《She Never Knew Him》 1. Dont Leave Me She never knew him, not really, she just knew he was there. She knew she could hear his voice. She knew he had saved her life, over, and over again. She knew that she needed him. That, she knew. She knew that. Sitting there in the middle of a dangerous forest, pitch black surroundings spare the few rays of moonlight squeezing through the sparse openings in the intertwining foliage of the trees overhead, she feared nothing. Not with him to protect her. She longed not for water nor food. She worried not for protection. Nothing could touch her without his permission, nothing. She had taken to calling him patron, or master, sometimes your majesty, whatever felt deferential enough for the moment, whatever felt appropriate, ever so rarely she would whisper ¡°my love¡± when he was being particularly sweet, when she felt he would allow, a rare occurrence. To her he was the reason for existence, and he was all hers, only hers. Her name etched across the cover of her magical tome, gifted to her from her patron. The Silent Strength of Sandiirah. A world away from the weak pathetic girl she once was, her patron had granted her the freedom she¡¯d always wished for. Master had asked nothing in return, nothing but gratitude. Something Sandiirah was all too willing to part with. Something that since that day she had reserved exclusively for him, her love. Sitting there in the darkness, huddled in the roots of a Bragahn tree, she could see everything. Her patron granted her a blessing of shadows long ago. Among the many boons that blessing granted was the ability to see as clearly in the dark as you could midday of Firesmarch. Her toes clenched at the dirt beneath her in anticipation, fingers tightening around the dagger in her left hand while she tucked the tome into her satchel. Sandiirah would hold the book whenever she had the time, but they were getting closer now. She could still feel his embrace as she lay in wait for the traveling merchant and his two measly guards. As they drew closer and her intentions focused, something happened. Falling to her knees, blinded by the darkness, suddenly alone, so very alone. His warmth was gone, her blessings were gone. The dagger fell from her grasp as she scrambled in the dirt to pull the tome from her satchel. Crying as she opened the book. ¡°Master. MASTER WHERE ARE YOU?! PATRON PLEASE!¡± The crying intensified as she flipped through the pages. Her cries and screams reached the merchant and his guards as they came along the bend in the road just before the tree. ¡°DON¡¯T LEAVE ME! NOT YOU! DON¡¯T YOU FUCKING LEAVE ME!¡± As she screamed and cried flipping through the tome it slipped from her grasp. Sandiirah let loose a wail to wake the dead. Scrambling in the dirt searching for her book she sliced her left calf open against the dagger she¡¯d dropped. The guards hearing the cries ran forward into the edge of the woods looking for the source of the distress. The male guard yelled as he ran through the trees. ¡°Where are you, we can help you!¡± The female guard followed close behind, holding the torch. ¡°Is she okay!¡± They came upon Sandiirah curled into a ball, bloody calfed and sobbing. Confused, they looked around for the source of the distress. The merchant called from the road. ¡°You two better not die in there, if I don¡¯t make it safely to Meardfeld it¡¯ll be your heads that roll.¡± The two guards Braun and Kimmy ignored the man and knelt at the girl''s side. Covered head to toe in dirt the barefoot girl was dressed in furs that didn¡¯t cover her enough to be respectable. Braun unhooked his cloaked and draped it over the crying girl. ¡°Are you hurt? Did someone leave you here?¡± Sandiirah didn¡¯t so much as look up, she lay there crying as if she were completely alone. ¡°Braun we should get her to the cart, okay? She yelled something about her master leaving her, "I doubt anyone is coming back if they were willing to leave her in this state.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know if she''s hurt, if she¡¯s in shock, we need to check her over. Go grab the stitch kit in case she''s hurt or has a fever, then we can give her some Ageathan silver to calm her down.¡± ¡°That junk is more likely to knock her out than calm her down.¡± ¡°Just go to the cart, settle Baylen and grab the stitch kit Kim.¡± Kim handed Braun the torch before she ducked beneath some branches, heading back towards Baylen and the cart. Braun started to lift his cloak off Sandiirah. ¡°I just need to check you over and make sure you aren¡¯t hurt okay?¡± No response came and so Braun continued, he pulled the cloak off to the side letting it fall to the dirt. Looking over the girl, no, the woman in front of him, it struck him just how skinny she was, huddled in this crying ball she looked so small, but as he looked her over he saw that she was tall, emaciated, but tall. Her skin was a lighter shade of violet and her hair was the same blue color as the snow in Coldsmarch. A half breed? Braun thought to himself. His eyes searched her over and landed on her calf, a jagged gash ran about half its length. Looking around he saw the jeweled dagger laying a couple feet away glinting in the torchlight. The dagger had a gold hilt with a startling jewel in the pommel, the whole hilt looked to be about 8 inches long. Very long for a dagger Braun thought. The blade itself looked to be six inches long, a deep onyx black color with four edges, all of them serrated and meeting in a point like a very skinny and extremely deadly pyramid. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°This is an assassin''s dagger, it''s designed to be thrusted downward into the side of someone¡¯s neck, a strange thing for a random woman to have with her.