Chapter 1: Community Service

  The Rustic Dragon is a popular inn located in a small town called Oasis. The town is located in the northern region of the continent Solidus, only about a hundred miles south of the Great Ridge. It is Bitter Frost, nearing the end of the winter season. The season brings harsh winds and chilling temperatures, which cause Cinder to shiver as he makes his way down the crowded street.

  The grey furred tabaxi moves quietly through the crowd, smoothly pickpocketing unsuspecting passersby as he goes. Arriving at a square near the center of town, Cinder whistles twice and listens. A few seconds go by, and he hears the same short whistles back to him. He smiles, hearing the signal for a mark.

  Click ruffles his black feathers when he sees Cinder approaching, a common move of his to express excitement. Cinder smiles and pats Click on the head.

  “Come on,” Cinder says. “Put the hood up, and we’ll head on in.” Click nods before pulling up the cloak, obscuring his odd complexion. It’s not every day one sees a bipedal crow.

  A small bell jingles as the pair enter the tavern. There is a rowdy crowd in here tonight, with tons of laughter, loud chatter, and mugs clinking. Cinder looks around, slowly taking in everyone and sizing them up. His eyes slowly move across the room before freezing. Nudging Click, Cinder quickly nods his head towards the bar. “See that big guy drinking by himself? Look at his bag, he left it wide open. Easy pickings, eh partner?” Click nods and lets out a soft clicking noise, like a lock being unlocked and begins to slowly make his way over to distract the goliath.

  Rook is completely oblivious to the pair approaching him. He’s spacing out, and only brought back to reality when the bartender taps the wood in front of him.

  “Uh, buddy, you ok?” The human bartender asks. Rook shakes his head and inhales sharply. “Sorry, I was just…thinking about home.”

  “Home? Where’s home for ya?”

  Rook smiles softly and looks at the bartender. “You wouldn’t believe you if I told you,” he says simply. The bartender looks confused, but brushes it off.

  “Well, you’ve been staring at your drink for 20 minutes, just wanted to make sure you hadn’t died on me.”

  At the words “died on me”, a memory flashes through Rook’s head. The axe in his hand. Clashing with his brother. And then…

  “Hey, I don’t mean to interrupt whatever you’re thinking about, but I think that tabaxi just snagged your coin purse.”

  Rook whips his head around to see Cinder moving back towards the door, a glimmer disappearing into his home made monk robes. Rook reaches out faster than Cinder expected, grabbing him firmly by the shoulder. “Excuse me, but I think you have something of mine,” Rook says politely.

  Cinder freezes. He hadn’t planned on Rook being this fast. He sees Click beginning to move out of the corner of his eye, but shakes his head subtly. Click freezes in place, tilting his head in confusion. Cinder turns around to face Rook, a fake look of confusion on his face.

  “What are you talking about? I didn’t take anything.”

  Rook frowns, and his grip tightens slightly. “Look, I don’t mean to cause a scene or be rude, it’s just that I don’t have any money other than what you just took. So could you please give it back?”

  Cinder decides to take a gamble and bluff. “Look pal, I don’t know you, but this is *my* coin purse. So why don’t you back off,” Cinder steps forward, shoves Rook’s hand off of him, and pokes him in the chest, “and leave me the hell alone.”

  Rook looks back at the bartender desperately, only to see he has turned and is talking to a loud man with long shaggy brown hair. “Look, I really just want my money back so if you-”

  “What, you think just because you’re bigger than me, you can just toss around false allegations like that?”

  Cinder’s raised voice begins to attract the attention of those around them, and Rook begins to feel nervous. Cinder likewise is getting nervous, but is doing a much better job of hiding it. He turns and begins to walk off, hoping the stares will scare the goliath off. They don’t. Rook grabs Cinder’s wrist, tightly. Cinder looks back at him, and sees an anger growing in Rook’s eyes.

  “Please, just give it back,” Rook says in a serious tone. Cinder looks over to Click, and sighs. “So much for an easy mark,” he says before twisting and kicking Rook’s arm.

