Fire is an interesting, if inconvenient chemical reaction. What makes fire inconvenient is that, unlike many other destructive chemical reactions, the materials required to fuel it are nearly ubiquitous in nature and once the reaction starts, it will inevitably consume all available material unless stopped. I jogged back into the yard to see Koyl standing over a bloody Thaajh, watching the office slowly go up in flames. Distant cries of alarm filled the air, just barely piercing through the crackling and roaring of the wood being consumed by the fire. Even from many meters away the heat dried my skin and threatened to burn it.

“Did you find-” Koyl asked, whirling around as he sensed my presence. He stopped midway through his sentence and frowned.

“No,” I replied, “the street had multiple people dressed exactly like the arsonist. Judging by their demeanor they were hostile, so I retreated before a fight broke out.” A piece of wood inside the building snapped, and one of the boards making up the outside wall fell onto the ground. “Is he alive?” I asked, gesturing to Thaajh. I didn’t expect him to be dead, but the question was a matter of habit.

“Yeah,” Koyl grunted, “help me get him out of here before that whole office comes down on us or something. He's not going to be up for a while, he's been poisoned.”

“Just leave him,” I said, “at this point, the job is over. We have no obligation to do anything more.” Koyl frowned even harder.

“Sometimes I forget that you're an idiot,” he growled. “What do you think is going to happen to us if he dies?”

“Nothing,” I replied, “you think that the Steelheart Company will try to blame us? They have no proof of any wrongdoing because there was none. Thaajh dislikes both of us, so him dying would be advantageous for us. We can just say that we never saw him.” Koyl rubbed his eyebrows with one hand.

“You're right that nothing will happen,” he sighed, “which means we aren't going to get paid either. If we can at least get him out of here we might be able to make something of this shitshow.” I considered his logic and realized he was probably right. Rescuing him might improve his attitude towards me as well, I reasoned. More boards snapped and flames roared out of the top of the office.

“Fine, did you take the knives out?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Koyl replied, “but I think I might have lost them.” I blinked, not sure how to respond to him. “Here, just help me pick him up,” Koyl said, waving me over. “Does that alley let out somewhere?”

“I think one path might exit near the front of the office,” I replied.

“Good, let's go there,” Koyl nodded. Though I could have probably carried him on my own, Koyl helped me get Thaajh up into a semi-standing position where each of his arms was across one of our shoulders, then we walked awkwardly through the alley. When we got to the junction we took the right exit, and sure enough, it did lead to the main road just in front of the office, exiting into the street three buildings away from it.

From the street, I could see just how much panic the fire was causing. Humans were running around, some yelling and shouting, in a chaotic mess whose intentions I couldn't fully understand. The two buildings nearest to the office were also on fire now, and people standing on the buildings beside the newly aflame buildings were throwing buckets of water onto their own roofs and their neighbors' burning properties. Off to the side, across the street, I saw six groups of humans. Each was obviously a family consisting of parents and a number of small children, watching the fire with grim expressions.

“Shit, he's heavy,” Koyl groaned once we crossed the street to the safe side, letting Thaajh slip off of his shoulder. I carefully sat Thaajh up against the wall and checked him over, then stopped when I saw Koyl looking at me with confusion. Right, I thought, he's alive, so his body has already healed. More humans started to arrive, the newcomers simply stopping at a safe distance to watch the fire instead of helping. I looked at their faces to see if I could remember any of them, but nothing came to mind.

Dawpvaol's face was constricted so tightly that it looked like she was going to tear a muscle. After Thaajh woke up and the fire had begun to die down, Koyl and I split up with him to go back to the west office. Thaajh said he was going to talk to the guard, in much less polite terms, and told us to give a full report to Dawpvaol on exactly what had happened, so that was what we did. Koyl sat in the back of the office on the floor, occasionally chiming in for detail, while I narrated the day's events to Dawpvaol.

“I'll have to check with Thaajh, but it sounds like you didn't do anything wrong,” Dawpvaol finally said. “Still, you two have some of the worst luck I have ever seen. Assuming your story checks out I'll have your payment ready tomorrow, along with some other things. Just... try to stay out of trouble until then.”

“Thanks Dawp,” Koyl chirped, getting to his feet. Dawpvaol scowled at him, then shooed us away with her hand and entered the back of the office. Once outside I looked at the sun and saw that it was late afternoon, and I wondered what I should do next since my day had been unexpectedly freed up. I suppose I can just go back to the inn, I thought, and I started walking.

Halfway to the inn I looked beside me and saw that Koyl was tossing a familiar-looking knife between his hands, flipping it around and mocking punching strikes with it. He saw me looking and flashed me a wide grin before sheathing it and tucking it inside his shirt. “I thought you said you lost that,” I commented.

“I found it again,” Koyl replied cheerily, “but I have a feeling I'll lose it before I see Thaajh again, if you know what I mean.”

“Wasn't this exactly what got you into trouble to begin with?” I asked.

