Maria and her small team stood atop the flat tops of the Ashen Canyon. She felt small. Despite gaining some height by scaling the wall of their funneled encampment, she could see patches of the canyon where the flat peaks rose even higher. The Canyon looked like it was segmented, with bundles of peaks coming to the same unnaturally flat end. They were at the lowest point, where the peaks were only 30 feet up from the funneled beach they washed up on. However, other swathes of peaks dwarfed them. There was no transition between patches of plateau. They were merely separated by one of the many sheer drop-offs into tight ravines.

Maria set the last warming log down and rubbed her aching back. She quietly slung a string of unintelligible curses at her pain. She gave Veronica an annoyed scowl. The soldier quickly averted her eyes in embarrassment. The quick interaction garnered a few snickers from Lucy and Anise. Maria's scowl did nothing to quell their amusement.

"That's the last time I ever let a virgin go to town on me," Maria grumbled.

Anise covered her mouth to hide her growing smile. "What? The big, bad warrior can't handle a little passion?"

Maria rolled her eyes. "Please, if you were in my shoes Veronica would have torn you in half. Consider my sacrifice an act of mercy from the gods."

Veronica walked in between the two, avoiding the gaze of everyone around her. "It's so flat up here..." she commented in a desperate bid to change the subject.

Lucy blotted out the sun with her hand and tried to scan the many cliff edges surrounding them. "Yeah, it's strange. Moving up here was supposed to give us an advantage, but I feel just as exposed up here."

Maria sat on the bed of warming logs, checking on her swords with meticulous attention. "But it's better this way. By the beach we're completely boxed in. We can't move far from here because we need the water but I can already think of multiple exits. Plus it will be harder to surround us from up here. Add the better lines of sight and we have ourselves a much better position."

"She's right, but on another note," Veronica agreed. She turned to Lucy and Anise with a curious gaze. "You two went to see the crystals, right? How was it?"

The knight and the herald looked at each other with worried glances.

"It's like you said last night. The energy they give off is absolutely repugnant but potent," Explained Anise. "However, I still grabbed some just in case. although I don't know if any of us can even use them without losing our senses." She tapped a small sack attached to the belt of her trousers.

"If you're scared then hand them over." Maria motioned for Anise to toss the sack to her. Her attention was still dominated by her weapons.

Anise's brow furrowed in annoyance. "And just what do you intend to do with them?"

"Use them, obviously. I got no intention of dying because I was too afraid to get a little crazy in combat." Her voice was sharp and harsh. Anise could hear the insult that was buried between her words.

"And what if you lose control and accidentally hurt Lord Lucy?"

"As opposed to her dying at the hands of the enemy anyway? Look I'm not just gonna go crushing the damn things every time an ant challenges me to a pissing contest. But I can tell that you guys wouldn't even use the things on your deathbeds. You all look uncomfortable just hearing the humming."

"Of course we are! Any proud warrior would hate the idea of succumbing to madness." Anise snapped

"And any reasonable woman would hate the idea of dying more," retorted Maria, "Besides why are you all assuming the frenzy is permanent?"

"Why are you assuming it's temporary?"

"I'm not. I'm just willing to take the fifty-fifty."

The silence that followed was long, only interrupted by the sound of the pouch plopping against Maria's side. She picked it up and was immediately suspicious of its heft.

"You guys act scared, but this bag ain't light. Why get so many if you weren't gonna use them?"

Lucy placed a hand on her chest plate with a proud smile. "They were supposed to be an offering to Aunt Fia, but we can always pick more after we've secured the canyon from these squatters."

"Young bucks are eager to make a name for themselves. You're thinking mighty far ahead for someone who might not live the next couple of nights."

Lucy pouted and pulled Anise in close to her with her arm slung around her shoulders. "Don't be so negative. We're warriors of Opal City. They can't beat us!"

Maria couldn't stop herself from laughing. The mercenary fell over, slapping the cold ground in a fit of hysterical amusement. "Oh! Gods, haha! Warriors of Opal? That's a good one! I've seen wolf packs in better shape than Opal forces." She laughed and laughed, bucking and teasing Lucy the entire time.

