“We are travelling to Bornholdt Keep, from Verdantbrook.” I called back.

  The group eyed us for a moment, exchanged a series of glances around each other, and the dwarf that had been speaking so far nodded. Tension bled from the group.

  “What news of the Pass?” He asked. “Been two days since the last traveler fled the mountains, cryin’ about a mountain giant.” I could make out the dwarf’s name as they approached. Dulin.

  “Aye, we been worried sick about the family what traversed the pass. Had to have been four days gone now. Any chance you saw them?” Another of the dwarves, a woman named Jacquiline, asked.

  “Yes, we saw them. They made it past the giant, don’t even think they saw it. Saw them past the fort, headed east.” Katarina replied.

  “So there was a giant!” One of the beastkin chimed in. He sounded young. His name was Erwind and they were actually Polecat Beastkin, I discovered with a closer examination.

  “That means the bounty the Adventurer’s Guild placed is still good! We should form a band and go hunt it!” A smaller polecat squeaked. Her name was Riley.

  “Get’yur head outta the clouds, Rile.” One of the dwarves replied. His beard was thin, still growing in. His name was Duggen. “That’s a Gold Ranked mission. Ain’t no one in town can handle a Gold Ranked monster, cept’ maybe Bastion.”

  “That odd fellow, just came in from the desert?” Dulin asked. “Told you he was bad business, son. Don’t be—”

  His voice had taken on a lecturing tone, but he stopped suddenly, looking around as if he had forgotten where they were for a moment.

  “Time for that later. Let’s get these travelers back to Arid Spur.” Dulin gestured and the others turned and began walking back down the path. He turned to us. “Please, come with us. We will give ye a bit of a tour, though the Spur ain’t big. We got everything you’ll need to rest up a bit ‘afore crossing the sands.”

  “Thank you, kind sir,” Abernathy spoke up, hopping past us to follow the dwarf.

  “Arid Spur. Sounds lovely.” Katarina whispered to me. I smiled, following them out of the shadows of the man-made cleft in the mountain.

  I stepped into the sunlight, momentarily blinded. Blinking helped a bit. After a few seconds Arid Spur came into focus. It was a moderate village, maybe a quarter the size that Verdantbrook had been. Twelve-foot high walls of red stone lined the perimeter, built into the side of the mountain. We passed an open gate of thick, banded steel. Two massive gate doors were bolted to the path leading into the mountain.

  “Arid Spur was built up when they blew a hole through the mountain to start the Vidicus Pass,” Dulin spoke as we began walking along the rust colored stone streets of the city.

  The buildings were single story, built from brown clay and red brick, with large windows and openings to allow air to flow through. The sun was hot, glaring it’s unforgiving heat down upon the land. Canopies of thick canvas partially covered the roads and alleys. The unending breeze felt cool when protected from the sunlight within the safety of shadows.

  “Started as a base camp for the workers. It expanded over the years as a final stop before folks brave the Pass, but we make a good living. Mountains’ve gotten more and more dangerous without the guards, but we make do. Adventurer’s coming through all the time to clear it.”

  He stopped in front of a squat building with a familiar triple-arch sign affixed to a large wooden door banded in iron. “This here’s the Adventurer’s Guild. It’s small, but they got good supplies in there. Better supplies in the market, if you got the coin. You’ns looking for an inn?”

  I glanced at the Adventurer’s Guild. It was large, taking up two blocks of the village. “Do they have lodging here?” I asked.

  “Aye, scant though they are. If you’re lookin’ for a nicer place to stay, I’d say the Oasis’ where you want to go.” He continued walking past the Adventurer’s Guild, to a large crossroads at the center of the town.

  A large well sat in the center of the crossroads. It was two stories high, a solid block of red stone with spickets protruding from each side. A dwarven child ran up and filled a bucket as we watched. The water was pure, sparkling in the sunlight.

  “This here’s the Crossways Well. Water’s available to all, here. Don’t let no urchin tryna charge you for water. Not in Arid Spur.”

