The walls of Charstone loomed over the Unbowed like the ribs of a dead giant, the black stone glistening with morning dew. It wasn't a welcoming sight. Smoke belched from a hundred chimneys, turning the air even more suffocating than it already was.

  “Pull your hood up, Gio,” Qalda told the Sanguine, who was savoring the last remnants of darkness before the sun bathed everything in its orange gaze.

  Lucas walked behind them, carefully observing the surroundings. He felt small. The villages he had visited so far had been open and simple. This... this felt like walking into a trap.

  “Lucas,” Qalda turned to him. “You do the talking. You look... normal. Tell them we are your hired guards escorting you to the capital.”

  “Me? Hiring you?” Lucas blinked. “Look at me. I look like I own two shirts, and I’m wearing both of them.”

  “Then lie,” Gio mocked from the shadows of his cloak, eyes gleaming. “Deceit is the most distinctly human talent of all. Do put it to use.”

  Lucas nodded, reluctantly. He handed his bow to Edir, his mind already racing to formulate a believable story.

  The group was tense. The very first thing they had seen upon entering the city was the announcement - an Unbowed was to be executed that day.

  “Qalda, are ye certain it ain't the lad?” Edir asked.

  “Don't you know Felix?” Qalda smirked.

  “Aye, but it said Necromancer…”

  “We will still check, but Felix wouldn’t do anything that would get him executed,” Qalda said firmly. “He must be wasting himself in temples or arenas, betting and losing. Actually… no, he wouldn’t do anything stupid for coin.”

  The group veered right, stepping onto the narrow street. They grew quieter as the military center came into view.

  “Is this really necessary?” Lucas asked, his gaze fixed on the squat building surrounded by a high stone wall.

  “If we don't register and get the permit, we will be imprisoned,” Qalda explained. “Just tell them you are a merchant. With your accent and inability to speak our language properly, they are likely to believe you.”

  Lucas nodded, though he wasn’t thrilled about it, and moved to the head of the group, assuming the posture of someone in charge.

  He passed through the open gate, trying not to spare a glance at the guards who silently scanned the group of five. Their postures tensed as they recognized the Unbowed, signaling to others with subtle nods.

  Lucas soon noticed that a few guards were following them, trailing them even after they entered the building.

  Inside, the air was heavy with the cloying fragrance of strawberries and vanilla. Lucas hated both. He had always preferred savory to sweet.

  He followed the scent to a counter. A man sat on the other side, parchments scattered chaotically across the wood, several of them stained with smears of red jam.

  Lucas pressed his lips into a thin line as the man turned toward him.

  “What?” the official asked flatly, sucking the filling off his fingers as he put down a half-eaten slice of pie.

  “I’m here to get a permit,” Lucas said, placing his hands on the counter. “I spent days traveling to Richfield. I was sent there to buy grain, but do you know what they told me? They said they can’t sell me any because of the royal decree... I spent a fortune on this journey and even had to hire them.”

  Lucas pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the Unbowed, rolling his eyes for dramatic effect.

  The man finally finished cleaning his fingers and found the time and the will to scan the group. He studied the four behind Lucas with narrowed eyes.

  “Unbowed, huh?” he muttered, leaning back in his chair and clasping his sticky hands over his stomach.

  How do they recognize them? Lucas wondered. He had noticed that most people identified the Unbowed instantly, but to him, they looked almost the same as anyone else.

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  “Which branches do you belong to?”

  “Two Augmented and two Non-Humans,” Qalda responded.

  “Prove it.”

  Gio lowered his hood, revealing his pale face and feral red eyes. Edir didn’t need to do anything; the short green man stood out even amongst other Unbowed.

  Qalda extended her right hand, and the skin began to glow with a golden hue. Evelyn, however, didn’t budge. Instead, an amulet appeared in her palm, and she flashed it briefly at the official.

  “Does this suffice?” she sneered as the amulet vanished.

  “Yes,” the man nodded, turning back to Lucas. “And you?”

  “Me? Are you asking if I am Unbowed?” Lucas smirked, feigning offense. “I am a simple merchant who made the mistake of hiring this bunch. They couldn’t even protect my goods from the fire those damn peasants started! Can you imagine? I was asleep, dreaming of the delicious cakes at my favorite bakery back home, and then I woke up to chaos, smoke, and flames. Ugh... I should have hired proper soldiers instead of these brutes. At least then I’d be in the company of respectable humans, like yourself!”

  The man nodded nonchalantly, clearly not paying much attention to Lucas’s rambling. This was nothing but a rudimentary procedure he performed dozens of times a day.

  “Thank god I managed to save at least this one,” Lucas sighed, placing the glimmering translation crystal on the counter. “Or I wouldn't even be able to communicate.”

