The four women accompanying Luna were all dressed in white robes, the sigil of their god embroidered on the chest. Hump recognised Osidium’s fist on two of them—he had the most presence of any of the Pantheon in Sheercliff, with the cliff itself being the site of his largest shrine. The others were of minor gods that he wasn’t familiar with. Only Luna was of Lady Light, her dress marked with the yellow cross-star. She had shining blonde hair and pale blue eyes, just as the goddess herself.

“It really has been a while,” Luna said, her face lighting up with a smile, seemingly genuinely pleased to see him. She leaned to her friends. “The last time I saw him, he was limping out of our field hospital as fast as he could. Did you get your master’s medallion back in the end?”

“I did, thank you,” Hump said. “I’m surprised you remember.”

She laughed. “You may be surprised to learn that you were the first dragon slayer I ever treated. I’m not sure I’ll ever forget you.”

“Is this the one you mentioned?” one of the women asked. “The wizard of Bledsbury Dungeon.”

Luna hushed her, waving quickly with her hands. “Yes, it’s him.”

A gleeful smile came across the woman. “I always imagined him taller.”

“Don’t be so rude, he’s plenty tall enough,” Luna chided. She gave Hump an apologetic look. “Don’t listen to her, Wizard Hump. She’s only teasing.”

Hump laughed, scratching the back of his head. “Don’t worry about it. Between these two, I’m more than used to it.” He introduced her to Bud and Celaine, and Luna did the same with her companions.

“How are you?” Luna asked. “Have you recovered from your… injuries.”

Hump knew she didn’t just mean the physical ones. It had been Luna that had informed him of the damage to his soul, suggesting only a powerful priest like Priestess Alerai would possess the power to properly treat him.

“All healed up,” Hump lied. He could hardly tell her that he was technically a warlock and that his soul had taken a second beating since the dungeon. He’d be arrested before he could reach the carriageway, and no doubt Inquisitor Abraxus would be doubly keen on talking to him after that.

“Wonderful! I was a little worried with how quickly you left. You can always come by the temple if you would like to be on the safe side. There are so many skilled priests in Sheercliff City that you would be in safe hands.”

“Thank you, but really, I’m fine,” Hump said. “How about you? What are you doing here of all places?”

She gave him a look that said it was obvious. “It’s like a war out there. I was brought here to help the refugees. We’ve been down at the camps this morning to help with medical care.”

“Oh, of course,” Hump said. “I saw some when we returned from our quest chain. We’re part of the Academy Expedition.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Sheercliff Academy? No wonder you’re in the Upper City. You’ve come a long way from Bledsbury. I like the new robes, very mystical.”

Hump chuckled awkwardly. “Well, I am a wizard after all.”

One of the other women snickered. “Come now, Luna. We must be off.”

“Right, yes. It was very nice talking to you, Wizard Hump. I’m afraid we have duties that we’ll be late for if we stay much longer.”

“And you,” Hump said. “And be careful out there. These are dangerous times to be a priestess.”

“Thank you.” She gave him a sad look. “It’s awful what happened, and make sure you all stay safe too. I hope we get to talk again some time.”

Hump watched them go, surprised to see the priestesses talking excitedly amongst each other.

Celaine grinned at him slyly. “So… that was interesting. You never told us about meeting a pretty priestess, Dragon Slayer.”

Hump felt heat rise in his cheeks. “What?”

She snorted. “You’ll figure it out. You are a wizard after all.”

Bud burst out laughing.

“Oh, shut up!” Hump snapped. “I’m just not used to compliments with you two berating me all the time.”

That only made them both laugh more.

“If it’s any consolation, I think she liked you,” Celaine said.

“You do?” Hump asked.

Celaine nodded and walked on ahead. “Come on, I want to see if I can find someone to turn that shadowcat hide into something useful before we lose the afternoon.”

They took the carriageway down to the Lower City, using the passes provided to them by the academy to get in without paying. It was one of the perks that came with being well connected, and something Hump could get used to.

With their lunch cut short, they were going to head to the guild district for the afternoon. They returned to the inn first, collecting the shadowcat hide, along with the warlock’s staff and martial’s spear that they’d brought back from the bandit encampment. Hump didn’t expect to get much for them, both of them being iron artifacts in poor condition, but with a bit of luck they’d find a buyer that would give them a few gold.

There were plenty of leather works in the guild district, but Celaine ended up going with one on the Adventurers’ Guild campus. The shop was full of leather and fur pieces, all of it a dream for any rogue or hunter adventurers, and Celaine seemed more than sold on the quality. It didn’t come cheap though. Ten gold, and they provided the bulk of the materials. But it seemed worth it. She’d get a high-quality bronze cloak out of it, one that would likely last her for years to come. Hump and Bud lent her the extra gold she needed. That left only Dylan without any fresh equipment since coming to Sheercliff, though Bud still needed to finish replacing his plate. The rusty gear was less than ideal for a travelling adventurer, and far from the quality expected of a nobleman.

They left the campus to sell the artifacts. While it was full of vendors, the adventurers’ guild always paid poorly for iron artifacts. It was always better to go to independent dealers. They found a small shop that took them for five gold coins—a decent price in Hump’s mind. Iron Tier artifacts were in high demand with the threat of monsters on the rise.

