Before we set off to travel to Nebula, Ulrika says her farewells to her parents. Hearing her and Evelina sniff and weep is hard for me to listen to, so I move away from their voices towards the stone bench in the courtyard. I must retain a stone-faced appearance and not show any tears once she’s done. It’s best I don’t add to her grief in our journey.
“Kaioson!” Evelina yells. Ulrika walks over to me with her arms crossed with her head down.
“Yes?” I say.
“Take care of my daughter.” Ulrika smiles, then chuckles after hearing her mother tell me that.
“Yes, ma’am!” I hold Ulrika by her hips. She takes me by my waist, but her head is still down. “Hey,” I say, tickling her forehead with my nose. Her giggles excite me to continue making her laugh.
“Stop it, or I’ll bite your nose off,” Ulrika says. She digs her face into the right side of my neck to prevent me from reaching her face.
“Are you sure you want to truly leave? My intentions were to come back home after I saw what contracts were available.”
“The sooner we return back to work, the better our lives will be at the end of it all, right? I want that life so badly, Kaio.”
“We’ll get it.”
Without looking at my horse, I click my tongue three times. He comes right beside me, pulling Ulrika’s horse with him. She gives me a tight hug, pulls up on my tiptoes, then hops on her horse. I get on mine, and we course for the hilly countryside she mentioned before leaving the house. She leads me through the scarce streets of the town. I pass by soldiers, knights and I’m assuming Paladins. They stand out to me as highly equipped civilians armed with various weapons. The handful of people I see are being gawed by the knights and Paladins. Seeing everyone on edge pains me. A small part of me wishes Nite would make their move, but I don’t want innocents to die. All I can hope for is the world is ready to combat the threat.
“Kaio,” Ulrika shouts in a short yell.
“What?” I respond, reaching for my sword.
“Easy, my love.” I clear my throat and pretend I didn’t just do that. “Is your mind occupied? You were staring off into the distance for a moment.”
“I was thinking about the attack. I wish it would come, but that’s a terrible thought to have.”
“I guess we’re both fucked in the head.” I’m a bit bothered that we share the same wants. “It gives me anxiety waiting for it.”
“Same.”
We continue riding in the direction to exit the city. The gates come into view, and with that, two knights are armed with spears. One of them raises their hand up to stop us. We slow down our horses, then carefully walk up to them.
“Can I help you?” Ulrika says. A young-looking boy approaches us from the other side of the gates. He looks like one of those armed civilians that I think are Paladins. The knights move away from him as he stands between us, looking at her.
“Just doing our routine checking,” he says, looking at our equipment. “So, whatcha two leaving the city for?”
“You’re a curious boy, aren’t you?” Ulrika says, leaning forward to him.
“It’s my duty to be.” She gives me a sly look with the left side of her mouth pinched.
“My husband and I are going to Nebulas,” she answers in a high exaggerated feminine voice. I’m amazed she can reach a pitch that high.
“Yeah? Why?” Her smile disappears in a blink of an eye.
“Wow! You really wanna know my business.”
“Like I said, ma’am. It’s my-”
“It’s my duty, yes I know. But, you’re being ridiculous now.”
“We’re bounty hunters, alright,” I bud in. He squints at me, humming, then examines my cape’s insignia.
“You’re Kromagian?”
“Let us through. We have a job to do.”
“Uhh, right. Let them pass!”
“Thank you,” Ulrika says in that pitched voice again. She takes point out of the city. Once we enter the villages, she slows her horse to be next to me. “What an annoying brat.” She tugs on my cape with a smile on her face. “I need to get me one of these. Everyone who comes across you cowers.”
“Next time we visit Kromagia, I’ll get you one.”
“Do you think I can? I am a Kromagian by my father’s side, but I never lived in the kingdom.”
“Positive.”
“Awesome!”
She looks forward, controlling the reins of her horse. I imagine the type of cape would be best for her to wear. I wear mine to notify the nation I represent, but I also use it to hide my weapon. Her swords are on her left hip and back. There’s no sense in hiding the one on her back since it protrudes over her shoulder. If she switches to having them on both of her hips, I can see it working in her favor.
“Kaio, your staring again,” Ulrika says.
“Sorry,” I say, covering my eyes. “I was thinking about the right capes for you.”
“Ooh! Tell me your ideas.”
“Do you want something like mine?”
“I wouldn’t mind matching with you.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Out of nowhere, a group of kids runs in front of us. My horse stops himself, but Ulrika has to pull on her reigns to prevent trampling over the kids.
