The Myth Seekers sat around what had become their impromptu headquarters in the sitting room while construction continued outside Tolliver's bubble of silence. The remodel was coming along remarkably fast, and Raith was astounded at what the [Skills] of a fine craftsman could accomplish. It was still at least several days out, however, until things were completed.

  Raith addressed the team. The decor of room had grown haphazardly, with each member adding a bit of their own style as things developed. Thea bringing in a number of plants, carefully placed about the room, Tolliver with his bar, and Raith, a shelf full of the books he had brought from his bedroom back home. Nyhm’s only contribution was an oversized, deep red pillow with tassels on each of the four corners that he liked to use to sit cross-legged and meditate. It was on this pillow he perched now, unconcerned that its height put him below everyone else lounging on the chairs and couch.

  Raith looked at the empty fireplace and idly thought how nice it would be when the temperature finally cooled off enough for them to warrant having a fire in there. He puffed up his cheeks and blew out a deep breath, not anxious to broach the next topic, but knowing he’d put it off for too long.

  “So, about dividing up all of our loot.”

  His face grew tight. He could feel the tension rising, but looking closely at his friend no one else seemed to share his concern.

  “Although it would be nice if Zinny was here for this,” he added, hoping to perhaps delay the conversation a little while longer.

  Tolliver and the pixie had been spending a lot of time together since her rescue of him, and he volunteered on her behalf.

  “Zinny says she’s going to be busy getting her house ready for the party. She’ll come with to deliver the artifact to Pridian, but other than that she wishes to attend to her own affairs. She said she doesn’t care about any of our silly baubles and we can keep our stupid cold metal, unless we find some flowers to trade, in which case she really wants the flowers.”

  Raith let out a sigh of relief. For while Zinny certainly came with her share of difficulties, her utter disregard for money and wealth came in second only to his own brother’s, whose eyes Raith met right now.

  Nyhm, anticipating Raith’s thoughts, looked up at him with a steady gaze.

  “I don’t care about any of this stuff, and I certainly don’t have any desire to have a huge empty house of my own. The room that’s been provided to me upstairs is already far too large, and with the one next to it being turned into an herbalist laboratory, I have all that I could ask for here and more. Maybe when we have the time and money, I could fix up my house and give it to Mom and Dad, if they want it.”

  Raith smiled.

  “That would be a great idea. And since once we have my mirror set up, I will have my library and manor to stay in. That considerably expands the shape and space we have in this place, which is already more than any of us need.”

  Thea nodded in agreement.

  “I agree. In fact, I tried to give my house to my parents as well but they simply refused. They said they have no desire to be in the Nobles’ District. And Dad said it would take him too far away from the Order, where he has to be at work every day. If I’m going to fix anything up, it will be the country estate. I was actually taking a look at my house next door, and it’s in such awful shape it is probably not even worth repairing. Since it’s sitting right next to this one, I thought perhaps we could tear it down, and I could turn it into a garden, maybe with an area for us to train as a team, if that sounds ok to you guys.”

  Tolliver stroked his chin.

  “That would be far less expensive than rehabilitating that building,” he said. “Especially with your contacts in the [Druid] circle, having a nice garden would be a lovely addition to this estate.”

  Tolliver seemed somewhat hesitant and stuck his nose in the air, obviously uncomfortable as he said, “I, for one, would like to keep my house, although I am in no hurry to see that it’s finished. The living arrangements here, with us together as a team, are satisfactory for the time being.”

  Raith breathed a sigh of relief, buy Tolliver added.

  “And Zinny evidently wishes to keep her home, as well.”

  They sat with that thought for a moment, trying to imagine what was going on in her strange little mind. Raith just hoped she didn’t lose that bet.

  “Now, for the loot,” he said. “I’ve made a list here of all the things that we haven’t really taken the time to think about how we’re going to divide up.” He looked around the room, meeting everyone’s eyes individually. “So, I appreciate that nobody’s called me out on it, but I kind of appropriated the aethercore for myself without really leaving it up for discussion. I feel like that wasn’t fair…and I’m sorry.”

  Nyhm just looked confused. Thea and Tolliver both gave looks that said they knew what he meant, but he couldn’t quite discern how they felt about it.

  To his surprise, Tolliver spoke up first. “I, too, have been concerned. The value of the wand I would like is vast, and furthermore I have not yet worked out the value all of the assassin’s items that I took from his corpse.” He idly flapped the edge of his wondrous cloak as he spoke.

  Raith watched a flash of anger pass across Thea’s face at the mention of the assassin, and she unconsciously rubbed her prosthetic arm before speaking up.

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  “I also have that seed I recovered from Tarn. I’m not sure how much it’s worth, but it’s almost certainly a unique species and one of the reasons why I wanted to start a garden here. I realize you all may not know or care about seeds especially much, but this one is bound to have enormous value.”

  Raith cleared his throat awkwardly.

  “I know, guys, but none of that is worth as much as an aethercore. And I don’t know how to fairly distribute this stuff. I don’t even know how to put a price on such a thing, they’re simply not for sale.” He closed his eyes and came out with what had been weighing on the back of his mind. “And now that we’ve made the determination to fix up my house first, I feel like the situation’s only made worse. I don’t know how to make it fair for you guys, other than to say that this isn’t just my house, it’s our house. And I don’t want you guys to ever feel like you’re guests here, given all we’ve done together to get here as a team.”

  Nyhm gave an unhelpful shrug and half-smile.

  “You know I don’t have any interest in the treasures we’ve found. So long as you guys keep me in my herbalism supplies, I don’t care what happens to any of it.”

  Tolliver gave a nod as well.

