At the reveal of Drachma being set free from prison a few of the customers appear to stand offishly, and a woman removes her children from the establishment as soon as she hears the utterance of his name. 

The Guard buys Drachma a drink. A group of young guards walks over and shakes Drachma’s hand. “Big honour, sir. My friends and I see your story in that conflict as an inspiration. Those damned sulphur breaths, they got what they deserved. Glad to see you free, sir.” a young guard states as he admires his hero.

“Sir, please tell us why you are here.” requests another young guard.

“Get going, young ones. You people need to shine your armours back at the station.” the older guard pushes his apprentices. The young men leave the establishment with a sigh.

“They barely have hair under their nose, and they see me as some kind of Old Uncle.” the older guard lets out a small chuckle.

“Those children wouldn’t last a moment against the cannon fire. Like back then into the trenches when Bradley soaked his uniform after the first bombardment. Our laughter costed us to help clean up his mess.” Drachma bursts out into laughter remembering the look on his old battle buddy’s face.

The guard laughs with his old war companion as he looks up to see the clock on the wall. Then he puts his drink down and lets out a tired and heavy sigh, “Well Drachma, we should be off now. I was supposed to meet your group at the docks this evening. Based on the result after researching on the targets, we already packed some gears for the job.” The guard grabs his rifle and they walk out of the restaurant. 

At the trading dock of the capital, the quantity of people makes it difficult for Meadow and Iriel to move forward as they walk through the crowded pathways. Eventually, after arriving at the dock, they see a fragile horned guard, who is keeping track of the goods leaving a ship there. A short avian man is standing on the ship with a captain hat on his head. The blue and yellow colours of his feathers, contrasting the colours of his naval uniform.

“Do you need to count my feathers too, now? I’ve already given you the inventory, I swear to the divine.”

The guard sheepishly states, “Sure, everything looks in order, sir. Just don’t wanna get yelled at by my higher ups. You have delivered us new goods and that box there is full of a ton of paperwork that everyone has to sign. So, thankfully, it’s all here.” as he tries his best to keep count of the items dropped off from the ship.

Standing there, Meadow and Iriel silently watch these interactions. Observing the attitude of the horned guard, Meadow walks over to him, “Young man, please accompany us on our quest.” Meadow speaks with confidence.

On hearing Meadow’s request, the guard chuckles, “I am just a simple tally man working here at the docks. Just joined the core a few months ago after working at Skinny Boys. I’m not some adventurer. Whatever adventure and thrill you want, I’m way far from that.”

“Surely, you must have wanted to see the world at some point. Have you ever been to Vada? We are making our way there now. And having some company would greatly aid our week-long journey.”

“My boss would never allow me to leave. I am stationed here. And, yes, I have been there before. Grew up in that town and then was sent to the capital for inventory management.” he replies shyly.

“And what is your name?” asks Meadow.

“My name is Eliel. Eliel Branstone.”

“Well, Eliel, you will be accompanying us on our journey by the end of this hour. Mark my words.”

T.B.C.

Writer: Alejandro Faverzani.

Artist: Nayeli Zelaya.

Co-writer and aer editor: adifferentway.