The run to the city had been easier than the one to the village. The city dwarfed both of the villages I had seen in size. I reckoned at least thirty of the villages could fit in the city and that was still likely wrong, being derived solely from my glance at the outer walls. I tried scanning the periphery with my electroreception, but there was simply too many bodies. I had though the village was noisy, but the city was unbearably filled with people.

The city guard had nodded when Javier had returned— he had flashed some sort of identification to them. They had stopped me until he whispered something in their ears, and they let me follow after him like some sort of sad pet, running to keep up.

“Where are we going, Javier?”

“Going to the barracks, of course. Got to get you setup and meet the rest of the team.”

“The rest of the team?” I said, dodging a slew of foot traffic on the cobblestone roads. One thing I hadn’t realized about the city was how much it was going to smell. Trash littered the roads, sitting outside of each building we passed by. I hoped someone was going to collect it, given I didn’t know how the city guard would be able to function with their enhanced senses if it was constantly muddled by the human waste littering the area.

“You didn’t think I was training solely you, now did you?” he replied, confident in each step.

“I didn’t even know what to think,” I said back to him, trying to refrain from studying the city too much. If I lost track of him, I didn’t know if I would ever see him again.

“Look, just keep close to me. I’ll have the others take you on a tour of the city later, so stop gawking and prepare to rest for the night. You’ve got a big day coming up.” He pulled me in closer past an enterprising street urchin and ground his knuckles into my hair. It was an odd sensation. I didn’t think I liked it.

“Alright, Javier.”

“We’re almost there anyway, Perry. Just ride it out. There’s going to be a lot to learn, so you’ll need to be well rested. Take advantage of every moment you can. If you thought slaying that spike feeder was difficult, then I’m excited for you to learn how wrong you were.”

I tried to bury my worry about his proclamation and just continue being excited about the recognition of my prowess. This is what I had fought for. The chance to help others, the chance to prove a prey soul could be an effective member of the guard.

“Is there anything else I need to know immediately? Anything that I’m missing as someone from a village and not the city?” I asked, staring at my mentor.

“I guess I should be clear that you’re going to be joining my more-= experimental beast squad. We’re a test program. Your fellow teammates have less conventional beast souls, but you shouldn’t doubt them just as you didn’t want to be doubted yourself. You’ll also be getting room and board for as long as you’re employed as part of the city guard, which you will be once I work it out with my boss. For now, you’re just gonna be hitting your sleeping quarters and perhaps get to know your new teammates. In the morning, well, get prepared. You’ll need all the rest you can get.”

We entered the barracks, which I was relived to see was similar in structure to the one in the village. That suggested that ours was modeled off of this structure, or that all barracks were tactically made the same. I’d have to ask Javier sometime when we weren’t otherwise occupied.

“Just go up those stairs on the right and go up three floors and to the end of the hall. That’s your room. You can tell them Javier sent you. They should be smart enough to understand what that means and if not, well, they’ll be getting another lesson in the morning tomorrow. Go along now. Get on. I need to get you enrolled,” he said, waving me off towards the stairs he pointed me to.

The stairs were wooden, practical things in construction. I hadn’t seen stairs before, given the village was all single story buildings, but the city was already providing such mundane wonders. I almost feared climbing up the steps, but that was a foolish thought that I quickly suppressed. I couldn’t be the country rube. I had to prove I was worth the effort.

One, two, three stairs up and all the way down the hall. I stepped quietly, afraid of waking up any early sleepers, anticipation growing with each step into the room. Finally I was at the door and I couldn’t put it off any longer. I opened it to a room like that I had seen in the village, a bedroom filled with bunk beds and drawers next to them. The room itself had four sets of bunk beds, and three of them were already occupied on the bottom rung.

“Hi. I’m Perry. Javier told me to come here.” I hoped that would be enough to explain it.

The woman in the furthest corner rose from her bed, putting a book down on the bureau next to her. ‘An educated sort?’ I wondered.

“Javier found someone else while on a mission? Typical. Easier for someone to do the job for him.” She stared at me critically, as though fixing my form into place with a series of pins, seeking clues unknown to her eye. I had the sense she didn’t like me. Probably because she all but implied it.

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“The name is Mia. I have a hummingbird beast soul. Go introduce yourselves, you louts,” she said, rapid-fire, gesturing towards the others in the room.

The other woman saluted me, a wild grin on her face. “You can call me Vera. Sorry if Mia’s a bit short. We think it’s because of her height.” I stared back at Mia, noting that she was indeed the shortest in the room. Mia scowled at the assertion, putting her head back in her book.

“I have an ibex beast soul. It’s a kind of goat. Another prey soul, if you couldn’t tell,” Vera said, as though prematurely defending herself. Her words were said in a lilting sing-song manner. She was short and stout, broad shouldered and wide-hipped.