  He pointed to the north. “Follow this path about five blocks that way. Look for the building painted blue. That’s the Oasis.”

  His gaze shifted southward. He pointed that direction and continued. “Market’s down that way a few blocks. Most of the middle of the city here is housing and other residential type places. Crafters Corner is down by the market, but you’ll likely find better in the Guild, if I’m being honest.”

  “Now I gotta get back to the watch. Was fine meeting you all. Stay outta trouble, ya’hear?” He held out his hand, and I shook it. Katarina and Abernathy followed suit.

  “Wow.” Abernathy said, taking in a deep breath. “It feels so good to be back in a city.”

  “What should we do first?” Katarina asked. “Do you think they have a bath house? They have to have a bath house. I would kill for a bath.”

  I laughed. “Why don’t we go into the Guild first. Get a feel for the place.”

  “That’s right!” She exclaimed. “The bounty for the giant! Didn’t that dwarf say in was Gold Ranked?!”

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “That’s right.” I thought back to when I had turned in the bounty for that spider and instantly risen rank within the Guild. “We are in line for a big promotion, if it works the same way here that it did in Verdantbrook.”

  “Let’s find out. I am really excited to see what crafting supplies they have here.” Abernathy spoke quickly, his energy higher than it had been since Verdantbrook fell.

  I laughed. “Alright, yeah. But we can’t linger in this city for long. Maybe a night to get out bearings, then we need to go. Cahl —”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Katarina interrupted, “we know. ‘Cahl might need us’. We will be quick.”

  I grunted as we stepped from the oppressive heat of the sun and into the Adventurer’s Guild.

  The building layout was very similar to Verdantbrook, though with different building materials and decorative design. A polecat beastkin stood behind a central desk flanked by two posting boards. Another door led deeper into the guild behind the beastkin. The room continued on either direction, opening up into a dining area and bar to our left and leading to the crafting stations to the right. A dozen or so patrons milled around the dining room, engaged in friendly conversations.

  “Greetings and welcome!” The polecat chirped as we entered. She had a friendly, clipped voice. “Looking to file a mission, or are you adventurers?”

  Her name was Jules. I smiled, extending my hand. “Hi, I’m Chanter. Nice to meet you! We are Adventurers, from the mountain pass.”

  She reached out and shook my hand. I felt the haptic buzz as we touched.

  New Form Obtained! Beastkin (Polecat).

  Abernathy and Katarina introduced themselves and we presented our Insignia. I eyed the right mission board as we talked, and spotted what I had been looking for a moment later. I reached over and pulled down the listing.

  “This mission, we would like to complete it.” I placed the paper on the counter in front of Jules, whose eyes widened. She gasped.

  “But you… this is a Gold Rank, you’re a party of… of Iron. How?” She scratched behind one ear, looking around. “I… I think I need to get the Guildmaster. This… that would be a difference of three ranks. Do… do you have proof of kill?”

  I pulled the giant’s hand out of my inventory, laying it awkwardly on the front desk. The general din of conversation that had been going on in the dining area abruptly went quiet. I glanced around and saw a dozen people looking our way, shocked expressions on their faces.

  “A… alright, that will do, yes. One moment, please. I’ll… I’ll be right back.” She turned and hurried through the door. Conversation resumed as she left, hushed whispers from the common room. Three dwarven women in plate armor approached from the dining room, smiling.

  “Got that giant, didja?” One said. Her hair was dark blond with a streak of white in her beard. She leaned forward and the smell of stale ale wafted from her in droves. “Must be a mighty strong group to fell such a beast.”

  “Bastion’s gonna be right pissed. Been tryna get a group together to hunt it neigh on a week now, he has.” The second dwarven woman drawled. She had dark red hair and a bushy beard flecked with ale suds and some kind of bread. She placed her hand on the counter, swaying.

  “Bugger him and bugger you.” The third woman said. She also had red hair, but it was deeper, nearly brown. Half of her head was shaved down to a heavily tanned scalp lined with thick green tattoos. “We shoulda had tha giant. Stole it right from under our noses, ya did. Owe us a payment fer takin what’s ours.”

