Shadow Over Moonbrooke

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<center> ## SHADOW OVER MOONBROOKE ### by Jon Farrar ## [[Begin|Page 1 (H)]]</center> (link:"a note about perspectives")[This book is told from different points of view. The text and background colors will change to reflect who the viewpoint character is. The first initial of their name will also appear next to the page number in parentheses; for example, (H) for Heather.]

<center>{(link:"Save Bookmark")[ (if:(save-game:"A"))[ Bookmarked! ](else: )[ An error occurred while saving. ] ]} | {(link: "Load Bookmark")[(load-game:"A")]}</center> <center>(print: (passage:)'s name)</center>

## Chapter 1 “Guard Storm,” Heather announced, holding her sword upward and crossing an arm over it. The Moonbrooke City Royal Guard salute seemed to be lost on her comrade, however. “I have arrived to relieve you of duty.” The other guard sighed and leaned on his knightsword, taking his hand out of the wide bowl-shaped hand guard and resting it on the pommel. “It's about time,” he gasped in relief. “It's so boring out here.” Jabbing a finger over his shoulder at a wanted poster affixed to the castle city walls, he added, “Don't expect anyone like the Moonblade to show up.” Heather sighed and swung her sword at the other guard's, the magic enchantments of the knightswords repelling the force and bringing them both into sudden motion. “Why must you wish these things upon Moonbrooke City? Ours is a town that ill needs a villain such as he.” “You talk weird. I'm leaving.” “It is but proper speech!” Heather shouted at the back of her peer's platinum-enforced armor, the uniform of the city guard, beautiful plate mail that appeared almost blue in the light. “We must be a paragon of...” When he failed to turn around, Heather groaned and let him leave, content to walk the city streets herself. The city streets at night were so relaxing to Heather, a far cry from the hustle and bustle of the capital city at day. She enjoyed the cool air blowing in from the ocean, the soothing warmth of the torchlight, and the near-silence of the night; it would drive her crazy were it not occupied by the gentle crackling of the torches and the quiet sounds of animals in the distance. As it was, it was the perfect time of night for her to move about the cobbled streets of the city. Her metal boots clacked rhythmically against the stones as she walked along, ever vigilant for any sign of wrongdoing in the area. All the while, her hand tickled the hilt of her knightsword, more to give her something to do than any expectation that she might have to use it. Heather Storm knew every sight and sound in the city. That made it all the more startling when a sound came from nearby that she was not expecting. [[Next|Page 2 (H)]]

Heather turned on her heels, swinging the knightsword into both her hands, and moved her legs apart a little to brace herself for impact, striking a fighting stance. “Halt!” she bellowed, playing defensively to see what would happen next. “Whoa!” an elderly male voice shrieked. Heather sighted in relief as a man clad in rags stumbled away from her, moving into the light of a torch as his feet clapped softly on the stones. “Apologies, brave knight!” he continued, arms raised over his head in a futile form of defense. “Please, don't harm me!” Heather shook her head and returned her sword to her belt sheath. “Ah, no, you have my apologies. Please, do not frighten me so! Can you not find a place to rest?” The man sighed and averted his gaze. “No...” “Then take this gold, and away yourself to a tavern. One there may yet have a bedroll for you.” Heather tossed the money at the beggar, and didn't even wait around for a word of thanks before she resumed her patrol, tapping a finger on her helm at a spot above her right eye. Were the helm not in the way, her finger would meet the scar there, a tic she employed that helped remind her to focus and think critically. That was the one thing Heather hated most about late-night patrols. She knew all the usual sights and sounds so well that something even slightly out of place always threw her for a loop; she had a schedule to keep with her appointed rounds, and it was hard to stay on target when simple litter could leave her frozen in a battle stance for a full minute. She had to cover the residential districts with her patrol, and all that time spent being paranoid in an empty street was time a criminal could spend on their own heinous scheme on the other side of the district. [[Previous|Page 1 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 3 (H)]]

With all that swirling through her head, Heather almost didn't bother with the small blur she saw shrink into an alleyway in the wealthier part of Moonbrooke City. After the subtle clap of a hand against a brick wall, though, she was compelled to investigate. She hurried around the corner, just in time to spot red fabric twisting through the air a bit, taunting her before disappearing around a corner. Heather was quick to follow it, but in the time it took for her to get there, she heard one more hand against stone, and found no other trace of another human being. She had been ready to dismiss what she'd seen and heard as a simple commoner bustling about, but the chase had led her through the wealthy district of the city before the presence simply disappeared. Were there another guard in the area, they likely would've told her to quit being so paranoid and keep moving. Of course, had she done that, she would have missed the person leaping out from a second-story window. Whoever he was, he hit the street with a rolling landing, arms to the side to cradle something close as he moved through the city. Heather took in the man's features, noting his long legs, the leather armor tossed over dark green clothes, the wild hair spilling out over a high collar and groping toward the red scarf tied around his face. It was the scarf that clued her in to just who she was looking at. “Moonblade!” she growled, drawing her sword. “Halt!” [[Previous|Page 2 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 4 (H)]]

The Moonblade took one look at her before taking off the other way, moving a lot faster than she could in her cumbersome armor. His scarf fluttered tantalizingly in her face, inviting her to reach out and grab it to pull him down, but the path the Moonblade took through the street involved a lot of sudden turns and jumps, and every move he made was transmitted through the scarf, keeping it from being trapped in Heather's gauntlet-clad fist. Heather made a couple more attempts to bark orders at the thief, but she soon resolved to save her breath, for he was too athletic and lightly-armored to get winded himself. She would need all the energy she could muster just to keep up. Even as the Moonblade slowly pulled ahead of her, she could still keep moving quickly enough to at least follow the movements of his long red scarf as it twisted and flickered behind him like a fiery tail. The scarf darted around corners and invited her to follow, taking a left, then a right, then a right again, until it twisted around to the Diamond Gate, the large doorway separating the rich neighborhood of the city from the market district. Heather stood before the gate, lungs aflame, and watched in amazement as the Moonblade turned into a narrow alleyway and thrust his hand against one of the walls, his legs kicking their way diagonally upward on the outer wall of a house situated near the gate. “Stop!” she ordered one more time, not expecting the thief to comply; she knew she couldn't follow him up a wall and onto a rooftop, so her only hope was to make noise, wake some sleeping citizens, attract the attention of fellow guards posted along the outer walls of the castle city, and do anything else she could to at least be able to put together a report of the thief's movements the next day. She couldn't help but wonder what it was that he had elected to steal from under her nose, but she was in no mood to let him get away with it. On that night, however, the choice was out of her hands, as the Moonblade vanished amongst the rooftops. “When next we meet,” she growled toward her knightsword, “it shall be at the gallows!” [[Previous|Page 3 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 5 (N)]]

## Chapter 2 Words floated through the room, pushed outward by the windbag in the front conducting the history lesson, but the substance of these words was lost on Nicole Ellery. When her parents had first suggested she study magic at the Orange Star Academy in Moonbrooke City, she was excited at the prospect of ditching their stodgy affairs in favor of learning and doing something useful. Even after a year of attending the prestigious school, she had learned barely anything practical. All these unrelated courses about the history of magic and the like threatened to bore her to death. She had really only gotten practice with a single spell, and rather than listen to the portly old man talk about long-dead magicians, she was ready to go put the spell to its usual test. “I gotta use the can,” she mumbled to the boy sitting next to her, prompting him to stand up and allow her to exit. She made her way out of the row of seats, and ultimately the room, on her way to the nearest restroom. From there, she pried open a nearby window and looked out at the campus of the academy. No one was out there to catch her; Orange Star used an arcane force field to keep intruders away, trusting it enough to ignore the possibility of putting up any patrols. The city guards had better things to do than go to the school and tattle, so they were of no concern to her. After charting her path out of the area, she concentrated her magical energy on her hands, weaving the glaciation spell she was so fond of. Before long, she had a rough coat of ice covering her arms, which themselves packed surprising amounts of muscle within a relatively lean shape. Her spell complete, she was able to slowly scrape her way down the side of the wall, concentrating intently to keep the ice fresh as it ground against the masonry of the building. She shoved her bangle toward the force field, the brilliant red stone inlaid in the armband opening the way for her to exit the school and make her way to the market district. [[Previous|Page 4 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 6 (N)]]

Nicole's destination loomed over every other building in the area, and she was quick to shove her way inside. “So who we got in the arena today?” she growled to herself as she passed through the polished obsidian doorway and entered the fighters-only section of the building. The sunlight quickly disappeared from behind her as she moved down a flight of stairs, following the torches to the reception area. “Sonya,” she said to the receptionist taking roll call of the fighters present, “who's my victim?” Sonya didn't even have to look up to know who was addressing her. “Ah, Nicole,” she sighed, flipping through her paperwork and scrawling all sorts of notes. “Samhain is the only one without an opponent right now.” Nicole let out a long sigh, her exhalation pushing her wavy brown hair away from her face. “I dunno if he's gonna be enough to cure my boredom, but the guy's got moxie, I'll give him that. Yeah, him...when can we start?” “It's Thousand Blades versus Fang. Shouldn't be too long. A couple all-out guys like that can't have a fight that lasts very long.” Nicole nodded and went to her locker, grabbing a spare Orange Star uniform to change into, one she had modified to suit her activity better; the academy favored flowing blue robes with orange trim around the seams, but the fabric hanging down off her arms and legs was always such a hindrance. She was able to find a costumer in the Underdome, who buckled under Nicole's wealthy lineage and turned a robe into a tight but light two-piece outfit, cutting and re-sewing the sleeves until the trim formed spirals that hugged Nicole's arms and legs. “Much better!” she cooed once she had changed her clothes. Once she had exchanged the black dress shoes of her academy uniform for her familiar black boots, she moved back to the waiting room in eager anticipation of her match. [[Previous|Page 5 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 7 (N)]]

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True to Sonya's words, Nicole had just sat down when she was already being called back to her feet by arena staff. Verbally, they shoved her off toward the gates as an announcer started to upsell Samhain. Nicole shrugged and stretched her arms and legs as the black stone walls of the arena shook with the bass of the announcer's voice, a perfect fit for all the foreboding descriptors he used to paint Samhain as some terrifying agent of darkness. Nicole half-listened, mostly waiting for the praise to be heaped upon her while enjoying the soft warmth of the arena's magical enchantment. It prevented anyone within its protective sphere to be killed, dismembered, or otherwise gravely injured. Such a spell would have had to have been devised and cast by a powerful mage. If she had ever heard exactly who it was, it would have been in one of the lectures she skipped or slept through. “And who would be brave enough to tangle with such a demon, you may ask?” the announcer asked his captive audience. “Why, just the youngest fighter we've seen in this pit, of course!” A few cheers were already sounding from the stands, but the announcer was far from finished. “No weapons, no armor," he continued, "no flashy magic...all she's brought to the arena are her knuckles, a little enchantment, and her wits! Some of you may be thinking that she should have brought far more, but her winning streak seems to disagree...and so does she!” Nicole had taken to practicing her punches against the cage door keeping her from entering the pit, and the announcer was playing it up as pure aggression. “We better get this match started before she brings down the whole building!" the announcer concluded. "Of course, I'm talking about none other than the Frigid Witch!” [[Previous|Page 6 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 8 (N)]]

The crowd erupted in applause as Nicole closed her eyes, smiling wide, enjoying the feeling of all the adoration and confidence being levied upon her. Her focus on them was so intense that she did not even hear the arena doors being opened, but once she saw it, she was quick to dart behind one of the four round pillars situated halfway between the center of the arena pit and its circular walls. Her eyes flicked up to the audience, watching their heads turn as Samhain made his way over to her. She turned to him as he began boldly strutting through the center of the arena with a spell of snaking flame forming along his arm. “Come bask in the fires of darkness!” he called out from beneath his robe, with two giant eyes and a crooked mouth flashing yellow in time with the last word of his sentence. Nicole ran from one pillar to the next, Samhain's fire spell hot on her heels as he stood arrogantly in the center of the pit. When it fizzled out, he was quick to throw a new one along the ground, only for Nicole to dodge it. It was slow in turning itself around to seek her out, plenty of time to dash to Samhain and floor him with a powerful clothesline. Samhain summoned a blast of fire that propelled him back to his feet, causing a blast wave to radiate out toward the arena walls. Nicole was quick on her feet, ducking behind another pillar to stay away from the majority of the fire. The heat cascaded through the arena, more than enough to melt her enchanted ice, but it was a simple enough spell to reapply. Before long, she was facing Samhain down in the open once again, charging right at him with fists cocked back, ready to swing. “Stay awhile longer this time!” Samhain invited as he thrust his arms out to his sides. Nicole moved in to strike him in the chest, but she was too slow to stop his spell from being cast. Despite connecting with her punch, she found herself in a ring of fire, keeping her from using the pillars for cover again. Concern and suspense rippled through the crowd, and a few scattered cheers multiplied until every spectator in the stands was chanting for something to happen. Nicole paused to listen as the crowed vocally threw their support out for their favorite combatant or just plain demanded a knockout. [[Previous|Page 7 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 9 (N)]]

Nicole, eager to oblige, rushed forward once again, but only found herself staring at Samhain's palms as a barrage of smaller fireballs burst out from them, the impact and searing pain of the flame driving her back. She was quick to shake it off, and started sprinting clockwise around the arena, faster than Samhain could turn to aim at her. Nicole's trajectory spiraled inward, and before Samhain could adjust, she had him by the back of his neck. He struggled to break free, but she was quick to move to a pillar and smash his face against it, leaving him dazed long enough to put a few blows into his back. Samhain let out a pained shout and blasted a steady stream of flame against the pillar, propelling him away from it and causing flames to lick at Nicole's face and feet. She brought up her arms to cover her face as she turned away, and figured that in the process, she may as well swing one right back down, catching Samhain's shoulder and causing him to misfire his magic. His aim was brought toward the ground, pushing him through the air, and when he failed to adjust in time, he ended up on the ground, sprawled out and battered. “Alright, that's enough,” Nicole growled as she took hold of the back of Samhain's neck again, this time pinning him down on the ground. She concentrated on her ice-forming spell, letting chunks of ice form up her arm and around Samhain. Caught in an icy grip, he could do nothing but turn his fiery magic at himself, which he was understandably hesitant to do. His inactivity gave Nicole more than enough time to stroll up to a pillar and repeatedly smash his chest against it. With a battle shout, she let her icy enchantment shatter in a shower of ice chunks, so she could discard his unconscious body. “And that's the end of that!” the announcer bellowed, much to the crowd's delight. “The Frigid Witch braved the very fires of the underworld to win today's match against Samhain! I think some congratulations are in order!” Judging from the deafening cheers erupting from the stands, Nicole figured they must have agreed. Nicole left the arena pit, smiling and reflecting on the match she'd just been through, her mind replaying scenes over and over for analysis even as she accepted congratulations from her fellow fighters in the Underdome. She knew, however, that in the end, she'd have to get back to the Orange Star Academy at some point and get back into her boring school life. On her way out of the arena, however, she saw that someone had already been sent to collect her. “'Congratulations are in order'?” he said. “Not likely.” [[Previous|Page 8 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 10 (H)]]

## Chapter 3 “Go ahead,” Captain Sully demanded. He was a mountain crammed into the platinum guard armor, cradling his helmet under one arm as he stared at Heather with his bright blue eyes. They hadn't faded a bit, not as the color in his hair had. “What are you here to report?” Heather shrugged and leaned her knightsword on her shoulder, resisting the slight kickback it gave from the energy of the impact. “Mine was an eventful evening patrol,” she began. “I believe it was the Moonblade I had the displeasure of meeting.” Sully raised a gray eyebrow. “'Believe'?” “Yes...he had stolen something from a residence in the High Rise, though I know not if it was truly him.” Sully threw a thumb over his shoulder, jutting it toward a wanted poster for the infamous thief. “Yeah, yeah, but what made you suspect it was him?” “His scarf and his acrobatics, primarily,” Heather answered, poring over the poster to jog her memory. “Much time was spent on the move, far too much time to spend to analyze the situation. I was, however, granted ample time to witness his much-vaunted wall runs and jumps. With this sword and armor, I had nary a chance of catching him, but the experience leaves no doubt in my mind. I may not be able to confirm it, but I know it was the Moonblade I saw.” Swinging her sword about to guide it into its sheath, she added, “Have we any reports of missing possessions about, especially from the High Rise?” “You do!” a voice noted from behind Heather. The knight turned around to see a slightly younger woman, her hair a darker and curlier sort of blond. “I was just about to report a thievery to the two of you.” Her voice dripped with a familiar accent, though not one from around here. She spoke a little slow and deliberately, though Heather could tell it was not out of fear of misusing the language. Every word was heavy with confidence and purpose. It took Heather a bit, but she finally recognized the woman's facial structure as being from Torikago, a kingdom far to the north. [[Previous|Page 9 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 11 (H)]]

“Were you?” Heather asked as she took the woman away from Captain Sully. The two of them walked through the city streets as they spoke. “I am Heather. Do tell me more.” She was vaguely curious as to how a Torikago woman would come into such status, when most immigrants inhabited the Common Ground, the poorer sector of Moonbrooke City, and hoped for some clues to come out in conversation. The other woman nodded and stayed in step with Heather as they talked. “A rare obsidian vase I had only recently added to my collection has gone missing. I suspect the window with the broken lock was key to the heist.” The women stopped walking and talking to let a couple kids dart in front of them, laughing and gasping for air as they played some sort of game through the streets together. “I hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but you and your superior seemed occupied with your conversation.” Heather scoffed and shook her head, letting straight yellow strands of hair bounce around as she did so. “Superior? He is the great Captain Hadrian Sully...he can claim superiority to us all, with his skill in battle.” She tapped her forehead, trying to prevent the slander from getting to her. The thievery victim stopped walking and gave Heather a look of confusion. “Sure,” she muttered. “Not that it would matter much...I doubt either of you could do a thing against the Moonblade. From what you said, you already failed to keep up once. And where were you when the King of Moonbrooke City died, and forced his childless consort to become queen?” It was Heather's turn to shoot a nasty look at the curly-haired woman. “Watch your tongue, civilian...speak no ills of your guards!” “And why would I do that?” the woman shot back. “You are not above criticism, especially not when the only difference between you and any other good fighter in this city is often a simple connection to royalty.” Heather's hand moved from her forehead to her knightsword, squeezing the hilt therapeutically. “Then what is it you had hoped to gain by telling the guard about the break-in to begin with, given your contempt?” “Extra eyes, mostly. I intend to catch the Moonblade myself to recover my vase.” The woman veered from one street to another, making her way back to the scene of the crime. “Of course, if you intend to scour my museum for clues, you are welcome to.” [[Previous|Page 10 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 12 (H)]]

Heather nodded and stepped through the thick wooden doors, wandering into an elegant foyer dotted with glass cases. The floor alternated between black and white tile in a checkerboard fashion, while the walls were a soothing silver. Only one of the cases had been tampered with, so Heather moved to that case and leaned in a bit to read the nearby placard. “'Firebloom Pot,'” she read aloud. “'At the height of the Fuze Rebellion of 1006, his followers secretly marked themselves by keeping one of these in their homes. Many were used to smuggle black powder; it is rare to find a whole Firebloom Pot, since so many were used as bombs.'" Heather's reading complete, she gazed up at the other woman and asked, "Why this one? Is this your most valuable piece?” The woman shook her head as she closed the door behind her. “No,” she answered, “far from it. The historical significance is the only valuable aspect. Even if the Moonblade wants a decorative piece worth money, these pots are rarer than their own onyx replicas.” “I see. I thank you for the information.” Heather nodded and adjusted her gauntlets. “Now, by your leave, I shall go bring this Moonblade scoundrel to justice.” “And get in my way?” The woman stood in front of the doors, blocking Heather's exit. “I still don't feel confident in your abilities to catch the thief. Not after you've already admitted to failure.” The offense Heather took to this slander soon reached its boiling point, causing Heather to draw her knightsword. “Were I not a knight with a duty to protect and serve, I would not be averse to showing you how successful I may yet be. You, madam, are fortunate for our lack of punishment for such slander.” The woman simply replied with a laugh. “Then come downstairs with me. I've got something to show you.” [[Previous|Page 11 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 13 (H)]]

Heather followed the woman into the stone-walled basement of her massive museum, and found herself surprised at the equipment she saw. “Training dummies and wooden weaponry? You must fancy yourself a self-taught swordmaster.” The woman shook her head and leaned in to stare at the knightsword. “Not exactly.” After a long silence, the woman grabbed two swords off the wall and handed one to Heather. The guard was surprised again at how perfectly it resembled her knightsword in the way it handled. The curly-haired curator also had one for herself, though it seemed much thinner and had a slight curve to it. She also held it strangely, using both hands and letting the tip point at Heather's boots. “Nothing in this world means more than actions and results," she said, hunkered into a battle stance in front of Heather. "If you don't want me to force you out of my way in chasing the Moonblade, you'll have to prove you won't be such a hindrance.” “That I shall...!” Heather grunted as she raised her wooden sword, pointing the tip skyward as she wrung the hilt. “Have at you!” Heather took a step forward and aimed a diagonal cut at the woman's shoulder, only for her to sidestep the attack and counter with a mocking poke toward the kidney. Heather raised her sword arm and tried again, only to get the same result, only this time with a derisive laugh thrown in. “You can't handle the Moonblade with such sluggish swings,” the woman said, putting her hands near her head and holding her sword level with the floor. “Step it up!” Heather's opponent went on the offensive, a situation she was much better geared for. She watched as the thin sword came her way, raising her knightsword replica up to intercept it. Blow after blow was rejected by the knight's unerring guard, even as they came at unfamiliar angles from an odd stance. [[Previous|Page 12 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 14 (H)]]

One particular swing left both women's swords tangled together and pointed at the ground, a chance Heather took to let go of her sword with her left hand and land a hook across her opponent's face. The opening this left was more than enough for Heather to haul her sword back up and land a victorious stroke to the arm. “Your babbling has its merits,” she admitted. “Were I faster, I may have taken your head...!” The woman nodded and stepped back a little, leaping right back at Heather with a high thrust. The attack was batted away effortlessly, but Heather found herself backpedaling to block the overhead swings that followed. They rained down on her wooden sword, tapping out a heated rhythm as the two women each searched for an opening through which to land another strike. “Enough of this!” Heather shouted as she watched her opponent's next attack, ducking down a little and pressing the tip of her practice sword into the woman's stomach. “Were this a real sword, this would be a mortal wound!” The woman nodded and brought her curved weapon down on the back of Heather's neck. “So would this,” she replied. “I told you this vase wasn't particularly valuable. Don't lose your head over it.” Heather sighed and rose to her feet, throwing the practice sword aside. “Very well...point taken, citizen. You have many a skill to your name, but few of them pertain to manners...will you not introduce yourself?” The woman chuckled softly and shrugged. “Sorry...I'm too used to those seedy little taverns where they know me by sight. They call me 'Ace',” she said, sticking a hand out and waiting. Heather resisted the urge to reel back. She had heard of Ace, mostly through foolish young people attempting to emulate her treasure-seeking ways and getting injured for it, but hadn't expected her to run such a legitimate venture. Still, she had heard plenty of the adventurer's capabilities, leaving her a simple way to verify the stranger's identity: to witness her famous aptitude in battle. “If you are indeed Ace, then let us recover your vase together.” [[Previous|Page 13 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 15 (N)]]

## Chapter 4 “Headmaster Burton, can you just get this over with?” Nicole said, her arms crossed as she sat across from the man in charge of the entire academy, flanked on either side by her scowling parents. Her father was a stout, balding man who seemed to have never had a day's exercise in her life. Her mother had been where she'd gotten her looks from, but age had eroded those looks on Mrs. Ellery, until only a silver-haired harpy was left. “Is this about the whirlwind in the cafeteria? I had nothing to do with it.” The headmaster lowered his glasses to gaze sternly at Nicole, pinching the frame with wrinkled and weathered fingers. “I don't doubt it,” he groaned, “because you were busy breaking out of the academy in order to partake in the arena fights.” Nicole shrugged a little and leaned back in her chair. “I don't see the problem...Samhain is there, and he does magic, and you don't yell at him.” “Samhain, as you know him, has graduated from the academy and has earned the privilege of practicing magic outside the academy walls.” With a sigh, Headmaster Burton added, “You, on the other hand, are a menace to society, even without wild and unpredictable magic coursing through you.” Nicole had long since given up on eye contact with anyone in the room, and randomly gazed about the room at its ornate décor. Much of the furniture, even the doors, were garnished with traces of gold. One door, however, was completely plain, and was the entryway to a closet-sized room with a small sphere sitting in a pedestal behind it. The headmaster let out a gasp and closed the door from afar with a spell. “So what," Nicole said, "you don't trust me to not screw it up?” The headmaster did nothing but nod. “The Orange Star Academy helps those gifted with arcane talent learn how to focus their energy and avoid causing any damage. If you bothered to stay in the room for any of the lectures, you may have heard teachings to that effect.” Nicole tried to speak, but she only ended up hushed by her father's hand while her mother sputtered excuses. “We're sorry, Headmaster,” she said, “but I just don't know what's come over Nicole ever since she got here.” [[Previous|Page 14 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 16 (N)]]

Nicole scoffed and twisted some fingers on her father's hand, making him recoil in pain. “Don't lie, old lady,” she groaned. “This is who I am. You don't have to save face for this raisin with glasses over here.” The adults in the room let out surprised gasps as Nicole levied her insults, but she continued undaunted. “You pawned me off on this place because you were sick of me, because you thought I'd come home all proper like you. Well, this obviously ain't no charm school. Or, maybe it is, but they wasted my time with so many dumb lectures that I might've missed the ones about being a snob.” Headmaster Burton conjured a bolt of force from his index finger and knocked it against the elegant wood of his desk, producing a loud thump to bring the room to order. “We are the ones that wasted your time?” he spat, rising to his feet and leaning toward Nicole. “What of the teachers and tutors who expected you, only for you to never show?” Nicole's eyes drifted back to that simple door, which had a simple sign. ANIMUS FONT, she read silently, HEADMASTER ONLY. “They wasted their own time. Kind of like you all are now.” After a long sigh, the headmaster sat back down in his seat and reached through the drawers of his desk for some papers. “Then let's not waste any more time. Nicole Marie Ellery, you are hereby expelled from the Orange Star Academy. Please gather your things, relinquish any academy property in your possession, especially your pass stone, and allow one of our faculty to escort you off of the premises.” “Expelled?” Nicole repeated, her attention back on the conversation proper. “You're telling me to beat it, forever...so where am I supposed to sleep, genius?” “Don't look at me,” Nicole's mother answered. “As far as I'm concerned, I have no daughter." [[Previous|Page 15 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 17 (N)]]

"If you insist on acting like some street urchin," Mrs. Ellery said, "why not hang around their seedy inns and taverns? You'll get no quarter from us. Come, Raymond.” “Right away, Cordelia,” Nicole's father said, quick as ever to agree with his wife and follow her lead. “Nicole, you can gather your own things, can you not?” Nicole stood up and put a hand on her hip. “Well, yeah,” she spat, “but why'd you two even come?” “We had to know for ourselves,” Cordelia answered. “We came to make sure there was no mistake. Now we know...you're an irredeemable little charlatan.” “Ma, you can't just say that...I don't know what a charmatin is, but I can tell it's bad because you say it all angry-like.” Pushing her way to the front of the proceedings, she added, “Let's get this over with, and saddle up my crap...I'm getting hungry.” The headmaster and her parents alike let her be, leaving her in the care of a lanky, bald-headed teacher who made sure she only packed up her things, and relinquished the academy's possessions. At the top of his list were the symbolic robes of the academy, and her pass stone which allowed her through the force field wrapped around campus. Her eyes lingered on the Ellery family signet ring, an onyx set in an elaborate flower pattern. She knew the petals held some significance, but it was yet another lesson she'd let in one ear and out the other. With her parents unable to take it back, she would hold on to it, perhaps to pawn later. With the Academy property in the teacher's hands, she shooed him out of the room to change into her street clothes, black shorts hidden under a white shirt long enough to come to her knees, which in turn was layered underneath a black blouse. “Academy robes are in there,” she told the teacher on her way out of the room that was no longer hers. [[Previous|Page 16 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 18 (N)]]

She had nearly gotten away from academy grounds without incident, but she was spotted near the front gate by her best friend and former roommate. The young woman's long black hair fluttered in the breeze as she ran after Nicole on tall and slender legs. “Nicole!” she shouted a few times before finally closing the gap. “Nicole, what's all this? Where are you going?” “The gig's up, Ciel,” Nicole replied with a shrug, motioning for her chaperone to stop awhile. “I've gone out for one good time too many, and Orange Star's kicking me out.” Ciel let out a short growl. “Nicole, I told you this would ensue if you didn't cease your escapades! Are...are you going to be alright?” Nicole shrugged and adjusted the weight of her belongings, bagged up and draped over her shoulder. “Probably. They all know me down at this tavern...if they can't lodge me, I can probably buy some time there to figure it out. Let's have a dinner date sometime.” “Unlikely...” Ciel paused and pushed hair away from her hazel eyes. “...campus security will probably go up now that you've drawn their ire.” The two girls exchanged serious looks before Ciel added, “Do you remember why we became friends, Nicole?” “What, when I saved your bacon, or was it something else?” Ciel chuckled and shook her head. “That certainly earned gratitude, but it is your heart that earned friendship. For all your foibles, you yet find ways to utilize your strengths for the benefit of others. I have always found it admirable.” [[Previous|Page 17 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 19 (N)]]

As the two of them walked closer to the exit, Ciel thought ahead. “I am quite curious as to what benefits may come of your strength in the future," she told Nicole, "separate from Orange Star Academy.” The two of them stopped at the gate, presenting an outer wall of marble for Nicole to smash an icy fist into. The stone cracked subtly from the impact, pulling a small smile across her face. “A lot more good than I can do stuck in this place,” she said, “that's for sure. All this crap is worthless until you use it.” “And you derive its worth from arena performances?” Ciel asked. “Humanity can be so irrational sometimes.” “That's my Ciel...traded away all her tact for brains.” “Bah! Such hypocrisy.” The two girls moved in for a hearty handshake, standing there holding hands for a long moment of silence while embracing one another with the other hand. “No, but I'll be fine...probably won't go far,” Nicole eventually said. “If we get the chance...” “...definitely,” Ciel replied, subtly shoving Nicole away. “You better proceed with your exodus. And Nicole...just be safe out there. Go with the grace of Zephyr.” “Probably.” With that, Nicole turned her back and was taken to the cobblestone streets. She looked up at the man who had seen her out, and figured that with nothing more to lose, she worked out a little frustration by sinking an icy fist into the teacher's gut. “Oof!” he grunted as he fell to his knees. “What'd you do that for?” Nicole cracked her knuckles, on the verge of an explanation, when a blur flashed between them and into the academy walls. “Hey!” the teacher shouted, struggling to regain his composure. “You can't—wait...that guy stole my pass stone!” Nicole hadn't seen much amidst the flurry of action that played out before her; all she had noticed was the red scarf trailing into the building. [[Previous|Page 18 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 20 (H)]]

## Chapter 5 “No!” Heather shouted as she bounded up to the injured mage, her sword drawn. “The Moonblade is getting away!” Letting out a low growl, she turned to the young woman nearby that had assaulted the teacher. “You! Were you in league with this criminal?” The girl scoffed and put up her hand, pushing the blade away from her heart. “I had nothin' to do with it, lady,” she replied. “Just a coincidence. I'm gonna go eat dinner now. Good luck with your thief.” Heather allowed the girl to pass by unfettered, her priority being the Moonblade tearing through the academy. When she tried to follow, however, an unseen wall of force shoved her away, filling her body with a nasty shock. Agitated, she hoisted the mage onto his feet and interrogated him. “Right, the force field...how do we get past the force field?” “We can't,” the mage groaned. “The field only lets you past if you're carrying a special stone attuned to the academy's magic. I only had the one that that thief stole.” “Curses...! I must make good my promise to deliver him to the gallows...but how?” Not even Heather's sword was allowed through the force field. When she took a swing at it, it combined with the enchantment of her knightsword to give her a fierce shove. “What might he be after...?” “Stop!” an elderly voice cried out from near the top of the building. Heather's gaze did not travel upward, however, until she heard the sound of breaking glass. There, she saw the Moonblade zig-zagging about the roof of the academy, his scarf snaking along behind him, his arm curled around a bulge in his cloak. With a running start, he had managed to get his hands up onto the wall surrounding Moonbrooke City. When he darted to the left, so did she, trying her hardest to keep an eye on the streets she ran through while still watching the Moonblade. He moved with breathtaking agility, easily outmaneuvering the guards who had been patrolling the section. The ones that couldn't be juked found a quick kick landing on their face, fueled by the thief's momentum. [[Previous|Page 19 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 21 (H)]]

“Moonblade!” Heather snarled as she wove through the streets in pursuit of the thief. As he ran along the perimeter wall of the city, she tried to stay parallel down in the cobbled throughfare. “You can hear me, this I know...so I shall make this be known: I will make good on my promise to see you executed, brigand!” The Moonblade gave no reply, shoving his way through the proceedings as if Heather weren't there. She was confident in her plan; the Moonblade had nowhere to go from the wall but down, so she kept an eye on him to watch which tower or rooftop he descended from, all the better to intercept and apprehend him. She was running along a smaller circle than he was, making the task of keeping up that much easier. She ran on, watching as the Moonblade waved over his shoulder at her before leaping off the wall, into the countryside and out of Heather's view. “He is escaping!” Heather gasped. “Guards...have any of you chanced upon a glance at his strategy?” “Guard Storm,” a voice replied, coming from a knight with his back turned to her, “the Moonblade landed on a carriage! It won't stop for anything!” “No!” Heather moved toward the closest city gate, watching scornfully as the Moonblade hoisted himself onto the roof of his getaway vehicle. He quickly shrank among the verdant land of the Bright Plains “I must not allow the Moonblade to—“ “Heather!” a voice cut in from the left. Heather turned to see Ace there, straddling a gray six-legged lizard with tan stripes stitched along its back. The curator was clad in weathered chainmail, which Heather guessed she wore when she went on her own adventures. “I was saddling up my landstrider in order to seek leads in different towns, but perhaps this may not be necessary.” Heather nodded and ran toward Ace, grateful to see her and her mount. “Ah, Ace...!” she gasped. “That carriage...the Moonblade...” Ace said nothing, opting to extend a hand and help Heather take her seat aboard the lizard. [[Previous|Page 20 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 22 (H)]]

Once Ace urged the beast into motion, forcing it to dash along on its muscular legs, she finally spoke. “I see the Moonblade. Tell me, what did he steal this time? And in broad daylight?” “Some item or another from the Orange Star Academy...I saw not the exact trinket in his possession.” Ace and Heather slowly gained on their target, their landstrider burdened by less weight than the one towing the carriage. “I know only that he held his arm out, as if to hold something against his body.” The women had managed to get fairly close to the carriage before the Moonblade turned around, spotting their landstrider hurtling in close. “Leave!” he commanded, waving an arm outward. “Never, thief!” Heather grunted as she pushed herself off of the landstrider, wrapping her hands around some handle-like adornments along the side of the carriage. It briefly occurred to her that the Moonblade may have done the same after his daring leap, but she pushed the thought away, along with all others, except for one of vengeance. “You...the gallows are too good for you," Heather snarled as she rose to her feet opposite the Moonblade. "I will cut you down where you stand!” The Moonblade sighed, turning his head away for a second before summoning a large dagger from his sleeve into his free hand. “Don't make promises you can't keep," he said. "Not like I do.” “You and I have nary a thing in common!” Heather stepped forward, running along the roof of the carriage to attack. The Moonblade raised his dagger to parry the strike, the ornate serration along the edge helping him to twist the slash's momentum away. He kept his arm curled around the contraband under his clothes as he stood there, not pressing his advantage. [[Previous|Page 21 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 23 (H)]]

Heather took that as her chance, regaining her composure and rising to attack again, slashing along the opposite diagonal as before. This attack was even less successful than the last, as the Moonblade opted to simply duck away from the blade as it cut the air near him. As she pulled the sword back to her body, readying it to block a counterstrike, she groaned slightly when none came. “This is how you wish to die, brigand?” she shouted over the turbulence of the ride underfoot. “Still and gutless as the livestock upon my dinner table?” “Know your limitations, knight,” the Moonblade answered through his scarf as he parried another blow. “You can't kill me.” Both passengers briefly lost their footing when the wagon hit some animal. Heather had only caught a glimpse before reminding herself to focus on the Moonblade, in case he tried anything. “Such arrogance, for a dead man walking.” Her balance restored, Heather stepped in quickly and landed a hilt strike against the thief's shoulder, causing his composure to falter, but not completely collapse. Despite Ace's advice, Heather was having difficulty moving the blade of her knightsword fast enough to land the attack that she needed to, and the Moonblade was in better shape than the drunks and rapscallions of the city, so being pummeled with the hilt would only tire her out. Despite this, she tried another slash, only to get the same result. “Please, just give up,” the Moonblade groaned as he pushed on his dagger, shoving the sword away. “Your presence will just be more trouble than it's worth.” Heather growled intensely, her teeth grinding together slightly as she stepped forward again with a horizontal swing, watching as the Moonblade neatly stepped backward to avoid it. “Try not to dissuade me...my duty is to the city and its people!” The scene changed around them as they fought. The grassy landscape was stabbed through by more and more trees, bleeding leaves into the sky above them as the carriage wheeled recklessly into the forest. The ride became increasingly uneasy, wobbling with every stone and root beneath its wheels. A branch fell with Heather's sword as she brought it down from overhead, and both fell to the side in the wake of the Moonblade's defenses. Yet again, she found herself baffled; with her sword extended so, it would have been a good opportunity for a counterattack. The Moonblade, however, stood still, making no effort to fight back. [[Previous|Page 22 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 24 (H)]]

She had never met such an opponent; even the bare-fisted punks threw useless punches into her armor when faced with the threat of arrest. “Why will you not fight?” she asked the thief, hoisting her blade and readying her muscles for more. The Moonblade lowered his dagger and paused to speak, but before he could do so, the landstrider towing the carriage had jumped down from a cliff. Its harness snapped off from the force of the landing. The carriage bounced awkwardly against the ground, shoving the thief and knight off of it before the momentum ground it down to a total wreck. The Moonblade ended up wrapped around a tree from the impact, with Heather's body flying in behind him to make matters worse for him. The two of them fell to the forest floor, but only Heather made any moves to stand back up. She pointed her knightsword at the Moonblade, but he remained motionless. “You,” Heather growled as she stood over the unconscious thief. “You will pay for your crimes...” Her hands trembled slightly from the exertion as she rolled the Moonblade in place with her feet and lifted her sword overhead, preparing for an impromptu execution. “...with your blood!” “Not so fast!” Ace urged, galloping up on her landstrider. She hurried to dismount, running over to knock Heather's blade away. “Think about what you're doing...!” Heather shook her head and squatted down next to the thief. “I do naught but my duty, Ace...do not stymie me!” “No!” Ace grabbed the Moonblade off of the ground and sat him up against a tree. “He's still breathing...and when he wakes, we can make him reveal the location of the stolen goods!” Looking up at Heather, she added, “You do remember that, right? There's no telling who he has sold his ill-gotten gains to.” “Hmph.” Heather sheathed her sword and lowered herself onto her backside, giving a long gasp for air. “I am loath indeed to give this brigand even a small chance of escape, but we shall squeeze what information we can from him before he meets his maker.” Ace sighed softly and searched the ruined caravan for supplies, finding a little water to share with her ally. “We can always keep him prisoner ourselves. He has a lot to answer for before you chop his head off.” [[Previous|Page 23 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 25 (N)]]

## Chapter 6 “Nicole...!” the bartender growled gently as his youngest customer hopped up onto one of the stools prepped near the bar. “What'll it be today?” Nicole shrugged and jammed her elbows into the smooth wood, leaning her chin against her hands. “Boar steak, Hank,” she replied. “Your juiciest, fattiest one.” Hank reached into a nearby ice chest, fetching a slab of meat to get cooking. “Haven't heard you order a thing like that since the academy exams. What's the occasion today?” It was true; where most men might drink their sorrows away, Nicole buried them under a hearty meal. That caused her to crave the food all the more, and she watched it cook past Hank's shoulder as they talked. “Forget the academy, guy. I don't go there anymore.” A chorus of concern rang out amongst the tough men lining the walls of the Vanishing Wench, even as they continued their drinking and gambling in the smoke of the tavern. “What happened?” Hank asked after a long silence, his back turned as he tended to the steak. “One trip outside too many.” Nicole shrugged and watched Hank flip the meat, letting the other side cook for awhile. “They caught me outside the arena...hypocrites.” “Hypocrites?” Nicole nodded against her hands. “They didn't track me,” she growled. “The guy that caught me would've had to be there, watching me fight another magician. Of all three of us, they singled me out. What a load of crap.” Someone began to form a reply to her, but she cut them off. “Wait, I'm not done yet!" she crowed. "I won that fight...and they say I can't control my magic. Sound fishy to anyone else? They think that they can tell everyone else what to do because they run some dingy old academy?” The voice that had tried to butt in before spoke up again. “Sorry, little buddy,” he said, turning his bald, scarred head toward Nicole as he talked to her. “What'll you do now?” “Eh, I dunno.” Nicole paused and licked her lips delightedly, watching Hank place her steak in front of her. [[Previous|Page 24 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 26 (N)]]

Nicole tore into her steak with sadistic glee, the gristle and juices sloshing along her tastebuds with every bite. “Mm...um...I was gonna stay here awhile," she eventually replied, "and maybe start some fights by the academy when the heat dies down.” “If you're staying here awhile,” Hank repeated, “you'll have to pay, of course. How much money do you have?” Nicole paused and rifled through the sack she'd stuffed her belongings into, pulling out several coins. “Enough for the meal and one night,” she sighed. She was sure she had more, but she couldn't think of where she would've kept it. For all she knew, she'd forgotten it at the Academy. “You accept IOUs?” Hank laughed a little and shook his head. “Not anymore...! One too many people have gotten away with freebies. Though I do have an opening for you...want to be our official hunter? I'll pay you for whatever meat and bones you can bring back here. Besides...you've got that cold touch. Shouldn't be a problem to preserve something you kill, even from way out.” “I'll do it,” Nicole said, clenching an icy fist. “Bet you've never heard of someone taking out big game with their bare hands before.” “I haven't!” Hank paused to let out another deep-bellied laugh. “You little showoff...everyone here already knows you're as tough as the rest of them!” Nicole shook her head, ripping off another bit of steak before she replied. “No...tougher!” Hank pulled out a belt of hunting and survival tools and dropped it onto the counter in front of her, but his explanations on skinning and starting fires didn't grasp her attention. [[Previous|Page 25 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 27 (N)]]

Through another mouthful of meat, Nicole continued talking, interrupting Hank. “I was serious about the heat, too. On my way out...some guard was giving me a hard time. Some guy in a red scarf pulled a robbery right in front of the academy...took a pass stone so he could get through the force field. This broad thought I was an accomplice...and she looked peeved. She might take any reason she can get to throw someone in jail.” “The Moonblade, you mean?” the man in the corner interjected. “He's one of the most wanted men in the city...!” Standing to point at Hank, he added, “And you let him sleep here last night!” Nicole shook her head, pushing a few coins and an empty plate toward Hank before dismounting her stool, grabbing for the hunting belt Hank had provided and slipping it on over her shirt. “Look, don't any of you guys get arrested, OK?” she scolded the patrons of the tavern, grunting a bit as she tightened the belt. “Hank, look after my stuff...I'll try to be back soon. I'm gonna look for something to kill out there before it gets too dark.” A loud whooping sound filled the bar as everyone shouted their goodbyes all at once, Hank's “grace of Zephyr be with you” the only thing clearly audible amongst the din. Nicole sprinted along the cobblestones to ditch the city limits, stepping into the setting sun as it began to abandon the Bright Plains and let the night step in. There was still plenty of light to make her way, however. “Who wants some?” she called to the setting sun as she looked around for some sign of life to pummel. The dirt path under her boots was easy to travel, but she soon decided that no creatures would come close, making way for the humans that moved about the world. Fearing the possibility of getting lost, she decided to find some trail leading into the grass and stick to that instead, in hopes that it might lead her to some big game. [[Previous|Page 26 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 28 (N)]]

When she finally found something, she was absolutely ecstatic. An otherwise healthy young grassland buck was limping along the trail, its broken leg robbing it of the speed that usually protected it from predators. “Dinner!” she shouted as she gave chase to the beast. Hank was paying her for meat, but the more she watched the buck as she closed in on it, the more she wanted it for herself. Something had hit it from behind, but even its mangled form betrayed some impressively juicy haunches. When she finally got within range, she pounced on the wounded animal, caving in its skull with heavy chunks of ice on her hands. “It's ruined,” she surmised, looking down at the pulp that had once been a head. She immediately came to the conclusion that Hank wouldn't want any of the bones that identified this as a grassland buck. She froze for a moment, trying to connect this justification to her desire to eat the buck herself, but quickly gave up. She had no one to answer to but herself out in the plains, a refreshing thought for her. The only question she had to answer at that moment was, “When's mealtime?” She went to work quickly, moving the carcass into a clearing in the grass. She fished the skinning knife from her belt, and tore away the hide. She had been so confident and so eager to hunt that she hadn't packed anything else, which wouldn't have mattered if the buck hadn't changed her plans. As she looked around for a good place to start a fire, away from the tall grass of the plains but also away from the trees of the forest, the thought of camping out appealed to her more and more. It would give her enough time to figure out what Hank planned on doing with the Vanishing Wench, at least. [[Previous|Page 27 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 29 (N)]]

“Is Hank turning the place into some kind of hunters' lodge?” Niocle asked herself, snagging any firewood she came across in her search for somewhere to cook. “He better not...they'll run me out of business.” Nicole knew she'd be doing herself a favor by coming up with a plan B, but she left the thought behind, having found a tiny hill that would be great for her camp. When she came back to the buck, however, it was being picked apart by a pack of jet black felines, every paw and head among them accentuated by a curved claw. In the time she'd spent scouting and daydreaming, the creatures had claimed all the meat that she'd planned on claiming for herself. “Hey!” she shouted. “Get outta here, slashers! Go on!” Of the seven slashers, two turned their bloodthirsty gazes toward her, letting out a quick hiss before returning to their contraband, while the others continued to eat. “Oh, for...” Nicole trailed off and let them have her kill, knowing what kind of fight she'd be in for if she pressed the issue. She wanted to return from her first hunting trip without a scratch on her, for bragging rights, but there was no way she'd stop seven agile hunters from nicking her, so she turned to the forest, hoping to find something she could keep to herself in there. After all, as cool as she'd be for surviving a hunting trip unscathed, she'd need a kill to bring back with her, to prove she'd gone hunting at all. And to get paid anything for her troubles, she never thought. The sheer joy she'd felt in beating the buck to death was such a rush, she'd have done it for free. [[Previous|Page 28 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 30 (H)]]

## Chapter 7 Heather looked at the foliage overhead as the sun gradually pulled away from it, sighing impatiently. “Has he yet awakened?” she groaned. “No,” Ace answered as she tended to a fire she had started. The burning twigs and splintered wood from the carriage sat in a small pit she'd dug by hand, wreathed in an aura of warm red and orange. “I imagine he would raise a fuss when he does come to, to find himself lashed to a tree.” The carriage had contained rope and a few other sundries. The vehicle itself was now only good for firewood. “I do have to report to the captain when morning returns...that will have to be my deadline, and his.” Heather stood and began to rummage through the wrecked carriage. “Was this vessel not loaded with food?” Ace shook her head. “Only water...if you want a meal, you may have to hunt it yourself. I built the fire for warmth, but there is room to hold a small roasting spit.” “Not yet.” Heather looked down at the carriage wreck, thinking hard about its sparse contents. “Water, and no food...who would pack such provisions? Did he not foresee a lengthy stay in the wild?” “I suppose not.” Ace sat near the fire awhile, basking in its warmth after she was confident that it would last awhile. “Is that how it would have gone without us?” “A drink of water after a long run through town...a trip to the brigand's hideout, and a proper meal to celebrate his dastardly deed...” “Cap'n!” an unfamiliar voice called out through the thick vegetation of the forest. Heather stood and looked behind her, eventually seeing the light of some torches bobbing about. “A fire over 'ere...Oi think Oi found 'im!” Heather's hand tickled the hilt of her knightsword as the sounds of rustling vegetation grew ever closer to the camp site. Ace looked over at Heather, nodded, and did the same with the curved sword harnessed to her back. “Who are they?” the part-time adventurer whispered. “I know not,” Heather replied, equally quietly. When the visitors came through the underbrush, the women's questions were no closer to an answer. [[Previous|Page 29 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 31 (H)]]

Six men pushed into the clearing and extinguished their torches, their heads obscured by black cloth stretched over the skulls of landstriders. Black leather armor covered their bodies beneath billowing green cloaks. “A guard?!” one of the men growled angrily, pulling a sword out from under his cloak; this prompted his companions to do the same, save for one near the back of their ranks, who clutched onto the blond hair of a teary-eyed female captive. “How'd they know?” “Be you in league with this brigand?” Heather asked as the two women drew their weapons in response. “Perhaps you may yet give the answers he will not.” “Don't count on it.” The leader rested his shortsword on his shoulder and jutted the thumb of his free hand behind him. “We were gonna kill the girl if he tried anything funny, and that goes for you, too.” The breaking of a twig rang out from over the hill the carriage had fallen from, and everyone looked for a brief second, but nothing followed, and the conversation resumed in short order. “Did you find an orb with this man? The orb for the girl...that was the deal. If he's not gonna hand it over, you two should.” Heather growled and shook her head slowly. “Despicable...!” Her eyes met the hostage's, and past the black rings around them and the tears filling them up, she saw a base desire to survive the night. “Alright...everyone present will place their weapons upon the ground! No blood has to be spilled tonight...” She turned to Ace and sighed softly. “You too...” To her relief, even the fiends that had invaded the camp joined her and Ace in abandoning their weapons. “A fair request,” the leader admitted. “Now, find the orb on his body.” Heather turned toward the Moonblade's limp body, but she was immediately shot down. “Not you, knight!” The fiend's finger stretched toward Ace. “Her.” [[Previous|Page 30 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 32 (H)]]

“Fine,” Ace sighed, undoing some of the bonds keeping the Moonblade up against the tree. Her hands shoved apart his cloak, revealing a sphere that would match the size of Heather's hand wrapped around her other fist. A soft glow emanated from the sphere, intensifying slightly around the spots where Ace's gloved hands touched it. “Is this what you want?” “Yes.” The leader turned his hand around and beckoned to Ace. “Now, bring it here. The girl's life depends on it.” Ace nodded, renewing the Moonblade's bonds before taking slow steps toward the fiends, to ensure that they didn't interpret anything as a sign of aggression. “You'll get your orb...just relax.” “Oh, we'll get our orb, alright.” The leader let out a short laugh as he snapped his fingers, prompting the man holding the hostage to raise his other hand. The very air began to distort above his palm, sending out quick waves that rang out with a horrible noise. The waves crashed over Heather and Ace, rattling the armor around their bodies with surprising force. The women screamed and lost their footing, and Heather watched from her knees as the orb fell to the ground and rolled toward the leader's feet. “Thank you,” he said as he bent over to collect his quarry. Through her pain, Heather reached up toward the brigand, trying to urge her body to ignore the pain of the armor rattling around her. “Do not walk away from me!” she commanded, her teeth gritting to filter out the pain in her voice. “You must answer for your crimes!” Heather pulled her hand back, moving it toward her forehead, but she thought better of it as another wave of magic shook through her gear. The only thing she could do was keep the thief talking and see what information she could discern. [[Previous|Page 31 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 33 (H)]]

The leader laughed for a bit before grinding a heel into Heather's back. “You're in no position to make demands, guard.” He stopped to wind up his foot, kicking Heather in the side and rolling her over. “Hm...you came a long way from home, city guard. What's your captain going to say to you if he finds out you're here?” Heather realized her armor gave her away, differentiating her from the lightly-armored wilderness patrol or the color schemes of other towns within the kingdom. Still, she was instantly pleased with herself, having succeeded in even the smallest measure. The fact that he'd recognized her armor so told her that person must be intimately familiar with the kingdom of Moonbrooke, if not outright a native. That was one thing she could be confident in, even through the efforts he'd made to disguise himself. “When I bring you home with me, he will forgive me, I am certain,” she said. That, on the other hand, was not something she was confident in. “There's no way you can move with that spell going off.” The leader rolled Heather onto her back again with his foot, and took a seat on top of her. “Yeah, he's putting some serious shake into that armor of yours. But tell me, guard...how many people followed the Moonblade here? Just you two?” Heather felt the thief's weight leave her back, and watched him come into view holding his shoulders in a shrug. “It doesn't matter. Boys, kill these ladies. Just let them have a moment together, will you? They're going nowhere, and there's no reason to defy honor. Even the girl is getting her last wish right now.” [[Previous|Page 32 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 34 (H)]]

A clamor of excitement rose from the bloodthirsty criminals as they moved in, talking to themselves about how best to handle their orders to kill Heather and Ace. Trying to shut them out, Heather turned to Ace. “My apologies,” she said, “for leading you to your death like this.” “Don't even,” Ace replied. “I'm the one that got us on that landstrider of mine. We couldn't even have given chase without it. We got here together, Heather.” Ace was using the tree the Moonblade was tied to in order to rise, but she was shoved over by one of the bandits, causing a chorus of laughter. “They're definitely enjoying themselves,” she added, not disguising the pain in her voice. Indeed, rather than go straight for the kill, the bandits that had stepped forward were quite content to simply beat Heather and Ace up. At one point, the terrible spell that had knocked Heather off her feet came to a stop. She rose to take advantage of the chance, but just as she went in for a punch, the wizard cast his spell anew, freezing her up. This was the funniest joke of all to them, and they probably would've repeated it if the leader didn't signal for their fun to end. With a finger across his throat, the bandits' revelry fell silent almost immediately. “Alright, that's enough!” a voice called out from the hill. Heather swore she could recognize it, but her eyes were on the leader as he fled into the woods. “You boys quit picking on those little weaklings right now, or you're in big trouble!” Just as a blur of black and white flew from the hill, Heather closed her eyes, focused on recovering her strength. [[Previous|Page 33 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 35 (N)]]

