After I put on my stained clothes, we went down to the hotel’s stable to get Eura. Mar’kost saddled her and helped me up before sitting behind the saddle. He reached around me to take the reins. His arms rested against my sides. We’d been this close a million times in dreams, and I’d never thought twice about it, but now it was different. 

I was acutely aware of his touch as Eura started moving. Every step jostled Mar’kost’s arms and legs against mine. It wasn’t painful, just unnerving and difficult to ignore. So difficult, in fact, that I barely noticed the passing storefronts until we stopped without warning. 

Chirping angrily, Eura reared back at the sudden yank on her reins. 

“Are we there already?”

Before Mar’kost could answer, I noticed a purple scalewing with a kinda handsome dad bod standing in our path. He--at least, I assumed it was a he, as I wasn’t entirely sure scalewing women would have breasts--raised his hands in a calming gesture. 

“Pardon, sir, but is this girl the telepath who tamed a wild drykon yesterday?”

“She’s not for sale,” Mar’kost snapped. He urged Eura around the scalewing. 

That was rude. Why’d he assumed the guy wanted to buy me?

The scalewing moved to block us again. “But you haven’t heard my offer.” 

“Not for sale, Falek.” He kicked Eura’s sides, and she charged, nearly trampling the scalewing before he dove out of the way. 

We wove through carriages, horses, and drykons for several streets before stopping outside the “Communications Guild.” Mar’kost jumped down and tied Eura to a hitching post. 

I dismounted. “Uh, who was that guy? How’d you know he wanted to buy me?”

He made a face like he’d found fresh crap on his shoe. “Falek is a Sellsguardian; he pays guardians to take in their wards if he thinks they can earn him crystal. He tried to buy Raeve a while back, and he’d pay a shiny chip for a telepath.”

I shuddered. “You don’t think he’d try to kidnap me or something?”

“Rumors say he’s done it before. No idea if they’re true.” He shook his head. “As long as you don’t go anywhere without me or Cadmus, you should be fine.” 

That wasn’t as comforting as he probably meant it to be, but I tried to put it out of my mind for the moment. 

We went inside to a small lobby with a receptionist’s desk on the left and a wall of bounty posters on the right. Opposite the entrance stood double doors that were emitting the thunderous sounds of machinery, maybe a printing press or a chorus of typewriters. 

“How may I help you, sir and ma’am?” the receptionist--a brown scalewing with no horns and a distinctly feminine voice--asked us. 

That confirmed my theory that scalewing women didn’t have visible breasts. Though, I guessed this one could’ve been a teenager who hadn’t fully matured yet.

“I’d like to post a bounty on information about nine specific humans.” He paused as she retrieved a notepad and pen. “They arrived within the last two days without warning. They’re likely to seem confused and out of place. Their names are Grace Taroth, James Keta-”

The receptionist’s eyes narrowed. “Pardon me, sir, but if you seek to waste this esteemed Guild’s time with a joke, I would ask that you leave.”

He sighed. “I’m aware of the absurdity of their names, but I assure you that this is no joke. They’re part of a group with unique naming conventions, and a poorly done teleportation spell sent them to unknown locations. They don’t have any money or artifacts on them, so they’ll be in a great deal of danger if they aren’t recovered soon. Now, did you write down the names I gave you?”

Hairless brows raised, she nodded. “You said there were nine in total?”

“Technically ten, but I’ve located one already.” He tilted his head at me. “I’ll pay the standard information fee and extra for the return of the humans--alive and unharmed. If they won’t agree to return at first, tell them that Liza Shiel commissioned the bounty.”

She let out a little scoff. “And what else can you tell me about these humans, Liza Shiel?”

I avoided her disapproving gaze. “One of them is named Rowan Gelt. And Grace’s name is technically Graciela. Grace is just her nickname.” I described the appearances of the club members that I vaguely remembered. Judging by the receptionist’s expression, she would’ve preferred a lot more information. I wracked my brain for something useful. “They’ll say they’re from Silvervale, Washington, the USA, America, or Earth. And they’re part of a college hiking club.”

“Is that it, ma’am?”

“Y-yeah, that’s it.”

She finished writing with a scowl. “And you have no idea where they might be?”

I shook my head. “They could be anywhere in the world.” 

“What kind of teleport spell-” She shook her head. “Nevermind. I’ll post the bounty. Where should I send any information that’s gathered?”

“Ruin’s Point Hotel, room 201.” 

“Noted. The posting fee is a yellow.”

“A yellow?” Mar’kost sighed. “It used to be seven oranges.” 

“Now it’s a yellow. Do you want to post the info bounty or not?”

