ã€ŠMind Reading Isn&#x27;t Cheatingã€‹


 Entirely Reasonable Assumption

    A lone man, cloaked in white, calmly walked through the crisp pines of Karasuthra forest. Seeming to almost glow as the sun reflected off his pale face and white hair, the normally-quiet forest around him stirred. With each step, nearby trees grew greener. Where his bare feet touched the ground, life sprang forth unbidden, each footprint an entire ecosystem. Even the ants he crushed underfoot seemed to only grow stronger from the impact, rushing back into their duties with renewed vigor. Birds took flight from their trees, not to flee, but to circle overhead in joyful song, preaching the wonders of the man¡¯s bountiful, flowing energy. An entourage of land-bound fauna followed him, basking in his power. A single forest rodent broke from the pack, approaching him to lovingly nuzzle his leg.

    With a swift and practiced motion, he kicked it¨C hard¨C into a nearby tree. A tiny snap could be heard as its bones cracked from the impact, and it fell to the forest floor with a soft thump. Despite this, the small animal got up immediately, seemingly uninjured, and scurried off with even more energy than before. The man huffed disapprovingly.

    ¡°Ugh! Trees keep getting in the way!¡± he groaned to no one in particular. ¡°I¡¯m never going to break my distance record at this rate!¡±

    The sudden and unexpected display of violence failed to startle the other animals as much as he¡¯d hoped. Unfortunate. He¡¯d need to leave them be, he supposed. It would take too long to torture them each individually, and killing them was of course out of the question, no matter how much he wished he could. Besides, even if he did get rid of them, he¡¯d just pick up more along the way.

    The man named Aelius was a veritable one-man migration; his uncontrollable healing field was so instinctively pleasant for animals he¡¯d occasionally lead a particular one across the continent. The ecological devastation left in his wake when he accidentally brought invasive species was almost amusing enough to be worth it, had animals not been so incessantly smelly and annoying.

    Less than a half hour¡¯s walk from his intended destination, Aelius felt a distinct chomp at his power that signified someone died within the range of his healing field. Well, they didn¡¯t die per se¨C as long as he was around, death was impossible. But something was preventing his powers from healing the wound directly, forcing his energy to maintain a comatose state of limbo on the body.

    At nearly any other location, Aelius would have probably just continued on his merry way, eventually moving far enough from the body for nature to claim them proper. To his dismay, however, there actually lived a few people nearby that he didn¡¯t hate. It was probably worth checking out. Aelius strutted over to where the power was being consumed from.

    ¡°Haha, wow.¡± He laughed, standing over the body of a girl no older than eight. A dagger parted her blond bangs, its hilt buried far enough into her forehead for the blade to pin her skull to the tree behind her.

    Aelius let out a low whistle as he crouched down to inspect the body. Marvelous work, really. He had to respect that kind of precision brutality. He gave the child¡¯s face a heavy smack with the back of his hand, to no response. Not even his powers could bring the kid¡¯s brain to a usable state with that much metal lodged in the middle of it, he supposed, although she¡¯d probably heal up right as rain if he took it out.

    Aelius, of course, had no intention of actually doing that. Children were noisy, dirty, and hopelessly stupid creatures. Though admittedly, this one looked rather familiar. Her round face, ruby-colored eyes, and blonde hair definitely meant she was an Aletheian. And, if his memory served him correctly, she was the daughter of the man he had traveled all this way to see.

    Aelius uttered such a colorful set of curses that it may have been fortunate the young girl was unconscious.

    There was no believable reality in which that man¡¯s daughter was dead while he was still alive. Okay, yes, she technically wasn¡¯t dead¨C but it was just a complete fluke of luck that Aelius happened to be nearby when her attacker nailed her adorable little face to a tree. Whoever that attacker was likely left before Aelius got close enough to be seen, under the entirely reasonable assumption that impaling a child¡¯s brain would cause them to die. The fact that this assailant could even get close enough to the kid to attack them pretty much guaranteed that her father had been dealt with beforehand. You could not pass something like this under his nose.

    That rather nettled. Aelius almost liked that guy. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    With his plans for the day ruined, Aelius pondered what to do with the comatose sack of meat before him. He probably could, and should, just leave and be done with it. Without his power forcefully keeping the girl¡¯s magical aura in place she would die immediately and painlessly. Frankly, though, that sounded like absolutely no fun at all. Even if she was a snotty brat, she was still a snotty brat related to one of the only tolerable people in existence; there were few enough of those around for her to be worth a second chance. But if he kept her alive¡­ what would he do with her?

    Eh, questions for later. He was vaguely curious what happened, and may as well investigate that first. Maybe some other Aletheians were alive? They¡¯d raise their leader¡¯s kid without too much persuasion.

    Having made up his mind, Aelius gripped the back of the young girl¡¯s head, unceremoniously yanked her free of the tree, and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He left the dagger firmly planted through her skull¨C no sense waking the brat up. What was her name, again? Sherry? Sharla? Naw, wait. He thought of a better name.

    Holding her waist with one arm and letting the rest of her comatose body dangle unsupported, Aelius carried Shishkabob off in the direction of her village. After about a twenty minute walk, the forest cleared up and revealed the humble clan village of Aletheia.

    At least, what was left of it, which amounted to basically nothing. The village¡¯s fifty-some houses were naught but a smoldering ruin, flames still licking out the remains of everything that once was. Charred corpses littered the area, filling Aelius¡¯ nostrils with the nostalgic scent of burnt flesh. His power passed over them like it would a rock, indifferent to the no-longer living bodies. He plodded his way into the burning village, as much as an excuse to discourage his unwanted animal retinue as it was to investigate. A lone doe brave enough to follow him quickly had a large splinter of flaming wood kicked in her direction, which, much to Aelius¡¯ satisfaction, ended up setting her on fire. The deer bolted in the opposite direction, away from the only source of energy that might have otherwise kept her alive.

    His mood drastically improved, Aelius continued through the village with a spring in his step, quickly coming across the ruins of Shishkabob¡¯s family house. A quick sweep of the burning rubble found no bones or other bodies, however, so he continued on.

    It was clearly looking like this was no simple act of arson. Though many bodies burned, the majority of them seemed to have been slain by weapons, and a very significant number of them were not Alethians. Heavy splint mail covered these bodies, all matching¨C this was undoubtedly a coordinated attack by some singular organization or army. Curious. As far as Aelius was aware, the Alethians didn¡¯t have any real enemies. The clan made most of their living by hunting monsters like vrocth¨ªzo for the benefit of other villages, and had famously taken down threats that would have otherwise wiped out life in the entire area. They kept to themselves and kept their little plot of land safe from harm, working as reputable mercenaries. No kingdom owned this part of the continent and no kingdom particularly wanted it. Only the chondricthians were liable to try and conquer beast-ridden territory for no actual benefit, and these attackers were too far inland and had nowhere near enough arms to be mistaken for those brutes.

    Fortunately for Aelius, he didn¡¯t really care about the answers to any of these questions. He was just looking for a single corpse, and he soon found it. A huge, circular pile of bodies lay in a clearing on the east end of town, opposite the forest. Well over fifty dead soldiers surrounded two very special cadavers: the young girl¡¯s mother and father. Her mother was an enormous mountain of a woman, still gripping a massive, bloodied club the size of a tree trunk in her stiff right hand. The dead soldiers around her were crushed and mangled, their armor worthless in the face of overwhelming strength. The girl¡¯s much smaller father¨C the closest man Aelius ever had to a friend¨C lay next to her. His two smaller swords had made countless precision removals of vital areas in the once-living bodies around him, swiftly and elegantly bringing about their demise. Aelius¡¯s magic flowed over them, yet did nothing but invigorate the many microscopic organisms already set about decomposing the massacre. Everyone here was well and truly dead, a fact Aelius had hardly needed to confirm considering the two enormous holes in the chest cavity of both parents. While they fought their way through several dozen men, it would seem some massive force plowed clean through them. Whatever it was cauterized the wounds it inflicted, but dying of blood loss was the least of a person¡¯s worries when their heart, both lungs, and the upper half of their stomach were completely obliterated.

    ¡°Neat!¡± Aelius exclaimed. He was exceptionally tempted to pluck the dagger out of Shishkabob¡¯s noggin to find out how she¡¯d react to the gruesome scene, but regretfully concluded it would be far too difficult to get the dagger back into her brain afterwards. The girl had inherited her mother¡¯s absurd strength, and while Aelius could call upon his full might as the Titan of Life to subdue her if need be, he really wasn¡¯t in the mood to brawl with an enraged ankle-biter.

    He could just enjoy the schadenfreude and ditch her here afterwards, he supposed, but on the way over he remembered a few people he could probably strong-arm into raising this kid. And if Shishkabob turned out to be half as interesting as her dear departed daddy when she got older, well¡­ that was well worth hauling her across a mountain range or two.

 Crack of Dawn

    A lone, two-story wooden house sat nestled in the vast plains south of the Oinos mountain range. Aelius rapped his knuckles on the wooden door, causing dormant spores of moss to bloom on the frame. The peak tip of the sun had just crested over the horizon to the east, and he wasn¡¯t going to wait a single extra second until morning. He had been carrying this brick of a child for over three weeks now, and was quite done with it.

    ¡°Hello?¡± he yelled up at the house as obnoxiously as possible in an attempt to wake the residents. ¡°Is anyone home? Sheesh, I thought you farmer types were up at the crack of dawn!¡±

    Aelius heard no reply from the sleepy building. Well, tough luck, because this was the first place he¡¯d found that would be capable of raising a powerful kid like this and there was no way it would be anything but the last.

    ¡°Well, dawn¡¯s cracking!¡± he shouted, and kicked down the door.

    This elicited some response from the residents. From the upper floor he heard panicked noises from a woman and hushed tones from a man. Shuffling, gathering. They likely thought they were being robbed, and were preparing accordingly.

    ¡°Hey, sorry about that!¡± Aelius bellowed reassuringly, ¡°I¡¯m not here for a fight! I brought you something, actually.¡±

    For the first time, Aelius nonchalantly yanked the dagger from Shishkabob¡¯s skull, causing a goblet¡¯s worth of blood to spurt out of her head. He winced as it splattered on the floor, staining the wood. Searching around for something to cover the stain, he ultimately decided on the girl¡¯s own body, tossing it unceremoniously to the floor in an attempt to obfuscate the mess. The wound from the dagger that had completely impaled the child was perfectly healed before she hit the ground. The thudding noise of her impact seemed to further spook the residents.

    ¡°It¡¯s a gift,¡± Aelius assured, ¡°from me to you. You¡¯re the lucky winner! No need to thank me. Come downstairs to see your once-in-a-lifetime prize!¡±

    His only response was more shuffling from the upper floor. Just when he was about to reach the edge of his patience, a young, brown-haired boy about Shishkabob¡¯s age came into view, peering down the stairs at the strange pale man.

    ¡°Hey, kid,¡± Aelius grinned, ¡°Want a sister?¡±

    Soon, the whole family was in view. The boy¡¯s mother had come rushing out to protect her son from the attack that never came, and his father was hot on her heels, sword at the ready. Even grandma came out, wielding her walking stick threateningly in a way that made Aelius choke down a laugh. He waved at them.

    Aelius watched the father¡¯s eyes as they glared at him in anger, swapping to concern as they moved down to the unconscious child at his feet, and finally to wonder as they moved to see Aelius¡¯ own feet, grass that peeking through the wood around where he stood. Immediately, the man fell to his knees and bowed his head to the floor.

    ¡°Oh, great Aelius, Titan of Life,¡± he prayed, ¡°I am so sorry for our rudeness. We did not realize it was you.¡±

    Shocked, the man¡¯s family also fell in reverence.

    ¡°What?¡± growled Aelius, ¡°No, stop. On your feet. I¡¯m not a god, no matter what those Second Son idiots tell you.¡± The family looked up hesitantly.

    ¡°I mean it!¡± he insisted. ¡°Get up or I¡¯m not blessing your crops.¡±

    That certainly got their attention, and the family rose to their feet.

    ¡°Now then,¡± Aeilus said, ¡°First thing¡¯s first. Who the heck are you people? Last time I was here a young woman by the name of Daniva owned the place. Anybody know her?¡±

    ¡°Daniva was my mother¡¯s name, Titan,¡± the cane-wielding grandmother explained, ¡°and she has been dead for nearly thirty years.¡±

    ¡°Huh, wow,¡± Aelius said, genuinely surprised. ¡°I guess I lost track of time. Well, in that case, I¡¯m just going to pass her debts on to you. Raise this kid for me.¡±

    The family looked at one another, confused.

    ¡°Why would you choose to bestow this child on us?¡± the mother asked.

    ¡°Pfft, I¡¯m not ¡®bestowing¡¯ anything,¡± the Titan of Life scoffed. ¡°This kid¡¯s a handful. It¡¯ll be rough.¡± The woman looked at the crumpled heap where Aelius had casually dropped Shishkabob with concern.

    ¡°Where did she¡­ come from?¡± she inquired.

    ¡°Eh, I picked her up in the forest near the northwest scarred lands. Her family¡¯s been mega-ultra slaughtered, so have fun breaking the news on that.¡±

    Nervously, the father cleared his throat. ¡°The forest by the northwest scarred lands? Wouldn¡¯t that be by Nuxvar? We, um... heard that many villages in that area were decimated by attacks from one of their neighbors.¡±

    ¡°Huh, maybe,¡± Aelius shrugged. ¡°She was certainly in the area, but I haven¡¯t asked her about it.¡± He gave her a nudge with his foot. ¡°Poor thing¡¯s been unconscious this whole time. Should be waking up any minute now, actually.¡± He grinned, twirling the dagger between his fingers.

    The farming family looked to each other and nodded. The father spoke again.

    ¡°Even if you were to not assist us, we would be happy to care for this child.¡± Aelius¡¯ grin expanded enough to nearly burst.

    ¡°Oh, great!¡± he said, ¡°I won¡¯t bother dropping by later then.¡± This elicited a slap to the back of the farmer¡¯s head from the grandmother and an irritated glare from his wife, which made Aelius giggle.

    ¡°O-of course,¡± the farmer stammered, ¡°Any help you could give us would be most appreciated¡­¡±

    ¡°All right, all right,¡± Aelius laughed, ¡°I was kidding. I¡¯d never get to see the fun if I left you guys to rot. Incidentally, you should rip out the wood flooring down here.¡± He pointed to where he was standing with his thumb. ¡°It¡¯s rotting,¡± he added, neglecting to mention that it had not been before he stood on it.

    A chorus of reverent thank-yous convinced Aelius that it was officially time to leave. He said his goodbyes and headed to the farmer¡¯s fields as promised, letting his boundless energies wash over and rejuvenate the struggling plants. Pulling down the front of his pants, he left a wet impression of his name on the dirt before strutting off further south, leaving the family one person larger.

    <hr><hr>

    When they got over the surprise of it all, the Bornsson family realized they should probably get their new daughter off the floor. Carefully, the mother¨C Amelia¨C lifted her off the ground (revealing, to the family¡¯s surprise, a large patch of fungus) and carried her upstairs. She placed the unconscious child in a bed that had, up until just recently, been her son Darron¡¯s. Darron frowned as the strange girl was lowered into his bed, but remained respectfully silent. He hoped he wouldn¡¯t have to sleep on the floor tonight, especially since it was apparently infested with soft rot.

    The family gathered around the bed. It was still a little early for the daily work, but no one was in the mood to squeeze in another hour of sleep.

    ¡°She looks healthy, at least,¡± Darron¡¯s grandmother remarked. She was a short, wrinkled woman with a soft face and crooked nose. Though she was far beyond the age for manual labor, the woman still managed to be the most useful and effective member of the family, at least in her own eyes.

    ¡°Of course she¡¯s healthy, mother,¡± Darron¡¯s father countered. ¡°Aelius himself was carrying her.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you take that tone with me, Norman!¡± the old woman snapped, ¡°I don¡¯t care what magic mumbo jumbo that pathetic excuse for a Titan claims he can pull out of his rectum, he carried this child over the Oinos Mountains! It¡¯s a miracle either of them are still alive.¡±

    ¡°That man is full of miracles, mother.¡±

    ¡°Ha! We¡¯ll see what he¡¯s ¡®full of¡¯ come harvest. And I¡¯m betting it¡¯s shi-¡±

    ¡°Gloria!¡± Amelia interjected, ¡°Not in front of Darron!¡±

    Darron, of course, already knew exactly what his grandmother was going to say, but declined to clarify this point. He was much more interested in the bloodstains on the girl¡¯s head, and how Aelius had been holding a freshly-bloodied dagger during their conversation. Had he stabbed the girl? At the very least, he had only just now removed the dagger from the wound. No matter how Darron interpreted that information¡­ it was incredibly disturbing. Darron found himself entirely okay with the possibility that Aelius wouldn¡¯t return to ¡°bless the harvest,¡± or whatever he really did.

    The young boy lifted himself onto the bed to get a better look. As his grandmother had said, she looked perfectly healthy. Her face wasn¡¯t pale or discolored, her breathing looked regular, and she wasn¡¯t perspiring abnormally. Other than the dried blood on her face and hair, there was no indication that she had ever been injured. He reached out to touch her forehead, but was stopped by his mother.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother her, Darron,¡± Amelia scolded. ¡°Let her sleep.¡±

    He would have preferred to check personally, but a secondary opinion would suffice. Darron appealed to his mother¡¯s protective instincts.

    ¡°Y-you should ch-check her t-t-temperature, mom,¡± he stuttered. ¡°Just in c-c-case she h-has a f-f-fever.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re right,¡± his mother said, surprised. She reached out and put the back of her hand on the young girl¡¯s forehead.

    Immediately, her crimson eyes shot open. The girl forcefully sat up, causing Amelia to jerk back in surprise. Her pupils darted around the room, taking in the details. Darron noted her toned musculature- this girl must be used to large amounts of heavy labor, or possibly even combat. There¡¯s no way she was older than him. Why would such a young girl be trained like that?

    Darron saw one of her hands groping around the bed for something¨C she must be right-handed. Looking panicked and confused, her other arm reached up and felt around her forehead, and whatever she found there seemed to surprise her further. This confirmed Darron¡¯s suspicions: this girl had definitely been attacked by someone, and her forehead had been severely injured. Assuming that Aelius¡¯ dagger was the weapon that did so, the amount of blood on the blade indicated it had been stuck in up to the hilt¡­ but that clearly wouldn¡¯t be survivable, so what really happened?

    The girl began to settle down as started running her eyes carefully over the people in the room. One by one, her crimson irises flashed from person to person¡­ until they reached Darron. She stared at him for a while as he stared back, and her face slowly morphed from the frightened, panicked expression it had held into¡­ a sort of confused amusement? The longer she looked at him, the more it felt like she was trying to suppress a laugh. It was¡­ increasingly embarrassing.

    ¡°Um, excuse me¡­¡± Darron¡¯s mother started, ¡°Are you¡­ alright?¡±

    To Darron¡¯s relief, the girl tore her eyes away from whatever joke she had apparently found on his face and looked back at the rest of the room. She frowned contemplatively, considering how to respond. At the very least, whatever she had found so funny seemed to have calmed her down. Even considering what little he knew about her situation, Darron was impressed at her ability to not simply crumble from shock.

    The girl took a deep breath, and finally responded.

    ¡°Where am I?¡± she asked. Her voice was quiet, but with a surprising hardness. It gave the impression that someone was about to strike a match in a gas well.

    ¡°This is our home,¡± Amelia explained. ¡°A man named Aelius brought you here. Do you know anything about that?¡±

    The girl reacted to Aelius¡¯ name with recognition, as if a piece of a puzzle just clicked together for her. Darron noted the relative dullness of the reaction¨C not how a person would respond to hearing about their attacker. Perhaps Aelius¡¯ story should be taken at face value.

    ¡°I¡­¡± the girl started, but trailed off as if her words couldn¡¯t keep up with her thoughts. ¡°No,¡± she eventually settled on, ¡°I don¡¯t. I guess he must have saved my life.¡±

    She didn¡¯t say anything else for a while. The Bornsson family looked to each other, silently pleading for someone else to continue the conversation. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name, sweety?¡± Darron¡¯s grandmother finally prompted.

    ¡°It¡¯s Shara,¡± the girl responded. ¡°Shara Aletheia.¡±

    ¡°Well, Shara,¡± the old woman started, ¡°Aelius has asked us to take care of you for the time being. Is there anything that you need?¡±

    For a moment, Darron was sure that Shara would shatter, crying and bawling until she could no longer move. Instead, Shara pulled out the largest, warmest smile he¡¯d ever seen.

    ¡°Actually,¡± she beamed, ¡°I¡¯m starving. It feels like I haven¡¯t eaten in weeks!¡±

    Silence hit the room. Then, a genuine laugh tore itself from Norman Bornsson, and soon his family followed suit. Even Darron couldn¡¯t help but smile. What she said wasn¡¯t particularly funny, but it had cut through the tension like a knife.

    ¡°Well!¡± Norman bellowed, ¡°it seems we had best start breakfast! Amelia, let us prepare a warm welcome for young Shara here, yes?¡± His wife smiled and nodded, and they left to begin the morning meal.

    ¡°Hmph!¡± Gloria grunted, ¡°Now that those two idiots are out of the way, you should get a proper check-up,¡± she pointed at Shara, ¡°to make sure that pale punk patched you up properly. Come here.¡±

    Shara did as she was told, pulling the covers off of her and scampered over to where Gloria sat. The old woman lifted her hands and began flexing her fingers in the intricate patterns that indicated the start of a magic spell. Darron noticed that Shara seemed to panic briefly when she saw this, but calmed down almost immediately. Interesting.

    ¡°Now Darron,¡± Gloria ordered, ¡°get over here and tell this girl what you think is wrong with her.¡±

    Obediently, Darron scooted in front of where Shara was, and faced her.

    ¡°W-well,¡± he started, ¡°I-I¡¯ve noticed a lot of d-dry blood around the front of your c-cranial area, b-but no scabs or s-scars. This is i-i-indicative of magical healing, b-but the amount of blood we found implies a d-deep wound, s-so we should make sure there¡¯s no damage to y-y-your brain that was simply c-covered up.¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± his grandmother barked, ¡°Now, what spell do we use to check for brain damage?¡±

    ¡°A-a Deep Unobtrusive scan.¡±

    ¡°And why do we use a Deep scan?¡±

    ¡°B-because the brain is thick and complex.¡±

    ¡°And why do we use an Unobtrusive scan?¡±

    ¡°Because the b-brain¡¯s n-natural defense a-against m-m-magic is t-too p-p-powerful to overcome w-without d-damaging a p-p-person¡¯s a-aura.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Gloria intoned. ¡°Now watch your grandma work.¡±

    Gloria moved her hands an inch from Shara¡¯s face and released the spell, sending imperceptible waves of power around the young girl¡¯s body. To her credit, Shara sat very still throughout the procedure. Scowling, Gloria ended the spell.

    ¡°I can¡¯t sense any sign that you were ever injured in the first place,¡± she grumbled. ¡°You¡¯re in tip-top shape.¡±

    Shara nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve seen Aelius fix things before,¡± the girl commented. ¡°It really is true that he can heal anything.¡± Gloria huffed, but didn¡¯t argue.

    ¡°So¡­¡± Shara continued, ¡°I, um, should thank you. But I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve caught your names yet?¡±

    ¡°Ah, of course,¡± the old woman beamed. ¡°You may call me Gloria. This spoiled grandson of mine¡± ¨Cshe reached a hand onto Darron¡¯s head and ruffled his brown curls¨C ¡°Is named Darron. The idiots downstairs are my son, Norman, and his wife Amelia.¡±

    Shara bowed her head. ¡°Thank you, Gloria and Darron,¡± she said. ¡°I appreciate the help.¡±

    ¡°What a polite child!¡± the old woman laughed. ¡°You could learn a thing or two from her, Darron!¡± she added, playfully nudging him in the belly.

    Soon, breakfast was ready. Shara devoured a worryingly large helping, and asked for seconds. Perhaps the family would have to rely on Aelius¡¯ promised harvest after all.

    ¡°You, uh, certainly are a hungry little girl, aren¡¯t you?¡± Amelia remarked.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t kidding, you know,¡± Shara responded between mouthfuls. ¡°I haven¡¯t been this hungry in forever! How long was I out?¡±

    ¡°A-aelius said he found you n-near Nuxvar,¡± Darron answered, ¡°Which is n-n-nearly a m-month¡¯s journey. I-if you don¡¯t r-remember anything, you were p-p-probably unconscious the e-entire time.¡±

    ¡°Sho what yer shaying,¡± Shara replied, food stuffed in her cheeks, ¡°Ish tha I achually, reallah ¡®aven¡¯t eaten fer weeksh. Go figure.¡± She swallowed. ¡°This is super delicious, by the way!¡±

    The food was nothing special to Darron: just eggs from the chickens scrambled up with cut potatoes. Hunting meat had gotten too dangerous with the rapidly rising monster population, so it was getting hard to find something edible that wouldn¡¯t eat you back. The Bornssons had to grow a huge surplus of crops just on the expectation that nearly half of it would be devoured by unwanted beasts and critters.

    ¡°What¡¯s this yellow stuff?¡± Shara asked, prodding the plate of eggs with her fork. ¡°It¡¯s so soft and fluffy!¡±

    ¡°Those are chicken eggs, Shara,¡± Amelia responded hesitantly, ¡°Have you ever had eggs before?¡±

    ¡°Woah, no!¡± Shara exclaimed, ¡°These don¡¯t taste anything like chickens! And eggs are so small! How do you get so many?¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Amelia explained, ¡°We have a chicken coop. We feed and raise the chickens, and they lay eggs for us. Gloria and Darron use their magic to keep the chickens healthy and stimulate the growth of larger eggs.¡±

    ¡°Darron! Properly explain to Shara how we raise the chickens,¡± Gloria barked, eliciting a scowl from her daughter-in-law.

    Darron sighed. ¡°W-we can use the same p-principles behind the restorative effects of h-healing magic to e-e-enhance the g-growth of uninjured tissue to better s-suit our needs,¡± he stammered. ¡°Standard h-healing magic works by either s-stimulating existing b-biological functions or u-using a healthy subject¡¯s body as a b-blueprint for restoring injuries b-beyond the scope of the b-body¡¯s natural ability to r-repair. B-but with a proper understanding of b-biology we can f-formulate our own blueprints and incite s-specific biological changes. F-for example, in m-most chickens, only the left o-ovary and o-oviduct are functional. B-by expanding the chicken¡¯s m-mass to c-c-compensate we can influence th-the right ovary into developing f-fully, which d-doubles the amount of ova available for laying b-before the chicken r-r-runs out.¡±

    Even speaking slowly Darron tripped over his words, but Shara waited patiently for him to finish. She kept eye contact as she munched on more food, showing genuine interest. Frankly, Darron had expected her to not understand a word of it, let alone for her to put up with his slow, stumbled explanation. His grandmother knew he hated talking to strangers¨C putting up with their cracking facades as they pretended to not be annoyed at how he spoke¨C so she made a point to have him do it as often as possible in hopes that it would motivate him to ¡°learn to speak like a sane person.¡± If Shara was annoyed, though, her poker face didn¡¯t show it.

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s so cool!¡± Shara beamed. ¡°We always had to hunt for food. ¡®If you don¡¯t help kill it, you can¡¯t help eat it,¡¯ you know? It must be pretty neat just growing it all yourselves!¡±

    Norman laughed. ¡°There is a certain satisfaction to it, that is true. I¡¯m surprised you hunted up in the northern plains. I hear the land is greener but the monsters are tougher. That sounds like two good reasons to farm instead.¡±

    There it was. Someone had slipped up and brought the conversation towards Shara¡¯s home. Darron paid close attention to her face, looking for some kind of tell. Aelius had claimed her family was dead, and reports from the area around Nuxvar confirmed that many homes had been slaughtered. If Shara knew what happened to her family, why was she so cheerful? And if she didn¡¯t know, why hadn¡¯t she asked? At the very least, it was clear Shara knew she had been attacked. A normal person would not be acting like this. Something was up.

    Again, Darron saw a crack of sorrow in her face so briefly he could have imagined it. Nonetheless, she kept up her giant smile.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m pretty strong, you know,¡± she boasted, flexing one of her biceps as demonstration. Her arms were honestly a little scrawny, but they were toned and hard. Flexing didn¡¯t make her muscles look particularly big, but they had serious definition, stretching her skin to show every contour of the power beneath. Not a single gram of fat could be found on her limbs.

    ¡°Haha, very impressive!¡± Darron¡¯s father joked, likely without noticing how incredibly impressive it really was. ¡°We could always use another strong arm on the farm.¡±

    Shara seemed to catch that Norman was patronizing her, and flashed a more impish smile than before.

    ¡°Well good,¡± she said, ¡°I think you¡¯ll be pleasantly surprised.¡± Her tone had the kind of false ominousness you¡¯d use when telling a scary story to children. It didn¡¯t slip from the playful attitude Shara had maintained since she woke up, but Darron got the distinct impression that this little girl was not taking his father¨Ca fully grown and powerful man¨Cvery seriously.

    He couldn¡¯t completely blame her. Norman was a strong, big-hearted, and reliable human being, and Darron loved him dearly from his brown mutton chops to his thick working boots. But the man had simply not inherited his mother¡¯s intelligence and wit. No matter how strong he may be, his combination of kindness and foolishness made it difficult to find him intimidating.

    Darron¡¯s mother was wiser, but much more timid. Darron had inherited her soft features, thin build, and curly hair, though the striking red color of that hair was left as hers alone. Much more of his mother¡¯s face could be seen in him than his father¡¯s, which didn¡¯t leave him looking particularly manly, but Norman¡¯s brown hair and eye color were Darron¡¯s to keep. Presumably he would be able to grow a positively titanic beard when he was older, but long beards were a hazard when dealing with open wounds so he would probably shave it off.

    The biggest influence on Darron¡¯s life was definitely his grandmother. Gloria had noticed his spark and aptitude for learning early on, so she poured all the knowledge from her first-rate healing magic expertise into Darron from a young age. Darron suspected she was a little bitter that her own son had never been smart enough to learn spells or talented enough to cast natural magic, and that spite made her a terrifyingly tough tutor. Her body was old, hunched over, and frail, but her mind was sharper than the strongest blade. Extremely tough but equally fair, Gloria was determined to make him into a top-class mage that didn¡¯t need to farm alone in the plains to make a living¨C whether he liked it or not. Fortunately for Darron, he found the principles of biological magic to be extremely interesting and the principles of farming to¡­ not be, so he continued to put up with his grandmother¡¯s harsh lessons without complaint.

    ¡°Well,¡± Darron¡¯s mother started, wrinkling her nose, ¡°If you¡¯re finished eating, the next order of business is most certainly to get you a bath.¡± Surprised, Shara leaned her head down and took a big whiff in the pit of her flexing arm. She coughed, reeling back in disgust.

    ¡°Wow, okay,¡± she agreed, ¡°I smell like a week-old vrochth¨ªzo hive. Where¡¯s the bathtub?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have one,¡± Gloria growled. ¡°Not enough water to spare. Amelia or I will teach you to take a sponge bath. Gets you clean with less than a half gallon.¡±

    Darron had never taken any other kind of bath in his entire life. What was Shara used to? Well, whatever it was, she didn¡¯t seem to mind making the switch.

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s so neat!¡± she exclaimed, and got up to follow Amelia out of the room.

    Gloria waited for them to leave, and then turned to Darron.

    ¡°Signs and symptoms?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I d-d-didn¡¯t see any clear s-signs of post-t-traumatic stress,¡± Darron started, ¡°but I don¡¯t think she¡¯s r-repressing the memories of what happened e-either.¡±

    Although the Bornsson¡¯s farm wasn¡¯t part of a town or colony, it was only around a sixteen hour journey to Terranburg, the largest city in the southern plains. Many medics in Terranburg knew of Gloria Bornsson¡¯s prowess, and exceptionally difficult cases would often be instructed to take the day¡¯s journey southwest to her residence. In exchange for food, tools, and other goods, Gloria would work her magic on anyone who asked without question, and Darron would be at her side to assist and learn. As such, Darron had witnessed all sorts of obscure magical and non-magical diseases and ailments, from flesh-eating fungi to insanity-causing poison. The mundane causes of insanity, however, were the most insidious. If you can identify a poison, magic can remove it, but when a person¡¯s mind poisons itself, spells are out of the question.

    ¡°I d-don¡¯t see anything wrong with her,¡± Darron continued, ¡°w-which is exactly what strikes me as s-strange.¡±

    Gloria huffed. ¡°And you don¡¯t think those are telltale signs of memory repression? Or perhaps memory loss? Even if a scan says a patient is healthy, if something is still causing symptoms then something is still wrong. You know this.¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m pretty sure sh-she still remembers what h-happened. Sh-she reacts when s-someone accidentally brings it u-up.¡±

    Gloria raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m impressed you caught that. Well then, we¡¯ll just have to bring it up on purpose. We can¡¯t keep skirting around this forever.¡±

    Darron wanted to point out that Shara had been awake for less than an hour, which hardly counted as forever, but thought better of it.

    Shara soon returned from the bathroom with Amelia, wearing some of Darron¡¯s old clothing that he had outgrown. They had splurged on a little extra water to wash out Shara¡¯s bloodied hair, freeing the short blond locks from the red-brown crust they had been trapped in. The golden hair was a sharp contrast to her deep red eyes, naturally drawing the attention of the room to her smiling face.

    As if trying to break that smile, Gloria immediately asked ¡°Alright, kid. What happened to your family?¡±

    If that was indeed her goal, she succeeded. Shara¡¯s perpetual smile vanished as if it had never been there, her face going blank. Rather than break down, however, Shara just let out a sigh.

    ¡°Gloria!¡± Amelia started, but the old woman cut her off with a raised finger.

    ¡°I want details,¡± Gloria insisted.

    ¡°They¡¯re dead,¡± Shara said simply, looking Gloria straight in the eyes.

    ¡°How did they die?¡± Gloria pressed.

    ¡°In battle. Our village was attacked, and my parents died engaging the enemy. The opposing commander killed them with a spell,¡± Shara explained, deadpan. It sounded more like a military report than a traumatic memory.

    ¡°Did you see this happen?¡±

    ¡°I did.¡±

    ¡°What were you doing at the time?¡±

    ¡°I was fighting.¡±

    ¡°What did you do when you saw your parents die?¡±

    Shara clenched her teeth.

    ¡°I ran.¡±

    Gloria nodded, and continued.

    ¡°Is that how you survived?¡±

    Clenching her teeth harder, Shara glanced away briefly but returned her gaze to match Gloria¡¯s.

    ¡°No. The enemy caught up to me. I remember him stabbing me through the head, so I assume I only survived by luck. If Aelius hadn¡¯t been there, I would have died.¡±

    Gloria nodded again, digesting the information.

    ¡°Is that all you would like to know?¡± Shara prompted.

    ¡°Just one more thing,¡± Gloria added. ¡°What do you plan to do now?¡±

    For the first time since waking up, Shara full-on frowned. She seemed frustrated instead of sad, as if the memory she was recalling was more embarrassing than anything else.

    ¡°You already plan to offer to let me stay here, right?¡± she asked rhetorically. ¡°I literally don¡¯t have anywhere else to go. So¡­ I¡¯ll do my best to make myself useful to you, and not be a burden.¡± The grin on her face came back, and she practically beamed. ¡°I don¡¯t know the first thing about farming, but I¡¯m tough and I work hard! Just show me what to do, and I¡¯ll get it done!¡±

    Darron knew that smile had to be fake, but it seemed so perfectly genuine he couldn¡¯t bring himself to feel it.

    The rest of the day continued, and as per her insistence Shara was set on the menial chores. Pumping water from the well, cleaning the barn, feeding the animals¡­ Shara did these things as instructed and without complaint. During meals and at other times there was room for conversation, Shara maintained her chipper, lighthearted attitude, smiling and cracking jokes the whole time.

    Sure enough, come night time, Amelia insisted that Shara take Darron¡¯s bed, shunting Darron to the floor. As he lay on the cold wood of his room, trying not to think about how infested with mold it might be, he was the only member of the family to hear the soft sobs coming from his bed.

 Keep Everyone Positive

    An uncomfortably warm bed roused Shara from her slumber.  Groggy and barely conscious, she shifted around her covers in a vain search for comfort, succeeding only in drenching more of the bed in sweat.

    Irritated, she threw the off her sheets, but instead of the refreshing cool air she expected she was blasted only with more heat.  Someone must really be blasting the wood stove to make the house this toasty.  Perhaps it was some new kind of training, or a newer kind of cooking.

    No, that couldn¡¯t be right.  It was far too hot.  Shara dropped off the bed, the heat of the wood floor just short of burning her toes.  Panicked, she pushed her senses outward, but found no other minds in the house.  The fear pushing her fully awake, she finally heard the crackling, snapping noise of the inferno that engulfed her town.  The red glow from her window was not the morning sun.

    She ran to the edge of her room and burst the door open, and was met with only fire.  Forced to turn around, Shara ripped a post from her bedframe and used it to smash the second-story window.  With a leap, her small frame landed the 12-foot drop like it was a game of hopscotch.

    Sounds of battle came from the east.  The clangs of metal on metal affirming it was a fight between people, not a defense against roving monsters.  Shara ran that way.  She had to find her family.

    Each and every house she passed burned.  They were spread too far apart to have simply carried the fire to each other¡­ this was simultaneous, coordinated arson.  Or a dragon, Shara supposed, but it didn¡¯t sound like her village was fighting a dragon.

    She found a discarded broadsword along the path, bloodied alongside the corpse that once owned it.  The body wore splint mail with no identifying markings, and had a face Shara didn¡¯t recognise.  The young girl gratefully accepted the weapon; killing these invaders would be much easier with a blade, even if that blade was nearly as tall as she was.  She was strong.  She would manage.

    As she got closer to the fight, the adrenaline-fueled emotions of the combatants flooded into her mind.  She recognised the headspace of her family immediately in the chaos, but they were surrounded by a torrent of unfamiliarity.  None of the other Alethians seemed to be there, either.  She pushed herself harder, ran a little faster.  Got to get there in time.

    A ragtag group of three men stood directly between her and her destination, so Shara decided to plow through them.  She peered into the mind of the closest one.

    Apprehension.  Alertness.  Determination.  Fatigue.  Standard emotions of battle.  Jubilation?  Relief?  This mercenary must believe his side is winning.  That was almost funny; Shara had never fought anyone like that before.  The man turned and saw the eight-year-old girl sprinting towards him faster than a war dog, her crimson irises glaring holes into him.  A new set of emotions arose, layered on top of the old.  Recognition. He knows the eye color that marks Shara¡¯s clan.  A tinge of fear- quickly washed away.  Regret.  He briefly chastises himself for something.  Camaraderie. Trust.  He alerts the two men by him to Shara¡¯s approach.  It¡¯s too late.  She¡¯s upon him.

    He¡¯s not worried.  Though Shara is fast, the grown man has vastly superior reach, and gets the first strike.  Shara parries the blow with the force of a sledgehammer, and feels the surprise in his mind as he struggles to hold the weapon.  He maintains grip, transferring all the force of the parry into his body, forcing him to stagger back. Wrong choice. The stagger gives Shara more than enough time to safely get in range.  Barely tall enough to reach the man¡¯s waist, Shara steps underneath his reeling sword arm and leaps high off the ground, bringing her own weapon in an upward arc that connects directly with the man¡¯s armpit.  The blade glides straight through the weaker joint armor as the man ultimately loses grip on his sword anyway- along with the rest of his arm.

    The man swears.  Surprise.  Confusion.  Alarm.  Panic.  The other children they killed didn¡¯t put up a fight like this.  Surrender.  Good, she was hoping for that one.  There¡¯s bigger fish to fry.  She lands and moves right back into a sprint, ignoring his two comrades entirely.  He¡¯s about to order them to retreat anyway.

    Finally, Shara peaked over a hill and saw the battle proper.  A huge detachment of troops was forming a circle ten men thick around two living whirlwinds of war.  Though the army had completely encircled their foes, they were still forced on the defensive, barely preventing the figures in the center from breaking through their lines.  On the opposite side of the battlefield from Shara was a lone horseman, clad in glimmering platemail, his face obscured by a helmet.  Though she couldn¡¯t be sure from this distance, the quick and practiced hand movements of the horseman indicated to Shara that he was in the midst of casting a powerful spell, but that thought was completely shunted out of importance when she recognised the two figures fighting in the center.  Even through the great distance and the torrent of blood around them, Shara knew her parents.

    Shara¡¯s father fought swiftly and precisely, his movements an intricate dance.  Brown-haired and crimson-eyed, his lithe frame and light armor disguised terrifying amount of combat expertise.  Though he was surrounded, the man always found room to place himself where he could block with one blade and strike with another without retaliation. There was no opening his twin swords did not take advantage of, as if he already knew where his opponents would be seconds in advance.

    Shara¡¯s mother required none of this finesse.  Her enormous, two-handed club was a blunt instrument of annihilation, toppling grown men like bowling pins and leaving their organs crushed beyond repair before their own weapons ever got in range to strike.  Her blonde ponytail spun beautifully as the giant woman whipped around to crush six men with a single swing. Yet the pair still struggled to advance towards the army¡¯s backline. Any movement Shara¡¯s mother made exposed her backside to attack.  Conversely, Shara¡¯s father lacked the force to cut out a path.  Though the corpses of their enemies piled up, Shara¡¯s parents would lose this fight without help.  So Shara charged.

    As she got closer, Shara noticed the burns that dotted her parent¡¯s bodies far outnumbered their cuts- it seemed they had been getting hit primarily by offensive magic.  Shara looked again at the regal figure on the horse, his fingers twitching as they formed magic signs and traced sigils in the air.  Yeah, definitely some kind of spell, yet in the time it¡¯s taken Shara to get this far, he hasn¡¯t done anything else.  It shouldn¡¯t take this long to cast a spell unless it was an incredibly big one.

    Which, she now realized, must be the point.  Her parents had been shrugging off the previous magical attacks with superficial scratches.  A mage could use a longer cast time to gather more power than they would be able to otherwise, but disrupting someone during that time would dismiss the power uselessly.  This army commander was throwing bodies at Shara¡¯s family to buy himself time to finish them in one go.  What a disgusting coward!  Shara needed to get through and stop the spell, but he stood on the opposite side of around a hundred men.  She could throw her sword, that would be a one-time deal¡­ no, wait, they were fighting an army.  She¡¯d have plenty more ammunition to pick up as she carved through the outside of their defensive circle.  Wasting no more time, Shara adjusted the grip of her weapon, wound up for the pitch, and¨C

    A flash of blinding light erupted from the horse-mounted spellcaster, carving a canyon through the air.  A thunderous crack, like a whip wielded by the titans, ended all other sounds.  In an instant it had passed through both of Shara¡¯s parents, leaving a glowing trail that dissipated into empty holes, the size of tree trunks, through each of their chests.  Shara froze on the spot.  Hearing returned, bringing the crackling pops of burning houses along the faint wind, until finally, they fell.  Her family fell.  The strongest, most wonderful people in the world both fell.  Shara poured herself into their heads, desperately hoping for some hint that this wasn¡¯t really happening.

    For a brief moment, joyous relief washed over Shara as she felt hope well up in the minds of her parents.  But it was quickly dashed away into nothingness.  The last thoughts of her family was the hope that Shara would be okay.

    So she turned, and she ran.  She abandoned the warrior¡¯s pride her mother had taught her, the courage her father had instilled in her, and she ran.  But the young girl did not escape the notice of her parents¡¯ murderer.  Judging his horse incapable of the task, the man leapt clean off his steed and cleared the heads of his entire contingent, landing on the opposite side of them so he could chase the fleeing girl down on foot.  He had come here to do a job, and all the deaths on his hands would be for nothing if he didn¡¯t complete it.

    He chased her all the way to the other side of the village, and into Karasuthra forest.  She weaved through the trees until her pursuer lost sight of her, and managed to steadily gain distance.  But as fast as Shara was, her small body eventually began to tire out.  The last Alethian couldn¡¯t run anymore, and collapsed, exhausted, against the trunk of a tree.

    Shara heard the footsteps of the armored man.  He approached her at a walking pace, but Shara just sat under the tree, her heavy breathing stark against the sounds of the forest.  The armored man pushed through the underbrush, meeting her face-to-face.  He held another dagger limply in his hand.

    A grown warrior, standing before a helpless child.  His mind was a sea of doubt and regret, but he rode a sturdy ship of resolve.  Already, he had decided what he must do.

    With a flick of the wrist, the dagger sailed out from his hand.  Shara felt it pierce her skull, gliding through the soft flesh of her brain until¨C

    ¡°Y-y-you should w-wake up,¡± Darron stammered, drudging Shara from her rest.  ¡°B-breakfast is ready.¡±

    Shara sat up and opened her eyes, giving them a strong rub to push the night¡¯s bad memories away.  They still felt puffy from her pathetic crying session she had before she fell asleep.  The young Alethian couldn¡¯t believe she had been such a baby.  No doubt Darron had heard her crying¡­ she hoped he didn¡¯t tell anyone.

    Just to be sure, Shara looked at Darron¡¯s round little face and dipped into his mind.  Just a little bit of concern and pity, but mostly¡­ relief and curiosity?  She tried to repress a smirk, and failed.  This kid was just so weird.  Shara¡¯s parents had taught her to not peer too deeply into a person¡¯s head so as to respect their privacy, but when she had first woken up here she did a full thought scan on the people in front of her, just for safety.  While everyone else in the room was thinking things like ¡°I hope she¡¯s alright¡± or ¡°The poor thing must be so frightened,¡± this kid was all ¡°Girl instinctively searches with right arm first; is likely right handed,¡± ¡°Toned musculature indicates heavy labor or combat; abnormal for age,¡± and ¡°Man, I really hope I don¡¯t have to sleep on the floor tonight.¡±  It¡¯s not as though he didn¡¯t care.  Emotions of concern were there, albeit more subdued.  He just thought and reacted differently to those emotions than a normal person would.  His focus was on gathering useful information, no matter how random or small, and using it to come to useful conclusions.  And it was neat!  It was a fun mind to hang around in.  Watching him see things Shara would have never noticed, listening to him hear things she would have overlooked, and trying to keep up with the incredible speed of his thoughts was just super cool.  Even better, it was distracting.  Keeping up with his head required so much focus that, for a while, she couldn¡¯t be bothered by how she had ran away and left her family to die.

    ¡°W-why are you l-looking at me like th-that?¡±  Darron asked, frowning.  Shara put on her best poker face.

    ¡°Like what?¡±

    ¡°Y-y-you¡¯re l-looking at me like I h-have something f-funny on my f-f-face.¡±

    Good lord, that stutter.  Shara had no idea how a person who thought so fast could speak so ridiculously slow.  Apparently, Darron didn¡¯t either, as embarrassment practically exploded out of him whenever he had to open his mouth.  Picking on him would be a very bad idea, however, so she patiently waited without rushing him.  Feeling another person¡¯s emotions was a powerful and useful tool, but that kind of sensitivity was a double-edged sword.  If Darron felt terrible, Shara would uncontrollably have her own mood sour as well.  She didn¡¯t have to be reading people¡¯s minds all the time, but strong enough emotions forced themselves into her head regardless.  It could be a serious problem, especially in her current situation.  If she started acting depressed over her parent¡¯s deaths, the Bornssons would pity her and feel bad, which would in turn make Shara feel even worse and everything would spiral downward from there.  It wasn¡¯t enough to just stay positive; Shara had to keep everyone positive or she¡¯d completely fall apart.  So to that end¡­The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll tell you if you promise not to tell anyone I was crying last night,¡± she bargained, making sure to keep her tone playful.

    Darron nodded, and she could tell he had no intention of telling anyone regardless of what she said.  Perfect!

    She hopped out of bed and ran past him, out the bedroom door.

    ¡°I¡¯ll race you downstairs!¡± she challenged.  Darron opened his mouth to protest, but Shara responded to what he was about to say before he could get started.

    ¡°Ah-ah-ah,¡± she mocked, wagging her finger, ¡°I only said that maybe I¡¯ll tell you.¡± Darron frowned, but he was only mildly irritated.

    ¡°I-i-if I beat you d-downstairs, will you d-definitely tell me?¡± he countered back.

    Shara gave her first genuine grin since arriving at the Bornsson¡¯s.  ¡°You¡¯re on,¡± she challenged. ¡°You can even count off.¡±

    There was a mote of hesitant confidence from Darron¨C he thinks he¡¯s got a fair shot at winning.  As if.  The only reason Shara agreed to this was because she knew he stood absolutely no chance.  Aletheian mind-reading abilities weren¡¯t exactly the best-kept secret in the world, but they were supposed to be a secret.  Even if Shara wasn¡¯t interested in keeping that secret on principle, the average person generally wouldn¡¯t like the idea of someone being able to rummage around in their head.  Since that was exactly what Shara was doing, she had no intention of coming clean yet.  After all, she¡¯d barely known these people for a day.  They were by all accounts very kind and accepting individuals, but she was hesitant to put that all on the line this early in their relationship.  As appealing as it might be to run off and try to avenge her family... if she found that man again, she would just die for real.  Combat was as much about preparation as it was swinging a weapon, after all.  For now, she would live with the Bornssons.

    Unlike her mind-reading abilities, though, Shara saw no reason to hide her exceptional strength.  On Darron¡¯s stuttered cry of ¡°Go!¡± she leapt completely off the staircase to land on the first floor.  By the time Darron had made it down a few steps she had impacted the ground, smashing through the boards Aelius rotted the day before and into the dirt below.  The breaking wood took Shara completely by surprise as sharp splinters tore gashes up her ankles.

    Amelia and Norman rushed out of the kitchen in response to the crashing noise as Shara quickly put on her best ¡°I¡¯m-completely-okay-don¡¯t-worry-about-me¡± face.  It hurt a lot, but she¡¯d had worse.  Gotta stay positive.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Shara laughed as she apologised to lighten the mood, as if it was just a joke gone wrong.  Standing ankle-deep in smashed wood, she did her best to hide the blood trickling onto her feet.

    ¡°Oh my goodness, are you alright?¡± Amelia gasped, rushing over to where she stood.  Before Shara could respond, Norman¡¯s huge hands grabbed her by the armpits and lifted her out of the shallow hole, leaving her bloody ankles to dangle in the air.

    ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯m sorry you guys, I didn¡¯t think the floor would collapse, I¡¯m so sorry,¡± Shara giggled, pretending not to notice her injuries.  Her grin seemed infectious enough, and Norman chuckled.

    ¡°Did you just jump off the second floor?¡± he laughed, ¡°That¡¯s a ten-foot drop!  You¡¯ve certainly got spunk, I¡¯ll give you that.  You¡¯re lucky you aren¡¯t hurt worse!¡±

    ¡°But what about your floor?¡± Shara prompted, already knowing he didn¡¯t care.

    Norman let out a large belly laugh.  ¡°That old junk wood? I was going to rip it out today anyway.  You¡¯ve just saved me the trouble!¡±

    By this time, Darron had long since made it down the stairs, and was staring intently at Shara¡¯s injured legs.  He walked forward and tugged on his father¡¯s pants to get the man¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Ah, yes, Darron?¡± His father asked, turning to look at him.  Darron pointed at Shara¡¯s ankles and then motioned towards himself.

    ¡°Oh, of course,¡± Norman acknowledged, and lowered Shara down until her feet were dangling at Darron¡¯s eye level.  Reaching up, Darron began intricately weaving his fingers and muttering the words of a spell.

    Shara winced as the splinters of wood embedded in her legs ejected themselves and fell to the floor, prompting more blood to flow out of the larger cuts.  Nimbly, Darron sped through a second spell, directing magical energies from his body into Shara¡¯s legs and feet. With an itch and a tingle, the cuts scabbed over and the scabs melted away to fresh skin.  Only the wet blood dripping down her feet indicated she was ever injured at all, and a third spell gathered that up in a small sphere that floated above Darron¡¯s palm, leaving her legs and toes clean.  The orb even pulled the blood up off the shattered floor and out of the splinters until not a speck of red remained anywhere else.

    Without a word, Darron started back up the stairs with the orb of blood in hand.  Shara wiggled around until Norman dropped her, and she bounded over to catch up with Darron.  The pain was gone and her legs felt like nothing had happened.

    ¡°Wow!¡± Shara exclaimed, ¡°That was so cool!  I didn¡¯t know you could do that!¡± Darron looked at her and nodded matter-of-factly, but didn¡¯t say anything.  Shara pointed to the floating sphere above his hand.

    ¡°Where are you taking that?¡± she asked.  Darron sighed, irritated he had to speak.

    ¡°I-I¡¯m storing it somewhere s-safe until we can dispose of it p-properly,¡± he explained. ¡°If w-we just dump y-your blood outside or leave it l-l-lying around, it will a-attract monsters.¡±

    ¡°Huh, that¡¯s a good point,¡± Shara responded. ¡°I bet you could abuse that to attract monsters on purpose!¡±

    Darron just gave her this bewildered, slightly condescending look.  His emotional response was clear.  Yes, but¡­ why would you ever want to do that?

    Reaching the top of the stairs, Darron walked over to the closed door that led to Gloria¡¯s room and knocked with his free hand.  When no response was forthcoming, he knocked louder, rhythmically smashing his fist against the wood.

    ¡°What¡¯s all that racket?¡± bellowed a voice from inside.  There were some shuffling noises and Gloria eventually unlocked and cracked open the door, peeking her head out.  ¡°What could you possibly need to wake me up for this early?¡±  Darron lifted the sphere of blood up in front of her face as explanation.

    ¡°Which one of you idiots managed to hurt themselves already?¡± Gloria demanded.  Shara made a show of scratching the back of her head, laughing sheepishly.  Gloria glared at her but waved them both in, letting the door swing open.

    The inside was more like a laboratory than a bedroom.  The tiny space did have a bed and a wardrobe clumped up in the corner, but the walls were lined with beakers, surgical tools, and what appeared to be parts of preserved monster cadavers.  A small desk was packed with papers, and the floor around it had stacks of notes tall enough to use as chairs.  Gloria rummaged through a shelf holding a bunch of empty containers before producing an appropriately-sized one, unscrewing the lid.  She held it down in front of Darron, who muttered a few command words, causing the floating blood to funnel itself cleanly into the jar.

    ¡°Thank you, Darron,¡± Gloria said, screwing the lid on the jar and storing it back on an empty shelf.  She pointed at Shara.  ¡°Now you sit down.  I¡¯m going to check his work.¡±

    Shara sat down on the one actual chair in the room, scooting it over to where Gloria went to sit on the bed.  She lifted her feet up to where Gloria could easily reach them, and Gloria took that cue to start her scan there.

    ¡°You¡¯re a surprisingly easy patient to work with,¡± Gloria commented as she took in information from the spell.  ¡°If anything I would call you too trusting.  Lowering your barrier entirely is very dangerous.¡±

    ¡°My barrier?¡± Shara asked, ¡°What barrier?¡±  Gloria raised an eyebrow, as if she had expected Shara to know.

    ¡°A person¡¯s inner magical aura naturally forms a resistant outer layer against incoming magical effects,¡± she explained.  ¡°We call this a person¡¯s barrier.  A strong enough barrier will completely resist spells that attempt to directly affect you.  A person¡¯s body naturally increases or decreases the strength of its barrier based on factors like stress, and the stronger a person¡¯s inner aura, the stronger their barrier has the potential to be.  Exceptionally strong barriers can also act as a defense against non-magical danger in a pinch, like an invisible suit of armor.¡± Gloria grabbed one of Shara¡¯s feet and held it close to her face, peering intently at it. ¡°Because of barriers,¡± she continued, ¡°it can often be extremely difficult to perform magical repairs and surgeries, as we have to put enough power into the spell to break through the barrier in addition to whatever power is necessary to repair the wound.  A trained person can voluntarily reduce the strength of their barrier, but that only works while they¡¯re conscious.  The body of an unconscious, severely injured person is generally under a large amount of stress, so it naturally forms as strong a barrier as it can in a misguided attempt to defend itself.  You, however¡­¡± she narrowed her eyes, ¡°seem to be dropping your barrier entirely when I work on you.  If I wanted to, I could have planted any number of diseases or curses into your body just now.  If you¡¯re not doing it on purpose, this means your aura is either exceptionally weak to begin with, which I doubt, or that you implicitly trust me to do no harm, which is foolish.¡±

    Well, definitely the latter option.  It was a lot easier to trust a person when you knew beyond a doubt whether they had ill intent or not.  The information on barriers, however, was very interesting to Shara. The Aletheia clan only had natural magic users rather than practiced spellcasters, so the details of magic were always a little fuzzy to her.  You didn¡¯t really need to know what you were doing to cast natural magic; you either could or you couldn¡¯t.  Anyone, hypothetically, could use practiced spellcasting, but it was exceptionally dangerous to learn and most people who knew how never bothered to take pupils.  The governments of Hydronia and Sentonis had each put together spellcasting schools to increase the population of casters in their countries, but out in the plains a practiced spellcaster was very rare.  Best not to let this opportunity slip by; Shara had found herself with a particularly personal investment in learning how to fight spellcasters, after all.

    ¡°Huh, that¡¯s really cool,¡± Shara commented. ¡°Do you think you could teach me more about auras and barriers and stuff sometime?  It sounds like I need more control over mine.¡±

    Gloria looked up from Shara¡¯s feet, surprised.  ¡°Well!¡± she started, ¡°it would be quite silly of me to deny teaching to the rare person who takes my warnings seriously.  I would be happy to instruct you later.  But for now¡­¡± she let go of Shara¡¯s legs and stood up, flicking her fingers to dismiss the scan spell. ¡°It¡¯s time to eat.  Darron, you did an excellent repair job.  Keep up that proficiency on people who actually have an iota of spell resistance and you¡¯ll be ready for my next set of teachings in no time.¡±

    Darron nodded, and his normally blank face tipped up with a small smile.  Shara couldn¡¯t avoid feeling the pride radiating from him if she tried.  He had apparently just received one of the highest compliments Gloria had ever given.

    The three of them walked down the stairs, helping Gloria step over the hole near the bottom.  Norman was still there, sizing up the extent of the damage and looking around for more wood that needed to be pulled out.  He waved as his mother and son passed by and followed them into the kitchen.

    Breakfast was the same kind of food they had eaten the day before.  Amelia made a point to have Shara promise not to jump off the second story anymore, and everyone dug in.  After breakfast it was time to work.  Shara dropped a few subtle hints that she was game for more heavy lifting, but she was directed to the same set of chores as before.  Oh well.  She¡¯d have to show them how useful she could be later.

    Her chance came earlier than expected.  As she was exiting the barn with a bag of feed for the chickens, she ran into Norman.  He was running towards the house from where he had been pitching hay into a wheelbarrow, tool still in hand.

    ¡°Shara!¡± he stammered, surprised.  ¡°Have you seen Darron or Gloria anywhere?¡±  Fear radiated out of his head and into hers.  Something was serious.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen Gloria in a few hours,¡± she replied automatically. ¡°Darron is in the chicken coop.¡±

    ¡°Run to him, and tell him to find Gloria immediately,¡± he ordered.  ¡°There¡¯s a skitter in our potato field and it¡¯s heading towards the house.¡±

    A skitter?  As in, one?  Shara didn¡¯t know what a skitter was, but it didn¡¯t sound very threatening.  She peered off behind Norman.  Sure enough, some strange monster she¡¯d never seen before was loitering near the potatoes.  It was about the same size as Shara, and looked like a giant scorpion with most of its limbs cut off.  It had no tail, no claws, only four legs, and not really any discernible head.  The legs were fairly long and looked sharp enough to cut someone, and on the underside of its body she could make out the glint of carnivorous teeth.  That was it.  Its tan exoskeleton didn¡¯t look tough at all.  It probably didn¡¯t even have, like... acid breath, or whatever.  It clearly wasn¡¯t a normal animal, but it was kind of a pathetic excuse for a monster.

    ¡°Oh, give me that, I¡¯ll kill it,¡± Shara grumbled, yanking the pitchfork from Norman¡¯s hand and dashing off towards the beast before he could protest.  She knew a few people in the Aletheia clan who weren¡¯t able to fight so much as a flea, but as the man of the house Norman should at least be able to take this thing.  Oh, well.  Shara had been wanting to show off a bit anyway.

 Extra-Chunky Skitter Blood

    Pitchforks lacked the intricate balance of a spear, and the one Shara held one in particular was at least twice as tall as her, but the end was metal and pointy and she could work with that.  As she approached the skitter, she saw a cluster of tiny black dots along what was probably the front of the beast, which she assumed to be eyeballs.  Sure enough, the creature spotted her and gave out a sharp hissing noise, spurting saliva out from the toothy maw on its underside.  Shara noted the ground was in no way negatively impacted as the saliva hit it.  Seriously?  Not even acid breath?

    Undeterred, Shara continued forward, thrusting the pitchfork at the beast as she got in range.  The creature leapt as she did so, jumping clear over her attack and directly at her face, its sideways-opening mouth stretched wide to swallow her head whole.  Shara ducked and brought the blunt end of the pitchfork upwards to meet the beast¡¯s body in her stead, clobbering it dead center.  Still above the ground, the creature swiped at her, its sharp, pointed limbs trying to sever her arms.  Shara was forced to let go of her weapon to avoid the strike, but in a twirl of movement she transferred the momentum of the dodge into a counter.  She kicked it dead in the face, right under its mass of eyeballs, demolishing the front of its exoskeleton and sending it reeling nearly eight feet backwards.

    Animals and monsters could occasionally be more difficult to mind-read than people.  People had familiar emotions, languages, and ideas, but less intelligent creatures thought much differently.  Their instincts and emotions weren¡¯t tempered by coherent thoughts; they simply wanted, and did.  When faced with an unfamiliar mind, it took Shara some time to get used to what she was ¡°hearing.¡±  Once she had a keener grasp on how a creature¡¯s brain worked, however, fights went very differently.

    Shara caught the pitchfork before it could finish falling to the ground and used it to vault herself high in the air.  By the time the monster had righted itself she was plunging towards it, tines of her makeshift weapon pointed down at its body.  The beast looked up to track her but was immediately blinded¨CShara had carefully placed her jump between the monster and the full blaze of the midday sun.   Panicked and on the defensive, the skitter bent its legs and thrusted itself sideways at incredible speed¡­ where Shara was already driving her attack.  All three tines of the pitchfork pierced through the creature¡¯s exoskeleton as Shara and the weapon¡¯s combined weight impaled it from above, halting it mid-leap and pinning it to the ground.

    The creature let out a piercing screech and attempted to stand, but a crushing stomp broke its left foreleg as Shara finished landing from her attack.  A few more quick stabs were all it took to finish the battered skitter off for good.  From the moment the monster had first noticed her to the moment of its death, barely five seconds had past.

    Disappointed, Shara removed the pitchfork from the creature¡¯s carcass, grey-green monster guts clinging around the tines.  She had to admit, the thing was a lot faster than she had expected it to be.  It might have been a challenge if there were three or four of them.

    She turned around to find Norman, who was staring at her in utter shock.  Credit where credit¡¯s due, the guy had immediately run after her, unarmed and completely without fighting skills, in an attempt to ¡°rescue¡± her.  Had he been fast enough to catch up he would have only gotten in the way, of course, but at least he had the courage of a fighter, if not the skills.

    Shara handed him back the pitchfork, which he wordlessly accepted.  Then, she walked over to the monster¡¯s corpse and lifted it up, carefully avoiding contact with its blood in case it was poisonous.

    ¡°Well?¡± she asked Norman, ¡°Where do you want this guy?  I assume he shouldn¡¯t stay on the potatoes.¡±

    Swallowing, Norman nodded, and they both began walking towards the chicken coop.  He stared down at her, but the monster she was holding over her head blocked most of his view.  She could feel that he... didn¡¯t know what to feel.  Part of him wanted to scold her for being so reckless.  Part of him wanted to praise her for being so mighty.  Part of him was still frightened that she would have been killed (ha!) and part of him was just wondering¡­ how?  What environment would a child have to grow up in to be able to fight like that?

    They reached the chicken coop, where Norman called out to Darron.  He emerged, and was briefly taken aback by the large corpse held on Shara¡¯s head, and stared blankly at it for a while.  She stole a brief glimpse into his surface thoughts.  Confirmed: muscles are toned for combat.  Almost certainly has passive natural magic augmenting strength; possibly more innate abilities.  Skitter is bleeding; should be cleaned immediately.  Skitter meat is edible; possible variation to dinner plans?  Unknown if mom knows how to prepare.

    Heh.  Most monster flesh was tough and lacked marbling, but it was possible to cook some mean meat if you knew how.  Shara had always been partial to fist-based percussive tenderizing.  It was a nice cool-off after a good fight.

    ¡°Darron, could you go fetch your mother and grandmother?¡± Norman asked. ¡°I think we all need to decide what to do about this.¡±  Norman indicated the monster corpse as he talked, but Shara could tell that by ¡°this¡± he also meant her.  She wasn¡¯t too worried¨Cit didn¡¯t feel like he was about to boot her out of the house or anything.  The revelation that the eight-year-old girl you took in was a monster hunter was simply one that warranted a family meeting.

    Darron nodded, but first he walked over to Shara and casted a spell on the corpse, sealing the holes that had been leaking fluids where Shara walked.  He gave her an irritated look¨C What did I just tell you about blood?¨C and scurried off towards the house.

    Shara set the skitter¡¯s body down and sat triumphantly on her kill, waiting for the rest of the family to show up.  Amelia soon arrived holding Gloria¡¯s hand, helping her walk, with Darron returning right behind them.  Amelia gasped as she saw the dead monster and the bloody pitchfork her husband was holding.

    ¡°Norman!¡± she fretted, ¡°Are you alright?  How did you manage to kill it?  Did you get hurt?¡±

    ¡°Actually,¡± Norman started, embarrassed, ¡°the hero here is young Shara.  She rushed off before I could stop her and killed this skitter all by herself.¡±

    Shara felt a wave of surprise wash over her from the family¨C except for Darron, who had more of a ¡°well, duh¡± type attitude radiating from him.  It seems he found the idea of his father fighting a monster less believable than the idea of a child doing the same.

    ¡°Shara?¡± Amelia gasped, ¡°But how?¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Shara smugly responded as she stood up, ¡°As I told you before, I am very strong.¡±  With careful balance, she leaned down and lifted the carcass with one arm, casually tossing it in the air.  Its dangling body, still as large as she was, landed in her other hand, and she threw again, hurling it at least fifteen feet in the air.  She caught it a final time and took a mock bow, holding the creature above her with a single straight arm.

    ¡°Ta-da!¡± she exclaimed, standing back up with a wide grin.  ¡°You guys don¡¯t have to worry about monsters as long as I¡¯m around!¡±

    The Bornsson¡¯s reactions were¡­ less impressed that Shara had hoped.  They were more bewildered than anything.  Now that she thought about it, it kind of made sense: these people had been living in fear of monsters their whole lives and now a child was offering to dispatch them by herself.  She should have expected this to be hard to believe.  Thanks to her mother¡¯s side of the family, Shara¡¯s strength was crazy even by Aletheian standards.

    ¡°Hey, come on guys, don¡¯t act so surprised!¡± Shara laughed, trying to lighten the mood.  ¡°I already told you my family hunted for food, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Amelia responded hesitantly, ¡°but we assumed you hunted for wild game, like rabbit or deer.  Not deadly beasts!¡±

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t worry about me,¡± Shara reassured her.  ¡°As ¡®deadly beasts¡¯ go, I have fought much worse.¡± she boasted, putting finger quotes around ¡°deadly beasts.¡±

    ¡°For my first contracted hunt I had to go after this giant lizard monster,¡± she continued.  ¡°It walked on two legs, stood four times my height, and it could blast this paralyzing goo out of its nostrils.  One sneeze and you were as good as dead.  Mom and Dad refused to step in unless I was gonna die, so I had to take it down all by myself.  It was nuts!¡±

    Shara smiled.  That was a good memory.  Her sword held firm in hand, her parent¡¯s trust behind her, and one giant beast ahead that she had to cut down to size.  It took her nearly an hour of slamming her sword in the same spot to finally smash through that monster¡¯s powerful scales and deal a mortal wound to its neck.  The feeling of pride her parents had when she brought that creature tumbling to the ground was one she¡¯d carry with her forever.

    ¡°Be that as it may,¡± Gloria huffed, frowning at the guts hanging on Norman¡¯s pitchfork, ¡°we still don¡¯t want to attract unwanted attention from more beasts.  Shara, show Darron the path you took to carry that thing so he can clean everything up.  Amelia, you and I are going to make sure that thing doesn¡¯t go to waste.  Let¡¯s go prepare tonight¡¯s dinner, shall we?¡±

    Gently, Norman lifted the skitter out of Shara¡¯s hands and began following Amelia and Gloria back to the house.  He handed his pitchfork back to Shara, who lowered it down to let Darron cast his gathering spell on it.  The grey-green orb that formed above his hand was considerably more chunky than the one that had been made of Shara¡¯s blood.  Shara led the way back where she came, and Darron¡¯s orb slurped up all the fluid drippings that had leaked out on the trek over.

    ¡°How does that thing work, anyway?¡± Shara asked, pushing through the tall, dried grass of the hay field.  Darron sighed but was less irritated than usual over having to speak.  She could tell that he¡¯d noticed her patience with his words, and he was opening up a bit.

    ¡°Th-the spell gathers materials in a c-certain area that match a specific ch-ch-chemical structure.  It will e-even pull m-m-matching particles out of the air, so it c-can scrub areas c-clean of s-smell,¡± he explained.  ¡°Th-though I don¡¯t know how e-effective that will be.  The s-smell of b-blood has likely already d-diffused further away th-than the spell can reach.¡±

    ¡°What, are you afraid we¡¯ll run into more monsters?¡± Shara smirked.

    Darron looked dead at her, wondering whether she was legitimately asking that question.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    What a wimp.  Still, it¡¯s better safe than sorry.  Shara stretched outward with her senses on the off-chance that more monsters were lurking nearby, and¡­ oh.  There were two of them ahead, possibly more just out of her range.  Well, then.

    Shara stopped moving and tensed up, trying to get a more solid feel on the monster¡¯s positions.  Mentally, they seemed to be basically the same type of creature she had just fought, but it was best to get visual confirmation.  Darron noticed her stop and turned towards her, letting a patient stare stand in place of asking what she was up to.

    ¡°Hold on,¡± Shara said quietly, ¡°I think your fears came true after all.  There¡¯s already more of them up ahead, back where I killed the first.  Two, I think.¡±

    Darron just continued staring.  His main emotion was¡­ skepticism.  They still had a good chunk of hay field to traverse before they reached the potatoes, so Shara couldn¡¯t know what was up ahead without some extra magical sense.  While Darron knew that was possible, he thought it was a lot more likely she was just trying to scare him.

    ¡°Trust me,¡± Shara warned gravely, ¡°this isn¡¯t a joke.¡±

    Darron considered this and ultimately decided to believe her.  So, with a shrug, he performed an immediate about-face and started heading back to the house.

    ¡°Wait, stop!¡± Shara hissed, ¡°Where are you going?¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Darron looked back at her with a questioning glare.  There are monsters over there.  Where the heck do you think I¡¯m going?

    ¡°Don¡¯t leave!¡± Shara protested, ¡°There¡¯s only two.  I¡¯ll just go kill ¡®em!  It¡¯ll be even easier the second time.  You can come along as backup.  Or to just, y¡¯know, witness my awesomeness.  Two of those buggers won¡¯t be able to scratch me any more than one of ¡®em could.¡±

    Darron was clearly still unconvinced.

    ¡°Come on,¡± Shara insisted, ¡°We gotta do something.  Aren¡¯t they going to like, eat the potatoes or whatever?¡±  Darron¡¯s glare persisted.

    ¡°Skitters are c-c-carnivores,¡± he explained, monotone.  ¡°Th-they¡¯re after our chickens, or d-dairy cow.¡±

    ¡°Well we gotta save the gosh dang chickens!¡± Shara exclaimed with mock exasperation.  ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go!¡±  She started heading off towards where she felt the monsters.  Darron hesitated, but started after her anyway.  There¡¯s no way he wanted to fight those monsters, but he¡¯d rather be there in case something happened than to find something had gone wrong later.  Cool, so he could have backbone after all.

    Carefully, Shara approached the area where the two other skitters were hanging around.  She approached slower as she got closer, wanting to see them before they saw her.  Best she could tell from the skitter¡¯s minds, their senses were dull¨C especially hearing¨C but that was no reason to be reckless.

    Sure enough, Shara and Darron reached the edge of the hay field and stuck their heads out into a clearing to find themselves less than twenty feet from the pair of skitters.  The skitters seemed oblivious to their presence, their long legs kneeling down to let their mouths slurp around at the ground.  They seemed to taste and smell with the same organ, and were ineffectually attempting to track something.  Now was as good a time to strike as any.

    Grasping the pitchfork in both hands, Shara gave Darron a reassuring smile before dashing off towards the closest skitter, pouring her mental senses into it.

    While Shara could passively detect the emotions of many minds at once, gathering information detailed enough for combat required a much narrower focus.  Though her father could have kept track of three or four opponents this way, Shara could only manage one in-combat mind-read at a time.  Of course, most fighters could read exactly zero minds at once and still managed to slay monsters just fine, so it wasn¡¯t a terribly debilitating issue, but Shara had to carefully manage which headspace she was pulling info off of to maximize her effectiveness.

    By far the most useful information her focused mental senses gathered was how an opponent would attack and dodge.  People rarely thought about how they would strike or evade consciously (although when they did it was doubly easy to counter them) but through training Shara was able to instinctively interpret the mental commands a brain gives for movement as they were given. This gave Shara a split-second heads-up on where her enemy was guaranteed to be.  Since this allowed her to react to things an instant before they actually occurred, it appeared to opponents that she could could predict their every move.  Even better, her senses couldn¡¯t be feinted or faked out as attempting that produced its own easily identifiable mental signal.  Unless her opponent was so many leagues faster that reaction time was irrelevant, Shara was nearly untouchable in a one-on-one engagement.

    When fighting multiple opponents, it was a careful balance to manage which mind was optimal to focus on.  By reading the minds of enemies in front of her, she could connect with sure strikes and potentially take them out of the fight very quickly, but it would leave her defenseless to attacks from behind.

    Currently, both her enemies were in front of her, so Shara banked on them being stupid and targeted the closest one for a quick kill.  Both the skitters noticed her simultaneously as she charged in, screeching at her with saliva-dripping jaws.  A feeling of recognition and acknowledgement emanated from the skitter she was focusing on.  They had a crude form of communication!  Pack tactics?

    Before she could close the distance, the first skitter made a quick series of sideways jumps to circle around her as the second skitter charged directly forward.  What a pain.  Shara took the safe bet and kept her mental focus on the one moving to her back while facing the one charging directly in.  She shifted her grip on the pitchfork closer to the tines in order to let the long hilt extend behind her as a defense for that side.

    This thing was such a crappy weapon.  The pitchfork tines would only threaten to do any damage if stabbed directly forward.  It was heavy, so she could probably bonk the things pretty good by swinging it, but the wooden hilt would likely break from too hard of a sideways collision.  Even in the best-case scenario, the metal tines would probably dislodge themselves and she¡¯d be stuck with a stick.  A blade or something she could swing horizontally would be so much more useful against these jumpy buggers.  She couldn¡¯t even take advantage of the pitchfork¡¯s range since they were always just one hop away from her face.  Shara really wished she had a sword.

    Oh, well.  She¡¯d kill these things with rocks if she had to.  She started thinking about how she might actually go about that when both monsters leapt at her at once from each side.  Never mind; it turned out this wasn¡¯t going to be that hard after all.

    Shara thrusted the pitchfork forward.  Already in midair, the skitter in front of her had no chance to dodge the sharp tines as all three of them pierced the front of its body and through its brain, killing it instantly.  In the same move, the back end of the pitchfork was lifted up to intercept the skitter behind her, going directly into its gaping maw and connecting hard with the back of its throat.

    Attacking from both sides at once isn¡¯t a bad idea.  In theory.  In practice, an opponent with experience fighting off multiple foes will be able to counter almost as easily as if both attacks came from the same direction.  Bodies carry momentum.  When an attack starts, there is only so much you can do to alter its motion.  If your attack involves a jump, your trajectory is basically set from the start.  So when both skitters leapt at the same time, it wasn¡¯t terribly difficult for Shara to position herself to counter both attacks simultaneously.

    The same principle applies on defense, however.  Once you start a counterattack, there is only so much you can do to change your movement after you begin.  Most motions in combat only take the blink of an eye to complete, but they¡¯re still a commitment for that small instant.  If you outnumber an experienced foe, instead of attacking simultaneously, it¡¯s much more dangerous to stagger your attacks, force your opponent to commit to a counter, and have the second attacker exploit that counter¡¯s weakness.

