I eyed Eryn as she held on to Arclight, grinning proudly. The bow was truly a work of art, and merging with Arclight’s gem had only improved it further, the lightning globule glowing like a golden thunderstorm. The Woodweaver spikes at each end glowed faintly purple.

  “Greetings, wielder. I am Arclight. How does your pack know you?” a smooth, feminine voice purred in my mind, catching me completely off guard.

  “I’m Eryn,” Eryn said, smiling wide.

  “Riftrot!” I cursed, my eyes widening.

  “Oh, did you hear her too?" Eryn asked.

  Before I could answer, chaos erupted in my mind.

  "What? You dare invade our bond?" Roq's voice thundered. "Ash is MY wielder! Mine! How dare you intrude on my territory?"

  "How predictable,” Arclight replied with silky disdain. "The loud hammer believes it has exclusive rights for racket. Tell me, Eryn, and may I say what a lovely name you have, but is he always this... loud?"

  "Um, actually, I’ve never before—" Eryn began.

  "Listen here, you glorified stick-thrower!" Roq bellowed. "I was here first! I am the superior weapon! Got it?"

  “What’s going on, Ash?” Pa asked me.

  "Roq, please—" I tried to interject, raising a hand to Pa.

  "I am speaking with my wielder," Arclight cut in smoothly. "Do control your primitive tool, mate of my wielder. Ash was it? Eryn and I are trying to become acquainted, and your…pet is interrupting."

  "Is this normal?" Eryn asked me, her voice rising slightly. "Having Roq talk over people like this?"

  "P--pet? Primitive?” Roq sputtered. “I’ll show you primitive when I smash you into kindling!"

  "You would need to catch me first, blunt object,” Arclight said. “Eryn, your mate's weapon lacks... finesse. How do you tolerate him?"

  "Well, I’ve been led to understand he grew on Ash—" Eryn started.

  "Nothing grows on me! I am perfection incarnate!" Roq screeched. “Show some respect, you welp!”

  Knut and Nabeeh exchanged glances, shrugged, and approached Eryn.

  "Congratulations!" Knut said, clapping her on the shoulder. "Soul weapon! Very powerful! And I can hear you two having… fun, no? Probably a lot yelling in here?" he pointed to his head.

  "Yes, well done!" Nabeeh added. "This is incredible!"

  Eryn didn’t respond, her gaze fixed on me as Roq and Arclight quarrelled. I could only stare back at her, feeling a strange mix of sympathy and amusement. I’d had Roq in my mind to practice with, and it had felt overwhelming to me just talking to a single monster soul. I could only imagine what this would be like for her having two endure two of them.

  “Are you alright, Eryn?" Ma asked. “What’s going on? Talk to us.”

  I shook my head.

  “I’ve had Roq talking in my head since we forged the hammer. Well, now there are two voices in there, and I have a feeling she’s experiencing the same thing."

  Eryn burst into laughter, the sound slightly hysterical.

  "Yes! I can hear Arclight in my mind! This will definitely take some getting used to." She grinned and waved at my hammer. "Also, hi Roq! You're real! I mean, I believed you were, but hearing you is completely different!"

  "Of course I'm real!" Roq huffed indignantly. "More real than that overgrown cat-stick, anyway! See, I have been alive for much longer, so I should definitely be the senior soul weapon."

  "How good is bow?" Knut asked, eyeing Arclight with professional interest and ignoring the chatty parts.

  "It has several abilities! The first—” Eryn stopped suddenly, shaking her head as the mental argument between Arclight and Roq continued unabated. “Please," she said, holding the bow out to me. “I can’t focus on so many conversations at once. Have a look and tell them.”

  I took Arclight carefully, and checked its stats.

  NAME: Arclight

  WEAPON CLASS: Soul Weapon

  LEVEL: 1

  EXPERIENCE: [----------] 0%

  WEAPON TYPE: Bow, Ranged, Piercing

  ATTACK SPEED: Medium to Fast

  RANGE: Long

  SPECIAL:

  NAME: Predator’s Patience

  TYPE: Passive

  DESCRIPTION: Increase damage dealt the longer the bow is held fully drawn, up to a maximum of three seconds. The extra damage modifier resets on release.

