Immediately as the colour returns to the world around us, I lean down to heal my newest Bound. I can feel a sense of strain beginning again at the number of Bonds I’m currently holding. I guess it’s some sort of soul strain? Perhaps my work in the challenge space could help.

Anyway, I’m only feeling the starting symptoms now – I should still be able to create a good number of other Dominate Bonds. Whether I’ll be able to finish off the Warriors is another question, though. I may need to focus on Willpower again in my next level up just to make sure. Unfortunately, these battles are not particularly good for levelling up purposes since there doesn’t seem to be any Energy transfer when I’m not actually killing my opponents. I do seem to have got a bit, though – probably from the successful Dominates.

Once the herbalist is on her feet, she quickly retrieves her painting tools and uses the time to mark me with a number of other sigils. Unlike with the Warrior battles, apparently Grubs adds the marks of success whenever she gets a moment between battles. I guess that with fewer Pathwalkers and more observers, it would be hard for one to claim a win in a battle which they actually lost.

Actually maybe I should stop thinking of her as Grubs. She’s now one of my Bound which means a new name, a new start. Hmm…. Perhaps a herb from Earth? It would fit her profession.

Perhaps ‘tarragon’, I think to myself. Tarra for short. With a hint of contrariness, I decide not to consult her about it, curious about whether she’ll question me.

“What are the sigils for, anyway?” I ask. Tarra gives me a look as a sense of gleeful mysteriousness drifts across the Bond.

That will be revealed at the end of the ranking fights, she informs me ‘helpfully’. I briefly consider forcing her to tell me, then decide that my impatience isn’t a good excuse for using our new Bond against her. But just for that, I’m not going to offer to heal her. If she asks, I will, but I’m not volunteering.

Instead, I sigh and cross my arms, checking through my own body for injuries. I take the opportunity to replace the saline around my eyeballs, getting rid of the material which still burns them. My magic quickly produces new liquid which makes tears pour down my cheeks. Fortunately, since crying isn’t something which samurans can apparently do, no one misinterprets it.

Tarra has gone off to check on the other combatants, adding sigils where she can. I wander over to see the end of the fight between Grower and Runs-with-the-river. Given that Grower’s name is apparently Picks-a-flower – also rather appropriate considering what she ended up being – I decide to call her Flower for short.There are the indications of fire in the burnt roots which stick out of the ground, and Runs-with-the-river has clearly used her venom against her opponent, if Flower’s unsteadiness is anything to go by.

In fact, it’s definitely the tail end of the fight – within the next few moments, I see Flower succumb to the poison. As soon as the observing Warrior announces the winner, I stride forwards and touch Flower, sending magic into her system and pushing out the venom.

I realise that I actually recognise the poison in question – it’s rather similar to the danaris’. Not surprising, I guess, since absorbing the danaris’ Core must be one reason why River ended up with that ability. Though she did have a poison gland of her own even before, inactive as it was, so I suppose she could have had a different type of venom to use.

The substance is also full of magic already, so I don’t try to fill it with my own mana. Instead, I just use my control over Flower’s systems to push the venom out and heal the damage it’s wrought.

That done, I look up, surprised to find Runs-with-the-river standing close by and watching me with concern flickering through her spikes.

“Will Grower be well?” she asks. “I am still trying to learn how to modulate the venom in my claws. I didn’t mean to hurt her too much.”

“She’ll be fine,” I reassure Runs-with-the-river. “Are you well?” The Pathwalker flicks her tail.

“Well enough to fight,” she dismisses. The silence between us feels awkward, like neither of us knows what to say. “Good luck with your next fight, mas-Honoured Markus,” Runs-with-the-river says finally, her spikes blushing with the pinkish red colour of embarrassment. She quickly turns and hurries away to the next ring – she’ll be facing the herbalist next, which should be an interesting fight.

“You too,” I call after her, several beats too late. My mind was just too full of questions at her slip to respond in the right amount of time. By this point, I’m not sure whether I’m looking forward or dreading our fight.

Before that, though, I have Wind-whisperer to face, and that one I know is going to be a bit of a battle. It will be particularly difficult since I don’t really have any good way of combating her preferred strategy – creating a whirlwind around her opponent that both blocks his or her view and makes it difficult to breathe. If that’s not enough to down her opponent, adding items such as rocks or sharp sticks into the mix is enough to batter the other combattant into compliance.

Last ranking fight, she won against all but Tarra and the shaman. The former won because her use of poison was a significant equaliser once she managed to get it into the other samuran. The latter won because her ‘spirits’ were unaffected by wind, and therefore were able to take Wind-whisperer down even if the shaman was unable to see and hardly able to breathe. I’m not sure why I was scheduled to fight Tarra before Wind-whisperer – there’s no doubt some reason or other.

