As Daveth entered the keep, Stronghammer met him.

“Cap lookin’ for you, boss.” He reported with a tap of his fist on his chest.

“Good news, I hope.” Daveth replied, swinging down from his horse.

“When has it ever been?” Stronghammer asked with a laugh, strolling away.

Daveth made a sour face and went looking for the captain. He found Aldric in the main hall, using one of the tables to sort piles of paperwork.

“Ah, the asshole returns.” Aldric muttered. “Where’d you run off to?”

“Went for a ride with the wolf sisters.” Daveth replied nonchalantly. “You have news?”

“Good and bad.” Aldric replied, and pulled out his pipe. Daveth sat across from him and picked up the papers. They were written in a language he didn’t understand, so he set them back down again.

“The good news is that we’re fucked. The bad news is we’re probably very fucked.” Aldric announced sardonically.

“How’s that any different from any other time?”

“Well, this time, we’re fucked fucked.”

Daveth gave him a skeptical look.

“The man really was a Baron. Apparently, from what I’ve been able to gather from these papers, there are baronies scattered all over Philippa, and they all owe at least a passing allegiance to a ‘Angel Queen’.”

“The fuck’s an angel?” Daveth asked.

Aldric shook his head. “Trust me, you’re better off not knowing.” He puffed on his pipe. “Back before the War of Liberation, There were Gods. We now know they were false Gods, but they were Gods, nevertheless. Sometimes they’d pluck up one of their followers and give them powers beyond human comprehension.” he explained anyway.

“Soooo... we picked a fight with one of these ‘angels’?” Daveth asked curiously.

“Probably. Hopefully not. Wouldn’t want to try and find out.”

“So what, we head back across the pass? Go back to guarding merchants? Not the most fun, but the work is steady.”

“Tempting.” Aldric agreed.

“Oh boy. I get it.” Daveth slid his chair back from the table.

“What?” Aldric asked, leaning back and tapping the stem of his pipe against his lips.

“You want to make peace with her... or kill her.” Daveth decided. “I see that look in your eyes.”

Aldric grinned and stuck his pipe between his teeth and puffed it a couple of times.

“You’ve got some strange ideas rolling around in that head of yours.” Aldric replied, folding his arms across his chest.

“Not as strange as yours. I like not being dead, you know.” Daveth replied.

“Mmm. I’ve a strange attachment to life, myself. Unrelated, but this is important, too: we found the field where the Baron was growing his drugs.”

“Chop it up, plow it under.” Daveth’s response was immediate. “No burning this time. That was a horror show.”

Aldric rolled his eyes at that. “How’d you avoid getting hit by it? I mean, you were hauling soldiers out of the smoke and didn’t seem affected.”

Daveth waved his hand. “I used that magic cloth we wore on our faces when we were in the volcano.”

Aldric stared at him in shock and then burst out laughing. “I never would have thought of that. Threw mine away, in fact. Fucking brilliant. Well done, Commander.”

Daveth shrugged uneasily at this praise. It just seemed to be the reasonable thing to do at the time.

Aldric unrolled a map. “So this is where we are, and this is probably where those elves he mentioned are.”

“He- o0h, the baron.” Daveth muttered, struggling to keep up with Aldric’s rapid changing topics.

“Mmm. I haven’t found anything in the baron’s paper of them being a part of this ... system of baronies, so maybe we’ll be able to get them on our side, even if it’s just trade. We’ll send Audra out with a couple other elves to smooth things over for us.”

Daveth shook his head. “I sent her back through the pass to pick up the Shrine Maidens.”

“Son of a bitch.” Aldric complained sourly. “That’ll push back our plans a bit. Why send for them, anyway?”

Daveth shrugged. “They’re looking for a place to put up a Shrine. Apparently the location is a big deal for them. I figured since we’re holing up here for a bit, they could join us and let us know where they have a mind to set up their Shrine.”

“It’s reasonable... but this is still triple red territory, Daveth. We can’t think we’ll be able to protect them.”

“I’m reasonably certain they think they can protect themselves.” Daveth rebutted.

Aldric thumbed his chin. “True. But they cause strife with the regulars.”

“It’s a big compound.” Daveth countered.

“Mmm. We’ll go with that, for now.” Aldric decided. “First the Yamato, then the elves, and then maybe we’ll pick off one of the other baronies.”

