Chapter Fifty-Three: A Lucky Break

I could feel Serena’s uncertainty radiating from her while we followed the god away from the camp and towards the woods on the other side of the road.. Whether it was through our Link or just my intuition having spent enough time around her, I wasn’t sure. I knew she had faith in Allura, and she was undoubtedly worried about taking a deal that seemed to undercut her patron goddess. I wished I could reassure her without playing my hand, but—

“Oh, unclench your ass, priestess,” Fortuna threw over her shoulder. “Your lover doesn’t actually trust me, he’s just trying to puzzle out my game by seeing exactly how I plan to reveal my sister’s dirty secrets.”

Well. That’s just rude.

“So brevity is the game, then?” I asked.

She chuckled. “I expect nothing less from you, Godslayer.”

“That isn’t my class any longer,” I practically growled. Serena gasped beside me, then her hand slipped into mine.

Fortuna glanced back without breaking stride, then rolled her eyes. “You’ve killed four Chosen. You’ve more than earned the title.”

Serena’s hand tightened in mine, but I kept my face neutral. “We’re walking, so why don’t you tell me whatever it is you plan to tell me.”

She didn’t answer right away. It wasn’t until we’d entered the trees and the glow of the fire behind us faded from sight that she finally broke the silence. “I knew you hated us, but seeing it is something else.” Her voice was softer than it had been a moment ago.

“You’re surprised?” I asked, slightly incredulous.

“No. In fact, that’s the part that angers me most. Being hated pisses me off, but being hated for valid reasons?” She shook her head. “That makes me fucking furious.”

“Oh, well that makes it all better,” I shot back sarcastically. Serena’s hand tightened again, but this time felt a bit more like a warning. One I ignored. Fortuna was a goddess, and while I might not like them they aren’t fools. She wouldn’t have approached me without knowing exactly how I’d respond.

But her only reaction was to smirk at me over her shoulder. “You hate us because you feel we abandoned you.” It wasn’t a question, so I saw no need to respond. “What would you say if I told you that wasn’t the case?”

“I’d say you were full of shit,” I responded truthfully.

“Zaren!” Serena hissed.

But Fortuna laughed. “Outstanding. There’s something to be said for mortals that don’t grovel.” Then her expression sobered and her eyes returned forward, though her voice carried back to us just fine. “We didn’t ignore you and the others, Zaren. If we’d known what Karn was doing, then we’d have put a stop to it.”

“You really expect me to believe you didn’t know?” I demanded.

Another silence. Fortuna kept us walking in a straight line, never having to step around a tree. I knew some goddess bullshit was to blame, but I wasn’t really in the mood to care about that. “Everyone in this plane is born with a set amount of Luck. That luck is neither good nor bad, but it is the force with which I interact with mortals. Good and bad happen, but without outside intervention it will always return to a net zero eventually.”

I frowned. While interesting, a lesson wasn’t really why I was here. She barreled on before I could interject, though. “Every god has some kind of connection to you mortals, but that one is mine. When a mortal dies, their Luck returns to the pool, so to speak, so that Luck can be passed on to the next mortal born. When the children Karn experimented on died, their Luck never returned to me. When someone dies with unbalanced Luck, I always know, yet with them I had no idea. When you strangled Karn, you want to guess how much Luck re-entered the pool?”

My frown deepened. “A lot.”

“A lot,” she agreed. “The Luck that should have belonged to you and every one of those souls that Allura collected over the years.” Serena’s step faltered, but she remained silent. “That shouldn’t be possible. Luck is one of the many things that only the divine should be able to affect, yet Karn managed it.”

When she spoke again, it was in a low growl that made my hair stand on end. “Karn, using methods that none of us have been able to discern, interrupted the cosmic balance of this plane. He stole your fates, and in doing so he removed you from that balance. He made you, and all the atrocities he committed, completely undetectable to the rest of us. I’ve been a goddess for thousands of years, and nothing like that has ever happened before.”

My mouth suddenly felt very dry. “Then how did Allura find us? How did she know if we were so invisible?”

“You,” she said simply. “Karn reset you all to zero, but you somehow found it in yourself to reforge bonds. Those bonds you created between yourself and the other children, when broken so violently, caught Allura’s attention. Because of those, she was able to hear your prayers, but she was unable to intervene. The world was ramping up for another Chosen conflict, so most of the other gods were preoccupied while she struggled to find a way to help all of you.”

“And now? Am I still all fucked up by whatever Karn did?”

She looked back at me again, her eyes raking up and down critically. “Yes. You are the only one who survived Karn’s experiments. Because of that, you exist outside of fate. It’s the reason you were able to kill Chosen and not face retaliation from their gods, despite not having a god that protects you. You exist outside the Divine Treatise. That means the gods can’t directly help you, but they can’t hinder you either. Not without facing cosmic retribution.”

“But Allura made a deal with me,” I argued. “Doesn’t that put me back on the board?”

Something in her eyes sparkled. Something that made me realize I needed to pay very close attention to her words. “No. Do you know what the Divine Treatise is?”

It was Serena who answered that. “A set of divine laws that the gods are beholden to. It’s what defines and dictates Chosen conflicts, the only way for gods to influence the mortal world past miracles and answering prayers.”

“Gold star to the priestess. Someone’s been doing some light reading,” Fortuna said, clapping. “But you’re wrong about one thing. It’s not the only way, it’s the only accepted way. By making her deal with Zaren, here, Allura broke the Treatise.”

“That sounds ominous,” I noted.

