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(instrumental music plays) The Thieves Guild

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by Jake Care.

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Season 4:

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The Order of the Dragon.

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Episode 4:

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The Blade and the Blade.

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There was a knock.

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Come in.

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He entered as quietly as a breeze.

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Maela had been arranging her and Dala's new
quarters in the tower.

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Raylan had made it clear he valued her remaining
as his blade, and Dala seemed

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enamored with touring and discovering not just the
tower, but the entire old

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quarter. They had found a large abandoned set of
rooms on the third floor,

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but it was dusty and disorganized, and full of old
furniture that needed

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replaced.

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Maela looked up and Vespa was standing next to
her.

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He hadn't even disturbed the dust.

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I am told you reached Polo in his quarters.

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You are the craft blade, the one sent to
assassinate Raylan?

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My name is Vespa.

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He crossed his arms as he seemed to take in Maela,
looking at her intently.

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And at this point, I think it would be more
accurate to say I was the craft blade, but I

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was indeed sent to assassinate Raylan. I failed
and am glad I did.

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Vesper uncrossed his arms and lowered his head.

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I was also sent to assassinate Polo, and in that,
I also failed.

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But I am angry at myself that I failed in that.

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Ah, so this is about Allard?

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Vesper nodded.

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I knew him about as well as anyone.

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So you understand my pain?

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Perhaps.

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Maela placed the dusting cloth on the table and
waved toward the side of the

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room.

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Come, let us sit.

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You're hurt because Allard was kind and generous
to you.

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He was more than that.

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Vesper followed Maela, who sat at a chair in what
was a small reception

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area. The sofa was covered with new clothes, but
facing it were

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two chairs, which is where Maela sat, beckoning
Vesper.

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He sat down and turned toward her.

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It appears neither of us fully understand Allard's
meaning to each other, and it also

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appears that we are both hesitant with our words.

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So, tell me your story.

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Vesper was quiet for a long time before speaking.

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Allard saw in me self-interest and a desire to
align with power.

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He wasn't wrong.

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Yet I saved him.

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Did you know that?

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He was in the flats and about to be overwhelmed
with knights, and I saved him.

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It was in my best interest to just watch or leave,
but I helped.

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I didn't know why at the time. Perhaps it was that
I respected Allard's courage to take

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on insurmountable odds.

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Vesper's gaze was intense as he looked at Maela.

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But I know now that it was the first stirring in
my heart that I wanted to be like him.

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He was hated by everyone, as us blades are for the
role that we play.

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But he stood tall, and his understanding that he
was doing the right thing was greater than the

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hatred the knights had for him for saving the
outlander family, or the city had for him for

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being a thief.

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What do you mean he saved an outlander family?

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Vesper smiled, but it wasn't of mockery.

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It was of a connection about to be created that
didn't exist previously.

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The knights hated him for taking the side of the
outlanders, but he simply saved an

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outlander family from slaughter.

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How do you know this?

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Allard told me.

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Maela had trouble understanding why Allard would
tell Vespa the story when he

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absolutely refused to talk about it with anyone
else, including her,

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whom he essentially saw as Pietro's daughter.

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Rather than be bitter or upset however, Maela
realized

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that Allard had a reason for doing so, and
trusting this blade.

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You said that it was the first stirring.

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When did your goal of being like him become
reality for you?

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It is a fair question, and one I haven't fully
answered for myself.

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Perhaps it wasn't one event, but the sum of all of
them.

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But I knew that I had a debt to pay when Allard
sacrificed himself so I could escape the

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mines. And the debt wasn't to him, it was to
myself.

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I don't understand.

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It's simple. I had to become the type of man worth
saving.

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Before Maela could reply, Vespa put his hands
together and leaned forward,

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his demeanor one of a curious friend more than a
ruthless blade looking for

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information.

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So tell me your story.

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Maela considered how much to share. She had told
no one the story of her

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youth, including Darla, but there was something
about Vespa, a

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connection that existed where it didn't for anyone
else.

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Perhaps it was the common thread of Allard,
perhaps it was simply the shared

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experience of one not knowing who they truly are.

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Whatever the reason, for the first time in her
life, Maela shared the story of her

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youth.

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I'm an outlander.

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She waited, but Vespa didn't move at all.

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He just remained still, listening.

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Or, I should say I was born an outlander.

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Allard found me abandoned or lost, or something
else perhaps more horrible.

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He refused to tell me.

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He brought me to the old quarter and I was raised
by a kind man and his wife, who died when I was
old

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enough to know that I lost her, but young enough
not to understand why.

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I didn't remember my parents. I was a vicious
little bastard that was seen as a

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tool by those who needed vicious little bastards.

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Maela nodded.

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My adopted father was my guide and mentor, and
Allard was his right-hand man.

