Four days later.

Autumn marveled at the encampment as she strode into the enormous cavern where her underground journey had all started. Over the past nineteen days, the adventurers and guardsmen had worked tirelessly to turn their small part of the cavern into a temporary home. Gone were the loose rocks and haphazardly placed tents along the lakeside, replaced instead by worked streets and organized rows that figures buzzed about. Gone too was the massive carcass of the Swamp Tyrant — not that Autumn had witnessed such — the butchers had left only blood-slick stones and its towering bones.

And it was those very bones that the adventurers and guardsmen had used alongside some flotsam timber to craft a mighty wall around the encampment. Wooden spikes lined the base of the wall, running right from shore to shore, only leaving a small strip of land free that led right to the gates.

A pair of stout guardsmen stood atop the wall with bows in hand as they eyed the group approaching. While initially nervous at the sight of a larger group than they’d been expecting, they relaxed upon seeing Nethlia and the other scouts. One guard let out a shrill whistle and the gate slowly swung open.

“Hail!” a tall Inferni guardsman called down to them.

Nethlia held up a hand in reply. “Hail to you too! Did anything happen while I was away? And where can I find Captain Arsit?” 

“Aside from that great rumbling four days back? Nothing other than a few cat-headed freaks assaulting the walls,” the guardsman said as he eyed the expanded group. “I see you’ve had some luck.”

Nethlia shrugged. “Found them wandering about. I need to see the captain. Do you know where he is or not?”

“Yeah, yeah. He’s in the command tent last I heard,” he said, waving them through before yelling to the other guard. “Close the gate!” 

Autumn jumped as the gate slammed shut. Looking around, she saw idle adventurers and guardsmen glancing their way with curiosity and hope. Hope that was quickly extinguished when they didn’t see their lost friends — their broken eyes turning away. 

The sizable group steadily made their way through the quiet encampment towards where the command tent dwelt. A few sullen faces watched their passing; nary a word said in greeting. Slowly, the others in Nethlia’s scouting party silently dispersed, leaving only Autumn’s group to make their way to the center.

Within the empty square at the heart of the camp, there were two large tents. The few remaining wounded occupied one tent, within which blazed Pyre’s hair, while the other was the command tent they sought.

Coming to a halt, Nethlia pointed towards individual members of the party one after the other. “Liddie, take Nelva into the medical tent for a checkup. Edwyn, you unpack the cart-sled-thing. Grab anyone around to help you, just keep an eye out that things don’t go missing, yeah? And you, Autumn, are with me.”

“Um, Autumn?” Eme hesitantly called out to the witch, drawing her attention. “I’m gonna go looking for my captain to tell her what happened to the others. I guess this is goodbye for now?”

Autumn started at her words. “Oh, um…take care? I mean, I’ll see you around, ok?”

The pair shared an awkward moment, not really sure what they were meant to do. Words unspoken danced on their lips. Feeling impulsive, Autumn quickly drew the catgirl into a tight hug, to which Eme melted into the embrace. But their tenderness was short-lived, and they soon reluctantly distanced themselves. 

With tears gathering in her eyes, Eme hurriedly dashed off, waving goodbye as she went. “I’ll come find you later! I promise!”

Autumn just waved. 

“You good?” Nethlia asked.

“She took the legendary sword with her,” Autumn said with a laugh, eyes lingering on the catgirl’s retreating form. “She’s pretty great, you know? And I owe her for saving my life. I lo…Let’s just go talk to Captain Arsit, yeah?”

When Autumn entered the command tent, her eyes landed upon the hunched form of Captain Arsit as he idly made notes on top of a crude map. Stress had aged him, the hair around his temples and fur on his ears having grown a shade lighter since she’d last seen him. Hearing their sudden entrance, he looked up.

“Ah, Nethlia, you’ve returned. And with…Witch Autumn, wasn’t it? While it’s good to see you’re alive, I hope you two have some good news for me.”

“Some, but bad news first. Would you like to have a seat?” Nethlia asked. 

