Called Back

I didn’t get to enjoy the feeling for long.

Two days after I returned to the mainland with Sanders’ coin in my pack, a messenger found me in a small roadside camp. Plain clothes, calm voice, and the kind of eyes that don’t miss much. SI:7, without a doubt.

“Mathias wants to see you,” he said simply. “Tonight. The usual place.”

No threats. No explanations. Just a quiet certainty that I would come.

I considered ignoring it. I had coin now. Enough to disappear for a while if I wanted to. But something stopped me. Curiosity, maybe. Or the simple fact that I still didn’t fully understand what I had stepped into when I first took that goblin job back in Elwynn.

So I went.

Mathias was waiting in the same dimly lit room as last time. He looked exactly the same. Sharp eyes, calm presence, and that quiet authority that made you feel like he already knew what you were going to say before you opened your mouth.

He studied me for a moment, then gave a small nod.

“You’ve been busy,” he said. “Westfall. Old pirate stories. Gryan’s errands. You’ve kept yourself useful.”

I didn’t bother denying it.

Mathias leaned back slightly.

“We have a new job for you. Something more… delicate than chasing raiders. The Defias have grown bolder. We believe they’re planning something bigger than simple banditry. We need someone who can move quietly. Someone who isn’t wearing Stormwind colors.”

He slid a sealed letter across the table.

“Read it. Then decide. But know this: if you accept, there’s no turning back halfway. This one runs deeper than anything we’ve asked of you before.”

I picked up the letter but didn’t open it yet.

For the first time since I started working for him, Mathias Shaw actually looked like he was waiting for my answer.

And that, more than anything, made me uneasy.