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We had moved a bit off the road and into a small cluster of protective pines for the night, not wanting to call too much attention to our party. The smell of bean stew wafted in the air, but trust me, it wasn’t so bad. First, I had finally gotten used to eating and digesting beans—a phrase I thought I’d never actually write down. It was also correctly spiced since I was in charge of preparing it.

“Dinner’s ready!” I announced. “Everyone come–”

Thock!

I saw a sudden flash of silver as a throwing knife buried itself into a tree a few feet to my right.

“Bullseye!” Nora cheered, standing next to Vernie.

“Which one of you just did that?!” I demanded of them both.

They immediately pointed at each other as the last rays of sunlight hit both of their guilty faces.

“I see…” I marched over and pulled the knife from the tree. "Well, I guess I’ll just hold on to this for now, then. Maybe you’ll pick a target a little farther away from my face next time.” Honestly, it wasn’t all that close, and I could tell by the way it hit dead on that it was Vernie who threw it, showing Nora how to get it to tumble end over end correctly.

“Told you she’d get mad,” Nora muttered.

“You saw, though, right?” Vernie whispered back.

“Yeah,” Nora agreed quietly.

I frowned. “Saw what?”

“You sensed it even before it hit,” Vernie explained nervously. “You turned and dodged, even though it was unnecessary.”

I had?

“Are you seriously trying to get on my bad side?” I gave her an exaggerated mad-dog stare, complete with a dramatic eye twitch.

“No! No! I’m just… Trying to show you that… you’re extraordinary, even when you don’t try to be.”

I was filled with a somewhat warm and squishy feeling even as I contained my instinctive rage that demanded I throttle them both. “Just… no more throwing weapons at party members or in their general direction, okay? Someone might get the wrong idea.”

“Yes, Holy Captain,” they agreed petulantly in unison, crossing their fingers over their hearts.

After we ate, Aleph tended to Tetora’s wounds again, which had begun weeping a dark serous fluid that stained anything it touched. Aleph also showed signs of moderate stress now, often opting out of casual banter to hover protectively around Tetora. They had both decided to retire early tonight, though I could hear them whispering back and forth quietly.

Nora, Vernie, and I sat around the campfire, overstuffed on dinner but too lazy to get ready for sleep. We watched the ruddy orange flames dance for a little while in silence. As the burning wood crackled and popped, I couldn’t help but think of the farmhouse fire from earlier. Had they put it out before it spread too far? Who would be blamed for it? With a silent grimace, I concluded that all we did was force that landlord to overcharge for water. What use is a substitute hero who doesn’t confront blatant villainy when she sees it?

I exhaled with annoyance again for about the thirtieth time and changed into a different slumping position.

“I’ll take the first watch,” Vernie volunteered with a wave of her hand. “You kids should get ready for bedtime.”

Nora and I exchanged a purse-lipped glance.

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“Who are you calling kids? You’re the one who got your toy confiscated before dinner.” Nora then stuck out her tongue, purposefully negating her argument.

“Hey now, you helped, remember?” I nudged her with my elbow. “I’m almost positive you talked her into it.”

“I know I don’t look it,” Vernie said dramatically, tossing her hair back with an audible flick as she stood up. “But I’m your elder, and you’ll always be kids to me.” She paused then, looking nervously toward where Aleph and Tetora had settled in for the night. “One more day til we find a priest for him…”

Nora and I mumbled our agreement as Vernie climbed a tree to get a better view of the area.

I took a deep breath and stood, but Nora tugged on my arm.

“Rae… What’s Kopria going to be like?”

I almost asked, ‘Why are you asking me?’ but from her tone, I surmised she was looking for reassurance. “I bet the inn will be nice. This area has a lot of vegetation, and the climate’s not so bad…” I took a natural pause as I sat back down across from her. “What about the priest there?”

“Well, if he’s anything like Father Baram–”

“I don’t think he will be anything like Father Baram.” Nora frowned. “I think we should be wary.”

“Wary? Why?”

