If I were to guess, then Timves Hatrilba, vice-leader of Silver Threads, wasn’t a dragon in disguise. Everyone here in Labyrinth Square seemed to know him. Well, everyone except me. Nothing particularly strange about that, though. Whereas I had no interest in companies until now, these people’s lives were closely tied to them.

Unfortunately for the vice-leader of Silver Threads, I had already chosen my team. Two, actually, when I thought about it. Squad four, and with it, the entire City Guards, and then Idleaf and the rest of her Guardians. And while the Esulmor World Tree probably wouldn’t give a shit if I signed up with a company like Silver Threads, maybe even find it interesting, I was sure the Empire wouldn’t take it lying down. Whether I liked it or not, I was too valuable for them to end up in the hands of a labyrinth company.

Most likely, all of which Timves Hatrilba was well aware of, hence his exceedingly generous offer. The question was, why? Was the knowledge of how to get out of the labyrinth so worthwhile? Did he value the lives of his men so much? Or was it just me that caught his eye?

My cheeks flushed again at the thought.

Shaking off the annoying tingling sensation that ran through my body, I had no choice but to listen to the other seekers he left me with, most of whom tried to slander Timves Hatrilba’s honesty while offering far less. A good hour and a half later, I was let out of that hell, my storage full of seals, letters of recommendation and what looked like business cards; my heart, on the other hand, full of regret for having come here in the first place.

If only . . .

To be honest with myself, it was inevitable. The seekers witnessed me and Stella’s return. They knew what our coming back meant. If anything, I could only expect things to get more complicated.

*Sight*

The money, though . . . it made me wonder if I had asked for an exorbitant amount, whether the vice leader of Silver Threads would have accepted it. He acted like he would. Or was he so sure that I wouldn’t go that far?

So annoying!

That arrogant asshole aside, speaking of coins, while I was in Labyrinth Square, I was curious to see how the stall where I earned my first coin by diving into the depths beneath the city was doing.

The stall of bear-like looking terrans was hard to miss - at least for me. The smell of freshly slaughtered meat tickled my nose from halfway across the square. Granted, it wasn’t the only butcher’s stand in this corner of the mess, but it was the one I associated with the smell of horned rabbit meat.

“Hi . . . I’m not sure if you remember me,” I started a little awkwardly after waiting for Tarlo, the merchant of the two siblings, to finish tending to a buyer. The big terran guy’s eyes, glittering over the coins in his hand so far, went wide. “The odd one. How could I forget? Every time you showed up at the square, you caused a ruckus.”

Not exactly the most flattering way to remember me. “Not my fault.”

“So that horned rabbit carcass you dragged over here all the way from the platform made you do it, huh?”

My humble and rather embarrassing beginnings.

“Hey, Ber. Look who’s here.”

“It better not be one of those fucking tightwads,” the woman grunted from behind the tent where she was butchering the meat, only to show up with a bloody apron and a cleaver in her hand. Either she didn’t care, or it was a tactic they used to scare off the tightwads she mentioned.

“I think this one was fair and square with us.”

“And so were we,” Berengaria replied, her eyes trailing down from the tips of my ears and the end of my tail. “Huh, I thought you’d be, you know, more - given the buzz around you.”

“Buzz?” Honestly, I had a good idea what the butcher was talking about, but I wanted to know what the word on the street was.

“One of the gals who came back and all that shit,” Berengaria growled, leaning against the counter. “Worrying about that won’t put meat on my table, food on my plate. So . . . you got something for me to butcher? You seem strong enough to dive to the 30th floor.”

“Oh, no. Sorry. I wanted to see if you were still in business. You know, in case I need to sell a carcass or two.”

“As you can see, we are,” Tarlo rumbled, a hint of pride seeping into his voice. But go deeper than the 30th, and I will advise you to sell your carcasses elsewhere."

“Oh, come on, Tarlo. I don’t need to be a [Merchant] to see that’s not the way to do business. I, for one, would like to get my hands on some better meat.”

“And lose coins in the process,” her brother said, reminding her of their limitations.

[Butcher: lvl 58]

[Merchant: lvl 52]

They had grown a level or two in the nine months since I’d seen them, but in the grand scheme of things, it amounted to stagnating in one place. Kind of sad. However, that was the reality of most people, human, terran, gnome, or otherwise, on Eleaden. To change that was an impossible task for one gal. And so, with a heavy heart, I let it go.

“Speaking of coins. I just got an offer from Timves Hatrilba to join Silver Threads. Do you know anything about him and the company?”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Tarlo chortled. “So you were behind the commotion on the platform - figured. Well, you should consider yourself lucky. Silver Threads don’t hire just anyone.”

“Certainly not someone of your level,” Berengaria remarked.

“They are the first company to reach level 169 in Fallen’s Cry.”

“And so far, the only one.”

“Wait, I thought the deepest anyone got was level 166?”

“They made some progress a few months ago.”

“But they’ve been stuck there ever since - at least that’s the word around, or am I wrong, Tarlo?”

“No. Although I wouldn’t buy everything they say.”

“Sure. Doesn’t change the fact that they haven’t gone deeper since.”

“Shit! That’s likely why he offered me so much . . .” I wondered aloud, at which Tarlo’s little bear ears perked up.

“. . . and how much are we talking about?”

“Come on, bro. None of our business.”

