Izzy swiftly convinced the attackers to hand over almost everything they had, and they even expressed gratitude for her handling the situation personally rather than involving the authorities. She imposed a thirty-day ban on them, allowing them to return afterward. However, she warned that any minor misconduct would result in a permanent ban.

  Valgrin and Malcolm lugged their bags up the solid wooden stairs, and pushed open the door to their rooms. Valgrin smiled and stepped into his room, sunlight streamed through the lace curtains, illuminating the polished wood floors and neatly made bed. Dropping his bag on next to the bed, he sat on the surprisingly comfortable mattress. Skwilly chuffed happily as he arranged the pile of clean rags he found on the floor. The priggy let Valgrin know he was staying in the room and taking a long nap, which he validated by snoring softly. After a moment's pause to appreciate his good fortune, Valgrin joined Malcolm in the hall.

  Malcolm pointed back at his room, “I’m assuming your room was better than expected, like mine? Not sure if we should thank Fred, Izzy, or both?”

  “Yeah it was. Clean, comfortable bed, and more, much better than expected. One thing I got out of it—I may have a very low expectation of a lot of things here that I need to adjust. Magic seems to be more than able to replace a lot of what we have at home.”

  Malcolm nodded, then headed down the hall, Valgrin following behind. They descended the staircase, their footsteps echoing in the short hallway, and headed to the bar and sat at their reserved places at the end. When Tahlur and Steeyann came downstairs, the four moved to the nearest table, its surface clean though scarred with the marks of countless gatherings.

  “You going to stay long, Tahlur?” Malcolm asked.

  “Maybe? I came to Sanpra hoping to get to join a group of adventurers. Nobody wanted me. I am…um…small and not overly talented. But if you guys don’t mind me tagging along with you?”

  Valgrin looked over at Malcolm, who shrugged. Then he looked across the table at Steeyann. “You in for going on an adventure or three?”

  Steeyann picked at his teeth, then nodded. “A few, at least. I belong to another crew, so I may not join all of yours, as long as you’re okay with that.”

  “Great, sounds like a successful tavern visit.” Malcolm slapped the table.

  “What does this have to do with visiting the tavern? I mean, other than we’re in a tavern.” Tahlur cocked his head.

  “Most, if not all—crews, I think you called them Steeyann—meet and then get their first adventure in a tavern.” Malcolm nodded toward Steeyann, who nodded back.

  "You see, I could really use everyone's help with things like that. Growing up, my mother was always so protective, keeping me from doing much in the name of safety. And my father? He stood by her decisions without question. So there I was, in a grand house with all its luxuries but little freedom to explore or make friends." Tahlur's gaze drifted to the ceiling as his voice wavered slightly. "I'm also unsure about staying here or sticking with the small place I've rented for six months. The landlord probably won't refund anything or let me break the contract, and I've still got four months left on it."

  “Well, I’d say you found a few friends here. And at the end of your contract, I’m sure Izzy could find a place for you.” Steeyann patted Tahlur on the shoulder.

  Valgrin nodded his support. “I take it you’re a mage, Tahlur?”

  “Not much of one, to tell the truth. With my parents keeping me safe from the world, I didn’t get a chance to do any type of training until I left them. I’m barely a novice.”

  Malcolm raised a finger. “That lightning bolt didn’t come from a mage that is just starting out.”

  Tahlur looked down at his hands. “After you hear this, if you want to change your mind, I’ll understand. My father, when he learned of my intentions, assured me of his support. He had to be discreet so my mother wouldn’t hear, which didn’t exactly allow for a perfect father-son moment. However, I’ll cherish it forever. Anyway, he produced an amulet of lightning. Not just any amulet, but the Dekka amulet. I can cast ten lightning bolts a day, with a ten-second cooldown between every other cast. I have to let it charge for one full day. If I don’t, it will not function on the tenth day after a charge. In other words, it forces a recharge at ten days.”

  Valgrin scratched behind his ear, his face scrunched up in thought. “That sounds familiar. Does it cast at ten levels above your current level?”

