Warmth was spreading through me, I felt Kate’s hands, I felt a gaping emptiness that my flesh was contracting around… I was healing.

  But so, so tired.

  I managed no words, but I did give Kate a weak smile to let her know I would likely survive before I let my eyes shut and let the world spin away. Before I lost consciousness, I heard Kate.

  “Yeah… Jackie… you’re gonna make it through this, and then you and I are gonna have a talk.”

  My slumber was a bit less peaceful after hearing her say that.

  ***

  Kate wiped off the side of Jackie’s face, using the soft part of her thumb.

  She wanted to get the healing serum off of Jackie before it turned to gel and started to smear. The stuff always turned to sludge after a while and it would gunk up Jackie’s fur if left where it had drooled from Jackie’s muzzle.

  Of course, Jackie was no help in this, insensate as the beast-kin girl was. Because after Kate had administered the last of her healing serums and potions, Jackie had just flat passed out. It was not expected, but Kate supposed it made sense, considering the level of internal injuries and changes which Jackie had suffered.

  While Kate was cleaning Jackie’s face, Kate’s own face was hovering just over Jackie’s. Since they were face to face already, Kate checked Jackie’s breathing and found it short, shallow and somewhat spicy tasting. If Kate squinted at the situation the right way, then Jackie had passed out while in Kate’s embrace. This interpretation was a bit nicer, at least in Kate’s mind.

  However, she could not allow herself to grow too distracted considering circumstances and considering that.

  Kate pulled back and glared at the beast-kin. The expression alleviated some of what Kate was feeling.

  “You better not be faking this,” Kate said.

  Kate complained more under her breath than anything else, because she doubted Jackie was faking much of anything here, really.

  No reaction was expected, despite the fact that Kate had spoken aloud. So when a response seemingly came from above her, her skin prickled. The response had not been in words, but in actions. From somewhere up in the dark recesses of the ceiling, there had come a rasping sound, dry skin passing alongside coarse stone.

  She scanned the chamber for the source of the noise, along with any other threat.

  This place was no good. She could see that more now than before, as previously the mists had covered everything, but now those mists were receding. The mist itself was bad. It should not have come on so suddenly or as supernaturally as it had. The opaque vapor had spilled up from a hidden wellspring at the center of it all.

  Not for the first time, Kate thought that the idiots that set this operation up must have been lunatics in all the worst sort of ways. Many people needed to die for this.

  But with the mist receding, Kate finally got a clear view of the new statue taking up the position of ‘honor’ within the large room.

  Kate shuddered at the sight and she tried to remember any words that would protect from that sort of thing. But, she was drawing an unfortunate blank. How could she have ever known that the stuff her tutors tried teaching her would ever actually matter?

  She finally caught sight of the source of the noise, although only bits and pieces as it churned from shadow to shadow, crawling along the sheer surfaces of the vaulted ceiling. Whatever the thing was, despite its bizarre appearance, it did not appear hostile. However, just sighting fragments of it did damage to Kate. The thing was offensive in the grossest way possible. It was like someone had taken a bag of worms and tossed in some glue.

  She thanked the Crown that the thing was moving away and not toward them. Kate hoped it would disappear down some dank hole sooner rather than later.

  Since that rasping crawling worm-thing was retreating, that left only one other possible threat in the chamber, and the one that concerned Kate the most. It was whatever had caused a new statue to grow up in the middle of the chamber, from the wellspring where the mists had arisen.

  Because whatever forces that caused all of that to happen had to be the type of thing that got inquisitors riled up and that got entire neighborhoods torched. And all of that was besides the threat that the supernatural posed, the supernatural garbage that had the audacity to be immune to stabbing.

  At least, Kate doubted she could stab that sort of garbage.

  She supposed she could try, but that would have to be later, after she had made sure they were safe.

  Since she had found no immediate threats, she needed to focus on the next important thing here: Jackie.

  That girl.

  Jackie was still breathing, chest moving, eyes flicking beneath her eyelids, ears twitching in that way that ears did for beast-kin.

  Kate checked Jackie’s mouth again, sticking a finger in through Jackie’s open maw to test a strand of pearlescent drool stretching between canines. She tested the edge of the canines as well, pricked her finger by accident, the canines were very sharp.

  Kate realized she was getting distracted again and pulled away.

  Jackie was a beast-kin. A non-human. A deviant. A kunbeorn, or maybe a kunweald, if she were untamed and wild. It was just too much. Kate could barely stand it.

  She rocked back on her heels, squatting over Jackie, confirming once more that Jackie had a muzzle, was covered in fur, lacked bosom, had a tail, had two long and soft ears atop her head.

  Kate pulled her own grimy hair and swallowed her frustrated scream.

  Crown! She thought, beginning to rant. This entire trip had been supposed to be simple but somehow, someway, these godsloving lunatics had gone and done this. How was Kate supposed to have known that, or that Jackie was hiding something like that?

  After several growling exhales, Kate began systematically stroking the hilt of her favorite hand-and-a-half sword. The familiarity of the routine calmed her, but she still itched to cut.

  She glanced back up towards the high ceiling within the carven stone room.

  The worm thing had disappeared. There were several prominent shadows lining the already shadowed ceiling, and Kate thought those might have been openings or passages to who knows where. Everyone knew that the under was a tangled mess of tunnels originating from the Breaking and added to since. Altogether, it meant that the grossness could have been crawling off to anywhere. It left her scalp itching, just thinking of the possibilities there.

  From somewhere far away there came an echo, reminiscent of a howl. Very likely, the source of it was some sort of under-thing. Kate welcomed the idea of a straight up fight, but she also thought she heard the rasp of dry skin upon rock.

  That worm-thing could be doubling back. Despite the faint and echoing under-things, she kept her eyes on the ceiling. Because, that worm-thing was probably the only actually dangerous thing down here, even if it pretended to be non-hostile. Because, and Kate hated to even think this, but gods take it all, that worm-thing looked like the stuff that the wyrkwyk used to infest fauna.

  She shuddered, just thinking of its tendrils crawling across her while she slept.

  She was not about to get infested.