She shrugged. “The Treatise was made by gods a long, long time ago. Before I rose to divinity, certainly. It isn’t actually the end-all-be-all, more a set of guidelines some immortal braniacs came up with to keep everyone from accidentally pissing off the cosmos. No, the actual rules are a bit…looser. And, thanks to your situation, Allura has been pushing those boundaries. The Divine Treatise has been around for so damn long that gods these days don’t actually remember the specifics of what exactly will bring down cosmic rebalancing, so they rely heavily on the clearly outlined rules in the Treatise.”

Her eyes returned forward again. “Allura couldn’t help you within the Treatise, but she unwittingly found a way around it. She made a deal on even terms with a mortal—something long outlawed among divinity—and that deal allowed her to intervene directly without the cosmos bitch slapping her and every one involved.”That caused me to stumble. “Allura made a deal before me?”

“She did,” Fortuna said. “She never told me what or with who, but when she came to me for protection against the rest of the family, she told me that was where it all started. Give and take. A mortal gave her something, and she did something else in return. An even exchange that didn’t disrupt the balance.”

That made my head spin. Someone else had made a deal with Allura? One that somehow saved me from Karn? I wanted to dwell a bit more on that fucking insane bit of information, but Fortuna had other ideas.

“We’re getting off topic, though. At first, this was just an accidental occurrence. Something she did in a moment of weakness that would have gone overlooked if she’d kept it to herself. But when Grimsbane started that fucked up spell—another instance of a mortal doing things they should never have the ability or knowledge to do—she quickly realized that her accident could be one of our saving graces.”

“And the other is me?” I guessed.

She shot a demure smile at me. “Well, aren’t we full of ourselves.” She winked. “But yes, you. Karn was careful, but nobody could have accounted for Allura’s accidental interference. You walked out of there, still cut off from all the forces that tie you mortals to fate. You’re a fate breaker. All those people back there? The ones who you’ve surrounded yourself? They were all fated for death.”

My gut clenched. “Come again?”

“Rhallani was supposed to die in that tower. Noelle would have been used and abused by our enemies until there was nothing left of her. Tiana would have been—well, we actually don’t know the specifics of her fate because of our adversaries, but she wasn’t supposed to come out of that spider’s nest with her sanity. Even this one,” she jabbed a thumb at Serena, “would have ended up alone in the capital after Fel used her up and cast her aside, stabbed by a thief and left to die for the coppers in her pocket.”

Serena looked green, but I clung onto the fact that she used past tense. “And now?”

She flipped around so that she was walking backwards. “And now you’ve sent their fates spinning into uncertainty. Not even Auntie Muriella knows what their future holds, but if you ask me that’s for the best. But we’re getting off topic again. My point is that Karn did something that should be impossible, and we ended up with something else impossible. You. We also have to assume that we don’t know the full extent or repercussions of his actions.”

“Our enemies aren’t playing by the rules,” she continued, “but those rules still restrict us. I don’t have high hopes for the Chosen conflict brewing at the moment, though that’s where most of the other gods have thrown their attentions. They think they can just keep doing the same old thing and expect there to still be a plane left afterwards, but I’m not convinced.”

“Which is where I come in,” I guessed. “If they aren’t playing by the rules, you need a piece that isn’t restricted by the board.”

She flashed a toothy grin at me. “And they told me you weren’t a smart one.”

I scowled at her.

She laughed, the pure sound of it doing its best to drag the edges of my lips upward against my will, but I resisted. “So Allura is playing around with cosmic laws to try and do…what?”

Fortuna turned her eyes to the sky. “Really, Zaren? You think a stroll through the woods is enough to earn straight answers?”

Fuck. I should have guessed she was up to something. I ran over everything she’d said so far. Every word. The exact phrasing of the deal. She said she’d help me understand, not that she’d tell me Allura’s plan. From what she was saying, the two sides of the deal had to be balanced. Telling me Allura’s plans would have cost more than I was willing to pay a goddess I didn’t trust, but giving me the pieces and letting me put them together on my own? That was something we could apparently both afford.

I understood the game now, and it really made me wish Rhallani was here. I had to assume that she’d already given me a number of the pieces, and I needed to take careful note of the parts she’d subtly told me weren’t important. Not only that, but I had to take the deal itself into account. The deal, its phrasing, and how she was fulfilling her end were probably their own pieces.

Her grin turned predatory. She knew now that I understood. That I was paying close attention. “My sister chose her champion well. I admit, I had my doubts, but you continually impress.” she shook her head. “And now that I’ve ‘broken’ the fates of those I care about, are they like me? Are they…unrestricted?”

She shrugged. “Who knows? Time will tell, I’m sure, but it’s tough to say for certain. Maybe they are, or maybe they’re just operating in the wake you create. Maybe they're inherently freed from fate, or maybe you tethering your soul to them offers the same protections that you carry. You’re an anomaly, Zaren. An unknown, and one that makes a lot of gods and goddesses very nervous.”

“Not you?”

Her look became dangerous. “I’ve always been a fan of a good gamble myself.”

I snorted. “Shocking.”

She spun back around with a flourish. “The natural order of things is still fucked. Whether it’s the after effects of whatever the fuck Karn did or whether someone else is still meddling, we have no idea. The birth rate, new monsters appearing, new breeds of demi-humans, all things that we don’t know why or how they’re happening. And those tears are sending out ripples, fucking with everything.”

“How so?”

