Finishing his fourth plate, Forge still didn’t feel full.

  “I’m not sure how much you’re growing, but my meals are getting a little expensive,” he sent the sleeping dragon.

  The food served in the Guild cafeteria was some of the best he’d ever had. Though admittedly, he didn’t have a wide range of culinary experiences.

  As good as it was, it was also expensive, at least for him.

  Back in Barda, he could pay for a meal with coppers, but in the Guild, they didn’t even accept silver.

  He’d asked about it, and found that gold coins were System generated currency, while silver and copper were promissory coins provided by the kingdom.

  Now, without Cinder eating his funds, his gold was stretching a little farther. However, with the amount of food he was eating, it was dwindling faster than he’d hoped.

  He was still paying the recruit-rate of one gold per day for his room in the Guild, but he needed to come up with a better solution for his food.

  There was always Greta’s restaurant, he thought.

  He could eat his fill there for less than a gold coin.

  After a moment, he dismissed the idea.

  While he was sure his money would be welcome, her low prices allowed those with little money to eat well.

  Even if he paid for it, his eating there would reduce the amount of food available to those that relied on the kind cook to live.

  Recruit-rate, he thought.

  He wasn’t a recruit anymore, and now, as a Rank One adventurer, he should probably verify if the price of the room hadn’t gone up.

  Someone cleared their throat, and Forge turned to see two Guildies standing just behind him.

  After a moment, he recognized them. They had been at the house where they had rescued Angela.

  “Aunt Jewel?” he asked, trying to remember what Sapphire had called her.

  The man standing next to the woman laughed and poked the wizard.

  “It probably should be Grandma Jewel at this point.”

  Ignoring the comment, she nodded to Forge.

  “My name is Jewel. And this is Dirk,” she said, smacking the roguish man in the chest.

  Dirk grinned in response, but his smile fell away after a moment.

  “We’re Jackal and Zap’s old teammates.”

  Rising to his feet, Forge gave them a Guild salute and a bow of his head.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Forge.”

  Jewel nodded and gestured for him to follow her.

  “I noticed your mace is a sympathetic weapon,” she said as they walked out of the cafeteria.

  “That’s correct. Though I have to admit, I’m not really sure what that means.”

  “It means that it works in tandem with whatever abilities you possess,” Dirk said, following behind him.

  That actually made a lot of sense, Forge thought.

  “I noticed it was a named artifact. Truth.” Jewel said.

  “Also correct,” Forge said.

  She stopped and turned to him.

  “I know of a spell called Detect Untruth, that tells the caster if a person is lying.”

  “Oh. Sounds rather similar to how my mace functions, I suspect.”

  She smiled brightly at him.

  “For me to cast the spell, I would have to replace one of my current spells, as well as spend a System point to bind it.”

  Forge summoned his mace and held it out for Jewel to inspect.

  “Please, have a look. I would be happy to help to provide any help I can.”

  Jewel stared at the mace for a moment, then pushed it back to him.

  “It’s an artifact that is growing with you. Its secrets are yours alone.”

  Dirk moved to stand in front of him.

  “I appreciate you helping with this. There are others in the Guild with the spell, but we need to keep the situation relegated to a small group.”

  Forge’s eyes narrowed.

  “Is this related to Angela’s kidnapping?”

  Dirk nodded.

  “It is. Though an additional situation that affects you directly has come up.”

  “Thank you for bringing this to my attention,” Forge said.

  “Save your thanks until after this is done. It’s a bit of a complicated situation, apparently,” Dirk said, nodding towards Jewel.

  The wizard gave him a consoling smile, then turned and led him down a hall to a door guarded by two men in heavy armor.

  A guard saluted Jewel, then turned and pressed his palm to the door.

  Dirk heard a low pitch chime, and after a moment, a second higher pitched chime answered, and the door opened.

  He followed the wizard into the room and stopped, eyes going wide.

  From the outside, the door to the room had looked like many other doors in the Guild. In fact, other than the guards standing at attention outside, it could have been a broom closet.

  The room was fairly large, but it was what lay beyond the room that drew his attention.

  Past two more guards, who stood at attention by an open doorway, Forge could see blocks of cells that spanned a cavernous prison.

  “Not a broom closet, then,” Forge muttered.

  He turned to Jewel and Dirk.

  “Why does the Guild have a prison?”

  “Follow me and I’ll explain,” Dirk said as he walked out the door and down the wide stone stairs to the prison floor.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Forge furrowed his brow as he followed the rogue, but remained quiet, waiting for an explanation.

  Stopping at the bottom, Dirk gestured towards the enormous area.

  “Look around and tell me if you see anything strange,” Dirk said.

  As instructed, Forge looked around. There was something off about the large room, but it was more of a feeling than something he could pinpoint.

  About to summon his mask, he stopped as the explanation hit him.

  “There are no shadows,” Forge said.

