Competitive Advantage: A Ludus Story
Author: Blaise Corvin Narrated Byemily Beresfordunabridged — 7 Hours; 44 Minutes
Date: 2018-10-30 00:00:00+00:00
Description: Nobody likes an escort mission. Nobody. Unfortunately for Nora, she'll be stuck travelling with Jessica, an American gamer, and Christopher, a Filipino man with a mysterious past. Somehow, the former Jackals gang leader must keep the two Terrans alive while heading south for Enheduanna's new, insane mission. Nora will have no time to prepare, or even to stay in Soron to enjoy her unexpected celebrity status. Instead, she will need to leave for Tolstey after healing from injuries sustained in battle, wounded while protecting Soron. Despite what some may say about her now, Nora knows she is no h
Publisher: Tantor Audio

Contents

Title

Copyright

Also by Blaise Corvin

Dedication

Foreword

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Book End

Author's Note

Nora Hazard: Competitive Advantage

Nora Hazard, Book Two

Part of the Delvers LLC storyline

By Blaise Corvin

Mitigating Risk

Copyright ©2018 by Blaise Corvin

All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Also by Blaise Corvin

*Note: Some titles are scheduled for launch in 2018 or 2019

Artifice Universe

Delvers LLC

1. Welcome to Ludus

2. Obligations Incurred

3. Adventure Capital

Nora Hazard

1. Mitigating Risk

2. Competitive Advantage

3. Accounts Payable

Delvers LLC (Cont.)

4. Golden Handcuffs

5. Hostile Takeover

Yggdrasil Universe

Secret of the Old Ones

1. Luck Stat Strategy

2. Airship Privateers

Written with Outspan Foster

Anthem of Infinity

1. First Song Book One

2. First Song Book Two

For all the active duty soldiers out there who endure all the bullshit so we don’t have to.

Foreword

Hello readers! This book is classified as GameLit or RPG GameLit.

You might be curious what RPG GameLit actually is. GameLit, the larger genre umbrella, is any fiction with game mechanics or that takes place in a game. RPG GameLit is a subgenre where stories include some sort of linear progression for characters that is significant to the plot of the story. These types of stories have been extremely popular in Russia and other countries where they are called LitRPG. They’re just now making an impact in the West!

RPG GameLit is usually a funky mix of Fantasy and Sci Fi. The settings can vary, but what most GameLit novels have in common is a world that most gamers can immediately relate to.

***

So far Nora Hazard has been a fun, but exhausting project. This series has been great for my craft, causing me to grow tremendously as a writer. I’m happy that the vast majority of readers have loved Nora’s adventures so far, too. On the flip side, I am aware that plenty of folks would prefer I get back to writing Delvers LLC ASAP! I definitely understand, but I hope readers will continue to trust me.

When the Nora Hazard series is done, having read through Nora’s journey before catching up with Henry and Jason will be enormously rewarding, at least I think so. Either way, I hope you have a good time following Nora’s life and times in this new book.

Please remember to leave a review, even if you only want to post a few words. Every little bit helps!

***

I really had a lot of fun writing this book. If you’d like to visit my website, the URL is http://blaise-corvin.com/

I also have a writer’s note in the back of the book with a whole mess of links.

If you’d like to connect with me on Patreon, the link is http://www.patreon.com/BlaiseCorvin.

My reader group on FB is at http://www.facebook.com/groups/BlaiseCorvinBooks/.

I hope you enjoy your time on Ludus with Nora!

Dark Memo

“Nora, I think you should have this.”

The words echoed in my mind as I turned over my hand, studying my new, unfamiliar ring. The band had fit on Jessica’s thumb but had barely fit on my ring finger. The plain ring’s dull color made it look like a cheap trinket, but I knew better. Jessica had shown me how to activate it after giving it to me a couple days earlier.

It was powerful, dangerous, and hurt a rotting helping to use.

With one last frown at the ring, I pulled a note out of my pack and tapped it against my lip. I was putting something off, so I might as well do some thinking in the meantime.

Wind gently pulled at my clothing as I stood on the airship deck. The passage from Mensk to Tolstey should be fairly peaceful, but this high up, I was glad I had my borrowed coat.

Jessica and Christopher were below, probably sleeping. There wasn’t a lot to do while traveling on the airship, after all. I had gotten cheaper travel fare by unknowingly volunteering to guard the ship, and now I had to stay on the deck the entire trip. The letter of introduction I’d carried from Soron to Mensk had confirmed my orb-Bonded status.

I really hadn’t known it would do that. The letter had been sealed and Plejia, the no-nonsense majordomo of Soron’s mayor, had only told me that it’d give me a discount for the airship. I shook my head and spat over the side of the huge, flying vessel. Maybe Jessica and Chris were right; maybe I was too trusting. It was true so far that I had a habit of not reading notes that had been given to me.

Thinking of notes again, I made a face at the vellum in my hand. The letter was from Vairie Petrov, the mayor of Soron—Plejia’s boss, and a woman I still had never actually met in person. Plejia Green had handed me the sealed envelope, with instructions to read it, along with the letter of introduction on the day I’d left Soron.

The letter read:

Nora,

Thank you for saving my town and its people. I have read of your feats and service while you fought the slavers that had attacked Soron.

This letter is a courtesy. I think you deserve information in addition to your other rewards. As you know, your payment for fighting with the Soron Guard was tripled, and you will be granted discounted fare at your destination, and an airship from Mensk. You received free medical care and lodging in Soron while you healed from your wounds. You have also turned down a home in Soron. So be it.

You will always be a friend of Soron. It is safe to say that I still owe you a favor.

The information I will share with you is somewhat sensitive. The leaders of several towns and cities are not actively suppressing what I am about to tell you, but we are not exactly trying to spread it, either. People already feel unsafe enough.

The truth is that the attack on Soron seems to have been a distraction.

As you probably know, after Soron was attacked, we summoned the Berber Guard. The nearest Guard outpost had been contacted, and they’d arrived with almost their full force, including their attached Berber military unit. Not long after that, we got reports that the town of Niebon had been attacked by raiders. The Guard could not get there in time to do anything since they were already here, at Soron. By the time they arrived at the site of the new attack, most of the town was gone, taken.

Niebon survivors gave reports of slavers, but also people in dark robes. There were true demons reported in the attack, too.

All the evidence we have now points to increased Dark Gods cultist activity in Berber. Town and city leaders are beginning to increase security. I had taken the initiative to focus on security already, so Soron was spared some damage and hardship. I still have you to thank for some of it, though.

Now you know.

Good luck in your travels. You will always be a friend to Soron.

-Vairie P

I shook my head and carefully folded the note, stowing it in my pack again. I’d already read it at least ten times, and I knew there wasn’t anything else to learn from it by now. Something big was happening, that was for sure. True demons. The only reason I hadn’t shuddered again while reading that part was that I’d already thought about it so much. True demons were dark, terrible business. If the reports were true...

Niebon had had at least a few hundred people, and now they were all gone. This had been a bad year for me to decide to meddle in the lives of others, to use my power to protect. As usual, my timing had been terrible.

And yet, this wasn’t the first time I’d thought about my terrible timing. The reality was that I was just stalling. I needed to go to sleep, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready yet.

Muffin had told me that I would rank up my orb-Bonded powers and be able to choose new abilities once I had arrived in Tolstey. My orb, or orb controller–I still wasn’t sure exactly how that worked—had lied. Muffin had moved things forward, it seemed. I didn’t know how, but I could feel I was going to rank up, become a second rank orb-Bonded as soon as I went to sleep.

I’d thought I’d known before what I was going to choose for my new abilities, but now I wasn’t so sure. Things had changed.

I stared over the railing of the airship for a while, my dyed-blonde hair whipping around my face. It was strange to think that despite being so high in the sky, I could probably step over the edge of the airship and still survive. My Flight ability would probably allow me to land lightly enough that I wouldn’t die. I was definitely in no rush to try it out, though, especially since my body had recently been in such bad shape.

The last week or so had been rough. The final battle I’d had while fighting for Soron against the slavers had almost killed me. The only reason I’d won was that my opponent had been arrogant, had underestimated me. I couldn’t count on that again.

While I’d healed, recovering in Soron, I’d had a lot of time to think. I’d already decided earlier that some things were worth fighting for, but that decision was pointless without power to back it up. This realization echoed the decision I’d made in Dingeramat, the elite dungeon; I needed more power.

So far, my orb-Bonded abilities had barely allowed me to keep breathing. If I actually did rank up today after falling asleep, I would need to make good choices about what abilities to buy. Muffin had told me I’d have 11 points to spend.

I sighed and gathered my pack to use as a pillow. Then I tied a thong to Eneus, my mysterious, enchanted spear. With my gear and weapons secure, I found a good, out of the way place on the deck of the airship to sleep. I didn’t need to be awake for the airship trip as a guard, just present. There was no point putting it off any longer.

I’d learned lessons about waiting on power, on tools. No, I needed to take every scrap of advantage I could whenever it presented itself. Now I had people to lead again, and people believing in me. I wasn’t sure if this fact made me happy or anxious. Probably a bit of both.

I hated thinking. With an unhappy grumble, I settled down on the hard, wooden deck and fell asleep.

***

I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a forest, standing near a pond. This was a place in the country that my birth-mother had loved. Mother had taken my father and me here for picnics on special occasions while I’d been young.

When Muffin the capybara girl stepped out from behind a tree, I wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

She shook her head and said, “I cannot believe you are still alive. I guess that’s good for both of us though, yes?”

I could only nod in agreement.

Thinking Out Loud

This time, Muffin was dressed in pink jean shorts and a soft, off-white crop top. One of her legs had a pink scrunchy around the ankle area.

She announced, “So you’re here. You knew we were going to meet, and now you don’t know what powers to pick.”

“Mmmm,” I replied.

The capybara girl regarded me levelly. “I live in your head, so I know what kind of mental state you’re in. Not that you ever listen to my advice, but you should stop thinking so deeply about everything. As you know, it’s not your strong suit.”

“Whatever you say. Just give me the book so I can look at my choices.”

“You want a book like you used last time to review upgrade choices?”

“Yes.”

Muffin nodded and pulled a large, yukka leather-bound tome from behind a tree. The rodent girl also produced a colorful pink hat and placed it on her head before hopping over, presenting the book to me.

I absently nodded my thanks and began leafing through the pages. Muffin was annoying, and I didn’t exactly trust her, but she really was living in my head. Trying to get along seemed wiser than being contrary.

“Luckily her Etiquette skill is still working,” muttered the orb controller. I pretended not to hear. Dealing with Muffin was always difficult since the ra–capybara girl could hear my thoughts. Muffin huffed at the near-rat slip of my thoughts, and I smiled nastily as I avoided looking at her.

I’d thought I had known what upgrades to use my points on before, but things had changed. As I read through all the powers and abilities I could choose to become stronger, I briefly thought about how I’d become orb-Bonded in the first place.

The memory of being impaled in the middle of the road still haunted me. I would get revenge one day, that was for rotting sure. The bounty hunter group with at least one orb-Bonded had easily overpowered me and left me for dead. I would have died for certain if not for Enheduanna.

I grimaced as I thought the name. The dark-skinned Areva demigoddess was extremely powerful and quite insane...and she was also my boss for the next three years or so. How do I get myself into these situations?

Before I’d met Duanna, I’d had to fight my own Jackals pack and witness my best friend die. Then I’d been forced to flee Bittertown with nothing but the clothes on my back and the weapons on my belt.

Coming back as orb-Bonded after being mortally wounded had firmly began my life as an adventurer, carrying out a mission for Enheduanna. So far, in less than a month, I’d sparred with shady people in the forest, escaped bounty hunters, landed in an elite dungeon, fought terrifying monsters, been groped by a strangely polite and organized drake, fought a small army of slavers, and had a brutal, one-on-one battle with a powerful orb-Bonded who’d called himself White Darkness. Even with enhanced healing granted by my Toughness ability and the help of Life mages in Soron, it had taken me days to recover.

To my side, Muffin sniffed. Then she drawled, “Again with this line of thought? Would you rather be dead? You made your choice. Nobody forced this on you.

“Plus, as an orb-Bonded warrior, you have power that most people could only dream of. Unless you get killed, your lifespan will be many times longer now than it would have been as a natural Terran. By swallowing me, being bonded with a modular Duanna orb, you have a direct choice over how your power grows. You even decided recently to focus on gathering more power, something that would be far more difficult without being orb-Bonded.”

Muffin spread her paws and continued, “Knowing all this, mentally whining about Mistress Duanna all the time seems fairly weak and silly. You’re usually more rational than that.”

I tried to stare down the orb controller, but Muffin just calmly met my gaze with an amused expression on her obnoxious, furry face. “Stay out of my head,” I finally growled.

“As you know, I live in your head, so that is impossible.”

“You–”I began.

“Enough of that,” said Muffin, gesturing downward. “You need to make a decision, and we don’t have forever. I can already tell that you are not going to take my suggestions again. You’ve been ignoring all of my notes in the book. Still, maybe it will help if you talk about the decision out loud.”

I couldn’t really argue with that, but I continued glaring at the smug capybara-looking orb controller for a few moments until I sighed. What had Muffin called herself in the past? An AI? The way she lived in my head, I was at a massive disadvantage against her–whatever she was.

“Fine,” I said. “Before, I’d been thinking about buying Elements and Energy, one of the unique Duanna orb powers, and choosing fire.”

“Why?”

“Back after I first became ‘Bonded, that girl I sparred with, Vitaliya, was immature but powerful.

“When I saw her use fire magic, I realized all the ways it could be used.”

Muffin groused, “Yes, kind of like if you’d taken my first advice and chosen Energy Blasts instead of Vibration.”

“Whatever.”

“So why weren’t you going to choose Fire School magic then? It’s available from the Dolos orb power portion of the book,” asked the AI.

“You already know why.”

“Say it. It might help you think,” said the capybara girl. She adjusted her pink hat and winked at me.

“Because I’ve figured out that Duanna orb powers work differently than Dolos orb magic. It costs five points to buy an ability in a magic school in the Dolos orb list, then two or three points each for more power or control separately for the first few ranks.

“Meanwhile, Elements and Energy: Fire costs four points to buy, and four points for rank two. Duanna orb powers are more focused abilities that all combine multiple, smaller powers in a more concentrated way. So, I could probably use more powerful fire attacks and for fewer points at second rank with the Duanna orb options than if I just chose fire magic.”

“And you figured all of that out yourself. All while managing to reach second rank in less than a month. Incredible.” Muffin shook her head and said, “So what changed?”

“I had my fight with Smiles the Dreamer Boy, White Darkness. If I could throw fire, I don’t think that it would have helped me during that fight. On top of that, I might have thought differently about my options and could have lost.”

“It is wise of you to realize that. What else?”

“This,” I said, pointing at my hand. Even in the dream, the ring that Jessica had given me was still on my finger. “It’s rotting powerful, but it comes at a nasty cost. Even with my orb-Bonded endurance from my Vibration ability, I almost got knocked on my ass. The one time I have used this ring so far, it felt like all the energy in my body got sucked out, and seemed to hurt everywhere at once.”

“So you want to buy abilities to help use the ring?” asked Muffin.

I chewed on my lower lip. “Sort of. It would be helpful right now if I could use the ring better, but I also realized that spreading myself too thin would probably dull whatever edge I have so far. I mean, it almost killed me, but I did just take down a third rank orb-Bonded.”

“Yes, which surprised even me. You should have died.”

“Yeah, I know.” That truth had occurred to me a long time ago. I’d gotten lucky. “This is important. Can you highlight all the skills and abilities that include endurance? Actually, healing too.”

Muffin raised her animal eyebrows at me. “You’re actually asking for help? Wonders will never cease. Yes I can do that, and desire for more endurance is obvious since it will affect your Flight and Vibration powers too, but why healing?”

“The healing I got from the Toughness ability I bought before probably saved my life multiple times. Being bedridden and near death for a day or two kind of changed my perspective about some things, too.”

Muffin thoughtfully said, “Well, there is an ability unique to Duanna orbs called Vigor. It confers both endurance and some healing ability.”

“Does it add to my other healing?”

“You mean will it stack? Yes. Everything stacks.”

“Stacks,” I muttered the unfamiliar word under my breath and began flipping through the book again.

I had some serious decisions to make. Since Muffin said everything stacked, I paid special attention to how the different abilities could strengthen each other.

This might take a while, I thought with a sigh.

Upper Hand

I finally looked up from my book. “I’ve made up my mind,” I said.

“Yes, unfortunately,” said Muffin. “Do you do this just to spite me? Are you trying to kill yourself?”

“You tell me. You live in my head,” I said with a grin.

Muffin glared, and I realized I’d finally figured out how to needle the annoying AI.

“Don’t be too pleased with yourself. I still decide when you rank up,” muttered Muffin. When my face fell, she said, “Why don’t we get this over with? Tell me what you chose.”

This time, I hadn’t really needed the prompting. I kind of wanted to talk about my choices anyway since I’d just spent so long sitting around, reading a book full of unfamiliar powers. Over the course of my study time, I’d come up with several combinations of abilities, only to reject each one until arriving at my final choice.

“At first, I tried to find ways to give myself some sort of natural ranged attack,” I said. “But I couldn’t just stop at first rank. I would have had to take at least two ranks. With that in mind, I almost chose a magic school and spent points on control and power, but that was also expensive, and I don’t know enough about magic to know how powerful I could make it, or even how good of a mage I would be.”

“Yes, but that is not all you considered, right?”

“No,” I answered. “I also thought about just choosing one of the powers that would let me spit fire or poison–there are a lot. Most are really vague about how that actually works, though, and I really don’t like the idea of adding true-demon parts to my body.”

“Wise.”

“Yeah. So really, I realized I have to basically decide between a new focus for all of my abilities, or make the ones I have more powerful. Like I said before, choosing lots of abilities would give me more options, but probably not be great in a stand-up fight.

“I also looked into making my body more powerful with strength, speed, or even toughness. But then I remembered Eggshell the armored cultist and his cut-anything sword. If other orb-Bonded can use abilities that let them cut like my vib-blade power, turning my skin into armor isn’t going to be all that useful.”

“Again, wise,” said Muffin. “It makes no sense how you can be so logical about these sorts of things but still arrive at such illogical decisions.”

“Are you going to listen, or should I just list the powers I want to buy?”

“No, go ahead,” the AI said, sighing. “Maybe talking through your reasoning will allow you to change your mind.”

“I doubt it. But anyways, I just kept thinking of Vitaliya, the golem demon, the cultists, and even Jadanak the drake. If I chose certain powers, would my choices actually make me stronger? For a lot of the abilities I could choose, probably not. Like, how would more speed have helped me beat Jadanak? Even if I bought more strength, it probably wouldn’t have helped me much at my rank. I am not Enheduanna.”

“At least you can figure that out,” Muffin said sarcastically.

I sighed. “We have to live with each other. If you don’t want me to call you rat, you can at least stop being a furry bitch all the time. You want me to talk, and I feel like talking, so let me talk. Shut up.”

The capybara girl twitched her nose at me. “Are you using your Etiquette ability? That was surprisingly well said.”

“No. I don’t know. Can I finish speaking?”

“Be my guest.”

“Good.” I continued, “Once I realized that I just don’t know what the future will throw at me, I decided that planning for it is pointless. My best bet was to strengthen the powers I already have, and buy some cheaper ones to give me more options. That way I can get both outcomes I’d been thinking about before–options and power.

“Plus I remembered back when I first became orb-Bonded, and the reasons I chose the powers I already have. Those reasons still make sense to me. I’ve also somehow managed to survive until now, so everything has worked for me.”

I paused, and said, “So I just had to figure out what to buy on top of strengthening Flight and Vibration.”

Muffin softly groaned, but I kept talking. “I definitely needed more endurance, more than I will get from just buying the second rank of Vibration. I also want more healing ability, so I am going to choose the power you suggested—Vigor.”

“No, I didn’t exactly suggest it—”

I talked over Muffin, saying, “I think I also want to give myself a simple power that may help with everything I do. Heightened Reflexes. So, all of that would leave me one point. This was the one I really struggled with. There were a lot of options, but I started thinking about thinking.” I smiled grimly. “What I mean is, everyone is always telling me how smart I am, even you. I know I can be clever and I’m good with languages, but I’m no good at remembering things or planning.”

“If you say so,” said the capybara girl.

I let the comment slide. The AI’s opinion was meaningless to me, but one person’s hadn’t been. “Even Arren said I was too hard on myself, and she was way smarter than me. I’m not fast, but I’m not stupid, either. So many people saying something shouldn’t be ignored, so the Mind power caught my attention. The description is clear that it won’t turn a moron into a genius, but it will help anyone remember things better, think faster, and even react faster.

“So it seems obvious to me that this would go well with Heightened Reflexes. It’ll also make me think better. I don’t see any downsides.”

Muffin scratched her upper arm and said, “No downsides other than you always ignore my suggestions. Fine. That’s all your available points. Do you want to make your choices official? You just listed Vibration (Rank 2, three points), Flight (Rank 2, four points), Vigor (Rank 1, two points), Mind (Rank 1, one point), and Heightened Reflexes (Rank 1, one point), for a total of eleven points.”

I nodded. “Yes, that’s right. Since Vibration is my main ability and I get one point off when upgrading it, this also helped my decision.”

“I don’t agree with this, but at least it’s clever. So be it. I’ve locked in your choices. I just have one more thing to say to you before you go.”

“What?” I asked.

“I have no idea what your spear is. There is no mention of such a thing in my memory, and I can’t discern its nature. In this matter, my senses are useless. You should probably figure out what it is. Such a thing is bound to be powerful, and power can attract trouble.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

“I doubt it. Bye,” said Muffin, waving her paw.

I never got a chance to retort. A sudden wind swept me into the sky, the ground below growing fuzzy until I slipped back into sleep.

Guts and Brains

I woke up where I’d gone to sleep, the sky overhead dark, and clouds obscured the moon. Time seemed to move slowly whenever I talked to Muffin in my dreams, but I still had a feeling I hadn’t woken naturally. Something was off.

After lying still for a few breathless seconds, I felt a strange buzzing and realized it was coming from Vistvis, the talking dagger in my belt. Uh oh. I knew what that probably meant. Vistvis had never buzzed at me before, but I’d never had second rank Vibration power, either. It was likely she was trying to warn me of something despite still not having the power to actually talk in my mind again.

Her warnings were self-serving, but I’d have to thank her later.

I focused my hearing and picked up the quiet sounds of breathing around me as others on the deck of the airship slept. At least one guard was awake, that was good, but they were talking to another person. A small sound in the sky drew my attention. Flapping? Rotting hell.

A number of notifications popped up that only I could see, overlaying my vision. I mentally closed them out. There was no time to look at them, and I knew from experience that most of the notes I got from my new orb power weren’t very useful.

What should I do? There were probably monsters circling the airship, maybe even about to strike. Getting up and alerting everyone on deck was the obvious thing to do, but it might not be a good idea. Some monsters were tricky and would just be sneakier if we were on guard. In fact, we were probably still over Berber, so tricky monsters were more likely. Tolstey monsters were reported to be much more straightforward.

I glanced around the deck, trying not to move my head. Some of the shapeless bundles nearby were probably people. I wondered if anyone else was awake like I was, waiting to see what would happen. Some of the passengers I’d seen were likely seasoned adventurers. I’d even seen an Adom or two. It was likely I wasn’t the only one who’d been alerted somehow.

Suddenly, I saw a familiar form approaching in the gloom. “Nora?” it whispered, coming closer.

Rotting shiner! I mentally snarled. That was definitely Jessica. The oblivious Terran girl was going to get herself killed!

As she drew closer, I silently cursed. She was even wearing white! The fool girl’s blonde hair, pale skin, and white clothes practically shined in the dark. I didn’t think she could have made herself more of a target if she tried.

Then she proved me wrong. Target Jessica raised her voice. “Nora! I want to talk to you!”

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, giving me a half second of warning. I caught sight of a blur from above, and I jumped up, whipping my arm forward. My spear, Eneus, blurred forward like a magic homing arrow and slammed into a dark shape right before it collided with Jessica.

The impact of the spear threw the attacking creature to one side, and it slid forward in the dark, crashing into a stack of barrels. The sudden violence and noise caused some of the nearby sleepers on the deck to stir, and magic lanterns flickered on, proving that either someone had been awakened like I had, or had just been vigilant.

In the faint, but growing light of the lanterns, I barely managed to catch a glimpse of the creature I’d hit, Eneus sticking out of its side. The creature half-slid, half-stumbled to the side of the airship and plummeted into the night. My keen hearing caught an unsteady, ragged flap of wings as it tried to escape. I softly cursed. It had only been a brief look, but I knew what I’d seen.

“Bat men!” I yelled. Then I extended a hand. The moment I felt the tickle of fabric on my palm, I yanked backwards. A terrible screech split the night, and I thought I saw a dark shape fall from the sky as Eneus sailed back into my palm.

Jessica’s eyes widened like a goosed yukka, but luckily she acted with at least some common sense, hunkering down to the ground and covering her head. I moved up to stand next to her as people began milling about the deck, shouting questions.

The Earth girl goggled at me as she knelt. “Did you say Batman? What the hell? What is going on?” she hissed.

“We’re under attack,” I said.

“I cannot fucking believe this,” she said in English. Then in Luda, her voice dripping with sarcasm, she said, “No shit. I could somehow figure that out. I mean what should I do?”

I spared another glance down into the shiner’s eyes and scowled. “If that was what you wanted to know, that is what you should have asked. I’m not a rotting mind reader.”

Jessica smacked her hand to her forehead and breathed deeply like she was going to argue. I hadn’t known Jessica long, but we seemed to argue a lot, apparently even in the middle of bat men attacks. Wonderful.

The Terran girl opened her mouth to retort, but I cut her off. “Just stay here. If you go alone, you are a target. Showing weakness of any kind will make you more of a target, too. I can’t walk you back, either. Stay right by me.”

Jessica nodded and quieted as another person approached us. In the growing light of the magic lamps, I realized that the approaching figure was a Hive race Adom woman, another guard-passenger on deck. She didn’t say anything at first, but held her spear in steady hands, offering silent support.

I didn’t know much about Hive Adom other than their general description. This one had magenta skin, too-large multifaceted eyes, and a pair of small antenna coming out of her forehead.

She was also shorter and wider than a Terran woman, with a small, second set of limbs below her primary arms. Her nose was small, almost not even there. She wore thin, dark clothing, but her body seemed to have natural plates in various place, almost like armor.

The Hive woman spoke, and her voice had a peculiar buzz. “You truly saw large-bodied, long-fanged, hairy-bodied bat men?”

“Yes.” As I calmly answered, people all over the deck of the airship continued shouting questions and running about. A few people screamed in the rooms beneath my feet, but a guard kept the frightened passengers below deck from coming up and getting in the way. At my knee, Jessica glanced between the Adom woman and me, shaking her head.

“You are sure they were long-fanged, not short-fanged?” asked the Adom woman. I noticed a few other guards nearby, listening.

“Yes. His body was too large to be anything else. I also hit him with my spear, but he was more or less able to escape,” I said. Then I spat. “Rotting thing is probably dead now, though.”

“How do you know it was male?” asked Jessica with only a slight waver in her voice. “It was dark, and there was only a flash.”

The Adom woman answered, “Large-bodied, long-fanged, hairy-bodied bat men attackers are always male. Unlike most other species on Ludus, they reproduce with as many male as female young and have a war-based society led by males. They are very intelligent. If they would submit a petition for Adom person-hood, they could probably be recognized, but, well…”

“Bat men are a murderous, people-eating, rotting menace,” I said. I’d never actually seen one before. I’d only seen drawings before as a girl. But the bat men reputation was very well-known. “They will always be demons, monsters.”

The Adom woman winced at my words but sighed, waving around her antenna. “Just so. Not all of The Victim may be Adom.”

I’d never heard that term before. Maybe if we lived to reach Tolstey, I’d remember to ask about it later. With a bit of concentration, I aimed my focused hearing at the sky and caught soft sounds of more flapping in the darkness. “I think there are a lot out there!” I yelled. Someone on the other side of the deck muttered at that. Some of the shouting stopped, and I noticed a few other guards tense.

The magenta-skinned Hive Adom woman next to me said, “This one wonders–”

“What is your name?” I asked, trying to scan the whole ship and the sky above me at once. I couldn’t be sure, but it was likely the pilot of the airship had increased the vessel’s speed.

“This one is known as Chari,” said the Adom.

“Chari, will you guard my back? I need to protect this woman here,” I said, gesturing my head at Jessica.

“Yes, this one will.” She moved around behind me. “If we truly face large-bodied, long-fanged–”

“Just call them bat men,” said Jessica, her voice terse.

“As you wish, pale one,” said the Adom. Then she continued, “If we truly face bat men, we may very well die.”

A year before, I would have been nervous. I was different now, though. My nerves were steady as I recalled the information I’d read in adventure story books as a child. “Yes. They’re big, strong, fast, smart, mean, and crazy as demon wolves in a beehive. They can fly, and there is no reasoning with them. Several airships that have been destroyed in the last few hundred years have been at the hands of bat men.”

“We have all the lights on, and everyone is awake,” said Jessica, looking up at the sky nervously. “Why would they still attack? If they’re hungry or whatever, there must be better places to get a snack.”

“You don’t understand,” I said, shaking my head. “These things live to hunt. They sort of look like bats mixed with canine Mo’hali. They hate airships on principle. It’s a territory and challenge thing. They like to fight.”

“Then why don’t the airships go around their territories?” asked Jessica.

“Too expensive,” said Chari, shrugging both sets of arms. I just nodded. It was common knowledge that airships cost a small fortune in magic stones to run, but I didn’t know exactly how much, and I didn’t want to seem ignorant.

“So people would rather let other people die than spend a little extra money on fuel? Are you fucking serious?” asked Jessica, exasperated.

I frowned and just said, “Yes.” Magic stones were hard to get. It also wasn’t like there was any shortage of people who needed to ride an airship. And if one went down, a High Priestess would eventually repair it and send it back. People died sometimes, but people die on Ludus every day. It was too much to explain, and Jessica would figure it out eventually anyway...if we lived.

Jessica huffed, and I smiled in spite of myself. The sobbing, blonde mess that Christopher and I had found tied up in the slaver camp less than two weeks before had regained her spirit...if she’d ever lost it in the first place. The shiner was kneeling at my feet in the middle of a monster attack and had still found the piss and salt to complain about travel on Ludus.

What’s more, despite the danger and the stress of the situation, she’d never tried to go back to relative safety, nor even asked me about it. After I’d given her instructions, she had accepted what I’d said and had probably figured out the truth of the matter. I was impressed. The Terran girl could be annoying, but she had guts and brains. I had to give respect where it was due.

Suddenly, the two dozen or so people on the deck of the ship stopped any other activity and stood still. I could feel what they were feeling. The night had taken on a certain type of stillness, the calm before violence.

Every hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and my shoulder blades crawled. My enhanced hearing picked up more flapping, all approaching fast. “They’re coming!” I shouted.

The darkness around us exploded into motion.

The Shoe is Mightier

I dropped into my floating time almost without thinking, the mental state focusing my body, dismissing distractions. A wave of the bat men came screaming out of the darkness, most of them holding strange weapons. Some even wore armor.

Unfortunately, the way I’d described them to Jessica had been accurate. They really did look as if a wolf-race Mo’hali and a giant bat had gotten drunk and made babies. Big yellow teeth filled a long muzzle under inhuman, intelligent eyes. A simple loincloth was their only clothing, held in place with a wide belt that sported various sheaths and pouches. Their hands had long claws, and the monsters were all powerfully built, larger than the average Terran man.

A few people on deck screamed, but most of us just held steady, meeting the shrieking horde in mute defiance. Chari moved from behind me for a moment and produced a box from somewhere under her light clothing. She threw the object into the air, and a flash of fire split the night, burning holes in the wings of several bat men.

After that, there was just chaos. Enemies attacked from both sides of the airship moments before the vessel plunged into a fog bank. The bat men had probably timed it that way.

A monster touched down on the deck in front of me, and I stepped forward to meet it. Surprise showed on his ugly face before I put Eneus through his throat. The creature reeled, stumbling back into the fog.

“Well, that was easy,” I said. Then a death scream cut over the other sounds of combat to my left before a couple bat men came rushing out of the fog, covered in fresh blood.

“You just had to jinx it, didn’t you?” said Jessica. Her voice was higher than usual, probably as she tried to control her fear. I didn’t reply because she was right, and she still didn’t know I understood English. There were also the murderous bat men that slowed after seeing me and fanned to either side, ugly, fanged smiles on their faces.

I frowned and rushed forward, part of my attention tracking Jessica and dimly approving that she stayed close. The bat men had not expected my charge; most Berbans were terrified of them. Meanwhile, though my adventuring career hadn’t been long, I’d already fought worse. That’s kind of depressing. The thought flitted through my floating time.

One bat man used knapped stone punching daggers attached with sinew to wooden braces. The other wore gloves that somehow added huge, metal claws to his already-impressive natural weapons.

I quickly chanced a glance back but couldn’t see Chari the Adom woman anywhere. We’d been split up fast, but the damned bat men were attacking from every direction. She probably has her own problems right now, I thought grimly.

The two bat men and I began a standoff. I could keep the creatures at bay with Eneus despite their size and the length of their arms. I had to keep the spear mobile and pull each strike, or the bat men could grab ahold and close with me, though.

For a few, frantic moments, I was able to force the creatures back. Suddenly, I saw Jessica rise out the corner of my eye. The Terran girl shouted, “Fuck off, you ugly fucks! Go back to Mordor or whatever!” She threw a shoe at the one on the right. The creature actually flinched before the object hit, but then blinked as it harmlessly bounced off.

I grinned. Bat men were tough and notoriously hard to kill. Sometimes blades or arrows just bounced right off their thick hides, so a thrown shoe was not much of a threat. The little display gave me an idea, though.

The bat men looked at each other in confusion, then glared at Jessica. One growled, “You die, or we mate. You die both.”

Jessica squeaked and hunkered down behind me again. I growled and said, “This is why nobody likes your kind, you raping bunch of rotting savages. You really are super ugly, too.” I showed my teeth and attacked with Eneus as I had before. After another few frantic seconds of repeatedly stabbing, not giving any ground, I telegraphed one strike and fully committed to it.

Quick as a grass snake, the one I’d attacked dodged backward, and the other grabbed Eneus in one hand before lunging forward with a punching dagger.

If I hadn’t been expecting the reversal, it might have been my undoing. At the very least, the fight would have gone badly for me. Unfortunately for the bat men, I’d been ready. I dropped Eneus and pivoted, then drew my new, bronze short sword, a gift from Soron. As I slashed, I activated my vib-blade ability.

The bat man snarled at me, showing his fangs, his upturned nose glistening wetly in the light of the magic lamps. He raised an arm to block my strike, confident in his natural armor...and my sword buzzed right through his arm like it wasn’t even there. The blade continued its arc into the creature’s body and out the other side, spraying blood and worse on the deck of the ship and all over the front of my armored tunic.

I quickly moved to one side, hacking at the creature’s fellow while both were stunned by the power of my blow. I managed to take one of the enemy’s weapon-enhanced clawed hands off at the wrist before it reacted, jumping back. The bat man I’d mortally wounded was still blinking, absently trying to scoop up his innards with both hands and put them back into place. I mercilessly chopped backwards with my sword, cutting the big monster’s head off in another spray of gore.

The wounded, living monster saw this and turned to flee, flapping his huge, veiny wings. I bent down, scooped up Eneus and threw true. The spear punched through the bat man’s back and out the front of his body, dropping him like a puppet with cut strings.

I had no time to relax. Four more bat men came running out of the fog, all of them carrying weapons made of bone, bronze, or wood. These things have no relax switch at all! I thought, then spun into a whirlwind of blocks and cuts. I stamped back and forth, mentally daring my enemies to come within range of my power-enhanced short sword.

The surrounding monsters were confident in their victory at first, but began growing more aggressive, more focused as I dodged and attacked. I drew Vistvis and managed to plant the dagger into one bat man’s kidney, eliciting a howl-scream of rage. At some point, Jessica had begun yelling defiance at our enemies. I blocked everything else out, concentrating on holding my enemies at bay. The fight was growing more desperate every second.

In the midst of my floating time, I spotted another opening and took it, slamming my short sword home under the arm of one bat man. Then my heart dropped as the creature grabbed my sword’s blade with a bare hand. The monster was mortally wounded but had gotten revenge before death. His inhuman voice gravelly, he laughed even as he fell backwards, stricken, ripping my sword out of my hand. Now I only had Vistvis left.

I gritted my teeth. These things were badly mistaken if they thought me helpless. I pointed my fist at the creature between me and the side of the airship...and triggered the ring that Jessica had given me. I instantly felt tired as brilliant violet energy lanced out for less than a second. The arcane beam from the ring punched through the bat man, and the slight motion of my hand guided the weapon before it winked out, nearly cutting the creature in half.

As the bat man fell back, not realizing he was dead yet even as different severed body parts hit the airship deck, I suddenly felt like I’d been kicked by a yukka. Using the ring hurt–bad.

Using the ring again so quickly might knock me out, but I pointed my fist at another enemy. At first, both bat men slightly backed up, but then one smiled and growled. I grimly held Vistvis in a steady fist, my body weakened as the remaining two creatures approached. They were wary but still closed in for the kill.

Suddenly, Eneus sailed out of the fog, bouncing off my knees. I blinked stupidly. The bat men paused, too, which turned out to be the last thing one of them ever did.

Christopher Santos, the man I was supposed to be protecting, materialized behind one of the huge, hairy, bestial creatures. His hand flicked out, almost faster than my eyes could follow, and I saw the glint of steel, bright in the light of the magic lamps.

More quickly than I would have believed possible, the short, stocky Asian man’s blade took out the bat man’s knees. The creature dropped down, trying to reach back, but before the monster even really knew what was happening, Chris had disabled his enemy’s huge arms, too. Then the Filipino man deliberately drew his hand across the monster’s throat, and the creature put both clawed hands to the terrible wound. The bat man’s wings jerkily extended, perhaps trying to knock Chris away, but the man had already moved.

I took advantage of the distraction to pick Eneus up off the ground and activate vib-blade, lunging forward and skewering the last bat man. My spear punctured the creature’s lungs, so it opened its fanged mouth to scream, but no sound came out.

Then Chris was there too, his hand darting out in strange, sideways tearing motions, cutting the bat man’s limbs in multiple places before going for the throat again.

I pulled Eneus from the creature’s body before it dropped, spasming around in the huge puddles of blood and gore on the deck. Even in the middle of my floating time, I wondered if the deck might leak. Would the passengers get dripped on? That was a grim thought.

Chris dropped low and placed his back to a group of barrels, glancing at Jessica then scanning around us. I finally got a good look at his weapon, and despite my fatigue, I raised my eyebrows. The mysterious man held a small but lethal-looking blessed steel dagger that I’d never seen before. The weapon’s curving blade jutted forward.

The ring had taken a lot out of me, but I managed to ask, “What on rotting Ludus is that?”

“Karambit,” he said, looking a different direction.

Neither of us saw the flying bat man until it was too late. The creature slammed into me, stabbing repeatedly at my chest and stomach with a crude dagger, its strikes like hammer blows. Jessica screamed.

I had no time to even react as the monster carried me right off the side of the airship and into the empty night sky.

Desperation Inspiration

Even before my body could react, my mind raced. My heart dropped as I saw the bottom of the airship moving away. The attacking bat man’s weapon slamming into my chest felt even stranger as the rest of my body fell.

The world snapped back to focus as the creature’s jaws approached my face and throat. Wings flapped, further disorienting me, and I almost dropped Eneus. Luckily, with the help of floating time I managed to stay focused and planted a vib-blade Vistvis right through the bat man’s skull.

I felt a burning line of fire as the monster's sharp fangs grazed my nose and cheek, his head whipping to the side from the impact of my strike.

The bat man’s weapon fell from his fingers, and his arm around me loosened, but the big creature was still hanging on. Rotting bastard is dead but doesn’t know it yet, I thought, panic pushing on the edges of my floating time. I struggled through my pain and confusion, angrily pulling my enemy’s head down with the grip on my enchanted dagger, and kneed the creature in the face.

Vistvis was almost pulled from my hand as the bat man recoiled. I barely activated vib-blade again in time to free the dagger from my enemy’s skull. A dim memory floated through my consciousness, reminding me that Vistvis didn’t like it when I used vib-blade. She’d have to get over it.

I reflexively sheathed my enchanted weapon as my dead enemy floated away, both of us falling faster through the night sky. The bat man had definitely done some damage. My entire chest area burned, and it was hard to breathe.

My hair whipped in the wind as I got my bearings in the dark. Luckily, the airship was still in view. My thoughts seemed to blur, firing much faster than normal as I considered my options.

Unless another bat man got me, I was probably not in any immediate danger...unless I was already going to die. I swallowed, my hand flying to my chest, then I breathed a shallow sigh of relief. The attacks I’d just taken had not penetrated my mysterious, enchanted tunic.

Suddenly, a crazy idea presented itself, and I acted on it before I could think it through. Before I could hesitate. I reared back and threw Eneus as hard as I could at the retreating airship. The spear sailed up into the sky like a crossbow bolt, vanishing out of sight behind a fog bank.

The moment the weapon had left my hand, I used my Flight ability to make myself weightless, something I’d done before. Then I threw a desperate prayer to the Creator before holding my hand out.

I almost gasped a sob when I felt the tickle of crimson cloth on my palm, and I dropped out of floating time. I’d never tried to grab hold of the sash attached to my enchanted spear at this range before, but it had still worked! "Yes!" I croaked.

I took firm hold of the cloth and instead of yanking on it like I usually did, I looped the sash around my wrist and braced myself, hoping that Eneus had hit the airship and that it would hold.

Suddenly, the cloth went taut and I was hauled forward. If I’d still had weight, the snap of acceleration could have pulled my spear from the airship or might have even pulled my arm out of its socket. As a weightless woman with orb-Bonded strength, it just torqued my shoulder and felt uncomfortable until I was truly being hauled forward through the sky.

I hung on for dear life, furiously thinking about what to do and hoping that my line would hold. Just because I could probably survive falling to the ground didn’t mean that my life wasn’t in danger. I needed to get back onto the airship. If I lost Jessica or Chris, or didn’t make it to Tolstey, I would be in serious trouble.

Slowly, carefully, I began pulling myself up the crimson cloth, keeping my weight to practically nothing. It felt like I was climbing forever, hand over hand, before I broke out of the last of the wispy fog bank I’d been in and saw the airship clearly again.

The vessel was closer than I’d thought, and I was directly behind and above it now–my non-existent weight had carried me up into the sky. I could actually see the deck, and I breathed a sigh of relief after verifying that Jessica and Christopher were still alive. Chari stood before them, a dead enemy at her feet. Bodies of bat men and adventurers littered the deck of the airship, but the monsters had been thinned out. The guards and passengers were winning!

Suddenly, I caught movement to the side and registered another rotting bat man out in the dark, about to collide with me! I didn’t have much time to react, and I really couldn’t risk getting knocked into the open sky again, so I thought quickly. I had a terrible idea, but there was no time to think of anything better.

With a twist of my wrist, I looped Eneus’ sash around my arm. Then before the flying monster was about to grab hold of me, both his clawed hands reaching, I triggered my beam ring again.

Violet energy lanced out, almost cutting the entire creature in half length-wise. The bat man fell.

I flew through hot, steaming pieces of monster guts suspended in the air, but I didn’t really register any of it. The attack had taken a lot out of me. I might have even blacked out for a second. When I was aware again, truly conscious, it seemed some of my body weight had come back. My Flight power had waned without my constant control. I felt like rotting death; every portion of my body hurt.

If I triggered the ring again, if it didn’t immediately knock me out, it’d probably come close. Three shots were probably my limit right now. With an effort of will, I used my Flight power to reestablish my weightlessness.

"No," I sighed. Another bat man sped at me out of the dark, a bone spear held in both hands, his wings folded against his body for speed. I didn’t know what to do; I was spent and still suffering from the backlash of using the enchanted ring. As the monster blurred towards me, I willed myself away in panic.

When I suddenly veered to one side, I wasn’t sure who was more surprised; the bat man or me. The attacking monster completely missed me, and it took me a few seconds to figure out what had just happened. My new Mind ability must have contributed to puzzling it out. Honestly, without the new Mind ability, even remembering that I had just purchased it would have probably been beyond me.

It had to be my new Flight rank. My increased power was new, undeveloped, but my Flight power overall still had to be stronger than before. This was the only explanation that made any sense. To test the theory, I willed myself to float upwards, and my body complied.

Apparently, I could change direction in mid-air now.

Amazing, I thought. Then I clamped down on my sense of wonder and focused on the throbbing pain in my chest. I had no time to revel in my awesome new power, not exposed in the air in the middle of a battle.

With a great deal of effort, I unwrapped my arm and forced my limbs to move again, pulling myself closer to the airship. By this time, a few other adventurers and guards had spotted me. Some pointed, but most were still fighting and had other problems.

Suddenly, I saw moving figures, barely shadows in the night sky. The bat men were mounting one last offensive…and they were heading right for the area Christopher and Jessica were taking cover in.

I tried struggling towards the airship faster, but my heart sunk when I realized I wouldn’t make it in time. There was no more time; I couldn’t play it safe anymore. That thought made me grin crazily for a moment as I dodged another diving bat man. Safe? I almost laughed out loud.

Working more on instinct than conscious thought, I yanked on my line from Eneus as hard as I could, launching myself forward, then allowed all my weight to return in one explosive rush. I choked up on the cloth and yanked again, the motion pulling my spear out of the airship this time. As I hung in mid-air, I willed myself forward, and my Flight power actually increased my speed. My spear returned to my hand, and I threw Eneus again, the surge of effort making me grunt and causing my damaged, bruised chest to burn.

