“Oh, a traveler… how fascinating! You know a few of these bastards try to jump me for the price on me head every morning. Persistent little shits.” She grumbled and I saw her give Neil an evil grin as if challenging him.

“Neil isn’t a bounty hunter, he is my apprentice!” I smirked at the look that crossed her face before she shot a more scrutinizing glance at the teenager, and then adjusted a few lenses on her complex set of goggles and scanned him with a spell.

“That is one powerful aura he has mate! Gods, where did you find him?” She said all the while licking her lips at the information she was gleaning.

“Who is she?” Neil took a few steps back at the feral smile on Rus’s face and I gave a wry chuckle.

“Information broker, or a spymaster. Your pick. She is generally called The Rusalka or Rus for short.” I said and glared at the woman my hand on my hips.

“Rus, stop it your scaring the lad.” The gnome next to her said and gave her a stiff elbow. She lifted her goggles and blinked as if she was adjusting her eyes before she returned to her haggling over the boots.

I walked over to the display case in one of the most heavily warded sections of the shop, scrutinizing the selection of storage crystals that were on offer, reading their capacitance and other properties.

In all I wasn’t terribly impressed by the selection. Crystals suited to my very demanding needs were hard to come by, and one of the most expensive parts within an airship. I saw only three crystals that would suit my needs, and they all made my stomach twist when I gulped and read the asking prices.

Rus pushed her newly purchased boots into an unlikely sized spellfolded pouch as she skipped over to see what I was considering. “You know we never did finish our… business earlier.” She whispered to me and grinned evilly. I had to wonder which business she meant, the task I have given her, or her demands for a rematch.

It was no accident I had “happened” to just bump into her here, of that I had no doubt. Likely she had been keeping an eye on my movements since the moment I had set down Sweetwind in the aerodrome.

“What do you want Rus?” I snarled and she backed up her hands spread wide. “I heard you have a very interesting wyvern battle saddle…as part of your prize loot.” She cackled and I groaned, remembering in horror what sort of beast she was bonded with. It was a giant black wyvern she had given a rather unique name.

I never understood why Rus had endearingly named her mount Cuddles but considering it was a massive flying lizard with a temperament of a cranky dragon that spat acid instead of fire, everyone who knew of the Rusalka thought she wasn’t quite right in the head.

“It’s up for lease if you want it. I put it in trust with the messenger’s guild.” I fished around inside my jacket and pulled out the lease agreement I had brought with me today.

“Oi! You want me to compete for the right to use it with the guild?!” She snarled and I shrugged.

“Hey! First come first serve, you didn’t contact me when I landed, and I didn’t even know you needed another harness for Cuddles. Besides, it’s still being repaired. I did a number on it in the process of acquisition.”

The Rusalka looked over the lease agreement and nodded. “You’re not asking for an excessive amount here. I’ll consider your terms Becca and get back to you.” She gave me a feral grin and I shivered and wondered just how secure my acquired wyvern harness was in the guild’s vaults.

Stalking out the door she gave me a look and a nasty wink that guaranteed I’d be looking over my shoulder for her for weeks, and probably scanning the skies when I lifted ship. I shivered. It was never a good thing to have the Rusalka interested in you or anything you owned.

“You know, I think she considers it a personal challenge, finding ways to get her bounty increased.” I muttered and turned as the door shuttered open and I spied several travelers who had been following the Rusalka scan the store before they settled on me.

I saw one nudge the other and they looked down at a slate in his hands and grinned. I gaped at the complete lack of subtly that these fledgling bounty hunters possessed and rolled my eyes at them.

Neil was also looking at a point over their heads, his face going pale. “Pkers!” He stammered and he glared at them as they turned to look at the boy.

“Oh my… is this your bit of digital tail nooblet? She is a looker, I have to admit.” One of them, a big oversized thug with shoddy armor and a perpetual sneer gawked at me and licked his lips. My own temper flared and sparks started to creep around my fingertips, as I didn’t enjoy just how he was looking at me up and down.

“She’s my friend! If you have a beef with her you have a beef with me assholes!” Neil snarled and I felt him begin to draw power into himself, though I had no idea just what he expected to do with it. I had never taught him how to use his gift offensively.

“Not inside! Take it into the streets, but you know the law! No serving bounties in city limits!” The gnome snarled, as he reached into a pocket and pulled out a clear crystal that thundered with power. I shivered as the aura from the device washed over me and my apprentice.

It was deeply connected to the wards inside the owner’s shop, and could likely cause them to fry us on our feet, shields or no. He glared at the bounty hunters who obviously had no understanding of how perilous was their position. Grinning at us, they turned and stalked off.

