The first sign of something wrong was a rattle of stone, clattering down the steep slope to their right.

A pebble, hopping and jumping gleefully down, to land at Jump-touch's feet.

She almost ignored it, but Yaris had been on edge for a while now, scouting ahead and then returning, a little more short in her manners, a little more blunt each time.

"It's just a stone," Eim's voice was tired as she glared at it, sword up, ready to fight a pebble.

"But what made it move," she growled back. "This place is static, it doesn't change. So why did the stone move?"

"Air currents?" Eim yawned, staring up the slope blearily. "Do you think we should have tried climbing it? It's only getting steeper the further we go."

She silenced him with a look, still on edge, still spoiling for a fight.

Jump-touch stared too, but mostly because this was the first interesting thing to happen in forever. This was supposed to be a dungeon, a huge sprawling complex of underground tunnels and forests, filled with deadly monsters. So far all she'd seen today was a bit of smoke and a whole lotta rocks.

"We should get back," Yaris's voice was still a growl, "come on, away from the wall you lot. If something bigger comes down, you don't wanna get hit."

Jump-touch grumbled inwardly. Moving away from the wall meant leaving the narrow path and pushing through the plants. Yaris had made them do this twice already, and she hated it. It wasn't so bad for the others, but for her, it was up to her waist, and the thorns and twigs caught and tore at her clothing. There weren't even any interesting or tasty plants, it was all just scrub.

She'd even given up and put the skirt in her Heart, trying not to look at the damage to it. Maybe Ollie could mend it for her later. She hoped.

The others grumbled louder than her, but they all did it. Yaris would get tired in a bit, and they'd all gradually gravitate back to the path.

Jump-touch took another look up the offending slope as they moved. It was steeper now, but not by much, and privately, she thought the fact they'd managed to slide down it and not break anything was a minor miracle. She would have to thank the Mountain tonight, even if this wasn't her mountain. Proper respects should be paid for a life spared.

"Come on," Yaris touched her shoulder, "stop daydreaming. You can sleep later."

She nodded, and as she turned to head away, there was a CRASH behind her. A violent shattering of rock, and then-

Something hit her back. Hard. She didn't even realise it had happened until she found herself tumbling forward, as she heard Yaris yell, as she hit the ground.

Then the pain hit her, roiling and spreading through her back and spine like the ripples of a stone thrown into the pond. Why couldn't she breathe?

"Stay still!" She heard Eim shout, but she didn't know if he was talking to her, or if he was shouting at somebody else. She was still, right? She wasn't spinning, spinning, spinning. What had hit her? Why did it hurt so much? She had been looking only a moment before and the slope had been empty.

Is this what drove Ink-worm away? Is it going to get us?

She tried to curl up, succeeding but regretting it even as she did, arms over her head, pain radiating outwards until she could feel it all the way from the tips of her toes to the top of her scalp, throbbing in time with her rapid heartbeat.

Ollie was shouting as well now, and there was that distinctive smell in the air, which always accompanied Shrike's cold spell.

This is stupid. I want to fight too!

The thought surprised her, as it cut through the pain, she wanted to fight?

I want to be useful!

That was more like it. She-

A wash of melt-water flowed through her, sweeping up the pain and taking it far, far downstream. Away.

The Mountain had come for her, the cool snow of the peak soothing the heat of her wounds and taking away the red-hot pain.

She let out a gasp, and realised Eim was crouched next to her, his hand on her bare shoulder.

He looks upset.

"You should be fine," his voice was quiet and he wasn't looking at her. "You just got surprised, that's all. Just a bit of bruising, and a touch of damage to your ribs. You got hit by a big rock."

His hand was snow-cold against her skin. "Hide if you can, stay back either way. I'm going to go help them fight.

She gave him a numb nod, her thoughts dragging themselves out from the depths. Had he fixed her, or had he simply taken the pain away? She couldn't tell, but she could move, and he said nothing was broken.

He stood, and the ice-cold melt-flow of the Mountain stood with him, leaving her damp and ragged on the ground, aware that she was injured but still unable to feel it.

You'll be okay. He said you're okay. Get up, hide.

As she rolled over, she could see him running towards the slope, where Yaris was hitting something with her sword, sending up sparks and clangs with each hit.

Flint? Flint sparks when you hit it, right?

