by Logan Jacobs
“Keep at it,” the elf said, then gave us another nod before he left to assist another group.
As soon as he was gone, Aerin leaned in toward the apprentices. “Look, we’ll give you ten copper pieces for a bottle,” she whispered.
Donan, the boy who’d spoken, blinked in surprise.
“Fifteen,” the girl behind him said.
“Fifteen? It doesn’t even work!” Aerin hissed.
I threw a glance over to the instructor, but he was still preoccupied with showing another group how to properly crush a large, pitted object that resembled a hunk of igneous rock and didn’t notice Aerin as she haggled with his students.
“Do you want it or not?” the girl asked, her brow arched.
Aerin looked shocked, and it was hard not to laugh. In addition to being our healer, Aerin had naturally taken on the role of guild treasurer due to her good money sense and skillful bartering. She clearly hadn’t expected that she’d be challenged here. The two of them stared at each other for several seconds, and I noticed that the instructor had finished with the other group and was looking our way again.
“Uh, Aerin, we’d better go,” I said under my breath as the elf began to move around the desks toward us.
“Fine. Fifteen.” Aerin’s jaw was clenched tightly as she dug into her bag and fished out the coins. She passed them to the girl who tucked them quickly into her pocket, and Aerin surreptitiously swiped one of the bottles that the girl indicated and slid it into her bag.
“Looks like it’s coming along well, then,” Aerin said loudly. “We’ll be sure to let Professor Audra know that you’ve been working hard.” She turned to the instructor and gave him a friendly wave which he hesitantly returned, then she grabbed my hand, and we slipped back out into the hall.
“Fifteen coppers for a single bottle, what a scam.” The elven woman shook her head.
“Oh come on, you would have done the same thing in her position,” I replied as I slung my arm over Aerin’s shoulder.
She flashed a sly grin. “Actually, I charged twenty.”
“I thought you didn’t study at the Mage Academy. Didn’t you grow up in a small town?” We all had to register with the Academy to practice magic, and the libraries and other resources were open to us, but we weren’t required to take classes, and most mages who did so were younger.
“It’s easy enough to get the uniform,” Aerin said with a shrug. “If the professors are your best customers, well, they’re willing to overlook the fact that you’re not enrolled as a student.”
“You sold armor polish to the professors?”
“It... wasn’t armor polish,” Aerin replied. Then she ducked out from under my arm and walked quickly toward the stairs. “We should go, the others will be waiting for us.”
I grinned as I followed her. “Hang on, do you mean to tell me you impersonated a student so that you could sell illicit substances to the professors? Aerin Vanynor, I have to say, I’m shocked.”
A bright blush had crept up to Aerin’s ears, and she skipped down the steps by twos. “We’d just instituted our guild, we needed the money!” she insisted. “It’s not like anyone got hurt.”
“I’m just surprised that you managed it given how nervous you get about me even stepping foot in here,” I told her.
“That’s completely different!” Aerin hissed. “And keep your voice down.” She looked nervously over her shoulder, but there was no one around who could have overheard us.
I chuckled as I followed her down the stairs. We had barely reached the wide, circular lobby on the ground floor when I heard people arguing. A few other mages sat at the plush couches and chairs in the lobby and stared into their books and papers as they pretended to ignore the spat.
“I’m perfectly capable of doing this on my own, I don’t need a babysitter!” The speaker was a panthera woman dressed in the deep purple robes of the Academy’s senior students. Her long, jet black tail flicked behind her as she spoke in the same way that Merlin’s did when he was upset.
“Keep your voice down, I’m not going to change my mind just because you caused a scene,” came the reply. “You’re not going anywhere without an escort, Emeline. That’s final.” The second person was also panthera, but his robes were gray, which indicated that he was a professor. The pair’s dark, rounded ears and twin stubborn expressions made me think they must be related.
