“Menda?” I heard Arx whisper behind me. “Do we know a Menda?”

“He were the head merchant of the wagon train what got ambushed by them Gob-kin,” Jax explained briefly. Then after a pause, she added quietly, “Ye was the head guard?” Then after another pause, she exasperatedly went on, “We was smuggling booze, ya nugget.”

“Oh…!” Arx exclaimed uncertainly. “That… makes sense.”

I smirked. One of these days, we really needed to figure out exactly how much time Arx was missing. As near as I had been able to determine, she had almost no memory of the week long trek with the wagon train, the people on it, nor even having ever been to Kemry-in-the-Moors where we had set out from. I had heard of benders before, but that was insane! However, that was a conversation for another time.

As I yanked the cloth gag out of Menda’s mouth, he sputtered defensively, “We weren’t smuggling, I will have you know. We were simply avoiding Collectors who had no business collecting from us in the first place! It’s not as if we were trading in Enbraden territory, anyway.”

“Along unpatrolled, Gob infested roads,” Jax countered.

Menda harrumphed dismissively before taking a moment to note the state of our undress. Blushing slightly and averting his eyes skyward, he chose to avoid the topic for now. “Yes… well. I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure, madam. How would you know anything about it?”

I awkwardly cleared my throat before explaining, “Uh… yeah. She looks… a little different now, but this is my companion, Jax.”

Menda stared at me for a moment, his eyes wide. “Surely you jest…?” he whispered. “That’s Jax?” At my nod, he swallowed roughly, “Well… I say. I… You may not believe this, my boy, but I am embarrassed to admit that… well, I had thought that Jax was a man.”

“I were never a man,” Jax growled, her keen ears picking up the conversation despite his efforts.

“Y-yes… uh… Yes, I can… I can see that… now,” Menda stammered. “My sincerest apologies. It would seem that the Dungeon was… kind to you.” Then he added to himself, “Extremely kind.”

I pursed my lips, unsure if it was worth it to try to explain. It was… somewhat more plausible to assume that Jax had been unattractive to the point of being mannish over what had actually happened, but it was pushing the limits of credulity. Especially taking into account her numerous secondary features. However, if that was the conclusion he had drawn, then it saved me a lot of trouble.

Turning back to the male driver—Pops, as the other had named him—I murmured, “I will heal you now, if you’re ready.” At his nod, I added, “Brace yourself.” Taking a breath, I began muttering the Words to Renewal of Consumption with the intent to keep it to the absolute lowest intensity. Thus far in my life, I had caused more than my share of male orgasms, and I certainly did not want to add to the count if I could help it.

“Come to think of it,” Menda muttered as I worked, more to himself than anything, “I don’t recall that Jax had been captured by the Gobs.”

Pops wheezed slightly as the spell took hold. Despite my efforts, he was clearly feeling the effects. Wincing, I quietly explained, “Yeah… sorry. I did warn you. Think of it as the spell’s way of distracting you from the discomfort of having your flesh knitted back together.”

The man nodded shakily. “Yes, master. I did once have a leg mended this way. A long time ago. It was… a terrible experience. Hurt like everything. Had to trade half a dozen goats for it, too. This… Well, this is…” He cleared his throat in embarrassment. “Anyway… I can’t thank you enough for your kindness.”

The man was practically in tears—though whether from the memory of his hardships, his gratitude, or the difficulty of dealing with my spell, I could not say. In any case, his thankfulness was rather hideously juxtaposed by the muffled screams of the Despoiler. Now that I had started healing, Jax had decided to begin trying to drain the attempted mass rapist by poking small holes in his chest with a claw. I did not know whether her skill would trigger that way or not, but… nothing ventured and all that. Very softly, I could hear her counting under her breath as she went.

“No, I’m quite certain,” Menda continued, unperturbed. “It was only myself, Broahn, you, and uhm… oh, what was her name? That drunkard keltha woman. Worst hire I ever made.”

Arx squawked indignantly, but before she could defend herself, I hurriedly cut in. “Unfortunately…” I began, giving Arx a significant look, “the Dungeon was not quite so kind, in her case. Just before the exit, she was killed by a huge… giraffe monster.” It was a partial truth, of course, but I really did not want the fact that I had the ability to turn people into… whatever lilim are… to get out. I could foresee any number of potential problems if that were to happen. Arx, at least, had been quite enthusiastic about the whole thing, but that did not mean that everyone would be. Favoring her with a bit of a smile, I added, “It turned out that she was actually quite a lovely woman… Once she sobered up, anyway.”

