The Aegis Guild

The Aegis guild wasn’t hard to find. After a short walk through the city they found themselves in front of a large building with an ornate shield attached to the wall above the entrance. The shield was emblazoned with the image of a knight locked in combat with a dragon. “Huh, so there are dragons here?” Ataru asked.

“I’ve never seen one myself.” Rosalind said. “They are known to live on the northern continent of Treasdra. They rarely leave their home, when they do it tends to be as would be conquerors.”

“Huh, do you want to see one?” He asked.

“See one? I want to ride one Ataru!” Her violet eyes lit up with wonder. “There was once a famous duster that befriended a dragon, she would soar through the skies with her companion, defeating foe after foe, saving entire cities on her own.” She let out a wistful sigh. “But such a thing is far in the horizon, perhaps even impossible.”

“Let’s just focus on step one for now.” Ataru said as he stepped into the Aegis guild. The scenery inside was spacious, with multiple wooden tables laid out. All around were people of all shapes and sizes armed to the teeth. Some carried blades, some wooden staffs, a few nothing but their muscles. A dark haired woman sat behind a reception desk. On the top of her head were a pair of feline ears that drooped downwards. She looked up from a stack of papers to Ataru and Rosalind as they approached.

“Let me guess, here to earn a duster license?” She let out a yawn as her tired eyes blinked. Rosalind stepped forward.

“Correct! My companion and I wish to form a party.” She spoke with her regal tone once again.

“Quench your torch there sister, we’ve been swamped with requests since the war ended. If you want your license you’ll have to wait until the exam.”

“Exam? Is it not simply a matter of registering?” The receptionist’s teeth grinded upon hearing the question, she forced her frown into a stiff smile.

“Due to the overwhelming number of entrants, and the danger of rookie dusters placing themselves in harm's way, an exam will be held to weed o–” She cleared her throat. “Sort out those that may not be fit for the position. The nature of the event will be withheld, all that you may know is that you must report to the base of Ironvein Mountain seven days from now at noon.” She took a paper from the top of the stack and began writing with a quill pen. “If that is all, please come another time.” She said, her eyes glued to the paperwork.

“I…” Rosalind was speechless, this clearly wasn’t what she had envisioned when she stepped inside the guild.

“Oh well, guess we’ve got time to kill.” Ataru turned around to exit the building, his mind was currently on his stomach. Rosalind slumped her shoulders and followed after him. “I don’t see why we need to rush, besides, we could take the time to prepare for whatever this exam is.”

“I suppose so.” Rosalind said, her gaze counting the tiles on the floor. “Oh, I do have a bit of money, perhaps we should find a place to eat fir–” She froze on the spot as she raised her head. Her eyes opened wide in shock as the door to the guild opened. Walking inside was a tall figure covered head to toe in gleaming silver armor. Upon their chest plate a crest was painted in red depicting the clashing of two swords. The dusters in the guild suddenly stopped speaking, creating an eerie silence in the room. Ataru looked around, curious.

“Who’s that?” He asked Rosalind as the figure walked forward. He took note of the fact that they appeared to be carrying two weapons. One looked just like the longsword he saw the cowardly guards carrying, the other was a massive greatsword wrapped in cloth that was attached to their back. He looked back to Rosalind, who hadn’t answered him. Usually she jumped at the chance to spew facts at him. Instead, she was shaking.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, before a shiver ran down his spine. The figure had stopped just in front of the two of them. They looked to Rosalind, then to Ataru.

“Your name?” Their voice wasn’t very masculine, but he wouldn’t quite call it feminine either. Something about their tone inspired him to answer before he could even think.

“Ataru.” He said. The armored figure then turned to Rosalind, who covered her face and turned away.

“I see, I won’t take any more of your time.” They continued towards the reception desk, Rosalind grabbed Ataru by the arm and pulled him out of the guild.

“What was that about? Do you know them?” He asked. She nodded before briskly walking forward.

“We uh, should go eat something.” She said, looking around frantically. After a few minutes of searching she nearly pulled him into a restaurant. After taking a seat in the corner of the establishment she looked around before breathing a sigh of relief.

“Alright, so now that we’re here in…” He looked at a wooden sign above the bar in the restaurant. “The Blue Bear? Are there blue bears in this world?”

“That was the Hero.” Rosalind said sharply. He quickly turned his head back to her.

“Wait, the one that killed your father?” He asked. She let out a breath and tapped her fingers against her thighs. She gave a silent nod. “Oh, I guess that explains the weird recept– wait no it doesn’t, everyone there looked as if a prickle pup had walked in. Shouldn’t they be greeted with cheers or something? What’s the deal?”

“My father was known as the most powerful being in the world. He could decimate an entire army on his own, he was known as a walking catastrophe. And the Hero killed him, all alone.” Two glasses of water were placed on the table by a waitress, Rosalind twitched at the sound before taking the water and downing it. She pulled out two silver coins and placed them on the table. “Beef stew, please, and some bread to go with it.”

“Same here.” Ataru said. The waitress, a young elven woman, took the money and walked away. “Alright, so I think I get it. I guess they think the Hero might be some kinda monster or something?”

“Maybe, I’m just glad the rumors weren’t true.”

“What rumors?”

“That they can sense the presence of a demon.” Rosalind adjusted the hat on her head.

“Oh, yeah that would be kinda bad, huh? Are you gonna be alright? They might show up at the guild again.” She averted her eyes and took a deep breath.

“I’d be lying if I said I'm not afraid, but…” She rolled the glass around on its edges as she looked through it. “I haven’t been able to properly live my life for so long, I can’t imagine turning away now, I wouldn’t even know what to do.” Ataru nodded.

“Good enough for me.” He said as the waitress arrived with their food. The only thing they’d eaten for far too long had been bland flatbread. The stew in front of them didn’t look particularly special, but to the two of them it might as well have been a five star meal.

“I say we live right now by enjoying this!” Ataru said, before foregoing the spoon given to him and drinking straight from the bowl.

Rosalind picked up her own bowl and with no hesitation did the same.

By the time they’d finished eating the sun had begun to set. They walked out into the streets, now with a singular problem that needed fixing. They had no place to stay.

“I’m sure I have enough money, unless the price of a room at an inn has changed.” Rosalind looked into her pouch of coins with worry.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, if it comes to it we can do some urban camping.”

“I think the guards would throw us in jail if we tried that.” She said, putting her money away.

“Wow, this world is more like my own than I thought.” He let out a laugh as they turned into an alley. If the signage they’d seen was anything to go by, they’d soon arrive at a cheap inn. The waning sun did little to light the alley, so he nearly walked straight into someone that was standing in the alley, thankfully their shimmering armor stuck out like a spotlight. “Wait, shimmering armor?” Ataru jumped back as he realized they’d run right into the Hero.

“Ataru, right?” They spoke, once again he felt compelled to answer straight away.

“Yeah? What do you want?” He asked, placing himself in front of Rosalind.

“I simply need you to answer a question.” They stepped forward, looking down at him as they stood a full head taller. “Why does a demon wish to become a duster?”