“So,” Priscilla said after the revelation Illnyea was headed south, “do we keep burning the incense? Or should we snuff it out before we head out?”

  “It clearly doesn’t work,” Sulaiman said, already slinging his pack around to his front, “so there’s no use in keeping it.”

  Kavil suddenly groped for his own pack, throwing it open and searching through it. He let out a small sound of triumph as he pulled out his prize as Sulaiman snuffed the incense out with his bare fingers.

  “This should help keep the bugs away, at least,” Kavil said, holding up the pouch of herbs the mercenary Finnley had gifted to Priscilla. “I forgot I packed it away until now.”

  Priscilla opened her mouth to tell Kavil to put it away before she closed it, thinking it over instead of dismissing the idea out of hand. While there was a chance that the herbs had somehow attracted the Firebog Wolves, it seemed unlikely with how strong the incense smell was. Even without it actively burning, it still clung to them like a persistent musk, so it may be a while until the lemony smell faded completely.

  Priscilla hesitated too long and Kavil tied the bundle of herbs to his belt. He straightened, giving Priscilla what he likely thought was a reassuring smile.

  Sulaiman was staring at the marble with a pensive expression when Priscilla looked at him for help, so she held back a sigh and kept her mouth shut.

  They fell back into the same marching order and began following the marble’s pull once more. However, instead of walking blindly into the fog, they now had a system. Every ten feet or so, Sulaiman would let out a controlled burst of heat to clear away the fog within their path. It certainly lowered the likelihood of them being attacked again, but Priscilla couldn’t help but to think that it was a waste of mana.

  One glimpse of Sulaiman’s profile discouraged Priscilla from voicing that thought. It wasn’t her magic that was being wasted afterall, and while she didn't enjoy the prickling pain that went through her body each time Sulaiman cleared away the fog, no magic meant no opinion.

  A duplicitous patch of ground had Sulaiman’s foot sinking into his calf added a new routine after Priscilla and Kavil helped free him. Sulaiman found a large branch and was stabbing it down into the ground several feet ahead of him before trusting the path before him.

  They followed the marble in silence for nearly two hours before it tried to take them straight through a shallow but wide pond. Sulaiman held up his arm to stop them roughly five feet from the shore.

  “If that monstrous crab you mentioned doesn’t live here,” Sulaiman said quietly, just barely turning his head to speak over his shoulder, “it’d be the first pleasant surprise all day.”

  Priscilla was thinking the same thing as she unhooked her bat, and a squeeze from Asha confirmed that suspicion. The pond may not seem especially deep, but it stretched just far enough that it looked like it might be a longer detour than anyone wanted.

  “While we can attempt to avoid it by going around it, I’d rather not leave an ambusher predator at our backs,” Sulaiman continued, tucking the marble into his pocket and unsheathing his sword. “I’ll lure it out, and you get ready to attack it from the side, Priscilla. Kavil, stay back but keep your crossbow ready. On three. One, two, three–”

  Priscilla readied herself, inching closer to the pond as Sulaiman tossed the stick he had been using to test the ground at the edge of the lake.

  From the water came two large pinchers that snapped forward to clamp onto the thick piece of wood. Priscilla sprinted forward, bringing her bat down onto the main shell that poked out from above the water. Her calf felt a little tight but it didn’t slow her down. A loud crack ran down the shell as the metal connected and the crab immediately made several angry clicking noises as it started to turn towards its attacker.

  That was the last thing it got to do, as soon as the crab’s attention was pulled away, Sulaiman had darted forward to drive his sword deep between the crab’s eyes. The pinchers twisted violently but remained clamped around the wood as the body shuddered. Then the crab abruptly went limp in the water.

  Sulaiman pulled out his sword and stabbed the crab’s head once more, like he had to make sure the creature was dead.

  They all just stared at the creature for a moment and Priscilla was momentarily underwhelmed with how easy that had been. Then she scolded herself for that thought – of course it’d be easy, take away the ambush for ambush hunters and they were easy pickings.