    Shara spun around to drive the hilt of the pitchfork down into the ground with the monster¡¯s throat along with it, when out of the corner of her eye she spotted a third skitter, already mid-leap towards her face.

    What?  How?  Where had that come from?  She was certain there had only been two in her range.  Had it been too far away before, but got in close after she had shifted focus to a single target?  She hadn¡¯t been focused for that long!  And where had it been hiding when she checked the area before?  They were in a potato field for crying out loud!

    It was irrelevant now.  That thing had its pointy forelimb aiming right toward her head.  It was too late to dodge the blow completely¨C her body was already in the middle of a completely different motion.  She could move her head to the side enough to avoid the stab, but that would place her face right in the path of the monster¡¯s mouth.  Getting her face chewed off was not going to be pleasant, but it was a heck of a lot more survivable than getting impaled through the brain.  Well, as long as Aelius wasn¡¯t around, anyway.

    She had her plan.  Shara was going to let this thing land teeth-first on the front of her head.  Then, she¡¯d drop the pitchfork as it latched on and bring both fists around either side of its body, crushing most of its internal organs.  As long as the creature didn¡¯t bite deep enough to scrape out her eyes she should be able to finish off the last skitter before bleeding out, which upped her chances to be rescued significantly.

    Steeling herself, Shara moved her head to the side as planned, bracing for the sharp pain of rent flesh.  Instead, the creature simply rammed into her, causing her to stagger backwards but not much else as it flopped uselessly to the ground.  There, the creature struggled, flailed, and screamed, unable to stand or right itself, struck by some painful seizure.  Shara watched as its body seemed to inflate on one side, exoskeleton cracking from some internal force until it finally bursted, blood and guts pouring out in a stream that flew over to where Darron was kneeling in the hay field, breathing heavily.  The monster Shara had been about to finish off met a similar fate, exploding into a current of gore that flew towards the young boy.  Monster juices collected themselves into the orb above Darron¡¯s hand, expanding it to nearly twice the size of Darron¡¯s body.  Suddenly, the orb shuttered and popped, drenching Darron in liquified skitter as he collapsed to the ground.

    ¡°Darron!¡± Shara yelled, shocked.  Dropping her weapon, she sprinted towards him, reaching out with her mind to check if he was okay.  Alive and conscious.  Barely conscious, but conscious.  Thank goodness.

    The extra-chunky skitter blood that saturated the area was slimy and rank, but Shara immediately grabbed Darron in an embrace, turning him over to face her.  Shara didn¡¯t know much of anything about first aid, but his eyes were closed, his body was limp, and his breathing was ragged.

    ¡°Darron!¡± Shara shouted at him, ¡°Are you alright?  Say something!¡± Darron gave a quiet groan and opened his eyes.  He forced himself to start breathing more deeply.

    ¡°That was a s-stupid idea,¡± he finally stammered.

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Shara beamed.  ¡°That was amazing!  You totally saved my butt!¡±

    ¡°N-not what I did, you i-idiot,¡± he clarified.

    Shara grinned.  Looks like Darron would be okay.  Holding him in her arms like an overgrown baby, she ran back to the house, careful not to jostle him too much.

    ¡°Miss Gloria!¡± Shara bellowed when she arrived, ¡°We need help!¡±

    After the initial shock and fuss over Darron¡¯s condition, he assured everyone that he was okay and Gloria had Shara bring Darron to her room.  While his parents were shocked and worried over their son¡¯s condition, Darron¡¯s grandmother was enraged.

    Gloria casted a quick spell to bottle up the skitter guts and directed Shara to sit Darron on the floor.  Gloria sat on her bed, looking down at him.

    ¡°So,¡± Gloria intoned, ¡°you seem to have overexerted your aura.  What happened?¡±

    ¡°Well...¡± Shara started, but with a loud snap of her fingers Gloria silenced her.

    ¡°What,¡± Gloria growled, glaring holes into Darron, ¡°happened?¡±

    ¡°W-we ran into m-more skitters,¡± Darron stammered.  ¡°Sh-shara was in t-trouble.  I had to d-do s-something.¡±

    ¡°So what did you do?¡± Gloria prompted, ¡°Did you heal her so much it put you nearly catatonic?¡±

    It was pretty clear that Gloria knew that¡¯s not what Darron had done.  He silently shook his head, looking down at the floor to avoid her piercing stare.

    ¡°What, then?¡± she asked, ¡°Shara was in trouble, and you had to do what?¡±

    ¡°I k-killed two of th-the skitters.  W-with m-magic.¡± Darron was frightened as he admitted this, sure he was going to get in trouble for it.  Shara didn¡¯t see the big deal.  She¡¯d kill monsters with magic all the time if she could, and he had seriously saved her butt while doing it!  The kid deserved a medal, not an interrogation.

    ¡°And how did you do that?¡± Gloria asked. ¡°I¡¯ve never taught you a single offensive spell.¡±

    ¡°I r-recasted Teraldia¡¯s S-selective Orbital C-c-cleaner on the s-s-skitter blood I already h-had,¡± Darron stuttered.  ¡°B-but I o-omitted the s-section of the spell that l-limits power c-consumption and th-the section that ignores s-substances affected b-by a s-s-seperate aura.¡±

    Gloria sighed.  ¡°So you sucked the vital fluids of a barrier-protected living organism with enough force to completely rip them open.  Titan¡¯s sake, Darron, you could have died.  I¡¯m frankly surprised you didn¡¯t. Do you have any idea how stupid that was?¡±

    Darron seemed to shrink from shame alone.  ¡°I¡¯m s-sorry.  I-it was all I could think to t-try at the time.  Sh-shara was in t-trouble and I h-had to try to save h-her.¡±

    ¡°And you did!¡± Shara blurted defensively.  ¡°That thing would have torn open my face!¡±

    ¡°Well then,¡± Gloria growled, raising her voice to cut Shara off, ¡°It sounds like neither of you should have been fighting to begin with!  Now Darron, how long have you been thinking of modifying Teraldia¡¯s Selective Orbital Cleaner like that?  It¡¯s not designed for that sort of thing and you know it!¡±

    Darron looked up, shocked. ¡°I-I-I hadn¡¯t th-thought about it b-before at all!  It was j-just a spur of the m-moment idea!  I-I know it w-w-was s-stupid, but it w-was the b-best thing I could th-think of.¡±

    There was no way to see it on her face, but Shara could feel it: Gloria was impressed.  Modifying a spell on the fly like that must not be an easy feat.  What a cool little brain this kid had!

    Regardless of any alleged feelings of pride Gloria may have had in her student, the kids were in big trouble.  Extra chores and smaller dinners awaited them for weeks to come, though Shara did note that Gloria advanced Darron¡¯s studies to the basic principles of offensive magic merely a few days later.

    ¡°There are two main types of offensive spells,¡± Gloria had explained, ¡°spells that are designed to ignore or circumnavigate a target¡¯s barrier, and spells designed to have maximum impact for minimum power usage after a barrier is breached.  A basic fire spell, for example, converts magical energy into heat before connecting with the target¡¯s barrier. Magical energies cannot be resisted or negated if they have already turned into something else.  Strong barriers can still resist adverse non-magical effects, but enough heat will kill anyone eventually.

    ¡°Biological magic affects a person¡¯s body directly.  The same principles that put someone¡¯s body together can be used to take it apart, but just like with healing magic barriers present a serious problem to bio-mages.  You can¡¯t just blast power into someone¡¯s body and crush an artery; a person naturally distributes proportionally more energy towards more important organs.  Breaking through a barrier takes dozens of times more power than is necessary for the body to sustain one, so attacking the best-fortified locations, while possible, is impractical and inefficient.  Instead, we use our superior knowledge of how the body works to trick our way in through a weakly protected area of the body and attack vital areas indirectly. We abuse joints, preexisting wounds, natural weaknesses, or the body¡¯s smaller symbiotic partners against it.  It lacks the simplicity of more common schools of offensive magic, but not the effectiveness.¡±

    It was all very interesting, but Shara didn¡¯t have the patience to learn practiced magic like Darron could.  Her incredible strength and mental powers were forms of natural magic anyway; it made more sense to focus on her talents.  She definitely took Gloria up on her barrier training offer, however.  It turns out barrier training was painfully similar to muscle training: push yourself to the limits, recover, and repeat.  Shara often found herself as the test dummy for Darron¡¯s offensive spells as a two-for-one training deal¨C but only when Gloria was around to supervise in case of catastrophic failure.

    The next time a pack of skitters found their way into the Bornsson¡¯s farm, Shara and Darron completely annihilated them.

 Free Rein to Play Rough

    This was it. This was the day. Darron¡¯s twentieth birthday, to be exact, and while he was the subject of the festivities, Shara was getting the best present of all. Today, they were finally leaving Bornsson¡¯s. Eleven years she had spent in this place- longer than she had known her birth parents. More than half her life she had spent here, using her mother¡¯s strength to pull and push and lift and plow. The Bornssons were truly wonderful people, but this wasn¡¯t what she was made for. It was way past time to leave, but at least this way she got to bring along the best part of her life here: Darron.

    Shara and Darron had become an impressive team in their eleven years of living together. Although he hated it, Shara managed to instil some monster-hunting spirit into her adoptive brother. So long as Darron stayed safe¨C a strategy he was naturally fond of anyway¨C Shara had free rein to play rough. The pair of them made the area around the Bornsson¡¯s house among the safest places in the southern plains, giving birth to a small thriving community as the combination of excellent protection and bi-annual visits from the Titan of Life failed to remain a secret for very long.

    Shara had developed into an impressive young woman over the years, although she did little to flaunt this. She kept her modest chest bound up behind layers of protective gear, and her hair was cut as short as she could manage while still being considered feminine. She had tried shaving her head once¨C hair did nothing but get in the way during a fight¨C but the constant distracted stares people gave her from breaking that cultural norm polluted her headspace too much to be worth it. They¡¯d probably get used to it over time, but that would do her no good if she was traveling to new places. The mind reader had gone to great lengths ensuring her outfit was oppressively practical¨C light, tight, but armored enough to both protect her vital organs and give no hints as to what she might look like without it on. As-is, Shara¡¯s face was the part of her most wandering eyes ended up resting, thanks in part to the striking color of her irises. Her round face and perpetual carefree grin gave most people the impression of innocent, childlike cuteness, a reputation that slightly irritated the nineteen-year-old girl who could bench a cow. It was ultimately fine, she supposed. In the perpetual battle of social interactions, cuteness was a powerful weapon, and a vastly preferable method of using her feminine charms compared to the alternative.

    Darron had grown up to be¡­ less cute, unless you were very attracted to an everlasting bedhead. Brown hair, brown eyes, and a permanently bored expression made Darron Bornsson look like an incredibly boring person. Though he had finally gotten rid of his excruciating stutter, his words came out so incredibly monotone they somehow looped around and gave people the impression he was being sarcastic. He also kept his face magically shaven, leaving his cheeks baby-smooth and giving off the impression that he was much younger than twenty years old. The mop of hair on top of his head roamed free, just long enough for errant strands to droop down and flirt with his eyelids. If pulled straight, his hair would probably block his vision, but it was so unkempt that it paradoxically managed to avoid being a problem.

    As for why the two of them were leaving on his birthday, Darron had been officially accepted into a spellcasting academy in Hydronia. As the acceptance letter had half-joked, ¡°if you manage to cross the Oinos Mountains and reach the academy grounds before classes start in two months, without the use of teleportation, we can count that as passing the entrance exam.¡±

    It was said that less than ten percent of people who tried to reach Hydronia from the southern plains survived the journey, and doing so in in under two months didn¡¯t make the task any easier. Even if they made it to the relative safety of Hydronian borders, Grantidal Academy was located in Grantidal City, which was nearly smack-dab in the middle of the enormous country. The distance from the border to the city was almost as long as the trip to Hydronia in the first place, except instead of a monster-filled plain standing between them and their goal, it would be a monster-filled swampy marshland. Most of Hydronia was, as the name might imply, very wet. Grantidal City itself was even floating atop the Aarkurth Sea, and Shara was pretty sure Darron didn¡¯t know how to swim.

    If Darron and Shara did use teleportation, they could probably make it to Grantidal Academy in time for Darron to actually take the entrance exam, which he would no doubt handedly demolish. Unfortunately, teleportation magic was one of the most difficult and dangerous kinds of magic there was, which naturally made it one of the rarest and most expensive. The pair had absolutely no chance of affording it, even if they pooled their family¡¯s combined worth. Hence, Grantidal Academy had kindly offered to waive the test in lieu of a more difficult one: making it to them in one piece.

    Overall, the whole journey sounded beyond awesome. Shara barely paid any attention to the festivities around her brother¡¯s actual birthday; she was simply too excited. She had her best set of leather armor on underneath her nicest-looking combat-ready outfit, which mostly just meant the one with the fewest tears and holes. Her travel backpack was full to the brim with rations, water canteens, spare sets of clothing, and other necessities. She refused to take it off for the entire party. Strapped firmly to the left side of her waist was her beautiful, beautiful sword, in scabbard and ready to remove any beast that dared to halt their journey. It was a fairly basic double-edged longsword, although it was built thicker and wider than most to help it stand up to the incredible force Shara put behind her swings. On the right side of her waist she hung the ornate dagger Aelius had pulled from her head eleven years ago. A few years back, he had given it to her as a gift.

    ¡°He and I have had a lot of fun times with each other,¡± Aelius had said, indicating the knife, ¡°but I figured it was only right to return it to you. After all, his original owner did intend for you two to be together forever.¡±

    Aelius had then laughed at his own tasteless joke for a solid thirty seconds.

    Anyway, Shara could not possibly be any more ready than this. The birthday party passed in a flash and she barely even noticed it. The whole community came to give them their sendoff. Even Gloria, leaning on her daughter-in-law for support, made the trip to say goodbye.

    ¡°Hold your head up high, boy,¡± the old woman told Darron. ¡°You¡¯ve done all you can for this place. You and Shara have already turned it from somewhere your family could barely survive into somewhere all these people could actually live. You two made made it all possible.¡± She cracked a sly grin. ¡°Now that it¡¯s here, though, we don¡¯t need you anymore. So get!¡±

    And that was it. With the party over, the pair made their way out of town. The first stop was Terranburg, then over the Oinos mountain range, then straight up through the northern lands until they hit the southern tip of Hydronia. This was finally it. It was exciting, it was was everything Shara had wanted for years, it was¡­

    ¡°Boring!¡± Shara lamented about five hours into the trip. ¡°This is so boring! Why is nothing happening?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a day and a half¡¯s journey to Terranburg,¡± Darron sighed. ¡°We¡¯re walking there. I really don¡¯t know what you expected.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re walking through the middle of the southern plains! I expected us to have been attacked by monsters like twenty times by now!¡± she pouted. ¡°I was looking forward to rescuing you like a helpless damsel in distress.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so I¡¯m helpless, am I?¡± Darron asked. ¡°I seem to recall being the one with a collegiate scholarship for magic. I can literally force your body to eat itself.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, I remember that spell!¡± Shara grinned. ¡°Granny called it a ¡®disgustingly wasteful use of magical energy,¡¯ but boy did it hurt. I¡¯d probably rank it worse than the dire ant farm I sat in, but not as bad as that direct nerve-stimulatey spell. Neither were as bad as the diarrhea spell, though.¡±

    ¡°I told you, it¡¯s not a diarrhea spell,¡± Darron said defensively. ¡°It just converts the symbiotic bacteria in the intestinal tract into harmful pathogens that¨C¡±

    ¡°That gave me two weeks of diarrhea! Thank you again, by the way, for testing that one before making a reversal spell. Real brotherly of you.¡±

    ¡°Well, ¡®that which doesn¡¯t kill you,¡¯ you know? Think of it as training.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Shara said, rolling her eyes, ¡°if there¡¯s one part of my body that desperately needed training, it was my butt.¡±

    They kept walking, bantering along the way. There were two main options for making the sixteen-hour trip to Terranburg: breaking it into two days or doing one long haul. The latter was generally safer: if you were going to get attacked by monsters anyway, you should do it while awake. Darron¡¯s birthday party, however, had lasted until midday, so given the late start they had little choice but to find somewhere to sleep through the night. Shara¡¯s extra sense worked while she was sleeping, which should make the overnight stay fairly safe, but the two of them would sleep in shifts just in case.

    Shara took the first watch, using sword drills to keep herself awake. After about four she was getting to a point where it wouldn¡¯t be safe to force herself to keep going, and regretfully moved to wake Darron up.

    ¡°Alright bro, my turn to be unconscious.¡± She said, bracing for mental impact. The moment when a soundly sleeping person gets woken up is always a crushing onslaught of negative emotions.

    Darron¡¯s waking mind bowled into her like a grumpy avalanche, but quickly evaporated as he found his bearings. Waking up sucked. Shara usually tried to get up after everyone else so she only had to experience it once per day. At least the experience rarely lasted very long.

    ¡°You¡¯re breathing heavily,¡± Darron commented as he began to sit up. ¡°Was there a fight?¡±

    ¡°No, I was was just training.¡±

    ¡°Well, you look exhausted. Save some energy for the monsters next time, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know. I went a little overboard. I¡¯ll sleep it off.¡± Shara said with a grin, pulling off her overshirt so she could undo her armor for bed. Getting a good night¡¯s rest in hardened leather just wasn¡¯t going to happen, especially when she only had half the night to do it. Even as tired as she was, it was going to be hard falling asleep. After all, tomorrow they¡¯d reach Terranburg, the biggest city anywhere in the southern plains. Well over a million people lived in Terranburg, all packed together in one city. What would that feel like, so many emotions packed together in one spot? It was a little worrying, as chances were it wouldn¡¯t feel great. It might even be completely overwhelming, though that was unlikely.

    Despite these possibilities, Shara was beyond excited to know. Back when she lived there, Aletheia had somewhere in the area of a hundred people in the clan. The Bornsson¡¯s town had just recently hit two hundred, minus two. Those were the only places Shara had ever really been long enough to remember them clearly, and both of them were mostly self-sufficient communities. Until just a few years ago, Shara had never bought anything before, let alone seen a shopping plaza or food stall. She¡¯d never lived in a place where the people who pass you on the street don¡¯t know your name. She¡¯d never been somewhere that people were all trying to get ahead, rush forward, and clamor to the top of the social ladder. She¡¯d never been somewhere people lie, cheat, steal and manipulate to get ahead.

    It sounded like a lot of fun. As someone with a foolproof lie detector, Shara easily outwitted people who thought they could trick her and enjoyed every second of it. The cutthroat horror stories she¡¯d heard about Terranburg and its people sounded like an absolute playground. She imagined herself making a fortune out-conning con men, catching petty criminals, and turning in bounties, until the Terranburg underworld finally got fed up with her and hired assassins to face her in the streets, mano-a-mano. With these sweet dreams, she finally lulled herself to sleep. Looking back, had she arrived in Terranburg on any other day, that might have even happened.

    <hr><hr>

    The sun was high in the sky when Darron spotted the huge stone walls of Terranburg. Nearly thirty feet tall, protected by balista and patrolled by guards, no monster was getting past the Terranburg gate. The dry dirt of the southern wastes was unsuitable for mining, stonework, or really anything useful, but Terranburg had the advantage of being right at the foot of Mt. Phlegethos, the second-tallest peak of the Oinos mountain range and one of four active volcanoes that bordered the salufidi nation of Dynamo. The Oinos were rich with natural minerals and strong stone, and the founders of Terranburg had taken advantage of those resources to construct the impressive Terranburg walls nearly two hundred years ago. With monsters roaming in great numbers throughout the southern plains, Terranburg was the obvious go-to choice for a safe place to live.

    Terranburg had since expanded greatly, building new wall systems outward from the original construction before filling them with new residential and business districts. It was now an industrial hedge maze of buildings and walls, filled to bursting with all walks of people.

    Two guards stood in front of the southwest gate, heartily conversing with one another. These men were clearly well-fed, well-funded, and Darron could also tell they were well-trained. Each of them stood comfortably in the blazing sun with heavy chainmail vests, thick leather gloves, and sturdy metal greaves. Each held a heavy crossbow in one hand, resting uncocked but loaded, while they made lively gesticulations with the other arm. These men were warriors enjoying a bit of easy door duty, confident that their comrades on the wall would eliminate any monsters long before they got close enough to shoot from the ground.

    Once they got fairly close, the guard on the left turned away from his conversation to give Darron and Shara a friendly wave. He looked much younger than the guard on the right, his face covered in stubble and arrogance.

    ¡°Hail, travelers!¡± he said with a hearty grin. ¡°May I see your trade documentation, immigration papers, or passports?¡±

    Darron had never heard of needing any such things to enter Terranburg, and the smirk on the guard to the right¡¯s face seemed to indicate that was probably the case. Seriously? They hadn¡¯t even gotten into the city yet, and someone was already trying to hustle them. Darron was way too tired to deal with this right now.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have any of those things!¡± Shara responded cheerfully. ¡°What do you need them for?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you know,¡± The first guard explained, ¡°Legal stuff. We just need a record of why you¡¯re visiting our fair city. I¡¯m surprised you weren¡¯t informed. No big deal though, we can set up a passport for you here at a nominal fee.¡±

    ¡°Oh, why thank you!¡± Shara said, clapping her hands and grinning innocently, ¡°That¡¯s awfully kind!¡± The guard¡¯s smile exploded to greater heights, until she added ¡°...Is what I would say if I was a complete idiot.¡±

    The man visibly deflated. His older partner, who had kept silent until now, busted out laughing.

    ¡°Gah ha ha! I told you they weren¡¯t from Elpis, Fraser!¡± he said. ¡°Looks like my next drink¡¯s on you!¡±

    ¡°Aw, come on, boss!¡± the guard who was apparently named Fraser complained, ¡°How can you even tell? They¡¯re just two kids. There¡¯s no way two kids walked here by themselves. They must have bought a teleport.¡± The two guards were barely paying attention to Shara and Darron anymore. Darron was fairly tempted to just walk past them and enter the city.

    ¡°Well, firstly,¡± the older guard smugly began, ¡°they¡¯re two armed kids. If you can¡¯t tell that girl¡¯s got armor on under those clothes, we should reconsider your position on watch duty. But more importantly, it¡¯s their skin. Look at that tan, son! These kids know an honest day¡¯s work.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s bull!¡± Fraser argued, ¡°People in Elpis get that stupid fashion tan or whatever. They lay out in the sun for fun, the freaks. You can¡¯t say someone¡¯s a local just because they¡¯re not pale.¡±

    ¡°Um, excuse me,¡± Shara butted in, just before Darron decided he was going to try walking right past them, ¡°Can we get in now, or¡­?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Fraser said, turning as if he had forgotten about them, ¡°Oh, yeah. You guys are good to go. Gate¡¯s open. Where are you from, out of curiosity?¡±

    ¡°Bornsson¡¯s place, day and a half southwest.¡± Shara cheerfully replied.

    ¡°Ha! Told ya,¡± the older guard mocked. He turned to Shara. ¡°You two walk all the way here to see that Elpis festival?¡±

    Darron didn¡¯t know anything about a festival, and didn¡¯t much care. He was only here to find a bed and prepare for crossing the Oinos Mountains, which was a dangerous and lengthy task. The mountain range wasn¡¯t terribly wide around the Terranburg area, but it was extremely tall. Distance-wise, crossing the Oinos would be a tiny fraction of the total journey, but it would likely take around quarter of the trip¡¯s total time. He wasn¡¯t interested in holding a conversation with two men who tried to scam him out of money and take bets on where he was born. So naturally, Shara responded:Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    ¡°Festival? What festival? What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°Oh, well Terranburg and Elpis have had that trade agreement for a while now, right? Apparently they¡¯ve decided to give us a five-year ¡®thanks for selling us your stuff¡¯ anniversary gift: a teleportation gate. Those rat bastards want to open up trade hardcore by bypassing the plains entirely. They say it¡¯s going to be great for the economy, but I bet they¡¯re just prepping to take us over. I mean, their bigshot military commander is here setting up some magic room that could drop a whole bunch of people right on our doorstep whenever they want? Please.¡±

    A teleportation¡­ gate? Darron was hardly an expert on teleportation magic, but the edifice this man was describing¨C a reusable teleportation spell that permanently linked two points in space¨Csounded unfathomably complicated and costly. Hypothetically possible, sure, but the sheer amount of materials and upkeep needed to store and maintain that much magical energy in the necessary form¡­ it seemed beyond the resources of even a nation.

    Well, no, perhaps that was a knee-jerk reaction. Darron realized he might just lack the perspective to understand how large a million people really was compared to the five he had lived with most of his life. Never even mind the hundreds of millions each said to live in Elpis, Hydronia, and Sentonis. That level of scale, that many orders of magnitude above what Darron had ever witnessed, was something he could only try to imagine. What did it mean to be a part of a community so large, you would never meet every member of it as long as you lived?

    Unrelated, but it also occurred to Darron that this would likely destroy the influx of trade through his home. Unfortunate.

    ¡°Woah, that sounds super cool!¡± said Shara, genuinely excited, ¡°What kind of festival?¡±

    Darron barely managed to hold back a groan. Goodbye, any possibility for an efficient preparation session! There was basically no chance Shara wasn¡¯t going to drag him out to whatever dumb festivities were plaguing the city with noise and stink until they were both too tired to safely travel tomorrow. He could try to prepare for the journey without her, but he was relying on her abilities to get the best bartering deals.

    Darron had long since figured out Shara could read minds. Frankly, she wasn¡¯t particularly good at hiding it. It only took so many instances of her clearly knowing more than what she¡¯d been told to figure out there was some kind of natural magic at work, and Darron managed to narrow down the possibilities to just a few before confronting her about it. Mind reading had admittedly come as a surprise, however¨C it was a long-sought magical ability that, to the best of his knowledge, had never been successfully performed. Leave it to nature to generate an inherent ability that surpasses hundreds of years of sapient research and effort. Honestly, natural magic was just cheating.

    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s really just a parade, mostly,¡± Fraser said. ¡°They want to prance around looking pretty. A lot of people from Elpis have been coming in to celebrate, so we¡¯ve been making a killing. They say Elpis is the smartest country in the world, but they all just seem too nice for their own good to me. A buddy of mine felt bad watching an Elpis dude get scammed the other day, so he went up to him, and he was like, ¡®Hey man, you know you¡¯re getting scammed, right?¡¯ and you know what the Elpis guy said?¡± Fraser swapped to a mocking tone for his Elpisian impression, ¡°¡®If this man is so desperate, he must need the money more than I.¡¯ Is that just crazy or what? A scammer¡¯s not going to stop being a scammer if he becomes a rich scammer, idiot.¡±

    Darron presumed Fraser might know about that first-hand. Regardless, this was more than enough social activity with rude strangers for one day. He made a point to try and feel as irritated as possible so Shara would pick up the hint. For someone who didn¡¯t like talking, having a mind reader for a sister could be handy.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s pretty crazy,¡± Shara agreed, ¡°but hey, you guys have a good day. We¡¯re gonna have to work double time if we want to finish our errands before that festival!¡±

    ¡°Hey, yeah, you have fun, kid. Enjoy the big city.¡± With a wave, Fraser let Shara and Darron pass, returning to his conversation with the other guard.

    Finally, Darron and Shara made it past the gate. Inside there was an open, circular clearing, as if designed to try and trick people into thinking the entire rest of the city wouldn¡¯t be a sardine can of buildings and bodies. Streets splintered outward from the open space like spokes on a wheel, and people flocked from area to area, but each gave a wide berth to the ornamental fountain that served as a centerpiece to the city¡¯s welcoming area.

    An actual fountain. It was some abstract art piece that kind of looked like a dead tree, pouring water calmly down into a center pool from the branches. Darron had never seen a fountain before, but it looked like a frivolous and insulting waste of water. How could Terranburg obtain enough water to slake the thirst of its million-plus citizens and still have enough left over to lavish on an ugly attraction like this? There must be some massive reservoir of water underneath the ground Terranburg was built on, because Darron was sure that there wasn¡¯t a river running down from the Oinos for a hundred miles.

    Perhaps more immediately striking than the fountain itself, however, was the likely reason the locals were avoiding it. A woman sat inside the fountain pool, looking mostly human if not for the iridescent teal scales that covered her body. She was facing away from Darron, lounging with her arms propped on the walls of the basin like she was relaxing on the beach. On first inspection, her long navy-blue hair seemed to be styled in dreadlocks, but in fact they were tendrils of thin flesh, caressing so beautifully down her back that one could hardly tell the difference. Non-human sapient species were rather common around the world at large, but this was the first time Darron had ever seen one.

    Darron couldn¡¯t be sure, but it probably wasn¡¯t legal to bathe inside the public fountain. He noticed a few families lugging kids quickly through the clearing, covering the children¡¯s eyes as they noticed the woman. Was she naked, or something? That was definitely illegal. Either way, all signs clearly pointed towards this lady being someone to ignore, avoid, and move on from.

    ¡°Woah, Darron!¡± Shara exclaimed, pointing directly at the woman everyone else was trying to ignore, ¡°Check out that blue lady over there! She¡¯s so pretty!¡±

    Okay, nope. No. No thank you. Shara was an extremely extroverted person, and Darron had come to accept she¡¯d drag him into a few conversations that he wouldn¡¯t want to participate in from time to time. However, his sister was now clearly intending to walk over and talk to a freaky fish-person criminal. He could see about a hundred people from where he was standing, and she had picked the actual worst possible one. Darron was not having this. He immediately made a ninety-degree turn away from the scaly fish woman, and started walking.

    Shara, however, was apparently having even less of this. Pretending not to notice his obvious objections, she grabbed his hand with both arms and started heading towards the woman. Against her strength, the choices were clear: he could be dragged on his feet, or dragged on his face. Titan¡¯s sake, why was she doing this?

    ¡°Hello, miss!¡± Shara cheerfully exclaimed as she got close to the fountain. ¡°I just wanted to let you know that you are super pretty!¡±

    The woman slowly turned towards them. Darron braced for the inevitable creepy fish head that he expected her to have, but other than being blue and scaley, her face looked relatively normal. Darron did his best to continue looking at it, as she was, in fact, completely naked, and quite impressively proportioned at that. Even though she was sitting, Darron could tell she was quite a bit taller than either him or Shara, probably a solid three inches over six feet. Slitted gills opened up on the sides of her ribcage, but she otherwise appeared to be a statuesque picture of beauty. The woman gave the two of them a confused-looking smile.

    ¡°Um, thank you, I guess,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m, uh... not really sure how to respond to that. You two look pretty okay yourselves?¡±

    Her voice was¡­ less elegant than her body. It sounded like she had tried to give a genuine compliment, realized how pathetic it sounded halfway through, and then swapped to playing it off as sarcastic joke instead. She mostly just looked confused. Her eyes darted back and forth between Darron and Shara, trying to figure out why they were here. Darron wondered the same thing himself.

    ¡°Well, what the hell. Where are my manners?¡± she eventually said with a shrug, and started getting out of the pool. A large number of passerby began to watch out of confusion, interest, or disdain as the amazonian fish woman emerged dripping from the water and stood stark naked in front of two strangers. Darron¡¯s comfort level with this situation hit zero and kept falling. She extended a webbed hand in his direction to shake.

    ¡°My name¡¯s Adgito,¡± the fish lady said. ¡°Nice to meet ya!¡±

    Darron did not want to shake this woman¡¯s hand. He turned to glare at his sister, who was politely looking above Adgito¡¯s eye-level assets to meet her smile.

    ¡°My name is Shara!¡± she said in cheerful defiance of Darron¡¯s discomfort, ¡°And this is my brother, Darron! We are very happy to meet you, and Darron will shake your hand to prove it!¡± She looked towards him mockingly. ¡°You do know how to shake hands, right Darron?¡±

    Was she really just doing this to annoy him? Whatever. The sooner he got this over with, the better. Regretfully, he reached out and shook the woman¡¯s hand.

    The moment their skin touched, Darron felt a magical pulse prod his barrier. Then, at incredible speed, the fish woman changed. Her shining teal scales melded together and dulled, forming into completely normal-looking skin. The slits on her ribcage fused and disappeared as if she never had gills in the first place. Darron felt the webbed skin on the hand he was holding recede, leaving the fingers completely free. The woman¡¯s fleshy hair-tendrils shrunk, vanished, and reformed as actual human hair. But most strikingly, the woman ceased to be a woman. Her ample chest shrunk and receded into defined pectorals, her shoulders widened, her hips thinned, and her groin became very visibly and very anatomically male.

    Darron considered himself a medical professional, or at least an aspiring medical professional. It was far from the first time he had seen someone naked, and it wasn¡¯t even the first time he had seen a man grow back his own genitals. (There was a snake-like monster in the wastes that was actually named the ¡°crotchbiter.¡±) It took around a second for Adgito¡¯s body to make the full transition from fish lady to human male, but Darron stoically continued shaking the man¡¯s hand as if it never happened, refusing to give his sister any sort of satisfying reaction.

    ¡°Woah!¡± Shara yelped, ¡°What the heck was that?¡± Was that... genuine surprise from her? Perhaps she knew something crazy was going to happen if Darron shook hands with this... guy, but didn¡¯t dig deep enough into Adgito¡¯s head to find out what it was. Well, joke¡¯s on her now, Darron supposed. Being around a naked man had to be even more awkward for her than being around a naked woman was for him.

    ¡°Whew, thanks man!¡± Adgito said to Darron. His voice was deeper now, and it sounded less out-of-place. ¡°That aquatic form can be a real pain sometimes. The skin just gets so dry it hurts to walk around, you know?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Darron said flatly. ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Oh, uh¡­ yeah.¡± Adgito scratched the side of his face sheepishly. ¡°Guess you, um, wouldn¡¯t know that. Uh¡­ sorry. To use you like that, I mean. It¡¯s just sort of my thing. My body changes shape all the time based on stuff that¡¯s happening around me or people I touch, and I can¡¯t really control it very well.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Darron said, ¡°but why are you naked?¡±

    ¡°Oh, heh, so funny story about that actually.¡± Adgito started. His expression brightened; he had apparently been looking forward to telling it. ¡°These jerk kids come by with a bucket of water and splash it on me to try and make my body auto-swap to aquatic form, right? Well, it works, and I¡¯m forced into fish mode and my stuff is all wet. Like I said earlier, being in fish mode on land is not a comfortable experience, and once I change I can¡¯t really swap forms for a while, except sometimes when I can like if my life is in danger or something. So I hightail it to the fountain here. At this point, it¡¯s nighttime and nobody¡¯s really around, so I take off my clothes and stuff so it¡¯ll all dry while I¡¯m waiting out my little transformation cooldown period, you know? But, water¡¯s really comfy when you¡¯re a fish, and I fall asleep, and next thing I know it¡¯s daytime again, everyone¡¯s out and about, and someone stole all my stuff. I¡¯ve been sitting here ever since!¡±

    Adgito grinned, clearly expecting some kind of reaction, but Darron didn¡¯t really know how to react to any of that. They stared at each other in silence for a while.

    ¡°Okay, well!¡± Shara finally said, taking off her backpack and rummaging through it, ¡°As interesting as that is, hanging your dangly bits out like that seems to be making a lot of people uncomfortable, so¡± ¨Cshe produced a set of Darron¡¯s pants from her backpack¨C ¡°I am going to give you these!¡±

    Darron was too far beyond done with this situation to care that Shara had volunteered his belongings instead of her own. He was a little taller than her anyway; his pants would fit Adgito better. Not that either of them should be giving free stuff to this freakish stranger.

    ¡°Wow, thanks!¡± Adgito exclaimed, overjoyed to have some trousers. He donned them immediately. They were still far too small, but Adgito didn¡¯t seem to mind in the slightest. Darron sighed.

    ¡°So was this your whole plan?¡± he asked, ¡°To just wait around for some stranger to give you pants?¡±

    ¡°Honestly?¡± Adgito responded, ¡°I was expecting to get arrested. Fer like, loitering, disorderly conduct, and indecent exposure.¡± He counted off the charges on his fingers as he said them. ¡°I figured the guards would come by with a blanket or something to cover me up as they escorted me to jail, I¡¯d un-fish on one of them, plead guilty, and get a few weeks of free meals. Elpis made this place create a buncha ¡®Natural Necessity¡¯ law exceptions or whatever when they signed the treaty, so it¡¯s kind of legal for me to do some of this stuff if I can prove I biologically have to, which I sort of do. I¡¯d get off light. Some of the guards can be real bastards, but they probably wouldn¡¯t do anything to me. I¡¯m too poor to extort and too tough to beat up for fun.¡±

    Adgito¡¯s plan sounded suspiciously well-thought out.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the first time you¡¯ve ended up naked, is it?¡± Darron asked.

    ¡°Uh, no, it¡¯s not,¡± Adgito admitted, slumping a bit. ¡°My powers burn through clothes like... uh, an actual fire burning clothes. Sometimes that happens. Like, the fire thing, specifically.¡±

    He scratched the side of his face again. It seemed to be some kind of embarrassment tic. Darron had to admit, this guy really seemed like a man with nothing to hide, and not just regarding his lack of decency. When Adgito was happy about something his face was a huge grin, his chest was puffed out, and he stood up tall. Likewise, he deflated and drooped whenever Darron brought him back down to earth. After years of learning to deal with Shara¡¯s nigh-impenetrable poker face, Darron had to admit it was refreshingly jarring to see someone give straight answers to simple questions. Not that it in any way made up for the utter ridiculousness of this situation at all.

    ¡°Well, uh, thanks again,¡± Adgito stammered, ¡°Really owe ya. For the pants, I mean. I wanna pay you back somehow, but, uh, these are now literally the only thing I own. But, if there¡¯s something I can help you with or something, just let me know!¡±

    Oh no. Here it was. This is why Shara was doing this. This was her real goal, from the very beginning. Darron knew exactly what was about to go down. She was going to say¨C

    ¡°As a matter of fact, there is!¡± Shara said, rubbing her hands together.

    Yeah, that.

    ¡°Darron and I just got into town, and we¡¯re looking for the best places to buy a few things,¡± Shara continued. ¡°It would save us a lot of time if someone who knew the area were to help us find the best stuff...¡±

    ¡°Okay, no.¡± Darron intoned, finally putting his foot down. ¡°I¡¯m done getting pulled around for your amusement today. Why are you trying to get us to spend the day with this¡­ weird stranger?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Shara asked, pouting in mock offence, ¡°I just said why! This place is freaking huge, and we have no idea where we¡¯re going! There are probably dozens of shops that have the kind of equipment we¡¯re looking for, and half of them are probably shoddy scams that will break halfway to Mt. Phegethos! Unless you want to search the entire city blind, we need a guide!¡±

    ¡°Yes, but why him?¡± Darron clarified. ¡°He¨C or she, we can¡¯t even tell¨C is some random mutant criminal we found naked in the street! He was actually in the process of waiting to be arrested when we got here!¡±

    ¡°Wow,¡± Adgito commented, ¡°I should probably be really offended by that, but I gotta admit that is pretty much exactly what happened.¡±

    ¡°So what?¡± Shara responded indignantly, ¡°I can tell he¡¯s a good person and he knows the city well. He was just doing the best he could given his situation. Why do you care what laws he was breaking if it all turned out okay?¡±

    ¡°Because unlike you,¡± Darron growled, ¡°I can¡¯t just magically know how good someone¡¯s intentions were. I, and the rest of the world, can only judge people by their actions. So when a person ends up flashing everyone in the middle of town square, I consider them responsible for that mistake regardless of whether they meant to or not, and so will everyone else! Sure, yes, as best I can tell, this guy seems pretty nice¨C¡±

    ¡°Hey, thanks!¡± Adgito butted in. Darron didn¡¯t stop talking.

    ¡°¨CBut he also seems unreliable, absentminded, and potentially dangerous. Did you miss the part where he mentioned he sometimes catches fire? Or how he was so calm about being naked in public because it happens on a somewhat regular basis? A nice person that means well can still be a serious problem if they don¡¯t have their act together, and this guy is not a guy with his act together.¡±

    Shara crossed her arms and looked away. She seemed irritated, but it also looked like she was giving real thought to what Darron was saying. Adgito was just kind of standing there, hands on his hips, looking back and forth between the two siblings as if they were a stage act and he was waiting for the punchline. For someone who likely spent so much time outside and shirtless, his skin was pretty pale. Perhaps tans didn¡¯t carry over when your skin turned into fish scales and back. Also striking was the fact that Adgito seemed to have no chest hair, no facial hair, and not even any armpit hair, but he still had a mop of black hair on top of his head. Did some kinds of hair have to regrow naturally after a transformation, while other kinds didn¡¯t? Adgito¡¯s musculature was toned but lean, as if he was naturally healthy but didn¡¯t really work out. His appearance was so idyllically sculpted it reminded Darron of an example diagram from an anatomy textbook, but with the head of a grinning idiot grafted on top. His external organs seemed capable of changing quite a bit in a very short amount of time. How would his internal organs be affected by form changes? The creation or removal of an entire gill structure would¨C wait, no, this was no time for science. Darron was supposed to be mad at his sister.

    ¡°I guess I see where you¡¯re coming from now,¡± Shara said, ¡°though I still feel confident in vouching for Adgito in this case. I think you should know I¡¯m not going to purposefully lead us into dangerous people. But if you¡¯re still not convinced, consider this: we really do need a guide, and this guy¡± ¨Cshe poked Adgito playfully in the sternum, causing him to stumble back a bit¨C ¡°is probably the only one in the city who doesn¡¯t have anything better to do than give random people he just met an express tour, even when one of them clearly doesn¡¯t like him.¡±

    ¡°Once again,¡± Adgito said, nodding sagely, ¡°I feel I should be offended, but that is pretty much spot on. I would be happy to show you around, and if you¡¯re ever dissatisfied with my incredibly professional services, you¡¯re welcome to ditch me whenever.¡± He turned to start walking, but immediately turned back around as if he remembered something and pointed at Darron.

    ¡°Also... feel like I should clarify,¡± Adgito said, ¡°I¡¯ll only catch fire if someone, like, actually sets me on fire. I don¡¯t have full control over my transformations, but they¡¯re based on environmental triggers and stuff, or if I¡¯m in physical danger. Not gonna just randomly explode on ya.¡±

    Fine. It had seemed at first that Shara chose Adgito as their guide just to annoy Darron, but perhaps she had actually been considering their needs as her first priority for once. Ultimately, Darron did trust her, which he supposed meant he was obligated to trust Adgito by proxy.

    He didn¡¯t, but the right thing to do was to try.

 Recoil Issues

    ¡°Alright!¡± Adgito said with a smile, ¡°We¡¯re off to get you some deals!  What kind of stuff are you guys looking for, exactly? Won¡¯t really affect our first stop, but it¡¯d be good to know.¡±

    He was strutting as he walked, overjoyed at this unexpected turn of events.  The poor guy had been sitting alone in a fountain all morning, waiting for someone to walk by and arrest him.  How could Shara not walk up and give him a helping hand? It would be good for Darron to actually spend some time around a nonhuman, too.  He wouldn¡¯t admit it, but he was uncomfortable around them. To top it all off, they even got a city guide within the first few minutes of entering Terranburg!  If her brother wasn¡¯t such a grumpy party-pooper, everything would be pretty much perfect.

    ¡°Our first priority is travel food,¡± Shara answered. ¡°We have enough meals to last a while, and we can collect food as we go, but we want some light emergency rations that won¡¯t spoil for a month or two in case worst comes to worst.¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay.  So you guys are planning to leave the city soon, huh?¡± Adgito asked.

    Aw, he was sad about that!  How cute.

    ¡°We¡¯re headed for Hydronia!¡± Shara explained.  ¡°My big bro¡¯s a bio-mage, and he¡¯s goin¡¯ to college!¡±

    ¡°Got no idea what a bio-mage is,¡± Adgito declared, ¡°but it sounds terrifying. Is he gonna release some huge plague upon the citizens that will turn their skin to boils and pus?¡± He glanced over at Darron.  ¡°Er, no offense.¡±

    ¡°Eh, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Shara joked. ¡°He could probably do that.¡±

    ¡°Wait, what?  Really?¡± Adgito said, taking a wide step away from Darron.

    ¡°My magic primarily focuses on healing,¡± Darron grumbled.  ¡°I¡¯m a medical doctor. Or at least I will be, officially, once I get the proper certifications in Hydronia.  Turning people¡¯s skin to boils and pus is reserved for family members.¡±

    He was, of course, glaring at Shara as he said that, and in the process of planning such a spell for later.  Oh goodie, more ¡°barrier training.¡±

    ¡°Wow, you guys sure get along famously!¡± Adgito commented sarcastically, taking a sharp turn down an alley so small Shara probably wouldn¡¯t have even noticed it.  ¡°I personally would have assumed that family members would be first on the list to stay boil-and-pus exempt, but hey. What do I know? Don¡¯t have any.¡±

    The alleyway streamed into a larger road which Adgito briefly traversed before ducking back into another thin side-street.  From what Shara could gather from Adgito¡¯s mind, these side-streets weren¡¯t the most efficient way to wherever they were going; Adgito was avoiding more populated roads because he didn¡¯t like them.  Totally understandable. The main streets were packed with bodies, a condensed shuffle of mass trying to go in hundreds of different directions. To her extra senses, this many people in one place formed a near-unintelligible blast of emotions, flinging feelings at her head from all directions.  She could barely tell where any given emotion was coming from unless its source was right next to her. The result was just a dull, uncomfortable roar, like she was caught in a sandstorm.

    She quickly found the best way to cope with the noise was to get her extra sense to focus on something else: namely, doing a deep dive into one mind at a time.  She¡¯d taken shelter in this way before to avoid sharing particularly negative emotions. Whenever there was a funeral back in the village, for example, she¡¯d hide inside the mind of someone who didn¡¯t know the deceased very well in order to dull the onslaught of sadness and regret from the many people that did.  Even if she had no personal reason to feel sad, funerals could still drive her to an unintelligible mess of blubbering despair.

    She sheltered herself in Darron¡¯s head first, since she knew he wouldn¡¯t care.  Immediately, she was pleased to find that Adgito¡¯s words earlier had guilted him into giving up on the pus-boil spell.   Having that guy as a guide was already paying off! Instead, Darron was taking in the sights, noting any shops they passed that looked useful, and memorizing the twisted route Adgito was taking them on in case they needed to get back on their own.  Man, his devotion to practicality was kind of boring sometimes.

    ¡°So, Adgito, this shop you¡¯re leading us too¡­ It seems kind of far away.¡± Shara commented.  ¡°We¡¯ve already passed dozens of shops.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but I don¡¯t know anything about any of them,¡± Adgito responded.  ¡°Homeless, broke, have been forever. Never shopped in my life.¡±

    Oh.  That was... unexpected.  Adgito had been supremely confident that he could help out, otherwise Shara would never have asked him to be their guide.  They needed to buy things. Where was he taking them, if not to a store?

    ¡°Heh, oh man,¡± Adgito laughed, looking back at them.  ¡°You should see the looks on your faces. White as a sheet.  Hey, calm down, okay? May not know what you guys need, but I know someone who does.  Mrs. Garnersworth will get your stuff, I¡¯m sure of it.¡±

    Shara confirmed that he was, in fact, sure of it.  In retrospect, she supposed it made sense that a person too poor to buy himself clothing probably wouldn¡¯t be personally acquainted with many shops. This Mrs. Garnersworth person seemed like a reasonable enough first stop.   Darron was all grumpy about it, but he probably just needed a nap or something.

    As the walk continued, Shara felt around experimentally with her extra sense.  Something had been feeling off; not particularly bad, but off. It was like a fuzzy bag of water rolling over her brain, unlike anything she had ever felt before. More curiously, the strange feeling persisted throughout the city as she traveled.  She peered outward, taking in as much as she could from the rolling mess of emotional energy before retreating back into a friendly brain, but she couldn¡¯t pinpoint the source of whatever it was.

    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Adgito declared as the three of them approached a large, open building, bustling with customers.  Unlike most of the shops in the area that were just set up as booths or stalls in the street, this shop was a full ground-story floor, well over a thousand square feet.  There was no door, for in fact the building had no front wall- the entire street-side section of the shop was open to the outdoors. Countless shelves and racks made a maze of goods and bodies indoors, carrying nearly every nonperishable item you could need for day-to-day life. Clothing, lumber, furniture, toys¡­ this shop was packed.

    Adgito lead them through the store towards the back, where they saw a short, plump, middle-aged woman restocking one of the clothing racks.  She hummed a jaunty tune as she lifted each shirt, quickly spun it left and right to inspect for damages, and expertly hung it on the rack. Shara was impressed; you had to be pretty darn wealthy to get fat in the southern plains.

    ¡°Hello, Mrs. Garnersworth!¡± Adgito said with a wave.  The woman turned to look at him, and her face immediately erupted into a jovial smile as she dropped the shirt she was holding and rushed over to greet him, her brown curls bobbing as she waddled over.

    ¡°Adgito dear!¡± she exclaimed outstretching her arms, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you for days!  Come here and give me a hug!¡± Adgito held up a hand to decline.

    ¡°Sorry Mrs. Garnersworth, I¡¯m gonna have to take a raincheck on that.¡± He indicated his bare chest. ¡°I¡¯m on form-change watch.  Had to avoid touching any lovely ladies the entire way over here. Barely escaped an indecent exposure charge once today, no need to try my luck.¡±

    Mrs. Garnersworth put her hands on her impressive hips and pouted.

    ¡°Ohh, you should know better than to drop by here without being prepared for a welcome hug.  Hold right there, I just got a long-sleeved shirt that¡¯ll look adorable on you. Just let me¡­¡±

    The woman wandered off, leaving the three of them to stand around awkwardly until she returned.

    ¡°Well, you two seem to be on good terms,¡± Darron commented.

    ¡°Yeah man, Mrs. Garnersworth¡¯s about the closest thing I have to a mom,¡± Adgito responded. ¡°She¡¯s gotten me through some rough times.  Wouldn¡¯t be here if not for her.¡±

    ¡°Where would you be?¡± Shara asked absentmindedly, and immediately regretted it. Adgito sheepishly scratched his cheek.

    ¡°Uh, probably¡¯d still be trying to find a way to kill myself, t¡¯be honest,¡± he mumbled. ¡°Or just be uselessly wandering around the desert.  Things got, uh, a little rough back when I first got these wonky powers.¡±

    Whatever had happened, Adgito was feeling way guiltier about it than Shara was currently willing to pry into; there were more than enough negative emotions vying for her attention in this city anyway.  She went for the first conversation segue she could think of.

    ¡°So, wait, you weren¡¯t always like this?¡±

    ¡°Naw man,¡± Adgito explained, ¡°I was a normal dude most a¡¯ my life.  Didn¡¯t become a freak until I was fourteen.¡±

    ¡°When was that?¡± Shara pressed, ¡°How old are you now?¡±  Adgito shrugged.

    ¡°Who knows?  Don¡¯t keep track.  Not like I have any family to celebrate my birthday with.¡±

    Despite herself, Shara had to smile at his attempt to fish for sympathy.

    ¡°Aww!¡± she said, as if talking to a puppy, ¡°That¡¯s so cute!¡±

    ¡°How is any of that cute?¡± Adgito asked, naturally taken aback.

    ¡°Because you¡¯re lying,¡± Shara explained.  ¡°You know exactly how old you are, don¡¯t you? You just want us to fawn over you a little.¡±

    ¡°I-it¡¯s not a lie!¡± Adgito stammered, blushing.  ¡°I don¡¯t know my exact birthday, but¡­ I did choose a day when I was a kid, so¡­ yeah.  Pretty certain I¡¯m twenty-one now.¡± He slumped over. ¡°Geez¡­ how do you know all this stuff?  You¡¯re scary insightful.¡±

    ¡°Adgito, dear...¡± Mrs. Garnersworth butted in, returning with a stack of outfits overflowing from her arms, ¡°You¡¯ve always been a terrible liar.  It¡¯s hardly a surprise someone caught onto you so quickly. Now put this on¡± ¨Cshe tossed a black, long-sleeved shirt at Adgito, which smacked into his face as he missed the catch¨C ¡°while you introduce me to your new friends here!¡±

    Shara could tell Darron was tempted to assert that he and Adgito were not friends, and Adgito was busy untangling himself from a set of clothing, so Shara simply took the liberty of introducing everyone herself.

    ¡°I¡¯m Shara, and this is my brother Darron!¡± Shara cheerfully explained. ¡°We¡¯re passing through from out of town.¡±

    ¡°Oh, how nice!¡± Mrs. Garnersworth fawned, putting down the rest of the outfits she¡¯d brought and moving to greet Shara up close.  ¡°Well, I hope you enjoy your stay here. I must say, dearie, you just have the most beautiful eyes. I¡¯ve never seen anything quite like them.¡±

    ¡°Oh, well thank you!¡± Shara said.  It wasn¡¯t often she got a lot of compliments on her looks; most people found her crimson eye color a little off-putting.  The plump little woman certainly seemed like a nice lady, though Shara hadn¡¯t yet bothered to make sure. Most of her mental focus was spent trying to sense the source of that strange feeling that¡¯d been around since she got here and making sure Darron wasn¡¯t about to say anything rude to ruin their first impression.

    In the meantime, Adgito finally managed to wrestle his head through the collar of his new shirt.  It did look pretty good on him, ignoring the mismatched and undersized pants, though Shara couldn¡¯t fathom why anyone would want to wear a dark-colored, long-sleeved shirt in the desert.  He must not be bothered by the heat.

    ¡°Wow, thanks Mrs. G!¡± Adgito exclaimed, patting around himself and tugging on various parts of the shirt.  ¡°Loose in the front, nice and soft¡­ you sure know how to pick ¡®em!¡± Mrs. Garnersworth beamed.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why I bring a selection to fit on you.  You always just take the first one.¡±

    ¡°The first one you pick is always the best!¡± Adgito responded smoothly.  Mrs. Garnersworth chuckled.

    ¡°Alright you charmer, now come here,¡± she said, ¡°The retail price for that shirt is One Big Hug, and you¡¯ve still gotta pay!¡±

    Adgito grimaced, and braced for impact as the woman moved toward him, arms outstretched.  Seems like he wasn¡¯t a very huggy person.

    ¡°Put it on my tab!¡± Shara exclaimed, and moved to intercept.  Interposing herself between Adgito and Mrs. Garnersworth at the last second, she embraced woman in a friendly bear hug.

    Instinctively, her focus turned to Mrs. Garnersworth¡¯s mind, checking for threats.  Not that she expected any foul play from a plump shopkeeper who helped clothe homeless people directly from her stock, but it was just a habit to do so whenever she placed herself in a vulnerable position.  Though what she found in Mrs. Garnersworth¡¯s mind¡­ she couldn¡¯t explain.

    She felt nothing.  Not strictly nothing: Shara could still tell that a mind was present, and it was working.  Mrs. Garnersworth¡¯s thoughts, however, were an unintelligible buzz: loud and constant, like she was sticking her head in a beehive.  Emotions were present, but she couldn¡¯t understand them. Thoughts existed, but she couldn¡¯t read them. Shara had never encountered anything like this in her life.  Instinctively, she wanted to leap away and draw her weapon, though logically she knew she wasn¡¯t in danger. Mrs. Garnersworth wasn¡¯t doing anything other than giving her a hug.

    With her expert poker face on, Shara tactfully withdrew from the embrace to meet Mrs. Garnersworth¡¯s warm, smiling face.

    ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you just an absolute sweetheart?¡± The woman warmly chuckled.  ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll let Adgito off the hook this time. I must say, I¡¯m surprised he¡¯s brought back such upstanding folks like yourselves.  I assume you¡¯re not just here so he can show you off to me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Shara confirmed, ¡°We¡¯re here to stock up for a journey.  We have a list of things we need to buy, and Adgito said you¡¯d know the best places to get them.¡±

    Darron rummaged through his pack and handed Mrs. Garnersworth a written list, while Shara returned her focus to the real problem at hand: she couldn¡¯t read Mrs. Garnersworth¡¯s mind.  Why not? A person¡¯s barrier wouldn¡¯t normally protect them from Shara¡¯s mind-reading abilities, because they were unobtrusive. The energy generated by a person¡¯s thoughts was detectable without having to send anything inside a person¡¯s skull; it radiated outward naturally, beyond the reach of a normal protective barrier.

    ¡°Hmm.  This is quite a list,¡± Mrs. Garnersworth ruminated. ¡°You seem to be stocking up for quite the long journey.  Where exactly are you traveling to?¡±

    Shara supposed it was possible for someone to have an abnormally shaped barrier, or a barrier that for whatever reason prevented brainwaves from escaping its area.  Every person¡¯s barrier was shaped by their inherent magical aura, which was different for everyone. It was these same differences that caused people to have natural magic.

    ¡°We¡¯re headed to Hydronia,¡± Darron said.

    No, it seemed unlikely for a person to have such a weirdly specific defense, especially since Shara was fairly sure only her clan had telepathic abilities.  Why would a person be born with an anti-telepathy barrier hundreds of miles from the nearest (and only) telepaths on the continent? Maybe it¡¯s just random? Do lots of people have natural magic they never know about because their magic is specific to a situation they will never encounter? She really didn¡¯t know how natural magic worked.

    ¡°Ah, that explains the galoshes,¡± Mrs. Garnersworth responded.  ¡°Those will be hard to find out here, but I think I know some places you can check.  Why are two nice kids like yourselves attempting the trek to Hydronia?¡±

    The only other possibility Shara could think of was some kind of magic enchantment.  Darron had repeatedly tried and failed to make a spell that would block Shara¡¯s mind reading abilities, but it¡¯s not out of the question that someone else succeeded.  The feeling Shara got when she tried to read Mrs. Garnersworth¡¯s mind felt kind of like a jamming attempt, drowning out whatever real thoughts she was thinking with meaningless loud noise.  Darron had attempted a few such spells to no avail, but perhaps someone else found the correct¡­ frequency, or something?

    ¡°I somehow managed to acquire a collegiate scholarship,¡± Darron explained, ¡°so I¡¯m heading that way to become a doctor.¡±

    Still, that just raised the question: why Mrs. Garnersworth?  If the secret to mind-reading immunity was some kind of enchanted item or unique spell, why did this philanthropic shopkeeper have access to it?  Suddenly, Shara remembered: she¡¯d been feeling something strange with her extra sense long before Mrs. Garnersworth was anywhere close to in range of her abilities.  Shara turned around and started a quick deep dive into the mind of each other person in the room in sequence. Hmm, I like the fabric, but the color blue really¨C Nope, normal.  Oh wow, this one is so cute!  If only I¨C Normal.  I wonder if¨C Normal.  Woah, that girl¡¯s eyes are¨C Normal.  Hey, this one¨C Normal. Geez, I¡¯m hungry.  Maybe I should¨C Normal.  Heh, I bet¨C Normal.  Kshhhhhhhhhhh.

    One of the men browsing a pants rack had a mind that felt just like Mrs. Garnersworth.  He was moderately well-dressed, but otherwise mostly unremarkable. He simply seemed to be minding his own business, and his business involved buying a pair of pants.

    Shara kept going, her eyes flicking around the room.  There were thirty-three people in the shop, not counting Shara¡¯s own group, and of them Shara found one additional person whose mind she couldn¡¯t read.  A young woman was shopping in the toy section with her husband. Shara could read the husband¡¯s mind perfectly fine: the two of them were looking for presents for their son¡¯s seventh birthday.  It seemed they were a fairly affluent couple, as the man was looking forward to rewarding his son for doing well with his private tutor. The man didn¡¯t seem to hold his own intelligence in very high esteem (and Shara could confirm by the sluggishness of his thoughts that he was a bit of a lightweight in the brainpower department), but that only made him more proud that his son was doing so well.  He was also enjoying the time he got to spend alone with his wife, even if it was just shopping. Overall, a very nice and totally normal man.

    His wife also seemed nice and normal, but Shara couldn¡¯t tell for sure because her mind was the same noisy enigma as Mrs. Garnersworth¡¯s and the pants man¡¯s.  Three totally unrelated people. Perhaps it was just a random thing some people had after all? Up until now, across the entire span of her nineteen-year life, Shara had met less than four hundred people.  It was certainly possible that people with psychic resistance were there the whole time, and she just hadn¡¯t run into any until now.

    Suddenly, Darron nudged Shara in the ribs with his elbow.

    ¡°Quit spacing out.  You look like a total weirdo,¡± he said.  ¡°Mrs. Garnersworth asked you a question.¡±

    ¡°O-oh, I¡¯m sorry!¡± Shara stammered.  ¡°I was just looking around. I¡¯ve never seen a shop this big before!¡±  All technically true statements. Mrs. Garnersworth beamed with pride and let out a hearty laugh.

    ¡°Yes, I suppose you wouldn¡¯t have!  It¡¯s a pretty impressive establishment even by Terranburg standards, you know.¡±  She winked. ¡°But I was wondering what would lead a beautiful young woman like yourself to risk her life on a journey to Hydronia.  A dreadful trip. I won¡¯t in good conscience help you throw your life away.¡±

    ¡°Oh, well, preventing thrown lives is basically why I¡¯m going!¡± Shara explained.  ¡°Someone¡¯s gotta stop my brother from getting eaten. The two of us can take anything the trip throws at us, don¡¯t you worry.¡±  Shara patted the sword sheathed at her waist. ¡°We¡¯ve been killing monsters since we were kids.¡±

    ¡°Oh, have you now?¡± Mrs. Garnersworth sighed heavily.  ¡°Sometimes I forget how tough it is to live outside of Terranburg, but¡­ forcing children to fight those beasts is just too cruel.  You¡¯re far too much of a sweetheart to be a monster slayer.¡± Shara laughed, though she took slight offense to the implication that she wasn¡¯t a fighter.  It seemed like Mrs. Garnersworth intended the statement as a compliment, but Shara couldn¡¯t be sure. It was beyond frustrating. Shara wanted to end this conversation as quickly as possible and bolt out of shop before anyone could say anything else, but she managed to push that instinct away into her gut.

    ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯m just a girl of many talents,¡±  Shara joked. ¡°But we really do need those supplies.  Whether you help us or not, we¡¯ll be heading on our way soon, so¡­¡±

    ¡°All right, all right,¡± Mrs. Garnersworth conceded.  ¡°Come with me to my desk, I¡¯ll write you up a list of places to check.  Adgito should know where most of them are.¡± Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Mrs. Garnersworth lead the three of them to the back of the shop where a simple door lead them to a small hallway.  Oh, great. The mind-read-immune person was leading them to a private area. She could have anything set up back here, and Shara would have no way to know about it.  Shara¡¯s eyes flicked around, checking for suspicious activity, memorizing escape routes, and generally trying to appease her unwarranted paranoia. If anything, the knowledge that this lady had absolutely no reason to hurt anyone only made Shara¡¯s stress worse.

    Sure enough, the hall simply lead to a small office, packed neatly with shelves of papers.  Mrs. Garnersworth nestled herself into a desk at the back of the room, dipped a quill pen in an inkwell, and started writing.  Other than the desk, the entire room seemed to be a storage space for paperwork.

    A cursory glance at the top of a nearby stack showed them to be finance records from last month.  This woman made more money in a day than Shara had ever seen in her life. Darron seemed interested in the same ledger, so Shara piggybacked his brain for a bit.  Kid could read like lightning.

    Mrs. Garnersworth had a pretty large section for ¡°charitable donations¡± in her expenses column.  Most of them were non-profit groups Shara had never heard of, but their names had some keywords to indicate their function.  Mostly orphanages and homeless shelters, but there were also some donations to local government projects and the town guard.

    Other than that, the document wasn¡¯t very interesting.  Mrs. Garnersworth sold thousands of items a day, and kept a list of each one.  The handwriting changed every few hundred items or so, presumably when her cashiers switched shifts.  Her employees must write the records as each item got bought, then take all the finished paperwork to Mrs. Garnersworth at the end of the day.  It was neat, orderly, well-kept, and one-hundred percent boring.

    ¡°Well, that should about finish it up,¡± Mrs. Garnersworth said, penning the last letter on her list and handing it to Adgito.  ¡°I¡¯ve ordered the list based on what item you can expect to find where, but I¡¯ve also added notes on whose shops are closest to whose so you don¡¯t spend all day wandering around town.¡±  She stood up, neatly sliding her pen back in its holder. ¡°Is there anything else I can help you out with?¡±

    Darron stepped forward and grabbed the list out of Adgito¡¯s hands, giving it a quick scan.  Mrs. Garnersworth¡¯s handwriting was tiny but neat enough to make a penmanship tutor swoon. She managed to stack a lot of information into a very small space.

    ¡°No, this is plenty,¡± Darron said, impressed.  ¡°We should be able to take care of the rest. Thank you, this is a lot more help than I ever anticipated.¡±  Mrs. Garnersworth gave a warm smile.

    ¡°It¡¯s the least I can do to repay you for helping out my little Adgito here,¡± she said.  Titans, she seemed so genuine. Adgito had known this woman for years and clearly loved the lady like a mother.  Even Darron was finding himself impressed by her kindness. Yet to Shara, it was as if this woman was invisible, but no one else cared because they had been blind their whole lives.  Shara couldn¡¯t help but be on guard, and that made her feel terrible. This woman was going out of her way to help her, and Shara couldn¡¯t think of anything but what she would do if the lady suddenly pulled out a weapon.  It was stupid.

    Sucking up her doubts, Shara stepped forward and clasped one of Mrs. Garnersworth¡¯s hands in both of her own.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said, ¡°This means a lot to us.  You¡¯ve been a huge help.¡± The hand was soft; she probably wasn¡¯t used to doing much work more difficult than writing, and she certainly hadn¡¯t spent much time holding a sword.  Mrs. Garnersworth gave a warm laugh.

    ¡°It¡¯s no trouble at all.  You be sure to come back anytime you need something, sweetheart.¡±  She pulled Shara in for another hug, and Shara once again had to resist the instinct to jump back and draw her sword.

    ¡°Well,¡± Shara said once Mrs. Garnersworth released her from the terrifying embrace, ¡°I think we had better get going.  Thank you again!¡±

    ¡°Oh?  Are you sure you don¡¯t want to browse my stock before heading out?¡±

    ¡°Heh, I, uh¡­ think we¡¯ll check out the other places on your list before making a return trip.¡± Shara responded.  ¡°Save the best for last, you know?¡±

    With a smile and a wave, Shara hurried out of the room, through the hallway, past the aisles of products, and into the street, Darron and Adgito following diligently behind her.  Quickly, she scanned the heads of everyone in her range. Out of the forty-nine people commuting on the road at the time, five of them had completely impenetrable thoughts, just like Mrs. Garnersworth.  What the heck was going on here?

    ¡°Well, she seemed nice,¡± Darron commented.  He could tell something was bothering her, though.  ¡°What did you think?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ the problem,¡± Shara said, choosing her words carefully.  ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell. At all.¡± Darron raised his eyebrows in surprise.

    ¡°What do you mean you ¡®couldn¡¯t tell?¡¯¡±

    ¡°My¡­ usual method wasn¡¯t working.  At all. I felt nothing, good or bad.  In fact, it feels like about one in every ten people around here are immune.¡±

    ¡°What are you guys talking about?¡± Adgito asked.  ¡°What usual method?¡±

    ¡°How?  Why?¡± Darron asked, ignoring Adgito entirely.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Shara hissed, ¡°I can¡¯t figure it out at all!  There doesn¡¯t even seem to be any relation between immune people, it¡¯s just random!¡±

    ¡°Shara, I¡¯ve been trying to figure out how to fool you for over ten years, and you¡¯re saying this whole time some people just¡­ randomly have it?¡±

    ¡°Maybe???¡±

    ¡°Seriously, what are you dudes talking about?¡± Adgito pressed.  Darron turned towards him.

    ¡°Shara normally has a pretty good grasp on people, but something was interfering with her... usual method,¡± he said.  ¡°It sounds like a natural aura thing, probably. We¡¯re just trying to figure it out.¡±

    ¡°Oh, like a magic lie detector?¡± Adgito asked. He shrugged nonchalantly. ¡°That¡¯s cool.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, I doubt we¡¯ll find the answers just standing around here,¡± Darron continued. ¡°Let¡¯s head for the closest shop.  The list we got has a lot of options for each item, so if you can¡¯t get a good read on a shopkeeper we¡¯ll just move onto the next one.  We¡¯re still relying on you to get us good prices, after all.¡±

    The three of them set off, Adgito leading the way.  As they walked, Shara tested the minds of people around her, trying to guess beforehand whether or not they¡¯d be resistant to her powers.  Darron would point people out, Shara would let him know if they were resistant or not, and he¡¯d crunch the information in that unique way of his before pointing out someone else.  Yet even together, they couldn¡¯t find a connection between the immunized people. Some of them looked like tourists from Elpis, many of them were native to Terranburg. Some were men, some were women, some were children or babies, some were adults.  There was one interesting piece of information: most of the children that were immune had at least one parent that was also immune. Even that wasn¡¯t one hundred percent consistent, though.

    To the team¡¯s disappointment, the first shopkeeper on Mrs. Garnersworth¡¯s list was also immune to Shara¡¯s abilities.  They gave a cursory glance at his wares and promptly set off. The second shopkeeper, thankfully, was not immune, and Shara let off no small amount of stress haggling him down to a tiny fraction of his initial price.

    The rest of the shopping trip progressed similarly.  Many of the people on Mrs. Garnersworth¡¯s list ended up having the same mental resistance as she did, but fortunately they managed to find at least one shopkeeper they could power-haggle for every essential item they were looking for, galoshes included.  At the end of the day, both Shara and Darron¡¯s backpacks were full to bursting.

    ¡°Well, now that that¡¯s done,¡± Shara smirked, ¡°I believe you owe me a festival, Darron!¡±  Darron groaned.

    ¡°No, you owe me a pair of pants, and I don¡¯t owe you a darn thing,¡± he said.  ¡°But since you¡¯re going to be insufferable if we don¡¯t go, I suppose I don¡¯t have a choice.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit!¡± Shara exclaimed.  While she felt a little bad for dragging Darron somewhere he didn¡¯t want to go, they had gotten all their shopping done way early thanks to Adgito, so it wasn¡¯t really a big deal.  The sun wouldn¡¯t even go down for another few hours. Besides, Shara was in desperate need of some relaxing fun.

    ¡°Adgito, you know that festival-parade thing that¡¯s happening today?  Can you get us a good spot?¡± she asked.

    ¡°The Elpis parade?¡± Adgito asked, scratching his cheek. ¡°Yeah, I can probably find a good vantage spot.  I know the route they reserved for it. You sure you wanna head into all that hustle and bustle?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it sounds fun,¡± Shara responded. ¡°You really don¡¯t seem to like crowds, do you Adgito?  What¡¯s up with that?¡±

    Adgito stared at her for a while, thinking about if he¡¯d rather show her or tell her.  He decided on the most direct route.

    ¡°Here, this is why,¡± he said, reaching out and poking Shara in the forehead.

    With incredible speed, Adgito¡¯s body changed.  The undersized pants he was wearing strained as his hips widened and body curved.  He stumbled to catch himself as his center of gravity dropped nearly six inches. His chest ballooned outward to impressive feminine proportions as Shara suddenly understood why Mrs. Garnersworth gave him a thick, dark-colored shirt.  His hair grew with such quickness that the length increased from the base faster than the tips could fall, giving the impression he had been blasted by an updraft of wind. In less than a second, the Adgito standing before Shara looked like a completely different person.  On one hand, it was incredibly cool, but at the same time Shara had a difficult time comprehending everything that had just happened. Adgito cleared her throat.

    ¡°So you¡¯ve sort of already seen this once before,¡± she said, speaking in the same feminine voice she¡¯d had back when they first met, ¡°although I was a little more blue and scaley at the time, I guess.¡±

    It was jarring to think of the woman in front of Shara as Adgito.  They looked different, they sounded different¡­ according to the usual logic, they were clearly different people.  If she wasn¡¯t reading Adgito¡¯s mind, or if she hadn¡¯t already seen it once before, it would be hard to believe that this person was still the same one as before.

    ¡°So the, uh, important thing to realize about this,¡± Adgito continued, ¡°Is that I didn¡¯t really do that on purpose.  My powers go off on a hair trigger. I¡¯m more likely to change the longer I¡¯ve gone without changing, but pretty much any time I touch anybody I run the risk of getting all my organs shuffled around.  It¡¯s frankly not very pleasant. Sometimes, I don¡¯t even have to touch stuff. Just having enough of the same kind of thing in one place is enough to trigger a change, and it¡¯s not just limited to swappin¡¯ out my jiggly bits.  It changes all kinds of crap, like when I grow gills or turn into a mass of living fire or whatever. And don¡¯t even get me started on what happens if I touch non-humans!¡±

    ¡°What happens if you touch non-humans?¡± Shara asked.

    ¡°Gahh, don¡¯t even get me started on what happens if I touch non-humans!¡±  Adgito roared. ¡°Sometimes, instead of real general ideas like ¡°male¡± or ¡°on fire¡± my body acquires specific physical characteristics of a person and I become like this Adgito-esque copy of them, and this happens like all the time when I touch somebody that isn¡¯t human.  I guess I don¡¯t have ¡°generic¡± forms for them? Anyway, it¡¯s horrible.  Do you have any idea how weird it is to grow tentacles or wings or what-have-you?  You¡¯d think, or at least I¡¯d think you¡¯d think, that people might eventually get used to having a buncha tentacles or whatever if they live like that all the time.  But I don¡¯t get the chance! It¡¯s just like ¡®whup, you got six arms now, have fun dealin¡¯ with that for a few hours before they¡¯re all replaced with eyeballs or fungal growths or poisonous gas sacs.¡¯ Honestly, a big reason I settled here in Terranburg is just because, up until Elpis barged in, the place had been racist as hell and just about every other non-human got more or less forced to move out.  It sucked at first, but eventually everyone realized they couldn¡¯t kill me and just left me alone. People with natural magic give me the willies as well, because sometimes I¡¯ll take that from ¡®em too.¡±

    ¡°O...oh, is that so?¡± Shara asked sheepishly.  Could Adgito have possibly gotten mind reading abilities?  The now-woman wasn¡¯t acting like she suddenly had a sixth sense. ¡°In that case,¡± Shara said, ¡°you might want to find a different girl to poke if you¡¯re feeling the feminine urge.  I have the odd bit of natural magic myself.¡±

    Adgito chuckled to herself.

    ¡°If you¡¯re afraid I¡¯ve stolen your lie detector, don¡¯t sweat it,¡± Adgito reassured. She grabbed a tuft of her long hair and pulled it in front of her face where she could see it.  ¡°Yeah, still brown, see? If I had acquired your natural magic stuff it¡¯d have changed me to look like a real tall version of you. I¡¯d be all blonde and red-eyed and things. Thanks for the heads-up, though.  Now, we should head to that parade before all the good spots get taken.¡±

    If not for the greatly worrying issue of mind-read immunity, Shara would have probably been paying attention to nothing but Adgito this whole trek.  As they walked, Shara did her best to ignore the nagging hole in her mental senses and focused on a more inviting psychic issue: her newly feminine companion.  His-or-her whole situation was exactly the kind of absurd that Shara found to be deeply interesting. She hadn¡¯t noticed it the first time Adgito changed form, but when Adgito¡¯s body changed there was actually a tiny but distinct change in her mind as well.  It probably wasn¡¯t enough to make a significant impact on Adgito¡¯s personality, but whatever it was, it was there. That alone was nothing like anyone else Shara had encountered before, but even without it Adgito was a very interesting mental case. Shara wished she could have more time to hang around and get to know her, but unfortunately they couldn¡¯t afford to dally in Terranburg any longer than she was already planning to.

    Speaking of planned dalliances, Shara could not wait for this sweet parade.  The giant mass of grumpy, impatient people she¡¯d been trapped in so far had been a pretty nasty experience, but a giant mass of excited, joyful, celebrating people would basically be a nonstop mental onslaught of magnificence.  Given how crowded the streets were normally, Shara could only imagine how packed a special event like this would make them.

    The main thing hampering her excitement was the unfortunate fact that neither Adgito nor Darron wanted anything to do with this parade.  It made her feel a little bad for dragging them along, but Darron at least she knew would probably end up finding a way to enjoy himself a bit.  Adgito¡­ she didn¡¯t know. If people kept bumping into Adgito the whole time, would she just keep transforming over and over? Adgito had accidentally brushed up against a few people on their way to Mrs. Garnersworth¡¯s without changing forms, so it couldn¡¯t happen every time.

    Speaking of things that were bothering Adgito, Shara could tell there had been something causing her discomfort since they started walking again.  Glancing over at Mount Woman, Shara immediately found the obvious culprit at eye-level.

    ¡°Hey, uh, Adgito¡­¡± Shara carefully began, ¡°we still have a little bit of money left over.  Do you want me to buy you a bra?¡±

    Adgito looked down at her, confused.