## Chapter 8 Nicole pushed herself off of the hill with a mighty leap, landing close to the women writhing in pain on the forest floor. “You guys fight dirty,” she said as her dukes came up, ice coating them in a hurry. “Hostages? Magic tricks? You boys that afraid to lose?” “Belt up, lassie,” the wizard in the back said. “Bugger off, or we'll 'ave ye do it the 'ard way!” “Try it.” Nicole cracked her knuckles right through the ice, causing subtle dust to come off them and fall to the ground, where it quickly melted. “A bunch of liars hiding under masks don't stand a chance against me!” The enemy wizard let out yet another metal-rattling pulse in reply. The three women on the ground were put in even more pain, and the weapons left on the ground let out such horrible noise. Nicole stood unfettered; the hunting tools on her belt and its clasp were the only metal she wore. The element of surprise carried her right up to one of the men in the skull helmets, sinking him instantly with a sucker punch to the gut. The next-closest foe charged right for her, hoping to take her on hand-to-hand, but the punch he threw landed against her frozen guard, hurting him a lot more than he hurt her. Nicole stepped forward, grabbing the man's arm and yanking him in toward a headbutt to the chest that knocked him right over. “I tried to warn you!” she shouted as she charged the rest of the group. They paused to lift their weapons from the dirt, hoping to end Nicole's rampage that way, but her victories in the arena had taught her to fear no blade. [[Previous|Page 34 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 36 (N)]]

The first enemy she charged through was clearly expecting the swords to give her pause. Instead, she hopped up and jammed a knuckle down into his neck, chipping the bone of his helmet and dropping him in a hurry. The other men steeled themselves for battle, moving in with blades at the ready. Nicole responded by summoning more of her magic reserves, thickening the ice around her arms. By the time her enemies reached her, she had more than enough on her to turn away the light blades. After her practice with the dual-wielding shenanigans of Thousand Blades in the arena, a couple common thugs were easy to predict. Nicole had grown accustomed to the subtleties of a sword arm readying an attack, so every clumsy strike these two sent her way only made impact with her magical ice. “Amateurs!” she cried out as she took the offensive, growing bored of turning away the thugs' blades. She gave one of them a mighty shove backward, so that she could move in toward the other, mess up his sword swing, and get a fist into his gut. When he bent forward in pain, she spiked him to the ground with a fierce double-handed strike to the back of the head. The remaining brigands looked ready to flee at the sight, and when she took another step forward, they spun around to try exactly that. The wizard and the one that had been talking to the other women was able to get away, but the other swordsman was tackled from behind and had his head clubbed right into the dirt. Nicole raised a hand to clobber him some more, but a flash of light appeared and whisked the downed fiends away. “A teleport? You cowards...!” “You...” one of the women groaned as she wobbled to her feet. [[Previous|Page 35 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 37 (N)]]

Once the brigands' victim was out of the dust, Nicole got a better look at her. “You're the one that gave me a hard time in front of the academy!” she said. Her hands balled themselves into fists at her sides. “What are you doing here?” the guard asked. “Hunting...not that it's any of your business.” Nicole dusted off her clothes and pointed to the man tied to the tree. “Hey, lady, it's your thief! What'd he run off with, anyway?” “None of your business.” The guard grinned a little and turned to help her friend to her feet. Nicole was in no mood for teasing, however. “What do you know about magic? You probably don't even know what the thing he took even does, idiot.” “It was some kind of orb,” the other woman said, reaching down for her sword to return it to her back. “These other men took it away.” “Idiots!” Nicole took a few steps in the direction that the remaining thieves had escaped, then turned back to the women. “That was the Animus Font...” “The Animus Font? What does it do?” Nicole shook her head and groaned. “Oh, I don't know...but no one was allowed to be in the same room as it except for the headmaster! It's gotta be important, right?” The guard sighed and shook her head. “We must know more of this Font,” she said, “if we are to track it down. Young mage, might you be of assistance?” “Sure, whatever.” [[Previous|Page 36 (N)]] [[Next|Page 38 (N)]]

Nicole thought for a minute, then turned around to face the man up against the tree. “I'll probably have to call in a favor from a friend to study that Font thing," she said, pointing a finger vaguely ahead of her. "She likes studying. First...I want in on whatever you girls got going on. No secrets, you dig?” Nicole stuck her hand out, waiting for an answer. “Name's Nicole Ellery.” It didn't take long for the guard's friend to move her hand in for a shake. “I'm Ace,” she said with a smile. “That's Heather over there. Heather, tell the mage why we're here.” Heather hesitated, her eyes hidden by the gauntlet-clad hand tapping her forehead, but eventually relented and moved that hand in for a shake. “Heather Storm, Moonbrooke City Guard,” she said. “That man tied to the tree is the Moonblade, a wanted criminal, guilty of many thefts around the city and elsewhere.” Nicole glanced toward her opposition, and Heather was smart enough to take the hint. “These men...I know not their origins.” “They had many plans made for this occasion,” Ace thought aloud as she rekindled her campfire, “which suggests a higher level of intelligence and organization than mere highwaymen. And the way they spoke of their original intent...I wonder what the Moonblade's exact involvement was.” Heather swung her arm in his general direction. “It matters not...he is a criminal, and will meet the fate of all criminals!” Nicole sighed and turned away from the guard, boredom already setting in. “Whatever, crazy lady,” she said as she stretched her legs. “What about that other lady? You know her...?” “We do not.” The three women walked over to the fourth, still laying in the packed dirt of the forest, and stood around her. “No...” Heather took a knee and put her head to the woman's chest. “She...she is dead...” “Well, that sucks.” [[Previous|Page 37 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 39 (N)]]

The guard rose to her feet, seeming to be mere inches from slugging Nicole in the gut. “You insolent cur!” Heather snapped, her hand finally falling on Nicole's face, sending her into the dust. “Do you not realize the meaning of this?” “Honestly?” Nicole shrugged. “Not a clue. I don't know who she is, or who they were, or who you even are.” Nicole practically felt the follow-up question, as if Heather were pulling it from the air around them instead of asking it. “Then why have you intervened so?” It reminded her of something Ciel had once said, so she gave the same answer to this woman as she had back then. “I was bored?” she guessed. “I don't know.” Her stomach let out a growl everyone heard, prompting her to translate. “Maybe we'll figure it out over dinner?” “But we don't have any food,” Ace said. “We didn't expect to be out so late...” Pointing to a destroyed carriage, she added, “I don't think the Moonblade expected it either.” “Yeah, about that.” Nicole moved away from the others and inspected the man lashed to the tree. “This scrawny little sneak's been three steps ahead of everyone else? How'd he manage that one? Aren't you guard types supposed to be any good in a fight?” Heather shook her head. “Mind your tongue,” she snapped. “Well, you fill my mouth with food, I won't be able to run my mouth. How's that sound?” [[Previous|Page 38 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 40 (H)]]

## Chapter 9 Even as Nicole and Ace ate around her, Heather couldn't bring herself to join them, instead sitting completely still near the fire. Thoughts tumbled around in her head, of all the things being a knight meant to her, alongside a few points the bandit leader had mixed in. “Have I failed?” she mumbled as she stared at her hand, holding it between her and the fire. “Hm?” Nicole grunted, looking over at her with a mouthful of slasher meat. Heather paid her no heed, however; the question couldn't pierce her conundrum. She had sworn an oath to protect citizens and save lives, and yet an innocent woman died due to her own slip-up. She was dedicated to hunting down criminals, and yet a few escaped her grasp with a valuable piece of property in tow. She was even missing her scheduled patrol to sit in the wilderness and camp out. Heather pulled her knightsword out of its sheath a little, watching it gleam in the light of the fire. As her reflection was consumed by the glare, she thought of how she would miss having the blade by her side, were she to be dismissed from the ranks of the Moonbrooke City knights. Suddenly, a force on her cheek left her staring at the ground and a sensation of soreness on her face. She looked up to see Nicole standing over her, hand cocked back. “You done being crazy, lady?” she said, abandoning her ready stance to run a hand through her hair. “You keep talking to yourself, and we're getting weirded out.” “I...I apologize,” Heather said. “I only—“ “Oh, we know. You haven't shut up about it. Look, you've done good so far. How about you get back to the other guards before you assume they hate you?” Heather shook her head. “But...have I not failed my duties?” she asked Nicole. At this point, Ace stepped in as well. “We were...how'd you put it, Nicole?” she stopped to wonder. “Ah...we were played. The brutes that caused this had a spell at their disposal, to send a fierce shake through any nearby metal. The Moonblade would have been crippled too, even if he'd been awake. If Nicole here hadn't been nearby, and hadn't had such unarmed talent, there'd be more corpses here than just that woman.” [[Previous|Page 39 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 41 (H)]]

“This was the last one,” he said, with no indication he'd even heard Nicole. “They took her from me, and after this, they were supposed to give her back." The Moonblade took in a long, ragged breath, clearly pained as his body pushed the ropes. "It was almost over...” Nicole and Ace seemed enraptured by his words, but Heather wasn't quite ready to accept the story. “Might you have proof of this coercion?” she asked. It wasn't her first time hearing a criminal blame someone else. The Moonblade shook his head. “Of the deal itself? Not on me, no. But if you search that dead woman, she might still have the locket that matches mine. Well, if the Eclipse didn't take it and sell it...mm, maybe they didn't. It's only a brass circle with a picture she drew inside.” Heather gave the thief a look of disbelief, but went over to the slain woman nonetheless, to investigate. In one of her pockets, Heather found exactly what the Moonblade had said she would: a brass locket with a hand-drawn portrait of him and the woman herself within. “...and you say you have a locket just like this?” The Moonblade nodded, writhing in captivity again. “You guys have me up to my neck here,” he groaned, in a way that made Heather finally realize that maybe she'd tied him too tightly. “You'll have to loosen the top of these ropes a little to check. Can, uh...one of you other ladies do that? I'm still a little worried the knight will take my head off.” Ace began to step forward, but Heather got to the Moonblade first, demonstrating her opinion by cutting away the top of the binding without harming him. “Worry not,” she assured him. “I can bare your neck...all the better should you attempt anything.” Rummaging through the clothes about the Moonblade's neckline, she eventually felt a chain against her fingers, and guided yet another locket to the surface. “Well...?” Nicole chirped, trying to look around Heather's shoulders. “A perfect match.” [[Previous|Page 41 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 43 (H)]]

“And for that, Nicole has my thanks," Heather sighed, as she pushed herself upright. She stole a glance at Nicole, to see the young mage grinning at her. “But they absconded with that arcane trinket, and an innocent woman lies dead.” Nicole shrugged. “Of course it sucks,” she agreed, “but that's why we get up, chase 'em down, and bash some faces in...we can get your precious justice in, but not if we're moping around the—“ A low moan cut Nicole off, and her eyes trailed away, along with everyone else's, to the Moonblade, who was lashed to the tree near the campfire. “Ugh,” he groaned, his eyes opening rapidly when his wiggling met the restraints around him. “What the? Oh, great, you're in the afterlife too?” Heather noted that the Moonblade was staring directly at her, plenty displeased at the possibility he'd voiced. “This is no afterlife, thief,” she corrected him. “You yet live, which you owe to these other women...the idea was entirely theirs.” The Moonblade struggled a little more to free himself. “Was it their idea to tie me to a tree, too?” Before anyone could answer him, he continued. “No, wait, let me guess...another business proposition? You want me to undo the jobs I just did for the Eclipse, and then you'll let Alice and I be?” “Alice?” Nicole repeated. “Oh, the dead woma—“ Ace dug an elbow into Nicole's side, but not soon enough. “Dead...?” the Moonblade gasped. His gaze fell to the forest floor, and only a sigh could be heard as he trembled slightly. When his head turned back up to speak some more, a hint of tears could be seen in his eyes. “What have you done...?” Ace had to keep Nicole in check once more, grabbing her arm to keep her from leaping at the Moonblade. “What we did? I saved your skin, twice over...!” Nicole relented from her attempt to attack, choosing instead to turn away and spit into the grass. “You're welcome.” [[Previous|Page 40 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 42 (H)]]

Heather rose to her feet and drummed her fingers on the hilt of her knightsword. “You say this woman was a hostage, to extort your talent in thievery?” she asked, turning her head to the side. The Moonblade nodded. “We li...lived...alone, Alice and I,” he struggled to say. “I'd gone into town for supplies, and when I came back, the workshop was ransacked, Alice was gone, and there was only a...shopping list and a meeting place. I brought everything to the Vanishing Wench, and a man wearing a landstrider skull told me to do this one last thing...” Heather nodded and moved her hand to her forehead. “You are indeed more useful alive than dead.” “Uh...thanks...?” “Listen,” she commanded, stepping closer. “These brigands seem organized, are in possession of many a valuable item, and are guilty of everything from theft to murder. My duty is to see this 'Eclipse' group destroyed. Have you more aid to offer?” The Moonblade nodded. “Plenty. Now that they have nothing to hold me back...I want vengeance.” “I've got to get my Firebloom Pot back,” Ace chimed in, “not to mention the other things they've stolen...especially that orb. It seemed very important.” A brief silence ensued as all eyes fell upon Nicole. “What?” she said with a shrug, “I just want to get in some more fights.” Heather thought about shooing the teenager away, but she could already hear the girl bring up the night's battle in her mind. “We seem to be in agreement,” she sighed. Nicole gasped as Heather drew her sword in a hurry, but the slash only connected with the ropes, letting the Moonblade fall to the ground. “Now, Moonblade, I believe we owe you introductions. I am Heather Storm, a knight of Moonbrooke City.” When Heather stuck her hand out, she had intended the Moonblade to grab it, but she soon found Nicole's hand laid atop hers. “Name's Nicole Ellery,” the girl spat. “Don't let these broads tell you otherwise...I'm the strongest woman in the world.” Ace scoffed and laid her hand on Nicole's. “Sure,” she said sarcastically. “Call me 'Ace'. Owner and supplier of the Moonbrooke City Museum of History.” The Moonblade had been stunned to the point of inactivity by the display unfolding before him, but eventually joined in, putting his hand on top of everyone else's after rising to his feet. “Gregory Lee,” he announced. “Engineer, burglar, whatever you need, I've got it.” His hand left the stack as he let out a sigh. “You know what, I can't do this yet.” [[Previous|Page 42 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 44 (H)]]

Gregory turned away from the group and walked toward Alice's dead body, his steps slow and low to the ground. His hands reached to his neck, and with the aid of a little head shake, he had his scarf in his hand, revealing an angular chin, and a small nose and lips. “I can't leave her in the dust like this,” he said The clearing went silent, save for the crackling of the fire, as the women sat and watched as Gregory started digging at the dirt with his gloved hands, occasionally pausing to discard a rock. Even Nicole managed to stay silent for what felt like hours, content to let Alice have a lengthy moment of silence. Eventually, he had managed to dig a hole deep enough to hold her body, and lowered her into it, letting out a quiet sob as his arms came out from underneath her. “I'll avenge you, Alice,” he promised the corpse as he piled dirt over her, leaving a mound in the forest floor. Looking around, his eyes and hands eventually settled on the carriage, ripping free a length of wood to jab into the ground where Alice's head lied. After he tied the red scarf to the wood, he turned to face the rest of the group, joining them at the fire. “There.” Pausing to scratch his chin, he added, “My face feels so naked without that scarf.” Heather stared at the scarf as it sagged over the loose dirt of the grave. “Was it hers?” she asked. Gregory nodded, glancing back at it. “She said it made me look like Zephyr, from all the stories.” He took a seat next to Nicole, accepting the meat she offered him. “Of course, he wore it so it had two...” He froze, searching for the right word, eventually letting his hand gesture finish the sentence. He put his hands on his neck and slid them behind him, his fingers splayed out. “But I only had the one...” Gregory repeated his gesture, but with only one hand. “And his scarf was always floating on his wind magic.” Heather understood the gestures instantly, remembering the one tantalizing ribbon his scarf formed when she chased him through the city. “Yet you are no hero, Moonblade.” “Heather!” Ace snapped. “Maybe let him grieve tonight, and chew him out tomorrow?” Heather was in no mood to grant any sort of mercy, but she bottled that distrust up, bringing her finger to her forehead, trying to at least respect the dead. If nothing else, with Ace and Nicole allowing the man to grieve, and the woman to rest in peace, Heather didn't want to be the odd one out. [[Previous|Page 43 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 45 (N)]]

## Chapter 10 “Ugh, why so much walking?” Nicole groaned. At her hip, some of the chopped-up ropes that once held Gregory now tethered some animal skulls and bones to her waistline. They chattered softly together with every other step as the sun rose behind the group. “Because my landstrider ran into the woods,” Ace replied. “Chasing the one that had towed the carriage, I'd wager.” “And I couldn't get my hands on either one of them?” Nicole let out a long sigh as she plodded along with her companions. “I came way too late...!” Ace shook her head a little and adjusted the straps holding her sword in place. “You'd kill and eat our ride?” “Hey, my dad owns a dealership...the guy breeds landstriders for a living.” The thought of hurting a landstrider didn't make Nicole happy, but she wasn't going to lie. “But I guess I'd hunt one, if the tavern paid me enough. Meat and bones...I don't know what Hank's thinking buying them off me.” “That's why you've got those slasher bones on you still?” Gregory asked, his disgust still showing on his face. “They decorations? That's a grisly thing to decorate a tavern with.” Nicole shrugged and gave one of the skulls an affectionate petting. “That's up to him, not me...we just give each other what we want, no questions asked. Isn't that right, you delicious little moneymaker, you?” Gregory pouted as he sighed his content, his hair flapping a little as a result. “Well, alright. I guess I can't really judge after the living I made.” A brief silence washed over the group, leaving only the slight rustle of the tall grasses and the occasional animal noise to listen to. Gregory eventually stepped up to change the subject. “Uh, well...as long as we're out here, did you ladies have any more questions right off, or...?” “Yeah,” Nicole replied immediately. [[Previous|Page 44 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 46 (N)]]

“Tell me, Greg," Nicole began, leaning in a bit. "You still got that pass stone you stole to get into the Academy?” Gregory simply nodded and pulled it out of one of his pockets for a moment. “Good. There's someone there we're gonna wanna talk to.” With all eyes on her, she continued. “That orb, that Animus Font...I know what it is, but I dunno what it does. Maybe they covered it in a lecture I snuck out of? Anyway, I got a gal on the inside I can hit up, see what she knows.” “We're stealing a book report?” Gregory joked, shaking his head. “Kid, we're a little busy to help you cheat.” Nicole halted the whole group in its tracks by sinking a heavy fist of ice into Gregory's stomach. “Idiot...I'm no kid, and that's no ordinary magic...thing! Only one guy was allowed to touch it...wait, that means you have the headmaster's pass stone too, don't you?” “Of course I do!” Gregory dug into a pocket on the opposite side of his person, revealing a second pass stone of a different color, once he was done doubling over and holding his gut. “Jeez, you've got an arm.” Heather had stayed silent the whole trek, but broke her silence after that. “So our culprits do have some detailed information on the magic academy, as well as on the guards of the kingdom,” she summarized. “This, in addition to the other aspects we have seen of them.” “Exactly,” Nicole said. “They did their homework, and I didn't. That's why I wanna hit up Ciel and let her do some digging. If they kept the thing at the academy, they probably kept...I dunno, instructions or something.” Turning around and jabbing a finger into Gregory's chest, she added, “But I can't be seen on campus, so you'll have to get in there and tell her for me.” “Indeed,” Heather sighed as the group walked on through the calm breeze that caressed the Bright Plains. “I am loath to encourage such degenerate activity...however, we must find the purpose of that orb, if we are to know more of the ones who took it.” [[Previous|Page 45 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 47 (N)]]

“Sure,” Gregory answered. “Can we trust this girl, though? Or you, for that matter?” Nicole scoffed. “What's gotten into you all of a sudden?” she asked, returning her attention to the path ahead after nearly tripping on a rock. Gregory shrugged and jabbed a finger toward Nicole's hand as it swung by her side with every step. “Oh, I don't know...maybe it's the fact that I stole from the academy, and suddenly a mage appears, trying to get me back in there? All this about not knowing the orb in your own building...this has got to be the worst setup I've ever heard.” Ace and Heather were more attentive this time, keeping Nicole held back so she couldn't assault the man again. “Don't be an idiot!” she growled as she tried to break free. “I've been doing nothing but saving your skin, and I'll be even madder than you if all that just ends with you caught by those hypocrites at the academy! They don't deserve their stupid orb, much less to get revenge on you for taking it!” “I've been meaning to ask,” Ace grunted, putting forth plenty of effort to keep Nicole in check. “What's this animosity between you and them?” “They threw me out for getting into arena fights.” Nicole stopped struggling, and the other women let go of her arms as she continued. “There's other mages in the arena, there's mages in the military, there's chef mages...but I know what I like, and I do it well, and everyone still loses their minds, including my stuck-up parents!” Nicole paused to punch her open palm. “Well, screw 'em! If that's how they are, I don't wanna roll with 'em anyway. I don't need anyone.” Ace rubbed her chin a little as she looked at Nicole. “It takes a lot of strength to forgo connections like that.” Nicole's knuckles quickly glazed over with a sheet of ice at the mere insinuation. “You saying I can't cut it? Here, let's take a break from walking, right now, and go one on one.” “I didn't mean it like that, Nicole...” “You know, I don't care...I'm still fired up! If there was a delicious animal nearby, I'd wail on that instead, but you'll have to do.” Nicole put her things down and put up her fists, standing in front of Ace as her hands froze over. “We're gonna have to sooner or later.” Ace shrugged and walked past Nicole, reaching up to a lone tree and breaking off a thick branch. “Wherever this ego came from, I only know one cure,” she said. She turned, and was brandishing the branch like a sword. “Attack me, and I'll give you a dose of humility!” [[Previous|Page 46 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 48 (N)]]

Nicole accepted the challenge and let out a loud yell, charging straight for Ace with her arm raised and ready to strike. The older woman tried to be smart and dodge to the side, but she failed to outpace Nicole's hand and caught the back of her fist. Nicole took a shot to the shoulder for her trouble, but overall felt like she had the favorable end of that trade. “You're slow, lady,” she spat, chasing her opponent down. “It's not often someone tries to pull criticism like that on me,” Ace replied, jumping backwards as she swung her branch to repel Nicole. The young mage took a few hits on the chin on her way in close, sinking a fist into Ace's stomach. Nicole stepped up to drop some fists on Ace's head, but was surprised to see Ace drop down further and trip Nicole with a leg sweep. Nicole spilled out onto the grass, laying on her back as Ace moved in and shoved the branch into her stomach. It took a couple hits before Nicole was able to grab a leg and smack it a few times, but in the end, the two fighters were on their feet, spread far apart and sizing each other up. Nicole chuckled and cracked her knuckles as the two of them stood apart. “Not bad, old lady,” she said as ice formed anew over her knuckles. She ran in close, ducking past Ace's attack to throw a fierce uppercut. “You girls know we have to get back to the city, right?” Gregory asked, sitting on the sidelines near Heather as the two of them watched. “We'll get there.” The monotony of walking had brought Nicole down, but the battle before her had perked her right back up. Gregory's chatting, however, had distracted her, giving Ace a chance to recover and whack her in the chest with the branch. Nicole gripped her chest with one hand, doing her best to push through the pain, while the other hand raised up to block another shot aimed square at her jaw. “You're persistent,” Ace marveled, the branch threatening to break as she attacked Nicole's guard a few more times. “I might actually have to try to win this.” Nicole scoffed in reply and reeled back, throwing a headbutt at Ace's chest. “I doubt it...but if you'd like to think you're trying, then let's see it!” Nicole took a step back to give herself room to throw her weight into a punch, but froze up as Ace let out a short grunt, the branch in the woman's hand starting to give off a strange yellowish light. “This is what you wanted to see...?” Heather jolted to her feet, amazed at the sight. “That...I believe it not! Force Blade...!” “What?” Nicole growled. “What's For—“ The rest of the sentence was smacked out of her, as Ace swung her branch through the air, launching crescents of light that slammed into Nicole with just as much force as the branch itself had. Five such shots had Nicole sprawled out in the grass once more. “Impressed, Nicole?” Ace asked, standing over the mage with a hand outstretched. [[Previous|Page 47 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 49 (N)]]

Nicole looked around, contemplating the turn the fight had taken, and the trip that awaited them afterward. “Fine,” she admitted, allowing Ace to help her up. “Any more of that Force crap, and the walk back is gonna suck.” As everyone gathered up their things and prepared to resume traveling, Nicole added, “You didn't let me finish before...what's this Force Blade business?” “It is a style of combat from the north,” Heather answered before Ace herself could, as the gang plodded along over the Bright Plains. Nicole could barely see some guard towers poking up past the gentle hills ahead. “I have never seen it in person, though I have heard the legend...” “What legend?” Nicole asked, rotating her arm a few times to crack her shoulder joints. “Moonbrooke City was once besieged by fierce warriors, and our numbers were dwindling. One lone messenger took some supplies, saddled up, and fled northward in search of any help he or she could find. Some towns indeed sent eager young men to add to the ranks of a militia, but the messenger continued traveling northward.” Nicole rolled her eyes and reared back, firing a huge glob of saliva into the grass. “What, into the Sand Belt? Who'd live there?” “No, past that,” Ace replied. “The courier made it all the way up to a place called Torikago, and begged its ruling council, the daimyo, to send help south to Moonbrooke. Torikago sent soldiers by sea, unloading them in Moonbrooke's harbor and setting them loose to fight through the enemies with the art of Chikaraken...oh, sorry, Force Blade.” Heather nodded and paused briefly to adjust her armored boots, hustling a little to fall back into step with the rest of the group. “The courier is widely known in this era by the name of 'Zephyr'.” Ace sighed and lifted her gaze to the sky, nodding toward Heather slightly. “And my family's claimed that Zephyr stayed in Torikago, and became my ancestor. That's why I search for relics and run my museum...if I can match something here to my heritage back home, I'll have proven their words to be the truth.” “No way...!” Nicole gasped, dashing to Ace's side and clinging onto her a little. “So how'd you come by here in the first place?” Ace shook her head, trying her best to dislodge Nicole; she only succeeded with Gregory's help. “That's gonna have to wait, kid,” he chided. “We've already made it back to Moonbrooke. Don't forget, if you're hanging on with us, you have to help us with the Eclipse punks, got it?” [[Previous|Page 48 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 50 (H)]]

## Chapter 11 “Was it truly wise to send those two together?” Heather mused as she sat in the back of a small wagon, tethered to a landstrider that the royal guard had provided. “I cannot help but worry that they may disappear on us.” She paused to wince as the wagon rolled over a rock, sending an uncomfortable vibration through the seat of her greaves. “What then?” Ace shook her head, watching the grass move in the breeze. “They won't,” she replied. “Gregory wants to find these guys, and Nicole wants to start a fight. Not that we have a choice...you said it yourself, right? Getting the Moonblade or an expelled mage on board would have raised too many eyebrows.” “Right.” Heather still couldn't help but worry, even as she paused to guide the landstrider to a river and have it walk alongside it. Rather than stress too much about it, however, she brought her anxiety to a more relevant place. “What of this tip...is it truly trustworthy?” “If the fence didn't actually come out here to Riverside, it at least gives us an excuse to spread the word and ask around some more, in case they try to flee to a rural province.” Heather nodded and focused on steering the landstrider about the countryside, guiding it past rocks and trees until the town of Riverside eventually rose into view. It was nestled in among some trees, though many more around the village were cut down and piled up, waiting to be sawed into firewood. The soft trickle of the water helped Heather relax slightly, though she still couldn't help but be a little on edge about Gregory. The town was enclosed by a small stone wall, and the nearest gap had a guard standing dead center with a questioning look on his face. His sword and shield were plain, but they looked more than sturdy enough to get the job done. “Good day to you, sir,” Heather greeted the guard. “We are envoys from Moonbrooke City...our investigation into a rash of thievery has brought us here.” The guard nodded approvingly, but said nothing. Heather was a little surprised by the silence, but decided to try again. “Err...well, might you at least know where we may find some lodgings here?” The guard nodded and took the reins, guiding the landstrider through town. The crude stone road was rough on the wagon's wheels, but Heather did her best to remain cordial. She glanced nervously at Ace, who was staring off into town. [[Previous|Page 49 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 51 (H)]]

“Did you hear that?” Ace blurted, not moving her head. “I thought I heard a laugh.” “Ace, I heard no such thing.” “Huh.” Ace continued staring as the town scrolled past their view. Heather found the hamlet beautiful, but Ace seemed to be looking past it all for something else. Shrugging off the experience, Heather took her chances with the guard again. “What of you, guard?" she asked. "Have you seen any other strangers come into your town? Traders, perhaps?” Without turning around, the guard shrugged and held a hand up by his shoulders, flashing three fingers at Heather. “We're looking more for a peddler of curios. Home decorations, vases, things of this sort. Have you seen that sort of trader?” The guard tethered the landstrider's reins to a nearby fence, then nodded. The two women jumped out of the wagon, excited to be one step closer to solving the mystery. “Know anything else?” Ace asked. The guard simply shook his head, jabbing a finger toward a sign hanging off the nearest building. “Oh, a tavern...good thinking! Thank you for your assistance...err, what was your name?” The guard held up his sword for Ace to see, allowing her to read an engraving in the base of the blade. “Samson?” Ace nodded and ran up to the door leading into the tavern. “Well, thank you very much, Samson. We'll take it from here.” Heather watched the guard as he departed. “Not the talkative sort, is he?” she quipped. “Now then, how would you like to approach the situation?” “We're better off splitting up,” Ace answered, urging Heather up toward the tavern door. “You get in there, and ask around about the obsidian vase and the fence. I think I'll just go door to door.” When Heather gave her a confused stare, Ace sighed and stepped in closer. “Look," she clarified, "I doubt Gregory, the fence, or even the person who may have bought it know the history behind it. I bet they'll just see it as a pretty black glass vase. Odds are I might even find it sitting on someone's dinner table.” “Very well. Regroup here at the tavern when your reconnaissance is complete.” [[Previous|Page 50 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 52 (H)]]

Heather saluted Ace and let her go, then opened the door to the tavern and strolled inside. Everything inside came to a screeching halt, from conversations to the music of the minstrel. All eyes fell upon Heather, regarding her with scorn and suspicion. “Greetings,” she began. “I am Heather Storm, of the Moonbrooke City Royal Guard. I have come to ask for your cooperation in a thievery investigation.” A rough-looking man answered her query by staining her boot with a glob of phlegm. “Ahem...that is of no assistance to me.” “That's 'cause we ain't helpin',” the man said, preparing to spit again. Heather's hand went to her forehead to keep her from lashing out, but she still had a little anger left to give a snarky comeback. “If that lands on my armor again, you shall lick it off.” Heather heard a lot of grumbles rising from the crowd, warning her that she was striking out fast. “I have but a few questions concerning any other strangers that may have set foot in your town.” The rude man rose to his feet and shook his head. “Look, we know you cityfolk use magic in them blades of yours, an' we don't take too kindly to magic here in Riverside.” “Oh...err...of course I know magic is unwelcome in this place. That is why I have come with such haste...for, you see, one of you may have been sold a magical explosive.” Heather was loath to lie, but she felt cornered by how things had proceeded up to that point. “A small vase, black as night," she said, with a salesman's inflection, "with the power to destroy entire houses!” As a few gasps rose from the riffraff, she knew she was on the right track. “Yes, and we must take this dangerous magic back to Moonbrooke City, away from you fine folk!” Heather nodded in satisfaction as she heard murmurs rise from the crowd. “Shoot, the last thing we's need 'round here is another house gettin' destroyed!” “I ain't never heard of somethin' like that, but who knows what them wily cityfolk's makin'?” “Golly...!” “Yes!” Heather said, clapping her hands together. “So please, time is of the essence...if any of you might be able to tell me of a seller of trinkets that may have come through...” The man who had once been rude gasped and shook his head. “You mean that fella that came by with a coat full'a knick-knacks?” he clarified. “Shoot...he had some purdy things, but we ain't got that kinda money...'cept the mayor in the town hall.” Lots of the murmuring died back down. “Don't scare me none...if that fella blows up, that's fine by me.” “But what of—“ “That's your problem now, city lady.” The man sat back down, returning his attention to his drink. A long sigh dragged itself through Heather's lips as she realized her questioning would go no farther here, and she left to seek the town hall. [[Previous|Page 51 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 53 (H)]]

“Oh, Heather!” Ace gasped, running up from Heather's left. “Town hall...” “So I've heard,” Heather responded, her head darting back and forth. “How did you find out?” Ace sighed and drew in closer to whisper to Heather. “It sounds weird...but I heard from a voice in the wind.” Heather thought this to be an impossible phenomenon, but decided against telling Ace so. “Very well. That is where I am headed, as well, so let us go together.” The two of them headed down the dirt streets, with Heather trusting Ace's lead. Wherever she had found her information and directions, they were the same that Heather had found. The two women were lead directly to the front door of the town hall, and pushed their way in without so much as a knock. “What in tarnation?” a voice called out, a bit high in pitch. Standing before the duo was a tall, fat man with beady little eyes, staring over his shoulder at them. “Y'all got no manners, bargin' in like that?” Ace gasped as her eyes were drawn directly to her property, sitting pretty atop a fireplace mantle to the man's left. “You,” she growled. “Step aside. I'm here to reclaim stolen goods.” “So y'all are here to steal from me?” The man turned his body around to face the women. “I oughta have y'all locked up right away!” As he waddled to the window to throw it open, he kept shouting for guards to arrive. Before long, one was indeed on the scene; it was the one who had first met the women in town. “Samson, you mute little piggy! Toss these gals in the hoosegow!” Samson merely cocked his head sideways, the confusion clear on his face. “Piggy?” Ace took a step toward the mayor, one hand balled into a fist. “You hypocrite, just stand aside, let me have what's mine, and help us find the thieves that sold it to you illegally!” The mayor let out a loud, snorting laugh. “Y'all think I'm'a help you after all this? Why, if Samson weren't so durned braindead, he'd stick y'all like pigs and roast ya!” Ace and the mayor continued bickering, to the point where Heather had no room to slip a word in edgewise. Drowned out, she was content to lean against the door frame and watch the proceedings. The noise stopped when Samson made his way past everyone and grabbed the vase in his meaty fingers. All eyes fell on the vase, and Samson let out an annoyed sigh as he primed his arm to toss it. [[Previous|Page 52 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 54 (H)]]

“Careful!” Ace cautioned Samson. “It's fragile!” “That's mine!” the mayor spat, trying to snatch it back, but failing to get past Samson's other hand. “Don't y'all take it!” Samson cradled the Firebloom Pot against his body, keeping it away from the mayor's flailing hands as he looked around the room, his eyes and ultimately his body settling on a chair in the corner, situated at a writing desk. He kept his body in the mayor's path, denying him access to the pot while he wrote furiously. When he was finished, he motioned for Heather to come over and take the parchment. “'You're fighting over this?'” she read aloud. “'I should break it so you can move on.' Now, what sense is that, Samson? This was stolen from Ace once...you would do so again?” “Stolen nothin'!” the mayor cawed. “I paid good money for it, fair an' square! That ain't no crime!” “Regardless of your complicity in the theft itself, the rightful owner has come to reclaim her property!” “An' why should I believe a couple women bargin' in, hootin' and hollerin' like that? Y'all could be fancy dressed-up bandits, for all we know!” “Were we mere bandits, we would have slain you where you stood...we come for justice, not just the pot!” “Well, why don't y'all leave just us alone? This town don't need y'all city slickers comin' by makin' demands!” “If you would cease your interference in this criminal investigation, you would be rid of us!” “That's it!” Ace shouted, shoving her way between Heather and the mayor. Heather didn't even realize how close she'd gotten to the mayor until Ace intervened. “Stars above, the man can keep the Pot. Just don't break it, Samson...don't squander the history behind it. Even if this porker doesn't remember the Fuze Rebellion, it's better he keeps the thing than to have its story go to waste on his floor.” Ace's shoulders sagged as she added, “More important objects have been stolen by these same criminals. It's about more than that pot...” “Y'hear that?” the mayor screeched, bouncing back and forth on his stubby legs. “She says the thing's mine! Give it here!” Samson shook his head and rose from his seat, still holding the Firebloom Pot. Taking back the parchment from Heather, he wrote out another message, then handed it to her and walked out the door. “It says...'Join me for dinner. I may know someone else who saw the fence.'” [[Previous|Page 53 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 55 (N)]]

## Chapter 12 “350 for everything,” Nicole growled, hands planted firmly against the wood of the counter before her. “I won't go lower.” “Fine,” Hank said, gathering up the necessary coins in a small sack to pay for the animal bits. “See, two meals and a night's stay for your little outing. Not bad, right?” Nicole shrugged, turning her body away from the bar a bit as she gave a sly smile. “More importantly, I beat the crap out of some slashers with my bare hands, and now you can use some of those bones that aren't going up on the walls to boil for soup.” “Sure,” Gregory sighed, seated next to Nicole, leaning his back on the bar. “But where's your friend? You sure she's not gonna flake on us?” “Hey, man, Ciel's not that kind of girl. If you got her the message, she'll be here.” Nicole turned and imitated Gregory's position on her own bar stool. “She's come to the Vanishing Wench before. The only thing that'd keep her is if she's trying to smuggle books out with her.” “That's if this place just keeps books on the Font just laying around.” Nicole scoffed, the puff of air pushing futilely at her hair. “Probably not in the student library. No, my Ciel's sneaky like you...she's got a taste for the texts the teachers keep to themselves.” After a pause to drink some water, she added, “You just can't keep that broad from learning.” Nicole could hear the telltale escalation of voices off to the side, a possible harbinger of a fight, but she chose to ignore it. “Speaking of broads," she continued, "you think Heather and Ace found their dumb jar or whatever?” “Probably," Gregory said, his eyes on the argument. "Unless they got a false lead from the queen's spies.” Gregory shoved himself off the stool, stretching his arms as he continued speaking. “They might not have cared about a salesman,” he added, pushing his words through a yawn. “I guess we'll fi—“ Nicole's words were cut off by her reflexes. in the corner of her eye, she saw the argument in the corner had produced an errant projectile, an empty mug traveling toward Gregory's head. [[Previous|Page 54 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 56 (N)]]

She pushed herself to her feet and deflected the mug with her fist, standing there afterward shaking the pain off her knuckle. Gregory had dodged on his own accord, but Nicole was still angry. “Who threw this?” she bellowed, grabbing the mug off the floor. When she didn't get an answer, her eyes traced the mug's path back to the argument in the corner, and her fists traced their own paths into a couple rowdy patrons in the area. “You guys need to calm down!” One of the angry men responded by tossing a pitcher her way, causing her anger to boil over. “Alright, that's it!” Nicole shouted. Ice slicked her fists as she walked up and coldcocked her assailant, his body shoving chairs aside on its way to the floor. “Nicole, what are you doing?” Gregory asked, running to her side. “Starting a fight, genius! What's it look like?” Nicole turned back to the men before her, now unified in their anger against her. “C'mon, you wimps, let's take it outside!” She led her targets through the door and onto the streets, Gregory keeping close by her. One of the thugs saw fit to go straight for Gregory. “Hey, buddy, put a leash on your b—“ Gregory interrupted the man by swinging his leg in a circle, bringing his foot to an impact with the man's chin. “Great,” he mused as his foot came back to rest on the ground, and he dropped into a fighting stance. “Now I'm part of this...Nicole, why did you—“ “Shut up,” she interrupted. “Let's see what you can do, Mister Famous.” Nicole dashed forward right off the bat, aiming her shoulder at the nearest drunkard and taking a quick step backward to dodge his retaliatory fist. She stepped back in with an icy backhand, made a quick grab for his collar, and spun her body around to put some force into her throw. Her body tensed up in preparation to move, but she stopped and gasped softly when the foe she threw collided with Gregory's waiting foot. [[Previous|Page 55 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 57 (N)]]

When Gregory noticed Nicole's stare, he simply laughed it off and tried to reply, but another foe came at him. Thinking quickly, he dropped into a side split and let his target's haymaker pass harmlessly overhead. With a quick bark, Gregory shoved himself upright, jumping into a backflip kick in the same motion. “How's it feel to fight with someone competent?” he asked. “Not bad,” she mused, sidestepping an enemy and making a grab for his arm, putting it in a painful hold as she shoved him into the cobblestones. She quickly rose to her feet and flashed Gregory a smile. “You?” “You're better than I thought.” After deftly dodging an incoming fist, he added, “I didn't believe you drove off the Eclipse at first, but after watching you here, and against Ace...” Gregory left the thought hanging, in favor of swinging his foot up about level with his face, to catch a muscular brute right on the chin and send him sprawling. “Are these even the ones who started the fight?” “Who cares? They love it.” Nicole put her arms up to guard an incoming punch, causing it to smash harmlessly into the wall of ice she wore on her sleeves. “Trust me, these guys were probably bored out of their skulls. That's why I do this, anyway.” Gregory scoffed, skirting around the crowd of bar patrons, most of them dazed on the stones underfoot. “I see.” He gave one of the remaining men a stern look, and responded to the man's charge with a quick sweep. “Hm...we thinned them out pretty quick.” “Yeah, you saw me!” she confirmed, walking to Gregory with no concern over whether her feet came down on top of anyone. “Once I knew how strong Ace was, I didn't have to charge her anymore! Half the time, that's all these guys want to know.” Nicole reached up to clap a hand down on Gregory's back. “I'm sure you'll be plenty welcome at the Vanishing Wench now.” “I didn't need your help, you know,” Gregory muttered suddenly. The sentiment caught Nicole off guard, and it took her a second to reply. “It wasn't about helping you. I just wanted to have fun. I can wait...you're gonna need me one day, I know it.” “Oh, please.” A dry chuckle climbed out of Gregory and filled the air between the two of them. “That'll be the day...but I'll admit it when it happens, don't worry. 'Nicole, I think you were right'...I'll hold myself to it because it won't happen.” [[Previous|Page 56 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 58 (N)]]

“Oh, no way...Nicole!” a voice screamed out from the streets, interrupting the bickering, soon revealing itself to belong to Ciel as she rounded the corner at top speed. “What in the world transpired here?” “Hey, there you are, you big genius!” Nicole crowed, meeting Ciel at the edge of the brawl for a one-sided hug. “I dunno if the boys were testing my pal Greg out, or if they were upset about something else, but we took care of it...!” “She didn't know...?” Gregory muttered under his breath behind her. Nicole chose to ignore him. “But enough about us. What's that paper under your arm? Got some notes for us?” Ciel rolled her eyes a little and nodded. “Better,” she replied. “Do you have somewhere private to discuss this?” Nicole nodded, wordlessly leading everyone up to her bedroom in the Vanishing Wench. They were cramped quarters; she was forced to sit on the bed while she bade her friends to gather around the nearby table. The walls and furniture were all wrought from the same plain, unadorned wood, and a single lantern provided more than enough light to fill the room and its absence of any windows. It was also adequate lighting to see the documents Ciel was busily sprawling over the table. “A blueprint!” Gregory blurted as one particular parchment unfurled before their eyes. “This is engineer's notation...” Ciel shrugged a little. “How fortuitous that you can parse this.” Her finger slid along the parchment, a crude sketch with the name of the Animus Font on it, but no other words. As she traced a dotted line leading away from a circle, she asked, “What do you make of this?” The line traced past a series of numbers and odd symbols. Gregory, however, knew exactly what he was looking at. “This is a measurement of sustained magic draw...or, in other words, the arcane energy that goes into or out of something. I'm not too familiar with it, since I never worked with it much.” “Perhaps it can be combined with the other information I've gathered.” Ciel's hand moved to some of the other papers she'd sprawled over the table, though Nicole had to take her word for things as she and Gregory crowded in close. “This document is titled 'Augmented Knightswords'. It seems to be some study conducted on behalf of the royal guard, on various methods to strengthen their famous enchantments. The name 'Animus Font' came up in it, as a possible method to provide temporary boosts.” “Yeah, the average person can sustain...uh, twenty draw, naturally.” Gregory sank away from the table, sitting down next to Nicole on the bed, and turned his head skyward in thought. “Someone gifted in magic can handle even more without conscious effort...what, seventy, maybe? A spell is a way bigger spike, but I haven't seen any go past four hundred.” [[Previous|Page 57 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 59 (N)]]

Nicole sighed and turned to Gregory, glaring slightly. “Numbers ain't my thing, pal,” she groaned. “What's this mean about the Animus thing?” “You ever been on the business end of a knightsword? he asked. "That's twenty draw, right?” Nicole gave a short nod and hand gesture; if anyone there would know, it'd be him. Gregory looked into Nicole's eyes, speaking his next sentence slowly as he moved his head toward her a little more. “They got five thousand draw from the Font.” “Whoa!” Nicole recoiled away, mostly in shock, but also a little to keep Gregory out of her face. “Alright, those are some serious numbers.” “The Font's housing in the Academy must have been twofold,” Ciel mused, shuffling the papers around the table to switch up the information laid out. She hadn't looked away from the study materials ever since she'd laid them out. “They would know more of arcane equipment than any other institution in the area. They also have the barrier...if the Moonblade hadn't purloined a pass stone, he'd have been stymied by the force field around the premises.” Nicole watched Gregory shift uncomfortably at the mention of his burglar identity, but neither spoke up about the truth. Given the silence, Ciel moved on to her next concern, which was worrying enough to tear her gaze away from the table. “Nicole, why would you ask me these things?" Ciel asked. "This looks dangerous, especially with that criminal involved...I hope you're not wrapped up in this...” Nicole shrugged, quickly sorting through things to find just enough truth to keep Ciel happy without letting her know too much. “Uh, not much, no,” she replied. “I was a witness. This one guard is rewarding me for information I can dig up...and if someone from the Academy asks where the info came from, they'll point to me, not you. I can't be in any more trouble with them than I already am.” Ciel sighed, her facial features twisting inward in a familiar look of contemplation. “...very well. I'll just have to trust the veracity of your answer, and the company of your guardian here. Especially after seeing him in that tussle. I admit, when he first came to my door, I didn't know whether or not to trust him...but he's the least belligerent man you've kept the company of.” Digging through her papers, she found one in particular and handed it to Nicole. “Before I knew of this 'draw' metric," Ciel continued, "I summarized my findings in this document. Present this information to the guard...but then you must leave the situation to them, got it? I don't want to hear of you entering an altercation with the Moonblade.” “Don't worry, Ciel...!” Nicole rose to her feet and hugged Ciel; just like before, Ciel kept her arms to her sides. “Thanks for finding all this stuff. This'll keep me out of the streets, so I'll be nice and safe, just like you wanted, right?” Nicole felt a slight tugging in her gut as the falsehoods slipped along her tongue. Ciel had treated her with such respect, and it felt dirty to trick her, but she figured she could just tell the truth later. “Look," she sighed, "let's just go downstairs, get something to eat, and get you home before the Academy comes looking for you.” [[Previous|Page 58 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 60 (H)]]

## Chapter 13 Heather and Ace sat around the table in the plain wooden confines of Samson's home, eating a thick stew together, heavy with meat and vegetables. “Where is this person that knows of the fence?” Heather asked between spoonfuls of stew. “I appreciate the hospitality, but we must be quick.” Everyone sat in silence at the table for awhile, even abandoning their food, as the women looked at Samson in anticipation of an answer. He seemed to be ignoring them, however, looking off to the side as if in deep thought. Finally, he gave a nod to the air and turned back toward the women. “Hi!” a voice definitely not belonging to Samson rang out. It was young, female, cheery, and it had Ace and Heather thoroughly startled. “Daddy doesn't let me talk to people. This is great!” “Show yourself!” Heather demanded. Ace, however, seemed much more calm. “I heard you before,” she said slowly. “You pointed me to town hall. Thank you.” Heather was surprised to see Ace calmly converse with the disembodied voice, but was also starting to relax a little herself. “That's right!” the voice confirmed. “Oh, uh...you're welcome! My name's Anna!” Heather struggled to comprehend what was happening. She had never heard of voices in thin air like this before; when it was just Ace, she had wondered if it were just a hallucination, but she figured three people couldn't be having the same hallucination at the same time. “Pleased to meet you,” she said, partly just to see what happened. “My name is Heather. This other woman is Ace.” “Heather and Ace...!” The voice had heard Heather's words and responded accordingly. She had no idea what the phenomenon could be, but she was willing to keep playing along in the meantime. Soon, the voice spoke again. “Nice meeting you! Daddy says you want to know about the man I saw! He had a big coat and he kept lots of shiny things inside it!” “The fence!” Heather put it all together in her head, and realized that whoever this voice was, they were the contact Samson had promised. The girl's voice let out a laugh. “He's not a fence, silly! He's a man!” Through leftover chuckles, she added, “Daddy, city people are so funny!” [[Previous|Page 59 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 61 (H)]]

## Chapter 14 Nicole crouched in the tall grass, watching the sun rise up and cast its light onto a small avian creature, lifting a wing to preen its blue feathers. Its lower body was a large bony spike that it had embedded into the ground, giving itself something to sit on as it tidied itself, unaware of the danger its life was in. Nicole crept closer, careful to minimize the noise the grass made underfoot, to keep the creature from getting scared and fleeing. Once she was satisfied with her position, she made her move. In one quick moment, her legs pushed her along as hard as they could, urging her through the grass to intercept the creature and smash it toward the ground before it could fly too far away. Its blood splattered onto the dirt as its body bounced away, leaving a crimson trail as it rolled on a bit. Its body was otherwise motionless. “Take that!” Nicole cheered as she picked up the creature and stuck it into a bag on her hip. “This is one big perchthorn...you'll be worth good money!” It would have to be cleaned and stripped of its feathers before it could be cooked, and its bones would in turn have to be stripped of the meat before they were fit for decoration. Nicole's last catch had alerted her to just how much work that could be, and she saw fit to let Hank do his own work in that department. Such a shift had led her to bag four other animals just that morning. Nicole turned to seek her next target, but let out a gasp and fell over at the obstruction that stood where she had just been moments ago. It took her a brief moment to understand what had appeared in her path. “Greg!” she gasped as she got back on her feet. “You scared me...don't sneak up on me like that!” Gregory chuckled as he helped Nicole dust herself off. “Sorry,” he said, smiling at her. “It's just that Heather and Ace should be back soon, and...you haven't eaten this morning, have you?” Nicole stopped for a moment and shook her head, feeling a disgusted tingle where she'd been touched by him. “No...” A hand traveled to her stomach as she continued. “...but this is how I earn a living. Our little investigation, that ain't paying the bills. Actually...I don't see you eat very often, and I've never seen you sleep.” With a shrug, Gregory led Nicole back toward Moonbrooke City. “I guess we give better advice than what we live by, huh?” The tall grass brushed at their shins as they walked together, each holding a hand up to shield their eyes from the sun rising in front of them. “I haven't had anything to eat either. Then again, I didn't run out into the wilderness to punch animals.” “Sounds like you need a different morning routine!” Nicole laughed a little and punched Gregory's shoulder playfully. “Otherwise you're never gonna get strong like me!” [[Previous|Page 64 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 66 (N)]]

“No, Anna,” Ace corrected her softly. “A fence is a man who takes things that aren't his, and gives them to other people.” She returned her attention to her stew, now that she felt more at ease. “Oh! So you're guards like Daddy? You look for bad people and punish them?” “I am a guard from Moonbrooke City,” Heather said, still not as relaxed about the situation as Ace. “Ace is...” Her mind tumbled, trying hard to make things as easy for the childlike voice to understand as possible. “...Ace is here because the fence had a black pot that was hers.” “Oh, that thing Daddy came home with!” Anna squealed. “Daddy, if that's hers, give it back!” Samson paused a moment, then left the table for a moment, coming back with more to write with. Heather and Ace waited, knowing another message was coming on. When it was done, Ace took it and began to read. “Alright, Samson, let's see,” she said as she looked over the written message. “'You can have it back, but I have a request to make. Anna has always wanted to travel, but she cannot move far from my shield. Will you take her to the city for a visit?'” “Samson, this is nary a place for children!” Heather protested. “We are in pursuit of criminals, guilty of murder...! And we still have not heard where these fiends are headed!” “Right, sorry!” Anna jumped in. “The man with the shiny things, someone wanted one but couldn't have one.” Pausing to prepare an impersonation, she added, “He said, 'Save up some money and meet me in Cross!' Is that another town?” While Samson cleared away the dishes from dinner, Heather kept up the conversation with Anna. “Yes. Cross is actually quite north from here. It is a similar town to Riverside, small and tucked away in the woods.” Heather stood and made her way toward the door. “Well, I certainly appreciate the information you have been able to provide. We should be on our way.” Ace moved quickly to intercept Heather before she could get outside, however. “You're doing it again,” she cautioned the guard. “Don't tell me you mean to leave Anna behind.” Heather sighed and tried to shove Ace from her path. “You heard me before," she said. "We are chasing deadly criminals!” “And we don't have a clue what they look like," Ace pointed out. "Anna knows the fence by sight. We have to take her with us.” Heather, having felt much less at ease than Ace about the situation, finally let it out. “And just what is Anna, anyway? You seem unusually calm for someone talking to a voice from nowhere!” [[Previous|Page 60 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 62 (H)]]

Ace turned away from Heather and nodded slightly. “I thought I knew what happened. When Samson's note mentioned her being tethered to the shield, I knew for sure.” Turning back to everyone, she let on what she knew. “Heather, Anna is dead.” “Wow...!” Anna mused, her ethereal voice filling the cabin. “Ace knows a lot of things! She's so smart!” “Then would either of you mind explaining it to me?” Heather balked, tired of being out of the loop. “Oh, I can do it!” Heather and Ace took a seat at the table to listen to Anna recount the details. “People here don't like Daddy very much. He says it's because Mommy knew a lot about magic, and people here don't like magic. But then a monster came to town, and it asked for a beautiful lady. People here said Mommy should go to the monster, and then she did...and no one saw Mommy again.” Anna's voice started to shake as she continued. “Daddy wanted to leave to find the monster...but people in town stopped him. They said the monster would come back if he did that. Then...a few people grabbed him and hurt him, and now he can't talk anymore. So I tried to shout for the monster instead. I remember my head hurting a lot, but then I woke up and I had no body.” Unbeknownst to the women, Samson was writing his own notes on the situation at the same time. Heather was a little startled when the note slid across the table into her hands. Once the shock wore off, she picked it up and looked it over in silence. She didn't want to read the note aloud, because it went into far more detail than Anna was, and she was already trying not to cry. The note contained vivid descriptions of the monster, a snakelike creature adorned with six leathery wings who spoke in the tongue of man, Samson being held down by hysteric townsfolk, having his tongue cut out as punishment for trying to challenge the monster, and Anna's head being pierced by an arrow as she tried to chase the monster down herself. Heather silently slid the note to Ace, but the adventurer already had something to say. “And then he bound your soul to his shield,” she said flatly. “And that's why you're usually so quiet...because you'd be screwed if the townspeople knew of this magic.” [[Previous|Page 61 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 63 (H)]]

