Brand was a shadow walking in the darkness of the early morning, his blood-coated skin covered by a hood he’d traded for a few coppers. He made his way back to Saint Hilda’s not searching through the rubble of the fallen section of the city wall like the other pedestrians he snuck by.

Sleep was the only thing he searched for after the mixed bag of a day he had. 28 hours of wakefulness, several fights, running for his life, killing his pursuers, and running for his life again from the city guard left him in a strangely, great mood.

Not being able to talk to the noble siblings about learning magic was a disappointment, but it was a long shot anyway. At least he was able to find Hoder before that no good, shit eating, son of a fucking-!

Brand shook his head to clear it of the rage steadily building. Instead, he focused on the gold, rings, and magic tools he lifted off the dead man. The riches he now carried made his little adventure worth it.

Hoder had more wealth on him than Brand knew what to do with. There were gems of many colors and sizes, some with runes etched into the surface. Gold pieces thicker and longer than coins like an oversized finger stamped with letters too small to read filled most of the bag.

The last of Brand's pilfered prizes was a thick, smooth, and polished wand studded with runes and small gems. Its uses were unknown but its worth on the streets was no doubt high. Sadly, he had no clue how to sell this kind of weapon, but he knew someone that might.

Brand’s contemplation was interrupted by a fist size ball softly bouncing off his head. Before the ball hit the floor, it vanished reappearing in the hand of its thrower.

“Brandy, what have I told you about that fucked up grin of yours? Put it away before you give me nightmares. Hahahaha!”

Meeting the eyes of the girl laughing at her own joke, Brand was happy to see his friend Astrid floating above the orphanage steps.

She was barefooted while crossing her legs as if she sat on the ground. Brandishing pale skin, red hair longer than she was tall sprinkled with lines of and mismatched eyes purple and green eyes, Astrid barely reached Brand's stomach. She had a child's figure and a freckle-dotted face that seemed to rarely find a reason to not smile. She was the perfect picture of cute and innocent until her mouth started spewing filth.

Her appearance was due to her being fey kin, a race that came with many unique features, but they were always small in stature. Most fey kin could also float but few, like Astrid, ever learned to truly fly. She still managed to flit about the orphanage annoying everyone she could from the air, but that was nothing compared to the ire she brought with her focus.

Brand wasn't exactly sure how the power worked, but Astrid could teleport a ball of woven fabric back to her hand unusually after pelting someone with it. She couldn't teleport anything else unless she’d held it for several days and thankfully, she could not teleport herself, but Brand thought that would come with time, unfortunately.

Brand walked towards Astrid tiredly, letting her grab onto his hair to follow off the ground as she often did. He made his way inside Saint Hilda's unencumbered by the added weight.

“Nasty, why is there red stuff all over you?” Astrid asked, noticing his blood-soaked hair.

“Blood,” Brand answered.

“What?” Astrid asked, letting the hair go.

A chuckle escaped Brand’s mouth. “I said, it's blood.”

Astrid made a “yeeep,” sound dropping to the floor to stain it red as she rubbed her hands clean against the wood.

“Is the bathtub still full,” Brand asked, hoping to clean the day off himself.

“Why should I tell you after getting that shit on me?” Astrid whined harmlessly punching Brand twice in the rear before cleaning the blood bit of blood on him.

“Because I'll give you a great big bloody hug if you don't so just tell me. And where the hells is Magna? She should be all teary-eyed by now.”

“The tub is still full but nasty. No one's thrown it out because Magna is not here to give out chores,” she said, keeping pace with Brand’s longer stride by pushing off the walls. “So no crying this time big guy. She left for the giant hole in the wall all freaked out, probably about you.”

Brand was surprised, not just that Magna left to find him but that she knew where to look at all. The bruises he brought home every month let her know of the fighting but there were many such fighting pits in the city, most not within Mur.

“Whatever,” he decided, caring more about his bath and the gifts he had to give.

Reaching into his pants pocket Brand revealed a pouch. “Astrid, I got something for you.”

The fey kin jumped for the pouch as she saw it missing by a hair when Brand pulled it back out of her reach.

