“That was rude.” I said dryly as I stared at the bisected wall. “I just came here looking for someone and you try to cut me in half. That’s objectively bad manners. Don’t you people have hospitality here?”

Lyle grinned at me. “Sure, I can put you in the hospital right quick, just stand still.”

His arm blurred, but my Danger Sense warned me. I leaned to the side, the slash missing me and cutting into the wall behind me at another angle. Bella had backed up, giving the fight some room, and Lyle started to circle, drifting closer to the hidden door in the floor.

Once Bella was clear, i triggered double trouble, appearing behind Lyle, staff smashing down toward his collarbone.

Despite my lead, he spun on his heel and sort of…blinked. Like he skipped part of the motion. I had Mornax active, which was good, because that fucker had aimed at my throat, and the blade clashed off my neck in a shower of sparks. I grabbed him by the collar as he stumbled back, and then punched him in the face with the fist still wrapped around my staff.

Howling in pain, he lashed out again with his knife, and again he blinked. I was expecting it this time, triggering Double Trouble and vanishing as he tried to jam his knife into the joints of the illusionary armor.

I rubbed my neck in annoyance. He’d fucking CUT me. Not deeply, it had mostly bounced off, but there was a scratch.

Solid Path, at least. And that technique was GOOD. He’d spent time on it. Refined it. “You were cutting through the space.” I said bluntly as he whirled. He’d already realized the illusion wasn’t me and started looking, so I didn’t try to be sneaky. “That’s how you moved so fast.”

He was starting to look concerned. Which was fair, I’d be concerned too. He was very obviously an incredibly dangerous person, and was probably used to killing his enemies in a strike. Priding yourself on cutting power and having your knife bounce off a guy’s neck was probably a pretty unsettling experience.

His eyes narrowed as he adjusted his grip on his knife. “I don’t know who you are, but you aren’t taking Chess.”

I adjusted my own grip, activating Limbo and Abomination Engine as I prepared to attack. Before I could though, a sigh echoed through the room. “Enough, Lyle.” Rang a voice from the surrounding area, everywhere and nowhere at once. There was a ripple and the hatch I’d seen became suddenly visible, pushed open as a lanky blonde guy climbed up out of it.

“Chester Baddington I assume.” I said mildly. Or as mildly as you can when you sound like a demonic bass drum.

“Friends and terrifying armored harbingers of doom call me Chess.” He said, smiling winningly. “Especially ones with such lovely company.” He winked at Bella, who glared back in a way that I suspect was supposed to be intimidating, but mostly just made her look like an annoyed kitten who’d just been dunked in a sink.

My apprentice must have realized her wrathful glower wasn’t doing the job because she switched to a sneer before saying. “I’m Belladonna Darrow. Apprentice of Mephistopheles, the kingbreaker, avatar of destruction, ender of worlds, and sower of…mean endings.” She petered off a bit at the end, and I sighed.

“Bella, please don’t make up titles. I haven’t broken any kings…” I trailed off, thinking back to the Glade, I hadn’t really broken Anna-Maria’s father. “In any case, I’m here for the selection, and I’ve been given the task of tracking you down. Once I’ve accomplished my mission I can be on my way.” I took out the scroll. I’d double checked the actual confirmation process and it was pretty simple. “I just need you to let me tie you up and slap you in the face with this paper.”

He paused. “Well, that’s…direct. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how to respond to that request.”

I considered doing something ominous or threatening like telling him it wasn’t a request, but…he seemed to be considering it. I had no reason to burn bridges without trying to cross the damned things first. “Can we sit down.” I gestured to the bar. “I just paid for food and I’d like to eat it, if possible.”

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“Of course.” He said seriously. “ Heloise?” He called to the woman behind the bar. “Be a dear and fetch us my rocking chair.”

That seemed like an odd seating choice to me, but I wasn’t going to tell him how to sit. So when the woman left and came back with a heavy chair made of dark stone and studded with gems, I was surprised when it had four legs. “That’s…not a rocking chair.” I pointed out.

He shook his head. “You misheard, I said Rock King Chair. It’s made from the bones of a rock king. I stole it from some Imperial Viscount passing through here a few years ago. Shockingly comfortable for a chair made of stone.” He plopped down in the chair, holding out a hand as Heloise deposited a bejewled goblet of…probably wine?

Taking a sip, he hummed in bliss. “An excellent vintage, thank you.” He gestured for us to sit, and our dinner was served, along with glasses of the same wine, at least based on the smell. I wasn’t a wine guy but I tried a sip. It was actually pretty good.

“So.” Said Chester as he swirled his wine. “What are you offering?”

I cocked my head. “Offering?” I said. “For what?”

“For my help.” He said cheerfully. “You need me to agree to help you, or else this becomes a big mess, and sure, you might win, but you’d waste so much time and energy. It’d be so much easier just to pay me for my trouble, don’t you think?”

