“Glysith,” Haleema says, jogging up to me. “What do you want with her?” She lightly tugs on the scroll to read the names written down. “What is this? I can’t read these words.”

“It is written in Kromagica,” Ulrika answers, pulling back on the scroll just enough it moves out of Haleema’s fingers.

“You can read that?”

“Of course, I can. My father made sure I could. I’m Kromagian by blood, so it was a must.”

“Oh, okay. Do you mind telling me why Glysith’s name was spoken?”

“Uh,” Ulrika says, looking at me.

“Kaioson?”

“I don’t know if I’m at liberty to talk about it,” I say, taking possession of the scroll. From the bottom of my eye, I see Glysith’s location update. It reads she’s at a pub named Zealous Romantic. It’s owned by a succubus named, Catsha.

“What the heck is it doing?” Haleema asks, looking at me and the words

“It’s updating.”

“What exactly?”

“Glysith’s current location.” Ulrika reads out the pub to her, then Haleema takes a step back from me. Just by that moment alone, including the deadlock stare she has on the scroll, I think she knows where this place is. “Haleema, do you mind taking us to this place?”

“Only if you tell me what you want with her.” I take a quick moment to consider if it is alright for her to know Coretha’s backup plan just in case this war doesn’t turn in our favor. There are too many ears around me, and Oraya is looking straight at me. I don’t fully trust the succubus nation being a strong ally in this war. Their country is small; therefore, they can possibly betray us. “I’ll tell you on the way,” I say, rolling up the scroll, then stuffing it back inside its holder. Ulrika takes it from me to strap it around her back.

“Why not now?” Haleema says.

“I’m with her on this,” Oraya jumps into the conversation. “You are, as humans say, cutting around the bush.”

“It’s beating around the bush,” Ulrika corrects as she takes a few steps toward the exit. “Kaio is not doing that. Aside from helping your people, we have a business to attend to. And the nature of it needs to be close-knitted.”

“This does not sit well with me.”

“Trust me,” she says, opening the door and then kicking her head to the side to tell me to come. “Our goal is to help you if shit goes down.”

“If that’s a lie—”

“It’s not. I was given an order by someone higher than any king or emperor,” I say, walking up to Ulrika.

“Oh, I see. Sounds to me a divine quest, right?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“Aw, interesting. I’m glad to see the gods are smiling upon us.”

When Ulrika and I step outside the building, we are surprised by a small gathering of civilians. They stop chattering among themselves once they look up at us. There’s a total of ten of them; three have glowing eyes, while the rest are normal.

“Uh?” Ulrika says, gripping my left wrist slowly. “Okay?” She walks me to the right side of the steps to go around them. Their eyes lock onto us as we move, then one of them approaches us. Ulrika extends her arm to push me away and quickly pulls out her dagger from her boot. “Not one step closer.”

“Whoa, Ulrika,” Haleema says, standing between them. She comes closer to whisper at Ulrika, saying, “What the gods are you doing?”

“Keeping them away from him,” Ulrika answers in the same voice Haleema spoke to her.

“You’re such an idiot. Put that away before you make a fool of yourself.” I have to tug on Ulrika’s arm to make her sheathe the dagger. Haleema turns to the succubus, saying, “I’m sorry about that. Is there something you need?”

“I... We want to give the Kromagians our blessings to help them fight this war for us.” Every one of them takes out a pouch from between their breasts. Their pouches are not the typical sacks I’m used to seeing. Some have colorful patterns stitched, while others are a solid bright color. The moment I slightly move over to get away from Ulrika’s hand to take a closer look at the succubus’s offer, she blocks me with her body.

“Ulrika,” I say with a slight bit of annoyance.

“What’s in the pouch?” Ulrika says, putting her dagger down but pointing at the succubus.

