There was a chill in the air as the golden fox sat upon a crate at the docks, his eyes fixed upon the approaching ship. He could see the broad, white-haired, and bearded man standing on the deck, watching Abnar’s Watch as he closed in on it. His eastwards journey was almost at an end and he had no idea what awaited him in the City of Thieves.

  With a snorting laugh, he shook his head at the fox before giving him a wave. Friedrich looked around and made sure nobody was nearby before dropping behind the crate and transforming into his human form. He arose and waited for the ship to dock.

  It was not long before Pheston strode down the gangplank and embraced his Mercian friend. “It has been much too long, lad,” he said with a chortle. “And you’re on the verge of growing taller than me.”

  “Welcome back,” said Friedrich, pleased to see his friend. “How are your family?”

  “Older than I remember,” joked Pheston, releasing Friedrich. “Nah, they’re good. One of my daughters was rather difficult to win round, but we’ve made amends and are on good terms now. Who’d have thought that not having your father in your life for decades would have led to resentment? In any case, she’s doing well and has given me four wonderful grandchildren who think their grandfather is the greatest man in the world.”

  Friedrich nodded from side to side. “You do have a way of winning people over.”

  “Worked for Goldie, didn’t it? Speaking of…are you the only one that bothered coming to welcome me back, boy? I brought gifts and now I’m considering tossing them in the river.”

  “There’s been a recent development involving a priestess. My father and the girls are with her now.”

  “I’m away for a few months and you’ve added another woman to your gaggle of unconsummated lovers?” bellowed Pheston.

  “It’s not like that!”

  Pheston held up his hands. “I’m just saying lad, if I were your age, I’d have struggled to contain myself as well as you have. Don’t think I don’t I see where your eyes drift when you think the girls aren’t looking. I’m pretty sure they’ve seen it too and deliberately don’t tell you off for it.”

  Friedrich held his tongue, wanting to retort, but he knew Pheston well enough to know that doing so would not help him out of this conversation. Instead, he faked a laugh as best as he could and led the way through the streets. Along the way, he caught the smith up on everything he had missed in his absence, including Ilyria’s predicament.

  “Hmm,” said Pheston, his brow furrowed. He had stayed notably quiet during Friedrich’s story. “We definitely have to help the girl. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s thieves…and demons. Are any in their ranks demonic thieves?”

  “If not physically, at least in spirit,” said Friedrich.

  “Alright, I’m sold. We’ll concoct a plan and set about the execution this very day. No time like the present, eh?”

  When the two reached the house, Marina excitedly rushed to greet Pheston. She threw her arms around his waist and he gently patted her on the back. Teleri was more reserved, uttering his name in a pleasant greeting rather than anything else. They had always had a tepid relationship but she was pleased to see him nonetheless.

  “Good to be back, ladies,” he said as Marina backed away with a grin. “You two haven’t kept this one out of trouble then?” he asked with a nod to Friedrich.

  Teleri sighed. “Try as we might, we always fail.”

  “And don’t think we didn’t hear about the thief with the broken arm, Friedrich,” said Marina, wagging her finger at him. “A minotaur did it? Everyone else might think he’s crazy, but we know the truth.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Ilyria stood awkwardly by, not sure what Marina had meant by that, but she said nothing.

  “You must be the Priestess of Myrofyr,” said Pheston in a booming voice with his arms outstretched. “He never mentioned you were an elf, but I won’t hold that against you if you don’t hold being a human against me, lass. Name’s Pheston. Word from this pipsqueak is that you need help dealing with a bunch of ragtag thieves. Well, we’ll see everything put right. Don’t you worry about a thing, you hear me?”

  “Um, thank you,” muttered Ilyria, not used to being spoken to with so much enthusiasm. “And it does not bother me that you are a human. I am an eighth human myself if my father is to be believed.”

  “What sort of human?”

  “Heartlander.”

  “Bah!” spat Pheston. “I was hoping you would say Corobathian. We Northmen hail from the land of dragons and it would be fitting for you to worship a great dragon god with our blood running through your veins. Ah well.”