I gave a wry chuckle. “Cassidy, since when have bounty hunters ever observed the niceties?” I asked and looked down at the enraged gnome who returned my stare with a wince.

“Becca you just don’t understand how stupid that bunch is do you? They have been killed a half dozen times trying to ambush their bounties. I think it’s starting to become something of local entertainment, as the guards don’t even bother intervening and exchange bets whenever they start stalking someone.”

“They’ve killed other players…” Neil muttered and he gazed with rage out the door, watching them through a window as they slunk to a nearby corner and leaned against it, watching the shop.

“Murderers? Those morons? I’m surprised that they know which is the pointy end of their weapons!” The gnome laughed.

“Mabey not here, but they’ve killed other travelers.” He stammered and I looked out at them. It could be that they were a part of a larger group. These could be just their watchers who informed and tracked bounties. That was normally how it went with people from the hunter’s guild. Information on a bounty’s whereabouts was also exchanged, for small fees.

Cassidy looked at where I was standing next to his storage crystal case, and I could see his piggy little eyes light up with the prospect of fleecing me for a vast fortune.

I narrowed my eyes at the shrewd little man and pointed to my selections. We began the process of haggling, and when we were done, I still felt distinctly cheated as I composed a bank writ for him to take and nearly clean out my recent earnings with.

Neil had been browsing the shop and I saw him eying a spellfolded bag that was almost worth more than what I had paid for one of the crystals. “Dream on flyboy!” I laughed when I saw him practically drooling over Cassidy’s sales pitch on the object.

“You have some storage in your jacket, that’s way more than any flyer needs anyways.” I muttered and saw that it could soulbind and recall as well as vanish. I itched to buy the bag myself but I knew I really didn’t’ need it.

“Mabey I can learn to make one someday!” He said and both of us laughed hysterically at the boy, who’s hopeful expression evaporated in the face of just how ridiculous we considered that statement.

“Neil, even Cid probably would have trouble trying to make something like that! You want to know why your jacket was so expensive? Even the smallest of such enchantments are insanely difficult to lay.” I explained.

Cassidy wouldn’t be deterred. “Now Becca, he is a growing lad and would greatly benefit from a bag like that. I could lease it to you if you want…” I laughed and shook my head.

“No, I’d buy it outright if I wanted it, nice try Cassidy.” I looked at the feigned disappointment on the gnome’s face and he shrugged.

Pulling out my shopping list I looked it over then inquired about a few things I knew he always kept in his stock. Another exhaustive haggle later, I signed another bank note and paid for the deliver fee, with an armed escort.

“It will go with the evening bankroll deposit.” Cassidy said and I nodded. Most of my list were too bulky for easy carry anyway. “Thanks Cassidy, we need to get going.”

As we exited the shop, I looked around for the bounty hunters but they were gone from their corner. I still felt as if I was being watched as I walked towards the apothecary.

On the other side of the street from the Wandering Spirit was the shop I normally used. Between the crowded market stalls and down a narrow alleyway was a dingy little doorway with a brass placard over it.

No solicitors! No loiters! No rat tails!

Under it, was carved: Xantar’s Cave. The ancient stone the shop was built with a sort of material that looked much different than the surrounding buildings. It was a considerably older structure, and some would have said that when the city was last razed to the ground this shop hadn’t even noticed. Others said that the shop was here long before the city. I really didn’t know which one in the right, but it was where I liked to shop for all my alchemy needs.

Entering the structure and feeling it’s wards encase me, I shuddered and descended down a long staircase that ended in a torch lit room that was filled with strange and exotic hanging plants, thick shelves and a miasma of aromas that caused the both of us to sneeze violently.

As if that familiar sound had alerted the dozing woman at the counter across the room to our arrival, she blinked her eyes open and fixed me with a grin.

“Ah I knew you would be here dearie, when I heard you had downed a Wyvern, I knew it! I told my Georgie I did! Becca would be here, before she asked anyone else!” I sighed and slumped down onto a stool by the counter. It always disturbed me talking to Xantar.

Reaching into my jacket, I pulled out the list of what I had salvaged from the beast and handed it to her. She reached into a pocket of her stained work apron and found a set of battered and multi-lensed spectacles to put over her eyes as she tried to focus on my offer.

“I’ll take the blood and the poison glands… right enough! I don’t know about all of the bones, but the wing ones I’ll settle for!” She cackled and I nodded. “Thanks Xan, at the normal rates?” I didn’t even try to haggle, one didn’t haggle with this woman. You either paid what she wanted or not. She didn’t seem interested in the scales at all, and I groaned inwardly as that was the most valuable part of my haul from the wyvern.