“Money, jewelry, charms, runes,” they say. She finally points the dagger away from them. Haleema sighs from seeing it move away. I attempt to get around her, but she prevents me from being exposed again. “Thanks for your kindness, but keep your valuables and blessings until you’re safe from Nite.” She slips her dagger back into its boot, then takes three steps up the road while signaling me to come. “Kaio? Are you coming?”

“I am,” I say after thanking the succubuses for their goodwill toward us. The moment we walk far enough from them, I open my annoyance to Ulrika. “Ulrika, what is going on with you?”

“Kaio, you know exactly my issue. Look at where we’re in.”

“They’re not like that.”

“Guys, please tell me what the fuck is going on,” Haleema says when she immobilizes us in a tether.

“Impatient much,” Ulrika says.

“Very much so,” Haleema responds with an angry chuckle. “Kaio, tell me what you guys want with Glysith.”

“Can we discuss this in private?” I suggest.

“Okay.” She waves her hands in a circle and then snaps her fingers. A black liquid bubble forms around us. “Speak.”

“We’re here to find Glysith to recruit in the fight against Nite.” Haleema cracks a smile that turns into a burst of laughter.

“Glysith? She’s a pacifist. Are you sure she’s the one you’re looking for?”

“I don’t think an angel would lie to me, so I’m sure.” Her laughter simmers quickly, along with the smile. She releases us from the tether and maintains the bubble around us by continually waving her fingers. “A decree from the gods?”

“Yes, now can we go do our job?” Ulrika says.

“Why are you so uptight suddenly?” Ulrika rolls her eyes which makes Haleema turn red in the face. She forces Ulrika out of the bubble and asks me, “What is up with your wife, Kaio?” The bubble prevents her from returning from it by repelling any attempts to break it.

“I don’t know. I guess it’s the people around us.”

“You need to make her put that to rest now.”

“How? She’s protective, plus her mind is set.” Ulrika bangs on the bubble yelling for Haleema to open it. Her words are muffled, but I can understand what she’s saying. “You better open it, or you’ll piss her off.”

“You better make her behave. She’s stereotyping a race that doesn’t deserve that kind of insult.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll try to correct her.”

“Good.” She makes the water bubble drop to the ground. It splashes on me without dampening my clothing. “I’ll take you to her.” We go down the mildly muddy, somewhat paved street. This town can use a remolding make-over. The wooden buildings of shops are weathered green. At least the names of the buildings are readable.

After walking down the street for ten minutes, Haleema points at Catsha’s pub. It’s the biggest building I have ever seen. I think it has three stories with what might be a living space in the attic. The patrons’ voices from within bleed through the walls. It sounds like a full house. Ulrika takes a quick peek at the scroll to confirm that Glysith is still there.

“Is she there?” I ask.

“Yeah,” Ulrika says, putting away the scroll as she walks up to the pub.

“Ulrika, wait. Let me go in first,” Haleema says, stepping in front of Ulrika. “I know her. And, you might cause a scene.”

“Excuse me? A scene?” Ulrika says as she watches Haleema walk inside the inn. “The fuck is she talking about?”

“Ulrika,” I say, curling my finger to make her come before me. She stands in front of me with a pouty expression. “Drop it.” Her face relaxes, then she crosses her arms.

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“What?” She says with force. Her attitude doesn’t sit well with me. I correct it by giving her a stern point. “Don’t point at me,” she quietly says with a smirk.

“You need to calm down. You are way too overprotective of me, my love.”

“It’s my nature to be.”

“But this is excessive.” I unravel her arms to hold hands. “I appreciate you looking out for the threats I’m blind to. But—”

“But you want me to stop.” She steps closer to me, putting her face inches from mine. “Kaio,” she whispers. “I know I said if there’s something you don’t like about me, I’ll change it. But where we’re standing, forgive me, but I will keep being overprotective.” I’m not thrilled by her decision. This will get out of hand the more we spend our time in this city. “Don’t look so cross, darling.” She kisses my cheek, then rubs my neck with her nose.