  Tahlur quickly looked up. “It does.”

  Shaking his head, Valgrin looked up at the ceiling. Stranger and stranger—this has to be a dream. “I didn’t name it Dekka, but I think I designed it, or Fred told me about it back when I thought my ideas were all mine.”

  “I have a Creator relic?” Tahlur’s mouth stayed open as he processed the information.

  Malcolm reached across the table and pushed upward on Tahlur’s chin. “You look better when your mouth is closed. That’s the second thing we’ve run into that came from you. I’m put out by the lack of my creations around here.”

  Tahlur pulled a pendant out from under his shirt. He leaned over the table and offered the two-inch square of silver to Valgrin. He took it, careful not to tug at the chain still around Tahlur’s neck. Light reflected off the jagged line of white stones embedded into the metal. He ran his finger over the stones, not sure if the warmth was magic or residual left from being against Tahlur’s chest.

  “It’s striking,” Valgrin’s voice was hushed.

  Malcolm groaned, “That was not one of your better ones.”

  “Huh..what?” Valgrin looked up at Malcolm as he released the amulet.

  “Striking? Lightening bolts? You want me to believe you didn’t mean that?”

  Valgrin laughed with the others. “Stumbled on that one. Wish I had meant it, though.”

  “You boys enjoying yourselves?” Izzy stopped by the table.

  “Getting to know each other, you didn’t do a fantastic job of introducing us to each other earlier.” Steeyann grinned at his sister.

  “As I recall, the situation didn’t call for introductions. Plus, I didn’t know our new friend here yet.”

  Tahlur beamed at Izzy’s words.

  “I stopped by to see if you wanted stew and, more importantly, what you wanted to drink. Would like to serve you before it gets busy.”

  The group all made their requests, and Izzy headed back to the kitchen.

  Steeyann let out a low growl, reaching across the table, a finger jabbing at Malcolm. “Stop staring at my sister like that.”

  Valgrin held his breath, hoping Malcolm could defuse the situation before it came to blows.

  “Uh…sorry…I mean…uh…” Malcolm turned bright red as he stammered, “It…well, um, I mean…”

  Steeyann’s booming laugh broke the tension. “Got you.”

  Malcolm exhaled loud enough for everyone to hear. “You did, got me good.”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Steeyann wiped at his eyes and smiled. “Since I brought it up, I won’t interfere. Learned a long time ago, there isn’t a need to protect my little sister. She can handle herself and she’s let me know that, loudly, the times I’ve tried.”

  “Thanks, I think.” Malcolm still looked a little wary.

  “Honest.” Steeyann’s smile went away, “I understand your nervousness, especially with what I just pulled. You don’t need to worry about anything unless you hurt her. Then you and I would have problems.”

  Valgrin watched a wave of emotions play out in his friend’s face. Sadness lingered in his eyes once the wave stilled.

  “I would never hurt any woman physically. Emotionally? Not intentionally.” Malcolm’s voice caught. He paused before continuing. “My relationship history is not something to brag about. Based on that history, I have the capability of hurting her unintentionally.”

  Steeyann nodded slowly. “That can happen to anyone, most of us, actually. I was referring to deliberate or malicious acts.”

  “Those won’t happen.” Malcolm shrugged. “Though I can be dense enough, it might seem like it. And not a word Valgrin.”

  “Would not say a thing. Nod in agreement vigorously and probably for a long time. But I’d never say a word.” Valgrin smiled. He relaxed when the others joined in, laughing, feeling relieved.

  “Thanks for the support.” Malcolm responded with a hint of sarcasm.

  “Steeyann, I presume you're a fighter type. At least you seemed to know how to handle a sword.” Valgrin switched the topic for the sake of his friend.

  “That was a poor showing. I didn’t know what your pet could do—so when he squealed I looked at him, that was a huge mistake. Only a few feet away, looking directly at him, I took the full brunt of the light magic. Before I could see a thing, sharp, and painful objects were pelting me.”

