In the name of the Goddess, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

  Blessings be upon Her Herald and Prophet, who journeyed to the lands of the people of the Tides. They heard his words, yet they did not believe. They witnessed his divinity, but their eyes deceived them. They scourged him and bound him in chains, but by a miracle was he set free. For who can bind the judgment of the Goddess?

  - The New Surahs by Cordelia de Aserac.

  Music floated through the air, the soft strumming of zithers intertwined with the sharp, rhythmic beat of drums. A girl, her skin a rich shade of brown-gold, sang in honeyed notes that seemed crafted to please our ears. Though I could have understood the words with magic, I chose not to. There was a certain charm in leaving their meaning a mystery, in letting the song's emotions speak for themselves.

  And speak they did. The melancholy in her voice revealed that this was an old love song, tinged with bittersweet sadness. Despite the depth of her performance, not a single fighting man in the hall seemed to care. Their attention was elsewhere; that much was clear.

  Now, we had truly made an enemy of the Adventurer’s Guild, or at least their Guildmaster. Jangling now on a string was quite the collection of badges I had taken as trophies from the corpses of various adventurers. I would see to it that once the fighting was over, I would return them to the Guild. Copper, Bronze, Iron, Silver, and Gold, they made for quite the collection. Thanks to our efforts, being an adventurer in Al-Lazar was growing to be a very dangerous profession indeed.

  “You know they will be targeting you, I am sure there is a big fat request for your head on their board,” remarked Damien, taking a sip from a wine glass.

  We were at a feast, a ‘small’ gathering to celebrate the forceful overturning of Adventurer’s Guild’s decision to cast me out. It must have been quite humiliating for them to not be able to cast out a simple Copper. It was most certainly mud on their faces, and the Guildmaster’s authority must be in question. Now, the question was, when and if he would send out his little pet enchantress.

  “For defending myself? For fighting in a sanctioned war? That does not sound very sporting.”

  “Quite, but the members of the Adventurer’s Guild were never ones for fair play. For all their claim about being noble ‘adventurers,’ they are just a few steps away from common bandits. A criminal cartel. Very tribal. You are very much either with them or against them,” added Damien, his grey eyes sparkling.

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  “They are forming kill squads just to target you, boy!” quipped in Calder, his expression dour, his voice cutting over the music of the afternoon’s impromptu celebration.

  “Do not call me boy, Calder. It is disrespectful. I represent the Salahaem in the fight. Do not forget that,” I growled.

  “Right prickly one you are, taking offense at every little thing. You intend to take insult at every friendly jibe? Wound that tight up are we? What… are you going to go through life striking down anyone that offends you?”

  “Trust me, Calder, boy. That Gil over there, that is exactly what he intends to do, I think,” said Elwin with a small laugh, appearing from behind Calder.

  I snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. “I am not that vicious.”

  The Rogue gave me a long look, and we both laughed as he sat down at an empty chair, patting Calder’s cheek.

  “And, as I was saying,” Calder continued in a cold voice, ignoring Elwin. “They are starting to form kill squads. They know all too well the Fae magic that you possess, Gilgamesh. Bronze, they will bring against you. Ensorcelled, but still bronze. Then there is the matter of your healing magics…”

  “Meaning?” I asked in a more relaxed manner, Elwin’s earlier antics having drained much of my ire.

  Calder coughed. “The men will have an advantage wherever they go up against such equipped soldiery. That being the case, the lads have been clamoring to be the Scales that fight at your side. Our other engagements without you or the girl present, have not been so successful.”

  Of course, they would. In my desire for experience, I had already been doing the majority of the killing. It was an easy duty. I had been charging two gold pieces for the use of my Heal spell, a Mercenary’s monthly wage. Word had been getting around, and I swore some of that stupid lot had been getting injured on purpose.

  “As the sun stands alone in the sky, so too must the best stand alone among the many. What would you have me do? I can only be in one place at one time,” I remarked idly, rolling my shoulders inside my armor.

  “Perhaps if you would wear armor similar to ours, you could maintain the element of surprise while making sure our enemies…” the older man began to suggest.

  “Out of the question, Wing Leader Calder. You have nothing in your armories that can hope to match the level of protection my current gear affords me. If as you say, they are specifically targeting me, then it stands to reason that I am protected as well as possible. And, why change tactics now? We are winning, are we not?” I remarked dryly.

  Heavens, I wanted this war between the Houses to be settled soon through Arbitration. While I appreciated the dearth of experience points I was reaping from all of these continued engagements, I felt that it was distracting me from my main quest of dealing with Kaila the Enchantress. I needed to deal with her before I received the Necromancer’s scroll.

  “Have no fear! I will lend my spear to your little warm lander disputes. We will tear them up like fresh grass after a winter’s thaw!” exclaimed Kidu, almost spitting out a mouthful of meat. “It will barely be a challenge and not worth much honor!”

  The giant of a man looked positively happy as he tore into a massive haunch of meat. At times like this, I envied his more simplistic view of things.