Raising a brow, I considered the man. “You’re trying to extort me?” I asked lazily. I let Limbo leak out, specifically the form of it with the mist bank. Moonlit Night’s obscuring fog filled the room slowly, climbing from our feet and slowly creeping up our legs.

“Whoa!” He said, his face paling as he backpedaled. He clearly had decent instincts, since he recognized my domain for, if not what it was, at least a threat, just at a glance. “I was just saying that this is an inconvenience for me. A bit of compensation isn’t out of line, is it?”

I stared at him murderously for a minute, letting the silence build…before nodding. “Fine.” I said. “You want money? Because I doubt I have enough on me to catch your attention.”

“Not at all.” He said smoothly. “Just a favor. You seem like a civilized…product of my nightmares. I’m sure you’ll honor a deal later on, and I have a good feeling about you. Plus your armor is stupidly well made. That’s some bespoke shit right there. Anyone who can afford that is the kind of person I could stand to have owe me a favor.”

I relaxed a bit. “I suppose that’s not too much to ask.” I admitted. “I’m asking you for a favor, after all. Very well.” I held out a hand. “We will shake on it. Or do you require a contract?”

Glancing nervously at the fog still swirling at our feet, he gave an anxious laugh. “Not at all. I trust you.” He took my hand and we shook, sealing the deal.

“Great!” Said Bella enthusiastically. “I can tie him up. Being a former elite bandit leader, I know how to subdue a target.” A coil of rope appeared in her hands. “Lay down on the ground, and I’ll show you all how a master criminal takes down her prey.”

Raising an eyebrow, the thief laid down, and Bella knelt in front of him. “Now, observe, master!” She raised the rope…and then stopped. “Wait…through the loop, and then under.” She paused. “Put your hands out.” Smirking, Chester did so. “Alright, so I’m supposed to loop it back twice, and then fold over…wait, no that’s not right. Two folds? Yes!” She wrapped him in a complex web of rope and knots before proudly holding up one end. “And now all I do is pull this and…”

Yanking the rope, I watched the hope die in her eyes as the web of restrictions disintegrated like sugar under a waterfall. Chester tried not to laugh, I really believe that, but he couldn’t help it, and my apprentice slumped to the ground, broken and defeated as she held a pile of loose rope on her lap.

I sighed, took the rope, stood the thief up, and then wrapped the rope around him from top to bottom, tying the two ends in a simple double knot. “There.” I said with an eye roll. “Now I just have to slap him with the scroll.” She opened her mouth but I cut her off. “No. I have to do it. Sorry.”

Sulking, she went back to her slump as I withdrew my scroll. “Hey, is that a unicorn?” I looked up over Chester’s shoulder. Confused by the sudden change in topic, he looked up…and I slapped him clean in the face with the scroll. It glowed briefly, and then the image of him dissolved in a flash of red light, the ink rearranging itself into directions.

“Alright.” I said with a nod. “Now we’re done.” Chester grinned, and with a slight flourish, the rope fell into pieces.

“Sorry about your rope.” He told Bella a bit smugly. “I’ll buy you a new one.”

She stared at it, apparently devastated. “My mother gave me that rope before she died. It was woven from strands of her hair.”

Chester looked horrified. “Gods, really?”

She grinned. “No, I bought it at a store. Honestly. Serves you right for laughing at me earlier though.” She stuck out her tongue at him, and he gave her a rueful smile, but nodded, conceding the point to her.

We all sat back down, digging back into our food, which had lain forgotten after we dealt with the business at hand.

It was pretty damned tasty, and the wine was still pretty good, especially paired with the food. “So.” Said Chester as he flirted shamelessly with my apprentice. “I don’t suppose you’d have need of a wily handsome rogue on your team for the rest of this selection? I could probably be convinced to help for another favor.”

Despite my amusement at his transparent attempt to get closer to Bella…I didn’t immediately turn him down. Two people wasn’t much of a team, and neither of them were part of the selection, so it wasn’t a conflict of interests to get help from them, even if they might try my patience a bit at times.

“Fine.” I said after a brief pause. “We’d like your help. Of course, we don’t know what the future tasks will be.” The Delthrys line of tasks was open to me since I passed this one. I could just drop out now that I’d finished the first, but what if Felicity’s tasks were beyond me. It seemed stupid to pass up a possible in with a god who might KNOW where the world I was looking for was.

So I’d take the next Delthrys meeting, see what they had to say. If the next task wasn’t too crazy I could do it while I waited for my proper task line to start up. I was sure I’d find SOME use for the favor of a god.

With that settled, I sat back and enjoyed my meal, letting my apprentice and our new partner bicker about whatever it was they were talking about. I had to admit, the nonsense chattering reminded me quite a bit of being home, bickering with Benny while Callie rolled her eyes at our antics. It wasn’t a bad ambiance to eat a meal to. Maybe letting him come along wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.