Stannir woke up, and scratched his head shielding his eyes from the bright light. "Ahh... my eyes... What were we drinking?" He stood up and walked around the room he was in and washed his face.
"Knock... Knock... Wake up you lazy oaf... We got to go." Stannir cursed and turned to Salina. "How do you look so fresh?"
"I wasn't the one drinking that stuff remember. Only you were, but the dreams you were having about me were very interesting..." Stannir felt his face start to turn red. "Hurry up you ass. We have a lot to do today... Why are you taking your sweet ass time?" He walked to the door and opened it. "Give me a minute and I will be down."
"Fine... We will be downstairs waiting for you... Stupid firewarrior... drinking... naked idiot."
He looked down at his naked body and closed the door cursing. He got dressed, washed his face and grabbed his pack before walking down to where the others were sitting and waiting for him to arrive. "Finally, he is here... Now what are we doing today?" Stannir turned and saw Harnio still sitting there with his eyes closed and pointed. "What about him? If we are going anywhere we have to take him as well."
"Just wake him up... It can't be that hard, can it?" Stannir shook his head and looked at Drummen and Cliffhopper. "They are both strong... very lazy but their strength is going to help us a lot." He turned to Salina and nodded. "You are right... They are strong."
"Stop daydreaming... We need to register our team for the ritual." He looked at Star. "Do we all have to go to register or just one of us?"
"Idiot... We all have to go..."
"We have a problem if we go to register, we are still missing someone."
Stannior nodded and turned around looking at Harnio. "He's right... We need another before we can even think of registering..."
"What do you mean... With me and Cliffhopper here we have all the people we need."
Stannir shook his head in thought. "I don't think it is about numbers, but rather people that fulfill different roles... Harno, you mentioned before that it was the shadow guard that was missing?"
"Yes... We need someone who has the skills to take out important objectives, without being caught. Fast, deadly, and knows how to get into places without being seen... A one man army."
"What about a street urchin? They are good at that sort of thing... I lost many coins when I was learning to gamble. That blasted kid took my money every time. Hehehe..." Stannir looked at Drummen, with a sidelong glance. "What was the chuckling at the end?"
"Ohh, by the end I learnt how he was able to cheat me, I ended up beating him one time... But the lucky kid ended up walking away with my entire purse... and a black eye."
"Smart kid..." Stannir looked at Star. "How about you, do you know someone who could fit that position?"
Star shook her head. "I do know someone, but they are too far away, and by the time they got here it would be too late for us." Stannir cursed. "Why don't you go look for a street urchin or thief?" Stannir scratched his short beard in thought. "We could, but they would have to be very skilled in what they do."
"Firewarrior... please speak up?" Stannir frowned. "Sorry. If we do Drummen's idea of looking for a street urchin, they have to be very talented at what they do... We just can't find anyone."
"Lets just go to the market square, and see what is around... Than we can see what they can do if they try and steal from us, or from someone around."
"Leave that to me..." Stannir looked at Star and nodded "Yes... That's a good idea. You have the eyes to do it, and you should be able to find anyone with a shred of talent in this city."
"Why does the priestess get to have fun? Can we go and play... You know make a large scene and be attractive to those who would want to take a purse full of coins?" Stannir smiled. "That is an excellent idea... A couple of drunkards here to see the ritual."
"There is a legend of the shadow guard... Do you want to hear it, before you head off... Maybe it will give you a picture of what to look for?"
Stannir leaned against the wall looking at Harnio as he scratched his arms. "Lets hear it... I am sure it will help." Harnio nodded. "I will skip a lot of details, and just focus on what they did, and leave it at that..."
"That's fine... Please begin Harnio." Stannir nodded at Star.
"Legend goes, that the shadow guard was the strongest of the group... In and out of buildings, camps, taking every enemy they met killing them with one unseen blow."
"Phwwwwttt" Stannir looked at Drummen. "They really sound like a one man army... Jealous Stannir?" He shook his head, and turned to Harnio. "Continue."
"This shadow warrior could go to places far away just from merging into the shadows, and call upon the shadows around to kill any target... Imagine armies fighting and dying to their own shadows. There was even mention of the shadow guard unit, that they created... An unseen force, destroyed an entire prison breakout in the Firelands, with just five people..."
"Harnio... So you are saying we need to look for some shadow merging assassin?"
Stannir nodded. "An assassin seems to fit the profile well... So when we go searching for this street urchin, they better have some skills with blades, or something else entirely."
"Well... I am off. I will be on the roofs in the market square keeping an eye out for anything... In about a mark Drummen and Cliffhopper can step into the market to create a scene..."
Stannir nodded and stood behind Harnio. "Meanwhile Harnio and I will take a walk around, the docks, and see if we can find someone to fit that description... A thieves guild at least... We will meet back here in the evening."
"Docks... aren't there many people there?" Stannir nodded, "We won't be in the crowds, we will be looking for people trying to avoid those crowds, and hopefully they will lead us to where we need to go."
"Ahh. I understand... Good idea Stannir... I am going with him, everyone else see you." Stannir smiled and walked out of the room with Harnio, stepping outside the tavern and looked around the busy street.
"That is a good idea... Hopefully we will find the lair, and can encourage one to join us." Stannir smiled at Salina and walked around the crowds with Harnio at his side smoking.
