Jesse entered The Drunken Huntsman. The tavern on the exterior was far from the nicest in town but it was also far from a rundown establishment. It found itself comfortably and unassumingly in the middle. Inside was much the same. There were tables and chairs made of solid, if worn, wood. Customers milled about, sitting at tables, laughing, and generally having a good time. Some played a game with cards and Jesse thought about how cards were somewhat universal in terms of a medium for games. These ones were smaller and square but the concepts were still translated.

  Where is Tormund? Jesse asked Golem.

  “Over in the middle booth, back wall.” The AI reported.

  “No dogs in here!” A stocky man wearing an apron bustled over to him. “It has to wait outside!”

  “She… uh.. is my support dog? I can’t leave her out there.” Jesse said looking down at her. He kicked himself at the stupid excuse. They definitely didn’t have those here.

  Aegis looked up at the man, here eyes glowing faintly blue. It was almost imperceptible but the inkeeper definitely noticed. She lifted her lips slightly. “Uh… well… I guess she can stay.” He stammered. “Just see that she isn’t bothering anyone.”

  Jesse nodded and moved on towards Tormund’s table. Aegis followed close behind, eyes following her large form. Jesse arrived at the table and noticed Tormund was sitting with a young woman. She looked to be Rebecca’s age at an early 20s. She had tan skin and dark hair that was pulled into a bun.

  “Jesse! This is Nira’Valen. She has some mutual friends.” Tormund said indicating the woman.

  “Hello. It’s nice to meet you.” Jesse said neutrally.

  “You both should come with me. We have much to discuss.” She said standing.

  Aegis sniffed the woman and he could sense her contentedness. Golem spoke into Jesse’s mind. “Jesse, she is a verescent. Be careful.”

  Jesse grunted and followed her, fingering the club he wore at his waist. He had secured the crystals to his new weapons but wrapped them with cloth so they wouldn’t draw attention.

  Nira led them to a nearby alley. Inside she walked to a stack of crates up against a wall and moved them to the side effortlessly. She clearly wasn’t even trying to hide that she was a verescent. Probably a form of intimidation.

  She crawled into a hole that the crates had been hiding and they quickly followed. They entered a dilapidated room with a large table in the center surrounded by empty chairs. Candles burned on sconces, illuminating the room in a dim flickering light. Once they entered she crouched and slid the boxes back in front of the hole. She then dropped a tarp over the opening, likely to block the light.

  “What do you want with the resistance?” She asked them.

  “I’m… I’m uh, a member of the capital division of the resistance.” Tormund stammered.

  “I’m looking for my daughter.” Jesse said simply. Aegis brushed up against him, reassuring.

  “Wait… you’re Rebecca’s father aren’t you? Yes, I can see her in your face.” Nira said, eyes wide.

  “What? You know Rebecca?” Jesse nearly yelled.

  “Shh.” She hissed. “Yes I know her. We are friends. She left a couple weeks ago to search for you in the Archons prison at the capital. I was going to go with her but she left knowledge that the local resistance had to have.” The woman frowned then added. “Not that it did us any good.”

  “We have to go find her! She isn’t safe there. I need to find her.” Jesse quickly said, moving toward the door flap.

  “Wait, what do you mean it didn’t help you?” Tormund asked. Jesse paused.

  “The Archons' men came and slaughtered the local resistance. I guess they must have figured out who was in it. All except for me at least. It helps that I wasn’t from around here, just happened to be in the area. I’m all that’s left. I… should have left for the capital some time ago. I just didn’t want to abandon any potential survivors. So far there haven’t been any.” She looked down. “I’m sorry. I should have gone with Rebecca to begin with.”

  “Their all dead?” Jesse asked, jaw slack.

  “Yeah.” She said looking away.

  “You know that’s not your fault.” Jesse told her, reading the guilt in her face. “Join us. We can go find Rebecca together.”

  The woman looked conflicted for a moment.

  “Okay, yeah…I need to get this information to the resistance there. I’ll come with you.”

  Her mood suddenly lifted. “Who knows, might be fun.” She said with a wink towards Tormund. The man’s face reddened and she let out a cackle.

  “How is Rebecca? Has she been okay?” Jesse asked quickly. He felt desperate for any information she could give.

  “She was safe and sound last I saw her. She is a virescent, so she is really more of a danger herself than in danger from anyone but the strongest. That being said, she is also an excellent spy. I’m confident she will be okay when we get to the capital.” Nira told them.