    ¡°What?  Why?¡± she asked.  ¡°My shirt¡¯s plenty thick enough, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to cover up,¡± Shara explained. ¡°You just seem to be having... recoil issues?  It looks very uncomfortable.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Adgito said flatly.  She was definitely embarrassed talking about this, but more strikingly, bringing it up had actually made her original discomfort worse, as if she had been ignoring it up until now.  In retrospect, Shara supposed Adgito had to be pretty skilled at ignoring that kind of thing; she had been wearing pants fitted for someone nearly a foot shorter than her without underwear for an entire day, and hadn¡¯t so much as thought about complaining.  Perhaps one of her powers was chafe immunity?

    Still, with a figure like Adgito¡¯s, there was no way she moved around without proper support and didn¡¯t get sore.  With all the running, jumping, spinning and flipping Shara ended up doing on a daily basis, she kept her own chest bound up as much as she could comfortably manage to prevent any unwanted movement.

    Adgito was a whole different animal.  Adgito looked like she¡¯d get back pain from taking too many deep breaths, let alone actual exercise.  Her chest flopped around like the ears of a sprinting basset hound, leaving Shara to only wonder what cruel force originally cursed a fourteen-year-old kid with a body like this back when Adgito first got¡­ whatever this was.  Sure, Shara had seen bigger, and proportional to Adgito¡¯s height her breasts weren¡¯t unreasonably sized, but there was still no way they stayed comfortable for long on their own. So naturally, Shara was flabbergasted when Adgito declined her offer.

    ¡°Eh, no thanks,¡± she said, waving Shara off.  ¡°If I put on women¡¯s underwear I¡¯d just end up in drag a couple hours later.  I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Shara asked. ¡°It¡¯d just be a quick stop.¡±

    Staring down at Shara, Adgito gave a big sigh.

    ¡°You¡¯re really nice,¡± she eventually said. ¡°I dunno why you care about all this stuff.  But it¡¯s fine, okay? I¡¯m used to it. If they get sore it¡¯ll stop the next time I transform.  Now can we stop talkin¡¯ about my boobs?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see how it is,¡± Shara said, grinning.  She put her hands on her hips in mock offense. ¡°You can cheat your way out of the pain with your powers, huh?  What a gyp! I just wanted to do something nice for you!¡±

    Adgito turned around to face Darron. He was walking behind the two of them, absentmindedly gazing at the various street stalls.

    ¡°Is she always like this?¡± Adgito asked.

    ¡°No,¡± Darron said without looking up, ¡°she¡¯s usually much worse.¡±

    ¡°Well ex-cuuuse me for trying to have thirty seconds of girl talk!¡± Shara teased. ¡°I haven¡¯t had the chance to talk to any female creature less than ten years away from my own age since I started living with Darron!¡±

    ¡°Gerald¡¯s daughter was only eight years younger than you,¡± Darron corrected.

    ¡°Oh, well complaint retracted!¡± Shara groaned, rolling her eyes.

    ¡°Wait, what do ya mean ¡®started living?¡¯¡± Adgito asked. ¡°I thought you were siblings.¡±

    ¡°We are,¡± Darron said.

    ¡°Darron¡¯s family took me in after my birth parents died,¡± Shara explained.  ¡°But that was a long time ago. So now Darron¡¯s family is my family.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s pretty cool,¡± Adgito said. ¡°You¡¯re really lucky.  I don¡¯t even remember my parents.¡±

    ¡°Oh, is that so?¡± Shara smirked. ¡°Well then you can count yourself lucky, because I guarantee you it¡¯s more pleasant than vividly recalling the moment your parents were slaughtered.¡±

    Darron groaned.

    ¡°Are you two seriously competing over who had the most tragic past?  Weigh your broody angst someplace else.¡±

    ¡°Aww!¡± Shara whined playfully, ¡°But I was winning!¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh, you keep telling yourself that,¡± Adgito chuckled.  ¡°Man, you two could be a street show. I¡¯d pay to watch, if I had any money.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re desperate for social attention,¡± Darron grumbled. ¡°Most people have better things to do with their time.¡±

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re the guys that asked the hobo freak to show you the city, not the other way around.¡±  Adgito retorted.

    Shara stopped dead in her tracks, nearly causing Darron to bump into her.  Self-depreciative humor was all in good fun, but Adgito meant what she had said a little bit too much, and Shara couldn¡¯t just let that slide.  Adgito might have a bad habit of fishing for sympathy, but this time, she really needed it.

    ¡°You¡¯re not a freak,¡± Shara said, staring directly into Adgito¡¯s eyes. ¡°Your abilities might not always be convenient for you, but they¡¯re incredible.  If I¡¯ve got you figured right, you can adapt to anything.  Anything. If someone shoots a fireball at you, you just become made of fire?  That¡¯s amazing!  And I get that swapping forms all the time isn¡¯t very comfortable, but all of the ones I¡¯ve seen so far are super good-looking, and really cool.  You¡¯re a handsome man, a beautiful woman, and your powers are awesome.¡±

    As expected, Adgito was stunned speechless.  If that didn¡¯t pump her ego full of some much-needed air, nothing would.  Satisfied with her work, Shara added:

    ¡°Now let¡¯s go get a spot for that parade!¡±

    After crossing through some more alleyways, the three of them eventually came across the intersection of two enormous roads.  A row of town guards parallelled one of the roads, blocking traffic so the parade could run unimpeded. They were dressed mostly like Fraser and his boss had been, but they held nightsticks instead of heavy crossbows. Most of them were lulling around or chatting heartily with the nearby people, all gathered for the upcoming parade.  The excitement in the air filled Shara to bursting.

    There was no way she was getting a front-row seat, though.  Apparently, some people had been camping the parade route since daybreak.  So much for Shara¡¯s claim that Adgito was the only one with nothing better to do today.  Still, there were a few spots with a good view left unclaimed.

    ¡°So, here¡¯s my thoughts,¡± Shara said to Adgito as she scoped out possible parade-viewing spots, ¡°You don¡¯t wanna be brushing up against a bunch of people because it you might transform, right?  But I bet you can¡¯t transform into a woman if you already are a woman, right?  That wouldn¡¯t make any sense.  Ah-ha!¡±

    She pointed to a nearby open spot, surrounded by large groups of girls that had come to see the parade together.

    ¡°We stand there.  If the crowd gets too scrunched up, you¡¯ll have nothing touching you but beautiful women.  It¡¯s a win for you and Darron!¡±

    Darron grunted in annoyance, while Adgito laughed.

    ¡°You might be onto something, but what if one of those girls has like, a natural magic talent for causing people¡¯s eyeballs to explode, and I acquire that on accident?¡±

    ¡°Then everyone¡¯s barriers will completely prevent it functioning on them,¡±  Darron butted in, ¡°unless you spend a lot of conscious effort pumping strength into that power.  And since I¡¯m fairly sure you don¡¯t have that kind of psychosis, I suspect everyone¡¯s eyeballs will continue being able to enjoy the parade even if such a situation occurs.  Besides, if you did acquire a deadly natural magic talent, the odds of you stumbling across the verbal or somatic components on accident are extremely small.¡±

    Adgito shook her head.

    ¡°Not all kinds of natural magic have a physical trigger like that,¡± she said. ¡°Your sister doesn¡¯t wave her arms around or speak some command word to use her lie detector thing, does she?¡±

    ¡°Shara¡¯s ability uses so little power it doesn¡¯t even attempt to prod the barrier,¡± Darron explained. ¡°Verbal and somatic spell components guide magic into denser and more complex forms.  You won¡¯t be able to use anything complicated enough to be a threat that doesn¡¯t require raw power or an activation ritual.¡±

    Adgito shrugged, unconvinced.

    ¡°Look, I dunno man,¡± she said, ¡°You seem really smart and you¡¯ve probably researched this a lot and know what you¡¯re talking about and all, but¡­ I¡¯ve seen some pretty crazy stuff.  I¡¯m not sure magic is the simple, rule-following academic construct you¡¯re making it out to be. But cool, whatever, let¡¯s go watch a parade.¡±

    ¡°Magic is a lot less complicated than people seem to think it is,¡± Darron grumbled as the three of them shuffled their way into the open spot on the street, ¡°In fact, it does exactly what it¡¯s told to do, and nothing else.  There are just a lot of things magical power interprets as viable commands, including its own current shape, that we¡¯re still figuring out.¡±

    ¡°And that doesn¡¯t strike you as complicated?¡± Adgito scoffed.

    Shara wasn¡¯t paying much attention to her companions¡¯ bickering.  She bounced uncontrollably up and down, heart racing, as the excitement flooded through her.  It built, higher and higher, to the point where she could tell where the front of the parade was by feeling waves of new people rise to feverish levels of jubilation when they first spotted it.

    She could hear the parade, now.  At first, the only sound was the roar of cheers from the townsfolk, but over their din she could now make out the music.  The head of the parade apparently contained a marching band, blasting a romping, powerful, upbeat melody from horns and other instruments Shara had never heard in her life.  The moment they rounded the street corner and came into view, Shara was hit so hard by the roars of exhilaration she nearly collapsed.

    With overwhelming volume, the band drowned out the cheers and celebrations of the townsfolk, leaving only music.  The tune was pure, throbbing victory: a primal, gratifying joy. It was so uplifting, not even Darron could manage to stay grumpy.  Prodding outwards, the collective consciousness of the crowd informed Shara that this was the Elpis national anthem.

    Elpis was so cool.  Hydronia had a stuffy, formal-sounding anthem, and Sentonis¡¯ was downright somber.  That kind of nonsense wouldn¡¯t do for the heroic nation of Elpis; hearing their song should be the embodiment of the kindness and strength they professed to represent.

    This was so cool.  The next section of the parade was about to come into view.  Shara couldn¡¯t wait to see what was in store.

    The parade rounded the corner, and all the excitement Shara was feeling dropped straight off a cliff, crashing and dying as it hit rock bottom.  The blood drained from her face. She stopped jumping, stopped moving, as the massive press of positive emotions tapped in vain against the shell of confusion, terror, and rage inside her.  The Elpis National Army had just come into view, marching in formation to the beat of the music and performing synchronized sword tricks. Their polished armor gleamed in the afternoon sun, just as it had gleamed off the glow from the fire as Shara¡¯s hometown had burned to the ground.  Shara remembered the massive ring of soldiers, encircling her parents in their final moments, throwing themselves at her family to buy time for their commander. These people, the Elpis National Army, had exactly the same uniforms.

 Bad Tactics

    The prospect of Elpis being the perpetrators in her family¡¯s death boggled Shara¡¯s mind.  Shara¡¯s home village of Aletheia had been located on the west edge of the northern plains, near two other towns called Nuxvar and Yidril.  Supposedly, one of the towns had instigated an unprovoked attack on the other two, slaughtering countless people. The nation of Elpis, located on the southern edge of the continent, thus funded a retaliation effort, hiring huge numbers of local mercenaries to wipe out the offending village despite having no apparent stake in any of the three northern towns.  The entire event was dubbed the ¡°Nuxvar Massacre,¡± as Aletheia and Yidril were too small to have been known by anyone outside of the area. Furthermore, Aletheia and Yidril were both wiped out entirely, with the obvious exception of Shara herself. Since Nuxvar was well known to be one of the victims and Shara knew her village wouldn¡¯t have attacked, that meant Yidril must have been the perpetrator that was afterwards obliterated by the nation of Elpis.  Nuxvar likely avoided being destroyed entirely because Aletheia had decimated the attacker¡¯s ranks in their last stand, which comforted Shara a little.

    Elpis is a very young country, less than fifty years old, so it was generally assumed that they funded the retaliation effort as a publicity stunt to let the nations of the north know they weren¡¯t a power to be comfortably ignored.  Whatever their motives, Shara had thought she owed them a debt for avenging her family, which was among the many reasons she was excited to see the parade.

    But this changed everything.  Elpis was supposed to have attacked only the village that instigated the Nuxvar Massacre, and there¡¯s no way her family did that!  Not only would her parents not just randomly attack innocent people, but there was no incentive. Most of the essentials Aletheia didn¡¯t make themselves were obtained by trading mercenary work for commissions by crafters or farmers in Nuxvar.  If Nuxvar fell, Aletheia might not have been able to support itself independently.

    Yes, sure, Shara was not very old at the time.  There could have been a lot of political stuff going on that she didn¡¯t know about.  But still, her family wouldn¡¯t solve their problems by going out and slaughtering a village!  Aletheia being the culprit of the Nuxvar massacre was not a possibility.

    ¡°Hey, Shara, are you doing okay?¡± Darron asked, moving up next to his sister.  ¡°You just kind of froze for a second there.¡±

    Very briefly, Shara considered flashing on her poker face and bluffing her way out of the awkwardness.

    ¡°I¡­ no.¡± Shara said. ¡°I¡¯m not okay at all.  Those people¡­ the Elpis army people, are wearing the same uniforms as the people who killed my family.¡±

    Darron¡¯s eyebrows rose, which was about as surprised as his face was going to get.  Inside, his mind was racing.

    ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Completely.¡± Shara affirmed.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Adgito asked.

    ¡°Elpis must have slaughtered all three villages,¡± Shara accused, ¡°and just pinned it on someone else to walk out looking like heroes.  Why else would they have even gone out there?¡±

    ¡°That seems unlikely,¡± Darron said, shaking his head, ¡°for exactly that reason.  ¡®Why would they have even gone out there?¡¯ Why would Elpis care about Nuxvar, Aletheia, or Yidril enough to genocide them?  Even assuming they had a motive, why would they slaughter a bunch of towns in uniform and then spare half of Nuxvar, leaving countless witnesses?  Why would you have seen their uniforms at all? If I was in charge of a country, and I wanted to attack someone but not be held accountable for it, the first thing I¡¯d do is not put my country¡¯s standard emblazoned on their armor.¡±

    That¡­ made sense.  That made a lot of sense.  Shara did her best to calm down, pulling in more of the positive emotional influence from outside.  It mostly made her more hyperactive, though.

    ¡°So, what do you think happened?¡± Shara asked, breathing through her teeth as calmly as she could manage.

    ¡°Off the top of my head?  I¡¯d guess it mostly went down as we thought earlier: Yidril wipes out your village, nearly wipes out Nuxvar, and is in turn wiped out by Elpis... just with one significant change.  The people of Yidril wore Elpis uniforms when they attacked in order to try and frame Elpis. That explains why you saw Elpis uniforms, and it explains the bigger question of why Elpis cared enough about three random villages on the opposite side of the continent in order to march troops all the way out there: they had a reputation to protect.¡±

    ¡°I guess that makes sense,¡± Shara sighed, ¡°but why would Yidril try to frame Elpis?¡±

    Darron shrugged.

    ¡°How should I know?¡± he asked, ¡°They¡¯re all dead now.  Gut reaction says Sentonis paid them to; that kind of dirty trick is right up their alley.  But this is all theory.¡±

    It made sense.  It made a lot of sense, but Shara still wasn¡¯t convinced.  Turning back to the parade, she scanned the mind of a random soldier.  Kssssht.  Oh, he was one of the unreadable ones.  She picked another. Kssssht.

    Getting increasingly frustrated and increasingly suspicious, Shara tried the minds of over twenty soldiers before finally finding one she could read.  Inside it she found¡­ nothing of interest. Flip, spin, throw, catch, turn, flip, throw, spin¡­ he was just mentally rehearsing his routine for the parade.  Emotionally, he was slightly worried about screwing up, but mostly just excited and proud to be a part of the show.  A random, uninteresting, normal man. Certainly much less interesting than the apparent fact that over ninety-five percent of the Elpis National Army was immune to Shara¡¯s mind-reading abilities.  If that was a coincidence, Shara would stick her dagger back where she first found it.

    A cheer erupted from the nearby crowd, crashing the excitement and joy from their minds back into Shara¡¯s suspicion.  Next in the parade, sitting atop a powerful and regal horse, sat a man adorned in gleaming ceremonial armor. He looked very old, face wrinkled and nose crooked, but he sat with the grace and power of a man in his prime.  A kind, soft smile sat on his lips as he waved to the crowd, golden plate gauntlets scattering sprays light all around the street. His other hand rested on his knee, clutching the reins of his horse along with a small, tattered book that looked as old as he was.  On his hip nestled a compartment for holding all manner of throwing daggers.

    No way.  Was that him?  Clenching her fists and shaking with rage, Shara touched his mind.  She recognised it at once. It was a mind she could never forget, as long as she lived.

    ¡°Your theory just got debunked,¡± Shara hissed, barely restraining herself from crashing through the crowd to assault the murderer that slaughtered her parents.

    He was here.  Who was he? She scanned the heads of the nearby people staring at him, looking for a recurring name.  Gadiel. His name was Gadiel. Gadiel Halcomb, Commander-in-Chief of all Elpis military forces, personally oversaw the attack on Aletheia.  He was there. He killed both of Shara¡¯s parents, and nearly killed her too.

    ¡°What do you mean, ¡®debunked?¡¯¡± Darron asked. ¡°Did you learn something?¡±

    What¡­ should she do?  Elpis hadn¡¯t avenged her family at all, they had killed them.  She needed to do something. She needed to kill that man, but¡­ that wasn¡¯t possible.  There was a huge crowd of people in the way, and they¡¯d get seriously hurt if Shara just charged through them.  Plus, an important man like that doubtless had magical enchantments and protections, not to mention the literal army he was marching with at his command.  She didn¡¯t stand a chance, but¡­ she had to do something!

    ¡°Hey!  Shara!¡± Darron said, raising his voice.  ¡°What did you find out?¡±

    Find out!  Right, she needed more information.  She should find out what he was thinking.  Swallowing her revulsion, she stared directly at her family¡¯s murderer and took a deep dive into his mind.  It gave. Unlike the soldiers he was commanding, she could read his mind easily.

    Hmm, this is the area Marisol told me about, Gadiel thought.  The name ¡°Marisol¡± meant a lot to him; there were overtones of love and admiration mixed with undertones of worry at the thought of her.  The red-eyed girl should be somewhere on this street.  He was scanning the crowd as he daintily waved, looking for two circles of deep crimson red.  Looking for her. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    I seriously doubt any Aletheians survived, but Marisol seemed very certain the girl could read minds.  Hopefully, it¡¯s a misunderstanding¡­ mind readers popping up randomly isn¡¯t much better of a situation than a stray clan member managing to fool us.  Shara saw her own enraged face as his gaze passed over her, mind ringing with recognition. He didn¡¯t pause his methodical wave for an instant.

    That was certainly her.  Blonde hair, red eyes, armed, standing next to a tall, dark-haired woman in a black shirt.  She certainly looks like an Aletheian, no doubt there. But can she read minds...? Hmm. Perhaps you would be so kind as to make this easy on me?  If you are currently reading my mind, it would save me a lot of trouble if you gave me some kind of sign.

    So, here was the man who had killed her parents, smiling pleasantly in front of her, politely asking her a question with his brain.  Shara wanted nothing more than to pull out the dagger Aelius had given her and toss it through his head, but he¡¯d probably just block it somehow.  Gadiel was feeling a lot of things: satisfaction, appreciation, worry, doubt¡­ but concern over his well-being was not one of them.  He was supremely confident that he wasn¡¯t in any danger, and he had the kind of mind wise enough to know that confidence was well-founded.

    She¡¯s not moving, Gadiel thought. If you are trying to give me a sign, you¡¯re not doing a very good job of it.  I suppose I¡¯ll keep talking to you, though, just in case. It would be foolish to let my mind wander, and I find directing my thoughts at someone helps me focus.  Besides, the way you¡¯re glaring at me¡­ I find it hard to believe you¡¯re just here to enjoy the parade.

    Getting called out on staring instinctively made Shara flinch, which Gadiel immediately picked up on.

    Hmm, it looks like you reacted to that.  I¡¯m definitely starting to see why Marisol was so convinced¡­ and yet.  There¡¯s no doubt that all the Alethieans are dead. We confirmed every body.

    As he thought that, a memory flashed through his mind of a young, blonde-haired girl, lying limp against a tree, dagger impaled through her head.  The girl was her, obviously, so Shara was thankful his memory of the girl''s face was fuzzy enough to be blank. A cold wave of regret tore out from his mind as she took in the blurry, faceless representation of her own corpse.  Regret, huh? Well, even if he didn¡¯t want to murder children, the bastard still tried.

    Yet here you are, a red-eyed mind reader.  You look like you could have been there. Hmm, how old are you?  Seventeen, maybe eighteen? You would have been so young at the time.  The Aletheians¡­ were a truly astounding people. Such incredible strength, drive, and conviction.  I wish I had gotten the opportunity to speak with them on more cordial terms. Coming from him, the genuine admiration felt insulting to Shara.  You should be proud to share their appearance, and their abilities.  Possibly even their heritage, though if you were somehow present at that battle, I simply must hear the story of how you managed to fool us into thinking you were dead!

    Well, actually being kind of dead for a while helps with that.  As far as Shara was aware, Aelius was about the only thing in the universe that could have caused her to survive those injuries.

    I¡¯m quite certain there were no illusions involved, and we confirmed that none of the Alethieans had access to teleportation magic in advance. Every corpse was accounted for, and unless they had been hiding a child underground for three years, we¡¯d have known about it.  His thoughts continued almost automatically.  Every so once in awhile, Shara would feel the blip of a secondary line of thought crop up, but Gadiel would return his focus immediately.  Normally, a person¡¯s thoughts would branch and Shara could pick up subconscious information easily, but Gadiel kept a tight hold on his focus.

    So¡­ who are you, and if you really can read minds, how did you get that ability?  A mind-reading spell has been the pipe dream of every intelligence organization since the dawn of civilization, and we still don¡¯t have anything close.  I highly doubt that you¡¯re a fletchling wizard who just stumbled upon the right command words. No, you¡¯ve got natural magic¡­ but was it random, is there another mind-reading clan we don¡¯t know about, or did you somehow survive when the rest of your people fell?

    At this point, the Gadiel¡¯s section of the parade was close to leaving Shara¡¯s field of vision.  He turned his head back, finally meeting her gaze directly.

    The answers to those questions are very important to me.  I do hope you plan to stay in the city for a while, so that we can¨C

    Shara felt Gadial pull out of her maximum range, like popping a bubble from the inside as she strained to keep a hold on his thoughts.  In a rush, her senses returned their focus to herself as the crashing excitement of the parade crowd hit her once again. Darron¡¯s hand was on her shoulder.  She hadn¡¯t even felt him put it there. How could she let her guard down like that? Paying too much attention to someone else¡¯s head like that was suicidal.

    ¡°...You back with us?¡± Darron quietly asked.  Shara looked up and nodded in affirmation.

    ¡°S...sorry,¡± she managed to stammer.  ¡°I managed to confirm¡­ I mean, it definitely wasn¡¯t just Yidril in disguise.  I remember that commander guy personally. He killed¡­ them. My old family.¡± Darron raised an eyebrow.

    ¡°The commander-in-chief of the Elpis armed forces personally participated in the killing of your people?¡± he asked for confirmation.  Shara nodded.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Darron muttered, ¡°That¡¯s just bad tactics.¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± Adgito interrupted, ¡°I¡¯m more than a little lost here.  You just kinda started talking about the Nuxvar massacre and then glared at some guy for a solid minute and now there are a bunch of soldiers heading our way.  Can someone explain to me what¡¯s going on?¡±

    Soldiers?  Shara looked around in a panic, and sure enough spotted quite a few more Elpis uniforms nonchalantly wedging themselves into the packed plaza.  She couldn¡¯t read any of their minds. A group of three soldiers in particular were walking right towards Shara¡¯s group, politely pushing aside the mosh of parade-viewers as they made their way closer.   Instinctively, Shara stepped between them and Darron, placing a hand on the hilt of her sword. After a moment¡¯s consideration, however, she removed it. Even though she couldn¡¯t be sure¡­ no, because she couldn¡¯t be sure if these soldiers were in any way responsible for the death of her family, she shouldn¡¯t be resorting to murdering them.  She would get her revenge, but only on the people that deserved it.

    The three soldiers finally parted the gaggle of girls Shara¡¯s crew had been watching the parade by, and approached to address her directly.

    ¡°Excuse me, miss,¡± the one in the middle said, ¡°but I have to ask you to come with us.¡±

    Shara glared at them.  They were far better armed than the nightstick-wielding city guard that was here to keep the peace.  The Elpisian soldiers each had a one-handed sword, a backup knife, and an impressive metal heater shield, although all of these weapons were currently stowed for the sake of polite conversation.  They also had face-revealing helmets, apparently preferring a greater field of vision over superior protection. All three of them were men, and they looked at Shara with worried and reluctant expressions.

    ¡°What happens if I say no?¡± Shara asked, ¡°Because odds are high that I will do that.¡±

    ¡°...Then we will be forced to place you under arrest,¡± the soldier responded.

    ¡°On what charge?¡±

    ¡°Under orders from Intelligence Chief Marisol, you are charged with two-hundred and sixteen counts of conspiracy to commit murder.¡±

    Shara blinked.

    ¡°Pardon...?¡± She had been expecting some kind of silly trumped-up charge as an excuse to get arrested, but not quite that trumped up.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry miss, I don¡¯t know all the details,¡± the soldier explained, ¡°but I¡¯ve been instructed to take you in.  I¡¯m sure it¡¯s all a misunderstanding and you¡¯ll be released after a quick questioning.¡±

    That was quite possibly the dumbest and most obvious lie Shara had ever heard in her life.  Two hundred charges of ¡°conspiracy to commit murder?¡±  Even if these people actually believed in those absurdly overblown charges, they¡¯re not just going to go ¡°whoops, sorry!¡± to something like that after a quick game of twenty questions!  Not to mention the fact that the accusation was so brazenly fabricated they may as well have charged her with ten thousand counts of illegal llama wrangling.

    Nonetheless, the surrounding crowd started to take notice and give Shara¡¯s group a wide berth.

    ¡°Hey!¡± butted in a confused-sounding Adgito, ¡°Seriously!  Would someone tell me what¡¯s going on? Shara, what are these guys talking about?¡±

    Shara had, admittedly, somewhat forgotten about Adgito.  The poor woman was a little overwhelmed with this whole situation, having just met a new friend and then suddenly being told she¡¯s some kind of mass-murderer.  Or mass-conspirator? Adgito hadn¡¯t really paid attention to the whole exchange, she had just heard a really big number followed by ¡°murder¡± and then had that concept applied to someone she liked a lot but honestly didn¡¯t know very well.

    To Adgito¡¯s credit, she was absolutely taking this revelation with a grain of salt.  She seemed half-ready to support Shara in whatever she was about to do, but Shara wasn¡¯t interested in getting Adgito involved.  Adgito was a kind person, and didn¡¯t need to be dragged into Shara¡¯s personal messes.

    ¡°Th-They¡¯re talking out of their asses, Adgito,¡± Shara managed, ¡°I haven¡¯t done any of those things.  So¡­ don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be cleared up if we go with them, just like they said.¡±

    Adgito seemed unconvinced.

    ¡°Please,¡± Shara pleaded, ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡±  The soldier cleared his throat.

    ¡°I am also obligated to point out that those who stand with the accused may be brought under suspicion of accessory to her crimes,¡± he explained.

    ¡°Eh, that doesn¡¯t sound so bad,¡± Adgito said, and kicked the soldier in the face.

 Think This Through

    Adgito gripped her bare toes around the brim of the soldier¡¯s helmet as her foot made contact, turning the kick into a huge step forward that slammed the soldier backwards onto the ground.  The impact made the metal brim dig into the underside of Adgito¡¯s foot enough to trigger a transformation, flattening out her features to become more masculine and rapidly reshaping Adgito¡¯s body into a living metallic juggernaut.

    He now looked more or less like his basic male form, except his body gleamed with the same shining white metal that the Elpis soldier''s armor was made out of.  He appeared as a statue of himself, and it became clear the metal wasn¡¯t for show as the soldier he stepped on pulled out his dagger and clanked it uselessly against Adgito¡¯s calf.

    Well, mostly uselessly.  It did succeed at tearing a hole into Darron¡¯s on-loan pants, but Adgito was frankly feeling lucky they had lasted as long as they did.

    The two soldiers on either side of him quickly had their swords out and moved to cut him down.  The full-size blades were much heavier and swung with far greater force than a dagger from a pinned man, staggering Adgito with their combined weight as they crashed into his backside.  They failed to pierce his metal body, but the impact still hurt.

    Shara was on top of one an instant afterwards, knocking him five feet back with a punch that crumpled the front of his armor into scrap.  Adgito¡¯s brain had to do a bit of a double-take at that one. She punched his armor into scrap?  What kind of milk did this girl drink?

    Before he could finish processing that, Shara grabbed Darron under one arm, hooked Adgito¡¯s waist under the other, and leapt¨C soaring over the heads of the soldiers and into the rapidly-panicking crowd with a crash.

    ¡°Aelius¡¯s piss you are HEAVY!¡± Shara growled as she broke off into a crowd-scattering sprint, still carrying both men.  The incredible speed she was able to travel startled Adgito almost as much as her absurd punch.

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m heavy!¡± Adgito countered back, ¡°I¡¯m like, solid metal!  You shouldn¡¯t be able to lift me at all! What kinda crazy ogre girl are you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m crazy??? You just started a fight with a nation in the middle of their own parade!  Not that I¡¯m not flattered, but seriously? Not the best time!¡±

    Adgito looked across Shara over at Darron, who was dangling in her arms with a bored expression that indicated he¡¯d traveled this way many times before.  He shrugged.

    ¡°It looks like you¡¯re outpacing them, at least, even with the extra baggage.¡± Darron observed.  ¡°But I suspect it¡¯s a temporary thing.¡±

    ¡°Very temporary!¡± Shara huffed, ¡°Adgito, how long are you going to stay like this?  You weigh almost as much as a cow!¡±

    ¡°If you move your hand so you¡¯re in contact with my skin, a transformation should trigger soon enough.¡± Adgito explained, letting the claim that he was just baggage slide for now.  Couldn¡¯t Darron just be grateful that Adgito tried to help?

    ¡°That¡¯s not really what I mean by ¡®temporary,¡¯¡± Darron grumbled.  ¡°I mean that there¡¯s only so long we can run from a nation.  It won¡¯t be hard for them to surround us with their men stationed all over the city.¡±

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll take the quickest route out of the city,¡± Shara said, ¡°and book it to Mount Phlegethos.  Adgito, where are we going?¡±

    Huh, where were they going?  Adgito had to admit he hadn¡¯t really thought this one through.  He just didn¡¯t like how those guys were picking on Shara, so he kicked them in the face.

    ¡°Eh, we¡¯re near the west edge of the city so just keep taking side-streets that head that way and you¡¯ll hit the outer wall pretty soon,¡± Adgito said. ¡°You guys can leave me here.  I¡¯ll be fine, I¡¯m just an accessory or whatever, right?¡±

    ¡°An accessory to murder.¡± Darron clarified.  ¡°Or at least an accessory to conspiracy to commit murder, but either way with over two hundred counts you¡¯ll probably get a life jail sentence.  At minimum.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget assault and battery on a military officer!¡± Shara chimed in.

    Oh.  That actually sounded rather bad.  Adgito had gone to jail before for getting in a tussle, but looking back it was mostly with other homeless people and undesirables, never anyone important.  He would sit back and enjoy his three hots and a cot for a few months and get out on good behavior most of the time. This¡­ was starting to look a little more serious than that.  Did he just become a terrorist, or something? He really didn¡¯t think this through.

    Was it so bad, though?  Sure, Adgito¡¯s life had stabilized recently.  Thanks to Mrs. Garnersworth, he¡¯d finally managed to get out of the worst of his depression and start living a comfortable enough life.  But¡­ he wasn¡¯t doing anything.  Today had been one of the most interesting and memorable days of his life, even before he became a maybe-terrorist.

    Speaking of maybe-terrorism, though, Adgito wasn¡¯t sure how innocent Shara really was.  She was kind, attractive, intelligent, patient, and thoughtful, but¡­ innocent? He really couldn¡¯t be sure.  She certainly left a nice first impression, and Adgito had acted on that, but now it was starting to look like she was also absurdly powerful and dangerously emotional.  But, wouldn¡¯t he be kind of emotional too in her situation? Something about these guys killing her family?

    Eh, it didn¡¯t really matter, Adgito decided.  He threw his chips in when he threw that kick, and it was too late to recoup his losses by folding now.

    ¡°Um, is it okay if I come with you guys?¡±  Adgito asked.

    Shara grinned widely, leaping over a few terrified bystanders.

    ¡°Oh, yes please!  I¡¯m counting on you to get us through the outer gate.¡±

    ¡°Um, what?¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re super heavy right now, right?¡±  Shara asked sweetly, barreling over a nearby guard.

    ¡°...Yes?¡±

    ¡°And, on a scale of one to ten¡­ how injured would you actually end up if someone slammed you super hard into a giant wooden door?  Hypothetically.¡±

    On second thought, maybe it wasn¡¯t too late to fold after all.

    ¡°...It would still hurt,¡± he replied.

    ¡°But no permanent injuries?¡± Shara pressed.  ¡°I don¡¯t want to use you like this, but I don¡¯t have a lot of options here.¡±

    Adgito really, really didn¡¯t think this through.

    ¡°I would probably be fine,¡± Adgito conceded, ¡°but don¡¯t you think you could use literally anything else for your battering ram instead?¡±

    ¡°Sure, but I¡¯d need a free hand,¡± Shara explained, ¡°Which means dropping you or Darron and feeding you to the army.  Even carrying your fat butt I¡¯m fast enough to outpace all the soldiers you pissed off, but I doubt you could keep pace.  And I know Darron certainly can¡¯t!¡±

    Darron shrugged nonchalantly as Shara wall-jumped up an alleyway to clear a hastily-strewn blockade, leaving boot-shaped holes in the side of the brick buildings.  Adgito had to admit¡­ he could not do that, or anything even remotely close. He was honestly shocked that anybody could, and was generally having a hard time processing that he was a participant in this absurd situation rather than just a bystander.

    ¡°Everything about this is terrible,¡± Darron informed Adgito reassuringly, ¡°and I¡¯d be fine with Shara just dropping you.  But since that¡¯s probably not happening, can we at least count on your help in getting us out of here? It¡¯s sort of your fault that we have to do this.¡±  Stolen story; please report.

    ¡°...Darron, this was pretty much guaranteed to happen as soon as Elpis put false charges on me,¡± Shara countered.  ¡°Adgito just upped the timetable. It¡¯s my fault we¡¯re in this mess, not his.¡±

    Darron grunted in response but didn¡¯t press the issue, for which Adgito was grateful.  He honestly kind of had to agree with Darron in this case: he¡¯d screwed up bad. The least he could do was try to pick up the pieces.  He opened his mouth to ask what he should do to help.

    ¡°Just try and stay as stiff as you can,¡± Shara said before he could make any noise, ¡°They¡¯re ready for us, and this is going to get rough.¡±

    Adgito did as instructed, and Shara brought him around to the front of her body, holding him up like a shield.  She did the opposite with Darron, holding him upside-down behind her back. It wasn¡¯t an elegant formation, as Adgito¡¯s larger body ended up completely blocking Shara¡¯s field of view, but it at least made firing on Shara or Darron from the front a very difficult prospect.

    Now that he was facing forward, Adgito could see that they had reached an open square, apparently evacuated except for the solid gathering of Elpis soldiers and town guardsmen lined up before the west gate.  The great walls of Terranburg stood firm behind them, with the wooden door that signified their freedom directly ahead. Crossbows of various sizes were in pointed their direction as an Elpisian officer called for the trio to stand down or be fired upon.  With nothing but flat, empty ground between them, Shara sped up.

    ¡°Eyes forward!¡± Shara commanded, ¡°Keep your attention on the guys with the biggest weapons!  Anything that can punch through you, I need to know about!¡±

    Adgito did as instructed, scanning the rank of attackers before them.  Metal crossbow bolts would sting, but he doubted any could punch through him in this form.  He was far more worried about mages¨C a solid spell would not only hurt like the mother he never had, it would likely also force Adgito to change forms, thereby making him vulnerable to crossbow bolts once again.  While Adgito seriously doubted he¡¯d be killed personally, being made of, say, lightning would probably work out badly for anyone trying to hold him as a shield.

    Fortunately, Shara¡¯s inhuman speed seemed to allow the three of them to reach the west square before any Elpisian mage lines could arrive.  Adgito saw only a single line of crossbowmen, and with a command from their officer all fifteen of them fired upon the approaching trio.

    The bolts struck true, but most of them clattered uselessly against Adgito¡¯s body, damaging little more than his outfit.  One or two connected a glancing blow against Shara¡¯s arm, which was wrapped around his body to hold him up, but got rejected by an invisible force that Adgito assumed to be the girl¡¯s barrier.  A single bolt hit her forearm dead-on, however, piercing through her defenses and inciting a hiss of pain from behind him. After thinking for a moment, Adgito moved his own arms to cover Shara¡¯s for the next volley, embarrassed for not thinking of it sooner.

    A thunderous crash suddenly tore into the ground next to Adgito, kicking up cobblestones and sending chips of the ground clattering against his frame.  What looked to be a giant spear had impacted the earth next to them, coming from... utop the wall?

    Adgito looked up for the first time to see that the army had rotated the titans-damned ballistas that were used to repel monsters to point inside the city.  Quite a few more were aimed in their direction, and an Elpisian officer politely informed them to once again stand down or face more than a simple warning shot.

    Now, see, that could punch through Adgito.  Even if he ended up being tougher than he thought, the force of a ballista round would absolutely knock Shara off her feet and send this whole escape plan to a crashing halt.  He opened his mouth to warn her, but she cut him off again. Rude.

    ¡°Okay, that was exactly the kind of thing I needed to know about!¡±  Shara yelled between his shoulder blades. ¡°Eyes up! Keep watch on all of those ballistas!  Don¡¯t let a single bolt catch you by surprise! Focus!¡±

    At this point, Adgito just wanted to surrender.  But in the heat of the moment he did as instructed once again, watching on in horror as the half-dozen ballistas aimed their way unleashed death around them.

    Shara kicked into high gear, weaving left and right with such force that Adgito felt he had been caught under whitewater rapids, yanked and slammed and twisted seemingly at random as the ground exploded around them.  Through the dust and the chaos Adgito felt another dozen crossbow bolts clatter against him, and heard Shara hiss out another grunt of pain. Yet they pulled out of the madness, and Adgito saw that bare seconds separated them from the gate.  It was closed, naturally, and while the large door was wooden rather than the solid stone of the rest of the walls, Adgito doubted even a brute like Shara could just knock it down on a whim. What the heck was her plan?

    ¡°I¡¯m throwing you!¡± Shara suddenly called out.

    ¡°Sorry, what?¡¯  Adgito asked.

    Shara hefted Adgito up with a light toss and re-grabbed him by the ankle.  Before he could start falling properly she yanked him around, spinning him like a discus.  Even Adgito¡¯s metal body felt like the centripetal force was going to pull him apart before he was finally hurled, with the full extent of Shara¡¯s considerable might, at the gate before them.

    Traveling at speeds he never imagined possible, Adgito crashed into infantry and scattered them like bowling pins.  He collided with the gate hard enough to make a catapult blush in embarrassment, rocking his body with a devastating vibration that left him completely stunned.  The wood splintered significantly, but the gate held.

    Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shara manage to pass her way through the opening he made in the military line, using her now-free hand to flip Darron right-side up.  He attached himself to her like a desperate and terrified backpack, legs crossed around her waist and arms wrapped just above her chest. The crossbow bolt from earlier was still wedged inside her arm, and she was bleeding heavily from a new gouge in her thigh.  Nonetheless, Shara continued her sprint towards Adgito without slowing down, and right when his stunned mind started to wonder how she was going to avoid running face-first into the wall, she jumped.

    Twisting backwards in the air, Shara coiled her legs back, aimed the soles of her feet at Adgito¡¯s impact spot, and¡­

    Oh no.

    Adgito¡¯s hazy mind had tried to get him to stand up in his post-collision confusion, placing him smack in the middle of the weakened wood and the one-woman wrecking ball.  Shara¡¯s dropkick caught him square in the chest, launching him the rest of the way through the splintered gate and causing him to tumble a couple yards out from the city before skidding to a stop.  Shara herself continued her flight through the new opening as well, but had a somewhat more elegant solution to slowing her momentum. Twisting around like a cat, she lightly tapped the ground with both arms and legs, turning her would-be faceplant into a second jump that ended with a perfect land on her feet.  A horrified Darron clung to his sister for dear life, cuts and splinters dripping light touches of red down any part of his body that hadn¡¯t been protected by heavy clothing.

    Immediately after regaining her bearings, Shara ran over to where Adgito lay crumpled on the ground and, for the first time since asking about it, made made contact with his metallic skin.

    ¡°Hey, you okay?  I¡¯m so sorry!¡± Shara asked as Adgito¡¯s battered body gratefully accepted the transformation, blossoming into womanhood once again as crumpled metal melted away into skin.

    ¡°Just¡­ peachy,¡± Adgito groaned.  The transformation process healed most of her actual injuries, but now she was just feeling sick.

    She really, really, really didn¡¯t think this through.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m picking you up again,¡± Shara informed her, and scooped Adgito up in bridal carry.  ¡°Sorry about that. But... also thank you! You saved our butts.¡± Before Adgito could respond, Shara was off and running again, hugging the west wall to the city as she traveled so the remaining ballista couldn¡¯t get an angle to fire.  By the time the soldiers picked themselves back up and made their way through the hole in the gate, Shara had put a considerable enough distance between them that nobody thought they¡¯d be able to successfully chase. A few errant crossbow bolts headed their way, but none found their mark.

    ¡°Darron, be my eyes behind and try to stop me from bleeding out,¡± Shara instructed.  ¡°Adgito, could you try to pull the crossbow bolt out of my arm in a bit? It¡¯s gonna be a nasty sprint once we hit the north edge of the city, and I¡¯d like to have all my limbs ready. Nothing but foothills between us and the mountains, they¡¯ll have a pretty clear shot.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of the mountains,¡± Darron said as he began to weave a spell, ¡°what exactly is your plan when we get there?  Are you just going to run us both all the way to Hydronia? We¡¯re not going to be able to gain much ground going up and over Mt. Phlegethos.¡±

    ¡°Right, of course not,¡± Shara responded.  ¡°We¡¯re going through Mt. Phlegethos.¡±

    Darron paused for a beat.

    ¡°Um, no?  Mt. Phlegethos is an active volcano.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sure, there¡¯s lava, but it doesn¡¯t erupt violently,¡± Shara said, ¡°It just kinda slowly trickles out or whatever, right?  The salufidi made some cave system as a shortcut through the middle of it, it¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°Shara, the salufidi can travel through there because they are thermotrophic.  They eat heat.  Pathway or not, the temperature inside the mountain would cook us alive!¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Shara said.

    The awkward silence that followed gave Adgito some time to adrenaline crash and truly begin processing how absurd her situation had suddenly become.  She had just been used as a living shield-turned-battering ram to help a possible mass-murderer escape from incarceration, as best she could tell? Returning to the city she once called home was a borderline impossibility.  Overall rating: not great.

    She¡¯d probably never even get to see Mrs. Garnersworth again.

    Adgito supposed it was not the first time she¡¯d royally screwed over her entire life before.  So far, it wasn¡¯t even the worst.  Besides, despite the accusations and the apparent evidence that Shara probably could kill hundreds of people if she really wanted to, Adgito couldn¡¯t bring herself to believe someone that had been so kind to her would be¡­ that kind of person.

    Besides, what were her other options?  At this point she could keep traveling with Shara or try to plead out as short a prison sentence as she could with no lawyer or knowledge of the law whatsoever.

    And hey, maybe this time, scrambling her whole life around will cause her to end up somewhere even better than before!

    ¡°Well Darron,¡± Shara suddenly said, ¡°I guess you have a few minutes to figure out some kinda spell that lets us travel through volcanoes, cuz otherwise we¡¯ll probably die.¡±

    Maybe not, though.

 Lifes Boon

    The little two-story house that once sat alone in the southern plains was no longer quite so lonely. Shara and Darron¡¯s monster hunting efforts had allowed other buildings to sprout up around it, giving birth to the small town of Borns. Aelius hated Borns, but he hates most places so he ended up wandering this way about twice a year regardless. It was a terrible place, but most places were actually worse. Besides, he had irons in the fire and it was still too early to cool them off.

    However, Aelius did not see the calm little hamlet he expected as he pushed his way through the last of the cornfield. Shara¡¯s adoptive family house was swarmed with official-looking people in crisp black uniforms. Their clothing was lightly armored, prepared for trouble but not expecting it. They fiddled about the place, poking at walls and excavating patches of dirt like some terrible crime had occurred and they were investigating its cause. Interesting. Today was going to be either amazingly entertaining, or a complete hassle.

    The situation dipped into possible hassle territory as Aelius approached the house and caught a closer look at the uniforms. Placed above the left breast was the symbol of a clenched fist, stylized so that streams of light appeared to pour out of the spaces between fingers. It gave the impression that the hand was trying to grasp something impossibly bright, desperately denying any force that would make it let go. Below, words Aelius recognised as the Elpis national motto were stylishly inscribed: ¡°We Can Always Be Better.¡±

    Obvious and pretentious, like most mottos. Aelius had never been to Elpis before. The country lay all the way down at the bottom of the continent, meaning he¡¯d have to pass through the entire southern plains to reach it. Aelius liked to walk (insofar as he liked much of anything), but that was a whole lot of nothing to try and cross without entertainment.

    Speaking of entertainment, one of the little Elpis goons noticed him as he approached the house. He was a blonde-haired boy, looking to be around Shishkabob¡¯s age. How old was she now? Nineteen? He should at least pretend to care. Anyway, the boy nodded cordially and returned to his work, which Aelius incorrectly chose to interpret as an invitation to go speak with him.

    ¡°Hello, my good man!¡± the Titan of Life addressed him. ¡°May I ask what, perchance, you are doing? That¡¯s a trick question, of course I can. What are you doing?¡±

    The boy sighed and turned to face him, but immediately adopted a more professional posture when he realized who he was dealing with.

    ¡°E...excuse me,¡± he said, ¡°but are you¡­ Aelius?¡±

    ¡°The one and only!¡± Aelius confirmed. ¡°Unless, I suppose, some fool parent was dumb enough to name a soon-to-be misfortunate kid after me. Gotta keep that name from wearing out, you feel me?¡±

    The boy furrowed his brow, which seemed to indicate he did not, in fact, feel him.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir,¡± he said politely, ¡°but I probably shouldn¡¯t be talking to you. If you have some business here, I can go get my supervisor, if you like.¡±

    Aelius hadn¡¯t been planning to humor this dumb kid with much of a chat in the first place, but now he suddenly wanted to.

    ¡°Oh no, I insist!¡± Aelius informed him with a grin, ¡°You and I are going to have a chat now, now two-ways about it! So, what are you doing here, chum?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir, but I must decline to comment. My supervisor can be found¨C¡±

    In a flash, Aelius had his hand around the boy¡¯s throat. He lifted the kid up into the air and slammed his back against the wall of Shara and Darron¡¯s old house. The Elpisian kicked and struggled, grasping at Aelius¡¯ wrist but finding no slack in the titan¡¯s grip.

    ¡°Perhaps you misheard me,¡± Aelius intoned, ¡°but I believe I insisted.¡±

    ¡°Y...you can¡¯t¡­ kill me¡­¡± the boy choked out.

    Ah, today would be a good day after all. Aelius leaned in close to the boy¡¯s ear, and with a manic grin he hissed:

    ¡°...How exactly do you think that works out in your favor?¡±

    Aelius reached into his robe and extracted a thin metal rod with a wooden hilt, its tip pointed and slightly angled. Slowly, carefully, he brought it closer to the boy¡¯s eye, savoring the quivering fear as he redoubled his futile efforts to escape.

    ¡°Death is a gift, you pathetic, stupid child,¡± Aelius continued, ¡°A kindness. Nature gave it to you to place a limit on the amount of suffering your body could take.¡±

    Aelius strengthened his grip, crushing the boy¡¯s windpipe. No sense ruining a perfectly good educational moment with something annoying like screams. Blood mixed with tears and flowed down onto Aelius¡¯ arm as he slowly and carefully began to gouge out the boy¡¯s eye. It would grow back immediately if he removed his extraction tool, so he took his time.

    ¡°I exist to remove that kindness,¡± he said, ¡°along with many others. A person¡¯s nerves, their sense of touch, would normally be damaged by severe injuries like this one. But I can keep them up and running at full effectiveness, even during situations like this!¡±

    Aelius suddenly dug his tool completely through the man¡¯s eye, stopping short of the brain, and then began to yank his tool around in random directions, pulling the boy¡¯s impaled eye around for the ride. The boy¡¯s body shuttered and convulsed as his airless lungs desperately tried to scream. Aelius found himself really getting into the moment, and kept his monologue flowing.

    ¡°Titan of Life, they say!¡± Aelius growled, ¡°Bringer of miracles! Savior of men! They love me as a father and worship me as a god! But none of them understand what I am, what life is! Life does not exist to please you, it exists to claim you! Life does not care for you, or for your family, or for your well-being, or for your happiness. It does not care, period. It exists only to continue.¡±

    Leaving the metal rod lodged in the boy¡¯s face, Aelius reached into his robe again, and pulled out a small seed.

    ¡°Life only wants to exist. At any cost, in any form. You are no more special to life than a bug, a worm, or a flower. You think and feel and love only because life has found that those things will allow it to continue. You love so that you will procreate. You feel so that you can know danger. And you think, so that you can learn to avoid that which is dangerous before it catches you.¡±

    Aelius smiled, his face so close to the boy that the only thing his one remaining eye could see was the Titan¡¯s perfect teeth.

    ¡°But you didn¡¯t quite think enough to realize that life itself is dangerous, did you? You told life that it couldn¡¯t kill you, as if life somehow hadn¡¯t thought of that. Why would life kill you, you pathetic, stupid child, when it far prefers your suffering?¡±

    Aelius gouged a larger hole in the boy¡¯s eye and swiftly inserted the seed inside of it. With a burst of Aelius¡¯ power, the seed violently blossomed, tunneling vines through the boy¡¯s flesh. Plant matter filled his throat, stuffed his lungs, and burst from his mouth, crawling along half of his face and meeting up with the vines growing down from his eye. The greenery quickly extended down his throat, burst through the walls of his stomach, and began wrapping themselves through and around his legs. Aelius dropped the boy, causing him to collapse to the ground in a heap, his one good eye leaking tears as the parasitic plant sapped too much of his strength to move.

    ¡°Now then, boy. Take life¡¯s boon. Accept my blessing, and live forever.¡±

    Gathering his strength, Aelius took a drop of his titanic power and planted it in the quivering mess of a young man, sealing his fate eternally. Well, unless Aelius took it back, he supposed, but he probably wouldn¡¯t bother. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    It had been a long time since Aelius had really cut loose like that, especially in front of witnesses. The stress of his unrelenting boredom must have really gotten to him. Usually he was a lot more¡­ personable with strangers. Keeping up appearances and maintaining good relationships opened up a lot more opportunities to catch people by surprise, which was half the fun.

    Speaking of witnesses, it seemed at least one of the other Elpisians had gone to get help. A dark-skinned woman approached from the house with an irritated look on her face. Her cropped black hair and relatively flat figure could have caused her to be mistaken for a man from a greater distance, but she was feminine enough to dispel such illusions up close. Aelius noted her uniform seemed to have a few more fancy stripes and insignias than the others, indicating she was likely the ¡°supervisor¡± his idiot toy and been talking about.

    The supervisor stopped as she entered Aelius¡¯ healing field, apparently noticing its effects, and stepped back to remove herself from it. Her dark eyes flicked about between Aelius and his unfortunate victim. A disgusted scowl passed over her face before it was suddenly wiped away with the most condescendingly fake smile Aelius had ever seen in his life.

    ¡°To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit, oh Titan of Life?¡± the woman asked contemptuously. Given the scene before her, Aelius sort of expected a little more frightful reverence than he was receiving. She was either too bad an actor to hide the hate in her voice, or she just had absolutely massive lady-balls.

    ¡°Funny thing, actually,¡± Aelius responded, ¡°I was trying to ask your kid here the same thing. Didn¡¯t seem to want to talk to me, though. I wonder who could have taught him to be so rude?¡±

    ¡°My sincerest apologies,¡± the woman deadpanned, clasping her hands behind her back, ¡°I will see to it that you are treated with more respect, so that we can avoid this situation in the future. To answer your question, we are here to assist in the relocation of the individuals that live here. Elpis is expanding, and we have need of agricultural workers to assist with the feeding of our populace. After extending an invitation with the promise of better and safer living conditions, the residents of this area agreed to immigration.¡±

    ¡°Oh, of course!¡± Aelius said, rolling his eyes, ¡°That explains why your men are poking around here for every little detail like it¡¯s some kind of¡­¡± he looked at his quivering victim with a grin, ¡°...murder scene?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it does,¡± the woman deadpanned again, ignoring his sarcasm entirely. ¡°May I ask once again what business you have here?¡±

    ¡°Business?¡± Aelius asked incredulously, ¡°My dear, I don¡¯t do business, only pleasure. But the reason it pleased me to be here is fairly simple: I am looking for someone. I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯ve seen her? Young woman, red eyes, blonde hair? Hobbies include weightlifting, juggling cows, and punching dragons? Answers to ¡®Shishkabob,¡¯ but only when I say it? She wouldn¡¯t happen to be among the people you¡¯re ¡®relocating,¡¯ would she?¡±

    Recognition flashed through the woman¡¯s face, and she looked distant, as if deep in thought.

    ¡°No¡­ she was not,¡± the woman eventually claimed, ¡°but I do know where she is. The two of you are¡­ acquainted?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah!¡± Aelius confirmed, ¡°She¡¯s my goddaughter. Get it? Goddaughter? Heh. So anyway, how about you tell me where she is?¡±

    The woman opened her mouth to speak, but stopped as she eyed Aelius¡¯ trembling, tortured plaything.

    ¡°...I suppose I could be willing to part with that information,¡± she sighed, ¡°if you would be so kind as to remove the¡­ ¡®gifts¡¯ you have bestowed upon my subordinate. I¡¯m afraid, as an officer, I can¡¯t afford to play favorites. Having one of my men so supernaturally blessed could lead to¡­ jealousy in the ranks. I¡¯m sure you understand.¡±

    Aelius couldn¡¯t help but giggle a little at the woman¡¯s absurdly political phrasing. Her apparent dedication to appeasing Aelius¡¯ ego with the way she worded things was so crushingly overshadowed by her obvious contempt that he had to assume she knew he knew it was an act. If so, was that part of the act? Most people treated Aelius with overwhelming reverence, and he was sick and tired of it. The way this woman to openly mocked that attitude was downright elating.

    ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re saying I just need to be fair, and give all your men the same treatment?¡± Aelius asked mockingly, and to his amusement everyone but the dark-skinned superior officer recoiled back in terror.

    ¡°No,¡± she simply said, ¡°just undo what you¡¯ve done to that one, please. Then I will tell you what I know of your goddaughter.¡±

    Ah, but this game was too fun to end so soon.

    ¡°Have you considered that I could simply torture the information out of you?¡± Aelius asked.

    ¡°You could try,¡± the woman conceded, ¡°but I think you would find it to be an enormous waste of time and effort for the both of us. Your purposes are better served by undoing the actions you have done to my subordinate.¡±

    Oh, such confidence! It was certainly tempting to test her resolve on that, but Aelius supposed that game wasn¡¯t as fun the more times he played it in a day.

    ¡°What makes you think I¡¯d be willing to part with him so readily?¡± he countered instead. ¡°I¡¯m sure I can find Shishkabob on my own eventually. Why is your information worth this boy¡¯s life?¡±

    The woman smiled sweetly, but her eyes looked at him with disgust.

    ¡°Because you do not actually care about that boy¡¯s life. My information is worth it because he isn¡¯t worth anything to you.¡±

    Aelius grinned widely. Not the argument he was expecting, but easily the best one he¡¯d ever heard.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re so very correct. But here¡¯s the problem: I don¡¯t actually care about my ¡®goddaughter¡¯ either. I¡¯ve been coming around and playing nice with her every so once and a while, it¡¯s true, but I just thought it would be fun to crush the innocent trust of a child someday. I suppose it will take me longer to find her if you don¡¯t spit out the answer when I cut you open, but I¡¯m sure the screams you¡¯ll make will be more than enough comfort for the longer journey.¡±

    The woman once again didn¡¯t react to his threats, a trait Aelius couldn¡¯t decide if he found annoying or exciting.

    ¡°...Well then,¡± she murmured, ¡°perhaps I can give you something else to sweeten the deal?¡±

    ¡°Lady, if you¡¯re coming on to me, you should know that I find all mortals to be equally hideous and disgusting, yourself included.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ no!¡± the woman growled, ¡°I mean I have more information I¡¯d be willing to trade with you. Something I guarantee you will care very much about.¡±

    ¡°Well?¡± Aelius prompted, ¡°Out with it, then!¡±

    ¡°You have a daughter.¡±

    ¡°...Come again? You do remember the thing I said about finding people hideous and disgusting, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, well, in your process of affirming that, we believe you had questionably consensual relations with a woman in Sentonis five-thousand eight-hundred and ninety-three days ago. That woman gave birth to a girl, two-hundred and forty-three days later.¡±

    ¡°Lady, you can just say she¡¯s fifteen years old like a normal goddamn person. How long have you guys been stalking me? Actually wait, I don¡¯t care. Better question: why do you think I would want to associate with anything even remotely related to me? Even I know I¡¯m an asshole. And hoo boy, if you think I¡¯m going to rush off and develop some kind of paternal instinct¨C¡±

    ¡°Your relationship isn¡¯t what makes her interesting,¡± the woman said, cutting him off. ¡°It is the cause of what makes her interesting. Your daughter is also a Titan.¡±

    Aelius shrugged. ¡°So?¡±

    The woman took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. She gritted her teeth in disgust, suddenly dropping any pretence of civility.

    ¡°Aelius¡­ they call you the Titan of Life, but you are nothing more than an overgrown child. You have been playing with the same set of toys for longer than you can remember, amusing yourself with your favorite games over and over again, but none of them are quite as fun as they used to be, are they?¡± She raised up her palm, gesticulating with the first major show of passion she¡¯d displayed so far. ¡°Aren¡¯t you tired of it? The eternity of stagnant boredom? Isn¡¯t it time to put down your toys and deal yourself into a bigger game, where the other players actually have a shot to win? When will you realize your ennui stems not from this world¡¯s lack of entertainment, but from your own laziness towards seeking it? Why should you pretend to be satisfied with the paltry suffering of us mortals, when you could work to destroy a Titan?¡±

    Aelius smiled, a genuine, joyful smile that he hadn¡¯t felt in quite some time. This was a woman that hated him, truly and completely. Yet while she seemed to despise his cruelty, here she was encouraging him to go and give cruelty his all. Who is this enigma? What does she want?

    ¡°What¡¯s your name, woman?¡± Aelius asked.

    ¡°You may call me Marisol,¡± she responded, glaring through narrowed eyes that somehow stared down at him from half a foot below his height.

    ¡°I believe this is the start of something beautiful, Marisol,¡± Aelius claimed. ¡°I will remove my blessings from your subordinate, if you would be so kind as to tell me about my daughter.¡±

    ¡°Your daughter¡¯s name is Neoma,¡± Marisol said with a smile, ¡°and she is the Titan of Annihilation. I do hope her powers will not be a danger to you.¡±

    Ah, those scathing words. Aelius soaked them in as Marisol continued to explain where his daughter could be found and how she could be tracked. Never in his life had Aelius met someone who truly understood him like this. Her pronouncements had shaken him deeply. As loath as he was to admit it, she was right. It was past time to play a much bigger game. There would be time for minor pleasures along the way, but for the first time in a long time he had something to do that made him feel¡­ alive.

    Marisol was wrong about one very important thing, however. True, most mortals weren¡¯t worth his efforts, but it would seem some of them were exceptional indeed, like Shishkabob, her father, and, oh, especially Marisol herself. That grumpy, dark-skinned woman was the true prize. Why, if he didn¡¯t know any better, he might think he was falling for her.

    For now, however¡­ it was time for a family reunion.

 Personal and Pragmatic

    ¡°Hoo-ee!  Nice job, Darron!¡± Shara exclaimed, stretching her exhausted limbs, ¡°I can¡¯t even see the entrance to Mt. Phlegethos anymore, and we still haven¡¯t burned to death!¡±

    It had been a hard sprint to reach the cave mouth to Mt. Phlegethos, but the troops that had been dispatched to chase didn¡¯t seem inclined to follow into the volcano.  Darron claimed that a normal human would die of heatstroke in under an hour without magical assistance, and it would take a very powerful thermomancer to insulate the kind of manpower Elpis needed to take Shara and her crew down.  The risk of being followed by Gadiel was there, but he seemed to deem his work in the city more important than a single fugitive.

    ¡°It¡¯ll get hotter up ahead,¡± Darron claimed.  ¡°Let me know immediately if you start feeling uncomfortable.  This is my first try at a spell like this, so it¡¯ll take some trial and error.¡±

    As much as Shara¡¯s instincts demanded she crack some joke at her brother, the insulation spell Shara had banked on Darron inventing was serious business.  There were dozens of flaws with it¨C most notably, Darron had designed it to function like a curse, drawing on the target¡¯s innate magical power to sustain itself.  While that reduced the strain on Darron, it could be very dangerous if conditions caused it to draw on too much power. Furthermore, if it somehow got dispelled or stopped working Shara would have to drop her barrier completely to allow Darron to cast it again, which could be lethal in an environment this hostile.

    ¡°Got it, bro,¡± Shara responded, and turned to her other companion. ¡°Adgito, are you sure you¡¯re okay without?¡±

    The tall woman had denied getting a spell cast on her and wasn¡¯t looking too good under the sweltering heat.  She was sweating like crazy, panting like a dog as she staggered forward.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± she said, ¡°I¡¯ll be fine pretty soon.  I¡¯m just looking for¡­ ah, here we go.¡±

    The winding cave they were walking down took a bend, and as the trio turned the corner they saw it open up into an enormous, multi-layered cavern of terrifying beauty.  Stone walkways stretched across bubbling pools of magma, some of them snaking upward towards the top of the chamber. Multiple stories of rock towered upwards, with magma falls cascading down and around them.  The stone looked natural but the delibracy of everything in the room indicated it was artificially shaped, likely with an enormous amount of geomancy. The cavern glowed a soft red, giving the entire room a beautiful, alien atmosphere.  Shara couldn¡¯t help but stop to admire it.

    ¡°Yo, Darron, look away for a second,¡± Adgito commanded, as instead of admiring the scenery she immediately began to strip.  Tossing her tattered shirt and Darron¡¯s ruined pants towards Shara¡¯s face, she dashed off towards the edge of the platform they were on and leapt off it, plummeting towards the magma below.

    ¡°Catapult stone!¡± she laughed, curling up into a ball mid-air and letting herself impact one of the hottest and most dangerous substances on the planet with a satisfying sploosh.

    Shara just watched with a smile on her face while Adgito sunk beneath the surface of the magma pool.  She could tell that Adgito didn¡¯t consider whatever she was doing to be dangerous. In fact, Adgito seemed to be looking forward to this, which was relieving.  The poor thing had been understandably down in the dumps since the gang had started fleeing from the Elpis army, and it was nice to see Adgito¡¯s carefree attitude returning a bit, for a number of reasons.

    From both a personal and pragmatic standpoint, Shara was invested in getting Adgito to continue traveling with herself and Darron.  She liked the strange sometimes-woman. Her awkwardness adorable, like watching a three-legged puppy learn to walk. While most people¡¯s would be annoying, Adgito¡¯s social ineptitude was tempered with enough effort and genuine goodwill to be cute, if in a somewhat pitiable way.

    Less pitiable was Adgito¡¯s ridiculous powerset.  Shara could understand the girl¡¯s unwillingness to use her abilities due to the discomfort they provided, but she couldn¡¯t really empathise with it.  Yes, they did make Adgito feel terrible, but Shara had always been taught to not accept physical discomfort as an excuse. Adgito¡¯s powers were unruly, difficult to control, and generally bothersome, sure, but they also seemed to render Adgito nearly invincible under the right conditions.  She wasn¡¯t unbeatable, but it would take a significant coordinated effort to bring her down.

    Hence Shara¡¯s pragmatic reasons for wanting Adgito to stick around.  If she could shape that shapeshifter into even a slightly more competent brawler, the trio would gain a massive advantage in their future engagements with the enemy.  An Adgito that is both capable and willing to adapt their form on the fly would decimate an inflexible unit of identically-trained conscripted soldiers. There were also other considerations, like the information Adgito could provide to Elpis if she ended up getting caught.  Shara didn¡¯t know how much Elpis knew about her and Darron¡¯s abilities, their plans to reach Hydronia, or any of the other things they¡¯ve shared with Adgito, but there was no point in making their intel gathering any easier than it needed to be.

    All of these considerations hinged on one of two things: Adgito being too afraid of Elpis¡¯ wrath to leave, or Adgito simply liking her company so much that she didn¡¯t want to, ideally both.  Each would keep the trio together and serve as much-needed encouragement for the lazy and reluctant Adgito to put more effort into training her abilities. Plus, the poor thing desperately needed a friend.

    ¡°So, um, is Adgito dead or something?¡± Darron asked. ¡°He¡¯s been down there a long time.¡±

    Darron had ignored Adgito¡¯s warning and watched with mild disinterest as she stripped and jumped into what would spell certain doom for most people.  He had since wandered over to the cliff Adgito had jumped from, careful to avoid the splashes of magma that had pattered the ground, and was waiting for her to surface.

    As if responding to his words, a feminine head suddenly formed up out of the magma with a gasping noise.  A geyser of magma erupted immediately afterwards, pushing the head up and out of the magma pool towards the ledge Shara and Darron waited on.  The head, along with the rest of its body, emerged from the geyser as a glowing red Adgito touched ground beside Darron, who jumped back in surprise.

    ¡°Wow!  Okay!¡± Adgito said excitedly, ¡°That was a lot deeper than I expected it to be.¡±

    Adgito¡¯s body was now made, as best Shara could tell, entirely out of magma.  Her form kept the same general feminine shape, though it was a bit too goopy to display any private details.  She looked like a mannequin-shaped lava lamp, glowing currents of convection traveling up and down her body in hypnotizing patterns.

    ¡°Presentiiing¡­ lava form!¡± Adgito exclaimed, striking a gaudy pose and making jazz hands.  ¡°This is one of my personal favs. Nobody tries to hug lava form!¡±

    ¡°Magma form,¡± Darron corrected. ¡°We¡¯re currently underground.  Also, how can you still talk?¡±

    ¡°Huh?  Why wouldn¡¯t I be able to talk?¡± Adgito asked.

    ¡°Because you don¡¯t have a throat, or presumably any form of respiratory system.  When you open your mouth there¡¯s just more magma behind it.¡±

    ¡°Oh.  Really?¡± Adgito proceeded to stick her hand into her mouth, making a surprised expression before removing it.  ¡°Wow, that¡¯s really weird! I wouldn¡¯t worry about it though, it¡¯s probably magic.¡±

    ¡°Well obviously it¡¯s magic.  That doesn¡¯t actually explain anything.¡±

    ¡°Okay, break it up you two!¡¯ Shara said, clapping her hands for attention. ¡°We¡¯ve got a ways to go to get through Mt. Phlegethos and not a lot of time to waste.  Does anyone know which way we¡¯re going? Adgito, you seem like you¡¯ve been made of lava before. Been here often?¡±

    ¡°Oh, uh, no,¡± Adgito said, ¡°I was here once before, and I just kinda wandered around until I found the exit.  I don¡¯t know much of anything about the layout.¡±

    ¡°All I know is that we¡¯re going north,¡± Darron said.  ¡°I have a magnetic spell that can point us the way, but that doesn¡¯t tell us which passage or walkway will actually lead us there.  We should probably aim for northwest, though. If we head northeast we¡¯ll end up in Dynamo and have to cross through a second volcano to get back to the plains.  I don¡¯t trust my insulation spell enough for that.¡±

    Shara nodded thoughtfully.

    ¡°Not great but not unexpected.  Mt. Phlegethos is pretty tall, so we should make good time compared to climbing over it even if we stumble around.  I guess we just start exploring in a vaguely northwesterly direction, and hope to either get lucky or run into a local?¡±

    The three of them thus set out, with Darron keeping a mental map of their surroundings so they wouldn¡¯t end up backtracking on accident.  An hour into their search, they stumbled upon what appeared to be an exit on its third floor, but it merely led deeper into another, similar magmafall chamber.  The view into this new room was equally majestic, but equally unhelpful.

    For a while, Shara had been feeling steadily-growing worry from Adgito¡¯s mind, and while she dismissed it initially as general unease at the situation, it was nagging enough that she now felt the need to address it.

    ¡°You look like you¡¯ve got something on your mind, Adgito,¡± she prompted, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?  Oh. It¡¯s just that, last time I was here, this place had a ton more¡­ things in it,¡± Adgito explained.  ¡°Living things. Like, there were animals and monsters all over the place, you could usually see a salufidi or two going for a swim, stuff like that.  But now it¡¯s just¡­ empty.¡±

    ¡°Wait, I thought this place was too hot for things to live in.¡± Shara said.

    ¡°It¡¯s too hot for humans to live in,¡± Darron corrected. ¡°All sorts of thermophilic creatures evolved to enjoy the temperatures around Dynamo.  I¡¯d be very interested in going there to study if it wasn¡¯t so likely to kill me.¡±

    ¡°So, why¡¯s this place empty?¡± Shara asked.  She had been stretching her extra sense out as far as it would go without so much as a hint at other signs of life.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell you,¡± Darron responded. ¡°Maybe the salufidi cleared out the things living in here to make it easier to travel?¡±

    ¡°Eh, probably not,¡± Adgito countered, ¡°when I was here the salufidi just kinda didn¡¯t give two hoots about the monsters.  I once saw this salufidi chick piss some fire-breathing pig off on purpose so it would blast her and melt all the hardened lava off her body.  Those guys are crazy.¡±

    The salufidi are a sapient species like humans that founded and lived in the nation of Dynamo, an area surrounded by active volcanoes like Mt. Phlegethos.  Even outside the mountains, the natural temperature of their nation would overheat and eventually kill almost every other sapient race. Salufidi looked very much like humans from the waist up, although they had four arms and were completely covered with brick-red scales.  From the waist down, they appeared to be snakes, slithering around on an enormous, legless tail. They subsisted on a diet of minerals that they somehow metabolized by intaking massive amounts of heat. Although salufidi could comfortably survive temperatures in the thousands of degrees, they would begin to freeze to death in what a human would consider to be a lukewarm day.  Resultantly, they were seen very rarely outside their home nation. The salufidi nonetheless garnered a positive reputation around the world of Telemera for being helpful and welcoming to anyone that managed to survive visiting them, and had a healthy trade relationship with most of their neighbors. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°Yeah, I appreciate your optimism, Darron, but if the salufidi cleared it to make it easier to travel, wouldn¡¯t some of them be¡­ I dunno, traveling it?¡± Shara asked.

    ¡°...A fair assessment,¡± Darron conceded, ¡°but what other than the concentrated effort of a nation could systematically wipe out all life in here?¡±

    ¡°Um, quite a few things, actually,¡± Shara said, and began to list them off on her fingers. ¡°A natural disaster, a dragon, a plague, a vrochth¨ªzo if it was old enough, a titan¡­ frankly, most of those things would have an easier time than a nation, probably.¡±

    Darron frowned and quickly began chanting a spell.

    ¡°...Well, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a plague, at least,¡± he said once it finished.

    ¡°Are we all going to die?¡± Adgito asked.

    ¡°Naw,¡± Shara said, dismissing Adgito¡¯s fear with a wave of her hand, ¡°if it was some kind of natural disaster it seems to be over now, and if it¡¯s one of the others we¡¯ll be able to handle it one way or another.  Probably.¡±

    It was at this point that the party crested over a steep upward slope and beheld the opening to a wide circular chamber.  Lava flows crested down the inside of the walls, giving the room a beautiful bright glow and heating the interior like a furnace.  Scorch marks pattered the area around enormous gouges in the stone floor, rendering the room a chaotic mess. In the center of the havok lay a massive lizard-like figure, around the size of a small house, with leathery wings protruding from its back behind its massive forelimbs.  The dragon, for it was obviously a dragon, lay slumped, with its back turned to Shara and crew, in what appeared to be a rather uncomfortable resting position. Shara didn¡¯t feel like questioning the dragon¡¯s sleeping habits, though, as she was far too worried about how she didn¡¯t notice they were walking straight into its lair.

    This was ridiculous!  First she couldn¡¯t read a bunch of random people in Terranburg, and now she couldn¡¯t detect a mind as massive as a dragon¡¯s?  The beast was well within what should be her detection range, and there wasn¡¯t anything around to cause interference that she knew about.  Was she losing her abilities? No, that¡¯s stupid, she could feel Darron and Adgito just fine, but the dragon didn¡¯t feel like anything. Even the immunized people in Terranburg felt like something, even if it was incomprehensible.  The dragon shouldn¡¯t be giving off no signal unless it was¡­

    Dead.

    Drawing her sword, Shara cautiously stepped into the room.  Darron immediately grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back with a panicked expression in his eyes¨C you can¡¯t be serious, right?  Shara patted his hand reassuringly and smiled, motioning with her free hand for Darron and Adgito to stay where they were.

    Though her faith in it was a bit shaken, Shara pushed outward with her mental sense as far as it would go, and found nothing but Darron¡¯s fear and Adgito¡¯s bewildered confusion.  No other minds. Quietly approaching the giant beast, Shara watched it carefully for any sign of movement, and found none. It wasn¡¯t breathing.

    She walked around the dragon, carefully taking the long way to circle it from behind.  After getting a view from the front, however, she relaxed and sheathed her weapon. Returning to the other side, she crossed her neck with her thumb to indicate the dragon¡¯s status and waved for Darron and Adgito to catch up.

    The view from the other side of the dragon made it overwhelmingly clear that the legendary beast was dead.  The dragon¡¯s underbelly had been ravenously torn open in dozens of places. Huge chunks of flesh were missing like someone had taken a shovel to fresh dirt, carving open a shallow hole a little wider than Shara¡¯s head and then moving elsewhere.  Some creature smaller than this dragon had bitten it to death, ripping out and swallowing a few dozen morsels from its belly before leaving the rest of the dragon¡¯s body to rot.

    Being in the territory of a creature that had so casually eaten a monster of this size was not particularly comforting, and Shara¡¯s suspicion of what that creature was didn¡¯t make her feel any better.

    ¡°Darron,¡± she whispered, ¡°would you guess that most of these bites were made before or after the dragon died?¡±

    Darron stared at the dragon for a while, gears turning.

    ¡°...Almost all, if not all of them were made while the dragon was alive,¡± he responded quietly.  ¡°Do you think something was hunting a dragon for sport?¡±

    Shara shook her head.

    ¡°No.  If I were a betting girl, I¡¯d put all my money on a vrochth¨ªzo.  The dragon¡¯s not that big, so¡­ a matriarch, at worst. Probably a lord.¡±

    If Adgito¡¯s molten face could turn pale, it probably would have.

    ¡°Wait, vrochth¨ªzo?¡± she asked, ¡°Like, the Black Maw?  Those things that suddenly swarm through and eat whole towns?¡±

    ¡°Um, kinda?¡± Shara responded, ¡°Mostly no?  Darron, what do you know about vrochth¨ªzo?¡±

    ¡°Just the basics,¡± Darron shrugged.  ¡°I know they¡¯re monsters with pitch-black bodies, eyes, and teeth, and that they come in a bunch of shapes and sizes.  It¡¯s my understanding that the longer you leave one alone, the more they grow, so people are encouraged to report vrochth¨ªzo sightings and get them eliminated ASAP.¡±

    Shara was surprised to have a topic she understood significantly more about than Darron, but she supposed in this case she had a lot more of a reason to know.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s mostly correct,¡± Shara said.  ¡°Vrochth¨ªzo are one of the highest-priority targets in the monster hunting business, so my family¡­ I mean, my birth family went after them a lot.  I raided a few vrochth¨ªzo nests with them when I was little, and¡­ we are probably in a vrochth¨ªzo nest.¡±

    Adgito stepped back, startled.

    ¡°What, like this chamber?  Is the dragon corpse full of eggs or something?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Shara said, shaking her head, ¡°the whole mountain is the vrochth¨ªzo nest.¡±

    A stunned silence hung over the group for a while.  Eventually, Darron mentally prompted Shara to continue¨C You should go into a bit more detail.

    ¡°Right,¡± Shara began, ¡°So, Vrochth¨ªzo only consume the flesh of living things, for some reason.  Once their target is dead, they just¡­ stop eating. Don¡¯t know why, they just do. But that¡¯s the first thing that makes this look like a vrochth¨ªzo kill.