It hurt to breathe, and the rushing air didn’t help, so I held my breath as Eneus shot forward. Blood pounded in my ears, and I narrowed my eyes in triumph when I saw the weapon hit the deck near my comrades, sinking deep. Then I made myself weightless again and used my Flight power to move faster. I held out my hand for Eneus.

The moment the cloth from my spear met my palm, I launched myself forward again, yanking savagely. My path was angled down, so I picked up even more speed. I willed my weight to increase so the wind wouldn't slow me as much. At this point, I was moving scary-fast towards the deck of the airship, and I pulled myself even faster after grabbing Eneus’ cloth yet again, playing yo-yo with my weight.

Right before I crashed into the deck, I lowered my weight as far as I could so I only hit with bruising, painful, brain-shaking force, not the bone-shattering kind. I rolled into a group of barrels with a deafening crash. Somehow I kept my calm and ignored the pain. I kept my weight low for speed, only adding enough to move properly, and jumped up.

I’d gotten there in time. Barely. But there was no time to waste.

A group of five bat men was stalking Jessica, Christopher, and Chari. The Adom woman stood proudly, her spear steady. Another adventurer, a big, dark-skinned Terran man was running to help, but he would not make it in time.

I dimly registered the distinctive sound of a powerful air rifle firing before noticing a flying bat man get shot out of the sky. The moment stretched–I had a decision to make. Eneus was in the opposite direction of my friends, so it would take precious seconds to retrieve my weapon.

“Rotting hell,” I swore, sprinting forward. There was only one way I could figure out how to save my comrades, but the idea was rotting crazy. I had no choice, though. Guttered-out or not, I needed to make it work.

“This is going to hurt,” I muttered between gasps. My bruised ribs screamed in protest, my lungs pumped. I closed with the nearest bat man, the one ahead of the others.

The monster hadn’t noticed me yet. The brute was wearing armor, just like two more of his group of murder-demons. I needed to stall the creature for my plan to work. Suppressing waves of pain, I took in one huge breath. “Hazard!” I yelled, slashing with Vistvis. My vib-blade ability made the blade softly hum, at least to my ears. The bat man hissed as my dagger buzzed right through his arm, but he’d moved at the last second, and I hadn’t severed it. Rot.

The bat man had a short sword, so I couldn't hang back unless I wanted to die. I moved in close, and the next few seconds were a chaotic, violent series of stabs and blocks as I tried to keep the creature from beheading me or gouging my eyes out. I elbowed, slammed my heel down on the bastard’s foot, and used every dirty in-fighting trick I’d ever learned in Bittertown.

Somehow, I was able to hold my ground, waiting for the bat man’s fellows to run forwards a few more paces. I could catch glimpses of them slowing as they neared Chari and her spear. One monster took an interest in my fight and veered over, probably to help his monster friend with me. I needed to time this just right…

Now! “Hazard!” I screamed, maybe a bit desperately, and extended my other, unarmed fist forward. My opponent grabbed my hair, but I ignored it.

Then I triggered my death ring.

The beam of arcane energy lanced out, easily slicing through all five bat men as they lined up for my shot. I’d activated the ring while my arm was swinging, so the weapon utterly decimated each of the attackers. The angle had not been ideal–I’d barely missed another couple guards before the powerful attack had shot over the port side of the airship, disappearing into the Ludus sky.

The bat man holding onto me was mortally wounded. The devastating beam had punched through his body just to the side of the spine, and continued up in an arc, removing his weapon arm above the elbow. This rotter is tough, I thought as the monster continued to fight. The monster hissed, and for the second time that night, I saw a mouth full of teeth coming for my face.

Reflexively, I slammed Vistvis upwards, and the dagger’s tip punched right through the roof of the bat man’s mouth. There was so little resistance as the blade went home, the creature’s forward motion carried sharp teeth right into the top of my hand. “Hazard!” I screamed in defiance. Suddenly, an endless sea of fatigue washed over me, my joints screaming in agony.

The last thing I saw was my enemy’s remaining fist heading for my face, Vistvis still planted in the bat-man's mouth. Then through a fog of half-awareness, I felt rough, wet wood. I was down, my body hitting the gore-strewn deck. Then my head bounced, and I was out.

Enter the Otaku

I didn’t wake up all at once. My senses gradually returned, and I found myself lying in a bed in one of the airship’s cabins. Memories had come flooding back as I’d regained consciousness, so I thankfully hadn’t suffered from any confusion.

When I’d been younger, I’d been knocked out a few times. In my experience, my head usually hurt like hell when I’d woken up and I’d always been disoriented. This time was completely different.

The bottom of a bunk bed was above me. I turned my head and saw Jessica reading a book. She looked up, and her eyes met mine. “Hi,” she said.

“Hi,” I responded.

“As you can probably see, we are still alive. Yay! Thank you, by the way.” The Terran girl’s gaze was very direct, and I suddenly felt a little awkward. I turned my head, looking back up at the bottom of the bunk above me.

To my side, I heard rustling, probably Jessica putting her book away. She said, “It’s amazing how tough you are. You went off the side of the airship and somehow came back. You got the shit beat out of you but basically just woke up after a nap, and you look fine except for a new scar on your face. Most of the guards on the deck, including the adventurers, killed one, maybe two monsters during the attack. You killed or assisted in killing eight.”

I thought for a second, digesting what she’d said. Then I cleared my throat. “Over ten, actually,” I corrected.

Jessica chuckled as I turned to face her again. She said, “You really are like a superhero. But you’re not the only one with surprises. Chris shocked the hell out of me, too.” She pointed at the bunk above me where I couldn’t see. “I think he’s sleeping right now as a defensive mechanism, or maybe in shock. You can probably guess I had a lot of questions after he just popped out of nowhere and started going all claw-ninja on murder-monsters. Chris hates talking about himself. I already knew most of his story, but he filled in the rest while you were sleeping. He’s given me permission to tell you, you know.”

Some of what Jessica just said had been in English, and I thought I’d kept a fairly good blank face, but the shiner rolled her eyes at me and said, “I know you understand English, Nora. You’re terrible at hiding your reactions, and I don’t know why you’re doing it in the first place.”

“The last time a girl talked to me in English, it didn’t go so well,” I muttered.

“Yes, I know. Duanna’s letter mentioned that.”

“What?” Suddenly, Jessica had my full, undivided attention.

“Yes, Chris and I both got a lot of information about you from Enheduanna. She must be really interested in you or just enjoys stalking you or something. She even included your favorite color and your favorite food.”

“You must be joking.” A strange mixture of amusement, horror, violation, and anger ran together, circling through my body.

Jessica shrugged. “Nope, sorry. Apparently, your favorite color is tan, and you like fried root snake with chili sauce.”

I was at a loss for words, but Jessica seemed to understand how I was feeling. She said, “For what it’s worth, knowing so much about you helped me decide to come with you. Same with Chris. A strange letter supposedly from a demigoddess, offering us powerful magic abilities and prolonged life if we agreed to leave the safety of our town and journey with an intimidating, dangerous, beautiful woman carrying a big fucking spear? Yeah right. That would normally be way too far-fetched to believe, even for me.”

I chuckled grimly. “I don’t know who is beautiful, but it sure as rot isn’t me.”

Jessica ignored me, continuing, “But I still came anyway. It was all the details about you and about me in the letter that made up my mind. Well, that and getting kidnapped by slavers and being tied up, helpless while…” Jessica’s voice trailed off, and she clenched her teeth, looking away for a second.  Just the fact that the blonde girl had actually stopped talking for a moment showed how deep her new scars were.

I wished I didn’t understand, but I truly did. Jessica would probably have nightmares for years. I’d been helpless, powerless several times in my life and it had deeply affected me, so I wasn’t surprised by what the Earth girl said next. “In the past, finding some kind of power for myself…was a fantasy. Before I even came to Ludus, I used to dream about it. But now? Now I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t take an opportunity like the one Enheduanna offered–no matter how insane it is. Like, I see it more as a responsibility than anything else.”

“I don’t know,” I said, my words coming out before my brain could examine them. “You’re a shiner, pretty in a way most girls can’t hope to compete against. You already have power, and probably had a lifetime to learn how to use it. It must be nice having that sort of draw, to get that kind of attention. You could just…exist and find a pretty husband, catch him, and build yourself a charm house–then sit around while your sister wives run around doing everything for you.”

After the words had left my mouth, I tensed. What I just said hadn’t been very flattering. Jessica stared at me for a few seconds, blinking, and suddenly burst into laughter. I frowned–that wasn’t a reaction I’d expected.

“You know, when those creepy ass bat monsters attacked, I was coming to talk to you, to tell you about myself and try to be…friends,” said Jessica. “I already knew so much about you. The history Enheduanna gave about you in the letter started in your teen years, but with a footnote that anything before that time wasn’t relevant to our mission. I’ve never met Enheduanna, and I’m not sure I want to, but I kind of got the impression she was trying to protect you by not telling me about your childhood. Of course, telling me everything else seems to have been okay…which was weird.

“Anyway, I felt guilty that I knew so much about you and you were sticking your neck out to protect me without really knowing each other. But being social, having friends–these things are all new to me. I was agonizing over it for days, Nora. It took me a while just to get up to giving you that terrible ring like my letter said I should.”

“What–” I began.

Jessica shook her head. “See, Nora, I have a personality that a lot of people would probably call, ‘spunky,’ but I’m not really used to talking to people–not in person, anyway.

“I come from a different world. On Earth, I used to talk to people all day on the internet…but I never really went outside. I just watched Sailor Moon when I was feeling sad and ate ice cream while playing MMOs. I played eroge games instead of actually dating. I wasn’t really happy with who I was, and I liked to…escape from myself, from my life. I was fat, Nora. When I first got to Ludus over two years ago, I was 19 years old, well, in Earth years, and my in-person social skills were pretty bad.”

“What’s an ‘internet?’” I asked, rolling the unfamiliar word around in my mouth.

“It’s what we call all of our machines and technology being connected. With the internet, I could talk to anyone, anywhere–instantly. We use it to play games, do business…look at porn…”

I knew what porn was. Sometimes, glossy sex magazines were found in dungeon treasure and often commanded high prices. Areva people were always highly offended, at least publicly, but I heard they paid the highest prices for porn on the illegal market. I thought about what Jessica had said, and I began to understand. “So this is like magic communication.”

“More or less. You can think of it like that. But it’s much faster than magic messenger birds, and anyone on Earth can use it–not just mages.”

I soundlessly whistled. Earth sounded amazing. I added what Jessica had just said to the stories my father had told of tall buildings made of steel that scraped the sky. “Does everyone use the internet and look at porn?”

Jessica said, “Well, I sure did, but most women probably wouldn’t admit to it.” I didn’t understand that point, and I held up a hand to ask, but she kept talking. “A lot of other people used it for that too, sure. Probably most people at some point if they were honest. Not everyone uses the internet itself–it still costs money and isn’t available everywhere, but I used it for pretty much everything.

“I used to pirate movies and games; I was basically a weeb nerd. I was fat, and I hated that. Some people might have thought I hated myself, but that was not the case. I hated how people treated me, how they looked at me, so I didn’t want to do anything or go anywhere. It was true I wasn’t exactly feeling proud of myself, I didn’t like seeing pictures of myself. But honestly, I was more angry at other people being such fucksticks than I was upset with my love for Doritos.”

“What are Doritos? What is a weeb?” I asked.

“Doritos are the best snack food ever made. They’re the next best thing to magic. A weeb is a weeaboo. It’s okay if I call myself that, but you’d better never call me that or I’ll meme you to death. Got it?”

“Uhhh…” I answered, trailing off.

“Anyway, back on Earth, I was poor and living with Grandma. With the allowance she gave me, I was able to pay for the internet and for games. Then she died…and I found myself on Ludus.”

Jessica looked like she might cry for a second, but she snorted instead. “So yeah, I used the internet like that, but Christopher didn’t. I’m not sure if you know this, but Dolos transports people from other worlds that won’t be missed much.

“You may think of me as pretty or whatever now, but I still don’t. In fact, honestly, I’ll probably never think of myself like that. I’m still just Jessica, and I’ve had to bust my ass for the last two years just to survive. And even if I could just live an easy life, it’s not for me. For one, I’m not okay with just finding love based on looks, and second, I’m not cool with this whole ‘sister wives’ business on Ludus. I will find one man, and I’d better be enough for him, or he can get to steppin’. Well, I guess I’d accept a reverse harem of bishounen, but if I did that on Ludus, I’d probably get stoned by a bunch of thirsty beast girls or something.”

This was all a lot for me to process at once. I thought about my father, how he’d been transported to Ludus, and I asked, “What do you mean about people that won’t be missed?”

“Oh, sorry about that,” Jessica waved a hand. “Sometimes I get excited when I talk and I just word-vomit. I forgot that not everyone had been transported from Earth to a nightmarish RPG planet and spent the last two years obsessing over information about Ludus and off-world transports.”

I frowned. “Huh?”

“Okay, I’ll put it like this: Most people that get transported to Ludus don’t have a lot of family or connections that will raise a stink if we go missing. Dolos has never transported a famous person, for example. But Dolos actually doesn’t transport many people at all. The majority of people that go missing on Earth have probably just started a new life, or got killed, or kidnapped, or whatever, so it’s the perfect camouflage for Dolos and his buddies.”

I opened my mouth, but Jessica kept talking, her words jabbing like a shiv. “Never mind; don’t worry about it. Maybe we can talk about my suspicions some other day. Cthulhu knows I’ve already bothered Chris enough about them.”

I blinked but held onto my new questions. I knew by now that waiting for a better time to ask might be better.

“Oh, that’s right…Chris.” Jessica tapped her chin with a finger for a second before continuing. “He got to Ludus before me. I already told you about the ring, and how I used it during my first few days. For a weird game planet, this place is really raw. You know, as terrifying as that was, and as close to dying as I came, I still have dreams about it. It was the closest to being mahou shoujo that I will probably ever be.  Then I saw you last night, jumping around, blasting the fuck out of monsters in real life–” Jessica shook her head. “God, that was cool. I’m glad I got to see that, but sometimes it feels like no matter what world I’m on, I’ll never be good enough.”

I didn’t quite know what to say to that, and I hadn’t even completely understood everything Jessica had said in the first place. This put me in a weird position. Maybe because of the Etiquette skill I’d purchased when I’d first become orb-Bonded, I knew I should probably say something comforting. Unfortunately, I didn’t really know Jessica that well yet. Instead, I tried moving the conversation along. “So how did you meet Christopher, Jessica?”

“Like I’ve said before, call me Jess.” A flash of annoyance crossed the shiner’s face before she resumed her rapid-fire style of speech. “Me and Chris were transported here which meant we didn’t know how to speak Luda. We also never received Dolos orbs so we didn’t get to cheat in the bullshit, no-skill way that orb-Bonded can learn Luda.

“So when we both stumbled into Soron, the people there were nice enough to teach us the language and put us to work. Chris is slower than me, so I caught up fast and then helped him out.

“For me, it took like half a year of work to pay off my language lessons and all the random bullshit people need to live, like toothbrushes. Do you know they use magic and monster parts for like…everything on Ludus? Oh, of course, you do. You’re a local girl, that’s right–going all stabby-stabby on everyone. Sometimes I forget. It’s probably the dyed-blonde hair. You come across kind of basic sometimes. I don’t mean that as an insult, you’re like a sister, you know.”

My mouth opened and closed a few times. Jessica was like a chatty force of nature. There was a break, a precious second I could say something, but I decided not to ask about any of the words I didn’t understand. It was probably more important to get the conversation back on track. “You said you were going to talk about Chris?”

“Oh yeah. So basically, Chris’ father was into some shady stuff, but he was a good dad. Chris lost his family at a fairly young age, but his folks had had deep pockets. They traveled a lot, and Chris knew a lot of weird stuff, like using knives. He was hiding out on an island or something when Dolos snatched him. When he got here, he didn’t get a magical item or anything like I got the ring. His freaky knife was on him when he transported, and it just never rusted. Seems it became blessed steel on its own.”

Jessica frowned. “That’s a stupid name. You know that? Blessed steel? Like, who blessed it? How does it even work, and why does iron all rust so fast on Ludus? It’s like everyone just accepts it and doesn’t figure out how anything works. When I asked questions about it in Soron, everyone acted like I just shouted I was Leeroy Jenkins. Like, I know they understood the words, but they’d never thought to place them in that order, and weren’t too interested in starting.”

I couldn’t think of what to say to that. Everyone just knew that iron and steel didn’t last long. It was just a fact of the world. “I don’t know what you mean,” I said.

“Of course you don’t. You’re probably also okay with being wife number three in a harem, or whatever. Why couldn’t I land on a planet with one woman for every three men, not the opposite?

“But on a serious note...okay, I’ll admit, I was being half serious. But anyway, why does nobody on this planet try creating a new kind of energy that is not outlawed? I understand that creating or using electricity will get you a quick, one-way trip to dead-ville, but why don’t more people, I dunno, use water power or something? Why the reliance on magic? Like, people could make a mill using water power from a river instead of magic stones. If everyone on Ludus didn’t constantly need magic stones, maybe the damn things wouldn’t be so expensive.”

I had to admit the shiner had a point. If I could remember what she’d said in the future, maybe I’d look into it one day. Right now, though, I needed to ask a more pressing question. “Uh, do you know about my guard duty? Like, now that I’m up do I need to go back?”

Jessica waved a hand. “Nah. You were such a badass they are letting you stay below with us for the rest of the trip. If you hear anything or get called, you can go up. The crew decided you’re an MVP and they want to keep you well-rested. Chari, the thick-booty ant-girl, wants to talk to you, though. Maybe she will pledge to be your life servant. That would be cool. I wonder if she can lift a million times her own weight like a real ant. You know, I can’t figure out if she’s hot, or hideous. Weird, huh?”

I shook my head. “You’d better be careful with how you talk to her.”

“Duh.”

I sighed. “Okay, Chari wants to talk to me, got it. Since I am here for the rest of the trip, I think I’m going to go back to sleep. We can talk later.”

“That’s fine,” said Jessica, producing her book she’d had before from a hip pocket. “Just holler if you need me. This travel is like a long plane flight for me...but with the threat of monster attacks. When you were fighting, I kind of wanted to yell, ‘I have had it with these motherfucking bat men on this motherfucking plane,’ but nobody would have caught the reference, and that would have been sad.”

Jessica put a finger to her lips, looking up at the ceiling, then said, “I’m not going to really tell you anything more about Christopher, I think. If you want to know any more, you can chat with him. He’s really nice, you know.”

“Yes, he saved me,” I said, remembering the way the quiet man had brutally and efficiently eviscerated a monster twice his size with his nasty little knife.

“That’s not what I mean, but I suppose he did. Just don’t be getting all googly eyed for him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him hit on a chick the entire time I’ve known him. I think he might be gay.”

My cheeks felt hot as I said, “Alright. I will keep that in mind. I am going to nap now.”

“Suit yourself, boss. Thanks again for saving my pale ass.”

Exhausted from my conversation with Jessica, I lay back down and saw the bunk above me shift slightly. Maybe Christopher hadn’t been sleeping after all. I wasn’t sure why, but I chuckled under my breath. I guess Christopher might be wiser than I was…or more used to dealing with Jessica.

Weapon Tax

When I woke up again, I could sense that a lot of time had passed. I was alert, but my tongue felt like sandpaper, and I had to pee so bad I was surprised I hadn’t wet myself already.

With a groan, I sat up. My first surprise was that Jessica was sitting in the same chair I’d seen her in earlier, reading a different book this time. The second, deeper shock I received was when I noticed that a wooden rod about twice as long as my finger was attached to my wrist with a red string. The rod had an image of Eneus inlaid in tiny, dull stones.

“What the rot is this?” I asked, holding it up.

Jessica pursed her lips. “Oh, that. Yeah, your spear kind of shrunk and wrapped itself around your wrist when you passed out before–you know, during the fight. It would have surprised me if I hadn’t already lived in an RPG fantasy world for a couple years. I’ve seen some shit, like stuff that makes a chan message board look tame.”

She tapped her head and said, “I was looking forward to seeing your surprise about it when we talked earlier, but when you didn’t notice, I kind of forgot about it. Well, surprise!”

“How do I make it big again?” I asked.

“How the heck should I know? You’re the gruff-and-ready, magical warrior woman. I’m just along for the ride...and to read books and hopefully not get killed. Well, and to get an orb so I can be a radical ass she-hulk, too. Actually, I’m hoping for some powers like Rogue, or WW, or maybe I could even shoot stuff from my hands.”

I suddenly got a strong mental picture of a smug-looking Muffin, twitching her capybara nose at me. It was so vivid that I strongly suspected the annoying AI had actually sent the image. Bitch. Out loud I said, “Yes, I know you suggested Energy Blasts, you little–”

“Huh?” asked Jessica, being the one to look confused for a change.

“Nothing that concerns you. Just tell me what is going on, if you know. It feels like we aren’t moving anymore.”

“Yeah, sure, boss. I just talked to one of the crew a few minutes ago. We’re getting off soon,” said Jessica. Then she filled me in. As it turned out, I’d slept the rest of the trip, almost two full days. Whether from the shock of fighting bat men, using the doom ring, being verbally pummeled by Jessica for the first time, or maybe even Muffin shutting down my body to build my orb-Bonded power, I could only guess.

What I did know is I felt stronger than I ever had in my life. My body felt light, and my head was incredibly clear, my thoughts connecting easily in a way that was difficult to explain.

I used the facilities on the airship. While getting ready, I also took the opportunity to clean my armor and change clothes. Before leaving Soron, the town administration had insisted I walk away with more than just the armor on my back, so I actually owned some extra clothes again. Honestly, it was a nice feeling, both being appreciated and feeling fresh.

After I linked back up with Jessica, I noticed that Christopher had materialized from somewhere. The short, stocky, tan-skinned man seemed calm and unflappable as always. I studied him. Now that I’d seen him fight, I noticed things I hadn’t before, things I probably would have recognized right away if he’d been a woman.

With my newfound perspective, I could finally recognize that the man was obviously a highly trained fighter. He was light on his feet, his hands and arms moving with an unconscious grace to keep his body balanced. His eyes tracked every person he passed, and he always seemed to coincidentally have his back to a wall. Chris had been trained in a hard school. Killing the bat men had obviously not shaken him up very much…if at all. My interest was piqued, and as I thought about how the man had saved my life again, my face felt hot.

My little group began moving towards the deck of the airship, preparing to leave. It was a bit goofy that I was so preoccupied despite the fact that we were in Tolstey now, and I was about to set foot in a new country for the first time. What was wrong with me?

I shook my head savagely. Chris was not even my type, and I was much too old to develop a crush. On top of that, I remembered Jessica’s warning. According to her, the man might be ‘gay,’ which I knew to mean homosexual. If so, not only was he not a man for me, he would have to keep his preferences to himself, at least on Ludus.

My mind raced as I tried to secretly study Christopher, pondering his sexuality. I held in a surprised yell when we reached the deck and Chari touched my arm.

“This one is grateful for your help during our battle,” she said, her voice as strange as always.

“You are very–”

“Are you going to pledge your life to Nora’s service and be like, a hardcore ant warrior companion?” asked Jessica. “You both even use spears and stuff.”

“No,” said Chari. She stared at Jessica, then looked at me.

“Shut up, Jessica,” I said.

“Okay. Sorry.”

I turned to Chari. “I apologize,” I said, tensing in case the Adom woman attacked Jessica in response to her careless words.

The warrior female shrugged, her compound eyes twinkling and antennas bobbing. “That one has the smell of one new to Ludus. Allowances can be made. Also, that one is part of your hive, your group. You will no doubt protect, and this one does not wish to die.”

“Thanks,” I said wryly.

Chari buzzed, “You will always be a friend to my people. This one is not leader caste. This one is warrior caste, but this one’s words carry weight. If you ever find yourself on Teteth, or in any Adom settlement, please ask for this one’s people. They will know of you. The Hive race Adom speak far.”

“Thank you,” I responded. I didn’t entirely understand the Adom woman’s words, but I felt a funny tingle and realized I was surprisingly touched. In a rare, impulsive act for me, I took the Adom woman’s hard, inhuman true-hand in mine and said, “It was an honor to fight with you. Thank you for watching over my charges.”

Chari gently disengaged her hand from mine. “No thanks are necessary. Both you and this one did as promised, as is fitting for the warrior caste. From one to another, we salute you.” With that, the mysterious female touched her spear to her forehead, turned, and joined the line leaving the airship ahead of us.

“Well that was still cool, slave bond or not,” said Jessica. I smacked the shiner on the top of the head. “Ow!” she complained.

Out the corner of my eye, I noticed Christopher frown, but otherwise not move. It seemed he was protective, but not stupid. “You are a moron,” I said to Jessica. “Why on Ludus would you talk about an Adom as if they were a monster–to their face, no less. You are lucky she didn’t put her spear through your mouth. Adom are touchy about their person-hood.”

“So, how does that work, anyway?” asked Jessica. “Is Adom like...the nation or default race that free monsters have? Is ‘free monsters’ offensive? People-monsters?”

I hissed. “Don’t ever call an Adom a monster or a demon to their face, don’t use their real species name, either; most of them find that offensive. Adom races or hopefuls are usually never called monsters. Chari mentioned The Victim, and I think she meant monsters. Adom are really touchy about their status. Most of them had to fight hard for it.”

“Okay got it. More people that might kill me if I say the wrong thing on this planet. The list grows,” muttered Jessica.

Suddenly, Christopher spoke, “It’s the same anywhere. Could you call someone racial slurs on Earth and expect nothing to happen?”

“Sure, that might be true, but they won’t kill you!” exclaimed Jessica, and I got the feeling that this was a conversation the two of them had had before.

“It depends on the people involved.” Christopher shrugged and began examining his fingernails, ignoring Jessica.

Interesting, I thought. Out loud I said, “Let’s get going. We still need to settle up with the crew, but we should actually be off the ship and in Hell’s Favor soon.”

Jessica yawned. “I heard it’s a dump. We weren’t there long, but the capital of Tolstey, Taretha, was actually kind of cool. Don’t worry; I’m prepared to be disappointed.”

“The capital of Tolstey,” I muttered. “I wish I could have seen that.”

“Yeah, well, next time don’t go and get yourself so beat up saving all of our asses that you sleep for a couple days,” said Jessica.

I sighed. “Let’s go. We still need to clear customs, I think.” I patted my shrunk-down spear. “I still don’t know how to get Eneus back to normal size, but at least it’ll be one less weapon to be taxed on when we register as visitors.”

“Wait, they tax weapons?” asked Jessica. Christopher was paying close attention to my answer as well.

“Yes. It’s one of the ways all the countries tax adventurers. It also cuts down on the movement of weapons in general unless they’re being bartered or used responsibly.”

“I can’t decide if that is genius or evil,” said Jessica, her eyes upwards in thought. “Maybe both.”

With a wave, I got my charges moving, but I could only silently agree. My father had said only death and taxes were sure things in life. The older I got, the more I realized how right he’d been.

Monster Parts

Hell’s Favor was kind of a dump. Of course, that was a little unfair to say–it actually looked a little better than Bittertown, but I’d really been expecting better. The first thing I’d noticed after getting off the airship was that the city looked so…bland. All of the buildings were made of the same material, and none of them really stood out.

From what I could tell, the default building method in the city seemed to be a mixture of concrete and rock for the walls, then topped with a tile roof. A few of the walls had been painted but looked sad or unfinished now as the colors had worn away. I could immediately see the problem; Hell’s Favor was a coastal city with a great deal of sun and wind. Any kind of paint or stain was probably temporary at best, so most residents probably didn’t even bother with it.

My little group headed down the stairs from the airship platform and began walking toward a nearby city government building to get more information on the city, as well as where the guilds and inns were. Jessica said, “Well, the capital of Tolstey was worse looking than Mensk, but this is really underwhelming. I think Soron looked better than this place. Isn’t Hell’s Favor supposed to have a lot of money and trade? What the hell?”

I nodded, but from behind me, someone said, “What did you expect? This place is built for business, not retirement. The world is dangerous, and Hell’s Favor was built for the best and brightest of Tolstey as they help power the world. People are too busy making a living here, or even stacking riches to care too much about pretty buildings.”

After turning, I saw a wizened old man, a small smile on his face, and his dark skin weathered from the bright sun. He sat leaning against the wall next to a nearby alley. His clothing was simple, rough, but the sheathed short sword across his lap and the pack on the ground next to him made me think he was probably an adventurer.

“Huh?” I asked.

The old man shrugged and said, “I see your type all the time, new adventurers and spoiled young people that think this place will be some sort of vacation, or a city full of palaces owned by rich adventurers. The truth is that this place is a working town. Ludus runs on magic stones, and adventurers spend blood, sweat, and tears to get them here.

“People come here looking for easy riches but find heartbreak instead. I hope for your sakes that you are ready to work hard, or have money to live for the next six months until you can take the next airship out of here,” he said, pointing at the ship in the sky as it sped away.

I blinked, wondering what I should say, if anything. During my time in Bittertown, as a child, I’d largely been ignored, and after being homeless, I’d wanted it that way. When you’re a street kid, adults taking an interest was usually a bad thing, at least in my experience. Then as an adult, most people had been afraid of me as a Jackal, or maybe even because they’d heard of my reputation. I was not used to being insulted by strangers.

After a half second of deliberation, I decided to just ignore the passive-aggressive taunts. Whether by intuition or my Etiquette skill, I’d decided that there was no real reason to respond.

“Who the fuck asked for your opinion, old man?” demanded Jessica.

I mentally groaned, thinking, This rotting shiner! Why?

The dark-skinned man smiled with one side of his mouth and said, “Now at least this one has some spirit. But talk is cheap, girl. What makes you think this city and the surrounding dungeons won’t grind you to dust?”

I blinked at the man’s words. He sounded a bit more wise than crazy or cranky now, but I just wanted to move on. It was still pointless to argue with some random, aging, probably failed adventurer on the street. I kept walking, hoping my two charges would get the hint and continue with me instead of wasting time. So…of course they didn’t.

Jessica planted herself in front of the man, her hands on her hips and Christopher ground to a stop next to her.

“We have nothing to worry about,” stated Jessica.

“Oh, are you that powerful?” asked the man with a grin.

“Hell no, I couldn’t fight off a three-legged puppy, but we have Nora, and she’s a badass from Berber. This is Tolstey, with weaker fighters and monsters, right? Like, this is the noob zone. Well, Nora just fucked up like a ton of bat men only a few days ago. She’d kick the shit out of everything here.” Jessica folded her arms.

“This woman?” asked the man, pointing at me. I inwardly groaned and began moving towards the foolish blonde girl, willing her to keep her mouth shut.

“Yeah.”

“Nora who?” he asked.

“Nora Hazard! She’s an orb-Bonded warrior with a tragic past and a heart of gold, and she is going to fuck up your neighborho–” the shiner cut off with a shriek as I grabbed a handful of her blonde hair, jerking it down hard enough to almost pull it out.

“Please ignore my...associate,” I said.

“Of course, of course,” said the man, his eyes twinkling. “I would definitely hate to offend the great Nora Hazard. The fact that I have never heard of you must mean you are mysterious as you are powerful. Excuse me while I go warn some others in our humble town here who might offend you, oh warrior Hazard.” The man bowed, and he winked. His eyes suddenly flashed white for a second before he turned and ambled away.

I groaned out loud this time, and from her bent sideways position, Jessica said, “Who do you think that asshole was? He was–” She yelped as I tugged her hair again and released her. I smacked her in the head as she straightened for good measure.

“What is wrong with you?” I grumbled. “Don’t talk to anyone anymore! This is a city full of adventurers. Do you really want to start fights?” I didn’t say anything about the bounty hunters that had been after me in Berber–it didn’t matter at this point. In hindsight, I probably should have changed my name, but the damage was done now. I could notice people around us that had been watching the entire exchange. If I changed my name at this point, it might come across as even more noteworthy than the show Jessica had just put on.

Noteworthy was bad.

“You don’t have to be so mean, boss,” said Jessica, rubbing her head. “I know Ludus is a physical sort of place, but I’m not into girls, and I don’t even know if I like it rough or not yet. Maybe we should move slower, you know?”

Christopher coughed, turning his head to study a suddenly-interesting wall. I kept my face neutral and suppressed the dismay I felt. Jessica was like a better-looking, physically helpless, smarter Yvadne. The shiner was crazy as a neu-weasel high on bangroot.

“What did I do to deserve this?” I asked under my breath, turning and heading towards the government building again.

Jessica followed, still rubbing her head. She asked, “What was that you said? My hearing is shit these days. I went through a phase a few years ago where I listened to Evanescence songs way too loud while trying to draw manga.

“That was a failed experiment, by the way. It turns out that buying a bunch of how-to-draw books won’t magically turn you into an artist. Drawing is also kind of hard work. Who knew? Nowadays I think I can draw like, a head with some crossing lines until I start on the eyes and get too frustrated to continue.

“I still had fun, though. You haven’t lived until you’ve listened to ‘Bring Me to Life’ on repeat for a few weeks at about 90 decibels.”

Behind us, Christopher shook his head and snorted. I flushed. Whenever I suffered embarrassment, there always seemed to be an audience. It was like a law of the universe at this point–had to be.

“Less talking, more walking,” I growled.

***

As it turned out, the government building hadn’t been all that helpful. It’d actually been a place for people to handle building matters for the city, but they’d pointed us in the direction of the nearby Adventuring Guild, which had its own building.

When we’d arrived, Jessica had just about been hyperventilating from excitement. After her first look around, she’d said, “A real adventuring guild!” Her hushed voice had been full of awe. After that, she’d muttered about a message or job boards or something and went to prowl around the outside of the room. Christopher tagged along with her, and with a sigh, I went to talk to the guild’s receptionist.

The Adventuring Guild in Hell’s Favor was as impressive as any other location. Huge, polished beams of wood crossed the ceiling and sported decorative glass housings for magic lights. Murals on the walls were painted of brave adventurers conquering dungeons or protecting Tolstey citizens.

Some of the artistic fixtures I saw were probably worth a small fortune. This wasn’t surprising, though.

Each country’s Adventuring Guild usually handled the majority of dungeon hauls from most adventurers in the world. Adventurers fueled the world with power in the form of magic stones, and most of that wealth went through adventuring guilds.

A few private companies did business with adventurers too, but the adventuring guilds were usually supported by their respective governments and could handle far more volume than any smaller company. Adventurers paid for the convenience with a lower profit margin, but from what I knew, most still preferred to do business with a country’s guild. The Adventuring Guild ensured a straightforward transaction with no risk of broken contracts or theft.

As I walked across the room, my eyes roamed across the glass cases full of monster parts and prizes that the guild had collected over the years. The display was probably supposed to be impressive and atmospheric, but I thought the whole thing was in bad taste. I hated monsters as much as the next Ludan, and body parts weren’t my idea of good room decorations.

Then again, some folks might like it. There’d been a psycho ember in the Kraken gang in Bittertown who’d worn body parts. She’d kept a string of ears as trophies from girls she’d killed. She might have been impressed by this room–too bad a Jackal had broken her club on the rotten-hearted bitch’s head a year ago.

Good riddance.

A cleaner was dusting one of the cases as I passed. An ugly man with twisted limbs, he was probably a pity worker. I gave him plenty of room in case he was diseased or something. It was nice the Adventuring Guild let the Unseen work there, but that didn’t mean I wanted to get too close. The cleaner watched me as I walked by, but I avoided eye contact.

The Guild receptionist, an elderly Terran woman, sat behind a desk reading a book. Her red and white hair had seen better days. It looked like she’d tried dyeing it in the past but had given up at some point, at least based on her roots.

I always re-dyed my roots every few months and used high-quality dye made from monsters in Jallen and Teteth. From what I understood, the raw materials used were a powder made from horn or something. Without the Adom sailors that somehow kept the shipping routes open, I would have been rot out of luck.

The dye was expensive, and I knew I was no shiner, but I still had my pride, dammit. Keeping my hair blonde was silly, but if I was going to do it, I’d do it right.

I cleared my throat, and the receptionist slowly turned to regard me. Her orange-and-brown uniform, probably standard for the Tolstey Adventuring Guild, was so heavily starched that the woman crinkled as she moved. “Yes?” she asked. Her voice was scratchy, and I wondered if she smoked tob-weed.

“Do you have maps here? I need directions. Either would be nice; both would be better.”

“Are you an adventurer? I am not authorized to hand out information to anyone who is not a member of the Adventuring Guild.”

“Yes, I own my own company.”

The woman frowned. “Then how do you not know how this works? I can tell you’re not local by the accent, but each country’s Guild functions more or less the same way.”

“I’ve been non-practicing,” I said, my face stony.

“Sounds strange, but not my problem. Prove your identity.” The woman tapped a silvery aluminum plate set into the desk.

I fished a small necklace out of my armored tunic and removed a little ring. The platinum band was the last physical item I still had from my childhood. Before my father had died, he’d made it clear that I was being groomed to take over the family business if I’d wanted to. He’d gotten me a membership in every guild and organization that would accept me at my age, and all of those credentials had been stored in this ring from my birth mother.

Of course, the little ring didn’t fit any of my fingers anymore, but I’d kept it. I hadn’t really talked about it with any of the Jackals other than Arren. The wealth the ring represented, and how different that chapter of my life had been...it still made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I felt a surprising, hollow pang of grief for my father as I laid the ring on the plate. It had been a long time since I’d experienced anything like that. The ring brought back memories.

It seemed like an eternity since I’d become orb-Bonded, I’d been assaulted with old memories at every turn. On the one hand, I was getting tired of it. On the other hand, I recognized that I was probably more at peace now than I had been in years, even with the constant danger of the past few weeks. It seemed I’d been carrying around a lot of baggage, and my old life getting destroyed had forced me to drop some of it.

“You need to keep touching the item,” said the woman, bored. “You really don’t know how to do this, do you?”

“Oh, got it,” I said, touching the ring.

After a few seconds of staring at something I couldn’t see, the receptionist grunted. “You are you, it seems. Nora Hazard. Your adventuring company’s name is seriously ‘Hazardous Blades?’ What does that even mean?”

“It’s a joke in English based on my last name.”  I didn’t add that my nine-year-old self had thought the name was brilliant.

The receptionist cocked an eyebrow at me before fishing around behind her desk. She produced a map and a couple printed booklets of information. “Here. I’m throwing in some information about the Hell’s Favor region in general since you seem kind of lost. Jobs are procured the same as anywhere else, all the countries on this continent are the same. I am assuming you know at least that much. If you are turning in any carcasses to be processed or trading monster parts, please go to the loading bay in the back of the building. If you track any blood or guts into the building here, you will be charged for cleanup.”

“Got it. Thank you,” I said. The receptionist nodded and returned to her book. That suited me just fine.

I headed back to the entrance of the building and caught Christopher’s eye, gesturing towards me. The man nodded and gently pulled on Jessica’s elbow. The fool girl had been hopping up and down on her toes, looking at something in a glass display case. I shook my head.

My two charges met me at the door, and I held up the maps and the books. “We got what we came for,” I said. “Now hopefully we can figure out where the half-assed map Enheduanna drew for me will actually lead us. Let’s go find a place to eat and somewhere to stay.”

I turned, moving towards the doors, ready to venture out into Hell’s Favor again.

“Can we stay longer? I just want to–”

“No,” I said, cutting Jessica off.

“But, this is an adventuring guild and–”

Chris put a hand on Jessica’s shoulder and shook his head. The blonde girl sighed but moved towards the door with us. I was relieved that Christopher was helping me but slightly irritated, too. I wasn’t sure where my annoyance was coming from, but I didn’t like it.

I mentally moved Christopher and Jessica higher on my imaginary priority list. My two charges were causing me trouble I had not expected. I had to give Jessica credit for trying to bridge the gap between us before.

In all honesty, I’d just realized that the Filipino man and the shiner were part of Hazardous Blades now. The name was a bit silly, but my adventuring company was real now. This was my new team.

It was time for me to start treating my new life seriously. If I was going to lead, I needed to know my people. It was time to get them at least some basic adventuring tools, too.

“Let’s stop to get you two some gear on the way,” I said.

“I thought we were broke,” said Jessica.

“We are. We may have to do an odd job or two, but one way or another, all of us need to get provisions and gear. It doesn’t matter how much money we save if any of us get killed,” I responded.

“I support this and agree. Let’s keep me alive.” Jessica nodded sagely, and Christopher shrugged.

With that settled, we left the Adventuring Guild and began looking for adventurer outfitter shops.

The Monster’s Heart

The inn we’d finally settled on, The Monster’s Heart, hadn’t been too bad. Our room had been larger than most of the others we’d seen. At first, Jessica had been surprised that we’d all be sharing a room together. I’d explained that we had a choice between one room for four days or two rooms for two days. It was an easy choice considering we would all have to keep close quarters while traveling together, anyway. The Earth girl had grumbled, but logic is logic.

Luckily, before finding the blessedly cheap inn, we’d found a supply store that had been going out of business–I’d been able to outfit Christopher and Jessica with basic adventuring gear. Their new tools weren’t fancy, but now they had a pack, a toiletries bag, a canteen, a cup, a mess kit, magic fire starters, and a bedroll. They both already had some extra clothes and a few other personal things from their time in Soron.

Outfitting my two charges had been truly fortunate, but things were looking grim now. After paying for our room at the inn, other than a pittance left for food, I was now completely penniless. The last of my money from Soron had truly run out. Being broke felt bad enough, but with two other people depending on me, I felt obligated to change the situation as soon as possible.

As soon as I’d settled into the room at the inn, I’d sunk into a chair with a tired wheeze. Jessica had collapsed on the bed, and Chris had sat on the floor on the other side of the room, his back to the wall.  I studied the map I’d gotten from the Adventuring Guild, eventually locating the region that corresponded with Enheduanna’s crude scribbles. It looked like Throat of the Sea was due north of Hell’s Favor by at least a couple days.

With that settled, I zoned out for a while, thinking about how to make money. The two pamphlets I’d gotten from the guild were dense with information, but I really didn’t want to bother with them right now. Instead, I placed them on the common table in the room and stared at the ceiling.

I must have dozed at some point. Despite my day not being all that long, it had been full, and I’d still been feeling a bit lethargic. As I was floating in a kind of half asleep-half awake state, someone cleared their throat, and I jerked awake. My eyes still closed, I listened for a few moments before deciding that my surroundings were still safe.

Old habits die hard.

When I opened my eyes, Christopher gestured at the sleeping Jessica, then again at the door. I nodded, and we left the room together, heading down to the common area.

The inn wasn’t large, so just a bit down the hall and down a flight of stairs, we found ourselves in the common room that doubled as a diner. “Sit, please,” he said, pointing at a nearby table. His Luda was as heavily accented as always, but I could understand him just fine. Much better than Jessica’s Luda, actually.

I shrugged and took a chair, idly toying with Eneus. Nothing I had done so far had made the mysterious spear become normal size again. Since Eneus was currently hanging like a piece of jewelry from my wrist and I’d left my cumbersome sword in the room, the only weapon I really had available was Vistvis on the back of my belt. Well, and the death ring. I realized I should probably come up with something to consistently call the ring. Such a powerful artifact really should have a name.

Christopher walked up to the counter of the inn, and I briefly wondered what he was doing. Then my curiosity was answered as I saw him fish a few coins out of a hidden purse to buy a couple drinks. I’d just assumed that he and Jessica were as broke as I was. It seemed like at least one of them had squirreled some money away.

The Filipino man set a glass down in front of me with a gentle tap on the wooden table, and he took the seat opposite from me.

“What is this?” I asked.

“It is lychee iced tea, one of your favorite drinks.”

My jaw dropped. “How did you know that?”

“It was in the letter from Enheduanna.” Christopher shrugged and calmly drank his own drink, something frothy and pink.

Damn Duanna… I thought, baring my teeth. I angrily took a sip of my delicious drink and said, “So why are we here?”

“To talk. Do you really like that stuff?” asked Christopher.

“What, this?” I said, pointing at my glass and taking another sip.

“Yes.” The tan-skinned man made a face. “I’ve tried a lot of bad things in my life, including balut, but–you know, actually, I just remembered all the other things Enheduanna wrote that you like. With your tastes, you might actually even like balut.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. I will just remember to buy you some food in the Philippines if we are all ever back on Earth.”

That made me pause, and I tried to hide my sudden uncertainty behind my glass. The man had just told me he intended to buy me something. Men didn’t really buy things for women much, at least not like that. In fact...the realization that my drink had been bought for me hit me between the eyes like a crossbow bolt.

A man had bought me a drink.

Suddenly intensely grateful for the glass covering my face, I tried to school my expression. I took a normal swallow, somehow avoiding coughing and sputtering.

It was just a drink, such a small thing, why was this making me act so weird? Just talking to a man wasn’t exactly difficult for me. Creator knew I’d been rejected from enough dates by men, and I’d had plenty of male friends. I was not a virgin, not by a long shot, and Christopher hadn’t really made any advances so far, anyway. He was also shorter than me, and had known Jessica, a shiner, for a couple years, and…

And he’d saved me.

Sure, Jessica had been there too, but he’d saved me from a monster…and he just bought me a drink. He was also talking to me like a person, not a Jackal, or a killer, or a street kid. He didn’t have any power over me, actually the opposite. He was just being...nice. The man had just invited me to chat, probably about Jessica, but this was new territory for me.

I took a moment to collect my thoughts, pretending to enjoy my tea. Honestly, there wasn’t much acting involved because it really was quite good.

After a half second of reflection, I decided I was probably getting all gooey because I’d never been treated before. Up until this point, I’d somewhat looked down on women who were treated or bought things. They always seemed like they were taking advantage, playing with the hearts of men, even betraying other women. Maybe that was just my look on it, but it was true that women rare enough to get waited on usually ended up a first wife, or famous for something or other.

Meanwhile, I was just...Nora.

I finally put my drink down and looked Christopher in the eyes. He met my gaze without fear, or lust, or really any expression I could recognize. His dark eyes were impassive as usual. Regardless of the man’s intentions, I decided that I wasn’t any less of a woman because someone was being nice to me. In fact, maybe it would be good if more people treated me with respect, gave me things without fear. I kind of liked this.

