We had been in Elska for exactly three days when the Church of Divine Light pushed us to make our first big decision. We’d been so overwhelmed back then. Meeting an actual king of an enchanted land straight out of an rpg video game. Told we were summoned to become destined Heroes who could save them from a Demon King.

  Now we were finally adapting to the idea of being in a totally different world. Nick was taking it the hardest, he really missed his family. But hopefully what we did next would be a good distraction for him.

  The heavy oak doors swung open to reveal the meeting chamber, and I felt my breath catch. The room was circular, its walls rising in pale marble veined with gold that seemed to pulse with an inner light. Stained glass windows stretched from floor to the vaulted ceiling, each depicting scenes of ancient heroes battling demons and monsters in vivid reds, blues, and greens.

  The seven of us took seats around a circular table carved from white marble, priests hovering nearby like carrion birds waiting to feast on our decisions.

  "The System requires you to choose your class paths today," High Priest Matthias intoned, his voice echoing off the vaulted ceiling. "Choose wisely, for this decision will shape your destiny as Heroes."

  Heather's fingers drummed against the table, her perfect nails creating an irritating rhythm. I'd already seen her practicing her singing in the courtyard that morning, humming melodies from Earth while imagining herself as some legendary bard. But Andy had gotten to her first, whispering in her ear during breakfast about "strategic choices" and "political connections."

  "Holy Cleric," Heather announced, her voice dripping with false enthusiasm. "I want to be a beacon of light for our party."

  The priests nodded approvingly, and Andy gave her hand a squeeze. But I caught the way her jaw clenched, the tiny muscle twitching beneath her flawless skin.

  "Famed Champion," Andy declared next, as if anyone was surprised. "Someone needs to lead from the front."

  Patrick chose Unbending Knight, Nick went with Arcane Knight, and Jesse selected Bulls-Eye Archer. All predictable choices because they’d spoken about them this morning. Then it was Elane's turn.

  She sat hunched in her chair, dark hair falling like a curtain around her face. When she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. "Forest Druid."

  The words hung in the air for exactly two seconds before Heather pounced.

  "Absolutely not," Heather said, her fake concern mode activating instantly. "Elane, sweetheart, we need you on the front lines. Shield Maiden would be perfect for you."

  I watched Elane shrink further into herself, and something twisted in my gut. "That's insane," I said, leaning forward. "Elane in melee combat? She'd last about five seconds."

  "Exactly," Nick added, crossing his arms. "No offense, Elane, but you're not exactly warrior material."

  Heather's eyes flashed dangerously, but her smile never wavered. She tilted her head, blonde curls cascading over her shoulder in a practiced motion. "You're right, of course. I was just thinking of party balance." She turned back to Elane, voice syrup-sweet. "What about Crafting Enchanter? Think of all the amazing gear you could make for us!"

  "But I—"

  "Elane we’re all having to make sacrifices here. You don’t want to appear selfish," Jesse said, an obvious quick supporter to Heather’s arguments.

  I almost opened my mouth to argue further. To point out how Elane will be able to learn plenty of support spells to help us as a Forest Druid. But the way Nick slouched back unconcerned stopped me. Andy was glaring at us and Patrick just stared at his lap.

  I might have gotten support for arguing against Elane being a front line fighter, but no one else was going to back me up when I tried to argue to let her pick what she wanted.

  "I… I guess you’re right. Okay, I’ll be a Crafting Enchanter."

  Even Elane wasn’t going to support Elane. I quickly leaned back, Andy’s glare becoming less sharp now that his girlfriend wasn’t being challenged further. I cleared my throat as all eyes turned my way.

  "So… my turn, I’m going to be a Stalking Scout."

  "I thought you were going to be a Elemental Sorcerer?" Patrick asked, finally comfortable enough to speak.

  "I changed my mind, we need someone to do recon with how dangerous the places we go to are. So you know… just not wanting to appear selfish," I said, giving Jesse a especially fake grin. Both she and Heather rolled their eyes at me. Andy gave me a probing stare, probably trying to figure out what I was thinking.

