I never had a pet. It wasn’t because I didn’t want one; more like my parents would never let me have one—oh wait, I did have a few pets. However, while they were technically pets, I would be hard-pressed to really count them as such. Back when I was in elementary school, in an effort to stop me from asking about getting a cat, mom bought me some goldfishes. Simple and easy to take care of. Very low maintenance unlike a cat or a dog.

I killed them within a few days. It wasn’t from malicious intent or anything, but I wanted something that I could touch. I got bored of watching them pretty quickly; the only real interesting thing that ever happened was the long strings of feces they let out. I resorted to poking them with branch from my backyard to get them to do something, especially when they stopped responding to my palm banging on the glass. However, that wasn’t what killed them. What eventually ended their very short lives was the fact that I didn’t change out their water.

It became polluted with leftover flakes and floating feces—both of which they ate—that I just woke up one day to find their bodies floating just a little above the water’s surface. I learned later that they needed fresh water every so often to live. She bought me more goldfish to have as pets, but I eventually got tired of doing the maintenance and allowed them to die. Perhaps, that was when I got the idea that I couldn’t keep a pet since I would eventually get tired of it.

However, I now had servants to take care of them for me.

“Can I buy one?” I enthusiastically pointed to the cat-like creature. It was fuzzy and furry, but it looked kind of like a mix with a rabbit.

“Jennifer, we are not at liberty to announce our presence. We cannot have the shopkeeper send it to the palace nor can we bring the creature along with us.”

“But it’s adorable.” It really was adorable. Those long ears that begged to be scratched, those eyes that glistened as they stared at me, and that small, cuddly body that practically was made to be hug so tightly that it explodes.

Not literally, of course.

“Mayhaps on another visit.”

“You’re lucky I’m not an impulse buyer,” I said with a sigh. It was true enough; I always was a person who compared and contrasted, checking the online reviews on my smartphone before I committed to anything. Unfortunately, that convenience didn’t exist here, but I didn’t think it would have matter; since everything was practically hand-crafted, it was harder to compare anyways. Though, price wasn’t an issue now since I had enough money that it didn’t matter, but I couldn’t even use much of it at this time since I was restricted to only buying what I could carry. Which was why I was holding a large brown sack bag in my left hand.

The bag was kind of unwieldy, considering that it didn’t have handles like shopping bags, but my enhanced strength made the job of carrying it quite easy. I daresay that I wouldn’t even be able to carry half of what I currently had in the bag if it wasn’t for that. Though, most of what I had in there were just various trinkets I found interesting. I seemed to even have a bit more balance since I could walk fine without leaning or tipping to the side.

“Okay, Valkana, you win. Let’s check out the next shop.”

The moment we left the store, I took a look around. The sun was at its apex directly above me so it should be around noon or so, but even in this heat, there were plenty of people walking around this marketplace. Lots of stalls were stationed on the sidewalk, outside the stores. Even though there was actually a proper street, it was too crowded for anything but feet to travel along it. Was this really considered emptier like Rulos said?

“Jennifer, mind the pickpockets.”

I nodded as I unconsciously reached down to confirm the coin bag tied to my belt. Instead, I felt flesh. Looking down, I found a little boy staring back with a nervous smile. We stood there for what seemed like an infinitesimal moment before he dashed to the side and disappeared into the crowd. I did what any reasonable girl would do. I chased him.

No, wait, that wasn’t reasonable at all. Even as I shouldered my way through the crowd, slithering and maneuvering through the crush of bodies, I couldn’t help but wonder why I was chasing him. Was I a dog that followed anything curious? In spite of that, I kept running after him.

“Wait!” When we reached where the marketplace ended, the crowd began to thin out. I slipped through them as if they were trees in a forest, but the child was far more agile than me.

“Stop!” He slid under a table stacked with fruits and ran past the shouting owner. If I was stupider, I would have done the same and would have had the fruits crash onto me. Instead, I ran around it, losing only a second more in the chase.

“I just want to talk!” Talk? Talk about what? I was just saying that so he would stop; I didn’t have any burning question on my mind nor was there anything interesting about the poverty-stricken boy. In fact, why was I chasing him again?

Ah, forget it. I will figure it out later when I catch him.

And then I lost him. He slipped into a large broken crevice in a wall, getting into the building. I wasn’t about to bust into the house just to apprehend him, and I didn’t know the layout of the place to wait in ambush at the back door. It was a futile effort to think I would catch him at this point.