  “You two ate something like that back in Grazda, right?” Kavil said, breaking the silence.

  Priscilla was so startled by the question and the summoned image of someone trying to cook a four foot crab and despairing that a laugh escaped her.

  “We ate far tinier versions,” Priscilla said, attaching her bat back to her belt. “You’d need one hell of a pot to cook these ones.”

  Kavil eyed the crab with interest. “Can you cook it without a pot?”

  Priscilla had never considered that before and tilted her head.

  “The best preparation is to poach them in butter,” Priscilla said, “and I know you can bake it, but besides that, you definitely need a pot.”

  Sulaiman had pulled out the marble and recovered the larger half of his stick by yanking it out of the claws.

  “Are we ready to get going again?” Sulaiman asked perfunctorily, glancing towards them. “Or are we going to keep discussing gourmet food while surrounded by monsters?”

  “Yeah, I’m–” Priscilla’s words cut off as her stomach rumbled loudly, likely spurred on by the talk of eating crab.

  Her cheeks flushed as no one said anything so it felt like the sound was still echoing around them.

  “Um, ignore that,” Priscilla said quickly. “I can just scarf down a snack while we walk.”

  Sulaiman stared at Priscilla, eyebrows furrowed in a way that made Priscilla’s embarrassment just that much more acute.

  “You should have more than just a snack if you can,” Kavil said hesitantly when no one said anything. “Your body is probably hungry because of the calories it burned while healing.”

  Sulaiman’s stare momentarily turned to Kavil before resettling on Priscilla.

  “I’m fine, really,” Priscilla said, giving Sulaiman her best honest expression. “There’s no need to stop on my behalf.”

  Sulaiman immediately frowned and he said, “We’ll rest for ten minutes.”

  And Priscilla’s excuses withered on her tongue as her stomach rumbled once more, happy at the chance to eat and thus sealing her fate.

  Priscilla knelt on the slightly less damp grass with a sigh, searching through her pack to pull out three grain bars and a bag of dried fruit. Now that she was aware of her empty stomach, Priscilla felt famished as she threw a few pieces of fruit in her mouth to wet her appetite. Sulaiman stood nearby, flipping open his pocket watch to check the time and frowning at whatever he saw.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “I’ve been wondering,” Kavil asked conversationally as he pulled out his own rations, “where’d you get your watch, Sulaiman? The design carved into it is beautiful.”

  Priscilla took a bite of her bar, watching as Sulaiman stilled. She was curious too, but hadn’t gotten around to asking him about it yet.

  Sulaiman closed the watch covering, glancing at Kavil with an unreadable expression.

  “An adventurer gave it to me,” Sulaiman said, wrapping his fingers around the watch but not putting it back.

  “Oh!” Kavil said, perking up. “The same one that taught you the sword?”

  Sulaiman looked away, fingers flexing around the watch. “Yes.”

  Priscilla’s chewing slowed as her brain connected the dots, pulling on TDE lore.

  It must have been Aldren Ambros then, the man that had given Sulaiman the tools to forge his own path in life. In the story, Sulaiman insisted that the man had only been a temporary teacher he had long since parted ways with, and rarely spoke of him unless directly prodded.

  In five years, Sulaiman was supposed to interact with the man once more, and it wasn’t a happy reunion.

  Aldren had gotten involved with the Mercenary King’s corps since teaching Sulaiman, rising through the ranks until he was a commanding officer. Sulaiman met him on the opposite sides of a battle as Illnyea’s party was repelling the Mercenary King’s attempt to take over the Elven city of Cloudcross. Aldren gave Sulaiman compliments on his improved skills and an offer to join his troops even as Aldren was forced to retreat. Sulaiman refused but his connection with Aldren didn’t stay secret, and Sulaiman quickly received a letter of blackmail threatening to expose that fact to the papers.