  “Yeah, his light show can surprise you. For the record, Skwilly isn’t my pet—we’re bonded, sort of like partners.”

  “So, fighter?” Malcolm asked. “Trying to get us back on track here.”

  “Um, noted on the not pet thing. Fighter? Technically, yes. I’m a ranger—with a scout specialty, to be specific. So, I’m okay with a sword, but substantially better with a bow.”

  “Scout specialty?” Malcolm continued his questioning.

  “Rangers have three paths open to them. General path, basic all around ranger. Gehafah, which is a city ranger, typically a guard or army role. And then there is scout, a ranger with less hand to hand and more long range skill, as well as strong natural and tracking ability. As you advance, you get magical buffs focused on tracking, along with your range skills.”

  “So, our crew is a Mage, a Scout, an Eurythelon, and a Travellar. Three humans and an ice elf. Not a bad mix, I hope.” Valgrin raised a mug, and the others joined in the toast.

  A tall, slender brunette brought four bowls of stew to the table. “Hello Steeyann, Izzy wanted to wait for a loaf fresh out of the oven.” She laid a platter with a full loaf in the middle of the table. “So it took a little longer than usual.”

  “Thanks Deeah.” Steeyann grinned, “Everyone, this is Deeah. Deeah, this is Tahlur, Malcolm, and Valgrin. Guys, Deeah onboarded several years ago. Deeah, Valgrin, and Malcolm onboarded a couple of days ago.”

  “Izzy mentioned some onboarded showed up today, along with some other excitement. Glad to meet you all of you. Nice to see another elf around.”

  Valgrin glanced up and noticed her pointed ears. “Glad to meet you. Where did you onboard from?”

  “A burning vehicle. Trapped, and the fire was spreading. I closed my eyes, and I ended up here. A woman gave me a choice of taking on the role of a character I played or back to the car. I chose this.” Deeah shuddered.

  Valgrin decided to be blunt. “What class, if I can ask?”

  Deeah paused for a second before answering. “A thief is a fun thing to play a game with, but not so fun when it’s more real, which this is for me now. Luckily, Izzy offered me a job and here I am, not what I had mapped out for my life. But better than roasting in the car, and better than being just a thief. I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve seen a couple of tables come in, and we’ll be getting busier as the night goes on. I need to go. Talk with you later.” She smiled at Steeyann, then turned and headed to a table.

  “Hmmm, I never thought about being something you don’t want or would go against who you really are. Like what if I had been onboarded as an assassin, or something else I’d not be comfortable being instead of playing?” Malcolm took a long sip of ale and sat back in his chair.

  Valgrin looked over at Steeyann. “Does she live here?”

  “She doesn’t have a room here.” Steeyann paused, biting his bottom lip. He sighed, then continued, “You’ll see her here some mornings, probably tomorrow morning. She and I…I mean we…well…we’re not quite a couple, but headed that way.” Steeyann’s head snapped up, and he looked directly at Valgrin. “You aren’t…I mean…why did you want to know?”

  Valgrin chuckled. “I’m not interested in coming between you. I have a wife at home, and I desperately want to get back to her.” He paused and pointed to Malcolm, then back to himself. “We didn’t get a choice. Both of us were living out our lives and then showed up here—again, no choice offered. I have a life I want to go back to. The wife, kid, a couple of grandkids, and more. I miss all of that, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get to go back.”

  “Only a couple of grandkids?” Tahlur asked.

  “How many do you think I should have?”

  “You’ve been around for a few hundred years, three or four hundred or more. I’d have thought you’d have more, or maybe…” Tahlur let his voice trail off, “Sorry, I got too personal there.”

  “No worries.” Valgrin assured him. “Why do you think I’ve been around that long?”

  “The stories of the two of you as Creators go back that far, possible farther.” Tahlur answered. Steeyann nodded in support.

  Malcolm let out a soft whistle. “Obviously there is a serious difference in time between our home and the EverNever. Fred sort of mentioned there was a difference, but didn’t indicate how much of one. We started playing together around forty years ago, by our calendar—and less than a few years prior to that before we met. Seems the difference might be close to a factor of ten, give or take.”

