In this chapter, Two of the crew head back to the desert but what awaits them? with the actions of their friends, will they pay for their sins? How will Rey's mission go from this point, so many questions, luckily they'll be answered here...also featuring Troy...

Chapter 17

Knights, Mines, and Gnolls, Oh my!

Back at the house...

The entire crew sat around the dining room table, Yuriana being the first to dump her bag of diamonds on the table, getting a nod from the Captain.

"Nice, very nice," turning his head to her, "So you guys were only paid ten? That's...not a bad deal, not at all," he said, taking a puff from his cigar, before dumping his on the table, adding to the ten, "We were paid twenty for ours, even got another contract from Gronik, but I'm going to wait a little bit for that,"

Lucien counted the Diamonds, going wide-eyed, "This makes thirty diamonds in total, and that means..."

"Everyone gets five out of it, not bad for a cut," Inigo with a grin.

The Redguard nodded, "Considering what they're worth, it's a good payout to start off with,"

"So five for each of us then?" Recorder asked, getting a nod from her captain.

Yuriana frowned, "Seven for me then, I had to pay for all of us to get there,"

"Right, so that's one of each from both Inigo and Lucien, the rest of us are getting five, sounds good to me..." Traysek said, before bringing out small bags, "I'll get to doling out the cuts, in the meantime, with this next job we've got, I only need one other person,"

Inigo rose an eyebrow, "What does entail exactly, you don't seem to be in too much of a rush for it...not that we don't appreciate it..."

"It's a simple mining job, we need fifty of each material to complete it..." The Redguard began with, "And we have to go to the west for it, so...any volunteers?"

Inigo, Lucien, and Yuriana had nervous expressions, the redhead rubbing the back of her neck.

"Uh...it's fine if you go, my friend, but I don't think I'm allowed back there," The khajiit said, nervously chuckling.

"Same here, I vow to stay away from there... at least until things clear up..." Yuriana added, not hiding her nervousness well.

The imperial slowly nodded, "I don't plan on going back either, too much over there..."

Traysek frowned at them, "Why the hell not...?" taking note of their strange behavior, "Wait...what did you guys do over there...? And why are you more nervous than a bar wench at a bandit camp?"

Yuriana sighed, "Trust me, it's better that you find out yourself than us telling you... if you meet the queen of that region that is...my advice, be careful who you draw your blade on...that's all I can say there,"

"I know that obviously, but fine..." The Redguard waved off, giving them a serious look after, "But If I do meet this queen of the west...am I going to like what she tells me...?" he asked in a growl, "giving you three a chance, to be honest with me now before that..."

Inigo and Lucien shared scared glances, the former gulping...

"It...shouldn't be a worry, we resolved the problem, but still...be careful..." The imperial assured.

"Right...well, time to dole out the payments and then, get some sleep...haven't been able to out there," Traysek chuckled, as he began dividing up the cut...

City of Ken

Celestine's room

Celestine began to look at the various dresses she had.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Claudia asked, "What if he tries to assassinate you?"

Celestine was smiling as she picked a yellow dress, "Un- Lord Swin won't try to do it."

"At least let one of us accompany you." Claudia pleaded as the goddess was paying half attention to her.

"Lord Swain said that he wanted us to have some tea, and knowing him, he must have lunch prepared as well," Celestine said as she tried a red one.

"He might try to manipulate you." Claudia pointed.

"He wouldn't." Celestine turned with a smile, "After all, he promised that he'd keep me safe."

"But what about your duties here?" Claudia asked.

"One day off isn't going to cause the end of this world." Celestine was happy... too happy.

'I need to send someone.' Claudia began to ponder on who until, 'Troy. He will go as Celestine's escort; not a very high rank, which means that I can promise him a promotion if he accepts, and Lord Swain won't suspect a thing.'

"I think that I'll go in this one." Celestine put on a green dress, "I'm sure that he'll like it."

"My lady, let me put at least one person as an escort," Claudia demanded.

Celestine sighed before saying, "Fine, but if un-Lord Swain is unhappy, I won't stop him from expelling him. And make haste, I need to depart in half an hour."

"Right away my lady." Claudia saluted before going to get the escort.

Meanwhile...

Roaming through the streets of Ken, Troy was in a rather bad mood...hearing about his brother's new position sparked jealousy in the first son of the Musels, not to mention the hearing of the Captain's desertion.

"Goddess be damned...how did everything go so wrong...?" He muttered as he carried on with his patrol.

Soon after that, he was approached by two fellow knights, who he saluted to...

"Can I help you guys with something, I'm in a rather sour mood..." Troy said, with an annoyed glare.

"Lady Levantine has requested you, you are to see her at once," One of them told him.

He straightened his face, "Master Claudia wants something from me? Very well, take me to her,"

"Right this way," The other knight ushered, leading him to her...

Claudia's office...

There was a knock on her door, getting her out of her thoughts...

"Enter!" she ordered.

The door opens as Troy walks in and closes it behind him; heading to her desk, giving her a bow, "Is there something I can help you with, Master Claudia?"

"The goddess reborn is invited by Lord Swain to his estate, and I don't trust that he won't manipulate her." Claudia stated, "Thankfully, I managed to persuade her to let you go as her escort; you'll protect her from all harm along the way, and you'll listen to anything that's said between them. And if you manage to bring something that would help in taking Lord Swain down from his position, you'll get a bonus besides the one you'll get if you succeed." she smiled before adding, "After all, if you succeed, you'll get a promotion."

Troy rubbed his chin at that, "So all I have to do is ensure he doesn't manipulate her...I'm getting it, but those who have gone to lord swain, usually don't come back...I will do what's asked of me though, but if you don't hear anything from me, you'll know how it went,"

"I doubt that he'd try to do something since you're a Holy knight, and everyone knows that Holy Knights are not to be touched." Claudia assured, "Besides, he won't have anything to gain from harming you."

'Then why aren't YOU going then, master?!' he mentally swore, before visibly gulping, "As you say, Milady...I will head to Celestine at once..." before standing up, and bowing.

"Good." Claudia smiled, "Also if you dare evade it, you'll have to face consequences."

Troy slowly nodded, "I don't intend to, Lady Claudia...even if he does threaten me...good day, Ma'am..." before turning and leaving the office.

"I need to ask the archbishop what to do about Swain..." Claudia began to think before seeing a bird entering by the window, carrying a message, "It's from Thorne... apparently, the rebellion can spread through the kingdoms. I'll see to it once the current problems are dealt with."

Swain's manor

Swain looked through Del's eye, seeing the entire scene.

"I think that I need to put that girl in her place... again." he narrowed his eyes, "Del, prepare to get her to leave us alone."

"Of course, my Lord." the maid bowed.

Celestine's room

Celestine looked at herself in the mirror before nodding to herself, "It's been so long ever since I had some tea with Uncle Swain. I wonder what he's going to talk about..."

A knock made her look at the door.

"Who is it?" she asked out loud.

There was a sigh at the door...

"Uh...it's Troy Von Musel, Lady Claudia has tasked me with Chaperoning you today...are you decent Milady?" he asked from the door, 'By the light of the goddess, I really don't want to do this...but there are consequences if I don't...hope it goes well enough...'

"Yes! I'm coming!" Celestine happily said as she opened the door, "Let's get going!" she seemed like a cheerful child going to see some members of their family.

Troy stared at her for a moment, eyeing her outfit up and down, before nodding, "Yeah... let's go..." he breathed, following her out...

Village of Luckwarden...

Outskirt

When the Gargoyle landed, Camillia used her magic to turn it into a small statue that flew to her shoulder.

"Let's begin the investigation; You'll ask the merchants, I'll go see something," she said to the young knight before walking away.

Reynold nodded, watching her walk off, 'Okay then, guess I'm doing this on my own...' glancing around to see who he could ask, finding a vendor selling bows and arrows, 'There's a good start...' heading towards the fletcher's stall, "Excuse me, sir, do you have a moment?"

The man looked at him before scowling, "What do you want, Holy scum?"

Reynold frowned upon that, "Easy there, I'm not looking for trouble...I'm here on an investigation on the string of murders that's been happening around here, I hear merchants like you are spared from such fate, wanted to know if you knew anything about it, if you don't want to get involved I understand that too...But I would appreciate your help,"

"All I know is that whoever kills those money-grubbing bastards is doing us a service." the man pointed, 'True that he steals some of our food, but I think that's a nice price to have less of these fat bastards that keep stealing all our food, our gold, and the women!"

The young knight rose an eyebrow, "So he's seen as a hero amongst you...interesting..." going into thought, 'This is going to be harder than I thought...they already revere the killer as if he's a savior...but what if he actually is...? I'm no fan of the corruption from the nobility either...but even then...' looking back up, "I see...for all we know, he could be doing the goddess's work...but, he's still a vigilante...that's not something I can leave unchecked...however..." breaking the Shopkeeper's scowl, "What the nobles have put people like you through, is worse...disgusting even...and I'm not talking about the village..." giving him a sigh, "If possible, I want to get to him, before one of the nobles tries seeking revenge for their fallen friends or family...so if you haven't seen him, do you know who has...?"

"I know how you Holy bastards are. But it would be good to have him reap a little bit more Holy scums." he laughed before pointing east, "He usually stops people there."

Rey turned his head in that direction, giving him a nod, "I see, thank you, have a good day," before leaving the stall.

"Holy scum..." the man mumbled, "Now my mood is sour."

Reynold headed east, pondering what had happened, 'They really hate us over here...but, at least I'll know where he'll find them from, but someone has to be friendlier around here...' spotting a woman selling bakery, 'maybe she might talk to me...hopefully...' walking up to her, "Hello Ma'am, your bakery is impressive..." with a smile, "I was wondering if you could help me with something, I'm investigating what's been happening around here and would like to know what you know on it..."

"What I know is, that whoever is out there, cutting down those thieves that turn our lives into a nightmare deserves praise." she smiled, "Are you here to do the same as those nobles do?" she then eyed him, "Considering that you're one of them."

The young knight held up his hands defensively, "Ma'am, please understand that I could care less about a few fat nobles dying, if wasn't his blade, it would've been mine...I'm no fan of it either, despite being one... but what I also don't want, is for one of their family members to come seeking revenge and make an example of him...if possible, I'm here to do the opposite..."

"I'm not scared of them. In fact, he gave the courage to stand up against those scumbags." the woman said before eying a man walking with a huge bag on his back, "Matt, you're back!"

"Now that was exhausting!" the man said as he put the bag down, "Gonna need some bread, gave all that I had to the horned man. Maybe add something more."

The woman nodded and began to gather what was asked.

Rey rose an eyebrow, 'Horned man...? is that what they call him? could this man possibly...?' turning around to face the man known as Matt, "Excuse me, sir, did you mention something about a 'horned man?' Is that the one who been hunting the other nobles like animals?"

The man laughed before saying, "He's hunting them like the criminals they are! If it wasn't for them, I'd still have my daughter with me!"

The young knight nodded in confirmation, "Been hearing a lot about that, I was wondering if you could direct me to him...? I'm not here to arrest him or hurt him until I know what's going on first, and depending on that, I may or may not look the other way with him... all I need is his current whereabouts...that's it..."

"Just send him there." the woman handed a bag to Matt, "With some luck, we'll have one less noble."

The man grinned before pointing east, "Near a rock formation where there's a lot of dead bodies."

Rey rose an eyebrow, before nodding, "Thank you for your cooperation, light be with you," and like that, he left to search out his partner, 'I have to tell Camillia about what I just learned...' glancing around himself, 'If I could find her that is...where has she gone...?'

Something faint could be heard.

"Have you found something?" it was a harsh voice, "Back there, both the General and the Dragon Queen want to meet the guy."

"There's someone who had a vague smell of blood." Camillia's voice stated, "But I followed the scent."

"Where?"

"Not far from where you are." Camillia pointed.

"Good. I'll be able to track him." the person, hidden by the shadows turned and left.

Reynold continued to search for the female knight until he spotted her coming out of an alley, "Ah, Lady Camillia, there you are, I've been looking for you, I manage to find a lead on where our Noble hunter is..." with a grin.

"What did you find?" Camillia asked.

"There's a rock formation in the east where he ambushes those nobles and from what the townsfolk told me, the people that ended up dead...were less than garbage," He sighed, shaking his head, "I can't say I'm surprised, but if we wanted to find him, that's where we'd have to go..."

"Do you know what he looks like?" she asked.

Rey shook his head, "Aside from the fact that they're calling him: 'The horned man' I assume, he has a helmet of horns, other than that, I've got nothing else...Apologies"

"The last thing I want is to drag your dead body, so wait here until I get something better." she then headed deeper into the village.

The young knight sighed, watching her head into the village, before finding a bench, and taking a seat, "That's fine, I'll wait, but not for too long..." he muttered, glancing east.

'After all, that's all you do; put others in a situation where they lose something while you don't pay anything.'

The memory made his blood boil, gritting his teeth, 'You think I can't do things on my own...? I'll prove you wrong jester!" standing up before remembering how it went the last time he took the initiative like that, resulting the in the knight's death...'But if I do this...there's a chance...that could happen again...dammit...what do I do?!' turning to the direction Camillia went, 'I'll give it some time, but after that...if she's not back in ten minutes...then I'll go...' fighting the urge.

In the pathway east of Luckwarden...

A bulky Dragonoïd was looking at the dead bodies around.

"Too brutal to be human... or not." he picked a broken shield, "Whoever did this must have some sort of colossal strength." he then looked at a small trail of blood, "Seems like the General will be able to recruit him after all." he then began to follow the trail.

Meanwhile, at Swain's residence...

Troy and Celestine finally arrived at the estate, the blonde knight already regretting being there by the dread there alone...

'Talk about intimidating...how the hell did Rey survive this guy...?' he mentally gulped.

The gate opened and a maid bowed while looking at Celestine.

"It's been quite a while, Lady Celestine." she smiled before adding, "Lord Swain prepared some éclairs and other pastries that you like."

"Thank you Del." Celestine smiled before stepping in.

The maid looked at Troy before saying, "Only Lady Celestine is allowed." now, her smile wasn't a good one.

Troy sighed, 'Great...even the maid is intimidating...even so...' clearing his throat, "As much as I want to agree with that right now, I've been charged with chaperoning Lady Celestine today, if I don't see this through, I'm the one getting punished and not gently either..." giving the maid a bow, "I won't get in their way, but I still need to be there,"

"If you can get past me." the maid replied, still smiling.

The blonde knight rose an eyebrow, "Are you serious...? You don't even have a sword..." shaking his head at her, as she smile "Fine, don't say I didn't warn you though..." drawing his sword, going for a downward slash in a quick motion.

She used one finger to stop the sword.

"Oh my, you're so powerful and skilled." the maid's tone was more like one of mocking.

He gritted his teeth, before going into rapid thrusts with this sword with a reddened face, "You think this is funny?!" he growled, giving a hard smash to the ground which she jumped away from, dashing forward, giving a hard swing outward towards her.

This time she yawned as she used her nail to stop the sword, "It is a rather boring fight when your opponent is like an insect."

Beyond angry now, he coated his blade in holy energy, going into a flurry of attacks with it, "Damn You, you're worse than the jester!" his attacks seemingly wild and rapid.

