“Good evening,” Rea says to Semi. I take a seat beside her, taking in the state of the room.

There are a few guards, but they’re dressed lightly and don’t have any weapons on them. I think they’re mostly here to deal with the weaker customers that cause trouble because they wouldn’t be much good in a fight. I could beat every person here with the swords I carried in with me. They do glance at the weapons, but the moment I sit with their boss they turn away again.

This is a strange place. The dancers are eager to move to the beat, enticing the audience who are buying drinks and snack foods, sometimes calling the dancers down to sit with them and talk. Every now and again, a customer will talk to a member of staff and move upstairs with a dancer. I’m still relatively new to the idea of mating, but I’m not stupid. The way they move and the looks on their faces as they head up the stairs are animalistic, and it’s impossible not to see their intentions.

Taking in the sight of the women on the stages, I find some who are attractive and others that stir excitement in my chest, but the idea of this place is just… The excitement turns heavy and sits on my chest until it’s hard to breathe.

I don’t like it, but I can’t quite figure out why.

“You can speak freely here,” Semi says, mostly focusing on Rea but glancing at me. “Our words will not travel.”

“Then let us be done quickly, Vael-” Rea looks around for her, but I don’t know where she’s gone to. “Vael mentioned that there is something that I need to speak with you about. An important matter, if she is to be believed.”

“Ah, she said that, did she? I suppose it doesn’t hurt to put it plain, but it is not a conversation to be shared.” Semi looks at me and I feel immediately unwelcome, she doesn’t want me to hear? What sort of dangerous things are they wanting to talk about? “Syr, if you could wait for me, I’ll have someone take you aside and entertain you until we are ready, is there anyone here who takes your interest?”

She waves at the dancers surrounding us. There are a few here that are interesting, and I wouldn’t mind asking them to teach me how to dance. I’m not sure if I’ll find a place to use it, but it seems kind of fun.

Rea takes my hand, gripping it tight while I try to find a good dancer to point out.

“I’ll take care of her,” Vael says, her hands coming out of nowhere and resting on my shoulders, I jump in surprise but she just smiles down at me. “Come on, Syr. Let them have their talk.

“You want to learn how to dance, don’t you?” she whispers close to my ear. “I’m better than any of these girls, I can show you the basics while we wait.”

“Okay,” I nod slowly, I am a little more comfortable with Vael than with a stranger. She pulls me away from the table before I can say a proper goodbye to Rea.

“Vael…” she says, her voice colder than usual, but the woman doesn’t listen, still pulling me away without looking back. I rush up the stairs, passing a few customers who are quick to leave, ignoring all the dancers that were so interesting to them before.

“Don’t feel too bad about it,” The norkit woman says as she pulls me into a room. “Everyone has their secrets, and you’re still a stranger.”

I nod slowly. I thought that I already knew all of Rea’s secrets. She knows everything about me that I would count as a secret, am I doing something weird again?

“Don’t get down, come on. You wanted to dance like the women down there, right? I could see it in your eyes,” Vael says, pulling me over to the bed. “You want to woo Christina, don’t you?”

“Do you think that she likes me?” I ask, sitting on the bed. It’s extra soft, but not as nice as the one that Rea has in her bedroom. “I’m not being a bother to her, am I?”

“That’s something for you to find out for yourself,” Vael says, placing her hands on her hips and staring down at me. “Now, we don’t have much time so pay attention and learn quickly. If you want a girl’s attention you want every tool that you can find, right?”

“Right!” I sit up straight.

“Okay, first things first. Let’s learn how to walk.”

“I know how to walk,” I say, shaking my head and laughing.

“No, you don’t, now listen,” Vael cuts me down quickly. “Some amateurs will tell you that it’s all about the movement of your ass, but they are wrong. Like with fighting, everything works together, the way you place your foot will affect everything else. Now, there is not one right way to do this, so explore and find your own way, but you have to make it smooth. Remember, each movement flows into the next!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Vael is strange, and I don’t know if she’s messing with me or if she’s actually teaching me something important, but paying attention to her lessons while I walk down the stairs I feel a difference. When I put my foot down softly and move just right, it feels sort of like I’m gliding over the ground.

Usually, I’m trying to keep a solid stance whenever I walk, and each step feels heavy. This is more like I’m maintaining my momentum, carrying it with me rather than fighting it, I do something similar in my fights, but this is an even more precise exercise. Each movement, even lifting my arm out a little wider, changes how I stand and how I walk.

Stolen story; please report.

I’m not trying to kick at the ground, but instead, I place my foot softly before leaning into the step and letting the ground hold me up. My knees bend to keep me from bobbing up and down, as Vael complained about.

The weight of my shortswords make it that much clearer when I’m doing it right, as when I’m walking like this, they don’t jostle around like they normally would, they move with me instead of fighting against me.

“Good, good,” Vael says, looking me up and down as a smile crawls up her lips. “You look dangerous now.”

“I do?” I ask, wiping away the sweat dripping into my eyes. She had me pushing myself with all sorts of strange exercises, like balancing on the tips of my toes and then walking around in circles. I was rushing around the room the entire fifteen minutes, but some of still feels like it was senseless like she was trying to get me exhausted.

“Absolutely, but you still have room to grow, young apprentice. Work hard at it, and you will be able to show yourself to the world or hide away so no one sees or hears you. This is a life skill you know?”

“Is this in the skillbook?” I ask, gliding down to the second floor where Semi and Rea are finishing up. “Can I use it in a fight?”

