We were surrounded by large buildings, made out of wood and stone, with chimneys reaching far into the sky.

The main street was filled with the smell of food. Everywhere I looked I saw merchants selling all kinds of things. One sold potions I had never seen before, in all kinds of strange colours, another sold fish on sticks coated in honey.

We followed the main street for a while until we came to a large open area. The buildings now began to stack even higher, climbing up the side of the mountain connected with bridges and platforms.

At one end of the plaza was a building nestled against a large part of the mountain that gave way on both sides into a huge hall.

"That should be the building right?" Hiba asked.

"Yeah, that's the Hirmal guard quarter," Larkan answered.

We went towards the building, its roof cast a large shadow over us as we approached the entrance. Once inside there were two long desks to both our sides and a large staircase in front of us.

"Ah, you must be mercenaries signing up for the battle," a person sitting at the desk to our right said. She was a brown-haired woman, with amber-coloured eyes.

"Yes, we are," Hiba answered.

"Good then I need your names and you have to sign here."

She pulled out a paper from a drawer.

"Mark, Larkan, Hiba, and Zane," he turned around and looked at Ivara and Rey, " What about you two?" he asked.

"I-I want to make myself useful . . ." Rey said.

"Well if she wants to go then I'll come with you as well," Ivara said as she patted Rey on the head.

"Ivara and Rey," Hiba said to the woman.

"Good, then I need you to sign here."

She turned around the piece of paper and put down a pencil beside it.

"Before we sign it, what's the pay? And when exactly is the battle," Hiba asked right after he picked up the pencil.

"The battle is in one week. As for pay . . . we will pay twenty gold coins for every mercenary that fights with us, for your group that would mean . . . one hundred and twenty gold coins."

Hiba smiled. "Better pay than that suicide mission."

"What?" the woman asked.

"Oh nothing," Hiba answered after he had signed.

After all of us had signed the paper we thanked the woman and went back to the plaza.

"So where is the inn?" I asked, looking at Larkan.

"Just follow me," he said.

We walked to the street to the left of the building we had just been in that led to the large hall behind the quarters. It was an enormous hall, with massive stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Embedded into the wall was a wooden building with a sign out front reading Hirmal Inn. Next to it was another building with a sign out front reading Bathhouse.

We went inside the inn and ordered rooms and bathing utensils.

"Finally," Ivara said once we opened the door to the bathhouse.

Ivara and I immediately went towards the mixed bathing area. We put our clothing and armour into a large basket where servants would pick it up for washing.

"Can't wait to finally take a bath again," Ivara said as she pulled me to the bathing area.

We went into the hot spring and sat down next to each other, enjoying the warmth of the water.

Mark, Hiba, Larkan, and Rey entered shortly after us. Rey was trying to hide her body as best she could before she entered the hot spring and sat down in a corner.

"Did you guys really force her to come into the mixed bath?" I asked as the other three sat down in the warm water.

"Of course not, she wanted to stay with us and since Ivara went with you she would have been alone in the women's bath," Hiba said.

I looked over to Rey who I saw nodding in agreement.

"Okay then," I said.

"So, we got a week off. What are you guys gonna do?" Larkan asked.

"I'm probably gonna go hunting in the forest and earn a bit of money that way," Hiba said.

"I'm just gonna look around the city for the week, maybe buy a few things at the market," I said.

Ivara pushed herself closer to me. "Oh yeah. Let's go around the city together."

"What about you Rey?" I asked while looking over at her.

Only the upper half of her face could be seen. She slightly raised her head so she could speak.

"L-Larkan and I w-wanted to . . . look around the city as well," she said.

"Uh, my brothers found himself a girlfriend," Ivara said.

Larkan looked away and Rey sank even deeper into the water.

"Shut it," Larkan finally said after a few seconds.

We all started laughing, even Rey.

We bathed for a while until we decided to head to bed for the night. Our clothes had been washed and put back into the baskets. We headed back to the inn, ate, and then went to our rooms.

Ivara and I took off our clothes and threw them on a table in our room.

"Ready to get sweaty again?" she asked.

I just smiled at her and she licked her lips in response. This night was like last night. Even though nothing too incredible happened it felt like for the two of us something had changed.

It was unusual for me to wake up in a dark room. I was used to being either woken by the screaming of one of my companions, Ivara who would poke me or the shining of the sun. But today I woke to only a dim light entering the room through the window.

"Good morning Z," Ivara said as she pulled me back down.

Nothing like waking up to the warm feeling of her body, I thought as I turned and faced her.

We stared at each other for a short while before we decided to get up.

"Even if this mountain wasn't in the way it wouldn't be much brighter," I said as I stared out of the window at the cloudy sky. "What should we do?"

