When we stopped that evening en route to the city of Hymetos, it was with three newly packed carts of flour, fruit, and vegetables. I’d convinced the chief to throw in some tents and bedrolls to boot; I didn’t think Gia had even haggled with the price she’d paid them, so it didn’t take much persuasion. And with that and no need to go off in the woods to hunt, we made camp beside the road in greater leisure today. Though it was certainly for the best that the chief hadn’t noticed her sword go missing.

As it was, though, Uvaia had passed it off to me a little outside the town, with a squirm and blush as I patted her on the head for her service. It was a double-edged straight blade in a dark blue sheath, a different make than those forged by Hesperian smiths in either the north or south. A knight’s weapon, was my guess, one Attenuata had taken from its first owner. And with a disturbing implication or two of who they might have been.

I lacked the magic to really analyze the blade’s enchantments, but the materials alone were telling to an educated eye. The blade’s edges had a brighter gleam than the steel, and just brushing one with a finger I felt an unpleasant shock. Silver-edged, then. A disadvantage against mortals, but the purity was at odds with demons’ corrupted souls, more dangerous even to those who weren’t lycanthropes like Aconite.

But an anti-demon blade wasn’t itself concerning, they were standard make for anyone expecting to see combat with us. No, the worrisome part was the pommel stone. An oblong piece of amber, polished but not cut to better fit the blade. Unmarked by tools, to maximize the mystical power of the gem. Holding and channeling souls.

And I could almost convince myself it was some necromantic dabbler’s weapon, strengthening themself with the ghosts of fallen allies, if it weren’t for the crest marking the pommel and sheath alike. This had belonged to the Church of Revarch. Ideologically opposed to demons, and I would guess even more prominent in Viletiu’s nationwide rebuilding after the Feast.

What were church agents doing with weapons like this? Weapons custom-made for their warriors, no less. Was their aim to capture demons’ souls and interrogate us? Or were they stooping to demons’ own means; if souls could be consumed by one’s fellow demons, the same principles might let mortals empower themselves in the same way.

And how long had weapons like this been in manufacture? There shouldn’t have been any recent impetus. Had there been incursions into Viletiu I hadn’t heard about? Damn it, if only I could use my magic…

“How’s that wound treating you?” I looked up at Sedum’s voice, seeing the grizzled orc man standing there with a mug of tea.

“Oh, you know, it’s a wonderful distraction from the knife someone stabbed in my back.” I glared at him, but he just chuckled, which made me glare harder. “Why did you go behind my back to tell Gi– Lady Hydrangea what to do?”

“That’s making a bit much of it, don’tcha think?” Sedum asked, eyebrows raising. “All I did was point out that we did have more coin than she might’ve thought. Didn’t want to bring that up in front of the killers we’d be taking it from.”

“You could have suggested to me that we pay them. Not just her alone.”

“I figured you would know that we had the money.” Though he kept a smile up, his eyes narrowed as he looked at me. “And once they were loading up, a quick talk with Attenuata made it clear you hadn’t wanted to use it.”

“Both Lady Hydrangea and I negotiated for the supplies…” He scoffed out a half-laugh, and I cut off, frowning. All right, fine, I’d cop to that one. “Well, it wasn’t as bad as you two seem to think. This wasn’t highway robbery, I’d planned it out, we would be doing them a favor.”

“I must’ve missed the part where you shared your brilliant plan with the rest of us,” Sedum said, shrugging a shoulder. Then he winced, looking down at his scabbing over but still burnt side. “All I could do was call it like I see it.”

“Try opening your eyes first next time.” I held his gaze, staring. “No more influencing her without my permission. Got it?”

Sedum just smiled at me. “Tea?” he asked, holding out the mug.

I looked at it, looked at him, and decided I wasn’t willing to be that spiteful. I took a long drink, and though I still gagged at the bitter flavor, I knew my shoulder’s near-permanent soreness would start to lessen, soon.

“Not your best self when you’re in pain, I know,” Sedum said genially as I drank. I resisted the urge to make an obscene gesture at him. Without a full mouth I’d have said he didn’t know me. “Wish that still did much of anything for me. But I found a few roots that help the burn a little.”

I finished the tea, letting out a breath. “How did you learn about these different plants and herbs?” It wasn’t a skill I’d known in any other demons.

I saw him hesitate for a second. “Spent some time in the wild with a few folks that taught me. Wasn’t the worst thing to pick up,” he said, shrugging again. I was willing to bet that was a lie, one liar to another.