“Damnit, children,” an old woman says, scooting the kids away. She bows and apologizes as she moves into a nearby house. The door slams shut, including the windows.
“I hate seeing this,” Ulrika says.
“What is it?”
“She had fear on her face. I’ve seen this so many times during Narberth Roven’s rebellion.”
“That’s the guy you fought against down in the elven king Thubet’s country, right?”
“Yes. Even though we’re the good guys, she feared us.” Picturing the woman’s face brings to mind what Rhyndac said about how weak I am against Garret.
“We need to think about training to improve our skills while we’re on the job.” Ulrika looks at me as if she heard something disgusting. She squints and tilts her head away from me momentarily.
“You’re taking heed to that whore’s analysis of you?”
“I am.”
“What if she lied so you wouldn’t go after him, and you were acrong enough to take him?”
“I don’t think so. I believe her because I know I’ve been slacking on practicing my magic.” I motion my head to tell her to continue on. “It’s been a long time since I’ve solely focused on all my magical abilities.”
“How much do you know?”
“You’d be shocked. The things you saw were just the minor ones.”
“The fire breath and the force that shredded the front door of my house are minors?” I laugh and nod my head. “Holy cow, Kaio! Are you more than the lovely bounty hunter I married?”
“Thyrna taught me everything she knew. I never questioned why she gave me so much knowledge.”
“Okay. I agree to train once we can.”
“Great. Now let’s joyride through the anticipated countryside you mentioned.”
“Yes,” she shouts with a smile, showing her adorable dimples.
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Nebulas’ city comes into view from this small elevated trail Ulrika and I are riding on. As we get closer, I can see the entrance is guarded by several people, but they’re not wearing armor. They remind me of the armed civilians that could be Paladins, but these folks are clearly mages. Three of them are wearing cloaks, and the last two have long coats that almost reach the ground. The two closest to me have their staff levitating near them.
“Another checkpoint,” I say.
“We could be facing a lot of those everywhere we go,” Ulrika says.
One of the mages floats over to us with their hand raised. His staff morphs into existence by falling out of blue particles. It’s tall, silver, and has a blue diamond-crafted crystal on the tip of it. Inside the crystal is moving smoke with lightning ricocheting within the walls.
“Good morning,” he says, walking up to us.
“Greetings,” Ulrika says in that same pitched voice from earlier today. I wave him a hello. “Will you be digging into our whereabouts too?”
“No need. I recognize you two.”
“Have we met?” She glances over at me, and I shrug my shoulders.
“I saw you both outside the agency talking with Haleema and Lyra.” He snaps his eyes to me then points. “You’re Kaioson, right?”
“I am,” I answer.
“Haleema said you might come.”
“Is she here?”
“Come through and check. I doubt Haleema will be around today since she’s always doing missions.” Just by that statement alone, that double confirms the testimony of her eagerness for her duties. “Alright. Have a nice day, you two.”
“Thanks,” Ulrika says. She rides ahead of me. I follow behind her, passing through the gate, then we stop at a three-way intersection. “It’s a bit more lively here than back home.” Unlike Ambagra, people are moving about, conversing, selling wares, and buying.
“Maybe it’s because the Paladin headquarters is here.”
“You’re probably right.”
“Also, I should have asked this beforehand before we set off. Do you know where the building is?”
“Mhmm.” I follow her all the way to the agency building. Vaeril, Haleema’s assistant, comes down the steps when he sees us.”
“Hello again!” He says, wildly waving at us.
“Greetings, Vaeril,” I say, jumping off my horse. “Is Haleema here?”
“Umm yeah. I just saw her not too long ago.”
“Thanks. Do you mind holding our horses here for a sec?”
“Sure thing, sir.” Ulrika and I hand him control of our reins then head into the building. I head straight for the third room on our left like last time. The door is closed, so I peek my head in.
“Hello?” I say, scanning to my left.
“Kaioson? What a surprise seeing you here,” Hayden says. He doesn’t look happy to see me. Maybe it’s because of the small fight we had when he insulted Ulrika’s small breasts.
“Hayden Price,” I say with some disgust behind my words. He looks behind me, bobbing his head all over the place. “What are you doing?” I check behind me and see nothing. He leans toward me with his left-hand flat against the left side of his mouth.
“Is... she with you?”
“Who? Ulrika?”
“Yes?” Ulrika responds. She rests her hand on my right shoulder and moves into the doorway. His eyes open more when he looks at her. “You called?”
“I didn’t. Hayden wanted to know if you were with me.”