  “If that’s true, we’ve only been gone from home a few hours, by home time. Let’s see, ten days here is roughly one day there. If we round up to two and a half hours there per days here…”

  Valgrin took a deep breath while turning to look at Malcolm. “It’s not even been half a day, maybe even not enough time for Kara to notice. I don’t know what time I got grabbed. It is possible my alarm hasn’t gone off yet. Her’s goes off before mine, she’s often gone before I even get up. She may not even know I’m gone, yet. That is more of a relief than I expected!”

  Valgrin sat back and relaxed, finally understanding what people met when they said they felt like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. He took a sip of his drink and sighed, his smile growing as he did.

  The silence at the table broke through Valgrin’s thoughts. He looked up to see Steeyann and Tahlur staring at him. Malcolm sat, scooping a spoonful of stew into his mouth. Valgrin sat up and quickly took a bite of stew for himself.

  “Steeyann,” Valgrin spoke with his mouth half-full. “Don’t you think we better eat some stew before Izzy notices that we’re not?”

  He wasn’t sure if the look of panic on Steeyann’s face was faked or real, but watching the scout shovel two spoonfuls as quick as possible, made Valgrin think it was grounded in reality at least.

  Before shoving the third bite into his mouth, Steeyann looked up at everyone else. “Eat. Quick. Eat.” He took the bite and started working on the next.

  The table went from silence to slurping in a few seconds. Valgrin marveled at how fast Steeyann ate. He nearly spat his stew across the table at Tahlur when he noticed Malcolm trying to keep pace with Izzy’s brother. He and Tahlur ate at a much slower pace than the other two, but it still looked like they were two starved men having their first meal in a week.

  I need to find out how long we’ve been known as Creators. If it’s over four hundred years, he had even more time than he calculated. What if it ended up being a factor of twenty? Thirty? Even if it’s ten, a year here would be less than two months at home. I wont’ have missed much, have a lot of explaining to do—but I can live with that. A groan from Malcolm brought Valgrin’s attention back to the table.

  “I have to stop or it’ll all be coming back up.” Malcolm pushed the half empty bowl away.

  “I haven’t eaten as much, but I’m full too. I had most of the bread, though.” Tahlur joined Malcolm in pushing his bowl away.

  Steeyann kept eating, at a much slower pace. Valgrin looked down and decided a few more bites would be the end for him.

  “So, now that we have a crew. What’s next?” Malcolm groaned a little more after asking. “I ate too much, too fast.”

  “That’s what you get for trying to impress my sister.” Steeyann’s spoon clattered in his empty bowl.

  Malcolm answered him with a loud burp, causing the whole table to laugh.

  “Back to my question.” Malcolm said, once the laughter died down.

  Steeyann held up a finger. “We should go see if we can find a job. I can go to the guildhall in the morning and see what’s posted.”

  “I’m a guild member too, another of father’s parting gifts.” Tahlur looked over at Steeyann and quickly added. “Not that I’m trying to horn in or anything, just wanted you to know in case you can’t make sometime in the future. I’d be more than glad to help.”

  Nodding, Steeyann looked over at Valgrin and Malcolm. “You’re new enough nobody will say anything, yet. However, we’ll need to get you listed as a member. Basic membership is just a fee. More specialized membership takes testing.”

  “Maybe Fred already took care of that for us. We can check in the morning when we go with you…”

  “Evening to all” Izzy’s voice brought near silence to the full tavern. “Thank you for spending your evening here.” She pulled a chair over to the raised stone of the hearth and sat down.

  The table creaked when Steeyann leaned over to whisper to Malcolm. “I think you’ll enjoy this.” He sat back grinning.

  “…so rest, let the staff know if you need a refill, and enjoy the music.”

  Izzy lifted a strange string instrument in her lap. Valgrin thought it looked part hurdy-gurdy and part small harp. She strummed a couple of strings and sang. Valgrin didn’t think of anything else, but listening to Izzy’s stunning voice.