I stared in confusion at the situation in front of me.

Mendeku – the tiefling we had met just the other day – was sitting at the table with a giant baby on his lap.

An oni woman had offered me soup and hungry me wasn't able to decline it after that wonderful scent.

And now that damned vampire had stepped out of the backroom, making me almost choke on the soup as I nocked an arrow on my bow.

"This is not how we treat guests!", the oni Lea knocked the vampire on the head with her spoon. "Now calm down and sit!"

"She was the one that shot me! How am I supposed to not assume that she means harm!?" Somehow I could swear that that shirt she was wearing was Mendeku's… Would explain why he's half naked…

Squinting over the arrowhead, I gave the vampire a glare. "I desperately hope you got arachnophobia by now. And I fucking shot you because you attacked the elf, while your buddy decided to brain-roast my client, so shut the fuck up and die quietly! Even though the elf would have more right to end you than I do." Even though I didn't care a single inch for her life, I didn't shoot. Something was wrong about the vampire. That shirt... if she had stolen it from him, he wouldn't be sitting there calmly. Second, I didn't want to get her blood onto the nice carpet that reminded me of the bear rug in grandma's log house. Third, the oni woman seemed... friendly towards her. Something isn't right...

"Shush, both of you!", the tiefling growled, making me flinch. "Puppy, you won't attack anyone without me telling you to do so - protection of me excluded. And especially not in this house! Bad puppy! Sit!" He glanced over to me. "And you can calm down, the puppy's not a danger anymore. If you want to, you all can talk that out later, outside." He grinned at me a little. "And by the way, that impression of the puppy you gave off wasn't nearly as bad as I thought."

"Stop calling me that!", the vampire protested, before crossing her arms at me. "That brat didn't deserve better and I am not responsible for Authwei's fucking actions."

Lea glared at her. "No cursing in front of my child!" Her husband walked out of the door behind Thalia, looking thoroughly confused.

I lowered my bow. Thalia seemed to just… listen to Mendeku's commands. "She's trying her best, you imbecile, and you're on Authwei's side. Congrats, by the way, because it looks like he's getting Veasna back.", I hissed nonetheless. "And why the hell is that dude just cuddling with a baby?!" "Would you keep your damn voice down?", the tiefling snarled. "And puppy, be silent, yeah? Don't make me regret not killing you when I had the chance." He glanced at Lea. "Maybe it's better if you bring Snowflake to bed after all, because this could get a little dirty in wording. And Jesse, to make it short, those two have been in a fight with each other yesterday and aren't exactly thrilled to meet again. I don't know what you two discussed right now, but I'd rather not see a fight in this house."

The oni took the baby away, talking to Mendeku in a low voice for a moment, with an expression that reminded me of grandma. Thalia grinded her teeth, hissing, her hand reaching into her neck. "So he got what he wanted. Fuck. And don't you dare ever say I'm one of Authweis damn cultists! I'm just doing what my family ordered me to do!"

"I told you to shut up, vamp, and that was no joke", Mendeku glared at Thalia, before looking at me. "Listen, girl, you two are not going to fight. Else your client is going to get you back as a nicely tied up package. She's not going to be a problem for you anymore." He glanced at Jesse again. "They won't fight as long as I'm here, believe me. Each of those two already knows they don't stand a chance against me."

Thalia's comment made me twitch. "You're not one of them? Well, I don't fucking care, none of my damn business. I saw you hurt my friend, and if that was an order of your family, they can volunteer to be next on the list. But surprisingly enough, it does look like you don't want that bastard that calls himself my student's father to succeed." Looking at the male oni, my gaze got a bit softer. "Don't worry, I won't demolish your house as long as that bitch doesn't start anything. I'm a civilized person after all. But I've never seen the point in discussing with an enemy, as long as I'm getting paid. And there's someone else who'd want to punch her anyways."

