After two more days of intensive training, we left the city, departing for the Vessen Swamp. The ride was expected to take about a day and a half, meaning that we were setting up camp at least three times, if not more, depending on how things went. Vera and I didn’t seem too concerned about it, given the living conditions were still expected to be on par with our prior experience in the villages. However, Alain and Mia didn’t seem as enthused with the prospect of camping.

“Three nights of camping? Can’t we kill it and return on the same night? I’d prefer if we spent as little time outside of Titan City as we could,” Mia said. I’d learned that the city was named for Great Titan, the mountain it was partially built into, the literal backbone of the city.

Javier shook his head, pinching his forehead in exasperation. “Mia, you know that if we purely traveled there and back it would take three days. You would have us not even rest during that?”

“Hmph, clearly we’re not working the horses hard enough.” She clambered into the wagon, muttering under her mouth the whole time.

It was fascinating to see the horses, given the zebra and donkey souls required to help handle them. It took a similar soul to communicate with the animals, remaining few that there were. The bulk that had a degree of diversity was supposedly fish, although I couldn’t say I could confirm that with any certainty.

“Stop gawking at the horses and get in the carriage. You’ll have plenty of time to look at them once we’re on the road. We’ll be together for quite some time,” Javier said, motioning for us to get moving once more.

I sighed and entered the carriage, plopping myself down next to Vera. “Have you ridden in a wagon before?”

Vera sighed. “No, but I hope I’ll manage. Wouldn’t want to be sick the whole time.”

“I certainly hope not.” The thought of it was already making me uneasy. Or was it queasy?

“Calm down, just focus on us instead of the journey and you’ll be fine,” Alain interjected. “Why don’t you distract us, Mia?”

She looked up from her book, confusion drawn over her face. “Why would I distract us? Didn’t the rest of you bring reading materials?”

“I’m still learning the basics… so no, Mia, I did not bring reading materials,” I said, trying to lay on the guilt as thick as I could.

Guilt was ineffective on her, with her clinical cynical disdain, but the appeal to show off won out over her need to be rude and ignore us. “What would you like to discuss?”

“What, you’re forcing me to come up with a conversation topic? I thought you knew everything,” I said.

“First, I only know many things, not everything. Second, you’re the ones that requested I distract you. Do a little of the legwork. Choose a conversation topic.”

“Fine,” I said. “What are some other jobs based around beast souls in the city? In the village things were a bit more limited based on the circumstances, but are things different here?”

“Ooh, that’s a fascinating question, Perry. Glad to see you’ve got some sort of brain your head even if one wouldn’t be wrong to be led to think otherwise. One of the jobs that comes with being a more affluent region is being an animal whisperer. Those with beast souls that are able to communicate with the little domestic livestock there is makes raising them all the easier. I’d understand if your village doesn’t have anything like that. We also have some supplemental jobs in the city guard for those with senses that fulfill more niche positions. Some people don’t wish to be active combatants, but having an extraordinary sense of hearing can be useful when needed, for example.”

If the village was as open as the city was to these alternative jobs, perhaps I wouldn’t have had to leave. But they didn’t have the space for that.

“You know, your beast soul is quite interesting, Perry. I tried looking it up at the base’s records, but I didn’t see any mention of a platypus,” Mia said, breaking me out of my thoughts.

“Would you really expect to see it there? The platypus doesn’t seem like the most common city guard kind of beast soul. Its strengths are a bit more subtle,” I replied.

“True, but perhaps some of the other records in the city should know. There are so many people in the city— there’s no way there’s never been another platypus beast soul.”

“What would finding that out even do?” Alain said. “If it’s not in the records of the guard, would that even be able to help with the training?

“Not necessarily, but perhaps the records have additional details. Given so many of the animals are only present in the records, it stands to reason that information about them is more detailed than what we have on base,” Mia replied, turning her nose up at Alain.

“You’re expecting a lot out of the doctrine. It’s nice to have optimism, even if it’s unfounded,” he said, refusing to stare at Mia.

“I don’t think that’s quite nice, Alain. The doctrine explains a lot of things. I agree with Mia. They have to have more intricate records. Something needs to exist that covers all of the lost animals,” Vera said, eyes fixated on her hands in her lap.

“Sorry, Vera. Sorry. Didn’t mean to actively attack the doctrine. I just am distrusting of record keeping in general. Most people’s records aren’t up to my standards.”

“You may have exceptionally high standards compared to the rest of us, Alain. It’s not nice to evaluate others using yourself as the correct form,” Vera said. She had looked up from her hands, staring with the most passion I’d ever seen out of her in the past few days. Evidently Alain had hit a sore spot.

He threw his hands up, face in a subtle grin. “I can’t ever win with you, Vera. You’re right. You’re entirely right. I wonder if the records make mention of any tensions between prey and predator beast souls then, given how intricate the records should be.”

“Why would you think that they would cover that scope of information?” Mia inquired.

“Uh, because it’s mirroring the current stress that’s happening in the city? I don’t think this is the first time that there’s been tension between predator and prey beast souls, and I’m not optimistic enough to think that it will be the last,” Alain said, tightening his fists.