    ¡°Second thing, vrochth¨ªzo have an insatiable appetite.  Not like, ¡®woah nelly these guys can eat a lot¡¯ but like literally insatiable. They will keep eating forever if they¡¯re able.  I hear they take excess food and pretty much use it to mutate themselves, growing bigger and stronger the more they consume.  So yeah. That thing you heard about vrochth¨ªzo eating whole towns? That¡¯s definitely a thing that happens, but it¡¯s usually not a swarm of them, it¡¯s usually one really big one.  Vrochth¨ªzo are perfectly happy to eat each other, so you don¡¯t really see them moving as packs very often.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s good, right?¡± Adgito ventured.  ¡°One big vrochth¨ªzo probably cleared this whole place out by themselves.  So¡­ they probably left after eating everything, right?¡±

    ¡°Maybe.  Hopefully.¡±  Shara said with a shrug.  ¡°Some vrochth¨ªzo are as clever as a person, but the vast majority of them are just hungry animals.  If we¡¯re lucky, some super-powerful feral vrochthizo just plowed through here because they could.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like it would be very lucky at all,¡± Darron commented. ¡°Although I¡¯m curious as to how a single species can have such a wide swing of intellect.  That¡¯s very rare.¡±

    ¡°Maybe all of them are smart,¡± Adgito ventured, ¡°but the hunger just drives most of them mad.¡±

    ¡°Either way,¡± Shara said, ¡°The best-case scenario is unlikely.  Whatever did this wasn¡¯t just taking a casual stroll through munchy town.  It, or almost certainly she, systematically annihilated every living thing in Mt. Phlegethos.¡±

    ¡°She?¡± Adgito prompted.

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure the vrochth¨ªzo we¡¯re dealing with is or was pregnant.¡± Shara explained.  ¡°This focused and methodical wipe-out of all life in a given area is exactly what we look out for when tracking vrochth¨ªzo nests.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense,¡± Darron said. ¡°If vrochth¨ªzo have to eat living things, and the mom kills every living thing in the cave except her own babies, what are they going to eat?¡±

    Shara just waited for him to put that one together for himself.

    ¡°Oh.  ...That¡¯s disturbing,¡± Darron eventually commented.  ¡°Do they eat the mom, or each other?¡±

    ¡°Each other,¡± Shara confirmed. ¡°The mom lays a huge amount of eggs at once in a giant pile, and they all fight to the death once they hatch.  Probably something about only the strongest surviving or whatever. Sometimes, the mom just leaves after she finishes laying eggs, sometimes she doesn¡¯t.  Never seen a vrochth¨ªzo daddy before, so I assume their mating process is kinda... fire-and-forget? Or maybe the mom eats him, I dunno.¡±

    ¡°When you say ¡®huge amounts of eggs,¡¯¡± Adgito piped up, ¡°exactly how many eggs are we talking, here?¡±

    Shara looked at the bitemarks in the dragon corpse, trying to get a better judge of the mouth¡¯s size.

    ¡°It depends,¡± Shara said.  ¡°Vrochth¨ªzo can be developing and laying eggs for a very long time, trying to get their clutch as large as possible.  It¡¯s usually a good time to ambush them. If we¡¯re just dealing with a lord¡­ maybe between ninety and a couple hundred?  A matriarch could probably lay five hundred or more. I¡¯m not sure, though. I¡¯ve never fought one bigger than an adult.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s probably not too bad then,¡± Darron said. ¡°If the eggs are that numerous, each one must be fairly small.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ no.  Each one is like, a third our size?  Maybe a little bigger? The babies hatch ready to kill.¡±

    Darron¡¯s mind did its best to wrap around the logistics of that.

    ¡°...So the mass of eggs a vrochth¨ªzo eventually ends up laying is greater than the mass of the vrochth¨ªzo itself?  How? Where does it all come from?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably magic,¡± Adgito commented with a wry grin.

    ¡°That still doesn¡¯t explain anything!  You can convert magical energy into matter, sure, but it¡¯s inefficient at best.¡±

    ¡°The amount of matter doesn¡¯t matter!¡± Shara growled. ¡°What matters is that we have a small-scale natural disaster lurking in here with us, and we gotta kill it.¡±

    ¡°...Come again?¡± Adgito asked.

    Shara had not been looking forward to bringing this up, because she knew it was a stupid idea.  Three people hunting down something that took out a dragon? It was a relatively small dragon, sure, but a dragon nonetheless.  Vrochth¨ªzo were nasty creatures, interested only in sating their infinite hunger. Simply being around them drove her mental senses mad, tingeing her emotions with their primal desires.  Taking down nests of them were always among the most stressful hunts of her childhood, so seeking one out was far from the top of her list of things she wanted to do. The smart move was definitely to try and sneak through the rest of the cave, hoping not to run into anything else.

    Yet the thought of that made her blood boil.  She missed her chance to avenge her family, but she wouldn¡¯t be responsible for anyone else losing theirs.  Shara had run away from monsters enough for one day.

    ¡°Like I said,¡± Shara explained, ¡°It¡¯s easiest to ambush a vrochth¨ªzo while they¡¯re laying eggs.  This is a golden opportunity to take out something that, if we leave alone, is probably going to wipe out a few towns before someone else gets around to it.  We can¡¯t pass this up in good conscience. We¡¯re not going to.¡±

    Shara could already feel the counterarguments forming in the minds of her companions, but she doubted it would amount to much.  As much as she hated to abuse it, both Darron and Adgito lacked the willfulness to argue with her for long. They¡¯d eventually acquiesce, even if they disagreed.  Still, it was better to actually convince them.

    ¡°Darron, this is just a larger-scale version of what we did all the time back home,¡± Shara said, cutting her companions off before they started their barrage of complaints. ¡°We¡¯ll be fine, you know that we¡¯ve trained for this.  Adgito will be a huge help, too, and she probably doesn¡¯t have to worry about getting bitten when she¡¯s made of superheated liquid.¡±

    ¡°What if I end up turning into a vrochth¨ªzo,¡± Adgito asked quietly, ¡°and I go crazy?  What if I attack you guys?¡±

    Was that a thing that could happen?  Shara could tell that Adgito didn¡¯t know the answer to that, which wasn¡¯t reassuring in the slightest.

    ¡°You¡¯re not just made of lava, right?¡± Shara eventually ventured, ¡°You can manipulate it too?  Focus on using that to support us from a range, and we won¡¯t have to find out. I doubt any of them will try to touch you anyway.  They¡¯re not usually fireproof.¡±

    Adgito was unconvinced, but she nodded anyway.  Good enough. Darron could already tell he wasn¡¯t going to be winning this argument, and had swapped to thinking about strategy.  She¡¯d trained him well.

    Now then, what was the best way to track down a very hungry mommy?

 Just Superheated Stone

    Adgito could smell the vrochth¨ªzo long before she saw them.  When she, Darron, and Shara snuck by a passageway deeper into the mountain, they were immediately assaulted by an overwhelming scent of rotting flesh.  Shara had wasted no time declaring that it was the correct way to go, much to Adgito¡¯s dismay. Adgito had no idea how she could smell things when she didn¡¯t even seem to breathe, but the fact was that she could and the cave smelled awful.

    Adgito felt no need to mention this out loud, however.  As usual, Darron had a frustratingly good point about Adgito¡¯s body. It didn¡¯t make a lot of sense on a good day, but lava form was extra strange.  Adgito felt like a woman-shaped water balloon, as if some thin, overstretched membrane was the only thing keeping her bubbly insides from popping and spilling all over the ground.  Yet she could take her hand and stick it right through her torso if she wanted, the strange forces keeping her together not even seeming to notice that they were crossed up.

    Adgito picked a small stone up off the ground, marveling at how her liquid body could maintain a grip on it in the first place.  With a bit of conscious effort, she let the rock sink into her palm, where it slowly began to melt away and assimilate with her form.  It felt like letting a piece of candy dissolve on her tongue, except that it didn¡¯t taste like anything and it wasn¡¯t in her mouth. ...It felt something like that, anyway.

    Adgito noticed that Shara had suddenly stopped moving, putting up her hand to indicate she should do the same.  Adgito managed to notice before walking into the back of the group, and made a mental note to try and pay a bit more attention so she didn¡¯t accidentally burn anyone.  She had already been walking a good ten feet behind the two siblings, but still managed to close most of that distance before noticing what they had been doing.

    ¡°I sense one,¡± Shara whispered, turning towards her. It was so quiet that Adgito had to figure out half of what she was saying by watching her lips.  ¡°From here on out, no one talks but me. We¡¯re going to get as close as we can without it noticing us. Nod if you understand.¡±

    Adgito and Darron nodded.  The three of them made their way down the cave tunnel, crouching low.  Adgito did her best to not glow like a thousand degrees of molten rock, to her complete and utter failure.  Stealthy!

    The cave got darker as they descended deeper, the narrow walls of the passage having fewer pools of lava to light the way than the massive chamber behind them.  However, painful, screeching noises echoed down the hallway as the team got closer, allowing Adgito to easily identify the vrochth¨ªzo when they stumbled upon it.

    From a distance, the creature looked like the silhouette of a naked child, but its dark profile wasn¡¯t simply the result of poor lighting.  Every part of the creature¡¯s body was pitch black, like a cloudy, moonless night, giving the impression of a three-dimensional shadow. The childlike figure was only skin-deep, however.  The creature sat hunched over one of its siblings, its back turned to Adgito and her companions. It was using the long, scythe-like blades it had instead of hands to pin its brother to the ground, whose wails of pain erupted with extra vigor as the dominant vrochth¨ªzo took another bite out of its victim¡¯s leg.

    ¡°What the titan¡¯s testicles¡­?¡± Adgito muttered before Shara sent a piercing look to shut her up.

    It looked like an elaborate torture session more so than an animal eating.  Why not put the thing out of its misery? The other vrochth¨ªzo was wailing loudly enough to draw Shara¡¯s party towards it and cover up Adgito¡¯s instinctive swear, so it clearly wasn¡¯t doing any favors to the hungry winner.

    Wait, Shara had mentioned something about vrochth¨ªzo only eating their prey alive.  Is that what this was? Starting with the limbs so they could get more bites out of their prey before they keeled over?  No wonder these freaks were such high priority hunting targets, this was messed up.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Shara whispered, ¡°Adgito, this one¡¯s your mark.  I want you to try and kill both of them with a blast of lava.¡±

    Hold on, what?  Adgito hadn¡¯t been expecting that.  Wasn¡¯t this a stealth mission? Lava blasts aren¡¯t very stealthy.

    ¡°That thing¡¯s wailing is more than enough to draw attention to the tunnel here,¡± Shara suddenly explained.  ¡°If anything was going to head this way, it already is. It makes more sense to give you some practice with your abilities, before we get into a real fight.¡±

    Adgito supposed that made sense.  She didn¡¯t really want to risk firing lava all over a confined space, though.  She could kill more than just some monsters if she messed up.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Shara whispered without prompting.  ¡°That kind of fear will help you focus; it¡¯s good to worry about hitting us.  You¡¯ve got this.¡±

    Adgito sighed.  Shara was a little bit... too insightful.  It probably had to do with that lie detector magic she had, or something.  Adgito made a mental note to ask more about that later, a fact that Shara distinctly didn¡¯t react to.

    Now, how to do this, exactly?  Adgito usually spent what little attention she paid her abilities on not hurting things with them.  Actually shooting lava wouldn¡¯t be too hard; the main problem was what lava.  Adgito had telekinetic control over the stuff at a pretty solid distance, but there wasn''t much to work with down here.  A few slowly-cooling puddles were dotted here and there, but the biggest source of lava was Adgito herself, and she probably couldn¡¯t just shoot her own body at it.

    Wait, actually, could she?  That would be pretty sweet. She could probably fly or something!  Adgito tried it for a little while, but like most of her best ideas it didn¡¯t work.  She found she could separate bits of lava from her body and control that, at which point it was just regular lava.  She could also slurp it back up into her form, making it part of herself again.  Neat, but unhelpful; she¡¯d want to fire more than just a little glob to ensure her targets went down with one shot, and it didn¡¯t look like her body would let her remove large amounts of its mass at once.  Which was probably for the best, really. Adgito was glad to have any safety features she ended up with, titans know she needed them.

    ¡°Why not just crush them by pulling a giant rock down from the ceiling?¡± Darron asked, crashing Adgito¡¯s pity party and earning an annoyed look from Shara.

    ¡°Um, because I can¡¯t control rocks?  Duh?¡± Adgito responded quietly. ¡°I have lava powers, not rock powers.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s stupid,¡± Darron asserted. ¡°Magma is just superheated stone.  What kind of ridiculous magic would give you supreme kinetic control over only a specific set of chemical compounds, only when mixed into certain aggregates, and only when it¡¯s above a certain temperature?  It would be easier to just make a spell that moves anything than to make one with all those limitations.¡±

    ¡°Well I apparently also can¡¯t move myself,¡± Adgito responded, ¡°so there¡¯s that too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s even worse,¡± Darron groaned, rubbing his forehead. ¡°I swear, your natural abilities are absurd enough to be titanic.  You¡¯ve probably got the secrets to some entirely new branch of magic locked up in your aura, and you¡¯re not even remotely interested in exploring them.  If you can¡¯t control solid rock, why not try melting a bunch of rock into more magma, and using that?¡±

    Geez.  Adgito bet Darron had never had a date in his grumpy, nerdy life.  Dude needed to get laid, in her humble opinion. Not that she was really an expert on the subject.

    Still, he¡¯d given her a good idea.  As Shara stifled down a laugh for some reason, Adgito focused on letting the lava that comprised her feet flow outside the vague confines on her body, applying their heat to the rock below her.  The more she focused on it, the hotter her legs became, and pretty soon she began to sink into a small puddle of magma. Darron and Shara backed a little further away as it spread, and Adgito prepared to launch it.

    Funneling the extra magma she created up through her legs, she gathered the mass into a bulge in her arms before firing it all as a pressurized pillar. The newborn vrochth¨ªzo that had been too unobservant to notice the commotion behind it thus far continued its obliviousness into oblivion, it and its meal consumed by glowing orange death.

    ¡°Nice shot!¡± Shara whispered, giving Adgito a thumbs up. ¡°Now we just gotta work on your speed.  Not every enemy is going to wait around to be an easy target.¡±

    The tunnel got darker as they went deeper, until Adgito herself was the only source of light.  This rendered further ambushes nearly impossible, so Shara took point, hacking the juvenile vrochth¨ªzo open in a couple clean swings.  Shara had Adgito fire off her small lava globs fairly often as well, in an attempt to improve her aim. The smaller masses of magma didn¡¯t cause an instant kill when they hit, but they were more than threatening enough to demand attention, creating openings Shara could use to cleave her targets in two.

    Darron, on the other hand, didn¡¯t seem to do much of anything, claiming he was ¡°just here for support,¡± and that he should ¡°save his strength for when he was needed.¡±  What a blowhard. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    The stench of rotten flesh was worse the deeper they got, as were the frequency of vrochth¨ªzo attacks.  They would often stumble on half-eaten bodies in the dim light, a veritable cornucopia of corpses. Most of them looked similar to Adgito¡¯s first kill: a naked child with hooked, black teeth and a random assortment of other demonic features: claws, scythes, tails with poisonous stingers or blades¡­ each one was slightly different.  Some of them abandoned a humanoid look entirely, appearing as some horrifying amalgamate of snake or insect or beast. Shara insisted that those, to, were vrochth¨ªzo. They shared the same pitch-black eyes, skin, and teeth as their brethren, if nothing else.

    ¡°On your guard,¡± Shara suddenly whispered, holding up her arm to stop the party.  ¡°Mommy¡¯s here.¡±

    Adgito froze.  Well, figuratively.  This was it, huh? Darron looked intently at his sister.

    ¡°She hasn¡¯t noticed us yet,¡± Shara said, ¡°But that won¡¯t last long with Adgito working as a beacon.  She¡¯s already done laying eggs, so this will be a tough fight. She¡¯s¡­ smart. I think she understands language, actually?¡±

    Yeah, Shara definitely had something a wee bit more than lie detection if she was picking up all that.  Now probably wasn¡¯t the best time to pry, but boy howdy did Adgito really want to.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can manage stealth here,¡± Shara whispered, cutting Adgito off before she could ask.  ¡°Darron, you walk in thirty feet behind me. Adgito, light the place up. Darkness is to her advantage.  Prepare as much terrain as you can, just leave us an escape route.¡±

    Adgito nodded and got to heating up.  It looked like the cave opened up into a larger chamber where the vrochth¨ªzo lord no doubt waited.  Or at least, Adgito hoped it was a lord? Shara made it sound like there were other titles that were even worse.

    Getting her body temperature as high as she could manage, Adgito started to leave molten footprints in her wake as she walked around the room, trying to spread the dim light.  The piles of dead vrochth¨ªzo were more prominent here, forcing her to incinerate a few instead of going around them. As she got further in, she noticed shattered chips of what appeared to be eggshells scattered amongst the bodies.  Fairly soon, there was enough light in the room to see the nest itself.

    What must have been hundreds of eggs, possibly more, were piled nearly fifteen feet high in an unceremonious heap.  The impromptu structure extended back into the massive cave, beyond where Adgito¡¯s glow currently reached. While many of the eggs were shattered and empty, a terrifying number of them remained undisturbed, no doubt waiting to hatch.

    ¡°What a strange set of meals you are,¡± a voice hissed from the darkness, ragged and cruel.  It was the vocal equivalent of dunking your arm in light acid; a tingling, burning irritant that threatened horrifying pain if you left it for too long.  ¡°What foolishness draws you here?¡±

    ¡°Oh, we just got lost!¡± Shara responded cheerfully.  ¡°We were hoping you¡¯d be kind enough to direct us to the northwest exit?  Your little ones were hospitable but they didn¡¯t seem to know the way.¡±

    Silence reigned for a few moments before a hacking, hissing noise crescendoed in its place, a terrifying rumble that Adgito could only interpret as twisted laughter.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I must decline, bold human,¡± the terrible voice spoke, ¡°I have been watching over my kids for so long I seem to have gotten rather famished.  I simply must partake in a meal before I will be of any use to you.¡±

    ¡°Ah, a shame,¡± Shara responded, raising her sword, ¡°Thank you anyway.  I suppose we will simply leave you in the company of the children we passed on the way here.¡±

    Without warning, a massive figure burst out of the darkness like it had been fired from a giant¡¯s ballista.  At least twenty-feet long, the pitch-black creature¡¯s snake-like body possessed four arms, each wrist tipped with a mantis-like blade almost as long as Adgito was tall.  The monster¡¯s gaping mouth and hooked black teeth shreaked past Adgito on a collision course with Shara¡¯s torso. Shara ducked the savage projectile, danced between her outstretched claws and brought her sword up into the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s underbelly.  A resounding clang rang out as her blade connected with a hard black exoskeleton, drawing no blood but knocking the enormous monster off-course, causing her to crash into a wall near the entrance to the cave.

    If Adgito currently had a bladder, she would have peed herself.

    ¡°Oh, whoops!¡± Shara cooed, circling around the crash site so a second leap wouldn¡¯t send the monster towards Adgito or Darron.  ¡°Sorry about that! Are you sure we can¡¯t work this out like civilized people?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you a cheeky little morsel?¡± the vrochthizo growled, rubbing her belly with a forearm where Shara had struck her.  ¡°That almost stung.¡±

    ¡°More or less than losing all your unhatched eggs will?¡± Shara asked.

    With a roar, the vrochth¨ªzo lord charged Shara, barely missing her with blade after blade that would likely cleave the comparatively tiny girl in twain.  Shara patiently waited for opportunities to strike and mercilessly took them, but while their force seemed to surprise the monster they didn¡¯t seem to injure it.

    Adgito took this time to entrench herself, pouring heat into the ground and making as large of a magma pool as she could manage.  If Shara couldn¡¯t slice that thing¡¯s outer layer off, maybe Adgito could melt it off? The lord was pushing Shara back into a darker part of the cave, so Adgito fired off a few lava blobs there to light the way and prepared for a more substantial attack.

    Not wanting to blow her entire load and risk hitting Shara, Adgito prepared an orb of magma about the size of her head and launched it experimentally at the first sign of an opening.  Adgito pumped her fist as the attack struck true, nailing the monster in the pit of her lower set of arms.

    ¡°What is your stupid little glowing friend doing?¡± the vrochth¨ªzo asked with a growl.

    ¡°Uh, shooting lava at you, best I can tell,¡± Shara huffed between dodges.  ¡°Is that a problem?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s rather relaxing, actually.  I¡¯ve eaten so many salufidi in my time I¡¯ve grown to enjoy their strange indulgences.¡±

    Ah, good.  A new low. Adgito was in mortal combat with a house-length monster in the middle of an active volcano, and she had been reduced to a glorified massage therapist for the enemy.  She continued pattering the beast with more lava bursts out of sheer defiance, hoping to at least serve as a distraction.

    It worked a little too well.  Already annoyed with her primary prey¡¯s slippery fighting style, the vrochth¨ªzo lord opted to make a sudden turn and launch herself at Adgito, mouth stretched wide with the intent of swallowing her whole.  Shara stepped in to intercept, landing a heavy blow on the beasts¡¯ underbelly once again.

    This time, the monster was ready for it.  She curved into Shara¡¯s strike, whipping her head around and taking a solid bite out of Shara¡¯s right arm, tearing out and swallowing most of her tricep.  Shara screamed in pain but quickly regained focus, avoiding the follow-up claw strikes from her enemy. However, with her main arm hanging limp and losing blood fast, Shara had no chance of lasting long without medical attention.

    Adgito wasn¡¯t even a distraction, she was a burden.  Enraged at her own incompetence, she drew up her strength and poured it into the only thing her current form was really capable of: gathering a massive amount of magma.  Heat flared in the room as a giant ball of molten death coalesced above Adgito¡¯s head.

    ¡°Your idiot friend doesn¡¯t pay attention,¡± the vrochth¨ªzo lord taunted as Shara¡¯s dodges grew more and more sluggish.  ¡°I swim in volcanoes. I drink them.  I laid my children in their depths.  No amount of heat is going to harm me.¡±

    It was at this point the massive sideways-geyser of magma plowed into the monster, sending her careening across the cavern and barrelling into the far side of the room with enough force to impact her a solid foot into the wall.  The magma continued piling onto her, burying the beast under endless litres of molten liquid.

    After all, magma is just superheated stone.  And liquid or not, that much stone was very, very heavy.

    ¡°Ha!  Nice job, Adgito!¡± Shara exclaimed, leaping back to a pile of vrochth¨ªzo corpses where Darron had been making himself look non-threatening.  ¡°Keep up the pressure, she¡¯s still alive! Drown her out!¡±

    Adgito nodded and redoubled her efforts, pulling the excess magma that had splashed around the impact site back into the main blob.  Creating two circular currents, Adgito grinded the monster further into the wall as she struggled to escape.

    ¡°Do you think you have time for a deeper check-up, Darron?¡± Shara asked as her brother started to restore the missing flesh in her arm, ¡°That bite felt¡­ wrong.  Like she ate more than arm.¡±

    Adgito was quickly finding herself in an untenable position: the lava she was using to hold the vrochth¨ªzo lord in place was cooling off.  If it hardened and trapped the monster underneath, that would be swell, but it was far more likely to reach a point where it was too cool for Adgito to exert any control over, but not cool enough to stop the creature from breaking free.

    ¡°Your barrier¡¯s a bit weaker than usual,¡± Darron told Shara. ¡°It¡¯s possible that she consumed some of your magical aura.¡±

    ¡°That sounds¡­ bad,¡± Shara grimaced.  ¡°Is that bad?¡±

    Adgito approached the area she was trapping the vrochth¨ªzo lord in.  If she wanted to maintain control of the lava, it had to still be lava.

    ¡°It¡¯s not good.  I can¡¯t heal it, but it will restore itself eventually,¡± Darron explained.  ¡°More than anything it¡¯s interesting. It would take a uniquely specialized system to trap and consume the magical aura in a person¡¯s body when you bite off their flesh.  It¡¯s possible that¡¯s what the vrochth¨ªzo actually eat: aura.  If so, the meat is just a necessary vessel, which explains why they abandon it when their victim dies.  Aura leaves the body on death, or more accurately, you die when your magical aura leaves your body. So¨C¡±

    ¡°Darron,¡± Shara cut him off, ¡°Focus, please.¡±

    ¡°On what?  I already finished your arm.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    Adgito stuck both her arms into her makeshift magma prison, pouring heat back into the cooling stone and redoubling the efforts on her current grinder.  It was at this point when she felt a strange sense of vertigo as her torso was separated from her legs at the waist, lifted ten feet into the air, and flipped upside-down.  The vrochth¨ªzo lord swallowed.

    ¡°I told you, your friend just doesn¡¯t pay attention,¡± she taunted in her horrible, guttural voice that shook Adgito¡¯s body from all sides.  ¡°Although that was a wonderful massage.  I feel like I ate a whole village!¡±

    Sliding down the monster¡¯s gullet, Adgito¡¯s surprised and horrified body recognised itself to be in serious disrepair.  Seeking outward, Adgito''s powers acquired information from the closest and most prominent source, and took it for their own. Adgito felt her torso elongate and replace her missing legs with a long, snake-like tail.  She felt her body solidify as a second pair of arms burrowed out the sides of her body. She felt her hands fuse together into long blades, her skin harden into chitinous armor, and her teeth elongate into curved, black fangs.

    But more than anything else, she felt the hunger.

 Seems a Little Feral

    Shara had to admit, she had expected things to go a lot better in her head.  Walk in, kill the giant monster, walk out. Easy, right? Shara had been thrown off her game a bit when she realized the vrochth¨ªzo could talk, which was a little creepy, but that just made it easier to taunt and keep its attention on her.  No big deal.

    Then the thing turned out to be sword-immune.  Shara might be able to get a damaging blow in if she got a hard shot directly at the monster¡¯s joints, but the beast was powerful, fast, experienced, and it understood that Shara would be attempting exactly that.  Even with the edge she got from reading its movements, Shara could barely keep up most of the time. No openings to attack weak points had presented themselves so far, and it would take an incredible stroke of luck for such a thing to happen in the future.

    Then the thing turned out to be freaking lava-immune.  What the heck?  Okay, sure, it probably wouldn¡¯t have chosen a volcano as its nest if it didn¡¯t like heat, but come on!  Nigh-immunity to both of her team¡¯s heavy hitters? Even Darron seemed to be having trouble getting a spell to stick on the monster, so it apparently had an absurdly powerful barrier as well.

    Things had been locked in a stalemate, until they suddenly weren¡¯t.  With the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s rage focused on her, Shara hadn¡¯t expected it to suddenly jump at Adgito like it did.  The vrochth¨ªzo didn¡¯t even give the action conscious attention, it just suddenly jumped, the extension of its thought process being that Adgito looked like she¡¯d be a good meal.  The following leap to consume was a subconscious, almost automatic response, which had frightening implications for Adgito¡¯s current predicament.

    Adgito was still alive, at least.  It was easy to tell that much even after she got bitten in half at the waist.  Her lava-legs immediately lost form and pooled onto the ground when the vrochth¨ªzo lord bit her, and all of a sudden Shara began to feel twice as much hunger from the room.  It seemed they would get to test Adgito¡¯s fears firsthand.

    Shara twirled her sword around with her newly repaired arm, stretching her fresh tricep.  The vrochth¨ªzo had a spectacular feeling of smugness wash over it as the makeshift lava prison dropped uselessly to the ground.  It quickly noted Shara¡¯s repaired arm, and made the immediate connection to Darron. This was unfair, monsters shouldn¡¯t understand tactics.  Not to mention the smarter it was, the less excusable it was to be an unrepentant agent of genocide.

    ¡°So that¡¯s what your little spectator human is for,¡± the beast mused, ¡°I wondered why you kept such a seemingly useless creature around.¡±

    Shara just let the creature monologue, declining to re-engage.  They were both about to have worse problems, and it would be better if Shara started nowhere near them.

    ¡°A smaller me would have kept your little healer alive so I could manage more bites out of you before you die,¡± the vrochth¨ªzo mused, ¡°but now I think I¡¯ll just swallow you wh¨C¡±

    The monster¡¯s taunt was cut off as a scream that was not its own erupted from the depths of its throat.  The vrochth¨ªzo shuddered, clutching the front of its chest like it had been struck with great pain. Which was exactly what was happening, as a hungry, horrified Adgito was currently using her new claws to climb her way up the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s massive throat.  Shara felt Adgito take a huge bite out of the inside of the vrochth¨ªzo lord¡¯s body, and in response the vrochth¨ªzo heaved, forcing Adgito up and halfway out of the creature¡¯s mouth, where it attempted to bite her in half once again. Still screaming, Adgito forced her would-be-consumer¡¯s jaws open with two of her new blade-arms, and began wildly hacking away at the front of the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s face with the other two.  A powerful flick of the monster¡¯s head dislodged Adgito from its mouth entirely, slamming her into the cavern floor only for Adgito to instantly spring up and begin wildly attacking once again.

    Adgito now looked like a smaller copy of the vrochth¨ªzo lord, keeping Adgito¡¯s general face and torso shape but with the monster¡¯s snake-like tail, pitch black chitin plates, four scythe-like arms, and horrifying teeth.  Adgito was a quarter of the other monster¡¯s size, but still seemed to match the giant creature¡¯s strength and speed. Which is not to say she matched the vrochth¨ªzo in combat; Adgito¡¯s wild attacks were easily deflected and countered by the calmer, more experienced fighter.  Yet Adgito simply did not stay down, the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s blades unable to pierce a copy of its own armor.

    ¡°What is this?¡± The vrochth¨ªzo demanded, ¡°What are you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to eat you!¡± Adgito screamed, hoarse and animalistic.

    ¡°Child, you already took the last bite you¡¯ll ever get,¡± the vrochth¨ªzo growled, ¡°and you should consider yourself lucky for even that much.¡±

    Adgito only roared in response, swinging her blades wildly as the vrochth¨ªzo knocked her around.

    ¡°...So, is he still on our side?¡± Darron whispered from beside Shara, ¡°because he seems a little¡­ feral, right now.  Are we going to need to fight two of them?¡±

    Shara implicitly understood Darron was asking more from a tactical perspective than out of concern.  Her brother¡¯s mind was a wild buzz, operating faster than Shara could keep track. Best she could tell, he was planning three new spells on the fly, his old standbys ineffective against the monster¡¯s barrier, and needed to know whether to save juice for Adgito, too.

    ¡°Let me handle Adgito,¡± Shara responded, and that was all that needed to be said.  Darron nodded and retreated further away from the fight, hiding behind a small stack of bodies.

    Shara wasn¡¯t actually sure ¡°what side¡± Adgito was on right now.  Her mind was a whirlwind of emotion, wild instinct, and desperate hunger.  By all accounts, Adgito was currently insane, but it was the same kind of insanity she¡¯d feel in someone that was simply panicked beyond all reason.  She couldn¡¯t tell whether that influence was due to the shift in Adgito¡¯s biology, the stress of her current situation, or some combination of both, but Shara was willing to give Adgito the benefit of the doubt and not write her off as a mindless monster quite yet.

    Besides, worst case scenario?  The weak points in Adgito¡¯s body would be a lot easier to hit than that of a much larger, more experienced opponent¡¯s.

    Shara rushed back into the fight, moving to position herself on the opposite side of the vrochth¨ªzo from Adgito.  The enormous monster seemed to be no stranger to fighting outnumbered, however, and Shara found the creature¡¯s tail to be a formidable and dangerous weapon in its own right.  The vrochth¨ªzo whipped its lower half around like it was swinging a tree trunk, trying to knock her across the room with an upward flick. No matter how much power she had, Shara couldn¡¯t block an attack like that without consequences; she simply wasn¡¯t heavy enough to avoid being sent flying.  Shara let out a macabre chuckle when she suddenly realized it felt like sparring with her own mother.

    With the attention of their opponent divided, Shara and Adgito started to get in a few more solid hits.  Frustrated, the vrochth¨ªzo leapt to disengage, clearing half the enormous room in a single bound and leaving Shara as the closest living creature to the starving Adgito.  Adgito turned to stare at Shara, emotions oozing with desire, temptation, and a spark of fear. Shara pointed at the vrochth¨ªzo lord.

    ¡°That one first, Adgito,¡± she said, as calmly and firmly as she could manage, ¡°Focus on the big meal, and worry about everything else later.¡±

    The simultaneous appeal to Adgito¡¯s hunger and her dwindling desire to not hurt her companions seemed to have the intended effect, and Adgito lept after her quarry.  With a relieved sigh, Shara followed. The fight continued much as before, with Shara and Adgito pressuring the vrochth¨ªzo from both sides and Darron¡¯s tactical cowardice¨C er, prowess¨C keeping him out of sight.

    It was a losing battle, though.  Adgito and the vrochth¨ªzo seemed largely incapable of inflicting serious damage to each other, but the vrochth¨ªzo could absolutely damage Shara and would inevitably defeat Adgito in a one-on-one.  A single misstep would spell doom for their strategy, as taking a hard hit even once would force Shara to retreat to Darron¡¯s position, exposing him to the enemy. It would all be downhill from there.

    Suddenly, Darron¡¯s mind rang out with a familiar feeling, one Shara had trained herself to pick up during their monster-hunting days back in Borns.  He was repeating a phrase in his mind, as firmly as he could manage: Incoming support.  All-or-nothing.

    It meant Shara needed to keep the monster pinned down, because Darron was about to throw down everything he had.  After casting, he¡¯d be completely defenseless, and if whatever he was doing didn¡¯t work it was over. Without some kind of miracle from Darron, they had no chance to take the vrochth¨ªzo down; the monster was simply the rock to Shara¡¯s scissors.  Shara would need to grab Darron and retreat, likely leaving Adgito behind to her fate. If it worked, however, it would hopefully turn the entire fight to their favor. Whatever it was.

    ¡°Eat ecdysone, you arthropodic prick,¡± Darron muttered to himself, and promptly fell unconscious.

    Shara had no idea what that meant, but the lack of any apparent effect on the giant monster trying to eat her was incredibly concerning.  She was about to bail when she noticed the monster, ever so subtly, start to slow down. And something about that made it panic.

    What¡¯s¡­ what¡¯s happening? The vrochth¨ªzo thought,  It feels like¡­ words were replaced with some concept Shara didn¡¯t understand, but felt like reluctantly getting out of bed in the morning.  Impossible.  Nothing should be causing me to¨C the mage!  The spectator human! This must be his doing!

    Shara took that as her cue to start an intercept.  She was already in position to deflect the monster¡¯s leap before it begun, and got a clean strike that knocked the beast far away from where Darron lay.  The vrochth¨ªzo got up, but its movements degraded in speed at an incredible rate until, with a terrified snarl locked to its face, the beast ceased moving entirely.

    Adgito immediately dashed in to try and chow down, but Shara hung back. The monster was still fully alive and conscious.  Placed in a bad situation? Absolutely. Helpless? Shara doubted it. Last time they thought the vrochth¨ªzo was cornered, it bit Adgito in half.  Shara ran in behind Adgito, approaching her enemy carefully as if it wasn¡¯t disabled at all.

    The vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s mind felt as though affected by sleep paralysis, desperately trying to move but unable to pass any commands to its limbs.  Shara had no idea when that effect would wear off, and moved to attack under the assumption it would do so at the worst possible moment. Approaching the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s back, Shara stabbed her blade in through the space between two chitin plates, scoring her first clean cut of the entire fight.  Adgito, likewise, took a bite out of the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s exposed eyeball, an addictingly pleasurable feeling radiating out of her as she swallowed the flesh.

    Naturally, this was when their enemy regained control once more.  Shara leapt back to safety, but Adgito was chomped hard in the monster¡¯s jaws, caught completely off-guard.  Without even a semblance of a block attempt to protect her, Adgito¡¯s hard body was pierced by the teeth, ink-black blood oozing from her wounds. Fortunately, the vrochth¨ªzo seemed unable to bite completely through and tossed its enemy away instead, before Adgito could stab at the unprotected inside of its mouth.

    Shara was back to start.  Worse, actually, since Darron was out of the fight.  She and Adgito had struck hard blows, but a monster of that size wouldn¡¯t bleed to death quickly enough for it to be worth it.  As Adgito moved in for her deranged assault once again, Shara started looking for an opportunity to grab Darron and escape. Yet, with a sudden, resounding clunk, a huge piece of the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s armored chitin fell completely off.

    Shara grinned.  She had the best brother ever.

    ¡°No!  No! I can¡¯t believe this!¡± the vrochth¨ªzo roared, redoubling its desperate attacks.

    ¡°Oh my god, are you molting?¡± Shara gasped with mock embarrassment, ¡°And with company over?  Have you no shame?¡±

    Shara moved to cover the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s escape route rather than listen to its enraged response.  Both of them knew the tables had turned, and Shara doubted the vrochth¨ªzo had lived as long as it did without being able to swallow its pride and bugger out.  Her prediction came true as she felt, with satisfying smugness, the vrochth¨ªzo check the tunnel entrance a moment too late.

    More and more armor began to fall off the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s body as Shara and Adgito drove it into a corner.  Its delectable flesh now exposed, Adgito leapt forward, through the monster¡¯s flailing claws, and embedded her own deep into its body.  Lodged firmly, and with her own armor intact, the vrochth¨ªzo couldn¡¯t stop Adgito from taking bite after bite of fresh, soft exoskeleton.  Adgito¡¯s own wounds seemed to stop bleeding the more she ate. Shara made a few hacks at the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s limbs to disarm it, and then retreated to Darron.  The fight was all but over, and it would be best if he was awake before Adgito finished the monster off. Adgito wasn¡¯t getting any less hungry, and she had already chomped off almost her entire body weight.  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°What the heck is ecdysone?¡± she asked as she shook Darron conscious.

    ¡°It¡¯s an apolysis enzyme,¡± Darron darron-splained, as he rubbed his aching forehead.  ¡°Did it work?¡±

    ¡°Yup, Adgito¡¯s tearing that thing open as we speak.  But seriously, what the heck was that spell? A huge chunk of its body just friggin¡¯ fell off!  Can you just do that to all the monsters we fight, please?¡±

    ¡°Not generally,¡± Darron grunted, slowly moving his woozy body into a sitting position, ¡°although it might work on opponents with a similar exoskeleton.  Probably not worth the cast time, though. That thing¡¯s barrier was absurdly spell resistant, so I needed to attack something with minimal-to-nonexistent defenses.  Considering the complexity and redundancy, there would be no reason for a creature like that to develop much resistance for their endocrine system. I took advantage of that.  From the body¡¯s perspective, all I did was help that thing grow. Why develop a complex magical defense against that?¡±

    ¡°Against what?  What did you do?¡±

    ¡°Mainly I just stimulated the production of molting hormones.  Like, a lot of them.  Totally natural, totally harmless stuff¡­ if you¡¯re not currently getting mauled by a tiny you.  The process is usually a lot slower, but I guess it worked out for you guys.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Shara started, looking back at where Adgito was devouring what life remained in the vrochth¨ªzo lord.  ¡°Speaking of, I should go back and deal with Adgito. She¡¯s¡­ probably not doing great. Can I count on you to deal with the eggs?¡±

    Darron nodded, leaving Shara free to return to her crazed companion.  The fight was officially over by the time she got there. Adgito had greedily carved through the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s body like a shark through water, burrowing into its flesh with a tunnel dug from her own mouth.  The gaping, open wound this left killed the vrochth¨ªzo lord long before Adgito could finish her meal, much do the detriment of Adgito¡¯s fragile psyche. The poor girl was facing away from Shara as she approached, wildly attacking everything and nothing with her four arm-blades.  After much consideration, Shara sheathed her sword as she approached.

    Why?  Why don¡¯t you taste good anymore??? Adgito screamed internally as she angrily hacked away at the now-lifeless flesh, punishing it for its insubordination.  Her external screams were much louder, and much less coherent. Inky blood splashed everywhere, splattering the front half of Shara¡¯s body as she waded into the monster¡¯s corpse, just outside of Adgito¡¯s attack range.  I¡¯m hungry I¡¯m hungry I¡¯m hungry I¡¯m hungry¨C

    ¡°Adgito,¡± Shara interrupted calmly, ¡°it¡¯s dead.  We won.¡±

    Adgito turned slowly to face her smiling companion, manic fear and desperation shining in her eyes.

    Not won didn¡¯t win can¡¯t win eat you still hungry never won only loss kill her not her yes her must eat¨C

    ¡°Adgito!¡± Shara repeated more firmly, ¡°Breathe.  Think. It hurts, but you don¡¯t have to eat. There¡¯s more to life than running from pain.¡±

    Don¡¯t need it?  Don¡¯t need it. Hungry.  Don¡¯t need it. Hungry. Must eat.  Eat her¡­

    Adgito began to approach, mouth agape in anticipation.

    ¡°You could change,¡± Shara continued, ¡°Change into a different form.  You know how. You wouldn¡¯t be hungry anymore.¡±

    Change? Too soon.  Not hungry. Hungry.  Too soon. Pain. Hurt.  Not good. Not change. Too soon.

    Shara let Adgito get close enough to touch.  Even without proper legs, she towered nearly a foot above Shara¡¯s head.

    ¡°Would you rather hurt a bit now, or eat me?¡±  Shara asked, staring up into Adgito¡¯s jaws, ¡°Which one is going to end up hurting the most?¡±

    Adgito shook slightly, wracked with indecision.  Instincts fought other instincts as Adgito¡¯s rational mind cried in a corner.  Slowly, Shara reached up and put her hands on Adgito¡¯s cheeks.

    ¡°Please,¡± Shara said, ¡°Just change back.  Like you did when you were first explaining your powers.  Be my friend Adgito again.¡±

    Ah, the good old f-word.  The one with six letters, anyway.  For someone as lonely as Adgito, it was a powerful tool.  Shara had been declining to drop it until the scene was perfectly set, to ensure maximum effectiveness.  True friends were loyal to their friends, and Shara absolutely wanted that level of loyalty from someone as powerful as Adgito.  This, if it worked, could very well be the tipping point that ensured Adgito¡¯s trust and dedication for their entire journey.

    Sure enough, Shara felt Adgito close her eyes, swallow her fear, and begin to change.  It was at that moment Shara fully understood why Adgito was so reluctant to activate her powers on purpose.

    Pain was a poor way to describe it.  It was more of a fundamental wrongness, a feeling of the body that utterly rejected the concepts of comfort, contentment, and pleasure.  More so than pain, it felt like sickness, as if Adgito¡¯s body was wracked with an excruciating fever, a full-body sensation of utter disgust.  Even retreating out of Adgito¡¯s mind, Shara picked up the sensation with such intensity that she physically staggered, dropping to one knee.

    Soon, however, it was over.  Chitin gave way to supple skin.  Two arms and two legs returned, complete with fingers and toes.  Panting, heaving, and dripping with monster blood, a naked, shivering Adgito parted her newly blonde hair and looked at Shara with apologetic crimson eyes.  Then those eyes shot wide, as Adgito started picking up all sorts of brand new sensations.

    Oh, titans damn it!  Was anything going to go right today?  Anything at all? The room was still full of hundreds of eggs, most of which had almost fully-developed minds waiting to hatch.  Adgito, completely lacking any semblance of control over Shara¡¯s mind-reading abilities, was about to be overwhelmed. Not to mention that this was the worst possible time to reveal that Shara had been reading Adgito¡¯s mind since they met!

    No solution, nothing for it.  Shara just had to deal and run damage control.

    ¡°Okay, you just got my powers,¡± Shara said, grabbing Adgito¡¯s face in both hands and forcing her to kneel down to Shara¡¯s eye level.  There was a lot more resistance than Shara expected, until she realized Adgito must have gotten her natural strength as well.

    ¡°Here¡¯s what you¡¯re going to do,¡± Shara ordered. ¡°You¡¯re going to focus on me and only me.  You¡¯re going to pour your attention into my head and nothing else.  Do you understand?¡± Shara started to do the same with Adgito¡¯s mind, which was distracted and quickly getting buried in a deluge of other minds.

    ¡°Do! You! Understand!¡± Shara yelled into Adgito¡¯s face, which snapped her to attention.  She nodded, and the two of them started to sink deeper into each other¡¯s heads.

    It¡¯s loud in here for now, Shara thought, but as you focus more, it¡¯ll get quieter.  Close your eyes.

    ¡°What¡­ what¡¯s happening?¡± Adgito asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    Don¡¯t talk, Shara thought, be silent.  Just think.

    What does she mean, just think? Adgito thought, What is she¨C

    Perfect.

    What?

    I said that¡¯s perfect.  Just keep doing that.

    What¡­ is happening?  You¡¯re not talking. How are we talking?

    We¡¯re not talking.  We¡¯re thinking.

    ...Am I reading your mind?

    Yes.

    Are you reading my mind?

    Yes.

    ...How?

    It¡¯s just something I¡¯ve always been able to do.  My dad, too. We used to do this together as well, when he was training me to control it.  By putting ourselves in each other¡¯s heads, it creates enough feedback to block out distractions.

    Distractions?

    Yeah, other minds.  My powers don¡¯t really turn off.  Darron¡¯s about to kill all those eggs, and you¡¯re probably not ready to experience death yet.

    Oh.  Confusion, wonder, frustration and terror were all contained in that one mental sigh.

    Keep the conversation flowing.  Keep thinking about something in particular, or our minds will start to wander.

    ...I can still taste it.

    Yeah, me too.  Vicariously, anyway.

    It tasted horrible.  It was the greatest thing I ever put in my mouth, and it tasted horrible.

    Yeah.  I¡¯m sorry.  I... trivialized the downsides to your powers a bit, I think.

    What was that?

    I was apologising for underestimating how much your abilities could hurt you.

    No, you weren¡¯t.  You were apologising for something else.

    What?  Oh, crap.

    While Shara had gotten a lot of practice in reading people¡¯s minds, she her training at controlling her own was more than a little lacking.  After all, every other mind reader had been dead for eleven years.

    You were manipulating me.

    I wouldn¡¯t describe it as ¡°manipulating you,¡± Shara consciously denied, but her emotions rang in affirmation.

    You didn¡¯t mean what you said, then, about wanting your friend back.

    Now, hold on¡­

    You¡¯ve been using me this whole time!  You¡¯ve been rummaging through my head, taking advantage of my emotions, and treating me like a tool!

    No! Shara roared back, and this time her emotions roared to confirm.

    But that¡¯s what you were doing.

    Everyone manipulates people, Adgito.  The fact that I happen to be very good at it doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t care about you as a person.  I¡¯m NOT treating you as a tool!

    I can feel it now.  I can feel it from you.  You¡¯re judging me, pitying me, and thinking of all the ways you can make me ¡°better.¡±  Most of which happen to be directly useful to you.

    A friend would not let a friend wallow around in mediocrity.  I truly, firmly believe that if you can improve, you should. Always.  It is a good thing to help someone with that, and a kind thing to put that effort in for someone else!  I¡¯m doing it because I care about you as a person!

    ...You don¡¯t have the right to judge what is and isn¡¯t best for me.

    Maybe, maybe not.  But I do have the right to hold opinions, and I have the right to share those opinions with you.  And, ultimately, that¡¯s all I¡¯m doing. No matter how ¡°manipulative¡± I am, I cannot, will not, and do not hold any sway over your free will.  You are and will always will be the ultimate arbiter of the actions you choose to take. If you think I¡¯m wrong, there¡¯s nothing I can do to force you to change that.  I can only suggest.

    You¡¯re smarter than me.  If you really want to convince me you¡¯re correct about something, you probably can.

    ...If you honestly believe I¡¯m smarter than you, why are you so worried about my ideas influencing yours?  Shouldn¡¯t you want to strive for the best options available to you?

    I don¡¯t need to change who I am, Shara.  I may not be the best person out there but I¡¯m fine the way I am.  Isn¡¯t that enough? Can¡¯t everyone just be content with who they are?

    We can always be better.

    Isn¡¯t that the motto of the country that¡¯s trying to kill you???

    ...Maybe, but that doesn¡¯t make it untrue.

    Conscious silence filled the mindscape, words drowned out by broiling emotion.

    Would you rather I have not convinced you to change? Shara finally asked. Would you rather have eaten me?

    ...No.  Adgito admitted.  No, I absolutely would not have.  The less time I spend in a form, the more excruciating it is to swap out of it.  But it never really goes away completely, and the more time I spend in a form the more likely I am to swap without any control over it.  I¡¯m so terrified of that vicious circle that I almost killed you.

    The unconscious implication being: I¡¯m mad at you but I still don¡¯t want that.  Despite everything, Adgito still wanted a friend and still wanted it to be Shara.  She could patch this up, and continue with it behind her.

    Don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t catch that, Adgito thought.

    Oh.  Oops.

    You¡¯re still at it, huh?  You just want to put me back in my place and forget this all happened?

    I¡¯m sorry.  I really am.  It¡¯s just my nature.  I look at life in terms of problems and solutions.  Can I deal with this? If so, how? If not, how can I avoid it?  If I can¡¯t avoid it, how can I make it irrelevant?

    You want to consider my problems irrelevant.

    That¡¯s not at all what I mean and you know it!  I care about you. I really, truly do. I get that my methods sound heartless, but logic only works with an emotional axiom at its base.  The end goal must be defined by desire. I want a good life for myself and my friends. I want you and Darron and myself to all be happy, with all my heart.  That basis isn¡¯t cold logic, that¡¯s me.

    ...I know.  I can tell. More than ever before, actually.  Geez. You say my powers are insane, but seriously?  Reading minds is just¡­ cheating.

    It is not!

    It really is, though.  If you weren¡¯t such a monster-hunting meathead I bet you could form yourself a cushy rich life in like a day.

    ...Well, I won¡¯t deny that.  Now, let¡¯s get you dressed, okay?  And once we get out of this awful mountain, we are stopping in the first town on the way to buy you some new clothes, complete with pants that fit.  And unisex underwear. And gloves, if you want them.

    That all sounds great.  Thank you.

    Of course.  And, Adgito?  You did amazing today.  Darron and I would probably be dead if you hadn¡¯t been around.  So¡­ thank you.

    Uh, yeah, you¡¯re welcome.  Anytime.

    Shara and Adgito¡¯s mental chat continued as Shara pulled Adgito¡¯s outfit from her gut-stained backpack, the two of them discussing everything and nothing so neither of them would pick up on Darron¡¯s methodical conversion of vrochth¨ªzo egg yolks into poisonous slurry.  With all the threats to the mountain dead and Adgito enchanted with the heat insulation spell, the three of them were ready to go.

    ¡°So, did either of you actually figure out how to get out of here?¡± Darron asked.

    Seriously, Shara thought, what is wrong with today?

    Preach it, sister,  Adgito responded.

 That Was The Important Part

    Being no small percentage of bookworm, Darron was plenty used to being cooped up somewhere oppressively stuffy.  Yet never had fresh air felt so good as when he and his companions felt the cool breeze that signified one beautifully important thing: the exit to the cave.

    As much fun as it had been to galavant around the inside of a volcano, it hadn¡¯t actually been any fun at all and everyone almost died.  Darron used to dream of visiting the great volcanic nation of Dynamo, but that dream was now dead. He was officially done with all volcanoes, forever.

    Cresting out of the mouth of the cave, the trio beheld a vibrant series of foothills rolling below them, a sizable town nestled comfortably inside their clefts.  The sun¡¯s position revealed it to be early morning, although Darron had no idea what day. Due to sheer exhaustion, the three of them were forced to sleep inside the volcano once despite the dangers.  Darron had instructed everyone on how to identify heatstroke in case his spell began to fail, and they took watch in shifts. Without the sun to keep track of time, Darron had no idea how long that lasted or how long they had spent before and after that rest.  If he were to hazard a guess, it was the dawn of the third day after they entered the mountain, totalling their journey somewhere close to fifty hours. They had probably slept for less than eight of that.

    Shara immediately declared the nearby town as their next destination, and Darron had no objection to this.  They were fugitives of Elpis, sure, but they weren¡¯t actually in Elpis territory and likely still had all of Mt. Phlegethos between them and anyone trying to cross over from Terranburg.  Going over the mountain would take a normal person nearly two weeks.

    Adgito walked next to Darron as Shara led the way down the zig-zagging trail to the city, which didn¡¯t escape Darron¡¯s notice.  Something significant had happened when Adgito picked up Shara¡¯s powers, he gathered, but beyond that he couldn¡¯t be bothered to care what it was.  Adgito was a wild card, and at this point Darron didn¡¯t mind if he stuck around or decided to leave one way or the other. He was a huge help but also a huge liability, and those attributes seemed to mainly cancel out.  A good few hours back Adgito had poked Darron and become male again, dropping access to Shara¡¯s mind-reading abilities and returning to the form he used to bring them to Mrs. Garnersworth¡¯s. Incidentally, none of those transformations managed to clean Adgito of the full-body dunk in vrochth¨ªzo blood he took, so he and Shara looked and smelled like death itself.  On the upside, Darron now had a spell to shut off someone¡¯s olfactory receptors, so that was nice.

    The defenses around town was barely a fence compared to the mighty walls of Terranburg, but the guards at the gate actually looked much better equipped.  They were decked out in half-plate armor and armed with spears and shields. These were men that knew they couldn¡¯t just hide utop their walls and fire from safety if monsters threatened the city; they were well-trained and likely well-experienced in the art of slaying beasts up close and personal.

    The guards looked surprised to see anyone coming from the trio¡¯s direction, and tensed up to prepare for an attack.  Shara just gave them a friendly wave, though, and they visibly relaxed the closer the three of them got.

    ¡°Titans, girl,¡± one of the scruffier guards called out as they approached, ¡°when we saw a black speck come down tha mountain, we up an¡¯ thought ya were a vroch!¡±

    ¡°Would a vrochth¨ªzo really be using the trail, though?¡± Shara called back, which incited a hearty chuckle from some of the guards.

    ¡°Aye, ah suppose they wuddn¡¯t!  Charge headfirst down tha mountain, they would!¡±

    ¡°Yeah.  We, uh, stumbled on a few on our way through the pass.  It got a bit messy. Looks like the remains of a nest were in there, but something had taken it out.  Found the mom¡¯s corpse in there, and the eggs were all taken out too.¡±

    The guards looked on the group with hesitant skepticism.

    ¡°...Ifin yer yankin¡¯ us around, it ain¡¯t in good taste, girl.¡±

    ¡°Nope, dead serious,¡± Shara said, ¡°Four arms, big scythe blades, snake tail?  I swear on my name, the monster¡¯s rotting in a pile of its dead children. Probably ran into a fire dragon, or something.¡±

    After a moment of disbelief, the gate guards erupted into whoops, hollars, and swears of celebration, clapping Shara on the back, shaking her around, and other overly manly displays of rambunctious joy.  Darron and Adgito, not being the touchy-feely types, immediately retreated a step back. One of the guards approached Darron to forcefully include him in the festivities, but Darron held out a hand to block him from closing in beyond arm¡¯s length.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re all so happy about this,¡± he lied, ¡°but would you mind telling me the date?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?  Oh, it¡¯s tha forty-third ¡®o spring, lad.¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± Darron said, ¡°Well in that case we¡¯ve been in Mt. Phlegethos for about three days, and we desperately need somewhere to rest.  Is there any chance you¡¯ll let us into town?¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± The guard exclaimed, as if walking up to the town gate and wanting to actually be let into town was the most surprising thing in the world, ¡°O¡¯ course, lad, o¡¯ course!  Security¡¯s just up cuzza tha vroch threat, gates are open! Welcome ta Oinos Springs, please make yerselves at home!¡±

    Darron did so, pushing past the gaggle of guards and entering the town proper.  Three days wasn¡¯t so bad, he supposed. It certainly put them far ahead of schedule.  Despite becoming a fugitive, Darron still had every intention of reaching Hydronia and going to college there.  Elpis and Hydronia weren¡¯t diplomatic allies, so it was unlikely Elpis would be able to chase the three of them past its borders.  A total of four days had passed since they started their journey, leaving Darron with fifty-two left to make it on time. He¡¯d expected ten days less before passing over Mt. Phlegethos.  Taking deadly shortcuts had its advantages, he supposed.

    ¡°Darron, you big party pooper!¡± Shara complained, catching up with him, ¡°Couldn¡¯t you let me enjoy that for a while?¡±

    ¡°I did,¡± Darron responded. ¡°A few seconds is a while.  Now we need to get some actual rest and then get moving.¡±

    ¡°All right, all right,¡± Shara grumbled.  ¡°We need to buy some new clothes first, most of ours are ruined.  And then we are absolutely going to those hot springs!¡±

    ¡°Hot springs?¡± Adgito asked.

    ¡°Yeah, they named the town after ¡®em!  Oinos Springs? Besides, you can¡¯t tell me we don¡¯t all need a bath.¡±

    They really did.  Darron was safe from the effects thanks to his olfactory deactivation spell, but more than a few people wrinkled their noses and turned away as the trio passed.  Shara and Adgito also had the added benefit of being covered in dried blood, which was especially conspicuous. They couldn¡¯t spare drinking water to clean themselves back in Mt. Phlegethos when they didn¡¯t know how long they¡¯d be trapped within its maze-like depths.

    ¡°I suppose we could use a quick wash, yeah,¡± Darron conceded.

    ¡°Quick wash?¡± Shara asked, appalled.  ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right! You¡¯ve never had a real bath before!  Oh man, you¡¯re in for a treat!¡±

    Shara rushed off to get directions from some unfortunate passerby as Darron was left to regret his decision to agree in silence.  From his understanding, a ¡°real bath¡± involved being completely submerged in water, which just seemed unpleasant and extremely wasteful.

    Oh, well.  It would be a minor distraction at worst.  Darron had better things to do with his attention than get bent out of shape over Shara¡¯s uncontrollable whims.  She seemed excited about it, which was worrying, but it probably wouldn¡¯t be that bad.

    Letting his gaze wander as they traveled, Darron took interest in the local architecture.  The town was built into the side of Mt. Phlegethos, giving the town a sloped layout that allowed a clear view to most of it at once.  A large mansion loomed on the opposite end of the city, and there were many fancy-looking houses near the upper areas, but most of the town seemed like a small, middle-upper class village. A far cry from the stuffy atmosphere of Terranburg, Oinos Springs was fresh, open, and beautiful, with well-kempt streets, lively shops, and friendly inhabitants.  Had Darron been a more experienced traveler, he¡¯d notice the clear air of a tourist town, designed to expect heavy-pocketed travelers on a regular basis. Thanks to that expectation of reliable revenue, haggling was fairly minimal as Shara perused around for new outfits. Darron noticed her skip over a few shopkeepers, but nowhere near as many as they¡¯d needed to bypass in Terranburg.

    ¡°This place is kind of a bummer,¡± Shara commented offhandedly.  ¡°The people here are putting on a brave face but I¡¯m gathering that something pretty tragic just happened.¡±

    ¡°I mean, those guards knew about the vrochth¨ªzo,¡± Adgito said, ¡°so either the mom passed by on her way to the mountain or some of her kids managed to find the same exit we did.¡±

    ¡°Probably the latter,¡± Shara acknowledged.  ¡°If a vrochth¨ªzo lord had come through here, we¡¯d be able to tell.¡±

    Darron was barely paying attention to the conversation, his eye catching on a small poster that seemed to be plastered around many places in town.  He gave it a quick read.

    To the residents of Oinos Springs and the many friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, and admirers of the late Gregory Cornwall, you are hereby invited to services in his name.  The public funeral of our beloved mayor will be held in the Cornwall Estate gardens at noon on the forty-fifth of spring, in honor of those that died defending our city in the recent attacks.  All guests are welcome.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Darron confirmed, ¡°It looks like some people died in attacks, plural.  Not a single catastrophic event. Funeral¡¯s in two days.¡±

    ¡°Yeesh,¡± Shara said, ¡°Good thing we¡¯ll be out of here by then.¡±

    It was at this point Darron noticed a minor commotion in front of an important-looking building, which turned out to be labeled as the Onios Springs Sheriff''s Office.  A row of prison stocks sat in front of the edifice, one of which was occupied by what appeared to be a young woman. Darron couldn¡¯t make out many details about the girl, whose neck and wrists were locked in the stocks and whose long, black hair covered her face as she stared at the ground.  Three young children stood in front of her, boys no older than twelve, and took turns kicking her in the face as they yelled angry accusations. Another woman, probably in her early twenties, was desperately but ineffectually trying to shoo the children away. Tiny in height and plump in stature, the young boys barely paid her notice as she panicked and pleaded at them to stop.

    Here we go again, Darron thought, for there was no doubt in his mind that Shara was about to step in and get caught up in someone else¡¯s business.  This would be Adgito all over again, he just knew it. Sure enough, Shara noticed and began to make her way over in that direction.  Darron followed, reluctantly. There was no stopping the Shara wagon, he could only ride.

    Yet, as if through some glorious titanic intervention, Shara suddenly stopped, still quite a ways away from the commotion.  A puzzled look spread over her face, slowly turning into worry.

    ¡°Hey, kids!¡± She called out, and the three young boys turned to see a bloodsoaked, heavily armed woman glaring at them in the distance.

    ¡°You need to cut that out, or else one of you might get hurt,¡± she intoned.

    It was enough to send the children scurrying.  Shara then turned and continued down the path towards the hot springs, avoiding the woman in the stocks and her plump, ineffectual keeper.  The enchained woman wasn¡¯t moving, Darron noticed. He should probably go check on her; head injuries were no joke, even from children.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Shara informed him, ¡°just leave it.¡±

    That was¡­ unexpected.  Shara was normally quite eager to help someone out like this.  Besides, it probably wasn¡¯t fine. The woman had taken some heavy blows.  Sure, Darron didn¡¯t really want to go help her, but that was irrelevant.

    ¡°I said it¡¯s fine,¡± Shara said.  ¡°Trust me?¡±

    Normally Darron would be happy to trust Shara, but this was a medical problem and Shara considered six broken ribs to be an ¡°it¡¯s fine¡± situation.  She was hesitant and worried about something, and that was worth paying attention to, but Darron figured he had a pretty good handle on what that was.  More likely than not, Shara picked up some mental info regarding why those kids were beating up on what appeared to be a helpless prisoner. Shara likely found something fairly heinous or incriminating in the prisoner¡¯s mind, something that disgusted her enough to decline assistance.  The prisoner was probably a dangerous sort that was getting her just desserts. But that was irrelevant.

    ¡°Look, there¡¯s more to it than that,¡± Shara said.  ¡°Can we just go?¡±

    ¡°Feel free,¡± Darron responded, ¡°I¡¯ll meet you there.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make me drag you,¡± Shara threatened, narrowing her eyes.

    ¡°I doubt they¡¯d let you force me into the girl¡¯s changing area,¡± Darron calmly responded.  He wouldn¡¯t be fooled. If she was actually planning to force him, she¡¯d have done it already.  ¡°I¡¯ll be quick.¡±

    Darron approached the stocks, even though it was probably a bad idea.  Shara was almost always right when it came to people. But that was irrelevant.  Darron judged people by their actions, and all he saw was a helpless person taking repeated blows to the face without offering resistance.  What was the point of being a doctor, if you don¡¯t help someone after that?This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    To Darron¡¯s surprise, Shara led Adgito away towards the hot springs, instead of following after him.  This was actually quite reassuring; she probably would have come with if she thought he was in danger.  The small, plump woman that had been trying to stop the children earlier waddled towards him with a frantic expression.

    ¡°Oh my, thank you so much for getting those kids to go away,¡± she jabbered as if Darron had done anything other than stand nearby. ¡°It¡¯s been dreadful trying to¨C¡±

    ¡°I do not even remotely care,¡± Darron said, refusing to get involved with her pointless B-plot.  He was just here to slap some magic on a criminal and go take an awful bath.

    He squatted down to place himself at eye-level with the stocks, for they forced the girl on her knees and kept her head looking at the ground.  Now that he was up close, it was clear the girl wasn¡¯t entirely human: a long, black tail emerged from the base of her spine, tipped with a dark stinger.  Her fingers were clawed and her skin was pitch dark, making her look very much like a vrochth¨ªzo. Perhaps this was the reason for the enmity displayed against her?

    Reaching forward, he pushed aside the unkempt black hair that dangled down from the woman¡¯s head like a willow tree.  The girl¡¯s face was completely covered with a blank white cloth mask, although patches of it were stained with a dark liquid that was probably blood.  Careful not to move her neck, Darron began to cast an unobtrusive scanning spell to determine the severity of the woman¡¯s injuries, ignoring the worried babbling coming from the small lady behind him.

    The spell was designed to work on humans, so the results came back¡­ incomplete. Some parts of the spell simply didn¡¯t take, returning invalid or nonexistent information.  Most of it still functioned normally, though, leading Darron to believe the girl was probably some kind of humanoid offshoot. Perhaps a crossbreed, or the result of some arcane accident.  Regardless, Darron confirmed she didn¡¯t have any traumatic spinal or brain injuries, and that was the important part.

    Also interesting to note was that, best Darron could tell, she was conscious, which changed the situation significantly.  Darron felt obligated to obtain consent before working on a mentally sound individual.

    ¡°I would like to cast a few healing spells on you,¡± Darron informed her. ¡°Is that okay?¡±

    ¡°...No,¡± the girl said, her voice calm and direct.

    Oh.  Well, that was that, then.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Darron said, and got up to leave.  Trying to heal someone that didn¡¯t want you to wasn¡¯t benevolence, it was hypocrisy.

    ¡°W-w-wait!¡± the plump woman stammered, ¡°You¡¯ve got to help her!¡±

    That statement was objectively untrue, so Darron ignored it and started walking.

    ¡°Please!¡± the woman insisted, ¡°She¡¯s distraught!  She¡¯s not sound of mind!¡±

    Frustratingly, this was a far more potentially valid claim.  Darron felt obligated to address it, so he stopped and turned to face the woman.

    ¡°Are you her guardian or caretaker?¡± Darron asked.

    ¡°Er, no.  If anything, she was my¨C¡±

    ¡°Then I won¡¯t accept your permission on her behalf anyway,¡± Darron interrupted.  ¡°She denied treatment. She doesn¡¯t have a concussion. Her injuries will be painful but they¡¯re not life-threatening.  I have no reason to ignore her desires, and frankly, you seem more unsound of mind than she does.¡±

    ¡°She didn¡¯t do it!¡± the woman pleaded, ¡°she shouldn¡¯t be locked up in the first place!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nice but it has absolutely nothing to do with why I¡¯m here or why I¡¯m leaving,¡± Darron informed her.  ¡°Bye.¡±

    He ignored the rest of her protests and made his way to the bathhouses where Shara and Adgito had no doubt already begun their cleansing.  He supposed it was therefore safe to remove his olfactory deactivation spell, and¡­

    Darron dry heaved a little at the shock.  Goodness, he was just as rank as they were.  He increased his walking pace.

    One short walk and a small entry fee later, Darron found himself at the hot springs.  Once he got undressed and made his way into the bathhouse proper, he was completely floored.  Darron had never seen so much water in his life. Tubs, showers, pools, and springs were spread out everywhere in the massive building, countless men bathing, lounging or relaxing in the warm water.  Where did all of it come from? Would Hydronia be like this? Could they transport this ridiculous surplus of water to the southern plains somehow?

    ¡°Yo, Darron!¡± an annoying voice called out, and Darron looked towards it to find Adgito waving from one of the bathing pools.  It seemed he hadn¡¯t transformed into some kind of fish-person yet, still sporting his generic male human appearance he¡¯d had since before they exited Mt. Phlegethos.  Darron wondered how close to his limit Adgito might be. Darron approached, having nowhere better to go.

    ¡°Hey, you made it!¡± Adgito said, ¡°Shara blabbered the whole way here about how you¡¯d probably have no idea what to do and made me promise to help you out.¡±

    ¡°I assume I just sort of get in the water,¡± Darron said.

    ¡°Wow,¡± Adgito exclaimed, ¡°you really are a genius!¡±

    Bracing himself, Darron dipped his toe in the disgusting waste of fluid, anticipating that soggy feeling of damp discomfort that always paired with sponge baths.  It never came. In fact, the hot water actually felt kind of nice. Darron deigned to dip the rest of his body into the pool, sitting down next to Adgito. As usual, Shara was right and he hated it.  The warm water was not entirely unpleasant. He allowed himself to soak silently in the bath, calmly plotting new and better ways to refine the many spells he¡¯d come up with on the journey through Mt. Phlegethos.

    ¡°So,¡± Adgito suddenly said, jerking Darron¡¯s attention away from more important things, ¡°Uh.  Darron. I¡¯ve been meaning to bring this up, but, uh, I can¡¯t help but notice that you¡­ don¡¯t seem to like me very much?¡±

    Darron sighed.  This would be the beginning of a long and tedious conversation, he knew, but he probably shouldn¡¯t just ignore it.

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Darron agreed, ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t really say I dislike you, either.  You¡¯re just sort of there.¡±

    ¡°Uh,¡± Adgito stammered, ¡°that¡­ that seems worse than just outright being told you don¡¯t like me, honestly.¡±

    ¡°I am not really what one would describe as ¡®socially adept,¡¯¡± Darron admitted, ¡°but I mean what I say.  If it makes you feel any better, I did, in fact, outright dislike you when we first met. My negative opinion towards you has since shrunk in severity.¡±

    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not sure if that makes me feel any better, no.¡±

    Darron shrugged.  ¡°Oh, well.¡±

    Silence returned, so Darron returned his attention to his magic.  This bliss did not last for long.

    ¡°Is there, um, anything I can do to make you like me more?¡± Adgito wondered.

    Darron supposed he may as well make use of this tedium.  He had quite a few questions, after all.

    ¡°Did you still have any baby teeth when you first got your abilities?¡± Darron asked. ¡°If so, were they baby teeth in all of your forms?  What happened when they fell out? Were they missing in every form? Did your permanent teeth erupt at the same time between forms?¡±

    ¡°Uhh¡­ I don¡¯t remember,¡± Adgito informed him unhelpfully.  ¡°I don¡¯t remember a lot about way back then. I try not to.¡±

    Frustrating, but expected.  Darron presumed if Adgito simply had a tooth knocked out it would be healed by transformation along with his other injuries.  But how does it affect natural biological processes? Adgito¡¯s body was presumably reconstituting itself when it changed forms, as some of his forms didn¡¯t have internal organs at all.  For most processes, this wouldn¡¯t be largely affected: Adgito¡¯s heart stopped existing when it wasn¡¯t needed, and started beating once it existed again. It kept doing that and would keep functioning as it always did, so long as it was around, because its function was a constant event, only changing due to stimuli rather than extensive time.  However, the movement of permanent teeth through a person¡¯s gums was a long, extensive, and ever-changing process that built upon progress previously made throughout a person¡¯s life. Learning about how it was affected could teach Darron a lot about the exact nature of Adgito¡¯s transformations, but apparently it was a dead end. Adgito didn¡¯t remember, and even if he did it was very possible that, at age fourteen, he¡¯d recently gotten most or all of his permanent teeth anyway.  There weren¡¯t a whole ton of other biological processes that both took an extensive period to complete and that Adgito could describe to Darron qualitatively, but Darron asked about the next one anyway.

    ¡°What about your menstrual cycle?  Do you have one, when you¡¯re a woman?¡±

    Adgito coughed on the deep breath he was taking and looked at Darron incredulously.

    ¡°What???¡±

    ¡°I asked, ¡®what about your¨C¡¯¡±

    ¡°I heard you!  No! We¡¯re not talking about this!  This is the worst possible place to talk about this!¡±

    Darron grunted in frustration.  This always happened when discussing any part of biology affected by dimorphism.  He didn¡¯t understand why people didn¡¯t like talking about it. Out of every aspect of the human body, it was arguably the one thing that needed the most vocalization.  Otherwise, half the population had no other way to understand that part of the other half.  Besides, in this case it would be the most helpful. The timing window of other options small and highly variable.  Darron figured he may as well ask anyway.

    ¡°Okay, what about defecation and urination?  If you need to relieve yourself, but then you switch forms, do you still need to relieve yourself?¡±

    ¡°Oh titans, you ask the weirdest crap,¡± Adgito complained.  ¡°Yes. I still have to pee if I become a lady or whatever.¡±

    ¡°What if you become a form without a digestive system, like your magma form?¡± Darron asked.  Adgito scratched his cheek.

    ¡°Uh, I guess I never felt the need to pee in that form?¡± he said.

    ¡°If you needed to defecate, then switched to your magma form, and then switched back to a form that had a digestive system, would the need to defecate return?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any clue!¡± Adgito exclaimed, exasperated.  ¡°I¡¯ve never tried! When I need to piss I just find a bathroom and go!  I don¡¯t do a bunch of experiments on it!¡±

    ¡°Well, you should,¡± Darron claimed, then returned to contented silence.  There probably wasn¡¯t much point in asking more questions to someone so fundamentally uninterested in science.  Unfortunately, Adgito seemed more interested in changing the subject than letting the conversation die like it deserved.

    ¡°So, what made you want to become a doctor?¡± Adgito asked.

    ¡°My grandmother taught me biomancy,¡± Darron sighed, ¡°and I ended up being rather good at it.  Magic is interesting to me.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but, why a doctor?¡± Adgito pressed.  ¡°It honestly really surprised me when you went off to help that prisoner.  You were really insistent about it. I kinda get the impression you don¡¯t like people, but you picked the kind of magic most focused on dealing with them.¡±

    Darron thought about that for a moment.  It was true that going out of his way to help someone clashed with his misanthropic tendencies, but there was more to it than that.  He wanted to be clear in how he articulated it.

    ¡°It is true that I don¡¯t enjoy talking to or being around people,¡± Darron admitted, ¡°but that does not mean I wish for their misfortune and pain.  I want all people to live happy and healthy lives, even if I don¡¯t wish for them to impose those lives on me. I simply don¡¯t have the time or inclination to waste on the kind of smalltalk everyone else seems to feverishly engage in, but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m not interested in doing the right thing.  I can care for someone¡¯s well-being without caring to hear about the minute details of their day-to-day doldrums.¡±

    Adgito¡¯s expression was hard to read.  Worry? Confusion? Pity, almost?

    ¡°Um, I dunno.  Can you?¡± he asked.  ¡°If you only care about healing someone¡¯s body, I think you¡¯ll miss some of the really serious issues they¡¯re dealing with.  Are you sure you¡¯re not just coming up with an excuse to only do the part of the job that you like?¡±

    Darron didn¡¯t have anything to say about that.  He slouched, letting the warm water wash over his shoulders as he mulled it over.

    ¡°So, uh, how did healing that prisoner go, anyway?¡± Adgito asked.

    ¡°They were beaten up pretty bad, but they denied treatment.¡±

    ¡°So, what did you do?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.  They denied treatment, so I left.¡±

    ¡°See, this is what I¡¯m talking about!¡± Adgito exclaimed. ¡°That¡¯s not normal.  You should have looked into why. ...And I realize I just had this argument with your sister from the opposite side, but still.  There¡¯s a middle ground.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not really sure what you¡¯re expecting, here,¡± Darron said.  ¡°I have no talent in that area. I¡¯m unlikely to be of any actual assistance.¡±

    ¡°Darron, I have no talents in any area,¡± Adgito huffed.  ¡°If I let being bad at things stop me from doing them anyway, I wouldn¡¯t know how to walk.  You¡¯re a titans-damned genius. Figure it out.¡±

    Adgito let Darron finish cleaning himself in silence after that, but the quiet wasn¡¯t as relaxing anymore.  Pride wasn¡¯t a useful emotion, Darron knew, but if there was one thing he did have pride about it was his skills as a healer.  Yet since he was a child, Darron had always had Shara around to deal with the mental side of people¡¯s health. Had he been taking that for granted?  Had he really been neglecting a key aspect of his profession out of laziness, rather than practicality? Had he really just been mentally outmaneuvered by Adgito, of all people?

    The feeling stuck with him as they finished their bath, got dressed in fresh clean outfits, and met up with Shara.  It was still morning when they checked into an inn, but the three of them collapsed from exhaustion anyway. Three days of volcano-navigating and monster-slaying had caught up with them.  They needed to rest.

    The sun had already set when Darron awoke.  He laid in the darkness, staring at the ceiling, wondering about the events of the morning before.  Had he been negligent? Should he return? He had no personal connection with that person, and he didn¡¯t want one.  Plus, it was probably a bad idea to approach a criminal in the middle of night.

    But that was irrelevant.  Irritated and reluctant, Darron removed himself from bed and exited his room. Self-destructive tendencies were a sign of mental unwellness, and he should have acknowledged that.  He would go pay the criminal another visit, and try to get her to accept treatment.

    ¡°Not without me, you won¡¯t,¡± Shara said.  She was waiting at the end of the hallway, arms crossed and a grumpy expression on her face.  She was dressed for battle, as always, but she seemed a little too well-prepared for a medical visit.