  Dirk grinned. “Got it in one.”

  The rogue gestured for him to follow as he walked and spoke over his shoulder.

  “Back when Scofrey City was Scofrey Village, the leaders of the small community sent word to the Guild to come investigate a series of animal deaths.”

  Dirk stopped and turned to face him.

  “By the time a Guild team arrived, everyone in the village was dead.”

  “An unknown dungeon?” Forge asked.

  Dirk nodded. “One unlike any we’ve found before or since.”

  “So, it was your team that found it?” Forge asked.

  The rogue grinned. “Not my team. Zap’s team.”

  He held up a hand, forestalling further questions.

  “Scofrey was originally an ogre village. They’d come up north past the mountains and set up a settlement. The Guild in Alvin sent a team of adventurers to investigate, but it was a long hike, and by the time they arrived, the villagers were dead.”

  Dirk summoned a glowing pink crystal to his hand and held it up for Forge to see.

  “This is a Guild crystal, which is provided to teams that are investigating reports of new dungeons. When activated, it sends out a beacon to the nearest Guildhall for help.”

  The crystal disappeared back into his ring, and he looked off into the distance.

  “That was about 900 years ago, give or take, and the nearest Guildhall was in Akari.”

  “Two teams of Guildies traveled to the village and met up with the two surviving members of the original Alvin team. A troll berserker named Zap, and a dwarf elementalist named Trandaril.”

  Dirk seemed embarrassed by the memory.

  “There was no love lost between the people of the north and south, but eventually we set aside our differences and fought together.”

  Jewel cleared her throat and gave the rogue a sharp look, which Dirk returned with a shrug.

  “Anyway, long story short…”

  “Too late,” Jewel muttered.

  “We won. Built a new guildhall on top of the dungeon and created a room to keep the monsters from escaping.”

  Forge understood, but gestured to the row of cells.

  “And the cells?”

  “What better place to hold powerful individuals than a place designed to hold powerful monsters?” Dirk answered.

  Forge looked around at the nearby cells, but they all appeared to be empty.

  He’d kept his mace in hand during the entire story, and it sensed no deception, so he nodded to the rogue.

  “Seems like a lot of information to drop on me right now. Any reason for it?”

  Dirk laughed.

  “I don’t know. Because you’re a paladin? Because you remind me so much of Trandaril?”

  His face turned serious, and he glanced over at Jewel before turning back to Forge.

  “Because I’m terrified we’re about to relive it, or something very much like it, and you need to go into it with at least some information, no matter what Jackal says.”

  “That’s enough!” boomed a familiar voice.

  Zap stepped out from one of the corridors that ran between the blocks of cells and stomped over to them.

  He glared down at the rogue, but Dirk just smiled back impassively.

  “We’ve talked about this!” he bellowed.

  Dirk’s eyes went hard, and he poked a finger into Zap’s chest, punctuating his words as he said them.

  “I. Don’t. Care.”

  Glowing red glyphs appeared on Zap’s armor, and he seemed to grow larger.

  “Cool off! Both of you!” came a voice from behind them.

  Forge turned to see Jackal making his way over to them.

  A sharp look from Jackal silenced Zap before he could speak.

  Turning his attention from the troll, Jackal faced Dirk and glared at him until the rogue turned away.

  “This is neither the time nor the place for this.”

  “You want to help? Use your little friends to find that noble before this turns into an even bigger mess,” he said, hooking a thumb in the direction he’d come.

  “Fine!” the rogue shouted, pushing Jackal out of the way as he stalked away from the group.

  Forge frowned at the guildmaster.

  “I want to know what’s going on.”

  Jackal turned to him and sighed.

  “You will in time. For now, let’s go talk to your friend.”

  Forge closed his eyes and prayed that it wasn’t who he thought it was.

  ***

  When he heard the word friend, he’d thought they’d been talking about Angela, but that wasn’t the case.

  He recognized the swordsman as soon as he saw him.

  Inside the cell, Gideon sat, facing away from them, and tapping his foot impatiently.

  Upon hearing their approach, he called out over his shoulder.

  “I already told you; I’m not saying anything else until I see Forge!”

  “Then you should probably turn around,” Forge said.

  Gideon leaped from his chair and hurried over to the bars that separated them.

  “Forge! I swear to you, I have no idea what’s going on!”

  Forge nodded.

  “Truth,” he said.

  Gideon paused, then vigorously nodded his head in understanding.

  “I got a request to attend a gathering thrown by Count Drascol and thought I could use my connections to make us some money if the Sturtevant thing fell through.”

  Forge gestured for him to continue.

  “While we were waiting for the Count to make his appearance, I heard a loud noise at the front of the estate. When I got up to check it out, one of the Count’s guards tried to make me stay, then threatened me before going for his sword.”

  He gave Forge a weak smile.

  “We fought, and I killed him. Sorry…”

  At Forge’s nod, he continued..

