“He is progressing marvelously,” said the man in the shadows.

“I’d say. Most of us expected him to combust on arrival, he is the furthest traveled Lae after all. He originated even further than Abscondia,” replied the raven on his shoulder.

The two observed as their charge, a simple youth not much older than twenty, raced through a city that was not his home. The darkness coiled around the man as if the very void of space had been vaporized and worn as a cloak. He tilted his head to the side as the youth glanced in their direction. Faust Swift stared directly at the pair before a hulking half-orc nursing his arm called to him. Faust moved further down the road, but not before glancing back as he cut across a corner.

“I guess that does it for surveillance. He clearly saw us, even though he should not have been able to yet.” The raven flapped down from the man’s shoulder and idly pecked at the ground.

As the man was lost in thought he felt a flare of pain in his chest. The pain forced him to his knees and the raven cawed frantically while jumping around him. “Don’t worry, Galdin. Though I think this is for the best. Whatever Flaw his trip gave him and whatever Favor the Universe granted him will have to do. Let’s go. I’m sure they have a more ‘important’ assignment for us.” The man’s voice dripped with sarcasm as he evaluated the situation.

The raven settled down and then flew up to his perch on the man. With one last piercing look, one that allowed him to view Faust from the shadows that surrounded the youth, he jumped and encased himself in his cloak of darkness. The silhouette of his cloaked body shrunk until it disappeared with a quiet chime.

A spot of dead grass remained where he had stood, the particular granules of soil beneath cursed to remain barren unless an opposing force acted on them.

*****

“You know there was nothing we could have done. Even if she had gotten out of there, there wasn’t enough mana between us to save her.” The man speaking was Walton, the mage that had saved Dana from certain death not a day prior.

“She shouldn’t have been included in the mission. We were… overzealous,” replied Adalric.

The four of us lapsed into silence as we reran the events of the previous day through our heads. The infiltration into the Dov’s keep, the fight with the Well Drake, and our ‘successful’ escape. I held my head in my hands, the throbbing headache of mana exertion still lingering. After Dana sacrificed herself to allow me to escape, I had inadvertently “sprung a leak” as Walton had put it. For several blocks of the run to Dana’s inn, The Shivering Hen, I left foot wide cracks in the earth.

Walton and Adalric quickly corrected this by knocking me unconscious. As undignified as it was, it was almost certainly the thing that kept me from turning around and making the Dov noble family pay a hefty blood price.

Blinking the tears from my eyes, I focused on the ground. I needed to keep my bloodlust in check. I rationally knew that I was no threat to the Dovs, since even the Lord of the city of Milton hesitated.

“She wanted us to live. I… will not forget her.” I turned to look at Flesk, my half orc companion and willing vassal forced upon me. Something about Orcs and how ‘their lives are their bargains’ led the man to vow himself in fealty to me without my exact consent. His gray-green complexion was a stark contrast to Adalric’s bronze skin, Walton's pale tones and my own tanned features.

“I know, Flesk. I just… I need time,” responded Adalric while shaking his head lightly.

“Well, I will be going home. If you need me, you know where I live. Just no more morningstars. I will answer, I know how crazy you all are.” Flesk and I chuckled as Walton stood and made his way to the stairs.

Adalric also stood. “I will accompany you. I… need some air anyway. Faust, Flesk. I am sure if you tell Tellon you need anything he will get it for you. Dana has… had… an open visitor tab. You are family at this point, so feel free.” I could tell the man was struggling to come to terms with his friend’s passing, but being active was better than sitting still. I silently nodded at the leaving pair and contemplated the disasters that followed in my wake.

I had been in Muraglen for almost a month and I was already trailing an exorbitant amount of corpses. Since my arrival in the Hall and getting transported here, I had killed a number of strong creatures and sentient beings. As my memories returned, as my determination to grow stronger solidified, I found a path to take. However, the loss of Dana had shaken some of my determination. I’d believed that my aptitude for magic and budding strategic knowhow would carry me to a place where I would be able to defend my friends.

Her death had proven how weak I actually was in a realm inhabited by things I did not truly comprehend.

I stretched my hands out in front of me. I whispered the word ‘Free’ and a light green mist began to gather along my fingertips. I sighed, the sensation of my magic energizing me slightly as it moved through me. The moment I breathed out, a gray mist, identical to my Earth mist in all but color, followed my breath. The gray mist curled slowly in the air and the moment it touched the green mists in my palm, they hissed slightly. I found myself holding thin sand, the mists having converged and reacted forming into something else.

“That’s new,” I could hear the unspoken question in Flesk’s voice as he looked at me.

“Ever since Dana, I have had better control over my mana. I am still not entirely sure how to conjure her Air mists, however.”

“Give it time. We don’t even know how to handle the one element we each already had and now you have two.” I could tell the man was trying to distract me from thinking about Dana, but it was a vicious cycle. The more I tried not thinking about her, the more I thought.

I could feel the half orc’s eyes looking me over. After a moment he stood and patted my shoulder. “I think we should take a walk, Faust. I know a place where we might be able to relax.” The half orc had a sad smile on his face, the broken tusk and unbroken one that jutted out of his mouth doing nothing to mask the emotions within. I smiled weakly at him as I stood.

“Should we wear our armor?” I asked the man, hoping his idea of relaxing involved something physical.

“I think so. Might need our mana if they let us…” Flesk trailed off as he turned and moved down the stairs.

I shook my head at my friend’s antics. Making my way over to another of the tables in the penthouse of the inn, I sorted through my armor and equipment. I had lost Kameko’s sword in the side of a Well Drake, as well as the kris that I had stolen from some rogue dwarves. There were iron bracers and greaves which offered some protection, and attack if I was clever, as well as some half torn leather leggings. In the middle of the table, central to all those pieces was probably my most expensive piece of armor. The Cuirass of Molten Leather was the only Rare piece of equipment I owned and so long as I didn’t shred it or tear it apart completely, it would reknit its protection.

I ran my hand along the metal plate that now covered the front left breast of the cuirass. Memories of my fight against the armor’s original owner flashing through my mind. Along with those memories, the frustration with my failure in the Dov's Keep resurfaced.

After informing General Ragnar, the ruler of the Free City of Milton, about the events in Dov Keep he had dismissed us. He had started to process the information Dana and Walton had been able to acquire about the noble house and their illicit practices in Milton. I had wanted to remain and seek revenge, but the General released his mana and pushed us to lay low, or at the very least stay away from the Dov.

The simple thought of the Dov and the mage that had killed Dana made me shake with pent up anger, but I tried to remain rational. I equipped my damaged leggings, then my iron greaves over them. I glanced again at the metal plate over the heart of my chest piece, thinking of the Orc Warchief, but then donned it and my bracers quickly. I tightened the straps as I made my way down the stairs and out onto the main floor of the inn.