“I presume you can give me some idea of what kind of object I need to collect to win this challenge,” I say tersely to my group as we return to our campsite.

  Some idea, yes, Tarra answers.

  Enough of one that you should be able to exceed normal expectations, adds Poison, surprisingly supportive. What? he asks in confusion as I look at him. You have more than exceeded expectations for what you’ve been able to accomplish in our village. I see no reason why this should be any different.

  I send him a warm feeling. Although I hadn’t realised he felt that strongly about it, it’s nice to be appreciated.

  “Thank you,” I say to them all, the group of samurans who once saw me only as a prey-beast to use, and now are some of my strongest supporters. Well, with a few notable exceptions. But even those are coming around. “So, what can you tell me?”

  The object varies, but it is always something of power. Either a Core of a strong beast, or a fruit of a powerful tree, or an object from the earth that contains its might. Most of the time it is a Core of a powerful beast, usually close to or past its second Evolution.

  “And I need to get it back here for the longest night, which means I have four days?”

  Four and a half, Flower answers. You do not need to submit the object until nightfall.

  I lean back against the mounded earth which is made into a sort of chair for me, thinking.

  In order to win this competition, I need to not only beat the object that the other leader, Flying-blade, brings back, but I also need to bring back something better than what they already have. Which means that I have to assume that the object they have is at least the level of a Tier three beast. It might, in fact, not quite be that high, but without being allowed to inspect what they’ve collected, I won’t know until too late.

  I consider the possibility of bringing back some object of power other than a Core. The problem with that is my lack of knowledge both about these objects and about where to find them. My Earth-Shaping might be able to find or make one of these things from the earth, and perhaps one of my Bound might know of a tree powerful enough to produce the kind of objects I need. But I don’t know enough about either of those.

  Checking with the samurans and my other Bound around me, my suspicions are confirmed – none of them know where I might find such objects.

  If we knew, why would we tell you? demands Windy. We’d have just brought it ourselves as part of our tribute and raised the village’s reputation.

  It was a fair point, if a little rudely put. I eye her warningly until she looks away, my non-verbal reprimand for her tone enough. I’ve come to understand that ‘abrasive’ is just her default position – she’s like that with everyone except those whose favour she wants to curry.

  I dismiss her from my mind – she’s less than important at the moment. It looks like I’m going to have to take on a Tier three beast which doesn’t fill me with great joy considering what happened the last time I fought one of them. Then again, we’ve all advanced in power since then. Besides, the same Tier three beast we fought owes me more than one favour. Maybe it’s time to collect on one of those.

  As I consider the idea, I like it more and more. And I know just the beast to target. A way of striking two birds with one stone, as the saying goes. Though I’ll need to make sure that it’s even possible before I commit to it.

  “Alright,” I say, opening my eyes and looking around. A quiet murmur of conversation has sprung up while I’ve been thinking, my different Bound discussing possibilities for winning this challenge. As I speak, though, all eyes turn to me and it goes quiet – perhaps they hear the decision in my voice. “I’ve got a plan. I’m going to assume that I will need to defeat a Tier three beast to get its Core to win this, and I have a beast in mind for it. But just in case, I’ll check with Kalanthia and Raven to find out if they have any better ideas.

  “Fortunately, the rules of the challenge leave some wriggle room for me. At least, that’s how I tried to make them – that I can use the help of any who are Bound to me through my Tamer Class Skills. Would you all agree with that interpretation?” The Pathwalkers look around at each other.

  That’s our interpretation too, Tarra answers cautiously. We are Bound to you as…beasts would be to a Beast-tamer, she says slowly, discomfort flashing through her spikes. Windy looks away with a samuran equivalent of a scowl and several other Pathwalkers avoid my gaze. Only Catch, River and the most recently-Evolved samurans are willing to meet my eyes with no shame or discomfort present. Our aid should be counted as directed under your abilities.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “Alright, good. That’s what I was hoping. Anyway, I’m not going to take all of you with me. Most of you will be more use to the village staying here and continuing to talk with other villages – and mate.” I grimace a little at the last bit, an uncomfortable memory returning about that. From the quickly hidden amusement I see flashing through several of the samurans’ spikes, they remember it too. “Besides,” I say, moving swiftly on, “if I do go ahead with the beast I have in mind, having too many around will be problematic.”

  I look around at everyone, trying to decide who might be the best to take with me. Any Tier three is likely to have a high health pool, and the one I’m considering probably even more so. We’ll need fighters to whittle it down, as well as stop it from moving around too much.

  “River, Joy, Dusty, I’d like to take you with me,” I decide. “And Yells,” I add, making a snap decision. Thus far, she’s mostly used her reflecting and enhancing skills to defend herself, which would be useful in this fight too, but I have an instinct which tells me that her capabilities might extend beyond that.