  NAME: Static Arrow

  TYPE: Passive

  DESCRIPTION: Every arrow deals extra lightning elemental damage to target, and it has a chance to inflict stun upon impact.

  NAME: Spatial Fletching

  TYPE: Active

  DESCRIPTION: Creates a single arrow from stored monster carcass materials every three seconds while the Soul Weapon is inside the user’s spatial storage. The number of arrows rises by one every time Arclight gains a level. Created arrows dissolve five minutes after leaving wielder’s spatial storage.

  Suddenly, a painful jolt of electricity shot through my hands and up my arms. I yelped and dropped the bow, which clattered to the floor.

  "That was merely a warning, considering you are my wielder's mate. Try again, and it will be worse,” Arclight said and I could hear the smugness in her voice.

  "Break it!" Roq demanded furiously. "Smash it now, Ash! That thing is dangerous! See? I would never attack Eryn! That cat is vile, I tell you! Vile!"

  Eryn just laughed and picked up Arclight, running a hand over it with obvious affection.

  “You are dangerous too, Roq,” she said. “Remember breaking Knut’s hand just because you thought it was funny?”

  “That was COMPLETELY different. That was a joke,” Roq sputtered in defense.

  As I told the others of the bow’s abilities, Eryn walked over to Pa and held her arms out. At first, he shied away, clearly afraid of being zapped as well, but after a moment's hesitation, he gave her a warm hug.

  "Thank you for the wonderful bow, Pa," she said, her voice thick with emotion. “I’ll definitely make you proud. I will also make sure to keep my man alive.”

  “You are welcome, dear,” Pa said. “I know you’ll do good with it.”

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  "It's a shame Arclight doesn't have a healing ability like Roq does," I commented as Eryn gave Ma a hug of thanks.

  "Why would I waste an ability on that?" Arclight scoffed. "If my wielder is wounded, then we have made a mistake. Who lives? The one who stores fat to survive lean days, or the one who builds strong muscles to never fail in a hunt?”

  "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Roq exploded. "Healing is essential! It's kept Ash alive countless times! But what would you know about loyalty and protection, you glorified lightning rod?"

  Arclight ignored Roq completely and addressed Eryn.

  "I am pleased to be liberated from the Hive Mind, my wielder. Together, we shall show that crude hammer what a soul weapon can truly do."

  I blinked, taken aback by Arclight's personality. She was nothing like Roq—calculating, cold, and precise where he was boisterous, hot-tempered, and chaotic.

  "Arclight," I asked carefully, "Can you tell us more about the Hive Mind and how it works? I mean, only if you remember and feel like telling us?"

  Silence followed.

  Eryn frowned and repeated my question.

  "Arclight? What can you tell us about the Hive Mind?"

  "I umm…" Arclight replied thoughtfully. "I can tell you how..." She trailed off again. "That's strange. My memories are... like an elders coat."

  “Thick?” Eryn asked.

  “Spotty,” Arclight replied, genuinely surprised by her own answer. “I know it all yet…I can’t…seem to put it to words.”

  "Ha!" Roq crowed triumphantly. "The great Arclight doesn't even remember! Some superior weapon you are."

  "Silence, you worthless lump of metal!" Arclight hissed. "How dare you mock me? I will destroy you!"

  I caught Eryn's eye and made a quick gesture. In perfect synchronization, we both swiped our weapons into our spatial storages.

  I sighed in relief at the sudden silence, while Eryn started laughing again.

  "What did Arclight say?" Knut asked.

  Eryn took a good few seconds and wiped the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.

  "It seems she has some memory issues. And it didn't help that Roq immediately antagonized her."

  "If Arclight can't handle that,” I said, “Your bow is going to be driven absolutely insane.”

  Eryn looked at me with raised eyebrows.

  "Is Roq truly that poorly mannered?"

  “Poorly mannered?” I said, and started laughing, then doubled over and tears filled my eyes, too, as I laughed, barely managing to stop. "Yeah! You have no idea what an arsehole he is!”

  Eryn couldn’t resist my infectious laughter and joined in with a chuckle.

  "I might end up regretting getting a soul weapon."

