“You!” gasped Ruyi.

“Hello again,” said Livia. She smiled softly in a way that must’ve been genial, but the scars on her face twisted grotesquely and Ruyi only felt a little sickened.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“You followed me?”

“Not quite. You stumbled into our territory. You’re in in Frigus lands. My Mother claimed it from the Ignis tribe not two moons ago. That is, Octavius’ Tribe…though none of that means much to you, does it?”

The words flowed past Ruyi’s ears. But one did stick—

“Mother?”

“I’m a special envoy to Warlord Drusila, but she’s also my Mother.”

“And the boy who was just here? The pretty one? He’s—”

“My brother, and the tribe’s Chief Shaman. He does most of the severe healing work. On occasion he divines for us. Though I wouldn’t let him know you find him pretty. He’s vain enough as it is.”

She made a face and Ruyi’s stomach lurched a little. So many little things she did would’ve been normal, even nice, if her face weren’t like that. Ruyi went from feeling suspicious of the girl, to ashamed she felt suspicious, to just bad for her. Ruyi wondered if the wound was recent. Maybe that was why she still had normal-person habits, rather than realizing all those little things looked awful on her.

“Um,” said Ruyi. “What’re you going to do to me?”

“Nothing.” Livia shrugged. “Truly. You’re free to leave at any time.”

Ruyi frowned at her. “I don’t believe you.”

“I get that. Maybe some context will help? Here, we have certain norms,” said Livia. “If you take a debt, you must repay it or be shamed by all your kin, true enough. But you’ve taken no debt—you were not conscious to accept any bonds. This was a gift.”

She set down a tray on the table. On it were a steaming hot cup of tea and some cakes.

“So is this. You’ve been sleeping… three days now? I figured you’d want something to eat.”

“No thanks. I don’t like cakes,” said Ruyi automatically.

“Human cakes, perhaps. Try these. They may surprise you.”

Cautiously, Ruyi did. She picked one up, sniffed it, squinted at it, then at Livia, who was watching her, amused. Then she took a nibble.

Then another. And another. It felt like a dollop of gooey sunlight on her tongue.

“So?”

“’S… good,” said Ruyi slowly. “Really good.”

“I know, aren’t they?” said Livia brightly. “They’re my favorite. If you want some, feel free to ask the cooks anytime for ramsheart cakes. Tell them Livia sent you.”

“How’d they make these?”

“The flour is all imported, but rather than milk we use fresh blood. You’ll have to ask the cooks for the details.”

Ruyi was finishing up her cookies so fast she hardly tasted them. Livia hid a smile behind her hand. “You really like eating, don’t you?”

Ruyi froze, a cake halfway to her mouth. Was the girl mocking her? Ruyi didn’t think so, but with that face it was hard to tell. Then what that healer boy had said floated back to her—he’d called her flabby!

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Ruyi noticed what Livia was wearing. It seemed not dressing a lot was the norm here, since she wore just a torso wrap and a loincloth and Ruyi could see the firm lines of her belly. They’d dressed Ruyi in the same outfit, she realized. She looked down. Her belly sure didn’t look like that… now that she looked at herself, she did look a little flabby, didn’t she? She felt suddenly uncomfortable. Slowly she set down the cookie, half-eaten, tried pulling down her torso wrap a little, but it didn’t budge.

Livia must’ve sensed something was wrong. “Oh, I’m sorry,” said the girl. “I didn’t mean—”

“I’m full,” Ruyi declared. She hunched in, drawing her knees to her chest, feeling absurd. “What do you want with me? Why’re you being so nice to me?”

“You’re right to be suspicious. We found larval demons gnawing at your body. They might’ve been at it for hours when we found you. If we’d been a day late, perhaps you’d be dead. Or perhaps you’d look like me.”

Livia gave a little self-deprecating smile. Ruyi shuddered involuntarily, then felt quite guilty about it. Livia must’ve pretended not to notice. “My brother took great pains to heal you. He had to contract with Y’sin the Blood Spider. It cost us a great deal of essence. It’s true—we wouldn’t do this for just anyone. May I?”

