Thanks to the city guards, the news had spread by noon. Every one was fascinated by this latest political drama. Raylen Norcross was rubbing his eyes. He’d already been planning ways to break Cassidy away from Tremaine Cheilam, but kept hitting the wall of expenses. They cost too much influence and no one else in the Norcross group was willing to pay for his friend. He was determined to find an answer though, until now it turns out. Cassidy had just found her own. Tremaine would be furious.

Raylen was already waiting for his horse and hoping to beat the man while he mentally berated Cassidy. She had no idea the trouble she kept causing. He really should have spent the time to teach her how things worked in the city. It was stupid of him to let someone so associated with his party run ignorant around the place. Of course, she caused trouble. It was the kind of opportunity for which someone like Tremaine had been waiting.

Raylen had already sent word to Victoria. He new they’d need her mitigation in whatever was about to happen because House Cheilam and Norcross were about to come to blows. He just had to find Cassidy before Tremaine. He didn’t want to think about what that man would do if no one was watching. His horse came and he took the reins and mounted. She’d had the night but she was only a Tier 1. She’d be caught before evening.

Raylen reached the gates only to hear he was 20 minutes behind Tremaine. With an order he told the Guard to summon Shakira and send her to follow him. The man nodded—tongue-tied at a Norcross speaking directly to him and made sure the gate was clearly opened for Raylen, but Raylen was already through.

The road was dreary in the early morning light. Nothing but flat ground and monotony on either side. This was always the worst part of travel, being near the cities where no monsters would try their luck. But that was helpful in and of itself. He needed to catch up to Tremaine and it was hard not to just push his horse to race under the stress. He had to keep everything calm and controlled. Norcross’ never panicked. So he kept his easy canter, pushing it so it may not be quite so easy but everything was still controlled.

He smelled the bodies before he came upon Tremaine. The clear scent of blood travelled far on the wind. He was preparing for the worst when he rode up to Tremaine who was cursing at the ground. A quick glance told him Cassidy wasn’t among the fallen. Another showed they were bandits almost exclusively taken out by a single arrow. An image of her in the dark with a bat falling invisibly amongst the trees. Bertold loved to share how she took out a pack of Tier 2 wolves but it never made sense to Raylen until now. Girl was a monster with that bow.

Tremaine turned on him. “You! You sent her away with a bodyguard!”

Raylen’s eyebrows crept toward his hairline. “You know I wouldn’t have business with her once she joined your party. I’d never cross the blood feud.” He kept the relief that she’d survived and was hopefully long gone from showing on his face.

Tremaine cursed again. “She could never afford to hire one herself.”

Raylen looked over the bodies again, certain there was no bodyguard. She’d never need one with those dogs. “You don’t know what she can afford. That fancy armor? She bought it herself.”

Tremaine grew silent at that and stared at the bodies.

Raylen heard something in the distance and turned to see Victoria’s red hair glowing on the back of her black racer. Her Riding Skill was the thing of legends and she could handle that flighty racer like it was a sweet little kittne. The horse had covered real ground to meet them here on so little notice. He would never doubt her to show up in time, not that he ever did.

“Victoria’s here.” He said as he pulled back on the reins to put space between them. Tremaine looked up and growled as he wheeled his horse to face her.

They didn’t have to wait long for the small woman to rein up her tower of a horse and slide to a stop in front of them. She looked them over with a glare. “You couldn’t keep this trouble inside the city walls and save me some time?” Raylen grinned but didn’t dare speak up. His happiness at Cassidy’s escape finally breaking through. The heat from Victoria’s gaze didn’t even bring him down. She moved from him back to Tremaine and down to the bodies. “Who went hunting?”

“That’s just what we were discussing—”

Tremaine cut Raylen off. “My party member decided to run away from her obligations and hired a bodyguard!”

