All the way down the mountain, the kid ranted at them. He let loose a expletive-filled tirade that would’ve been at home in a seaman’s tavern, let alone coming out of a captured child’s mouth. Ike tired of it at about the quarter mark, but resisted the urge to double-handed throw the child and ran on. Just until the bottom of the mountain. Once we’re out of Mont’s territory, he can go his own way. He cut his eyes at Wisp, who gave him a beleaguered stare back.

At the bottom of the mountain, Ike set the kid down. “Alright. If you’re so sick of us, then go.”

The kid suddenly stilled. “Huh?”

“You heard me. If you’re so sick of us, go.”

“What about the mages?”

Ike shrugged. “Easier for me if I’m not caught red-handed. Look, kid. You either improve your behavior and come with us, or you take a hike. I don’t care which. I’m looking after you as a favor to Mont, not for your own sake.”

The boy squinted at him. “But I’m valuable. Mega-valuable. You’re just going to ditch infinite riches?”

“You’re worthless to me, so yep. I am. Have fun in the woods.” Ike walked away. I’m not going to sell you, so you’re worth zero gold to me. I’m not going to put up with your bad attitude because you’re valuable, when you have no value to me.

Wisp laughed at the kid and followed after Ike.

The kid sat down. He crossed his arms. “This is just a ploy. You’ll be back.”

“See ya.” Ike waved and walked on.

He felt for the kid, but there was a limit to empathy. And it wore through somewhere around the two hour mark of the kid’s endless tirade. The kid obviously had no intent to extend good intentions toward him and Wisp, so why would he bring such an unhappy camper along? The kid could go make someone else miserable, for all he cared.

The kid watched him go. He stared. “You’re serious?”

“Dead serious,” Ike said, without looking back.

“Byeee, have a good life!” Wisp sing-songed, waving a jaunty farewell.

“No. This is a joke. An act,” the kid repeated to himself.

The forest closed in behind Ike and Wisp. They didn’t hesitate or look back.

The kid sat there for a few more beats, then jumped up and chased after them. “Wait, wait, wait!”

Ike turned.

The kid caught up. He drew alongside them and braced his hands on his knees, panting. After a moment, he looked up. “You—you really don’t care about—”

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Ike took a deep breath. He kneeled, meeting the kid’s eyes. “Listen. You can either live as a valuable object, bought and sold. Or you can live as a person. If you want to live as an object, go find someone who finds you valuable and be as obnoxious as you want. But if you want to come with me, I’m going to treat you like a person, and in return, expect you to behave like a person. I understand that you’ve been through a lot. That for a long time, you’ve been treated as a thing, not a person. But I’m going to treat you like the human being you ar…appear to be. And that means that if you behave poorly, you’ll be left behind.”

The kid pouted. “Sounds like I was better off as—”

Ike interrupted him. “But in return, you get to choose your own fate. Your future. Where do you want to set down roots? How do you want to grow? What do you want to have for dinner? You’ll be a part of that discussion from now on. As one of us. As an equal.”

“Hmm.” The kid thought for a minute. “You know, those last people were awful, but that’s not all I’ve experienced.”

“No?”

“No. I was a sect’s sacred treasure for a long, long time before that. And when that sect was sacked, I became a lot of people’s most valuable artifact. I passed through a lot of hands. Lived in a lot of sumptuous settings. Velvet cushions. Beds of gold. Silk clothes and rings on every finger.” He looked Ike and Wisp over, then sighed. “But it looks like you two can’t afford any of that, so sure. Let’s give this being-human thing a try.”

“Excellent.” Ike turned away again.

“Wait!”

He paused, on his last nerve.

The kid held his hands up. “Carry me.”

“People walk on their own two feet,” Ike returned.

Wisp laughed. “That’s bold, coming from someone who got carried out of the Abyss.”

“I did not. I climbed on my own,” Ike said with a frown.

“No, I meant…” She waved her hand. “Never mind.”

The kid turned to Wisp. He gave her big, puppy-dog eyes. “Mommy, uppies?”

Wisp raised a single brow. “Spiders are known to eat their young. Wanna try it?”

He jolted. Moving quicker than Ike had seen him move yet, he ran over to Ike and hid behind his leg. “Save me!”

“She isn’t actually going to eat you,” Ike said, sighing.

Wisp frowned at Ike. “We’re treating him like a person, aren’t we? I eat people.”

“Hey,” Ike said, but he grinned a little.

The kid looked from one to the other. He backed away a few steps. “Are you two okay?”

“We’re surviving, anyways.” Ike tossed the kid a nod. “What’s your name?”

The kid hesitated. He looked at his hands. “Placid Lake’s Mountain Spirit.”

“That’s a label, not a name,” Ike said.

“That’s all I have.”

“Just call him Lake, then,” Wisp opined, from slightly further ahead down the path.

“Not everyone is fine with using their label as a name,” Ike told her.

“What? It’s a cool name,” she said.

Ike stared at her. I thought Wisp had done the best with what she was given. Will o’ the Wisp really doesn’t have much going for it name-wise except for Wisp. But now, I’m wondering if she just picked the last word because she thinks the last word of a title is always a good name.

“What?” Wisp asked again.

“Nothing.” Ike turned back to the kid. “Do you like the name Lake?”

The kid shook his head. “It isn’t a name at all.”

“It’s a cool name.”

“Right. So, what do you want to call yourself?” Ike asked, ignoring Wisp’s interjection.

The kid thought for a second. “I was once traded to a sect far, far away. I didn’t speak the language, but I remember they called me Shan.”

“Shawn’s a good name,” Ike said, nodding.

“No, it was…” the kid hesitated, then nodded as well. “Shawn.”

“Yay! Shawn! Can we get going before the sun sets?” Wisp called from ahead of them.

“Yeah, yeah.” Ike nodded for Shawn to follow him and hurried after Wisp.

Shawn took a deep breath. He looked over his shoulder at the mountain looming over them. From here, the landslide was a bare wound on its side, bright brown against the darkening forest.

“Thank you,” he whispered, then chased after the other two.