  Not that it had been wyrkwyk. It would have had no reason to be down so far. It was plant-stuff meant for the surface. So, even if it had looked like it, it most definitely was not that.

  This place was bad enough as it was, without adding infesting plant zombies to the mix.

  Because, this place, if it was what Kate suspected, if it was that which Kate strongly wished to vehemently deny… But denial was useless. No good. In the face of facts. With the glowing bits of stone harvested from under-things, with the statue representing the responsible forces, and with Jackie’s changes and very elaborate mark, with Jackie?

  Kate groaned and briefly pressed her eyes shut.

  She wished it all to go back to the way things were even a day ago. Stupid! Stupid Kate! Why had she dragged Jackie down here, why?!

  She pressed harder, refocusing. Those kinds of thoughts would nobody and this pit was far from safe. She either needed to secure their surroundings or relocate, and considering the mess of tunnels and possibly supernatural entities, Kate doubted this place could ever be made secure.

  Relocating it would have to be, Kate decided.

  Kate nudged Jackie with the tip of her boot.

  The girl was still out of it: breathing, stabilized, but definitely not faking being not awake. And here Kate had always thought that beast-kin were fast healers and all that, or at the very least robust enough to shake off injury. Maybe that was just the meohrs? Kate disliked being stuck in her own thoughts.

  She prodded Jackie again, a bit more forcefully.

  Eventually, Kate would need to sleep herself, and she was not about to leave her back unguarded with those worm-things crawling around.

  Still, nothing from Jackie.

  This was becoming ridiculous, Kate thought. She shook Jackie and tried to wake the girl up.

  They needed to move.

  “You planning on waking your ass up anytime soon?” Kate spoke more for herself than for Jackie since the other girl, but still figuring that her voice might help the girl wake.

  Still, to be consistent, Kate left a moment of silence to stretch, awaiting for the response from Jackie that probably would be some time in coming. Kate was busy thinking anyways, so the moment was well spent.

  No response from Jackie, as expected.

  But now Kate was thinking about how Jackie had tricked her and made her out to be a fool. While Kate was unlikely to hold it against Jackie, considering Kate would have done the same, Kate still felt something unpleasant, and like a sore tooth, she could not help but nudge it.

  “What’m I even supposed to do, Jackie?” Kate thought out loud, then licked her chapped lips. She could think of several things to do. For the time being, she refrained.

  Again, no response came, although Jackie twitched slightly and made a very slight groan which sounded kind of like a pur. This seemed somewhat promising.

  “But beast-kin though, seriously?” Kate said, awkwardly laughing at the fact that she really did have a type. At least it was consistent. “Guess I’m gonna have to stake a claim, keep the rest of everyone else off ya. But how…” Kate trailed off, thinking of the different ways she could do so. Obviously, she could hardly just let Jackie go out and about looking like she did.

  An exotic kunbeorn like Jackie, and one without obvious ownership? Yeah, but no. There was no way that lasted if people found out. Jackie keeping back the secret made sense, it really did.

  Kate might have furthered the conversation, but she was reminded that they needed to leave. Because just then, she felt the back of her neck prickle as though she were being watched. Except, she knew what was doing it. She wished it was some monster instead. Because from the corner of Kate’s eye, she saw the culprit.

  The statue.

  The godslicking statue was somehow staring at her.

  How? Kate was unsure. She just knew it, that this statue, unmoving as statues were, was somehow glaring down at Kate.

  Part of her discomfort might have stemmed from the fact that the statue almost looked like Kate’s own mother. Except, the statue had some of the things that Jackie did: a tail, beast-ears. Except for those two traits, everything else about this woman appeared human.

  Kate was pulled back to Jackie when Jackie groaned, seemingly in pain.

  Kate wanted to give more medicine, but she had already checked her pouches and pockets, turning several inside out and tossing random junk to the floor. She had nothing that was safe for Jackie to consume. The only other thing that might have helped were some of Gregory’s artificed tools, but of course that had been kept on Gregory’s person, and that boy had gone and absconded himself like an idiot. It was frustrating.

  But, that did jog an idea loose.

  Given the possible connection between the statue and Jackie, and considering that rather obvious Mark that had been glowing and shifting about Jackie’s right arm, it gave Kate an idea. She pulled out the glowing stones from earlier, the ones which were full of the same power that went in Chargers, or Cee as they were called.

  She grabbed the handful of the glowing rocks and then knelt low, giving Jackie another glance-over. This really should fail. Just having it work would imply things that interested inquisitors and drew the fear of the peasantry. But if it did work, then Jackie would be healthier and in a better place, and did any inquisitors really need to find out? Kate thought that she could keep the secret.

  Decided, Kate then pressed the handful against Jackie’s Mark.

  There was a reaction. Jackie’s arm warmed further. Her breathing hitched then deepened. She smelled sweet–nicer than she should have, considering the lack of bathing these past few days.

  After an ambiguous moment of nothing else changing, Kate pulled back and checked the stones again.

  The stones had gone dim and several crumbled. Kate frowned as she thought. She checked the Mark again. At least that had stopped glowing; it would have been hard to hide otherwise.

  “Well, nothing else to do about here,” Kate said.

  In the distance, she heard an under-thing yelp in pain. She was unable to confirm it, but she suspected that the wyrkwyk had claimed its first victim.

  “Now the wyrkwyk has legs,” she muttered.

  The silence was doing bad things for her mental health, she decided. It was long past time to leave.

  Kate picked up Jackie in both arms, the girl’s rump dangling. Kate took a step then stumbled, tripping over Jackie’s tail. Kate growled. After repositioning Jackie so that her tail was over the top of her, Kate continued to leave.

  On their way out, Kate passed the body of the pit-dog, the scum, one of the idiots that had made this entire mess. Kate kicked the man’s body on the way out and spat on it. She kept moving though, not wanting to be anywhere down there when she finally crashed.

  She had been wandering through the tunnels leading from the vile shrine for what felt like hours.

  Of course, Jackie was of little help, being held and carried with her cute little rump hanging between Kate’s arms.

