Darian looks around his room for anything that could help him escape. “Tied up again, huh? I need to work on a plan for getting out of ropes.” Darian scoots closer to the door. His burst of aura earlier attracted the attention of the other members, but Giselle quickly dispersed them. Which likely means either Giselle thinks she can handle the situation herself or that she doesn’t see him as a threat. For the last few minutes, it’s only been Giselle and Alice in the other room. He can clearly hear them talking on the other side of the door and he doesn’t like the conversation. “I already told you, he’s not a demon!” Alice yells.

“If he’s not a demon, what is he? He had an aura that was almost as strong as mine, in addition to being able to fucking heal in moments. That matches the description of a demon pretty well. I hate admitting I’m wrong, but other than him acting normal, everything else points to him being a demon.” Giselle rebuts.

Darian looks down at his arms. His cuts and cracks had all disappeared by now. He doesn’t quite understand how it works, but it’s concerning. “Before, my wounds only healed when I was asleep, but now it seems I can heal them with a little concentration.”

“We can’t judge him from one of your hunches! I can tell who is and isn’t a demon. Why else would you string me along on all these jobs?”

Giselle seems to be taken aback by the question, considering how long she takes to respond. Eventually, she calmly states, “That’s not fair. You know we enjoy having you around. It’s not just about how useful you are to us.” Giselle sighs. “I’m just trying to make the safest call.”

“Safe for who? Is it for the innocent boy you’re going to massacre? I’m sure he feels real safe tied up, waiting for his execution. Waiting for his captors to torture or kill him!”

Giselle begins to yell again. “If I wanted to kill him, I would’ve done it already! I’m just saying he’s dangerous! You felt his aura! You saw his form! If he attacked you, I’m not sure I could protect you.”

Silence overtakes the conversation for a moment before Alice speaks up again. “I’m dangerous too. You know what I’m capable of, but you keep me around, anyway. You know about my pursuers, but you protect me. Why? Why me and not him?”

Giselle has no response. Time stretches on in silence. “Shit. Fine, I’ll let him out. But we need to figure out what to do with him. He’s away from a home that no longer exists, and if his family is still alive, they’re not there anymore. If we just let him go, he’ll get abducted by some lord and used as a warrior until he dies. You understand?”

Alice nods her head. “Just like me, right?”

Giselle only sighs.

Giselle opens the door and sees Darian scooting away. “I guess ya heard our conversation then?”

Darian nods. “But, I think I have a good idea for what you could do with me.”

She looks down at him, curiously. “Go on then.”

“Let me join your team. I may not be as strong as you, but I think I’m about as strong as your other team members.”

Giselle crosses her arms and smirks. “That so? You think you could beat any of them one on one?”

“I’m positive.”

“Fine. We’ll go down and talk to them. You’ll duel the first one who agrees. If you can land even one solid hit on him, I’ll let you join the team.”

She kneels down and unties his arms and legs. “Before we do all of that, however, you need to rest and get some decent clothes. You need a bath too. You smell like death.”

“Is it really that bad?”

Giselle nods her head solemnly. “Honestly, I don’t think my description does the smell justice, but I’m no poet, so we’ll leave it at death. Come along, then. Let’s go downstairs and tell the boys the good news. We can also see if any of them want to show you around the bathhouse after dinner.” Giselle looks to the other room. “Alice, you coming?”

Alice speaks up from her bed. “I’ll skip dinner. I need to sleep the rest of this headache away. Wake me before you head out”

“Sounds good to me. Well then, Darian, let’s go.”

The two of them head out the door and downstairs. As they approach the main room, the smell of food and the sounds of merriment stir feelings of excitement in Darian. Especially the food. His stomach growls in response to the temptations of a cooked meal. He doesn’t feel like it has been that long since he had a good meal, but his stomach disagrees.

As they walk down the stairs, he immediately spots Ragnachar sitting amongst what Darian assumes is the rest of the Holy Harriers. They’re all out of their armor, drinking and talking. Giselle and Darian walk over to the edge of their table and the group looks over at them. Giselle grabs one of the drinks off the table and gulps it down. She looks over the group and exclaims, “He’s not a demon!”

The Harriers cheer and raise their mugs. Ragnachar takes a swig of his drink before saying, “Congratulations on not being a demon, Darian. After I felt that aura, I had my doubts.”

Darian smiles widely. “Thanks!”

Giselle speaks up to the group. “Tomorrow, Darian will duel one of you to earn a place in the Harriers. If he can land a solid hit, he’s in. Any challengers?”

“Sure, I’ll do it.” One of the men at the table volunteers first. He wears his black hair in a short ponytail and his trimmed beard accentuates his strong jaw. Darian recognizes the voice as Thomas; the man who interrogated him in the dungeon.

Giselle claps her hands. “That’s settled, then. All right, lad, let’s get you something to eat.” They grab some food and drink head back to the table. By the time they returned, the group had begun talking about past adventurers.

A large man with flowing blond hair and a shaven face points at Ragnachar and another man Darian doesn’t know the name of. “You both should have seen the look on Thomas’ face when he fell into that pit! Oh, what I would have done to stop that moment, so I could paint it.”

Thomas takes a drink. “I’m sure you would have had plenty of time to paint at the bottom of that pit. Why don’t you take the lead from now on, Rulf?”

Rulf pats Thomas on the back. “Oh, don’t be like that captain! I’m only teasing you.”

Darian and Giselle both sit down at the table. Giselle looks over the group before looking back at Darian. “I think it’s time to introduce you to the Holy Harriers.” She points to Rulf. “The big one is Rulf. He thinks of himself as a painter and is Thomas’ backup.”