  The truth was I really wanted the Elemental Sorcerer class, it looked awesome. A magic caster who could cast spells associated with fire, ice, earth and air. Not a specialist in anyone of them, but able to cast spells from each of the elements to create crazy combinations.

  I had come up with all sorts of ideas using it. Like making a sloping ice floor to make monsters slip and create a mini flaming tornado. But I realized something… I didn’t trust these guys and I didn’t want to be around them any longer than I had to.

  The great thing about a scout… their job of scouting was a solo task.

  "A understandable decision my child, but please don’t let this experience jade you too badly. You will have to trust the allies you seek to recruit in the future."

  The voice thrummed through me as if a large stereo speaker was behind me and making me vibrate with sound waves. The second I realized I was dreaming, it all ended.

  I blinked my eyes, annoyed at the light trying to pierce through my tent cover. It took me a minute to realize where I was at.

  Osirus and I had travelled down the gravel road for nearly a day. I intentionally kept our pace as slow as possible to avoid any chance of running into the others. I even asked Osirus to keep an eye out for them from the air.

  No sight of them, probably because they were in a hurry to get to civilization and give a cover story of what happened to me. Was curious of what lie they were going to tell others. I turned evil and they had to kill me? Or maybe it’d be the same story like with Elane, a monster just got a lucky hit on me.

  Once we ran into forest landscape, I set a tent up, hidden by shrubbery. I may have lost my hand, but at least I didn’t lose the camping supplies in my Inventory Box. It was frustrating as hell though trying to set up a tent with one good hand. It wasn’t even a minute before I passed out in my sleeping bag.

  Now it was morning and I needed to get to Lasair Manor as soon as possible. I hastily got out of my tent and pulled a beef jerky stick and water canteen from my Inventory Box. Once again frustration simmered at the back of my mind at having to eat with one hand and then drink with one hand.

  I had to learn to let this anger go, it was going to be like this when I did… well everything.

  "Caw! Traitors not sighted while you slept. I was a very watchful raven," Osirus said as he landed on a tree branch.

  "Thanks Osirus, I’m good at scouting but it’s probably best you take the lead with exploring. If we do run into the others, they won’t recognize you. Also I think Heather might have some cleric power to be able to spot me," I said, recalling how Heather stared straight at our cave entrance.

  "You mean the Holy Cleric? Yes her high Wisdom stat could help, but I wouldn’t worry. She doesn’t appear to know how to use it."

  "Osirus you have both high Wisdom and Intelligence stats. What exactly are the differences between Wisdom and Intelligence?" I asked. I definitely didn’t get the same perks with the 4 points of Wisdom as I would with Intelligence. The best description I had for what changed was I felt some sort of weird instinct I couldn’t even define.

  Osirus feathered chest fluffed up at the compliment to his stats. He hopped down onto a tree root as he flapped his wings.

  "Caw! Intelligence raises the internal workings of the mind. Makes the mind understand things faster and remember more. Wisdom opens the mind up to sense things beyond the typical perceptions like hearing and seeing."

  "I’m not sure I understand," I said, sitting cross-legged across from the bird.

  "The higher a Cleric’s wisdom, the more spells their deity gives them, yes?"

  "Okay, following so far."

  "Increasing wisdom increases their connection to their deity’s divine power. They are opening up their mind to accept both information and power beyond the mortal plane. But it doesn’t just open the mind to receiving gifts from a deity."

  Osirus began hopping from one tree root to another as his glowing blue eyes seemed to sparkle.

  "Yes, yes, we will make a game of it. Close your eyes and count to ten. Then you keep your eyes close and point to where I’m at. No peeking!"

  "Um okay," I said, closing my eyes. Then I loudly counted to ten seconds. For a raven who talked a lot, Osirus could be pretty quiet when he wanted to be. I heard a brief flap of wings, but couldn’t even tell which direction he went.

  I tried carefully listening for his breathing. Then with a mischievous grin I tried something else.

  [Skill activated: Enhanced Perception]

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  At which point a walnut walloped me hard on top of the head.

  "Ow! What the hell!"