  As a deserved payment, Kate might have squeezed a bit more than was necessary in holding her, although Kate kept the fondling to an otherwise minimum. Kate remembered Jackie was a bit particular about that kind of thing. However, Jackie was also either a beast-kin or an extremely deviated human, and in either case would have little say in the matter. Legally speaking, of course.

  As Kate was walking and distracting herself by the way the lilac fur swayed in the breeze of the tunnels, Kate collided with an overhang, leaving a knock upon her forehead. This irritated Kate greatly, although the damage was minimal. Kate was sturdy. But no matter how well built she was, and she was very well built, it was a liability to be running headfirst into stones, especially in hostile territory.

  Thankfully, Kate did have a potential solution to her fraying nerves and degrading performance.

  It was something that she was hesitant to use, for many reasons, but it remained an option all the same. And after knocking her head on that stone, she was now seriously considering it.

  On Kate’s belt, tucked away on the inside of the wide-brimmed leather as opposed to the exterior facing pouches at straps, hidden away there, Kate had brought with her a just-in-case serum from her Aunt Janet.

  Technically, the stuff was not meant for any but official Knights, which technically, Kate was not quite qualified as. By narrow definitions, of course. But that would not be what gained the ire of Kate’s mother should she learn Kate had used this stuff.

  It would be the aftereffects that Kate would need to be on guard against. But all of that sounded like a problem for the future, after Kate climbed out of this pit.

  So set in her choice, Kate pulled out the artificed device, one shaped like a thick pen, with a twist then press top, and a narrow stabby part at the bottom.

  Kate pushed the sharp point against her neck, twisted off the top end cap, then pressed the button. There came a crackling sort of hum, followed by a pop. She felt a small sting.

  Then warmth spread through Kate.

  It hit her head first, giving her eyes a swollen feel to them but also making the tunnels as bright as day. Her ears popped and her nose felt congested. Then the warmth spread down her core, hitting her loins and making her feel things that she probably should avoid thinking of. Aunt Janet had warned about that particular side-effect.

  The warmth was dying down by the time it hit the extremities, but even then all her muscles felt ready to rip and roar and go.

  A sort of buzzing clarity settled over her mind like a scratchy blanket. This reminded her that one of the ingredients of this serum was the same that went into meohr-feed.

  Strangely enough, she felt good enough that she was unbothered by the parallels and dangers. The worries of several minutes ago seemed so much less worthy of her attention now.

  Kate tossed the spent device to the ground. She shrugged her shoulders and she admired the sensation.

  Kate felt good.

  Good enough that she took off at a run, almost a sprint, barely having to breathe hard at all. Good enough that she even spared a second’s thought towards Marianne and Gregory, but they both seemed competent enough to find their own ways up. Or not. Whatever. Kate just felt good.

  Kate discounted everything else from her thoughts as she rapidly made her way through the tunnels.

  Eventually she reached the quarry, but by a different route. It was still the same place though, with the overly large cavern that seemed bottomless and ceilingless and far too wide, just a lot of empty space. It was a landmark that Kate recognized.

  Now, she just needed to head up. She could follow the switchbacks for hours to reach the top. Or, or she could take a more creative approach.

  Bending her knees, squatting, she leapt straight up a couple of yards, caught her foot on an outcropping, then pushed off again.

  She just barely reached the next level of the path, scraping her leg ang collapsing on the stone in the process. Jackie had thrown off Kate’s landing, what with being dead weight and all, and taking up Kate’s hands.

  The lack of graceful landing bothered Kate, but not enough to make her stop.

  Instead, Kate shifted Jackie, throwing the girl over Kate’s shoulders, held in place with just a single arm.

  Jackie’s tail swatted Kate’s face, making Kate sneeze. Kate pushed the tail aside and then under Jackie, then gave a couple test bounces to make sure that irksome thing stayed put. When Jackie seemed well held on Kate’s shoulder, Kate then took off again, this time clambering up the side of the cliff without making a mess of herself.

  By the time Kate reached the topmost of the paths, all of the jostling had bounced Jackie somewhat awake.

  “T-trixie…” Jackie moaned.

  “Who?” Kate asked, at first thinking Jackie was talking to her. “It’s about time you woke up.”

  Jackie continued speaking.

  “M-mother no… she’s my sister! You… you promised…”

  Jackie trailed off at that point, and refused to actually make any sense.

  Kate pushed the matter aside, focusing instead on finding the right tunnel to reach the surface as quickly as possible. Kate could feel that the stimulants were about half-spent, so she picked up her pace, not wanting to crash while still spelunking. She found a path that seemed more worn than the others and followed that up into a tunnel.

  All the while, Kate wondered about what Jackie had said.

  Did Jackie have a sister?

  Kate was unsure if Jackie had mentioned something like that before. Although Jackie for sure had stated her mother was awful, Jackie tended to even use it as a curse-word, so obviously that relationship was awful. Kate had never asked about it since it seemed like bad memories which would lead to a bad conversation, which was the opposite of what Kate wanted.

  But now that Kate was thinking about it, did beast-kin come in litters?

  Kate was pretty sure they did.

  Kate continued to carry Jackie as they traveled through the tunnels. Kate had undoubtedly taken a few wrong turns along the way, but so long as the tunnel went more up than down, she figured it would be fine.

  And so far, Kate seemed to have been right enough that she felt she was making real progress towards the surface.

  Kate also felt thankful that Jackie was so light, especially since Kate was forced to carry the girl for hours and hours on end.

  The matter was also improved by the fact that Jackie had a fine rear-end and that it was so close to Kate’s face. Kate was getting particularly acquainted with the way Jackie’s lush tail snuck up through the back of Jackie’s pants.

  Of course, when Jackie’s tail wandered into Kate’s face Kate would swear and swat the thing away, then shift Jackie’s position once more.

  As Kate climbed, she mulled over everything. The tunnels were blending together in her mind, and as she got bored, her mind got to wandering. At some point, she had a funny thought that caused her to snort. Here Kate was, a human, performing manual labor for the benefit of Jackie, a beast-kin. It was quite the reversal of the usual.

  Not long after this she came across something of interest, carved along one of the walls.