Actually, now that I think about it, where was I? I looked around and saw clusters of shoddily-built houses that were practically falling apart. If this was Earth, they would probably be condemned already as hazardous living quarters on the verge of collapse. A myriad of dirty people were walking the streets, shuffling along in that soulless way as if they found their lives meaningless. They wore ragged clothes, barely patched up to keep it together, and smelled as awful as unwashed armpits.

This was definitely the slums. The problem was that I didn’t know where the slums was. I was pretty much lost, but I couldn’t ask any of them either; I could see their hostile gazes, even though they made no move towards me. They probably thought I was some adventurer with my cloaked form, but it probably wouldn’t be long before they eventually think I was some noble out playing. When that happens, I knew things would get really, really bad. All you had to do was think about the seven sins to figure out what would happen next.

Well, even if I didn’t remember the twists and turns, if I turn around and head straight back, I would eventually reach something. I mean, the palace was at the center of the city so as long as I could find a spot with a clear view, I could probably see the place and head there.

Just as I was about to turn around, I felt a chill down my spine. I blinked and looked around. It was only now that I noticed that, while I was thinking, the streets had become a lot emptier. I heard the shuffling of metal scraping on the stone floors.

One, two, three, four, five. Out of the alleyways in front and behind me, five figures dressed in black cloaks filtered out leisurely into the streets. Under their cowls, the glistening white of their Vega masquerade masks told me all that I needed to know. They moved in unison, strafing around me until they entrapped me from all sides like the points of a pentagon. I tightened my grip on my bag of trinkets. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but I was sure that the weight of it alone was enough to break some bones. Not to mention that the trinkets themselves could be used as caltrops to hinder their movements—oh wait, they were wearing armored boots, weren’t they? I could see the glints of metal just below their cloaks. That was one plan scratched out.

However, despite my expectations, they didn’t rush in to attack me. Instead, they each pulled out a scroll and began speaking. I had a bad feeling about this, but all the exits were covered; if I tried to rush out, I would easily be intercepted by at least two of them. I just had to stall until Valkana could get here—huh?

Their scrolls lit up on fire, burning rapidly to consume the entire parchment. Under my feet, a circle of light surrounded me.

“What?” I tried to move, tried to get out, but a wall of pure white surrounded me and blanked out my vision.

~o~

“Ack!” I fell to ground, landing on my front roughly. I felt so many pinpricks against chest and stomach, but I ignored that as I pushed myself up. Or at least tried to. A hand roughly grabbed the back of my head and slammed me back down to the ground, my cheek pressed against the dirt.

Wait, dirt? My arms were pulled behind my back, but I could see moist—nearly black—dirt along with leaves and branches. I was in some kind of shade as well that seemed to extend as far as I could see. Before I could decipher more, I was pulled up to my feet. It was only now that I noticed that my hands were tied behind my back. I took this time to assess the situation.

I was in some kind of forest that seemed large enough that I couldn’t see where it ended. The trees were huge, and only a smattering of sunlight was able to get through. I was pretty sure there was something crawling on my cheek, though I wouldn’t be able to get rid of it even if I tried to use my tongue—and my tongue was long enough to touch my nose. Not that I wanted my tongue to actually touch something creepy, alive, and dirty. I was still used to the sanitation of the twenty-first century!

I was in the middle of a camp, which was evident by the many bedrolls lying around as well the simmering campfire. There were plenty of traveling backpacks as well, which meant they had been prepared for a long journey or a long wait.

Oh, and most importantly, I saw a bunch of gruff, muscular looking men who were staring at me with snide grins. Yeah, I was scared out of my pants right now. They each wore a kind of leather jerkin as if they were a traveling group of adventurers, but by the amount of people that I could see—and I definitely did not have eyes on the back of my head—there were at least as many as a squad of twelve. This was a bad situation. I have to strike first, while the iron was still hot.

“Good afternoon,” I said, a lot more calmly than I was feeling.

They stared at me in surprise—or was it shock—before they burst out into laughter.

“Glad I could bring some happiness to the world,” I said sardonically. Inside, my inner suicidal spirit was giving me a thumbs up.

“Oh, you’ll be givin’ us more happiness than ya know.”

“Well, I’ll like to give this girl some of my happiness, hahahah—ow! Hey!”

“Don’t even fucking try, you mangy heap. Girl’s our payday, and I ain’t spoiling to get executed if we bring her in like that.”

“You three, shut up. We still haven’t confirm her yet. Bring the driver. He saw the girl yesterday.” A bald, scarred man walked past her sight. “And for Ranvia’s sake, blindfold and gag her. I don’t need a mess this close to the Capital.”