And, how hadn't she heard that?

She let out a deep breath as she struggled to her feet, stumbled a couple of steps, and then fell back to her knees.

There was a big rock up ahead, if she could hide behind that-

Some sort of ranged weapon would help you be useful, she thought as she staggered forwards. A crossbow, or a sling. There are rocks here, you could try a sling. Maybe Ollie would make you one.

Except she had only used a sling a handful of times in her life, and she was liable to brain somebody with it before actually getting the hang of it.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Clang! The strike of Yaris's sword rang out loud behind her.

Clang! Sparks flew into the air, as she peeked from behind the rock, still strangely numb, her thoughts still a jumble.

Clang! There was another rush of magic in the air, and then-

Crack!

As Eim brought down his hammer, the stone they were all fighting fragmented, falling apart into pieces.

And then the area was as quiet as the grave.

"Do you hear anymore?" Yaris said quietly after a moment, panting hard. "There can't be just one, surely?"

Then, "did it kill Jump?"

"She's fine," Eim sounded winded too. Ollie was pacing back and forth, spear in hand, and Shrike was sitting on the ground, legs splayed out and eyes shut.

Jump-touch staggered towards the group, curiosity getting the better of her and feeling slowly returning to her legs.

"You shouldn't move about until I've done a deeper healing," Eim warned as she approached, but he didn't try to stop her. Nothing was broken, right? She'd be fine. She wanted to know what they'd been fighting!

Yaris gestured to the fragments, letting her get a closer look.

They had been fighting... A rock?

That's all it was. A rectangular piece of stone, split now down the centre and cracked in several places.

"It's just a stone?"

"It was spitting out rocks, somehow," Yaris said, poking it with the tip of her sword. "Weird stuff. It looks like a house brick now, but I could have sworn it had a face, before we killed it."

Jump-touch eyed it critically. "Do you think we should take it back with us? Would some… Some person who wants to build their house only using monster bricks buy it?"

It seemed unlikely, the thing was in pieces, but humans were weird. Maybe there was a [Brick Fixer] out there who made their living fixing bricks.

"I doubt it. Plus it's not like the Peck Peck," Yaris kicked the rocky corpse. "It'll dissolve in a-"

Something flowed through the area, through her, and then as she watched, the stone collapsed into glittering dust, the shimmer holding in the air for just a moment, before wisping away into nothing.

A small stone remained where the body had been, and Yaris bent to pick it up. "White, not even Opal, but it's loot."

"If we get a couple more, we might be able to combine them," Eim eyed it critically. "At least that's what I've heard from others in the guild?"

"From what I've heard it takes more than it's worth," Shrike reached out, still sitting on the ground, and Yaris placed it into his hand. He turned it over. "I want the sense magic skill, already. Sometimes there's more to these things, but we'll never know."

He sighed, handing it to Jump-touch, "don't store it just yet, put it in your pocket or something."

Eim came over and put a hand on her shoulder, and the last twangs of pain in her back started to fade.

"You should rest. We should all rest. I went a bit nuts and I've probably used up all my numbing casts for today."

"It made my legs go weird." She nodded.

The stone was warming up in her hand, and she didn't have any pockets, so instead she summoned a backpack from her Heart. It was a bit overkill for one small pebble, but the dungeon was getting colder anyway, and she was grateful for the added warmth against her sore back.

Ollie was pacing around, kicking random rocks, poking others with their spear. "What if there's more? Should we go back into the scrub?"

"You could use your improved vision to pick them out. Think of them like a bad stitch in a weaving," offered Shrike.

Ollie stared at him, looked around, and then back to Shrike. "I don't- Man, I appreciate the effort, but I don't think that's going to work?"

He shrugged, "it might, you never know."

Ollie kept staring at him for a moment, and then looked about more seriously. "What's the worst that can happen," Jump-touch heard them mutter.

Then, louder, "I don't think it will, you know, because they're not a bad stitch. Even if this uh, mountain?" They looked to Jump-touch.

"Slope? A mountain is a big hill."

"Slope, then. Even if this slope is a weaving, the monsters are a part of it. They were literally designed to live here, or this place was designed for them."

Shrike shrugged, "it was worth a go. I'll keep trying."

"I appreciate it."

