It didn’t take long for Maro to show up with a huge bowl of pottage, and it didn’t take long after that for Kaira to show up and demand to take over the job of spoonfeeding Ana.

  “I mean, he’s a good guy and all, but if a friend’s around… right? And Ossy needed to sleep.” Kaira explained after Maro had thanked her and moved on to another patient.

  “Sure,” Ana replied. Having Kaira taking care of her when she couldn’t sit up on her own was a little awkward, but it was also nice. Having people care for her like that wasn’t entirely new to Ana anymore, but this was the first time Kaira had done it.

  Her bedside manner was about as gentle and sensitive as Ana had expected, but that didn’t bother her one bit. If Kaira had suddenly started treating her like a child, or as though she were made of glass, it just might have been intolerable. Instead she was treated to Kaira saying things like, “Hells, for such a small girl you can’t half put it away, can you?” The Evoker shoveled porridge with bits of fruit and meat into Ana’s mouth at a rate that would likely have gotten her banished from the makeshift field hospital if Touanne had seen her doing it. “Honestly, where does it all go?”

  “No idea,” Ana managed to say between swallowing and Kaira shoving the next heaping spoonful into her mouth. She really didn’t. To better fit in with her clients she’d chosen to adhere to a certain beauty standard back on Earth, and had been careful about her calories. A meal had never had to be particularly big before she’d felt uncomfortably full. Ever since arriving in the Splinter, though, she’d been able to stuff herself like nobody’s business, and she was glad for it.

  “You good?” Ana managed before Kaira filled her mouth with food again.

  Kaira ballooned her cheeks, blowing out a long, slow breath. “I mean… shit, is anyone?”

  Ana nodded sympathetically as she chewed before swallowing and saying, “How’s Brosden?”

  “Bad. Gonna live and get better, but he took a real deep cut in the shoulder. Like, a few seconds slower with the potion and he’d’ve been gone.” Kaira’s voice had a strained creak to it at the end, and she looked away, taking a deep breath before turning back and shoving more food at Ana. “Sorry. I promised him I’d try not to cry over it anymore now that he’s out of danger. Just, you know, he got hacked down, and Waller got run the fuck through, both of them standing between Deni and me and Rill—the demon, I mean.” She sniffed, wiping angrily at her eyes. “Fuck! Gods beyond, it’s not like nobody ever got hurt standing between me and danger before, but they both almost died! Hell, if I hadn’t taken the bastard’s arm off he would’ve sliced Waller in half, and then me after him. Lucky fucking shot, too!”

  “That was you?”

  Puffy eyes, wet cheeks and all, Kaira grinned a predatory grin that made Ana’s breath catch with how like the demon’s it was. But Ana didn’t let it show, and Kaira didn’t pick up on it. “Hell yeah!” the Evoker said proudly. “Got him in the elbow, and he fucked right off after that. I mean, it put me down with depletion for an hour with how much I put into it, and now we’ve got a possessed sapient prowling around or possibly heading to the outpost, but I’ll bet you some of us are alive that wouldn’t be if I’d hit him in the chest instead. Deni did and he didn’t even flinch, tough bastard that he is. Plus he’s down an arm now, and he left his sword behind.”

  “God, that’s a relief to hear,” Ana said through a mouthful of pottage. She hadn’t been quick enough between spoonfuls this time. “Almost got me with it.”

  “Yeah, I saw. All blood from your armpit to your damn boot.” She hesitated, waiting until Ana had her mouth full again, before saying, “Sendra’s got your stuff clean for you. Ready whenever you want it. Those boots, though… you’re gonna need to take those to Merv. Soles are shot.”

  “Thousand miles,” Ana mumbled around her porridge. “Ran a thousand miles in ‘em.”

  “Yeah, that’ll do it.”

  Kaira must have forced another two pounds of pottage into Ana before she truly couldn't eat anymore. Kaira took that as a challenge. She was scraping the bowl to gather a last spoonful when Messy swept into the camp, rescuing Ana from the possible indignity of throwing up in front of her friend. Kaira yielded as Ana was suddenly the center of a storm of laughter, tears, kisses, and general doting, with the rest of the Party drifting in at a more reasonable pace.