“I do.” He reluctantly handed over a yellow crystal chip. After receiving a hand-written receipt, he led me back outside. 

“Is a yellow chip a lot?”

He shrugged his wings. “I make a yellow every two myriblinks in the dungeon--unless we recover an artifact, in which case we receive 10% of its value. Unfortunately, the most easily-accesible parts of the dungeon have been picked over already.”

From what I’d gathered, a myriblink was a bit longer than an hour. If just posting the bounty cost two hour’s work, I hated to think about how much the bounty itself would cost. It was definitely worth it to save the others, but it was still a serious imposition. Not to mention feeding me. And I would definitely take some not stained and ripped clothes if they were offered, even if I felt bad about it. I just wished there was something I could do to offset the cost.

“I’d like to get a job.” 

“You can’t come with us into the dungeon. You haven’t been trained.”

“I get that, but there have to be other jobs I could actually do.”

“Technically, yes…” He untied Eura from the hitching post. “But I doubt anyone would hire you.”

That stung. I tried not to let it show on my face. It was a stupid thing to be upset about. Of course no one would want to hire someone with no experience who lacked the most basic knowledge about how the world worked. 

I tried to mount Eura without help. If not for my sore muscles from working yesterday, I probably would’ve managed it. But as it was, Mar’kost had to give me a boost up. 

He mounted behind me and steered Eura back toward the hotel.

“Look, I get that I suck at basically everything in this world, but I’m sure I could wash dishes or something.” 

“I’m sure you could, but many people view humans as bad omens due to their sudden appearance when the Ortai disappeared.”

“Wait, there weren’t any humans before that?”

“Correct. I can only assume that the first humans wandered through the Ortai’s Earth portals.”

That was interesting but unfortunate. “So I’m screwed on the job front? What about Cadmus? He doesn’t seem freaked out by me.”

“I’m sure he’ll put you to work, but I doubt he’ll pay you after what you’ve cost him.” 

“What did I do to him?”

“Besides almost giving him a heart attack yesterday? He had to pay overtime to several men charged with watching Bloodflight overnight. Unless you sell Bloodflight, you’ll need to house and feed him--which will cost Cadmus if he agrees to it. Not to mention, someone will need to train Bloodflight, which is an additional cost. I recommend you sell him.” 

I felt the urge to argue, but without any money of my own, I didn’t have much of a leg to stand on. “I guess I’ll have to.” A pang of guilt made me hope she managed to escape before that. As long as she didn’t hurt anyone. 

“I’m sorry, but I can’t afford to keep her.”

“I got that.” But it didn’t make imprisoning an intelligent animal any easier. 

We rode a minute before he added, “If I could afford it, I would.”

“Uh huh.” I wondered if I could talk to all animals or just magic ones. I touched Eura’s neck. [Can you speak to animals other than drykons?]

Yelping, she stumbled and caught herself with her short forelegs. I lurched forward, hitting my stomach on the saddle horn. 

“She must’ve twisted an ankle.” Mar’kost started to dismount, but I caught his arm. 

“Let me ask.” [Did you hurt yourself?]

Still on all fours, she peered back at me like I was the strangest thing she’d ever seen. [You’re a baby drykon?]

[No, I can just talk to drykons. Did you hurt-]

[Can you talk to Harker?]

[Yeah.]

She chirped and rustled her wings. [Why does he go into a special food-hole every day, but he doesn’t bring me any?]

Mar’kost jostled my shoulder. “What’s she saying?”

“I don’t think she’s hurt, but she does have some questions about Harker and a ‘special food hole.’ You wouldn’t happen to know what that is?”

“Not the faintest clue, but I have to get to work. Ask her to walk and talk at the same time.” 

“Got it.” [Can you keep walking while we talk?]

[Sure.] She straightened and took off at a brisk trot. 

[What exactly is the special food hole? What’s it look like?]

She sent me an image of the hill that held the entrance to the dungeon. [I always smell the special food on Harker, but he doesn’t bring me any. Just meat. Meat is good, but it isn’t special.] The ‘food’ in her mind appeared to be iridescent black liquid with a violet tinge. 

I described what I’d seen to Mar’kost. 

He sighed. “That sounds like liquid Void arka. It’s deep in the dungeon, and we can’t safely retrieve it due to the monsters. If she asks to retrieve it herself, tell her she’s no match for the monsters.” 

I relayed his message to Eura, who grumbled to herself as she walked. 

I patted her neck. [If it makes you feel better, he won’t let me go into the dungeon either.]

[What if we go together?]

[We still couldn’t fight off all the monsters. I’m sure once they find the liquid arka, they’ll bring some back to you.]

[I hope so.]