He stood guard while Ihra meditated. She opened her eyes quickly, beaming with happiness. “I got a skill upgrade and a title! Do you know how rare titles are? This alone makes the expedition worth it.” As she gushed in excitement, her eye fell on Pa’al, and her words faltered. More quietly she apologized. “I’m sorry Pa’al, I just got caught up in the excitement of a title.”

The maimed tank just ignored her, staring off into the distance with an unseeing stare. Jasper moved to reassure her. Without thinking about it, he placed his hand on her shoulder, but she didn’t move away. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t think he even heard. Was it a good title?”

She turned to look him, guilt still mixed with the joy in her eyes. “Survivor. I met an old guilder once who he had it. He said it had saved his life loads of times.”

Jasper amended his opinion of the title. May it’s more useful than it sounds. He decided not to mention that he had also gotten the title. No need to steal her thunder. “So are you ready to head out.”

She bobbed her head. “Yep, I should be back in a few hours.” Grabbing her gear, she moved off into the jungle, heading south.

Jasper had little to do in the meantime. He plopped down against a tree opposite Pa’al, and closed his eyes, drinking in the sounds around him. In the trees above he could hear the shrill cries and whistles of birds, and the rustling of leaves as they darted through the thick foliage. From time to time, he could hear the call of other animals that he couldn’t identify. There was a chattering and howling noise that he tentatively ascribed to monkeys, and far, far off in the distance he heard something that almost sounded like the trumpet of an elephant. I wonder if I could get an elephant as a mount.

Lost in concentration, Jasper subconsciously activated the tattoos on his hands, wreathing them in flames. The flames poured out, creeping their way across his entire body, burning without harming, until he was completely consumed in their blue haze.

A low growl rumbled right in front of him, breaking his concentration. His eyes flew open to find a large tiger looming in his face. The beast was massive, its striped fur slick and well groomed, and its eyes sparked with intelligence. Barely noticing the flames wreathing his body, Jasper reached out in his mind for his spells, pulling at fiery shackles - no way was he casting sacred star at short range again - but he didn't immediately cast it. The beast had yet to show any aggression.

The two stared at each other in silence. Jasper sat, petrified, watching the calm beast as it stared at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed tiny flickers of flame would spring up from the beast’s head, and travel in a wave down its back before extinguishing itself at the tip of its tale. Is it attracted to my flames? Whatever the tiger saw must have satisfied it, as it slowly raised one of its paws and stretched it out towards Jasper, gently touching him on the chest. As the tiger placed its paw on his chest, Jasper’s heart beat furiously, like the pounding of war drums, but he kept his calm. His calm was rewarded when words popped up before him.

Namrah has found you worthy. She has offered to unlock an aspect of your heritage.

Jasper almost gasped in shock at the offer. How can a tiger offer to unlock my heritage? If she’s a tiger, he realized. His eyes swept over the beast, futilely looking for information. There are times I wish Corsythia was a little more game-like. What I wouldn’t give for a skill like “Identify.” Still, it was an opportunity he couldn’t afford to pass up. The more of his heritage he unlocked, the better the class evolutions offered to him would be. His hands shaking with excitement, he accepted Namrah’s offer.

Another spark of flame leapt up from her head, but this time, instead of racing down her back, the flame traveled down her paw and burrowed into his chest. It hit him with the force of a punch, and a painful, burning sensation spread across his chest, but it quickly faded away, replaced by a pleasant warmth. Jasper eagerly waited to see what aspect of his heritage had been unlocked before the realization hit him. Crap. I’ll have to wait to level up to see it.

The tiger - no, Namrah - pulled its paw back, and slunk away into the jungle. Its steps made no sound, and as it slipped away beneath the trees, the very shadows seemed to bend around the cat, quickly obscuring it from view. For the rest of the afternoon, Jasper kept a wary eye on the shadows. While the tiger, or whatever it really was, had been friendly, its ability to easily disappear into the jungle made him realize that more dangerous creatures might be lurking all around them. He resolved to add a more few points to his vision skill when he had the chance.

The hours slipped one into the next, and the sun came to rest on the mountain peaks as the harsh heat of the day finally abated. The sounds of rustling in the bushes below set Jasper on high alert, and he scanned the shadows for the threats, a spell sitting on his fingertips. But he breathed a sigh of relief as he caught sight of the distinctive blue and gold jumpsuit of the guild through the underbrush. A few minutes later the party emerged. Ihra was not with them, as the guildmaster, Gebor, had insisted she rest, but another adventuring party had been sent up the mountain. The group was one that had often teamed up with Qara’s crew on expeditions, and their eyes burned with anger when they saw the tank's condition. They gently lifted Pa’al onto a stretcher, and departed back down the mountain at a quick clip, as Jasper scrambled to keep up with them. Their mage lit the way through the darkening jungles, casting six glowing orbs of light that floated beside them.