Heather's jaw went a little slack, prompting Ace to laugh and explain herself. “I used to know a man whose teacher died by another student's hand. The teacher's soul was called back from death, however, and he finished his instruction. When the teacher knew his student had learned as much as possible from him, and sensed his presence would keep the student from growing further, the teacher strayed too far from the blade to which he was bound, and thus the tether keeping him from the afterlife was broken.” There was a brief silence after the conclusion of Ace's story, broken only by Anna. “Wow, Ace tells really cool stories!” she gasped. “You were right, Daddy. It'll be really fun to travel with them!” Heather merely scowled at Ace, still unhappy about the idea. Ace had a reply up her sleeve, however. “What's the worst that could happen? She's already dead. You don't want her somewhere, you don't drag the shield along. She's the only shot we have of identifying the fence.” Ace slowly shook her head, accepting the shield from Samson's hands with a graceful bow. “Heather...sometimes, you just don't see the good opportunities you're being handed.” Samson waved them out the door, slipping Ace one last note as they departed. “'Return with Anna, and you can have your pot back.' I guess that's fair. Come on, Heather. Let's make some distance from this town and have a little chat with our new friend here.” Heather wasn't pleased with the idea of traveling through woods at night, especially after being given a tale of a horrible beast, but she relented. She knew Anna needed a little debriefing, and that if they tried it in town, they'd be attacked. Moonlight fell lazily through the trees around them, just barely giving them enough visibility to get away from Riverside without running into anything. To make navigation easier, they contended themselves with sticking near the river, ready to follow it back into town when they were ready to retire to their rooms in the inn and wait for their carriage to come for them in the morning. The river was fairly calm, content to trickle quietly to their right as they followed its bank out into the forest. “We should be fine here,” Heather announced as they hit a small clearing. “Anna, you may speak now.” “Great!” Anna cooed, the sound of her voice traveling a little farther than Heather had predicted. Still, she saw no harm in it, especially as she heard the excitement in the girl's voice. “I don't get to talk very much. Daddy says it'd be bad to talk in town.” Heather nodded. “Indeed.” As she gathered some stones from nearby to set in a circle to set around a fire, she continued speaking. “Anna, let me be very clear to you right now. We are after very dangerous men. Your help will be valuable for saving people in Riverside, Moonbrooke City, Cross, and ev—“ “I don't want to help them!” [[Previous|Page 62 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 64 (H)]]

Anna's outburst surprised the two women. “I hate Riverside! Everyone's mean! The kids and the grown-ups are all big jerks!” Another sobbing sound rang out as Ace and Heather let the child say her piece. “Heather, you're a guard just like Daddy...what do you do when people you hate are in trouble? Do you help them too?” Heather sighed a little, her heart heavy with Anna's sadness. She waved Ace to go collect firewood, then took a seat in the dirt and considered how much she wanted to reveal in the course of her answer. “I help everyone, Anna. Even those I dislike...all in my charge have the right to live their lives free from fear, imprisonment, or harm, and the job to defend them is mine. That is the way of the guard. I...I suppose you never know who may become a friend later. Take our companions back at the city...one is a young magician named Nicole. Older than you, yet far younger than myself.” “Oh, what kind of magic does she know?” Anna's voice seemed calmer now, though it still had a slight tinge of pain to it. Heather found herself feeding into Anna's inquiries to further calm the child's spirit. “Not much. The only spell I have seen her cast covers her hands in ice.” A small chuckle forced its way out of Heather, though she wasn't quite sure why. “When I met Nicole, I thought she might have been an enemy. When Ace and I were in trouble, however, she saved the two of us. Her magic turned out to be very helpful.” “Sounds like you're finally getting it!” Ace hollered, hunched over the pile of sticks that would soon be their fire. Heather scoffed at Ace's little jest and continued talking to Anna. She wanted to be the one to lay down what was happening, and not risk her letting Gregory off easy. He seemed trustworthy, but she'd been burned before by false promises of reformation. “Nicole is brave and loves to fight. We also have another companion, however...a man named Gregory. He is the one that took the pot from Ace.” Anna's gasp was barely audible over the wind starting to pick up through the tops of the trees. “He sounds like a bad guy!” she exclaimed. Heather nodded, a smile crossing her lips. “He may very well be...we have no way of knowing. Ace, however, has convinced me to give him a chance to right his wrongs by helping us, just as you are with the fence.” By this point, Ace had successfully started the fire, and took a seat opposite Heather. She was about to speak when Anna jumped in with some questions. “So if he helps, then he's a good guy, right? Then you won't have to punish him?” Heather was left in silence. She had thought a lot about putting Gregory to work, but not at all about what to do with him afterward. Then again, when she first saw him, her instinct was to cut off his head. She eventually settled on a reply, satisfying both Anna and herself. “Anna, you will meet Nicole and Gregory tomorrow. We will see what they have learned while Ace and I came here and met you. That will tell us what the two of them are worth.” [[Previous|Page 63 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 65 (N)]]

The two of them wandered through the Bright Plains, making their way back to Moonbrooke City. The guards at the gate gave Gregory a hard stare, making Nicole incredibly nervous. Her nerves were justified when one of the guards swung his knightsword down in their path. “Halt!” the guard said, looking and sounding a little young. Nicole thought she could take him in a straight fight, but she wasn't about to try. “You there, you look familiar somehow.” Gregory reeled back a little at the accusation flung at him, a hand traveling to the white fabric around his face that he must have acquired while Nicole was away. “I don't know,” he said coyly. “I'm traveling from afar to...” Looking around, his eyes settled on Nicole. “...to visit my niece!” he said as he threw an arm around Nicole, hugging her close to him. “She came out to greet me because she was so eager to see me, isn't that right?” Nicole squirmed slightly beneath Gregory's touch, but swallowed her insecurity and put an arm around Gregory in return. “Yeah!” she lied. “I'm glad you came back from Riverside, Uncle Andrew!” Nicole and Gregory both turned back to the guard. She was smiling, and he may have been too, but the scarf hid his face. “It's good to be back...I'm a little cold out here, though. Let's get into the city and see your mother, shall we? She always keeps the house warm.” The guard gave them a bit of a dirty look, but ultimately relented. “Sorry,” he groaned. “Be careful wearing that scarf around, sir. It makes you look like a criminal who's come through here recently.” Gregory put on a great show, with a soft gasp and a hand reaching as if he intended to rip the scarf off his face. “That's terrible! I hope I don't run into him! Come now, let's get inside before we run into anyone like that...!” Nicole nodded, following Gregory's lead into the city gates, then waited until the gate guards were out of sight before throwing Gregory off of her with a shout. “Ugh, gross!” she groaned. [[Previous|Page 65 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 67 (N)]]

Gregory took a moment to regain his balance, surprised by Nicole's outburst. “What's with you?” he asked, head tilted sideways. “I just...ugh, you're lucky you had to do that!” Nicole shouted. She began to scrub herself down a little with her hands. “Otherwise I'd beat you to a pulp.” Gregory only seemed more confused, which was getting on Nicole's nerves. “You don't like being touched? But you get into so many fights...and weren't you hugging that other girl?” Nicole scoffed and kept on walking ahead of Gregory. “Ciel just stands there and takes it...she knows better than to hug me back.” She felt pretty incensed that she had to explain herself to anyone, but she had enough presence of mind left to try to steer the conversation away from her. “When do the girls come back? Do we know?” Gregory ran a bit to fall back into step with Nicole. “Not a clue,” he admitted. When Nicole rounded a corner and entered the central square of the market district, she was taken aback a bit by what she saw. Colorful streamers and flags dominated the area, and the air was filled with the sounds of fun and cheering. “What's this?” she gasped. Gregory chuckled and shook his head. “This is why the arena is closed for the next week or so! I thought I'd warn you about that...Moonbrooke City has the Coronation Celebration every year, on the anniversary of the queen ascending to the throne. You know, after her husband dying so suddenly.” “This is what Hank was talking about...!” Nicole had heard a festival was happening, but her admission into the Orange Star Academy had happened shortly after the previous year's event had ended. “He was dressing up the Vanishing Wench to appeal to tourists.” In her mind, she realized that Hank was also trying to keep her appetite for pugilism satisfied with his tasks; he must have known her arena career would have to be put on hold, and that she'd be bored without it. “That's alright," she finally said. "I guess we have plenty to do while this nonsense goes on.” Music filled the square as a band gathered onto an improvised stage and began to play an instrumental version of the kingdom's anthem, a slow and emotional piece typically involving a much larger assembly of musicians. Gregory did his best to not be drowned out by the tune. “You don't like festivals?” [[Previous|Page 66 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 68 (N)]]

Nicole shook her head and kept moving in the direction of the Vanishing Wench, confident that the women would come there looking for her anyway, as well as to drop off the animal bits she'd collected. “Not really," she said, "festivals are just a place for swindlers and thieves and couples.” “Couples?” When Gregory repeated her own words, Nicole felt an intense urge to backpedal, unwilling to let that conversation thread unravel further. “Never mind that! I just never had fun at these things. Besides, anything that shuts down the arena sucks!” “Sure,” Gregory replied, raising his eyebrow as the two of them made their way through town. “Look, if you want to drop it, or not participate in any of the fun, that's fine. We'll probably be kept busy anyway, by our two lady taskmasters.” Nicole was grateful for the change of subject, and was glad Gregory had finally gotten the hint. Nonetheless, the atmosphere of the festival was not one she was going to have a serious talk in. “How about this,” she bargained aloud. “If we find somewhere quiet and we have downtime before the other girls come back, I'll let you in on what this reminds me of.” Gregory nodded as the two of them started to weave through crowds, now having to part the throng of townspeople on their way to the tavern. “Fair enough. You don't have to share any more than you want to, kid. In the meantime...uh, how'd you do with your hunts?” Gregory was quickly proving his worth; only Ciel had previously done that for Nicole. Now she had a second person who could see when she was uncomfortable, and adjusted their approach so she would feel better. "Ha, you're alright, Greg," she blurted, a hand flying to her mouth when she realized what she'd said. “Um, pretty good,” she continued, trying to bypass her slip of the tongue. “Some travelers coming into the city got attacked by a mother slasher.” Her mind replayed the situation to her, the thrill she felt when the people had come by and warned her that the bladed feline was on the loose, and the exhilarating fight she had endured to slay the beast. “I found a few smaller things, like perchthorns and Bright Plains boars, but that slasher was my big ticket...meal ticket, that is.” Slasher was some of her favorite meat, since the creatures were constantly active and relied on a thick layer of flesh to protect from wounds and cold weather. What she was trying not to tell Gregory was that she had split the slasher's meat into a couple meals outside the city walls, and even fallen asleep out there. She knew that he would flip out if he found out she had risked herself so, though she herself had felt plenty secure, confident in her ability to repel any threat that may have greeted her out there. The slasher's claws would fetch a fortune from Hank, though. [[Previous|Page 67 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 69 (N)]]

“And?” Gregory asked, obviously a little mystified by the sudden silence. Nicole shook her head a little, clearing away the private thoughts. “Oh, sorry,” she muttered as the Vanishing Wench finally came into view. “Just thinking about money.” Once they drew closer, however, there was a familiar face waiting for them, leaning her back against the wood walls of the tavern. “Ace!” “Hey,” Ace greeted the duo, smirking confidently. “I knew you'd be here. Heather's worried this whole time about you two trying to cut and run, but I kept faith.” She straightened herself on her feet as she looked at Nicole and Gregory. “I hope you two learned plenty, because we found some good stuff. Heather's reporting to the guard, and justifying the carriage we borrowed. Bring your animal carcasses to your friend at the tavern, and then meet Heather and I at my museum, and we'll talk there about what we know, and where we're headed next.” “You've got another lead?” Nicole let out a relieved sigh. “Thank goodness. I want to get back on these guys' trail so I can thrash them again.” She held out an open palm, punched it with her other hand, and added, “I'm sure we're all hankering for some action!” Gregory's head turned to the sky. “Yeah,” he mused quietly, his scarf catching a slight breeze. “And what we learned about the orb they've got...it's really important that we stop them.” Ace chuckled and clapped a hand on Nicole's shoulder that was quickly shrugged away. “So your friend came through,” she cheered. “Is this information enough to figure out who these Eclipse guys really are?” Gregory turned back to Ace and shook his head. “Kind of. We've got a little report to share once we're all together at the museum.” Nicole let out a low groan and put a hand on her hip. “Great, talking,” she spat. “Will one of you spar with me while we go over the facts?” [[Previous|Page 68 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 70 (H)]]

## Chapter 15 Heather's hands wrapped tightly around the handle of her wooden sword, with Ace and Gregory seated near the stone walls of Ace's basement to watch them. “You are certain of this?” she asked as she dropped into a combat stance. “Ace, you truly believe this will aid my fighting style?” Ace nodded, seated firmly on a barrel with her back against the wall. “You might as well try,” she answered. Heather nodded and assumed a fighting stance. “Very well. Nicole, are you ready?” “Bring it, lady,” Nicole replied, fists raised on the opposite end of the room. “You're not gonna kill me with that thing, so just take your best shot.” Heather nodded and moved forward, taking a swing at Nicole's shoulder that only met an icy guard. She took another swing at the same place, and Nicole rolled away from the sword. Meanwhile, Ace piped up to get the conversation going. “Alright, first of all, we've got a new friend here on our journey,” she said, jabbing a thumb at the shield mounted on the wall. “Hi!” Anna's voice rang out, filling the basement. Nicole and Gregory were just as shocked as Heather and Ace had been at first. “What the?” Gregory blurted, leaping to his feet. “My name's Anna...my spirit's on Daddy's shield, and I saw the bad man that you're looking for!” “Indeed,” Heather confirmed, landing a glancing blow on Nicole's leg. She took a fist to the arm in return, and recovered from the impact before she continued speaking. “Anna is the daughter of a guard we met. She was murdered by the residents of her town, and her father committed some ritual so that she could live on.” “So, a ghost?” Nicole asked, sidestepping another attack in order to bash Heather's kidney. “Alright. I guess magic's done worse.” Nicole managed to catch Heather's arm while it was away from her body, and used it to bring the guard's face to the floor. Heather shook her off quickly, however, with an elbow to the ribs, and the two of them returned the fight to their feet. “So kid, why are you with us?” “Because I saw the bad man!” Anna replied. Nicole shook her head, then brought it crashing against Heather's. Keeping the guard in a grapple, she was able to land three headbutts before she got shoved to the floor. She rolled to the side to dodge an incoming slash and continued speaking. “No, kid. Why do you want to tell us about the bad man? Why did you want to follow us?” The question had clearly stunned the child ghost, as it took her a long time to answer. “Uh...I want to see new places! Daddy and I wanted to go, but he couldn't. Then he said Ace and Heather could take me to travel!” [[Previous|Page 69 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 71 (H)]]

Heather charged forward, pushing her shoulder into Nicole's chest and bowling her over again. Nicole was about to start a reply before that strike had knocked the wind out of her, so Gregory took over the conversation. “The orb the Eclipse have, the Animus Font, it's got the power of about seventy mages,” he explained, intently reading the papers in his hands. “Our knowledge of the Orange Star Academy says that no one got their mitts on that orb without the headmaster's go-ahead. They were doing studies on the power in that thing, how to pull power into weapons. I doubt someone had me steal this thing 'cause they wanted a light.” “You sound quite relaxed,” Heather mused as she jumped forward, using her momentum for a spinning slash that Nicole ducked easily. Nicole couldn't outmaneuver a follow-up knee strike, however. Gregory nodded and leaned back in his seat a little “You girls just have me more at ease. I'm not so afraid you're gonna rip my head off at a moment's notice. So yeah, this orb, this Animus Font, it has a lot of power in it, and I think whoever pulls the strings must know that.” Nicole struggled to her feet, reared back, and smashed a fist into Heather's shoulder. Heather rolled with the punch, minimizing its impact, and brought her other hand around for a counterattack, but Nicole easily evaded it. As Heather returned to her neutral stance, she gave Gregory her reply. “You may be correct, but we know not what it may lead us to. Nicole, are there many like you? Are there those who are driven from the Orange Star Academy?” Nicole slipped around and pressed her stomach to Heather's back, bending backwards to throw Heather to the floor. The impact caused Heather's sword to slip from her hand. “All the time,” Nicole confirmed as she stood over Heather and threw a few punches downward. “Fellas of all ages. The Academy likes to have total control of magic stuff. They hold lots of info ransom...Ciel had to go digging through the staff-only library to get half the stuff we learned.” [[Previous|Page 70 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 72 (H)]]

“So you think it's a disgruntled ex-student?” Ace summarized. “We have naught else to think,” Heather answered, her hands meeting Nicole's for a fierce grapple. Heather felt her muscles straining to match Nicole's, and was surprised at the young woman's power. A sudden shift in Nicole's weight caused Heather to lose the struggle, and she was thrown into the wall for her trouble. Shaking it off, she added, “But what of the other items stolen? Valuable, salable trinkets...how might those fall into place?” Nicole threw a haymaker at Heather and missed, causing her hand to sink into the wall a little. “Here's what I think,” she replied, pulling her arm from a newly-formed hole in the wall. “I fought with or against all you guys now, and it gave me perspective on how you guys are. Maybe they had Greg take crap so they'd know if he was any good? You can't throw just anyone at the Academy.” Her hand free and her icy enchantment renewed, she charged at Heather again, moving in quickly to deliver a fierce punch to the stomach. Heather fell to the floor and rolled along a little, looking up to see Ace standing up to move away from her. “Makes sense,” Ace agreed, reaching to pull her barrel along with her to sit down again. “They make sure you're obedient and skilled, and then they reveal the big heist.” Heather returned to her feet, grabbing her practice sword as she moved in to fight back. She ran forward, sword held in front of her in an attempt at a powerful thrust. Nicole saw her coming and stepped aside, but did not see Heather's arm come up for a clothesline attack. “Such organization,” she mused as she moved her foot in to stomp it onto Nicole's stomach. Nicole moved away at the last minute, however, and quickly stood up. Heather responded by lunging in for another grapple, but Nicole just threw a fist into her face instead of playing along. Rising back up, Heather finally started feeling the fatigue of the fight, and was amazed at how little the fight had affected her opponent. [[Previous|Page 71 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 73 (H)]]

“But how?” she asked aloud. “Nicole, from whence does your energy come?” Nicole shrugged and stuck out her hand, staring expectantly at Heather. Heather stared back for awhile, her brain swimming with thoughts, and only after a brief struggle was she able to push the thoughts aside and come back to the present, content to vocalize them later. As their hands met in the middle, Nicole said, “Diet and exercise! And not wearing armor.” “Wow!” Anna shrieked suddenly. “I was watching you fight. You two are so cool! Heather, I'm sorry I thought you were grumpy at first. Nicole, your magic is so neat! Heather said you knew magic, but she made it sound dumb! But it's not dumb, it's great!” Nicole chuckled a little as she took her hand away from the handshake and gestured to her chest. “You bet, kid! Ice is my specialty! And Heather...well, she's the dumb one now, huh?” Heather turned away in embarrassment as the room erupted into laughter, but Nicole was quick to explain after everyone had had their fun. “Hey, don't worry about it. I met you guys when I beat up, like, ten of those Eclipse guys at once. It's hard keeping up with me, but we'll make a man out of you eventually.” Heather appreciated the young mage's efforts, but they weren't quite helping. “You mean to say that my years as an elite in the army of the Queen are naught compared to your fury and cantrips?” she gasped. “What lunacy...” It was now Ace's turn to get up and try to mend Heather's bruised ego. “We've been over this,” she said. “You were taught how to use a sword in times of peace. This...this is war.” “Here's to hoping we get some practice in Cross,” Gregory added, still seated by the wall. “Anna, you sure about this?” “I'm sure!” the spectral child affirmed. “A man sold Ace's pot to the mayor, then he said he'd go to Cross!” Heather watched the scarf over Gregory's face shift slightly, presumably pushed around by the formation of a smile. “Must've gotten it from me. This time, though, we all go to Cross. Yeah, Nicole and I probably can't charter a royal carriage, but we gotta figure something out.” Nicole nodded and walked next to Gregory, doing some stretches to cool her body down from the exertion of the fight. “Yeah, don't leave us out of a fight with these guys!” she shouted. “Besides, we both proved you can't go without us when you chase 'em down!” “But we also need to get there quickly,” Ace chimed in. “We don't want them to escape. If we're leaving, we should do it now.” [[Previous|Page 72 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 74 (H)]]

“On foot, and before I have a chance to report to my captain?” Heather balked. As much as she wanted to charge ahead, she also wanted to respect her duties as a guard. The idea had entered her mind at some prior ventures, but this was her first attempt to truly acknowledge it. “My duty pulls on me in opposite directions." Heather sighed. "I have a duty to my queen and my fellow knights, and also to the people of this land. When only one can be satisfied, which do I choose?” When no answer came, Heather let herself reel backwards until her back found a wall to lean against. “I must admit this here," she continued, "though my knighthood does require a veneer of bravery. When I first promised to meet the Moonblade at the gallows, I imagined not that it would bring me to this grand investigation. As you say...I have no training for this.” Heather wanted to stop the words from flowing, but she knew they could come out in the presence of more people instead, and less understanding ones at that. Rather than start a panic, Heather decided this would be her place to vent. “We have four people and one ghost," she counted on her fingers, "versus criminals of unknown strength and number. They now possess an unimaginably powerful magical artifact, yet nary a guard is ordered to investigate.” “But we're the good guys!” Anna said, her ghostly voice heavy with concern over Heather's outburst. “We're smart and strong! We'll find the bad guys and punish them!” “Kid's right,” Gregory added. “A bigger force would make 'em jittery, and it'd be harder to keep up. Unless you think you're gonna find someone better than me, or you, or Ace, or Nicole, we've got it about as good as it's gonna get. Even if we're the only ones traveling, we can get people to stay on their toes well after we go...like Anna's dad. He'll get some bad guys, won't he?” After an excited whoop of agreement from Anna, Gregory continued. “It's just like the old story of Zephyr...we're mostly couriers, spreading the word about these Eclipse. We just chase the Eclipse down, put the pressure on 'em, get everyone watching for 'em, and bam! The whole fight ain't just us, Heather. Besides...if you still wanna take me to the gallows, we're gonna have to finish all this first.” Heather was surprised to hear Gregory say that. She didn't think for a moment that he would be willing to accept any sort of punishment for his hand in things. She had just assumed that he'd try to split at the end of everything, and she'd have to choose then whether to let him go or cut him down. She still hadn't made the decision for herself, either, but Gregory's consistent showings of regret and repentance had brought her past the tipping point where his moments of high character made the decision easier rather than harder. “At this rate, Gregory, you may yet earn your freedom,” she admitted. Now it was Heather who had everyone else in the room shocked. As she looked upon them gawking in disbelief, she couldn't help but let a smile drape over her face. “But enough talk. Cross is rather far to the northwest...we must start out now if we are to catch the Eclipse.” [[Previous|Page 73 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 75 (N)]]

## Chapter 16 Feet hit the ground, sky hid behind forest, and Nicole's complaints filled the air. But by the beginning of sunset, the group was able to reach the snug little village of Cross. Right away, Nicole's nose caught the smells of their logging industry, as they prepared the trees in their area to fulfill the lumber needs of the Moonbrooke kingdom. Her eyes focused on the lumberjacks loitering on an outdoor terrace almost as quickly. She assumed it was connected to the local tavern, which at this time of day would be full of muscular men. Despite being there for the Eclipse, she immediately thought of picking a fight in that tavern and seeing how well their work prepared them to slug it out. “Remember, we must track the Eclipse,” Heather said, as if she had read Nicole's mind. “Let us find some locals that may have seen suspicious persons about.” The objective just barely changed Nicole's plans. “I'll start with those big guys at the tavern,” she announced. “Those guys go everywhere, I bet.” She made a beeline for the familiar comforts of the tavern before anyone could protest. “We'll meet you there!” was all Gregory could yell before she disappeared into the tavern. Much like the one she knew at home, it was filled with the musk of working men as they took to their food and drink. Unlike the Vanishing Wench, however, a bard stood in the center of the room, filling the tavern with a rousing song. The lyrics were a simple song of pushing oneself through work every day, but she more or less ignored them in favor of marching straight to the bar. The stools had red cushions attached to them, and she easily managed to get her backside comfy as she squeezed in between a couple men hunched over their drinks. The one on her left turned to her, and was revealed to actually be a well-developed woman with shaggy brown hair, whose muscles and hairstyle merely made her look like a man from behind. [[Previous|Page 74 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 76 (N)]]

“Ye look too young for this place,” the female lumberjack said in a surprisingly soft voice, looking down at Nicole. “I don't drink that stuff,” Nicole replied, letting the fire in her eyes show. “And if someone tries to thrash me, I can probably take them.” The woman gave a short laugh that carried no sense of humor. “Don't ye worry, none of us are in the mood for any of that. We're still a little shaken up over what happened.” “Whoa, it must've been bad to get you all in a funk.” The woman nodded toward the man sitting on Nicole's right. “My husband here, he's taken to being mute now after Old Stoutback went mad. That old boar ran through a logging camp we were in. We were the only survivors.” Despite the tragedy, however, Nicole actually felt a growing tinge of excitement. If none of the bar patrons would tussle with her, then the boar would make a fine alternative. “Why'd it go crazy?” “None of us know. Ye know, the boar's been around for decades, and not been a problem like this. Does Old Stoutback feel like we're moving in to its territory?” Nicole did feel herself pitying the people of Cross for this hardship, but she felt like she had lucked right in to something big. At the same time, she also felt a nagging sensation urging her to stay focused on the mission. “Where does this thing live? Is it possible that someone did horn in on its turf?” The woman shook her head and paused to take a long drink before answering. “No one in town would be fool enough to cut through Old Stoutback's forest. We've got it roped off and everything, and we've always had. Ye'd be smart to stay clear, too.” “Yeah, but I've got powerful friends,” Nicole lied. She did have her allies, but if she was going to fight Old Stoutback, she didn't want any help in it. “We're also here looking for any suspicious people not from around here who might be criminals from the city. You think maybe some jerks from afar could've hustled Old Stoutback out of his home?” After a long silence, the woman shrugged and said, “Maybe.” As she took a drink, the room started returning to its usual volume, and she spoke again. “Old Stoutback's been like this for awhile now...months, maybe a year.” [[Previous|Page 75 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 77 (N)]]

For a little while, Nicole considered the information in the context of the mission. If the Eclipse moved in to Old Stoutback's territory somehow, and got it through the beast's brain that it couldn't get back, it would provide excellent cover. They could work with impunity while Old Stoutback kept the locals from stumbling into their operations. Nicole's mind wandered away from that train of thought soon enough, however, and in their place came thoughts of receiving accolades for defeating the creature that no one else could, and bringing peace to the town. No one would be able to deny her power, and she'd have a great trophy to bring back to the Vanishing Wench with her. “Alright, this is good,” Nicole eventually blurted. “This gives us a good lead. Thank you very much for your time.” As Nicole slid off the stool and started walking away, the mute man shot a hand to her shoulder, bringing her to eye contact so he could shake his head forlornly. Nicole responded by slowly moving his hand off her shoulder and walking away, equally silent. Once she was outside, it was easy to see where to head next. The lumberjack operations were marked by a sign, a trail, and a bunch of workers coming back to town before things got too dark. Since they were the ones most vexed by Old Stoutback, she traveled down their path to seek her glory. There was still more than enough sunshine left to weave through the trees, avoiding branches reaching out to grab her feet and rocks that wanted her toes stubbed against them. A few loggers gave her stares as she barreled down the path, but she paid them no attention. She was too focused on the mission to give them any sort of response. After enough running, Nicole found her way to a campsite littered with a couple workers cleaning up after a hard day's work, tidying up the site before they left it behind for the night. “Phew,” she overheard one sigh, “another day done.” “Yeah,” the other lumberjack said, even as Nicole tore through looking for where to go next. “Though with everyone ditching their stations, there's more and more work every time.” “Oh, they'll take notice when they see we stood strong an—“ Their talk was interrupted by the sound of a tree trunk snapping, and the rest of the tree tumbling to the forest floor. [[Previous|Page 76 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 78 (N)]]

The men showed more and more fear as the sound of bushes rustling and twigs snapping started growing louder and louder around them. It was at around this point they noticed Nicole. “You, girl, what are you doing here?" one of them asked. "No, that doesn't matter...we have to go! We have to leave right now!” The two lumberjacks made a break for the path Nicole had taken into the camp, but an enormous boar, about as tall as Nicole, came out from the trees and cut off their escape. The thing had thick tusks, and its long hair was draped haphazardly over its leathery hide. Its body was covered in wounds, old and new, though none of them seemed to faze the creature. “Old Stoutback!” the lumberjacks cried, nearly in unison. For one of those men, those were his last words, before the boar trampled him beneath its hefty hooves. Nicole winced as she heard a desperate gurgle pass the man's lips, his lungs having been caved in by Old Stoutback's entrance. The other lumberjack let out a wordless cry, frozen in place for awhile before he eventually realized he wasn't going anywhere. Nicole watched the realization dawn in the man's eyes, and then in his arms as he hoisted a woodcutting axe. He stood his ground to strike a blow against the beast, but the axe lodged firmly in the wound, and Old Stoutback didn't seem to be slowed by it. The logger, however, was definitely fazed when the boar's tusks went right through his stomach, and managed to choke out a few pained screams before Stoutback's vigorous bucking tore him in half. Faced with these grisly deaths, Nicole felt realization flooding into her mind. She knew that it was moments like this that the others had tried to keep her away from. She knew that Old Stoutback wasn't under the protective aura of the arena, nor was it pulling its punches like the guys at the Vanishing Wench. She knew that if she wasn't careful, she would die anonymously out in the forest, unbeknownst to even her friends. She also knew that outrunning Old Stoutback was not going to happen; all she could do was fight. “If it's a fight you want,” she taunted, trying to psyche herself up, “it's a fight you'll get!” Raising her voice in vain hope that she would be heard by someone else in the forest, she added, “Old Stoutback, I'm taking you down!” The beast turned to face her, a little hesitant after her shout, but eventually came hurtling her way. In the clearing of the camp, she had more room to move to the side. Old Stoutback's speed made it difficult to pass a fist its way, but its muscular body made it a large enough target to cancel out that advantage. She iced her fist up as quick as she could, let a right cross rip into the boar's back, and nothing happened. [[Previous|Page 77 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 79 (N)]]

There was no pained cry, no wince, no change of direction, nothing. Nicole was completely horrified to see Old Stoutback so indifferent to her fist, but she knew giving up would do her no good whatsoever. Old Stoutback turned itself back around to face her, a loud snort pushing its shaggy hair around a little. It stared at her with its black, beady eyes, and lowered its head to attack her again. Nicole tried moving almost immediately, but the boar was able to correct its trajectory given that much time to process her evasive maneuver. Nicole was able to dodge when it was closer to her, but her fist was once again ineffective. Her icy punch had opened a cut on Old Stoutback's body, but the blood that came out did so at a trickle, and it went just as unnoticed as the punch itself. Nicole knew she needed to land something more decisive, but it wouldn't be possible from the side. “Maybe I can break a leg,” she coached herself, “or gouge an eye out. Charging head-on seems to be all this thing can do.” Nicole knew that she couldn't just dodge Old Stoutback forever, or she'd just die tired. Even with the stakes so high, her brain was still churning through battle tactics. When woman and beast turned to face each other again, she studied the boxy, muscular head staring back at her. Its neck would be too difficult to attack, given that it would lower its head. Its eyes presented soft, weak targets, but they were too small to reliably attack. If the snout was anything like the human nose, she may be able to attack that with enough force to cause some major disorientation, but she didn't know for sure. Even as Old Stoutback lowered its head and charged in again, her planning continued. She studied the position of its head and contemplated striking head-on to get a shot at the arch in its back, but after her last few punches, she doubted Old Stoutback would even feel it. When the boar got too close, she resigned herself to another dodge and punch, leaving a laceration on the other side of its body. Her eyes flicked around to the environment around her in search of an answer. She looked to the trees, then remembered that Old Stoutback had broken right through one of them on its way here. She looked at the woodcutting tools for a moment, but she quickly recalled how much good they did that one lumberjack. After a little longer, her brain put the concepts together, and told her that if she dropped a tree onto Old Stoutback, that might stun him. She immediately discounted the possibility that it would outright kill the beast, but it could give her a chance to approach a weaker body part. “But how can I drop a tree at all?” she cursed herself. “And how would I get it to drop the right direction?” Old Stoutback gave her no time to figure it out. As it came barreling at her yet again, she darted behind a tree, hoping that she could influence the direction the tree fell once the boar went through the base. She moved and waited for the tree to break, confident the impact would slow Old Stoutback down long enough for her to give the tree a shove. It did not. Nicole screamed out in pain as she moved away too late to avoid Old Stoutback, allowing its tusks to run clean through her right arm. She felt the flesh and bone in her arm being shoved out of place by the attack, and her attempts to move the arm only made it hurt more. She felt the blood trickle out of the new holes in her arm for a little while, before the pain overloaded her nerves and numbed her to the sensation. When Old Stoutback wrenched its head around more and dislocated her shoulder, that brought new pain to a new area. Nicole tried her hardest to club the boar's head with her other hand, but even that token resistance stopped as she fell unconscious. [[Previous|Page 78 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 80 (H)]]

## Chapter 17 Heather ran as fast as she could, keeping level pace with Gregory as they sprinted through the forest. Ace followed behind them, carrying the shield Anna was bound to. “You are sure that Nicole went this way?” Heather asked in a panic. “Yes!” Anna confirmed. “I told you, she talked to a lady at the tavern about Old Something and ran this way.” “Old Stoutback?” Heather had heard some of the townspeople talking about the massive boar terrorizing the forest. “No! She must be engaged in combat with that boar!” “Idiot!” Gregory spat as everyone scrambled along the path. He opened his mouth to continue talking, but the screams echoing through the area clued them. “That's her!” Everyone somehow managed to pick up the pace after hearing Nicole cry in pain. They eventually burst into a clearing, and Heather was horrified to see a couple corpses laying there, one trampled and one impaled. “How ghastly!” Heather glanced at her comrades and saw that they were just as distraught. She didn't know for sure, but she wagered they were thinking the same thing she was. They were all hoping that Nicole hadn't met the same fate. Eventually, they heard a ruckus in the bushes to their left, and saw a shape bobbing past a fallen tree. Heather used her knightsword to help clear the brush and run to their aid. “You!” Heather growled as she watched Old Stoutback prancing about with Nicole on its tusks. “You will not take her from us!” As the boar turned toward the sound of her voice, she began tapping her forehead, chiseling a strategy free from her brain. “Gregory, remove her from the tusks of that fiend! Ace, you will assist me with Force Blade!” The two of them barked their affirmation in unison and moved off in opposite directions to carry out their tasks. She watched Gregory darting around, outmaneuvering the slow-turning beast so he could get to the side Nicole's body was barely hanging from. He had to move a little quickly to slip away from Old Stoutback with her in his arms, and probably ripped her arm a little more on its tusk in the process, but she was glad to have the mage out of the way. [[Previous|Page 79 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 81 (H)]]

Gregory let out a short bark as Old Stoutback nearly impaled him as well, but the girl's weight didn't impede him enough to get caught by the attack. He held his arms out straight to support her weight, trying his level best to not snag his foot on a root or anything of the sort. “Good!” Heather called as Gregory skirted to the sidelines and Ace distracted the boar with Force Blade shots. All were cowed a little by the fact that it seemed to have barely any effect, and this caused Heather to modify the plan on the fly. “Ace, get her to a doctor! Gregory, you and your speed shall assist me!” Ace fired one last beam from her sword as she moved to where Nicole was, still wearing the shield across her back as she made her retreat down the path. Old Stoutback followed her and, were it not for the shield, she may have been impaled as well. That failed strike gave Gregory a chance to dart in and run his knife through the rear right leg of the beast. “Maybe that'll slow you down, fella!” he taunted. The attack and statement turned Old Stoutback toward him, and he was able to successfully outrun the creature as it charged his way. Heather caught herself getting worried for the former thief's safety. His light armor would never withstand the power of those hooves or the gleaming red points of those tusks. When the two of them went past her, she jumped in and threw her body into a fierce spin slash. When it clashed with the boar's tusk, the knightsword's magic gave its push to both parties, and their combined force sent Heather flying. She skidded through the dirt on her greaves for awhile, and watched on as Old Stoutback took that force to the head, causing it to wrench to the side and carry the momentum of its sprint that way. Gregory used the break to slow down and collect himself, and Heather rose back to her feet. “Now what?” he asked as he came to stand beside her, knife held outward. Heather adjusted her grip on her knightsword. Her arms were still tingling a little from the sheer force that had ricocheted through her arms, but she felt fine to fight. “We must fell this beast,” she answered. “If not for Nicole, then for those slain loggers, and for Cross. If your words on the Eclipse are indeed genuine, then you must understand revenge.” [[Previous|Page 80 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 82 (H)]]

Gregory let out a short grunt, almost sounding offended, but kept talking nonetheless as Old Stoutback readjusted itself. “Oh, please.” With that, he used the boar's tusks as a handle through which to vault himself over its back, slashing away as he flew by. “She's a good kid. Ace better get her to a doctor.” When Old Stoutback turned to face Gregory, Heather took her chance to strike at Old Stoutback's rear left leg, following Gregory's lead in crippling its legs. “I can only hope for the pragmatic approach you have taken to be effective.” Old Stoutback continued toward Gregory, now more outwardly struggling to run. At this step, it was simple for Gregory to dodge around and return to Heather's side. “Alright, genius, now what?” He pointed his knife toward Old Stoutback and stared it down as it turned around. “We can't leave this thing like this...it'll chase us down until we finish it.” “Then let us finish it!” Heather met the beast's cold-eyed stare and gripped her knightsword tightly. “I will deflect the charge of the boar, and that will point its snout to the sky. You shall slip in and run your blade through its throat!” Gregory shook his head a little, but dropped into a low fighting stance in front and to the right of Heather nonetheless. “Fine,” he said. “If you're confident you can, like, not get yourself killed in the process, I'll play along.” Old Stoutback dug in its hooves and began its assault, and Heather adjusted her grip on her sword slightly. When the boar was close enough, she swung her sword upward, letting the enchantment handle the rest. The magic spiked her sword into the dust, and an equal force pushed the boar's skull upward, revealing its neck. Gregory darted through, using one arm to guide his dagger and the other to push Heather out of the animal's path. A small crescent of blood followed them out of Old Stoutback's way, and they turned to watch it land on the ground behind them. It made a token attempt to lift its head from the dirt as the blood flowed beneath it, but to no avail. After a brief struggle and a distressing gurgle, Old Stoutback landed in a pool of its own blood, and did not move again. “Well, that's bittersweet,” Gregory mused as he flicked his knife clean. “So what about the intel Nicole had?” “The report from Anna?” Heather clarified. “Yes, she had theorized indeed of the Eclipse displacing this beast from its home. We must press the attack in case they are still present!” She took to Gregory's example, and made sure her blade was free of fluids. “I'd like to know Nicole is fine, though.” Gregory stretched his legs as he spoke, ready to rush in either direction. Heather thought for a moment, then snapped a royal salute to the young mage, wherever she may be. She also found herself flooded with concern over the girl, and was tempted to follow Ace as well. After some silence and a few footsteps in that direction, however, she changed her mind. “Nicole would never forgive us were we to forfeit a battle...doubly so if her attack was for naught. After this...if I am to fight another battle, I would prefer your presence.” “Flattering.” Gregory nodded a little and looked down the path Ace had rushed down with Nicole in tow. “But first...” “What are you doing?” Heather asked as Gregory mounted the dead beast. “Taking a souvenir, of course. She's gotta bring it back to the bar and get paid.” Heather knew exactly what Gregory was trying to do beyond the face value of his action. He claimed a tusk from Old Stoutback as a trophy with the implicit hope that she would survive to make the delivery herself. Heather couldn't help but feel the same way. “But of course,” she mused. “Nicole would be remiss indeed were she to reap no reward.” [[Previous|Page 81 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 83 (H)]]

Heather's own reply cemented her idea that the kill was Nicole's; at its fullest condition, Old Stoutback would have been too fast for her and Ace, and too resilient for Gregory's dagger to have any effect. She believed they would never have won if Nicole hadn't engaged the boar first. After some hacking and prying, Gregory eventually managed to free a massive tusk from Old Stoutback's head. After some thought, he stopped to pry the other loose as well. Heather gave him a questioning look, to which he simply replied, “You never know.” Heather chose not to respond, instead heading along a well-worn path heading directly into the forest. “Look at this...snapped trees and flattened grass abound. Old Stoutback must have entered through here.” With Gregory close by, she charged down the path, mindful of the obstacles that Old Stoutback hadn't squashed with its massive footsteps. With his lighter equipment, Gregory had a much easier time with the terrain than she did, and ultimately took the lead himself. Even as he did so, however, Heather gazed skyward to find the sun through the leaves. “I simply hope we find something before dark.” If nothing else, she was hoping to find a den of thieves, or at least a den of a beast, and make it her own in which to stay the night. As much as it would haunt her to leave Nicole's fate unknown that long, she was prepared for it. “Whoa,” Gregory gasped, breaking her from her own thoughts. “Now look...all these trees smashed right down, all this grass trampled...and a rope?” Gregory was holding a length of rope in his hand that had gone limp and fallen to the forest floor, where rain and soil had nearly destroyed it. “Anna said Nicole found that out too, right? That they'd roped off Stoutback's domain?” “She did.” Heather stepped cautiously over the bounds the rope had once provided. “Who knows what could be here.” The fallen trees made it easy to see around the area, and nothing caught her immediate attention, but she was still on edge for traps. The only thing that really met her eye, however, was the small hill rising in the area. She went stomping around it, searching all sides for any clues she could find. She was surprised during her patrol when the ground fell away beneath her. She let out a short yelp as she fell several feet, landing on her feet but stumbling to all fours quickly afterward. [[Previous|Page 82 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 84 (H)]]

Gregory came running to her assistance, and she hadn't realized what she found until he spoke. “A cave!” he exclaimed. He paused to help Heather to her feet, then dashed down the natural ramp underground. Heather was even more surprised to see a few torches along the wall. Gregory followed her gaze as the two of them descended into the cave, and came to the same conclusion she did. “Someone's been here, and recently...they might still be here.” Heather shushed her companion and listened intently as they descended into the cave. She began to notice wooden supports keeping the cave from collapsing at about the same time she made out the noise further within. She could hear the sounds of metal on the move, and wood being occasionally thumped. “They are indeed still there. Hurry, Gregory!” The natural cave had been dug much deeper and become a web of chambers extending from a central corridor, providing everything from living chambers to a pantry. Before the two comrades-in-arms could delve any deeper, some of the residents came from the chambers to face them in combat. “Eclipse!” Gregory growled. Nicole watched in amazement as his dagger appeared in hand in the blink of an eye. “Finally!” “They were right!” one of the Eclipse sentries groaned from under his lizard skull helmet. “It's the Moonblade, and he brought a guard with him!” Heather was curious about who the Eclipse referred to, but more pressing matters presented themselves quickly. “Kill them both!” a command rang out from further down the corridor. The thugs in front drew their weapons, looking ready to carry the order out to their last breath. “Those swords are the same style,” Heather blurted, catching herself before giving them Ace's name. Gregory nodded with understanding nonetheless and hoisted his weapon, eager to get the fight over with so the two of them could investigate the matter further. Heather lifted her own weapon into her hands, gripping the handle tightly as her legs coiled up and prepared to charge. [[Previous|Page 83 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 85 (N)]]

## Chapter 18 Nicole felt nothing but intense pain. It seemed to be radiating from her right arm, but it hurt so bad that it spread through her entire body. She thought about it for a moment, eventually remembering the fight with Old Stoutback. She thrashed about, eager to dislodge herself from the beast's tusks as her eyes struggled to readjust to consciousness. “Easy,” Ace's voice cooed as a pair of hands gently braced her shoulders. Nicole let out a loud shriek. “Ace!” she called. “What the...?” Ace hadn't been there during the fight, so she was confused to hear the woman's voice now. “What's going on?” “You're back in Cross. Anna and I took you to the doctor.” “Your arm is hurt!” Anna blurted out. “Anna...!” Nicole tried her best to blink a few times, successfully bringing the clinic into focus around her. Her room was lit by a small candle on a stand in one corner, and a cot rested in an adjacent corner. To her right, her arm was wrapped in bloody bandages and held tightly in place with cloth loops. She tried her best to force a chuckle as the situation dawned on her. “That bad, huh?” she guessed. Ace was looking on from overhead, biting her lip. “...yeah. Don't worry, Heather and Gregory are working together to take that thing down.” “Those two, working together?” Nicole couldn't bear to look at Ace's pained expression, so she settled for watching the shadows dance in the candlelight against the white paint on the walls. “Who would've thought?” Nicole heard a door opening and closing, and watched the shadows as a slender man in a long coat entered the room. “Ye gave yer friends quite a scare, lass,” he scolded her. “Ye're lucky this one was quick to bring ye in, an' luckier still to 'ave 'ad the ice ye 'ad on yer arm. Preserved it an' 'eld the blood back, it did.” [[Previous|Page 84 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 86 (N)]]

“Yeah,” Ace confirmed. “You had some frozen blood on you.” “Yer friend tells me ye conjure magic ice," the doctor added. "No wonder it didn't melt. But about yer arm...” Nicole attempted to flex her fingers, and only felt more pain. “Broken?” she asked. “It's been broken before.” She watched the doctor's shadow as it shook its head. “Broken? Try 'pulverized'. Old Stoutback turned 'alf yer arm bone to powder an' upended the rest. It'd never 'eal on its own.” “Jeez, doc, bedside manner's a little rough.” Nicole sighed toward the shadows and closed her eyes for a moment. “Still...thanks for telling it to me straight, I guess.” “You're not the type to mince words,” Ace observed. “I thought you'd appreciate the doctor being the same way.” Nicole shrugged a little, feeling a little pain in her right arm as she did so. “Yeah, you're right. But what I'm waiting for is to hear what comes next.” “If we let ye keep yer arm, ye're liable to get infected or 'ave some other major problem,” the doctor continued. “It's a mess inside an' out, an' it'll hurt all the time, especially in the winter. I...I think yer best chance at survivin' is to take the arm off.” Nicole shouted in surprise, thrashing a little in vain hope of getting away. “But that's my punching arm!” she protested. “Don't do it!” “Nicole!” Ace barked. “Didn't you hear him? You're lucky to be alive, so many times over...and I know your type. As crazy as it'll drive you to have one arm, you'll get used to it. But a maimed arm...you'd try to fight with it, and the damage that would do...!” Nicole knew that, but she also knew how hard it would be to live without her dominant hand. On top of that, she was still coping with the blow of losing to Old Stoutback. She was tempted to just let herself die then and there. She let out a long, ragged sigh as the choice loomed over her, and attempted to mine advice from Ace. “Will I still be able to fight?” she asked. When Ace looked away, Nicole found anger welling up inside her. “Ace, answer me! This dumb boar better not have cost me my prowess! Am I gonna be able to stand toe-to-toe with you guys, still?” [[Previous|Page 85 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 87 (N)]]

Ace winced at the anger in Nicole's voice and was cowed into silence, but Anna was not. “Nicole!” the ghost scolded, nearly scaring the doctor to death himself. “You better say you're sorry! I know you're sad, but we saved you and you should say thanks! Ace cried, and Heather and Gregory almost cried too! They were sad because you might not have been alive at all! You ran away without telling anyone! Even I know better!” Nicole didn't expect such a verbal lashing from the dead child, and she tried her hardest to save face. “Uh...yeah. You know what, kid, you're right. I could take these Eclipse guys with one hand tied behind my back! Might as well make it sporting for them, right? Besides...they can't hurt me worse than taking an arm off, can they?” “That's the spirit,” Ace commended her. “I can't imagine how terrible this has to feel...but it's good to see your bravery extend to this.” It didn't, but Nicole was willing to pretend for the time being. She knew that if she didn't, she'd manage to talk herself out of the amputation and get herself killed. “Just do it, doc! If you're gonna chop it, chop it!” Nicole looked up at the doctor, a man with wrinkles etched into his face and gray streaks beginning to form in his hair. “How do you do it? With an axe?” “More or less,” the doctor confirmed, fetching a special saw from a drawer in the stand holding the candle. “I wish we could numb ye to the pain. Hold on, I need to find ye something to put in yer mouth.” “What for?” “If ye scream, I wanna muffle it so ye don't wake up other patients. I wanna make sure ye don't bite yer tongue off, either.” Nicole shrugged; she had already resigned to staying quiet so as not to frighten the onlookers. “I'll roll my tongue back and I won't scream. I can take it, doc. Just chop if you're gonna.” The doctor shrugged and returned to Nicole's side, dragging the table over with him. He paused to set the candle down on the floor, then rose back up and brandished his amputation tool. “Are ye ready, Nicole?” [[Previous|Page 86 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 88 (N)]]

Nicole let out a low growl. She knew herself better than that. “No, doc, surprise me with it!” she begged. “If I see it coming, I'm gonna ice up and ruin it!” “Well, alright,” he responded. Nicole closed her eyes as the doctor turned to Ace. “Is the lass always so 'eadstrong?” “Of course,” Ace replied. “But I would be too, if I had that kind of skill. She fought ten thieves...they had swords and she was unarmed. I can see why she's so confident. She just wanted to save your town from Old Stoutback.” Nicole could tell Ace was lying a little on her behalf, but rather than expose her selfish motives, she continued listening. “She got a little ahead of the rest of the group, but I'm sure they finished the fight by now.” “Even after seeing this, seeing Nicole?” Nicole could hear the doctor grabbing a few things and setting them on the table he'd moved to the bed. “Ye trust them?” “The others don't quite see eye to eye, but they've got speed, tactics, and numbers. This one here just got a little headstrong and broke formation. Normally, even that would be fine—“ Suddenly, a loud thump rang out, and an intense pain radiated through Nicole's body as she felt a substantial weight come off her right shoulder. She gritted her teeth so hard that she thought they would go shooting out of her mouth, but she pointedly kept herself quiet. Through the frenzied screaming of her nerves, she almost didn't even feel the doctor bandaging up what was left of her arm. He had cut somewhere near the elbow, but she was also squeezing her eyes shut out of reflex. There was also the matter of her reaction; she knew that if she saw that severed arm of hers just sitting there, she'd be even more freaked out. “There,” the doctor clucked. “Um, would ye mind if ye didn't ice the arm until I got my 'ands away?” Nicole was glad to hear her ice magic still worked to some degree on her right side; she knew it was more or less fueled by the state of her body and her emotions, but without a hand to focus the power to, she was unsure of exactly what would happen. “I can't help it!” she admitted, having waited for her nerves to go numb so she wouldn't sound so hurt when she did talk. “Just get your hands out of there...I'm sure it's fine!” “You could take a look for yourself,” Ace suggested. [[Previous|Page 87 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 89 (N)]]

After a lengthy sigh and a lot of mental preparation, Nicole did exactly as Ace said. She turned her head slowly, opened her eyes bit by bit, and saw her arm staying motionless, bejeweled with frozen blood, as the bandages on her right side moved around. She still didn't want to think about what that meant for her, so she kept herself distracted with more conversation. “Anna?” At this question, Ace hurried the doctor out of the room. “What, Nicole?” came the ghostly answer. She could hear despair in the girl's voice. “You didn't watch that, did you?” “No...” “Good. And, uh...thanks. Thanks for finding the others.” “You're welcome, Nicole. Heather said to watch you.” “Looks like Heather was right. I swear, when she gets down to it, her brain's got everyone's next three steps all figured out.” “She was telling everyone what to do when we found you!” Nicole winced a little, not liking the path the conversation was trying to take. She gave another hearty sigh and tried to steer things away from her defeat. “How's Cross, kid?” she asked instead, watching Ace shrug and lead the doctor out of the room. “Oh, Cross is nice,” Anna replied, “but it is a lot like Riverside. The trees are different-looking here! The leaves are all small and pointy!” Nicole chuckled. “Yeah, I saw, but I couldn't tell you why. Ask one of the smarter people, like...anyone except me, actually. I have a friend that knows everything...her name's Ciel. She stays busy, but maybe you could ask her sometime.” “OK! Moonbrooke City was so cool, though! I only saw the stuff around Ace's house, but all the houses were so big, and so pretty on the inside!” “If we have some spare time once we get back, I gotta show you around the whole place...there's four whole districts, plus the castle where the queen lives!” “Wow, Moonbrooke is so big!” [[Previous|Page 88 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 90 (N)]]

At that point, Ace returned to the room. “The payment's been handled,” Ace announced, “and I told him about Anna. He doesn't seem to care. Stay as long as you need to, Nicole...and Anna, keep her company. I might have to go looking for the others...they're still not back.” “OK, Ace!” Anna said. “Nicole still has lots to tell me about where she's been!” Ace left the room, and things got silent again for awhile, until Anna spoke up. “Well? Tell me more, Nicole! Where do you come from?” Nicole was about as eager to think of her early childhood as she was her armless future, but she decided to indulge the child nonetheless. “West of Moonbrooke City is a bunch of mountains,” she began. “There's a tunnel that goes through the mountains that you can't even go through unless you have lots of money...and then living there? You've gotta be totally loaded. They call it Affluens...I was born there. They're basically the big pushers of the kingdom's money, so naturally they keep it a lot of it to themselves...imagine a whole city where everyone's house is twice as big as Ace's.” Anna let out a soft gasp. “That sounds so cool! Why did you leave?” “That's exactly why.” Nicole let out a dry, humorless chuckle. “Nobody ever did anything. I went stir-crazy. There were so many big get-togethers, but none of them were any fun. Everyone only thought about how to get more and more money, but...studying and numbers were never my thing. On the other hand...” This time, when Nicole laughed, there was a lot more emotion in it. “...I'll never forget the first kid I knocked out, when I was...about your age, actually.” “Uh...Nicole? That sounds bad...are you a bad person?” Nicole shrugged. “I dunno, am I? Or was this kid the bad guy, for calling me worthless and stupid? He ran his mouth, and I ran my fist into it. He stumbled backwards into a table and knocked it over, and a bunch of food fell all over his idiot head, and ruined his clothes. By the time he woke up, everyone else had already left.” Nicole's eyes closed as she relived the scene in her mind, smiling wide as she watched the children turn their laughter away from her. [[Previous|Page 89 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 91 (N)]]

“You bully...” Anna said, shocked at Nicole's childhood. Nicole shook her head. “Hey, I was bullied first," she scoffed. "I just showed that kid how I felt. Besides, it was the one thing I could do better than anyone else. I never started anything...but I finished everything. They called me bad things, I rammed their teeth down their throat, they didn't try it ever again." Nicole waited for a response from Anna. "Well, don't worry," she sighed when none came, "eventually the adults complained as much as you are, and my mom and dad had to do something about me so they wouldn't get stiffed at all those fancy get-togethers. Once they found out I had magical talent, that was it...they had their excuse to get rid of me.” “Your mommy and daddy wanted to get rid of you?” Anna asked, clearly confused by the concept of unloving parents. Nicole rolled her eyes. “Of course they did,” she answered. “They wanted me to grow up just like them, but I didn't want that. I wasn't good at it, either. I was good at being big and strong, and I thought magic would make me even stronger, so I went with it. I ended up in Moonbrooke City because that's where magic school is. But...I didn't like it there either. It was about doing what other people wanted, again. I don't want to just work for other people.” “Do you work for Heather?” Nicole hadn't considered that, but it didn't take long for her to think it through either way. “No, actually. It's better than that...she just kinda points me in a direction, and I go do what I like. Plus, I have enough downtime to do my own thing. Everyone else tries to choose everything for me.” She tried not to think of the amputation, but it wedged its way into the conversation nonetheless. “I dunno how much she'll trust me to make up my own mind now," she said, shaking her wounded arm. "Ace is already...I mean, I've been around enough people mad at me, enough people thinking I'm a screw-up, to see it in Ace. I dunno what Heather and Greg are gonna say when they get at me...they're probably out there avoiding me on purpose.” Nicole shifted a little in her bed. “Now pipe down for awhile...I need some sleep.” [[Previous|Page 90 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 92 (H)]]

