I made my way down the stairs, casually dressed now, and sat myself at a table. I looked around, searching through the crowd for their faces. Soon enough the two showed, walking over to take a seat opposite me. “It seems there’s been a change of plans…” I started with a grimace.

“What do you mean?” Qen asked, furrowing his eyebrows and looking intently at me. “I thought that’s what we were going to discuss today.” He continued, puzzled. I ran my fingers through my hair, nodding to Qen.

“Well, yes. It’s a lot more fundamental than that…” I answered. “Seems like Frejr’s got an assignment for me, the kind that would be a danger to anyone who wasn’t really, really experienced.” I said. “So… I won’t be able to stay with you guys any longer, I’m really sorry about that.” I winced.

Maria looked to me with worry. “Then what happens to us? Do we have to go back to working with… Linden?” She asked, looking more than just slightly uneasy with the idea. “I don’t want to work with him, can’t we just tag along with you? I’m sure there’s got to be some jobs we can do at the same time that won’t interfere with your work.”

I give her a wan smile. “No can do, this is apparently time sensitive and very dangerous. As to Linden… no, I don’t believe so. Frejr told me that she had someone else in mind, about as green as you two are. With the three of you together, that handbook I passed you, and maybe the dire wolves if they’re willing, you should be able to take on most of the missions as long as you’re careful and make proper preparations.” I said.

As I finished this, the crowd shifted, and Frejr stepped up besides me. I looked briefly over to her side and my eyebrows raised. Mulia? I thought in surprise. She caught sight of me, and looked startled as well. “I take it you’ve met before?” Frejr asked, looking between the two of us.”

“Uh…” I took the lead. “Yes, somewhat, I met her in passing, she said she was from some village of… Kithar? That had been approached and recruited for the Alliance.” I lied. “It’s good to see you, I did not think you would be joining us irregulars though…”

“Um… yes, it’s good to see you… too…” She replied, eyes still rather wide and obviously in shock. “I hadn’t expected to meet you, you’d not told me where you were working…” Frejr favoured me with a look, and I returned it with a brief scowl. Not now. I thought, focusing my attention back onto Mulia. “Are they who I’ll be working with?” She asked, changing the subject quickly.

“Yeah, that’s right. Uh, you guys want to introduce yourselves?” I asked, leaning back to let them take over. Need to watch my speech, I nearly reverted to formal speech again. I thought to myself, wincing slightly. I also need to step out of the habit later, not good for me if this becomes normal… They nodded, introducing themselves to Mulia.

“So I’m mainly an archer and Qen is a spearman.” Maria said. “Uhm, we’ll be happy to work with you.” Mulia nodded, smiling. “What’s your name then?” She asked, and Mulia gave a yelp.

“Ah, I’m sorry. My name is Mulia, I’m from a tribe of Kithar that live a distance away from here, but I’d thought to work here, where the irregulars seem to be headquartered.” She said. “I’m hoping that I’ll be able to see the world and adventure a fair bit once I’m good enough.”

They shook hands, Qen looking curiously at her decidedly less than furry palm. “Pleased to meet you as well.” Qen said. “It’ll be a pleasure to work with you.”

“Before I turn you both loose into the wild, let me just set down three rules you people should try to follow.” I started counting off my fingers. “Don’t die. If you’re outnumbered or against overwhelming force, get out. Hiding is not cowardice. If you can, ambush your opponents, it’s a lot more effective.” I stared at the fourth offending finger, shrugging. “You get the idea, better to live and fight again than to die and still fail. Got it?” I asked.

“Understood.” The group answered.

I grinned back. “I’ll see you all when I get back, buy you all a round eh?” I walked off with Frejr. “I’m guessing you didn’t know that I knew our new recruit?” I asked once we were out of their earshot, making my to the doors. She shook her head. “We met during the mission I took concurrently with Numen and Rince. They took down the ogre and I took the contract for the demon, I was ambushed by her while I rested during my tracking.” I gestured back to the table. “She thought I was one of the Edratchi, I managed to subdue her, and take out the Edratchi pair that came for me immediately after.”

Frejr arched an eyebrow at my declaration as we walked to the dire wolves. “Are they as difficult to fight as the stories from the front lines tell? If so, you have managed quite the astounding feat. Are you certain your talents are not being wasted here?” She asked, appraising me. “Of course, it is your choice, I certainly will not complain about your presence.”

I shook my head. “It wasn’t an easy fight, they were probably scouts just weak enough to slip past the front lines, the aura wasn’t nearly as strong as the rumours.” I replied. Kneeling down before the dire wolves. “I’m afraid I have to ask a favour.” I started. “Can you stay with the group we were with, and help them stay alive and deal with the threats they will have to face? It’s not quite the Edratchi… but any help you can provide to keep this area safe helps us maintain the warfront…”

They looked over to me, and to one another, slumped a little, before nodding to me. “Thank you.” I answered. “I’ll make sure to make you something nice when I come back.” They snorted at that, and I turned back to Frejr. “I was injured for a long time, though I imagine Numen already explained that to you?” Frejr nodded. “In any case, I should get ready, I’ll remodel my armour as we go, fingers crossed I manage to get it done before we reach that town.” I said, walking back into the building.

