Guild Of Zeroes

Chapter 29

"Are you sure this will work?"

"Not even in the slightest," said Mouse. "If I'm being honest, I feel so nervous I could just about lean over the rail and throw up. I'd rather charge Wraith's legions again."

"But it's your family, right?" said Quin. "How bad could it be."

"You have no idea." Mouse threw down the rope, and looked out over the water, scowling at churning thunder clouds on the horizon, the deep shadows lurking between the trees. "It's ... It's hard to talk about. I'm worried a really unpleasant welcome is waiting for us."

"I guess we can cross that bridge if we come to it," I said. "Maybe things have changed."

"In the city of grudges and backstabbing? I doubt it."

"So," said Quin. "What's stopping us from rowing straight through to the Blackstone? It's only a few more days up river, and there will be help there for sure."

"I'm worried the Blackstone won't be enough," said Mouse.

"Are you kidding me?" asked Quin, throwing their hands into the air. "We're talking about the same Blackstone, right? The one that trained Specter and Deathbringer and Skulltaker. The one that put out class after class of the toughest warriors? That Blackstone, right?"

A nerve twitched in Mouse's jaw. "Yes, that Blackstone. The one that trained Stargazer, Sabre, and Hawk. I don't think I need to remind you what happened to them. There might be some of the best heroes in the world in that fortress but it won't be worth a damn against another one of Wraiths Legions. This isn't like fighting one monster or a small bandit clan. Heroes won't be enough to fight this. We need numbers, we need foot soldiers and supplies. That's what we're here for."

Quin folded their arms across their chest. "So we're looking for men to stand in the front line and do the dying for us."

"If that's what it takes, yes."

"You're okay with that?"

Mouse shook his head and breathed a long sigh. "Of course not, but you'd be foolish to think that people aren't going to die. I would love it if the three of us could march in there alone and fix this but that's not going to happen. That's not the world we live in."

"So then what's the point?" asked Quin. "Why go through all the trouble, all the years of training, if we're not enough when the time comes. I thought the guild was supposed to protect people, not march them into the meat grinder."

"I'm sorry," said Mouse. "But I don't see any other options."

"Well," I said. "Let's not count our Drake's before they jump out and spit fire at us. We did kill a lot of Wraith's soldiers on our own, and what about the Relic? We're forgetting the spellbook we found in the Phoenix Roost."

"This might come as shock, especially from me, but I don't want to bet all my coin on that Relic still being there. There were a lot of hard years for the family. It might not have survived the hard years. We'll keep it in mind but I don't have much hope. We may have to spend lives and do this the hard way."

"I guess I'll have to have hope for both of us then," said Quin. "I don't want to see anyone else get killed."

"You go ahead and hope then," said Mouse. "I'll stick to the realistic plan."

"Easy, Mouse," I said. "There's no sense in shooting down ideas right now."

"Sorry," said Mouse. "I'm just a little on edge today."

"It's okay," said Quin. "I guess having more soldiers with us won't exactly be a bad thing either."

A warm breeze blew in from behind us, speeding us along and scattering the dark clouds ahead of us. We pushed through another bend in the river, and I spotted a few stone towers peeking above the tree line. The next thing that hit me was the smell. A rotten mixture of wet hay, dead fish and old manure clung to the air so thick that I could taste it.