I left Emboru in a daze.

It was too much to take in. The deal. The possibility that I could regain a human form… so long as I slew a human with the grimmoire’s ritualistic knife, so long as the grimoire rewarded me with a spell to transform, so long as I agreed to help search for Emboru’s sibling.

There was also the possibility I might regain my left arm. Though Emboru never specified exactly how that would work.

It seemed like only seconds passed before I was climbing back down into the ‘guest quarters,’ the pit where Muleater was waiting for me.

The second the ladder was pulled back up, Muleater was demanding information. I could hardly blame her for that.

But it was not as though I could admit that Emboru wished to form a contract with me. Or that I needed to kill a human to possibly gain a human form. I could not imagine a law-woman to take either of those two facts well.

It would be so much simpler if I could simply lie.

“Well, kid?!” Muleater asked, cornering me against the earthen walls of the pit. “What’d they want this time? They tell you when they’re gonna start the torture? Or they try convincing you to cross me?”

I definitely regretted that Muleater could detect falsehoods. I had to pick through my answer somewhat carefully.

“Not you specifically,” I said.

She frowned.

“Great. So the Empire then? Gods take them,” she swore.

I shrugged. I knew it was only a matter of time until she asked a follow up question, so I resorted to steering the conversation away from possibly sensitive topics through distraction.

“Well, there was one thing…” I said, trailing off.

“Oh yeah? What.”

“Well… It was pretty big news that you’d probably be interested in.”

She gave me an un-amused glare.

“Godslicking ass, then spill already!”

“I will,” I said, feeling a sly smile begin to form across my face. I knew that I had her now, and we were far distant from the original topic of betrayal. “At least, I will for a trade.”

“A what? Trade? What for!”

There was a piece of information I had been wanting, and by demanding it, I could continue controlling the course of dialogue.

“If you want me to ‘spill’,” I said, “Then tell me what happened to Sir Kate. Is she still alive?”

She eyed me dubiously. “You still hung up on that? Why would you care anyways?”

Eschiver: 3/9 (+1)

“It’s pretty big news…” I offered enticingly. “It might be useful for someone attempting to escape.”

“Yeah, I get it. But if I tell you, then how can I be sure that the wyrkwik won’t find her?”

“So she is alive?”

Muleater winced, then scoffed. “Walked into that. But yeah. So why you wanna know?”

“Does it matter why?” I asked.

“You care about her then?” Muleater asked, a slight smirk forming on her scarred and grimy face.

It was my turn to wince.

It was apparently enough of an answer for her to continue.

“You don’t gotta say it…” her tone took a different turn, one laden with warning of judgment. “I don’t know what you beast types get up to, but humans don’t–cannot–think of animals that way. It’s just… no. It would be bad. Bad for her. So you gotta–”

My cheeks burned, not that anyone could tell beneath the fur.

“No!” I snapped, embarrassed and disgusted all at once. I might not know what I felt for Kate, but I certainly was not about to let Muleater judge me for it. “Regardless of what I feel for her, which isn’t that–” I gave a glare “-it is between me and her.”

She nodded solemnly.

“Good. Keep it that way. Platonic. So, I tell you what I know. What’s this so called ‘news’ that you tried bartering with?”

I paused, wondering how far I could push this.

“You know, we never did come to an agreement on that… and I never did say I would tell you. You offered up what you did on your own.”

Muleater cracked her knuckles. “So you want to play it like that?”

She loomed over me, and once more, I remembered how short I was compared to just about everyone.

I gulped, deciding it really was a win to tell her. Especially since we were away from the topic of murder, betrayal, and the fact that with one exception, that I liked the mucary more than the humans, though neither had treated me that great overall.

“There is an army approaching, about several days out.”

Muleater’s face went through several expressions, before settling on pinched. “Who?” she asked.

“Humans?” I offered.

“Yeah, I got that,” she scoffed. “What can you tell me? Crests, colors, names?”

I thought back to the blurs in the distance. “Black and red, and not much else.”

“Crown’s colors. No telling who though. Got it.”

