Ike stepped back. He let the two of them in, out of the storm. Loup looked at him, then lowered her hackles and quieted, falling in at his heel.

Tana lowered her hood, and Ket followed her example a moment later. Their strange inverse eyes gazed at Ike, while their oiled hoods dripped on the cave floor.

“What are you doing in the Abyss?” Ket asked.

“I could ask the same of you,” Ike returned.

Tana looked at Ket. Quietly, she asked, “Who is this?”

“That’s right, you wouldn’t remember. He’s the one who freed you from the curse,” Ket replied.

Her eyes widened. She curtseyed to Ike. “Thank you. I owe you a great debt.”

“Ah, it’s…it’s…” Ike didn’t know what to say, so he nodded awkwardly. “Thank you.”

Ket glanced at the wolves. “Are they safe?”

Ike looked down. He gently patted Loup’s head. “Loup is my friend. The other one… I think you can consider him Loup’s subordinate for the moment.”

Ket smiled. He laid his oilskin, wet-side down, on the stone and guided Tana to sit on it. Taking her oilskin, he set it aside to dry. “What’s happened since we escaped? Last I remember, you were a newbie hunter hanging out at the outpost. Didn’t have those swords or that wolf.”

“And the same for you. How did you two end up in the Abyss?” Ike asked. He’s already dodged the question once.

Ket nodded. “You first.”

Ike paused, then quickly summarized the events that had led to him entering the Abyss. He left out Silver’s involvement, Rosamund’s strange body, the part where he generated the storm, and skipped most of the chicken-hunting, too, but left in the essential pieces: Rosamund dragging him out as a guide, falling in, Rosamund’s father rescuing her, and entering the deeper parts of the Abyss.

He nodded at Ket. “So? How did you two end up down here?”

Ket grinned. “We live here.”

Ike blinked. “What?”

Tana glanced at Ket, then nodded and leaned forward. “We are Abyss-Dwellers. Our eyes are like this,” she gestured at her black sclera and white irises, “because we’re exposed to lunam from birth. The two of us are citizens of the small country of Abyss-Dwellers hidden in the heart of the Abyss. Historically…we’re something like the prisoners and rejects thrown away by the overcity. Over the thousands of years the overcity has existed, those prisoners and rejects have drawn together and created a small nation.”

Ike nodded. Reasonable. But… “If that’s the case, then you left the Abyss. You have a way out.”

“Had,” Ket stressed.

Tana pressed her lips together. She nodded, regret in her eyes. “M…our queen, before she passed, had grown to become a powerful mage in her own right. She created a crystal that overcame the influence of lunam and the barrier spells on the Abyss, and gifted it to me so that Ket and I could take a message to the Brightbriars. But…when we were captured, we lost the crystal.”

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Ike grimaced. So much for that. Not that I think I have much of a future back in the city. Between knowing Rosamund’s true form and her general grudge for me, I’m probably better off down here. He nodded at her. “Why were you two headed to the overcity, in the first place? What was so dire that you’d risk your only way out of the Abyss?”

Ket and Tana exchanged a glance. Tana nodded. “After the storm passes…it’s quicker to show you directly.”

Ike pursed his lips. He nodded. It’s not like I had anything to do other than kill monsters and secure my camp. If there’s a city down here, I might as well visit it. “If you don’t mind, I need to go pick up a few things from my camp first—we’re only sheltering here from the storm. But I would like to go to the city with you.” And see whatever you two are talking about.

Tana nodded. Ket watched her, then nodded as well. “We can wait. We’re already caught in the storm, and we’re in no rush.”

The three of them sat there, watching the storm roll by. Ike sat back against the opposite wall. Loup sat close beside him, watching Ket and Tana with wary eyes. The other wolf lifted his head, then laid back down pancake-style, too exhausted to give a shit anymore.

The storm slowed down. The clouds cleared, and the sun shone through. Ike stood, dusting himself off. He nodded at Tana and Ket. “If you two want to wait here, Loup and I can run to the camp and come right back.”

“We’ll take the opportunity to rest, then,” Tana said.

Loup followed Ike out. At the door, she turned back. The other wolf climbed to his feet and walked slowly out of the cave, huffing in annoyance at the door.

Wonder what the two of them went all the way out of the Abyss to talk to the city lord about? Ike looked over his shoulder once, then shook his head. Let’s hurry back to the camp. I shouldn’t waste their time… any more than my storm already wasted it, anyways.

He set off at a jog. Loup ran at his side. The two of them headed into the forest, back to camp.

It didn’t take too long to reach his camp… or rather, the remains of it. The tornado hadn’t struck his camp directly, but the high winds had thrown around everything that wasn’t tied down or buried. His bag had largely survived unharmed. It was thrown into a tree, but there were no serious damages. The canvas was sturdy, and so was Rosamund’s head, nestled within his clothes as it was. The feathers were a total lost cause. No longer piled up, they were now thrown willy-nilly across the clearing, blanketing the trees and floor in down. Ike wrinkled his nose. He picked up the bits that remained, the claws and some of the bones, and packed them into his bag.

Untying Rosamund’s head from the outside of his bag, he checked that her gag was firmly in place, then stuffed her into the bag as well. Her eyes opened wide in protest, but with the gag, she couldn’t say a thing.

“Sorry. I ran into some people. Can’t really afford to let just anyone see you,” Ike explained to her.

Looking around, he checked his camp one last time for valuables, then whistled for Loup. They ran off again, back into the forest. This time, Ike led the way to where he’d killed the rooster. The rooster’s body was damp from the rain and thrown around a bit, but it had survived the storm mostly unharmed. He looked at the massive thing. There’s no way I’m taking that back all at once. So…what should I take first?

He tilted his head. The rooster’s impressive tailfeathers glinted green, even soaked with rainwater. He nodded to himself, then set about plucking the feathers. I bet there’s someone willing to pay a good price for those things.

With the rooster feathers strapped to the side of his pack, he made a gaudy figure racing through the forest. They grew close to the cave, and Loup took the lead again. The hill rose up before them. Tana and Ket stood there at the mouth of the cave. At the sight of Ike, Ket grinned, lifting a hand to wave him over.

“Looking good,” Ket said, looking over the huge, trembling green tail feathers strapped to Ike’s pack.

Ike glanced over his shoulder. “I know, right? Thinking of wearing them full-time.”

Tana giggled. She shook her head.

“No? I think they look good, though. Gonna have all the ladies tonight,” Ike said, waggling back and forth to make the feathers tremble and shine in the warm post-storm sun.

Tana shook her head harder. Ket grinned. “Maybe not. Come on. Before you go get all the chicks, why don’t we show you what’s happening down here?”

Ike sobered. He nodded. “Let’s go.”