Friedrich looked around the Akatfall square with a fond smile. It was early in the morning and there was a faint mist in the air that left the unusually quiet city with a sleepy mystique that the familiar streets did not usually possess. The young man would miss it, having spent more time here than he had anywhere else since he lost his home.

  Marina touched his hand. “Are you ready to go?” she asked. “If not, we can—”

  “No,” said Friedrich, “I’m ready.”

  “Good,” said Pheston, clapping Friedrich on the back. “Let’s get the old timer here somewhere he won’t be hunted.”

  Lord Gaerfyrd let out a single loud laugh. “Where I can live out my days in peace among the thieves,” he said before smiling. “I cannot tell you all enough how grateful I am for everything you have done for me…”

  “You keep unnecessarily repeating that,” said an irked Teleri. “I grow tired of it. We have already accepted your gratitude.”

  “Fair,” said Lord Gaerfyrd, cocking his head to the side. “I will not thank you or express gratitude again until you do me another good turn.”

  “Good.”

  “Let’s hit the road,” said Pheston, puffing out his chest and adjusting his belt. “We’ve got a long walk ahead of us, that’s for certain.”

  “Yes,” said Friedrich, wondering when he would next lay eyes upon Akatfall again.

  He led the way towards the city gates and then stepped out onto the stone road. He could see the sprawling fields and many clusters of trees before him, slowly declining as they followed the sloped terrain. To his left was a makeshift platform with a small open tent. It was here that he had first heard a bard sing about the Butcher of the Bay; it felt like an age since he had ensured Lord Pelagius’s death.

  A lone sparrow was tweeting from atop a sign, singing its pleasant song that carried through the morning. It was a lovely tune that softened Friedrich’s heart. “I’ve always liked sparrows,” he said, looking to the bird. It turned to look at him for a split second before flying away.

  “Looks like they don’t like you too much, lad,” chuckled Pheston heartily. “You would think that you’d be in-tune with animals.”

  “A fox would sooner eat a sparrow than befriend one,” said Teleri. “As usual, Pheston, your humour is not grounded in realism. It is why I do not find you funny.”

  The smith frowned. “You’re in a pleasant mood today, aren’t you, Goldie?”

  “She’s just sore that we have to walk the whole way,” said Friedrich, nudging Teleri who batted him away.

  “It is nothing of the sort.”

  “Then what’s the matter?” asked Marina.

  The Alaurian sighed. “Fine,” she said. “We find somewhere for Lord Gaerfyrd to hide…then what? We have no plan; no intentions. We are completely directionless.”

  “Directionless?” asked Friedrich. “We can get back to doing whatever it is we want to do.”

  “Which is what?”

  “For you, it’s hunting demons. For Marina, furthering her magic. For Pheston…drinking and bedding women, I presume.”

  “You think me so shallow? I bedded a lone woman in Akatfall and now I will never hear the end of it.”

  “Might I propose something?” asked Lord Gaerfyrd, holding up an index finger.

  “Of course, father,” said Friedrich.

  “If you are looking to do some good, Abnar’s Watch is a city rife with opportunity,” said the lord. “It is a place of both great wealth and great poverty. Its outlying lands are filled with danger, from the serpents plaguing the coast to the rancid goblins of the drylands. You all possess a great gift and I do not mean simply your strength and your powers; I mean that you all desire to help others. Where better to start than an exceptionally corrupt and dangerous place?”

  “You expect us to clean up an entire city?” asked Teleri.

  “Heavens, no,” decried Lord Gaerfyrd. “But there are plenty of people in need of help that nobody else will help. Why not start there?”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Teleri pursed her lips while she thought for a moment. “Perhaps that is something to consider. We are certainly in desperate need of kupons, having made precious little since Friedrich trapped himself in Keldracht. All we do is spend, never earn.”

  “It’s not my fault I got trapped there,” muttered the young man while Pheston nodded.

  “It happens to the best of us, eh?”

  Marina giggled. “There we go. We’ll waltz into the City of Thieves and by the time we leave, it’ll be the City of Upstanding Citizens.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” said Friedrich.

  As the five walked along the road, the sun rose higher into the sky and the mist fell away, leaving it a pleasantly warm morning. The wildlife sprung alive as the minutes passed. Butterflies fluttered around the wildflowers lining the path, rabbits skittered across the road, chasing each other, and there was even a sleek orange fox that paused to look at the travellers before dashing between the trees in fear of the humans and the elf.

  “You’re forever scaring off animals, Friedrich,” said Pheston. “They must see you for the imposter that you are.”

  Friedrich turned into a fox for a moment and then back again. “I bet if I did that in front of it, the fox would never trust another one of its species again.”

