“Ava?” Samual asked. He was still hovering over their intruder, his arm raised and ready to strike.

Ava pushed Gora away. She was still shaking but appeared to be unharmed otherwise.

“Right before Gora grabbed me, she… she let me go” Ava whispered. “She even… she even gave me a little push when I… when… fuck, when I was too scared to move.”

She sighed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I fucking froze again, and she let me go. So, don’t kill her, please? At least, not until we figure out what is going on.”

“She let you go? Are you sure?” Gora asked, slowly getting to her feet.

Nemesis was still just sitting curled up in a ball against the wall, staring at them with wide eyes.

“Positive. She didn’t hurt me. It’s possible that… she might be another Delver.”

Silence descended on the room.

[“Umm… please don’t kill me?”] Nemesis said softly in her strange language.

“If she is a Delver,” Zaxier said thoughtfully, “and we kill her, that would be murder. If she was a member in good standing with the Guild, that means expulsion for you, Gora, and a possible bounty on all our heads.”

“If she’s a member of the Guild” Gora agreed. “But I’ve never seen that species before. Or heard that language.”

“She could be from one of the Eastern lands. Who besides a Delver would enter a Nightmare?” Ava challenged.

“What Delver would make it to the City Zone alone?” Gora cut back.

“Maybe she’s the only one that survived?” Ava replied.

Gora hummed, deep in thought, as she walked over to stand besides Samual. With both of them looming over Nemesis, she looked so small. She’d curled up her legs by her sides and was looking up at them with a pathetic expression on her face.

Nightmare spawn or not, Gora had to admit her expressions were very, very human.

“Could be a demon. Or another outsider” Samual suggested. Gora could tell he was getting irritated with their indecision.

“If it’s a demon we might as well send it back to hell. Nobody will give a shit and it will make the world just a tiny bit better” she replied. “But I don’t think so. Wrong vibe.”

“So, we are not killing her?” Samual asked, exasperated.

“No. Not right away, for sure. There are too many questions here in need of answers. You can stand down, Samual. I’ve got this” Gora replied.

Samual immediately turned on his heel and headed back to his tent.

[“Hello?”] Nemesis spoke again. [“My name’s Rita…”]

“Shit, I wish we knew what she was saying” Gora said, scratching her head.

“I… I might be able to help with that… a bit…” Ava said, getting to her feet.

“Really? And you’re only mentioning this now, because…?” Gora asked.

“Because it requires me to…” Ava shuddered, “…touch her. Ugh, I hate touch spells. If she suddenly jumps me will you save me again?”

Gora shrugged. “Of course.”

[“Look, I don’t know what’s going on but this has all been a terrible misunderstanding and I’m sorry if…”] Nemesis started yammering again, but Ava made soft shushing sounds as she walked closer until she faded off.

She knelt down next to the creature, swallowing nervously. “Zaxier, can you get Bob to hand me one of the Conjoint vials, please?”

“I’ll get it myself. Bob, stay” the cat said, lightly jumping off of Bob’s shoulder and darting over to his tent.

Something about the Zaxier fascinated Nemesis. Whenever the cat moved or spoke, her attention was immediately drawn to him. Gora pondered this as he emerged with a glowing blue vial in his mouth.

“Is it really necessary to dip into our takings?” Gora asked.

“Yes, unless you can pull Conjoint Essence out of your ass” Ava replied. “Stop bitching, we harvested a pile of the stuff from the Masked. We can afford half a vial.”

She gently took the vial from Zaxier who sat down next to her.

Ava opened the vial and dipped the tip of her finger in the glowing blue liquid and Nemesis gasped when she pulled it out and the finger started leaving a shimmering trail in the air. Ava began moving her hands in a complicated pattern, weaving an intricate mesh of shimmering trails in the air.

“Okay, moment of truth. Gora, please hold her still. This is awful enough without the risk of her taking off my finger” Ava said without missing a beat in her weaving. The pattern had begun to take on a fractal appearance, lines crossing and converging in a way that mesmerized and drew the eye.

“Alright” Gora rumbled and leaned down. Nemesis jerked in surprise when she clamped her big, meaty hands around her upper arms. A faint whimper escaped her lips.

“Here goes…” Ava muttered and suddenly reached out, tapping Nemesis on the forehead with one of her sparkly blue fingers. She struggled a little, but Gora’s powerful hands kept her still. The blue pattern seemed to unfold and extend, fading as it stretched between Ava and Nemesis until it completely disappeared.

“Okay, it’s done. It won’t be like a full translation or anything, but I should be able to get vague intentions out of her” Ava said, dusting herself off. “As soon as she says something, anyway. Gora, maybe let her go?”

“Can she understand us?” Gora asked.

“No. This spell was originally meant as an interrogation tool, to help catch lies. It’s one way” Ava replied as she picked up a pile of canvas, a look of disgust on her face. “Fuck, it had to be my tent we hit, didn’t it?”

Demon slowly released Nemesis and stepped back.

“Come on, say something!” she demanded when the creature just sat there, staring at her. “Ava, why won’t the damn thing talk now?”

“Don’t look at me, the spell doesn’t make them talk” Ava replied, fishing her thick, black robe out from among the crumpled pile of canvas.

“May I try?” Zaxier asked, stepping forward.

He lifted his paw and tapped the side of his muzzle before pointing at her.

[“What? What are you trying to tell me?”] she asked.

“Erm… Confusion. She doesn’t understand you” Ava piped up.

“Ah, progress. Speak, dear girl!” the cat said, nodding vigorously and making rolling motions with his paw to indicate she should continue.

