“This is good,” Neon said, licking fish juices off her fingers. “I haven’t really done much with the cooking mechanics in the game, but I gotta remember that. Trout, mushrooms, wild onions, and wild thyme, right?”

“The Cast Iron Pan will increase the odds it’ll work right,” Elavetha said. “Plus practice to increase your Cooking skill. But it’s a hard recipe to fail completely. I’ve found other great combos. Most of them are fish-based or have no meat at all—Jess does ethical fish and dairy and eggs but usually won’t eat even virtual meat.”

“Not a problem, I’m good with fish.”

“I’ll make sure you get my recipe list.”

Calico Pixie finished her plain fish and sat down next to Jessamine to wash her face, purring audibly.

“I love,” Jessamine said, “that the game devs even included something as small as some really wonderful food flavours if you find the right combinations.” She laughed. “And some that are not so wonderful if you do the wrong...” She paused. “Do you hear something?”

“Those are derrows screeching,” Neon said. “Who the hell was stupid enough to stir them up?”

Elavetha’s forehead furrowed. “I hope that Faun kid I saw isn’t in the middle of that.”

“Faun kid? And should we think about moving, maybe? I don’t want to deal with an agitated swarm.”

“I’m on it,” Jessamine said, getting up and brushing off her loose divided riding skirt. “Keep enjoying your lunch.” She urged big roan Titania and donkey Toffee closer to the campfire, which still left them grass to graze; they belonged to her permanent party and responded to her without hesitation. Neon’s nightmare stallion Wildfire stood a little taller and sturdier than Glitter, his coat gleaming black, his mane and tail fiery scarlet shading through orange to yellow and his muzzle and ear-tips and asymmetrical stockings on his hind legs deep maroon; his tack was all yellow and black. Jessamine hadn’t had time to build a positive relationship with him, but they were part of the same temporary party, at least, and the offer of an apple was enough to lead him into place.

Glitter, on the other hand, watched her mistress intensely, and after Jessamine made a couple of hand gestures and murmured something under her breath, the unicorn followed her in a ragged circle that encompassed the entire campsite. They even splashed through the water, Jessamine with her skirt hiked up in both hands, so they’d all have access to that. When she finished, she completed the spell with another gesture and two more syllables.

Light flashed, sunrise colours of red and copper and yellow, and faded to leave a glowing line on the ground exactly where Jessamine had stepped.

Jessamine returned to her place by the small fire. “Nothing to worry about,” she said nonchalantly. “It would take more than a derrow swarm to get through that barrier. Even if they find us and attack, we can just wait them out.”

“That is a sweet bit of magic,” Neon said admiringly. “I don’t think I’ve seen that before, not on this scale instead of just immediately around the caster and maybe a mount. Not going to wear you out?”

Jessamine shook her head. “Not while Glitter and Pixie are healthy and in reach. What Faun kid, Ela?”

“Idunno, maybe not a kid. For all I know, he’s middle-aged and seven feet tall. He was out scouting while Neon was fishing and Jess was starting the fire and I was collecting the rest of our lunch. He said he’s with others. I told him that if he’s with that bunch we saw at the outpost, and they start bullying him, leave them and come find us. He recognized your name, Neon. His was, um... Iphis?”

“I don’t know anyone by that name,” Neon said. “And I’d remember it—that’s out of Greek mythology.”

“I don’t know that one,” Jessamine said curiously.

“There are a few with the same name, but the one I remember’s a bit of a transgender one. Dad says to pregnant wife, ‘Make it a boy, I’m exposing any girls for the wildlife.’ Mom prays to... Isis, I think, she was big in Greece for a while, and Isis says, ‘Don’t sweat it, tell him you had a boy and raise the kid that way, it’s all good.’ Iphis grows up totally a boy and no one knows about his girl bits, although Idunno how given the Greek thing about exercising in the nude. Dad arranges a marriage with a girl called Ianthe, and Mom goes back to the temple of Isis to pray again because, y’know, it’s about to get really hard to keep the cover story. Presto, Isis changes Iphis’ body to match his self. Happily ever after. Annoyingly, a lot of versions keep using female pronouns for Iphis until after the change.”

“Figures,” Elavetha muttered.