“Oh. It’s you. What do you want?”
“Apologies for my comment and behavior from a time ago,” he says, bowing with his hand over his chest. Once he leans back up, Ulrika slaps him across the face. “Ow!”
“Apology accepted.” I watch her stroll around the room, looking at the décor. “Hayden.”
“Y..yes?” He rubs his cheek with both of his hands.
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“What were you doing here?”
“I was organizing some bounties Haleema told me to set up for you guys. I just completed them.”
“Where are the contracts?”
“On the table,” he says, pointing at a stack of papers. I quickly flip through them to see how many there are. There are twenty bounties total. The coin amount is printed in the right corner of each document.
“150, 200, 120, 170 coins,” I say.
“Holy cow. That’s some good money,” Ulrika says, coming over to me. I hand her the stack and turn towards Hayden, who’s still rubbing his cheek.
“How did she acquire all of these?”
“These targets have been on the agency’s blacklist for a while. Ten have recently been spotted within the last three months.”
“Which one is the most recent?”
“Jesse Gill,” Ulrika and Hayden say, slightly off sync.
“Yeah,” Hayden says, turning to her.
“How new was this?” She asks, holding up Jesse’s contract.
“Umm, when Nite attacked Thaa Alora. Witnesses stated they saw him running off with a remnant of Nite cultist, heading east into the forest from the nearby town.”
“Well, well. Kaio looks like we got a double offender. And looky here.” She raises his paper with her left index finger, pointing at the 250 coin reward.
“We’re taking this,” I say.
“Take a scroll holder and a portal ring from the table. The Portal ring uses mana to activate. Just picture where you want to go, and there you have it.” She slips the ring around her index finger and straps the scroll holder around her shoulder. “The ring has a limit use, so don’t abuse it moving place to place.”
“Got it,” Ulrika says.
“Happy hunting.” He leaves us. She smirks at me, and I can’t help myself but smile.
“I’m surprised Jesse is back on our radar,” she says as we walk out of the room.
“That and I’m curious as to why he was seen with Nite. May I see the paper again?” I inquire.
I check his offenses to see why he’s on their radar. It only describes the possibility of being in league with the cultist. The agency wants him to be brought in alive, so he can be questioned. The back of the paper has detailed descriptions of what he looks like and what type of person he is. At the end of it, the sigil of the Paladin agency and Haleema’s elegant signature.
Thank you, Haleema. Good luck with your undertakings.
“Is there something new I didn’t see on there?” Ulrika says.
“Other than we might run into cultists, no. He’s the same dickhead we encountered last time.” She giggles at my remark.
“I swear if he pisses me off the second time, I’m truly gonna hang him by his hair.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Actually, I kinda hope it does.” I glare at her, hoping she isn’t serious. “Don’t give me that look.” She pokes my cheek, causing me to laugh. “So, do you want to travel on horseback or through this ring?”
“Sir, ma’am,” Vaeril says, handing the reins of our horse to us.
“Let’s try the ring,” I say. She coils her fingers in and out, then points ahead of her. The ring on her finger lights up blue and opens a portal. On the other side of it, I see the cabin we always rent.
“You chose this spot?” I say, taking control of the reins of our horses.
“I miss it.”
I don’t share her closeness to the house, but I’m glad we’re coming back here. She walks through the portal with her eyes fixated on it. I bring our horses through, then hop on mine. She glances down at the ground where the boy died from his wounds and sighs.
“Poor child,” she whispers, then moves onward to the cabin. I stay quiet, not wanting to disturb her reminiscing about the fondness of the place. “Hello? Is anyone here?” She waits a few seconds before going inside. I watch the front perimeter for anything unexpected. “Looks like no one has taken it yet.”
“Do you plan on renting it again?”
“I wish, but there will be no point to. We’ll be on the trail hunting, Jesse. Who knows how far he’s gone.”
“Let’s go to the prison houses and see what other knowledge they might have.”
“Okay.”
While she walks over to her horse, I notice her gentle smile. It’s small yet high into her cheeks. When she saddles up, she views the cabin again as she swirls the horse to face up the road. Once again, I stay out of her joyful thoughts. She catches me staring at her, then the corners of her lips frown a bit. It’s still a smile, but I get a feeling of despondent sorrow from it. I believe I know why she’s making that face, so I move over to her and caress her thigh.
“Sorry,” she says.
“It’s fine. Take all the time you want.”
“No, I’m good. Let’s go.”
