Matt has gained: 55 XP!

Keke has gained: 48 XP!

Cannoli has gained: 48 XP!

Ravyn has gained: 32 XP!

“Disappear, iPaw.” I looked over to where Keke, Cannoli, and Ravyn were sitting. They were still a bit out of breath, but I was proud. This marked the fourth Encroacher we’d dispatched since leaving the cave. Our synchronization was improving, and I had a distinct feeling that Ara was finally beginning to come around. She might still disagree with me, but at least we fought well together.

I was grateful just to have another person standing at the frontlines with me.

Once our Stat pools were replenished, we made our way down the west road, rarely straying far from it. There were several forests on our flanks, so Keke and Ravyn kept a weather eye open for anything suspicious.

Ball soared through the air with speed a bit unfitting for a parrot. I wondered whether parrots were agile in general or if Ravyn’s was just special. Maybe familiars received extra benefits from their masters. He landed on her shoulder, and she thanked him with a quick peck on his cheek.

“Stay on the path, squawwwk!”

And so we did. Each of us was on high alert, and I could see it in their faces that they were determined to see this through. Thankfully, Ara didn’t voice many concerns on the way. At least, not when it came to topics like leaving the island or taking Tristan back to Venicia.

“There!” Ara threw a dagger into a nearby shrub over on our left. The dagger struck something, but it didn’t sound anything like flesh or bone. She took a few cautious steps forward, another dagger at the ready. “Wait here.” She neared closer and closer, waiting a few heartbeats between each advance.

“I think it’s gone,” Cannoli whispered.

Ara didn’t seem as sure. She never let her guard down. It seemed to me she was always on edge. I couldn’t imagine this girl showing a weak side to anyone, not even Tristan. After almost a minute of waiting, my muscles began to relax, and I could see the others were starting to ease up as well.

“Come on, Ara, let’s move on,” I said.

“No. It’s here. Something is here. It’s following us,” Ara insisted.

Are you sure about that?

I didn’t want to stay in one place for too long. It was only a matter of time before the next Defiled found us. And if the [Necromancer] was anything to go off of, there was no promise that the next one would be any weaker.

“I know we’re all still on edge after the [Necromancer] bullshit, but it’s getting dark, and we shouldn’t stay out in the open. We’ll give it one more minute,” I said.

Ara said nothing, not even a gesture. I just had to hope that she was listening to me. She retrieved another dagger from the holster around her thigh, glancing behind her at Cannoli. The look said she was expecting Cannoli to react on instinct, and the motion set me on edge. Ara moving on her own without any input from the rest of us smacked of my behavior when I’d first arrived in Nyarlea, and we saw where that got us. The scar in my leg prickled with the memory.

And then it happened. There was a rustling in the bushes behind me, a few feet away from where Cannoli was standing. I was quick, but Ara was quicker. There was a flash of light, blades clanging together, the image of spear flying out of the bushes. The fighting went so fast that I had trouble registering what was even going on. Except for the fact that Ara and an unfamiliar catgirl were coming to fisticuffs.

The two rolled along the ground, and the rest of us jumped back. Ara shoved the assailant in her gut with both feet, launching the catgirl backward. The attacker reeled and landed awkwardly on her feet, seeming otherwise unharmed.

Ara’s opponent looked like a savage animal. Thin arms and an emaciated stomach showed a lack of consistent food. The dirtied rags around her chest and hips barely covered the vulnerable segments of her body. Dirt was plastered on her skin in streaks and splatters, and her hair was tangled and matted from sweat and grime. She snarled, snapping her tail back and forth, and her muddy ears flattened against her head.

For a moment, I thought I was watching a scene from WrestleMania. Ara whipped her hair back and rose to her feet, glaring at the wildling with eyes that could kill a man. The two circled each other with their hands held outward and empty. Ara’s daggers gleamed at different points on the ground, lost in their tumble.

We exchanged unsure glances and tiny gestures. Who was this girl? Was she a Defiled? No, she looked like a hungry catgirl, that was all. But then, did we attack? Did we let Ara take her? Though if you were to ask me who I thought would win, I’d put my money on Ara any day of the week. There was a level of concentration and precision in her movements that I’d only seen in one other catgirl thus far. Ara may give Naeemah a run for her money. Her opponent may have been wild, but Ara’s calculated patience came off like she was designed to kill.

I’d grown so enraptured by their scuffle that I didn’t notice the bushes behind me moving.

“Look out!” Keke cried, snapping around with a nocked arrow.