Daveth rolled his eyes. “I thought we were shooting for stability here. Baronies, a queen, it seems stable enough to me.”

Aldric shook his head. “This baron was unstable, and goobered off his horse. I can’t expect the other baronies to be any different. We do this carefully, especially if they wanna retaliate.” He paused and ran his hand across the map. “This is just another jumped up ruler with a bit of land to their name. Sooner or later their kingdom will fall.”

“We could help them. Ally with them, build up a few more baronies. Cover all of Philippa.” Daveth offered, puffing on his pipe.

Aldric shrugged. “We could do that too... as long as they want to play ball.”

“You’re laying out a lot of different plans, boss.” Daveth observed.

“No shit. This is hostile territory. We have no idea if we’re dealing with enemies, potential allies, or both. We’ve gotta account for all possibilities.” Aldric waved his hand dismissively. “Listen. Think back to Andersnact, where we encountered the Brotherhood’s steam-tank. What was the first plan?”

Daveth furrowed his brow. “Cavalry, I think. Chopping at the wheels.”

Aldric nodded. “But we changed the plan because Eirawen was ideally positioned to tear into them.”

Daveth nodded to show he understood.

“You don’t make a big plan. You make a bunch of little ones based on how the battle flows. Plans can change when the first arrow leaves the bow. Knowing what we know now, chopping off the outer wheels wouldn’t have done anything to the steam tank, so Eirawen was a damned good call. I’m not laying any definite plans right now because we don’t know what’s going to happen. Right now I’m just tossing ideas into the wind. We’ll figure it out as we go.” Aldric finished his little sermon.

Daveth nodded. “I’ll take this map and head on down the road a bit. Note down any landmarks.”

Aldric gave him a sour look. “Daveth, what the fuck do you think the scouts are for?”

The giant shook his head and picked up the map.

“Asshole.” Aldric muttered with an ostentatious eyeroll.

*****

Daveth was saddling his horse when Alysia showed up.

“Lord Commander, I would like to speak with you, discreetly if possible.” She immediately announced after her customary salute.

“Nope. I’m going for a ride.” Daveth replied, keeping an eye on the wolf sister as he swung into the saddle.

“In that case I would like to come with you.” She demanded.

Daveth’s eyebrow twitched. A fine way to ask for something, he mused.

“You planning on attacking me?” He asked, not expecting an answer.

“No.” She immediately replied. “I would like to start rebuilding the trust between us.”

Daveth raised an eyebrow at that, but gestured. “Get your horse.”

Alysia dashed off, her armor rattling and clinking.

As they rode their horses, each wrapped in their own respective silences, Alysia finally spoke up.

“Lord Commander, if it suits you, I would submit myself to a public punishment.”

Daveth raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. He marked a few hills and toppled ruins on the map he’d taken from Aldric.

“A public punishment would require an announcement of your crime. The moment I say that you attacked me, you would die.” He replied without looking at her. “I could make something up, though.”

Alysia gave it some thought as they rode. “I would not like my record to be tainted with a crime I did not commit.”

Daveth nodded. He expected she’d say that. She leaned back and retrieved something from her saddlebags. Daveth raised an eyebrow at that. It seemed she was better at horseback riding than she used to be.

He glanced her way as she offered something. In her gloved fist was a short whip.

“You punish me, Lord Commander.”

He blinked a few times at this, and eyed the short whip in her hand. “What, out here? Now?” He asked, buying time while he tried to figure out what her game was.

“I need you-” She paused, “want you to trust me as you once did.” She pointed out a small hill with a piece of toppled wall. “There.”

Daveth pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, but nodded.

Alysia stripped down quickly, methodically, her back to Daveth. He couldn’t help but take a breath at the web of scars that spidered across her back, shoulders, hips, buttocks, and upper thighs. He’d seen the same sort of scarring on Aurene. Given their unique regenerative abilities, what had been done to them to leave marks like that?

She placed her hands on the crumbled bit of wall, settled her feet and exhaled. “As you please.”

Daveth pushed his questions aside, and went to work.

As they continued down the road, Alysia sitting gingerly in her saddle, she made an offer.

“Ask of me what you will about Philippa, and I’ll do my best to answer.”