    Still, Darron had no objection to her tagging along.  He didn¡¯t want to rely on her completely, but he also wasn¡¯t going to settle for a subpar mental diagnosis simply because he refused to accept help.

    ¡°Should we wake up Adgito?¡± Darron asked.

    ¡°No, let her¨C him sleep.  He¡¯s not going to want to join us.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°Um, because he¡¯s still traumatized?  Wait, you don¡¯t¨C didn¡¯t you see that thing up close?  The prisoner¡¯s a vrochth¨ªzo, Darron! I don¡¯t know why they¡¯re locking it up instead of decapitating it, but it¡¯s definitely a vrochth¨ªzo.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound right,¡± Darron said, puzzled. ¡°Her body was extremely similar to a human¡¯s.  I detected a lot of things that wouldn¡¯t fit with what we know about vrochth¨ªzo biology.¡±

    ¡°Darron, the main thing I know about vrochth¨ªzo biology is that they¡¯re hungry all the time and they adapt to what they consume.  If its body is like a human¡¯s, that probably means it¡¯s eaten a ton of humans.  It¡¯s a monster.  Let it rot.¡±

    Darron thought about that, briefly.  Then he walked past his sister, down the stairs to the inn, and started to make his way towards the Sheriff''s office.

    Darron didn¡¯t know as much about monsters as Shara did, at least not ones that lived outside of the southern plains.  He certainly didn¡¯t know very much about people, beyond how their bodies worked and how to keep them alive. He did know a few things, though.

    To Darron, the difference between a person and a monster was the mind.  Maybe he was biased, being of somewhat high intelligence himself, but he believed it was that intelligence that separated people from non-people.  That was an important line to him, and he crossed it when fighting the vrochth¨ªzo lord. She was sapient. She could speak, reason, and conclude. Of course he had no choice but to slay her, assuming he wanted to live, but there had been a huge difference between killing that so-called monster and killing all the other monsters he had over the years.

    Even if this prisoner was a vrochth¨ªzo, she was still on his side of the line.  And Darron did have a choice this time.  Even with his middling ability to pick up on social cues, it was obvious the annoying, plump woman woman cared very much for that prisoner, for some reason or another.  Could the vrochth¨ªzo really be a monster, if she had inspired so much empathy from even one other person?

    ¡°This is a bad idea,¡± Shara insisted.

    Probably.  But that was irrelevant.

 Scientific Interlude: Aura, Barrier, and Magic

    Life on Telemera functions, on a broad level, quite similarly to life on Earth.  The body is comprised of organized cells that grow, adapt, respond to stimuli, reproduce, metabolize, and so on.  A constant influx of energy into the system (light from the sun) allowed life to evolve into more and more complex forms over time, ultimately giving rise to creatures complex enough to understand the very concepts we¡¯re discussing now.

    The primary difference in the world of Telemera compared to ours is a form of energy that, in our reality, simply doesn¡¯t exist: arcane energy, more colloquially referred to as ¡°magic.¡±  As one would expect, magic is so incredibly malleable it can be used to create almost any effect you can imagine, although the exact method of how to accomplish it may be a mystery. Unless you happen to be lucky enough to be born with an inherent ability to cast particular spells or possess particular magical effects, vast study is necessary to learn how to cast spells manually.  This ¡°practiced magic¡± that forms the foundation of wizardry is used by taking magical power from the caster¡¯s body and shaping it in a specific way. Arcane ¡°shapes¡± can be thought of as a mix between a chemical structure and a programming code, a vast and nearly infinite possibility space with esoteric but consistent rules. Most sapient beings shape arcane energy by using sound, vocalizing certain patterns that cause the arcane energy to resonate in certain patterns.  This ¡°language¡± is equally focused on pitch as it is phonemes, and usually sounds like someone singing to an ugly or random tune. It¡¯s also possible to physically shape the arcane energy of one¡¯s body with gestures and movements, although this method requires more precision and is usually more difficult to perform.

    Magic plays a fundamental role in all life on Telemera, in the formation of the aura.  All life has a magical aura; in fact, the presence of a complex, self-sustaining magical aura is what Telemeran scientists use to define life.  A person¡¯s aura is responsible for many important aspects of an organism¡¯s functionality, as it works in tandem with the brain to store memories, make judgements, and process thoughts.  In this way, the aura can be considered similar in concept to a soul, as it is an intangible form that exists within the body, contains an individual¡¯s personality, and departs their physical form on death.   This analogy falls short in most other areas, however: a person¡¯s aura does not live beyond their death or go to an afterlife, instead dissipating into basic, unformed arcane energy when they expire. The aura¡¯s presence and role in the body is what allows Adgito or any other shapeshifter to still think when he or she changes the structure of or completely removes their physical brain. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    The brain itself is still responsible for all the essential autonomic tasks of maintaining a person¡¯s body, and functions as a sort of parallel processor for the aura in terms of conscious thought.  It¡¯s also the most heavily-protected organ in terms of a person¡¯s barrier.

    The barrier is the physical manifestation of aura.  It is an invisible force that hovers a millimeter or thinner around a person¡¯s skin, as well as around important areas inside a person¡¯s body.  The primary function of the barrier is protection against direct magical attack, and due to the prevalence of dangerous natural magic it has evolved to be very effective at it.  To save energy, the barrier puts proportionally more effort into defending more important parts of a person¡¯s body, capping its maximum effectiveness at protecting a person¡¯s brain and their aura itself.  Attempting to use magic to in any way affect an individual¡¯s mind while they are still alive is not possible, as the aura is ¡°willing¡± to spend 100% of its energy in defense of that area. Should a spell that causes a mind-controlling or brain-affecting result be powerful enough to overcome a target¡¯s magic resistance, that spell would simply kill the target as the aura completely exhausts itself defending.  If your goal was to simply kill the target in the first place, there are far, far more efficient methods than simply brute forcing your way through the barrier.

    Because the barrier is a natural part of biology, it was subject to natural evolution.  It is for this reason that less obviously vital areas of a body are not as well-protected, as they had less evolutionary need to risk aura exhaustion.  As a result, spells that target key areas like the heart or lungs, or spells that target evolutionarily-important areas like the reproductive system, are less likely to overcome the barrier than spells which target less important systems.

    As mentioned in the main story, a barrier is indeed a physical manifestation of a person¡¯s aura, and powerful barriers can function as a kind of armor that absorbs incoming damage.  The party was having trouble piercing the vrochth¨ªzo lord¡¯s hide because her body was both naturally hard and her barrier was incredibly powerful, although obviously the barrier alone wasn¡¯t enough to protect her against Adgito and Shara.  It helped, though, I promise.

 Stone in a Tidal Wave

    When the vrochth¨ªzo popped into Shara¡¯s range, the hunger was almost tangible.  A physical force assaulted her senses, trying to push her back somewhere safe. Shara may not run the risk of going completely mad like Adgito did, but without something life-threatening to focus her attention on it would be difficult to resist the urge to start nibbling on trail rations, or devouring passing rodents.  Vrochth¨ªzo were really titans-damned hungry.

    Maybe if that was all, Shara could tolerate them.  Blocking out mental influences was just part of her life, and while vrochth¨ªzo were especially painful it was nothing she couldn¡¯t deal with.  It was more than that. That hunger drove their minds to terrifying extremes, for they needed something extreme to function at all. The ones that maintained their intelligence seemed to do so by substituting a more manageable insanity than the hunger that hounded them by default.  For most, such as the lord they fought before, it was arrogance. A belief in their own complete self-superiority kept them within their minds, manifesting as an unyielding certainty that all other life existed only to serve as a brief respite from hunger. That was a terrifying thing to let leak in.

    When fighting a vrochth¨ªzo, this could be channeled.  She used that mercilessness against them, separating them from the realm of compassion as they did to her.  Darron, however, wanted to talk to one. Heal it, even. It wouldn¡¯t go well, Shara knew, but it was a knowledge based on experience and intuition, not something she could calmly explain to her brother.  He was a big softie under his grumpy exterior, and she could tell he wasn¡¯t taking no for an answer on this one. He¡¯d need to learn the hard way.

    Shara did her best to block out everything she could of the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s mind as they approached, taking refuge in Darron¡¯s head.  It wasn¡¯t the safest option, but she figured that if the stocks couldn¡¯t hold the monster it would have long since escaped.

    The short, plump woman that had been trying to shoo off the children was there again, holding something fluffy and white in her arms.  She seemed to be trying to plead with the monster about something. In the darkness of the early night, the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s inky body was difficult to see.  It almost looked like she was speaking to a void.

    ¡°But you have to!¡± the woman pleaded, tears in her eyes. ¡°You¡¯ll die!  I can¡¯t lose you too! I won¡¯t!¡±

    No response was forthcoming from the monster.  It didn¡¯t even move.

    ¡°Please!¡± the woman wailed, holding out the beautiful, snow-white cat in her arms, ¡°just eat her!¡±

    ¡°I refuse,¡± came the monster¡¯s cold voice, too much like a human¡¯s for Shara to be comfortable with.  ¡°And I shall refuse the next hundred thousand times you ask.¡±

    Darron took this opportunity to tactfully introduce himself into the conversation, as the two of them got closer.

    ¡°Hello again,¡± he said.  The plump woman immediately began to stammer surprised greetings, but he cut her off.  ¡°Let¡¯s start this over. What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ Isabella Cornwall,¡± she answered.  ¡°I¡¯m Mayor Cornwall¡¯s daughter. And this is Arina.  Sh...she was my father¡¯s assistant, and one of my caretakers.¡±

    Shara picked up a lot from that simple exchange, most of it useful.  Isabella was telling the truth, for starters, at least so far as she knew.  Her father was indeed the late Gregory Cornwall, whom his daughter loved dearly.  Depression as to his untimely passing had permeated the town during the day, so Shara could reasonably assume he¡¯d been an effective and well-loved public figure.  He was also obscenely rich, enough to shower his daughter with multiple maids, tutors, and bodyguards. One of which was this prisoner, the monstrous status of whom Isabella was well aware of. Yet she still cared for it deeply, which made things complicated.

    ¡°So, why is Miss Arina locked up in front of the sheriff¡¯s office?¡± Darron asked.

    ¡°She¡­ she was found guilty of killing my father,¡± Isabella answered.  ¡°But that¡¯s absurd! She would never do such a thing! Just because he was bitten to death, everyone assumes it¡¯s her!¡±

    Shara, despite her best attempts to avoid the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s thoughts, was suddenly hit with a great pain.  Grief, anger, disgust, and hopelessness radiated out of the motionless beast, drowning the background hunger like a stone in a tidal wave.

    Darron looked to Shara for confirmation.  He wanted to know, for a fact, whether or not this monster was the culprit.  Whether she could actually control herself, or whether it just needed to be put down.

    He didn¡¯t fully understand what he was actually asking Shara to do, of course.  He was probably going to tax her sanity for nothing. Yet he was so close, so infinitesimally near the chance of being right, that Shara couldn¡¯t bring herself to just avoid the problem.  She would end up regretting not indulging him, because they¡¯d both never truly know unless she did. While Shara wasn¡¯t terribly concerned about that, it would eat at Darron¨C ha ha¨C for a long time.

    So, bracing herself to dive into frozen waters, she took a peek into the monster¡¯s mind and asked:

    ¡°So, did you kill him?  Did you kill Gregory Cornwall?¡±

    No, came the response, but it was no mere word.  It was unbridled emotion, a most profound and infinite negation, a complete denial of everything the monster named Arina was.  No.  Never.  Impossible.  My universe. My everything.  I could not have killed him any more than I could kill the air I breathe.

    How dare you, it roared, as the denial turned to indignation. How dare you!  For a split moment Shara was certain Arina was free of chains and tearing open her throat, but then it was gone, drowned again like a stone in a tidal wave.

    It wasn¡¯t love, or attraction, or anything quite so wholesome that rooted the monster¡¯s obsession.  Shara didn¡¯t know if vrochth¨ªzo were even capable of such things, and whatever this was spilled no light on that subject.  No, Arina had drowned her hunger in loyalty, an unflinching and unconditional devotion. Her world was one of orders and executions.  She didn¡¯t need to eat because she had not been told to eat. Now, with the object of that fidelity gone forever, the hunger was washed away by self-loathing instead.  Failure. Emptiness. Not needing to eat because food was pointless. It would not bring her reality back.

    Shara had not been prepared for this.  Hunger, madness, yearning¡­ those things, she was prepared for, but they barely registered.  She had braced her mind for impact, but found she¡¯d only keep falling. Shara swallowed, pulling back from that cold, vehement emptiness.

    ¡°Well,¡± Shara managed to say, ¡°she definitely didn¡¯t do it.¡±

    For the first time, Arina moved, her head tilting ever so slightly in Shara¡¯s direction.

    ¡°You believe us?¡± Isabella squeaked with surprise, giving the cat in her arms a tight hug.  ¡°Really? Just like that?¡±

    Shara nodded.  With an emotional bleedover like that, she worried if she was even capable of believing Arina killed her former master.  The idea was now anathema to her.

    ¡°Okay, so she¡¯s innocent of the murder of Gregory Cornwall,¡± Darron said. ¡°How many other people have you eaten, though?¡±

    ¡°I have not been charged with the murder of anyone other than Gregory Cornwall,¡± Arina responded carefully, but her mind betrayed her facade.  Memories of feelings, smells, tastes flickered through Arina¡¯s mind. A lightless pit, where food was thrown screaming from the top of the darkness to where Arina waited, trapped.  A place where she devoured the howling, pleading voices without knowing what they meant, without knowing when her next meal would arrive.

    Later, much later, there were orders.  After Arina understood the noises and the screams, recognised the words, she was given instructions to kill and leave no evidence of death.  How better to dispose of a body, than by eating it? Her master cared not for the method, only the results.

    Every so once and a while, there were no orders, just dangers.  Insolent meals would come in the night, trying to kill her world, and she would dispose of them with overwhelming force.

    It was hundreds of memories, in total.  Likely far more she had forgotten. Shara spat on the ground, trying to get someone else¡¯s taste out of her mouth.

    ¡°That one, she¡¯s guilty of,¡± Shara whispered to her brother, as quietly as she could manage.  Arina didn¡¯t react, but she still heard. Darron just nodded.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    ¡°Do you know why she¡¯s refusing food and treatment?¡± he asked.

    ¡°She¡¯s given up on the will to live, basically,¡± Shara whispered back.  ¡°Gregory Cornwall was¡­ very important to her.¡±

    A small spark of anger flickered in Arina¡¯s mind.  What do you know of his importance?  You know nothing. Yet it faded away, as quickly as it came.  She was grieving, Shara knew. Could monsters grieve?

    ¡°Well, what do you suggest?¡± Darron asked her.  ¡°...Under the assumption that we¡¯re here to help her.¡±

    Under the assumption that we treat Arina like a person, was the implication.  Was that the right thing to do?  Vrochth¨ªzo were a threat to sapient life.  This one in particular had already killed countless others.  Although, most of those situations were at the behest of a human, weren¡¯t they?

    ¡°What exactly is your end goal, here?¡±  Shara asked Darron. ¡°Do you just want to patch up her bruises?  Do you want her to live a happy and fulfilling life? How deep is this going to go, bro?¡±

    Darron had no idea, of course.  He was just dealing with a crisis of faith, stepping into this situation specifically because he didn¡¯t think he could handle it properly.  He wanted to go all the way, to help her in every way possible. But he was one man, and if that¡¯s the standard he set for himself on every personal interaction, he would never achieve it.  The simple mortal limitations he possessed did not grant him the time or scope to devote himself to more than a few people. What was the cut-off point?

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s say we¡¯re going all the way,¡± Darron posited.  ¡°What would that entail?¡±

    ¡°...A lot,¡± Shara said. ¡°Even more if we¡¯re assuming moral responsibility, since that would involve reforming a career killer rather than just making her feel better about herself.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Isabella asked indignantly, ¡°I told you, she hasn¡¯t killed anyone!¡±

    Oh good, the stupid girl believed it, too.

    ¡°She didn¡¯t kill your father,¡± Shara explained as if to a child, ¡°but she¡¯s killed¨C¡±

    ¡°Shut up,¡± Arina suddenly growled.  ¡°Don¡¯t talk down to her.¡±

    She isn¡¯t to know, Arina thought. Loyalty flared up, along with something softer.  A protective instinct. A genuine sliver of empathy. Master didn¡¯t want her to know.  It would hurt her to know.  I will not let you hurt her.

    Shara ground her teeth.  How was she supposed to convince herself this wasn¡¯t a person now?

    ¡°Sorry,¡± she said, ¡°that wasn¡¯t my intention.  I think my brother and I would very much like to talk to you, though.  About this.¡±

    Arina was also curious.  No one is supposed to know.  How do they know?

    ¡°Isabella,¡± she intoned, ¡°please take Captain Cuddles back to the mansion.  I¡¯d like to talk to these people alone.¡±

    ¡°But¨C!¡±

    ¡°She¡¯ll be fine,¡± Shara said. ¡°We¡¯re just going to talk.¡±

    With a nod, Isabella departed, clutching Captain Cuddles close to her chest as they plodded off into the night.

    ¡°How do you know?¡± Arina hissed, once Isabella was out of earshot.  I was perfect, she thought, untraceable.  There was no evidence.  I was exactly what he needed.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Shara responded. ¡°If you don¡¯t want us to talk about it, we won¡¯t.¡±

    That surprised Arina, and she grew even more suspicious.  What was Shara¡¯s angle, here? Shara wondered that herself.

    ¡°What would you do if we proved your innocence?¡± Shara asked.  ¡°What if you became free? Would you live with Isabella?¡±

    Arina thought for a moment.

    ¡°I would find my master¡¯s true murderer,¡± she eventually said, ¡°and slaughter them.¡±

    ¡°And then?¡±

    ¡°I do not know,¡± she said.  I suppose I would die, she thought.  ¡°Why are you asking me these questions?  What do you hope to gain from me?¡±

    What, indeed.  Whether it was due to or in spite of her dietary choices, Arina at least had the potential for genuine personhood.  She certainly wasn¡¯t a good person, but she wasn¡¯t a complete monster either, and that gave Shara pause. Yet, if they simply let her loose, the results were clear: she¡¯d kill one or more people and then probably herself.  Even if their only intended gain from this interaction was to make Darron feel better about himself, that was far from a net win. Releasing a murderer to let her go murder more people, regardless of whether they were assassins that pinned their crime on her, wasn¡¯t really taking the moral high ground.  Furthermore, Arina hadn¡¯t been tried for the many killings she actually did commit due to lack of evidence, so wasn¡¯t it justice for her to receive some sort of punishment, even if the pretext was incorrect? No, that didn¡¯t seem right. Arina receiving punishment for the death of Gregory Cornwall seemed cruel in a way Shara couldn¡¯t vocalize.

    ¡°What sort of skills do you have that don¡¯t involve killing people?¡± Darron asked.

    ¡°...Reconnaissance, infiltration, fighting to subdue.¡± Arina answered hesitantly. ¡°Moderate air manipulation.  Threat detection. Child and pet care.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, we could use... most of those skills,¡± Darron said.  ¡°I expect we¡¯ll run into no end of trouble in the near future.  If we help bring Gregory Cornwall justice for his death, would you be willing to work with us?¡±

    Oh, no.  Of course Shara should have seen this coming.  Unfortunately, it could very well be the optimal decision.  The only way to ensure a free Arina won¡¯t end causing more harm than good would be to bring her along, and she¡¯d be helpful to have for exactly the same reason the party couldn¡¯t afford to stick around in Oinos Springs.  Darron was going for the big play, investing maximum effort for maximum potential gain, but there was a key factor he was missing.

    ¡°More accurately, would you be willing to accept one of us as your new master?¡± Shara asked.

    Darron balked at the implication of continued slavery, but it was a necessary element.  Too much of Arina¡¯s self-made sanity relied on the stabilizing force of following orders.  Having some creepy assassin following them around and calling them ¡°master¡± would be more than a little disturbing, not to mention morally questionable, but Shara couldn¡¯t expect ripping all of that out of Arina¡¯s decision-making process at once to end well.  Her devotion to Gregory Cornwall was nothing short of complete indoctrination. To heal Arina¡¯s mind and find her a healthier method of thinking would require time, patience, and at least a little bit of acceptance of her current worldview before they weaned her off of it.

    Not that Shara was opposed to securing Arina¡¯s fanatical devotion in the meantime, so as to more easily manage her, but that temptation was better left unsaid.

    It didn¡¯t escape Shara¡¯s notice how quickly she¡¯d face-turned on her opinion of the vrochth¨ªzo, going from ¡°we should probably kill it¡± to ¡°we should totally take her with us¡± in the span of a single conversation.  Part of that was most likely emotional bleedover, which was dangerous and troublesome but, to the best of her ability to stay cognisant of it, not the main factor in her change. Simply put, she had been incredibly, incredibly wrong, and her brother had been right.  It hadn¡¯t even occurred to Shara that she could be speciesist against vrochth¨ªzo any more than she could be speciesist against skitters, cattle, or crotchbiters, but it turns out they were apparently not all complete monsters. Just, like, ninety-nine percent of them.  The other one percent were horrifying sociopathic mental patients, but not monsters, and Darron noticed and respected that difference long before Shara could.  Which was kind of embarrassing.

    Arina, for her part, reached her decision.

    ¡°My master¡­ was everything.  Should you assist me in bringing down those responsible for his death, I would owe you my life¡¯s services.  But¡­¡± her voice grew cold, marking itself with the venomous promise that only a killer of hundreds of men could truly give, ¡°Should I find that you were duplicitous in these dealings, or that you were in any way involved in my master¡¯s demise, nothing will save you.  I will tear you and everything you know asunder.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Darron said. ¡°Can I heal your face now?¡±

    ¡°...Yes,¡± Arina relented.

    ¡°I¡¯ll need to take your mask off.  Is that all right?¡±

    ¡°Put it back when you are done.¡±

    Darron peeled off the white, holeless mask after casting a pain-dampening spell.  The cuts and lesions on Arina¡¯s face had scabbed over, sticking to the cloth, and were ripped open again as the mask was removed.  The vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s curved, black teeth were now plainly visible, as were the solid, inky eyes that always graced a vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s face.  However, even with her eyes uncovered, Arina didn¡¯t look up to view her proposed benefactors, or swivel around to take stock of her situation.  It made no difference to her, because Arina was completely blind.

    Given a lack of visual component in her memories, Shara had expected this.  Still, it was startling to confirm that such a highly successful career killer did her job without one of the most prominent senses of everyday life.

    Darron healed up the lesions and bruises on Arina¡¯s face and gathered the blood off of her body and mask with the Orbital Cleaner.  Arina¡¯s face was slender and angled, but not entirely unattractive so long as she kept her mouth closed. Nonetheless, it was still unmistakably vrochth¨ªzo, which is probably why she preferred the mask in public.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to run some tests,¡±  Darron said, indicating Arina¡¯s floating blood. ¡°Do you mind if I keep this?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Arina immediately responded.  ¡°Give it back.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Darron said, and stored it all in a glass vial before placing it in Arina¡¯s restrained hand. ¡°Here you go.¡±

    Then Darron secured the mask back around Arina¡¯s face and walked off, leaving a very confused vrochth¨ªzo wondering what the hell she was going to do with a vial of her own bodily fluids.  At least she was pretty sure she won the negotiations?

    ¡°We¡¯ll be back if we have any questions,¡± Shara told her, ¡°or if we find the culprit.  Which, honestly, shouldn¡¯t take us too long.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make light of my master¡¯s killer,¡± Arina growled.  ¡°They are no ordinary thug.¡±

    ¡°Hey, trust me, okay?¡± Shara answered with a grin.  ¡°I¡¯m no ordinary thug either.¡±

    That was that.  The strategy was fairly simple.  Find everyone involved with the case, screen them for guilt via mind-reading powers, then track down the culprit.  That was just easy detective work. Skipping off after Darron, Shara steeled herself for the real challenge: convincing Adgito to travel with a vrochth¨ªzo after the case was closed.

 Privileged Information

    Adgito sat at the foot of his bed, face in his palms as he rubbed his temples.

    ¡°Okay, so, if I¡¯m understanding this correctly,¡± he said, ¡°you are trying to help a possible mass-murderer¨C who also happens to be a vrochth¨ªzo¨C find and capture the killer of her former owner, who indoctrinated her from childhood to be the perfect assassin.¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Darron confirmed.

    ¡°And afterwards you want to get her to work for us.¡±

    ¡°Yes, initially.  Shara doesn¡¯t think she¡¯s capable of a healthier relationship yet.¡±

    ¡°And neither of you notice any problems with this???¡± Adgito exclaimed, tossing his hands up into the air.

    ¡°Oh, no,¡± Shara said, ¡°There¡¯s like, nothing but problems with this.  It¡¯s a horrible idea. We were just planning on doing it anyway.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Adgito asked. ¡°Aren¡¯t we on the run from Elpis?  Aren¡¯t we trying to get Darron to some fancy university?  What possible reason do we have to stick around here and pick up a titans-damned vrochth¨ªzo?¡±

    Shara allowed silence to reign a while, knowing Adgito would be more likely to take what she said with a grain of salt.  Her brother¡¯s eventual response didn¡¯t disappoint.

    ¡°Because... she needs serious mental help.  And no one else is both willing and capable of giving it to her.¡±  Darron said.

    Adgito glowered at Darron for a moment, before coming to the conclusion Shara had been hoping for.

    ¡°This... this is my fault, isn¡¯t it?  Back when I said you should have poked your nose into that prisoner¡¯s business.¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah.¡± Shara said cheerfully.  ¡°Big time. Now Darron¡¯s really got his knickers in a twist.¡±

    Adgito groaned.  Having internalized his complicitness in this particular fiasco, Shara knew he was mere steps away from relenting.  She just needed to clean up the final pieces.

    ¡°Look, it¡¯ll be fine,¡± she said.  ¡°We¡¯ll instruct her not to touch you, which she will follow, and you can keep up-to-date on swapping forms just in case.  Those two things together and you¡¯ll have almost no chance of going on a rampage. Even if you do, I¡¯ll just beat the stuffing out of you until you change back.  Arina is nowhere near as strong as that lord we fought.¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine, I get it!¡± Adgito said, standing up from the bed and gathering his few belongings.  Shara had purchased him a backpack and some extra outfits during their stay in town. ¡°We¡¯re helping a misfortunate freak find a place she belongs.  I got it. I see the parallels. I just don¡¯t have to like it, okay?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fair,¡± Shara said. ¡°I don¡¯t really like it either.  Although, on the subject of things we don¡¯t like, when was the last time you changed forms?  Aren¡¯t you on a hair trigger by now?¡±

    Shara and Darron had rested a bit longer at the inn before speaking to Adgito, as he was still asleep when they returned and it was better to get back into a more normal sleeping schedule anyway.  It was currently still dark out, but the sun would rise shortly.

    ¡°Yeah, I am,¡± Adgito grumbled, ¡°but I can¡¯t take anything from Darron when I¡¯m already in dude-mode and I don¡¯t want to risk taking your powers unless I have to.  What else should I acquire from? Rock? Metal? Wood? Those forms all suck.¡±

    ¡°Do you need to urinate?¡±  Darron suddenly asked.

    ¡°What?  I mean, yes, but¨C¡±

    ¡°Metal.  Be metal.¡±

    Shara declined to ask what that was about and just offered her sword as a transformation catalyst.

    ¡°...No, I might dent the floor here if I¡¯m not careful,¡± Adgito said.  ¡°I¡¯m just gonna go take a piss and we¡¯ll see what happens, okay? Not really interested in being an experiment subject right now.¡±

    Darron grumbled at that, but after some quick relief in the latrine the three of them paid the innkeeper for breakfast and headed back towards Arina.  The first stop in their detective quest was the sheriff¡¯s office anyway, so they could get a general outline of the case. Being able to check up on Arina was a nice bonus.

    The sun peaked up to the east as they got closer, revealing a blubbering, bawling Isabella who was rubbing a surprisingly calm Captain Cuddles all over Arina¡¯s face.  The cat was a little confused at her human¡¯s apparent method of fulfilling petting time obligations, but deigned to allow it.

    Arina, for her part, was simply annoyed.

    ¡°Stop it.¡±

    ¡°But you have to!  You haven¡¯t eaten in days!¡± Isabella cried. ¡°Just take her!  It¡¯ll be fine! We¡¯ll get a n-new¡­¡±

    That was as far as she made it before erupting into uncontrollable tears.  Darron sighed, and searched around the area for a small animal. With a few quick words, he paralyzed a nearby robin, pecking for worms beside the dirt road.  Retrieving its twitching body, he approached Isabella and Arina, wordlessly shoved Captain Cuddles out of the way, yanked up the lower part of Arina¡¯s mask, and presented the bird.

    ¡°Here,¡± he simply said. ¡°Not domesticated.¡±

    Hesitantly, slowly, Arina opened her terrifying jaws.  Then, in an instant, the bird was snapped up, curved teeth closing down around the bird like bars of a cage.  With a few sick crunching noises, it was gone. A wave of ecstasy flooded unbidden into Shara as Arina ate her first meal in a long time.

    ¡°Do you need any more?¡± Darron asked.

    ¡°No,¡± Arina said.

    Darron nodded and got up to leave, before suddenly realizing something.

    ¡°Do you¡­ want any more?¡± he asked.

    ¡°...Yes,¡± Arina admitted.

    Darron nodded, looked up, and dropped another bird from the sky.  This time, however, Captain Cuddles wanted in on the action. The plump, long-haired housecat wiggled out of her human¡¯s grip and made a leap towards the falling bird, right towards the team¡¯s resident shapeshifter.  A kitty-Adgito collision was inevitable.

    A change jolted through Adgito¡¯s body as he became¡­ his basic, default girl form.  With the trained expertise of someone who knew the world would always screw her over, Adgito had reached out and put a hand on Shara¡¯s neck before the cat collided.

    ¡°Yeah, I figured something like that would happen,¡± Adgito muttered to herself.  ¡°Not doing a furry form today.  Way too hot out.¡±

    Picking up Captain Cuddles by the scruff of her neck, Adgito retrieved the bird from between the cat¡¯s jaws and tossed it to Darron, who promptly fed it to Arina.  Isabella balked at the sudden transformation, utterly stunned. Still reeling from the entire emotional whirlwind of her friend¡¯s starvation and Darron¡¯s arrival, she was completely unable to comprehend the current state of events and had entered a sort of mental reboot.  Arina didn¡¯t even notice, as Adgito hadn¡¯t spoken before her voice suddenly rose a gender¡¯s worth of octaves and she was distracted by food besides.

    Noticing that Isabella was temporarily disabled, Darron then made his way into the sheriff¡¯s office before she could become particularly annoying.  Shara chuckled at the entire exchange, waved goodbye to Isabella, and followed along with Adgito.

    ¡°Sit tight,¡± she told Arina, ¡°We¡¯ll figure this out.¡±

    Arina didn¡¯t respond, but she seemed less inclined to doubt than before.

    The sheriff¡¯s office was a quaint little building, not anywhere near as busy as Shara would have expected for a town this size.  A single man, badge on his lapel, sat snoring in a chair behind the counter. He was muscular and clean-shaven, although a little heavy-set.  A pair of mutton chops extended down from his wide-brim hat, which was placed over his face to deny the rising sun. A crossbow leaned against the chair where he slept, and a knife rested, sheathed, on his waistband.  All in all, he looked exactly like what Shara would expect a sheriff to look like. Something was¡­ off... about him, however. Something Shara didn¡¯t like.

    ¡°Um, excuse me,¡± Shara said, ¡°we were hoping to ask you some questions about the prisoner out front.¡±

    The sheriff of Oinos Springs awoke with a snort, and Shara immediately figured out what she thought was wrong with him.  She couldn¡¯t read his mind.

    Just like Mrs. Garnersworth or most of the Elpis soldiers, his mind was an unintelligible buzz of static noise.  Shara frowned, placing and hand on Darron¡¯s shoulder and subtly shaking her head to let him know the situation.

    ¡°Eh?  What?¡± the sheriff muttered as he flailed into a respectable sitting position.  ¡°Sheriff Torg, at yer service. What can I do ya fine folk for?¡±

    ¡°That sounds like a chondricthian name,¡± Adgito commented offhandedly, to which the sheriff sighed in irritation.

    ¡°I get that a lot, but there¡¯s no relation to those finned warmongers.  Anyway, ya had something ya wanted ta ask?¡±

    Shara was annoyed that she couldn¡¯t fact check that statement, but immediately chastised herself for it.  It was pretty obvious the man wasn¡¯t chondricthian, considering that chondricthians were giant angry shark people.  She didn¡¯t need to rely on her power for every single little thing.

    ¡°Yeah, we were hoping to get information on Arina¡¯s case.  Why she was convicted, and so on.¡±

    The sheriff narrowed his eyes.

    ¡°...Why?¡±

    ¡°Because I don¡¯t believe that she¡¯s guilty.¡±

    Sheriff Torg looked very carefully at Shara, studying her.  She wished she knew what he was thinking.

    ¡°I ain¡¯t never seen ya around here before, girl, and I know tha whole town like tha back o¡¯ my hand.  What¡¯s Greg¡¯s pet vroch ta a traveler like yerself? It didn¡¯t work out fer ¡®im, like everyone expected.  Ya in tha mood ta repeat ¡®is mistake?¡±

    ¡°Actually, that¡¯s one of the things I was wondering,¡± Shara said. ¡°If you describe her as a ¡®pet,¡¯ why is she locked in the stocks at all?  Wouldn¡¯t a vrochth¨ªzo normally be executed on sight?¡±

    The sheriff frowned.  ¡°It was onna Greg¡¯s laws itself.  When we all complained about ¡®im housin¡¯ tha thing, he went an¡¯ gave tha monster rights o¡¯ citizenship, made ¡®is stance clear.  Stubborn to a fault, ¡®e was. Anyway, even though she killed ¡®im¡­ or, perhaps even more because of it, everyone felt it would be disrespectin¡¯ tha dead ta treat ¡®er against ¡®is wishes.  So to tha stocks she goes, which is fine by everyone cuz there ain¡¯t nothin¡¯ that says I haveta feed ¡®er live meat while she¡¯s there.¡±

    ¡°So you sentenced her to starve to death, basically,¡± Darron clarified.

    ¡°Aye, a fitting end fer someone that ate ¡®er own boss, don¡¯tcha think?¡±  The sheriff leaned forward in his chair. ¡°And accordin¡¯ to tha evidence, that¡¯s what she did.  So how about ya just accept that?¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Well, Shara didn¡¯t need mind reading abilities to know that was suspicious.  Still, it was a good segue into what she came here for.

    ¡°The evidence has to be wrong, then, because she didn¡¯t do it.  It¡¯s not possible and I intend to prove it. To that end, I was hoping to know exactly why she was convicted.¡±

    ¡°Good luck to ya, then,¡± the sheriff sighed.  ¡°Ah ain¡¯t lockin¡¯ ¡®er up fer nothing, ya know.  Greg was found dead in ¡®is own home from vroch bites.  Autopsy confirmed it couldn¡¯ta been nuthin¡¯ else. So unless yer sayin¡¯ a different vroch walked inta ¡®is house, ignored all ¡®is servants, expertly assassinated one man and buggered off without a trace, good luck makin¡¯ that case.¡±

    Interesting.  The way he said that made Shara think the sheriff knew Arina was a practiced assassin, which according to Arina was supposed to be privileged information.  That made sense, though: out of everyone to know about the mayor¡¯s secret assassin, wouldn¡¯t the person in charge of solving crimes be top on the list? Shara saw two possibilities already: the sheriff was as corrupt as Gregory, and knew about Arina the whole time.  Or perhaps he recently found out, and decided to take justice into his own hands before he became a target himself? Without mind-reading abilities to back her up, however, it would be a bad idea to try and confront him without evidence. It would be best to start by confirming the information.

    ¡°Where can we find the doctor that performed the autopsy?¡±  Shara asked.

    ¡°Dr. Nalar¡¯s ¡®is name.  Clinic should open in an hour or so, ah¡¯ll give ya directions.  Can ah ask ya, though¡­ why ya goin¡¯ through all this work fer a vroch?  It¡¯s a man-eatin¡¯ monster, fer titan¡¯s sake.¡±

    Shara thought about that.

    ¡°I think... the more I talk with her, the more I wonder if any of that is really her fault,¡± Shara explained slowly.  ¡°Should someone be prosecuted for just¡­ eating when they¡¯re told to eat? Is that really on their shoulders? I don¡¯t know.  But I think, at this point, I would regret it if we left her to starve. I guess that¡¯s enough, whether it¡¯s right or not.¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± the sheriff grumbled, ¡°aren¡¯t you just a little sweetheart?¡±

    After that, it was just some cordial directions to Dr. Nalar¡¯s clinic, although the sheriff studied Shara closely the whole time.  The feeling of suspicion was, of course, mutual, but Shara politely got through the conversation and the team exited the sheriff¡¯s office.  A quick peek into Arina¡¯s mind ensured that she was okay, and also revealed she had heard the entire conversation with the Sheriff from outside.  A normal person wouldn¡¯t even have heard muffled noises, let alone made out every word.

    ¡°S...so, did you get her freed?¡± Isabella asked excitedly, moving into Shara¡¯s personal space with sparkles in her eyes.

    ¡°What?¡± Shara responded, ¡°No!  We¡¯ve barely started. We¡¯re going to meet Dr. Nalar now.  Then we¡¯ll figure out who found the body and talk with them.  You know, detective stuff.¡±

    ¡°Oh, yes!¡± Isabella nodded excitedly, ¡°I¡¯ve read so many books about detectives!  Oh! I can help! Miss Nadia found my father¡¯s¡­ um, you know.¡± She immediately deflated.  ¡°You don¡¯t think she¡­ did it, did you?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve never even met her,¡± Darron said irritably.  ¡°How would we know that?¡±

    ¡°Oh, well she¡¯s great!¡± Isabella said, emotionally ballooning back up so fast that Shara thought she¡¯d explode, ¡°She¡¯s worked for daddy for a long time!  She¡¯s got beautiful hair and she taught me to cook and read and write and how to do math and she¡¯s super smart and she¡¯s very nice and I¡¯ve known her for as long as I can remember so she¡¯s like my mom sort of but I¡¯d never tell her that!¡±

    ¡°Wow,¡± Adgito said sarcastically, ¡°what more could there possibly be to know about her?¡±

    ¡°Umm, let¡¯s see¡­¡± Isabella said, taking the question with perfect seriousness, ¡°She¡¯s¡­ fifty-two years old, she¡¯s taller than me but not by that much, she has curly chestnut hair that isn¡¯t greying no matter what she says, Daddy hired her from Elpis and she likes to talk about it a lot because I think she¡¯s very homesick but not really because this is like, also her home, you know?  And¨C¡±

    ¡°Woah there, dial it back a little,¡± Shara interrupted.  ¡°Do you know where she is?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yes!¡± Isabella answered, ¡°She¡¯s at home, in the mansion.  She said my father¡¯s¡­ passing wasn¡¯t going to stop her from doing her job.  She¡¯s been, um, helping me cope, when I¡¯m at home. I¡¯d be happy to take you to meet her, if you think it will help!¡±

    If it would help, huh?  A person from Elpis, whose country slaughtered Shara¡¯s whole family, is the one that found the body?

    ¡°Yeah, I think it would help,¡± Shara said.

    ¡°We should talk to the doctor first, though,¡± Darron pointed out.  He had also picked up on the Elpis ¡°coincidence¡± but had a more practical concern on his mind.  ¡°It¡¯ll be difficult to get a moment of his time if a patient beats us there.¡±

    The fact that Darron was looking forward to see a doctor¡¯s office other than his grandmother¡¯s was incidental and clearly irrelevant.

    It didn¡¯t take long to follow Sheriff Torg¡¯s directions to the doctor¡¯s office, with Isabella tagging long after promising to stay quiet.  The office immediately seemed far cleaner than Gloria¡¯s room, the latter of which was stuffed full of vials, jars, and beakers full of various, hard-to-identify organic bits and cadavers.  It had seemed more like the lab of a mad scientist, whereas Dr. Nalar¡¯s clinic looked clean, polished, and professional. The entry room, which functioned as a kind of reception area, had a neat-looking desk, a few chairs, and some small potted plants in the windowsill that a tall, bespeckled man was in the process of watering.  He smiled at Shara and crew as they walked in, his clean-shaven, lightly wrinkled face expertly putting his guests at ease.

    Placing Shara even more at ease was the fact that she seemed capable of reading his mind.  He was surprised and slightly annoyed to see patients this early in the morning, but his years of professional experience quickly wiped that away as he gave them a warm greeting.

    ¡°Why hello there!¡± he said. ¡°Isabella, it¡¯s always good to see you!  And I see you have new friends! I am Dr. Nalar. Are you looking for medical treatment this morning?¡±

    ¡°Not exactly,¡± Shara said.  ¡°We were actually here because we had a few questions about the autopsy you performed on Gregory Cornwall.  Would you be willing to talk with us about that?¡±

    Why? He thought.  Who are these people?  ¡°Well, I have a strict policy about not sharing medical records, but if Isabella is okay with it I¡¯d be happy to tell you everything I told the sheriff.¡±

    Dr. Nalar was choosing his words with extreme care, as if he was afraid one of them would set off a bomb.  He looked to Isabella, checking for signs that she was being coerced. Apparently, the mention of Gregory¡¯s death was enough to put him on high alert.

    ¡°Please do,¡± Isabella said, which seemed to satisfy him enough.  Isabella Cornwall was a lot of things, but ¡°good at hiding her emotions¡± wasn¡¯t one of them.  She seemed comfortable enough with these three strangers.

    ¡°Well, Mr. Cornwall¡¯s cause of death was hemorrhagic shock due to multiple traumatic injuries, all of which appeared to be bite wounds,¡± Dr. Nalar explained.  ¡°The bites tore off large chunks of flesh at once using long, curved teeth. Mr. Cornwall also showed evidence of severe barrier degradation before he passed away.  All of these signs point to death via vrochth¨ªzo consumption.¡±

    All in all, it was a professional, succinct, and completely honest description of the body.  Shara caught glimpses of the state of Gregory¡¯s corpse in the doctor¡¯s memory, and¡­ well, it would definitely be a closed-casket funeral.

    ¡°So, this testimony lead to Arina¡¯s conviction?¡± Shara clarified.

    Are these people Gregory¡¯s old thugs?  Dr. Nalar wondered, or are they his enemies, coming out of the woodwork?  What do they want from me? I suppose I¡¯m not a good enough liar for it to matter.  Titans save me.

    ¡°All I did was give an accurate description of what I found,¡± Dr. Nalar said calmly.  ¡°I wasn¡¯t involved with the sheriff¡¯s investigation after that.¡±

    The doctor was telling the truth, and seemed like a nice man besides.  Shara decided to throw him a bone and get him to stop shaking.

    ¡°You seem to be rather worried about something, Doctor, but please rest assured we¡¯re not here with any ill intent.  We simply don¡¯t believe Arina killed Mr. Cornwall. If that¡¯s the case, the evidence will point that way. The truth is all we need.¡±

    Dr. Nalar relaxed a little.

    ¡°I admit, I found that difficult to believe myself, but there¡¯s simply no denying Gregory was killed by one of the black maw.  There wasn¡¯t anything else that could have done it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s still useful information to know,¡± Shara said.  ¡°Thank you. You said you find it ¡®difficult to believe,¡¯ though.  Did you know Arina?¡±

    ¡°Er, I did, yes,¡± Dr. Nalar said.  ¡°I treated her a few times. Working with vrochth¨ªzo biology was... an interesting experience.¡±

    Shara picked up on a number of memories as he said that, flashing through one after another.  Arina arriving in the night, oozing with so much black blood it dripped from her hair like an icicle on a warm day.  Large, powerful men arriving the next morning, discussing the consequences of breaching client confidentiality. The one or two daytime checkups that were arranged to create a reason for them to be acquainted.  The sudden jump in business his clinic received when he was found agreeable to all these terms. The conscious effort Dr. Nalar made to stay as ignorant as possible about why a monster kept showing up under cover of darkness, bloody and ragged.

    ¡°In your opinion as her physician,¡± Darron suddenly asked, ¡°would you say that the shape of the bites could have matched a human¡¯s jaw structure?¡±

    ¡°Er, no,¡± Dr. Nalar said, ¡°As I mentioned, the bites were very clearly from a vrochth¨ªzo.  There¡¯s no way a human could have inflicted them.¡±

    Shara noticed a glint in Darron¡¯s mind that indicated he was onto something, and ceded the conversation to him.

    ¡°How would you describe the vrochth¨ªzo jaw structure?¡± Darron asked.  ¡°Canine? Serpentine? Wide, flat?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve actually had to treat a large number of vrochth¨ªzo bite injuries,¡± Dr. Nalar explained, ¡°as the guards have been fighting a quite a few of them, lately.  I would describe them as lizard-like, I suppose. The bite pattern is flat, and the angle between the upper and lower jaw indicates the bar to the quadrate bone isn¡¯t present.¡±

    ¡°The vrochth¨ªzo in the area recently are probably like that because their mother feasted on a large number of salufidi,¡± Darron said.  ¡°However, Arina¡¯s jaw isn¡¯t shaped like that. She has a humanoid skull structure, except for the form and size of her teeth.¡±

    Dr. Nalar raised his eyebrows in surprise.

    ¡°Erm, I suppose you¡¯re right,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve never had cause to measure her jawline, but now that you mention it, it might have been unable to make those specific bitemarks.  It¡¯s difficult to be certain, however, as Gregory¡¯s body was in such poor condition.¡±

    ¡°Would you be willing to make that testimony to the sheriff?¡± Shara asked.

    ¡°Certainly,¡± Dr. Nalar confirmed.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Shara said, ¡°That helps a lot.¡±  She turned to Darron and Adgito. ¡°Somehow, I doubt ¡®she probably couldn¡¯t have done it but it¡¯s difficult to be certain¡¯ is enough to reverse the ruling, though.  Which means we¡¯re looking for a different vrochth¨ªzo, some way for it to have gotten into the Cornwall mansion, and some motive or method by which it only attacked Gregory while it was there.¡±

    ¡°Sounds about right, I guess,¡± Adgito confirmed.  Darron nodded.

    ¡°Then we¡¯re off to the mansion,¡± Shara decided.  ¡°Thank you again, Dr. Nalar.¡±

    Dr. Nalar nodded his goodbyes and returned to watering his plants as the group exited, heading towards the Cornwall mansion.  The enormous, four-story structure towered over the edge of town, with spires and flags that made it look like the castle of some idyllic fantasy princess.  A spiked metal fence, at least 15 feet tall, surrounded the massive grounds over a hundred and fifty yards away from the building proper, containing an impressively colorful garden, a marble statue-lined walkway, and wide fields of beautiful green grass.  Dozens of workers moved around the area, setting up public seating for Gregory Cornwall¡¯s funeral, which would be held here.

    ¡°Titan¡¯s testicles, I feel like I¡¯m dropping the property value just by looking at it,¡± Adgito gawked.  ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything this fancy in my life.¡±

    Isabella simply giggled and unlocked the front gate, disabling some alarm spells with gestures that Darron immediately memorized.

    ¡°Yep, this is where I live!¡± Isabella humble-bragged.  ¡°It can be pretty easy to get lost, so stick with me, okay?¡±

    Of course, that being said, one of the first things Isabella did after leading the jaw-dropped group through the mansion gardens was flag down a servant and ask directions to where Nadia was.

    ¡°Oh, Miss Nadia is in the second-floor parlor,¡± the servant explained.  ¡°I believe she is currently entertaining a guest. They have requested to see you at your convenience, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°A guest?¡± Isabella asked, surprised.  ¡°Well, we mustn''t keep them waiting. Thank you, Donny, we shall see them immediately.¡±

    The servant apparently named Donny bowed and returned to his work, as Isabella escorted Shara¡¯s ragtag crew through the obscenely, almost impossibly wealthy-looking building.  The hallways were decorated with an endless array of perfectly-maintained paintings, vases, statues, and other works of art. The carpeting was intricately detailed and spotlessly cleaned.  Each wall, each door, each corner was somehow its own distinct sign of wealth.

    Eventually, Isabella opened a door to reveal a beautiful parlor room, adorned with an expertly-crafted table.  The far wall was mostly window, offering an exquisite view of the mountain range Oinos Springs was named after.  Beside the table stood an older woman, with curly chestnut hair that was graying a little. She was dressed in a particularly fancy maid¡¯s uniform, a cut above the other servants in terms of style and extravagance.  Its frilly countenance marked her as head retainer of the Cornwall manor, although her professional demeanor did nothing to dampen the warm, loving glow Shara felt when Isabella entered the room. It was a mutual affection, like mother and child, that both Isabella and the retainer (who was almost certainly Nadia) reciprocated.  Nadia¡¯s mind was a busy one, sharp and professional, yet full of worry for her little girl.

    Another, much younger woman sat at the table, gracefully sipping the tea she had been offered while she waited.  She had dark skin similar to the maid¡¯s, cropped black hair and piercing brown eyes. Her black uniform was practical and militaristic, almost making her look like a man.  It was adorned with a few stripes and insignias that meant nothing to Shara, although on the left side of her chest was the symbol of a clenched fist grasping at light, and the words ¡°We Can Always Be Better.¡±  The symbol of Elpis.

    And Shara couldn¡¯t read her mind.

    ¡°Welcome home, Miss Cornwall,¡± the servant woman said with a bow.  ¡°It is good to see you are well.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much, Nadia,¡± Isabella responded, before turning to her guest.  ¡°I am Isabella Cornwall. I understand that you wished to see me, miss¡­?¡±

    ¡°You may call me Marisol,¡± came the woman¡¯s deadpan response. ¡°My condolences on your father¡¯s passing.  It is a pleasure to meet you...¡±

    Marisol smiled as she took a sip of tea, staring directly into Shara¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°...And your interesting friends.¡±

 Everything She Knew

    This situation was quickly spiraling out of control.

    Shara and her friends could have gotten a nice bath in a hot spring and been on their merry way, but no.  There was this killer her brother decided to help, then it became this murder mystery they decided to solve, and now there¡¯s this Elpis military official sipping tea with a smug, exceptionally punchable grin on her face.  Who was this lady? Wait, she said her name was Marisol. Marisol¡­ the Elpis military commander, Gadiel, mentioned her in his mental monologue. She seemed important to him.

    Should Shara kill her?  No, that wouldn¡¯t solve anything.  Gadiel may like her, but she wasn¡¯t Gadiel.

    ¡°Nadia,¡± Marisol spoke up, looking at the maid, ¡°I¡¯ve said this before, but it bears repeating.  This tea is exceptional. You simply must go and fetch some for your new guests.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Nadia said with a slight bow, before turning to Isabella.  ¡°By your leave, mistress.¡±

    ¡°Er, yes,¡± Isabella said.  ¡°Thank you, Nadia.¡±

    With another bow, Nadia ducked out.  Shara dipped into her emotions, trying to get a better read on the situation.  Regarding Marisol, there was¡­ respect, admiration, gratitude. A bit of intimidation, but not as if she was coerced.  It was more like Marisol was an important or famous figure, and Nadia was stunned to be in the same room as her. A tidbit of worry was left for Isabella, but it was just general motherly worry; Nadia didn¡¯t believe that Marisol was dangerous.  At least, not to Isabella.

    ¡°Now then,¡± Marisol said, taking immediate charge of the conversation, ¡°I feel the need to express my condolences to you again, Miss Cornwall.  The primary reason I came here today was to speak with your father, but it seems tragedy came between us. In his absence, however, I assume you are the de facto leader of Oinos Springs?¡±

    Although she was talking to Isabella, Marisol¡¯s eyes were locked on Shara¡¯s face as she spoke.  Unable to tell what she was thinking, Shara could only assume that Marisol recognised her, and was studying her reactions.  She had been, if Shara recalled correctly, the person that suspected her of being Aletheian in the first place, all the way back in Terranburg.  Which brought up the question: how did she get here so fast? There were only two real options: she must have either made it through the mountain after Shara, or teleported¡­ and the implication that Elpis could afford to teleport people after her was not a pleasant one.

    ¡°Actually, one of my father¡¯s assistants held the title of vice-mayor,¡± Isabella said, sitting down at the table opposite of Marisol¡¯s chair.  ¡°He is the acting head of Oinos Springs¡¯ government while we organize the next election.¡±

    Darron, who was tired of standing anyway, found a seat at the round table exactly one chair away from Isabella and two chairs away from Marisol.  Adgito shrugged, and nonchalantly sat down in the seat closest to her, which happened to be next to Marisol. Shara remained standing, arms crossed loosely to keep her right hand as close to her sword hilt as she was politely able.

    ¡°Yes, but your Father¡¯s assistants work for the Cornwall household,¡± Marisol droned, as if slightly irritated she needed to explain it, ¡°And you are now head of the Cornwall household.  From a functional standpoint, you are in charge. Regardless of what government you claim by name, your father has set up a thinly-veiled dynasty. I see no reason to waste my time speaking with your subordinate about matters they will run by you anyway.¡±

    ¡°Um, I¡¯m sorry ma¡¯am, I don¡¯t know what kind of person you think my father was,¡± Isabella said, offended, ¡°but I don¡¯t¡­ really know what I¡¯m doing with this governing stuff.  I have every intention of declining the position if I¡¯m voted mayor. Any agreements you make with me will likely be under someone else¡¯s jurisdiction by the time you attempt to enact them.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Marisol said, seemingly surprised.  ¡°I was not under the impression you had the infrastructure necessary to perform a town-wide electoral vote.¡±

    ¡°Of course we do!  We have votes every two years!¡±

    ¡°Yes, but they are all rigged,¡± Marisol responded condescendingly.  ¡°No one actually counts the votes, dear.  Did you honestly think your father won fifteen consecutive elections legitimately?¡±

    ¡°Of course I did!¡± Isabella roared. ¡°And I still do!  My father was a great man, and I will not allow you to slander him inside his own home!¡±

    The chubby woman huffed indignantly, glaring daggers at her guest.  Anything that made more allies against Elpis was fine by Shara.

    Marisol sipped her tea, looking thoughtful.

    ¡°My sincerest apologies, Miss Cornwall,¡± she eventually said.  ¡°It was not my intention to speak poorly of the deceased. If you do seek an honest electoral vote, than I and my nation wholeheartedly support and encourage that decision.  I will happily suspend negotiations on the economic matters I came here to discuss until you can finish establishing your head of government. And, should you find that your people lack experience cataloging these votes, I would be more than happy to offer the expertise gathered from an older republic nation like my own.¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t need it,¡± Isabella insisted.

    Marisol tipped her head, presenting a wry grin.

    ¡°Then I look forward to being pleasantly surprised.¡±

    Isabella fumed silently at her end of the table as Marisol resumed sipping her drink, teacup in one hand and saucer in the other.  For a negotiator, she seemed awfully rude. If anything, she seemed downright pleased at how much she¡¯d irritated Isabella, although Shara still couldn¡¯t tell for sure.

    She was probably right about Isabella¡¯s dad, though.  Isabella herself knew nothing about it, having only seen the part of her father he had wanted her to see.  However, it was fairly clear from Arina and Dr. Nalar¡¯s memories that there was a darker side to him. Shara didn¡¯t trust Marisol further than Darron could throw her, but she couldn¡¯t deny that the woman probably knew more about Gregory Cornwall than his own daughter did.  Not that it seemed terribly difficult to outsmart Isabella in any particular category.

    ¡°Well,¡± Isabella said, standing up, ¡°if that will be all, then I suppose our conversation is finished.¡±

    ¡°Actually, there is one more thing I was wondering about,¡± Marisol claimed.

    ¡°I will have Nadia get you the recipe for her tea on the way out,¡± Isabella responded dismissively, which evicted a chuckle from Marisol¡¯s throat.

    ¡°No, no,¡± Marisol insisted. ¡°I mean, yes, please, but that¡¯s not what I was wondering.  I was actually far more curious as to why you¡¯re assisting three of the most wanted criminals in Elpis.¡±

    There it was.  Shara tensed up, ready to spring into action at a moment¡¯s notice.  She checked around the area for other minds she couldn¡¯t read, or any hostile thoughts.  There were a few other minds in range that she couldn¡¯t decipher, though they were on different floors of the house and not getting any closer.  Everything else was calm. Adgito, for her part, not-so-subtly scooted her chair a little further away from Marisol, whereas Darron did nothing.  He had apparently long since zoned out of the conversation, and hadn¡¯t even heard Marisol¡¯s accusation.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about,¡± Isabella said truthfully, although she wasn¡¯t quite dumb enough to not suspect Shara¡¯s crew given the context.  ¡°Who do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Well, the three people you walked into this room with, of course,¡± Marisol explained calmly.  ¡°Shara, of the Aletheians. Wanted mainly on suspicion of involvement with the Nuxvar massacre, although she¡¯s managed to add far more charges onto that since.  Darron, of the Bornssons. Wanted as an accessory to Shara¡¯s crimes, but he¡¯s also managed to rack up a few charges of his own in the meantime. Adgito¡­ of undisclosed heritage.  Poor thing got caught up in this whole mess, and ended up being strong-armed into helping these criminals.  A problem that I¡¯m sure we could work something out for, should she be cooperative.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    ¡°Wait, seriously?¡± Adgito asked, suddenly hopeful of returning to a saner life.

    ¡°Don¡¯t trust her, Adgito!¡±  Shara butted in, ¡°The crimes she¡¯s pushing on me aren¡¯t real in the first place!  Do you seriously think I¡¯d help wipe out a whole town?¡±

    ¡°Oh, right,¡± Adgito said, standing up.  Her brief trip into Shara¡¯s mind had been a mixed bag of emotion, but Adgito was definitely certain that Shara wasn¡¯t going to stand for something like genocide.

    ¡°Yeah, sorry lady,¡± she said, ¡°You¡¯re so full of crap it¡¯s probably why your eyes are brown.¡±

    Darron, at this point, noticed something important was happening and stood up as well.  Marisol remained sitting, a puzzled and somewhat disappointed expression on her face.

    ¡°Adgito, dear, think about it,¡± she said, ¡°If your friend didn¡¯t help her family attack Nuxvar, why would she resist arrest?  The truth would have come to light and we would have released her. Elpis only holds people responsible for their own actions, not those of their family¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°Because neither me nor my family ever attacked in the first place!¡± Shara growled.  ¡°All of those charges are made up, so of course she can¡¯t assume you¡¯ll be honest with them!  Elpis attacked my family unprovoked!¡±

    Marisol briefly looked surprised, but that surprise quickly morphed into what seemed to be pure disgust, like Shara had been talking about slitting children¡¯s throats.

    ¡°Oh, I see,¡± Marisol said coldly.  ¡°So after all that talk of ideals, all that posturing your family insisted on, the last Aletheian resorts to lying after all.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a lie!¡± Shara insisted.  Posturing? This was their first conversation!  Maybe she know Shara¡¯s family? Marisol only looked a few years older than Shara.

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s a lie!¡± Marisol roared, actually setting down her tea as she suddenly stood up.  ¡°You have no excuse! You, of all people, literally can¡¯t be ignorant about this!  And yet the one thing¡­¡± Marisol trailed off, huffing out a deep breath.  Her face returned to its default blank state, and when she spoke again it was calm and level, like the outburst never happened.

    ¡°I suppose it doesn¡¯t matter,¡± she said.  ¡°I am neither strong, nor fast, nor tough, nor a particularly powerful spellcaster.  Considering how you plowed through an entire squad I could not arrest you if I tried.  I expected you to have left town by now, so I did not¡­ prepare accordingly.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sorry to ruin your plans there,¡± Shara growled.

    Marisol and Shara stared each other down for a while with cold expressions.  Then, a smile slowly formed once again on Marisol¡¯s lips. Titans, Shara wished she could read this woman¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Shara¡­¡± Marisol muttered thoughtfully, ¡°Shara, Shara, Shara.  You are¡­ nineteen years old right now, correct? And you lived in Borns for eleven years?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s extremely creepy to me that you know that,¡± Shara responded.

    ¡°Knowing things is my best skill,¡± Marisol said dismissively.  ¡°Anyway, I think I¡¯ve come to a decision. When the main force catches up to me, I believe I shall inform them of your plans to head to Yidril.¡±

    ¡°...My plans to what now?¡±

    ¡°To head to Yidril,¡± Marisol repeated.  ¡°You know, the place your family destroyed eleven years ago?  As I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware, the ground there is still fertile and it was re-settled by new people shortly afterwards.  No doubt you intend to destroy it again. Your plans for Hydronia were clearly a ruse, so I will inform the army that you are, in fact, going to Yidril.  A detour that will place them another week behind someone who is actually going to Hydronia, or vice-versa.  A clever ploy on your part, but you can¡¯t fool me.¡±

    ¡°What are you¨C¡± Shara started, but Darron interrupted her.

    ¡°Ah, Yidril,¡± he deadpanned. ¡°That place we¡¯re going.  Yup. Always wanted to go to Yidril.¡±

    Oh.  Now that Darron had figured it out, Shara got it too.  Marisol was claiming, for whatever reason, that she planned to delay her own troops to let Shara escape.  Which just¡­ didn¡¯t make any sense at all.

    Shara had no real handle on this conversation, but Marisol was definitely very angry with her for a while there.  It sounded like she believed that Shara¡¯s family was guilty with just as much conviction as Shara believed they were innocent.  Shara¡¯s denial of their guilt had gotten her downright enraged.  Yet here she was, suddenly heel-face turning on that entire opinion and offering help.  It was obviously a ploy of some sort, but what?

    ¡°Well, I suppose that concludes my business here,¡± Marisol said, walking past Shara to the exit.  ¡°Thank you for your time, Miss Cornwall. I apologise again for my rudeness. If any of you would like to return with me to Terranburg and get this sorted out, by all means stick around for a week.  Especially you, Adgito. Otherwise, I will inform my men of your intended departure to Yidril when they arrive.¡± She stopped halfway through the door, turning back to face the room. ¡°Oh, and if you¡¯re looking into Gregory Cornwall¡¯s death, I suggest you check the basement.  Ta-ta.¡±

    And that was it.  Marisol walked out of the room like she owned it, disappearing down the hall, her unreadable, staticky mind eventually leaving Shara¡¯s perception range.  Shara stood in stunned silence, trying to figure out what Marisol¡¯s motives could be.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Adgito started, breaking the quiet, ¡°Um. So who the hell was that?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Isabella asked, startled.  ¡°I thought you knew her!¡±

    ¡°What?  No!¡±

    ¡°But, but she acted like she knew you!  She was way friendlier to you than everyone else!¡±

    ¡°I know!  It was weird!¡± Adgito exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen her before in my life!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know who that was either,¡± Darron said.  ¡°It looked like she was some kind of military official, though.  Shara?¡±

    Darron¡¯s question was twofold: did Shara know her, and could Shara read her?  Shara answered both at once.

    ¡°Nope.  Not one bit.  I¡¯ve¡­ heard about her, from other people, but that¡¯s it.  If I recall correctly, someone in Terranburg said a lady with her name was an Intelligence Chief, so that could be her title.¡±

    The one you said Gadiel Halcomb was thinking about?  Darron thought. The one that identified you?

    Shara nodded, almost imperceptibly.

    Well, that¡¯s very strange, because it seemed to me like she believed you could read her.  Like when she said you ¡°literally can¡¯t¡± be ignorant. I think she expected you to know everything she knew.

    That was very strange.  So Elpis had some sort of mental-jamming capabilities, but they themselves didn¡¯t even know about it?  Shara supposed that would explain why the immunized people seemed so random, but it wouldn¡¯t explain why it affected a rather disproportionate ninety-nine percent of the Elpis military.  How could that not be deliberate? Maybe it was a bluff?

    ¡°W-well, um, should we go?¡± Isabella asked to the room at large. ¡°To the basement, I mean?¡±

    Huh?  Oh, right.  Marisol¡¯s parting words.

    ¡°Yeah, I guess we don¡¯t have any better leads,¡± Shara admitted.  ¡°If it turns out to be legit, well¡­ great.¡±

    And if it turned out to be a trap, she¡¯d smash her way through it.

    Locating the basement wasn¡¯t terribly difficult, although to no one¡¯s surprise Isabella admitted she¡¯d never explored it to any significant degree.  Her father had always kept the basement doors locked, and a quick interview with some servants revealed the keys to be in his personal study. Isabella fetched a servant for escort, and the five of them took a tour underneath the manor.  It was mostly storage: racks, barrels, and refrigeration rooms to hold the various luxuries the Cornwalls indulged themselves in. The only notable aspect to the basement was that, the deeper they traveled, the more the basement smelled like flowers.

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s probably the incense room,¡± the servant explained.  ¡°The scent is dreadfully strong down there, but smell eventually wafts through the house, creating the pleasant background odor the we enjoy on the upper floors.  Opening the room at the wrong time can release all the scent at once, however, and it takes ages to remove the resulting stench from the lower floors. Master Cornwall never authorized more than a few people to manage it.¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡± Adgito exclaimed, ¡°That¡¯s not remotely suspicious at all!  I guess we can safely ignore it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, could we see that now?¡± Shara asked.

    ¡°Erm, well, I¡¯m not actually able to open the incense room for you¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine!¡± Isabella piped up, ¡°I grabbed all the keys from papa¡¯s room, so I¡¯m sure one of them will work!¡±

    None of them ended up working, so Shara got permission to kick the door down.  Sure enough, an overwhelmingly strong floral scent exploded out from the room, attacking the group¡¯s nostrils with extreme prejudice.  Faces covered and eyes watering, they stormed into the room. Racks of incense burners were stacked predictably around the room, but nothing else immediately stood out as important.  At least, not until Shara moved to the far end of the room, and felt a twinge of something she¡¯d been on the lookout for since she got here.

    Hunger.  Somewhere below her, right at the edge of her detection range, was a vrochth¨ªzo.  No... it was a lot of vrochth¨ªzo.

    ¡°Huh,¡± Shara began, coughing a bit as she inhaled the room¡¯s thick air, ¡°Well guys, ever since we started searching this dumb basement, I¡¯ve been wondering if Marisol¡¯s advice is legit or if she¡¯s just leading us into a trap.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and?¡± Adgito asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s both,¡± Shara concluded.

 Daddys Secret Monster Dungeon

    ¡°Alright, everybody look for a secret door or hatch or something,¡± Shara instructed.  ¡°Adgito, you might want to swap over to a combat-ready form.¡±

    Darron, Isabella, and her servant hopped into action, inspecting the nooks and crannies of the incense room for anything suspicious.  Adgito, however, was less inclined to comply.

    ¡°There¡¯s gonna be like, a gazillion vrochth¨ªzo where we¡¯re going, isn¡¯t there?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Um, yeah,¡± Shara said, surprised.  ¡°How did you know?¡±

    Because Adgito really didn¡¯t want to fight vrochth¨ªzo anymore.  Because that would be the worst-case scenario, and because everything in the universe seemed to conspire to against her pretty much all the time.

    ¡°Lucky guess,¡± is all Adgito said.

    Shara gave Adgito a funny expression but quickly returned to inspecting the floor for trapdoors.

    ¡°Well, if you want to sit this one out, you can,¡± Shara relented.  ¡°I don¡¯t sense any huge ones from up here, so we¡¯ll probably be fine without you.  You¡¯d be a big help, though.¡±

    Adgito knew all of that, more or less.  Nothing was forcing Adgito to stick around at all; she could just leave and Shara would let her.  Yet that fact, at least in part, was what made Adgito want to stick around. Shara had gotten her into a bunch of terrible situations, sure, but it was all in the spirit of trying to help.  She was a genuinely nice person, if you looked past her tendency to get rough when the chips were down. If Shara had been trying to force Adgito to help out, Adgito would have long since ditched her.

    Although maybe Shara knew that, and that was why she was lenient at all.

    Adgito shook the thought out of her head.  Shara and Adgito went through with an extended heart-to-heart back in Mt. Phlegethos, between the time they killed the rest of the eggs and their eventual escape.  Using her own powers, Adgito had confirmed Shara was more or less exactly what she presented herself to be. Constantly second-guessing her only real friend was a stupid idea.

    At least, Adgito hoped they were friends.  Wait, crap, she was doing it again.

    ¡°Found something,¡± Darron said, tapping a stone slab that made up the floor underneath one of the incense burners. ¡°Seems loose.  Can you lift it, Shara?¡±

    Shara snorted indignantly and rolled her neck, moving the incense burner out of the way before heaving the five-by-five foot stone slab into an upright position.  Sure enough, a ladder and passageway were revealed below. A rank smell wafted up from the opening, almost overpowering the incense.

    ¡°Yuck,¡± Shara said, holding her nose.  ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s corpse rot.¡±

    Adgito, meanwhile, failed to hold back a dry heave.  Rotting corpses? To overpower this much incense, how many must there be?

    ¡°H¡­ hold on,¡± Isabella piped up.  ¡°Sh¡­ Shara, was it? Why is this in my basement?  What¡¯s happening?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯re uncovering your dearest daddy¡¯s secret monster dungeon, or something,¡± Shara said matter-of-factly, and began climbing down the ladder.  ¡°You probably don¡¯t actually want to come with us. It¡¯s only going to get worse from here.¡±

    ¡°H-how dare you!  My father would never¨C¡±

    ¡°He would and he did!¡± Shara bit back.  ¡°Seriously, Isabella! Pull your head out of the sand!¡±

    ¡°I will not!¡± Isabella huffed,  ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t need to! My father was a wonderful man!  He was generous and kind, and not just to me! He built this town to greatness because he loved it.  He gave so much of himself for everyone here. He¡­ he was a good man!¡±

    Isabella stomped the ground, ending her little adult tantrum with dramatic flair.  Silence, except for the crackling of flaming incense, reigned in the room.

    ¡°Can¡¯t he be both, though?¡± Adgito suddenly butted in, largely to her own surprise.

    ¡°What do you mean, ¡®both?¡¯¡± Isabella asked incredulously.

    ¡°I mean like, somebody that does horrible and evil things can still do tons of good things too, right?¡± Adgito explained.  ¡°Being a scary evil mob boss doesn¡¯t mean your dad didn¡¯t love you, or didn¡¯t do lots of good things for people. He can do both.  The person you thought he was doesn¡¯t disappear when you learn new things about him.¡±

    Although, Adgito supposed it recontextualized the person you thought they were a bit.  The cute girl who spoke to Adgito in the fountain was a little more intimidating once it turned out she was also a mind-reading super-powered fugitive.

    ¡°People are just¡­ complicated,¡± Adgito concluded.

    Isabella finally didn¡¯t argue the point.  Looking away, she nibbled on her bottom lip with a concerned expression on her face.  Score one for Adgito! Leave it to the dumb member of the team to convince the dumbest member.

    ¡°Great,¡± Shara said with a glare, ¡°Well, there¡¯s a ton of vrochth¨ªzo down here, so now that your little heart-to-heart is over I¡¯m going to go kill them before I gnaw someone¡¯s leg off.  Feel free to come with.¡±

    With that, she disappeared down the dark shaft.  Darron followed immediately after. After a bit of thought, Isabella told her servant to return upstairs and began to scale the ladder down as well.  She stopped, and turned to Adgito.

    ¡°Um, are you coming as well?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Adgito said with a sigh, ¡°I probably should.  Go down without me, I need to set something up first.¡±

    Once she was the last person in the room, Adgito stripped naked.  She had just bought all of these clothes, and wasn¡¯t about to ruin them with what she was planning.  After stuffing her entire outfit in the backpack Shara had bought her, she tossed it down the shaft to make sure the ladder was clear.  Then, she found a particularly toasty incense burner and caught her hair on fire.

    The flames quickly rolled up to her scalp and triggered a transformation, and Adgito felt the all-too-familiar disgust as a result.  Her organs utterly evaporated, her skin and bones boiling away into a contained, autonomous flame. A great emptiness won a coup inside of her, burning out the mass that once formed her and replacing it with only fire.  Nothing of what Adgito¡¯s body had been remained: there was only light and heat and magic, formed into a shell of the woman she had once been.

    Which was, in turn, a shell of the man she had once been.  In more ways than one.

    Staggering from the transformation, the entirety of which took barely a second, Adgito steeled herself to make a jump down the shaft.  She didn¡¯t want to risk burning the wooden ladder, and fire form would take the jump like a champ besides.

    Fire form lacked a lot of the awesome factor Adgito appreciated about lava form, but it was fundamentally very similar: it was mostly incorporeal, and it allowed Adgito to output a large amount of heat.  Rather than grant fine telekinetic control over flames, however, fire form simply allowed Adgito to make them from her body.

    Adgito had thought a lot about what would be the best available transformation to take into a pit of monsters.  Fire form had required a lot of consideration, seeing as how disastrous lava form had ended up against the vrochth¨ªzo lord.  The other main contender was stone form, banking on the hope that the vrochth¨ªzo wouldn¡¯t be able to pierce its ¡°skin.¡± However, if stone form had any magic stone-controlling powers, Adgito didn¡¯t know how to use them, meaning she¡¯d need to get up close and personally punch some vrochth¨ªzo in the face.

    And boy howdy did Adgito not want to do that.

    Besides, lava form had been incredibly effective against all of the vrochth¨ªzo lord¡¯s children.  Only the lord herself actually seemed immune to the intense heat, and those were odds Adgito was willing to bank on.  If any of the little monsters resisted the deep fryer, Adgito would just count on Shara to cover her back. Because that¡¯s what friends do, right?

    ¡°Incoming!¡± Adgito called down the secret hatch, and leapt.  She descended the hatch with relative slowness, her near-massless body eventually hitting the ground with a feather¡¯s touch.  At the bottom, Adgito spotted Shara, Darron, and a frightened-looking Isabella were waiting for her, due to a reason that quickly became apparent: other than Adgito¡¯s crackling body, there was no light anywhere in the room.  It was difficult to see even with Adgito as a beacon, casting flickering shadows across the area.

    It was a surprisingly large area, and though her senses weren¡¯t as strong in this form Adgito could definitely tell that it was the source of the rotting-corpse smell.  The room took the appearance of a reverse maze, where instead of walls the room was dotted with deep pits, the bottoms of which she couldn¡¯t see from the base of the ladder.  The whole room was dug from solid stone, clean and natural, the thin walkways between pits barely a few feet wide and completely lacking in guardrails or other protections. Without a light source to guide them, a person would have inevitably fallen into one of the holes had they attempted to traverse the room.

    ¡°What is it with vrochth¨ªzo and darkness?¡± Adgito muttered, and a cacophony of voices immediately erupted from within the depths of the room.

    ¡°The light spoke!¡±

    ¡°Voice and light!¡±

    ¡°Master is back!¡±

    ¡°Pick me, master!¡±

    ¡°Master brought the light!¡±

    ¡°Master, we are hungry!¡±

    ¡°I want to see!  I want to see it!¡±

    ¡°Master!  I¡¯m sorry!  I did not eat her but she still died!¡±  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°Master!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been good, master!

    ¡°Master!¡±

    ¡°Master!¡±

    They all sounded like children, little boys and girls talking like they were handing their father a homemade macaroni painting.  It was profoundly disturbing. An assault of innocent-sounding voices, each apparently enamored with the idea of servitude to some nebulous, light-bringing overlord.  It was an indoctrination camp.

    The contrast to the adorable, endearing voices was about to get deeper, Adgito knew.  Walking past Shara, who was clutching her forehead with a horrified look on her face, Adgito peered down into the closest pit.  What started back up was a naked boy, looking around five to seven years old. His tiny body appeared human apart from its perpetual inky blackness, the claws on his fingers, and the curved, black teeth that comprised his goofy grin.  He looked so close to human that not even those monstrous chompers could fully mar his face of childlike wonder. No, what truly dehumanized the child was the fact that he stood ankle-deep in the rotting remains of a dozen corpses, toes playfully drumming in the decomposition fluids of past victims.  Adgito would have hurled, had she still possessed a stomach.

    ¡°Woah!¡± he said, ¡°The light is different!  So pretty!¡±

    ¡°Really?  I want to see!¡± a girl¡¯s voice chimed in.

    ¡°Let me see too!¡± said another, and the room erupted with agreements.

    Darron came to join Adgito on the precipice, eyes widening on his normally stony face.  Neither of them had anything they felt like they could say.

    ¡°Well, Darron?¡± Shara asked, walking up behind them with a grimace, ¡°What are your moral qualms against killing these vrochth¨ªzo?¡±

    Darron only stared back at her with a look of horror and sadness while the two of them presumably had one of their special silent sibling speeches.  Adgito wanted no part of their debate.