  Sulaiman capitulated to the demands so Illnyea’s reputation didn’t suffer while she was trying to convince nobles to provide support to deal with the rest of the Mercenary King’s forces. Long story short, the arc ended with Sulaiman being exposed anyway and being given an ultimatum – bring back Aldren’s head or the entire party would be exiled from the Elven kingdom. His party tried to argue against it, but Sulaiman wasn’t one to shy away from the hard decisions and accepted the magical brand that would force him to complete the mission.

  Aldren died three days later by Sulaiman’s hand, everything except his head burned to a crisp. He didn’t go without a fight, leaving a burning sword slash across Sulaiman’s face before he died.

  Sulaiman refused to let the wound be treated, as he said the scar would be, “A reminder to myself of the weakness of sentimentality.”

  Taking another bite, Priscilla considered what to say.

  From what she remembered, Aldren had viewed joining the Mercenary King’s force as succumbing to the inevitable rather than trying to struggle and end up dying for nothing. He tried hard to convince Sulaiman to join him, as Sulaiman had been his most talented student. From what was suggested by the narrative, Aldren had the chance to go for a killing blow on Sulaiman, but chose to inflict a shallower wound that opened himself up to Sulaiman’s counterattack.

  Sulaiman had become colder after he killed Aldren and Priscilla hoped they would be able to avoid that future. She had five years before it came about. Priscilla may not be able to do anything to change Aldren’s decisions because she didn’t know where the fuck he was, she could make Sulaiman more comfortable talking openly about himself. It was harder to be blackmailed if a secret wasn’t so secret.

  “They must have thought you were one hell of a student,” Priscilla said after she swallowed, “if they gave you a memento to remember them by.”

  Sulaiman’s dark gaze snapped to Priscilla.

  She raised her eyebrows and took another bite. “Don’t give me that face. I’m only speaking the truth – that watch looks like it’s made of pure silver, hardly the thing you give to a child on a whim.”

  “He hadn’t planned on giving it to me,” Sulaiman snapped and then looked angry that he had spoken.

  “Really?” Kavil asked, the one word clearly an invitation to tell a story as Kavil started eating his own food.

  Sulaiman glared at Kavil and then glared even harder at Priscilla like it was her fault, even though this was one of the few times it wasn’t. But Priscilla felt like she had prodded enough at the sore topic already and didn’t want to start an argument or cause friction when that could ruin their teamwork when they didn’t need to extra tension when they were going to face The Starving One.

  “You don’t have to tell us about it,” Priscilla said even as Kavil gave her a disappointed look, “but you should eat something while we’re resting.”

  Sulaiman said nothing, did nothing, just glared at Priscilla.

  She sighed loudly and plainly.

  “You have to sit down at least,” Priscilla said as she waved her bar to gesture at him. “You’re making me tired just looking at you.”

  “Then stop looking at me,” Sulaiman said sharply.

  Priscilla took a bite of her bar as judgmentally as she could, not looking away. They had a staring contest as Kavil looked between them nervously before Sulaiman let out a short, angry breath, muttering something indistinguishable.

  But he did sit down stiffly, glaring at Priscilla as he gave her a, ‘are you happy now?’ expression. She was, actually, and gave him an approving nod.

  “Do you want some dried fruit?” Kavil asked tentatively.

  Sulaiman let out a very deep sigh, momentarily closing his eyes to pinch the bridge of his nose. When he reopened his eyes, Sulaiman had a resigned look about him as he took off his pack and slowly wrapped his watch around his wrist.

  “I have my own,” Sulaiman said curtly. He ate his dried fruit with sharp, irritated movements, his gaze never stopping as he scanned their surroundings.

  Priscilla was content to leave things as it was and took another bite of the grain bar. It was decent enough food, better than the crumbly Nature Valley bars she subsided on during finals week, but next time they traveled, Priscilla would pester Mr. Ordan to help her find some cooking utensils to bring with. She wasn’t good at cooking, but fresh food was almost always better than food meant to last for months.

  But it seemed Kavil wasn’t content to leave them in silence as he asked, “Priscilla, when we find your sister, what do you plan to do?”