“Ah, yes. I’ve been hearing a lot about your new party member.” Victoria shot a glance to Raylen but his face had regained its usual stoicism. “But how you manage your party has little to do with me. Though I do find it interesting she had to hire a bodyguard to ‘escape her obligation.’” She sent a warning glance to Tremaine. He at least had the instincts to shut up.

She looked between them again before speaking out as if she were giving a ruling, which as Inquisitor she very well may. “Would either of you like to tell me why I’m needed out here to settle a Cheilam-Norcross scuffle." Tremaine looked like he was having trouble swallowing. Raylen just laughed.

Raylen took the initiative. “My friend mistakenly—”

“—fully aware.” Tremaine earned a glare for cutting in.

“…joined Tremaine’s dungeon party.”

Now it was Victoria’s turn. “That’s unusual.” She said with a frown. “What would 4’s and 5’s want with a Tier 1?”

“Exactly my thinking.” Raylen continued. “Due to our current arrangement I was unable to ask her or anyone else in the party.” Victoria was just nodding along. “When I heard she had left the city I assumed she had left the party and so I wanted to come out and check on her. These roads can be dangerous.” Another nod. “But I realized Tremaine might also show up to try to encourage her to return so I called you in case we had the bad luck of meeting up at the same time.”

Tremaine looked like he’d eaten something bitter. “Yes, that sounds about right.”

Victoria looked between the two. “I can see why you might need my intervention, especially now that there’s no girl.” She looked over to the bodies. “What are your intentions now that she’s gone? Still plan to chase after her?”

Now Raylen frowned. There was no chasing. She didn’t need to say it like that or look at them like that.

Raylen just spoke. “I’ll return and tell the militia they’ve got some more bodies out here.”

Tremaine nodded “I’ll go first.” And set his horse off at a canter. Clearly trying to get away from this whole mess as quickly as possible.

Raylen and Victoria watched him ride off. Raylen waited for him to get out of sight before speaking his true intentions. “I’m going to go after her. From Bertold’s stories I doubt she’ll stay on the road but I know where she’s heading so I can wait for her there.”

Victoria turned her racer around and said, “I’m going with.”

He turned on her with a furrowed brow but she just kept speaking with a growing smile. “I want to meet the girl that’s got half a city talking within 3 days. Besides,” She said, urging her horse forward. “I can’t fit the image of a girl who Tremaine claims can’t even shoot properly with the person who just took down these bandits in one go.”

“I thought it was a bodyguard.” Raylen tried.

She just looked back at him like he tried to pull over on her. “The Norcross party does not get involved with someone who needs a bodyguard to deal with a few Tier 1’s.”

“That ones a Tier 2.” He tried as he rode by the bodies to catch up. Victoria may be shorter than him but, on her horse, he was the one looking up.

She scowled. “Now you’re just making a fool of yourself.”

Cassidy was having a much easier time in the woods than on the road. The trees blocked out the sun, who’s heat always seemed to sap her strength--Koda and Sugarbear’s too. The roots and stones kept that little part of her brain constantly busy as she glided between trees so she never grew truly bored. And this was where their Skills truly showed! Making up for their weaker Attributes. When it grew dark though, she had to face the truth about travelling alone. She needed to sleep sometime. If it were just a week maybe, but she had a lot farther to go and risks to take. She glanced between her dogs. Maybe there was an answer here.

She stayed up half the night, waiting and listening. When the full moon hit its zenith, she woke her dogs. They grumbled and growled half-heartedly but eventually she had them up and fully awake. Staring them both in the eye she gave the command ‘Guard’. Then she lay down and took her turn to sleep. The dogs weren’t the best with time so they failed to wake her with the dawn. “Sorry guys. I grabbed some extra hours on you.” She scratched their necks before grabbing their breakfast. There was no orderly camp here. Not even a fire. So, they were able to get going right away.