“You think it’s normal that all your women were fated for such ends?” she snapped, a hint of vitriol in her voice. She collected herself. “No, it isn’t. Now, don’t get me wrong, strings of bad luck happen, but not on this scale. There’s so much suffering all over, and it makes me itch. There’s something off about it all, and I don’t like it. Neither does Allura. The last time we spoke she mentioned something about more bonds being severed than ever before. People’s Luck is being fucked with on a scale that I’ve never seen.”

Her eyes found mine, holding my gaze. “The world has never been fair, but it’s never been completely unfair. Not until now. Already you’re starting to make waves, but you aren’t a big enough rock to divert the stream just yet. You’re growing, though, which is good. I’m not a fan of where this particular river meets the cosmic sea.”

She came to a stop and looked around. “This is far enough, I think.”

I raised a brow. “That’s it?”

She nodded. “That’s it. Deal’s over.” She winked again. “Thanks for playing. Was it as good for you as it was for me?”

Serena looked from me to her. “Um, I’m a little lost.”

Fortuna’s eyes twinkled. “Your boy toy isn’t. Now, before I go, how about another deal?”

“Two in a night? Must be my birthday.”

“Mm, not quite. That’s in about a month, actually.”

Well shit. I didn’t actually know when my birthday was, so that was something to note for later. From the way Serena’s eyes widened, I was sure she already had. “Let’s hear it, then,” I said, crossing my arms.

“There’s a woman about a mile…” she pointed, “that way. She’s one of many who have lived nothing but bad luck for far too long, and I’d really like to know where all her good luck has gone.”

“You want me to find out?” I guessed.

“Oh, no. Not at all. I figure your own curiosity is more than enough to set you on that path. No, the deal is that if you save her life, then I’ll reward you with a boon.”

I held a hand up. Time was still frozen, so we weren’t on the clock. Yet. “A boon?”

“A favor to be repaid at a time of my choosing,” she said with a nod.

A chance for her to interfere without retribution, she means. But that was fine. A boon, by definition, had to be helpful for me, so I’d take it. “Alright, but save her from what?”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll figure it out. She’s about to die a rather awful death, though, so I’d hurry if I were you.”

Then she vanished. Serena and I had just enough time to exchanged a panicked glance before the forest around us returned to life and we started running.

# # #

Nariko was having what was quickly turning out to be the worst day of her life, and that was saying a lot. It had been a long, long time since she’d had anything other than a bad day, and a small part of her almost welcomed the fact that she was probably about to die.

Almost.

It was another shit day in a long line of really shit days. She could pick the exact moment her life had gone from not great to absolute shit. She’d had to leave her crap life behind because her good-for-nothing mother was too weak to tell the owner of the local brothel no when she’d demanded Nariko’s virginity be used to pay off her mothers gambling debts. She’d been fifteen at the time. Fifteen. She’d slipped out the window that night and never looked back.

But things only got worse from there. A lone Nekomata on the streets, and a kid at that, was damn near a death sentence. She’d gotten by long enough to earn her class, Thief, and that had helped, but only for so long. Eventually she’d gotten cornered by someone she couldn’t get away from. He’d taken her first time, and she’d taken his life while he did it. Gutted the fucker before he even finished with his own knife he’d been too stupid to realize she could reach. Not that the authorities cared all that much about what he’d been doing to her.

Two years she’d spent running. Apparently the man she’d killed was important to someone with money. He wasn’t the last to hurt her, but she always managed to get away. Living on the streets, forced to hide in places that even the law was hesitant to go into left her with plenty of scars, but it had also made her tough. Everything seemed to go wrong again and again and again, but she just let every experience temper her. Every bit of suffering made her stronger.

Then she’d made the mistake of trusting someone a single time, and it had cost her everything. Just when she’d thought she might have found a home, an end to the running and hiding, she’d woken up drugged, beaten, and abused in the Pens of the capital. An attractive Nekomata with a price from her “crimes” just high enough that nobody wanted to buy her, but the Pens held other hells. She’d thought that would surely be rock bottom.

She’d been wrong.

A demented part of her had been excited when she’d finally been indebted to a Patron. Then she’d been passed off, stripped, given rags, and thrown into a too-small cage with a handful of other Nekomata and taken out into the wilderness. They’d been at the mercy of a monster of a man and the cruel men who worked for him. They’d cut her and taken her blood for reasons she couldn’t even begin to fathom. Then, when a Neko got to the point where they were on death’s door, they were taken out of the cage and never seen again. Occasionally a new one would be thrown in, but Nariko learned early not to make friends.

Now it was her turn.

She’d spent weeks in that cage, barely getting enough food to survive. Biding her time. Enduring. She felt like shit, barely able to put one foot in front of the other while someone dragged her through the trees. She tripped on roots and branches, and each time her captor yanked her up with enough force to make her shoulder scream in pain.

She wished she could see, but the dirty cloth around her eyes made that difficult. They talked while they dragged her through the forest as if they weren’t marching her to her death. They barely acknowledged her past the man who gave her a solid yank every time she tripped or slowed. After the tenth time he’d hauled her up, his hand no doubt leaving bruises on her arm, she was thankful for the gag that muffled her pained whimpers. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry.

They were taking her far, but that was fine. The further they went, the better. She wanted to be as far as possible from their horrible camp before she made her move. She might look small and frail from how long it had been since she’d had a decent meal, but she had Stamina and Mana and skills that they didn’t know about. She’d endured no end of beatings for it, but she’d never once told them her class. They’d written her off long ago, and she was going to make them regret it.

There were four of them, she was sure. She’d gone from four to five to four again, but she’d counted four distinct voices. Four sets of footprints. One ahead, two behind, and the one who once again yanked her forward, even though she hadn’t even stumbled this time. If she could manage it, she was going to enjoy killing him.