She took a hand mirror and began to look at it while blocking the attacks with her nail, "I guess that my hair is a little messy now. I guess that I should work on it later."

He finally had enough and gave his blade a hard swing downwards, causing a bright explosion of light, huffing while the area was covered in smoke, "How's that..for hard enough...?" he panted out.

When the smoke cleared, the maid was still looking at the mirror while catching the weapon with her index finger, "Maybe that I should get that lotion I heard about, people are praising the effect on the hair." she then looked at Troy, "Sorry, you were saying?"

He went wide-eyed, if he wasn't angry enough before, he was now...A strange flame had gathered in his hand, before taking the sword and slicing into his palm, coating it with blood and fire, "I'm done with you...I was already regretting my job, this...this made that worse!" discharging a crimson wave at her, before firing off more, "RRaaaaarrrrgh!"

The maid smiled and waited until the waves were about to hit her... and she blew them away.

"I guess that I should get on the attacking part." she took one step before appearing next to the knight and flicked him to a tree.

Once he hit the tree, he shot a hateful glare, before building up the same flame, tossing a fist full of blood, which exploded on contact, the enflamed sword burning even brighter now, 'Why the hell did I even agree to this? I would've been better off guarding the walls, but NO! Lady Claudia is too scared to face the man himself and I gotta pay for it!"

A flap of wings got their attention.

"Del, this isn't time to play with the boy, you have duties." Swain's voice came from the raven.

"I know." Del sighed before saying, "I guess that I should return to my duties... even if I had so much fun."

"Everything comes to an end." Swain said before adding, "Now, go guide Celestine. As a maid of the house Jericho, you must be professional.

"Of course." the maid bowed before pointing to Troy, "But what about him?"

"Just let him go, it's not like he can do something." Swain pointed.

The maid turned and with teleportation, got to Celestine.

He huffed angrily, the whites of his eyes reddened to pure crimson, sheathing his sword and closing his eyes, giving a calming breath the whites of them returning to normal, the flames around him dying down, "Thanks...could've done that before all of this..." he growled, shaking his head, 'If I didn't suspect him before...after that...? now I do!'

"Watch your tone." Swain said, "One word from me, and your career in the military will have a very ugly turn. Besides, Del wasn't taking you seriously, otherwise, you would have been killed on the spot."

Troy gave a bitter chuckle, "Yeah, I could tell, nothing I did there, mattered..." going into a facepalm, groaning "I swear, I had better things to do today...I didn't even want this damn assignment, but because Lady Claudia demanded it, I can't even refuse it, knowing the punishment that awaits..."

"Trust me, there are fates worst than that." Swain said as the raven spread her wings, "Unless you want to know one, don't get on my bad side." and the bird flew away.

The blonde knight Scowled at the bird's departure, sighing in defeat after, 'Calm down Troy...it doesn't pay to get this angry...not to mention I'll blow it if I go in like that...' taking a deep breath, his blood no longer boiling, ' You just have to get through the rest of the day...then you can go home and get drunk,' stepping in the estate.

...

In front of the manor, Celestine was petting a white saber tiger.

"There there." the goddess smiled as she was rubbing its belly, "I missed you so much, Sin'Dal."

"She missed you too." Del pointed as she stood next to Celestine, "We could barely contain her excitement when she learned that you were coming."

"I really want to have her with me..." Celestine's smile turned into a sad one, "But I know what would happen to her..."

"I'm sure that she can easily understand," Del assured with a smile.

Once Troy caught up, he found Celestine comforting a large tiger, making him raise an eyebrow, 'Okay...didn't know she had one of these...but I swore they were all extinct...must've been a litter that went on without notice,' leaning on a wall.

"Sometimes, I wished that I would have acted sooner," Celestine stated.

"Lord Swain made sure to keep enough in his personal greenhouse." Del smiled before adding, "Many other species were saved by Lord Swain. After all, he only thinks about the good of Eostia, as well as your safe being... no matter who the traitor, or traitors..."

The blonde knight said nothing, but narrowed his eyes, 'He's got a greenhouse with other animals...? This might not be so bad after all, I'd have to check that out later...if I can perhaps...' looking around, noticing lord Swain isn't around, "Where is the lord of the Estate...? I figured he would show up himself by now," he asked.

"For an uninvited guest, you sure have no manners." a large raven landed and transformed into Swain, "It's been quite a while ever since we had tea together." he smiled at Celestine, "Even Sin'Dal is happy to see you."

Troy folded his arms with a slight scowl, "I'm only making an observation, nothing more," he said flatly, 'how in the seven hells is my brother working for you...?'

"Del, prepare the tea." Swain ordered, ignoring Troy, "Let's talk more." and they both began to walk toward the manor.

The tiger growled at him before following them.

The blonde knight rolled his eyes, following them, 'Correction...I'm going to need something strong after this...maybe I'll drink with my unit again, they usually have strong stuff,'

...

Inside, the maids and butlers bowed to Celestine and Swain but glared at Troy.

Troy shot them an annoyed scowl back but didn't say anything, 'Fuck you too...' moving his gaze back on Celestine and Swain.

"So, how can I really have more authority?" Celestine asked with a worried tone, "I don't want others to be afraid of me."

"My dear, their fear means that they lost the control they had over you." Swain pointed, "And since you saw how much support they were willing to give you if you made peace with Olga, you should know that everything has to change."

"But my friends..."

"If they were your friends, they would understand." Swain said, "Maia and Kaguya are a lot smarter than expected, but the others... I don't know what to say about them."

"Are you really going to stay by my side even if I decide to forgive Olga?" Celestine asked with a low tone.

"Of course." Swain pointed, "It won't only show that you have a big heart, but also that you are open to any other race."

Troy watched them, raising an eyebrow, 'Is this what she feared...? humans and monsters in unity...? This is what she sent me to prevent?' frowning at the idea, 'I get it, no one would want this, but at the same time...I can't get mad it...what am I supposed to say here...?'

"But they will hate it..." Celestine looked down.

"Maybe because they want to control you and do unspeakable acts in your name; murder, conquest, genocide..." Swain pointed, "Others might be around you to spy for someone else..."

The blond knight blinked at that, rethinking how he learned blood magic, 'Well you got me there...it's not like I announced that...not even my brother and father know...as for everyone else, I can see that being a possibility...especially when it comes to creepy old Grisholm...'

"But who can spy on me?" Celestine asked with a shocked expression.

"Perhaps a traitor who threw his humanity away to serve someone else." Swain answered, "You should watch your back..."

Troy gave him a hard scowl, 'Just because I know blood magic, does not mean I'm no longer human, I just possess the magic and I don't like using it...which is a lot more than I can say for you...At least I'm not shifting from birds!'

"But now what?" Celestine turned to Swain with a worried look, "How can I... help my people?"

"First, you need to make an unofficial peace with Olga." Swain stated, "With her help, you can fight any threat. Besides, you were complimentary in both magic and skills; you protect, she attacks."

"But I don't know if she would accept..."

"She would." Swain nodded.

"Then... maybe I should give it a try..." Celestine sighed, "But I don't know where she is."

"I have some contacts that can help with that," Swain assured.

'Good luck with it...after today, I don't think Master Claudia is ever letting her out of her sight again...forget trying to invite her tea, I don't think they'll let out the door...' Troy mused, pulling out a book and began reading it to himself.

"And if any knight tries to get in my way, I'll have them meet Raum," Swain added.

This cause the blonde knight to look up, 'Can't say I ever heard of him...another name to report...maybe Lady Claudia knows something about him...I'll have to see...' going back to his book.

"Now then, let's discuss some more private matters." Swain said as they entered a room that has two chairs and a table, "Del, make sure that no one listens to us."

"Of course, my lord" Del nodded before closing the door and standing guard in front of it.

Troy glanced up, before his calling stone went off, "Guess I'll take that, excuse me" leaving the book there, stepping out to outside, "Finally, I can breathe...ugh..." answering it, finding it to be Claudia, "Lady Claudia, you picked "Good" time to call, I just finished staring down the last death stare here..."

"Is the Goddess alright?" Claudia asked.

The blonde knight nodded, glancing behind himself to be sure, "Yeah, she's ok, but Lord Swain has her in a private conversation now...has been hostile towards me the entire time and I'm starting to believe he can either see into that room of yours or hear everything, it's as if he knows why I'm here...has his maid guarding the room now..." he said, trying to hide his frustration.

"Get past through the maid, and go inside." Claudia ordered, "No one knows what could be said between them now."

Troy sweated on that thought, "About that Milady, the maid is stronger than she looks...I tried that the first time and I was outclassed... the worst part was that she was toying with me, sent me into a damned tree with a flick,"

A long silence fell on her before that she took a deep breath, "Alright, go search in his private chamber and his workplace." Claudia ordered, "Make sure that no one sees you."

The blonde knight rose an eyebrow, "Okay...but what am I searching for there...? thought I was only here to make sure she didn't get manipulated,"

"Since you can't listen to what's going on, you're going to see if there's anything that we can use against him when confronting him in front of the other nobles." Claudia said, "And with some luck, even Celestine will turn on him."

"You really want him gone huh? I don't know if we can, she seems smitten with him already...I can try, but if there's nothing there...we'll have to consider other options my lady..." He assured, looking around, "I'll see if I can get there, hopefully..."

"Once she sees that we are her only guardians, she'll forget about him," Claudia said.

Meanwhile...

With Celestine and Swain...

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Celestine asked with an uncertain tone.

"Your true allies are few, and my Red Spears may be strong, they can't hold a fight against the seven kingdoms." Swain pointed.

"What about a small try?" he suggested, "I'll call her and you two can actually talk without the sight of any noble or Shield."

Celestine frowned, "I could try I suppose...but that's if she wants to talk to me after that, you saw how they left out of here..." her smile turning empty, "Along with him..." her ears drooping with a sullen look, "Maybe once I call her then...maybe..." rubbing her arms.

"You worry too much." Swain stated, "You need to be more confident in yourself." he then got up and began to prepare a circle on the ground.

Yamakhroz, Olga's estate...

The dark elf queen was in the process of restoring her magic, when an image of swain appeared, interrupting her thoughts, "Lord Swain~ it's good to hear from you again, how are things?" giving him a small smile.

"Come now my dear, you know that you don't need to be that formal with me." Swain smiled.

Olga gave a small chuckle, "Of course not, Uncle...our years together, I haven't forgotten them..." before her smile faded, "How's Celestine doing...?"

"She's doing fine." Swain replied, "I've helped with fighting her doubts. With some luck, you can meet up if you desire."

The Dark Elf Queen sighed, knowing what the answer was going to be, "As much as I would like that, I don't trust that anyone won't try to take me out there...I still need to recover all the magic I lost during my time in the fortress...it'll only take a couple of weeks, but it's better than going there blind..." With a sullen look, "If she's there now, I would like to speak to her..."

Swain smiled and stepped out, letting Celestine step in.

They both stared at one another for over a minute, until Olga sighed, "Celestine...I'm surprised you were able to call me...last time we talked, it didn't go so well, did it?"

"I... I didn't know what to do... I thought that... I thought that I would have done the right thing... that it would be for the best..." Celestine's tone was more of a depressed person that a Goddess.

Olga thought on that, remembering the things she did to get the reputation that has there, before sighing again, "You placed your trust in people who you thought were in your corner...and from your standpoint...They might have been...I can't say it's entirely your fault...I did shove first..." her eyes darkened, "I've tried for years to talk to you without them...and the humans-your people, have done everything they could to prevent that...I had lost hope...that the person I grew up with was long gone...and dwelled on that hate for a while...I'm just as guilty as you when it comes to that..." with a bitter smile.

"Still... I should have opened my eyes first..." Celestine said, "People around me blinded me... hiding the truth... and I believed them..."

The dark queen stared at her expression, slowly nodding, "I can see this has been painful for you..." before making a decision, "As I told Uncle Swain, I'm willing to meet with you in a couple of weeks...my magic is going to take time replenishing from repelling off your knights and mercenaries all these..." giving her a smile, "Then and only then will I go to whatever place you wish to talk...not moment before...and not because of you, it's those you keep around you, that worries me,"

"This time... I'll be alone," Celestine said with confidence in her voice and in her eyes.

This actually surprised Olga, it's been a while since she's seen that face from her, "Hmph...we shall see, until then, I'll be in touch...but may I offer one last piece of advice, for old times sake...?"

Celestine tilted her head and asked with confusion, "What advice?"

"Count your blessings and the number of friends you really have or had in some cases...you might find out something you never knew," waving at her, "I'll see you later, sister..." with a genuine smile before she disconnected the circle.

There was a knock and a maid entered Olga's room.

"My lady, the Dark Blades found something disturbing about the Orc tribes that joined the human." the maid said as she gave Olga a sealed scroll.

Swain's estate...

Swain saw as the circle disappeared.

"How do you feel now?" he asked.

Celestine paused on that for a moment, "I...feel better, way better than I did...I wasn't expecting that to go so well..." turning to Swain, "You were right Uncle, it really worked out..."

"I'm glad that you felt that way." Swain smiled, "But remember to keep what happened a secret from the others. The last thing we want is to have them meddle with how you should rule."

She nodded, "No one can know about this, they wouldn't accept it...I understand, things would have to go on as they are until then..."

"And I believe that you're going to need a more appropriate guard." Swain said, "If you really want them to understand that you're ready to take your own decision, you must have your own personal guard that isn't affiliated with them."

"Like your red spears? they are quite dependable, very well, the private guard will be changed over to them," She smiled with a nod, "This will anger the church, but like you said, things need to change and for the better,"

"Now all that's left is to meet the guard who'll follow you to make sure that no harm happens to you." Swain said as he began to walk toward the door, "Shall we?"

The Reborn goddess nodded again, "Of course, take me to them," following Lord Swain out of the room.

After a small walk, They entered a room where they saw an elf in armor sitting on a chair with a book called The Art Of Battle as well as a mug filled with beer.

"Ophilyana." Swain called, gaining the attention of the Elf, "From this day on, you'll protect this woman." he then pointed to Celestine with the palm of his hand.

The goddess gave her new help an overall stare, it was clear she was a high elf just as she was, only, she could tell she was human as well, offering the guard a smile, "It's nice to meet you Ohpilyana, I heard I'll be in your care starting today," giving her a bow.

"Vielen Dank für diese Gelegenheit, meine Dame (Thank you for this opportunity, my lady)" she spoke in the ancient Elf language.

Celestine nodded, "You are certainly welcome, and I think I can go ahead and relieve my current guard since it's clear Claudia sent him to me," looking around, "If I could find him that is..."

"He must be searching around for some sort of proof that would destroy my public image and perhaps dissuade you to turn on me," Swain stated with a sigh.

The goddess sighed, "That's becoming more apparent, Claudia wouldn't send him with me for no reason..."

Meanwhile, on the rooftop...

Troy was inching his way across the wall towards the open window in the tallest tower, climbing in...Upon entering, he found a private study of books and letters scattered on the desk, putting a grin on his face.

'Finally made it up here... can't believe it was that easy getting in,' looking around, 'Now...where to start...?'

He searched around the room for a while, until he found a strange parchment, with a list of names, reading it over in his head, stumbling upon Rey's name as well as Commander Niall's... 'Interesting...why would he have a list of names here...?' he continued to scan over it until he came upon a certain name...