  “I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up,” Messy said, sniffling through a relieved smile. “I wanted to, I really did, but Ray and the other scouts swear he's still out there, prowling, and we need all the eyes around the camp that we can.”

  “I know, love,” Ana said, playing with Messy's hand. She was stroking her girlfriend’s fingers one by one, feeling the texture of the skin there. She marvelled at how they were simultaneously so slender and so strong, and at the swordswoman’s calluses on hands that were otherwise so soft, and capable of such exact work as Messy had done for Master Renvi. “I won't pretend that I didn't miss you, but I didn't mind waiting. I'm just glad we're both alive. That we all are,” she quickly amended, looking at the rest of the small group.

  “We never doubt,” Jisha said, her voice firm and her aura bright with certainty. “You don't die. That is how you are.”

  “You don’t even know how many times I’ve almost died,” Ana objected.

  “Almost,” Jisha agreed solemnly. “Only almost.”

  Only almost, an airy voice agreed in Ana’s mind. You don’t die. I forbid you.

  The short, thoughtful silence that followed broke when Deni spoke up, saying, “Um, Ana, not to rush you or anything, but when do you think you’ll be able to walk around again? I heard the captains and the officers are meeting soon. I figure… I mean, I think everyone would want you there.”

  Ana thought about it. Her whole body was stiff, painful, and heavy, and no part was as bad as her legs. They were still worn out to the point that moving them was almost impossible.

  Almost, she thought. Only almost. “I could probably shuffle around with someone to lean on,” she said. “Worst case I have my wings.”

  “When can you fight?” Lessa asked cautiously from where she sat side by side with Perri, their legs pressed close together.

  “Lessa!” Messy scolded the younger woman, but Ana drew her attention with a light tug on her hand.

  “It’s alright,” Ana said. “As for fighting… you know me. If I have to, I can try. It would probably piss Touanne off as much as she can be, though.”

  “Anette wants you to rest,” Jisha confirmed. “Rest, eat, drink, rest more.”

  “Doubt the demon cares what our midwife wants,” Rayni said darkly. She’d been standing right by Ana’s head ever since the Party arrived, leaning with her back against the tree that Kaira had propped Ana up against to feed her, but hadn’t said anything except to voice her relief that Ana was awake. “I can feel it out there. Not even a direction, just like the whole forest could press in and kill us all at any moment. It’s coming for us. Tonight, maybe, or if we move. Can’t say, but it’s coming.”

  “Even missing an arm?” Deni asked, her voice small. “You don’t think it’ll back off now?”

  “No,” Ana said. She couldn’t feel it the way Rayni could, but she agreed with the Huntress. “It’s smart, but it’s still a demon. Not mindless like the normal ones, but just as goddamn relentless. The fact that its aggression comes from malice just makes it more dangerous. It’s not just going to attack; it’s going to find the best moment, some time and some place we’re vulnerable, and hit us.”

  “Ain’t harmless for missing an arm, either.” Kaira’s voice came from the other side of the tree; she’d returned to join the conversation after checking on Brosden. “I saw Captain Pirta try to cut it down after I took that arm off. It ducked under the swing then smashed her aside like barely nothing. Honestly, I’d feel best if we had both Ana and that merc bitch on their feet.”

  “I, with extreme reluctance, agree,” Messy said sourly. “Aaspiyah was the only one who stood thirty seconds against it. If we actually want to kill it…”

  Messy’s voice trailed off, and the group lapsed into pensive silence.

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  They talked little of anything consequential after that. Ana’s Party fetched their food, ate, and then headed back out on patrol. Again, Messy didn’t want to leave Ana; again, she and Ana both agreed that she had to. And while Ana hated to see her go, she swelled with something that could only be pride and admiration at how well her girlfriend was holding together. Only weeks ago, with the trauma of being part of the deaths of so many changelings fresh in her mind, the thought of going out again had seemed so distant to Messy as to appear impossible; now, here she was, her sword on one hip and the Ascender’s opal-pommeled dagger on the other, prepared to face the most dangerous being any of them had ever encountered. How could Ana not be proud of her?