She spotted a few stags in the distance but nothing seemed willing to get this close to the road. She just rolled with it and ran. By noon break she had sweat down her back despite the heavy shade and her dogs were panting. She was free though; she was smiling. She’d miss taverns and late night drinks, but getting involved in those politics had nearly done her in. She’d miss Shakira and Edel, maybe Raylen too, but she didn’t think she’d be doing a repeat visit. Unless Bertold decided to enter business again but just one memory of him made her shudder and she was equally sure of his disgust with her, so that was unlikely to happen. Trusty business partners were hard to come by though. She’d probably have to figure out how to harvest on her own and she had no idea where to begin. She was far more likely to hurt the plant and damage the goods. But those were tomorrow’s problems, hell they were next week’s problems. Now she just needed to get home in one piece, and then after some rest and relaxation, plan for the South. She was hoping anonymity would keep her out of trouble even if she didn’t know all the customs there either. Who would bother getting worked up over a sad little Tier 1?

They’d been out 5 days now when her dogs woke her in her sleep. She listened for that tell-tale whoooosh, but heard rustling instead. She sat up bow in hand, drawing back an arrow as the noise drew closer. Her head tilted, trying to identify it, but it was hard to get an angle on just where this creature was and she had to drop her bow for a dagger. She preferred to shoot foreign creatures down but life didn’t always give her that option. Koda’s chest was vibrating in a low growl but Sugarbear seemed oddly unconcerned. Cassidy backed up, giving some open space between her and the general direction of the noises. She heard panting now. Her dagger came up, slanted down across his chest. A heavy fall, some cursing. Cassidy didn’t let down her guard. She did speak up. “Who’s there?”

A pause, what might have been a sob. “Please! Can you tell me—am I close to the road?”

Cassidy looked behind her through the trees at the flat stretch of dirt which somehow managed to glimmer beneath the moonlight.

“You didn’t answer my question!” Sure, Cassidy was being a jerk but this was her new pet peeve. Bertold had left his mark. It couldn’t have been terribly hard to throw in a name with that plea. It’s just one word after all.

A couple of gasps as, what she assumed was, a woman caught her breath. “There’s monsters out here!”

Cassidy just nodded “Yes I know.” She relented a little. A name wouldn’t make much difference if this ended in a stabbing like with the bandits.

“Why don’t you come into my camp, tell me your name, and I'll start the fire.” She glanced at Koda and Sugarbear before giving them the guard signal. They both sat still, waiting for potential threats. Cassidy was at ease knowing she had the upper hand in any up-close confrontation. She put her knife away. “I assure you, you’ll be safer by my fire than on the road.”

“You—you’re a girl?”

“Is that a problem?” She ground her teeth.

“N-No. No. Thank you.” She spoke demurely. “I’ll come over.”

Cassidy’s dagger was down but her hackles were up. Still no name. It was such a simple thing. It meant nothing. Was it so little, this stranger just kept forgetting the question? And the girl was acting all girly. Who had time to be girly in a world covered with monsters? She thought back. Her dress didn’t count. That was in the city.

A lovely woman stepped past the bushes. She was a half a foot shorter than Cassidy and the flecks of moonlight falling between the trees lit up her face like something ethereal. Cassidy was on edge. In the forest, beautiful things were usually a trap.

The woman looked at her and smiled. She had to have five years on Cassidy. Cassidy wasn’t sure what earned this smile, so she just frowned. In her quiet voice the woman continued. “I’m just an Initiate you see.” A Tier 1 floated above her head. “And everything is just too overwhelming. Nothing ever seems safe.” Cassidy could agree with that last part. Nothing was ever safe. Not even a city but since when was being an Initiate and excuse? She had never—a flash back to all the times Bertold and Norcross spoke up on her behalf because she was an Initiate. Ok. So, maybe it was an excuse. She looked the woman over. She was self-contained. Her posture regal. Not the type who fought in the woods. Her cloak was even intact. She hadn’t been here long. Where had she come from? How had she known being an Initiate was important information? How had she gotten a cloak? Who in the real world ever had cloaks? Cassidy just stared making the woman fidget under this younger girl’s scrutiny. Something Glinted from under the cloak. It looked like a... musical instrument?

