We were dumped in front of their raging campfire close enough to count the embers crackling within the logs. Its heat slowly started to burn my face, but every second that persisted, the more the Anti-Focus Poison prevented me from moving.

It was like everything happening around me was delayed due to my own perfect memory forcefully repeating the scene in my mind's eye until I understood it. And soon enough, even the thought of fighting back evaded me.

Tillmann – murder – threw Yua’s unconscious body close enough to the fire to cause a panicked flurry in my chest, but even my heart forgot how to act. She was so alarmingly close, close enough that, had a light breeze chose that moment to whip the flames in her direction, her hair would have been set alight. And still, I couldn’t summon up a thought powerful enough to move myself to her.

Silvano dumped Gawin on the ground. They hadn’t bothered to wake him from my spell yet. He landed awkwardly, but drool continued draining down his cheek peacefully.

The now one-armed Yelis let Gregor’s unconscious body slam into the dirt before he collapsed onto a log bench. He’d already healed his stump enough for the bleeding to stop, but there was nothing he could do about the blood he’d already lost.

I couldn’t see the men Yua fought anywhere in the mix.

Tillmann surveyed what was left of his men with a sneer. He tossed Silvano something that looked like a ceramic jar.

“Open that under Gregor’s nose. Do the same ta Gawin, but don’t get yer hopes up. Magic works different than a good punch ta the face.”

“Right…”

I only had enough control over my mind to force my eyes back to the Swordsman every time my attention slipped. There was no stopping him from – trees – stooping in front of his comrade and shoving the jar under his nose.

There was a loud, regretful sniff and Gregor sat up bolt right. Must have been some sort of smelling salts.

“Euggh! Whaf the hellf is fhat?! Arghh!”

Lisping through his complaints, he pinched his nose in open revulsion, but just touching his own face caused him to scream in pain. Yua must have hit him harder than I thought. His cheek and tongue were both noticeably swollen.

“Whaf fhe… Wheref’s my teefh?!” he whined, touching the place where his front teeth had once been.

“Good mornin’, ye fool,” Tillmann said, pointing to us. “I cleaned up yer mess fer ya.”

Gregor’s eyes fell to us and he scowled. Immediately, he reached for his sword, but Silvano stopped him with a hand.

“I said I took care of ‘em. Now, how about ye explain why it is ye bungled my simple orders?”

“…”

Because it was obvious they were trying to trick us, or so I’d like to say. And so did Gregor, from what I could tell. He seemed to know better than to – burning – direct his glare at Tillmann, so it found me as he rubbed his swollen cheek.

“It’s because the cat-kin caught him in a lie,” Silvano sighed, helping the sleepy Gawin to his feet.

He tossed the jar back to Tillmann, but the dwarf didn’t look at all happy to see his numbers increase restored. The dwarf pulled a flask out of his apron and pointed it at Gregor.

“I explicitly told ye not to lie! Ye were supposed to skirt around the truth when ye could and speak only in vague answers and half-truths when ye couldn’t. A cat-kin can’t hear yer heart stumble over a lie if ye fooled yerself into thinkin’ yer tellin’ the truth!”

“F-Forry boss. I flipped up.”

“Fucked up is what ye did. Now two of ye are dead and Yelis here’s been turned into a lefty!”

He threw his flask at Yelis and the man scrambled to catch it.

“That won’t regrow yer arm, but it’ll take the edge off. Drink up.”

“Th-Thanks, boss.”

Without a second hand to hold it, Yelis held the flask on his thigh and unscrewed the lid awkwardly with his fingers. He drained at least half of the flask in a series of quick gulps. Tillmann watched him a moment, then shook his head.

“Was Erhard with ‘em?”

“No, Boff,” Gregor said cautiously. “It fas fuft fhem.”

Combing his fingers through his beard, Tillmann shrugged.

“No matter. Damned fool was lookin’ ta betray us anyways and he did his part by leadin’ them here. This is better than gettin’ stabbed while I’m sleepin’.”

“What about the crystals he took?” Silvano pressed.

“Bah. Irrelevant. I’m tellin’ ye, there’s more crystals in this here forest. What that fool took is nothin’ compared to what’s waitin’ fer us. Let him run. He ain’t worth chasin’.”