## Chapter 19 Heather fell against one of the walls of the underground complex, fighting for air. She and Gregory had just finished slaying the Eclipse that had tried to kill them. “That was some fight,” the former thief observed after a fatigued sigh. “They had some serious numbers here.” “They did,” Heather repeated. “And now they have corpses. But...corpses have few answers.” She was already rifling through the possessions of some of the dead thieves, in hopes that they had some sort of clue or missive on their person. “What shall we do now? Do we track the enemy down this tunnel? Or do we return to Nicole and Ace?” “Tunnel's going the same direction no matter when we check it out.” Gregory had already turned back toward the entrance, making his words redundant. “I say we check up on the others.” “But what of the foes that have fled?” Gregory let out a low growl. “I wanna chase 'em even more than you do, but we'd fare way better with even one extra ally. And Nicole...I doubt she'll wait long to jump back into things.” Heather struggled to keep from snapping as she replied. “You want to allow her to tread back into danger?” Even as she spoke, Heather knew Gregory was right, but with her job being to protect and serve the people of the kingdom, she couldn't help but feel uneasy dragging a civilian to the front with her, especially after it had already gone so badly. “We cannot—“ “We have to. The girl knows magic better than we do, and we already ran into it once.” Heather stewed inside a little, knowing fully well how right he was, but said nothing and let him continue. “If they have a wizard at the end of this tunnel, we're dead. No revenge, no justice. Let's just keep trying to scrape up some clues around here and then get back to Nicole.” Heather nodded and put all her focus into her search, pushing through cloaks and knocking off masks in hopes of finding a corpse she recognized or a trinket to point her in the right direction. She found little in the way of explicit answers, but she began to notice a startling trend. “Gregory,” she said as she dug through more pockets, “I noticed it during the battle, but all these men...their swords...” “Like Ace's, yeah,” he replied. [[Previous|Page 91 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 93 (H)]]

“Armor's got that same Torikago look to it, too," Greg said. "Here, come compare mine with theirs.” Heather nodded and examined the armor closely. Despite the wear and tear on Gregory's armor, it was clear to see that it was a simple vest of boar leather, with small bits of metal attached to the interior in a few key spots. The slain thieves, however, had many tiny scales of iron and leather, lacquered together to create a form a protective barrier around the upper body. “She's got the same kind of style on her stuff.” “Typical Torikago wear.” Heather rubbed her chin a little. “What does this mean?” Gregory shrugged. “Maybe nothing.” He paused to groan in frustration at the pouch tied a man's belt, choosing to forget the knot and slash the drawstrings with his dagger instead. “Maybe they're from Torikago.” “Absolutely not...their facial structure is of Moonbrooke origin.” Heather thought back to the encounter in the forest where she'd first met Nicole, trying to remember what she'd seen of the enemy before things got hairy. “The men you were to meet had Moonbrooke arms and armor, and seemed more comfortable with them.” Gregory snapped his fingers. “Yeah, you noticed that too? These guys seemed a little clumsy with this stuff. I dunno, just take a sword with you as we go. Maybe Ace can tell us more.” Heather nodded and grabbed one of the thin blades, setting it aside to be brought back after they finished rooting around for clues. “There must be something conclusive here!” she groaned, shuffling through the corpses to make her way to the living quarters of the thieves' den. “In one of these side rooms, perhaps.” Heather threw the beds into complete disarray, hoping to dislodge some loose paper, and eventually noticed something pinned to the wall by an arrowhead. When she began to read it, however, she felt herself concerned with the contents. “Gregory," she called, "this demands your attention.” “Yeah?” he mumbled, poking his head in through the doorway. “What's up?” “This seems to be some sort of escape plan.” She brought her ironclad finger up to the paper, pointing as she spoke. “The tunnel seems to connect to the surface in another area in the forest. Then...” Gregory squinted at the paper to watch along with her, interpreting the roughly-drawn images therein. “Then what? I'm not sure I understand this one.” The last image was a collection of crossed lines scattered at random, over a backdrop of messy squiggles. “No, Gregory.” Heather's finger raked across the paper, to the part she really wanted Gregory to see. It was a picture of rocks falling in a cave opening. “This is what worries me so. I believe it means they have the ability to destroy the tunnel.” “Which means either lots of magic or lots of black powder.” Gregory scratched his head and tore the sign off the wall, tucking it away to analyze later. “Either way, we better leave fast.” [[Previous|Page 92 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 94 (H)]]

On their way back to the main corridor, Heather worried they weren't moving fast enough. A loud rumble shook the very walls and floor of the cavern, as a light began to approach from the far end of the tunnel. Heather was unsure of what the light and force could be, but Gregory knew. “Explosions!” he growled. “They must have wired this whole place with black powder!” “That eager to hide their secrets?” Heather gasped as the two of them started running from the blasts. “Yeah.” Gregory paused to dart around some falling rocks as the two of them barreled toward the exit. “A real desperate move...but why?” More dirt and debris fell down in front of them, too much for even Gregory's agility to avoid. Heather's armored shoulder, with all her weight behind it, was enough to dislodge a boulder and let the two of them squeeze through. “I doubt they kept a membership list to their criminal squad, so what's the deal?” “Shall we ponder that another time?” Heather was beginning to feel the heat and the force of the blasts at her back. “If we tarry, we shall perish!” “You're so negative, Heather. You know that?” Whether or not that was true, Heather could see the surface starting to shine its light down the tunnel, the trees ahead forming the finish line of their desperate sprint. “Just keep running and you'll be fine.” “Easy for you to say...you have speed on your side, Gregory!” Heather opened her mouth to scold him some more, but the only thing that came out was a short, surprised bark as the ceiling opened up above her, dropping loads of dirt onto her and pinning her to the ground. The weight of the soil pushed her down in a hurry, knocking the wind out of her as she fell, and leaving most of her buried. “No!” she screamed, struggling to free herself. With one arm and both legs pinned, however, she couldn't make any headway. Gregory froze and turned around to see the knight pinned down, and threw his hands up in an exasperated gesture. “Oh, for the love of...” Without another word, he turned and charged toward Heather, digging frantically to free her, using his dagger as a spade. [[Previous|Page 93 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 95 (H)]]

This threw Heather off greatly. After all the talk of executing him and otherwise promising justice, he was still working hard to free her. “But...why?” “Why not?” His answer was succinct, but not helpful in the least. Heather started to say more, but the ex-thief shushed her. “Oh, shut up, already. Just save your strength for a big push...right about now!” Heather felt his weathered gloves close around her hand, pulling as hard as he could. She again struggled against the dirt packed around her, even as the fire behind her threatened to engulf them both. “Come on!” Heather watched as another shape loomed behind her savior, raising its hands and reaching for his torso. “Gregory!” she shouted, trying to warn him. “He's right,” Ace's voice said from behind Gregory, as her hands wrapped around him to provide even more pulling power. “You do talk too much.” With both of them tugging on her, she felt her shoulder threatening to dislocate, but her body popped free of the rubble before that happened. It was just in time, as well; she barely had time to stand before the fierce blasts of the black powder threw her former prison at her back. “Alright, let's get out of here before the whole thing blows!” The three of them scrabbled along, even as the ground beneath them started to erupt underfoot. Gouts of flame pushed their way skyward, threatening to singe any skin Heather left exposed. She crossed her arms in front of her, covering her face where her helmet didn't, leaving only her eyes exposed so that she could navigate the opening maw of the earth. Gregory and Ace were clear of the blasts thanks to their lighter armor, but Heather herself had to contend with the underworld reaching up to claim her. “Move your feet, lady!” Gregory hollered through the smoke and spraying dirt. Heather followed their lead, though the explosions left her needing to weave around tendrils of heat. After a long, strenuous run, the explosions stopped ripping through the ground, leaving the three of them to bask in the sunrise, catching their breath. “What'd you guys do?” Ace asked. “I know you wanted them dead, guys, but you blew the whole place up?” [[Previous|Page 94 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 96 (H)]]

“They did that.” Gregory said, jabbing a thumb toward the collapsed tunnel. He let himself sink into a sitting position against a tree. “They were desperate to keep us off their trail.” Ace let out an amused scoff. “Obviously...I didn't have to go far to hear the explosions! I wonder, is this what they wanted my Firebloom Pot for?” “I hadn't thought of that, but...maybe!” Gregory was stretching his legs from his seated position. “So are these guys history buffs too? Actually, that puts another question in my head...how'd they know you had that thing in the first place?” “Gregory, please,” Heather piped up, frantically searching for the blade she'd lifted from an enemy. It took a moment for her to realize that she'd left it behind in her rush to evacuate the cave. “Ace, the Eclipse in this location had procured arms and armor similar to your own. Unmistakably Torikago origin.” “What?” Ace said, already incredulous. “Torikago and Moonbrooke are allies, but—“ Heather stopped Ace's tirade with a hand on her shoulder. “Ace, the gear is Torikago, yet the men are Moonbrooke. Certainly an odd detail.” “It weren't just one enthusiast, either,” Gregory added. “All the guys were like that. But they didn't have half the skill you do.” Ace laughed. “An empty compliment,” she balked, “since you haven't fought me once. You don't know...no, anyway, I wonder why. It's a shame you couldn't bring any armor back with you...I have to know if Torikago is truly involved. If they get a war started...pretty sure I'll just want to leave.” Heather saw the wisdom in Ace's words. All the Torikago expatriates would likely suffer at the hands of the frightened and ignorant Moonbrooke citizens. “Our alliance is steeped in legend, Ace continued. "I'd hate for some shortsighted profiteers to risk it. Again, I only wish I could have seen their ordnance.” [[Previous|Page 95 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 97 (H)]]

“Yeah...well, we were busy.” Gregory spat. Finally, he took the topic away from the Eclipse, and asked the question on both his mind and Heather's. “How's Nicole?” Ace sighed and looked to the sky. “She's sleeping now...Anna's with her. She's down one arm, but she's taking it with her usual bravado.” “But of course,” Heather said. She still struggled with the morality of letting Nicole accompany them on any more of the mission, despite the talk she'd had with Gregory. “What think you of her ability to travel?” “Today, or with us in general?” Heather gasped a little, having been read so easily by Ace. “Either way, I think she'll want to get out of that clinic today. She's coming with us, Heather. I hope you realize that.” “But—“ “But what?” Ace's face was starting to move closer to Heather's. “If we leave Nicole here, that'll break the poor girl beyond repair. This sounds crazy, but she's safer with us. Don't you think so?I know you want to protect her, I can tell from your hesitation...but that's how you have to do it. She has to come with us, stay near us.” Heather let out a long, deep breath. Ace gave her a perspective she hadn't considered. Nicole had nowhere else to go but back to that tavern, and Heather thought that wasn't a very good place for her. The front lines of a dangerous investigation weren't much better, but that was the only way she could guarantee that Nicole would be surrounded by people that truly cared about her. She had no idea where these thoughts were coming from, but she had to obey them. “Ace, whenever did I become so sentimental?” she muttered, tapping her forehead. Gregory laughed. “Kid grows on you, don't she?” he asked. [[Previous|Page 96 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 98 (N)]]

## Chapter 20 “Shouldn't you be reporting to your guard buddies?” Nicole asked, staring at Heather as she was led along the coastline. “I found something to interest you,” Heather replied, urging the young mage along. “Hey, if you're cool with it, fine, but where are we going?” The group had made a brief stop in Moonbrooke City, only for Heather to lure Nicole out of town with a surprise. The older woman stayed tight-lipped on the situation, refusing to give so much as a hint as to where the two were headed. Nicole watched her run, salty air teasing the locks of Heather's hair that strayed from her helmet, trying her hardest to figure out what was going on in the lady's brain. “Still not telling?” “Nary a word.” Nicole let out a reluctant growl and kept moving behind her. “I swear, you better have a good reason for dragging me out here like this.” Heather looked over her shoulder to issue her reply. “Well, the weather is divine this day, but there is also a matter requiring your expertise.” “You're picking my brain?” Nicole spat. “You know there ain't much in there, right?” Over Heather's shoulder, along the coastline, she could see a stocky red building rising to greet the duo on the horizon. “You've gotta be joking! So what's this really about?” “I am being sincere.” Heather didn't offer another word until the two of them finally reached the red building. “Though your brains are quite secondary, you will find.” Once there, Nicole could finally see the signs and tools informing her of where they were. “A sea reed farm? I don't know squat about this stuff.” Heather ignored her, moving about the facility until she finally found a couple workers, who seemed to be gearing up for something. “Gentlemen,” she greeted them, “this is Heather Storm, Moonbrooke City Guard, and Nicole Ellery, a mage and hunter. We have come to lend our aid.” [[Previous|Page 97 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 99 (N)]]

“Oh, th' 'arvest?” one of the workers asked through a thick accent. The man looked older than Heather, and years of working in the sun had turned his skin dark and leathery while building his muscles. “We're 'bout ready to go 'aulin' it up now.” Heather nodded and patted the hilt of her sword. “Very well. Simply point us where you need us, and we shall proceed to lend our aid.” In reply, the two women were only offered a finger toward the beach, situated amongst a pile of ropes extending into the water. Nicole absentmindedly kicked one of the ropes and asked, “Now I really gotta know...what'd you get us into?” Heather nodded and cleared her throat a little, gearing up for a bit of an explanation. “Sea reed is a key industry for Moonbrooke City. When first cultivated, the tough plant contains a vibrant green solution which can become a paint or dye. The plant itself can be turned to objects such as clothing or rope.” Nicole sighed a little, taking a rope up in her hand when she saw everyone else on the beach doing it. In her mind, she could have sworn she still felt her other arm reaching out and everything, but she knew that couldn't be the case, so she brushed it off. “Yeah, so this rope's made from some water plant. Why do you need me?” Everyone began to pull the ropes, dragging a large plant-filled net from the water. As they did so, Heather continued talking. “The harvest of sea reed requires one or more individuals known as 'scarecraw'. Theirs is the most important task, for sea reed attracts a pest that can survive in sea and on land.” “Look alive!” one of the workers shouted as the net full of sea reed dragged ashore. “Craw's comin'!” Nicole watched, slightly horrified, as the net was followed up the shore by a bunch of disgusting creatures. Their bodies seemed to be covered in a brownish shell that glinted with a faint rainbow underneath direct sunlight and tapered out to a slightly wider tail fin, and they stared at the net with black, beady eyes as they chased it onto land, following the stimuli received by their two feathery antennae. Their bodies were pushed along the sand by six thin legs, and they groped toward the harvest with heavy claws nearly as big as their bodies. Nicole looked up at Heather, still slightly confused, but when Heather spoke and drew her sword, she understood. “It is alright, Nicole. Get angry.” [[Previous|Page 98 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 100 (N)]]

Nicole clenched her fist as ice slowly gathered around it. Despite her best efforts, Heather had seen through her and known how much it hurt to lose her arm, to have her livelihood thrown into jeopardy. Heather knew she was trying to hold herself back and avoid bursting out in fury and sadness in front of the group. Heather was throwing her into a fight right away, albeit under supervision. Heather believed in her. “Right,” Nicole barked, eager to avoid disappointing anyone, and launched into the fray. The craw came up to about her waist, reaching out with their claws to clip her legs. She questioned Heather's sanity in dragging her into this, but as she watched the guard plow through the crowd of craw, she found herself raring to go as well. Her resolve built up, she stopped fleeing the craw and turned to swing her knuckle against them. The craw's shell cracked where her fist made impact, issuing steam and a scream-like noise. As the steam blew over her arm, the water condensed and froze right on to her enchanted frost, and she laughed a little as the craw fell limp. “You must hurry, Nicole!” Heather's voice rang out over the carnage. Nicole turned to see a craw nip at the knight's greaves, unable to affect her through the armor. Heather paused to cleave through the craw with her knightsword. “Now I have slain eleven!” Heather was trying to prod at Nicole's competitive nature, and it was working. She could feel herself get fired up, eager to close the ten-kill gap. She noticed a craw just as it lumbered toward her and tried to close a claw around her ankle, but she wound up her other leg and kicked the craw square in the head. She was satisfied as she was met with the same steam and scream, and set her sights on more craw moving slowly up the beach toward the sea reed. The other workers of the farm had taken up common implements like rakes and pitchforks, but they took a very defensive stance where the beach sand met the grass of the plains. This left Nicole and Heather plenty of space in between to crack some shells. She thought back to her sparring matches with the others, and tried to add her icy flair to the hand-to-hand moves they mixed in with their styles. Where she was missing an arm, she still had a shoulder, which she covered in ice and charged directly through a couple craw. She had some difficulty channeling ice onto the area, and even more difficulty trying the same with her leg, but nonetheless, she took a knee and swung her other foot in an arc in front of her, carrying the force through three more craw. As she watched her victims crumple, she realized exactly what she had been dragged into. [[Previous|Page 99 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 101 (N)]]

It didn't take a very hard impact to burst the craw open and kill them. Heather had set her up for an easy battle. She'd seen this before in the arena; star fighters on a losing streak were often given easy opponents in order to put their career back on track. Nicole paused her violent streak to contemplate the fact that Heather thought she needed this kind of fight. “Alright, there ain't no denying it, is there?” she growled at no one in particular, staring at what little was left of her right arm. “You trying to tell me I can't fight anymore?” “Nicole?” Heather said, her voice full of concern even through the efforts of combat. “What is the matter?” “You set me up!” Nicole let out a loud, primal scream, angered by Heather, by Old Stoutback, by herself, by these craw. Heather had placed herself on the other side of the battleground, so Nicole plowed through the craw to get to her, killing each and every one that got in her path with wild swings of her left hand, covered in a thick and heavy glacier. “You think I'm weak, don't you?” The horrible venting noises of the craw filled the air as she broke them open with whatever body part was closest, until she finally made it to within a few feet of Heather. “Well, let me tell y—“ Everyone went quiet as the sea erupted in a great spray of water, revealing a massive black shell sitting on the sand. It unfolded its features, revealing itself to be an enormous craw with thicker legs and a more developed tail. Its claws were huge and jagged, and its body bore the unmistakable scars of battle. “K-king craw!” the workers cried out one by one as they realized their plight. They abandoned their post, scrabbling into the building and leaving the sea reed net behind them. “Now that's more like it!” Nicole said. Heather gave her the sternest look she'd ever received in her life, eliciting a sigh from her. “Alright, you want me to tell the truth, don't you? This thing is scaring me. I'm thinking, if this thing chops me up any more, it better just kill me on the spot. I'm wondering if maybe I should ditch the sea reed along with the other guys.” [[Previous|Page 100 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 102 (N)]]

“And leave me to engage the beast alone?” Heather asked, already staring down the king craw and holding her sword tight. “Nicole, I expected not for this creature to arrive, but I do believe we can fight it together.” “Yeah, and how are we gonna do that?” Nicole watched as it hoisted itself onto its spindly legs. and prepared to move about the beach. “The same way we shall lay waste to the Eclipse. To rush would be folly. We shall analyze the beast and its abilities, and then we shall strike it where it is weakest.” Nicole nodded a little and stood back with Heather, moving around the king craw to watch how it reacted to their movements. A slow-moving claw came their way, a backhand of sorts that threatened to knock them out, but Heather's knightsword pushed it away with its magic. The two of them moved clockwise around the beast, and Nicole watched as it plodded around to face them. “That's it!” she shouted. “This thing's slow as all get-out. Let's just get behind it and smash it from there!” Nicole ran toward the back end of the beast, but its tail swung down quickly, threatening to squish her. She was quick to spin backwards for a quick dodge, but still felt discouraged. “Maybe not. That tail picks up serious speed.” “We would be crushed beneath that tail,” Heather agreed as the two of them stayed just out of reach of the king craw's attacks, occasionally poking in close a little to gauge its reaction. They found themselves frequently at odds with the beast's tail or claws, and it knew well enough to scuttle forward when they approached a blind spot behind its claws. For a creature of its size that normally lived in the sea, the king craw was surprisingly agile. “It is guarded on all sides! Then we have but two options.” Nicole looked at Heather, utterly clueless as to what those options were, but the guard soon elaborated. “Above and below.” “Yeah, good luck with either one, lady.” The king craw wasn't about to let anyone dig beneath it or climb its body, so Nicole didn't know what good those options did them. Heather, however, had a plan. “Do not be so hasty to disregard this avenue...we shall hoist you upon the creature's back!” Heather took a knee in the sand, ignorant of the king craw advancing behind her. “Nicole, you must run to me and climb upon me. Let your feet fall upon my knee, then my hand.” [[Previous|Page 101 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 103 (N)]]

Nicole wanted to protest, but the king craw gave her no time. She took a deep breath and ran forward just as she was instructed, focusing on the feeling in her feet as she took one step onto Heather's armored knee, then another onto a waiting hand. She felt Heather push her skyward as she made her own effort to leap, then felt the flat of the knightsword clobber her in the backside, its enchantment pushing her away for some extra lift. Her fist glaciated in anticipation, her missing arm growing an unfocused cluster of icicles at the same time. When she landed on the king craw's back, she found the creature slippery and hard to come to a stop on, though the icicles did help her brake herself. “Alright, big fella,” Nicole shouted, “time for a pounding!” Her eyes slid along the beast's back, coming to a stop at a seam in the plates of its carapace, and she chose that as the focal point for her attacks. Bracing herself with the ice, she battered the king craw's shell with her icy fist, eventually cracking it and breaking off chunks. What she saw beneath made her groan. “You've got another shell underneath? You're built to annoy me, aren't you?” It was not built for bucking off passengers on top of it, however; all it could do was scurry around, which didn't make Nicole's job any harder. After smashing a big enough hole in the outer layer of the king craw's armor, she blasted her fist into the inner section, producing that familiar gout of steam and the accompanying scream-like noise. She let herself hang there on the king craw awhile, until the ice on her right side melted, leaving her to slide down the dead beast's back. She hit the ground and fell to her knees, gasping for air after putting so much into every swing of her fist to crack the king craw open. “And that is that,” Heather sighed, relieved. “Now, does that make you feel better?” “What?” Nicole spat. “Of course not!” [[Previous|Page 102 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 104 (N)]]

## Chapter 21 “I still don't believe you expected that to just cure me,” Nicole growled, standing outside the Vanishing Wench with craw claws and a tusk of Old Stoutback in tow. “You just thought you'd throw me into an easy fight and figure I wouldn't miss my arm anymore?” “Well,” Heather stammered, “it was my inte—“ “You know, I don't care what your intention was. People don't just get over this, you know.” Heather shook her head. “I was not attempting for you to simply get over it.” “Even though everything you've said points to that?” Nicole brushed some hair away from her eyes. “Can it, lady. I appreciate what you were up to, but it's still gonna bug me. I can't even eat without totally switching up my tactics, much less fight. You're not gonna have me pretending this didn't change my life.” Heather growled a little and turned away from Heather. “Think harder, Nicole. Of course your arm is gone. You will have to live with that, or not live at all.” Nicole was taken aback by those words, since she'd never heard harsher from Heather, but she let the guard continue. “Yet through ingenuity, you may yet adapt yourself to even still do that which you love, and that which brings you fame and fortune.” As she began to walk down the street, she added, “If you still wish to accompany us, come to the museum.” With that, Heather departed down the street, disappearing into the crowd of Moonbrooke City. Nicole shrugged and pushed her way into the Vanishing Wench, listening as the entire tavern went silent upon her entry. She felt all eyes fall upon her, but she tried her best to shrug it off and carry the bag with the monster bits to the counter. “Hank!” she shouted, catching the barkeep's attention from the kitchen. “Got some more stuff for your place!” Hank walked out and reached out to take the tusk, but froze as his eyes glanced across Nicole. “Your arm!” he shouted. “Yeah, it's gone. Got any other obvious crap to waste my time with?” [[Previous|Page 103 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 105 (N)]]

Quiet murmurs rippled through the tavern, but Hank continued talking directly to Nicole. “Yeah, but how did—“ “Giant boar.” Nicole stood there, her hand on her hip, glaring at Hank. “By Cross, there was this boar, Old Stoutback. Killed some lumberjacks, made the forest totally unsafe. It took some time, and an arm, but I got him.” “Dat tusk is huge!” one of the onlookers said over his tankard. “How big was dis boar, gal?” Nicole turned to the patron and chuckled. “On all fours, he was as tall as me, maybe taller!” A few people at the patron's table started to try and dispute her claims, but he stood firm in support of her. “Da dame ain't lyin'! A tusk dat big's gotta come from one big ol' boar, see?” “I was with a friend, if you don't believe me,” Nicole added. “He's got the other tusk. He can vouch for me if you need it that badly!” “Hey, I know a thing or two about boars,” Hank assured her. “I have to, as a cook...so I believe you, and that guy's right. Old Stoutback, they called it? It must have been something else...you're lucky you only lost an arm!” Nicole slammed her fist on the bar. “Lucky?” she repeated. “Is that what you call it?” When the whole tavern went silent again, Nicole fought to regain her composure. “I...I don't want my skill being brushed off as some kind of fluke!” She felt more at ease, having reconstructed her tough persona easily enough. She felt able to flip out and let her true anxiety shine, but also able to attach an excuse that fell in line with the Nicole everyone expected her to be. “That guy that was with me in the big fight before?" she continued. "Yeah, he was the one...he helped me find a clinic where I could get the arm chopped off, after Old Stoutback ruined it so it wouldn't work anymore.” Nicole was bending the truth of the situation, of course, but the drunkards around her seemed to buy it. Hank shrugged a little and handed Nicole a heavy sack of coins, having been counting out her pay the whole time she was talking. “The biggest tusk and the biggest craw claws I've ever seen...five thousand good enough for you?” Nicole was only expecting four, but she kept that a secret. “Sure.” [[Previous|Page 104 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 106 (N)]]

Nicole took the money, securing it on her person before talking some more. “So what's been the word on the street here in Moonbrooke?” Hank shrugged. “Nothing that'll lead to any fights...quite the opposite, really. Arena's been closed indefinitely from money problems...I hear the guy in Affluens who cuts everyone's checks has been shaken down by some criminals, but I don't think they'd let a cutpurse through their gates.” That caught Nicole's attention as well, not just for the Affluens security breach, but for the possibility of Eclipse involvement. “Is there anything on who did it?” she wondered aloud. “Like, who they were or what they were wearing?” “A real big guy,” Hank said, holding his hand way above his head to signal the robber's height, “had some Torikago sword and armor, lots of furs. He was alone, too, so it really took everyone aback.” A brief pause ensued, in which Hank gave Nicole a long, meaningful look. “You're not thinking of chasing him down, are you?” “Nah,” Nicole gasped. As she pushed herself to her feet, she added, “My friend might know who that is, though. Well, uh, thanks for the money! See you dopes later!” Before anyone could send her off, she left the bar, sprinting down the road toward Ace's museum without hesitation. She burst through the front door without knocking, pushing aside a few legitimate museum-goers who were checking out the exhibits on her way to the basement. Her three companions were all there, staring at her as she made her entrance. “What...?” Gregory offered her no reply. Instead, he turned to Ace and held out an expectant hand. “Pay up,” he said, and was wordlessly rewarded with a small coin purse. [[Previous|Page 105 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 107 (N)]]

Nicole's fist tightened up a little at the sight of Ace paying off Gregory. She immediately knew what she'd seen. “Wait, you were taking bets? On what, me?” Gregory nodded. “Ace thought it'd take you a little longer than that to show up.” Turning back to her, his expression softened. “Look, if you're not—“ Nicole threw herself across the room and blasted into his chin with a fierce punch. “You guys keep doing that!” she shouted. “You keep assuming all this stuff, and it's like you're trying to make up my mind for me! What if I want to stop doing this crap altogether?” A long silence filled the room, as Gregory slowly scrabbled back into his seat. Finally, Ace broke the silence by saying, “Well? Do you?” Nicole gasped and turned her head away for a minute, saying nothing as Ace continued. "I'm sorry, Nicole, but we're used to a pattern. If you want, you can change the pattern and we'll react. If you're still the Nicole I know, the Nicole that never stops fighting and always pulls through, we don't have anything to worry about.” Nicole turned around and swung for Ace this time; the treasure hunter jumped away, but bumped her back against the wall. That was good enough for Nicole, so she continued. “Is that what you think? You think I lost an arm and now I'm powerless?” The thought had occurred to her, but she wasn't about to let anyone else try and say it. With it coming out of someone else's mouth, she was far less receptive to the idea. “Oh, I'll show you, Ace. You'll see that you can't write off Nicole Ellery just like that!” Having spoken her mind, she calmed down enough to share the reason for her abrupt entrance. “Oh yeah," she began, "the barkeep told me all about this one jerkwad that robbed the owner of the arena. Somehow this guy got into Affluens and made off with all the gold. He said the robber was all gussied up in Torikago gear and lots of furs, a real big guy who fought alone.” “What?” Ace gasped, darting closer to Nicole. “Is that all he said?” Nicole shrugged a little. “Yeah, that's all I got,” she confirmed. “The guy doesn't sound much like he's with the Eclipse, but should we follow along anyway?” Without any hesitation, Ace rose to her feet and scooped up her sword. “Yes.” Nicole shrugged and moved to Ace's side. “Alright, that was seriously heavy. Someone's gotta come with you, make sure you're OK.” [[Previous|Page 106 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 108 (H)]]

## Chapter 22 The whole gang accompanied Ace on the road to Affluens. Heather in particular had been stirred by Nicole's determination to follow along, and she guessed Gregory was in no position to be left alone. He had come of his own accord, but if he hadn't wanted to, Heather was unsure if she could actually find it in herself to make him come. The thought pushed a similar question into her brain about halfway between Moonbrooke and Affluens, too far away to do anything about it. “Should we have left Anna alone?” she blurted before she had a chance to discard the thought. “She's a ghost,” Gregory replied. “What trouble can she get into? She won't starve or get kidnapped or anything. Even if a crook got into the place, they won't go for the shield.” Right as he was, Heather still rolled her eyes at the exhibition of his unscrupulous knowledge. “That is true. In all likelihood, she will simply marvel at the exhibits about the museum. Even so, it does feel odd to leave a child behind.” Ace shrugged a little, her purposeful strides keeping the rest of the group moving fast just to keep up. “That's not my fault,” she said, not even turning around to address the group. “This is something I have to do, whether any of you come or not.” “You ever seen her like this?” Nicole whispered. Heather replied by shaking her head as Ace continued. “You three can turn around at any point, you know. This probably has nothing to do with the Eclipse.” Nicole turned away from Heather and raised her voice to reply. “Ace, I barely give a crap about those Eclipse guys. Besides, you can't just tell me off for going off on my own and losing an arm for it, and then tell us you wanna run off by yourself to beat up some guy.” Nicole scrambled to reach Ace's side to continue her screed, but was interrupted by something dropping from a tree hanging over the path. Heather was too far behind in the group formation to see what had dropped, but Ace could clearly tell. “It's you!” she growled, reaching up over her shoulder for her sword. The figure unfurled itself before the group, revealing the fur-clad man in Torikago garb that Nicole had mentioned. He wielded a sword similar to Ace's, but much larger and heavier, clearly requiring both hands. “Didn't recognize you from up there,” he taunted. “How've you been, sis?” “Sister? Not anymore. Not after what you've done, King.” [[Previous|Page 107 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 109 (H)]]

Soon, the two of them had their swords drawn and were circling each other. Heather took a step forward to assist, but she found Nicole standing in her way. “Dude, it's a grudge match,” she cautioned. “You guys have to stay out of it.” Heather sighed softly, but allowed Nicole to have her way, leaving Ace and King to work it out. Apparently ignoring them, Ace continued to talk out her family drama. “It wasn't enough to kill our master...you had to become some common thug too?” “Hardly,” King replied, brushing over Ace's first point of contention. “I'm kind of a big deal...not like the Moonblade, but pretty close. News of me robbing that one rich guy must have spread fast, if you're already here.” Heather watched Nicole's face twitch, surprised to see the girl restrain herself as Ace continued. “Just fast enough. I hope you're ready to die.” King raised his sword, gesturing toward Ace's chest. “You remember what happened last time you got in my way. Must be why you brought a guard to bail you out.” “No,” Ace replied curtly, brandishing her own weapon. “They're going to watch while I defeat you.” Ace lapsed into her native language and barked a few words Heather didn't understand, then charged into battle. Ace and King met halfway, their swords clashing together. Her sword, however, was not meant to withstand that kind of impact, buckling beneath the force of King's two-handed weapon. Noticing this, Ace reeled herself back, avoiding a follow-up swing altogether. As he recovered his stance, she stood back and rethought her strategy. King shouted something at her, again using the language Heather was unfamiliar with, and chased her down, only for his sword to meet empty air. Heather and the other onlookers took a few steps back as the fight began spilling their way, with King continuing to be outsped by Ace's evasive measures. “How do I get in...?” Ace mumbled to herself, readying her sword. As she did so, Heather could see a slight warp in the blade where it had made contact with King's sword. Ace ignored it and moved in, baiting a slash to try and force an opening in King's defenses. [[Previous|Page 108 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 110 (H)]]

The attack came, and she ducked under it to take a swipe at King's legs, trying to aim away from his boots. King came out of the exchange with a couple scrapes, barely deep enough to draw blood. In response, he punched Ace in the head before she could move away, dropping her to the ground. He stood over her, poised for a big chop, but found himself interrupted by a swift kick between his legs, giving Ace time to return to her feet. “Jeez, she's really fighting dirty today,” Nicole muttered as the three of them continued to watch the fight and let Ace have her catharsis. “Yeah, but that sword...” Gregory added, watching the siblings fight. The two of them were now entangled closely, punching each other in a desperate bid to cause any damage they could. “I don't know if she can win this without her sword.” Nicole scoffed, watching the two of them break away from fisticuffs range and recover their swords. “Why doesn't she just do the Force thing she pulled on me?” Gregory shushed her and pointed toward Ace. “I think she's about to.” Heather watched as Ace summoned that trademark energy into her sword. “You've forced my hand,” Ace admitted. To her horror, however, she watched King perform the same. “Already?” he snarled as the glow enveloped his massive weapon. “Figures...you were never as good as me with a sword.” The energy waves that he fired with every swing of his sword were much larger than Ace's, though they also traveled slower. Their wide profiles left Ace unable to sidestep them, but they were thin enough that she was able to duck and jump around them. She fired off a few Force Blade waves of her own, but these met King's glowing steel and were parried aside. “I knew not that one could deflect them,” Heather gasped to herself, staying alert as more of King's errant waves passed by Ace and moved toward her and the others. She skirted around them, her eyes still locked on the battle. Ace shook her head a little and then charged, sword raised to strike. King observed her assault, raising his own sword to block as usual. She was unfettered by his defenses, however, and brought her sword against his. [[Previous|Page 109 (H)]] | [[Previous|Page 111 (H)]]

Ace's weapon snapped in two from the impact, but both pieces managed to fire off their Force Blade attacks, crossing past King's guard and directly into his chest. He let out a scream as the mystical blades ripped through his armor and sent him recoiling, but once he had regained his composure, he lunged for her with a guttural battle cry. Ace sighed a little and moved away from the blade, getting nicked in the shoulder in the process. She kept herself moving with her hands clasped together, and the results gave everyone present pause. “What the?” King growled. “How'd you learn—“ King's curiosity was interrupted by a fierce kick from Ace, as her entire body began to glow in the same faint light Heather knew as the calling card of the Force Blade. She jumped up to follow King and lashed out with a spin kick, angled to drive him into the ground with a loud thump. “You killed our master,” Ace repeated, “but that didn't stop his lessons.” King rose to his feet to resist Ace's new reserves of strength, but only found himself on the receiving end of the fiercest kick Heather had ever seen. Ace took a step forward and turned her upper body, standing on one foot as she thrust the other forward, driving it into King's guts. Ace stood over her fallen brother and let the glow fade from her body, and when she did so, Heather noticed the foot she'd used for that kick was broken. “Holy crap!” Nicole shouted, running over to Ace to celebrate the victory. “Ace, how'd you do that?” Even Gregory had to agree. “You always have something new up your sleeve,” he gasped as he and Heather made their way over behind Nicole. Ace sank to the ground, gasping for air, though not nearly as desperately as King was. “I'll tell you later,” she promised. “For now, I have to get the answers I can out of my brother before he dies.” “I'm not telling you anything,” King rasped, his body immobilized. Each syllable was wet with blood, a sure sign to Heather that some internal damage had been done. “You should just kill me now.” Ace, unsteadily returning to her feet, had other plans. “That would be the most merciful thing to do at this point, now that you're bloody and broken...but I think I'll leave you here, just to think about what you've done while you die slowly.” “That's cold,” Nicole muttered. Heather shushed the young mage so she could continue listening to Ace. [[Previous|Page 110 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 112 (H)]]

“You won't die a warrior, brother," Ace hissed down at King's crumpled form, "not unless you tell me who put you up to this.” Ace struggled to hook her arms around King's, and completely failed to summon the strength to lean him against the nearby tree. Heather kept Nicole away from the delicate work, leaving Gregory to help Ace move the man. “You've been operating with an uncharacteristic level of intellect.” “Still so selfish and cruel,” King replied. “If you must know...I killed some fool...with a landstrider skull on her head...carrying plans for a robbery.” He paused to clutch at his mouth, blood trickling through his fingers as he coughed into them. “That enough for a mercy kill?” Ace responded not with words, but with a piece of her broken sword, running it across King's throat with surgical precision. “Eclipse again,” she mused, watching King continue to bleed before her. “But why would they have targeted who they did here on this road...?” Nicole's hand shot up into the air, knocking against Heather a little in the process. “I know!” the mage shouted. “I got plenty of ideas on that! But first, I wanna hear about the fancy crap you just pulled on this guy. How'd you do it?” “Fine.” Ace moved King's body off the road, limping all the while, before she revealed her secrets. “In your tongue, you call it 'Force Blade', but it's actually more like 'Force Fist'. The original technique was to turn that energy inward, energizing the body and allowing it to run in excess of its own capabilities. Because of that, many practitioners killed themselves by accident. It was an ancestor of my master that had the idea to take the life force that goes into Chikaraken and release it outward with one's sword as a focus.” Ace nodded to Heather and added, “Somewhat similarly to your latent energy powering your knightsword.” “Hey, just a second.” Nicole shook her head a little and nudged Ace's knee to get her attention. “That's your life force? So, like, even if you just use it too much, you'll die?” “Yes, but it comes back with time. It's similar to blood loss like that.” Ace looked down at her broken foot and let out a sigh. “But enough about that. We have to get back to Moonbrooke City, and I need a new katana.” [[Previous|Page 111 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 113 (N)]]

## Chapter 23 “Man, look at us,” Nicole grumbled as Ace came hobbling out of the clinic. “Couple of crippled masterpieces.” Ace scoffed and began walking away, leaving Nicole to catch up. “I've done worse to myself,” she replied. “Like what?” Ace kept on moving, forcing Nicole to follow her to a nearby street vendor in search of lunch. “We don't have time for stories.” “Yeah we do...!” Nicole paused to purchase a bread roll, scarfing it down in one ravenous bite. “We can't really move out until Greg's back with his research, and Heather's done getting suspended or whatever.” Ace sighed and began making her way through the streets of the High Rise, making her way back to the museum while trying to minimize the pressure her broken foot had to bear. “Maybe we shouldn't have pushed her to ignore her duties...” “She could've said no.” Nicole pushed open the doors ahead of Ace, eager to get off the streets and off her feet, and unwilling to wait for Ace to get up her own stairs. “Anna, we're home!” “That's Nicole!” Anna's ghostly voice greeted them. “Oh, and you brought Ace! Hello!” “Yeah, hey. You ready for story time?” Anna began cheering in anticipation for a great tale, but Ace seemed unenthusiastic. “Nicole, I'm not telling her what happened yesterday,” she groaned. Nicole scoffed. “Of course not!” she said, her trickery visible in the sneer on her face. “You're gonna tell her about one of your adventures. I mean, that's where you got a lot of this junk, right?” “It's not junk,” Ace sighed as she finally found herself a chair to sit in. Nicole could tell Ace was exhausted, but didn't know whether to attribute it to all the limping or just the stress of the fight against King. “There's plenty of history behind everything here.” “I want to hear your history!” Anna chirped. “How do you find such neat things?” “Yeah, Ace,” Nicole echoed. “How do you do it?” Ace groaned a little and sunk further into her chair. “Why are you so interested in this now?” she moaned. “And why are you using Anna to get it out of me?” [[Previous|Page 112 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 114 (N)]]

Nicole shook her head a little. “Ace, that hurts,” she lied, trying to save face after her plan was blown. “You guys are always prying at me, so why can't I do it? Besides...it's gonna take those two forever to get done and get over here. I can't just wait that out, and I can't fight anyone while I wait...hearing some fancy action will just have to do, won't it?” “I tell you about one exploit to retrieve one of my exhibits, and you let me sleep. Deal?” “Yeah, we can do that.” Nicole turned to shout over her shoulder, despite not really knowing which way to actually look to address Anna. “Right?” “Yes, deal!” Anna replied. “Ace, tell us about your travels!” Ace paused to drag an empty crate to her chair, giving her a valuable footrest to elevate her injury. “Fine,” she acquiesced. “Long ago, our world was threatened by Ark, the self-proclaimed King of Life, who tried to tear out the life force of every living thing, and was stopped by Zephyr's bravery.” “Yeah, I know,” Nicole interrupted, earning a deathly glare from Ace. “Sorry.” Ace continued as if nothing had happened. “Zephyr's powers over wind tore the head right off of Ark's spear, where the mad king had focused the souls of the dead. I had chartered a boat out of Moonbrooke Harbor to take me to Ark's desolate island fortress where this duel took place, searching for some proof of the parable. I had also met a young lady at the harbor who had shown interest in the area, so I brought her with me...her name was Alice.” Nicole gasped a little, surprised at the connection her brain made instantly. “You mean Greg's girl? The one that's dead?” “Honestly, I'm not sure. I would ask him, but that might set him off. Anyway, after we sailed on out...” [[Previous|Page 113 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 115 (A)]]

...I stepped off the boat onto Ark's island. It bears the obsidian tower that hosted the King of Life, so people avoid the place more often than not. There's nothing for us there, because everything on that island is dead. Even the earth beneath your feet is a depleted gray. That's why my companion Alice had come...she was intent on studying a possible connection to magic draw, the same principle that powers knightswords. “What a dump,” I said, running the ashen soil through my fingers. Alice was looking down on me, a little impatient. I was sure she'd heard plenty about the place. I had too, after all. But it's a little different when you're there...everything's just so still, you swear you'll be infected by the deadness. But I shook it off and got back on my feet, moving ahead of Alice to the door, just in case. “Let's get what we're here for and get out.” “Agreed,” Alice said. I don't remember much about what she looked like...I'd never seen her before, or since. I remember noting that she looked like an amateur, though...the only reason I'd agreed to take her along was because I wanted to make sure a little lady like her didn't die. So anyway, we pushed one of the double-doors aside and stepped on in. The wood of the door had long since rotted away, but the metal portions were still there, rust aside. We stepped on in, and I gave Alice a torch, lighting up just a piece of this enormous entrance hall. I'd heard that some magic had twisted the innards of Ark's tower, so it was bigger on the inside than the outside. It was pretty big on the outside, though, so I'm not sure how true that is. We pushed on through the darkness and found these majestic stairs leading upward to a bit of a balcony, with stairs going to both a second floor and a basement. What we both wanted was upstairs...the final battle between Zephyr and Ark had taken place at the tower's apex, where it's said that Ark housed a device to amplify his power to steal life force. The stairs up wound around the wall of the tower, and occasionally we walked through some other floors, with one room that took up each. We found all sorts of skeletons, ancient weapons, just a big mess. I found it interesting enough, all that sort of ancient armaments, but we had our jobs to do, so we couldn't take it with us. We just pushed on through, up the stairs. The apex is where the fun started. [[Previous|Page 114 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 116 (A)]]

Alice found a device there at the apex...according to the legends, this was Ark's master plan, and why the island was so dead. The entire tower was made to amplify Ark's life drain, to rob the very land of its draw. Waiting for us was a ruby of rage...one of Ark's signature traps. The life force of the dead were entrapped in these crystals, and took out their unrest against whatever living beings came by. They would channel their draw into nearby objects, creating golems of stone, metal, water, whatever they could bend around themselves. So it was with this ruby...the detritus of the battlefield combined with the anger of the fallen to create an iron beast, with teeth of swords and a tail like a halberd. The ancient armor came together to form the body and head of this canine construct, with the jewel forming a single glowing eye. “But wait,” Alice murmured, already heading for the stairs to let me handle the combat. “Why is there an unactivated sentry here?” It was true...if Zephyr had truly been at the tower apex, this ruby would have been activated then. It taught us both a valuable lesson...the legends were not quite accurate, so the piece I was most interested in was elsewhere. Alice theorized that the tower's infernal device may not have even been used in the first place. But again, the real fun part was the battle. The iron beast lunged at me about as soon as it had formed. I quickly moved to the side, readying my blade as Alice fled down the stairs. My eyes quickly settled on the jewel as my target, eager for things to settle down. Even as I moved to its right, however, its tail swung my way, the axe blade barely missing me. In its relentless pursuit, it raised a massive steel paw to swipe at me, adorned with a heavy hammer head. I was too slow in dodging, and caught the blow on my arm, leaving it in too much pain to use... [[Previous|Page 115 (A)]] | [[Next|Page 117 (A)]]

I had to wield my two-handed sword with one hand. My counterstrikes were slow and ineffectual, while the many weapons left dodging as the highest priority. I was stuck on defense, just waiting for my opening, debating whether or not to harness Chikaraken. Would it be more effective than a normal strike, or would the ruby simply make the energy its own? I took aim and slashed the jewel whenever I could, holding off on Chikaraken, staying just one step ahead of the blades and bludgeons that formed this monster. When it sensed that its offense wasn't working, it reared back and slammed itself against the floor, which ended up breaking the very floor beneath us. I lunged for Alice, intent to keep her safe, as everything crumbled. Horrible noises rang out as stone crumbled and metal twisted, and the floors continued to shatter. One-story drops, over and over, with someone in my arms...it was hell on my legs. When we were done falling, there were two windows, one behind me and one ahead. Alice was already out of my arms, climbing out of the window behind. I was trying to wobble upright atop the uneven surface of the debris, watching the jewel as it started to glow. It was trying to use the rubble of the tower to form a new shape. Somehow, I knew it in my gut, and I knew I wouldn't be able to outpace it in the conditions my legs and the battlefield were in. I made my decision then and there...I gathered my strength and channeled the power of Chikaraken through my body, pushing my legs harder than they could normally go. I made a leap for the ruby, snatching it up and shoving myself out through the window. I fell out of the window, nearly tumbling over the rocky coast into the ocean, just barely stopping my battered body at the cliff's edge. I rose to one knee, and with Chikaraken powering my arm, I pitched the jewel back at the tower, shattering it against the outer wall of the tower. [[Previous|Page 116 (A)]] | [[Next|Page 118 (N)]]

“Then what?” Nicole asked, enraptured by the story. Ace shrugged. “Don't know,” she replied. “I passed out. I woke up to Alice fetching doctors. The arm that got hit, and my legs...they had some injuries. But you're not interested in that.” Anna wasn't satisfied with this answer. “But what about the tower?” she asked. “Did you and Alice find what you wanted?” “Yeah, we went back later and dug up what we came for out of the rubble.” Ace rose to her feet, making her way to the stairs leading to the second floor. “Now don't wake me up until the others get here.” Before she even disappeared into the second floor, however, the front door flew open, revealing Gregory standing there in the light of the afternoon sun. “Hey guys,” he greeted everyone. Ace let out a tired groan and pulled herself back down the stairs. “Everyone here?” “Everyone but Heather,” Nicole replied, failing to stifle a yawn. “If she doesn't hurry up, I'm dragging her here.” “It'll have to be you.” Gregory stepped out of the doorway and fell into a chair near Nicole. “What if he recognizes me?” “He?” Gregory rolled his eyes. “She went to report to the captain of the guard. I thought she told you that.” Nicole jumped to her feet. “Maybe,” she growled. It wasn't ringing any bells, though. “Then how's this?” Nicole wanted to swat Gregory away as he leaned toward her, but she let him go on. “Your precious arena's opened back up again. If we don't turn up information soon, we might have time to watch you fight?” Nicole glanced down at her missing arm, and back up to Gregory. She felt like she needed assistance, but before she could bury the loathsome thought, it had already bubbled up to her lips. “Only if you give me some kicking pointers,” she couldn't stop herself from saying. The request had made her feel weak enough without Gregory smiling back at her. He held the smile silently for so long that she was sure it was in jest, but then he spoke. “You got it, pal,” he affirmed. “You're gonna need it, if I'm gonna make another bet.” [[Previous|Page 117 (A)]] | [[Next|Page 119 (H)]]

## Chapter 24 “Guard Storm,” Captain Sully growled, shaking his head as he paced in front of Heather. “You always seemed like one of the good ones.” “I apologize,” Heather began as she stood there, holding a salute to her superior officer. “This was a matter that demanded urgent attention.” Sully stopped in his tracks and gave Heather a disgusted glare. “And what, pray tell, would be worth abandoning your post to go gallivanting off into the forest for?” “It is as I previously reported.” Even in the face of this scolding, and the risk of punishment, Heather kept her salute strong, almost as a form of meditation to keep her from choking. “I was on the trail of criminals who meant the city harm.” “From Cross? Now you're just making excuses, Storm.” Heather focused as hard as she could on her salute, keeping her indignation in check. “Yes and no, Captain. Were you a brigand, would you sit here in the city walls?” Sully's lips contorted slightly as he got in Heather's face. “It's possible,” he answered. “But we can assign others to such an investigation, instead of skimping on the patrols. I've got the rich kids in the High Rise breathing down my neck for more protection as these Eclipse goons keep attacking. I understand that's important...but not important enough to take a loss here at home!” “Where might you take the loss instead?” Heather shot back, leaning toward Captain Sully in kind. His justification was too flimsy for her to keep her composure. “If a patrolman is not spared, do you make do with one less man in a watchtower?” “I'd be the one to make that decision...and I probably wouldn't give it to the guard that lost the Moonblade.” Sully gave Heather a sadistic grin. “You never did bring him back after that day, dead or alive. Where is he now, Storm? He's way too high-profile to be left at large, and what he's stolen is too valuable.” [[Previous|Page 118 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 120 (H)]]

Heather let out a ragged sigh, knowing the trap she was caught in. No answer she gave would get her out of the situation cleanly, so she did her best to dodge the question. “I have already given my report on that day's events.” Sully shook his head, turning away from Heather for a second before slamming his gauntlet into her cheek, knocking her into the dirt of the castle gardens. “What kind of answer is that, Storm?' he asked, standing over her with the sun at his back. “Heather!” a voice shrieked from behind Sully. Soon after, Nicole was there, covering Heather with her body. “Who's this punk beating up on you?” Sully chuckled and rolled his neck in a circle, cracking the joints. “Punk? Speak for yourself, whelp. Is this really how incompetent you are, Storm, having some little cripple fight your battles for you?” Heather tried to stop Nicole, but it was no use. The young mage was already on her feet, cold air gathering around her arm. “You sure got a big mouth, pal! Does it get you in trouble any?” Heather recognized the train of thought as advice she had once given Nicole in order to teach her some restraint. She did her best to mask her sigh as she realized the lecture had done nothing. “Kid, you don't seem to realize who I am, so I'll tell you, you can run on home, and we can forget this ever happened. That's a pretty generous offer.” Sully took off his helmet and stretched his hands in front of him, knuckles cracking even through the gauntlets. “I'm Captain Hadrian Sully, and if you're impressed by skirts like Storm here, you ought to know I'm in charge of the whole lot. Death itself is afraid of me, kid, and you should be too.” Having served alongside the man, Heather knew his every boast to be completely truthful. Now she was afraid for Nicole's life, confident that her hotheaded companion would be no match for quite possibly the most decorated war hero alive in Moonbrooke City. [[Previous|Page 119 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 121 (H)]]

Nicole shrugged and worked the kinks out of her shoulders as she spoke. “Wouldn't be the first time I didn't do as I'm supposed to,” she mused. Heather came to her feet, moving in to restrain Nicole, but she was pushed aside. “Don't worry, pal, you'll get yours, but you're not giving it your all today...not that your all is enough to beat me. Nicole began shadowboxing in front of Captain Sully. He leaned away, hand on his sword in case the hits were meant for him. "But I can tell you woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something," Nicole continued. "Wake up early, have a good breakfast, do your stretches, and then we'll throw down. If your name is such a big deal, there's gotta be no excuses...I want people to know you were in your prime when I beat you.” Heather watched on in amazement as Sully did not press the issue further. After being talked to so sternly by him, she had no idea how a one-armed girl was talking him down before her very eyes. Sully gave a deathly grimace as he turned away, doubtlessly returning to the barracks. “How?” was the only way Heather could think to ask her question, once she and Nicole were alone again. “How what?” Heather made a motion toward Sully and began to speak, but Nicole had already caught on. “Oh, him? I knew he'd leave...they always do. Guy's really into his reputation, but it's all he's got...if he loses to me, even through some kind of fluke, he's pretty much dead. I ain't worth that risk if he don't even know my name.” “You ascertain these things through observation alone?” Heather had never seen such a skill in her life. “Are they accurate?” Nicole shrugged. “You tell me. I'll tell you that I've had tons of practice, in the arena and at the Vanishing Wench. I just know how people are sometimes, is all.” Still struggling to believe it, Heather settled on a test. “Very well, then. What does this perception of yours reveal about me?” “I've never been put on the spot like this,” Nicole gasped, “but fine, I'll give it a go.” Nicole's hand moved in front of her chest, seemingly in search of another hand to clap against. “Wait, that's right, I was supposed to be bringing you back to Ace and Greg.” [[Previous|Page 120 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 122 (H)]]

