The world ground to a halt around Orchid. Blood pounded in her ears as she stared at Alex, his words echoing through her head on repeat. The sinking pit that had been forming in her stomach ever since she’d first met the strange Outworlder condensed into a block of lead.

She could feel her grip tightening but could do nothing to avoid it. Her body had taken on a will of its own and her mind was nothing more than a prisoner within its flesh. The strangling hold of fear wrapped around her neck like a noose and started to tighten.

No. This can’t be happening.

Why would they send someone here? Did they hear that I failed to kill Absolution? That can’t be possible. There was no way for any family to get any information about 274-50 up until the beginning of the 3rd Initialization.

My conversation with Absolution couldn’t have been overheard.

Orchid’s skin felt clammy. Her tongue was thick in her mouth and her stomach clenched so hard that it hurt. Not a single one of those emotions made it through the frozen mask that was her face. She could not afford to show any weakness.

I must approach this rationally. Panic will grant me nothing. Emotion will only hinder whatever path I choose to take. There is no proof that the Starfallen family would have sent someone here. They have no reason to.

This could be an imposter. Someone attempting to use their name as leverage. I must determine if this is the case. Even the Starfallens would not hold me in contempt for testing their identity to ensure I did not reveal secrets.

Orchid forced herself to relax. She pushed the embarrassment tickling the back of her mind away. If Alex was actually telling the truth, then she’d just bragged about knowing how many families had entered 274-50 by using information that his own family had given her. She wanted to sink into the ground — but she couldn’t afford the distraction any longer. Orchid forced herself back into the present.

The entire internal monologue that had just torn through her mind had only lasted a second.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like Alex had noticed her thoughts. He barely even seemed to notice her at all — almost as if she were beneath his presence.

Just like a Starfallen.

The thought sent a wave of goosebumps rolling down her spine. She forced it down. An aloof attitude could be faked. There were other manners in which a true identity could be brought forth. Orchid released Alex’s hand and glanced to his companion.

There hadn’t been time to see if the woman had picked up on Orchid’s hesitation. It was too late to find out now. The moment had passed. All that could be done was to forge ahead with the information she had.

“And you are?” Orchid extended her hand.

“Claire,” the pale skinned woman replied, a soft smile playing across her lips. Once more, unease twisted in Orchid. Claire interlaced her fingers and made absolutely no move to accept Orchid’s proffered hand. “Of the Starfallen family.”

There should have been nothing to fear about Claire. She had not demonstrated any immense abilities in the fight. Orchid couldn’t see any powerful items on the woman, nor did she even have a storage ring visible.

By all means, she just looked like a Native. But there was something about the way she carried herself — the slightest dash of contempt in her smile, the flatness deep within her eyes, the casual dismissal within her tone.

It was like a queen… or a monster.

Could she be bluffing? If she picked up on my earlier hesitation when speaking with Alex, there’s a chance she noticed weakness and is capitalizing on it. But it was only an instant. There’s no way she could have figured out what I was thinking that quickly.

“Then I am honored to be able to share my housing with you,” Orchid said, inclining her head slightly.

Neither Claire nor Alex responded. They stood as still as ice, completely ignoring the gesture of respect. There weren’t many families bold enough to do something like that. Even the stronger families still acknowledged when someone gave them face — and anyone from one of them would have been long since trained in the proper manner of interaction between families.

The Everbloom Family might have fallen from grace, but it was far from trash. From almost every other family that could have arrived on this world would at least know its name. There were very few of them that were powerful enough to snub her completely.

If Claire and Alex were from one of those families, they would have at least twitched as they repressed their instinct to return my bow.

There were families that wouldn’t so much at look at hers twice as anything more than a pawn. The Starfallen were among their small number.

Orchid fought the urge to swallow.

This proves nothing. They could have rehearsed this.

Alex and Claire’s silence ground down on Orchid’s shoulders like a millstone. Even though she’d been the last to speak, neither of them had said anything in the last few seconds.

Perhaps I can determine information about their abilities. The Starfallen have access to some incredibly powerful paths.

“We can discuss the specifics of the plan, then,” Orchid hedged. “I will need to fill in our group once we locate the Town Token. Would you share your general class styles so that I can properly build the group?”

“A group?” Claire let out a small laugh and shook her head. “We don’t need that. We will be sufficient. All you have to do is take us to the dungeon.”

What, without me? No. That’s ridiculous. She must mean the three of us.

