The storm was still raging outside when we fell asleep, though I found the rhythmic patter of the rainfall against the window oddly soothing. The room only had one bed, which meant I was greeted in the morning by a naked Kaseya in my arms and a naked Valuri pressed up against my back. I actually might have enjoyed the sensation more than waking up with my cock in their mouths, as hard as that was to believe.

Not that I really had to choose. Valuri, eager to feed, stroked me to full length barely a minute after I first stirred, and Kaseya dutifully took me into her throat once I was ready. Just before I burst, she pulled away and pumped my load all over Valuri’s tits and stomach, and while the Senosi rolled around in gluttonous, post-coital bliss, Kaseya and I cleaned up and organized our equipment.

The amazon didn’t say a word about sorcery or the moshalim or anything else related to our discovery, and I respected her silence. She seemed completely focused on the task at hand, which was probably for the best. Still, I dreaded our next encounter with her sister. I had no idea how Kaseya would react to another round of Ayrael’s taunts. I wasn’t looking forward to getting chopped in half, either, but for whatever reason, the threat of painful death seemed paltry by comparison. Relationships were strange like that.

The roads and fields were so muddy and slick that we left our horses at the stable and braved the path south on foot. On Kaseya’s suggestion, we hugged the edge of the lake as long as we could before we eventually veered southeast toward the pass. She called out all the most obvious ambush points as we passed, and I made a mental note of each of them in anticipation of our return trip. I really hoped these Falcon Guard mercenaries were worth the gold Telanya was paying them…

We camped one last time on the plains before reaching the Highvale Pass early the next morning. That gave us almost half a day before the scheduled rendezvous, which was exactly what I’d hoped for all along. The rocky terrain between the mountains featured a thousand potential ambush points, and I wanted to ensure that the Senosi weren’t already waiting for the caravan. While I stretched out with my magic and searched for any signs of Aetheric echoes, Kaseya swept the area for tracks and Valuri set up traps in a few choice locations. We spent so much of our time traveling and fucking around—often literally—that I had almost forgotten how well our skills complimented each other.

By midafternoon, we found ourselves a comfortable perch along the ridge where we could watch the whole pass, and we settled in and took turns keeping watch. A few hours before sunset, we finally found what we were looking for.

“There they are,” Kaseya announced, squinting through the spyglass. “I see five soldiers on each side of the carriage, plus the driver and three horses.”

Valuri flipped over and shielded her eyes against the sun. “What are the odds they start shooting at us the moment we approach them?”

“Too high,” I murmured, taking the spyglass. The carriage was larger than I expected and probably heavier, too, considering the size of the draft horses pulling it along. The soldiers on either side were traveling on foot while their leader steered from the saddle.

“They certainly look professional enough,” Valuri commented. “Expensive armor and weapons, elaborate tabards…no one would ever confuse them with any of the rag-tag companies back home.”

“Should we move out to greet them?” Kaseya asked. “The longer we wait, the more suspicious they will become of us lurking in the ridgeline.”

I let out a deep breath and nodded. This was all going precisely according to plan so far, but I still couldn’t unwind the anxious knots twisting in my stomach. Something just didn’t feel right…

“Let’s go,” I said. “But keep your guard up.”

We shimmied our way down the hill and slowly maneuvered through the rocky path back to the road. When we finally emerged into direct view of the mercenaries, I was careful to ensure that we were plainly visible for a solid quarter mile before the caravan reached us. Unsurprisingly, the guards stopped the wagon and sent a man ahead to greet us.

“Identify yourself!” he called out, his hand clenched around the handle of his unsheathed sword.

“Our employer thought you could use some backup,” I said, holding out the inscribed medallion Telanya had given me. “We’re here to help.”

The man stopped a good fifty feet away from us, his eyes squinting at the symbol on the medallion. I could barely see his face beneath his upturned visor, but I could tell he was one ugly son of a bitch.

His head cocked slightly. “Lord Martel promised to send a whole squad.”

“Well, we’re all that’s coming,” I said. “But we pack a punch, don’t worry.”

After staring at us for another moment, he made a hand signal to the rest of the caravan before he approached closer. “Two women and a fop with a ruffled shirt,” he sneered. “And here I thought Martel was taking this seriously.”