  Sariel is enjoying a nice peaceful meal alone against one of the walls of the tavern when he begins to hear some raised voices. He looks over, only to see a goliath roughly grab a tabaxi. Before Sariel can process what is happening, the tabaxi kicks out at the goliath, and a black hooded figure jumps on his back. Sariel looks on in shock as the pair begin to wrestle with the goliath, who for his part looks like he is only trying to get the two off him. That is, until the goliath reaches up, grabs the hooded figure, and tosses him across the room towards Sariel’s table.

  Click crashes through the table, turning it into splinters. Sariel yelps and leaps backwards, just narrowly avoiding a collision. His soup bowl goes flying, covering the two in a warm broth. The chatter in the bar turns to shouts and yells as people begin to move out of the way of the fight. Click springs back to his feet before dashing back towards Rook and leaping at him.

  Rook is focused on Cinder, who is still trying to escape from his iron grip, and doesn’t see Click coming. The three all go sprawling across the tavern floor, with a few people screaming and running out of the tavern.

  Val, Eila, and Marko had all spotted Cinder and Click the moment the pair walked into the tavern. Val was tucked away in a shadowy corner, a hood pulled low to cover her face and auburn hair. She considered not getting involved with the argument that was occurring, but once Rook threw Click across the room Val leapt to her feet.

  Eila was similarly tucked away, on the exact opposite side of the tavern from Val. Unlike Val, who was on high alert, Eila was deep in thought reading some scrolls she had stolen. However, the crash of a destroyed table snapped her out of her focus, and she quickly began to move to investigate what had happened. Sariel’s yelp of distress in particular caught her attention.

  Marko had been enjoying his conversation with the bartender, and was in the middle of talking his ear off about an exciting fight he once had with a passing black bear when Sariel yelps. Marko, hearing a cry for help, swiftly leaps to his feet and moves towards the commotion.

  As Val, Eila, and Marko all close in on the scuffle, they see Rook trying to grab Cinder while Click hangs onto Rook’s legs. As the three attempt to separate them, a couple of town guards barge into the tavern. They see Marko loudly grabbing Cinder, Eila pulling Rook to his feet, and Click being dragged off by Val.

  “You lot, you’re under arrest!” one of the soldiers yells out. And before they know it, all 6 people are in cuffs and being dragged away by the town guards. One of them stays behind to talk to Sariel and the bartender.

  She sighs. “Right, my name is Dreyla, and on behalf of the town of Oasis, I sincerely apologize for all of this. This,” she hands a small sack of coins to the bartender, “is for the damages caused here tonight. And as for you,” she points to Sariel, “could you come down to the jailhouse tomorrow? Your testimony will be necessary for the hearing.”

  Sariel nervously nods, still shaken by what has happened. He rubs the silver ring on his left hand nervously, the cool metal helping to calm his nerves. I hope those other guys are ok, he thinks to himself. They seemed like an interesting bunch. Maybe…maybe they’re the sign I’ve been looking for.

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  Cinder, Click, Rook, Eila, Val, and Marko are all led by a group of town guards to a large cobblestone building. Inside is a wide holding cell, with manacles lining the walls. Everyone is led in and cuffed to the walls in silence. However, once the guards ensure everyone is secured and lock the cell, Cinder lets out a loud sigh. “Thanks a lot, man,” he says to Rook. “Was it worth it? We’ve been locked up over 20 gold.”

  Rook scowls back at Cinder. “You shouldn’t steal from people, you know,” he retorts. “It doesn’t matter how much gold it was, it wasn’t yours.” Cinder rolls his eyes.

  “Oh please, like you were in any rush to use it. I saw you staring into your mug, you hadn’t even touched it!”

  Rook can’t think of a good comeback, and just looks down quietly. Eila leans forward and clears her throat. “Excuse me, if I may. Why exactly did you need this nice man’s gold, exactly?” Cinder's eyes roll a second time and looks at Click. “Obviously for the two of us. Plus, this guy has that shiny stone on his shield, I’m sure that would be worth something.”

  Rook tenses up, and takes a deep breath to calm himself. “That…’shiny stone’ that you refer to is my most prized possession and I will never separate from it.” Cinder is about to retort again when Val cuts in.

