Vakdragnar steeled himself as he stood alone in a private room in the back of Wither’s Oddities. Why is this so difficult? Wither assured me it is entirely safe. Vakdragnar thought, but as he stared at the shimmering multi-colored creature, he could not bring himself to do it.

“Is everything alright in there?” Wither called knocking on the door gently.

“Yes, I am fine.”

“What’s taking so long? You should have been able to just pop the sucker in. Ten, maybe fifteen seconds tops!”

“I am collecting my thoughts. I will be out presently.”

“Uhhhh…. Do you need any help?”

“No!” Vak said, embarrassed. “I am fine, please just give me a minute!”

“Wait… you’re not scared, are you? A big guy like you?”

“Of course not!” Vak said as his voice changed pitch suddenly, betraying his lie.

“Whatever you say, Vakdragnar… I’ll be in the other room if you need me to do it for you.”

“Thank you. I’ll be fine!” He said groaning. He held the creature between two fingers about an inch away from his face. “I will put you up my nose now,” he said softly to the animal. It wiggled around in his hand, as though anticipating the interaction. “Alright, one, two, three!” he said. His hand remained frozen in fear.

Why is this frightening me? It is a small creature. I could crush it between my fingers if I were so inclined. It has no power over me. There is nothing to fear. Except placing it up my NOSE! This is crazy; I cannot do this. He said, lowering the worm. I am quick, and I’ve kept ahead of the guards so far without the aid of a nose bug. Though Lance does not appear a fool, if I carry on in the same manner, he WILL catch me. Ughhhhh. He raised the worm back up to his face.

“Alright, I apologize, little friend, this is most likely not something you wish for either. I think maybe… GAH!” he shouted as the worm leapt from his hands and up into his nasal cavity. He fell to the floor and rolled around as he felt the thing slither up his nose. It burned with a fiery sensation, and Vak panicked as he imagined the creature crawling into his brain.

“Vakdragnar!” Wither said, rushing in. “Okay, don’t flail about. It is working. Just relax and let the worm do the work. Oh, and no talking, remember! If you say one word, it will leave your nose.”

The idea was very tempting to Vak at the moment, but he held his tongue. He did stop thrashing about and tried to relax even though he could feel the exotic creature still there.

“So, a couple of things,” Wither said. “You are definitely invisible. You may not believe me, because you can see yourself, but you are. Your clothes too, somehow the creature projects some sort of field around you that allows light to pass through, no one really knows for sure.”

Vak grunted about to respond. “Ah, don’t speak, remember? Grunting is… not ideal. You shouldn’t do it a lot if you can help it. Now get along, you haven’t got more than a few hours,” Wither told him.

Vak stomped his foot in a reply. Then he walked across the room feeling like a complete idiot. He opened the door and left.

I should have thanked Wither when I could speak. I will have to return and do so, assuming this isn’t an elaborate prank on her part, he thought walking down the street.

A story Vak had read as a child kept springing to the forefront of his consciousness. It was about a great warrior whose ego got the best of him. A rival, posing as a friend, gave him a ring as a present. This rival convinced him the ring was magical and would protect him from harm. The rival’s plan backfired, however, as the hero’s reputation grew. The warrior’s most significant liability had been doubting. He was already supernaturally strong, and with the ring, he was able to fight better, knowing he was invincible.

Eventually, the warrior fought tougher and fiercer monsters until he came across one that no mortal man could face down and survive, the Theravile. It was a towering monster more prominent than a city. There was no place in the Warrior’s ego for the truth. He would not even listen when the rival confessed his lie. He rode towards the monster, raised his halberd, and it devoured him in a single bite.

Vak felt like that warrior at this moment; told he was safe due to a fantastical charm. He walked down the middle of the street, waiting for the sound of the guards’ whistle. While he was distracted, a woman bumped into him with her full force, and she bounced back. Vak had to dodge to the side of the street quickly. The woman looked around, wondering just what had hit her. He felt a pang of guilt at knocking the woman over but remembered he could say nothing.