The gates of Hargish were already closed for the night when they finally reached the city, but Gebor was there, waiting with the guards. With the screech of grinding gears, the doors ponderously opened up before them. Stepping through the gate, Jasper sagged as a stress he hadn’t realized he was still holding finally left his body. He was back, safe and sound, in civilization. The busy streets lay silent, and all the stalls were closed up for the night. Walking through the empty marketplace was an eery feeling and Jasper hurried to keep close. He knew it was silly, but a part of him was still afraid that if he fell behind the party, the whispers would call out to him again.

When they reached the guild, Pa’al was carried off to a healer, while Gebor escorted Jasper to a waiting room. “We can debrief in the morning, but for now, rest.” Despite his exhaustion, he lay in the dark, staring at the ceiling for what seemed like hours. His mind still raced, his body awash in days worth of stress and anxiety, but sleep could not be held off long.

In the morning, he found an adventurer waiting outside the door. “Ah, you’re awake at last.” The adventurer thrust some food into Jasper’s hand. “Here. Gebor said to give you something to eat and then take you to him.”

Jasper ate as they walked. The soft buttery bread and cheese tasted like heaven after the hard biscuits the expedition had packed. They walked across the cool courtyard - Jasper still reveled in the escape from the jungle heat - and entered Gebor’s office. Ihra was already there, and a number of other people crowded around Gebor’s desk. Jasper recognized a few of them as instructors during his training course, but others were unknown to him. One in particular stood out to him though. In a chair in the corner, pale and weak, was another member of their party. Rashpa.

Gebor rose to meet him. “Ah, Mr. Welles, it’s good to see you up. Please, have a seat. We were just discussing the details of the expedition.” Jasper slid into the chair beside Ihra.

For the next two hours the group peppered the two with questions.

“When did you reach the ruins?"

"What did you see in the city?"

"Where there any signs of the Atrometos before the attack? Did you see the deaths of the others?"

"Do you think it possible that others survived?”

The questions were harmless on their own, but there was an accusatory, almost hostile tone to them. More than once, Jasper felt that there was the subtle insinuation that Jasper and Ihra had abandoned the others to die, or had perhaps had even contributed to their deaths. He fought back the irritation, trying to reassure himself that he was just imagining it. They’re just doing their due diligence. Surely Rashpa and Pa’al can vouch for us after all.

The hardest part was answering the question of how they escaped. Jasper felt confident that mentioning his deal with the whispers would not be a good idea, and while he had not had the opportunity to discuss it privately with Ihra, she clearly agreed as she too avoided any mention of the whispers. Since Pa’al had been held prisoner in the temple, they couldn’t hide the number of trolls and Atrometos they had encountered. Thus they spun the tale that, as they were trying to sneak past the trolls to the portal, an unseen force had begun to attack the trolls. Making a dash for the portal, they found Pa’al, and brought him through with them.

Jasper could tell that Gebor was a bit skeptical of their story, but, as what little they had been able to glean from a still recovering Pa’al matched their version of events, Gebor was forced to accept their story. Throughout the questioning, the wan Rashpa didn’t speak. Clearly the resurrection had taken a heavy toll on her.

At last Gebor ended the questions. “It seems that you have performed as well as you could on this expedition, and saved a senior team member. As such, you have earned a reward beyond what was initially promised.” Several of the other guild members in the room cast stony glares at the two, and one started to speak in protest. Why are they so suspicious? With a wave of his hand Gebor cut the protestor off. “We will give you five gold a piece, and a small boon aside. Perhaps a skill stone?” Seems like a kind of chintzy reward.

A small collection of skill stones were laid out before them, and Ihra eventually picked one out. When Jasper’s turn came, he looked briefly over the skill stones, but nothing caught his eye. Just cheap crap.

He turned to Gebor. “Technically I’m supposed to be a mounted class. I don’t know much about the price of things around here, but would it be possible to get a horse instead?”

A flicker of annoyance ran across Gebor’s brow, but in order to save face, he was forced to assent. A skill stone - at least if he had offered them good skill stones - was certainly more expensive than a horse. He couldn’t turn down such a reasonable request without good cause. “Of course,” he grated out, “we can arrange for a fine horse for you.”

With that, Ihra and Jasper were ushered out of the office, and back to their rooms. Once again an adventurer took his place outside of Jasper’s door. Are we prisoners? Jasper stewed in anger at their treatment. They had done nothing wrong. They were just rookies, sent out on a job way above their heads, and had not only escaped with their lives, but even rescued one of their teammates. Why were they being treated like criminals?

A knock sounded on his door. “Gather your stuff and come with me.”

