I’d gone back to the bakery not long after Raven woke up. Since I am pretty unique looking I was recognized at once and not allowed to pay. Everyone there had known what had happened at the south gate and insisted that if I was getting buns for some of the adventurers back at the guild that I should take enough for all of them, and then some. I was loaded down with bags of buns, all kinds for all diets, by the time I returned. A gift for those who defended the city.

  I saved a few that I had planned to buy for myself to bring home with me but there was more than enough for the hungry guild. Two whole tables in the main room were loaded down with the treats. I had to sneak several of the bean paste buns into Raven before they could be snatched up.

  In spite of the near disaster and the mild injuries it was shaping up to be a good day. Raven was up and about not long after I had returned. While our original date had been cut short we did get some more time to talk. I explained at length my theories about what the people called ‘Elementals’, which resulted in her eyes glazing at times but I think she understood the important parts of it.

  The day was still good as the night came down and I returned to the townhouse. Ever since I brought up professor Voss and how he acted towards me Bibbel had started treating me better. He was even nicer to our landlord. It didn’t hurt that I had saved one of the bean buns for him too

  At dinner I was peppered with questions once they learned I had taken part in the defense of the wall.

  “Why did you do that dear boy? You are not in the adventuring guild.” Professor Thanolin asked me, concern in his voice.

  “It comes from being from elsewhere. And it turned out to be a good thing. Raven was about to hit the creature with a water spell and I had a the insight that it would be a bad idea to do so. It was putting off so much heat that the water would have just become steam rather than quenching it.”

  “Do they have such elementals where you come from?” Bibbel asked, polishing off the bun.

  “Not as such. But we learn about what can cause such reactions in school and it just stuck with me.”

  “Ah yea. School can teach you such random things you never know where you’re going to end up using them.”

  That brought out a hoot of pleasure from the old teacher as he set the pot of cooked rice on the table for us. “Remember you said that young Ofspry, even your dullest class serves a purpose.”

  The paracrest served himself, adding the pickled vegetables he loved alongside his spice sauce to his portion. I added fish to mine, enjoying the silence at the table for once. It wasn’t broken until Bibbel was halfway through his meal.

  “You know, my dad has said stuff like that too. Even if usually he is muttering about transportation issues and how much better it would be if the guilds actually controlled the lands between cities. He said you can learn a lot you’ll never know you’ll need from the most random classes. I think that’s why he insisted I go to college a while before joining the company.”

  “And he was right to do so.” Thanolin agreed, “And not just because that gives the school money. A mind that avoids learning is one that is wasted. That cannot cope when things change.”

  I chewed thoughtfully on some fish, listening to them have a civil conversation. It was nice, making me almost believe for a moment I was back home listening to my dad and brother talk about something at the dinner table. While this wasn’t the same it was comforting none the less.

  “Bibbel,” I began as he finished his plate, “can I ask something?”

  The paracrest’s sail fell a bit but he turned to me anyway. “Yea?”

  “Since you are knowledgeable about guilds and transport, what did you mean about controlling the spaces between the cities?”

  He seemed to relax a bit, even pulled out a smile. “Well, you’ve read some on the guilds right? It doesn’t work that way where you are from?”

  “Uh not where I’m from. I read that the guilds essentially control most of the cities between here and Varcalis. Varcalis is a small nation instead of a city state but the guilds still have a presence there. Is that correct?”

  “More or less. See, the Transportation Guild, which my family’s company is a member of, would love to have the kind of influence that New Rome has. They have major roads and something even more spectacular. Something called a railway system. It can send goods between the provinces in hours and days instead of weeks and months. Problem for us is we can’t do that even with the Guild of Engineering on board with New Rome’s designs because we cannot protect the land between. Too many bandits and roaming tribes for that.”

  My ears perked. I didn’t know the word at first but when he said how fast goods could travel I worked out what it was. A railway system! New Rome had higher technology or better magic than the guilds had out here. Once I was done with the bunker research project I should probably sit and study New Rome.

  “Why can’t they be defended?” I asked at last.