“Think this is far enough?” the one in front asked finally, making her heart race. It was almost time.

“Yeah, should be,” the one holding her shot back, making bile rise in her throat when she recognized the voice. “Should make sure nothing gets too close to camp. That caravan should be passing somewhat close soon, so this is as good a spot as any. Wind’s blowing away from us, too.”

She heard the sound of a blade being drawn behind her. “Let’s get this over with, then.”

“Now, hold on Dodd,” the one holding her said.

The man in front scoffed. “Really, Ev?”

“Yes, really.” A thick hand caressed her face, making her flinch away from the touch. “This one was my favorite, can’t just leave her without one last goodbye.”

“You are twisted,” One of the men behind said, though he sounded more amused than anything.

The man holding her yanked her close, and she felt his hand go questing. She bit back her revulsion when the evidence of his arousal pressed into her, but that wasn’t the only thing. She felt the distinct outline of a blade’s handle sticking into her ribs, and that was what she needed.

“Now, be a good girl, and I’ll make you feel good before what has to happen next,” he said, his rancid breath hot on her cheek.

His hand mauled one of her breasts, and Nariko knew it was now or never. She cast [Unlock] and her shackles came undone. They would have fallen if she hadn’t grabbed them in one hand and swung with everything she had. He cursed when they slammed into his face, but she’d already ripped the short blade from his belt and jammed it right into his groin and expended some Stamina on [Strike Weakpoint] for good measure. He howled when she ripped it upward, ripping her blindfold off and threw herself away from the one man she knew had already drawn his blade.

She was too slow.

She screamed into her gag when cold steel bit deep into the outside of her thigh. She swung as she fell to the ground, her leg refusing to support her, and hit something fleshy.

“Stupid bitch!” someone cursed.

She stumbled away from the man bleeding out, holding crimson coated hands to his shredded manhood. One was staggering back, holding a cut on his arm, but the other two were running at her with looks of rage. She swung at the first, making him leap back, but the other bowled into her. He grabbed her wrist, twisting to make her drop the blade, and she slammed her head into his cheek.

He cursed, and when she slammed her head forward again she felt his cheekbone give. His grip faltered and she slammed the blade into his neck. She ripped it out and blood drenched her. He struggled for a moment, trying to staunch the flow, but eventually he fell limp.

She managed to wiggle out from under him, but her leg still wouldn’t support her weight. The cut was bleeding far too much for her liking, and she was already beginning to feel lightheaded. The other grabbed her hair, but she lashed out with jagged nails that hadn’t been trimmed in far too long.

He reeled back with four long bloody lines over an eye that would never see again and she lunged for the blade she’d dropped. She felt steel cut into her arm, but it wasn’t deep enough to do anything other than hurt like a motherfucker. Pain she could handle, but no sooner had her fingers wrapped around the hilt than someone’s weight crashed down on her back, driving the air from her lungs.

Something struck her in the back of the head, causing her to see stars, and she was roughly flipped over. The fourth man was above her, his face twisted in rage. His hands closed over her throat, cutting off her air supply. He struck her face twice, then ripped the blade from her hand.

“You’re gonna pay for that,” he warned, pressing the blade to her cheek.

She screamed curses into her gag, flailing underneath him, but he was too heavy and she was too weak from imprisonment. He dragged the blade across her cheek and she reached up to try and gouge his eyes out, but his arms were too long. “You just had to go and make this harder on yourself, didn’t you? Couldn’t die like the trash you are.”

Her vision was beginning to dim. He dragged the blade further, no doubt leaving a cut that would have scarred if she’d managed to survive. She struggled to the end, just wishing that she could have taken one or two more of them with her. Her vision blurred, and her arms suddenly felt far too heavy to move, when he released her.

“Can’t have you die just yet. Boss says it works best when you’re still breathing,” He told her. “Just gotta make sure you don’t go anywhere.” He raised enough to hover over her legs. She tried to kick at him with her good leg, but he just grabbed her foot and twisted, raising his blade to completely cripple her.

Then he was staggering away, the shaft of an arrow sticking from his shoulder. She pulled herself away from him, looking for her savior. When she found them, her heart sank.

You have to be fucking with me right now.

She was dimly aware of the curses coming from behind her, but she was more preoccupied with the gnoll stalking towards her. It was still holding its bow, another gnoll on either side of it creeping through the trees with short, rusty weapons. They all sniffed the air, the lead gnoll licking its chops. They wore mismatched armor, two of with little more than loincloths protecting their modesty. Strips of dirty leather or fabric that did little to hide their growing erections while they stalked towards her, drawn by the blood pouring out of her injuries.

A part of her wanted to just lay down and die. The part of her that was so damn tired of fighting over and over just for things to get worse. But she wasn’t dead yet. She’d made it this far, and she wasn’t going to just give up. Not yet.

The gnolls could be a blessing in disguise. Praying it would work, she cast [Vanish] and rolled as fast as she could out of their path, biting down on her gag to keep from screaming as pain wracked her. She wasn’t invisible necessarily, but the skill would hide any trace of her now. Alone they would have probably found her, but there were two other men in the clearing still.

Just as she’d hoped, the gnolls pounced on the men who’d been about to kill her. Dragging herself to her feet, she hobbled as fast as she could manage away from the direction they’d been taking her in. Her injuries were bleeding bad, but even bleeding out in the woods would be a better fate than being caught and eaten by gnolls.

