“All you had to do was have faith and wait. The gods would deliver your salvation from on high, something like that?” Jandar said.

“Then it’s true!” Chaise said. “The Uomo Con did bring you here!”

“Actually it was a map we bought from Three-Fingered Brody,” Grau said, making a mental note to make Brody’s name false advertising when they next crossed his path.

“I don’t understand,” Palpatt said.

“We get this a lot in our line of work,” Jandar said.

“What’s that? What are you?” Chaise said.

“Idiots,” Grau muttered.

“We’re heroes,” Jandar said nonchalantly, followed by a quick glance to make sure Chaise and Palpatt were suitably impressed. They were. “So what’s the job?”

“Our Pietra—our village’s sacred stone—disappeared,” Chaise said. “Since then, our crops have failed, our livestock won’t breed. Our village is dying.” Chaise’s excitement was gone, a lone tear trickling down her cheek.

“Chaise had a dream,” Palpatt said, taking Chaise’s hand and patting it. “In it, Uomo Con, our god, came and told her that she must set out on a quest to return the Pietra.”

Chaise had regained her composure and gave Palpatt a grateful smile. “As well as telling me that I would receive assistance from above; he gave me instructions.”

“Told you exactly where you needed to go, right?” Jandar said, flicking the stub of his cheroot into the fire.

Chaise nodded, yes.

“Probably involves at least one desert, a snow-capped mountain range, several bands of goblins, the odd ogre or two and at least one evil sorcerer bent on world domination, right?”

“How did you know?” Chaise’s eyes were now wide, staring first at Jandar, then Grau. “Did you have a similar dream?”

Jandar shook his head, no. “It’s what we do.”

“It’s who we are,” Grau said.