Jannalor Petrie looked at the four mercenaries... sorry, "adventurers for hire"... that had answered the advertisement. They were all humans, not elves like him and his wife, Lyrilyn. However, that wasn't a bad thing. After all, the item they were after was frowned upon by most of elven society.
First there was the Hillridge brothers, Syndryk and Lightfoot. If any two siblings had ever looked more different, Jannalor hadn't met them. Syndryk was a giant of a man. Six foot eight or taller with arm muscles that looked to be as thick as Lightfoot's waist. But there was a gentleness that he could sense between the two of them. Seerta "Falling Viper" Razorthorn, was a female, but not much more could be made out under her robes. She was currently relaxed in her chair next to the bigger brother, cleaning her nails with a dagger. Reyner Guard, the strong, bearded fighter, looked prepared to fight at the first sign of danger. He was dressed in chainmail, and held on to a longsword as if it had been tightly sealed to his hands.
"So, let me get this straight," Lightfoot said, "The two of you say there's a stone in the ruins of Cadleigh Fortress that will help the two of you somehow. Other than that stone, we're allowed to take whatever treasure we happen to find as our reward? That must be some stone."
The elf nodded and patted his wife's leg as he replied "Indeed it is. We have been trying for an heir for decades now. Our parents are getting along in years, and they are considering how best to split up their wealth. We know that without a child to pass the inheritance along to, they will likely leave us out."
"So what does that have to do with a stone?"
"It is called the Fertility stone. Anyone in possession of the stone while having intercourse will become pregnant."
The little man laughed. "So you think there's a fuck stone in there? And lots of treasure? The place has been abandoned for generations. I'm sure it's been looted completely by now."
Lyrilyn leaned forward, and the look in her eyes made Lightfoot's laughter fade slowly. "Ah, but that is where you are wrong," she told him, "It is true, there have been several attempts to recover items from the ruins, but none of them have been heard from again. And none of the items that are known to be in there have ever been seen on the market." She passed a list of items and their current values over to the leader of the group.
Lightfoot had years of practice at keeping his emotions off of his face, but the values that were on the paper in front of him made it difficult. He swallowed, then nodded. "We'll discuss the matter overnight," he said, "and give you an answer first thing in the morning." He stood, and the others joined him.
Once the "adventurers" had left, Jannalor turned to his wife. "What do you think?"
"They will accept our offer. No doubt."
"I meant, what do you think of them?"
"Oh. They seem like they are competent. Their references are reliable."
"Can you believe those two are brothers?" Jannalor asked abruptly, "Do you think they have different fathers?"
He heard his wife's laughter, gentle and melodious as tinkling glass as she said "My darling, they are not brothers."
"But they have the same last name..."
"As do you and I," she whispered in his ear.
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It didn't take much discussion for the group to make up their mind. They had been working together for a few years now, but the size of this score would be enough for them to retire. Lightfoot sat in Syndryk's lap while his big arms enveloped his little lover.
Seerta was the only one who raised an objection. "If there have been several attempts, and none of them have come back, why do you think we'll do better?"
"Because we're better. We have strength, cunning, power. We have your skills in close quarters and my skills with any traps that might still be working. We have nothing to worry about. Besides, those attempts were ages ago. Anything that got them is probably either damaged beyond repair or dead from old age."
Seerta felt a little more comforted, but as she went to sleep that night, the little nagging doubt remained.
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"We're in."
The mercenaries didn't have much to pack and Syndryk had all of their duffles in a bunch over his shoulder. The moment they saw the elven couple at the table, Lightfoot walked over and made the announcement.
Jannalor nodded, then gestured to the open seats. "Please, join us for breakfast, and we shall be off. We have a three day journey ahead."
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Those three days went by quickly. Whether through luck or the size of Syndryk, they encountered no bandits on the route. The days were filled with easy banter between the guards and amused looks from the elves. At night, the watch became used to hearing low moans from the elven sleeping quarters.
Around lunch on the third day, they came across their first difficulty: Trees and bushes had grown up over the path to the old castle. Syndryk and Reyner spent most of the afternoon hacking a path until they finally gave up.
"We're going to have to go on foot from here," the ex-soldier informed the rest of the group, "It's not too bad, and I can see Cadleigh Fortress in the distance from where we ended. We should be able to set up camp outside by nightfall."
The elves had a quick discussion, but agreed that what Reyner said made sense. They gathered the essential supplies and hitched their horses off to the side of the road. The travel was slow, but they managed to fight their way through with only a few scratches.
When they reached the fortress, they saw the remains of a firepit just outside the entrance, as if a campsite had been there.
Tents were set up, a fire was made, and they all rested, not knowing what they would find inside tomorrow.
