No Such Thing as Good and Evil

“But how?” Faylen whispered nervously. “Shade said you died.”

“No need to be so nervous, child. While we’re in contact with each other, I can speak in your mind where only you can hear me.”

“That’s not why I’m nervous! I’m talking to a bow made out of mythical materials that claims to be the dead queen of Merellien.” She paused and gathered herself, then closed her eyes and felt the connection with the bow, then began to speak in her mind as well. “How is this even possible, how are you still alive?”

“I’m not sure this counts as being alive.” Lilah sighed. “I don’t like to go into long diatribes like that dragon clearly does, so I’ll explain as best as I can, as fast as I can. Mozan, his grandfather, killed me. He removed my soul from my body and put it into something he called a soul jar. It can keep souls alive for short periods of time, and allows them to be transported. He usually used them to take souls from battles back to dragons in Endross for them to eat and become stronger, but he used one to keep my soul alive for a short time. He then created this bow out of Godstone and angels’ hair as that dragon surmised. How it actually works? Don’t ask me.”

Faylen paused again and considered the story. “And how do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“You may have noticed that dragon couldn’t remember how he came to find me, until he could. I’m able to show people memories of mine, snippets of history. A power I gained post mortem. I can show you one if you wish, just tell me what you want to see.”

Faylen paused once more. “I wish to see you with his grandfather.” She thought, then in an instant, the world around her shifted, as if she was teleported. She found herself standing in the corner of a lavish room. The room had black and white checkered marble floors, golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and 2 red velvet couches surrounded a glass table in the center of the room. The table had a bottle of wine on it, as well as 2 diamond glasses. On one couch was a lucifer dragon that looked eerily like Shade, the only real difference was the clear age of the face as well as the dragon had 3 horns on his head, rather than the two Shade has. The dragon was wearing purple and white formal attire, as if he was about to attend a ball. On the other couch, a female fairy, with blazing bright rainbow wings and golden blonde hair and eyes. She wore a bright pink sleeveless dress with slits by the thighs as well as a gem filled crown on her head.

“You can’t seriously be planning to start a war.” Lilah said.

“What other choice do I have?” Mozan replied sternly.

“Negotiate…”

Mozan cut her off and slammed his fist on the table. “Negotiate! Why do we have to negotiate? Everybody treats dragons like dogshit, like we don’t deserve to live. So, we peacefully left and went north and created our own kingdom. Now we have to negotiate as well? Negotiate for what, our ability to exist? What have we done besides being born as dragons?”

“I understand…” Lilah began but was cut off again.

“Do you? Do you! You understand, do you. Dragons are the most powerful beings on the planet, yet we’re treated like trash! If you understand so well, why did you enact laws banning dragons from peerages?”

“I’m trying to avoid war, unlike you.” She replied annoyed. “I’m trying to quell the fires, unlike you. I’m trying to calm the masses, unlike you.”

“I say let the flames burn!” He replied as he stood up and pointed at the ground. “I say throw the masses on the front lines, let me kill them, let me show them what they look down on!”

“All that would do is cause more people to fear you!” she yelled back as she jumped to her feet as well.

“If my choices are to be disrespected and feared, or respected and feared, then I will choose the latter.” He brushed past her and headed for the door by which Faylens ghostly presence stood and watched the scene play out.

Lilah turned toward him. “You know as well as I do that the nobles and merchants are the ones pushing this anti-dragon propaganda. You would really kill scores of innocent people to avoid losing face in some menial negotiations.”

“You’re a queen Lilah, you should understand, I would do anything to protect my people. I’ll take on the entire world if I have to.” He said, opened the door and began to walk out.

“If war breaks out, Merellien will no doubt be dragged in. If that happens.” She paused. “Ill have to fight as well.”

He stopped in the doorway, looked at the ground for a moment, then peered over his shoulder. “Then ill see you on the battlefield.” He said softly, then disappeared through the door. The room then began to turn fuzzy, before disappearing as Faylen found herself in the basement of Shades cabin again.

She reoriented herself, then turned around and looked at Shade, who was shadow boxing with three arms. His two arms, and his tail, which he had stuck a pair of gauntlets on to use as a third arm. “He looks just like him.” She whispered.

“Yes, he does, though I’m unaware of any grandchildren named Shade of Mozans.” Lilah replied.

“Shade isn’t his real name. He gave himself that name after running from Endross. His real name was Valvath Endross, and he was to be king after Mozan died.” She thought, while she contineud to watch Shade with wide eyes.