“I’m one of the most talented mages here, Etienne, you said so yourself,” Emeline hissed. “That ogre’s probably long gone by now, I can get a couple of books without a complement of guards.”
Etienne pinched the wide bridge of his nose and heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Most graduates just write essays, I don’t know why you insist on trying to perform this ridiculous feat.”
The pathera woman’s ears flattened against her head, and her tail lashed around her ankles.
“You know I want to join a guild once I graduate,” she replied. “I’m not going to change my mind just because you pretend otherwise. It’s not just about my final exam, it’s about proving that I’m a good enough mage to be accepted into a guild. I’m not going to spend the rest of my life flipping through dusty old books in this tower.”
“That’s enough!” Etienne hissed and grabbed the woman by the arm.
I exchanged a glance with Aerin, and together, we walked over toward the pair.
“Is everything alright here?” I asked with a pointed look at the panthera man. He didn’t seem to understand that it was his behavior that concerned me, because he directed a stern look to the woman before he answered.
“We’re fine,” he said. “I apologize for my sister, she doesn’t understand that her problems aren’t a matter of public interest.”
“I apologize for my brother,” Emeline growled as she wrenched her arm free and fixed her brother with a glare. “He doesn’t understand that I’m not a child anymore and thinks he can order me around.” Etienne’s yellow eyes flashed, and I knew I’d better step in before they started shouting at one another right here in the lobby.
“We couldn’t help but overhear,” I said, “but it sounds like you wanted to look for a bounty…?”
Etienne frowned. “My sister--” he started, but Emeline cut him off.
“Can speak for herself,” she finished, then turned to me. “It’s for my final exam. There are some magical texts that the Academy wants to recover from an ogre’s lair in the south.” She raised her chin proudly. “I’m going to get them back.”
Etienne started to speak again, but this time I spoke over him.
“It is dangerous to attempt something like that alone,” I said, “but my guild would be happy to help. We collect bounties like that all the time, we could go with you.”
Emeline frowned slightly, but Etienne seemed pleased that I’d backed him up on the dangers of tracking down an ogre alone.
“You’re offering to watch out for her?” the panthera man asked. “Of course, we could pay you.”
“We’re offering to accompany her,” I corrected him, then I addressed Emeline. “Magic can’t solve every problem you will face out there. You’ll have a much easier time in a group, and you could get an idea of what it’s like to be in a guild.”
“We’re not objecting to being paid, of course,” Aerin quickly added. “Nor would we object to a share of the reward once the bounty is turned in.”
Emeline waved her hand. “I don’t care about the reward, you can keep it. You’d really be willing to help me? Why?”
I’d mostly been thinking about breaking up the pair’s argument before it got too heated, but my offer had been sincere. If Emeline insisted on getting those books back from the ogre, she’d do a lot better with a guild. Even hired guards didn’t always have the right sort of expertise for the work we did, and it would give Emeline a chance to see what life in a guild would really be like.
Besides, I recognized the stubborn set to her shoulders. If I hadn’t offered, I guessed she would have snuck out
on her own rather than wait for her brother’s approval, and it was dangerous out there. She could be dead in a matter of days if she were on her own, but I understood her desire to prove herself.
“You deserve a chance to prove yourself,” I replied, “and our guild is always on the lookout for new recruits.”
Emeline’s eyes shone, and she smiled. “When would you be ready to leave?” she asked eagerly.
“Whenever you are,” I answered. We’d planned to stop by the charter office after Aerin and I had finished submitting our tithes to see what new bounties were up. We were all a bit eager to get out and stretch our legs since we’d spent the last week and a half focusing on renovations to our guild hall, and in truth, we’d probably be making the contractors’ jobs easier if we got out of the way, so the timing was perfect.
“I can go get packed right now!” Emeline had already begun to skip back toward the stairs when she thought to add, “Meet me back here in two hours and we’ll go!“
Neither I, Aerin, nor Etienne got any chance to object as Emeline turned and raced up the stairs, and the panthera man’s shoulders slumped slightly as his sister disappeared.