Jump-touch looked around as the group descended back to ground level. The fight had taken place pretty far up into the scree, almost as high as they could go before it got too steep to climb. This place really did look a little like home. Further down than her village, sure, but too high for trees to survive, this was what it was like.

She missed it deeply.

I hope everyone's okay.

"What're you sighing about?" Eim asked, "is your back still hurting?"

She shook her head. She had switched her boon off again, and she didn't feel like trying to articulate homesickness right now. It was stupid anyway, of course everyone was fine, she hadn't even been gone half a season yet. Not even a quarter.

Shrike nudged her in the side, and she turned to glare at him.

"You're getting grumpy again," he said. "You should eat something, or talk to me."

She wasn't grumpy, whatever that meant, she was just… Sad. She should have tried to convince Ink-worm to come with them, they had understood.

"I miss home," she said finally, and Shrike nodded.

"I understand that."

Could he really? He had probably never left Resper, even now it was still above them. His family was up there somewhere, friends, people he'd known all his life. How could he understand?

He caught her look.

"I spent my whole life," he said after a moment, "knowing what job I was going to do when I Chose. I was training for it from a young age. From before I could walk."

He paused, "when I could walk, too. Before I fucked my knee up."

His cane clicked against the ground, his gait uneven "But then, when I got to the Stone, I didn't choose what I was meant to choose. Instead, I went for this. Now I have no place at home, I'm in debt, my dad doesn't know how to talk to me anymore, and the class I threw it all away for is turning out to be shit."

"It's not shit!" She countered, "it's great! You get to shoot cold, and you can summon friends, both of those are awesome!"

She hadn't known those things though. Could you leave home without leaving home, could your home leave you?

She thought about that, and then about his refusal to use his skill. He had meant to have a job, but the one he'd been given he couldn't even do. Wouldn't do.

She sort of understood his reservations by now but she wasn't going to let on. It was always better to be alive than to not be, and the Stone had given him the class, surely it must think it suited him! It had known him all his life, how could it not?

He shook his head at her. "I'll see what it gives me at level four, but right now, I'm not impressed. Please don't nag me about it, Jump."

That was something, at least, and they walked for a while. The slope finally turning into a cliff, into a wall, and the ground clearing of scattered rocks, the brush beside them growing taller and denser.

"Summoning," he said slowly, after a long while, "is illegal. Do you know what that means?"

She shook her head. She had ideas, but definitions hadn't helped, and she hadn't had time to focus on it.

"It means there are rules to living in the city. To living in civilisation. If you want to live with people, you have to follow those rules."

That made sense, even Kobolds had to make rules sometimes. No eating People being the main one, no fighting in the village, no bringing your kills home alive. No taking your brother to the ravine and testing if he could fly yet.

Shrike carried on, "we make those to protect the people who lives there. Often they're things like 'don't shit in the streets', and 'don't steal things that belong to others', understand?"

She didn't see why there had to be rules for that sort of thing. Shouldn't everyone know that already? But she nodded anyway.

"One of those rules- we call them laws, is 'don't take summoning skills.' Then there's a-" he said a word she didn't understand, "-which also says that the punishment for taking them is lighter if you've never used it, and if loyalty isn't enforced by the skill."

She nodded slowly, working over the new words. He waited for her to get through it.

"Okay," he continued. "So I'm in trouble already for just having the skill, but I can argue that I didn't want it. If I use it, then at best I'd be exiled from the city. That means they kick me out and I can never come back. If I summon something really bad, then they might even kill me. Because I broke the law. Because I put people in danger. Because I made something which wasn't supposed to live."

She looked at him with wide eyes, humans would do that?! They would kill their own?

"They'd really do that?"

He nodded. "It happens very rarely, it's more than thirty years since the last execution, but they do happen."

She halted, staring at him. They would do that? Seriously?

But- but why!

He jerked to a halt, "are you okay? Jump? Take deep breaths, alright, nobody here's going to hurt you!"

He reached out, but she took a step back, still staring at him. This wasn't a panic attack, she knew that was what he was worried about, she was just stunned. Humans were mad! They were crazy, insane!

She didn't even have words for it.

"I would help you run," she said finally, still staring at him. "If they came to do that. That's- It's-"

She trailed off, panting. She would help him run, if it came to it, humans were crazy!