The woman didn’t know why she should be afraid of Cassidy, some young girl playing woodsman in the forest, but those eyes were imposing—like she had all the answers and was just waiting. Waiting for what? A flash of memory. “My name’s Alera!” she burst out. Cassidy winced under the noise. There’d be no more sleep tonight. She might as well get back on the road after this woman drew down every nearby creature.

Cassidy moved on, kneeling down to get started on that fire. Her eyes on her dogs, they were still alert and watching the stranger. Sugarbear would break away on occasion to survey the woods before turning back to the possible threat.

“Well Alera, what are you doing in the woods? Why are you even alone?” She squinted up at the woman. “You should never travel alone.” This statement was directed more at the soft looking woman than herself, naturally. Besides, she tended to count her dogs as people and, in that case, she was never alone.

Alera cleared her throat before looking around her for a place to sit. Nothing seemed satisfactory and after a few moments she just settled down where she was.

“I never wanted to travel alone.” She pleaded, leaning forward to look up into Cassidy’s eyes. Cassidy was used to waiting. She did it with Bertold all the time. Here it actually seemed effective though. The woman looked away, biting her lip, seeming to appear ten years younger. “My, well, I guess you could call him boyfriend, was with me when this all happened. We helped each other raise our attributes and he hunted down the animals while I gathered the herbs.”

Cassidy looked her up and down. That would explain her seeming helplessness right now. “So then, where is your boyfriend?”

She paused, voice catching. “He was killed five nights ago.” Cassidy tried for sympathy. She really did, but something had been growing cold inside her ever since she first heard that voice and lost everyone she knew. She did throw out one lame attempt though. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.” Alera looked down at her hands, glowing in the light of Cassidy’s fire. It was finally catching.

Cassidy, on the other hand was leaning back, trying to take it all in. Things weren’t adding up. The woman before her could not last five days alone in the woods, let alone five nights and still be so put together. This was sounding like bullshit. And this wasn’t a world where it was safe to let other’s keep their secrets. At least not when you let them share your campfire in the middle of the night, days from even the nearest help. So, she broke the taboo.

“Alera, what are your Skill Sets?”

Alera looked up at her still misty eyed. She must not have known about the impropriety because she offered them without hesitation. Song. Flute. Dance. Cooking. Forestry. Daggers. Cassidy mulled them over and let the silence stretch.

Alera wasn’t sure what to do. She felt strange, trying to appease this girl whom she would normally look down upon, but the girl was so calm. It was like this forest was her home and Alera the invader. Alera needed to step with care. Everything was so strange here; there was no telling what this girl could actually do.

Cassidy looked back up. There was no telling what this woman could actually do. She had to have been attacked at least a few times, but her clothes were all put together so none had gotten close. She was guessing it had something to do with the Song Skill Set or the Flute. Music had always been equated as something magical back on earth. She wondered what it could do in an actual magic world. Images of the pied piper ran through her head. She wasn’t sure she wanted those skills around her or her dogs which made the next question very important. Would she be open about her Skill or hide it?

Meeting her gaze, Cassidy asked in a level voice. “And which of those Skills has been keeping the monsters from eating you?” The woman didn’t even look away but answered right back.

“It’s my song. I can sing them to sleep and walk away. I had to raise my Perception though. Put all my points in it just so I had time to sing before any monster could creep up on me.”

Cassidy nodded her head and felt her hair stand on end. This woman was a threat. Cassidy didn’t have any defenses for her dogs or herself. But the woman was honest and attacking someone just because they had the power to kill you was a stupid plan altogether. It wasn’t right. She stared at the woman, Alera, who refused to make eye contact.

“So then, Alera, what is it you want to do?”

The woman burst into tears. “I just want to be safe. I’m tired of sleeping on this cold hard ground wondering if the next time I wake up it’ll be with some beast’s teeth in my throat!”

