Chapter 137

The Dancing Kraus was smaller than its name implied.

The largest area was the tavern floor, filled with smaller than normal tables, which were built more for Riley than Tobias and were perfect for Dwarves.

Still, the tavern keeper, accustomed to all manner of travelers, pulled some human-sized chairs out of storage that were as rough-hewn and weathered as all the others, creating a comical scene that seemed tilted 45 degrees off of reality.

Tobias, Eastmund, and Caedmon all sat in their chairs, their knees peeking up above the table that existed more like a coffee table then actual restaurant furniture, tucked into a back corner, watching doors and exits, each with grim eyes, yet merry smiles as they sipped cautiously at their ales.

Riley, meanwhile, was in the doorway to their room, overlooking a balcony that gave her a good view of the Tavern floor below. The three Rangers were getting acquainted, along with the dwarves flooding in at the end of their day, unconcerned about the attack earlier so long as the booze flowed.

The noise of a myriad of conversations washed over her like a wave, some of the patrons already deep in their cups, showing that one stereotype from her world's fiction carried over.

Dwarves here, too, knew how to pound them back.

She nibbled on some tenganut Tobias had left for her on a plate, having pushed it over to her current spot by judicious use of her nose. Though still upset she didn't have thumbs, life without them had become imminently more practical as she adapted around the problem instead of mourning it.

Riley sighed, "I wished that worked for everything."

Her thoughts drifted back to the encounter, to the shadowy figures aping the memory of her parents. It wasn't their cries that haunted her, not really; the shameless tactics of the greater mimic rather only left her with deeper questions.

Mimics to her mind, from the occasional flirtation with Dungeons and Dragons to the MMORPG she loved that inspired her prompt system, were experts in creating perfect replicas of whatever thing they were aping to lay the trap, which left her with a question she could not get free of, all while the debuff continued to count down in her overlay.

Was this mimic different because it was real, possessing limitations and abilities that she wasn't aware of, or was it only able to form an incomplete picture because that was all she had, a life not even half-remembered before this one?

"There was more that made me than just her… but her stuff is the only thing I can even partially remember," Riley's eyes grew even more haunted and troubled as Tobias' head drifted up, finding her gaze easily, and with it came his concern, mixed with something else equally unmistakable.

Love.

"We've been through a lot together," She said, continuing the conversation with herself, doing her best to project the lie that she was ok through their bond, his spirit reflecting back with a feeling that was akin to calling bullshit.

He remained in his seat, taking a long pull off his ale. His eyes raised and focus before nodding, and looking back to his new companions.

Riley closed her eyes, and reflected within, let her breathing center her, shutting out the noise from around her.

The blackness here was peaceful, a respite from the chaos and the pain of their daily sojourn, and there, floating, drawing away from the physical she pulled at her prompts.

You have defeated Chuthara Caster, congratulations!

You have defeated Greater Mimic, Congratulations!

Your abilities have advanced. Progress to level 2-10 at 38%

Inwardly, she smirked, "No credit for the soldier, huh," before clearing her mind and focusing on her breathing.

"New age horseshit…" drifted across her mind. She acknowledged the thought before letting it drift, seeking in that moment only peace. Still, amidst the worry, the regret, and the aftermath, one question refused to leave her alone.

Why did they keep coming for her?

With Mavora, it was easy to chalk it up to the instinctual rivalry that existed between them, regardless of the parts of herself that were actually darker than an infernal, but there had been a consistent thread she could not ignore since becoming known to whatever opposing force they were facing.

They wanted her and had tried to kill her on multiple occasions or negotiated with Tobias for her capture.

"But why?" The thought wouldn't leave her alone, no matter how much she tried to focus on her breathing or push past the pain and find that dark, quiet moment of peace that was so much like sleep in some ways but also anything but.

Moreover, how did they keep finding her?

Certainly, she was an unusual creature in Calaria, the only one of her kind in more ways than one, and her jokes were the absolute best, but that one factor, especially, didn't math.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

This world was different than the one she had known, but their military focus, the compartmentalization of information, method of communications, all of that was as encrypted and professional as anything that had ever existed in a military thriller novel, perhaps even more so.