Captain Arsit sighed. “No, I’ll stand.” A set of steely eyes slid over to meet Autumn’s, causing the witch to sweat. Straightening his spine, the Lepus stood tall as he awaited her report. “I already know what you are going to say, but let us hear it.”

Nethlia gave Autumn an encouraging nod. 

Breathing deeply, Autumn spoke. “U-unfortunately, dur-during the events of the past f-few days, Adventurers Delight, Gérôme, Leshana, Vuriac, Bardos, Rarg, Valérie, Sverr, Roland, Evrard, Nizana, and Illiamtree lost their lives alongside f-five members of the Duskguard…I-I only knew the name of one — Yuupis.

“We only managed to recover some of their bodies,” she finished.

The Lepus captain closed his eyes with another sigh. A vast depth of emotions flashed behind his stony mask, almost too fast for even Autumn to catch. Slowly, Captain Arsit opened his eyes again. 

“Thank you for informing me of the situation. At least we know now of everyone’s fate.”

“Nobody else is missing?” Nethlia asked. 

“We fished the last missing Rain Knight up yesterday — sank like a stone in her armor,” he said with another sigh, craving a drink he didn’t have. “This quest is a fucking disaster. Of the forty-two adventurers we started with, only twenty-four remain — six of the ten knights drowned in their armor — and of the thirty guardsmen we took with us…we have eight left.”

Autumn gulped as the death toll washed over her. Across from her, the captain’s knuckles whitened on the desk before his eyes flickered back up to Nethlia. “You said — well, you implied that you had good news for me?” he said, almost pleadingly. 

Nethlia nodded. “Yes. Show him the map, Autumn.”

Hurrying forward with the map in hand, Autumn swiftly unrolled it onto the table, covering the cruder version. Captain Arsit leant forwards to gaze down upon it.

“What am I looking at?” he asked incredulously.

“It’s a map,” Autumn said, but at the captain’s raised eyebrow, she hurriedly explained. “Of the caverns and tunnels, is what I meant. Although, it might be a little out-of-date.”

The captain grunted as he compared Autumn’s map with the one he’d been making. Upon seeing its accuracy, or at least their place on the map, his steely eyes flickered with a spark of life as he stared back up at Autumn.

“And how exactly did you get this?” he asked. 

Autumn gulped. “I found it in a necromancer’s tower. But the tower…it, umm…blew up, along with the cavern it was in.”

“That was you, then?” Captain Arsit pinned her with a stare before sighing once again and muttering to himself. “Rookies. Why am I not surprised?” Turning his attention back to the map, he scoured it for any identifying landmarks and, upon seeing a series of symbols he could not parse, he pointed them out to Autumn. “Do you know what any of these mean? Nethlia said you were some kind of language specialist.”

Startled, Autumn glanced at Nethlia, who gave her an encouraging look back. With that comfort buoying her, the witch crept up to the map and told the captain what they were. “Those are…exits.”

“Exits?” the captain repeated, his intent eyes locked onto the one closest — the one within hag Mildred’s domain.

Autumn hesitated. “Yes….” Hot sweat trickled down her back as she gazed down at the map. Behind her, she could feel Nethlia's gaze upon her back. Was it her imagination, or were the berserker’s eyes filled with disappointment? Autumn’s lips trembled as she forced the words out of her clenching throat. “But that one’s not safe.”

Captain Arsit looked at her. “How so?”

“That exit is in a hag’s domain. A swamp hag named Mildred the Finger Eater.” Autumn couldn’t hold back her words anymore, and they came tumbling out of her mouth. “My team and I have already agreed to go after her, but we could really use some help. I’m sure I could compensate you or the other teams with either gold or loot taken from the hag once we kill her. Also, as that exit is the closest, we’ll have no trouble leaving the under-roots. If you could just—”

Captain Arsit cut her off by holding a hand up. The witch’s heart sank as he leaned back from the table. 

“While I appreciate the effort you’ve gone to in bringing my people back to me, and for delivering this map, I can’t fulfill your request.”

Agitated and desperate, Autumn hurriedly said, “She’s the one that killed Leshana and Vuriac! Surely for them—”

Once more, the captain cut her off. “Be that as it may, I simply can’t just—”

“She skinned her!!” Autumn screamed. 

