Weapons shopping was a far less personal and far more humbling experience. It started with Cecilia and Faith discussing the best type of weapon for me and ended when I confessed that I hadn’t ever actually learned to use my kaiken. At that point the discussion stopped and I was bought a light crossbow and weighted walking stick that I could use as an impromptu club. And while I appreciated the sentiment, the explicit reasoning of ‘being less likely to hurt myself’ was painfully blunt.

  “Look, I’m not saying you can’t get another weapon eventually. One with sharp edges. I’m just saying that getting one right now, before you have learned how to use it is just asking to get one of your fingers cut off,” Cecilia said with practiced patience. She must’ve been a teacher or instructor before becoming Starborn. Or maybe she just had numerous younger siblings. I know I had plenty of discussions like that with Kyomi.

  And now I was home hungry.

  “I also had those conversations with my Kyomi. Evidence that supports our assumption.”

  Not that I needed more evidence. The assumption was sound and it fit well enough with the other pieces. What was really surprising was that she was sharing such things with me.

  “Miss her too?” I silently asked.

  There was a moment of silence, which was answer enough.

  “It’s weird,” I asked, silently, “If we leave out the assumptions, I’m effectively commiserating with a voice in my head.”

  “Having conversations with yourself is often a sign of madness or possession.”

  “You said that last time. And my answer has only gotten more evidence towards it. We are crazy for taking this quest.”

  “And you were just as right then as you are now.”

  I couldn’t help it, I laughed.

  “I was unaware that losing fingers was amusing” Faith stated.

  “No,” I said, coming back to the conversation. I didn’t want to explain Rin, so I gave something approximating the truth. “No, I was just thinking of an argument I had with my sister and minding her fingers.”

  Faith looked confused, but Cecilia nodded. Probably an older sister then.

  “As I was saying,” Cecilia continued. “We’ll do some practice. And if we ever have the downtime where I can spend a month to teach you basic sword work, we’ll give that a try. Right now, I’m just trying to keep you alive.”

  “If what happened at the warehouse was an example of her trying to keep us alive, we will be dead sooner rather than later.”

  She didn’t say what she thought we should do about that, but the implication hung in the air loudly enough.

  “Appreciated,” I said to Cecilia aloud, trying to hide my discomfort.

  Faith patted my shoulder, “You are still concerned. Why?”

  “Your lip twitched. I told you that you needed to master that.”

  I sighed pushing my personal discomfort and Rin’s disappointment out of mind. “I’m just, worried.”

  “About?” Faith asked comfortingly.

  I fidgeted for a second, before pushing through. “Going back into combat. Spell casting takes time and focus and it’s hard to get that when I’m frantically dodging swords or getting cut. And,” I paused, struggling with the impropriety of publicly chastising someone and discussing their faults, despite the necessity of communicating here. Endless Abyss, this was hard. At least Nicole wasn’t here, having stayed behind to manage coin and payments. Having someone who hadn’t been part of the conflict in listening would’ve made this conversation practically impossible. Still, Cecilia and Faith waited for me patiently to finish, their face free of judgment.

  Still I couldn’t bring myself to admonish them. At least not directly. So, instead I rephrased.

  “And I’m worried that if I'm left to fight someone one on one again, I’m not going to be as fortunate as I was at the warehouse.”

  Faith slowly nodded, “That is a fair assessment and a valid concern.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief at that. Even such an indirect insult as the one I had given would’ve been horribly improper back home.

  Cecilia was nodding slowly, “I was thinking along those lines anyways. Our fight at the warehouse was five people fighting near each other as opposed to a coordinated unit.” She smiled wistfully at that, before shaking her head. “We can do some practice though with Ignas and Kili.... do you hear that?”

  “Hear what?” I asked.

  Faith turned and pointed. “Over there. Someone’s calling your name.”

  I couldn’t see where they were pointing, there were too many people in the way. I had grown a few fingers, but I was still shorter than most of the people around me. But given that Cecilia was clutching her sword, I was inclined to think poorly of what was coming.

  “Dusk elves, pair of them. They’re both armed,” Cecilia said. “Know them?”

  “That…. sounds like every dusk elf I’ve ever met.”

  “So they might be friends of yours.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “I wouldn’t say friends,” I equivocated, “But I might know them.”

  “Let’s not stand in the middle of the street,” Faith suggested, ushering us to the side. “Draws more attention to us than they already are.”

  As we moved to the side, I finally hear the voice, repeatedly calling my name. It was melodic in the way that the Dusk Elves were, but it also sounded familiar. It wasn’t until the crowd broke and I could see the person yelling that I was able to place it.

  “Nioka?” I asked incredulously.

  Her face lit up as she saw me and she started moving even quicker through the crowd, at one point almost throwing someone out of their way to get to me faster. Behind her the Quartermaster followed, rapidly apologizing for Nioka while making sure not to fall too far behind.

  “Kara!” Nioka said, sliding to a stop just short of me. “It’s.. it’s you. It’s really you.”

  “Yes…” I slowly agreed, desperately looking around in confusion. Cecilia and Faith looked just as confused as I was. The Quartermaster looked sheepish as he offered a shrug.

  “I was worried,” she said, “About you.”

