Miyoko shut the door to Hotaru’s office, relieved to trade Khukri’s ever-present gaze for the familiar sight.

Hotaru’s office was the same mess it always was—walls of busted drawers, salvaged and refurbished just well enough to work, each covered in, and likely filled with, piles of junk. Hotaru sighed as she passed the pile of half-used string and boxes of old nails in various sizes. Two sunbeams radiated through horizontal windows, propped open by sticks on the building’s front, and fell lazily across the older woman as she dropped into her seat.

With a swipe, Hotaru brushed the knickknacks on her desk aside, then turned her expectant gaze on Miyoko.

“Heeeey, Hotaru,” Miyoko folded her arms and gave the older woman a nervous grin. “Didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

“Bit of an understatement,” Hotaru whispered in a bewildered voice, leaning back in her chair. “Since you left…” For a moment, a painful silence held the room, then Hotaru took a deep breath. “There’s no way this conversation goes well, did you want—”

Miyoko let out a relieved sigh. “Yes, Tsu guide me, it’s been months.”

With a muted smile, Hotaru dug through a drawer, rattling and thumping the contents as she searched. “I’m glad you’re not dead, Ghost.”

Ghost; the nickname made Miyoko wince. It was the only way her old crew would ever know her, though she’d never be one again. Still, she could hardly expect them to call her ‘Miyoko.’ “Look, when I ran off with those jewels—”

“You don’t have to explain.” The contents of the drawer clacked and jingled before Hotaru finally withdrew a slender wood and brass pipe. “I mean, when it happened I was ready to strangle you to death… but after we got out of there and heard about the coup… how’d you figure out Fleur set us up?”

Miyoko’s heart sank as Fleur’s name sent a wave of nausea rippling through her stomach. That was one more person best left with Ghost, in the past. “I, uh, saw the ships in the water. It felt like too much of a coincidence that many military ships just so happened to swing by right before we swiped the goods.” She looked up with a small smile. “I’m glad you guys made it out.”

Hotaru grimaced, setting a small tin on the desk and flipping it open to showcase a batch of uneven black lumps. “Things have been rough since then. It wasn’t just our crew Fleur betrayed. She set up twenty jobs, all as high-profile as ours, all got busted. It threw Tythic’s military into chaos for a few hours; the exact hours the new queen used to stage her coup. Executives have been breathing down our necks, and every day someone else I knew gets beheaded in Azashi Plaza…” A visible shiver ran through the older woman, along with a hollow look that accented the wrinkles under her eyes. “I thought for sure I’d see your name one of these days.”

“Yeah, I figured things might be a bit tough.” Miyoko forced a smile. “Lucky for you, I brought a client, just like the old days.”

Hotaru glanced up, eyes settling on Miyoko’s collar. “With one or two differences.” She hastily smeared an opium lump into the pipe and set a match to it. “Who is this guy anyway? Have you been with him the last three months?”

Miyoko extended her hand, raising an eyebrow. When the pipe hit her palm she spun it about, a smile crossing her face at the familiar weight. It was like a welcome from an old friend; the only kind you could really trust. “Ashling. He bought me a few days back. I barely know him. One of those monks from that weird sex cult.”

Another beat of uncomfortable silence passed before Hotaru sunk into her chair. “Is he… are you…”

Time seemed to slow for a moment as a wave of tranquillity rolled down Miyoko’s throat and filled her lungs. The stresses of the last three months washed away in a dreamlike haze as her friend lifted the burdens from her shoulder for an instant. A pungent, sweet aroma flooded the room as smoke curled from Miyoko’s lips and danced around her fingers, stretching skyward. Her eyes flicked back, focusing on Hotaru through the haze. “He gets what he paid for, if that’s what you’re asking. Hasn’t hurt me, but that wolf enforcer of his made it pretty clear how bad things get if I don’t behave.”

Hotaru hesitated, waving Miyoko off when she offered to relinquish the pipe. “You know we can’t risk helping you. The metsuke aren’t above turning you against us.”

Tension receded from Miyoko’s muscles as she sauntered to the window, taking another long drag and blowing the smoke outside. “Really? Me? You think I’d work with the executives?”

“You were closer to Fleur than any of us,” Hotaru countered, voice poorly concealing anger and fear. “Besides, everyone else who got caught has a date with a headsman in Azashi Plaza, but not you. Can you really blame the crew for being a bit jumpy?”

“I’m a sex slave, Hotaru. It’s not like I got off with a slap on the wrist.” Miyoko looked up, smiling as her hand traced a languid line through the smoke illuminated by a sunbeam. “And in case you forgot? It’s a punishment I got keeping you lot off the chopping block.”

“It’s not that we don’t want to help,” Hotaru said, “But things are different than last season. Executives are watching every move we make, and a lot of people we used to rely on are dead or turning on their old friends to save their skin.”