“Be that as it may!” Captain Arsit’s eyes were hard as he raised his voice. “I can’t send my people to die! We’ve lost enough already!” he pounded the table. Another long sigh escaped the rabbit-man. “I’m taking everyone left and making for another exit. I suggest you come with us.”

From behind the witch, Nethlia’s voice rumbled. “Is there nothing you can do?”

Captain Arsit met the other captain’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Captain Nethlia, but I’ve made my decision.”

The words burned Autumn’s ears like a death knell. Frustrated with both herself and the captain, the young witch fled from the tent. Nethlia stretched out a hand to stop her initially, but relented and let the girl slip past before turning back to the Lepus captain.

“Very well.” Nethlia nodded, disappointed but not surprised. “If that’s your choice, then we’ll respect it. However, before we depart, we’ll be needing a copy of the route we are taking and we’ll also leave the fallen’s share of the loot with you. If you could send it to their families, I’d appreciate it.”

“You can count on me for both. It’s the least I could do,” he said softly, but continued as Nethlia turned to leave. “I hope you don’t think badly about me. I’m just doing what’s right for my men.”

Nethlia stopped at the flaps of the tent, staring out at the witch, who was wiping her eyes furiously at the edge of the square. “I know,” she said, “and I’m not mad. Not yet anyhow. I’ll come find you when it’s all over and then we’ll see if that’s still true.” With that, she left the tent behind. 

Across the way, Autumn tried miserably to hold back her tears of frustration. Not helping matters was the banshee’s whispers in her ears. 

“Thou art a soft-hearted naïve. So, this is the path thou art taking, is’t? Sigh, I did prefer the other.” 

‘Leave me alone. I did what was right!’ Autumn whimpered in her mind. 

“And just whither didst this right of yours land thee? Hmm? Without allies to calleth upon, is what I see”

The weight of her emotions drove Autumn to the ground. Her hat felt the heaviest it’d ever been. ‘That’s not true!’ she yelled at the banshee in her mind, ‘I have my friends, my party!’

“Forsooth, thou art indeed right. Thy friends shall cometh at thy call — and die for it.” The banshee’s whispers faded as she retreated back into the soul-cage necklace, leaving Autumn to weep all alone.

But not for long. 

“Hey,” Nethlia said as she sat down beside Autumn. 

For a while the pair just stared silently out over the shimmering waters that reflected the millions of fireflies clinging to the ceiling like a starscape. Adventurers dotted the shoreline as they slowly fished in the murky lake. 

“Hey,” Autumn eventually replied with a sniffle.

The silence stretched out once more as Nethlia mulled over her words. They both found a solace in the other’s company and the tranquil air lingering between them. But eventually that tranquil air broke as the berserker finally voiced the unspoken truth. 

“I know you could have lied. Or simply not told him about the danger. But you didn’t,” she said with a smile tugging on her lips. 

“And look where that got us,” Autumn said mulishly.

Nethlia nodded. “We’re no better or worse off than we were before.”

“We’d be better off with two-dozen warriors at our back!”

Nethlia gave Autumn a hard look — not harshly, just painfully serious. “And then what?”

Startled by the question, Autumn finally looked her friend and mentor in the eye. “What do you mean — then what?”

Nethlia nodded to the idle adventurers and guardsmen, their faces set in a grim acceptance as they languished in the deep, dark well. “Say you tricked them and got them all the way to the hag. They’d figure out you lied to them. What then? What was your plan once the hag was dead?”

Autumn looked back down at the rocky ground beneath her feet, smoothed down by magic. “Provided they survived the fight?”

“Hmm, provided they survive the fight.”

Dark pools rose back up to meet Nethlia's glowing orange orbs. The Inferni berserker didn’t flinch. “They’d not survive the next,” Autumn declared. 

Nethlia snorted and quickly pulled the witch into a headlock, wrapping a powerful bicep around her neck, causing Autumn to squeal in indignation. “Careful,” the berserker said, “you almost sounded scary then. So, what are you gonna do now, little witch, captured as you are?”