  “Then I looked over and saw all the other guests were either unconscious or dead, but before I could check on anyone. Zap came in and zapped me.”

  Gideon scowled at the troll before returning to look at Forge.

  “Then I woke up here where they tortured me for information.”

  Forge turned to stare at Zap, who looked uncomfortable but crossed his arms in defiance.

  “We didn’t torture him,” he growled.

  Not sensing any deception, he turned back to Gideon and raised an eyebrow.

  “No food! No water!”

  “You’ve only been awake for two hours!” Zap yelled at the swordsman.

  “I always eat after a nap,” Gideon hissed at the troll.

  Zap rolled his eyes, and Forge turned to Jackal.

  “Everything he said was true.”

  Jackal stepped in front of the cell and stared hard at Gideon.

  “Answer these questions.”

  “Did you know anything about Angela’s disappearance?”

  “No!” Gideon yelled back.

  “Are you working for or with Count Drascol?”

  “No!”

  “Do you have the Guild’s best interests at heart?”

  “Yes!”

  “Do you know how the other guests died?”

  “No!”

  While not an outright lie, Forge sensed the deception and gave the swordsman a frustrated look.

  “The complete truth, if you don’t mind.”

  Gideon threw his hands into the air.

  “Fine. Maybe. I didn’t know what happened at the time, but I’m pretty sure it was the wine.”

  Jackal nodded.

  “And why weren’t you affected?”

  Gideon grinned at the guildmaster.

  “Because I grew up around castle politics, and one of the favorite pastimes of nobles is poisoning wine just enough to make their political opponents lose face in front of their peers. So, I always bring my own to any function I attend.”

  Forge turned to Jackal.

  “Everything he said is true. Please let him out.”

  Jackal gestured for Zap to free Gideon, then rubbed his chin in thought.

  “If he invited you, it was for a reason…”

  “Wait. Count Drascol? I met him,” Forge said, remembering his earlier run-in with the Count and his men.

  Gideon made a show of leaning in close and whispering loudly.

  “Careful what you say. They might lock you in a cage without food or water.”

  “Whine whine whine,” Zap mimicked.

  He summoned Gideon’s family sword and tossed it to him. Then, summoned a giant sandwich rolled in butcher paper and handed it over as well.

  Gideon buckled the sword back on, then made a show of eating the sandwich and glaring at the troll.

  “There’s one on every team,” Jackal muttered before turning back to Forge.

  “When did you meet him?”

  “When I first came to the city. Angela and I were at the bathhouse after getting new clothes. I heard a scream and charged out and found one of Drascol’s men manhandling Angela.”

  “And…” Jackal prompted.

  “And I broke his guard’s wrist. Drascol apologized, and we went on our way.”

  “And he saw you were a paladin?”

  “Yes. He mentioned it, in fact.”

  Jackal nodded, then smiled.

  “That’s good. It means no one in the Guild provided the information to him,” he said, appearing relieved.

  Holding up his wrist, Jackal stared at an intricate runic bracer, then sighed.

  “Now I have a meeting with the kingdom to discuss Count Drascol and your impromptu raid.”

  Zap stomped forward.

  “Need backup?” he grinned wickedly.

  Jackal looked up at the troll and smiled at the lack of accompanying illusion spell.

  “I’ve missed that face.”

  He seemed to come to a decision and grinned back at the massive berserker.

  “You can feel it too, can’t you? It feels like the old days.”

  The guildmaster seemed to stare off into space, a fond smile on his face.

  “Yeah. You know what? I could use a little backup. I think it’s time to remind the kingdom of who we are.”

  Zap’s booming laugh echoed through the expansive room.

  “Team Dark Horse rides again!”

  The guildmaster threw a fist out, which was met by Zap’s own gauntleted glove, causing sparks to erupt out from the impact.

  The pair howled with laughter and with a final manic wave, turned and jogged towards the stairs that led out of the prison.

  Forge turned to Jewel, whose face had taken on a wistful expression as she watched the pair leave.

  She grinned at him and shrugged.

  “What can I say? This old lady is feeling young as well.”

  She spoke a word that disappeared from his memory as soon as he heard it, then rose into the air, angling up and over the cell clusters to meet her party.

  “I thought they’d never leave,” Gideon said, handing the troll-sized sandwich to Forge.

  “Store that, please. I don’t want Zap to know I couldn’t finish it,” he said as he peered around the room.

  Staring at the massive sandwich before storing it in his ring, Forge studied his friend.

  “I’m sorry you went through this, but you seem to have come out of it okay.”

  Gideon grinned and took him by the arm, walking in the direction the others had gone.

  “This was nothing. Now, if you want to hear about a real experience behind bars, do I have a tale for you.”

  Forge laughed. The entire situation was ridiculous, and he loved it.

  “Let’s get the rest of the team and hit up a tavern.”

  “Ah, leadership. I love it!” Gideon laughed.