“Well, he did hire you,” Valuri said. “So evidently not.”

It was hard not to wince. It was even harder not to elbow her in the gut.

“We can handle ourselves just fine, don’t worry,” I said, opening my palm and summoning a crackling ball of Aetheric energy. “The boss thought you might need a little extra firepower.”

To his credit, the man didn’t recoil at the sight of magic. He just stared at us in contempt for another moment before the wagon finally caught up.

“They’re your problem—you deal with it,” he muttered to the driver.

The man in the saddle—a thirtysomething human with short, dark hair and an out-of-place appreciation for basic hygiene compared to his companions—chuckled softly and held out his hand.

“The name’s Koth,” he said. “Romar Koth. Sorry for the rough greeting—we just needed to make sure who we were dealing with.”

“I understand completely,” I assured him, shaking his offered hand. “I’m Jorem. Kaseya is the one in red; Valuri is the one in black.”

Koth nodded at each of them and grinned. “It’s not often you see a man wandering the pass with two beautiful, heavily armed women on his flank.”

“He’s just lucky,” Valuri said. “Incredibly, unbelievably lucky.”

“So it would seem,” the man replied dryly. “You’re Vorsalosian, huh? I haven’t heard that accent in a while.”

“I’m sure it’s a little strange given the nature of the danger you’re expecting,” I conceded, “but who better to fight your enemy than someone who knows how they think?”

“Fair enough.” Koth eyed the rest of his men and signaled for them to fan back out around the caravan. “You’ll have to forgive my soldiers for leering. Some of them haven’t seen a woman in weeks…and most of them have never seen an amazon.”

“They can stare all they like, so long as they do their jobs,” Kaseya said matter-of-factly. “I noted all the most likely ambush points during our trip south from Highwind. We will pass through two high-risk areas before we stop tonight—your men need to be prepared.”

Koth chuckled. “They will be. Lord Martel hired the Falcon Guard because we’re the best. And with the help of an amazon and a sorcerer, I’ve no doubt we’ll succeed.”

I smiled back at him. Something about his calm demeanor had already set me on edge. Mercenary captains weren’t usually smooth talkers, in my experience, though I was probably extra biased against the man purely based on his point of origin. Falcon Ridge was called “Buccaneer’s Bay” for good reason—the city’s king had been murdered by a coalition of pirate captains about ten years ago, and those men were still in power as far as I knew. The Ridge was a cesspool of crime and corruption just like Vorsalos had been before the Inquisitrix.

“We had hoped to clear the pass by sundown, so we should really keep moving,” Koth said after a moment. His eyes flicked between Valuri and Kaseya. “There’s an open seat in the saddle if one of your lady friends would like to rest her legs a bit…”

“I cannot effectively watch for an ambush up there,” Kaseya said. “I will take point.”

“You go ahead and do that, Red,” Valuri said, smiling wryly as she climbed up next to Koth. “My feet have been aching all day.”

Kaseya scoffed. “Why am I not surprised by your laziness?”

I clamped my hand over her mouth. “We’ll both take point,” I said. “We’ll have plenty of time to chat tonight.”

Koth grinned again. “I look forward to it.”

I took Kaseya’s wrist and escorted her in front of the wagon as the horses started moving again. She was at least savvy enough to wait until we were out of earshot before she questioned me.

“I am sorry for upsetting you, Jorem,” she said. “But there are times when her habits are too maddening to ignore.”

“Val’s not being lazy,” I said. “She wants to ride next to their captain so she can loosen his tongue and figure out what he’s up to.”

Kaseya blinked. “Shouldn’t she be paying attention to the roads and helping us spot an ambush?”

“She trusts us to do that. In the meantime, she’ll feel out our new friends and tell me what she thinks tonight.”

Kaseya paused in thought for a minute. “Perhaps I have underestimated her.”

I grinned. “Everyone always has. Even the Inquisitrix. Even your sister.”

“I had assumed your previous attraction to her was purely physical, but perhaps I was mistaken,” Kaseya said. “In any event, we have other duties to attend to. My sister is out there somewhere.”

“Yeah,” I murmured. “I’ll bet she is.”

