“Come on, please? It’s not like it hurts you.” Imiha follows me as I run off.

“No!” why doesn’t she just leave me alone?

She’s only been with us for half an hour, but I’m already sick of her attention. It was fine to start off with, being nothing more than the curiosity Leal had with what I could do. Very quickly, that harmless curiosity has grown to a dangerous fascination.

She chases me now with a knife she grew from the ground, intent to cut me open and watch the transition of my physical flames into incorporeal. It might be true that it won’t hurt, but I’m not letting her cut me up simply because she wants to.

The mermineae are still discussing between themselves what to do. I don’t know what the issue is. If they just tell us how to find the other Beith mercs, we could fly there and be back far quicker than it would take them to lead us.

I know what their game is. They don’t want us to become self-sufficient. They want our help, but they also don’t want to give us too much freedom. My biggest concern at the moment is that they might plan to have us killed during the tunnel entrance offensive. Why else would they be so hesitant to let us find more of our strong ‘friends’?

If I was to guess, they want us to have the strength to close the tunnel, but not enough to fight against their own Forvaal. Gaining too many of the Beith mercs to our side might be a concern for them.

“Please?” Imiha pleads. “It’s incredibly rare for a mage to risk taking fire markings, so we never get to research it in great depth. You don’t understand how great this opportunity is.”

“No!” I dodge her grasping tentacles. “And what do you mean risky? I’ve seen plenty of inscriptions using fire.”

“Inscriptions and markings are two completely separate sciences. They may be based on the same principals, but their canvases require immensely different considerations.” Thankfully, she slows to a halt as she goes into her explanation.

I consider running off while she’s distracted, but there’s no way she’ll let me get off that easily. Unlike Bunny, Imiha never seems to lose track of her surroundings when talking about her interest.

“Fire and more recently, lightning, are used for inscriptions because of their efficiency. Not only do their hyle forms experience less loss in physical mediums, but they are also far easier to create without a living being. Both elements naturally occur in a state closer to their hyle forms than other types, which makes the conversion easier.”

Amber markings light up across her body and a stone chair rises beneath her. Something presses against the back of my legs and trips me into a chair of my own.

“These elements also exhibit far more of their natural characteristics while in their hyle form than other elements. We aren’t sure what the reason for this is exactly — I could go on all day with theories — but it makes them rather volatile when passing through living bodies. Stone and water, in comparison, don’t take on physical properties in their hyle form, so they flow through skin with more ease than our own blood. That’s why you’ll find them to be the most common.”

“What about the other two elements you used? One healed you, but I’m not sure what the other was. What are they?” If she’s being open, I might as well find out where her strengths lay.

“Oh, that was nature… or life… or growth. Nobody can really agree on what it is. I was taught how to use a couple of nature markings, but even those who spend their whole lives researching it don’t truly understand it. The other is a secret.” She smiles and her body glows amber again.

The chair I’m sitting in moves toward her and before I can jump out, she has me in her grasp again.

“Now I don’t want to force you, but I really want to see how your body reacts.” She waves the dagger in front of my face. “So tell me what you want in exchange and I’ll do my best.”

I’m not getting out of this, am I? A quick glance around reveals each of my teammates pretending to not be paying attention. Seriously, Grímr, couldn’t you think of a better way to look busy than drawing circles in the dirt? After how pissed Imiha has been with him, I can understand why Remus is keeping his distance. But why won’t anyone else take her attention?

I glance at the knife in front of me. The iron blade crafted entirely from the earth. It’s not that being cut by it would be all too bad, I’d hardly feel it after all. If I let her get away with doing so, she is going to raise the stakes for the next thing she wants. Where will it end? With her wanting to see how well I can swim? No thanks.

But… if I can get something out of it, then just this once would be fine.

“Can you make me a spear?” I point to the knife in her hand.

“Oh? Sure.” A flare of her markings and an iron spear rises from the ground. “I’ll make you a better one once we’re in an area with better metals than iron. Unfortunately, I haven’t figured the marking to create steel yet, so it’ll have to do.”

I lift the spear and find its weight far too great. I try to push my strength, but it still feels too unwieldy.

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

“Could you make it lighter?”

She touches the spear and a good amount of iron falls out of one end. It is much better now; far heavier than the wooden shaft spear I had before, but still not so heavy as to slow me down.

From the corner of my eye, I swear a disappointed expression passes over Bunny’s face, but as I turn toward her, she’s as impassive as ever.

“Well? It’s my turn.”

Imiha waves the knife in front of me, and I snatch it from her hand. If I’m going to get cut, I’ll do it myself. I bring up my arm to where the dohrni could see, pull my sleeve back, and slam the knife through it.

My amputated arm reverts to flames, as does the stub. Tongues of fire reconnect the separated parts of my arm as soon as the blade has passed through. Hardly a second passes before my arm is whole again, and only a couple more before my flames are hidden.

Imiha watches on with curiosity. Her gaze is intense, and I feel a sudden regret about my choice. Maybe I shouldn’t have given this to her.

She turns away from my arm and looks me in the eye. “That doesn’t hurt?”

I shake my head, but that just seems to excite her further. She looks about ready to pile on more requests when I feel the Mermineae finally return to us. This time, it looks like their elders have joined.

