Gad opened his mouth to talk, but I interrupted him almost immediately.

“Wait a minute,” I said. “First things first. Before we even talk about me helping you, Amaia needs the thladem cure. You have that, right?”

I was slightly ashamed of having forgotten, even if only temporarily. I had gotten caught up in the moment, caught up with the hope of finally making some progress.

Amaia rolled up her sleeve again to show Gad the ink-blotch stain. Gad smiled. “Of course. Ikhamon!” he yelled, and immediately a servant was at his side. The man looked to be of the local stock, unlike his masters, both of which must have been born elsewhere - though not the same place, obviously.

“Bring me potion number eleven,” he said. “No, twelve. Potion twelve. And take this key, and unlock the second drawer down on the left side of my desk, and bring me four of what you find there.”

He handed off the key, and the servant walked briskly away.

“Like, finally found some trustworthy help, Dad?” Naomi asked once Ikhamon was out of earshot.

Gad sighed. “Trustworthy enough. He knows better than to steal, at least, and he knows I count my inventory. But he isn’t… well, never mind that. He does fine work, so far.

“By the way, have you reached the Second Ring yet?”

Naomi shrunk in her seat. “No. But I have a good lead, I think. Cadoc got a launching-type magic from this big bug thing on the way here. That might be perfect.”

“Well there’s no need to rush, honey,” Yasmin offered. “It took me a long time, too. It pays off to be picky. Otherwise, I’d be stuck hauling sacks of grain like most body-mages. I’m sure Miles here didn’t become an adventurer by killing the first monster to cross his path.”

I said nothing.

“Well I’m not exactly trying to emulate Miles…” Naomi muttered.

“A bug thing, you say?” Gad asked. “I think I know the type. Yes, I believe you may be right. We’ll have to see if we can arrange something.”

The servant had already returned, presenting a little silver tray, on which sat a vial filled with purplish liquid, and four simple necklaces.

“Ah,” Naomi said when she saw the necklaces. “Then it’s true, yeah? We’re living on the Edge again?”

“I’m afraid so,” Gad said. “The Edge is the only place to get the materials we need. This time, however, the Edge did us the courtesy of following at our heels. Here, all of you. Put these on.”

Ikhamon took the tray of each of us, and we each took one necklace. They were simple metal chains, hardly thicker than a fingernail, on which hung a translucent crystal of some sort which looked almost like glass. There were flakes of green in it, but otherwise it looked like a fogged window, or the door of one of those fancy shower units, after it had been steamed up.

“What is it?” I asked. I seemed to be the only skeptical one there - Cadac, Amaia and Naomi had all put their necklaces on immediately, no questions asked.

“Don’t they have these in the heavens?” Yasmin asked at my side. “Ah, I suppose they must not need them. You simply must tell me more of your birthplace, sometime.”

“He is from the heavens?” Gad asked.

“His mother is the Goddess Rena,” Cadoc answered.

Gad nodded. “I see.”

For awhile he said nothing more. Naomi finally broke the silence.

“They’re for protection,” Naomi said. “Being this close to the Edge is kind of like being next to a dungeon. You know how that works, yeah? Slowly turn into a monster. These necklaces stop that.”

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

“Wait,” I said. “So the townspeople really are turning into monsters? I saw people with antennae and shit! Aren’t we going to be overrun?”

Gad laughed. “No, Miles, not to worry. There aren’t enough crystals like these to go around, but I’ve developed a potion to keep the turning at bay. As long as they keep taking it, it isn’t a problem. The people you saw are mostly those who did not catch it early enough - the potion only stops things getting worse, you see. It does not reverse the condition.”

I pointed at the vial Amaia now held. “And that?”

“A thladem wound is easier,” Gad answered. “That will reverse it.”

Amaia uncorked the vial, but I raised a hand to stop her. “Wait. Are there any side effects?”

“Side effects?” Gad asked. He looked at me sideways. “Are you trained in alchemy, Miles?”

“No,” I said. “Why?”

“Most people don’t even know the term,” he said. “Let alone have the sense to ask about it. Yes, there is one side effect. But it is minor. For a couple of days, Amaia will lose her appetite, and desire very little water. But she has just eaten, and as I say, it will clear in two or three day’s time. The fast will help speed the cure, and surviving even three days without food is a simple thing, as long as you aren’t already wasting away.”

Amaia looked at Gad. “Nothing else?”

He smiled. “No, nothing else.”

Amaia shrugged, and downed the vial in one gulp, like a shot.

I suppose some level of trust is required here, I thought. I put the necklace over my head. It hung low, settling somewhere around my solar plexus.

“Tuck that into your shirt,” Gad said. “As I said, these crystals are rare. Our city is generally safe, but no city is completely free of the criminal element.”

I did as he said.

“Thank you,” Cadoc said. “This gift is generous.”