¡± Kimmy heard Braun mumbling to himself as she came up behind him. Seeing a death dagger in his hand as he knelt over the girl, Kimmy stumbled slightly before pulling her short sword and leveling it at Brauns neck. ¡°What¡¯re you doin Braun?¡± The words came out with an icy steel as Kimmy put herself between him and the girl. Braun put his hands up the dagger loosely held in one while he backed up. ¡°Wait, look at her calf ¡ª¡± ¡°Do I look like a fucking idiot to you. We¡¯ve known each other a long time. Long enough that I¡¯ve seen you kill at least a dozen men using the look at the thing behind you line, you¡¯re fast Braun, but I¡¯m faster.¡± ¡°Kim for fuck¡¯s sake it¡¯s her dagger, she cut her leg on it, at least I think it¡¯s her dagger. And you have known me for a long time, long enough to know I can¡¯t afford no jeweled assassins tool.¡± Braun held out the blade for Kim to take, Kim snatched it with the quickness of a viper and looked it over. ¡°Well B you¡¯re telling the truth that it¡¯s not your dagger, you definitely couldn¡¯t afford it for one. And for two you¡¯re no Essentialist.¡± Kim tossed the dagger back to Braun and put away her sword. ¡°That jewel isn¡¯t a jewel, it¡¯s a focus. Sorry I pulled my blade on you.¡± Braun tossed it back to her. ¡°You have more places to put that than I do. And I know you Kim, if you really didn¡¯t trust me, you¡¯d have pulled that bow of yours and put an arrow in the back of my head without asking me a damn thing.¡± She¡¯d already turned around sliding the dagger into one of the hidden pockets in her coat, and started checking on Sandiirah¡¯s calf, but she gave Braun a subtle nod of acknowledgement. ¡°So you think she¡¯s a mage?¡± ¡°Idk B, but that¡¯s a focus and I¡¯ve only ever seen Essentialists with them, and I¡¯ve never known one to leave their channel behind. Have you?¡± ¡°No I guess not. Here.¡± Braun handed Kim the Torren root extract and a flask of water, both from the stitch kit Kim had dropped when she pulled her sword. Kim poured water over the wound clearing the dirt and debris from her jagged cut before covering the wound with Torren. ¡°That¡¯ll harden and pull the wound closed so it can heal. You can give her some of that silver now if you want B. Poor thing¡¯s been whimpering since we came across her.¡± Braun knelt before her, bringing the folded paper closer to her face. Whispering to her comfortingly, Braun pinched some of the silvery powder between two of his fingers and brought it to her nose. He pushed the powder into one of her nostrils leaving silver dust behind on her nose and cheek. ¡°Not too much you silver head, that shit could kill a saddle lizard.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me that, Kim.¡± He flashed her a look. Was that hurt on his face? Kim wondered. She dropped her head a bit. ¡°Just be careful okay?¡± ¡°She¡¯s fine, she¡¯ll drift off in less than a minute unless she¡¯s a shiner herself.¡± Less than 30 seconds later the whimpering had stopped completely and her body fell limp. ¡°Keep her wrapped in that cloak when you pick her up B, we don¡¯t need Baylen getting any ideas alright?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m on it. Hey look at this, did you notice this before? Was she always holding it?¡± Kim looked at the girl bundled up in his arms and saw a small book held firmly to her chest by one of her arms. ¡°We probably just didn¡¯t notice it cause it¡¯s small. I thought you¡¯d said she¡¯d be out of it, she¡¯s holding onto that thing pretty tight.¡± Braun looked down at the fingers clinched firmly to the book. ¡°She¡¯s out of it, I¡¯ve seen old silver heads completely gone holding onto the last of their silver like it could save the world.¡± ¡°So that must mean the book is important to her then?¡± ¡°I guess so?¡± They made their way back to the cart to find an angry Baylen tapping his foot like an impatient parent. ¡°What the hell took you two so long, the fuck do I even pay you for. What are you doing? What the hell do you think you¡¯re doing, you¡¯re not putting some dirty brat in my supply cart!¡± Braun and Kimmy shot a look Baylen¡¯s way that shut him up, and Braun placed her in the back of the cart. Kim took her cloak off and threw it over her as well, for multiple reasons, it was a cold night, Baylen would want to look at that book, and worse Baylen would want her, once he realized she wasn¡¯t a brat at all. Kim had killed enough overly familiar men to know they were as common as bugs. Sure they didn¡¯t come out when people were around, but leave them alone and suddenly, she shook her head to clear it. ¡°I¡¯ll cover the rear of the cart B. Baylen go ahead and get the wagon rolling again.¡± Braun took the lead, grabbing the torch from the post on the cart. Baylen grumbled to himself as he fumbled in his satchel for the moving stone. Baylen was no Essentialist, but he was a successful trader of minor renown, and among his all too mediocre status he relied on flashy tools to solidify his standing with prospective customers. One of his flashier toys was his self driving cart, it could hold sixty times the weight of a similarly sized cart as well as having its actual cart Essence enchanted to be the size of a small room on the inside. The difference between being Essence enchanted and being a self driving cart was more or less just the innateness of the magic. For the cart to self drive it required a separate source of Essence to draw on, the moving stone, or stones because they do run out after a time. Baylen always had plenty of spares. But an Essence enchantment was permanent more or less, it didn¡¯t need an Essence stone to stay that size, a good thing too because they usually took turns sleeping on the bed in there. ¡°Well I¡¯m beat, I think I¡¯m gonna call it a night you two. Stay sharp and keep watch, I don¡¯t pay you both for nothing.