'General Greil...? as in the Dark army's General, why would his name be listed here...? odd...he's considered one of our enemies...could it be possible they're in league? Claudia needs to know about this...' pocketing the note, before noticing a letter on his desk, heading towards it, 'Who in the goddess's name is 'Mayek?' sounds like a dark elf, but from the maid back there, I can believe him to be in contact with one...' pulling out a strange red stone, scanning the letter with it, 'That should do...I believe I spent enough time up here...' hearing steps approach the door, making sure things were same before climbing back out the window, as the door opened.

"It smells like a rat was here." it was Del's voice, "A treacherous rat that doesn't have any kind of loyalty to the Goddess Reborn."

Troy was once again against the wall near the window with a hand over his mouth, 'Look who's talking, you demon maid...!' quickly creeping over to the ladder he took up there, sliding down it, and making a break towards the exit, 'Just a little more and I'm out of here!' passing out of the estate gate, heading in a direction...

But the maid teleported herself in front of him.

"Hello there." she greeted with a smile.

"Ahhhahaaa!" He screamed jumping back, "Look I'm out of the estate okay? I'm just...leaving...you don't want me there, that is clear as the night sky," slowly reaching for something, "So how about you be a nice elf and-" quickly drops the flash bomb, blinding her for a moment, "See ya never!" his rang out, laughing as he went into a heavily populated area.

Del screamed as she held her eyes, "My eyes! MY EYES!" she tripped as blood was coming out of from beneath her hand before teleporting away.

Claudia's office...

The head knight sat in anticipation, wondering when she'll hear from her apprentice again...She wondered if her decision to send Troy there was good one, thinking she should've sent more there...

That was until there was rapid pounding at the door.

"Lady *huff* Claudia! I've returned...!" he panted from behind it... she quickly let him in, closing and locking the door behind him.

"How did it go?" she asked.

He regained his breath, "You... can't pay me enough to go back there...by the goddess..." shaking his head in fear, before pulling out the document and stone, "But...even with this, I still managed to get something out of it..." handing them to her.

Claudia took them and began to read the letter, "This is about the village that he was supposed to deal with..." She then looked at the parchment, "I recognize some of these names..." she continued until her eyes widen, "General Greil!?"

"Yeah, thought that was strange too, even my brother and the captain's name are there...why he would have a list of his enemies is beyond me, but if that maid was indication..." he took a deep breath, "There's no telling what else he's been up to..."

Claudia smiled and turned to Troy, "You did a good job." she then added, "Once this will be presented to Celestine, she would banish Swain and I'll personally vouch that you become the new head of the Red Spears."

He bowed, "Thank you, Lady Claudia, with any luck it goes our way for once..." taking a relieved breath, "I need to get some food and drink after that, may I crash in the barracks? It's not...safe going back out right now..." remembering the maid.

"Of course." Claudia nodded, "Ask for anything you want."

The blonde knight nodded, "Should I need anything, I won't hesitate..." and with that, he left the room, closing the door.

In Yamakhroz...

Endra walked to a certain house and knocked on the door.

There was no response at first until a clomp of heavy boots was heard, the door opening revealing Erik behind it.

"Endra! What brings you here?" The Nord asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"I was on my way to get some drinks, and thought of inviting you." the Dark Elf answered, "I could have gone to Dargo, but the last thing I want is to have trouble while restraining him."

Erik nodded, "Sure, and I take it you're looking for the boss too? I believe he just got out of the shower, you can wait in here if you want, I gotta change myself,"

"Don't worry and take your time." Endra said as he got in, "Nice place."

"Thanks, we haven't had the time to get fully decorated yet, but in time, I trust we'll come up with something," Erik said, leading him through the house to the lounge area, "And this is our chill spot," showing him the area where most of the crew were hanging out in.

Inigo noticed the newcomer and walked up to them, "Hey Erik, who's this?" raising an eyebrow.

"That's right, you weren't with us," The nord sighed, "This is our friend from the Caravan trip, there's another but..."

"The name's Endra, the best solar archer in all of the Kletzkrieg." Endra greeted as he held his hand forward.

Inigo completed the handshake, "Nice to meet you, I'm Inigo, the best marksman of the crew, it's good to meet another bowman," he chuckled.

"Debatable...that Lina woman beat you in that shooting contest," Lucien deadpanned.

"Yeah yeah, but using magic with shooting is cheating...she wiped out every target with that arrow storm of hers," The khajiit snorted.

"That's her Signature Skill." Endra pointed, "She created it, she mastered it, and no one else can do it... unless they're using some sort of magical arrows. But except for that, no one else can copy it."

Inigo nodded at that, "I could come up with something, but working with magic makes me nervous..." rubbing the back of his neck.

"For the last time, you're NOT going to blow yourself up Ini," Lucien groaned, rolling his eyes, before walking up to Endra, "Hello there, I'm Lucien Flavius, the brains of the crew, it's nice meeting you,"

"Nice to meet ya." Endra replied, "But even if he found something, it won't be like her technique." Endra sighed before saying, "If you look at my Signature Skill, it can be done if you have the strength, but not hers..."

"I see, I mean...a storm sounds nice, but I'm trying to go for an arrow that can take out five targets in one shot," Inigo said, going into thought, "Now what to name it...that's a mystery..."

"How about...the Gnoll shot?" Lucien said, "Eh, eh?"

"That's not funny...you're not funny..." The khajiit said flatly.

"Gnolls, eh?" Endra was a little pensive before saying, "I heard a lot of things about them, like how they're treated, their struggle to live without being chased because of what they are... but I have yet to meet one."

The imperial sighed, "That all depends if they're friendly to travelers, our boss is going near them soon, so that'll be something for him to bring back,"

It was then, Yuriana walked into the room in a bedroom robe no less, "Why are we talking about the Gnolls? you guys didn't learn?"

Erik chuckled, "And this lovely lady here is our barmaid and bruiser,"

"Names Yuriana, pleased to meet you," She introduced, obnoxious to her chest spilling out when she offered a handshake, "And you're name is...?"

"Well... I'd be damned..." Endra shook her hand, "The name's Endra, Solar Archer of the Kletzkrieg. I never thought I'd say this one day, but you're a real threat to the Cowgirls out there... They're big, yes, but you're as big as them. If only I wasn't taken..."

Yuriana rose an eyebrow, "That's... charming I guess? I'll have you know these knockers are registered weapons..." with pride in her tone.

"Would that be that famous boobie charge you do...?" Inigo smirked, getting an annoyed glare in response.

"That's BOOB charge and yes, that's what I meant..." She said, covering herself up.

Recorder came around the corner, "What's this I hear about-" until she spotted the solar archer, "Oh hey Endra, what's going on?"

"I was on my way to a bar and thought of inviting them." Endra replied before grinning, "Bet that you're disappointed that he isn't here."

"Who now?" Yuriana raised an eyebrow, smirking.

"Another guy we met out there, Dargo..." Recorder groaned, blushing, "Why you gotta out me like that? especially in front of her!" motioning to Redhead, whose smirk grew.

"No no, please...tell me more~" She grinned, getting a groan from Record.

"It was so wild that I don't know how to start," Endra stated before looking at Eric.

Erik glanced at him, then her, and smirked, "Well, you know love blooms like a flower right? well, it bloomed during our trip, so romantic~"

"Do I have to get another stick...?" She asked incredulously, "This time with nails?"

The Nord gulped, "See? she's already talking about sticks the euphemism is strong with this one~"

There was a sigh coming down the stairs...

"Erik...that's what got your ass kicked the last time..." Traysek said, while drying off his hair with a towel, until he saw a familiar face, "Ah, Endra! good to see you! what brings you to these parts?"

"I wanted to know if you guys would be interested in having a drink." the Dark Elf replied.

Traysek thought on that, "A drink huh? sure, better than just turning in for the night, where are we going?"

"I know a bar up to the Star Sight District." Endra pointed, "We can get there with the help of a teleporter. Of course, since I'll be with you, it's free of charge."

Recorder rose an eyebrow "I've read up on that district, it's supposed to be the fancier side of the city, there's even a bar there called: Stargazer, that's popular over there,"

"Really now...? If that's where we're going, I need to look my Sundas best," The Redguard said, heading back up to his room, "Give me a few minutes..."

Five minutes later...

Now in his guild long coat, Traysek headed downstairs with a grin, "Thanks for waiting, whenever your ready man,"

"I hope that you're ready to go and enjoy the finest drinks this world has," Endra stated as he turned to go outside.

Traysek nodded, "Let's go," turning to Erik, "You coming too?"

"Why not? I have yet to try this city's alcohol, sure," The Nord nodded, leaving his ax and shield on a chair, "I'll be back for those later,"

Recorder waved at them, "Have fun guys, I'd go but... alcohol and I have...a history..." she nervously chuckled.

"Yeah, we know...been kicked out of taverns because of you.." Inigo deadpanned, "Have fun, my friends, lemme know how it goes,"

And with that, they left the house...

After a little while...

The group found themselves on a plateau that was looking into the now night sky with a particular group of armored Dark Elves as guards.

"Welcome, to the Star Sight District," Endra said to the group.

Traysek and Erik marveled at the sight, it felt almost no different than the stars back on the surface, only...these shined a bit brighter, complementing the buildings nearby.

"It's gorgeous over here, would not have minded having my house here instead," The Redguard grinned.

Erik nodded, noticing a couple of the guards, "Even their guards look different...is their armor the same as the sky? nice~"

"Well, this place is reserved for the Moon priestesses." Endra pointed a temple, "But this place is so good at night that some places for friends and couples opened up. Of course, you have the Moon Guards, they protect the Moon priestesses as they try to foresee what could happen in the future."

"Moon priestesses...Interesting, I'm guessing they worship the moon and stars? I knew another religion like that back home, it's almost ironic how close here and skyrim are..."

Erik nodded, "Let's just hope their drinks hit just as hard," with a grin.

"Here, you'll find only the best of the best drinks" Endra smirked, "Pick whatever place you want here and you'll see."

The Redguard squinted his eyebrows checking the guide, "Let's see...okay, that looks expensive...the stargazer bar Record was talking about, but there is another here that interests me..."Gem 'adh" ever been there?"

"Yup." Endra nodded, "I know the owner of the place."

Traysek beamed up at that, "Oh that's even better, yeah, we could go to that one," turning to Erik, "Unless you wanted to go elsewhere,"

"I have no complaints, sounds good to me," The nord concurred.

"Then let's go." Endra grinned as they headed there

Gem 'adh

Once in, there were a lot of people laughing and enjoying their drinks.

Both adventurers glanced around, taking note of how cozy everything felt in there, from the fireplace to the nice wooden interior, the nord took a deep sniff, grinning.

"It looks comfortable in here, good enough to take a nap even," Erik commented.

Traysek nodded, "Too lively for that, but I'm liking it in here, got a warm feeling from it,"

"That's why a lot of soldiers come here." Endra pointed with a smirk, "Lemme present to you the owner." he then headed over to the counter.

When the three made their way to the bar counter, they were greeted by a friendly dark elf woman...

"How's the grace of this place doing." Endra greeted with a smirk.

"Oh, long time no see, Endra." The Dark Elf woman smiled at the Solar Archer.

"Being a member of the Kletzkrieg isn't easy, ya know?" Endra pointed.

"Trust, I know..." She had an almost sad smile, "Who're your friends?"

"These two are some companions I met on my last mission." he then turned to the two, "This is Grace Campbell, a good friend."

The Redguard gave her an overall look, nodding and smiling, "It's nice to meet you, Grace, the name's Traysek," offering a handshake, "Gotta say, you run one hell of a tavern,"

"That's a little what she wanted to do here." Endra pointed.

"It took a lot of gems to open this establishment," Grace added as she shook Traysek's arm.

"And the drinks are damn good." Endra stated, "From beer to rum, passing by wine and ale... you'd like it. Besides, you can also pay for another type of service."

"As a Star Seer, I do have some divination powers," Grace said with a smile.

The Redguard nodded in approval, "A seer huh? Niiiiice~ if I ever do need that kind of help, I know who to go to now, and it helps you're not bad to look at~" winking after.

Erik gave him a knowing smirk, "Smooth bossman, real smooth..." turning to her, "I'm Erik the slayer, it's definitely good to meet you..."

"Well thank you." Grace said with a smile, "But it won't help you to get some discounts here."

"According to what she saw, her fated one was already chosen by the Celestial Being." Endra stated, "From what she got 'Of power and muscles thou other is, With Ebon and bones thine other self shall protect thou from the blinding light'."

Traysek had a mock heartbroken look, playfully grabbing his chest "Aww rejected, my heart...!" before his smirk came back "Someone else got your eye? they're lucky lucky man...or woman, I won't judge..."

"That's a pretty accurate description of it though, hope it goes well," Erik added in.

"You figured out who?" Endra asked as he raised an eyebrow.

Erik blinked, "Huh? No...I just said it was accurate, but when I think about Ebon..." turning his head to his captain, "It narrows it down..."

Traysek glanced at Endra and Erik, "Come again...?" before he realized what was said, playfully narrowed his eyes, "Wow...we're making that comparison? I'm ashamed of you, don't talk to me..." turns his head rapidly, whipping the nord with his hair.

"Still... when we talk about muscles... he's no different than some of the Dark Elves that prefer wrestling to weapons... but again, prophecies are hard to understand." Endra sighed before adding, "I'd rather stay away from prophecies as long as I'm not involved.

"Besides, one of the Moon priestesses told me that the person that the Celestial Being choose is strong, very strong," Grace said as she put four mugs of ale and some sort of spiced bread on a tray and a Dark Elf maid took it to serve a table.

The Redguard concurred with a nod, "Trust me, man, I know just HOW messy prophecies can be..." rubbing the back of his neck, turning to Grace "Still...If I was in your shoes, him being the strongest or weakest wouldn't matter, long as they're good to me and I'm good to them, that's what counts..." eyes going wide at the realization, "I mean no offense of course..."

"I do understand that, but I do want to know what it means." Grace shook her head, "Knowing who might help me to be prepared to either accept them... or to stay away from them."

"Could be that too, wouldn't know for sure until you've actually met, I'm sure if that Deity chose him, he might just be that guy," The Redguard smiled.

Erik smirked, "And besides, if those muscles aren't enough..." gives a flex, "These are also available~"

Both Endra and Traysek gave him a look, until the Redguard sighed, "I guess it's time to get those drinks, yeah?"

"So... what do you want?" Grace asked with a smile.

"The usual for me." Endra said, "And some grilled elk ribs."

"What's the hardest drink here?" Traysek asked with an eyebrow raised.

Grace reached behind the counter and took in her hand a bright blue vital.

"That's the Moonglow, a sweet drink that's better to be taken outside the city to make sure that no damage is done." the bartender said, with the vital still in her hand, "Also, it's 9 emeralds the vital."

The Redguard whistled, "Damn, that powerful eh? That'll be something to take with me later," giving her a smile, "For now though, I'd like some rum, on the rocks, along with some crab legs and butter,"

"Going tropical with this sir?" Erik chuckled, turning to Grace, "I'll have some mead along with the elk steak, please,"

Grace nodded as she wrote something and sent it to the kitchen.

