“Go on… Tell them.” Lyria said a bit impatiently, crossing her arms and tapping her foot against the worn floorboards.

  We were back in Lanton. A day had passed since my confrontation with Lyria, and now, Selene, Bront, and her, sat in front of me. All of them opted to sit on the same side of the table so they could face me directly, which didn’t help the nerves.

  We were back in the Falcon’s Flight tavern, and Lyria was adamant that I come clean to the rest of the party. She was right of course, I had to tell them about Lunae and Tenebrae whether I wanted to or not. They were my companions now, and mutual trust meant the difference between life and death in our occupation, literally.

  I took a breath, then another. The tavern was quiet this morning—just the creak of a floorboard here, the murmur of some tired traveler there. But it felt like all the sound had drained from the world, leaving only the pounding of my heart.

  Selene sat at the center, hands folded in front of her, expression unreadable. Bront’s huge form slouched beside her, arms crossed, a thick brow arched inquisitively. Lyria, for once, looked more stern than combative—though her arms remained crossed.

  I met each of their gazes briefly, then looked down at the wooden grain of the table.

  “I… haven’t been honest with any of you,” I began. “Not because I wanted to lie. I didn’t even understand it myself, at first.”

  Selene tilted her head slightly. “Go on,” she said, her voice calm, but not exactly warm.

  I pulled my collar aside and unbuttoned my tunic halfway, revealing the mark etched over my heart. A chill pulsed faintly beneath my skin, as if responding to being seen.

  Bront leaned forward, squinting. “What in the Black Hall is that?” he muttered.

  “A mark,” I said, “from… two beings. Spirits, or deities—I don’t know exactly what they are. They call themselves Lunae and Tenebrae.”

  Selene’s eyes flicked toward Lyria, who gave a small nod to confirm I wasn’t making it up.

  “They saved my life when I should’ve died,” I continued. “They gave me their power—well, some of it. It’s… not without cost. But they’re not Fellborn. I swear it.”

  A heavy silence followed.

  Selene’s fingers drummed lightly on the table. “You commune with ancient spirits that grant you strange powers,” she said evenly. “And you didn’t think to mention this earlier?”

  I winced. “I was afraid. I thought you’d cast me out, or worse.”

  Bront snorted. “You thought we’d kill you?” He shook his head. “What, just 'cause you’re strange? We already knew that.”

  I looked up, surprised.

  “That being said…” Selene’s voice sharpened slightly. “You’re carrying something dangerous. I don’t believe it to be Fell in nature, but if it ever takes control of you—”

  “It won’t,” I said, more firmly than I expected. “I can feel them. They’re watching, guiding, but… they don’t want to control me. They respect choice.”

  Lyria finally spoke again. “I saw them. Not just one—both. They’re real. And if they wanted to harm us, they would’ve done it already.”

  Selene studied her for a long moment. Then she looked back at me.

  “I won’t pretend to understand this,” she said, reaching down to pull something from her bag. “But I did find this…”

  She placed a worn old tome on the table, bound in leather, uneven yellowed pages jutting from the sides. I looked at it curiously, and then I noticed it. Etched into the leather cover was a symbol, one that was eerily similar to the mark on my chest.

  I looked up at Selene, unable to hide my surprise.

  “When I was in the archives yesterday, researching the Fell, this book caught my eye,” she explained, sliding the book towards me a bit.

  “But… how? I hadn’t even told you yet.”

  “Aye I'm a bit surprised, myself. Truth is, I didn’t buy your excuse for a minute. I didn’t think you were in league with the fellborn like Lyria did, but I was curious about that white wolf. I picked up this book by pure chance, wondering if it had any connection to the wolf spirit that accompanied you during the battle.” She admitted casually.

  “Seeing as how you told us all the truth of the matter, I don’t think I’ll be needing the book after all, but maybe you can learn something from it.” Selene finished, pushing the book towards me again, urging me to take it.

  I nodded. “I see… Okay, thank you.” With that I accepted the book, my eyes roaming over the details of the sigil on its cover, noticing some subtle differences between it and the mark on my chest.

  “Unfortunately for you, Yukon… I can’t just leave things as they are. It’s my duty as the appointed leader of this party to ensure my party members safety, and that means you too.” She said, her tone becoming a bit more serious.