 

***

 

The Senosi didn’t attack us at either point Kaseya had singled out. They didn’t attack us at all, in fact, which made me more and more nervous the more I thought about it. We were still at least twenty miles south of Lake Dunarthe, but by tomorrow we would be back in the lower grasslands and much more likely to stumble into armed Silver Fist patrols. Our enemies wouldn’t wait that long to strike. If they were going to hit us, it would be soon—possibly even overnight.

“Perhaps I should stay awake just in case,” Kaseya suggested as the Falcon Guard mercenaries began setting up camp for the evening. “These men seem relatively competent, but I do not trust them to spot an ambush before it is too late.”

I nodded and blew a thin stream of air between my teeth. She wasn’t wrong, of course, but I didn’t relish the thought of walking another hundred plus miles to Highwind without getting any sleep. Then again, even if I did fall asleep out here, it wasn’t like Kaseya would be able to wake me the same way as usual…

“I hope you two had fun,” Valuri said, sauntering over to us. “I certainly had an enlightening day.”

“Stimulating conversation?”

“Let’s just say he’d lick dung from my boots if I asked him to.”

Kaseya frowned. “Meaning what?”

“Meaning she has him wrapped around her fingers,” I said with a knowing smirk. “Let me guess: he thinks he’ll be fucking you by the time we reach Highwind.”

“He think he’ll be fucking me tonight,” Valuri corrected. “He thinks I’ll be having his babies by the time we reach Highwind.”

I snickered despite myself. I almost regretted not being able to hear their whole conversation. Valuri could convince a monk to abandon his lifelong vow of chastity in about ten minutes, given the chance.

“From your tone, I assume you were lying to him,” Kaseya said. “Did your deception have a purpose besides cruelty?”

“Only if you think it’s valuable to know about the people you’re working with,” Valuri replied tartly. “Whatever else Koth may be, he’s a natural bullshitter. I can’t even remember half the things we talked about.”

“Not necessarily a skill I’d expect from a mercenary commander,” I commented.

“He obviously manages the business side of things for the Falcon Guard,” Valuri said. “I’m pretty sure about four-fifths of what he told me was nonsense, but I get the feeling he was probably a smuggler or con-artist who realized he could make more coin going legit.”

“Charming,” I muttered.

“On the plus side, I’m fairly certain his soldiers know what they’re doing. They should be useful enough if we get into a fight.”

“I agree,” Kaseya put in. “They are seasoned, and their equipment is in excellent shape.”

“You could tell all that just from watching them walk for a few hours?”

“Yes,” the amazon replied as if it were obvious. “I have spent my life training as a warrior, Jorem. I know what to look for.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” I said, glancing around. “I do know that they don’t have any channelers, wizards or otherwise. I haven’t decided if that’s good or bad.”

“It depends how many actual Senosi we run into,” Valuri said. “Anyway, you two get some shut-eye if you want. I’m going to sit down and try to win some gold.”

“Cards?” I asked.

“They think they’re good at sejaak. I’m about to prove them wrong.”

I grinned as she sauntered back over to the mercenaries. Hopefully they wouldn’t hold a grudge when she cleaned them out…

“We should probably try sleeping one at a time,” I said. “We could…”

I trailed off when I saw Kaseya staring hard at the carriage across camp. A couple of the mercenaries were perched on top as nighttime lookouts, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

“I do not know,” she murmured. “When I look at the carriage, I feel…strange.”

“Strange how?”

“It is difficult to explain. It’s like I am looking at something that is not really there.”

“It feels strange to me, too, but that’s because of the vatari crystals inside. The Aether essentially doesn’t exist around it.”

Kaseya grimaced. “It must be something else. I do not have your powers.”

I frowned and studied her profile for a few moments. “Just because you’ve never directly tapped into the Aether doesn’t mean you’ve never felt its presence. Back when we first met, you said you could sense the magic clinging to me. You said that ‘all amazons are taught to feel the natural ebb and flow of the Aether to better serve their Maskari.’”

She nodded slowly. “We are.”

“Well, that ability has to come from somewhere,” I said. “What if all your Red Sisters are connected to the Aether?”

“That is not possible.”

I wanted to argue, but this didn’t seem like the right time or place. Still, perhaps I’d found another pressure point I could nudge later…

“That carriage is filled with mined crystal, yes?” Kaseya asked, her eyes narrowing.

