Digging! It’ll be relevant at some point, I swear!
…
“The spirit life around here is weird,” Lucas offered. He laughed when I started. “What? It shocks you that I noticed?”
“A little,” I admitted. “You don’t bring it up, much.”
“I’m an elf hanging out in a city with a Dominion ambassador, Tom. I’m an Adventurer, not actively suicidal.”
“And yet,” I pointed out as we kept digging through the sand, “you hang out in a city with a Dominion ambassador. You sure you don’t hear the void calling your name, man? Maybe whispering sweet nothings in your ear?”
That earned me a bark of laughter from him. “Ha! Fair. Nah, I’m doing protective camouflage. If you had mages in New California” —
“Which we do not,” I interjected.
— “Obviously. But if you did, they’d be big, powerful, and loud. Loud enough that I don’t have to worry more than usual.” Lucas shook his head. “Shoot, you kept me out of the last thing, with the guy, in that place. The new ambassador doesn’t even know my name. I figure I’ll have plenty of warning, by the time she’s ready to work her way down to me.”
Fortunately, Lucas couldn’t see me biting my lip.