“Over here!” shouted an enthusiastic man from above the cave ledge. Nela brought her view upwards, frowning once she saw Oslow’s mischievous smile looking down on her.

“Could you stop going so far ahead?” She pointed at her large breastplate aggressively. “I can only go so fast!”

Oslow, the Ratman ‘finesse’ of the party, blew a raspberry at her words. “Don’t be like that cap’n. It’s my job, remember? Poke around here and there,” he said while mimicking the action with his daggers, “keep you lot nice and free of holes in yer rumps.”

The elite knight couldn’t help but fold her arms skeptically. With how long she’d known him, she had an intuition for when he was up to something. Was it a coincidence that he’s pulling this shtick while they were searching for a requestor’s family heirloom? Hardly. Does anything good ever happen when he smiles like that? No, not really. Was it likely that this uninhabited cave had any traps? Absolutely not.

“She’s got a point Ossy,” Chedwick the archer chimed in from beside Nela. “We should make more of an effort to stay closer together. What if one of us were to get injured?”

Rolling his eyes and twitching his whiskers, Oslow slumped his shoulders to take off his backpack. “Alright, I hear ya. I’ll wait for you slowpokes.” As he said this, he pulled something from his pack. It looked to be a hunk of cheese. Nela tapped her boots and voiced a loud ‘AHEM’ as the Ratman began nibbling.

“Tch, fine! Give me a second,” Oslow said as he reached back into his pack. This time, he pulled out a thick bundle of rope. He then tied it to a nearby stalagmite and threw it down, muttering under his breath the entire time.

Only once she had finished climbing up with Chedwick did Nela relax her stance. “Thank you Oslow,” she said with a pat on his furred back, “your help is very appreciated.”

Chittering happily, the Ratman popped his fingers and shrugged in an exaggerated way. “It’s nothing Cap’n.” A couple of sudden footsteps instantly drew the attention of her and Chedwick. “I mean, I won’t stop you from showerin’ me with complime-” Oslow yammered before being shushed by the more focused archer.

Raising her shield and unsheathing her longsword, Nela pointed its tip in the direction of the footsteps. “Who goes there?” Nela called out with a commanding tone. The rest of the party also readied their weapons, clumping together defensively.

“Is that any way to greet an old friend?” a slightly graveled voice said in response. Nela’s eyes widened as she recognized who had said it almost instantly.

“Alister?” she said while lowering her sword a bit. Her suspicions were confirmed as the man stepped out and into view. That long beard, those purple eyes, and that always warm face. It was unmistakable; that’s him for sure.

Almost dropping her weapons, she rushed over to hug the aged human. He grunted as she made contact, chuckling when he reciprocated. “It hasn’t been that long has it?”

Chedwick laughed as Oslow ran over and joined the hug before doing the same. “It’s been four years,” Nela said during the embrace, “that is a long time.”

“But two of you are elves!” complained the overwhelmed wizard.

While true, Nela and Chedwick could feel his absence every day since. It was hard not to when the man who brought you into the fold of heroism wasn’t there anymore. A longer lifespan didn’t change that. Oslow was probably the most affected though, given he was practically raised by the man.

Once the group finally let go, it left the wizard with a sweat. “My, you’ve grown quite a bit haven’t you,” he said with a pat to the Ratman’s head.

“O’course I have,” Oslow half whined and bragged, “I wasn’t going to just stop when ya left!”

“Not to sound rude or anything,” Chedwick said while putting away his bow, “but why are you here now?”

Alister reached into a belt pouch and pulled out a handful of coins. They weren’t copper or silver, but gold. Every single one of them. The entire party couldn’t help but stare at the wealth with shock and surprise.

“That’s the sign-on bonus I was offered for my services. I was also permitted to extend this offer to those I would need to do my duties.”

Nela’s pointed ears picked up on what he said quickly. “Does that mean what I think it does?”

With a nod, Alister said, “Yes. I’m here to gather the rest of my associates.”

Oslow started hopping excitedly, but the same couldn’t be said for Nela. “You know we can’t. As much as I would love to join you, I still have a mission to uphold.” Clenching her fists, she emphasized, “I won’t stop until it’s done.”

With a sigh, Alister said, “I do know that. But, I’m not asking for you to abandon it either.”

Chedwick raised a brow. “Hmm? What do you mean by that?”

With a more malicious smile, Alister put the gold away and replaced it with a scroll. Unfurling it, he read aloud. “Chief among your responsibilities is that you curb the dragon menace that plagues our lands. To that end, you and your help will have any monetary needs met and exceeded.”

Curb the dragon menace eh? While Nela couldn’t deny how enticing that all sounded, something about it felt fishy. She never heard of professional dragon slayers who were paid before doing their job. Especially not that well.

“Who gave you that offer?” Nela asked, still not sure.

“A ‘Lew L’Morts’ fellow,” Alister responded while showing her the document. She saw the signature at the bottom, written especially neatly. If he was able to hand out money for recruitment so easily, she thought she might recognize a name. Nothing about the strange-sounding name rang a bell.

“I don’t know Alister,” she said while rubbing the back of her helmet, “I mean, we are still in the middle of a quest.”

“Right,” the wizard said while stroking his beard, “and what is that quest exactly?”

“We’re searching for a family heirloom the requestor lost while exploring this cave system,” Chedwick quickly explained.

“Yeah, what he said,” Oslow added. “Some fancy schmancy ring with a big ol’ ruby.”

“Does it look something like this?” Alister asked before thrusting a hand into his robe. When he pulled it back out, he held a golden ring with intricate engravings and set with a huge ruby. That was the ring alright.

“You found it already?” Nela said incredulously after taking it from his hand to look over it further.

