Greyrest was quiet that morning, the kind of stillness that always made Ethan more alert. He stood near the scaffolded wall, where masons grunted and hammered in the growing light, each blow echoing across the valley. The new construction was modest but steady, two watchtowers had risen in the last month, and the curtain wall between them crept higher every day. Supplies were tight, labor tighter, but progress, however slow, had become its own sort of hope.
Ethan took a deep breath and turned from the wall to the flat lands beyond, eyes scanning the stretch of hills where quarry workers had been searching for a new deposit. The older limestone pits were running dry, Kael, one of the more consistent laborers, had volunteered to push further east into rocky terrain where the soil grew stubborn and strange.
By midday, Ethan had nearly forgotten about Kael until he saw the man sprinting down the slope, covered in dust and breathing hard. Kael wasn't prone to drama. That alone set Ethan walking briskly to meet him.
"Sir," Kael managed between gasps, holding out a sack. Inside was a stone fragment the size of a fist, cracked in half to reveal a glimmering vein running through it.
Ethan frowned and took the rock, turning it over in his hands. The glint was unmistakable, yellow, warm, but dull beneath a sheath of grime. He chipped at it with his knife.
Gold.
Or something dangerously close.
"I thought it was just limestone at first," Kael explained, wiping sweat from his brow. "Then I saw the way the soil curved there, like something beneath it was swelling up. I followed it to this outcropping. When I chipped it... that was inside."
Ethan didn't respond immediately. He crouched, staring at the rock, mind already calculating. The possibility of a gold vein so close to Greyrest was staggering. Enough wealth to fund repairs, weapons, fortifications—and draw every greedy eye in the north like wolves to blood.
"Did you tell anyone else?"
Kael hesitated, then shook his head. "No. I thought maybe you should see it first."
"Good. Keep it that way. Tell the others you were scouting limestone, found nothing. Rest a day or two. I'll handle the rest."
Kael nodded, wary but obedient. He handed Ethan the rest of the stone pieces and trudged back toward the workers' tents.
By evening, Ethan stood near the quiet ruins of the old temple on the western edge of town, the broken stone columns casting long shadows in the orange light. He didn't have to wait long, Elyra arrived as she always did, silent as wind and just as sharp.
"You called me out here. That usually means something's either broken... or dangerous," she said.
Ethan tossed her the rock. She caught it in one hand, her eyes narrowing.
"Gold," she said flatly after a beat. "Or enough of it to get someone killed."
"Exactly. Kael stumbled on it while scouting for limestone. The area's odd, strange soil, dead quiet, even the birds don't fly right over it. But it's there."
Elyra studied him. "So what do we do? You want to mine it?"
"Quietly," Ethan said. "We tell no one. Not yet. I'll gather a few I trust. Diggers. Guards. People who know how to stay quiet. You'll handle the supplies, tools, rations, cover stories."
"What's the cover?" she asked, eyes glinting.
"A water project. Maybe an underground cistern or a waste channel. We've been meaning to expand anyway. No one will question extra digging."
Elyra nodded slowly. "You'll need eyes out there. Daily checks. You think this is safe?"
"Not at all," Ethan said. "But it's necessary. If Greyrest is going to stand, we need more than stones and sweat. We need a reason to fight. A future."
She handed the gold fragment back. "Alright. But if word gets out, I'll disappear the mine myself. And maybe Kael, too."
"Understood."
As Elyra left, Ethan remained in the temple ruins, watching the stars come out, one by one. Below, in the workers' quarters, the girl Daisy stirred awake from her usual scavenger's sleep, curling tighter in her cloak like a cat in a corner. She had no idea the part she would play yet, but soon, she'd be running more than alleys. She'd be running secrets.
Ethan closed his eyes and let the weight of what they'd found sink into his bones. Power. Risk. Promise. He felt the quiet forge of Greyrest burning hotter now, beneath the dust, under stone, a future was waiting to be carved from shadow.
The moon rose heavy and golden over Greyrest, casting long shadows through the half-rebuilt lanes. After his hushed conversation with Elyra and their shared burden over the mine, Ethan found himself unable to sleep. The future of Greyrest now hinged not just on stone and steel, but on silence, eyes, and carefully placed trust.
He needed people. Not soldiers. Not blacksmiths. People like Daisy.
Later that night.
Ethan stood in the doorway of a collapsing forge that hadn't burned coal in months. He waited until he saw movement, a flicker of motion near the refuse stacks, low to the ground, too steady to be a rat.
"Thought you might be close," he said aloud, keeping his voice level.
Daisy stepped from behind a pile of warped metal, arms crossed, jaw set. She looked the same, ragged coat, sharp eyes, quick movements, but tonight, there was a hesitancy in her step.
"You said you'd find me again."
"I always keep my word," Ethan replied, motioning for her to come closer. She didn't, but she didn't run either.
"Still watching me?"
"Not tonight," he said. "Tonight, I'm asking again."
Daisy scoffed. "Asking what? You still haven't told me anything real."
Ethan folded his arms. "That's fair. But tell me this, do you ever wonder what's really going on in Greyrest? The guards that patrol different streets now. The whispers near the old quarry. Why I care about someone like you."
Daisy didn't respond immediately, but her gaze didn't waver.
"I want to build something," Ethan said. "Not just walls. A force, quiet, loyal, unseen. Not an army. A watch in the dark. Eyes and arrows. People who know how to move without being noticed. You'd be perfect."
"What do you want from me?" Her voice was quieter now, but not less sharp.
"For now? Nothing loud. I want you to keep watching but for me this time. I'll give you names. Faces. I want to know who they are when no one's looking."
Daisy narrowed her eyes. "And why would I do that?"
Ethan met her gaze. "Because you already know how. And because this town's changing. You can be on the edge of it, or deep in the heart."
She didn't answer.
"I'll give you another night," he said softly. "Think on it."
Then he turned, and walked into the dark.
The Next Night.
They met again in the western alley behind the broken bell tower. This time, she was waiting.
"No names," she said before he even spoke. "No questions. Not yet."
Ethan smiled faintly. "Fair."
"But if I do this... I want something."
"Name it."
"I want to learn what you know. How to disappear, how to listen without being caught."
Ethan studied her for a moment, then nodded. "You will. In time."
She took a step closer, her voice firmer now. "And I don't trust you."
"You shouldn't," he said. "Not yet."
Daisy paused... then extended a hand. Small, dirty, calloused, but steady.
"One name," she said.
Ethan gave it.