Flynn paced nervously, his fists clenching and unclenching. Nyx leaned against the wall with her arms crossed nearby. She had a look of boredom on her face, but her eyes burned with barely contained fury. The only person who seemed to be unaffected by their situation was Throm. The mercenary stood near the door chatting with a pair of Khalreth city guardsman who stood just outside.

  They weren’t exactly prisoners, but they also weren’t being allowed to enter the city. And their weapons had been confiscated. At least those that weren’t stored contained in dimensional storage devices.

  Flynn looked down at the bracelet on his wrist where his battle hammer was currently stored. It didn’t look like anything special, covered in grime and monster guts as it was. Much like his clothing and that of his companions which was one of the primary sources of their current predicament.

  The prior week had been filled with monster battles and there had been scant few opportunities to clean up as they traveled. None of the battles had been particularly difficult after their battle with the horde of Bristleback Spiders, but it was impossible to fight monsters without getting dirty. Battle hammers, in particular, were messy weapons to wield when you were powerful enough to make small monsters explode like watermelons.

  The numerous battles hadn’t been overly challenging, but they had been profitable. Flynn’s scowl deepened at the thought of his saddlebag full of card fragments outside in the custody of the city guard.

  He forced himself to take a deep breath. Flynn knew the guardsmen were just doing their job, keeping Khalreth safe from dangerous people of unknown origin.

  There was no denying that he, Nyx, and Throm were dangerous people, and their current state of cleanliness didn’t exactly inspire confidence that they were upstanding citizens of Haldrion. The fact that both he had followed Nyx’s lead, both refusing to let themselves be identified, didn’t help, either.

  Flynn’s Analyze card, boosted from being placed on his head, prevented anything below a Legendary rank Analyze card from gathering information on him, unless he allowed it. Nyx possessed a similar card. They had, instead, surrendered their Adventurers Guild tokens and a runner was sent to the guild hall to verify their identity.

  Flynn heard a commotion outside and a moment later a woman with short blond hair pushed her way into the room. The guard captain followed behind, his head down and shoulders slumped. The woman wore a long black robe covered in runes that glowed slightly in the dimly lit room. She carried a staff with a large blue crystal on top in one hand and a tablet he recognized as a token reader in the other.

  “I am sorry you were detained unnecessarily,” the blonde woman said, shooting a glare at the guard captain.

  “They refused to be identified and…” The man’s protest trailed off as the woman continued to glare at him.

  Satisfied the guard captain was sufficiently cowed, the woman turned back to Flynn, Nyx, and Throm who had moved to stand with them after the woman entered. “My name is Viera Arcanis. I am currently the Guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild here in Khalreth. My family is also one of the founding members of the city.”

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  The woman exuded an air of self-importance. It was not endearing.

  Flynn glanced at Nyx to see if the blue-haired woman recognized Viera. If she did, she didn’t show it, though he picked up a hint of disdain on his friend’s face. It was a feeling he shared.

  “I was notified as soon as your tokens were presented to the guild clerk for identification,” Viera said. “At first, I was worried something had happened to you. When I heard you were being detained, I came straight here.”

  She glared at the guard captain again for a moment.

  “Thank you for coming down here to get us released,” Flynn said, suddenly feeling sorry for the man who had detained them. “I’m sure you have way more important things to worry about.”

  “Nonsense. Nothing is more important to me than taking care of Elite level members like yourselves.”

  Flynn frowned. He had never asked Nyx, but it was certainly possible that she was an Elite level member of the guild. He wasn’t, though.

  “Elite level?”

  “Indeed.” Viera nodded looking first at Nyx then Flynn. “Miss Wilder has been Elite level for quite some time, and your recent exploits have raised you to that level as well.”

  Small leather pouches appeared in each of the woman’s hands, and she extended them toward Flynn and Nyx. “I took the liberty of getting both of you paid for your efforts to keep the people of Haldrion safe from the monsters that ravage the countryside.”

  Flynn took the offered pouch and could feel that it was full of card fragments. Nyx did the same.

  “Thank you, again.” He felt a sudden need to be free of captivity and looked toward the guard captain. “Are we free to go now?”

  The man glanced at Viera for a moment then nodded when she didn’t object. “You are free to go. Your horses have been cared for and your weapons are outside.”

  Flynn looked at the leader of the Adventurer’s Guild. “If you don’t need anything else from us, we really need to be on our way.”

  Nyx was already heading for the door, Throm right behind her.

  Viera held her arms out the side and bowed slightly. “You are free to go, but please do visit the guild office and check out the open jobs after you get settled in.”

  “We will,” Flynn promised as he moved toward the door.

  Outside, Nyx and Throm had already grabbed their confiscated gear were heading toward their horses. Flynn collected his sword and backpack from a guard near the door and hurried after them.

  Flynn’s insides fluttered anxiously as he followed his companions through the open doors of the city of Khalreth. There was something about Viera that made him want to be as far away from her as possible. The group made that happen, quickly moving through the busy streets until they were well out of sight of the guards—and the Guildmaster.

  “Where are we going now?” Flynn asked when the group slowed their pace.

  “We need to get a message to Khalor,” Nyx said, “but we should take care of the horses first.”

  “So we need to find some stables first, then,” Flynn asked.

  She shook her head. “Most inns in Khalreth have stables for their guests.”

  “Do you have one in mind?” Throm asked. “I can take the horses and get us rooms.”

  “The Golden Compass should have rooms,” Nyx said. “Tell them I sent you and they will take care of us.”

  Flynn raised an eyebrow questioningly, but she didn’t explain herself. Instead, she turned to the mercenary and gave him directions to the inn then gave him the reins to her and motioned for Flynn to do the same.

  She didn’t wait to see if he complied and started walking as soon as she handed the reins to Throm. Flynn watched her go for a moment then handed his reins to the mercenary as well and hurried after his mysterious friend with blue hair.