The sun was still high when we reached Exordium, and I’m glad it was. The city was an astounding sight to behold, far bigger than I had even imagined. Buildings of all shapes and sizes, small merchant carts to large stables, dingy inns to giant taverns, all surrounded by an enormous wall of stone with an imposing castle as the centerpiece. The various smells filled my mind with thoughts of cakes, pies, bacon, beef, and… sewer water… A chill ran up my spine as my thoughts went back to my last experience with sewers, but I was immediately brought back to the land of the present as I got a good look at the crowd of people in the city. There were mostly humans of course, but there were also dozens of elves, dwarves, half-dragons, bird folk, and more. I had read about many of them but had never seen any up close before. A particularly jolly-looking dwarf came up to our cart to greet us. “Why hello there! You must be the great Aldan and Clementina! Tis an honour,” coal dust fell from his beard as he spoke. “My name’s Dwen!” he said “And you must be Mak and Katherine, pleasure to meet ya!” he said extending his hand. The hand was hard as a rock, and yet it was also warm.
We got off the carriage followed him into a large building further into the city. It had great stone walls and a large red and gold banner on the front that said, “Exordium Adventurer’s Guild!” in large letters. Aldan put his arm around Clementina as they looked up at it nostalgically. The interior of the building was very busy, the main area had high ceilings and the walls were covered in portraits of famous adventurers. In the center was a reception desk, flanked by large signs with postings for various jobs. Sat at the desk was an older looking woman, she had thick glasses, well-kept hair, and a look that could scare away a dragon. She seemed to be shaking a little as she worked. As we approached the desk the Dwen introduced us to her. “Hey, Gretchen! We got some new members to the family! Can we get th-” before he could finish his sentence, Gretchen produced two sets of paperwork. Without even looking up she said, “Please read through them thoroughly before you sign.” Immediately we got to reading them, they weren’t too long, just some standard rules to follow. I reached for a pen to sign with when a dagger was plunged right between my fingers. Gretchen looked me dead in the eyes, “Oh, you must be Mak” she said, “I had heard that a Nequese was coming, very unusual, but if you can fight that’s all I care for.” I stood there, eyes wide and tail stiff, she hadn’t moved her dagger a centimeter, her previous shakiness was completely absent. “You did read the whole thing, right?” she said with malice in her voice. “Yes, ma’am!” I squeaked. “Good,” she said with a threatening smile before taking back her dagger and using it to open a letter.
After the paperwork was finished Aldan spoke up. “Well I’m glad we got a chance to come here with you, but I think it's time we head back,” he said turning to Clementina. “Already?” she responded, “But can’t we at least meet the members of their new team?” Aldan grinned mischievously, “Oh goodness you’re right! How could I even suggest it! They couldn’t possibly meet them on their own! What if they are shapeshifters in disguise! Or…” Clementina interrupted Aldan’s monologue with a burst of laughter. “All right, all right, let’s go honey” she relented. They hugged us good-bye and we waved to them as they left the hall. They had just gotten out of sight when I felt a massive weight touch my shoulder causing me to spin around with weapons drawn. “Hey now! Calm down there little fella, I’m one of your new teammates!” said a deep bellowing voice. Looking up, I saw what looked like a human, but much taller. At least twice as tall as Katherine, he wore a dull suit of metal armour, and had an enormous maul on his back. It felt like standing in front of an iron bear, there was no doubt, this was a half-giant. “My name’s Gus, pleased to meet ya,” he said extending out his hand. “I-I’m Mak” all that I could really manage was to grab his index finger and shake that, which caused Gus to let out a jolly laugh. “Haha hoho!” he bellowed, then turned to Katherine, “And you must be Katherine then!” he before shaking her hand.
Before any more pleasantries could be exchanged, another two guildmembers approached us. The first, a human man, about the same age as Katherine, and a very composed looking female elf. The man was wearing leather armour and carried several daggers on his belt. Between his well-combed hair and his chiseled chin was what I can only describe as the kind of face that you instinctively want to punch. The elf was wearing an elegant red robe that was reinforced in some areas with leather for protection. Her posture was perfect and her face nearly expressionless, around her neck was a necklace with a silhouette of a flying serpent at the end. The elf spoke first, “Ah good, it seems that Gus has already made your acquaintance, my name is Krimsun, and I will be guiding your group through its formative years.” She said in a very melodious tone that was soothing just to listen to. This calm was quickly disturbed by the much less pleasant voice of the gentleman with the daggers. “Gus! You should keep your distance from the rat, you don’t know what diseases it might have!” he said in a voice that I can only describe as the kind that makes you instinctively want to punch. I gave the man a glare and began to walk up to him but Gus interrupted. “No, I think he is good,” he said, “You should come over and say hi Reggie!” The man gave a scowl before introducing himself. “I’m Reginald, I specialize in stealth sensitive missions,” he said facing Katherine. “I’m Katherine, this is Mak” she replied, “Call him a rat again and I’ll disembowel you, that’s what I specialize in.”
Before Reggie could give a reply, Krimsun interjected. “It is time for you to attend the welcoming ceremony,” she said as she led off towards the main hall. There was a crowd of a few dozen adventurers in the hall, all new recruits and their captains. There was a feeling of great anticipation in the air. “The guild master will be out soon to give a speech, and then you will receive your badges,” said Krimsun quietly. “What is the guild master like?” I asked, “It speaks?” quipped Reggie with a smug grin on his face. This smile, however, did not last long as Katherine delivered an elbow to his stomach. He muffled his cry of pain with his hand as Katherine spoke calmly as if nothing had happened, “Sorry ma’am, please continue.” Krimsun nodded and explained, “The guild master is a seasoned adventurer, very wise and respected. He has slain massive beasts and saved countless villages. They call him Guildmaster Vincent, Bane of Monsters and Defender of the Weak.” Krimsun’s words were poetic but did not convey the enthusiasm one would expect of such high praise, but such was the elven accent. Then the sound of trumpets blared and everyone turned to face the stage. “That should be him,” Krimsun said. And then he walked into view, and I saw him and my jaw nearly hit the floor. It was the Inferno!