“Was that before or after you picked up your skills with weapons?” I saw his expression tighten up, guarded, and shook my head. “Never mind.” No need to bite too hard at the hand giving tea to you. “But you are in the company of plenty of us from a military background.”

“Wasn’t military. And I wouldn’t call most of that lot ‘company’, either,” he said, glowering at the Obsidian demons. I held the sheathed sword out to him, and he blinked. “What’s this?”

“Feastday present. Can you use it?” Handing off a valuable and mysterious weapon did rankle, but I wasn’t in much shape to use it with my weak hand, however much I’d tried to practice once others were asleep. And if we were ambushed by Aconite, I’d want someone reliable holding the werewolf-bane blade.

“Never heard of presents for that,” Sedum said, chuckling with his brow furrowed. He hefted the sword, drawing it and rotating it in his hand. “Balanced well. Enchanted?” He swung it slowly in an arc, then lifted his other hand to grasp the blade in a half-sword position. I started, ready to warn him, but he gripped the blade and mimed a thrust, lowering it and nodding. “Aye, sure. Prefer my fists, but I can use it fine.”

I stared for a second. Those tusks certainly didn’t look fake. And he was taller than you could expect of a human, right? Damn it, being this short made it hard to tell. “Well, there’s a lot of demons out there in need of stabbing, so keep the sword just in case.” Maybe he just had a higher pain tolerance than me.

He snorted. “Got it. Any reason for the sudden generosity?”

“Not all that sudden, I only just picked it up in town. Uvaia picked it up for me, really, but I doubt she’d mind you taking it either.”

Sedum paused at that, brow furrowing as he looked at me. “If it was a gift for you, I think she’d be happier if you held onto it, lass. You two aren’t on the outs with each other, aye?”

“It’s not for me,” I insisted, face heating up. Uvaia hadn’t meant it in that way, right? “It’s salvage to benefit us all, and in a fight you’d wield it better than me. And no, we’re – we’re getting along fine.”

“Mm.” He pursed his lips. “In my experience, ‘fine’ leaves a lot of room for improvement. I know a lot’s changed lately, but from the way she looks at you, I’m pretty sure she’d have room for more from you too. Have you thought about if that’s something you’re willing to give?”

…That wasn’t an easy question to answer. I liked Uvaia, I did. She was cute, sweet, and attractive, and she’d held together surprisingly well in the fighting and being displaced from her home. I’d thought that Uvaia would just stay behind when I left Monem, but she’d stuck with me and made herself useful.

But Gia complicated it all significantly. I was fairly sure Gia was attracted to me too, and if I was intimate with Uvaia, I’d risk making Gia feel rejected, alienated. She was too important to all this for me to risk that. But getting involved with her would have risks too, and I was more emotionally compromised by her than I should be already…

“There’s someone not far off,” Gia spoke up unexpectedly, saving me from needing to answer Sedum. I jumped up and came over quickly, a muttering spreading through the demons around. Gia lowered her voice as she continued. “Ann, if it feels brighter, that means they’re stronger, right?”

I’d asked Gia to keep her third eye open as a lookout. That she could spot demons veiling themselves when I couldn’t do the same was a major boost to our security. Plus, more control of her powers would not be a remotely bad thing. And she could get over the mild headache it would cause.

“That’s right.” I activated my own aura sense, and consequently winced at my instant headache. I’d hoped Gia’s presence might get easier to handle with repeated exposure, but it hadn’t happened yet. Still, I did quickly locate a strong aura, not a demon I recognized. The startling thing, though, was that they weren’t in fact a demon at all.

“Well, then they do seem strong, this one. Stronger than you, even,” Gia continued, and I twitched. If she was trying to flatter me, she could have pointed out some trait where I wasn’t woefully insufficient.

“Yes, this one’s powerful, but more importantly they’re a mortal,” I stressed, thinking quickly on how best to handle this. Only the one? They clearly weren’t weak, but coming to Hesperia alone meant they were some combination of brave and stupid. Though it was entirely possible they hadn’t been alone, but were the last survivor. Still, if we could get this mortal under control, it could be a great advantage. And with Gia nominally in charge, I wouldn’t have to worry about mistreatment of a prisoner.

“What?” Gia started. “You mean they’re human?” She said that louder than I’d been speaking, to my chagrin as more eyes turned towards us.

Sighing, I elected to stop whispering. “Or they could be an elf or dwarf. Or possibly a minotaur.” I’d never seen one of those in my time as a demon.