Heather had been distracted by Sully and Nicole, but a small crowd of onlookers had come at some point to gawk at the altercation. Since it had ended without violence, few stuck around to see it through to the end. “Then let us accomplish that first, and then you may attempt your analysis.” “Or I'll do it on the way.” Indeed, Heather and Nicole weaved through the crowds of people anxious to resume their normal lives with the Coronation celebration out of the way, and all the while, Heather felt Nicole's eyes on her. “The only reason you put up with that Sully guy's crap is because he's such a good knight, isn't it?” Nicole asked. Heather tried to keep quiet, so as not to give the mage any hints, and make her rely solely on this intuition. “You'll put up with anyone, but that's what you really respect in someone, is power. Yeah, you and I are alike like that.” “What?” Heather gasped, pulling Nicole aside. After that, she was unable to focus on the road and the conversation at the same time. Now she had the young woman up against an alley wall, shaded from the sun, hands on either side of Nicole. “You find us similar?” she groaned. “Perhaps your appraisals are not so reliable.” Nicole was undeterred. “Don't you try and deny it,” she said with a chuckle. “Besides, it's just the one thing...we both judge people partly by how well they fight.” Heather opened her mouth to protest, but her mind had its own agenda. She was thinking about all the people she'd ever looked up to, or at least took orders from, and the three companions she had now. Much as she wanted to, she couldn't deny that Nicole had found something in common with all of them. She simply released Nicole from the wall, allowing the duo to resume their walk back to the museum. [[Previous|Page 121 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 123 (H)]]

“Yeah, don't know why you do it,” Nicole continued, having now adopted a very confident stride, “but the other thing you're super into is justice, law, protecting the weak, all that. That's not a vibe I get from everyone in that uniform. Some of them are just sucking up to the queen, or just plain showing off, or they want to arrest people they don't like.” “And now you slander the good knights that protect this city?” Heather paused to glance around, checking the proximity for anyone else of her order, anyone she could point to as a counterargument to Nicole's criticism. Even as she did, however, Nicole kept going. “What's slander? Is that like lying? Because I'm not. You're gonna tell me that everyone you work with works as hard as you do, take it seriously like you do?” “Yes,” Heather lied, wincing as the word spilled from her lips. She hadn't had time to manufacture any false sincerity, a fact that hadn't escaped Nicole. She instantly understood the sly grin on the mage's face, and revised her answer. “No. There are indeed slackers and snakes among our ranks.” Nicole continued beyond the aside entirely. “You had a perfect record with arrests or whatever before you met Greg, didn't you?” Stunned by the complete change of subject, Heather could only nod. “Yeah, thought so. That one, I figured out on day one. You were so ready to tear his head off!” After having her soul bared so easily by this girl she'd taken for a simple punk, Heather was relieved to see their destination so close by. “We have arrived,” she announced quickly, trying to drown out Nicole's words. “Let us not keep the others waiting, Nicole.” “Oh, no, you don't!” Nicole dissented, blocking Heather's path with her body. “First you gotta tell me if you're gonna kill Greg or not, when we're done with this.” After a long silence, Nicole added, “That's the one thing I can't figure out.” Heather hadn't even thought about it for some time, and her own opinion on the matter seemed to change every time she considered it. She decided at this point to give Nicole a definite answer, confident that the young woman would keep her honest if nothing else. That way, she would never have to think about it again. “He shall be spared.” [[Previous|Page 122 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 124 (H)]]

At first, Nicole only had a laugh to offer in reply. “You should see your face!” She then disappeared into the museum without offering any elaboration. Heather reached up to her face, detecting the shock on her face with her fingers. “I have made some unwritten contract with Nicole to free a thief,” she said to herself, trying to repackage what had just happened into words that made sense to her. “What has become of me lately?” Heather climbed the stoop and leaned against the museum wall. “Antagonizing Captain Sully and fraternizing with a criminal...I hope this leads to some measure of justice soon.” Before Heather could lament the situation any further, the museum door swung open, and Nicole's head peeked out at her. “Hey, you lost?” she called out. “Door's over here, knucklehead!” Seeing Nicole didn't urge Heather into action. In fact, it only gave her another question. “Nicole, please, before we join the others, there is one more thing I must know.” Nicole took her hand off the door and stepped outside to hear Heather out. “OK, you're getting weird on me. Let's hurry this up before you get too freaky.” Nicole leaned on the wall next to Heather and smiled up at her. “'sup?” “If the situation had escalated further...would you truly have fought Captain Sully for my sake?” Nicole's answer came before Heather was even done speaking. “Well, yeah.” “Even knowing his deeds in war? Even knowing that he was personally selected by the Queen to be Captain due to his skills?” “What?” Nicole stopped to laugh vigorously. “You thought I knew all that? Come on, it's like you're not paying attention.” As she stepped toward the door, she turned back to Heather and smiled mischievously. “But now that I do," she added, "I almost hope that windbag comes back around. If he smack talks you any more, I'll take him down and prove him wrong about the both of us...or I can let you at him. That'd be a good one to watch.” Nicole disappeared into the museum for a second time, and this time, after a quick glance to the castle, Heather followed close behind, eager to continue the investigation. [[Previous|Page 123 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 125 (N)]]

## Chapter 25 “You sure you want to see this?” Nicole asked quietly into the air. She was never sure which way to look when it came to talking to Anna. “Usually, the kids that come to the arena are a little older.” “You really like this arena place,” Anna whispered back. “I watched you and Gregory play. You talked about it a lot.” Nicole rolled her eyes as she finished changing into her arena outfit. The Orange Star Academy had confiscated the one she'd worn on the day of her expulsion, but she had a spare in her locker. She couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces as she came out still bedazzled in those colors, despite their best efforts. “And you thought it'd be vital to your little tour, huh?” She'd been grateful for Gregory's assistance, too. “I just hope the crash course in kicking he gave me was enough.” “Everyone says you'll win. What are you playing?” “You didn't figure it out after watching Greg and I?” Nicole chortled under her breath. “It's more play fighting, duh. Don't worry, magic makes sure no one gets hurt for real.” “Ace told Heather you're doing this just to look good. Is that true?” “Kind of. Everyone's gonna learn that I don't need both arms.” It was only about then that she noticed Thousand Blades staring past his open locker. “Who ya talkin' to, guv?” he spat. His two left hands wrapped around the door, almost as if to hide. Nicole shook her head and put the shield Anna was bound to in the locker. “Shut up,” she replied. “I'm trying to psyche myself up. I have a feeling Fang's only been getting better waiting for the arena to reopen.” “Oi, 'e's who you're 'aving a go-'round wif?” She felt Thousand Blades stare at her missing arm. “'e got off easy, 'e did!” Nicole's reply was barely audible over her locker door slamming. “You'll see.” [[Previous|Page 124 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 126 (N)]]

With that, Nicole came out of the locker room and waited by the match reception counter. “Sonya, where's Fang at, anyway?” Even as Sonya spoke, Nicole could tell the receptionist was trying her hardest not to stare. She started thinking that maybe it was better for people to be forward, like Thousand Blades was, than try to pretend nothing was different. “Well, I told him you weren't ready yet,” she began, “so he went out to get some food before the match.” Nicole slammed her hand onto the counter, just to give Sonya something else to stare at. “I should've guessed,” she said, staring toward the fighters' entrance. “But it's a lot different now that I'm the one left waiting.” “Word around the arena floor is that he'll finally be the one to break that streak you were on before we closed down for awhile there.” Sonya raked stray red hair away from her eye with her index finger. “And that was even before news got out about...” “...yes, my arm.” Nicole heaved an impatient sigh. “You don't have to dance around it, you know. Like you said, we all know it's missing.” Before she could harangue Sonya any further, Fang finally entered the building, his muscles barely contained by the street clothes he'd worn out to find food. Even as he came in, he was still stuffing some bread product into his face, crumbs splashing out into his beard. “Ugh, finally,” Nicole growled at him. “Don't get cramps on me while you're trying to fight. I don't want you to have any excuses when you lose.” Fang only laughed in reply, tearing off his street clothes right there in the reception area. The thick brown fur of his canine suit fluffed right out, seeming grateful to be exposed to the air. It took Nicole a second to realize that he'd been wearing the suit underneath street clothes the whole time, and that all that was left was a brief sojourn to fetch his mask from the locker. “You only got one arm!” he exclaimed through the open mouth of his mask. “Thousand Blade's got four, and I beat him!” “So you're thinking this shouldn't take long?” Fang didn't reply, but Nicole knew she'd read him easily. “Then let's get it finished, and you can get back to eating.” [[Previous|Page 125 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 127 (N)]]

Fang nodded and ran off toward his gate on all fours, clearly working in one last practice run before he was to appear in front of a crowd. “You can beat him,” Anna whispered in Nicole's ear as she stepped up to her gate, catching the tail end of the announcer's introduction for Fang. “...that blur of teeth and claws, Fang!” the announcer said as the other gate came open, letting Fang out to revel in the applause of the audience. “And his opponent...well, I know what everyone's been saying, and they're right. The Frigid Witch has lost an arm. I'm sure there's nothing I can say about her, or this match, that everyone in the stands hasn't already whispered back and forth. But just look at her! She's right there, looking no less confident...so how about it, everyone? You want to see her put to the test, don't you?” When the audience cheered in reply, the gate shuddered. “Then let's not waste any time!” With that, Nicole was unleashed into the pit, facing down Fang as the gate crashed shut behind her. She knew Fang wasn't one to waste any time, and she was eager to oblige, so the two met in the middle for their opening moves. He had run in on all fours to start things off with a vicious pounce. Nicole leaned into the attack, focusing her magic on her right shoulder. With no hand to channel the spell into, the ice magic grew around her shoulder, forming a great bluish shell that deflected Fang's claws. She rolled her body with the force of the impact, squeezing away into a sidestep as Fang landed behind her. She spun around on her heels, just in time to keep Fang's follow-up from smashing into her back, instead taking the blow to the stomach and falling to the ground beneath him. With her on her back, she was at least able to clobber Fang's head with an icy fist until he dismounted. “Face it, I'm too fast!” Fang shouted, plowing Nicole into the wall before she could regain her footing. “Then I just have to work harder,” Nicole replied, focusing her magical might despite the claws slashing at her. Spontaneously, she decided that if she could urge ice to her limbs, including the missing arm, she could do it anywhere. Fang's slashes soon found themselves ineffective, as Nicole had cloaked her chest in a protective glacier. She'd had trouble steering ice to other areas when she tried it on the craw, but now it worked wonders, even ensnaring one of his claws, voiding his escape “What the?” he growled, raising his other claw. “That's not the only new trick!” [[Previous|Page 126 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 128 (N)]]

Nicole wound up her right leg and swung it at Fang's left, and the ice she'd put on it added more weight to the impact. Fang's knee buckled as he struggled to stay upright, but Nicole was able to bowl him over with her other knee. He let out a surprised bellow as he landed on his back, but because his claw was still stuck in ice, Nicole fell with him, pinning his arm between the two of them. Now they both had one arm which was free to smash into each other, all while the announcer went wild. “Amazing!” he screamed to the crowd, who were just as surprised as Fang. “Seems our muscle wizard learned some new magic! But she took a licking at the beginning, and they're just blasting each other right now...can she make up for lost time?” Nicole thought for a moment that she could hear Anna cheering along with everyone else, but she shook it off and pushed herself to her feet. She grabbed Fang's frozen claw and wrenched it free, pushing him back with a kick to the side. She briefly contemplated the stamina the two of them had left, wondering just how much longer he could keep up his swift assault, and how much more she could take. “Something's gonna give, soon,” she muttered to herself, even as Fang was dashing on all fours again. She still felt plenty of magical reserves in her, however, and put them to work, meeting Fang's charge with a cold shoulder. She saw she wasn't going to win a collision, since he was so much faster, but she still had one approach. She let the ice grow outward from her feet, digging the icicle cleats into the dirt and brandishing her frost shield against the incoming impact. “What?” she swear she heard Fang say, right before he smashed headfirst into her trap. The force of the blow dissipated into the ice, and she kept her footing, unlike Fang. As he lay on the ground dazed, Nicole raised her foot and started stomping, hoping to bash the breath out of him. She stepped back after a few dozen stomps, confident that he wouldn't beat the count, and leaned against one of the pillars to try her best to catch her breath, feeling like she was taking in mouthfuls of fire. To keep herself busy, she scanned the crowd for the others, eventually finding Greg and Ace sitting there, with Heather just having left her seat, perhaps for the restroom. [[Previous|Page 127 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 129 (N)]]

Everyone waited with bated breath for the deciding moment. Eventually, the outcome was clear. “Looks like Fang is still in it!” the announcer hollered as the clawed combatant came back to his senses, and his feet. “Oh, great,” Nicole groaned, rousing herself to match. She'd barely separated herself from the pillar when Fang was already coming at her, leading his charge with his claws instead of his body. She moved to sidestep, but the attack was too wide, and she felt a gash run through her good arm. She looked up at the others again, seeking their willpower to add to hers, in the hopes that it might jump start her weary body. She had the pillar to keep between her and Fang now, giving her more leeway to recover from his initial beatdown and devise a winning strategy. She searched her brain all over for some key while Fang kept trying to rush her down, knowing that if he knocked her down, she wasn't getting back up. When she found nothing of note, she stepped away from the pillar, ready to try something new. “You can't keep hiding!” Fang taunted her as he charged in again, faking her out with half a pounce. He landed in front of her instead of on top of her, getting a few claw swipes in before she could raise an icy guard. The claws kept raining down on her, locking the two fighters in a stalemate until Fang's stamina or Nicole's magic gave out, whichever was first. “Not many here can make the Frigid Witch play so defensively!” the announcer remarked on the action. “Or is this her new style now that...” Even the announcer was trailing off, dancing around the truth. The fact infuriated Nicole, giving her the energy to shield bash Fang with her icy arm. The impact shoved his arms away from his body, leaving him open to a frozen punch to the gut. His body crumpled around the impact, leaning him toward her, enough for her to try one more thing. With a quiet grunt, she jumped toward him, raising a leg to loop over his head, forcing him to fall to the ground along with her. She put some ice behind his head, pressing him between her leg and the dirt with the impact. The icy shrapnel spread outward, wreathing Fang's head and shoulders in a reflective outline. Nicole swayed to her feet, fatigue robbing her of balance, and retreated to the pillar once more to wait out the count. She was sure the crowd was making noise, but to her, all fell silent as she watched Fang's body. The judgment felt like it took hours. “That's it!” the announcer finally shouted. “Fang is down and out! The Frigid Witch, she did it!” The stadium exploded in glee as her fans made their support heard. Satisfied, she let her back fall against the pillar, sliding down it into a sitting position. She looked up at her companions and shot them a smug grin, confident that the win provided ample proof of her abilities. [[Previous|Page 128 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 130 (H)]]

## Chapter 26 Heather watched in disdain as Gregory collected his prize money. “Such a dishonest living,” she remarked as he passed by her. He appeared to ignore her in favor of the sound of his full pockets, and left on his way to snag Anna's shield. Despite having no audience, she continued. “Naught but another mask for thievery.” “I know, hardly fair,” Ace said from behind her, startling her. She had had an audience after all, and a perceptive one at that. “But it would be less of a hustle if they'd bother to know Nicole like we do.” “A hustle?” Heather didn't see what this had to do with haste. “Never?” Ace shook her head as she moved in front of Heather. “Hustling...you know, tricking people into making a bet you know they'll lose.” Tapping a finger on Heather's temple, she added, “Come on, how do you patrol the streets every night and not hear anyone on them talk?” “Guard duty has become second nature, Ace. For me, the city is as a wagon...the noise it makes rolling along the road is below my perception. Only that which implies trouble is noted.” Having the Moonblade in her entourage was interfering, however, as she pulled double duty guarding his alter ego from prying eyes. “If you say so.” Ace's sigh and eye roll betrayed the insincerity of that sentence, however. “I think Greg said something earlier about celebrating at the Vanishing Wench. She's probably already there, with all the time he took to count his coin. You coming, or do you have more second nature to do?” Heather shook her head. “Mock me not...Nicole is not the only one that hones her technique.” She stopped to drum a short tune on the pommel of her knightsword with her fingertips. “As for your question, my shift is later, so I may make an appearance at this banquet. I do recall, however...guards do make the patrons rather uneasy.” She suspected that they were guilty, but she found herself oddly unconcerned with that rabble. “Nicole would want you to be there,” Ace said, though this retort was far more caring than her last. “She's grown on us, but we've grown on her too. Can you really not see that?” Truthfully, it hadn't been an angle Heather had considered, but it made sense to her. Ace continued when Heather didn't reply. “She'd have ditched us already otherwise.” Before they could discuss Nicole further, they heard Anna call to them, distress in her voice. She knew the value of laying low, too, so Heather knew it must be serious for the girl to risk detection. “What?” she gasped, following Ace into an alleyway. “Nicole!” [[Previous|Page 129 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 131 (H)]]

“What of Nicole?” Heather looked toward the Vanishing Wench, worried. “That place she's at...bad men with masks are there!” That was all the urging she needed. She ran as fast as she could in her guard armor, though she found herself outsped by Ace on the way to the Vanishing Wench. Gregory was nowhere to be seen, but there was no time to fetch him. The tavern was easy to spot by the altercation that had erupted outside of it. True to Anna's worries, the Eclipse were swarming the area, many of them wielding burlap sacks. The sacks bulged in strange angles as some of them disappeared into the evening, using the confusion of the crowd to their advantage. Heather had to trust her fellow guards to pick them off, because she had to dive into the fray in order to ensure Nicole's survival. The first few Eclipse burglars didn't see her coming, falling to her blade easily. Their screams tipped off the throng of fighters, and now that she was up close, she could see who was among the crowd. The burglars were at least courteous enough to wear their masks, and she couldn't help but chuckle at the paradox. The masks hid their identities, but to Heather, all that mattered was their identities as criminals, so all they did was mark themselves for execution. Some of the other people grappling with the thieves were burly and reeked of the tavern atmosphere, doubtless some regular patrons eager to join a brawl. Somewhere in the middle of it all was Nicole, standing next to a raven-haired girl, who pitched her backpack through the open door of the Wench just as Heather had spied her. “Just cast something, Ciel!” she could hear Nicole saying to the girl, even as she swung an icy arm into a nearby Eclipse fighter to bowl him over. “I don't think they'll mind if it's in self-defense!” “But the rules...!” Ciel protested as Heather hacked her way to the girls' position. Ace gave her a knowing look, and stayed on the outskirts of the battle, her own swordplay working better in less crowded areas. “There's no rules when you're dead! These guys play for keeps, you know!” “'These guys'? Nicole, what aren't you telling me?” [[Previous|Page 130 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 132 (H)]]

Heather checked a friendly out of her path, breaking into the clearing Nicole had cut into the enemy. Nicole met her eyes instantly, summoning her over with a friendly wave. “About time you got here!” she shouted. “You missed most of the fun.” Heather stood with her back facing Nicole's, instinctively taking a city guard's formation around Ciel. Even during a parry and riposte, she grilled Nicole for information. “What brings them here?” she asked. “They're stealing the bones I've been fetching for Hank. I don't get it.” “Most peculiar.” One of the Eclipse members turned her blade aside, hoping a nearby ally of theirs would strike her down. Instead, she punched the ally with her gauntlet and threw him backwards into the crowd, disrupting friend and foe alike. “And her?” “Ciel's the brains here. She found another thing about that Animus Font Gr...uh...” Nicole couldn't focus on obfuscating Gregory's identity while she fought, so she stopped to whirl some frosty kicks into the enemy and resumed talking when she was safer. “...the Moonblade stole, that orb...Ciel here came through with more research.” “You promised,” Ciel growled, barely audible over the din of combat. Heather couldn't own up to the girl's concerns because she had too many of her own. Now that she and her friends had thinned the enemy ranks, she looked over the carnage and saw none of her fellow guardsmen joining the fray. She could think of no reason they would be too busy to help, except one. “Do we know if other Eclipse are elsewhere in the city?” “Lady, I just got here,” Nicole spat, her stance faltering slightly. “They didn't let me rest a wink after that big fight with Fang.” And yet you held out this well, Heather wanted to say. The words were still on her mind even as she was triple-teamed by some enterprising foes, but they were repelled by the magic of her knightsword. When she blocked their blows, they were met with double the force pushing back at them, tossing their sword arms away from their bodies, leaving them vulnerable. After she pressed her advantage on the three of them, though, her thought was lost to her. [[Previous|Page 131 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 133 (H)]]

“Still with the arena, huh?” Ciel asked. Glancing back, Heather could see the mage was still confused and afraid, and guessed her small talk was meant as a distraction for herself. “You know it,” Nicole confirmed, tipping an Eclipse over herself in a hip throw. Heather found herself wondering just how strong the young woman was, given that she could perform such a feat with just one arm while tired. That wondering made her realize that she was distracting herself, too. Heather returned her focus to the fight, sidestepping a mace blow such that it struck her heavily armored shoulder instead of cracking her skull. It still hurt, but not enough to deter her counterattack. Another Eclipse came at her, the last on her side, making it trivial to catch the brigand with a deadly thrust. She heaved a sigh of relief, glad Nicole and her friend were out of danger for the moment. “This way!” Heather commanded Ciel, content to let Nicole and Ace finish things up outside while she guarded the Vanishing Wench from the inside. It was far from safe inside, however. A man stood in the center of the tavern, clad in the usual green and black of the Eclipse, but not bothering to wear a skull. Instead, he had purloined a helm from the city guard, the metal reflecting the lamplight scrubbing the tavern walls. In each arm, he gripped a Torikago-style sword, and his intentions were clear as soon as he raised one toward Heather. “Who are you?” she demanded. “I was hoping I'd see you again,” was the man's only reply. “That voice...we met in the forest?” She hoped he would be forthcoming with answers, because every observation only raised more questions. His facial structure seemed to imply Torikago origins, but his accent gave away his Moonbrooke upbringing, and an upper-class one at that. She studied his angular chin, his black hair tied into a ponytail, the deep green of his eyes, anything that would help identify him after she was done with him. He nodded. “How's the Moonblade, guard?” “That is not for you to know.” A chuckle rolled out of his mouth. “So he's alive, then. He doesn't know anything...but now I do.” He chuckled some more as he paced back and forth a little. “Such a delicious morsel of blackmail...!” Heather shook her head, pointing her sword at his. “Incorrect!” she shouted, twirling her sword a bit. She wanted to vocalize her trust, but this man was too good at reading between the lines, so she moved on. “Why risk your lives for bones?” [[Previous|Page 132 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 134 (H)]]

The Eclipse leader smirked and turned away from Heather, preparing a sardonic answer. Before he could give it, she clubbed him in the back of the head with her hilt before he could say anything. He stumbled further away from her, out of range of a follow-up, and shook the impact off before drawing his weapons. “I wasn't going to tell you anyway.” The sword in his left hand began to shimmer with heat, accentuating the strange pattern along the sides of the blade. They seemed similar to the ones adorning Heather's knightsword, but showcased their very different effect when a reddish blast shot out from the tip of the sword. Heather raised her knightsword just in time, its magic allowing her to bat the energy away. It careened out a rear window of the Vanishing Wench, exploding against the inside of the city walls on impact. Her eyes narrowed at this arcane intruder as she gazed at him from behind her sword, her head swirling with fragments of strategies. They all had one thing in common, however; she wanted to drag this interloper outside. To this end, she took a page from Nicole's playbook in the hopes that she could pull it off. “Such cowardice,” she said, taking Ciel back outside. The others appeared to have left the premises, giving her plenty of space to fight. Ciel shook her head and took a few steps back from Heather. “Thank you, guardsman,” she said with a slight bow, “but I'll take care of myself.” The man took aim with his sword and launched energy at her, but a brief incantation summoned a flash of light that filled the road. When it disappeared, so had she. Heather found herself worried about the girl. Nicole had discussed the taboo that was using magic outside of the Academy, but she would be willing to vouch for Ciel if she needed to. The thought was so absorbing that she didn't even see the next shot coming. The energy slammed into her chest, seeming to bypass her armor entirely and wrack her body with pain, and the impact threw her off balance. She caught herself on the wall of a nearby building just in time to prevent a nasty fall, and when the next magic bullet came at her, she only had the strength to bunt it away, causing it to burst on the road in front of her. Even an indirect hit tore through her, her knees buckling under the increasingly difficult effort involved in standing. She'd exerted herself enough in the fight with this man's goons that she had little fuel left to engage a skilled combatant. Seeing that his energy shots weren't working, he closed in and fanned his swords to his sides, coming in for the kill. She could bunt away magic with her knightsword, but there was no way she'd intercept two swords with it. Even so, she raised her blade to block the attack on her right. To her surprise, however, she heard a similar clash of steel on her left, as her vision went white. [[Previous|Page 133 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 135 (H)]]

## Chapter 27 Heather took in the utter whiteness swallowing her vision and made a guess. “Have I died?” she asked, reaching toward her side, where she would have suffered the wound. “Oh, whoops,” she heard a voice say, followed by a feeling on the back of her head. In an instant, the whiteness fell away from her sight, revealing the same scene she'd been in before, with her assailant's former confidence replaced by shock. Another brush against her head revealed the whiteness to have simply been Gregory's scarf, which had billowed over her face after the maneuver that had brought him to her side. His knife's deep serration had caught the man's other blade, keeping it away from her. Gregory turned to her with a smile and a request. “Hey, can you leave this to me? I've got beef with this guy.” Heather nodded and slipped away, deflecting another blow on her way to the sidelines. Her legs took her no further, so she resigned herself to taking cover behind a nearby market stand, tearing away the knickknacks hanging in her view of the action. “I knew you'd be back for this dive,” the man growled, swinging his free sword at Gregory, but slicing nothing but air. “You were always so concerned for the lives of the rabble.” Gregory shook his head, patiently squeezing in a few attacks. Heather recognized the tactic instantly; it was one he'd shared with Nicole when he'd taught her to use her legs in battle. The attacks were not meant to land, merely to analyze his opponent's reactions. “Usually,” he admitted, “but I'm only here right now 'cause I heard you talking, Kuroi.” Kuroi was undeterred. “Vengeance? That was my second guess.” He fired his sword beam at Gregory, and the ex-thief gave it a wide berth with a nimble dodge. “You're so predictable, Moonblade. I never thought you'd have ensorcelled the guard, though...but if you hadn't brought those women into it, yours would still be alive.” “Please, I heard all about it.” [[Previous|Page 134 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 136 (H)]]

Just as quickly as he'd ducked out, Gregory weaved his way back in, scoring a glancing blow with his dagger in one of his many probing attacks. With his mouth obscured by that scarf, Heather looked to his eyes for a hint. Even from afar, she could see the look in them, a burning hatred. Despite that thirst for vengeance, however, he was being calculated, and she found herself respecting that. “You had that resonance spell handy," Gregory said, "and you used it even when the others were cooperating.” Gregory ducked into range again, baiting an easily evaded double slash from Kuroi. Before the villain could recover, Gregory had found a gap in his armor to draw blood from. It wouldn't slow him down, but Heather was elated at the progress. “I just couldn't have that guard running her mouth.” Kuroi slashed with one sword and forced Gregory to block, but this created an opportunity to use his other sword to fire energy directly into Gregory's stomach. Kuroi let a sadistic smile cross his face as Gregory staggered from the impact. “You'd have had Alice back if she'd only died peacefully.” Heather was incensed that Nicole and Ace were being left out. Gregory, however, had more immediate reasons to get angry. “Don't you say her name!” he screamed, launching himself back at his opponent. He let Kuroi land a couple flesh wounds in order to get himself closer, taking hold of the brigand's shoulders as he continued to charge. Kuroi hit the tavern wall, his back caught between it and Gregory's momentum. The two of them were too close to use their weapons, but Gregory just switched to headbutts, again using the wall to easily get more out of his strikes. “You don't have the right to talk about Alice!” he screamed in Kuroi's face. Heather retracted her previous sentiment; she could see that Gregory had waited to learn Kuroi's moves before allowing himself to give in to his feral anger. Blood was trickling from both of the combatants' heads now, but Gregory didn't stop. “I'll kill you!” he threatened. “If you keep this up,” Kuroi spat, struggling against Gregory's indomitable grip, “you'll die too.” “I don't care!” [[Previous|Page 135 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 137 (H)]]

Gregory's blood was flicked skyward by the thrashing of his head as he continued using it as a battering ram to break Kuroi's face open. “I don't care!" he shouted again. "You're the only reason I stayed alive! Once I avenge her, who cares what happens to me?” Heather knew at least two answers to that question, but only for a short moment. She quickly stopped trying to delude herself, and made the more accurate tally. It was at least three. She felt so compelled to step in and pull Gregory aside, finish things herself, and keep him from self-destructing, but she remembered something Nicole had said before, about Ace and King. This, too, was a grudge match that she had to stay out of. Even if she was in any condition to fight, her intervention would make his vengeance impossible. Seeing the weight it placed upon him now made her wonder if he'd been carrying it the entire time, and she figured that he was doomed if he were to have to carry it forever. Kuroi was no longer struggling to break free. Gregory wasn't seeing it, but Heather spotted it from afar. The Eclipse moved his hands up his swords, gripping the blades tightly. Blood seeped from his grip as he turned the swords in his hands. With his shoulders held in place, Kuroi was still able to bring the point of each sword down into Gregory's sides, slipping them between the ribs. Gregory howled in pain and fell away from Kuroi, his body crumpling on the cobblestones. Torikago swords were not meant for stabbing, and therefore didn't stick too deeply into Gregory, but combined with his self-inflicted head wounds, it was enough. As soon as the blades entered Gregory's skin, Heather had pulled herself to her feet. Even if she couldn't finish the fight, she'd surely help, if that was what it took to stop Kuroi. She didn't think Gregory would be tortured forever if that were the case. She didn't think he'd be happy if she had to rescue him, but she had her own duties as a knight, a guard of Moonbrooke City. She stared down at the knightsword in her hand, and thought back to the oath she took upon it. Right now, Gregory was the citizen that needed protecting, and Kuroi the one that needed to be brought to justice. [[Previous|Page 136 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 138 (H)]]

Kuroi's sick laugh tore the sky in half as he pulled his swords out of Gregory and held them properly again. “You will die a pauper's death!” he shouted as he raised his arm, his magic sword gathering red energy while he took aim. “No!” was all Heather had time to bark before she threw herself in the path of the bullet. She twisted around and brandished her knightsword, bouncing the shot into Kuroi's stomach. She landed on the road next to Gregory, every nerve and muscle in her body dissenting in the wake of her transgression. Her body was not ready to move as fast as she'd made it, and now it refused to move for her at all. She could only watch the rest from her back, hoping that her act would give Gregory the time he needed. Now that she was closer, she could see that Gregory's light armor had been no match for the sharpness of Kuroi's blades, and her gaze was transfixed on the deep wound facing her. Her eyes had been guided to it by the stain that had spread through his clothes and armor, so much so that it took her a moment to process that it was moving. “Heather,” Gregory gasped as he pushed himself to his feet. She closed her eyes and waited for his gratitude, surprised when those weren't the words that came next. “Let me borrow that.” Her body immobilized, he easily snatched the knightsword from her, using it to deflect another bolt from Kuroi's sword. She looked on as his head seemed to follow the trajectory of the deflected magic. When he nodded, she instantly deduced that it was understanding that had come to him. The word “engineer” flashed through her brain as a reminder. Kuroi had no words left; he was just as battered as Gregory was, especially after having suffered his own magic. Instead, he let out a primal shout as his blade took on a sinister glow. The redness it had borne before was nothing compared to the crackling crimson now dancing along it. “Why do you not press your attack?” Heather sputtered up at Gregory, as he stood there watching Kuroi gather energy. “There's no way his body can take that much magic draw,” Gregory replied, raising the knightsword to protect himself and Heather from whatever was coming. “He's going to die if he keeps this up.” “Hypocrite.” [[Previous|Page 137 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 139 (H)]]

The word seemed to wound Gregory as much as the magic had, but he held his stance, waiting to turn away whatever devilry was about to ensue, and went on as if he hadn't heard Heather. “If I get in the way of this, it might backfire, and tear apart that tavern, or us, or this whole city.” Heather swore she saw Kuroi collapse to the ground as his magic finally emerged, a hellish blast that sizzled with power. The cobblestones it passed over seemed to warp under the heat it gave off, and she felt its energy ripping through her, as badly as the indirect hits of the smaller shots. Gregory fell backwards as the energy washed over him too, but she saw his muscles fighting to go on even then. Inspired, she felt her own body cease its strike, allowing her to reach out and catch him. The two sat together as the shot came at them, the knightsword so heavy that all four of their hands were required to hoist it properly. Even as it touched the sword, it still pushed on, threatening to overcome the defensive enchantment. As the two of them struggled for energy, Heather decided that if they couldn't dispel the attack, she could at least dispel some ambiguity. “Gregory,” she coughed, “I apologize. I misjudged you.” “Yeah,” he agreed, his eyes clamped shut in pain. “Likewise.” The two of them gave one last shove to the knightsword before Heather's head drooped, her eyes slamming shut. All the pain had left her body, there was nothing but the darkness stretching out forever, even the weight of Gregory against her had vanished. She was once again guessing she was dead. She had no idea how the afterlife might work, or who might be there with her, but she hadn't finished saying her piece to Gregory. She wasn't sure whether it was a test, blind hope, or just insanity that compelled her to pick up where she'd left off, but she forced the words out of her. “Gregory...you do not belong to the order, yet you are my equal in knighthood. Never would I have guessed you were capable of such things as I have seen from you. I only hope that without vengeance to fuel you, you may yet find something that inspires further bravery, cunning, justice, persev—“ A familiar sensation entered the void: pain. She felt it across the surface of her cheek, a shallow stinging that disrupted her thoughts. Soon, she heard a voice in the darkness somewhere nearby. “You're getting weird again, lady.” [[Previous|Page 138 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 140 (H)]]

“Nicole?” she gasped. She was so afraid that the young mage had died somewhere out of her sight. “Nicole, where are we?” “Hospital, stupid.” Heather felt a strange tugging around her face, like she was taking her helmet off. Her eyes were battered by light, now so unfamiliar to her. She raised an arm toward the lantern, the other one probing around her face, soon finding a clump of bandages on her chest. She wondered if they had been on her eyes, and if so, why, but Nicole answered a different question instead. “Greg's getting stitched up right now,” Nicole blurted. Her reassurance led Heather to another question, but she was leaning in to make eye contact, and she seemed able to preempt this one. “It's all good, though. No one knows him. But man...what'd you do to him?” “What?” Heather attempted to shake her head, but most of her body had been immobilized. She'd been granted the use of her hands and lower arms, however, and used those to sign her confusion. “Was Kuroi not there?” Nicole shrugged. “A lot of bodies were there. Maybe one of them was Croy or whoever you're talking about. That magic, though...” She paused for a moment, scratching her chin with an icy finger, then continued. “Did you guys bat some big ol' fireball in the air? 'cause some Academy jerkoffs had to come by and get rid of it before it landed on the mansion next door to the museum.” “Is she hurt that bad?” Ace's voice called out from afar. “Why's she speaking my language?” Nicole retreated from Heather's face. “And what's that supposed to mean?” “'Kuroi'...that'd be 'black' in your tongue.” Ace's voice was closer, but still not anywhere where Heather could see her. Nicole shrugged. “Some guy. She says he did the fireball thing.” “Certainly no one I've heard of...” “Wait, Ace,” Heather said, trying to wave the anthropologist over. “His face was Torikago, as yours is, but his accent was unlike yours, a highborn Moonbrooke...” She began to describe some other factors, but Ace cut her off in short order. “Nathan Black,” she said. “Kuroi is probably a pseudonym, like Moonblade. Strange, though...I heard he died while visiting Affluens several months ago.” “When our sojourn in the hospital has ended, we shall have to arrange another strategy meeting.” “Still at it, huh?” Nicole said, her tone somehow both mocking and appreciative. “Yeah, I'll get those notes Ciel had yesterday while you sit around healing. But I think Ace and I are gonna meet before you guys are ready, OK?” Heather hadn't realized she'd been out cold for that long. [[Previous|Page 139 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 141 (N)]]

## Chapter 28 “I thought I told you,” Nicole offered, “I was working with the city guard to stop some criminals.” “But you were meant to abate your involvement!” Ciel shot back. She nearly took her papers away from the barrel everyone had gathered around, but Ace stopped her, putting a hand on both the girl and the documents. “We don't have to involve you, girl,” she snapped, “but this information is vital. Besides, Nicole is old enough to make her own decisions.” Ciel was having none of it, however. “Erroneous...I don't want Nicole to die. That's the cause of my concern. She'd ensured this research will come back to her...but I don't want to sit idly by, being safe while these criminals target her.” Unable to take back her documents, she paced around the museum basement and rubbed her temples, adding, “Next, you'll tell me you'll have engaged the Moonblade in combat.” “Actually, no, not yet,” Nicole clarified. She'd fought alongside him, but not against him. Even his kicking seminars had been more exercising than sparring. “Not yet?” Ciel growled at her fellow mage. “No, Nicole...not ever! You continue to engage in such dangerous behavior...he could be here stalking us as we speak! He's evaded the knights ” “But he's in the hospital.” The words had come out before Nicole realized just how much they revealed. Ciel looked ready to have a heart attack, and Nicole moved in to catch her if she'd end up needing it. “Wait, no, he's a good guy!” Ciel shook her head, sitting herself against a wall. “This keeps on escalating...can you please tell me why you might believe such a thing?” She buried her face in her hands, not waiting for the answer. “That lady guard you saw two days ago is in the hospital too...they saved the Vanishing Wench together. Probably the whole city, too. Those two went at it pretty rough.” [[Previous|Page 140 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 142 (N)]]

If nothing else, Nicole was glad Ciel's doubt seemed to have evaporated. “You'll hear about it, but later. For now, I wanna hear about the other stuff you found.” “Oh, right!” Ciel snapped her fingers and beckoned for Ace to return the documents to the barrel where everyone could see them. “When I came back after that first rendezvous, your questions had thoroughly piqued my curiosity. I was looking to learn more about the Animus Font, but for my own edification. But after what I found, I just had to seek you again...so I came to the one place I knew you'd be.” Nicole slammed her one fist down on the barrel. “The stuff, Ciel!” she shouted. “Of course.” Ciel winced slightly, but was plenty used to being shouted at. “Look here.” One of the documents came to the surface, a historical text about various forms of necromancy. Ciel's eyes caught Nicole's as they scanned the title. “Yes, the same Professor Smith that always goes off on those 'forbidden arts' screeds wrote a necromancy text, the hypocrite.” Nicole briefly wondered what Ciel would think if Anna were there. She really wouldn't know if Anna were there or not, but the ghost had been far quieter than normal. “The text ends in a lamentation of some lost arts of life energy manipulation," Ciel continued. "Look.” Ciel's index finger came down on an illustration of a glowing green sphere. “That's the one, alright,” Ace confirmed. Nicole looked up at her and saw that Ace was nodding, and her mouth had scrunched into a small frown. “Very nice work, Ciel. So the Animus Font is some sort of crystallized life energy. But what are the Eclipse planning with it?” Ciel kept talking, almost like she hadn't heard Ace at all. “Many pursuers of necromantic power harbor ambitions of immortality, always looking for more ways to preserve mental faculties after death, always trying to perfect the process.” With a nod, she added, “A high-profile criminal would be eager to stay on top of their organization!” She jabbed her index finger toward Nicole. “You didn't tell me you had a mystery on your hands!” A shrug rippled through Nicole's shoulders. “I thought you wouldn't want to get involved.” “Well, no, and I don't want you involved either.” Ciel's gaze seemed to be burrowing through Nicole to spy something behind her. “But I just recognized your friend there...I've read things about you, Ace.” [[Previous|Page 141 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 143 (N)]]

“Finally,” Ace cooed, entranced by the honey on Ciel's words. “Someone who recognizes me. Nicole, I think I get your arena kink now...it's good to be famous.” Ciel's eyes darted to Ace's sword, a Torikago blade with an arrow-like adornment for a pommel. “Indubitably...I must know the truth. I read an interview of yours, about a lost city in the Sand Belt...some of the minute details didn't add up, however.” Ace took a moment to play catch up. “Oh, yes, that one...that interview's at least a year old. But I remember plenty about that trip. Oh, I could go on and on about that one.” Nicole's fist had found itself in Ace's stomach, as if by a reflex. “You'll tell her whatever,” she said, glazing her fist over with ice, “but you gave Anna and I so much lip when we were curious?” “I was tired then.” Ace caught a follow-up punch in both hands and tossed it aside as she stood back up. “And there's no point now in going too far with a strategy meeting without half our group.” As she slumped over the barrel again, she gave Nicole a narrow-eyed glare. “No manners.” Ciel, conditioned by a long friendship, simply waited for Nicole to finish. “Your firsthand account contradicts that of zoologists that have ventured into the Sand Belt previously,” she said simply. “You mean to say that there are no sandworms, even in the face of experts that have delved into the desert before you? Quite brazen.” Ace laughed and adjusted her posture. “Worms? No, they were more like fish that swam through sand.” “The physics of that seem most improbable. They must burrow, or the sand would be too soft for you to cross.” “Hey, Little Miss Know-it-All, maybe you should go check it out yourself before you say anything about it. No, they were long and have those big teeth, but they moved more like fish than worms. I think your precious zoologists got tricked by a different species.” “Or perhaps you were, Ace. Could that not be the case?” “I thought you read the interview. There were far too many for me to make that big a mistake that many times.” [[Previous|Page 142 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 144 (N)]]

Nicole expected a story if nothing else, but what she was getting instead was boring her out of her mind, so she left the museum without saying a word, confident that Ciel would leave important information behind. She stopped at a T in the road, the arena audible off to the side from where she was and the hospital straight ahead. She gave one glance to the side road and made her way to the hospital, plowing passers-by aside as she walked the streets. “Can't imagine anyone interesting is fighting today,” she justified to herself as she went, putting her right shoulder first to force her way. When she found the hospital, she barged right in, the door catching a bystander in the shoulder. “Yo, what up?” The receptionist gave Nicole a sideways stare, still unsure of how to handle the young fighter. “Can...can I help ye, lass?” she said, pushing the cap of her medical uniform away from her eyes. “Not really. I'm just visiting that guard Heather, and her friend Greg.” This got the receptionist out of her chair. “Dreadfully sorry, but I've been informed they can't have visitors.” The receptionist blocked the path leading to the wing Nicole knew her friends were in. “Big mistake.” The enchanted ice began on her fist and crept up her arm. It wasn't a necessary step to take out the receptionist, but not much of it came off in the one punch it took to floor the hospital staff. “Nobody tells me what to do,” she growled as she charged down the hallways, looking for the room Heather and Gregory were sequestered in. She'd been there enough times to find it, and when she did, she was greeted by a familiar sight. A man clad in ornate guard's armor was there, and he turned around when he heard her coming. His face burned with rage, so she figured he recognized her, too. “You're that Sully guy, right?” “And you're that one-armed whelp that's suckling Guard Storm's teat,” Captain Sully responded. “The staff was instructed not to allow visitors.” [[Previous|Page 143 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 145 (N)]]

“I don't take orders, pal,” Nicole said as Captain Sully stood there, trying to be threatening. The two were in one another's faces now, trading the heat of hatred radiating from their skin. “I'm here to visit my friend.” Sully shook his head. “Your 'friend' is currently under investigation related to the attack on that seedy tavern from two days ago,” he hissed. “That was my favorite tavern, I'll have you know.” Nicole was only keeping her temper under control because Heather would be unhappy with her thrashing the guard captain. The self-control was causing her hand to tremble beneath the ice. She wondered briefly if Heather would let her pop Sully in the jaw for insulting the Vanishing Wench. “But you're here, so tell me...why was Heather the only guard there?” Nicole felt the tip of Sully's sword poking into her chin as he came in closer and lowered his voice. “Don't ask questions that will get you killed.” “Oh, please.” With an icy backhand, she batted the sword away from her, watching as it became embedded in the door. “You wouldn't be the first thing that tried to kill me, or the toughest.” “Most people buckle under the pressure by now,” Sully remarked, “I have to give you that. But maybe you're just not from around here, so let me remind you that I am the law...I can be judge, jury, and executioner.” Nicole laughed and reached for the doorknob. “No you can't,” she said, throwing the door open. “You can't be an executioner if you can't kill me.” Nicole gasped softly as she felt fingers close around her neck from behind, pulling her back out the door. Sully's gauntlets were warm against her skin, an unwelcome sensation for one who spent so much time covered in ice. “You take one step in that door, and I find you guilty of obstructing royal duty. That's treason. I'm allowed to wring your little neck for treason.” The threats only made Nicole even angrier. “Allowed, but not able.” She wriggled out of Sully's grasp and turned around, establishing eye contact to communicate her fury upon him. “If I'm not allowed in there, you let at least one of those people out here so I can make sure they're OK.” “Nicole?” a voice called out from inside the room. It was more full of pain than she'd ever heard it before, but she eventually figured out that it was Gregory. “It looks like you were right, Nicole.” She recognized the cue instantly. Gregory had held himself to his word, and let her know when he needed her help. [[Previous|Page 144 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 146 (N)]]

Nicole caught Sully off-guard with a shoulder tackle and dashed into the room, slamming it shut and concentrating her power on her hand, freezing the knob shut. She turned around at the sound of a weapon being pulled from its sheath, to see an orderly standing over Gregory, his dagger glinting in the light. Her arm was in the dagger's path in an instant, blocking the assassination attempt. “Yeah,” she said, looking down on Gregory with a warm smile, “it does look like I was right.” Gregory started talking to her even as she beat down the orderly. “Guy tried to be sneaky about taking my blade off my hip,” he said, his words about as loud as the sound of her icy fist against the orderly's head. “Thank you for saving us.” That was the point Captain Sully finally came into the room, his sword drawn. “What's going on here?” he shouted, staring at Nicole's violence. “We were not to have visitors,” Heather replied, “yet we were still beset on by an assassin.” Nicole looked up from punching the orderly to Sully's questioning gaze, but before she could speak, Heather explained. “Someone who works at this hospital attempted to steal that dagger and slay him with it. He would have succeeded, and been upon me, had Nicole not intervened.” Sully put his sword away, taking another step into the room. “You saw all this, Guard Storm?” Nicole saw Heather point to the wall behind her with her chin, where her knightsword leaned in a corner. “I stake my very knighthood on this claim...away with my sacred sword if you believe it not.” “She's always running her mouth about her fealty,” Gregory commentated from his bed. Nicole found it an obvious ploy to persuade Sully. He stood there, rubbing his chin in deep thought, taking on his duties as judge and jury of the case before him. Finally, his hand left his chin, and he walked over to the stunned assassin, pushing Nicole aside. Wordlessly, he grabbed Gregory's dagger and returned it to its sheath. “A perfect fit,” he mused, already moving to check the assassin's pulse. “And this nurse, to still be alive and gripping the dagger so tightly...it wasn't planted there.” “That's what we've been trying to tell you, bonehead!” Nicole groaned in exasperation. Despite the anger visible on his face, Sully spoke in a very slow, clear tone. “I am Captain Hadrian Sully,” he announced, “and I decree...that this one-armed whelp saved the two of you from an assassination attempt.” [[Previous|Page 145 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 147 (H)]]

## Chapter 29 Heather took in Hadrian's judgment and remained silent, having had faith in her superior's forensic abilities the entire time, but her friends belted out long sighs of relief. “I barred you from visitors,” Captain Sully said, “because of your involvement in the tavern attack. And you, whelp...your brazen admission to your own involvement is an invitation for death. Whoever was behind that attack could be listening anywhere...” His gaze rolled away, resting on the assassin dressed as hospital staff. “Yeah, you didn't have to be a jerk about it,” Nicole growled. Heather was endlessly incensed that the young mage talked to her captain so rudely, but only kept herself contained because lectures on manners would only make Nicole unhappy, solving nothing. “I took this guy down just fine.” “You completely lack restraint, whelp.” Captain Sully shook his head and made his way for the door. “Can you be trusted? You are constantly in Storm's presence these days.” “Yes,” Heather answered for the girl, surprised that Gregory had answered in unison. “Captain, this is Nicole Ellery, ex-Orange Star mage. Her cooperation and expertise have been of endless value in my investigation of the Eclipse gang. I would trust her as readily as any guard you could possibly post in our room.” “Very well.” Heather gasped softly as Captain Sully stuck out his hand. “Storm's a pain in the greaves lately, but she's one of the best I've got. Thank you for saving her.” “Yeah, well, you owe me,” Nicole replied. Despite the tone of her voice, she accepted the handshake offered to her. “We're still gonna go at it one of these days, right?” Heather felt Sully's eyes search hers, in desperate need of an explanation. “Combat is to her being as knighthood is to mine,” was all she could say in defense of her headstrong ally. “She has bested me in a sparring match on one occasion.” Sully's hand returned to his chin, appraising Nicole as intensely as he had the crime scene. “Interesting,” he murmured. That was the last he had to say before he left the hospital room. [[Previous|Page 146 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 148 (H)]]

“That's your boss, huh?” Gregory wondered aloud, after Sully was surely out of earshot. The actual hospital staff had relaxed the restraint on Heather's neck, allowing her to look over at him. He'd been through such a tough fight that the wounds on his face had tarnished his resemblance to the wanted posters of the Moonblade. She wondered if those injuries or the simple lack of recent criminal activity had lowered Captain Sully's suspicion, but she was glad all the same that he hadn't recognized Gregory. “Why even take orders from him?” the ex-thief asked. “It is my duty,” she replied without a second thought. “As a member of the Moonbrooke City Guard, I must.” “No, no, no!” Nicole said, sitting down on Heather's hospital bed, nearly tossing her weight onto Heather's injured leg. “Don't they teach you how to ask questions? Heather, the guy wants to know what about being a guard is so important that you'd swallow your pride and lick his boots, don't he?” “Ever the direct one, Nicole.” Heather sighed and motioned for Nicole to close the door. The young mage did so, reaching up to turn up the lantern hanging from the ceiling on her way back to her seat. “I have remained ever tight-lipped on who I am," Heather began, "because there is no pride in my past, as there is in my present. The kingdom of Moonbrooke extends well beyond these city walls, and continues past the forests and mountains to our west. There is a lone mountain, and I was born and raised in an iron mining town at the base of this mountain, a town called Titan Rock.” Nicole shrugged. “Never heard of it.” “Yes, I suppose you would have not.” Heather took a deep breath, knowing that her next sentence would draw two questions out of Nicole, and she'd have to move fast to answer them both. “It would have been before your time...” [[Previous|Page 147 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 149 (h)]]

...life was simple in this town, with many of the able-bodied adults working in the mines, leaving the young children in the care of the elderly quite commonly. One of the oldest citizens, a militia veteran named Ginger, kept the children occupied by regaling them with stories of past battles. She was the one that taught me my first lessons of combat, despite the ire it drew from my parents. My father would worry that I would take this advice and go about attacking the other children, while my mother saw greater value in skill with a pick than with a sword. Ginger, however, valued neither of these criticisms. “No one should have to fight, but everyone should know how to,” were her words to me. I knew not the meaning of her words, but still I honed my skill, even when my parents forbade me to meet with Ginger. They had taught me to respect my elders, and yet it was Ginger who was eldest among the three of them. This is the logic I used as a child to continue my swordsmanship drills. I did not contact Ginger further, as my parents wished, but I learned how to fight, as she wished. To this end, my practice moved to a hillock on the outskirts of Titan Rock. Ginger had left a sword for me there, a small blade she had carried into battle in her days of militia service. It was meant to be a short, quick blade for adults, but at my age, I carried it as if it were a longsword. I honed my movements on that hillock when I could, sometimes abandoning food or sleep in pursuit of yet more swordsmanship. Defense was Ginger's forte; she always instructed me that it was not the number of foes she'd slain that kept her alive, but rather the number of foes that had failed to slay her. With no direct tutelage, I used my imagination, ensuring that no attack I made left me vulnerable to a counterattack. Sometimes my opponent wore the face of my father, and sometimes my mother. In my mind, I proved to them daily on that hillock that my studies were valuable. Even when the village was stricken by earthquakes, driving the adults out of the mines where they may have seen me, I continued to practice. [[Previous|Page 148 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 150 (h)]]

It was during one such session that I noticed bandits slinking through the night, cowardly slashers come to raid the iron mines of Titan Rock while the adults slept. I was still so young, and yet the stories Ginger had told me rang through my ears, a war drum compelling me to march into the mines and intercept the brigands on their way out. From there, they would have no retreat and no surrender. When they met me at the mouth of the mines, they found it quite ridiculous that I would stand against them, a lowly child with a lamp at my hip and a shortsword in my trembling hands, against three adults with the intent to kill. They attacked, but I held my own. Ginger had given me quite usable advice, and my defenses were impenetrable as the first bandit attacked me. They broke my guard not with swordplay, but with vile and poisonous words. The bandits cast all manner of aspersions upon me and my family, awful things I dare not repeat lest Anna be listening. I lowered my sword to my side and charged at the fiends, receiving naught but a cut along my forehead for my troubles. Were I taller, the blade would have caught me in a much more vital area. Even so, the wound, the sight of my blood, the pain, threw me into a panic, and I stepped back from the trio, my eyes on them. Were my eyes on the ground, I would have noticed the fissure I fell into. I had fallen on the ground while running before, skidding my body against dirt and rock, and this was similar enough that I did naught but grit my teeth, holding my tears back. At the bottom, I fell against some creature the likes of which I have never seen before, or since. Its head was similar to a landstrider, but its scales formed a frill, its face a great arrowhead hiding rows of slender teeth. Its body was a black, hairy ball with eight spindly legs stabbing out from it. Those legs penetrated the rock underfoot as it turned to face me with its horrid eye. I shall never forget it...it was as if a ruby were socketed into its head, faceted thousands of times over, glowing eerily in the lamplight. I never would have imagined such a foul thing could live so deep in the earth under our feet. [[Previous|Page 149 (h)]] | [[Next|Page 151 (h)]]

That monster...it had etched its image into my psyche for all eternity with that one look, that brief moment before I ran. Flames licked the cavern walls as I kept moving, running through this strange area that had attached itself to our mining tunnels with those earthquakes. Is it the beast that breathed these foul flames? I still know not. I chanced nary a glance in its direction, focusing on the caverns my lantern wrenched from the darkness, until I finally found the wooden beams of a familiar tunnel. I ran all the way up and out into the cool night sky, more thankful than I had ever been to see the moon above me. I could still hear the beast behind me, the clicking noise from its mouth and the rocks being crushed under its feet. I picked a direction and ran. The sun had risen before I finally came across someone, a Moonbrooke knight patrolling the lands. My skin was raw, my clothes torn, my lantern extinguished, my eyes stained with tears. I know not what he imagined I had meant when I told him a monster was at Titan Rock. I cannot believe he would have expected that creature. We rode back to Titan Rock on his landstrider, beckoned in by a plume of smoke waving to us from the horizon. We found no survivors, no buildings left standing, and no beast. Perhaps the light had driven it back into the caves. The guard had wanted to delve underground, find the lair of the beast, and kill it. “No,” I had pleaded. “Please, do not fight. It will kill you. I will be alone again. Do not leave me alone.” He did not. He introduced himself to me...Aaron Pond was his name. He took me back here to the capital, and became a hero of mine. I had told him of Ginger, of my swordsmanship practice, and the desire to join his ranks that he had fostered within me. He told me of his pastimes, fishing and Torikago calligraphy. Aaron celebrated my wish to join the guard, so that I may maintain an eternal quietude that would complement those pastimes. This was not a quietude he would be allowed, however. He was found one morning, his sword found in the stomach of a thug, and vice versa. He had lost his life in that night patrol just scant months before I became of age. It is because of his— [[Previous|Page 150 (h)]] | [[Next|Page 152 (H)]]

