Max rubbed his chin, frowning as he considered everything Grace had just told him.

She shifted as she stood before him, watching the man she realized had grown on her in the last week. He had moved his chair against one of the decaying houses nearby and plopped down, able to talk in private yet still able to keep watch on the house.

“Are you going to answer or what? Can someone make it where they can track an item?”

Max nodded very slowly.

Grace groaned, frustrated by how long he was taking.

“And?”

“Listen,” he replied, his face showing displeasure with her constant barrage of questions. “There are countless things you don’t know about what you are involved in. There are a multitude of things that I don’t know about it all. I’m trying to remember what I was told and what might be possible. Yes, I have no doubt that this means there is a way to do that. It’s the implications of what that possibility has me concerned.”

“That Knight Michael is an emiss–”

“Shhh!” Max’s harsh sound cut her off as he shook his head. “Don’t say that word unless you’re absolutely certain no one is nearby or can read your lips. That’s not something to play around with. But yes, you are right. He may be a weaker one, new in his position. It would also explain how he might have known what had happened to those men you showed him.”

“But why would he track the pouch he gave me?”

Sighing, Max shrugged. “That’s the part I’m trying to figure out. If he thought you were one, I have no doubts he would have laid a trap for you. If he thinks you might unknowingly work for one, he doesn’t want to tip his hand, hoping to find out who and turning that knowledge in.”

Max rubbed his eyes as he clenched them shut, his whole face looking like he had sucked on something sour. “Gods, I wish I could leave this place… if something breaks out again…”

He stopped talking when he saw the hurt look Grace was giving him. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t leave you or your brother, but if something bad happens again, we must consider leaving and going elsewhere.”

“Where?” Grace asked as she glanced around them and held up her hands. “This is all I know. I’ve never really been elsewhere for other than a small vacation a few times. Those were long ago, and what's to say every city isn’t like this?”

“You’re right… there isn’t anything to say that other cities aren’t like this. Even worse, if you go to another city, who knows what quests you might get there and the problems that would cause. That’s why…” Max stopped talking as someone started to walk toward them. “Hey Cedric, what can I do for you?”

Grace turned and saw one of the men she recognized from another gang. The man was missing his right hand, but Grace could tell by how the man walked and carried himself that it wasn’t going to stop him from hurting someone if he needed to.

“Marcus wants to talk. He has some questions about something he said you would know about.”

Max nodded. “Tell him I’ll meet him at the well in two hours.”

The brown-haired man nodded, turning around and walking away at a leisurely pace.

“Who is that guy?” Grace asked. “Just how dangerous is he?”

“Dangerous enough for most,” Max answered as he shifted on his stool. “Most people think him not having a hand means he will be weak and easy to overpower. The truth is most people have never been hit by a bone before in the jaw. That stub of his is right where the bones are. I’ve seen more men dropped in one blow when he strikes them in the jaw with it. He was a boxer for one of the bookies back in the day. He’s smart, quick and strong. The only good news is he just wants to be left alone. Like most of us.”

Grace nodded in agreement as she watched the man turn down another street.

“One day, I guess I could ask him to teach you how to fight. You could learn a few things from him.”

Grace snapped her head back to look at Max and saw he wasn’t joking. “You would ask him to teach me? What am I going to learn?

Max started to cough. He held his chest as he laughed and grinned. “You fight like a wild animal. I believe some elementary technique is gifted to you through your new role, but you’re all muscle and power.”

“And that’s not good?”

“After a point, it won’t be. Technique can defeat someone stronger. If they can’t hit you, can’t catch you, but you make them bleed, whittle them down, it will allow you to eventually end the fight. It’s like men who hunt predators in the woods and jungles. Even worse, the ones in the deserts. They can’t just walk up to every creature and stick a sword in them and kill them.

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“They set traps and use a variety of weapons and terrain. I knew a man who killed an alpha wolf in a mountain range a lifetime ago. This wolf is as large as a horse and has teeth longer than your hand. They are overconfident. Once angered or tracking a prey they feel is weak, they ignore obvious signs that a situation isn’t good for them. Normal wolves would back off, try and find another path, but not these.”

Realizing he was getting off track, Max waved his hand. “Anyways, he lured one into a ravine. This wolf stood taller than me. It was wider also. It followed the blood trail he left right through the ravine toward where it got tighter and tighter. The ravine's walls were fifty feet high or more, but eventually, they were only three and two feet wide. Do you know what happened?”

Grace nodded. “It got stuck?”