“Don’t try to sway me with affection. I’m serious. If you can’t settle down and cease your disdain toward the succubi. I’ll—

“Okay, I get it. I’ll behave.”

“Thank you.”

“Okay, guys. You can come in now,” Haleema says.

“What timing,” Ulrika says. I keep a loose hand touching Ulrika’s waist as we walk in to remind her to remain cordial. “Kaio, I’ll behave.” The room is packed. Ulrika looks at me with a strained frown mixed in with a smile. She follows Haleema without incident to a table with one person sitting there. It’s a succubus with four horns. Her hair is a light purple with white highlights, and her eyes are dimly a purplish white. Around her chest is a black wrapping, similar to what Ulrika wears around her breasts. Her pants and shoes are black. The only thing that’s not mute in color is the gold and silver jewelry on her hands.

“Catsha, this is Kaioson, and Ulrika.”

“Welcome, hunters,” Catsha says. She stands up to offer me a handshake. I shake her hand, then she offers it out to Ulrika. Ulrika looks at me with hesitation. I have to nod my head to tell her it’s okay. She quickly shakes Catsha’s hand and then takes a protective stance with arms crossed over her chest. At least she’s trying to act friendly. “I hear you guys want to talk with Glysith,” Catsha says, sitting back down.

“We are,” I say as I sit down. Ulrika sits with me, keeping her arms crossed. “Is she here?” Suddenly, the candles in the room blow out. They re-ignite into a blue flame and the curtains to my right open.

“You’re going to have to wait until after her performance.”

“Performance?” Ulrika questions.

“Yes. She’s a singer,” Ulrika says before taking a seat with us. She flushes her chair against the back wall. At the angle, she can’t see the stage since it goes a few feet back into the wall.

Strange... Does she not want to see her?

Glysith emerges from the right to stand in the center. Her skin color is gray and her eyes are violet. The tip of her horns is covered with a golden cap. Her dress looks as if the stars were captured within the figure of her curvature body. It almost looks like an empty void that animates when she moves around. The color of her hair is the darkest black I have ever seen in my life. She’s utterly beautiful. I can see how she swooned Haleema.

Their race is nothing but beautiful-looking woman-like creatures. The more I stare, the more I’m in awe of Glysith’s looks. She sings to us in their native tongue. I don’t know what she’s saying, but her voice is soothing. After the performance, Catsha takes us backstage to meet Glysith. The atmosphere turns sour when she makes eye contact with Haleema after Ulrika and I introduce ourselves, but we exclude our purpose here.

“Oh, gods,” Glysith says, putting her face into her hand.

“Hey,” Haleema says.

“Do you two need a moment?” Ulrika asks, cutting to the chase.

“No. It’s fine, Ulrika. Go ahead and conduct your task.” I hand Ulrika the scroll, and we both sit next to Glysith.

“Did I do something wrong?” Glysith asks Ulrika and I.

“No,” Ulrika says with her finger underlining Glysith’s name on the scroll. “You have something that could be useful to our cause.” Glysith crosses her right leg over the other, then covers more of her chest with her fur jacket. I can see her body language becoming defensive.

“What is your cause?”

“Same thing your nation is fighting against. We believe you have a power that’ll aid us in this war against Nite,” I say. She looks at me like I’m crazy. She even mildly scoffs into a sudden chuckle.

“What’s funny?” Ulrika asks with sincerity.

“Nothing,” Glysith responds.

“Do you possess the power to help us in this war?”

“Ulrika, easy. Glysith doesn’t have any powers,” Haleema interjects. Glysith looks up to Haleema with a guilty expression. She’s almost smiling in a frown, and her eyebrows are furred into her forehead. “Gly, you have... powers?”

“Yes,” Glysith says in a way she doesn’t find satisfactory.

“Hold on... When did you obtain powers?”