“I’m not sure you realize what you’ve agreed to,” he warned with a shake of his head. He frowned, and I could see the worry in his eyes. “Please, do look out for her. She’s a talented mage, but she’s always been so willful.”
“We will,” I assured him.
“Should we also collect our fee in two hours?” Aerin asked pointedly, determined that Etienne wouldn’t forget his promise to pay us for keeping an eye on his sister.
“Of course,” he replied with a nod. “We’ll meet you here then.”
“Great!” Aerin replied, and as the panthera man turned and followed his sister up the stairs, she grabbed my hand as we started for the doors. “You heard her say we could keep the full reward, right? Should we get that in writing, do you think?”
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” I replied with a chuckle. “We’d better go tell the others and get packed ourselves.”
Outside, Lavinia, Lena, Maruk, and Merlin sat around the sweeping green lawn while they waited for us to return. There were plenty of other students outside taking advantage of the cool autumn afternoon, but even in Ovrista, our group couldn’t help but stand out.
Lavinia was easily distinguished by the curved black horns that sprouted from her forehead and the tight bodysuit that hugged her perfect body while leaving her long muscular legs exposed. Maruk, a seven-foot-tall orc with a penchant for fashionable velvet clothes, would be impossible to overlook no matter where he went. Lena might have had an easier time blending into a crowd as an elf, but as always, the alchemist was dressed in layers of brightly-hued, full skirts with bells and beads sewn into them that sparkled and jingled whenever she moved.
Lavinia was the first to notice our approach, and she stood as Aerin and I reached them.
“Your puca stole some mage’s lunch,” she reported. She tried to keep her voice stern, but I could tell that despite her frequently rocky relationship with Merlin, she could appreciate his antics when she wasn’t the target.
“We had to pay him back,” Maruk added as he turned. “He demanded a whole silver as if an apple and hunk of hard cheese is some sort of delicacy.”
“What?” Aerin growled. “That’s ridiculous, where is this mage? I’m going to go yell at his bitch ass.”
“Where’s Merlin now?” I asked quickly before Aerin could get too invested in the idea of bullying a mage out of his lunch money. Maybe whatever Merlin had stolen wasn’t worth a silver, but we weren’t in such dire straits anymore that we needed to haggle over something like that, and knowing Merlin, I figured we probably owed the mage for emotional damages anyway.
Lavinia nodded up into the tree above us, and when I looked up, my gaze was met by a pair of large green eyes. At the moment, Merlin was in the shape of a large, wiry-furred black cat, but his forepaws were more like the tiny hands of a raccoon than any cat as he clutched at his stolen cheese, and his pupils were rectangular like a goat’s.
“Hey,” I said sternly, “you get down here.”
Merlin pressed his ears back against his head and slunk down the trunk of the tree to my feet, where he did his best to look pitiful.
“You know you’re not allowed to steal from people here,” I told him. It might have appeared strange to any onlookers for me to be lecturing a cat, but I knew the puca was more than clever enough to understand me. He could even mimic voices when he wanted to.
“Next time, you’re not going to get to keep what you steal,” I warned, and I knew Merlin took the threat seriously because he shoved the remaining piece of cheese into his mouth and swallowed it in a single bite.
I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. The puca could be a bit too clever for his own good sometimes. With that out of the way, I turned to the rest of the group to fill them in about our future plans.
“We got a bounty,” I announced. “We’re going to retrieve some books from an ogre. We’ll need to set out in a couple of hours.”
Lavinia arched a brow. “Did you two sneak off to the charter office when we weren’t looking?”
“We met a mage as we were leaving,” Aerin explained. “She wants to get some books back for her final exam. We’re going to help her out. She said we could keep the whole reward.”
“Oh, I see,” Lavinia replied with a grin. “For a second there, Aerin, I was worried that you might have been motivated by simple generosity.”