She nodded to the mat. “Heh?” said Ruyi. She realized the girl was asking to sit. “Oh—yeah, sure.”

“Let me be frank,” said Livia. “I believe you’re special, Ruyi.”

“You do?”

“Very few beings can make contact with the Other Side and live to tell the tale, much less take a piece back with them. Only a handful such beings still live, and each is a legend in their own right.”

“Really?” breathed Ruyi.

“I believe you could be too. With the right help.”

“And… that’s you?”

“That’s our Tribe, the Frigus Tribe.” She opened her mouth, then a thoughtful expression came across her face. She stood. “Come with me. I’ll give you a tour.”

Ruyi was tempted. She found herself liking this Livia more and more. But…

“No thanks,” she said. “Um. Thanks for the healing, and the cakes, but I really should get going.”

“To where?”

Ruyi didn’t have an answer for her.

“Well,” said Livia. “Feel free to stay with us while you figure it out. In the meantime, will you join me? I’d love to show you around.”

Ruyi thought for a bit. Then she stood. “Alright…”

They pushed their way outside.

Ruyi was surprised to find it was much colder outside than it was inside. The ground was blanketed white—snow! Snow far as she could see, riddled with tracks. But it’d been all black last she remembered… their leather tent was one in a long arcing row, each of them puffing a pale cloud of smoke. The posts weren’t sticks but icicles big as two men, grown straight out of the ground.

“Our tribe’s aspect is ice,” said Livia. Her breath frosted slightly in the air. “We’re the only major tribe that specializes in it. It’s why I feel we’re such a good match. We leave a trail wherever we go. They call us the heralds of winter.”

Ruyi watched, wide-eyed, as children, in loincloths despite the cold—sporting tails or horns, most of them—shuffled by under the watch of a bald red-eyed man. Burly demons lugged around carts of steel blocks. A troupe of warriors marched on by, heads high, faces blank, men and women sporting bright blue streaks of war paint on their faces—or were they tattoos? They froze at the sight of Livia, then thumped their chests at her.

Everyone here was half-naked, it seemed, in loincloths and chest-wraps for the women, or just loincloths for the men. It wasn’t just that pretty boy shaman.

Ruyi and Livia moved through what felt like a city of leather and snow. It was laid out in rings of tents, with standards fluttering in the wind every so often bearing emblems of snowy mountain peaks.

They were in a chunk of the place meant for healers, it seemed. There was a whole stretch of tents full of groaning folk. Unlike Ruyi’s tent, these were wide open; from the street she could see plainly the shamans, tattooed in curling white, daubing pastes, feeding elixirs to demons larval to Core—there were even a few Demon Kings. Open-air was the way of the place. There was hardly a shut tent flap, like nobody had anything to hide.

Ruyi saw a woman working an open-air forge, hammering the shining outline of a wheel on a slab of black steel. She saw cooks cutting up the fresh bloody leg of some huge animal. She even saw what seemed like Alchemists at work, though their cauldrons were like none she’d ever seen. They were shaped like gourds.

Everywhere they went, Livia got nods and raised fists and subtle smiles.

She was struck as she walked by how human it all seemed. She’d expected more… she didn’t know… blood and guts everywhere? Skulls?

Livia led her inwards, to another street, another smaller ring. Here the tents were bigger, climbed higher, and things were more sparsely laid out. Livia brought her to a field where men and women, warriors all, seemed to be fighting to the death. They were all Demon Kings. Ruyi was shocked at how savagely they went at each other—and at the Techniques they showed off. A demonformed falcon sent blizzard winds screeching with a flap of her wings. Her opponent, a lynx, hunched in, and a crust of ice formed over its face, shoulders, legs. The winds shattered the ice but the lynx was unharmed. The falcon dipped its wings, and it was like a twisting tumbling avalanche took its place. The lynx barely got out of the way; snow and ice showered everywhere.

The first thing Ruyi thought was—could she take them? She’d never seen half the Techniques they were using. She didn’t even know you could do that stuff with ice essence…