Kai lay on the tree-root altar, bloodied and broken, unmoving, the last of his life's blood seeped from the wound on his neck. The blood dripped down, cutting tracks through the red dust that had settled on the altar, that had settled over everything.

The tree loomed over him, its twisted branches covering the night sky in a canopy of glowing silver leaves.

Hina bent over the body, held Kai by the shoulders, shaking. He didn't wake up.

"No."

If he would just wake up, Hina was sure everything would be okay. She shook him harder.

His head lolled unnaturally, the gash in his neck widening.

"No, no no..."

She hovered one hand over his mouth, feeling for breath. He wasn't breathing.

He wasn't breathing.

He was gone.

Dead.

Murdered.

Hina was too late. Had taken too long. She should have been faster. Should have never let him out of her sight.

Gerda. She'd sacrificed him.

And there was nothing Hina could do about it.

Hina stared down at him, still and silent, the blood pooling around him.

The body shifted, moving away, out from under her hand. And down, down into the surface of the altar, tree roots parting somehow to allow him passage, deep into the dark below.

The roots folded back over him as he passed through. In moments, Kai body had disappeared entirely, leaving the altar intact, with only dust and bloodstains to indicate that he'd ever been there at all.

She stared down in shock, and then she reached out, trying to grab him, to pull him back. "No no no no no," Hina muttered under her breath. "No." She rested her hands on the altar, feeling the blood and the dust under numb fingers.

He was gone.

The great tree loomed over her, towering and inhuman. This thing. It had done this. This horrifying thing had taken her brother from her, and then taken his body as if his life wasn't enough.

It wasn't fair.

What had Kai done to anyone? What had she?

They hadn't done anything to deserve this.

No. This wasn't right. This could not stand.

"Give him back," Hina muttered under her breath. "Give him back. GIVE HIM BACK!" she yelled, breaking the stillness. "You fucking monster, you unholy fucking tree. Give me my brother back, you fuck. He wasn't yours to take! Give him back!"

There was no reply.

"Fucking thief," Hina muttered. "Fuck." She looked down. She dripped hot tears into the wet mud. "Fuck," she whispered. Her chest was a black pit of horror. "Fuck."

YOU OWE A DEBT, a silent voice echoed inside Hina's head. A deafening sound that didn't make any noise at all, but somehow drowned out everything else.

Hina paused for a moment. She hadn't expected a response. Not really. But it didn't stop her for long. "I owe you nothing, you fucking monster." Her vision flashed red. "Give me my brother back."

THIRTY SIX SOULS.

"Give him back!"

THIRTY SIX SOULS.

Confusion filtered through the rage. "What?"

YOU WILL SUPPLY THIRTY SIX SOULS, the voice said. CLASS-FOUR OR BETTER, it added.

"What are you talking about?"

IN TRADE AND IN REPAYMENT FOR THE DEBT THAT YOU OWE, the voice continued, AND I WILL RETURN YOUR BROTHER

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"Can you even do that? Can you return him—unharmed?"

IT IS WITHIN MY POWER, the voice boomed.

"Bring him back, and I'll do it. I'll do it. I'll—"

UNACCEPTABLE. YOU OWE A DEBT, the voice said. YOU WILL MAKE PAYMENT IN ADVANCE

"What debt? What do you even think I owe you?"

THREE TOKENS OF HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE. ONE LIFE SAVED FROM THE BRINK OF DEATH, the voice said. THREE SERVANTS TAKEN.

The cards from Gerda, and the time she'd saved her life? "Three... servants taken?"

THE KEEPER. TWO WOLFKIND. TAKEN FROM MY SERVICE. TAKEN BEFORE THEIR TIME. With a hint of anger, THEFT, the voice said.

"I only killed them because they had kidnapped my brother! And they killed him!" Hina shouted. "They killed him!"

The voice was silent for a moment, and then it continued with a sense of patience. THE BOY WAS TRADED FAIRLY, the voice said. KEPT WHOLE AND UNHARMED. UNTIL HE BROKE THE TERMS OF HIS AGREEMENT. UNTIL YOU BROKE GUEST-RITE

"He was stolen away in the night. There was no trade."

A TRADE WAS RECORDED. LIFE FOR LIFE

"I didn't know! Nobody told me!"

YOU OWE A DEBT

"Ten," Hina said. "You'll return him after I've given you ten souls."

There was a pause.

ACCEPTABLE

"And he has to be alive—whole, uninjured and unharmed. Sound of mind and body," Hina said, hurriedly. "Not bound to you or to anyone else, not injured. Not—not broken in any way. Unharmed."

ACCEPTABLE, the voice said. I AM HOSPITABLE, it rumbled with a hint of amusement.

"Not changed. Not changed in any way. Not—not—" Hina struggled to find the right words. "Like none of this ever happened."