  I would like to take Tarra with me too – potions are always useful – but I’m wary about bringing too many Pathwalkers with me. I can’t forget that this challenge is very much a distraction from the main purpose of being here. “Do you…” I grimace again at needing to ask the question. “Do you think that you have already…mated enough?”

  River, wretch that she is, just sends amusement over our Bond at my discomfort. Thankfully, she answers without teasing me further.

  “I sense that I have mated enough to fertilise my eggs,” she says frankly. “Ideally, I would like to mate a bit more to increase the chances that my eggs will all be fertilised by strong Warriors, but I can do that during the longest night if we do not return sooner. Is it the same with you, sisters?”

  The other Pathwalkers all agree with River, saving me from having to talk about the subject any more. It’s not that I’m a prude, it’s just that I don’t want to invade their privacy any more than I have to. I shudder to think of the reaction of the average woman on Earth if I asked whether she feels as though she’s had enough sex.

  “Alright, good,” I say, trying to move swiftly on again. The good thing is that all but Joy of the four Pathwalkers I’ve talked about are here for the first time so they don’t have much influence. The downside is that by taking them away, they will have less time to talk with others of their level in other villages. However, being part of the winning party in this challenge should help make up for that. If I understand samuran dynamics correctly, of course.

  “Bastet, you’ll of course be coming with me. Storm, Ninja, would you like to join us? It will be dangerous, especially since you haven’t yet Evolved,” I warn. Storm immediately disdains that. I get the sense that she’d agree with the statement ‘I laugh in the face of danger’. Ninja is a little more cautious, but she’s just as firm in her desire to come. For her, it’s the fact that the ‘pack’ are all going that makes the biggest difference. ‘I will support the pack’, I can imagine her saying. “OK, fine. Fenrir, I’ll need you,” I say next.

  Help pack leader! Fenrir chirps happily, waving his tail from side to side. The two samurans near him rapidly push themselves away, warily eyeing the poisoned tips to the spikes on his tail.

  “Lathani,” I start and then sigh. “You also haven’t yet Evolved, which makes it dangerous to take you into this fight,” I say frankly. “But I’m also wary of leaving you here.”

  I want to come, she says stubbornly. You are letting my sisters come. I want to come too. I sigh again, eyeing all three of them. The fact is that if they are part of a fight against a Tier three, they are likely to receive lots of Energy into their systems which would help with their progress. Lathani especially would benefit – she’s almost completed her Energy channel repairs. The Energy from the death of a Tier three could even be enough to push her close to Evolution.

  “Alright,” I agree. “But I want all of you to be very careful, and to stay mostly at the sidelines unless you can see that there’s a reasonably safe opening. OK?” I wait until all three felines give their agreement, grudging or otherwise, and then look away.

  “Sirocco goes without saying, we’ll need your aerial view, whatever we actually end up doing,” I tell her. The bird is sitting on top of an earthen mound but she hops to my shoulder and nuzzles against my cheek.

  As if I’d let you go off without me, she huffs, biting my ear lightly. I grin and rub at her chest feathers.

  “Other than that, I’d like to take Catch, though I think Pride had better stay here.” I look at the practically-inseparable pair. “Is that alright for you? If you don’t want to be separated, I understand.”

  The two exchange a glance.

  Why can’t Pride come? Catch asks on their behalf.

  “Frankly, he’s too big,” I sigh. “If we go for the beast I have in mind, we will have rather limited space. It’s the same reason that I only want to take Poison and maybe another scout-type Warrior,” I say.

  Take me, another samuran speaks up. We all look at him. Iandee hesitates a little as he sees all eyes on him, but then rallies. Take me, Honoured Tamer. Please. Let me help you win this.

  I eye him carefully. He looks determined.

  “You know that we intend to face a Tier three beast, right?” I ask. “The same level of beast who killed Peace and Murmur.”

  Grief splashes across Iandee’s spikes, but it doesn’t seem to soften his determination.

  I know. And I have been training ever since to become better so that this time I won’t have to watch one of my brothers or sisters die in front of me.

  I continue considering him carefully. It’s true that he’s been training like a man – samuran – possessed. There have been quite a few ranking fights among the Warriors, more than among the Pathwalkers as there were more samurans who Evolved to become a male fighter than a female magic-user. During those, Iandee has steadily risen in the ranks. He hasn’t broken the top five Warriors, but he’s made it to number seven. Honestly, from that alone he’s a decent choice, and he does have a lithe scout build.

  And besides that, how can I deny his desire to face his own fears?

  “Fine. That’s a big enough party, I think. If we can’t kill a Tier three beast with this number of good fighters, we don’t deserve to win,” I tell them half-jokingly. “Does anyone have any questions or concerns?”

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