  “I want you under watch,” she added. “No solo scouting unless I say so. And if you feel them pushing you, even slightly—you tell me. Immediately.”

  “Fair.”

  Bront scratched at his chin. “Sounds like we’ve got a spirit-haunted ranger now. Hells, why not. Better than the last guy who kept falling into pitfall traps.”

  A flicker of a smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.

  Selene stood. “Then it’s settled. Now come on, we’ve got a reward to collect,” Selene said, flashing an eager smile as she turned to leave the tavern, heading for the guild.

  The others began rising from the table. Lyria lingered a moment longer.

  “You did good,” she said quietly, as she passed by me.

  “Thanks for standing up for me,” I murmured back.

  She paused. “Don’t make me regret it.”

  My lips curled up ever so slightly, I tilted my head down to hide my growing smile as I pushed myself up from the table. I followed after them, feeling a hundred times lighter now that I’d been able to share my secret—and Lyria’s words didn’t fall on deaf ears. I wouldn’t make any of them regret it. I would show them my worth no matter what.

  * * *

  The four of us approached the guild desk. The receptionist, Mary, was standing behind the desk as usual. After speaking with her briefly, she gave us our reward for helping complete the emergency quest which came out to a sum of 85 gold pieces. Selene took 25 gold as the leader, and the rest of us each got 20 gold pieces. We thanked Mary and were about to leave but before we could she called out to me.

  “Oh, Yukon. A moment please,” she said, gesturing with her hand for me to come closer.

  “Yes?” I asked.

  Her expression shifted from professional to almost... pouty?

  “I seem to remember telling you not to go into the woods during that emergency quest…” She said, her tone a bit annoyed but with a hint of worry as well.

  She looked up at me, past her glasses, her lower lip jutting out a bit.

  I rubbed the back of my head, feeling a little guilty after all.

  “That’s true… I’m sorry I ignored your warning,” I said, genuinely, my eyes pleading with her not to be mad at me.

  She sighed, closing her eyes in resignation.

  “Well… as long as you don’t do something like that again. Okay?” She said firmly.

  “And one other thing. Since you succeeded in completing a high bronze level quest, we have decided to give you an opportunity to rank up. Clear one more bronze level quest, solo or with your new party here, and we will update your rank.”

  “Good luck!” She said, tossing me a wink and not letting me respond.

  I think I felt my cheeks heat up a bit, a sensation I hadn’t felt, like, ever. Since when did she get so familiar with me anyway...?

  I turned back to the party to continue on our way, but was immediately met with a sly grin from Selene, and a decidedly annoyed expression from Lyria.

  “You hiding something else from us, ranger?” Selene teased, leaning in to nudge me with her elbow.

  “Huh...? W-what? No!” I responded, blushing a bit harder now.

  I looked to Bront and Lyria for some help, but Lyria just crossed her arms and turned her head to the side. Bront got distracted by a fly.

  Selene let out a hearty laugh, clearly enjoying teasing me, and we all continued on our way. We headed straight to the quest board.

  The normal hustle and bustle of the guild hall had returned in full after the chaos of the emergency quest. Clusters of adventurers crowded around tables, swapping stories, polishing gear, or nursing sore wounds with mugs of dark ale. The scent of oil, sweat, and roasted meat filled the air, mingling with the low hum of chatter and the occasional burst of laughter or raised voice.

  As we made our way toward the quest board, I caught snippets of conversations drifting through the din.

  “—no trace left but ash and claw marks. Whole caravan gone.”

  “That’s the third one this week…”

  “Swear I saw something watching us in the fog. Tall. Unnatural.”

  Bront furrowed his brow at that last one. Selene didn’t say anything, but her eyes narrowed slightly. Lyria walked just behind me, arms still crossed but scanning the crowd. Me? I tried not to show that my skin prickled every time someone mentioned disappearances or shadows.

  The quest board stood tall against the eastern wall, packed edge to edge with notes, flyers, and parchment scraps. Official seals from the guild marked the difficulty rankings—stone, iron, bronze, silver—and more than one quest was marked with a red wax stamp signifying danger or urgency.

  One flyer was pinned to the board with a curved dagger still sunk halfway into the wood.

  Another had clearly been ripped down and hastily re-posted.

  “Alright,” Selene said, stepping forward and adjusting her gloves. “Let’s find something bronze-tier. Preferably not another undead-infested marsh, yeah?”