She rolled her eyes at my consternation, then fixated on Neil who was looking with an entranced interest at a set of books along one shelf. “I think I may have something for your apprentice, something Georgie says he needs. I don’t argue with my Georgie!” She cackled again and I gave her a dubious glare as she reached below her counter and pulled out a small black book with a glowing golden lock on it.

Neil bolted over and looked at the book with an intensely speculative glare. “How did you get one of these?” I asked, but I knew that this creature had been here longer then perhaps the city and that fact had always sent shivers down my spine.

It was a personal grimoire, a teaching tool for young magi that they could study from. I had used my mother’s family grimoire to learn from when I had first started out, and it was an ancient book that had been passed down from generation to generation. If this thing was anything like our family grimoire it was probably semi-sentient.

“What portion of my soul will I have to part with to pay for something like this?” I glared at the woman who shook her head at me.

“Not for you to buy, for him. It must be bound to him and bought by him.” I laughed at the statement and wondered if the boy had any coin on him at all. It’s not as if I’d paid my new apprentice yet.

“How much!?” He said as he closely examined it, his eyes wide.

“One Yamanian gold noble!” She grinned at the boy who looked surprised as he pulled out the coin that the haughty priestess from the Yamanian warship had given me for praising her stupid prophet. I had completely forgotten that I had given it to him.

The coin was out and into the woman’s wizened hand in a flash. The woman made the coin vanish into a grubby pouch in her apron and fixed the boy with a toothless grin as she held up a silver binding disk to the boy. “It will be soulbound to you Neil, just touch the disk wandering one.” Her solemn tone was at odds with her usual jovial demeanor, and she seemed to hold her breath as Neil bound the book to himself.

I didn’t even deign to ask how that woman knew exactly what the boy had in terms of coin, or how she knew his name without even asking. Xan was just like that, and no one was brave enough to inquire deeply into any of those sorts of questions. Personally, I was a bit scared of the woman but she was the best alchemist in the city. One does not argue with an alchemist like her, if one wants to live a long life.

The book was quickly tucked away into Neil’s jacket and I wondered if I would ever be able to take that grin he now had, off his face. I knew that this was no ordinary grimoire, not if it was from Xan.

Picking up a few items from my list, I organized another delivery, and pocketed a few healing tonics, and stim tabs. Her creepy eyes never left Neil as we made our purchase, leaving the store and ascending back up into the bustling market.

Looking at the small alleyway that led out into the sprawl of the market, I saw a man crouched by a stall who locked eyes with me before he clutched a communication crystal and moved away. Neil followed my glare and looked a bit wary.

“That was a player!” He said and looked around in panic before I nudged him.

“Let us get back to the ship… I really don’t want to pay for any damages in the market today.” I grumbled and he nodded as he adjusted his harness and we stalked out of the alleyway.

The group that met us near the gates of the aerodrome was substantially larger than the one we encountered in Cassidy’s shop. There were about two dozen bounty hunters.

I glanced around for the city watch, but noticed that the watch booth was empty. The gates themselves didn’t really need guards as they were powerfully warded to keep out people not of the academy, the guild or didn’t have a pass. The watch still often retained a presence there, but apparently it wasn’t one that was beyond being bribed. The normal brisk traffic through the gate had vanished at the prospect of a serious confrontation involving bounty hunters.

The leader of the group pushed into the front of the mob and sized me up as he grinned at the both of us. I tried to keep my temper under control as he gave me the once over like the other travelers had. “You weren’t kidding Gravedigit, she is an eye-full!” He laughed, with self-assured arrogance and then glared at Neil.

“Hey noob, ready to go for respawn? Don’t worry we have people camping the respawn points here in the city, and we won’t mind keeping you around for our entertainment for a bit, just like her!” He laughed.

I wondered what they were waiting for, and why they were trying to get my apprentice all riled up. I nudged Neil and shook my head. “Let them strike first, I’ll shield us.” I said and he nodded, his fists clenched.

“I don’t want to hurt you lady, but sorry your boy toy there is toast. I do run into serious problems killing NPCs, but no one really seems to mind if I take out other players around here as long as we avoid any collateral damage.” He mused, and nudged his companion as I tried to understand what he was talking about.

“I love this game! You have any idea how much his gear is worth?” He asked his companion, all of them eyeing Neil speculatively.

“He’s with an airship NPC, don’t you have to be like as rich as a king to own one or something? I wonder if he has any soulbound items we can extort from him. Those always worth a pretty penny.”