“We have decided to lead you to the closest known outsider. Any more would mean leaving the offensive far too late,” Taanoraa says as he reveals himself.

“Excellent! We appreciate your help.” Remus is quick to take the reins. I can see why he did; Imiha seems ready to leap in his stead. After the aggression she has shown, I can’t imagine it remaining civil should she speak. I’m having enough trouble myself holding back criticisms.

“…But if you simply told us where to go, we could accrue enough people to be sure the path can be closed. Not just temporarily, but for good. With flight and our new friend, we can make that distance in a fraction of the time.”

That is a nice way to say we’d do better without them. I mean, I agree completely, but there’s no chance they’ll accept.

“No. that will not do. You will not find your way with directions alone,” Taanoraa growls.

I expected it, but it’s still annoying to hear them deny us. You could almost pin them as our enemies rather than allies, considering how much they are trying to limit us.

I notice Remus’ subtle warning too late. Imiha steps past me, striding toward the elderly mermineae with a near unnoticeable application of her presence. She is expressionless. Neither anger nor curiosity mar her features as she stands tall.

Aana and Muuro take a step back and bow their heads, but the two cloudy eyed elders stand their ground.

After leaving them to stoke in her presence for an extended time, she finally speaks. “You know, it has been a while since I’ve had to deal with these games. I am always amused by the ploys of the weak and will often humour them, but right now, I am not in the mood. Do not think I am unable to find our targets on my own. Out of respect for this alliance we have, I shall let you show your worth.”

She pauses a moment, looking each mermineae in the eye. “Tell us what you know and I’ll consider you comrades.” She turns and walks back to my side before twisting her eyes back to them, unleashing the full force of her presence. “Do remember: if you are not comrades, you are enemies.”

Her suffocating presence disappears in an instant, like it was never there.

I’ve really got to learn how to do that.

The two older mermineae growl at each other. They speak far too quiet to hear, but it is clear they are frustrated. Imiha stands tall and proud, as if she already knows the outcome.

Sure enough, Taanoraa speaks up, disgruntled. “So be it, we shall tell you, but you must take one of our own. Aana, join them.”

“What?” Aana squeaks. “But, Forvaal…”

“Do what is required of you, jill.”

“…Okay.” With a defeated look, she hesitantly approaches us.

The other Forvaal only wait around long enough to tell us where they have tracked the other Beith mercenaries. As soon as they are done, they run off, leaving a nervous Aana to watch as they leave.

They still only tell us of the location of two more. If they’ve been monitoring three groups, then there’s no reason to believe they don’t know where more are. I guess this is their last attempt to limit our strength. Fortunately, Imiha has a way to find more without the mermineae.

“How are you able to track the other mercenaries?” I ask Imiha out of curiosity. Maybe we’ll be able to find more that will help us in the time before we return.

She gives me an eye smile and leans down to whisper. “That was a bluff.”

“Huh?” I say dumbly. It makes sense, though. I didn’t even consider her to be lying about something like that with how strong she seemed, and the mermineae have shown little diversification in their abilities, so it would be easy for them to make the same mistake.

“They had little choice but to do as I say, even if they saw through it. The only asset they had was those locations, but they stretched that advantage more than they should have. So I gave them an ultimatum; either let it go, or become our enemies. Considering their position, they can’t afford to risk the latter. Actually, this is something Remus should have done himself.”

Imiha spins her eyes away from me and raises her voice. “Dotard, why didn’t you push them from the start? Now is hardly the time to be obsequious to those primitives.”

Aana flinches. Whether because of the intensity of Imiha’s tone or the insult to her race, I don’t know.

Remus gives out an exaggerated sigh. “What ever happened to that polite young girl you used to be?” upon seeing her unamused expression, he cuts the jokes. “We are in their land, completely cut off from backup and resources we would have back home. The last thing I wanted to do was strain our relations with the only ones we have to help us. I think your threat was hasty.”

“Letting them step all over you was hardly a better alternative. Besides, I’ve dealt with their type; they never had any intention of retaining diplomacy. They see us as nothing but tools at their disposal,” she says and turns her gaze to the only mermineae left. “Isn’t that right?”

Aana squeaks at the attention but wriggles out an answer. “I couldn’t hope to understand what the High Clergy Forvaal are thinking.”

“Sure, sure. Pleading ignorance is fine, just as long as you understand that those superiors of yours have left you with us as a sacrifice. They don’t expect you to survive. If they did, one of your superiors would have come themselves.”

Aana lowers her head, neither agreeing nor protesting. She’s probably fretting over her new role as is. Imiha’s words wouldn’t do anything to help that.

Not wasting the daylight we have, we climb Grímr’s back and take to the air. Even as big as his body is, there’s not much room for any more people. Hopefully, the next Beiths we find have their own way to fly.

Imiha’s markings light up once more. Ivory this time. Suddenly, even without beating his wings, Grímr accelerates at an alarming rate. We reach his top speed and surpass it in only a few seconds.

I look up at Imiha, who’s sat uncomfortably close to me. She returns my gaze with a wink.

I guess we’ll be travelling far faster than expected.