I got a bit red as the oni man asked who I was, making me realize that I had forgotten my manners and not introduced myself. "Ada Silverthorne. Hired mercenary. We were ambushed, and she" I glanced at Thalia. "and her mates tried to either get information that we didn't have, or kill us all. We didn't even really do anything, but my comrades got hurt. Luckily we managed to kill most of the guards. One even believed that she'd come and save him." I grin darkly." And her spawns killed my friend, so I have every reason to be pissed off right now. "

I didn't listen as the vampire insisted that it had been self-defense, and the vodka Jesse handed me helped calm me down a little. Instead, Mendeku and her seemed to be getting into a bit of a fight, ending with him massaging his nose trying to calm down. "Don't forget that you'd be dead without this annoying asshole. And that it's well within the bonds of our contract to tell you not to defend yourself should Spoony over there decide to attack you." "Spoony?!" "Shut it." HE CALLED ME SPOONY?!

After giving them a short overview of what had happened to us, I decided to go back and get my comrades. Lea suggested she had a faster means of travel for us, and Thalia apparently wanted to get additional support for us in order to defeat Authwei, which meant I had to run an errand and get her dumb amulet. At least Lea asked me about my friends' injuries, so we would be able to treat them.

I returned to the others in the matter of an hour, Yaza seemed to be asleep from exhaustion. After giving the others a short explanation of what had happened – including the opportunity to get to Braseath – I took some minutes to search for the puppy's amulet, finally finding it among her other belongings.

We broke camp, and I lead the others back to the cavern with Lea and Jesse's cabin. Surprisingly, there were a lot of strange creatures waiting outside. Vaguely humanoid, but with scales like dragonborn. Blue, with tails, and glancing at us, murmuring. Somehow they looked like Nudd… Running between them were seven creatures that I thought could be dragon wyrmlings. Running towards us.

I instinctively got behind Ori, and the cleric didn't get a chance to make peace with her fate as they jumped her. She laughed, petting them, although she visibly couldn't breathe under the mass. It took some work freeing her, and I carried her into the hut. Because of the lack of space, we decided only Adara, Laelia and I would go in.

A few people were already inside, and introductions went off quickly. Lea, Jesse, Mendeku, Thalia and the baby, of course. Adara, the elf and me. One of the – as we learned fast – dragons from outside, and a hulky man who turned out to be an ancient blue dragon. Their leader, Udrath.

The elf and Thalia had their chance to make momentary peace, as Laelia seemed to be calmed by the fact that Dror had been revived. As it turned out, that ritual was supposed to make Authwei immortal and sacrifice the brat for it. And apparently, as Thalia revealed, they had taken over the temple of Laelia's father. He was on the run, and her mother had been caught while defending the temple. Udrath was here because Lea had been in his service for long, and the two were on good terms, enough for him to help her out.

Then the topic changed, as Udrath asked us about one of our companions – Nudd. I could swear all our stomachs turned to stone, as not only Nudd had grown a third head, but the ancient blue dragon also offered his thoughts… about the possibility of Nudd being the missing child of the goddess Tiamat. My mouth went dry, thinking about the pranks we had pulled on him over all this time. May Uller protect us…

We went back to preparing for the upcoming fight, after noticing that Nudd, with his third head, had gained significant intelligence and reaffirmed who he was, by the gods… As it seemed, they had taken some more prisoners. Including a night hag that had wreaked havoc in their temple… I sighed. Thinking back, I wasn't angry at Mydrin at all. More than anything, I felt sorry for her. Maybe we could reconcile… without any second thoughts, of course.

I also mentioned that I had Botum as a contact there, leaving the elf in surprise that I had found him and left him alive. So what?! I had a heart, and after all, I had been a guard like him before, with family to wait for me at home… After some more minutes, my head was hurting from the amount of infiltration strategies, secret entrances, disguises, et cetera. I barely noticed how Mendeku seemed to be staring at Yaza the entire time, even though the monk was still asleep most of the time.