  “Aye,” Bront muttered, eyeing a notice that read: ‘Giant Badger Nest—Please Help’.

  I took a step closer, scanning for anything that might hint at the Fellborn without outright saying it. The guild still hadn’t issued a formal statement about what we’d learned from the emergency quest. But I could feel it in the air—the unease, the tension. It was growing.

  “Oof. Here’s one,” Bront said, pulling a scroll off the wall. “Someone wants us to herd moon sheep. What even are moon sheep?”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “They scream at night,” Selene replied without looking up.

  “Pass,” Lyria said flatly.

  After a few more moments of looking, I pulled down a rather professional looking posting with the guild’s bronze seal in the lower corner.

  Job: Escort / Defense

  Location: Rural hamlet along a trade route.

  Brief: A traveling merchant caravan requests escort to Tilver’s Crossing, where recent bandit attacks have escalated. Last escort didn’t report back. Bandits may be using unnatural tactics or cursed items. Two days journey there and back.

  Guild Note: “Multiple attackers. Estimated moderate risk. Bonus for safe cargo delivery.”

  (bronze level quest)

  “How about this one?” I said, handing the document over to Selene.

  Bront and Lyria leaned in as well, inspecting its contents—It looked promising enough.

  “Aye, good choice,” Selene said, looking it over. “Should be simple enough.”

  Lyria and Bront agreed.

  “With this you’ll rank up to bronze which will make accepting quests together in the future a bit easier.” Selene said, stepping away from the quest board.

  “Right. I’d been meaning to ask, but are you all already bronze rank?”

  “Sure are!” Selene said, fishing out her bronze rank identifier from her pouch,

  “We are on track to hit silver soon enough actually.”

  “Really? What are the requirements?” I asked curiously as we started moving back towards the guild desk.

  “After reaching bronze rank, you have to successfully complete 20 bronze level quests, either solo or with a party. After doing so you will be allowed to attempt a silver level quest, and if you succeed your rank will be raised accordingly.” Selene explained.

  “I see… So how far along are you three then?”

  “With the completion of that last emergency quest, all three of us are at 19 bronze level quests completed. This will be the last one we need before we can attempt a silver level quest,” Selene said, a competitive glint in her eyes.

  “Then this is the last bronze level quest you guys need?” I said, glancing at the three of them as we walked together.

  “Aye. So don’t fall too far behind, ranger,” Selene said teasingly.

  Right.

  I had to catch up if I wanted to continue adventuring with them. The completion of the next quest meant just as much for them as it did for me.

  With that we made it back over to Mary, and formally requested to accept the quest: [Trouble at Tilver’s Crossing]

  Mary looked down at the parchment, and then looked up, her eyes searching the distance as if trying to remember something. She suddenly set down the paper and pulled out a booklet, thumbing through it carefully.

  “Ah…” she finally said, glancing up from her booklet. “Sorry about this, but this quest actually has a party size requirement. The folks who issued the quest have requested the party to consist of at least five adventurers…”

  “Ehh… Then why isn’t that in the listing?” Selene groaned with a sigh.

  “My apologies, it appears we haven't had the chance to update it yet…” Mary said, looking a bit guilty.

  Selene turned to the rest of us. “Well, looks like we’ll have to pick another one.”

  “Can’t we find someone to tag along just for this quest?” I said, unwittingly showing my lack of experience as an adventurer.

  “Easier said than done,” came Bront’s reply, his huge arms crossed over his chest.

  “Yeah… it’s a bit tricky. You can’t go with just anyone, a bit of bad chemistry amongst adventurers is a recipe for disaster,” Selene explained.

  Lyria was next to speak up. “Also, solo adventurers are harder to come by than you probably think.” She said, glancing at me like I was a newborn baby.

  “I see…” I said back, a bit defeated.

  It was Mary who spoke up next. “The quest is not set to begin until tomorrow morning. Why not take some time to think it over?”

  With a dramatic sigh, Selene looked over at me and said, “alright then! Yukon, find us a 5th party member by tonight. If you actually manage to find someone, bring them to the Falcon’s Flight and we will meet with them to see if they’re a good enough fit.”

  With that, Selene and Lyria walked off one way, Bront walked the other, and I was left standing there with an impossible task.

  I figured I’d give it a shot though. How hard could it be?