  “Alright, I think that’s quite enough. You,” she gestures towards Cinder, “the money was obviously his, and you’re dumber than you look if you think we’ll believe anything else. So instead of continuing to look like a jackass, I suggest apologizing to the goliath. For everyone’s sake.”

  Cinder is speechless for a second, a look of surprise on his face. After a few seconds, he softly mumbles, “I’m sorry.” Rook sighs and nods at him. “It’s alright. And I’m sorry to you too, little one,” he says to Click. “I didn’t mean to throw you so hard. I should have shown better self-restraint.” Rook lowers and shakes his head. “Clearly I still have a ways to go."

  Marko bursts out laughing. “My, you all are quite the entertaining lot. Now, pray tell tabaxi, what is your name? Mine is Marko.”

  Cinder looks at Marko in confusion. “Why would I tell a stranger my name?” Next to him, Click ruffles his feathers and whistles in agreement.

  Marko shakes his head and sighs playfully. “Come now, we’re all stuck here in this cell together aren’t we? The least we can do is pass the time and get to know each other.”

  “What? Why would any of us-”

  “My name is Rook of Stone.” Cinder is cut off mid sentence as Rook blurts his name out. An awkward silence falls over the cell, before Val lets out a soft chuckle. “My name is Val, no last name.”

  “Mine is Eila. Where I come from, we didn’t have last names.”

  Cinder looks around, still suspicious, until Click chirps and squawks, pulling off his hood to reveal his face to everyone. Seeing this, Cinder sighs. “Fine. Since he insists, that’s Click. I’m Cinder.” Everyone seems surprised by Click’s appearance, except for Val.

  “My, my,” Marko says. “And where did you come from, good Click?” Click looks shy before shrugging and clicking softly.

  “Neither of us knows,” Cinder says. “I found him a few months ago in to the west, in Rupture. He was lying in an alley, barely alive. It took a few days for me to nurse him back to health. He can’t speak, he can just mimic noises he hears.”

  Eila leans forward. “My goodness, you two seem to have had quite the journey.”

  Cinder dryly chuckles. “Yeah, that’s one way of putting it.” Click sees a flash of emotion come over Cinder’s face, but it only lasts for a second. Click looks up at Cinder’s forehead, to the massive scar above his left eye, and tilts his head slightly.

  The rest of the night passes uneventfully, with some light bits of conversation. Rook and Eila spend the majority of the night chatting, even after the others start to fall asleep.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “So you said you came all the way from where?” Eila asks in a shocked whisper.

  “The Far North, past the Great Ridge,” Rook responded. He's clearly a little antsy. “I lived there with my tribe until…” he trails off.

  Eila smiles and lightly puts a hand on his massive pale shoulder. “Whatever happened to you, you don’t have to talk about it. I can see the way it pains you.”

  Rook gives a small smile, looking down at the ground. “Thank you, that…that means a lot.”

  Meanwhile, Cinder and Click talk in hushed whispers on the other end of the cell. “No, I know we…I messed up,” Cinder mutters. “Once we’re out of here, we’ll skip town. Maybe if we head towards the capitol, we can find easier marks. And new clothes for you, you smell like soup.”

  Click shuffles, clearly uncomfortable with the way his manacles are rubbing against his wrists. With a short click and whistle, he looks over at Val.

  “Yeah, she makes me nervous too,” Cinder whispers. “All brooding and quiet, it’s like she can see right through us.”

  “That’s because I can,” Val says, loud enough to startle the others. “Now please, can we all be quiet? Some of us are trying to sleep.”

  Silence falls over the cell as everyone shuts up. Marko chuckles to himself as he begins to doze off. Some motley crew this is, he thinks. Well, they’re better company than… He drifts off before finishing the thought.

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  The next morning, the entire group is awoken by loud grunts and the rattling of chains. As everyone comes to, they see Marko pulling on the cuffs, grunting and sweating from exertion. He’s muttering to himself, and Val, the closest to him, can hear him mumbling. “What the hell? What did that idiot do to me this time? How long has it been?”

