The trio moved along the wooded stream near the capital city of Kessarak. They had attempted to rejoin the roads but found they were heavily patrolled so they had moved back into the surrounding woods.

  “The forest will be cleared as we approach the city walls.” Tormund said curtly.

  Jesse nodded. “Yeah that makes sense. A killing field to defend against any invaders. Lets them shoot anyone that tries to get close to the walls.”

  “Yeah.” Tormund said, trudging forward. They neared the tree line and stopped. “The city wasn’t so guarded when I left. Something must have happened.”

  “So what do we do?” Jesse asked.

  “You’re the one that comes up with the plans. I could probably just walk in if it weren’t for you and Aegis.” Tormund said.

  “There is a grate where this stream enters the city.” Golem chimed in.

  “I’m sure we can get it open if we need to.” Jesse said thinking. They had a couple ways of doing that. Myra possessed several tools to make the job easier, though those could be too noisy.

  “We will want to wait until night.” Tormund stated, still helping with the planning regardless of his earlier statement.

  “Okay, we go in at night and try to get through the grate somehow.” Jesse said after thinking for a moment.

  Myra had been mostly silent since the death of Nira. Really since the death of the man that had killed her husband, but the loss of Nira clearly weighed heavily on her.

  They setup a sort of camp, though without any fire or things that would give them away. Jesse idly watched the guards on top of the wall patrol or stand there. From this distance they just looked like specks. The silence between Tormund and him was tense. Myra’s silence was just sad. The Arcanescent hadn’t spoken more than a few words to him at a time in the week since Nira's death. Jesse’s heart once again sank when he thought of the young woman. Can he blame Tormund? It was his own fault after all.

  Jesse idly rubbed his hands together, except one wasn’t his hand was it? He looked down at the metallic limb that rested in place of a hand. He had found that he would often forget the lost appendage and try to use his hand for one purpose or another only to be hampered by the limited mobility of this design. He stared at it for a moment. He had lost so much in this journey. He would make sure it was worth it.

  His mind drifted to designs he had been mulling over. They would increase his efficiency, survivability, and maybe give him a semblance of feeling whole again. He mentally prepared his plans as they waited. The sun began to set a few hours later, Jesse staring into nothingness the entire time.

  After some time he decided he would try to talk to Myra.

  He moved over to where she was oiling some tools and sat down. Tormund sat a ways away, out of earshot. Aegis happily trotted next to Jesse and he gave her a good scratch. She had more than earned it. She was fully healed from her wounds as soon as Jesse got some essence from some animals on the way to where they were. To Jesse’s dismay, Golem had reported that the life essence he had lost due to draining himself beyond his capacity seemed to be completely gone. The ordeal had likely taken years off his life. He tried not to ponder the implications or the fact that he was pretty sure Tormund had done the same thing a couple of times.

  “Hey.” He said to Myra somberly.

  She glanced up at him. Her gaze was filled with sadness, but seemed to carry no blame. “Hey Jesse.”

  “You’ve been quiet since we killed the bandit all that time ago. Are you okay?” Jesse decided to just cut right to the point.

  “I thought revenge would help me feel better. It didn’t. The man needed to die, I don’t regret that and neither should you. I just… feel empty.” Myra said, shrugging.

  “Well we have been through a lot.” Jesse said, unsure of how to help.

  “Jesse. Nira.. her death wasn’t your fault. You hesitated, sure but that soldier was the one who did it. I believe you when you say you were going to kill him but even if you had swung down, he probably would have done the same regardless. He is a virescent. He can simply move so much faster than you.” Myra said in a jumble of words, more than she had said at once in over a week.

  “I appreciate you saying that but I could have stopped it. If we ever run into Kaelan again I will make sure he pays though.” Jesse said with a frown.

  “It won't stop the pain. It won't stop the darkness inside.” Myra said, looking down.

  Jesse said nothing for a moment before changing the subject. “We are almost inside. Honestly you should gather your tools and head in like a normal merchant. Go find your daughter. We have brought nothing but trouble.”

  “Well this journey has certainly been… well it’s been bad.” Myra said. “You have made me rich with that coin though. And you got me here through the bandits. I think I’ll stick with you and make sure you get inside safe.” She gave Jesse a small smile and he halfheartedly returned it.

  “We should get moving.” Tormund said to the side.

  Jesse just grunted and stood. They slunk onto the field leading to the city. It was surrounded by a tall stone wall. Jesse couldn’t make out the gate itself with the light levels outside but he saw some men with torches standing in front of where it would be. On top of the wall there were torches but much farther apart. They apparently didn’t want to ruin their watchers' night vision.