“Like you go around rescuing kittens from trees,” the elf shot back.
“Come on, guys,” I said with a chuckle. “Let’s get back home, we need to pack.”
Chapter 3
Two hours later, after we had restocked our supplies at our guild hall, which we affectionately referred to as the Foxes’ Den, we were prepared to set out yet again, and we met Emeline and Etienne in the wide, circular lobby of the University Tower. Although there were more mages around than there had been just a few hours ago, it was easy enough to pick out the tall, lithe panthera siblings among the crowd. Etienne looked somewhat worried, and I wondered as we approached if he was having second thoughts about letting his younger sister travel with us. We were strangers, after all, even though guilds commanded a certain level of respect in the realm, so I couldn’t totally blame him for having reservations.
One look at Emeline, however, told me that no matter what her brother said now, she wasn’t going to be staying behind. I could tell that she was trying not to pace, but her sleek black tail flicked behind her impatiently, and her emerald green eyes glittered with excitement when she caught sight of us. She’d pulled back her long, dark hair, though a few wavy strands had slipped free and framed her heart-shaped face. She was still wearing the dark purple and white robes of a senior student of the Academy, but she had a traveling cloak slung over one shoulder and a very full pack on the other. The thick leather belt cinched at her narrow waist had a spellbook buckled into it, and matching leather cuffs decorated her wrists.
Emeline skipped up to us eagerly as we approached, her full lips stretched into a broad smile. “Good, you’re here! My brother has your payment. You’re ready to go, right?”
“We’re ready,” I told her, and I couldn’t help but return her smile while Aerin collected a pouch of coins from Etienne. Emeline’s excitement was infectious, and I was glad we’d be able to give her a chance to see what life in a guild would be like.
“Be careful out there,” Etienne said as he gave his sister a parting hug. His brow was creased in an earnest frown, and he held onto his sister’s shoulders as though he was afraid she would fly out the doors without listening to another word if he didn’t. “Don’t do anything reckless, follow every instruction you’re given, and don’t try to show off.”
Emeline rolled her eyes, and I guessed she’d heard this lecture many times before.
“I’ll be fine, Etienne,” she said as she pulled away and
joined our group.
“Emeline, remember,” Etienne started as we began to head for the doors again, “I love you!“
“Love you, too!” Emeline called back over her shoulder, though she hardly slowed down as she led us toward the doors.
As we stepped back out into the warm autumn afternoon, Emeline lifted her face toward the sky and spun in a circle with her arms outstretched.
“This is so exciting!” she gushed.
“First time adventuring?” Lavinia guessed.
Emeline’s ears tilted back slightly, and she dropped her eyes. “It’s that obvious, huh?” When she looked back at us again, her expression was almost sheepish. “I’ve lived in the University Tower almost my whole life. I’ve never even been outside of Ovrista. If it weren’t for you all offering to accompany me, Etienne would have never let me do this. Thank you.”
“We’re glad to help,” I told her, and I realized that although she already knew who Aerin and I were, I should introduce her to the rest of the guild. “Emeline, this is Maruk, he’s a shield-warrior, Lavinia, she’s an amazing archer, and Lena, our resident alchemist, and this is Merlin. He’s sort of our mascot. Everyone, this is Emeline.”
“What kind of magic do you do, Emeline?” Lavinia asked as we started walking down the main street again.
“I’m a flame elementalist,” the panthera woman replied as she raised her chin proudly. “I’m the best in my class. After I complete this quest and graduate from the university, I’m going to join a guild. Officially, I mean.”
“There’s a high demand for fire elementalists,” Aerin commented, her brows furrowed into business mode. “A lot of guilds in Ovrista would be eager to take you in. You should see what perks you can get from each of them before you make a decision.”
“What do you mean?” Emeline asked with obvious naivete.
“You know, barter with them,” Aerin replied. “See which guild will give you the best room in their hall or let you take bonuses on bounties.”