  "Caw! No cheating! Stop trying to use your ears and use your mind. It is more open now. It can tell you things about what’s going on around you. You just need to trust it."

  "Now count to ten and try again!"

  "Yeah, yeah, use the Force," I muttered as I rubbed my head.

  I sighed and counted to ten out loud again, deactivating my Enhanced Perception skill. I didn’t know how to ‘use’ my mind so I opted for just not trying with my ears and hoping this other new ‘sense’ would take over.

  And after half a minute, I felt like it was working. It was strange, it was like when you are at a movie theater and you know someone is behind you.

  You don’t hear them and your eyes are on the big screen, but a tiny part of you knows they are there.

  Slowly I raised my finger, mentally searching for a direction with this new feeling. Eventually the tip of my finger pointed straight up.

  I slowly opened my eyes and looked up, seeing Osirus on a high branch and looking down on me smugly.

  "Caw! Truly I am a great teacher! Good job, you can use this to sense hidden things. Holy Cleric could have used this to find us if she only trusted her mind."

  "She’s not the trusting sort," I said as I got up. It was a useful trick which might come in handy. Combine it with Enhanced Perception and I now had an additional perk to keep people from getting the jump on me.

  I quickly packed up the tent, struggling with the fabric as it kept slipping from my single-handed grip. Every simple task was a reminder of what Andy had taken from me. Finally, I managed to stuff everything into my Storage Box, the magical space swallowing my camping gear without a trace.

  "Ready to fly?" Osirus asked, preening his white feathers.

  "Ready as I'll ever be," I said, brushing dirt off my leather armor.

  We made our way back to the road, Osirus occasionally taking flight to scout ahead. The morning sun climbed higher, warming my face despite the cool breeze. After an hour of walking, we reached a crossroads marked by an old wooden sign.

  I stared at the weathered arrows pointing in different directions. North to Zephyria – the capital. South to Gaothvale. East to Thornwick. West back toward the coast.

  Lasair Manor was twenty miles south of Gaothvale city.

  "Damn it," I muttered, realizing the obvious problem. Andy and the others would be heading to the capital. To reach Lasair Manor, I'd have to go the complete opposite direction.

  "What troubles you?" Osirus asked, landing on the signpost.

  "The secret dungeon is in the capital's sewers. Every day I spend going south is another day Andy gets closer to it." I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. "I need to figure out some way to slow him down."

  "Perhaps sabotage? Caw!"

  "From here? I'd need to…" I trailed off, an idea forming. "Actually, that might work. I know exactly who they're planning to hire as their scout."

  We turned south toward Lasair Manor, my mind racing with possibilities. Fredrick Farman was a professional, but he was also cautious. If I could get word to him about what really happened to their last scout…

  The next town appeared on the horizon after another hour of walking – Millhaven, if I remembered correctly. A small trading post with maybe five hundred residents between the capital and Gaothvale.

  "Time for a costume change," I said, activating my Disguise Self ability.

  My appearance shifted like water. My brown hair lightened to sandy blonde, my face filled out slightly, and wrinkles appeared around my eyes. My dark leather armor took on the appearance of a hunter's traveling furs – practical but unremarkable.

  I looked like any other hunter making his way between towns.

  As we approached the town gates, I noticed an unusual crowd gathered near the entrance. People were murmuring excitedly, some pointing at the sky.

  "Did you see it?" A woman was saying to her neighbor. "An actual angel! Just like in the old stories!"

  My blood ran cold.

  "Aye," the guard at the gate replied, his voice filled with awe. "Came down from the heavens not an hour ago. Delivered a message about the Heroes Party."

  I forced myself to walk casually closer, just another curious traveler. "What news of the Heroes? I heard they defeated the Demon King."

  "That they did!" the guard beamed, puffing out his chest as if he'd personally contributed to the victory. "But the angel brought other news as well. Seems one of their number has departed our world."

  The crowd pressed closer, hungry for details. An elderly merchant adjusted his spectacles. "Departed? You mean died?"

  "No, no," a young woman interjected, her eyes bright with the fervor of someone who'd witnessed something divine. "The angel said Will Walton used The Wish to return to his original world. Said he couldn't bear to stay after fulfilling his duty."