  “Move slow and low. We will make for that grate on the side of the city, where the canal empties.” Tormund told him. Jesse complied, crawling on his stomach. Myra did as well. It was a grueling four hours of slow crawling. Jesse saw no sign from the walls that they had been noticed. Aegis, being a dog, made little attempt at hiding. She ran through the fields at high speed barking and playing. The guards noticed her but seemed more amused by her presence than worried. Dogs existed here and she just appeared to be a normal one frolicking about. Finally they neared the wall, which loomed large above. They would likely need to move quickly across the stone ground surrounding the wall.

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  Without a word the four dashed across the stone and into the small overhang prior to the grate. Jesse thought that he once saw an old movie with a similar premise. Maybe it was a book? The sieging army used a bomb to destroy the spot in the wall. Well Jesse wanted to be a little bit quieter than that either way.

  Jesse stood and walked up to the grate. The stream flowed in the middle but there were banks on both side that could be used to walk up to it. The water, if you could call it that, smelled terrible. A mixture of rot and trash and human waste. The grate was solid and roughly 5 feet tall and 10 feet wide. It was a little rusty but not terribly so. He pulled on it and it didn’t move, unsurprising. “Got any ideas?” He whispered to Tormund.

  “No.” He said back.

  “Fine, I have a few.” Jesse said. “We will start with the more quiet ones. If those don’t work we can break out Myra’s tools.”

  “Hopefully they don’t get us killed.” Tormund muttered.

  It felt like a blow to the gut. Jesse turned and looked at the man, who stood glaring defiantly. Myra opened her mouth to speak but Jesse did first. “I don’t think this is the time to do this.” Jesse said.

  “There is nothing to do Jesse. You got her killed. She would be here if not for your high and mighty morality. It must feel so good to sit on the pedestal above the rest of us.” Tormund said through gritted teeth.

  “I… I know Tormund. It’s my fault. I know it is.” Myra shook her head at this but he continued. “You did the best you could but you wouldn’t have even had to try if it weren’t for my hesitation. I can’t change what happened. I need you though Tormund. You’ve kept me alive this whole time and I’ll never be able to repay you for that. Just like I can never repay Nira for her sacrifice and my failure.” Jesse said, tears welling in his eyes.

  Myra glared at Tormund before speaking. “The virescent was too fast for Jesse to do anything Tormund and you know that. Now stop blaming him.” She turned to Jesse and continued. “You stop whining. We all feel the loss but nobody is to blame here. You aren’t responsible for everything that happens.”

  Tormund was silent for a moment before he spoke. “I will help you get your daughter Jesse. Then I’ll join up with the resistance and I will make the bastard who killed her pay.” His voice was cold but less hostile than it had been a moment before.

  “Let’s just get this open.” Jesse said pulling out his pipe gun. “Can you catch this when it falls? Maybe use some magic to cushion it so it doesn’t make too much noise?”

  “Yeah I can do that.” Tormund said, readying his hands.

  Jesse readied himself and quickly pressed the trigger mechanism. He quickly moved the beam in a square shape a few feet wide and tall. Once he cut the the last part connecting the excised piece to the whole, he switched the pipe gun off. A moment later the grate groaned and teetered. It began to fall. A mud sludge rose from the river and caught it with a small splat. It wasn’t loud but the noise still made Jesse’s heart stop.

  “When they notice this the city will go on even higher alert.” Jesse said.

  “The city already seems to be on high alert. But yeah we need to hurry up and meet with the resistance. They are still our best bet in getting into the prison.” Tormund said back.

  “Well you were one of them. Where do we find them?” Jesse asked.

  Tormund was silent for a moment before replying. “Their base moves every few weeks to keep under the Archons notice. I don’t know where they are now. I should be able to make contact though through the same means as I did with Nira.” When he said her name he looked down at his hands and visibly slouched.

  “It wasn’t your fault Tormund.” Jesse told him.

  “I should have been able to save her. If I had better control I could have.” He responded. After a moment he continued. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s go find them before someone notices.” He said, stepping through the opening.

  Jesse walked out of the hole on the other side of the wall. A wave of smells hit him. Alcohol, cooking food, smoke. They mixed with the less pleasant smells like human and animal waste that permeated the canal they found themselves in. He heard a cacophony of voices speaking as people milled on the street, even in this late hour. Lining the canal he could see various homeless men and women and sometimes even kids had set up tents and other shelters above the level the stream of water waste would typically rise to. He moved down to a set of stairs and used them to walk up. Nobody stopped them. It would seem they made it in unnoticed.