“Don’t give me that shit. I know you’re just as curious as I am. Sis.”

“...” She just shrugged, unable to deny her brother’s claim.

“So?”

I hesitated, and Tarlo snorted.

“Look, it’s perfectly fine not to tell us. It’s none of our business, like Ber said. BUT if he talked to you out there in the middle of the square, everyone will know by tonight.”

Annoyingly, he was most likely right. And so, in light of the two of them being so forthright with me so far, I took a breath and spilled the beans.

“Whatever price I ask.”

“Traiana’s tits!”

“Balls! Woman, if I were stronger, I’d take you and sell you to him myself.”

A shiver ran down my spine as the ramifications of this seemingly great offer dawned on me. “The bastard basically put a target on my back.”

One to add to many others.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Berengaria agreed, but not her brother.

“I wouldn’t get your tail in a twist. What that guy did was not as shitty as it might seem. Sure, he laid claim to you and put coins on the table. However, everyone knows that Silver Threads has pretty fair contracts and doesn’t deal in slavery. If my sister went in there with you in the bag, all she’d get is a beating. If anything, it’s his hide and his company’s name that’s at stake, not your safety - well, it’s always better to watch your back.”

“You don’t have to tell me that . . .” Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one watching mine. A thought that almost made me laugh. There was a time when the idea of Sah out there somewhere watching my ass gave me the creeps. Now I found comfort in it.

“So this guy, Timves Hatrilba, is . . . you know, a good guy? He doesn’t use any skills to talk people into stuff, does he?”

“Not that I’ve heard of, but . . .” Tarlo paused as his sister, now leaning closer to me than before, checking me out again, burst out laughing. “What a lucky guy. Did seeing him make your heart beat faster, hearing his voice make you gasp, the thought of him make your tits tingle and your pussy wet?”

“W-well, no to the last two, b-but yeah.”

She laughed heartily again, much to my annoyance. “You must be quite a late bloomer if you’re so clueless, but you getting horny at the sight of a male - you’re in heat, woman.”

“H-heat? You mean a heat, like the heat?”

“What else? Sure, some call it love season, shagging period, or horny fest, but it’s all one and the same.”

My first thought was to deny it. I couldn’t be in the heat. That wasn’t me; that wasn’t a problem I’d ever had. Albeit one I dreaded would come one day. Still, I hoped - since nothing had happened for so long - that maybe it wasn’t something I had inherited along with my inner beasts. My wishes came to no avail, it seemed, though.

“Why now?” I voiced my worries.

“Well,” Berengaria shrugged. “It mostly depends on what kind of terran you are, but if you’re looking for advice on the heat, I’m the wrong gal. My heat tends to be short, but I enjoy it with all that comes with it.”

Her wink was more than telling - and terrifying, sending shivers down my spine. I wasn’t prepared for this. Not yet.

“Don’t look at me,” Tarlo growled, snorting. “Not my issue.”

“No? When the time comes, you walk around with a boner all day long.”

“Hard not to when every Ursus chick is shaking her arse and the air around them smells so sweet.”

“Pheromones,” his sister explained with a grin on her lips and a slight toss of her head at her brother.

“I-I’m sorry,” I said to Tarlo, unable to keep the awkwardness out of my voice and my thoughts in order.

“Don’t sweat it - and don’t bite me. No tension in my pants. I’m at ease with you.”

“Me too. I mean, me being at ease - around you. Why?” His deep voice resonated in my chest as much as Timves Hatrilba’s, or Cenberet Waldobert Liryadon’s, yet . . . Wait! Wait! Wait! Did it start with him? The very likely dragon?! Was it him who did this to me?! I was fine yesterday, even though I didn’t meet many males besides Deckard and Sah. Besides, the thought of them didn’t make my blood rush to my cheeks. So was it really him? Was that his plan all along? To seduce me? Or was it just to throw me off? Some kind of test?

So many questions.

“I’m Ursus, you’re not. It usually only ‘works’ between the same kind of terrans.”

“. . . and between opposite genders,” Berengaria added to her brother’s explanation. “Although I do know a few whose heat is strong enough to affect other gals or guys of other species. Anyway, from what you said, you seem to be just entering into the heat.”

“Which means what?”

“It’s going to come and go until you’re in full swing.”

Great. That was just great. So my staying calm in Tarlo’s presence meant absolutely nothing. With what I was, my range might as well have been big enough to include half the guys in the city. The Ursus, after all, were bears at their essence, as well as mossbears.

“Isn’t there a pill for this? Potion?”

Berangaria laughed yet again. “If I were you, I’d be more concerned with anti-conception stuff.”

“Ber!”

“Oh, come on, Tar. You know me. I’ve never really given a shit about that. Besides, it would have been better if a friend had told her that stuff, not some [Butcher] in Labyrinth Square.”

My ears and wings dropped. While I had many beast friends and knew several terrans, none of them were adult terran women who could tell me these things. The only one I could think of was Zeranyphe, Deckard’s Avier friend, who helped me practice my wing movements in combat.

How lame and vexing.

Stupid and shortsighted, too.

“Please, I’d appreciate any advice.”

“Then enjoy yourself.”

“Ber!”

“Fine, fine,” the butcher grumbled as her brother spoiled her fun. “Try to visit [Neralle’s Wonders]. That’s the best advice I can give you. They have everything you can think of when it comes to the heat.”