Jarl called for the guards to release Vidar and then left him in the care of that same matronly servant, who brought him deeper into the keep and into a proper bed where a physician treated his many wounds and put a fresh compress on the one on his hand. Interestingly enough, from the smell, Vidar found he used a mixture similar to the veterinarian’s poultice, with herbs, honey, and garlic.

  After being given some sort of tonic to ward off the fever, Vidar’s constitution improved much. The new clothes helped as well. They brought him something much too fancy at first, but he’d refused those garments and instead received more fitting options, something a well-off merchant might wear with thick gray trousers, an off-white shirt with plenty of pockets, and a warm coat in a light brown that reached halfway to his knees. The best of all was the new pair of black, sturdy boots that the cobbler promised would keep the wet out.

  Vidar felt like a new man wearing it all, and his swollen face and bandaged hand didn’t deter from his reflection in his room’s mirror. Not at all.

  With his time spent in that cell, it was late afternoon. If Lytir was right, and Vidar hoped the vagrant was, the dragon would once again appear in the skies above Halmstadt the day after. Very little time remained, and none of that was to be spent resting.

  A set of guardsmen accompanied him back to where he was captured so Vidar could retrieve his runes and the dragon spikes. They were explicitly ordered not to allow any detours, but Vidar found they were surprisingly cheap to bribe and they happily waited outside the inn when Vidar explained he needed to go in to retrieve a few things from his room.

  Erik and Sven were apparently out, but a surprise guest waited for him by the table opposite Siv.

  “Alvarn?”

  “Where’ve you been, Vidar? What are you wearing?”

  “It’s a long story, but the guards caught me.”

  Alvarn’s eyes darkened. “The guild threatened to bar me just for associating with you. What did you do?”

  Vidar turned to Siv, who looked like she was sleeping, as he dug around for algiz runes, finding none. “I’ll explain everything when there’s time. What happened to her?”

  “She was on the verge of collapse when I got here, because you didn’t prepare her properly when teaching her how to rejuvenate.”

  Vidar hurried over to her, but Alvarn held up a hand. “She’s fine, just sleeping, but it’s a good thing I got here when I did, or she might’ve really overdone it.”

  “Why are you here?” Vidar asked, testing the runes arrayed around Siv to pick out the ones she’d rejuvenated.

  “Guild guards were waiting for me outside my room, so I thought it best not to go back there for the time being. At least until I find out why they’re there.” Alvarn placed the key to the underground on the table. “Also, I came to return this.”

  “Thank you,” Vidar said. “Did you?”

  “Make a copy? I did.”

  “What about the cleaning station?”

  Despite obviously being frustrated with Vidar’s hurry and lack of responses, Alvarn grinned. “I repaired it, Vidar, I really did!”

  Vidar raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

  “The part of the wall where water streamed through was almost fully blocked. A few bursts with a”—he lowered his voice to a whisper—“stakra rune”—his voice rose again—“cleared it right up and everything functioned just as it should after!”

  Siv woke. She grunted and looked around with tired confusion in her eyes until she saw Vidar’s new clothes. A sleepy smile spread across her face and she gave him an appreciative nod.

  “Well done with the runes, Siv, but you have to be careful not to overextend yourself,” Vidar said. “I already told you.”

  Alvarn scoffed but didn’t comment further.

  Erik and Sven entered the room then. With everyone inside, the space felt cramped.

  “Why is there a guard outside?” Erik asked.

  Vidar began waving the question away, but then stopped and turned, his brow furrowing. “One?”

  “One,” Sven confirmed, dumping a bunch of table legs and other pieces of debris in a corner before brushing off his ragged coat.

  Vidar felt faint. There it was. The reason the guards were so easily bribed. Thieves’ guild.

  “We have to leave. Now!” Vidar shouted, shoving runes into his pockets. “They’re coming!”

  “Who?” Erik asked, running to the door to put his ear against it, trying to listen.

  “The thieves’ guild is after Siv as a way to get to Ida. Torbjorn said as much when he tried to torture me. That’s why I look like this,” Vidar said, then tilted his head. “Well, one of the reasons.”

  “I am not following any of this,” Alvarn said, standing up but seemingly unsure of what to do.

  Vidar glanced up at his friend. “Sorry for dragging you into this, Alvarn, but we’re probably going to need your help getting out of it. Are you carrying algiz and stakra runes?”

  “I am.”

  “Siv. Algiz runes?”

  Siv’s eyes were wide with fright, but she leaned back and grabbed a small cloth bag under a pile of kenaz runes.

  “Rejuvenated?”

  She nodded.

  Vidar handed them out to everyone. “These will protect you. Erik, Sven, you grab pieces of wood over there to use as clubs. I’m going out first.”

  “Where are we going?” Alvarn asked.

  Vidar placed his makeshift kenaz rune on his forehead and readied both stakra and algiz runes for himself. “We’re going to the keep. They’ll just have to house us all.”

  “The keep?” Sven asked, pausing in the middle of looking for a club.