  Jesse began to feel overwhelmed. The sights and smells and sounds of a city were new to him. The quiet hum of machinery and the much smaller populations of his modern life hadn’t prepared him for the chaotic mess that was this city. His head started to spin. Tormund grabbed his arm and dragged him to the side of a nearby road. Aegis followed and the three of them began walking with the crowd. “You are going to make us stick out.” Tormund said to him. “Don’t gawk. I will find us a tavern to meet up with the resistance at.”

  The four walked down the street some distance before Tormund pulled him into another street off the main causeway. After walking up this side street some distance away they stopped in front of a building. Jesse couldn’t read the sign but Tormund said “The rusty fork. I don’t know why anyone would name a tavern after rust but here we are. I should be able to make contact with someone here.”

  Myra hesitated at the door before speaking. “I’m going to find my daughter.” She said. “You two be safe. I will meet you here at midday tomorrow.”

  “Go, find her.” Jesse told her. “When we meet up I want to talk about some plans I’ve been thinking of.”

  “I don’t know if I’ll open another shop here.” Myra said with a small smile. “But I’ll always be available for whatever crazy designs you cook up.”

  With that the two men and the dog entered the tavern, which was probably on the lower end of taverns in the city but not seedy. It was dimly lit inside and people milled about drinking or playing that square card game that Jesse hadn’t learned the name of. They moved to a table in the middle of the room and sat. Tormund surveyed the room for a few moments before a serving girl approached the table.

  “Two ale.” Tormund requested. “And some soup for each of us. Beef bone for the dog.”

  The woman looked down at the overly large dog and then back up at them. “Of course!” She said with a smile and made her way back to the bar. Jesse guessed this one didn’t have an issue with Aegis. Or didn’t want to make an issue with her.

  “How are you going to pay for that?” Jesse asked.

  “I have money.” Tormund said. “Not a lot but enough.”

  Jesse hadn’t thought about it but that made sense. It wasn’t like Tormund was thrust into a new world with no resources like he had been. Tormund probably had a job of some kind before joining the resistance.

  “What did you do before joining the resistance? I can’t believe I’ve never asked that.” Jesse asked.

  Tormund stared at him for a moment before replying. “I was an arcanescent. That used to be enough of a job itself before the Archon came.” That made sense Jesse thought. That would explain how he knew about what they did in the villages before the Archon.

  “How are we going to make contact?” Jesse asked.

  “We aren’t going to. I am. I’m thinking. I’ll just need to signal one of them.” Tormund said. He took out a pen and did a doodle on it. The symbols were an array of interlocking rings. Was this the signal?

  The waitress came by with the soup and the beers. Jesse wasn’t a big beer drinker but he took a sip. It tasted sour with a hint of spice. It wasn’t overly bitter though and it went down relatively easy.

  The soup was delicious though. It had a beef broth and vegetables and various spices. It had a delicious umami flavor with some acid from tomatoes and a touch of heat from some sort of pepper. Jesse hadn’t tasted something so good since arriving, as he had only had rations and wild game in that time. He savored the flavors with his eyes closed.

  “Uh hello.” A man’s voice came.

  Jesse opened his eyes. A large man stood in front of him. He was rotund but had thick arms and calloused hands. He wore a leather armor outfit, and appeared almost to look like a guard in the way he stood. This would have put Jesse on edge but he also had a glassy look in his eyes that Jesse recognized from his younger days.

  “Uh, hello.” Jesse responded looking at him in return. Tormund watched the man silently.

  “I uh… can’t help but notice this drawing here.” The man stammered out slowly.

  “Yeah, what about it?” Tormund asked with a frown.

  “Well I just, uh, think that some mutual friends may want to meet you.” The man said back.

  Jesse and Tormund shared a look. This guy was in the resistance? He was so bad at this.

  “Yeah… okay.” Tormund said hesitantly, eyeing the man. “Which way do we go?”

  “Uh, yeah, follow me. Um, is the dog friendly? I’d like to give her a good scratch.” The man said, getting distracted.

  “Yeah she is friendly.” Jesse said with a smile. Maybe this guy was trustworthy after all.

  “You were bringing us to those friends?” Tormund said after a moment of watching Aegis get scratches and happily lick the man’s hands.

  “Oh uh yeah. Sorry, I forgot. Right this way.” He said straightening.

  The trio followed the man out of the tavern and into the bustling streets.