Tali didn’t hesitate. She launched herself forward, covering the distance between her and Vraga in a single step. She punched down, aiming to crush Vraga into the ground.

  Edan expected the sect elder to step back, or try to block. Instead, he looked up as the fist descended. There was a sickening crack as the gauntlet made contact and then a thump as Tali’s hand drove Vraga to the ground. Black blood splattered everywhere as the ground cratered.

  Tali stepped back, disgust covering her face, as she tried to wipe the blood and crawling worms from her skin.

  “That seems a bit too easy,” Lem said in the sudden silence.

  Edan looked back. Lorien had fallen still, sweat and blood soaked her clothes. The slow rise and fall of her chest was the only sign she was alive.

  “I received no experience,” Tali said. “It is much like the viper in the dungeon and the wolf in the forest.”

  “...and Kumi.” Edan realized with horror. He’d been so busy trying to ignore the fact he had killed someone he hadn’t even noticed the lack of experience.

  Marcus sniffed the air, his lips pulling back from his muzzle. “Smells rotten. Wrong.” His words were garbled from having to pass through too many teeth, but recognizable.

  Edan rushed around, collecting his weapons. He left the throwing knife that had killed Kumi where it was. He couldn’t bring himself to pick it back up and in an odd way, it felt right to leave it behind. After a moment's hesitation, Edan scooped up Lorien. She was surprisingly light, and unconscious as she was, she felt so very frail. He left her trident on the ground.

  Making his way over to the group, a growling yip made him stop and look back.

  Running from between the broken remains of two buildings were the cubs. Their dark green coats had a fine dusting of plaster but otherwise seemed fine. It felt right when they got close to Edan and fell in on either side of him.

  “What about the….rest?” Sanik’s question faded as he looked behind Edan and saw the rapidly decomposing mess of the other two men. Concern filling his eyes, Sanik looked at Edan. “You good?”

  “I’ll be good,” Edan answered and meant it.

  Reema rushed over, helping him put Lorien down on the ground before giving him a crushing hug. Edan returned it with force.

  “I hear a lot of people heading this way.”

  The guild head had transformed back. Most of the hair along his body had faded, along with his canine features. His slitted eyes were focused on Edan, even as his ears seemed to twitch. Marcus looked ready to continue talking but Gem interrupted him.

  “That means we need to make ourselves scarce. You three…four? Edan, are they looking for you too?” Gem took the half-shrug from Edan as a yes. “You four are still wanted and I doubt that crowds going to be singing your praise for killing the Leviathan.”

  “If there’s anything left by the time they get here.” Lem pointed to the corpse of the Leviathan. There was little remaining of the gargantuan sea creature. Just a few tentacles and a blob that had been its head. Edan was reminded of ice cream melting in the heat.

  “Clean slate,” Tali muttered, her amber eyes moving about the port.

  The damage was extensive. The ground had given up on being level sometime after the first exchange of blows and much of the surface was cracked and pitted with large jagged scars stretching out like starbursts. The buildings around them were piles of rubble. Edan could even see bits of the buildings floating in the sea. Part of a roof here, a section of wall there.

  “If we weren’t wanted before, we definitely will be now.” Edan reached down, scratching behind the cub's ears. The feel of their fur beneath his fingers gave him comfort.

  “That was probably the idea,” Marcus growled, pulling a new shirt from his storage ring. “When he realized he couldn’t beat us, he got rid of all the evidence he was even here. Nothing to tie it back to the Four Star Heavenly Sect.”

  “And his body?”

  As one, they all turned to look at the smear on the ground.

  “Wasn’t his body,” Tali said. The gauntlets had vanished from her hands and she had pulled her customary brown robe back over her body. “Like the others. It was just a puppet.”

  “We need to go!” Gem reminded them but even Reema wasn’t paying her too much attention. Like the rest of the group, she was looking at the Titan.

  “A puppet?” Edan asked.

  “They’re all the same. The bodies smell of death, their blood-black sludge. The worms. Those parasites. They are the threat. Even his own body was dead.”

  Edan looked back to where Yaw and Kumi had been. Had they been dead? No. He remembered Vraga asking him if he was going to kill Lorien because it would help him tidy things up. They had been alive, but once dead that's when Vraga, or the worms, had complete control over them.

  That meant Edan had really killed Kumi.

  But then why hadn’t he got the experience.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “We need to leave. Now!” Gem began to pull Lem, the shorter man in turn tugging on Reema’s arm.

  Edan looked at Lorien on the ground. He hoped the crowd coming would just assume she was an innocent bystander who got injured in the chaos. She still wore the robes of the World Union Sect, so they would treat her well.

  “Where’s your ship? Can you still get us out?” Reema asked, her hand instinctively reaching out and catching Saniks.

  “Our’s is on the far side of the port. It’s too expensive birthing here.”

  “Thank the high realms we’re cheap!” Gem laughed, her eyes dancing with mirth as she looked over the floating splinters. All that remained of some of the nicer ships that had been docked at the port.

  “This mess will make it even easier to slip away.” Lem continued as the group moved down the port towards the end. “People will just assume we fled as well.”

  Edan followed behind the group, the bear cubs hot on his heels. Tali’s broad back in front of him. Edan shifted uncomfortably as Marcus fell into step beside him, the taller man's stride easily keeping pace with Edan.

  “You called me pup.” He said, his voice pitched low enough that those in front could hear. At least not without trying. “And you mentioned something you should not have known.”

  “I was told to say it,” Edan admitted.

  “You speak with him?” Marcus asked urgently, his voice had risen but he quickly dropped it again. “You speak for the First Light?”