"Hmmm . . . how about we visit the market," she said as she put on her clothes.

"Are you sure no one will recognize you? I mean yes, five years is a long time but still . . ."

"You might be right, I'll just wear the cloak you have in your satchel," she said after a few seconds of thinking.

I nodded and handed her the cloak I always carried with me. It was dark green and was lined with dark grey fur. She put it on and nearly disappeared.

"Might be a little bit too big but I'll make do," she said with a bright smile.

We went downstairs and ordered some food.

"Are the others not awake yet?"

"Seems so . . ."

But just as we were about to leave we saw Larkan and Rey walk down the stairs.

"Uhhh," Ivara began.

"Shut it," said Larkan before Ivara could continue.

We left the inn and walked down the street back to the plaza.

"Rey was definitely blushing," Ivara said. "Think she's as wild in bed as I am?"

"No one is Iva," I said.

We quickly reached the plaza and went down the main street. We looked at the wares of many different stalls.

I had a look at a few of the potions at one stall. The merchant, quite obviously someone who aspired to be a druid, was dressed in clothing made out of fur and tree bark. He talked about how these potions would be able to increase your strength or how they would make you invincible.

A bunch of crap, I thought.

Ivara looked at a stall where bows and such were sold. A particularly elegant-looking quiver caught her interest.

"Z, I want this one . . . can you buy it for me please?" she half asked half demanded.

I took a look at it. It was a large quiver, best equipped at the waist, with many fine details and a soft fur coating.

"How much is it?" I asked the merchant.

"Four gold coins," she said.

I was shocked at how expensive it was but after looking into Ivara's eyes I bought it without a second thought.

"You're going to suck up all of my money Iva," I said.

"Oh don't worry about it so much, we're rich now anyways," she said.

"Not forever if we keep spending it like this," I said as I watched her run to the next stall.

I walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder.

A large number of crystals were laid out.

"Something catch your eye?" the merchant asked Ivara.

She nodded and turned to me, holding two light green crystals.

"These two crystals are as beautiful as your eyes Z, why don't we buy them and make necklaces?" she asked.

"Ah good choice for two bound to each other, you see when these two of these get close to the one they are bound to they emit a faint glow," the merchant said.

"Did you hear that Z, come on please?" she pleaded.

I again couldn't withstand her eyes. "Fine," I finally said.

The merchant smiled. "Would you like me to make them into necklaces right now?" he asked while rubbing his hands together.

"How much?" I asked.

"Normally a gold coin per crystal, and for just five silver pieces more I'll make them into necklaces and even show you how to bind them to each other," he said, still rubbing his hands.

I felt like I was being ripped off but I paid anyway. The merchant grabbed a small needle-like tool and punctured a hole into the crystals. Then he threaded a long, thin piece of leather through the holes and knotted them together, creating two necklaces which he handed to us.

"Now hold them against each other," the merchant said.

We did as he said and as soon as one crystal touched the other both began faintly glowing. Ivara's eyes widened a bit.

"Beautiful," she said.

It made me smile to see her this happy.

I looked up at the sky. Through the clouds, I could faintly see the sun, almost right above us.

"Were we out this long? We should get back to the inn for lunch," I said.

Ivara nodded and so the two of us headed back to the inn. Once we entered we saw Mark and Hiba sitting at a table, already eating.

"Ah, you guys are back," Hiba said with a full mouth.

We sat down at their table and ordered our food.

"Have you two seen Larkan and Rey?" Ivara aksed.

"When the two of us got up they were already gone . . . I'm sure they'll be back," Mark said.

Our food came quickly and we began eating. I heard the door open and saw Larkan walk in, holding Rey's hand.

"Guess there's something going on between them . . ." I said before taking another bite of my cheese.

"You already ate without us?" Larkan stated as he saw that Mark and Hiba had already finished their food and that Ivara and I were about to finish.

"Don't complain and just sit down and order," I said, with cheese still in my mouth.

Ivara chuckled at the sight.

"So what were you two up to?" she asked, grinning at her brother.

"Nothing much, just went around the city a bit," Larkan said.

"Hmmm, so how long has this been going on between you two?" she asked.

Larkan blushed and looked at Rey, who looked down. "N-Not . . . long," she answered quietly.

Hiba poked Larkan in the side. "Ah, that's the Larkan I know," he said.

"Ah, I know. How about you two also get these necklaces. They glow when they are close to each other," Ivara said while holding the two crystal necklaces together.

As soon as Rey saw them she looked over to Larkan the same way Ivara always looked at me. Larkan hesitated for a few seconds but agreed in the end. I leaned over to Ivara.

"Did you teach her?" I asked.

"Maybe."

She began chuckling.