Were they compromised?

There had been a number of faeblinded second tiers that had become enslaved to beings that seemed to be reincarnations of once fae, but without more information, that, too, was just jumping at shadows, which was something she couldn't afford as it felt like everything was drawing down to an inevitable conclusion, one she didn't like.

Caedmon had been investigating the murders in the Dracovani Kingdom. Eastmund had been investigating the ones here. She and Tobias had been on the ones in the Ashenrealm, and now they were all together, long after the fiends were dead because their hunch was correct.

The fiend was just a smokescreen, one controlled by the actual villain or villains, but how could that extend to those in the ranks of the Rangers? There were certainly those disaffected, but could it really be that bad?

Feeling miserable, she tried to hold focus, trying to push away all the questions she didn't have answers to but needed to be aware of to avoid any further traps, but how, how could she be ready for everything when she was effectively, still blind?

The worry began to push her towards panic until, within her mental space, she felt a familiar presence, as two blue eyes shone, resolving out of the dark beside her.

"Grimm?" She opened her eyes to find the tavern empty and quiet. Nary a soul was below, including Tobias, as if they were the last two beings in all of Calaria.

"What is this?" She demanded, her panic rising even further.

"Peace, Packmate, we are just outside of their time and space. All is well; reach out with the bond you have. You will still feel him there," The wolf replied, sitting on his haunches, slowly wagging his tail.

"Packmate? Well, you did save me when I called on you. I suppose that tracks," Riley mused, pacified by the truth in his words.

Tobias was still there, and everything was ok.

"I did, I swore, and thus, here we are," he dipped his muzzle and nudged her affectionately.

"So why? Deus ex machina time?" She asked.

Grim chuckled, "Nothing so dramatic as that. Trust yourself. You are closer to the answers than you may think. Trust Tobias. You have a future, and a destiny together that the Fate's themselves have ordained."

With a blinding flash, another celestial appeared, a tall man with Chinese features. His close-cropped hair was arranged like a military flat top, "Hey dudes and dudettes! Grimm, I thought we talked about this?"

"We did, Fengee, but I never said I agreed. She needed support, and thus, I am here. My duty to her as guardian is higher," he countered, as his tail stopped wagging.

Fengee rolled his eyes, "Take your moment. I'll cover for you, bro, but be quick. We're needed, and you know they know, right?"

"Of course they know. It is their nature to know all things," Grimm replied.

"Needed for what? Late for a surfing contest?" Riley quipped.

"Above your pay grade, fuzzbutt, and I haven't surfed in years," Fengee replied.

"His surfing days ended after he tried to jump a shark in the 1970s," Grimm explained.

"Harsh. Fonzi did it, and that wasn't an incarnation but a hard earned vacation. In my last life I was a Taoist monk in 14th century China from the same world part of you comes from, little one," in a brotherly gesture, he reached out and tousled Riley's ears.

"Radical, so, what was so important that you both had to pull me out of reality to talk to me? Are you sure this isn't deus ex machina time?" Riley pressed.

"It was to tell you an obvious truth," Grimm intoned.

"Obvious truth?" Riley asked as Fengee watched with a sardonic grin.

"I had a master like you once, all dramatic one liners and all that." He reminisced with a grin.

"Go get eaten by a shark again," Grimm snapped with playful malice at Fengee.

He rolled his eyes, patted Grimm between the ears, and replied, "Such a nice doggy," before vanishing.

Grimm growled, "I am not a dog!"

Riley projected the clearing of her throat.

"Ah yes…" Grimm collected himself, finding his dignity.

"Just as your current struggle lies in your past, so to, does this worlds struggle reside in its past. Resolution will not come with aggression but understanding and balance. Farewell," Riley blinked as the noise of the tavern hit her full force.

Shaking her head to clear the cobwebs, she sighed and cocked her head so she could get a better look at the ceiling.

"And how does that help?" She complained, projecting toward Grimm with all her might.