  * * *

  I wandered around the guild hall for the next couple of hours, trying to talk with potential candidates or people that looked capable.

  Almost everyone already belonged to a party, and if they didn’t, they seemed seriously hard to work with. I tried talking to this burley looking guy with a battle hammer and an eyepatch but all he said was, “I’m lookin’ fer me right eye, ye’ seen it?” over and over. Another was a grey skinned deep gnome, tinkering with some mechanical device. He would have been alright if he hadn’t tried to have me detonate his exploding pigeon.

  I stared into my mug of dark ale, swirling its contents absentmindedly. I was sitting in the guild’s tavern now, not a single lead on a 5th adventurer. Finding one proved to be a lot more difficult than I’d thought.

  Just as I was beginning to lose all hope in the matter, a hand with a shiny gold ring slammed down on my table, I jumped slightly and looked up. A fiery haired woman stood in front of me, she couldn’t have been much older than I was. She had sun-kissed skin, a slightly freckled face with golden eyes, and for some reason, she stared at me as if calculating something.

  “Come with me,” she commanded flatly.

  “And who are you?” I responded skeptically.

  “Doesn’t matter right now! Just come on, are you going to refuse a poor maiden in need of help?” she said, pouting dramatically.

  “Normally a poor maiden would request help… Not demand it,” I retorted.

  “Ugh! Just get up!” she said, hoisting me from my table and dragging me off.

  “Hey! Cut it out! I’m not being dragged into whatever mess you’ve made for yourself.”

  “Shut it, ranger. It’s too late for that now, they’ve already seen us.”

  I looked forward towards the back door of the tavern, and standing there were a couple unsavory looking men, particularly a tall one with a twisting green snake tattoo spanning from his face all the way down his left arm.

  “Alright boys, you’ve done it now! This is the boyfriend that I was telling you about,” she yelled to them, flaunting me like some prize she’d just won.

  The guys looked immediately more annoyed following my appearance.

  “Fine then! If you won’t pay up, we’ll get the gold from him!” the guy with the snake tattoo said aggressively, eyeing me up and down.

  “H-hold on just a second—” I tried to say, only to be cut off by the girl continuing with her theatrics.

  She leaned against me, holding my arm closer to her, and looking up at me with fake fear, clearly for dramatic effect. “Oh please darling! Won’t you do something about these terrible men?” she pleaded in an innocent voice.

  My mind spun.

  How the hell did I end up in this situation, and what was the deal with this girl?

  I looked between her false pleading eyes and the menacing duo.

  “Look… What is it that she did anyway, why does she owe you gold?” I said, trying to piece together the situation I’d been dragged into.

  “She promised to sleep with me in return for that polearm! My Serpentine Spear! I traded it to her yesterday and she said we would meet today, and then she said she got a boyfriend so she wouldn’t put out!” The guy said, clearly frustrated. His other goon nodded along almost comically as he broke it down for me.

  “Uhuh…” I said, bewildered, and sporting an awkward smile as I glanced down at the girl again.

  What had she gotten me into…

  “Look, just give the guy his spear back.” I said flatly, annoyed by the whole ordeal.

  “But darling! They gave it to me fair and square! And… I like it,” she said, her response annoying as ever.

  The guys stepped forward. “That's worth 20 gold pieces! Now hand over the money Mr. Boyfriend,” the man with the snake tattoo demanded, flashing a wicked smile.

  “I…” I started to say.

  “Oh whatever—” I muttered with a sigh, fed up with this whole mess.

  And also, I had an Idea.

  I closed my eyes, focusing on the wolf's mark on my chest, calling to Lunae, channeling just a fraction of her power.

  I didn’t need to unleash her—only borrow her edge.

  My eyes snapped open, changed from their usual green to the slightly glowing, icy blue of Lunae’s eyes. I stepped up to him, a slight chill coming off my body. He was tall, but so was I. I stood face to face with him. My Icy blue orbs pierced into him.

  He faltered, stumbling back, immediately intimidated by the energy radiating from me.

  “You heard her. If my girlfriend likes the spear then it’s hers. You should have gotten the payment upfront. Now get lost. If I see you harassing her again I’ll feed you to the damn wolves,” I said coolly.

  My threat, enhanced by Lunae’s powers and my transformed eyes, seemed to do the trick. The guy stumbled backwards, practically falling over his shorter friend. The two of them scurried out of the tavern shouting something like, “this isn’t over!”.