  In the dark, with the monotony, Kate could have easily missed it. In fact, she guessed that she had probably missed other such markings previously.

  She came closer to the markings and felt them out. They appeared to be directions. A map of sorts, carved into the wall, showing the local vicinity. Using this, she figured out where to go next, a nice little spot marked with a bedroll.

  Memorizing these directions, she continued onwards, taking the twists and turns required.

  Less than an hour later, she came across an obvious rest site.

  It was a nice and spacious room, walls carved and decorated with faces and animals and decorative pillars. Indents within the walls were full of luminescent moss, filling the room with a soft glow, although that was not the only source of light. Bizarrely enough, in the middle of the room there was a deep pool of aquamarine water, clear enough that Kate could see to the bottom, where statues and metal boxes sat. But even the clearest water should have been somewhat opaque in this dim lighting. The fact that Kate could see so clearly to the bottom meant that the water contained some sort of phosphorescent element.

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  On the far side of the pond, there was a flat and wide ledge, meant for long term encampment. There was a firepit, a covering of fibrous mats, and an old wooden chest.

  The firepit was smoldering, tended by one of the locals, the miners and deviants which chose to live in a place like this. Kate had a rather unkind label for these sorts. She called them pit-dogs.

  There were two of these pit-dogs, fouling up the site.

  One of the pit-dogs noticed Kate. Granted, Kate had not made efforts to conceal herself, so this was unsurprising. What was surprising was that the pit-dog had the audacity to try speaking to Kate.

  “Ho!” the pit-dog called out to Kate.

  The dog even gave a pathetic wave as he stumbled to his feet. He might have thought he was being subtle, but Kate saw him kick the other dog on the way up. Judging from the way the second dog had been laying atop the mats, he had probably been sleeping.

  Kate sneered at them both. Did they think they could defeat her?

  “Don’t recognize you,” the dog continued speaking, warily eyeing Kate and then Jackie.“Is your friend alright there?”

  By this point, the second pit-dog had also gotten up, revealing a shabby mess of a man. Both of them remained on the opposite side of the pond from where Kate had entered. Both of them kept a hand near their belt, where they likely carried tools for their trade. After a moment’s pause, the second dog glanced towards the chest, likely wondering if they had a weapon big enough to stop Kate.

  “We don’t have much, but what we do have–”

  The first dog continued speaking, but Kate refused to give the dogs any longer to prepare.

  In a fluid motion, she deposited Jackie on the floor and then cleared her sword of its sheath.

  -Ahh that’s a sword, hey?” the dog said, a note of confusion and concern in his voice.

  The man spoke some other nonsense, and the first one shouted an apology of some sort and that they had both space and sundries to spare, but Kate had already decided their fate.

  She then directed her motion, many parts in concert, a song of body and blade. Her beautiful hand-and-a-half longsword was sweeping through the air, Kate was leaping, crossing the pond, soaring through the air on course towards the ledge with the encampment where the dogs stood. All the while, her naked metal continued its motion.

  Kate landed with a bounce, sprain up, and the blade’s arc crossed the first dog, with the blade’s very edge nicking his throat. The man’s neck split open, carotid to trachea, blood sprayed and his words strangled.

  For an instant, the world seemed to freeze, impressed at the beauty of it all.

  Kate had started over ten paces away, across unsavory terrain which normally would have given the defenders an advantage. But in a single fluid motion, Kate had moved, darting through the air. And then when she landed, she had delivered a killing blow by using the least amount of force possible.

  It was elegant.

  It was smooth.

  It had been delivered with just the barest end of her blade. Given her confidence, she broke a cardinal rule of combat and she spent just enough breath to taunt the dying man.

  “Heh, just the tip,” Kate said, “Looks like that’s all you can handle, yeah?”

  The first man tried to speak, but only a gurgle came forth. He fell to his butt and scrambled backwards, clutching his throat all the while, as though he could hold the veins together.

  Of course, Kate was never idle, even whilst taunting.

  After swiping through the first dog’s throat, she kept the sword flowing, conserving momentum. Kate had to reverse to a diagonal and then she spun the blade behind her back in a circle.

  By this point, the second dog had begun to react, all traces of sleep abandoned. The dog tried shouting something, but Kate paid it no mind. It was just words, and ones that polluted the room.

  From where Kate had set Jackie down, there came a noticeable mumble, as though Jackie was dreaming and speaking in her sleep once more. No new threats had arrived in the interim, allowing Kate to continue her course towards the final pit-dog.

  Kate pivoted, her toes gliding across the floor in an unnecessary flourish. Her blade came from the back, arcing around, then whip-snapping forward.

  While the blade moved quickly, and impressively so at that, by coming from the back to the front, the motion had been broadcasted and easily guessed.

  The pit-dog flung himself backwards, grasping a tool and aiming it towards Kate. It looked to be a carver, an artificed tool used to burn through stone. If the man had time to set the tool, it could have been problematic. But the man’s hands trembled and his fingers shook and the carver looked to be cold.

  Kate brought her blade back around, taking another second for one more flourish.

  Blade swept towards dog.

  Dog tried blocking, using the only thing he had, the carver.

  Her sword met the carver, crossing the man’s grip. The tool went flying along with several fingers.

  The man screamed and scrambled backwards, tripping over the edge of a mat and falling backwards. He kept moving back in a humiliating crab-walk. His eyes were wide as he looked up at where Kate practiced her sword flair.

  At the same time, Jackie continued mumbling, loudly shouting nonsense, too far and too indistinct for Kate to make out what was said exactly. Kate would have to remember to tease Jackie about talking in her sleep.

  “-mercy!” the dog cried.

  Kate continued swinging, letting her sword’s momentum pass to the side then behind her. She passed the sword from hand to hand, then brought it swinging back around the other side.

  Kate had to laugh at that. It seemed the dogs could joke too.

  Not much later, Kate was repositioning Jackie on the sleeping mat with the least amount of blood staining it. The two bodies had been shoved off to the side, away from the watering hole.

  It was as Kate went through the pit-dogs’ belongings that Jackie began waking up.