Arx glanced away, smiling to herself.

Menda’s gaze shifted between the two of us speculatively. After a moment, he said, “I am… sorry to hear that, boy. Broahn did not make it either, more’s the pity. If you can believe it, he was killed by some sort of… living water. They ended up slaying one another in the exact same instant. It happened so fast… I had never seen anything like it. I didn’t even get to retrieve his body. There was another of those beasts in the room, and I am ashamed to admit that I had to flee. I’m not much good without a sword at my hip.”

Living water, huh? And in the same instant? I wonder if that was anything like the sand mimic from when Jax and I did the tutorial. It was possible. I knew that if I were running a Dungeon like that, day after day, person after person, I would certainly resort to reusing ideas. Game developers did it all the time. Imp and slime recolors were notorious in RPGs, after all, and once you’ve seen one pit trap, you’ve seen them all. In any case, if it was like the sand mimic, then apparently Menda and Broahn had not figured out the trick, however I decided against mentioning the possibility to him. He did not need the guilt that would no doubt come with knowing that his friend had died to something so easily preventable.

“Well… never mind that sordid business,” Menda continued. “How is it that you came to be reunited with your companion here? And who is this lovely creature?” he asked, indicating my other lilim. It was no wonder that he would not recognize her. If Jax looked only vaguely like a laoi, Arx looked almost nothing like a keltha. Moreover, besides a few minor details in her facial structure—and her skin color of course—she only faintly resembled the woman she had been.

For a few moments, I avoided answering his question by pretending to observe the still regenerating wounds on Pops. I did not really need to, though. I knew that I would need to reapply the spell the moment I had cast it as I had kept the intensity too low to do the job completely, and my skill level was such that I had an intuition about these things. How should I answer? What would even be believable?

However, before I could come up with something, Jax began to speak, “I dunno if ye seen it, Menda, but after the keltha woman passed out drunk on the hillside, I got the fool notion of trying to tackle that Gobborn. Hoped to let the Master escape. Me fight did nay last long. Blighter swatted me up into a tree. Like to’ve broken me back, he did. Dunno what happened after that. Passed out from the pain. I guess them Gobs did nay want to fish me out of the tree, cause they left me there. The next day, me sister here…” Jax paused to indicate Arx, “found me. She’d been trailing after us to catch us up. Had some business in Kemry-in-the-moors yet. Healed me up with a couple of pills, and we set off to rescue the Master. Did nay go so well. Got tossed into that Goblin Mouth not a handful of minutes after you lot.”

My eyebrows rose unbidden at how easily the mostly fabricated story came to her lips. It was plausible, simple enough to be believed, and it had just enough truth to be at least partially verifiable. Jax had in fact tried to defeat the Gobborn, though the result had been more severe than she had let on. But I knew Jax’s past, so it was not hard to imagine how she had acquired such skills.

Seeing that Pops’ wounds were mending nicely but slowly, I turned from him to the woman. “Brace yourself, uhm…?”

“It’s M-Mahb, your holiness, s-sir,” she murmured softly before swallowing. She was still avoiding eye contact because of Jax’s earlier threat, though her cheeks were flushed and she kept casting surreptitious glances at me.

I grimaced slightly before I could stop myself, and not just because she was still using undeserved titles to address me. Man… if she’s having this much trouble now, I can only imagine what she’ll be like after the heal hits her. Taking a breath, I began casting the spell, clamping down as hard as I could on the amplitude.

“Sister, eh?” Menda asked finally, still looking the lilim over speculatively. “Not by blood, I assume.”

Mahb squeaked just a little as the spell began its work, and trembling, she crossed her arms over her chest. Wincing from her reaction, I distractedly began, “Oh, uh… no. They—”

“We have the same father,” Arx announced primly before I could finish.

Choking, I shot her a glare, but the two of them were sharing a mischievous little grin. My right eye began to twitch. I swear… if either one of you two starts calling me Daddy, you’re gonna find out just how quick I can shut this shit down! No Hammer for you!

“Really?” Menda replied, surprised. “I wonder… Do you know, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like the two of you. Where do you hail from, if you don’t mind my asking. What kind are you?”

“We’s what you’d call lilim…” Jax began, but suddenly the Despoiler she had been slowly torturing beneath her claws gasped and shuddered from her skill triggering. Life Energy quickly rushed in from the man to replenish my stores.