“Why not continue to use the armour that you do now?” Frejr asked. “Heavy though it may be, it offers superior protection, which may well be precisely what you need.”

“Not this time, I’ve never trained with armour like this, I still try to move as though I’m in less restrictive armour. My style just isn’t suited for this.” I noted. “Even when I fought the Edratchi during the last mission I found it cumbersome, I was just lucky it protected me from my mistakes.”

She nodded at that. “Yes, I can understand how you might prefer your original armour then. Are you sure you don’t want to remodel it before we leave? The town is hardly going to uproot itself…” She paused there, and her eyes narrowed into a flat distant look. “Unlike Reranoc…” She muttered under her breath. I arched an eyebrow, but she either didn’t notice or didn’t care to explain.

“If I did that most people would probably see through me…” I answered. “It’s hardly difficult to realize that we’re the same people if I go up and don’t come down, while instead the Masked leaves the second floor after being absent for days…”

“True, though at the same time I doubt that many people would own two sets of armour, and your form of armour is unprecedented, artefact or not.” Frejr observed. “We could camp a while out, and give you enough time to properly remodel your armour, it would be for the best if you are not stuck in transition.”

I nodded. “That’s a far better idea really. Thanks Frejr.” I said. Her name rolled awkwardly off my tongue. “In any case, let me put my armour on collect my weapons.” I said as we approached my door. “Should I meet you outside?” I asked. She nodded, and I closed the door behind me, picking up the pieces of armour I’d placed on the ground.

Honestly I’m just lucky I managed to get the articulation right. I thought, donning my armour. And had an easy way to adjust it… I continued, carefully fitting each part in place. I stretched out, articulating my joints to make sure I’d gotten them right. I clipped my sword and pick onto my belt. Ready to go I guess. I thought to myself. I made my way down, waving at Maria, Qen and Mulia as I passed. Qen and Maria nodded their heads at me, Mulia bowed her head, and they waved me off.

Outside, Frejr handed me the reins of a horse. I turned to face the beast, which regarded me with a bored look. “Huh, we’re really looking to make time then?” I asked.

“The Alliance provided them for our use in this quest.” Frejr said. “They want them back alive once we are done, so don’t push them too hard.” I rolled my eyes. “I was asked to pass the warning on to all of you.” Frejr shrugged. “We will meet the others further along the trail. Shall we go?”

Numen, Rince and the others were further along the trail. Rince and Qent looked at me quizzically. “Weren’t we bringing Kael?” Rince asked. “Who’s the knight?” I flipped up the visor, giving him a relaxed salute with a lopsided grin.

“At your service.” I replied. “Let’s get a move on eh?”

Rince looked over in surprise. “Why aren’t you in your normal armour?” He asked. I shrugged.

“Depends on how you look at it really. I’ll change once we stop for the night.” He arched an eyebrow, though Qent nodded knowingly. “Now, let’s get going, we’ve got golems to hunt right?”

We made good time on the horses, following the pace set by Frejr and Azarint. We stopped close to a river, having ridden for several hours. Frejr circled and got us to stop, helping the others out of the saddle. I stretched myself out, wincing at the soreness I’d acquired. Frejr and Azarint went to take care of the horses, and I and Numen moved to hunt. “We’ve got rations.” Rince noted.

“Yes, but I would rather leave that as a last resort than anything else.” I replied. Numen nodded empathically. “Fresh food always tastes better, and if we can find some berries and the…” Numen rolled her eyes. “Fine, we’ll be back as soon as possible.”

I pulled out a sling and set a stone into it. I’m sorry. I thought, sneaking along with Numen in the underbrush. I’d doffed my armour beforehand, regardless of how quiet it was, it still interfered with my movement, and I’d hate to be the cause of us having to eat those rations.

A soft thud came as the string snapped against her gauntlet, the arrow on its way. Something darted away, brushing the undergrowth as it did so, but Numen nodded, and beckoned me along. I put my sling away, and kneeled next to the deer she’d shot through the heart. “Well done.” I said, impressed despite myself. “Do you want to bring it with us and butcher it when we get back? I think I saw a few wild vegetables on the way.”

She chuckled, and nodded. “I already picked them up while we were going. There’s not much though.” I nodded, taking a breath and lifting the deer onto my back. “So how was working with the two rookies?” She asked, tilting her head, and we started on our way back.

“They’re pretty good, were able to eliminate and drive off a dire beast pack… With some planning and traps.” I added, seeing her eyebrows raise. “If they take my advice to heart I’m fairly certain they’ll be fine. Personality wise, they’re good people, I’m a little sorry that they had to deal with Linden really…” She sighed, nodding to me.

“I know, sorry I was kind of mad at you when you told me about it.” She said.

I shake my head. “I haven’t been easy to work with.” I say with a sigh. “And to tell you the truth? By the time we’re done I may actually have to start taking the fight to the Edratchi…”