“Valvath, yes. The bastard son of Joran. Mozan did speak quite highly of him.”

Shade did a spinning kick and saw Faylen was watching him. He awkwardly removed the gauntlet off of his hands and tail, then dropped them to the ground. “So, well, uhm, are you all finished then?” He said sheepishly.

“Oh, uhm, yes, I’m ready when you are.” She replied, then walked back over to him, bow in hand.

“Do not tell the dragon of me. I trusted Mozan, and you can see how that turned out for me. The only thing I know of this one is what my former carrier told me of him, before he mercilessly killed her.” Lilah said.

“I understand.” Shade walked back to over to the doorway, or hole in the ground, and jumped back up. “Don’t you need to put out these flames!” she yelled through the opening.

“The door is air tight, once its closed back up, the flames will put themselves out!” he yelled back.

She looked around the loot filled room one more time, then at the bow in her hands. She placed the bow over her shoulder, then jumped up through the doorway as well.

Shade closed the door, unrolled the carpet back over it and placed the coffee table back on top of the carpet. “Well then, let’s get going, you’ve got people to kill.”

“People to kill?” Lilah asked.

“I’ll Tell you in a bit.” Faylen responded. Shade got to the front door and was about to open it, when he looked down at the pile of clothes, a smile formed on his face as he slowly peered back at Faylen. “What?”

“Oh nothing.” He giggled as he opened the door and walked through it.

“They’re not for you!” She yelled after him as she followed through the door and closed it behind her.

“I didn’t say anything.” He replied, still smiling ear to ear.

“I thought they could be useful in the future!”

“I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about, you’re going to need to be more specific.”

“Ugh!” she grunted at the sky. “I fucking hate you sometimes.”

He turned around to face her with a smirk. “So, should we fly to Tyrael right meow? Or should we take a few days and hop through the woods there?”

She stopped and clenched, then unclenched her fists a few times, then took a deep breath. “We fly there, less time I have to talk to you.”

He laughed and nodded then spread his wings. As he launched into the air, he looked at her. “You know, you should probably wash those before you wear them again.”

“Fuck you!”

Shade ended up letting Faylen take the lead, as she was the one with the map. He watched her closely, as he had some suspicions about how she was acted in the basement, but couldn't quite put together what was happening.

“So, who are these people the dragon has convinced you to kill?” Lilah asked.

“He didn’t convince me, I convinced him.” Faylen replied.

“Oh, do explain.”

“I was a slave, Shade is the one who bought me, who saved me.”

“I wouldn’t consider buying a slave to be saving someone.”

“I would typically agree, and he has done things i don't like, but he's also done a lot of things for me most slave masters wouldn't. He brought me to someone who could break my curse, freed me from the chains of slavery and is even training me to become a knight.” She thought as she looked back toward him. He made a gesture like a cat cleaning itself, and she flicked him off then looked back forward.

“Your curse?” Lilah asked intrigued.

“Yes, I couldn’t use any echos. I had all black wings.” She thought sullenly. “Nobody even wanted to buy me other than Shade. He brought me to an old friend, well I think their friends, and she broke the curse, freeing me.”

“I assume he did all that after having you wear those outfits that were on the ground?”

Faylen shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I understand.” Lilah responded, then paused. “We fly to seek revenge on the ones who cursed and sold you, is that correct?”

“They kidnapped and tortured me, before selling me off, but they’re not the ones who cursed me. I don’t know who cursed me, I’ve been cursed as long as I can remember. The one who broke it said she thinks I was cursed while still in the womb.”

“Cursed while in the womb.” Lilah said shocked. “Is such a thing even possible?”

“Apparently. They told me based on my ability to use light magic and my wings, I’m most likely related to someone of royalty, but they don’t know who.”

“Yes, the amount of power I sense within you is almost overwhelming. I would wager that if such a curse is possible, that your birth was going to get in the way of someone’s path to the crown.” She paused again. “Figuring out who you are and who cursed you is for another day though. For now, we must focus on what you’re currently doing. Don’t do anything you’ll regret in the future.”

Faylen clenched her fists and got an angry look on her face. “Why would I regret it? Those sick bastards are probably raping some small innocent child right now, and you want me to not do anything about it?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.” Lilah sighed. “Have you ever killed anyone before?”

“You sound just like Shade.”

