The morning light spills into my room from the window. Sounds of a waking city filter in as consciousness comes.

  A message pings my mind as Shadow has left a note.

  “Tell me when you’re up. I have food.”

  “I'm up,” I replied. “My room or yours?”

  “Yours”

  While waiting, I take a look at the system again.

  Friends List

  Most of the list reads: ‘Unreachable’.

  ‘No changes’ I think to myself. ‘If they are here, I hope they are okay.’

  Spells

  My grimoire flies to my hand as an extensive list of spells fills my view. Scrolling through, I notice that most of the spells I managed to acquire in AoS are still in my book.

  My musings are cut short as the window opens.

  “Could you not just use the door?” I complain to Shadow as he slips into my room.

  The screen fades and my grimoire closes.

  “I could,” he concedes. “But this is more fun.”

  “True,” I say with a shrug. “Food?”

  He tosses me a steaming bun that has some kind of spiced meat inside.

  “We used many skills the other day,” he breaks the silence. “I was… empty before. Now I have some mana.”

  HP: 137/137

  MP: 67/80

  “Yeah,” I respond. “Mine isn't fully back, but I have enough. We need to sit down and figure out how to expand that at some point.”

  “Soon,” is his only remark.

  With a nod, we slip into companionable silence as breakfast is eaten.

  “You two up?” HH's message comes through. “I feel like I have been alone here for hours. When are we meeting up?”

  “We'll move soon,” I respond using the group chat system. “Shadow will ping a café near the Patron-House and we'll talk more about what to do.”

  Shadow nods and there's a subtle ding as a location on the map of Dawnreach lights up.

  We both stand and walk into the morning breeze.

  The streets of Dawnreach are in the beginning stages of waking up. Merchants are setting out their wares and the morning chill has yet to completely wear off.

  Everything appears normal.

  So why does that unnerve me?

  Am I worried about losing control?

  “It’s the task at hand,” Shadow speaks as if reading my mind.

  I give him a puzzled look.

  “Your shoulders are bunched and you’re tense. It’s unlike you.”

  “You’re right,” I say back to him. “I’d like to stop and breathe for just a day. But every moment that someone isn’t doing something about these people, more are carted off to this Grimvault.” I pause a moment. “We can’t stop until we’ve saved them, or have a plan to do so.”

  “Agreed,” he replies then nods towards the café that we decided on earlier.

  Sitting down outside, we order coffees and wait for HH to arrive.

  It doesn’t take long for her to show up. She appears nervous, but rested.

  I hand her a cup of still steaming coffee with a smile.

  “Nothing like back home, but it’ll do,” I say as she takes a tentative sip.

  When she sets it down, I continue.

  “I took care of the body. More accurately, I have it with me in my bag.”

  Her face goes through a series of emotions. Worry, panic, relief, then guilt.

  HH reaches shakily out to the cup again and grips it. Her knuckles turning white under the strain of holding herself together.

  “He attacked you,” Shadow interrupts her thoughts. “It was self defense. You didn’t mean for it to happen like this.”

  “You’re not in the wrong,” I say. “You have to be kind to yourself, HH. I killed 4 people back there and I am trying to grapple with it as well. I know how you feel.”

  She lets go of a deep breath that she seemed to have been holding for a while.

  “Thank you for your words,” she finally says. “Both of you.”

  The tension is still there, but she looks more prepared for the coming day.

  “Let's go over what I am going to say in there briefly,” I say after the moment passes.

  They both nod in agreement.

  “I'm going to go in and ask for help. I'm lost and I see things that aren't there. I heard the Mistress of the Patron House could help people like me. I cast spells, I am strong, I can do things.”

  “Look confused, not desperate,” Shadow interjects. “Make them want to help, not write you off.”

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  “Good point,” I concede. “I'll press for a meeting with this Mistress herself. During the meeting, I will try to win her over to our side without violence.”

  “And get out if it looks like they'll fight,” HH cuts in. “Don't risk yourself needlessly.”

  “Right,” I say as I push away from the table. “I'm headed off then.” Looking down at my half-full mug of ‘coffee’. “This place has terrible coffee… even the chain I worked at could serve a better cup.”

  As I turn, there's a bit of red on HH's cheek while she stares into her own mug. Is the cold getting to her? Oh well, the sun's coming up so I had better move on.

  “What if she knows you?” Shadow presses again. “We weren't subtle.”

  “I'll… think of that if it comes up.”

  Waving bye to them both, I make my way towards the Patron House.

  The Patron House is just like Shadow described.

  Stone building with three stories, wooden supports and windows decorated with stained glass. The face of it is a burnt orange color and there's a surprisingly inviting feeling coming from inside. Gentle conversation and the smell of good food.

  The door is manned by a bulky individual with the body of a man, but the head of a bull! A minotaur in the flesh!

  Walking up the steps, the minotaur gives me a brief nod which I return as the doors open.

  Inside, the inviting feeling continues. Jovial conversations are had by mercenaries seated at rounded tables. Food and drinks are brought from a nearby kitchen.

  At the center of the room, situated between two large stairwells, is a reception desk. Three individuals of various humanoid species sit at different booths behind metal lattice work.

  I approach the one that looks vaguely frog-like.

  “E-excuse me, my name is Elkas,” I introduce myself. “I heard that this was the place to go if I was feeling lost and needed work? There was a group of bandits outside the city that I took care of and they said some disturbing things… I feel like I need help. Madam Vel… was the name I heard, can I speak with her?”

  She looks me up and down from behind her desk. Eyes lingering on the floating grimoire over my shoulder, magical staff, and gleaming robes.