  “I have a fortune of my own, and I don’t think any of us will be served by nitpicking every copper of how things are divided. Why don’t we sell what we’re going to sell, divide the gold evenly, and consider the rest of the things we have remaining. Aside from this wand you’ve allowed me to generously claim, what else does anyone want?”

  Thea went into her pouch and removed all of their treasures, displaying the items on the table in center of the room. She pointed to indicate one of them almost shyly.

  “I’ve been thinking about that puzzle box and the golems it can summon. That’s the item I’d like to claim, but it won’t just benefit me. I have a thought, if you guys don’t mind hearing me out.”

  Raith sat forward in his seat, curious. Thea continued.

  “I had my dad take a look at this, and he said the constructs are quite powerful. Three can be summoned at a time. I propose that we leave two here to guard the house while one is able to travel with me as a companion. When one is destroyed, it can’t be resummoned for one week’s time, but so long as there are any remaining in the puzzle box, another may be summoned as a replacement.”

  The more she talked the more Raith found himself nodding.

  “That’s an absolutely terrific idea. The mirror needs all the security we can muster.”

  Thea gave a sigh of relief.

  “Good. I’ll be happy to get rid of this stuff. You guys probably haven’t thought about it, but walking around with all these insanely valuable, powerful magical items makes me feel like I’ve got a target on my chest. Even though no one knows I have them, it’s utterly nerve-wracking. The sooner they’re spread out, the better.”

  “Alright, so I got the aethercore, Tolliver gets his wand, and Thea gets the puzzle box. Nyhm, why don’t you take the ring.”

  The elfling shook his head.

  “For what?”

  “Don’t be an idiot, that’s his job,” Thea said, jerking a thumb towards Raith.

  “Hey…” Raith said, but he was smiling as he picked up the band of peace and handed it to his brother.

  “Just take it. The power to go ethereal is useful for any adventurer. You’ll find a way to make it work.”

  Nyhm reluctantly took the simple gold ring and placed it on his finger.

  “So that just leaves selling the netherwand for now.”

  Tolliver cleared his throat.

  “To that topic. After quite a bit of research, I have found that while Dahbi is priced quite high on identifying goods, quite low on non-magical purchases, but he offers the best prices for magical items. Substantially better on store credit.”

  “That simplifies selling the wand quite a bit. What do you guys think about the store credit?”

  Thea shook her head, and gestured to the building around them.

  “We need the money for this right now.”

  “I concur,” said Tolliver.

  “Alright, the loot issue is settled. Next order of business is that we can’t set up my mirror and leave it unattended until Embry works his magic. And he can’t do that until the rest of the construction project’s done. Which means we have nowhere to set up the mirror and leave it in order to hop on a gossamer path to meet Pridian. Does anybody have any suggestions?”

  This time Nyhm spoke up,looking towards their [Mage].

  “You and Zinny came through a gleaming on the other side of the river?” He raised his eyebrows at Tolliver for confirmation, who gave him a slight nod.

  “She said that it intersects with another gossamer path that can take us to a day’s travel outside the town we need to meet Pridian in. With Raith’s power to freeze time on the gossamer paths, we should finish most of the journey virtually instantly.”

  Raith gave a smile. “That’s excellent,” he said. “Now…”

  The door burst open. Their young courier, Nate, who they seemed to have adopted, came bursting in, panting. He had obviously been running. A letter was clutched in his hand, which he held up for Raith.

  “Master Vandamir has a message for you, my lord!”

  Raith took the letter and flipped the boy a silver, wondering briefly how much he was overtipping this kid, who was already being paid to deliver these messages. The boy snatched the coin from the air and disappeared back out the door from where he’d come.

  Raith opened the letter, scanned it once over, and then announced to his friends, “He says that the book of poetry I got from Tarn is already bidding over a million gold, and that it’s no longer safe to keep at his shop.”

  Raith frowned and looked at Thea. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to stash another treasure in that pouch of yours until we can get our security in order.”

  She frowned but nodded in agreement. Raith continued.

  “We’ll pick it up on our way out of town. Everybody, let’s go home and get ready. Tolliver, please tell Zinny what the plan is and have her join us.”

  ***

  As dawn eased into the sky to the east, Beauregard crept behind the Myth Seekers while they made their way towards something they had called a “gleaming.” He had no idea what that meant, but gathered it had something to do with the fae creature who accompanied them and something called a gossamer path.

  The pixie had frightened Beauregard at first, as he was uncertain of the creature’s powers and capabilities. But whatever they might be, it was clear she did not have the senses required to detect him with his [Skills] and his ring.

  He reached out again to touch the satyr woman’s horn, allowing his hand to fall just short of making contact. He had rarely seen such a magnificent creature, and his heart ached to run his hands through those curled locks and to watch her for hours as she carried on whatever mundane tasks he imagined she did when she thought she was alone in her private rooms.

  If he could avoid killing the woman, he knew he would spend many hours watching her before returning the ring to the High Emissary.

  They crossed to west side of the river and proceeded off the road a ways into a stretch of swamp. Soon he saw they were approaching a hollowed-out old log in the disgusting muck. The team tromped through the tepid water, mud swirling with each step, and Beauregard stopped short of their steady march toward the lone trunk in the center of the marsh. The water disturbances made by his passage would surely give him away, but it mattered little. He patiently waited for them to arrive at their destination.

  The boy, Raith, placed his hand on the trunk. He seemed to concentrate for a moment before a faint silver glow leapt up from inside the hollow. The opening was small enough that they all had to drop to their knees in the muck to crawl through.

  Beauregard teleported himself across the expanse of swamp directly behind them, sneaking quickly into the gleaming right on their tail before it closed.