“I’m not sure I like that, but if his reasoning was similar to mine, I would have to agree. Killing someone, no matter how much they deserve it, changes you. You lose a piece of your soul, not literally of course, but once you realize how easy it is to kill someone, the world forever changes.”

“I’ll tell you the same thing I told him. If I truly have some sort of overwhelming power, I plan on using it to save people. If it breaks me along the way, then so be it.”

“Everyone says that in the beginning, but years from now, you might not feel the same way.”

“You really do sound just like him.” Faylen responded annoyed. “There’s no talking me out of this. If you think I’m evil for doing what I’m about to do, I can bring you back to that basement, or drop you off at the nearest castle. You can go back to being carried by some peace-loving righteous saint.”

“I’m not saying what you’re doing is wrong. I’ve killed many people in my life, and death. I just wish for you to consider the repercussions of what you’re about to do. But if this is truly what you want, I won’t try to stop you.”

The two of them landed a few miles outside of the town. Shade transformed into a human, and threw his black cloak over his Warrior shirt and pants. Faylen retracted her wings, and dampened the brightness of her eyes.

The two of them walked silently next to each other until they reached the town. “We still have another day until the apparent auction, we should find an inn, and maybe a blacksmith to look at the items you took.”

She nodded, but looked at the bowstring around her nervously. “What would happen if a blacksmith looked at you?”

“I’m not sure, I think it would be safer to not let anyone like that look at me.” Lilah said back.

The two of them arrived at a blacksmiths shop, named the “Rusted hammer”, that the cashier at a bread shop had recommended to them after Shade had bought another loaf of Ciabatta. They walked in to find the most stereotypical blacksmith shop there was. An old dwarf was in the back, with a long white beard that went to the ground, big puffy white eyebrows and more burn marks on his arm then non-burned portions of skin. He wore a long black apron, and black goggles over his eyes. The shop smelled of burning metal and wood, and had multiple forges going at full blast, with the dwarf working all of them at the same time. A young female dwarf worked the front counter. She was small, but built well, with muscles bulging out of her arms, and a neck thicker then shades legs in his human form. She wore a red and white plaid shirt, with a matching bandana. “What can I do for ya folks?” She said in an odd accent.

“We would like to get some gear appraised if you could. Shade replied as he leaned on the counter. “I know it can take a while, but we’ll be in town a few days so there’s no rush.”

“I can get them appraised in a jiffy now.” She said and jumped off the stool she was using to reach the counter, then walked over to a large glass box with no top that had a just as large green gem hanging from the ceiling, coming down a few feet above it. “This here contraption was sent to us by the old man’s brother. He lives in Normuc, you know that sciency kingdom. It can tell what your items are in mere seconds. I didn’t believe it at first, but after a few tests, it was right every single time. It’s a real time saver!” She said giving the glass box a slap. “All you have to do is connect to it, feed it some echos and BAM! Everything about the items appear in my mind, it even tells me some things I didn’t see before when I would do it on my own.”

Shade stared at the box. Another invention since I’ve been gone. How much can change in a decade? He thought. “Perfect.” He said, then looked at Faylen. “Well, take everything you took out and put it all on the counter for her.” Faylen nodded nervously, and took everything she had and placed it on the counter, except for the bow. He narrowed his eyes at her. “And the bow?”

“I think...I’m going to hold onto it.” She said sheepishly.

“Oh honey, I understand your worries, you should’ve seen the old man the first time we turned it on. He was sat behind an iron shield expecting it to blow up! I promise you though, the machines perfectly safe.”

“I know, I just…I can’t.” She replied.

“Can’t?” Shade asked as his suspicion roared inside now. But then looked back to the shop keep. “Don’t mind her, she’s new to the whole adventuring thing and is still a child it seems.” He sneered. “Just tell us what you can about this stuff.”

“As you wish.” The keep said as she walked back to the counter and pressed a button underneath it. The large glass container slowly floated over to and slightly under the counter, then the counter tilted itself and all the items slid into the container. The container then floated back to its original place under the green gem. Shade watched all of this happen with an open mouth, baffled as to what he was seeing. The keep then walked back over to the container, closed her eyes and the green gem began to glow. Then her eyes went even wider than Shades had and her mouth dropped to the floor. “Where in the world did you find these?” She said in shock.

“They were heirlooms.” Shade replied.

“Royalty, are ya?”

He shook his head. “No, just friends in high places.”

