“So,” Ellis began, with an awkward smile, “Why do you wish to join the Starspawn?”

  The man opened this mouth to answer, then snorted loudly and spat out onto the ground. A thick glob of saliva and mucous splattered into the grass.

  “Fer coin,” the man said in a gravely voice as he rubbed his nose. “An’ women.”

  “Uh-huh…”

  Lyusya adjusted her weight awkwardly in the chair and folded her arms tightly in front of her. The man before her drew the hair out of his eyes and pushed it behind his pointed ears.

  “So…you’re from the south, eh?” he mused in a slick tone. “Me too.”

  “Can you answer the question?” Albert cut in.

  The man gave Albert a sour look.

  “What was the question again?”

  “And what is it that you feel you can offer to this guild?” Ingrid asked politely.

  In front of her stood a short man with a missing eye and scraggly gray hair.

  “Me? Oh, I can, uh….I can sing!”

  She raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Sing?”

  “Yeah!” he said excitedly. “Listen!” The man then took in a deep breath. “Oh! There once was a girl from Durinfas! She had pretty pink lips and a great big a—”

  “Thank you!”

  “Magic!?”

  Mary stared with wide excited eyes at a middle-aged man who stood confident before her. “Can you show me!?”

  The man rolled his neck and shook his arms.

  “Prepare yourself,” he said with a cheeky grin. “For you are about to witness the awesome power of the marvelous Mystic Marvin!”

  The man drew out his hand in a slow motion and slid it into the pocket of his embroidered black coat. He then quickly withdrew his hand and brandished a coin between his fingers.

  “What is that?” Mary asked with a look of wonder.

  “Behold, young lady, as I, the great Mystic Marvin, make this coin…!” He paused for dramatic effect, waving the coin through the air before holding it out once again to Mary. “Disappear!”

  Perry did his best to keep his face straight. Before him was a creature of sturdy build and reptilian features who continued to vocalize in a language that Perry could not, for the life of him, understand. Perry had tried initially to convey his lack of understanding, but the man — if he could call it that— had continued to speak anyway. After a while, Perry had become too embarrassed to say or do anything, and so he simply nodded, hoping that the man would get the hint and leave him be.

  “Mhm.”

  “Esz iyt amm engrenkotzyal.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Uzuzum’nal rkt ishtesheem.”

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  “I see…”

  Just then, Perry heard footsteps from behind him.

  “Do you need assistance, Sir Perry?”

  The sound of Telhari’s voice was like a gift to Perry. He shot up from his chair immediately and turned to him.

  “Please, Master Telhari, do you know this man’s language?”

  “I know some,” Telhari said. “Would you prefer to switch assignments?”

  Perry slapped Telhari on the back and was jogging off towards another table before the words had even left his mouth.

  “Your assistance is greatly appreciated, Master Telhari!”

  After several long hours, the interviewing was finally over.

  Somewhere between the third and fourth hours, the people that had already finished their interview had started to gather while they waited for the second test to begin. In that time, they had begun to chat among themselves; and not too long after that, the potential recruits had begun eating and preparing food of their own. Soon, Sir Perry and the others had been swept up in the promise of lunch, and began mingling and eating with the rest of them. It was then agreed that this impromptu lunch break would take place before the second test; but before that, the information from the interviews had to be collected.

  “Here you are, Mister Avenell,” Mary said as she handed him a pile of parchments.

  Avenell took the papers and skimmed them one at a time. Mary watched as the disappointment on Avenell’s face grew with each passing page.

  “Who did this!?” he asked her as he waved the papers in the air. “This is completely illegible! And most of this isn’t even filled out?”

  Mary avoided his gaze as she answered him.

  “They are Ellis’ papers…”

  Avenell sighed so heavily his shoulders sank. He gathered these papers with the others and rubbed his temple.

  “Why am I not surprised…”

  Once the men and women had eaten —and after much urging from Avenell— Sir Perry ushered the assemblage toward the training ground to begin with the combat testing. Thankfully, following the interviews, it was revealed that there were many who were not combat proficient. There were those who had come hoping to offer other services to the Starpsawn, but who ultimately had no real combat prowess. There were quite a few who had simply come to see the guild for themselves after hearing the story of the dragon’s defeat. There was even a small band of academics who had come to simply record the story of the Starspawn for their records.

  Of those who had combat skills, there were roughly two dozen that had been removed from the barracks after drunkenly starting fights with others during the lunch hour. How they came to be so inebriated in such a short period of time was unknown to anyone, but their lack of respect for the rules was enough to have them kicked out. What remained was between sixty and seventy persons who would undergo combat testing.

  “We will now commence with the combat portion of your admission’s test,” Perry announced. “You will all select a single weapon of your choice for the duration of the duel. Each bout will last for three minutes. Our guild members will be wearing padded vests. Your objective is to land as many strikes as you can within these three minutes.”

  Behind Perry, were lined up several of the Starspawn who had been selected for sparring duty. Aside from Perry himself, Ingrid, Albert, Hugo, Eadig, Ellis, and of course Telhari were all fitted with padded vests and a weapon of their choice.

  Just then, a person stepped forward from the crowd. It was a dark skinned man in foreign clothes who wielded a small staff of only three feet.

  “What of those of us who use magic?” the man asked. “How shall we be tested?”

  Perry acknowledged the man’s query with a nod and then addressed the crowd.

  “You are free to choose,” he said. “For those who wish to be tested on their ability to wield magic, you may spar with Master Telhari after the martial duels have ended.”

  The man’s face went pale and he stepped back sheepishly into the crowd.

  “Are there any more questions?” Perry asked.

  There were none who came forward. And so Perry turned from the crowd and joined the other Starspawn members. Then, each of the volunteers moved among themselves to a designated clearing within the training grounds.

  Ellis felt a lump gather in his throat. An incredibly long line of battle hardened men stood before him. Beside him, his uncle had a line that was only half as long. Apparently, the name of Sir Perry had gathered quite some attention, and there were few who thought it was a good idea to challenge him head on. In fact, the only one with a line smaller than Perry’s was Telhari himself. Further away, Ingrid too had a long line of challengers in front of her.

  “If they let this kid in, we should have no problem,” one of the men sneered as he drew a broadsword from its sheath.

  Ellis gritted his teeth at the insinuation. These people had flocked to both he and Ingrid, thinking they would be easy targets against which to demonstrate their skill. Ellis drew his sword from its sheath and held it in position. Behind him, Mary held up her hand.

  “The first round of matches will begin on the count of three!” she called out into the crowd. “One. Two. Three!”