Knight of Iron

Cavalier touched his paw to make sure it was still there. It was. You could never know if you didn't check.

Xeus chuckled to himself. "No, no, no, you misunderstand me. Did I not say I believed it was impossible for any mortal? Forgive me. It has been a while since I've had to speak with others. But I know from my culture that something is happening, and I believe it is related to this quest."

"They were fools," he replied calmly. "None had the capability to kill a dragon. Such a feat done by a mortal is practically impossible. This group is much more capable."

Cavalier saw the fire from the distance and laughed in delight.

Professional Cosmere Theorist, sure. Great. But you're announcing that you're an undercover otter? 0/10 epic fail.

Orpheus turned. "I am sorry, we can step out of your way."

A full-scale war between Roshar and Scadrial would be nice, with other cosmere nations taking sides. And the people above can be major players in it (looking at Kelsier), but this is what I would think to be cool than what I think is going to happen.

Xeus turns to Ren, as if noticing him for the first time. He turned away quickly after that, back to the Shadow. What was that ring about? he wondered. "I was wondering if I could lend a hand with whatever you're up to," Xeus said to Shadow quietly. "You're a good man. I can provide help, even if only for a short while." @Tesh

The man nodded. "Trust me, I understand. I refused as well. What of this prophecy?"

The man laughed. "Ha! I was there a few days ago, with that idiot group who went to kill a dragon. You turned down the offer, and yet you travel in the same direction. Why?"

"Of course not," he said. "My apologies. I am Xeus, but I have heard of your reputation."

"Shadow," the man said, nodding, with a small smile. He looked to be a relatively young adult, with wavy red hair and a muscular body. "I've heard you're going on some quest?"

A man came walking down the path, and stopped and stared at Orpheus and Talnic, curious.

Orpheus chuckled to himself a bit. "And if we run across a band of thieves? Do they get to participate? Why didn't we invite the bear?"

A pair of knives, covered in soot and blood, forgotten on the floor. Lena, standing among the ashes of what once was Sebastian's lair, over Cruz. "I told you to stop hanging out with them," she said sadly. "You killed them!" Cruz screamed, "You murdered them!" "You don't know what they've done," came the reply. "They were my friends, Lena! They were all I had!" "Then what am I?" asked Lena. Cruz didn't answer as he picked up Sebastian's knives and walked away, leaving Lena behind. He couldn't speak to her right now... He needed to get off her island.

"You can quit your training, Cruz," said Dant. "We can train you some more, but you're already very good at Sugando." "Why can't we stay?" Cruz asked. "This is my home, and Lena is nice to me." "The people of this island are going to want to kill us for what happened last night," said Sebastian. "Why?" he accused, growing angry. "What did you do last night?" No one said a word. "What do you do when I'm not around?" Cruz said quietly. "That gets the entire island to want to kill you?" After a long silence, Sebastian finally answered. "Maybe in the future you can know about it," he said, "but you have not earned that right yet, little Cruz." "Why not?" he demanded. "Am I not an equal? I am only a few years younger than the rest of you!" "You are not an equal," Sebastian said smoothly. "You are a valuable asset, but not an equal. If you wish to leave us, then go right ahead. Nothing is stopping you." Cruz froze. Leave them? Sure, he was maybe suspicious of their activities, but he wouldn't leave them. They were his friends, and they knew that. He didn't even have his parents anymore. Sebastian chuckled. "That's what I thought. So you're willing to leave with us, then? It doesn't matter that you're leaving your home. We are your home." Cruz hesitated, but nodded. "Of course. I'd do anything for my friends," he whispered, and Sebastian smiled.

Cavalier yawned.

"We can't stay in this city much longer," said a deep yet rich voice, "We've had our fun, this past six months, but it's coming time we need to leave the island altogether." The man, with his pale white skin and a pencil thin mustache, had the point of a clean and straight shiny dagger to the surface of the table everyone was sitting at, slowly twisting it around, slowly digging deeper and deeper into the table. But Cruz wasn't scared of him; Sebastian was his friend. "Not a problem, Seb," came a scratchy voice from the man on Cruz's left. Dant. "We've done it before." "We're going to get killed any day now," said Yugo, a man with wavy brown hair. "I agree. We need to move our operations." The woman at the table, Inesa, sighed. "And what of our operations with Lacion?" "We'll have to close negotiations without arousing any suspicion. I doubt Lady Lacion has a clue about our real intentions, and I don't want to give her any hints. A risk I'm willing to take." Sebastian glanced at Cruz. "But what about our little Cruz?" Cruz stiffened. He was fifteen, being trained as an assassin, and they still called him their little Cruz. But that was okay, he supposed, so long as they didn't leave him. Dant looked at Cruz and smiled. "He can quit his training, come with us. He's one of us now, aren't you?" Cruz nodded. "Yes," he said quietly. "Lacion will be suspicious," Inesa protested. Sebastian shook his head. "We'll have to be quick about it. We can–" "No," said Cruz, but no one heard. They usually didn't, but it was fine. Everything was fine.

"Well, Rengoku," he answered. "We're off to find a dragon, because of a prophecy or something like it."

"I'm Orpheus," said Orpheus, "Do you have a name?"

"Do you know what we're doing?" Orpheus crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

"You've been spying on us since yesterday?" Sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ɪs ᴏᴅᴅ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜɪs ᴏɴᴇ.

If you don't mind spoilers for all cosmere books, including Rhythm of War, check out the comprehensive cosmere wikipedia, the Coppermind. https://coppermind.net/wiki/Shard