“That’s the idea,” I said. “Why?”

“If vatari crystals absorb Aetheric energy, a large collection of them should absorb a greater amount, yes?”

I frowned, wondering where she was going with this. “Presumably.”

“Then why is the aura around the carriage so small?”

I turned and followed her gaze again. When I stretched out, I could feel the gap in the Aether around the wooden sides of the carriage. But it was small—much smaller than it probably should have been, now that I thought about it.

“That’s a good question,” I said, the hairs on the back of my neck prickling up. “A very good question, in fact. Thankfully, we have our own vatari expert nearby…”

I signaled for Valuri to come over, and she quickly detached herself from her game. “This better be important,” she huffed. “I had three Sovereigns and a Dragon in that hand.”

“Gambling can wait,” I said. “How much do you know about freshly mined vatari crystal?”

She blinked. “You mean other than the obvious?”

“Is its effect cumulative? If there was a lot of it—say, a whole wagon full—do you think it would project a larger dampening field than normal?”

Valuri glanced back over her shoulder to the carriage. “I don’t know. I’ve never had to worry about it since I can’t channel anyway. Why, do you sense something?”

“No, which is the problem,” I said. “I can feel a bubble around the carriage, but it’s small—much smaller than I’d expect given how much we’re supposed to be hauling.”

“Interesting,” she murmured. “I wish I had a definitive answer, but I don’t. What are you thinking?”

“It’s probably nothing,” I said, wishing I believed it, “but remember our conversation about Telanya?”

“You mean our theory that she might be moonlighting as a crime boss?”

“That’s the one. What if this is some kind of setup?”

Valuri shook her head. “To what end?”

“I hadn’t thought that far ahead just yet.”

“Well, she literally had us locked up at the Citadel—if she wanted us dead or out of the way, she wouldn’t have let us out in the first place.”

I hissed softly between my teeth. “Good point.”

“Perhaps you were right about this being a test,” Kaseya said. “She may have ordered the mercenaries to escort a smaller load in order to see whether or not the Senosi are aware of the shipment.”

“A trial run,” Valuri murmured, nodding. “Normally, I’d say such a thing was too expensive, but she obviously has plenty of gold. I’ve heard worse theories.”

“It does make some sense,” I mused. “She’s basically using us as bait to try and draw out the Senosi without risking much of the cargo. Clever and ruthless.”

“Those are two of the words I’d use to describe her,” Valuri said. “I suppose the only question is whether or not the mercs realize what’s going on.”

“You’re the one who chatted with them most of the day,” I reminded her. “What do you think?”

She frowned. “It’s hard to say. Like I mentioned earlier, their leader is a tough nut to crack. But just because he’s a good bullshitter doesn’t necessarily mean anything sinister. He’s expecting to fight and he has confidence in his men.”

“Hopefully it’s not misplaced,” I murmured. Even though Kaseya’s theory made perfect sense, the nervous knots in my gut refused to untangle. Something was wrong here—I was sure of it.

“I’ll see if I can learn anything else while playing cards,” Valuri offered. “But in any event, at least one of us should be awake at all times. Maybe two.”

“Definitely two,” I said. “I’m not willing to take any chances.”

 

***

 

Against all odds, the mercenaries behaved themselves overnight. All three of us managed to snag at least a few hours of sleep, and Valuri won a pouch full of silver at sejaak. I was frankly a bit surprised she didn’t find the cutest merc and fuck him in his tent just for kicks, but apparently none of them were up to her standards. That, or she was just as on edge as I was. I blasted her with a few sparks of Aetheric energy to sustain her for the rest of the day, and we set out not long afterward.

Yet again, we weren’t ambushed in any of the obvious places, and yet again that made my unease grow. The next day was even more of the same—nothing. Once Lake Dunarthe was firmly behind us and we officially entered the southern grasslands, however, I started to wonder if we had all been wrong about this whole thing. Maybe the Senosi didn’t know about the caravan. Maybe this would be the easiest silver I had ever made in my life.

I had almost convinced myself to believe that when we rolled over a steep hill and spotted a group of armored riders about a mile away across the plains. A Silver Fist banner rippled in the air above them. 

