Dawn had arrived, and the first rays of sun were glowing between the crags of the Lavender Mountains. Skyler could see the merchant chugs were starting to revive. Chuckling, he started gathering wood to get a breakfast fire going. He had just got the first flames started with his flint and steel when the first merchant sat up groggily.
"Who are you?" he asked sleepily.
"The names Skyler. Skyler Quickrune." Skyler replied. " I saw you guys were in a fix, so I thought I'd do my good turn for the day."
As if suddenly remembering the events of the night before, the chug's eyes widened and he leapt at his pack in a frenzy. Sighing with relief, he pulled the golden sword out. "If I'd lost this…" he said to himself. Turning to the explorer, he thanked him heartily. "I'm much obliged to you. This sword is bound for the Royal Palace in the Sanctuary. If those thugs had gotten a hold of it, we would have been as good as dead."
"Likewise to you, I must say. If it hadn't been for your fire, I would have frozen to death." replied Skyler, grinning.
"I'm Rollug. My friend here is Durnug. We specialize in the trade of rare and valuable weapons and artifacts." Rollug said as he fished around in his pack for some breakfast.
"Good to know ya'." replied the adventurer, shaking his hand. "I'm an adventurer, I pretty much make my living traveling from place to place, doing odd jobs. I go treasure hunting from time to time." He didn't say anything about his Brawler skills: Brawling was looked down on as the most dishonorable form of fighting. True, many Brawlers in those days were criminals, thieves, and even murderers, but not Skyler; he had just never had an opportunity to become a Warrior or a Royal Archer.
Durnug woke up just as Rollug took out a Skillet of Talent from his bag along with a chunk of Frostfang bacon. Rollug explained to his friend about Skyler and his services.
Durnug sat groggily watching the bacon fry. Suddenly, he looked up at Skyler. "How would you like to accompany us to the Sanctuary? I would hazard to guess that you would be rewarded handsomely for your recovery of the Elder Blade."
"Not only that, but we still have quite a journey ahead of us, and as you can tell, neither of us are dab hands at fighting." added Rollug.
"I'll accept your offer gladly," replied Skyler. "It gets powerful lonely in these forests, alone. Not to mention I am nearly out of supplies."
Durnug laughed, and the three new business partners tucked into their delicious hot breakfast.