“But, Boss, he knows the passphrase.”

“So do these two. And look what good it did ‘em.”

The dwarf flicked his chin at us and the lingering fury my memorize trait refused to let go of flared up, but I couldn’t tell if I even managed to furrow my – fire – brow.

“Speaking of,” Silvano said, looking around. “Where’s Arthur and James?”

“After I had James open the barrier fer me, I sent him after that other cat. Can’t say where they are now. Arthur’s in the tent readyin’ the next shipment.”

A small breath filled my lungs, my best attempt at a sigh.

Mana hadn’t been caught yet. That was relief enough, but it wouldn’t last forever. Even if she remembered the passphrase, she couldn’t open the barrier herself. And eventually, the bottomless pit that was her stomach was going to need food.

“Now then,” Tillmann said, looking at me. “Enough of the chatter. Let’s get this over with.”

His short, meaty legs thudded over to Yua. I tried to get to her before he could, but I failed to move before I even started. At this point, I was surprised I was still capable of breathing.

–Death – Tillmann grabbed her by the collar – vest – and lifted. Unconscious, her arms dangled limply, as did her head and tail. He looked at her for a second or two and scoffed, as if the cuts and bruises she sustained in the fight amused him. He pulled her a little further away from the fire before dropping her onto her stomach.

“Gregor,” he said. “You hold the boy down. And don’t let me catch you killing him just yet.”

“Yef, Boff…”

Gregor circled around me until he was just out of sight and a pair of rough, calloused hands grab my wrists. My arms were yanked behind my back – uncomfortable – and then something heavy fell on me. He sat on my back.

I could feel his weight press me down, but could do nothing. Every second, my mind was reignited with the desire to push him off, but the thought never lasted long enough to act on it.

Bastard dwarf won’t let up even though I’m already effectively paralyzed.

Apparently satisfied with this, he then directed Gawin to hold Yua down as well. Watching him bind her hands with his – stab – as he straddled her ass – gouge – sent a visceral urge to kill into all four of my limbs, – eviscerate – but none of them were powerful enough to make me move a muscle.

“Ye make sure ye hold her down, got it?” Tillmann said, squatting in front of her. “Don’t let her spindly arms fool ye. This one’s feisty.”

“Got it.”

“Alrighty then…”

Checking briefly to see we were both secure, Tillmann once more produced the ceramic jar from his beard and opened it. He held it under Yua’s nose, waved it around, forcefully wafting its scent up her nostrils. Her ear twitched.

“Get ready.”

Gawin’s grip on her arms tightened and he braced himself. A second later, Yua’s emerald eyes shot open and her entire body jerked violently.

“Gak!”

Immediately upon waking, she kicked her feet, but not in the sort of way an animal caught in a trap would flail about. Every sharp movement of her legs was an attempt to kick the man off of her.

None of her attacks reached him. Unable to buck her captor off, Yua tried to rip her arms out of his grasp, but couldn’t. She was far too busy dry heaving and gasping to put any strength into it. I could practically see her lunch threatening to come back up as she lashed about erratically.

Tillmann continued to hold the jar under her nose. She wrenched her face away from it, swinging her head left and right the best she could, but he kept bringing it back to her. To a nose as sensitive as hers, whatever was in that jar must have been the purest incarnation of torture.

Finally, her eyes landed on me, on the man holding me down, and she went still. Her pupils dilated and her ears drooped, only to then shoot back up as fury overpowered her need to gag.

“Let him g…!”

Tillmann grabbed hold of her cheeks, squishing them with his fingers. Baring her teeth, she slipped through his grasp and bit him as hard as she could, but the metal in his gauntlet kept him safe. He shifted his grip and squeezed hard enough to make her wince.

“Enough of that, lass,” Tillmann said. “I have an offer fer ye that ye won’t want to ignore.”

Still glaring, but with no other options, Yua stopped fighting long enough to hear him out.

“Good,” he said, placing the jar under her chin on the ground. She heaved, but kept her eyes on him.