“Oh… ew…” Arx scowled fiercely, jerking her hand away from the man’s mouth. Wiping her hand against her hip, she asked, “Did he just…?”

“Aye,” Jax affirmed nonchalantly. “Be glad ye ain’t sitting where I be. Disgusting little shite…”

“You like that, bitch?” the Despoiler growled weakly. “I’ve got more where that came fro—!”

Arx quickly muffled the man again, “Shut up, you. And stop licking me! Ugh! He tastes like… rotten grease.”

Sighing, I tossed her one of the rags the bandits had been using on their captives. “Here. Use this.”

“Thank ye, Master,” Jax said as she caught the rag for her. Handing the item to Arx, she added, “I dunno about grease, but it do taste off. Filmy kinda. Now, uhm… How many were that? I lost count.”

“I don’t know,” Arx replied off-hand as she grabbed the rag and quickly shoved it into the man’s mouth. “Twenty-four? Twenty-five?”

“Is it really necessary for them to do that?” Menda asked. He had a hard look on his face. “I realize that the man is a Despoiler and deserves this and more, but it isn’t as if he can repent for his crimes. Surely a bit of mercy wouldn’t be uncalled for? A quick death, at least?”

I was not so sure about that first part, but for the last, I could sympathize. I had been avoiding looking at the man’s bloody chest for just that reason. To be sure, ever since I had come to this land, I had seen death and killing on scales that very few people my age had, so I was… getting used to it… to a degree. But that did not mean that I was numb to suffering, and I certainly did not like seeing people being tortured—even if it was for a good reason.

“No worries,” Jax assured him. “As deep into the Lust Ailment as he be, he ain’t feeling no pain. He be loving every minute of this.” Glancing at me significantly, she added, “I promise ye that.”

“How can you be so certain?” Menda argued.

“We have a fair degree of experience with that particular Emotional Ailment,” I explained shortly, swallowing back my distaste. “Um… as Questers, you know. Also, the pair of them,” I jerked my head in their direction, “are empaths. It’s… apparently fairly common amongst lilim.”

“Hmm… It was my understanding that Emotional Ailments were rather uncommon. You must have had a rather poor time of it in the Dungeon,” he mused. There was a moment of silence before he began to quietly think aloud, “And lilim, is it? Can’t say as I’ve heard of that particular kind before, but… the world is wide, so they say. I’d never heard of humans either, before I met you. Still, empaths? That sounds handy. I doubt my Class will allow it, but… I wonder if I can invest in something like that? Might be quite beneficial now for my line work. Profitable, even.” Then, glancing up at me, he added, “I have a skill point saved up, you know? I managed to gain four Layers from that little Dungeon excursion! I finally made it past the Boundary, if you can believe it. Forty years as a guardsman, and I never made it past the eighth Layer no matter how much I scrimped and saved. I suppose it just goes to show. No risk, no reward.”

“Congratulations,” I replied, smiling. So, he was a guardsman? That explains a lot. Menda had always given off a rather straight-laced vibe that seemed at odds with my image of a merchant. Although… wait, did he say forty years?! The guy looks thirty at most! Maybe the laoi really do live a long time…?

Not wanting to expose my ignorance, I returned my attention to Mahb’s scalp wound. It seemed to be sealing up nicely. In a few more moments, even the pink of the scar would have faded. Despite the copious amounts of blood, she was not nearly as injured as the man had been, but that was head-wounds for you. I had learned that particular tidbit from boxing movies and other such shows.

“Thank you,” Menda said, returning my smile, his head wobbled from side to side as he took a moment for pride. “It was a long time in coming. In point of fact, I had arranged this little expedition as an excuse to return to my home town, Donreen. Uh… I doubt you’ve heard of it. It’s just a little fishing village off of Creslier’s Basin. About… two weeks northwest of Bradfirth. Close to the Morrow Clan’s territory? Anyway, my sister lives there, and after the wife passed… well…”

I nodded vaguely, filing away the information about the local area for later. “My condolences, Menda,” I said, shifting awkwardly. I felt torn for a moment. Should I ask or let it lie? However, as the silence stretched, I decided that it would be too weird to pry any further, so instead, I asked, “Do you need healing as well?”

“Oh…! No, no, my boy. No need to waste your Energy on me. They only slapped me around a bit,” he assured me, waving me away. I was not certain that I agreed. He had a split lip, and he looked to be fairly bruised about the face. However, it was not anything that would not heal on its own. “Uhm… in any case, I’m sure that the town will turn out for the party… once I get there, anyway. It won’t be as grand as I had been hoping, what with this little incident with the bandits, but… well… never mind. All of you are welcome to attend.”