  At first, Kate noticed Jackie twitching a bit more than usual, then started to flex, especially about the shoulders and calves. Of course, once Kate saw all of this, she knew that Jackie was on the cusp of consciousness. She decided to give the other girl a bit of a nudge to cross that final threshold.

  Kate shook Jackie’s shoulders and shouted inches from her face.

  “What did you do, you god-worshipping whore?!”

  Jackie’s tail swept the air in an agitated fashion, and her ears flicked backwards, almost quivering. Jackie grumbled something, but her eyes remained closed.

  Kate growled, shook Jackie once more, and then shouted directly into the other girl’s ear.

  “Wake up!”

  Jackie’s eyes snapped wide, revealing brilliant cyan orbs. Her mouth parted, her long tongue flicked across those sharp teeth of hers, and her tail passed through Jackie’s field of vision. At the sight of it, Jackie startled and swiped a hand towards Kate, talons extended and prepared to rend flesh.

  Kate nimbly pulled back, giving the other girl space as Jackie regained her senses.

  After an uncharacteristic moment of patience, Jackie finally regained her wits, although still she remained confused.

  “Sir Gaurdson?” Jackie asked, eyes meeting Kate. “Where… no, how am I here, like this?”

  “Playing dumb now, Jackie?” Kate said, torn between anger and relief and settling on a scoff. “What’s the matter, you hit your head too while I wasn’t looking?”

  “Jackie?” Jackie said, seemingly not recognizing the name. “Who would that be? Where are–” Jackie would have continued putting on such an act, but Kate saw right through it. Only Jackie would immediately revert to a scheming plot to try and get out of the mess she woke up to find herself in.

  “Pfft,” Kate waved Jackie’s questions off. “Yeah, but it’s you. Stop pretending or I really will treat you like some uncollared kunbeorn. I bet you wouldn’t like that, huh?”

  Jackie flinched, before shaking her head slightly.

  “No, I doubt I would enjoy that much at all.”

  “Exactly. Now, you ready for that chat?”

  Jackie grimaced at that, and Kate could hardly blame her.

  Because although Kate was talking a big game, Kate felt more uncertain about having that talk now than ever. There was just so much turmoil, mucking up the insides of Kate’s head. On one hand, she was angry at being lied to and led around by a beast-king. On the other hand, she was grateful that Jackie was alive and well. Kate disliked this feeling and decided to just muscle through it and hope for the best. After regaining her wits, she spoke bluntly.

  “You’re not human,” Kate said.

  “No… it does not appear to be so, does it.”

  Having a kunbeorn speak to her in such a manner would definitely normally a beating. But this was Jackie, and that girl had a dry sense of humor that Kate could normally appreciate. Instead of acting by impulse, Kate demonstrated her maturity by shutting her eyes and letting the sensations pass.

  Jackie must have noticed something in Kate’s manner as Jackie quickly apologized. The conversation went in fits from there.

  “This is not something I had wished to disclose,” Jackie finished.

  “Uh yeah, I can see that. Then there’s the whole–” Kate gestured at Jackie’s left arm “-worm thing that crawled outta there. Care to explain what that thing was?”

  While Kate asked that, she already had a good idea of what that thing had been. She was unsure of the particulars and how Jackie could remain Jackie while having that thing inside her. Unfortunately, Jackie was unwilling to explain further, or so Kate had thought.

  “It is certainly a difficult thing,” Jackie said. “Incredibly so. In many ways, I myself am ignorant as well.” Jackie turned her bright cyan eyes to Kate and locked on. Kate floundered, staring, unintentionally leaving her mouth agape. Jackie’s eyes appeared luminescent, shining with unspoken memories and pain. Kate found it utterly attractive.

  “But tell me, Sir Guardson, am I correct that you recognize this bestial form of mine?”

  Kate realized she had been asked a question, if belatedly.

  “Uh… maybe? It was you I ran into back in the Wastes, right?”

  “Yes,” Jackie said, admitting it freely enough that Kate was taken aback. “Do you also recall how this arm was severed?”

  Kate looked away.

  “Maybe.”

  Jackie chuffed, maybe amused.

  “It takes a certain amount of forwardness to demand answers for one’s own misdeeds,” Jackie said. “But as you remember this, and as you have apparently seen this ‘worm-thing’ as you described, then surely you have made your own assumptions in the matter?”

  “Uh.” Kate had to think for a bit, before remembering her earlier suspicions.

  Jackie’s eyes narrowed, growing all the brighter through the remaining slits.

  “Let me put your worries at ease,” Jackie said. “I was not and have not ever been infested. I did receive a replacement arm after making a deal, and it seems that arm has reneged upon said deal. Admittedly, that arm displayed a frightening amount of sentience, but this is no longer the case…”

  Jackie trailed off, seemingly realizing she still had a left arm.

  Jackie held the arm before her, examining it. It was solid enough, with a bit more give than flesh should have, and cold besides. The texture was all off, and it was a bit translucent.

  “Interesting,” Jackie said, more to herself than Kate. “It appears I now have gained an illusory arm of some manner. How?”

  “Yeah, you did, but I was hoping you’d know more ‘bout that, y’know?”

  Jackie continued twisting and flexing the arm, testing its limits. She even rolled up her sleeve and checked her left forearm, right where a Mark would have been, if there was one. There was not, of course.

  Kate felt curious about other things, but then she remembered that the wyrkwyk could be anywhere, hiding in the dark and waiting for Kate to lower her guard.

  “Whatever. Can you run?”

  “Pardon?”

  They departed, once again heading towards the surface.

  The hike seemed easier now than it had before, which Kate attributed to the map she had looted off the pit-dogs. Even if she had never gotten the chance to use that encampment to sleep, she was still glad she had gone there, if just for the map. Even better, Jackie was able to keep up with Kate’s pace, so Kate was free of that burden as well.

  The fact that things were easier was likely the only reason that Kate was able to manage at all, considering the amount of time since she had last slept. She was unsure of how long that period without rest was, but she was certain that it was more than several days.

