If you thought Trakban traveled light, you’d wonder if Fortuna even owned anything. Besides a couple daggers, a shortbow and a quiver of arrows, a chain undershirt, a hooded cloak, and the clothes on her back, she didn’t seem to carry much. I asked her if she needed anything else, to which she laughed and said she’d be able to procure whatever she needed on the way. I wasn’t entirely sure how she planned on doing that considering there wasn’t a major town between Brightdale and Kokiraki, but I figured it wise not to press the issue further. If I was lucky I’d get to see her in action.

We set out that afternoon, after we’d finished having a quick, albeit awkwardly silent lunch. Khiet had moved onto helping other customers after seeing our food served, and I’ll confess I wasn’t quite sure just how to approach either of my new traveling companions in conversation.

I know what you’re thinking. “Well, duh, Ilala, just talk to them like normal people, like you’ve been doing up to this point!” And yeah, that’s fair. I guess I felt a little awkward at the fact that it didn’t really feel like Fortuna wanted to be there.

Thankfully, that awkwardness passed pretty quickly, as not long into our hike, about halfway across the Great Brightdale Bridge, Fortuna began asking questions.

“So, Ilala, where are you from?”

“Oh me? I’m from Seameet. It’s a small village a ways south of Brightdale. It’s mainly other gnomes that live there. Very pastoral. Mostly farmers and the like.”

Fortuna raised an eyebrow. “Farmers? You don’t really seem like the hillbilly, country girl type.”

“Oh, that’s because my dad’s a merchant and I’ve traveled around a lot with him. I always loved seeing the big cities as a kid. What about you, though, where are you from, Fortuna?”

Fortuna looked at her feet. “Oh you know…around.”

“Around?”

“Yeah. I’m a bit of a drifter. Comes with the territory, I guess. You get caught stealing, you get chased out of town. Tavern keepers only have so much patience, you know?”

I suddenly thought of my dad, wondering how he’d respond to me palling around with a common, seemingly unrepentant thief. While it’s true that he’d occasionally had to deal with bandits on his travels, they were much less of a frequent distraction than lone thieves trying to make off with a bit of whatever food he’d been carting.

“Have you ever considered getting a job? I mean before working at Khiet’s?” I asked, not really considering my words.

Fortuna just chuckled, somewhat bitterly. “Like I have any skill to offer besides stealing. I only took the job at Khiet’s because if I didn’t she was going to turn me over to the city guard. I mean, I appreciate her taking me in like that, but working in the kitchen of some tavern isn’t exactly my dream, you know?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Was it always like that for you?”

“Pretty much. My mom died when I was really young. Dad…well, he tried, I guess, but he had a nasty habit of blowing all his money on booze and gambling. Anyway, he ended up running with the wrong crowd, and now he’s in prison somewhere. He told me to try to find a way to make an honest living, but there’s only so much you can do when you’re ten years old and haven’t had much chance to learn anything else.”

“Wait, how old are you?” I asked.

“Fifteen.”

“Ah…” I went silent. I mean, she was already quite a bit taller than me (obviously), but I hadn’t realized how young she still was. “Well, at least we can make good use of your skills. In fact, do you think you can teach me how to pick locks and stuff?”

Trakban finally broke his silence. “Are you sure, Ilala? Surely your parents would not approve of you learning such a dishonest trade!” To this, Fortuna snorted.

“Oh relax, man,” I said playfully. “I’m not going to start robbing banks and whatever. But I mean, you never know when that kind of skill could come in handy, and I’m certainly not too proud to pass up any chances. Heck, I was already going to ask if you could possibly teach me some magic at some point!” Which, I mean, I was, just not yet. It would be a little while after Trakban himself felt more confident in magic, as he probably would react like—

“It’s not just something you can pick up like learning how to sew or whistle!”

Yeah, like that.

“What about you, though?” Fortuna piped up. “I mean, you don’t often hear of minotaur wizards!”

“Yes, and there is a reason for that. Magic is much more than saying the right words or swinging your hand in just the right way.”

“Oh is it now?” Fortuna replied snidely.

“Look, guys, let’s calm down a bit. What do you mean by that, Trakban?” I asked, trying to seize control of the conversation.

