Usually, my sleep was shallow and restless, but this time I felt well refreshed and ready to conquer the day. I stretched like a cat, sprawling my arms backwards, straining myself with a pleased groan, when I felt something weird brush against my arm. I thought it was my hair or the stuffing from the pillow, but when I opened my eyes, the surroundings were... unique, to say the least. The furniture was thrown all around, as if someone lifted the room and shook it violently.

  I slowly got up from the floor, patting myself from the dirt and dust that covered my clothing, while looking around the room to at least get the idea of what the hell happened. It took me a moment, a few seconds at maximum, when I could finally hear the shouting coming from multiple directions, yet mostly from within the keep. As I walked over to the window, I could see a plume of smoke rising from above the building and casting a large shadow down the courtyard, while moving in the town's direction.

  "What in the..." I simply asked under my breath, vocalizing my confusion. I quickly grabbed the sword scabbard and buckled it onto the belt on my waist. After that was the bag, which quickly ended up on my shoulder opposite to the sword. I was about to leave the room, until a quick glance backwards informed me that my boots were still lying next to the bed, so I had to go back to put them on, and then get out of the room.

  When I opened the door, a wall of thick smoke entered the unoccupied space in the room, throwing me down onto the ground, and giving me a very limited glimpse at the insides of the passageway. The wooden walls were mostly untouched, but the ceiling was actively burning, with a few pillars already half eaten by the flames. A second later, a bunch of screams from outside the keep caused me to look at the window, where the black plumes were forcing their way out in clouds. I didn't know how bad the situation was inside the keep, but getting out the window didn't seem like a bad idea.

  I got up from the floor, remaining in a crouched position, not wanting to breathe in the smoke. The window was luckily big enough for me to pass through, but the room was on the second floor. While jumping from this height wouldn't hurt me much, it would be far too suspicious, so instead I've climbed up on the windowsill and judged my options. Below me, a small crowd of people gathered, observing the entire situation, with a few trying to fight the flames as they carried buckets of water and poured them over the exposed flames, with no real effect. Most of them looked over to me, realizing that there was still someone inside.

  No buildings, rooftops, parapets, or conveniently placed stacks of hay to jump onto. If I fell all the way to the ground without breaking my legs, people would be suspicious and might even accuse me of being one of the perpetrators of the fire, and I had not enough information to know what even caused the situation in the first place. But when I've seen a wooden beam fall a few inches from my face, I already knew it was too late to be careful, so I jumped.

  The gasps of the small crowd below me, were enough to make me already regret this decision, but it was too late to stop. I gave myself enough airtime to avoid the people below, going over them and landing on the dirt, the force of the collision forcing me down, and I've allowed the momentum to push me forward into a roll. When I did half a rotation, I could feel myself instinctively extend my leg to catch myself from rolling again, immediately getting me upright on both feet, sliding a good foot of distance, before all the speed died out. I've turned over to the people, seeing their shocked expressions, but most of them changed their faces to one of relief that I was alive and seemingly well.

  On the ground and safe from the flames, I finally had a chance to look at the keep - or what was once the keep of this fort. The building creaked and groaned painfully, unable to support its weight. The east side was collapsing before my eyes, with walls crumbling into large pieces, engulfing the yard in dust. I thought myself lucky to be on the west side, as it possibly gave me additional minutes to get out, when I could hear my side of the building following the collapse.

  It was my first time seeing lord Otto of Amandor, and I was surprised to see a middle-aged man and not an elder. He was tall, his posture straight and regal, even in this time of trouble. He had black hair with a few streaks of grey, as well as a goat-like beard and a large mustache. Seeing how his clothes were clean, I assumed that he wasn't present when the fire erupted, obviously enraged that his home was now a pile of rocks and charcoal.

  For the situation, he was incredibly calm, listening to the testimony of servants and guards. I obviously listened to their stories to fill in the blanks, that I missed by having one of the best sleeps in the last few months, rudely interrupted by this catastrophe.

  Apparently, when the first sun shone, lord Otto went out for a morning hunt, and a few minutes later, someone unknown approached the gate. He spoke about some important information for the lord of the castle, yet he staunchly refused to say who he was, what the information was, nor knew who the lord actually was. When he was refused, he apparently cursed the place, wishing it great misfortune before leaving.

  This was suspicious on its own, but what happened next almost made lord Otto fall over in disbelief. A stranger appeared on the roof of the keep, in lavish clothes and with a staff. Nobody could really recall the details about his appearance, except that his outfit shone with many embedded gems and metals, which shone in crimson light. He was definitely a mage, who's been casting some spell and engulfed the entire roof in fire before disappearing in a plume of smoke. The guards could not tell if it was the same man as at the gate, but surely they had to at least work together.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  What happened next was a series of recollections of who helped where, which people were rescued, and counting the wounded. Luckily, nobody has died, but it was very close, as the lord was informed of me. Nobody knew, I was inside the building, and when I jumped out, people were at first accusing me of being in collaboration with the fire mage, but silently. Nobody, of course, accused me to my face, seeing how I've jumped about 30 feet down, and over a crowd before landing safely.