    ¡°We should¡­ alert the sheriff, or something,¡± she said.  ¡°This is way above our heads.¡±

    ¡°Not really,¡± Shara countered.  ¡°I bet you could take them by yourself.  Just point down and cook ¡®em where they stand.¡±

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t mean above us in capability,¡± Darron said, ¡°he means above us in culpability.  And he¡¯s right, this is¡­ I don¡¯t know what this is.¡±

    ¡°This is¡­ where Arina came from, right?¡± Isabella squeaked, causing the trio to turn back to look at her.  She hadn¡¯t walked up to peer into the pit like the rest of them had, but the look on her face left little doubt that she had caught onto what was in them, at least in part.

    ¡°Well, yeah.  Probably,¡± Shara said.  ¡°I would guess they expanded the facilities since then, but yes.  Arina¡­ mentioned a similar place, back when we talked.¡±

    ¡°W-w-well then we shouldn¡¯t hurt them!  They¡¯re¡­ they¡¯re like little Arinas, right?  And you wanted to help Arina, didn¡¯t you? That¡¯s why we¡¯re here!¡±

    Shara sighed, clearly frustrated.

    ¡°Right,¡± she said, ¡°Of course.  I¡¯m just¡­ a little stressed out, right now.  That¡¯s the problem, though. There¡¯s too many of these things down here.  Helping Arina was questionable to begin with, Isabella. I don¡¯t know if we can pull it off. I don¡¯t know if we should pull it off, and that¡¯s just one of her.  This¡­ titans, Isabella. Do you have any idea how many people¨C¡±  Shara suddenly cut off what she was saying, her face widening in surprise.  ¡°Oh, crap! Everyone brace!¡±

    At that moment, the ground fell away.  Everything under Adgito, Shara, and Darron¡¯s feet suddenly sucked itself into the pits, the dividing walkways shrinking into nothing as the trio was forcefully deposited into the now-singular pit.  The juvenile vrochth¨ªzo seemed just as surprised as Adgito was to have the walls between their stone cages fall away to present a shared buffet before them. Adgito fell harmlessly like she had after jumping down the shaft, and Shara managed to grab ahold of her brother before the fall could break his legs.  After their safe landing, however, Shara dropped Darron and had her sword out before he hit the ground. The body Adgito landed on caught aflame, flickering quietly as it accented the smell of the dead with burnt flesh. Adgito shot flames out of her feet and quickly incinerated the rest of the corpse, securing herself some stone to stand on, and more importantly removing the constant reminder of her surroundings from underfoot.  Sanity required Adgito not to think about it.

    A lot of the vrochth¨ªzo stared at them greedily, but many of them seemed far more interested in their cellmates.  They murmured quietly among themselves, most of them having never seen each other before. Their inhuman features differed, some possessing stinger-tipped tails or rows of black bone spikes.  Of particular note was the few of them that had lizard-like jaws. Yet each one looked fundamentally similar to a naked human child, and there were more than enough corpses in each cell to figure out exactly where that appearance came from.

    However, none of the vrochth¨ªzo moved to attack, even the ones that circled the group with hunger in their eyes.  They were waiting for something.

    ¡°Shara?¡± Adgito asked, ¡°Any insight, here?  What just happened?¡±

    ¡°Hostile earth mage up above,¡± Shara said flatly.  ¡°Pretty sure he¡¯s our guy. As for the vroch, I think they¡¯re waiting for orders.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ incredibly convenient,¡± Adgito observed.  ¡°What¡¯s the catch?¡±

    ¡°My moronic supergenius of a brother doesn¡¯t want me to kill any of these baby mass murderers so we are royally boned if they do attack.  How many bloated corpses do I have to drop you in, Darron???¡±

    ¡°Well, feel free to knock them out or something,¡± Darron said, failing to wipe bits and pieces of decomposing bodies off of his clothes as he stood up.

    ¡°Ah, yes.  Concussive force!¡± Shara bit back.  ¡°The ideal combat method for a swordswoman and actual living fire.  We are so very equipped for dealing with threats nonlethally right now!¡±

    Yeah, Adgito doubted she had fine enough control over her flames to make something dangerous but not immediately deadly.  She hadn¡¯t considered the possibility that they¡¯d be keeping the vrochth¨ªzo alive when deciding on her form. To be honest, she still wasn¡¯t really onboard with that.  Whatever earth mage sprung this trap had dropped her into a literal uncanny valley, with innocent children smiling and introducing themselves to each other for the first time while they stood on their own decomposing victims.  Adgito was seriously tempted to just nope the entire room to ash. If any vrochth¨ªzo jumped her way she would absolutely incinerate it rather than let it touch her.

    After making that decision, Adgito noticed some sounds of struggle coming from above.  Scuffling noises and muffled screaming made their way ever closer. Eventually, Isabella¡¯s head became visible over the top of the wall, with a man¡¯s arm around her neck and mouth.  The man said arm belonged to was a lean, tall figure dressed in expensive silk garments, who held a lantern in his other hand. His leering, condescending expression indicated that he was tired of inferior people wasting his time, an expression perfectly accented by his pointy goatee.

    ¡°Well,¡± he said, ¡°it seems you have all fallen for my trap!¡±

    He then chuckled at his terrible joke like a complete tool.

    ¡°Oh my god,¡± Shara exclaimed.  ¡°You are actually the evil vizier.  Isabella, why do you even have an evil vizier???  How is this not obvious? Do you not read books? Why was this man not immediately fired?  Darron, can I kill him?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the worst!¡±

    ¡°Silence!¡± the goatee-man demanded.  ¡°You will all do exactly as I say or Isabella dies and my horde of vrochth¨ªzo will descend upon your helpless bodies!  Firstly, surrender your weapons to¨C¡±

    Rather than listening, Shara opted to pick up and throw her brother at the man like she was hurling a discus.  The surprised Darron collided with him in a heap, causing him to drop Isabella into the pit below. Isabella screamed all the way down, and after Shara leapt forward to catch her she immediately threw Isabella back up with an underhand toss, causing the woman to scream even louder on the return trip.  Isabella reached the top of her thrown arc right above the cliff face, landing with minor bruises at worst. Darron had probably not been so lucky, as Adgito could hear him chanting irritated-sounding healing spells. Unfortunately, the noises of rushed footsteps fleeing towards the ladder indicated that the ¡°vizier¡± was still well enough to run.

    ¡°Eat them!¡± the goatee-man screamed as he fled to the ladder, ¡°Kill them all!¡±

    Shara turned to Adgito and winked.

    ¡°You got this,¡± she assured her, and leapt.

    She failed to clear the full height of the 15-foot wall of the pit, but simply punched the wall hard enough to get a handhold, pulling herself the rest of the way up with one last hurl.  Then she was off, grabbing Darron under her arm and chasing after the villain while leaving Adgito alone in a pit full of confused, hungry monsters. All of which were staring right at her.

    ¡°Um, hi,¡± Adgito said with a wave.

    ¡°Woah!¡± came the enamored response.

    ¡°The light talked to me!¡±

    ¡°Hi, light!¡±

    ¡°No, the light talked to me!¡±

    ¡°Light, how are we supposed to eat them?  They left!¡±

    ¡°Did you see how high they went?¡±

    ¡°Maybe we¡¯re supposed to eat the light?¡±

    ¡°Nuh-uh!  The light was looking at me, not you!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid!  How can you eat the light?¡±

    ¡°But she looks tasty!¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s not a she, she¡¯s the light!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m hungry.  I¡¯m gonna try it.¡±

    Adgito took that as her cue to create a torrent of flame, engulfing and obliterating the bodies she was trying to forget were near her.

    ¡°I¡¯m not gonna try it,¡± the last vrochth¨ªzo corrected.

    ¡°Yeah, this is a test,¡± another vrochth¨ªzo claimed.  ¡°I bet we¡¯ll get fed if we pass!¡±

    ¡°Maybe we eat each other?¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah!  Last time the walls opened, I ate things that looked like you!¡±

    ¡°I remember that!¡±

    With a wet, sloppy impact, a stream of vomit descended from the top of the wall and landed next to Adgito.  Isabella had apparently taken her first serious look at the scene in her basement, and lost hold of her morning tea.

    ¡°Oh, no!¡± one of the vrochth¨ªzo screamed, ¡°Acid breath!¡±

    ¡°Uh-um¡­¡± Isabella stammered, ¡°th¡­ that man from before¡­ did he come here often?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡± the vrochth¨ªzo confirmed.  ¡°He was almost always with Master!¡±

    ¡°He held the light!¡±

    ¡°It was a much smaller light.¡±

    ¡°Not as pretty!¡±

    ¡°W¡­ was your master Gregory Cornwall?¡± Isabella asked.

    ¡°Greh-gore-ree?¡±

    ¡°Master is master!¡±

    ¡°No, he is!  The lightman called him Master Cornwall once!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s a corn?¡±

    ¡°I,¡± Isabella continued, pale-faced, ¡°am Isabella Cornwall.  Your old master died, so I am Master Cornwall now.¡±

    Oh, Adgito saw her angle here.  Props to Isabella for finally being useful!  If they could establish themselves as the new master and light, it was problem solved.  The poor monster children could actually get some guidance underneath someone as stupidly nice as Isabella.  Adgito almost chuckled at the disturbing image of her nannying a little swarm of vrochth¨ªzo kids, teaching them their ABC¡¯s alongside what they were and were not allowed to devour alive.

    ¡°Master is dead?¡±

    ¡°That makes sense.  He¡¯s late.¡±

    ¡°Master used to talk about a lady!  Is she the lady?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s the lady?¡±

    ¡°The lady!¡±

    ¡°The lady is here!¡±

    ¡°Y-yes,¡± Isabella said, just going along with it, ¡°I am the lady.  C-can I get you all to do something for me?¡±

    A chorus of confirmations filled the room.  Adgito smiled and nodded to herself. More good luck!  This ¡®lady¡¯ figure was probably Gregory grooming his legions of darkness to one day be ruled by his daughter.  They had a path to masterhood already set up, and Adgito wouldn¡¯t need to worry about fighting off swarms of monster children anymore.  Or, you know, accidentally becoming one.

    ¡°C¡­ could you please,¡± Isabella asked, choking as tears joined her pile of vomit below, ¡°could you p-please eat the light for me?¡±

    ¡°Wait, what???¡± Adgito yelped, as cries of enthusiastic agreement were followed up by a room full of vrochth¨ªzo leaping directly at her.

    Adgito took it back.  Isabella would never be useful.

 Circumvent Justice

    Out of all of Shara¡¯s stupid, spur-of-the-moment plans, chasing a geomancer into a vertical stone shaft was definitely going to take a prime spot on the list. After scaling the wall of the pit, Shara grabbed her brother and rushed up the ladder her quarry had been escaping on, forgetting the legitimate display of power he¡¯d previously demonstrated. By the time Shara realized she¡¯d made a potentially fatal mistake, the shaft was already closing around them, completely sealed off from both ends. Now, Shara and Darron were trapped in a tiny stone box, oxygen and patience rapidly dwindling.

    Perhaps most frustrating was that the geomancer had them completely dead to rights. Should he have chosen too, they would have simply been crushed to death by stone. Fortunately, in classic evil vizier style, he had decided to take them both alive. Shara gleaned that he planned to wait for them to run out of air, retrieve their unconscious bodies, and feed them to his vrochth¨ªzo pets. Apparently he employed this strategy quite frequently.

    Already in a bad mood from the day¡¯s previous events and the current emotional environment, getting outplayed and insulted in such a manner had Shara completely fuming. Condensing her barrier around her fist, she began punching dents into the solid stone ceiling, determined to escape and show that pompous clich¨¦ of a man the price of his hubris.

    So, uh, is there just a thin sheet of rock above us, or something? Darron asked, staying silent to conserve air and also because he wanted to.

    ¡°No,¡± Shara huffed between strikes, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure he sealed the whole shaft. Top to bottom.¡±

    That¡¯s very impressive, actually, Darron commented.  He must have a lot of arcane power to burn. Also, you have no chance of getting us out before we suffocate at your current rate.

    ¡°Well, if you have any better plans, now is the time to use them!¡±

    There is a spell I¡¯ve been developing for a while that might work. It should solve the problem. Or kill you. Or both.

    ¡°Two out of three seems like good odds,¡± Shara deadpanned. ¡°Hit me up.¡±

    Okay, Darron confirmed, and began to speak the spell incantation. I call it ¡°Hypermetabolize.¡± The idea is that it will rapidly accelerate your body¡¯s energy consumption rate and grant a proportional boost in power and speed.

    ¡°That sounds awesome!¡± Shara exclaimed.

    The downside is that you¡¯ll quickly run out of burnable lipid stores and your body will begin consuming itself for food. So... punch fast.

    ¡°That is a plan I can absolutely get behind,¡± Shara said with a grin, and the spell hit.

    She felt¡­ warm. Jittery. Like she¡¯d been working out all day and everything was sore but she needed to move anyway, right now. So move Shara did.

    Sheathing her sword to spare it from the rain of rubble, Shara unloaded both fists into the wall of rock. Darron huddled close to her to avoid the outpouring spray of debris as Shara picked up the pace. More speed, more strength¡­ her arms became a blur of movement as they tore through stone, piece by piece. Rather than trying to punch her way out while on a ladder, she moved up through the ground at an angle, leaving what was the shaft behind and hoping to eventually hit the basement at an angle. As the rubble and dust began to get too dense, Darron casted a quick Teraldia¡¯s Selective Orbital Cleaner, holding it behind them to efficiently pull the mess around and away from where they were trying to go. It was brutal, it was brutish, and by the time Shara¡¯s fist punched through to fresh air her knuckles were broken to bits. Darron immediately canceled the Hypermetabolize spell once it was confirmed they reached the basement proper, and began to work on healing Shara¡¯s hands.

    ¡°Aww, Darron!¡± Shara whined as the Hypermetabolize deactivated. ¡°That spell was awesome! I want to use it to beat up the stupid goatee man!¡±

    You¡¯d become emaciated. It¡¯s really a spell we need to save for emergencies. Once your adrenaline rush wears off I suspect you¡¯ll be in very bad shape.

    ¡°...Oh. Well, I guess we¡¯d better go find him before that then.¡±

    It was a task that didn¡¯t take long. Punching a new hallway through solid stone apparently made a lot of noise, and Shara sensed that everyone on the upper floors was in a tizzy trying to figure out what was going on. Except, of course, for one particularly nasty brain that knew exactly what that sound was¨C a brickload of brute force ruining his carefully crafted trap. Shara pointed up.

    ¡°Second floor. That direction. Is there any chance you can activate that spell in quick bursts? It would be pretty sweet to just jump through the floor and be all ¡®surprise, stonesucker!¡¯¡±

    That does sound interesting. I haven¡¯t prepared a quick cast method for it yet, though. It¡¯s more of a test concept.

    ¡°Lame! I guess we¡¯re taking the stairs. If we can get to his floor before he gets to ours, it¡¯ll rob him of a lot of immediate rock access.¡±

    Darron relayed instructions on how to get to the stairs¨C he had apparently kept track of the house¡¯s layout and predicted where they currently were in the basement relative to everywhere else¨C and Shara had him piggyback her while she dashed off in that direction. She resolved, after today, to train on maximizing her vertical jump height. The skill was starting to come up a lot.

    Keeping mental tabs on her target¡¯s intended route, Shara moved to cut him off. Against her expectations, he was actually ascending: going further away from his main source of offense, i.e. the ground, in an attempt to get his abilities within range of something on the sixth floor. To do that, he needed to reach the third floor, which conveniently gave Shara the distance limit of his geomancy powers: about thirty feat. This also meant he could still pull dirt and stone from the ground while on the third floor, but it was still easier to dodge his attacks that way, as they needed to travel a greater distance.

    Despite his significant head start, Shara reached the third floor slightly before her target, and made tracks to intercept. He barely finished casting his spell when Shara turned the corner to the hallway he was in.

    Breathing heavily, the goatee-man was shooing away nearby servants that were fussing over his distraught state. Upon seeing Shara and her brother-based backpack, he pointed at the duo.

    ¡°Help!¡± he yelled, ¡°They¡¯re after me! I¡¯m under attack!¡±

    Then, with his minions moving to block the way, he motioned upwards with both hands, causing a pillar of stone to quickly erupt from the ground three stores beneath him, pierce the floor he was standing on, and move back down again like an impromptu escape elevator.

    Oh, neat, Darron thought. He¡¯s a somatic natural caster.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t he just do that to get up here in the first place?¡± Shara asked, leaping over the servant¡¯s ineffectual attempts to block her advance. Unlike the wall in the vrochth¨ªzo pit, they were not fifteen feet high.

    Presumably because doing so destroys his house? Darron posited. Anyway, try to keep him in sight. If he needs to wave his arms around like that to cast, I can ruin his day.

    Shara leapt down the hole after the vizier, who had thought himself very clever by getting off his elevator at the second floor while it retreated all the way to ground level. Unfortunately for him, Shara could read his mind just fine and easily followed the intended juke, landing on the second floor with barely a break in her stride. The moment he thought about casting another spell, Shara squeezed her brother¡¯s leg and he took that as his cue to cast a spell of his own, causing a brief, otherwise harmless spasm to shake the man¡¯s arm as he was trying to motion with it. A few spikes of stone erupted around her, but they were easily avoided as the majority of his casting attempts were thwarted by Darron¡¯s diligent counters. As she closed into melee range, she dropped Darron, drew her sword, and swung a deep cut into the tendons above his knee. As he dropped to the ground, she planted a foot into his collarbone, knocking him over and pinning him to the floor. A sword tip to the throat communicated the rest of her threat, but she vocalized it anyway.

    ¡°If you so much as think about fighting back,¡± Shara said, ¡°It¡¯s over.¡±

    Foolish girl! his mind ranted to itself, and Shara could tell it was taking him quite a bit of self-control to not vocalize it. I have no need to fight you! Before you reached me, I released my personal vrochth¨ªzo enforcer! He is at least the equal, nay, the better, of Arina herself! He will soon arrive to tear you to shreds, and I need not lift a¨C

    A lizard-mouthed vrochth¨ªzo crashed through the ceiling above Shara, claws outstretched to tear through her head like an overripe cabbage. Shara promptly cut it in half with an upward stroke, cleaving it head-to-crotch, and let its pieces fall on either side of the vizier.

    ¡°So, is that the one that actually ate Gregory Cornwall?¡± Shara asked, enjoying his smug face fall white as his defeated mind raced through all the possible ways she could have found out his great secret.

    Which was really very convenient, because now she could pick one at her leisure and immediately get a believable story to cover for how she actually found out.

    ¡°I¡­ I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about!¡± he sputtered, clearly having every idea what she was talking about.

    Most of the story was spread out before her in his awful, goatee-loving mind, and Shara asked a few leading questions when he got off-track to clear things up. It had apparently gone down like this: goatee-face had been Gregory Cornwall¡¯s main accomplice in raising and indoctrinating Arina. Originally, they had captured her and kept her simply as an intimidation tool. Gregory Cornwall, before he was officially the mayor of Oinos Springs, was a powerful mob boss already in functional control of the surrounding area. He was enamored with the dark, intimidating nature of the vrochth¨ªzo, and enjoyed interrogating or simply terrifying his enemies above Arina¡¯s pit before pushing them down to their doom.

    However, they hadn¡¯t accounted for the fact that Arina was listening. Vrochth¨ªzo were apparently quite a bit more intelligent than they had thought. She learned to understand the concept of communication, even before she understood the words. Eventually, rather than killing her victims immediately, Arina would leave them alive. She would listen to them beg, plead, and pray for mercy, prompting and prodding them for specific reactions in an attempt to learn their language, only eating them once they no longer had the strength to speak. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    One day, when Gregory brought a victim to interrogate, Arina asked to be let out. The smile that parted Gregory Cornwall¡¯s lips was one that would haunt his so-dubbed evil vizier until the end of his days. It was as though an entire reality Gregory had thought to be fiction opened up before him, and granted his greatest, most terrible dream.

    So Arina¡¯s training began. Slowly, her world shifted to one where Gregory Cornwall was god. Then, and only then, was she released from the darkness of her pit to the darkness of the Cornwall household. At this point, her body was still that of a child¡¯s, much like the dozens currently trapped in the basement. So Gregory, in almost a perverse joke at his own fatherhood, had Arina watch and entertain his young daughter by day, and kill his enemies by night. Vrochth¨ªzo, it turned out, do not need to sleep. Only eat.

    Years passed like this. When the vrochth¨ªzo lord moved into the area, Gregory seized the opportunity. Using his powerful earth magic, the goatee-man and a few other mages dug a tunnel underneath her lair in the volcano, stole a portion of her eggs, and retreated back to town, the lord either not knowing or not caring about the entire event. The other mages were fed to them first, and the process began to turn them into a miniature army of Arinas. Once they were grown, the males would impregnate Arina and start the process anew, growing generation after generation of the fast-developing loyal beasts to eventually bring the entire region to heel.

    At this point, one of the two other servants that knew about the vrochth¨ªzo pit had suggested to the evil vizier that maybe, just maybe, Gregory Cornwall might be going a little mad. Just in case, shouldn¡¯t he secretly train some of the vrochth¨ªzo to be loyal not to Gregory, but to goatee-man alone? You know, just for self-defense.

    Then, a whole lot of ¡°self-defense¡± occurred, and they reached the current predicament. The vizier had gotten too big for his britches, and his usurping antics caught the attention of some passing super-powered adventurers, one of which was currently stomping on his collarbone. Tough luck, buddy!

    In the time it took to get that full info dump from the goatee-man¡¯s mind, however, Shara and Darron had long-since been surrounded by frightened but determined household servants. Shara noted with some minor irritation that there were one or two of them whose mind she couldn¡¯t read. Of the rest that she could, however, it seemed they had no intention to actually attack her, largely out of enlightened self-preservation. Instead, they had sent other servants off to fetch the sheriff and were carefully stalling for time until he arrived. This was fine, because that was exactly what Shara was doing too.

    ¡°What in tha sam-hell is goin¡¯ on in ¡®ere?¡± the Sheriff angrily bellowed when he arrived, parting the circle of servants.

    Shara, for her part, was still covered in freshly-parted vrochth¨ªzo blood with a boot firmly planted on the goatee-man¡¯s collarbone. Darron sat lazily next to her, running magical tests on half of the monster¡¯s cadaver.

    ¡°Well,¡± Shara grinned, pointing to each half of the inky-blooded body beside her, ¡°I found evidence that a different vrochth¨ªzo in fact walked into Gregory¡¯s house, ignored all his servants, expertly assassinated one man, and buggered off without a trace. Funny, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡±

    The flabbergasted sheriff glared at her.

    ¡°So ya went an¡¯ killed tha culprit, huh? Took justice inta yer own hands?¡±

    ¡°Oh, uh. Only kind of,¡± Shara admitted sheepishly. ¡°The vrochth¨ªzo was about to tear my skull open, so I just had to act on that. Bit of a stress-fueled situation there. But fortunately, he had an accomplice!¡±

    Shara did a quick stomp with her foot, causing the goatee-man to make a funny barf-sounding noise.

    ¡°He has a secret monster dungeon under the house and everything. Speaking of, Isabella and a friend of mine are still trapped down there, so do you mind if we go let them out? I¡¯m sure this guy will be kind enough to magic away all the stone he used to block off the exit.¡±

    Shara did her best innocent-girl smile, a skill she was proficient enough to pull off even when covered in something else¡¯s blood. She admittedly had a lot of practice with that. Pulling the Isabella-is-trapped card also seemed to provide a substantial bonus to persuasion, and the sheriff agreed to make freeing her a priority above the immediate investigation.

    Shara directed the sheriff and the entourage of household servants to the incense room, where she ¡°persuaded¡± the evil vizier to re-open the shaft downward, prompting a rush of incredibly hot air to pour out from the secret room. They descended, the goatee-man gawking at the crumbling tunnel Shara had punched out of the stone as they passed it. Everything seemed to be okay, as best Shara could tell. Isabella and Adgito¡¯s minds were present and accounted for, and she wasn¡¯t even feeling the overwhelming hunger from¨C

    She wasn¡¯t feeling the overwhelming hunger. Reaching out with her senses, she didn¡¯t find a single vrochth¨ªzo in range. Uh-oh.

    When they reached the bottom of the ladder, they found Isabella curled up in a ball, bawling endless tears on the stony floor. She was barely visible, as only light source in the room was presumably Adgito¡¯s burning body, which was still trapped in the pit. Isabella¡¯s servants poured from shaft, quickly surrounding her with consolations, making sure she was alright, and supplying her with sympathy, which Shara noticed seemed to make Isabella feel worse. Guilt, huh?

    Along with Darron and the sheriff, Shara approached the edge of the pit. Adgito sat exhausted by the wall of the cliff face, her flames flickering far more faintly than Shara remembered. The air in the room seemed thin, lacking in oxygen. Far more so than it should be from simply two people inhaling in an enclosed space of this size, if Darron¡¯s mental assessment was to be believed. After seeing the pit, though, that was to be expected. Adgito was no longer sitting in a layer of human corpses, after all. In the entire pit, there was only Adgito and ash.

    ¡°Hey, um, Adgito?¡± Shara inquired. ¡°What happened? Are you alright?¡±

    Adgito looked up, sad eyes locking with Shara.

    ¡°Oh. Hey. Yeah, I¡¯m¡­ fine.¡± Adgito lied. ¡°The vrochth¨ªzo attacked, and I kinda¡­ well. I wasn¡¯t going to let them get me.¡±

    Shara reached out to touch Adgito¡¯s mind to try and get a better picture of events, but found something unexpected.

    Don¡¯t read my mind. Don¡¯t. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re in here but I don¡¯t want you here. Who am I kidding? Of course you¡¯re in here. Get out.

    ¡°...Alright,¡± Shara said quietly, and stopped. She couldn¡¯t do anything about picking up Adgito¡¯s emotional state, but she¡¯d refrain from digging any deeper for now. ¡°Hey, goatee-face. Lift her up outta there.¡±

    ¡°I have a name, you know!¡± the evil vizier roared. ¡°It¡¯s¨C¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t care,¡± Shara interrupted. ¡°Lift.¡±

    He obediently removed the depressed Adgito from the pit, a confused-looking sheriff watching all the while.

    ¡°Ah, miss, ya appear ta be on fire.¡± The sheriff said.

    ¡°Oh, really?¡± Adgito deadpanned back. ¡°I hadn¡¯t noticed.¡±

    ¡°Er, ah mean, it looks ta me like tha whole room¡¯s been burned. Incinerated away. Gonna make it difficult ta impossible ta collect any evidence, now.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Adgito said, surprised, but then turned to glare at Isabella. ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I can vouch as a witness,¡± Isabella piped up, wiping away her tears and standing up. ¡°There were several dozen vrochth¨ªzo in there. They¡­ attacked her. She had no choice but to use fire magic to protect herself.¡±

    ¡°Addition-limited thermomancy,¡± Darron quietly corrected.

    ¡°How were they keepin¡¯ several dozen vroch ¡®ere?¡± the sheriff asked. ¡°What were they feedin¡¯ ¡®em?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± Isabella responded. ¡°We didn¡¯t find anything here but the vrochth¨ªzo.¡±

    Yeah, that and the room-wide carpet of human corpses! What the heck was Isabella talking about? Shara was about to speak up, but the evil vizier suddenly had a flash of recognition and interrupted her.

    ¡°I confess!¡± he yelled. ¡°It¡¯s true! I was keeping vrochth¨ªzo here secretly. They swallowed the small animals we fed them whole, which is why you wouldn¡¯t have found any. It was¡­ it was a pet project of Gregory¡¯s, to see if they could be made, ah, civil, like Arina. One of them must have escaped and eaten him. His death was due to my negligence, so I was too frightened to speak up. I am so sorry. When I sealed off the entrance, I had no idea there were people still inside!¡±

    What??? What was this steaming load of putrid skitter dung? Shara supposed he wouldn¡¯t be a true evil vizier if he couldn¡¯t hiss lies through his rotten teeth, but Shara would be damned before she let him get away with that. She started to speak when Isabella interrupted her this time!

    ¡°It-it¡¯s all right! Th-there¡¯s no way you could have known. You thought you were the only one that knew about this place, right?¡±

    Isabella looked at Shara and Darron with a pleading expression. Adgito stared at the ground, disinclined to speak up. Well, maybe Adgito wanted Shara to stay out of her mind, but she could still read Isabella¡¯s.

    It was¡­ a ploy. A stupid ploy intended to circumvent justice and let the man responsible for her father¡¯s death get off easy. Why? So that her late father got off easy as well.

    Shara had to give credit where credit was due: when Isabella finally realized the truly horrible things her father had been doing, she didn¡¯t just fall to pieces like Shara had expected. Her response had been: ¡°how can I fix this?¡± Her father¡¯s legacy, the strength of his works, were in large part based around his reputation. She was determined to ensure the things he¡¯d built, the good he¡¯d done, didn¡¯t fall apart as a result of his mistakes. It was laudable, in a way, though the injustice of it made Shara¡¯s blood boil.

    The first step was to get rid of the man-eating monsters in her basement. Darron didn¡¯t think the vrochth¨ªzo children were morally responsible for the deaths of the people they¡¯d eaten; he put that burden on Gregory and goatee-face. Upon seeing the horrifying scene under her own house, though, Isabella had no such qualms. With Adgito forced to act in self-defense, the children were completely incinerated, and justice was served for the victims of their meals. Isabella hadn¡¯t told Adgito about this plan beforehand, leaving her a little salty about being suddenly attacked, but Adgito also believed the young monsters shouldn¡¯t be allowed to live and apparently let it slide. At least, that was Isabella¡¯s interpretation.

    Afterwards, Isabella asked Adgito to cremate the bodies that survived her flames, which Adgito agreed to without understanding the real reason. While analytical magic could probably identify the source of the ash, so far as Isabella knew the town had no access to that and the evidence was destroyed. Too bad Darron was here.

    Getting the evil vizier to go along with the charade was just natural; his sentence is hugely lessened down from straight treason and first-degree murder to negligence or possibly even lower, depending on how well he could spin the lie. Not that Isabella had actually thought that through; it was just a lucky coincidence for her. Everything else rode on convincing Shara and Darron to stay quiet.

    It sounded nice and orderly when Shara summarized it, but in reality it was a gaping mess of a plan, tossed together by a desperate and emotionally overwhelmed daddy¡¯s girl. Shara could jostle nearly any part of it and send the entire charade crashing down. Shara was surprised Adgito hadn¡¯t already done so, considering how Isabella had obviously manipulated her and how Adgito seemed to have somewhat of a sore spot for that. Yet out of respect, Shara declined to figure out exactly what was going through Adgito¡¯s head on that point.

    It was up to Shara. Or Darron, who had simply surmised most of plan Shara dug out of Isabella¡¯s brain, the supergenius cheater. Well, Shara wasn¡¯t having it. She opened her mouth to speak the truth a third and final time.

    Naw, Darron thought, tugging on her sleeve. Let¡¯s go with it.

    Shara gave him a very confused look.

    ¡°The whole reason we are in this stupid mess is because you started a moral crusade,¡± Shara whispered angrily at him. ¡°You¡¯re backing out now? You¡¯re just gonna let this go?¡±

    It¡¯s exactly because of the reason I started this that we shouldn¡¯t pursue here, Darron explained. Punishing evil does not increase the amount of good in the world. Think further ahead. What happens when we reveal the truth? The bad guy gets executed and Gregory¡¯s evil deeds are revealed to the world. Isabella¡¯s life is ruined. The town¡¯s trust in their government and each other is shattered. Yes, Gregory bought the prosperity of the town with blood, and that¡¯s bad. But it also already happened, and the prosperity is here now. Wouldn¡¯t getting rid of it also be bad?

    Shara didn¡¯t have a good answer to that, but thinking about it was enough to shut her up. Letting the town run on a lie didn¡¯t sit with her well, not one bit. Yet, by the time the investigation had wrapped up and they were dragging goatee-man back to the sheriff¡¯s office, she still hadn¡¯t said a word.

 Cut-Off Point

    Shara, Darron, Sheriff Torg, Isabella and the goatee man made their way together back to Sheriff Torg¡¯s office.  Adgito had been doused with water, causing her to change into aquatic form so as to not burn down Isabella¡¯s mansion.   She had decided to separate from the group for now and go sulk in the hot springs until she was comfortable changing into something else.

    Shara was certainly worried about Adgito, but her more immediate concern was the obsessive sociopath that was about to become her direct responsibility.  Well, that was the best-case scenario, anyway. Worst-case scenario, said sociopath would snap and attack her former master¡¯s killer as he walked past, rendering the question of her guilt immediately irrelevant.

    Arina didn¡¯t move as the group approached, but there was a clear mental reaction.  Arina¡¯s was a difficult mind for Shara to read, for a number of reasons, but as best she could tell the blind vrochth¨ªzo had, within moments, identified all five approaching people by the shape of the air they displaced and the sound of their footsteps.  It almost gave Shara a headache.

    It also didn¡¯t take Arina any significant amount of time to determine why one of the five people was returning with his hands bound.  A quiet rage welled up inside her. This would be the final test, Shara supposed. If Arina broke free and killed this man, there wouldn¡¯t be a whole lot else Shara could do to help her.  Thankfully, Arina remained perfectly still even as they passed her, seething alone in her anger and shame.

    ¡°So, is she free to go now?¡± Shara asked.

    ¡°Aye, ah suppose she is,¡± the sheriff said grudgingly.  ¡°Wit¡¯ this man¡¯s confession an¡¯ the body of tha other vroch ya pretty much got ¡®er clear o¡¯ charges.  Come ¡®wit me. Ah gotta lock this one up until ¡®is trial, then ah¡¯ll grab tha keys to tha stocks.¡±

    ¡°You left the stock keys in the sheriff¡¯s office?  Unguarded?¡± Darron asked.

    ¡°Well, tha only people who want that damn vroch free were busy destroyin¡¯ tha Cornwall manor!¡± the sheriff bit back.

    Isabella stayed behind, wordlessly watching over Arina as the rest of them entered the sheriff¡¯s office.  They headed to the back of the office, shoved goatee-man in a small prison cell, then returned to the front to grab the keys.  The sheriff stopped as he acquired them from his desk, pausing to glare at Shara and Darron.

    ¡°Ya sure ya wanna do this?  Maybe she didn¡¯t nab Greg, but we both know she killed countless other folk.  Ah finally found justice fer them, and ya just wanna take that away?¡±

    ¡°The definition of justice is an issue of much philosophical debate,¡± Darron said flatly,  ¡°but if a child hurts another without realizing it, I feel like the correct response is to educate them on why their actions were wrong.  Not to lock them in public stocks and starve them to death.¡±

    ¡°Tha isn¡¯t a child pullin¡¯ someone¡¯s hair, boy,¡± the sheriff pointed out.  ¡°It¡¯s ah fullah-grown monstah that murdered titans know how many people.¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Darron said, grabbing the keys from the sheriff, ¡°that seems like an awfully arbitrary cut-off point.¡±

    He left to free Arina, leaving Shara and Sheriff Torg in the office alone.

    ¡°An what does tha little sweetheart think of all this?¡± the sheriff inquired.  Shara shrugged.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she admitted.  ¡°I don¡¯t like it, but it¡¯s difficult for me to not see both sides.  I¡­ hate the idea of letting a killer off easy. I really, really hate it.  But, in Arina¡¯s case, she was just treated like a tool. I shouldn¡¯t hate somebody¡¯s sword, just the person that wields it.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a livin¡¯, thinkin¡¯ monstah, kid.  Not a sword.¡±

    ¡°No, she¡­ really is.  Mostly. Which is the saddest part, I think.  I guess we¡¯re going to take responsibility for changing that.¡±  Shara gave a wry grin. ¡°And I guess she¡¯s out of your hair either way, right?¡±

    The sheriff snorted.

    ¡°If only.  Make sure yer brother gives me mah damn keys back,¡± he said, and waved her off.

    Stepping back outside the office, Shara saw Arina stand upright for the first time as Darron finished the last lock on the stocks.  She quickly snapped to attention, despite the fact that she clearly wanted to stretch her sore frame instead. Standing upright, Arina was shorter than Shara or Darron, though not by a lot.  Her tail twitched slightly from where it poked through her pale prisoner¡¯s garb, its spiked tip quietly tapping the ground every so once and awhile. No longer forced to look downward, Arina quickly pushed her long, black hair behind her ears, revealing the blank white cloth mask that covered her face.  She looked at no one in particular, her head turned to face the space between where Darron and Isabella were standing.

    ¡°Isabella...¡± Arina asked, ¡°did that man they brought really kill your father?  Is it done?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Isabella quietly confirmed, face peering at the ground.

    Arina turned to Darron and bowed deeply.

    ¡°Then, in accordance with our prior agreement, I hereby declare you my new master, until death.¡±

    ¡°Naw,¡± Darron said, holding up his hand dismissively.  ¡°Hard pass.¡±

    Arina twitched almost imperceptibly.

    ¡°Am¡­ I¡­ is something wrong?¡± she asked, not rising from her bow.  ¡°I was under the impression¡­¡±

    ¡°The whole master-servant thing is extremely creepy to me,¡± Darron flatly said.  ¡°I want no part of it. Besides, Shara¡¯s the one that actually caught the guy.¡±

    Arina wrinkled her brow.

    ¡°You would have me serve¡­ your warrior?¡± she asked.

    ¡°She¡¯s not ¡®my¡¯ warrior.¡± Darron explained.

    ¡°Yeah!¡± Shara agreed, ¡°If anything, Darron works for me.  I¡¯m pretty much in charge around here.¡±

    Shara felt Darron wish he could honestly deny that, which made her grin.  Arina seemed briefly confused, but quickly defaulted to her usual strategy of unconditionally accepting a master¡¯s words at face value. Which, while convenient in this case, was something they¡¯d probably have to work on.  Arina turned her bow to Shara.

    ¡°Please accept my apologies.  In that case, in accordance with our prior agreement, I hereby accept you as my new master, until death.¡±

    ¡°Accepted!¡± Shara happily exclaimed.  ¡°Tentatively. Except the until death part.¡±

    This confused Arina again, but she silently rose from her bow and nodded in agreement.  Hoo boy, this was going to be a hassle.

    ¡°You have permission to ask questions, should you have any,¡± Shara clarified.

    ¡°Do you plan to trade me away, master?¡± Arina asked.

    ¡°No,¡± Shara said.  ¡°One day, I want you to be your own master, is all, and I don¡¯t want to die before we can accomplish that.¡±

    Arina furrowed her brow.

    ¡°In what way does this plan assist you?¡± she asked.  ¡°I don¡¯t understand how this distinction is relevant.¡±

    Hoo boy.  She quite literally didn¡¯t understand the difference, because her concept of ¡°being her own master¡± still involved working for Shara.  Baby steps.

    ¡°Right, we¡¯ll work on that,¡± Shara said dismissively.  ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it for now.¡±

    ¡°Yes, master,¡± Arina responded and immediately stopped worrying about it, confident that some long-term plan beyond her comprehension had been set in motion.

    Man, Darron was right about this master-servant stuff.  Shara had to admit she¡¯d kinda been looking forward to it, but in practice this was way creepier than she had ever imagined.  Shara needed to be very careful about how she worded everything.

    ¡°Do you want to say goodbye to Isabella?¡± Shara asked.  ¡°We¡¯ll probably be staying here one more night, but then we¡¯re hitting the road.¡±

    Arina got very confused for a moment, but then remembered she could ask questions.

    ¡°Is ¡®hitting the road¡¯ a metaphor for travel?¡±  she asked.

    ¡°Um¡­ yes.¡±

    ¡°Then I would like to say goodbye to Isabella.¡±

    Arina stood still, saying nothing else.  Shara let her stand there for a while, hoping she¡¯d figure out the implication.  She did not. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°Then¡­ then do that, please,¡± Shara relented.  ¡°However you like.¡±

    Arina turned to look at the space directly to Isabella¡¯s right.

    ¡°Goodbye, Isabella.¡±

    ¡°Arina¡­¡± Isabella said, starting to cry.  ¡°Why did you lie to me? How many things have you lied to me about?¡±

    Arina was about to deny any knowledge of falsehoods, but Shara butted in.

    ¡°Arina, you¡¯re no longer bound by whatever your old master prevented you from saying,¡± Shara said. ¡°If you want to tell something to Isabella, you can.  If you don¡¯t want to, you don¡¯t need to.¡±

    Arina was silent for a while.  As best she could tell, this freedom of choice had been given to her as a test.  Gregory would often give her tasks where only the results mattered, not the methods.  After she had grown, Gregory would simply tell her who to kill, and she possessed great freedom in exactly how to go about that.  She would pick whatever method she deemed would grant the most effective completion of her master¡¯s desires. Yet here, in this case, she did not know her new master.  She didn¡¯t have a lot of context for deciding the best way to make her pleased. Her master must be aware of that, so this was a test of her judgement and observation skills.  How accurate of a guess could Arina make with her limited information?  Should she fail, she would likely be rendered purposeless once again, cast out for her worthlessness.

    The reality of it was far from actually being that dire, of course, as Shara had no intention of ditching Arina.  She did want to know how much of Arina¡¯s loyalty was dedicated to her nominal master and how much was actually still dedicated to Gregory Cornwall, though.

    ¡°I lied to you because I was told to,¡± Arina eventually said.  ¡°Your father did not want you to know.¡±

    Isabella began crying in earnest now, bawling out rivers of tears.  Shara felt Darron wondering if Isabella was at risk of dehydration, or perhaps if she had natural water magic abilities.  The amount of liquid she¡¯d lost through her eyeballs this past day was getting ridiculous.

    ¡°I loved you like a sister!¡± Isabella bawled, ¡°b...but the whole time, you¡­ my father and you both¡­¡±

    Isabella erupted into uncontrollable tears for a while, before continuing.

    ¡°Did¡­ was any of it true?  D-d-did you ever really care about me?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Arina responded.  ¡°Being with you was¡­ calm. Watching you was an easy job.  You would smile and laugh at everything. It was nice.¡±

    ¡°W-w-was that it?  I was j-just an easy j-j-job?¡±

    Arina stared at nothing.

    ¡°It was a job I looked forward to,¡± Arina said.  ¡°Master was happy when you were happy. So I wanted to make you happy.¡±

    ¡°So it was just something you did for poppa,¡± Isabella mumbled, ¡°like¡­ like all the other jobs he gave you.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Arina said.  ¡°When I completed other jobs for the master, he was pleased.  But when I made you happy, he was happy.¡± Arina furrowed her brow behind her mask.  ¡°I feel as though I am not speaking as clearly as I could be, but I lack the vocabulary to articulate further.¡±

    Isabella suddenly surged forward and embraced Arina is a massive hug, depositing the rest of her tears in the vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s modest bosom.

    ¡°N-no¡­ that¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s just like you,¡± she bawled.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m so sorry. You¡¯re still you, but¡­ after everything that¡¯s happened, I look at you, and I¡­ I¡¯m just so frightened.  I want to scream and vomit and I know it¡¯s still you but¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m so sorry¡­¡±

    Arina stiffly patted Isabella¡¯s head.

    ¡°Then, perhaps it is for the best if I am leaving,¡± she said.  ¡°Making you sad defeats the point.¡±

    Isabella only cried.

    After expelling the rest of her eyeload, Isabella wiped her face dry and said goodbye.  Shara informed her of the inn they¡¯d be staying at, and Isabella promised to have a servant drop by with the few items, mostly clothing, that Arina owned.  Then she left, fully expecting to never see Arina again.

    Shara, Darron, and their new tag-along Arina then made their way to the inn they had stayed the previous night at.  Darron paralyzed another small bird for Arina to much on along the way, although Shara had to make clear it was okay for Arina to eat it before she did so, quietly slipping it under her mask and into her mouth.

    ¡°Actually, do you have any dietary preferences?¡± Darron asked as she swallowed it whole.  ¡°I¡¯ve been getting you whatever¡¯s convenient because I suspect you¡¯re currently malnourished, but if there is a kind of non-sapient wild animal you prefer to eat, I can keep an eye out for it.¡±

    ¡°I am grateful for any meals my master grants me,¡± Arina simply said.

    ¡°That¡¯s nice,¡± Darron pressed, ¡°but it doesn¡¯t answer my question.¡±

    Arina was silent for a moment.

    ¡°I am partial to bats,¡± she eventually said.  ¡°I gained the habit of hunting and killing them because of the awful noises they make, but I have grown fond of their taste.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Shara said.  ¡°As long as it¡¯s a wild animal, you¡¯re welcome to eat whenever you need.  Just don¡¯t eat anything that can ask you not to.¡±

    ¡°Or anything that could eventually become something that can ask you not to,¡± Darron clarified.

    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t eat any babies,¡± Shara agreed.

    ¡°Or anything owned by someone that can ask you not to,¡± Darron continued.

    ¡°Alright, no eating pets or property either,¡± Shara said.

    Arina thought about that.

    ¡°I am to understand the consumption of unwanted vermin may be performed at my leisure?¡± Arina asked for clarification.

    ¡°Um, yes,¡± Shara said. Then, in an attempt to avoid disaster, she quickly added ¡°So long as you¡¯re talking about actual vermin rather than the derogatory term for people you don¡¯t like.¡±

    Arina nodded and made a sudden upward motion with one of her hands.  A jet of air bursted from a small space between two buildings, causing a hitherto-unseen mouse to careen out of the gap directly into Arina¡¯s outstretched claws.  Still squirming, she placed it in her mouth and ended its life with a sickening crunch. Shara could not for the life of her decide where that fell on the cool/creepy scale.

    Arina did something similar to many unfortunate rodents on the way towards the inn, but only when Shara and Darron were the only ones watching.  When anyone else was on the street, Arina turned away from them, tucked in her tail, and usually moved to interpose Shara or Darron between herself and the other person.  It generally didn¡¯t stop her from being recognised, as her prisoner¡¯s smock did nothing to cover her pitch-black arms and legs. Still, no one they passed seemed to be brave enough to talk to them.  They only wondered: what¡¯s that monster doing free?  Who are those people it¡¯s with?

    They eventually made it to the inn without incident.  Shara hadn¡¯t known how long they¡¯d end up staying on Oinos Springs, so she hadn¡¯t bought the room for multiple days in advance.  However, as she paid the innkeeper for another night, she noticed he seemed apprehensive about something beyond the vrochth¨ªzo keeping them company that made her decide to peek into his mind.

    This is the group that dark-skinned Elpisian woman paid me to send to room three, he thought, as he handed Shara a key to that very room.  Right, like she was going to put up with that.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d like a different room please,¡± Shara said.  ¡°Do you have anything on the top floor?¡±

    After a quick exchange of haggling and Shara calling a few of the innkeeper¡¯s bluffs, Shara got a key to a room on a completely different story than room three.  Satisfied, she made her way up to the new room with Darron and Arina in tow. Whatever that nosy woman was planning, she wasn¡¯t just going to waltz into it. This room only had two beds, but Adgito was likely to spend the night in the hot springs and Arina didn¡¯t sleep anyway.  If Adgito did come back, Shara would just rest on the floor.

    Turning the key and opening the door, Shara spotted both beds, as well as a quaint little coffee table, at which a dark-skinned, short-haired military woman was sitting, reading a book.

    ¡°Oh, hello,¡± Marisol said, marking her place and looking up.  ¡°So, how was your day?¡±

    ¡°What???¡± Shara yelled, throwing her hands into the air in exasperation.  ¡°How did you¡­ I mean, I specifically avoided the¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, yes, I figured you might pick up on that from the innkeeper,¡± Marisol said, ¡°which is why I broke into the other vacant room in this inn instead.¡±

    ¡°What the heck are you doing in here???¡±

    ¡°Reading,¡± Marisol said.  Shara groaned.

    ¡°Do you seriously not have anything more important to do than bother me?¡±

    ¡°Actually, I have many more important things to do than bother you.  Fortunately, I am extremely good at my job, so I managed to complete them earlier.¡±

    ¡°Oh, goodie,¡± Shara deadpanned, ¡°so bothering me is just something you do in your free time.¡±

    ¡°Time, my little sweetheart, is by far our most precious commodity,¡± Marisol said, standing up.  ¡°It is never free.¡±

    ¡°Great,¡± Darron said from behind the doorway.  ¡°So are you going to stop wasting it, or will you continue spouting platitudes all day?¡±

    ¡°I like platitudes,¡± Marisol hummed.  ¡°Spouting them is an excellent test of one¡¯s intellectual character.  You gain so many answers, by asking the right questions. Speaking of: what number am I thinking about, right now?¡±

    ¡°What kind of stupid question is that?¡± Shara asked, crossing her arms.  ¡°What the hell do you actually want with me?¡±

    ¡°Incorrect!¡± Marisol chastised, approaching where Shara was standing in the entryway. ¡°I mean, that¡¯s not even a number.  Are you even trying?¡±

    Marisol confidently walked right next to Shara, almost touching her.  She was much shorter than Shara was, but Marisol craned her neck up to confidently grin into Shara¡¯s downward glare.

    ¡°The correct answer,¡± Marisol whispered, ¡°was one-hundred and fourteen.¡±

    That¡­ bitch.  Shara gritted her teeth.  That was the population of Aletheia, before Gadiel Halcomb slaughtered her family.  One hundred and fourteen faces that Shara had lived with for the first eight years of her life.  This crazy lady was straight-up asking to get gutted, right here on the floor of this inn.

    ¡°Get.  The hell.  Out. Of. My.  Room.¡± Shara hissed at her.

    ¡°I would love to, sweetheart,¡± Marisol cooed, ¡°but I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re standing in the doorway.¡±

    Slowly, deliberately, a slightly shaking Shara stepped backwards, got out of Marisol¡¯s way, and let her pass.  Marisol strutted out of the room, giving a wave goodbye as she headed towards the staircase without looking back.

    ¡°Have fun in Yidril, sweetheart!¡± Marisol called.  ¡°I hear it¡¯s nice this time of year!¡±

    Shara struggled to maintain a grip on herself, not wanting to show how much Marisol¡¯s words had gotten to her.  That¡­ that damn woman! What did she even want? First Marisol was mad at her, then she was helping them out, and now Marisol was stalking her and deliberately attempting to throw her into a rage!   It was like¡­ it was like she was just getting toyed with. Like Marisol thought anything Shara did didn¡¯t actually matter.

    But if that was the case, why bother giving her so much attention?  Nothing added up, and her stupid, fritzy powers that would otherwise solve everything wouldn¡¯t even work on her!  It was beyond aggravating!

    Shara forced herself to calm down.  She wasn¡¯t going to get worked up and play into that woman¡¯s hands.

    A long, awkward silence followed as Shara, Darron and Arina made their way into the small bedroom and prepared to rest for the night.  No one seemed inclined to say anything, until Arina eventually spoke up.

    ¡°Should I kill her?¡± the assassin asked, with literal dead seriousness.

    ¡°Maybe later,¡± Shara grumbled.

 Easy and Predictable

    Gadiel Halcomb sat at his desk, reading through an endless sea of reports. The teleportation circle between N¨¦a Elpis and Terranburg was almost complete, but Gadiel had to do something with his time while he waited for his aura to recover enough to cast the finishing touches. Officially, Gadiel¡¯s office sat in the Elpisian Embassy on Terranburg soil, but it wasn¡¯t an embassy, not really. Terranburg belonged to Elpis in all but name, and should he choose to use it Gadiel had as much political power here as he did in his own country. All the way back when Terranburg had its first democratic election years ago, Marisol had saturated the candidate pool enough to win the election for Elpis, unknown to the citizens. Years of subtle policy changes and quiet influences on public opinion had shaped the population of Terranburg in the right direction. For years, Elpis publicly showered the city with gifts and favors, helping to improve their lives and make their city stronger. They were enamored with their allies, to the point where they would probably accept them as overlords.

    Not that Gadiel planned to abuse this hard-won trust. Only the odd conspiracy theorists still had a reason to doubt Elpis¡¯ benevolence, and it was in Elpis¡¯ direct interest to keep things that way. With Terranburg in the fold, the scattered villages of the dangerous southern plains would start becoming more and more open to the idea of letting themselves be absorbed into the country proper. Frankly, little more than a lack of safe exit strategies tied them to their homes as-is, for the southern plains were ravaged by infertile soil and dangerous beasts.

    People of the southern plains had become so terrified of those monsters, they had forgotten to be scared of men. Gadiel hoped, one day, that forgotten fear wouldn¡¯t be as misguided as it was now.

    A knock on the door stirred him from his thoughts.

    ¡°Enter,¡± he intoned.

    A dark-skinned, dark-haired woman decked out in her usual military garb stiffly entered the room with a salute. The door shut itself behind her.

    ¡°Intelligence Chief Marisol reporting, sir.¡±

    ¡°At ease, Marisol,¡± Gadiel sighed. ¡°It¡¯s just us in here. You don¡¯t have to act.¡±

    ¡°With respect, sir,¡± Marisol said, dropping her salute, ¡°I do. As much as I fancy myself the playwright, at heart I will always be an actor. We can never be sure what kind of unknown natural magic could be spying on us.¡±

    Gadiel nodded grimly. The last thing he wanted was another Nuxvar Massacre. He doubted he could bear it.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s fortunate that you happen to be the best actor in the world,¡± Gadiel commented. ¡°With luck, the playwright noticed and cast you as the lead.¡±

    Marisol grimaced.

    ¡°Yes, maybe. It¡¯s either that or the villain.¡±

    ¡°Be afraid of that,¡± Gadiel warned, ¡°but never accept it. If you find yourself willing to live with that title, we lose everything we¡¯ve worked for. Do not put up with ¡®good enough.¡¯¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right, of course,¡± Marisol said with a sigh, ¡°I¡¯ll need you more than ever for that, since I¡¯d like to start a conversation about necessary evils.¡±

    Gadiel figured as much. He could tell a lot about how a conversation would go by how Marisol chose to enter the room, and ¡°Intelligence Chief Marisol reporting¡± was usually the worst one.

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s start with updates, if you please,¡± Gadiel began. ¡°What¡¯s the status on the Titan of Life?¡±

    ¡°As you know, I can¡¯t get close to him, but I¡¯m currently tracking him through the Oinos mountain range. He¡¯s been sent on a wild goose chase after what is probably the only thing that could actually kill him. With luck, they¡¯ll delete each other.¡±

    ¡°Without luck?¡±

    ¡°I just sent Aelius to find Neoma. The worst case is probably some sort of extinction event. I¡¯m doing my best.¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡± Gadiel said, rubbing his temples. ¡°So, Hydronia and Sentonis?¡±

    ¡°On the brink of war,¡± Marisol reported. ¡°Hydronia¡¯s already at war with the chondricthians in their waters so they¡¯ll almost certainly lose if they don¡¯t get any support.¡±

    ¡°Worst case scenario?¡±

    ¡°Sentonis curbstomps them before we can influence the outcome and becomes a hegemony. This is a real threat; they¡¯re undoubtedly a superior military force. I¡¯ve been delaying them by gumming up their political system but the king will only tolerate forced incompetence for so long. He doesn¡¯t actually need parliamentary approval to start the war. Or do much of anything, frankly. Their legislature is a nightmare.¡±

    ¡°Best-case scenario?¡± Gadiel prompted.

    ¡°The war ends with a barely victorious Hydronia and crippled infrastructure on both sides, at which point we, well, do our thing. I should be able to set this up if we can get all the pieces in play quickly enough.¡±

    Hence the teleportation circle. It¡¯s true that Elpis wanted to land an army on Terranburg¡¯s doorstep, but it wasn¡¯t actually to conquer Terranburg. With the exception of a thin band at the base of the Oinos mountains, the monsters of the southern plains were among the most vicious on the continent. They¡¯d even attack a marching army, and sending said army across an entire continent would be difficult enough without constant environmental casualties. Being able to skip the plains entirely when mobilizing troops would be revolutionary.

    ¡°So, onto more recent events,¡± Gadiel prompted. ¡°Oinos Springs. I didn¡¯t expect to see you back so soon.¡±

    ¡°Well, teleportation allows one to move very fast,¡± Marisol responded flatly.

    ¡°Quite,¡± Gadiel dryly acknowledged, ¡°but I meant that I expected there to be more for you to do. I¡¯ve only just started reading your report, but it seems you think the situation there is already in hand?¡±

    ¡°Indeed,¡± Marisol confirmed. ¡°The Cornwall¡¯s heir seems genuinely ignorant, beyond our wildest hopes and dreams. With Gregory dead, establishing ourselves there will be an amusing pastime at worst. That¡¯s not the important part of my visit, however. I met the Aletheian there.¡±

    Gadiel¡¯s eyebrows raised in surprise.

    ¡°You mean, in an official capacity?¡± he asked. ¡°That is¡­ most surprising. Why would she take the Oinos Springs exit? How did she take the Oinos Springs exit?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea why. She could have been hunting, she could have had foreknowledge of my presence there, she could have gotten lost. As for how¡­ I have many reasons to believe she actually killed the vrochth¨ªzo lord Tarthanara, and nearly her entire brood. Somehow.¡±

    That was a mind-boggling feat. The ¡°invincible¡± Tarthanara had plagued Dynamo and the northern plains for decades, shrugging off armies¡¯ worth of physical and magical attacks like they were soft cuddles. What kind of monstrous strength did this Aletheian really have?

    ¡°But that¡¯s not even the most interesting part,¡± Marisol continued. ¡°It also seems like the girl¨C whose name is Shara, by the way¨C can¡¯t actually read my mind.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Gadiel exclaimed. ¡°Isn¡¯t that the whole reason we¡¯re¨C¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a little muddier than that,¡± Marisol clarified, cutting him off. ¡°I¡¯m still certain she can read minds, in general. But she¡¯s either the most skilled liar and manipulator on the planet or she¡¯s incapable of reading my mind directly. And possibly some other people¡¯s minds as well, I¡¯m not sure.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    ¡°...And to be the most skilled manipulator on the planet, she¡¯d have to take that title from you.¡± Gadiel said thoughtfully. ¡°I¡¯m willing to play those odds.¡±

    ¡°Now is probably not the time for flattery,¡± Marisol shot back, with a barely perceptible grin.

    ¡°Mmn. So the question is, ¡®why?¡¯ Her father clearly had no trouble reading you, which got us into this mess in the first place. If her power is different, she might cease to be a threat.¡±

    ¡°It might be different,¡± Marisol conceded, ¡°but it might also just be underdeveloped. We can¡¯t risk the integrity of the plan over that maybe. Our priority should still be to kill her.¡±

    ¡°So, why didn¡¯t you? You met her in person, did you not?¡±

    ¡°Are you crazy?¡± Marisol countered incredulously. ¡°That girl got trapped underground by one of the most skilled geomancers I know and as best I can tell she just punched her way out. Just¡­ punched! With her fists! Through solid rock! If I pooled every resource I had in the entire area she would have still reduced it all to a fine red mist. And that¡¯s before accounting for the overpowered teen squad and goddamn nascent titan that¡¯s following her around. I only take calculated risks, Gadiel, and as you know I am very good at math.¡±

    That was troubling. He skimmed through the report on his desk, trying to get a better understanding of the situation.

    ¡°Yet it says here you¡­ deliberately antagonized her in an attempt to provoke an attack?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that,¡± Marisol said, depositing herself into a nearby chair with a huff. ¡°Part of that was me controlling the timing of a strong emotional reaction. Testing my mind reading theory, naturally. Unless it¡¯s just part of her persona she seems to have a more difficult time controlling rage than other emotions, so I said some things to get her angry to see if she got angry before I said them, and she did not. The emotional response was pretty direct. But also¡­¡± Marisol trailed off with a grimace.

    ¡°But also what?¡± Gadiel prompted.

    Marisol shifted her weight in the chair, placing an elbow on the armrest and her head in her palm.

    ¡°Well, telling you this will end up making your job much harder,¡± Marisol hummed, ¡°So I¡¯m considering whether or not I should.¡±

    ¡°I suppose I shouldn¡¯t bother ordering you to do so,¡± Gadiel responded with a smile, ¡°since you¡¯ve already broken character.¡±

    Marisol looked down at her own posture.

    ¡°So I have. I guess you¡¯ve always been a weakness of mine.¡±

    An ember of something lost flickered between them, but they returned to business.

    ¡°I would, of course, like to know,¡± Gadiel said softly, ¡°Even if it would make things more challenging.¡±

    ¡°Well, I was also testing her character,¡± Marisol informed him with a sigh, ¡°and Shara Aletheia, so far as I can tell, is an incredibly kind human being. She has that spark of battle-lust the other Aletheians did, but she doesn¡¯t let it rule her. I suspect it¡¯s the influence of her adoptive family, who are just darling. I got that girl as frustrated as I could realistically manage and she did not so much as threaten me. Unless I attack her first I doubt she would ever go further. She also spent extra time in Oinos Springs assisting one of the most tragically doomed individuals I have ever encountered, and might even succeed in helping them should we give her the time. She is, by all accounts, a model citizen. Intelligent, kind, hard-working, thoughtful. Morally focused. Precisely the kind of person I adore, the kind of person we wish to encourage above all others. If the entire world were filled with people like Shara, our work would be done. And yet¡­¡±

    ¡°And yet you still think she needs to die,¡± Gadiel finished.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know of a realistic way around it,¡± Marisol confirmed sadly. ¡°She¡¯s in the unique position of having the potential to discover the plan, having the motivation to fight it, and having the power to stand a chance. She also seems frighteningly competent at acquiring powerful allies.¡±

    ¡°But we have a new best-case scenario,¡± Gadiel pressed. ¡°If she could be convinced to join us, it sounds like we would gain a lot.¡±

    ¡°Oh, excessively so,¡± Marisol agreed. ¡°I can hardly imagine how useful a mind-reader would be to us, let alone one of her incredible character. Unfortunately, I fear we may have burned that bridge when we burned her entire village to the ground. Even if she were to look past that¨C which is admittedly reasonable, given her personality¨C I think she values the truth too highly to accept the foundational lie we want to build the world upon.¡±

    ¡°It is almost as if any intelligent or well-read individual should be wary of such an oft-warned tactic for forming an ideal society,¡± Gadiel pointed out with a light touch of sarcasm.

    ¡°Yes, well,¡± Marisol said with a grin, ¡°fiction writers tend to get a little heavy-handed with their moral warnings. I think we have taken those lessons into account. Besides, actually ruling over a brainwashed populous would be dreadful. I like people far too much for that.¡±

    ¡°Yet, in the end, you still want to kill her,¡± Gadiel said.

    ¡°Of course I don¡¯t want to kill her,¡± Marisol snapped. ¡°Frankly, I¡¯m growing to rather like her. But yes, I feel as though it is needed.¡±

    ¡°So, when should I move out?¡± Gadiel regretfully asked.

    Marisol shrugged.

    ¡°Hopefully never. I know this is far from your favorite part of the job, and I don¡¯t want you near the girl besides. Best I can tell, she doesn¡¯t actually know my abilities yet, and even with your impressive mental self-control I don¡¯t want to risk that slipping. Instead, I¡¯ve sent her to Yidril.¡±

    ¡°Yidril? Why would she go there?¡±

    ¡°Because she¡¯s hungry, and I left a trail of breadcrumbs. I¡¯m confident enough in my read on her personality to think I¡¯ve pushed the right buttons. And if the things I have there can¡¯t kill her, well¡­ she¡¯ll shoot up the threat assessment list, I suppose.¡±

    Gadiel rubbed his chin thoughtfully. What he was about to say would be a hard sell, but that was perhaps why he needed to say it.

    ¡°Marisol¡­ I¡¯d like you to try recruiting the Aletheian girl. I think that should be our plan A.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Marisol asked. ¡°There¡¯s almost no chance it will work, and it could reveal secrets to her she doesn¡¯t already know. I don¡¯t see a realistic payoff.¡±

    ¡°There are some cases where that becomes irrelevant,¡± Gadiel claimed. ¡°I think this is one of them. Don¡¯t forget that the reason we¡¯re doing this is to make the world a better place. A place where kind, intelligent people like you claim this girl to be can thrive and live in happiness. There are sacrifices we make for that, but you can¡¯t let those sacrifices be a tool you pull out whenever it¡¯s convenient. They are a last resort, and that means you attempt every other option first. Only then are you justified to continue, and that justification is important as more than an intangible thing. You cannot foster and rule a culture of goodness if you yourself are evil.¡±

    Marisol sat thoughtfully, staring at the old man¡¯s wrinkled, smiling face.

    ¡°Besides,¡± Gadiel added, ¡°I¡¯m sure the most skilled manipulator on the planet can think of something, if she puts her mind to it.¡±

    Marisol couldn¡¯t help but chuckle.

    ¡°I suppose now is the time for flattery,¡± she admitted. ¡°All right, fine. I¡¯m not sure if I can manage anything, and I will still take any opportunities I see to eliminate her. But since she seems disinclined to leave many of those anyway... I¡¯ll try. It will be plan A.¡± She smiled. ¡°This is why I don¡¯t want to tell you these things.¡±

    ¡°Have you considered the possibility,¡± Gadiel said, ¡°that not wanting to tell me something may be a sign that you know it is wrong?¡±

    Marisol sighed, sinking into her seat.

    ¡°I suppose it usually is. I¡¯m so impossibly lucky to have you, Gadiel. I wish we were still¡­ you know. Together.¡±

    Gadiel returned her sigh softly.

    ¡°I know. But I¡¯ve told you why that won¡¯t be happening.¡± Silence weighed the room between them.

    ¡°Besides, can you imagine the scandal?¡± Gadiel added, breaking the quiet with a wry grin. ¡°A man of my position, with a younger woman? And his subordinate, no less!¡±

    Marisol bust out laughing.

    ¡°I could have made you look twenty again if you wanted, you old coot!¡± she managed to choke out.

    ¡°Yes, well, when a man reaches two-hundred I think he¡¯s earned the right to look a bit old. All the more reason you should seek this ¡®Shara¡¯ out for our side. Another strong-willed person in the know would do you good, and I won¡¯t be around forever.¡±

    Marisol¡¯s laughing abruptly stopped.

    ¡°Yes, you will,¡± she said quietly. ¡°I will never let you die. I swear it.¡±

    ¡°Life is not so easy and predictable, Marisol,¡± Gadiel responded sagely. ¡°When the time comes, you might not be able to stop it.¡±

    ¡°Maybe,¡± Marisol conceded, standing up with the careful slowness of someone who has the weight of the world on their shoulders.

    ¡°But one day,¡± she promised, ¡°I will be.¡±

    Marisol gave a stiff salute, snapping back into her professional persona and exiting the room, leaving Gadiel to his stack of papers.

    ¡°Always has to have the last word,¡± Gadiel muttered to himself with a smile. She was such a remarkable woman. Even with their struggles, Gadiel could not be more blessed.

    But now wasn¡¯t the time for flattery. It was time for work. If the Aletheian girl survived getting impaled through the head, than maybe, just maybe, she could survive Yidril too.

    Despite himself, Gadiel hoped she would.

 It Didnt Work

    A small town sat softly in the distance, nestled between a few shallow hills. It was one of the few towns in the northern plains large enough to trade in coin; scarcity and danger of travel in the area had prevented money from being reliably valuable throughout this part of the continent, but every so once in awhile a settlement like this grew large enough to develop an internal currency. This also meant it was one of the few places large enough to have food and water to spare, for the right price.

    Hanno was a Watcher, a horseback-mounted rider that patrolled the perimeter of this one-in-a-thousand settlement from utop the hills that surrounded it. The sun would soon set, so his shift had begun. Hanno was a thiro, a species humans arrogantly referred to as ¡°like a people-animal mix,¡± but he had to admit he saw where the comparison had merit. He had many cat-like features, and if you took away his fur, his claws, his ears and his eyes, Hanno would probably look very much like a human man.

    Those eyes were why he was out here tonight, for like a cat he saw excellently in the darkness. Out in the northern plains, he was both predator and prey, so his eyes were trained to spot and study any movement they picked up on, no matter how small. Powerful beasts roamed the night, and should one get too close to the city Hanno would need to alert the militia and ride out to intercept it.

    It took little time for Hanno to spot his first movement of the evening, but to his relief it seemed to be no monster. Something far more unusual had entered his field of view: a desperate, hungry young woman, trudging slowly towards the city. Hanno took out his lanturn, and communicated with the Watchers in the city about an incoming survivor. The information was relayed around to the other Watchers on the perimeter, and Hanno was ordered to escort her into the city, to his relief. After all, the girl looked like she wouldn¡¯t be able to make the trip on her own. As he rode in, his eyes quickly got a better view on her form.

    Her skin was ghostly pale, pristine and unmarred despite the filthy rags that she wore as an excuse for a cloak. It cast an otherworldly figure, pale face marred only by the deep, dark bags that hung under her eyes. Dark hair also did its best to hide that face from view, though seemingly out of a lack of care than any likely effort on the girl¡¯s part. She appeared fifteen, maybe sixteen years old at most, and trudged forward with a tired, almost regretful walk.

    The girl didn¡¯t notice Hanno was galloping towards her until he called out, which startled her enough to make her nearly fall over. Thankfully, she managed to remain standing; Hanno would never forgive himself if he¡¯d made a first impression like that.

    ¡°Hoy, there! Miss, are you alright?¡± he asked. The straggling, half-delirious girl gave him a hurried nod as he pulled up alongside her.

    ¡°Titans, you poor thing,¡± Hanno continued. ¡°You look terrible. How did you make it here? Are there any other survivors? Please, let me help you into town¡­¡±

    He extended a hand to assist the girl in climbing onto his horse, but she recoiled back from it.

    ¡°I-I¡¯m fine,¡± she stammered out, quiet voice rough from her parched throat. ¡°I¡¯ll walk.¡±

    ¡°Please, I insist,¡± the Hanno said, dismounting his steed, ¡°You¡¯re in awful shape. We should get you back¨C¡±

    ¡°I said I¡¯m fine!¡± the girl insisted, taking a few steps back. It looked as though she was screaming, but the volume was barely a normal speaking tone. ¡°Stay away! Don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t touch me!¡±

    Hanno stopped as instructed, staring with worry at the young woman. Her terrified eyes stared back, though he had no inkling what they were terrified of. It looked as though she had gone for so long without sleep, her eyes could be seeing him as some fever-dream monster. He could not leave her, of course. It was his duty to see people in and out of the town safely, and even within the perimeter of the Watchers it was always possible a small beast or two had slipped by.

    ¡°Alright,¡± he conceded diplomatically, ¡°you can walk. I won¡¯t touch you. Is it okay if I walk beside you?¡±

    The girl swallowed dry, and nodded. Then, she returned her wobbly march back to town, glancing over her shoulder to ensure the man and his horse never got too close.

    Goodness, she was in terrible shape. Hanno didn¡¯t know a whole lot about human medicine but he was pretty sure it was bad if their skin got that white. That meant they were sick, right? Or frightened? Or wait, wasn¡¯t it red skin that was bad? Something was bad, anyway, and it had to do with skin color. The fact that she seemed barely capable of standing up was also pretty bad. He decided to strike up a conversation, and hopefully determine how sane the girl currently was.

    ¡°My name is Hanno,¡± he said awkwardly. ¡°What¡¯s yours?¡±

    She turned to look at him, staring him up and down with mild confusion.

    ¡°Do¡­ you have any water?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Oh!¡± Hanno said with surprise. How stupid of him, why didn¡¯t he offer that first? He reached for his canteen. ¡°Of course I do! Here, here. My apologies¡­¡±

    He held out the canteen to her. She reached for it slowly, with the utmost care, as if it would fall apart to a wayward wind. Making sure not to touch Hanno, she took the canteen and carefully lifted it to her lips, where she proceeded to daintily sip the contents a few times until those dainty sips became greedy chugs, and the water was gone.

    The girl shuddered, as if she had been freezing but stepped into a warm bath. Then, she stared at the canteen, embarrassed.

    ¡°...Sorry,¡± she said quietly. Hanno smiled.

    ¡°It¡¯s quite alright!¡± he insisted. ¡°Please, keep the canteen. I can get another. I¡¯m just embarrassed I don¡¯t have any snacks on me; we¡¯ll have to go back to town for some real food.¡±

    She nodded, and the two of them continued onward.

    Alright, good. That was good. The girl seemed less panicked now, at least, but any actual health problems she was suffering were unlikely to be cured by chugging some water. Actually, was it a bad idea for a dehydrated person to drink an entire canteen of water in one go? Hanno didn¡¯t know. He just looked for and fought monsters. He hoped he wasn¡¯t screwing this up.

    The girl seemed disinclined to further conversation, so they walked back to the city in silence. She was hugging herself tightly as she staggered forward, appearing more and more worried as they got closer to the city. Hanno didn¡¯t really know a tactful way to ask about that, though, so he just stayed quiet and walked beside her, outside of arm¡¯s reach so she didn¡¯t get nervous.

    Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the city gates. The ¡°gates¡± were not particularly impressive, with the walls of the city being barely six feet high, but the defenses were solid stone and had plenty of holes for crossbowmen to shoot through or bowmen to look through as they aimed arcing shots down on beasts foolish enough to approach. Barry, another Watcher, was manning the gatehouse just inside the wall. Barry was a large, arrogant human that for some reason thought being fat was the same thing as being muscular. Sweat stained through his thick leather armor, greatly offending Hanno¡¯s delicate nose. Although he wasn¡¯t completely incompetent, Barry did not properly respect what it meant to be a protector of a city. He was just here to be paid. Hanno couldn¡¯t blame him for that, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to like the man either.

    ¡°Oi, fuzzface!¡± Barry called as they approached. ¡°You find a straggler? Damn, she don¡¯t look so good.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I suspect she is starving,¡± Hanno responded. ¡°Would you open the gate?¡±

    Barry frowned.

    ¡°We¡¯re guardsmen, Hanno, not charity workers,¡± Barry responded with a sneer. ¡°She got any money? Trade goods? She sure don¡¯t look well enough to work for pay.¡±

    ¡°She has money,¡± Hanno lied, ¡°at least enough for a meal and a night¡¯s stay.¡±

    Barry shrugged and grunted, moving to open the gate doors. As they passed through, Hanno quickly separated from the girl and moved into the gatehouse.

    ¡°I also suspect she might be delirious,¡± Hanno whispered. ¡°I should escort her through town, lest she cause a ruckus. Would you send out a replacement for me? I¡¯ll be back within the hour.¡±

    Barry¡¯s eyes widened and a filthy grin spread across his face.

    ¡°Hanno, you sly dog,¡± he said, ¡°I never thought you¡¯d have it in ya. Sure, sure, I gotcha covered.¡±

    Hanno thanked his co-worker and hurried to catch up with the strange girl after hitching his horse. He didn¡¯t know what Barry had been on about, but since it was Barry he suspected he didn¡¯t want to know. The girl hadn¡¯t made it far, thankfully. He found her looking frantically around the main street, clearly lost.

    ¡°We should probably get you some dinner,¡± Hanno said as he jogged up to her. ¡°How long have you gone without eating?¡±

    She turned to him slowly, dark-rimmed eyes blinking once.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she responded quietly. ¡°A very long time.¡±

    ¡°Well, then,¡± Hanno said with a smile, ¡°Let¡¯s make it a good one, shall we? I know just the place.¡±

    The girl wordlessly followed him to a nearby cafe. His personal favorite, in fact, although he had mainly chosen it because he knew it was close by and open this late in the evening. A clambering bustle of patrons filled the restaurant, which immediately put the strange girl on edge, but thankfully there was a corner of the room which remained mostly empty. Hanno sat down at the table, though the girl stopped hesitantly beside it.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any money,¡± she admitted.

    ¡°I figured,¡± Hanno said cheerfully. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I can tell you¡¯ve been through a lot, so tonight¡¯s on me.¡± This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    ¡°...I¡¯m sorry,¡± the girl whispered.

    ¡°None of that,¡± Hanno responded with a smile. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear it. Besides, I much prefer ¡®thank you.¡¯¡±

    The girl nodded and sat down at the opposite end of the table. A waitress came by shortly afterward. Her name was Claudia, Hanno knew, and she was a thiro like he was. Her features resembled a doe¡¯s rather than a cat¡¯s, however, with spotted fur, a soft body, and a tiny tail that didn¡¯t even peek out of her uniform. She smiled as she approached the table, although her eyes glared suspiciously at strange girl across from him.

    ¡°Hanno!¡± she cheerfully called to him, ¡°I thought you were working at this hour!¡±

    ¡°I am, can¡¯t you tell?¡± he responded with a laugh. ¡°Picked up a straggler wandering into town, poor thing¡¯s starved half to death. Any chance you could fix that for her?¡±

    Claudia visibly relaxed.

    ¡°Oh, of course! You poor thing, what can I get you?¡±

    ¡°Um,¡± the girl stammered, clearly intimidated by this basic social interaction, ¡°A-anything without meat is fine. Please.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, I like your taste,¡± Claudia responded. ¡°I¡¯ll get you my favorite. And rabbit stew with rye for Hanno.¡±

    ¡°Hey, I haven¡¯t ordered anything yet!¡± Hanno protested.

    ¡°You¡¯ve never ordered anything else and I doubt you were planning to start today. I¡¯ll be right back, dears!¡±

    A nearby human, clearly drunk off his gourd, chuckled as she walked away.