I think getting this over quickly will be the name of the game. Looking between my two Bound, I hesitate over which one to take.

“Come on, Catch,” I say finally. I have to admit that my choice is perhaps partly motivated by how scornful Wind-whisper appeared to be about the Unevolved. I kind of want to beat her with the help of one of those that she seemed perfectly willing to throw to the shaman’s sacrificial knife. The other part is more practical: having two sets of poison is more effective than just the one.

To that end, I make sure to coat the head of Catch’s spear with the danaris’ venom, as well as giving him my knife, also coated. It’s a gamble, but I figure that she’s likely to concentrate on me, and not let me close. Hopefully that will mean that she pays little attention to Catch.

The three participants of the next fight walk up to the edge of the ring, waiting for the presiding Warrior to announce the start.

“Ready to die, prey beast?” Wind-whisperer sneers, her spikes flashing an ugly combination of muddy brown and dirty green.

“Ready to kiss the dirt in surrender?” I retort. I’d love to comment about how she’ll be beaten by a ‘prey-beast’ and ‘Unevolved’, but don’t want to draw attention to Catch right now. Ah well, I’ll have to save my gloating for after we defeat her; for now I need to focus on not making any stupid mistakes and giving her any justification for her prejudice.

Wind-whisperer just gapes her mouth open in threat even as the Warrior signals the start of the fight.

Immediately, I see the dust becoming disturbed around me as the wind starts to pick up.

Head off to the side, I tell Catch. Let’s see how she reacts. With a silent acknowledgement, he does just that.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

I need to know if her attention is fixated on me, or if she can split her focus to cover both of us. To encourage the former, I pull out my bow and fit an arrow to the string. Pulling the string back, I release it quickly. My arrow flies straight and true – until Wind-whisperer gestures and sends it way off course.

Expected, though annoying. Arrows are so dependent on the wind that the result of using them against a wind-controller was somewhat predictable. It’s a good distraction, though, so I loose three more in quick succession before noticing that, though she’s a bit distracted, the wind around me is still picking up its pace uncomfortably quickly. The dust is swirling and risks clouding my vision soon enough.

Deciding to try a different approach, I pull a few trusty rocks out of my Inventory. Jogging sideways in the opposite direction from Catch, I note with interest that the beginning of the cyclone moves with me, though the slight delay indicates that it requires active instruction rather than doing it automatically. Considering how static the other Pathwalkers seemed to be, I wonder how many of them realised that they could get out of it just by jogging to the side.

Throwing the rocks with all my twenty points of strength behind the movement, I note with satisfaction that the Pathwalker is unable to redirect that so easily. Instead, she’s forced to dodge the projectiles. She loses some of her concentration, the wind gathering around me dropping a bit.

I notice that, behind her, Catch has managed to go into Stealth, and is creeping up on her with his spear ready. Throwing another rock, I make sure that it’s not likely to hit my own Bound even if she dodges it – which she does. I throw again, each time taking another step closer.

She seems to recognise the danger of my approach as abruptly a wave of dust is thrown at me. I’m not quick enough to cover my eyes, though my automatic blink does stop the dust from actually blinding me.

Spluttering and coughing, I wipe the offending particles away from my face. Then I hear something which sends ice through my system: a strangled choking sound.

Forcing my eyes open despite the dust still on my lashes which makes me blink furiously, I see Wind-whisperer standing over Catch who has both hands clutched to his throat. His knees give way, dropping him into the dust alongside his spear.

Boiling fury chases away the ice suffusing me and, with barely a thought on my part, fire explodes out of me. It closes the distance between me and the Pathwalker in a fraction of a second, grabbing onto the woven strands decorating Wind-whisperer’s body with eagerness.

One moment the Pathwalker is standing triumphantly over my suffocating Bound; the next, she’s a pillar of fire. A thin scream comes out from the centre of the inferno and Catch abruptly drags in heavy gasps of air.

I stride forwards and dismiss the fire with a flick of my hand and a thought. The Pathwalker meets my eyes, her gaze wide and shocked, her scales burnt red in patches. Without letting her make a single move, I activate another Battle of Wills.

As soon as the grey world forms around us, I stride forwards. Wind-whisperer tries to fight me off, works out how to use her emotions against me as weapons even faster than Joy had. She throws what feels like daggers of fear coated in anger at me, controlling them as if they were weapons held within her wind.

But it won’t help her: this is my space.

I grab the daggers with a mental grip and throw them back at her. She gasps in pain as they land. I then throw my own anger and determination to see this done at her as if they were the rocks I was flinging earlier.

She makes a sound of pain, as if my emotions are heavy enough to cause actual damage. Maybe they are – I’m no expert in soul-spaces, that’s for sure.

