An excruciatingly long hour later, they arrive at Stena HQ. Fey walks off without a word, probably going to get paid far more than they were. Crimson, Deidra, Echo, and the still sleeping Mon continue to follow Grunt towards the counter in the middle of the lobby, a janitor with a more feminine shape waiting on them.

“Fleshwalker infestation, eighty miles from here,” Grunt says as the janitor begins shifting through a pile of documents. “We saved one village but the source village was completely destroyed.”

The janitor doesn’t respond, instead pulling out two bags that jingled as they moved. Grunt takes the bags hurriedly and unties the knot of one of them.

“Ah, I guess they didn’t expect us to save the source,” Grunt says as he tosses the second bag to Vulture who rips it open. “We still got the bonus.”

“I guess one village was enough,” Vulture says as she pulls out a small coin. “I’m not complaining though.”

“So, where’s our pay?” Echo questions as she peers into Vulture’s bag.

“Hounds of Stena get paid by one of the senior members,” Grunt answers. “I’d assume Fey will have your pay.”

“She’s a senior member?” Crimson asks quizzically.

“She’s the most recent, but yeah,” Vulture confirms. “She didn’t tell you?”

“No, she told us to follow you,” He reports. “Also, what are those?”

“I would also like to know,” Deidra butts in. “Are they some kind of material?”

Echo, Vulture, and Grunt looked at them with utmost confusion.

“Do either of you know what money is?” Grunt asks after a few moments.

Both Deidra and Crimson shook their head, Crimson less so to avoid waking Mon.

“So how did people trade goods where you lived?” Vulture questioned.

“My people exchanged rare minerals for services or items, usually gold or silver.” Deidra answers.

“We just traded,” Crimson answers with a shrug. “If I want a cow, I give you two sheep or something along those lines.”

“It’s basically the same thing, these coins are made from platinum,” Echo explains as she snags a coin from Vulture. “The metal has little use but its uncommon. You give a certain amount of coins for a service or good and vice versa. Basically an alternative to trading goods or minerals.”

“I think I’ll let you deal with that. I was never good at bartering anyway.” Crimson says with a sigh.

“While I have experience in negotiating trades, I don’t know the value of the currency well enough.” Deidra admits with a shrug.

Echo shakes her head in disappoint as she begrudgingly returns the coin to Vulture, the latter greedily stuffing the coin back into the bag.

“I vote most of it go to food,” A suddenly conscious Mon announces, startling Crimson in the process. “That and making Crimson a comfier chest piece.”

“How long have you been awake?” Crimson asks as he looks down at her.

“I think since we walked through the outer walls…” She answers after a moment.

Crimson looks down at her with a less than amused expression. Before she could react Crimson drops her, the rogue still landing on her feet despite Crimson’s efforts.

“Next time you’re carrying me.” He says with a perturbed tone.

Mon nods as she creeps over to Deidra, jumping onto the tall warrior’s shoulders and attempting to get comfortable. She eventually does after Kitty happily moves to one shoulder for her, Deidra barely looking perturbed by the additional weight.

“Do you think I could squeeze on there as well?” Vulture whispers in Crimson’s ear as she walks up next to him. “Looks pretty comfortable.”

“You’d probably have to fight for one of her shoulders,” He determines. “So if you’re positive you could win…”

Both Crimson and Vulture shake their heads at the possibility, either of the monsters on Deidra’s shoulders likely valuing comfort over the lives of their comrades.

Before anything else could happen the group spots Fey descending the spiral stairs, her face not one of overwhelming happiness. She stops in front of them, her face gone from anger to fury.

“I’m going to kill them all one day, I can promise you that,” She says as she begins pacing in front of them. “They assigned you a new job in two months.”

“That’s pretty slow for the Hounds rights?” Grunt says as he joins the conversation. “So what’s the catch?”

“They’re going south, past the Crevice.” Fey responds, her anger still not simmering.

Both Grunt and Vulture stare at her in disbelief at the news.

“You’re serious?” Vulture asks.

Fey nods solemnly. Her eyes darting towards Mon and then back to Vulture.

“An exiled Siren fled there, their objective is to hunt and kill her,” She announces. “I don’t even know who she is, shouldn’t be causing this much trouble.”