"Good call there." Endra chuckled before adding, "The last guy who took it remembered only the blades of the Dark Blades when he sobered up."

Both men shivered at the thought...

"gods... had to suck for that guy, no time to even regret it...that's frightening..." The Nord commented.

Traysek shook his head, "Must've done plenty to get that treatment, and we do have to remember Erik, they weren't too nice to drunks in Tamriel either..."

"Normally, we don't go too hard on the drunkards here, but if they go too far... it becomes the business of the Dark Blades." Endra said as he took a dry fruit that was on the counter, "That's why if you wish to get wasted, go outside and drink to death." he chuckled before adding, "But for Dargo... it was a little different; we were able to chain him before doing damage to anything else besides the table we were in, the mugs, and his own arm... that was healed later."

The Redguard frowned at that, "Okay...I get the mugs and table...but his own arm...? how'd that happen?"

"His skills are very powerful and deadly." Endra pointed out, "But when he's drunk, he loses perception... which can end in injuring himself."

Erik chuckled, "I think that's mostly everyone...depends on their tolerance, we know from experience..."

"Recorder got us banned out of the silver-blood inn because she couldn't control herself either..." Traysek sighed with a headshake, "Both her and your man Dargo drinking together...the idea is horrifying...especially with her table climbing..."

"Well, he was forbidden to ever drink again." Endra said, "And if I'm to be honest, it helped him a lot..."

Traysek nodded, "I could see it has, she doesn't like drinking much either...only when the situation is bad enough do we allow it...But even then, it has its limits..." he chuckled, as he watched a waitress come out with their orders, "And our food is finally here, thank you," when she sat the rum and crab legs in front of him, cracking a leg open with his hands.

Erik gave the waitress a nod, when she gave him his order, "Thanks, ma'am~"

"tá fáilte romhat! (you're welcome!)" she replied in ancient Dark Elf language.

He frowned, but gave her an acknowledging nod and smile, before going for his steak.

"What did she say...? that's not a language I've heard before," Traysek asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's the old language of the Dark Elves." Endra pointed before turning to the maid as she put his food and a mug filled with a strange colored mead, "Go raibh maith agat, bláth álainn. (Thanks, beautiful flower.)"

The maid giggled before leaving.

"Apparently, the first Dark Elf king came with a language to give us, Dark Elves, a culture and something to differentiate us from the other elves." Endra Explained, "Well, all the races here have their own ancient language." he then looked at Grace, "Grace, try talking in the old language of the Centaurs."

Grace smiled before saying, "Ta yaagaad namaig ingekhiig khüseed baigaa yum be? (Why do you want me to do that?)"

"And now the old orcish," Endra said with a grin.

"Vaadit minulta liikaa. (You ask too much of me.)" Grace replied with a fake sad tone.

Endra turned to the two and said, "Grace learned to speak all the old languages by hearing and asking around."

Traysek nodded, "Multi-lingual too huh? that's a very good talent to have, almost jealous here...I only know a couple of languages, the imperial tongue, which I'm speaking now, Yokudan, and finally Dovahzul... The ancient language of the dragons...however, some of those words...have an effect, if you know what I mean," taking a gulp from his tankard.

"I guess that your Draconic language and our Draconic language are different." Endra stated as he took a sip from his mug, "Spicy as I like it." he then turned to Traysek, "I do know that since you did use those magical words back there." he smirked before adding, "My ears weren't damaged."

The Redguard shrugged, "Wasn't like I was trying to hide it at that point, it was a battle after all...but even with that, it pales in comparison to the thu'um's true potential..." giving a smirk, "Perhaps I'll show you someday, it can be taught, but only on the surface, it's not safe doing that down here...cave in's and all,"

"Ain't that the truth..." Erik agreed, taking a gulp of mead, "Last thing anyone needs is for you to cause an earthquake down here..."

"I doubt that anyone would want to have that kind of power here." Endra laughed, "Not that we don't like it, but it's the fear that it might destroy the balance of the city, making other groups of factions that might try to take power in the city. It would be a real headache."

"Not to mention that if it falls into the hands of an Anti-human member, now that would be real chaos." Grace shook her head.

Traysek waved them down, "Trust me, if was that easy, I would've been dead a long time ago...The thu'um is not easy to learn...nor can you steal it...it can take an average person their whole life to get even just one word down...unless I or another Dragonborn give that knowledge willingly then yeah...but I'm not willing to share that gift, I know how dangerous it is...not to mention the responsibility that goes with it..."

"Not to mention he won't teach us how to do it..." Erik deadpanned, "Seriously sir, you gotta pass that sometime..."

The Redguard shot him a look, "Sure Erik, lemme check when I can," sarcastically watch checking, "Around Never-thirty, that's when I can teach that..."

"See what I mean?" The Nord complained, "It's not fair..."

"I don't see why you want it." Endra asked with confusion, "No matter how powerful it is, it can't be more powerful than the one in your heart. That's how we get our Signature Skills; we seek it in our heart, then use the blessing of the Earthmother to get it out, and we finally tame it."

"I see, so you have your own unique abilities, sounds kinda nice," The Redguard nodded, "Since I've got that too, I wonder what I've got from it...who knows?"

Erik hummed at that, "Maybe elemental, like wind or fire...hoping for the fire bit..." thoughts going back to the flaming centaur...

"It depends if the Earthmother would allow it." Endra said, "She allows us to step into the Divine Realm to seek it. Of course, the other gods would try to stop us." he then shivered before mumbling, "Curse that Death God..."

Traysek rose an eyebrow, "Death god? didn't know one of those hung around here, hoping I don't bump into him..." cracking into another crab leg.

"Hey, he might be nice...like Arkay...he's a death god, but he's seen as a holy divinity...could be more of that..." Erik added.

"He can't get into the living plane due to the Rules set by the Celestial Being." Endra sighed before adding, "I nearly died while passing by the area he was in charge of overseeing..."

"So even being there is deadly, damn..." The Redguard whistled, "Must've been quite the experience going through that...glad you lived to tell the tale,"

Erik nodded in agreement, "Sounds rough enough, I wouldn't be able to...You're a lucky man..."

"Imagine running through the woods and hearing your deceased relatives crying and blaming you for abandoning them." Endra shivered again, with a small sadness in his tone, "Like I wanted to run away that day... like I wanted to abandon them..."

Traysek and Erik glanced at each other, before back to him, the former with a sad smile...

"No one wants to abandon anyone they love, friend," He began with "I don't know the details, I won't pry either...unless you're ok with sharing it, but...I will say this, I don't think they actually blame you...I think they're up there, proud of the man you've become...how far you've come since then..." giving him a light tap to the chest, "And the friends you've made, and yes, I'm calling you my friend, long as you got that in your head...no illusion can change it..." with a genuine smile.

Erik gave one as well, "And to add, we've got a gist on how bad things were for you guys, who could blame you for getting away from that...? no one...if you didn't run, you would've fallen too...and we would've never met, man..."

"Thankfully, I managed to keep my sanity there." Endra took another slip from his mug, "If I had the ability, I would have shown you what happened back there... all the lives that they took, the women and children they raped before taking them away... if you think that I hate all the humans, you're wrong. Those I hate are those that wear that 'holy' armor."

Grace looked down as well as some people around.

"This war... is to keep our freedom, our pride... our will to live..." Endra finished his mug before looking at Grace, "Another..."

The Redguard nodded slowly, "If you actually did, you wouldn't have been friendly to us, or Recorder for that matter...even Dargo wouldn't be..." with a small smile, "Between the holy cans and the black puppies...I can't honestly tell whose worse..." shaking his head, "Sure, you've got some holy knights that "Want to do good" but have nothing to show or have moved much for it...I know a couple of acquaintances, but I'm not sure If I can still trust them...they are who they are...and they're still nobles at the end of the day...Hard to trust them knowing that..."

"Reynold and Troy right?" Erik asked, getting a nod in confirmation, "I don't really care for Troy too much...he kinda came off as your typical Arrogant knight, but Rey...I honestly feel bad for that kid...I really do...he seemed to be the type to live by some of our codes...but..." going into a hardened frown "What he said and tried to do back in Erdora, wanting to kill Greil and destroy your statue...I can't really say he's too different from them..."

"Wanting to destroy our religious statue... unforgivable..." Grace muttered as she tightened her hands, "Not only that, but threatening General Greil..."

"Good thing that I wasn't there, or any of the Deathbringers." Endra shook his head, "Thankfully, General Greil is honorable in his own way... he wouldn't dare to fight someone as weak as a human like him with both of his weapons."

"More than anyone gives him credit for...could've made mince meat out of him if he was in bad enough mood...I've seen what mess Greil leaves behind..." Traysek sighed, shaking his head, "I had to threaten this kid to come off of it...both times..." taking a gulp of his rum, "Oof, that's strong...weren't kidding about the drinks here, good stuff" to Grace, holding his mug up to her.

Erik had just set his tankard down, "Thinking I found a new favorite bar...loving the mead miss Grace," with a smile.

"Go raibh maith agat." Grace giggled before saying, "That means 'Thank you' in the ancient language of the Dark Elves."

"Considering that the general is the last of his race, I'm surprised as much as you that he didn't get on the frontline himself to slaughter them... but I believe that he once said; 'there's no real victory over a pile of corpses, only hatred'."

The door opened and a Dark Elf wearing a dark long dress and glasses entered before heading to the counter and sat at the corner.

"Guess who the elements brought." Endra smirked, "What brought you here, Zephyr?"

The Dark Elf looked at him and deadpanned, "That's none of your business."

Grace brought another mug to Endra before saying, "You really need to stop pestering her."

"C'mon, it's for her own good." Endra replied, "She needs to have friends."

Traysek chuckled, "Well, there's nothing wrong with that, good to have people at your back, no argument there," shrugging, 'But on the other hand, she is pretty cute, maybe not my style, but I can admit that...' turning to the nord, "Hey Erik, check her out, she's not bad at all~ not what I'd go for, but still impressive..." with a nod.

Erik gave her a good look over, nodding in approval, "I see sir, I see...but how do I know she'll talk to me...? You saw quickly she shut him down...how do I know she won't do me worse...?" he whispered back.

Traysek grinned, "Here's the thing...you don't..." noticing his expression, "What I mean Erik, is that you're new...she doesn't know you yet, you have a chance, as long you don't do you "Slayer" swagger, you should be fine..."

The Nord frowned, "But I like my Slayer swagger..." getting a narrowed-eyed glare from the Redguard, "Alright alright, I'll tone it down...if I need your help, you got me?"

"Of course my nord, of course, I got you...you know I do," Traysek assured, "Now are you shooting or ducking...?"

Erik stood up and saluted, "I'm shooting, Sir...!"

The Redguard saluted back, "Alright, go em' tiger..." watching him head to the woman, leaning over to Endra, "If I'm going to be playing wingman, will you be the sniper...?" he whispered.

"Yeah... you need to know the right words to use with her" Endra warned, "Especially if we consider her past..." he then took a sip from his mug, "Count me in."

Erik sat on a stool away from the woman, clearing his throat, "Hello there~ pardon me if I'm disturbing you, but I think I've seen you somewhere before...were you with us during the Caravan?"

Zephyr blinked before saying, "I was... how do you know?"

Erik nodded, "Figured as much, I also went with two other people, gotta say, you've got impressive spear work, I saw how you handled those shadow beasts, not bad at all~" offering a handshake, "I'm Erik, but my friends call me: Erik the Slayer"

The Dark Elf stared at him for some seconds before that it clicked, "You're the shield guy!" she pointed as she caught his arm.

He gave a chuckle, "Just the 'shield guy' huh? Fine, I'll take it" As he broke the handshake, "I had an axe too, but I decided to leave all that home...so what brings you here tonight? Enjoying a job well done?" raising an eyebrow.

"Just trying to forget some bad memories..." Zephyr pointed, "By the way, the name's Zephyr."

Endra leaned at Traysek's ear and whispered, "He needs to be cautious now; one word about the festivities that the nobles throw and he can blow it."

The Redguard nodded, but frowned, "What kind of parties are we talking about here...? we wouldn't know..."

Erik smiled, "Zephyr huh? Very pretty name~ it's nice to meet you," with a nod, "Not a fan of crowds? I did notice you by yourself,"

"I'm just not ready to be around people..." she mumbled.

"If you've ever been to a party, then imagine it in a more twisted way." Endra replied, "Noble would assemble in some sort of underground house and bring their slaves; humans, High Elves, Dark Elves... and force them to fight to the death. They also enjoy testing the slaves of others, and let other nobles on them. And Zephyr... suffered for more than ten years being there. She was freed when one of the nobles of Ur that wasn't with them barged in with his little army and stopped that one. Of course, it still happens today, but as I said, it's underground."

Traysek scowled, shaking his head, "Underground slave fights...shit that's rough...seen a couple done where we're from...and I don't mean the seven kingdoms...poor girl,"

Erik rose an eyebrow, "I get that, to be honest, I was kinda nervous approaching you...on my own that is, I'm not my boss or friends, where that's made easier, so I'm trying something new..." rubbing the back of his neck, 'C'mon Erik, don't get nervous now...!'

"Well... I have my own reasons to stay away like this..." Zephyr sighed before adding, "I take that you're not from around here."

"That's the first time I ever saw her holding a conversation that long with someone," Endra stated.

The Redguard nodded with a surprised look, "Even scarier, he hasn't shied up yet...I'm actually impressed..."

"That's right, but it depends how you look at that," The nord shrugged, "I am from a small village though, was a farmer until my captain took me in, been an adventurer ever since..." taking a gulp of his mead.

"Sometimes... I wish that I'm still back in my village..." Zephyr sighed sadly.

"One wrong step here and it could fall." Endra pointed, "No matter what, he shouldn't say something about being stuck somewhere, or being forced to work."

The Nord actually paused upon hearing it, going into thought, 'I can't tell her that I actually hated it...especially when she's already homesick...think Erik...' clearing his throat, "Homesick huh? That's not unusual...I do think about home sometimes myself...especially during our more critical adventures..." setting his mug down, "On those days, I wonder what life would've been like had I never left...working the farm and Tavern, was hard, sure, but soothing in a way...planned to own one of my own someday, large land if I could help it,"

"He's doing pretty okay, so far...but if he starts bumbling, we're going in..." Traysek whispered.

"Living on a farm... far from anything like wars... that seems like a good thing," Zephyr said.

"Wait." Endra caught him, "He's actually doing pretty good."

Erik slowly nodded, "It can be really nice, especially coming from all of that...might be what I do when I retire, and if the gods are kind enough...I'd want a wife with two kids, if possible..." smiling about the thought, taking another swig of the mead, "For now though, there's still too much to see and do...But, I do have friends that keep things interesting...and that's always a plus,"

Traysek donned a small grin, "Not bad, Erik...Not bad at all..."

"Your friend is doing really well." Endra smirked, "No one ever hold a conversation with her that long."

"I guess that's a nice view..." Zephyr stated before sighing, "I'll head home for a little rest..." She then headed outside.

"Your friend hit hard." Endra chuckled, "Zephyr is so embarrassed now." He laughed before getting bonked by Grace with a small stick.

The Redguard snickered at Erik's confused expression, "And poor Erik thinks he did something wrong..."

