Luke ran at a steady pace as he adopted a fixed heading toward the unknown lands. His pursuers still followed, albeit with a now cooled intensity which, when compared to their ardor from earlier, could only be described as lukewarm at best. With their speed now lax and variate, their pace made for a widely fluctuating distance between them and their prey, to the point where Luke had thought this dip a result of exhaustion, but there was no way people of their caliber wouldn’t have skills and potions of their own to tip the scales in their favor, even for the briefest amount of time. This meant they were probably comfortable letting him run his leash taut as long as he maintained his current heading.

This, he did, for despite knowing he was playing right into their hands, he had no choice but to go along with it for now. All his efforts at changing course had been met with an increase in his pursuer’s efforts to corral him, which always cooled back down whenever he seemed to capitulate to their direction.

He bided, not keen on another confrontation since he’d already found out he was overmatched in the pair of exchanges they’d had so far. This wasn’t the main reason for his hesitation though, but a step-removed from it, since a loss to them would make theirs a tougher sell, and that, they both couldn’t afford.

It had been but a peripheral suspicion at first, but repeated events had fast promoted it to the front, removing all doubts as to whether he was right to suspect so. He was, and from Foxtrot’s words, whoever was waiting for him in the west wanted him intact on arrival. This personage was likely linked to the source of their information on him, a scout-of-sorts, probably; and one he’d met recent enough since he’d only acquired and exhibited the bulk of his current utilities and skillset not too long ago.

He chewed on this as he travelled, savoring the reprieve that was a result of the easing up of the pursuing team’s pressure. Chief in his mulling was how long he’d have to maintain the farce, which by extension gave the time to arrival; whether she would be waiting for him at this destination, and what her leader would want with him. It seemed he did not have to wait for long to find out, since his pursuer’s shifted gears to close the distance between them with haste, suggesting they were now close enough to their destination.

◆◆◆

Luke could feel the tremors as he continued forward, their source still a mystery from this distance. His appraisal as a whole had improved recently, so he’d tried to leverage that to get a read on this source, but all he’d registered were more and more clusters of metallic spiders in the dark pockets of the forest ahead. Their ease of identification had been a welcome improvement, but now that he was this far deep into unfamiliar lands, newer information would be more appreciated.

He slowed down and put this behind him since he could now hear Foxtrot’s team approaching. A quick appraisal revealed their current formation, which would’ve resembled a conical cup were it not for the leading node Shimmer’s form represented. This resulted in a diamond-shaped stud instead, and that shaftless arrow closed in fast, sowing in him doubts as to whether he’d been right to assume theirs had been a capture-or-escort mission; but a fifth presence a few seconds later reassured him, since this was a presence he knew, and one he’d been expecting to show up eventually. The mercenary.

◆◆◆

He'd thought her appearance the signal to the end of the farce, but this hadn’t been so since she’d chosen to hang back instead of approaching them. This allowed for Shimmer and the rest to pounce on him, and although he’d put his all into resisting, their coordination had overwhelmed him, and quickly at that. He’d begun second-guessing his assessment of the situation in light of his current predicament when the mercenary finally decided to act, interrupting the battle and ‘siding’ with him.

She disappeared from her vantage meters away, only to reappear in front of Luke. She halted Shimmer’s dagger attack by arresting her wrist with one hand whilst disarming her with the other. Next, she shifted her weight and performed a shoulder toss before disregarding her victim’s sprawled form.

Through all this, her back had been to him, and Luke, despite the gravity of the situation, couldn’t help inspecting her figure. His was not a lecherous interest, but a curiosity at what insights on faction and intent he might glean from the inspection. As they said about curiosity though, it didn’t gel well with life, nor cats; and because of his, he was about to be added to the latter’s numbers, albeit as a furless, two-legged and clothed one whose last discoveries were tiny eyes hidden in the lady’s hair, and the thin strands that webbed her fingers. He hoped she hadn’t caught the inspection, for his discoveries seemed damning for her, and fatal for himself.

The woman seemed oblivious to Luke’s considerations as she didn’t skip a beat, fluidly moving on to her next target, Stampede. She turned to him, and he seemed to freeze in place at one glare from her. Luke couldn’t see through the lady’s methods but whatever she’d done, she’d managed to cancel the comet; momentum, freezing effects and all. Stampede’s face had initially been wreathed in anger and surprise, but a look of recognition flashed on his face for a split-second before calling out to the mercenary.

“Mist-” he began, only to be cut off by a back-handed slap to the face. He caught the brunt of it between the cheek and jaw, and the tips of her fingers grazed his nose and mouth, stifling whatever it was he was about to say. His body was launched into the trunk of a tree meters away as a consequence, and although Luke instinctively knew the lady could leverage such force, he doubted she actually had, seeing as he’d failed to register any signs of resistance from Stampede.