“They’re just testing them, aren’t they?” Vulture says suddenly. “Making sure they’re willing to kill something besides monsters.”

Fey nods again, this time walking past Vulture and Grunt and towards Crimson. She pulls a large bag full of coins from a satchel and hands them to Echo who begins counting them immediately.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“I’m sure you heard most of that conversation, head to your room,” She says as she walks towards the spiral stairs. “I’ll brief you later, but I have something else to take care of.”

Crimson nods and begins walking towards their room, not noticing the lack of a cat on Deidra’s shoulders.

-----------------------------------------------------

Fey glances behind her as she is about to enter her room to see Mon standing behind her.

“Can you handle this?” She says as she looks at her adoptive daughter.

Mon nods, a slight fear in her eyes.

“Then why do you look scared?” Fey asks confused.

“What happens if you’re not here when I get back?” Mon says worriedly

“What makes you think I wouldn’t be?” Fey questions.

“You got surrounded by those things! I thought you were…” Mon says, trailing off.

Mon wipes the tears out of her eyes and attempts to stifle her tears but fails as they continue to fall. Fey shakes her head as a sad smile comes to her face. She walks to Mon, crouching in front of her and embracing the smaller individual.

“If I didn’t know I could survive that, I wouldn’t have done it,” Fey explains. “I wouldn’t risk something like that.”

“You aren’t unkillable, what happens when you make a mistake?” She says, bordering on a yell. “What happens when you leave me just like she di-“

Before Mon can finish the sentence, Fey’s hand clamps down on her mouth. Mon’s anger quickly dissipates as sadness overtakes it.

“I won’t leave you alone. Now, head back to your team. I’ll be right behind you,” Fey says as she kisses the top of Mon’s head, the heat warming Mon and calming her significantly. She then pulls away from her and heads back to her room. “Just have to grab something.”

Mon watches as Fey enters her room. The rogue wipes her face clean with an unbloodied part of her hood. Her sad face quickly being replaced by her usual upbeat one as she begins descending the spiral stairs.

Crimson looks up from helping Echo with arrow designs as he hears Mon walking through the door.

“Where were you? I was beginning to worry,” Crimson says. “Thought Vulture wanted revenge.”

“I would have won if she tried,” Mon replies confidently. “I was talking to Fey, something about not stabbing her exes I think.”

“I still don’t see why you felt it necessary to nearly separate Vulture’s head from her body,” Deidra says, entering the conversation as she makes tea. “I was impressed that you knew she could heal that much.”

Mon nods her head in a way that clearly shows she didn’t know that at all.

“You need to think before you go killing others.” Echo criticizes as she looks away from inspecting her new bandages.

“I can’t be held responsible for angry me, she’s crazy,” Mon says with a pout. “And Crimson nearly stabbed Grunt, and Grunt can’t even heal.”

“Hey, keyword being nearly,” He argues. “You almost gut him too so you don’t have much room to talk.”

Mon huffs in annoyance but is saved by Fey entering the room. Kitty flies of his perch from Deidra’s shoulders and onto Fey’s, the Siren petting his head as he lands.

“Who knows about the Crevice?” Fey asks, not wasting anytime

Both Mon and Echo raise their hands, Deidra and Crimson in the dark once again.

“You two remember the story about the Igbo?” Fey asks and receives two nods in return. “Well that’s where it happened. It’s the crater of the city that the beast razed, or at least that’s how the story goes. Its expanded since then but that’s what formed the area.”

“So what’s so bad about it?” Crimson asks in confusion. “It’s not still there right?”

“It’s been a long time, so the chances of that are practically zero. The tangible danger is that the area where it rampaged has yet to recover. The ground is barren, water is hard to come by, and the terrain is hellish to walk,” She explains. “The worst is that its driven any monsters in that area to evolve to survive their new surroundings. Different variations of existing ones along with ones we’ve never seen before roam that area. Frankly, I have no idea what you’ll be walking into. That not even including all the territory you’ll have to cover to actually get there.”

“Out of the fire and into…the fire, except with more fire,” Echo says with a silent groan.

