Gerald found himself uneasy as he waited on the road between the duke’s manor and the town. Leaning against a tree, he tried to put his finger on why he was uncomfortable. They’d been hired to capture a hatchling, but at the time of the hiring, the hatchling hadn’t escaped yet. As a paladin of the Golden Hand, Gerald was oathsworn never to break any contract he signed, except in the case where laws were being broken.

“This feels like we are stretching the law more than a bit.” He commented.

“Laws?” The assassin, the scared middle aged woman who went by the alias of Nightshade, snorted. “You’re working with an assassin. Too late to be caring about laws.”

Stung, Gerald replied. “Working with you offends my sensibilities, true, but I’m only allowed to break my contracts if I feel laws are being broken. I made the mistake of thinking the hatchling had already run away when we signed it. To learn that we would be part of an effort to make a hatchling go rouge was a surprise.”

“No laws are being broken, we were hired to capture a hatchling who’s run away from his stable. A perfectly legal task for an adventurer. That is still true, what does it matter why the hatchling ran away?” Toby, the blizzard mage, asked apathetically.

Questions of morality bored him, Toby just wanted to get this job done and then spend a few weeks living off the proceeds before having to take the next job. He was busy studying for his admission exam at the wizard university he planned to apply to, and just needed funds to pay his necessities while he did that.

“What about that poor catgirl? The one who is being used as a damsel in distress? Isn’t capturing her to lure the hatchling illegal?” The assassin asked with a snort. “Seems to me that you’re already involved in my type of affair, on the wrong side of the law.” Nightshade argued, angry at Gerald’s false moral rectitude despite working in what she saw as a very dirty scheme.

“Why do you care about a runaway slave?” Gerald asked, confused.

“Well,” Nightshade replied angrily. “She’s clearly not a runaway. I’ve seen runaway slaves, caught a few myself, you can always tell. It’s the angry desperation in their eyes, the starved look, the feral feel after repeated beatings and abuse. This catgirl was healthy, well fed, she still has pride, you can see it in her eyes. Plus, you don’t bother to gag a runaway slave, what’s the point? She’s been gagged to keep her quiet, because she isn’t a runaway. That’s just the excuse our client used to justify kidnapping her.”

“A slave has no voice in court,” Gerald said uneasily, “Grabbing one off the street because you suspect they are a runaway is perfectly legal. It’s why it’s a bad idea to send a slave anywhere alone without an escort. Whomever they are with needs to report that the slave was taken illegally for it to be a crime. That Carla woman is Blake’s niece, she’s willing to testify the catgirl ran away, so no laws were broken. Well, other than maybe perjury, but that’s only illegal if Carla actually gets called to testify, and she hasn’t...”

“You damn lawyer.” Nightshade said with a laugh. “A thirteen year old girl taken against her will, chained up and gagged, and you’re ok with it because it’s legal? That only makes it worse. My own childhood was just as bad as hers,” she added in a softer tone, tracing a scar on her cheek. “Events like what’s happened to her convinced me the law is only a shield that protects the wealthy. That’s why I hate your type of self righteous legal oriented morality the most. Evil hidden by a veneer of laws is worse than just pure evil. At least when I do evil, I don’t pretend it’s ok just because of technicalities.”

Gerald frowned then fell silent for a long moment. “I suppose there’s some truth to that,” he admitted grudgingly, much to Nightshade’s surprise. “I plan to leave just as soon as we catch this hatchling. I don’t trust Rueban and I regret signing up for this. Once my contract is complete, I’m gone.”

“Me too,” Toby commented, “I got books to go memorize.”

Nightshade looked thoughtful. “Well, maybe I will stick around a little bit after, maybe ask for a second contract. Just to see if there’s anything that can be done to make sure that poor girl doesn’t end up discarded in the end. I know what being discarded feels like,” she added softly.

“Hey, that blasted hatchling has run off into the forest!” The voice of Blake rang out from the gem Gerald was holding; a sending spell using two linked beast cores. Enchanters used a combination of beast cores and spells inscribed into metal plates to create useful spells anyone could use, this linked communication device was a fairly common device used by adventurers. Gerald himself used enchanted armor and shield with beast cores embedded to increase their durability and toughness, it was why beast cores were so valuable.

Gerald sighed then pressed the etched metal plate attached to a beast core. “Which direction? Guide us to him.”

“Um, west.” Blake replied, “I might lose him in the trees…”

From above, Blake guided the trio of adventurers towards the escaped hatchling, Nightshade was trailing behind the other two, having jumped down from the low hanging branch she’d been keeping watch from. Gerald was in the lead, and his level of alertness was high.

It was a good thing, because as they entered into a clearing, Blake reported that he’d lost sight of the hatchling underneath a big tree. That made Gerald nervous, thinking back to Nightshade's choice of an ambush spot, he glanced up at the branches of that large tree just in time to see a large, 120 pound enraged black dragon hatchling leap down towards him, billowing a thick cloud of white smoke from his mouth.

Gerald’s experience as an adventurer and his quick reflexes gave him barely enough time to throw his shield in Rex’s downward path and brace himself against the sudden assault.