That made Miyoko smile more. After everything that happened, they still believed I was doing it for them? It seems even the wise Hotaru couldn’t really see the Ghost. She wiped off the smile as she turned back. “I get it. I didn’t come back from the dead to beg. I came because that cultist insists on making contacts in the Azure Syndicate, and the demon I know beats the demon I don’t. So… let’s talk.”

* * *

The pine tree’s rough bark pressed into Miyoko’s back, held firmly in place by the rope Khukri used to bind her wrists. Sunset filtered through the trees, competing with a small campfire under a bubbling iron pot to light their campsite. Even this far north, what little cold the winter provided was fast diminishing, so Ashling’s tent mostly existed to sleep without bugs eating them alive.

“Okay,” Miyoko said with a sigh. “Untie me.”

Sean looked up sharply from his seat beside the fire, eyes wide.

“Calm down; I’m not gonna run,” Miyoko rolled her eyes. “That enforcer of his would track me down within a day and make me pay for it. Just remember the knot she used. You can tie me up again before she gets back.”

A rustle from the forest made Sean flinch, then nervously stare into the shadowed wood. “Hotaru said we’re supposed to keep out of trouble.”

“Oh? This is the executives’ master plan to get you?” Miyoko mocked. “Hide in a forest in the middle of nowhere so they could jump out and arrest you for untying a slave from a tree?”

Sean’s cheeks puffed up as he looked back. “Well, what if your master comes back and catches us?”

“Yeah. We have time,” Miyoko said flatly. “Khukri’s not coming back till she gets her fix.”

Following the meeting with Hotaru, Ashling had decided to lead Sean to his boat at Isle Point, the harbour that handled most of the traffic to the islands north of the peninsula. That suited Miyoko just fine, as it put her right on Inisheer’s doorstep. The days of travel between Eden and the coastline were the biggest obstacle to her escape, one these idiots were unknowingly bypassing for her. No matter how good at tracking Khukri was, she couldn’t do it on the ocean. With any luck, Miyoko would be rich beyond measure and sailing south by the end of the week.

Miyoko offered a grateful smile when Sean reluctantly rose and saw to her bonds. “Thanks,” she murmured. “You got any insight on what this guy plans to do after you appraise his cargo?”

The rope went taught, pulling Miyoko’s shoulders against the tree before suddenly loosening as one wrist slipped free. “Believe it or not, he’s taking a trip to the governess’s mansion to request her library card,” Sean grumbled, returning to the fire.

If Ashling had ties to anyone in the new Tythic government, it was news to Miyoko, but that still didn’t explain his goal. “What’s he need a library card for?”

Sean sighed, removing the lid from the pot to give it a slow stir. “He wants an adventure centi-series from way down south, past the Dusk Empire. I can get him fan copies just fine, but he really wants to see the first edition.”

Just a bored, rich boy looking to have his own brand of fun then. Nothing surprising there. The stew’s aroma washed over Miyoko, making her stomach tight and lips moist. Her voice dropped as she rubbed her wrist, following Sean to the fire. “Did Hotaru tell you about the food?”

“She did,” Sean said, shifting uncomfortably. “I’ve been watching carefully. He hasn’t added anything suspicious yet, but I’ll signal you if he doses your portion.”

“Thanks,” Miyoko mumbled. She hadn’t gone into detail, but Sean’s averted eyes let her know he was well aware of her newfound ‘duties.’ Luckily, Hotaru had chosen their bashful little deer-boy to catalogue Ashling’s hunting spoils. Tsu guide her if Aoi had been her traveling companion. “If he’s thinking he can get a card he must know the new governess pretty well. Did he say-”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

A wild, piercing howl cut through the forest, rendering all the birds and bugs silent in its aftermath. Sean scrambled to his feet, fists clenched as he gazed into the night.

“Damn.” Miyoko sighed, stretching as she wandered back to the tree. “Relax, you pampered prince. Believe it or not, that’s her happy noise.”

The deer turned back, shaking slightly. “Are you sure?”

“Yes…” Miyoko mumbled, irritation touching her tone as a bead of sap stuck her ears together. “I thought it’d be longer. He’s really skimping on the foreplay this time.”

“What?”

“I said she’s coming, tie me back up,” Miyoko grumbled, folding her wrists behind the tree.

It wasn’t long before the two stumbled back into camp with chipper grins, as though they hadn’t spent the better part of a day in an exhaustive off-road march. Ashling squeezed Khukri’s hand before he broke away, sending her to stir the pot while he approached Miyoko.

Ugh, my turn then. Hopefully he’ll take me far enough away that Sean won’t hear… “Hello, Master.” Miyoko bowed her head, taking notice of the dirt staining Ashling’s knees. “Did you enjoy your walk?”