Turning their envious gazes back to us, they stalked around our shield like a pride of circling sky cats. I could see Neil start to sweat and tremble as a few of the travelers started to flare into needless pyrotechnics, revealing shields and wards of their own.

I studied their amateurish castings and tried to hold in my laughter, as they were flashy, but of little substance. The castings were crude and were typically only single-layered with no real thought given to encrypting the structure. Even Gina could do better if she really felt like it. I suspected the little girl would easily wipe the deck with the lot of this rabble, and probably feed them to her newly acquired companion afterwards.

Shaking my head, I looked at my apprentice, and was disappointed in his lack of faith in me. Still, there were a whole lot of them and they might get lucky. I wasn’t quite at my full strength after my morning duel with Tony.

“What about it noob? Just fork over your stuff and we won’t camp you. You know, if we do kill you often enough there are... consequences. I’m not sure if you haven’t died enough to find out yet, but trust me, it will be better if you just delete your character if we put you on our blacklist.” He sneered and glared at Neil who already had his cutlass out and looked at me, and I shrugged at him.

“Just use your harness Neil, I’ll take care of these idiots and be along shortly.” I told him and he shook his head at me, I was surprised at his sudden gain in bravery. Where was the timid Neil? I could clearly see he was terrified out of his wits, but he refused to leave me. At my glace towards Neil, I felt one of their magi start to agressively probe my defenses, slamming deep into the structure and trying to figure out how to break it.

“ENOUGH!” I shrieked and I thrust out my shield. The first rank, and the leader were slammed off their feet, the barrier crushing bone and sending travelers flying. I drew my cutlass and used it to channel an arc of energy straight into one of the magi they had with them, electrocuting the woman and knocking her senseless, ending her probe into my defenses. Taking a deep breath, I drew my shield back to us and started to project a casting through it.

Rings of power flowed up and down the shield as it flashed and sizzled, building up power for my strike. I could feel my reserves dropping like a stone, but I gritted my teeth and pushed through the pain as I thrust blasts of power into the nearby travelers who were gathered outside, forcing them back off, killing a few outright.

Giving another scream of rage I channeled a ball of raw power through my sword and whipped it around my body then forward, flinging the cracking, howling ball of energy into the leader who was carried off his feet and through the open gate, where he rebounded back off the gate wards with a sickening crunch before slumping to the ground in a lifeless heap.

My energy began to bottom out and I gasped for breath before I felt soft fingers intertwine in my own and power flood back into my body as Neil fed me his own energy. I looked at my apprentice and grinned.

As my barrier spun down and I could see more clearly through the haze of crackling energy. The fight was clearly over. There was only the dissipating dust kicked up from the street by the travelers as they ran for their lives. The bodies of the fallen were littered around us like broken dolls. The smell of scorched flesh, blood and ozone invaded my nose, causing it to burn.

I was startled out of my momentary fugue when there was a bit of clapping and a maniacal little cheer. Glancing around, looked up and saw the Rusalka munching on a pango fruit and grinning wickedly at me from a nearby rooftop as if she had sat there and waited for the show. Dropping off the roof she lightly landed as graceful as a cat before prancing over to start digging around in the leader’s belongings, pocketing a few coins she found.

“Got to be quick with these idiots, they have friends that will be along in a bit.” She kept digging around until she found the leader’s slate and pulled it out in triumph. She tossed it to me, and I let the slate pass through my barrier, catching it awkwardly.

I looked at a list of names and faces until my jaw dropped when I saw the amount in bounty next to my name. It was even more than Rus’s and she seemed to make a dedicated hobby of trying to get it raised every few months.

“Six hundred gold!?” I stammered and she nodded.

“I already know who you pissed off mate, but really? Since when does straight arrow Becky go making enemies of a chairman?” She grinned at me as I pocketed the slate.

“I am definitely going to challenge this bounty!” I snarled at the look of gloating from her and glared across the city to the hunter’s spire in the distance. Annoyance coursed through me as I stared accusingly at massive guild flag waving merrily in the ocean breeze.

“Doesn’t really matter mate! The contract will just go underground if it’s overturned, we both know that.” She laughed and I gave her a rude gesture, which just caused her to laugh harder.

I had always given the woman grief because of her dubious reputation and the very real criminal offences that she was accused of. It had always been a sore spot between us that I enjoyed playing high and mighty with her. Now it seemed as if we were both wanted by someone and for a prince’s ransom no less.