I lean over to kiss her, then we head out of the woods. We come across the bridge that leads directly into town. At the end of it are two soldiers wielding spears. They’re facing the other way, so I slow down my horse.
“We coast from here. They’re probably not expecting us to be behind them,” I say. I rest my hand on my sword just in case they react in a deadly manner. Ulrika whistles like a chirping bird, causing them to turn around. I raise my left hand to greet them while keeping my other hand on my sword. “Greetings!” Both of the guards are she-elves
“Hello,” Ulrika says.
“Humans?” The one on the left says. She adjusts her fingers around the neck of her staff. “When did you get behind us?”
“We ported here. We’re bounty hunters.”
“Bounty hunters? Thank Xanlos,” the elf on the right says. She sticks her staff in the ground and walks over to us. I remove my hand off my sword once I see the other elf stick her weapon in the dirt too. “Have you come for those devils?”
“What devils? Nite?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“Not exactly. We’ve come for a man named Jesse Gill, who we handed over to your custody a while back.”
“Oh, the cute boy,” the elf on the left says.
“Cute? Don’t make me gag.” Ulrika says.
“Is Thaa Alora having issues with Nite?” I ask.
“Yes,” the elf on the right says, moving closer to us. “They raid our markets in the cover of darkness, taking food, medicine, and recently a few of our weapons.” Ulrika and I look at each other. I believe we’re thinking the same thought.
“Sounds like they’re desperate to survive,” Ulrika says. I agree with her speculation with a head nod. “Do you know where they were when they last fled?”
“I do. Follow me.”
“Ayla, what are you doing?” The elf on the left whispers loudly, pulling her by her arm. “You can’t leave your post.”
“I’ll be right back. It’s just around the corner, Veronna,” Ayla reassures. “Follow me.” I let Ulrika pass me, then I follow. I glance at Veronna, who’s giving me an irritating smolder expression with her brows down into her eyes.
What’s her issue?
Ayla guides us to an area of the city where the forest is thick in foliage. There’s a trail that leads in. The dirt is wet, but I can still make out several footprints from the hardened mud casts.
“Did anyone pursue the cultist?” I ask.
“We did, many times. Lost few of our men from their guerrilla defenses.”
Damn. This could be harder than I anticipated.
“Okay, we’ll take it from here,” I say.
“Do you want some backup?”
“No need. All of your forces must remain in the city, just in case of another attack.” Ulrika wanders through the trail, ducking under the branches and vines.
“Alright. I hope you find those bastards and kill them. Or at least spare some. The city would love to see some of them hung for their crimes.”
“I’ll try to bring them all to justice,” I say, following after Ulrika.
“Did I hear her right about killing all the cultists?” Ulrika says.
“You heard right.”
“Hmm.”
“Are you getting ideas of doing that?”
“I share your goal, Kaio. I want them all brought in, but I will not hesitate to kill them if they’re asking for it.” I scoff, yet I’m happy to hear her say that because I agree with her statement. I’m not going to let my guard down with these people. If they want mercy, I’ll give it to them, but if not, damned they’ll be.
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For hours we follow a trail of footprints, broken branches, and cut-up tree bark. The thick foliage of the trees darkens the landscape, even though there’s some good sunlight available. I don’t want to set up camp in darkness, so I tell Ulrika to start unloading her equipment off her horse.
“Kaio,” Ulrika says, stomping on the ground. “Can you make this ground even?” I stand beside her to feel for the terrane with my foot.
“Get behind me.”
Once she moves out of the way, I picture a perfect square in my head. Using my force magic, I rest my hand on top of the soil then hit it hard with a magic technique called “Perfect Geometry.” The ground and anything making the terrain uneven get flattened into a perfect plan for us to lay in.
“There we go,” I say, standing back up. Ulrika rolls out her two thick wool blankets into the square. I find a place to keep our horses, grab my blanket, then return to her with some sustenance.
“You read my mind.”
While she snacks on the food, I lace our rectangular perimeter with fire traps. I hide them within the soil. These traps will set anyone or anything on fire if they take a step in here. To add to our protection, I summon another ability called “Concussive Shield.” This will save us from any projectile object.
“Are we good?” Ulrika says with a piece of jerky in her mouth. One of my traps insinuates something to my left in a small flash of orange light.
“Yup, it’s working. Nothing will touch us. Even the bugs.”
“You’re amazing.”
She holds herself and crosses her legs. For the final piece of security, I toss my sword into the air. It floats over us, hiding in the dark branches of the trees. I strip out of my armor, join her on the ground, then I dimly illuminate the ground under us.