“It got stuck,” Max repeated as he bobbed his head. “It wedged itself in so tight as he stood just yards from its mouth, taking small steps backward as it forced itself more and more into the tight gap. Even when it struggled to breathe from how much it pushed forward, the wolf never stopped snapping and snarling at him. My friend took a nap just a few yards from that creature until he woke up an hour later, hearing its breath wheezing. Then he grabbed a few spears and killed it safely out of reach of its jaws. The pelt he brought back was big enough to make me an outfit from one piece and one for you as well.”

Grace smiled and shook her head. “That’s not a real story, is it?”

Max leaned forward and snapped his finger in her face, causing her to flinch slightly. “Stop thinking about what you believe is or isn’t real, and listen when I say there is a world out there you haven’t seen. Creatures so small that a single bite could kill you. Snakes so deadly that they can kill a wolf like that with one bite. Other animals that… can eat you or me in one bite.”

Grimacing, Grace frowned. Imagining something that large was hard, but it had to be true from Max’s expression and tone. “Fine. If that Cedric man wants to train me, I’ll learn.”

“Good,” Max replied, leaning back on his chair. “Now, go spend some time with your brother. We got some stuff to deal with in two hours.”

“We?”

Max nodded. “I want you there when I meet Marcus.”

“Why?”

Groaning, Max closed his eyes. “Because I said I do. That’s a good enough reason. Now go and see your brother.”

Grace nodded and took off toward the well.

Her mind worked through everything she had just learned and what she would do for revenge against Michael.

As the streets blurred by and she saw the walls of the garden ahead, she forced down the thoughts of tearing Michael’s heart out with her hand.

Right now, she needed to focus on why all that had to be done.

The laughter that came over the walls was the reason why.

Levi had been ecstatic as she joined the other kids, playing various games. When they teamed up, none of the other kids stood a chance unless Grace convinced him to let the others win.

For almost two hours Grace forgot all the things she had done so that this moment with Levi was possible. They had ran more than she could remember. Her brother was sweaty and smelly when she saw Max motion for her to join him, and she hugged him and pushed him toward the others who had decided to go dig for bugs.

She jogged toward Max and started walking when she saw him discreetly holding his hand down and motioning for her to slow down.

“What’s up?” she asked when she got near him.

He smiled and laughed before nodding his head even though she hadn’t said anything funny.

“What gives?”

“God, you’re dense,” he whispered, still smiling the entire time. “Just act like you came over because you saw me and wanted to come, not because I summoned you.”

Grace patted the top of her hair and then chuckled. “I get it. Sorry. How long til–”

“Marcus!” Max exclaimed, turning and nodding slightly toward the grey-haired man walking ahead of Cedric.

“Max,” the man replied, his voice steady and calm. He turned his attention to Grace and smiled. “Miss Grace, it is always good to see the one who has made life in this area worth living again. Tell me, is this oversized man treating you well enough? I’m sure we could find a nice place for you and your brother on our side of town.”

Grace smiled, seeing Max struggling to keep his grin. She knew Marcus was teasing, and Max couldn’t help but ignore the offer she had heard multiple times before.

“I’m doing quite well, and I am grateful for the cooking pot you gave me. I have used it most nights. I’m also glad to see all the children and adults getting to spend time together.”

Marcus smiled and gave her another slight nod of his head. He then turned his gaze to Max and motioned to a bench along a wall. “Shall we?”

“Yes, but would you mind if Grace spoke with Cedric a little? I told her a little about his skill in fighting and boxing, and she wondered if he might help teach her a few things to protect herself and her brother if she ever needed.”

Grace caught the slight shift of Marcus’s head and twitch of one eye at that request before he looked at her. “Is this true?”

Grace sighed and nodded. “While I’m grateful for the safety we enjoy here, sometimes… the other side of the city is not so kind to one like me.”

Marcus frowned and nodded. “Very well. Cedric, if you would.”

Cedric nodded and moved closer to Grace as the other two approached the stone bench.

After both were out of earshot, Cedric turned and studied Grace.

She tried not to shift, but she felt his eyes as he looked her over.

“You’re strong. Very strong.”

“What?” Grace asked, looking confused at his statements.

He shook his head for a moment. “You hide it well, but I can tell by how you stand your feet and arms. Anyone with any training of reading another fighter can see that you know how to defend yourself.”

“Sadly, it comes with living on this side of the city.”

Cedric laughed, his squeaky laugh catching Grace off guard. “You are right. Come with me, and we will find somewhere to talk and see what you can do. I doubt you want anyone to see what happens next.”

He didn’t wait as he turned and began to walk toward the entrance he and Marcus had come on. She started following and quickly realized they were headed to where their gang lived.