A couple of strips of rough cloth were tied around my head, blocking my sight and covering my mouth. In the artificial darkness, I heard the shuffling of a few pairs of feet.

“Huh? What’s the Great Mother doing here? This isn’t what I signed on for!”

“We’ll pay you extra.”

“I don’t care. This is—” I heard the sound of someone drawing a blade.

“You’ll drive or else.”

“I…I…I’ll ride.” The blade was sheathed. “This better be worth it.”

“It is. Now get your horses ready. We go as soon as we pack up.”

~o~

I admit that my consciousness seemed to fade in and out at times. I had been loaded onto a wagon so every time there was a large bump in whatever road they were taking me on, it snapped me right back to attention. I couldn’t tell how long I had been like this, tied up as well as blinded and muted by strips of unsanitary fabric. Oddly enough, even knowing that I had been kidnapped, I kept thinking about how I was going to get sick from all the bacteria from the cloth and having my face pressed against the forest floor back then.

I wondered also if I had gotten a cut on my cheek. I hoped not because that was going to get infected, and I didn’t believe that they would have any antibiotics. I could just imagine it festering, maybe have maggots crawling in and out of the neurotic skin. If it ever did get healed, there was no doubt that there would be an ugly scar as well.

It was kind of funny. I should be thinking more about how to escape or if Valkana and Ranzel would find me. Yet, for some reason, I just couldn’t find it in myself to really be worried about that. Was it strange? Maybe it was because I realized they weren’t going to hurt me anytime soon. That meant that there was still time. I remembered one of them saying we were close to the Capital so it should take at a few days to reach the borders since I remembered the city being nearer to the center of the country.

“So calm, little bird. What makes you not struggle?” The voice was sly but smooth, like the slither of a snake. “You. Take the blindfold and the gag off.”

“But boss, orders are—”

“I know what they are, but do as I say before you become a pesky little fly to me.”

“As…as you wish, boss.”

I felt hands and fingers gently probing the back of my head. It took only a moment for the blindfold and gag to loosen, but the first sight that I saw was so bright that I had to squeeze my eyes shut. My mouth felt worn as well, so I exercised my jaw while my eyes slowly adjusted little by little to the light. I had to blink a few more times before I could finally see with some clarity.

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Sitting across from me was a man every bit of a snake as his voice. He wore a leather jerkin like the others, armed with sheathed knives across his chest like a bandoleer and a rapier at his side. His eyes were sharp and his smile was absolutely predatory. I imagined that a forked tongue wouldn’t be out of place on his face.

“So little bird, pray tell what’s on your mind?” He reached out his hand and slid the back along my cheek. I could feel the jagged scars running along my skin like sandpaper.

“Why didn’t you just kill me?”

“I ask the questions, little bird.”

“One for one,” I said. “I’ll give you something if you give me something.”

“Interesting. Still not afraid? If you knew me, you’d be very afraid.”

“I haven’t struggled yet so you won’t hurt me unless you have to.”

“Smart as well as brave. My, you’re preening your feathers even when you’re caged.”

“No, I’m just being logical. Whoever is paying for this wants me alive and relatively unharmed,” I said. “People can die from even the smallest of injuries so it’s better to not risk it if you can avoid it.”

“I’m impressed.” He grinned widely, enough to make shivers run down my spine. “Very well, let’s do it your way. Of course, you will start, won’t you?”

“I’m thinking about if I got a cut on my cheek and if so, I’m wondering if it will get infected.”

“You don’t have a cut. This, I give as a freebie. Go ahead with your question.”

“Why all this? Why didn’t you kill me?”

“That’s two questions, not one, but the answer solves them both anyways,” he said. “Let’s say that some people believe a certain little rumor, spoken by the bugs, about a little bird being able to give birth to legendary heroes. A little far-flung, I believe, but the coins talk and bid us this task.”

“So I’m going to be sold to a brothel?”

“I believe it’s the royal brothel.”

“Same difference.” Seeing the confusion on his face, I said, “One brothel is the same as another.”

The man burst out laughing. “Why no, never so. A pagan brothel can never compare to the high-class brothel. Your fairer gender taints your neutrality.”

“Maybe, but I’m going to be doing the same thing in any case.”

“The clientele is very different, along with the prestige and power. You’d live comfortably, I would imagine. Very comfortably.”

“I think I was living pretty comfortably already.”

“This is true, this is true. It is a downgrade, I believe.”

“Glad you see it my way now,” I said dully.

“Does not change fact, little bird.”

