“At the same time team Bluebird will be circling around the back, making sure no thief escapes.” Brack moved a pebble on the map as he spoke. Lord Evenbone had been kind enough to lend them one of his, and they were using it to draw up their plans. The Tigers were gathered around the dining room table watching and listening intently.

  “Each member of team Wolf will be position somewhere on the target block, ready to apprehend anyone who escapes team Bluebird. After teams Lion and Turtle finish raiding the target and give the signal, Team Bluebird will step in as the primary guards of the defeated thieves, allowing the other teams to rest and recover. Team Wolf will split into two groups, one going to the City Guard so they can take the thieves off our hands, and the other remaining positioned around the target block to prevent any escapes.”

  Brack’s words were accompanied by gestures and pointing at the map, as well as moving around several pebbles.

  “Once we turn over the thieves to the guard, a few people from team Bluebird will go to the Town Hall to collect the bounty, and the rest of us will regroup at our courtyard. Any questions, concerns, or contributions?” No one had any, though a few people moved to the front to get a better view of the map.

  “We’ll plan to attack at noon. Be ready by then.” With that, Brack sat down and everyone (except those examining the map) returned to eating their breakfast.

  “You ready for your first official Tiger Claw company attack?” Drew asked Viren. Viren nodded. Both him and Drew were on team Bluebird. Rickson was leading team Turtle, and so wouldn’t be with Viren and Drew, but Viren wasn’t too disappointed. He was a little surprised he hadn’t been assigned to team Wolf, but he was excited to be right near the action. He assumed it would be nothing like Kastra’s army campaigns.

  And he was right. Later that day, when the sun was directly overhead, the four teams got into position. Everyone paid attention to each other, making sure everyone was ready and armed. Though they operated professionally and smoothly, there was also a sense of comradery.

  “Ready?” Clara asked the Bluebirds, who were stationed at the back of the unassuming building. She had been assigned as their leader. There were seven total members of the team.

  “ATTACK!” came the cry from around the building, and the sound of wood splintering.

  “Steady now,” said Gerald, who was next to Viren. He shot Viren an uneasy smile.

  “You’ve got this, dear,” assured Suzy, his wife. Viren smiled at them and drew his sword as the sounds of battle inside increased.

  From inside came an odd crackling sound, then a distorted whooshing noise. “Watch out! The fae’s got a fire affinity!” came the shout. Clara frowned. They hadn’t discovered that in the days of recon they did.

  “Stay alert,” Clara ordered. “They might need backup.” Drew exchanged a worried glance with Viren. There were seventeen Tigers to nineteen thieves.

  “They shouldn’t need help,” Drew whispered. “The thieves aren’t experienced fighters.”

  “That doesn’t stop them from being slippery,” Viren whispered back. “Or handy with a dagger in a pinch. And we didn’t account for that fire—”

  Before he could finish, the back door opened, and two thieves tried to slink out. When they saw the seven mercs waiting for them, their eyes widened, and they tried to retreat back inside.

  “Not so fast,” Clara snapped, and the Tigers were on them like a pack of wolves. One tried to run—he was quickly grabbed and subdued—and the other pulled out a dagger. She snarled and lunged forward with some skill. It wasn’t nearly enough to give even one Tiger a hard time, much less seven of them. None of them were even nicked.

  Before Viren had time to put away his sword, the two thieves were tied up and under guard. The battle inside was slowing down as well. If Viren listened carefully he could even hear the occasional order:

  “Don’t let that thief get back up!”

  “Marce, put out that fire!”

  “Surround the fae!”

  The din of battle was soon non-existent. Everything was quiet.

  “Bluebirds,” came Brack’s commanding voice from inside the building. “Engage.” Team Bluebird quickly entered the building, dragging the tied-up thieves behind them. They streamed through the wrecked (and considerable burnt) room, checking fellow Tigers for injuries, tying up defeated thieves, and guarding prisoners.

  Before long the chaos was somewhat organized, and everyone had a better idea of what was happening. Someone from Bluebird was sent to alert team Wolf that the thieves were defeated, and the Rickson set up an impromptu clinic in an upstairs room, where they treated the wounds of the Tigers and some of the more major wounds of the thieves. The rest of the thieves would just have to deal with their minor injuries and were kept in the main room under heavy guard.

  Viren was one of the Bluebirds in charge of directly guarding the captured thieves, who were being forced to sit in a tight ring on the floor in the center of the room.

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  Viren watched all the thieves carefully, but he and the other three guards kept a special eye on the fae, who was undeniably the most dangerous prisoner, due to his fire affinity. He was unconscious, but not seriously injured, so he was being kept down here. Even if he had been in need of medical attention, Viren didn’t think Brack would risk keeping him upstairs with the injured Tigers. Someone would have tended to him down here.

  The fae was sort of average looking, for a fae. He had light pink skin and red hair, though some would call it auburn (not all fae had the same color skin and hair, but they generally came in colorful shades). His ears were pointier than a human’s, but more rounded than an elve’s.

  “Hey,” Viren said suddenly. “Shouldn’t Drew be here, watching the fae?” If the leader of the ring somehow woke up and untied himself (which wasn’t impossible, since he was a thief) Drew would be best equipped to counter the fae’s affinity.

  One of the other guards—Andru (it took Viren a moment to remember his name)—shrugged. “Clara wants Drew tagging around with her. And aren’t you also a water affinity?” Viren paused.

  “Ahh. Well, yeah. But my affinity isn’t very strong compared to Drew’s.”

