Illaria

  The bar was crowded, and the good mood she was in seemed to be shared by the whole of the city. The air was thick with the scent of meats and cheeses and beer. So much beer. She walked up to the bar counter and found herself facing Bait's nemesis, the muscle angel. He looked much the way he had the last time she had been in Sha-Laial, which shouldn't have been surprising to her, but the world felt new.

  Her world felt like it had bloomed. Today was the end of a new beginning. "I'll take a shot of the best thing you have." She said as she plucked several golden coins from her purse and set them on the counter. The man grinned ear to ear.

  "So I take it the bards are right about you killing that dastard Crowley. Did you manage to find your folks?" he asked.

  "Aye, they're alive and here with me on Scythefell Street." She said.

  "Well, then, celebrations are absolutely in order. Hold on one second." He said as he opened up a locked cabinet and pondered the choices in front of him. Eventually, the man plucked out a fancy glass bottle with twisting glass. The topper was a solid metal dragon's head. "Dwarves say this will put hair on your chest. Granted, I don't think it's true." He pulled a small shot glass out and poured the amber liquid into the glass before handing it to her. Before the bartender could recap the bottle, a man with long dark hair and a long but well-groomed beard placed five of his own gold on the table.

  "A shot for me, too, if you wouldn't mind." He stood taller than Illaria, much to her own surprise. His clothing was well worn but clearly once cut from the finest dyed wools of jade and cerulean that could be bought. The muscle-angel grabbed out another shot glass and filled it before sliding it to the newcomer. The man grabbed the shot and brought it to the sky. "Everyone, quickly, a toast to Illaria, to Ageneon, and to the long life of the Empire itself!" He said before stomping once on the floor and downing his shot. He did an over-exaggerated sigh and waved his hands for people to follow suit. Several voices rang out the same little chant that the man had said. Praising Illaria, Ageneon, and the Empire. When the cheers subsided, the man clapped her on the back and laughed. "You did this country a great service. I'd like to give you a gift if you wouldn't be minding?" He said as he pulled a drinking flask from his side and placed it on the counter. The flask looked to be of fine craftsmanship and made from sturdy metal with a solid round sphere of glass and steel for a topper.

  "Why would you be gifting me this?" Illaria asked.

  "Well, you see, I hate all tyrants, even small ones like that there, Crowley. To have the seas be free again is a delight. The warm yellow sun over salt-soaked wind and cerulean waves. Free from the threat of enslavement, murder, and plundering. What better service could any of us ask of you, Illaria? We can ignore your own motivations too. Sure, you had something to gain, but it's very probable that fighting him the way you did actually made your job harder, not easier. So you deserve a reward for sticking it out and bringing the bastard to justice at the point of your blade." Illaria gave him a quizzical look. Not many of the lay folk knew her reasons for being on that boat in the first place. Sure, the bards had done a good job of making it well-known what she had done, but few had even known she had family in need of rescuing. Something about the man made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

  It was an odd feeling, for it wasn't in fear or any such thing. If anything, she felt calm around him. "Is there anything in it?" She asked as she gently sloshed the flask.

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  "Only a liquor so fine that it'll make that wonderful drink you just had seem as if it were nothing better than cat piss." The man said, smiling at her. "Better yet, it never seems to run dry, no matter how much I drink."

  As the words washed over her, an idea began to take hold of her. This man might not be as he appeared. Something much more than just a mere traveler. No, he might just very well be the God of Travelers. Dahn-Deluzi himself. It wasn't unheard of for him to come and walk among mortals. Granted, in the post-war recovery, sightings of him in the flesh were said to be incredibly rare. Perhaps this was an omen for a brighter future for his worshipers. She'd have to have Alvec take a look at this and see if it was, in fact, divinely powered.

  "Well, I offer you my thanks and a quick prayer. To Dahn-Deluzi and the much safer roads of the Empire." Illaria said.

  The man simply grinned at her before leaving on one final cryptic note. "May it serve you well; with Crowley's defeat, the Empire still faces many threats.”

  Too intrigued by the flask she had been given, Illaria headed out and returned to the tower, where she found Alvec and Naya sitting outside. Alvec had his head buried in a book, and Naya and Echo looked like they were both on high alert. "What do we be waiting so intently for?" Illaria asked.

  "Oh! Illaria, we now know what Alvec's grandmother wanted him for. We need to make sure that he doesn't come under attack at any point, or else part of our realm will be dragged into the shattered facet." Naya repeated cheerily.

  "That does not be sounding good. Are we using the buddy system from now on? If so, perhaps he is talking Mavec into bunking with him for a while. Or perhaps he'd like a certain denizen of Sha-Laial to keep tabs on him overnight." Illaria implied playfully.

  "I don't need a babysitter. Especially since I'm literally here in my tower. We've got gargoyles keeping watch anyway. So we really can relax while I'm in the tower." Alvec replied.

  "Fair enough unyielding. Might I be having your help with a project however?" She asked as she set the flask down in front of him. "I'd like to be knowing if this is enchanted."

  Alvec snapped the book he was reading shut and set it down. The flask was definitely magic; it took barely a second for him to register the familiar pulse of divine power emanating from it. The nature of the enchantment was far harder to work out. Studying the magics woven into it, he came to a few conclusions. "It's an interesting item you brought me; where did you get it?" He asked.

  "I suspect a god gave it to me for defeating Crowley," Illaria replied.

  "Sounds about right; the first part of it is easy enough to read, a divine blessing that causes the flask to never fully empty and, better yet, to refill each dawn. The slightly more nebulous one, however, is the effect the liquid has. It reminds me of the spells I inscribed into Naya's blades, the ones that let her cut deeper on occasion. More so than that, it looks like it can confer even more opportunity for crippling strikes. Drink it once, I think to make more opportunities for crippling strikes; drink twice to make the blows more dangerous." Alvec confirmed.

  "Then I choose to believe that it was Dahn-Daluzi that I just met at the bar," Illaria said with a smile. She offered silent praise to the god of travelers for his generosity. "By the way, I do be thinking we have a problem. Edis told me that he's been training Hoc and that the church is rather upset with him for how fast he's been progressing." Illaria stated.

  Alvec frowned. It was clear to anyone with a pulse that the boy was smitten with Sarbie, and no doubt her leaving on an adventure with the cheese acolytes had spurred him into getting stronger himself. Maybe he was hoping to take her place? Losing an ally in the church right now, especially one at the church that had the closest proximity to their own residence, boded poorly. They'd want to make sure that Hoc stayed with the church for the time being. After all, if the Gold Banner was corrupt, they'd want all the help they could get. "Let's go visit him. Maybe we can talk him down a bit." Alvec suggested.

  "Sounds delicate," Mavec said as he came walking into sight. "I hate it on principal, but I'll come along. I heard someone say buddy system? What did I miss?"

  Naya excitedly recapped the story of the Draco-lich and the devils. The color drained from his face as Naya offered up more and more exposition.

  "Buddy system it is," Mavec confirmed.