“Gi me the candy Brandy!” she barked as she moved in a swimming motion while airborne unable to move an inch forward.

“It's not candy this time,” he said, grabbing her by the leg and effortlessly moved her through the air like a bug on strings.

Passing many other orphans, Brand made his way to a room all but Magan knew belonged to him and his friends. There were many such rooms claimed by little orphan lords like himself reserved under threat of a beating if all did not leave when the owner returned.

When Brand reached his scant kingdom, which was the room for drying laundry, the children took one look at the dried blood on him and ran out leaving only one boy sleeping on a bundle of sheets.

“Good,” Brand muttered to himself, kicking the boy awake. “Uhtred's already here.”

Uhtred snorted loudly, blinking away sleep and trying to remember where he was. “Wa, oh, Brand where you been?” Suddenly the sleepy boy sat up beaming with excitement. “Magna’s not here so let’s go into town and see what we can get. I bet people will be too distracted by the broken wall to catch us looting their stalls.”

Uhtred was pale, human, and had dark hair with similarly dark eyes making him look like every other boy on the street helping him stay forgettable. Most could only see an innocent-looking boy thanks to his expertly delivered feeble weakling act.

He was quite scrawny, not yet grown into a man as Brand had, but his fingers could liberate pockets in ways his friends had never seen, primarily because Brand nor Astrid had ever seen Uhtred steal in their lives. The thief would simply walk by somehow taking all someone had without being regarded, every time. Even now Brand saw the pouch he’d meant for him already resting in Uhtred’s grasp somehow taken from the only pocket he let him take from without reprisals.

The only weakness of his method was if someone noticed their property missing some would guess the closest orphan to be the thief. That's where Brand came in being the dangerous friend dissuading most if they were found out.

“Forget it,” Brand said, eyeing the tub filled with gray water laying at the back of the room.

He took his clothes off throwing them aside and submerged himself in the tub that could easily fit five more. His friends showed no reaction to his nakedness. All the boys bathed around the same time in the few tubs they had removing any sense of modesty between them. Astrid simply didn’t care to look away while Brand and Uhtred never cared to cover up in front of her.

Uhtred gasped as he looked inside the pouch finding half a dozen gold fingers, jewels, and two of Hoder’s rings. A second gasp came from Astrid as she took her own pouch from Brand's discarded clothing finding the same. They both looked in his direction at the same time.

“Where did you get this?” they asked in unison.

Brand came to the edge of the water resting his head on his hands. “Do I have a story to tell you.”

Several minutes later, Brand finished his telling of the night's events, how he came upon a fortune, and that there were three times more hidden throughout the area. Now he just listened to his friends as he vigorously scrubbed blood out of his hair.

“Brandy,” Astrid whispered with worry in her voice. “Is anyone going to come looking for you? If someone hears Hoder was killed by you or even someone with a bad tan, they'll be coming for your head. Plus, there are the city guards and the nobles because of the wall.”

Brand answered with a smile beaming with confidence. “I think I'm safe from the nobles and guards. Only a mage or cultivator could damage the wall so badly and the foreign noble will tell the guards I'm not to blame.”

“Are you sure?” Astrid asked, not convinced.

Brand replied without any doubts in his words. “That girl will say I helped. It's not like she can say she killed Hoder while bound by magic. Plus, she may need a witness to her not being raped. I think something like that would hurt her standing too much”.

Uhtred coughed into his fist to catch everyone’s attention. “She could just kill you and the guards so word never gets out.” The room grew silent as the words were digested.

“If she sends a mage after me, I'm dead,” Brand said with finality. “I can't run if one comes for me so let's just forget about that outcome.”

He got out of the newly reddened pool of water and used a hanging towel to dry himself. Moving to a dresser that held spare clothing, Brand got dressed.

“There is another problem, and I don't think you'll like the solution,” Uhtred said as Brand sat down completing the circle of conversation. “We can't use this treasure, there is simply too much here to do anything with right now.” Uhtred pulled a ruby out of nowhere showing it for all to see. “This alone can probably buy a house just barely smaller than this one, or hells, someone's life if you know the right people.”