  “Okay, the sooner the better. Can you take some of this bags weight Tormund? It’ll be too heavy for me to carry long distance by myself.” Jesse asked.

  “I’ll take it.” Nira said, pulling it off his back. Her slight frame still picked up the bag and shouldered it with ease. “Glad to be the pack mule for the trip.” She smiled.

  Jesse found her upbeat attitude refreshing, even if he doubted it mirrored how she felt on the inside. It reminded him of his daughter. Growing up she was a beacon of positivity in a world that could at times be quite dark.

  “Well let’s get moving.” Jesse said.

  Nira went first, moving the crates once again out of the way. The other three followed closely behind.

  Moving through the alley, Nira spoke again. “The road to the capital is a couple of weeks long. It’s grown dangerous in recent times with patrols being lightened to focus on the quarantine. Some caravans have gone missing.”

  Jesse began to form a reply but stopped short when he heard a commotion from the streets. It sounded like shouting.

  “It appears Kaelan has entered the town and has commandeered the local forces. He is performing a systematic search. My suggestion would be to extricate yourself from the town unseen.” Golem chimed in.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  How far away is he? Jesse mentally asked.

  “He appears to be coordinating the search and not searching himself at the moment. He is still quite injured. I would give this as your opportunity to flee before he can locate you.” Golem responded.

  “They are searching for us.” Jesse told the group. “Is there an easy way out of town?”

  Nira hesitated and nodded. “There is a tunnel under the south wall of town. It’s mainly used by drug smugglers and that type but we could pass through it. If they let us…”

  The other side of the alley connected to a side street off the main thoroughfare and it appeared that the soldiers had not began searching there in earnest. The group moved into the street and then into another side street, this one to the side of the blacksmith. Jesse could smell his own sweat in the hot gambeson lining under his new chain armor. He starkly realized the sunlight reflecting off of the shield and chains of his armor. His heart raced.

  “Hey!” A strong voice called out to the group. Jesse startled and Nira swore under her breath.

  Jesse turned to find the blacksmith Myra standing there with her arms crossed, having just exited from the back door of the smithy.

  “What are you doing slinking about?” She asked, arching an eyebrow. “You know you don’t have to steal from me. You can have anything in the shop.”

  “We are just passing through, heading out of town actually.” Jesse said, stumbling over his words slightly.

  The woman frowned for a moment. “The gate is that way?” She said while pointing in the other direction.

  “Well, uh, yes. You see…” Jesse started. Myra glanced into the street where she saw the Archons men going building to building. Her eyes lit up in recognition.

  “You are criminals? They are searching for you? No, not mere criminals.” She said looking them over. “You’re with the resistance.”

  Nira stepped forward, as if to silence the blacksmith. Jesse grabbed her arm.

  “It’s just a misunderstanding.” Jesse said, his eyes pleading.

  Myra chuckled and glanced over her shoulder a moment more. “Follow me, I have a place you can hide until the search dies down.” With that she turned and moved into the shop.

  Jesse looked at the other two, who were looking to him for direction.

  “She helped me earlier and proved to be honest when I grossly overpaid. Call me foolish, but I trust her.” He provided.

  “Good enough for me.” Tormund said, following after her. Nira just shrugged and followed.

  When the trio, plus Aegis, got inside they found Myra opening some floorboards near the counter. Below was a small space with a couple of beds. Jesse’s brow furrowed. She provides a safe place for the resistance to rest? Or is this for her own safety?

  At his look Myra spoke. “I had it put in after the robbers attacked. I wanted to make sure my daughter had a safe place to hide should something happen. We never had to use it though. It’ll be a little dusty but it should serve as long as you keep quiet.”

  “Thank you for this.” Jesse said earnestly. The four of them climbed into the room below and Myra replaced the boards from above. It became dark, with small amounts of light spilling in from the cracks in the floorboards.

  After some time the door opened and heavy footsteps stomped in. Jesse’s heart thundered in his chest. He placed a hand on Aegis to keep her quiet.

  “We are looking for a pair of men who look like this.” The men said to Myra above, presumably handing her a drawing. She dutifully studied the drawing before handing it back.

  “I’ve seen this man before.” She said. Jesse didn’t think his heart could beat any faster. At this rate he was going to go into cardiac arrest. “Yes, he came in to purchased some weapons and armor.”

  “Did you provide these items to him?” The guard said stiffly.

