Jav and I walk away from the game table with heavier pockets. I won a couple rounds and left with more than I started with, which is not exactly surprising considering I had nothing. I have no clue what the value of the ten coins in my hand, but it feels great to win.

Jav is really good at Bleed. After he came in, he seemed to win at least half the rounds. His own bag of winnings makes mine look minuscule. I’m not sure how he did it, but he seemed to always know exactly what everyone else had and would only pay to replace cards when he would win the round.

Of course, I wasn’t the only one to notice this. The other players backed out of buying cards whenever Jav did. The crowd also placed their bets on him whenever he did so. It made his wins less profitable, but he still came away with far more than anyone.

I place one of the coins in my mouth and taste the metals inside. There are two incredibly distinct flavours that fight for domination of my taste as I burn through the metal. I recognise one ingredient from that knife in the Cano manor. It tastes a thousand times better now that I can actually burn through it and I relish as it melts over my tongue.

Jav is staring at me.

“What?” I ask.

He stares at me a moment longer, before lifting a paw to his face. “First, don’t put coins in your mouth. Who knows where they’ve been? Second, that coin was worth far more than the metals that make it. If you’re hungry, we can buy you some.”

I look down at my remaining coins. “Where?”

“Come, there’s bound to be some greedy merchant brave enough to risk their life for a bit of gold.”

Jav leads me to an area with three large wagons. Other than the group of five sitting around a campfire, the place is empty.

“Hey, do any of you lot have metal or ore?” Jav calls out.

At once, the people crowding the campfire perk up and dash toward the wagons. A pair of khirigs open up a wooden door to show the many wares inside. A duo of a dohrni and a volan do much the same with their own wagon.

It’s the last one that catches my attention. It Isn’t a race I’m familiar with. They have a stocky body with short arms and legs. Their skin is a brownish-green colouration with bubble like texture; it looks like their body is covered in millions of warts. The large head takes up a good portion of its body and is split by a wide mouth.

The being’s large, bulging eyes watch us as it unloads a crate from its wagon.

The khirigs are the first to speak. “Metals and ore, for decoration or weapons?”

“Neither. It’s for this one to eat.” Jav points my way.

An expression of befuddlement paints their faces.

“To eat?” the dohrni repeats, his tentacles freezing in the motion of unpacking.

“If it’s for consumption, do you want to try a selection, or is there a specific metal you’re after?” the wart-man is quick to adapt, I’m not even sure he hesitated for a second unlike the other four.

He quickly brings a heavy crate in front of us and I realise he’s waiting for my reply.

“Uh, the selection?” I say, unsure how much these coins are worth.

He nods to me and pulls out a leather-bound roll of finger length rods.

“It’s strange to see a heqet this far from the seas,” Jav says as he observes the trader unloading the range of metals. “It’s even stranger to see a heqet not trying to tear the throat out of anyone in their vicinity.” Jav looks to the four that had shared a campfire.

“Well, you know how it is. Gotta break away from tradition sometimes.” The heqet laughs as if he said something funny. “Go on kid, see which ones you like.”

With his encouragement, I pass a flame over the metals. Not enough to burn through them, but just enough to get a taste.

“So, what brings you here, anyway?” Jav asks.

“I came to sell the weapons I collected in Riparia.”

Jav’s eyes widen. “You have Riparian weapons?”

The heqet shakes his head. “Not anymore. They sold quick. Now I’m stocking up on unique creature parts before heading north. It’s rather frustrating that most mercs prefer to waste those resources on themselves instead of sell them.”

“Well, we have to improve ourselves somehow.”

“Yes, but is it so much to ask just to save the odd claw or two?”

“Usually, yeah. It’s a pain in the ass to carry that stuff back with you unless you have someone dedicated to the role.”

As I taste-test each of the metals, I come across one that makes me salivate more than any other. The silvery-white metal tastes absolutely amazing. There isn’t a single thing I’ve ever had that even comes close.

“Oh, you’ve found one, have you?” his grin spreads across his entire face when he sees which one I’ve focused on. “You have good taste, young lady.” He laughs to himself again. “What you have there is quality platinum. That quarter kilo rod, I can part with just for you at eight hundred paccs.”

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I’m not sure how much that is. It sounds cheap compared to the prices in Zadok. I turn to Jav to see his opinion. He’s narrowed his eyes and scrunched up his brow at the heqet.

“Why exactly do you have that much platinum on you?”

“Oh, it’s a favourite inscribing material for the Riparians. But if we are talking about using a metal for consumption, then I admit it’s unnecessarily expensive. I can sell you as much cast iron for one thousandth of the price.”

As if they were waiting for the opportunity, the other traders push themselves into the conversation. “If it’s cast iron you want, we have kilos to sell. We’ll give you a good deal?”

At the interruption, the heqet’s protruding eyes narrow dangerously. He turns and pulls an axe I hadn’t seen from behind his back.

“Back the fuck off my deal!” he screams, aggressively stepping toward the other merchants with axe raised.

Jav tenses, ready to jump in, but the heqet stops himself.

“No, calm. They’re not worth it. Calm. Calm.” He murmurs to himself, only barely audible to my ears.

“Sorry about that,” he says, turning to us with his cheer returned. “Never easy fighting nature. So, where were we?”

I walk away three iron ingots heavier and three coins lighter. I bought one from each of the trader groups to make it fairer. It’s an incredible challenge to carry each of the two and a half kilo chunks, but I’ll be having a massive feast with this. I’ll have to see if I can get someone in the team to carry an ingot for me when we travel.

My eyes lock on Grímr.