“How’s this?” I ask, tapping the ground. She hums, looking around. “I know your abhorrence of sleeping outside, but how’s this layout fancy you?”
“I like it. You’ve put some effort into making me satisfied. Thank you.” She scoots into my lap, resting against me. I reach under her arm to grab some jerky. “This forest is vast. Jesse and Nite could be anywhere.”
“If their tracks get cold, I have another method of finding them.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ll send my sword in one direction and use it to sense them.”
“Could you have done that before we entered?”
“I could, but I need to narrow the exact possibilities of where they might be.”
“I see. You’d be using it blindly.”
“Mhmm.”
She removes her protective gear and takes our armor in the bottom right corner of the rectangle. The corner has a thick tree hanging over us, plus the dangling roots from the elevated ground make it a snug fit for our gear.
“Ready for bed?” I say.
“Yeah,” she answers, yawning. I lay on my back, then she lays on top of me.
“You’re gonna sleep like that?”
“If you don’t like me on you, just push me off.” Her legs slowly spread out, making her lower body come closer to me. I lay still to see if I’m comfortable with her on me like this. We usually don’t lay like this, but I’m finding comfort in it.
“Your silence tells me this is okay,” she says, adjusting her body.
“Mhmm. Goodnight, Ulrika.”
“Sweet dreams, Kaio.” I get a stupid idea for her to think about when she’s sleeping.
“Hey, Ulrika.”
“Yes, my love?” First, I rub the back of her thigh, then slap both of her asscheeks. She does a small shriek, then props herself up to look at me. “Kaioson?!”
“Take that to your dreams.”
“You ass,” she whispers, coming back down on me while laughing. “I definitely will.”
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The smell of burning wood slowly takes me out of my sleep. I open my eyes, fearing the forest is on fire. But nothing is burning, nor do I see smoke, so it must be some bug that crossed the barrier. The sky is blue, so I know it’s too early in the morning. Ulrika’s minute breathing entices me to return back to sleep. Right when I close my eyes, the concussive shield goes off. I look to my right and see a cultist archer aiming at us.
“Shit!” I yell through my teeth. The shield blocks multiple arrows coming at us in different directions. I roll Ulrika on her back and use my body to shield her.
“Kaio? What are you doing?” She says with a smirk.
“We’re surrounded!”
“What?!” A cultist jumps from the ridge behind us, yelling with his sword over his head. My flame barrier incinerates him into nothing.
“Stop!” Someone yells from a distance to my right. I remain over Ulrika, just in case my barrier fails. In the bottom corner of my eye, I see her pull her swords close to her body.
“I’m good,” she says, gently pushing me away. I stand up, and then look around.
“Well, well,” I say, taunting them. The cultist’s clothing is torn and dirty. “I hear you guys are desperate. That’s a real shame.” An archer fires his bow at me, but the arrow gets deflected away. “Someone’s feelings are hurt.” Ulrika hands me my upper armor and one of her brother’s swords.
“Is your sword still protecting us?”
“Yes.”
I walk over to the closest person to my left. Their face is covered by a bandanna, and they’re wielding a spiked mace that is missing some spikes. I prance around the parameter, viewing all of their weapons and counting how many are circling us.
Goodness, ten? Some of them are holding elven-style weapons. These might be the stolen weapons they took. There are three archers on standby with their arrows on the string.
I hand signal Ulrika with my thumb to tell her I see ten cultists. Next, I put down my ring and pinky finger to show three, then wave them to show her that they are archers. She looks around with her eyes. I can tell she’s found them by her long glances. She nods and draws her sword out.
“This doesn’t have to end in a blood bath. All we want is Jesse Gill,” I say. They give me an eerie silence. “Where is Jesse Gill?” Again, I get no response but dead stares. I’m weirded out by their secrecy. I draw out Ulrika’s sword and try intimidating them by twirling it in my hand. The archers lift their arms, getting ready to shoot at us. “Do I have your attention now?”
“If you won’t tell us where Jesse is, at least tell us in your own words the reason you exist,” Ulrika says.
“We exist to do her will. The world needs a new god. The gods betrayed her. She is the true deity of us all. She is the morning star of our new kingdom. We will be her faithful, righteous children forever and ever,” they say at random after one finishes their sentence.
“Ugh! You’re all insane. Killing innocents, destroying lives and families, and mass chaos. This is the devil’s ungodly work!” Ulrika yells at them. She stands in front of me, holding my hand. “Kaioson, I can’t. These demons are beyond redemption. We need to kill them.” All of a sudden, they burst out laughing. Their voices are deafening and give me goosebumps. “Fuck all of you!” They laugh even louder. Some of them have to get on one knee to control themselves.