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll call it a good night for a stroll if you want to keep your head attached to the shaft it¡¯s pulling on.¡± Baylen hissed furiously in her direction. Pulling a dagger out in a flash, Kim tapped the blade against Baylen¡¯s trousers. ¡°You know I took you for a sleaze but I didn¡¯t take you for a kid catcher.¡± Kim¡¯s words cut through Baylen¡¯s bullshit and stopped him in his tracks. ¡°I¡¯m no fucking kiddler, I saw her when you put her in the cart, that¡¯s a woman. What do you care anyways, she¡¯s on Brauns fuckin shine right now, she won¡¯t remember a gods damned thing.¡± ¡°Easy Kim, it¡¯s alright.¡± Kim¡¯s eyes snapped towards Braun, fire burning in them. ¡°What I meant was you can both head in for a rest and we can rotate, okay Kimmy.¡± He only called her Kimmy when he was really trying to calm her down. ¡°Besides Baylen here didn¡¯t mean it, right Baylen?¡± Brauns axe rested itself on the crook of Baylen¡¯s shoulder. Kim¡¯s posture relaxed a bit knowing B had her back on this. Kim had never actually seen Braun do any of the things she so readily accused him of either verbally or just behaviorally, and he always took it in stride, like he understood. Moving Brauns¡¯ axe off his shoulder slowly Baylen looked at Braun and then back towards kim. ¡°Of course. Of course, I didn¡¯t mean it, Kimmy.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you fucking call me that.¡± A sly smirk inched up one side of Baylen¡¯s mouth. Kim considered ending that look forever for a moment, and then another moment. Ultimately they needed this payday. And while Baylen¡¯s social renown was of little note, the traders guild looked after its merchants, especially successful ones that were willing to deal with the less than clean portions of the industry. Even if they didn¡¯t pin Baylen¡¯s death on her and Braun they¡¯d both never get work with the trade guild again. A long sigh later Kim responded to Braun. ¡°Yeah¡­ yeah B we¡¯ll both turn in, just give a holler if you see trouble, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll be up.¡± 2. Kims Mind Kim shot a glare Baylen¡¯s direction. He ignored her and climbed into the cart. Kim followed close behind, unwilling to leave the woman alone with him for even a minute. Even though Braun acted like he understood, he never really could. Not the fear, not the helplessness. What did Braun know about being smaller than every man around you. What did he know about training your whole life, being better with a blade and bow than most of the mercs she¡¯d ever met, only to still know that ninety percent of them could kill her outright if they grabbed ahold of her. That she could keep up with an intense training regimen for the better part of fifteen years, just for most men to still be stronger than her. He couldn¡¯t know, how could he know. Braun worked hard, Kim worked harder. Braun trained often, Kim trained more. Braun was very good with an axe, Kim was a master with a bow and an expert with a blade. Braun was at times a slave to gambling and his silver, Kim smoked her pipe occasionally. Kim could beat Braun if the conditions were perfect, Braun could kill Kim if they weren¡¯t. She knew these thoughts weren¡¯t his fault inherently, they weren¡¯t really his fault at all, but part of her hated him for it. They¡¯d known each other since the orphanage, but Kim had been there her whole life. Braun had shown up one day at 10 years old. His dad had died in a war when he was young and his mom shined herself to death a few years later. From the moment he showed up they¡¯d connected in a way Kim had never connected with anyone. He was like the big brother she¡¯d always needed. In actuality he was a year younger than her, but Braun had always been big, and more than that, it had always felt like Braun had wanted to be her big brother. He¡¯d never pursued more with her, he¡¯d never so much as made her feel uncomfortable. But he hadn¡¯t always been there, and even once he was there he couldn¡¯t always be¡­ there. Shaking her head clear of the thoughts that were intruding she looked down at the sleeping woman next to her and placed a soft hand on her shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll keep you safe, I promise.¡± Those words flowed out in a whisper as she slid the woman¡¯s dagger into the hand that wasn¡¯t clamped to the book. Pushing back some of the blue hair from the woman¡¯s face, she traced her cheek ever so softly. Keeping her hushed tone she spoke to the unconscious woman. ¡°You really are beautiful¡­ What were you doing out there all alone? Why were you crying like that?¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The woman¡¯s words rang in her head, hearing her wail the way she had, had brought back memories best left buried. ¡°Who was the master you were referring to, and why did he leave you?¡± Tracing her fingers softly down to the woman¡¯s chin just below her lips. ¡°Who would leave you? ¡ª I would never leave you.