“You brute!” Autumn laughed despite herself. In her chest a blazing warmth bloomed. However, she could have done without Nethlia’s knuckles digging into her scalp, thoroughly messing up her hair even with her hat protecting it. 

Eventually, Autumn went limp and played dead, hoping that Nethlia would get bored. 

She didn’t and just continued to mess with the witch until they were interrupted.

“Oi! You two!” The pair heard yelling from behind them. When they turned around, they saw Liddie waving from over by the medical tent while Pyre stood awkwardly beside her. “Stop playing grab-ass and come over here! And bring the stuff!”

Like a bolt of lightning had hit her, Autumn jolted from Nethlia’s grasp and ran over to the pair. Lazily, Nethlia rose and stalked after the escaping witch. Standing beside the entrance to the medical tent, Pyre nervously adjusted her alchemical goggles at their approach.

The Ignis girl looked more than a little worse for wear. A thick, clean bandage had been wrapped around Pyre’s face, completely covering the cheek that’d suffered a grievous injury. The eye above the wound looked to be permanently bloodshot while her hair was wispy and drooping — no longer the flaming bonfire it’d been before.

Autumn stopped in front of the alchemist, unable to stop staring as a terrible memory overlapped her sight.

“You’re alive!” Autumn laughed. 

Pyre broke into a smile as she embraced the other girl. “As far as I know! It’s good to see you again. I hear you h-ha-h-hav…” her brow furrowed as the word she was looking for slipped through her finger, “I hear you’ve got stuff for me.”

The sudden stutter shocked Autumn. “Hey, are you ok?” she asked.

“I’m fine!” Pyre growled, “I’m just having trouble re-re-re—thinking of words sometimes. It’s not a big deal!”

“Oh, Pyre.” Autumn said sadly. 

“Shut it! I don’t need your pi-p-pit—Look, do you want your stuff looked at or not!” 

“Alright, that’s enough.” Nethlia said sternly. “Let’s grab our car-wagon-sled-thingy and find somewhere quiet to let Pyre do her thing, ok?”

“Thank you!” Pyre yelled before storming off toward the now unloaded sleigh. While Autumn and Nethlia had been talking, Edwyn had successfully unloaded all the bodies, spare silver, and other junk cluttering it. Now the bone sleigh just hovered in place as it awaited them.

“What’s this made of, anyway?” Nethlia asked curiously as she tapped the white material.

“Dragon bones.” Autumn replied as she jumped onboard and helped Pyre up. Nethlia just stared after her before making a quiet “huh” noise.

Sitting down on the floor of the sleigh, Pyre cast her gaze over the pair of potions — the crimson one stoppered by a green gorgon’s head and a green one stoppered by a knot of wood. Autumn couldn’t tell what the alchemist was looking for, but she watched on, enthralled all the same, as Pyre ran the pair through a battery of tests.

The first thing the alchemist did was carefully siphon out a few drops from each before mixing them into a variety of mineral substances — some of which bubbled and burnt when the potion was applied, while others changed shades or into entirely new colors. At one point, Pyre even taste-tested both. The crimson one made her grimace while the green made her look like she’d taken a shot of espresso.

When she was finally done, Pyre gestured to the pair of potions. “Ok, I’ve worked out a few things. For starters, While I do-d-don…I’m not exactly sure what they are, I’m still fairly confident. But still, take what I say with some cau-cau…care. 

“Ok, let’s go with the easiest one first. The green potion is a very potent haste potion. It’s probably a greater or even a grand one. If you drank it, you’d likely move at four-to-five times the speed that you do now. Ma-may-may…Likely more. 

“On the other hand, we have this cr-cr-crim…red potion. This is what I think is a divine essence potion. Literal blood of an Angelus distilled into a magical potion. Now, while it will heal someone almost completely even if they are on the verge of death — it’ll kill them after a while as there is too much p-po-pow….It’s too fucking strong, ok!!”

Pyre panted as she finished. 