“We should hunt the mortal down,” Eupatorium said, a malicious grin on his skull of a face.

“A mortal here? One who’s survived? No, we should stay far, far away,” Boquila said, eyes wide with fear as he looked up at us.

“Lady Hydrangea could deal with the mortal, though. Couldn’t she?” Lycoris asked, tapping her spider half’s legs together as she showed Gia a hopeful look.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

More attention turned to Gia at that. I could see both Sedum and Uvaia with anxious expressions; I supposed they’d seen enough of Gia, rather than Lady Hydrangea, to be nervous at the prospect. Hell, I couldn’t blame them, I certainly was. Crassula, though, was watching Gia almost expectantly.

Eyes wide as she took in the gazes on her, Gia visibly hesitated for a second before swallowing and standing up straight. “Yes, I most certainly could. And will. The rest of you can stay at a distance.”

“Lady Hydrangea. A word?” I said quickly, gesturing sharply to beckon her away from the others. “I don’t think you realize how dangerous this is,” I told her once we were out of earshot.

“I just want to talk to them!” Gia said, blinking at me. “Come on, this is someone like me, or more like me than the other demons. N-not that you’re not great,” she added, cheeks reddening, though with a guilty tinge to her eyes. “I just think it would be nice, you know?”

“Mortals around here,” I avoided saying ‘this world’ just in case anyone could still hear us. “Are raised to see demons as monsters, their enemies. They’re not going to want to talk to you.”

“We don’t know until we try, right?” Gia was frowning at me now. “What were you wanting to do about them?”

“Well, I’d,” I paused as I realized how this would sound, but still finished reluctantly. “Get them on our side, ideally, but we can’t depend on that…”

“See?” Gia brightened back up, excitement shining through. “So wouldn’t it be better if we can just talk instead of attacking or whatever?”

“The problem is that they’ll probably attack you on sight,” I said, grimacing. Then again, if they couldn’t see her, or any of us… “But, well, I might have a way around that. Byzantina,” I said, beckoning over the jackalope. “What’s the farthest range you can use to project sound?”

- - -

Quickly, we spoke together and I hatched a plan. The forest was too thick for Uvaia to get a look at the mortal from above, but we could get close enough to the presence for them to hear. I whispered to Gia, and she spoke aloud for Byzantina to mimic.

“Stop there, mortal,” Gia’s projected voice carried between the trees. “We have you surrounded – really?” she whispered to me, giving me an askance look. I gestured sharply for her to continue. “But there is no need to try and fight. Surrender and you will not be harmed.”

“I’m supposed to believe that, then, am I?” The voice that spoke was feminine, accented, and a little haughty. An elf, was my conclusion. “Why don’t you show yourself and we’ll see how that goes.”

Hm. She was stubborn, though if she’d made it this far into Hesperia I supposed she wouldn’t scare easily. I whispered more lines to Gia. “I think not. Best for us both if you do not try and attack me.”

“Is that so.” The woman’s voice dropped to something quieter, and my ears pricked up as I recognized it as chanting a spell. Flinching, I beckoned Gia and Byzantina back with a sharp gesture, before a few paces away from us a wide column of pearlescent light filled the air, a rushing sound as it rained down before dissipating. Holy magic. I could feel my hair stand on end even at this distance from it.

“Still alive, demon?” The woman’s voice called, more smugly now. When no response came she spoke again. “Tch. ‘Surrounded.’ What a troublesome bluff.”

“Change of plans. This isn’t worth the risk,” I told Gia quietly, gritting my teeth. “That’s a priestess, and a powerful one. Holy magic is especially harmful to us, and she’s clearly very willing to use it.” If we had a way to combat her from outside her range, maybe it could be worth trying, but trying to swarm her with a force like this would wipe most of us out. We might be able to lay a trap or ambush, but if it didn’t subdue her instantly plenty of us would die. And if we ended up killing her instead of subduing her, those losses would be for nothing. “We can avoid her easily, let’s just go.”

“A priestess? But then,” Gia’s eyes widened, and her expression set in a determined look. “No, it is worth the risk. You said I’m shielded, aren’t I? I’m going out there.”

“What?!” No, she was not! I was not letting this idiot walk to her death based on some half-founded belief she’d be safe from it. “Don’t you dare!” I reached out to grab her, but muscle memory meant I did so with the wrong hand, and when the sparks of pain cleared from my eyes she was beyond my arm’s length. “Gia!” I called in a strained, desperate stage whisper.

