Quitetly, Quiggly stepped into the darkness as he stealthily approached and steeled himself for what was to come. No one would dare stop the mighty, black-armored Knight of the Vale from carrying out his revenge, nor would anyone interfere in his quest to claim back the throne of the Vale from whatever traitor was stifling that rightful kingdom. Quiggly saw the shadow of an archway, but the rest was blocked from view by a large, wooden crate. He had to be very careful not to get noticed by anyone who might call the watch. He needed to take care of this and get out, but, just as he reached for the closest plank, the crate was wrenched out from under his tail by another shadow. "Hey, there! Watch out!" A call rang out in the night from a man at the very edge of the plank's shadows. The man was so close Quiggly couldn't just walk away from him without being noticed. The plank hit the ground with a crash as Quiggly dove head first into it, only to hit his head on something very hard. Cursing, he turned over onto his stomach and jumped up onto the crate, only to see a strange creature from out of a nightmare. "Gigglefright!" Quiggly screamed out, making the startled creature's eyes light up. "Go, quick! Before anyone sees you!" "Quiggly," the frogman with a moustache chuckled, "I was wondering when you would show up. It's been a long while since we last met. Didn't you get my invitation?" Gigglefright smirked. Quiggly shook his head. "Why would I need an invitation?" Quiggly said with a huff. He didn't know what was going on, but he was sure he could handle the odd creature alone, even if he was a few times his height and several times his width, but he didn't have time to discuss the why's or the how's right now. He jumped off of the plank and sprinted out of the small alley and turned down the street to look for a secluded alleyway where he could slip away and think about what was going on before Quiggly decided to run back for the plank and finish what he should have done long ago. ******* Chapter 3: The Invitation The large black stallion that the young orphan was struggling to keep on its hind legs stopped in the middle of town. The creature had tried the best it could to keep the young boy from falling off its back, but the creature just wasn't strong enough to keep the child from being flung off every time it tried to stop. "Wait, lad! You'll need me to help you with this horse!" The sound of a man's voice startled the small creature. It had been long since he had heard human words, and they had always managed to make him nervous, but this was the most he had ever heard human words in the last two days since he had awoken in this cold, dark dungeon. The young boy looked up from the ground, he felt weak, but the creature could still understand that this man meant well. "Are you a guard?" The man's face looked sad, and with his kind hands he offered the orphan to stand up on his own two feet. "I'm the caretaker of the creatures in this town." The caretaker's dark blue eyes softened, he knew he could trust the young man now. "It was a poor attempt at trying to scare you from stealing the horses, the guards caught you trying to sneak away in the middle of the night." "You could have just left me out of the window," the small child was very cross with the caretaker. "I could have been killed out there with the creatures!" The caretaker could see he had a point. He looked back to the child, "I never imagined you would ever do such a thing," he shook his head. "I never thought the guards would have kept you here in this cold and dark place." The caretaker lifted the child off of the horse and set him down on the ground. He then walked over to the door and knocked three times, then turned around and faced the child, "Come out, boy," he said to the child, "the man you are looking for is at the Inn. I'm sure he will want to see you now that you are awake, though he may be angry with you for sneaking away in the middle of the night." The boy just laughed, "I just got to stay for a couple days. I'm looking for a man that knows where the old palace of the Duke is!" The child laughed again, "I thought that was the old temple of the temple. I knew I shouldn't have asked the caretaker before I said I was from the west." The caretaker nodded and took the boy's hand. "I'm going to take you to the Inn. The one I'm looking for is sitting at a table inside." The caretaker opened the double doors and led the young boy through the doors. ******* The orphan girl was not paying any attention to what was happening around her as she was trying to sort through the piles of random objects left by the previous inhabitants of this dungeon. All of the things were very interesting, but she was not interested in a child's trinkets. She kept trying to find her way out of this chamber, but the doors seemed to be locked. She then heard someone speaking, "You need to let the boy go. He's innocent," The voice had a bit of a sad tone to it. The caretaker walked over to the girl and offered his hand to her. The caretaker gave the girl a smile and pulled her up by the hand so she could stand on her own two feet. "So he has finally awoken." The orphan girl looked over to the caretaker and gave him a smile, "I am sorry. You know I have a problem letting go of anything, but he really is innocent. He's not a common thief." "Alright, I just wanted to make sure he was alright. Now, I must go check on the horses. If you find yourself in need of anything, you may visit my mannequin. I've never seen you before, you are not a member of any of the guilds, what guild are you with?" The orphan girl smiled and looked at the ground as she tried to keep herself from laughing. She was just so excited, but she did try to explain, "I, I am not part of any guild. I just make some things for the guild, but I never signed up with any of the guilds. I don't need to have a membership for these things." The caretaker smiled, "If you ever have a chance to sign up with a guild, I am sure you will be a valued member." He then smiled at the child, "Now, go try some food at the Inn. Go ask for a room to be added to your guild membership." The orphan girl smiled and nodded, "I just need to remember that." The child was then given a bag of gold by the caretaker for the boy's future troubles. "Just remember what I said, if he needs any of these items to be fixed, he will find that money will be given to him for the repairs. He doesn't know who to ask for them, so you will need to explain this. He is a very bright young boy." The orphan girl smiled and nodded, "I will keep these things in mind. I'll be in the room just inside of the door." She smiled at the caretaker, "Thanks for caring." The caretaker smiled and nodded. He looked back to the child, "Go find your new guild master. I trust that everything will be alright, but always remember to trust your fate to yourself." The caretaker then walked out of the room and headed up the path that the child had previously followed to get to the Inn. The young boy walked over to the window, but he could not see anything through it. He knew there was not a window on the other side of the large, thick door. He then tried to decide what to do next. His curiosity was running wild about what was out there and about what it looked like outside. He didn't even notice that the caretaker was gone. ****** "Alright, children!" Trollfist clapped his hands and a look of relief appeared on his face, "We had the best harvest, and I am almost sure that we will meet our goal, even if some have not been quite the help that I had hoped they would be. It was hard getting my army this far, but I am sure that I will find us a place to stay for the winter. As for us, well, let's make sure we are still in this town before we eat the food. We have to be off this day in case of any surprises. We need to be sure that our home is secure, because I am going to tell you kids a secret. This town is known for having the most horrible thieves in the kingdom. I am very sure of what I have just said." The children all clapped their hands together and sang, "Yes, yes, we knew that already! We thought you were planning on moving!" Trollfist could see that he had them excited and he was sure that they had all gotten so excited to come out of the dark, dank dungeon that they would