Daveth raised an eyebrow. “That all but confirms it. Your ... order is based out of here, isn’t it?”

After a long moment, she nodded. “I cannot tell you where, but... yes.”

“Hmm. Aldric and I had an idea: We suspected your order was based out of Philippa. The idea was to find the people that you work with, that you trade with, and support them.” He filled his pipe as he talked. “Aldric’s got a lot of respect for your order. I don’t know what your order is like, but from the few I’ve met, you’re strong and honorable. We were hoping you’d tell us who those people were because we don’t want to inadvertently kill them and make an enemy of your order.”

Alysia grimaced as she struggled to work through the problem. After a long moment where she opened and closed her mouth several times, she shook her head. “If I were to name names, I would be breaking a vow. I’m sorry, Lord Commander.”

Daveth let out a testy sigh as he struck a lucifer and held it in his cupped palm against the wind.

“Do you know if any of your fellow...” He trailed off, struggling to find the right word.

“Sisters, Lord Commander. We are all of us sisters.” Alysia offered, and Daveth raised an eyebrow at that, but focused on puffing his pipe alight. He shook out the match and flicked the stub over his shoulder.

“Okay, ‘sisters’, then. Do you know if any of your sisters are serving the ... various ... cities, towns, whatever here?”

She thought for a moment. “It’s been several years since I left with Lynnabel to join the Seventh Seal, Lord Commander. I have no idea if we’ll encounter one around the corner up ahead.” She shrugged and bit back a grimace of pain.

“Bah.” Daveth muttered irritably. This wasn’t going in a good direction, no matter how you looked at it.

“Have you heard of the ‘Angel Queen’?” He asked, and her head snapped up at that and she immediately looked directly at him, her silver eyes boring into his.

“What do you know of her?” Alysia asked. There was an undercurrent of emotion in her voice. Urgency? Nervousness? Excitement? He couldn’t tell.

“Well, apparently, our Baron was in service to her.” Daveth offered, and then shrugged. “That’s about all we know.”

Alysia halted her horse, and Daveth stopped.

“Many sisters have fought against her and died.” Alysia began. “Her armor is unlike anything ever seen. It turns aside all weapons without mar or scratch or dent. She has great white wings that she uses to fly about the battlefield, and she wields powerful magics.”

Daveth took this all in. “What about arrows? Guns? Thrown spears? You know, something to knock her out of the air.”

Alysia shook her head. “We are the Wolf Sisters, Lord Commander. We’re of the land. We don’t have any skill with such things.”

Daveth’ mouth twisted. “Magic?”

“Dangerous, unpredictable, and dishonorable.” She offered. “We have no such skills.”

“No, I mean, you obviously know of her fights with others. Hasn’t anyone tried these things at all?”

After a long moment of thought, Alysia nodded. “It’s all hearsay, Lord Commander, but it’s said that she heals very rapidly. Some magics don’t seem to affect her at all.”

“Okay, so fighting is out. Can she be reasoned with?” Daveth asked, but Alysia shook her head.

“You don’t understand, Lord Commander. She is not one that can be reasoned with. She is crafty and old.”

“How old?” He asked warily.

“The Order noted her arrival on Philippa twenty years before the War of Liberation.”

Centuries. Centuries old. Did that mean she was like Eirawen, a Champion of a dead God? Blessed with powers and weapons beyond normal capabilities?

“Fuck.” He spat. “Countermeasures...” He muttered to himself and tugged on his beard in thought.

“There are no countermeasures I know of that will thwart her.” Alysia offered apologetically, “but you are known for turning the tide of battle with your... unpredictability.” She paused. “If it were any other company, I would ride back, collect Lynnabel, and resign.” She stated in a near whisper, but looked up at him. “But I have faith, Lord Commander. Faith in you and the Lord Captain.”

Daveth didn’t know how to respond to that. Fortunately, he didn’t have to.

*****

Somewhere out of sight, perhaps just around the bend in the road just ahead of them, a bunch of people were rattling something, banging away with a loud metallic clatter. There was no rhythm or beat that he could tell, it seemed like whoever they were was happily banging away on pots and pans, or perhaps bits of armor. There were a few good-natured shouts and a raucous chorus of laughter here and there.

