56: Exiled

It was an awkward wait, especially once the captain of the guard arrived. Hari flat-out refused to speak to him until Jackson showed up, which took considerably longer.

“Can you at least tell us what caused the incident?” the guard captain asked, clearly frustrated by the delay.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’ll wait for the vice-captain of the guild. We were doing a job for him,” Hari said firmly, not giving an inch.

The guard captain threw his hands up in frustration. “Fine.”

It was a while longer before Jackson finally made it out. “I’m here. What’s going on?” he asked, glancing from Hari to the guard captain.

The captain spoke first. “We wanted to speak with these individuals. There are reports they were at the temple when it was attacked—specifically the boy with an elemental, and the large man, said to be travelling in a party of five.” There was a clear edge in his tone, but Jackson… didn’t seem to care.

“They were on a mission for me,” Jackson said. “They needed to clear a Galvonson nest. So if you don’t mind, I need to take my adventurers to the guild for a debrief.” He almost waved the guard captain off.

“Absolutely not. Our investigation places them at that site. There are several witnesses—and only one person in the city has an elemental on their shoulder,” the captain snapped back.

Jackson arched a brow. “So let me get this straight—you believe two adventurers, one of whom is a chef, unleashed a what? A Shadow Cat onto the city? All so the Ancient Dragon would attack its own god’s temple?” He gave a short, incredulous laugh.

Amusingly, as absurd as it sounded, everything but the Dragon part was actually true.

The guard sputtered for a moment before Jackson delivered the final blow.

“Go back to your Lord. Tell him you believe this story. Then have him set up a meeting with myself and Kara, and we’ll discuss this outlandish claim. In the meantime, I need to debrief with my adventurers. Do you mind?”

The guard captain looked absolutely outraged, but left with the other guards all the same. Once they were a fair distance off, Jackson turned to Hari.

“We do need to have a discussion—with Kara—immediately. You can store the horses at the guild stables for the afternoon,” he said, the laid-back attitude gone. Hari just nodded, likely expecting this outcome.

As we rode into the city through the gates, I couldn’t help but feel the glares on me as we passed. Did they know about the cat situation? Or was it just because we’d upset their captain?

I wasn’t sure. But I felt very nervous—like all eyes were on me.

As we rode through the streets, the atmosphere felt different compared to the last time I came in. Before, there had been happy, smiling faces. Now, there were only impassive expressions. The whole city felt tense.

Soon we arrived at the guild. We stored our horses in a temporary stable mainly used by staff, then were escorted by Jackson inside and straight upstairs. This time, we didn’t enter his office, but rather passed through the giant, beautifully carved wooden doors leading into the Guild Master’s office.

Inside, Jackson bowed slightly. Seeing Hari and the others doing the same, I quickly followed suit.

Kara sat behind a modest-looking wooden desk. The room was much larger than Jackson’s, though almost basic in comparison. A well-worn training dummy stood in the corner, flanked by weapon racks—on one hung a pair of massive axes.

There was a bookshelf, but unlike Jackson’s office, no chair for reading. Instead, shelves upon shelves of scrolls and paperwork lined the walls.

Several seats were already arranged, and in one sat a man I didn’t recognise.

“Come, come. Take a seat. We’ll get introductions out of the way, then get this over with,” Kara said, gesturing.

The man rose, bowed to us, and then sat back down. Once we were seated, Kara took the lead.

“Elias, this is the Polite Company: Hari, Jen, Milo, Liane, and finally Trevor. Polite Company, this is Elias. He’s adviser to the Lord Felix of Boltron, and here in place of the Lord today for this conversation. What is said here will remain between us, the Lord, and no one else. Is that understood?”

Everyone nodded in agreement, so Kara went on.

“Right, we all know why we are here, and that is due to the attack on the city by the Ancient Dragon while fighting the Shadow Cat that, I believe we have confirmed now, is following young Trevor.” Her eyes flicked to me as she explained, stating the facts.

“It’s important to note that Trevor, from my understanding, has no ability to control the cat, nor does it listen or take commands from him. Its motives are currently unknown. However, to date it has not posed a violent risk to anyone around Trevor—except for four days ago.”

Elias was scribbling notes as she spoke.

“Before we go into what eyewitnesses claimed to have seen, why don’t we hear what happened at the peak, and what followed,” Kara said, looking at Hari and myself.

I froze up, unsure what to say. Almost mechanically, Hari gave a rundown of everything that happened, right up until the corpse was dropped off at the structure. I nodded along—he hadn’t missed any details. To be honest, he’d seen even more than I had. When he picked me up, that part was all a blur.

“It dropped off a dragon corpse? At your door? Preposterous,” Elias said in disbelief.

“It’s a Rare-quality Ancient Drake, not a dragon,” Hari replied, unbothered by Elias’s disbelief.

“And what of this corpse now?” Kara asked.

“We have it with us,” Hari said.

Elias snorted again.

“Elias, if you are unable to act professional, I will personally demand the Lord come here himself and have you replaced. I am in no mood for petty games and rubbish.” Kara’s glare cut into him, and even though it wasn’t directed at me, the pressure rolling off her was intense.

Elias went pale but fell silent. Kara turned back to Hari.

“You have it with you? How?” she asked.

Hari turned to me.

“Trevor, the whole thing won’t fit in this room, but I don’t suppose you could pull out just the head?” he asked softly.

“Not on my paperwork—that took my team a day to fix,” Kara added quickly.

I moved over to an empty spot. I needed a lot of room for this head—it was larger than even Hari. I was fairly certain this drake could have swallowed him whole. When I withdrew the head near the training section of the room and it hit the ground with a heavy thud, Kara literally fell back into her chair, eyes wide.

If Elias looked pale before, now he was a ghost. His jaw hung slack and his eyes bulged.