¡± She heard herself say it before she could pull the words back in. She¡¯d always been this way, attaching to beautiful women too quickly for her own good. And this woman wasn¡¯t even awake. Shaking her head again she pulled her hand back to her lap and laid her head back against the wooden wall of the cart. She eyed Baylen for a moment and then looked around for something to take her mind off the thoughts eating at the edges of her mind. The inside of the cart was about forty feet by twenty. The walls inside were twelve feet tall and the back wall of the cart opened outward for loading and unloading the goods or for entering or exiting the room. Most of the goods were stacked in the center of the room to keep them safe in the event of rain. The top of the cart was a waterproof canvas but of course rain rarely dropped straight down, and Baylen refused to get the cart''s top fully covered because in his words it would scare off potential customers if they couldn¡¯t see into the cart. Maybe he was right, what did she know about selling goods? The front of a cart had a seat built into it, which functioned as an overhang inside the room with a six foot ceiling. Baylen kept his bed under the overhang as well as any goods he deemed particularly valuable. In her robbing days Kim would have killed Baylen without a second thought for his cart alone. Now though, she knew they needed him. But she¡¯d seen his glances, she¡¯d felt the staring when he thought she wasn¡¯t looking, she was always looking, always aware, she had to be. It had taken five years before she¡¯d truly felt safe sleeping with Braun next to her, before she¡¯d believed he wouldn¡¯t hurt her at her most vulnerable. Mostly believed at least. Most nights she felt safe with Braun watching over her, some nights were worse than others, some nights Braun had to take a chair and sleep outside of a locked room they had rented in whatever inn they were staying at. Kim had always offered to pay his half of the cost whenever that had happened, Braun never so much as blinked. He knew more than she gave him credit for if she was being honest, even if he didn¡¯t know. He knew enough, she didn¡¯t know where she¡¯d be without Braun, not because she particularly needed his protection or skills, but she did need the sanity he provided her. Her little big brother, she needed him. 3. Brauns Mind It was a cold night, the type of night his silver was doing him some good. He¡¯d given half a dose to that woman, and he¡¯d been using extra pretty much every day of the trip. Kimmy had been particularly anxious this trip, and Braun always used more when Kim was on edge. It was Baylen, Braun knew that, the guy was presumptively scummy, he didn¡¯t even hide his perversions like most decent men. It had been eight days travelling with him and guarding his cart, the very first night on the road when Baylen thought Braun was out of earshot he had offered Kim ten pieces to spend the night with him, every night since he had offered more. It wasn¡¯t her fault she was on edge. It wasn¡¯t her fault he was using more, she was just his reason. Or his excuse. It was hard to tell the difference lately. Two and a half doses of silver a day, that¡¯s what he was up to, a dose in the morning, a half midday to keep him level, and another to help him sleep. He''d been using four the past five days to get through this escort. He knew Kim didn¡¯t mean any harm when she snapped at him or looked at him accusingly, or outright accused him. Kim loved him, and he loved her, but that didn¡¯t mean the looks she shot him now, made the day any easier. At night when she refused to sleep even if he said he¡¯d watch over her, he wouldn¡¯t want to sleep either he guessed, if he had to worry Baylen would want him in his sleep. Before tonight he hadn¡¯t really thought Baylen would do that to Kim, but he¡¯d known before this she could read people better than him. Or he thought she could, maybe she just saw the worst in people. Maybe people were just worse than Braun thought. He knew he was a worse person than he let people know, maybe that¡¯s just how people were. Two and a half doses the first day, he was already using three on day two, and four the past five days. That plus the half dose he gave to the woman, that''s twenty six of his forty doses. It was twenty five really, he hadn¡¯t used his sleeping dose yet today. But that only left fourteen doses for the rest of the three days left in their escort. He thought he¡¯d brought plenty extra, they couldn¡¯t do another job with Baylen. Thinking about all the extra shine he¡¯d used had Braun¡¯s rage starting to simmer. ¡°That bitch is always shooting me those hateful fucking looks, doesn¡¯t she know everything i fucking do for her. Doesn¡¯t she know I¡¯d never fucking hurt her, Gods be damned I could teach her a fucking lesson for all the silver she¡¯s cost me. I¡¯ve always protected her, I¡¯ve never so much as touched her, for all the damn good it¡¯s done me. She doesn¡¯t think I¡¯d like to touch her, that I deserve a chance, she treats woman way worse than I fucking do, she¡¯s got at least ten whores in different cities that have her listed as a priority client. I¡¯ve never so much as made a pass at her. Fuck her, fuck her and her damned problem¡¯s, I never touched her. I could touch her, if she¡¯d just let me, she¡¯d see that a man could take care of her. I do take care of her, I¡¯ve never let anyone hurt her, if Baylen laid a finger¨C¡± Snapping out of the tirade he had been whispering to himself, he remembered she was alone with Baylen. His head snapped towards the cart, how long had it been since he had checked on her, had she drifted asleep, she''d barely been sleeping for the last eight days. He knew, in his heart he knew that was the main reason for her erratic behavior, her anger, her accusations, it was almost never like this when they were just living in the city, when they were safe, when she was safe. His anger deflated instantly, what was wrong with him, why did he get like this, was it the shine? Was it just who he was? He rushed to the cart. ¡°Kim? Kimmy?!¡± Her head popped out the back of the cart, bow in hand. ¡°Robbers?! How many?!¡± With a heavy sigh Braun dropped his head into one of his hands, his sword hanging in his other. In his panic he¡¯d pulled it out without knowing. ¡°B what¡¯s up, I don¡¯t see anything.