“Hey! Miss priestess!” Gia called, walking away from me.

“Oh, you’re still there.” The elf’s voice was tinged with disapproval now.

“I’m Lady Hydrangea. You don’t need to surrender, but I do want to talk,” Gia said, stepping between two trees. Then a spear of blinding light struck her in the chest, and searing brightness filled my eyes.

My stomach lurched, and as I blinked the spots out of my eyes nightmare scenarios flashed through my mind. Was it all gone just like that? All my plans with her gone because I couldn’t keep this from happening? And Gia, gods… when I could see again, would there just be a burnt corpse where she had stood? Would there be anything left of her at all?

But when my vision cleared, I saw Gia standing right where she’d been. Though I could only see her back, even her clothes were unmarred and unharmed. “Ow,” Gia said simply. “That hurt my eyes.”

“How–?!” The elf’s voice came out choked. “What is this? An illusion? There’s no way you could have survived that utterly unscathed.” Her words were thick with fear now, and I felt a dark satisfaction hearing it.

“I literally just said I wanted to talk, and you immediately try to kill me? Ugh.” Gia growled. “Alright, I guess Ann was right about you. No, okay, focus,” I heard her mutter to herself, as I crept closer through the trees, hiding behind each one and trying to catch a glimpse around the trunk.

“What do you mean to do with me?” The elf’s voice had a slight tremble to it, and as I moved closer I managed to spot half of her face. If I was less pissed and terrified I’d have called her beautiful, with silky blonde hair, emerald eyes and unblemished pale skin. She wore an elaborately curved metallic headpiece, and a large earring dangled from her ear.

“To talk. Again. Jesus,” Gia muttered incomprehensibly. “The first normal person I’ve met so far and it’s like talking to a wall. Alright, what’s your name?”

“…I am known as Vaeri,” the priestess said, expression tightening. “You would not know my family name, I come from people of no consequence.”

Well, that was obviously a lie. But Gia didn’t call her on it. “Hi, Vaeri. I’m Gi– Hydrangea. Can we start again?”

I could see Vaeri staring at her blankly. “Are you truly a demon?”

“Wha- uh, yes! Of course!” Gia said, floundering, and I wanted to smack myself. She had better not make me go out there, I would get blasted for it. “Anyway! Vaeri. You must have some reason for being in demon lands, right? Since you seem to hate demons?”

“…” More blank staring. “Why would you want to know? To use it against me?”

“Maybe I think we could help you,” Gia said tetchily. This was the first time I’d heard her close to losing her patience, and honestly, it was a good look. “If it wouldn’t blow your mind for a demon to consider such a thing.”

A short, startled laugh came from the elf now. “My mind will survive, I am sure.” She looked to be studying Gia for a moment. “And what would you ask of me in exchange, then? My life? My soul?”

“All I’d want is for you to do something simple for me,” Gia said, sounding like keeping calm was an effort. “It wouldn’t cost you anything like that.”

“Very well. I suppose, under these circumstances…” Vaeri shook her head. “I am here seeking the rescue of a friend, imprisoned by a powerful demon.”

Well, shit. No– I shook off that initial reaction, reminding myself of the big picture. Depending on who it was, this could absolutely work for us.

“Oh, geez. I’m sorry.” Gia couldn’t have missed Vaeri consequently looking at her like she had two heads, because she quickly continued. “Uh, anyway! What if we could help you rescue your friend?”

“…You would do that?” Vaeri’s voice was soft and fragile for a moment, and I could see twin tides of disbelief and relief crash over her face before she schooled her expression back. “Ahem. Who is this ‘we’ that you suggest I accept help from?”

“You can’t try to kill them.” Gia’s voice was hard. “If you do – you’d better not.”

“Yes, yes, of course. I simply wish to know what this would involve.”

“All right.” Gia sounded suspicious, but turned back towards me. “Ann! You– oh,” she said, startling as she met my gaze. “You were right there the whole time, huh? Well, um, come meet Vaeri?” She smiled, more hesitant, fidgeting like she expected me to punish her for something done wrong.

I walked into the open. Vaeri did not try to kill me, so I had a moment to take her in. A beautiful elven woman, wearing a dark high-collared dress and the sunburst symbol of Revarch around her neck. Seeing her full on, there was a clear intelligence in her eyes. And I could see her sizing me up as I did the same.