“Maybe Isis gave Iphis a really good strap-on,” Jessamine laughed. “And Ianthe liked girls anyway, or at least was okay with confirming that yep, absolutely, new hubby is a big bad stud who rocked my world last night.”

Neon grinned. “Sounds fun. Anyway, I’d remember a Faun with a name like that. But he said he knew me?”

“Just that, ah... what was it?” Elavetha chewed her lower lip, thinking. “Something about you having our back or something. Positive stuff, anyway.”

“Huh. Maybe I teamed up with him when he was playing a different character or something. Mostly I’m more likely to party with women, for whatever local and immediate value of that term, but I’m okay with guys who aren’t doing the macho thing. What bunch from the outpost? It’s not very common to have two parties wandering around here.”

“OP orc streamer and his guild,” Jessamine said. “Min-max if-it-moves-kill-it types. They probably went after the derrows on purpose. Can’t think why.”

“Me either,” Neon said. “Even on bad days when I’m mad at the world and want to take it out on something, those little bastards are more frustrating than satisfying.”

“Whatever floats their boat,” Elavetha said.

Half a dozen derrows screeched as they charged into sight: scrawny humanoids some two feet tall, covered partly in drab stone-coloured skin of greys and browns and dull yellows, partly in chitin that formed natural armour and looked even more like rock. All were empty-handed, but those claws could inflict nasty small cuts that did minimal damage each but piled up fast and carried the risk of [Poison] or [Infection] debuffs.

They scrabbled at the shield, growing more and more irate, and others appeared in response to their cries.

Jessamine cut a slice off an apple and bit into it, watching them calmly. Glitter and Pixie paid no attention to the would-be wave of attackers; Elavetha and Titania and Toffee weren’t quite as sanguine, but largely ignored it. Wildfire snorted and stomped a ruby hoof, tossing his head, and Neon cast an uneasy look at the derrows no more than three feet from her.

“They can’t get through,” Jessamine said. “Not unless my goddess abruptly rejects me, which won’t happen, or I suddenly run out of mana, which I won’t because Glitter and Pixie are safe in here with us. There’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“Do you do attack spells too?”

“No. I’m not allowed to do damage or destruction spells. Protective, healing, charm, some enhancements and alterations, a few ways to incapacitate or distract. They might not sound like much, but the whole idea is to think things through instead of charging in blindly swinging the largest weapon available. Everything I have only works on living things.”

“Which goddess are you following?”

“Ever hear of the Temple of Dusk and Dawn?”

“Yes, vaguely. Isn’t that a pretty minor cult?”

“Why would that be a surprise, if it doesn’t allow damage spells at all? Not many people are going to take a chance on that.”

“That’s a very good point.”

“Liaven is basically the goddess of the grey areas in between black and white. The whole creed is about acceptance and understanding and flexibility, which also means peace and non-aggression. It’s tricky to play sometimes, but it’s worth it. I was given both Pixie and Glitter as rewards for tasks Liaven set me, along with some very cool spells.”

“Sweet.”

“I would have died more, early-on, without Ela protecting me.”

“Worth it,” Elavetha chuckled. “Having a kick-ass healer in reach all the time pretty much makes up for all the inconvenience right at the start. There’ve been times we’ve wished for another fighter around, not just me with my bow or my shortsword, but we’ve managed.”

“I only do close-in fighting,” Neon said. “Never got into anything ranged. But then, Cambions are resistant to just about everything—Poison, elemental attacks, that kind of thing—and I automatically start to regenerate the instant I take damage, so I can afford to get right in close. There’s just something so viscerally savagely enjoyable, on days I hate humanity, about thumping the shit out of someone or something that asks for it, and feeling the impact. Okay, that makes me sound like a psycho.”

“Not really,” Jessamine said. “Getting it out of your system in a game seems like a better solution than doing it in real life.”

“Pretty much what I figured.” She looked at the derrows, currently climbing each other in an attempt to find the top of the shield. “Looks like we might be here for a bit.”

“Oh well. If we don’t get where we’re going today, that’s fine. It’ll be there tomorrow. Beautiful weather and location for a picnic with a new friend, despite the annoying background sounds. What’s there to stress over?”

“Agreed.”