  It took a bit more listening to people to confirm the entire story, but finally, the time arrived when the nobleman approached me, with a few guards standing in a half circle around me.

  "And who might you be?" He spoke, voice deep and slightly angry. From up close, his face resembled that of a bird, with his long, hooked nose.

  I gave him a slight bow, not wanting to get on the bad side of an already angry noble. "My name's Karya. I arrived yesterday, wanting to offer my services as a mercenary, judged by sir Erwin himself."

  "I see." He spoke, rubbing his goat beard a few times in thought. "He did say you were a competent fighter. Hopefully you have nothing to do with the... happening." He said as he looked over at the ruins.

  "No, when it all happened, I was still asleep. The commotion woke me up, and I barely escaped from my room before the building collapsed."

  He raised an eyebrow, surprised at my side of the story. Then, to my surprise, he moved the hand from his beard and planted it heavily on my shoulder, looking down on me.

  "You're a mercenary, right? Do you also take kill requests?" His expression darkened, staring daggers into my soul.

  I didn't flinch at his intimidation attempt. "I didn't come here after your head, or any of your people, your lordship."

  "Good, but I meant something different. I want that mage's head on a silver platter, and I'm ready to drown you in gold if you manage to drag his ass to me alive." He hissed out through gritted teeth.

  At first, I wanted to refuse this request, but considering that my life was also in danger because of that mage, I gave him a nod. "As you wish, I'll bring the mage, dead or alive, before your visage."

  This brightened the mood of lord Otto, as he unclenched his hand from my shoulder, instead patting it. As he walked away, I wondered if he tried to judge my character. But now I had a mission, that might pay me a heap of gold if accomplished properly, and compared to other mercenaries and hunters, I had a head start. I immediately bowed and excused myself, even if he was already facing away from me, and walked out of the gate. But then I stopped for a moment and looked back at the ruins of what once was a mighty keep. Why was all the furniture in my room fallen over? From people's testimonies, I knew there was no explosion or anything collapsing before I jumped out.

  Even though, I was curious, I already knew as much as I could over here. The description of the fire mage was not very detailed, but characteristic enough, as mages weren't that common in the first place. I had to first find someone who could manipulate magic to their will, as practitioners of the arcane usually contacted each other. So if I could get in contact with one, I'd have access to potentially a dozen, or more in the entire north.

  The walk back to Amandor took me almost an hour, but when I arrived, to my surprise, I wasn't even stopped at the gates. So many people were leaving - mostly adventurers - that guards didn't really care who came in or out, as long as they weren't transporting any goods. Seems that no news has come here yet, and all people had were visual cues of a great fire in the distant castle. That gave me some time to move about incognito.

  First step was to find someone who might deal with magic, thankfully, this town was a trade hub, so the most obvious options were available. Of course, each establishment required asking for directions, but it wasn't anything special. Approach a person on the street, ask where one can buy a very specific good, and follow the instructions. That's exactly how I've ended up in front of an antiquarian's store. Looked like any other, but smelled of incense, spices, and who-knows-what.

  The doors were damn heavy, moving slowly with groans and squeaks of old hinges. And as I looked over the place, it was a mess! Boxes of items, small and big, a basket full of parchments, artifacts, both magical and historical. If someone wanted a stupid or unique item, it was their place - if they could find the seller. The shop was a dump, and every step I took, risked destroying something and being forced to pay for it.

  "Oh, client! How can I help you miss?" A voice rang from behind the counter.

  It took me a few long seconds to reach the shopkeeper, and I finally gave her a look. It was a young girl, equal height to me but a bit younger, with ashen hair made into a braid.

  "First, clean up the shop! It's a maze down here!" I barked out, annoyed, that I had to partake in a dance to even reach her. "And then tell me, who would be willing to buy a Phoenix Ruby?"

  I had the basic courtesy to already have a silver coin prepared, so I slid it across the wooden top over to the girl. I didn't even notice when she swatted it from under my finger, hiding the coin in a deposit box under the counter.

  "I can't tell you a direct trader, but I know someone who knows other someones." She gave me a sly smile and a wink, as if her usage of her own code was a brilliant addition to the transaction.

  I simply stared at her with a bored expression, silence stretching awkwardly, until she broke and spoke with defeated voice. "Don't know a fire mage, but can get you in contact with a different kind of mage."

  That was enough, so I slid an additional five silver coins over the counter, to watch them getting swatted one by one. The trick was far less impressive when there were multiple coins.

  "Name's Iortha, currently staying behind bars."

  The information was a sudden whiplash, causing me to blink a few times to regain composure. "For what? Usually, mages prefer to die in combat over getting arrested." I exclaimed.

  "She has a problem with booze, and gets arrested after using magic for silly pranks while drunk."

  "That... Well, that explains a lot, actually. Thanks for help." I turned on my heel and almost tripped over a statuette. "But really, clean this place up!"

  The girl burned with embarrassment. "It's not that bad, I'll show you!" I heard her say, but before I turned around, I could hear a sound of something shattering, and as I turned I could see her crouching over a broken vase.

  This proved to me that for now, the shop was better left unbothered for some time, until she can get everything sorted out.