He stood, grabbed the end of one of the log benches and dragged it effortlessly over in front of her. Tillmann took his time sitting, grunting almost contentedly, like he’d decided to relax after spending the whole day doing an honest day’s work before bothering to face her glare again.

“Alright then,” he started. “Here’s what’s going ta happen. Yer gonna tell me where yer people are hidin’ the other essence crystal caves. Do that and I’ll let the both of ye, and that other cat, live.”

“But Boss,” Yelis complained. “You can’t just let them go. She’s the one who…”

He was unable to finish. One look from Tillmann ended his protests. Cowed into silence, he washed his complaints down with another swig from the flask.

Tillmann continued.

“As I was sayin’, tell me what I want ta know and ye get to live. Course, we can’t let ye go just yet. Not until we’re done plunderin’ the caves, anyways. And I’ll have ta knock ye out again when we leave, but after that…”

“You can’t just let them go!” Yelis said, standing. He was unsteady on his feet as he pointed to his stump arm. “Look at what they did to me!”

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“Oh, shut yer gob, would ye? When we’ve settled this here, ye can head into the city and buy a potion to restore your arm. Now quit yer bellyachin’ or ye’ll lose your left one too.”

“But what about Michel and Barda? They’re dead. Because of her.”

He pointed the flask at Yua, sloshing some of its contents into the grass.

She killed them? My Yua? She killed those men with her bare hands? How could someone so sweet and loving…

This was supposed to be my job to persuade them to leave and I walked us into a trap. I put her in that situation because I acted in haste.

I could have… I had my chance, but was too gutless to pull the trigger myself and now she has blood, real blood on her hands. And now we’re in this mess. If only I’d… – idiot – .

Tillmann pinched his eyes and sighed.

“… Surely ye ain’t ignorant enough to not understand the consequences of killin’ this lot all willy-nilly, right? I’ve been around long enough ta have been sent on bandit killin’ misisons more times than ye seen yer own pecker. I know what it’s like ta live as a bandit too, and I ain’t want that fer myself. If ye idiots didn’t screw up my orders, ye wouldn’t have nothing to complain about.”

“They’re the ones that attacked us first,” Silvano said.

“Only because Gregor fucked up,” Gawin added.

“We almost had them, too.”

“Hey! You affholef fry and lure fomeone info a frap wifhouf felling a fingle lie. If’s nof af eafy af it founds!”

“Gods, just stop talking already. Nobody can understand you.”

Unbeknownst to the thieves as they argued, Tillmann slowly reached for his hammer. His movements were so slight that I wouldn’t have noticed them if I had the ability to look anywhere else. If she noticed, Yua stayed quiet.

He unclasped it from his belt, raised it over his head and, without a word, brought it down on the log he sat on.

With a thundering crack that shook the leaves, the log exploded. Splinters erupted from the log, peppering everyone like a load of buckshot. Half of it sprayed into the fire, causing it to crackle violently. Those with the ability to move shielded themselves, but it was all I could do to close my eyes on reflex after the first chunk hit me. Unable to cover her ears, the boom left a deeply pained look on Yua’s face.

After the chunks of wood and clots of dirt stopped raining over us, the forest went silent again. The half of the log Tillmann wasn’t sat on was gone. Almost without a trace.

“All of ye, shut yer damn mouths! Next one of ye to speak without my say will be pickin’ their teeth up outta the grass!”

Cowed again by his outburst, Yelis fell back, and the others checked their complaints.

“Bunch of bickerin’ children, the lot of ye.” He turned back to Yua and once more grabbed her by the cheeks. “Can ye still hear me, lass?”

She answered him with a glare.

“Good. What I said still stands. Tell me what I want ta hear and the two of ye get to live. However, refuse and I might have to hurt yer little friend over there.”

He pointed to me with his hammer and Yua’s glare slipped, but only for a second before it doubled in sharpness.

“Don’t bother actin’ tough. Yer wastin’ yer time. See, one of my boys saw something pretty interesting in the city the other day. Ta speed this along, how about we all hear what he has ta say so we’re on the same page. Arthur!” Tillmann yelled over his shoulder at the tent. “Get yer arse out here!”

Had I been able to move, I would have been hard pressed to keep myself from lunging at the man that staggered out of the tent.