His shoulders hunched slightly and his lips tightened as he let out a small cough, then knelt to untie her. “Uh, yeah, thanks.”

Embarrassment? Really? Maybe he’ll have the decency to keep Sean from listening in after all. “Is it my turn to ‘go for a walk?’”

“Not tonight,” he mumbled, pulling the knots free and releasing her wrists. “I just… we haven’t talked much since… uh, I just wanted to talk.”

“I said I’d be good, Master,” Miyoko reminded him. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to hear.”

He closed his eyes, sighing as he wound the rope into a coil. “Right… I was curious about the crossbow you brought back.”

My crossbow? The one you stole alongside the rest of my shit? That crossbow?

Honestly, despite knowing full well the man saw her as his sex toy, the stealing got under her skin more. After all, Ghost had slept with men she had no interest in before, but this was the first time they stole her things afterward; she much preferred it the other way around. “What about it?” Miyoko asked through a forced smile.

“It’s just a lot smaller than the one I’m used to.” Ashling tucked the rope back into his bag, then removed the crossbow to examine. “I was wondering if you could tell me about it.”

Ugh! The stuff he took wasn’t even that expensive, but it was hers, damn it! She’d killed for everything in there! “Oh, um… yeah, there’s different types. That one’s an arcuballista. They’re small and easy to reload so you can use it one handed while mounted.”

“Oh.” Ashling smiled, offering her a hand as he stood. “I guess you don’t really need all the gears? Where’s the lever?”

Reluctantly, Miyoko accepted the hand as she rose. “Gears?” she asked, trailing him to the fire. “How big is a ‘normal’ crossbow for you?”

“About… shoulder height?”

“Shoulder height with gears…” Miyoko glanced at Sean, but the man’s eyes never strayed from Khukri and the food. “Is a ‘normal’ crossbow a Wolfram mobile scorpio?”

Ashling blinked, removing the weapon from his pack and turning it about. “Uh, I’m not familiar with all the different types.”

Miyoko forced a calming breath through her teeth. “Okay, did yours use a bowstring… or a steel cable attached to a portable steam engine?”

Tension flooded Ashling’s face as he looked from the weapon to Khukri, hesitating before he relaxed with an apologetic chuckle. “Oh, a normal crossbow! Yeah, sorry, I got distracted. Obviously the one we used isn’t normal.” Ash asserted, reading Miyoko’s reaction carefully.

“What were you hunting with anti-aircraft field artillery?” Miyoko demanded. “A velkammer?”

“…Yeah.”

“Oof, the velkammer was rough,” Khukri chimed in, absently rubbing her arm. “I wasn’t allowed to swim for weeks… but Master was so pleased, he let me wear abyssal scale.” As though to show off, Khukri spun away from the fire, letting a rippling iridescent wave shimmer across her flowing scale cloak.

“That’s…very pretty,” Miyoko said. Okay, the man’s rich, sure. But there’s a massive gap between ‘I buy sex slaves’ rich and ‘I play with bleeding-edge Othelan military hardware’ rich.

They had to be lying. Anyone with that kind of money wouldn’t cook stew out of a secondhand pot in the woods.

“There was something else,” Ashling said, voice becoming softer and more serious. “Why does everyone call you Ghost?”

Sean perked up, finally peeling his eyes from the wolf to view Miyoko curiously. The minute Miyoko decided to get Hotaru’s help, she knew this conversation was coming. “A ‘ghost’ is what executives call rabbits who don’t have an ASN. My old name let everyone know I was from the Tsu Empire, so I dropped it.”

“Oh,” Ashling said, setting the weapon down. “So… why did the clerk say your name was Miyoko?”

The camp was still now, with the setting sun’s final gasp rapidly vanishing beneath the horizon and plunging their little camp into firelight. Everyone’s eyes focused on Miyoko as she sat on the ground with a raised eyebrow on Sean.

“I didn’t tell him anything,” Sean said.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her knees. “When I joined Hotaru’s crew, there was a woman named Miyoko who kinda showed me the ropes. We worked together for a while… until one day she, uh, got on the wrong side of the law. Ended up in chains, then a bit later, a burning building.”

“I’m sorry…” Ashling said, shifting uncomfortably.

Miyoko shrugged. “Being a ghost isn’t illegal, it just means you can't accept executive jobs. But when a ghost becomes a slave, they’re given an ASN anyway. One that tells everyone you used to be a ghost. I figured, since Miyoko’s not using hers…” Miyoko looked away, rubbing the ear between her fingers with a grimace.

“Food’s ready,” Khukri said, extending a cup of broth, though even her mood had dampened.

“Thanks,” Miyoko forced a smile as she took the cup, then caught Sean’s signal that it hadn’t been tampered with before closing her eyes and quietly sipping.

