The system spoke and instinct matched instinct when Gene’s eyes began to glow and a trickle of blood flowed from a new wound at his throat. Standing before him, with a bladed heel raised to his throat, was Gordona the Bladedancer. Strong muscles bulged from emotion, showing through the haram pants and camisole top she wore under her robe.

  “This is no laughing matter, boy,” she growled to the shock of everyone. Scattered cries went out, calling both Gene and Gordona’s name to diffuse the tension.

  Regaining control of himself, Gene released the psionic energy building in him and raised his hands in surrender. Slowly, Gordona lowered her bladed heel from his throat and stepped away with an elegant flourish that betrayed her age.

  “I am sorry. I meant no insult, this is just so far out of my wheelhouse that I don’t know how to process it,” said Gene as he lowered his head in reverence before continuing, “Where I come from, my biggest problem is whether or not a coworker sent an email in a timely manner. Please, let me start again. My name is Eugene Grey and I’m from a distant place called Earth.”

  Gene told his story once more, taking great care to relay his more confusing concepts in a way that wouldn’t upset the agile woman. To her credit as Guild Mistress, she listened without interrupting or judging, bouncing on her toes to temper the explosive power in her legs that yearned to be free. Gene had been told that Gordona was midway to the level cap of 75 with 2 ranks in Bladedancer. Now he had seen exactly what it meant to progress in rank.

  When his story concluded, Gordona stood still for a moment with her hands on her hips, taking it all in before turning to return to her desk. Wolfram rushed to her side with her glasses and fallen robe, reaching out to her when she fumbled in the air for him. Basilisk’s eye had been what took her out of combat. Kyrie told Gene about the illness that she contended with every day.

  She returned to her seat and tented her hands, silent in thought for a while before saying, “You can collect your reward at the nearest clerk. I’ll update the Council on the matter and let them know what they need to know concerning you.”

  She nodded to Gene sharply before her gaze moved from person to person and she said, “You are not to leave the city under any circumstances until I give permission for you to leave.”

  “But we can take bounties in and around the city’s limits,” interjected Kyrie with a grin.

  She glared at him but his grin didn’t subside until she sighed and said, “But you can take bounties in and around the city’s limits. Wolfram, set him up with a provisional license and then return immediately with two more attendants. We have a mountain of paperwork we need to get through to sort out this mess before the Council makes their move.”

  Kyrie nearly jumped in excitement but the moment was halted before he could leave the ground when Gordona said, “You’re dismissed but Eonis, you stay. We have much to discuss.”

  The elven man grimaced and gave the others a weak smile and wave before Wolfram guided them out of the room. Gene watched his tail sway when they left the room. Countless questions ran through his head but he didn’t dare ask a single one. Kyrie had noticed his interest and he offered one answer to a question that was floating in his head.

  “Wolfram’s a Beastkin,” he said, leaning in to whisper, rather than just thinking the thought.

  The Beastkin man cleared his throat, easily overhearing the whisper.

  “I am Wolfram D Houndsmark, Beastkin Logomancer, and advisor to Mistress Goodshow. Please keep any inappropriate thoughts to yourself,” said Wolfram, turning his nose up at them.

  Gene blushed deeply and stammered, “Oh-oh n-no. That’s not what I was–I mean, in my world–my media has Beastkin, is all. I just wasn’t prepared to meet one here.”

  Wolfram glanced back at Gene only to say, “Hmph.”

  Kyrie snickered and thought, “So that’s your type, huh?”

  Gene nearly tripped down the steps, causing Kyrie to laugh even louder.

  Wolfram deposited them at the nearest clerk, called for reinforcements to Gordona’s office, and then departed the group, never once taking his eyes off of Gene.

  Kyrie pumped his fist in the air in accomplishment. “I’ll call this a win because that could’ve gone way worse!”

  He collected the bounty to the exasperation of everyone else and Gene let out a deep breath. He touched his chin where Gordona nearly beheaded him and winced from the slight pain.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “Here, let me fix that before they capture your image,” said Kyra as she reached out with a healing touch, erasing the wound completely.

  Gene smiled in genuine appreciation but he didn’t speak. His nerves were still shot from the exchange with Gordona. He followed Winnie and Kyrie’s guidance to get his provisional license and when the clerk handed it to him, he felt a weight in his hands.

  The card read: Gene Grey, Level 15, Wizard (Mindweaver), Affiliation: Silvayn. A warm feeling rushed over him when he read the team’s name on his license and he had to fight back tears from forming. In days, they’d fought against immeasurable odds and worked together to do the impossible. He looked at each of them and oddly felt happy about all that had transpired to get him there.

  “Um, right, well,” he said, suppressing the emotion. “Should we check in to the inn first or get to work on a bounty?”