  When I was finally able to calm down, I wiped my eyes and took in a deep breath.

  “I think Eryn and I are going to need a moment. There are simply too many voices in our heads.”

  Eryn chuckled.

  "What will you do?" Nabeeh asked.

  I took Eryn's hand.

  “We’re going to take a nice long walk, and then meet you all back home later."

  * * *

  Eryn and I walked hand in hand through Dawnwatch, heading home from the smithy.

  "I wonder if all… you know, weapons talk in their wielders' heads," I said.

  "Maybe that's why they're so rare,” Eryn suggested. “The wielders are all driven insane."

  I laughed weakly.

  "Despite his rudeness, I'm happy to finally hear Roq," Eryn said. “I’m surprised at how deep and gravelly his voice is though. It fits him."

  "What did you imagine it to be like?" I asked.

  She tilted her head thoughtfully.

  "I guess I thought he'd sound more... like the sound of metal on metal? Screechy? Like nails on a chalkboard?”

  Eryn suddenly pulled me to a stop in the middle of the street and wrapped her arms around me.

  "I'm happy you're not crazy," she whispered against my chest. “There were times that I thought you’d lost it a bit. I’m sorry.”

  I laughed at that, feeling slightly self-conscious about the public display of affection and I got the feeling we were being watched.

  "What if you're just crazy too?"

  She ran a gentle hand across my face, her eyes soft.

  "That's fine too. Then we can be crazy together."

  To hell with it.

  I leaned down and kissed her, not caring who saw.

  "I love you," I told her.

  “I love you too,” Erin said, smiling up at me.

  We continued walking, and I squeezed her hand.

  "Why did the voice say your fear is to be lonely?"

  "Because that is my fear," she said simply. "I lost my family. Of course I'm afraid of being lonely." She smiled up at me. "But after meeting you, I haven't felt lonely even once." Her smile faltered. "No, that's not true."

  "What? When?" I asked.

  "I felt lonely twice," she admitted. "When you decided to fight the Platemaw that first time. It felt like you were shutting me out, not being yourself anymore."

  "And the second?"

  She gave me a meaningful look. "I think you know."

  I nodded slowly.

  "In the crystal cave when I nearly lost control."

  "Yes."

  I forced a grin.

  "Well, now you've got a talking voice who might want to control you in your head, too! But at least we know how to keep you safe. Just got to keep you at a higher level than Arclight.”

  "And I'll never be alone again!" Eryn laughed. "Though I wonder if there's a way to not hear Roq. If he's always as bloodthirsty and... Roq-y as you say, it might be… challenging.”

  I squeezed her hand and laughed, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief.

  "You have no idea how good it feels to have someone to share this all with! He is crazy, but he's also changing. For the better. It's like he's a small child, one that struggles to regulate and control his own emotions and wants and just lashes out at others." I paused as I said those words. "I wonder if Arclight will be the same."

  "I hope not," Eryn said fervently.

  "This has potential to be extra powerful, though," I pointed out.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Depending on the distance Arclight and Roq can communicate in our heads, you and I could use that to communicate as well."

  "Hmm, you’re right. That is a truly powerful ability on its own.What's the longest distance you can hear Roq's thoughts?"

  I rubbed the back of my neck.

  "I've actually never tried to find out. Like, I just carry him around wherever I go."

  "Why not?"

  "Don't laugh," I said, "But I haven't wanted to be separated from Roq. It kind of feels like having a pet, or a kid, that I'm responsible for. A bloodthirsty and murderous pet, but yeah. I never really wanted to be away from him.” Eryn nodded.

  "I can imagine you wanting to keep him around. Just in case, too."

  "We should find out, though maybe it's not the first thing we ought to test,” I said.

  "Agreed," Eryn said as we walked into the backyard of our home. "The first thing we need to test is how well I can shoot with Arclight and how much damage she does.”

  I nodded and walked over to pick up the one archery target we had, swiping it into my storage.

  "I hope this is in one piece when I pull it back out," I muttered, worrying about Roq smashing it. I still didn’t fully understand everything about how spatial storages worked, especially when it came to soul weapons.

