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It had been two days since we posted the message on the Rusty Dagger's notice board. It was a simple thing, a request for an experienced escort for a journey to Whitefall. Someone who had knowledge of the area and could easily get us in and out without any trouble.

Almost as soon as I had brought up the idea, we'd left Albert's home and headed back to the tavern to put up the note. Thinking on the side of common damn sense, I'd written down that any interested parties were to meet us at the tavern around sundown. This gave Albert, Pram and I plenty of time to gather the supplies needed for the trip. Little did we know, no one would show up that evening. Or even the one after that.

So, we were lounging around the tavern two days after the initial message went up. The sun was low in the sky, threatening to tip below the horizon. And still, no one had even whispered about being enticed by our request.

The little fox smith spoke up, her first words the entire afternoon in fact. "If no one escort, what then?"

"Good question," I mused. Without really thinking about it, my mouth formed the words, "Probably just go on without one."

Albert remarked, "It's only been two days. Why are you both so impatient?"

"Because I want to hunt, dammit."

"And Pram want see mystery place Whitefall." Her little eyes darted up towards me for a brief second and then she added, "Dammit." It was a simple thing, but it was enough to get a small chuckle out of me, which in turn was rewarded with a small smile on the short smith's face.

An annoyed huff came from the alchemist as Albert rolled his eyes. "Honestly, you're like children. Can't even wait for things to all get settled in place before wanting to rush off into certain doom."

"If you're so worried about 'certain death,' you're more than welcome to stay home," I countered.

"Oh please." He grasped hold of his mug and took a long helping of the contents within. When the drink was set back down, he continued, "I can't let you two idiots go alone. If you don't have a master alchemist around, you're just gonna end up picking some berries off a bush and die to poison."

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "Wow, so much confidence in us. Thanks." It was then I had a somewhat sinister idea pop into my head. Sitting up in my chair, I looked my alchemist friend dead in the eyes and said, "You know, this is a perfect opportunity for you to finally go tell Rose how you feel."

At once, his entire body went rigid and stiff, his face contorted into one of embarassment and shame. He tried to recover, and spoke out, "I'll just tell her when we get back."

"Bullshit you will," I bit back, raising my voice and slamming a fist down onto the table. The drinks shook from the force of the sudden impact, and Albert's rigid body jumped in surprise. "There's a chance we might not even make it back in one piece. If you don't confess now, you could very well never have the chance to ever again."

"...well, I'm not really sure if-"

"Albert go talk Rose!" Pram had jumped into the fray so suddenly, it surprised me enough to cause my own body to jolt for a moment. "If he never tell his love, how he ever be with her? He want only look at afar?" Albert tried to eek out another excuse, but Pram insisted. "He deserve be happy. Now go talk her and admit love!"

Perhaps it was the combination of both Pram and I ganging up on him like that. Perhaps it was him finally being fed up with his own inaction. Whatever the true cause, Albert downed the rest of his beer, stood up in silence, and marched out of the tavern. With back straight, shoulders wide, and head held high, he looked the picture of confidence. In the back of my mind, I assumed he was playing it up for our sake, and would surely revert to his usual self the instant he passed through the doors. Regardless of any of that, I was rooting for him.

Ok, so maybe pushing my friend to finally tell the woman he loves how he feels wasn't entirely 'sinister.' But, from his perspective, I could bet he was none too thrilled I pulled this up out of nowhere like that. While Albert was gone, Pram and I elected to pass the time with a rousing game of cards. Simple, yes. But effective enough to kill time. And still, no sign of any takers for the escort job.

Outside, the moon was surely beginning its ascent as its golden cousin was disappearing beneath the skyline. The streets would be emptying, people would be going home, and the usual night crowds would be just starting their routines. The tavern itself was also losing some of its customers for the evening, many of them vanishing out the doors and likely heading off to bed. Even the workers were exchanging their shifts, one certain kitchen worker/infobroker among them, as they all left in a large group once the night workers arrived.