Throwing everything in his bag, he followed the adventurer out of the main guild building into a small outside courtyard in the back. Ihra was there waiting, an unhappy look on her face, and by her side was a small horse. The horse looked rather worse for the wear, and had clearly not been well taken care off. Jasper wasn’t too surprised. They’re still trying to screw us. What did surprise him, however, was that a description popped up when he drew near the horse.

Young Farm Pony

This small species of horse has been bred primarily to pull carts of produce to the market. This poor specimen has been unwillingly offered by the guild as a reward.

Upgrade

This horse has been judged as an unacceptable reward. In compensation, the horse has received the blessing of Selene. Evolutions will now be available to be unlocked.

Hmmh. Looks like the guild tried screw me over, and someone objected. Judging from the blessing the horse received, it had not been Kas̆dael that intervened, but Selene, or one of her court. Wonder what’s up with that.

The adventurer shoved a piece of paper into his hand. “You’ve been given a quest, starting in two hours.” Without bothering to wait for a response, the adventurer spun around and entered back into the guild, leaving Ihra and Jasper alone in the courtyard.

“We’re being sent away.‘On a quest,’ of course.”Her words positively dripped with venom.

Jasper read the paper. “We’ve been assigned to escort a caravan to Lachya? That’s practically on the other side of the empire. Do we actually have to do this?”

She shook her head. “We’re just affiliated with the guild, not full-fledged guards. They don't actually have the authority to make us go. But obviously we’re no longer welcome here.”

Jasper crumbled the paper into a ball, and with a spark from his hand, set it ablaze. “Screw that. I’m not going to Lachya.” He walked over to the horse, and gently patted it on its back. It was a rather pathetic little thing, and while he was deeply disappointed with his “prize,” he still felt a surge of affection for the pony. Like a pug, that’s so ugly you have to love it, this little horse, which clearly had been poorly treated, wormed its way into his heart. Plus it does have a goddess’ blessing. It’s just a farm pony now, but who knows what it could end up?

He looked over to Ihra, who was angrily glaring at the guild door, her fists clenched tight. “Look, I know we have known each other that long, but I thought we worked well together. We’re clearly persona non grata here. I’m not going on that caravan, but if you want to come with me, I’m sure we can find some guild work in a different city. I’ve also got a heritage quest in the next region over.”

She didn’t respond immediately, but chewed on her lip, clearly mulling it over, before nodding her assent. “That’s a better plan than I’ve got.” They grabbed their gear, and prepared to leave before a voice halted their exit.

“Wait!” Pa’al’s voiced echoed through the courtyard. They turned to find Pa’al, limping on a crutch down the short flight of sandstone stairs. “I’m sorry about how the guild is treating you. I tried to tell them that you did nothing wrong, and I’m sure Rashpa would too if she was better, but the resurrection has really taken a toll on her.” He held something out to them. “Here, take it.”

Jasper reached out and took the object. Turning it over in his hands, he saw that it was a sealed envelope. Pa’al handed him something else, a bulging bag of coins. “I’m sorry they didn’t give you a real reward. The letter is a recommendation from me; give it to a guild master at another city, and you’ll be treated well. The money is just a little something from our crew's savings, that’ll help you on your trip. It’s just me and Rashpa now anyways, so we don’t need it.” He looked at the little pony. “Maybe you can even buy a real horse with it.”

Jasper put the items in his bag. “Thanks, Pa’al. I don’t understand - why is the guild treating us like this?”

Pa’al sighed, running a finger through his long black locks. “You’ve got to understand, the guild is hard up for members. Most of the best and brightest - hell, most of the dregs - are sent off to the war effort these days. The guild offers more freedom, but the army offers easier rewards. We are - were,” he corrected himself, “the best group in the area. The guild sent you, two rookies, off with us on an expedition, and somehow everyone on the group, other than me, gets killed, and I get taken prisoner and maimed. But you two return without a scratch. And there’s no way you should have been able to get past a small army of trolls and Atrometos, that were conveniently slaughtered by some unknown and unseeable force. They think that you’re some sort of plant for a dark power and you caused our group’s death.”

He sighed. “I was there.I don’t believe for a moment that you engineered Qara’s death. But they won’t listen. They don’t really know you after all. You’ll be better off with a fresh start in another guild hall.”

He fixed his eye on Jasper. “I know something happened. That thing at the temple wasn’t just some rampaging monster. It killed the trolls and Atrometos and left us utterly untouched. I don’t know if you made some dark deal, or if you’re a practitioner of the arts, and I don’t want to know.You saved my life, and one good turn deserves another.” He gestured down at his foot.“Eventually, I’ll probably be able to find a good enough healer to fix this, and even if I can’t, I’m alive.I doubt I would be able to resurrect.I owe you a debt I can’t repay.”

He turned back to the guild, and hobbled up the stairs, pausing at the door. “One last thing. Don’t go on that caravan assignment they gave you. It wouldn’t shock me if they arranged a little ‘accident’ to happen along the way.”