Only as someone mentioned my father, I snapped out of it. Once again the realization hit me that I knew barely anything about him. They couldn't all be spilling the same lie after all. He had been a war hero in the war against the orcs, apparently, a ghastly monstrum that the orcs told horror stories about, calling him a Wendigo. Just how did you end up with that life now, father… And why didn't you tell me...

I was never as relieved as the topic switched to vampire families. The Bloodspring family from Phendei Kampou, the desert continent that the blue dragons hailed from, had attacked Authwei and been wiped out. Thalia returned, and her talk with her family had gone badly because of her bad mouth. She had called her father a coward, and now they were after her instead of after Authwei. So much about help…

Looking up, I noticed that Udrath was sitting being Mendeku, his chin resting on the tiefling's head. The barbarian complained, but the dragon just called him comfortable. The way Thalia got red I could only suspect what had gone on between those two… would explain the bite marks…

After we all had eaten, Udrath transformed into his dragon form, impressive. The rest we could discuss while traveling… and blue dragons were impressively fast. But after we were finished, we decided that we could also relax a bit. Mendeku was almost asleep already anyway, leaned back in Udrath's neck, hair falling into his eyes…

We remembered the poem that Adara and I had dared Ori to write, the love poem towards Nudd, and had him read it out. Not exactly what I'd call filled with love, though…

Nudd

Such a simple name for a complex mind
With a heart, big as his brain
A wonderful man so loyal and kind
With him nothing gets plain

like a field of flowers
Bouquets of geraniums blooming
Meadowsweet growing
Foxglove glooming

Orange lillies glowing

Nudistic
Unforgettable
Delightfull
Dumbass

Even the wonderful arctic wind
Can't compare to the silence in his head
Even Ada's biggest game skinned
Can't be as gross as Nudd in bed

He is spitting acid (and fire apparently why the fuck not)
But nothing melts my heart more then hearing the thump when he hits the ground
No better sound

Nudistic
Unforgettable
Delightfull
Dumbass

What is this hell?
Writing about the creature that is called Nudd, but is that his true name?
Is he even a dragonborn?
Maybe a hydra?
All I know is that he is not normal.

Have you heard of the tale of strange creatures, the dragonborn
The descendants of great warriors.
But what is that? A tail?
Now do those creatures not loose those thousands of years ago...

So what are you?
Nudd?

"Ah, you noticed the tail?" "Yeah, I noticed." I was quite impressed by the work he had put into it, clapping slowly, but both he and Nudd showed stern faces.

We decided to play "Never have I ever", on my suggestion, and it went as one might think. I learned a lot of things that I rather wouldn't have known…

"Never have I ever… said I would never want to marry someone and then falling in love the very next day?", Adara started. I was thinking, hard, but honestly… my relation with Bren had been over the course of over ten years, nothing that quick, but rather slow and subtle. Laelia was thinking very hard, and Dror shrunk, putting down a finger.

"Baruk hit you quite hard, did he?… In both ways", I chuckled.

He huffed. "I should punch you but I'm not going to. But… yes." I sighed deeply, contemplating my life choices, before… putting down a finger.

"Okay, okay, who?", he asked, interested.

I hissed: "Doesn't matter, he's dead." "Oh", it came from half the people around.

Adara chose the elf to go next. "Uh… Never have I ever… uh… fallen into a river and had to be fished out because I couldn't swim", she suggested. Nudd put down a finger, and I grinned. "Ohh, mister superbrain had a problem?" "Shut up."

Nudd took the turn for himself, then. "Never have I ever cheated while playing a game of cards." I sternly kept my fingers up, despite everyone staring at me. No proof, guys. But Laelia seemed to have a hunch… and Nudd put a finger down, seeing that nobody confessed.

Thalia was next, staring at Mendeku. "Never have I ever fucked a dragon." The tiefling didn't even look at her, grinning as he put down a finger. Laelia seemed impressed, strangely enough. Nudd also put one down, everything else would've been a lie anyway.