“Looks like our lucky day,” Koth said from his perch up on the carriage. “The knights probably have a camp nearby. We can stay with them tonight and head the rest of the way into the city tomorrow.”

He cracked the reins and pushed us forward. The sinking feeling in my stomach refused to settle.

“I guess Telanya’s test run was a complete waste of time,” I murmured. “Unless the Inquisitrix has an army hiding in the grass somewhere, I doubt the Senosi will risk striking us this close to Highwind with so many knights around.”

“Probably not,” Valuri agreed. “I can’t believe it—I really thought we’d run into Ayrael by now. Or at the very least another pack of Huntresses.”

I nodded. “Maybe you and I have gotten too cynical in our old age. Maybe the gods really don’t hate us.”

“Now I’m really nervous. Those knights are probably orcs in disguise.”

I snorted softly, but when I glanced over to Kaseya, she was frowning and shielding her eyes from the sun. “I thought the Knights of the Silver Fist were considered elite mounted cavalry.”

“They are,” I said.

“Then why do their horses lack barding?”

I frowned and shielded my own eyes. Even from this distance, I could still tell she was right. The knight’s horses were saddled, but that was about it.

“That’s…odd,” I muttered. Even the horses we’d seen in the city usually had some form of protection, cosmetic or otherwise. Pageantry was as synonymous with knighthood as a lance and sword in this part of the world.  

Valuri immediately drew one of her crossbows and peered through her scope for a better view. I lifted my spyglass and did the same.

“That’s not Silver Fist armor, either,” she said. “No inscriptions, no emblems anywhere…a few of them aren’t even wearing helmets or plate.”

“They could be Duskwatch,” I said. “Maybe they’re—”

The words died on my tongue when I finally caught a glimpse beneath the hood of one of the riders. The long blond ponytail, the piercing blue eyes, a nearly perfect copy of Kaseya’s features…

The truth hit me like a brick to the face. This wasn’t a “test run” organized by Telanya; it was a trap set by Ayrael and the Senosi. They had already bought off the Falcon Guard and stolen the original cargo—that was why the carriage’s aura was so weak. The crystals were probably halfway to Vorsalos by now…

“Oh, shit,” I hissed.

“Something wrong?” Koth asked, glancing back over the edge of the carriage. “Don’t tell me the knights have a bounty out for you or something.”

“Not exactly,” I rasped. I could feel the eyes of the other mercenaries upon us. The moment they started shouting, Ayrael and her warriors would charge straight for us. We’d only have a few minutes before we were completely swarmed…

“So what’s the matter, then?” Koth asked. “You look…upset.”

“Nothing,” I said, forcing a smile. “I just think it’s time we part ways.”

Reaching out to the Aether, I thrust out my hand and unleashed a bolt of crackling Aetheric energy directly into the carriage’s wheel. The horses shrieked, the wooden frame collapsed, and Koth was violently hurled out of the saddle.

“Get down!” I screamed, dropping to a knee and sheathing myself in a mantle of spell armor. The mercenaries had already drawn their weapons, and they were just about to pounce when I blasted the man directly behind me. The greenish-white beam of energy vaporized half his torso, killing him before he even hit the ground.

The other mercs wouldn’t be dispatched so easily. I would have been completely overwhelmed in another second or two, but the girls were already moving. Kaseya dashed in front of me, bashing her shield into the skull of one mercenary and slashing open the throat of a second. Valuri drew her second crossbow and fired, dropping two more of the men just as I unleashed another blast. In the span of five seconds, we had already taken out half of Koth’s men…but unfortunately, they were about to get backup.

The mercenary captain dragged himself to his feet and blew into a small horn. The baritone cry rang across the grasslands as clearly as a trumpet, and the unmistakable pounding of hooves rolled in the distance like approaching thunder. The hourglass had officially tipped over.

“Get the horses!” I shouted at Kaseya after she had smashed another mercenary to the ground. “We can’t escape without them!”