  “Uh, hey Marko? Are you ok?” Cinder asks, his tail slightly swishing back and forth. Marko looks up at Cinder, and he notices something immediately. Marko’s eyes aren’t amber, like they were yesterday. They’re a deep silver, and much more frantic. “I’m not Marko, you idiot,” the man thought to be Marko says.

  Everyone looks at each other in confusion. After a minute of silence and continued struggling from the man, Eila speaks up.

  “Then what is your name?” she asks softly.

  “It’s…not important. Where are we? What day is it? What happened yesterday?” the man responds. “And where is my bloody journal? Has anyone seen a small journal?”

  Before anyone can respond, their jail cell is unlocked. Eight town guards enter the cell, and the one in front clears his throat. “You lot will now be brought before Lawmaster Threefa, who will decide your punishment.”

  The group is led out of the cell and down several passages that lead to a wide circular room. Windows line the walls, and there is a single judge’s podium at one end. The groups’ footsteps echo off the simple stone floor as they walk in, and the oak door creaks loudly as it closes behind them.

  Lawmaster Threefa is already in the room when the group is escorted in. She is an older halfling, with grey hair tied in a tight ponytail. She wears simple but formal robes of black and white, which seem to flow off her relatively small frame. “Good, you’re finally here,” she says as the group enters. She nods to the guards, who uncuff the groups before moving back to surround the group in a loose semi-circle.

  Threefa looks over a few papers and ruffles some things around on her desk before clearing her throat. “You lot are the ones who wreaked havoc at the Rustic Dragon Tavern last night, is this correct?”

  After a few moments of silence, Threefa slams a gavel on the podium, hard. “I said, is this correct?” She says through gritted teeth. The group mumbles out a yes, except for Marko(?). He looks shocked and mutters to himself, “Marko, what have you gotten me into?”

  Threefa beckons to one of the guards. “Bring them in,” she says. Stepping through a side passage, the guard brings out two people: the human bartender who talked to Rook and Marko, and Sariel.

  “These individuals witnessed the altercation that took place last night and have testified that they witnessed the six of you all get physical with each other. This resulted in several destroyed tables, mugs, chairs, and bottles of alcohol. Now, the town of Oasis has been kind enough to repay the tavern in full on your behalf. However,” she narrows her eyes as she says this, “this puts you all in a serious amount of debt to the town. And in order to repay that, you’ll perform some community service for us, is that understood?”

  Val raises a hand, and Threefa nods to her. “What exactly do you mean by ‘community service’?”.

  Threefa gives a wry smile. “Well, since you all seem so adept at fighting, we have a few issues plaguing the town and surrounding area we could use some assistance with.”

  Cinder opens his mouth to protest, but Threefa gives him a sharp look that shuts him up. “Your first task will be to root out the nest of trolls that have appeared south of town. It’s starting to become a hindrance to those trying to travel through the Iron Pass, and I fear it will soon begin to affect our commerce. Everyone clear?"

  Without waiting for a reply, Threefa slams her gavel three times. “Good! This session is adjourned. Report back to me once you have completed your mission.”

  As Threefa prepares to leave, Sariel walks up to her nervously. “Excuse me, Lawmaster? I had a question for you.” The halfling looks to him, exasperated. “Yes, young one?”

  “I was wondering…would it be possible for me to join the group on their community service?”

  The Lawmaster looks shocked and confused. “You understand that their assignment is a punishment, correct?”

  Sariel nods his head. “Yes I’m aware. I just feel they…might need a hand.”

  The Lawmaster looks confused by this, but shrugs her shoulders and sighs. “Well, the more hands, the faster the problems are handled. Very well, you can join them. But be warned, these individuals are being sent on a dangerous mission. Watch yourself.”

  Sariel smiles and nods enthusiastically. “Thank you, Lawmaster!” He takes off running after the group, who has already left the halls. He finds them outside being handed back their confiscated items and weapons. Sariel runs up to them panting, already out of breath.

  Cinder looks at him, eyebrow cocked. “Uh, what are you doing?”

  Sariel grins wide at him. “I’m coming with you guys. Lawmaster Threefa just gave me approval. I figured you could use an extra hand!”

  Marko(?) rolls his eyes and scowls at the tiefling. “Oh please. I can handle myself just fine, I don’t need a babysitter.”

