After a lengthy discussion about cliff climbing safety, due in no small part to Ara’s barrage of questions, we traveled the length of the cliff in relative silence. The wind was stronger here, but no more so than a brief occasional gust. The worst part was the random specks of dirt or dust in my eye thanks to said gusts. It was an alarming sensation, especially being actual hundreds of feet up in the air with nothing to stop us from falling. I just had to hope there wouldn’t be some small alcove with bats hiding in it. Knowing my luck, they’d send me right over the cliff in their panicked flight.

“Everyone okay so far?” I called without looking.

I heard Ara yelp. Some mumbling followed, and then came Tristan’s voice, “We’re okay back here!”

“Yep! Keep going, Matt!” Keke was only a few steps behind me, but never did I make an attempt to look behind me.

I wasn’t scared of heights per se, but I wasn’t an idiot. A drop like that would kill me, and I couldn’t imagine the managers upstairs would be too thrilled to see me a second time so soon. Oh, what happened this time? Catgirl zombies and cliff diving. Can I try again?

As we traveled the narrow path along the cliffside, it slowly expanded. Soon enough, it was almost as wide as any carriage-bearing road on the island. When we made it to the top, the path wrapped around, leading to a signpost.

“Hey, look at that,” I said, pointing. I jogged to the post, elated to once again be on solid ground, and read the words aloud. “Left to Anyona, right to Catania.” My hand veered off to the right, and I glanced behind me to get some input. “That’s where we’re going next. All we all in agreement?”

I got words and gestures of approval. Mostly.

“If I may,” Ara began, her legs quaking as she stepped away from the cliff, “I don’t believe we should jeopardize Tristan’s safety any longer. I believe your intended message is quite clear.”

“I agree. Nothing left but zombies and burned-down houses in Anyona. So, let’s move on to Catania,” I said.

I took a few steps forward toward Catania, and the firm grip of a hand clutched me at the bend of my arm. I already knew whose it was. I turned to see Ara.

“Take us back to the boat,” Ara said. “That is not a request.”

I shook her grip away from my arm. Instead of combatting her, I brought my attention to the remainder of the group and locked eyes with Tristan. He seemed a bit uncomfortable, so I thought I’d give him a little boost of courage. “Hey, Tristan.”

“Yeah?”

“You said you wanted to see what was on the rest of the island, right? Do you still want to?”

A sheepish nod followed.

“Well, there you go,” I said, looking at Ara this time. “Guy wants to see the rest of the island.”

“I must advise against that,” Ara said with a firmer tone.

“I’m sure I heard somewhere that it is illegal to tell a man no.” I had no intention of pushing anyone into anything, but I did want to give a gentle nudge to anyone who seemed in need of it. And Tristan was practically screaming for it. So here we go. “Willing to break the law?”

Ara paused. “You snake.”

I raised a brow. Snake, huh? “Is that a Nyarlean term? Or did you pick that up from him?”

Ara didn’t seem to know how to respond. I looked to Keke for support. She looked away, scratching the back of her neck nervously.

“Nope,” came Ravyn’s voice. She was standing with Cannoli; Buttons and Ball Gag looked between us as we spoke. “That’s not a Nyarlean term.”

Thank you, Ravyn.

Ara clicked her tongue. “What does it matter? I must take him back. He’s in danger here.”

“I can definitely agree with you on the second part. Gonna hard pass on that first request, though.” I smiled wide. “Tristan has made his decision.” And we need to retrieve our [Magic Knight].

“Preposterous! We were nearly killed in that cave, and you would take him further still?” Ara was shouting now. “I cannot believe you! What man would charge into the wilds and endanger Nyarlea’s population as a whole? Do you not see the big picture?”

I didn’t answer her immediately. I had to think about it. It was something I thought I was getting a little better at, that whole ‘seeing the big picture’ thing. I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t the best student. “Where I came from, guys had to suck it up and swallow their pride when something needed to be done. I’m sorry, but I don’t think you’re seeing the big picture.” I folded my arms and gestured to Catania with a flick of my head. “Tristan needs to know how this world works. That includes Catania, Anyona, Venicia, Shi Island, Ni Island… Hell, all of Nyarlea, for that matter.”

“We have a plan,” Ara argued. “We keep him safe. We build our population up, rebuild. It is a plan that may take several generations, but Shi Island will benefit from it in the long term.”

And here we go again.

“It should be Tristan’s choice,” Keke said. “No one should take that from him.”

“We did not take that from him,” Ara snapped back. “We reasoned with him, came to an agreement.”

