"So lord Yedal was only bringing the money to the keep," Fern said, "he wasn't party to the plot."

"No," the mysterious man said, "this is a much larger plot than any of you realize, adventurers."

"Bah," Tadon said, "adventurers? I'm simply a mercenary."

"A mercenary that's worming his way into many dangerous places," the man said.

"Speaking of which," Tadon said, "perhaps we should be more quiet, lest prying ears hear our conversation."

Fern waved a dismissive hand. "Cryill has the whole tavern distracted, don't worry."

The tavern they were in was filled with the chanting of some tune that Cryill was playing, and he wasn't exactly sober. Yet it was rather impressive, despite his drunkeness, how deftly he fingered the strings on his new lute.

"No matter," the mysterious man said. "I will not say much more for the price you have paid me."

He got up, and without so much as a farewell, drifted into the crowd. Fern jumped up in a subtle manner, but as she strode away from their table, she found that the man had expertly gotten away.

"I don't see what you're fussing about," Tadon asked as Fern sat back down. "We got a fair amount of information, enough to look for some leads."

"Hmph," Fern grunted. "Tadon, you fail to realize that while we got information out of him, he was also getting information out of us. That's what these informants do. He paid close attention to what questions we were asking."

Tadon turned his face to the side, and cursed.

"I had to curtail the damage you were causing," Fern said, "with every word."

"Sorry miss."

"I told you to call me Fern," she said in a lighter tone.

"I'm sorry miss. Miss Fern."

"It was rather generous of you," she said, "to call yourself a mercenary. You're more of a guard for hire. A mercenary in a sense, but not one who does any work on the offense."

"And what of you then?" Tadon asked. "Are you an adventurer?"

"I dislike labels," Fern said. She picked up her glass, now empty of tea. She looked at the ripples in the glass. "I simply do what I want, and I don't care what people think of it."

A gentle smile came to Tadon's face. "I... I quite like that idea Fern."

"Of course," she snorted in amusement, "one can always go to far with that way of thinking."

She nodded towards Cyrill, who was now trying to dance while playing his lute. She kept him in the corner of her eye, waiting for the moment in which he'd inevitably trip and break another lute.

"So you're going to follow this lead then?" Tadon asked.

Fern shook her head. "No, going to Feathermarch keep would be extremely obvious. We asked questions about it. No Tadon, where I'm going is to the Giant's Knuckles."

"The Giant's Knuckles?"

"It's an area of badlands to the north," she said. "You might've caught what our informant mentioned that our secret group does not make their main base near Feathermarch. They'd need to be somewhat nearby to perform their operations. Since bandits avoid the iron forest, that's where we'd find them."

Tadon's mouth was slightly agape. "My... Fern... you're quite brilliant you know."

Fern surprisingly caught herself blushing.

"Well it seems you two are enjoying your flirting," Cryill said.

"I suppose," a voice from beyond said, "that you've stopped playing for the crowd?"

"Silence," Cyrill said, looking up, "and yes."

Dice rolled. "The crowd is displeased that you stopped playing."

"I'm sorry lads!" Cryill said, "but I'm afraid I must be off for the night."

Dice rolled again. "They get angrier."

"Alright," Cryill whispered. "let's try..."

"Okaaayyy," Cryill said again, stepping out towards the middle of the room, "a feww morre soongss, annnd..."

Cyrill suddenly fell down to the floor.

"You take two points of damage," the voice from beyond said.

"Dreadfully sorry," Tadon stood up and walked to Cryill, who was now unconscious. "The pints usually don't get to him until right before he drops."

"They believe your lie," the voice said, "and the crowd, though frustrated, leaves you alone."

Tadon sighed in relief, and they picked up Cryill, who looked very convincingly passed out.

They carried Cyrill out of the tavern, and once out in the dark, he sprang off of Tadon's shoulder and immediately unto his feet.

"So then," Cyrill said, "where you two heading?"

"To the Giant's Knuckles," Tadon said. "Me and Fern want to investigate this further."

"Good for you two!" Cryill said. "I think I should -"

And once again, Cyrill collapsed. This time though, he did appear to actually have gone out.

"Shadows," Fern said, "no wonder he was so good at acting. The pints had gotten to him."

"What do we do with him then?" Tadon asked.

"I'm not sparing the gold to put him up in an inn," Fern grumbled. "And we can't just leave the fool in the gutter. I suppose we'll take him with us. It'll be good to have another horse for supplies."

"But, Fern -"

"My mind's made up," she dismissed his worry, "and besides, our quarry is likely already searching for us. That informant could have already got them headed our way. We need to find a store to outfit us, and quick."

The night under the second Moon was as bright as dusk or morning, but with a pale cast. When it rose, the night market would open up. This was usually where the less reputable shops would open, but there were a few that rode the line quite nicely for Fern.

They got their gear and loaded up their horses. And as the second Moon set over the hill-lands, they vanished into the night.

****

"Okay," Derek said, "I think that is a good place to stop for tonight."

"No," Pat said, "I can handle it, let's keep going. I need to trounce these two."

"Judging by how well Cyrill holds his liquor," Rykker said, "I'm not sure how well he'd handle insomnia."

"What are ya' talkin' about?" Pat said, "I'm totally -"

He made a show of suddenly falling back and snoring.

Felix gathered up his things. "That was a rather entertaining session," he said.

"Yeah," Rykker said. "I hope you've got something good coming Derek."

"Oh I will," Derek grinned mischieviously, "just you wait."

"Hey Fern, I mean, Felix," Rykker said as they walked up the stairs.

"Yeah?"

"Can you give me a ride home?" he asked.

"Sure," Felix answered.

They said bye to Pat and Derek, and went outside, and got in Felix's car.

"So," Felix said as he turned the ignition and put the car in gear, "it seems that Tadon has some attachment to Fern."

Rykker chuckled. "Maybe he does."

"Fern is quite an interesting person," Felix smiled.

"All thanks to you," Rykker said. "You're really getting into this one. Normally.... well, you can be kind of quiet. But I like that you're being a bit more eager."

Felix felt a bit of mixed emotions at that. "I dunno. That's not really me. That's more of Fern's personality."

"No," Rykker said, "I think that it is yours. I like it."

"Ugh," Felix said. "I feel weird getting really into the role playing."

"Why?"

Felix sighed. "I dunno. Maybe it's the fact that I'm playing as a fairy girl."

"But I like Fern," Rykker frowned. "I think she's a cool character. Do you like playing as her?"

Felix was silent, and stared at the road ahead of him for a moment. They passed under the beams of several street lights before he spoke.

"Yeah," Felix said. "I... I think fairies are kind of cool. And it's interesting to play as a girl."

"I think that's alright," Rykker smiled. "Like you said Fern, do what you want, and don't care what people say."

"Well," Felix said, "I like playing Fern, but I do care about what people say..."

"I guess...," Rykker said, "in that case, then what I say is I don't think you're weird that you want to play as a fairy girl."

Felix smiled. "Thanks Rykker."

"So are you okay if perhaps Tadon wants to get closer to Fern?"

Felilx chuckled. "Maybe. We'll see where it goes."

See where it goes.

And right now, watching the road curve into darkness ahead of him,  he had not idea where that was.