  Cinder nods. “Look, no offense but we really don’t need any more people to look after.” As he turns to leave, Val takes a step towards Sariel.

  “What’s your name?” she asks.

  “It-it’s Sariel,” he says, uncomfortable under Val’s intense stare. She crosses her arms and gives him a once over. Sariel fidgets and runs a hand through his snow white hair as Val looks at him. “Are you a Weaver?” She asks bluntly. The party all look at Sariel, eyes suddenly wide.

  Sariel now feels even more uncomfortable with this many eyes on him, but he nods. “Y-yeah, I can Weave. How did you know that?”

  Val points at his hands. “Weavers often have very calloused fingertips from the magical energy feedback they endure. Plus, you have no other weapons on you. And you’re clearly not from here, your clothes aren’t layered enough for the north. There’s no way you would have been able to make it this far without some kind of tricks up your sleeve.”

  The group looks impressed, and even Marko(?) rolls his eyes before muttering something about “not being entirely useless”.

  “So, can I come?” Sariel asks nervously. Val gives a short nod. “Sure, just try not to set anyone on fire.”

  Sariel nods enthusiastically, completely missing the sarcasm. “Don’t worry, I can’t really use fire yet,” he says.

  Val sighs. “You’ll fit in perfectly,” she says as the group heads off.

  As the party heads off away from the courthouse, Cinder points at Marko(?), who is nose deep in a small leather bound book. “Ok, are we finally going to talk about what’s going on with Marko? Am I the only one who noticed a change in behavior and eye color?”

  The man bristles and glares at Cinder, snapping the journal closed. “My name isn’t Marko. It’s Dayven. I just…happen to share a head with the idiot. And a few others.”

  “Wait, there’s more of you in there?” Sariel asks curiously.

  “Yes, there are four of us that inhabit this body,” Dayven says. “Only one of us will be able to fully control this body, and until then it’s a battle between us four. Now, if that’s all, I believe in order to fix the idiot’s mistake we have to clear out some trolls, correct?” And with that, Dayven marches on ahead, eyes focused back on the journal. The rest of the group looks at each other with a mixture of confusion and mild concern.

  “Someone needs to keep an eye on him,” Val softly mutters. Eila puts a hand on her sword hilt. “I’ve got good eyes, I’ll watch him,” she says, all the warmth gone from her voice.

  As the group heads out of town, they get several looks and stares, whispers soon following. They certainly are a bizarre looking group: a massive goliath wearing furs and leather armor, an elf with pale skin and silver hair, a purple eyed black furred tabaxi in grey monk robes with no sleeves and a homemade hood, a crow looking creature in a black cloak, a blue skinned tiefling with a shaggy white mohawk, a half elf wearing ragged farmer’s clothes, and a human with a long sword on her back and two short swords at her hips.

  Val feels all of the eyes on the group. She remembers the last time this many people stared at her. It was on the mission where she…Val shakes her head. Don’t think about that. There’s no point in thinking about past mistakes.

  Her father’s voice echoes in her mind: “Valeria, when we make mistakes, we can’t afford to dwell on them. Hesitation, regret, they lead to more mistakes, and your death.” Val pulls her hood up, and takes a deep breath to calm herself.

  As the party exits the town, Sariel walks up to Rook. “Um…excuse me, can I ask you something?” the tiefling asks.

  Rook looks down and smiles softly. “Sure, what is it?”

  Sariel looks at the massive round wooden shield Rook has slung over his back. A large, rough green stone sits in the center of it, and the shield is lined with runes in a language Sariel can’t understand. “I’m not incredibly experienced in the Weave, but that rock is overflowing with magical energy. How did you find it?”

  A strange look flickers across Rook’s face for a second; there’s clearly pain, anguish, and remorse in the expression. However, his face quickly recovers and returns to neutrality. “I was…blessed with it by the goddess Nara.”

  Sariel’s eyes go wide, and his jaw drops. “You were also blessed by a god?? I was too! My powers come from Invictus! Thank goodness, I thought I was the only one in all of Solidus who had been blessed directly by a god.” Rook sees relief and childish excitement on Sariel’s face, and can’t help but relax a bit.

