"Looks like all the fire has faded away. What do you think caused it? Do you think we've been noticed?"

"Bloody Hell's Bells Boy! We will get noticed if you don't shut your useless trap" I bark back irritably, for the third, and hopefully, final time.

Typical for a naive, fresh-faced child, to brave a potentially dangerous situation without a single care or responsibility in the world. Crunching the biggest branches underfoot and chatting freely during what's supposed to be a scouting mission, none too quietly either. Honestly, what did I expect? Just from the look in his eyes, I can tell that he's only after coin and rank. As all the young ones are. But is a little common sense too much to ask for? Apparently so.

I swear these minimum party rules are nothing but headaches. Scouting an incident in a forest widely known to be safe shouldn't require two people. Guilds are getting soft.

Besides, I'm confident that the cause of these mysterious fires will be another Mage's misfired spell casting. It's happened several times before. The forest's weak creatures are perfect for gaining experience and practicing skills, but mistakes do happen. Even so, just because there's *probably* nothing to worry about, it doesn't mean you shouldn't. Caution has never led anyone to an early grave. Something I don't expect this young lad to know. He puts starving bears to shame with the amount of noise he's making.

"Draw your crossbow, and load it silently" I instruct in a hushed voice, enforcing the message with a sharp glare "Keep an eye open but don't shoot at anything until the cause has been confirmed. I don't want to find someone with an arrow sticking out of their head".

"Yes sir" he responds excitedly, releasing his white-knuckle grip off his sheathed sword and unfasting a small crossbow from his belt. Somehow making a wince worthy *clanking* racket in the process.

How does he do it?

As he finishes loading the bolt into the firearm, I slide ahead and signal for him to follow at a distance, whilst also praying that his lumbering footwork can remain unheard. If it really is a Mage or even a low-leveled party that's in trouble, the extra noise won't matter, but it's always better to be safe rather than sorry. I wouldn't want to alert a unknown creature to our presence.

We continue to traverse the forest for scantly more than 15 seconds before the footsteps behind me quicken in pace and my unwanted party member is shuffling beside me in obvious distress.

"Uhhh..." he begins nervously, squirming uncomfortably under my questioning scowl "the bolt... it accidentally fell out when I wasn't looking and I couldn't find it... there were too many other sticks on the forest floor" he whimpers helplessly, shrinking backwards.

Is he for real? I've only known him for 15 minutes and yet I already want to throw him off a cliff. Escal have mercy on the one who raised him, they need it.

"Just use another one" I growl through gritted teeth. He's doomed. What did he say his rank was again? Stone? Iron?

Stones for a brain perhaps.

"Well uhh... I only had one bolt" he shrugs resignedly, looking away and pursing his lips as I stare at him incredulously. "I don't normally use a crossbow anyway, they're not very useful, I'm much better with my sword".

He has a crossbow, but only carries a single bolt? WHAT! This must be a test from Escal, a divine tribulation sent in the form of a handful of strict guild rules and one massive bloody idiot. Has he never been outside a day in his life before? I need to ask for his name later, so I avoid him forever.

Breathe in. Breath out.

"That's alright, it happens all the time!" I reply cheerfully, feigning a understanding smile. "You just stand right here and I'll go on ahead while you keep lookout. If there's any trouble I'll shout out your name, so keep an ear open"

"Are you sure? I can-"

"Your name?"

"It's Bryce. But I think-"

"Ok Bryce. You know the plan. Don't move from this spot and I'll be back in 5 minutes." I hushly declare, silencing his protest before he can open his incessant mouth again.

With a light pat on his shoulder I turn around and slink towards where the strange sky fires were last seen. Gliding through the forest with careful steps and measured breathes. Finally enjoying the lack of idiots as I do my work how it's supposed to be done: quickly and silently.

Although I really hope he doesn't mention anything about this slight abandoning to anyone at the guild. A rule breach is taken pretty seriously no matter how small and justified it is. Hot water for sure. Especially if he came to serious harm, or even died due to my breach. Now that would really get me in trouble. But what are the chances of him dying in a measly 5 minutes? Low right? Timber wolves are the most dangerous beast around here, but they only hunt solo. They shouldn't be too much trouble, even for a Stone rank. He only needs to hold it off long enough for me to return at the first sign of trouble. He can do that, can't he?