    ¡°I get it,¡± he drawled. ¡°It¡¯s funny because she is a deer.¡±

    Hanno let that slide and turned his attention back to his traveling companion. The drunkard was very much a Barry sort of person.

    ¡°So, as much as I would like to see you in good health, I¡¯m not buying you food completely out of the kindness of my heart,¡± he admitted. ¡°You look like you been through some rough times, and I doubt you survived a journey through the plains by yourself. If I were to guess, I¡¯d say you were part of a trade caravan? If so, I¡¯m sorry, but I need to know about the kind of monsters that attacked your group. Anything you could tell me will help us prepare, should they come this way. I know it¡¯s hard for you, but¨C¡±

    ¡°No,¡± the girl interrupted softly.

    ¡°Pardon? I understand if you need some time, but¨C¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t part of a trade caravan. I travel alone.¡±

    The thin, pale girl stared at him, blinking slowly. She was uncomfortable being here. She looked so out of place, so frightened, so weak. And she looked tired, oh so tired. Yet Hanno had lived a long life on the northern plains, fighting and hunting for food and survival. Though he used his bow for both, there was a big difference between fighting and hunting: in one, you were the predator. In the other, you were the prey. You wouldn¡¯t live long in the northern plains unless you how to tell which was which, in the blink of an eye.

    Some part of Hanno knew. Here, with this frail, tiny girl, he was not the predator. No one was, and no one would be. But he ignored that part of himself. This was a girl in need, not a beast. Besides, she had just ordered a salad, for titan¡¯s sake.

    ¡°I see,¡± Hanno said. ¡°So you weren''t attacked? That¡¯s a relief.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really get attacked,¡± the girl confirmed, voice barely a whisper.

    Hanno nodded, pretending to understand. Monsters were pretty indiscriminate, but he supposed avoiding them on a journey across the plains wasn¡¯t completely impossible. Perhaps she was a mage? Casters could do all sorts of tricky things.

    ¡°That sounds very useful,¡± Hanno commented. ¡°How do you accomplish that? Do you use magic?¡±

    The girl was quiet for a while.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she eventually admitted. ¡°Probably. I¡¯m... I¡¯m not doing it on purpose.¡±

    Hanno nodded.

    ¡°So, it¡¯s natural magic! That¡¯s always a treat. Plenty of people have strange powers like that, it¡¯s nothing to be ashamed of. You could make impressive business as a trader if you can safely cross the plains that way.¡±

    The girl looked away, guiltily dropping her gaze. Hanno had no time to wonder what he¡¯d said wrong before Claudia returned, carrying an impressively-sized salad and a steaming hot bowl of stew.

    ¡°Here you are, dear, one plainswrought salad!¡± she said, handing down the massive bowl. ¡°Aaaand one rabbit stew for¨C Eep!¡±

    Claudia yelped in surprise as the drunk man reached over and took a firm squeeze of her bum, causing her to drop the piping-hot stew straight towards the baggy-eyed girl. Hanno¡¯s senses kicked into overdrive as he jumped forward, reaching across the table in an effort to catch or knock the bowl away before its burning contents spilled all over the girl. He wasn¡¯t quite as fast as gravity, though, and was forced to watch in horror as the bowl tipped in midair and deposited his dinner directly on top of the unfortunate young woman and her salad.

    In an instant, it was over. With a wet splat and a clatter, the bowl of stew was strewn across the table, covering nearly the entire half of the booth the girl sat at. Immediately, Hanno looked for something to clean her up with; she was covered in burning liquid, more than enough to turn that pale body of hers a bright red (which was definitely bad for humans, Hanno was sure now). But the girl¡­ didn¡¯t move. She¡¯d flinched a bit when the bowl had come careening towards her, but now she was perfectly still. She hadn¡¯t cried out in pain, and she wasn¡¯t cleaning herself off. Hanno looked carefully at her, and saw¡­ she wasn¡¯t covered in stew. Her cloak had wayward bits of soft meats and veggies strewn about, but her face, her hands, her skin was all perfectly dry.

    No¡­ that couldn¡¯t be right. Hanno had seen the bowl tip right towards her face. She should have gotten completely soaked. In fact, he was surprised the bowl hadn¡¯t hit her in the head. It looked like it was going to, but for some reason it kept going and landed in her¡­ lap. As Claudia slapped the drunk man upside the face and ran off to grab towels and cold water, Hanno stood up and walked slowly around the table.

    The bowl wasn¡¯t on her lap. It wasn¡¯t anywhere at all.

    ¡°Are¡­ you alright?¡± Hanno asked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± the girl said. ¡°Sorry.¡±

    Hanno knew, sometimes, he could be pretty dense. But he wasn¡¯t completely stupid. As tempting as it would be to write this situation off as a wacky, fortunate coincidence, Hanno¡¯s mind was finally starting to put the pieces together, here. The girl travels alone, starving and apparently unable to take care of herself, yet isn¡¯t devoured by monsters. She refuses to be touched, and she doesn¡¯t actually get touched by things Hanno expected would hurt her. Plus, he kept getting this strange feeling that she was extremely dangerous.

    Maybe she was extremely dangerous.

    ¡°Neoma,¡± the drunk man whispered in horror, apparently too startled to notice the pain of Claudia¡¯s retaliatory assault.

    Though Hanno would normally be content to ignore the man¡¯s drunken ramblings¨C or more likely just toss him into the street for his disgusting behavior towards Claudia¨C the girl immediately reacted to the name, worry deepening on her face.

    ¡°You¡¯re Neoma,¡± the drunk man repeated, shakily lifting himself to his feet. ¡°You¡¯re really her.¡±

    Staring back at him, the girl slowly reached her hand forward, grabbed a fistful of salad, and shoved it into her mouth. She looked like she wanted to run, but apparently her stomach had vetoed that decision.

    ¡°You killed them,¡± the drunk man stammered. ¡°The whole village, gone. Just a crater left.¡±

    The whole cafe had more or less noticed the commotion, at this point. Eyes and ears were on their table, and Hanno didn¡¯t know what to do about it. The girl had stopped chewing.

    ¡°It¡¯s a lake now!¡± the drunk man roared, approaching the table. Hanno stepped between the two of them, holding the swaying man back. ¡°Rain filled it and now people draw water from my baby¡¯s grave! You monster! I¡­ I¡¯ll¡­!¡±

    He was sobbing and crying incoherently at this point, snot and tears dripping down onto Hanno¡¯s shoulder. That was Hanno¡¯s chance to start escorting him out of the restaurant, and he gladly took it. Letting the man lean into him, Hanno coaxed the delirious drunk out into the street. There was definitely something going on here, but whatever it was wouldn¡¯t be solved by a drunken rampage.

    ¡°Hanno, buddy, you gotta listen to me,¡± the drunk man said. Hanno didn¡¯t have any idea who this man was and they certainly weren¡¯t buddies, but he opted to listen anyway. ¡°Thas Neoma in there. Moon¡¯s Tear Neoma. She¡­ she killed¡­ we¡¯re all in danger! You gotta get her outta here!¡±

    ¡°I will,¡± Hanno agreed placatingly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll get her somewhere safe. You just get on home, okay?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± the girl whispered from behind him. ¡°I was just leaving.¡±

    Hanno turned. He hadn¡¯t noticed her follow at all. How could he have not heard her? Smelled her, even? Then it hit him. The weird vibe of danger he felt from her: from the moment he saw her, her footsteps hadn¡¯t been making noise. And her smell? She didn¡¯t smell like anything.

    No, that wasn¡¯t quite right. She smelled like nothing. A profound absence, a lack of what should be. Smells and sounds that came from her direction were lessened, as if the parts that got too close to her would cease to exist.

    She hadn¡¯t been speaking quietly. Most of her voice simply failed to escape oblivion.

    ¡°Thanks for the meal,¡± the Titan of Annihilation told him. ¡°I really needed it. I tried to starve myself to death, and¡­ it didn¡¯t work.¡±

    Looking at her, she was still a frightened little girl. Pale, sickly face, exhausted, baggy eyes, disheveled, dirty hair¡­ she looked so vulnerable, so broken. She was sad, lonely, and weak, yet every part of her ached with an unrelenting power. She was an unstoppable force, loose in a universe with no immovable object to check her.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she told the drunken man. ¡°I never wanted to hurt anyone.¡±

    Hanno had chastised her earlier about saying sorry, and it was apparently not what the drunken man had wanted to hear either. Pushing past Hanno in a sudden fury, he curled his fat fingers into a fist and swung a haymaker directly at Neoma¡¯s face, screaming with rage. Despite Neoma¡¯s surprised attempt at evading the blow, his fist struck true. Superficially, at least.

    As his knuckles touched her terrified head, they didn¡¯t impart any force from the blow. His arm kept moving forward from the momentum of the punch as if he had swung through thin air, but the parts of him that would have hit her stopped being as they pushed onward. The swing completed, and a bloody stump of an arm was all the man had to show for it. Every inch of him that hadn¡¯t reached her still remained attached, but every part that had carried through was nothing less than erased. There was no fanfare, no flashy magical blast. Only a dull hum and a slight darkening around the contact area indicated Neoma was doing anything at all, and even she looked horrified at the result of it.

    ¡°Oh, t-titans, I¡­ Stop!¡± Neoma stammered, wide-eyed, as the drunk man tried to take another swing.

    Hanno grabbed the man and knocked him over, sending him sprawling to the side. Globules of blood spattered against Neoma¡¯s cloak or annihilated themselves on her skin as the drunkard incoherently screamed, in rage and sadness far more than pain. Hanno tackled him and pinned him to the dirt; the idiot would just end up killing himself if Hanno let him up.

    ¡°Oh titans, oh titans¡­¡± Neoma whispered to herself, covering her mouth in shock. ¡°I¡­ I need to go. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m so sorry¡­¡±

    ¡°Nobody wants to hear you say sorry,¡± Hanno told her. ¡°Not your friends, and certainly not your enemies.¡±

    Neoma turned and ran, sprinting down the main road as fast as her frail little legs would carry her.

    ¡°There¡¯s a well on the way out of town!¡± Hanno called out to her. ¡°You¡¯d damn well better fill up my canteen before you go, girl! I liked that thing!¡±

    She disappeared down the street. Hanno yelled loud enough to get the attention of someone that knew anything about keeping humans alive, and he had them patch up the idiotic drunkard¡¯s arm. A minute passed. Two minutes. Then, three. Finally, Hanno breathed a sigh of relief. The town hadn¡¯t been turned into an empty crater. Mission accomplished, he guessed.

    The Titan of Annihilation. Nature¡¯s final ultimatum. By her will, that which was would not be. There was only one exception, one being that refused against all efforts to succumb to Neoma¡¯s superlative oblivion.

    Herself.

 Permanent Subjugation

    Arina walked beside her new master, paying careful attention to her surroundings.  She had been outside Oinos Springs before, but never this far. The city had always been vibrant, a complex maze of surfaces and sounds that she knew every corner and cranny of.  Out here, she felt¡­ exposed. As the wind rustled through the tall, inedible grasses and rolled over the shallow hills, it muffled Arina¡¯s sense of being. There was a vastness to this place, a vastness Arina could not comprehend.   Her world grew fuzzy as the further it was away from her, and halted inexorably at the edge of her hearing. Out here, Arina was shrunken. A prey, constantly on the lookout for danger. It was shameful.

    Still, her master had cautioned her to be careful here.  She got very few orders from her master, so she would place extra focus on each one.  The only other new order she had was to never touch the sometimes-man. The sometimes-man was a confounding beast beyond her comprehension, a presence that mocked Arina¡¯s reliance on form, weight, and memory.  Whenever the sometimes-man left, any unknown being that returned thereafter could be the sometimes-man. The others could always see who was and was not the sometimes-man, but Arina could not.

    Arina did not want to touch the sometimes-man, so she walked at a pace that put her master between them.  The sometimes-man had noticed this and changed his stride, presumably to mock her. Arina always matched it, equal and opposite, in perfect orbit around her master.  It was satisfying. The sometimes-man never got too close to her master, which proved the creature was at least wise.

    Master¡¯s kin, the soft boy, did not have such restrictions.  He and the master were of family, similar to her former master and his little-girl-grown-large, Isabella.  The soft boy spoke most quietly, and least often, which Arina liked. Yet when he spoke it was usually questions, which Arina did not like.  Her master refused to give indication on what the answers to the soft boy¡¯s questions were supposed to be. It made giving the answers difficult even when she knew them, and she usually did not.  Tests, constant tests.

    He¡¯d asked if she had hatched from an egg, which she had.  He¡¯d asked if she remembered hatching, which she did. He reacted as if that was strange, or possibly impressive.  Arina didn¡¯t know if it was strange or impressive, it was only true.

    ¡°What was that like?¡± the soft boy had asked.  ¡°How did it feel?¡±

    These were always the hardest questions.  Arina had to think a long time before answering them, but no one seemed to mind.  The soft boy was very patient.

    ¡°I was not me, at first,¡± Arina eventually answered. ¡°Then I was. I learned hunger, discomfort, restlessness.  It was uncomfortable. So I fought and I struggled until it broke. There was nothing else to do.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s incredible,¡± the soft boy commented. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of a sapient species that could remember their first moments like that.  Do you have a particularly good memory?¡±

    Arina thought about that a very long time.  She simply remembered important things, and forgot useless ones.  When she was hatching, she had nothing. Her head was empty. So all things were important, and she remembered all of them.  Now, she did not care about some things, so she forgot them. Was that good, or was that bad?

    ¡°My memory has never prevented me from completing an objective,¡± Arina eventually responded.

    The soft boy would then just nod to himself, retreating to silence to think of more questions.  Many hours of travel passed this way, interspersed with banter between the soft boy and the sometimes-man which Arina promptly forgot.  She only recalled the sometimes-man didn¡¯t seem to like the conversations. Arina liked that he did not like them. It made the sometimes-man feel less sometimes, and more man.  Arina could deal with man.

    ¡°Hey, hold up,¡± Arina¡¯s master quietly ordered, and everyone obeyed as they should.  ¡°We¡¯ve got monsters to the north-east. Five big ones.¡±

    Arina¡¯s master had been making these calls throughout the trip, leading the group away from confrontations.  It was embarrassing, to be protected by one¡¯s own master. No, not embarassing. Unacceptable.  Arina would need to improve, rapidly.

    ¡°Alright, west it is,¡± the sometimes-man acknowledged, and began to move.  Arina silently orbited her master to compensate.

    ¡°Well, actually... what if we didn¡¯t?¡± Arina¡¯s master posited.  ¡°Like, I¡¯m honestly kinda bored. Aren¡¯t you guys bored? Plus, it would help us save on rations.¡±

    The sometimes-man stopped, and paused for a beat.

    ¡°You want us to go fight a bunch of monsters¡­ because you¡¯re bored?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± the master confirmed.

    ¡°The monsters here are supposed to be really dangerous, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡±

    ¡°And you said these guys were really big?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh!¡±

    ¡°And you said there¡¯s five of them?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct!¡± the master cheerfully confirmed.

    ¡°Why?¡± the sometimes-man inquired, exasperated.  ¡°We could just walk away, but you want to risk your life fighting a bunch of huge monsters that outnumber us?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure it will be fine,¡± Arina chimed in coldly.  ¡°They will not outnumber us for very long.¡±

    Arina would be happy to take care of the monsters herself, for she was hungry and large monsters were comprised of much meat.  However, it would seem her master was a warrior, a creature of similar hunger, and Arina had a far more serious craving to see her master in action than she did for a mere meal.

    ¡°Alright, well that¡¯s two votes for monster slaying!¡± the master said cheerfully.

    ¡°What?  No way, tummy-rumble¡¯s vote doesn¡¯t count!¡± the sometimes-man insisted.  ¡°Brainwashing excludes you from the democratic process!¡±

    ¡°If only,¡± the soft boy muttered.

    ¡°Come on, Darron, back me up on this!  This is a crazy, terrible idea and you know it!¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± the soft boy agreed, ¡°but why are you so worked up about it?  I watched you jump into a volcano and it just made you stronger.  Sure, I could die, but I¡¯m pretty sure you literally can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s three votes for monster-slaying!¡± the master exclaimed.

    ¡°It absolutely was not,¡± the soft boy argued.

    ¡°Oh, well that¡¯s too bad, because they totally heard us arguing and they¡¯re already on the way here!¡±

    Sure enough, Arina felt the footsteps of five large, bipedal beasts rushing towards their current location.  Judging by their gait she presumed they were each around twenty feet tall. They leaned forward as they ran, indicating the presence of a counterbalancing tail of some sort.  Each stomp forward was precise, with an abnormally small impact area for their size and plenty of shock absorption; the creatures were digitigrade. Perhaps more dangerous than the big sounds of their stomping impacts and brute strength, however, were the little sounds¨C small drops of liquid flew from their mouths and hissed on impact with the grass, withering and warping the flow around them.  It was dangerous, whatever it was.

    ¡°Yes!  Finally!¡± Arina¡¯s master whooped in triumph, drawing her blade. ¡°Some honest-to-god acid breath!  Northern plains, it has been too long!¡±

    ¡°Shara, you suck,¡± the sometimes-man whined, settling into an amateurish combat stance.

    ¡°If you wanna sit this one out, you can,¡± Shara informed him, ¡°but we both know you could really use the practice!¡±

    The sometimes-man groaned but did not retreat.  The soft boy, meanwhile, ducked low to hide himself in the flowing grasses and retreated.  Arina was shocked. She had not expected the soft boy to be so cowardly! To her relief, he soon stopped creating distance, watching the battle from a respectable range, keeping the master between himself and his enemies. The soft boy must fight from a distance, is all. Once again, the master protected her followers, rather than the other way around.  It was confounding, and Arina would not put up with it if she had a choice.

    ¡°Requesting permission to engage,¡± Arina said.

    Her master chuckled.

    ¡°Granted.¡±

    The wind erupted.  By Arina¡¯s will, a swirling, screaming blade of wind manifested in each of her hands, immediately silenced.   Arina pulled the air apart around each one, leaving a layer of true nothingness through which sound could not pass.  A tumultuous whirlwind, cloaked in vacuum, would rip her enemies apart like a localized hurricane. Impatient for her meal, Arina charged forward to intercept.  This would be her chance to prove her skills to the master, and she could not disappoint.

    The air itself aiding her movement, Arina closed the distance to her enemies in less than a blink.  An enormous arm swiped down at her, fingers outstretched; she noted the beast¡¯s hand must thus be clawed.  The attack was far too slow, and Arina had already passed between its legs before the swing completed. A shallow cut erupted on each of the beast¡¯s ankles, but it was shallow.  Too shallow. The monster¡¯s body must be covered in tough hide, or possibly scales.

    While her first was still reeling, Arina moved to a new target.  The second beast spat at her, but she suddenly changed direction and attacked a third.  Leaping up, she flared more power into her blades and carved a gash up the monster¡¯s torso and arm, cut her other blade at its jugular, and sprung off its body back towards her first target before it understood enough of the situation to counterattack.

    ¡°I am obligated to ask,¡± Arina informed it mid-flight, ¡°do you wish for me not to kill you?  A failure to communicate an opinion on your mortality will render you a valid target for permanent subjugation.¡±

    The beast responded, but not with words.  It thrust its claws directly at Arina¡¯s midair approach, but a simple twist of the wind was enough to pass a hair¡¯s breadth beside the arm and carve it up for its troubles.  That was as good a failure to communicate as any, she supposed. Arina took a stab at where she expected the monster¡¯s eye to be, but her guess was wrong and she gouged out only more scales.  She swung a few more quick cuts at the beast¡¯s face before launching again, weaving towards a new foe.

    ¡°Yo, Arina!¡± her master called, finally catching up to the fight, ¡°have you fought a lot of monsters before?¡±  This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    ¡°Most of my experience has been fighting humans and other sapients,¡± Arina admitted dryly, ¡°but the adjustments seem simple enough.¡±

    ¡°Uh, less than you¡¯d think!¡± Shara called back, entering the fray with a cleaving strike that removed the fingers from her would-be attacker.  ¡°If you hit humans with attacks like yours, they¡¯d be bleeding out on the ground by now, but these guys regenerate! You¡¯re just pissing them off until you get a killing blow!¡±

    Regeneration would explain a lot.  Arina¡¯s first strike had been intended to knock the towering beast to the ground by cutting its tendons, but it had seemingly no effect.  Her strike against her next target would have opened two arteries and easily killed a human, but she¡¯d since heard no decisive crash that would signify a fallen foe.

    ¡°I understand,¡± Arina responded.

    Here she was, trying to show off to her master only to get chastised for her ignorance.  It was pathetic. Further failures were not an option. In order to get a killing blow, Arina would either need to lower her opponent¡¯s defenses enough to strike through their sturdy hide, or she would need to target a vulnerable spot like the eyes.  Both were options available to her, though they each carried risks.

    Letting one of her blades wink out of existence, Arina removed her mask.  This was her first option: consumption. A vrochth¨ªzo¡¯s bite devoured more than mere flesh, it devoured aura itself.  With each bite she would not only inflict physical damage, but weaken her target¡¯s barrier to further strikes, eventually allowing her to go deep enough to kill.  This was also an appealing option because it involved her eating.

    Her second option was to impale her targets through the eyes.  This would be an inherently easier and less time-consuming option, except for a simple problem: she did not know where the monster¡¯s eyes were.  She had covered the front of one beast¡¯s head with gashes and had not felt any soft flesh.  Perhaps it had reinforced eyelids, or perhaps its eyes were elsewhere on the head, or perhaps it had no eyes at all.  Arina had no way to know; she felt only the beast¡¯s shape, position, and movements, not any fine details. All of her knowledge on human anatomy was practiced and memorized, not something she could simply detect.

    Arina surged forward.  She would search for weak points one more time, then eat her foes alive should that fail.  A large part of her hoped it would, but she pushed it away. She was a professional, and would not succumb to such base desires.

    The sometimes-man had engaged the closest beast and was doing his best to avoid its swipes and the incoming acid blobs from its two supporters.  Arina scored a quick cut on his target to distract it and continued onward. Arina¡¯s master engaged two at once, dancing around them like a champion toying with children.  Her blade was brutally efficient, weaving between attacks from both sides and delivering a limb-shattering counter whenever the opportunity presented itself. Though her attacks were not killing their targets, the master didn¡¯t seem to mind in the slightest.

    What a horrifying, beautiful creature.  This was not a master she strove to keep safe and out of reach, but a master Arina strove to reach at all.  What backwards world was this, where the servant needed help from the one she was bound to serve?

    Arina launched herself into the sky with a powerful updraft and descended upon the monster assaulting her master¡¯s back.  She took another few guess-stabs at its face: nothing, nothing, and nothing. Time for plan B. Gripping her free hand on the monster¡¯s shoulder, she sunk her teeth greedily into the side of the beast¡¯s neck, pulled out a chunk of its flesh, and swallowed.  The monster¡¯s blood gushed everywhere, burning her face and dissolving her skin. It seared like fire as it went down her throat, but it mattered not. She was a vrochth¨ªzo, and her stomach would turn it all to dust. The indescribable joy of sustenance flashed through her in an instant, only pleasurable long enough to leave desire behind.  The extra weight of the flesh in her esophagus quickly vanished into nothing, the dying life within it consumed to heal wounds the acid had inflicted.

    Her body screamed for a second bite, but Arina leapt off the monster¡¯s body instead, avoiding a retaliatory swat that would have squashed her like a bug.  The second bite would come, and it would be easier than the first.

    ¡°Yo, Adgito!¡± her master called out, ¡°You doing okay?  You¡¯re looking a little, uh, lizard-womany!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine!¡± a female voice Arina didn¡¯t recognize responded.  ¡°No uncontrollable biological urges to eat everyone, just scales and bad breath!¡±

    Arina panicked.  Who was this woman?  Where did they come from?  Why was master talking to them?  They sounded like they were near the sometimes-man, were they helping him fight?  Arina¡¯s senses didn¡¯t detect him anymore. The sometimes-man was missing! Had he abandoned the fight?  How did he flee without Arina¡­ Oh.  The woman was the sometimes man.  He-or-she had changed so quickly Arina hadn¡¯t even noticed.  Arina calmed down a little, cursing her stupidity. When would she get used to that absurd creature?

    Suddenly, a glob of acid entered her perception range, the roar of battle and shock of the sometimes-man¡¯s foul trick having hidden its fuzzy, liquidy form until it got close.  Arina still weaved to dodge it, moving the wind to brush herself aside. Yet the monster she had gotten a taste for took advantage of her impromptu dodge, managing to catch her out of the air with an enormous, clawed hand.

    She bit down hard as it closed its fist around her, chewing off an acidic chunk of finger, but the monster seemed intent on returning the favor.  Caught and overpowered, Arina¡¯s limbs were locked in place with only her head peeking out, like the candy part of a lollipop no one was patient enough to try licking to the center of.  She frantically chewed another bite out of the monster¡¯s finger, but it nonetheless brought her inexorably closer to its own gaping jaws, saliva burning as it dripped down on her hair.

    Enraged at her incompetence, Arina prepared to summon the last of her inner power to blow the monster off its feet, hopefully dislodging herself from its grip in the process.  She¡¯d be weakened and unable to manipulate wind afterwards, but a quick meal would remedy that¡­ assuming it worked. If not, death awaited her. So be it.

    However, before she could put this plan into motion, a sudden spasm wracked the monster¡¯s arm.  With a wild flail, she was launched from its grip into the air. A most fortuitous and doubtfully coincidental occurrence.

    ¡°Arina, drop your barrier!¡± the soft boy suddenly called out from behind her.  It was quiet, as usual, but Arina had little trouble hearing quiet things.

    Arina quickly realized the soft boy was requesting that she remove her own natural defenses.  A ridiculous and foolhardy request, which Arina obeyed immediately. The soft boy was master-kin.

    At that moment, Arina felt two sharp, pinpoint pains right behind her temples.  It wasn¡¯t painful enough to be debilitating, but it was certainly annoying. Was this mockery, or incompetence?

    ¡°That¡¯s where their eyes are,¡± the soft boy informed her.  ¡°Well, relative to your skull. Go for at least a foot deep on the stab for a fatal blow.¡±

    Ah, so it was neither mockery nor incompetence.  It was victory.

    Arina nodded in acknowledgement and called her vacuum blades back to life.  Her opponent¡¯s weaknesses revealed, she returned to the fray with a vengeance, surgically de-braining any beast foolish enough to give her the chance.  When all five monsters lay defeated, three had been slain by Arina¡¯s hand, and two were downed by her master¡¯s.

    The master, not having access to Arina¡¯s mobility, was forced to reveal her enemy¡¯s weak points by literally cutting them down to size.  She stood triumphant over a crippled, limbless monster still twitching in the throes of death, a feast Arina interpreted as reward for her work and gladly partook in.

    The sometimes-man and the soft boy had slain no beasts, but Arina could not deny their impact on the battle.  While her master had faced off against two monsters and won, the sometimes-man had drawn the attention of three for the majority of the fight and come out seemingly unscathed.  The soft boy was no doubt the cause of her escape from the literal jaws of death, not to mention how he¡¯d noticed the intent behind Arina¡¯s failed attacks and corrected them.  She suspected he may have been assisting all fronts of the battlefield, in subtle ways that wouldn¡¯t draw attention to his defenseless form.

    Arina had killed many groups of coordinated people like this, but this was her first time being a part of one.  It was¡­ different. Everything was very different now.

    She would cope.  For now, she would enjoy her meal.  The monster roared and whimpered in agony as she chewed it to pieces, its regenerative abilities not fast enough to replenish lost limbs in time to save itself.  Acid splashed all over Arina¡¯s face, burning her eyes, but that was fine. She¡¯d never had much use for them anyway.

    ¡°Hey, uh, are you okay?¡± the sometimes-man-now-woman asked.  ¡°You look kinda... um, I mean, doesn¡¯t that hurt?¡±

    Arina declined to answer.  It was a satisfying meal, painful or otherwise, and she did not intend to interrupt it by prattling with an enigma.

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure she¡¯s fine,¡± her master responded for her.  ¡°How about you, Adgito? I know it¡¯s not exactly your idea of a good time, but that was a pretty good workout, right?  Plus, think of all the people those thingies won¡¯t kill now that we got ¡®em!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s great, Shara,¡± the sometimes-woman claimed, despite speaking as though it was not, in fact great.  ¡°As usual, everything worked out the way you wanted it to, all the results were beneficial for us, and we didn¡¯t get any say in the matter.  Victory for you.¡±

    Arina felt her master droop.

    ¡°Uh, sorry Adgito.  To be fair, it was mostly your loud complaints that alerted these lizard dudes to our location, though.  I¡¯m honestly not trying to force you into this stuff.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re pushy, you¡¯re used to getting your way, and when things crop up that help you with that you have no qualms about taking advantage of them.¡±

    The master sighed.

    ¡°I promise I¡¯m trying, here.  I¡¯m staying out of your head, I tried to stop and ask you guys about the fight before rushing into it, and I gave you a chance to back off before it started.  What else should I have done? I want to be your friend.¡±

    The two of them stared at each other in silence for a while, which was nice.  Arina¡¯s old master had never been this talkative, especially when she was trying to eat.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sorry too,¡± the sometimes-woman admitted.  ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have snapped like that. Besides, I got us into this mess when I kicked a dude in the face, so I¡¯m not really in a position to get mad about starting a fight, right?¡±

    ¡°Hey, yeah!¡± the master playfully responded, ¡°This is your fault, huh?  Can you imagine how many fewer armies could be following us right now, if not for that?¡±

    ¡°Probably one fewer,¡± the soft boy commented.

    ¡°One whole army fewer!¡± the master repeated.  ¡°That¡¯s a pretty significant quantity of army.  Like, sure, the number one doesn¡¯t sound really big, but golly I feel like it¡¯s still a pretty substantial army value.  Army¡­ allotment. Army quotient? It¡¯s a lot of army.¡±

    ¡°All right, all right, I get it!¡± the sometimes-woman laughed.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry for pissing off the army that was already planning to kill you long before I showed up.¡±

    ¡°Apology accepted!  Now, onto more important matters.  Darron, is this meat edible for us mere humans?¡±

    ¡°Not even a little bit,¡± the soft boy responded.  ¡°Even if we removed all the fluids and ate it as jerky, the compounds that comprise the acid would remain.  They are incredibly toxic.¡±

    ¡°How toxic we talking, here?¡± the master asked.

    ¡°I suspect you would die of dehydration from fluid loss via diarrhea,¡± he calmly informed her.

    ¡°So like, seven out of ten toxic?¡±

    ¡°Maybe eight.  The process would not require much time.¡±

    ¡°I take it all back,¡± the sometimes-woman lamented.  ¡°I want off this wild ride.¡±

    ¡°Well, you are probably immune in your current form,¡± the soft boy responded.  ¡°You appear to be forming the acid yourself. I would guess you could eat them without consequence.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna pass on that.  You and the brunch queen aren¡¯t exactly making it seem appetizing.  Did anyone ever teach her how to use a fork?¡±

    Struggling vainly against Arina¡¯s teeth, the final monster breathed its last.  Arina stood up, wiping the remaining blood off her face. It hissed where it hit the ground.

    ¡°When my previous master brought me to formal dinners, I would stand beside him instead of partaking in the meals,¡± Arina informed him.  ¡°So no, it is not a skill that ever needed to be part of my repertoire.¡±

    ¡°Hold still,¡± the soft boy commanded her, and she did.  His weak hands caressed her face, pouring magic into the damaged tissue.  Though each bite had healed her somewhat, she had come into contact with a lot of acid.

    ¡°Your barrier is down,¡± the soft boy commented.  ¡°...Was it down for the entire fight?¡±

    ¡°I have been suppressing it, as instructed,¡± Arina informed him.  Did he forget?

    ¡°Oh,¡± the soft boy said. ¡°I just meant to put it down temporarily, so I could cast that spell on you.  I¡¯m sorry. I should have been more specific.¡±

    Eventually, he finished his repair work, alleviating the pain and making Arina¡¯s body feel normal again.  Apparently, she¡¯d also gotten a few lower ribs cracked from when the monster had crushed her in its hand, but Arina hadn¡¯t really noticed.

    A little while later, Arina¡¯s master cleared her throat.

    ¡°Um, you can stop suppressing your barrier now,¡± she said.

    That was good, it had been annoying.  Arina let her body¡¯s natural protection resume its function, like letting out a held breath.  With luck, they would come across more of those monsters in the future. They were delicious, and now that she knew their weak point they would be simple to dispatch.  Plus, the more she ate, the less painful the acid had felt.

    Perhaps there was some merit to avoiding the consumption of people after all.

 Dead Parents Card

    A few hours and a few more monster fights later, Shara, Darron, Adgito, and Arina finally decided to make camp.  The hills were shallower and the ground was flatter the further they got from the Oinos Mountains, but they settled in a low point to help keep the fire a bit less visible from a distance.  The four of them sat around the campfire, Darron and Shara munching on cooked monster parts from one of the more edible encounters they faced, whereas Adgito made due with reheated trail rations.  They tasted terrible, but she doubted monster meat was going to be all that much better. Besides, she sort of was monster meat.

    Adgito still had the lizard-like form she¡¯d shifted into during their first encounter of the day.  Dull, greyish-green scales covered her body and blended in with the prominent grasses of the northern plains.  Adgito had thankfully possessed the foresight to remove the gloves and shoes Shara had bought her in Oinos Springs before the fight, preventing them from being destroyed when her limbs suddenly sprouted large, deadly claws.  Her legs in particular had performed a major shift into that double-kneed thing Darron had called ¡°digitigrade.¡± Adgito insisted on still walking the way she always did, however, resulting in what looked like comically large feet.  Her pants had not been as lucky as her shoes. They immediately snapped when Adgito grew a thick, powerful tail out from the base of her spine, an awkward, unwieldy addition which Adgito looked forward to being rid of. Fortunately, Darron had managed to mend the outfit back together, complete with a new hole for the bonus limb.

    Most frustrating was the fact that whatever lizard monster bit Adgito had apparently been female, and thus granted Agito her usual set of female traits.  Though this form had no hair, long, flowing frills cascaded down from Adgito¡¯s head to much the same effect. She was also equipped with the same well-endowed chest her base female form possessed, albeit a bit more scaley.  The lizard monster that triggered the change, however, possessed neither frills nor breasts, so the entire arrangement struck Adgito as profoundly unfair.

    The day was also marred a bit by Arina.  Golly, was she a creepy lady. Small animals would just be randomly launched out of the grass when she was around, and quickly end up in her gullet.  One time she caught a two-foot long snake by the face, and in a quick snap she knocked it out, tilted her head back, and just dropped it whole down her throat.  The whole thing took barely a few seconds, after which Arina was instantly back to business as usual as if an entire live reptile didn¡¯t just fall cleanly down her esophagus.  Adgito was halfway convinced she¡¯d imagined the whole thing.

    Adgito could forgive her for constantly eating weird stuff, of course.  She understood that better than anyone. It was Arina¡¯s personality, or what passed for a personality, that really wigged Adgito out.  Arina hardly ever spoke unless spoken to, and when she did it was usually to recommend murdering something. Her voice was a constant dull monotone, never looking towards the person she was speaking to.  Overall, it gave her conversations an eerie blankness which felt like you were being processed as a soulless noise to be placated rather than a conversation partner. Intellectually, Adgito understood she probably wasn¡¯t looking his way because she was blind, but boy howdy did she not act blind.  If anything, she had better senses than the rest of them, barring Shara¡¯s long-range brain detector.

    Also, she apparently didn¡¯t sleep.  Like, ever. That was going to be a fun thought when Adgito tried to do so herself.  The sun was setting as the four of them ate a late dinner, and the night would quickly fall into darkness.  Thankfully, the smell of cooked meat didn¡¯t seem to be attracting any interruptions yet, so the party could munch in relative silence.

    ¡°Okay, you¡¯re not gonna like me for this,¡± Shara suddenly said between bites, ¡°but I gotta ask.  What if¡­ we actually do go to Yidril?¡±

    Adgito stopped eating, and Darron raised an eyebrow with a worried look.

    ¡°What?¡± Adgito asked.  ¡°Why would you want to do that?  Aren¡¯t we trying to get to Hyrdonia as soon as possible?  And isn¡¯t whats-her-name sending the army that way?¡±

    ¡°I know, I get that,¡± Shara said, ¡°but even taking a stop at Yidril, we should be able to make it to Hydronia early at this pace.¡±

    Best the group could tell from their maps, the Hydronia border was almost straight north from the current position, and their ultimate goal of Grantidal City was northeast of that.  Yidril, on the other hand, was northwest, closer to Karasuthra Forest than Hydronia. It wasn¡¯t completely off the beaten path, but it would certainly lose them about a week of travel time.

    ¡°This is about your family,¡± Darron said.  It wasn¡¯t a question.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Shara answered anyway.  ¡°Marisol said a lot of stuff to rile me up, and it¡¯s clear she at least thinks there was more going on than what I know about.  It¡¯s eating me up. I don¡¯t know if she wants me to go to Yidril, or if she really doesn¡¯t want me to go to Yidril, but either way that makes me want to check it out.¡±

    ¡°This is definitely a trap,¡± Adgito pointed out.  ¡°She¡¯s going to shove the army right up our butts.¡±

    Shara shook her head.

    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about it.  We can outpace an army even if they catch up with us, and if it¡¯s a race we win when we reach the border.  Stomping through the plains is one thing, but they can¡¯t march an army into a nation of that size.¡±

    ¡°Does ¡®it¡¯s not that bad¡¯ really count as a compelling reason to walk into an obvious trap?¡±  Adgito countered.

    ¡°No, of course not!¡±  Shara said, looking frustrated.  ¡°Look, I¡¯m sorry. I get¡­ that this is a selfish request.  None of you are invested or interested in this. But Eplis killed my family.  I want to know why.¡±

    No one said anything, for a while, instead letting the crackling of the fire do all the talking.

    ¡°I¡¯m invested and interested in this,¡± Darron eventually said.  ¡°If they¡¯re your family, they¡¯re my family too.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve never even met them,¡± Shara protested with a grateful smile.

    ¡°I don¡¯t see how that¡¯s relevant,¡± Darron responded simply.

    Adgito sighed.  She was already outvoted, then, since Arina would just agree with whatever Shara said.  Besides, how do you argue with the dead parents card? Sure, you couldn¡¯t pull it on everything, but when somebody tells you this could be their chance to solve the mystery of their parents¡¯ murder you don¡¯t just look them in the eyes and say ¡°nah.¡±

    ¡°How about we go to Nuxvar first?¡±  Adgito suggested. ¡°If there¡¯s somewhere to find clues about the Nuxvar massacre, it¡¯s probably Nuxvar, right?  Isn¡¯t it closer to here anyway?¡±

    Shara¡¯s face completely lit up with that bright, goofy smile of hers.  Adgito had to admit, Shara could be pretty cute when she wasn¡¯t chopping monster limbs like a berserk lumberjack.

    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s a great idea!¡± she agreed.  ¡°Actually, um, I¡¯m pretty sure Aletheia is nearby too.  The town, I mean. It¡¯s probably in ruins, but¡­ is it okay if we stop by there, as well?  I never got to, um, pay my respects.¡±

    Her smile went down to half mast, hopefully apprehensive about adding another unnecessary delay to the journey.  Adgito wondered how much of that was an act. Could she seriously expect this group to say no to a request like that?

    ¡°Alright, fine,¡± Adgito confirmed.  ¡°But I call dibs on the next life-changing pit stop.  If Darron gets to rescue Princess Hangry and Shara gets to unravel a government conspiracy, I get to like¡­ I dunno.  Collect the seven rings of power and become immortal, or something.¡±

    ¡°I think you are immortal,¡± Darron said.

    ¡°Wait, really?¡± Adgito asked. ¡°Well, whatever.  I¡¯m not locking myself into ring collecting, here.  It¡¯s just an example. I¡¯m reserving future side quest rights.  ...So, do you really think I¡¯m immortal?¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°I watched you get bitten in half,¡± Darron pointed out.  ¡°You walked it off.¡±

    ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t know if that whole situation counts as ¡®walking it off,¡¯¡± Adgito grimaced.

    ¡°Yeah Darron, she didn¡¯t have any legs at the time!¡± Shara joked.

    ¡°Not what I meant,¡± Adgito said.

    ¡°The point is, you didn¡¯t die.¡±  Darron clarified.  ¡°Even after taking a mortal injury, your body can completely reconstitute itself seemingly from nothing.  You can even transfer between an organic and inorganic body in seconds. Because of that restructuring, I suspect you won¡¯t grow old either.¡±

    ¡°Wait, seriously?¡±  Adgito asked. ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the right question,¡± Darron responded.  ¡°The question is, why would you?  The negative effects of age come from the body wearing itself down, running out of telomeres, and generally breaking apart from repeated stress.  Yet you form a completely new body whenever you shift. Why would your abilities age it past the prime of your life? You wouldn¡¯t have the information needed to make an aged body, even if you wanted to.  The aura doesn¡¯t degrade like the body does.¡±

    Adgito sat in stunned silence for a while.  While she had put herself into countless deadly situations and come out physically unscathed, she had always assumed that eventually the ravages of time would claim her like any other.  The idea that she might have eternity ahead of her¡­ well, it was incomprehensible. If that was true, what would she do with all that time? What should she do now?

    Actually, there was also the other side of the coin to consider: what if Darron was wrong?  What if Adgito was on borrowed time like everyone else, and eventually whatever reserve of power that kept her shifting would one day dry up into nothing?  These were serious considerations, and Adgito had never really, genuinely sat down and thought about them before. How did she want to live her life?

    Adgito had no clue what the answer to that question was, but she did have some idea of ways she didn¡¯t want to live.  It had been a pretty traumatic couple of days for her, what with the getting bit in half, and the going insane, and the finding out her friend had secretly been a mind reader, and the murdering a bunch of children in a fire.  Adgito had a lot of very solid reasons to be mopey, grumpy and depressed.

    But honestly?  Having a lot of good reasons to be depressed is a terrible reason to be depressed.  It was high time for Adgito to stop ruining her own life with an endless cycle of self-pity.  If she looked for reasons to feel terrible, she¡¯d find them, but if she looked for reasons to enjoy herself she¡¯d probably find those too.  She had friends now (well, at least one friend, her slave, and her brother) and she was on an adventure together with them. If she wanted to continue that adventure¨C and despite everything, she did¨C she needed to dig herself out of this rut and start having some honest fun.  Shara was right. Adgito needed to toughen up and come out of her shell. Which were similar and not contradictory things, for whatever reason.

    It was by this train of logic that Adgito, despite her best judgement, opted to start a conversation with Arina.

    ¡°So, uh, Dark and Dangerous¡­ how you liking the trip so far?¡±

    No reply came.  Arina stared blankly towards the fire, shadows flickering off her inky black face.  Initially, she had put her mask back on after the fight with the lizard monsters, but Darron had asked her to keep it off.  She sat completely motionless, except for the occasional swish of her tail.

    Shara cleared her throat.

    ¡°Um, Arina, Adgito was talking to you.¡± she politely nudged.

    Befuddlement flashed briefly over Arina¡¯s face.

    ¡°Oh,¡± she acknowledged. ¡°I am¡­ the Dark and Dangerous, then?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Adgito grinned.  Arina pondered this.

    ¡°It is good that the sometimes-man knows its place,¡± she simply said.

    Well that was unnecessarily harsh.  Adgito understood that sometimes people were going to be confused about whether she was a ¡°him¡± or a ¡°her,¡± but calling her an ¡°it¡± was just being rude on purpose.  Maybe it was time for a change in tactics.

    ¡°Uh¡­ well, I gotta say, Darron had the right idea about keeping your mask off.  You¡¯ve actually got a very pretty face, you know. Um, as long as you don¡¯t open your mouth too wide, I guess, because then you immediately turn into a horrifying nightmare made flesh.  But it sounds like you¡¯re into that? How come you normally keep the mask on?¡±

    Arina was silent for a long time, like she usually was after being asked a question.  Adgito was going to assume she was thinking about it, though, since Shara wasn¡¯t stepping in.

    ¡°Which do you fear more, sometimes-man?¡± Arina eventually asked back.  ¡°A monster, or that which might be a monster?  If you see a monster, you will know to fight or flee.  If you see a mystery, you do not know, so you must flee.  Fear is my defense.  Doubt is my shield. The people my old master ruled could have fought and killed a vrochth¨ªzo, but no one wished to fight the mask.¡±

    ¡°So basically, you¡¯re saying you were worried that without the mask, random people would try to beat you up for being a monster?¡± Adgito clarified.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Arina confirmed.

    ¡°But weren¡¯t you getting beat up when we first saw you, with the mask on?¡±

    ¡°...Yes,¡± Arina confirmed again.  ¡°That was different. I was bound.¡±

    ¡°If you say so,¡± Adgito said with a shrug.

    ¡°I do not like you, sometimes-man,¡± Arina declared.

    ¡°Eh, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll grow on you.¡±

    ¡°Like a tumor,¡± Darron chimed in.  ¡°Or a fungus.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve actually been a fungus once,¡± Adgito absentmindedly pointed out.  ¡°It wasn¡¯t great.¡±

    ¡°Okay guys, I think that¡¯s about enough heart-to-heart,¡± Shara butted in.  ¡°I¡¯m going to bed. Tomorrow, we¡¯ll make for Nuxvar.¡±

    Adgito shrugged and unfurled her bedroll as Darron set to put out the fire.  She did her best to figure out ways to ignore the fact that a hungry monster was going to be watching her sleep all night, but upon laying down she immediately ran into a much larger obstacle to dreamland: her huge tail.

    Adgito had never been able to sleep face-down in a female form, as it simply wasn¡¯t comfortable on her chest.  Laying on her sides might work in a softer bed, but out in the wilderness the hard ground dug into her pelvic bones and made her hips sore.  Thus, she¡¯d normally sleep on her back, but now there was a giant tail in the way. Tails in general weren¡¯t always a problem: thin, cat-like tails were mildly uncomfortable to lay on but nothing a day¡¯s worth of exhaustion couldn¡¯t sleep through.  Adgito¡¯s current tail, however, started almost as thick and wide as her torso and propped her butt up nearly half a foot into the air if laid on. She suspected a normal lizard could lie flat on their backs, but Adgito¡¯s bastardized cross between lizard and human body shape didn¡¯t have legs far enough apart to allow the tail¡¯s full trunk between them, resulting in a tail that jutted backwards and consistently attempted first-degree spine murder.  Adgito tossed and turned for hours trying to find a comfortable sleeping position, with every attempt met in failure.

    The conclusion was inevitable: Adgito would have to shift to a different form to get any shut-eye.  Frankly, acid-lizard was a bad form to sleep in anyway, considering Adgito¡¯s propensity to drool on her pillow.  The question was, what form? Shara and Arina were both right out, and Adgito didn¡¯t want to wake up Darron by touching him.  What else was there? Rocks? Grass? It was tough for Adgito to take the form of inanimate things without injuring herself on them.  It certainly happens, but she¡¯d never done it on purpose. Adgito didn¡¯t know of any way to hurt herself with grass, and she suspected beating herself over the head with a rock would be more likely to wake up Darron than just brushing his face or whatever.  She pondered her options for a while, eventually realizing she didn¡¯t actually care if she woke Darron up.

    Lying on her back, Adgito scooted closer to Darron¡¯s bedroll.  As she reached out her hand to touch his face, however, an almost imperceptible force was pressed against her eye.  In an instant, Arina appeared over her, invisible blade poised to thrust into Adgito¡¯s brain.

    Adgito¡¯s hand froze as she processed this sudden development.  Was Arina threatening to murder her? Wouldn¡¯t Shara have picked up on that?  No, wait, Shara was asleep. If this was a spur-of-the-moment decision rather than something Arina had planned, not even a mind reader could pick it up in advance, right?

    Adgito squirmed in an attempt to free her eye, but but the blade followed unerringly, pressed just heavily enough that Adgito couldn¡¯t blink.  It was¡­ well, Adgito didn¡¯t know what this was, but it was starting to piss her off.  What the hell had she done to deserve getting a wind blade in the eye?  This monster lady scared the piss out of her and Adgito had still gone out of her way to try and be nice!

    ¡°Could you not?¡± Adgito asked quietly.

    ¡°The master-kin sleeps,¡± Arina whispered coldly.  ¡°You will not bother him.¡±

    Really?  She was going to murder him for interrupting Darron¡¯s beauty sleep?

    ¡°I¡¯ll bother whoever I titans-damn please,¡± Adgito growled back. ¡°Now back off.  You¡¯re not supposed to touch me anyway.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, I cannot touch you,¡± Arina confirmed.  ¡°But the air can. Withdraw from the master-kin, or be slain.¡±

    Adgito didn¡¯t exactly have a type A personality, but today had been rough enough that being subservient to a literal servant was pushing things a step too far.  Besides, if Arina thought Adgito was smart enough to have never gotten stabbed through the eyeball before, she had another thing coming.

    ¡°Do it, bitch,¡± Adgito spat.  ¡°I¡¯m immortal.¡±

    ¡°We shall see,¡± Arina declared, and stabbed her blade all the way to the back of Adgito¡¯s skull.

 Adamant on Believing

    Shara awoke to such a cacophony of conflicting emotions she immediately decided to sleep in for a few extra minutes, doing her best to ignore them and praying it would all sort itself out.  It was too early for this. She¡¯d just had a dream about¡­ stabbing herself in the face and disintegrating, or something? Dreams were tough to make sense of, even when they were her own.

    Though Shara pretended to sleep, it was clear Arina had noticed the change in her breathing and was well aware of Shara¡¯s consciousness.  Arina sat by the unlit fire pit seething in rage, and perhaps more startling, a twinge of fear. Shara hadn¡¯t felt Arina be fearful like this before.  It was as if she¡¯d come across something so far outside her realm of understanding it forced her to entirely rethink her position in the world. So, Adgito, probably.

    Speaking of whom, he or she (Adgito felt like a ¡°she¡± right now, Shara supposed) was, according to Shara¡¯s mental sense, floating directly above her.  Adgito¡¯s emotions were surprisingly refreshing, a positive overall feel with a twist of schadenfreude, and while that certainly worried Shara a bit she resisted the urge to peek deeper into Adgito¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Boo,¡± Adgito said, prompting Shara to open her eyes, and see only the sky.

    Arina was up in an instant, thrusting a palm towards the area above Shara¡¯s face and launching a microburst of air over her head, which only seemed to have the effect of making the invisible Adgito laugh as the location of her mind moved effortlessly out of the way.

    ¡°Good morning, Adgito.  Good morning, Arina,¡± Shara groaned. It was going to be one of those days, wasn¡¯t it?  ¡°It¡¯s good to see you two are getting along.¡±

    ¡°Apologies, master, but I feel the need to inform you that we are not getting along,¡± Arina growled.

    ¡°Yeah, she stabbed me in the eye!¡± Adgito happily exclaimed.

    In the eye? That didn¡¯t sound right.  Arina might be a bit overprotective, but she wouldn¡¯t actually try to hurt anyone that Shara liked.  Just to be sure, Shara peeked into Arina¡¯s mind, and¡­ oh. It was true.

    ¡°What?¡± Shara snapped.

    ¡°The sometimes-man specifically requested that I do so,¡± Arina calmly explained.

    This was apparently also true.

    ¡°What???¡±

    ¡°I mean, not really!¡± Adgito countered.  ¡°The situation wouldn¡¯t have come up if you didn¡¯t threaten to impale me!¡±

    ¡°Okay, everybody stop!¡±  Shara commanded, sitting up.  ¡°Adgito, are you made of air?  What happened?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I am!  It¡¯s totally sweet!¡±  Adgito gushed. ¡°New favorite form, by far.  Totally worth pissing off your creepy assassin maid.  Here, let me...¡±

    Some thin wisps of mist began to float in, eventually coalescing into the mostly-translucent form of Adgito¡¯s female body.  It appeared as though the mist existed only to pillow Adgito¡¯s actual form: a transparent, person-shaped compression of air.  The mist gathered around to give Shara something to look at, but even it was barely visible.

    Far more interesting than simply being hard to see, however, was the fact that Adgito¡¯s ghostly feet didn¡¯t touch the ground.  She swirled and swayed in the air, rotating as minor breezes pushed her off-course. Her face was locked in a big grin, happier than Shara had seen her since Terranburg.

    ¡°Ta-da!¡± Adgito said, opening her arms wide and shaking her outstretched palms.  ¡°Air form! Windy form! Misty form! Whatever you wanna call it, it¡¯s awesome! I can fly, and nothing can touch me!¡±

    As if to accentuate the point, Arina summoned a vacuum blade and slashed through the area Adgito¡¯s voice was coming from, which passed harmlessly through the mist.

    ¡°Arina, please stop trying to kill Adgito,¡± Shara muttered.  ¡°Didn¡¯t I already order you not to kill anybody?¡±

    ¡°I have not killed the sometimes-man,¡± Arina clarified.  ¡°Were I attempting to, I would have eaten it. My attacks have been exclusively attempts at maiming.¡±

    ¡°...Okay,¡± Shara said, rubbing her temples with both hands, ¡°Until further notice, you¡¯re not allowed to maim anyone that you¡¯re not allowed to kill without my express permission.  You are officially in maiming time-out. This also applies to disabling, dismembering, disfiguring, mutilating, mangling, or any other similar actions.¡±

    ¡°Those are all fundamentally the same action,¡± Arina helpfully pointed out.

    ¡°Yes, Arina, thank you.  Why did you stab Adgito?¡±

    ¡°As I stated previously, the sometimes-man told me to,¡± Arina responded.  ¡°I believe its exact words were ¡®do it, bitch.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Adgito, don¡¯t actively goad known assassins,¡± Shara sighed. ¡°And Arina, don¡¯t call Adgito an ¡®it.¡¯ Use ¡®he¡¯ or ¡®she.¡¯  While we¡¯re on the subject, why don¡¯t you refer to anyone by name? You respond to your own, and you remembered Isabella¡¯s.¡±

    Arina frowned.

    ¡°I do not understand names.  They mean nothing, so they are not remembered.¡±

    Shara sighed again.  She¡¯d have to make them mean something, then.

    ¡°I¡¯d prefer it if you referred to people by their names instead of whatever titles you think of for them,¡± Shara told her.  It was distinctly not phrased as an order, but she knew Arina would take it with the weight of one. If she still struggled with it, something might be wrong with her memory.

    Done with her daily dose of herding cats, Shara turned around and started getting dressed.  She had seriously considered sleeping through the night in her armor; she¡¯d certainly done it before, and they were in dangerous enough territory to warrant it.  Ultimately, though, the armor wasn¡¯t that important and she¡¯d chosen to try for a more restful sleep instead. The hardened leather Shara wore would certainly stop a wayward cut or errant arrow, but it was a far inferior defense to her natural mobility and rock-hard barrier.  She wore it simply for prudence, finding it the most protective piece of equipment to have no impact on her movement speed and flexibility. Not that Shara underestimated the value of prudence; the armor had saved her from nasty injuries before and she suspected it would again.  Sometimes, though, you had to let yourself breathe.

    Shara removed her nightshirt and immodestly began binding up her breasts.  It was nothing Arina and Adgito didn¡¯t have themselves, at least currently, and Darron was still asleep.  After putting on the under layers, she waited for Darron to wake up before finishing. Shara had backup padding, but only one suit of actual armor¡­ and it stunk to high heaven.  Better to wait for Darron to cleanse it of sweat and filth before putting it on, where her barrier could interfere.

    Eventually, her brother woke up, and Shara welcomed him to the morning by tossing the smelly gear onto his face.  He¡¯d find a way to get her back for that, she knew, but that was just part of being siblings. With her outfit cleaned and the four of them geared up, they set off for Nuxvar.  Shara ended up having to carry all of Adgito¡¯s things, since she was rather questionably tangible at the moment. Darron had a whole universe of questions swirling around his head about Adgito¡¯s new form, though he was having trouble narrowing them down to ones that Adgito might actually answer.

    The four of them made it to Nuxvar without notable incident.  There was the occasional monster fight on the way, but nothing that really made the team break a sweat.  Although Adgito¡¯s air form was basically untouchable, she had issue doing anything more productive than knocking beasts off-balance with the occasional gust.  It was a condition that suited her fine, as Adgito never much liked combat in the first place. Shara was glad her friend had finally found a form that made her genuinely happy, as temporary as it was likely to be.  The sooner she embraced her natural abilities, the better.

    Next on her to-do list was preparing for Nuxvar.  Shara had quite the band of misfits with her right now, and while Adgito could look normal Shara wasn¡¯t going to ruin things for her if she could help it.  If air form was a serious problem, it could become invisible. The risk of public indecency from a sudden transformation was just par for the course.

    Arina was the obvious problem: as sweet as it was for Darron to suggest she not wear the mask, it was probably for the best to do so in a new town.  Dark skin, tail, and claws? Maybe a vrochth¨ªzo, but it¡¯s not eating anybody so probably not. Pitch-black murder teeth? Definitely a vrochth¨ªzo, call the guard.

    What Shara hadn¡¯t realized, even once Nuxvar was in sight, was that she would be the one to cause the greatest commotion.

    Nuxvar was a large village by northern plains standards, but that still barely amounted to a few hundred people.  The town proper was far enough away from the Oinos foothills to lie flat, surrounded by acres upon acres of cultivated farmland that were in turn protected with rudimentary fences, watchtowers, and the fact that nearly every adult who lived there was a member of the unofficial militia.  At least a good few of the villagers were liable to be monster-hunting experts like Shara and crew, as otherwise the town would have likely not been able to grow to its current size.

    Past the farmlands were the hundred-some buildings that comprised the meat of the village, where people ran their businesses and rested their heads.  Back when Shara had lived in the area, Nuxvar had traded with Aletheia and likely Yidril to great success, as her warrior-village lacked the resources and skill sets to make everything they wanted on their own.  If Shara were to hazard a guess based on the town¡¯s size, it looked as though trade with Yidril still thrived, at the very least.

    Shara waved at the closest watchtower to put them at ease as her group of misfits approached the fences.  There was a makeshift road (or at least a gap between farming plots) relatively nearby, so the group turned towards that to make their way into the village.  The four of them hopped the fence unmolested; it was barely an arrangement of sharp sticks erected in the hopes of slowing monsters down long enough to spot them.  The guardsmen on the watchtowers didn¡¯t seem to mind; apparently the group¡¯s calm and friendly approach was enough to confirm the group wasn¡¯t a band of monsters, and that was really all they cared about.

    ¡°It seems they don¡¯t have a biomancer here,¡± Darron commented offhandedly as he examined the passing rows of corn, ¡°or at least if they do, they¡¯re very bad at it.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not that weird, right?¡± Shara asked.  ¡°Didn¡¯t Gloria¡¯s mom invent the whole thing like, maybe eighty years ago?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, great-grandmother Daniva did,¡± Darron confirmed. ¡°Eighty years is a long time, though.  Biomancy¡¯s not hugely widespread, but it¡¯s not obscure either. Daniva publicized most all of her work, so most serious mages should at least know about it.  You¡¯d think it would be a priority for farming villages to learn.¡±

    ¡°Maybe they don¡¯t have any serious mages?¡± Adgito posited, causing Darron and Arina to both jump in surprise.  Adgito had been floating invisibly behind the three of them, and while Shara could tell where she was just fine the others seemed to have no way to detect her.  It was quite amusing. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    ¡°W-Well, that¡¯s statistically unlikely given a town of this size,¡± Darron recovered.  ¡°Anyone can become a learned mage, and while it takes a lot of work you¡¯d think at least one person would be willing to put that work in, considering the results.¡±

    That seemed to be the end of the conversation, so the four of them continued onward in silence.  Right after a long enough pause for it to be confusing, however, Arina joined in.

    ¡°No.  Your perspective is skewed.¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡± Darron asked.

    ¡°I have fought and killed many mages.  They are pathetic. It is worth it to them because they will never be skilled. The results they achieve are pittance compared to the mas¡­ Hmn.  To your basic workings.¡±

    ¡°His name is Darron,¡± Shara helpfully reminded her.

    ¡°To Darron¡¯s basic workings,¡± Arina corrected.

    ¡°Thank¡­ you?¡± Darron acknowledged.

    ¡°You are welcome.¡±

    As the most words she¡¯d heard Arina contribute to a conversation without prompting, Shara chose to interpret that exchange as reassurance she wouldn¡¯t need to worry about Arina stabbing Darron through the eye.  Which was good, because that would actually kill him.

    As they approached the town, Shara took a deep breath and expanded her senses.  It was a lively town, sort of like a smaller Oinos Springs or a larger Borns, though with one major frustration: the background buzz.  As they entered the town proper, Shara noticed that almost a third of the residents had that frustrating kind of mind which blocked her reading attempts.  She needed to find out what was going on there, though she had no idea where to begin. No matter how hard she tried to dive into one of those minds, it was just roaring, unintelligible noise.

    Far worse than that, however, were the minds Shara could read.  Though most people seemed to be having a perfectly fine day, their positive feelings turned to ice the moment they saw Shara¡¯s blond hair and red eyes.  As she walked through the market district, buyers and sellers alike would stop and stare in fear before quickly returning to what they were doing, or at least pretending to.  Not everyone she could read had this reaction, but most people above a certain age immediately recognized the marks of her clan and besieged her senses with thoughts of tragedy, fear, and death.  All around her walked survivors of the Nuxvar Massacre, and each one of them blamed the Aletheians.

    Is that¡­ no, it can¡¯t be.  Elpis wiped them all out.

    Oh titans, she looks just like one of them¡­ it¡¯s a coincidence, right?  I bet other people can have hair and eyes like that¡­

    Are¡­ are they back?  Titans, why are they back???  I thought¡­ I have to warn the guards!

    ¡°Well guys, we might not be staying the night here after all,¡± Shara muttered to her team.

    An almost crippling amount of stress roared out from one woman in particular, as Shara felt her consider grabbing the knife strapped under her dress and plunging it into Shara¡¯s heart.  Shara sought the woman out, locking eyes with her. She looked to be in her mid forties, but Shara suspected she was actually quite a bit younger. Her plain, blue dress wasn¡¯t anything fancy but it did a decent enough job of respecting her figure.  She appeared to work at a tailor''s stall, sewing and mending clothing of similar affluence. A curtain behind her stall separated it from the building behind her. Despite working diligently with a needle, the woman¡¯s brown eyes glared searing daggers in Shara¡¯s direction, as her outraged mind pondered how to seek revenge for her husband and children.

    The general consensus of the minds around Shara was, after all, that the Aletheians had not been shy about who or what they put to the sword eleven years ago.

    ¡°Well, they definitely recognize me,¡± Shara whispered to Darron.  ¡°Or they recognize my heritage, anyway. Everyone that was there seems pretty sure the Aletheians did it.¡±

    Well I suppose that narrows down our options to either your family actually doing it, or impersonation.

    ¡°So, impersonation,¡± Shara confirmed.  ¡°This lady thinks my family killed her baby.  There¡¯s no way in hell that happened.¡±

    I admit, you never struck me as the baby-killing type.  Darron conceded.  But the sheer quantity of skilled illusionists that happen to also be skilled swordsmen needed to pull off a culling of this size is¡­ questionable, to say the least.  I suspect there¡¯s still a puzzle piece at the bottom of the box.

    ¡°Well then,¡± Shara muttered, ¡°let¡¯s go digging.  Arina, if we¡¯re attacked, you are not to hurt anyone.  Protect us as best you can, but don¡¯t leave any injuries.¡±

    ¡°Understood,¡± Arina reluctantly acknowledged.

    With the biggest smile she could muster, Shara approached the tailor woman.  The woman¡¯s rage and terror both swelled as Shara got closer, but Shara simply waved politely started a casual conversation.

    ¡°Hi there!¡± she said, ¡°These are some very nice clothes!  Do you do mendings? My brother tries his best, but I have a friend that destroys a whole bunch of outfits and we could use some professional work.¡±

    ¡°Hey,¡± Adgito muttered quietly, ¡°don¡¯t bring me into this.¡±

    ¡°Where are you from?¡± the tailor asked coldly, having thankfully not heard Adgito¡¯s remark.

    It was obvious to Shara that the woman was fishing for an allegiance to Aletheia.  It was best to frame things a little more in her favor.

    ¡°I¡¯m from Borns,¡± Shara informed her.  ¡°Small village on the southern plains. I was taken there after my entire family was killed, eleven years ago.  I was eight at the time.¡±

    Shara met the woman¡¯s death glare head-on with a smile.  If possible, she¡¯d like to convince this woman that her family wasn¡¯t responsible for the massacre, but that seemed unlikely to happen.  Her main goal was, as cruel as it seemed, to discuss the event enough to look for clear recollections in the woman¡¯s traumatized mind. Shara wanted to see the event for herself, to look for clues.

    ¡°You¡¯re an Aletheian,¡± the woman condemned.

    ¡°Judging by everyone¡¯s faces around here, that¡¯s not a very well-liked group of people,¡± Shara answered noncommittally.  ¡°Will you tell me what happened? I¡¯m just¡­ looking for answers.¡±

    The woman continued her steady glare, lines of stress scouring her face.  They were eyes used to weeping.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any answers,¡± the woman spat.  ¡°None of us do. The Aletheians came without warning, slaughtered without reason, and left without word.¡±

    Memories flooded through her.  Shara felt the woman¡¯s fear as the door to her home was kicked off its hinges.  She¡¯d grabbed a kitchen knife, held it in her trembling fingers towards the red-eyed invaders, and forced her children behind her back.  Her daughter, barely five years old, clutched silently to the hem of her dress as her seven-year-old son held his sister reassuringly. Her husband rushed forward to defend them, but a mere blink saw his throat spilled on the floor, his body collapsing with it.  Screaming, the woman rushed forward with her weapon, but was disarmed with barely a flick of effort. A quick blow to her head knocked her unconscious before her body hit the ground. She awoke to her family strewn dead about her kitchen, the children each ended in a single, instant stroke.  Yet the woman¡¯s body had bared not even a scratch, spared without explanation.

    Dozens of families were ended this way in the aftermath of the massacre.  Some were obliterated without survivors, some lost their spouse and children, and some families were left untouched.  To the woman, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the killings; it was mere senseless murder, distributed without aim.

    To Shara, however, it seemed the killings had clear purpose, she just didn¡¯t know what it was.  It had been Shara¡¯s assumption that Nuxvar failed to be completely wiped out like Yidril and her home village because they had successfully fought back their attackers.  However, this wasn¡¯t apparently the case: the attackers had actually stormed through Nuxvar without so much as a challenge and spared a portion of the village on purpose.  That seemed to be a completely different M.O. from whatever had destroyed the other two villages.

    ¡°I see,¡± Shara said, although she really didn¡¯t.  The flashback left her with more questions than answers.  ¡°I barely survived the massacre at Yidril myself¡­ I was hoping you had some idea of what happened, but I guess I¡¯m just dredging up bad memories.  I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°Yidril?¡± the woman grunted in disbelief.  ¡°No one survived Yidril, people rebuilt that town from nothing. And you look just like an Aletheian.¡±  She was barely a twitch away from drawing her knife.

    ¡°Well, perhaps that¡¯s why I survived?¡± Shara smiled innocently.  ¡°I never understood it myself. Again, I¡¯m sorry. Trust me, I know those memories can be difficult.¡±

    The staredown continued as Shara subtly adjusted the shape of her smile and tilt of her head to be more in line with the woman¡¯s happier memories of her daughter.  It was a dirty trick, but it was better than getting stabbed. Her results were far from perfect, but it was enough to make the old widow relent.

    ¡°Go away, Yidril girl, and never come back,¡± the tailor told her.  ¡°The longer you stay in this town, the more likely you are to die.¡±

    Shara nodded in thanks, and left.

    ¡°That sounded like it went well!¡± Adgito commented from above.

    Did you get what you needed?  Darron asked.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Shara said, ¡°or at least I got all I think we¡¯ll get.  For now, let¡¯s leave before we start a riot.¡±

    The four of them exited the city out the way they came, to minimize the amount of new people that would see Shara¡¯s face.  They left without major incident, the only new person of interest on Shara¡¯s radar being a grizzled-looking one-armed man that gave her an extra stare.  He looked like some kind of retired warrior, but Shara didn¡¯t pay him much mind as he didn¡¯t seem hostile. Her attention was already swimming between so many things she couldn¡¯t spare more for harmless strangers.

    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re outta there,¡± Adgito insisted once the group made it to the cornfield.  ¡°Now lay it on us! Did you figure out the secret twist?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ no, not really,¡± Shara said.  ¡°I found a few inconsistencies, but they just add more questions.¡±

    She informed everyone about the false assumption that Nuxvar had been spared through their own efforts, and the apparent non-pattern on how some people were and were not spared.  Darron had even more questions than Shara, though they were a lot more specific.

    ¡°Were there any families where both parents were spared, but the children were killed?¡±

    ¡°Um, no.  Not to her knowledge,¡± Shara answered.

    ¡°What about any where the parents were both killed but the children spared?¡±

    ¡°I only recall seeing memories of three outcomes,¡± Shara explained.  ¡°The entire family dead, the entire family spared, or one adult survives.¡±

    Darron nodded.

    ¡°Then it¡¯s hereditary,¡± he concluded.  ¡°Well, most likely.¡±

    ¡°What is?¡± Adgito asked.

    ¡°Whatever reason a person was chosen to die, I suppose.¡± Darron answered. ¡°Actually¡­ now that I think about it, when we were testing people that had immunity to your powers, didn¡¯t it have a similar pattern?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah, except sometimes the kids didn¡¯t have it.¡±

    ¡°Well, maybe it¡¯s recessive,¡± Darron positied.  ¡°Or maybe the kids were adopted. In a small town like Nuxvar I suspect most orphans would be raised by other family members, but in Terranburg an orphan could be abandoned and raised by someone of no relation, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah,¡± Adgito confirmed.  ¡°That happens all the time. Couples from Elpis especially would pick a buncha kids up off the streets.  It really helped the city out. I was just a bit too old for anyone to actually take me in, and I had Mrs. Garnersworth to help me out anyway.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like where this is going, Darron,¡± Shara warned.  Darron just shrugged.

    ¡°I¡¯m just pointing out a similarity.  The attackers were hunting something that was both hereditary and, apparently, detectable.  They weren¡¯t interested in killing anyone without the hereditary trait they were looking for, so they weren¡¯t just blind murderers.  Furthermore, we know there''s a likely-hereditary trait that grants people immunity to your mind reading abilities, and best we can tell only mind readers can detect it.  Your clan is the only known clan of mind readers, and they are the primary suspects in the case. It¡¯s a fairly damning stack of evidence. I¡¯m not saying the Aletheians did it, but I can certainly see why Elpis would conclude the Aletheians did it.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± Adgito said.  ¡°Didn¡¯t that Marisol lady think Shara could read her mind?  If so, wouldn¡¯t that imply Elpis doesn¡¯t know about the no-read-gene?  Or at least didn¡¯t eleven years ago? So how could they draw that conclusion?¡±

    Darron blinked.

    ¡°That¡¯s actually a good point,¡± he said, startled.

    ¡°Thanks, I think?¡±

    ¡°Look, it doesn¡¯t matter!¡± Shara snapped. ¡°My family loved people!  We went out of our way to fight monsters for them! There¡¯s no way they did this!¡±

    ¡°If you say they couldn¡¯t, then they couldn¡¯t,¡± Darron said reassuringly.  ¡°I¡¯m just looking at things from different angles to see where the shadows fall.  Barring sufficient evidence, finding flaws in incorrect reasoning can lead us in the right direction.¡±

    Right, of course.  Darron always had her back.  There was no need to bite at anybody, here.  Shara was just a little on edge. The whole situation was dredging and would keep dredging up a lot of bad memories.  Yet no matter what, she was adamant on believing in her parents. There was no way in hell that she¡¯d entertain the idea that they had actually been mass murderers.

    Not even when the man in the tailor¡¯s memory had looked and fought and awful lot like her dad.

 Aelius Smiled

    Today was going to be a good day, Aelius could feel it.  He hadn¡¯t been this excited in quite a while, actually. Why had he ever stopped traversing the northern plains?

    He couldn¡¯t quite remember.  Sometime in the past, he had started to travel through the edge of Karasuthra forest instead face the monsters of the plains.  He supposed there was some logic to it; he hated animals, and while there were plenty of animals in the forest, monsters were basically just very large animals, right?  His healing aura still attracted them in droves, though the monsters seemed much more likely to attempt actually eating him.  This was amusing, although he suspected it would get old rather quickly. As the power of one¡¯s aura directly contributed to the strength of their barrier, Aelius¡¯ barrier was nigh-invulnerable. While there were a few things that could punch through his natural defense, but any such damage was simply healed off in an instant.  Still, monsters were so much more entertaining than weak little animals!

    Rather than the wimpy entourage of deer and squirrels he was used to, Aelius had collected and tamed a pack of mighty beasts.  He sat cross-legged utop the head of an enormous, bipedal raptor monster with massive jaws and hilariously tiny arms, flanked by an entourage of acid-spitting lizard men.  Or lizard women? He couldn¡¯t really tell, or for that matter bring himself to care. An impressive menagerie of other creatures pranced around in the wake of his aura, but he paid them no mind from utop his ferocious perch.

    As powerful and intimidating his mount was, the creature didn¡¯t seem very smart.  Aelius needed only dangle his hand in front of the beast¡¯s beady eyes and it would rush forward, attempting to catch his delicious-looking fingers.  Aelius did not judge many things to be worth actual physical exertion, but wrestling this dinosaur to the ground and climbing onto its head seemed to be paying off in spades.  He had initially just done it because he thought it would be funny.

    Also funny was the little horsemen he could see off in the distance, scrambling to alert their town about the massive horde of monsters heading that way.  Aelius had always wondered what would happen to a person traveling through a monster¡¯s digestive system while in range of his aura. They would probably get trapped in the stomach, he supposed, as it wouldn¡¯t be able to dissolve them enough to fit through the intestines; they would just keep growing back.  It would be an infinite food source, but only so long as they stayed in his aura and Aelius¡¯ power already supplied any energy a person might need to live in the first place. Overall, it would be completely pointless, which was a real shame. He would have very much liked to see someone get pooped out whole.

    Alas, he had no time for such frivolities.  Aelius was a father now, and his daughter sounded far more entertaining.  He was glad he¡¯d ended up missing all the annoying ¡®raising a child¡¯ steps and got to skip straight to the good stuff.  It was great to be a lucky bastard.

    Actually finding his daughter seemed like it would be somewhat of a chore, but it had been so long since Aelius had wandered with purpose rather than idle boredom that all the roses seemed to smell sweeter along the way.  Marisol (and oh, what a sweet rose she was) had informed him Neoma shared his wandering habit, though apparently with the goal of avoiding people instead of ennui. Apparently, she didn¡¯t want to risk harming people with her titanic powers.  How had his loins given rise to such bleeding heart? It was a baffling quality, but also one he would enjoy taking advantage of.

    Aelius watched the riders in the distance scramble about, preparing to engage his entourage.  Cute little idiots, the lot of them. As fun as it would be to plow through them all, he was here to get information first and have fun second.  At least a passing display of friendliness would help him get what he wanted. A detestable necessary, but patience was a virtue that paid off in spades.  Life was arguably all about patience, and if there was one thing Aelius had an abundance of it was life.

    Watching as the militia formed ranks to intercept, Aelius spurred his towering mount into a charge.  From utop its head Aelius was perched nearly fifty feet into the air, a perfect vantage point to gaze down upon terrified mortals.  Alas, though clearly comprised mainly of townsfolk the militia seemed well-trained, or at least used to being out of their league, for they did not scatter even as they were beset upon by sixty tons of muscle, teeth, and death.  They had barely fifty men, yet still they nocked their bows and let loose a volley towards certain doom.

    Or perhaps not so certain doom, as Aelius was surprised to find out.  Though some of the arrows bounced harmlessly off the scaley hide of his entourage, a surprising number of them pierced deep into or entirely through the monsters¡¯ armored flesh.  Had they not been in range of his healing aura, some of his mid-to-small sized beasts would have certainly died.  A fact that someone in the militia seemed to have noticed, because in the next volley of shots there was one that aimed a little higher.  The arrowhead struck Aelius square in the face, and though it shattered against his barrier it still actually sort of hurt.

    Well now, that simply wouldn¡¯t do.  Aelius gazed outward, seeking the source of the rude projectile.  A horseback-mounted thiro man was aiming another arrow his way, cat-like eyes gleaming as he aimed his shot.  The arrow he fired crashed into Aelius¡¯ forehead, shattering once again but impacting hard enough to sting. Aelius smiled.  He would enjoy playing with such an impressive fellow. Time to make an entrance.