“Don’t be so melodramatic, Alain. Sure there’s some tension between predator and prey beast souls, but there’s also tension between the wealthy and the poor, the nobles and the merchants. That’s just called being part of a society, Alain,” Mia replied, pulling her book up again.

Vera sighed, hugging herself tightly. “The doctrine prohibits such things. Any of the faithful that are perpetuating this intolerance should not be called faithful. I find it hard to believe that there’s such a wide-spread quantity of intolerance.”

I shrugged in response to these claims. I certainly didn’t know enough about the city to make a judgment call. We had some form of prejudice back in the village, but that was more of a reflection of the constant anxiety of living on the border, rather than seemingly as a reflection of the personal hatred for friends and family.

That wasn’t to say that I liked the situation, but it didn’t seem as endemic to me as it did to Alain. But again, that didn’t mean much. I hadn’t had the opportunity to see the city outside of our shopping trip, and it already felt welcoming to even allow me onto this misfit squad.

Alain rubbed at his forehead, slouching against the wall of the carriage. “Fine then. I guess we’ll table the talking, given I’ve pushed us into an uncertain territory. We should be resting anyway. We’ve got a long day ahead of us, especially given we’ll be taking watch overnight when we come to halt. Can’t tax the horses too much.”

“Don’t remind me that we have to stop, Alain. The thought of it is making my skin crawl. Maybe I can take the first watch… or is the last watch better? Which do you think is better to ensure that my suffering is minimized, Vera? You’re a veritable outdoors expert.”

“You shouldn’t be suffering unless you’re doing something wrong, Mia. Are you planning on doing something wrong?”

Mia scowled, putting down her book once again. “I can’t say I’m planning on doing it. I’m being forced to do it. That’s the more apt description. I didn’t ask to be going to the swamp, and yet here we are. What does the doctrine say about unexpected punishments?”

“That which we work for is rewarded back upon us in turn. The fruit of your labor is a reflection of you as a person,” Vera said, as though reciting from rote memory.

“I can’t say I like the premise that camping is a punishment placed upon me for other actions I’ve done, but whatever. Can’t change it now. Can I? You think I could hop off and run back to the city?” Her voice was equal parts teasing and hopeful, as though the thought of escaping the prospect of going camping was enough to overwhelm any other rational thoughts lingering in her mind.

“Not this time, Mia. Not now,” I said, peeking out of the wagon. The city wasn’t in sight any longer. We were amongst the trees once more.

“Well, I hope you appreciated the distraction. I’m going to distract myself now from the harsh reality of camping. Take care!” To punctuate her point, she rotated her cloak as to cover her body, the sound of the book shuffling out from underneath reinforcing her desire to be done with us.

The rest of us shrugged it off, talking of the little things, my questions about the city primarily stealing the time away from the day until we halted for the night, about half a day away from the swamp. We were parked in an open plains not too far from a village that we passed, trees surrounding us thousands of feet on the other side.

Javier had peeked in to the carriage, seeing our supine forms. “Come on. Get up. Get moving. Get active. It’s time to set up camp. We can’t sleep in the carriage. Not enough space for that. Perry, work with Alain to set up our tents. Mia, Vera, make a fire. Once you’re done, I’ll prepare our food for the night.”

We set to our tasks, Alain and I equal parts confused over the construction of the tent, and yet we managed to make functional shelters for the night. The girls set a flame and Javier made us our meal, surprisingly adept in the outdoor kitchen. We supped, laughed and rested, and then the night had overtaken us.

“First shift is Mia, then Alain, then me, then Perry and finally Vera. Alright? Great. Get in your tents and rest up. Tomorrow we continue with the mission and take out the spike feeder,” Javier commanded.

We filtered into the tents, Mia staying vigilant on the outside, and I let the world of sleep overtake me.

“Wake up, Perry,” a voice said, my body roused by hands shaking me. I blinked rapidly, trying to see the world but it was still all too dark.

“Wassat? What’s wrong,’ I replied, rubbing my eyes, hoping my hands could knead some sense back into me.

Javier sighed, pulling me to my feet in a quick yank from the ground. “This is supposed to be my time on watch, but it seems like we’ve been attacked. Alain is missing.

“What?” I shouted, before my hands covered my mouth, trying to unsuccessfully prevent any of the others from waking up if Javier didn’t want them awake.

“There’s signs of a battle around the campsite, although there’s no human blood. Only spike feeder blood. We’re going to pull a double shift until the night is over.”

“Shouldn’t we go after him?” I asked, eyes widening in shock.

“I’m sorry, Perry, but at this rate, we have to move on. If he’s still alive, we have to trust in him to escape and make it back to us. He should know where we need to go. I know that sounds callous, but he’s a trained member of the city guard. I know his capabilities. If he isn’t alive at this point, he valiantly sacrificed himself to save us, which means he was up against a spike feeder that we shouldn’t chase after.”

His fists were gritted up against his side, teeth clenched. I could see that he was submerged in his own regrets. I didn’t need to add to them further. It just went to show that training meant nothing in the face of being unaware. Even the most trained guardsman could falter if caught unaware. Our lives were so precious. The spike feeders fought as though they had nothing to lose, but we had everything to lose. Especially each other.

I dusted myself off and sighed in my tired state. “Alright then. What do you want me to do?”