She pulled the gag from her mouth while she dragged herself from tree to tree, her ragged sobs drowned out by the fighting and screaming behind her. She looked behind her to see that the man who’d pinned her down was being torn apart. They ripped into the parts of him covered in her blood with their teeth, and he screamed for far too long before falling silent. The man she’d castrated was long dead, and the last man was still fighting, but he was covered in injuries and fighting four gnolls.

She moved as fast as she could, but her mana was running out fast. [Vanish] was strong, but costly. It wouldn’t last much longer. It wouldn’t last nearly long enough. Her mana ran dry about the same time the begging of the last man went silent. She felt no sympathy in their deaths, but she really wished they’d lasted longer.

Nariko forced herself not to look back at the gnolls she knew would be pursuing her now. She was out of mana, and rapidly running out of blood. Her leg barely worked, and her half-limp-half-hop wasn’t getting her anywhere fast.

She heard their grunts and yips getting closer and choked out a sob. She didn’t bother praying. She’d given up on that long ago. She only wished she had something to defend herself with. She’d tried so fucking hard, but it was all for nothing.

She stumbled and fell in an incredibly rare stroke of luck just when the gnoll closest to her lunged. Its claws went over her, and she managed to twist enough that she didn’t fall directly underneath it. She lunged for one of the weapons jammed haphazardly into the waistband of its ill-fitting loincloth. It lunged at her, so she sacrificed her already injured arm to its jaws while she ripped the blade free.

She screamed in pain as its teeth ripped into her forearm, but she still managed to jam the blade into the gnoll’s neck. [Strike Weakpoint] used Stamina, not mana, so she used the skill to rip the gnoll’s throat open like she had the man. She yanked it free and stabbed again. The gnoll’s jaws went limp and she shoved it away, cradling her mangled arm to her chest.

The gnolls fanned out, approaching her in a half circle. There were eight of them, far too many for her to even dream of killing. She used the last of her strength to lift the stolen blade, her arm trembling so badly she was shocked she could still hold it. She couldn’t stand, still on the ground where she’d fallen. They would come for her, and she’d force them to kill her. She wasn’t going to be a captive. Never again.

They all inched closer, yipping and snarling to one another, all of them sniffing the air and licking their chops excitedly. She was tired of it. She knew she was going to die, so she just wanted it to be over. She looked at the closest one and pointed her blade at it.

“COME ON!” she screamed, ready to fight to the bitter end.

The end never came.

The gnolls lunged, but they never reached her. There was a flash of red and a brilliant gold light that illuminated the area. One moment, two gnolls were nearly on top of her. The next, they were both pinned to a tree by the spear of the woman—no, the goddess—who had appeared from nowhere.

She glowed with light. Her long golden hair was tied in a simple braid that whipped from the force of her violent appearance. She wore black armor like nothing that Nariko had ever seen. Sleek metal that left far too much skin exposed to be practical, yet her body didn’t have a scar on it. A cylinder at her hip lit the area up, casting the horrible creatures in its soft light. She held a spear in each hand, one embedded in the torsos of two gnolls, the other held to her side.

The woman’s eyes found her and widened. Then the glow that was around her spear faded, replaced by a similar glow that collected around her feet. She spun like a dancer, releasing the spear still nailing the two struggling gnolls to the tree, and swung her other spear at the nearest creature. She attacked in a blur with wide sweeping strikes, driving the gnolls back and away from where Nariko sagged to the ground.

But it was still six on one, and the gnolls pressed that advantage. They all surged forward at once, the ones on the edges flanking to surround her. Just when Nariko was certain she’d be surrounded, something came out of the darkness. One of the gnolls to the woman’s left fell back with a howl, dozens of black shards sticking out of its body. Then someone else crashed into the clearing.

If the woman was light, the man was dark. Literally. He held a blade in each hand, but living darkness whipped around him angrily. Thick tendrils made of shadows whipped around him in a frenzy, driving the other gnolls back while he took on the one in the lead with his blades.

“Take care of her, I’ve got this!” he called.

The woman didn’t hesitate to step back with one last jab to give her space. She spun, her feet not touching the ground as she cleared the distance between her and Nariko in two long, graceful strides. She leaned down, one of her hands sliding under Nariko’s back to support her while the other checked her for injuries. Her eyes, bright like emeralds, held so much concern while they took in Nariko’s blood-covered form.“Are you a goddess?” Nariko slurred, blood loss making it hard to think straight.

The woman smiled, which made Nariko feel foolish for asking. This woman had to be a goddess. Her smile was so warm, so comforting. She started to glow again, and warmth chased away the pain that filled Nariko’s body. The kindness radiating from the woman made tears prick the corners of Nariko’s eyes. Even bloody and dying, she’d never in her life felt so safe as she did in this woman’s arms. This woman was surely here to guide her into the afterlife, and Nariko was more than happy to drift off into oblivion in her comforting embrace.

“Close,” the woman said, “I’m a priestess.” She reached up and touched the ruby red gem at her throat and Nariko was dimly aware of the woman’s vambraces that dug into her back vanishing. The woman slipped the hand supporting Nariko underneath the rags she wore and the warmth coming from where the woman’s skin touched her own made Nariko sag into her arms.

“It’s alright,” the goddess said. “You’re safe now. We’ve got you.”

Was Nariko dead? Was this what it was like to die? If so, maybe she’d been fighting death for nothing all along. If she hadn’t spent so many years afraid to fall asleep unless she was certain she was safe, she’d have nodded off then and there.

“I don’t want to hurt anymore,” Nariko said, shamed by the weakness in her own voice.