  “Only cities have guards and they are mostly just to keep the peace. Sometimes defend against an unfriendly tribe but most monster attacks are dealt with by the Adventuring Guild. Well, you saw that today. No adventurer is going to want to take a job just to walk up and down a road all the time. Most caravans only have adventurers along when they are going between cities and don’t care how long it takes to get there. Now you look at New Rome and they have guards all over. No roaming tribes. Bandits and monsters but the guards are trained to take care of them. They can afford to have major infrastructure. The guilds, well, the members of each guild have a city or two to call their own out here and could care less about the towns and villages.”

  I nodded, lost in thought. It never occurred to me that such systems of governance could effect technological progress or lack there of like that. But I never paid that much attention back home either. You just voted for something you wanted or against something you didn’t and that was that. I had no idea about the minutia of it all. Here though learning a thing or two about it could only help.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “I was invited to join the guild, the adventuring one. I don’t have time for it with my current projects but I just might some day. Help clean up a few messes.”

  Thanolin tilted his head, giving me a critical stare. “You’d put yourself at risk?” He asked. It looked like Bibbel was about to say something too but closed his mouth at the professor’s words.

  “I mean, I already did. And I do go hunting sometimes on my day off. If the price is city defense but the reward is people who will patch me up if I get hurt without costing me extra I think that would be worth it.”

  I could see Bibbel nodded. “That’s what the guilds are good for.” He agreed, “Always a job if you’re a guild member. Kinda a shame that the scholarly set doesn’t have their own guild.”

  “We do not hoard our knowledge.” Thanolin pointed out.

  “You kinda do though. I know how much the school costs.” And the two of them went back to a heated discussion.

  I couldn’t help but smile at that. While it was good to have them getting along I knew I would miss the bickering if they were nice to each other all the time.

  ———————————

  Raven had mostly taken jobs close to home in the weeks after the fire elemental. It was mostly for times like this, to be able to spend time with the librarian. He was a lot nicer than her last boyfriend. And while he was likely smarter he didn’t talk down to her either. He’d shared his knowledge of classifications where he came from. Names like ‘Compatible’, ‘Hospitable’, ‘Hostile’, ‘Explosive’ and ‘Incompatible’ were now part of her every day understanding.

  Today they were taking a walk in the city, just having a conversation about the various shops. He told her which ones to avoid, such as the snooty shop in the Trade Ward called the Crested Covering. Various food stalls and what the best time to get there was, including ones that were worth the wait. She was surprised that he had knowledge of some more paracrest centric places but apparently his roommate swore by them. She had to agree when she got a lunch at one with pickled vegetables and a spicy sauce in a roll.

  Ramjack stuck with the rice and the sauce sold at the same stand. He had to eat with both hands but seemed content to continue to walk around with her and let her talk.

  “So, we’re headed off to the town of Orinvale tomorrow.” She told him, “Probably be away for a week or two. Mazen, Jace and I. There are reports of something going wrong with the crops in the area, as well as some missing livestock. The [Hunter]s down there haven’t found anything so requested adventurers to come check things out. We’re taking a [Healer] with us for the job.”

  “I thought Jace was going to retire now that you sold the other repositories?”

  “Nah. He said he was going to wait until he got into the vault at the very least. But I am suspecting he doesn’t so much want to retire as build, what did you call them, robots? Probably field test them as an adventurer if he can.”

  Ramjack chuckled at that before finishing his rice. “That would be fun to see.”

  Raven took his hand in hers as they walked, meals consumed. “It would be a sight alright. He has what he called a control key. Said if there is still a working machine in the vault that he should be able to take it over. No need to build one himself.”

  “Dangerous to attempt, with the demons the recording claimed to be behind the door.”

  “Yes, which is why we are not attempting to open it. Maybe in a year or two when there are enough high level adventurers drawn here for a promise of a share of the vault. That way we won’t be risking much to breach the doors.”

  “Much smarter in real life than in stories.” Ramjack squeezed her hand.

