When we finally got to the front of the line, we were greeted by an older woman who quickly took each of our cards, checked them over, snapped them in half, and gestured for us to board.

“Thank you for your time,” the old woman said as she gestured. I nodded to her, but didn’t want to take more of her time, so I just boarded.

The ship was large.

I think.

I’d never been on a ship before, but this was one of the biggest ones on the dock, by far, and if it weren’t for some mild spatial warping, it wouldn’t have fit at all. By stretching out my spatial sense, I got the idea it was at least eight hundred feet long, but more detail than that was hard to find.

We were greeted by a man who was dressed like a waiter at a Vinopaen restaurant – black slacks, a black vest, black tie, and white button down shirt.

“Hello, and thank you for your time,” the server said. I was starting to wonder if that was their motto when he continued. “I won’t waste it. Here are your room keys… I’m afraid you all will have to double bunk.”

He paused, waiting for us to protest, while the next group moved up the ramp and was greeted by a different member of the staff – or was it crew? Was crew only for sailors?

When none of us protested, he gave us a relieved smile.

“While you’re on board, you’re entitled to three meals each day at our dining hall, and if you would like additional entry or room service, there is a small fee,” the waiter said. He continued, droning on about how we could book time in their training hall, or help ourselves to the pool, but I mostly tuned him out, until he talked about the schedule.

“This is our first stop after our departure from Suntorch,” he said. “As such, we will first be sailing north to Dragontooth, in order to pick up their cardholders, and then sailing west to stop in Delitone.”

“Delitone?” Kene asked, sounding surprised.

“Yes sir,” the waiter said. “They will be the last of the cardholders to arrive onboard, after which we will be sailing to the island where the Idyll-Flume is located.”

We nodded our agreement, and then we were dismissed to go do… Whatever.

Kene and I had already eaten breakfast, and both Liz and Travis claimed to have as well, so we just wandered around the top decks for a while before Liz suggested we book some time in the training room.

All of the earliest spots had been snagged by the Suntorch teams, and their curlier writing style was interesting to look at, at least to me, but we still managed to nark us down for a few training sessions after our arrival at Dragontooth.

When we were leaving, the training room opened and a group of people emerged. There were four of them, but three were obviously subservient to the leader – they even flanked him, like bodyguards.

The center man, who only looked a few years older than us, greeted us with an easygoing smile, but I didn’t really notice it.

I was caught up looking at his wings.

I’d seen demihumans before, of course. Ivy was one, and if you wanted to argue it, you could call Kene or Riley demihuman as well.

But wings were, well, cool. And honestly, the man who they were attached to managed to pull off their elegance quite well.

He was tall, nearly six and a half feet, with broad red wings spreading from his back. His hair was white, with red streaks running through it, and he rippled with gentle muscle that was obvious through his rather sheer outfit.

I glanced away, not wanting to stare.

“Pardon us,” one of the guards said.

“No, Zara,” the leader said, putting a hand onto her shoulder. The guard – Zara, presumably – paused immediately and stood at attention.

“My name is Kamal,” the leader said, extending his hand. Liz shook it and grinned at him.

“Liz. This is Kene, Travis, and Malachi,” she said.

“A team?” Kamal asked. “We still have another twenty minutes in the training room. We could use an opponent.”

“A loose team,” Kene said.

“The offer stands,” Kamal said genially. I glanced at Liz, who shrugged.

“Whatever you want,” Travis murmured to Liz.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“We do need the team building,” I pointed out.

“Fine by me,” Kene agreed.

I mentally urged Dusk to stay in my pocket, not wanting to risk her being found out so soon – or by someone so obviously powerful.

Our group of eight – and the secret Dusk – trundled inside, and Kamal and his crew formed a tight battle formation.

We… did not.

Travis stood right by Liz and unleashed his aura.

A bright red corona of power burnt around him, enveloping both himself and Liz.

I stood in front of Kene – he was healing and support, after all – and Liz moved to do the same.

“On three,” Kamal called. “One.”

“Two,” Liz followed.

“Three,” Kamal finished.

As soon as he finished speaking, bright red feathers burst from his hands and moved towards us. In the same instant, all three of his guards cast spells as well, each one releasing a glowing orb that rotated around Kamal’s head like an orbiting crown. One ball was gray, one green, and one black.

Liz and Travis were moving too, though. Travis’ aura swirled into a suit of armor around him, shrinking its size slightly, and Liz whipped out with a shadow whip.

The shadows struck the feathers and ripped right through. Kamal and his guards had a second to look shocked before they began their response spell.

But I had only been a second slower than the battlemages. Briarthreads wrapped around me, and then runes swirled into existence at their ends. I Foxstepped into the middle of their formation and let loose with my attacks.