“That is a difficult question to approach. Magic works by drawing upon mana, the essence of all life. As I understand it, the wizard just acts as a conduit for that power. Even then, it is not something one learns quickly. Much like a person cannot run great distances without building his stamina up through repeated, daily training, a person cannot hope to do much with magic without much training and study.”

“I…see…” Fortuna said, trailing off.

“How did you end up studying to become a wizard, anyway, Trakban?” I asked, much later than I probably should.

“The truth is, I am kind of the runt of the litter, to use a crass term. Maybe it was because it was frowned upon in my culture, but I always found myself more intrigued by intellectual pursuits than physical labor and feats of strength. Pretend to be surprised at that statement if you must.”

“No, not at all, I think I get it. That on top of the vampire that rules over Plauros, I can see why you might have wanted to go somewhere else to get stronger. I don’t imagine punching vampires does much good.” Okay I don’t remember saying it exactly that way, but I did say something that was really cringy that I don’t like remembering. I just wanted to add something to the discussion.

To his credit, Trakban laughed out loud, possibly at the absurdity of the idea. “Not if you want to do any sort of lasting damage, no. That being said, I imagine it is quite satisfying, just the same.” He then raised his hands in a boxing stance, throwing a few quick punches. It was here that I noticed that he was left-handed, or southpaw I guess in this case. I mean, he had been carrying his staff in his left hand, but I hadn’t really thought much of it until he dropped it to take the boxing stance.

We continued walking and chatting until night began to fall. Eventually we decided to pause our travels for the night and set up camp, with what meager provisions we had. Thankfully I had a small bedroll and some blankets, but Trakban used one of his spare robes as a blanket, and Fortuna seemed content to just wrap herself in her cloak.

With our meager sleeping situation settled, we decided to build a fire. Thankfully there were some branches and other bits of wood from trees nearby that we could make use of, and because Trakban still had some juice left in him, he was able to conjure up a nice, warm, welcoming flame. It was at this point that I wished I had more to offer for food than simple trail rations. I thought for sure we would have run into something edible, be it wild fruits and vegetables or an animal of some kind, but I guess we were talking too loudly for that prospect. Instead we were stuck with whatever dried fruit, nuts, meat, and rocklike bread had been packed for me by my dad before I left Seameet.

I mean, love you, Dad! Thanks for preparing such a banquet for us before we left! I love things like…dried cranberries, leathery jerky, and hardtack that would probably break the teeth of a lesser person!

I kid, I actually really do like the stuff in my dad’s trail rations, but I’d be lying if I said it was my first choice or anything resembling a five-star meal. Just something to help you get by on the road to something better. However, this was definitely the last time I’d forget to pick up some actual food for my travels. Maybe even a book or two on wilderness survival, if we were going to be roughing it that much.

As we sat around the campfire, I found myself wondering just what the Heroes were up to. Would they, like us, be huddled around a fire with a few shabby bedrolls, chatting and trying to enjoy a meager meal of dried fruits and jerky? Actually, probably not, since they were on a ship. Maybe they had cabins and a cook to prepare food for them. Surely they had a better bedding setup as well.

I started to feel kind of depressed at the thought of what I was missing out on, but I shook myself, reminding myself that, hopefully, within a day or so, we’d have our own ship. Maybe even a crew, if we were lucky.

Eventually, I found myself dozing as the conversation slowed, and before I knew it, I found myself lying on my bedroll, wrapped in my blanket, as the last embers of the fire slowly grew dim and faded away into the night. Attempt number two seemed to be working out all right.

—

“Ilala, wake up!” The sudden sharp hiss from Fortuna pierced the dream I was in the middle of enjoying, something about enjoying some nice tea and sweets with the Hero Marsden. Naturally, I reacted as any of you would have, muttering something along the lines of, “Mmph…five more minutes, Mom.”

“I’m not kidding, you’ve gotta wake up!” Fortuna persisted.

I slowly opened my eyes, murmuring, “What? It’s still dark.”

“Goblins,” Fortuna whispered. “I’ve been keeping watch for a little while. I don’t know if they realize I’ve noticed them yet, but they’ve hunkered down about a half mile from our camp.”