This cast suspicions on the whole exchange, given the look of recognition on Stampede’s face, as well as the word or statement he’d been about to utter, ‘mist-’. In isolation, there hadn’t been anything to suggest what that word or statement might be, but once he’d put it into the context of where they were currently at, he couldn’t help but shudder at that possibility. He managed to trap his gasp before it could escape, but whether he’d also managed to mask his realization was doubtful, seeing as the mercenary had halted her assault to focus on him.

◆◆◆

…

A pregnant silence pervaded the area as no one dared utter a word for the next few minutes. This allowed Luke to collect himself, but there was no comfort in those moments of reprieve since Foxtrot’s group chose to hold their positions as he did so. Since the mercenary had attacked them, he assumed she wanted to play his benefactor by beating back the threat to him, and were this so, he would’ve expected Foxtrot’s team to play along, hightailing it the first chance they got; but they hadn’t done so.

Instead, they’d stood still, as if afraid to leave, and this too would’ve been a valid option given how escaping would likely lead to a guaranteed chase-down; but he feared another possibility; that their perceived reticence could be due to some other realization on their end.

Could the jig be up?

He scrambled for a way forward, resolving to try save the act by playing up his gratefulness. Each syllable of his next words echoed in the otherwise silent atmosphere, but “Thank you-” was all he could manage before the mercenary translocated. She poofed, leaving a cloud of flame where she’d stood as she reappeared before Luke. This interrupted his feeble attempt, and his voice turned squeaky as he tried to push through her interruption, but a finger to his lips forestalled his next words, dooming the rest of his statement into remaining unspoken.

Her face was otherwise flat, save for her roving eyes, which stood as the only purveyor of her interest in him. Her inspection was so intense it elicited physiological responses from him, and these came in the form of the loud thumping of his heart in his ears, the single cold drop that ran down his spine, and the chill that ran to the bone, racking his body in minute shivers.

Despite the chilling feeling, sweat soon beaded his forehead as the woman sniffed him once, before throwing him a grin. Her consideration was like that of an animal, and the fear that suffused his being like a musk seemed to stoke her predatorial flames. Her grin deepened at Luke’s elevating discomfort, soliciting an audible gulp from his throat. She seemed to enjoy this the most as her chuckle proceeded his reaction, easing the tension of the situation.

Alas, it had all been a ploy, because as soon as he’d relaxed his guard for but a second, the woman cast a charm on him. Under its effects, she commanded him to infer the context and to repeat the full word back to her. This confused him, and he wore a surprised expression until she whispered the incomplete word to him. It filled him with dread, and he wished he could resist, but the charm was too strong, and he had no choice but to oblige her. His token resistance only managed to affect his tone so he whispered the word in the lowest volume he could manage, but the implications of the word rang loud in the moment, dooming all hopes of faking his way through the confrontation.

“Mistress.”

◆◆◆

She’d repeated the mis- part that Stampede had uttered, and this had been enough to clue Luke into what she expected. Unable to resist, he’d uttered the full word as instructed, eliciting a triumphant chuckle from the mistress. They could all drop the façade now, seeing as his realization was now known to all.

She chuckled a bit longer before cutting off abruptly and turning her gaze to Stampede, who visibly shuddered at the coldness directed his way. He made to prostrate in front of her, but a single gesture froze him mid-kneel. A second gesture had him clawing at his throat as his form seemed to straighten involuntarily, struggling for breath all the way until he was back to rights.

A single “Go!” is what she uttered after that, and to no one in particular; before turning her gaze back toward Luke. The remark landed on the intended ears, prompting Foxtrot and his team to scurry away, leaving the mistress alone with Luke in the clearing. She closed her eyes and tipped her head backwards as if in deep thought, and her ears perked up as she listened for Foxtrot and his team’s departure.

She looked vulnerable in this state, but Luke didn’t dare entertain the thought of attacking her, for he instinctively knew she could take him out with little effort were she provoked into being so inclined. He remained in place, waiting for her to finish, and a quarter of an hour later she did. She immediately turned her attention back to Luke, who she admonished for considering an attempt at escaping whilst also commending him for having the wisdom to not follow through.

Next, she engaged him in conversation, revealing how much of his skills she’d seen so far whilst picking at his own account of these in the process. He’d considered outright falsehoods for some of the questions, but he’d ultimately thought better of it after considering the woman’s capabilities at surveilling him. He’d then chosen to lie by omission instead, leaving out the bits he was sure the lady couldn’t have observed.

Halfway through their conversation, she’d asked him about his primary class and the path he’d chosen for it. This had surprised him, since all he knew at the moment was that the class was hidden, and he hadn’t had enough hints to unlock it as of yet. The fact the woman had referenced it suggested she knew more about it, so weathering the risk of tipping his hand, he’d asked for details of what the mistress knew about the available paths. He’d thought his phrasing coy, but the mistress had seen through it immediately.

She’d laughed out loud before turning two eyes towards Luke. Her forehead furrowed as a third eye materialized there, making to blink. She kept it shut after one blink and the eyelid split into 2 pairs of decreasing sizes. These pairs opened, and they occupied the space the single third eye used to be. One by one, each of the six eyes fogged over, initially turning milky-white, then to a dull grey which quickly settled on a reflective black as a gloss filmed over each eye.

