Chapter Ten

 

Stern blinked at the afternoon sunlight hitting him in the face.

 

“Full group back out,” the portal guard captain said with a nod. “Good.”

 

“Wasn’t as bad as some I’ve been in,” Trish said.

 

“You caused a bit of a stir when you went in,” the captain said. “I believe a few people are interested in knowing how you all did.”

 

“I’m sure they are,” Trish snorted. “Word will spread shortly. We have shards to turn in.”

 

A faint smile touched the captain’s lips. “Rescue Squad hopefuls?”

 

“We’ll be signing up,” Trish said.

 

“Good. Have a good day.”

 

“Thank you,” Cammie smiled. “We will.”

 

“Walkers’ hall first,” Trish said.

 

“What about your cat?” the captain asked Stern.

 

“I sent her home,” Stern said. “She ate my chocolate. Have a good day.”

 

As they walked away, Cyra heard one of the guards ask the captain, “Cap, I thought summons didn’t eat... They don’t, right?”

 

“Normally, but most summons aren’t a fluffy house cat, either. I hope they don’t get sick, at least.”

 

Cyra smiled as she walked beside Stern, feeling happy. “One of them asked about summons needing to eat.”

 

“Pawly’s unusual,” Stern said with a smile.

 

“I was curious about that,” Cammie said. “Does she… use a box?”

 

Stern laughed, thinking back to the first conversation he’d had from even before Pawly was named. Seeing and feeling Cammie’s questioning gaze, he held up a hand. “Sorry. My family asked the same question when Pawly was first summoned. They set everything up and were surprised when she didn’t use the box, especially considering how much she ate and drank when it was offered to her.”

 

“Oh...” Cammie said, thinking about it. An upwelling of sadness suffused her.

 

“When I dismissed her the first time, my dad fell over,” Stern chuckled. “None of them knew she was a summons and not a stray cat that’d found me.”

 

“That must have been hilarious,” Trish chuckled.

 

“Yeah,” Stern said. He glanced at the siblings, both of whom were suppressing the feelings of sadness and sorrow they’d felt. “Cammie, I’m sorry for whatever I stirred up.”

 

Cammie’s pace faltered for a second, then she nodded. “Right, empathic. It’s fine.”

 

Cyra looked at the dwarven woman, giving her a timid smile. Cammie gave her a big one back, but Stern could still feel her suppressed sadness.

 

“Here we go,” Trish said, leading them into the Walkers’ hall.

 

The place was moderately busy— some groups were already done for the day, and others who’d failed to find a group had been there for hours. When Trish walked in, the conversation dimmed, then dropped off entirely as the others walked in behind her.

 

Stern inhaled slowly as a jumbled mix of emotions slammed into him. He managed to stay impassive as he followed Trish to the receptionist’s desk. The male infernal behind the desk sat up straight when the group approached him.

 

“We’ve finished the quest,” Trish said, placing the two shards on the desk.

 

The infernal touched them reverently, then slid a tablet over, placing the shards on it. After a moment, he smiled. “You have, indeed. I will give you a follow-up quest: take these to the temple and turn them over to the sisters there. Let this Walker be reborn.”

 

Trish accepted the shards back and bowed her head. “I accept.”

 

All five of them felt the quest settle into their minds.

 

“Before we go, we need to add these two into our crew,” Trish said before stepping aside for Cammie and Vulk.

 

“I’m glad to see you both found a crew, even an unusual one.”

 

“An irregular one,” Trish said, a little louder so everyone could hear her. “We’re Pawsitively Irregular.”

 

A few snorted laughs came from the room, and Trish flashed a smile over her shoulder.

 

“Yes,” the receptionist said blandly. “I need your hand on the tablet first,” he told Trish.

 

“No,” Trish rebuffed him. “You need the leader. I’m more of a mouth.”

 

“I’d buy that for a silver,” a snarky voice said.

 

Trish glanced back at a man being glared at by a number of women. “Sorry. That’s reserved for special people, and they’re already with me.”

 

Laughter filled the room, and Stern stepped up to the desk and placed his hand on the tablet. When the crowd noticed that, they started to whisper amongst themselves. Stern stepped back, and Cammie and Vulk agreed to the rules the receptionist told them about, then touched the tablet.

 

“You are now members of… Pawsitively Irregular,” the receptionist slowed before saying the name, then shook his head.

 

“Thank you,” Cammie beamed.

 

Vulk just nodded.

 

“Okay, slight deviation of plans,” Trish said. “Off to the temple first.”

 

Stern looked at the receptionist. “Can we get paid for the first part of the quest, sir?”

 

“Of course,” the receptionist said. He pulled out a coin purse and counted out the large copper. “You’ll be coming back for the rest, won’t you?”

 

“Split it and set it toward our recovery fees, please,” Stern said. “You’ll know when the quest completes.”

 

“Very well.”

 

Vulk looked upset, but kept quiet.

 

Trish led the way out of the hall, grinning at the crowd as she went. She had to pause when someone yelled out from the group, “Where’s the cat?”

 

“She’s a summons,” Stern said, looking at the crowd. “She’s home right now. She’ll be back for dinner.”

 

“For dinner? But summons don’t eat,” someone said.

 

“They can, it’s just most don’t feed them,” Stern shrugged. “I’ve had her all my life. She’s a friend, not just a summons. Excuse us, we have a soul to bring back.”

 

The conversations got louder behind him as he walked out, the rest of the crew following him. He made it ten feet before he stopped and turned back to Vulk, tossing him the small bag of coins the receptionist had given him. “Payment for both quests, for you and your sister.”