  With only the sounds of the camp and the forest to draw her attention, Ana turned inward. Still there? she asked. She only had to wait a moment.

  Always, the Wayfarer replied. That was some run. Well done.

  With the goddess’s attention on her, Ana asked the question that was almost certainly on everyone’s mind. How could this happen?

  The possession? In this Splinter? Two ways, really. Awful luck, or interference. I wish I could tell you which.

  Rill was devout. Couldn’t you see him?

  He was one of mine, and he was devout, the Wayfarer agreed. But he was not my Chosen. If I’d had reason to watch him, or if he’d prayed to me, I could have seen him. But you and my devoted Ascenders are the only ones I can always see, even if I’m not always watching. I’m sorry, Ana. I don’t know what happened. But I will try to prevent it from happening again.

  The goddess’s voice was fading by the end. Her staying power had been getting less and less recently, as she did whatever it was she did outside of the mortal world. Alright, Ana said. Thank you. For the encouragement, if nothing else.

  Ana got a sense of acknowledgement and pride directed toward her. Then the sense of the goddess’s presence faded.

  Left alone, except for Touanne and Maro who occasionally checked on her, Ana looked at the notifications that had been waiting for her for the past two days. And what she saw only reinforced what Rayni had once told her, that it was thought that the likelihood of Leveling a Skill was higher the more important it was that you succeed. She’d received two Levels in each of no less than three Skills: Defense and Shields both increased to Level 8, and Small Blades to Level 5. It didn’t take but a moment’s thought to figure out why, either. The first two were because she’d successfully kept herself alive against the storm of steel that the demon had rained down on her; the third, because of her successful, desperate attack when her gambit with the hurlbats failed. That had been no less essential to her survival the previous two days than her shield-work, parrying, and dodging had been.

  Notably absent were her other weapons Skills and Unarmed Combat. Fair enough. It wasn’t like she’d landed a single goddamn blow on the demon, and when she’d thrown it, it had been all Strength and not a smidgeon of skill or technique. She wasn’t complaining. She was alive, and she had a few Skill Levels to show for it, as well as two Minor and four Medium Growth Crystals. And, not to forget, a Perk for Small Blades of all things:

  For all that Ana had an aversion to knives, she couldn’t complain about a Perk, especially not one like that. If you were desperate enough to face anything with just a dagger, you needed the fight to end fast. You needed to cut a main artery, lay open the liver or spleen, or foul a joint. Anything that helped her do that was welcome.

  Having finally dealt with the notification alert that had been bugging her for over two days, Ana took a nap. But not for long. It was no more than an hour later when the officers met. Ana joined them; the only thing that could have kept her away was her general condition, and a combination of making herself lighter and Tellak’s support took care of that.

  True to her word, Ana asked Touanne if the Healer thought it was a terrible idea. “Not terrible,” Touanne had replied. “Not a good one either, but it’s important enough. Just promise me that if you feel faint or anything else, you’ll let me know!”

  Ana had promised, and Tellak had insisted that she be the one to support Ana instead of a visibly worn down Touanne, and that was it.

  The officers met at a wide circle of logs at the edge of the camp, and were all armed and armored except for Ana and Touanne. Even Drisa the Administrator and Captain Pirta, with half her face a mess of bruises and her arm in a sling, were equipped to fight. But then, so was everyone else in the camp who wasn’t currently recovering from injuries; if the demon attacked, they’d need everyone to be ready.

  It wasn’t just the regular guild officers like the captains, Drisa, and Touanne who were present, but all the surviving militia officers as well, a group that had been expanded to include Party leaders like Spira the Hydromancer and Brosden. Some, like Brosden, were down and resting as their injuries healed as fast as Touanne could make them, but they still made a sizable group. Also present, to Ana’s short-lived surprise, was Haytham Talleh, the Earthbreaker. Given a moment’s thought though, she should have expected him. The mercs were there, and he was their leader. The fact that most of the outpost wanted him and his people dead didn’t matter; of course he’d be part of any decision.