A large bottle secured itself in his hand until he brought it to his smiling lips to take a long draw of its sloshing amber contents. Dressed in only a pair of loose-fit trousers, an unbuttoned shirt and a pair of unlaced boots that he nearly tripped over, it was like he rolled out of bed and into whatever clothing happened to be lying about. He looked a mess when we first met at the inn, but apparently that was just how he lived.

Peering over the nearly drained bottle, he spotted us and ran over, surprise coloring his face. He didn’t look like he’d been let in on their little plan, but he was still happy to see it’d work.

“Ha. Boss, didja catch ‘em sneaking in again?”

“Ironbreaker’s Kiln, man,” Tillmann growled. “Are ye drunk? Again? Was nearly losin’ yer head the other day not enough ta learn that there’s a time and place for drink? I’m a damn dwarf and I don’t drink half as much as ye do.”

“Nah. Nah. No. Hey, I’m just a little tipsy, is all. See?”

Proving himself a liar, he dropped the – alcohol – bottle onto the ground, only for it to bounce off his boot and spill into the grass. He clearly intended for it to land upright, as if that somehow would have proved cognizance. And then he stared at it for a long second before remembering where he was with a shake.

“So, whatcha need, boss?”

Tillmann sighed, but pointed his hammer at Yua.

“Tell the lass what ye saw of her the other day. In the city. Just like ye told me.”

“Hmm?” Kneeling between Tillmann and Yua, he squinted at her. Yua’s glare never shifted away from Tillmann. When he spoke next, Arthur looked a little more sober.

“Ah, yea. This one. I was at the smith’s and suddenly there was this huge commotion outside. People running around, screaming and such. It was a big deal, apparently, so I decided to leave. Only, after I left, I thought it’d be best to see if whatever it was would affect our business, so I turned back. And I saw that guy pinned against a wall by some big-tittied woman,” he pointed to me, then back to Yua. “I was confused why such a beauty was harassing the poor guy, thought maybe she was a prostitute he forgot to pay, or something, so I pulled aside someone else and asked what happened. This guy said he saw the whole thing and that this cat punched that other woman in the face. Said it was like punching a rock, it did nothing. But she tried again anyways.”

“And why would ye do that?” Tillmann took over. “I know a few of yer customs, lass, and I know ye wouldn’t go pickin’ a fight ye know ye can’t win any more than anyone else would. Ye gave me a good punch earlier, but if that woman could stand against it without flinchin’, then ye’d be a fool ta challenge her. I may have started rumors about the lot of ye being mindless savages, but I know it ain’t true. Ye may not know much about the world outside this forest, but I know ye ain’t stupid like that.”

Yua grimaced. She seemed to be aware of where he was going with this, but I couldn’t focus long enough to work it out. Still, the look on her face caused a chill to ripple up my spine.

“However, if that boy were yer mate… see now, then I’m sure ye’d step in.”

“They did show up at my room together,” Arthur added. “Them and the little cat girl James is chasing.”

Tillmann nodded sagely and with a smile.

“Exactly. And ye did fly at me the second ye noticed I had him.”

Yua lowered her gaze, then squeezed her eyes shut. Her breathing quickened uncomfortably.

Having nothing more to add, Arthur stooped to pick up his bottle, then thought better of it when he saw Tillmann looking at him, and moved to sit elsewhere.

“I don’t care what he is to ye,” Tillmann concluded. “But I know ye care. Ye care a lot. So, if you want him to make it out of this with all his limbs, ye best get ta talkin’.”

Yua clenched her teeth and – chestnut – her head dipped. Her hair covered her face, but her ears flicked and after several attempts at processing what that meant, I got the impression that she understood he wasn’t lying about anything he’d said so far.

“I say again. Tell me what I want ta hear, and I won’t have ye both killed. And tell me quick, and ye can save yer mate a world of pain.”

Breathing quick, Yua pressed her lips into a thin line. She looked to me, her eyes struggling to keep up a show of strength. I couldn’t even say if I’d moved my face enough to show my regret.

We both knew she didn’t have the information he wanted.

“… I don’t know where any crystals or caves are.”