After I’d dozed off, apparently Fortuna and Trakban divided the night for watches based on three hour shifts. Apparently they were just going to wake me up to take the last shift when that time came, but there was an unexpected interruption.

“Then why’d you wake me up? If they’re not bothering anybody, just leave ‘em alone,” I muttered, yawning, not quite realizing what I was suggesting.

“Wish I could, but they’re not sleeping. They’re getting ready to spring something on us. I mean, there’s only three of us. We’re pretty easy prey.” She had an intense tone that I hadn’t heard much of yesterday.

“Even with Trakban following us?” I asked, still wanting to just go back to sleep and forget about the goblins.

“With their numbers, we could have a giant and they’d still feel brave enough to try to rob us. There’s six, by my count.”

Six. At least it wasn’t nine. I shuddered, thinking about my experience a few days back. “Okay, so what’s your plan?” I asked, desperately hoping that there was, indeed, a plan.

“I have a few things up my sleeve. I’m gonna go see if I can set a trap for them. Go ahead and wake Trakban and get ready.” She strung her bow and belted her daggers. “You might have to deal with a couple of them, but you should be fine.”

With that, she trod out into the night. Doing as suggested I woke Trakban and explained what was going on to the best of my ability, still not quite sure what Fortuna’s plan was. I guessed by the way she had her hood up, she was going to try to pick a few of them off silently, one by one. However, I can only really speak to what happened from our perspective. I can venture a guess based on her abilities, but I’ll just give the details from my point of view for now, because it’s more fun that way. We can speculate about filling in the blanks later.

Against the still night air, apart from the slight buzz of insects nearby and the hoot of an owl out on the prowl, maybe even the screech of a bat, we couldn’t really hear anything, nor could we really see anything despite the relatively clear, starry night we found ourselves under. Minutes crept by as we waited for whatever sign we were supposed to be watching for. I’m not sure how long it took, but it certainly felt like we were there for hours.

Finally, Trakban’s ears perked up. “I hear goblin screams. I cannot tell how many there are, but they rush this way. Away from something, it seems.”

“Away from something?” I repeated, raising an eyebrow. Sure, Fortuna had been gone for quite a while, but long enough to get on the other side of a group so far away from us I still couldn’t hear them? That was hard to believe.

“I understand a little of the goblin tongue. It sounds like they run from soldiers from Brightdale!”

I tilted my head slightly in disbelief. “Soldiers from Brightdale? Okay now you’re just messing with me.”

“While it is true that I do not hear the soldiers themselves, I do hear what the goblins are saying.”

Sure enough, the sound of goblins screaming in that muddy language of theirs did reach my ears, and I saw on the horizon a little ways out three of them running for their lives away from something. I raised my own dagger while Trakban settled back into a stance with his staff, but they broke off and began running to the side, seemingly in the direction of the river. I followed their pace with my eyes before snapping back to the horizon to see the company of soldiers that…wasn’t there.

I blinked. Surely they would have come into view by now. Surely I would have heard something. I looked back at Trakban, who shrugged awkwardly, knowing nothing more than I did of just what was going on. I returned my gaze to the retreating goblins, but before long they disappeared near the river, presumably jumping in to swim away with the current. I hope. Hopefully they didn’t think that suicide was the better way out of this situation, anyway.

After a few more minutes of waiting, a rugged-looking human ranger stalked into view. And when I say rugged, I mean it. If Marsden were the picturesque fairy tale prince, pretty face and all, this guy was more the sort of bad boy outdoorsman, beard, scars, eyepatch, and sullen look all included.

The man held up a hand, saying, “Ho and well met, fellow travelers,” in a raspy voice that carried the weight of years of fighting monsters and watching friends get hurt. “I trust you’re all right?” he continued.

“Uh…yeah, I guess,” I said, scratching the back of my head awkwardly, before suddenly wondering something. “Was it just you that chased those goblins away?”

“Well, me and my company,” the man responded.

Interesting…but something wasn’t adding up. “Where are they?” I asked.

“Why, they’re chasing the goblins!” he said hesitantly, evidently not expecting my line of questioning.