As the fresh faced workers got about their businesses, in came the night customers. Because I didn't normally stick around the Rusty Dagger after hours rather often, some of these people were new to me. Some, I could recognize from town, either as my own customers or just people I'd seen more than once out on the streets. Others, however, I had no idea who they were. They might have been from town and I'd just never encountered them before, or they could have been new arrivals that were looking for a place to call home. Or, more likely, they were people journeying through the area and needed a decent place to stop for the night.

It didn't matter what I thought of any of them, really, as I didn't see myself going up to any and sparking up a conversation. So, I went back to nursing my beer and contemplating on all the ways we could make it through Whitefall if no escort ever came. I also felt a tiny nagging feeling about how long it had been since Albert left to go see Rose. An entire hour had gone by and he still wasn't back. Could have been a good thing, I told myself. Knowing the woman, she might have happily jumped the poor alchemist's bones the moment he finally stopped being a coward. Of course, had she initiated things herself, she could have done said jumping bones far earlier. Those two were made for each other, in my mind. Both hopeless morons when it came to romance.

In my hand, I held a combination combination of cards and was just about to set it down and claim victory when Pram dropped her own cards and revealed she had a better hand.

"Pram win again," she said with a smug and self-satisfied smile.

I waved her off with a , "Yea yea," before something caught my eye. There, in the corner of the room, by the notice board, an unfamilar alb was examining our request letter. Or at least, he was in front of it. There were a few other flyers and posters and other such nonsense surrounding it, so I was only fooling myself if I thought he was actually considering our quest.

My gaze was glued onto the blue-skinned man as one of his hands reached up and pulled at the poster I had hung up on the board.

"Holy shit." My words were barely a whisper as the poster was pulled free from it's hanging nail and the alb brought it closer to read, then looked around the tavern.

My small kobar friend heard my near silent swear and followed my eyeline over to the now possible escort, whereupon she repeated my words and breathed out an added, "Thank Xaela."

With widened eyes, I saw the alb begin his short walk over to our table, so I quickly got about moving some of the plates and mugs to allow a better seat for who I hopes would make for a good guide. Pram followed my lead and jumped onto the table to help shift things about, and I could feel rather than see the man's coming approach. By the time we were done clearing a space for him, he had already arrived and was holding in his hand the request.

He placed the poster onto the table. "This yours?" His voice was gruff, like he was chewing gravel while he talked. He wasn't too tall, perhaps just a slight bit more so than myself, but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary. He did, however, have very broad shoulders, similar to Laiu. He wore a rather confident look about him, his stance one of a man capable of accomplishing whatever he set his mind to. His clothing was heavy with dirt from the road, and though I wouldn't admit it aloud, he had a noticeable scent to him. Likely he hadn't had a good bath in a few days, if I had to guess.

When neither Pram nor myself answered right away, he repeated his question louder, pushing the poster across the table over to us for emphasis.

I looked into his muddy brown eyes and responded in the affirmative, following it with, "So, I take it you're interested in the job?"

"Sure am." He flashed a brief smile and took the vacant seat for himself. "Name's Vaughn." He thrust one hand outwards, waiting for a friendly reciprocation.

Surprisingly fast, Pram shot across the table and returned the alb's gesture. "Pram named Pram," she said with a chirp. With rapid movements, she shook his much larger hand in both of hers rather vigorously before swiftly retreating to her seat. "She happy escort finally show up."

The alb named Vaughn was too dumbstruck to say anything about what just happened, so I reached out and gave a firm handshake, telling him, "And I'm Cedric. Albert's away on some...personal business at the moment, but he's our third."

When he finally regained his senses, he spoke slowly. "So...why do you want to go to Whitefall?"

My shoulders moved upwards in a shrug. "That's sort of a hush hush kind of thing, if that makes any sense."

Vaughn's eyes narrowed and a frown creased his mouth. "If you aren't going to tell me, then I can't accept the job. And I doubt you're gonna get to be picky about an escort through Whitefall."