  “Someone is out there,” Erik said, his voice a terrified, shouted whisper.

  “Vidar!” Alvarn shouted.

  Vidar stopped fiddling with his runes and turned to his friend. “What?”

  Alvarn was holding a stakra rune in each hand, ready. “What are you dragging us into? What did you do?”

  “I rescued Siv’s sister from the jail,” he said, gesturing to Siv. “In doing so, I messed up. A guard died because of me and the steward and his soldiers know. I’m trading my help in beating the dragon for a pardon. Also, the rune scribes’ guild knows about the stakra rune, I think, and your blasted guild mistress visited me to make a lot of threats. I didn’t fold under her pressure and tried to get a writ to allow us to craft runes and sell them without being involved with the guild. She didn’t like that. That’s probably why the guards were at your door.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  The entire room fell silent.

  “Any questions?”

  “You killed a man?” Sven asked.

  “I also killed Yallander. The thieves think Ida did that. That’s one of the reasons they’re trying to find her. Can we now please get out of here before we’re swarmed with thieves and killers?”

  Alvarn’s face was hard. “Sounds like you’d fit right in.”

  “Later, Alvarn. Yes?”

  “Agreed,” Alvarn said, nodding at the door. “You go first. I detest violence, but if we have no other options available to us, so be it.”

  The determination in his friend’s face surprised Vidar, but it was a welcome surprise. Erik and Sven looked on the verge of breaking, and Siv wasn’t much better. Her eyes were full of tears, but he wasn’t sure why. It would have to wait until later. At least she was wearing her coat and holding an algiz rune and a kenaz one ready.

  “Vidar! It is time to return to the keep!” The voice broke through the group’s low chatter.

  Vidar breathed in deep, then whispered to Alvarn, “Be careful with the stakra runes. Too wide a trigger and they’ll tear a man apart.”

  Alvarn swallowed hard and nodded.

  “One moment,” Vidar called through the door, then he flung it open and triggered the kenaz rune to blast light at everyone outside.

  Just as he’d feared, the entire hallway was filled with figures obscured by the dim light. Their surprised reaction and subsequent blinding gave Vidar an edge and he did not squander it. He shouldered into the soldier right by the door and made him fall back with a thud, then hurried past and triggered a stakra rune while pointing the symbol at the corridor. Just like he’d hoped, the distance between himself and their opponents meant no one took the full brunt of the thrust. Instead, the roughly hand-sized invisible force barreled down the corridor and threw most of the thieves to the floor with a yelp of surprise and anger.

  “Hurry!” he shouted to the others before setting off at a run. As he ran past the first few men in the way, he triggered another kenaz rune, blinding those few who remained standing. One had the foresight to hold up a hand to shield his eyes, and he grabbed for Vidar’s coat.

  Before Vidar reacted, Erik swung a table leg like a club into the thief’s head, sending him to the floor.

  They ran and Vidar made it to the other side, right near the stairs down to the ground floor, when Siv let out a garbled yelp of surprise. Someone had grabbed her. Alvarn grabbed the thief and shook him, but it was Siv who helped herself free by pressing a triggered sowilo rune into the thief’s exposed face. He let go with a cry of pain and the air began smelling faintly of burned meat.

  The group hurried down the stairs and came face-to-face with the other guard, who was already mid-swing with his sword when Vidar appeared. Against an algiz rune, the weapon did little good. It bounced off with a strange-sounding thud and a blue, translucent shimmer that made the guard drop his weapon and turn for the door.

  Vidar grabbed the sword and handed it to Sven before triggering another stakra rune to send the guard tumbling into the wall and crashing into a heap on the floor.

  “Let’s get out of here!” Vidar shouted, half pushing the others past himself to shepherd them through the door.

  Steps thundered down the stairs and thieves soon poured out after them, almost catching up by the time Vidar and the others rounded the corner of the house. Focusing on their pursuers, the group almost ran headfirst into another group of thieves. These wore strips of fabric over the lower part of their faces, hiding their identities.

  Vidar stopped, panting, turning back to see the first group closing in. He looked for another path forward, but the side passages were filled with masked thieves as well. When he peered up, he even saw a few on the rooftops. Many of them wielded bows.

  Alvarn walked up to Vidar. “What do we do?”

  A single person walked forward from the crew in front of them and removed her mask. Only then did he spot the dark gray patch covering one eye, kept in place with a leather strap.

  Relief flooded Vidar. “Ida!”

  She made everyone part to let Vidar’s group through, but Siv stopped next to Ida, her fingers flickering as her face went through a wide array of emotions.

  “Later,” Ida said, pushing Siv to Vidar so the masked group could close their ranks and block the pursuers’ path.

  “You’ve got your guild already?” Vidar asked, almost shouting to be heard over the din of voices and the disappointed shouts from the male thieves.

  Ida didn’t take her eyes off them when she answered Vidar. “The beginnings of one! So far, we haven’t had the chance to do much thieving. Staying alive and practicing has kept us out of harm’s way, but when I heard whispers of thief movements toward this part of town, I couldn’t stand by. I’ve been keeping an eye on Siv, as you can probably understand.”