When he returned to the table, he had a bewildered expression, "Guys, I don't get it...our conversation was going good, what did I do wrong?"

"Trust me, Erik, you did nothing wrong...in fact, you did quite the opposite..." Traysek chuckled, giving him a thumbs up, despite Grace giving him an unamused stare.

"You really should cut her some slack," Grace said.

"I don't think we did anything wrong, right?" Endra smirked as he turned to Traysek.

"Not that I know of, no," The Redguard shrugged, "Oh come on now, don't look at us like that, if she is that antisocial, wouldn't it be beneficial for her, to at least have one or two people she can talk to? she seemed into it back there, just saying," taking a swig.

"People like her have a very fragile mind." Grace sighed, "The last thing I want is to hear that she did something because of you."

"We'll be as careful as a tiger with her cubs," Endra assured.

Traysek rose an eyebrow, "It's not like we're bad influences, she won't be picking up too many bad habits, not to mention how adorkable Erik here is,"

"Hey! didn't have to add that "dork" part to it, but I get it," Erik defended with.

"If anything happens, blame it on someone else, not us," Endra smirked as he held his hands up.

"Grúpa daoine dúr fuilteacha... (A bunch of bloody idiots...)" Grace sighed.

"Now that's just hurtful," Endra said with a fake sad tone.

The Redguard chuckled, "What did she say? And why do I feel insulted...?" smirking with a raised eyebrow.

"Because we all were insulted," Endra replied.

"That's what you are," Grace said as she served other drinks to the three.

"She basically called us idiots." Endra added, "I said that we will make sure that nothing bad happens, right?"

The Dark Elf bartender simply shook her head.

Outside...

Zephyr was breathing slowly as she was mumbling, "It's alright, nothing would have happened anyways." after taking a deep breath she looked down before saying, "No one would want to be with a Gloryhound like me anyways..." She then headed away.

3 hours later...

Traysek and Endra stumbled out of the bar, carrying Erik who seemed to be unable to stand up while being as drunk themselves...

"I'll be *hic* back later Grace, thanks for the drinks!" The Redguard slurred with a wave, before turning to Erik, "By the gods...you're drunker than me..."

The Nord gave a groan as a response, before he gagged, prompting them to quickly let him go, watching him throw up.

"at least it isn't on my *hic* boots..." The Redguard noted.

"Well... at least I know that I won't sleep tonight." Endra pointed before nearly falling, "I'm going to have a loooot of exercise tonight." he then held his head, "Am I the only one who sees stars?"

Traysek glanced up, noticing the entire area blanketed by it, "I think...those were already there we *ulp* got here...I think...were they?"

"They definitely got brighter...or maybe just the alcohol," Erik groaned, getting back up, "I'm okay now...and wut kinda exercise...?"

"I'm gonna put the D in harpy." Endra laughed, "I mean my wife hapry." he then thought again before saying, "Wife my harpy."

"I was right to come here." a sigh was heard and they turned to see Dargo, "Tomorrow we have a mission, the General sent it to us."

"We juzt got from one, no need to be hasty." Endra laughed before falling face-first into the ground.

"Well, I'll get you back home." he then picked Endra and turned to Traysek and Eric, "Pass a good night." he then teleported away. Both drunken adventurers gave a wave, even though he was already gone...

"Gooood nightz!" Erik yelled before tipping over, with the Redguard catching him.

He gave a drunken laugh, before beginning to walk to the Teleporter, "Okay buddy, letz get you home...we have a *Hic* job to do ourselves tomorrow..."

and with that, both men made their way to the teleporter...stumbling on the way there...

"By the Earthmother... more drunkards..." he sighed before casting a spell on himself, "At least this way, I won't have their stink on me... nor smell it."

The stumbling duo reached him, the captain looked up at the teleporter...

"Excuse my friend~...do you mind getting us back to the fifth district? got a job tomorrow and he's had it," Traysek said, pointing his thumb at Erik, who gave a weak wave...

"I swear... this world hates me..." he gave a forced smile before saying, "That would be six Ambers."

The Redguard reached into his gem bag, and came out with an Amethyst, handing it to him, "Would this be enough?"

After taking it, the teleporter gave them a bag that has 9 Turquoises, 9 Peridots, 9 Agates, and 4 Ambers. He then sent them there.

Back at the house...

Everyone was about to clock in for the night, save Yuriana who was waiting by the door for the other two to get back, whose patience was getting thin...

'it's been a few hours...they should be back by now...' she mused...

That was until she heard a knock at the door, prompting her to open it...But as she did, both Traysek and Erik fell in...face first...

The buxom woman rolled her eyes, looking down at them, "So...how'd your night go?"

She got nothing but barely audible groans from the downed men, making her sigh while shaking her head.

"Seriously... you guys are that drunk? Alright then, let's get you both to bed, can't wait to see the aftermath of this..." She said, picking them both up under her arms, and carrying them to their rooms...

The next day...

As the sun has risen outside of Yamakhroz, the stones in the ceiling of the mountain city turned bright white.

From the house of wings, the day would start, groggily for some...very groggily...

...

Inigo knocked on Traysek's door, opening it, "Hey, my friend, it's time to wake up, you guys got that job today,"

The mess of hair groaned, sitting up to reveal a very hungover Redguard, whose face was a narrowed tired glare...

"Ooooh my head...gods, my head..." He groaned, holding it, before getting out of bed, yawning, "What time is it?"

"It's Eight in the morning, Erik's already up, no better than you...must've been quite a night huh?" The khajiit chuckled.

Traysek gave him a tired stare, "Indeed it was, too bad my body's not agreeing with it..." stopping himself from gagging, heading to the showers, "I'll be a minute..." hand over his mouth.

"Sure, take your time..." Inigo sighed, hearing the sounds of retching coming from the bathroom, "Ew...where you're done, Yuri's got your hangover Remedy!"

"Thanks! *bleuuugh!*" the Redguard responded.

The khajiit sighed, rolling his eyes before heading back down stairs...

After moments of puking and a shower, The Redguard finally made it downstairs dressed in his crimson armor, taking a seat at the table, as a bottle was slid to him.

"Thanks..." He said to the Redhead, cracking it open and downing it quickly.

"Don't mention it," she sighed, turning to Erik who was already munching on his food, "I figured you both would need them after all that drinking you guys did, where'd you go anyway?"

Traysek sat down the now empty bottle, "We went to a bar called: Gem 'Ahd, had the best, and met an even bartender," chuckling, "When we get back from this, we'll all go," before smirking, "Not to mention, Erik struck gold last night, shame you couldn't get a way to call her,"

"Sir, this is the wrong time to mention tha-" Erik began, but didn't finish before...

Recorder smirked at him, "Oh~? So you found somebody, who is it? Have we met them?"

"The spear wielder from the last job, the kletzkrieg woman..." The nord sighed, "Very pretty without all that armor too,"

She went into thought, until her eyes widened, "THAT kletzkrieg woman? Boy do you have some taste...I'm almost impressed," giggling.

"Yeah, yeah, just get it over with, I know what I'm in for with this one..." Erik groaned, facepalming.

"Good, because I have so much to get back at you on," Record teased, narrowing her eyes.

The Redguard sighed, "At least until we're done here, after breakfast, he and I have to head to Erdora for a few things before going west..."

Inigo rose an eyebrow, "Why there?"

"Because Diyah is there, I believe she may have mine maps for our list today," Traysek replied, grabbing toast and a bowl of tomato soup, and dipping the bread in it.

Lucien nodded, "Right, your mining job, hope it goes for you two..."

"Not to mention, we'll need mounts to get around out there...otherwise it could take days to get there," The captain hummed.

Yuriana nodded, "Yeah, took us half a night to get to the outpost, which I'm sure they've moved by now...what your fancy?"

"Something with wings, Land is always nice of course, but we'd kill less time using flight to get around out there, so before we go mining, we have to get to the ship and trade more of that gold off," Traysek told them, taking a bite of the bread.

Erik beamed up, "So we're both getting mounts? Can't say I've ever flown before..."

"Just one of us, that way I don't have to worry about you flying off somewhere, that's for now though..."

"Aww...alright then, so we're going to be flying out there, good to know..." The nord concurred, going back to his soup.

Yuri gave them a small smile, "Good luck after breakfast guys, you'll need it where you're going..."

"Thanks," Was Traysek's only response, as they continued to eat breakfast...

In the Golden Hand district, Greil woke from his slumber and headed to get his armor on.

"I guess that I should check on the armor to see if it's done," he mumbled as a maid opened the door for him.

"Sir." she called as she began to walk beside him, "The fleet is almost complete, the Warlord assured that they will be fully operational by the end of the week."

"What about the other fronts?" Greil asked.

"The Dark Blades confirmed that the rest of the monsters that aren't associated with us joined the Black Dogs." the maid answered.

"Imps, Ogre, Orcs, savage Minotaurs, savage Centaurs... We need to be careful." Greil pointed.

"Also, we received a message from Ansur." the maid said as she took a piece of paper, "The Shield Princess there is trying to reach you."

Greil stopped and looked at the maid with a confused look, "Why would she do that?"

"Apparently, both her and the Shield Princess of Rad are in need of our help to get their cities in order." the maid replied, "However, it might also be a trap to lure you in."

"True... they know how powerful a good general is if given the right army." Greil mused, "And not to mention that they would want to get their hands on the Dark Elves soldiers as well as the Kletzkrieg."

"What are you going to do about that?" the maid asked.

"I'll wait until I get a better understanding of the situation there." Greil answered as he continued to walk, "Going foolishly blind to meet an enemy is never a good idea."

The maid simply nodded before saying, "Your breakfast should be ready."

"Thank you for letting me know." Greil thanked.

Later at the Gem/Gold exchange...

After visiting their downed ship, Traysek and Erik carried a large chest to the building, pushing past the doors...Once in, Traysek spots the same bee woman from before, approaching her with a smile, "Hello again~ I told you I'd be back with more...just probably not as much as you were expecting..."

"De ce mă urăște lumea asta... (Why does this world hate me...)" the bee girl sighed before nodding to a couple of Orcs who began to take it part by part.

"Around two tons," one of the Orcs said.

The bee girl began to do some calculations and looked at Traysek, "Nine Diamonds, seven Rubies, and eight Emeralds."

Both adventurers flashed each other grins before The Redgaurd nodded...

"Okay, that'll be more than enough, Kogaan Brit~" he thanked, as one of the orcs came out with a sack of gems, handing it to him, "Pleasure doing business~" giving Erik a nod, causing him to follow.

With Greil...

Greil sighed as he was walking through the crowd, who gave him the way.

"Things aren't as good as I thought." Greil mumbled, "Still, should I meet that princess?"

His thoughts were broken by someone.

"I'm telling you Erik, play it cool, you go trying to boggard your way to her and you'll mess it up..." Traysek said, "Romance isn't a dungeon speedrun..."

The Nord sighed, "I know, just...what if I don't see her again? She did leave pretty quickly,"

"Trust me, you'll meet again, and if you don't it just wasn't meant to be, there's other fish out there, but I doubt it..." The Redguard sighed, "Look, I need you to focus today because if you get lovesick and we get jumped over it, I swear I'll-" stopping when they saw who was in front of them, "Oh hey there Greil, good to see you!" with a smile.

"Captain Traysek, what a pleasant surprise." Greil smiled as he greeted them.

Said man gave a nod, "I could say the same to you, figured you would either be lost in paperwork or the city itself...what brings you out here today?"

"I am on my way to retrieve my new armor, Aklyn should be done by now," Greil replied.

Traysek went into thought, "Oh yeah, you did mention something about that a few days ago...Figured you would've gotten it by now, must be a hell of a set, it took this long,"

"Almost curious to see how it'll look..." Erik agreed with a nod.

"Well, you're free to come, but don't expect him to be as welcoming." Greil replied, "Although, he won't be as hostile as you may think. Just don't expect him to smile."

"As much we would love to, we have our thing to do today, mostly, filling out Gronik's shopping list," The Redguard said, Showing him the list.

"I see..." Greil looked at each material, "Those are some rare ores."

The Captain put the list away with a nod, "So we've been told, that's why we're going to Erdora, we've got a friend there that might know where to find those...or at least the mines to them,"

"But first we need mounts, so we're heading to the outpost for one, know where they relocated by any chance?" Erik asked.

"Why not buy one from here?" Greil was confused, "True that the price might be high if you seek a flying one, but what could be the reason to go there to buy a mount?"

"That's why we were at the exchange, traded more of our treasure for it...that said, that saves us a trip and a half," Traysek sighed in relief, "What district can we find them in?"

"That more depends on what you're seeking." Greil stated, "There are a few in the District that's above us, others in other districts."

Traysek nodded in thought, "Something winged perhaps, a bird or maybe a dragon, that way we don't spend days trying to get there..."

"The flying ones are very expensive... but the more expensive ones are the dragons..." Greil sighed, "The cheapest flying mount is 45 Diamonds. As for the draconic one... 150 Diamonds..."

They both cringed...the captain even more so...

"We didn't even get that much from dropping all that off, I don't know sir, we might have to make that trip after all," Erik said in a whisper.

Traysek took a deep breath, "Good to know how much they go here, maybe when I get that much I do that, but for now, the outpost is the best bet,"

"You can always begin with a ground one at first to help you and then work to get a flying one." Greil pointed, "That's how every adventurer thinks here, even the one that works for me."

Traysek nodded in thought, "Good point, it's not like they'll be slowly crossing it, it wouldn't hurt if we got a bug mount either to start off,"

"But a dragon is more your speed though sir," Erik chimed in with.

"Where the hell are we storing a dragon? even if we afforded it, it's a lot that goes into it..."

"I can spare some moments..." Greil mumbled, "Shall I guide you to one?"

Traysek and Erik glanced at each other, before turning back to him, the former nodding.

"You know what? why not? but are you sure about it big guy? You already got me that sweet armor and spear, feels like I'm racking debt at this point," The Redguard chuckled.

Greil laughed before saying, "Think nothing of it. We are on the same side, therefore, we should help each other no matter what."

Traysek sighed, but was smiling, "I can't really argue with that, can I? Very well, lead the way, my friend,"

"Aww, you called him friend, sir~" Erik teased, getting a scowl in response.

"Shut up Erik..." Was the captain's response.

"Let's go then." and Greil showed them the way

After going through two sets of stairs, and moving through some streets, they got to a Lycan vendor who had quite a number of creatures behind her.

"Here's where the mounts are being sold, although, the armored ones are reserved for the members of the army and the guards." Greil pointed before calling the wolf girl, "Phoebe, how are you these days."

The girl bowed down as she said, "It's an honor, General!" as her tail was wagging from left to right.

"She has been like that ever since I saved her four years ago." Greil said as he looked at the two adventurers before looking back at the wolf girl, "Can you get them something? For the payment, sent it to the council."

"We're looking for one that's either fast on land, or can fly above desert lands, I'm willing to start with a bug mount if you've got one," Traysek told her, "One for today,"

Phoebe let them in and said, "Take your pick."

Both Adventurers took the time to browse through the mounts, some scarier looking than others, one in particular with a bone jaw tried to lunge at them. Eventually, they came across an armored hornet who seemed tamer than the others, a gryphon with armored talons and a fox mount, who seem to be shy of them.