“Pleased to meet you, Vera, Mia. The name is Perry. I’ve got a platypus beast soul.”

Mia raised an eyebrow, peeking out from over her book again. “Haven’t heard of that one. Interesting.” Just as suddenly as she had interjected, she refrained from speaking further.

The man in the corner peeled out of his bed, exaggeratedly yawning for the audience in the room. “Mia, it’s rude to pop in and out of the conversation like that. You need to commit or stay out.”

“And you’re not even going to introduce yourself, Alain? Controversial choice there to try and attack me while you refrain from contributing to the conversation in a manner that isn’t a detraction from what’s being said.” She put her book down once more, attention fully fixated on Alain.

Alain shrugged, smoothing his hair back into place, making sure everything was immaculate. “The name’s Alain, as you may have guessed. I have a cat beast soul. Javier picked me up around five months ago… I’m the oldest member of the team he’s put together. Mia was snapped up three months ago, and Vera was found two months ago. Frankly, I didn’t think Javier would be able to find anyone else or even wanted to find anyone else. How’d he stumble into you?”

“He used me as bait,” I said. “I had gotten lost in the woods, the spike feeder was hunting me and that was the perfect window to attack it.”

Alain raised one eyebrow, curiosity piqued. “But how does that make you worth being invited to the team? Evading a spike feeder is much easier than harming one, although I suppose I must offer some praise to you for not dying to one.”

“Thanks for the compliment,” I said, trying to not point out the rude claims that everyone knew he had made. “I asked for him to teach me, given he has a prey soul. He gave me a test, to kill another spike feeder, which I well, you know, did.”

“Oh wow, you killed a spike feeder. I don’t know if I could,” Vera said, pulling her blanket over her head.

Mia tossed her book at Vera. “Oh hush you. You’ve gone through the same training as us. Just because you were discovered by Javier under different means doesn’t mean that you aren’t able to kill a spike feeder. Vera’s village did a trial of strength and she won it. That tends to get you noticed by the right people, especially when you don’t have a predator soul.”

“I don’t know if you should call it the right people. Not everyone wants to be conscripted to fight the spike feeders, Mia. But you’re not wrong. There are a lot of privileges that come with this job. Almost makes up for not having a predator beast soul for most of you.” I didn’t know what to make of that statement. Cats were predator souls, right? Was I missing something?

“I’m very grateful to be here,” Vera said. “Leaving my village was the best thing that could have happened to me.”

“I left my village after I killed a spike feeder and they still wouldn’t accept me into the village guard,” I said, unable to refrain from jumping in. “This is a dream come true.”

“Just wait until you get through training tomorrow,” Alain said, chuckling in-between words. “You might regret it then.”

“I doubt it. This is everything I could have ever wanted.”

“Well, it’s nearly time for bed. Could you return my book to me, Vera? I wanted to finish it tonight and it’s a bit harder to do so when its sitting on the ground near you,” Mia asked, not even moving from her position. Only her lips moved, the rest of her body stuck in place.

Vera pulled down her covers and nodded, bending over and tossing the book back to Mia, who received it without any further comments, already with her nose back in the book.

“You two might want to be less reckless with those books. They aren’t cheap,” Alain said.

“I know exactly how much they’re worth, Alain. Do not speak to me like that. Mind your own business for once.”

“Is everyone in the team weird?” I thought. Or rather, as I noticed everyone staring at me, I came to the sinking sensation that my thought was voiced aloud.

“I’ll be charitable because I know Mia won’t be, Perry,” Alain said, cutting her off. “We’re certainly a more unorthodox team, and you’re now a part of it. Unless you give up. But yes, just like in your home village, we wouldn’t be qualified to make the city guard. We’re a trial run. A test, not unlike the one that Javier gave you. If we turn out strong and competent members of the city guard, they’ll be more open to other more unconventional souls being trained and accepted.”

“None of us are weird. I like us all,” Vera chimed in, seemingly to break the tension in the room. I gave her an appreciative nod and ambled over to the last unclaimed bunk bed in the room.

I put my bag of things and cloak on my dresser, collapsing onto the bed. “Is there anything I need to know for scheduling purposes for tomorrow?”

“I’ll wake you up,” Vera said. “Just be prepared to get ready as fast as you can. We’re on a tight schedule, including breakfast.”

At the thought of food, my stomach aggressively rumbled. I’d been in the forest for less time than I had thought, but that was due in part to actively running out of it for miles on end and sleeping poorly. The exhaustion and hunger were welling up, each fighting for attention. I opened up my bag and took out a piece of bread, biting down the tough substance, willing to let that stave off my appetite until the morning, given I couldn’t stay awake any longer.

“That would be fantastic, Vera. Thanks. It’s a pleasure to meet you all but I can’t stay awake any longer.” I collapsed onto the bed, eyes shut, slumber in a safe environment overtaking me.