  The party spends most of the day walking through the forest south of Oasis in silence. Finally, Cinder speaks up. “So…Dayven, right? How did four people come to be stuck in the same head?”

  Dayven, who had been trailing towards the back of the group, looks up from his journal. In a mildly annoyed tone, he says, “It’s…complicated. We were all victims of circumstance. All that matters is I find a way to get the other three out of my body.”

  Cinder nods along and looks over at Click with a confused look. Click responds with a shrug and a whistle, before clicking twice. Cinder snorts. “Alright, well Mr. Friendly answered my question. Who-”

  “Hey, Cinder?” Sariel interjects. Cinder looks over, his whiskers twitching in mild annoyance at being interrupted. “Sorry, didn’t mean to cut you off,” Sariel says sheepishly. “I just noticed your outfit, that's a very pretty button."

  Cinder stiffens for a second, and Click looks up at him with concern. As long as Click had known him, Cinder had never really talked about the button. It’s a pale gold, with a small engraving of a griffon. Cinder had sewn it onto the front of his robes, just above his heart. Click had awoken many times during the year travelling with Cinder to find him staring at it, lost in thought.

  “It’s…a family heirloom, of sorts,” Cinder said after a moment of silence. “It was the only thing my mom ever gave me.” Sariel nods, staring at the button. “I like it,” he says. “That was nice of your mom to give it to you.”

  No one other than Click sees the look in Cinder’s eyes. For a moment a flash of sadness and pain can be seen, but it’s gone as quick as it appears. “Yeah,” Cinder says quietly. “Yeah I guess it was nice of her.”

  After a few moments of awkward silence, Cinder clears his throat. “You know, Sariel, I’m something of a trained fighter myself. So if you find yourself in danger, just stay behind me.”

  “Really?” Sariel says, excitement in his voice. “What kind of training did you receive? Who taught you? Where did you train?”

  Cinder is taken aback by the barrage of questions. “I studied southwest of here, in Yar’Al. It was definitely…an interesting experience.”

  Sariel looks at Cinder with all of the awe and interest of a younger sibling. “That sounds amazing!”

  As the two continue to chat, Val quietly observes the group from the rear. She intentionally positioned herself here to both cover everyone's backs and to watch how everyone behaved. She thinks back to what her mother taught her years ago: if you are surrounded by strangers, watch how they interact with each other. That will tell you if you’re dealing with a friend or a foe.

  The group begins to find hints of the troll camp as the sun slowly starts to set. The twin moons rise in the east, the larger one looming behind the smaller one, each glowing a soft white.

  There are broken arrows littered across the road, along with fragments of wood and leather. Eila kneels, putting her hand on one of the broken arrows and closing her eyes. A pulse of soft light comes off her hand, and several sets of footprints light up, leading away from the wreckage. Sariel looks up, and he swears he sees the smaller moon glow a bit brighter for a second. The footprints are flat and wide, with 4 toes. Troll footprints.

  Alright, we need a strategy,” Val says. “Trolls are vicious in groups, so we can’t let them surround us.”

  Cinder smirks. “Easy, we go in there fast and take them all out.” Val gives him a sharp look, and Cinder falls quiet.

  “Like I was saying, we need a plan unless we all have a death wish. Now, you two,” Val beckons at Click and Cinder, “are you any good at actually being sneaky?”

  Click lets out a short whistle and ruffles his feathers, nudging Cinder as he does. Cinder smiles at him and nods to Val. “Yeah we can be quiet when we need to.”

  Val nods. “Good, then you two will scout ahead and do some recon. Now, Rook, do you have any weapons other than your shield?”

  Rook shakes his head. “I don’t use weapons,” he says simply.

  Val thinks for a second, then nods. “Ok, then you’re our wall. You’ll cover everyone and try to draw as much fire as you can. Eila, stay out of sight and shoot arrows from the shadows. Sariel, stay behind me and fire off spells. Dayven, you’re next to me. Any questions?” The rest of the group looks at Val in silence, shaking their heads no. Val nods. “Good. Let's surprise some trolls.”