"They're all pretty looking," The Redguard commented before turning to the armor hornet, "How much for this one? I'm liking the stinger he's got,"

"You don't have to worry about it." Greil said, "Just pick whichever you desire."

Erik attempted to pet the armored hornet, only for it to nearly bite his hand, "By the gods! he's more aggressive than he lets off, never mind there," shaking his hand out, "Yikes..."

Traysek chuckled, "Guess that's a no on the hornet, I wonder..." scanning around, until he noticed the fox trying to hide, easing his way over to him, which the fox fled from, "Okay...? he's afraid of me...that won't do either..." he then felt something messing with his hair, glancing up at the Gryphon, who stopped grooming, "But you're not are you...?" cocking his head sideways, the mount mimicking him, putting a grin on his face, "I think I know which one I'm choosing," stroking the feathers on its face, "This one will do, I like his personality better," to the clerk with a smile.

"Fine, he's yours." the wolf girl said before bringing him a piece of paper, "Here's the deed of ownership."

The Redguard took the deed with a nod, "Thank you, I'll be sure to take care of him," turning to Griel, "And once again, thank you as well, Greil,"

"Seriously, you have no idea how much time we've saved with this," The nord thanked, with a smile.

"As I said, We're on the same side. Therefore, it's natural to help each other." Greil replied.

"And I appreciate that, I really do, wished more people had that mentality," Traysek said, "But me being me I will pay it back in some form, money isn't the only way,"

"At this moment, we need to think about how the war should go." Greil pointed, "You don't have to think about it, you're an ally and a friend. Besides, some Dark Elves began to take a liking to you, especially two ones that worked with you recently."

Traysek nodded at that, "Yeah, Endra and Dargo, got drunk with the former, heard you sent them out today..." his expression darkening, "As for the war that's a couple of weeks from here...not looking forward to seeing those ugly mugs again,"

"I sent them to the west to help with building good relations with the desert Gnolls." Greil pointed, "With some luck, we could gain another ally in the west."

"How Ironic, that's actually where we have to go to get these materials, maybe we'll see them out there," Erik pointed, "Hope they don't attack us for getting this stuff,"

Traysek hummed at that, "I've heard little about the Gnolls and their ruler, we'll try to stay out of their way, but I won't lie, I am interested in meeting them, on good terms that is...For now, we have to head out," giving Greil a slight bow, "Be seeing you General, come on Erik,"

"Yeah, see you later General Greil," The Nord waved, before leaving with The Captain.

The general simply shook his head while smiling before heading in another direction.

Outer gate, Yamakhroz...

The large stone gates opened as Traysek, Erik and the Gryphon walked out of it, taking a glance up at the real sun...

"The stones are nice, but nothing beats the real thing," The Redguard commented, squinting his eyes.

Erik nodded, "Agreed there, sir...so I guess we're going to Erdora again?"

"Have to, otherwise looking for these mines is going to be a challenge," the former said, climbing on the Gryphon, before helping Erik up, "Alright my winged friend, time to show us what you can do..."

The Gryphon snorted, before giving a massive leap, surprising them and taking off in a direction with great speed.

"WHOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Erik screamed.

"WHOOOOHOOOOHOOO!" His boss cheered, as they left the city completely...

Erdora

Dihya was sitting on a chair outside while drinking a cup of tea and breathing deeply.

"It's been a little hard to get some materials." she mused, "I wish that I had some Dragon bones or Scales... well I do have some, but not enough to create an armor the way it's created in this world." her mind then went somewhere else, "If I had a chance to get an apprentice, I may be able to get more clients... But I don't know if it would be a good idea to have an apprentice, nor who can be my apprentice." after taking a sip from her cup, she mumbled, "Maybe a kid... although, I don't know precisely who can do it."

Not too soon after that, a large shadow had flown over with a roar, the Gryphon finding an open spot to land, settling near the village gate.

Traysek dismounted his ride as Erik did, giving the Gryphon a nod.

"This won't take long, be good and try not to scare the locals okay?" he told the creature, which gave a nod in acknowledgment.

Both adventurers made their way into the village, ignoring the stares they got from the Crimson armored guards...

"With the way they're staring at us, you'd think they're hostile..." The Nord commented.

Traysek waved them down, "They know us, otherwise that archer of theirs would've shot us out of the sky," looking around for the blacksmith shop, spotting it, "Over here," heading towards it.

Dihya looked in a direction before sighing, "You sure love to make great entrances... I wonder if you know how to be stealthy."

The Redguard gave a laugh, "Only when we're trying to be, and I don't think our proud new mount had that in mind," giving an actual smile, "How have things been?"

"You know, trying to run a business while being a mother of a girl that was traumatized by those streets in Ken." Dihya sighed before adding, "But I doubt that you're here to listen to that, why are you here?"

Traysek nodded, "I'll keep it simple, we need mining maps, or ore maps of the west," going for his pocket, "Got a shopping list from there, apparently they're for warships," showing her the list.

"And we came to you because you're the residential blacksmith...that and we know you," Erik added in.

"What kind of ores?" asked before pointing to the blindfold.

The Redguard blinked at her, before sighing while rolling his eyes, pulling his hand back, "Basically Fifty each of," going into the list, "Ebony Iron Ore, Pure steel ore, Jade ore, Starmoon ore, solar steel, cloud oak wood and lastly, Heavenly gold ore...not in that order,"

"It's a rather extensive shopping list...or it is expensive? hard to tell," Erik hummed.

"I think that I have some..." Dihya mused before waving them to follow them inside.

They gave each other a nod, before following her in...

Inside, Dihya brought some ores; a dark iron ore with some sort of sprinkles, a white iron ore, a green stone, a blue ore, a yellowish-white ore, and an extremely bright gold ore.

"Those ores are quite rare." she informed them, "Well, the Heavenly gold ore is the rarest." she then picked a map, "That's the map I was using some years back when I traveled to the western lands. The red crosses are the emplacement of the mines I've been in."

Erik glossed over the materials on the table, nodding, "Is this what the ores on the list look like sir?"

"Yeah...almost everything, except for the wood, but I'm to assume, someone bought that already, right?" Traysek said, glancing up from the list.

"No." Dihya replied, "I used it all." she then pointed to a runic glaive on the wall.

The Nord whistled, "That's nice looking glaive, almost want to make something of one of these,"

"Okay, that will do," The captain nodded, "How much do you want for these?"

"How about exchanging me these for ten Dragon Bones and ten Dragon Scales?"

Traysek rose an eyebrow, "Really? That's it, haha! Say less, I've got plenty of Dragon bones and scales," going into his backpack, coming out with the desired amount, handing them to her, "But if I may ask, what do you need those for? armor? weapons perhaps?" with a knowing smirk.

"I received a book from Lord Swain." she informed them, "When I feel like I'll be ready to rejoin the battlefield, I'll have to prepare myself with the right stuff; a better armor made using the techniques of this world, a better set of weapons to add to Lilim and whatever blade Lord Swain wants to give me, and some tools."

"Ah, prepping for the war huh? So are we, just in a more...different fashion," The Redguard pointed, grabbing the Ores and the map, "Thank you for the Ores, good luck on the war prep,"

Erik gave her a grin, giving a bow, "See you around Diyha, Hope to see you out there on the battlefield,"

"If I can get a weapon in my hands without having flashes..." Dihya mumbled with a depressed sigh.

Traysek sighed, with a small smile, "Aww don't worry about that, I'm sure there's a weapon out there that will suit you...and as for Volt, I already paid him back," holding up an enflamed fist, "Gave him quite the hot fisting,"

Erik rose an eyebrow, "Uh...what now?"

"To his face Erik, to his face...come on, mind out of the gutter!"

"Well, I know that I do have to get past it." Dihya shook her head, "That's why I have someone to help me with that."

The Redguard captain gave a slow nod, "Lucky you, wish I was that fortunate during that... time..." eyes going dark a moment, shaking the thought out, "Anyway, it's time we got going, be seeing you Diyha," giving Erik a nudge, walking out.

The Nord watched his departure, giving Dihya a bow, "Take care Dihya, may the gods watch over you," following him.

"I think the gods abandoned me long ago..." she sighed.

Once they were back outside, they headed for the Gryphon, waving at a few of the kletzkreig they passed by on their patrols. When they made it back to their mount, they found it eating one of the animals that it caught.

"Well, look at that, guess he was hungry..." Erik commented, watching him eat the last of its leg, "Very hungry...by the gods, hope that wasn't anybody's..."

Traysek sighed, "It wouldn't surprise me if was," climbing aboard the Gryphon, helping Erik up, "Okay, next stop, the western lands...this map should be able to help us get around now," giving him a pat, "Let's go,"

The creature obeyed and once again, did a massive leap that left a large gust of wind, heading west...

In the desert...

Some Gnolls were working on mining a cave while others were keeping an eye on things.

"No more metals?" Ashar asked as she approached one of the Gnolls.

"Packleader, we took all the black and yellow metals." the Gnoll answered as he bowed his head down.

"Leave this mine and join the last one." Ashar ordered, "Our little project should be nearly done."

"Without your guidance, it wouldn't have been possible." the Gnoll said.

"All our years of work will be rewarded." Ashar said before adding, "Now go."

The Gnoll nodded before roaring, which made all the other Gnoll exit the mine.

"Soon... I'll make sure that the Gnolls won't be treated like vermin..." she then walked out of the mine before getting on her elephant and then walked inside the desert.

In the sky, the Gryphon soared over the desert as Erik held the binoculars while Traysek had the map.

"Looks like we're in the desert now...gotta say the heat here, makes Hammerfell feel like a paradise," The Redguard sweated, taking out the crimson hood from his backpack and wrapping it around his head, "Are we coming up on one?"

Erik scanned around, until he spotted an open cave, "Found one down there, seems unguarded too..."

"Good enough," He said, giving the Gryphon a pat, "Take us down there,"

The Gryphon gave a loud screech, descending down to the place of interest...

Once it landed, both men got off the mount, the Redguard pocketed the map, handing Erik a set of Goggles, "Those are for the cave, we'll need them," putting his on his head, turning to Gryph, "Stay here and screech if anyone comes, this will not take long,"

"Got the pickaxes?" Erik asked.

Traysek pulled out a pickaxe, handing it to him, "Does that answer your question?" fishing out his ancient one, before glancing at the entrance, "Here's hoping we'll get what we need from here,"

And with that, both men went inside the cave...the Gryphon once again gave a loud Screech in acknowledgment, guarding the entrance.

Mine 1...

Upon entering, both men flashed their lights on the shining rocks nearby, finding them to be the Green ores, along with Blue and all-white ones.

"Alright, looks like there's plenty go around in here," Traysek hummed, "The best way to do this, is to pick an ore we're gathering, which ones are you choosing?"

"I like the blue star ores, so I'll go for those," Erik said, going to one, swinging is pickax into it.

"Okay then, you do those, and I'll get the jade and pure steel..." The Redguard ordered, starting on one of the jade rocks, "And any diamonds or Geodes you find, feel free to keep em,"

"You got it, sir!"

In a mine under Gnoll control, Razzfang looked around.

'This cave still has the black metal.' he thought before growling at a Gnoll who nodded before running out of the mine, 'Now's your time to shine, Ashar.'

On the sky outside of the west gate, two creatures flew.

"Why do I feel like I have a mountain above my head..." Endra said as he hold his head while riding an armored fire hawk.

"You're the one who had so much drink that you couldn't stand." Dargo sighed as he was on an armored giant raven, "I'm more worried about Thelys."

"She's alright." Endra assured, "She's a bit sore, but not dead."

"You got that bumped up?" Dargo asked.

"According to the neighbors... she screamed for 6 hours," Endra answered.

"I seriously worried about her..." Dargo has a concerned look.

"Nah, it's all good," Endra said.

Dargo shook his head before noticing something, "We're there."

"Yup, the new Hunters' Outpost." Endra nodded.

Meanwhile, back at the first mine...

Erik struck the rock once more, wiping the sweat from his brow, grabbing the ores from the broken rock, "Okay, I think that's forty-nine of these, *Whew*" loading them on the cart, "Boss! I finished with the Starmoon Ores! How's it going with you?"

"Done with the jade ores, about to finish up with the pure steel, bring what you got over here," Traysek called out.

The Nord brought the cart of ores over, as his Captain finished gathering the last of pure steel...

"Okay, forty-nine of each of these two, anymore?" He asked, getting a headshake.

Traysek nodded, "Good, let me load these and we can head out..." loading the ores onto the cart.

Once the cart was loaded up, they made their way back outside, the sun beaming down on them.

"So where to next?" Erik asked, shading his face from the sun.

"To the second mine," The Redguard pointed, crossing the ores off the list, "Either we run into the heavenly and ebony ores or...the solar steel and oak wood, which we didn't get from Diyha, from the looks of it, it's almost like petrified wood," putting away the list and grabbing the map, "There's another a few clicks away, not too far though,"

"Alright then, lead the way..." The Nord nodded, tying the cart on the griffin, which followed behind them both...

Both Dargo and Endra looked around as people were building.

"Now where can she be..." Endra mumbled.

"She's there." Dargo pointed to a goat standing outside a building.

"You sure?" Endra was confused by that.

"That's a Battle Companion, and we know that she's born with that talent," Dargo stated.

"Almost jealous that I wasn't born with it." Endra chuckled.

"The Earthmother had other plans for us, otherwise we would be born with that talent," Dargo said.

"Yeah, yeah... still being able to link yourself to a beast... that's cool." Endra sighed.

"As good as it is, it would have stopped us from getting into the army." Dargo pointed out, "The Dark Elves born with that talent are sent to Greenhouses to tend some animals that were about to go extinct by the intense hunt of the human."

"Heard of it." Endra nodded, "Get to pass a year or two there and they could choose a Battle Companion from there before joining the Adventurer's Guild with a good enough rank."

"Let's see what we can learn about the Gnolls before heading out," Dargo said before heading toward the building the goat was standing next.

Later...

After they entered the second mine, they noticed most of the rocks had been mined out, except for the Solar steel and cloud oaks, which looked like large tree stumps.

"Weird, it looks like someone nearly cleared this place, should we worry?" Erik asked, getting a headshake.

"Not sure yet, just keep our guard up while we work in here, we might not be alone," Traysek pointed, before walking over to a solar ore, getting started once more.

The Nord had a worried expression but nodded, heading over to the petrified wood, and swinging his pickax into it.

With Endra and Dargo...

"Should we be worried about this Gnoll queen?" Endra asked as Lin was training with a two-handed sword.

"I know what kind of person she is." Lin answered, "She wouldn't do something that would be too violent unless you strike first."

"And... Where can we find her?" Endra asked while looking at the creatures.

"In the desert." Lin said before adding, "I don't know specifically where the camp is, but I'm sure that it would be big enough to be noticed."

"That's... rather..." Endra tried to talk but didn't know what to say.

"Should we be ready for a hostile welcoming?" Dargo asked.

"It depends..." Lin said, "But the last thing that you'd want to do is to become her enemy."

"The General sent us to make her an ally in the west, and we will do it." Endra pointed.

"Just remember that some actions can't be seen as nice as one can think," Lin stated.

"Like..."

"Don't stick your chest out" Lin pointed.

