NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY: Adventures of the Creeping Bam (BOOK 2: One Cold Trail)

CHAPTER TWENTY: THELGAEWYNN

"Granzun. That was his name, 'least when he was still with the Guild. Might still be going by it now, though I doubt it if he really is mixed up in nefarious shit this bad." Art of Shadows puffs his cheeks out with a heavy breath, still looking down at the floor the way he's been doing for most of the time since we got settled in. Like he doesn't want to look anybody in the eye right now. "He was ... is a big bastard, one o' the biggest orcs I ever seen in my time. That's why I'm mindful to reckon it really is him an' not just some other orc merc somehow wound up getting hands on a familiar weapon. Way Gael described the one they fought ..."

Even now, I'm still surprised by how someone with such feline features can be so expressive. He's not a happy camper right now, it's writ large across his face. He's certainly a striking one, now I've been able to get a proper look at him. Smaller than some bakaneko I've known, lean and lithe, and not at all intimidating now I see him in a more social atmosphere. If I didn't already know what lethal violence he's actually capable of I wouldn't be able to believe it if someone told me, even looking at his impressively appointed prowler's gear. That's what he is, I've learned – my original guess was right, turns out he really is Thieves Guild, or at least was once upon a time, before he became one of the Creeping Bam. And not just a common pickpocket or burglar, either – Art, as he prefers to be called, proved from his earliest days in training that he had it in him to be something truly, lethally exceptional, so they moulded him according to his full potential. So now he can vanish completely into shadow, move more silently than a light breeze, and open an opponent's arteries and let him bleed out before he even knows he's been stabbed if he needs to. Makes him dangerous enough to take seriously, especially in this company.

Most of this strange new crew seem to be special enough to take similarly seriously, even the half-elf wizard, Gael Foxtail, despite their youth and ... I don't really know what to call it, actually. There's something about them that sets them somewhat apart from the others, even though they're all very comfortable round each other. I get the impression they haven't been out of their fancy magic Academy in Bavat for all that long, something like naivete sometimes showing itself in the way they handle themselves, the way they talk. They're smart, there's no denying it, and very pretty, I can't help noticing that ... but they clearly still don't know half as much about how the real world works as they really should.

That said, I also get the impression they do know more than the other wizard, the one I understand is only tagging along with the group, instead of a proper member. Tulen Kelsira is very striking indeed, almost the most intriguing individual in this whole group, and they're very friendly, too ... a little too friendly, in fact. She definitely hasn't got it clear in her head yet that, while we certainly don't mean her harm, it's not always smart for her to act quite so trusting with people she's literally just met without getting to know 'em a bit first.

Kesla Shoon ... yeah, she balances that out some. She's welcoming enough, but wary with it all the same, and that's wise, I'd be the same. But then she's ... gods, this woman is intimidating, more than just about anybody else in this room, if I'm honest. Sharp as any blade in this room too, I don't doubt, might be she's smarter than either of the wizards in some ways, I think. The way her eyes just look right into you, right through you ... like she can see what you're thinking clear as if it's written on your forehead.

But it's the Fir Bolg that most surprised me, when we finally met her. Seeing the long black arrows in her substantial quiver was enough for me to work out it was her doing all that fast, scary, deadly accurate shooting earlier in the Round. I heard stories about her race when I was growing up, but I never met a Tuathan forest guardian before today. Part of me didn't believe they were genuinely real.