“ ‘Ann’, is it?” Vaeri murmured, watching me with a neutral gaze.

“Anthurium. I’m Lady Hydrangea’s advisor.” I glanced to Gia, who still looked fidgety. “Good job negotiating with her,” I said, surprising myself somewhat with a lack of sarcasm.

Surprise flashed in Gia’s eyes, followed by relief. “Ah, thanks! I just thought, with what you said…”

“You thought right.” But we would talk about her risk-taking later. “Do you know anything about the demon holding your friend?” I asked Vaeri.

“Yes, Erik was able to get a message to me. Her name is Aconite, one of your bloodthirsty tribal leaders,” Vaeri said, with a look of distaste.

Aha. Now things were slotting into place. “Your friend wouldn’t happen to know fire magic, would he?” But I knew the answer must be yes, it finally tied together two mysteries. He was the fire mage, that boy was how Aconite had set our camp on fire. And I hadn’t sensed his presence there because a fireball could be launched from long range…

Vaeri jolted, mask cast aside for an expression of unmitigated worry. “Yes! Have you seen him? Do you know if he’s alive?”

“I battled against Aconite roughly a week ago. And I’m fairly sure I saw his handiwork. If he was alive then, there’s a good chance he is now.”

Vaeri’s shoulders slumped, and she exhaled a deep sigh of relief. Then she looked at me, calculating. “She is your enemy too, then.”

“She’s someone it might be in our interests to go up against.” No need to make it too easy for her.

Vaeri’s eyes narrowed. “Then if I were to cooperate with you, what would it cost me?”

I opened my mouth, but Gia got there first. “Can you heal her?” she asked earnestly, and I realized she was pointing at me.

Vaeri blinked. So did I. “That’s why you wanted to talk to her?” I asked Gia. Incredulous, and a little touched.

“Well, once you said she was a priestess…” Gia smiled weakly at me. “I did think it was worth it.”

She’d been willing to risk getting killed for me. Gods, this girl.

“Most of my training is in combat magic, but I do know some basic healing spells,” Vaeri spoke, studying me. “If you can tell me where you are injured–” She stopped as I held up my good hand.

“I’d like to propose a different agreement, actually.” Gia looked over at me with a start, hurt in her eyes, but I tuned her out. This was important. “In exchange for our help opposing Aconite and rescuing her prisoner, you will give our forces any magical help and support they require in the course of other battles we fight on the way, and in order to ensure his safety.”

“And would you be plotting a course that puts Erik’s rescue after all of your other enemies?” Vaeri asked, lips twitching at the corners.

Well. I certainly wasn’t going to now. “We can go straight there. No detours.” Really, though, while I’d considered that same idea, going directly for Aconite had seemed like the best choice. If I played my cards right, we could get two powerful magical assets on our side, and keep them for much longer.

Gia looked at me with wide eyes. “The city…”

“No detours to fight other warlords,” I corrected with a small sigh. “Our current destination will help us muster more strength to fight Aconite, anyway.”

Vaeri nodded slowly, scrutinizing me. “Then I agree to your proposal.”

As she said it, a great pressure lifted off my chest. Now, finally, this was coming together. Now we’d have more of a fighting chance.

“Does that mean you’re not going to heal Ann?” Gia asked in a small voice, looking at Vaeri.

The elf woman looked back at her a little helplessly. “It’s not directly covered by the agreement,” she started to say, then sighed. “But I suppose, as a show of good faith.” She looked at me, stepping forward. “Where are you hurt?”

“My shoulder, here.” I waited tensely as she placed a hand on my shoulder. She drew it back as if stung, looking askance at the bone spikes, before shaking her head and touching my arm instead, chanting quietly.

A softer glow shone from her hand and suffused my arm and shoulder. I could feel the tense soreness built up over the last few days start to fade, the stiffness in my shoulder lessened. Abruptly, however, I spasmed as I felt muscle jam up against something that felt wrong, intrusive, like it shouldn’t be there. I let out a harsh breath as the healing magic subsided. The wrong feeling didn’t.

“Ann? Are you okay?” Gia asked, eyes widening.

I grit my teeth. “Something got healed, I’m pretty sure, but it sure didn’t heal right. My shoulder doesn’t hurt anymore, but it’s not comfortable, either. Gah, it feels like something’s stuck inside my arm.”

“Ah, damn it… I’m sorry, Ann.” Gia’s face fell, and she sighed, looking helplessly from me to Vaeri. “I thought it would be worth a try.”