It really feels like I could use this in my fighting style, maybe I would be a bit slower in setting up my charges, but it feels like I have so much more control over my balance with this. It’s closer to a proper flow than the heavy movements that I’ve been using so far.

“You’ll find it in any good skillbook,” Vael smiles at me. “As for the fighting… why don’t you try it and tell me the next time we meet?”

“So, I can use it for fighting?” I ask, but she just smiles wider, messing with my hair.

While Rea is still finishing her conversation, Vael and I stand back and watch the performers.

“See those shoes? With the tall heels?” she says, gesturing to one of the darker-skinned women who blows us a kiss in return. “Notice how she moves in them? How it changes her stance and the entire shape of her? You should consider having a set made for you.”

“They don’t seem very good in a fight,” I say. She’s moving without a problem, but I don’t think I could manage the same. It looks like she’s standing on the tips of her toes, and with how messy most fights get, it seems like they’d be bad for my balance.

“Ah, but winning a fight in high-heels is so much more satisfying for the added challenge,” Vael says, her smile glowing with excitement. I don’t feel like she’s being serious, saying something silly just to play with me while we wait, but we don’t wait for long.

Rea stands from the table, walking by me with her usual mask. The cold air around her is a little thicker than normal, and she only glances at me for a moment before walking away, guided by Vael. She isn’t looking at anything, stuck in her own mind.

What did she talk about?

I take her seat with a frown, the cold chair burning the back of my legs for a few seconds until it warms up. I stare at Semi but she doesn’t say anything at first, waiting for me to talk.

I want to ask.

I shouldn’t.

“The magic. There’s something I can do to get better at my magic?” I ask, biting my tongue.

“I may have a few secrets that would be useful to no one but you,” she says, without looking up from her glass. “I also have a little advice for you.”

“What?”

“Stay away from Christina,” she says, still refusing to look at me.

“What?” I repeat, leaning against the table. “Why?”

“Because she is… she will become quite dangerous to you in the near future,” Semi says. “Grow strong, strong enough to topple a king from his throne before you cross paths with her again. Otherwise, one of you will end up dead.”

She looks up from the glass she’s drinking from, her eyes shimmering with emotions that I can’t quite read. With a blink, they’re hidden again.

“Now, setting that aside and answering your question. I can give you this notebook, it is not much but it contains a number of thoughts and theories that could help you to grow, though don’t expect for it to make you into an A-grade mage.”

The little notebook is filled with scrawled words that I can barely make out. The letters are only vaguely recognisable, and I’m still not a very good reader even when the words make sense.

“Then there is the more interesting thing that I have to offer,” she says. “There is a certain crypt that has been largely overlooked in this city. It leads down further than anyone has explored, it’s so dangerous that the locals have boarded it up tight to make sure that no one can break it open. So that nothing can break out.

“It is filled with undead. More than can be explained just through the natural processes that turn a corpse into a shambler. If you want to know about necromancy, then I think you’ll find something down there.”

A dungeon full of the undead?

Is there another necromancer here? Maybe it’s their lair or something?

“How dangerous is it?” I ask. “My teammates…”

“Don’t want you investing in yourself,” Semi nods firmly. “I can prepare a team of mercenaries to travel with you into the crypt. They’ll be capable of protecting you, and even if you show yourself to them, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Semi,” I sit up straight, meeting her eyes. “Thank you.”

“Syr?” She smirks, looking at me strangely.

“You don’t see me like a monster, either,” I say. She’s not the same as Rea, but she’s nice to me. She’s helping me to grow stronger, and even though she was saying something weird earlier, I don’t feel like she’s trying to be mean to me.

“Of course not,” she shakes her head. “I work with monsters, you’re not even close.”

“Thank you.”

Semi smiles, but it’s a fragile shape that soon dies away as she hands me a sheet of folded, yellowed paper.

“A map to the crypt, don’t lose it,” she says. “When do you want the mercenaries to be there?”

“In the morning,” I say. I could probably sneak out to meet them before Theo or anyone else can stop me. “Sunrise.”

“They’ll be there,” Semi nods. “Now get going, I’m sure that Christina is waiting for you, just… remember what I said.”

I nod firmly, standing and walking back up to the room that Vael brought me to, I’m sure that she’s there with Rea right now. I know that’s where Rea is waiting for me.

I don’t understand what it is that Semi was saying about her. She’ll become dangerous? I’ll have to become stronger, otherwise one of us will die?

She seemed serious about it, too.

I brush by a larger man, and he barely even looks at me as he rushes up the stairs with a woman on each arm. They rub themselves against him, whispering in his ears.

I think I know why I didn’t like it here.

The customers that come back from upstairs, push their way right down, barely looking at the dancers that they were enchanted by moments ago. They don’t care anymore.

They’re here to play.

That’s it.

There’s no love, no friendship. Any person in this crowd could disappear and never be seen again, and they wouldn’t be missed. There’s an act of affection. Some of the girls on stage turn to me as if to draw me in. As if they’re dancing for my sake. As if they want me.

They don’t. Not really.

They’re lying with their every beautiful move.

I don’t like this city.

I rush up the stairs, not bothering to keep the steady walk that Vael was teaching me, I push into the room where they’re waiting for me.

“Rea!” I call out to my favourite vampire. “Rea, there you are.”

I leap onto the soft bed behind her and look over at her. She looks at me, and even though I don’t understand what she’s feeling, it’s something completely different to the lies that fill this building.