Brand grimiest. He'd been counting on his friend to know how to disseminate the loot. Stolen goods were Uhtred's area of expertise, so if he said the treasure can't be used then it simply wouldn't be.

“And your fix for this is?” Brand inquired.

“We get Magna to help us,” Uhtred replied in a questioning tone.

“Well shit, that might work,” Astrid said, agreeing with the idea.

“How could she help us? She's just... Magna you know,” Brand said, confused by the notion of bringing their den mother into their scheming.

Astrid tilted over to Uhtred’s side. “He’s showing his mama’s boy side again.”

“I’m not!” Brand said with a huff.

“Listen!” Uhtred shouted, shutting them both up. “Magna’s not some saint. Why do you think no slumlords or thugs mess with this place, or us, excluding you of course.”

“And who do you think pays for this place,” Astrid said, gesturing to their surroundings. “It has to be someone pretty powerful. Admit it, Brandy, she’s into some dark shit or at least knows people that are.”

Not wanting to admit to being a mama’s boy Brand crossed his arms. “Whatever you say, she cares about us.”

“Exactly,” Uhtred agreed. “Which is why she’s perfect. We give a little to move at first to test her out. Give her a cut that will go to the orphanage, herself, or her mysterious patron. What won't happen is us being killed by some thugs in the hopes of finding more of this treasure.”

“Fine,” was all Brand said still not agreeing, but he only led when it came to violence. In matters of coin, Uhtred's word might as well be law.

“There’s still the problem of Hoder’s men coming after you,” Astrid reminded.

Brand waved away the comment dismissively. “All of Hoder’s men died under Mur or never saw me kill him. The only two that saw me after were the ones I killed with him so I’m good. So, if the city guard doesn’t talk, which they won't to null folk, I'm safe.”

“There’s still something I’d like to know,” Uhtred asked in a less serious voice smiling. “How’d that noble girl look naked.”

“I don't know.” Brand chuckled in an exaggerated way. “How do you steal without touching people.”

Uhtred showed his hand holding Astrid’s ball, the same ball that should have out of his reach. “Sorry brother, my lips are sealed.”

****

Magna walked back and forth amongst the onlookers and scavengers near the breach in the Mur. Her frustration in not being able to search for Brand was a wound in her heart growing ever deeper as time went on. The matron bit her fingertips, a bad habit born from stress.

“Why aren't they moving the rubble." She thought angrily. "People may still be alive in there.”

Magna had always known where Brand fought every month, so when the wall came down on top of Hoder's roof she ran to her boy not knowing what she could do to help. All she could do was pray so she did.

Knitting her hands together as she fell to her knees. Magna prayed the strongest prayer she could muster in her soul. “Please Vara, shepherd this child home unharmed from the horrors of this world. Bring him back to me please, I need him.” Tears leaped from her face by the end of the prayer soaking the ground with desperate pleads for help.

“Madam,” said a stranger in front of Magna. The word was left unheard, painted over by the strength in Magna’s prayer. The stranger then grabbed Magna's wrist like a vice grip forcing her from the arms of a comforting god. “Madam, what is this mark on your arm?”

Magna looked at the person that would dare to touch her risking the wrath of the Dreyark house only to see a young, disheveled noblewoman, no, not a woman, a girl.

“Hh, how may I help you, my lady,” Magna stuttered wondering why the hells would someone like this girl be on this side of the wall alone.

With a second look, Magna realized she wasn’t alone. 20 city guards encircled them forming a barrier of safety which no one dared enter.

The noble girl held Magna's arm up pointing at the runic characters that made up the matron's mark. “Do you know Brandy?”

The matron wondered how Brand attracted the attention of nobility but thought it better to find out where he was first. “Do you know where he is?” she asks, hoping that he somehow made it free of the rubble in time.

“No,” the girl said letting go of the hand. “But I need to know where he is.”

“Why,” Magna asked, a cold visage stealing the warmth from her face and voice.

The noble replied with a bit of desperation of her own. “I need to thank him for saving my life.”