About an hour later, I stood before Vairos and gave him my 'report.'

"So the lizard's dead?" He demanded, every fiber in his being uninterested in what I had to say.

"Yep," I lied like a pro, "Deader than a doornail. The dragon won't be bothering you anymore."

Vairos raised a skeptical eyebrow, only to give a dismissive shrug. "Very well. Your reward for this endeavor will be sent to your boss. Be gone by tomorrow-by the latest."

I kept my poker face on, but I grinned on the inside. I was betting on Vairos wanting us gone as soon as humanly possible. Because of this urge to be rid of me, he wouldn't pay me or my team much attention.

So he shooed us away with a lazy wave of the hand, and we left his throne room. Walking through a spotless hallway in the castle, I caught sight of an inconspicuous-looking door that didn't seem to draw much attention. What did draw my attention was the guard standing in front of the door. He glared at every dust particle as if it were going to kill him, and he seemed to be very jumpy as a result.

"What are you guarding?" I asked nonchalantly as I sauntered up to the guard, who scowled at me.

"None of your god damn business. Go about your merry way, and I won't have to waste my time dealing with you."

I raised an eyebrow, "Oh that answer won't work in the slightest."

As the guard bristled with anger, I mused over a lesson Virrius taught me regarding how to influence a person's mind using Imagery magic. He told me this trick only worked on people who didn't have a very strong will, but he said that this spell could get me out of some tricky situations.

I tried my hand at this now: "Come on friend, I'm a member of the guard, so you can trust me. Is there anything of importance behind the door you're guarding? Anything at all?"

I saw the man visibly struggle, but I still won: "The-There's a stairway behind this door."

"What does it lead to?"

"If you were to go up the stairway, you'd enter the baron's trophy room. There's...a dragon egg up there among several other trinkets he's collected throughout the years. He's warned us all that we'd be flogged if we even opened the door."

I nodded, cheering silently in my head, "Thanks comrade."

The guard snapped out of his trance and repeated his command to move along before he had to do something brash.

I grinned, walking with my group as we left the castle.

"Whoa Hel," Dorrian began, awe clearly evident in his voice, "How the hell did you do that?"

"Magic," I replied mystically, "The more you know."

Luna looked at me with a question in her eye: "So I can learn to do that too, right?"

"Yeah!" I began enthusiastically, "If you put your mind to it, anything's possible."

A thoughtful smile with hints of mischief in it appeared on Luna's face. She then turned to Dorrian and said, "Hey Dorrian, would you kindly punch yourself in the face?"

"Huh-?" He began, only to lay himself flat on the cobblestone ground as he decked himself in the face.

Analise high-fived Luna, and Dorrian laid on the ground contemplating his life's decisions.

"Honestly, how the hell did you do that?" Dorrian grumbled, "Y'know, for an ex-slave, you're doing pretty damn well at learning imagery magic..."

I chuckled and helped my fellow weirdo stand up, "Certain people learn at certain rates. It all depends on how strong their affinity for magic is. Even though Luna may have been a slave, her affinity never faded away. Now that she's had a little time to study imagery magic, I can tell that her affinity is stronger than usual for a novice. Why is that the case? I don't have that answer yet. My guess would be that one of Luna's parents is a really strong magic user. Then again, that's merely speculation."

"Well, I hope you get that damn answer soon," Dorrian continued, "Cause I call bullshit...No one should have this power...No one..."

After we left Vairos' cesspit of a keep, we made our way over to a tavern in Seris to grab a bite to eat. After that, we checked out the marketplace to see what was available to buy. Stopping at a stall that sold jewelry, I found a beautiful necklace in the shape of a full moon. Hmm...strange, it seems to be made out of moonstone, which I thought was only found in the elven country of Ilfhannin. (Another story for another day, my dear reader.)

I voiced my question to the merchant, who smiled brightly.

"Oh, it's from Ilfhannin alright," He assured me, "This is one of the many trinkets I found that I brought with me to trade when I went to the country for business. I assure you, it's one-hundred percent moonstone!"

I rose an eyebrow, "How much for the full moon necklace then?"

"One platinum royal," The merchant replied.

I barked out a short laugh, "One platinum royal? How about eight-hundred gold marks?"

The merchant thought for a moment, then shrugged, "Word's going around that you killed the dragon that's been ruining business for the merchants that try to set up shop here. Eh...it's a doable discount."