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My father was perhaps a bit too lenient with me,He
gave me jobs in the lower quarter, and his

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trust in me meant the world. But I wasn't very
good with that trust.

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I was perhaps not a vicious little bastard, but I
was a handful.

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Vesper smiled at that.

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My father was my joy, while Allard was my guide.

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I never appreciated Allard enough, I fear, and it
hurts me to say that now that he is gone.

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Pietro was your father?

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My adoptive father, but yes, my father
nonetheless.

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And Allard was?

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A mentor, a guide. An intimidating man who scared
me when I

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misbehaved, but defended me when I was threatened.

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Maylor looked Vesper in the eyes.

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I don't really know what you call that.

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Perhaps he was an older brother.

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Perhaps.

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They were both quiet for a while, respectful in
silence of each other's

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honesty.

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Finally, Maylor broke the silence.

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So what brings you here, Vesper? Surely it was not
to share family stories.

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You've done something that no other Blade has been
able to do, and

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I want you to tell me how to do it.

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And what might that be?

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You reached Polo's quarters in Harvest House.

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I considered such a feat to be impossible without
an army, yet you did it.

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How?

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And why do you want to reach Polo?

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Maylor spread her arms.

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The city is unstable enough, don't you think?

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I

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don't care about the city. I care about avenging
Allard.

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I intend to stab Polo in the back in the same way
that Allard was.

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The Baros Treaty detailed very clearly the

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requirements of a robust and thriving trade
between Gautland and Ness,

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and it outlined, also very clearly, the freedom of
travel between the two

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cities.

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Raef had read every detail of the treaty,
including the very

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specific details on maintaining and guarding the
critical Dragon Road.

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What he was surprised to see were notes about
maintaining, for a certain period of

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time, the older road that led to a small town and
outpost at the

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western edge of the mountain notch, where Ness
sat.

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Presumably, this southern road, which was paved in
dirt and had no name,

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connected Ness and Gautland south of the Great
River.

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The outpost, which was simply identified as the
Southern Watch, guarded both Ness

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and Gautland from danger from the south.

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The nature of that danger wasn't mentioned, but
that's not what Raef was interested

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in as his horse clip-clopped through the abandoned
southern foothills.

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He was interested in its roundabout way of getting
to Gautland.

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He would travel southwest, and then when he
reached the presumably abandoned

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outpost, he would turn north and approach Gautland
from a direction that

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wouldn't raise suspicion.

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One wasn't mentioned, but he hoped that the bridge
over the Great River was there,

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or at least a shallow crossing.

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He had been traveling for three days, and felt
confident that whoever Raylan had

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sent to stop him had assumed he would head over
the Great River and to the Great

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Road, and had lost him.

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Stopping to look around, Raef grabbed some dried
meat and an apple as he sat in his

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saddle.

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The road no longer existed as a road, but from the
smoothness of the path and

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its width, he could tell it was still somewhat
functional.

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And off in the distance, he could see the edge of
the mountain range that had turned

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west at Ness, and then from what his maps had
shown, sharply turned

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south and continued in a straight line from there.

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He squinted, but the sun was setting, and he
couldn't see a town or anything

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else in the distance, other than the nearly sheer
cliff face.

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That was fine. He didn't expect to find anything.

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The Baros Treaty was signed centuries earlier.

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Any distant outpost would have been long since
abandoned.

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All he needed to find was the remains of the road
turning north, and then his

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next stop would be Gautland and Pietro's library.

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He dismounted and decided to set up camp.

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He tied up his horse, undid his bedroll, and
looked around for some wood.

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A small, warm fire and a night under a glittering
sky were his favorite

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things about this trip, which turned out to be not
nearly as dangerous or

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difficult as he had feared.

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As he wandered up a slight rise in the foothills
looking for some wood, a

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glittering in the distance caught his attention.

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It was about halfway up the massive mountain
corner where he expected to find

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the outpost at its base.

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He squinted again.

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Was that firelight? Glass glittering in the
sunset?

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How could either be so far up the mountain?

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It looked impenetrable, even from this distance.

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And as the last sliver of sunlight disappeared, an
entire section of the mountain

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lit up in bright lights.

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It was obvious and clear and unbelievable.

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The southern outpost was within the mountain,

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and it was occupied.

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When the sun rose, Raef would approach with
stealth, assessing his options.

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If he had to, he'd take a long detour north and
walk along the Great River on the

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south side, even if the ground was uneven and hard
to navigate.

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But before then, he wanted to get a closer look.

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At that moment, Raef heard the snap of a branch
and a shadow enter

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his ring of firelight. He quickly reached for his
dagger.

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Hold, youngster. You're better served inviting us
to join you than inviting us

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to kill you.

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The men who walked into the light looked unlike
any Raef had ever

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seen.

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(instrumental music plays)

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(bubbles popping) A Podcast Alchemy production.

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(bubbles popping)