“There’s so much you don’t know about me.” Haleema gets on her knees with her arms on Glysith’s thigh. They hold hands, but it’s only for a moment. Glysith pulls away to put them into her lap. Haleema settles on placing a hand on Glysith’s forearm. I can tell there might be some lingering affection Haleema might have for her.

“Gly, how come am I hearing this now?”

“I didn’t want to open up that part of me.” I lean forward on the table. This secret intrigues me. Caretha’s potential champion is an interesting one with hidden mysteries of herself.

“Why? Is it bad or something?” Glysith covers her eyes with her hand as she nods up and down fast. “What did you do?” She takes several glances at Ulrika and me. “Kaioson, Ulrika, can you give us a minute.”

“No,” I say. It seems like whatever Glysith did in her past, she keeps it away, locked up. She doesn’t look like a killer or someone to hurt anyone, but Thyrna told me better about secret lives. We all have something we’re not proud of. The big question I want to know is, what did she do?

“No?” Haleema echos what I said in a pitched voice. “What do you mean no? Can’t you see she’s nervous by you two?”

“I can see that. Glysith, we are not here to judge. But, I would like to know your past.”

“Why?” Glysith asks.

“We want to know everything about who we might work with,” Ulrika says. “Are you a murderer?”

“No...n...no.” Ulrika stands halfway up before Glysith reveals that she used to be a mercenary.

“And what of your powers?” Glysith puts her right hand out to Ulrika. A nearly invisible energy tether covers Ulrika’s entire body. When she moves her arm up, Ulrika floats out of her seat. “Whoa!” Using my form of tether magic, I break the chain by tethering Glysith’s hold to the table. It fractures in a flash of white powder like stars. Ulrika falls back into her chair. “What the fuck did you do?”

“It’s telekinesis,” I answer.

“Are you a wielder too?” Glysith asks with a gasp. “I think I saw you cast it.”

“It’s more of lateral tethers.” I tether Ulrika’s arm to the ceiling to make it point up.

“Can I not be an experiment?” Ulrika says.

“Sorry,” I say, waving my head to break the connection. Ulrika lightly rams her fist into the side of my rib cage. “Ouch! I said I was sorry.” I try to give her the same punch, but she shocks my hand and gives me a finger wag.

“You two seem... playful,” Glysith says.

“They’re married,” Haleema whispers, but I’m sure Ulrika heard it too.

“So,” I say, resting my hand on Ulrika’s knee to somewhat remain playful. “Let’s get serious for a moment. My wife and I are here because we’re trying to gather people like you to form a hopefully not-needed plan B.”

“Hold on. Aren’t the Paladins the extra help for the world’s forces?” Glysith asks.

“We are,” Haleema says as she moves off of Glysith. “That’s my agency’s purpose.”

“My?”

“I... I suddenly became the leader of them not too long ago. Emdal gave me his life’s work before he passed.”

“Were you two close?” Glysith asks when she puts her hand on Haleema’s shoulder.

“Let’s not discuss that right now. I don’t want to get off-topic.”

“Okay...” Glysith whispers as she moves her eyes to me. “I decline your offer.”

“What?” I say.

“Excuse me,” Ulrika says a moment right after me.

“I’m not going to join your task force. I haven’t fought in years, let alone handled a weapon for so long,” Glysith pleads. Haleema looks at me, shrugs her shoulders, and frowns with her mouth shifted to the right. I interpret the gesture as an I told you so kind of manner. “I live a life of peace, void from any sort of conflict.”

“You do realize your world is under threat, right?” Ulrika says.

“I do.”

“What if we fail and Nite starts sending their barbarians to your home, hmm? Are you going to remain in your passive mindset?” Her voice rises a bit. I can tell she’s getting slightly aggravated, so I rub the inner part of her thigh to make her ease up.

“I... It’s my creed.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Ulrika jumps up, then slams her hands on the table. Her chair slides back from her legs, slamming into them. “Fuck whatever promise you made to yourself! The world is at war. When the time comes,” she stops to point at her, “you need to fight!”