“Uh-huh,” I said, unconvinced, before shrugging and deciding to just move on. “By the way, a friend of ours headed off in that direction a little while ago. Have you seen her?”

The man stopped and…chuckled? I mean it was dark and admittedly hard to truly make out what he was doing, but I swear it looked like he was laughing.

Okay, I can’t keep up the charade because I totally know what he was doing, because he then walked even closer into view, at which point I noticed that his clothes were suspiciously similar to Fortuna’s. Adding to this, he said, “Oh, she’s closer than you expect.” While saying that, his voice slowly…changed…to sound more feminine, closer to Fortuna’s voice.

At the same time, his body and face slowly morphed into Fortuna’s. Fortuna, upon seeing my jaw hit the ground, then said, “I suppose I have some explaining to do, don’t I?” Her face then changed again, this time closely resembling me, if I were as tall as humans and elves. Looking at myself as I would be if I were a couple feet taller was extremely uncomfortable. There was some definite wish-fulfillment at play there, but it was a definite case of a wish from one of those fairy tales, where the protagonist gets everything they want, but something is just wrong about it.

As I reflected on this idea, her face returned to the face I recognized as “Fortuna”. She then said, “I’m sure you have some questions.”

I noticed that my mouth was still hanging open, and I quickly closed it for a moment to collect my thoughts, before finally just asking, “How?”

“That’s the big question, isn’t it? Well, I’m only letting you know this because I trust you, but I’m a shapeshifter.”

A thick, awkward silence hung over the group. I can’t really speak to how Trakban was feeling, but as for me, I wasn’t even sure I’d heard her right. There’s no way she’d said she was a shapeshifter, right?

“A shapeshifter?” Trakban was the first to ask.

I turned to Trakban inquisitively, as I’d never heard of shapeshifters before.

“Yes, there aren’t many of us left,” Fortuna responded, almost as if in answer to my own unspoken question. “At least, as far as I know, as most remaining shapeshifters just take the form of the more common races throughout the world so people will leave us alone. Rightfully so, a lot of our kind were pretty infamous criminals back in the day.”

“Then how come I’ve never heard of them?” I asked incredulously. “I mean, yes, I grew up in a small gnome village, but I’ve spent enough time traveling in the outside world that surely I’d have caught wind of something like shapeshifters out there!”

Fortuna shrugged. “I mean, I dunno what to tell you. There aren’t a lot of us, and those of us that do exist are hiding as other people.”

“But where do you even come from? How is a shapeshifter made? Is it the normal case where two shapeshifters fall in love and make one themselves?”

Fortuna shook her head. “I don’t think so. My parents were humans, anyway, but I just sorta…came out like this. Well, not quite like this, anyway.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Trakban responded, “If I am not mistaken that is merely a face she has assumed that somewhat resembles both of her parents, correct?”

Fortuna nodded. “It’s easiest that way, and thankfully it was instinctual. At least, I don’t really remember having to practice to assume this particular guise. But my natural form, that is the form I was born with…well…if it’s okay with you guys, I’d like to just keep that to myself for now.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I just said, “Okay, that’s fair.” I then thought of some questions. “Still, this is really cool! I just gotta know how it works! Like, what can you change into? Are there any limits? How long does it last?”

Fortuna reeled back in surprise. “Whoa whoa whoa, one question at a time, please. But…” she blinked, her expression softening, “you mean it? You’re not weirded out by this?”

“Why would I be? We’re on an adventure! I can only see this as an asset to our quest!” I said enthusiastically. And earnestly.

“Even if people might hate me because of what I am?” she asked, seemingly in disbelief.

“What they don’t know won’t hurt them,” I assured her. “I mean, you’re just a human girl.” I winked. “Nothing weird about that.”

Fortuna opened her mouth and held up a finger before relenting. “Yes, I guess you’re right,” she relented. “What about Trakban, though? I mean, he’s been really quiet.”

Trakban shrugged. “I am a minotaur. It is not as if I have any ground to stand upon when complaining about another’s race.”

“There you have it. Anything else?” I asked.

