They left the little town in the mountains behind. Isa took the lead, guiding them toward the Death Cult—or, at least, the last place she’d known it to be.

“I’ll warn you, it was over a hundred years ago. My knowledge likely is not completely accurate.”

“As long as we get close enough to start the raid, I’m good,” Levi replied, nodding.

She glanced at them. “I never returned for a reason, you know. If you underestimate the cult, you’ll be the one to die.”

“I doubt that. I am their Champion, after all.” Levi puffed out his chest.

“Even worse, then. They’ll seek to control you. Enslave you.”

“Well, yeah, that sounds horrible. I’ve been there before, and I didn’t like it the first time. But you know. It’s something I can keep in my back pocket as a one-time get-out-of-jail-free card.” He paused. “Get-into-jail-free?”

“That’s usually free,” Colin remarked.

“Avoid-execution-once, how’s that?” Levi asked.

“Probably more accurate.”

Isa narrowed her eyes. “If you think that will save you, you’re more the fool.”

“Yeah. I know.” Levi scowled. He stretched. “We really should just go grind some monsters, huh?”

“If we see any along the way, we should absolutely fight them. I’m not the only otherworlder the Death Cult kidnapped, or outright summoned. There are others. Others who cooperated with the cult, rather than resist it, as I did. Expect to face people who have had many more years to level up than yourself.”

Levi popped a salute. “Message received!”

She flicked her eyes over him, looking him up and down. Quietly, she murmured, “Of course, they aren’t Champions…”

He nodded at her. “Where is this Death Cult, then? It has to be some out of the way place, if they’re openly worshipping the Goddess of Death.”

“You’ll see,” she commented dryly.

The three of them walked on, down the mountain. Day passed into night, night passed back into day. Whenever they encountered a monster, Isa stepped back to let Levi and Colin confront it alone; even Levi didn’t complain. Of the three of them, she had the highest level, so she’d only be hogging EXP for no reason. Even so, Levi began to tire of the monsters they encountered. None of them were difficult, which meant none of them gave much EXP. At night, Colin and Isa swapped off on carrying Levi on their backs. Since he was the only one who needed to sleep, there was no point stopping the whole train to let him sleep, and he agreed. He had no trouble sleeping on the move, so sleep on the move he did.

In this manner, they spent one week. At last, they left the forest and its dirt paths to step onto what was unmistakably a road. Levi threw his hands out and dropped to his knees.

“And on the seventh day, the Lord said, let them see the goddamned road!”

Isa looked down on him and shook his head. “It wasn’t that bad. Don’t exaggerate.”

Levi climbed back to his feet. “It wasn’t that bad, I guess. I was just starting to despair that this world was nothing but one big forest.”

Isa laughed. She pointed. “If we’d gone any of the other directions, we would have encountered a town within a day or two at most. It’s only this way that there’s no route.” Her eyes hardened. “Deliberately.”

“Yeah, I get it. Run away from your traumas, and all that.” He dusted off his knees and gestured. “Which way now?”

She pointed. “There’s a town that way. If things remain as they did the last time I came through, it contains the very last outpost of the Death Cult. From here on out, we will both have to step carefully. My face might be recognized, and if you reveal your affiliation…”

“As the Champ—”

Isa glared.

“Message received!” He flashed her a grin.

She looked at Colin. “As for you… you’ll also want to avoid flashy displays. As you can imagine, the Cult of Death has no particular love of the Goddess of Life and her adherents. You should treat your magic as illegal, and only cast it in the most dire of straits.”

“No healing pet dogs or small children,” Levi said sternly, shaking his finger.

“Understood.” Colin gripped his staff tighter, then looked at it. He held it away from him, then awkwardly slid it under his coat.

“Don’t worry about that. A generic staff like that has no clear affiliation. No one should question you on sight of that,” Isa said, waving her hand dismissively.

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Colin hesitated, then pulled it out from under his coat. He nodded.

“Then, shall we?” Isa strode on once more.

Levi looked over his shoulder before he walked on. From here, he could faintly see Isa’s manor, watching over the land from high, high on its mountain. He chuckled under his breath. Too afraid to return, but wary enough she couldn’t resist acting as sentinel. “Like watching a spider on your wall. It’s not so bad while you have it in your sights, but when you look away and it vanishes…”

“What’s that?” Isa asked, turning back.

“Nothing.” Levi jogged to catch up.

Isa shook her head.

More and more traffic filled the roads around them as they walked. Here and there, farms dotted the forests, their fields sharp breaks from the heavy forest all around. Although the majority of the travelers were civilians and merchants, the three of them, armed and cloaked, didn’t stand out. A few other groups of armed and armored people moved around on the road, some of them even better outfitted than the three of them. Some of the merchants, too, were followed by a contingent of protectors. Those eyed the three of them, and everyone else on the road, with a wary gaze.

At last, they came to the town. It was a small affair, little more than a single main street and a cluster of houses. Peddlers hawked fresh produce and tasty hand pies. Isa swept through without sparing them a single glance. Levi gazed hungrily at the pies, but had to walk by. He still lacked any coin to purchase them.

They exited out the other side. Levi frowned. “That seemed like a perfectly ordinary town. You’re telling me it was an outpost?”