“I can't help that I'm bad at keeping track of where things are,” Koyl said. “After I took the knives out of Thaajh I was so shocked by the whole event that I suffered memory loss. It wasn't until I was back in the safety of my favorite administrator's office that I remembered I even had them!” I once again found myself admiring the sheer audacity of the man I was looking at, not deterred even a bit from flagrantly breaking the law by his previous punishment.

“I didn't see those,” I declared, “don't let me see them either.” Despite my admiration for his antics, I had approximately zero desire to be involved in any potential legal fallout for Koyl’s actions.

“Of course!” Koyl laughed, “I don't plan to have them long anyway. Do you know how much a Dahmpiyahn paired blade set like these can go for if you find the right buyer?” I should have realized that they were valuable by the design, I thought, I need to keep that in mind in the future.

“So you'll be even closer to being able to afford the boat out of Vehrehr if you sell them, right?” I asked. Koyl didn't reply and acted like he hadn't heard me.

“The Hatchet Crew,” I corrected. Koyl and I were eating supper and Koyl was once again under the influence of the mild psychoactive in the drink he was gulping down.

“Are you sure that was what he said?” Koyl scoffed. “That name sounds stupid. I think the Blood Hatchets is probably what they're actually called. That's the one I remember anyway.” I sighed, turning back to my food and taking another bite. “Hey Yehpweyl! Get my friend Yuwniht a drink on me!” Koyl called out. I looked at his face, then to Yehpweyl's, then winced.

“No, that's fine,” I refused politely. I was pretty sure that whatever was in the drink wouldn't affect me, but I had no desire to find out if I was wrong. Actually, it might, a little imaginary voice in the back of my head told me, that poison on the darts back in Suwlahtk affected you, so the biological components of your body may be susceptible to other substances.

“You need to learn how to relax,” Koyl smiled, “I'm getting stressed out just watching you sit there with that look on your face. If you were any more tense your muscles would have turned to stone by now. Just take the drink.” Yehpweyl came by the table and put a wooden mug in front of me filled with the same thing Koyl was drinking. “Thanks,” Koyl grinned at her, his eyes locked well below her face.

“Anytime Koyl,” she smiled back, “you're my best customer, but I’m sure you knew that already.” Before I could ask her what exactly she meant the woman was off to another table. How is it that everything she does can be so annoying? I wondered with my jaw clenched. Across the table, Koyl looked at me expectantly.

“I'm not drinking this,” I said flatly. Koyl threw his head back and groaned loudly, then slapped the table with his open palm.

“Come on,” he complained, “you just ran through a burning building today to chase some kind of gang member, you can take a sip of ihv and calm yourself. You might just have some fun if you do.” It was my turn to scoff at the ridiculousness of what he had said.

“I don't know what's in this ihv,” I said, “but it clearly affects your mind. What if I'm attacked tonight? I can't afford to be impaired in any way. I need to be effective in combat.” Koyl let out a long, groaning sigh at my refusal.

“It's just some fermented mold,” he said. “Yeah sure it makes you a bit giddy but who cares? You'll just be cracking skulls with a grin on your face instead of a scowl. Look.” Koyl withdrew the knife that came from the assailant from inside his tunic, then tossed it into the air. He caught it with his opposite hand, then spun it around flamboyantly before tossing it up again and landing it handle-first on his right hand and balancing it upright. “See?” he grinned, “I'm totally fine.”

“I really don't think I should-” I began, but then I paused. When I was first taken down by poison it was quite a surprise, I remembered, even now I'm still not familiar enough with impairment to operate myself under such conditions. I suppose I could use it to practice managing myself in altered states of mind. Koyl watched intently, clearly seeing that I was considering it. “Fine,” I said. I gripped the mug and pulled the drink to my mouth, gulping some of it down.

“Hah,” Koyl laughed as he saw me recoil and push the mug back onto the table. That tastes like... that doesn't taste like something edible, I thought as I repeatedly tried to clear my throat. The initial flavor of the drink was mildly bitter, but within a second it began to burn every bit of my mouth it had touched and turn sour. My gag reflex was caught partway between wanting to vomit and being too relaxed to do so. The smell of the drink changed when I put it in my mouth as well, changing into something almost like an industrial solvent.

“That is awful,” I grunted, sipping some water to cleanse my tongue.

“Then you haven't had enough,” Koyl grinned.

Later that night I somehow found myself in my bed at the inn. My entire body was light, rather my perception of my own weight seemed to be suppressed. I felt as though I wasn't breathing at all, though I could see my chest moving so I knew I still was. Mentally I was conscious and rational but I couldn't bring myself to do anything but relax. It was like the section of my mind which was responsible for aggressive, or even assertive impulses had been shut off entirely. In its place, I had a feeling that I was unfamiliar with, one that sent positive signals in small pulses through my torso and limbs.

Was the ceiling always that colorful? I wondered, Wait, my eyes aren’t even open.