Mendeku was next, and seemed to contemplate a lot. "Huh… I'm not good with society in general… Never have I ever killed a kid?" Laelia seemed disgusted, but I got that there was something behind that tiefling. Ori seemed to think. "No… that wasn't a kid." Thalia was the one putting a finger down in the end. "It was a mercy kill, okay?!" Mendeku's gaze got surprisingly soft at that…

"Never have I ever stolen cookies as a child", the puppy said her next words, and Laelia put a finger down with a sigh. I wondered for a moment, but grandma wouldn't have even tried to hide them from me. All the three orcs put down a finger though, apparently it was a planned action.

"Never have I ever hit a dog", the elf took her turn, and surprisingly, not a single person put down a finger, even though both Mendeku and I asked whether direwolves counted as dogs. Laelia put down a finger in the end. "So you're not that bad people after all, huh?" "Fuck you, elf", I huffed.

She determined Adara. "Never have I ever tried to impress a lover and horribly failed at it because I was a dumbass." "Thank you, didn't need to be called out like that!", Dror complained, both him and Nudd putting a finger down. The dragon was out. "Ohhh, mister superbrain isn't as super-brainy as he thought?" "Shut up."

Dror was up. "Never have I ever sold my soul to someone just to get revenge", he said, glaring at Adara who put down a finger. "Do divine powers count as selling your soul?", I inquired, glancing at Laelia and Mendeku. Both seemed to ignore me. Weirdly specific.

"Never have I ever had sex outside", Adara said, Ori and Laelia instantly putting their fingers down. Dror followed, Mendeku, and I somehow got read in their stead.

"Never have I ever threatened my parents to run away from home if they don't get my something.", Laelia murmured. I raised my eyebrows. Why should I run away because of that? Mendeku seemed confused in general, and nobody put a finger down, ending with Laelia putting her last one down.

"Never have I ever… hurt someone because I was an idiot", Ori went on. I put a finger down, apologizing to Nudd once again for that day.

"Never have I ever been betrayed by a friend", I sighed, my turn. Mendeku flinched. "What do you mean betrayed by a friend?" Thalia sighed. "She's talking about the normal definition, people you genuinely care about and vice versa." "Oh. Ehm." He shrugged. Laelia raised an eyebrow at him "Do you not have friends?" "I have friends and I am desperately trying to kill them, thank you." I put my finger down, my last.

"Adara, you've been mean enough today. And I don't cheat on cards."

"Never have I ever lost a loved one", the druid suggested. Fingers dropped like flies. Ouch. I couldn't really relate, having killed him myself…

"Never have I ever disappointed my family", Thalia suggested, but Adara staid stern, winning the game.

Adara won, getting the chance to ask any of the losers a question they would've had to answer seriously. "Laelia, do you already have a wedding ring?" The elf went bright red, coughing. "Not… no." "I'm sure that'll change soon." "We didn't have any time for that yet!" I just huffed. "Don't get one, didn't make anything better...", fumbling with my own ring finger that started to tickle at the thought.

As the thought crossed my mind, I felt my body acting up in a very female matter, making me go bright red. In a whisper, I asked Adara whether I could hide behind her for a minute. She even held up a blanket for me, as I cared for my… problem. As I finally finished, Laelia seemed to have gone blank.

Trying to distract myself, I glanced at the three orcs. "You know, you three strike me very differently than any orc I knew before."

Adara raised an eyebrow. "You knew orcs before?"

"Yeah. I still remember how I saw my first orc. I was, like, five or six I think.", I thought back.

The druid seemed confused. "How? Did you travel to our continent?"

"No, no, I think it was a slave", I murmured. The orcs went white instantly at the word. "I mean, they always struck me as… I'd say suicidal and depressed?"

"Well, one would be, as a slave, I guess!", Laelia said.