ACCEPTABLE

Hina thought for a moment. "How do I supply the souls?"

YOU WILL BEAR MY MARK, the voice said. I WILL RECEIVE YOUR SACRIFICE

"I will bear your mark?"

YOU WILL BEAR MY MARK

"Is that... permanent?"

ALL THINGS WILL END IN TIME

"Will I be able to remove it?"

WHEN THE DEBT IS PAID IN FULL

Hina thought about it. "What makes a sacrifice acceptable?" She was thinking about the book. "Does it require a ritual?"

ANY DEATH YOU CAUSE, the voice said. WITHIN THE PRESENCE OF MY MARK

"How do I know what class a person's soul is?"

MY MARK WILL REVEAL THE NATURE OF A SOUL

"Okay." She considered. "And how do I know you won't just take my brother and leave me with nothing? Or won't count every death I cause as a sacrifice, or some other loop hole I haven't thought of yet?"

I AM HONORABLE, it said with a hint of disapproval. YOU OWE A DEBT. YOU BROKE GUEST-RITE

Hina supposed she probably wasn't going to get a better answer than that. "Fine," she said. "I'll do it. I'll give you ten class-four souls, and you'll return my brother."

THIRTY-SIX SOULS IN TOTAL. NO LESS THAN TWO SOULS PER YEAR, it said. LATE PAYMENT WILL INCUR PENALTIES, the voice boomed. THE BOY NAMED KAI WILL BE RETURNED AFTER THE DEBT IS REDUCED TO TWENTY-SIX SOULS

"What penalties?"

YOUR SOUL WILL BE FORFEIT

Hina paused. "What?"

YOUR SOUL WILL BE FORFEIT

"Two souls per year? What if I have sacrificed three people the year before? Do I still have to give you two, or does it average out?"

I WILL ACCEPT AN AVERAGE, it said with a hint of amusement. IT MUST NOT FALL BELOW TWO SOULS PER YEAR

"Measured when?"

AT THE ANNIVERSARY OF THIS AGREEMENT

Hina thought about it. That seemed fair. "What about souls that are less than class-four?"

UNACCEPTABLE

"They don't count towards the debt at all?"

THEY DO NOT COUNT

"And souls that are higher than class-four?"

UNLIKELY, the voice paused. BUT ACCEPTABLE

"They count as one soul?"

CORRECT

"Fine. How will I know how many souls I've given you?"

YOU MAY ASK, it said. IF YOU CAN NOT REMEMBER

"Do I have to stay here?"

TRAVEL WHERE YOU WISH

"But I will have to come back here to talk to you?"

YOU WILL BEAR MY MARK

"And I can use it to find out how many souls I've given you?"

IF YOU CAN NOT REMEMBER

Hina's frustration was mounting. And the situation felt entirely surreal. "Okay," Hina said. "And you don't have a problem with me going to the academy?"

SERVANTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SEEK HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE, it said. WHEREVER THEY MAY FIND IT

"And I will be your servant?"

YOU WILL BEAR MY MARK

"Fine."

Hina couldn't think of any other problems, except—well, except the obvious. She knew she was out of her depth, and she had to be missing something, though she couldn't think of what it was.

It was worth it, worth it to get Kai back. He didn't deserve this. No.

And she didn't have any other option. She had to do it. For Kai. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, maybe she could find people like those bandits.

"I accept."

THE DEAL IS STRUCK

Hina nodded mutely. It would have to do. She had a flash of Kai's broken body lying on the altar—but no. She'd fixed it. She would fix it. It wouldn't take long, and she'd get him back.

It would be like it had never happened.

How long could it take to kill ten people? Maybe she could have that done within—

Hina's feet lost contact with the ground. She was lifted into the air.

YOU WILL ACCEPT MY MARK

Her arms and legs were stretched out and she hung there in the air before the altar. She tried to pull her arm back but it wouldn't respond to her commands.

THE PROCESS IS MOMENTARY, the voice boomed. EXPECT SOME DISCOMFORT

Hina's ambit shifted, was pulled out—expanded well beyond the best of her efforts as something alien and inhuman sifted through mechanically through the fabric of her spirit.

ACCEPTABLE

The sensation shifted to a burning searing pain as the thing made contact with the fabric of her soul, and Hina screamed in agony. The throbbing, twisting pain reverberated through the whole of her being and it burned itself into her, branding her soul with its mark. She could feel it taking hold, a connection—a link to this thing.

And then it withdrew, pushing her back together again as it departed, leaving her fully contained within her own boundaries. The waves of pain lessened, fading.

She was held there for a moment while the thing watched her. Its attention prickled throughout the whole of her being.

WELCOME, SERVANT

The thing set her down on the ground, feet first.

Wobbling and unsteady on her feet, Hina stood for a moment before collapsing on the ground in front of the altar.

Hina knew no more.