“Generous?” Gad said. “Not at all. Think of it not as a gift. Think of it as a bribe. I am hoping to entice you all to stay. It seemed to me you were a team, yes? Miles likely wouldn’t stay long enough to help if you two left right away, am I right?”

I didn’t know what to say, but they both answered for me. “Truly,” Cadoc said.

“Maybe,” Amaia said.

“And the monsters,” I said. “And the Edge. What’s the situation? Are you going to have to flee here again?”

Just then, as if summoned by my words, a trumpet sounded far in the distance. I could hardly hear it, but it was soon answered by another trumpet - or whatever sort of horn it was - much closer.

“Ah,” Gad said. “I suppose we were about due for one, yes?” He rose from the table.

“If you would all join me,” he said. “Then I think I could answer your questions best by showing you what we’re dealing with.”

-

Gad took us down another winding trail of corridors - if I’m going to be living here, I thought, I’ll need to get a map or something.

The hallways eventually led us to another small exit, this one opening up on the eastern side of the structure. Here there was a wide balcony edged in by a little marble-like railing, past which the cliff fell away precipitously. There were little chairs set up there near the drop, and from any of them you could see the whole city of Coernet spread below like a diagram of a city, and even over the tall bridge to the other side of the Blood.

We all stood, and Gad, with one hand on the railing, pointed with his other to that opposite side where the bridge touched down. “There,” he said. “Do you see it?”

I squinted. It seemed that the opposite side of the bridge was inhabited, like a small exclave of the city proper. It had it’s own walls, including three massive gates on every side not facing the water, north, east, and south. The buildings within the walls, while hard to make out from such a distance, looked old.

The gates were all closed, but looking at where Gad pointed, I could see distant figures like ants just outside the southern gate. Their armor glinted in the sunlight.

“Is that the garrison?” Amaia asked.

“Exactly right,” Gad responded. “And do you see their enemy? There, from the southeast.”

They were little more the spots, spots only marginally bigger than the first, the garrison. But these ones were moving quickly towards the walls - three attackers.

“Here,” Gad said, and handed me a intricate spyglass-like telescope he’d produced seemingly from nowhere. “Get a good look.”

I peered through the small end, and after awhile trying to find the moving targets again, I saw them.

They were just like the bug monster we had fought before, six legs each propelling them towards their prey. I looked at the garrison, and saw the same glittering armor, and could tell by the helmet that the one in front was likely Zuan.

I lowered the telescope. “Are they in danger?” I asked.

“Of course,” Gad said. “But there are only three, this time. They are well trained.”

“Truly, I wish we were closer,” Cadoc said. “Close enough to join in, even.”

Gad laughed. “There will be plenty of chances for that.”

Someone shoved me from behind - not hard enough to launch me over the railing, but just enough to be rude, and clearly intentional. “Hand me that,” Naomi said, pointing at the telescope. I decided against arguing just then, and did so.

Gad spoke further as we all looked on. “That is what we face,” he said. “To the east, as you know, lies the corrupted land of monsters. And, as you likely did not know before coming, that corruption has spread even here. No one outside our city seems to know, or care. No reinforcements ever arrive.”

The two groups below finally met, and, shockingly, the garrison flew up into the air, shot forward in an arc towards the bugs as if they were launched from a cannon. I could just make out the blade-heads of their weapons.

“If the monsters were clever enough to attack all at once,” Gad continued. “The city would surely fall. For now, the garrison fends them off. Even still, the corruption spreads. We barely keep enough potions to protect the townspeople, and if the corruption spreads further,” he said, tracing his finger along the skyline, down the river, and to where Harfin must lay to the North, though I couldn’t quite make it out, “to Harfin perhaps… then there is nothing we could do.”

The garrison fell upon the monsters like a volley of arrows, making wide swings down upon their foes.

“If Harfin falls,” he said. “Then our position in compromised. The river will no longer afford us any protection.”

He turned from the battle to look me in the eyes. “That is what I need you for, Miles. To help secure me a supply of the materials I require for my potions, to help me to expand our humble business into Harfin, and to ensure a future here, a future of safety and stability.”

“And what does that involve, exactly?” I asked, peeking up and around his shoulder to see how the attacks resolved.

“I will make you a list,” he said. “Of what I need, and where you may find it. Besides that, I trust you, Miles. My daughter is a good judge of character, and she has brought you here to me. I will put you in charge of the Harfin branch, as long as you prove my expectations worthy. Run it as you wish, and take your portion for every sale.

“Once it’s established, you may delegate the responsibility to those you can trust, and make money while you sleep. All while helping us fight off the encroachment of the Edge.”

He offered me his hand. “What do you say, Miles? Interested in a partnership?”

Behind him the blades fell, and they were well aimed such that the limbs of the monsters slid cleanly off the bloated bodies. From a distance, the monsters seemed simply to fall apart.

I turned back to Gad. “Fuck it,” I said, taking his hand and shaking it. “Money while I sleep is exactly what I’m looking for.”