"Firewarrior... Where do we go?" Stannir looked down at Harnio and looked around. "Lets look for an empty alley way and we can go from there." They walked around the dock areas until they stopped at an empty alleyway. Stannir looked down it and frowned. "Nothing here... Let's keep going."
"Firewarrior... Stop. We need to go down this alley... There is something down there at the end... Its calling me. I guess it is a battery or something." Stannir turned to Harno. "Are you sure?" He smiled when he saw his nod. "This may be our lucky break... Let's go."
"He's good... If he can sense batterys around him, than nothing can be hidden from us." Stannir nodded and stood at the end of the alleyway, and looked at the metal cover on the ground. "Harnio, can you still sense where that battery is?"
"Yes. It is right here..." He followed where Harnio pointed and watched as Harnio pulled out a brick and pushed the battery. Stannir watched as the metal cover opened up revealing a ladder. "Good job Harnio... It seems we are going back into some tunnels... It shouldn't be like it was last time."
Stannir climbed down and created a small fireball to like up the dark tunnel. He smiled. "There is sound coming from that way... Lets go towards the sound." He looked at Harnio putting the pipe away. "Are you fine down here?"
"I am fine... It is quite. Quite relaxing, especially when we were on the noisy streets before." Stannir walked together with Harnio until they stopped and stared at a bridge and the large waterfall. Stannir looked over the edge. "That goes quite far... I can't even see the bottom..." He stood up and looked across the bridge, and smiled. "There is someone over there... I just heard something move... Come Harnio... Let's go, and see if this gamble worked."
They walked over the bridge and stood at the large space. Stannir cursed as he saw all the cages with the bones of people who were captured and put in there. "Why would anyone do something like this?"
"They did it for science... See look at all the equipment... It is possible this is where the research for those Trolaiths were made. This is not good, not good at all."
"Harnio duck!"
Stannir rolled out of the way forming a long fiery sword, and watched in amazement as Harnio lifted his hand, and looked at the leaf stuck in the wall of wind he had made. "Firewarrior... Don't attack back." Stannir looked at Harnio in confusion. "Why?"
"The person who attacked knew the people in these cages... They are the one we are looking for." Stannir nodded and let the sword fade away. "Hello... We are not your enemy... We are here to find the person or people who did this terrible thing and destroy all of the research they did, and the beasts that they made from this."
"Tap... Tap... Tap..." Stannir looked up in the distance as a short figure walked under the light, and stared at them. "We mean no harm. We are looking for someone of your talents to join our team so we can apply for the guard. Also, to find the person who did this and created the Trolaiths... Do you wish to join?"
"Your legs... I can see from here, what has happened to you? Were you also experimented on?" Stannir turned to look at Harnio and shake his head, and cursed watching as Harnio took a wind step appearing in front of the person. He started to run towards them. "Don't do anything stupid Harnio."
"Your legs, that must of been painful... Also, your hands... Firewarrior. He is like us... This is the one we want for the shadow guard position." Stannir stood next to Harnio and stared at the man in front of them. He could feel his blood boil just looking at him. "He has killed a lot... He is definitely an assassin... Look at how he is standing staring at us, he is dangerous." Stannir nodded at Salina's comment. "Assassin... Do you have a name?"
"..."
"Firewarrior... See the scar on his neck. He has no voice... He has seen something, and been experimented on, and they didn't want him to tell anyone. Lets take him with us to register before the ritual for the guard begins."
"Shadow... I know you can't speak, but together, we will solve this mystery, and get revenge for whatever happened in this room, and any allies or family you lost, join us."
Stannir watched as the stranger with green eyes start waving his hands at him. "He is using sign language... You are lucky, I know what he is saying." Stannir breathed a sigh of relief. "What is he saying Salina?"
"He is saying, that yes. He knew the people in those cages, and no he was not experimented on. He will join us because Harnio recognized his scars on his hands, and that there was something strange about his legs."
"Good job Harnio... He will come with us." He smiled at Harnio. "He is coming because you saw things about him, but he wasn't experimented on."
"Ahh that's great news... Come shadow. You have to teach me how to communicate with you, I have many questions to ask, especially about your legs." Stannir looked at the shadow's legs. "What do you mean Harnio? I don't see anything special about his legs..."
He cursed as he watched the shadow lift the pants to reveal legs that looked like trees. "What happened to you? I can understand your hand signs."
"No you can't you liar... I am the one who knows." Stannir nodded. "Yes, but if I said someone that you can't see knows what you are saying, do you think that they will be understanding about that?"
"Fine... He said his name is Mouse, but he said his story, is for him... He will tell later, since we have other important things to deal with... You are very lucky. He is exactly what we have been looking for."
He looked at Harnio. "Stop looking at him like he is a science experiment... He is now an ally."
"I won't... I just find him very interesting... Come lets go back to the tavern, so we can meet the others, and register for the ritual of the guard... Finally, we are ready firewarrior."
Stannir nodded. "Yes, we are. I hope the brothers haven't caused too much trouble and have been locked up or something." He turned to Harnio. "His name is Mouse by the way... But I am sure you won't call him that."
"Mouse... a good name for a shadow."
Stannir's mouth dropped open and cursed. "Lucky bastard..."
"Hahahaha..."
In his ears he could hear Salina laughing loudly.