¡± ¡°Oh uh, no, nothing Kim, I just didn¡¯t know how long it had been.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a few hours, we can swap shifts, get some shuteye B.¡± Kim hopped out the back of the cart, slinging her bow back over her shoulder and holding her hand out for the torch. Braun put the torch in its slot on the cart. ¡°No Kim, you need some real sleep, it''s a blistering cold out here, there¡¯ll be no raiders tonight. I¡¯ll watch over you and the girl while you sleep tonight okay, I¡¯ll be right there by your side. I won¡¯t let Baylen hurt you Kimmy.¡± One of the first smiles since they¡¯d left Loudend crept onto her face, a soft smile, a small smile, but a real smile nonetheless. ¡°Baylen can¡¯t hurt me B, you know that.¡± ¡°True, but you need sleep Kim, real sleep.¡± Kim nodded and they both made their way into the cart. Braun had laid the mystery woman on the pile of furs, there was an indention next to where she was laying, clearly where Kim had been sitting next to her. Braun made his way over spreading the furs out a little more for her to lay down. ¡°You think she¡¯ll mind waking up to a strange woman next to her?¡± ¡°Nah Kim, she¡¯ll just be grateful she¡¯s not alone I¡¯d imagine. Just try not to touch this one in your sleep, based on that dagger she was packing you might lose a hand if you tried.¡± Braun laughed heartily and Kim punched his shoulder lightly. ¡°You¡¯re a real prick to keep bringing that up, you know.¡± She smiled as she said it, that was Kim, it had been about a week but there she was, same as she¡¯d always been, she just needed to know she was safe. Who wouldn¡¯t? Brauns head dropped a bit, shame showing mildly on his face. ¡°What''s wrong Braun?¡± ¡°Nah nothing Kim, I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t do this for you sooner.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous B, it¡¯s not like we can just leave the cart unguarded every night, we wouldn¡¯t be doing our jobs.¡± Kim laid down, facing away from the woman. Braun pulled over the big rocker chair Baylen kept in the corner of his cart and set it up so he¡¯d be able to watch both the women and Baylen without moving around. ¡°Hey Kim, before you drift off, would it be alright if I borrowed off your pipe to stay up? I''m running low on silver to make it through the rest of the trip and I need something to take the edge off.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Of course, just save me at least four red leaves.¡± ¡°You know me, I don¡¯t need much smoke, I¡¯ll probably only end up using half of one.¡± Kim nodded as she drifted off. Braun made his way over to her pack, he knew where she kept her pipe and which pocket stored the leaves. The leaves were the size of his not inconsiderable hands. He folded and broke off half a red leaf leaving five and a half of those and six of the green leaves, then walked back to the chair. He knew she had at least a couple blue leaves somewhere, but she hid those from him. She barely ever used the blue leaves, usually only on those nights where the terror wouldn''t leave her. The green leaves were good for relaxation, not very intense at all, just a mild calming effect. The red leaves would keep you alert for hours, if need be you could stave off weeks of sleep with red leaves if you had enough, that is, before you would just fall over dead. He pulled out one of his empty silver packages and dropped the half a red leaf onto it. Rocking in the chair he rolled the paper back and forth between his fingers, grinding up the leaf. He folded the paper over once more and continued grinding it up, once it was fine he folded the paper a final time for the pour and dropped it into the pipe. Setting the pipe on his lap, Braun grabbed his Essence match out of his breast pocket, a small jagged rock about the length and width of a finger, at the top of it was a small opaque red tinged sphere that would glow bright red when you blew on it. Every mercenary carried one, most smoked, but even the ones that didn¡¯t would carry one to start campfires, cook fires, light up flaming arrows, you could blow on one and drop it into a cup of water and wait for it to boil clean. Braun held it to the pipe and took a puff. Coughing aggressively, Kim stirred a bit and shushed him. His next hit was smaller, he always forgot how strong Kim¡¯s leaves were, she didn¡¯t smoke red leaves every day usually, but on this escort she had, it was how she¡¯d stayed up pretty much since they left Loudend. The green ones she would smoke a bit of most every day, just after she ate lunch or before she sat down for tea, usually once a day, sometimes less often. The effects of the red leaf hit him in short order, filling him with warmth and sitting him up straight. Feeling it kick in, Braun flicked his Essence match side to side and the glowing died away. It was safe to touch as soon as the red light faded and he placed it in his pocket, then he closed the lid to the pipe to save the rest of it for if the tiredness hit him before sunrise. Locking the pipe closed he slid it in the same pocket as the match. Feeling too antsy to sit and rock, he walked the length of the cart back and forth climbing the sets of stairs on the side of the cart walls to look out and make sure the cart was indeed safe. It was. Braun hated red leaf if he was being honest. He couldn¡¯t not think when he smoked it, but every mercenary carried at least some, nothing kept you more alert, nothing staved off sleep like red leaf. The cold no longer bothered him at least, but he couldn¡¯t stop thinking. Thinking of Kim, thinking of his mom, remembering what he could