    Just as his charging horde of immortal monsters was about to reach the militia¡¯s lines, Aelius directed his giant mount to make a sharp turn to the right.  Chomping out at Aelius¡¯ delicious-looking hand, the monster immediately tripped on its shorter, adjacent companion. Careening out of control, the beast knocked the rest of the charging monsters over with its tail as it fell sideways into the dirt, Aelius riding it calmly downard as it inevitably skidded to a stop in front of the militia lines.  Casually fishing through his pouch for a seed and tossing it behind himself, Aelius stepped off his mount¡¯s enormous head and addressed his stunned audience.

    ¡°Friends!¡± he bellowed, grinning with anticipation, ¡°sorry to startle you all!  Traveling by monster is just so much faster than traveling by foot, wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡±

    Before the force before him could muster an answer, the seed Aelius had thrown hit the ground.  Pouring his massive power into it, the seed took root and erupted into a swarm of thorny vines, writhing and lashing around each member of his collapsed monstrous menagerie.  Holding the creatures in place, the vines bored through the beasts¡¯ flesh, greedily drinking their blood like it was water. Even the burning acid that coursed through some monster¡¯s veins was treated as a delicacy, consumed without any apparent harm to the plant.  Though Aelius¡¯ aura kept the monsters alive so long as he was around, the thorndrinker plant held even the largest one in immobile agony as it greedily sucked the creatures dry.

    This was, Aelius now remembered, the reason he had taken to traveling Karasuthra forest.  Though the deeper woods had no shortage of monstrous animals, the true gem of the area was its monstrous plants.  Should he put his mind to it, Aelius could instill a degree of control over how a living creature grew or repaired itself within his aura, but it was far easier to enact this control over plants.  He could do countless fun things with his favorite flora, though he needed to actually gather and keep the seeds of such organisms if he wanted to sprout them at will.

    ¡°Anyway,¡± Aelius continued for his dumbfounded audience, ¡°could I perchance have a guide to your fair city?  The monsters won¡¯t be bothering you anymore, and I¡¯m in the mood to celebrate.¡±

    ¡°Er¡­ of course, sir,¡± one of the stunned militia men finally answered.  ¡°We¡¯d be happy to show you. May I ask your name?¡±

    ¡°Aelius,¡± the titan said with a melodramatic flourish. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, I¡¯m sure.¡±  Pointing at the thiro man that shot him twice in the head, he added, ¡°I¡¯ll take that one. The rest of you can go.¡±

    Various droll noises of shock and astonishment scattered around the ranks of the militia as they reeled from the news.  A few people bowed, many took off their helmets, and all lowered their weapons.

    ¡°Aelius?  As in, the Titan of Life, Aelius?  Thank you! Thank you, sir, for gracing us with your presence!¡±

    Ah, empty praise.  How he hated it. Perhaps he could linger in this town for a little while, teach them a thing or two.  He had to make his debut somewhere, and what was the point of sweet-smelling roses if one never stopped to smell them?

    ¡°The rest of you,¡± Aelius repeated with a humorless smile, ¡°can go.¡±

    Pushing through the crowd, Aelius hopped side-saddle onto the haunch of the cat man¡¯s horse, clutching his waist like a fair maiden swooning over her hero.  Then, he slapped the mount¡¯s buttocks with his considerable titanic strength. To his dismay, the well-trained animal staggered from the blow but did not rush away in a panic.  Instead, its feline rider simply turned back to regard Aelius with a level-headed gaze.

    ¡°To town, then?¡± the thiro asked.  His voice held many things: concern, awe, fear, a desire to hide each of those away in favor of a professional attitude¨C but worship, at least, was not one of them.

    And this man had shot him in the face?  Aelius suspected they would get along swimmingly.

    ¡°To town, my good man!¡± Aelius agreed enthusiastically.  ¡°And what is your name, my kitten companion?¡±

    ¡°Hanno, sir,¡± the thiro responded flatly as he coaxed his horse into a trot.

    ¡°Thanks for agreeing to show me around, Hanno!¡± Aelius said gleefully, knowing full well that Hanno had done no such thing.  Hanno also seemed acutely aware of this, judging by how his ears pressed flat against his head in lieu of a response.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll get along just fabulously!¡± Aelius concluded.

    Hanno nodded, seeming disinclined to disagree.

    ¡°So you¡¯re a titan with healing powers, then?¡± he asked.  ¡°I feel as though weeks of fatigue have been stripped from me already.¡±

    ¡°I am!  Titan of Life, in the flesh!  My bountiful aura washes over and invigorates all things, big and small, with health, vitality, and strength!¡± Aelius bragged.

    ¡°But you¡¯re not doing it on purpose, are you?¡± Hanno asked, though it did not sound like a question.

    ¡°I am not,¡± Aelius confirmed, his grin growing ever wider.  ¡°How did you know?¡±

    ¡°Just a hunch,¡± Hanno responded quietly, and spurred the horse into a run.

    A fat, stupid-looking man greeted the both of them when Hanno¡¯s horse brought them to the gate.  It was such an unremarkable town that Aelius would probably forget what it looked like every time he blinked.  The fat guardsman waved as they approached. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    ¡°Oi, Hanno!¡± he said, ¡°Do you seriously have another titans-damn straggler?  Why ya always ridin¡¯ back with these things?¡±

    ¡°Apologies, Barry,¡± Hanno replied.  ¡°This is Aelius, the Titan of Life. He personally requested my escort.  Please treat him respectfully.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.  Even if this is Aelius, why would he request you?¡± Barry challenged.  ¡°Is this some kinda joke, ya furry bastard?¡±

    ¡°Um, no,¡± Hanno said, glancing at Aelius¡¯ forehead.  ¡°I don¡¯t think it would be very funny if it was.¡±

    ¡°Oh, on the contrary!¡± Aelius piped up, hopping off his spot on the horse, ¡°I think it will be hilarious.  Now, are you going to be useful and open this gate, or not?¡±

    ¡°Please,¡± Hanno added.

    ¡°Sure, fine.¡± Barry conceded, muttering to himself.  ¡°Seriously though, Aelius? That¡¯s the second in as many weeks, fuzzface¡­¡±

    Hanno sighed as the gate was opened, and politely lead a giddy Aelius inside as he hitched up his horse.

    ¡°Whataya think he meant by that?¡± Aelius asked as they entered the town proper.

    ¡°Probably nothing of importance or interest,¡± Hanno lied poorly.  ¡°It is Barry, after all. So, how can I help you with your business today, Titan of Life?¡±

    ¡°Ah, see, that¡¯s the thing,¡± Aelius sneered.  ¡°I¡¯m actually looking for another titan.  My daughter, you see.  It will be a very touching family reunion.  I¡¯m fairly certain she was heading this way, so if you know anything about that?  That would be swell.¡±

    Aelius watched as the gears turned in the confused and frightened Hanno¡¯s mind.  His ears splayed back, his tail was stiff, and even his professionally calm face furrowed as he came to a decision that would irrevocably change his life.  Life was arguably all about change, after all, and if there was one thing Aelius had an abundance of¡­ well, it was life.

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t know anything about that,¡± Hanno lied, and oh was he a poor, poor liar.  ¡°I¡¯d be happy to take you around town to ask if anyone has seen her, if you like.¡±

    What a terribly stupid decision, Aelius mused.  His favorite kind.

    ¡°Oh, no,¡± Aelius smiled.  ¡°That¡¯s far too much of a bother.  Just gather everyone here.¡±

    ¡°I beg your pardon?¡± Hanno asked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t beg, you pathetic creature,¡± Aelius responded cheerfully.  ¡°Gather. Everyone. Here. The whole town. The entire kit and kaboodle.  I want to see every man, woman, obarian and child shoved like a pea pod into this street, so that I may ask them all at once, and determine how much I like their answer.¡±

    Hanno paled so fast Aelius could see it through his fur.

    ¡°Ah, on second thought, I may have seen another titan traveling¨C¡±

    ¡°Oh, so you lied to me, dear Hanno?¡± Aelius laughed.  ¡°Well that won¡¯t do! I can¡¯t trust liars.  No, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll still need everyone.  You have one hour. If a single resident of this pathetic excuse for a village isn¡¯t lined up in front of me by then, well¡­¡± he idly tossed a seed up and down.  ¡°I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll think of something.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I couldn¡¯t possibly¡­!¡±

    ¡°Time¡¯s a-wasting, kitten,¡± Aelius taunted.  ¡°And unlike a liar such as yourself, I mean what I say.¡±

    Horrified, Hanno ran off, shouting the names of people Aelius didn¡¯t know and didn¡¯t care to know.  He would either get the job done or he wouldn¡¯t, and it didn¡¯t really matter. Aelius was going to play it by ear either way.

    A crowd began to gather as he waited, so in a truly uncharacteristic display of haughtiness Aelius grew himself a deep green throne to sit on.  He was very proud of it, with soft armrests, fluffy, petaled seats, and thorns in all the right places to keep peons from pawing it. It also seemed to do a good job of drawing people to the right place, since no one in this hodunk town seemed to know what he looked like.  How terribly rude. He had an entire stupid religion based around him and everything, you know.

    Some amount of time later¨C Aelius wasn¡¯t really keeping track¨C Hanno returned, panting for breath.  A positively massive crowd had gathered around, so massive that Aelius couldn¡¯t see the edge of it even from his elevated seat.  Pushing through to the center, where Aelius had forced a clearing around his throne, Hanno reported in.

    ¡°There,¡± he managed between gasps for air.  ¡°Everyone¡­ in the town¡­ is on this street. Just like you asked.  A number of them have seen a female titan pass through here, so I¡¯ll direct them to you immedi¨C¡±

    ¡°Naw,¡± Aelius said, cutting him off.  ¡°You can just tell me. Where¡¯s Neoma at?¡±

    Shocked and enraged, Hanno stared at him with a complete lack of comprehension.

    ¡°Wh- but why?¡± he sputtered.  ¡°What was all this even for?¡±

    ¡°I dunno,¡± Aelius shrugged, standing up and walking towards him.  ¡°Maybe I just wanted an audience.¡±

    Clasping one hand on Hanno¡¯s shoulder and another on the top of his fuzzy head, Aelius squeezed and twisted.  Screaming in agony, Hanno¡¯s spine popped and his muscles snapped as his neck was opened like a stubborn jar of pickles.  Aelius kept twisting, shredding the strands of muscle, skin, and esophagus that held the halves of Hanno¡¯s neck together until they were thin enough to snap, sending his body crashing to the dirt.  Held up high, Hanno¡¯s disembodied head quickly began regrow the missing parts of his neck, regenerating spine, tissue, and blood. The start of new lungs dropped into place as a ribcage sped to catch up and hold them steady.  Hanno¡¯s new lungs formed a scream as a diaphragm grew strong enough to allow it and skin fought to cover his chest, fur close behind it. The rest of him fleshed out quickly afterwards, and when it was complete Aelius tossed his fresh, naked body next to his lifeless, headless original.  The entire process took barely ten seconds, the crowd of watchers stunned silent and inactive.

    ¡°Pop quiz, Hanno!¡± Aelius barked once his victim had transitioned from screaming to simple ragged breaths.  ¡°What is a titan? Answer me honestly, if you would. You are a terrible liar. Really, just¡­ the worst.¡±

    Hanno turned over to face Aelius, naked and terrified.  Not even the daily trials of the northern plains could have prepared him for this experience.  The sheer terror of the situation wanted to compel Hanno to lie again, say whatever he thought the monster wanted to hear.  Yet Aelius was right: he was a terrible liar. If this¡­ thing wanted the truth, Hanno would share it.

    ¡°You¡¯re just¡­ a man,¡± Hanno told him.  ¡°Powerful beyond my comprehension, maybe.  But still just a man, same as any of us. No wiser, no better.  Just stronger.¡±

    Aelius smiled, the most unsettling display of joy Hanno had ever known.

    ¡°A supremely correct answer, kitten.¡± he said, walking forward to stand over his victim.  ¡°I¡¯m impressed. You know, not many people get that. Everywhere I go I¡¯m worshipped as some divine entity, as if I¡¯m spreading blessings from the goodness of my heart.¡±  He shook his head. ¡°Do you have any idea how painful that is to me? Getting all that credit, for something I don¡¯t even want? Surely, you¡¯ve had that happen before. Gotten praise for something you¡¯ve never really deserved.  Being applauded, for something that isn¡¯t you. It eats at your soul, doesn¡¯t it? Imagine that, every hour of every day of every month of every year. And I would just sit there, and take it, as it kills me inside, little by little.  Too long have I lived like that, Hanno.  I am not a god. I am a man, with wants and needs and feelings.  I can no longer stand being loved for what I¡¯m not.¡±

    Reaching down, Aelius cupped Hanno¡¯s chin, caressing it mockingly before grabbing him by the face and lifting him into the air once more.

    ¡°I think I much prefer being hated for what I am.¡±

    Aelius grabbed Hanno¡¯s shoulder and prepared for another twist, when a female voice from the crowd screamed his name.  A demure, doe-like thiro woman rushed into the clearing, tackling into Hanno¡¯s body in an attempt to pull him out of the titan¡¯s grasp.  Her utter ineffectiveness at that task was simply adorable.

    ¡°Claudia¡­¡± Hanno managed to gasp, ¡°No¡­ get away¡­¡±

    ¡°What a touchingly cliche scene!¡± Aelius mused excitedly.  ¡°I suppose I can do you as well, if you insist.¡±

    Dropping Hanno, Aelius caught Claudia like a bear trap.   Effortlessly, he lifted the doe into the air in Hanno¡¯s stead and unceremoniously twisted her head off.  Her piercing scream echoed through the crowd, abruptly silenced by her windpipe tearing to shreds. As her body fell, Aelius clasped the palm of his hand around the bottom of her neck, directing her head to stare down at Hanno¡¯s body as Aelius moved forward to step on it.

    ¡°Sorry if you were hoping to see her naked,¡± Aelius taunted, ¡°but once more than one person takes their pants off this starts being a very different kind of show.  Too bad, huh? She can¡¯t grow that beautiful bod back if there¡¯s something in the way... like, say, my hand. Oh, but don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s alive. And completely conscious, what luck!  Say ¡®hi,¡¯ Claudia!¡± He shook her around, to no response. ¡°Ah, right, you don¡¯t have any lungs.¡±

    Claudia¡¯s head twitched, eyes darting about in horror and jaw failing to form any words as blood leaked from her neck down Aelius¡¯ arm.  Hanno opened his mouth to spew some pointless drivel, so Aelius stepped on his throat.

    ¡°No no, you just watch,¡± Aelius insisted.

    With his free hand, he gathered another seed.  Hanno could only stare in horror as Aelius planted it firmly into Claudia¡¯s head through the bottom of her neck.  A vibrant plant grew around the opening, sealing it off and popping out a cute, purple flower where her body should be attached.

    ¡°There we go!¡± Aelius said, proceeding to idly toss her head up and down through the air.  ¡°That should keep her from getting a torso back. Of course, without a body she¡¯ll die if she gets too far away from me.  Easy solution, of course.¡±

    Aelius stuffed her head unceremoniously into the white knapsack he kept his seeds in.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to bring her with.¡±  He smiled down at the horrified Hanno, who was struggling in vain to remove Aelius¡¯ foot from his throat.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.  You¡¯re coming too.¡±  Aelius shook the knapsack.  ¡°I think I have room for one more.  It¡¯ll be a tight fit, but I¡¯m sure that will be fine.  You two seemed... close.¡±

    One final time, Aelius removed Hanno¡¯s head.  Plugging it the same way he had Claudia¡¯s, he addressed the crowd.

    ¡°I¡¯m leaving now,¡± he announced.  ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The rest of you will keep your heads attached to your bodies.¡±

    The gruesome scene prevented any palpable feeling of relief at that, but it was still clear that most people thought they had just dodged a horrendous death.

    ¡°That,¡± Aelius continued, ¡°Will be your punishment for boring me.  These two fools at least tried, so I¡¯ll let them come with.  The rest of you?¡±

    Aelius rummaged into his pack and tossed out some seeds.

    ¡°Well, once I¡¯m gone, there will be nothing to keep you alive.¡±

    Pouring power into the seeds before they even touched the ground, the thorndrinker plants all but detonated on contact with the soil, bursting through the screaming crowd to steal victim after endless victim.  Aelius continued to ram bucketfuls of power into the plants, accelerating and shaping their remorseless growth faster and further. They climbed over buildings, across streets, and through anyone that stood in their way.  Aelius didn¡¯t believe for a second that the entire town had actually shown up, and wasn¡¯t interested in his usual half-measures and lazy efforts. Truly flexing his titanic might for the first time in a very long time, Aelius covered the entire town, every square inch, with deadly, carnivorous flora.  Each and every person, pet, and animal in the town was pierced and bound, forced to wait in helpless agony for him to leave and grant them death.

    ¡°Take a good look, kitten,¡± Aelius told Hanno¡¯s head, forcing his eyes open with another hand.  ¡°I am a man, it¡¯s true. But I am not just a man.  I am a titan.  Everything you hold dear exists only by the fleeting whims of my mind.¡±

    He turned Hanno¡¯s head to face him, releasing his eyes. Hanno blinked, but stared back.

    ¡°So here¡¯s the deal.  You and little Claudia are coming with me.  And if you want to see her ever move on her own again, you will help me find my daughter.  You will tell me everything you know, and you will do everything in your pathetic, mortal power to continue assisting me until we find her.  Is that clear?¡±

    Time passed, as Hanno¡¯s eyes flickered around at the devastation of his hometown.  Everything he had ever known, annihilated in the span of a few minutes. He could not fight, he could not run, he could not even speak, and there was only one thing left he even stood a small chance of saving.  There was, in his mind, only one option.

    He mouthed the words: North. West.

    Aelius smiled.

    ¡°Good kitten.¡±

 Ideological Differences

    One hundred and fourteen unmarked graves all stood in a row, moss and vines clutching them in mourning.  What remained of the village of Aletheia started here, at the bottom of the hill where Gadiel Halcomb had surrounded and murdered Shara¡¯s parents.  Someone, titans know who, had made a grave for each of them, though Shara suspected there would be no bones underneath. After all, her skeleton was still walking around.

    The long line of graves was arranged in order, from largest to smallest.  Perhaps, then, the largest grave was her mother¡¯s, the towering beast of a woman who¡¯d shared Shara¡¯s strength.  Any of the middle-sized stones could represent her father¡¯s, and any of the smallest few could be Shara¡¯s own. Shara shivered, though not from the cool wind.  Someone, many years ago, had crafted her a grave, laid it in the charred ruins of her old home. Someone that must have known her, and believed she was dead. There were only a few people Shara knew to fit that criteria, but she doubted any of them mourned her passing.

    Darron approached and wordlessly place a hand on Shara¡¯s shoulder.  Both of them had many questions, but for once, Shara had no more desire to vocalize them than her brother.  It had been a day and a half¡¯s walk from Nuxvar to Aletheia, during which everyone had been uncharacteristically quiet.  Adgito had fallen back to earth after hitting his duration limit and obtained a male, plant-like form that blended in with the grasses.  He had made the most noise of the journey, trying and failing to convince Arina to stab him again. Yet even he remained respectfully silent as Shara took in the sight of her own grave.

    Shara wondered why she had been an only child.  Most families in the village had two or three kids by the time their first had been her age.  Maybe her mom didn¡¯t want to handle the sedentary requirements of pregnancy a second time. Maybe she never tried, and Shara was the only one to have survived her wild whims.  No, that was the doubt talking. Her mother may have been a battle maniac, but she had always been loving and gentle when the situation warranted it.

    Shara wondered what her father really did as the head of the tribe.  She knew he had been in charge, she had been proud of that. One day, she would have been in charge of the tribe herself.  But the things that meant, the day-to-day work her father put in for everyone¡¯s sake, was something she had never thought to ask.  She just assumed she¡¯d always have time to learn later, or that he¡¯d teach her when she was ready. Despite the brutally dangerous life her tribe lived as hunters, never once had she seriously thought there might be a day when it was too late.

    The graves were a lot to take in, but they were almost a stalling tactic to let Shara avoid the town proper.  One look up the hill brought back many brutal memories of that tragic night, her town engulfed in flames and riddled with corpses.  The bodies had all been cleared or washed away over the past eleven years, as well as any of the weapons, armor, or other valuables that may have been scattered across the town.  The foundations and half-burnt remains of the houses, however, laid partly intact, their charred frames reaching splinters towards the sky. Though dilapidated to the point of being barely recognisable, Shara still knew what each building once was, and who had lived there.  The road up the hill was a literal memory lane she wasn¡¯t quite ready to walk down. Wordlessly, she remained staring at the gravestones for nearly half an hour before finally working up the courage to move on.

    The four of them entered a few of the houses as they trudged up the hill.  The doorless frames offered no resistance, just as they hadn¡¯t to the looters that no doubt scoured the town clean.  Not so much as a children¡¯s toy could be found, let alone anything of significant value. Though Yidril had been rebuilt by new people after its annihilation, there had been no reason to attempt the same with Aletheia.  Compared to the rest of the plains it was built on relatively infertile ground, and the village had only initially survived through extreme hunting. With no interesting reason to visit once the looting had completed, the village had been left untouched by intelligent life ever since.

    There were minds about, of course.  As nature had reclaimed the area, animals made her clan¡¯s old homes into their own.  Some relatively small monsters were about too, but Shara¡¯s sword was soaked in the blood of their brethren and they were barely smart enough to understand what that meant. After all, you didn¡¯t last long on the northern plains unless you understood the difference between predator and prey.

    One mind in particular, however, caught Shara¡¯s attention.  A familiar, fuzzy mind that defied conventions and drowned understanding.  Under normal circumstances, it could be anyone. Man, woman, child, adult¡­ Shara had felt this unreadable property in them all.  Yet the further into town Shara walked, the more certain she became. Who else would it even be? Taking a sharp, silent left, she entered another dilapidated building, staring softly at the wood stove her mother used to make so many meals.  It was still intact, after all these years.

    ¡°Hello, Marisol,¡± Shara said.

    Darron and Adgito jumped in surprise as the dark-skinned woman emerged, peering down from the tattered remains of the house¡¯s second story.  The house didn¡¯t look like it was in good enough shape to go climbing around on, as the ceiling and most of the walls had been completely destroyed by fire, gravity, and time.  Yet there Marisol was, peering down lazily as if she¡¯d been there for hours.

    ¡°Hello, Shara,¡± Marisol answered serenely.  ¡°Did you find what you were looking for?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just here to say some proper goodbyes,¡± Shara growled. ¡°You¡¯d better have a damn good reason for waiting around in my house to interrupt that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sweetheart, it wasn¡¯t my intention to bother you,¡± Marisol responded.  Rather than her usual haughty demeanor, it sounded surprisingly honest. ¡°I suppose I¡¯m just here to say some proper hellos.¡±

    ¡°Cut the cryptic crap, Marisol,¡± Shara snapped back.  ¡°Is this a setup? How did you know I¡¯d be here?¡±

    ¡°No, and I made a very good guess. Respectively.¡± Marisol sighed, sitting down so her legs dangled from the second-story balcony above.  ¡°I¡¯m here to apologise.¡±

    ¡°Apologize???  You think you can just say sorry to all of this?¡± Shara splayed out her hands to indicate the ruins around her.

    ¡°Of course not, sweetheart,¡± Marisol replied with a frustrated pout, ¡°I mean more recent events.¡±  She pressed her palms together, putting each pointer finger on her lips in a thoughtful pose. ¡°When I first saw you in Terranburg I¡­ panicked.  Your family had left me rather traumatized, you know. So, I overreacted a bit, what with the military order and all. I never really got to know you before making that call, which was unfair of me.  The more I¡­ well, the more I attempted to sabotage you, let¡¯s be honest¡­ the more it became apparent that you don¡¯t really deserve it.  Honestly, you¡¯re a great person.  Had I changed my approach in Terranburg, not been so aggressive, I think we could have been seeing eye-to-eye this whole time.  It is a misplay I deeply regret, and would like to rectify if at all possible. Elpis could dearly use someone like you.¡±

    It took awhile for Shara to process the sheer audacity of that proposition.

    ¡°Are you¡­ are you asking me to join you?¡± Shara sputtered, ¡°Lady, you have one seriously titanic ballsack to sit there and ask that in the ruins of the home that your people destroyed!  What the hell are you expecting me to say?  ¡®Why yes, I¡¯d love to join team genocide!¡¯  I¡¯m glad the people who wiped out everyone I knew and loved think I¡¯m a swell girl!¡±

    Marisol glared back down at her disappointedly.

    ¡°I chose this place because I was hoping your soire¨¦ in Nuxvar would have shed light on your misconceptions.  I genuinely can¡¯t tell whether you understand what really happened or not.  So let¡¯s make the events of eleven years ago perfectly clear: your family invaded and slaughtered my people long before we ever touched a hair on their pretty blonde heads.  It was an unprovoked attack on another people¡¯s sovereign soil. Elpis wiped your family out only because they made it perfectly clear they were not interested in any option other than war. That is why you frighten me, Shara Aletheia.  Your family had a level of power the rest of the world needs entire armies to output, and when they threw it against me it was with a bloodlust that haunts me to this day.  I may have made a mistake projecting that onto you, but eleven years ago? Elpis was not the villain.¡±

    Rage boiled up in Shara as Marisol kept talking.  She wasn¡¯t going to accept slander about her clan just a few blocks away from their damn gravestones!

    ¡°My family,¡± she intoned, ¡°would never do something like that.  They were good people.¡±

    ¡°Funny,¡± Marisol growled back, ¡°I recall Isabella Cornwall saying much the same thing.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not an idiot, like Isabella Cornwall!¡±  Shara roared back. ¡°For crying out loud, I can read minds!¡±

    ¡°Do you seriously think a village of mind readers wouldn¡¯t have developed a trick or two to keep things from each other?¡± Marisol countered.  ¡°You can only read surface thoughts, right? You can¡¯t hear anything someone isn¡¯t actively thinking about. A bit of self-control is all a person would need to overcome that.¡±

    Shara was about ready to jump up there and punch Marisol in the face when Darron gave her shoulder a light squeeze.

    ¡°Shara was raised to be a good person,¡± he calmly informed her.  ¡°If her parents were as irrationally aggressive as you claim, that trait wouldn¡¯t be manifested.¡±

    Shara exhaled, declining to mention she had been just about to engage in some irrational aggression.  Darron to the rescue, as always. Marisol seemed to be seriously pondering this.

    ¡°...You don¡¯t have to be a good person, to teach someone to value goodness,¡± she eventually said.  ¡°It certainly helps, but so long as you understand your hypocrisy you can still do wrong while teaching your child right.  It¡¯s not a great idea, but Shara was very young. It is not an insult to her to claim she was fooled.¡±

    ¡°Naw, that¡¯s dumb,¡± Adgito butted in.  ¡°You keep talking like they just killed people ¡®for because,¡¯ but a hypocrite still thinks that they¡¯re awesome and great.  If they went out and killed a buncha people they would have had a reason for it.  Plus, there¡¯s the thing where they supposedly wiped Yidril out but spared a buncha people in Nuxvar?  Come on, you¡¯re hiding something.¡±

    Marisol frowned.

    ¡°Well, not really.  I thought the pattern of murders was obvious.  Everyone they killed was from Elpis. Yidril was a colony we specifically established, whereas Nuxvar was a mix of normal residents and people I had exported there.¡±  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    ¡°And why would my family want to attack Elpis?¡± Shara asked.

    For the first time since they¡¯d met, Shara thought Marisol actually looked sad.

    ¡°Ideological differences, I suppose.  We were trying to peacefully assimilate the city under Elpis¡¯ rule.  No violence, no takeover, just having enough people be fond of our country to say yes.  It¡¯s a slow process, but Nuxvar is very far north and we wouldn¡¯t want to spread ourselves too thin anyway.  No one would have been hurt. Best I can tell, your family objected because we were lying about it.  The people from Elpis usually didn¡¯t introduce themselves as such; we didn¡¯t want the sudden influx of immigrants to make people suspicious or fearful.  It¡¯s just¡­ ugh. The fast overvalue speed, the strong overvalue strength, so leave it to a colony of mind readers to think truth is the most important virtue, hmm?¡±

    ¡°Maybe just, I dunno, don¡¯t lie about it?¡± Shara huffed.

    ¡°If I can make the world a better place with a lie or two, I damn well will,¡± Marisol snapped back.  ¡°And either way, nobody should be killing me over it!  Imagine, Shara, a world where everyone is hard-working, intelligent, and kind.  A world where we have laws but hardly use them because everyone cares so much for one another that crime isn¡¯t needed.  A place where we have true equality of opportunity because everyone is actually smart enough to know what that means.  A world where people have the freedom to do whatever they please without sacrifice to security because people simply have no demonstrable reason not to trust each other.   Societies and governments of today struggle because they need to account for the assumption that everyone is evil, that everyone will simply look out for themselves and screw any other person in their path.  And this is an entirely justified assumption! But what if I could remove it all, with nothing but hard work and a simple lie?  Is truth really worth that much?¡±

    ¡°I mean, that sounds really great, Marisol,¡± Shara said, rubbing her temples.  ¡°But the problem is that you can¡¯t.  Even if you could hold that all up on a lie¨C which, again, you can¡¯t¨C it would all come crashing down once people figure it out.  And if they¡¯re all as smart as you say, it will. That whole fantasy is impossible.¡±

    Marisol smiled broadly, her legs swinging from the balcony like an excited child in a booster seat.

    ¡°It is not only possible, sweetheart, but I have done it,¡± she claimed.  ¡°Elpis runs as a true utopia.  No tricks, no brainwashing, no regimes, just love and joy and beauty.  Return with me, and I will gladly prove it. I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised.¡±

    She was¡­ confident.  So confident it was almost enticing.  Shara felt like she didn¡¯t need mind reading to know that this woman genuinely believed she could fix the whole world.  As tempting as that was, it was also terrifying. People could do anything, when they knew they were right.

    ¡°Excuse me,¡± Arina suddenly said. ¡°I have a question.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?  Well, by all means ask it,¡± Marisol offered.

    Arina didn¡¯t look up, her blank gaze locked on the wall in front of her.

    ¡°Did you kill my master?¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡± Marisol asked, eyebrows raising.

    ¡°Were you, in any capacity, involved in the death of Mayor Gregory Cornwall of Oinos Springs?¡± Arina clarified.  ¡°That is my question.¡±

    Marisol frowned, studying Arina carefully.

    ¡°...Yes,¡± she eventually said.  ¡°I had no personal hand in the killing, but it was arranged as the result of my actions.¡±

    Arina nodded.

    ¡°Then I hate you, and everything you stand for, and my involvement in this conversation is closed,¡± she said.

    Ah, right.  As interesting as this plan of Marisol¡¯s was, it ignored the important point of her being a terrible person.

    ¡°Yeah, I think we¡¯re done here,¡± Shara agreed, turning to leave.  ¡°Thanks but no thanks, Marisol. We¡¯re going to Hydronia, and that happens to be in the other direction.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Marisol huffed indignantly, ¡°I kill an objectively evil man for the good of a city, and that¡¯s your final straw?  The other three of you know Oinos is better off without him, you saw the kind of things he did.¡±

    ¡°You just have no comprehension of how friggin¡¯ crazy you sound, do you?¡± Shara snapped, turning back.  ¡°All this ¡®greater good,¡¯ ¡®ends justify the means,¡¯ and now ¡®objective evil?¡¯  Good and evil are subjective, that¡¯s been established by every sane person for the past hundred years!  Read a book! You¡¯re a titans-damned cliche, Marisol!  A textbook nutter!  How the hell did you expect me to react?¡±

    ¡°I expect you to stop dismissing my words because you think you¡¯ve heard them before and think!  People do have an objective morality, they just insist on overcomplicating it so they can pretend they¡¯re never on the wrong side of the fence!  Objective definitions for good and evil are the easiest things in the world: good is when your actions benefit someone else, and evil is when your actions harm someone else.  That¡¯s it! And every damn moral conundrum on this mixed-up planet is just people freaking out over how often you do both.

    ¡°Actions are almost always good and evil, because they have effects that are both helpful and harmful.  Trying to sum those results as if they cancel out is misleading and incorrect.  Most evil is performed by accident, through incompetence, negligence, or stupidity.  We don¡¯t like to feel responsible for consequences we didn¡¯t intend, so our instinct is to seek justification.  When we allow people to view morality subjectively, we create an escape route from something they should be learning from so that they can feel good about failure instead.  They¡¯re never looking at the bigger picture, of how that escape leaks out into a culture like kindness-seeking poison. Kindness, ultimately, is a person putting time and effort into understanding how their actions will affect others and actively attempting to bring benefit.  It¡¯s something that requires thought, requires purpose, so when you excuse people from thinking about consequences you excuse them from considering kindness.

    ¡°To maximize the good you bring to the world, you must understand the results of your actions before you attempt them.  Intelligence, therefore, if rightly applied, increases goodness. Furthermore, one must be willing to see their desired actions to the end for the results to bear fruit, so a strong work ethic also breeds goodness.  It is those three attributes, kind, intelligent, and hard-working, that must be nurtured in the population to create an ideal world. Are those the words of a megalomaniac? The desire to make a place where everyone is just¡­ nice to each other?  That¡¯s all I want!

    ¡°And it is doable, it is sustainable, but not every action I take in the pursuit of a good world is going to be perfectly good itself.  We¡¯re not in a good world, yet.  Isabella was heir to Gregory Cornwall¡¯s fortune, and though she is not a smart person she at least strives to be good.  I could have left her father alone, waited for him to die of natural causes, and enacted the exact same plans then I¡¯m enacting in Oinos Springs now with just a few decade¡¯s delay and no assassination on my hands.  But how many people would he have fed alive to his pets in the meantime?  What would he have done with dozens of starving, brainwashed monsters when they grew up?  Evil breeds evil, I understand that better than anyone. Killing him was an evil act and there will be evil consequences.  But I do not regret making that call, because good breeds good as well. The sooner I can bring it in, the faster it will grow.¡±

    There was a pause, as Marisol looked at Shara expectantly.  Oh, was she done? Shara let out an exasperated huff of air.  What could she say, to something like that? What did she want to say?  Maybe if Shara could read her mind, or if Marisol wasn¡¯t being so damn vague, she parse how truthful any of this actually was and form some coherent counter.  There was so much to say, so many nits to pick, that Shara could certainly continue this conversation if she chose to. She¡¯d bring up a flaw, Marisol would have a clarification, and the dance would continue all night.  Maybe Marisol was right. Maybe she had found some amazing trick she could use to rule the world in harmony.

    Yet didn¡¯t it just seem far more likely that she was a loon?

    ¡°Well, what do you think, guys?¡± Shara asked her friends, expertly passing the buck.  ¡°You wanna go to Elpis?¡±

    ¡°No thanks,¡± Darron immediately deadpanned.  ¡°I¡¯ve already accepted a scholarship at another country¡¯s institution.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, hard pass,¡± Adgito agreed.  ¡°I hope saving the world and junk works out for you, but that¡¯s way above my head.  Just try not to screw everything up in the process.¡±

    ¡°Requesting permission to kill and eat this woman,¡± Arina snapped.

    ¡°Well, you heard ¡®em,¡± Shara said with an over-exaggerated shrug.  ¡°Looks like the team says it¡¯s a no-go. Gonna have to decline the genocide-fueled utopia party, sweetheart.  Now get the hell out of my house!¡±

    Marisol drummed her fingers on the balcony floor, frowning.

    ¡°You¡­ are not taking me seriously,¡± she intuited.

    ¡°Honestly?¡± Shara said, ¡°I¡¯m just tired of you.  I¡¯m halfway towards letting Arina loose just so you¡¯ll stop stalking me everywhere.  Keep your stupid utopia and leave me alone.¡±

    Marisol nodded, grimacing.

    ¡°I¡­ see.  Sorry, sweetheart.  That¡¯s disappointing, but I understand that I was the one who burned the bridges I¡¯m trying to build now.  ...I take it this means you don¡¯t plan on working against me, though?¡±

    ¡°...As long as you don¡¯t give me a reason to, no.¡±

    That was a lie, of course.  Shara had every intention of finding the truth about her family¡¯s murder, and that probably meant going through Marisol.  The question is, would she call Shara¡¯s bluff?

    ¡°Alright,¡± Marisol said, giving a firm nod, ¡°I can work with that.¡±  Standing up, she paused, as if remembering something. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I should ask you to not to go to Yidril.  I know I made the place seem awfully tempting, but it was just a trap to kill you in case this didn¡¯t work out.  Steer clear. Um. I suppose I¡¯ll leave you to it.¡±

    Grasping the edge of the balcony, Marisol pseudo-gracefully swung down and dropped to the first floor.  Nervously stepping around Arina, she nodded a goodbye and exited through the door, eventually vanishing from sight.

    ¡°And now we¡¯ll never see her again!¡± Adgito declared proudly.  ¡°Hooray!¡±

    Shara couldn¡¯t help but chuckle.

    ¡°Oh, if only,¡± she said.  ¡°I give it like, three days, tops.¡±

    ¡°Three days, huh?¡± Adgito pondered.  ¡°On an unrelated note, does Yidril happen to be a three day¡¯s walk from here?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Shara confirmed. ¡°It sure is.¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯m starting to get the hang of this,¡± Adgito said cheerfully.  ¡°When someone says ¡®trap to kill you,¡¯ it actually just turns you on.¡±

    ¡°Oh, ha ha!¡± Shara groaned, punching him lightly on a sleeved arm.  ¡°But seriously though, that was sketchy, right?¡±

    ¡°She had some very interesting points,¡± Darron admitted, ¡°but I certainly wouldn¡¯t put stock in them without verification.  And traveling with her to a country we¡¯re wanted in seems like a poor way to accomplish that.¡±

    ¡°Yup.  So, everybody all for walking into the deathtrap?¡± Shara asked.

    ¡°Always,¡± Arina confirmed.

    ¡°Yeah, well, you are a deathtrap,¡± Adgito countered.  ¡°But sure, what the hell. I¡¯m almost getting used to punching monsters.¡±

    Darron nodded.  She didn¡¯t even need to ask.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Shara declared.  ¡°Let¡¯s get to the bottom of this.¡±

    Taking one last look at old memories, Shara turned and marched out of her old house, heading north to certain doom.

 Bump Uglies

    ¡°I screwed up,¡± Marisol admitted.  ¡°I made a horrible, horrible mistake.¡±

    Gadiel looked up from his mountain of paperwork to regard the dark-skinned woman he knew so well.  It was unlike her to enter his office unannounced, though she always had permission to do so. She stood slightly unbalanced, one arm clutching her opposite tricep so fiercely he¡¯d worry about anyone else giving themselves a bruise.

    ¡°The talk with the girl didn¡¯t go well, I take it?¡± he asked.

    ¡°What?¡± Marisol asked, briefly confused.  ¡°Oh, no, that was fine. She¡¯ll walk to her death or she won¡¯t and it works out for us either way.  No, I messed up with Aelius, darling.  Maybe worse than I¡¯ve ever messed up before.¡±

    Darling?  Marisol had really lost her composure, then, if she was going back to calling him that.  He hadn¡¯t heard her call him ¡®darling¡¯ since¡­ well, since Nuxvar.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Gadiel asked calmly, already preparing for the worst.  The teleportation circle was finished; he had other business in Terranburg, but it would only be a moderate inconvenience to leave the rest of it hanging.  For something so serious, she would probably need him.

    Gadiel had always been amused at his position of commander-in-chief.  He was a fine pencil pusher, though Marisol was better. He was an excellent tactician, but Marisol was the best.  The only thing he had that Marisol did not was simply power. Gadiel was the heavy hitter of the Elpis National Army, which had never struck him as a good position for back-line officers to be in.  The joys of nepotism in action, he supposed. That, or Marisol wanted to make sure he was the one doing all this paperwork.

    ¡°I¡­ I thought we were ready,¡± Marisol stammered, ¡°for the kinds of things Aelius could do.  But I never imagined he¡¯d casually slaughter an entire city. Thousands of people, murdered, and I couldn¡¯t do anything but share their pain.  I¡¯ve been watching him for a century and a half and I never even dreamed he was capable of destruction on that scale.¡±

    ¡°How many, exactly?¡± Gadiel asked softly.

    ¡°Two-thousand, four-hundred, and fifty-six people, plus another half that of mine.¡± Marisol answered.  ¡°Dammit, it all happened so suddenly that I couldn¡¯t even get my own people out of there, let alone any innocents.  The only upside is how quickly he left; if he had chosen to stick around and torture anyone for much longer my cover may very well have been blown.¡±

    A blown cover would have ruined everything, but that was hardly the major concern here.  Two thousand.  It would take Gadiel a very long time to lay those graves.

    ¡°How could we let this happen?¡± Gadiel asked solemnly.  You don¡¯t get to try ruling the world without being responsible for all the people in it.

    ¡°It¡¯s entirely my fault,¡± Marisol conceded, beginning to pace around the room.  ¡°Aelius needs to die, that much is more clear now than ever. But shaking him out of his routine to do it was possibly the greatest tactical misplay of the entire operation.  The goal was to get him to seek out and aggravate Neoma, who would advertently or inadvertently obliterate him with a cascade event.  That is, admittedly, still a likely outcome. But I¡­ oh, god, I¡¯m just such an idiot. For crying out loud, he¡¯s a titan.  I should have jumped my estimates a few tiers up a logarithmic scale on principle.  I¡¯m taking over the damn world with less aura than he uses on accident!¡±

    ¡°The cost of the plan has become too high,¡± Gadiel said, to finish her thought.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Marisol agreed.  ¡°But I don¡¯t have another plan, not one that would work fast enough to matter.  Neoma is still our only real check.¡±

    ¡°Did you try asking the Aletheian for help?¡± Gadiel asked.  ¡°About Aelius specifically, I mean.¡±

    ¡°The Alethe¨C Gadiel, we¡¯re talking about a titan here.  What¡¯s she going to do, hit him with a sword?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps she could find emotional or psychological weaknesses,¡± Gadiel posited.  ¡°She also has Adgito, doesn¡¯t she?¡±

    Marisol sighed, frustrated.

    ¡°Adgito can only fight fire with fire, and he¡¯s the one that would get burned.  A copy of Aelius¡¯ powers would not make Aelius any easier to kill. Look, just leave the Aletheian alone.  She has a pet vrochth¨ªzo now too, and we don¡¯t want one of those getting within a hundred miles of that man.  No, we¡¯d need to leverage the power of another titan if we expect to make a dent in Aelius, but there aren¡¯t any options!  Scylla¡¯s not interested and we need to keep her that way. I don¡¯t know what Dawn¡¯s up to and I hope to never find out. Dorana is useless, Pacisa¡¯s on another continent, and Vaylir could be literally anywhere.  They probably wouldn¡¯t help anyway. That leaves Neoma as our only real option and even then I have to hope she¡¯ll end up helping on accident!¡±

    Put like that, it did seem they were low on options.  Gadiel had another one in mind, but he would exhaust other possibilities first.

    ¡°If I recall correctly, you judged Neoma¡¯s main priority to be not hurting anyone with her powers, yes?  But she also places limited effort into learning to control those abilities?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct,¡± Marisol confirmed.  ¡°An endlessly frustrating trait of hers.  If she put half as much effort into teaching herself as she did into trying to kill herself she¡¯d probably be having a wonderful life by now.¡±

    ¡°Why not reach out to her?¡± Gadiel asked.  ¡°Become her friend. If you reveal how your abilities work to her, at least in part, she won¡¯t have to worry about accidentally slaying you.  From there, you become close and and convince her to take the offensive against her father.¡±

    Marisol stopped pacing, thinking quietly for a moment.

    ¡°That¡­ may have been a good plan, at least a few months ago.  We¡¯re on too much of a time limit for it to be worth trying to worm my way into her life now.  But ultimately I still would have rejected it, because I¡¯m not convinced I would survive a cascade from the Titan of Annihilation.  She obliterates aura alongside physical form. Perhaps it would carry, like her father¡¯s power does.¡±

    Gadiel frowned.  That almost certainly wasn¡¯t true.  If Neoma¡¯s power chained across entire auras like Aelius¡¯, a person would die from having any part of them affected.  This, in all recorded instances, was not the case; her power annihilated only the things it contacted and never any further.  It wouldn¡¯t damage Marisol beyond any direct injuries she ended up sustaining, same as any other attack, and if Gadiel figured that out Marisol certainly had as well.

    ¡°It has been a noticeable concern of mine,¡± Gadiel commented, ¡°that the more difficult you make yourself to kill, the more irrationally afraid of death you seem to become.¡±

    ¡°It is hardly irrational,¡± Marisol countered.  ¡°The last time I assumed a titan was only capable of feats I¡¯d observed them perform, we lost two thousand people.  Our ability to tolerate careless mistakes has ended.¡±

    ¡°Not quite,¡± Gadiel said solemnly, rising from his chair. ¡°There¡¯s still one more to make.  The coordinates, please.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Marisol started, eyes flashing towards him.  ¡°No! No, are you crazy? There¡¯s nothing you can do to kill him.¡±

    Gadiel walked calmly over to his former lover and dearest friend, placing a reassuring hand utop her head in a gesture of affection they had sworn off long ago.

    ¡°Then I shall not kill him,¡± he said simply.  ¡°Containing him should be possible. I haven¡¯t been wasting away on nothing but paperwork, you know.  I have a few tricks to try out.¡±

    He swiftly exited his office before she could object, motioning her to follow.  Out in the embassy proper they ran the risk of prying eyes, which would force Marisol to stay in character.  It was one advantage to his position as commander, he supposed.

    ¡°Prepare the coordinates for me immediately,¡± he commanded as Marisol fell in behind him, any trace of worry gone from her figure.  ¡°As a peacekeeping force, the Elpis National Army cannot tolerate Aelius¡¯ actions. I will lead the engagement myself.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± Marisol acknowledged without hesitation.  ¡°I¡¯ve already taken the liberty of preparing your horse.  Your squire has been notified and your armor is ready. The trip will consume an estimated four-point-six conduit charges, and we will not have enough for a return voyage.¡±

    ¡°Acceptable,¡± Gadiel asserted.  ¡°Leave the scribes in charge of my remaining duties in Terranburg.  I will join up with the forward army after my engagement instead of returning here.¡±

    ¡°Understood,¡± Marisol nodded.  ¡°Godspeed, commander.¡±

    She would get him back for this, he knew.  Though his beliefs had forced them to divorce, it was reassuring to know the spark of love between them never faded.  To still be so precious to someone that they would go the lengths she had was truly a thing to be thankful for. Some punishment or another would no doubt be cleverly waiting for him when he returned, as revenge for making her worry.

    Titan or no, he would not fail to receive it, when the battle was over.

    <hr><hr>

    ¡°Oh, yes, Hanno!  I would so very much like to bump uglies with you!¡±  Aelius mockingly squeaked, waving Claudia¡¯s head around in one hand as he forced her jaw open and shut in time with his words.

    ¡°Oh, Claudia,¡± he continued in a laughably deep voice, shaking Hanno¡¯s head around in his other palm, ¡°I, too, would be a very big fan of slamming my gross sack of mortal flesh into your gross sack of mortal flesh and making everybody in a thousand yards vomit uncontrollably!  This is very appealing to me!¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°Oh, Hanno!¡± Aelius squeaked again, ¡°Let us perform a publicly indecent amount of sloppy smooches!  Which is to say, any number of them!¡±

    ¡°Oh, Claudia!  This is a great idea that nobody around us will hate!¡± Aelius rumbled.

    Clutching both heads firmly, he then proceeded to repeatedly slam them face-first against each other hard enough to fracture their skulls.

    ¡°Muahmuahmuahmuahmuahmuahmuah!¡± he mocked, making a kissy noise each time the two beheaded thiro smashed into contact.  Blood and shards of bone splattered the ground, staining the flora that bloomed forth where Aelius walked.

    ¡°And that, my little doe and kitten, is what sex it like,¡± he told his captive audience, turning them to face him as his powers knitted their faces back together.  ¡°What do you think? My daughter¡¯s sixteenth birthday is coming up soon, you know, so I figure it¡¯s past time I gave her ¡®the talk.¡¯ Normally mommy would do it for the daughter, but my little baby had to go and blow hers up.¡±  He sniffed up a fake tear. ¡°I¡¯m so proud.¡±

    Hanno and Claudia couldn¡¯t actually respond beyond blank stares of abject horror, but he had them nod and pretended they were agreeing.  Most of the time, the two of them bounced around in his pack giving each other mild concussions as he skipped along, but sometimes he would bring one or both of them out when he got bored or forgot which way he was supposed to be going.  Idly, he tossed Claudia¡¯s head up and down, trying to see how many times he could get her to spin before accidentally dropping her. She couldn¡¯t vomit or anything, but her head could still experience crippling vertigo, a special kind of discomfort to spice up the usual dose of simple pain.  He made sure to hold Hanno at an angle where he could watch.

    Unfortunately, it would seem he couldn¡¯t play for long.  The sound of heavy hoofprints thundered through the air, heading towards his position.  Begrudgingly, he stored his second and third favorite heads (first being his own, of course) back in his sack and turned to face the incoming rider.

    Aelius let out a low whistle as the horseman crested over a nearby hill and into his field of vision.  Adorned in gilded armor from head to toe, the rider¡¯s radiant form gleamed in the sunlight as it charged, sword drawn, directly towards the titan.

    Aelius was completely, yet pleasantly, flabbergasted.  This was an attack, right? He was being attacked? By one apparently rather rich guy with a stick of sharp metal and a smelly animal?  This was¡­ well, he didn¡¯t know what this was. What should he even do in a situation like this?

    He could just drop a thorndrinker and be done with it, he supposed, but that seemed rather boring.  He could just take the hit, probably shrugging it off without too much effort. At worst, he¡¯d have to grow something back.  Still, those seemed almost too¡­ Aelius.  Variety is the spice of life, after all, and if there was one thing Aelius had an abundance of it was life.  So he did something very un-Aelius like and dodged.  The rider¡¯s steed sprinted forth, muscles heaving, as the horseman swung his blade down towards Aelius¡¯ retreating neck.  It wasn¡¯t until he was about to smugly congratulate himself for his expert evasion that Aelius realized he was only feeling the distinctive bite of a single life form: the horse.

    As Aelius moved to avoid the illusory sword swing, a crack of immense power erupted from far behind him.  Slamming into his back, the raw arcane energy devoured a massive hole in his barrier and kept going, tearing a hole through his torso so massive he was only held together by skin on either side of his waist.  He was already regenerating as he started to fall over backwards, but an instant later a massive stone spike shot out of the ground to plug the hole before his organs could do it themselves. It continued growing, pushing him up into the air as his body strained to try and heal around the massive protrusion but finding itself unable to budge the rock.

    ¡°Well isn¡¯t that clever,¡± Aelius muttered to himself.  Reaching for a seed in his pouch, he dropped one to the rapidly retreating ground below.  It burst into a massive, thick vine when it hit the dirt, thrashing around wildly and smashing the stone spire to bits.  Twisting in midair, Aelius dropped the remains of the shattered stone out of his torso and restored his body before even hitting the ground.

    ¡°I like your moves!¡± Aelius called out to the plains at large.  ¡°Get out here and let me see your face!¡±

    ¡°That seems like it would be a rather poor decision,¡± the illusory rider mused, ¡°so I¡¯ll decline.¡±

    Aelius had figured as much.  That¡¯s why he had been expanding his aura to catch the telltale feeling of another life form this whole time.  He quickly found a figure hiding in the grass from (surprise, surprise) the direction he had been shot from. An instant later, vines erupted and ensnared the figure from below, pulling him closer to Aelius as they peeled off layers of his armor.

    The crooked-nosed face of an old man glared at him as the grinning Aelius drug him out of the grass.  Aelius had to admit, he had not been expecting such a frail-looking specimen. The strength of the man¡¯s aura was nothing to sneeze at, of course, easily ranking in the top five percent of mortals Aelius had met, but ¡®impressive for mortals¡¯ was like a human saying ¡®impressive for bees.¡¯  Just because one stung extra hard doesn¡¯t mean it was any more than a honey factory.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t been injured like that in a long time,¡± Aelius mused.  ¡°What¡¯s your name, ya old fart?¡±

    ¡°Gadiel,¡± the old man responded.  ¡°And in the name of the sovereign nation of Elpis, I demand you release your captives and submit to prosecution immediately.¡±

    Aelius laughed at the old fool, hanging at his mercy and demanding spare change.

    ¡°Release my captives?  Are you sure? The poor things¡¯ll die if I do that.¡±

    ¡°Then heal them to as they were before, and release them afterwards,¡± Gadiel insisted.

    ¡°Huh.  I¡¯m gonna go with ¡®no¡¯ and also kill you instead.  Like, seriously, where did you expect that to lead?  You got stones, old man, I¡¯ll give you that, but boy are you stupid.¡±

    Gadiel inclined his head in a noncommittal manner.

    ¡°Less than you¡¯d think,¡± he said, and exploded.

    A blinding flash of light overwhelmed Aelius¡¯ senses mere instants before what felt like an entire glacier fell upon him, sucking the heat from his marrow.  In a snap of ice and cold the very air solidified around Aelius¡¯ body, locking him in place and freezing his cells completely. Still blinded from Gadiel¡¯s living flashbang¨C and no longer able to sense Gadiel in his aura¡¯s range, the tricky bastard¨C Aeilus was stunned, deafened, bound immobile, and comprehensively frostbitten.

    Please, Aelius thought to himself, irritated.  This one isn¡¯t even hard.

    Revving his few living cells into overdrive, Aelius burned.  Little by little, bit by bit, the combined power of his healing magic and the heat of his body¡¯s chemical reactions thawed out more and more of his flesh, in turn increasing the amount of heat his body put out.  Fed by pure magical aura, his cells were undaunted by the limits of physical energy stores and could cycle, react, and burn indefinitely without overheating or running out of fuel. His temperature skyrocketed, sublimating the frozen prison after mere seconds.

    ¡°Alright, you scrote-faced wiseguy!¡± Aelius roared the moment his lungs started working again, ¡°What the hell do you take me for?  You think you can contain me?  I am life itself!  You know what that means?  It means I¡¯m a bitch, and then you die.¡±

    Flexing his power, Aelius had his vines pick up Gadiel¡¯s horse, ripping it in half and tossing each end out of his healing field so it wouldn¡¯t give a false positive when looking for that slippery old man.

    ¡°Well, that was just unnecessary,¡± Gadiel commented, stepping into plain view with sword drawn.  ¡°Now I¡¯ll have to walk home.¡± It was a fake, of course, it had no aura, but it still moved and talked like a man.

    ¡°You won¡¯t be walking anywhere, when I¡¯m done with you,¡± Aelius growled, ignoring the illusion and looking around for other movement.  Aelius had expanded his healing field to its limit, causing him to detect hundreds of various animals, monsters, and potential Gadiels.  He couldn¡¯t tell the auras apart, and so had to resort to tearing them each open with swarms of vines and visually confirming the resultant bloody mess.

    Six more Gadiels stepped out of the grass, each fake.  They lunged, but Aelius paid them no mind. He wasn¡¯t going to fall for another petty trick.

    Or at least so he thought, until one of them stabbed him through the throat.  At the last instant, Aelius felt life suddenly appear in one of the illusions, its thrust already too close to avoid.  The blade crashed into his barrier and forced its way through, severing Aelius¡¯ spine and lodging metal in its place, forcing his body limp.  From Gadiel¡¯s lips tore out a spell incantation, which he finished with the spell¡¯s common name.

    ¡°Metamorph object.¡±

    Metal spines shot out of the sword, stabbing into Aelius and clutching him in place.  The metal lodged in his neck pulled and separated the vertebrae, weaving intricately around and through the inside of Aelius¡¯ skull.  All the while, Gadiel¡¯s armor¨C which was also somehow back on him, apparently¨C leapt from his body to create a gilded cage around Aelius¡¯ form, holding him in place.  Vines whipped down to crush the impudent human but Gadiel was suddenly a different one of his illusions, his true body standing elsewhere as the enraged flora swung at a now-false image.  Gadiel formed a sword of wind to replace his lost metal blade, sweeping it up to fell another vine that attempted to crush him. The metal in Aelius¡¯ body finished tearing his head from his neck, sealing off the gap between them.

    ¡°Marisol told me of what you did to your victims,¡± Gadiel told him, cutting down more vines that the enraged Aelius sent his way.  ¡°And you will not go unpunished for it. When you separated the head from the body, only the head remained living, even though the body remained within range of your magic.  You heal via a person¡¯s aura, not by affecting cells directly, and the aura remains with only one part of you when you are split. You may be unmatched in your element, Aelius, but even you have to follow your own rules.¡±

    Aelius wanted nothing more than to snark back, but he couldn¡¯t speak.  His body was completely trapped, encased in some ridiculous enchanted metal that wouldn¡¯t even melt right.

    With another spell, Gadiel shot the armor trapping Aelius high into the air.  His healing field no longer reaching the ground, the aggressive, massively oversized plants were unable to sustain themselves and quickly died.  Aelius couldn¡¯t drop any more seeds since his body wouldn¡¯t move, and they¡¯d simply fall inside the armor if he tried anyway.

    There was also a limit to the degree he could affect his own body with his powers; his own healing was accelerated to the point of absurdity but he lacked the fine control over the repairs and growths he could act on things like his plants.  Every angle had been covered, and Aelius had nothing but himself to blame for the arrogance required to have allowed a mortal to make it this far. The titan had been well and truly trapped.

    Or at least he would have been, if not for his best buddy Hanno.

    Trapped inside the reformed armor alongside him, tucked in his bag with all Aelius¡¯ precious seeds, was Hanno and Claudia.  And while Aelius couldn¡¯t heal his own beautiful face in any way other than its natural, radiant appearance, he could sure as hell make Hanno into whatever nightmare fleshmonster he wanted.  After all, Hanno¡¯s aura knew its head needed a body. It practically begged for healing. Aelius just needed to encourage it to heal in the right direction.

    It took some doing.  As Gadiel stoically carried Aelius¡¯ prison off towards who knows where, Aelius filled Hanno and Claudia with life.  A direct and careful application of power allowed him to ¡°heal¡± extra tissue around the area blocked off by his sealing plant, piling flesh on flesh on skin on skin.  He cared for nothing but mass, gleefully budding an impossible wretch of a lifeform from the disembodied heads of his two captives. The mass of skin and muscle grew and grew, the sheer strength of Aelius¡¯ prison being used against it as pressure built up inside to unimaginable levels.  By the time Gadiel could see the shell of his trap bending outward from strain, it was too late. The armor cracked and exploded, a mound of mutant thiro flesh ballooning into a mountain as the pressure released, sending gore scattering in all directions. The contents of Aelius¡¯ bag were spilled across the countryside, and Aelius wasted no time growing each and every one of his seeds into a menagere of death, directing one to grab and tear out the metal blocking his own recovery.

    The sheer variety and volume of death-plants tore into Gadiel, catching him off-guard and shredding him limb from limb.  Aelius felt them take an arm and a leg, plus add countless other wounds before Gadiel managed to teleport outside Aelius¡¯ range.  He would no doubt bleed out without assistance, and since he¡¯d just declined the services of the world¡¯s best healer Aelius was feeling pretty skeptical about Gadiel¡¯s chances.  Reforming into his full-bodied, radiant glory, a naked Aelius clothed himself in self-knitting grass robes, twisted Hanno and Claudia¡¯s heads off their makeshift mountainous ¡°bodies,¡± and resumed his trek northeast.

    ¡°That was fun,¡± he muttered to himself.  ¡°I should really slaughter cities more often.¡±

 Come Clean

    Yidril looked different than Darron had been expecting.  He couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on it, but something was off.  It was a small, quaint little village, surrounded by rows upon endless rows of corn.  Corn was somewhat of an odd choice; it was notoriously difficult to grow in the plains due to their temperature and water needs, not to mention how easy the stalks were for omnivorous monsters to poach.  Successfully raising the corn to the point where people could eat it was a herculean task, but Yidril seemed to be managing somehow. That was odd, but fine.

    No, what bothered Darron, he quickly realized, was that there was too much corn.  Yidril looked similar in size to Borns, meaning it housed maybe a couple hundred people at most.  Though it was feasible they could raise all this corn, especially if they had mages, they certainly couldn¡¯t eat it all.  Perhaps the excess was raised under the assumption that most of it would be devoured by monsters?  A reasonable farming strategy, under Northern Plains conditions, but if that were the case¡­ well, some signs that monsters were eating anything should be apparent.

    Darron, Shara, Adgito and Arina were not accosted as they made their way through the cornfields, so there was no automated trick to protect the food.  At least, none that he could detect. The sun had already set when they arrived, but no lights cut through the darkness and no watchtowers were set up to gain early warning of danger.

    ¡°The town seems completely undefended,¡± Shara said, putting voice to his thoughts, ¡°but the fact that it¡¯s still here means it must be protected by something.  Any ideas what that might be?¡±

    ¡°I do not feel anything out of the ordinary,¡± Arina reported.  ¡°There are animals and insects around, though none of them seem to be eating the corn.¡±

    ¡°I inspected some of the corn, but it¡¯s nothing unusual.¡± Darron admitted.  ¡°It¡¯s genetically engineered, but not in any way I haven¡¯t seen before; they they probably just bought a biomancer-touched strain when seeding.  There¡¯s no hidden disease or poison in them.¡±

    ¡°The animals all just have normal animal minds,¡± Shara added.  ¡°I¡¯m not sensing any minds under the ground, which is kinda strange but could be any number of things.¡±

    The three of them turned to Adgito.

    ¡°W-what?¡± he stammered defensively.  ¡°What are you looking at me for? I don¡¯t have any freaky sensory powers like you guys!  I mean, not currently. It¡¯s dark and we¡¯re in a cornfield, okay? That¡¯s all I got.¡±

    Adgito currently resided in his base male form.  He had been some kind of four-armed bug man for most of the trip over, but he¡¯d opted to tap Darron before rejoining civilization.

    ¡°Alright, well, stay on your guard, everyone,¡± Shara ordered.  ¡°Arina will keep an ear out and I¡¯ll keep a brain out, but we move under the assumption that this is a trap and the enemy knows we know it¡¯s a trap.  Whatever comes at us is going to be hard to predict, so just be generally ready, okay?¡±

    ¡°Maybe the trap is that there is no trap,¡± Adgito said sagely.

    That would be kind of pointless, in Darron¡¯s opinion.  The appearance of a trap, but no trigger? He supposed it could be used to stress them out and cause them to make a mistake later, but said mistake would probably be the trigger for another trap which would render the entire premise moot. Maybe if¨C

    ¡°Darron, stop humoring him,¡± Shara butted in.  ¡°We¡¯ve got a town to investigate.¡±

    Does it really count as humoring him if he can¡¯t hear it? Darron wondered.

    ¡°Who¡¯s humoring what now?¡± Adgito asked out loud.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Shara answered Darron.

    ¡°What?¡± Adgito asked.

    Adgito wouldn¡¯t even know about it if you hadn¡¯t said anything, Darron pointed out.

    ¡°Would everyone just shut up and focus?¡± Shara growled.

    ¡°You¡¯re the one talking to yourself,¡± Adgito mumbled.

    ¡°Someone is approaching,¡± Arina intoned, immediately ending the argument.

    Sure enough, a middle-aged man dressed in worker¡¯s clothes emerged from between some stalks to glare at the four of them.

    ¡°Whater ya¡¯all doin¡¯ out here this time o¡¯ night?¡± he drawled at them.  ¡°Get.¡±

    ¡°Ah, sorry sir,¡± Shara smiled.  ¡°We¡¯re just making our way into town.  Could you direct us to the inn?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± the man growled.  ¡°We don¡¯t got one. Ain¡¯t nobody ever stop by, don¡¯t need one.  Now get.¡±

    ¡°Oh, well, we have a few goods we could trade for a night¡¯s stay¨C¡±

    ¡°No,¡± the man said.  ¡°Ain¡¯t nobody here fool enough ta let ya inta their homes, girl.  We keep ta ourselves an¡¯ expect everyone else ta do the same. Now begone wit ya.¡±

    Shara¡¯s mouth twitched.

    ¡°I think I¡¯d like to talk with somebody else.  I¡¯m going to head on into the village, okay?¡±

    ¡°No matter what yer lookin¡¯ for, girl, ya won¡¯t find it here,¡± the man warned.

    ¡°I¡¯ll look regardless,¡± Shara said, turning away and continuing on, leaving the man to shake his head in irritation.

    ¡°Well, that wasn¡¯t ominous at all,¡± Adgito commented when they were out of earshot.

    ¡°Yeah, what a weirdo.  I couldn¡¯t read him either,¡± Shara said.  ¡°I¡¯ll try to track down somebody normal for us.¡±

    ¡°What if the normal people can¡¯t have their minds read, and we¡¯re all the weird ones?¡± Adgito wondered.

    ¡°What is with you today?¡±

    Adgito shrugged.  ¡°Just trying to contribute.¡±

    Yidril had no walls.  The cornfields simply ended and houses began.  Nearly every building seemed to be a personal residence, with the exception of a large, unmarked storehouse in the center of town.  Darron had little doubt that Shara would end up breaking into that before the night was done, assuming she failed to learn its contents from somebody¡¯s mind.

    They walked around the mostly-empty town, the night being late enough for everyone to be locked up in their houses.  The few people who were out and about gave the lot of them dirty looks, and Shara shook her head at all of them. Nobody readable, huh?

    ¡°I¡¯m actually getting close enough to the houses to peek in at the people inside,¡± Shara whispered, ¡°and there¡¯s nothing.  Honestly, I¡¯m starting to get a headache. Everyone here has that buzzy, unreadable thing.¡±

    A headache, huh?  Darron thought.  Maybe that¡¯s the trap?

    ¡°It¡¯s mostly annoying right now, more than painful,¡± Shara hummed.  ¡°I¡¯ll let you know if it gets any worse.¡± She turned to the rest of the team.  ¡°Actually, that goes for everyone. Let Darron know if you feel anything out of the ordinary.  Headaches, cramps, any other symptoms, even if they seem benign. I have no idea what to expect here, so we¡¯re assuming the worst.¡±  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    ¡°I am fine,¡± Arina confirmed.

    ¡°I have to take a dump,¡± Adgito helpfully added.

    ¡°I feel like you¡¯re not respecting the seriousness of this ¡®death trap¡¯ situation,¡± Shara said to him.

    ¡°What?  You¡¯re the one who told me to start embracing the cool parts of my powers.  Not dying is one of those, isn¡¯t it? So like, I¡¯ll probably be fine.¡±

    ¡°Okay but I might die,¡± Shara pointed out.

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ve seen you fight,¡± Adgito responded dismissively.  ¡°I¡¯m not too worried about it.¡±

    That seemed to placate her ego enough to drop the issue, to Darron¡¯s surprise.  Did Shara just lose an argument? He¡¯d changed her mind before, but never gotten her to simply concede.  He made a note to try and emulate the tactic.

    The four of them walked around the entire town.  It only took a few hours to get Shara close enough to mentally peer into every house, and the results were predictably concerning: every person in Yidril had a mind that could not be read.  A solid one-hundred percent.

    This of course matched up with the reported percentage of people killed in Yidril during the Nuxvar Massacre, but supposedly the current Yidril was re-founded by totally different, unrelated people.  It could technically be a coincidence, but heuristically speaking Darron thought it would probably be an inefficient path to the truth to assume so. Which is to say: ¡°duh, of course it¡¯s not.¡±

    The question of interest was why.  The obvious tie-in was Elpis; Marisol had outright admitted that the targets of the massacre had been people from Elpis and they seemed to have a higher-than-normal percentage of unreadable minds.  But also far from a perfect percentage; Isabella¡¯s personal maid had been from Elpis and Shara said she¡¯d read her mind fine. Gadiel Halcomb, commander-in-chief of Elpis military had a readable mind.  Even the occasional Elpis soldier had a readable mind. Besides, all of that hinged on the questionable assumption that Marisol had even been telling the truth about the Aletheians¡¯ targets.

    There was almost certainly a connection between the people replacing those that died in the massacre and those whose minds could not be read.  Whether that implied a connection between unreadable minds and those that actually died was a leap of logic, but not an unrealistic one.  Darron had quite a few theories, but nothing he could claim definitively enough to be confident in.

    ¡°So we still need more information,¡± Shara concluded for him. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll camp the night.  Nobody¡¯s willing to house us, but we can just plop down some sleeping bags in front of their suspicious barn thing and wait until morning.¡±

    ¡°You may all rest comfortably,¡± Arina said.  ¡°I will ensure you are not disturbed.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Darron told her, and patted her shoulder, to which she simply nodded.  He was trying to make an effort to treat her humanly, because someone needed to do it and he was the only real option via process of elimination.  Darron knew he probably wasn¡¯t doing a great job, but Adgito didn¡¯t get along with her at all and Arina wasn¡¯t at a stage where she could interact with Shara as an equal.  He should probably talk with Adgito about it, though. As much as Darron loathed to admit it, Adgito had struck a chord in their previous talks about Darron¡¯s social inadequacies.  He couldn¡¯t keep relying on Shara to do the talking forever, and Adgito was the next most socially competent friend he had.

    Oh god, Adgito was the next most socially competent friend he had.  Darron supposed they were friends now, basically. They¡¯d fought a ton of monsters together.  That¡¯s pretty much what friends did, right? Darron didn¡¯t really know the answer to that question.

    ¡°Shara?¡± Darron said as he laid his bedroll out on the dirt.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m starting to suspect we didn¡¯t have a normal childhood.¡±

    ¡°I dunno what could make you say that, bro,¡± Shara responded with a grin. ¡°Don¡¯t most people kill monsters when they¡¯re eight?¡±

    ¡°It has been my observation that most people don¡¯t kill monsters at all,¡± Darron glowered.

    Shara just chuckled.

    ¡°Good night, Darron.  Let¡¯s just figure this out and get to Hydronia, okay?¡±

    Darron nodded, squirming into bed.  Two easy-sounding steps, weren¡¯t they? Nonetheless, he would have to complete them.  The mystery of Elpis was not only interesting to him, but unfortunately quite relevant.  They didn¡¯t seem inclined to leave the rest of the continent alone, and Darron happened to live on this particular continent.  Hoping someone else took care of things had never sat well with him, so he supposed he¡¯d have to do something about it himself.

    The night was peaceful.  Darron awoke to soft rays of sunshine rather than a call to battle, which was always a pleasant treat when traveling the plains.  He yawned, glancing around. Arina was standing over him, two wind blades drawn. A wall of violent air encircled the camp, making almost no noise despite the obvious damage it was doing to the ground around it.  The vrochth¨ªzo assassin stared calmly at nothing as an enraged mob threw stones and poked pitchforks at the barrier of wind, some nursing nasty wounds they presumably got from getting too close to the gale.

    ¡°Good morning, ma¡­ Darron.¡±  Arina corrected. ¡°I trust you slept well?¡±

    Darron sat up, sighing.  He seemed to be the first one awake, which meant he should probably deal with this mess.  He suspected it was the start of a very long day.

    ¡°Yes, I did, Arina.  Thank you. What is going on?¡±

    ¡°Some residents here demanded we sleep outside the city,¡± Arina informed him.  ¡°However, you were already sleeping, so I told them I would inform you the next day, as I am doing now.  They were not pleased with the prospect of compromise and so I have restrained them from voicing further opinion on the matter until my master has woken.  Nonlethally.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ okay,¡± Darron said.  ¡°Good job on restraining them.  This is a very impressive wind wall¡­ but I think Shara and I would have both liked to be alerted before this escalated into a mob situation.¡±

    ¡°Mob¡­ situation?¡± Arina asked.  ¡°Apologies.¡±

    Darron thought on that for a moment.

    ¡°You can¡¯t sense past your own wall, can you?  Since it blocks sound?¡±

    ¡°Y-yes,¡± Arina admitted.  ¡°The utter ineffectiveness of applied resistance caused me to assume there were only casual interlopers.  How many foes do we face?¡±

    Darron stood up, stretching as he did a quick headcount.

    ¡°Forty-six?¡± he ventured.  ¡°They¡¯re not happy. Probably because your wall is blocking the door to their storeroom?  Can you remove the sound-dampening effect from your wall so we can talk to them?¡±

    ¡°Not while my master is still resting,¡± Arina asserted.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Darron said, and kicked his sister in the shin. Shara yelped in pain and immediately sat up, hand on her blade.

    ¡°Can we talk to them now?¡± Darron asked.

    ¡°...Certainly,¡± Arina grumbled.

    The wind roared, startling Adgito awake as well.  The mob jumped back in panic, but quickly resumed their assault once they realized the wall wasn¡¯t actually doing anything else.  It was difficult to hear them over the howling gale, but Darron reluctantly raised his voice and let himself be heard.

    ¡°Excuse me!  Hello!¡± he shouted. ¡±Sorry about our passionate bodyguard, here.  May I ask what the problem is?¡±

    ¡°Get the hell out of our town!¡± someone in the crowd roared back.

    ¡°You don¡¯t belong here!¡±

    ¡°Stay away from our property!¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, alright!¡± Shara yelled, pulling herself out of bed and standing as well.  ¡°Sorry, we just wanted somewhere safe to stay the night, but I guess that¡¯s not here! We¡¯ll be going.  Just one question first, though.¡± She jabbed a thumb behind her, in the direction of the storehouse. ¡°What¡¯s in here?¡±

    ¡°What the hell do you think is in there?¡± someone from the crowd roared.  ¡°It¡¯s corn, ya daft fool! What else would it be?¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t harvested any corn yet, this year,¡± Darron pointed out.  ¡°So unless this is a giant wooden freezer, I find that unlikely.¡±

    The mob stopped clamoring and glared with deadly silence.  There was a beat where Darron thought they might simply disperse or come clean about the contents of their storehouse, but it passed.  Instead, moving as one, they suddenly leaped through the wind wall.  It tore their skin to shreds, tossing blood everywhere, but the damage didn¡¯t go deep and they charged in with weapons drawn.

    ¡°Crap in a handbasket!¡± Shara yelped, drawing her blade and pulling Darron backwards out of harm¡¯s way as she parried a series of blows from four townsfolk.  Arina furrowed her brow.

    ¡°Is that an order?¡± she asked.

    ¡°What???¡± Shara yelled back.  ¡°No! It was a¡­¡±

    Interjection, Darron thought.

    ¡°Interjection!¡±  Shara finished. ¡°Your orders are to bust open that storehouse and make us an exit route!¡±

    ¡°Acknowledged,¡± Arina said, and the winds that had been carving up psychotic villagers flowed forward to plow a hole through a wall of wood instead.  They swirled around Darron and the others and slammed like a hammer into the side of the barn, blowing its doors off their hinges. Darron didn¡¯t approve of Shara giving Arina orders on principle, but he supposed this was somewhat of an emergency situation.

    A musty, unpleasant scent wafted out of the storehouse, but Darron wasted no time in helping Adgito stand up and leading the two of them in, away from the angry mob.  Shara was fending them off fairly well, but they seemed to have abandoned any desire for self-preservation and there was only so much she could do to them without killing anyone.  The flat of her blade struck heads and knocked them down, but even an unlucky blunt blow could kill one on accident, especially if they were already bleeding profusely.

    The floor of the storehouse squished like thick moss under their feet, pink and fleshy in its coloration.  A massive hole was gouged into the center of the room, which seemed to be the source of both the musty scent and the pink squishy stuff that had grown across the ground beneath them.  Darron and Adgito ran over to it and looked down, the stench worsening the closer they got. The pit was dark, lined with pink stuff, and too deep to see the bottom of. A warm wind rose from it, almost making them gag.

    ¡°Is this a giant butt?¡± Adgito muttered, pinching his nose.

    Then Shara grabbed both of them, and leapt down the hole.

 Not an Update: C-C-C-Combo Breaker

    Friends, I have missed updating on time.  The promise I made to myself has shattered, and it is time to discuss why this happened and what that means for my update schedule.

    In short, I have been slipping for a few weeks now.  Chapters have been getting released closer and closer to deadline time and worked on less and less beforehand.  This has resulted in a drop in quality that I''m no longer comfortable releasing.

    However, while I could blame outside forces for these problems, it would be dishonest.  I have plenty of time to write these chapters, but I have simply been procrastinating.  I think that stems from a lack of enthusiasm for this project, which is... unacceptable.  I will not tolerate myself not finishing this book.  I have put far too much of my time and soul into crafting this story, and I want it to be the best I can possibly make it.  That cannot happen if it is never finished.  Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    However, it also cannot happen if whatever is causing this lack of enthusiasm continues impacting my work.  So, I am going on hiatus.  Sorry, guys.  I don''t know how long this hiatus will be; maybe a week, maybe a few months.  But know this: I will return, refreshed and better than ever.  Sorry for the disappointment, but please look forward to the pleasant surprise of an update down the road.  Feel free to comment here with questions about whatever and I''ll do my best to answer them.

    Thanks for your understanding, and see you soon.