Even Absolution would be hard pressed to handle a dungeon with a Town Token in it. The magical energy that pours off an artifact that strong is the reason there are so many dungeons around it in the first place.

Clearing the dungeon that a Token resided within would be leagues harder than a normal dungeon. Claiming to be able to deal with something like that without help was a slip up from an overconfident liar — or at least, it would have been if Orchid hadn’t just watched Alex get run through the chest and shrug it off as if nothing had happened.

“I apologize for doubting your abilities. If you’re that confident, then I will gratefully accept. It’ll save me a lot of expenses,” Orchid said, conceding the point. They certainly had the arrogance and confidence of the Starfallen Family.

She had to change the topic to something more specific if she wanted to determine if these two were from the Starfallen Family or not. But, first, she had to buy herself some time to think. Orchid cleared her throat. “I will contact you when the Token has been located, then. In the meantime, since you are my guests, could I treat you to some food?”

Claire inclined her head, but not nearly enough to be mistaken as a sign of respect. It was merely an acknowledgement. “We will not object.”

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Orchid sent her mind into her spatial ring and drew forth several loaves of bread, cheese, and pies from within it. They materialized on the table before her and were joined shortly thereafter by an assortment of drinks.

“Please,” Orchid said, holding her hands out. “Help yourselves.”

***

“…but it’s been months since I have spoken about family matters with my Matriarch. We have difficulties, but I can assure you that the Everbloom family is as potent as it always has been,” Orchid finished.

“I am certain you will make that clear to us in due time,” Claire said.

Orchid started to nod. Then her eye twitched.

An hour and a half had ground by since she’d procured the food. She’d been planning to use the time while Claire and Alex ate to determine a good strategy to really pick any potential holes in their story apart.

But Claire hadn’t taken so much as a bite. Instead, she’d turned Orchid’s questions against her — and Orchid wasn’t even sure how. She couldn’t quite place at what point she’d started speaking about herself or the Everbloom family.

In the meantime, Alex had been doing nothing but eat. He’d barely given her so much as a cursory glance in the last hour. It seemed that he was content to just sit back and listen.

I’m being run in circles. I can’t let this keep happening. I’m going to have to be direct.

Orchid cleared her throat. “If I may ask, why is it that you arrived in this Subsector and chose to come to Valley Ford?”

“We came to Valley Ford because we have no desire to sell trash to our own merchant,” Claire replied with a half-shrug. “And we arrived in this Subsector because some things need personal oversight.”

Orchid’s skin prickled.

Trash? A Field Boss’ Core is trash? Damnation. I must have looked like an idiot pushing up the price of a core by 5 Credits to them. Of course they’d have contact with their own merchant.

But why would they come specifically to Valley Ford, out of all the Hub Cities on 274-50?

Could they be here to observe me?

No. That can’t be possible… but if they’re from the Starfallen family, they should know what my task is. Should I just straight up ask them? But if they’re not, I’d be giving away my affiliations. That would be less than ideal.

Damn it all. Why can’t I figure out what either of them are thinking?

Orchid was no stranger to reading people. She wasn’t a master manipulator, but she’d pulled a few strings in her time, and she’d been part of countless meetings together with her mother.

She’d seen just about every trick in the book — but she couldn’t wring so much as a drop of information from the two before her.

Even more direct, then. I have no choice.

“I must admit, I did not expect your family to come here. I have everything under control.”

Claire’s head tilted to the side. “What makes you think we’re here for you?”

Orchid blinked.

They don’t know my task at all. Then they’re lying about who they—

Wait.

Absolution is in this sector. Why would someone strong enough to draw the Starfallen Family’s direct ire be in an area of the world that was pointless?

Her blood ran cold.

Shit. Absolution isn’t their end goal. How did I not realize this? He’s just another Outworlder. Absolution is a side project. That’s why they sent me instead of one of their own. The real team is aiming to get to the top of the Subsector. They just want me to deal with him so they can focus on the real prize.

Pieces of a puzzle clicked into place. It was so painfully obvious that Orchid wanted to bash her head against the wall. There was no reason a family like the Starfallens would be worried about Absolution if there wasn’t something they wanted to keep him from getting.

“Then—”

“Our ultimate tasks are not your business,” Claire said. There was a line of steel in her voice that warned Orchid not to press the matter so much as an inch further. “You deal with your family. They have enough issues, and your Matriarch can’t afford to replace you.”

That was a threat, but Orchid barely even registered it. Thinly veiled threats were commonplace when dealing with the higher members of any strong family.