I grimaced despite the well-intentioned invitation. I had half suspected that his financial situation had taken quite a blow from having two wagon trains in a row hit and destroyed, and he had all but confirmed it. “Arx… uhm… the gray-skinned one,” I explained, “has a scout-type Class. I’m sure she can find where ever it is that your horse and wagon ran off to. That should help somewhat.”

Menda sighed in relief, “Oh… thank you so much for saying so. I… hesitated to ask, but… well, thank you anyway.”

“As for your celebration,” I continued, waving off his thanks, “I don’t know that we’ll be able to make it. We have some business in Raialie.” Scratching at my beard for a moment in thought, I glanced around at the various piles of loot that the bandits had assembled. It seemed like a random assortment of all sorts of things. “What sort of cargo were you hauling anyway, Menda?”

“I was making a tinker’s run,” he explained. “After that fiasco with the Goblins, I did not have much capital left, and as generous as the Dungeon was for my Layers, I was not able to find any chests. So, once I got to civilization, I sold off a couple of my remaining Gems and invested in all of this.” He waved vaguely around at the various piles. “Really it’s nothing of any value. Just a lot of junk that I can sell at a mark-up to fishwives and the like who don’t live near town. Plus, these two,” he indicated Mahb and Pops, “claim to have some skill at repairing things. So, I thought to wend my way northward from place to place, and try to recover my loss.”

Nodding along at the explanation, I asked, “How did you manage to evade the Goblins once you got out? The three of us got dropped right back into the middle of them, though it looked like there had been some kind of battle. I think we only had to deal with stragglers.”

“Did you?” he replied, surprised. “Then you must have only recently escaped. My word…” Glancing between us for a moment in thought, he said, “After I received my… uhm… reward… terrible experience that. I’ve no idea how you Questers tolerate gaining Words, time after time. Much less seek out the experience.”

“You get used to it,” Arx chimed in. “Sort of.”

Menda nodded doubtfully, “Yes… well… in any case, I was dropped some distance away from their camp, well into the woods. Fortunately, they were not paying a great deal of attention, and I managed to sneak clear. After that, it was a simple matter to make my way to Raiale and report the incident to a group of mercenaries that garrison there. The Fleet Fox Brigade? They’re a rough bunch, but I never had much problem with them in my previous line of work. That says a lot, let me tell you. Anyway, they jumped at the chance to try for a Dungeon Mouth. Even payed me a couple of silver for the information. I’ve no idea whether they were successful, but from your description, they must have clashed with the Goblin encampment.”

Hmm… well, that all makes sense, at least. Is that why the Mouth moved on, I wonder? Too many people knew about it? Or… hmph. Must remember to ask Arx about that later.

Turning back to Pops, I noted that his regeneration buff had run its course. Most of the shrapnel had forced its way out of his arm, and he looked significantly better. “One more will do it, I think,” I said aloud.

“Uhm…” the man swallowed. “My apologies, kind master. But… would you consider waiting a few moments longer? I… uh… I need… to recover first. From the last one?”

At this, I heard a snort from behind me followed by a sigh. Aloud, Jax swore, “Ah… bloody tube… I lost count again.”

“Fourteen,” Arx supplied.

I shook my head. I was fine with Jax draining her enemy’s Life during combat, but this was really stretching my level of comfort to its maximum. Maybe we really should discuss Arx taking some alternate way of doing this… something less… gruesome?

Fortunately, Menda decided to distract me again with conversation, “Donum, my boy… I don’t suppose I could tempt you to buy anything? It’s terribly uncouth of me, I realize, but… I really could use the money.”

I pursed my lips at the question thoughtfully.

“Actually…”

That evening, the three of us were looking over our purchases: a spindle of jute twine, a needle and thread, some scissors, a bolt of bright green cloth, and a large leather pack to hold it all in.

“He ripped ye off, ye know,” Jax said sourly, her face only half illuminated by the last rays of the setting sun and the flickering of the fire. “Two silver for this lot? That be full twice as much as it be worth at most. And after the trouble we went to for him?”