Respect. I knew comradeship, duty, and fear, but respect was a new one for me. In the back of my mind, I could almost hear the ghost of Arren nagging me, saying everyone had respected me, that I’d earned everyone’s respect over and over again in the Jackals.

“It’s not real unless you know it’s there,” I said softly. In fact, maybe I hadn’t thought I deserved it before.

“What was that?” Christopher watched me over the top of his glass.

“Nothing. I think I’m just being helped along by my Etiquette and Mind skills right now. I’m not usually this quick to figure things out for myself.”

“Skills?” he asked, his face scrunching up.

“How old are you anyway? I know about Jessica, but not you. In fact, I don’t know much about you at all,” I said, quickly changing the subject. My nerves were settling fast, but I’d just had to do a lot of thinking in a really short amount of time. I was vaguely proud of myself for it. Figuring out how I felt about personal matters usually took me a while.

“I’m twenty-three. I’ve been on Ludus for three years.”

“So why did you call me down to talk?” I said.

Christopher blinked. I’d thought the man would be more taken aback from the disjointed conversation so far, especially since he was usually so quiet, but he recovered quickly. “Oh, I wanted to talk about Jessica. She’s been acting crazy, and I wanted to let you know she is not stupid. She has had a tough time.”

I felt vaguely restless as I processed that. I said, “We were both there when we rescued her. You know I know what she went through. Why did you think you needed to talk about it now?”

“Because you’re our leader and you should know these things.” The man regarded me levelly, and I slowly nodded.

I said, “Alright. Thank you for the drink, by the way.” The man nodded, his dark eyes not leaving mine. “So how about this,” I said. “Tell me about Jessica, tell me about yourself, and then tell me the real reason you called me down here.”

Christopher showed no reaction for a full three seconds before his face split into a huge smile. He chuckled for a moment before schooling his expression back to a neutral look. “Okay,” he said.

I blinked. When Christopher had grinned, everything had changed. I wouldn’t go so far as to say he was handsome, and he still definitely wasn’t my normal type, but his smile had lit up the room. Instead of his normal, disinterested expression, he’d been open, warm, and he’d...glowed. For a moment, it was almost like I’d witnessed the person Christopher might really be.

I felt like I’d just seen Christopher’s heart, and just like Arren’s always had, it had put mine to shame. I hoped my cheeks weren’t reddening or anything like that–I was already swimming in embarrassment on the inside and I didn’t need anymore.

The fact that the man was shorter than me didn’t really matter anymore. I ruefully admitted that maybe my interactions with men could have been better in the past. My comfort around males close to my age might have been more limited than I’d been pretending. This little meeting was proving surprisingly challenging; I still felt a little flustered.

Christopher made a face, took another drink, and paused to think. I could imagine that the quiet man wasn’t the type to talk for long periods of time, so I let him sit without interruption. Finally, he said, “Jessica was really quiet when I first met her. I think it was because she’d never really killed anything before, but she’d had to use that ring of hers.” He pointed at the ring on my finger.

“Oh, that’s right. Does this have a name?” I asked.

“Jessica called it something weird. Hold on.” Christopher closed one eye while looking up at the ceiling for a few seconds, then hit his open palm with a fist. “That’s right–she said it was her Pewpew. I thought I misheard her before. But I saw her a few times over the last year, holding it out and yelling, ‘Pew, pew, pew,’ when she thought nobody was watching.”

“Pewpew? Really? Why?”

“I don’t know.” Christopher shrugged. “That’s what she called it, though.”

“Oh,” I said. I’d been hoping for a more...dignified or scary-sounding name.

Chris resumed his explanation. “Anyway, at first, Jessica was really quiet, but when she started taking classes with me, she acted out a little bit, but only once she’d figured out what she could get away with. With Jessica, you always have to remember that she is very smart. Sometimes she fools people because she says weird things, or confuses them, but that’s usually on purpose. Jessica is much smarter than either of us.”

I eyed him sideways. “You’re sure of that?”

“Yes. Jessica is smart, but she can also be immature. She pushes boundaries if she’s upset. Violence is not always real to her, I don’t think. The fact that people can really die on Ludus still seems to surprise her sometimes.

“She’s been blending in over the last year or so, just working hard and studying. But then she got captured, and afterward, I don’t think she knew how to deal with it. She heard bad things–saw bad things. I know she told you about her life back on Earth. Jessica is not used to this sort of thing, and she’s taking time to get better. If she doesn’t get herself killed, she’ll probably figure it out. She’s really too smart not to.”

I said, “That’s fine, but the stuff she’s doing is putting us in danger too.”

“Yes, and that is why I am telling you this. Jessica needs a friend and a leader, someone she respects. She really thinks you are amazing and will probably listen to you. I know you are probably not familiar with people that have such bad survival instincts, and I understand. But I think you might be trusting Jessica too much to act with common sense right now. Until she is settled from her capture, maybe think of her like...a really smart child. After she is better, she will still be different, but not crazy. Not so careless.”

I asked, “Why haven’t you tried to help her?”

Christopher sighed. “I have. I talk to her in private. I can’t really say or do much more now because I think my past is not really real to her. Maybe I should have told her more about me before. I think she also sees me like a brother.” He got a complicated expression on his face and pressed his lips together.

I almost asked how he knew about my past, but then I remembered Enheduanna’s letter again. Rotting crazy High Priestess! I mentally snarled. Out loud I said, “You believe you waited too long to tell Jessica about your past, but I still know next to nothing about you. She said a few things to me about you before, but nothing solid. Maybe this would be a good time to tell me more about yourself. Also, why do you act like we are the same sometimes?”

The Filipino man nodded and frowned. He muttered, “Dili jud ko ganahan ani na topic.”

“What?”

His eyes met mine. “I don’t really want to talk about this, so of course this is all I seem to talk about now. Fine. I was a chemical dealer’s son.”

“What?”

“I know, it–”

“No, what do you mean by ‘chemical?’” I interrupted.

“Oh, I used the wrong word. In English, it’s ‘drugs.’ Uh...shabu. You know?” Christopher sighed. “I should have known that this would be hard to explain. On Ludus, nobody cares about drugs–everything is the same here. Smoking, chewing, drinking, injecting, all of it.”

“No, I understand,” I said, shaking my head. “Some drugs are more powerful than others. My father explained to me about how on Earth, there are imaginary lines that people decide between what drugs are acceptable, and which are not. He also told me that the unacceptable ones are still used and usually cost more money because of the risk and crime involved.”

The tan-skinned man blinked at me. “That is basically correct, yes. Okay, maybe this will not be so hard. My father sold the unacceptable drugs. He made a lot of money. My family and my background were very different from most of my countrymen. Do you know anything about the Philippines?”

I shook my head no.

“I guess that is expected,” said Christopher. “This is a different world. It probably doesn’t matter if you understand all the details.” He gently tapped his glass on the table before speaking again. “I was born on Cebu, and I went to school in Canada. I’ve been to the United States and Australia. My family was living near Manila when they were all killed.” The quiet man’s eyes narrowed. “I was mad with my father at the time. Estranged. He knew I was ashamed of the family, and he thought I was being ungrateful. Now that it is too late, I think we were both right. I still hate him for getting the whole family killed, but I miss him, too.”

“Your family is dead?” I felt a sudden pang of grief. My sympathy for Christopher rose as I thought of my own father and all the things I would never be able to tell him.

“Yes. I was not there, so I still don’t know who did it. After I found out about my family, I had to run away since I was probably in danger, too. I could have been killed or questioned; it didn’t matter. There was an old safehouse I knew about on an island where I used to fish at with my father and my brothers. I lived there for a few months before I found myself here.” Christopher gestured around us.

“Because you wouldn’t be missed,” I said.

“That is what Jessica believes, yes. So now you know. I am the son of a drug dealer. This does not fill me with pride, but because of this, I learned many abnormal things. I also wanted to distance myself from the family business, so I did everything I could to spend time away. Sports, martial arts, as long as I was learning, my family let me leave and paid for my hobbies. I practiced how to fight, and I knew other boys from criminal families. There were times in my life I saw bad things, probably like you. That is why I am fine now, not like Jessica.”

I lifted one eyebrow, skeptical. In my experience, nobody ever got so immune to violence or grief that they could just turn off any reaction. Everyone found different ways to vent, even if it was by becoming self-destructive, or even more violent. Whenever I dealt with something truly shaking, I usually grew quiet and thought a lot.

There was a good chance that Christopher had his own quirks. I suddenly got a strong feeling that if I wanted to, I could nudge the conversation in two different directions–I somehow knew it was because of my Etiquette skill. After a split second to think, I decided not to push Christopher or call him out.

He could keep some of his secrets–we all needed a few, after all.

I said, “I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. So your knife, the one you fight with, you brought it with you to Ludus?”

“Yes, it is my karambit. I have had it for a long time. When I got here, it got rusty at first, but then the rust disappeared, and it’s been special ever since. ‘Blessed steel.’”

I whistled soundlessly. “I’ve never heard of that happening before. Nobody knows how blessed steel weapons are made, but I’ve never heard of a normal steel weapon just becoming blessed steel, not even in the myths and stories.”

“Well, they have to come from somewhere, right?”

“That’s true,” I said thoughtfully. I noticed that Christopher was done with his drink, and he was starting to meet my eyes less. I got a feeling, once again probably helped along by my Etiquette skill, that our conversation wouldn’t last much longer. I decided to get to the last thing I’d wanted to talk about. “Okay, so why are we talking right now? Sure, this was an important conversation so far, but not one you would have pushed for, I’m guessing.”

“Yes,” said Christopher. “You’re right. I need to say something simple to you that Jessica may not want to hear, but it is true.”

“I’m listening.”

“You need to leave us behind now.”

“What?” Of all the things I would have thought the man would say to me, this had not even been on the list.

“We came here so you can find orbs for Jessica and me. After we are orb-Bonded like you, we can help you. But right now? No, we’d just get in the way.”

“But part of my job is to keep you alive.” I gave the man a flat look.

“Yes, but you can’t do both. Think about it like this–would you have been able to fight the slavers if Jessica had been with you? You are strong, Nora. You are smart and you have much common sense, but you haven’t been around many people who are not like you, weak–and it shows. For now, I think you just have to trust us.”

“Even if I go, what about money? How will you and Jessica take care of yourselves?”

“The same as we did in Soron. We will work. Besides, this planet is full of disgusting plants we can eat, so starving isn’t really an issue, just violent death. We’re in a city full of adventurers, probably some of the most powerful in Tolstey, so monsters won’t be a problem either.”

I had to admit he had a point, and trying to imagine my fight with the slavers while protecting Jessica at the same time… After a pause, I finally said, “What you say is true.”

Christopher nodded and stood up, clearly assuming the conversation was over. He returned his glass, then went back upstairs. I was glad that he’d left me alone to think for a while.

I felt relieved and sad at the same time and wanted to figure out why. An hour later, when I’d finally finished my drink, I still wasn’t any closer to an answer.

Freedom Road

Being out on my own again felt surprisingly lonely.

Somewhat surprisingly, Christopher had succeeded–convinced me that I should head out solo during our talk the previous night. After Jessica had gotten up from her nap and had gone to the water closet, I’d had another few words with Christopher, and I’d snuck out of the inn early in the morning.

Chris and I had agreed that not telling Jessica that I was leaving would make things easier.

Being on the road again was lonely, but it was also nice to have time to think. I’d been traveling all morning, and as soon as I’d been far enough away from Hell’s Favor, I’d started air skating. Stretching out my muscles had felt good, and now I was quite some distance from the city.

I’d immediately noticed that my abilities were more powerful than before. In fact, I’d had to make an effort to limit the power of my Flight ability while air skating. I felt like if I wanted to, I could just lift right off the ground now.

In fact, I probably could. The thought made my heart race with excitement.

The dungeon I was heading to was fairly well-known, but to get there required braving rough, treacherous terrain. Because the Throat of the Sea was so dangerous to even travel to in the first place, most adventurers steered clear. Most likely, nobody had been to this dungeon in a long time. Luckily, getting there probably wouldn’t be much of a problem for me. In fact, the travel time from Hell’s Favor would take most adventurers more than a week, but I was hoping to get there in less than three days–even with time spent on training.

I’d been so curious about my new abilities that I hadn’t waited to test them out. While traveling, I’d been experimenting with my new power in multiple, practical ways. I’d immediately noticed that my tremble-sense ability was much stronger than it had been before. The effective distance was at least half again greater than I could remember, and it was more sensitive now, too. A couple weeks ago, I could only really sense yukka, or riders on zebra in the distance. Now I could sense groups of walking travelers. This had proven handy since I didn’t want to flaunt my orb-Bonded abilities.

Since most people didn’t go anywhere alone on Ludus, my tremble-sense ability had allowed me to make excellent time while still avoiding most other travelers. Most travelers I saw on the road carried weapons and warily eyed their surroundings. A handful of what I assumed to be merchants rode with extra zebras, or even carts pulled by yukka. They all had guards of some kind, hard-bitten adventurers and mercenaries that studied me with suspicion.

Hell’s Favor was at the most southern tip of Tolstey, not exactly the most populous area of Ludus. The city only really existed as a base for adventurers and a trade hub for magic stones, so the roads nearby didn’t have as much traffic as I was used to outside of a city. There was still traffic, though.

Right outside Hell’s Favor like this, I wasn’t really expecting to see many regular people, and I wasn’t disappointed. Most people that I saw not only traveled in groups for safety in numbers but were bristling with weapons. Even the merchants usually wore armor.

The only exception I’d encountered was also the only person to almost completely surprise me as I’d air skated. I’d barely caught a glimpse of movement over the hill ahead as I sped along and quickly ground to a halt. My tremble-sense had not alerted me of anyone there, and a moment later I had found out why.

A mouse-race Mo’hali woman walked serenely over the hill. She openly studied me, so I studied her back.

One of the first things I noticed was that she had no visible weapons. Physically, she was petite. Ornamental sticks in her dark hair poked out from behind her large ears. Her eyes had epicanthic folds, and despite seeming fairly young, she already had laugh lines forming. A lacy ribbon tied to her tail bobbed around as she walked. The female’s eyebrows were neatly trimmed, and I noticed that her ears were groomed as well. She was obviously Mo’hali, but also had refined features, giving her a more human appearance. She was probably upper caste from a powerful Clan.

My suspicion seemed verified as my gaze lingered on her rich green clothing, a robe of some kind. Various spots of colors and sigils on her outfit seemed to have meaning. I was no expert on Mo’hali culture; I just knew enough to avoid getting my throat ripped out. This woman had an air of power around her that immediately put me on guard.

Not only that, where were her guards? A Mo’hali woman of standing should not just be walking down the road with wooden sandals and no guards. The only explanation I could think of was that she was so individually powerful, or so capable that none of the monsters in the region posed much of a threat. On top of that, she’d have to have some way to take care of herself while camping, too. The thought was a bit dismaying. How powerful is this woman? I wondered.

As I walked by, I discreetly eyed the stranger, neither of us saying anything. I suddenly realized that others on the road probably thought similar things of me. I was just a young woman with a scarred face and simple gear traveling alone, after all. They could see my short sword, so I was obviously not unarmed, but I probably stood out too. Of course, they couldn’t know I traveled alone because I was confident in my ability to run away over the tops of the trees if I had to, and sleeping in a tree was extremely easy for me now.

I didn’t think my situation applied to the elegant Mo’hali woman. She didn’t seem like the type to run away.

Eventually, the stranger and I passed each other, and the pressure I hadn’t even consciously noticed before had passed. The encounter had been strange enough that I knew I’d be thinking about it later. As I air skated the rest of the day, I wondered who the lone traveler had been.

***

By the time I stopped to camp, I’d made excellent time, much better than I’d expected. The obvious reason for my enhanced travel speed was because now I could air skate faster, and I didn’t need to take breaks anymore. I’d never felt tired enough during the day of travel that I’d needed to stop air skating. Of course, my technique was a lot better now too from practice, and that probably hadn’t hurt.

I’d gotten lucky and ended up finding a travelers’ rest area when it had been time to stop traveling. Rest areas were usually just well-used clearings where people stopped to camp near the roads.

Because people were always camping at rest areas, adventurers usually cleared out any monsters nearby. As a result, the sites offered more safety than people normally experienced on Ludus away from towns and cities.

This didn’t mean they were actually safe, though. Several groups were setting up camps by the time I arrived, and each group already had someone actively on watch. Monsters weren’t the only thing to fear on Ludus, after all.

Each group eyed me when I arrived, but I had no intention of setting up camp in the rest area with them. I noticed some of them smiling, and a few looked mystified as I walked past into the forest. Being alone was probably strange enough but going off on my own into the surrounding woods was even odder. Of course, the same reason they all had someone on watch was partly why I didn’t want to stay; I didn’t have anything to steal, but they didn’t know that, and I didn’t want trouble. I also wanted to train away from prying eyes.

After traveling far enough away that I thought I wouldn’t be seen, but still close enough to be in the relatively safe area, I set up my camp. Making my bed involved tying a few bits of rope in a nearby tree to keep myself in place while I slept later that night. I’d learned this trick while traveling before. My belief was that I’d be high enough off the ground that ground-based monsters either wouldn’t notice me or couldn’t get to me. Meanwhile, I was deep enough in the trees that flying monsters wouldn’t notice me either.

So far the arrangement had worked, and I didn’t have a lot of other options. This was one aspect of traveling where Jessica and Chris could have helped. Of course, if I’d been walking with them, I’d still be way the rot back closer to Hell’s Favor.

After my shoddy bed was set up, I ate a quick snack of mysterious dried meat, courtesy of Soron. I also foraged some nearby edible plants. Then it was time to train.

I tested out each of my abilities in turn and discovered that all of them had become stronger. Some had improved more than others, but I had a strong feeling that I could work on them, develop them further like I had before.

For instance, my vib-blade ability was only a little stronger, but I could activate it much faster now. Using my Vibration power to make my sword cut better used to require some thought, but now I could activate it near-instantly. The ability also felt like it used much less of my available pool of power now.

The sense of how much power I had available seemed to have been refined in general. It definitely felt much more comfortable now, more like part of myself.

Finally, I worked my way down my mental list to the ability I’d been most excited about, and after only a bit of hesitation, I dialed down my weight to nothing...and kept going. I slowly began to rise.

Giddy, I tried lowering myself without actually adding any weight, and my body complied. “Wow,” I breathed. The sensation had felt natural, almost like I was swimming in water, but using my mind to do so. My body tensed as I used my power, but it was odd, more like my muscles were working in sympathy with whatever I was actually doing to make the magic work.

Then I tried rising again, kicking myself off the ground gently as I did so. Even moving slowly, I seemed to shoot to the tops of the trees in no time. What followed was an experience that words could never truly describe.

I flew.

Going too far above the treetops would probably make me too visible. I didn’t want to be spotted, so I tried not to fly too high up. I couldn’t wait to go higher, but it didn’t bother me much. There was plenty going on to distract me.

Just the feeling of weightlessness and movement was amazing, and I almost immediately began testing my limits. I soon discovered that I could not move all that fast, only about a slow run...but I was flying! What’s more, it was easy. The feeling I’d had before that the sensation was a bit like swimming seemed accurate–swimming through the air. I did a few acrobatic dives and weaved slowly through some trees, trying not to be overcome by the pure joy I was feeling.

I felt free.

Stress had been a constant companion in my life since I’d found myself alone on the streets of Bittertown as a child. Then when Arren had died, and I’d grieved for her, I’d felt even more alone, and the pressure had gotten worse. After accepting the burden of caring about strangers again, I’m surprised the weight hadn’t broken me. But now...now I felt light as a feather, happy and playful as a bird.

“Arren, I wish you were here,” I whispered. The words carried no sadness, no sorrow, though. I missed Arren, I’d always miss Arren, but I also knew in that moment that maybe she’d been right–and if she could see me now, she’d be smiling. A single tear tracked down my cheek, but I felt no shame, just a flash of chagrin. Sometimes I could be really stubborn, but as usual, Arren had been right.

Eventually, I noticed that the sun was starting to set, and I still had things to do. I had a decision to make. Since I’d started out traveling that day, I’d quickly realized that I didn’t have any spices left. This was bad. Spices were what made food on the road edible sometimes, so my current lack of anything to cook with was a problem. I’d been spoiled too much in Soron and on the airship.

The problem after setting foot on the road was that I’d had no money and no real way to get ahold of any spices...until now.

On the way through the rest area, I’d noticed that one of the groups had an open cooking area. They’d been traveling with a couple wagons, and some very interesting-looking bags had been sitting on top of a barrel.

I was no thief, but everyone was open to trading, right? “Right,” I said out loud. I took my time to prepare for a return to the rest area, letting night fall. From my pack, I’d produced and readied a fish hook and string. I also looked around in my belongings for anything of value, eventually finding an interesting stone I’d picked up from the road in the first few days of my journey.

“Huh, I almost forgot I had this,” I muttered. I considered the rock and finally decided that it would be perfect. The stone was so pretty. It was definitely valuable to someone.

I walked down the rest area, taking care to be quiet. Disturbing any of the travelers would be rude, after all. Then with a grin, I rose into the air again. My heart swelled with joy, but I stomped on it. This was a serious mission. I had trading to do.

Even after rising high into the night sky, I could easily see the campfires of the travelers below. I quickly located the group with the bags in the open. They likely had spices and maybe some other goodies inside.

No doubt the sentries were scanning upwards, keeping watch for flying monsters, but I was directly overhead. High in the sky, I’d be difficult to see. I lowered myself until I judged I was just the right height, then I began lowering my hook on the end of the fishing string.

The camp was bustling, and most of the travelers were eating. Perfect. This was a good time for trading. Working on a hunch, I sent pulses of Vibration power down my string as I lowered it, helping keep it oriented directly downwards in spite of the moving air. Finally, I was able to hook a bag.

I breathed deeply, watching the surrounding people closely until I judged the time was right. Then I yanked upwards as hard as I could, launching the bag soundlessly into the air. I pulled in my fishing cord as fast as I could. A soft hiss escaped my pursed lips as I released some slack, letting the bag drop down more softly and lowering the chances it would rustle or make any other noises.

Finally, I pulled the sack up and grinned at what I found inside. Salt and spices! Excellent. This had been worth trading for. I quickly removed all the contents of the sack and stowed them in an empty bag I’d brought with me. Then I nodded sagely as I placed the pretty rock I’d found into the sack I’d just emptied.

I carefully lowered the bag, taking extra care when it was near the ground to be fast, but smooth. Finally, the sack was back where it had been, and I smiled. I was no thief, so it was important that I traded fairly for the herbs and spices. Now I just needed to get my hook back.

It was tricky, but I finally managed through a combination of gently moving the string, and nudges of my Vibration power to free the hook. That done, I retrieved my line and rose high into the night sky again. Then I flew off towards my own camp.

In the dark, the place I’d just trained in was hard to find, but I eventually managed. I was tired now–my magical endurance was much greater than it had been, but actually flying seemed to take a lot out of me. I made sure my pack was stowed securely in my sleeping tree before I took care of my pre-sleep activities. That done, I put away my toothbrush and other toiletries, tied myself to my sleep tree, and settled in as best I could.

That night, I enjoyed the best sleep I’d had in years. I dreamed of delicious food, meals with my family. My father was still alive, both my mothers were there, and I was whole with no scars at all. Jessica and Christopher were there, too. Chris gave me a drink, the same kind he had in Hell’s Favor. In my dream, the drink made me fly.

When I woke the next morning, I smiled, completely content. Maybe everything might end up being okay after all.

Savage Cuts

Everything was definitely not okay, and my stress level had been steadily rising.

It was becoming obvious as I drew closer to Throat of the Sea that I hadn’t exactly thought through my mission very well. I’d made great time getting this far, and my training with my abilities had been going well, but I was also about to try assaulting a dungeon by myself–again. This fact hadn’t really settled until the night before.

“Father-killing, rotting, Dolos-blessed, hells-damned daughter of a sewer cleaner,” I cursed, the string of profanity coming easily as my thoughts raced. My gaze lingered on my ring.

It was bad enough that I was heading into unknown danger by myself, but my three most powerful magic items were either not working, or I couldn’t use them to their full potential. I’d been practicing with Pewpew more while traveling. The hit to my stamina when I used it was unfortunate, but it was also the most powerful weapon I had. However, past point blank range, I couldn’t actually hit anything with it. Activating the ring seemed to have a strange delay, and aiming something on my fist had proven to be surprisingly difficult.

My spear was also currently not a spear. Eneus still hung from my wrist, incredibly useless as a weapon. Lastly, my armor I’d gotten from Dingeramat was still just a bronze-looking scale tunic. I’d tried everything I could think of with the necklace and rings I’d found with it, but nothing continued to happen. To be fair, the armor had probably still saved my life before, but the fact that I was still effectively just wearing a really strong metal shirt was frustrating.

I growled, thinking about my weapons as I walked across a valley. The most dangerous portion of my travel to the Throat of the Sea would be coming up soon, and my gear was still not working. The only weapons I really had were my short sword and Vistvis at the back of my belt. My sword had been enough to kill the few monsters I’d encountered so far that I hadn’t just run away from, but I was already at a disadvantage by being alone.

Focusing on a single challenge at a time seemed smartest. Right now I was pondering my issues with Pewpew, my death beam ring.

The magic ring frustrated me, mainly because I knew I wasn’t using it to its fullest potential. If I used Pewpew once every hour or so, I could fire it all day without tiring myself out too badly, probably because of my stacked Endurance orb-Bonded abilities. Actually hitting anything with the ring though, that was another matter. The beam obviously worked up close, but I really didn’t have any ranged weapons, and for a one-woman-show, that was a problem.

I’d been wracking my brains for hours between my hourly target practice, but I still hadn’t come up with any solutions. Part of the problem was that I couldn’t think of any way to use my current orb-granted powers to actually improve my accuracy. Of course, if I’d chosen the powers that Muffin had suggested, I probably wouldn’t be having a problem right now, a fact she’d no doubt bring up later.

My mood was even worse now. I ran a hand through my hair before rubbing my chin. With a sigh, I looked up at the noonday sun behind some clouds and suddenly froze. I slowly shook my head again, feeling a thought on the tip of my brain. Shaking. Vibration…

What if...can I? I wondered. All I’d really done with my Vibration power so far was cause other objects to vibrate, or to read vibrations around me. But...what if I could vibrate myself?

The thought of using my power on my own body made me nervous until I realized that was already what I’d been doing with my Flight ability. Still, starting small seemed smart. I held out a hand in front of me and extended my finger. Then slowly, carefully, I pushed a small amount of Vibration power down my arm.

When I finally willed my finger to vibrate, at first nothing happened, but then I pushed harder, and my finger buzzed around in a way that Terran biology was never meant to move. Luckily, it didn’t actually hurt me, but I hissed and clamped down on my power. After the shock wore off, I smiled. At least it had worked!

Then I began walking again and focused on the new ability I’d learned. I experimented on what amounts of power I could send through my body and what effect they would have. Starting with only a finger, I graduated to my whole hand, and eventually, I was vibrating my arm and my hand all at once. Using my power through my body itself took a lot of concentration at first, but I grew better at it each time. My control became more refined, requiring less power and speeding up the activation time.

Finally, I was brought out of my experiments when I noticed shadows crossing my path. I frowned and looked up at the sky. Over an hour had passed!

The shadows had actually been cast from a nearby copse of trees, and I narrowed my eyes, glancing from the trees to Pewpew. I’d more or less succeeded at half of my half-formed idea, so the next test would be to actually try using it with the ring… “Okay, let’s do this,” I said out loud.

I held my fist towards the trees and pursed my lips. Pewpew was extremely powerful, but normally if I wanted to hit a tree, I’d try to swing my arm and activate the ring. The issue was that the timing might be off, or I’d miss altogether. Maybe I could make this work, though.

What was it Chris had mentioned that Jessica used to say? Pew, pew, pew, right? With a thought, I began vibrating my hand and arm, still keeping it pointed in the general direction of the small trees. Then I said, “Pew, pew, pew!” and activated my ring.

When the dangerous beam lanced out, it did exactly what I’d expected it to, zigging and zagging all over in the space of the heartbeat that it fired, but the result was far more devastating than I had imagined. My surprise was strong enough that I barely registered the ring’s hit to my stamina.

The trees had been obliterated. Pewpew’s beam had effortlessly cut through everything in its path, buzzing through anything it touched like it hadn’t even been there. Leaves and little branches were still falling to the ground as I watched. “Just how powerful is this thing?” I muttered. “Also, what should I call it?”

Eventually, I turned from the destruction I’d caused and shook my head. On the one hand, I was glad I’d thought of a better way to use my ring weapon. On the other hand, if I could use an attack like this, there were probably others on Ludus that could, too. If someone surprised me with power like Pewpew, what would I do? Would I be able to defend myself? Would I even be able to react at all?

Imagining any of my enemies with such powerful weapons...In the back of my mind, I wondered what someone like Lisa would do with a magic ring like Pewpew, and I shuddered. The fact that Lisa might already have the money and power to buy magic items like this suddenly made me feel much less powerful than I had been feeling the last couple days.

Knowledge really could cut multiple ways. The more capable I grew, the more I understood how magic and orbs could be misused. The world was a big place, and there was a lot of suffering. Not for the first time, I wished I could ignore all of it, but I’d learned something about myself while fighting the slavers near Soron. “Just have to be a rotting hero, huh?” I said to myself, spitting the word.

Saviors are usually suckers, I thought sourly. How had I let myself… I angrily shook my head and looked at Pewpew again. “Scatter beam,” I muttered. Not a great name, but it fit. I glanced back at the destroyed trees and felt uneasy. If I could do something like this as a second rank orb-Bonded, what kind of monsters were out there, just waiting for me to wander into them?

Christopher and Jessica were counting on me until we parted ways. I couldn’t let down my pack again. Resolve hardened, I mentally moved on to the next item on my list and began walking again. Merely walking instead of air skating covered much less ground, but also let me think easier.

Eneus hung from my wrist, just swinging from side to side. I’d already tried everything I could think of to restore the spear, from touching it all over, to gestures, even cutting myself and putting blood on it. Nothing had worked. After my success with inventing the scatter beam using Pewpew, I tried pushing Vibration power into the minimized weapon, but my power stopped and wouldn’t budge any further. “Strange,” I muttered.

While focusing on Eneus, I did an absent-minded gear check, a habit while on the road. As I touched Vistvis, I got an idea. I’d pushed Vibration power out of my body, and I’d sensed it before in different ways. Vistvis had spoken directly in my mind before, and warned me of danger by vibrating…

I placed my hand on the dagger and stopped walking. “Vistvis, can you hear me?” I said. Then I closed my eyes and used my Vibration power to listen. Nothing happened for a while, but I kept trying. Moving my power around this way was a strange sensation, but after a few minutes, I felt like I was getting closer to something...there! Suddenly I could hear Vistvis’ mental voice through my hand. Listening this way was odd, but now that I’d found the...frequency, the entire process seemed simple.

<–saying my name then just standing around, staring into space. Just like a Terran to–>

“I can hear you now, Vistvis,” I said.

<No you can’t,> she said. <Prove it. Say Extrapolation Theory.>

“Extrapolation Theory,” I said.

There was a pause for a moment, then Vistvis slowly said, <Well, this is unexpected.>

“For me too,” I said. “Before anything else, I want to thank you for warning me of danger before.”

<Yes, well, it is not like I had much of a choice, did I? You are always lazing around like the oblivious savage you are, and I have had the misfortune of my existence being tied to your life now...such as it is. I say, for such a strangely savage and, how should I say–rugged woman–you are surprisingly awkward. Most recently, the time you spent with that man Christopher would have made me run and hide in second-hand embarrassment if I weren’t made of steel. Were you expecting to be courted? Were you courted? Even I’m still not sure.”

And in only a couple seconds, I was reminded full-force of how little I liked my dagger. “Nice to talk to you again too, Vistvis,” I growled. “I’ve wanted to thank you for a while, and it seemed unfair that you could hear me, but I couldn’t hear you.”

<Of course. I probably won’t have enough power saved up to even project a single word for months. It has been awful. Do you know how exhausting and embarrassing it was to watch you be tricked over and over again by that perverted drake? Just how gullible can a woman be? Actually, is this a Terran thing, or are you uniquely that dense?>

Channeling my vib-blade ability through Vistvis would hurt her, or at least be uncomfortable. I gave it some thought, but then I gritted my teeth, reminding myself that I owed the obnoxious Areva woman my life several times over. Plus, she still had to exist as a dagger. The temptation to point that fact out was also something that I overcame–barely.

Apparently, there was really no such thing as small talk with Vistvis, so I cut right to the point. “I need Eneus to be regular size again. The ring is a good weapon, but I can’t use it very often,” I said, pointing behind me in the distance at the trees I’d destroyed.

<Yes, you seem very pleased with yourself about that. You know, I have been able to chat with Muffin a few times, I believe you know her? I will admit that I was apprehensive about talking to a real AI at first, but she is very frustrated with you. That was a sentiment I could understand.>

“I asked a–,” I began.

Vistvis kept talking. <She told me all about how you ignore her advice. Stubborn. If you had chosen, what was it–Energy Blasts, right? If you had listened to the AI, you could have probably easily destroyed some little trees like that without needing a powerful magic item and a bizarre use of your power, correct? Foolish.>

I closed my eyes, praying for strength. “And none of that is about Eneus.” I opened my eyes and grinned. “Maybe you just don’t know, and this is a waste of time.”

<How could I know? I am trapped in a dagger. But unfortunately, I have a portal view of your attempts at flailing through life. Oh, why did I get stuck riding on this primitive’s belt? Maybe I’d be better off if I were still alone in the dark. You’ve poked and prodded at the spear, but have you ever actually tried talking to it? You have an Areva woman’s mind trapped in a dagger on your body at all times, and this never occurred to you? Here is another clue, you should not try inhaling while your head is underwater. I have even more wisdom if you need it, like perhaps we should revisit your cringe-worthy conversation with that man Christopher? If– >

I let go of the dagger, and the voice blessedly stopped. With a heavy sigh, I worked for several minutes to control my temper. I was tempted to use my vib-blade power and drive the damn dagger into a rock, but like it or not, the terrible woman really had helped me before. Next time I had reason to talk to her, I was not going to let her spit acid at me, though.

What she’d said about Eneus actually rang true, as much as it pained me to admit it. I couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious when I said out loud, “Eneus, could you please change back into a spear?”

The little wooden stick hanging from my wrist practically leapt up into my hand and instantly became my spear again. I eeped and barely managed to grab the weapon before it fell. “Well, that was something,” I said. I shook my head, marveling at my spear. “What other secrets do you hold?”

I could almost feel Vistvis mocking me, judging me, but I dismissed it. The vile woman was a still trapped in a dagger, and I could choose whether to talk to her or not. But it seemed my time had run out. Looking ahead, I could see that I had reached the most difficult terrain of my journey, and any more time I had to ponder gear problems had run out if I still wanted to keep my schedule from before. With Eneus back in my hand and a new way to use Pewpew, I was definitely better off than before, at least. I was really good at running away now, too.

I squared my shoulders and air skated the last half mile before standing at the top of a cliff, soundlessly whistling at the broken land before me.

This was the Chasm Bog, a series of high, thin tables of land with a vile swamp between them. The swamp held nothing but danger and rot, so most adventurers would need to cross by staying up high, traveling between the land tables and cliffs using rope, or something else. Luckily, I could just jump.

I grinned and dialed down my weight, then combined my direct Flight power with a leap. Moving this way, it was incredibly simple to cross over the first chasm. The drop and the swamp below was a little unnerving, but I just reminded myself I could literally fly now.

“Eneus, wrist,” I said. The command was an experiment, but it worked! The spear shimmered, and suddenly I had a wooden totem on a bracelet again. I chuckled a little at that. Who could have known the solution was so simple? I wondered. Then my expression soured as I remembered Vistvis again.

The next few chasms I jumped across, I fought my urge to just drop Vistvis into the swamp below.

Soshell Call

I traveled for a while over the broken lands above the swamp, jumping from one patch of solid land to another. Navigating the bog was easy while using my Flight power, but disorienting, so I had no way to really measure how far I’d gotten. Based on the lay of the land, I thought I might be getting close to the dungeon, though. Then I heard crying.

At first, I doubted myself, thinking my ears were playing tricks on me. The bog was creepy to begin with, and strange sounds were not uncommon. I cocked my head and focused my hearing using Vibration power and heard the sound again. There was no question about it anymore - someone was crying. The sound was coming from up on top of a towering spike of land to the side, one higher up than mine.

The Throat of the Sea was probably directly ahead, but I shrugged and gave in to my curiosity. With a flex of my Flight power, I sprang to the top of the next spot of land and froze.  Before me was a hideous demon crouching low, a crude trident in its hand–and it was crying. When it saw me, it didn’t really react, it just kept sobbing.

The demon had leathery green skin, almost brown, and it looked like moss was growing on patches of its body. I didn’t know what kind of demon the creature was, but it looked like a turtle, with a beak and a shell. Its fingers were thick and topped with blocky claws. What looked like a leather helmet was lying on the ground at the demon’s feet, and its body had a belt and harness, but no actual clothing other than a loincloth. It had webbed hands and feet, and the top of its head was strangely flat and wet.

I stayed frozen, watching the creature’s body language–I couldn’t tell if it was going to spring at me or not. Maybe it wasn’t sure either. I carefully kept my hand still, not going for my sword. Of course, Eneus could be in my hand the instant I called for it, but that would take a second. I could also just step backwards and fall off of the cliff behind me...that would probably be my best option if the monster was hostile. In fact, I decided I should probably just do that, take to the air and kill the demon before it could warn its friends. But before I could take a step, I impulsively asked, “Why are you crying?”

To my surprise, the creature relaxed, sniffled, and nodded politely at me. Then it began speaking in a language I wasn’t familiar with. I shook my head. “I don’t understand,” I said. The demon choked, wiped away its tears with the back of a clawed hand, and spoke again using a different language.

I listened carefully and slowly nodded. I was not fluent in Japanese, and the demon was speaking strangely, but I understood enough. In broken Japanese, I said, “I understand some; please speak more slowly.”

The demon’s beady eyes widened then narrowed. It watched me, not speaking anymore. Suddenly, I received a message overlaying my vision that could have only been from my orb:

It is customary for the half shell reservoir headed hard beaked turtle demons to squat while talking to a friend.

That’s new, I thought, then I crouched down. The creature nodded and began speaking again, more slowly this time.

The prompt in my vision must have come from my Etiquette skill and was the first I’d ever actively gotten. I was still wary, and ready to roll back into mid-air in an instant, but I began to have a conversation with the miserable creature. Through spotty Japanese and hand gestures, I was able to slowly put the demon’s story together.

As it turned out, it was a he, and he called himself Looga. Looga was a kappa. He was not from the same tribe as most of the other kappas, the monsters that were actually inhabiting the Throat of the Sea. I was really close to the dungeon–it was only a few minutes away.

My blood ran cold when he told me how many other kappa there were. “Four score?” I whispered in Luda, shaking my head. Then I switched back to Japanese, “Why are you helping me?”

“Because I want to die, and those bad kappa have been bullying me,” croaked Looga. Well, actually he said three different sentences and hit his arm to help me understand one of the words, but I finally picked up what he meant.

This led to more confusion on my part, and more labored conversation. Despite talking to a monster, and communication being difficult, I found myself interested in Looga’s story. He had been brought to Ludus by a “shadow person” with a larger group of kappa, the Dark Rain tribe. Looga had actually been a prisoner, but he and a few other prisoners had been freed after arriving on Ludus, then mistreated, and now he was the last one left alive.

The Dark Rain tribe worshipped dark gods and practiced live sacrifices. They also ate “bad” flesh. I didn’t understand what the kappa had meant by that at first, and when I’d asked further about it, Looga had pointed at me, pinched the skin on his arm, and said, “bad flesh.” I frowned, understanding what he meant then–the Dark Rain tribe ate people, or at least killed them in ritual ways. At least this far out into the wilderness, I doubted they encountered many travelers. Thank the creator for small favors.

Looga didn’t believe in eating people but he had nowhere to go, and he understood that he was in a new, dangerous land. For days, he’d been thinking about throwing himself from the top of the cliff we both crouched on. He was all alone, surrounded by enemies that barely even allowed him to eat.

With the communication barrier, I knew I was not getting the full story, but the sad little creature radiated unhappiness. I was fairly sure he was being sincere.

I made a decision. “I hope I won’t regret this,” I said to myself. Then in my broken Japanese, I tried telling Looga about the Adom. I pointed the general direction to the coastline and told the pitiful kappa to follow it north to Port Solitude. “Don’t go west,” I said. “That way leads to the Dark Swamp.”

“I smell something bad from that direction,” said Looga, nodding. I could tell I had his full attention. The light of hope was growing in his inhuman eyes. “I need to go to Port Solitude? For freedom?”

“Yes. That is the port that trades with Teteth, where all the Adom live. When you get to Port Solitude, look for Chari or say her name a lot. Most people won’t be able to speak with you, but that name might help.” I wasn’t actually sure if mentioning Chari would help the little kappa much, but it was the best I could offer. I warned, “Whatever you do, don’t hurt any people.”

“No, Looga only eats fish,” Looga said, suddenly grinning. I noticed pieces of pale flesh in his sharp teeth and a few scales.

I made a face.  “Okay, you’d better be telling the truth. If I ever find out that you hurt a person, I will hunt you down and kill you myself.”

Suddenly, Looga’s eyes went flat, and he didn’t look so pitiful anymore. In that instant, I could see the monster underneath the pitiful creature I’d been talking to. The moment passed, but a part of me had gone bronze-hard, too. I couldn’t tell in what ways Looga could be dangerous, but I’d learned to trust my instincts. And there are dozens of these things waiting for me ahead? I thought with despair.

Looga seemed to have a similar thought. “You not go ahead. You die,” he stated with conviction.

“I have to go,” I sighed. The truth was that I’d been tempted to turn back, head back to Hell’s Favor and regroup. Unfortunately, I had no money, and there was no surety in life, much less in adventuring. I really needed to get the Duanna orbs for Jessica and Christopher. Not only that, if another group of adventurers cleared out the Throat of the Sea, they’d obviously take all the treasure.

Enheduanna would not be pleased, and I had a feeling that would be bad for me–very bad.

At least I could fly away if things got too scary, but that wouldn’t help me actually get what I had come here for.

Looga studied me for a moment, then grabbed a stick with his short, clawed fingers and began to draw in the dirt. “This is the bad nest,” he said. In the next few minutes, I learned all about the Throat of the Sea, and a bit more about kappas.

A plan started to form in my head. My plans were usually really bad, but this one just might work. Maybe I can do this, I thought.

***

It was still several hours from sundown when I found myself floating above the dungeon, familiarizing myself with its layout from above. Well, actually more like verifying what I’d already been told. Meeting Looga earlier had been a huge stroke of luck. Growing up on the streets of Bittertown taught me that life was hard, but sometimes lucky things could happen. Anyone who was too beaten down by the bad might let the good slip past.

But trusting blindly was stupid. After I’d gotten done talking to Looga, I’d flown high into the sky, hoping no flying monsters would spot me. Then I’d watched the pacifist kappa for a while as he’d traveled. It had been hard to keep track of him once he’d started swimming in the swamp, but I had still been able to tail him for a couple miles. Sure enough, he had kept heading towards the coast, not doubling back.

It was good to know that Looga hadn’t double-crossed me. My read on him had been that his disdain for the other kappa was genuine, so his honesty hadn’t really surprised me. If not, I probably would have blasted him with Pewpew.

A lot of other adventurers probably would have killed the monster on sight, but I’m glad I’d stayed my hand. The angry little kappa had been a goldmine of information. Now I even knew that he and the other kappa wore leather helmets to protect their heads. Without keeping their heads wet, they couldn’t breathe as well outside of water.

As I surveyed the dungeon below, I shook my head. Meeting Looga might have saved my life. At the very least, my job would be much easier now. Earlier that day, I’d been traveling with no information and no plan.

Now that I knew what the kappa were and how to spot them, I could see quite a few of them outside the dungeon. Most of their bodies were usually submerged, and they liked to hide their heads in bunches of foliage.

The dungeon itself would have been an absolute nightmare for a normal team of adventurers to assault. Throat of the Sea was basically an elevated lake in the middle of the swamp. It was surrounded by walls on all sides, like the broken land throughout the rest of the swamp, but seamless. The small lake wasn’t fetid like the surrounding water and would have seemed inviting if not for the way the surface was dotted with huts on stilts–kappa homes.

In the very center of the lake was an island with a large building made of concrete, the only permanent structure in the open dungeon. It was surrounded by stunted trees, and any adventuring party would have needed to pass through the water to reach it. I shuddered. The kappa were armed with bone tridents, stone hatchets, and their formidable natural strength. They were also fast as rotting oblivion. I’d been shocked when Looga had finally skittered away, moving like a shelled lizard.

But worst of all, most kappa carried blowguns. Looga had shown me his and told me that back wherever they’d come from, the kappa would dip their darts in poison from frogs. Those frogs didn’t exist here, but in the Throat of the Sea, they’d found an eel they could use. As a result, the kappa were fast, strong, organized, and spit poison darts. They could blend into their surroundings, run and swim faster than a human, presented small targets, and had sharp claws and a crushing beak. Unless I was high enough in the sky, the little rotters would probably be able to hit me with dozens of darts. The darts were fragile, but I wasn’t completely covered with armor. Looga had said that the poison the kappas used on Ludus was very potent.

At least none of them could use magic. Thank the creator for small favors. Assaulting the dungeon alone might have been suicide. Luckily, I was currently cheating.