  Another benefit of the looted map, however, was that Kate had found a shorter path up, one that avoided the halfway town as well as the elevator alongside the Chasm. She suspected that this route was originally meant for smugglers. Another good reason for having attacked those pit-dogs, she decided.

  Maybe a day later, the weary girls reached the surface.

  The noise of the city could be heard through the stone, and the tunnel was just a bit brighter than before. Soon, they reached a stairway which led up into a dilapidated cellar. It stank of urine, which was surprisingly tame for where they were.

  When Kate found the cellar doors and kicked them off their hinges, she grinned up at the Firmament and grinned, feeling the light of day once more. She stretched her arms overhead.

  “Finally,” Kate said, laughing just slightly before catching a whiff of her own armpit. “Crown, we need a bath.”

  In Kate’s haste, she may have forgotten an important detail. She realized this when she turned around and found Jackie missing. Suddenly concerned, she went back to the cellar, where she found Jackie hidden from any of the passerby in the nearby slums.

  “Oh.”

  Jackie chuffed, which Kate was unsure of what that sound meant, but the look of concentration across Jackie’s face was notable.

  “So, uh… how’re we gonna hide all that?” Kate asked, waving at Jackie’s body. “Got any ideas? If we go with mine, you aren’t gonna like it, probably.”

  Jackie made another snarling face, which Kate thought meant something besides anger.

  “I hope to hide my nature in the same manner as I had prior,” Jackie said.

  She continued concentrating. Her snarl grew more pronounced, her gums began to show along with some of the saliva between her sharp teeth. The Mark had a slight glow that brightened up slightly as Jackie continued, but then it peaked as Jackie flinched in pain.

  Kate let Jackie calm down for a minute before prompting.

  “Got anything?” Kate asked.

  Jackie made that chuffing sound again, before speaking.

  “It seems that my Guise is beyond my reach.”

  “Was it a near thing at least?” Kate asked.

  “It felt as though it were just beyond my reach. Nearly, but not quite. I am unable to explain it.”

  “Yeah, but I think I got a good idea about that,” Kate said. She dug around in her side bag and grabbed all of the remaining dungeon stones, including those looted from the dogs. “Use these.” Kate handed them off to Jackie, who looked at them in confusion.

  “And what shall I do with these?”

  “Just try pressing them against that Mark of yours,” Kate explained.

  Jackie hesitated, seeming apprehensive. Kate motioned for her to go on. Jackie shrugged and compiled. As before, once the stones pressed against the Mark, they drained of light and then began to crumble in a way that stones seldom did.

  Jackie gasped and Kate nodded, grinning at that delightful sound. She imagined Jackie in lots of different ways.

  “It–there is warmth here,” Jackie said. “I am unsure of why, or just what happened. How did you know to try this?”

  “Eh.”

  Kate was hardly going to say out-loud, especially not near the city where who knew could be listening. But between the shrine, the godsmark, and the fact that gods were greedy villains, Kate had thought that something like that might work.

  Jackie examined the bits of translucent stone that were flaking away from her hand.

  “Oh,” Jackie said, shrinking in a bit on herself in a way that twinged at something deep within Kate. “But I ruined these.”

  Kate waved that off. “If it works, then good riddance. Couldn’t go about carrying that stuff anyways. Really don’t want any of that sort of attention.”

  Jackie nodded slowly, concentrating on a feeling by the looks of it, or feeling the urge to pee. Kate was unsure.

  “Well? Did it work?” Kate asked.

  “Just a moment, Sir Gaurdson,” Jackie said distractedly.

  Seconds later, an ethereal wispy substance began accumulating about Jackie’s body.

  “This is different than before,” Jackie commented.

  The level of spell or skill was unusual, to say the least. Kate found it fascinating to watch. The wispy stuff began to look thick and cloudy enough to almost pass for a solid, and then it thickened even more from there. When it finished, a familiar face was before Kate, although slightly shorter than before, and seemingly less vibrant and hale.

  “Good enough for now,” Kate said. “But we’ll need to see about keeping that Mark fed.”

  Jackie nodded but said nothing further.

  Kate led the way from there. They climbed up out of the pit, into the cellar full of broken bottles and moldy furniture, and then they exited into the slums of Southbridge. The stink and clamor of the city washed over them, and Kate breathed deeply through her nose.

  “Crown, but it’s good to be back,” Kate said.

  Jackie responded with far less enthusiasm. In fact, Jackie was either grimacing or sneering when they emerged, and Kate was unsure of which. Kate thought of asking, but decided it would be best to just leave the grimier parts of the city with haste, as clearly Jackie found the place distasteful.

  So, they traveled.

  Despite traveling through narrow alleys beneath tall and crooked buildings, neither Kate nor Jackie were accosted. Not a single sticky-fingered urchin, nor a diseased fool looking for a roll. It was not as though the streets and alleys were empty, because Kate saw plenty of the usual sort.

  “It seems wrong,” Kate complained. “Normally I’d get some action by now, y’know?”

  Jackie’s brow furrowed and her hair twitched oddly, proving that perhaps her disguise was less comprehensive than before. Kate made a note of that; it was worrisome, actually.

  “It may be that our current unwashed status is serving as a form of social camouflage,” Jackie explained.

  Kate puffed her cheeks out, but she could hardly deny that the both of them were a bit ripe and covered in grime.

  “Additionally, the fact your garments are covered in patterns of sprayed blood might be dissuading the sharper eyes.”

  “Yeah, but why you gotta say it like that?” Kate joked.

  It was as they came around a corner that Kate spotted a patrol of knights. It was at this point that Kate remembered knights often brought scryers with them, short ranged artificed devices meant to detect sources of ill-will against the Crown or other forms of deviancy. The devices were expensive to operate continually, and they were hardly comprehensive, but Kate worried that a scryer might pick up on Jackie’s disguised form.

  This led to Kate taking a drastic action.

  As soon as Kate saw the patrol and she realized her worry, she shot an arm out and grabbed Jackie’s shoulder, before flinging the girl backwards, into the alley they had been cutting through. Kate intended on keeping herself between Jackie and the knights, just in case, but she might have flung Jackie further than intended. Kate kept forgetting how light the other girl was.