“You haven’t unlocked it yet, have you?!” she barked out. She did not wait for a verbal answer as her glossy eyes seemed to have inferred the truth from his posture and expression. She burst into a round of maniacal laughter before turning a serious eye to Luke.

“Well,” she began, filling up the proceeding silence with loud actions instead. She palmed the air on either side of her hips and raised her clenched fists in an arc, bringing with them a veil of red flames that were highlighted by yellow and molten-white patches. Next, a mesh of thick webbing shot out from either side of the flaming veil, encircling the area around the mistress and Luke.

The areas of the mesh closest to the mistress caught flames, and the blaze quickly propagated, resulting in a burning mesh that kept Luke and the mistress inside. He'd felt the heat as a passing wave as the mesh caught on, but now the heat had died down, causing him to second-guess the threat the flames represented. As if on cue to these doubts, the trees just outside the cage caught on, but instead of starting a wildfire each affected tree succumbed to the flames in a matter of seconds, burning down to ash before the flames could jump onto other trees.

“… Still locked huh. That’s a bit disappointing,” she continued. “You’ve been impressive so far, I’ll give you that, but don’t think you can trick me into helping you unlock that class of yours for free. I won’t begrudge you the attempt though, so you’re free to walk away right now.”

◆◆◆

Luke eyed the woman warily, wondering how he was supposed to simply ‘walk away’, when the cage of flames was still in effect. He thought to build up enough momentum before blinking through the cage, but he quickly tempered that thought with caution when he remembered how the mistress was privy of his skills.

Is this a test of faith and trust, he wondered, or is it a test of skill and intellect?

Due to the nature of the botched recruitment attempt, as he assumed it to be, he couldn’t trust someone who would force gratitude through a farce, let alone have faith in them and their intentions. This left the latter, and since he couldn’t quite figure out if he could blink through the effects, an appraisal was in order.

You have invoked [Advanced Appraisal] on .

+-----------------+

|Third-party Alert|

|---------------+-+

|”Firewall (T1)”|

+---------------+---------+

|Class: Skill Registration|

+-----------+-------------+

|Description|

+-----------+---------------------+

|”Hamper all traffic (effects or -|

|- otherwise) in [one] direction”-|

+-------+-------------------------+

|Details|

+-------+----------+

|Feature 1: Unknown|

|------------------|--------|

|Feature 2: Physical barrier|

|---------------------------|-----|

|Feature 3: + effects|

+---------------------------------+

Third-party skill registration completed..

On top of registering the skill, the appraisal revealed a different picture to what he was seeing, but this was more in shade than the detail itself. The lady’s jumpsuit had appeared crimson to Luke’s naked eye, whilst the flames had been different shades of yellow, orange, and red, but these weren’t the color schemes he was seeing now through the appraisal.

A blackish jumpsuit replaced the crimson one, whilst black flames replaced the red, and shades of yellow replaced all the orange, yellow and white highlights. The flaming veil stood out in its angry black shade, but surprisingly, the flames dancing everywhere else inside the cage took on a lighter, yellow shading, whilst the next occurrence of the black flames seemed to be on the exterior, visible as the backdrop to the cage from the inside looking out. Of all these areas only a small portion of the backdrop stood as an exception to this rule, maintaining the lighter shading on the outside as in.

…A blackish jumpsuit replaced the crimson one, whilst black flames replaced the red, and shades of yellow replaced all the orange, yellow and white highlights…

Judging from the correlation of damage and the prevailing colors in each area, he could now see a way forward. He did not waste time second-guessing his observations, choosing to head out in the direction he’d deemed safest, the direction marked in yellow. He arrived at the webbed border and took one deep breath before walking through the flaming web. He was met with little resistance as the mesh initially bent outwards in response to his approach, only to phase right through his solid form on his third step.

Mesh after mesh of these flaming webs appeared in his path as he trudged on, shaping the path he’d take to his next destination. He’d known from the start there’d be a catch, and it seemed the lady had predetermined where she wanted Luke to go after their exchange. With little information on Westfall, he couldn’t know where exactly that was, and what he’d find there, but if it meant he’d get a chance to struggle for even a day longer, he’d gladly follow that path than forfeit his life to soothe his pride. Freedom was a life-long goal, and he wouldn’t mind giving an inch for future miles.

◆◆◆

Luke was exhausted by the time the flaming obstacles were reduced to one, and so exhausted was he that he didn’t register the metallic spider that lay in waiting at the web’s periphery. It remained still until the last mesh was breached, and when this happened, it dropped onto his right shoulder. It made its way to his collar and entered through the gap there before making its way to his right sleeve.

It bit into Luke’s skin and Luke reflexively levied a slap towards his own hand, effectively ending it and its attempts, but unfortunately for him, the blow had arrived a split-second too late, and the entity had managed to complete its mission. He was now tagged, and wherever he went, the mistress’s eyes would know to watch.