Kamal’s three orbs glowed brighter – or darker, in the case of the black orb – and the fire runes dimmed. My lashing briars were caught by the gray orb, and the green orb… Did nothing.

The guards moved like a well oiled machine, though. Two broke off to engage Liz, who was now releasing slicing arcs of water in staggering amounts, followed by red bolts of force, all amplified by flaming runes.

I couldn’t pay much attention to that fight, though, because I was in one of my own. Zara compressed her hands together, then swung at me with a force blade, while Kamal released a torrent of more feathers.

There was no way I’d be able to dodge both, so I just Foxstepped out of the way, then unleashed Pinpoint Boneshards at the pair.

It bounced off of the gray orb that Kamal had, and Zara cast a force shield just in time.

But, thanks to Orykson, I could handle that trick. I let the shard drop to the ground, then sent it ricochetting back upwards at her stomach.

It caught her, but my attention was quickly diverted by the feathers Kamal was sending my way.

It looked like he only had one trick, but I had to admit, it was a good one. Much to my annoyance…

The green orb was doing something, but I couldn’t see what, I was too busy using Briarthreads to strike down feathers. Kamal had packed so much mana into each feather, though, that even with me overcharging them, it took three briars to strike down a single feather.

The only reason I’d hung on this long was because my own aura pin was pushing them back, its overclocked state really showing its worth.

But it couldn’t hold them off further, and as force bolts began to pepper into the spray, my mana ran dry.

I reached for Burn Future to call more, but it was blocked by Ikki’s seal. I mentally cursed – and thanked – him as the feathers touched my suit.

And dissolved.

“Out!” Zara called.

I sighed, but was forced to agree. Dusk sent me a soothing thought as I took my seat on a bench at the end of the room and watched the battle play out.

From what I could tell, Liz, Travis, and Kene had been winning their fight when it had been three on two – hardly a surprise, especially since Liz’s attacks hit with an absurd power that outmatched anyone else I’d seen below third gate.

But when Kamal and Zara joined the fight, it quickly turned the other way. Kamal’s attacks were a shade weaker than Liz’s, but not enough for my ragtag team to be worn down by the barrage of feathers, force, and what I thought might be paralytic spells and… Binding spells? I wasn’t really sure.

Liz went down first, because they focused on her, and after that, it was all but over. Travis didn’t last much longer, and Kene just surrendered.

Not that I could blame them. If I’d been them, I would have done the same.

“Well done,” Kamal said, going around and shaking each of our hands, and complimenting each of us on what we’d done well.

I got the sense that he had noted down what we’d done poorly too, but I couldn’t entirely blame him.

“If any of you want to team up at all,” Kamal said. “I’d be happy to work alongside you all.”

Liz said something noncommittal, and Kamal nodded, then nodded to Kene.

“Tall dark and handsome here is your healer?”

I Foxstepped next to Kene and took his hand in my own. Kene glanced at me and smiled.

“Babe, it’s fine.”

I paused. Had Kene ever called me babe before? I wasn’t sure.

“I am,” Kene said, addressing Kamal. “I’d be happy to heal you, for the right price.”

“Of course,” Kamal said. “I would expect nothing less.”

“I’m collecting the golden elixir,” Kene said.

“Hah. Aren’t we all…”

Liz shot Kamal an odd look, but he just waved it off.

We exchanged another round of pleasantries before we started another round of fighting, which ended with our solid losses again – at least this time, I was the third to go down.

Not that it was much of an accomplishment. They’d picked Liz out as the threat and put her down fast. Travis hadn’t lasted much longer, and with Kene and I working together, we fell onto the old habits of healing and buffing me to fight, but I still hadn’t lasted long.

After our second round came more idle pleasantries, and then we were free to go.

“Well, that was informative,” Kene said. “I think I need to find another buff spell or two, so I’m not a one trick pony.”

“Probably wise,” Liz agreed. “You’ll have to nip off the boat in Dragontooth to get one, then come back before the boat leaves. Just make sure to take your room key.”

We chatted about more potential strategies, but were interrupted when the wards engaged and we started sailing. The rumble of the ward generators flowed through the entire ship, and with the movement of the boat, walking around became harder for me. Kene started looking nauseous, and took one of his pills for that.

“Why couldn’t we just fly?” Kene groaned as we made our way to our room. I gently rubbed his back, then fumbled for the room key.

Then dropped it when I saw who was walking down the hall.

Standing side by side were two people I recognized.

One I didn’t mind at all – Riley, the vampire who I’d had a few run ins with.

The other…

Had the organized the rooms alphabetically by first name?

They had to have. There was no other way to explain it. My luck wasn’t that bad.

Because walking next to Riley was the start of a bad joke – a vampire and a werewolf walk into a ship…

Mallory Emsley Cromwell gave me a tight smile, and Riley waved.

“Hey Malachi!”