Anise growled lowly. She hated the sound of Maria's snorting laughter. "Are you really just going to disrespect us like that?"

Maria finally managed to quell her laughter, wiping a tear from her eyes. "It ain't disrespectful. It's the truth. Veronica is the best warrior I've seen out of our town by a country mile."

Anise crossed her arms and let a confident grin overtake her. "That just means you're ignorant. You've clearly never seen a knight or a herald in action before."

Maria went to open her mouth. But she eyed Veronica, who was just watching from the sidelines in her usual awkward manner. "Ugh, you're lucky I have respect for Veronica. or else I'd pull out some real foul facts. But I'll leave it at this. I've been all around this damned continent doing jobs that would probably make you both throw up. Opal City's hard hitters are average at best, So don't go thinking you can just take anyone on because you've been knighted. I've seen plenty of your kind in gutters."

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The wind tried its best to break up the deafening silence that followed in the wake of her words. No one wanted to speak despite having plenty to say. They couldn't afford to escalate things any further.

The merc stood up, placing both of her blades into their sheaths and strapping the sac of crystals onto her belt. "My job is to keep your Lucy's head on her shoulders. There's nothing more frustrating than babysitting people who think they won't get cut touching broken glass. But if you think you two think you're that competent, then I want you to fight the next opponent we come across."

Lucy was quick to place a hand on her sword as a declaration of readiness. "I can do that! I'm positive that a knight's training is more than enough to beat any one of those robed weirdos."

The grin that skittered across Maria's face made Veronica shudder. "Good," cooed the mercenary. "Now let's go see if we've really got any reinforcements coming. You can prove yourself to everyone once we meet up."

The group was quick to move out. They traversed the canyon flat tops, finding the path of least the least resistance. Despite their bodies being enhanced with mana, they could only manage to jump so far. They had to find narrow passes to cross over and work to find the next patch of plateaus that were close enough in height. It was arduous, but it was better than traversing the endless maze that was the ravines and gorges.

They had fallen into a rhythm, with Maria leading them in the path of least resistance. They eyed up the next level of plateaus they were trying to get to. She quickly measured that it was ever a couple of feet higher than the leaps they were used to making, so she adjusted her mana output to make the leap. Wind muted her senses as she ascended thirty- seven feet into the air and came to a gentle landing at the top. She turned around to make sure everyone made the jump, and they'd repeat the process all over again.

"Ugh, finally, we made it!" Sighed Lucy as they finally came to their biggest landmark, the cobbled path that had led to what used to be the bridge that connected the canyon to the outside world. The bridge might have been crumpled, but if they stood at the top of the path they'd be able to see any incoming traffic.

"Indeed we have. At least it's not nearly as long of a pathway as the way into the canyon," explained Anise.

Maria started to walk up its sloped path. "Yeah, that's because it's ten times as steep. The path coming out of Opal City was the world's most gentle hill. The height snuck up on you eventually. This side of the path on the other hand-"

Before she could make it even ten feet up the hill. Her senses flared off. Someone was conjuring up a dangerous amount of mana. She instantly determined it was coming from behind, she whipped around and drew one of her blades as she dashed to shove Veronica out of the way. Veronica seemed to be aware of the danger as well, but Maria was slightly faster than her. A crescent wave of energy was sleeping across the ground at high speeds. Maria barely managed to jump over the blast herself. The attack cut deep into the cobbled road. It wasn't wide, whoever shot it was trying to cripple Veronica specifically. She gazed towards the edge of the platform as a woman pulled herself up from between the gorge split.

She was a Crypt Keeper, with fiery red hair and sharp eyes. However, the most daunting thing about her was the large scythe she carried on her. She was clearly irritated that her attack didn't hit its mark. "Damnit, it was hard to set that up. But I guess there was too much power in it for a stealth attack." Her eyes scanned over cautious faces, all ready for battle. "Looks like Hiri was right, you guys would try to leave the way you came. But I can't let you do that."