Cassidy sighed. Two sides warring with each other. This was a grown woman who should be able to take care of herself. This was a civilian who didn’t have what it took to be a hunter. The final answer came down to whether or not she was cold enough to leave Alera in the dark. She looked at her dogs. They didn’t care, still watching to see if Alera would make the wrong moves. She looked at the fire. Alera would need extra care. She’d have to set up real camps every night. Probably loan the woman her blanket too she thought, as she watched Alera inch closer to the warm flames. She remembered the bodies on the road. All dead because they weren’t strong enough to fend for themselves, and a fire lit in her breastbone. She’d have to care for this woman till she could get her somewhere safe. The city in the south. That was weeks away, but she wasn’t turning back to the north.

“You can come with me if you’d like. I have a house a little under a week away and then I’m headed to the Southern City. With all those Skills I’m sure you’d find work and you’d never have to worry about the monsters again.”

“Thank you.” She whispered. “Thank you.”

Cassidy loaned Alera her blanket and kept watch the rest of the night. It'd be nice to start sharing this duty with someone other than her dogs for a change.

It was only the first day and Cassidy had taken a break before noon, frustrated by Alera’s pace. Not only was she slow, she didn’t have the Resilience to keep going till noon. Wasn’t she an Initiate too? Didn’t that mean her Attributes should be higher or something? Initiates were always weird. What made this Alera so weird if she couldn’t keep up in a damned forest when she had the Forestry Skill Set?

She turned her back on the woman. She wasn’t being rude she just… didn’t want to look at her right now. It had been a bad morning. She'd been feeling that tingle on the back of her neck since she woke up and the pressure that indicated her house had uninvited guests. She was glad for the warning but this constant pressure was driving her a little crazy and she didn't want to take it out on Alera. Instead she gazed at that little strip of road hiding between the trees. Her dogs made no comment.

Eventually Alera stopped panting and Cassidy was contemplating turning back to be civil when a hallucination passed before her eyes. It looked like Shakira in leather armor was trotting by on her bay bruiser of a horse. No way she’d be all the way out here. Cassidy got up and ran to the edge of the woods, looking down the road. Not but a hundred meters out, there she was, black hair dragged back by the wind.

“Shakira?”

The woman reined in her horse to look behind her.

“Cassidy!”

Victoria stood, looking around the place. It was an impressive house, two stories painted all in white. She turned back to Raylen, watching as he observed the ground for a possible campsite. “Don’t you want to look around? Appraise the grounds?”

“No.” He said frowning, staring at a flat spot between a couple of birches. “I think that would be creepy.”

Victoria burst out laughing. She ended up doubled over, she couldn’t stop. “You. Think that. Would be. Creepy?” She reverted to giggling. He just glared back at her.

“What!”

“You memorized the location of this girl’s home so you could beat her there.”

“I’m just trying to catch up with her since she was forced to leave the city.” His frown looked like it was engraved.

“Nu-uh. I’m gonna go be creepy myself and see what the back looks like. Bu-Bye.” She gave him a flip of her hand and walked by her racer as he grazed in the overgrown lawn. She turned the corner and disappeared out of sight, still chortling along the way.

Norcross watched her go, displeased. He’d originally just been trying to beat Tremaine to keep Cassidy safe but maybe this was a couple steps further. Maybe a bit too far. He should have brought Shakira. Shakira always went too far and came back ok.

...

Shit.

He’d told Shakira to catch up to him and never waited for her at the site! He’d completely forgotten. She was going to kill him.

Was it too late to leave a note? He glanced at his saddle bags. He didn’t bring any paper. Or really anything. It had been a bad day for planning. All he had on his mind was the upcoming dispute between him and Tremaine, not an extended camping trip. This was starting to sound insane. He heard it now. They’d better head back tomorrow and pray Shakira didn’t murder him. Victoria would probably let her, just for laughs. He went to find Victoria. Inquisitors always carried writing utensils, right?