  “Ah, don’t undersell yourself kid,” Andru responded. “Tysonn told me that your shadow affinity is way stronger than any normal shadow mage.” ‘What?’

  “He said that?” Viren asked, keeping his tone light.

  “Yep,” Andru said. “Like I said, don’t undersell yourself.” Viren forced a chuckle and nodded. Shadow mages were rare; Viren was surprised Tysonn was able to figure out the strength of his affinity. That was potentially a problem, since a human shadow affinity could do things Viren couldn’t, and vice versa.

  But that was a problem for another day. Or week. Or decade, preferably. Right now, Viren had some thieves to keep an eye on.

  Since Viren and the other guards were keeping a close eye on the fae, they instantly noticed when he started to stir.

  “The fire mage is waking up,” one of the guards called. Viren drew his sword and, remembering how Marce had subdued the pickpocket days ago, held it an inch or two away from the fae’s neck. When the fae opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Viren’s sword.

  “Make a move,” Viren said, lowering his voice a little, “and it’ll be your last.” ‘That was quite possibly the most awesome thing I’ve said all week.’ Though holding the sword in that position—arm outstretched, and the tip of the blade hovering just above the thief’s throat—was uncomfortable, Viren held it until the city guard showed up.

  At first, he was unsure how the guard would secure the fire mage, but they ended up wrapping his hands in canvas bags and securing the bags with handcuffs. That worked because, unlike dragons, fae (and human and elven) mages usually needed hand gestures and whatnot to focus their magic. It didn’t really have anything to do with the magic, per say, but more to do with their attention spans. They didn’t have as close of a relationship with the magic of the world.

  Anyway, with the fire mage and the rest of the thieves properly secured, some guards marched them off to the city jail, and others remained behind to secure the building. Brack rounded up the Tigers and they left for the meeting spot.

  Clara summoned Viren, Drew, and Suzy, and the four of them headed to the city hall to collect the bounty.

  “Why am I coming?” asked Viren as he walked alongside Drew.

  “You need the experience,” Clara answered, calling over her shoulder. “Fighting is easy enough to pick up, but dealing with diplomacy and bureaucratic stuff takes lots of practice.”

  “So does learning to fight,” Viren pointed out.

  “Sure,” Suzy said. “But with fighting, you eventually get to rely on muscle memory, at least for weaker foes. Not so with diplomacy.” Viren nodded his head, conceding the point.

  “That’s true,” said Drew. “But its also a little different for us. As mercenaries, we don’t have to take as much nonsense. Honorable or not, we can be pretty intimidating if we want to.”

  “I don’t think that would fly with, say, a king,” Viren offered.

  “Exactly,” Clara said. “You can’t just punch your problems when politics are involved.”

  “Usually,” said Drew. He winked at Viren. “There are always exceptions.” Clara gave Drew a flat look over her shoulder, and Suzy chuckled under her breath. By then they were entering the courtyard that held the city hall, and the group lapsed into silence as Clara took the lead, a serious look on her face.

  “They shouldn’t give us too much trouble,” she commented as they entered the building.

  “Of course they shouldn’t,” Drew answered under his breath. “We just took care of their public-enemy-number-one.” Clara allowed herself a moment to role her eyes at Drew before lapsing back into seriousness.

  “Greetings,” she said to the clerk at the front desk. “I’m Clara of the Tiger Claws, here to collect the bounty for disabling the thieves ring.” The clerk looked over her glasses at Clara.

  “Can you present proof that you did as you say?”

  “No,” Clara said, her voice steady. “But I’m sure the city guard who just gave their report can.” Viren kept his expression steady but internally raised an eyebrow. How did Clara know there had been a guard in here? He hadn’t even picked that up.

  “Mhm,” the clerk said. “And can you present proof that you’re truly a member of the Tiger Claw mercenary company?” Clara pulled out Brack’s copy of the contract.

  “I’m sure this should suffice.” The clerk adjusted her glasses and read the contract. Nodding, she stood up.

  “Ok. If you’ll wait here a moment.” She walked off down a hall, leaving the four Tigers to wait.

  “How did you know about the guard?” Viren immediately asked.

  “Opeali bureaucracy works fast,” Clara answered. “And the guard house is right across the street. As soon as the city guard received word about the thieves being caught, they would have sent someone to report at the city hall.”

  “Hmm.” Viren said, and the group returned to silence. Soon the clerk returned with a younger assistant hurrying behind her. The clerk carried a small—but heavy looking—wooden chest, and the assistant carried two rolls of paper.

  With a breath of relief, the clerk put the wooden chest on the floor and stood. She took the papers from the assistant and spread them out on the front desk. “If you could sign here and here,” she said, gesturing to the paper. Clara read the papers quickly, and the others looked over her shoulder. They appeared to be two identical receipts, confirming that the Tigers had been paid and what they had been paid for. Each already had the governor’s official stamp. With a nod, Clara signed the receipts.

  The clerk took one and Clara took the other. “You’re free to go,” the clerk said. Clara nodded again and turned around, gesturing with a jerk of her head for Drew and Viren to take the chest. Drew rolled his eyes, and he and Viren each took one end of it.

  With everything in order, the group left the hall and started towards the meet-up area.

  “So,” Drew said to Viren. “How did you like Opeali?”

  “It was fun,” Viren said. “I enjoyed… I dunno, I guess just seeing more. More than what I’m used to, I mean.” Drew nodded.

  “I understand.” He smiled. “That’s one of the benefits of being a mercenary. The world is never too small. There’s always somewhere new to go.” Viren smiled.

  “The world’s never too small. I like that.”