  It took Edan a couple of seconds to remember why that sounded familiar. It was one of the names Kiba had said he’d been called. The fervent light in Marcus’s eye gave him pause though and he sought clarification from Kiba.

  You know this guy, right? Also, someone was awfully quiet during the fight.

  Edan held up a hand to forestall Marcus as he waited for a response.

  You could say I have ties to the Traders Guild and I remember Marcus when he was a pup, eager to prove himself. He can prove to be an asset and has resources you do not. Keep him close. There was a pause before Kiba said and I didn’t want to distract you in the middle of the fight.

  “I speak with the…uhhh, First Light.” Edan finally answered, stressing the ‘with’. “He mentioned having ties with the Traders Guild and remembering you when you were a…pup, eager to prove himself. His words, not mine!”

  Marcus’s face broke into a smile so wide Edan could count his teeth. A scary prospect considering the guild heads' canines were still tremendously sharp.

  “So we were right! He’s in the Academy Dungeon? Did you find him? How did they trap him? Did he give you something to communicate with? Can I use it?”

  Marcus’s voice had been growing steadily louder as he talked, excitement making him forget himself. Tali scowled as she looked back. One large hand reached out, and grabbed Edan by the back of his neck, she hoisted him up and put him down next to her. The constant feel of her hand on his back forced him to keep pace with her.

  “You will remember yourself, Marcus.” She said, looking pointedly at the Guild leader. Marcus had the good graces to look ashamed.

  “There’s our beauty!” Gem called out as they came to a line of ships moored next to each other.

  Each vessel looked more worn than the last with peeling paint and pitted, sun-bleached wooden hulls. Following Gem’s finger, Edan saw she was pointing to the last vessel in the row. It was smaller than the rest with only two masts. Peeling paint marked the side of the hull and gave the ship its name in faded white script. Sea Crystal.

  With practiced ease, Gem ran up the gangplank. Lem followed at a slower pace, gesturing for the rest to follow.

  “Oi, Miz, it's safe! The big bad monster is dead! I killed it! Get out here, and tell Scoops we’re setting sail!” Gem hollered loudly.

  Edan looked over his shoulder. “Are you coming?” He asked dubiously as Marcus looked to join them moving up the gangplank.

  “I have a lot of questions.” He said, by way of explanation. Marcus did pause though. Looking back he gestured Vroth closer and whispered something in his ear before nodding back towards Stratta. The bald man nodded and backed off. Flashing a quick wave and wink, he walked away. “Vroth will settle things around here.”

  “Cap’an, I see a crowd approaching from the city! You didn’t cause trouble again did you?” A voice called from overhead and Edan looked up, squinting against the sun.

  A thin Aniser man stood in the crow's nest. Like Marcus, his animal features were restricted to his hair and ears, both of which reminded Edan of a tan monkey. Unlike Marcus, Edan could see a tail waving behind the man. After Edan’s last interaction with monkeys, he felt an instinctive warryness of the man.

  Marcus inhaled, his slitted eyes tracking upward. Overhead the man froze, his ears twitching.

  “Don’t eat my deck hand!” Gem commanded Marcus before addressing the other man. “And don't worry Miz, if he tries anything, just talk to the Titan. She’ll set him right.”

  Miz gave a shaky laugh. “You didn’t answer my question Cap’an.”

  “No! The crowd isn’t for us. It's for the Leviathan. Though we should get out of here just to be safe. You lot, go stand by the railings and stay out of the way. Once we’re under way we’ll show you around. Lem, darling, I need a good wind.”

  Edan joined his family as well as Tali and Marcus against the railing. Lem stood just behind them, his hands moving gently through the air as his dark eyes turned a milky white. Edan felt the wind pick up, his hair whipping about his face.

  “A talented crew,” Marcus observed. “If somewhat unorthodox.”

  “Were you really going to eat the monkey Aniser?” Edan asked quietly.

  Marcus showed his canines in a feral grin. “No, but sometimes it helps to remind them of their place. Monkey Aniser can be…tricky.”

  Edan let the subject drop as the ship pulled out of port. Waves lapped rhythmically against the hull as the sails snapped in the breeze overhead. The creaking of the rigging mixed with the orders being barked by Gem who stood at the stern of the vessel.

  “Lem, ease up a little and adjust your angle. I want it coming through from Starboard. Miz, hope down below, tell Scoop to strap down what needs strapping. We’re going to go fast once we’re out to sea.”

  Edan looked back at Stratta as Sea Crystal began to turn. The port was a ruined mess. Edan could see the city itself stretch out behind it, the familiar buildings and streets looking like they always did. A crowd had begun to filter into the port, the waving weapons that glittered in the sunlight made Edan think it was mainly made up of free cultivators.

  The Sea Crystal’s angle changed slightly and Edan watched the Academy slip past as their vessel picked up speed. The stone towers and grey walls had once been impressive, the central tower of white marble and gold fittings had inspired him.

  Those towers had held so much hope for Edan. He would graduate, and earn the respect of the sects. Go on to be a powerful cultivator. His name would spread far and wide and his parents would return to claim him. Sanik and Reema would never want for anything and would live safe and protected.

  Edan shook his head as the Academy began to grow distant. The sea beneath them turned a dark blue. The ship surged through the waves as they moved towards deeper water. Edan could see the other islets now. Each belonging to a Sect.

  Life was nothing like Edan’s dream. That was ok though. Edan had his family beside him. A Titan as a mentor. A primordial as the voice in his head. Two bear cubs as pets. And a burning urge to grow stronger.

  Come what may, Edan would be ready.