She knows a lot about my position. Even if someone really was planning to impersonate the Starfallens, there’s no way they would have known they’d run into me and prepared for that as well… but damn it all, I can’t remember what information I just gave up while Claire had me talking.

Did I reveal my position in the family at some point while we spoke?

I don’t think I did.

Orchid swallowed.

Claire had steered the conversation completely and hadn’t let up on a single piece of information herself or Alex. She’d even managed to wrench some information from Orchid in the process, though she hadn’t revealed anything too important.

A skill like that could only belong to someone that had honed their wits against the most dangerous minds in the Infinium. Orchid refused to believe some backwater family would be able to train someone that could run circles around her so easily.

Between that, Alex’s complete nonchalance and disinterest in her, and the Field Boss the two of them had sold to the Great Tide family…

It was impossible to deny it any longer. All the signs were there.

Claire and Alex really are from the Starfallen family.

Orchid swallowed. Her nerves felt like they were being plucked like the strings of a harp. This had been supposed to be a simple job. Difficult, but simple. Go to Planet 274-50, kill Absolution, then wipe up the rest of the Subsector and relax until a way off the planet arose.

Her stomach threatened to push its way out of her mouth and bile welled at the base of her throat.

The Starfallen family hadn’t been supposed to follow her here. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with them — but out of every single Outworlder family that had arrived on 274-50, she’d somehow managed to locate them instantly.

First Absolution turns out to be far stronger than I thought and I get myself killed instantly. Then I stumble straight into the Starfallen Family. I’m almost starting to wonder if I’m cursed.

There was nothing to be done, and it wasn’t all bad. The only thing worse than being next to the Starfallen family was being enemies with them. At least she wouldn’t be in their sights as long as they were working together.

“I—”

Alex’s eyes snapped up, the first flicker of actual interest he’d had throughout the entire time he’d been in the house. He rose to his feet.

“There’s someone coming.”

Claire stood instantly. There wasn’t a second of hesitation in her movements. She trusted him completely.

And, no more than a moment after Alex had spoken, a loud knock echoed through the room.

Orchid grabbed her staff. She didn’t know how Alex had figured out they had company or who it could be, but she had no plans of trying to find out. The Starfallen family had many enemies, and the less she knew about who was trying to kill her, the less liability she’d have if anyone came knocking on her door later.

“Excuse me,” a man’s booming voice called from the other side of the door. “Is this a good time? I can come back later if you’d prefer.”

“Were you… expecting company?” Orchid asked hesitantly.

Alex stared at the door for a moment. “In a manner of speaking, yes.”

“Should I open the door?” Orchid asked in a whisper.

Claire and Alex exchanged a glance. Alex slowly nodded.

“Yes. Go ahead.”

Orchid stepped forward and pulled the door open.

A man in his mid-20s stood on the other side, a sheepish grin on his lips. He was lean, with muscles that came through years of work rather than intentional training. A thick sea of stubble covered the lower half of his angular face and he had a bed of messy blonde hair that hung around his face and sank to his shoulders.

He was clad in heavy leathers that had been ripped to shreds in battle — and it seemed he’d brought the weapons that had put those cuts there along in him.

There was a large axe lodged four inches into his left side. Several swords sprouted from his back, and the point of a rapier stuck out of his stomach. Dried blood covered the weapons and large portions of his destroyed clothes.

“Pleasure to meet you all,” the man said, raising a hand in greeting. A dagger had been sheathed in the very center of his palm. He didn’t seem very bothered by his situation. His eyes swept over the room and locked onto Alex. The grin on his face grew. “And there you are. Knew you were in here. Do you have any idea how long I’ve been stumbling around looking for you?”

“No,” Alex said.

“Me neither.” The man tried to step into the room, but one of the swords on his back thunked into the doorframe. He moved back and grunted. “Damn. You mind coming out here? I don’t fit inside.”

Orchid fought to keep her face expressionless, but it was quickly becoming a losing battle.

Matriarch, what have I gotten myself into?

“It’s usually polite to say why you’ve come looking for someone before you ask things of them,” Claire said tersely, watching the man with thin lips.

“Oh, shit. Introductions! I knew I was forgetting something. I’m real sorry about that. Been tired recently. I’ve tried to catch up on sleep, but you know how it is. Anyway, my name’s Derek.” The man gave them a wide grin, then turned to look straight at Alex. “And I’m here to kill this guy.”