I walk up beside him and drop the heavy ingots on the grass. With a sigh of relief, I drop to the ground next to him. How did my tribe carry cart-loads of this stuff? I struggle even with this much.

“Hey Grímr, do you mind carrying my dinner in one of your bags when we travel again?”

“Sure, what did you get?” he turns to see me pointing at the ingots. He blinks before letting out a short laugh. “No problem, but you’ll have to tell me how it tastes.”

“Thanks!” I smile at the portian.

It’s a shame I couldn’t get any of that platinum. Seriously, it was too good. I’m definitely going to look for some in the future.

I don’t get to sit for long. Remus finally comes out of the command building and rejoins us.

“We’ll be heading out right away. Where is…” he looks around before spotting Tetsu alone in the training area. “Bunny! Let’s go!” he shouts over the background chatter.

We follow him as he strides out of the garrison. “Solvei, if you want to fly, you better change now. We’ll be moving quick.”

I jump on Grímr’s back and do as he says. If ever given the option, I rather the freedom of flight than being carried. The moment my change finishes, Remus increases our speed to my maximum flight speed. It’s a challenge to keep the pace, but I manage.

“So why are we out so quick? Don’t tell me the brass sent their orders for us already?” Jav asks.

“No, the defence manager had no knowledge we were coming until I stopped by. We’ll have to wait until after this job to see how bad I pissed them off. Let’s just hope it isn’t another Mid Elevation incursion.”

“So, what’s the mission?” Tetsu asks.

“Got a young Fearn team on scouting duty four days late with their report. The three other Luis teams they have on site are already watching major choke points with the highest frequency of attacks. Command were going to wait a few more days before they shuffled their numbers to have one of the Luis to investigate. We came at a convenient time for them.”

“Wait. What about the Beiths? They don’t have any on the roster?” Jav asks.

“There were supposed to be two, but both have gone missing. They aren’t the only ones either; a third of all Beith mercs have disappeared without a trace. Another third refuses to move from their home posts and the rest are already busy.”

“Damn, you’d think with how much they’re paid, they’d have some urgency to do their job,” Jav gripes. “Well, how far off are they? Is it worth me having a look yet?”

“I’ll give you a boost in an hour. They should be watching over a deep gulch further up the Stepps.”

This isn’t the first time he’s mentioned some place I’m unfamiliar with. I lower my height until I’m right above Grímr. “What are the Stepps?” I ask.

Grímr strides along behind the rest of the team. “It’s the lowest series of mountains along the Alps. Above that is the Lower, Middle and Upper Elevations. Beyond that is the Summit Line. We usually hunt in the Lower Elevation.”

Oh right, the Middle Elevation was where their last mage quit. “So, the Lower Elevation is where we went last time?”

“Oh no, far from it. That was still the Stepps. We would never have taken you to the Lower elevation without making sure you’re properly equipped. It’s not exactly as easy to traverse above the Stepps, even if you can fly.”

If creatures like katobles are common in the lowest and weakest region, then what kind of terrifying monsters hide up at the summit? Titans? Is there anything that even comes close to them?

Well, it’s not like I’ll be going that high up the mountain any time soon, so there’s nothing to worry about.

“The scouting team we are looking for, what do you think happened to them?” I’m still mostly unsure of what these Alps hold and even if the Stepps are the lowest, the blizzard shows there are still things to worry about.

“Uh…” Grímr hesitates. “I’m not going to lie; usually when a team doesn’t send their report on time, it’s likely they are dead.”

I nod. I figured that would be the circumstances. “But what could have killed them?”

Grímr glances up at me with a concerned look, but answers anyway. “Anything really. But Remus specified the youth of their team, which usually means they let their strength get to their head. A scouting team is not supposed to engage anything unless they have a hundred percent certainty of victory. The fights they may take are supposed to be of no challenge. If I was to guess, I’d say their ego pushed them to fight something out of their league.”

“What are we supposed to do if they are dead?”

“We confirm each of their deaths, hunt down what killed them, and return with their bodies. If that is not possible, we bury them on the mountain.”

“Bury them? Why would you bury the dead?”

Grímr gives me a strange look. “Why wouldn’t you?”

“Isn’t it better to give creatures and people a purpose after death? To let their lifeless bodies support those still living rather than decay into nothing.”

A deep, throaty growl rumbles from Grímr’s chest. “People are not like animals, they should be given proper respect as they move into the afterlife. Perverting their bodies once they are no longer there to defend themselves is the most despicable of acts.”

That goes against everything my tribe has ever taught me. I cannot agree with the wilful misuse of life. They may no longer be alive, but it would be a greater disrespect to them if they meant nothing to the world after their death.

Áed may not leave bodies behind after death, but our flames are returned to the Eternal Inferno to be cycled back into the world. The thought of being buried after death, of being isolated with no way back to the Inferno is horrifying.

“No, you can’t do that!” I can’t help but raise my voice at the image. “Don’t take away their freedom to return to the world. Burn them, feed them to creatures or use them in the ritual for all I care. Just don’t lock them away.”

I glare down at Grímr and he returns it with a low, rumbling growl.

“Hey, hey. Stop it, you two.” Remus smacks Grímr on the back of the head. “Everyone has their differences in culture and beliefs, but don’t you think it’s a bit early to be writing off those kids as dead? You can fight over what we do if it ever comes to that point, but for now, let’s not act like children, alright?”

I flap my wings and gain some height, intending to ignore the one that treats the dead with such cruelty.

A few minutes later, Remus throws Jav far ahead of us. We’ll be coming up to the scouting team soon. Whether they are still alive or not is something we’ll need to wait and see.