Another girl sporting a filthy blonde ponytail—and a look just as wild as the first—leapt out with a half-broken sword and a wooden barrel lid for a shield. I rushed to stand between Keke and her assailant and dug my heels into the ground. I didn’t have the knowledge or the bravery to parry the attack, so I curled my shield arm against my pecs and braced myself.

The catgirl’s attack bounced off the rigid metal, and, just as she landed, I rushed with my shield held forward to try and run her down. Whatever nimble spirit embodied these girls was impossible to catch. The blonde rolled to her side, evading me with ease. Her attention shifted between Keke and me, and I had to hope Keke and I shared the same idea.

Keke let loose an arrow, prompting the wild catgirl to jump to the side. This was my moment. With two swift steps forward, I rammed my shield against the side of the catgirl’s head to disable her from attacking. Well, that was the plan, anyway. Instead, my guard slammed into her well-timed block, metal ringing loud against wood, and a sharp crack filled the air. Now I had her where I wanted her. The wood of her barrel lid had cracked and splintered when we’d collided. With a shield that frail, it wouldn’t be difficult to rip it away from her.

I overpowered our tussle with my superior [Strength] and hooked the bottom curve of my axe to the edge of her shield. She tried to pull away, but it was too late. “[Adrenaline Rush]!” With a single yank, I pulled her close and came down on her neck with the elbow of my shield arm. The girl went motionless, and just as it seemed Ara was about to win her fight, more outlines came into my view.

One, two… five… ten. They surrounded us with a variety of compromised weapons, circling us like we were an enormous prey animal to be subdued. I stood and readjusted my shield in front of my chest, backing to the center of the ring with the rest of my party. A high-pitched keening escaped from Cannoli. Ara growled. Tristan hugged Desiree to his chest. Ravyn and Keke remained poised for a fight.

“We don’t mean any harm!” Keke yelled.

One of the catgirls spat and pointed at the motionless blonde. “Looks like ‘harm’ to me.”

I lowered my shield and slowly raised my empty hands. “Hey, come on now. Let’s talk this out like civilized—”

The end of a spear was suddenly inches from stabbing me in the eye. At the blunt end was a catgirl with short, brown hair. Unlike the others, a series of plates covered her left arm, and a single plated cup rested over her left breast where her heart would be. I’m guessing you’re the leader of this merry band.

“You going to start spouting that nonsensical ‘Grace, Service, Urgency’ shit?” The leader looked at Ara, a wicked smile pulling at the ends of her mouth.

“Service, Grace, Urgency,” Ara corrected.

Really, Ara? Now’s the time?

I slowly turned my head to see each member of our group dropping their weapons, each of our hands held up in some passive manner of peace.

“Oh, shut up!” spat the leader. “I don’t care about any of that garbage! None of us care about it.” The girl looked me up and down. “It’s our lucky day. Two men. You should fetch a pretty penny from the Queen.”

Help, I’m being held against my will by an army of catgirls. Huh, has anyone ever said that before?

“Please let us talk about this?” pleaded Cannoli. “We never meant to do anything bad!”

The catgirl standing beside her jabbed Cannoli sharply between the ribs with the butt of her spear. “Psh, talk about a coddled little brat.”

Cannoli gasped and brought her hands to her stomach.

“Cannoli!” Keke cried before getting a jab of her own. I didn’t have to turn around to know that the two had fallen to their knees into coughing fits.

I gritted my teeth and fought the urge to lunge at the girl before me. “Don’t hurt them,” I warned. “They haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Oh, we got someone tough here,” she said with a giggle. She stuck the end of her spear into the ground and approached with a hiss in her voice. “You and the other—” she frowned, looking over my shoulder at Tristan, then back at me. “Man? He is a man, right?”

The question threw me. I wanted to laugh, but at the same time, I wanted to deck this bitch for letting her cronies hurt Keke and Cannoli. “Y-yeah. Yeah, he is.”

“Huh.” The girl drew back and called, “Stand down!” She came close once again and whispered. “So long as you and the other man do as we say, then I promise we won’t hurt you. But until you meet Jazz. Afterward, whatever happens isn’t my problem. You’ll have to take it up with her.”

Jazz? Why is smooth jazz all I can think of now?

“Fine. And I won’t go down gutting each and every one of you if a single hair on any of their heads comes to further harm.”

I expected her to combat me. Instead, she smiled. “I think we’ll get along just fine.”

The shaft of another catgirl’s spear nudged itself into the gap between my spine and shoulder blade. “Get a move on!”

Can’t we ever catch a break?