  “Say, Friedrich,” said Marina, picking up her pace to walk alongside him. She reached over and tapped the masks protruding from beneath his scarf. “How do you suppose you could awaken the spirits of the goblin and the spider?”

  “A more pertinent question would be if there was any need to,” said Teleri. “As useful as awakening the fox and the minotaur has been, you might consider expunging them from your being. I was gravely concerned for your safety aboard the Brass Stormer when you lost control to the weak will of the goblin. It is lucky that the dumb beast was not so dumb that he tried to attack us and simply sat awaiting his soul’s retreat back into the mask.”

  “I must admit, it does leave me concerned that your body is home to three souls, son,” said Lord Gaerfyrd. “You told me that your purpose for doing so was to rescue me…now I am rescued.”

  “Since their awakenings, they have never troubled me,” said Friedrich with a shrug. “In fact, Kitt never really gave me any problems. It was always Darkan who did that. If he had his way, I’d be a cannibal.”

  “All the more reason to consider an exorcism,” said Teleri. “You say he has been largely dormant since killing the Lord of Horns, but that does not mean he will always be so. He could be biding his time, gathering strength until he betrays you.”

  Friedrich turned into the minotaur and his father winced. As proud of what his son had achieved in his absence and as grateful as he was for the rescue, the unknown cost disturbed him.

  “Will you stop showing off?” snapped Teleri. “We have seen you transform a hundred times. We do not need to see it again.”

  Friedrich reverted to normal. “My point of transforming was that I can do as I see fit with the transformations now. I can sense the emotions of the goblin and spider when I don their masks, but I do not feel the same overwhelming might from them that I did from the minotaur one before the gem became part of me. When I lost control at Orion Tower, I was exhausted from transforming too frequently. It had worn me down. Now, I am rested and feeling great. You don’t need to worry about me.”

  “He’s saying to stop nagging him about it,” sniggered Pheston and Teleri shot him a foul look.

  “No,” said Friedrich, “that’s not what I’m saying at all. I truly appreciate the concern, Teleri. It’s great that you care about me but, until there is cause to worry, we shouldn’t worry.”

  “I believe there is cause to worry, when you have two souls clinging to you at all times. Four if you count the others dangling around your neck. From now, a sword and shield should be enough for you. Stab and bash until your heart is content, saving your soul masker powers until you have no other choice.”

  “He’s not going to listen,” Marina whispered to her and Teleri nodded silently. She knew this was the case but had felt compelled to say her piece anyway.

  “Up ahead,” said Pheston, signalling to a pack of goblins hiding just out of sight. “Little buggers think they’re going to get the jump on us.”

  “Not likely,” said Friedrich, drawing his sword as the others drew their own weapons. “Come on out, you little rats!”

  Realising their presence had been discovered, the dozen goblins leapt onto the road and sprinted towards the travellers. Friedrich cut three down to size in one fell swoop, Marina blew two up with her lightning strikes, Teleri skewered two in a row with a piercing arrow, Pheston broke four ribcages in quick succession with his extended hammer, and Lord Gaerfyrd beheaded another with his sword.

  “We’re making money already,” said Friedrich, grinning widely as he showed off the thirty kupons he had looted from the goblins.

  “It is a start,” said Teleri, taking her six and slipping them within a pouch on her belt. “But we must increase our rewards exponentially if we are to thrive beyond mere survival.”

  “There will be no shortage of work in Abnar’s Watch,” said Lord Gaerfyrd, “however, you must always keep your wits about you for the rich steal just as often as the poor do. I am no stranger to dealing with scum, so I will see what I can do to play my part in supporting us.”

  Teleri looked him in the eyes. “Should a single thief lay a hand on my kupons, he will find himself without a hand.”

  “And I believe you, Teleri,” said the lord.

  “As you should,” giggled Marina. “You haven’t seen her truly riled up yet. She’s fearsome when you make her angry.”

  The five continued walking down the road as a small sparrow flittered through the sky, rising high and then sinking low, weaving between trees and then circling them for its own amusement. Once the humans were out of sight, the sparrow landed on the grass. Seamlessly, its shape shifted from that of a small bird to one of a man. This man was covered from head to toe in multicoloured robes with only his eyes visible from underneath the cloth.

  “I will be watching, Friedrich,” said Elketh quietly. “Keep those masks held tightly for the day may come when you realise that every last one is important. Oh yes, the day may indeed come. You will see the true power of a soul masker, young man.”

  Elketh started humming to himself as he wandered off the path and into the trees. He hummed a merry tune, reminiscent of the sparrow’s chirping. He was feeling very pleased with himself, as he often did. As he disappeared into the wilderness, his singing only grew louder and became increasingly interspersed with chuckles.