  “Sure,” Vidar said, eying the very angry-looking male thieves. “Are you sure you can beat all of them?”

  Several of the masked women and girls laughed or giggled, and Vidar saw quite a few of them raise their bows.

  “We can take care of ourselves, Vidar. You continue taking care of my sister for me.”

  “I will.”

  And he would, too. “I’ve got a rune that’ll help protect you,” Vidar said.

  “I’m not taking any part in that witchery, dummy. Now go!”

  Alvarn, Erik, and Sven ran, but Siv stood rooted to the ground and didn’t budge, even when Vidar waved for her to follow.

  The two sisters met eyes then, and Ida gave Siv a warm smile that didn’t reach her one good eye. “I’ll deal with these pests now and you’ll see me again soon enough. Now go, sister!” She gestured to Vidar. “This is what you chose!”

  Siv stomped her foot and glared, tears streaming down her face and snot running through her nose. Then she made a short gesture and turned to run.

  Ida shouted at Siv’s back. “I love you too!”

  Vidar nodded to Ida. Then he was off as well. As he caught up to the group, shouts of pain and alarm rang out from behind as Ida’s small army of women clashed with the thieves’ guild. They didn’t make it far before Alvarn stopped and handed over the few forbidden runes in his possession.

  “I’m not going with you to the keep.”

  Vidar threw a nervous glance back the way they’d come. No one was following.

  “Why not?”

  “I’m a student at the rune scribes’ guild. That’s where I belong until I’ve grown enough to become a full member. Anything else, illegal, dragon related, or otherwise, is not something I am comfortable with.”

  “You might end up in trouble over there no matter what you tell them.”

  “I’ll deal with that if I have to,” Alvarn said, putting a large hand on Vidar’s shoulder. “Good luck.”

  Vidar narrowed his eyes, then shouted at Alvarn’s back as he disappeared down the street. “Wait! Are you just scared of the dragon?”

  When no reply came, the rest of the group continued on all the way to the keep.

  The guards were not happy seeing him return on his own, without his escort, but after a lot of shouting and quite a few threats, they finally relented and showed Vidar back to his room. He, along with Siv, Erik, and Sven, all looked on in wonder at the lavishly decorated hallways and chambers. Once they were alone, Vidar immediately set them to work.

  “Erik, Sven. You go find tools so you can continue making runes. We’ll be up most of the night crafting.”

  Vidar peeked out from the doors and waved for a servant half running the other way, carrying a pitcher of wine. The servant, a young woman, looked like she was considering ignoring him and continuing on her way, but finally relented.

  “What?” she asked, both expression and tone sullen.

  Jarl appeared in the corridor then, walking fast enough his aides had to run to keep up.

  Vidar waved the girl off. “You can go.”

  She threw a glance Jarl’s way, blushed, then scurried away with the wine.

  “Why am I hearing about a melee in Andersburg? Before the guardsmen made their way over there and broke it up, twelve people were dead! Why were my soldiers counted among those?”

  “You know why,” Vidar said. “You should take more care in who you take into your ranks.”

  “Thieves,” Jarl spat.

  Vidar withdrew one of the dragon spikes. “Where can I find someone to make an arrow out of this for the ballistae?”

  “Is that bone?”

  “It is.”

  “Bone is very brittle, Vidar.”

  Vidar shook his head. “Not this bone. You’ll see.”

  Jarl grabbed the spike and then reached back with it to one of his aides. “Take this to Hermel and have him fulfill this young man’s request.”

  “An arrow, sir?” The aide, a woman about his mother’s age with dark brown hair and fair skin, raised an eyebrow at the precious spike. “Are you certain?”

  “Yes, yes,” Jarl said, waving her away, much like Vidar had done with the serving girl.

  “We’ll be crafting runes for most of the night. Do you keep materials for such work in the keep?”

  “Why are there more of you now?”

  “They are my companions. We were attacked by the thieves. I need them for my part in tomorrow’s attack, and they need to be safe.”

  Jarl looked at him for a good long while, then apparently saw something in Vidar’s expression. “Very well, but would it not make more sense to work with rune scribes? The guild has their issues, I know all about that, but they are professionals.”

  “We don’t need them.”

  “You don’t want them learning of the new rune, is what I’m hearing.”

  “They’re bastards,” Vidar said.

  “You’ll be glad to hear I want nothing to do with them either, so you’re in luck. I won’t force you, but many lives depend on you keeping your word the next time we are attacked, be it tomorrow or at a later date.”

  “I’ll do my part. Just prepare the arrow. One more thing. I’ll need as many rejuvenated heat runes as you are able to gather.”

  “What for?”

  Vidar looked up at the tall soldier. “Just trust me.”

  “I don’t trust you, Vidar. I thought I made that very clear. But you will have the requested runes. Just make sure my men and my equipment both are well protected.”

  A heavy commitment, but Vidar was ready for it.

  “You have my word.”