He quickly left the area as the woman began shouting at a man she had assumed to be the cause. The man argued back that she’d just slipped. Vak thought by their raising voices it would not be long before it escalated. He turned the corner and continued his walk.

Walking while invisible was much more complicated then Vak would have thought. People would not get out of his way, and he was forced in many busy streets to backtrack a bit to get through the crowds. It was far slower than if he’d been visible.

Eventually, he arrived at an apartment near the docks. The crumbling building no longer had any markings to indicate that it was Nina Hale’s, but Vak felt the large holes in the architecture meant this was likely the place he was looking for.

The apartment was a sizeable interconnected home with individual private rooms for rent. Nina’s looked as though it had been hit with something otherworldly. The place no longer had a ceiling or a roof; it was probably fortunate there were no other rooms above it.

Vak walked into the apartment, and up the stairs, apparently, any other tenants were at work or minding their own business. There was no door to Miss Hale’s apartment, at least not any longer, but the frame of the threshold remained, and Vak ducked his head to enter.

The room had been small, barely enough room for a bed and some clothes in a chest. None of those things remained, however. The floor was scorched black, and two of the four walls were missing. The damage to the grass and the surrounding area suggested an explosion of some kind. It was as though a volcano had gone off in the middle of the room.

Perhaps Nina had angered the gods somehow? Vak mused.

He found a large amount of blood striking one of the broken walls, and as he looked beyond it, down in some tall grass, there appeared to be a body. Vak dropped down the building to inspect it. The person’s skin had nearly been burned off from the now charred black bones. Vak was almost convinced some dark magic was at the route of this. Something powerful enough to break a building and char a body.

The man had a tattoo on his right arm, which thankfully had not been stripped from his body by whatever did this. The tattoo was of a knife splitting a small disc in two with the letters “G” and “O” on each half.

Curious. Is this another tenant, a friend caught in the blast? Vak wondered. Or is this the person who destroyed the room? Some kind of mage, perhaps? There was still much Vak didn’t know, but he was starting to feel like the answers weren’t here.

He straightened as he heard some voices coming from Nina’s room. He’d been so focused on his thinking he hadn’t heard them arrive.

“Is this the place, Braid?” A voice asked, obviously confused. The voice was very smooth, like an old horse salesman.

“This is where Cassie told us the girl lives, uh… lived.” Braid responded. His voice was lower and more deliberate.

“Well, this looks like a quick payday for us.”

“How so, Dam?”

“Somebody let off a fireball in here. Blood on the walls, the girls dead, Braid.”

“Perhaps…” Braid said, trailing off. Vak could hear steps moving around. Braid had mentioned a ‘Cassie.’ He had heard that name recently. It took him a moment to recall the woman in the red robes at the Flame’s Fondness. She was the one who demanded Mr. Flame to offer this investigation to them. Mr. Flame had mentioned her group’s name: Shattershade. Vak surmised they must be members.

“You don’t think so?” Dam asked.

“No,” Braid replied, as he moved around some more. Vak’s curiosity at seeing a REAL group of heroes at work was getting the better of him. He thought a bit of a peak wouldn’t be any real trouble, so Vak slowly scaled up the wall for a better look.

The man at the door was thin, wearing a long black cloak with some impressive leather armor underneath. He had a trimmed beard ending at his cheeks. He wore a shortsword at his belt and Vak could see more than a few knives concealed in various places on his person. As the two spoke, Vak realized this was Dam.

Braid was a stark difference. He was tall, nearly as tall as Vak, and he wore heavy plate armor. Vak thought it was probably really annoying wearing all that around town. Braid had long dark hair while Dam’s was short and blonde. Braid looked like he was the type of person who took pride in his appearance. His armor shined, and his face was smoothly shaven.

“I think this is the work of goblins,” Braid said, standing up and clapping some black dust off his gauntlets.

“Goblins?” Dam wondered.

“Sure. We’ve seen them start to play around with that black powder. What if they blasted their way in here and took the girl?”

“Is that… I mean I guess that could be it.”

“I’m certain of it!”

“So, you don’t think that big guy was involved? The one Captain Lance was talking about? The wildman?”