High above the lake, I scanned the area again, making sure I hadn’t been spotted. There weren’t many kappa visible in the dungeon itself; at least half were sleeping during the day. I’d learned from Looga that the kappa didn’t all sleep at once, so I’d decided to act immediately while I’d still had light. The majority of kappa that were currently awake were guarding the outside of the dungeon since that’s where they’d normally be needed. Most adventurers couldn’t fly, after all, and the kappa had probably never encountered anyone that could.

Some of the information that Looga had given me hadn’t been all that useful, like that the kappa had been promised riches and slaves if they managed to protect the dungeon’s treasure for 20 years. In fact, the way I was approaching the dungeon now was probably what I would have done anyway even if I hadn’t met him. Trading with the merchants back at the rest area is really what had given me my current idea, after all. But it sure hadn’t hurt to know exactly what I was walking into.

The building in the middle of the lake was obviously of interest, even without what I already knew of it. I moved over the top of the building and looked carefully below. There it is! I thought. Looga had told me that the kappa kept all the dungeon’s treasure in the topmost room of this permanent building, basically the hardest place to get to in the entire dungeon. But their logic was based on the idea that thieves and attackers would be walking or swimming...not flying.

Despite the danger I was in, I grinned.

I had to work fast. Hovering in the air above the building, I’d be seen in an instant if any monsters happened to look up. There was only one security measure I had to disable. The kappas had placed an ordinary-looking item on the upstairs skylight leading directly into the treasure room, and I needed to move it. I took my fishing hook and string out of my pack, and similar to how I’d used it to trade a couple days earlier, I lowered my hook hand over hand, then gently levered a stick off of the window.

Looga had told me that the stick would react to being touched by flesh, or moved within a dozen feet of any thinking being. The obvious solution I’d come up with was to move the stick from outside the twelve-foot detection range. I was easily twenty feet up, and no alarms were sounding. Just in case, I’d been ready to fly straight upwards as fast as I could, but the dungeon lake surrounding me was still peaceful.

After the stick was completely moved out of the way, I lowered myself to the concrete roof, using my Flight ability to land gently. I had a little bit of oil in my pack to service my weapons. Just in case, I put a few drops of the oil on the skylight’s hinges. Then I mentally counted, one-yukka, two-yukka, all the way up to twenty. Finally, I slowly, carefully levered up the window, then lightly jumped down into the treasure room, using my Flight power to land soundlessly again.

I quickly scanned the room, looking for threats. When I verified that I was alone, I took my hand off Vistvis and lowered my fist with Pewpew. My skin crawled from the danger of being in the middle of an occupied dungeon. I clenched my jaw, focused on my mission, and did a quick search for what I was there for.

The room’s treasure was kind of haphazardly stored everywhere. Two stacked crates of magic stones stood in one corner. Three boxes of odds and ends from Earth and items I assumed were from Areva and Mo’hali worlds were shoved against the walls. A few weapons were propped in the corner. Two suits of armor, one black leather and one thick bronze, stood proudly on display. All of it was too bulky for me to carry, or would make a racket to move, so I ignored it.

I found what I was looking for on a table to one side of the room. Two sacks were lying on the table, open, and I could catch a glimpse of the kind of boxes that held Dolos orbs. I could only assume that these might be the Enheduanna orbs.

After crossing the room and opening the boxes, I verified that two Duanna orbs were there. I quirked one side of my mouth as I placed the treasures in my pack. I turned, preparing to leave, but suddenly caught a glimpse of metal from the other sack. Looga had told me that the less treasure I took, the less likely the other kappa were to notice that I’d been there, but my curiosity got the better of me.

Plus, I could fly, right?

I glanced into the sack and saw a few pieces of jewelry with tags attached. My eyebrows rose. Stores that sold enchanted items usually attached paper labels like this to list the item’s name and other information. I flipped a label over:

Ring of Breathing

Wearer of this ring may generate an air bubble to breathe for about five minutes.

Activation button on the inside band.

Can be activated five times per week.

Used. One more owner available.

“Wow,” I said under my breath. The ring would be useful, but would probably also sell well. Then on impulse, I put the entire sack in my pack with its fellow that held the orbs. This treasure was light, would not slow me down and was probably still too small for the kappa to notice. In fact, even if they did realize I’d been there, I’d be long gone already.

I could feel my eyes twinkling as I floated up to the skylight and left the room. It was true I was pleased with myself, but now it was time to get the rotting damnation out of there. That was almost too easy, I thought as I flew away.

It was nice to know that things could work out sometimes in life. I almost felt like humming, but that would be stupid. Instead, I silently flew as fast as I could, making a beeline back for the relative safety of the main road to Hell’s Favor. My plan was to get at least a mile away from the dungeon, then jump from cliff to cliff again to escape the bog.

The sooner I could start air skating back towards Hell’s Favor again, the better.

Reversal

I woke in the tree I’d gone to sleep in the night before. My instincts were screaming DANGER at me, so even as my eyes flew open, I kept the rest of my body still, silent. The early dawn light was dim but enough to see by. Vistvis soundlessly buzzed at my belt a few minutes later, but her warning had been unnecessary–I was already wide awake. In the dim light, I spotted movement and could barely see kappa creeping around through the forest.

How had they found me? I wondered woodenly. Waking up to danger had cleared my head like a shock of cold water, and I hadn’t even had time to feel any fear–my thoughts were clear. My mind raced, and my eyes narrowed when I realized one way the creatures might have followed me, and one way I’d been careless. When I’d left Throat of the Sea the previous day, I’d flown directly towards where I’d come from. If I’d traveled the wrong way first, then changed direction, anyone or anything that had been watching would have had a harder time following me.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, I mentally hissed at myself. I’d made a mistake. Some distance away, I noticed a kappa climbing a tree and I tried to will myself to blend in with the branches of my own. There was no way the little demons could have found me so fast without some sort of help.

I began to wonder how in the world the kappa could have tracked me down so precisely. After all, they lived in a swamp, so they couldn’t be great trackers, right? As I thought about it, I was able to recall old adventuring stories I’d read as a girl, my memories crisp, easily obtainable. I couldn’t be sure if my enhanced memory was the result of adrenaline or a benefit of my orb-granted Mind ability, but it was a good thing either way. After a few moments of recalling stories I’d read in my youth, I decided I might be carrying a tracker that the creatures had somehow planted in the treasure.

That realization didn’t do me much good now, though. Even if I dropped everything I’d taken from the dungeon, the kappas would still spot me and give chase. I already knew they were fast from watching Looga move, but the fact that the demons had caught up to me was disturbing. They could not have known where I was and would have had to search for me even if they had a tracker. I’d traveled a long distance before making camp by basically hopping my way to dry land, then air skating towards the main road. Somehow, the kappa had crossed the entire Broken Bog, and still managed to catch up to me on foot.

The monsters were about to find the remains of my hastily hid camp, so I needed to make up my mind soon. Simply flying away was out of the question. I was still too slow, and I was sure the creatures could swarm up the trees and put dozens of blowgun darts into me. My healing abilities were probably better than before I became rank two orb-Bonded, but I had no confidence in my ability to survive deadly poison.

I wish I could activate my damn armor! I thought. My teeth clenched in frustration and I snaked my hand slowly backward to take hold of my pack. At least Eneus was still around my wrist, and my other weapons were sheathed. The habit of packing up before sleeping was paying off, too.

In order to escape, I needed to free myself. I gingerly drew Vistvis and put the blade under one of the points securing me to the tree. It would be a shame to waste my straps, but it would be a greater shame to die while tied to a tree. I activated my vib-blade ability through the dagger and winced, thinking about how Vistvis would react. Rewarding her warning of danger with pain seemed rotting unfair, even if she was a dung-mouthed Areva bitch.

The blade barely whispered as I made the cuts. After I was free, I held onto the dagger. Sheathing it would create too much noise and motion. I glanced down at the encroaching monsters and felt my heart speed up. The kappas would be beneath me at any moment. At this point, I knew the only course of action I could take, but it would be risky.

Really, the only way I could avoid getting hit by darts would be to move fast and never travel in a straight line. When I’d been a girl in Bittertown, sometimes groups of street kids had turf wars and would throw stones at each other. What I was about to do would be like a grown-up version of my past experiences, but fighting kappas instead of the Eastside father-fuckers. Creator, I still hated those little buckets of rot. Even after all this time, I still hoped they had all caught fall fever and died before they’d reached adulthood.

Or maybe Yvadne had killed some. That would have been okay, too. The no-relax-switch shiner might have actually done something right if she had.

When it was almost time to act, I shook my head to focus. After a slow breath, I dropped into my null time state of mind–this was going to take every grain of concentration I had. At just the right moment, I threw my pack over a shoulder, rolled off my tree limb, and fell towards the ground. Acting quickly, I shouldered my back, then used my Flight power to adjust for my fall. I also drew my short sword on the way down, channeling vib-blade power through my weapons.

As I landed, my sword lashed out and took a kappa’s head from its shoulders. My blade had almost not made it through the creature’s tough neck, and I grunted in surprise. These things are tough! Without pausing, I spun to plant Vistvis into the bony chest of another monster. Then I darted forward, cutting a couple more kappas’ legs and killing one more after slamming Vistvis sideways through its throat.

Then before any of the creatures could react, I ran like hell.

All my practice with air skating probably saved my life. Even dodging and weaving around trees, I could hear the kappa blowgun darts buzz around, sometimes striking tree limbs or other obstacles before they could hit me. I sprang over logs, air skated between trees, and desperately kept track of the vegetation. Snagging a stick or vine with a toe and face-firsting into the ground would be a death sentence.

I raced through the woods, heading toward the road to Hell’s Favor. My half-made plan was to find the road and lead all the kappa to a group of adventurers, and then air skate away while the kappa retreated or were dealt with.

By the time I’d found myself in a large meadow, fewer darts filled the air–the kappa must have been running out of projectiles, but I had to assume at least some would be smart enough to keep a few spares.

I dashed madly from side to side, sometimes air skating upwards, letting my trajectory take me high over the ground while darts buzzed through the air beneath me. Somehow, even while running for all my worth, I managed to sheath my sword and dagger. “Sorry for the vib-blade, Vistvis!” I yelled.

At this point, if I hadn’t been orb-Bonded, I would have already been exhausted, but luckily, I was only lightly panting. The extra Endurance abilities I’d purchased were really showing their worth. When I chanced a glance back, I growled. I was slowly pulling ahead of the chasing kappa, that was good, but the little rotters were fast as greased shore snakes. If I hadn’t been orb-Bonded, there would have been no way I would still be alive. We were running at least as fast as zebras.

Suddenly, a gnarled green kappa burst up from the foliage directly ahead of me, inhaling to fire its blowgun at me. How had it–I thought, but my body was already reacting. My arm with Pewpew straightened, and I triggered a scatter beam, vibrating my arm while firing the deadly, enchanted ring.

The hapless Kappa practically dissolved, turning into red mist and dozens of different body parts. Pieces of offal were still falling as I air skated right through, keeping my eyes and mouth shut.  Once I was past, I wheezed, “Pew, pew, pew,” my gallows humor preceding the aftershocks from using the ring. I groaned. Air skating while enduring the wave of exhaustion from Pewpew was even worse than sprinting with women’s cramps.

Finally, I broke through another patch of denser vegetation, bursting into another large meadow. I turned on all the speed I could, trying to widen my lead on the kappa. Blowgun darts still buzzed through the air nearby, but the kappa had mostly stopped shooting them now. The monsters had to be getting tired, and I was too far ahead at this point to really hit. Good.

I ran and air skated for all I was worth towards the distant road. The sun was up at this point, so hopefully, there would be travelers moving around. My half-formed plan depended on encountering some adventurers or guards, but if I hit the road and nobody was there, I’d just head towards Hell’s Favor.

“Why me?” I wheezed. I’d never heard of monsters leaving dungeons to pursue adventurers before. Then again, I’d never heard of adventurers sneaking into dungeons to take treasure without a fight, either. Any adventurers who had tried were probably either already dead, or weren’t telling anyone their secrets to getting rich.

I laughed at that, my voice shrill even to my own ears.

***

When I got to the road, nobody was there. Figures, I thought. Luckily, by this point, I had a lead on most of the turtle-looking demons chasing me. When I glanced back, the ones I could see were definitely looking tired. This was one situation where it was good to be Terran and helped explain why Areva and even Mo’hali feared Terrans only second to Fideli. It was true that we generally had good endurance, could think even while under extreme pressure, and could make weapons out of just about anything. Hell, Terrans on Earth even trained animals for war, and I’d heard of Terran adventurers with monster familiars.

I was still alive, still running, but my strength was beginning to flag. In fact, I knew I would need to stop before too much longer. My pursuers looked more tired than I felt, which was good, but the frantic pace had been wearing me down. Taxing my body and my Flight power at once was definitely taking a toll, and I couldn’t count on the kappa to falter before I did.

While running, I’d tried to keep track of where the creatures were behind me, and I’d caught sight of some strange behavior. It seemed Looga had been telling the truth about how kappa needed to keep their heads wet, as strange as that was. Some of them occasionally poured water directly on top of their leather helmets from skins they carried.

The road to Hell’s Favor was hard-packed earth with potholes here and there, so I could air skate with less danger of tripping. I didn’t dare go too high, both because it made me an easier target, and because I needed to actually kick off the ground in order to maintain my speed.

Finally, I caught sight of some travelers ahead, moving towards me. They were too far away in the distance to make out details at first, but they’d obviously seen me approaching at speed, and had probably noticed the monsters chasing me. Travelers on Ludus tended to be wary, after all.

The strangers had begun spreading out in an organized way when I lost sight of them as the road dipped. When I reached the level of the main road again, I was close enough to clearly see the group of travelers before me.

Four dark-furred, feline Mo’hali stood shoulder to shoulder with shields raised and bronze-tipped spears bristling. Their inhuman eyes were stern, and even from this distance, I could see their fur standing on end. Behind and to one side stood a Mo’hali woman. Despite my fatigue, my eyebrows raised in surprise as I recognized the mouse-race woman I’d seen days earlier.

I got closer and prepared to air skate to the side and hook around through the forest to get by, but my stomach churned. There were still dozens of monsters behind me. The Mo’hali warriors and the traveling woman were not my enemies, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. These things happen–life is not fair.

Part of me knew that all of this was true, that everyone got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time at some point. The course of action I was taking made sense. After all, my life was more important to me than the lives of others...but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Finally, I reached the point where I had to turn off the road–but I didn’t. Panting, I growled and snarled, “Rotting hero, rotting stupid yukka shit.” I spun around before reaching the waiting spears of the Mo’hali and faced the chasing turtle demons. The demons looked sort of stupid, like bestial children playing with weapons, and they weren’t all together anymore, our chase had widened their ranks–but they were still very dangerous.

What in the rot am I doing? I wondered. “Eneus, spear!” I called, and the weapon jumped into my hand from my wrist.

I threw my pack to one side of the road. Part of me was in disbelief, watching myself prepare to fight. Playing the hero was always for fools. On the other hand, I knew better than to ignore my instincts. If I’d run away, I would never have forgiven myself. Deep down, I knew why I had to do this, why I had to risk death instead of doing the right thing in this situation. Plenty of people had just watched me struggle to survive in Bittertown or even made my life worse, and I refused to ever be like them.

This would probably kill me, but I’d made up my mind. If it was time to die, at least I could take some of the rotting father-fuckers with me. “Hazard!” I screamed, and reversed my earlier direction, now running towards my foes.

Some of the kappas’ eyes widened, and I grinned.
I wondered who was more surprised that I was attacking–them or me.

Bloody Wind

After I’d actually decided to fight, it probably would have been smart to try joining the Mo’hali spearmen for strength in numbers. But it didn’t seem right since the whole mess was my fault to begin with. Not only that, I didn’t trust Mo’hali. The fur faces didn’t think like me, they were always touchy as wet demon wolves in the cold, and some of them had a habit of killing people that offended them.

Which sometimes seemed to be everyone. Rot that. I’d rather die on my feet.

“Hazard!” I screamed, impaling a kappa right through the sternum with Eneus. This time, I’d used almost all the power I could put into my vib-blade ability since I knew how tough the little fuckers were. My spear punched through the demon like it hadn’t even been there, and I withdrew my weapon to spin and kill another.

I threw myself deeper into my floating time, almost entering a trance. The strange sensation I’d felt before was stronger this time. Maybe I was using my natural power...if I even had a natural power. But as I watched the kappa fight, I knew how they’d use their weapons, even sensing where the blowgun darts would fly.

A chill ran up my spine, and I suddenly realized that I was experiencing something similar to what had happened when I'd fought Lisa so many years before. Floating time was usually cold, and that time had been hot, fierce, but now I could sense the similarities.

My deadly duel with Lisa had been the most savage moment of my life, even more so than my fight with Eggshell had been back near Soron. The day I'd tried to kill Lisa, I'd even scared myself. Floating time, my natural abilities, and maybe even the mad state I'd entered while battling my old mentor were all connected, but I didn't want to go too far, even if it cost me my life. Since I could feel that scary place, the red haze, in the distance of my mind, I slowed my descent any deeper.

I was still deep enough that floating time seemed to expand like my mind was drifting free. Somehow, I knew what the kappa were doing around me, but not because I could see them, no, I just knew how they would fight. I’d seen how they held their weapons, how they breathed. Their attacks made sense to me, and I could understand their movements. This meant I knew where to be, what to do.

Sound seemed muted, echoing strangely as I fought. I spun and planted Eneus in the ground against my boot; the braced spear blocked a stab by an angry, beaked demon. With my other hand, I drew my short sword and lopped off another enemy’s arm. The motion shifted my body, letting a blowgun dart harmlessly pass where my body had just been.

My armored tunic probably would have stopped the projectile, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

The next few moments should have been terrifying, should have felt manic, but in the middle of my floating time, I felt calm and alive instead. It didn’t feel like I was dealing death–I was dancing, or exercising. My body flowed from stance to stance, striking and blocking in a liquid rhythm. Every movement I witnessed the kappa make taught me more about them, and each individual had their own style of combat that I read in a glance.

Blowgun darts buzzed past, but I knew how to move at any given moment–I could read my enemies’ movements. The little demons were surrounding me, but in the moment, they were more of an annoyance than a real problem. Then I realized that I’d been so caught up in the moment that I hadn’t been paying attention to the demons not actively trying to kill me. Some of them were starting to run past my position to get to the Mo’hali.

My weird, elevated battle sense wavered and cracked, throwing me back into my normal floating time. To my side, a monster jabbed a trident at my head, and I barely avoided the attack. A dart pinged off my armored tunic from behind and I hissed. Whatever strange state I’d managed to find earlier was obviously gone. Now some of the kappa were ignoring me to attack the Mo’hali.

I found this insulting.

A crossbow bolt slammed into a kappa’s forehead, and I glanced back, verifying that two of the Mo’hali spearmen had produced hand crossbows from somewhere. The deadly little weapons were probably too powerful for a normal Ludan or Terran to span, much less an Areva, but the big, furred warriors handled them with ease. The Mo’hali were about to be overrun, though. The four warriors prepared for the charge, but the kappa were too fast, and there were still a lot of them. I’d killed a few, but dozens remained. The rest of the stragglers were about to arrive to the fight, too.

“Hazard!” I screamed, and sprang backwards, air skating to the rear. I threw Eneus at a blowgun-wielding kappa taking aim at me, and my spear must have powered itself somehow. The weapon inexplicably hit with such force that the hapless monster's upper body practically came apart. There was no time to marvel at the display, so I didn’t stop moving. I dodged a couple trident strikes and chased down the lead kappa that had almost reached the Mo’hali. The creature didn’t notice me until I’d used my greater height and the full force of my body weight to slam Vistvis down through its back.

Kappa blowgun darts flew, one bouncing off my sword. The Mo’hali raised their shields to protect the mouse-race woman behind them, and more darts pinged off or stuck into their defenses. I turned and air skated neatly to the side, lining up a shot and–there!

My voice hoarse, I yelled, “Pew, pew, pew,” and triggered a scatter beam attack. The three kappa I’d aimed at were utterly decimated, reduced to pieces. Unfortunately, the grisly sight would probably be the last thing I’d ever see. Enough of my weird, earlier battle-state awareness remained to know I couldn’t avoid the next volley of blowgun darts.

Playing the hero was stupid, but I was still content with my decision. I’d fought well, and my enemies had paid dearly. Even knowing I was going to die, I still would never go down without a fight! I held out a hand for Eneus, yanking the spear backwards towards me with its enchanted cloth. There wouldn’t be enough time to throw the weapon before getting hit by darts, but I cocked my arm back anyway, cringing and waiting for the hail of poisoned projectiles to turn me into a Nora cactus.

A second later, I realized that somehow I wasn’t dead. Then I opened my eyes and blinked. A swirling wall of fog separated me from the remaining kappa, and even as I watched, tiny, violent gusts swirled through the center of the wispy wall in a circular motion. The demons on the other side were obviously still shooting darts at me, but their weapons couldn’t penetrate the fog.

I panted in exhaustion, all the running and fighting catching up to me at once. Sweat dripped from my brow, and the aftershocks of fighting for my life hit me at the same time as the spike of fatigue from using Pewpew. I gritted my teeth and endured it, blinking rapidly.

The mouse-race Mo’hali woman walked up next to me a moment later, her clothing pristine and in perfect order. “It took you long enough to separate yourself from them,” she said, her voice soft, but pointed.

I glanced from her to the visibly relaxing Mo’hali warriors, to the wall of fog, and I understood. “You did that,” I said, my tone halfway between a statement and a question.

“Indeed.”

Then the tiny, furred woman formed her hands into claws and began moving them in sinuous patterns that made my hackles tingle. The hair on the back of my arms stood on end, and the air around us began to crackle. The remaining kappa felt the change too and stopped trying to get through the fog bank or move around it. They were looking around for new threats, pointing their tridents in every direction. Some of them glanced nervously again at the fog wall before backing up, beginning to slowly move away.

Without warning, ropes of air slashed out in every direction, moving in time with the Mo’hali woman’s hand motions. Her movements stayed precise but became more savage, and I winced in sympathy as the magical lines snapped forward, wrapping around the kappas’ limbs and began to tear them apart. Then my jaw dropped as I saw something I never expected to actually witness in my entire life; the woman rose into the sky supported by nothing but the wind whipping around her clothing.

Only the most powerful Air school mages on Ludus could fly, which was part of why my orb-Bonded abilities were so astonishing at only second rank. But Mo’hali people could not be orb-Bonded, which meant the woman hovering next to me was a natural mage, and she had enough raw power to be famous if she chose. Maybe she already was.

I gulped and glanced back when I heard scuffling sounds. The Mo’hali guard were backing up, their ears back and teeth bared in nervousness. I wished I could run away, but I had to stand firm. The situation reminded me of meeting Jadanak the drake back in Berber, but I’d gained wisdom since then. I could do nothing against the kind of power I was witnessing, but I could learn from it.

The kappa that tried to run died first, ripped apart or cut by blades of air. A tendril of fog snaked out from the cloud bank protecting us and joined the air that held the mage aloft. She rose higher, her arms spread wide, eyes shining white. Then she slashed twice with her hands and made a circling motion.

A howling tornado descended from the clear sky, touching down among the kappa. The funnel was somehow infused with mist, making it look even more terrifying. Thick arms of fog darted out from the tornado, grabbing the surrounding kappa and pulling the screaming, turtle-shelled demons into certain death. The howling funnel slowly grew larger, and the nearby monsters were drawn towards it even as they struggled in vain to escape.

Meanwhile, on my other side of the protective fog bank, the air didn’t even move. I watched with wide eyes as the deadly tornado began to darken, taking on a crimson hue with the blood of slaughtered kappa.

Thunder boomed in the previously cloudless sky above, and a bolt of lightning shot down, blasting through the red-tinted funnel. The Mo’hali mage slashed a few more times with her hands, presumably killing the last few demon stragglers I couldn’t see, then held her hands like she was lifting something before throwing them towards the sky. The tornado immediately stopped turning, and all of its power channeled into a single direction, flinging away everything that had been inside.

A hail of monster parts and broken weapons rained down on the forest in the distance. The fog bank that had been protecting us began to dissipate, joining the tendril that still held aloft the woman in the air. She shot up into the sky, far faster and more nimbly than I could have managed, and stayed up there a moment before coming back down.

When her feet touched the ground again, she calmly ran her fingers through her hair, putting herself back together as the last of the winds died. Within moments, our surroundings were calm, quiet like the grave. Nothing remained of the kappa. No evidence of the fight remained other than broken trees, pools of blood, and destroyed undergrowth.

I shuddered a bit. My reaction wasn’t based on fear, though. What I’d just witnessed was real power. The Mo’hali woman was an extremely potent mage, and the fact that I could mimic even a small part of what she could do made me think more about my own abilities. If I managed not to die in the near future–which was a big if–but if I did survive, I might be this powerful one day; maybe even more so.

My blood ran cold. What was I actually becoming? Orb-Bonded warriors had always been amazing, and alien, but they weren’t entirely unfamiliar to me. I hadn’t swallowed a Dolos orb, though. I was bonded with an Enheduanna orb, and I still wasn’t sure what that actually meant.

Would I ever be ready to wield the kind of power I’d just seen? Would I really want to? The stories I’d read as a girl had told many tales of orb-Bonded warriors that had set out to do good, but had ended up broken, miserable people with a lifetime of regret.

A calm voice brought me out of my thoughts. The Mo’hali woman tsked and said, “Horrible things. I cannot stand them.”

Then she turned to face me. “Greetings. My name is Kinwe-na-ibbi, third wife of Hajim-ibbi, Chief of the Jaguar Clan in Mirana. When we first saw you, I thought you were bringing the monsters to us. As you can imagine, that would have been unacceptable.

“But then you turned to fight like a den mother. This is good. I would have had to kill you if you’d tried to run away, and that would have been a waste. It is not every day I get to meet such a formidable warrior.

“What is your name?” she asked.

“Uh, Nora. Nora Hazard,” I managed to say. Then thinking quickly, I coughed and said, “I figured you could use some help. There were a lot of them, and I didn’t know you were such a powerful mage.”

“Yes, there were many of them. I wonder where they came from,” the mouse-eared woman said with a smile, her eyes twinkling. I couldn’t tell whether she believed my story, or knew I was lying and had decided to spare me. Either way, I decided I was thankful.

Kinwe-na-ibbi turned to the Mo’hali warriors and said, “Prepare some tea. It is early now in the light of the day, but I would like a snack. Let us also talk to Nora and exchange knowledge.” The woman bared her teeth at me, and I couldn’t tell if she was being friendly or threatening.

Maybe both. Mo’hali were all crazy, after all.

Warning Over Tea

On her order, Kinwe-na-ibbi’s guardsmen had set up a little picnic for us. That was when I realized the warriors weren’t really guards, at least that was not their purpose right now. The Mo’hali woman could obviously take care of herself and had been walking alone to Hell’s Favor before. However, each of the warriors had been pulling a hand wagon.

The hand wagons were like large wheelbarrows with two wheels that were pulled, not pushed. The simple contraptions were used by Mo’hali all over Ludus for traveling any sorts of distances. Since the beast people didn’t usually get along well with riding animals like zebras, and were stronger than Terrans on average, the hand wagons were practical.

Zebras… I felt a pang of sadness as I accepted a cup of tea. I hadn’t thought about Durben in a while. “Poor Durben,” I whispered. Even with all the other losses I’d experienced lately, the zebra’s death still stung.

“What was that?” asked Kinwe-na-ibbi. She daintily sipped at her own cup, and it was strange to remember that the petite mouse woman carried such awesome power within her.

“I was just thinking about my old zebra,” I said.

“Something bad happened?” Kinwe-na-ibbi cocked her head, and her whiskers moved.

I surprised myself by answering honestly. “Some bounty hunters killed him and left me to die.”

“Oh,” said the mouse-eared woman, and took a sip of tea. “I trust you intend to destroy them? I do not come from a predatory ancestry like the rest of my Clan–you may notice that I look somewhat different.” She waved at the feline warriors, and up close I noticed their interesting fur coloration. I was not an expert on Mo’hali, and didn’t know what a jaguar was, but it didn’t take an education tutor to figure out there was a reason all four warriors had similar markings. Three of the four warriors were female. They were all big, very feline, and very dangerous-looking, contrasting sharply with Kinwe-na-ibbi.

I slowly said, “Yes,” and watched my host warily. This was shaky ground, and I really did not want to be lounging on a blanket with Mo’hali while talking about Mo’hali lineage. Fur faces were psychotic and touchy at the best of times, so I had usually just stayed away from them. They were confusing to even casually talk to–other than being male or female, most members of the same ancestry were hard to tell apart. On top of all that, this situation was hardly casual. I knew marriages between different Mo’hali sub-races, especially on opposite sides of the predator/prey ancestry lines, were rare. These types of marriages at the Mo’hali leadership levels were almost unheard of.

The surrounding guards were laying their ears lying back and pointedly not looking at me, clues that I could die at any moment. Rotting Mo’hali! I mentally snarled. No relax switch at all!

Oblivious to my inner chagrin, Kinwe-na-ibbi continued, “As you may know, mouse-race Mo’hali are generally not as...direct as most of the jaguar-race members of my Clan would be. I know Terrans tend to think of all Mo’hali as fighters and warriors. Meanwhile, I am obviously a mage. You would have no way to know this, but I am also accomplished at business and something of a scholar.

“I want to tell you something true, Nora Hazard. Taking your life would have been a shame, but your enemies killing your zebra and wasting property like that? That’s inexcusable. Ludus is a harsh world. I can tolerate ruthlessness, but stupidity? Please do the world a favor and rid it of these mercenaries if you ever see them again.” The woman scratched her nose, nodded, and sipped her tea again. Around us, the Jaguar Clan warriors relaxed.

I closed my mouth after realizing it had been open and wondered, What just happened? There had been tension. Then it was gone. Mo’hali are not right in the skull!

“Are you curious how a mouse-race Mo’hali woman came to be the third wife of the Jaguar Clan chief?” Kinwe-na-ibbi arched an eyebrow at me. Suddenly, all the tension from earlier was back, but even stronger!

I glanced at the newly stiff-backed guards again and blinked. “Not really, Kinwe-na-ibbi,” I answered, careful to use the woman’s full name. Everyone knew Mo’hali could go from polite to savage over Family names. “You are beautiful and very, very strong. You can obviously walk alone to Hell’s Favor, your Clan trusts you to do this despite your rank, and you are helping guard a small, high-value caravan. I would think any Mo’hali Clan would be lucky to have such a capable leader. Most people with enough money or power don’t really even leave the house, but you are out here securing something important.”

The guards tensed even further, and Kinwe-na-ibbi arched an eyebrow. “Something important? High value? Why would you say that?”

Now I stepped in it, I thought, but then something broke inside me, and I rolled my eyes. The crazy Mo’hali might gut me or throw me around with magic, but I wasn’t going to play stupid when they were being so obvious. “In my home city, you would have had multiple gangs shadowing you for a mark and might have already been attacked. You walked into Hell’s Favor by yourself before, but even if someone hadn’t seen that, heading out with so few people is not normal.

“Plus, you don’t have porters or merchants carrying the handcarts–you have guards acting as porters,” I said, pointing at the surrounding warriors. “It’s not hard to figure out that you are in a position of authority, you’re even dressed that way. So, this means the fact that the guards are not, you know, actually guarding you, means you must be a bad bitch, and you are probably guarding them. All of this also means that you are all probably doing something important, and trying to hide it from someone. There is no way a Mo’hali noblewoman would be out here guarding something in person unless it was vital to your Clan somehow. That means it probably has something to do with secrecy. This would also explain why you were alone before.”

I watched the other woman’s reaction carefully. I’d just spoken the truth. Living on the streets of Bittertown, I’d actually orchestrated a few secret runs myself, usually when my Jackals pack had been buying or selling drugs. When I’d become a Claw and had my own pack, we’d never gone for that kind of quick money, and I hadn’t liked that sort of business. I really doubted that Kinwe-na-ibbi was smuggling drugs, but using warriors as laborers meant she was definitely moving something important.

For a second, I thought the guards might attack. I shifted my weight slightly to air skate backwards as fast as I could if they lunged. Suddenly, the tension broke as Kinwe-na-ibbi laughed, her voice light and airy. She sipped at her tea, wiggled her ears, and the guards went back to pretending not to listen to our conversation. “Well-reasoned, Nora Hazard. You are more of a wellspring than a pool of water, yes? I had not planned to destroy monsters nor take a break so early today, but this time in the light of the day has proven very entertaining.”

The Mo’hali noblewoman daintily chose a cracker from the food on our picnic blanket and dipped it into a jar of honey. Then she munched thoughtfully, looking at me. I looked right back. The mouse-eared woman had a great deal of power, but I had Pewpew, and I wasn’t exactly useless myself. Of course, I was exhausted, tired both mentally and physically from the kappa chasing me. Kinwe-na-ibbi didn’t know that, though. I couldn’t show any weakness.

When dealing with crazy Mo’hali, common sense was turned sideways. The fur faces seemed to like people who acted politely but also seemed like they wanted to fight. I hoped I was giving off the right kind of impression or my guts still could end up decorating the road. Dying right now would really be a shame, too. I didn’t know much about tea anymore, but I was pretty sure the stuff I was drinking was really good.

“It is good our Clan’s enemies are not as perceptive as you, or at least have not seen what you have seen here, no? Calling up the winds against another Clan would create...complications.” The elegant woman finished her cracker.

Since I was still somehow alive and it seemed I might still go on living, I grabbed some food too. The piece of cheese I began to gnaw on really was delicious. At this rate, with a nap and a bath, I might actually feel decent again. It was too bad I still had a long distance to travel before getting back to Hell’s Favor.

Kinwe-na-ibbi began spreading jam on a piece of toast. “So you are orb-Bonded?” she asked.

The question caught me off guard, and I almost choked on my cheese. I managed to cough out a, “Yes.” Normally, I would not tell a stranger about my status. But since my hosts had seen me fight, the fact that I was ‘Bonded was probably as obvious as the Mo’hali group’s important mission.

“I have some advice if you care for it,” said the mouse woman. She barely waited for me to start cautiously nodding before continuing, “I do not know how long you have been orb-Bonded, but you look young. Terrans’ lives are prolonged by being orb-Bonded, I’m aware, but you also have the smell of youth. My sisterwife would say something like you have the pride of a new hunter.”

With a frown, I said, “I don’t think that I have–”

Kinwe-na-ibbi talked right over me. “You are foolish to travel alone. Unlike me, you have the feel of a young hunter, much like one of my sisterwives, the first wife of my household. She is smart, fierce, and cunning.

“I would bet that just like her, you probably have some blind spots. You almost died today.” The Mo’hali woman took a second to drain the rest of her tea before setting the cup gently on its saucer with a clink. “You are not well-suited for the shadows like I am. You should not be alone.”

At one time in my life, I might have been insulted, could have felt hit like I’d been flayed with a barbed whip across the shoulders. But now I felt the truth that the words carried, and I reflected on what Kinwe-na-ibbi had just said. Admitting to weakness wasn’t pleasant, but I’d always known I was not the greatest planner on Ludus. Maybe the little Mo’hali woman was right. She’d saved my skin too. It wasn’t like I had much kraken wake to be offended.

I made a face and finally said, “I will think about what you said.”

With a quick grin, the mouse-race woman grabbed a pretzel from the pile of snacks and munched as she smoothed her ornate clothing. The black and green robes didn’t look out of order to me, but what did I know? I was a scarred-face woman wearing days-old trousers. We sat in silence while my host finished her snack, and when I met her eyes again, they were twinkling but had a hard cast.

Oh Creator, what now? I thought.

“It is almost time for us to end our picnic, but this meeting really has smelled of destiny,” said the mage. “I do not think it was random chance, and this disturbs me. Just in case I am right...I have something to say to you before you leave.”

Kinwe-na-ibbi twitched her nose at me, looking far less confident than she had before. “I am mother to several children in my family. Perhaps because I cannot have any of my own for reasons we do not need to discuss, they are extremely precious to me. One in particular, a son that I love, given life by my sisterwife that I also love, has come to mind. Bezzi-ibbi has recently decided that he wants to be a Jaguar Troubadour,” she said, growling.

“This young one has a habit of getting into trouble, and what is worse is that he is perhaps the wiliest, most intelligent member of my entire Clan. It is not an embellishment to say that much of our future hopes rest on his shoulders. Because the burden is so great, we make allowances for him that we wouldn’t for any of the other children. I fear one day he will get his wish and leave the safety of the Clan.

“For some reason, you remind me of him. Strongly. I feel something in my magic, something that I cannot ignore–a premonition.” Suddenly fixing me with a steely gaze, the next words came in a near-hiss, her conviction bare. “This may never come to pass, hopefully it won’t, but listen closely. If my son Bezzi-ibbi is ever attacked by a group of monsters on the road like I just was, and if you are involved, you had best be fighting shoulder to shoulder with him. Nora Hazard, I do not hate you, I even find you interesting. But if any of my Family ever comes to harm and you are involved in any way, I will curse myself. The only person I will hate more than me will be you.

“I am not kind like my husband, not generous and forgiving like my sisterwife Banna-ibbi, nor brilliant like my sisterwife Henna-ibbi. I am not timid like my birth-Clan, either. No, Nora Hazard, I am different. Very few people outside of my Clan have seen my power. I have decided not to destroy you, my choice made in the day. Now I will bear the consequences either way. You may even be a friend to my Clan one day–this would be good. But if you are ever involved in any misfortune involving my Family, I will chase you down to the ends of the Universe and dismantle you. Slowly.”

I gulped, warily watching the other woman and sitting as still as a neu-newt being hunted by a demon wolf. She was completely rotting serious. Crazy Mo’hali! The madwoman was threatening me over a child I’d never even met?

Suddenly, Kinwe-na-ibbi sat forward and patted my knee. I just about yelled and scooted back. A couple of the guards twitched, which made me feel somewhat better about losing my composure. The Mo’hali noblewoman’s demeanor changed, becoming far less intense. She said, “It has been wonderful meeting you, Nora Hazard. If you ever visit Mirana, please find the Jaguar Clan and call on me. We can have another picnic, and I will introduce you to my Family.

“But make sure not to bring any monsters with you, not like today,” she said with a smile. Her expression seemed genuine, but her eyes flashed again, and I just wanted to get the rot away. She looked up at the sky like she was forgetting something, then met my eyes again. “And you should probably not mention our meeting here today. It is still early, and no other travelers have come by during our picnic. If anyone causes my group a bother during the rest of my journey, I might assume that you had something to do with it, right? That would be bad, wouldn’t it?”

“Uh, yeah, that would be bad.”

“I am glad we understand each other.” She sat back and picked up another pretzel, then stood up. “Thank you for having tea with me, Nora Hazard. You have helped make my travel very interesting. Again, perhaps you should visit me in Mirana some time. I might even be able to offer you work if you do. You see, unfortunately, we are not on friendly terms with every other Clan in Tolstey, and we can always use the...talents of someone like yourself.”

First, she tells me she’ll kill me if I meet her son, then she tells me to come to her house. Crazy rotting Mo’hali! I stood and cleared my throat. “I would not want to bother you or your Clan, Kinwe-na-ibbi. I am just an adventurer.”

“Perhaps, but we grow, we change. At one time in my life, I was a slave. Now I am married to a Clan chief of one of the most powerful Clans in Tolstey. Don’t sell yourself short, but don’t cross me, either.” She grinned and bowed. “We part as friends.”

A message suddenly scrolled across my vision. To bow and part as friends is a rarely used, formal parting among Mo’hali nobility.

“We part as friends,” I repeated and bowed. The dismissal had been clear even without the prompt from my Etiquette ability, and I was glad to leave. I backed up for perhaps longer than necessary when dealing with Mo’hali. Then after turning, I made an effort to walk normally.

The extra weight in my pack from the sacks I’d taken from Throat of the Sea was reassuring. Only about an hour had passed since almost being killed by monsters, then getting threatened multiple times by a tiny Mo’hali lady. My stacked orb-granted Endurance abilities were no joke, though. I was tired, but definitely already feeling better.

Since so many kappa had died, I thought about going back to the dungeon and helping myself to more of the treasure, but shook my head. No, being greedy might have almost gotten me killed in the first place. Plus, there was no way to tell how many kappa might still be left, and going back would take time, too.

Chris and Jessica were already waiting for me. I’d been feeling anxious to get back quickly anyway, but now, after meeting Kinwe-na-ibbi, it had been redoubled. The Mo’hali noblewoman had reminded me of what kind of scary people were probably traveling in and out of Hell’s Favor.

Imagining all the terrible things that might have happened to my new pack didn’t do me much good, so I squared my shoulders, took a deep breath, and began air skating back to the city. Kinwe-na-ibbi’s words echoed in my head over and over again. Leaving my pack behind had never sat well with me, to begin with, but I still wasn’t sure what else I could have done.

I still believed I’d made the right decision, though. Imagining Chris and Jessica anywhere near the army of kappa made my mouth go dry. Ultimately, the whole situation had just strengthened my desire to get stronger.

Kinwe-na-ibbi walking with her guards that she was actually guarding...the image had been burned into my mind. It had taken my whole life to figure it out, but I finally realized who I was; who I wanted to be. I’d always been right–I was no hero. No, my place was protecting my pack...but I needed power to do so. Being the best fighter among the gangs of Bittertown had stopped being good enough the moment that Arren had died.

With a bit of surprise, I realized that I was glad to have met Kinwe-na-ibbi. Fur faces were still all unhinged, but I begrudgingly admitted that I owed that particular Mo’hali. This didn’t mean I was ever going to visit her though, or ever come anywhere within miles of her Clan.

“Rot no. Fuck no. Hells no,” I said out loud and shuddered. I decided that for the rest of my life, I’d never go near the city of Mirana.

There was absolutely no reason to test fate. If I could go the rest of my life without meeting another Jaguar Clan member, that would be fine with me.

Squeaky Steps

Hell’s Favor hadn’t changed much by the time I returned, nor had I thought it would. If anything, the ugly city seemed it would probably be exactly the same a thousand years from now. I could imagine how some people might like that feeling, but for me, it was sort of depressing.

I was tired, so walking through the city was a bit of a blur. Normally, I would have been interested in browsing the open-air shops, or observing the wide variety of weapons and armor that all the adventurers wore. Some adventurers seemed very powerful, and others looked like little more than beggars, but I knew that looks could be deceiving. I was completely different than I had been only a couple months earlier, but I knew I was still not much to look at right now. Maybe that would change.

Finally, I reached a turn in the road to the inn that my little group had been staying at. I was getting close. I took the turn and missed a step.

Outside the building, a number of city guards were blocking the street in both directions. I had seen the Hell’s Favor guards before, but never this close. They all had on white and red outfits. Each guard seemed to have different clothing and gear, but the colors were the same, and they all had the same white hat with a crest of some sort, probably something to do with the city.

About half of the guards wore light armor, one was in heavy armor, and some of them openly carried some very serious-looking weapons. All of them had a small hand crossbow of strange design at their belt, the prod attached vertically, not horizontally. I could imagine that getting a job in a city like Hell’s Favor would require being tough, dangerous, or capable–probably all three. I did not want to call attention to myself, especially with how scruffy, dirty, and shifty I looked at the moment.

I slowed as I approached and nervously glanced at the inn, fearing it might have burned down or something. Thankfully, it was still whole.

“You there,” said a big, blonde guard, pointing at me, “nobody can come through unless they are actually staying at the inn.” The woman’s no-nonsense expression and twitchy posture made me want to be anywhere other than where I was standing.

I seriously considered just not saying anything and walking the other way. Maybe this strange blockade had nothing to do with me and wasn’t my problem. I didn’t really want to know why the guards were blocking the street, but the duty to my new team weighed heavily on my shoulders. I closed my eyes for a second, but finally said, “I have a room at the inn there.”

The guard squinted at me, then glanced at a clipboard before nodding. “Okay, you can go through,” she said.

“What is going on here?” I asked.

“City business. Just go about your day, mind your own affairs, and everything will be fine,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me. I got the point and hurried past. “Once you are done at the inn, you may leave at any time,” she called after me.

It was a short walk to the building, and from the outside, everything looked normal. But from the moment I walked in the front door, I knew something was wrong. One of the inn’s employees held the door open for me, but as soon as I entered, she locked the door and scurried away, not making eye contact with me.

“What the hell,” I muttered, following her with my eyes until she disappeared through a side door. I frowned and drew my bronze short sword. Calling Eneus into my hand was tempting, but in close quarters, the spear might not be all that great of a weapon. I left it minimized on my wrist.

After the door had been closed and locked behind me, the inn was silent, eerie. I briefly considered just unlocking the door and leaving. Why had the door been locked anyway? It didn’t make sense.

My skin crawled, and I hoped that Jessica and Chris were somewhere else, maybe working. It was midday, after all. Somehow I knew this wouldn’t be the case, though. I shrugged my pack onto only one shoulder so I could drop it to move, and began cautiously moving deeper into the inn.

Since I was walking so slowly, I moved at a mound shambler demon’s pace through the building. All my senses were keyed up, and my adrenaline spiked at every shadow. I considered using my enhanced hearing abilities, but I quickly decided that would be too confusing. What in Creation is going on? I wondered.

The little sitting area where I’d had drinks with Chris just a few days ago was in mild disarray, like people had been spending time there before leaving in a hurry. A drink had been knocked over, and some sort of green liquid still dripped off the side of a table to the floor.

I climbed the stairs, my hand sweaty on my sword. With a firm grip on the railing, I tried climbing the stairs as quietly as possible. Every sound I made seemed to echo, and I cringed as a few steps squeaked. I suddenly stopped when I got an idea. Vistvis! I thought. Using the Vibration ability that I remembered using before, I took hold of the dagger at the back of my belt.

“Vistvis,” I whispered. “Is there any danger around?”

Just like the last time I’d tried communicating with her like this, I heard the unpleasant woman’s voice clearly. <Oh, now you talk to me. Of course, it’s only when you want something. Still, I suppose I should be thankful now that you are being somewhat proactive, not nearly about to die as I frantically try to alert you to the obvious. That is the usual way things go.>

I rolled my eyes but quietly said, “Thank you for the warning about the kappa. Now please, I don’t know what’s going on, and if I die, you’re rot. Can you tell me anything?”