As they were walking, Hump again noticed the change to the city since they left a month ago. People walked in fear through the streets, and not just of warlocks. There were guards everywhere. And Hump saw more than one Nileshi man or woman being turned away from shops or shied away from in the street. People were looking for something to blame their problems on, and they’d found it.

They bought a late lunch in a restaurant that was far more Hump’s pace. Crowded tables and a lot of noise, with large helpings of food. It was good, and almost worth the two silver they’d paid for the three of them.

It was nearing evening by the time they’d finished with everything, and they started heading back to the inn. The alleys were strangely empty of refugees now, most likely forced out of the walls of the Lower City due to the growing fear of warlocks. Those that lived there travelled in groups, hurrying to their homes and staying inside where they could. Hump felt watched the entire time, spotting faces through quickly closed window shutters as they passed, or the whisper of children echoing from the apartments above.

They must have been about half a mile from the inn when Celaine came to a stop around a corner. She stretched out a hand, blocking their path.

“Wait,” she said. She peeked back around the corner, searching the dim alley. A tense few seconds passed. “I think we’re being followed.”

“Shit,” Hump said. “How many?”

“I spotted one. They were watching us from a rooftop and backed off after a few seconds. They’re probably trailing us.”

“It’s not just Skander being annoying, is it?” Hump asked.

“Skander’s not so easy to spot.”

Hump searched their path ahead; there were alleyways branching off every thirty paces or so. It was an easy place to get ambushed. “Damn. We’re still too far from the inn.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t just some curious kid?” Bud asked. “I don’t see why anyone would target us.”

“I’m sure,” Celaine said. “It wasn’t the first time I felt like someone was looking that shouldn’t be. They’ve been trailing us a while.”

“Are you sure they were following us?” Bud asked. “Why would anyone target us?”

“You’re a shiny knight of Kelisia,” Hump said. “Maybe the warlocks want to add Chosen to their list of victims.”

“Or I can think of one other group,” Celaine said.

Hump frowned, then it dawned on him. “No. The Wizards’ Society wouldn’t do this.”

She shrugged. “Maybe Inquisitor Abraxus decided he wanted to have a word with us away from Vivienne.” She hurried past them, looking both ways down the crossroad and picking the path leading away from the inn. “Whatever the case, I don’t think we want to find out. If they’re following us, they probably don’t know where we’re staying. Let’s keep it that way. There’s a main street this way.”

Hump followed her, stopping to shove Bud onward when the knight started to look back. “Don’t look. It’s best they don’t realise we’re onto them already.”

“We could fight,” Bud said.

“I’d rather avoid it,” Hump said. “I don’t like the idea of fighting in a cramped alley like this, especially if they’ve got men on the rooftops.”

As they rounded the next corner and broke line of sight, Celaine started to jog. They all picked up their pace, trusting her sense of direction to get them through the maze of alleys to where they were going. Only… ahead of them, two figures emerged from the alley, their faces concealed by rimmed caps.

They moved unhurried, with a confidence Hump hadn’t seen from anyone else down there today. They wore heavy coats, working with the dark of the alley to conceal their features. Hump’s instincts told him this wasn’t a coincidence though.

“A fight it is,” Hump muttered, the three of them coming to a stop.

“How do we do this?” Bud asked.

“Try and get them in close before we go aggressive. I’ll be ready with a Shield to cover us from both sides. Once we know where they are, we’ll take out anyone with range first.”

“Sounds good,” Celaine said.

They waited for the men to approach, acting timid to try and lure them in closer.

“Who are you?” Bud called.

Behind them, more footsteps approached. Hump glanced over his shoulder to see two more bringing up the rear, blocking off their path back and trapping them between the two walls of the alley.

Hump started to call upon his essence. Only a little, enough that he could raise a Shield in seconds.

"You have something that doesn’t belong to you,” the lead man said. He was only about as tall as Celaine, but he was thickly built, with a bent jaw and a jagged scar through his cheek. This man had seen a few beatings, that was for sure. He looked to be around forty.

“You must be mistaken,” Bud said, his hand going to his sword. “I am a Chosen of Kelisia, and I’m quite certain we’ve nothing to do with you.”

“Shut it!” It was the thug to his left. A tall, lanky man with a long face. From the way the other man deferred to him, Hump guessed him to be in charge. “You’ve got one chance. Hand it over, and you can still walk out of here.”

Hump frowned. “What’s this about?” He reached into his pocket, taking hold of a particularly sharp stone he kept inside. He started to imbue it with essence.

“Don’t play dumb with us kid,” he growled. “Hand over the artifact.”

Hump paused, caught off guard. They were after the black stone artifact they’d recovered from the bandit encampment, but how had they known?

“I guess you were right,” Celaine whispered. “Warlocks.”

“Seems so.”

“At least they’re not just after me,” Bud said.

The first man slammed a spiked club against the wall, a bang echoing through the alley. “He told you to shut it!”

“We don’t have your artifact,” Bud said.

“Well then, this is a bad day for the three of you.” The lanky man grinned. “I guess we’ll have to check—”

Hump dragged the stone from his pocket and threw it straight at the man’s face, unleashing his pent-up power. “Rockshot!”

The stone shot forward trailing bronze essence, shining through the alley.

The other thug stepped in front of his target, arms braced before his body. Essence shimmered beneath his skin—an internal essence technique—he was likely martial. The stone struck flesh, and the man was sent flying back with a scream. He hit the ground hard, his bat clattering to the ground.

“Kill them!” the lanky man shouted.