of his dad. He hated red leaf¡­ but for her he didn¡¯t mind. Well he did, but he¡¯d make it work anyways. She had always been there for him when it mattered. That first day in the orphanage he thought she hated him, but when those older boys started picking on him she had stepped right up and told them to fuck off. And instead of just beating him up, they beat the shit out of both of them. She had to know that was gonna happen, he¡¯d asked her a hundred times since then why she¡¯d done it, and all she would ever say about it is ¡°getting beat alone is worse than getting beat together¡± and he¡¯d taken that to heart, since that day, when one of them got beat figuratively or literally, they got beat together. They had been through a lot together since then. More than a few near death experiences, only three of them being Braun¡¯s fault, and only two of those being because of his gambling and drug use. Too many bar brawls to count, Kim didn¡¯t even drink like that, she just enjoyed a good free for all. A couple extended stays at whatever infirmary the town had at the time, both of those were him actually, and Kim had stayed with him both times. Hundreds of thefts, almost all of those being Kimmy, a dozen or so murders, split pretty evenly between the two of them, and enough escorts or hunts to pay for either one of them to retire at least once if not for their pricier habits. It¡¯s a good thing they were some of the best mercenaries this side of Helmura, because despite his horrible luck with gambling and expensive high end drugs, Kim still somehow always spent more than him, between whore¡¯s and betting on fights she also got arrested more than he did, and the bribes were never cheap. To be fair to Kim she was also the one of them that put part of their earnings into expensive and rare trade that would increase in value over time, that hoard of treasure could probably fund a small army at this point, and Kim said that in ten years if they keep adding to it they should be able to buy a city. Not that they would, they would probably just buy expensive houses in the best district of their favorite city and spend their golden years fucking, gambling, and getting high. That sounded nice to Braun, but if he was being honest he loved their life, nothing gave him a high like fighting, propper fighting, a fight where losing means dying. And there it is again, the thoughts caught up to him, dying¡­Why had his father died, why had his mother never been able to let it go. Braun didn¡¯t even know for sure what happened to his dad, he knew his mom said he died in a war, and Braun had always made sure to say that to anyone that asked. But when his mom got really high she would say things, look what your father made me, how she¡¯d wished she¡¯d never touched the stuff. One time when Braun was nine his mom caught him smoking and she¡¯d said then and there in front of all of his friends, you¡¯ll end up just like him, she had beat him bloody that night, she had beat him so bad he didn¡¯t make it into school for two weeks. Braun didn¡¯t touch smoke again for another ten years. Until on a hunt with Kim and some other mercenaries they were in a Ghoul cave system. The older mercenaries explained how Ghouls operate, on their own they were barely more dangerous than a wild animal, but they fight as a pack and communicate in a high pitched frequency that only they can hear, and from more than a half mile away. They can see perfectly in complete darkness and their claws are hard and sharp enough to create the cave systems they live in. The captain of the band had said at one point they are barely knee high little flesh eaters that you can cleave in two with not much more than a solid swing, but because they breed so fast we could be walking into a hive of thousands of these little fuckers, and they will kill you while walking over the corpse of their own children without so much as a fuckin whine. Braun remembered that part as clearly as anything, the quiet, they were silent, completely, didn¡¯t matter if they were biting the throat out of one of the mercenaries or getting their own arm cut off, they didn¡¯t make a fucking sound. The band made sounds, the band screamed and cussed and spit and yelled. And still nothing but the sound of their little feet clambering on the floors of the caves. Before they went in, it had been made clear that before they engaged with the Ghouls they would all need to smoke some red leaf, and practice a formation to let people smoke more once needed in the middle of a battle circle. The captain had said that his first time clearing out Ghouls his band of fifty mercs fought for more than three days straight. Thousands upon thousands of the little fuckers, wave after wave, never slowing down. He said only fourteen of them had lived through it. Bruan¡¯s group had gotten lucky, they were only fighting for about six hours, several hundred of them and only two deaths of their own. The Ghoettles had been reported early enough that they hadn¡¯t grown out of control yet. Since then Braun smoked very rarely, and usually only for a need of one sort or another. He preferred his shine. His shine¡­ Braun looked over at Baylens sleeping silhouette, and then over to his pack. ¡°Baylen?¡± He spoke loud enough that if the man was awake he should have heard him. ¡°Baylen?¡± A little louder this time, and still nothing. Braun couldn¡¯t take much more of this, his brain just wouldn¡¯t stop thinking, it wouldn¡¯t shut the fuck up for just a goddamn moment. He looked out the cart and it was still blistering cold, he looked over to his pack again. Braun grabbed the rocker chair and sat it right in front of the girls in between them and Baylen, he sat down, rocking for a moment, then another moment. It felt like hours in his head. His hands began to shake. ¡°Just a bit. ¨C just a quarter sleeve.