“I fail to see the benefit of us helping you,” Madam Shaggy said with a twisted scowl. “Even if we do find the mana surge, what’s in it for us?”

Alvin shrugged in his suit of armor. “You get to get rid of the threat of a monster wave?”

He wore one of the armors that carried no specification. The VHF called it the Ranger armor but others called it the all-rounder for obvious reasons. He was resting against the wall of the room, actually tired of having to listen to the mages here.

He was in a room with five other mages. Madam Shaggy was a large woman with an air of arrogance as if she’d achieved something monumental. There was a man who was on the corpulent side with a clean shaved hair and a girth so wide he almost looked like a Russian doll. There was a lady with legs that went all the way up and a smile that was too sharp. A dwarf who looked at everyone as if the world had somehow slighted him and he was due his pound of flesh. But the last mage was the one Alvin was truly wary of. He was a mage that looked desiccated, always wearing a soft smile like a grandfather watching his kids even though no one at the table seemed to take him seriously. Worse of all, Alvin couldn’t put a finger on what his specialization could possibly be at all, even with his Olympian armor’s different features.

“Nobody cares about the monster wave,” Madam Shaggy said. “You guys or someone else was always going to deal with it

“What about money?” Alvin said.

“I don’t think you have enough money to move all of us.”

Alvin turned his head to Abed. The corpulent mage already had under the table dealings with Alvin’s team. Or at least he was working towards it. Captain Ven had already said the man would be looking to have them colonize the town and instate him as the mayor. That meant Abed was inclined to lean towards whatever they wanted.

Abed met Alvin’s attention and his eyes narrowed.

“The hell you looking at?” Abed scowled.

Well, so much for that, Alvin thought. He remembered Ronda’s description of the man when she’d met him in the woods. He’d displayed a healthy terror towards the simple idea of VHF. Maybe she had done that fear a disservice by releasing those monsters on him. Or maybe it had been when they hadn’t helped him at the failed party even though he’d invited them there for the redhead. Regardless of what the reason was, it didn’t matter.

Alvin let out a quite breath. He hadn’t wanted to be the one here. He’d wanted to go with the others and watch Captain Ven negotiate. Sadly, he was the only other category two Rukh mage. In an Olympian armor he was practically Bishop rank.

“What of you?” Alvin asked, turning to the desiccated mage. He knew the man by name but wasn’t willing to mention it.

“What about me?” Big Man Desolate asked, uncaring.

“Are you willing to help?”

The mage shrugged. “Sure.”

Madam Shaggy struck the table they sat around with a loud bang.

“That was not what we agreed on!” She snarled.

Big Man Desolate gave a helpless shrug. “What can I say? I’m always willing to fight monsters.”

“That’s because you refuse to die,” Madam Shaggy shot back.

“What about you, Eitir?” Alvin asked the dwarf.

“Give me some VHF tech as a reward and I’m in,” Eitir said.

Madam Shaggy scowled at him, too. Then she gave a defeated sigh and pressed a hand against her forehead.

“I don’t even know why I even bother,” she muttered.

“I take it you have something you want,” Alvin said to the only other female mage here.

“Just territory,” Lady Long Legs said with a nonchalant gesture. It sufficed to generate a sharp look from Abed.

“What?” Lady Long Legs asked. “I lost a lot of people to that party and in the last week I’ve already gotten reports of losing territories. Can’t hurt to get them back.”

“You know it won’t bode well if you get them back with VHF help,” Abed pointed out.

Lady Long Legs laughed. “No one cares how you get to the top in the jungle, Abed, only that you got there. You can deal with the rest later on.”

Abed shook his head.

“What about you?” Alvin asked Abed. “Have anything you want? Money?”

Abed tapped a thoughtful finger against his chin before he answered.

“There is a girl,” he said.

“No!” Madam Shaggy’s voice was strong and vehement.

Alvin turned a confused look at her, certain no one knew he was confused.

“You will not have her,” Madam Shaggy snarled. “Bad enough you lost her and can’t compensate, but if she’s still alive out there somewhere, and they do find her, she’s coming back to me.”

“Just to put this out there,” Alvin said with a calmly raised hand. “But the VHF does not support human trafficking or ownership of another human of any kind. Be it prostitution, slavery or otherwise.”

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

“No one owns anyone here,” Madam Shaggy said. “But the VHF will not be helping Abed find any girl.”

“She went missing under my watch,” Abed said. “I only think it’s right that I take the responsibility of finding her.”

“And she will be found,” Alvin said. “Now,” he turned to Madam Shaggy, “if you have nothing motivating you to join our cause, then I fear you will not be coming with us.”

“No!” Eitir barked. “We cannot leave her behind. She cannot remain alone.”

“And she will not,” Alvin answered easily. Captain Ven had already predicted the lack of trust between them and had devised a plan. “In the event that anyone of you refuses to join in this expedition, my team is more than happy to leave behind one of our own to ensure the continued power status until your return. That is if you all agree to it.”

He gave them expectant looks. Eitir was the first to speak.

The dwarf shrugged. “I’d rather trust the VHF than trust one of these lot.”

“I take offense at that,” Madam Shaggy said.

“Same,” Lady Long Legs said.

“I agree,” Abed added.

Alvin looked at the desiccated mage and the mage shrugged.

“What kind of gadgets does your team have?” Big Man Desolate asked. “And what’s the VHF’s take on mage immortality?”

“Immortality?”

The mage’s expression fell. “Never mind.”

“You sure?”

“Yup. Certain.”

“Alright, then what’s your opinion on leaving one of my companions behind with your colleague over here?”

Big Man Desolate shrugged. “Not really my problem. You kids can do what you want. Me, I’m going to hunt monsters. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll meet that kitty again.”