Isa turned back. She pointed.

He followed her finger. On the gate over the town’s exit, a simple skull marking was painted in black.

“Don’t trust anyone from this point on. Anyone could be affiliated,” she warned gravely.

“Yeah, because we’re really chatting up these random fellow travelers of ours,” Levi snarked.

She gave him a stern look. “Tonight, we’ll stay in a larger town. Tomorrow, we’ll reach the region’s unofficial capital. From there, it’s a straight shot to the cult’s headquarters. When I say don’t trust anyone, take that seriously.”

Levi put his hands up. “Got it, got it. Don’t worry, Mom. I’m not the trusting sort to begin with.”

Colin hesitated, then nodded.

She tossed her hair. “As long as you understand.”

They saw the larger town on the horizon long before they arrived. It wasn’t a massive thing, but it stood at the top of a windswept hill. Stone walls surrounded it, breaking the wind and raiders alike on its unfeeling granite walls. The sun set behind it. Piercing rays of light gave the rocky walls a dramatic flare. Ahead of them, the straggling villagers climbed the hill to their homes, while a few merchants huffed and puffed, pushing their carts from behind in an attempt to lighten the load on their beasts of burden.

One step at a time, the three of them clambered up the hill. The wind lashed at their capes, sending them into a wild flurry. Isa raised a hand to clasp her hood in place, wary of the sun. Levi let the wind sweep his away. He spread his hands to the sun and laughed. The wind rushed through his hair and his clothes, whisking some of the sweat away. It invigorated him, as refreshing as a spring shower. Following after Isa, with Colin at his heels, he approached the gate.

The doors stood wide open. No one blocked their way. There were guards, but they were inspecting a wagon, and waved the three of them through without more than a cursory glance. Isa glanced around from under her hood, visibly wary. She tugged at the hood, making sure it covered her face, then glanced at Levi and Colin. “I’m going to get us a room in the Black Raven. It’s the only inn in town. Has a stuffed raven in the window. Can’t miss it.”

“And we’re free to wander?”

She snorted. “We all want dinner, no?”

“No,” Colin said quickly.

Levi glanced at him. He turned back around, then grinned at Isa. “We’re still working on it. Cannibalism is a big hump to get over.”

She cast a wary look Colin’s way. “Right. Don’t deny yourself. Better to take things at your body’s pace than try to refuse what your transformed body needs now.”

“Trust the vampire,” Levi whispered, shaking Colin’s shoulder and pointing at Isa.

Isa narrowed her eyes.

“I can’t even say that?”

She shook her head.

“Alright, fine.” Levi nodded and zipped his lips. He gave her a thumbs up.

She sighed. Shaking her head again, she walked away.

“So… dinner?” Levi asked.

Colin gave him a wary look.

“Dinner for me, and you can watch,” Levi promised. “Give me someone to talk to, so I don’t look like a total loser all alone in the restaurant.”

He laughed, then nodded. “Sure.”

--

Not long ago.

The black-cloaked figure strode up to a ruined town. The whole town worked together, putting their homes back up in the ashes of their previous homes. As he approached, the townsfolk paused, looking at him—all but three of them. Two shambling, tired-looking figures and a woman in a heavy cloak kept working.

The man cleared his throat.

The woman paused. She turned at last. Catching sight of him, she stood there in silence, warily eyeing him for a time.

“I’m looking for someone. I wonder if you could help me?” the man asked loudly, loudly enough the whole town could hear him.

The woman stepped forward. She gestured for the rest of the townsfolk to go back to work, and they joined the gray-skinned people in their tasks. Adjusting a pair of heavy work gloves, she looked him up and down. “Who are you looking for?”

“Three people. Or rather, one, and also two people. A man, alone, wearing simple clothes and carrying a sword. He would be dressed raggedly, likely with some bloodstains.”

She shook her head. “No idea.”

“And the other would be two men. One of them very pale, carrying a staff. The other… wielding a sword, perhaps? With a silver tongue?”

Her brows raised. “Who would like to know?”

The man smiled. “I notice you haven’t taken off your hood either, madame.”

She looked down at him like he was a speck of dirt on her shoe. “No, I don’t think I will.”

The man laughed. Smiling, he put a hand to his chest. “If neither of us wishes to reveal our face, then how about this? I’m someone with the world’s best interests at heart.”

A pained look flashed across her face. “Only the world can know that. You’re only making baseless assumptions.”

“Nonetheless. Have you seen these men?”

She paused another second, then lifted her arm and pointed. Into the woods where Isa had vanished. “That way.”

The man bowed. “Thank you. I will remember this favor.” He began to walk away.

“Don’t.”

He paused. Turned back.

Something ugly flashed over the little he could see of her face. She looked away, hiding even that. “This isn’t a favor. Don’t remember it. Forget you ever met us here.”

He ducked his head again. “As you wish.”

Valere watched the man walk away. She only turned away when he was well out of sight. The second she did, a shiver crawled down her spine, making her whole body shake. She ran a hand over the back of her neck. Every instinct told her she’d just escaped death. That she’d met someone more terrifying than anyone she’d ever encountered before.

Even Mistress.

She shook her head, forcibly banishing the thoughts, and went back to rebuilding.