After a slight pause, Vistvis said, <Fine. But I want to talk about the future when you get a chance. My existence is miserable, and if you desire my continued cooperation, I want to be working towards something better.>

“Deal,” I whispered, my voice tight.

<Agreed. Deal. I have better senses than you do, such as they are, and I am not omniscient, but I do not think you are in any immediate danger. As best I can tell, there are people in some of the inn’s rooms, but they aren’t moving. Nothing at all is moving towards you that I know of. I have enough energy to buzz if I sense something after this. Pay attention.>

“Thank you, Vistvis,” I said. Then I nodded, let go of the dagger, and began to move up the steps a bit more confidently than before. I was still wary, but it was nice to know I wasn’t being surrounded by invisible enemies or something.

Finally, I found myself outside the room I’d rented before. I took a breath, and sword in hand, I pushed the door open, ready for anything.

What I saw made my jaw drop. I lowered my sword hand and just stared. “What the rot…” I muttered.

A glowing...bubble stood in the middle of the room. The surface was hazy, but it looked like a dead man was inside. He’d died violently, or at least the missing half of his body made it seem that way. I averted my gaze.

The room itself was in disarray. Some of the furniture was broken. What looked like blood stains covered the floor but had been cleaned–sort of. If the stains were blood, something crazy must have happened. The ceiling had been splattered, too.

In one corner of the room, Jessica sat in a chair reading a book. Even when I’d opened the door, she kept her eyes on the pages, not looking up. Her complexion was even more pale than usual, and it didn’t take an empath to notice she was stressed.

Christopher stood in front of Jessica, his feet shoulder-width apart, arms crossed. His eyes had found mine the moment I’d arrived, so I saw the immediate look of relief that came over his face. The man’s mouth firmed, and his jaw clenched, but he stayed silent. His eyes flicked between me and the last people in the room.

The bed had been pulled to the center of the floor. I shook my head slightly just to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.

Enheduanna sat cross-legged in the center of the bed, her fingers working over a transparent green box hovering in the air. Behind her knelt a young woman wearing underclothes and not much else. Her hair was knotty, and the stranger looked like she had had a hard life. The girl’s features were broad and plain, and her expression was entirely blank as she kneaded Enheduanna’s shoulders.

The demigoddess had changed her outfit from the last time I’d seen her. Now she wore a denim jumper with her name across the front in gold embroidery. Her white undershirt was frilly and ended at her elbows. “Drink,” she said, holding out a hand. The woman behind her fetched a glass full of blue liquid. Then the High Priestess sipped the drink through a straw for a second before cocking an eyebrow at me. She said, “It took you long enough, Nora. I told your charges that you were coming over an hour ago. Time stands still for nobody. You should really move with more of a purpose.” She held her glass out, and after the other woman removed it, Enheduanna nodded. She turned back to her glowing box, her fingers moving rapidly on its surface.

I blinked and shook my head, finally sheathing my sword. “What in the rotting hells happened here?” I demanded. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh my, how ungrateful,” smirked the demigoddess. “Harder, slave,” she said to the young woman massaging her shoulders. Then the Areva woman dismissively waved her hand, and the box in front of her disappeared. “I’m getting tired of that keyboard color. Maybe purple. Do you like purple, Nora?”

“What? Purple?”

“Yes, yes, you’re right. Purple does not go with any of my outfits at all. It won’t do, won’t do. What about orange?”

I opened and closed my mouth a few times before saying, “What is going on? Why are Christopher and Jessica in the corner?” I turned and said, “Are you okay?”

Jessica didn’t look up, and one of her hands began to shake. Christopher cleared his throat. He wet his lips before haltingly saying, “This is between you and High Priestess Enheduanna now.”

“Oh, how the children learn!” purred the demigoddess on the bed. She stood and stretched. “I have been taking this time to work, working while taking a break! How silly! So many things to learn, things to do, you know how it is. Yes, yes, but this was important. I couldn’t let my little experiment here be threatened by those–” Enheduanna coughed, holding up a finger as she paused. Then the petite, dark-skinned Areva woman gathered breath and screamed, “Those inbred, twice-rotted, father-loving, demon-fornicating meddlers trying to fuck with my research!”

The demigoddess stalked across the room on bare feet and punched a hole in the solid wood wall. Jessica and Christopher flinched in the corner. I slowly looked around the room, noticing discarded plates and food wrappers overflowing the wastebasket in the corner. Suddenly, I understood why all the guards were outside.

I mentally put myself in the position of whoever had ordered the blockade. What would I do if I were a city official or a city guard and a High Priestess was staying in an inn, camped out in a dirty, bloody room, randomly screaming about her experiments, and probably scaring the rot out of everyone?

“How long have you been here?” I asked.

“Oh, a few days, I don’t know. Time flies when you are working on research and having fun with friends. Right, friends?” She waved at Christopher and Jessica using only her fingers.

Jessica didn’t say anything. Christopher’s face showed no expression as he said, “Yes, High Priestess,” in a monotone voice.

“Such a nice boy!” said the petite demigoddess.

“Why are you here, Duanna?” I asked, and shut the door behind me.

The Areva woman rolled her eyes, somehow elegant and stylish even in her ridiculous, simple clothing. “I came this way when I realized you might actually complete your mission. Then I decided to spend some quality time in Hell’s Favor. This is a vacation. I am a tourist!” She giggled and stuck out her tongue, obviously pleased with herself for some reason.

“Can you please make some sense? What is going on?” It was getting more difficult for me to maintain a polite tone. From dealing with Enheduanna before, I knew she’d just be amused if I lost my temper, and I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction.

“Oh, you silly creature. Use your brain, Nora. You are not as simple as you let people believe you to be. I just happen to be staying in this room with your people and doing research. This was as good of a place as any, just a random camping spot, yes?

“Of course, the fact that my presence is keeping these two safe is just a coincidence, right? It is definitely just a coincidence. I am definitely not acting outside of the rules, or using my freedom marker, or taking direct action against the people of Ludus. Nope!” Enheduanna giggled again and spun a quick pirouette. “I can be restrained too! Eat that, Keeja!”

The demigoddess suddenly frowned, heavily putting her foot down and crossed her arms. “Where is Keeja, anyway? Maybe she could help. Would she? Hmmm...I don’t know. She was really angry at me the last time I saw her. Maybe I could owe her a favor, though? Yes, that might work. All these sheganza are aiming to ruin my research–” Her voice grew lower, and Enheduanna began murmuring to herself.

I looked around the room again, finally studying the strange bubble with the dead man inside a second time. Then I slowly panned the walls, taking in more details I hadn’t seen before. From my new vantage point, now I could see that the blood was mostly splattered towards the door as if whatever had caused the mess had come from the foot of the bed. I glanced at Christopher and Jessica again, noticing that crude sleeping pallets were made against the wall near where they were standing now.

The pieces snapped together, and I thought I might understand some of what had happened. My overall frustration and dislike for Enheduanna warred with my sudden feeling of gratitude that she’d probably been protecting my friends. There were still a lot of unanswered questions, though. For example, I didn’t know what was going on with the strange, half-naked woman following the High Priestess around.

With a sigh, I dropped my pack to the floor. I didn’t even know what new questions to ask first, not least of which because the High Priestess was so difficult to actually talk to. The situation was not what I had been expecting to come back to after being on the road. A crazy, ancient woman was in my room, blood covered the walls, a corpse was on the floor, the inn we were in was pretty much abandoned, the entire street had been blocked off by the city guard, and my two friends were probably terrified. I could guess I would have to be the one to fix all of it, too.

My boss had probably protected my team but had also managed to complicate my life...again. Damn Enheduanna! I mentally wailed.

Circles

For a while, I just stared. Meanwhile, the demigoddess continued to mutter to herself, not seeming to notice. Since I’d more or less figured out what had happened before, at least with all the blood, I finally just said, “Enheduanna, this entire street has been closed off. We were going to stay in Hell’s Favor. With everything that has happened here, what are we going to do now? Was this your plan?”

The Areva woman’s head snapped up, fixing me with a flinty gaze. “Who said you’d stay here? Not I. No, you came here with a mission, and you did what you were told...sort of. I still had to save these little sweeties,” she said, gesturing at Christopher and Jessica with her lips.

I hadn’t expected that answer. “So we have to leave anyway?”

“Of course? Why wouldn’t you be leaving? What kind of data will you get staying at inns?” The petite woman seemed to consider what she’d said for a moment and amended, “Well, inns like this one wouldn’t be so bad.” The gore on the walls underscored her statement.

“Was this man one of the attackers?” I asked, pointing to the corpse in the bubble.

“Mouthy, they are all so disrespectful.” Enheduanna theatrically flounced off the bed and said to the ceiling, “Why would anyone wear the necklace of a High Priestess if they were not a High Priestess? That would be silly, wouldn’t it, little pet-thing,” she said to the flinching, homely, half-clothed woman following her.

“Who is she?” I asked, nodding at the terrified mystery person.

Enheduanna casually turned and grabbed the girl’s hair, hauling her forward and prompting a squeak. The demigoddess said, “Ellie is a bad pet. Bad, bad pet, Ellie. This is Nora. Nora is bad too, but she makes very good data. She has potential.” The High Priestess smiled indulgently and shook her captive’s head back and forth.

People with power, manhandling the weak, the image brought back bad memories and made my stomach turn. Something I’d thought I’d dealt with–but something that must not actually be healed–throbbed, and before I knew what I was doing, I growled, “Eneus, spear.” Then weapon in hand, I pointed the glittering steel tip at the High Priestess.

Enheduanna took a quick step back, but before I could say anything, she tsked and said, “What a surprise! Oh, my! Like a child holding a plasma rifle. Very cute!” Then the madwoman tittered into her hands, whispered something in the ear of the cowering, half-naked woman, and chuckled some more. “She doesn’t even know what she’s holding!” she said to the room, in general, using a stage whisper. “Such power in the hands of a googoo, it tickles my tickle spot!”

“No, Nora,” Jessica suddenly said, fire in her eyes as she regained some of her composure. She glared at Enheduanna’s servant, or slave, or whatever she was.  “That bitch was one of the worst. She almost killed Chris. She also tried to stab Enheduanna in the back, even after Enheduanna killed that asshole there.” Jessica pointed at the dead man in the bubble.

A righteous anger I hadn’t even known I’d been holding quickly deflated, and I lowered my spear.  I should have known better. What is wrong with me? I wondered. If my patron had been in a worse mood, I might have just ended up decorating the walls like others had. Pulling a weapon on a High Priestess had been incredibly stupid, especially after finding out that she’d just killed people for pretty much doing the same thing. There had just...been something about the young woman’s situation that’d made me act before thinking. Now I just felt small. I keep forgetting there really are no innocents on this world.

Enheduanna must have noticed my expression because she stopped chuckling and shook her head. In a serious tone of voice, “Don’t grieve for this thing, a monster in a meat suit.” She poked the girl. “Ellie is already dead. She’s just paying past dues, now.”

“Dead?” I asked.

“Oh, very dead!” Enheduanna giggled again.

Jessica muttered, “I think she destroyed that woman’s mind and then turned her into a zombie or something.” Her wooden voice was distant, like she was reliving something, then she seemed to decide she’d talked enough and retreated to the wall, crossing her arms.

I blinked. “What in the rotting hells happened here?” I asked. Then I held up a forestalling hand. “Never mind. That’s not what I meant. I already have it mostly worked out, but I just got back from the road, and this is really not what I was expecting. Why couldn’t everyone just have had tea, or played card games, or done anything other than covering the walls with blood?”

“Boo hoo, too bad for you,” said Enheduanna. “You should feel lucky I didn’t decide you failed your mission, or that you owe me a favor for protecting these lovely puppets. No, I can’t do that–because I am a very serious researcher!” She nodded with great gravity. “The data is more important than what a lazy, stupid cheater you are.”

I goggled. “What?”

The High Priestess seemed to have regained her senses, at least for a while. Now she spoke in a brusque, professional tone, saying, “I did not give you a Duanna orb to go sneaking around, stealing things like a street thief. On the one hand, your actions did give an interesting insight into real-world application of your abilities. But you barely fought at all, at least directly. The whole purpose of crafting a weapon is to be used as such–in combat.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You were watching the whole time? No, you had to be. So you’re unhappy with how I fulfilled my mission? Forgive me for not caring. I did what you asked me to do, and I’m still alive. As I see it, that’s a success!” I realized I’d been yelling when I noticed Jessica and Christopher recoiling. Oh well, I was tired of being afraid, and Enheduanna was always obnoxious. Without her, I’d already be dead, but she seemed motivated to help me find an early death again.

“Oh, I understand that you are capable, crafty, and have a strong survival instinct. This is all part of why I chose you, after all. But it also means you need direction, too.” Enheduanna bobbed a nod and turned, acting surprised to see the terrified, half-naked woman again. “Oh shoo, you pitiful thing. Go away,” she said, motioning with her hand. “Go tell your people that I’m leaving today.”

The woman didn’t hesitate, didn’t look back. She bolted from the room and didn’t even close the door behind her. “There, that’s done now,” said the demigoddess. She rubbed her head in satisfaction.

“Wait, you are just going to let her leave?” asked Jessica, outrage apparently overriding her caution. “That woman was vile.”

“Oh, calm down, little morsel! That nobody will die in another week, she just doesn’t know it yet. Besides, I need to leave, and I needed to motivate dear Nora here.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. My heart dropped even as I spoke–I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like what Enheduanna would have to say.

“You seem to be really good at avoiding conflict, and I can’t fault you that since it is part of your skill for staying alive, but I think you need some more challenges. See, the mortals that came here and were stupid enough to lay a hand on me were after you. You outran your enemies from Berber, but you can’t outrun magic messenger birds. There is a wide contract out for you now, and this genius over there,” she said, pointing at Jessica, “kept saying your name everywhere she went in Hell’s Favor.”

Enheduanna examined me critically. “Your dyed hair doesn’t help, either. You aren’t exactly inconspicuous the way you dress and carry yourself.”

I blinked. Was I really being scolded for my sense of style by a mad demigoddess? This is my life now, I thought with a sigh. “Why did you help Christopher and Jessica?” I asked.

“I didn’t help them, remember? The silly bounty hunters and killers just happened to come by when I was working, and they made a few very rude mistakes.” She gestured meaningfully to the destroyed room. “Over the last day, we three have been staying in different rooms, but it would be good to greet you where you would expect us, no?”

I planted the butt of my spear on the ground and looked my mythical benefactor in the eye. “Okay, whatever. So why did you just happen to be here when murderous rotting garbage came by? I know you chose Christopher and Jessica for these orbs, but why did you take care of this personally?”

Enheduanna looked scandalized. “I do not throw away good research material, at least not if I can help it! Besides, if these two died, it would make you sad, and that would be a shame.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that, or even if she was telling the truth or not, so I changed the subject. Pointing at the bubble with the corpse, I asked, “So this was to prove your power or something?”

“Very good, you guessed it! You are much smarter than you look, has anyone ever told you that, Nora? Could you believe when I did this, the goofy little children still thought I was just a mage pretending to be a High Priestess?” Enheduanna tsked. “I would rather be in my laboratory, I have to be here, and I am called a liar? To my face? The nerve.” She rolled her eyes, sat on the floor, and produced a glowing cube from nowhere that she began staring at while rubbing her chin.

Now she was ignoring me.

I frowned and glanced at Christopher and Jessica. Chris shrugged, and Jessica made a circular motion with her finger near her temple. I got the message that I was on my own.

Trying to argue with Enheduanna wouldn’t get me anywhere, nor would yelling at her. Asking the wrong questions or talking the wrong way didn’t work, either. I studied the immensely powerful, dark-skinned woman sitting on the floor for a minute and finally said, “Duanna, you want my data. You said you are leaving today. I need to know what your instructions are so I don’t accidentally do something wrong and end up like that dead guy in the bubble.”

Enheduanna made her cube disappear and stood up in one smooth motion. Then she talked as if she’d never taken a break. “That corpse is ugly. I want it gone.” She gestured, and the bubble slowly shrank down until it disappeared, taking the dead man with it. That done, she turned to me and said, “There is a letter and a Duanna orb under the mattress of the bed. I drew a map. On the way to your new destination, you are going to deliver that Duanna orb to a boy named Benjamin.”

“My new destination?”

“Yes. The letter will explain further, but you are going to join the army! How fun!”

I blanched, and Enheduanna said, “Give me the orbs you got from Throat of the Sea.”

Even being somewhat familiar with the unhinged High Priestess by this point, keeping up with her sudden changes of subject and tone exhausted me. Still, I did as I'd been told, fishing the Duanna orbs out of my pack and handing them over. The High Priestess glanced at them before throwing one to Jessica and the other to Christopher. Chris caught his, but Jessica’s bounced off her impressive chest and fell to the floor. She quickly picked it up and cradled the precious sphere to her stomach.

Enheduanna either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “You two should go to your rooms, lie down on your beds, and swallow those. The orb will do the rest.” The two Terrans nodded and left the room.

Then I was alone with Enheduanna.

“As soon as I leave this inn, I am going to tell the nice guards out there that I’d like them to remain until tomorrow morning. I suggest you be gone by then.”

“What’s the rush?” I asked. The bad feeling in the pit of my stomach came back.

“Your two friends already know this, but I told all the criminals and bounty hunters where you’d be going. I also told them that after I leave town, I won’t happen to be working on my research in your room anymore.” Enheduanna grinned. She walked past me, patting my shoulder on the way. “The good news is that Christopher and Jessica are on their own now, or at least after they become orb-Bonded. Now you are free to do what you want!”

“No, I’m not!” I managed to restrain myself, kept myself from shouting, but some anger still gave my words heat. “I have to go join the army and find some random person again!”

“Uh oh!” said the demigoddess. She turned to face me and tapped her lips while looking at the ceiling. “That sounds like quite a burden! But I know of something that would be even worse!”

I just stared at her, and the petite woman sighed. “Ask me what is worse, Nora. You are being petulant.”

“What is worse, Enheduanna?” I grated.

“You mean what is worse than joining the army and following some simple suggestions I gave you?”

“Suggestions? You mean orders?” I asked.

“Yes, yes, whatever. Anyway, what would be even worse than following a few simple directions after being given incredible power...would probably be dying in the middle of a roadway with a huge spear through your stomach!” She giggled and did a pirouette, walking away again, but didn’t head down the stairs. Instead, she held out a hand. A perfect circle of the inn’s wall crackled before violently exploding outwards with very little noise other than a loud pop and the crash of the material raining down on the street below. The demigoddess strode out into thin air, winked at me over her shoulder, and flew away.

Pieces of the destroyed wall fell with a quiet patter for a few minutes while I just stared at the casual destruction. Finally, I slowly walked to the bed, sat down, and fished the note out from under the mattress.

The parchment felt heavy in my hand, and I shook my head. Opening the damn thing was important but would have to wait while I recovered from dealing with...everything. I closed my eyes, letting my head roll back. Damn Enheduanna! I mentally screamed.

War Stories

The next morning, Jessica, Christopher and I walked away from Hell’s Favor, heading through the opposite city gate from the one I’d left from before. All three of us were exhausted for different reasons.

After Enheduanna had left the previous day, I’d had to pull myself together fast. After I’d been centered again, I’d quickly realized that I hadn’t had much time to work with, and I was on my own. Chris and Jessica had been busy becoming orb-Bonded, but we all had needed to escape the city. I really hadn’t liked the idea of leaving the two Terrans on their own in the inn, but I hadn’t had much choice. Enheduanna had said they weren’t my responsibility anymore, either.

As I had checked the doors to their current rooms to make sure they’d at least been locked, I’d thought more about my new freedom. I definitely could have...just left. While the thought had crossed my mind, I never seriously considered it. Jessica and Christopher were part of my new pack now. If I expected them to watch my back, I would need to watch theirs.

Not only that, my trip to Throat of the Sea had really demonstrated what a liability traveling alone could be. Before I’d gotten to Soron, it hadn’t really impacted me much, but things had changed. I was no longer skirting the safe zones around cities. We were in the southern tip of Tolstey now, too–the most dangerous area of the country.

After getting my priorities straight, I’d gotten to work. The rest of the day had been a bit of a blur–it still felt like I’d rushed all over Hell’s Favor. Identifying an enchanted item was usually an expensive service, even with a direct relationship with a merchant who could do it. I hadn’t had any of those sorts of connections in Hell’s Favor–or anywhere else–so I’d done the best I could. Even though selling all of the items that I’d pilfered from Throat of the Sea had netted me a good amount of money, I knew I’d been probably short-changed. I hadn’t had much time to visit many shops and had been in a hurry. Merchants could always seem to smell that sort of thing.

Then I’d promptly spent all the money I’d just made. Part of my deal with the merchant I’d dealt with was that I’d turn around and spend all my money in her shop. The unctuous woman had had a wide array of merchandise, including trail rations, so it hadn’t been a bad deal. I’d probably even gotten a better deal because of it.

I’d really wanted to find out about my enchanted armor, at least how to activate it, but even if I’d been willing to pay for the knowledge, the merchant had told me that she hadn’t had the skill for it.  My armor, plain as it looked, was very high quality. I’d suspected this before–none of the merchants in Soron had been able to identify it either, but I’d assumed that in a place like Hell’s Favor, things would be different.

“Yes girl, but there are only two of them here, and they charge more than the total you just made selling to me,” the merchant had said with a phony smile. “They take turns working, but today is Farule’s day off.”

“Wait,” I’d said, frowning. “There are two high-tier–what–identifiers? So there are two merchants that can tell me what this rotting armor is, but they alternate days, and they work from different shops, and they both take a day off on top of the half a week they don’t work!?”

“Correct!” I had scowled at the woman as she’d answered, but she seemed oblivious and continued, “I am truly sorry for the inconvenience, but Peetsi will be in tomorrow! When Gurang comes back from maternity time, she will join the rotation again, too.”

“This is madness,” I’d muttered. The frustration had hit me like a bucket full of cold water. The next morning, I had to be long gone. Waiting around had not been an option.

The merchant had nodded conspiratorially, her grey ponytail bobbing. “It is a mite strange how they arrange it, but those with that level of ability don’t need to work much to make ends meet. They can call the shots.” With a wink, she said, “Folks like us just have to do what we can until we can reach such heights ourselves, maybe even become orb-Bonded one day!”

The memories were not pleasant as I trooped away from the city with my two disoriented companions. My self-image had taken a beating. Without holding a full-size Eneus, l apparently looked like a down-on-her-luck drifter. The shoddy, smelly pack of holding I’d bought probably didn’t help, either. I was still proud of the purchase, the first enchanted item I’d ever bought in my life, but I didn’t have any illusions about why I’d been able to afford it.

Bags of holding, basically a pack or container with a space enchantment, were extremely rare and expensive.  They allowed for more space on the inside and reduced weight. If anyone on Ludus could actually make them, they guarded the fact carefully. Most bags of holding were confirmed to have been found in dungeons.

I’d never even seen one before I’d started running from shop to shop the day before.

Despite the rarity and desirability of bags of holding, this one had sat in the greying merchant’s shop for a long time, a fact she had pretended to be confused about. I rolled my eyes at the memory. It really hadn’t been a mystery why nobody had wanted to buy it, even at a relatively low price. The pack was white and decorated with a green frog and a pig woman cartoon characters above the English words, “Oh Boy!” The backpack had seen better days. The bag of holding was dirty and fraying, and on top of that, it smelled bad–suspiciously like vomit.

Last but not least, the enchanted pack had already had two owners, so whoever used it next would be the last. Third-owned enchanted gear was always less valuable on Ludus, since if someone stole it or even accidentally took ownership, it would crumble to dust. They were valuable and useful, but this bag of holding might have been one of the worst for sale on Ludus.

...And now I was wearing it. If my clothing and gear had been better, I’d probably look ridiculous with the new pack. Unfortunately, I had a sinking suspicion it just added to my overall appearance.

After my group had left Hell’s Favor, nobody had said much except for Jessica. She’d asked about my pack, then had said she was disappointed that I hadn’t bought enchanted weapons. She’d grown quiet again after I’d reminded the shiner that we needed food and supplies to live...and somewhere to store it all.

When I’d been traveling by myself, I’d been forced to improvise. But with Jessica and Christopher along, eating native plants and sleeping on the ground probably wouldn’t work, especially with monsters around.

The air of quiet over my companions seemed unnatural, especially for Jessica, so I cleared my throat and with all my usual tact asked, “So what happened back there when I was gone?”

Christopher glanced over at me, and our eyes met. I felt a spark that flared as fast as it faded when the man turned back to watch where he was going. What was that? I wondered. Chris shouldered his pack higher and sighed. Meanwhile, Jessica shook her head and didn’t even turn to look at me, just began talking.

“At first everything was fine, Chris and I got some jobs, which was actually really easy since practically half the city are adventurers. In fact, I got the feeling a lot of service jobs are filled by part-time adventurers. Anyway, I got a job as a waitress, and Chris helped a bronzesmith. We were both working just down the street from the inn. Everything went fine for about a day, but then things went to hell.” She had started speaking quietly and slowly, but gradually she began talking louder and faster, more what I was used to from her.

“Went to hell?” I asked and quirked an eyebrow.

“Some people were asking around about adventurers, and newbies, and some other stuff. I’ll...admit I might have been too free with name dropping you and other things I said. Then after two days of working, some random person ran up to me with a note from Enheduanna.” Jessica blanched. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t already seen a note in her handwriting before. The note said to come to the room in the inn right away, and I actually did. Chris was already there when I got there.”

“Only by a few minutes,” muttered Christopher.

Jessica ignored the interruption and continued, “Enheduanna was already there. I introduced myself, then in my first minute of meeting a High Priestess in person, she lays into me, telling me that I’m a fool, and I always let Christopher protect me before without even appreciating it.

“I was getting mad at this point, but then the thugs came in and... things get a little hazy.”

“Hazy? Thugs?” Jessica’s storytelling abilities were definitely not as good as I’d assumed they would be.

Christopher interjected, “Two different groups came into the inn at the same time. I heard some of them while they scuffled in the inn. There is a price out for your head, Nora. Someone saw us leave Mensk in Berber, and figured out that we were heading to Tolstey, so they sent magic messenger birds to groups in all the major cities with a message about you.” The Filipino man paused, then said, “Someone really must hate your guts.”

“Yeah, I guess something like that,” I muttered.

“It was terrible,” said Jessica, shaking her head. “There was chaos, and all through it, Enheduanna just worked on her magic laptop or whatever like nothing was going on. They almost pulled me and Chris out of the room. I thought we were going to die. Then one of them tried to grab Enheduanna and she just...started killing them.” The busty blonde girl swallowed, her eyes lost in memory.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Christopher softly.

Jessica shivered. “She just walked up to them and snapped their necks or punched through their chests. A few of them tried to fight back, but their weapons didn’t do anything to her, didn’t even break the skin. She was like a super mutant but with multiple personalities half the time.

“All the bad guys ran away at that point, and Enheduanna asked us politely to take the bodies out of the room before she started working again like nothing had happened. That will probably be one of the most disgusting, traumatic moments of my life. I threw up, I think. Maybe more than once.” Jessica swallowed.

“Wait,” I said, frowning. “That must have gotten blood everywhere.”

“It did. After we were done, Enheduanna snapped her fingers, and the blood just came off me, her, and Chris. Then she smiled, told us to call her Duanna since we are friends, reminded me that I rely too much on others, and went back to work.” Jessica turned to look at me, her expression flat.

“That...does sound like her,” I admitted. “She kicked a drake before that inappropriately touched me and then acted like nothing happened. She also blew up an entire road to hide a monster body.”

“Wha–what?” Jessica frowned and shook her head. “That…” The shiner blinked and said, “One day, I want to ask about your adventures that I don’t know about yet, but I’m almost afraid to. Just when I think I’ve had a bad few days, you drop stuff like that. Did you say a drake? Like a dragon, sorta thing?”

“Yes, how did you know that?” I grumbled and made a face. “He made fun of me for not knowing what a drake was but I thought he was just being an ass. Do people really know this stuff?”

Jessica eyed me sideways for a second. Then she completely ignored my question and just continued her story. “Yeah, anyway, the bad guys came back to the inn later and picked up their corpses. Then after that, some of their bosses came and demanded we come with them or lead them to you. They were threatening us. It kind of seemed they thought we were pulling a scam or their fighters had been fooled somehow. I think they had an orb-Bonded with them and a mage or two because they were acting really high on themselves. I’ve seen the attitude before–some of the mages and orb-Bonded on this world act like regular people are useless and expendable.”

Chris nodded and said, “True. I’ve noticed this. They really were acting very arrogantly.”

Jessica continued, “Enheduanna said to leave her alone, she was working. Then I told them we were just trying to watch Spirited Away and you were helping at a homeless shelter. I asked if they had a TV they could loan us. When they didn’t like that answer, I told them I was wrong, and you were actually at E3, but they didn’t know what that was–big surprise. Heathens.

“The next stuff that happened, well, you saw the evidence. At first, people were running around. It was nuts. A rival gang came into the inn again and were yelling at the people outside our room from behind. Then I think someone got stabbed out in the hallway before the people at our door made a move. Someone did something magical, and I thought the entire inn would explode, but Enheduanna shut down the mages or orb-Bonded without even stressing. After that, she turned some of the bounty hunters into paste. She grabbed that one girl by the hair after she tried to stab us, but everything is hazy, so I don’t know if that was before or after she ordered them all to leave until she was gone. She already told you what she said to them.

“After all that, everything got quiet, and we just waited for you to come back. Chris had a deck of cards. Otherwise, I might have gone crazy. While we were in the inn, Enheduanna sent people to get us food and stuff. We spent our time trying not to piss her off and talked to her whenever she felt like it. I’ve never met such a terrifying person in my life. Meeting a High Priestess sounded cool right up until I actually met one and she told me I’m a moron.”

“A moron? You came when she told you to, right?” I asked.

“Yes, but she said I’ve been sheltered, and it’s time for me to start being worthy of life or start turning to dirt, or something like that. Sometimes she said really weird things like that.”

I nodded–I knew what the shiner meant.

Jessica walked without talking for a second, then glanced at Christopher’s back before meeting my eyes. She said, “Enheduanna was right, though. If I’d been by myself on Ludus, or with someone that didn’t watch out for me as much as Christopher has, I’d probably be dead. A lot of this stuff hadn’t really been real for me–I mean, transported to another world? That was my dream, but then I got here and found out I was just like every other asshole with no job skills or Dolos orb.

“Enheduanna told me I need to start being more mature, and I’m going to seriously try. There’s nothing quite like dragging around bloody bodies of people a High Priestess just slaughtered in your rented room to put life into perspective.”

The shiner shrugged. “Not only that, I chose to come with you and be orb-Bonded. It’s time to really become an adventurer, not just keep talking about it. Ludus has good and bad parts to it, but it’s not like I can change it, so the best thing to do is get rich as hell and build a big-assed mansion.”

I looked the other way and rolled my eyes before turning back, then asked, “Speaking of the orbs, you two are orb-Bonded now, right? Well, Duanna orb-Bonded. Did you meet your orb controllers?”

Both native Terrans' faces fell even further than before. What the rot? I thought. “What’s wrong?”

“Our powers suck,” groused Jessica. Christopher nodded. She said, "We didn't meet any funny, sassy little imaginary friends like you have, either."

“What did you get? What did your orbs do?” I asked, genuinely curious. When I’d handed the orbs over, I’d just figured they were like mine.

“Well, Chris’ orb gave him spirit powers, and mine gave me sigil control. We’ve talked a little about it, but haven’t really used our mojo yet. Either way, we’ve skimmed the stuff in our heads, and it isn’t looking very impressive so far.” The shiner kicked a rock. “I already feel stupid for acting like a manic douchelord for the last week, but now I feel like an ingrate for basically being handed a magic orb and complaining about it–but I can’t help it. I wanted to be a mahou shoujo, or powerful like you!”

“Let’s turn off the road here,” I said, gesturing. My pack mates didn’t question my order and immediately turned to start moving through the trees. I glanced at Jessica and asked, “Powerful? I’ve spent most of my time so far as an adventurer either getting beaten up or running away.”

Jessica made a face at me. “Okay, whatever you say, Xena. You got kicked off an airship while we were a mile up or whatever, and came flying back in like fucking Android Eighteen, using the death ring’s phaser blaster, mowing down monsters like it’s no big deal. You took on a high-rank orb-Bonded solo the day I first met you, remember? That was the day I couldn’t do anything but sit around and listen to terrible things happening a few steps away. No, Nora, if you had been there, not me, you would have kicked all of their asses.”

“No, I’m just orb-Bonded. It’s the–”

“No, Nora, it’s not the orb, it’s you,” said Jessica, and I paused at the sincerity in her voice. To one side, Christopher nodded. “The more I know you, the more I believe that orb or not, you would never just stand around while people are being bullied or others are being evil d-bags. If you had been there instead of me, you would have torn those slavers new assholes or died trying, and the consequences wouldn’t have mattered to you. You would have done anything necessary to help those kids, and you’ve always been strong enough to actually do what you think is right. You have the conviction that I’ve never had.”

That didn’t sound very accurate to me. I very much did not want to die, and I was definitely not a hero. I opened my mouth to say so, but Jessica was already speaking again. “I’m just a coward–just a girl with a big mouth. My big mouth almost got me and Chris killed back in Hell’s Favor. Hell, maybe I almost got us into trouble in Soron, but Chris watched out for me there, too. At first, I was mad at you, Nora–the bounty hunters were after you, after all–but then I realized I was just being a coward again and not using my brain. I could have avoided danger by staying in Soron–this was my choice. I just...actually, I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

Jessica lapsed into a moody silence, and I gave a slight nod, understanding. It wasn’t like I hadn’t had to work through my own demons before. If anything, Jessica was much smarter and more self-aware than I was. Meanwhile, I was still trying to work up enough nerve to have more than just a polite conversation with Christopher.

Where did that thought come from? I wondered. Then Chris himself glanced at me before quickly looking away, and the coincidence almost made my cheeks hurt.

Small talk is hard, I thought, but trying to start a meaningful conversation with a man on purpose is even more difficult. At least I had my Etiquette ability to help sometimes. More importantly, maybe I’d be able to rest soon and get a fresh start.

After hiking through the forest for a bit longer, I finally stopped. “Okay, this place is good. We are probably right on the edge of the safe zone outside of the city. Any farther than this, and we could come across monsters. I’m exhausted because I got no sleep last night. With my orb abilities, I could probably keep going, but that wouldn’t be wise. I’m going to take a nap here while you two practice with your new abilities nearby.”

Jessica looked confused. “But there is nobody to teach us, and–”

“Just figure it out on your own. I think everyone has to. You have the words written in your head, right?” The blonde woman and Filipino man nodded. “Then just find some space and practice. That’s what I did. All of our abilities are different anyway, so we probably can’t actually help each other all that much.”

“That makes sense,” said Christopher.

Relieved they understood, I said, “Yeah, well, either way, I need to rest. You two don’t look bright either, but your bodies are probably in great shape after being ‘Bonded. When I wake up, you can tell me more about your new powers, and we can work on a plan. Well, I guess if you are still coming with me after today, that is.”

“We haven’t talked about it today yet. Wait a second,” Jessica said. She glanced at Chris, and they eyed each other for a while before the blonde shiner nodded and sighed. “We’ve talked about it before a little. Staying with you will be dangerous, but Ludus is dangerous. We know we can trust you, and it’ll be almost six months before we could try heading back to Berber anyway. I’ll probably regret this, but I’m coming with you. I really hate those bounty hunters, too. Enheduanna told us stuff about them that still really bothers me.”

“I’m coming too,” said Christopher.

That was a relief. “Okay, I’m glad that’s settled. I’m going to nap here. Whenever I wake up, or by early sunset, whichever comes first, we’ll talk. I will take first watch tonight.”

“Wait, we’re going to stay here until tomorrow?” asked Jessica with a hint of worry in her voice. “Wouldn’t it make more sense for us to get as far gone as possible?”

“Yes, which means they’ve thought about that too. It will probably be best to stay off the road for a day or two, but I really don’t think anyone will try to track us. Enheduanna told them where we’re going, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right.” Jessica’s face fell. The shiner must have figured it out.

“Yes, that’s right. We’re heading for an ambush, so let’s at least figure out what we can do. It’s bad enough this is a trap. It’ll be worse if we don’t prepare for it. When I wake up, we can also talk about whether you’ve changed your mind about coming with me.” With that, I curled up on the ground and fell asleep almost instantly.

I dreamed of playing on the seashore with a hoop and a stick as a little girl. The shells had sounded like the water when I'd stopped to listen. The wind had randomly kicked up, blowing my dark hair across my face. Twilight rays had glinted across the water, making the waves sparkle.

A huge, dead fish on the beach had been fun to poke with a stick. I'd been grossed out at first, then intrigued before my mothers and father had pulled me away. I'd laughed, and played in the tide pools before building a sand cabin.

My dreams allowed me to relive the first time in my life I'd realized that I was alive, and the resulting joy I'd felt.

Aptitude

I woke to the sound of a bang, and the ground actually vibrated a bit. The trembling had probably been what had woken me. My mouth felt as dry as a rock in the desert and tasted like something had died in it. A pain in my back hurt like rotting blazes but rapidly faded after I’d moved slightly, probably because of my healing ability.

A lifetime of wariness combined with my new orb-Bonded abilities allowed me to wake up near-instantly. I carefully looked around, staying still. Despite not feeling any sense of danger, the noises I’d just heard had been worrying.

Then I noticed it was already morning.

“What on Ludus,” I spat, sitting up. Someone had put a blanket on me at some point, but I’d been sleeping in the same spot I’d laid down at the day before. How is this possible? I wondered. One thing was for sure–I would definitely figure out what was going on. Irritation with my pack mates began growing in the back of my brain, where I had a suspicion I’d have a migraine headache if my healing ability hadn’t been working overtime.

It was time to find Christopher and Jessica...right after I peed, because at that moment, suddenly, nothing was more important. I hissed as I quickly but smoothly moved off into the forest. “How is it already morning?” I groused. I was definitely missing something, and I didn’t like losing almost a day with no idea how it had happened.

***

I found the shiner first. The young woman sat on a rock near a cliff face peppered with craters and scorch marks. Her hand on top of her head, she frowned and panted. When she noticed me, she turned and said, “Oh, hi, Nora. It figures you’re already awake.”

“What are you talking about?” I growled. “It’s already morning.”

“Sure, but Chris thought whatever he did would keep you sleeping until mid-afternoon.”

“What did you say?” I could hear the element of danger in my own voice.

Jessica held her hands out, stood, and said, “Calm down, o’ ragey sleepyhead. You were exhausted and saved our asses, so once we’d figured out some of our ‘Bonded powers, Chris thought he could keep you sleeping...and he did.”

“That was…” I gritted my teeth. “What if you two had fallen asleep last night? What about a watch? Did you even have one?”

“Didn’t need it,” said Jessica with a shrug. “Chris can–what does he call it? Ah, yeah, Roam when he’s sleeping. He basically stood watch the whole night and had zero chance of falling asleep, because he was already asleep!”

I leaned back slightly and narrowed my eyes. “What?”

“Chris has spirit powers or something. I’m not sure of everything he can do yet, but he can like, astral project when he’s sleeping. He can also keep someone sleeping if they’re already out and some conditions are met, like goodwill or something. It definitely worked on you.”

I sighed. Jessica might be less manic now than she had been, but she was still Jessica. Her mannerisms could be so alien to me that sometimes I just felt overwhelmed. I changed the subject, saying, “What are you doing here?” The question sounded more abrupt than I’d intended, but I just went with it and frowned. Suddenly, I got a flash of insight that direct and firm might be the best way to deal with the blonde shiner.

“Well, I’m learning to like my power. I thought it was lame before. Do you want a demonstration of what the stuff in my head actually tells me to do?”

“Sure.”

Jessica nodded and grabbed a nearby stick. After making sure the ground had been thoroughly scuffed, she drew a large, intricate design on the bare earth. The process took at least several minutes, and I watched patiently until she was done.

“This is a sigil. Now that this thing is drawn, I can use it.” She narrowed her eyes and held out a hand, her finger pointed. The lines she’d drawn on the ground flared red, wisps of smoke rising from random points, and a fireball materialized in front of her hand. The magic attack shot toward the cliff where Jessica had been pointing and splashed harmlessly against the stone.

I whistled tunelessly. “Impressive,” I said. “What else can you do?”

“Right now I am focusing on ranged attacks, but I think my ‘Bonded ability will let me do a lot more down the line. Like, there’s something in my head about raising the earth for protection, and that sort of thing. I might actually try that next. As for how useful it is...it would be better if I didn’t need half a day to draw one of these damn things. My hand needs to be over the sigil it to make it work, too.”

“I see the problem,” I admitted. My irritation with the Terrans for making me oversleep hadn’t entirely faded, but I had to admit I actually felt physically better than I had for a while. In spite of my frustration, I had grown interested in Jessica’s explanation.

She said, “If I had to use my ability this way, and just followed the instructions in my head, I’d be a support role at best. At worst I’d be useless, and end up like...digging ditches or something.”

“How is digging ditches useless?” I frowned. “Also, you can throw fire, I just watched, so how is this bad? What is a support role?” Sometimes the younger woman made no sense at all.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Jessica, waving a hand. “Besides, I think I already figured out a solution. It was eventually kind of obvious. I have always wanted to be a magic girl, after all.”

“A what?”

“You know–uhhh,” she said, then sang in English, “Killing monsters under moonlight, always down for a tough fight, gonna throw some magic in a firefight, she is the badass Jessica!” When I just gave her a flat look, she grumbled, “Everyone’s a critic. Okay, just watch this.”

The Earth girl walked to a pile of various items she’d left scattered around her sitting rock, and fetched a thick stick, about the width of her thumb. “This is a wand!” she said proudly.

“Okay,” I said, crossing my arms. “It looks like a stick to me.”

“Do you know what a wand is?”

“I’ve never heard that word in my life.”

Jessica rolled her eyes and said, “I guess they don’t have TV or Harry Potter on Ludus. Okay, let me just show you.” Then under her breath, she muttered, “This reveal is turning out to be less fun than I thought it would be.” The shiner pointed her stick–wand–whatever at the cliff, and just like before, a fireball about the side of my fist shot out to splash against the rocks.

The wand began smoking, and Jessica waved it around while blowing on it. She said, “The problem I’m having is that I can carve the sigils into the wand, and they work if I touch the carving, but the flowing power destroys each wand after a few uses. I’ve been trying to fix the problem, but nothing is working! Each wand takes me a long time to make, and carving with my crappy little knife is less than ideal,” she said, pointing at a bronze knife on the ground.

“This is still very creative,” I said, impressed.

“Yeah, well, it’s better than it was, but as things stand, I’d need a wagon full of wands to properly fight a war.”

I called Eneus into spear form and leaned on the weapon, asking the shiner, “A war? When will you be fighting a war?”

“Uh, Nora, we’re walking into an ambush, right? People might try to kill us. I should be scared shitless, and even though I’m not for some reason, I still want to prepare with the best tools and most power I can get.”

She had a point.

“So can I use one of those?” I asked, pointing at a burned-out wand on the ground nearby.

“No, Chris already tried and I don’t think it will work for anyone but me. The magic isn’t in the sigil. It actually comes from me. Like, I supply the juice, and the sigil is the machine...I think. Anyway, I think if I can make wands from metal, or stronger stuff, they won’t burn out as fast. I’m kind of worried they’ll get too hot to use after a while, though. Figuring everything out by trial and error is going to take a while. It’s not like I have anyone around to help me.”

I could definitely relate to that. With a slow nod, I said, “Alright. Just keep working on it and keep me updated, please.”

“Of course, boss. And if you want to talk to Chris, he’s that way, being all quiet and sneaky, probably,” said Jessica, pointing off to one side.

I nodded, and took my leave, heading in the direction that Jessica had gestured. The forest felt surprisingly peaceful, even with muffled, mysterious noises coming from behind where Jessica continued her experiments.

Broadleaf trees swayed overhead, creating enough shadow that only sparse underbrush spoiled the natural landscaping. Morning rays from the sun in the West appeared as smoky beams through the tree limbs overhead, and I breathed in the fresh, loamy air with a sense of pleasure I hadn’t felt for a long time.

I’d traveled alone and spent time outside within the last week, but everything felt different now. Perhaps it was because I wasn’t alone anymore. The shower I’d taken the day before probably helped, too. My outfit may look silly, but at least I didn’t smell bad, well, except for my bag of holding.

After walking for a while, I began to wonder if I was actually going in the right direction, but I eventually found Chris by following a tapping sound. When I got closer, I saw the man doing some kind of drills with two sticks.

He whirled each stick, one over the other in an intricate pattern. I watched, and the strange sensation I’d begun to associate with my natural ability came over me. Enheduanna had used some fancy word for it, but these days I just thought of it as learning from watching. Christopher’s two sword-length sticks whirled, and he managed to block, attack, and dodge all at once, and with neither stick touching the other. I’d never seen anything quite like it.

My admiration for the technique grew, and Chris suddenly spun, looking right at me. I almost took a step back, surprised to be discovered so abruptly, but then I ruefully shook my head and moved forward. “What was that?” I asked.

“Arnis. Kali. Filipino martial arts,” said Chris. He leaned his sticks against a nearby tree and gestured for a couple nearby rocks that would work as chairs.

What is with stick weapons and rock chairs today? I wondered.

After we sat, he asked, “Have you talked to Jess?”

“Yes.”

“I see. I kind of thought you would be angrier at me for making you sleep longer.”

I shrugged and said, “I normally would be, but Jessica kind of distracted me.”

“She’s good at that,” said Chris with a grin. When his face lit up, I felt a sudden rush, a sense of contentment. The man shook his head and said, “I am guessing you’d like to know what my orb-Bonded abilities are?”