In a very human expression of mirth, Nemesis giggled at the sight of the cat’s antics. [“You’re quite cute, you know that?”]

Ava snickered while pulling the robe over her head. “She thinks you’re cute when you act like a human, Zaxier. I’m getting a faint background desire to pet you and scratch your belly.”

“Hmph. I will have you know; all females find me irresistible, regardless of species. It only shows she has good taste” the cat huffed, flicking his ears. Then he opened and closed his mouth, pointing at it with his paw.

“Oh! Are you asking me if I’m hungry?” Rita asked, relieved that she was making progress. “No, not really…”

“Relief… I’m not sure, but something about hunger?” Ava replied. “She’s either hungry or wants to eat you, I think?”

“Ah. Shall we assume that she is hungry, then? Bob! Bring her a handful of those purple fruits, you glutton!” Zaxier shouted at his familiar who was still standing stock still at the other side of the room.

“Oh! Right you are, Mr. Zaxier, Sir!” Bob almost tripped over his own feet in his rush to obey. Then, just as he almost reached Nemesis, he hesitated. “Is this safe, Mr. Zaxier? She ain’t gonna hurt me if I go closer, is she?”

Ava snorted. “Oh, now you’re careful? Idiot.”

“My boy, the odds of her injuring you are exactly what they are” the cat replied, a grin on his feline face.

“Oh… okay then, if you’re sure it’s safe.” Bob fished a handful of the purple berries out of a pocket of his coveralls before carefully edged closer and stretching out his arm as far as it could go.

[“Umm, thank you?”] Nemesis said in her funny language, putting on what was clearly a fake smile as she reached out and plucked one of the purple berries off the top, popping it in her mouth. It didn’t look like she was enjoying it much.

“She’s afraid of offending us. I don’t think she wanted a berry” Ava stated while trying to set up her tent.

“What? You’re the one who said she was hungry!” Zaxier replied.

“Maybe she’s just in the mood for kitty roast?” Ava said with a grin.

[“Hey, I’m sorry about your tent… I was just trying not to get chopped by the demon lady’s sword, okay? I hope it’s fixable…”] Nemesis said.

Ava stopped messing with her tent and turned to face her. “Remorse… the tent… and something about you attacking her, Gora? I think she’s sorry she broke my tent. Aww, thank you! Your apology is accepted” she said with a nod and a smile.

“Hmph, if she didn’t want to be cut to pieces, she shouldn’t have broken into the Campsite! How the hell did she do that, anyway? Scared me shitless” Gora growled.

[“Wait, can you understand me?”] Nemesis asked with a hopeful look on her face.

Ava gave up on her tent and knelt in front of her.

“What did she say?” Gora asked when she didn’t immediately respond.

“I’m almost certain she just asked if I could understand her” Ava replied.

She made a ‘so-so’ gesture with her hand towards Nemesis and was rewarded with the creature’s whole face lighting up.

[“Oh, thank God!”] Nemesis shouted and suddenly lunged forward towards Ava.

Ava frantically scrambled backwards to get out of reach while Gora’s huge red hand intercepted the creature, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her back against the wall.

[“I’m sorry…”] Nemesis wheezed, struggling to draw breath.

“What did she say!? What did she try to do!?” Gora demanded, glancing back back and forth between Ava and Nemesis.

“Ah, thanks for the intercept, Gora” Ava said as she returned to her kneeling position. “First happiness, relief, some kind of deity? Now, extreme remorse and pants-shitting fear. I think this was just a bit of a misunderstanding. You can release her, Gora, I don’t think she’ll be quite so exuberant again.”

Gora glared at the woman in her grasp for a few seconds before slowly releasing her hold.

[“I’m sorry… I won’t do that again… you don’t like being touched, I got it. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I promise”] Rita stammered apologetically.

[FLAY THEM AND HANG THEM BY THEIR OWN ENTRAILS!]

It was like a sudden blast of hatred and malice struck Ava. Out of sheer fright she jerked backwards so hard she nearly fell into the campfire.

“Holy shit!” she exclaimed.

“What?” Gora demanded, looking confused. “What did she say?”

“Violence. Extreme hatred and violence! Like… like I can’t even describe…” Ava replied, looking a little shaken. “And it just… came out of nowhere!”

“Is she… threatening us?” Gora asked.

[“No, please! That’s not me! That’s Alice! She’s not quite in her right mind at the moment!”] Nemesis spoke again, but again the blast of malice struck Ava.

[KILL THEM! MURDER THEM! BUTCHER THEIR FLESH!]

This time, Ava was a bit better prepared and just winced. The torrent of hatred was unpleasant, but it didn’t hurt her.

“Ah. Just happened again…” Ava said. “Hold up, Gora… there’s something strange here. I’m getting some kind of weird double feedback. Same extreme violence, but also denial? It’s like I’m being shouted at in two voices. Wait…”

“What is going on?” Samual asked, his head sticking out of his tent. “Are we killing her after all?”

Ava spun around and pointed directly at him. “No! Don’t you dare kill her!”

“Why…? Ah, I see.” Zaxier said from next to Gora’s feet. “I suspect you and I have come to the same conclusion, Ava.”

“What?” Gora demanded, fingering the hilt of her sword.

“I don’t think she’s a Delver. I think we were right. She is actually one of the Nightmare Spawn. That stream of hatred that I felt is likely the reason most others attack on sight.” Ava explained, speaking rapidly, her eyes lit up with greed. “If that is the case, do you have any idea how valuable she is to us alive?”