Salos did not wait for Alyx to finish her business with Alacrity. He’d done as Cass wanted, kept her safe up to the altar, and now it was time to do as he wanted, which was to hurry back to Cass’s side.

  He Stealthed across the chasm, not setting off a single lightning trap on the way, sprinted past Marco and Pellen and back up the stairs.

  Cass lay in front of the door. The color in her skin was faded. Her usual rosy hue had fallen to a soft blue. Pretty, but not a sign of good health in humans.

  He put a paw on her throat, feeling for her pulse. To his relief, her heart still beat. The mana in her body was still circulating strongly, even if there was far less of it than there should be.

  There was a fresh wound in her gut and her shoulder was bleeding through its bandages again. But none of these were critical as long as she still had the Health to heal it.

  He activated Stone Memory, looking into the stone to get a feel for what had happened while he’d been gone. The stone showed three women running in circles. Cass used Confounding Mists then. She must have expended most of her Focus again. Which she recovered plenty quickly. She’d be okay.

  Except she was pale and cold. Like Death hung waiting over her.

  The other noblewoman, Fioreya, and her grunts were the first to return. Stupid Alyx. She got there first, and she knew Cass was hurt, but she still wasn’t hurrying back.

  The group hung in the doorway at the sight of him and Cass. He stood on Cass’s chest, his fur standing on end, his ears flaring back, snarling. He had no illusions that this would dissuade them, but he couldn’t help himself.

  In the noblewoman’s place, he wouldn’t have hesitated to finish Cass off. Cass had proven she was a potential threat. She’d cost the woman her contest. Who knew how Cass would stand in her way in the future if left unchecked?

  Abyss. Had she killed Alyx already? Was that why Alyx hadn’t come back yet?

  Had he failed Cass, after all?

  No. Not yet. He could still do something. At his level, he couldn’t kill them all by himself—a pang of regret at his lost level echoed through his soul—but he could make them regret taking this fight. How to do it?

  The archer was fast, but his armor was poor and with his Fortitude, the armor he had was almost irrelevant. He’d start there. Claws to the groin as he clawed his way up to the eyes.

  From there, he’d launch off toward Fioreya. The woman had the highest stats by far. Her noble background, her reputation as an elite of her generation, and her higher level all implied she’d have the stats to block all but the best of his attacks. But even her neck had to be soft, didn’t it? And he had loosened it in the earlier melee.

  He doubted he’d get further than that, but if he did, he’d immediately shoot for the swordswoman’s left hand. There was a gash in her gauntlet. If he could make that wound bad enough, she might be forced to fight one-handed.

  Fioreya walked right past them. Her people followed her. They didn’t so much as kick him or Cass on the way.

  A ploy to lower his guard?

  The truly wise didn’t go easy on any opponent, even one they drastically outclassed.

  He watched them as they moved across the room to their fallen mage. The man breathed shallowly. Killing was hard when the opponent was a higher level. Health could heal so much. If Salos had still been humanoid in form, he would have left his dagger in the man’s neck to prevent the healing.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  But, since his claws were unfortunately attached to his paws, he’d had to detract them when he switched targets. There hadn’t been time to make sure the kill stuck. Removing combatants from the melee had been more important.

  The archer put an ear to his chest and listened. A moment later, he nodded and stepped back to make room for the swordswoman. She picked up the mage and threw him over one shoulder.

  Then the four left without so much as looking back at him or Cass.

  Ah. Naturally. Their ally was injured. Their mage.

  A mage was a much more valuable resource. It was only reasonable that they would rush to get him the aid he needed now that their objective was complete.

  Though this could still be a ploy.

  He watched the walkway they’d retreated down.

  He needed to get Cass out of here. Could he possess her? He pushed across their bond, feeling out the boundary between them. It was wobbly. And porous. More so than he had expected.

  He was certain he could slip across, however, he could feel her soul on that side. It was wound tight, ready to lash out at anything that got too close. Without Cass’s consciousness to guide the process, he didn’t think he could subdue it into letting him lead. Not with Cass’s ever-growing Will and Resolve. Both had far outstripped his own.

  In either case, it was too soon to try that.

  He didn’t know for a fact Alyx was dead yet. Fioreya may truly have left them alone, in which case, perhaps Alyx was fine too. It was a strange scenario, but modern people were a strange bunch.

  Had Fioreya really left? He stepped off of Cass, skirting up to the far doorway. He stared down the hall through the supernatural gloom. She wasn’t waiting just outside the light of the nearest torches, where the less informed might assume he could not see. She appeared to have left.

  The stone whispered all was quiet.

  He stalked back to Cass, his ears rotating to pick up even the slightest sound. No one would sneak up on them.

  Footsteps scuffed along the stairs from the floor below. So all of them hadn’t died, it seemed. Good. Cass would probably be upset if one of them had died and that kind of emotional turbulence would be bad for her recovery.

  All three of them appeared in the doorway a moment later: Alyx, Marco, and Pellen. Marco still carried the tag-a-long mage over one shoulder. The argu was still out cold.

  “Took you long enough,” Salos said, his tail flicking back and forth as he turned away from them and settled on Cass’s chest.

  “How is Cass?” Alyx asked.

  “She will live,” Salos said. Probably.

  “I don’t think I can carry ‘em both,” Marco said.

  “You could leave the baggage behind.” Salos shot a look at the tag-a-long in Marco’s arms.

  “I’ve already offered her compensation for her services. I can’t just abandon her here,” Alyx said. “I’ll carry Cass. She can’t be that heavy. You can find us a safe side room to recover in, can’t you?”

  Salos snorted. “Obviously.” It was a decent plan.

  Alyx bent down, scooping Cass up in her arms.

  “Gently!” Salos hissed as Cass’s head lolled to one side.

  “I’ve got her,” Alyx said, shifting Cass’ weight but in no way addressing the problem.

  He could feel his tail bristling.

  If he were humanoid, he could carry her instead.

  It was a useless thought. He needed to find a safe harbor for her to recover in. A Safe Zone would be ideal. But the nearest one was much deeper in the storehouse, if it still existed. Too deep for this group to reach.

  If he were still level 74, he could have easily led them there.

  He shook the thought aside. Cass was alive. She wasn’t deteriorating further. Rest would be enough.

  Salos stalked up to the door on the far left of the room. “This one should be safe.”

  “You’re sure?” Alyx asked.

  He nodded up at the writing over the door. “Janitorial. Should be unguarded.”

  Alyx pressed her shoulder into the door, pushing it open. Jostling Cass the entire time.

  Salos grit his teeth. Wasn’t this what she had her guardsman for?

  Inside was a small room, entirely empty. Any janitorial equipment had long since been looted or destroyed.

  It would suffice.