Adara explained that they normally took their birthstones at that, and bowing in fear was the equivalent of loosing their soul to orcs. I raised my eyebrows, and Mendeku groaned. "I know I'm the descendant of a devil but ouch." Seemed like slavery wasn't a common thing outside Lunuca… Illegal, even.

Ori looked at me. "If you ever see us being caught or enslaved, shoot us. I mean it." "I'd do that even if you're not turned into a slave, thanks."

"There's three things illegal in our religion. Slavery, cannibalism, and shamans are supposed to stay loyal to the gods and not get married", Adara explained.

"Aren't you married to a shaman?", I bluntly asked, and she almost exploded.

"I am NOT married to her! I know people could call her my wife but she's not!"

"And you're salty about it, like hell", Dror grinned.

I leaned back, confused. Slavery was so common at home… I still remembered how we sometimes were ordered to get back stolen property. The thought alone seemed to unsettle all others, apart from Mendeku, who was half asleep.

Adara decided to call Melech, while I took out Veasna's bow and continued working on it, listening in on their call. And it turned out Melech had adopted a child… who wasn't really a child anymore. I decided to stop listening in. This was private, and Adara seemed to be in a bit of shock as Melech told her about the small half-orc girl she took in, who seemed shy and mute. Muave. Her apprentice, at that. Apparently the tribe hadn't accepted her well after they found her in a raid.

"I'm so happy I'm not married...", I mumbled, driving my knife through the wood of the bow. As they started to discuss the wedding of Laelia and Ori, I glanced at Adara. "So you're a mom now?" She went a bit red.

I tuned out as they started to give her an overview, and Mendeku also seemed to hear about our story for the first time. And as it turned out, Authwei had thrown him into that colony. Did I only imagine it or did the flight get rougher for a second?

Melech also gave us some intel on what was happening in Braseath, as she had a scrying scroll… which we couldn't use. I almost got a heart attack as we heard that some people were called in from Lunuca in order to support Braseath. A paladin and some guards, very strong apparently. I gulped, my fingers shaking a little from the news. Could it be… if there's some of my old comrades… or Soren… or even… no, they can't call in father, he's retired. The shock grasped me, the fear from years ago resurfaced. The fear of being caught, of being dragged back to Lunuca and executed.

Udrath landed while I tried to make peace with my fate, wondering whether this mission was worth it. The bow in my hand was basically finished, not as good a work as I'd hoped for, but a good start for Veasna. We climbed off, and Mendeku bid his goodbyes to the dragon. Then, he took a moment to make suitable disguises for the others, while I prepared my Disguise Self. He was surprisingly good at it, Laelia barely recognizable…

Thalia came back, apparently having gone to eat. She would stay as she was, while the orcs and Mendeku would try and pose as prisoners. Easily believable…

We entered the city, but there was no one around. Absolute silence. Not a single worker, and the guards at the gate had been torn apart, apparently by vampires from Thalia's family. The city was just as dead, and even though we still snuck through the alleyways, we didn't meet a single soul. The temple seemed unguarded just as well… I cast Pass Without Trace nonetheless.

Suddenly, we spotted a creature that resembled a dog, but was way more monstrous. And it talked… in Geronimo's voice. It seemed to unsettle some of us, but I ignored it. This was nothing but a trick. Another creature appeared on a roof, sounding like Veasna. Two more, one with Nancy's voice, another seemingly shocking Thalia.

We went past them, and the absence of the guards made me shake in anticipation. Even the door to the prison was unguarded, and we could just walk in. I let my eyes wander over the prisoners, but not a single orc had survived here… but a tiefling was chained to the wall, bruised and beaten. "Mydrin...", I whispered. As I saw her like this, I couldn't be angry at the hag. She did have her reasons to attack me back then… even thought there would've been more civil methods to solve our differences.

She lashed out like an injured cat as she noticed me, but we somehow managed to get her to agree to a temporary peace. After all, she wanted her hearthstone back, and Authwei was the one who had humiliated her like this. With this, I didn't hesitate, opening her cell door and picking the locks on her shackles.