¡± Braun got up and walked over to his pack pulling out a sleeve of silver. Almost instantly he felt some relief, he walked back to his chair looking over at Kim as he did so. He felt a pang of regret. ¡°Just a pinch, just enough to quiet the thoughts.¡± Braun unfolded the sleeve and pinched a bit of silver between his fingers, pushing it into his nose and inhaling, suddenly he was okay, just a pinch. Rocking in his chair a smile spread across his face as he finally found peace, just a moment of peace¨C 4. Waking up Sandiirah awoke to a dark wooden room on top of some rather soft furs. In a panic she reached out with her senses ¨C He¡¯s here, she thought to herself. Her thoughts overwhelmed her, my patron, my majesty, I¡¯m so sorry for whatever I did to displease you. Squeezing her book to her chest in a vice grip hug, her eyes shot open, remembering what she¡¯d seen when she first woke up. What looked to be a small woman laid in front of her, she scanned the room slowly so as to not alert anyone. Directly behind her sat a man in a rocker, her gifted preternatural senses could smell the silver stronger than she ever had before, but most of it didn¡¯t seem to be coming from any particular direction. Reaching up she felt at her nostrils and found the main source, the rest of the smell definitely came from the man sitting at her back. Sandiirah held in a low growl, and scanned the rest of the room. Under an overhang at the far end of the room lay another man, clean smelling and much smaller than the guy in the chair. Taking a deep breath and tuning into her gifted hearing she listened, steady heartbeats and even breathing for all the three of them. Having confirmed her privacy she sat up against the wall silently and opened her book onto her lap. She pulled an enchanted sliver from the tomes spine and began writing in the book. ¡°Patron, why did you leave me? What did I do?¡± Words appeared on the page as if written just as hers disappeared. ¡°I never left you, I merely needed something the two next to you have.¡± ¡°Tell me what it is Patron and it shall be yours.¡± ¡°In time dear, in time, for now make nice, they will not part with my gift in short order.¡± ¡°Patron please, I will kill them and send it to you now, just tell me where it is.¡± Suddenly in her ears all around her Sandiirah could hear her patron¡¯s voice booming. ¡°FOOL GIRL! IF YOU COULD GRAB IT NOW I WOULD TELL YOU TO DO SO! DO YOU SEE ME AS STUPID, ANOTHER UNGRATEFUL WORD AND I WILL LEAVE YOU FOR FAR LONGER THAN THE MERE MINUTES YOU SPENT WITHOUT ME! YOU BEGGED FOR SERVITUDE AND I HAVE GRANTED IT, DO NOT MAKE ME REGRET YOU!¡± The voice died to a whisper, Sandiirah was sobbing and shaking as silently as she could, her knees folded into her chest, her head tucked into her lap. ¡°I chose you dear, I saved you, do as you are asked and make nice with the mercenaries. My favorite of all my followers, in time things will become clear.¡± The book began to warm in her grasp, a sign his words were coming through the tome again, without hesitation she opened the book to answer her patron. On the page lay one single sentence, ¡°the girl is the key, keep her close¡± . She composed herself the best she could. He¡¯s never yelled at me before, he¡¯s only ever used his real voice to cherish me, what did I do? Writing in her book with tears still streaming down her face. I will do as you bid my Patron, questioning you was never my intention, I only wish to serve you to the best of my ability. Once more she felt her Master¡¯s presence all around her much softer now. ¡°I know.¡± Sandiirah felt a warm brush against her cheek, not a brush, a kiss! Her hand flew to her cheek holding it in shock, the tears stopped and her face flushed with warmth. She sat there for several minutes basking in the sensation, he had never kissed her before, she dared let the words leave her lips even in the presence of her disobedience. ¡°My love¡­¡± ¡ª ¡°my love¡± He had said it back, his love, what did that mean? Not what she meant, surely? His love? Her heart beat as fast as it ever had and this time the tears fell for a different reason. His love. He had meant it, he didn¡¯t say things he didn¡¯t mean, he never praised when it wasn¡¯t due. He loved her, and even if he didn¡¯t love her the way she loved him, he would, she would earn it. Looking at the book she read over the still warm sentence, warm for reiteration she knew, this was important to him. ¡°The girl is the key, keep her close.¡± the girl? Looking to her right she once again remembered where she was, time to put on a show. ____________________________________________________________________________ A cry rang out through the cart''s inner room, followed by soft sobbing and a small voice in the darkness. ¡°Hello? Where am I? Please don¡¯t hurt me, I don¡¯t have anything of value, I¡¯m not young nor pretty, please just let me go.¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Sandiirah heard stirring in the shadows from the far side of the room and next to her on the pile of furs. She wasn¡¯t using her dark sight, to help sell the fear and uncertainty. Feeling a brush from the rustling in the furs next to her, Sandiirah yelped and scooted away in a faux panic. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m really sorry, please please just don¡¯t hurt me, you can have it, I shouldn''t have stolen it.