“I think you’re the only one who’ll consider that lucky, Desolate,” Lady Long Legs said.

“What kitty?” Alvin asked, serious.

Abed waved his question aside. “It’s nothing important. Just make sure you guys keep your end of the deal.”

Alvin had a feeling Abed wasn’t talking about the deal he’d just made with some of them. Regardless, he couldn’t care less about it. If his team’s calculations were right, then there was a chance there would be Bishop rank monsters. It was more than certain that most of them wouldn’t come back alive.

“I change my mind,” Madam Shaggy said. “I’m coming with.”

Abed smirked at her. “What changed?”

“Besides her gender?” Big Man Desolate cackled.

“First, fuck you,” Madam Shaggy told him. “Second, I just can’t imagine spending anytime with a VHF goon playing baby sitter.”

Eitir turned in his seat to look up at Alvin where he was still leaning against the wall.

“I guess it’s settled then,” the dwarf told him. “We’re all coming. So how’s it going to work?”

……………………………………………

“Hello, friend.”

Shanine stared up at green eyes with a touch of worry. The last thing she remembered was a soul piercing fear as if a lion had its paw on her chest and its jaws were closing around her neck. It had been a horrible feeling, the kind that exists only in nightmares. Now, here she was looking at the friendliest smile she’d ever seen in a while.

“Now, I know a lot of people don’t like sharing these days but I hope you don’t mind me sharing your space,” the man said.

Shanine continued to stare, unsure of what to say or do. She’d been making plans on how to draw his attention so that he could be her way out of Hillview for so long, but now that she was out, regardless of her current condition, that’s when he decides to show up. She could still remember how he’d ignored her at the party, left her to Abed.

Still, that wasn’t what left her staring.

The red haired mage sat in front of her with a wide smile and a twinkle in his eyes. There was something boyish about his expression, like a child who didn’t know the wicked ways of the world. As odd as such an expression was in this world, that still wasn’t what held her. The mage wore practically no clothes except a torn up piece of cloth that looked like nothing but a loin cloth. Judging from the burn marks at the edges, she guessed whatever it had been before had been burnt down to this.

Yet he looked more than comfortable in his nigh nakedness.

“Oh, this?” the mage said, looking down at himself. “Don’t worry about it. It might not look like it but this happens a lot in my line of work. I’m Zed.”

Shanine looked down at the hand he held out to her then took it gently.

“Your hand’s shaking,” Zed noted. “Is that normal?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “People like me are usually terrified of mages.”

“Well you have nothing to be worried about when it comes to me…” Zed let his word trail off so that she could complete it.

“Shanine,” she said.

“Well, you have nothing to be worried about when it comes to me, Shanine. I’m as harmless as they come.”

She studied him again, taken note of his burnt up clothe and his disheveled and uneven hair. The only thing nearly civilized about him was the single braid that fell down the side of his face, and even that was burnt halfway up.

“Sorry about the look,” Zed said. “Like I said, it’s more normal in my line of work than you think.”

“Wait,” Shanine said, a thought coming to her. “I thought you said your name was Ned?”

“It’s also Zeddicus. Sometimes it’s Jason.”

“You have a lot of names?”

“Depending on the season. Yes.”

She gave him a skeptical look, her hand still trapped in his. “So,” she said, cautious. “Is Zed your real name?”

“Maybe,” he said. “But you can call me Samuel, if that makes you comfortable.”

“You don’t look like a Samuel.”

“And what does a Samuel look like?”

“More comported. Civilized.”

Zed released her hand, the wide smile never leaving his face.

“I get the feeling that answer is biased,” he said. “Don’t know a lot of Samuels and none of them fit that description.”

Shanine gave him a skeptical look. All the Samuels she knew looked exactly how she’d described. Civilized. The ones who didn’t, usually went by ‘Sam.’

“Alright,” Zed said. “You got me, I don’t know any Samuel. But if I did, that’s what I would’ve said.”

Shanine wasn’t sure how to feel about the mage now. Talking to him was disconcerting. He followed the conversation but didn’t have the conversation. It was like talking to two people at the same time; one of them answering the question and the other doing their best to belittle the conversation. It was also childish.

Is he treating me like a kid, she wondered. Adults were prone to doing such things with children, emulating what they thought was childish and defenseless. As a child a lot of adults had done it to her, and she was guilty of doing the same a few times.

She found it difficult to believe this was the man’s normal behavior. A childish adult was uncommon, but a childish mage was unheard of. No one went through the strain of battling monsters every now and then and kept hold of their happiness. The world out there did not retain such happiness and she’d seen only a glimpse of it in the past few days. Monsters were the farthest thing from natural.

The thought of monsters reminded her of the fear she’d felt before fainting and the growling and snarling and killing she’d been hearing on the other side of the door. She was no rookie to the sound of violence and what she’d been hearing had been nothing but violence. But that fear, that had been the true terror.

“Were the monsters still around when you got here?” she asked.

Zed paused. “What monsters?”

Shanine gave him a flat look. “Are you telling me that if I open that door and look outside, I won’t see any dead monsters?”

“Oh, that? You know you should go with monster corpses next time instead of monsters,” he said. “Less confusion. The monster corpses are still out there but no monsters.”

“They used to be monsters.”

“Then I’m more than glad I came late. I am in no position to be fighting.”

“True enough.”

“Good.” Zed changed his position, adjusting so that he sat more comfortably with legs stretched out and his back against the wall and closed his eyes. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m just going to stay here and play pretend for a while.”

“Play pretend?”

“Yea.”

“You look like you’re going to sleep.”

“I’m pretending to sleep. It’s play pretend.”

“You look like you’re falling asleep.”

“Thank you. I’ve been practicing.”

Shanine frowned. “Are you sleeping, Zed.”

“Hush, love. You’ll break my focus.”