  “You get used to him,” chuckled Friedrich, elbowing Pheston in the side.

  “I have yet to get used to him,” said Teleri under her breath so that only the elf-eared priestess could hear her.

  “Here’s what I’m thinking,” said Pheston, walking over to the table and sitting down. “We come up with a plan, we have a hearty breakfast, and then we get to work. There’s no point wasting time lollygagging when your temple is in a bad spot.”

  “Agreed,” said Friedrich, joining Pheston at the table. The three girls followed and sat down too.

  “But first,” said Pheston, pulling a couple of strings from his bag. “Gifts.”

  He slid one to Friedrich, one to Marina, and one to Teleri. They held the talismans up and looked at them in the morning light that filtered through the windows. Friedrich’s talisman depicted a fox, Marina’s a lightning bolt, and Teleri’s an arrow.

  “What do they do?” asked Friedrich, excited to hear about the mystical enchantments Pheston bestowed upon them when he forged them.

  “Do?” asked the smith with a befuddled look. “You wear them, you fool. They’re ornamental. Not everything has to do something.”

  “Oh,” said Friedrich glumly before realising his rudeness. “Thank you.”

  Pheston grumbled something about gratitude as Marina and Teleri thanked him and put the strings around their necks, letting the talismans rest upon their chests. Friedrich did the same and let his talisman sit above his scarf while the spider mask hid below it.

  “I didn’t get you anything, Ilyria, because I did not know you until two minutes ago,” said Pheston, rummaging in his pocket. He pulled out a green kupon and flicked it towards her. “This will have to do. Consider it a donation to the rebuilding efforts. I am not a man of great means, but my actions from this moment forward will be the rest of your gift.”

  “I expected nothing,” said Ilyria, “but I appreciate the gesture, Pheston.”

  The smith looked around the table. “I’m sure at least one of you has a plan in mind already, so let’s hear it.”

  Marina held up her hand and stood up excitedly. “I have an idea,” she said eagerly. “If the thief is part of Abnar’s Hand, as many of the thieves in the city are, we should set up a trap for one of their members close to the temple. We wait for a showing from one of them and we apprehend them. Easy!”

  “We are far from stealthy and the thieves are slippery individuals,” said Ilyria. “I told you how one escaped from me, did I not?”

  “Friedrich?” asked Marina.

  “Right,” said Friedrich, standing up on his chair. As he leapt onto the table, his body shrunk into the form of the golden fox and Ilyria nearly fell off her chair from the shock.

  She was stunned by Friedrich’s transformation, mouthing unheard words. She had known there was something different about him from the moment they had met. She had felt it, but she could not comprehend what it was until that moment. It was his soul, or rather, it was the souls that dwelt within him. His own, that of a fox, perhaps even a minotaur. Friedrich was a soul masker and she had encountered one of his kind before in Balmoria.

  Her former curiosity turned to disgust before fading away just as quickly. Here was a young man who had tainted his soul and was perfectly willing to help her. He was obviously not dominated by a nefarious being who had wormed its way into his body only to take possession of him. Yet still, he had freed at least one soul from a mask and bonded with it. She would have to watch Friedrich very carefully.

  “We have ways of hiding,” said Marina, not realising the thoughts running through Ilyria’s mind. “And Teleri is good at remaining unseen when she wants to.”

  “Yes,” agreed the Alaurian. “It would be easy to pull off should we lay eyes on a valid mark.”

  Friedrich slipped off the table and seamlessly turned back into his normal self. “Staking out the square seems sensible to me. If we announce ourselves and start making threats we can’t follow up on, we’re only going to end up in trouble.”

  “A-alright,” said Ilyria, briefly making eye contact with him. “Yes, we will attempt this before trying anything more drastic.”

  Pheston leaned back. “I was hoping for something with a little more jaw breaking,” he lamented, “but I suppose when dealing with a focused band of thieves it is best we play things cautiously. And what, dear Marina, is our part in the plan?”

  “Well, Pheston,” said Marina with a sly grin, “are the bait.”