The large man looks over at Darian. “As good a painter as I am a swordsman. Sword fighting is just another way to express myself.”

The last member, who Darian does not know, speaks up. The man is slender in frame and has his dark hair tied in a warrior’s tail. A scar is etched, horizontally, across his right cheekbone. “The only reason you’re a good swordsman is your brute strength. Your painting follows the same logic. Broad strokes across the board. No subtlety. You could learn something by watching me place my spearhead precisely where it needs to be.”

Giselle gestures to the slender man. “The cocky one is Martin. He’s a skirmisher that uses his speed to place himself where he’s most needed at the moment. His attitude is a little shit, but he’s reliable with his spear.”

Martin looks offended but says nothing.

She looks at him for a moment before continuing the introductions. “As you already know, this is Ragnachar. He’s the eyes and ears of the group. His weapon of choice is the shortbow, and he’s damned good with it.”

Ragnachar nods at Darian with a smirk.

Giselle then looks over at Thomas. “And finally, this is Thomas, or ‘Captain’. He’s the strategist and frontline swordsman. He’s got a preference for two handing the longsword but can handle a shield just fine. You’ll get a taste of what he can do tomorrow.”

Thomas looks at Darian. “Don’t worry too much about it. Just give it your best.”

Darian nods at Thomas before looking over at Giselle. “What do you do?”

A wide grin appears on her face. “I’m by far the strongest, so that makes me the warrior, of course. I handle the big ones and fill any needed roles.” She sees Darian is unsatisfied with the answer, so she continues. “Let me give an example. Say we’re wandering a forest, and we come across some wolf tracks. We heard wolves were a pest in this area and making trouble for the villagers, so we follow the tracks. Eventually, we come across the wolf den, but see the wolves were trained by a clever giant. It’s my job to keep the giant busy while the rest kill the wolves. Once they massacre the wolves, we all focus on the giant and finish it off. I’m the only one who could fill that role.”

Darian’s eyes are wide with excitement. “Have you fought a giant before?”

She crosses her arms and puffs out her chest. “Of course. I’ve fought more monsters than you could name. A normal giant is no problem for me. A hill giant, though, might give me some trouble.”

Rulf gulps down the rest of his drink and slams the mug on the table. He leans forward, looking Darian in the eyes with matching excitement. “A giant is nothing to her! One time, we were being assaulted by a pair of griffons in the plains near Ironforge. Ragnachar was doing his best at taking them down, but they were dodging his arrows. So Giselle decided something had to be done. In the middle of the fight, she created a new evocation! She called it ‘meteor swarm’. She launched a huge boulder at them as they dove to attack us. Of course, they dodged it, but she planned for that. Right when they dodged, she made the boulder burst in all directions. The griffons were absolutely pelted with countless rocks, each one the size of your head! Once they were grounded, the rest of us finished them off. I still remember the sight.”

Darian’s head whips to face Giselle. “Is that true? You took down two griffons at once?”

“Yup. Though I was exhausted after that evocation. I wasted a lot of energy when I made it. It’s much more efficient now.”

Darian’s excitement shows no signs of ceasing. “Do you have any other stories?”

Giselle nods and begins to speak, but Rulf interrupts. “We’ve more stories than you could stand to listen too! Get nice and comfy, Darian. Next I’ll tell you the story of the shapeshifters.”

A few hours later, the setting sun is shining through the tavern window, and the group is finishing up their stories. Giselle looks over the group and says, “All right. Now that we’re fed and rested, how about we get cleaned up? Let’s head to the bathhouse.”

Thomas stands up brushes the crumbs off his lap. “It’s been a while since I had a good bath. I won’t turn one down.”

Rulf stands as well and places an arm around Thomas’ shoulder. “Couldn’t have said it better.”

Ragnachar finishes his drink. “Why not. Don’t get many chances to wash out there.”

Martin places the last of the food he was picking at and nods his head in agreement.

Darian stands up and looks over at Giselle. “What about Alice?”

Giselle smiles down at him suspiciously. “What about her, lad?”

For some reason, Darian finds it hard to maintain eye contact with her, so he looks at the dirty dishes left on the table. “Will she be coming along?”

“Of course, but the baths are separated by gender, so don’t think you’ll be getting a gander.”

Darian blushes. “That’s not what I-”

Giselle interrupts. “I’ll go get her now. Everyone be ready to leave by the time I return.”

Martin walks towards the bar. “I’ll go pay for the food, then.”

Rulf and Thomas begin talking amongst themselves. Darian walks over to a sunlit window near the front door. He looks out the window and sees countless people walking the streets. The number of people doesn’t seem to have dropped, despite the day getting late. “Are big cities busy all day?” His thoughts are soon interrupted by Ragnachar walking over to him.

“So I take it your talk with Alice went well?”

Darian turns around and looks up at Ragnachar’s mischievous smirk. Darian crosses his arms and says in a stern tone, “You didn’t tell me she was going to play with my mind.”

Ragnachar chuckles. “I had my reasons. It couldn’t have been that bad, though.”

“It was pretty good at first. We were in a forest, and she gave me the best apple I have ever had. Though once the test started, things stopped being nice.”

Ragnachar’s face takes on a look of concern. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I had a vision of something. Something dark and powerful. I had to fight it. Somehow, the fight forced Alice’s test to end.”

Ragnachar is unable to hide his shock. “You broke her evocation?! I thought that was impossible.” He looks Darian up and down. “Thomas might have a harder time with you than he thinks he will.”

Before Darian has a chance to respond, he notices Giselle and Alice walking down the stairs. He looks over at them as they enter the main room. Giselle looks the group over. “Everyone ready? Let’s head out.”