“How does anyone survive being a “Hound” if this is what they do constantly?” Crimson complains.

“For one they don’t complain,” Fey retorts with a sneer. “You’ll be working with Navi and Trace as you know. They know what they’re doing so finding the Siren and moving through the terrain won’t be a problem if you listen. The only problem is that they won’t wait for you if you fall behind…so don’t.”

“Anything you can tell us about the conditions of the area?” Deidra asks. “Desert, I’d assume if water is scarce.”

“Close, it’s a savannah,” Fey corrects. “Very arid but not a desert, though that will only be a problem once you close in on your target. Most of your travels will be getting to the crevice, not in it. That short time will still be deadly.”

“Large sight lines, few trees, and little places to ambush but far too many to be ambushed at,” She describes. “Don’t assume you’re safe there. Because something is almost always waiting for you.”

“I’ve given up on safety at this point,” Crimson mutters as he slinks into his bunk. “Or anything being easy, or healthy. Honestly at this point if anything we did didn’t have a decent chance of death I’d be concerned.”

“What’s the fun in safe?” Mon asks as her tail slaps him lightly in the face. “That’s boring. I love a nap but I’d rather a fight to the death over boredom.”

“I feel like the only thing you’d rather over a fight is food.” Crimson retorts.

Mon’s stomach growls lightly at the mention. Followed by Echo’s and then Crimson’s.

“Well, looks like all of you are a bit hungry,” Fey says with a smirk, though its hidden by her mask. “I’ll speed past the rest of my explanation then. You leave in a little over two months from today. Bring plenty of supplies. You don’t have to eat nearly as much as most but you will be out there for weeks without stopping. Lastly, I won’t be around to see you off.”

“Why is that?” Deidra asks as she begins stirring something in a pot over the fire pit.

“I have some high priority targets so I’ll be leaving tonight,” She says. “Nothing you need to know about.”

Kitty rubs his head into Fey’s hair, the creature visibly excited by the news. Fey pats his head and a moment later he jumps from her shoulder and joins Crimson on his bunk.

“You sure he won’t eat us?” Crimson gulps. “Specifically me.”

Kitty nips at his head, Crimson jumping off his bunk in fear. The movement causing him to trip over himself and into Deidra’s lap, nearly tipping the pot she was using.

“If you ruin the meal, we may have to.” Mon says with a deadly look.

Crimson looks at Deidra for help but a growl from the warrior’s stomach makes it clear he has no allies in this moment.

“Why am I always the one being attacked?” Crimson complains as he removes himself from Deidra’s lap. “Is it because I’m the only guy?”

“In most walks of life, the one who receives the most social abuse is often times the weakest link,” Deidra answers honestly. “But yeah, probably because you’re the male.”

“I would love to argue that,” He responds as he sits back on his bed, not caring about Kitty’s close proximity anymore. “I really would.”

“Oh look he’s starting to learn,” Fey says as she takes a seat next to Mon. “I was wondering how long it’d take you.”

“And it keeps piling on.” Crimson mutters as he leans on his knees.

Kitty rubs a wing on Crimson’s head at an attempt at comfort. The later accepting it graciously.

“Well, I guess I’m not the only guy,” He says hopefully. “To guys.”

Crimson holds out his fist to Kitty in an attempted fist bump. Kitty stares at it for a moment, before latching onto Crimson’s fist with his mouth. Crimson stares at it for a moment, accepting the sentiment despite the pain.

“Close enough.” He says as he wipes his hands on his Deidra’s shirt. The warrior too busy with the food to notice.

“So that’s it?” Mon asks. “We go kill someone then head back?”

“Yep, that’s it,” Fey says as she stands up. “Let me know if you all need anything. Do get cleaned up though, you all look like death.”

Fey leaves after that, quickly followed by Kitty. Allowing the others to look at each other, as well as themselves. The mix of blood and multiple other substances making their clothes less than pretty.

“Dibs on first wash!” Echo yells as she bolts towards the restroom.

“Second!” Crimson yells.

As Echo enters the restroom Crimson notices the lack of arguing over the facilities and turns back to see Mon and Deidra staring intently at the bubbling pot. Noticing his stare both look towards him questioningly.

“What?”