Chapter 1

Blood clung to Everett’s palms as he cleaned his knife on the lifeless body before him.

It was the third time this week that the Guild Master, Orin, sent for him. Orin’s spies were Everett’s eyes and ears on the ground, listening for any word of the magical people that once roamed the land- the Elvi.

The last two times Everett trusted Orin’s word had been a dead end. He should have expected this wouldn’t be any different.

Everett spent less than a minute with the man Orin brought to the abandoned inn. That was all the time he needed to know the man was lying. Thanks to both Orin’s and Everett’s line of questioning, the man knew too much. Like every other job, Everett killed him. If word got out about his mission, if someone recognized him, or if somehow word reached his father… He didn’t want to think about the consequences.

He looked out the broken window of the inn, commending Orin for his choice of rendezvous. A prime location. The inn stood against the fires that destroyed the rest of the village the previous year. Now the nearest homes were miles away, which meant no one heard the man’s screams.