Before very long, I’m standing right in front of her, glaring down at the Pathwalker who has been my most fervent opponent since the beginning. I’m very tempted to just kill her, honestly – she’s been a thorn in my side ever since I came to the village and the thought of her being on of my Bound is not entirely a happy one.

“So,” I say to her softly, unable to stop myself taking a moment to gloat. “You’ve been defeated by a prey beast and an Unevolved – just as I promised you would be. Why shouldn’t I just kill you like you promised to do to me if you could? Or, better yet, get Catch to do it – you were the one who seemed to think that Unevolved were pretty much useless.”

Wind-whisperer has been making unhappy noises ever since I started speaking, but apparently she’s decided not to interrupt me. Probably one of the wisest decisions she’s made since we met.

You wouldn’t! she exclaims, sounding more confident than she probably should be.

“Why shouldn’t I?” I demand suddenly more annoyed than triumphant. Even now she tries to deny reality. “You’ve been a constant pain in my arse, and wanted to kill me in this very fight. Why should it be any different because you’re the one who lost?”

I’m a Pathwalker; you’re a prey-beast–

“Shut up.” I interrupt her, my tone apparently strong enough to make her obey without argument this time.”You know that that’s rubbish now,” I continue after a moment of giving her a hard stare. “I beat you with the help of Catch, an Unevolved. You have ample evidence that the rubbish you’ve been peddling is worthless. So now, give me one good reason why I should even bother Binding you to me and leaving you alive.”

Binding me? she exclaims, suddenly indignant despite the deep fear I feel emanating from her at my threat.

“Yes, Binding you. Because that’s the only way you’re making it out alive. It’s the same choice as I’ve offered all your sisters so far – agree to a Bond or die. Given the way you’ve been acting so far, there’s no way I’m going to offer you anything else. Frankly, being offered a Bond at all is a concession I’m not entirely sure I should be offering.”

I refuse to…to let you do that! she tells me angrily, once more battering at me with her emotions. Flicking them away like I did before, I cross my arms and stare at her for a long moment. She stares back defiantly, her attempts to attack me dying away as she realises they aren’t doing much good.

“So be it,” I tell her, crossing my arms and turning away. “You die the moment we’re out of this space, then.”

I start walking away from her. It will cause some problems with the village: she is a Pathwalker, and they’re a rare breed, but I’m sure I can smooth things over. Besides, everyone has heard how she swore she’d try to kill me. Considering how I seem to have at least been accepted by a Pathwalker, and am going to be the leader based on the number of fights I’ve won, I doubt that choosing to kill her instead will lead to too much anger.

Wait, she calls after I’ve stepped a bit away from her. She sounds defeated. I pause but don’t turn back to her. If you promise to help me get stronger, then I’ll…I’ll accept your chains.

“Not good enough,” I tell her. “I’m not even offering you my Bond yet. You haven’t even given me a reason for why I should leave you alive at all – and every reason why I shouldn’t.”

I sense her hesitating, a flicker of wounded pride keeping her silent. After a long moment goes by with nothing more from her, I shake my head and keep walking.

Wait! she calls again, sounding far more desperate. I can…I can be useful to you, she says, sounding more than a little reluctant.

“I’m sure you could be,” I tell her evenly, once more pausing my movement and half-turning back to her. “But I’m not looking for a Bound who must be coerced to do every little thing to help me or my other Bound.”

I’ll help you, she promises quickly. I’d say she was lying except that there is sincerity among the resignation and anger that she has been brought to this. Make me stronger and I will do anything you want me to.

It’s a bit of an abrupt turn-about, but I understand – Wind-whisperer seems to me to have a chronic inferiority complex, one that expresses itself by lashing out, sometimes illogically, at those she perceives to be weaker. I.e. she’s a bully. But it’s true that she has abilities I could use.

And frankly, it’s not like she’s actually been particularly effective in what she’s attempted. Though she’s talked a lot, she’s actually been pretty powerless to cause problems. She wanted to banish River; her sisters argued against her. She wanted to bar River from the discussion, wanted to discount both Tarra’s and Joy’s opinions because of their connection to me; she lost the argument. She didn’t want to give me the opportunity to become leader of the village, but I’m only one fight away from beating all of the Evolved samurans and – hopefully – earning their respect enough to declare me as such. Perhaps the rest of her sisters realise that her opinions aren’t nearly as useful as her inherent abilities. In which case, perhaps it’s not too risky to keep her alive, especially when she’s Bound to me with Dominate.

I turn back and start moving slowly towards her.

“I will not treat you any differently from any other new Bound,” I warn her. “You will have to earn my trust and any further support. Make up for your past attempts at being an obstacle, and we can revisit your desire to get stronger.”

She considers that for a long moment, but I sense that she’s going to agree.

Pausing in front of her, I raise an eyebrow. Making a discontented noise, she lifts her chin slightly.