“Yes. Duanna orbs are definitely different than Dolos orbs, at least I think so. I will not pretend to be an expert, but I think our abilities are all odd.”

Chris nodded. “Some of what I can do is probably easier to tell you than show you. As you already know, I can make a content, sleeping person sleep longer. I can also put myself to sleep anytime I want and wake up immediately.

“Roaming is where I basically stay awake and aware in spirit form while my body rests. The range on this ability is weird. I haven’t been able to test it much yet, but I think the farther I get away from my body, the more magic it burns.”

“That makes sense,” I said.

“It’s good you understand because I didn’t at first!” Christopher chuckled, and I felt the heat in my chest again.

Chris said, “I can also sense surface emotions in other people who are nearby, and I can sense lies if I focus really hard.”

“That’s obviously useful.”

“Yes, and right now, the physical ability I’ve been trying to perfect is Ghosting.”

“What does that mean?”

“Now is where showing you is easier than explaining.” He held out his hand. “Grab that stick at your feet and try to hit my hand, please,” he said.

I cocked an eyebrow at him but picked up the stick like he’d asked. Seriously, what is it with these two and sticks? I wondered.

“Your hand?” I asked. “You sure?”

“Yes, please.”

“Fine.” I swung my stick at the man’s hand...and it passed right through. The moment before I’d struck, Chris’ fingers had gotten wispy and see-through. I goggled.

“Now you can see. I can’t hold it for long, and the smaller I keep the ability, the less it tires me out. I’m sure I could Ghost my entire body, but it would take a lot of energy, like most of the day’s worth. There are other ways I can use Ghosting too, like this.” The man stood and walked a few paces without making a single noise. My eyebrows rose, and I realized he’d been Ghosting the bottom of his feet.

“Wow,” I said. “I’m no thief, but I could see how that ability would be really handy if you needed to pick up a few things without anyone noticing.”

“Or work as an assassin,” agreed the Filipino man. “I’ve been thinking of all the ways I can use my new abilities. I have a feeling I’ve only begun learning about everything my orb is capable of, too.”

“I’m impressed!” I said, and I was. Both Christopher and Jessica had learned to use their powers quickly, much faster than I had.

“Thank you. Now we have something else to talk about,” said Christopher. I cocked my head, and my heart trembled a bit at the seriousness in his tone.

What did we have to talk about? I was curious but also felt apprehensive, nervous. Christopher was still shorter than me, but over time, I’d grown to see him differently than when we’d first met. His dependability, bravery, loyalty, and intelligence had all earned my respect, and I deeply cared about what he had to say. If anything, I hoped he just wanted to chat, maybe spend some time together.

Christopher gave me an unreadable expression and suddenly sighed explosively. “I am not good with stuff like this, even with my native language and with women from my culture.”

Women? A talk? My breathing quickened.

He continued, “As I just told you, I can sense surface emotions now, and it started more or less after I became orb-Bonded.” He paused for a moment and sighed again. “I am not smart enough to do this well, so I will just say it. Before, I’d just suspected you were developing feelings for me, but now I know. You are my friend, Nora, and my leader, so I hope you understand why this is hard to say.” He averted his gaze and scratched his head in frustration before saying, “I need to tell you that nothing will ever happen between us. I’ve been in love with Jessica for years now.”

Silence rang in the forest. I hadn’t realized I’d been grinning before my muscles wanted to go slack, but I wouldn’t let them–I kept the wooden smile plastered on my face. My heart shook, and I felt like I’d been gut-punched, but I refused to shame myself by acting like an emotional man. As a woman, I needed to be strong, to keep my emotions under control.

Until that moment, I hadn’t actually been aware that I’d been falling for Chris, but the man’s words rang true. My reaction kind of proved it, too. I’d never been particularly good with knowing my own heart when it came to anything other than loyalty, so in a distant way, I wasn’t entirely surprised. This seemed to be my lot in life, after all.

I slowly let my face fall and distantly felt myself nod. Christopher winced, and the part of my mind that still noticed and processed things realized that despite controlling my face, the man could probably just sense my emotions. Oh well, it couldn’t be helped. I said, “Thank you for telling me.”

Christopher’s face screwed up in concern, and he said, “I really didn’t want to say anything because I know I’m terrible at things like this and I really care about you, but I know from experience that these things are better to just...face.”

“I wouldn’t know,” I said. “I’ve never had to reject anyone before.” My eyes stung, but I ignored it. “What about you and Jessica? Does she know?”

“Not yet, well, I haven’t told her. I’ve been too much of a coward to say anything for a long time, but now that I can sense emotions, I don’t have an excuse anymore. I know she is receptive, so I just need to work up the spine to actually talk to her. It’s still harder than I thought it would be. We’ve been through a lot together.”

“Yes, I can tell you two are close. Those types of bonds are important. It is difficult risking a friendship for matters of the heart,” I said. The last word came out as almost a mumble, and I felt the stinging in my eyes again. “I think I am going to go find Jessica again and see how she’s doing.”

“Okay, I would tell you to be careful, but I know monsters fear you, not the other way around.” Christopher smiled weakly, and I knew he was trying to cheer me up, attempting to make the moment less awkward, but the damned stinging in my eyes wouldn’t stop.

I turned and began walking. “Thanks. I will see you later. We will leave tomorrow morning,” I said. The pretty forest around me was still striking, but it seemed melancholy now. The plants on the forest floor were starved of sunlight, desperately seeking more so they could grow, but being denied by the larger, more powerful trees.

Life was like that. Some people were trees, but some were little no-name bushes clinging to a little puddle of sunlight and hoping another leaf wouldn’t grow way up high to block the light. Lots of people had said I was a tree, even Arren had, but sometimes I felt like a weed, trying to find some sunlight just to exist.

I suddenly realized I was sitting on the ground and absently poked at a stump with Vistvis. At some point, I must have minimized Eneus because the spear hung from my wrist. I could count on my weapons–they gave me comfort.

My allergies were acting up a lot. My eyes watered so badly that some tears ran down my cheeks. It was annoying, but I was doing some thinking, so I just left my eyes alone. I leaned my head back against a tree and stared at the big leaves overhead as they swayed in the breeze.

The beauty of my surroundings made me think of something Arren had said before. We’d been in a park, and she’d asked why I didn’t try to find a man to marry. Since I’d always been honest with Arren, I’d told her that the good time boys could never let me down. They’d take care of my body, and that’s all I’d needed. Arren had probably known the truth, though. She had known me better than anyone.

In fact, she’d openly disagreed with my view of the world when we’d been teens. I’d always known I wasn’t pretty, wasn’t wife material. The truth was that I knew I’d actually rather be a second or third wife, first wives had too much responsibility, but I doubted any man I wasn’t paying would be interested in me at all. Much less ask me to join his family.

My heart was hurting, and I hoped it would stop soon. This forest really was charming and peaceful, but it sure did play hell with my allergies. My nose started to run, and I tried to find a kerchief, but my watery eyes made it hard to see and I eventually just gave up. My chest heaved, but I suppressed that. It was bad enough I had allergies; I couldn’t get a cough on top of it.

As I sat on the ground, my eyes stinging, I wondered if I would ever be good enough. Probably not. I’d probably die alone. That was fine, it wasn’t like I wanted to be a domestic wife anyway, but the thought made me realize that my friendships were even more precious to me. Hopefully, my new friends, Christopher and Jessica, would find happiness in each other, and wouldn’t die like so many of my other friends had.

I wasn’t pretty, or interesting, or socially skilled, or very nice, but at least I had my arms, and my spear. As tears from my allergies ran down my face, I vowed to focus on what I was good at–violence–and work tirelessly to protect my friends. I’d failed Arren, but I wouldn’t make that mistake ever again.

Guarding those close to me was really all I could do. I’d probably never be good at anything else. There wasn’t really anywhere that people like me belonged, not even on Ludus.

I finally couldn't control my emotions anymore. My allergies turned to sobbing.

Moving On

The next couple days of travel passed in a bit of a daze. I’d decided that I was done crying over my stupidity with men, so whenever my group took a break or made camp, if I felt my allergies coming back, I just lost myself in training.

As I practiced with Eneus, the eastern sky lit up with oranges and other muted colors as the sun set. A nearby stream meant I could sweat as much as I wanted but still be able to wash myself and my clothes before changing to my second set. Luxury.

I had realized that my main weapons I usually relied on now were Eneus, Pewpew, and Vistvis.

Even though it didn’t get much use anymore, I still wore my bronze short sword, though. The sword had saved me a few times, and when Eneus hung from my wrist, wearing the obvious weapon let others know I was armed. Sometimes presenting a strong front could prevent issues with others.

I’d already practiced with it a bit, just enough to warm up my arms. Dozens of tree stumps and felled trees stood as silent evidence of my training. Using vib-blade through the bronze blade to hack at trees could be really calming, but it would probably stay in its sheath for the rest of the training day now. I’d switched to practicing with Eneus, using the spear to cut trees like I’d done with the bronze sword.

I heard a distant boom and assumed it was probably Jessica. The former Earth gamer and Christopher were on the other side of the nearby hill, practicing with their own abilities. Our group hadn’t seen any monsters so far, probably because we had been more or less following the road, but both Terrans were orb-Bonded now. I’d also given them the last of their gear from the bag of holding. Originally, I’d intended to give them both a bronze sword, but after seeing Christopher’s skill with martial arts, I’d given him both of the larger weapons. Jessica had received a long dagger that I’d been thinking about keeping for myself.

If monsters attacked my friends, the two could probably hold them off long enough for me to arrive. They worked together well too and had been getting closer the last couple days. I could only assume that Christopher had told Jessica that he had feelings for her. Despite my effort not to notice, I’d caught a few meaningful glances and whispering.

I knew that they were probably restraining themselves for my benefit, and I could tell they were both concerned for me. The journey so far had thankfully not been too awkward, but I still couldn’t quite get my guts to sit right. A pebble of rot in my heart just would not completely go away. The obvious answer, at least for the short term, was to keep training.

Training was a good idea anyway. Actually, Jessica had made a good point a couple days before. We were walking into a known ambush, so not preparing as best we could didn’t make sense.

I slashed another tree with Eneus, channeling vib-blade through the entire weapon to enhance its cutting edge. Training often had been refining my combat abilities–I could tell that my movements were becoming more powerful, sharper, crisper. Practice with Pewpew had been going well, too. I’d been working on fighting through the discomfort and fatigue from the ring so I could use it more often. This helped since I always kept some stamina in reserve just in case we did get attacked.

So while some of my abilities and skills continued to grow stronger, like Vibration and Flight, I still couldn’t figure out how to use my armor. Eneus remained a mystery, too. I knew the spear must be an extremely powerful enchanted weapon, and what I’d been able to figure out so far had been helpful, but not worthy of the reaction it always got from Enheduanna.

As I practiced, sweat rolled down my face and frustration burned in my heart. “Why does nothing ever go right?” I growled. Eneus spun in my hands, and I slashed through a small tree. The blade didn’t slow during the cut, and I reversed the weapon, whirled, and stabbed it all the way into a tree. I pushed my vib-blade ability through the blade hard, more than I would have been able to manage before, and tried twisting the enhanced weapon to try widening the crack I’d made.

A tearing boom sounded, splitting the air, and the back of the tree burst out into a shower of tiny splinters. The bushes directly in front of me rattled violently as it was torn apart. I stared for a moment, and muttered, “What in rotting hells?” Eneus had lost its vib-blade… ‘hum,’ so I activated the ability again, withdrew the spear, and stared at the unmarked tip. “Seriously, what just happened?” I wondered aloud.

I spent the next few minutes trying to figure out what I’d done and how to do it again. Finally, on the sixteenth try or so, I figured it out. “Wow,” I breathed.

When I powered my spear with vib-blade, then twisted Eneus in a certain way, it released the ability in a stream from the tip. I still wasn’t sure that was exactly was happening, but this was the only explanation that made sense. The vibration stream seemed fairly wide, nothing like the tight beam of destructive energy from Pewpew. I could tighten Eneus’ stream by concentrating on keeping the spear steadier, but the effect probably wasn’t the greatest attack I had, at least not with the power level I was using.

It was a vib-punch.

I kept exploring the new ability and discovered that if I twisted Eneus slower after vib-punch started, I could lengthen the ability, channel it. Twisting quickly lost some of the energy overall, but made it stronger, dumping all the power at once. Next, I experimented against trees to test the effect. The vib-punches slammed into the tree trunks and did damage, splintering bark and pulverizing wood, but didn’t cut the larger ones down. Smaller trees were just pushed over, especially if I channeled the vib-punch.

Finally, I filled Eneus with all the vib-blade energy I could, aimed at a large tree, and twisted quickly, trying to keep the spear as steady as possible. I grunted in both appreciation and disappointment at the result. The vib-punch had knocked a hole into the tree like it’d been hit by a giant monster. Probably half the trunk was missing now, knocked into splinters, but the tree still stood.

If I’d used the vib-punch as an attack, it probably would have killed most smaller monsters. Against a Terran, it would have broken every bone in their torso, so it wasn’t offensively useless, but the attack required a lot of energy. I felt like I was missing something, losing power somewhere.

With my chin in my hand, I sat on the forest floor, pondering this new development. I’d never thought about it before, but when I empowered a weapon with vib-blade, the effect lasted for a while, or at least I didn’t need to constantly channel the ability. If I twisted Eneus and unleashed the stored energy, it left the spear empty, unpowered.

Finally, I decided that the ability was a nice addition to my arsenal, but would be situational like every other trick I had. I held Eneus thoughtfully and said, “What other mysteries do you have?” Of course, the spear didn’t reply, which made me think of Vistvis.

I sat against a tree and drew the enchanted dagger, then used my Vibration power to have a quick, polite conversation with the prickly woman inside. It seemed she could still chat with Muffin occasionally, which helped with her boredom. I wasn’t exactly happy that Vistvis and Muffin could talk, but Vistvis’ voice really did sound a bit happier, and she didn’t mention my recent, shameful breakdown after talking to Christopher.

Maybe she’d known that if she’d said anything about it, I would have thrown the dagger into the nearest lake.

Our conversation was short, polite, and not very deep. Vistvis and I would never be friends, but at least we got along better now. I wasn’t unsympathetic to her situation, which was completely awful, but my level of concern would have been higher if I liked her personality more.

Since I was done talking to the unpleasant Areva woman-in-a-dagger, I sheathed Vistvis and stood. With a few words, I minimized Eneus to hang around my wrist, then began training a different ability, working with Flight. I practiced air skating, air jumping, air dodging, and straightforward flying until my training time ran out.

***

The next morning, my little group, my pack, headed out early enough that we hadn’t seen any other adventurers yet. Jessica yawned and asked, “Where are we going again? We’ve been walking for days. My legs and ass haven’t hurt this bad since I drank too much soda and roller skated for like two days straight as a teen. Also, I would kill for some coffee.”

“Coffee isn’t common on this continent, you know that,” said Christopher.

“Yeah, well, sometimes complaining is good for the soul. So, Nora, what’s the deal?”

“You asked this like two days ago,” I said.

“Well, I was tired then, too. If you want me to remember stuff at the ass crack of dawn, feed me some coffee.”

I exchanged a quick glance with Christopher, but he just shrugged. There wasn’t a good reason not to answer Jessica, so I said, for perhaps the third time, “You already knew most of this before I even got to Hell’s Favor. We’re taking a Duanna orb to a boy named Benjamin. He is currently located at a farm somewhere ahead of us. We’re approaching the areas where the map that Enheduanna gave me actually starts.”

“Anything else?”

“Other than what I’m supposed to tell Benjamin, or that Enheduanna told all of our enemies to go to the farm too? Not really.” I paused and looked up, then said, “Well, there is the part about how Enheduanna told the bounty hunters that they are not allowed to harm Benjamin or his family until we get there, but you already know that too.”

“You, know, that part has never made sense,” mused Jessica. “Enheduanna’s crazy. Why does she suddenly care about a farm or a family?”

Christopher answered, “She doesn’t, she just wants Nora to give Benjamin the orb. If we all die that would probably be fine too, but if this boy is not alive, there’s no reason for us to walk into the trap.”

With a nod, I said, “Probably, yes. All of which is why I have to say something. We already settled this a while ago, and I am thankful, but I’m still a little surprised that you two decided to come with me. I can’t run away–Enheduanna owns me for years to come. You two are free, though.”

“Yes, we did already cover this.” Jessica’s voice sounded uncharacteristically serious. “Everything I already said still stands, and Nora, you have some major blind spots.”

“What do you mean?” I frowned at the shiner.

“Your sense of humor is awful, but we trust you, you’re loyal, brave, and things or people you don’t like tend to die. To survive on this messed up world, I think sticking close to you is a good strategy. You’re hell on wheels,” said Jessica, and Christopher nodded in agreement.

I carefully schooled my face to non-expression and said, “Oh.” We walked in silence for a while, and I realized I still needed to give Christopher some new instructions on how to use his abilities. His new power had already been a great help since all three of us could sleep without taking watch shifts, but now that we were nearing our destination, we really needed some reconnaissance.

After Chris received his orders, he nodded, eyes serious. I knew the man would do his job–he was dependable after all. He and Jessica shared a quick look, and she nodded, her eyes full of concern. She suddenly whipped her head around to look at me before firmly fixing her eyes on the road again, back stiffened. Christopher also managed to look everywhere without actually looking at anything, obviously trying to act natural. Their antics stung a little, but I also couldn’t help a hidden smile.

My reactions still felt uncharacteristically emotional, but I valued my companions. The pain I’d felt over the last few days had finally begun to fade. Maybe if I did my job, I could help my friends stay alive, and indirectly give them the best gift I possibly could; each other.

***

After that, Chris began falling asleep to scout ahead twice a day. He could travel faster while Roaming, his ability that allowed him to walk around while napping. I couldn’t see him when he Roamed...which was unnerving, but he definitely got results. Christopher was able to scout ahead each time to roughly the next point we’d stop. The lack of enemy lookouts or scouts on our journey was beginning to unnerve me. Each group of travelers or adventurers that passed started to look more and more like killers just waiting to strike if we let our guards down. I began developing a twitch in one eye.

When I voiced my concern, Jessica scoffed and said, “If these assholes were smart, they wouldn’t be criminals getting blown up by a demigoddess in the first place. Chances are they’re just lazy, especially if they work out of a huge adventuring town like Hell’s Favor. This kind of job is probably not their usual sort of thing, or else they’d all already be dead. I’m guessing that the people who hate you back in Berber just put enough of a price on your head that every moron with a weapon has been tempted.”

I had to agree with the blonde girl, but I still thought something wasn’t adding up.

A day later, Christopher’s ability paid off in spades. He located a landmark on Enheduanna’s map, a huge rock where we were supposed to turn off the main road, and verified that a couple bounty hunters had been stationed as lookouts nearby.

Once Christopher had woken up from Roaming and told us about the landmarks and the lookout, I’d grabbed a stick to draw with. I said, “It’s time to do some planning. Christopher, please tell me what you saw so I can make notes here. After this, you need to go back again to check out the farm itself, too.”

“That’s fine, but we need to get a little closer to do that. I’m at my maximum Roaming range.”

“Noted,” I said.

Over the next few minutes, as I drew in the dirt, most of my mind was devoted to the problem at hand, but I felt a core of unease at the back of my neck.

I’d always been terrible at planning, and raids were no exception. With a silent prayer, I desperately hoped that things had changed. Jessica and Christopher didn’t know enough about Ludus to form a plan in the first place, and they’d both made it clear before that they didn’t want that kind of responsibility anyway. Yet again in my life, I was the leader and had to lead whether I wanted to or not.

Creator, I missed Arren.

I scratched some more in the dirt, transferring most of Enheduanna’s map into a larger picture. We knew we were walking into a trap, but we were prepared for it. One thing my previous life in the Jackals and Throat of the Sea had taught me was that fighting was not always the only option. My pack was doing everything right–getting as much information as possible and using all of it to plan. On Ludus, staying informed was often the same as staying alive.

A cautious sense of optimism came over me, but at the same time, the niggling feeling I was missing something wouldn’t go away.

Rattling Thoughts

I hovered high in the sky, water vapor clinging to my skin, making my clothing damp. The sensation wasn’t exactly pleasant, nor was what I was about to do.

Murder.

Sometimes people liked to dress up killing with fancy language, but that was usually just to make it justifiable, easier to swallow. Killing is killing. The sooner someone can understand this fact, the better killer they can be.

Lisa had taught me this lesson. I hadn’t wanted to admit it then, and I didn’t want to admit it now, but she’d been right. Most people would call what I was about to do a preemptive strike, self-defense, a skirmish, or even war, but I knew better.

Murder.

Killing is killing. People have a way of tricking themselves that a thing is not a thing if there’s a reason for it, like stealing. If a child is starving and they steal, we turn a blind eye or even give them food, but it doesn’t change that the child was stealing. No, the nature of things don’t change, just how people judge us.

As I plunged downwards through the dawn sky, Eneus aimed at a woman’s back, below her neck, I wondered how I would be judged one day. I knew how I judged myself.

My blade easily skewered the bounty hunter’s body, in fact using my body weight had been overkill in addition to vib-blade. As soon as I touched down and could get leverage with my feet, I spun, using my momentum to free my spear from the pale, middle-aged woman I’d just killed, and aimed its blade at my second enemy, a big man with bleary eyes.

The two guards had been on watch that night and had probably both been sleepy. I triggered a vib-punch into the man’s face from Eneus–the Vibration energy landed on his nose with bone-crunching force, snapping his head backwards. While he was still gathering air to scream, I took three quick steps forward and planted Vistvis all the way to the hilt in his armpit area unprotected by armor.

The man’s eyes rolled down to look at me, then back up into his head. He made a tiny, low moan, then his shoulders twitched, and he made a terrible face. I jerked Vistvis out of the man’s body and a torrential spout of blood covered my hand.

Both bodies slumped to the ground, jerking in death, and I shook my head. I quickly centered myself and grabbed the corpses to drag across the highway, all the way into the tree line. The dead guards’ relief would be heading directly towards me in just a few minutes. Lowering my own weight to almost nothing using my Flight power made moving the bodies easier, but no more pleasant.

I critically examined the obvious blood and drag trails for a while before nodding slowly. They’d work, but I really, really hoped no early-rising adventurers would come down the highway yet. As it was, I would need to plan my next ambush closer than I’d planned before. Everything I did now would need to be silent.

With narrowed eyes and a steeled heart, I sprang into the trees near where the new bounty hunters would be approaching from and hid. The plan wasn’t great but just might work. Jessica and Christopher had already moved ahead to travel the long way around to the farm, attempting to locate it without being seen.

Soon I heard the sound of walking feet, yawns, and mumbled complaints–the bounty hunter guard replacements. I waited until they’d passed my position, then silently left my tree, floating after them, then speeding up as I got closer. One of the two women must have sensed something at the last second, because she turned just in time to see Eneus coming for her chest. I struck like a miniature jade-scaled toxic venom winged serpent demon, bearing the heavyset guard down to the ground with my spear. In my off hand, Vistvis opened the other woman’s throat. Neither bounty hunter had been able to make a sound other than gurgling as they died, drumming heels against the ground. The woman with the ruined throat tried throwing a knife at me, murder in her eyes, but her strength had already faded. I knew what that felt like from back when I died.

I easily dodged the thrown blade then quickly, efficiently, slammed Eneus through both enemies’ hearts. As I dragged them past the giant rock and across the hard-packed highway, I wondered if these two had ever hurt anyone or broken any laws. They probably had, but I’d never be sure. Some might want to imagine strangers as bad people in this situation, but I still had Lisa’s lesson rattling around in my head.

Murder.

Once the new corpses had been hidden across the street–but not too well–I breathed a sigh of relief. No adventurers or other traffic had come down the road yet. I’d had contingency plans if it’d happened, most involved running away, but the actual plan would work better now.

Now I needed to move fast. I tried to ignore the blood covering my armor as I air jumped from one tree to another, moving quickly and staying out of sight. Hopefully, I’d timed my move right, and adventurers would find the body, or the bounty hunters would after investigating missing guards. It’d be best if some travelers noticed what happened either way. The more noise and surprise the corpses created, the better.

I’d just killed four people to create a distraction. They hadn’t been attacking me, and I hadn’t even been in Hell’s Favor when these people had come to the inn. This wasn’t personal, I was just doing my job, just like they had been. My heart felt icy and hard. Sometimes reality wasn’t pleasant, and true strength involved standing to face it head on...another lesson Lisa had taught me.

The vile woman had undeniably been my greatest teacher, and one of the most influential people in my life. It just made me hate her even more–myself too.

I hissed in irritation, even as I sprang from tree to tree. Now was not the time to dwell on the past. My memory of the guard’s expression as she’d seen me coming, her shoulder-length hair fanning out...I’d remember all of it for a while. She’d had a hickey on her neck–I wonder who gave it to her? Maybe the other guard? It didn’t matter; they were both dead now. I’d killed them.

Murder.

While I was no thief, I was definitely a murderer, and that knowledge weighed heavily on my heart as I traveled through the forest to reach my friends.

Oh well, better them than me. I told myself that over and over again.

***

I met up with Christopher and Jessica faster than I’d thought I would. My Flight abilities had been growing, and recent practice had paid off. I could move really quickly these days. The two Terrans hadn’t exactly been standing still, though. They’d managed to cover much more distance than I’d thought they could before I could catch up.

This development was fortunate. We were traveling through the forest and swinging wide of the farm. The idea was to position ourselves behind our target, wait for the distraction I’d hopefully created, move in, and either give Benjamin the Duanna orb or take him with us.

The plan wasn’t great, but it was the best I’d been able to come up with, and the other two hadn’t had any better ones. Originally, I’d actually considered a head-on attack, but Jessica and Chris were inexperienced, and I wasn’t sure how they’d react in their first battle. Plus, we weren’t sure how many bounty hunters we’d be fighting or what their capabilities were. It could be suicide to just wade in swinging.

Rumors I’d heard in Hell’s Favor before we’d left the city made it sound like the bounty hunter groups had fought, and one had absorbed the others. This would be a worst-case scenario.

Since we hadn’t met any enemies on the road until now, it was likely they were all under the same leadership, so a single large group was likely. “Why is my luck always so bad?” I grumbled.

“What?” asked Jessica.

“Be quieter,” I ordered softly.

“Sorry, I’m kind of nervous,” admitted the shiner. She kept fingering the handful of wands she’d crafted and stored in three separate bags. Her wand holsters had been fashioned from a spare tunic and reeds. I was fairly certain that each bag held a different type of wand. Jessica said, “I’m afraid I’m going to screw something up.”

“If you talk loudly again, you might,” I growled, and the other woman shrugged an apology at me.

“There it is!” whispered Christopher. “The farm.”

We all crouched at the edge of the forest and examined our target. The farmhouse wasn’t close, but the fields at our location and the building were full of crops, about chest-high on me. I didn’t recognize all of them, but I saw some corn in there, a popular Earth plant for farmers to grow if their soil could support it.

A handful of wooden towers dotted the surrounding fields, and it took me a while to realize what they probably were–monster repellers. If I was right, the wooden housings would hide and protect the magic-stone powered tech inside. Wow. I’d heard of them before but never seen one. They were extremely expensive, not as pricey as Dolos orbs, but still way outside the means of a normal person. This was obviously not a normal farm.

I couldn’t see much else, not even any enemies. None of my Vibration-based senses gave me any information either. Christopher looked a question at me, and I nodded. The man immediately sat, put his back against a tree, and instantly fell asleep.

He was undoubtedly Roaming now, scouting ahead. I tried to ignore my nerves, but this point in the plan would be where the most number of things could go wrong.

It seemed Jessica and I crouched there forever, but it was probably only a few minutes later that Christopher jerked awake, whispering, “Most of them are already on the other side of the farmhouse. They set up camp over there. Based on some tracks I saw, I think there were supposed to be guards over here on this side, but...there aren’t.”

“Good, less trouble. Nice that they leave the backyard open,” I said quietly. I felt no particularly burning need to murder more people today. “What else can you tell us?”

“There are some people walking around inside the farmhouse, but I didn’t recognize any of them. I didn’t see any children, either.”

“Hmmm.” Something wasn’t adding up. “Were you able to spot any mages or orb-Bonded?”

“No, sorry. All the bounty hunters are wearing different stuff but all kind of look the same too.”

I nodded. “Okay, then we–”

Suddenly, the sound of yelling came drifting in, carried on the wind. Even as far away as we were, it was easy to see people start running around on the other side of the farmhouse, like ants around a destroyed ant hill.

“They must have found the bodies,” said Jessica, her face expressionless.

I mutely nodded, my heart hard.
Now was time to make it all count.

Ticking Time

Moving to the farm through the fields of crops proved surprisingly easy. I kept Eneus minimized on my wrist and maintained a death grip on my short sword. Behind me, Jessica’s face was sweating bullets, her eyes darting around in nervousness. Meanwhile, Christopher looked so relaxed he could fall asleep. The Filipino man must have experienced dangerous circumstances for most of his life to have earned that kind of calm.

I could relate to that, but I had never picked up the steel nerves–story of my life.

The situation weighed on my shoulders and I swallowed. Our entire plan hinged on this moment. If we were caught, everything would go to hell, the whole rotting mission would be spoiled, and we’d have a huge, terrible fight on our hands. On the other hand, if the plan worked, once we actually found Benjamin and delivered the orb, we could run away and escape...hopefully.

I tried to be quiet, but every noise my little group made sounded magnified a hundred times. My nerves practically hummed, so I didn’t even use my Vibration-enhanced hearing. The added distraction would probably have just done more harm than good.

Finally, we made it to the edge of the nearest field to the house, and carefully searched the area. We all crouched down, hidden by the surrounding crops, the stalks rustling against each other while we all did our best to spot danger. I tried using my Vibration senses again, but all the bounty hunters’ zebras had been kept near the road to the highway, to begin with. The information I was getting wasn’t all that useful.

It’s nice when a plan can work for a change, I thought. Hopefully, the bounty hunters would all make a fuss over the bodies for a while, then search the forest nearby. By the time they came back to the farm, my little pack would be long gone. Well, Jessica and Christopher weren’t Jackals, so I guess I couldn’t call them my pack, but maybe if we lived through this, I’d get around to giving our little group a proper name.

Turning, I put my finger over my lips in the universal sign for quiet–Jessica and Christopher nodded. I counted down from three on my hand using my fingers, and once my fist closed, we all sprinted across the yard behind the farmhouse as quickly as possible. We made it to a back door without raising an alarm or even seeing any enemies and plastered ourselves against the wall.

A warm wind blew, stirring leaves and the heads of the crops. With my current level of wariness, the sound was ominous, spooky. Whenever I actually fought, I could focus, or even use floating time, but a heist or a job like this almost always turned me into a pile of nerves.

With a wince, I drew Vistvis and channeled vib-blade energy through her. I’d warned her about this the day before, but I’d turned off our communication channel before she’d had a chance to respond. I’d known she’d just complain and there’d been no reason for me to endure it. I still whispered, “Sorry, Vistvis,” as I bent towards the door, though. The empowered dagger made quick work of the lock, and just like that, we were in.

I was no thief, but I would have to remember this very convenient way to get into a locked door. In fact, there had been a few times in my younger years that such an ability would have been very handy. It was good that more opportunists didn’t have Vibration powers.

Luckily, the door’s hinges didn’t squeak, and we quickly moved down the hallway. We plodded along as silently as possible, trying to locate any children in the house, but then stopped in our tracks. We’d come within sight of a sitting room with two men seated in oversized, stuffed chairs, and they were looking right at us.

“Took you bloody long enough. We’ve been waiting for ages.”

I blinked. “What?”

***

A few minutes later, I perched nervously on a chair facing the two seated men. One was older, just short of fat, his greying hair giving him a dignified appearance. Expensive clothing added to his overall air of importance. He kept a well-groomed mustache, and I could hear his expensive-looking watch ticking even with my normal hearing.

I judged that the other man was a few years older than me, tall, powerfully built, but paunchy and soft. He seemed like the type of man who had been active as a boy but became lazy after hitting adulthood. He must have done something to get muscle at some point, though–not even his baby fat or clothing could hide his strength. The younger man’s dark hair had been combed rather rakishly like he was aware of his good looks.

I wanted to hate him on principle, but his twinkling eyes and self-aware smile wouldn’t let me.

With a glower, I said, “I’ve sat down like you demanded. We are pressed for time. Now tell us–”

“Of course I know you’re pressed for time. The Maroon String have had my farm locked down for days,” said the older man with a grunt.

“The Maroon String?”

“I think he probably means all the bounty hunters out there,” said Jessica.

“Obviously,” confirmed the older man.

I pinched my thumb and forefinger on the bridge of my nose for a second before growing, “Of course I know the rotting bounty hunters are probably who you’re talking about–there are no other rotting people out here in the middle of nowhere! I was asking for–actually, fuck it. Never mind.

“You refused to talk to us unless we sat down like ‘civilized people.’ We’re sitting now,” I growled. “Where is the boy Benjamin?”

“Boy? Benjamin?” The grey-haired man got a strange expression. “You’re here for Benjamin?”

“Yes, the boy Benjamin. I guess the Maroon String only knew we were coming here and not what for, huh?”

“Correct.” The older man leaned back in his chair, his formal clothing crinkling. “I have been curious what all of this was about, well, more annoyed, but curious as well. The Maroon String mentioned Enheduanna. I’ve had...dealings with her.”  His eyes grew haunted, and I could understand why if he was telling the truth. He continued, “So what do you want with Benjamin?”

Suddenly, my instincts tried to get my attention, but I wasn’t sure what they were trying to tell me. Stress from the situation and time ticking away battled with my wariness, and a reluctance to just spill my guts to strangers. I’d noticed that the older man seemed strangely at ease, too...and I still had blood all over me. “What are your names?” I asked. “You must already know who we are.”

The man’s eyes flashed in annoyance as I answered his question with a question, and I suddenly got a whiff of tobacco smoke. The nostalgia the smell evoked, and the sudden rush of memories of my father staggered me, but I quickly recovered.

The greying man crossed his legs and steepled his fingers, narrowing his eyes at me. Finally, he said, “I am Bertram Tremblay. This is my son, Benjamin Tremblay.”

“Benjamin?” asked Jessica. I hit her thigh with a closed fist, and the shiner hissed, scowling at me. It was her own fault; I’d told her to keep her mouth shut before we’d set out. If she got us killed, I’d warned her that I’d make sure to beat some common sense into her before we all died. She’d seemed appropriately nervous, but now she was talking again–it must be a disease.

The older man, Bertram, crossed his arms and said, “You must be Nora Hazard. I haven’t heard names for your two friends, but the Maroon String really hates you. In fact, from what I understand, they are a new company, combining all the major bounty hunter groups out of Hell’s Favor, and all to kill or capture you.”

“Flattering,” I growled. “Please direct us to the boy Benjamin, Mister Bertram. We can leave then.”

The other man spoke for the first time, saying, “I’m the only Benjamin here. In fact, we are the only two people here in the house right now. After the bounty hunters came, Father sent away my mothers, brother, and sisters to stay with relatives. He stayed to make sure these Maroon String people kept their promise about not destroying the farm. I’m the eldest, so I stayed here with him.”

“Wait,” I said. “How did these bounty hunters know we were coming for you? How did you know? Enheduanna didn’t tell the bounty hunters about you. Why did you stay?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” said Benjamin. “I’m the eldest. It was my duty.”

I rubbed my forehead with the heel of my hand. “You are the only Benjamin who has ever lived at this farm?” The man nodded, and I said, “Great. So we could have come all the way here and completely missed you.”

“That’s how Enheduanna does things,” said the older man with a sigh.

“You make it sound like you know Enheduanna.”

“I stumbled upon a Duanna orb nearly forty years ago. I met the demigoddess after that, and we briefly...dallied together at one point.”

“Wait, what?” said Jessica. “I thought she was a lesbian! She has this vampy, sexy, center of attention thing going on too.”

“She prefers the company of women, but, well, I really was rather dashing in my day,” said Herbert. The man twirled his mustache and winked at Jessica. The shiner made a face and Benjamin put a hand over his eyes, groaning softly.

“Father, really?” asked the younger man. “You were physically older back then too, so you aren’t even making any sense.”

“Yes, really, and I always makes sense.”

Benjamin rolled his eyes and shot me an apologetic look.

Jessica shook her head and protested, “Preferences aside, Enheduanna is completely crazy!”

“Yes, and that made it more fun, well, at first,” answered Bertram with a wistful sigh.

I blinked, not knowing what to say, and suddenly noticed Christopher. The wary Filipino man’s head was on a swivel, trying to watch every direction at once. His eyes met mine, and he pointed at Benjamin with his lips.  I understood what he meant–we were wasting time. “We need to hurry up here and leave,” I said.

Now that I knew Bertram was orb-Bonded, I watched him a bit more warily as he replied, “You people just broke into my home–hell, the Maroon String at least knocked when they first came here! Maybe you should tell me what you want with my son; this is the second time I am asking.” Now that he’d spoken for longer, I could hear Bertram’s off-planet accent. I’d caught the subtle threat in his tone, too.

“I came here to give your son a Duanna orb,” I said. “Either that or take him with us.”

The elder man’s eyes widened before he seemed to collapse a bit in his chair. “I should have known,” he muttered. “I thought she’d forgotten, but she never forgets–at least not nothing you ever actually want her to.”

“It’s okay, Father,” said Benjamin softly. “You told me a long time ago that this day might come.”

“You know how I feel about it, boy. You know what adventuring did to me! There are definitely pros and cons, but you should be starting a family, not chasing down monsters.” Bertram sighed and muttered, “At least you are at a good age, though, not like I was.”

I said, “This is touching and all, but we really need to go. Benjamin, are you going to take the orb or come with us?”

A side door suddenly opened, and a cold voice said, “Actually, neither. You are all going to stay still, or everyone dies.” Two women and a man filed out of the doorway. The trio was alert, walking on their toes, and staring daggers at us. The tall and brutal-looking lead woman ordered, “Drop your weapons. You there,” she said, pointing at me. “Put the sword on the floor.”

The woman in the rear, a blonde, chuckled darkly, saying, “The rest of the Maroon String will get antsy if this takes too long. Why not just kill them all and get it over with? The girls want to start torching this place.”

The big man in the middle, dressed in heavy-looking, oversized armor said, “We can’t kill them all, Shakira. The witch told us we couldn’t harm any of the farmers.” He moved forward to stand in front of the women. Now that he was closer, I realized I’d never seen armor so heavy-looking before. With a sinking feeling, I realized he was probably orb-Bonded.

The blonde, Shakira said, “Well, we can burn their buildings without harming them, can’t we? The witch just said we couldn’t harm a hair on their heads. She didn’t say anything about the buildings.”

“What about what we promised the old man over there?” said the armored man.

“Who cares? Nora is finally here,” said Shakira with a laugh. The fringes on her light clothing swayed as she moved, and the little bells on her sash tinkled.

I saw a flash of red, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. The Maroon String wear a real maroon string on their arm? I thought. I can’t tell if that’s really smart or really stupid.

Wavering

The tall woman smiled confidently, her leather armor creaking as she slowly sauntered forward. “It’s a good thing I came back here with my lieutenants. I suggest you come peacefully, Nora. The bounty is higher if you are alive, and in addition to us three ‘Bonded, this entire area is about to be swarming with the Maroon String again.”

“You psycho bitch!” growled Jessica. The Shiner obviously recognized the woman speaking.

The severe-looking bounty hunter didn’t even spare a glance for my blonde friend; her eyes never left mine. She said, “Normally I would not care about your companions, but they were present for the massacre in Hell’s Favor, accompanying the woman who calls herself Enheduanna, so we want them for questioning.”

My mind seemed to go blank, and for a second, I couldn’t figure out what to do. As it turned out, Jessica had no such problem.

I only noticed that the shiner had moved after earth had surged upwards, making the floor crack and explode into splinters. Jessica’s wand smoked a bit as soil fountained up almost all the way to the ceiling. In about the time it takes to draw a breath, the wall had completely sealed off half of the room. Almost immediately, impact noises came through the barrier and the earth trembled a bit, then the bounty hunters on the other side began yelling at each other.

The tall woman screamed, “Why did you let them do that, Thod? You fool! I knew I should have never allowed a man to remain a Lieutenant!”

“How about you do something other than complaining for once, Sesasi?” growled the man, Thod. “Look, Shakira has already left. I moved in front of you two in case the targets attacked. You are the magic one; you should have used magic to stop them from doing this.”

“Rotting idiot! You are a strength-based ‘Bonded and completely wrapped in armor. Start knocking down walls in the house or something!”

“Or we could go back to the other door like Shakira probably already has.” After a thump, he said, “This earth wall is stronger than it looks.”

“Fine, let’s go!” screamed Sesasi. “They could get away!” A huge crashing sound came from another part of the house. I could hear glass breaking somewhere.

“Nora, what the fuck is wrong with you? Stop staring, let’s move!” shouted Jessica. My first reaction was to snap back at her, but then I just blinked and nodded. The shiner was absolutely right. Why was I reacting so slowly? The world trembled for a moment, but I swallowed and steeled my jaw. My vision corrected itself as I ran down the hallway with my two friends, Benjamin and Bertram behind me.

“Father, the house!” gasped Benjamin.

“You heard them, they’re going to torch the place anyway,” I heard the older man say. As he kept up with us, he grouched, “I was afraid of this. I’ve never wanted to be the old Fox in front of you, but if these Maroon people plan to destroy everything I’ve worked for even after I’ve cooperated, well, they can’t blame me for being impolite. These idiots are dragging me out of retirement.”

Our group burst out of the house, through the door I’d broken into, and my heart sank. A group of riders on zebras grinned nastily at us. All of them wore a red string on one arm. The lead rider, an Areva woman, shouted, “You–”

The riders had no warning before purple light flashed out from behind me. I cried out in surprise as a barrage of deadly energy bolts peppered the mounted bounty hunters with a chopping sound, like a swarm of shimmering crossbow bolts. A few of the riders must have had enchanted defensive items because a couple of magic shields flickered, but the sheer number of projectiles overwhelmed their defenses.

Every zebra went down, blood fountaining into the air. The beasts kicked each other as they died in agony and fear, and the riders that hadn’t already been torn apart by violet energy were crushed and pummeled by their own mounts. I turned to see Bertram holding one arm extended, his fingers spread. His eyes blazed, and the man’s entire aura seemed completely different than before. Now he was cold, lethal. I wasn’t the only one looking at him; Benjamin’s mouth gaped as he watched his father.

Bertram said, “If you are going to give an orb to my son, it would probably be smart to give it to him soon.” Even his voice had changed, harder and sharper than before. Over the groans and weeping of the dying Maroon String, Bertram said, “I saved up money for years, doing dangerous missions all so I could have this farm, and find some peace on Ludus. I should have known it wouldn’t last.” He lowered his hand and looked me in the eyes.

“Allow me to introduce myself again,” said Bertram. “I used to be known as Energy Fox back in my adventuring days. I am a second rank orb-Bonded with a modular Duanna orb, and I specialize,” he said and paused dramatically before finishing, “in Energy Blasts!”

I closed my eyes for a second after my vision wavered again. Shutting my eyes tightly for a second helped, but then I imagined waves of smugness rolling off Muffin wherever she lived in my head. “Just had to be Energy Blasts,” I muttered.

Behind us, I heard a crash and further away, the sound of dozens of running feet. A couple more zebra riders thundered past the house, levelling weapons at us. The coughing sound of a large bore air rifle echoed before I saw the other rider draw back a bow that began to glow. “Get down!” I screamed. The air rifle’s bullet thudded into the ground somewhere between us–a miss. I dropped to the ground, dread rising from my stomach, creeping up my throat.

The rider’s enchanted arrow went wide and high, flashing over our heads and slamming into the roof behind us with a bang. Fire immediately burst from the impact point in a hungry wave. Benjamin yelled. Bertram grabbed his son’s arm, pulling him up and growled, “The house is gone, boy. Worry about the roof later if we’re still alive.”

In the distance, I could hear Sesasi screaming orders. The tall, unpleasant bounty hunter leader’s voice carried. She shrieked, “Get over here, all of you! They’re here!”

The two new riders wheeled around and began approaching for another shot at us. Bertram held up a hand and peppered one of them with energy blasts. “This is not the kind of combat I used to specialize in!” he shouted.

Jessica hopped up from the ground with a new wand and began screaming, shooting three fireballs from the carved stick before it began smoldering. She tossed it aside with a hiss and drew another fireball wand.

Something was definitely wrong with me. Sounds echoed, and the scene seemed to waver in and out, but I dug deep and centered myself with an iron will. Now was not a time when I could afford to fall apart. I would have to figure out what was happening later.

Something caught my eye around one side of the house, and I spotted movement in the distance among the crops. The bounty hunters were starting to move in, organizing. The zebra riders had charged in, but their fellows seemed to be smarter. Bertram’s violet attacks took down one of the newer zebra riders. The other one had been winged by one of Jessica’s fireballs. She cursed and slapped at the fire on her arm, riding directly into a field of corn before jumping off of her mount, disappearing.

Suddenly, a figure blurred across the open yard, heading right for us. I instinctively acted, lifting my fist with Pewpew and triggering a scatter beam. At least a few lines of destructive energy bisected the attacking mage or orb-Bonded and turned them into bloody meat, their body almost unravelling across the ground. I almost absently noted that whoever they were, they’d been armed with a lance. Then the discomfort and fatigue from using Pewpew hit me, but I gritted my teeth against it.

“Jessica,” I yelled. “Put up earth walls on both sides of us to the crops!”

To her credit, the shiner immediately understood what I meant despite her slightly green appearance and wide, unblinking eyes. This might not be Jessica’s first battle, but it was her first time fighting in one. She answered, “Got it, boss! This will use up almost all my earth wall wands, though!”

“Do it!” I ordered.

Jessica pulled two wands from her holsters and with both hands, waved them forward, causing the ground to rumble and rise, growing up to double my height. The blonde woman had acted just in time; I could hear projectiles hitting the other side of the wall to my right.