* * *

A shiver ran through Ghost’s body as she crouched in the treeline overlooking a vast, lavish estate. Rows of pine trees, stiff with the first chill of winter masked her presence as deer-girls clad in thick furs patrolled the grounds with flickering torches. Clan Inisraighe controlled several islands off the coast of Southern Tythic, where they’d holed up with their kin to ride out the blizzards already ravaging the mainland.

On any other job, Ghost would’ve been wary of approaching in the dead of night. In the Azure Syndicate, or even Northern Tythic, a place this nice would’ve left night guard duty to a species with night eyes or even foxhunters. Fortunately, the southern clans weren’t as bright as their whitetail sisters to the north. Here, only the deer of their clan could be trusted. If all she had to worry about was deer, then they wouldn’t know she was here until fire kissed the sky.

When Ghost was satisfied she’d located a blind spot in the guards’ patrol, she shifted her pack, ensuring it was secure before leaning into a full sprint. Once she got up to speed, she turned toward the gate and leaped, easily clearing the wrought iron fencing before rolling into a bush on the other side. Once certain no one noticed, Ghost flitted from one hiding spot to the next as she approached the building.

With only crickets and her own breathing to keep her company, Ghost crept to the ominous stable beside the estate. After pressing an ear to the door, she pulled it open with a small creak and slipped inside. A gust of cold air swept in with her, stirring dozens of curious drakes. Ghost lit a gas lamp as she hurried down the centre, illuminating bobbing scaled heads from curious beasts trying to discern if this was the kind of guest who fed them, or another, less generous visitor.

It was unfortunate she was busy with a job. Had she known about this place earlier, she could’ve swiped one of the glorious purebred beasts, but between the snow and her objective, there simply wasn’t time. Instead, Ghost stopped, cracking open the last stall on the left.

Inside were unremarkable mounds of hay surrounding a central patch of dirt. A massive tabra pelt lay draped over a mound, its thin white stripes catching her lantern and popping against the thick, black fur surrounding them. Finally, there was what Ghost searched for - a battered wooden chest.

With a deep, steam-filled breath, Miyoko knelt and unslung her pack. A ripple of disgust rolled through her chest as she opened it, making her teeth clench as light fell across the contents. She’d expected the cuffs, skimpy outfits, and riding cane, but the headband with elongated fake rabbit ears? That got to her.

“Fuckers,” Ghost mumbled as she opened her pack. With a held breath, she transferred the heavy steel canister to the chest. Somewhere in the barn, a drake snorted, freezing Ghost as every muscle focused on keeping the weight in her hands. No hesitation, Ghost, no time for second guessing. Her numb fingers moved, setting a spike over the canister’s indented top, then with shaking hands, pressed down. The spike slid into the canister with a soft hiss, but after a moment passed, Ghost once again dared to breathe.

With motions practiced a hundred times for exactly this night, Ghost secured the canister to the lid with a crimped wire. When the lid clicked shut for the last time, she breathed a sigh of relief and packed up her tools. It was time to go.

Ghost killed the lantern as she drifted past the drakes to the barn door. Another careful listen later, she stole away into the frigid night, backtracking between hiding spots until she could hop the fence and return to the treeline.

Back in hiding, Ghost slipped off her gloves and set about filling her pipe with opium. It was unprofessional, getting high before the job was done, but after the nerve-wracking work she needed something to take the edge off. All that was left was to see it through.

Eventually, the clan leader’s door opened and a deer-boy emerged, followed by a rabbit-girl barely visible under her thick, hooded cloak. The man held a torch aloft, accepting teasing comments from the girls as he led the rabbit to the stable.

Ghost put the smouldering pipe between her teeth and leaned forward with a steep inhale. Gaseous peace filled her lungs, radiating waves of relaxation over her. The rabbit paused at the stable door to glance into the dark, though from this distance, she’d see little more than a pinprick of light in the shadowy sea of trees. Then, she entered.

Smoke streamed from Ghost’s lips as she rose and slung her pack on, watching through half-lidded eyes as the barn lit up. Blinding light poured through gaps between logs, then the stable erupted in a magnificent fireball.

It was some small consolation that none of them felt pain as the barn was consumed in a searing cloud of white-hot magnesium gas. The liquid in the man, woman, and drakes likely vaporized before they even understood the threat, leaving behind nothing but bones. Cinders flew skyward as the structure collapsed, burying even those beneath a massive funeral pyre.

“Thanks for the burrows, Miyoko,” Ghost said, watching chaos unfold as screaming deer streamed from their buildings in a rush to extinguish the blaze. A final sigh left her lungs, sending smoke through her nostrils to mix with the steam of her breath. Then she turned away. It was time to go home.