Of course not. I think I need to step up my search. Caution never hurt anyone. I'll just do a quick filter through the largest clearings and look for any signs of fighting or anything else suspicious. Then, if I find nothing, we can try the kid's method of scouting: make as much noise as humanly possible and maybe... just maybe, the noise will bring the fire's source to us-

"COME BACK!"

Ahh. Lo and Behold. He found a wolf, didn't he? In record time too. Of all the people in the guild who I could've been paired with, it had to be this one. Bloody Hell. Today really isn't my day, I think my hair will be more salt than pepper by the end of it.

Immediately abandoning the search, I rush back to Bryce's voice, sprinting past trees and bush alike with practiced ease whilst also scanning the forest ahead for other threats that may be lurking nearby, lured by his call. Wolves may be the at the top of the food chain due to their size and power, but other dangerous creatures still exist, and a single poorly made step can lead to an unfortunate death if you're not paying attention. Maybe this will finally knock some sense into the daft boy. It always takes a few dangerous situations to fully comprehend that having a sword doesn't make you a Hero.

As I surge through the trees and arrive at the same place where Bryce was left behind, I drop to a crouch and reach to my sides to draw my trusted weapons. A short, mundane dagger in my left, and a unique, thick, cleaver-like knife in my right. A combination not used by many, and mastered by fewer. The weapons slide half-way out of their oiled sheaths before I abruptly stand up straight on my feet and release my grip, allowing them to slip back in with a *click*.

"Explain" I growl dangerously.

Bryce's pale faces pokes out from behind a tree and his throat visibly bulges as he takes in the full image of my furious gaze. Notably, the terrified, pasty white face has a severe lack of claw marks on it, as does the rest of his body, and the sword he's so proud of is still sheathed. Hale and healthy. Exactly as I left him. As I take a single, irate step forward, Bryce drops to his knees and raises a finger to his lips, signalling me not to make any noise, and with his other hand, he points behind himself.

Oh, is that so? Was I being too loud? Oh dear Escal, how dare I! Did you find something, call out to me, and then decide to be silent after yelling? Honestly, how did this utterly incompetent idiot manage to join the Guild in the first place? I swear to Escal that whatever this overgrown child is pointing at, had better be a pile of gold that's bigger than I am tall. If not...

"Look, look!" Bryce whispers pleadingly as I drop down alongside him. "Right there!" he points vigorously, his hands trembling "I saw it after you left. I think it's distracted by the wolf, it didn't see me".

This whole day is a headache, I can't believe he actually found something.

A large bird feasting on a dead wolf. not too far away from where we're watching.

Not the strangest thing I've seen, although... the more I look at it, the more confusing the scene becomes.

There's a general feeling of unease, a tightness in my chest, a rush of adrenaline in my veins that I haven't felt in years. Something about that bird is different, but my brain can't tell what's wrong just by looking at it, only my body can. I'm feeling restless. Scared or excited, I don't know which, but I feel something. Why? What is that bird?

I can see the bird's razor sharp talons ripping apart pieces of fresh meat from the corpse to be pecked voraciously with its waiting beak. A morbidly fascinating sight. Those talons are clearly far too large for a normal bird, undoubtedly designed for attacking prey in diving swoops and from the looks of those thick legs, probably even lifting prey into the sky like the gigantic rocs of Ultar. But unlike a roc, this bird isn't very large? About as tall as my knee from the ground, which is still rather big, but nothing like the size of a true roc. What could it possibly lift? Rats? Maybe even snakes? The wings also look far too small to allow proper flight, let alone passenger flight. They look more like a chicken's wings than a hawk's, which contradicts the design of its legs. So maybe it actually is flightless? Such an oddity. A longer neck than normal too, like a swan's, but shorter. The beak however, is exactly like an eagle's, short, yellow and hooked at the end. Efficient at ripping, as it's currently displaying.

Definitely not a bird I've ever seen before. Has anyone seen a bird like this?! It's like a combination of many birds in one. Taking all of the most prominent features frome every species to create a single apex specimen. Yet, among those countless features, there are still two characteristics in particular stand out as exceptionally unique.

Brilliant feathers of crimson red and fiery gold.

And beyond that.

Curious eyes which shine with intelligence and understanding.

Oh... bloody hell. It's looking directly at me. That uneasy feeling just got a whole lot worse.