"Yeah, we know that." Endra nodded, "In fact, it's forbidden to stick your chest out back home."

"It's an insult to Minotaurs..." Dargo confirmed.

"Well, be careful." Lin stopped and looked at them, "Just make sure not to mention my name."

Endra shrugged before exiting the building.

Back with Traysek and Erik

Coming out of the mine, their cart was filled up even more, fortunately for them, they had managed to get a few ores from the ebony Iron, but no other ores of that were found. They were also sweating this time, fanning themselves off.

"Gods...It was so hot in there, I think if we'd kept going, we'd hit magma," The Nord huffed, taking a gulp from his tankard.

Traysek nodded, taking a sip of his own, before putting it away, crossing off more from the list, "It was, to the point it's colder out here...anyway, that does it for cloud oak and solar steel ores," pocketing the list.

"So what all do we have left?"

"Just the ebony iron and heavenly gold ores to get, and we'll be done," The Redguard answered, going into thought, "But those already dug through rocks, I think that's what those used to be, someone recently beat us to them...no matter, we still have one more mine to cover, it's further in the desert,"

Erik nodded with a grin, "Gods be praised, we actually might be done before the day's over, easiest job ever,"

"Not so fast, we were lucky enough that the first two were abandoned, if that last one is owned or empty, we might be out here longer, we'll see,"

And with that, they climbed on the Gryphon, with it pulling the cart to their next destination.

Gnoll controlled mine...

A group of Gnolls was standing guard as Gnoll miners were entering and exiting the mine.

They looked around, sniffing to make sure that no one cloaked was around.

In the Desert...

A group of men stood over the dead body of an armored beastman.

"Weak, the boss wouldn't have accepted him." one of them said as he kick the corpse.

"Captain! Look there!" one of them said as he spotted a group traveling.

"Good, let's see if they can be of good use." the first one smirked beneath his mask as they rushed at them.

As the two adventurers headed to their next mine, the Gryphon picked up a scent, stopping and screeching...

Erik gave it a confused frown, "Hey boy, what's wrong?"

"I think he's trying to let us know that something's on its way to us," Traysek said, dismounting him, clicking his scouter on, finding red signals approaching fast, "Erik we've got company...!" drawing both his Ruby daggers.

The Nord hopped down off the mount, drawing his ax and shield, as they could hear laughter getting closer and closer...

After a moment, around twenty bandits encircled them.

"Well, well, well... lost meat in the kulaaniwa Desert." One of them said as the others were playing with their weapons, "You seem like you're strong enough to survive in the Blood Arena."

Traysek and Erik glanced around themselves, noting the bandits around them, the former narrowing his frown.

"What now sir? do we attack...?" Erik whispered.

The Redguard shook his head, "Not yet, let's see what they want first," he whispered back, turning to the guy in front of him, "Well, didn't know they were other humans out here, so much for our ghosting, gotta say, wasn't expecting a welcoming party," twirling his daggers, "Who are you guys? and what do you want with us?"

The bandit laughed before saying, "We work for someone who loves gold, and he wants something that can generate that. There's no best way than an arena to draw people in betting a lot of it."

"Arena huh? I see, so your boss runs one of those," Traysek concluded, "That kinda takes me back...haven't done that in a while, and while the invitation is more than grand, unfortunately, we're not done with our job just yet, as you can see we're in the middle of metalworking,"

Erik nodded, "In other words, we're going to pass on that for now,"

"You think that we're giving you a choice?" the lead bandit asked, "Time to see what you're capable of!" and the bandits charged.

Music- Mario & Luigi Dream Team - Adventure's End (Gametal remix)

Traysek shook his head with a sigh, taking a deep breath, "WULD, NA KEST!" he shouted blasting towards the lead bandit, slamming into him with a kick sending them both into a rock, destroying it... Once he recovered, he barely had time duck beheading blows from two more of them, countering with rapid slashes to their, gut, legs, and shins, watching them stumble forward, throwing a dagger into one of their backs, sending him down. The other tried to rush him, only to miss, coming face-to-face with Traysek's pistol.

"Bang..." he grinned, blowing his head through with a loud thump.

Erik blocked off a mace blow, giving a violent shove forward, disarming him, and smashing him in the chest with his ax. He then ducked a blow from the greatsword wielder, and flipped him over, bringing his boot down on him with a loud crunch, before backstepping another bandit with a flail, blocking off his hard swings, retaliating with power bash to the head, sweeping the ax at his leg, gripping it and lifting it up, leg sweeping the other leg, tripping him and punching the shield into the bandits face until he stopped moving, huffing, "Who's next?"

Some bandits threw black powder at the two.

Traysek covered his eyes, the fireworks popping off, "Damn it, just like that shinobi from before..." gritting his teeth," Erik watch your back!" nearly getting tackled from behind, sending bandit forward with a kick, spinning into another with a stab, "YOL, TOR SHUUL!" he roared, spitting large gouts of flames at another group, that was flailing around in flames as the rocks melted.

The bandit that had been kicked forward was clotheslined by the Nord, who finished him with an axe slam, going for a shield charge.

Another bandit, the leader appeared from beneath the sand and slammed Eric in the head.

"Stop playing around and get serious! The boss would love them!" he ordered before going into the sand, followed by the other bandits.

The Redguard noticed all of them had vanished, rushing over to help Erik, "You okay?" giving him a healing spell to his bleeding head.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but watch out, they're hiding in the sand!" The Nord warned, pulling out a grenade.

Traysek rose an eyebrow, "Really now? in that case..." taking a deep breath, "FUS KLO!" he shouted, causing the ground the tremble and quake, "Lets see how long they can hide in that!"

Erik on the other hand struggled to keep his balance as the ground trembled beneath them.

A hand grabbed Traysek's leg before pulling him into the sand until the head stayed up.

"Nice try, but we faced creatures that could do worst." the leader of the bandits said, still beneath the sands "You're just begging to become a Gladiator at this point."

"Boss!" Erik called out, before two more bandits came out of the ground from behind, "Dammit not this shit again!" He attempted to swing, but bandits had locked his arms taking him down, "Get the fuck off me!" violently struggling.

Traysek had an annoyed expression, "I'll get to you in one second, and You..." turning his gaze down "clever little trick there, but,", Smirking "I'd hang on if I were you..." taking a deep breath, "WULD, NA KEST!" blasting up into the sky with bandit hanging on.

"Well, this is new..." the bandit mumbled before letting go and diving back into the sand.

An arrow pierced the head of one of the two bandits that held Eric before another one killed the second bandit.

"Need backup?" a familiar voice asked as something landed.

Erik looked up, eyes going wide, "Endra? good to see you!" taking his hand, standing up, "I thought you guys would be away on a mission?"

Traysek landed back on the ground, spotting Endra helping up The Nord, "Endra! your timing couldn't be any more impeccable, thanks for getting them off him,"

Not too soon after, Dargo landed while hitting the sand with his sword, and then pulled out a bloody blade, "What happened?"

"We're out here gathering ores and these guys come out of nowhere talking about their blood Arena, which we respectfully declined and well..." looking around, "We've been dealing with the result of the said answer," The Redguard finished, drawing his gun back out.

Erik shook his head, "We're dealing with people that can't handle the word 'No' I notice that's a running theme here," picking his axe and shield back up.

"Dargo, do your thing," Endra said as the other Dark Elf struck the ground, freezing a good part of both the surface and the sand below, turning it into glass that has some bandits caught in it.

Music end

Traysek whistled upon seeing the frozen enemies, "Trapped in glass, not bad but..." looking around for the leader, "I'm not seeing their leader down there...either he got out or..."

"Sands be damned... an ice user." the bandit leader cursed, "Boys, get back! We don't have the advantage in the sands!"

"That means that they will try again..." Endra sighed, "Luckily it would be so much later."

The Redguard checked his scouter to see them fleeing, "The rest of them are fleeing, looks like we've made our point," sighing putting the gun away, "If they weren't so damned gung-ho about it, we would've attended their Arena, it did not have to be a fight,"

"Should we go after them?" Erik asked, getting a headshake.

"No...let them take their defeat with them, there's no merit here in slaughtering them all," The captain said, "Especially if we're not being paid to do so," sheathing his daggers in his holsters.

The Nord nodded and sheathed his ax putting the shield on his back, he then went to check back on the Gryphon and the supplies, finding both to be untouched, "Everything here's been untouched, looks like they were recruiting people after all,"

"You guys were in luck that we were nearby." Endra pointed with a grin.

Traysek nodded, "Tell me about it, but still...what were you guys doing out here? thought the General sent you on a mission?" raising an eyebrow.

"We were on our way." Endra answered, "Well... we were searching."

"We were sent to establish good relations with the desert Gnolls..." Dargo added.

"The General wanted more allies in the West." Endra nodded.

"I see, so you're looking for the Gnolls," The Redguard nodded in thought, "We have yet to run into any out here, not to say we were in a rush, just hoping to grab the last of the Ores and then we're out,"

"Well... we heard that people from the east wronged them somehow." Endra stated, "I just hope that we don't get rejected from the start."

"If it comes to that, the General will come himself here," Dargo added.

"Oof...good luck with that, I'm serious," Traysek whistled, "That said, we gotta get back to it, we've one last mine to clear before we're done, hoping to not run into these guys again while doing so,"

Erik nodded, "Thanks for the assist guys, maybe we'll see you after this?" offering a fist bump.

"Well, good luck to you too." Endra bumped his fist before summoning his mount from the Elemental plane, meanwhile, Dargo whistled as his armored raven came down, "See ya later." and the mounts flew off.

Both men waved at them, as they departed from the area, Traysek grinning, "That was nice drop by, definitely owe him our next tab," turning to Erik, "Shall we?"

"Yeah, let's go..."

And like that, they were back on the Gryphon, continuing to the next Mine...

Somewhere in the desert...

A lot of Gnolls were pilling stone on stone while others were melting the ores that they gathered.

Ashar walked around and looked at the city that was nearly done, "Years of work, of conquest, of fighting... and now the Gnolls will have their own civilization." after taking a deep breath she roared fiercely.

"The city of Tumaini will bring hope to all Gnolls." she then looked at where the royal palace was built, as well as a nearly done statue of her.

A group of Gnolls ran toward her, "Packleader! Intruders in the desert! And their smell is the same as the smell of the slaughterers!"

Ashar narrowed her eyes and got on her war elephant, "Where are they?"

"They're heading toward the metal-filled cave." another Gnoll replied.

Ashar growled slightly before that the elephant began to walk toward the mine.

Mine three

When the duo got there, they found the entrance to it guarded by a couple of scary-looking beast men, putting the Gryphon on edge.

"What the hell...? What are they?" Erik whispered.

Traysek got a good look at them from afar, "Let's see...I think these are those Gnolls we've been hearing about, I say proceed with caution...let me do the talking,"

"Got it..."

The Duo came up close to the entrance, getting the guard's attention, as the Captain dismounted his ride.

"Hello there Gentlemen, I see this mine is owned, would you both happen to know where the owner is? we're making runs for Ores today," Traysek explained.

The Gnolls sniffed Traysek before that hatred could be seen in their eyes as they got into a more defensive stance.

"Whoa whoa! what did we do?!" The Redguard exclaimed, throwing his hands up in surrender, "You guys are the first Gnolls we've met, what with the hatred?"

Loud stomps could be heard as a giant war elephant was approaching them. And on top of it, a half Gnoll that wasn't too happy.

"Boss...look behind you...!" Erik called out, pointing.

Traysek took a look behind him, and went wide-eyed, "Holy...shit...!"

When the animal stopped, there was a big silence before the half Gnoll spoke.

"Other murderers that are here to slaughter my people?" her tone wasn't friendly.

The Redguard gulped, before swallowing down the fear, "Um...No not really? We're just metalworking today, we've got a client back home looking for a large shipment of these, we're not here to cause trouble...I assure you," he defended, "Would you be the Gnoll Queen by any chance?"

"You smell the same as the slaughterers, which means that you are with them." the Half Gnoll said.

Traysek frowned upon that, "What do you mean by "slaughterers?" the only other people we've been around were our-" eyes going wide when he remembered something, "Were our friends...by the gods..." glancing back up at her hardening stare, "Okay...I can explain..." sighing, "I'm Traysek...Captain of the Red Dragons...and those were most likely my men, one of them had blue fur, right...?"

"So you admit it." the Gnoll Queen said, "Alongside the weakling talkative human, and the hard-skinned woman."

Erik went wide-eyed, "Sir...hate to place accusations but..."

"No...you're fine Erik...I know who all she's talking about...oh by the dragon's teeth..." The Redguard facepalmed, "Yes I'm the leader but I don't know what went on between you guys, maybe you could explain? I don't want this to get violent, and I KNOW how my own guys can be, trust me,"

"First to draw blood, killed a lot of Gnolls, kept one captive to curse him with their objects, and finally disrespecting me with a sign of arrogance." the Gnoll queen listed.

"Oh...I see..." Traysek simply responded with, sighing deeply, 'What the hell guys? that's why you were nervous telling me what happened, and now...I'm about to be jumped for it...guess I gotta wipe your asses with ours now...godsdammit!' cleared his throat, "Okay, so what I'm getting is, they shot first, killed up a lot of your people, tried to plant something in one of them, most likely a tracker and then outright disrespected you... Getting the hostility now..." Taking a deep breath, "May I ask what this was ALL over?"

"They sided with land stealers." she took a moment to think before adding, "Well, her people were tricked into believing that those lands weren't ours. Still, it doesn't change that your people slaughtered my people."

The Redguard thought on that for a moment, before slowly nodding, "The hunter's outpost contract...yeah, It's coming back to me, no wonder they relocated..." with a facepalm, "Just...how many of yours did they take? you keep mentioning slaughter, so I know it's not a low number..."

"Between 35 and 40 members of my kin." the Gnoll queen replied with a hint of anger in her voice.

At that, he paled, mouth agape, "By the nine...that many?" thinking on it for a second, before realizing it slowly and slowly, "I can see why you've been calling it that...there would be no other word for it..." deeply sighing, "I suppose, this is on me then..." taking a deep breath, "I...sent them here, figured for once they could do their own contract without me holding their hand, guess that turned out to be a mistake more than a benefit..." giving a bow, "As their Captain, on behalf of those Idiots and the rest of us, I'm terribly sorry for all that's happened...I really am, this is both tragic and embarrassing..." Facepalming, "We've never been the type to do that unprovoked, not unless it was justified and I'm sure if I ask them they'll tell me their side of it, but even then, it wouldn't justify the number of lives lost..."

"So we're having a family meeting when we get back then, sir?" Erik asked with a scowl.

Traysek nodded, "Absolutely, I personally want to know why they did it..." before turning back to Ashar, "They seemed to have come back in one piece, so thank you for not killing them, I know that must've been hard..." raising an eyebrow, "Did they pay a blood price for it at least?"

"They had to." she replied, "It was either that... or a war would have been demanded by the Gnolls as repercussion for the slaughter since only Gnolls were killed."

Traysek nodded, "Okay, I understand that, and seeing as they didn't lose an actual piece of themselves, means you were more than lenient with it...Once again, I appreciate," slightly smiling, "Well, this would explain why I felt a blow to the gut when I actually didn't get punched...the blue one and I have a bond spell, meaning I can warp him anywhere, even here, but that's non-negotiable right now...not to mention, we were seeking you out since you had your guards here... we need the metals inside..."