“Lord Commander-” Alysia began, but Daveth waved his hand. “Just off the side of the road. Nobody makes that much noise for an ambush. We’ll let them pass.”

Alysia nodded reluctantly, but gripped her sword anyway.

Two carts, dragged by a double dozen men in leather and mismatched bits of armor appeared around the corner of the road. One of the carts was a two-wheeled flat bed, and on that cart was a dead man, sprinkled with assorted flowers and random scraps of cloth.

“Hey!” The double dozen men raised a huzzah at the sight of Daveth and Alysia, and approached. It did seem that they were beating on pots and pans, shaking sticks with bits of metal hanging from them so that they clattered, and mugs were being passed around with regularity.

As they approached Daveth, one of the men staggered back a bit as he craned his head to look up at Daveth.

“By the Old Gods... are you a giant?” The man hollered, even as the clatgtering faded away by reluctant degrees.

“No, but my horse is. Big horse like this makes any man look a giant.” Daveth replied blandly.

“GET THESE TWO SOME ALE!” the man hollered, reeling on his feet.

Daveth blinked, and eyed the man on the cart. He was a nondescript man in equally nondescript armor, but the sword at his side looked fantastic. It was slender and elegant with a sinuous curve to it.

Two other men wobbled over to the second cart, mugs were procured, dunked into a barrel, and brought, still dripping, back to Daveth and Alysia.

“What’s all this?” Daveth asked.

“Ah! Uh... Right!” The man explained as the two other men passed the mugs to Daveth and Alysia. “We’re ... we’re... celebrating the passing of our com-commander.” He slurred. “He told us to make a loud racket and drink until we couldn’t stand anymore, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Daveth lifted the mug and smelled sour ale that was mostly water. No way was he drinking that. He caught Alysia’s eye and winked, then turned back to the man and gestured to the corpse.

“Who was he?” He asked, and as the men turned away Daveth quickly pitched the contents of his tankard over his shoulder and caught Alysia doing the same. As the man turned back, Daveth tipped the mug like he was drinking, and smacked his lips.

“Haven’t found much ale here yet, sure goes down a treat on a dusty throat.” Daveth remarked.

“Our commander was Sir Mulligan. A real Anglish Lord.” The man staggered on his feet and put a hand on the cart to steady himself. “Wanted to bring peace and order to the land. He’s dead now.”

Daveth handed down his mug and eyed the man. His body was covered in such a way that daveth couldn’t see what had killed him. That sword looked beautiful though.

“You keep eyeballing the sword.” The man observed.

“It’s a thing of beauty.” Daveth replied. “Can I have a look at it?”

The man looked to his crew, who all shrugged, waved their hands. One of them picked up his sticks and rattled off a quick beat on a turned over hettle.

“Sure.” The man decided, and handed the sword over.

The blade was elegant. The steel had a pattern of dark and light loops and whirls, like the grain on a plank of wood. The blade didn’t have a single chip, and the edge gleamed with a lethal sharpness.

“This is a fantastic sword.” Daveth complimented, and made to hand it back.

“You’re a soldier, right?” The man asked, eyeing Daveth and Alysia.

“That’s right. We’re from the Seventh Seal.”

The man sat down in the dirt at that, and everyone started eyeing Daveth and Alysia with shocked murmurs and slack jaws.

“You... You were at Bel-Arib, right? Fought monsters in the desert?”

Daveth blinked a few times in shock of his own.

“Yeah.... yeah. That was us.”

“By the Old Gods! The Seventh Seal!” The man exclaimed. “You were up at the Nauders Rebellion, then, too, weren’t you! That was you!”

Daveth nodded.

“Oh man. Oh man oh man oh man. If only Mulligan was alive. He’d’ve loved to trade stories with you.”

“Well...” Daveth thought it over, and took the risk. “Camp’s not far. You could swing by if you like.”

The man immediately shook his head. “Nope. Nuh-uh. I’ve heard tell of the Seventh Seal. You went into the desert with two hundred men and came out with twelve.”

“Thirty-eight.” Daveth corrected.

“That’s even worse!” The man argued with drunken conviction. “You’re cursed, man. I mean, You’re heroes, right? Everyone knows you. But you’re cursed. Everyone that signs on with you dies.”

He pointed back the way that Daveth and Alysia had come, and then let his hand fall.