“No, I’m not certain of his connection, but Cassie thinks she saw him last night at the Flame’s Fondness. He was the guy trying to poach our job.”

“Oh, so we should probably tell Lance that this guy had nothing to do with it and start looking for goblins?” Dam said looking toward Braid. A hope in Vak’s chest flourished as finally someone was on his side. Then the two broke into a rather loud laugh.

“Good one, Dam! No, let’s let Captain Lance scare off our competition for a bit longer.”

“You’re so clever, Braid! We done here? I’m getting hungry?”

“Not quite, I want to do a second look at the place, make sure I haven’t missed something obvious. You go question the neighbors.”

“What if they aren’t home?”

Braid sighed, “Alright, fine, you can pick their locks, but only if no one is home!”

“Really? Thanks, Braid!” He laughed like a small child told he could have something sweet to eat. Dam left, and Braid continued to circle the room and point at places confirming his suspicions of goblins.

Vak supposed it was possible. He hadn’t considered goblins at all, but these were seasoned Adventurers. They found missing people for a living. Braid moved over to look at something on the ground Vak hadn’t seen, and he climbed a bit more to get a better look. His hand found a grip along the wall that wasn’t exactly stable. It crumbled, and Braid spun around at the noise.

“Who is there?” Braid said, drawing a large blue hammer. It was nearly four feet from the handle to the head and looked as though it had been used extensively. He held it one hand despite its apparent weight and size. “Show yourself? Know that if you’re one of the goblins that took this girl, I will make you pay for what you have done.”

He walked straight to where Vak was hanging, and he hoped his little nose worm was doing its job right now. Braid peered over the ledge Vak was hanging on and set his glove right on Vak’s hand. Vak feared to breathe.

“Not a goblin then, a spectre? Listen, ghost; you need to move on with your afterlife, I am Braid Tattersail of Shattershade. This is not a fight you will win!”

“What are you doing, Braid?” Dam said, standing at the door.

“Stand ready, Dam, I think we have a ghost.”

“A ggggghost?”

“Steady, just some poor soul unable to move on to the afterlife, we will aid him.” He said, spinning looking for another sound.

“Alright, Braid.” Dam said, drawing his short sword. Vak thought the thinner man looked frightened but unwilling to seem so in front of his friend. “Uh… where did you see it last?”

“The noise came from over there,” Braid said, walking back to where Vak had not moved. He looked over the ledge directly at Vakdragnar.

Oh no. Vak thought. I do not want to fight fellow Adventurers. For one thing, I’m not sure I would walk away from it. His fingers began to burn a bit from the strain of holding onto the wall.

“Dam, over here,” Braid said as Vak prepared to leap down and run.

“What izzit?”

“Down there. A body.”

“Where? Oh, yeah, I’ll go check it out.” Dam said, rushing out the door and around the building. A few moments later he was below Vak inspecting the charred corpse.

He saw directly through me! Oh, thank you, small nose worm!

“What do we have?”

“Grievespair Organization.”

“The thieves guild? You certain?”

“There is a tattoo. A dagger splitting a coin with g and o on it. It is them, no doubt.”

“Good work, Dam! It seems the Grievspair Organization might have seen our goblins.”

“You sure, Braid? They aren’t exactly fans of us down there.”

“We don’t need to go to them.”

“No?”

“No, our good friend Kosta Business is being held by Captain Lance down at the guardhouse,” Braid said, cracking his knuckles through his gauntlets. “I do so enjoy interrogation.”

Dam laughed, and Braid stood up to leave. “It looks like you’ve been given a reprieve, spectre. I would spend that time reflecting on moving on to the afterlife if I were you.” He said, spinning his hammer and then hanging it across his back.

Just like that, the two men left, and Vak pulled himself up into the room. Hanging like that had made his arms just a bit stiff, and he slowly stretched it to ease the discomfort.

Vak looked back over the edge at the dead thief. There were a lot of threads tangled up in this investigation. A thieve’s guild, possible goblins. Vak wasn’t sure of the connection yet. He needed some answers as to why Nina would be involved with a thieve’s guild. Perhaps now, the boyfriend might be a bit more receptive to a conversation.