There was no doubt, the scars, the beard, even the way he walked. Forever burned into my mind with fires he lit. “Everything okay Mak?” Katherine whispered to me, seeing my trembling. My mouth opened but I couldn’t speak, my mind was flooded with the terror of that day. “Welcome Aspiring Adventurers!” bellowed Vincent the Inferno jovially. “It is with great pride that I welcome this new generation of heroes to the great adventurer’s guild of Exordium! You will face countless perils and fight dangerous beasts! Should you survive you will be loved by your people and feared by your enemies! For the glory of Regmendax!” dozens of voices echoed back, “For the glory of Regmendax!” The cheering brought me back even further to when I was forced into being a slave to the horde of Arbax. But this wasn’t supposed to be like that, I came here because I wanted to, but how could a man like this be the leader. There must be some kind of mistake, but I knew it was him. Katherine started moving and I noticed that a line was forming. Krimsun moved towards the front of the hall with the other captains. The crowd of people made it hard for me to see what was happening. Hopping onto Katherine’s shoulder I could see that they were putting something around their necks. “Perhaps it was something like what Krimsun had on her neck?” I thought. Returning to the ground to get back in line, I accidentally landed on Gus’ foot.
“Sorry” I quickly whispered as I stood up, “Don’t worry little one” he replied with a kind smile. “It’d a much bigger person than you to hurt me” he continued, “One time my little sister jumped on my back from a tree and knocked me right to the ground!” he laughed. Gus continued to talk affectionately about his family until we got closer to the front of the line. Know we could hear what they were saying, “Even slaying the weakest of vermin brings glory to the kingdom!” At this moment I wondered, that if our captain had a flying serpent, what would the lowest rank be? It could be… but no, that would be ridiculous. Reggie got his before Katherine and I did, as he left the line, he gave me an evil grin. That was not a good sign. Katherine and I stood side by side as Krimsun and Vincent presented us with our badges. Vincent proudly repeating “Even slaying the weakest of vermin brings glory to the kingdom” as he placed a badge with the silhouette of a Nequese head around Katherine’s neck. He didn’t even seem to notice that I was standing right there. Krimsun handed me my badge with the same phrase, her voice slightly less melodious than usual, but not breaking her facial expression. I held it in my hand and thought “Is this some kind of sick joke?”
Wordlessly walking over to the area designated for our team, I simply stared at the badge in my hand. It was not a flattering depiction. A snarling Nequese face, with the pointed teeth bared. I’d even rather have it be one of Katherine’s drawings than this. As this thought crossed my mind, my friend touched my shoulder and gave me a sympathetic look. She didn’t say anything, but I understood. This was temporary, we would soon be at a higher rank and I could put this behind me. Reggie could barely contain his amusement with the situation. “Does this mean if we get rid of you we will go up a rank?” he mused in a manner that can only be descr- BONK! The sound of Katherine’s iron-clad fist hitting Reggie’s pompous face was like a symphony to my ears. “OUCH! What’d you do that for!” he whined as he held his face. “Shut your dumb mouth!” she replied sternly. Gus came just in time to see Reggie draw his daggers, “I can’t be expected to work with people like this! Your just as much a beast as he is!” Reggie said as blood poured down his nose. “Woah, guys, let’s take a deep breath,” said Gus nervously, he turned to me and said “Look at this badge, pretty crazy right?” he had a very uncomfortable smile on his face. As happy as I was to see Reggie in pain, I had recognized that this probably wasn’t the best start to our relationship as a team. “Oh, don’t you point those toothpicks at me shrimp!” Katherine yelled, ignoring Gus completely in her rage. “We’ll see how you feel with these toothpicks in your mouth!” Reggie replied, equally oblivious. Fortunately, Krimsun appeared between them. She moved so fast I didn’t even see her approach, but within the blink of an eye, she had them in the air with wind magic. “I can appreciate your fighting spirit,” she said in her usual tone, “But please save it for the battlefield, or you will have me to deal with, do you understand?” Krimsun was composed as ever, which made her words even more threatening. The two airborne humans nodded in agreement as they were unable to speak from the wind magic rushing around their faces.
Krimsun smiled kindly as she let them down, and a large hand touched my shoulder. “Are you okay Mak?” I turned to see Gus looking at me with a grave expression. He handed me an oversized handkerchief, I didn’t even notice, I was crying again. Even in that brief moment, the sight of Katherine being carried into the air with wind magic sent my mind messages of fear and despair. It was bad enough that I had Reggie and Vincent to deal with, but then Krimsun used wind magic! After wiping my face I saw Gus’ concerned expression again. “Thanks, I’m good now,” I said softly. Gus replied with a smile and a nod. At the very least, there was one new person around that wasn’t antagonistic. But that was not saying much. Despite the fact that I was not directly involved in the altercation, the eyes of the crowd of new recruits were on me. Not Katherine, not the bleeding Reggie, nor even Krimsun who was only just now lowering the two to the ground. They were looking at me, some with anger, some with disgust, even some with pity. I knew that I was going to have a long and rough road ahead of me.
ns 15.158.61.41da2