  Sigh.

  I looked back down to the girl who was grinning at me annoyingly.

  “Cut that out,” I said flatly.

  “Heh… girlfriend, you say?” she responded with a chuckle, followed by a mischievous grin.

  “H-hey, I was just going along with it,” I replied, a bit annoyed, a light tint of pink finding its way to my cheeks nonetheless.

  “And anyway, I didn’t do that for free. It’s your turn to repay the favor. Now come with me,” I said, grabbing her arm, and dragging her out of the guild’s tavern. We headed straight to the Falcon’s Flight, just as the sun began to set.

  She protested a bit but ended up following me begrudgingly.

  We stepped through the doors and into the tavern, I scanned the tables hoping to spot my party, and sure enough they were sitting in the usual place over by the hearth.

  “Come on,” I said to the fiery haired girl.

  We walked over to the others and I sat down, a triumphant look on my face.

  Selene and Lyria eyed up the girl curiously, Selene flashing a sideways glance at me. Bront just drank his ale, looking a bit uninterested.

  “This is—wait, what's your name actually...?” I said as I started to introduce the girl, realizing I hadn’t even caught her name.

  “Hmpf! It’s Kaela,” she said with a bit of attitude, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “Okay, this is Kaela. She owes me so she's going to be our 5th member for this quest,” I proclaimed.

  Kaela was the first to speak. “What quest?! You didn’t mention anything about a quest, darling!” she said, once again teasing me and still apparently pretending to be my girlfriend.

  “...'Darling'...?” Lyria echoed, her voice laced with disbelief and a hint of annoyance.

  Selene grinned. “Well then! I won’t ask for the specifics—but, you Kaela. You’re an adventurer, surely? What’s your rank?” Selene said, tossing me a sly grin as she spoke to Kaela.

  I avoided her gaze.

  Kaela pulled out a bronze rank identifier and waggled it in the air.

  “Bronze huh… well that’s perfect,” Selene said, eyeing her up and down. “Are you capable? What's your expertise?”

  “Of course I’m capable. I’m a spear specialist, I focus on close to mid range combat,” Kaela said, puffing her chest out proudly.

  “And you’re willing to join our quest?” Selene asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

  “Willing? Absolutely not! This is the first I’m hearing of a quest, why should I—” Kaela started before I cut her off.

  “Hey—you owe me!” I insisted, and it was true, she really did owe me for bailing her out back there.

  Lyria’s eyes narrowed.

  Kaela rolled her eyes at me, paused and then with a sigh finally said, “ugh… Okay fine. I guess I do kind of owe you—and I could use the coin, but I want a fair share of the reward. No prorated temp pay or any of that nonsense!”

  I smiled awkwardly at Selene and the others, apologizing for her abrasive attitude with my expression.

  Selene turned to Bront and Lyria.

  “What say you two?”

  They responded simultaneously but their answers couldn’t have been any more polar.

  “Sure,” Bront said with a shrug.

  “Absolutely not!” Lyria said, glaring daggers at Kaela.

  “Also, why are you calling him ‘darling’? What is the nature of your relationship??” Lyria followed, not letting up.

  Selene chuckled and put her hands up in defeat, watching to see how this would play out.

  Kaela smirked at her. “Why, because he’s my boyfriend of course!” She lied, purely to annoy Lyria.

  “Wha… She’s lying—don’t listen to her,” I chimed in.

  Lyria shot a glare at me and then turned her now sharp lavender eyes back to Kaela.

  Kaela smirked back at her. “Ahh but can you really refuse? It seems your party needs this quest, and you’ll need me for it,” she said, a sly smile playing on her lips.

  Lyria’s brow furrowed in frustration.

  “...Fine. You can join our quest, but after that, I don’t want to see you again,” Lyria said, crossing her arms and looking away.

  Bront slammed his mug on the table, once again not intending to but not knowing his own strength.

  “So we’re doing it?”

  Selene smiled keenly, glancing at me once. “Guess so! It seems our ranger is a bit more useful than he lets on. Let's meet at the guild at sunrise tomorrow.” She shifted her gaze to Kaela. “And we will see you there. Looking forward to working with you.”

  And so, Kaela begrudgingly agreed to join our escort quest. Tomorrow, we would escort a merchant convoy to Tilver’s Crossing.