We traded hands, and I held the beautiful necklace in my hand. It glittered in the sunlight, and the pale mineral looked simply dazzling.

Luna walked over to me, saw the necklace, then the look on my face. She frowned, "No, you spent so much on it..."

I dug the necklace Luna had lent me when we were in Erisiir out of my armor. It was a simple necklace with a gem in the shape of a crescent moon on it. I haven't taken it off since she put it around my neck and took my wolf necklace so it wouldn't damage my soul any further. True to her word, her necklace did help me sleep at night.

"Hey, I'm still wearing your necklace, so it's the least I could do," I replied, "Just a repayment for your kindness."

She blushed, "You really didn't need to do this..."

"So you say," I retorted, only to be overcome with uncertainty: "So...will you accept it?"

After a few moments of silence, she nodded and took it from me. She then clasped it around her neck and beamed at me.

"Thank you Helix," She replied, "You didn't have to spend so much money on a necklace, but I truly do appreciate it."

I chuckled, only to catch sight of Dorrian and Ben arguing over a longbow.

"It's a piece of art!" Dorrian shouted at his older colleague, who scowled at him in response.

"It's created poorly," Ben retorted, "The draw weight is deplorable: you couldn't hit a dragon if it was standing right in front of you."

"So?" Dorrian pressed.

"So, I'd rather prefer to have a simple yet effective bow that can hit a target from a mile away than an ornate piece of firewood that can't even shoot straight!"

"Get your head out of your ass, old man!"

"What'd you call me, you little shit?" Ben demanded.

Ignoring my best friend as he grappled with Ben, I watched Ana as she inspected a beautiful knife.

"Hmm..." She mused. She tested the weight of the weapon, then hurled it at Dorrian as Ben kicked him in the nuts. He was barely able to dodge it, and his cry of alarm made me chuckle.

"Not good enough," Ana mumbled, face thoughtful, "The knife was too light..."

I then almost crumpled into a laughing heap as I saw the petrified look on the knife vendor's face when he saw one of his knives lobbed at Dorrian.

"Th-That was one of my masterpieces..." The man said in a small, broken voice.

Analise retrieved the knife and handed it back to the vendor: "Well, you need to work on this masterpiece of yours before you try to sell it to someone. A good knife is a knife that has some weight to it, not a lousy toothpick that breezes through the air when it's thrown at something."

Thankfully, Victoria was nowhere to be seen.

"She's a big girl. She can take care of herself," I thought as I chuckled at the crestfallen look on the vendor's face.

After we finished farting around in the marketplace, (we weren't literally farting. We were just blowing time off-okay that sounds even worse...) We went back to the tavern to eat dinner. After that, I'd get some shuteye in preparation for my plan to steal back Pandora's egg. Before that, I'll have to make sure to send a letter to Stanford informing him of everything I've learned so far. He'll need to be ready to arrest Vairos after I get out of Seris. The damn baron is trying to dethrone Fredrick, so the fucker deserves to be locked away for his crimes. I owe Fredrick too much for all he's done for me, so yeah, a spear up Vairos' ass sounds like music to my ears right now.

Anyway, that's my plan in a nutshell. (Spear optional-nah, it's totally required.) After everyone had gotten their food, Dorrian asked Luna about her necklace and promptly snotted out mead when he heard that the merchant had wanted a platinum royal for it.

"Ho-ho-holy shit," He breathed, "Yeah, your necklace is made out of moonstone, but geez: Platinum royals are freakin' hard to come by."

Everyone chuckled, and we continued to eat and enjoy ourselves.

After dinner, we all went to our rooms. I flopped onto my bed and sighed contentedly, "These beds are so comfy,"

"Aye," Luna agreed. Ana had commented on how it was strange that I was sharing a room with Luna. She then proceeded to give Dorrian a mischievous wink and snorted, "If you know what I mean," She continued. Luna then retreated to my room after she slugged Ana in the shoulder.

I yawned, "I'm gonna crash for now. Wake me up before midnight so I can get ready. My job is far from over."

She nodded, "Okay. I can do that."

As I closed my eyes, I felt Luna snuggling up beside me.

"Oh what a day-what a wonderful day, "I mused to myself. "I'm going to break into a castle, and no one's the wiser."