  The man’s expression shifted instantly. His gaze snapped to the crystal, then back to Lucas, studying him once again. A merchant with a translation crystal was no common peddler.

  “Fine, fine,” he muttered, his tone less dismissive now. “I must ask that you allow us to check your attributes.”

  All five took their turns placing their hands on a green crystal embedded in the counter. First, the four Unbowed were tested, and lastly, Lucas.

  “May I also see my attributes?” he asked.

  “We aren’t allowed.” The man shook his head. He stared at the tablet in front of him, its pale blue surface filled with symbols that constantly shifted. As the glow of the green crystal dimmed, the symbols locked into place.

  Even if he showed it to me, I wouldn't understand a thing.

  Despite doing his best to learn the language as quickly as he could, a week wasn’t nearly enough. Even if he had dedicated entire days to study, it would’ve still taken him months.

  “You are all clear. I will issue a permit, but you aren’t allowed to be outside after sunset, and you cannot enter the inner keep. If you do, you will be labeled as spies and executed.”

  The man then shot a sharp look at the Unbowed.

  “Was that bastard one of your group?” he asked.

  “Who?” Qalda asked evenly.

  “The one who was kidnapping and experimenting on people. The one we will execute today like a rabid dog!” the man hissed.

  “No,” Qalda responded firmly.

  The man said nothing. He picked up five parchments that already had text written on them, added a few words, and stamped them with a ring.

  “You may stay for three days, then you must leave,” he said, sliding the papers to Lucas. “Welcome to Charstone.”

  The group walked out of the military center and headed toward the temple to fetch Felix.

  It was a colossal structure that seemed to drink the light around it. Pointed arches rose like clasped hands praying to a distant, unforgiving god, and the black stone facade was a nightmare of intricate carvings - gargoyles, saints, and martyrs frozen in eternal screams.

  Lucas stared up at the building, mouth slightly open. He had never been one to appreciate architecture, but this one spoke to him. He found a strange comfort in the gloom, in the oppressive atmosphere radiating from the dark stone. Yet, the vibrant stained glass windows and the scarlet flame symbols emblazoned on all four sides cut through the shadows, giving the temple a terrifying, dignified beauty.

  “It’s a temple of the Goddess Bahenna,” Qalda snorted, venom in her voice.

  Sensing the dangerous shift in her mood, Lucas quickly changed the subject.

  “Qalda, how do people realize you are Unbowed?” he asked, pulling his gaze away from the intimidating structure to study the woman once more. But no matter how hard he looked, she seemed completely normal to him.

  “We are a Sanguine, a Drukyr, a beautiful sorceress, and a brute walking together…” she chuckled, clapping a heavy hand on Lucas’s back. “Congratulations. You’ve joined a good bunch.”

  Lucas smiled, though he felt a twinge of disappointment. He had assumed there was a mark or a signature perk that defined an Unbowed, something mystical rather than just being an odd assortment of people.

  “Qalda, the lad needs gear. Three days is naught, I can barely warm the forge in that time. We’re wastin’ daylight marching as a pack just to fetch Felix. I’ll take the kid to the smithy.” Edir grumbled.

  “Oh, shit. I forgot,” Qalda slapped her forehead. “Send him to me when you don’t need him anymore. I’ll help him get a horse. We can’t have another Unbowed riding on the cart.”

  Another? Lucas instinctively stole a glance at Edir, assuming the short man was the culprit, but the Drukyr seemed completely unbothered.

  “Find me a mare that possesses even a shred of dignity, and I shall consider it,” Gio sneered, looking pointedly away from the rest. “But horses are vile, erratic beasts. Spindly legs, hollow heads... and those teeth. Have you seen them? They smile like madmen.”

  “Is he…” Lucas started, but Edir interjected.

  "Aye. The bloodsucker is terrified of ’em,” he grinned. “Felix keeps to the cart too, but mostly ‘cause he’s carryin’ too many ploughin’ holy books to sit a saddle.”

  “I do not fear horses! I simply refuse to subject myself to…”

  “Aye, ye don’t fear ’em, ye just care for yer precious pale arsecheeks,” Edir snorted and shoved Lucas forward. “Come, lad. We have much to do. It’s time ye got a proper weapon and learned how to be useful. But first, we must fetch my Snowball!”

  So, Lucas is going to get a weapon next chapter. One that he will be using for the rest of the story. He will be using many weapons / artifacts / scrolls... but this one will be his primary choice.

  Also, the mount is coming! As someone who loves horses, this is going to be my favorite chapter to write xD although I'm considering a non-horse route as well.

  Either way, I hope you enjoyed the chap!

  The next chapter will be out Tomorrow.

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