“Everyone move forward!” I ordered. “Christopher, watch the tops of the walls and our rear. Jessica, close off the rear after we move.”

We all began running as Jessica created more walls on either side. Behind us, the door to the house exploded outwards, but I couldn’t see who was pursuing before an earth wall sprang up to cover our backs. I could hear cursing and windows breaking from the other side.

Bertram began growling and lifted both hands to the sky before unleashing energy attacks straight up. I watched in amazement as his projectiles curved in mid-air, turning to slam into the ground over the walls on both sides, covering our escape.

“I thought you were second rank!”

“I am!” he hollered back. “I’m a second rank ‘Bonded, but I chose five ranks of Energy Blasts!”

Five ranks? I goggled, then shook my head and sprinted for the rows of crops. The waving fields didn’t represent safety, more like a fighting chance, but I’d take it.

While my group ran for the end of the earthen hallway that Jessica had made, a Maroon String woman popped up over the top, taking aim with a hand crossbow. Before anyone else could react, Christopher jumped, his body becoming like smoke after he’d left the ground. His leap carried him far higher than normally possible. In a panic, the bounty hunter shot her crossbow at the Filipino man, but the bolt traveled through his body like it wasn’t even there. At the height of his jump, Christopher became solid again, and his hand shot out, his karambit ruining the attacking woman’s throat.

The Maroon String woman fell back with a gurgle, and Christopher landed behind me before running again. “I didn’t know you could do that!” I called back at him.

“Neither did I until now,” he wheezed.

The group made it into the crops, and we all ducked low, moving slowly. The sounds of pursuit were louder now. “How many of them are there?” I hissed to Bertram.

“Probably almost two hundred. I think we got most of the zebra riders, though.”

Then I understood why he’d killed all the zebras earlier in addition to the riders–now they couldn’t be used by other bounty hunters. The memory reminded me of Durben, and I angrily shook my head. “Benjamin, come here,” I hissed. When the man was within reach, I fished the Duanna orb of my pocket and pushed it into his hand. “This is yours. Now our job is done.”

Bertram’s voice was cold as he said, “Might be, but you pulled us into all of this, and now we’ll probably all die.”

“It’s not her fault, Father. You told us all about Enheduanna before.”

In the distance, I heard a new sound and waved the group to be silent and to stop moving. We all listened for a while before slowly creeping forward again. “Turn to the side now,” I whispered.

“But the woods are that way,” said Jessica softly, pointing.

“Yes, and they know that too,” said Bertram with a nod. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he said, looking at me.

I nodded. “We need to split up,” I muttered.

“Indeed. So which will it be? Do we split up into our two groups and take our chances, or join forces with your people protecting my Benjamin?”

I cocked my head, listening, and used my Vibration senses too. If we just ran away, we’d be pursued and might never actually escape. Apparently, the price on my head was high enough to tempt 200 or so bounty hunters to work together. I dearly wished the earlier plan hadn’t rotted, but complaining about rot doesn’t make fruit fresh again.

The older man’s offer confused me at first. Then I figured it out. He and his son were crouching with us because they were in danger too. Whatever fear had kept the Maroon String from attacking the Tremblay men before was probably not in effect anymore. At least, Bertram was not willing to bet on it, and I thought he was wise not to.

Ultimately, the question I needed to answer was whether we needed to take a stand, or should risk trying to sneak away. If we had to fight, I needed to decide whether I needed or wanted Bertram’s help. He was powerful, sure, but did I trust him?

I narrowed my eyes at the man for a second before I made up my mind. “Jessica, Christopher, you two need to take Benjamin and make your way through the crops in that direction,” I said, pointing. “You know where we decided the rally point would be. Head there. I am faster than you, so if I don’t meet you there soon, you need to keep going. Don’t follow the road, but stay close so you won’t have too many issues with monsters.”

“But we can help too!” Jessica said with tears in her eyes. The shiner was dirty now and had gotten cut at some point, blood running down her jaw. “You don’t always have to do everything alone, Nora! What is the point of this orb if I still always just run away or have to be saved?”

Christopher gently but firmly grabbed Jessica’s upper arm and shook his head. He said, “We’re not ready yet. We’ll just get in the way right now. We will do our part now and in the future.”

I felt deeply grateful for the Filipino man as I nodded. Before, I hadn’t even realized that I’d been developing feelings for him. He’d turned me down, but I felt honored to have met such a dependable man, and to have made such a great friend. “Exactly,” I said. “You may still need to fight too, so be careful. This entire area will probably be crawling with bounty hunters in just a few minutes.”

Jessica freely cried now, her face red and ugly, but she clenched her jaw and pulled another wand from her dwindling supply. With a weapon in each hand, she swallowed and quietly blew out a breath. Then she turned to Christopher and said, “Fine. I get it. Let’s go, short, dark, and handsome. You too, Benjamin. Stay behind us.”

The three headed off, and when I judged they were far enough, I eyed Bertram and said, “So we are going to try doing enough damage to let them get away, right?”

“You got it, my dear,” said Bertram with a grin. “The rest of my family are already safe. You coming here has more or less destroyed my life, but the groundwork was laid over twenty years ago. I can’t truly hate you for any of this, and if you help me protect my son, we will have no debts between us–then I won’t have any regrets. Will you help an old man?”

I suddenly wondered how old Bertram really was. This close, looking into his eyes, I could easily imagine he’d already lived several of my lifetimes.

My body felt heavy, my thoughts slower than usual. I still felt...off, like something was wrong, but I suddenly flashed an ugly grin and nodded.

My life hadn’t been easy up to this point, but nothing had ever broken me. I’d never given up, and I was not about to start, so I narrowed my eyes at Bertram and said, “I’m Nora Hazard. That may not mean anything to you right now other than a bitch who just got your farm burned down, but I’m starting to get angry. I’m frustrated with Enheduanna, tired of being jerked around, and these Maroon String pieces of rot are just like every other gang in Bittertown.”

“So you’ll help me?”

“Old man, I may not be a very good person, but I can be a great friend–I learned from the best, after all. Let’s go save your son and my people.”

Bertram smiled grimly. As we crouched in the tall crops, he took off his fancy coat, leaving him in his undershirt. I wished I’d remembered to take off my stinky bag of holding earlier and hide it back in the forest. I could fight while wearing it, but if I got blood all over the cartoon characters on the back and actually ended up surviving this battle, people were definitely going to give me even more weird looks in the future.

Always terrible luck, I mentally grumbled.

Rigged to Blow

I risked lifting my head to see over the surrounding crops, and my heart fell. “We are quickly being surrounded,” I said.

“Need to move soon,” whispered Bertram with a nod.

“So how are we going to do this?” I asked. “Fighting by itself won’t be enough, the distraction is most important. Your abilities are probably flashier than mine, so you have an advantage.”

“What actually are your abilities, Nora? For the past few days, we’ve just been hearing about Nora Hazard and how scary and unkillable you are. Something about people trying to track you over two countries so far, too.”

I pursed my lips and checked our surrounding again before answering. “I’m second rank Duanna orb-Bonded like you. I specialize in Vibration and Flight.”

Bertram’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he asked, “You are joking, right? After you used that beam attack earlier, I thought you might be an Energy Blasts orb-Bonded like me. How is everyone so afraid of you if you use Flight? Why in the world would you choose that, and have two specializations at second rank?”

I narrowed my eyes and looked the opposite direction. It was bad enough I had to hear these kinds of things from Muffin when I saw her. “I always wanted to fly,” I whispered gruffly.

“That’s right; you could probably just fly away right now, huh? Actually, with Vibration too, you probably don’t have a very high Flight rank yet, but you could still probably just escape and abandon your comrades. I guess you weren’t lying about being a good friend.” Bertram’s eyes suddenly widened, and he crouched closer, softly asking, “Can you move fast, Nora? Like, are you a mobile fighter?”

I thought about it, and honestly answered, “Yes.”

The older man smiled, and in that moment I could truly see the weight of his years. I’d caught glimpses before, but the mild-mannered, dapper-dressed older gentleman I’d first met had been replaced by an orb-Bonded adventurer, probably with decades of experience. He said, “Good, I have a plan. We’re probably not going to get them all no matter what we do, so like you said, distraction is key. My idea will be painful, but I think it’ll work.”

“I’m listening,” I said.

“If you make a commotion and run away, that will buy me time to run back into the house. From there, I have defenses built in, and the structure was made out of double-reinforced concrete. I have hidden murder holes in the walls too. The entire structure was made with my abilities in mind, and controls for the bombs are in my bedroom.”

“Bombs?”

“Yes. The monster repelling towers are rigged to explode. Fire and air magic stones chained together weren’t cheap to set up but should be very effective. I have mirrors and windows in the house to watch the fields with, too.”

I was aghast. “The roof is still on fire!”

“Yes, but not for long,” Bertram said. “That house is built better than some castles. Trust me; if I get in there, the Maroon String will have a hard time getting me out. Now that Benjamin is escaping, this makes sense to do.”

My eyes widened, and I eventually shook my head–Bertram was suggesting we destroy everything he’d worked for his entire life. In the distance, I could hear the bounty hunter leaders shouting again. “Are you sure about this?” I asked. “We need to act soon either way. They’re getting closer, and they’ll probably be organized soon.”

“Yes. Benjamin won’t get much of an inheritance this way, but he’ll get even less if he dies. I was expecting to live at least another hundred or two hundred years, but if Benjamin survives, it’ll be worth it–he’s a good boy. I didn’t want him to have a life like mine, to go through what I went through in the past, but now that he has an orb, I know he’ll take care of the rest of the family. That’s the kind of man he is.”

“I see.” I’d only known Bertram for a short time, but I was beginning to hope I would know him for longer. People with this level of thought, foresight, and loyalty weren’t exactly common, at least in my experience. If I hadn’t been crouched in the dirt in the middle of a field of crops, planning to fight scores of bounty hunters that wanted to capture or kill me, I would have wanted to prolong the conversation.

Bertram waggled his eyebrows at me, and his mustache twitched. He quietly said, “This lot is very well-armed and equipped. Guessing they’re probably one of the most powerful groups in Tolstey right now. They could probably give the Guard in some Tolstey cities, or even a military detachment some trouble. I’m not surprised, though. Since they’re out of Hell’s Favor, they probably fulfilled contracts to take down adventurers, and that would have been lucrative work.”

“What do you know about them, at least in general?”

“Many of them have projectile weapons of some sort. Most that I saw over the past few days were tough-looking, and there are more men than you’d usually see in a group like this.”

That last bit surprised me, but I filed it away with all the other information I’d been given. “What about mages or orb-Bonded?”

“I’m not sure. Hopefully the only orb-Bonded were those three you already saw, but this group is powerful. We are probably–” He stopped talking, his expression grim, and I understood. We could only do our best.

A year ago, I never would have considered a suicide mission like this for anyone other than my pack. I had a new pack now, though, even if I still needed to think of a new name, since “pack” wasn’t really appropriate. “Is that it?” I asked.

“Yes. You ready to go?”

“I am if you are. Wait here for a few minutes until I get started.”

“Got it.” He paused and softly asked, “Nora?”

“Yes?”

“I forgive you for everything. Thank you for making this stand with me. I’ve known plenty of other adventurers, mages, and orb-Bonded who just would have left.”

“Well, it is what it is,” I said gruffly. “I’m no rotting hero, but I made a promise to my best friend before, and by doing what she asked, I’ve somehow met some new people worth knowing.” The man cocked his head at me with a quizzical look, but I turned and began carefully moving through the crops. The time for talking was over. My body still didn’t feel completely normal, but I was luckily still able to find my floating time mode. Emotions got in the way while fighting, so I pushed them away.

After I’d moved far enough away from Bertram, I whispered for Eneus, and the spear filled my hand. Then I kicked off the ground and began slowly flying, keeping my body below the level of the crops surrounding me. By orienting my body sideways, I was able to move much faster than I’d be able to by crouch-running, and I also made very little sound or movement, just some minor rustling.

I needed to make a big commotion, all at once, and I had an idea.

Some of the bounty hunters were noisier than others, and I homed in on one of them. As I got closer, I even heard her grunting curses. Finally, I gently touched down on the other side of the crop wall from my target and steeled my nerves. With a quick mental check, I ensured that I was firmly drifting in floating time.

Then I hardened my heart and struck home with a vib-blade enhanced Eneus.

The hit wasn’t clean, but it didn’t really matter. The woman started screaming, and as she did, I pushed off the ground, using my Flight power to keep rising, hanging in the air. Even with my orb-enhanced strength, it wasn’t easy to hold aloft the overweight woman I’d just spitted. I’d hit her in the stomach, and I winced in sympathy as she turned over sideways, desperately clutching at Eneus, clumsily trying to pull something out of her belt, probably a weapon.

This really hadn’t been a good day. If I hadn’t been deeply entrenched in floating time, I might have been feeling revulsion and pity. Instead, I just wanted to do my job as quickly as possible, so I could put the woman out of her misery.

“Hazard! Hazard!” I screamed and flung my victim to the ground. By that time, I’d been high enough up that the woman’s fall abruptly ended her screaming.

Murder.

The moment my spear was free, I darted towards the ground, letting gravity do most of the work. My dive had been just in time–a hail of air gun bullets and crossbow bolts flew through the air above, whizzing past with lethal buzzing sounds. Once below the level of the crops again, I shot forward, flying almost as fast as I could.

Now the chase was on, and I was completely on my own.
Pity and regret would get me killed now. I knew this–I felt it.
For any hope of survival, I’d need to be utterly ruthless, just like Lisa had begun teaching me so many years before.

Alive

I ran and floated through the fields, not letting myself be overwhelmed by shouting or projectiles whizzing through the concealing crops. New-barley stalks surrounded me, only about shoulder height, so I needed to keep low. I’d succeeded in attracting the Maroon String, but now I needed to live through their attention and lead them away from the farmhouse.

A huge boulder slammed down nearby, probably thrown blindly by someone with enhanced strength, but it had still hit too close for comfort. Now that I was actually fighting, falling deeper into floating time, Lisa’s old philosophical lectures about killing and murder faded to the back of my mind. In fact, I’d learned to use floating time in the first place for this purpose; to ignore unnecessary things. Guarding my life and protecting my friends had always been easier for me to figure out than separating truth and lies from Lisa’s old, rambling lectures.

Even to this day, some of the things she’d told me continued to rattle around in my head, but now, it was much more important to focus on the present and on staying alive.

My mission in mind, I looped towards the distant forest like I was trying to escape, but then turned, cutting straight across the field. Running away from dozens of murderous enemies would be nerve-wracking enough, but while jumping and flying through the crops, I couldn’t even see them.

I narrowed my eyes as I glided forward, realizing that I was going to get pushed right into the forest. My enemies were too close, and at this rate, I wouldn’t be able to head back through the fields. The trees ahead offered relative safety, and leading my enemies there to fight was tempting, but if I did, I’d be leading the Maroon String closer to my friends, and then Bertram wouldn’t be able to help.

Fighting in an open field was less than ideal with my Flight power. In fact, without the tall crops to hide in, I’d already be dead. This thought was punctuated by a crossbow twanging somewhere behind me and a bolt sailing over my head. Even firing blindly, the bounty hunters had almost hit me several times.

My current course of action wasn’t going to work. I needed to keep moving forward but create some space. I could only think of one way to accomplish that.

Out of habit, I used my tremble-sense and was pleasantly surprised it worked. I could actually sense a large concentration of enemies running forward through the field about fifty yards away. Too close, I thought. But I can use this.

I slowed down and slightly changed my general direction, moving closer to my enemies. The fact that I couldn’t sense individuals or even smaller groups of enemies, and I wasn’t quite ready to fight yet, made this plan super risky. I could stumble into any of the groups madly rushing through the fields.

One thing Lisa had taught me years ago that had been proven true many times was to always try to fight on my terms, not my enemy’s. I usually wasn’t really great at it, but this time, I let myself sink deeper into floating time, farther than I’d been in years. Going past this state was still possible, but a last resort. The last time I had, I’d needed to do a lot of soul-searching.

I focused on my enemies, trying to time my move perfectly. When the moment was right, I lined up my shot, then sprang up to a standing position. “Hazard!” I yelled and triggered a scatter beam with Pewpew. “Pew, pew, pew!” I shrieked.

My deadly ring flashed, and as I vibrated my arm and hand, its beam drunkenly zig-zagged before my fist. The result of the attack was unlike anything I’d ever seen. Testing the powerful ring on trees before, or even using it as a weapon at close range had worked fine, but now I could see that I’d never used Pewpew to its full potential.

Starting from my position, a narrow cone of destruction had been slashed through the crops, widening gradually until it reached the forest far in the distance, almost on the other side of the farm. New-barley had been reduced to tatters. Trees began to topple. Nearer to me, the falling crops allowed me to see all the dead and dying bounty hunters. A few of them hadn’t realized what had happened yet, and in the seconds before their eyes turned glassy, they stared at the pieces of their bodies in confusion. I wasn’t sure how many enemies I’d killed, but as the decimated new-barley fell, I saw at least ten areas where the fallen stalks had been stained red.

Then the screaming started.

Deep in floating time, I didn’t even react to the carnage, just filed away the information, adding to the numbers I’d killed. The battle for Soron had been my first large, lethal battle, but that had been different than this one. Back then, I’d had the trees to move through, and I’d been filled with rage. This time, I wasn’t punishing anyone, or eradicating evil from the world. My heart didn’t burst with rage, but in some strange way, I felt even more driven to kill my enemies than ever before.

Murder or not, I had chosen to protect the lives of my friends. The Maroon String had picked the wrong job.

Bounty hunters began shouting all at once as I shot forward at full speed through the crops. Tall stalks painfully whipped my face and got worse as I picked up speed. I thought fast, and after charging Eneus with vib-blade, I triggered a vib-punch. The Vibration attack opened a channel through the crops to fly through more easily. The solution worked, but I knew I’d use up too much power this way over time. I triggered two vib-punches before the backlash from the earlier attack with Pewpew hit.

Fatigue and pain erupted throughout my entire body, and I groaned in agony. A couple seconds later, one of the bounty hunters finally hit me. The impact felt like someone had obliterated my side with a bronze sledgehammer, and a combination of the force, surprise, and pain made me dip forwards, crashing into the ground and slamming through the crop. The moment I finally stopped rolling, I hissed and checked my side, feeling a kernel of relief that the air gun bullet had hit my armored tunic, but hadn’t penetrated. The whole side of my body hurt.

Then a bounty hunter came crashing through the crops, her eyes wild, and my time was suddenly up. The lightly-armored woman stabbed at me with a trident, and I barely rolled out of the way in time to avoid the strike.

I was deep in floating time, deeper than I had been before other than the strange experience before meeting Kinwe-na-ibbi before. Now that I was this deep again, I could sense a path, a direction for my mind to take, but even as I scrambled backwards, I paused, realizing that it felt familiar. With a flash of intuition, I understood that I could choose to enter the state I’d found during the dark times, and my fight with Lisa. The mental path I’d discovered led to the red haze–to madness.

The bounty hunter screamed, “She’s here!” She raised her trident into the air, then cocked both arms back for another powerful stab. I barely managed to block the attack with Eneus, but my leverage was terrible. Only my orb-Bonded strength saved me.

Another bounty hunter, a female Areva bounded through the crops, an air pistol in her hand. I really, really hated getting shot with air guns. She leveled her weapon at me, and I quickly triggered a scatter beam with Pewpew–but nothing happened. Without floating time, I probably would have stared in shock and died, but instead, I desperately held out a palm and yelled as I pushed out with raw Vibration power. A visible wave of energy rippled out from my hand, quickly dissipating as it traveled. When it reached the Areva woman, it only shoved her off her feet, but that had been enough to save my life. The air pistol coughed harmlessly, and the bounty hunter tripped, falling down in the new-barley.

I didn’t know I could do that, I thought. Then an aftershock from using Pewpew again hit me. This isn’t fair, nothing happened! I thought. As I wrestled with the first bounty hunter, keeping her trident away with Eneus, I also tracked the Areva getting up with gritted teeth, loading her air pistol. I couldn’t catch a break–two more bounty hunters became visible, crashing through the crops. “She’s here, she’s here!” they screamed, and more Maroon String answered, at least dozens nearby.

The two new bounty hunters, a male and female Ludan, readied their weapons and rushed toward me. I was done. There wasn’t anything I could do, but that was unacceptable. I refused to let a crash be the end of me, lying on my back like a Berber new-pig to slaughter. I tried to push back through the crops, but each stalk slowed me despite my great strength. I realized that something was wrong. Even with the resistance of the crops, I should have been able to escape.

I was tired, exhausted.

In the clarity before death, I could recognize that I’d been pushing myself too hard, training all the time, and not getting enough sleep. I’d been leaning too hard on my Endurance abilities, even while using Pewpew every day. Despite being orb-Bonded, I had limits, and I’d almost reached them.

Normally, I would have accepted my end. I’d been careless, and on Ludus, carelessness usually means death. Part of me could accept that, but most of me screamed in defiance. I had obligations; people were relying on me. On my own, I could be at peace with my own stupidity leading to my death, but I refused to let my people get hurt because of my mistakes.

Even as another bounty hunter stormed through the surrounding stalks, this one closer, I made my decision. There would be a terrible price to pay for what I was about to do–in body and soul–but I had no choice. Even as I watched my enemies rush towards me with murder in their eyes, my heart grew distant, resigned, and I took the path past floating time, sideways into the red haze.

My emotions exploded.

In the time between thoughts, I became someone else. No, not someone else, I became me, but an uglier, unbound version of me–alien, but also intimately familiar. For over a decade I’d tried to reconcile myself with how I could have this woman inside of me, this version that had come out during the red haze. I’d honestly believed I’d never be forced to see this side of myself ever again.

As my attackers closed, I laughed, the sound wheezy. It was their fault. The stupid rotting bastards had pushed me to this.

Fire burned in my chest, and I felt the thrill of combat, of proving my own existence through ending the lives of others. Normally, I’d reject taking pleasure in fighting as self-destructive, foolish...but now I was in the red haze. Now I wanted to punish my enemies, hurt them for daring to raise a hand against me. For good or ill, I’d made my choice, and all of my inhibitions had been unlocked.

I stopped fighting against the trident with Eneus, and as the tines descended for my throat, I reached up to grab the weapon’s shaft before it could actually impale me. The cow-like bounty hunter opened her mouth to yell something, but I shoved the rear end of her weapon into it, breaking most of her teeth. As she fell back, gurgling a scream, I thrust Eneus forward, channeling vib-blade through my weapon and ramming the blade home through her ribs.

With a thought, I lowered my weight to nothing, pushing myself up off the ground and regaining my weight after I was back on my feet. I threw the dying woman’s trident, and the weapon neatly took the Areva pistoleer through the neck. The woman who’d been closest, running at me was now only a couple steps away. Her eyes went wide, and she tried to slow, but it was too late for her.

I slapped aside her short sword thrust, effortlessly moving forward. She started to scream in fright or anger, but I throat punched her before any noise could come out. As I moved past, I opened up her side with Vistvis, then slammed the dagger into her back at an upward angle, neatly puncturing the lung.

The remaining enemies I could see, the Terran or Ludan man and woman came to a stop, uncertain. “Oh, now you want to rotting think about it, huh?” I snarled. The man wore a beard and carried a long blade. The woman had a wicked-looking axe raised, its bronze edge gleaming. Both fighters had straps on their armor making it clear they’d carried a shield before. They’d probably left them behind to run through the crops faster.

Rotbrains.

I threw Vistvis at the woman, the attack so sudden she hadn’t even been able to react. It had been a good throw, a technique that Gonzo had actually shown me what felt like a lifetime ago.

The impaled woman stumbled back, shock on her face, her mouth working soundlessly as she stared down at my dagger. Vistvis had easily penetrated her leather armor, burying up to the hilt in her chest. Idiot, I thought. Leather armor like that might look nice, but you need to boil it or soak it in wax to actually offer any help. Of course, against my enhanced strength and a weapon as fine as Vistvis, she’d never had a chance anyway.

The last fighter, the man, bared his teeth and yelled over his shoulder, “Hurry. She’s right here!” He furtively glanced at his dead and dying comrades on the ground; the curved sword in his hand trembled.

“Where? I can’t see anything?” someone nearby answered.

Another voice called, “That whore killed Kelly! Tell us where you are compared to where the crops were slashed!”

“Give us a signal! Are you fighting her?” More voices raised in answer to the man’s shout, but I tuned them out. The pale, bearded man and I stared at each other for half a second before he quickly bent down, probably to grab crops or something else to throw into the air. It wasn’t a bad idea and would have been a good signal for his comrades.

He never got the chance.

I threw Eneus the moment he took his eyes off me, and the spear pierced the top of his head. The vib-blade enhanced weapon began traveling all the way through my target’s body, but I held out a hand and jerked back on the sash, Eneus flying back with a squelch.

My surroundings smelled terrible, the stench of blood and offal made the field as pungent as a butcher’s trough. I grinned in exhilaration, then threw my head back and laughed. I screamed, “Hazard!” Nothing beat the feeling of being alive after being forced to fight for it, and I reveled in the fear that my war cry would probably cause.

There was no time to spare, though. As I trembled in the red haze, emotions seethed through my body, making my eyes widen in rage. If floating time was an absence of emotion, or at least pushed them away, red haze was like feeling all of my emotions at once while my mind stayed clear and focused on one thing: combat. I wanted to fight more, wanted to taste the thrill of struggling to survive, pitting my strength against my enemies, but I could still remember my mission. I darted to one side, losing myself in the crops again, moving towards where I’d been heading earlier. This time, I kept my feet on the ground and tried running more softly, choosing stealth over speed. When I heard confused yelling behind me, I assumed that some of the bounty hunters had just found the new bodies I’d left behind.

I shouted, “Hazard! Hazard! Where are you, you rot-headed maggots? You want to get me, then come get me! Come on fuck sticks, what’s taking you so long?” Then I immediately moved slowly, quietly moving forward again in case any of the bounty hunters had homed in my location.

Absolute silence rang across the farm for a couple heartbeats before dozens, maybe hundreds of voices rose at once in anger, the sound like a tidal wave of hatred that rolled over me and made me smile.

I was tired of running, tired of worrying about what was right and wrong. These worthless rotsuckers had come for me and threatened my friends.

Now I would kill them all. The old me was back, and I was done playing childish games. My entire body hurt, and blood ran down Eneus over my knuckles. The back of my head ached from fatigue so deep; I was basically running on anger and adrenaline now.

I narrowed my eyes and grinned–I’d never felt so alive.

Dance of Death

Time lost all meaning as I became consumed by hit and run combat, dashing through the crops to kill one or two enemies at a time before darting away. I could float sideways, and follow the trails through the fields that the Maroon String had already made, so sneaking up on the bounty hunters was proving surprisingly easy. My anger, pain, and frustration all served to fuel my newfound power, riding the razor’s edge of the red haze. If I let myself get out of control, I could spiral down into unthinking anger, even worse than I had at the battle of Soron. Unlike that time, now I had no tree cover. I was also wounded, tired, and trying to stall the enemy. Losing focus was a luxury I didn’t have.

The result of my rage-fed discipline was sinking deeper into the red haze. I took conscious pleasure in beating my enemies, proving myself better than they were. My heart burned like fire, and I felt exhilarated, savage as I avoided death again and again. When I’d fought Lisa, the red haze had helped me duel the most dangerous fighter in Bittertown to a standstill, had made a teenage orphaned girl feel strong. Now I knew what the red haze really was–the darkest parts of my soul combined with adomopathy, the ability Enheduanna had said I had, and I now knew that to be the truth.

I was somehow aware of how my enemies would react before they moved, knew how they’d travel through the crops. I couldn’t see the future, but the Maroon String were predictable. I could almost lazily avoid crossbow bolts and air gun bullets, knowing through instinct how to move.

Every new attack I saw, every new defense I witnessed made me more powerful. My mind buzzed as it processed all the raw information it pulled in from my senses.

Part of me knew that my body was being pushed too far. If I lived to see tomorrow, I’d have a large price to pay for my borrowed energy.

As I dashed through the crops, I came upon a lone fire mage. She didn’t hesitate to try roasting me with a stream of fire, but I didn’t even get singed. After my experiences with Vitaliya and Eggshell in Berber, I knew exactly how to deal with the attacks she threw at me. The gaudily-dressed woman didn’t even fully set any crops on fire before I’d air skated into her, knocking her off her feet with my shoulder, and impaled her with Eneus. The dark-haired Terran woman tried doing something with her hands, but I quickly drew Vistvis, charged the dagger with vib-blade, and planted the weapon to the hilt in my enemy’s forehead.

Deep down, past the red haze, I winced in sympathy. I’d experienced a spear through the gut before too after all, but this was combat. I’d have time to think about things later–now was time to kill, and teach these opportunists to fear me. With a flick of Eneus to clear blood from the blade, I moved on, looking for more Maroon String to destroy.

I burst into a new group, laughing as I sprang among them. With a quick scan, I noted their positions and appearance. All four were armed to the teeth, one in heavy armor, and two even seemed to have enchanted weapons. The heavily armored woman swung a two-handed mace at me as an Areva woman drew her glowing bow, the fourth I’d seen among the Maroon String. I stepped into the armored fighter, drawing my sword and cutting in one smooth motion. My blade sliced through the mace’s haft and took one of the woman’s arms with it. Her face blanked for a heartbeat before she began screaming.

Meanwhile, Eneus flew true, my spear taking the Areva archer high in the chest. She gurgled and fell backward into the crops. “Hazard!” I screamed and stomped forward to plant Vistvis right through my screaming, armored opponent’s bronze cuirass. She weakly tried to grab at my arm, but I lowered my weight with my Flight ability, floated up, and kicked her in the face with both feet. She let go with a grunt, softly moaning after collapsing in a heap.

The last two fighters were already on top of me as I found my feet again, and I suddenly had a serious fight. The two Mo’hali males were fast, strong, and fought as ruthlessly as I did. One, a large canine, maybe of jackal or wolf gene ancestry, fought with a bronze glaive. The weapon’s long, heavy blade glowed with red light, and it didn’t take a city scholar to know that taking a hit would probably be bad.

Beside him and trying to flank me, the other Mo’hali used bladed gauntlets. The gauntlets themselves were covered in cloth, so I couldn’t be sure what type of metal they were made from, but both had bronze buckler shields attached to the back wrist portions, and a single blade projecting over each hand. It looked like he’d used a blessed steel steak knife for each of them, a clever use for relatively cheap blessed steel blades.

I’d never seen anything like the weapons before, but I could immediately recognize their purpose and effectiveness. For a Terran or Areva, a sword or spear would probably be better, but for the big Mo’hali, some type I didn’t recognize but big and shaggy, it’d be very difficult for an opponent to avoid being grappled and skewered.

I blocked and parried with my sword and dagger, barely keeping the two powerful fighters at bay. These two are good, I thought, and I snarled as I defended, not a single movement wasted. Both Mo’hali warriors fought cautiously, not trusting their armor to block my blades, and both had greater reach than I had, even the one with gauntlet weapons.

Even through floating time and the red haze, I was beginning to worry. The longer I fought with these two, the more time their friends had to find us. If I could retreat, there would have been no problem, but I couldn’t air skate because of the surrounding corn stalks, even higher and thicker than the new-barley in other parts of the farm. I couldn’t fly or air jump either, or I’d be full of holes before I hit the ground.

Standing my ground against two skilled enemies, both nearly as strong as me was quickly wearing me down. In this case, my stacked, orb-Bonded Endurance abilities were keeping me going despite being exhausted, but I was still beginning to tire. I screeched, dodged backwards, and threw my sword at the canine Mo’hali’s face. “Take that, dog!” Mo’hali hated being disrespected and were sensitive to racial slurs.

When he predictably howled and rushed me, I barely dodged his thrust and air skated past, slicing his leg with Vistvis as I went. The wound wasn’t enough to kill him, but it definitely got his attention. He turned, growling in rage, but I jumped back into the surrounding crops, holding my hand out to the side, hissing triumphantly when I felt cloth on my palm.

Vistvis slammed into my palm before the enraged Mo’hali man pursued me into the corn. I batted the skilled fighter’s heavy glaive away with my spear before slamming the blade through him, laughing in his surprised face. With a savage kick, I dislodged the stiffening Mo’hali off my spear and turned to face his comrade. The unwounded fighter’s eyes widened at the sight of my spear, but despite his obvious confusion about how I’d gotten my spear back, he held up his gauntlet weapons and approached slowly, a growl deep in his throat.

I clucked my tongue at him and began to advance, but another trio of enemies crashed through the crops behind him, one of them levelling a crossbow at me. Beyond them, through the bent corn, I could see other bounty hunters rushing forward, screaming as they caught sight of me. I bared my teeth, levelling a Vibration-charged Eneus at them, and twisted the weapon to trigger a vib-punch.

Stutter.

The world went violet for a second, the sky itself shuddering before air rushed past, accompanied by a sound like thunder. Surrounding corn stalks flattened as the rushing winds tossed them. The ground rumbled, and I felt a blast of heat, even as my hair flew around violently.

Everything in front of me, all the Maroon String I’d seen, were gone. The land before me looked a bit like when I’d triggered a scatter shot earlier, except the destruction was several orders of magnitude greater. A clean swath had been blasted through the cornfield, the bottom of the blast had even carved into the dirt, leaving bare chunks of it smooth like glass.

Like my attack with Pewpew earlier that had damaged the forest, whatever I’d done had carried into the surrounding trees, utterly decimating all the vegetation in its path. Even as I watched, branches continued to fall, and the tops of trees thundered to the ground one by one, their weight causing them to fall slowly through the surrounding branches. Edges of the crops that stood on the edges of the blast zone had been sharply cut, charred, but not burning. An acrid smell hung in the air.

I’d probably killed twenty Maroon String.

As the aftereffects of whatever I’d done died down, the world seemed to hold its breath, the stillness only interrupted by the sudden sound of drumming. Suddenly, the wind stirred up again, but this time cold, moving with purpose. An impossibly loud voice called, “Maroon String, fall back, at least out of the crops. She could have run by now, but she’s still here.

“Nora Hazard, you have done well, but the leaders of the Maroon String will be fighting now. Earning our attention has been impressive, but you will pay for it. You should have come quietly with us when we met in the farmhouse.”

In my red haze, even using orb-Bonded abilities came more naturally to me. I used Vibration power to amplify my voice in a way that currently seemed obvious now, thundering, “Earned your attention? Don’t you mean I killed too many of your pawns and they’re about to run away? Come get me!” Then I laughed for good measure before ending the voice enhancement. I’d have to remember how to do that–it had been sort of like a sonic scream, but much milder. I felt excited about the new challenge, but my instincts urged caution.

The woman who had spoken, I believed it had been Shakira from the farmhouse, didn’t answer. Instead, the drumming got louder, faster. I caught movement out the corner of my eye and caught sight of a few bounty hunters running full tilt towards the farmhouse. The crops I stood in now were fairly tall, too high to see over standing up, but I had other options.

I carefully floated up, just high enough to see over the corn, and narrowed my eyes. In the distance, in a clearing further widened after my first attack with Pewpew, Shakira swayed to the beat of the drums. Now that she was moving, I could see how her light, breezy clothing let her move easily and leave trails behind her. Patches of purple flashed, hidden pockets of color in her outfit revealing themselves as she began to turn and circle her arms.

I couldn’t see who was actually drumming, and realized there were probably several people hiding, using the crops for shelter as they played. These rotting moldsuckers are using my own strategy against me. Flashes of light, electricity crackled around Shakira, and I blinked as she began to dance, slowly at first, but picking up speed.

Uh oh, I thought. As a young girl, I’d read about rare, dance-based orb-Bonded. I could vaguely recall that they were known for being versatile, but not particularly powerful. Even if I was right, that information would be a lot more useful if I knew what rank this Shakira was, or what she could do. My eyes went flat and my upper lip raised. I felt my natural ability manifesting as I sunk into the crops to move forward, using the fastest route possible without running into groups of fleeing Maroon String fighters.

There was no way I could let this woman reach Jessica and the others. My friends’ new, growing ‘Bonded abilities would probably be no match.

This decision proved correct when a moment later, a magical construct, a bird made of water and buzzing electricity erupted upwards from Shakira and began flying over the fields. I floated up for a better look at the dancing orb-Bonded bounty hunter and saw she was moving faster, invisible force beginning to spread out in waves around her, flattening the crops.

Whatever she was doing, I wanted to stop it. I picked up speed, trying to close faster. As I neared, I was surprised to suddenly find one of the drummers. He was crouched down and beating on a bongo drum, completely focused. His clean-shaven features went slack, and his eyes widened as I stabbed him overhand with Eneus, easily penetrating the man’s ribs and destroying his lungs. He fell over, gasping for air, unable to shout.

The drums were still as loud as ever. Damn.

I could glimpse Shakira continuing to move, mowing down crops, destroying all my potential hiding places. At this rate, none of the fields would be left, and I’d be left out in the open. What the hell is taking Bertram so long? Drifting in my red haze, the decision to attack wasn’t terribly difficult to make. I growled deep in my chest and burst out of the concealing corn, hitting a wave of force face-first. The power pushed against me, but I fought it with raw Flight power, bursting through the energy wall. Shakira’s mouth firmed, and she danced wilder, somehow even more gracefully, swaying her hips and making violent hand motions at me. Wicked-looking magic blades formed in the air and flew towards me like crossbow bolts.

The downed crops left me out in the open, but also allowed me room to maneuver. I began air skating madly, trying to close the distance. As I dodged, I tried to find some kind of pattern to my enemy’s movements, but her gyrating seemed random to me. For once, my natural ability was of no help–my opponent wasn’t fighting, she was dancing. Shakira held up both palms and after a circular motion, thrust a palm at me.

A bubble of force shot out, easily ten feet in diameter. “Hazard!” I screamed, jumping straight up into the air. Shakira’s eyes widened as I kept going up, and she started another motion, but I didn’t let her complete it. I twisted Eneus at her, half hoping for the massive violet attack I’d somehow unleashed earlier, but only got the usual vib-punch. The attack didn’t reduce my enemy’s position to a smoking crater like I’d been hoping, but it still knocked her off balance.

“Hazard!” I yelled and threw Eneus as hard as I could. The spear sped forward like glinting death, but Shakira somehow managed to literally dance out of the way. I roared and held out a hand to retrieve my spear, barely noticing the magic bird from earlier in time as it sped right for me. Tricky bitch, I seethed.

I didn’t have many options. The bird was far swifter and faster than I was, and I wasn’t sure if Pewpew would stop it, or would even function. The ring had failed before and just left me with pain. There were still lower level Maroon String out there in the crops too, so I focused my Flight power, darting back for the ground and throwing my bronze sword at the magic bird.

The construct flickered before exploding, taking my sword with it. I coolly held out a hand and projected a wall of raw Vibration energy like I had earlier. The effect slowed or deflected most of the bronze shrapnel–some bounced off my armored tunic, but a few pieces still hit exposed areas of my body. One got me in the leg, and another piece of hot, bitter metal punched right through my cheek, stopping on a tooth. The pain was excruciating, and I spit the metal out of my mouth with a few pieces of fractured enamel as I landed.

Deep in the red haze, my focus never wavered, but I began to feel some of my background rage I held in reserve pushing in closer. I yanked on the cloth in my hand, and Eneus slapped into my palm again.

Shakira’s dance changed, and earth began shooting up before her, similar to what Jessica had done earlier with her wands. I growled and shouted, “Hazard!” then sprang up and over a new wall.

A blast of ice almost took me fully in the chest, but I’d been expecting something like that, and nimbly flipping up, my body horizontal–acrobatics were a lot easier now that I could fly. Shakira gasped and shrieked as I stabbed forward, finally injuring the woman. The hit wasn’t as solid as I would have liked, only glancing through her upper arm, but my orb-Bonded enemy was obviously shaken. As flexible as her power was, the reaction didn’t surprise me; she probably wasn’t used to taking any damage at all during a fight.

Shakira favored her injured arm and began dancing backward, generating wind walls, throwing powerful gusts to keep me away. I tried air skating to dodge them, but the edges still caught me, slowing me down. Behind me, entire swaths of crops were hit hard by the powerful walls of air, flattening or even tearing them from the ground, throwing them into the distance.

“Hazard!” I screamed, and tried throwing Eneus again. The spear buzzed down through the air, but Shakira generated a near-solid wall of magical energy. At the same time, her gracefully uplifted hand caused rocks to burst from the ground, diverting my weapon. Despite her efforts, the spear still almost hit her, but she had barely deflected it enough to escape. “Hazard!” I held out a hand to retrieve Eneus–and suddenly got hit by all the weight in the world.

“Ugh,” I grunted. I distantly registered being thrown across the newly-made clearing. My vision doubled, and I felt dizzy, noting that I could see a few more fleeing Maroon String fighters. When they glanced at me, they looked terrified and ran even faster. Behind me, I heard a man say, “How are you not dead? That would have cut through a tree.”

Behind me, the man from the farmhouse, Thod, stalked toward me. His armor was so heavy, bulky, I actually noticed as his feet sunk deep into the soil. He held his massive bronze sword at the ready, and he studied me with dark, glittering eyes. Most of his body was covered by the thick, obviously enchanted armor he wore. Unlike when I’d seen him earlier, glowing green runes were visible in several places on his torso and his limbs. His armor must have cost a fortune, or he must have gotten lucky. Even his swarthy skin was tough-looking.

I growled, my entire side opposite from the bullet I’d taken earlier felt like it was on fire now. Thod’s attack had at least broken a few ribs, and I didn’t want to think about what else it might have done. Eneus slapped into my palm, and I muttered, “I have very good armor.”

The man nodded and said, “I can see that. I’m only first rank, but I am a modular ‘Bonded. That blow would have killed most.” He looked closer and said, “Your armor looks like an enchanted, activated-type, though. Why aren’t you using it? Is this a woman thing? I’ve long since given up understanding why females do the stupid things you do.”

Despite his obvious intention to kill me, his tone made the exchange sound like polite shop talk if not for the last part. To the side, Shakira stiffened as she nursed her arm, glaring at Thod. No love lost there, I thought.

I grinned nastily. “Look, Giggles, if I could use it, I would. Luckily for me, I don’t need to it destroy both of you at once.”

Thod rolled his eyes. “Big talk from a weak, injured, outnumbered, uninteresting woman. You killed plenty of others, but so what? Most of them were not Murder Lords, my old group before we were forced to join this...Maroon String. More importantly, they weren’t orb-Bonded. You should have just come with us peacefully before. You are plain, but maybe I could have taken you for a lover before you left us.”

I definitely did not like the look in the man’s eyes.

“Rot that,” I spat. I took a step forward–and immediately fell on my ass as a huge explosion erupted to my left, making the ground tremble. A blast wave washed over me, ruffling the remaining crops nearby. Thod and Shakira had fallen too, but I was first to my feet. A second explosion followed the first on the other side of the farm, and I understood what had happened. Bertram finally made it to the farmhouse!

Even without enhancing my hearing, I could pick up new wailing and screaming of dying bounty hunters. Smoke rose from where the fiery explosions had occurred, dark and ugly. “Stay away from the towers!” someone screamed in the distance.

Thod and Shakira both focused on me, turning away from the rising smoke and falling rubble. “You’re dead now, bitch,” snarled Shakira.

“The silly dancing girl is right for once,” agreed Thod, nodding. Shakira shot him a hate-filled glare, but the man continued, “This world is wrong. Females should be on their backs, or pregnant, not in armor. Unfortunately, sluts run this planet, and you are ‘Bonded, but I have an orb too. I am not Shakira, a bit of fluff dancing around in a frilly little outfit. You can’t even hurt me. I have the thickest, heaviest, enchanted armor available. In fact, I’d need another ‘Bonded rank to wear anything heavier than this. You can’t penetrate it.”

I breathed heavily, warily watching my two opponents. In the distance, I heard more screaming and commotion and hoped whatever the rest of the remaining Maroon String were doing, they wouldn’t come to fight me too. I really didn’t need more problems.

Thod’s words irritated me, but I reasoned that they had been supposed to. Sure, the fact that the man didn’t like women was probably genuine–I had encountered men like that before. I still didn’t understand how any male on Ludus could develop so much spite for women when the whole world pretty much catered to men, and life was so easy for them, but I knew that these males did exist.

More worrying was that the two Maroon String leaders had no reason to be just talking to me, standing around while looking threatening unless they were either wary or waiting for something, or both. Even within the red haze, this seemed obvious. I needed to figure out what was going on. Killing was my mission, not mindlessly attacking. Through the sea of roiling emotion that sustained me, I managed to think through everything I could say to get a reaction and homed in on an easy approach.

“Look here, big armor, tiny penis, are you going to stand around talking all day? You might be trying to show off to me and Shakira over there, but I’m definitely not interested, and I doubt she is either. You probably smell horrible wearing all that armor all the time. Wherever you got that ugly metal from, I think you were cheated. It looks fake. Do you have a sister? Does she cheat on you? Is that why you have this nasty attitude? You could always go homosexual, but tidy men probably won’t want you either. If I give you a goat to love, will you walk away?”

I’d insulted his penis, called him pompous, attacked his hygiene, doubted his virility, and mentioned homosexuals. If I was reading this Thod right, that had to have hit a few buttons.

It turned out I was right. With a roar, the man attacked, swinging his massive sword faster than I would have thought possible. I tried to air skate back, but he was quick too, using brute force to spring forward. When I tried parrying the man’s second attack, he did a complicated reversal and almost took my head from my shoulders. This rot licker is good, I mentally, grudgingly acknowledged. I still thought I could take him, but it would be a long, drawn-out fight, especially without Pewpew. Trying to use the ring now in the middle of a fight was not wise–I didn’t know if it would work or only hurt me.