  My jaw clenched so hard I thought my teeth might crack. Of course. They'd spun my 'death' into a noble departure. No messy questions about a body. No investigation into why a Hero would suddenly vanish after defeating the Demon King.

  "The others chose to remain," the guard continued. "The angel said they've grown to love our world and wish to continue protecting it."

  "Caw!" Osirus muttered from my shoulder, quiet enough that only I could hear. "Clever lies from stupid people."

  I nodded to the guard and moved through the gates, my mind dissecting their cover story. It was actually brilliant in its simplicity. Who would question an angel's word? And by claiming I'd used The Wish to leave, they'd neatly explained both my disappearance and the artifact's absence.

  But there was a flaw. If The Wish could send someone home, why hadn't Nick used it? He'd made no secret of wanting to return to Earth. Anyone who knew him would find it strange that he'd chosen to stay while I'd allegedly left.

  The trading post was larger than I'd expected, with proper cobblestone streets and two-story buildings lining the main thoroughfare. I spotted the sign I was looking for halfway down the street: a wooden placard depicting a bird in flight, marking the Bird Courier Guild.

  "Stay quiet while we are here," I whispered to Osirus. The point of not letting the Heroes Party know I was alive was to not draw attention, like with a talking bird.

  "Caw! I shall be as silent as the grave!"

  I couldn’t stop myself from wincing and glancing around, luckily no one was nearby.

  The guild building was modest but well-maintained, with large windows to accommodate the constant flow of messenger birds. I pushed through the door, a small bell announcing my arrival.

  The front desk clerk looked up from his ledger, a thin man with wire-rimmed spectacles and ink-stained fingers. His professional smile faltered the moment his eyes landed on Osirus.

  "By the Seven Skies," he breathed, rising from his chair so quickly it toppled backward. "Is that… is that a Moon Raven?"

  I could hear Osirus ruffle his feathers on my shoulder, but thankfully kept quite.

  "Err yes, but you see—"

  "—Are you here to sell him? I’ll give you five gold coins!"

  I blinked a second and glanced over at Osirus who appeared especially smug about being wanted so badly. Then turned back to the clerk with a sigh.

  "I’m sorry, but—"

  "—oh you’re right, he’s definitely worth more. How about eight gold coins?"

  Osirus jumped up and down on my shoulder, beak giving out a pleased squawk. He might not be talking, but he was making his opinion known on the matter.

  "I’m sorry, he’s not for sale. I’m actually here to use your fastest bird to deliver a message to a Fredrick Farman at the Adventurer’s Guild of the capital," I said sternly, hoping the offers would stop. The clerk’s shoulders slouched, but his customer service smile quickly came back into place with a nod.

  "We have a wide range of birds which are suited for delivering messages. There are the Silver Owl, the Bay Falcon, the Night Raven… not nearly as good as a Moon Raven of course."

  I’m pretty sure a blood vessel was throbbing on my forehead from the last comment. I quickly pulled out a gold coin and flipped it in the air. The clerk had only a second to see it before it disappeared back into my hand.

  "What if money wasn’t a option?" I asked. I came in here appearing as a simple hunter. If I were dressed as a rich noble with personal guards, this wouldn’t be the sales pitch I’d be getting. Time to see if the offer changed when he realized it was gold and not silver being offered.

  "Oh dear, it appears I misjudged what you were looking for," the clerk said as he readjusted his spectacles. He moved past me and flipped a sign to show the store closed. Then he gestured for me to follow.

  I followed the clerk through a narrow hallway, the air thick with the scent of feathers and bird droppings. Cages lined both walls, each containing different species of messenger birds. A row of common pigeons cooed softly on the left, while more exotic breeds occupied the right—spotted hawks with razor-sharp talons, emerald parrots that clicked their beaks as we passed, and sleek black crows that watched us with unsettling intelligence.

  "The standard messengers are quite reliable," the clerk said, gesturing vaguely at the cages as we walked. "But for truly urgent matters, we keep our premium options in a separate chamber."