  Jackie landed on her side in the alley, along one of the walls, where an unfortunately high pile of refuse had formed. Kate thought she might have even seen a few body parts sticking up from the heap.

  Without intending it, Kate had sent Jackie straight into this decomposing pile of rot, and Jackie was ill-pleased. Enough so that Jackie lost her habitual calm.

  “Foul!” Jackie said, almost swearing as she gagged from the smell.

  “Huh,” Kate said, scratching her head, keeping an eye both on the alley and on the patrol at the same time. It was a bit of an awkward position, but she made it look casual by leaning against the mouth of the alleyway, watching the flow of the pedestrians.

  “Why–” Jackie continued, likely to give Kate an earful, but the knights were heading down the street towards their position, and Kate wanted to avoid giving the knights any reason to focus upon either Kate or Jackie.

  If they recognized Kate, then there would be questions and delays and a likely interrogation, all before being brought before her mother. During this, Kate would be unable to keep an eye on Jackie, and it was possible that Jackie’s cover would be pierced.

  Kate felt justified in shushing Jackie to interrupt her, although Jackie’s face turned a shade of furious pink and her eyes narrowed to venomous slits. Kate might have gulped, but she explained as quickly and as succinctly as she could, which somewhat mollified Jackie.

  Jackie still looked unhappy, but at least she was keeping quiet as she tried to clean herself up.

  During this time, Kate got a better look at the knights, although they were still a ways off.

  The duo of knights were part of the lower order, meant for pacifying the streets and maintaining order. While their forays into the slums were infrequent compared to the size and population, they made the attempt of showing face, so to speak. It was the same order that Kate’s Aunt Janet was in, although there were multiple garrisons throughout the city, each with their own traditions. Kate recognized the insignias the knights wore, but with their helmets down and bodies covered in gear, Kate was unable to determine the knights’ identities.

  The knights kept alert as they went, continuously monitoring the sides of the street, their tail, and the buildings above them. They kept long-barreled arcbows at the ready, facing downward. Kate knew that those weapons could sweep the street several times before requiring fresh Chargers.

  She felt impressed by their diligence and nodded in approval, even if it was running counter to what Kate wanted at the time.

  When the duo paused in their journey, still two blocks away, Kate decided that she might have overreacted in shoving Jackie.

  “This was entirely unnecessary, Sir Gaurdson,” Jackie started with a cold voice.

  “Yeah?” Kate asked. “But how good’s your disguise? Think you can pass unnoticed with it?”

  Jackie scoffed, as though offended by the notion.

  “Yes, I do believe so,” Jackie said in a tight voice. “While there may have been some changes, and while there is some discomfort in maintaining my Guise, I have full confidence in its ability to perform as it had been doing so. In fact, I believe that it would have continued fooling you as well, if you had never learned the truth in the first place.”

  Kate scowled at the reminder of the deceit. But rather than get into it, she waved off Jackie. “Whatever. Don’t think you’re off the hook for that shit either…”

  As for the duo, their attention had been drawn to a far-away and out-of-sight commotion. All Kate learned of it was that there was a woman screaming hoarsely. The knights turned abruptly down a side-street, leaving Kate’s field of vision.

  Meanwhile, Jackie continued her efforts to clean herself, muttering all the while.

  “Completely foul,” Jackie said under her breath. “Ridiculous brute, shoving me into this–” Jackie wiped some stray chunk of slime off her leg, but ended up only smearing it further. “-cannot believe the fool–to avoid attention too–just–ugh!”

  Kate wanted to respond as she heard more than one insult leveled her way, but after watching Jackie’s vain struggles to get clean, Kate decided to remain silent on it. Kate supposed she had some of those words coming.

  In hindsight, Kate’s fears were tad overblown, but she still thought it was good to stay vigilant. However, the evidence spoke for itself as Jackie and Kate were able to pass several knights without issue. They crossed the highway dividing the slums from the rest of the city, and passed several soft chokepoints where pedestrian traffic was monitored.

  At no point were any alarms raised, meaning that Jackie’s disguise at the very least passed cursory examinations.

  When the two of them reached the mercantile district, Kate dragged the both of them to a bathhouse. Normally she would have insisted on one of higher quality, but with how filthy they had come in, there was a chance that a nicer place would have turned them away.

  Kate considered it more of a pre-soak.

  It felt good to get clean, although much vigorous scrubbing was required with ultra-course stones and heavy-lye soap. It stung the eyes, and other places.

  Of course, cleaning off all the gunk would have been pointless were they to immediately hop back in to their filthy garments, so they paid a servant to run and get some fresh clothes, though they were ill-fitting and untailored. The shirt was a bit too tight on Kate, and Jackie’s was a bit too loose.

  The final test that confirmed Jackie’s disguise though, came when they passed the checkpoint at the bottom of Blossom Hill. However, it seemed that the peacekeepers recognized both Jackie and Kate and waved them both through, without any additional delays.

  The peacekeepers did glare at both of them though.

  As Kate passed the peacekeepers by, she faked them out, pretending to lunge at them.

  They flinched and Kate smirked.

  “Got ya,” Kate said.

  From there, they climbed the hill up towards Ma’Ritz, where Jackie still intended to live. It was a bizarre choice, although Kate supposed that living in a whore-house would come with some nice benefits. But no matter those benefits, they could never outweigh the penalty to reputation and safety that Jackie was taking by living there.

  And then there were the other issues, which Jackie had yet to touch upon. Kate decided to bring this all up, despite her lack of skill in doing so, for it was not often that Kate became the voice of reason.

  Kate tried all the same.

  “So, uh, Jackie…” Kate started awkwardly. They had climbed roughly halfway up the hill at this point, and it was past time to bring it up. “How’re you planning on telling your boss or governess or whatever what happened down under? And maybe you could, like, avoid the whole problem by finding a better place to live now, rather than heading back? It has to have occurred to you that it’s a problem, yeah?”

  If Jackie were to find a fresh place to live, Kate was positive that she could help. Although Kate was unsure of exactly how somebody went about doing that. The only thing Kate could think of that was a sure bet was something that Kate was absolutely not about to share.