"What kind of metals?" the Gnoll queen asked.

"The Heavenly gold and Ebony Iron Ores, we've been contracted by the secret city to fetch them these metals, as well as the ones that we've already in the cart," Traysek said, putting his thumb back at the ones tied on the Gryphon.

"What are those?" she asked with confusion.

Traysek blinked twice with a large sweat drop, "The uh, gold and black shiny metals, I'm sure you've seen them,"

"Yellow and black metals?" she tilted her head.

The Redguard nodded, "Yes, those, they're the last on our list,"

"And what would I gain by giving you our metals?" she asked.

"Good question...it's not like we're asking for a small amount either, fifty of each in fact, but I'm willing to pay for them if that's what it takes," Traysek explained, "I'm not sure what they're going to do with them, but I haven't asked either,"

"How about a Blood Pact?" she leaned forward, "I let you take the exact amount that you're going to need to bring back, and in exchange, you're going to do something for me."

The Redguard rose an eyebrow, "Blood pact?" okay, I'll ask what all that entails later, but sure, what do you need?"

"Not now, but at a later date." she replied before growling at the Gnolls that were guarding the entrance, "Don't take over what you need."

Traysek nodded, "We're not greedy, we'll take exactly what we need, thank you, you've been more than Generous," with a bow, before turning to Erik, giving him a nod.

The Nord quickly got off the mount, and walked up to his boss, handing him his pickax while holding his own.

"Before you go, what's your name?" said boss asked.

"Packleader Ashar..." she said before the war elephant turned and began to head deeper into the desert.

Traysek watched her departure, smiling cooly and turning around, 'Nice to meet you too, Ashar...' walking with Erik to the entrance.

"Color me impressed, you handled that pretty well sir, even with that deadly aura she was giving off...how do you do it?"

"Well, for starters, I know better than anyone how it feels to lose people, and when she kept mentioning the slaughtering, I realized it was more hurt than hatred..." He finished, eyes going dark, "I'm sure our pals have an explanation for what they did, but one thing's for sure I'm getting to the bottom of it when we get back...for now," turning his gaze to the entrance, "We have the last of our quota to acquire, so focus on that for now..."

"As you say, I still can hardly believe it though...but then again, considering how we've dealt with things in the past, I can't overlook it either...by the nine, I hope they have a good reason for all of that," Erik sighed.

The Gnolls guarding the entrance gave them a low growl, but let them in, as the winds began to pick up outside...

At Swain's estate...

Celestine stood beside Del's bed as the maid had bandages over her eyes.

"Are you still counting yourself as responsible for what happened to her yesterday?" Swain asked as he walked at the Goddess Reborn.

The goddess slowly nodded, "He was my bodyguard, my responsibility...I can't believe he did this to her, Claudia sent him to me...but now I'm starting to see there was another reason for that,"

"You don't need to worry, Del will heal and will be the same as before." Swain assured, "After all, she had worst from the last human who took her as his slave."

A maid entered and delivered a letter to Swain.

"It seems that your knights want to put me on trial for holding you hostage." Swain mused as he read the letter.

Her ears drooped in confusion, "What...? May I see that?" taking the letter. When she read it her eyes went wide before they shadowed over... "So this is what they're doing now...I know how to make this stop, I must prepare to head back to the Tower..." crunching up the paper, unknowingly.

Ophilyana looked at Swain who said to her "Make sure that she's protected. We don't know from where the danger can come." the elf nodded, and he then turned to Celestine "I need to wait for a healer to come. I'll join you soon."

Celestine nodded, "Take your time, I know she comes first, we'll wait for you,"

and with that, she left his office with her new guard, heading to the tower, the sky matching her current mood as it rumbled and greyed.

"Now that your eyes tasted that intense light, you shall be able to withstand it next time it happens to you." Swain said as he sat beside the maid, "The day I took you in after being killed by that noble for your defiance and strong will... the day that you accepted to have the soul of a demon merged with your soul... I can say that I was impressed."

"Still, I can't serve you now." Del pointed with a sigh, "Recovery of my eyes can take days."

"Demons are more powerful than that." Swain smiled, "I called Maeve to help you with your recovery, she should arrive soon."

In front of the tower...

Claudia waited for Swain to arrive as she had three units with Troy standing beside her.

"Finally, we can get rid of Swain once and for all." She said with an optimistic tone.

Troy on the other hand looked unsure, "With any luck, it'll be easy bagging him with only the evidence,"

Then it was when it happened, the doors thunderously opened, with a not-too-pleased goddess behind it with her guard, giving them a cold stare.

"Hello there Children, I think it's time we talked..." in an oddly cold voice, the door shutting behind her ominously.

"My lady, did he do something to you?" Claudia asked with a concerned tone, "Did he put you under a mind control spell?"

She said nothing at first, walking up to the slightly frightened knight, "By him you mean, Lord Swain...to answer your question, he did nothing of the sort, but you may have...tasking the young Musel there," cutting an eye at Troy.

The blonde knight gulped, with a nervous smile "Um...should I go? I feel like I should go..."

"Du gehst nirgendwo hin. (You're going nowhere.)" the elf drew two greatswords and stood in front of the door.

"Okay...not sure what she said there, but judging from how she's guarding the door, she's not letting me go..." Troy concluded, sitting back down.

Celestine turned her head to him, "She said you aren't going anywhere and we'll get to what you did in moments... have a seat..." glancing at Claudia soon, "Now why was he really sent there? and be truthful,"

"To make sure that he doesn't poison your mind with dark ideas." Claudia replied, "He's a master manipulator, not to mention that he may be your enemy."

"You speak as you are sure of it." Celestine narrowed her eyes before adding, "And how can you be this certain of it?"

"Troy got in the study room and found the proof that we needed," Claudia replied.

The goddess rose an eyebrow, "So he was in his study...very well, do you have proof of this? surely you must have something to place him on trial like that,"

Claudia handed her both the letter and the name list... but Celestine only saw empty papers...

The goddess gave a stare just as blank as the pages, before turning an unamused expression to her paladin, "So...not only did you waste resources and time by sending Troy there, but now, you're clearly trying to accuse someone of having empty documents...I said proof, where's. the. proof...?"

Claudia widen her eyes as the goddess showed her empty papers.

"That wasn't..." she didn't know what to say.

A bright red portal appeared in the room and Swain walked out of it.

"Sorry for being late, I waited for the healer and explained some things to her," he said as he walked to take a seat.

Celestine greeted him with a smile, "No apology needed, they just showed me what your plans were," holding up the blank piece of paper.

"Those are good quality papers, but why take them?" he wondered.

Troy began to sweat, "What's going on Lady Claudia? I swear those weren't blank when we had them,"

"I also saw them." Claudia replied, "He must have done something." it was then that she remembered something, "Wait! Troy said that it contains something very important!" she handed Celestine the Crystal that Troy had with him.

Upon looking at the content with Swain, they both were looking at a group of Dark Elf maids that are working for Swain, changing their clothes.

"Is this the reason why Del was hurt?" Swain asked.

"What?! no no No! That's not what was on it!" Troy defended with, "The reason your maid got "Hurt" was because she gave chase after I left your premises, I wouldn't have used that flash bomb otherwise!"

Celestine sighed, "So not only did you send someone to investigate, but they didn't bring anything that could convict him, I'm not sure what you were trying to accomplish with this action, but this same knight also caused the maid great injury with that flash bomb...Do you really suspect him that much?"

"My lady, he only aims to manipulate you in order to fulfill his desires!" Claudia proclaimed.

Celestine tilted her head, "Desires you say...other than wanting to have tea with me? I don't know what you all think of him, but he's not the monster you claim him to be...I'm disappointed in you, BOTH of you," turning to Troy, "Your father will be getting a letter from me,"

Troy gulped but knew he was trapped, "A-as you say, Lady Celestine..." bowing his head.

"There's still something that needs to be dealt with." Swain turned and gave a cold stare at Troy, "You hurt one of my maids, and I demand repairs."

"What kind of "Repairs" are you asking for? I should be the last person she wants tending to that," The blonde knight defended with, "You think I'm stupid? the second I go back there and I'm dead...which would be a detriment to you, knowing my brother works for you,"

"I think that you need to learn how to be humble... Sir Blood Magic user." Swain waved his hand and showed the moment Troy used Blood magic, "The only one who can teach this kind of magic and is on our side is in Ur, but he never mentioned you being there to learn this magic..." he then leaned forward, "I suggest an investigation and a demotion of rank."

Troy was sweating at this point, clearing his throat when eyes landed on him, "I...can explain that one..." clearing his throat, "You remember the mission you sent me to in the south? with vampires? There were thirteen of us and only three had returned?" to Claudia.

"Yes..." Claudia wasn't sure what to do now.

Troy took a deep breath, "There are details we left out...how they were killed and I'll tell you, when I'm not around him," glaring at Swain.

Celestine rose an eyebrow, "In any case, we have a war to prepare for, we cannot be against each other here, I know how your father feels about the man, but it is not the time to be divided, no more investigations like these, not without my permission, or the Red spears will be at your door, even the musels," narrowing her eyes on Claudia and Troy.

"While you were playing around, I gathered some information about Volt and his monster army." Swain put some papers on the table, "Some orcs traveled to the lands in the west in the hope to get in touch with the orcs there. And the fact that the Black Dogs are searching for an 'Orc Princess' they want to offer to the new Orc King." he then looked around before adding, "Moreover, I managed to get in contact with some allies that I gathered in the east, north and west." he put a scroll with many seals on it, "They are ready to lend us their help, but I choose to wait until we get the allies of the Black Dogs away from Ken to call them here."

Celestine nodded, "I see, so they're looking to make allies with the monster tribes, very good, we should contact these allies you've rounded up when we get the chance, thank you," giving him a smile, "Your contribution has always ended in our favor, Lord Swain, I only hope they continue to do so," cutting an eye at Claudia, "And there is to be no trial, correct?"

Claudia looked defeated before saying, "Yes..."

"I believe that I need to get to coordinate with the other cities to snuff out the traitors." Swain got up and looked at Celestine, "If you need my help, you are always welcome in my estate."

"Of course, I'll be back again should I need it," She said, waving at him as he departed, turning to the two knights, "All that over a misunderstanding, you need better judgment Claudia, and you little musel?" turning to him, "I suggest apologizing to the maid when you can, after she recovers, but do not expect forgiveness,"

Troy only merely bowed his head, not wanting to say anything further.

"Meine Dame, glauben Sie, dass er es tun wird? (Madam, do you think he will?)" the elf asked as she gave Troy a cold stare.

Celestine waved her guard down, "He will, one way or another," turning to them, "This will be my new bodyguard starting today, after the incident at the manor,"

"You can't be serious!" Claudia was shocked by that, "She doesn't look like a knight! She's more like a mercenary than a knight!"

Celestine gave her an empty smile, "Really now? I see armor, a sword and she's one of my kin to make it better. You are still a shield, even though Lord Swain suggested otherwise, she'll be with me whenever I go out or to the manor, your position is still as is,"

"Muss ich Ihnen meinen Wert beweisen? (Do I have to prove my worth to you?)" the elf asked as she stared at the paladin.

"She doesn't speak the common language!" Claudia got up and said, "Give me a day and I'll find you a better pick to be your protector!"

"Ich mag es nicht, unterschätzt zu werden... (I don't like being underestimated...)" Ophilyana said before adding, "Ich habe lange genug in der illegalen Arena gekämpft, um dich besiegen zu können, wenn ich will. (I fought in the illegal arena for long enough to be able to defeat you if I want to.)"

"And you! Shut your mouth! A mere commoner is in no position to talk back to a noble!" Claudia snapped.

"ENOUGH!" Her voice boomed, a loud thunder roaring outside, "My decision is final, she is to be my bodyguard, it's enough that I can understand her, you will not run her off like you did the last adventurers..." with a hard glare.

Claudia tried to say something, but was shut as the glare she was receiving from the Goddess Reborn was enough to silence her.

Yamakhroz...

Bar in the Blood Pact District...

Maki sat as she was drinking a mug of mead.

"You need to slow down." a Salamander bartender said as he was cleaning a mug, "Besides, you shouldn't be drinking like that the day before a mission."

"Shaddap!" the Dark Elf snapped as she slammed the mug on the counter, "Ya better not talk like you know what I'm passing through! No one would know that!"

"Jeez, you talk like you're the only one who lost people." the bartender sighed before adding, "Just ignore them, don't help them, and don't accept their help. Trust me, it would be better that way."

"Easy for you to say..." she mumbled.

"Look, some people can make mistakes, but it would be unforgivable if they don't say that they're sorry." the bartender said as he filled her mug, "I'm not saying that you should forgive and forget what they did, but don't put a judgment before knowing the scales of the other."

Maki said nothing as she began to drink from her mug.

Swain's estate...

Swain entered and was greeted by a couple of Red Spears holding a small Dark Elf child prisoner.

"Can I know what's going on?" he asked with a curious expression.

"Sir, we found her stealing food from the cellar." one of the Red Spears explained, "We tried to talk to her, but she refused to answer."

Swain looked at her for a moment and said, "Of course that she won't talk since her tongue was cut."

"What!" both Red Spears recoiled.

"A punishment to the defiant slaves that don't know how to hold their tongue." Swain walked to her and knelt, "She's a runaway slave, and after seeing what she lived through... I would understand why."

"What should we do?" the other Red Spear asked.

"Take her to a room and give her a proper meal." Swain ordered, "Eggs with steak, as well as a cup of orange juice and a cup of water."

"But she tried to steal from you." the second Red Spear pointed.

"I understand..." the first mumbled, "She was trying to survive..."

Swain nodded before saying, "I'll send a maid to bathe her. As for the clothes... she'll have to wait."

"Sir!"

Swain sighed before heading toward the room where Del was resting and entered.

"How is she?" he asked a pale woman in dark purple robes.

"I was able to regenerate her eyes using souls I gathered on my way here, but she'll need to rest a little before using her Demonic Skill." the woman pointed.

"Thank you, Axilian, you saved my eyes." Swain chuckled.

"She's way more resilient and her spirit unbending. No wonder she could tame the powers of an Archdemon from the Wrath circle." the woman Axilian replied before turning to leave, "I'll send you what I want as payment at a later date." she then turned into a purple mist.

To be continued...

So with that ending, I decided to bring back a fan favorite, Ashar the packleader back, she'll be back at later chapters, as well as those bandits from the sand they faced off with. As for what Troy did, he'll have plenty to answer for as well as his ties to blood magic...Rey is currently waiting on the other knight to finish up, but will move if not back soon enough...so things to look foward to in upcoming chapters...as well as the Dovahkiirs as adults from Sylvia fey's story, (Check her out, she's actually pretty good) all that leaves now is the answer to reviews...

To Cross - Yeah, it was a decision I and the Co-writer decided to follow up on, they won't be making many appearances until later, but keep an eye out :)

I also want to thank those that stood by me even after the story didn't live up to cliche points as others did (Lost followers over it) and to let you all know that your patience will be paid off...until then, stay safe and may the gods watch over your stories :)