptly cut him off, hands raised. “It’s okay, Glynnie, you don’t need to convince us. It would be good to get another perspective on the plan, and it’s an opportunity for each of you to review your part.”

  The group cleared the remains of the evening meal, and just as they were about to begin, Jin poked his head into the mess, shooting Sifu Haft a look before giving his head a quick tilt.

  Haft rose immediately despite dreading this particular duty as the abbey master. “You’ll have to excuse me. I need some time with Ayre and Kellam, given the circumstances.”

  Amid understanding confirmations, the old monk followed Jin out the door.

  Bird took his place at the head of the table, eyes twinkling as he spoke. “I’ll take you through the terrain and the set-up, and then we’ll each describe what we’re doing during the operation.”

  For the next hour, the team shared their plan in detail. The draconian remained silent until they had finished, occasionally reviewing the rough map and the spell preparation list.

  “So, what do you think, Mister Glamos?” Glynfir prompted excitedly.

  The old wizard chose his words carefully. “It’s a solid plan.” He looked at Bird. “This is a fine piece of work.” The tabby responded with a slow nod of appreciation as Glamos continued. “I do see one problem and one opportunity…”

  The cat leaned forward in surprise, his eyes scanning the clutter of parchment in attempted anticipation.

  “Problem?” he parroted.

  “Communication,” the draconian said flatly.

  Glamos matched the tabby’s posture, stretching across the table to pull the roughly drawn area map towards him. The others instinctively repositioned themselves to look over the old wizard’s shoulder. Glamos glanced around for Whydah.

  “You’re the central point of communication, right, and positioned here?” He tapped a clawed finger on the map.

  The halfling nodded in confirmation. “That’s right.”

  “And I assume you’re using your messaging cantrip to coordinate timing with the others?”

  Whydah nodded again. “That was the plan.”

  With a slight grimace, the draconian returned to the map. “The problem is, you’re out of range, at these distances, from everyone except Iskvold. The others won’t hear you from that far away.”

  Whydah closely scrutinized the map before her entire body straightened in alarm. “I didn’t consider the distances. That’s a huge problem. If we mess up the timing, the whole thing falls apart!”

  The old wizard tilted his head in consideration. “Maybe not. I can give you a more powerful spell instead, but you’ll only have enough juice to use it a few times.”

  Whydah’s shoulders instantly relaxed. “Are you kidding? I’ll take it, thank you!”

  “That’s a great catch,” Bird admitted, his whiskers twitching. “You also mentioned an opportunity?”

  Glamos nodded, turning to Iskvold. “You’ve got to draw the gnolls in, right?”

  “That’s my job,” the drow chirped. “I’m The Roper!”

  “I was thinking, what if we could make you look exactly like one of the demons? Wouldn’t that sell the whole play a bit better?”

  “Yesssss—” Bird hissed, the feline grin spreading across his lips.

  “Do you have another spell for that, Mister Glamos?” Glynfir anticipated.

  “Not exactly.” The draconian rose from the table and shuffled to his pack. As he spoke, he extracted the tiny wooden chest that only Glynfir had seen before. The others looked on with slight confusion. “One time, many years ago, we solved a series of murders for the Grand Duke of Eriar, on the eastern continent.” He tapped the wooden chest, causing its full-sized counterpart to materialize in a blue flash. “Turned out it was a local peasant woman who was using a magic hat to disguise herself.” He rummaged through the chest as he continued. “As someone who attracts more than their fair share of unwanted attention, I kept the hat.”

  With a flourish, the draconian thrust his hand into the air holding a plain white cotton bonnet. The pleated cloth head covering was framed by a wide, curved sunshade with ties dangling from each end to attach under the wearer’s chin.

  The entire table, apart from Iskvold, broke out in raucous laughter.

  “Absolutely not!” the drow stated emphatically. “That’s a fashion tragedy. I’m not wearing that.”

  “Come on, Pinky,” Tsuta teased. “It’s for the mission. Once you trigger the magic, no one will see the hat.” After a brief hesitation, he couldn’t resist taking it a step further, his face deadpan. “And if it doesn’t work, you can pretend to be looking for your lost sheep!”

  Another roar of laughter echoed off the stone walls. Even Glamos had to stifle a serpentine grin as Iskvold shot her watch partner a withering glance.

  Reluctantly, the drow crossed the floor, snatching the hat from the old wizard and turning her back to the group before sliding it over her hair and tying the strings.

  Lunish, returning from her flight, picked that exact moment to re-enter the mess hall. A hush fell over the room as everyone looked at her expectantly. With a tight-lipped shake of her head, she confirmed the fate of the beacon guards before locking eyes with a sheepish Iskvold.

  An awkward moment passed between them as the gnome struggled to find her words.

  “That’s an…interesting look.” She stammered after a long pause.

  The statement broke the somber tension of her unspoken announcement, and laughter returned to the room. Lunish, cheeks flushed, lowered her head and slunk into a seat at the table.

  “It’s a magical hat of disguise,” Glynfir explained for her benefit. “For the heist.”

  The draconian re-grounded the conversation. “Now, just concentrate, for a moment, on the appearance you want to take on…”

  Iskvold closed her eyes and, with a flash, her form shifted into a Sklir, complete with cranial hook and tail. A gasp rose around the table at the suddenness and accuracy of the transformation.

  Glamos extended his foot towards her new tail, his leg passing through the illusion.

  “It’s not solid, though, see? So, don’t let them touch you, or the jig is up. It will last for an hour, unless you remove the hat.”

  “Thank Gond for that!” Iskvold muttered, her clawed hands fidgeting below her chin until another flash restored her original appearance.

  “This is fantastic!’ Glynfir gushed before turning to Bird. “I think Mr. Glamos needs a title for the heist, like the rest of us.”

  The tabby stroked his whiskers. “I think you’re right. Mister Glamos…you are The Wild Card!”

  “Why The Wild Card?” Tsuta asked.

  Bird’s feline grin stretched in response. “Because no matter what cards you’re holding, if one of them is wild, it’s a stronger hand!”

  The Glimmerstone Enigma?

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