¡± ¡°Wha-¡± Kim reached to her hip, twisting the top of her essence lamp, activating it and illuminating much of the cart in a soft blue light. Seeing a crying scared girl pressed into the wall, huddled into a fetal retreat Kim scanned for Braun, her eyes fell on the limp arm hanging from the rocker next to the girl. Shaking her head in disappointment but not surprise, she scanned for Baylen. In short order Baylen was on his feet activating his own essence lamp, a deep sunset orange color lighting up the other half of the cart, as he did the girl that was crying against the wall yelped again, her head darting back and forth from the two light sources. ¡°It¡¯s okay, we won¡¯t hurt you, my name is Ki-¡± ¡°What¡¯s this about stealing, girl.¡± ¡°Baylen not now, she¡¯s clearly in a panic, you can¡¯t ask her questions till we calm her down.¡± ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Baylen finally noticed Braun slumped in his chair, silver smeared across his mouth and nose. ¡°Good for nothing junk heads, the lot of you, can¡¯t trust a merc to do their fucking job if their own life depended on it!¡± ¡°I¡¯m up Baylen, I¡¯ve got this.¡± ¡°You?!¡± Sighing in exasperation and dropping his head. ¡°I guess you are the merc that actually came recommended not him, still, I should dock your pay for this!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not how this works, Baylen, there isn¡¯t a merc crew that doesn''t use, and if we got docked for that we¡¯d all need to find different jobs.¡± Kim knew he was blowing off steam, but they¡¯d both eaten through more of their stash than they meant to on this job already, half pay wouldn¡¯t cut it. ¡°What about the girl?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got that too Baylen, go back to sleep, I¡¯ve got plenty of red leaf.¡± Baylen grumbled but ultimately he turned off his essence lamp and crawled back into his bed. Taking in the surrounding mess of Braun and their packs, Kim knelt on one knee and began picking up and organizing the not so uncommon scene. While she did so she spoke softly to the girl. ¡°I don¡¯t care what you¡¯ve stolen, I don¡¯t remember if I got it out or not but my name is Kimmy, people just call me Kim though.¡± Baylen chuckled from across the room, mostly to himself but it was audible nonetheless. Shaking her head and ignoring the asshole Kim continued cleaning up the mess. ¡°The point I was making is just that you are safe here¡­well I don¡¯t know your name but you¡¯re still safe here as long as you¡¯re next to me.¡± ¡°My name¡¯s Sandiirah, but you can call me sandy.¡± The voice was small and soft, frightened. ¡°Truly you are safe here Sandy, I won¡¯t let anyone hurt you.¡± Finishing packing up the bags and reorganizing Brauns silver and her leaves, she picked up her pipe from the floor next to B¡¯s hand, checking to see if any red leaf remained in it, unsurprisingly he¡¯d barely smoked a third of what he¡¯d stuffed in there. Pulling a pick knife from a strap on her wrist, the girl jumped a little, moving slowly Kim used the knife to scrape and pick off the burnt resin to get at the usable leaf underneath. After she¡¯d finished she put the knife back, looking the girl up and down. She was standing now, walking slowly along the wall of the cart. She was stunning, her feet were completely unblemished, a near impossibility for a barefoot girl abandoned in the wilderness. Her legs were lean and long leading up to a small waste, the scar on her left calf was almost completely healed already. How was that possible? Kim eyed her in a bit of a trance, Sandy swayed a little with the movement of the cart, her thin frame stealing Kim¡¯s focus. Her shoulders were all bone, her arms weren¡¯t in proportion with her legs being slightly less long than her frame would suggest. Her face wasn¡¯t as sunken in as the rest of her, her eyes a startling purple, brighter than the shade of her skin, but just as beautiful. Her hair was a shade of blue, like snowfall but silkier, long and draped partially over one shoulder and down her back to about her midsection, but looking a bit longer Kim noticed one side of her head was shaved, no braided. Kim lingered, her eyes landing on her neck, her skin was so perfect, the soft purple hue was alluring, the texture looked flawless, her eyes dropped to her chest for a few moments, the fur she wore barely covered her at all. Kim snapped away from her staring, noticing as she did that Sandiirah had caught her in the act. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you¡¯re¡­not wearing much.¡± Kim blew on her essence match to help calm herself. ¡°Would you like some of my clothes? You¡¯re a bit taller than me, but it should help keep you warm.¡± Hesitating for a moment more Kim took a small hit of her red leaf, feeling some of her tension fade away. ¡°I need to take watch over the cart, you can stay in here if you¡¯d like, but-¡± ¡°No! I mean um, I think I would rather go with you.¡± Sandiirah paused for a bit to let the tension hang in the air. ¡°You said something about warmer clothes?¡± Kim laughed, propping her pipe between her lips and began digging through her pack, pulling out her longest pair of pants and her baggiest shirt, shuffling a few more things around she also pulled out her backup coat, then tossed the lot over to Sandy. ¡°Hopefully the fit isn¡¯t terrible, all I packed was my merc clothing for this trip, sorry if it isn¡¯t all that comfortable.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure it will be fine.¡± Sandy let a small smile spread across her lips. ¡°I really appreciate you doing this for me.¡± Not waiting for Kim to look away, Sandiirah slipped out of the fur skirt she was wearing, letting it drop to the floor. Kim¡¯s face reddened as she slightly looked away and took another hit of her pipe. Sandy pulled the pants on turning enough to hide her slight smirk. This is going to be the easiest task He¡¯s ever given me.