  “I did, he paid money and I had the items on hand.” She replied cordially.

  “Did the man indicate where he was going?” The guard replied. I guess he doesn’t care that she sold to us. Though why wouldn’t she?

  “Yes, he said he was going south. I don’t know what he hopes to find in the quarantine zone. I warned him that trespassing there was ill advised.” Myra responded and Jesse felt a flood of relief.

  “Very good. We will be on our way. Thank you for the information honored craftswoman.” The man said, trudging out of the building. Jesse let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding.

  Jesse could hear Myra gathering some items and idly wondered what was happening. A good deal of time passed before she opened the floor again, presumably closing the shop for the night.

  “Alright, I think the excitement has died down a bit. Now’s our chance to get out of here.” She told the group.

  “Thank you Myra, really.” Jesse started to respond before he thought about her words. He looked back at her and found she was carrying a large bag that seemed to be overflowing with tools. At her waist she had a large hammer in a loop on her belt.

  “You want to come with us?” Jesse asked her. “What about your shop?”

  “With the money you gave me I can start a new one in the capital. Whatever you are doing, whatever is changing, I want to be with my daughter. I want to make sure she sees through it all safely.” Myra told him. Jesse could understand the motivation.

  “I don’t plan on overthrowing the Archon or anything so dramatic.” Jesse told her.

  “Regardless, you never know. Times are changing” She replied with a shrug.

  “Well in that case, welcome aboard.” Jesse said with a smile. “It’ll be good to have a blacksmith. I have more ideas on what we could make together.”

  “I’m bringing along all of the tools I have for field work. The only thing truly missing is a proper forge. I even have a small anvil.” Myra told him. At Jesse’s surprised look she explained. “Smiths have been traveling with armies and doing work on the move for hundreds of years. We have plenty of tools adapted for the purpose.”

  Jesse nodded at the explanation. His mind churned with ideas on how he could improve her tools using the large crystal he took from the construct.

  The group exited out the back door of the smithy.

  “The path out is hidden in a shanty house up against the back wall. It’s not far now. Hopefully the soldiers don’t know about it.” Nira whispered as they moved.

  Jesse could feel Aegis’s tension, which she felt from his tension in a sort of self feeding loop. It was an odd feeling and Jesse knew he would need to get used to it or it would end up distracting him at an inopportune moment. She began to growl and Jesse looked ahead. There was a soldier standing in front of the shanty house that Nira had referred to. Maybe it was time to test one of his creations out.

  Jesse spoke low to his group. “Stay behind me, I will try to take care of this.”

  As they approached the shanty, the guard eyed him. He appeared to be alone and to Jesse’s shock it was one of the men from the campfire that seemed so long ago. What was his name? Dravik?

  “Ah its you. I am afraid you are going to have to come with me now.” The man said with a frown. His tone indicated he wasn’t happy about finding him.

  “We both know I can’t do that.” Jesse told the man.

  “Yes but orders are orders. I really hoped you would be able to find your daughter before we found you. It is likely she is already in prison though. Maybe you can escape with her once we put you there.” Dravik said with a sigh.

  “There are five of us and one of you Dravik. Do you think you will win this one?” Jesse asked him.

  “No I do not but if I don’t attempt to stop you then they will have my head. You are not the only one with a family to look out for. I am sorry about this, you seem like a fine fellow. I just have to do what I have to do. “ He said, pulling his cudgel free.

  Jesse did the same, rotating the crystal housing at the base of it, the crystal still wrapped in the linen. Dravik swung lazily at him and Jesse moved his steel cudgel up to block. The weapons rang together and Dravik suddenly went rigid. Jesse stepped closer and touched his cudgel to the man’s side who twitched in response. The man groaned and fell to the ground. A moment later Jesse took his cudgel away, turned it off, and sheathed it. “He is still alive right?”

  “He is.” Golem responded.

  “Okay lets go.” Jesse said, moving toward the shack. Inside some ruffians watched them but made no move to stop their use of the passage after that display.

  “Well that was cool.” Nira said. “Mind telling me how you did that? Are you an Arcanescent?”

  “No, I was able to design some new weapons for us. That one is my favorite. It’s basically a stun baton. Should make short work of most soldiers without killing them.”

  “Well that’s pretty damn cool!” Myra exclaimed, looking at the shield strapped to Jesse’s back. “What does this one do?”

  Jesse grinned. “You’ll just have to see.”