“Take the sword. Keep it. Maybe it’ll bring you luck. After we bury our man, we’re gonna try for the pass. We hear there’s villagers looking for farmers. Better luck digging in the dirt than signing on with the Seventh Seal.”

He turned to his men. “Let’s go!” He hollered, and the raucous party started up again as they headed back the way Daveth and Alysia came.

Daveth let out a long breath, eyed the forgotten tankard in his hand, and tossed it to the side, amidst the weeds.

“You didn’t drink any of that, did you?” Daveth asked, and Alysia shook her head.

“It smelled... revolting.”

“Halfway to spoiled is my guess.” Daveth replied, and then eyed his pipe and took an experimental pull on it. Still lit.

“Are we... cursed, Lord Commander? I confess I do not know anything of curses.”

Daveth shook his head. “Nah. We’re not cursed. Notorious, apparently, but I don't think we’re cursed.”

“I had no idea we were so well known, Lord Commander.” Alysia offered.

“Me either.” Daveth immediately replied. “We’ll hang back a bit, let them move on down the road, and then head back to camp.” He eyed the sword again. Well-balanced. He proffered it to Alysia.

“What do you make of this?”

She took the scabbarded blade and bared it and eyed it critically in the same way he had.

“Well made.” She agreed, sheathing the sword and passing it back. “But too light for my comfort.”

Daveth tucked the sword behind his belt and turned his horse.

“So... we’re fucked, we’re cursed, and... we’re notorious.” He tapped out his pipe with the heel of his hand and tucked it into a pouch. “That’s the kind of news I like to hear.” Daveth commented sarcastically.

“I don’t understand.” Alysia offered.

“Mmm. We keep going back to Tannit, all beat up and desperate to recruit. We had the Radiant Sons with us, and they died almost to a man. We had the Ebon Hand with us, and they did die to a man, alongside the Brotherhood. Of course we’re going to get a reputation.” He spat. “We have a reputation.” He shook his head. “The one time we need more men and nobody in their right mind would dare sign on with us. Not to mention we can’t simply walk back to Tannit and recruit more. I kind of made that... impossible.”

Alysia eyed him and looked away, and then looked at him again. “I don’t think that’s true. You were very valiant, taking on the Carrion Crows by yourself. You are a peerless warrior, Lord Commander, and anyone that doesn’t acknowledge that is a fool.”

He shook his head. “I wasn’t valiant. I let the blood rush to my head. I lost control again. I-” He stopped, took a breath, held it, and let it out. “I worry sometimes that one day I will lose control and never get it back. Turn into some mindless raging berserker.” He rubbed his forehead, eyed Alysia, and gestured. “Let’s head back to camp.”

*****

“You learn anything that we couldn’t have learned from our scouts?” Aldric asked when Daveth and Alysia returned, and made a subtle obscene gesture with his hand. “Or did you just need to have a little alone time?”

“I did learn some things, Aldric.” Daveth replied angrily, and gestured towards the hall.

Once inside the hall Daveth tossed down the map with the notes he’d added.

“I learned we’re fucked, we’re cursed, and Sir Mulligan is dead.”

“Sir-” Aldric began, and then tried again, “fucked-? Cursed-? Make some sense, man.”

Daveth relayed what he’d learned about the Angel Queen and his baffling encounter on the road with the celebrating soldiers.

“By the fucking Void.” Aldric complained. “An immortal angel with indestructible armor.”

“And our ‘curse’, don’t forget that.”

Aldric made a sour face as if he’d bitten into one of the limes from Metzcal. “Oh, we’ve got some problems with our reputation, no doubt. But cursed?” He gave Daveth a nonplussed look. “That’s bullshit.” He frowned at Daveth. “How do you know about Mulligan?”

Daveth set the sword on the table. “His soldiers gave it to me.”

Aldric picked it up and bared an inch of blade. “This is his, all right. Claimed it was ancient elven make. Could slice through regular steel like butter.” He shook his head and set the sword down on the table.

“You’d’ve liked Mulligan. He was a real hero. I genuinely liked the man. If I’d’ve known that he was here, I would have done everything I could to link up with him. We’d’ve gotten along famously, especially since he had the same idea I did about bringing order to Philippa.” He looked up at Daveth.

“So... how lucky do you feel, Commander?”