“Whatever. It’s your move.”

“My what?”

“Your turn. You can ask your question now,” I explained.

“Ah, yes. Tell me, are the rumors of your birthing abilities true?”

“No. My turn,” I said, fairly annoyed. Well, two could play that game. “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?”

“…what?”

“Answer the question.”

“Choose another question.” He looked annoyed.

“Which came first? The chicken or the egg?”

“This is nonsensical. I had hoped you were smarter than this. We’re done here,” he said.

“Wait, wait, wait! I got a real question now,” I said.

“My patience is limited.”

“How many snakes did it take to make you?”

“Gag her.”

~o~

“Are you ready to try this again, little bird?”

“I’m ready, I’m ready—ow.” My jaw was hurting from having the gag in my mouth for a couple of hours. At least they didn’t put the blindfold on me this time, but that dirty gag was pulling at my lips the whole time; it had been tied tighter than it should have been. I couldn’t exactly complain to them since it was obviously on purpose.

“I hope the little bird can be a little smarter now, or shall this snake swallow the bird whole? Hmm?” He stared imploringly at me. “Go ahead and ask your question.”

“Okay.” I had thought about giving a snide reply, but I didn’t relish the thought of having the gag put on me again. In any case, I managed to vent some of the anger that I didn’t even know I had so I was satisfied. Well, as much as I could be, considering the circumstances. “How did you stop my bodyguard?”

“An apt question. I’d had reasoned that you would ask something more in line with: ‘Where are we going?’”

“Would it matter? Border, town, nation, it doesn’t really matter. I’m more interested in how you did it than where my future is,” I said. That wasn’t quite true, but even if he told me where we were headed, I wouldn’t even know. There were so many countries and towns and what-not with their own different culture and people that it would be impossible for me to guess anything from it. More importantly, I wanted to know what happened to Valkana.

“A very strange bird, you are.” He smirked as he tapped his chin twice. “Alas, I’ll indulge this little bird of ours. Our employer’s Immortal provided the distraction.”

“I thought Immortals don’t leave their territory since they will age.”

“Uh-uh, that is another question. If I answer, I’ll ask two questions on my turn, yes?” Seeing me nod, he continued. “They may not like to, but they are still human with human desires. Some prefer greed more than years, especially those of the younger Immortals.”

“That makes sense.”

“Very good. Now for mine. This world you came from, what is it like?”

“That’s a huge answer. Far bigger than any of my questions.”

“Indulge me, and I shall answer enough questions to match the length, little bird.”

I shrugged my shoulders. It wasn’t I was going anywhere, and I had no reason to hide information about Earth. I mean, they couldn’t even get there so to them, it would be more like fantasy than anything else. So I started telling him about my world, beginning with the city I lived in. He asked more questions as I chatted and rambled on, and I answered them easily enough. By the time I came upon the subject of technology, the sun was starting to dip behind the horizon. It looked like he wanted to hear more, but he relented and had everyone stop for the night.

A camp was erected within a dense forested area, some ways off the road we had been traveling on. Smokey the Bear would probably have had something to say about the fire hazard they were creating with their campfire, even with as low of a flame as they kept it, but I didn’t have any problems with it. In fact, in my mind, I actively encouraged the flames to spread out and light the forest on fire. That would at least injure them enough to slow down our traveling, if I couldn’t outright manage to escape. However, despite my hopes, it never went outside the circle of stones they gathered around the campfire.

Of course, I was guarded heavily by two of them. Since I was a summoned Hero, they were extra careful and practically helping with everything from using the natural toilet called a bush and feeding me spoonful of some kind of meaty mush. They were honestly professional about it, not even bothering to sexually harass me when they could have. I knew I should be relieved, but I felt kind of sad that I apparently had so low of a sex appeal that they weren’t interested at all. I always prided myself on my skin too…

Of course, if it was the opposite with them, that would be way worse, so that was a comfort. When the night grew on, I was put on a bedroll and told to sleep. However, sleeping with my hands tied behind my back and in the same sweaty clothes that I had been wearing all day was like a mild form of torture. Every second grew longer, enough that I spent my time just listening to the crackle of the flames, the low chatter of the night watch, and the howls of distant wolves. Yet, my mind grew duller and my eyelids became heavier as I gradually succumbed to sleep.

Only to be woken up like a moment later by hands shaking my shoulder. Damn it, I almost got to sleep too. My eyes snapped open as I glared at the one who woke me up.

The driver.

“Great Mother, we must hurry.” He grabbed the rope tying my hands behind my back and started cutting it with a knife.