“Or it could be bandits?” I offered, playing devil’s advocate.

She scoffed. “No, not if it’s an army. None of those would be sneaking by. Someone would be sure to notice.”

I left unsaid that the mucary had gone unnoticed, at least for some time.

“But why they tell you that?”

“They showed me. I saw them from a distance.”

“But why? It doesn’t make sense for them to do that… unless it’s a trick?”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“I saw them with my own eyes, though they were too far away to see any details. It could be a ploy…”

In the end, all I could offer was a shrug. I was not exactly sure why they had shown me either, except as perhaps a test. It was hard to say for sure though.

Muleater barked a laugh and shook her head. “Here I am trying to understand an infested plant. So here’s what we’re going to do. We’re gonna run for it.”

“Hm?” I tilted my head slightly. I heard her, but we had literally both just considered the fact that it could be a ploy of some kind. And that the mucary would especially be on the look-out now that they knew that we knew about the army on the horizon.

“Yeah kid, this is our chance. We’ll be getting out kid! We need to plan. What’re your Marks. Spells? Talents? C’mon spill.” She ended shaking my shoulders.

I winced, then offered weakly, “Tell me yours first.”

I remained unconvinced. I doubted we could escape, even if we wanted to.

We had shared some of what we each could do. I revealed my most prized trump card, my Illusions. She revealed her Truth Detection, Battle Sense, and general fortifications of both the body and mind, along with an ability to sharpen blades and block blows preternaturally.

But even with all these boons, I was still unconvinced.

Muleater was making a mistake from her haste.

“This isn’t going to work,” I told her. “We’re going to get caught.”

“Nah,” she said. “Maybe. But we just need a distraction. This is gonna be the best chance we get. I need to get back, or die trying. I’m meant for more than this hole.”

“Have you not seen this valley? It’s covered in–”

“-yeah, it’s infested. But with the humans nearby, the wyrkwik be scouting outwards.”

“But why all a sudden? Wouldn’t it make sense for us to wait for the humans to come closer?”

“Assuming the wyrkwik don’t just kill us when they think a battle is imminent. Or for some other reason. We need our agency… besides, what if they don’t know about the valley? We need to get warning to the army.”

While Muleater might have been right about the lack of agency on my part, I would argue that sometimes inaction is the best course of action. Instead, I focused on a different angle of attack.

“You don’t know that the army doesn’t know. In fact, it looked like they’re out here for the infested.”

She started to speak, but I kept going.

“-look, I’m all for escaping. But who profits if we’re immediately re-captured? It will only worsen our condition.”

“You want to die down here?” Muleater asked hotly. “This is likely our best chance. With the army there, the wyrkwik are distracted. Safety is within reach. We need to seize the opportunity.”

We began going around in circles, a profitless argument.

“You–we–would have the best chance when the humans attack. Right now… you don’t have a stealth skill. Unless you’ve been holding out?”

“But you do. You have a Crown blessed spell! Illusion! You can keep me hidden, while you stealth.”

“Illusions don’t work on the mucary though.”

“What?”

“Mucary, the infested?”

“Yeah, no I got that. Why don’t your illusions work? You’ve tried them, yeah?

I shrugged. “They don’t have eyes. Well, some of them do, but most of them don’t. They don’t rely on sight like we do.”

“Gods take them!” she growled in frustration. “They use scent then? You can thwart that at least. Think you can carry me?”

I gave her a dubious look, then my missing arm. She was much taller, broader, heavier than me, and I was missing a mothersworn arm.

“Then we fight our way out. Are you familiar with the rogue archetype? Schools of assassins?”

“No.” That sounded like a video game though. Something my sister might have gotten into, but that I would never have been allowed the free-time for.

“Adventure Guild, sorry. It's a nomenclature that spread out. But you are a stealth type. If we fight our way out–”

I shuddered and shook my head vehemently. As if we could win now, when we lost while at the fringes of the mucary's power base.

“-then I draw their attention, and you disable them. I don’t know if you can kill them, if I can kill them, but disable them. Ligaments. That type stuff. Plus, we’ll need supplies. Think you can find them?”