She reached up and into the glass container that was virtually the same height as her, and pulled out 3 items, then carried them back over to the counter and jumped back onto the stool. They were the 3 other light items Faylen had taken, the dagger, the staff and the leather armor. “All the other items are rather good as well, but these 3 would be considered legendary.”

“Legendary?” Shade asked with a tiltied head. “What does that mean?”

“Oh, silly me, if ya’ll don’t know about the box ya’ll wouldn’t know about the tiers. This here box can tell us all sorts of things about weapons and armor, so much so that now we have tiers for them. They’re virtually the same as adventurer tiers, except obsidian and mithril are legendary here.”

This intrigued him. “Interesting, then tell me all you can about these items.”

“Of course!” She said excitedly, then grabbed the dagger and stabbed it into the counter. “This here dagger would make any assassin weep. Where to even start? It increases how fast you can go, walking running.” She stared blankly at the two wingless people in front of her. “Flying, though i'm not sure that matters for you. It can teleport, both you to it and it to you. As in, if you throw it, you can then teleport to where it went, or you can call it back to yourself and it’ll appear in your hands.”

Like an infinite throwing knife? And teleporting? Not even I can teleport, how in the world did someone make this? He thought. “I had no idea it could do those things.”

“Of course not, most people don’t know half the things items they stole can do since they weren’t there when they were made.”

“Stole?” he replied.

She put her hands on her hips and looked disappointingly at him. “Did ya really think I fell for the ‘heirloom’, ya think I was born yesterday?”

“It was worth a shot.” He smiled.

She sighed. “I don’t really care where you got these from, mind our own business we do.”

“I appreciate it.”

She looked back down at the knife. “Any who, back to your items. This here knife will silence your steps and can change your center of gravity compared to the world. It's of course also made from mithril, meaning when you actually use the stabby part of it, it will do real damage. The craziest part though is it can do all this while staying sheathed.”

“Is that odd?” He asked.

“Very, most enchantments on weapons or armor only work when being used, it being always active is what makes it legendary. You could train yourself as a mage or swordsman while having the abilities of an assassin.”

He pulled the dagger out of the counter and gave it back to Faylen. “You heard her, make sure to keep this knife outside your bag and at least sheathed at all times. It doesn’t need to be your main weapon, since you seem like a 5-year-old with a teddy bear with that bow, but keep it by your side at least.”

Faylen huffed at the teddy comment, but didn’t reply to it as to not bring more attention to the bow. Instead, she looked at him confused. “I thought you said that with enough echos and creativity, you could do pretty much anything? Wouldn’t all those abilities just be things I could do on my own? And what does changing my center of gravity compared to the world mean?”

He smiled. “All great questions! I'll start with the easiest one, well easiest to explain, maybe not pull off. Changing your center of gravity compared to the world is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Gravity is always pushing down on you, keeping you firmly on the ground. But what if it pushed up, or to the left or right? Basically, assasins use this to allow themselves to walk on walls, the ceiling, things like that. It also has other uses, like if you fall off a cliff, you can just change your gravity and fall back up. It takes a LONG time to get used to though. You don't realize how used to walking and running with gravity the way it is now you are, but change it a little and you'll really throw your balance off. I wouldn't use that in any meaningful fights for awhile. Now to the more interesing questions. What I told you before was with enough creativity you could do most things. It all depends on your echos affinities. With your power, most things would be possible, but there are some things you wouldn't be able to do no matter how hard you tried. So, to answer your question, yes, and no. The weapon was almost certainly made for some weak noble who wanted to feel strong and had enough money to stroke his ego. But if what she said it can do is true, then it can still make you that much stronger. The speed thing is rather vague, but thats not that strange. You’ll just have to test it out. Everyone has a maximum speed they can walk, run and fly, no matter how much echos they use. If it increases that, which is what i imagaine it does, then that would be useful, and would be something you couldn’t do on your own. The gravity change and silencing footsteps is something I’ve seen many people do and you could certainly learn those on your own. The teleport part though, is game changing. I can’t teleport, and I tried for a long time. The one time I even came close I almost killed myself, and gave up. I’m not sure how it works, but if it does, it would prove to be very powerful in fights.”

“Lilah, could you teleport?” She thought as she grabbed the knife and placed it in a basic leather sheathe she had taken out of her bag, then wrapped it around her waist.