 

“But…” Vulk said slowly after catching the bag.

 

“I consider recovery fees to be a necessity for the crew,” Stern said, “which means the crew will pay for them. Now, you’ve been paid for the quests and us spending the points for the shards.”

 

“That’s fair,” Cammie said. “Also, our thanks for thinking about recovery. We all know that no one goes far without dying at least once.”

 

Vulk nodded and handed the bag to his sister. “Thanks.”

 

“I felt your anger when I took the money and told him to set the rest for our recovery,” Stern said. “Explaining it in there wasn’t the time, so thank you for waiting.”

 

Vulk nodded again, but he was confused, as Stern kept throwing him off-kilter. “Sure.”

 

“Trish, do you know the way?”

 

“Yes. Follow me.”

 

~*~*~

 

The temple was only a few blocks away in the main square for the city. Stern braced himself for entering the temple, following the others into the imposing structure. He often wondered at the nature of the temples— they were all identical, made of white marble, but the spiraling columns out front had the red and black veins. Those veins were the only other color than white in the entire structure.

 

When he crossed the threshold, feelings of pain and loss hammered into him. This temple had two dozen slabs. Half of them had people on them, being healed, or covered in a white shroud. Next to the two covered slabs, people wept as if their hearts had been torn in half, and that’s what it felt like to Stern.

 

Taking a deep breath, Stern snagged Cyra’s sleeve. “I’ll be outside.”

 

Cyra looked at him in puzzlement, then with concern. “I can go with you.”

 

“No. Stay and watch the start of it,” Stern told her. “It’s a joyous thing.”

 

Trish looked back at Stern and was about to say something when one of the sisters came hurrying up to them. “Can we help you?”

 

“We have shards, and you have the other two,” Trish said, forced to answer, though she was worried for Stern.

 

“Oh, yes. Thank you, Walkers. Please, come with me.”

 

Stern nodded to them, but went the other way. When he cleared the door to the square, he walked across the street to distance himself more from the pain and sorrow. Taking several deep breaths, he leaned against the wall of a building and waited for his emotional turmoil to subside. He slid down the wall, taking a knee as he calmed down.

 

“Irregular?” a stern voice asked.

 

Stern looked up to see a guard standing a few feet away. “Yes, and a Walker.” He turned enough to show him his badge. “My crew is dropping off shards.”

 

“Ah, that explains it. I saw you leave the temple and came to investigate. The odds of you being a blighted were nearly non-existent, but it never hurts to verify. The shards… one of yours?”

 

“No. A Walker six years fractured,” Stern said softly, glad the guard wasn’t being a dick. “We took the quest to pull his remaining shards. We had just enough points for it.”

 

“Rescue Squad?” the guard asked.

 

“We hope,” Stern said as he stood up.

 

The guard blinked, his square-pupiled eyes widening in surprise, and quickly took a step back. “Damn, you’re a lanky bastard.”

 

“The height comes from my grandfather, I’m told,” Stern said. “The rest… well…”

 

“Yes,” the guard said, nodding. “Just like one of those undead abominations. Not that I’ve seen one, but you look like it, with the pale skin and gaunt visage.”

 

“I’m aware,” Stern snorted. “Can I help you with anything, sir?”

 

“No. Like I said, just coming to investigate. I’m curious... you have a crew?”

 

“They were kind enough to give me a chance,” Stern said.

 

“And you cleared our dungeon. Off to Springwater next?”

 

“Probably. We cleared this one today, so it might be a day or two before we leave.”

 

“I’ll let my sergeant know that,” the guard said. “Maybe we can spread word enough that you won’t get harassed too much.”

 

Stern looked past the guard to where people were watching the pair of them. “Just speaking to you might help.”

 

The guard looked around, then nodded. “True, but if we know ahead of time when someone comes running to us, we can set them right.”

 

“Fair.”

 

“I won’t take any more of your time,” the guard said, giving Stern a nod. “A good day, Walker. Safe runs.”

 

“Thank you, sir. May your shift be uneventful.” Stern told the goat lykian guard.

 

“Goddess willing,” the guard smiled before walking off.

 

No one else approached him. For a few minutes, he felt revulsion and disdain, but no fear or hatred. When his crew came out of the temple, he went to meet them.

 

“All taken care of,” Trish told him.

 

“I felt the quest complete,” Stern smiled. “Now off to clean up and have dinner?”

 

“An excellent idea,” Trish smiled. “Cammie, Vulk, we have two open rooms in our suite. Did you want to move in tonight?”

 

“Are we staying long?” Vulk asked.

 

“A day or two,” Stern said. “It’s always good to decompress after a run and double-check our gear.”

 

“A good idea,” Cammie agreed. “I’d like to hear about that crossbow you were using, too.”

 

“Dinner, or after,” Trish said. “Back to the inn to clean up, first.”

 

They started walking, and Cyra fell into step with Stern. “Are you okay?” she asked softly.

 

“Too much grief and pain,” Stern said. “I’m fine, now.”

 

“Are the temples always so hard for you?”

 

“If it was just pain, I could have pushed against it more easily, but two recently dead…” He shook his head.

 

“Oh... the families in mourning,” Cyra said, understanding.

 

“Yeah. Their grief was too much.”

 

“And now?”

 

“Now, I have a beacon of love beside me,” Stern murmured, a smile on his lips.

 

Cyra smiled up at him, taking his arm in hers. “Always.”