I hated to admit it, but he was right. After all, we hadn't had any takers since putting up the notice. This Vaughn character was the first person the whole time who even showed a hint of interest. However, I didn't really like the idea of openly speaking about the possibilities of a unicorn being around. Might spark some other people to take up a similar journey as my own.

But, just as I having these thoughts, Pram leaned over the table. Her small frame pressed down onto the surface, and she said in a low voice quiet enough just for us to hear, "Cedric told unicorn around area."

The blue-skinned man's eyebrows raised and he sat back in his chair, arms folding across his chest. "Really now..." His frown wavered and was replaced by a pensive look. "Kinda hard to believe, but I can at least understand why you'd like to keep it under wraps now."

Glaring at Pram, I pushed her back into her seat and gave a short warning to "Watch your mouth."

She smiled. "Pram not able see own mouth." That smug grin returned, making me want to smack it off her.

"Smartass fox." After I said this, she stuck her thin pink tongue out at me. I shook my head in disbelief at her childishness, and turned my sights back to Vaughn. "Well, now you know the why. So, that just leaves whether or not you'll take the job."

"Oh, I'm taking it," he said with no sense of hesitation. I didn't have long to feel the sense of excitement on hearing that when he added, "There's just the matter of my payment to discuss."

"Of course," I breathed. "I understand an escort for three is gonna be costly, and that's not even getting into the fact we're asking you to take us through a dangerous area." After a slight pause, I continued, "But, I'm willing to pay whatever the price is for this endevour."

His smile came back at my words. "I'm happy to hear that, because my offer is two thousand sol. Upfront, too."

"Upfront?" Pram bounced up into a standing position on her chair. "Why he want upfront? If he die Whitefall, not able use money anyway."

His broad shoulders moved upwards in a shrug and his face scrunched up, one corner of his mouth pulled tightly to the side as he explained, "Just my policy when it comes to these more dangerous jobs."

"Pram has a point," I noted. "Why get it all now? There's a chance something might happen to you, then what good does all that sol do you?" When he didn't seem to budge, I moved the conversation along with a proposal. "How about this: I pay you half now, and you get the other half when all of us get back here once this is all over?"

His eyes closed tight and a hanf was brought up to rub at a spot in the middle of his forehead. A long breath was inhaled and held for a moment before he chose to speak once more. "Fine," he said while letting out the held air. "It goes against my usual policy, but considering the pay I'd be getting either way, I'm not opposed to bending things a little."

"Excellent," I said. "But, before we shake on this and make it all official like, I have a question for you."

Eyes snapped open and he nodded, urging me to ask away.

"What's your experience concerning Whitefall?"

A harumph came and went before he found a true response. When he spoke next, his words had an air of recollection. "Three times before now. First two times were escort jobs for hunts kinda like this one. 'Course, they weren't after something quite so uh...rare." He seemed to be keeping the info about it being a unicorn silent. Either he believed my reasoning for this trip, or he was just humoring us. Didn't matter much to me either way, so long as he didn't go blurting it out like some moron. "Third one," he went on, "was a bit of a treasure hunt. The idiot wanted to collect drake eggs. Anyway, all three were successful jobs. And by that, I mean no one died."

"But what about get hurt?" Pram's voice was soft, her face set into a look of concern. Despite all of it, she was still worried for our safety. I mean, I was as well, but I couldn't let that kind of worrying get to me.

The blue skinned Vaughn nodded in response. "Yea, none of 'em got out without their fair share of scrapes and bruises. Even I got some of my own for my troubles." To prove this, he pulled up the left sleeve of his shirt to show off a nasty looking burn scar across the upper portion of his forearm. "Bloody drakes and their fire breathing," he said with a chuckle. "We was damn lucky we didn't get caught by their fangs."

He then went on to explain a few other encounters he'd had during his previous treks through Whitefall. Some stories about the beasts he'd seen and managed to not die from; drakes (obviously), a wyvern, a small group of harpies, one very angry gazer, and so on. It was quite impressive he managed to survive such encounters. After all, I had my own tales of survival from some of the more exotic hunts I'd done.