“Ulrika, you are being way too demanding,” Haleema accuses.

“Demanding? Ha!”

“Kaio— Kaioson?” I remain silent to show my favor to Ulrika.

“Glysith, you better drop this shit and agree to help.”

“Are you threatening me?” Glysith asks as she slowly stands up out of her seat. Haleema gets in between them with her palms pointed at them.

“Ladies, please calm down. Kaison, control your wife,” Haleema tells me with a shakey panic voice.

“Or else what, human!”

“That creed will end you or someone you hold dear. Drop that stupid shit before it’s too late.” I finally interject the hostile conversation by lightly pulling Ulrika to me by her stomach.

“Wait for me by the door,” I command her in the softest voice I can say. She timidly gives in to my hold and rests her back on my chest. It takes her five seconds to adhere to my wish. She leans on the wall next to the door while facing it.

“With all due respect, human, she’s a bitch,” Glysith tells me.

“Gly!” Haleema gaps.

“But she speaks wisdom.”

“Will you reconsider?” I ask.

“I moved far away from a life of violence. It’s tainted me, and I fear it’s a blood lust.”

“Don’t,” I say, gently grabbing her shoulder. “I know well enough that mercenaries can get unethical. I assume there were moments it got like that for you?”

“I did... It’s what made me give up that life of violence.”

“I’m sorry to tell you, but violence will be your savior. See it like this.” I press my finger into her upper left breast, then press it into her forehead to call upon a spell that will cast a minor illusion of my choosing.

“What are you doing? What am I seeing? My body is getting warm, and it’s involuntarily flexing.” The muscles in her neck twitch the more I continue the spell.

“This is a spell of my own creation.” I show her a perception of the likelihood of her path. I take my finger away to stop the cast. “I can’t see what you saw, but don’t let it get there, okay?” She covers her eyes before any tears come out but don’t shy away from crying. I glance at Ulrika, who’s hawking me down like stalking me from afar. “We’ll talk tomorrow. Where can I find you?”

“I’ll be here at dawn.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow,” I conclude, walking over to Ulrika. Haleema stays by Glysith to help her deal with the vision she saw. Since they know each other, I’m positive she can make her consider supporting the cause.

“Did you touch her tit?” Ulrika asks me in a quiet yet flustered voice.

“I cast a spell that will make her change her mind, maybe,” I say, ignoring her question.

“She better.” Her tough aura is amusing, yet needs to be checked for the rest of the day.

“Let’s go find us an inn.”

“By the gods, yes.” She takes me by the hand to escort me out and into the streets. “Let’s find the Kromagian barracks. I need a warm bed to lay on.”

“Warm bed? When did they make ’em warm?”

“They’re only warm when you are in them, silly.”

“Ah,” we both say.

We get inside the Kromagican encampment north of the city, ten miles away from an ongoing battle. Ulrika convinces the captains of the guard to give us a room together. She makes herself at home, throwing her boots off her feet, then sprawling out on the bed. I send my sword to hover over the door, then sit at a table to read through the scroll of champions again.

“I hope she’ll take heed to us. This will be a waste of our time if she says no,” Ulrika says.

“Coretha chose her for a reason. If Glysith refuses to help us, I’m sure she’ll come around later.”

“How can you be so sure? She has this stupid creed of doing no harm. Ugh, she reminds me of these monks I ran into when I was a knight.”

“Sounds like a story coming.”

“Nay. I’m not going to drown your ears in a long story. The monks died for their non-violent creed. They were massacred in their own monastery.”

“Gods...”

“Yeah,” she whispers, stripping off her upper armor. “I don’t want her to be that stupid when the enemy is knocking on the door.” I help take off the remaining armor pieces. She assists me in taking off mine. “So, what’s our plan tomorrow?”

“Check in with Glysith and survey the frontline.”

“Sounds like a plan.”