I nodded regretfully. I had an inkling of that when I had made the agreement. By my reckoning, silver pieces were worth somewhere in the ballpark of four hundred dollars each, but whatever his past, Menda was a businessman now. He was hardly going to let an opportunity like us pass him by if he could help it. “Well… he knew that we were fresh from the Dungeon, and probably flush with cash. And what with us being naked and all… Plus, the backpack is pretty nice. Seems sturdy.”

“It ain’t a full extra silver sturdy! We should’ve haggled more!” she groused. “But aye, ye’ve the right of it. We did need this desperate like. Much as I enjoy the view, I could scarce stand them outsiders looking on. T’were all I could do not to claw out that bitch’s eyes! The way she kept staring at ye?”

“Mmm… I know what you mean,” Arx murmured in agreement. “I could feel it every time she looked. ‘Stits but it was hard to control myself. If she had dared do more…”

“Yes… well… I hope that the pair of you can manage once we get to town,” I said with a degree of trepidation. “The last thing we need is to have one of you getting cursed for inciting violence or something.”

After concluding our business with Menda and retrieving his wagon and horses, the man and his helpers had set about repairing the remaining wagon. We had offered to help, but he had waved us off. Apparently, though they were quite low in Layers, his drivers were in the Proficient tier of skill with repair—somewhere between level sixty to eighty, I later found out—and they made short work of it.

After that, Menda had been quite anxious to set off, and bid his farewells… much to the dismay of Mahb. She made eyes at me like a lost puppy as their wagon bounced away along the rough beaten track, braving the returning glares of my two lilim.

As for the Despoiler, by the second time Jax’s skill triggered, the man was very close to death, and her own skill had maxed out for the day, so there was no point in continuing. Thankfully. So the lilim had dragged him off into the tall grass and put him out of his ‘misery’. I had declined to watch.

“What do you even have to do to earn a title like that?” I asked, coming back to the present. “Despoiler, I mean. And that other fellow… the Marauder. I hadn’t heard of that one either.”

Jax shifted uncomfortably at the question and turned away. Arx glanced at her curiously before taking a breath, “Marauder is a title that is given to those who have… delighted in murder… on multiple occasions. They kill for glory. Innocents. Children. It is an unforgivable curse. No amount of money can be paid to have it removed. And the same for Despoiler. They…” she hesitated.

“They rape,” Jax supplied shortly, still looking off into the distance. “Such as them will rape anything that moves. Man. Woman. Child… Animal. But it takes… a lot…. to earn such. And no remorse. Sometimes, even Bandits will kill such as them. That one… he weren’t me first. Had a mate once…” she paused, letting the story die on her lips. For several long moments, she stared off at nothing. Then, taking a deep breath and shaking her head at the memory, she said, “Or the other me did, anyway. Glad I be… that ye did nay ask me to stop. I know ye wanted to.”

I cleared my throat uncomfortably. That was a heavy business, after all. Deciding to change the subject, I said, “Shame Menda didn’t have any clothes pre-made. And I’m still not sure about this color choice. I can just see us all wearing matching green. We’ll end up looking like the von Trapp family singers.”

“Is that another of your minstrel troops?” Arx asked curiously.

“Uh… technically? Sort of,” I hedged. I knew that the musical was based on real events, but I had no idea whether they had actually toured or made a career out of performing. “I was actually referring to a uh… well… it’s complicated.”

“Hmm… I think I would quite like to visit your homeland,” she mused aloud. “From the sound of it, there is a lot of culture there. All those stage shows and music?”

I pulled a face, “That… would be difficult.” Honestly, at that point, I had no idea why I was trying to maintain the facade. It was not as if the two of them could get much more loyal to me—Jax in particular. But for some reason, I just could not bring myself to say the words.

“Aye… the Master has his enemies,” Jax murmured in a low voice. “Cast down like he were? Would nay be wise to provoke such ‘til we be ready. Then… there’ll be business to attend to.”

Oh shit… what fresh nonsense is she concocting now?

“Cast down? Business?” Arx asked, hunching her shoulders conspiratorially. “What sort of business?”

“Just ne’er ye mind,” Jax growled. “If I tell ye such? Nay. Best not to know. But… that one will have her day.”

“Her?!” Arx sat up straight. “What her?”

Oh… fuck me. Is she still plotting revenge against Stevie? In an unfortunate bout of too much honesty, I had accidentally let slip to Jax a very minor incident with a girl from my past. There had been a little kissing and fondling, however nothing much came of it, and we had gone our separate ways. For whatever reason, this infuriated Jax to no end, and she seemed hellbent on retrieving the unsuspecting girl for her own nefarious purposes.