The woman placed her hand to Nariko’s cheek, wiping away the tears that Nariko hadn’t even realized had been falling. Without meaning to, Nariko leaned into the touch. It was as soft and warm as the rest of the woman. She was a complete stranger, yet Nariko had never felt so loved as she did in that moment. “I’m Serena,” she said, “what’s your name?”

“Nariko.”

“Well, Nariko, if you’ll let us, we’ll take good care of you.”If it meant she got to feel like this again, even once, then Nariko was more than happy to let them do whatever they wanted. Even when she looked over Serena’s shoulder and saw the intense sapphire eyes of her companion, looking at her with rage in his eyes.

Fear gripped her, and she grabbed for Serena with a whimper, but the man’s eyes softened. He wasn’t angry at her, she realized, but at what had happened to her. What had almost happened to her. His eyes raked over her, but not in the same way as all the men in camp. They lingered on her injuries, the state of her clothes, but not her figure. There was something comforting in that.

“How is she?” he asked, his voice deep and ragged.

Serena looked at him, and immediately Nariko missed the comforting green in them. “She’s lost a lot of blood, but I got to her in time. Zaren, her leg—”

“I know. I found the ones who did it to her. Gnolls fucked them up pretty good. Not just the gnolls, either,” he added, an impressed note in his voice while he met Nariko’s eyes again. He looked at something behind him, then he yanked a cloak out of thin air with a flourish. He approached, but stayed out of reach while he handed the cloak to Serena. “Two gnolls ran away. I can feel their fear.”

“Zaren…” Serena said, a warning in her voice while she wrapped the thick, warm cloak around Nariko’s shivering form.

“They’ll be running back to the pack. If I follow, I can see where their den is.” His eyes flicked back to Nariko, but she was too tired to be afraid of him any longer. As long as she was in Serena’s arms, she knew she was safe. It made little sense, but she didn’t care. “I won’t engage, I’ll scout and report back. This was one of my specialties once, you know.”

Nariko felt the irritated noise Serena made, and it made her smile for some reason. “Fine, but be careful, please?”

“Aren’t I always?” Then he was gone.

Serena turned her eyes back to Nariko. “That isn’t nearly as reassuring as he thinks he is,” she said. “I’ve healed you a lot, do you think you can walk?”

Nariko couldn’t even sit up, so she shook her head. “Sorry.”

Long fingers pushed the hair out of Nariko’s face, sliding past a spot around her ears that made her whole body shiver. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. I’m more than capable of carrying you. First let me just make sure you won’t get any infections.”

Serena let Nariko drink her fill from a water skin before using it to clean out Nariko’s injuries. Already her leg and her mangled arm looked much better, and Serena finished by rubbing a cool, soothing balm on the injuries before wrapping them carefully in bandages she pulled from a pouch at her waist.

Once she was done, Nariko could do little more than simply allow Serena to slide her onto the blond’s back. She was tall for a woman, several inches taller than Nariko at least. She hefted Nariko’s emaciated frame with little difficulty and started off into the woods at a brisk pace. “You’re more than welcome to sleep on the way back.” Then she chuckled. “First Zaren carries me back like this, then Noelle with Kili, now me and you. We’re starting to develop a pattern.”

Serena’s healing had done wonders, and stringing together complete thoughts was getting easier. With coherence came the paranoia that had kept Nariko alive the last few years. “Where are we going?” she asked.“We’re part of a caravan,” Serena explained. “We, um, ended up out here and we…heard the fighting. We’re just glad we made it in time.”

“A caravan?” Caravans meant people. A lot of people. Groups were always bad for someone like her.

“You’ll like it, I think. We’ll make sure you get plenty of food and water, somewhere warm to sleep, and some warmer clothes. Shoes, too. Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of you.”

After the life Nariko had lived? She didn’t trust any of that for a second. “How many people?”“Goodness, a lot now,” Serena admitted. “Seven caravaneers, Pierce’s group has five, and we’ve got…nine? Yes, nine. Kili doesn’t really count, I suppose.”

“Kili?”

“An Erinyes girl we rescued last night. Her group was attacked by gnolls and she managed to get away.”Nariko clung tighter to Serena at the mention of the monsters. “Twenty-two people?”

“Oh, twenty-five, actually. We ran into Lady Vivian and her guards on the way, and they’ve basically joined us.”

Lady Vivian? A noble? “Are all of you human?”

“Not at all. Korey—he’s in charge of the caravan, you’ll meet him soon, I suppose—has three demi-humans. Mai is a Nekomata, too. Pierce’s group is all human, but we’ve got four demi-humans in our household. Kili is still separate, so I won’t count her.”

“Household? Are you noble?”

She laughed. It was a very pretty sound that put Nariko at ease. “No, not me. Zaren’s a lord, though. He’s my…um…partner. Romantically speaking.”

“Oh.” Nariko wasn’t sure exactly what to do with that information. Not with how exhausted and battered she felt. Her eyelids were so heavy, but she refused to sleep. Sleep meant she was vulnerable, so she forced herself to keep talking. “What will you do with me?”

Serena didn’t answer right away. “That depends a lot on you, I think. What you want to do, I mean.” Then she said in a quieter, softer tone, “I won’t make you answer any other questions tonight, but will you tell me how long they had you?”

“Weeks? Months? It’s hard to tell from inside a cage,” Nariko said bitterly.

Serena nodded. “They won’t hurt you again,” she promised. “I’m sure Zaren will have other questions later, but I’ll make sure he gives you space until you recover a little.”

“Is he going to force me into his service?” When Serena didn’t answer right away, Nariko pressed on. “Please just tell me if he is. Please don’t lie to me. I need to know.”