  “Bounty listing first but we’ll be tackling that tomorrow!” said Kyrie as he slung an arm over Gene’s shoulder and guided him to the bounty board. “Tonight, we rest in a real bed, eat real food, and take real baths.”

  Gene chuckled at this and nodded in agreement. They stood at the bounty board for a few minutes, only moving here and there as people rushed in around them to snatch flyers and claim listings. After a while, they settled on a simple one that perked Gene’s interest: “Slay the Earth Elemental at Simmard’s Farm.”

  His eyes seemed to light up at the thought of encountering his first elemental. He thought to himself that there was so much of this fantasy world that any ttrpg player would die to experience and he had actually done as much. He was planning to fill his own mental bestiary in due time.

  That night, they did as Kyrie said. Eonis had rejoined them after his discussion with Gordona but he didn’t share what was said. Instead, he focused on guiding the group in a string of drunken escapades. A bar crawl in a fantasy world proved to be something Gene never knew he wanted but he would crave it in the years to come.

  They dined on ales, elixirs, and tonics for all that ailed them physically or mentally. Fatigue was washed away at one bar only for the next to supply them with energizing cocktails. Even Kyra seemed to unbutton after a while and join in on a few drinks.

  Gene dined on strangely colored kebabs and beast legs the size of his head. He tasted flavors and combinations of flavors he couldn’t explain without having to share his mental impressions. When the night finally died down, the group found themselves on the rooftop of their inn.

  Winnie clung to Eonis’s back as she laughed in her drunken stupor. “This is but the first of many a night of post mission revelry. Gird your gullet, Gene, for you have yet to dine on the dragon’s brew in Alleyria!”

  “Yeah yeah yeah,” said Eonis as he turned to take the little woman to her room. “You forget you’re not allowed in Alleyria anymore after nearly blowing up the capital library.”

  Gene laughed and raised a brow in interest but the story dropped there when Eonis descended the staircase. He drank the last of his ale from the mug and just simply stood in silence, watching the stars and landmasses that passed overhead. Of all the sights he’d seen, that was still the strangest one to take in. Kyra was refilling her drink with the last from the growler when he spoke.

  “I want to go to there, wherever there is.” Gene blurted out his thoughts in a delightfully drunken drawl and the twins looked up.

  “Those are the Klarney Isles,” said Kyra, smiling softly at a memory of a family trip long ago. “Legend has it, the asteroid belt was once a single landmass somewhere in the veiled lands and when their leader foresaw the coming of the darkness, he slammed his staff into the ground and drew the land and its people into the heavens.”

  Gene was enraptured by her story and his desire to explore grew even more.

  “We went there once with our parents. It was fun but you’ll mostly find High Elves and Ascendant there so it’s as strict as strict can be,” said Kyrie, sticking out his tongue in mock disapproval.

  Kyra laughed at this before throwing a small orb of light at him playfully. She downed her drink surprisingly fast and stretched before getting up and saying, “Finish your brews and get to bed. We have a busy day ahead of us.”

  She departed the rooftop with a buzzed smile on her face and a lightness in her shoulders that she hadn’t felt since before Gene dropped into their lives. Kyrie could see the change in her and he smiled, watching her depart.

  Alone on the rooftop, he watched Gene turn his mug over, trying and failing to get the last drop of drink.

  “Here, I’m already pretty wasted,” he said as he walked over and tipped the rest of his drink into Gene’s mug.

  Gene thanked him and smiled broadly. Their eyes locked; for how long, neither of them could tell. Gene finally broke eye contact when a thought popped into his head.

  “You seem to be weird, by this place’s standards at least,” he said with a sharp laugh to the confusion of Kyrie. “I mean how many guys have you seen fall out of the sky like I did and rushed to help the way you’ve been helping me?”

  Kyrie let out the tension that had quickly knotted in his stomach with a long sigh as he thought, “Hmm…let’s see. There was that one guy, but he just exploded when he hit the ground. The other one got stuck in a tree and it was so embarrassing for him. I think so far you’re the only one that hasn’t made me cringe.”

  He gave a cheeky grin as he leaned back into his seat. Gene just stared at him with a stupid smile pasted on his face. Kyrie had shed his armor once more for a casual tunic and his long locs cascaded over his shoulders in a way that called for Gene to take hold. He wanted nothing more than to kiss him at that moment and it seemed to be all Kyrie wanted as well but neither man made a move. They sat in comfortable silence for a while before Kyrie stood.

  “I should get to bed. I can feel the day’s exhaustion creeping in.” He yawned and stretched revealing his hairy midriff for just a moment before he tapped Gene on the shoulder and said, “Good night.”

  With that, he departed the rooftop, leaving Gene in the moment. He was still smiling as he swirled his mug that Kyrie had refilled with his own ale. He down the mugs contents and thought to himself that just for today, he’d have to settle for this indirect kiss.