"So, Vaughn escort or not?" Pram's voice broke through the man's reminiscing.

A good point, I told myself. "Hm. I suppose we haven't actually settled the agreement." At this, I extended my hand out towards the man.

When he grasped my hand in return, he said, "Happy doing business with you. Hope you've got your supplies in order, because I suggest we get moving sooner rather than later. Especially due to what exactly we're going there for."

"Don't worry," I soothed while we exhanged another firm handshake, "we've got our things convered. Enough food and drink for the whole round trip, extra sol just in case, clothing, tents, everything we could need."

The little blacksmith rose up. "Pram had remind Cedric about tents, though. He completely forget."

Vaughn nodded and asked, "Now, what about this Albert fellow? You said he was dealing with personal business, but how long is that going to take?"

Before I had the chance to reply, Pram hastily said, "Albert meet Rose to tell her his love. By now, them likely in bed, showing love to other."

A laugh escaped him. It was a quick, sharp thing, fitting to his harsh voice. "Don't tell me, some sort of 'if I die I want to let her know first' kinda deal?"

Moving a hand in a wishy-washy manner, I said, "Eh, something like that. Though, we had to push him into it."

Pram backed me up and added, "Dummy Albert spend two year pine for Rose, never tell her feeling. About time fool confess."

A knowing smile formed on Vaughn's thin blue lips. "Well, let's say he did go see this Rose woman. Perhaps it'd be best if we postpone things until tomorrow morning?"

"Know Rose, she work Albert ragged all night," Pram murmured to no one in particular.

Shaking the mental image of that far away from my mind, I stood up from the table. "Well, it's a bit of a shame we can't get things moving right this minute, but I think a good night's rest before we set out would be a very smart move for us all, anyway."

The sellsword's head nodded as he stated, "Just make sure you have my half of the pay when you come tomorrow."

I told him I wouldn't forget something so important before I headed out of the tavern. Once my feet were outside the doors, I sighed in relief. Two days, and we now had our escort. Now that that part was behind us, we could easily make our way to Whitefall in a manner of a few days. Then would come the actual hard part; tracking down the unicorn. Whitefall was a rather large expanse of land, so it'd be a difficult task locating the animal. And that was if he hadn't gotten itself killed by any of the other nasty beasts inhabiting the area.

While thinking this over, my body moved on its own, destined for the warm embrace of my bed. The small journey from the tavern to my home was much quicker than the one from Albert's to the tavern. It was barely even three blocks away. By the time I could see the light blue roof of my home, sleep was already calling my name. The beer must've combined with the food to force this tiredness onto me.

My home was of similar make to Albert's. The big difference was my home, like others in this section, was a bit older, with less brickwork and more wood used for the walls and such. It was good, strong wood, though. The kind used in ships to keep out water, or so I'd been told. All I knew for certain was the home had seen me through the years since first arriving to Zantile, and hadn't needed too many repairs in that time.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the door's key, ready to enter and immerse myself in the soothing arms of sleep and dreams. Just as the lock was turning, a voice spoke up from right beside me.

"Been while since Pram visit Cedric home."

The suddenness of hearing the little fox's voice caused me to jump. I spun around and saw her there, just standing close by as if I'd personally invited her along with me. "By the Eternals, woman, what are you doing here? Did you follow me home?"

"Follow?" Her furry little head titled to the side and one brow raised, disbelief clear on her face. "Pram walk right next Cedric entire time. He not notice at all?"

"Obviously not." I then repeated my earlier question. "What are you doing here?"

Her thin shoulders came upwards in a shrug. "Pram bored."

My eyes rolled without me even doing it intentionally. "Go home," I ordered the small vixen. "Sleep. We'll see each other in the morning, and then we'll be off on this little adventure of ours."

"Fine," she grunted, turning on her heel and heading back up the street.

What an odd thing for her to do, I thought. Maybe she'd had too much beer tonight.