“What do you mean – I cannot have both daggers and a bow?” Lena was glaring at the sergeant on the encampment. “I am an assassin, I need both.”

“Assassin is not a vocation, it’s a state of mind,” the sergeant shook his head. “Choose between an Archer and a Thief.”

“A Thief?!” Lena couldn’t believe her ears. “How’s that a vocation while an Assassin is not?!”

“Look, Miss,” the sergeant took a step back eyeing Lena’s daggers. “I don’t make the rules. They call it a ‘thief’ but to be quite honest with you, it is all about killing rather than stealing. Mostly. Anyway, let’s just say – daggers. Choose archery or daggers, but you can’t have both.”

Lena glared at him again but eventually had to choose. Daggers.

…

“Before we go anywhere in earnest, we should get the feel for this land and stock up on supplies,” Scorpio was checking the edge of his sword. “This is all pretty basic gear, we won’t get far on it, but may be it will suffice for now. And… err… you may want to buy some clothes.”

Lena wasn’t naked, but she was still wearing prison garb and wrist irons, and that had to change. The only shop on the encampment didn’t sell any clothes, only weapons and armour, and it was way too expensive for someone who had exactly zero gold coins to their name.

“You’ll just have to walk around with a convict for a bit longer,” she shot a glance at Scorpio. However, he was right. Prison garb may be enough for the wilderness, but it wouldn’t do as townwear.

The next few days were thus spent running errands for the quartermaster, earning some coin, exploring nearby caves and trying to build a team with two more pawns so that together they could take on a pack of goblins.

“Wow, did I hit my head or were those goblins really tough?” Lena looked at her pawns in turn when they finally made camp in a quiet spot. “It isn’t my first time handling daggers but I found this battle a struggle.”

“You hit your head and those goblins were rather tough,” Scorpio nodded. “Do you even remember how you got here?” Lena gave him a blank stare. “Exactly. And those wrist irons that you were wearing, they left permanent damage. You’ll need to relearn most things from scratch.”

It was a daunting prospect. The only consolation was that Lena did in fact remember her past, and Scorpio still knew how to fight. But under the circumstances it didn’t change much.

Eventually they gathered enough coin to buy some armour so that Lena could finally ditch her prison garb.

“You will want to go to the capital,” one of the soldiers said to them. “If you are indeed a true Arisen… well… that… umm…”

“What?” Lena’s heart fell.

“You can’t be, see,” the soldier finally spit it out. “You’ll be arrested and executed without delay. The Queen Regent already has an Arisen who will soon be crowned as King. Mind you, it happens to be her son who is actually not an Arisen… err…” The complexities of politics were above his paygrade, to be sure. “Well, anyhow. If you just turn up in the capital, the next thing you’ll see will be the gallows. Unless they decide to quarter you first, then it’ll be the chopping block… or may be they’ll start with the stretcher, just to see what you might know…”

“I get the picture!!” Lena interrupted the soldier. “So what do I do?”

“Go talk to the Captain,” the soldier was releaved to be done with that conversation. “We’ve seen you summon pawns. Only an Arisen can do this. Not everyone is happy with the Queen Regent anyway…”

He cut himself off and walked away.

“Why can’t I get teleported to some land of roses with chocolate unicorns and marshmellow bunnies instead of nasty queens, dragons and goblins?” She sighed.

“Because you did not will it, Arisen,” Scorpio said quietly. “You always get what you wish for, whether you know it or not. The will of the Arisen is what shapes this world, so in a way it is all your own doing…”

She shot him a sharp glance and he stopped talking – that was not what she wanted to hear. “Yes, master, by your command…” Now he got a jab under the ribs – that was not what she wanted to hear either. One thing was blatantly clear: Scorpio needed some armour.

…

“I want to find Rook,” Lena was saying a few days later. “He’s the best mage I know and we need a mage.”

“What about all these other mage pawns around here?” Scorpio cast his eyes about picking out half a dozen mages, at least. “Some of these girls look pretty hot…”

“Rook!” Lena touched the riftstone.

…

Rook was still dressed in his prison garb and didn’t have a staff. Lena insisted on getting all that gear for him which meant more cave delving. The other pawns were rolling their eyes and shrugging their shoulders, and some started deliberately ducking out of her line of sight when she once again was searching for the third pawn to join their party.

Eventually she was satisfied. It was time to make for the capital.

“I shall escort you there under guard,” the Captain smiled when she finally approached him. “For your own safety. There are checkpoints along the way…” This was going to be a long trip.

The road twisted and turned, running along the bottom of a canyon for the most part. They encountered numerous goblins, harpies and an odd cyclops, and after a day of traveling Lena seemed to have passed the Captain’s test.

“Take this letter,” he gave her a sealed scroll. “We don’t need to escort you any further. When you arrive in the capital, just say you’re an Arisen and get arrested. The Captain there will interrogate you personally and without witnesses. Give him this scroll. Good luck, Ser Arisen.”

He saluted, called up his men and marched off.

“So,” Lena looked at Scorpio, Rook and the third pawn whose name she could not remember. “Once again my heart is missing, there’s a dragon to kill and the local sovran wants me dead. You know, I think I would definitely prefer marshmellow bunnies instead…”

She shook her head, picked a mountain path and signalled her pawns to follow. Life became simple again.