“Okay, now you're boring me again,” Nicole spat, not waiting for Heather to finish her story. “I'm gonna go back to Ace and Ciel, maybe go a round.” Heather's eyes had been closed to help her focus on her story, and they fluttered open as she felt Nicole dismount from the bed. “Ace and I have to be in Affluens in three days. You guys all set?” “I believe so,” Heather replied. “Please, do send my tidings, will you?” Nicole nodded and pirouetted around the door, closing it to a crack and peeking in from the hallway. “Hope you guys get better soon. I'm gonna run out of arena chumps if you take too long, and then I'll go totally nuts!” Heather saw a hint of a sadistic grin cross Nicole's face just as the door slammed shut. Heather let her head sink back into the pillow, relief piled multiple layers thick in her sigh. It was nice to return to silence, but she was also glad to have shared her story with others. It was the first time she'd been so open with her past, and in the silence, she was able to look back on brighter days, smiling as she saw herself grow and rise through the guard ranks on her way to the present. “Hey,” Gregory's voice called out, interrupting her thoughts. Only when he did it did she realize she'd closed her eyes again. “Heather.” “Gregory?” she answered back. The two of them were bedridden by their injuries, having to contend with eye contact from across the room. “What is it?” A heavy silence filled the room for a few seconds before he answered. “I'm sorry. After Aaron...you must have hated me.” “Indeed I did.” The honestly flowed freely from her, an overflowing cup. In the lamplight, she saw the pain and regret flash through Gregory's face. “But I do no longer." [[Previous|Page 151 (h)]] | [[Next|Page 153 (H)]]

"That hatred clouded my judgment, however," Heather continued, ...I simply wish I had thought harder about why the Moonblade took no lives, and derived no pleasure from what he did.” When Gregory didn't respond, she took her turn at asking the tough questions. “Yet you kept your head, even though you must hate the Eclipse more than I.” A sardonic chuckled echoed over from Gregory's side of the room. “I remember what happened with Kuroi," he spat. "You don't have to lie about it for my sake.” Heather shook her head. “Before that. I may simply have trouble containing my anger, that I can concede.” Gregory laughed even louder this time. “Yeah, but Nicole's way worse about it." After a short pause, he added, “Is this why you're always tapping that spot on your head? That where you got cut by those bandits in your mine?” “Yes.” Heather tried reaching for the scar for a moment, before remembering that her injuries and her bandages were holding her back. “I try to remember, such that I might prevent a rash decision from harming innocent lives around me, as I had as a child.” “Okay, about that...um...” This of all thoughts had halted Gregory, which only made Heather more eager to hear it out. “Yes, Gregory?” “Nicole didn't know about Titan Rock, because it fell before she was even born,” he surmised. She hadn't expected him to know about her hometown, and the shock must have been visible on her face. “Hey, don't act so surprised. News got out about the place. I suspect you're not the only refugee. But from what I've heard, that was at least thirty years ago, and you were old enough by then to shirk duties to go play with a sword. That makes you—“ “Those events transpired thirty-two years ago,” she interrupted. “That makes me forty-seven, if you must know.” [[Previous|Page 152 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 154 (N)]]

## Chapter 30 “What?” Nicole gasped, nearly falling off Ace's landstrider. She slapped the shield that Anna was bound to, in lieu of a body to emote toward. “There's no way you read that right.” “Forty-seven!” Anna's ghostly voice repeated. “I didn't read...she said it herself!” Anna was barely audible over the loud winds currently shoving through the Bright Plains, so Nicole's disbelief persisted. “She looks thirty! And she still fights so well...and her hair looks great and manageable!” She wrapped her arm around Ace, stabilizing her so she could reach into her brown hair. It fell to shoulder length, but the wind had turned it into a straw broom, brushing away at her neck. “Lady's got luck on her side,” NIcole grumbled. Soon, the landstrider had scrambled into shelter, a tunnel dug into the mountainside. Nicole hadn't even noticed how close they were to Affluens. “You sure this will work?” Ace asked, her eyes not leaving the gated road ahead. Nicole nodded, even though Ace wouldn't see it. “I'm an embarrassment to the family. They won't have told anyone about the expulsion or the disowning. We'll get in, that's the important part.” When the landstrider reached the gate, she wordlessly flashed her family signet ring to the gate guard, and his hand signals parted the steel bars blocking the way into the city. Nicole waited a minute before patting Ace's shoulder. “See?” Ace brought the landstrider to a halt, turning her head to look at Nicole. They stood on the side of the road, flanked on all sides by immense buildings, each eager to monopolize any sunlight that dared roll into the valley. At high noon, however, there was no way to keep the rays from spilling into the street in their full brightness. “Okay, that was effortless. This is the Ellery family ring?” Ace picked up Nicole's hand, observing the ring up close. “They must have a lot of power around here.” “Raymond owns a dealership, remember?” Nicole dismounted the landstrider, gently brushing her hand on its snout between its eye and nostril. She could practically feel its heart melt under her touch. “He breeds landstriders...he's got an exclusive contract with the royal guard.” “And your mother?” Nicole shrugged. “Dunno. There's rumors, of course. Cordelia's definitely got her own money, though, and enough of it to land here.” “I see,” Ace said, veering off the conversation topic as she led her landstrider to a stable. The presence of an Ellery was more than enough to ensure that the steed was welcomed eagerly. Ace lowered her voice for the next sentence. “Anna, your shield will be here.” [[Previous|Page 153 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 155 (N)]]

Once that had been taken care of, Ace's thoughts turned to the mission. “Nathan Black," she started. "He had come to Affluens five months ago, and news of his death came back to Moonbrooke City. Heather and Gregory found him alive and well, under the alias Kuroi, working for the Eclipse. Why would he join them? Something must have happened here.” Ace adjusted her clothes, trying to smooth away the signs of the chainmail underneath them. After a short silence, Her eyes searched for Nicole's. “Well?” Nicole returned Ace's stare blankly for a second or two. “Huh? Well what?” “Do you know where we should start or not?” Ace signed, a hand rising to meet her forehead. “Are you going to be any help...?” “Oh, okay!” Nicole thought back to the Affluens she had left so long ago. Briefly, she considered how it might feel like yesterday to Heather, at her age. She had just noticed her thought process was leading them nowhere when a loud bell rang through the town, twelve deep tones that shook the ground underfoot. “That's it,” Nicole said, pointing at the obsidian bell tower the noise came from. It sat next to a building with a marble staircase, an entryway spackled with columns. “That bell tower and town hall are the fanciest things here...can't miss 'em. Let's start there.” Ace observed the architecture as the two of them climbed the stairs, her eyes seeming to focus on the black lines creeping through the white of the rock like ivy. Soon, however, they were past the oaken doors, a red carpet with gold trim guiding them deeper into the interior. They were not the only ones making their way inside, but they were the ones dressed the least formally. Nicole felt the aristocracy boring holes in her dignity with their stares. When the flow of people finally drained into a great central lecture room, she forced Ace to sit in the back row with her, where no gazes would assault them from behind. “What is all this?” Ace asked, her voice hushed. “First time, huh?” Nicole whispered back. “Guess you're not rich enough to get invited to these things.” Nicole let the events speak for themselves, as a man came out to the lectern in the center of the room, spiking the spine of a big red ledger into it and letting it fall open. The crowd went silent at this noise, waiting for the host to find the right page. [[Previous|Page 154 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 156 (N)]]

“Right,” the man at the podium sputtered, his voice bouncing erratically through the lecture hall, “this week's meeting of Nerves Concord has officially begun.” The audience waited as a scribe pushed a writing desk into the hall; Nicole knew they were there to transcribe the meeting. “Let us begin by discussing the state of affairs in Moonbrooke City. Cordelia Ellery, if you would?” “Thank you,” Nicole's mother said flatly, pushing herself from her seat in the front row and making her way to the lectern. Nicole shifted her posture, keeping her face out of view. “Last week, the Eclipse gang engaged a tavern in the lower-class section of the city, an establishment called the Vanishing Wench, in a bold midday attack. Much of the public had been drawn to the arena to watch that day's match, leaving the tavern empty of all but its regular customers. No guards were scheduled to be in that area.” “How'd they know...?” Ace mouthed silently, making the motions for Nicole to read. Cordelia continued, her expression drooping into scorn. “However, it seems one guardsman acted in defiance of their orders...one Heather Storm was seen engaging in combat with the thieves, rousing a task force of passersby and tavern regulars in a counterattack.” Her expression continued to sour as she went on. “Public opinion of this Storm is rising rapidly, as commoners spread her story and hail her as a 'hero', even as she rests in the hospital with a man who fought alongside her.” Cordelia's face then softened, her head pointed at someone in the audience that Nicole didn't recognize. “Mr. Rubicon has generously donated 3.5 million in cash out of his own funds," Cordelia concluded, "and hired a professional to rectify the situation.” The man Cordelia had looked at stood up and took a bow, receiving a round of polite applause. “I'd love to see the looks on their faces when they find out,” Nicole whispered to herself, drowned out by the applause echoing through the hall. Even she and Ace had joined in, to better disguise themselves. The thought of them discussing the foiled assassination attempt filled her with giddy anticipation. “How does this change the situation?” someone asked, standing up in front of Nicole, just two rows away. “Or is it too early to tell?” Cordelia stroked the ledger in front of her as if it were an unhappy pet. “Current sales and projections predict no change,” she answered. “Military and defense spending is still on the rise, even at the citizen level. Landstrider purchases have remained at about what we saw during the boar attacks at Cross.” This answer did not return the questioner to his seat. “But if you predict no significant change in sales because of Storm, why spend three and a half million to kill her?” [[Previous|Page 155 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 157 (N)]]

“That question will not be committed to the record,” the scribe announced to the entire assembly, trying to calm the rising tide of dissent. Cordelia nodded, and Nicole watched her push a relieved sigh out of her body. She'd seen this before, in a meeting she'd attended as a young child. If the question wasn't in the record, Cordelia didn't have to answer it. “I have no further comments.” Nicole and Ace stayed until the end of the meeting; the other lecturers and business owners only had numbers and economics to discuss, which threatened to put Nicole to sleep, but the two of them had to keep behaving liked they belonged. When people finally began to file out of the lecture hall, the duo walked into the lobby with the rest of the line around them, slipping outside and out of sight to talk privately. Nicole and Ace found shade against the back of the building, leaning against it as they spoke. “Is this why you had us wait to come?” Ace asked. “This town meeting? How long has this been going on?” “Oh, they've talked business for as long as I remember,” Nicole clarified, picking at blades of grass as she spoke. She trapped them in ice crystals, then flicked them away, vaguely aiming at a knot in the wood of a nearby fence. “But this is different. I haven't been to one of those in years, but that Nerves Concord crap, whatever that means...that's new.” “But you knew that would be a good place to gather information.” Ace seemed just as shocked at that as she was by what they'd said in that lecture hall. Nicole's next shot of icy grass was aimed at Ace. “I'm not that dumb.” The grass bounced harmlessly against Ace's chainmail, and Nicole watched it until it came to a stop in the dirt. She hated herself for defending herself with those words, because she'd put herself in a corner. “What was all that other stuff, do you think?” Ace laughed. Nicole winced, knowing she'd set herself up for it. “Collusion, I'd say.” [[Previous|Page 156 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 158 (N)]]

She laughed again when Nicole kept staring. “I mean, they're all working together so that they all make money. Think again about some of the things they sell, the companies that shared their profits...actually, never mind. There were an awful lot of people selling things useful in battle. Weapons, armor, medicine, it was all there.” Nicole snapped her fingers, finally reaching a point of understanding. “You think they're letting the Eclipse run wild to drum up sales?” she asked, looking up at Ace. Ace averted her eyes, however, and Nicole felt incensed that she'd miss the gears turning in the mage's head. “I really hope it's that indirect,” she said to the sky. “We should leave...who knows what they'll do when they find out their hired help couldn't kill Heather. And if they know about her, they might get to us...they've got the advantage taking us in their own town.” The two of them made their way back to the stables, finding it mercifully empty of eavesdroppers. As Ace prepared her landstrider for riding, she knocked on the shield as if it were a door. “Anna, we're leaving!” When she brought the landstrider around to the gate, however, it was blocked off. A few guards stood before the closed bars, brandishing spears at them. “What was that you were saying about taking us here?” Nicole said, already weaving her ice magics. “I'm sorry, Nicole Ellery,” one of the guards said, stepping forward with his spear still at the ready, “but your parents have requested your presence at their estate, and instructed us to keep you from leaving. They sent word as soon as you and your family ring were spotted at the gates.” Nicole wasn't even afraid of the Moonbrooke guards, and these beanpoles in their fancy gold suits weren't doing it for her either. “A trap...” Nicole clamped her hand over the lead guard's spear, breaking off the tip and effectively turning the weapon into little more than a big stick. “Listen, pal, you're gonna wanna let us leave. I don't have parents...they disowned me 'cause they say I'm a disgrace.” She'd been staring down the guard who had threatened her, but only now did a resemblance begin to take shape in her head. “In fact, you were one of the first kids I punched, weren't you?" she asked. "Yeah, you ran your mouth at a party, so I knocked you right out.” The guard shrugged. “That must have been years ag—“ Nicole served up a reminder in short order, his body skidding across the cobblestones from the force of her fist. His backup took a step back, and one of them gasped. [[Previous|Page 157 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 159 (N)]]

While the guards were busy freaking out, Nicole turned to Ace and began planning. “Hold on tight,” were her only instructions before her attention moved to the landstrider. It was rugged, with thick legs and a healthy pallor, and seemed sufficient for what she needed of it. “I'm sorry, fella,” she cooed. Nicole gave it a reassuring pat on the snout before jumping onto its back, pushing Ace behind her as she went to work. Her hand wrapped around its eyes while her body generated a magical chill, plunging the beast's temperature and throwing it into a blind panic. It did the only thing it could do at a time like that, and the one thing Nicole was counting on it to do. It charged forward. “What are you doing?” Ace shrieked, far too late to do anything. Nicole turned back to Ace with a grin on her face. “Oh, shut up, this is gonna be sweet.” Nicole had been around enough landstriders to know that when they panic, they keep their necks perfectly straight. She had no idea why, but it made it easier for her to fine-tune the creature's aim as it accelerated quickly, stumbling toward the gates. As a mercy to the beast, she crept her ice magic onto its head and lowered it, letting it lead with the thickest thing it could. The gate screamed in pain under the impact as bolts and rivets inside it warped or even snapped. Enough damage was done that the gates were flung open, and the landstrider bolted down the entry tunnel at full speed. “Nicole!” Ace's hand jutted into the corner of Nicole's vision, pointing her attention to an approaching wagon. “I see it!” Nicole manipulated the landstrider's head some more, pulling right and then left to swerve around it. She could hear the driver freaking out as she kept going, but had left the wagon behind too quickly to catch what was being said. She made a hard right before she finally took her arm away from the landstrider's eyes and quit maintaining her spell, letting the afternoon sun free the landstrider of the ice and cold she'd afflicted it with. The beast kept sprinting, but Nicole leaned further over it, trying to stroke it in that spot on its snout. With only one hand to work with, however, she had nothing to brace herself, and promptly took a spill into the grass. As if on instinct, whatever magical reserves she had left formed a chilly cushion in key spots, absorbing the bulk of the impact with the ground. “Well, crap,” she groaned as she watched the landstrider carry Ace and Anna further into the grassy plains, quickly hidden by the tall blades standing up right in front of her face. [[Previous|Page 158 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 160 (H)]]

## Chapter 31 “Yet more flowers?” Heather groaned. They were definitely appreciated, but not in the quantity they'd arrived. “What manner of impact have we made this time, Gregory?” “I agree with them, personally,” the nurse said, shoving the gifts aside to make room for two trays of food. “I live pretty close to that dingy tavern. If you two hadn't been there...” The nurse brushed her hand against a card attached to one of the bouquets. “I'm just as thankful as the rest of them, I must say.” “You're from around there?” Gregory guessed. “Yes, actually, I live with my elderly mother there. But I won't bore you with that. I've got better news for you than that.” Before Heather could ask, the nurse began taking Gregory's bandages off. “You two are ready to get out of bed!” When Gregory was freed from his bandages, he immediately rose to his feet. “Finally!” The nurse giggled softly, putting her arms out toward Gregory. “Just don't push yourselves too hard.” She then moved over to Heather and opened her up as well. Heather was just as eager as Gregory had been to stand up, but she hadn't expected her legs to be so weak, and she nearly fell onto the table. “Now, what did I just tell him, Guard Storm? You may want to stay out of that heavy armor for a little while, too.” “I feel quite exposed without it,” she lamented. She went to collect the armor, but the nurse stopped her and scooped everything up. “Here, I'll take this somewhere. You two can hold your weapons. Shall I bring the armor to the guard barracks?” Heather shook her head. “A dear friend of mine owns the history museum in the...High Rise.” “The rich part of town, huh?” Heather had been trying to tiptoe around it. The nurse was still all smiles, however, as Gregory opened the doors for everyone and led them out. “It is a wonderful museum, isn't it? Before my mother became bedridden, she loved stopping in. We got stares from the rich folks, of course, but it was always worth it.” Heather compared this behavior to Ace's, especially on the day the two met. “The owner, she is capable of such arrogance, but only in matters of swordplay.” [[Previous|Page 159 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 161 (H)]]

Gregory was leading them through the streets now, and as they advanced on Ace's museum, Heather could hear townspeople whispering about her, asking if she was the guard who saved the Vanishing Wench. By the time they reached the museum, the crowd had swelled around them, flooding the streets with a rousing cheer for her and Gregory. “This complicates things,” Gregory whispered to Heather. “They're bound to figure out who I am eventually.” “Come on, you two!” the nurse said, “don't look so glum.” She set Heather's guard armor just inside the front door before moving between the two companions. Raising their arms up, she announced to the crowd, “That's right! Here they are, Heather and Gregory, the People's Choice!” “What.” The word fell out of Gregory's mouth, too flat to be a question. The nurse leaned in to reply, her quiet voice struggling to be heard over the cheers. “That's what they're calling you now. I think it came from some Torikago-speak.” Gregory hid his face in his hand. “Why didn't Nicole tell us about this?” “Having a laugh at our expense, I believe,” Heather replied. If that was the case, however, she was missing the payoff. With that concern, Gregory's secret, and her own embarrassment piling up in her head, she was in no mood for the audience before her. She stepped forward, hoping a few words could dispel her fan club. “Greetings, one and all!” The audience belted out a huge cheer in response. “You say 'hi' and they lose it,” Gregory muttered under his breath. “We're screwed. How can we investigate like this?” As he continued to grumble to himself, Heather turned her attention back to the crowd. “We indeed appreciate all the good wishes and gifts you all had delivered to us in the hospital. However...these praises are unnecessary. We did as all of you do, to the extent of your capability, every day...we defended our city, our home, making it a better place in which to live.” Heather's mind briefly wandered, contemplating where exactly Gregory came from. As she did, Gregory stepped forward and joined in the speech. “Hey guys,” he began, also greeted by raucous cheering. “I, uh, I'm not actually from the city, but I've spent so much time here recently, I feel at home here. And that tavern...no idea what those goons wanted with the place, but the Vanishing Wench is my favorite hangout spot.” Gregory paused to lean toward Heather. “That'll put butts in seats. Nicole ought to appreciate that.” His words derailed her train of thought, returning her to the present, and on reflex, she continued speaking to the crowd. “So please, no such worship is necessary. We did not become the People's Choice because we were praised. All that we require from you all is to go about your daily lives, to illustrate to both us and enemies of the state that Moonbrooke City fears nothing.” [[Previous|Page 160 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 162 (H)]]

Heather pulled Gregory into a bow along with her as the crowd applauded her words, and in turn, he yanked her into the museum and slammed the doors shut behind them. “Not bad,” he mused, leaning against one door, and motioning Heather to the other. “I think that speech ought to work.” “I have seen a crisis or two in my time,” Heather said, sitting against the other door while poking idly at her armor. “Many a speech in troubled times is dedicated to maintenance of status quo.” A powerful force crashed into the doors behind them, and they struggled to keep closed off from the outside world. “Why, when the King died, and Queen Moonbrooke assumed the throne, her words were quite sim—“ The rest of the sentence was bashed out of her, as the doors flew open despite the two friends holding them shut. Heather was squished between the door and the wall, the air in her lungs squeezed out into a pained grunt. She clawed her way around the door, gripping her knightsword, only to spy Ace in the doorway. The curator's shoulders were hunched over and her hands were still raised, the glow of Chikaraken fading from them. She stood there motionlessly, save for her ragged breaths pushing in and out of her in a subtle oscillation. “Heather, Gregory,” she snapped, her voice flat and her eyes unfocused. “We have to move, now.” “Hey, is this about the crowd?” Gregory asked, apparently having dodged Heather's fate on his side. “We're sorry...we had no idea they'd follow us.” Ace didn't even acknowledge Gregory's words. “Nicole's been captured.” “What?” Heather and Gregory said in unison, quickly preparing for combat. Heather was pulling on her armor, apologizing to the nurse in her mind as she did so. Ace didn't answer the question, or anything else the two of them said to her; she silently led the duo to her landstrider. Heather could see fatigue in the beast's posture, but ignored it as Ace practically shoved her and Gregory onto its back. They barreled through the city streets, freaking out townspeople and nearly ramming through a food cart on their way out of Moonbrooke City. [[Previous|Page 161 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 163 (H)]]

Once they were pushing through the tall grass of the Bright Plains, Ace finally opened up. “Nicole and I went to Affluens,” she began, her eyes not diverting from the beeline path she'd charted through the grass. “How come?” Gregory asked. “Last we saw her, her friend Ciel was bringing you two some info about the Animus Font.” Ace paused to grab her sword, shooting a crescent of Force Blade energy at a slasher in their path. The feline fell in half against her, eliciting no reaction even as the blood and entrails spilled into her face. Heather was getting more and more worried for Ace's mental state with every second. The pattern continued as words continued to flow from her, on the current of an eerie monotone. “We got as far as we could on the Animus Font lead, so we followed Kuroi's trail instead. They want you dead there, you know.” Heather opened her mouth to connect the dots aloud, but before she got out even one syllable, Ace continued. “Yeah, they sent the assassin that tried killing you and Gregory in the hospital. They make their money selling commodities of war, so you two are bad for business.” Gregory groaned, shaking his head against Heather's back. “The moment people realize the good we're doing, it just screws us over even more. Ain't that grand?” His words seemed to continue to bounce off of Ace. Heather recognized Ace's affliction now; the way she spoke, but seemed to take in nothing the others said was familiar. Heather was even beginning to note the similarity to Gregory's anger in his fight with Kuroi. Aaron had called it “martial trance” once, in his description of knights who were poisoned by their adrenaline, lost to everything but their target. Heather worried for the health of her friend, if she had managed to stay in that state of mind through her whole round trip. “We walked right into a trap,” Ace continued, “and Nicole fell off the landstrider on our way out. I came back around to pick her up, but she was surrounded by some Affluens rent-a-guards. All she said to me was, 'Tell the others.' So I came straight for you...you were easy to find, leading that crowd through town.” Heather felt a flash of embarrassment heat her cheeks. “You and Nicole may revel in celebrity, but I myself am unsure,” she said. She gently laid a hand on Ace's shoulder, trying to calm her friend down a little. “Worry not...Nicole will be safe with us before the day is done.” [[Previous|Page 162 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 164 (H)]]

“Knowing her, she's ticking off all the big players in the war industry more and more with every second,” Gregory added. “That girl just can't keep her mouth shut.” Heather was relieved to see Ace finally react to Gregory's words, and with a laugh at that. “She's probably fine,” she admitted, “but the longer this investigation goes, the more enemies we make. We need to solve this Eclipse mystery, and soon.” Heather watched the horizon before them, and her eyes locked upon a peak in the distance that seemed to be signaling them in, a lighthouse guiding them through the sea of grass. “They have the Animus Font,” she ceded, “but we have since barred them at every juncture. Our successes quickly build walls around their remaining options. We shall yet have them barricaded into a corner.” The mountains rose up to meet them, revealing a tunnel running through them, the path to Affluens. Before entering the path, however, Ace brought the landstrider to a stop, and the others followed her example, sitting off to the side. “Okay,” Ace sighed, doing her best to calm her steed. “I got a decent look around Affluens when Nicole took me in. They usually have one guard at the front gate, but we broke that on our way out, and they're probably expecting m—“ “I already know where this is going,” Gregory sighed, pulling at some white cloth stuffed into the front of his leather cuirass. Only when it had been fully freed did Heather realize it was his newer scarf. As he tied it in place around his nose and mouth, he added, “I'm a bit rusty, but I doubt these Affluens guys see much action anyway.” He gazed down the tunnel path, thinking aloud. “If it weren't for those lights, it'd be downright trivial to knock them all out without raising any alarms.” “Forget not,” Heather cut in, “Nicole is likely keeping the majority of them quite busy.” “Yeah, that's what I was thinking,” Ace said, nodding in agreement. “That's why I think stealth's the best option here. Nicole's a Firebloom in waiting.” “What?” Heather had said it before her brain was able to soften it into a less rude form, and her brain was even slower still. “Ah, the explosives, of course.” Ace blinked rapidly as she stared at Heather. “We met over that little piece of history, and it took us to Riverside, and you forgot...? Take the helmet off, Heather, your skull's thick enough as is.” Heather recoiled from Ace's words, her finger traveling to her forehead. “Is this a mockery?” “Actually, yes.” Ace stopped to laugh. “Wow, that really works. Now I get why Nicole's always doing it.” Heather couldn't help but agree; she could easily see how effective a relaxant it had been for Ace. “Now, once we get into the valley, we'll have to find where they're keeping her...” [[Previous|Page 163 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 165 (N)]]

## Chapter 32 Nicole swayed her head uncomfortably, trying not to chafe from the leather strap fastened around her neck. Without two hands to tie together, the Affluens guards had tied her wrist to that strap, and she'd learned quickly that any sudden moves were more likely to injure her neck than get her free. Instead, she sat there at the top of the bell tower, examining the area for possible escape routes, barely listening to her parents. “Nicole Marie Ellery,” Cordelia was saying, “your father and I have always known you were stupid, but to come back to Affluens? You must have known, right? There's no way you would be welcome, especially not now.” Jumping off the sides would be suicide. She thought about her wall-scraping trick, but when she used her ice magic like that to escape the Academy, she had two arms and a much shorter fall. “Yeah?” she barked. “I didn't come here to get welcomed. I came to get even.” “And just what is that supposed to mean?” She had the ledge behind her, but on all other sides, she was under heavy guard. Even shackled as she was, kicks and shoulder charges would take them out, but there were too many to survive, and they blocked the only exit, a trapdoor under Raymond's feet, padlocked shut. “You guys are better than I thought...you ruin way more lives than just mine.” “It could get a lot worse if you don't watch your mouth,” Raymond threatened her. On his signal, a nearby guard took hold of Nicole's hair and draped her face over the edge for a bit, reminding her of the drop. The obsidian tower gradually widened as it went up, so she wouldn't be able to fling herself toward any windows, not that she had an arm to grab the sill with. “Hey, I was thrashing those Eclipse goons for fun,” she said, pausing to fire a glob of phlegm over the edge. “I had no idea you guys were involved, but man...if only I did! I'd have jumped into the fight way sooner.” The guard holding her towed her back away from the ledge and punched her in the jaw. Cordelia sighed, unsheathing a Torikago-style dagger from her hip. “Sending you to the Academy only made you more impudent,” she said. “If you followed directions, you wouldn't be in this position.” If she weren't shackled, Nicole could at least wrap herself around one of the corners and hoist herself onto the top of the bell tower, but then she wondered what she would do from there. [[Previous|Page 164 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 166 (N)]]

“Hey, maybe I'm an 'impudent', maybe I'm not," Nicole said. "Depends on what that means. But if I followed directions...Mom...I'd be bored out of my skull in this dead end city, worrying about dumb numbers.” She stopped herself from naming the people she worried about instead, knowing that she'd only make them targets. She felt bad enough having Heather and Gregory marked as they were. “If I make the wrong choices and die, that's still way better than doing as I'm told.” “Stupid until the end,” Raymond groaned, moving in to smack Nicole a few times himself. “If you'd just calm down for a moment, your mother won't have to clean you up, you sorry mess.” If it came to blows, Nicole figured the best way to fight would be to focus on knocking people out of the tower, just as she'd been threatened with before. Opening the trapdoor and other actions that would require her hand would be a bother, but nothing she could do would free up her hand anyway. “Father of the Year,” she said, working up another loogie to fire off in his general direction. “If you want me to listen, then speak up. What's this deal you've got with the Eclipse, and how do I get involved?” Cordelia lowered her dagger. “So you're not completely braindead,” she noted, walking over to Nicole and grabbing her head. As she forced eye contact, she added, “We'll let you off the hook if you help kill those companions of yours. You can go fight your silly fights from there...but we could always employ muscles like yours, too.” The offer silenced Nicole, so Cordelia kept talking. “We let the Torikago woman go in hopes that she'd bring the rest of the vermin. Why, you could be out of that restraint by nightfall, if they hurry.” Cordelia's haughty laugh cemented it for Nicole. “Lady, you are messed up.” Despite this, she decided to keep engaging Cordelia to buy herself more time to think. Even if she bucked everyone over the edge, it was Raymond who held the key to the padlock, so she'd have to be careful that he didn't fall. [[Previous|Page 165 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 167 (N)]]

“What's the plan, then?" Nicole asked. "You can't just mob them with these toothpicks.” Nicole shook free of Cordelia's grip and nodded at the guard closest to her. “I don't need any hands to take these guys down...what do you think will happen if they fight those dopes coming to save me?” She hated the idea of getting anyone killed. Even the guards she insulted were just pawns in her parents' crooked game, in the same job she'd likely be in if she hadn't had her magical gift. Then again, they'd have to live with the embarrassment of being beaten by a girl not using any arms instead. “She's got a point, Cordelia,” Raymond cautioned his wife, toying with a shortsword in his hands. “And she's got affinity for magic...more than these men can muster. That opens up a lot of opportunities.” Cordelia tore her attention away from Nicole, and brought it to bear on Raymond. “And what would you know about magic, dear?” she asked, her enunciation of “dear” as pointed and harmful as the dagger in her hand. “You're the one that said we didn't need any engineers...or did you just say that to cover your mistake in Loto?” Raymond cleared his throat and tried to be subtle about pointing out Nicole, but she caught a glimpse of it just fine. Cordelia exhaled sharply in her husband's face, then turned back to her daughter. “You,” she said, “you just leave the thinking to those of us with brains.” At this point, it seemed to Nicole that the easiest way down from the tower would be to agree to her parents' plans, though not so easily. “Actually,” she corrected her mother, “I'm the one that knows these guys. Listen...if you just hand me over without a fight, they'll know something's up. The Torikago woman I came in with, you'll basically be trying the same thing on her twice. You don't think that'll work, do you? I have to at least look like I'm trying to break free.” She flashed a sly smile to further sell her idea. “I'm the one that's been dropped off with the dregs, right? There's this thing they call 'hustling'...you make yourself look weak and stupid to get someone's guard down, then when they bet money that they can beat you, you come out swinging and pocket that prize money. You'll need to hustle the others if you're gonna trap them at all.” Cordelia considered the words in silence as she stared at her dagger, examining herself in her reflection. It took her a minute or so to finally speak. “Interesting. Very well, I have my plan.” [[Previous|Page 166 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 168 (N)]]

Cordelia waved a lazy hand toward the trapdoor, urging Raymond to open it up. “Nicole, I'll make it easy for you," Cordelia said. "You simply have to run toward that Moonbrooke guard and her lackeys, when they show up, and get them out in the open. We kill even one of them, and we'll consider your debt paid.” Cordelia mimicked Nicole's sly smile from before. “If we must avoid direct confrontation, then we'll do exactly that.” Everyone filed out of the bell tower, with Raymond leading, Cordelia at the far end, and Nicole in the middle, sandwiched in by all the guards. As they threaded their way down the spiral staircase, Nicole could hear Cordelia thinking aloud in the back, of the best way to keep the charade going, and the best place to stick some archers. Cordelia and the guards kept Nicole waiting there for awhile, as her pawns moved to their positions, while Nicole's attention drifted down the streets. Some guards were hustling passersby out of the streets, coordinated by Raymond's chatter, but Nicole was too bored to focus on his exact words. She just watched the guards moving. She found herself vaguely curious when a knight passed into an alleyway, but didn't appear out the other side. It only got weirder as she saw a flash of white cloth, a blank banner begging her to rally to it. It was such a weird feeling to get from simple cloth, but the way it moved through the air tugged at her mind, carrying a nagging familiarity. Then she finally realized, Gregory had spent so much time bedridden that she hadn't seen him fight in far too long. “Right,” she breathed. That was the only cue she needed to urge her into action, pushing her hip against the guard behind her. Her body moved subtly, shifting the guard's center of gravity and rolling him to the cobblestones. A mighty push kick sent the guards in front toppling over each other, and before any others could react, she broke ranks and headed for that alleyway. Wasting no time, she glanced down the alleyway and saw him crouching there, arranging some detritus to cover some unconscious victims. “There,” he said to himself, satisfied with his work. [[Previous|Page 167 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 169 (N)]]

In the brief moment where Nicole passed by, she could see the recognition instantly light up in Gregory's eyes, as he saw her dash by and heard the guards calling for her head. In the blink of an eye, he was running alongside her, and the two of them were weaving through Affluens. The guards were taking formations in the streets, formations too difficult to simply kick her way through. “We're being herded, you know,” Gregory noted, apparently having seen it as well. “As long as we make it to the gates...Heather and Ace are there. The landstrider's too small to carry four people on its back, so they're figuring that out.” The two of them barged through a thin line of guards, tackling open a shortcut as they kept running, until the road opened up into the town square. Nicole could remember a fountain dominating the center of the square when she was young, but now it was nothing but a wide open area with a square of grass in the middle. “Out in the open...” “What was that?” Before the two of them could think any further, Gregory's head jerked away from the path ahead, searching for the source of a clicking sound from their right. He spotted the crossbow bolt headed his way and put up his dagger to deflect it, doubtlessly aided by whatever physics lessons go hand-in-hand with engineering. He failed to notice the bolts coming in from all the other directions, though even if he had, there were far too many to stop with a blade. Nicole knew that her deal would instantly be sealed, signed in Gregory's blood by the quill of a crossbow bolt, and her parents would have exactly what they wanted. Nicole shoved Gregory out of the way of the incoming barrage, her body slicking over with ice to shield herself from laceration. The bolts were still quite heavy, iron shots practically built to push through her ice. “Son of a...!” she shrieked, already feeling the massive bruise she was going to have on her leg, let alone the other places she was struck. She could tell the bolts were built just for her. Such heavy shot wouldn't be necessary to take down Gregory. [[Previous|Page 168 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 170 (N)]]

Despite the ice her magic kept on the wounds, movement was still painful for her, and before she could even remand herself for doing it, she was reaching for Gregory's hand, allowing him to tow her onwards, as she continued to protect him from the archers with her icy body. When they finally exited the square, they made it a couple blocks before Nicole collapsed, the adrenaline no longer able to shut out the pain. “Just stay frosty,” Gregory commanded as he paused to hoist her onto his shoulders, allowing her to ride piggyback to the city entrance, her magics and his dagger blocking incoming shots all the while. “We promised you'd be out of here, alive and safe with us.” Even beat up as she was, she had enough breath in her to push Gregory's buttons. “I told you,” she choked, her body slowly numbing from the pain and the cold upon it, “I hate being touched.” Gregory laughed and took an abrupt detour into an alleyway, seeking cover from the crossbowmen Cordelia had stationed about the city. “When we're safe, punch me for it, like last time.” Gregory stopped to lean Nicole against a wall, taking shelter in the alley to catch his breath and examine Nicole closely. “I'm so glad you're here.” Nicole stared up at Gregory, their eyes locking. Then, she added, “It'd suck if you guys missed my little jailbreak.” “'Thank you'! The phrase you're looking for is 'thank you'! Is it really that hard?” Gregory's snapping tore a gasp out of Nicole's lungs, but she was still ready with a reply. “I wasn't gonna say it until you cut these straps off.” Gregory grumbled under his breath as he did so, and Nicole rewarded him with a wide smile. “There we go,” she cooed, flexing the stiffness out of her arm. “Thanks, Greg. I'd have been stuck in that thing without you.” “Is that the best thanks I'll get?” Gregory asked, gazing skyward. “Until you get me out of this stupid city, yeah.” [[Previous|Page 169 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 171 (H)]]

## Chapter 33 Heather watched in amazement as Gregory came around a bend in the road, wreathed by advancing guards and a cloud of crossbow bolts. Thankfully, she'd found just enough around town to build a small wagon of sorts to fasten to the landstrider's harness. It was nothing but a couple wooden pallets stacked on top of each other, but she had seen it hold up through the well-worn tunnel road and perform decently on the cobblestones, so she figured it would at least get them away from their pursuers. Ace was already at the reins, ready to usher the steed out of Affluens as soon as Heather took her seat. The guardswoman wanted to run over to Gregory and Nicole and protect them, but she couldn't; she had to be there for Ace and the landstrider, since they were hopeless without the speed it offered. Some of the Affluens guards, likely having seen Gregory's beeline, were already headed to the two women, but not nearly as quickly as Gregory was. The ex-thief took a dive and landed harshly on the pallet, turning his body to break Nicole's fall. Heather's armor deflected a few bolts on her way to her seat, and before long, they were off. Heather looked back at the guards, some of which had already stopped moving, realizing the futility in giving chase. “Why aren't they getting on their landstriders?” Gregory asked, holding Nicole down as he reached for some of the extra ropes on the pallet to help him out. “All these ropes,” Ace answered. Her eyes never left the road, much like the trip there, but Heather could feel the difference in her voice. She was much calmer this time around. “Heather took every piece she could from the stables...including all their reins and harnesses.” Gregory laughed and finished lashing Nicole to the pallet, then took hold of another rope for his own stability. “Always thinking so far ahead.” She actually hadn't, but Heather was content to let her friends think that it wasn't a coincidence. “A knight must be aware of all things, even that which has yet to occur,” she said. [[Previous|Page 170 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 172 (H)]]

“Hey, shut up a minute,” Nicole barked, her mouth apparently having lost no energy from the wounds she suffered. “First, Sister Gregory over here is gonna blow a blood vessel if I don't thank you guys for the getaway wagon. So thanks—“ The rest of her sentence was interrupted by a bump in the road sending a shock wave through the pallet. “That'll have to do,” Gregory groaned, falling to his back and watching the afternoon sky scroll around them on their way back to Moonbrooke City. “Second?” “Mommy Dearest let a few things slip.” Heather glanced toward Nicole, but was equally interested in the fact that the path behind them was free of pursuers. As she looked, she watched the pallet get rocked by another bump in the road. “You wanna slow down up there?” “Sorry,” Ace said, tugging the reins and reducing their speed to a trot. “What have you learned?” Even injured, Nicole struggled against the ropes meant to help her relax. “Greg, where are you from? Place called Loto?” “Yes,” he replied, the name of his hometown having made him sit up. “All my engineering equipment is still in my little lab there. Thinking of visiting Loto? It's a little chilly this time of year, I gotta—“ “Shut up,” Nicole interrupted him, wiggling her way into sitting up, wearing her ropes as a belt. Moving her hand to grip the ropes, she continued. “Apparently my folks had their people come ask you if you wanted to work for the Ellerys.” Gregory nodded. “Yes, I was solicited with a job offer not long after Alice was taken from me...are you saying your parents had something to do with it?” Looking about ready to leap off the pallet right then and there, he added, “Because I'll go back there and kill them myself.” Nicole released the ropes and grabbed the back of Gregory's scarf, reining him in. “Easy, killer,” she said. “That's the opposite of what happened. Mom was spitting some real venom at Dad for mucking things up somehow, and he pointed at me like I wasn't supposed to hear it.” Nicole shook her head and gave Gregory a hearty pat on the back. “No, I'd have to say the Ellerys, at least, aren't directly involved with the Eclipse.” [[Previous|Page 171 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 173 (H)]]

“It would be far too risky to have money change hands, or anything direct,” Ace cut in. Nicole let her continue the report, especially with the next few points requiring more critical thinking. “I agree with Nicole's assessment...the Eclipse's arrival is more happy coincidence than collusion. They simply hope the crimes will keep going, thus driving up their sales. I'm sure they've got puppet strings on legitimate ventures, like salesmen and guards.” “Guards,” Heather repeated, flipping through a mental catalog of previous orders. Her mind finally settled on something Captain Sully had told her, a reason not to chase the Eclipse around the kingdom. Once she had the words, she snapped her fingers in epiphany. “Yes, the guards! Captain Sully had told me the wealthy residents of Moonbrooke City were demanding disproportionate amounts of protection of we guards.” “Classic misdirection,” Gregory said, no trace of doubt in his voice. “Get 'em where their backs are turned...that's the easiest way to pull a fast one. The easiest way to find their backs is to turn them around yourself.” “It could still be coincidence, you know,” Ace replied. Heather heard half a syllable come out of her, but she stopped when her focus landed on her steed. “The landstrider's tired. I'm pulling over.” When they had stopped by the side of the road, everyone dismounted, preferring to stand in the tall grass. Nicole in particular moved to the landstrider itself, her hand reaching out to pet it. Ace stole a glance at the girl as she comforted the beast, then resumed the conversation. “Maybe the people in Moonbrooke aren't in league with the people in Affluens. I know I wasn't given any sort of order or bribe to tell the guard to focus on me.” Gregory shook his head. “They'd do it as a matter of fact. What if I'd returned to the scene of the crime?” Heather stepped between the two of them, hoping to defuse a situation before one could arise. “Regardless,” she said, one arm out to each of her friends, “I was not expected to be present for the attack. I find a distinction between deliberate action and coincidence to be academic, for both Affluens and the Eclipse aim to kill me.” “Yeah,” Nicole called out from the landstrider's side. “Don't be like my mom...there's more to it than data, guys.” She wobbled toward the group on uncertain legs, bracing herself on Heather once she made it there. “None of this tells me who to punch...it's worthless.” [[Previous|Page 172 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 174 (H)]]

“Nicole, please, you must rest!” Heather said, not wanting to push Nicole away and risk the young mage falling over, but too focused on the Eclipse to find another way. “You may talk from the sled.” Nicole replied with a punch to the shoulder. “Hey, can it...I'm just as marked for death as you are. I'm part of this conversation too.” It was that sentence that finally hit home for Heather, and she sank to the ground, weighed down by despair. “Nicole!” she wailed. “We should never have involved one as young as you. A bounty on my head, this I may cope with, but on your hea—“ Heather felt Nicole's fist smash into her helmet, the force of the impact ringing in the guard's ears. “Shut up already!” Nicole growled, situating herself atop Heather with her fist raised threateningly. “I'm not here because you want me to be, or it's the right thing to do, or anything! I'm here because that's what I wanna do, especially now that my folks are trying to ruin everyone's lives!” Ace and Gregory moved in, and it took both of them to pull Nicole away as she struggled in their grasp. “How are you guys not sick of it?” she shouted. “Sick of what?” Ace asked, lugging Nicole back to the sled. Nicole let out a loud groan. “Are you that clueless? These guys, Eclipse and Affluens, they're pushing us around! There are choices we can't make because of them! Hey, Ace, want to do some more antique hunting? Well, too bad, because it'll all get stolen! Greg, how about you go back to Loto and chill with Alice in your lab—oh, wait, no, she's dead!” Seeing the rage build in her companions made Heather worry about what Nicole was going to say. Soon, the mage's eyes were upon her, and she distracted herself with a finger to her scar. “And you, Heather!" she barked. "You want peace? You want people my age safe from danger? Then maybe you ought to pull your head out of Sully's cheeks, get your lips off the Queen, and think for yourself about what needs to get done!” “But that is what we are discussing,” Heather replied, taking a step back from the sled. “No, you're talking about ditching me to make yourself feel better...and I bet you've been thinking about it since Old Stoutback, at least!” Nicole waved her amputated arm at Heather. “Sorry, toots, but you know I call it as I see it!” [[Previous|Page 173 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 175 (H)]]

Heather had been so preoccupied with her own feelings that she'd missed Gregory approaching the sled, until he was already standing on the sled near Nicole with his dagger drawn. “Don't you ever talk about Alice like that again,” he said, in the voice Heather recognized from the hatred he'd directed at Kuroi. “But as long as you remember that...” Gregory's knife turned away from Nicole and at Heather. “...you're a member of the team, Nicole, and you saved my life." Gregory turned his attention to Heather next. "Heather," he continued, "if you say we should leave Nicole behind, you're saying I should die, too. She saved us all when we first met, and she's been holding her own this whole time...don't treat her like a kid.” Heather caught a glimpse of something else in Gregory's gaze, something unfamiliar to her that replaced the anger. “She probably could have made it out of Affluens by herself, even.” “Ha!” Nicole sat up and held out a hand for Gregory to shake. “This guy gets it.” She nodded at him, and he helped her to her feet, the better to look Heather straight in the eye. “Sully said questions like ours would get me killed, but it's not just me...Mom and Dad wanted me to get you guys killed, you know.” Heather was shocked by the information, but Ace seemed composed. “Well, of course,” she said flatly. “That's businessmen for you. Really, removing all their opponents and gaining a major power for themselves...that was their smartest move.” Nicole laughed. “Hear that, Heather?” The mage's arm came up in a gesture of demonstration. “A major power!” Heather found herself first and foremost in doubt that Nicole had even listened to the rest of the sentence. “If this is your choice,” Heather said, “I have no more right to demand that you cease than I do to say the same to Gregory or Ace.” Heather had spent too much time thinking of Nicole as a child, perhaps even her child, but her companions' perspectives had helped her see the truth, one that Nicole's deeds had doubtless shown them much sooner. “I am an idiot,” she blurted. Nicole blinked at her slowly. “Huh?” Heather sat down on the sled, bringing Nicole down with her. “Above all, this investigation has revealed more of my own shortsightedness than it has of the Eclipse themselves.” She thought back to her childhood, and scar the bandits had left on her, and wondered just how much growing she had left to do. [[Previous|Page 174 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 176 (H)]]

Before she could say anything more, Ace sat down next to her, grouping all four friends together on the sled. “We're a team,” Ace pointed out. “Truth be told, Nicole is right...this has been going on for so long, I just want to return to my own questions, about my ancestry, about history.” Ace sighed, idly poking at some of the ropes. “I'm sure you all have things you'd like to return to, as well," she added. "We're tired and frustrated, but let's not take it out on each other, okay?” “I could do this forever,” Nicole said, again prompting Heather to wonder just how many words had gotten through. “But there's always the arena...and I've gotta bust Ciel out of that academy and show her some real fun.” Nicole leaned back, grimacing up at the clouds. “How are we supposed to enjoy the Vanishing Wench if those idiot Eclipse could come for it again?” “Alice isn't avenged yet,” Gregory said, turning his head away from the group. “And once she is, I've picked up a thing or two about engineering that I really should bring back to the lab in Loto.” Anna had been silent this whole time, but in the silence Heather allowed, the young spirit spoke up. “This has been really scary!” she said, with a spectral sniffle to her voice. “You're all my friends, and you're always in danger...I don't want to lose you like I did my mommy!” Gregory opened his mouth to speak, but he was shushed by Ace. “So I want to go home," Anna continued, "but not until this is all over, OK? I want to be with you and see all the other places...but I do miss my daddy. So let's finish as soon as we can!” All eyes fell upon Heather, presumably looking for her opinion of the finish line, but her mind was somewhere else entirely. “Gregory,” she barked. “When we first met, you had said the Eclipse coerced you into their service, but when I demanded proof of you, you said you did not carry it with you, correct?” Gregory nodded, prompting Heather to stand up and stamp a triumphant fist into her other palm. “Does that proof yet remain in your Loto homestead?” Gregory shrugged. “I guess, but—“ “That settles it!” Heather leaned over to Ace and asked her, “Do you know the way to Loto?” [[Previous|Page 175 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 177 (N)]]

## Chapter 34 “Wow, Loto's a dump,” Nicole spat. Her friends' looks were on her for a moment before she felt the searing disapproval in their eyes. “I mean, look at it.” Perhaps it was the overcast day they had come into the town on, but the town gave Nicole some depressing vibes. The buildings were sheet metal, caked with grime and longtime victims of the elements. The road was so rarely used that the local vegetation was reclaiming it in some spots. Looming behind it all was a large hill, rocky and as green as the road. Nobody was out and about except for them, either. “You guys don't have a whole lot going on here, do you?” Nicole asked. Gregory shrugged. “Relax, guys,” he told the older women. “But yes, Nicole.” “Not many crops will grow in a place like this,” Ace observed, all business in the driver's seat of the landstrider. “There's no trees around either. But that's what drove so many people here to be engineers and scholars. Knowledge is the only export they can really dredge from this environment.” “I thought I was supposed to guide the tour.” Gregory shook his head and got off the pallet, examining it as it skidded along the uneven road. “Guess I better make myself useful and let you know this little arrangement won't hold up for long.” Nicole dismounted the pallet and walked alongside Gregory. It stimulated some lingering aches in her body, but she ignored it, not wanting to show weakness to her allies. “If we don't need to outrun anything, that's no big deal,” she said. “Let's just scoop what we came for and get back to the city. Unless Greg can engineer me up an arm...” Nicole stopped in her tracks for a moment, her brain devoting its all to her curiosity. “Is that something you can do?” Gregory looked into Nicole's eyes, but with his head tilted downward. “I can't.” “But do you think it's possible?” She hurried to get back in step with Gregory and the landstrider, her legs unhappy with her for it. “To build body parts?” Gregory seemed to be surprised by Nicole's interest, which lifted his expression somewhat. “I could make an arm-shaped piece of metal,” he answered, “but attaching it to someone and making it respond like a real arm?” He shook his head. “Impossible.” “Not even with magic draw or anything, huh?” Nicole asked. She slipped her left arm behind her head and grabbed her other arm, forming a headboard to lean against. “It was worth a shot.” “Sorry, Nicole.” [[Previous|Page 176 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 178 (N)]]

Nicole could hear the shame in Gregory's voice, bewildered at its persistence. Even after he'd explained the process to be impossible, he still beat himself up over it. She simply gave up, hurrying a little to keep stride near the front of the steed. “Hey, Ace, you seem to know a lot about this place.” “Ask your friend,” Ace replied. “She seems to know that I've been nearly everywhere in the kingdom. Still didn't stop her from having days' worth of questions.” Nicole chuckled, partly to hide a pained groan that was trying to show itself to the group. “I was gonna warn you about her...” “Don't worry about it.” Ace let out a few more syllables, but Gregory had come in front of the landstrider in an effort to hold it. “Wait!” he shouted. “This one, on the right.” He pointed to a house much like the rest, though its roof slanted right into the earth in the back. “This is my home.” He guided the landstrider to the side, tying its reins around a crude mannequin in the yard. When he turned around and saw everyone waiting for him, he gestured toward the door. “Well?" he invited. "It's not locked.” Everyone stepped inside, squeezing their way into a cramped dining area. Nicole sat at the table there without hesitation, even though the seats were merely large stones dragged across the dirt floor and situated around an empty wooden spool. Ace followed suit, taking the other rock for herself, leaving Heather to stand. As she moved for a wall, Gregory gave her a wordless bark. “I wouldn't lean on the walls,” he said, when he could finally make words. “You should come with me anyway, Heather...crime scene's the exact same as the day it happened.” “Very well,” Heather said, following him through a door leading deeper into the abode. Nicole glanced around the dining room, boredom already taking her. “Great, a crime scene,” she groaned, her face sinking onto her hand. “Heather's gonna be poking at that for awhile.” Ace looked away from her own glancing to focus on Nicole. “What makes you say that?” she asked. With the things she'd observed, she thought it was obvious. “Sully's detective skills were on point, and she's been stuck with the Eclipse thing. She needs a win, and bad.” [[Previous|Page 177 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 179 (N)]]

“You seem confident.” Ace looked at the door, muttering something under her breath. “So while we wait, I guess...Ciel.” Nicole stood up and started pawing through the cabinets in the room, finding a few utensils and the like, but absolutely no food. “Yeah,” she said, a hand on her rumbling stomach. “Distract me, please.” A sudden epiphany washed through her, a way to save face and have fun all at once. “You, me, rematch.” Ace's gaze was incredulous. “Have you even seen yourself? You're still bruised all over.” Nicole began shoving Ace out the door, not accepting that excuse. “I can't just lay around like you guys do, waiting to get better.” When Ace braced herself in the door frame, Nicole simply shoved her right out, the walls of Gregory's home rattling from the force. Ace spilled into the road, quickly recovering her footing, but still not in a fighting stance. “Come on, Ace, if you don't get your dukes up, you'll be the one bruised all over.” It took Ace three kicks to realize Nicole was serious. She finally raised her guard against the fourth, and dodged the fifth. “If you waste your energy here, you'll have none left in case of an emergency,” she scolded, still not counterattacking. “Then just don't hit me,” Nicole offered, surprising Ace with a shoulder tackle, “and help me get my form down.” The only reason she'd landed any kicks on Ace was because the woman had stood there. Nicole knew that, deep down, and that motivated her to work through the soreness that had overtaken her body. “I wouldn't care if my legs were broken...I'd smash them right into you if it meant getting better.” Ace ducked back to avoid an incoming straight punch, but that bunched her legs up too tightly to let her spring out of the way of a shin kick. “What's with you and fighting all the time, anyway?” The curator grabbed Nicole's leg and flipped her onto her back. Nicole felt the wind try to escape her, and her body ordering itself to stay down, but she was never one to listen. “Wouldn't you be into it too, if it led you everywhere you've ever been?” “Such as?” After a short silence, she added, “Besides us?” Nicole finally made it to her feet, and ran at Ace to resume her assault. Ace had clearly expected another straight punch, letting Nicole charge in close and bust in with a flying knee. “Ciel.” [[Previous|Page 178 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 180 (N)]]