  She caressed a thick-bladed dagger that hung horizontally from her lower back as she spoke. “three gold should do tha trick. A gold fer each of ya thievin’ buggers'—”

  “I’ll give you something alright.” Katarina interrupted her, stepping forward and raising a fist.

  “Oy!” A high-pitched voice called from behind the counter. I glanced around and saw a bald gnomish man in a brilliant red suit hurrying around the tables. “That’s enough of that! Get out of the Guild this instant or you’ll be banner for a month.”

  He glared at the three dwarven women, pointing at the open door. They grumbled curses and made their way out.

  “Those Cradlock Sisters, always causin’ trouble. Sorry bout’ that. Names Willem, Guildmaster o’ the Arid Spur branch of the Adventurer’s Guild. Jules tells me you’ve cleared our giant problem.” He reached out a hand, shaking mine while eying the giant’s hand on the desk. “And I see it’s true! Incredible! Felled by a group of Iron rankers! Truly incredible.”

  I felt a familiar tingle as he spoke.

  New Form Obtained! Gnome.

  I smiled. I had regretted not shaking hands with the last gnome we had met, Gindledorf back in Fort Ethers.

  “Nice to meet you, Willem. I’m Chanter.”

  “Katarina. Pleasure.”

  “G’day mate, Abernathy at your service.”

  “Good good, follow me. Bring the proof of kill, we can talk in me office.” He grabbed the mission paper from the desk and hurried to the back. I picked up the hand, returning it to my inventory, and we followed him behind the desk and into the back halls of the Adventurer’s Guild, passing Jules, who looked down and waved at us as we passed.

  I saw her gaze lingering on Abernathy and elbowed him in the shoulder. He grumbled, blushing through his thick quokka fur.

  We followed Willem through a series of halls. The layout seemed very similar to the Verdantbrook branch, down to the same twists and turns. His door was of a different design, made from thick plates of burnished copper.

  The overall design of the office was the same. It was a large room, dominated by a massive desk. His office was cluttered with thick tombs, countless small bits of metal, sprockets, springs, and chunks of raw ore. His desk, a dense slab of iron, was covered in papers and ledgers, many of which were stained with ink. He hurried around the desk and hopped up into an elevated chair, gesturing to four empty chairs opposite his desk.

  “Firstly, please place the proof of kill here.” He gestured at his desk. I looked at the surface and hesitated.

  “Uh… I don’t want to get blood on all your papers.”

  “It’s fine, it’s fine. Blood won’t hurt nothin. Let’s see it! Just need to confirm it belongs to the giant what the bounty were for.”

  I pulled the hand out of my inventory again and lay it amongst the papers and ink spills. A thick glob of blood dripped onto a bit of parchment. Willem paid it no mind, pulling an instrument from the inside of his suit pocket. It resembled a pocket watch, with a clear, circular lens at the middle. He placed it over the mission paper and the lens fogged over with an orange hue. He moved it over the giant’s hand and it shifted to a green color. He held it a moment later and it emitted a soft ‘ding!’

  “By his blinded eye,” He breathed. “It really is. Truly. Incredible. This has to be the single largest jump in rank I have ever seen.”

  He shook his head, his big ears slapping against his bald head. “Right, right. Present your Adventurer Guild Medallions, if you’d please.”

  “Mind if I…” I picked up the giant’s hand, returning it to my inventory.

  He watched, starting to say “well, that was a fine trick—” and his eyes did that same fuzzing thing that the last guild master’s eyes had done. Was that some weird programming thing? It seemed to happen when they were going to comment on our inventory, but I wasn’t sure. It only lasted a second.

  “That’s a fine trick. Some sort of dimensional storage, very handy. Hah! Handy, get it?” He chuckled as if he hadn’t just experienced some strange mental hiccup. “It’s been confirmed. Not gonna ask what you need the giant’s hand for, but it’s yours! Now. Without further ado. Allow me to be the first to congratulate you all on advancing to Gold Rank within the Adventurer’s Guild!”