“You did great, Pyre,” Nethlia praised before turning to the group. “Alright everyone, grab your things and say your goodbyes. I want us to be moving shortly.” she turned back to Pyre as everyone else started departing. “Hey, did Liddie tell you about the plan? Autumn told me everything as we were coming back. You can stay with the convoy if you want as they’ll be heading for another exit soon and where we’re going is extremely dangerous.”

“Yeah she told me we’re gonna go kill some hag bitch or something.” Pyre scowled. “And you can fu-fuc–FUCK right off with your ‘stay behind’ bullshit. I’m coming too.”

“Alright, alright.” Nethlia laughed.  

Autumn departed the bone sleigh to the sounds of laughter and swearing as she set off in search of her wayward catgirl. It didn't take long to find her as Eme was just coming back to the square herself in search of a witch’s shoulder to cry on. Red and puffy eyes met Autumn's dark orbs as they approached one another.

“It go that bad, huh?” Autumn asked.

Eme shook her head. “Better than I thought, but less than I hoped. You?”

Autumn shrugged before looking off to the side. “Bout the same. Listen, I think this is really goodbye this time.”

“Huh? What do you mean? Are you going somewhere?” Eme looked shell-shocked at the news, devastated even. 

“Yeah, my team is gonna go and kill a swamp hag,” Autumn laughed without humor. She met the catgirl’s watering eyes. “Anyway, I don’t want to drag you into this anymore than you already are. I can’t…I can’t lose you. I think I…I think…” Autumn swallowed. “Nevermind. Heh, I was never good at goodbyes.”

Eme blinked back the tears. “Was this the hag that killed Leshana and Vuriac?”

“Yeah. And I’m going to kill her.” Autumn grimly smiled.

“I want to come!” Eme declared, but Autumn just shook her head. 

“No, it’s too dangerous. Remember that angel fight? It’ll be that all over again.” 

A shudder ran through Eme’s body at the memory, but she steeled herself and looked Autumn in the eye, not backing down. “I don’t care! I’m coming too!” 

“You’ll die.” 

Eme grit her teeth in the face of Autumn’s denial. “I said I don’t care—” 

The catgirl’s words were swiftly cut off as the witch kissed her. The pair stayed locked in place for a long, tender moment before slowly, reluctantly they parted. And in a whisper, almost too quiet to be heard except by twitching feline ears, Autumn said. “I love you, you fucking idiot. So, go away before you break my heart.”

Eme stood rooted in place, unable to reboot her shocked mind before Autumn had run away. 

‘Hey, is this what you meant by giving your heart away?’ Autumn asked the banshee.

“Hurts doesn’t it? Let’s hope your choice is better than mine.”

Once the Dusk Wolves had regrouped, they pushed the levitating sleigh down to the water’s edge and turned it into a boat — much to Autumn’s distaste. However, she still boarded all the same. Liddie stood at the stern of the boat-slash-sleigh, looking entirely in her element as they drifted along the shore’s edge, heading for the river that’d take them to the hag’s domain and the deadliest fight of their lives.

“Uh, Autumn? I think you forgot something,” Nelva said with a smirk.

Looking behind them, Autumn saw Eme thundering along the shoreline on all fours, her eyes fixed on their floating craft.

Autumn sighed even as her heart beat in tune with the catgirl’s footfalls. “Damnit, Eme! Go home!” she yelled, but Eme didn’t listen — she just ran on, drawing ever closer to their bobbing boat. 

“You can do it, Eme!!” Nethlia bellowed. 

Autumn spun around angrily, “what are you doing?!”

Nethlia smiled, “you said you needed allies. I think we found one with guts.”

“She’ll die!” 

“Then make sure she doesn’t,” Nethlia said simply. 

Not even the settlement wall could stop Eme’s pace and she simply bounded up it. Like a cat, she sprang from point to point until she leapt completely clear of the wall and out above the blue, sailing through the air towards the party’s makeshift boat. 

And she missed.

Nethlia laughed heartily as she dragged a sopping wet catgirl out of the water and plopped her right down in front of a flustered Autumn. Eme hiccuped as she stared straight into the witch’s dark orbs.

“I love you too.”