I glanced around and saw the two guards were lying on the ground unconscious, blood dripping down from their forehead. I was tempted to ask how he did that, but I suppressed it; this wasn’t the time for that.

“Why are you helping me?” I asked in a hushed whisper.

“I may be many things, but I’m not a traitor to my country.” The rope came free, and he pulled it off.

I held my wrists in front of me, rubbing the raw skin. My shoulders were aching as well from being put in an awkward position for a long time.

“You must leave. Head south that way.” The driver pointed in a certain direction, deeper into the dark forest. “A large town should be a quarter of a day’s walk.”

“Let’s go then.”

“No, not me,” he said. “I must take my wagon and go the other way.”

My eyes widened. “But that would mean…”

“They must not have you, Great Mother. I will distract them.”

“But you’ll die. They’ll chase you and when they get you, they’ll torture you.”

“My knife is enough to take my own life. More than that, I am not a man if I watch my country fall to calamity.” He handed me a sword from one of the fallen guards. “Take this and go quickly now. Hide in the shadows over yonder until they hear my commotion.”

He shoved me towards a small, hollowed opening in one of the larger trees. It was in here that I hid as he moved out of sight. Yet, in the midst of this, my mind was in chaos. My heart was beating fast and furious at the thought of escape, but what was I supposed to feel about this? Someone was sacrificing his life for me, yet all I could think of was my own freedom. Did I only value human life to this degree?

I did not know his name; I could barely see his face. Yet, even as I huddle alone inside this tree, his impression was fading from my mind. The face, I could not see any details of it anymore. I only knew that it was a dirt-stained face. Even his words were getting jumbled, to the point where I only knew the meat of the conversation. Had it really only been a few minutes? Didn’t it seem more like hours?

I heard shouts and running footsteps in front of my tree, but I dared not look out. A minute passed before I silently crept out and made a break for it. My feet crunched loudly on branches and leaves, but it made no difference with the amount of noise they were making. I dived deeper into the dark woods, so much so that I was only guided by the moonlight that shone through the crowns of leaves at the treetops. I ran and ran, barely slowing down to even take a breath.

I tripped, my foot having gotten caught in an outstretched tree root. Sliding roughly through the dirt, the sheath of my sword got caught on something and was pulled off the blade. Rushing to my feet, I glanced back for the sheath but I couldn’t see it in the darkness. I didn’t want to hold a bare sword, especially when I could trip again and cut myself on it, but at the same time, I didn’t want to get rid of the only protection I had. I awkwardly held it to the side, the blade stretched outward as I continued running.

Now that I had done this, I knew my fate was sealed. They only needed me for my womb. That meant that they could cut off my hands and feet to make sure I couldn’t escape again. Even if their employer wanted me unharmed, they could probably still get a lot of money from the exchange or they could sell me to someone else. Basically, if they caught me, that was the end for me. I had no choice but to go forward.

Then I heard voices far behind me. I couldn’t make them out, but I knew they were catching up. My mind was in a whirl. How did they find me? The distraction should have brought them off my trail unless…

Trackers! Goddamnit, trackers! Why didn’t I think of that? Of course, they had trackers; they were slavers! Oh my god, what do I do? I couldn’t escape trackers. If I had known—no, if I had just thought about it, I would have known, and then I wouldn’t have done this. Help me. Someone please. I don’t want to be crippled. I don’t want to die!

“Ah!” I tripped and rolled down a slope. My sword’s blade slashed randomly in the dirt and stone as I barreled downward. Just as I was about to fly off a cliff, I grabbed the ledge with my right hand, digging in my fingernails. In my left hand, I stubbornly kept hold of the sword, waving that around aimlessly. I should have dropped the sword, but I couldn’t. I didn’t know why but my fingers wouldn’t let go. I moved my sword hand up and tried to grab the ledge, but the hilt got in the way. I could feel my right hand starting to slip.

And my fingernails snapped off. For a moment, the world froze. As if in slow motion, my nail-less fingers frantically tried to embed itself into the sliding dirt. No, that was wrong. I was the one sliding. The moment my fate was sealed, the moment my fingers stopped touching the cliff’s edge, I felt a moment of calm. I should have been raving. I should have been screaming at the injustice of it all, but none of that left my mouth. I think I was even smiling. There was nothing I could do, and I knew that.

Falling through the air. That was a once in a lifetime experience. I had never once done skydiving, but maybe I would have loved it if I had the chance to try it. There was just something invigorating abou—

My vision crashed.