Ace's evasive maneuvers caused Nicole to land a kick somewhere she didn't want to. One of her bruises made impact with Ace, the pain shocking her lower body and nearly making her fall over. To distract herself from the pain, Nicole elaborated the story to Ace. “I was new to the Academy,” she began, “still couldn't find anything I was looking for. I happened to run across her on the floor, crying, in a pile of books. Some jerk had gotten uppity about her reading material and come at her. I came at him, and she taught me enough about magic to help me do the ice thing.” Ace didn't seem ready for the story to end there, and was thus not prepared for the punch to the face either. Nicole knew she'd learn nothing by wailing on the prone woman, so she let Ace stand up, busying herself with a little more introspection. “I guess this ice is like Greg's scarf,” she continued, watching the crystals creep along her hand as they formed and melted under her influence. “I got it from someone important.” “Yeah,” Ace replied, staggering to her feet, disoriented by the haymaker that had floored her. “But you could learn a second spell.” Nicole shrugged. “Got this far, didn't I?” Ace fared better against the next few shots, and Nicole studied Ace's blocks carefully, trying to figure out a way to sneak her feet past. Frustrated with the lack of success, she ran at Ace, wrapping her arm around the woman and putting her weight into a body slam. “We can't bring you kids anywhere,” Gregory's voice taunted from behind Nicole. She helped Ace up, and the two of them turned around to see Gregory standing with Heather next to the landstrider. “Now quit fighting and get over here. We've got...well, news.” “Someone we can look up?” Nicole asked, cracking her neck. “Come on, Greg, let's hear it!” She ran toward the two, taking a little while to register the sadness on their faces. “Jeez, with frowns like that, you'd think it was the queen or something!” When their faces didn't light up any at the jest, Nicole felt anxiety tie her stomach in a knot. “Wait, what?” [[Previous|Page 179 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 181 (N)]]

Heather froze up, her gaze falling into the dust, as silent sobs began to shake her. “Heather,” Gregory said quietly, clapping a hand on her shoulder. “Say it. It's important.” When this failed to open her up, Gregory glanced over at Nicole and Ace. “She hasn't even told me yet," he offered. "She came out here thinking she'd run off with the landstrider.” Having said that, he turned back to Heather to try again. “We need our orders, so we can go keep Moonbrooke safe. That's what you became a knight for.” Heather shambled over to Nicole, her gaze never leaving her feet. “My sincerest apologies, Nicole,” she said, her voice heavy and monotonous. Up close, Nicole could see tears in the guard's eyes. “What for?” she asked. There was no reply, however. Heather simply continued on. “Ace...my sincerest apologies.” Before Heather could come back around to Gregory, Nicole came in from behind with a sucker punch, flooring Heather. “You're not moving,” the young mage growled as she sat atop Heather, “until you tell me what your problem is! You gonna spill the beans, or do I have to—“ “Nicole!” Ace interrupted, blasting Nicole in the side with a kick. Nicole tumbled off Heather and onto the road, the uneven surface leaving scratches on top of her bruises. “That's enough.” Ace helped Heather to her feet, and Gregory came to assist Nicole. With everyone back on their feet, Ace took her turn to try and help Heather. “Don't forget," she told the guard, "this isn't just about Moonbrooke. Some of those Eclipse fiends are impersonating Torikago swordsmen. If people get the wrong idea, we're at war.” Shaking Heather a bit, Ace added, “You have to let us help you save both your kingdom and mine.” Heather shook free of Ace's grip and drew her knightsword, gazing down at it, a storm brewing on her face. “Her Majesty, no,” Heather finally said, her free hand traveling to her forehead. “But the handwriting present on Gregory's missive is undoubtedly that of my captain, Hadrian Sully.” [[Previous|Page 180 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 182 (H)]]

## Chapter 35 Heather barged into Moonbrooke City, outpacing even Gregory as her boots fell heavy on her war path. Even the confused townspeople received no explanation or apology from her, as she made her way to the castle. Her thoughts were focused on one man: Captain Hadrian Sully. He had been the one to swear her into the order of the royal knights of Moonbrooke City, been there for her more than anyone after Aaron's passing. What Ginger had taught her as a child in Titan Rock, Sully had perfected, honed into the ultimate defense of her queen and country, as per her knightly oath. She was still not mentally prepared to take up arms against her captain, but she definitely needed to hear what it was about Sully's involvement with Eclipse that he considered part of that oath. The guard barracks were easy to find. They were in a plain yet large tower situated in the castle courtyard, standing independent of the castle itself. Guard duties often spilled out of the tower and into the courtyard, where at least someone was almost always practicing. One such guard gave Heather an obligatory hailing, but she ignored the guard and kept going. She'd encountered Captain Sully in that courtyard more often than not, but failing that, she was certain she'd find him at the top of the tower, either in his top-floor office or leaning against the parapets as he observed the town below. His office was empty, but sure enough, he was there atop the tower, his gray hair shimmering in the sun. “Captain,” Heather said as she came up to see him. “Storm,” he replied, not looking away from the city. Eventually, though, she was able to catch his attention by making some noise with the missive he'd written to Gregory. “What is this?” Captain Sully reached out to claim it, but Heather kept it out of his grip. “Keep your hands off the evidence!” Sully laughed, apparently amused by Heather's evasiveness. “I'm your superior officer. Come on, let's see that evidence.” Heather was undeterred, however. “This is evidence of your own conspiring with Eclipse, a missive to the Moonblade penned by your own hand.” [[Previous|Page 181 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 183 (H)]]

Heather's accusation did nothing to wipe the smile from Sully's face. “So you found it,” he said slowly, turning to look down on the practice yard. The guard Heather had sprinted past had returned to solo drills. “I'm not going to deny it. In fact, this means out of all the guards, you passed.” “Passed?” Heather repeated, taking a step forward. “This blood upon your hands is an exam of some sort, you say?” A waving hand from below caught her eye, and when her gaze followed it down, she saw Nicole there looking for her attention. The others had doubtlessly been turned away at the door, since they were not Moonbrooke City guards. When Nicole saw she'd been acknowledged, she turned to the others briefly, then looked back up, seeming to watch what would happen. Heather turned her attention back to Captain Sully. “Only a lunacy great indeed could birth such a twisted idea!" she shouted. Her hands quivered; she thought about grabbing hold of Sully, but just couldn't bring herself to. Sully shrugged, his eyes also moving to spot Nicole and the others. “That the Ellery girl?” he asked, apparently having let Heather's words pass him by. “Heard she made quite the mess in Affluens. They sent a runner my way with a warrant...they want her to pay up for some serious damages. All that with one arm, huh?” “Refrain from changing the subject, Captain.” Heather's hands stopped shaking; she grabbed Sully's shoulder and spun him away from the tower parapet. “I demand the real reason you would involve yourself so with Eclipse.” Sully calmly reached up to pluck the hand off of his shoulder. “You already got your real reason.” Heather's skepticism remained on her face, prompting Sully to explain himself. “They don't make the royal army like they used to. You've seen them, right? All the slackers and shirkers, who wouldn't know the first thing about defending Her Majesty if it weren't for Eclipse and the Moonblade...” “Innocents have died!” Heather drew her knightsword, staring down the blade as she pointed it at her captain. “Eclipse would dare risk our longtime alliance with Torikago! You mean to say that you would fraternize with such brigands just to ensure the quality of your battalion?” “Storm, you know how I got to where I am? Same way you got here.” [[Previous|Page 182 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 184 (H)]]

"Pray tell," Heather hissed over her knightsword, "what did I do to get here?" Sully spread his arms out, gesturing to the tower underfoot. “You ignored your superior's orders," he explained. "You weren't afraid to keep going, even if it meant exposing a plot from our closest allies. You tracked your targets all over the kingdom with every resource you've got. You even strung along one of the bad guys to get your info.” Sully moved to the edge again, pointing down at Gregory. “I knew all along," he said, his voice flat. "Of course, after your little stunt in the slums, we'll have a riot on our hands when we execute him for his crimes as the Moonblade, so you blew it there.” He turned back to Heather, drawing his own sword to knock hers away. “Oh well, you're still frontrunner for my replacement.” His sword was bigger than the other guards', taking advantage of his strength to move the weight of the blade. It was also adorned to stand out from the others', a lizard head sculpture that made the blade appear to be the beast's tongue. “And why would you need...” Heather trailed off, realizing that Captain Sully was well past his prime. At once, she surmised that he couldn't stay captain at his age, but that only brought her to a different question. “What does the Queen know of your crimes?” she asked as she brought her knightsword close for defense. “Eclipse has gotten too big for their britches,” Sully answered, dragging a thumb across his throat. He took the hilt of his knightsword in both hands soon after, adding, “Her Majesty doesn't know a thing about it, because it's none of her business, but they'll blow the whole op if they keep up. They were supposed to keep the guard busy, not terrorize the whole kingdom! No, we need to feed patrol routes and whatnot to some other lowlifes.” “Ah, so you have their plans, do you?” Sully shook his head. “No way it's that easy for you, Storm. I just tell them all the holes in the unit when they come into town.” The captain began stomping his platinum boot on the stone of the tower. “Now come, Guard Storm...it's time for your final exam!” [[Previous|Page 183 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 185 (H)]]

Sully came at Heather with a huge two-handed horizontal slash, and the feedback from the knightswords nearly tossed her off her feet. She could still scarcely believe what was happening, and barely made the moves to defend herself. Even after Sully's plans were laid bare to her, she still felt little joy in the prospect of striking him down. These thoughts about the man who trained her to be the best guard she could be kept her firmly in a defensive stance. “You can't win a fight hiding behind your sword, Storm!” Sully taunted her, his sword kept at bay by hers. “You've used it plenty of times getting here...you're lying by standing still now!” The similarity finally struck her. She was fighting the way Gregory had that first day, on the roof of the carriage. She fought to save her own neck, but there was no pleasure in striking down someone who should have been an ally to her. She owed Gregory yet another apology for that day; this circumstance of combat put an awful, twisted feeling in her gut. “Oh, come on!” Nicole's voice shouted as she came up to Heather, shrugging a guard off each shoulder. The two gazed up at Sully apologetically, not making a move to stand back up. “These two are beanpoles, Heather's sitting here doing nothing, and this old flake is swinging like he's in a pillow fight. No wonder Eclipse does what it wants around here.” “If you recall,” Heather said, blocking an incoming diagonal swipe, “it is Captain Sully himself that allows Eclipse to do as it pleases.” This accusation caused obvious shock to spread on the guards' faces, a shock only made worse by him nodding to confirm the accusation. “And yet, I still find myself loath to strike him down, after all he has done for me...” Nicole let out a long laugh, one that even stopped Sully's assault. “Fine, then, sweet cheeks...you just step aside and let Aunty Nicole handle the scary man.” Heather began to protest, but Nicole had already shoved her aside and summoned ice onto her hand. “Hey, old man!” [[Previous|Page 184 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 186 (H)]]

Sully rested his sword across his shoulder as he stopped to talk. “Ellery,” he greeted her, his tone fond. “I was just telling Storm how she has to beat me if she wants to take over as guard captain.” “Hey, a promotion!” Nicole cheered. She turned and slapped Heather on the shoulder in congratulations. “Now there's something overdue...I mean, she can't beat me any more than your other guards can, but she's come the closest!” “I'm still a guard, you know, so—“ “Nope!” Nicole worked the kinks out of her shoulder. “I mean, 'guard' is your job title, right? But if you actually guarded the place, Eclipse wouldn't get in, right? Way I see it, you don't act like you got a job when you don't do it, you just don't.” Captain Sully brandished his knightsword at Nicole, giving a short, cruel laugh. “Do you ever shut that trap of yours?” he asked. “Or should I shut it for you?” Nicole effortlessly sidestepped the incoming stab and pushed her knuckle against her neck, cracking them both. “Hey, only if you had a good breakfast this time, pal. Remember what I told you?” Heather did, at least. Nicole didn't want to fight Sully unless he was at his absolute best. Judging by the force behind his swings, he was at least operating better than any other swordsman in the city. “Careful, Nicole,” Heather said. She wanted to stop her young charge, but she knew there was no way Nicole would back down from this, so attempting to work some caution into the girl's brain was the only way she could make things any safer for the mage. [[Previous|Page 185 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 187 (N)]]

## Chapter 36 “Finally!” Nicole said, winding her arm in a circle as she approached Sully. “Been waiting to fight you for ages, and now that you're trying to step on Heather...let's just get right into it, huh?” “Agreed,” Sully replied, immediately taking a diagonal swipe at her with his massive knightsword. Nicole stuck her arm up, coating it in plenty of ice to better intercept the attack, but even without the sharpness of the blade touching her flesh, the impact was enormous. She felt the aftershocks rumbling all the way up and down her arm, almost focusing on that hard enough to miss the follow up attack coming her way. She decided to duck away from this one, using a spinning backstep to get some breathing room. She'd underestimated everything about that sword. It was bigger, heavier, and much more problematic than she'd planned for. She was used to lightweights like Thousand Blades, or those Eclipse grunts she'd fought off the day she met Heather and company. Sully could have been trying to swat her with the flat of his blade, and she'd have feared it just as much. “Something the matter, whelp?” Sully taunted her, trying to draw her in for more. “You're outclassed...starting to see that?” Nicole laughed and shook her head, shaking off the impact's effects on her arm. “Oh, shut up,” she replied. “I'll break you eventually, just you wait.” Despite his taunts, Sully came after her, giving her an easy opportunity to sidestep his incoming attack and slug him in the gut with an icy fist. Her goal was similar to the sensation she'd just felt. She knew he was an armored target, but perhaps the force of her blows could pass through. Even so, she was skirting around Sully's attacks, searching for any gap in his gear that might present itself. She was used to finding these gaps, places like the neck and waist where one item ended and the next began. It was relatively easy to find her marks, but when she swung for them, it was fairly obvious from his defenses that Sully knew just as well as she did. With all the war stories she'd heard from Heather, she understood now how he'd lived through them all. [[Previous|Page 186 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 188 (N)]]

Behind her, Nicole could hear the other guards conversing with Heather, as she caught them up on the full scope of Captain Sully's betrayal. Their questions were met with long-winded answers delving into political systems and bureaucracy that repelled Nicole's interest, but eventually things got to a subject she wanted to hear. “Who's that one-armed girl fighting the Captain?” one of the other guards asked. “That is Nicole Ellery, former Orange Star Academy student,” Heather replied. Nicole took offense to her name being tied to Orange Star, a distraction that opened her up to a kick at her legs. She crumpled where she stood, but still managed to roll backwards from her position when Sully moved in with his knightsword. “Why is she fighting the Captain and not you?” “She takes far more pleasure in this day than I.” “No, I mean, why are you letting her?” Before answering, Heather's eyes met Nicole's, and she saw something in the old woman's eyes. With a laugh, Heather answered, “I would not have allowed it, if I did not believe she could win.” Nicole felt a strange exhilaration upon hearing Heather say that. She'd felt pride in her strength before, and taken in plenty of praise at the arena, but somehow the sentiment meant so much more to her coming from Heather. She surprised herself even more when she realized that she wanted a victory over Sully even more now than she did at the beginning. She waited for an opportunity, for a wild swing from Sully to go awry, before turning back to Heather and flashing a thumbs-up. “Don't you worry, old-timer,” she said, “I won't let you down!” All the talking had given her plenty of time to form a new plan, as well. “One hit in between the two of you!” Sully counted, shaking his head. “Was I wrong picking you for replacement captain, Storm?” “She seems the most qualified...” [[Previous|Page 187 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 189 (N)]]

Nicole baited out another sword slash, feigning a weakness for Sully to exploit, only to leave him with empty air to strike as she skirted around the blade, grabbing his arm and wrenching him forward. The weight of his blade was impressive and dangerous, but also a weakness she could exploit. All that weight held so far away from his body would throw his balance off, except in cases where he was specifically ready for it. He could shift his stance and widen his legs to prepare for a slash, but a quick armbar would leave him unable to compensate for that weight. True to her plans, Sully stumbled forward, his armor bouncing loudly off the stone of the guard tower. “Did you see that?” she could hear the guards whispering behind her. “The one-armed girl just knocked the Captain over!” “Nicely done, Nicole!” Heather called out, starting a round of applause. The cheers spread through the spectators, building up Nicole as the underdog. While Sully was toppled, Nicole was able to wind up her leg, landing a sickening kick on Sully's neck. Were it not for his helmet, Nicole was convinced that she'd have punted his head clean off, but even in its presence, she knew he was going to be feeling that impact. Sully grabbed her ankle, taking some of the pressure off of him, letting him rise to his feet while Nicole fell on her back. “I can't remember the last time I was taken off my feet, Ellery,” Sully admitted. “I almost wish I didn't have to kill you.” Nicole tried to roll to the side, but Sully's legs were there, covered in armor and immovable. He raised his sword overhead, turning the point down, poised to let it sink into Nicole's heart. She could see that moving herself was out of the question, and she only had one option left. She let a huge layer of ice form on her leg and swung it upward, letting it crash between Sully's legs. The cheers faded somewhat when Nicole's low blow landed, but she knew it was either dirty fighting or death for her. Sully doubled over as the shock of the impact rippled through his groin, his head bending down low enough to give Nicole a clear shot at Sully's face, smashing her glacial fist right into his head. The shock of the blow caused him to stagger backwards, giving Nicole space to rise to her feet. “I'm still in this!” she announced, returning to her standing stance. [[Previous|Page 188 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 190 (N)]]

Trace amounts of blood began to trickle down Sully's breastplate. “You're scoring a lot of firsts, Ellery,” Sully said, raising his sword to repel her advance. “I can see why Storm hides behind your skirt.” Nicole shook her head, reaching out for Sully's sword. With ice guarding her hand, she clasped the blade, reeling Sully in for a shoulder charge to knock him off balance. “This isn't a skirt, it's just a long shirt!” she rebuked. “No, Nicole,” Heather corrected her from the sidelines. “It is but a figure of speech...he means to imply that I depend on you to solve my problems.” “Oh, well, that's stupid.” Nicole was interrupted by a devastating hilt strike landing on her shoulder, knocking the breath out of her. She stopped talking for a second to focus on Sully, just barely escaping a follow-up slice. If she'd still had her right arm, she'd have lost it to that attack. “I mean, when you know the world's strongest woman, you call in some favors, I get it. Why's that bad?” Nicole moved in to exploit Sully's heavy sword again, but to her shock, he dropped it, letting it clatter against the tower as he moved in unarmed, his gauntlets wrapping around Nicole's body and pulling her into a tight hug, too tight for her to breathe. “Gotcha, Ellery!” he exclaimed right in her face as he held her there, trying to squeeze the life out of her. When he turned around to hold her over the edge of the tower, she could easily guess his backup plan. “I gotta admit, Ellery...I got an arm and decades of experience on you, and you still gave me one of the best fights of my life...but there was no way a whelp like you could ever have won. You had to know that, right?” Nicole couldn't help but use her dwindling air supply for a raucous laugh, having already planned her escape. [[Previous|Page 189 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 191 (N)]]

“What's so funny?” Sully asked, apparently oblivious to the ice spreading from Nicole's body. “Gotcha, Sully,” Nicole repeated, now that Sully's arms were trapped. Her frozen prison continued to grow, stretching beyond Sully's arms up to his chest, forming a wedge that pushed his arms off of her sides, and she took in huge gasps of air to make up for lost time. “What is this?” Sully shook his head rapidly, trying in vain to extricate himself from Nicole's trap, but soon, even his head was stilled by her ice magic. Still, she knew that her ice didn't hold for long if she came out of contact with it, so if she was to finish the fight, she'd have to do something decisive, while still locked up against Sully's body. The onlookers' voices were faint, nearly inaudible through the walls of her ice prison, giving her peace and quiet in which to think. After a lot of retrospection, she settled on her fight in the arena with Fang, and compared it to her experiences with Sully. His knightsword striking her guard rattled her to her core, but she wondered how much of that was merely the effects of its magic. Every other impact she'd blocked with her ice somehow knew not to hurt her, a realization she wished she'd had sooner. Even so, she worried that being trapped in the ice with her afforded Sully the same protection. “Got it,” she whispered to herself, her plan set. Her feet groped out, searching for the edge of the tower, and gave it a push, tipping her and Sully off of the tower. As the two of them tumbled through the air, she commanded her ice magic to break away from Sully, tossing him into freefall away from her. When he was far enough away, she let her ice grow yet again, forming an enormous cushion to shield her from the rapidly-approaching stonework of the ground. She wasn't sure her ice would even work to cushion her from the fall, but she felt oddly at peace with the idea that she may have just killed herself. If nothing else, she'd be the talk of the town basically forever. Her role in stopping Hadrian Sully from sabotaging Moonbrooke City proved beyond any doubt that she'd taken the things she knew how to do, and used them to improve the kingdom, something Orange Star and her parents would never have let her do. Even if this was the end of her journey, she'd fought one of the most feared combatants in the kingdom and succeeded where his countless victims had failed. By the time her icy trappings hit the ground, a huge smile had crossed Nicole's face. [[Previous|Page 190 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 192 (H)]]

## Chapter 37 Heather was the first to the edge of the tower, but her friends and fellow knights were close behind her, all of them eager to check on Nicole. The unspoken verdict seemed to be unanimous; she could tell everyone considered Nicole the winner, but they all needed to know how much the victory had cost her. Heather couldn't tell the answer from her spot atop the tower, and she instantly decided to run down to ground level to check up close, knocking a few people aside on her way there. On her way down, the past shoved its way into her brain, flashing Nicole's life before her eyes. Their meeting in the forest, the many sparring matches she'd been through, her loss to Old Stoutback, her working around the injury to earn her victory in the arena. It was all Heather could think about, making her trip down the spiral staircase clumsy and slow. By the time she reached the bottom, tears had welled up in her eyes, the sum of all her worries. Almost immediately, she could see the huge lump of ice sitting just outside the tower, having rolled slightly since its impact. Its irregular surface had caused it to shift its way on top of Hadrian Sully, his captain's armor caved inward from the traumas of Nicole's desperate attack. It had seemed a foregone conclusion from above, but getting to the ground had confirmed his death. “Nicole!” Heather shrieked as her eyes moved up to the mage hidden in the ice. The jagged fear altered her voice so much, the sound of it was alien to her. She could only think of this for a moment before she realized she'd already started whacking the ice with her knightsword, trying to chip Nicole free. It took everything she had to stop herself, knowing in some corner of her brain that she'd just have to wait for the magical ice to melt. She tapped her scar, trying to keep her cool, as she slowly realized the erratic streak in her breathing. She'd long given up hope of keeping Nicole safe, knowing the girl would seek danger no matter what, but seeing where such behavior led still hurt her in ways she didn't have words for. Somehow, the smile Heather could see on Nicole's face only made it hurt more. [[Previous|Page 191 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 193 (H)]]

“What are you doing?” Gregory's voice asked from behind Heather. She froze, registering that she'd started trying to break the ice with her sword again. “Nicole must live!” was the only explanation Heather could offer. Ace was next on the scene, pulling Heather away from the enchanted iceberg. “Stop that,” she said. “We can't make things any better or worse for her in there. It's up to her to break free, if she's going to.” Without the ice to be her outlet, though, Heather turned to Ace. “How in the world can you be so calm?” she asked. “Nicole may be dead in there!” Ace was having none of it, however, and brought Heather down with a slap to the face. “Look at her in there. If she lives or dies...whatever she thought on the way down, she had no regrets.” “You know how she is,” Gregory added, being much gentler with Heather, helping her to her feet and speaking softly. “Everything she does, she has to do it her way, even her contributions to the Eclipse investigation...” Heather nodded knowingly. She knew Nicole to be the type of person that would try to fit a square peg in a round hole, and simply push harder and harder until something broke. Even so, Heather could tell what had gotten into Nicole this time around. “She did this for me,” the guard said, letting the others hold her as she stared at the ice. “I had hesitated to raise my sword against my captain, even as he insulted me. Nicole...seemed to take his words yet more harshly than I had, and was eager indeed to fight in my stead. If I had only shown the caliber of—“ “Quiet,” Gregory interrupted, peeling himself away from the crowd and moving around the other side of the iceberg. [[Previous|Page 192 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 194 (H)]]

Heather watched him through the prismatic ice as he squatted down to inspect something. With everyone quiet, she finally heard the subtle crunch that had entranced him. As she watched, a seam appeared in the image of Gregory on the other side of the ice, slowly growing past his face and distorting her sight. She realized what was happening just before he yelled out to explain it. “The ice is gonna break!” It had started in one spot, but before Heather knew it, she was watching several cracks snake their way from bottom to top, the sound of it filling the air and overwhelming her senses. Her instinct was to clutch at her ears, but it warred with her unyielding focus on the ice. Her eyes remained transfixed on the hatching underway, at least until the entire iceberg exploded in a shower of frozen crystal. Being unfamiliar with magic, Heather wondered if that was a good sign or not. Nicole's body had nothing left to hold her aloft, causing her to fall and bounce off of Captain Sully's corpse, and before she could stop rolling, Heather was already there to catch her and hold her close. At this distance, she finally had her verdict. “Breathing,” Heather gasped, overcome with relief. When Nicole finally awoke, it was in Heather's bed in the barracks, surrounded by all her friends. Heather had been there the whole time, even as Gregory and Ace left to summon Ciel. “Nicole!” Heather called out as the mage's eyelids fluttered open. “Hey,” Nicole greeted her weakly, still wearing the same satisfaction she had when she was in the ice. “Did I win?” Heather wasn't sure if she was charmed by Nicole's weird priorities, or if she was just happy to hear the girl's voice again. “Indeed you did. Excellent work, Nicole.” She didn't want to encourage Nicole to keep doing such dangerous stunts, but she also knew they were going to happen regardless, so she saw no reason to deny the girl her congratulations. “Awesome.” [[Previous|Page 193 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 195 (H)]]

Nicole tried to get up, but found herself stymied by pain all through her body. Heather briefly thought about what she'd gone through on the way out of Affluens; her only rest had been on the road, and Heather could see fatigue trying to catch up with her. “Though I guess I'd have to have won," Nicole said, wincing slightly. "If I'm hurting this bad, I'd hate to see the other guy.” “It's a relief to see you alive,” Ciel said, moving in close so Nicole could give her a hug. “When Ace described your circumstances, it was hard to believe.” “Why...you trying to say you don't think I'd do this kingdom some good?” Ciel shook her head. “No, Ace described a caliber of magic I thought beyond you.” Nicole laughed until it hurt her. “When are you gonna learn some tact, girl?” “Probably never.” Ciel folded her arms and smiled at her bedridden friend. “You do admirably without it.” The two of them kept at it for awhile until Nicole suddenly silenced Ciel. “Oh, oh, oh! Guys...that Sully guy, what was he hiding? You learn anything new?” It still amazed Heather that Nicole could refer to a decorated veteran as “that Sully guy”. “We have not yet searched his quarters,” she answered. “Then go figure it out!” Nicole demanded. “Ciel and I can hang while you guys handle the investigating stuff.” When no one moved, Nicole started waving her hand toward the door. “Get!” Heather had no choice but to agree; Nicole had fought that battle to win the information everyone had just left in the captain's quarters, so there was no sense letting it gather dust. Still concerned about Nicole, Heather turned to some of the hangers-on from her garrison and told them, “Guard my room, and the mages within.” Even as she gave her orders, she could hear Gregory and Ace as they turned to the job at hand. “I'll check the body,” he said, his scarf billowing behind him as he flew down the stairs. [[Previous|Page 194 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 196 (H)]]

Ace and Heather took their leave and went up to Sully's room. Other than the staircase hugging the perimeter, his quarters took up the entire top floor of the tower. The room was relatively sparse in furnishings, but his various accolades of war had become decorations for the walls and desk. “Any of this stuff could be hiding something,” Ace noted. “After all, he did manage to hide his activities from you guards.” “He hid it from us all,” Heather blurted out, surprised at her own defensiveness. “You do raise a valid point, however. Every member of the guard comes in here at least once in their career...yet not a single one noticed anything amiss with the Captain.” “Yeah, glad you don't expect to just find one of those skulls the Eclipse grunts love wearing.” Ace wasted no time in making a mess of the dead captain's possessions, yanking drawers out of the dressers, tearing tabards off the wall, letting papers fall wherever once she was done reading them. “Ace!” Heather called out, moving to stop her ally's tirade. When she saw the look in Ace's eyes, though, she stepped back. “He betrayed the whole kingdom,” she said. “Don't act like he's worth preserving.” Heather closed her eyes, reflecting briefly on her own induction into Moonbrooke knighthood. “His betrayal is precisely why I wish to preserve his belongings.” Heather saw the subtle twist in Ace's lips, and knew to explain. “He has poisoned the very nature of our order, Ace. His treachery must be made into an example. I know now what you and the others have shown me...though I admit to being ignorant until seeing Sully today.” Clasping a hand on Ace's shoulder, she added, “Thank you.” Ace didn't seem to register the full weight of Heather's words, but she was glad to confide in her all the same. She was so busy looking for a sign of understanding from Ace that it took her a moment to spot Gregory waiting in the doorway. “Hey,” he said once he was sure he'd been noticed. “What're you two talking about?” “Some thoughts on Captain Sully, is all.” “Nothing about how Nicole's like your daughter or something now?” Gregory smirked even as Heather felt her lips draw together. “You never get that worked up about me, or Ace.” [[Previous|Page 195 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 197 (H)]]

Heather sighed and let herself fall onto Sully's bed. “I am quite preoccupied with Sully and his treason at the moment," she said, dismissing all the talk of her and Nicole. "If the Queen demands an explanation, we will need evidence stronger than our own hearsay.” Sitting up, she added, “I can pause to sort out my attitude toward Nicole when we succeed in clearing our names.” Gregory shrugged. “Then we better get looking," he said matter-of-factly. "The only thing Sully had kicking around on his corpse was this key.” Gregory fished around in his scarf, pulling out a key the length of his middle finger. “One look at this thing, and I could tell it has to go to some kind of antique.” Heather shook her head. “Yet I have seen no such thing in this office. His furnishings were always kept quite current by the Queen.” “Who says it goes to furniture?” Ace clarified. “The castle and city are full of old doors. Not that we have time to go around checki...” Ace trailed off, distracted by a ruckus coming from downstairs. Heather couldn't help but be curious about the noise as well, and involuntarily held her breath a little, cutting down on noise as much as she could. Once she heard Nicole throwing a fit, she was the first one on the stairs. “Fine, but let her go!” Nicole was hollering. “She came to check on me, that's all!” Heather was slightly relieved to see it wasn't Nicole herself in trouble, but she was still concerned when she came around the corner to see a couple guards putting their all into holding Nicole in place. They were followed by a woman in a veil, her body buried beneath a mountain of robes, but Heather still recognized her instantly. “Your Majesty!” she gasped, taking a knee. “That's two of them,” one of the guards said, moving to restrain Heather. “Once we arrest your other two friends, we can move on to the real show.” “Yeah?” Nicole growled. “What kind of show is that?” “Only the first public execution we've had since we caught the king's killer, of course.” [[Previous|Page 196 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 198 (N)]]

## Chapter 38 Nicole was standing on the far left among her colleagues, using her chin to push the rope of the noose against her skin, scratching an itch on her neck. The other three didn't move, except for Heather, who stood next to her; she was obviously holding in tears. The four of them were standing on a hastily-constructed wooden platform, their ropes tied over one long gibbet. Behind it all, the castle loomed, blotting out the sun that would have touched the convicts' skin otherwise. “These are the four criminals responsible for the unrest that have plagued our city,” the queen was saying, giving a speech with the four of them as a gruesome backdrop. Even from here, Nicole felt some intense sort of pressure from Her Majesty, a sensation she took as the gut feeling of being yelled at by an authority figure. “We have Nicole Ellery," the queen began, "a delinquent who is responsible for the death of our greatest hero, Captain Hadrian Sully.” Now Queen Moonbrooke was moving from person to person as she talked about them, her voice dragging on the words like someone impersonating a ghost. “Heather Storm, who continuously defied orders, leaving you all in danger. Atsuko Shimazaki, alias 'Ace', among whose possessions we have found an artifact of necromancy, as well as gear associated with Eclipse. And finally...” The Queen paused to wrap some red cloth around Gregory's face, eliciting gasps from the audience. “...the Moonblade," she concluded, "who was harbored by these other three, in addition to their other crimes.” “Everyone knows who the real criminals are!” Nicole said, though the words came out unintelligible through the gag in her mouth. She'd already run her mouth too much for them to handle. The Queen turned around briefly, and though her veil hid her face, Nicole was sure some kind of death glare was on the other side. “Citizens of Moonbrooke City,” she said, ignoring Nicole, “we have reconstructed the gallows that disposed of my husband's murderer for the first time since that day, to finally put an end to the fear and paranoia, to lift the shadow from our fair city.” Nicole could tell that there was still plenty of disbelief to be found among the crowd, with Heather and Gregory's recent fame for their part in defending the Vanishing Wench. [[Previous|Page 197 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 199 (N)]]

In fact, one such person managed to get above the din of the crowd and voice his dissent. “Moonblade or no, we've never put a simple thief to death!” Thinking back on it, Nicole realized that he'd never actually killed anybody, except maybe some Eclipse goons when she wasn't looking. She wondered if he'd known this day would come, and had that alibi built up in advance. Now that the crowd was demanding the Queen answer that criticism, she had no choice. “This is true,” she admitted. “But in light of his connections with Eclipse, the very criminals who bring you such terror, you must understand that his death will set an example for the rest of his kind. One life to save you, your friends, your family...certainly, you can see the value in such a decision.” “Don't forget, I saved your city from those goons, with Heather's help,” Gregory pointed out, nullifying the support Queen Moonbrooke had garnered with her appeal. “This is not a trial!” Her retort silenced everyone; the voice that had sounded off was weird, completely unlike the calm, wailing tenor she had held until then. “This is an execution!” “And an unjustified one a—“ Gregory was gagged just like Nicole was, before he could finish his sentence. It was too late, though; his sedition had already paid off, forming a rift in the crowd. Queen Moonbrooke wasn't about to move on with the execution without her audience's rapt attention, and this time, not even snapping could quell the unrest around her. Frustrated, she moved over to where Ace was tied up, third in the line, and Nicole could tell she was about to have Ace hanged just to see if that would calm things down. “Your Majesty, stop!” a voice came out from the crowd. In the blink of an eye, Ciel was up on the podium, putting herself between Ace and the Queen. [[Previous|Page 198 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 200 (N)]]

“Ciel, you can teleport?” Nicole asked, taking a second to remember the gag. “You cannot take any of their lives yet!” The Queen reared back, about ready to kill Ciel on sight, but she relaxed. “And why would that be?” she asked. Ciel turned to Nicole and smiled reassuringly before giving her answer. “You have to give them a chance for last requests first.” The crowd was still mostly in upheaval, but some of them were paying attention to Ciel's plea. She stood there, flipping through a stack of papers in search of her defense. “Pursuant to Moonbrooke City law...Article 12, Section 8, Paragraph 7B." It took Ciel a bit to find the relevant section, and everyone kept silent and waited for her. "Ah, here it is,” she cooed, pausing to clear her throat. “'Those sentenced to death are required a last request, heretofore referred to as a Request. The Courts'–that includes you, in the case of fast-track executions like this–'must honor the Request before any death penalty can be carried out. The Request must not be a postponement or cancellation of the death penalty.'” Ciel nodded at the Queen, her posture just screaming “in your face”. “Before you take any of their lives, you must grant them their final wish,” she summarized. The Queen just stood there, not sure what to do about this, while Ciel moved to Nicole and took the gag out of her mouth. “Hey, thanks,” Nicole said. “I think I already know what I want.” Ciel sighed. “No...don't you get it? You can't ask for a rescheduling, but if your request takes awhile, they have to wait until it's done. All you have to—“ Nicole shook her head. “No, Ciel, I've got this. But thank you.” “This one first, then?” the Queen asked, taking Ciel's intervention as some kind of signal. Ciel hadn't meant it that way, and clearly didn't trust Nicole's judgment, but now all she could do was shrug. “Might as well go from left to right,” the mage said. [[Previous|Page 199 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 201 (N)]]

“Very well then!” The Queen's hollering finally got some semblance of attention from the crowd. There were still plenty of disagreements, but they had quieted to a murmur. “Before these criminals are given their just punishments, they will be allowed a single request apiece.” Turning her back on the crowd, she continued, “Nicole Ellery! Before you are executed, what is your last wish?” Nicole chuckled. “That's an easy one,” the pugilist said. “Take that stupid thing off your face.” “What?” The Queen recoiled away from Nicole a little. “Yeah, you heard me!” Nicole's request was causing waves of confusion through the crowd, and she took the pause as a chance to explain herself. “I want to see your face. I want everyone here to see your face.” Ciel nodded, as she stood off to the side, near the steps that led onto the wooden platform. “Nicole!” she mouthed, her eyebrows furrowed. She tried to regain her composure by the time she addressed the Queen, mostly succeeding. “Well, Your Majesty? Whatever your reason for wearing the veil, you must lift it and show Nicole your face, as well as all those in attendance. The law says that the execution cannot continue until you do so.” “I know what the law says!” Queen Moonbrooke spat. She moved over to Ciel, clearly trying to ask her question quietly, but failing. “What if I refuse?” “Should you execute Nicole without granting her request, you would be guilty of murder yourself, Your Majesty.” Ciel shuffled her papers, though she wasn't looking at them. She knew what she had to say just fine without them. “The punishment for murder is death.” “You would have Her Majesty put on the gallows?” Heather protested, speaking for the first time since the arrest. Ciel shot Heather a heavy-lidded look. “She's not above the law,” she replied bluntly. The Queen let out a low growl before finally lifting her veil, staring Nicole right in the face. “That's...!” Ciel finished her thought for her. “The Animus Font! It's been shoved into her eye socket!” [[Previous|Page 200 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 202 (N)]]

The Queen turned around, showing the horrible sight to the crowd. Screams and panic were already erupting from the citizens, recoiling away from the Queen's mangled face, and the glowing green vein-like lines bulging through her skin. Nicole took a moment to wonder how the Font even got there in the first place, but was distracted by Ciel scooting past her, using short magical bolts to sever the ropes around the four convicts. “I don't need them alive!” the Queen was saying. “Or any of you, for that matter!” Her deception revealed, she was going off the deep end, giving everyone ample time to prepare behind her back. Nicole, however, had a thought she needed to push away before she could proceed. “Wow, lucky guess,” she blurted. “Guess?” Ace repeated, looking ready to kill Nicole herself. “You were sentenced to death, and you gambled on a guess?” Ace sighed. “I can't believe you sometimes. Do you take anything seriously?” Nicole shrugged. Her idea of “serious” was a far cry from most, she knew that much. Rather than try and get on the same page, she dodged the question. “It was obvious, wasn't it? That Sully guy was lying. He said he had nothing to do with Eclipse itself, but he wrote a note to Greg. And after enough hanging around Sister Storm over here...” “Excuse me?” Heather shouted, taking a step forward. Nicole continued without acknowledging the guard. “...this tightwad was always on her knees for the Queen, but she always brushed it off as part of her code. I thought that was just her being a wuss...but what if it wasn't?” Nicole gave a short chuckle and added, "You don't get to be the person in charge if there's someone out there that can kill you. You either have to kill them or be unkillable." Heather was still a little put off by Nicole's remark, but was still appreciative. “Ah, more of your people skills. Yet you had never met Her Majesty...how would you know of her connection to Eclipse?” “That was the guess. Either she was tough as nails, or she'd taken up necromancy. An undying queen could run a country forever, right?" [[Previous|Page 201 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 203 (N)]]

Ace nodded, flashing Nicole a small smile. “Ah, so you made the veil request knowing these things of the Animus Font?” she asked. Nicole let out a dry laugh. “No, I just wanted to look her in the eye if she was gonna be the one to kill me.” “Well, so much for that,” Gregory said, waving his hands around until his dagger appeared. He noted the three women staring at him, and laughed. “Of course no one found it on me. If I've got sleeves, I can smuggle this thing anywhere.” Gregory's comment took Ace away from Nicole. “And you didn't use it that whole time?” she spat. “You could have been free!” Gregory looked at his feet. “I wasn't sure I deserved to be free, really.” Nicole pushed past Ace and buried her fist in Gregory's gut. “Don't you even start that crap right now,” she growled. “If we're gonna stop Queen Moonbrooke, we need Ace and Heather to get their swords back, and probably evacuate the castle courtyard while we're at it.” Nicole finally turned her attention back to Queen Moonbrooke, who was now hovering in the air, while two guards still loyal to her carried a huge box out onto the balcony overlooking the gallows. “An evidence chest?” Heather mused as they dropped it and lifted the lid. Queen Moonbrooke let out a shrill cry as a finger of green lightning shot out of the Animus Font, touching down inside the box. She landed on the balcony and held a hand to the sky, while a line of bones slithered out of the box and into her hand, forming a staff. However, it soon became a spear, with a point Nicole was all too familiar with. “That's a tusk from Old Stoutback!” [[Previous|Page 202 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 204 (H)]]

## Chapter 39 “That...that is not my Queen!” Heather roared up at the figure on the balcony, as strange green magics continued to manipulate the trove of bones stolen from the Vanishing Wench. She believed Captain Sully in that instant; she couldn't imagine him tolerating this abominable scenario. She snapped out of it quickly, however, turning to the throng of onlookers and drowning her disgust in her work. “Right then, time to evacuate!” The people that had come to watch the execution were clumsily pushing their way through the gates, a fact not lost on Ace, judging by her watching them. “Your orders?” she asked, using her Torikago blade as part of the Moonbrooke salute. “Do not play with me at this time.” Maybe Ace had meant it respectfully, but it was time for action, not apology. “We shall vacate the castle and courtyard, and engage our enemy here. There are four doors out of the castle area, yet the crowd is all pushing into the nearest one, forming a bottleneck. You...” She grabbed hold of Gregory and Nicole, snapping their attention away from the Queen's ritual. “...and you two, round up some townspeople and usher them off the premises. Ace, go to the left of the castle. Nicole, go right. Gregory, as the fastest, you will chaperone the door on the opposite side.” “Huh?” Nicole asked, taking a second for the words to sink into her head. “Oh, right, I'll try it.” She turned to the crowd, relishing her duty. “Alright, losers, get over here and follow me outta here!” Heather could hear the whispers mounting already. Plenty of arena fanatics had attended the execution, and they were quick to follow her directions. She heaved a sigh of relief as the same happened with Ace and Gregory as well, and the remaining crowd shuffled out of the door behind her. “But why is it so easy?” Heather asked herself. Before long, she had her answer. [[Previous|Page 203 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 205 (H)]]

A small squad of guards came out of the front door of the castle to greet Heather, but she could instantly tell something was wrong. Past their helmets, she could see grievous wounds, but instead of bleeding, they shone with the same green energy that the Animus Font was giving off. “What foul sorcery is this?” she hollered. “This is Ark's work,” Ace replied from the other side of the squad, coming back from her shepherding duties. The resurrected guards moved erratically, their swordsmanship sloppy, so it was easy for the two experienced women to deal with the dozen or so warriors. “If you remember the legends, that was his whole gimmick...” Ace stopped to slap her forehead. “Of course! The Animus Font...it's just like the ruby of rage I encountered in the ruins of Ark's tower!” This was all news to Heather. “You have encountered such a thing before?” Ace nodded, readying her weapon as more corrupted guards made their way out from the castle. It looked like most if not all those not on patrol had been caught unawares inside the castle, killed only to be brought back. “Ark would trap the life force of the living in stones, and this imprisonment would drive them to loathe all living things. I think Ark managed to hide his own being away in a similar device, just waiting for a new host body.” “Then I was correct...that is not my Queen.” “Not anymore, no. She's stuck like that until she dies, and probably well after that...” Heather could hear it clearly now that the guards coming down upon her were so numerous. They seemed to have multiple people inside them, their screams all faint and muffled as if coming from inside the bodies. She thought back to the craw, and the steam that whistled through cracks she and Nicole made in them, and knew this was different. These people were powering the very bodies, their magic draw forcing the slain guards' limbs into action. “Anything from your legends that may expose a weakness in this Ark?” “Last time, I just grabbed the ruby and broke it.” [[Previous|Page 204 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 206 (H)]]

The corrupt guards were upon Heather and Ace now, most having ditched their blades entirely in favor of wild clawing and biting. Ace was quick to start fighting back, eager to disable the incoming thralls. Heather was more hesitant, not striking until the first attacks were already on her. Ace managed to keep surprisingly calm as she worked through the crowds. “If we break the Animus Font," she called over her shoulder, "it should put a stop to all this. Queen's probably going to die, but the moment she became Ark's vessel, she was already—“ “Ace,” Heather interrupted her. “That is not my Queen.” She'd meant it the other times she said it, but only now did she realize the full meaning of her words. It wasn't just when Queen Moonbrooke actually picked up the Animus Font and let it become a part of her that she stopped being the woman Heather had sworn fealty to. The moment she made the pact with Eclipse, set her plans in motion to acquire the Animus Font, schemed to rule the kingdom from beyond the boundaries of life, that decision was what separated this woman from the Queen she idolized. “Huh,” Ace chirped, barely audible over the sounds of the carnage. “Yes?” “Oh, I didn't expect that, is all.” Ace fired a Chikaraken projectile into one of the guards, snaking into a gap in his armor and reacting violently with Ark's magic. As the guard split into unusable pieces, she added, “You sound lovely now that your lips are off her backside.” “Ace, please.” The knightsword's enchantment was equally volatile when combined with Ark's reanimation; the magic's force simply blew limbs off with one good swing to the armor. “Now is not the time for such a jest.” Ace shrugged in between kills. “Sorry. You're lucky Gregory and Nicole aren't here, then.” “And to whence did they depart?” Heather asked. Even with the relative frailty of the targets, they were just too numerous. Ace took a glancing blow to her hand, blood running along the hilt of her sword. Heather's armor was holding up against the dead guards' swords, but they were still enchanted, and the force was rattling Heather's insides. “We must depart...!” [[Previous|Page 205 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 207 (H)]]

With nowhere else to go, the two stepped backwards into the guard tower, making their way back to the roof where Captain Sully had battled. With that thought in her mind, it was much easier for Heather to recognize one of the guards in the thick of things. “Captain Sully!” she shouted. His armor was unmistakable, especially with the heavy dents Nicole's magic had left in it. His facial features were gone, replaced with intense green light drawing a childish caricature of a face. His larger knightsword, and his skill with it, seemed to be intact. Even in this form, his usual tactic was on full display. His sword swipes were immense, and quickly ate up the women's maneuvering space. The green light of Ark's magic pulsed in an irregular rhythm, but Heather had no idea what it could mean. “Now what?” Ace asked, barely ducking a huge horizontal slash. The sword kept going, and Heather raised her knightsword to repel it, nearly losing her balance in the process. “Where are those two?” Heather wondered of her other companions. “I saw Gregory take off in Nicole's direction, but what they decided from there—“ Ace sounded like she wanted to say more, but a vertical slash from Sully's corpse made her roll away. Heather saw her chance, and took it without a moment of hesitation. While Sully was pulling his knightsword back into a ready position, she ran up and aimed at his neck, going for the quick finish. As she did so, however, the thrall ducked effortlessly away from her attack. Now she knew she was vulnerable not just to Sully, but to the other undead guards as well. “No!” she scolded herself, feeling an itch on her scar as she shifted her body around, trying to face as many opponents at once as she could, to better defend from their attacks. Before long, they were raining down on her, her former comrades' knightswords rattling against hers as their enchantments shoved them apart. What attacks she couldn't block were at least kept away from vulnerabilities in her armor. Still, she could feel her body begging for an end to the attacks, her muscles fatigued in a way that only a knightsword could cause. She felt herself wobble, then fall, dropping to one knee as the sensation rippled her body more than she could stand. [[Previous|Page 206 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 208 (H)]]

Looking past the thralls bearing down on her, Heather could see Ace entangled in combat with Sully, the two of them darting all over the place. Heather envied Ace's tactics; the mobility left her safe from the other enemies, who were much too slow to keep up with her and Sully. Seeing this also made Heather realize that if she was going to live through this fight, she'd have to figure it out herself. Looking around at the thralls that were beating her, her vision began to blur, a response to the pain all through her body. She blinked it off, searching for the adrenaline to carry her through, and just so happened to see her answer. She clenched her gauntlet-clad fist tightly, focusing on the sensation of her fingers curling and the joints of her armor pressing together, and took aim at one of the knightswords raining down on her. With a short yell, she shoved the sword sideways with a punch, sending the thrall's clumsy slash careening into an ally. The knightsword blasted the other thrall with its magic, leaving it off-balance enough for Heather to barge right through. She pushed herself up and at the thrall, giving it a shoulder tackle from below. To her delight, its feet left the floor, allowing her a small but usable escape window. She stepped forward just as the thrall fell on its back, and brought her sword down on it at about the same time as it landed. Free from the crowd, she was able to reposition everyone on one side of her, and defend herself much more easily. While her position seemed defensible enough, taking the offensive was impossible with such a large army bearing down on just the two of them, and the sheer marathon was beginning to take its toll on Heather. She could feel her sword arm slowing, while she saw no end to the corrupted guards marching onto the roof of the guard tower. She could tell Ace was holding back for essentially the same reason. If there were less of them, the adventurer would let rip with Chikaraken and let that be the end of it. As it was, she'd destroy her body before she ran out of targets. “Yes!” Ace answered, replying to a question Heather hadn't even heard. Her confusion only grew as Ace took her hand and dragged her off the side of the tower, tossing the two of them into freefall. [[Previous|Page 207 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 209 (H)]]

As Heather's body slowly spun through the air, however, she saw what was going on, and understood at least part of it. The Orange Star Academy had sent some mages to assist the two women in their escape, weaving a spell to ensure they came to a slow, soft landing. They were even so kind as to rotate Heather in the air a little bit to make sure she landed on her feet. She looked through the throng of unfamiliar faces in search of answer, but then her eyes came to rest upon Gregory standing alongside a much more important-looking and elderly mage. “I apologized like I've never apologized in my life,” Greogry explained. “I am Headmaster Burton of the Orange Star Academy,” his companion introduced himself. “Once this man told me what was happening here, I decided we could not afford to sit on our haunches and let the event pass us by.” Glancing at Gregory, he added, “And yes, his apology was something to behold.” Heather opened her mouth to ask more questions, but the headmaster shushed her and walked on by, joining his subordinates in a spell that sealed the enthralled guards in the tower. She could see them trying to jump off the tower like she and Ace had done, only to smack into an invisible barrier. “We split some blame for this mess, him and I,” Gregory continued as he watched alongside Heather. “He's too proud to tell you, but he's pretty sure he never should've kept that Animus thing in his private closet in the first place.” None of this was making any impression on Heather, though. Gregory's return had sparked an urgent question in her mind. “Then what of Nicole? Have you seen her?” [[Previous|Page 208 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 210 (N)]]

## Chapter 40 “Round two, huh?” Nicole said under her breath. She had been trying to reach the arena, at Gregory's suggestion; he volunteered to smooth things out with the mages and let her have the easier job of convincing her arena buddies to join the fight. She didn't envy him his ordeal, but she wasn't about to do it instead. Now, though, she was wishing she'd taken the other route, so as to avoid the Queen's intervention. The beast that stood before her was a bizarre amalgam of bones, though she could easily recognize the stocky frame and one tusk of Old Stoutback before her. Lots of slasher claws adorned the beast, and some bones she didn't recognize led up to a perchthorn's foot spike as a grisly tail. The Queen had taken the other tusk to use as the tip of her staff, and in the place where that tusk should have been, the skeleton of a mangled hand waved back at her. “This Ark's a real turd,” Nicole growled once she finally recognized it as her hand. She wasn't sure where Eclipse had found it, or really why they'd bothered, but it didn't matter to her then. Regardless of what motivated or made up this monster, it was between her and the arena, so it had to go. “You're mine!” Old Stoutback was tough enough alive, though. She instantly realized that fighting a skeletal version fueled by ancient necromancy could only be harder. It charged at her on its desiccated hooves, and she got out of the way as best she could, but a lash of its tail threw her into a market stand. She dug herself out as it turned around and lined up another charge, and was able to turn aside its tail this time. As quick and forceful as it was, her ice still gave her the weight and protection she needed. With a grunt, she pushed the tail away from her and skirted around the bony beast, taking a potshot at some of the bones for the sake of it. With no nerves, no give, and nothing else to protect them, the bones under her fist cracked from the impact. The beast didn't react at all, but Nicole was still glad to see it. [[Previous|Page 209 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 211 (N)]]

“Okay, new plan,” Nicole reassured herself. “If I break off the dangerous bits, there's no problem, right?” When the beast approached her again, she rolled past it, weaving an icy spell to slide her under the tail. Before it could react, she sprang to her feet and took another swing at the tail, completely shattering one of the bones at the base. It seemed much wiser to her plan, however, and reacted by turning around, grabbing her with her amputated arm. She didn't notice it around her leg until it had tripped her up, leaving her on her stomach. No amount of thrashing or kicking seemed to jostle the bony grip on her leg. All she accomplished was getting herself turned over to face the thing. Its eye sockets blazed a vibrant green as they stared at her, seeming to contemplate the best way to finish her. Time seemed to slow down around her as her mind raced, staring her mortality in the eye, yet again by the tusk of Old Stoutback. What had she done before? What had her friends done to save her? Question after question swirled through her mind, clouding even the sight of the bone construct about to kill her. She searched so hard for answers that she barely noticed the ice cocoon she'd wrapped herself in, a reflexive shield that was already cracking under the repeated thrusts of that ivory tail. It bought her time and nothing more, she knew that, but she found herself hoping that time was all she needed. Even as everything inside her screamed in fear, she could feel it, just one iota of hope stirring her brain into action. “I pitched the jewel back at the tower, shattering it against the outer wall of the tower.” Ace's words flowed through Nicole's mind and stuck there, fixating her on the possibility. She remembered the story of the iron golem, and how it was controlled by a jewel similar enough to the Animus Font. Was there one inside this bone thing too? She hadn't seen one, not even in those eye sockets blazing with energy. That was her only lead, however, so she resolved to smash the skull to dust and see what happened. She still didn't know how she'd manage that, since that would put her in the most vulnerable position of the whole thing, but she would still much rather figure it out than lay down and die there in the streets alone. [[Previous|Page 210 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 212 (N)]]

The ice gave way around Nicole, interrupting her thoughts. The path between the beast's stinger and her heart was laid bare. As it swung down again, she knew there was only one thing she could do. With a loud yell, she threw an icy fist on a collision course with the stinger, hoping its force against her glacial spell would deter it. The stinger was an implement from a Moonbrooke bird that used it to stab through earth and give itself a place to sit. Its purpose was to crush and turn aside rocks and packed soil. Against Nicole's magically augmented fist, it was nothing. The bony protrusion exploded into a spray of calcium chips as Nicole's fist traveled through it, crushing the next set of bones down the line for good measure. Nicole couldn't help but laugh at herself. The plan was to crush certain bones, and she hadn't thought to crush other bones to make it easier. Before the skeleton could react, she twisted around and smashed the arm the Eclipse had stolen from her, freeing her from its bony grip. It felt weird, blasting her own arm like that, but there was no helping that, not with a job to do. There were three of them. The thought had answered one of her prior questions sarcastically, but now she held it as the key. She'd lost, and her friends had won, because she was alone and they weren't. All she had to do was get this thing to follow her all the way to the arena, where she could get other experienced fighters to help, or at least to keep the thing busy while she caved its head in. She'd fought Old Stoutback alone once and lost an arm, and almost made the same mistake again. She knew she'd have plenty of time to admonish herself for it as she ran. She couldn't outpace Old Stoutback when it was alive, and it seemed even faster in death. Her only course of action was to weave and dodge through the streets to keep the skeleton's charging at a safe distance. Leading the beast into walls was the simplest form of defense, but the road to the arena provided her with plenty of room for creativity. A clothing kiosk gave her a billowy dress to throw over its head, which didn't help as much as she thought it would. Barrels and other similar items left near residences were there for her to tip over and leave in the skeleton's path. The alleyways were tempting, but she had to make sure the thing was still on her tail. She couldn't let it wander off where someone else might catch its ire. [[Previous|Page 211 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 213 (N)]]