“That I did. I asked around to find where you three were off doing, and figured I could help out.”

Though she appreciated the gesture, it was beyond transparent what he was doing here. He wanted to make sure there was nothing to prevent them from joining. Always the pleaser he was.

Well, she didn’t have any reservations about slaying dragons and getting ludicrously wealthy along the way. That part was as easy a sell as it could get. But she still had some reservations about it that she couldn’t quite pin down. Perhaps she ought to ask the others what they think about it first.

“Should we go with him guys?”

Oslow looked at her like she had said something incredibly stupid. “Did you not see the gold?” He then started rubbing his hands together, a greedy glint in his beady eyes. “Think how much we’d get when we bring one in!”

That didn’t make her feel any better about it. Looking to the more level-headed Chedwick, she awaited his answer.

Shrugging, Chedwick said, “I’ve no problems with it. We might even find him if Herotia is with us. This could be a great opportunity.”

Nela smirked as she considered his words. He didn’t seem at all bothered by how odd the whole thing sounded. Maybe she was just being overly paranoid. Becoming a full-time slayer could get them closer to finding that scaled bastard. A generous helping of gold could grease more than a few wheels toward that as well. What was the harm in checking it out at the very least?

“Alright, we’ll give it a go,” Nela said to the cheers of the Ratman beside her. Alister smiled warmly, pulling out his spellbook and rapidly thumbing through the pages.

“You have no idea just how happy I am to hear that. Well, the sooner we get started,” he said as he finished cycling through the book, “the better. Stay where you are for a moment.”

Holding his spot in the book, he leveled his staff out horizontally in front of himself. His eyes moved from side to side rapidly as he looked down at the book. They were almost as fast as his lips, mouthing words silently at fascinating speeds Nela hadn’t seen before. Light pink orbs formed at the ends of the staff, flickering in and out every second.

Returning his gaze upward, the wizard finally added some volume. “Return,” he said, twirling the staff around once like a key in a tumbler. The orbs left a trail across their path, forming a circle once they touched where the other had been. Alister retracted the staff, leaving the spell hanging in the air. The circle he had made filled inward and expanded outward. The light pink energy swirled around in a vortex, mesmerizing to any onlookers. It stopped once it had touched the ground.

“The heck is that thing?” Oslow commented as he scrambled around it.

Looking quite pleased with himself, its creator said, “Just a little something I picked up in my studies abroad.” It was good to see he hadn’t spent these past years loafing around.

“What does it do?” Chedwick asked while inspecting it more thoroughly than the Ratman.

“How about you see for yourself? Follow me.” Alister then walked into the pink thing, not appearing on the other side. Oslow began freaking out a bit, needing to be calmed down by having a firm hand placed on his shoulder.

“He’s fine,” Nela reassured, “let’s not leave him waiting.” Quick to pick up on what had happened, she stepped through next. Her senses were assaulted from all fronts as the pink energies thrummed around her. It wasn’t painful, but it was certainly disorienting. Even though she considered herself to have a sturdy gut, she was glad she hadn’t eaten anything prior.

When she opened her eyes next, she wasn’t in that cave any more. Looking around at her surroundings, it looked like she was just outside of a city in the middle of a desert. One look up at those deep red stone spires was all she needed to know where she was.

“Shocking the first time, isn’t it?” she heard from behind her. Twisting her head back, Nela saw the amused faces of Alister. Wait, faces? Shaking her head until her vision went back to normal, she shot a friendly glare at him.

“You couldn’t have said that would happen?”

“And spoil the surprise? I would never! Besides, I was wondering who would go first.”

As they were talking, a sudden pop announced the arrival of Chedwick, who ended up staggering around until he got his bearings. Oslow was less fortunate, coming into being already knelt on the ground. He painted the ground a disgusting yellow-green with his vomit shortly after. Nela shook her head, moving over to the retching party member. Maybe now he’d stop taking so many snacks in the middle of a job.

After helping them recover from the ordeal, they looked to Alister. He had been waiting patiently for their attention, springing back up from his seated position.

“I was beginning to think that we’d need some stilling roots for a minute there.”

“Why have you brought us back to Nextrial?” Chedwick asked. If he hadn’t, Nela likely would have herself.

“So you’ve noticed. Well, it pertains to our first assignment.”

Already? This was going a bit fast, wasn’t it? Before she could voice any concerns, Alister continued talking.

“A young dragon has been spotted coming and going nearby. It’s an especially vile one as well, apparently having enthralled some poor sod.”

This caught the elven warrior’s interest. “Enthralled? In what way?”

Alister’s gentle face twisted up into a more grim expression. “That’s what I’d like to know as well. Details were rather lacking in the request.” He looked over at the city and eased up. “That’s for the future. For now,” he said with a shake of the bulging coin pouch, “I believe we have some shopping to do. We can never be too prepared after all.”

That was enough to get Oslow’s support, eliciting a flurry of excited yips and childlike squeaks. Chedwick pat Nela on her armored back.

“Well, I’ve been wanting to spruce up my bow for a while. Maybe we can find you a new shield, eh?”

Nela nodded with a smile. Perhaps shopping would ease her doubts. Upfront pay for such a job would always seem sketchy to her, but who was she to say no to such a generous offer?

Outside of that, seeing some more once-familiar faces would be nice. She’d have to drop in on everyone from Nextrial since they were finally in the area again. Especially the temple. A donation to the gods could give them that extra bit of luck they might need in the near future. That, and the priests had been so very welcoming last time they were here. Returning the favor all this time later would make her day.

But of all the things she looked forward to from this, it was having the party back to what it once was. Things had never been the same since Alister left. But together once more, nothing could stop them now. Just wait and see you orange murderer. Someday soon, you’ll pay.