“No, I could not, I’ve only ever heard of a few successful teleports in history. It took the combined power of 50 mages as well as taking almost a full day to cast. Instantaneous teleportation, even over short distances, would be an amazing step forward. Though also very dangerous.”

“I assume that she didn’t need that sheathe looked at.” The dwarf said.

“I assume not.” He replied as he shook his head.

“Sorry.” She said awkwardly. “I only took out the stuff you had given me.”

“Well,” he sighed. “If that armor is as good as she seems to be suggesting it is, that sheathe is going right back in your bag anyway.”

“Oh, honey it is, but I’m saving it for last.” The keep said then grabbed the staff and held it up. “This here staff only does 2 things, but those 2 things are very powerful. You might say it’s a light weapon, but it would be more accurate to say it uses light. What it does is it converts light echos to dark echos, allowing a person with light affinity to use dark abilities. Not only that, but it also increases the power of the ability used.”

Shades mouth went agape again as he looked between the staff and Faylen, then he looked back to the shop keep. “How much stronger?”

“I’m not sure, it probably depends on how much light echos are poured into it, as well as the persons already existing dark affinities and maybe some other things.”

“Does this work while sheathed as well?” he asked.

“No.” the shop keep replied. “She would need to be holding it in one of her hands.”

He nodded. “I’m not sure what you plan on doing with that bow, but if this can really allow you to use dark echos, then you should really use this instead.”

“Are dark attacks really that much stronger?” Faylen asked.

“Yes.” Shade and the shop keep said at the same time, then looked at each other for a moment. Shade then continued. “All the basic attacks or affinities are all based in light. Fire, water, air, earth, while all separate abilities and affinities, they are all light based. Dark abilities are the stronger, more deadly and to some people, evil versions. Like instead of basic fire you create hells fire, or even massive explosions. If you could combine your high amount of light echos, then convert and combine them with dark, the possibilities are endless. What I just said about some things not being possible, you can throw right out the window if you use that staff.”

She looked at the staff, then at the bow around her. “If I’m holding the staff while the bow is around me like this, would it still work?”

Shade narrowed his eyes at her and the bow once more. “I don’t see why it wouldn’t” The shop keeper replied and held the staff out to her. She grabbed the staff and poured a little bit of echos into it. The red orb on the end began to spin, then turned a dark black.

“As I said before, I won’t tell you what to do, but please be careful. As the dragon said, dark echos are called evil echos. They don’t call them that for no reason.” Lilah said.

Faylen nodded internally and externally, then deposited the staff in her bag, to the confusion of Shade. “What, I wasn’t going to walk around with it all day, it would be a hassle.”

“Then why isn’t the bow in the bag as well?” He asked with his narrowed eyes and crossed arms.

“Well, uhm, wearing it like this isn’t as much of a hassle as walking with a staff.” She replied tensely.

“I’m sure it would be even less of a hassle inside your bag though.”

“Well, its also fashionable, you know, being made from rare materials.”

“Golly.” The shop keep butted in. “She really is like a child with a teddy huh.”

“I’m not so sure.” Shade said as he slowly turned back to the counter while eyeing Faylen suspiciously.

“Well then, lets get to the last and greatest item, this here armor.” The keep said and grabbed the leather armor, then held it up.

Shade looked at the armor doubtfully, while very strong, the other items also looked somewhat special, while this one just looked like leather armor. Sexy leather armor at that. “What does it do besides make her look like an assassin prostitute.”

The keep laughed then took a serious face. “Even if you were willing to tell me where you got these items from, I’m not sure I would want to know. This here item had to be from a knight of some sort, or even a knight commander.” This caused him to think back to people he had killed, but nothing came to mind. “The armor isn’t meant to block attacks, quite the opposite actually. I would be interested in knowing how you killed the previous owner of this item with its ability. While wearing this armor, all injuries you receive are mirrored and doubled to the person or being that inflicted it. This only goes for living things, or maybe things with souls more specifically?” She said as she scratched her head. “Obviously if you stub your toe on a table, the table isn’t going to stub its toe…or stand I guess for a table. But if you get bitten by a bear, the bear would also be biting itself twice as hard.”

Shade once again stared with mouth agape as he pictured himself in the sexy leather armor, wanting it for himself as his favorite move included getting stabbed. “You said these items were rare right?”

“Yes, very rare, though not impossibly rare. I have heard of stronger ones, kings and queens have items that apparently make them almost unkillable these days.” She replied and handed the armor to Faylen.