I unleashed another spell before she could respond. Placing my hand against the ground, I ignited the grass in front of us and then spun around, conjuring a wide ring of fire around the caravan to keep our horses from fleeing and to give us some cover. While Kaseya scrambled to steady the panicked beasts, Valuri sprayed bolt after bolt past my shoulder. A few of the mercenaries closed into melee range, their shields held high, at which point she holstered her weapons and unsheathed her hidden claws. She whirled between the heavily armored men like a dervish, and I was yet again reminded of both the beauty and the horror of Senosi martial arts. Her claws and body were soon covered in a mist of gore.

Just as she scythed down the last mercenary, Koth vaulted over the toppled carriage and slammed into her flank like a battering ram. He probably had at least a hundred pounds on her, and she tumbled end over end and nearly rolled into my wall of fire. The mercenary captain then drew his blade, an elaborate silver saber, and prepared to slice her in half.

But I was ready. Whirling around again, I unleashed another beam of crackling energy that struck him where he stood. The blast was easily powerful enough to disintegrate half his body…and yet the instant it hit him, a patch of glowing green tattoos appeared beneath his skin.

“Uh-oh,” I breathed.

I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a male Senosi, but apparently Koth was more than just another of the Inquisitrix’s hired goons. The energy of my spell rippled through his body, bolstering his strength and speed to superhuman levels. Fortunately, he didn’t turn and finish off Valuri.

Unfortunately, he turned and charged at me.

My spell armor cracked and shattered when his saber thrust toward my chest, and I managed to dive away just far enough to avoid being decapitated. I couldn’t avoid the backswing of his off-hand, however, which smacked me so hard I flew at least ten feet through the air before I crashed into the toppled carriage.

The fact that none of my bones shattered on impact was incredibly lucky; the fact I remained conscious was nothing short of a miracle. My vision darkened and my head pounded, and I was reasonably sure a piece of broken wood had speared into my side. The battle around me became an indecipherable haze of screams and movement. I was vaguely aware of Koth charging toward me, and just before he skewered me on his sword, a red blur leapt to my defense. Blinking frantically, I managed to clear my vision just in time to watch Kaseya fencing the empowered captain. A memory of our fight in the north seared into my head—back then, Kaseya had been completely overpowered by another Aether-fed Senosi until I had bolstered her with my own magic. Sadly, I didn’t have any strength left to help her again…

A moment before Koth hacked through the amazon’s defenses, a pair of needle-sharp claws erupted from his chest. Valuri appeared behind him, her eyes glowing green.

“Now, Red!”

While Koth was stunned, Kaseya shifted to a two-handed grip, swept her sword across his body, and sliced his head clean off his shoulders. It was simultaneously the most disgusting and relieving thing I had ever seen.

“Jorem!” Kaseya called out, grabbing my hand and pulling me to my feet. A fresh spike of pain stabbed into my gut, and I belatedly confirmed that a chunk of wood had indeed buried itself inside me. My tunic was already stained with blood.

“We’re out of time,” Valuri hissed. “Get to the horses!”

My vision began to cut in and out, and my consciousness waned along with it. In one second I was lying there, bleeding to death, and in the next Kaseya had somehow gotten me up onto one of the draft horses. She wrapped my arms around her waist in the saddle as we surged forward. Arrows whistled past us one after another, and when I peered back over my shoulder, I saw Ayrael and her men charging around the walls of smoke from my firewall. We had a lead on them, but it wasn’t going to last. Here in the open grasslands two dozen miles from the city, we had nowhere to run.

Gritting my teeth, I summoned all the energy I could muster into one final spell. I knew I couldn’t hurt Ayrael directly, but I didn’t need to. Thrusting out a hand, I unleashed a jagged blast of energy directly at the ground in front of their horses. Mounds of dirt erupted all around them, tripping their horses outright or causing them to buck wildly and throw off their riders. The whinnying shrieks were audible even over the thundering clomps of our mount’s hooves.

I didn’t have time to celebrate. The Aether seared in my veins as the backlash from overchanneling threatened to set my very blood on fire. I clutched Kaseya’s waist more tightly, holding on for dear life as we vaulted over a narrow crevasse. My vision was so clouded by pain and loss of blood that I could barely see anything at this point, but through the clouds of dirt I caught a glimpse of a single unharmed rider, her blond ponytail fluttering in the wind as she watched us escape. She did not pursue.

A thin smile touched my lips just before the darkness claimed me.