“No. Zaren will never force you into anything you don’t want. Anything.” The conviction in her voice almost made Nariko want to apologize. “I hope you’ll stay with us until we get to the capital if for no other reason than it’s dangerous in this area right now and you’ll be safer with us, but if you want to go your own way when we get back then that’s a choice I know he’ll respect.”

Go her own way. She’d been alone for three years now, and every day of it had been miserable. She was so tired of it. The thought of it made tears prick the backs of her eyes. It was almost enough to make her want to go back to her mom.

“And if I don’t?”

“Then we’ll figure something out,” she said simply. “It’s a long walk back, though. Why don’t you try to rest a little?”

“I don’t…” Nariko’s head was already bobbing, her head far too heavy for her neck to support. “I don’t sleep around other people.”

“Ah.” There was far too much understanding in that single syllable for Nariko’s liking. “I understand, but I give you my word that as long as you’re with me, Zaren, or anyone in our household, then you never have to worry about anyone forcing themselves on you.”

“He doesn’t use his servants?” Nariko asked. She tried to keep her voice free of judgment, but Serena didn’t seem offended.

“No. Rhallani and Noelle share his bed, but only because they want to. They’re just as much his partners as I am.”

“But you’re human.”

“Zaren is a bit…unorthodox. A bit old fashioned, you could say.” For some reason, that made her chuckle to herself. “You won’t be expected to do anything like that. You’re welcome to stay with us for the trip, no strings attached. We’ll help you recover and keep you safe.”

“Why?” If a deal was too good to be true, it always was. “You really expect me to believe you’re willing to just help me for nothing?”

“Not nothing. We’ll find a place for you in the household, and we’ll make sure it’s something you enjoy or are good at. And…”

“And what?” Nariko challenged.

“The men that held you,” she said slowly, “Zaren is going to want to know everything about them. Everything you’re willing to tell us, at least.”

Nariko’s gut clenched painfully. “Why?” she managed.

“Because he’s going to kill every last one of them,” she said so softly that Nariko barely heard it.

A growl started low in Nariko’s throat. “I hope he makes them suffer.”

Serena didn’t answer, and before Nariko knew what was happening she’d nodded off. She didn’t even realize Serena’s warm back and brisk, even gait had lulled her to sleep until she was jerked awake by the sound of wings.

A small silver dart dropped from the sky, landing on the ground in front of Serena. Nariko, already angry that she’d allowed herself to fall asleep, jumped at the sudden appearance of the small silver dragon. A squeak slipped out of her and she jerked so hard that Serena couldn’t keep her from crashing to the ground, landing hard on her rear.

The dragons golden eyes turned on her, and she leapt up and pressed into Serena’s back, peeking at the strange creature from around her shoulder. Serena reached behind her, pressing Nariko into her back.“Festus!” Serena chided. “She was finally getting some rest, did you have to do that?”

The dragon—Festus, Nariko supposed—huffed. “You and the master vanished into thin air. My mistress is understandably panicked,” he argued.

Nariko’s jaw dropped open. There was a tiny, talking dragon and Serena was treating it as if it were no big deal. Serena’s shoulders sagged. “Right, I guess that’s fair. Tell her we’re fine.”

“She’ll want to know what happened,” Festus said. “One moment you were there, the next you simply weren’t.”

“There was…ah…” she glanced back at Nariko, who was still hiding behind her, “there was some divine intervention involved. Not our usual kind, either. Zaren is fine, I’ll explain everything when I get back.”Festus paused for a moment, his pupils narrowing to slits, then they widened again. “Very well. I shall follow your trail to the master’s, then seek him out.”

“Good. And stop calling him master, you know he hates that.”

Festus huffed again. “I’m not so foolish as to say the title when he’s around, thank you very much, but it is the most fitting.” Then he took off into the night, leaving Nariko wondering just what the hell they were talking about.

She shook her head. “Only Rhallani would have a summon with an attitude,” she said, amused.

“Rhallani? Zaren’s servant?”

She nodded. “Yes. She’s an Arelim, and was Zaren’s first partner. Zaren helped her to become a summoner so she’d be able to protect herself.”

With Festus gone, Nariko was suddenly very aware of how much she was pressing herself into Serena’s back. She leapt back hastily, her high Agility allowing her to put a good amount of distance between them before Serena could so much as turn. Her bad leg threatened to buckle underneath her and trembled dangerously, but she managed to keep her feet.

“Please don’t run,” Serena said softly, putting both her hands up. Nariko dimly realized her spears had disappeared at some point. “You’re hurt, and you’re clearly malnourished. Come back with me and we can get you some food, alright? We can clean all that blood off you, too.”

Nariko looked down at herself, lifting the cloak Serena had wrapped her in to see that she was indeed covered in blood that was and wasn’t her own. With how filthy she was after weeks in a cage, she had no doubt she looked utterly feral. Despite that, Serena still looked at her with the same caring warmth as when she’d first appeared.

Nariko could run. Even without mana, she had the skill to disappear into the trees. Escaping people was much different than escaping gnolls. But even as she considered it, she knew she wouldn’t. She was so hungry. So tired. So done spending every second of her life afraid and alone. Her shoulders slumped, and she swayed on her feet.

“Will any of your caravan take advantage of me? I’ll still go, I just want to know. I want to be…ready if that’s the case. You can tell me the truth.”

“No, Nariko,” she said softly. She approached slowly with a hand up, no doubt afraid of spooking the small, starved Nekomata in front of her, but Nariko didn’t have it in her to run any longer. Nariko didn’t move when Serena put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Nobody will touch you. If they even try, then I won’t have to protect you. Zaren or Noelle will kill them before I even get the chance.”