“Uhh. No. I’m not really a fighter.”

She gave me a dumbfounded expression before nodding and coming to a realization. “Right. Kunbeorn. Well, unless, you don’t want to help escape, and you want to die in this pit,” she threatened, making it clear that dying in the pit would be much more likely to happen if I failed to comply. Which was moronic, since if I did scout around, I would be much more likely to leave her to her own fate. She was not inspiring me with her leadership material, and the benefits were hardly existent at that.

But still, I wondered how much I could get. I knew what Emboru had offered me, but what was the competing offer from the humans?

“Not saying I won’t help you, but what will happen if we get out? It’s not like I can live well with you humans. I’m not keen on living in a cage the rest of my life.”

“But you’re domesticated?” she asked. “You are a kunbeorn, right?”

I shook my head. I was not even sure what that term meant.

“Then why are you afraid of committing some violence?”

“It’s…” I thought back to a fragment of a memory and shuddered. “It was beaten out of me.”

“Kunbeorn,” she nodded sagely. “Anyways, if you want to rough it, which I think is dumb. But if you want to, then we can get you south of the bridge, into the beast lands.”

That did not seem appealing, especially without Kissen at my side for support. “Is that the best offer?” I asked.

“No?” she said thoughtfully. “I mean, if you want to live with humans, we could probably set you up with my niece. You like Kate, yeah?”

“What if I did?” I asked.

“Then we’ll do that… though I’m just going to say this up-front, there will be some hassles involved. Like paperwork. And Crown help you if Kate’s mother finds you messing around with her.”

My cheeks burned and I buried my face in my right shoulder.

“Just… we can figure that out later.”

“Well alright. So when we get back, we’ll swing by the auctions and pick up your certs.”

“Certs? As in certificate?” I asked, feeling nauseous.

“Uh, yeah. Proof of ownership. You think we just let any beast run around the place?” She chortled as if it was a joke, before explaining. “We have kids playing on the streets.”

Yes, because animal people were intrinsically unsafe around children. My eyes narrowed further though.

“What do you mean by ownership? I will not be going through all this effort just to live as a slave.”

“Not slave. Servant,” she said. “Beloved companion?”

“You’re not selling me on this,” I said.

“The certs are just to make it legal. As long as you’re with Kate or at home, you’ll be fine. But… well… collars.”

I shuddered.

“Now. I’m going to boost you out. Because whether you end up in Southbridge, or off in the jungle, we’re getting out.”

I looked at her like she was crazy.

“No… I don’t think so. I’m not going to risk my life and other three limbs just to be someones domesticated slave. Sorry, but no.”

“Huh. I misread you then…” she scratched her chin. “You sure?”

I nodded. “It’s almost evening, I’m just going to turn in.”

“Well, here’s the thing,” Muleater said.

I eyed her warily. I had a feeling this was going nowhere good. She was taking a domineering stance, coercive even.

“You don’t do this, and you can kiss any chance of passing through Southbridge goodbye. You’re distinctive, yeah? I’ll pass the warrants out for ya. A charter for your pelt. You won’t be safe near civilization for a good long while, assuming you live that long.”

I spat, growled, groaned.

What could I do? Turn her in now? Shout for help? She could likely kill me before the mucary decided to take the threat seriously and arrive to rescue me.

“Right,” she nodded, giving a mean smile. “Now use your tangible Illusions to make a ladder. We’re getting out.”

Blessings: Rank (1/9)

* Body: 65

* Mind: 75

* Spirit: 49

Talents:

* Athleticism (3/9):

* Climbing I (1/9)

* Featherlight (5/9)

* Stealth I (4/9)

* Trackless Tracks (8/9)

* Alchemical Immunity (ineligible for growth)

* Eschiver (3/9) (+1)

* Evasion (6/9)

Spells:

* Illusion I (5/9)

* Touch (6/9)

* Closed

* Closed

Gifts:

* Obsession (3/9)

* Closed (0/9)

* Closed (0/9)