“Hybrid slavery’s legal here. Do you think the priest will just heal Tetora with no questions asked?”

“That’s… what they do, though, right? I mean, Tetora’s sick! Demonic poison. If that’s not the Purpose of a priest…”

“Maybe…” Nora said without conviction. “But do you understand what Aleph was saying about animus offsets?”

“Mmm… sounded like some sort of exemption,” I answered vaguely to hide my ignorance.

“Landowners pay the priests money so they can have more than twenty hybrids as slaves,” Nora clarified. “Vernie said it’s a practice spreading all over Eastern Turri.”

“So they’re just bribing them to look the other way?” I straightened in surprise.

“They say they use the money to fund activities to reduce animus, but who knows what that means…”

I frowned. “Well, we can skip the inn and pay the priest instead. Or maybe barter. I think maybe some of my armor might fetch a–”

“Don’t be stupid!” Nora flicked my forehead. “Personal protective equipment is a necessity! Do you have any idea how much you scared me going one-on-one with the Matriarch? You could have been ripped to shreds by a giant skunk!”

“That does… sound like an idiotic way to go, huh?” I tried to play it off lightly so she wouldn’t get upset.

Nora folded her hands in front of her and cleared her throat softly. “Rae. I think we need to have a serious talk.” Oh, I don’t like those.

“Um…”

“Do you recall a character by the name of Prelate Dolus?” Nora asked.

I blinked several times. “No, never heard of him.”

Nora nodded. “Me neither. But Vernie has. And it seems he’s in charge around here, causing all sorts of trouble.”

“Wait, shouldn’t she be talking to me about this?” I mean, I’m the captain, right? She practically made me captain!

“She’s having enough trouble keeping herself together. Haven’t you noticed you two have been butting heads lately?”

“Well, yeah, but…” I thought we were doing better now? Oh… I looked at the knife I had confiscated.

Nora’s eyes crinkled slightly. “She’s also stopped drinking cold turkey recently. The last thing she needs is to get into a religious argument with you.”

I grunted. “Fine, just tell me what you know about this Dolus person.”

“Mmm… the nicest phrase Vernie had for him was ‘corrupt inquisitor.’ Apparently, he’s one of those who promoted the theory that hybrids generate more animus than other animals.”

“Wouldn’t it look really bad for him if he refused to help someone attacked by a demon?” I hedged. “We should at least try to talk to him first.”

“Fine, but then what? What are we going to do if he stonewalls us?”

I didn’t know how to reply, so I just stared at the ground for a little while, not using my eyes to see anything in particular.

“I know what I’d do,” Nora sniffed. “But I think the decision should come from you. We’ll back you up, regardless.”

“I’m… not going to give up if that’s what you’re worried about. Tetora needs healing, and he needs it now.”

“Just don’t kill the Prelate, okay? Or break his jaw. You seem to have this thing for punching things in the jaw, but I think he might need his to cast. Not all of us can talk with our fingers.”

“I’m not gonna beat up a priest!” I gasped in surprise, utterly horrified at what Relias would think of me. “I’m the–” I stopped myself. I almost said it aloud. The big lie. The lie I was starting to fall for myself.

“Rae… you might not have to resort to violence,” Nora murmured. “But it will require you to do something you’ve been avoiding. You’re going to have to do the thing.”

“What thing?” I was already gritting my teeth, well aware of the answer.

“Be the hero I know you already are! Eura told you to do whatever you need to do to make things right! So namedrop, start glowing, and order him to comply! Maybe he’ll even listen.”

Sure, it’s one thing to say, but something totally different to do. And there was no coming back from it.

“... I’ll consider it.” I stood up abruptly.

“Rae, I’m not saying that you’re really–”

“I’m going to bed now.” I resolutely walked away from the campfire, not wanting to continue the conversation aloud. I couldn’t stop it from continuing in my head, though, with vehement arguments from all sides.

After a few moments, she called after me. “Friends forever?”

“...Friends forever.” I didn’t look back.

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