The huge, flashing sword became my world. He’d called himself first rank, but Thod’s strength was on a completely different level than my own. He was also the most skilled opponent I’d fought since Eggshell. The duel became so intense that I almost didn’t notice Shakira as she began dancing again. I snarled and held out a hand, delivering a ball of vibration energy at a new bird she’d conjured. Luckily, the bird shattered, so I’d discovered a repeatable counter for the constructs the woman could make.

Now that both Maroon String leaders were fighting at once, I truly had my hands full.

Only the field being cleared for so far in every direction saved me. I dodged for all I was worth, air skating and flying low to the ground, and still almost died multiple times. One heat-based attack from Shakira burned the back of my forearm, charring it, and I sucked in a breath. Both sides of my body were already throbbing, and my legs were cut up and bruised. Blood ran from my forehead into one eye, but I didn’t have time to clear it, just shook my head.

I dodged around a new obstacle Shakira made, a wall of fog. Her drummers had started again. Meanwhile, Thod harried me every time I slowed or stopped, threatening to cleave me in two whenever I tried closing with the dancing woman.

“You should just lay down and die, you annoying bitch,” shouted the big armored man. “You cannot penetrate this armor. Everything you do is meaningless. We are going to kill you, get paid, and enslave your friends.”

The situation was bad, very bad. Singly, I thought I could beat either of them, but Shakira and Thod together had almost worn me down. I was starting to feel the depths of my exhaustion again. This was bad. If I somehow lived, my body was going to hate me forever.

In the distance, another monster repelling tower exploded, probably killing more Maroon String. My two opponents briefly turned to look at the rising pillar of fire as the ground rumbled, and I took advantage of their distraction.

I darted in, trying to score a glancing blow on Thod with a vib-blade enhanced Eneus, but the spear skittered right off his armor! He laughed at me, and his return strike almost took my arm off. The man’s sword was so big and heavy, it created wind when he swung, and the furrow it slammed into the earth made my blood burn.

Part of me, the red haze part of me, had never felt more alive and wanted the fight to never end. But at the core, I was still dedicated to my overall mission. Killing was good, but if I died, I failed, and that was not an option.

I fell back, dodging magical attacks created by Shakira’s dance, flying so low my belly armor scraped the ground. With a desperate push off the ground, I kicked upwards and barely evaded a blast of dark fog. In that moment, I’d lost sight of Thod for a moment, and the mistake almost cost me my life. The man burst right through another fog attack by Shakira, swinging at me with murder in his eyes. In desperation, I managed to block his attack with Eneus before he hit me like he had before.

Force from the block slammed me into the ground, and I coughed up blood. My vision dimmed for a second, but I fought through the pain and weakness. If that attack had landed, it would have ended me.

Thod stood over me, his eyes widening in surprise that I had blocked his huge sword with my wooden spear handle. I weakly kicked at one of his legs, but he didn’t even move. My foot landed with all the effect of a child kicking a tree.

Shakira grinned nastily at Thod and I both and began a new, jerkier, faster dance. I could imagine she might try a big attack that would kill both me and the armored man. Whether she attacked only me or included Thod too, either way, I lost. I gritted my teeth, about to fly upward along the ground to escape when suddenly, a hail of energy blasts descended from the farmhouse.

Shakira barely had a chance to turn her head and yelp in surprise before her body became riddled with holes, flashing bolts passing right through her ruined body. I recognized Bertram’s attack, and whooped savagely, snarling at Thod standing over me. Then I pushed his sword to the side, reared back with Eneus, and out of desperation, did something I’d never done before.

I charged the spear with another charge of vib-blade, then another, far more than any other weapon could take, or that I could manage. The moment the power left my body, I could feel my control slipping. Eneus buzzed so loudly that it hurt my ears. The vibration of the blade, usually something I didn’t feel at all, affected my hand, and I gripped the shaft with all my strength.

Then I stabbed.

The attack had been solid, hitting Thod’s stomach area at almost a completely right angle. Eneus screeched as it touched the armor, and the glowing portion on the big man’s chest flared. I just felt resistance, pressure for an endless moment before a wave of discordant magic exploded outwards. As the resistance melted, my spear drove forward.

Thod screamed, and even as I watched, his armor began to fall apart, dissolving like a magic weapon that had been claimed by a fourth owner. All of the vib-blade Energy in Eneus faded, even as the weapon was solidly planted in my swarthy enemy’s gut.

“What?” I whispered. Then my world went sideways as Thod screamed and kicked me in the head.

I spun on the ground, seeing stars, but the second I could think straight, I flew straight back, far enough that my shoulders hit corn stalks, fast enough to hurt. I hit the ground and rolled, then painfully limped to my feet. After using Eneus like a crutch to lever myself up the rest of the way, I spat out some blood before stalking forward. I levered my spear forward, wobbling in my hands, and I had to concentrate to walk right, but I kept the weapon at the ready.

Thod was gone. The big man must have run away the second he’d kicked me, and Eneus had pulled free of his body. I spat in disgust and growled, “Coward.” There would no doubt be a blood trail on the ground, but I was barely standing as it was, and my mission wasn’t done yet. There was no time to chase after Thod.

I chuckled darkly. If I ever meet that fool again, since I penetrated his defenses he said couldn’t be penetrated, maybe he’ll have even thicker armor next time. My mirth was short-lived. Even through my red haze, I knew that thinking was dangerous and sobered myself. Thod had been one of the most dangerous people I’d ever fought. If he ever got just a little more power and more time to hone his skill with that huge sword…

“I hope he runs into someone else who gives him a good killing,” I muttered. Unfortunately, I knew people like him always seemed to turn up in the strangest places. If he survived, I’d made yet another powerful enemy. Wonderful.

My red haze wavered, but I held on. I needed it to move now. My body desperately wanted to lie down and rest for a decade...or die. This was not acceptable.

I limped toward the farmhouse, ready to reunite with Bertram. “I hope he can cover me, or this might be the end,” I said to myself. “But maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. I’m tired, I hurt, I am covered in blood, and these stupid bastards just keep coming. If I die, I can rest. Hopefully, I can take some of them with me, though.”

I knew that thinking this way was bad, but I also knew that weaving through the crops like I was drunk and talking to myself wasn’t exactly what heroes do. Good thing I wasn’t a hero.

“Be an adventurer, she said. Take this orb, she said,” I moaned. “Rotting Enheduanna.”

Command

On my way to the farmhouse, I finally lost the red haze. Due to my rotten luck, it happened right before a group of Maroon String came running around the side of the house. We all saw each other at the same time, and I barely managed to air skate my aching body around out of the line of sight before two of them raised crossbows, taking quick shots.

One bolt hit the house, and the other went wide. After I stopped my air skate, I doubled over in pain, coughing up blood again. This is bad, I thought. I minimized Eneus–even holding the spear up had been tiring, and my arm shook. I’d been using the weapon as a crutch before, but now it was getting in the way.

The group that had attacked me came running around the house, and I coughed again, glaring at them with bleary eyes. As I gathered myself to painfully air skate a second time, a flurry of energy blasts erupted out of a window of the house, mowing down the group.

That was when I noticed all the corpses.

The area around the house was a charnel house of dead bodies, all riddled with holes. The ground beneath my boots actually squished a bit from being soaked with so much blood. “Get in here you fool girl!” shouted Bertram from somewhere above me. “Use the door right in front of you!”

I gritted my teeth and limped as fast as I could to the house, feeling like someone would pop up behind me any second to put a blade or bolt in my back. Finally, I opened the door and entered the house, shaking my head as it locked behind me. Figures he even had the doors rigged like this.

I slowly made my way up the stairs of the house, following the distinctive sound of Bertram’s attacks. “I have them on the run, girl!” he called down.

At the second floor, I looked around in confusion before spotting the ladder going up. When I’d first seen the farmhouse, I’d thought the steeple on the roof had been decorative, but I could see now it had been a command room all along.

With an effort of will, I began climbing the ladder, blood running down my body to pool in my boots. I was covered in filth, and in the midst of the fancy house, I felt out of place, unclean.

At the top of the ladder, I practically fell into the small room with a grunt, and Bertram assisted me up the rest of the way, helping me steady myself against a wall. The windows all around the room had been opened, all eight of them, and a full view of the farm spread out before me in every direction. The fields were burning in four places. Smoke filled the sky, and the air reeked of it. The fire out in the fields seemed to be gradually moving closer, but I realized that the empty space between the crops and the house were enough of a fire break to protect the building.

Bertram really had built this place to be a fortress.

I coughed weakly and asked, “What is going on now?”

The older man wiggled his mustache at me, but his eyes drooped, and he sighed. “I’m almost spent, girl. While you were out there giving them hell, I was attacked here over and over again. There are even bodies inside the house. They broke in twice, and almost got me a few times.”

I nodded as I noticed multiple scorch marks and crossbow bolts on the ceiling. Bertram had been playing to his strengths, but I got the feeling he was a lot less durable than I was. I could barely see Shakira’s body out one window, lying in the huge clearing we’d made in the crops, and I shook my head, then pointed with my chin. “Thank you for saving me. That was a long shot.”

“Yes, well, I took the Spatial Awareness skill with my first ‘Bonded rank. It made hitting things a lot easier.” He punctuated his statement by extending his spread fingers outside a window and firing off energy blasts below. Someone screamed, and Bertram nodded, satisfied. His sharp eyes never stopped scanning in every direction.

With a nod, I leaned more heavily against my wall. “Is the house going to get attacked again?”

“No, it looks like they’re all retreating now. After the announcement that I’m sure you heard, I think a horn signal was also an official retreat. On top of that, a lot of them saw your battle with those two out in the field.”

I cocked my head, puzzled. “Why didn’t they attack while I was fighting, then?”

Bertram didn’t answer right away, instead launching another barrage of energy bolts out a window, tsking as he apparently missed or didn’t kill everyone he’d been aiming at. I was beginning to really appreciate that the old man was an ally. He said, “Girl, did you ever see ‘Bonded fight each other before you became one?”

I shook my head.

“Me either. Thato always said that was a weakness of mine, that lack of perception. See, to normal people, orb ‘Bonded are powerful and scary, but it isn’t until they see a couple of us fight that we become pants-shitting terrifying. Even most mages don’t evoke that kind of fear in average people.”

“I don’t know, I’ve seen some really powerful mages,” I said, thinking of Kinwe-na-ibbi.

Bertram shook his head before scanning outside again. “The average first rank ‘Bonded could deal with an average natural mage without a problem. But on top of that, your fight with those two in the field was more impressive than most. Some of the other Maroon String were killed even as they ran away. That battle was destructive even to the area around you–that’s why most of the remaining fighters ran away at the mere announcement that their leaders were coming to fight you. I tried to keep an eye on your fight, and I wanted to help you out, but you were moving around so fast, I wasn’t sure if I would hit you or not.”

I nodded at the unspoken apology before my eyes widened and my tired mind put together what the man had just said earlier, the name he had mentioned. “Wait, Thato, as in Thato Jacobs?” He nodded, and I ruefully smiled. “You called yourself Energy Fox before, right? You must be that Energy Fox. The Energy Fox. One of Thato Jacobs’ friends.”

He smiled sadly. “Yes. I always thought I was holding them back though, especially Thato. They were all so capable, and I was just a good ranged attack dealer. I also got my orb when I was already old, and my backward aging has been very, very slow. There are a lot of stories about me, but most of the impressive ones were probably things Thato actually did. So, yes, I tried to retire early so I wouldn’t be a burden on my friends anymore.”

I couldn’t believe it–I’d been fighting alongside a living legend. Now that I thought about it, Bertram’s appearance even matched the descriptions I’d read and the crude drawing I’d seen of Energy Fox.

“Do they know who you are?”

“Oh, I’m sure they at least suspect. I’ve never advertised the fact, but I didn’t exactly burn all the paper trails either.”

I crossed one arm across my body, holding my upper arm. “You said they were running from my battle. If they knew who you were, why weren’t they running before even coming to this farm?”

The greying, well-groomed man unleashed a long barrage away from the fields, towards the road leading to the highway and fell back, panting. He shook his head and said, “Girl, it shouldn’t surprise you that most normal people fear ‘Bonded, but it really shouldn’t surprise you that people fear you more. I didn’t see what you did, but I saw the destruction you left through my north field–it even went into the forest. Whatever that attack was, it must have made everything I do look like throwing pebbles.”

I felt a little embarrassed at that. We were still in danger, and I should have been focused on fighting, but the aftereffects of my fatigue, of my injuries, and using Pewpew earlier all made it hard to stay centered. Just breathing hurt. I grunted and said, “You’re a legend. I’m just a Jackal from Bittertown in Berber.”

The old adventurer glanced at me seriously and said, “No you’re not, at least not anymore. I saw you fighting out there. You are fierce, fast, smart, and relentless. I’m honestly really glad that you aren’t my enemy. Watching you out there made me think of Thato, actually. He was one of the only other fighters I’ve ever seen who could own an entire battlefield like that by himself.”

Despite all my wounds, my blurred vision, despite the fact that only my ‘Bonded abilities were even keeping me standing, I felt a hot flush across my cheeks. It was hard for me to dismiss the words of a living legend, someone who had traveled across the planet with other legends, and apparently settled down to raise a family at this surprisingly expensive and well-defended farm.

My body ached, and I had a sneaking suspicion that one of my ribs had barely missed puncturing a lung. Actually, maybe it had, and my ‘Bonded abilities were holding me together. But despite that, and the lingering danger I was in, I couldn’t help another flash of excitement to be actually meeting someone I’d read about as a girl.

I tried to find what to say, and I eventually settled on just thanking the man. With an effort, I pushed myself away from the wall I leaned on, preparing to say the strangely difficult words. I hesitantly opened my mouth, right as a tall woman in leather appeared behind Bertram, a dagger flashing forward to plunge into the man’s back. The Energy Fox crumpled his eyes tightly shut, a low moan escaping his chapped lips.

Sesasi, the last orb-Bonded I’d met earlier in this house stood over him, a light pattern of blood beading on her dark leathers.

“You! What did you do?” I hissed. Despite my fatigue, rage filled my body, echoing through my mind. I used my experiences before with red haze and tried to channel it, forcing my body to stand straight despite all the damage I’d taken. The tall, severe-looking, pale woman seemed taken aback for a moment, but smiled without mirth as the strength I’d found left me, and I slumped against the wall again.

Mental tricks wouldn’t be enough; I was spent. Even if I could get Pewpew to work, firing the death ring in my current state might kill me.

“Dearest Nora, you are the greatest thing to ever happen to me, and I am going to tell you why.” The woman stepped forward, and for the first time, I noticed that half of her body had literally been in a shadow on the wall. A chill ran down my body from my head to my toes. I’d heard of shadow manipulation before, but I never thought I’d see it.

A jewel in the hilt of Sesasi’s dagger glowed green, and its blade flared with an oily sheen. Enchanted and poisoned probably, I thought. She can probably just pop up behind people and stab them in the back. That’s not fair at all. How can I even fight that?

As I struggled to stand, I knew that it was pointless. I was in no condition to fight anyone, much less the smug, powerful woman eyeing me curiously from two steps away.

Flavors of Pain

Sesasi’s own shadow moved around subtly on its own, and hot smoke drifted in through the window, giving the woman an otherworldly, demonic appearance. She came to a stop about four steps away, examining me with glittering eyes. “You have been the greatest blessing in my entire adult life.”

“Glad to be of help,” I grated. I could tell the smug bitch was gearing up to gloat–I could recognize the type. Unfortunately, the Maroon String leader had me at a huge disadvantage, and she knew it. My mind raced desperately, trying to find a way to save myself and Bertram. I could see he was still breathing, but shallowly. That slight motion was the only way I could tell he was still alive.

The smoke in the room grew thicker, swirling around the ceiling, carrying more heat from the burning fields outside. A number of sparks tumbled through the air before fading into nothing. Sesasi gave a mocking half-bow and said, “Allow me to formally introduce myself. You are my greatest patron, after all. I am Sesasi ver dil Matris, known by some as Sesasi of the Shadows. Your reputation precedes you, Hazardous Nora.”

“I don’t like that name,” I muttered, glaring at the slightly taller woman.

“Well, you either choose a name, or others will choose one for you. If you don’t like what you are called, it is your own fault for being passive.” She chuckled, and I felt a wave of irritation. This woman was starting to quickly remind me of Lisa–arrogant, condescending, speaking from a position of power, aware of her cleverness, and interweaving just enough truth into her speeches to make them bite, to make me think. I’m sure if Sesasi and Lisa ever met, they’d immediately hate each other and might even fight to the death. That would be wonderful.

“So, you chose to be known as Sesasi of the Shadows?” I asked, my tone skeptical.

“Of course! My enemies never know where I will be, and my name strikes fear into their hearts!”

I eyed her sideways, suppressing disgust and fear, trying to buy time. My best bet now would be to keep the woman talking. “If you say so,” I said. “I still don’t understand how I am your greatest ally or whatever, though. I killed a large number of your people.”

“Yes, yes you did, and it was wonderful!” The woman smiled at me, and in that moment, I knew all the way to the bottom of my toes that Sesasi had no morality or convictions whatsoever. I had met people like her before, but never one so powerful, or while I was so helpless. The seeds of fear took root in the back of my neck, and I fought against them as I continued to push my tired mind for a way to escape.

The tall woman continued, “You have solidified my power and position in a single day. My lieutenants, both Thod and Shakira, had been leaders of the other two bounty hunting and mercenary groups out of Hell’s Favor that merged with mine. You managed to kill one of them, and probably mortally wounded the other. Either way, he won’t be back. On top of that, you killed off the majority of the members, meaning only the strongest or luckiest have survived, and more importantly, I don’t have to pay most of them now! In fact, this means that after I kill you, I will get the majority of the bounty!” She chuckled darkly, and I felt another chill, but set my jaw.

I looked her right in the eye and said, “You might find I don’t go down easily.”

“Oh come now, Nora. I’ve been watching you this whole time. You were magnificent, and your reputation, new as it is, is well-earned. But we both know you’re about to fall down any moment. If you had any more tricks, you would have used them already.”

I eyed the woman with all the fire I could muster, but privately, I had to admit she had a point. In fact, Eneus still hung from my wrist. If I called the spear into my hand, it probably wouldn’t help me much now, and might just provoke the woman to attack.

Damn.

“You see, Nora, by killing off most of my people, you cemented your ferocious reputation. So now when I kill you, I not only get to keep most of the reward, my reputation will immediately grow! I’ll be famous, and my group will be able to command more respect, and make more money! It’s a win-win.”

“And you just needed to let most of your people die, huh?”

Sesasi made a face. “Of course. It was a small price to pay. Not only that, it was their job to kill you and stay alive, but they failed to do either. Dead weight.”

I really, really didn’t like this woman. As she slowly took a step, she said, “Now it’s your time, Nora. This is not personal. For what it’s worth, I respect you far more than the idiots I used to be partnered with, and there is no way I would have ever willingly fought you on equal footing.”

“Thanks, I think,” I rasped. Then I summoned all the energy I had left to bring a hand up and generate a burst of raw Vibration energy, catching Sesasi in mid-lunge and forcing her back a couple steps. After that, I was truly spent, but I kept my trembling hand up.

Sesasi’s leather armor creaked as she slowly, deliberately stretched her neck. “Well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you will fight to the bitter end. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to even have that much left, but well done.” With that, the woman started closing again, but more slowly this time, focusing on me warily.

I briefly wondered why she wasn’t using her shadow ability I’d seen earlier, but then just felt grateful that for some reason, she probably couldn’t. Pewpew was up and trained on her. At this point, I was sure she had never seen me use it. I was also sure that using the ring right now would kill me. Despite the risk, I still debated using it and was about to trigger one final scatter beam when my instincts tried to get my attention. I suddenly noticed the smoke in the room swirling faster, and a lighter patch appeared, almost like fog.

Sesasi lowered her center of gravity where she crouched, watching me carefully, her dagger held low. Despite the fact that she didn’t know about Pewpew, the fact that I had my fist out was obviously giving her pause. I tensed, ready to activate Pewpew if she moved, and she must have sensed danger because she froze. We stared at each other for a moment, and I noticed her eyes beginning to dilate. She was probably preparing to use her power somehow.

Because I was looking right at her, forcing my eyes to stay open even through my fatigue and pounding headache, completely focused, I noticed the moment that a tan-skinned hand snaked around Sesasi’s neck, and a wicked, curved knife tore out her throat.

Just that fast, the woman went from menacing–representing almost certain death–to panicked, holding one hand to her neck to staunch a torrential flow of blood, wildly swinging backwards with her enchanted dagger.

Christopher had materialized behind the woman and skipped back, but Sesasi was too skilled; her long legs coupled with an experienced, powerful strike nearly found the Filipino man’s flesh. Before she struck, Chris’ shoulder lost its color, becoming like mist, and Sesasi’s dagger didn’t hit anything. She made another thrust but not only did that attack not land either, the wiry man counter-attacked, darting down even as Sesasi’s dagger passed through part of his body, and caught the tall, armored woman at the back of her knee.

The moment I’d seen my friend, I’d called Eneus into my hand and kept its blade forward, ready to help him if I saw an opportunity. Sesasi gurgled in frustration as she fell to her knees, blood flowing over her hand. She tried to stand again but fell back down. Eyes full of hate, she glared at me, then at Christopher, pointed with her dagger, and sunk back into the shadows. Only the pool of blood on the floor remained to show where she’d been.

“That karambit is really nasty,” I wheezed. “And you shouldn’t be here, but I owe you.”

“It does what it’s supposed to do,” said Chris with a shrug. His dark eyes were even, hard as he examined the blood on the floor.

I minimized Eneus and shuffled forward to Bertram on the ground, sudden tears in my eyes. With a heavy heart, I rolled the mustachioed old man over and gasped in relief as I saw him shallowly breathing, his eyes open. When he next spoke, he dashed my hopes.

“I’m dying, girl. I’ve been poisoned before; I know what it feels like. The stuff in my body is really bad too, but even without it, she got me good. This strike was mortal, and my body is still old.”

I mutely glanced down at where he held a hand over his side and realized he was probably right. As I looked more closely, I could see a green sheen to his skin, moving up his neck like angry fingers of viridian infection.

“There isn’t much time left. I want you to promise me something.”

My world shook, and my heart fluttered as the situation suddenly reminded me so vividly of what had already happened less than a year before in Bittertown. I somehow nodded. The old man coughed wetly, and a fine spray of blood got caught in his mustache. His voice noticeably weaker, he said, “Benjamin...will do right, take care of the family, but I’m afraid for him. Please take care of my boy.”

I didn’t trust myself to talk, so I just nodded. Bertram turned slightly to look at Christopher and said, “Thank you, young man. You saved us all.”

Christopher’s expression grew pained, full of pity. The short, wiry man stepped forward, his eyes serious and took Bertram’s hand in his own, then lifted it, touching the back of the dying man’s hand to his forehead. I didn’t know what the gesture meant, but I could recognize its significance.

With a sinking heart, I noticed Bertram's breaths grow shallower, his eyes dimming. His gaze met mine again and he whispered, “So fierce, but so fragile. Girl, Nora, I have no regrets. This is a good way to go, protecting my family. Maybe one day you will understand.”

Again, I didn’t respond, just shrugged and nodded, tears in my eyes. My headache was getting worse, and my head throbbed with the beat of my heart. Bertram smiled, showing blood on his blocky teeth and barely got out, “You are a hero. I would have been proud to have a daughter like you.”

I reflexively reached forward, putting my hand on his shoulder. He breathed more quickly, his chest fluttering like a magic messenger bird and stared at the ceiling. With obvious effort, he struggled to draw in a deeper breath before whispering, “I have–”

Whatever else he had been going to say, I would never know. Bertram Tremblay, the Energy Fox, one of my childhood heroes, passed away on the floor of his home, in the very room where he’d saved my life, killing dozens of enemies who had threatened his farm and his family. I was definitely no rotting hero, but he had been one, in life and in death. Despite not knowing each other that well, he’d fought by my side, been a comrade in arms, and my sense of loss felt like the weight of the world as I turned and stumbled away.

I think I found a wall and might have cried; I wasn’t sure. The next thing I knew, Christopher was taking me by the elbow, leading me through the house. He softly said, “We need to go. They are all running away, but they might come back. The fields are burning, and we don’t have much time to make it through to the forest and leave.”

That made some sense to me, but I hurt so bad, my consciousness seemed to be floating in a sea of agony. Christopher helped me, and I focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Somehow, my bag of holding had survived everything I’d been through, and the straps actually felt somehow comforting, even though I knew the cartoon characters on the back were probably definitely worse for wear after all I’d endured.

As we walked, Christopher kept talking to me, keeping me going. He said, “As soon as we found a good place to hide in the woods near where you told us to go, I started Roaming, kept an eye on the battle. I went back once to tell everyone what was going on and decided to try helping you. Jessica and Benjamin were going to leave without us if I didn’t bring you back in time.”

“Jessica let you?” I managed to ask.

“I kind of just did it. There may be...consequences.”

I chuckled dryly at that but quickly stopped. Laughing made my chest convulse with lances of deep, lingering pain. As I shambled through the yard outside the house, I caught sight of some corpses. “Wait,” I croaked. “Grab some fallen weapons.”

Chris gave me a strange look, then glanced around nervously. “What?”

“We don’t have any money. There are lots of them lying around on the ground. Grab at least a few.”

The newly ‘Bonded man blinked at me but gently helped me sit down before doing what I’d suggested. He grabbed a few weapons and other things to shove through his belt, or put in my bag of holding. As he tried to lift a glittering bow, the whole thing turned to dust, startling him. I stifled a chuckle as he struggled and moved on. Maybe one day if Vistvis irritated me enough, I’d give her away, and that would happen to her.

The thought instantly made me feel guilty, even through my haze of pain and my half-asleep state. No, I owed the dagger woman more than that.

At some point, Christopher had gotten me up again, and I’d begun walking because, with mild surprise, I realized we were traveling through one of the fields. I could feel the heat of the distant fires, and I knew we had limited time. My dark-skinned friend nervously licked his lips and jittered in place, but he didn’t push me, just helped me move forward.

I didn’t deserve such loyalty.

In that moment, it really sunk in that I was no longer a Jackal. Christopher and Jessica weren’t my pack, this was true. I didn’t have a pack anymore. However, somehow I’d managed to make friends.

I had a team.

“Arren, you rotting sneak,” I whispered in amusement. “Why were you always right?”

The rest of the evening was a blur, but I woke up at some point, somewhere in a deep forest. I’d been carefully arranged inside a bedroll to be comfortable. Panic began growing at the base of my neck; I didn’t know where I was, but my body relaxed as I saw my friends sleeping around me protectively. After remembering that Christopher could literally stand watch while sleeping, I allowed myself to nod off to sleep again.

We’d fulfilled Enheduanna’s mission, left the Tremblay farm, and had escaped the Maroon String. The people I cared about were safe, and the only injured person was me. I found this acceptable.

I fell back to sleep to hide from the pain again.

Aftershocks

“Yay. What a beautiful morning. It’s another day of more rotting desert. And probably another one after that,” complained Jessica. The shiner had been adopting my Ludan curse words lately, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. She currently stood in front of us, hands on her hips, bristling with wands in holsters all over her body.

The fact that she’d started grousing meant she’d finally woken up for the day, and what she’d said wasn’t positive, but she wasn’t wrong. Most people never came to the Border Desert of Tolstey, and for good reason. Other than sand, dunes, some cacti, a few monsters, and a whole lot of sand, there wasn’t really much out this way. In fact, the area was so underdeveloped, there wasn’t even a road to follow to our destination. Of course, it could just be that the road was covered in sand. Either way, the only way we had to know we were heading in the right direction was a compass that we’d bought earlier.

Stony outcroppings jutting out of the surrounding dunes and hills actually made it more difficult to navigate the terrain. Not only were some of them sharp and treacherous, they changed the look of the land, making the area seem spiky and angular despite all the sand. After a few days of traveling through it, I had to admit it had begun to grate on my nerves. Even the blasted, empty area I’d traveled through in Berber had been more inviting.

“We really have been traveling for some time,” agreed Benjamin. That’s rare, I thought. If he’s agreeing with Jessica on this one, they must all be getting tired. In the last few weeks that my team had been traveling, the oldest Tremblay son had made no indication that he’d wanted to leave and had never really complained about anything. In fact, as a new orb-Bonded, he’d seemed excited to train with other ‘Bonded. I wasn’t sure why. His abilities weren’t anything like any of ours.

“We should be getting close by now,” said Christopher, studying the best maps we’d been able to find. Enheduanna had specifically instructed me to go to Fort Stalwart, the large, Northwestern Tolstey military installation, right at the edge of the Border Desert. Even though she’d only ordered me to go, for some reason, my three companions had all decided to come with me. Their company confused me a bit since our destination had proven to be a point of contention, especially with Jessica.

“You know, we could have just gone to the capital, at least for a week,” said the blonde woman. “I didn’t get to see it the first time we went by with Nora in the airship. The city of Taretha has a reputation for lots of work, great shops, and interesting things to do–even beautiful fashion. I know Enheduanna told Nora to join up in the desert, but there was no reason to bypass Taretha completely.”

“Yes, you’ve said this about a thousand times already,” grated Benjamin. The man had lost a lot of weight over the last few weeks, and his muscle was starting to show. He’d openly grieved for his father for over a week, but I’d been half-conscious, healing at the time, so that period had been a bit of a blur. I truly didn’t understand why he was still following me, just like I didn’t understand why he’d been giving me appreciative looks lately.

It was all...confusing. Maybe the new regard was because we’d all gotten new clothes from selling weapons that Christopher had picked up from Maroon String bodies. Either way, I had to admit I didn’t exactly have massive amounts of experience with men, and I wasn’t sure how to deal with this one’s obvious attention–one I was still getting to know, who was kind of cute, and whose father had died while fighting together with me.

It could wait.

What might not be able to wait was Benjamin and Jessica’s growing dislike for each other. The two just didn’t mix and seemed to constantly irritate each other. I was tired of their bickering. Jessica narrowed her eyes at Benjamin and said, “Maybe I mention it so often because nobody can ever give me a good answer why we can’t go to a big city for some good food.”

“Maybe because we aren’t exactly rolling in money,” said Benjamin, his face serious. I noticed Christopher give a slight nod and sighed. Chris and Jess had been openly together now for almost three weeks. If Christopher was siding with Benjamin, it meant our money situation was probably getting dire. This also meant a massive argument would probably occur soon–it was time to stomp on it.

“Be quiet, you two,” I ordered.

“But, Nora!” protested Jessica, her voice plaintive. “We’ve been traveling over a month, and we haven’t had any good food at all!”

“What is it with people from Earth and food?” I wondered out loud. Then I said, “I’m sorry it took so long. A lot of that was because I was healing, and then we moved kind of slowly for a while. That was my fault too.”

The shiner quickly held her hands up. “No, no, it’s not your fault. In fact, we all know we’re dead weight, and you could just fly off and leave us if you really wanted to. It’s just frustrating.”

“Well, maybe we can–,” I began to say, but suddenly paused. It was a habit now to use my Vibration senses to scout for riders or monsters. If I wasn’t wrong, something was coming–something big. “All of you get back.”

“Monster?” asked Benjamin.

“I don’t know, but it’s fast. Be ready to help out, same as ever. Jessica, if I think you should use one wand or other, I will call out the type–like usual. Move.”

Just like that, my three friends nodded and quickly moved back, searching for a good vantage point to set up at. They’d had practice with this. Traveling across Tolstey on foot could be dangerous, even for four orb-Bonded, but we’d quickly come up with a few effective strategies for our group. It had taken some argument at first that I was the best person to be up front, but when I’d pointed out that I was still standing and mobile after everything I’d been through, that had gotten the point across. None of my friends were stupid and had quickly realized that they’d probably all be dead by now in my place.

This hadn’t exactly made me feel good.

Whatever was approaching us got closer, and I kept all my senses alert, trying to catch sight of it. Eneus in hand, I tapped the ground impatiently, my head on a swivel to get a glimpse of what I was sensing.

I currently stood in a shallow canyon of sorts with hills and rocky outcroppings on both sides, and being experienced, I watched the high ground as well. My Vibration ability through tremble-sense told me that whatever was coming was right on top of me. I still couldn’t see anything, but I did feel a slight tremor that began to grow, so I trusted my abilities and air skated to one side.

I’d been just in time.

A huge, gaping maw burst from the ground where I’d just been standing, and my eyes widened as a huge, terrifying monster erupted from the rocky, sandy earth.

It looked kind of like a snake, but eyeless, spiky, and fairly uniform around, its body a long tube ending in a narrow, bladed tail. Actually, it looked more like a leech. Whatever it was, it was the biggest monster I’d ever seen. The creature kept coming out of the earth, and when it slammed down towards me, I air jumped up to one of the surrounding hills. I’d thought the big rocks would slow it down, but the creature came completely out of the earth and began to slither like a massive snake. I quickly realized that I’d misjudged, believing the thing would only burrow.

A fireball flashed out from the distance where my friends were standing, and while the attack did no damage to the massive, nightmarish creature, it began to turn. Its craggy, spiky mouth opened, and it roared, the sound like steam escaping from a pot, mixed with rocks falling on tile, then magnified a thousand times.

If this thing went for my team, I didn’t think any of them would be able to hurt it, much less stop it. “All of you just stay still!” I yelled. “Do nothing!”

Benjamin yelled back, his voice carrying traces of panic, “I think that’s a spiky carapace burrowing maw worm demon! Father said he fought one once, and nothing he did even penetrated. They had to run away.”

“Got it,” I muttered. Then I yelled, “Like I said, do nothing and stay quiet! I’ll yell if I need you. Just be ready to act–maybe retreat!” Then I turned, trusting my team to follow my orders. “Hard to penetrate, huh?” I said to myself and then decided to take that as a challenge.

Since my experience fighting the Maroon String, I’d decided that my red haze was too self-destructive, likely to get me killed. With all that power and focus came a lack of caution. However, I’d figured out how to add a filter to floating time, letting a few emotions through that helped me fight better. Right now I was blocking a lot of fear, but letting pride and anger through.

I leveled my hand with Pewpew and aimed as best I could. Over the last month, I’d learned that there was nothing wrong with the ring at all. When it hadn’t worked before at the Tremblay farm, I’d probably somehow channeled Pewpew’s energy into Eneus. The enormous blast from my spear when I’d tried vib-punching must have included Pewpew’s power but magnified. Unfortunately, I still couldn’t figure out exactly how I’d done that, but Pewpew definitely still functioned.

After I’d oriented my deadly enchanted ring as best I could, I triggered a scatter beam attack. Thin, violet energy lanced out, carving lines in the maw worm’s hide. I saw some greyish looking blood and whooped aloud before the creature screamed and turned, lunging at me with astonishing speed. As I air jumped higher up the hill, I showed my teeth in challenge and triggered another scatter beam attack.

The backlash from using the ring hit my body all at once, both shots, but I merely grunted. It still hurt, still sapped my energy, but I’d grown stronger. I was tougher now, and more resistant to pain and fatigue. Using Pewpew still took a lot out of me, especially back to back blasts like this, but I’d endure it.

This time when the beam from my ring hit the giant creature, I watched closely, noticing how the huge demon’s hide shimmered. The furrows that Pewpew had burned looked impressive, vaporizing the top layer of armor and even cutting off spikes, but now that the maw worm was closer, I could see that I hadn’t really cut it very deep.

“What under the rotting sky?” I wondered aloud. I’d heard of monsters that were resistant to magic before, but I’d never actually encountered one. Since Pewpew wasn’t working, it was time to try something else.

The hissing creature moved almost as fast as a galloping zebra, which was terrifying enough, but it came almost straight up a rocky outcropping at me using the spikes on its body as anchors as it moved. The maw worm struck, its huge, spiky mouth gaping below an eyeless head. I air skated, staying one step ahead, and the creature bit down on a boulder where I’d been standing, crushing it to pieces. When the spiky, spiny nightmare turned its huge head, orienting on me again, pieces of pulverized stone flew everywhere, one almost hitting me.

“Hazard!” I yelled and threw a vib-blade charged Eneus, using a new trick I’d discovered over the last month. As the spear left my hand, I kept hold of its attached cloth. Eneus left my hand like a rocket, not slowed at all as the sash grew behind it. Using this new trick, I’d be able to retrieve my weapon a lot faster.

When the spear hit, it penetrated–not far, but definitely farther than Pewpew’s beam had. The maw worm screeched, picking up speed and power, lunging at me over and over again. I barely managed to retrieve Eneus as I dodged, and the creature’s fury made me a bit nervous, even seeping in through floating time. Nothing I’d done so far had really affected it much, and the maw worm really was enormous. The massive monster’s fury, power, and endurance just seemed to keep growing.

I could fly away at any time, but I was worried for my team.

My retreat took me to the end of the outcropping I was on, and I air jumped, then partly flew back down to the sandy valley below. The maw worm roared, curled its body, and jumped so powerfully that it practically seemed to fly as well before landing with a jarring crash, kicking up billowing sand in every direction. My eyes narrowed, and I generated a close, low power vib-screen in front of my face to keep the dust out of my eyes and mouth, another new ability I’d developed over the last few weeks.

This time when the huge, snake-like demon attacked, I watched carefully, analyzing how it moved, where it might have any weak points. Maybe the bottom or side, I decided. I had a plan, probably as bad as all of my plans always were, but trying something new would be better than just poking the thing and running away over and over again.

Running away was probably not a good idea. I wasn’t sure all my friends would make it.

I darted directly at the maw worm, running directly for its huge, gaping mouth. Sensing an opportunity, the terrifying creature reared back slightly before shooting forward, its gnashing, hellish mouth coming right for me. I waited until the last possible second, and double air skated–first at an angle, then flashing past its body. One of its sharp, spiky protrusions almost got me, but I got lucky, just taking a scratch on the side of my neck.

Once I came to rest, I thrust with Eneus as hard as I could to get the thing’s attention and cursed as I felt first-hand how tough the demon’s hide was. This close, the flashes across the monster’s natural armor were obvious even as I attacked with Eneus. The maw worm began to turn, quick as a venomous winged grass snake demon from Berber, but I air jumped over its entire spiky length. When I landed on the other side, the creature seemed confused and tried turning again, contorting its long, chitinous body.

That was what I’d been hoping for.

I dumped another charge of vib-blade into Eneus, like what I’d done while fighting Thod. The move was risky because I knew I didn’t have the power to control that much energy yet, but I was sure Eneus could take it, and more importantly, I had a hunch that the maw worm’s natural defense would absorb some of it. “Hazard!” I screamed, and reared back, took hold of Eneus’ sash, and threw the spear as hard as I could.

This time, it penetrated. The strike wasn’t as devastating as it would have been to a lesser monster, but I still saw with grim satisfaction that Eneus’ entire blade, and part of its haft, had punched into the maw worm’s body, defeating its tough, spiny armor.

The giant creature shuddered in pain and screamed louder than it had before. It thrashed from side to side, and I air skated backwards, pulling Eneus out of the wound I’d made, securing the weapon in my hand again.

I was prepared for the creature to attack again, and it reared up, but then plunged directly into the sand, disappearing as quickly as it had arrived. With tremble sense, I tracked it as it moved, and verified that it was leaving. I asked aloud, “You have to be kidding. It’s running away?” A sense of relief rushed over me, but I was also strangely disappointed.

Maybe incorporating part of the red haze into floating time hadn’t been such a good idea after all.

Suddenly, through tremble sense, I noticed something I hadn’t before–riders. With a startled oath, I turned and stared at a distant hillside where a group of zebra riders stood staring at me. Most had strange expressions, but the lead rider, an older woman, clapped her hands before reining her mount forward, heading down the rocky, sandy terrain towards me.

After a brief hesitation, I dropped my floating time mode. I’d noticed that all the riders wore uniforms of the Tolstey Guard, the country’s military. As the rider approached, I also minimized Eneus–there was no need for any misunderstandings, after all.

Then I waited.

Timely Knowledge

The rider grew closer, and I saw she was Terran. She looked average height, not very fancy in the face, like me. Her blocky body was just short of overweight, but something about her triggered my survival instincts. Whenever I met really dangerous people, I could usually sense it, and apparently, this woman was not to be taken lightly.

Behind her, the other Guard made their way forward more slowly. When she got close and dismounted, it was only the two of us.

“That was good work back there. We usually leave spiky carapace burrowing maw worm demons alone out of necessity. If we have to deal with them, it takes two squads to injure one enough to make it retreat, and that’s usually with casualties. Of course, we’re not usually careless enough to wander right into one’s territory like you did.”

“Oh,” I said. “So why are you here?”

“I have the same question, girl. My name is Master Sergeant Rakles. Who are you?”

My jaw dropped. “You’re the one I was supposed to find! Is the Fort nearby then?”

The older woman narrowed her eyes at me, and my spine tingled. She asked slowly, deliberately, “What is your name? And why were you trying to find me?” I didn’t fail to notice Rakles' hand on the hilt of her sword. That was when I realized the significance of the fact that after watching me fight the maw worm on my own, she’d come down to talk to me by herself.

I swallowed and said, “I’m Nora, Nora Hazard.” A flicker of recognition in the other woman’s eyes made me inwardly groan. I knew I’d been getting a reputation, but I didn’t know it’d spread this far, or even what people were saying about me.

She said, “I have heard that name, I think. If you join the country’s guard, the past does not matter. Of course, every new recruit must wear an oath collar,” she said, pointing to the thin grey band around her neck. “But this is fairly standard for any military on Ludus. Now, who told you to come?”

“Enheduanna.”

As soon as the word left my mouth, all the blood drained from Rakles' face. She looked up at the sky and groaned, “The gift that keeps on giving.”

“I know the feeling,” I said, surprised by the passion in my own words.

“Alright, this whole situation is much less confusing to me now,” said Rakles. “Frustrating, exhausting, but not confusing. Luckily for you, that madwoman has already sent me people before. So you are here to join the military?”

“Yes. And my team,” I said, pointing behind me. My three friends were still where they had been before, trusting me. I didn’t deserve them.

The master sergeant nodded. “They will get the same fair processing treatment that you do. Fort Stalwart doesn’t commonly process new recruits, but we can. I will make sure you are delivered to the right people tomorrow after you come with us.” She paused, then looked me right in the eyes. “I just have one question before my people get here.”

“Fine. What?”

“I just watched you fight that maw worm on your own, and I can understand that you probably told your people to stay back so they wouldn’t get hurt. That makes sense to me, but I don’t understand why you didn’t use your armor. No matter what explanations I come up with, none of them paint you in a good light.”

“Huh? This?” I asked, touching my armored tunic.

“Yes. I know an enchanted armor set when I see one.”

I grinned without humor. “Ever since I’ve had this, I haven’t been able to use it, and nobody else could tell me how either. I’ve been cut, shot, stabbed, burned, thrown, and I’ve almost died more than once. It would have been great if I could use the rotting thing.”

The grizzled older woman said, “Take your gauntlets off.” I gave her a look but did as she’d ordered, showing her my hands. She nodded as she saw my rings, then gave me a strange expression. “Have you tried touching your rings to that necklace you wear at the same time and saying, ‘activate’ or ‘armor?’ That necklace is for your armor, right?”

I blinked, dropped my gauntlets, and slowly reached up to touch the rings from Dingeramat to the necklace that I’d forgotten I was even wearing. “Armor.”

Suddenly, my body felt strange, warm, and things shifted around against my skin. I looked down and saw that I was now wearing a dark set of beautiful plated armor with accents the same bronze color that my tunic had been. My body felt strong, stronger than ever before. I rapped against the center of my chest with an armored knuckle, and my eyebrows raised.

The armor’s transformation hadn’t added any weight.

In a daze, I took a couple steps over to a large boulder and impulsively punched it. The power of the blow left a divot in the rock, and my fist felt nothing but slight pressure. I hadn’t been damaged at all, and it seemed I really was stronger while wearing the armor.

I looked down at myself again, thinking about all the times I’d been injured since I’d taken the armor from Dingeramat. So many injuries… I glanced up at Master Sergeant Rakles. Her strange expression had deepened, and her eyes crinkled like she might be holding back laughter.

With deliberate slowness, I let my head roll back, looking at the desert sky and breathing deeply, evenly. A powerful mix of emotions moved up my spine. I suddenly remembered my father and some of the curses he’d brought with him from Earth. Something he had always used to say seemed appropriate for the moment.

“Well, shit.”

End of Nora Hazard: Competitive Advantage,

---Book Two of Nora Hazard

Nora’s adventures will be continued in the final book of Nora Hazard, Accounts Payable!

Please read on for a note by the author, including multiple ways to connect on social media.

…And don’t forget to review this novel!

School--::--Subschool:

Earth-:-Metal

Air-:-Void

Water-:-Life

Fire-:-Matter

Consciousness-:-Time

Light-:-Darkness

Force-:-Attraction

About the Author:

Blaise Corvin served in the US Army in several roles. He has seen the best and the worst that humanity has to offer. A sucker for any hobby involving weapons, art, or improv, he’s a fairly hard core geek.

He currently lives in Texas with enough geeky memorabilia to start a museum.

Being a professional author, he must sometimes talk about himself in third person within author biographies.

It’s all very eccentric.

Cheers!

To Readers,

PLEASE, PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!

You are wonderful and reviews are amazing for all authors, but especially indie authors like me. Your reviews help me pay the bills. Seriously.

If all you can think of to say is, “I liked this book, you should try it too,” that would be awesome!

In 2016 I published my first book. Now I’m full time. This is pretty amazing, but also extremely scary. …lol. A lot of writers don’t admit to that. The uncertainty can be intense.

The Artifice Universe is a part of something huge, a universe I’ve been working on for 10 years and can probably explore for the rest of my life.

Ways to connect with me:

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Until next time (--and please leave a review!--)

Thank you for joining me on this adventure!  I couldn’t do it without all the knowledge and encouragement I get on a daily basis from everyone I interact with.

I can’t wait to spend time with you again with Nora, in Nora Hazard: Accounts Payable

:)

-BC

Table of Contents

Contents

Title

Copyright

Also by Blaise Corvin

Dedication

Foreword

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Book End

Author's Note