  “I’ve read those stories too. Growing up, hearing that my folks had been adventures, I devoured every story on the guild I could get. My town didn’t have a library but there were merchants who came through with books from time to time. People willing to loan out their old copies to a child as well.”

  “And it didn’t dissuade you from the life?”

  “If knowing my parents never returned home from a quest before I hatched didn’t then nothing would. Granny might not have wanted me to live this life but she knew I couldn’t be stopped. She helped me where she could. Helped me get training, even if it was to manage my anger.”

  “Surprises me as you do not seem the least bit angry.”

  She laughed, turning to nuzzle his cheek affectionately. The denser fur there felt good against her ever so scaly nose. “That is because I turned it into something else. Learning to meditate, to control my emotions turned it all into power.”

  He squeezed her hand before rubbing her cheek with his own nose. It felt nice, his warm breath against the side of her mouth. It ended up being a very good date before she had to leave town.

  —————

  It had been a week since Raven had left town. My second day off since our lovely date. I was already missing her, and not just how it had felt to be with her. She was good to talk to. The sort of person I would have loved to have met in the before time as well. I couldn’t stop thinking of her as I tracked through the forest. I was near my old campsite, not far from the bunker.

  There was some nice hunting out this way, and less chances to encounter a tri-horn. Several had been seen scrounging not far from the south gate after the fires there. Large feathery four-legged creatures with wicked horns and several neck and back armor plates. Not something would want charging me with just a bow for protection.

  Rabbits and deer were a much safer alternative. Deer were easy to hit with a bow but rabbits were good practice and easier to carry back with me. Deer might have been tasty but more difficult to carry and too much meat for me to have alone.

  I made it down to the river, pondering if I should learn how to fish. They were quiet tasty water based creatures after all. I was looking down at my own brown-furred face in a reflection of slow moving water when the ground started to shake. With my feet planted I was not going anywhere, but it was enough to cause alarm.

  I put my bow away, turning from the water as the shaking died down. Birds screamed up in the trees, some taking flight. I didn’t think I would be getting any more hunting done this day after such a tremor.

  I just started to make my way back, passing my old camp, when a sulfurous stench met my nose. It was coming in the direction of bunker. Fear crept into my gut at that revelation. Did the quake cause the vault to breach after all this time, or was it the other way around? Maybe a group not affiliated with the guild went down there and opened the gate. But that would mean…

  I was startled from my thoughts as a winged creature dived quickly towards my head. It was like nothing I had ever seen before with large membranous wings and the body of a burrowmaw. It wasn’t much bigger than a rabbit but it also had a tail with a wicked barb at the end of it.

  I went flat to the ground out of shear panic, grabbing for my skinning knife to defend myself. It landed on my chest, curling its body so that the barb went for my face rather than my belly. The knife pulled free in time to be used as a block. It tried again even as I met the end of the tail with the blade. It slid against the plates of its body, forcing the barb away.

  The stench of the sulfur was so strong my nose clogged as I fought to get it off my chest. While it had the body and pincers of a burrowmaw it also had eyes, several spotted over its head the color of rubies. It seemed to stare at me, jaws open as pincers reached out. One snipped into my face fur, cleaving it almost down to the skin.

  I screamed at the thing attacking me, franticly slashing the knife at it. It was a decent knife that I had been able to afford. Perfect for skinning rabbits and could even scale fish. The plates on the monster’s body were a lot like thick scales to the knife, catching for a moment before tearing whole sections off. It seemed to scream back at me, flipping over with its wings.

  I coughed, trying to get up. A jolting pain went through my leg before I turned over, slamming the blade of the knife right through the creature’s body and into the dirt. Pain radiated from the wound and I groaned as darkness crept in through the edges. I’d been stabbed by the barbed tail. Some kind of poison.

  Before the darkness finished closing in on me I heard voices. “Looks like one of the smaller demons took down a hunter.”

  “Is it still breathing? We should bring it into Astaril. He is always looking for more test subjects.”

  My last thought before passing out was ‘Were they speaking in Alliance Standard?’