  I almost asked why before remembering that the last any of the Dusk Elves had seen of me, it had been the Quartermaster as I was in a half-trance state and separated by a mad mob. From the outside, I could see how that might be concerning.

  “Yes, well. I’m okay,” I said in my best placating tones. “But what are you doing up here?”

  “Requisitions,” the Quartermaster explained. “She’s supposed to be my escort but she caught sight of you and took off.”

  “It was your hair,” Nioka agreed, completely unconcerned with the Quartermaster’s chastisement. “It’s very distinct. I saw it and I just had to…”

  She trailed off with a blush that I didn’t know what to make of but given Faith’s small noise of understanding and Rin’s giggle, it was clear I was in the minority.

  “Well, I’m okay,” I said as politely as I could. I wasn’t sure what to say next, so instinctive responses took the fore. “And how are you?”

  “Good,” she said with a nod. “Great actually. I had been feeling a bit down and listless since you left, but now you’re here and I feel a lot better.”

  “That’s… good?”

  “Uh huh,” she agreed. We stood in silence long enough for it to stretch into awkwardness and no one seemed particularly keen on contributing to the conversation.

  “Well, I’m going to go.” I eventually managed. “It was good…”

  “Great, where to?” she asked, cutting me off.

  “Nioka,” the Quartermaster said, his voice sharpening. “We have a job.”

  A brief look of anger crossed Nioka’s face, gone fast enough I was almost convinced I had imagined it, but then she made a half turn and smiled at the Quartermaster. It was a bit awkward of positioning as she was clearly trying to make sure I didn’t leave her sight.

  “Yes, and part of that was escorting Kara.”

  “No,” the Quartermaster, Faith, and I all said in unison. Nioka jumped a bit and I silently deferred to the Quartermaster first.

  “Our job was to get Kara to Freeport. That’s done. And even if it wasn’t, given the two she’s traveling with I doubt she needs our help.”

  “But…” Nioka tried, looking pleadingly at me as if I had any authority to contradict the Quartermaster.

  “He’s right,” I simply said.

  “But,” she said, her lip slightly trembling. “I want to help you.”

  Except, the way she intoned ‘help’ was heavy with implications the same way it had been that night at camp what seemed like an eternity to go. And suddenly everything made sense.

  “Is she’s still under the effect of the enticement?” I quietly asked Rin.

  “Is that a question or an observation?”

  “Yes?” I thought indecisively. It had been a question,but the facts matched my observations.

  Rin gave the impression of a long suffering sigh. “Yes, it would seem so.”

  “Okay, so how do I undo it?”

  “Well, you could feed on her.”

  “No!” I thought as emphatically as possible.

  “But seeing how that you are squeamish about such things,” she continued undaunted. “Distance and time will likely reduce if not eliminate the effect.”

  Likely?

  “I have no idea. I have never encountered this situation before.”

  Endless Abyss. I had no idea what to do and the person who knew the most about this situation was a murderer.

  “You say that as if you haven’t killed too.”

  I didn’t have the time nor the desire to argue ethics right now and instead pushed Rin aside and focused back on the present.

  “Nioka,” I said, as soothingly as possible.

  “Yes Kara?” she eagerly said. It made me wince seeing just how much she hung on my every word. It, uncomfortably, reminded me of some of the ways chickens looked at us for food back home. Spiders eat me, but it felt awful knowing I did this to them.

  “Go home,” I ordered. “Do the job your people sent you here to do and then go home.”

  “But? But why?” She all but moaned.

  “Because,” I started. I wanted to say ‘because I said so’ but that was cruel to the woman. She couldn’t help her mindset, her sycophantic nature. How did I cushion the blow? She wanted to help? So, how did I make her feel important even as I sent her away from me.

  “While I appreciate the thought and consideration, the simple fact is…” inspiration struck. “The simple fact is that dusk elves stand out too much here. We need people who can blend in.”

  The Quartermaster took a moment to send a pointed look at Faith and their rather blatant metallic parts, but Nioka didn’t break eye contact or try and contradict me.

  “With that said, the most uh… helpful thing you could do is go back to Mulvalod.”

  Nioka strained, but seemed unwilling or unable to cut me off. Still, the confusion was clear on her face.

  “Your people have done so much to help me, so much I want to repay. But I won’t be able to return to Mulvalod for a long while. Sending someone as… uh, competent, as you back to them and making sure they have all the warriors they can have is the best thing I can do until I can return and offer my thanks in person.”

  She went to ask a question, but I put a finger up to stop her. I couldn’t listen to her ask when she could return, when I’d come for her, or whatever question would inevitably follow. I didn’t have the answer and drawing this process out was both exhausting and stressful. “No more questions. Just do this. For me?”

  Nioka frowned and went to speak, but eventually her mouth twisted into a firm smile and she gave me a sharp nod.

  “Thank you,” the Quartermaster said before taking Nioka in hand and escorting her back down the street. There were a few times where she looked back and nearly stopped but the Quartermaster kept her moving and eventually they were swallowed by the crowd. Only then did I let myself breathe a sigh of relief.

  “Soooooo,” Cecilia said behind me. Winter’s Roar, I had forgotten Faith and her were here. Reluctantly, I turned around to face them and found them staring. “What was that all about?” she finished.