“I’m surprised it was just bounty hunters and not assassins. Chairman Yard must really want you alive, and that would be a first. He’s personally tried to kill me with assassins on multiple occasions, the rotter.” The Rusalka mused as she finished off her pango and spit out it’s pit right into the open mouth that was the frozen expression of the leader, his neck had been snapped. It lulled to the side when the rogue gave it another vicious kick with one of her new boots for good measure.

“I’m tired of these stupid travelers lording it up over my city!” She shrieked and punctuated each word with a stomp onto the leader’s helmeted face, burying it into the cobble stones, her eyes rolling with the feral glint of madness that everyone knew her for.

When she saw my expression of horror she stopped and turned to me. “It’s like this everywhere now, not just the bounty hunters but all of the guilds love hiring and training these undying pricks. Granted these are like the scum on the bottom of the barrel, but it is infuriating! I’m not used to my enemies coming back from the dead!” She bellowed and jumped up with both feet, stomping on the head of the leader. When the chin strap of his helmet broke, she punted the rolling helmet up and over a building across the street. She stood there, pain and loss in her eyes as she breathed heavily, the tantrum seemingly taking a lot out of her.

“They killed Batzy! They killed him! And for what? For their own amusement! He was just a kid, they killed a poor defenseless street kid who they offered a silver to, so he could lead them around the city and show them the sights!” I grimaced, remembering some of my own encounters with travelers.

The Rusalka was known by other names too, the black lady, the deathstalker, but there were a small group of street kids that she used as her runners in almost every part of the city that knew her and her underground criminal network as their protector.

“How long have you been slaying them?” I asked, a sinking suspicion in my stomach.

“For about a week now, ever since…they murdered him!” She revealed, and I saw the normally impassible woman blinking away tears.

Neil looked stricken at the story. I saw him waver as he looked around in confusion. “They don’t think of any of you as real people.” He muttered and I saw him clench his fists.

The Rusalka shrieked and glared at Neil. “That’s what I always hear them say! I don’t know why but they don’t really care how they treat anyone around them. What sort of monster kills a child simply because they can?”

“Sickos, who just like to watch the world burn.” Neil grimaced and turned to me as he spoke. I shook my head.

“Did you ever find the information I asked you for?” I glared at the woman, and she shook her head. I had gotten angry enough to challenge the woman to a duel the last time we had met, on the forfeit being, that she would find the killers of my family.

“No, I haven’t Becky, though I know now which of the priesthood ordered the cleansing of your holdings.” She fished around in her pouch and tossed me a wax sealed scroll. I cracked the seal and read her report. My stomach dropped in astonishment and as my heart thundered and I quickly rolled the scroll up and thrust it into my flight jacket.

Neil looked between us and then at my jacket pocket. “Your family?! What happened?!” He stammered. When I gave him a cold glare he quickly turned away, a stricken look on his face.

“Just leave it be kid! She already stabbed me once for asking her the same thing, well after challenging me to a duel.” The Rusalka chortled and jumped up and pointed to a large group of running figures in the distance.

“We have friends of the fallen on their way here, and I’ve got places to be. G’day to you Becky! I’ll be about my business. I’ll send for that saddle mind you, don’t give it away to the guild before I get to it or I may not let anyone else lease it!” She gave another maniacal cackle and I groaned. The guild was going to love this, they had probably been expecting to give it to one of their best riders.

“Will do! Just make sure you have my deposit up front and you pay what the guild asks for first use!” She waved my inference away as she practically flowed up the side of a building, and dashed away across a rooftop.

“What the hell is she?!” Neil stammered and I grinned at him. “She is my friend, well when we aren’t stabbing each other.” I winced and rubbed my shoulder again. I swear that stupid enchanted dagger of hers had taken ages to heal up from.

When I had first met the Rusalka as a child, she had been around my age, and like a street kid from hades itself, she had her own, nearly feral Wyvern. We had instantly become good friends, which shows you something about my personality. Back then, Cuddles had been small enough to ride on her shoulder, and I was left to summer with grandmother at the guild along with several of my cousins and some of the other skyfolk children.

“She’s crazy…” He muttered and I nodded, catching the comment with my sensitive ears. “That be the truth of it! She’s always been gone a half sail into the wind.” I beamed wickedly, happy memories of childhood mayhem quickly recalling as I muttered under my breath and motioned for Neil to follow me as I walked through the gate into the aerodrome, the crowd of travelers sending venomous jeers at us as they skidded to a halt and eyed the wall warily.

I turned around and gave them the same rude gesture that I’d seen Neil use on other travelers whenever he could. Neil laughed and complemented my gesture with one of his own.