“Put that away. Now.” Kara hissed, pressing her palm to her forehead.

“Elias, get the Lord. Immediately.” She shot him a look, and when he tried to protest, she cut him off instantly. “This is beyond us. Get the Lord now, Elias—I will not ask again. Tell him it’s of the utmost importance.”

Elias rose, bowed, and quickly left the room.

Once the door was shut, Kara sighed.

“I don’t suppose you lot recognise that drake, do you?”

Recognise it? Why would anyone get close enough to this creature to recognise it? Madness.

After everyone shook their heads, she continued.

“Well, I recognise that drake. And it’s not something we can have in the city—or anywhere, for that matter. That drake you showed is the first mate of the Ancient Dragon.”

That left us all stunned. It was its mate?!

“Uh—sorry, excuse me, um… we need to cook some of it…” I began, but was immediately cut off.

“Out of the question!” Kara snapped, glaring.

“He’s not wrong, Guild Master,” Hari said. “When that corpse was brought to us, it was brought with a purpose. A request, if you will—from the Cat itself. It wanted Trevor to cook it.”

Kara’s eyes widened.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. We’re all dead. If the Dragon finds out we have the corpse—we die. If the Cat doesn’t get its meal—we might die.”

She leant back in her chair, the wood creaking under the shift.

“Fuck!” she yelled, slamming her hand on the desk. The wood cracked under the blow.

“Alright, we wait for the Lord to arrive. We need to handle this very delicately.” She exhaled, steadying herself. “I need a drink. Jackson—get us something strong. Very, very strong.”

Jackson, who until today had always been laid-back and jovial, was all business now. After bowing, he left the room without a word.

The room settled into uneasy silence. Kara paced back and forth, mumbling to herself. Milo pulled out a book. Liane… well, I wasn’t sure if she was even still with us—if she was, she was probably asleep.

Copying Milo, I dug into my own book, trying to find any mention of the Pyrrhosite Crystal. I flipped through page after page, but nothing came up. I wanted to ask Kara if she knew, but this was very much not the time.

It wasn’t long before the door burst open. An older man stepped inside—grey threaded through his black hair, his clothes fine and regal. He looked both flustered and furious.

Kara stopped pacing the moment she saw him.

“Ah, excellent. Lord Felix. Please, sit. We have much to discuss.”

“Guild Master Kara, I am very busy. I sent my adviser—why did you not speak with him? Why must I waste my ti—”

“If you don’t consider the possible destruction of your own city important enough to sit in on,” Kara cut across him, her voice like steel, “then I will order the evacuation of all adventurers now and leave you to your fate.”

“Destruction? What nonsense are you talking about? It was a couple of lightning bolts—barely anyone got hurt.” Felix waved her off.

“Are you done?” Kara asked flatly.

That seemed to silence him, and he took the seat where Elias had been sitting.

“Right. Now that we have everyone here—Felix, to catch you up very briefly: a Shadow Cat is following young Trevor. For what reason or purpose, we do not know. This Cat fought and made a mockery of the Dragon on the mountain, even killing its first mate.” Kara began, but Felix simply waved his hand.

“Very well. Just kill the boy and be done with it,” he said coldly.

It took me a moment to process. Kill me? Just like that?

“Felix, you and your entire city would be dead before nightfall,” Kara snapped, glaring at him. “The Cat has already protected him from danger more than once—including when the Dragon struck the temple with lightning. Do you truly feel powerful enough to fight it?”

“Surely there is an adventurer here who cou—” Felix began, but Jackson cut him off.

“No. There is not. After seeing the events unfold, after feeling the pressure when it showed up in my house… I suspect we’re dealing with the creature rumoured to dwell at the heart of the Dark Forest for millennia. I doubt any adventurer alive could contend with it.” His voice shook as he said it.

“Right, so what’s the issue? Can we send the boy away, then?” Felix asked again, as if I weren’t sitting right there.

“We will—soon,” Kara replied. “But first, the Cat has requested he cook something—”

“Requested? To cook? A cat?” Felix slammed a hand on the arm of his chair. “What is this nonsense?”

“If you’d shut up for a moment and listen,” Kara ground out, teeth clenched, her words dripping with venom.

“The Cat brought the boy the corpse of the Dragon’s first mate. Decapitated. I have seen it myself. It wants the boy to cook it.”

This time Felix fell silent. His eyes widened as the weight of her words sank in.

“And if we don’t cook it?” he finally asked.

“Then we have a furious Shadow Cat, at a strength near equal to the Dragon. If we do cook it, and the Dragon finds out… then we have a furious Dragon bent on revenge.”

I’ll be honest—I was still stuck on the fact they’d thrown around killing me, or exiling me, so casually. And Kara had agreed I’d be sent out of the city soon? I was confused…

“If I may,” Hari interjected, “we likely won’t need to cook the whole thing. Previously, when the Cat came for food, it was content with smaller portions. If we have access to a large, private, hidden space, a Monster Knacker could remove a large enough, non-defining piece of meat. We store the rest, Trevor cooks that. It would be ill-advised to kill the boy, as we’ve established the Cat is usually watching—and it understands our words clearly.”

I saw Felix shiver again, his eyes darting around the room as if the Cat might leap out at any moment.

“Would the palace basement suffice? How large is the corpse?” Felix asked, defeat clear in his voice.

“It’s very large,” Hari said, “but it may work. We’d need a Knacker who’s quiet and quick. I think I know someone.”

Kara clapped her hands together. “Right, we have a plan. Let’s get to work. Once this is done—Trevor, I apologise, but it’s too risky to keep you this close to the mountain. You’ll need to wrap up any pending business and prepare to leave as soon as possible. We’ll provide your group with a job.” She looked at me, then to Hari, who just nodded.