“Ulrika,” I say. Her mind is fixed on them. “Ulrika!”
“Tether us to the ground. A storm is coming.”
She sheaths her sword, then puts her arms flat out. Slowly she brings them in. I hear rushing air slam into the trees above me, then feel it on both sides of my body. It feels like it’s all flowing towards us. Her arms start shaking as the speed picks up. I tether our bodies to the ground when I start losing my balance from the high winds. It continues increasing in speed, breaking branches, and making the cultist stumble. One archer trips into our barrier and gets vaporized.
“Jeez! Are you bringing a tornado?” I say.
“Pretty much,” she answers in a strained voice. Her arms shake more as she tries to close her hands together. The veins in the back of her hands, face, and neck begin to bulge out. “How many of those archers are left?”
“Two more!” She slowly inches toward her hands. The amount of power she’s displaying is incredible. Other cultists fall victim to my barrier except for the remaining three archers. “Get over here!” After a few more seconds of heavy wind, one of them dies from vaporization. Now my barrier is beginning to show and flicker.
“I don’t think my trap will last any longer!”
“Are you ready to fight these assholes?” I nod my head for the go-ahead. She takes a deep breath and drops her hands to her knees. The wind stops instantly, creating this void of calmness. While the cultist is recovering from the attack, I take a moment to strike down the last archer who’s on the ground with my sword.
“Now it’s an even playing field,” I say, calling my sword to hover next to me. “Try to spare a few of them. We still don’t know where Jesse is.”
“I’ll try.”
“Promise?” She scoffs but laughs a bit.
“I promise you, I will spare a few.”
A man sprints at me with his sword aiming directly at my body, yelling like a goofy maniac. I don’t feel the need to strike him, so I evade his blade and elbow him hard in the back of the head. That hit is hard enough to knock him out. Two more cultists attack, trying their best to land one blow on me. I make a fool of two attackers by evading their strikes instead of deflecting with my sword or with Ulrika’s. One guy throws his sword at me in a fit of rage, slides on claw knuckles, and tries to combat me with his hands.
“Disappointing,” I say.
I make my first move with a quick in and out thrust into his stomach. The second comes at me with a diagonal swing. Without using my head to conjure my sword to block, I command it with my mind. His sword strikes mine so hard it sends out sparks. I do the same maneuver he did, driving my sword through his shoulder. It stops at his sternum. I pull it out slowly, keeping my eyes on the other cultist ahead of me.
“Hiya!” Ulrika yells, smiteing two cultists at the same time. Both of them fall into my barrier, but the trap reaches its limit, only singeing them. “Three more!”
“Try to spare-” she unleashes a warcry yell, charging after them. “Spare one of them, Ulrika!” I don’t think she’ll take my heed, so I sprint at the furthest cultist. She quickly takes out two and sets her sight after the last one. “Wait!”
“You’re dead!” The last one puts up a defense against her. To space them out, I blast him away from her. He flies into a tree, and his sword flies behind him. “Kaioson, what the fuck? I had him!” She points her finger at me with an aggressive shake.
“You were going to kill him!” She bends her arm back, putting her hand into a fist, then backhands my shoulder. It’s somewhat a hard hit, enough to make it sting.
“Ugh!” She screams, looking away from me. “These people don’t deserve to live, Kaioson!”
“Ulrika, settle down! We need some of them alive so they can tell us where Jesse is! You promised you’d spare some.” We stand in silence. I keep my eyes on her while she continues looking away. “I’m sorry.”
“No. Don’t be. You’re right. We need information, and I was about to screw it up for the both of us.” I check the man I send into the tree to see if he’s not dead. He’s alive, so I drag him over to the previous cultist I elbowed in the back of the head. “We’ve got two.”
As I begin to wait for one of them to wake up, she snuggles on my back, pressing her nose on my spine. She doesn’t say anything, so I take it as a sign she’s upset. Her silence worries and bothers me simultaneously, so I take her by the hand away from the cultist.
“Look, I understand what you’re feeling towards them, but-” She puts her hands over my mouth.
“But I gotta keep a level head,” she fills in.
“Yeah,” I mummer, right when she moves her hand away from my mouth. Her eyes lock onto something behind me.
“One’s up.”
“Time to go pull some information out of them.”
“Do you mind if I pick their brains?” I point my hand, signaling her to proceed.