Faylen grabbed the armor and stuck it in her bag, but then looked back up to Shade with a quizzical face. "You have another question?" he said looking down at her.

"Yes, i guess im still a bit confused on some of this."

"Well, ask away, the smartest man you know is here to answer all your questions." he said proudly.

She giggled. "Thats cheating a bit since you're pretty much the only man i know." Then she collecter herself. "Anyway, i guess im confused about why the staff and the armor are apparently considered stronger, or at least rarer than the dagger, when the dagger gives all those abilities."

"Well I, and kind of you, already answered that before. That knife was probably designed for someone weak, someone who wouldn't be able to learn those abilites on his own, whether it was from lack of affinities or lack of echos. The strongest people can learn those abilities so they dont need them, what they do need is items that make them stronger, faster, those kinds of things. That's why you see items like the staff which makes your attacks stronger, but nobody knows exactly by how much, or the knife which apparently makes you faster, though we don't know by how much. Most powerful gear typically have vague enchantments like these on them because thats what powerful people need. Make sense?"

Faylen thought for a moment but then shook her head. "But what about the armor then? It's supposedly the most rare of all the items, but the enchantment isn't vague at all. Its very specific, mirrors the injury and doubles it. Would that mean mirroring damage and doubling it is actually a skill someone could learn?"

Shade began to open his mouth to respond but didn't. He paused for a long moment, looked up for a bit, then over to the shop keep who shrugged, he then shrugged himself. "Thats a good question, i don't really have an answer. Maybe?" He then turned around and paced back and forth a few times while he thought about it. Now intrigued by the possibility of being able to learn the skill himself without having to wear skimpy leather armor. After about 5 minutes, he turned back to Faylen. "My answer would be, most lilkely. Like i said before, skillls and abilities are just things you do. There really no different from any other life skill, like painting, cooking, or writing. Someone may start to write a book and find its easy, others may write 10 chapters and find they still suck at it."

Faylen lifted an eyebrow. "Oddly specific."

"Yea, well, anyway." He continued. "The point is, skills and abilities are things you can learn to do and get better at by actually doing them.The harder the skill or ability is to do, the longer and more practice it takes. This i bet is the main issue. If you wanted to learn how to get stabbed and reflect that damage to someone else, you would have to practice getting stabbed. Well, not practice getting stabbed, you would have to actually get stabbed over and over. Who would want to do that? And then if you're practicing getting stabbed and reflecting double damage onto someone else, if you pull it off, you might just kill the person who stabbed you. So many things could go wrong while practicing it, i imagine who ever came up with, or managed to make the abilitty decided it made more sense to enchant items with it then to teach it to people."

Faylen nodded, accepting the answer, but Shade kept thinking in his mind about this. Could I learn this? I can take most blows, if i let a monster impale me over and over, could i learn how to do it? What affinity would it be, it sounds like a curse almost, so it must be dark, but who knows. If only i could remember who i killed or stole that aromr from, i could figure out who made it and ask them how the ability worked.

“Do you folks need anything else?” The shop keep asked.

Shade came back to from his thoughts. “No, thanks you’ve been of great help, what do we owe you?”

The keep looked at the other items still in the glass container then back to the pair of them. “How about we do a little haggling. With those 3 items, the rest of these wouldn’t do much for ya. I can tell ya what they all do if you'd like.”

“Hmm, what would you be willing to pay for them?” He asked not having any clue of their value, nor did he really care.

The keep looked up in the air and thought for a moment. “How does 340 coins sound.”

“341.” He countered.

“Yer a right piece of shit aren’t ya.” The keep smiled. “Deal.” She said with a hand held out.

Shade shook it. Then after a few moments, the keep put a coin pouch on the counter, he grabbed it and handed it to Faylen. She looked at him confused. “You might as well have some money as well; I don’t want to always have to go shopping with you if you want new outfits for your.” He squinted. “Fashion sense.”

“Thanks.” She replied softly, then took the pouch and stuck it in her bag, knowing he now clearly suspected something.

Shade turned back to the keep. “Actually, one more thing, do you know of any inns we could stay at.”

The keep pointed to her left with her thumb. “The place next door is actually a tavern and an inn. Its run by a right old cunt, but the beers cold, foods hot and beds soft.”

“Those are the 3 things I look for, thanks for all the help.” He said with a smile and a slight wave as he walked out the door and to the inn with Faylen quietly walking behind him.