Nariko couldn’t stop herself from stepping into the taller woman, resting her head on Serena’s shoulder and closing her eyes. Serena wrapped her in a tight hug—probably the first hug Nariko had received since she was a little girl—and gently stroked her back. “You’ll be okay,” she promised.

Serena gave her some time before gently getting them moving again. She offered to carry her again, but Nariko was still angry with herself for falling asleep to begin with. She couldn’t fall asleep if she was walking, so she elected to stay on her own two feet. Serena wasn’t thrilled about it thanks to the state of Nariko’s bare soles, but she didn’t force the issue.

Nariko silently told herself she was done clinging to Serena, but that changed quickly when they got to the camp. The tall, grizzled warrior, a bulky woman with the sword nearly as big as Nariko, and the two dozen other people that all crowded around Serena the moment she got close to the camp had Nariko hiding in Serena’s back once again, clinging close to the only sense of safety Nariko had felt since long before she’d run from home.

Serena answered their barrage of questions—mainly by saying Zaren would be back with more information—before someone finally realized there was a frightened Nekomata hiding behind her. The large, grizzled warrior whistled loudly and everyone went quiet.

Nariko forced herself not to flinch when he took a step forward. “Is she…” he started.

“Yeah,” Serena said softly. “We can deal with that later, though.”

He nodded once, then started ushering people away until only a tall, curvy auburn haired woman, an Arelim, two Kitsune, an Erinyes, and a girl of a race Nariko had never encountered before remained. Serena took a breath. “Noelle, will you grab a bucket of water and some rags so we can help Nariko here clean off?” The strange girl nodded and left in a hurry with the Erinyes in tow. “Rhallani, grab her some food please?” The Arelim went off in the opposite direction. “Tsuki, Ryoko, will you come with me?”

The two Kitsune—so similar in every aspect other than color that they could only be twins—both fell into step while Serena wrapped an arm around Nariko’s shoulders and led them all through the camp. The tall auburn haired woman came along as well, but she gave them a wide berth.

“Zaren’s gnoll hunting?” she asked.

Serena nodded. “Yeah. Depending on what he says, sounds like we’ll deal with the gnolls, then we’ll deal with whatever group is hiding out here.”

Tiana risked a glance at Nariko, offering her a small smile, then she left. Serena took her into a tall, square tent that was wonderfully warm on the inside. “This is where Zaren sleeps, along with me, Tiana who you just met, Rhallani and Noelle.” She unclasped the cloak at the same time the strange girl, Noelle, entered the tent lugging a large bucket of water with one arm like it weighed nothing.

“I’ll leave you to clean up, I suppose—” Serena started.

Nariko grabbed her arm before she could leave. “Don’t go,” she said softly. She tried to tell herself that this camp was different. There were no cages, nobody chained up, nobody leering at her like she was their next meal, but she couldn’t help it. The tents and the campfires were close enough to make her start trembling. She didn’t trust any of them, but Serena had been there when she’d been most vulnerable and saved her life. She didn’t know if she could afford to trust the beautiful blond, but she knew for certain she couldn’t afford not to.

“Of course,” Serena said immediately, returning to Nariko’s side. “Can I help you?” Nariko nodded numbly.

“Is it alright if Noelle stays? The sisters and Rhallani?”

“No humans,” she pleaded softly. “Other than you.”

“We can do that.” Then she was gently peeling the bloodsoaked rags off Nariko and tossing them aside. She returned with a soft, wet rag and began to gently wipe the blood, dirt, and tears off Nariko’s face. The black furred Kitsune grabbed another rag and started working on cleaning the fur of Nariko’s tail, and Noelle grabbed a rag to help out as well.

They talked while they worked, but Nariko tuned most of it out. None of it made sense to her. A goddess? Deals? Cosmic laws? All of it sounded so much like nonsense to her that she just couldn’t bring herself to care. At some point a warm bowl was pressed into her hands and she ended up with a mouthful of the best stew she’d ever tasted in her life.

It was at that point that the tears started falling, but none of them mentioned it. Every so often Serena would wipe her tears away, but by the time they’d cleared most of the grime off her she was already dead on her feet. She wanted to eat more of the stew, but her shrunken stomach was already starting to rebel against her.

The bowl disappeared and she made a pathetic noise. “It’s alright,” Serena said gently. “There’ll be plenty more for you to eat tomorrow. You won’t go hungry here.”

One of the Kitsune provided some clothes designed for someone with a tail. They were small since the two twins were so short, but they were so much better than the rags she’d been wearing. The thing that shocked her the most was how good it felt to be wearing real underwear again.

A cold vial was pressed into her hand, and she wiped the wetness from her eyes to find a shimmering green potion there. She looked up to find Noelle looking up at her. “Drink this,” she said, “it will help you recover from your imprisonment faster.”

“You just carry stuff like this around?” she asked, her voice thick.

Noelle smiled. “Zaren gave it to me to recover from my own imprisonment at the hands of bad men,” she said simply. She turned to Serena. “I’ll take her with me to Kili’s tent for tonight so she can sleep away from any males.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Serena said softly. “Now we just need to wait for Zaren to get back. If the gnolls are close enough, I’m sure he’ll want to attack tonight.”

Noelle took one of Nariko’s hands in hers and the black haired kitsune—Tsuki, Nariko thought—took the other and they pulled her from the tent. Nariko was so exhausted that she didn’t even remember making it to their own tent before she was asleep.