  “Elkas, you said?” She asks with a voice that vibrates more from her throat than mouth. “Let me see if the Mistress is taking meetings. Please sit and someone will be with you shortly.”

  “Thank you,” I say with a voice that is trying desperately to act brave.

  Sitting down at a nearby table, I try to act the part of a lost, nervous wreck. Breathing to calm myself, fidgeting at sudden noises, obviously staring at system screens and the empty air in front of me.

  The wait feels like an eternity, but eventually a woman with purple skin and horns that poke out of short curly black hair approaches and taps my shoulder. To which I jump dramatically.

  “Sir-” she begins but takes half a step back as I jump. “Ehem- Mistress Vel will see you now. Please follow me.”

  “R-right! Thank you!”

  I clutch my staff tightly and follow her up the stairs.

  “Audience secured.” I message my friends discreetly.

  “Copy.”

  “Be careful.”

  “I will.”

  I'm lead up the main stairwell and through a hallway. At the end of another set of stairs is a reinforced door that opens before we reach it.

  Inside is a plush room that smells heavily of incense smoke. Dark wooden walls. Cushions instead of chairs. Seated on one of these cushions is a woman smoking a pipe with five fox-like tails splayed out behind her.

  “Elkas,” she says with a voice that is smooth and alluring. “Sit, we have much to discuss.”

  The purple skinned woman retreats and the doors close. As they do, I take a deep breath, straighten my back, set my shoulders and with a clear voice, respond.

  “That we do, Madam Vel.”

  She blinks slowly, but doesn't seem surprised.

  “Your performance was a little thick out there. The guards had already informed me of a powerful wizard named Elkas.” The moment lingers. “So, let me ask you. Why have you come to me?” She slams the pipe onto a clay pot, emptying its contents.

  “Well, then there's no need for pleasantries.” I brush my hair back and stare down at her. “I destroyed Gristle's operation in Brightwell two days ago. I arrived here 4 days ago.” the facts sink in. “I don't know everything that's going on. I do know people like you are targeting people like me and delivering them to this place called Grimvault.”

  There's a faint tenseness in her form that vanishes as soon as it appears. Her calm makes me uneasy.

  “So, Vel. Tell me why I shouldn't burn this place to the ground for selling people like me to a fate unknown?”

  She studies my face for a solid minute before standing slowly. Her movements deliberate to try and catch the eye, my gaze slips for a split second before I force myself to look her in the face.

  “You certainly could do that, darling,” she says finally with a chuckle. “But in doing so, you make an enemy of Dawnreach. The largest city for days. Tell me, how many follow you? Enough to take the city? What happens when one of you loses control?”

  Unfolding a fan she lazily uses it to fan herself.

  “Burn my house down. Or, you could ally yourself with me.” The air chokes with tension. “I can stop my methods of sale and instead focus on protection. To offer real jobs to those displaced and lost.”

  My thoughts cloud for a moment as she moves.

  “I was told your lot was dangerous. Uncontrollable. Wild.” Each word is said with emphasis as she circles around me. Like a predator stalking her prey.

  “I can see they were both right and wrong at the same time.”

  My mind clears and reason floods back in.

  “Charms won't work on me if that's what you're trying to do, Kitsune,” I spit the words back at her. “Speak plainly or I'll use charms of my own. What do you get out of this?”

  The fan snaps shut.

  “A powerful ally who will not murder me and destroy everything I've built,” her voice remains level. “Leverage against others who would try to take my position.”

  She returns to her seat with a huff.

  “And you, Wizard from another world, get access to the Underworld. Information, supplies, resources that would take years for you to gain.” She grins eagerly. “Think about it and come back this evening. I won't be leaving the building. This is my home after all.”

  The doors open behind me without anyone near them.

  I look down at her for another few moments before turning and leaving. My thoughts are a jumbled mess. ‘Why does she need protection? Why'd she give in so easily? What's her game?’

  Returning to the café, I reunite with my friends who seem surprised by the look on my face.

  “Back to the inn. I need to tell you both what happened.”

  Behind closed doors, I cast Nullification Zone and speak to the both of them inside a sound-proof bubble.

  MP: 62 / 80

  Telling them every detail of what happened consumes the better part of an hour. By now, the sun has reached its zenith.

  “Could be a trap,” Shadow replies after a while.

  “It's absolutely a trap!” HH exclaims. “She's telling you to come back hours later to a place she has total control over? There's no chance it's not a trap!”

  “I know…” I respond. “But it's the best shot we have. If it gets a supplier out of Gimvault's network, and an ally at our side, I think it's worth the risk.”

  “You're not going alone,” Shadow says.

  “This time, we are all going,” HH all but demands. “You are not going to keep dealing with all of this by yourself, Tav. We are here, let us help you!” Her voice softens at the last bit.

  Shadow looks at her face a moment before nodding along.

  “Thank you. Both of you.” I nod to each of them. “Yeah, there's no way I'm walking into there without backup.”

  Sitting back on the bed, I stare at the ceiling for a while.

  “HH will go with me directly into the meeting. Shadow will be ready to make a dramatic entrance if needed. Though I hope it won't be.”

  They both nod in union.

  “Let's get some food and then prepare to meet our doom.”

  Hours pass and as the dusk begins to crawl across the cobblestones, we approach the Patron House. Shadow slips into the night, HH and I enter the front door.

  The same purple skinned woman from before bows deeply and waves us forward.

  “Sir Elkas, the Mistress is waiting for you.”

  Following her we are led to a different room that opens up and inside sits Madam Vel at an oval desk that has 5 other individuals seated at it.

  She smiles warmly.

  “Welcome, Elkas. Now we can begin.”