“I…guess not,” she said, folding her arms. “So…your questions. Well, it’s not like I’m an expert. I’m only fifteen. Honest!” she suddenly exclaimed, as if it were so hard to believe now that we knew she was a shapeshifter. “Anyway, I can’t change my height more than a little bit. I can take on faces I’ve seen before, but it’s hard to keep up forms that I’m not as familiar with. I can hold the form you see before you pretty much indefinitely, but my grizzled ranger form is one I can only hold for an hour or so. Even then, there are some things I can’t really pull off as well.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

She blushed. “I have a little trouble replicating…sensitive areas…accurately. Upper-body is a little easier, but if someone saw my grizzled ranger form without his trousers…” she trailed off.

I snickered. “That’s an interesting limitation. Why’s that?”

Trakban glared at me, shouting, “Ilala, that’s private!”

“No, no, it’s…nothing like that. I just…I have to see something in order to replicate it, and…well…my experience there is kind of lacking. You see I’ve never…well…”

I tried to hide my sincere surprise. “Never? I mean…” I muttered, “I haven’t either, but,” I raised my voice back to my normal speaking volume, “I uh…I guess that would be a little less optional for someone like you, a thief.”

“Well,” she looked aside, “it’s not as if there weren’t people who would have tried, but a nice thing about being a shapeshifter is being able to get into places you’re not supposed to be. Safe places. Attics. Basements. Inn rooms.”

“Yes, about that,” Trakban spoke up, “Why did you not try to escape from that birdfolk to whom you are indebted? It should be easy enough for a shapeshifter to get away.”

“Well, Khiet…knew I was a shapeshifter. She figured it out right when I tried to rob her. I…really screwed the pooch on that one. She said if I tried anything funny she’d tip off the city guards that there was a shapeshifter on the loose. At a certain point, it was just easier to accept room, board, and food while trying to settle a debt that would take years to settle than it would be for me to move to another city after getting chased out of one.”

I nodded. Khiet was endlessly kind and motherly towards the people she liked, and it was hard to make her dislike you, but she was also fierce in the face of her perceived enemies. I guess she took Fortuna in hoping to get the poor girl to turn over a new leaf while she was young, before things got much worse for her. But there was a definite limit that she wouldn’t let people cross unscathed.

“Well, for what it’s worth,” I began, “I’m glad you didn’t try to escape. After all, it makes my travels with Trakban look more legitimate. Maybe with you, people won’t think I’m just some kid he abducted but has neglected to eat,” I ended playfully.

Trakban snorted, “As if I would do such a loathsome thing.”

“Relax, Big Guy, I’m just teasing you. Look, we’ve still got a little time before the sun rises. Let’s try to steal another couple hours of sleep. Big day tomorrow, after all.”

“If it’s okay, I’ll keep watch,” Fortuna said. “I’m awake anyway, and we can spend an evening in the inn in Kokiraki when we get there so we can plan our heist.” She rubbed her hands together, grinning. “I’ve only ever really done petty theft, so stealing a ship from a bunch of pirates sounds like a blast!”

“Yes, I suppose it does,” Trakban said uneasily.

We were going to need to work on that. Tomorrow. At this moment, I just wanted to get some sleep. As I settled back into my bedroll, the amount of things that I’d seen and experienced in the last week sank in. I’d been attacked by two groups of goblins, saved by the Heroes, formed my own adventuring party, met a minotaur and a shapeshifter! The stories I’d be able to share with my family filled my mind with wonder and excitement.

My family…

Thinking about them led me down a completely different rabbit hole, full of memories with my parents. Traveling around with my dad on his sales runs. Helping my mom around the house. Playing with my siblings around the village.

I wasn’t expecting to get homesick so quickly, and yet…it was now that I was getting homesick? Not after I was beaten nearly to death by a bunch of goblins, but now when things felt like they were looking up? Before I could tear up, before I would allow myself to cry, I focused on that last part. Things were looking up. Things were pretty great at this moment. I was on the sort of adventure most would only dream about! My family wasn’t going anywhere, as far as I was aware. My mom would probably make that certain. They’d be waiting for me.

As my mind started to relax, I felt myself drift off into a dreamless sleep.