  Priscilla took a drink of water as she considered the unexpected question, pushing away the brief fear of Illnyea suffering from an overload before they found her. Sulaiman’s scanning paused, as if he too wanted to know her answer.

  “Well, firstly, I’d like to give her a hug,” Priscilla said, which made Kavil smile, “but that’s only if she’s not injured. If that’s the case, I’m tossing her at you until you make Illnyea the healthiest bitch in all the land. How about you, Sulaiman? You gonna give her the lecture of a lifetime?”

  Sulaiman finally deigned to look back at them again.

  “I will,” Sulaiman said and it sounded like a threat. “I told her that Rudy was untrustworthy and what does she do? Follow that imbecile into the fens.”

  Priscilla snorted, joking, “Tell us how you really feel.”

  Surprisingly, Sulaiman obliged.

  “The man has more greed than sense,” Sulaiman said, his voice scathing, “and the only reason he’s as successful as he has been is because he’s an old friend of Cian Thornewood. If that man hadn’t had the luck to encounter Cian in his youth, then Rudy would have withered away like all the other two-bit merchants who grasp at today’s profits instead looking towards tomorrow’s. He’s selfish, his personality is grating, and he’s an objective waste of oxygen–”

  Sulaiman suddenly cut himself off, as if his mind finally caught up to what his mouth was saying.

  “Don’t stop now,” Priscilla teased, “I love a good bitch-fest.”

  “Gives us a bit of entertainment while we eat,” Kavil said eagerly.

  Sulaiman looked between the two of them with an odd expression before sighing.

  “If you insist,” Sulaiman said, “then I’ll regale you with the many sins of Rudy Flaren.”

  Sulaiman definitely had a bone to pick with Rudy based on how easily he came up with creative ways to insult the man’s intelligence, pride, sense of style, and overall countenance. It was fascinating to listen to and Priscilla couldn’t help smiling as Sulaiman implied that Rudy’s temperamental nature was a direct result of living a life in Cian’s more successful shadow. It was a nice break that helped Priscilla forget the trauma of earlier that day and kept her mind off the state they might find Illnyea in.

  But Sulaiman timed the end of his rant with the end of their break and stood up. He seemed less stressed now that he had the chance to rant and Priscilla rose as well with nary a complaint.

  Another hour of travel went by without much incident, though they did lure out and kill one more Carnifex Crab. The woods had grown denser as they marched south and they could no longer see any signs of daylight above them. The fog lingered persistently, slowly oozing over the ground even after Sulaiman cleared it out. They once again assumed the position of holding onto each other’s packs to make sure they didn’t get lost.

  Priscilla felt static electricity build against her skin, making her hand stand on end as her entire right side exploded with the pain she had come to associate with building magic.

  Kavil had paused, looking to the right as sharp panic went through Priscilla’s bond with Asha, saying, “Do you hear–”

  Priscilla lunged forward, grabbing both Sulaiman’s and Kavil’s arms. She dragged them towards the ground as she went fully limp while clinging to them, catching them both off guard.

  The boys let out near identical sounds of confusion as they fell but were swiftly silenced by the crackle of electricity as a jagged bolt of sickly purple lightning streaked above their heads by inches, crashing into the tree behind them to shower them with a spray of splinters. Priscilla felt something hot against her neck and smacked it with Asha when she realized the edge of her ribbon had caught fire.

  “Oh? You dodged that?” A masculine voice drifted through the air before a figure stepped out of the fog. He was tall, taller than Sulaiman, and well-built with paint the color of dried blood covering his chest, the same swirling pattern that had been on the summoning stone. Their attacker was clothed in ragged pants and the pelt of a Firebog Wolf, the wolf’s face pulled down so low that it gave the illusion of staring into the wolf’s eyes. In his hands was a nasty looking metallic club that was still crackling with purple sparks.

  The man smiled, baring his pointy teeth as he raised that club at them. “You weren’t the prey I was hoping to catch, but you’ll do. Her Glory needs to eat after all.”