“Lass, I don’t think ye are understanding the depth of my threat,” he said, wrenching her face to force her to look at him. “Come on. Think about it. That poison I fed him will cause him to forget the pain almost the moment it starts, but he will feel it, trust me. It’ll hit him, then he’ll forget it exists for a moment, only ta be hit with it all again immediately after. He’ll never be able ta get used to it. There will be no bearin’ with it, it’ll always be fresh. One cut, one broken bone, one lopped off limb, it doesn’t matter. Ta him, it’ll feel like its happenin’ again and again and again, nonstop until the poison wears off.”

A tear dripped down her cheek.

[Slave Mana Has Gained The Archer Class.]

What – arrow –?

“I don’t know,” Yua said, her voice weak.

“Lass…”

“I’m serious. I don’t know. None of us do. We didn’t know anything about the crystals until you set up your barrier. To us, that cave was just a spriggan nest.”

“Come now. Ye really expect me ta believe ye were sittin’ on this fountain of coin and didn’t know it? I saw signs of minin’ when we first got here. And I think that ye throwing that Iron Fist of yers would be more than enough ta break them rocks. The cat-kin’s love of fightin’ and yer ability ta see in the dark actually makes you the perfect worker to be diggin’ underground.”

“It must have been someone else,” she said, panicked. “We don’t know anything. I swear it!”

Tillmann took in her pleas and shook his head.

“Lass. Stop yer lyin’, would ye? I’m startin’ ta lose my patience here. We ain’t leavin’ this forest until we strip it of every crystal it’s ever seen. I can move this here barrier whenever I want, so we can search for as long as we need. Just… save us some time and…”

“I. Don’t. Know! Please, understand!”

Tillmann’s glare chiseled away at what was left of her steely glare. Tears started to flood her cheeks and despite her continued attempts to move, she was pinned in place. He let go of her cheeks to stroke his beard.

“Fine… Maybe I was bein’ a bit too lenient. I’m not normally one for torture anyways. Cuttin’ out the screaming by forcin’ down all my drink just so I can sleep would be a waste. Drinks aren’t medicine, they’re meant to be enjoyed.”

He nodded to himself and just when Yua looked up, hopeful, he turned to look at someone behind me.

“Silvano, I’m going to ask her one last time and, if she lies to me again, cut the boy’s head off.”

What? – death –

“Gladly.”

“No!”

I’d died once before, but it was quick, painless and I might as well have not even noticed it happened until the Goddess reminded me. But it was going to happen again? The thought should have shaken me to my core, but as I was unable to dwell on it, the fact kept slapping me in the face like a fresh threat every time I tried.

Tillmann refused to accept the reality that Yua, the cat-kin, didn’t know. And that was the only reality Yua knew.

“You can’t!” she sobbed. “I… you… Bandits! You’ll become bandits!”

“Only Silvano,” Tillmann said with a shrug. “And he’s already agreed to bear that burden.”

“Ha,” Silvano laughed. “Once I’m done here, I’m moving to a place where nobody even knows what a scrying orb is. It won’t matter if I’m a thief or a bandit or whatever. Hell. I’m half tempted to just tell you to lie again. This little shit earned himself some payback for that fight.”

Something, likely a boot, hit the back of my head. Pain struck like lightning. It vanished from thought just as fast, but then it flickered in and out of existence, just as Tillmann said it would.

The kick caused my line of sight to shift closer to the ground. It was a struggle just to lift my eye far enough to see Yua struggling, trying to kick off her captor again.

Gawin struggled right back. Stretching her arms further behind her, he pressed his knees into her shoulder blades. She continued to try and fight. It did even less to help, but Gawin strained to keep her in place.

“Fuck! Boss, this bitch is strong. Can’t you poison her too?”

“Why on Ternia would I waste an Anti-Focus Poison on a dammed beast-folk? They can’t even use magic. Here.”

Tillmann raised an empty, gauntleted hand and smacked Yua across the cheek. I couldn’t move.

“…!”

Unlike before – kill –, it didn’t knock her out, but her expression briefly turned senseless, her eyes vacant. She stopped moving – kill – until he forced her to look at him again.

“Enough of yer squirmin’, lass. None of us is goin’ anywhere until ye tell me where the other caves are. We got a lot ridin’ on this. Stop wastin’ our time.”