  We hiked about thirty minutes through the dry and grassy land outside of Dawnwatch, chatting casually as we went. My mind wandered back to the night when we took care of the Domitius thugs, and how they’d been hiding just outside of town.

  "What are you thinking?" Eryn asked, noticing my distraction.

  "It's kind of strange how isolated we are here on the frontier,” I said. “How cut off from the rest of the world, yet this place feels like a world of its own.”

  She gestured around us.

  "That's why it's called the frontier, isn't it?"

  "True," I agreed, "But I mean that we barely ever leave Dawnwatch. Or, that's not true, but we only leave it to head Riftside."

  Eryn waved her hands more emphatically at our surroundings.

  "There's not exactly a lot of interesting stuff around here, is there?"

  "We have more fun Riftside, that’s for sure.”

  “And it’s about to get a lot more fun if Arclight is even half as powerful as I hope she is,” Eryn said, grinning. Then suddenly, she stopped walking. "Do you think Arclight can help me have an outstanding breakthrough like you had?"

  I considered it.

  "What made Roq able to help with my breakthrough was his healing ability, fixing parts of my body as the process went. And we already know Arclight’s perspective on that.”

  "Maybe we could get Katherine to help by healing me?" Eryn said.

  I nodded slowly.

  "I guess, but how? We'd have to tell her we have soul weapons, right? Or can we lie well enough to make her think we had another healer come by and perform the whole process on me?”

  “No. I don’t see a way for us not to tell her at least something." She sighed. "I thought it was tough to keep Roq a secret, but now that I have my own soul weapon, it feels like it's about to get a lot harder."

  "We'll figure something out," I assured her. "First thing first, which is to test out Arclight!"

  "No," Eryn said firmly, stepping closer. "First is this." She pulled me down for a deep kiss that left me breathless.

  "What was that for?" I asked when we finally broke apart.

  "That was a thank you for getting me a soul weapon."

  "It's not as if I did all the work.”"No, but I wouldn't have done it without you." Then she grinned like a cat and wiggled her eyebrows. "Now, run a hundred and fifty feet in that direction and set up the target! And then, hurry out of the way. I can't wait to try the bow!"

  I did as she asked, returning to stand beside her as she took out Arclight. The bow was truly magnificent.

  “You alright?" I asked after she stared at the bow for several seconds.

  She looked at me in surprise.

  “You can’t hear her?"

  I shook my head, realising she must be talking mentally with Arclight like I usually did with Roq.

  "It seems I can only hear her when we both have our weapons out. I wonder if the reason we can hear each other’s weapon is because we used a piece of the Woodweaver to forge Arclight, or if we can now hear every soul weapon that comes close.”

  "Arclight thinks the forging might indeed be the case," Eryn relayed.

  I chuckled and scratched my neck.

  "It's really weird being on this side of it."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Being on the side that doesn’t hear half the conversation. Makes me wonder how crazy I must have been looking."

  Eryn laughed.

  "You've been looking completely crazy, but fortunately, you're attractive enough for it to be charming." She winked at me, then turned her attention back to Arclight. "Yes, I will."

  She swiped out a quiver from her spatial storage and hooked it to her belt, then nocked an arrow, a regular one, drew the bow fully, and held it. A subtle humming sound emanated from Arclight while sparks began to appear at the arrow's tip, growing in intensity with each passing second. After about three seconds, the hum stabilized, and Eryn released.

  The arrow flew through the air, trailing sparks like a miniature comet. It struck the target dead center with a crack of thunder, blasting straight through and leaving a charred, smoking fist-sized hole where the bullseye had been.

  Eryn whooped in delight, and I laughed.

  "Roq is going to be so upset when he sees this."

  "Let's find out," she said with a mischievous smile, nodding toward my wrist.

  I swiped out Roq, who immediately started complaining.

  "Took you long enough to—dodge!"

  Before I could react, my woodwoven mantle cloak wrapped around me in its protective cocoon.

  An intense pain flared in my back as something slammed into me from the direction of Dawnwatch, sending me tumbling forward as if I’d been hit by a hammer.

  Arclight's voice snarled in my mind, cold and predatory.

  “How dare the prey stalk us! I demand retribution!”