  Privately, Kate was wondering how she would go about bringing Jackie home to live with her. Her estate had plenty of space, but her mother could be pretty stern about stuff like that. Kate, of course, could not bring Jackie in as a human. There was no way Jackie’s disguise was that good, and besides, her mother would never let a strange girl live there, especially one without a letter of introduction, because of course Kate’s own word was worthless in that regard.

  But, and this was where it got dicey, if Kate brought home a kunbeorn, there was plenty of space in the stables. Kate just wondered at the logistics of sneaking Jackie in through the house to her room, or out off the estate for dates and stuff. Kate thought she might be able to figure it out, but she knew there was no way Jackie would ever agree to anything of the sort. Not after getting to know the girl.

  After Kate finished bringing it up to Jackie, Jackie seemed a bit confused at why there would be a problem. She hardly spent any time there anymore, so it barely registered to Jackie that to the rest of the world, it looked like Jackie was a night worker.

  The fact that Jackie was so slow on the uptake to see the problem exasperated Kate, and Kate began to wonder if Jackie was messing with her or playing the fool.

  Running out of patience, Kate spoke more bluntly than before.

  “It’s a whorehouse. You live with whores.”

  Jackie glared at Kate.

  “That is rather uncouth, and uncharitable. The profession is completely legal, and besides, there are plenty of high end courtesans called upon by the gentry, so I hardly see a problem.”

  Even Kate knew that there was a difference here.

  “Yeah, but nah. I’m calling it like it is. Nothing’s wrong with them, ‘course. Nobody hates a good romp. But you can be doing way better. Wouldn’t you like a big bed, sheets, less noisy nights? Think it looks good on your friends, what, with you living in a place like that?”

  Jackie quieted down as she seemed to be mulling it all over.

  “I take it you have a different idea for accommodations?”

  “Not yet, but you could find other places. There’s always boarding houses, though a lot of them have requirements and whatnot. Look into it, is what I’m saying.”

  “Perhaps I shall. I had been thinking of doing so for some time now anyway.”

  “Yeah, exactly. Besides, I’m not sure how welcome you’ll still be there, y’know, considering.”

  Jackie pursed her lips and canted her head.

  Is this girl in denial? Kate thought. Kate wanted to groan.

  “Jackie. How will you break the news to them? Y’know, about what’s-her-face, Marianne?”

  Jackie froze.

  Her lips quivered just slightly.

  Her eyes began to water.

  Kate swore internally. She had seen this sort of thing happen before. Bringing bad news home had been her duty more than a few times, and she recognized what was happening, alright. Kate regretted that she had brought it up in transit, instead of after they had already reached the tavern attached to Ma’Ritz. At least that way Kate could have had a drink while this went down.

  Jackie shuddered silently, mouthing Marianne’s name, before gasping, eyes unfocused, lost in some memory.

  Mother, no. No!”

  As though she could turn back time or somehow fix it, Jackie made a sudden reversal and tried taking off down the hill, likely back towards the smuggler’s entrance.

  Kate was ready for the hysterics and intercepted Jackie before Jackie got more than a step.

  “Godslick it Jackie!” Kate swore, holding Jackie back by the elbow while Jackie ineffectually pulled and squirmed to get away. “Don’t be dumb. Nothing you can do about it now, besides.”

  “Nothing I can do?” Jackie repeated, sounding desperate and winded. Her brow had grown damp and her hair grew more disarrayed somehow.

  “We left her behind. I hadn’t even realized it, and we… No… what will I tell her?”

  “Yeah?” Kate asked. “Tell who, your boss?”

  “Esmerelda… How… how will I…”

  Jackie was all out of sorts, but at least she had stopped squirming, so there was that. Kate had begun to gently pull Jackie along, wanting to hit the tavern sooner rather than later. Better just to rip the bandage off and bleed a little, in Kate’s mind.

  Thinking of getting her first drink in what felt like forever, Kate sped up, dragging Jackie along.

  “This–” Jackie began, but sputtered as Kate yanked a bit harder than necessary “-slow down!”

  Minutes later, they had reached Ma’Ritz.

  Kate ignored the brothel side of things, instead angling towards the rowdier side where other appetites were sated. Jackie had resigned herself to being pulled along at this point, and only barely responded to Kate’s prompts.

  Kate ignored Jackie’s sullen behavior and quickly picked out one of Kate’s favorite tables, before waving over one of the wenches.

  Kate thought the wench might have been new.

  But while Kate failed to recognize the serving girl, at least some of the staff recognized Kate and Jackie. There was a bit of a buzz as the people all chatted amongst themselves, but Kate paid them no mind, instead focusing on her sweet-and-heavy cocktail. The citrus fuzzed on Kate’s tongue and Kate pounded two of them down by the time somebody came to talk to them, or rather, to Jackie.

  In came a giant of a woman, at least seven feet, rounded proportionately, and a sort of sturdy beauty with an inexplicable allure. Kate suspected an enhancement of some sort was at play, not that it mattered, really. It was almost expected, given where the statuesque woman worked.

  The large woman, apparently named Esmerelda Bogswraith, came straight to their table at the same time that Kate started on her third citrusy cocktail. Kate felt content to ignore it all, letting Jackie deal with it, since it was Jackie’s mess to begin with.

  “Jackie?” Esmerleda said. “You’re back… but where is Marianne, has she been delayed? I would have thought that you would have all returned together…”

  Jackie grimaced and broke eye contact with the giant.

  Esmerelda’s eyes widened. Her mouth hung open for a second.

  “Jackie?” Esmerelda prompted in an almost whisper.

  Kate watched with disinterest. She had seen this more than enough to know it always sucked. But this ‘so-called’ Esmerelda was going through something every other fresh widower did, at least when Kate had been playing the messenger. First there was disbelief that something wrong had occurred. Then there was hope that somehow the recipient had misunderstood the messenger’s intent. Then came an encroaching horror and grief.

  It. Always. Sucked.

  But, it was Jackie’s business, not Kates.

  Kate pounded her drink and resisted the sudden urge to belch.