Lucy was the first to speak, walking in between the Keeper and the Mercenary. "We'd never run away. We just wanted to meet our reinforcements. If I were you I'd get your group and leave while it's still possible. You raised your weapons against the Opazyr, you'll be hunted like dogs for that."

The Crypt Keeper let out an ugly snicker that evolved into a hearty laugh. "Wow! Reinforcements!? You've got a bunch of people coming to a place they've never been. This place is nothing but a maze of tight passages, still water, and uneven terrain. An army doesn't scare me. You'd have to wipe this place off the map to have any chance at victory, but you won't because you want the resources here. I heard it all from Linette."

Anise moved to stand by her side. "You underestimate us. We'll fight to our very last woman if our Lord deems it so. For she is the most noble, and backed by the most righteous of the Hoary Church!"

In that moment the Crypt Keeper and Maria had become mirrors of each other. Letting out groans and rolling their eyes in disgust.

The Keeper brandished her scythe, her eyes pale white eyes sharpened by smoldering anger. "Righteous? Noble? All those words leave the worst taste in my mouth. People who call themselves that usually end up being the worst imaginable."

Maria crossed her arms and shook her head in sarcastic disappointment. "Damn, any other day and we might have been good friends."

"Whose side are you on?!" Barked Anise.

"Look, my job is to keep Lucy from dying. I wasn't hired to parrot your beliefs or kiss ass to the system. I don't like you noble types, just as you noble types don't like us peasants," retorted the mercenary.

Lucy drew her sword with a tight grip. She stared down the Crypt Keeper with a scorching gaze. "That's not true. I love my people, as do all my family."

An image of Lady Fia flashed into Maria's mind. She remembered her disgusted eyes all too clearly. "God, you think so highly of your family. It's almost cute enough to not be insulting."

"Enough, save your treacherous thoughts until the enemy is dealt with!" Anise drew the halberd from her back. She stepped forward, eager to initiate the conflict, but a firm hand grasped her shoulder to hold her back.

"Oi, hold on a minute," Maria commanded, "Let's let the little lady handle this one. I want to see the might of an Opazyr Knight."

"Are you insisting I leave her to battle alone?" Barked the herald.

"What? You don't think the knight can handle a single opponent? Wow! I didn't know you thought that little of her." Maria exaggerated every syllable with all the subtlety of a schoolgirl. Her face was twisted into a conniving, snakey grin.

"Why you..." Anise thought about cutting down the mercenary, but it was already too late. Lucy was giving her the side eye. She was silently begging to let her have this moment, to trust her skills as a knight.

The Crypt Keeper recognized the drama and held off on attacking. "There's no shame in admitting your allies are weak, better to coddle her than to let her die, am I right?" She didn't have all the context clues, but a one-on-one battle was a more favorable situation, so she'd help instigate in any way possible.

Anise knew she was being pressured. She looked to Veronica for assistance, but she had properly "soldiered up". In other words, she was keeping her eyes on the Keeper, and would most likely only answer to Lucy's orders. She sucked her teeth and put herself at rest. She leaned on her polearm but did not holster it in her back. "Fine, I yield," she huffed. She turned her attention to the knight with a steadfast gaze. "Just win, alright?"

Lucy flourished her blade, a glorious steel longsword with a lengthy oath inscribed upon its fuller. Excitement twisted her face into a gleeful expression. "Of course, I'll win. I've been trained by the best. Or did you forget?" She turned her attention back to the Keeper. "And you, my name is Lucy of House Opazyr!"

The keeper let out an amused chuckle as she widened her stance in preparation for combat. "So, we're throwing out names now? In that case, I'm Nulara, no family name to speak of."

She found herself transfixed on Lucy's face; the genuine sparkle in her eye, the smirk that was practically inked onto her face, it all portrayed an almost childlike sense of joyful anticipation. "Gods, that porcelain face you have is unsettling. I think I'll be doing the world a favor by ripping it apart."