"Here", I didn't look at her as I held out a ration and my waterskin to her, unsure whether night hags even needed that. She seemed confused by my behavior, but took the water. "Why are you helping me?" "We need every bit of fighting power to beat the crap out of that asshole", I mumbled.

We found Laelia's mother, locked up harsher than a vault, looking not much better than Mydrin. Seeing her and the elf happy to see each other again made me a bit envious though… But I got to work and opened the locks quickly, freeing the aasimar paladin. As they went to the next chamber, getting back the paladin's belongings, I went through the rest of the cells, opening the locks to free the prisoners.

I went to look at the storage as well, stashing a few bottles that looked like high-grade health potions. Then, we went upstairs to search. Veasna wasn't in her room, but I took some clothes from her wardrobe, just in case she would need them, as she wouldn't return here anyway. Every other room was locked, even though the idea of breaking into Authwei's room was tempting…

In the end, we arrived on the top floor, where the artifact was waiting as well. The large doors were closed, and all of us went into hiding – some better, some worse – as Laelia's mother prepared to bash in the doors. I was clinging to the top of the frame as she did so, gazing in… and feeling the air in my lungs turn to stone.

Soth Authwei, standing about a hundred feet away from us, grinning at the paladin already.

Veasna, sitting on the ground in front of her father, wearing a pretty dress and a complicated necklace.

A tall goliath woman with red braided hair who looked so much like me that it felt like a kick to the teeth.

And a half-elf with tan skin, dark hair and antlers, glaring at Laelia's mother. "One step forward and I'm going to shoot."

"F-F-Father…?", my voice was shaking, not audible. The orcs had gone pale at his sight, just like me, and I jerked as the doors slammed shut behind us. At that moment, his gaze met mine, despite me being almost invisible. It was like a bolt through the heart as he dropped his bow instantly, turning to Authwei.

"What's your problem?", the priest asked him, annoyed.

"You said we'd fight the orcs, and you'd clear my daughter's name!", my father growled.

"Yes.", the priest put on a wicked smile, and I almost could see my father's teeth grind.

"Why is she here then?!"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that."

"That was not part of the deal and I am not going to fight my daughter!", the ranger glared at him, making me spike with worries, even though I was relieved somehow. But I had never seen him this furious, and it was… horrifying to see him glare at Authwei with murderous intent.

Seeing him worry like that, I couldn't calm the cry stuck in my throat anymore, and dropped to the ground as tears welled up in my eyes. The first time I see him in three years and it ends up like this… And through the veil of tears, I saw my father pick up his bow and aiming it at Authwei in an instant, making me sob.

"That would be a bad decision. Wouldn't want to risk your family getting into trouble, would you?", Authwei stayed calm. What is he talking about…?

"Ada is my family!", my father hissed, but the priest didn't care.

"So choose between the two."

"I am choosing no one. I am not going to fight my daughter and youlied to me!" Hearing my father this angry made me shake. So this was the side of him I'd never seen…

The goliath rolled her eyes. "You've become to sensitive. So what if she's your daughter, just get rid of her and make a new one. You already have a new family, don't you?" My heart dropped. A new family? But… was he happy? He seemed to start boiling even more at that comment.

"She is your daughter as well!", he growled, and I felt my sanity fade for a second. What. What in the nine hells.

Confused, crying and shocked, I felt the fury well up in me as I took my bow in hands, ignoring the wetness on my face. I mumbled the incantation of Hunter's Mark, focused on that damn priest who had dared to trick my injured and retired father into coming here. Three arrows left from my string in the matter of a moment as they bored deep into the priest's chest. He didn't seem to feel anything but anger at that, unfortunately, as he broke off the shafts.

I glanced at my father, meeting his sorrowful gaze, as it turned into a soft smile, and I couldn't miss the small tears in his eyes. "You're alive."

We have to win this fight.