Cass had mostly calmed down by the time she reached the library. Every sound was sharp and dangerous to her ears, every motion out of the corner of her eye a threat, but she was breathing normally, at least.

“Thank you for walking me here,” Cass said to Daidyn at the doors.

He nodded. “I’m glad I did. I hate to think what might’ve happened to you if I hadn’t. You just have to tell me about that research of yours when you see me next.”

“I think I can do that,” Cass said with a wave.

“Until then!” he called as he walked off.

And then Cass and Salos were alone again. Cass held her staff close. Her magic cloak materialized around her shoulders, hugging her body tight. It was surprisingly warm, for being only semi-corporeal.

She took another deep breath and entered the library. It was a tall building, books covering every inch of the walls. The ceiling was stained glass, lighting the room like a cathedral.

Cass approached the front desk, hoping they wouldn’t notice or care that her clothes were blood-stained or that she had a cat with her. Or that she had a weapon on her, for that matter.

“Excuse me,” Cass said to the librarian.

He looked up from his book. “How may I help you?”

“I’m, um, illiterate and I’d like to fix that. Could you find me a picture book or something I could start with?”

He looked Cass up and down, a frown on his lips. But he nodded after a long minute. “Sure. Let me see what I can find you.”

He got up and led Cass through the shelves. He stopped in front of a short shelf and a colorful floor mat. He ran his hands over the books until he found the one he was looking for. “Anything on this shelf is for our new readers, but I recommend this one to begin with. Each page has a single word and an illustration of the word. Come see me if you run into difficulties.”

Cass took the book from him. “Thank you.”

She dropped to a seat on the mat and opened the book so she and Salos could read it. As promised, it had pictures and single words on each page. Cass had expected the usual Earth picture book items, ‘apple’, ‘baseball’, ‘cat’, ‘dog’, and so on. It started with a sword, continued with the image of a gobliny-looking creature, and finished with an imposing image of a black dragon. The things in between were not much friendlier looking.

“Is this considered basic vocabulary here?” Cass muttered in English.

These are not the things I would have picked, but yes, pretty much, Salos assured her.

Cass sighed and put her head back into the book, trying to memorize the words. It was nice to focus on nothing but the images and the script above them. The letters swooped and swirled into each other. So unlike English characters. So easy not to think about everything else happening to her. Around her.

At some point she traded the picture book for another, this one, she was pretty sure, on colors. And then another on weapons. There was a ding of her skill going up. She ignored it, even as the text swirled in her eyes, shifting from Jothi’s swirling letters to the blocky English block print.

At some point, Salos left. She could feel him stalking the surrounding shelves. Protecting her the only way he knew how.

At some point, the light faded. Cass squinted at the paper before her, her eyes tired, her head pounding.

It’s getting late, you know, Salos said. He was sitting in her lap again.

Cass looked up, the stained glass was dark above her. Oh. I was supposed to meet Alyx for lunch.

How long ago was that now? Hours, at least.

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She put a hand to her head. Reading children’s books shouldn’t leave her this exhausted.

Jothi Language Comprehension has increased to level 7.

Jothi Language Comprehension has increased to level 8.

Focus: 137/369

Well, maybe learning a language over the course of the afternoon should. She was still far from fluent, but she now knew a large number of nouns and adjectives, which was more than she could have said this morning. Or, perhaps more accurately, there was a large number of nouns and adjectives that the system automatically translated for her when she saw them in writing.

If she focused, she could see the actual text through the automatic translation and still recognize the words she’d memorized. Something was comforting about that, even if she was pretty sure more words were floating around in her head than she’d actually found in the children’s books today.

She put the book away and forced herself to stand up.

“I guess I should go find Alyx?” Cass muttered. “Do you think she’s still waiting where she said?”

Cass walked toward the entrance. The librarian on staff at the front desk was different from when she’d come in. She waved goodbye to them all the same.

And she stepped out into the street.

It wasn’t quite dark yet. The sky was that burnt golden color of twilight, the sun out of sight but not yet resting. Before her, shadows hung heavy over the darkening streets. They were just as busy as they’d been that afternoon, the lanterns in the shop windows burning bright, the only difference being the space between them was even darker in comparison.

Salos sat on her shoulder, his weight a comfort. Her staff was comfortable in her hand. Her cloak shimmered in the dark, radiating a cold blue light around her feet.

She shouldn’t be far from where she was supposed to meet Alyx, assuming Alyx was still there. Just a few blocks to the main street, then a few blocks down that. No dark alleys. Just proper, main thoroughfares.

There would be plenty of people all around her. Not that it stopped the previous attack.

She’d survived the previous attack. Dodge had activated in time. She could have escaped even without Daidyn’s help. She had Salos. She wasn’t alone.

Which was why she should take that next step into the night. The sooner she did, the sooner she’d find Alyx. The longer she waited, the darker it would be.

Not that broad daylight had stopped the previous attack.

She took a deep breath. This was irrational, wasn’t it? What was she scared of? Sneak attacks in the dark? Death?

Okay, maybe it wasn’t irrational. Maybe those were very reasonable fears.

But standing here as night fell would not help.

If only Alyx were here. If only Daidyn were here.

I am here, Salos reminded her, his body pushing closer to her face. His fur was soft. His body was warm.

“I know,” Cass whispered back. She wasn’t alone. His presence would not stop an attack, but then, neither had Daidyn’s. And if they weren’t daunted by a big man like that, how much would Alyx’s presence make them pause?

There was no helping it. They’d get through this.

She stepped off the library’s steps and onto the street proper. She walked, her head held high, her Atmospheric Sense sweeping the surroundings.

Every lesson her mother had taught her about walking alone at night was ringing in her ears. Head high, never betray that you’re scared. Walk with purpose, like you know exactly where you’re going. Hands on your weapon, no need for keys here, her staff was better. Look alert. Look confident. Look.

There were so many people. The air buffeted around them. It was a noisy mess. But Cass pushed herself to track the movements, anyway. To watch the patterns of the crowd. Who moved with her? Who moved when she did? Who circled around to get ahead of her?

Salos was just as alert, his head flicking back and forth, his ears twitching with every sound. They would not be ambushed again.

She was no longer in a city. This was just as much the untamed wilderness as the deepest forests of Uvana.

Stealth slipped into her steps. She was as uninteresting as the wind. Something there but unseen. A presence felt and accounted for, like the napkins pinned down at a picnic or braced against on a hike, but no particular gust considered with any real thought.

Like a ghost, she floated down the streets of the city. Every person she passed was a potential monster waiting to stab her from behind.

Not soon enough, she arrived at the plaza where she’d left Alyx. There was no sign of her. It was still plenty busy, but there was no Alyx.

“What now?” Cass muttered to herself.

We are very late, Salos reminded her.

“I was still half expecting to find Telis here.”

I will admit, so was I.

People poured through the plaza, some meandering slowly, already drunk or tipsy, some rushed through packages stacked high, intent in their eyes, others still walked with attractive partners, hand in hand.

“Should we just walk back to the manor?” It wasn’t like she didn’t know how to get there. It was pretty straightforward, walk down the main road until she reached the palace, then don’t walk all the way up to the palace.

Lacking better options, Cass started walking.