“I want to see what the rest of the island is like, though,” Tristan said at last, Desiree doing figure-eights between his ankles. Tristan looked down and smiled. He picked the cat up and held it up. “See? Even Desiree agrees.”

As if on command, Desiree meowed back.

Ara shot Tristan a glare but did little else. She looked at each of us, and assumedly seeking for some sort of validation. To her dissatisfaction, no one came to her defense.

“Fine,” Ara said. “It is as you say. I cannot stop him. But I will continue to protect him. I was hoping our venture into the cave and coming so close to death’s door with a [Necromancer] would change his mind, but it looks as though I was incorrect.”

“None of us are perfect.” I shrugged and started to make my walk toward Catania. “To Catania?”

“There! It’s in the bushes!” Keke cried out with her bowstring held back. “[Pinpoint Weakness]!”

The encroacher leapt out of the bushes, slashing at Ara with one of its serrated claws. Ara sidestepped, cutting across the back of the beast’s neck.

The creature stumbled into a roll, backing up with one of its hands held to where Ara’s dagger cut it. It backed up slowly, inhaling deeply and inflating its throat to twice the original size. A fiery-red hue rose from its abdomen, traveling the length of its body until lighting its face.

“Get out of the way!” I motioned to the rest of the group, though Cannoli was slow on the uptake. I moved to stand between her and the beast. A roaring flame sprayed out of its mouth, colliding with my shield.

“[Galvanize]!” I heard Ravyn call out. A shield shaped from thousands of miniature hexagons formed around me in the shape of a transparent bubble. “Matt, Now!”

“Right!” I let my shield down, and the encroacher continued its onslaught. The flames evaporated into steam at the collision point, leaving me untouched. With my newfound shield, I charged through the stream of fire. I used the momentum to swing one leg forward, nailing the encroacher right below the chin with the toe of my boot.

The creature careened backward, its head striking hard against the ground. Running to its side, I lifted my axe high, then let it fall upon the encroacher’s inflated throat.

What the hell is this thing made of? The beast managed to roll away from my swing, barely sustaining little more than a paper cut to its rubbery flesh.

Ara was ready. She wrestled the roach still while holding a thin line of… something between her fists. It drew blood from the creature’s skin whenever it struggled. Ara quickly sidestepped the Encroacher’s attempts to slash back at her.

During the whole struggle, Ara’s expression never changed. She wore a look akin to someone organizing a calendar rather than someone fighting for their life.

“Keke!” Ara called. “Finish it!”

Keke held a few arrows between her fingers, letting loose one right after the other in rapid succession. The arrows flew true, nailing it below the breast, then the forehead, then directly in the eye. The encroacher struggled for a few seconds more, and then its body went limp.

“Well done,” said Ara, letting the beast down from her grasp.

“You too,” Keke said, running to her side and kneeling next to the creature.

“That’s the last one, right?” asked Tristan, who, unfortunately, wasn’t of much help in the fight.

“Yeah,” I said with a nod, “I think so.” I approached Cannoli with quickened breath and a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Cannoli’s cheeks grew bright red. “U-uh, yeah.” She averted her gaze from mine. She’d stayed pretty quiet since we’d left the [Necromancer]’s hideout, but at least the color was coming back to her face.

Ravyn, on the other hand.

“That little shit got me,” I heard her mumble. “Hey, Cannoli! Help a girl out?”

“Of course, Ravyn!” Cannoli ran past me and arrived at Ravyn’s side quicker than I could. When I reached them, Cannoli was already hard at work to heal the bleeding from Ravyn’s arm.

Damn Ravyn, you have luck with your arms like I do my legs.

“Little fuck better not leave a mark,” Ravyn said with a more sullen look than I would’ve expected.

Cannoli shook her head. “It won’t! Not with my magic!”

I motioned to Tristan. He jogged over, glancing over at Keke and Ara on the way. “Getting more comfortable?” I asked.

“Ahaha, I don’t know. Maybe. I would’ve preferred if we fought something that wasn’t strong against fire, though.”

It would figure. “You and Ravyn both.”

Catania wasn’t far now. We had our fair share of encroachers on the way, but after the [Necromancer], we had yet to run into any new menaces. Of the Defiled nature, that is. Ceres had made a point that Anyona was likely the worst off, though I had my doubts now. I wondered whether it was just a matter of time before they breached Badyron and Sorentina’s defenses.

We’d have to discuss it later. Night was falling. And being prone at night was never a good thing.