Her eyelids fluttered, as if she’d only just woken from a dream. But Tillmann was still holding her. She was still pinned. And there was a boot pressing against my skull.

She heaved a sob of despair, tears spilling down her cheeks without end.

“Please. Just let him go. I don’t know, but I can help you find the caves.”

“Yer stallin’ and I don’t need yer help. I need ye to tell me where they are.”

“Please… I-I don’t know. Please!”

“Hells,” Tillmann sighed, dragging his palm over his face. “Maybe seein’ a bit of red will loosen yer tongue. Silvano, kill the boy. When we catch the smaller cat, she’ll be on the block next.”

“With pleasure.”

The pressure of his boot disappeared from the back of my head.

“No!”

The metallic sound of steel sliding against steel cut through the forest. A sword had been drawn from its sheathe.

“No, stop! Please! I swear! I swear! I don’t know!”

I should have killed – kill – him when I had the chance!

– kill –

– kill –

– kill –

A shifting of feet. The helpless grass covering the forest floor was crushed under each heavy footfall, their screams for mercy were brief and were snuffed out without a care.

I tried to – kill – move. I sent my deepest desires to undue my earlier hesitation and demanded every muscle in my body to move, hoping that at least one would respond. But none did. A twitch in my foot and a slight curl to my index finger was all I got.

“Please! I swear, I don’t know anything!”

– kill –

– kill –

– kill –

Something cold, no, something sharp pressed against the back of my neck. I could smell steel. Then the stinging pressure vanished. The blade was raised.

– death –

– death –

– death –

I couldn’t even close my eyes. I was forced to watch Yua plead and beg, all while desperately trying to kick Gawin off her back.

There was no peace or acceptance easing my passing. I could not move. I could feel an icy, instinctual desperation chilling my bones, but I could do nothing.

I wanted to continue living this life. To be with my girls up and until the heat death of the universe. To indulge in every pleasure a pair of lovers could have together. With her. With Yua, who refused to give up struggling. With Mana, whose location I’d been forced to give up looking for. And with…

“You bring that sword down and I’ll carve you into so many pieces that the slop of what’s left of you would make a butcher piss himself with fear.”

Where I was supposed to see my vision spin and slowly fade as my head fell from my shoulders, instead, it remained unmoved. A strong, confident and familiarly effeminate voice had stayed my execution.

Unable to pull my line of sight away from Yua, I could not see who had said it, but I could tell by her own confusion that it was not Yua. Her chin still held by Tillmann, she could only move her emerald eyes over to something that existed somewhere behind me.

The voice continued.

“That man and his women are now under the protection of House Bellenfort. If any of you shits have a problem with that, take it up with your local gravedigger.”

A soft metallic clink said the sword raised over my head had been moved, likely pointed to this new threat.

Slowly, no it was casually, a single set of footsteps moved closer to us. Soon enough, a pair of slender black boots that led up to a pair of exceedingly tight pants – ass – entered my line of sight. But I couldn’t tell who they belong to. I felt like I should, but my mind wouldn’t let me conjure the image of who she was. Regardless of my confusion, she kept moving.

Finally, she stopped and something heavy thudded to the ground right in front of me and suddenly, I could see myself in some sort of reflective surface.

She squat next to me, her knees bending wide enough for me to catch a glimpse of her scarred abdomen – thong straps –. Then, just as slowly, as if she had all the time in the world, a seemingly delicate hand scooped up my chin and my line of sight was raised back to the light.

– Goddess –

Under the light of the barrier, her golden locks shone like the sun. The only thing more radiant was the gorgeous smile that graced her rosy lips. She’d walked into the lion’s den, but the confident – cobalt – ease in her gaze steadied my breathing.

“Alex,” Elane said softly. “I look forward to learning all about your old world. For now, just leave this to me, okay?”

Grinning sweetly, her cheeks tinged slightly pink, Elane carefully set me back down and stood. My line of sight moved yet again and was further cleared when she removed the shiny surface that reflected me. Able to see it clearly now, it still took several attempts to organize my thoughts and memories to recognize it.

It was her giant battleaxe.