  Captain Falk may not have been the first to see Ana—that was most likely his wife—but he was the first to rise from his seat to greet her. “Miss Cole!” he called when she was still a good hundred feet off, a tired smile on his face and genuine pleasure in his voice. “It truly is wonderful to see you on your feet. I believe we all owe you a debt of gratitude.”

  Ana didn’t trust her voice to hold if she raised it too much, so she waited until they’d joined the circle of leaders before answering, “Thanks, but I only did what I had to to keep people alive.”

  Before anyone else could respond, Talleh spoke up. “Miss Cole, this is no time for modesty, false or genuine. My own subordinate, Aaspiyah, stood against the demon, a possessed sapient, for less than a minute, and I am at a loss for how to properly recognize her feat. I’ve been told that you survived against it, alone, for no less than two full days. That is the stuff that legends are made of.”

  Ana looked at the Earthbreaker. She still carried some inarguably justified anger towards the man and his people. It didn’t matter that she’d negotiated a peace with him, one that she intended to honor. People had died because of him. Others had only barely survived, Messy and Rayni among them. He’d destroyed the goddamn bathhouse, which might have been Ana’s favorite place in the Splinter, beating out Messy’s bed by a razor-thin margin. And he’d done it all for money.

  Well, no. That wasn’t true. It had started because of money, but everything after the Ascender died had been about getting himself, his people, and Karti out of the Splinter. Ana could understand that. She wouldn’t have hesitated to do the same in his position.

  That didn’t mean that she didn’t want him dead. She’d be nothing but smug if the demon wiped him and his whole gang out before they put it down.

  “That’s kind of you,” Ana said, giving Talleh the same exact expression as she had Falk. For the sake of keeping the peace she kept her feelings out of her aura, and only added, Almost makes me wish I cared about your opinion silently, in her own mind.

  “Mister Talleh and his cohort are here on contract,” Pirta said. If not for her Perception and her Perks, Ana would have never seen or heard the strain the elven woman was under. “In fact, he offered their services preemptively when we sent word to them about the demon and they were instrumental in fighting it off. I hope that you can set any hostility aside until the demon has been destroyed, as we have.”

  “I promised to keep the peace,” Ana said. “I’m not stupid enough to break it now.”

  “Thank you,” Pirta said with a sincere nod. “Now that we’re all here, let’s proceed. We’re all aware of the situation, but to recapitulate: we came here to destroy a possessed sapient. And while we fought it off with under the circumstances minimal casualties—”

  Beside Ana, Touanne scoffed under her breath. If Pirta noticed, as Ana suspected that she did, she didn’t react.

  “—and while Miss Kaira managed to disarm it—

  There was a choked snort from one of the militia officers, probably Halmer, which Pirta also ignored.

  “—we failed to do so. Now it circles us, no doubt looking for a weakness. But we cannot assume that it will do so indefinitely. It may decide that we are too much trouble, or not enough sport, and turn toward the outpost. If it does, it can move so quickly that there are very few here who have even a chance of keeping pace with it, and that small group would certainly not stand a chance against it on their own. But while that suggests that we should return to the outpost immediately, doing so carries two risks. First, us moving out may cause the demon to do the same, even if it would otherwise have been content to remain here. Second, we are likely to be more vulnerable on the move. Thus, we have a decision to make. Do we stay, or do we return to the outpost? All perspectives, opinions, and suggestions are welcome. The floor, so to speak, is open.”

  They’d barely even begun to discuss when Marra’s head snapped up, her husband falling silent beside her. He began to ask what was wrong, but with a sharp, “Shhh!” she stood and held her hand up, signaling for silence as she looked out into the forest beyond the camp. Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to shout a warning just as the demon came crashing out of the trees, eyes burning with malevolent glee as it bore down on them.

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