“Never mind, I said!” Jax growled loudly. “Tomorrow, I’ll set to stitching something together for us. I ain’t all that handy with a needle, but it won’t be me first time. It’ll be rough, but it’ll see us until we can buy better. Meantime… it be my turn with the Gems. I want past the Boundary.”

Arx sighed. “Fine. But after that, it’ll be me until I catch up.”

“No other choice in the matter,” I said. “Once she catches up to me, she’ll be capped until I start gaining Layers again, and that might be difficult. I’ve been adding a little to my Core every Layer you’ve gained, and I barely feel like I’ve scratched the surface.”

“That’s because you’ve been using Rank One Gems,” Arx said. “Once you start using the Rank Twos it’ll be different.”

“How many of them we got anyway?” Jax asked.

“Thirty seven Minor and… a Grand,” I replied after checking the Pouch.

“Not all that much for the three of us,” Arx murmured. “That’s enough for a Layer each in the First Stratum. Then we’ll be stuck again.”

“At least we have enough Rank Ones to get the two of you past the Boundary,” I said. “Pretty sure, anyway.”

“What about them Rank Threes we got?” Jax asked. “How far would one of them take us?”

“We’ve only got the one Greater and the Grand,” I said.

“I’m…” Arx hesitated. “I’m not sure. Even divided three ways, Rank Threes are very powerful. Once we all get past the Boundary, we might be able to use something as strong as a Minor… possibly even as much as a Lesser. Anything more…?” She shook her head.

“We do have that… well…” I hesitated. “Actually, the Communion of Shared Power would require us to each have one. At least, I think that’s how that Ritual triggers. But if we could get it to work, then we wouldn’t have to worry about waste.”

“It’s not a question of waste,” Arx replied. “It’s a question of Core disruption. If you force too much onto it at once, there is the chance that it’ll fracture and reset you back to the beginning. At worst, your Core might even explode!”

“Like what happened when ye was bound?” Jax asked.

“I think that was a little different,” I said speculatively. “But still… somehow the Ritual is supposed to hold any overage you gain until the next Layer. It might help to guard against disruption.”

“We could try it now,” Jax said eagerly. “Ain’t done it since the once, and we need to make sure how the blighter works. Could do it with weak ones this time. I think I got a little to me Core right now, anyway. Wouldn’t want to waste it.”

I smirked before looking her over. It was a good suggestion, but from what I recalled, that particular ritual was a rather intense experience. And given the activities of the day… “Jax, you’re sticky with blood and covered in grass.”

“What?” she pouted indignantly. “That means ye don’t want to have sex, do it?”

“I think that’s exactly what he means,” Arx replied for me.

Jax harrumphed. “Did nay stop ye in the rat warren! Rolled around plenty then, as I recall, and we was covered in worst! I hadn’t even growed a fanny yet.”

“Yeah… she’s got you there,” Arx said, nodding sagely. “I remember bathing all of that off of you two.”

“Well, shit—!”

“Language!” Jax barked, interrupting me.

I narrowed my eyes and grit my teeth. “Chebs… then. Am I not allowed to have any standards?”

“Not with us,” Jax intoned, her nose in the air. “We be yer bound lilim. Through thick and thin! Go turning yer nose up at us, and ye like to hurt our feelings!”

“You do look kind of gross, Jax,” Arx said. “I don’t think I’d want to have sex with you right now, either.”

“You shut your bogging mouth!” Jax growled. “Whose side do ye think yer on, anyway?”

Arx just blinked at her for a moment before pointing at me.

“Fine!” Jax yelled. With that, she shot to her feet and started marching off into the grass.

“Where are you going now?” I asked, confused.

“I be going to find the river, ain’t I?” she yelled indignantly as she stomped away. “It shouldn’t be but a ruddy hour’s walk from here. And maybe I’ll even get et along the way! Save me the trouble of bathing!”

“But it’s getting dark!” I yelled after her. “Jax!”

She did not reply. There was only the sounds of her pushing through the grass gradually fading into the distance.

Standing there mutely with hands on hips, I just shook my head. “Well… now what?” Should we go after her?

The answer to my question came in the form of a pair of arms sliding around my waist from behind and a tantalizing pair of softnesses pressing into my back. “I’m still here,” Arx whispered into my ear. “And I’ll tell you a secret… I didn’t quite burn off all of that Lust Ailment.”

A slow smile curled my lips. Eh… I’m sure she’ll be fine.