“The state of your guild is completely disgraceful!” A bat-like shriek hit Zunuha like a harsh wind in winter. Jerked her out of her thoughts.

The guild captains—minus her own, naturally—and the Guildmaster sat at their row of decorated chairs at the front of the room. Master Sato in the center with the most august seat, the king of their humble province, and the captains beside him. A girl stood before them, screeching and hissing like a spoiled rich child got her toys taken away. Zunuha had to wonder if the girl realized the men in front of her were the ones in charge, but she didn’t wonder for long. “Is this how I’m to be greeted? Are these the standards of the revered House of Heroes? I am shocked at the depravity you have allowed this establishment to sink to!”

Master Sato’s wrinkled face twisted with a deep frown as the girl took a moment to breathe, and for a second that was all that was heard. Sato cleared his breath, flipped through a stack of papers before settling on one, and read aloud in his gentle, but no less stony tone. “It says here you’re learned in potioncraft? An example would—”

“I need to prove what my documents say now? What would you like? A tonic? A hallucinogen? Is that what it will take in order for you to take me seriously?” Zunuha was glad she could only see the back of the girl’s head. “I am baffled at the unholy disrespect I have received since my arrival! I demand—”

It was a shit storm which none of the captains, nor the master, were remotely prepared for. The latter, in particular, struggled to restrain a twitching red eye, kneading at the grip of his cane as he waited for the girl to stop. Zunuha had just walked into the room and her self-important whinging was grating at her nerves like two rocks scraping together.

In the benches rowed out in front of the captains’ chairs, she found her own captain watching the proceeds, saying something she couldn’t hear to his only companion and her teammate, Toothless. Zunuha slung her legs over the backrest and dropped next to her captain in one smooth motion. Nodded toward the tirading girl. “Who’s she? Upkeep?”

“If she was, we’d be closed,” Mazrur said, eyes glazing over the interview like it was a play he’d grown bored of. “Ain’t you supposed to be scrubbing pots right about now, Buttercup?”

“Something like that,” Zunuha then turned to Toothless, who sat on the captain’s right, rubbing his cloth-wrapped throat with his middle finger. “Taking care of our captain?”

Toothless levelled both his hands like he was holding a pole, making a motion as though cracking reins. “Trying,” he signed.

“Don’t get him started.” The captain said, “He’s been chattering all morning. All morning!”

Zunuha punched him in the arm. “Toothless, don’t let him pick on you.”

The boy shrugged, drew a leg up to his chest, propping a leather boot onto his seat. It made the black he wore much more apparent, leaving very little visible skin, besides his pale face and fingers. His only armor was a thin chestplate good only for glancing cuts, but in his case, the less armor the better. Zunuha always noticed his hair first. Long and black, fashioned up in a tangled bird’s nest like he’d rolled out of bed only a moment ago. His face was a chopping block of scars. Across his pointed nose, over his dark eyes, scraping his dry lips. Those scars twisted when he smiled at her, taunted her curiosity, tarnished what might have been a more handsome face. Not to say he looked bad. Didn’t look bad at all, really. It took her a moment to work out what he signed next, but figured it out quickly enough. “Besides poisoning him, I don’t see another way to shut him up.” He let out a soundless laugh as the captain snatched him in a headlock.

"Do it, you little shit. It'll finally get me outta babysitting you two. Well, three now."

Zunuha blinked at the girl, who’d finally taken a long enough break for Master Sato to speak. "She’s our third?"

"Yep, that's why you're here.” Mazrur gave the most unenthusiastic fist pump known to man. “Her royal sweetness, Margery Silverwither will complete our little litter. Hoo-fucking-rah."

Silverwither. The witch family? Zunuha was not sure she liked the idea of working with a high-class brat like her. All too often their type shoved their weight around and had bigger egos than their heads had space for. It was possible Margery wasn’t having a good day. Zunuha had less-than-mature outbursts here and there. Give everyone a fair swing, her father told her once. Zunuha brightened as she looked up at her captain. “Does that mean we finally have some work?”

“I need help emptying my shitter.”

“Captain!”

Mazrur held up his empty palms defensively. “Alright, yes I may have something for us to do. But we drew the short steel with Banshee over there, so try to get along with her.”

The last witch that joined the guild was one of her captain’s old teammates, and he’d been kicked out twenty years ago. So, why was this Margery here? What did she want that she could only get here? Zunuha pursed her lips in thought, running through a list of possibilities as she considered the girl. Fame? She was a member of the most illustrious witch family, regaled more even than the royal lineage. Money? She likely had enough of it, and the job didn’t pay nearly as well as people thought. It wasn’t shit pay, but you wouldn’t be getting rich and that was a fact. Every theory Zunuha posed did not hold up to a moment of scrutiny.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Anyway, I wanted to let you two know,” said Captain Mazrur. “Make sure you introduce yourselves. She has her practical right after this.”