  Osirus shifted on my shoulder, his talons digging slightly into my leather armor. I could practically feel his disdain for the lesser birds radiating from his body.

  The hallway opened into a circular room with high windows that let in streams of golden sunlight. The temperature hit me immediately—at least ten degrees warmer than the front office. In the center of the room stood a single ornate perch made of what looked like solid gold, and upon it sat the most magnificent bird I'd ever seen.

  Although there was no way in hell I’d ever let Osirus know that.

  Its feathers shimmered between deep crimson and brilliant orange, seeming to shift and dance like actual flames. The bird was larger than an eagle, with a proud curved beak and eyes that glowed like hot coals. As we entered, it spread one wing, and I swear I saw sparks trail from its wing tips.

  "This is Freya, a rare Firebird. They are said to be distant descendants of the legendary Phoenix heard in legends."

  "She’s truly beautiful, but is she your fastest?" I asked as the Firebird gave me a glance and then quickly lost interest.

  "Oh yes, at least when it comes to sending a message to the capital city Zephyria. We do have smaller birds which technically move at faster speeds, but they would exhaust themselves well before reaching the city. Freya here is the only one who has the stamina to keep a fast pace for the whole flight there."

  I nodded, seeing the logic. It wasn’t just about how quickly the bird flew, it was about how long they could go without resting. And based on the size of Freya, she probably had a lot more endurance compared to other bird breeds.

  "Okay, I’m convinced. How much to have her send a letter?"

  "It’ll be three gold."

  I was rather proud of myself at keeping a neutral expression. One gold coin alone could be used to buy a building at this very trading post. Three gold coins could be used to buy a building, furnish it, and pay for all amenities to live there for a year. I was basically paying a fortune to send a single letter.

  "Of course if the price is too steep, we could always consider using other assets in negotiating a trade," the clerk said with a cheerful smile, going out of his way not to look at Osirus on my shoulder.

  Great, he REALLY wants Osirus. This guy is starting to tick me off.

  "You're seriously trying to squeeze me for three gold?" I said, dropping the friendly hunter act. "That's more than most people see in a lifetime."

  The clerk's smile never wavered. "Premium services require premium prices. Of course, if you'd prefer to reconsider my earlier offer regarding your companion..."

  "Caw! Caw caw!" Osirus suddenly burst out, hopping from my shoulder to the floor. He strutted toward Freya's golden perch, his white feathers puffing up as he let out a series of chirps and warbles that sounded nothing like his usual speech.

  The Firebird's head snapped toward the raven, her coal-bright eyes widening. She responded with a series of melodic chirps and whistles that sounded like crackling flames mixed with wind chimes.

  For the first time the clerk appeared to be nervous, but Osirus’s communication with Freya was brief and he quickly hopped back onto my shoulder. The Firebird meanwhile gave the white raven a piercing stare before turning her attention to grooming her feathers.

  "Right… well as I said before, the answer is still no. Three gold is acceptable."

  I pulled out three gold coins, reminded very much then on how I was the poorest member of the Heroes Party. Expenses were going to be very tight after this. I quickly handed the coins to the clerk who gave my raven a suspicious glance.

  "I’d like privacy for writing my message. I’m assuming you have a canister for me to put the letter in."

  "But of course, it’s magically enchanted so only the Bird Courier Guild post at the capital will be able to open it," said the clerk, as he pulled out a small metal canister from a nearby box. He placed the canister at a small table in the corner of the room before giving a bow and exiting.

  I quickly pulled out feathered pen, paper, envelope, and my Adventurer’s Guild badge to place on the table. The badge itself was made of glowing blue crystal, carved to show a sword and shield emblem which was the guild’s symbol. Most adventurers received badges made of different metals, depending on their rank in the guild.

  But seven, for Heroes only, were made with a special crystal ore called Celestium. The ore itself was so rare, it was used in the creation of the crown and scepter for King Grier, ruler of Elska. I knew for sure Fredrick would believe I wrote the letter once he saw the badge.

  The only question was whether he’d follow my instructions. I could only hope as from one scout to another, he’d honor my wishes. Otherwise all my plans to stop Andy and the others were going down in flames.