To be honest, he didn’t know what happened himself. First, he somehow managed to shoot out lightning as if it was nothing, and next, the giant kruthik just vanished… Could it have been Chaos lending in a helping hand? Talion didn’t know. Regardless, they did it. All of them. And just as he expected, the group of isolated treants had not a single bit of gold to give them for their troubles. He didn’t care though. The thought of surviving their first actual “job” overjoyed him. More than what it probably should have.

They were drawing near Fort Direwood. Talion’s arms and legs still felt wobbly ever since he cast the spell. The massive surge of power he felt when the bolt of lightning shot out of his hands must’ve sucked the energy right out of him. The only thing on his mind right now was eating anything he could get his hands on, and then going to sleep.

The warm glow of the fort caught Talion’s eye. It felt like it took an eternity to reach the doors. Aigor sped up as much as he could with his stubby legs. He passed the group, being the first one to open the doors. The rest filed through the doors one by one. As Talion stepped a foot past the threshold, he made a beeline towards the dining hall. Everyone else had the same thought in mind. Just like early that morning, the smell of food flooded his nose. No one even bothered attempting to take their armor off. Instead, as they laid eyes on the endless mound of food that sat on the table, they let their weapons fall to the ground. Their tiredness got the best of them, and Talion found himself joining them. There they sat, eating, and talking amongst themselves as if nothing had happened at all.

Talion ate until he felt like he was going to throw up. Immediately after, exhaustion swept over him again.

“I’m going to head to bed,” he stated.

“See you tomorrow,” Nalia replied.

Talion picked up his axe, bidding his friends goodbye, and began walking towards his room.

Talion was glad this fortress had actual bathing rooms. Otherwise, sweat and dirt would’ve been sticking to him all night. After he took a bath, he got on a fresh pair of clothes. Gear in hands, he made his way back to his room. The glow of moonlight shining through his window allowed him to make his way to his bed. Before he could sit down, he saw something on his table stand. A coin purse, and what looked like a small piece of parchment underneath. Curious, he sat down and picked up the lantern that also sat on the table stand. In a rush to get changed, Talion must’ve completely ignored it. He opened the lantern, expecting to need to light it himself. However, he noticed a tiny marking on its side. A rune.

“What if…” he thought to himself.

He touched the rune. The moment his finger came into contact, a faint red glow emitted from the rune. And just like that, the inside of the lantern magically sprung to life. Talion silently laughed to himself. He put down the lantern and in turn picked up the letter.

“For a job well done.” He read to himself. At the bottom of the parchment, a name was signed. “-Chaos.”

“Chaos…” Talion thought.

He found himself suddenly preoccupied with the thought that he had gotten an actual hand-written letter from a god. Suddenly, he remembered the coin purse. Talion snatched it up. It felt heavy in his hands. He opened it up and spilled its contents on his bed.

It wasn’t silver. It wasn’t gold. It was platinum. Actual real platinum. It had to be at least 30 pieces.

He stared at it for several seconds, taking it in.

“Holy shit!” He gasped.

In less than a second, Talion scooped the platinum back into his coin purse and ran out of the room. Any form of exhaustion he felt was now gone. He sprinted to Nalia’s room. Before he could knock on her door, she opened it. The same expression of excitement was plastered on her face too. In a hand was a similar-looking coin purse.

Without a word, Nalia pulled Talion into her room. She pulled him into her arms.

“Dreams are finally coming true, huh?” Talion rhetorically asked.

“I can’t believe…”

“Believe what?”

“Any of this. For most of our lives, we were trapped in an orphanage. And now, within the span of a couple of days, we’ve made all this platinum. We’ve come face to face with not only treants and oversized bugs, but Chaos Himself.”

Nalia sat on her bed and Talion next to her.

“How much you bet I could get an autograph from all the gods?” Talion joked.

“You wish.”

“Bet you that I will.”

“Bet you that you won’t.”

Talion laughed.

Silence fell over them.

“Are you feeling alright, by the way? That lightning bolt came near you.”

“Well my ears were ringing like crazy, but I’m fine now.”

Talion smiled. “Good. Just checking.”

“Hey, how’d you even do that? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I… I don’t know. It just kind of happened. I acted without thinking, and next thing I knew, a stream of lightning just shot out of me.”

“Well next time, make sure you don’t cast something like that near me, alright?” Nalia joked.

They both yawned in unison.

“Well, I’m gonna go to sleep for real this time,” Talion said standing up.

He stood up. Before his hand pushed open the door, he turned around.

“Hey, if we aren’t doing anything tomorrow, want to go into town with me?” Talion asked.

“Yeah, I’d love to,” she replied.