Toothless mirrored Zunuha’s confusion. “I thought she was already on our team. Didn’t she pass already?”

"She doesn't have to, she’s a witch — and you don’t see many of them on the battlefield. Her practical is only to test her skills and combat experience. Which, I’ll wager, is very little. Maybe she’ll surprise us, but even if she doesn’t, she was accepted the moment we got her transcripts. Her folks were persuasive.” Mazrur rubbed his thumb, forefinger, and middle finger together.

Zunuha grimaced. "So that’s how we do things now?”

"It’s not like this happens for everyone. Witches don't even answer to the king. Keep that in mind." He nodded them toward Margery when the captains concluded the interview, leaving Margery to stew with haughty discontent all by her lonesome. “There’s your chance. Don’t fuck up.”

"Fine, I'll be nice. Come on, Toothless."

It wasn’t often that she was nervous approaching people, but couldn’t deny that Margery scared her a little. She wore a long blue cloak over matching robes, the fabric flowing smoothly over her shoulders like she took meticulous care to iron out every wrinkle. Pink, unblemished skin, almost pearly. Her hair was done up in a braid shaped like it was supposed to be a crown—which said everything you needed to know about her on a first impression. Zunuha didn’t get to call out to her before she turned to them, glaring with a mean frown and mean eyes like their very existence was beneath her acknowledgement. I have not smiled even once in my entire life, that was the feeling she emanated. Zunuha put a smile up anyway as she stopped before her, unclenched her balled fist, and handed it out to her. “I’m Zunuha.”

Margery gave no response, just stood there, arms crossed.

“Guess we’re teammates now.”

No response.

“Can’t say we get a lot of witches in the guild. Got one back home. All he does is help clean the river when the mudflows come in, never gave us his name so we call him Mudflaps. The mayor pays him in wine, funny enough. Wouldn’t be surprised if he and the captain knew each other. Bet you can do a lot more than Mudflaps though, eh?”

No response. Nothing but a cold, disapproving glare as if Zunuha had insulted her grandmother. Zunuha glanced at Toothless, who offered a shrug, which in his case was fair enough. At this point, it was best to pass the baton and move on. “This is Toothless. He doesn’t talk much, and not just because he’s mute. He knows some magic too, I’ve seen—”

Margery’s voice came out sharp and decisive. “Why is there a corpse in the House of Heroes?”

Zunuha hadn’t realized she’d kept her smile up the entire time, because it dropped harder than the guilty at a hanging. There was no mistaking what she heard, Margery scowling with visible distaste, Toothless lowering his head and looking away like he was sorry for being in her presence. “Margery, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call him that. Toothless is really sweet and—”

“Did you not hear me? Must I repeat myself? Why is there a corpse in the guild?”

Because it wasn’t illegal for him to be. But Zunuha didn’t want to say anything that could start a problem. You had to give everyone a fair swing, and she’d promised the captain to be nice. “Listen, we—”

“No, you listen.” Margery spoke like Zunuha was a child, broke the distance between them, and stabbed a finger in the middle of her chest. There was a sharp pulse in her head, as though a corner of her brain had burst. Then it got worse. Became a violent migraine beating at her skull. “I will not have some face-stealing mongrel and insipid ape like you even within my vicinity, let alone on my team!”

Zunuha was trying so hard not to do anything, not to say anything. She made ready to take Toothless and back off, but he apparently had other ideas. He tried to gently move Margery’s hand away, and there was a loud crack as her palm struck him right across the face, the sound like a whipping wet cloth. “Keep your filthy paws off me, you animal!”

Zunuha had given her a fair swing, now she had to kill her.

She’d winded back her arm, but when it came time to commit said murder, she found her captain had grabbed her. She snarled and clawed at his arms as Margery backed away, her head threatening to explode. “I’ll rip your fucking tongue out! Come here! ”

Margery seemed unbothered by her threat, though she did maintain her distance. She pointed a delicate, very breakable-looking finger at Toothless. “I demand to know why I’m working with a white!”

“Don’t,” The captain said in Zunuha’s ear. “She’s not Attuned. You hit her, you might break her. Can’t go on missions if you’re in prison. Calm down.”

Calm down? How could he say that after what Margery did to his apprentice? If not her, then he should do something. And he did, just not what she expected. “You got some complaints, Sweetness? Take it up with the Rep on your own time. Let’s get on with your practical. Buttercup, go on and show your new best friend to the field.”

Zunuha snatched out of his grip, saw Margery flinch, but found little satisfaction in it. Her fist quivered with the need to hurt her. To do something. Instead, she took Toothless by the hand and stormed off with him to the training field. If Margery was on their team, that meant Captain Mazrur was testing her.

Good. This would be a slaughter to remember.