Nicole could hear Old Stoutback's hooves clicking against the cobblestones as she ran, its body propelled by dark magic. She was glad that the threatening noise was still behind her, though, as the arena rose into view. Unfortunately for her, no one was waiting for her outside, so she did the only thing she could think of. “Help!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. She knew a few bleeding hearts in the roster would come running, and it wouldn't take long for the rest of the locker room to follow them into the street. “Someone, help!” They probably wouldn't appreciate being conscripted into this fight, but they'd get over it. With the city guard indisposed, this was the safest place to herd the skeleton anyway. “What's going on?” Fang shouted as he came storming out of the fighters' area. She saw the grim realizations shake his body, one after the other. “Nicole!” He joined the fray instantly, a guttural growl flowing from inside his canine mask. He was his usual whirl of tooth and claw, not that that helped much in the face of a creature without flesh or blood. “What is this?” The answer came flatly, almost apathetically. “Oh, Queen Moonbrooke's a necromancer.” “Your Queen did this?” Nicole shrugged. “Somehow. Get the rest of the fellas out here so we can grind this thing down, will you?” Fang nodded and scurried back into the arena building, just as Thousand Blades was coming out. The two nearly collided in the doorway, but Fang ended up pulling him back inside instead. “It's a monster!” she could hear him shouting. She busied herself with the skeleton while she waited, using her ice and agility to stay unharmed by its charging. Her body screamed at her to take a break, and her moves got sloppy, culminating in a misstep during a twist that sent her body falling to the street. She looked up as the beast kept running at her, and worked up some ice to wall herself off, but the ice melted as she tried to work with it. Confused, she looked up to see the dark robes of Samhain swirling past her, a black cloud floating by. “Back to the underworld with you!” he taunted as he turned Stoutback aside with a gout of magical fire. [[Previous|Page 212 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 214 (N)]]

Looking down at Nicole, Samnhain offered a hand and told her, “Only I am allowed to defeat you!” “Yeah, yeah,” Nicole said, rolling her eyes. “I'm just glad the gang's all here.” “So wot do we do?” Thousand Blades asked from somewhere behind her. “'e 'asn't any flesh!” Nicole opened her mouth to answer, but Samhain talked right over her. “This level of necromancy," he replied, "and the way it moves...it seems as if every bone in this creature's form is controlled by vengeful spirits.” “Meanin'...?” “Meaning that to send the souls to their rightful rest, every bone of this beast must be destroyed!” Samhain wasted no further time in getting to the task at hand, detonating snakes of homing fire underneath the skeleton's feet. Nicole rose to her feet and raised her fist into a fighting stance, but Fang moved in front of her, shaking his head. “No way, Frigid Witch,” he admonished her. “You're exhausted. You'll just get your other arm injured, or worse.” She was already forming a reply in her head, just waiting to push it through her lips, but a new idea came to her. “You're right,” she said. “I should get away from here and get some rest.” “Good girl. You wouldn't want to let us down...no one wants to see a grown man wail on a girl with no arms.” “Yeah.” Nicole darted away from the battle in progress, letting Thousand Blades cover her escape with a flurry of slashes, but she was going the way she came. The Vanishing Wench was on the road she was taking, but she wasn't stopping there. She was headed back to the castle to join the main event, the big brawl against the Queen herself. [[Previous|Page 213 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 215 (N)]]

Nicole felt a small pang of guilt pulling a fast one on her arena colleagues like she had. Then again, there was nothing she could do about it now. She could always apologize later for foisting that skeletal abomination on them, but even with as little rest as she'd had recently, she still wanted to be there for the fight with the Queen. What was strange about it, though, was how she felt about it. There was the usual fame-mongering, but it had come second. The first thought through her mind was to check on Heather, Ace, and even Gregory. Were they okay? Were they even alive at this point, or were they yanked around on puppet strings like that skeleton now so far behind her? She rounded a corner and got to thinking about Anna. She hadn't heard a peep from the spirit girl since arriving back in Moonbrooke. With Ark being able to twist spirits to his will, how was she doing? She definitely should have been tattling on someone right about now, because there was no way anyone in the group was acting responsibly at this point. So where was she? “Oh great,” Nicole growled to herself as the gates to the castle courtyard finally came into view. “I'm getting soft.” Her body pleaded for an end to the exertion, but she knew she wouldn't rest easy until she knew everyone was okay. She had no idea which weaknesses she was more frustrated with, but they both relented a little when she punched a dent into the wood of the gates. She smiled at the imperfection she'd left in the grain for a moment before darting inside to see how the others were doing. [[Previous|Page 214 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 216 (H)]]

## Chapter 41 The loud knock at the castle gates startled Heather into turning around. She knew Ace and Gregory would protect her as she looked to the horrible sound; she also knew that the Queen's justifications mattered little to her at this point. A figure approached through the gates, and she was relieved to identify it as Nicole, even if the young mage seemed to be on the verge of collapse. “Thank goodness!” she said, waving Nicole in. “Hey,” Nicole replied, moving in to join ranks with the others. “Ran into someone's pet on the way over. Arena guys have it under control. How'd Greg do?” “He has brought us the Orange Star Academy.” Nicole's face wrinkled a little, but Heather was quick with her next sentence to put the girl at ease. “They, too, are occupied with the vengeful dead Ark commands.” “So it's us four against the lady? Decent...!” Nicole cracked her neck and let her shoulder sag under the weight of the ice on her hand. Heather nodded and moved over, accepting Nicole into the lineup as the four of them faced down their ultimate foe. “The armies of life and death clashing in the streets,” Ark said, his voice fuzzy and distorted as it moved through the queen's lips. “Now there's a sight that brings me back. If only Zephyr were here...I could defeat it in this body.” He pointed his staff at Ace, gesturing to her. “But there's something familiar about that one...maybe it'll do.” Ace shrugged and moved forward. “If I'm right about my lineage,” she said over her shoulder, “then this fight is over already.” A smile crossed Ace's face as she stepped up to Ark, sword in hand. “You don't seem to understand what you're getting into.” “And what does that mean, exactly?” “History should be so much easier for you, since you'd just have to remember it. But without that awareness, you're just doomed to repeat your same failure.” Ace started channeling her Chikaraken right away as she continued talking. “My museum is proof enough...maybe civilizations and kingdoms rise and fall, but humanity always finds a way to endure! We find such strength in numbers...strength to overcome anything! Especially you!” [[Previous|Page 215 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 217 (H)]]

Ace looked back at Heather and the others and waved them forward before she attacked. She moved so fast as to vanish from sight, instantly closing the distance to Ark and clashing her sword against his bone staff. Ark let out a chilling laugh as a surge of green light crackled through the staff, causing Ace to cry out in pain and withdraw her sword. As he had been doing that, however, Gregory had managed to slip his way behind Ark, dagger in hand. He went straight for the hamstrings, just as he'd done with Old Stoutback. He brought his knife up and flicked some blood off of it, apparently satisfied with his results. “Typical,” he scoffed as he moved in to strike again. Something he saw from behind Ark gave him pause, however. “But those wounds...how?” Ark spun around on his heels, enveloping his hand with the same green energy, and caught Gregory with a fierce backhand that sent him sprawling in the dirt. As he stood to answer Gregory, Heather could see no evidence of the debilitating strike Gregory had landed on him. “Fool!” Ark answered. “My command over souls and life energy is absolute...I thought you'd at least try to overcome that, but it seems your weapon is far too mundane.” “Okay, pal, enough big words,” Nicole groaned as she went shooting through the corner of Heather's sight. She charged in with her right shoulder covered in ice, hoping to bowl Ark off balance, but he pointed his bone staff straight at her. She looked ready to risk the collision, but quickly halted herself as her eyes rested on that familiar tusk. She turned her momentum into a sliding kick that Ark easily dodged “So I can't go head-on," she groaned. "That's no big deal. I'll figure something out.” Heather had finally closed the distance before Nicole could try anything new, taking up Ark's attention with her knightsword. Its enchantment shoved against the energy in Ark's staff as the two weapons clashed, shoving them both back a step with every impact. The regal dress flowed around Ark's stolen form as he darted back and forth, hoping to pry Heather's guard open with his necromantic focus. [[Previous|Page 216 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 218 (H)]]

“Don't you hear them?” Ark asked, still on the offensive. “And what does that mean?” Heather asked as she repelled a stab aiming for her heart. “The souls of the dead, of course,” Ark replied, switching to ranged combat. Energy gathered on the tusk that served as the tip of the staff, and spilled out toward Heather and her friends in the form of giant, slow-moving spheres of green magic. “Many of them seem to know you, knight Heather...some know you by name, but most are just hurling insults and anticipating their revenge. How many did you kill to bring yourself to this place?” “Enough.” Of course Heather hadn't kept count, but now that Ark had mentioned it, she had to admit her ratio of kills to arrests was very lopsided. “Those that force my hand fall to it, without fail.” Ark steered the queen's body through the scattered plot of energy to enter melee combat with Heather again, attacking with both ends of the staff to keep the tempo of strikes up. “That's your justification for all these souls?” “Justice itself is my justification.” Heather could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up when she strayed too close to an energy sphere, enabling her to focus on fighting Ark and dodge the incoming energy more or less on reflex. “This kingdom may seem like nothing to a being such as you," she said, "but it is mine. After the fall of Titan Rock, it is the only home I have. Whether it is threatened by lawlessness or necromancy, my answer will always be the same. I shall have naught to say, but that which I can say with my sword.” “After so many millennia, I suppose I've heard them all,” Ark groaned, as he let his staff drop to the ground. Heather saw it as her chance to move in and strike, but was repelled when the staff jumped from the ground to stab at her, like a coiled snake striking out. The green energy returned to Ark's hands as he added, “The world of the living is so trite. It almost makes me regret having sealed myself away...I reawakened for this?” [[Previous|Page 217 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 219 (H)]]

Ark began firing more direct bullets of energy out of his hands, giving Heather plenty to defend herself against as she tried to close in on the fiend in the queen's body again. “You give humanity such little credit,” she said as she swatted aside a spray of small shots with her knightsword. “Are you unaware of how you were defeated in the first place?” “Or how I was brought back?” Ark retorted, retreating yet again as his sentient staff struck Heather's leg from behind. “It lusted after power and longevity, like so many before it. Its mind was nothing new to me...so easy to twist and convince, with a few simple promises.” Heather moved her leg with the force of the staff's attack, causing it to travel a little too far. Behind her, it had been too risky to try and attack it with Ark's energy shots filling the air, but out in front of her, offense and defense easily coexisted. Right away, she was able to use a downward slash to both repel energy and strike the staff. It slithered away from her attack, but she now had it on the run instead of the other way around. “If this is the best your world can do,” Ark continued, “I may not even bother to keep it. Maybe I'll just crush your puny insurrection and leave.” He raised his hands and opened his mouth to say something else, but a streak of energy slammed into his side and threw him into the dirt, lost somewhere in the sea of pulsing energy traps. “That never 'just' happens,” Ace said, as the energy faded a little and revealed her inside of it. “The Fuze Rebellion, for example...even after most of the rioters were executed and their explosives were defused, the reforms they fought for eventually became Moonbrooke law.” From her sword, she launched a few Chikaraken projectiles at Ark's, the two energies colliding in a series of powerful explosions. “If you'd paid more attention to our world," she added, "you would have noticed that.” Ark had no reply, at least not in words, but when he rose, the scowl set deeply in his face said it all. He whirled into battle with her, his supercharged hands breaking directly through Ace's crescents of energy as he approached with breathtaking speed. Ace was ready for him, however, her own body filled with similar energy as their fists collided. The clashing energies caused yet another explosion, throwing them both back. Ark had no problem returning to his feet, but Ace rose with something clearly wrong with her arm. She clutched at her shoulder, gritting her teeth through the pain. Heather recognized the problem immediately; Ace had pushed her body too far, just as she had against King, and it was beginning to crumble under the pressure. If she kept to the current pace, she would kill herself. [[Previous|Page 218 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 220 (H)]]

Heather couldn't just let that happen. Ignoring the snake staff, she ran to Ace, raising her knightsword to keep Ark at bay. “Let's take care of that first!” she heard Gregory saying somewhere behind her, but she didn't dare stop to look. Until Ace could figure something out, Heather's duty was to defend the adventurer. “I can't keep this up,” Ace whined softly, her stance faltering even as she spoke. “But I won't fail my ancestor...” “Ace,” Heather said, reaching out for her comrade to reel her in. Ark had switched back to firing energy bullets, and she couldn't shield herself and Ace if they strayed too far apart. Ace kept talking like none of this was happening, however. “Zephyr's a legend, but the way Ark speaks...Zephyr was a real person. I have to win, like he did so long ago...” Ark was shouting at the two of them now, but Heather paid his words no attention. “Even Zephyr could not have fought alone, however. There is no need to rush so recklessly into battle.” “Someone has to...” Ace let out a chuckle even as her body wobbled from fatigue. “You're on defense, and the others are trying to plan something out. I'm the only one left to go on the offensive.” Heather shook her head, turning her sword sideways to let a few blasts explode against the flat of the blade. “And yet until we have some way of guaranteeing a strike to the Font, we have no means of offense!” “That's what Nicole said too...she wants to freeze Ark in place so she can...'punch that stupid grin off his face. Or her face. I don't know.'” Ace couldn't hide her pain and laugh at the same time, but she sure tried. “I think that's what she said. Do you think Ark is getting tired?” [[Previous|Page 219 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 221 (H)]]

Heather shrugged, though she did it while swinging her sword up to deflect an attempt at a sucker punch. “I do not know,” she said, just in case Ace missed the shrug. “Though we would tire long before he does, I believe...he has had untold centuries of rest, yet the execution ceremony was the first we have been off our feet in quite some time.” “Good point.” Ace grimaced up at Ark. “I think I did something, though. Notice anything?” Heather didn't answer, so Ace dropped the hints and answered the question straight. “I think those shots messed his up somehow. You've been batting them aside no problem, one-handed.” Heather hadn't even noticed she'd been grasping Ace with her free hand until just then. “Now that you mention it,” Heather observed, “these shots have been far inferior to those that still flood the courtyard. With the power Ark is said to possess, I would have expected the whole courtyard to fill with this energy, killing us all." "And since," she finished, "he has done nothing but these small shots.” Indeed, the energy raining down on them was mere pellets compared to the veritable cannonballs that had started the fight. “If only Nicole or Gregory were knowledgeable about such things...could this be a property of magic we may yet exploit?” Ace shrugged and tried to resume her fighting stance, but the pain kept her from holding it for long. “The way my Chikaraken and your knightsword reacted to those corrupted guards? I wouldn't be surprised if they were doing something similar to Ark." Ace quivered in pain slightly as she tried to hold herself together. "Maybe it's like two opposing waves in the ocean," she continued. "They break against each other and leave no trace of the other behind.” Glancing through the field of energy traps, Ace added, “I just hope they come to the same realization.” [[Previous|Page 220 (H)]] | [[Mext|Page 222 (N)]]

## Chapter 42 “You already tried cutting him,” Nicole growled. “Her. Ark, okay? You cut Ark's legs and they healed.” The energy spheres were crackling all around them, balls of lightning tracing random patterns in the castle courtyard. Heather and Ace were nowhere to be seen, though she could at least hear them fighting. She had no time to look for them in the sea of magical energy swelling around them, though. She and Gregory had brainstorming to do. “I don't have much else I can do,” Gregory said. “I don't have magic, or Chikaraken, or anything like that. I'm pretty normal in comparison to everyone else.” Nicole shook her head. “Okay, first of all, Heather didn't enchant that sword herself, so if you were a knight, you'd be on her level in that area. Sec—“ Gregory snapped his fingers. “Wait, that's it!” He dodged an incoming energy sphere and added, “Can you enchant weapons?” Nicole laughed. “You think I know how to do that? Have...have you been paying any attention at all, Greg?” Regardless, she accepted the dagger when Gregory handed it to her. “The best I could do is coat it in ice and hand it back to you.” “Maybe that's enough?” Gregory stood there shrugging and looking at Nicole expectantly, until she did exactly as she said she could. He shivered a bit when he gripped the now-icy hilt, but shook off the discomfort. “Nicole, you dragged me into a bar fight once...and it wasn't the first.” Nicole chuckled a bit as the two of them moved through the field of energy bombs, looking to rejoin the battle. “Oh, no, it wasn't,” she confirmed, fond memories filling her thoughts. “You ever come across someone really weak?” Gregory asked. “You know...someone you know can't hurt you, the way they're punching, the tiny muscles they've got. Ever been through that?” “Yeah, that's pretty normal.” Nicole jumped sideways to avoid a shot she hadn't paid attention to, landing in a roll to keep herself in motion. “Why?” “Because when that happens...” Gregory trailed off, eyeballing one of the destructive orbs meandering in front of him. He took aim with the iced dagger and carefully gave it a thrust, testing whatever theory he'd cooked up. [[Previous|Page 221 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 223 (N)]]

Nicole could see Gregory wince in pain, as being anywhere near these spheres filled their bodies with an uncomfortable stinging. At the same time, though she was watching as the ball lightning bent around the dagger. As Gregory kept plunging the dagger deeper, the energy distorted more and more, until it lost its form entirely and detonated. Gregory was thrown off his feet, prompting Nicole to dash in and save him. She knew that if he stayed still for too long in this field of lightning, he'd die. As the force of the explosion sent him stumbling backwards, she stepped in and hooked her arm around one of his, modifying an old move she'd seen used in the arena sometimes. Some guys would grab their opponent's arm and then spin them around, flinging them away, usually into a wall or a pillar to stun them. Nicole chose to spin Gregory off to the side, hoping he'd get his bearings and learn how to walk in the time it took to catch and release him. Her expectations were not met. “Oh, get up already!” she shouted. She had bought him time by throwing him out of harm's way, enough time to just pull him to his feet normally and continue on like nothing had happened. “Good, so it works,” Gregory said, obviously trying to pave over the incident. Nicole felt like she should try to harass him for a thank-you, the way he had in Affluens, but she didn't care enough about manners to push the issue. “As I was saying...when you fight someone weaker than you, do you even bother blocking their punches?” Nicole scoffed. “What? No, of course not. It's way better to watch them bounce off me and realize how screwed they are.” “So let me ask you this, then...why is Ark bothering to block when Ace and Heather go at him with their swords, but stood there and let me cut his hamstrings?” “...oh...!” Nicole could feel the epiphany propping her mouth open and widening her eyes. “Heather's blade is enchanted, Ace has Chikaraken, and you just have a knife. Okay, I see what you mean, yeah!” Gregory opened his mouth to ask another question, but quickly thought better of it. “No, never mind.” “What?” “I was about to ask if they'd ever covered that in your classes. I guess you wouldn't know.” [[Previous|Page 222 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 224 (N)]]

Nicole could scarcely believe she was hearing this now. “What about my lessons, chump?” she barked. Gregory shrank away from her as she loomed over him. “Nothing jeez. First you're all weird about being touched, and now this. That's it!” “What's it?” Before Gregory answered her, he took her to the outer wall of the castle courtyard. “I'm not letting you fight the Queen until you spill the beans!” he said. With a wall at their backs, they could see any ball lightning coming, and skirt around it as they talked. “Don't you bark at me about school...I wasn't there! You're gonna tell me what your problem i—“ “I couldn't focus, okay?” Gregory relented again, having gotten a swift and decisive answer. Nicole straightened herself in the void he left. “I tried asking for help, you know...Ciel was the only one that ever slowed it down for me. Everyone else...they didn't care if I wasn't concentrating! I can't concentrate on any of that abstract stuff anyway!” “Nicole...” Nicole stepped away from the outer wall, looking for a sphere she could try disarming, like Gregory had done. “I always focus better when I'm doing something physical, hands-on, whatever.” Having spied her victim, she began slicking her hand in a thick coat of ice to prepare. “It doesn't even have to be related to what's happening. I just need to keep my hands busy.” “So that's it,” Gregory mused behind her, as she lined up her shot. “Why you were always picking fights while we got together to talk strategy.” “Yeah.” Her opportunity before her, Nicole gathered ice further up her arm, coating her shoulder and face as a safety precaution. Her punch took her extremely close to the ball lightning, so having something between her and it, even just a sheet of ice, made her feel at ease in her attack. She could feel the magic bending around her, threatening to crush her hand from the intense pressure of the reaction. “You guys and Ciel...maybe you don't know what's going on, exactly," she continued. "And maybe I don't either.” She pushed against the force of the ball, finally popping it and triggering the detonation. She was thrown against the wall, a loud grunt jostling out of her. As she slumped against the wall, she added. “But you guys still do what it takes to help me out.” [[Previous|Page 223 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 225 (N)]]

“Of course we help you,” Gregory said as Nicole shook off the shock from hitting the wall. She looked up to see him holding his hand out to her to help her up. “We're your friends...we care about you, Nicole. You ought to hear the talk that goes on behind your back.” “What?” Nicole accepted Gregory's hand, and let him tow her to her feet. “Greg, what are they saying?” Gregory shrugged. “I don't know about Ace, but I think you're pretty much Heather's daughter now. It wasn't too long ago that we got her to understand...you had to come on this adventure.” Before Nicole could ask for clarification, Gregory gave it to her. “She wanted to leave you behind so you wouldn't get hurt.” Nicole laughed. She couldn't believe Gregory thought this would be news. “You done yet?” she sneered. “We've got a kingdom to save, remember?” “Of course. I just wanted to make sure you weren't distracted.” Nicole sighed and let her hair fall in front of her face. “Didn't I just tell you? Physical activity is, like, the un-distraction.” She flexed her arm, dispelling the ice enchantment on it at the same time. “We gonna help the others or what?” Gregory nodded, and sprinted off in front of her. Nicole wasn't about to let him get there first and hog all the glory, though. The two of them were dodging back through the energy field, threatening their way past any balls that bounced too close with their enchanted weapons. “Guys!” Nicole shouted as the two of them barged back into the battle. “We figured it out!” Nicole's enthusiasm died out instantly, however. Ark turned to face her, rotating the Queen's body away from her allies. She saw Heather and Ace crumpled up in the dirt, hunkered down in a defensive heap. “What happened to you?” Gregory asked. “Fatigue,” Heather gasped, trying to push herself back on her feet, her knightsword dug into the ground to act as her cane. “We of flesh and blood require sustenance, recuperat—“ “Okay, that's enough big words,” Nicole interrupted, crossing her arm over her chest. “You'll live, right?” Ace gave her a nod. “And you can move?” Another nod. “Then get back. We'll take over.” [[Previous|Page 224 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 226 (N)]]

“Have you forgotten already?” Ark taunted, jerking a finger toward Gregory. “Its mundane blade will have no effec—“ Just as Ark was about to finish his sentence, Gregory's blade moved faster than Nicole's eyes could see. The only evidence she had was that his arm was now in a different spot, and the Queen's fingertip was rolling into the grass. The ice spell had worked perfectly. Nicole couldn't help but pump her fist in celebration. She'd actually made a plan, and it worked. “What are you so peppy about?” Gregory asked from beside her. “I'm the one that thought of this, remember?” She'd actually been a part of a plan, and it worked, she amended in her head. Still, it'd be nothing without her. “Ace's little history books won't remember who thought it up. Or maybe they will? I couldn't stand to sit through one of those things. But that kind of stuff never came up when Ciel summarized stuff for me.” “Focus,” Gregory commanded, as Ark recovered from the shock of losing a finger. It seemed to be having difficulty growing back, which made Nicole even happier. She eyed the Queen's neck, already thinking of the finishing blow. Ark demanded her attention by way of thrusting his weapon at her, trying to gore her on one of Old Stoutback's tusks once again. She turned it aside with a layer of ice on her forearm, throwing her weight into a quick spin. She brought her fist up and punched Ark in the stomach, trying to knock the wind out of him. It took her a moment to realize that wouldn't work. The maneuver put her too close to Ark to dodge the counterattack, and she took Ark's energy-infused palm right to the sternum. She could hear the bone crack instantly under the pressure, and she nearly collapsed as the feeling summoned all the pain the rest of her body felt from everything she'd been putting it through. The escape from Affluens, the practice in Loto, the brawl with Captain Sully, and barely any time to sit, much less rest, in the midst of it all. In that moment, Nicole almost felt like her sternum had held everything together, and that the seal had been broken. She nearly crumpled right then and there, but she didn't go down alone. As she felt her legs weaken, she took hold of Ark's arm, dragging him down with her. Gregory engaged Ark from there, scoring a glancing blow and cementing himself as a threat while Nicole scooted away and stopped to catch her breath. [[Previous|Page 225 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 227 (N)]]

Every intake of air felt like fire moving down her throat, and she clutched her chest as she settled on her knees. But there was no way she would let Gregory have all the fun, either. She started up an internal negotiation, trying to figure out the minimum time she could stay down and collect herself before she rejoined the fight. She watched as Gregory took perhaps the wrong lesson from her downfall, and put himself on the defensive. He made no move to harm Ark, instead blocking and dodging every incoming attack. The enchantment she'd woven along his blade held up fine, likely sustained by his own magic draw. She didn't have the wherewithal to hypothesize any farther than that. She did, however, have just enough mental faculty to give some advice from the sidelines. “Just hit him already!” she shouted at Gregory. She empathized a little; between the melee and magical attacks, and the few spheres of energy still rolling around the courtyard, Gregory couldn't have been having an easy time finding a good chance to strike. Just as she looked up and thought that, he escaped a short but wide blast of magic with a backwards handspring. She took her thought back. A guy that agile shouldn't have a problem getting through anyone's guard, she figured. Then again, she knew he always did this; he was never one to strike first. She had to trust him, she reminded herself as he leaned back to dodge a spear thrust. She had to trust him, she thought again as he turned sideways and deflected a bolt of energy. She was right to trust him, she realized as he flicked that energy right at Ark's head. “You!” Ark howled, clutching his head. “What have you done?” It took a moment for Nicole to spot the light streaming from between his fingers. “Do you realize what this is?” “Your power source,” Gregory answered. “And I broke it with a little observation. Magic reacts so violently to other magic, it turns out.” “But now you're dead!” The Queen's body that Ark had possessed floated up in the air, pushed aloft by a swirling torrent of crackling green energy. “Now that you've broken the only thing that held my powers back!” The very clouds in the sky seemed to swirl around Ark as the Queen's body ripped apart from the sheer force of the energy coursing through it. “Now it makes sense!” Ace shouted somewhere off to the side. Nicole's eyes never left Ark as the transformation continued, his form seemingly comprised of pure energy. “Surviving records always showed Zephyr combating something resembling the elementals of old more than some human...” “So that's his real body or whatever?” Nicole hollered back. “Then we're done as soon as we kill it, right?” She wasn't done resting, but she couldn't wait anymore. She pushed herself to her feet and wobbled toward Ark. “I can get back to the arena after we're done here.” [[Previous|Page 226 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 228 (H)]]

## Chapter 43 “What is it you said, Ace?” Heather asked. “Is this truly his true form?” Ace shrugged. “As true as it gets,” she answered. “His physical body died ages ago. If anything, the Animus Font probably protected his soul as much as it restrained others'.” Ace lifted her Torikago-style sword and pointed it at the swirling green mass of energy. “Don't let your guard down, everyone. In this state, the true power of his magic is at his disposal.” “But that's good for us,” Gregory observed, spinning his dagger around his hands, all with subtle motions of his fingers. “We just have to cause a reaction against his magic, like we've been doing.” Gregory stopped his flip tricks and held the dagger in front of his face, reaching up with his other hand to pull a white scarf out from his cloak to wrap around himself. “Where do you even keep this stuff?” Nicole blurted, dropping her battle stance for a moment. “Wait, no.” She corrected herself, icy fist at the ready, and added, “I had a more important question. I was right before, wasn't I...about how this means we can kill him for good?” Gregory nodded. “If it were ever possible, this would be the time.” “Good, I'm getting sick of this guy!” Nicole lurched forward, fist at the ready, and swung wildly at Ark. Just before her fist made contact, however, the energy vortex that made up his lower body suddenly grew around the rest of him, and swirled up tighter and tighter until nothing was left. Heather was worried enough, but it got worse as she watched the vortex form again behind Nicole and blast her in the back with his glowing green fist. “Teleportation,” Ace observed. “Better put that in the history books, just in case.” Heather shook her head. “In case Ark returns yet again? Perish the thought.” She hoisted her knightsword and moved to Nicole's aid, guarding the mage as she tried to get back on her feet. “For all the foulness Ark has visited unto my home...he will meet his end, today!” “By your hand?” Ark said, his voice fuzzy and distorted as he laughed at Heather. “Through all our effort...!” [[Previous|Page 227 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 229 (H)]]

Heather took a swing at Ark, watching him teleport again. Instantly, she turned herself around, anticipating the sneak attack, and was able to put her blade right through Ark the moment he rematerialized. He screeched in agony as his body was repelled by the knightsword's enchantment, scorching the grass he landed on before teleporting back into a controlled position. Heather was glad to see that for all his power, he had only become more vulnerable to magic. “How dare you!” Ark shrieked as he raised his hand. His glowing green power gathered in his bony palm, eventually coalescing into a beam that streaked into the sky. He teleported out of sight completely as the heavens opened up, clouds moving in to swallow the energy he'd thrown there. A low rumble filled the air as streaks of green lightning began to shoot out of the clouds, tracing jagged lines to the ground. The others were fast enough to keep moving and keep themselves out of trouble, but Heather's constrictive armor forced her to find another way. She raised her sword over her head, holding it to deflect the next bolt, but when it came down, it struck her sword with far more force than she anticipated. The kinetic enchantment in her sword sent the force through her arms, threatening to tear them off. She gritted her teeth through the pain and let the bolt crash around her. Her arms felt a little wobbly as she returned her sword to a ready position, eyes scanning the courtyard for Ark to swat him down the moment he appeared. He rematerialized closest to Ace, who was able to tag him with a Chikaraken slash before he could do anything. Again he spiraled out of control, and again he teleported into the sky moments from crashing into the ground. She was sure that victory would be trivial if things kept as they were. Almost as if to punish her for her thought, Ark mixed up his strategy immensely, reappearing near Gregory and wrenching the man into a full nelson. “One more step and I kill this man where it stands!” he shrieked. “Do you really think yourselves capable of defeating me?” “Please,” Gregory scoffed, even from within Ark's grip. “Even you believe we can do it. Otherwise you wouldn't be taking me hostage.” Gregory seemed oddly calm in his grip as he added, “One way or another, you're dead, Ark. Even if I have to die too...at least then I'll see Alice again.” Gregory perked his head up suddenly, but didn't seem to anything else to say. [[Previous|Page 228 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 230 (H)]]

“I've killed braver men in eras you whelps wouldn't even remember,” Ark hissed past Gregory's head. “Whelp, huh?” Nicole piped up. “That reminds me of something someone else called me once, before I killed him. How about it, you got Captain Sully in your little spirit—“ Nicole suddenly went oddly attentive, yet also completely silent. Gregory had done the same thing just moments before. Heather looked over to Ace, but she seemed to be in a fugue state of her own. “You,” she shouted at Ark, “Is this your trickery?” She reached up to tap her forehead, as usual, but felt a strange sensation overcome her, like she was being watched. Of course she was, in the heat of battle, but this was different. She felt oddly at ease all the while. “Still fiddlin' with that scar, are ye?” The voice filled her head suddenly, but she felt like she had been expecting it, like watching Nicole slowly open her mouth and pick her words. She recognized it instantly as Aaron Pond, the man that had mentored her when she first became a knight. “Yep, that's me. I ain't so sure how none of this spirit stuff works, but a couple folks came by recently, said they're friends o'yours. It's funny...never took ye as bein' good with kids.” Heather frowned. The only kids she knew were Anna and Nicole. “Yeah, Anna, that's it! Her, an' one o'them arena types. Fang, he called himself? Said he helped break us all out of that prison we was all in.” Aaron seemed to be privy to her thoughts, a skill Anna had never managed. But Fang had also died; the news made Heather bite her lip. She knew how heartbroken Nicole would be. She hoped the young mage wouldn't find out. “'fraid that won't be a secret ye can keep. Fang's probably talkin' with her right now, same as I am with ye. Arena boy saw his opportunity when the feller with the scarf knocked some magic outta the sky. Just a little spiritual guidance, he called it.” [[Previous|Page 229 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 231 (H)]]

Had Aaron's ghost told Heather that Gregory deflected the shot all on his own, she would've believed it. But it didn't hurt to have some help to align all the variables he had so precisely. Heather was still confused, though, about what exactly the spirits of their old allies were there to accomplish. “That bookworm lady, Alice, says she knows your scarf fella?" Aaron's voice echoed in Heather's mind. "She's a might smarter than anyone I ever met. Says if Ark is usin' souls to power himself...ain't no reason y'all couldn't do the same. So we came on through that crack Fang and the scarf fella made...me, Alice, an' Anna, made plans with Fang...” Heather had so many questions for Aaron, about the very nature of the spiritual world. Could any of them have guided events in the world of the living in other ways, besides Fang's contribution? But at the same time, she knew there was no time. She had to focus on the task at hand, and figure out what she had to do to wield Aaron's power. “Ain't nothin' much ye have to do...we split up like we did 'cause we know how y'all operate. Fight like ye always do, an' it'll work out.” That was simple enough for even Nicole to understand. Heather nodded confidently, and she already felt Aaron's contribution flowing through her. She looked down at the sword in its hands, as the colorless shimmer of her knightsword's enchantment took on a greenish hue. She gasped as that same color began to spread over her platinum mail as well, and its weight practically vanished. By the time she was finished gaping at her own gift, she looked up to see that Gregory was moving to escape Ark's grip. His scarf glowed just as her sword did, and there seemed to be a matching shimmer over his right eye. That shimmer glowed brightly just before Ark made his move, but as he attempted to wrench Gregory apart, the repentant thief was one step ahead. His body was already twisting his body to rob Ark of the leverage he'd need. Ark made an adjustment of his grip so subtle that Heather barely saw it, but Gregory somehow knew that it was his chance to break free, and took his place alongside his comrades. “Nicole, can I get a fresh coat of ice on this dagger?” he asked, already tossing it toward her. “On it!” she answered, catching it in her hand. Her entire arm was wreathed in green ice, but the crystals around her shoulder weren't the usual mess of disorganized sheets. They seemed to form the mouth of a wolf, as if Nicole was somehow wearing Fang's arena mask on her arm. She was done with the dagger in an instant, and tossed it back to Gregory, who caught it without looking. Heather was sure Alice's spirit was enhancing Gregory's reflexes or perception or something. They made a fantastic team, she had to admit. [[Previous|Page 230 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 232 (H)]]

Ace, meanwhile, was already walking up to Ark, arms down. Ark was pelting her with spells, but a shimmering green wall hung in front of her, blocking every single attack without any effort. Heather could see even through the action, the veil of protection looked exactly like Samson's shield. It was doubtlessly Anna's own contribution to the action. Ark saw the futility of his offensive and attempted to teleport away. Ace's Chikaraken allowed her to close the distance and land another shot before he could escape. He attempted to attack Nicole next, but found himself stifled by her melee prowess. Every attack he launched was met by her icy green fist, and when he backpedaled and attempted magic, she raised a sheet of ice from the ground and hid behind it. When Ark came close and tried to catch her by surprise, she simply punched through the wall, flinging Ark through the dust yet again. “Alice and I can't help but notice that none of these hits are actually harming Ark,” Gregory said bluntly. “And we can't utilize the spirits of our allies forever...they'll be used up.” His voice grew heavy as he added, “Gone forever.” “Then tell your girlfriend to think of a solution already!” Nicole blurted. “I'm so done here...I want this to end!” Heather could hear a distinct sadness tearing through the girl's voice. She vaguely understood why, but to be alongside Aaron again, even in this form, was a blessing. She wanted to rush in and attack, force an opportunity to open itself up, but she felt a rhythmic throbbing in her scar, like Aaron was tapping it for her. “Yet we must be cautious,” she warned the others. “We know not what Ark yet hides!” “I'm hoping he burns himself out, personally,” Ace said, as green lightning curved around her, completely deterred by Anna's spectral shield. “Do you think that is what Zephyr did?” Ace stopped her forward march, caught off-guard by Heather's question. “He probably tried it. The legends paint him as a 'violence as a last resort' kind of guy.” Heather shook her head, pausing her thoughts briefly to deter Ark as he teleported to her. The green sheen on her sword seemed to split away and take on a will of its own, parrying an attack for her. The spirit blade turned Ark's swipe aside and left his guard turned away from Heather, an easy target to attack. Again he tumbled and warped away, but true to Gregory's word, he seemed otherwise undeterred. “Our attacks drive him away without fail," Heather noted, "but he avoids the fate of his energy spheres, and does not detonate!” [[Previous|Page 231 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 233 (H)]]

Gregory buried his face in his hand for a moment. “Of course," he muttered, "Alice, you're a genius!” Her idea had to wait, however; his eye flickered, alerting him to incoming bolts of green lightning from the sky. Effortlessly, he slid through the dirt on his feet, not even bothering to pick up his boots, watching as every bolt barely missed him. Once he was confident in the directions being given to him, he talked while dodging bolts. “Ace, what was Zephyr's deal? Zephyr...that word implies wind magic, right?” Ace nodded. “Right," she said. "His wind magic allowed him to wield some non-weapon piece of metal as big as he was, as well as create wind, tornadoes—“ “Tornadoes!” Heather exclaimed. She turned away from Ace, trusting her and Anna to keep Ark busy while they planned. “Much like Ark's own teleportation method. Could Zephyr have compressed Ark's energy with his own magic, held him in place to deliver the final blow?” Gregory chuckled. “That's Alice's plan," he agreed. "With her spirit housed in my scarf, we could catch Ark in it as he compresses his body and attempts to teleport. Caged like that, we would just have to attack from all sides, give his energy nowhere to slip away to.” “Then he blows up too?” Nicole clarified. “Good, let's do that, then! Gimme that scarf!” Gregory seemed alarmed at first, but he eventually relented. “Tell your girlfriend to can it...I've got all the plan we need!” “You, a plan?” Heather said. “Very well, Nicole. Tell me how to assist you!” Nicole turned to Gregory and stuck her tongue out. “See? She trusts me! Heather, just get your little body double thing you did to grab the other end of the scarf. I'll lasso Ark with it, Anna can come in from above, and then we all just kind of make a circle and stab i—“ The group was interrupted by a pair of screams coming from Ace's direction. They looked up and watched in horror as Anna's spirit shield shattered under the force of one too many blows from Ark. Ace spilled into the dirt, no trace of Anna's energy on her. Gregory and Alice seemed to already be recalculating. “If Alice enhances my cloak like she did my scarf,” he said, “then we could put that over the top. But Alice's energy would be stretched so thin, we'd only have a moment before Ark broke free. That would probably destroy her spirit.” [[Previous|Page 232 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 234 (H)]]

Heather couldn't believe it. Gregory was much too calm in the face of what had happened, and let her position be known with a slap to his face. He looked up at her, cradling his cheek, his eyes narrow and demanding an explanation. “Destroy her, you say?” she growled. “Just as Anna was, before our very eyes? That was our friend...and a daughter to someone Ace and I owe much to. And now...” Heather couldn't control herself anymore. She could feel Aaron's spirit beckoning her to be calm, but it wasn't working. She already had Gregory's scarf and cloak in her hands before she knew what was happening. “Aaron," she ordered, "away your protection from my armor...you may inhabit this cloak instead.” She was going to kill Ark for what he just did, by herself if she had to. Ark himself was far too busy looming over Ace, seeming to absorb what was left of Anna back into himself, to power his killing blow. He must have known he'd have to overpower Chikaraken in order to finish her off, and was storing up energy to do so. That left him open. Without Aaron's help, the weight of her armor was oppressing her every movement once again, but it barely mattered in her state. Adrenaline carried her to Ark, pushed her arms as fast as they would go, flicked the scarf and cape in front of her to net the ancient evil. Nicole ran past her, seeing her moment and snatching the scarf as it fluttered around, holding it in place. “Crap, wait,” she muttered. “I only have one arm. How am I gonna do this?” There was a short window of time for her to be answered, but no one took it fast enough, and she gasped and nodded to herself. “No, wait, I've got it!” She reared her head back, green ice forming into a wolf's head along it. “Come on, guys, we only get one chance! Hurry up!” Heather transferred the scarf from one hand to another, freeing up her dominant hand to ready her sword. Gregory darted around, wielding his dagger and taking up his cloak. Ace strained to pick herself up from the dirt, gathering the energy of Chikaraken along her sword while taking the other end of the cloak. [[Previous|Page 233 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 235 (H)]]

“What is this idiocy?” Ark groaned from inside the enchanted fabric. Heather could feel him pushing against the scarf, already threatening to break through it. “I am immortal!” “One!” Nicole shouted. The distinct noise of Ark's teleportation issued from inside the snare, and Gregory and Ace seemed to strain to hold the cloak in place. “Two!” This time, Nicole's counting came in tandem with Gregory. Heather could see it in the way everyone's arms were moving. Ark was attempting to push the scarf and cloak apart, creating a gap for him to condense himself and slip through. There was no way they could allow it. Ark would know their plan, know to dodge the scarf, have to start over. “Three!” the four allies shouted in unison. All at once, they made their attacks. Heather's sword, Ace's thin blade, and Gregory's dagger all pierced the scarf. Nicole reared her head back and threw it forward, headbutting her lupine glacier against the scarf. Ark's energies couldn't escape the spiritual energy caging him in Gregory's clothes, and as everyone's weapons pushed deeper against him, they could feel some resistance pushing back at them. They held their ground, kept the pressure on Ark. Eventually, a verdant explosion blasted out from beneath the cloth, ripping it apart and sending everyone flying. Even Nicole's ice dissolved as she flopped through the air, landing as roughly as the rest. Only Heather had adequate protection from the impact, her armor bearing the brunt of the force for her. Even so, the fatigue she felt, and she was sure the others felt, compelled her to lay in the grass for what felt like hours. “We are...victorious,” she mumbled. She got no reply from the others, but she understood completely. After all that, they just wanted the same thing she did. Rest. [[Previous|Page 234 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 236 (N)]]

## Chapter 44 The noise irritated Nicole to no end. All the singing, dancing, cavorting in the streets celebrating what she and the others did to stop Ark, she'd had enough. She saw the victory as hollow, useless, since it had involved sacrificing Fang and Anna. Every patron of the Vanishing Wench had applauded her upon entry earlier that day. “We have a lot of catching up to do!” Hank had told her, already drunk before she got there. Usually he kept sober to better man the bar, but toasting Nicole's victories over Captain Sully, Queen Moonbrooke, and Ark all at once had left his speech a slurred mess. The rest of the bar had followed suit, but she only felt guilt grow bigger and bigger inside of her every time they clapped her on the back, praised her strength and resolve, thanked her for her service. It was that guilt and irritation that drove her up the stairs of a guard tower along the wall of Moonbrooke City. She knew from Heather what guards were where, and had picked this tower out of all of them for its isolation, to keep her free from distraction. “What are you doing here?” Gregory's voice called out as she reached the open air of the top of the tower. She muttered a curse under her breath. “You sure you wanna know?” she asked back at him. He sat up, his body emerging from the shadow of the parapets along the perimeter of the tower. “What are you doing here?” With his insistent tone, there was no denying him his answer. “I came to jump.” “You too, huh?” Gregory waved Nicole closer, and the two of them looked out over the moonlit grass of the Bright Plains together. “I only came on this journey to find who killed Alice," he explained. "I did that, I saw her one last time, and now she's gone forever.” “You held it together pretty well the whole time, I have to say.” Nicole shrugged a little and formed a tiny hailstone between her fingers, then threw it as far as she could. “But now what? I kind of understand that.” [[Previous|Page 235 (H)]] | [[Next|Page 237 (N)]]

Gregory shook his head. “That's not why you're here,” he guessed. “Nope.” Nicole paused and took a deep breath, mostly exhaling through her nose. “I got someone killed. I ran away from that skeleton thing Ark did...I fight Old Stoutback and lose an arm. I run away from Old Stoutback's skeleton, and Fang gets killed.” Nicole slammed an icy fist against the parapet, tears forming in her eyes. “I can't do anything right!" she screamed over the plains. "I'm over here considering myself lucky Ciel didn't die...this is way too much for me to deal with all at once!” Gregory attempted to make eye contact, but she refused to let him see her crying. She turned away and shut her eyes tightly as he spoke. “Alice flipped my world upside down too.” Nicole turned back to see Gregory wave his arm through the air, summoning his dagger, trying his best to see his own reflection in it. “I was willing to do anything to get her back...if Eclipse had strung me along any longer, I probably would have traded a life for a life. Mine, yours, I don't know. You can't say what you'd do in a situation like that until you're in it.” “I didn't know I was in it!” Nicole snapped, the stone of the tower yielding slightly as she caught it in an icy grip. Gregory kept talking like she hadn't said anything. “That night we all met...I thought I'd done enough. But when I found out she died, I...something in me turned off. I was trying to hide it, ignore it, hope it turned back on by itself.” He drummed his fingers on the parapet in front of him as he leaned on it and continued speaking. “I thought revenge would do it, but there's no one left...and I don't feel any more fulfilled.” Nicole ran her glacial hand through her hair, letting it fall wherever it wanted. “Same. I'm the strongest woman in the world...pretty sure I just proved it. But who cares?” Her hand lingered against her face, and she relished in the sensation of it against her cheek, so much colder than even the night air. “I didn't want to kill anyone.” [[Previous|Page 236 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 238 (N)]]

“Nicole, Gregory!” This time, it was Heather's voice butting in from somewhere outside of Nicole's perception. Gregory jumped away from the parapet, apparently trying to hide his intent to fling himself over it. Nicole was far too honest to make such a move, and kept her eyes locked on the plains. “Heather!” Gregory stammered. “You're on patrol even during the celebration?” Heather moved to the parapet alongside Nicole, apparently straining to see whatever Nicole was staring at. Nicole was staring into space, though; Heather would never see it. “Gregory, returning to guard duty is a celebration in and of itself.” Heather breathed a big sigh and added, “I am no longer chasing Eclipse about the kingdom...I am pleased to settle down.” She was so busy zoning out that she almost missed Heather's question. “Oh, is this some manner of romance I have interrupted?” It was a ridiculous question. Nicole had no idea how Heather could be so stupid. She was baffled by what about their interactions could have possibly implied that as a possibility. She was flabbergasted by the idea that she could feel romantic attraction to anyone at all, much less some gloomy widower that never seemed to mind his own business. In fact, Heather had interrupted possibly the least romantic activity the two could have possibly shared. Before she knew it, Nicole was laughing. Gregory and Heather stared at her like she was going to stop soon, but she couldn't. She nearly tipped over the edge of the tower on accident, the laughter wracked her body so heavily. She fought for breath, but the air left her body as soon as it came in. It went on for so long that Nicole couldn't even remember what about the question had set her off in the first place. A few minutes later, even the question itself became a fuzzy memory. Through it all, Gregory and Heather could do nothing but stare. Gregory tried his best to parse the situation with a sarcastic question. “Yeesh...am I that bad a catch?” Yes, but that has nothing to do with it. The words flowed through Nicole's head, but she couldn't speak them. They just came out as more ragged laughs, and pushed her around the tower in random directions. She hadn't felt anything as strongly as the humor that had gripped her from Heather's simple question. Fang and Anna dying hadn't made her grieve; they had simply made her stop feeling entirely. There had been no relief three days ago when Ark died, no happiness, no nothing. It had been that way the whole time, as she gathered congratulations from what felt like everyone in the city. [[Previous|Page 237 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 239 (N)]]

Now that the thought crossed her mind, she realized it went back even further. Old Stoutback had done much to rob her of joy. There had been no relief when the beast had died, either. Her job as a scarecraw had done nothing to revive her mirth. Now, though, whatever was in Heather's question that had activated her emotions had turned them all on. Tears were welling up in her eyes, creating a strange hybrid of sobbing and laughter as she laid down on her back, holding her stomach. When she finally choked out some words, they were as weak as she'd ever been. “I'm a wreck.” “We need to take you away from here,” Heather observed, easily scooping the mage up in her arms. Nicole felt the chill of Heather's armor against her, which helped a little. “You may fall, if you continue to behave in this way.” “We wouldn't want that,” Gregory agreed, twisting his body away from the implications. “Try to remain still.” Heather hadn't needed to say that; Nicole had somehow used up most of her energy in her outburst. “We shall return you to your room.” “My room?” Nicole repeated. “You're not gonna make me shake hands and party?” Heather shook her head. “Do you want to shake hands and party?” Nicole shook her head, too. “I thought not.” Something about Heather's observation and accommodation of her feelings made Nicole want to cry again. She did her best to hold it together as Heather took her down the stairs, and into the nearby Vanishing Wench. Her face burned with embarrassment as the chatter began to swell. She squeezed her eyes shut, not even wanting to know which of her buddies saw her being toted around like a child. Embarrassment was working well, at least. It was almost comforting to feel it, after feeling so little for so long. [[Previous|Page 238 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 240 (N)]]

“Here we are,” Heather said softly, lowering Nicole into her rented bed. “Shall I remain here with you? Would you rather I leave?” Heather backed away from the bed a little, but Nicole reeled her back in, pulling her arm around the guard in an embrace. “Gregory informed me you were averse to such contact.” “Greg's an idiot,” Nicole scoffed. “I told him, if I do it, it's easier.” She released Heather and pushed her pillow against the headboard, providing a cushion so she could sit up in her bed. The visceral satisfaction that used to come with insulting someone was finally back, too. “You might wanna keep an eye on him, though, make sure he doesn't jump. Talking to Alice's spirit messed him up, I think.” Heather shrugged and sat down on the foot of Nicole's bed. “He will yet live. Gregory would do no such thing. This, I inferred from observing him, listening to him.” She smiled at Nicole and added, “He may have said something alarming to you. However...he seems incapable of harming himself.” “He doesn't have the guts, you mean.” “Yes.” The two of them chuckled a little over Nicole's no-nonsense phrasing. She had to admit, it fit with what she thought about Gregory. She slid her feet away from Heather, raising her knees so that she could hug them to her chest. “But he said something up there that made me think...now what?” Heather nodded. “Ace had a similar thought. 'No one trusts a traitor', she said. Whoever ascends to the throne next, they will hardly welcome us, who were so willing to fight the queen and her captain of the guard.” Heather peeled her helmet off, shaking her blonde hair free and pushing it out of her eyes. “I imagine few would be willing to challenge you in the arena now," she added. "Gregory has achieved his vengeance. Ace confided in me...she has little else to glean of her ancestry in this area.” Nicole shrugged. “Sounds like we just gotta move out.” “And leave my museum behind?” Ace asked, poking her head through the door. Gregory peeked around the doorway as well, which put Nicole at ease a little. “What if someone breaks in and steals something?” Nicole scoffed and waved the two of them into the room. “You should've thought about that the first time it happened.” “We've been busy.” [[Previous|Page 239 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 241 (N)]]

Ace and Gregory took seats at the table in Nicole's rented room. “But you have a point,” Ace admitted. “Well, yeah," Nicole spat, adjusting her seat in her bed, "you keep telling me to plan ahead, you hypocr—“ “That's not what I meant.” Ace paused to crack her neck, wrenching it left and right to achieve that subtle pop Nicole knew and loved. “We all have our reasons for wanting to put Moonbrooke City behind us, I'm sure.” Ace reached into her leather armor, pulling out a piece of paper for her to unfold on the table. “What's that?” Nicole asked, craning her head to try to look. “It's a job,” Gregory answered, staring at the page. “It was posted by the crown, before we killed the queen, but it's probably still...you know, valid.” Ace nodded. “Queen Moonbrooke wasn't a cartography buff,” she observed. “This is a job posting looking for seafaring explorers. We know a lot about very few places in our world. There's Moonbrooke, Torikago to our north, the small island nation of Falt in the eastern ocean, Barrera to its north...and quite a bit of land out there that explorers know little about." “That's such an Ace job,” Nicole murmured, resting her cheek on her fist. “Still, maybe we can find some tough guys out there for me to pummel!” “We'll have to supply our own ship and crew, but I can afford all that.” Nicole saw the look Ace was giving the paper, and hazarded a guess. “You're doing this no matter what we say.” Ace nodded. “I'd rather have you guys come, of course,” she clarified. “Look, I'm not in the mood to make that decision right now. When are you leaving?” “Not any time soon, I can tell you that.” Ace jutted a thumb toward the middle of the city. "It'd be safer to go with the graces of our government...you know, once we have one again." Nicole nodded and lifted her face off of her fist. “Good, then you can all get outta here for the night.” [[Previous|Page 240 (N)]] | [[Next|Page 242 (N)]]

No one dared to press the issue. Without another word, Nicole's friends left the room, closing the door behind them. Nicole almost called out to Anna in that moment, but the name stuck in her throat like bile as she remembered what happened to the girl. Someone had to go break the news to Anna's father, she knew that. She also trusted that one of the others had already thought of that, and they would handle it. She had trusted a lot to them since she met them, but she'd done it by her will alone. No one told her to cooperate with their investigation to find Eclipse, and no one told her how to do it. The realization did a lot to combat the sickness she felt in remembering Anna. “If I make the wrong choices and die, that's still way better than doing as I'm told.” The words she'd spoken to her mother in Affluens rang in her ears, an echo that helped guide her thoughts. She'd come close to dying a few times on her journey with Heather and the others. Anna and even Fang made their own choices, too. They couldn't have known the consequences, but Nicole figured that was just a risk that came with being alive. She touched a hand to her sternum, remembering the fracture Ark had caused in the fight, and finding evidence that it may not have been convalescing properly. She glared at where her right arm should have been, and the worries about her sternum vanished instantly. She shrugged and put out the lantern in her room, leaving her in darkness while she laid down and pulled up the covers. Sailing with Ace sounded like fun, but she was in no rush to join the curator's crew. Nicole decided she would try something new with this decision, something that seemed to work very well for her friends. She would think about it. “...nah,” she said to herself, closing her eyes. Ciel was a way better thinker, and knew exactly what Nicole would want. <center> ## The ## End </center> [[Previous|Page 241 (N)]]