Harker had barely sat down in the dining hall when a violet scalewing in an embroidered suit approached his team's table.
Harker flicked his steak knife at Falek. "If you try to buy Raeve again, I'll report you to the Enforcers for harrassment."
The nix in question glared daggers.
Falek seemed unbothered by all the hostility. "I came to make an offer on the human telepath. Word on the street says she's more trouble than she's worth to you. I'll take her off your hands for eight Blues."
Thyr choked on his drink. Harker couldn't blame him; eight Blue CCs was almost twice the amount the team would make over the six-week contract they were currently working. That much money would buy plenty of healing potions, repairs to their equipment, and maybe even exploration rights to a good dungeon. It was a pity they couldn't break the Knight bond between Mar'kost and Liza. Then again, maybe there was a way. A man with Falek's resources could almost certainly force Liza to break the bond herself.
"That human, Liza, has a hold on our teammate-"
"She's not for sale." Thyr shot Harker a look.
A smile tugged at Falek's lips as he leaned closer to Harker. "Let me assure you, kind sir, I'm more than willing to do whatever's necessary to free your teammate from the human."
"I-" He hesitated.
Thyr cleared his throat. "The girl is not for sale. Go, Falek."
"Might nine Blues change your mind?"
"No."
"A Purple?"
"No."
Harker very much wanted to say 'yes,' but he couldn't make that kind of decision without Thyr's approval.
"Two Purples?"
The table fell silent. Two Purples would be almost five times the amount of their contract. They would have their pick of dungeons, and they could buy new enchanted gear. Harker could buy a dozen charms to add to his collection.
"I see we've found your price. Now, what hold does this girl have on your teammate?"
"She isn't for sale." Raeve's voice was quiet but firm.
Harker glared at her. "You tried to kill her. At least this way, we get some chips."
"I'd rather see her dead than in the hands of a slaver. No one deserves that."
Falek tutted. "It's a pity she isn't your ward, nix. Harker, you were saying?"
Thyr cut in, much to Harker's annoyance. "We'll consider your offer in private."
"But I haven't had the chance to offer my services in solving your real problem. If you would only allow me-"
A touch on Harker's hand distracted him from the conversation. A small black orb tapped against a ring on his index finger. As soon as he grabbed the orb, it stopped moving. He popped open the hinged messenger orb to reveal a rolled note inside. After laboriously unfolding the tiny note, he read itâfirst silently, then aloud.
"I've just gotten a note from Kaliska: Liza and Mar'kost went to Bloodflight. Guards came back injured. Mar'kost presumed dead. Cadmus is looking for him." He knew as well as the rest of his team that Mar'kost was incredibly difficult to kill, but that didn't lessen the horrible weight of the message. Either Liza was deadânearly ensuring that Mar'kost would die as wellâor she'd lost control of Bloodflight. Or worse, she remained in control but had ordered the beast to attack.
"Allow me to offer my assistance in recovering your teammate," Falek said with a sly smile. "We can discuss the human on the way."
Harker looked to Thyr for approval, ignoring Raeve's glare.
Thyr hesitated, then nodded. "Let's go."
***
After hours of searching, Cadmus finally spotted a glimmer of white in a moonlit copse of trees. Unsure whether Mar'kost would be in his true form or not, he gestured for the twenty or so men accompanying him to stay back as he urged Sparrowfoot forward. He would have preferred to ride his flame-breathing Desert drykon into a situation this perilous, but the beast had significantly reduced stamina compared to his current mount and had refused to keep flying after the first hour of searching.
Amber eyes flashed in the darkness as he approached, and a low growl slowed his approach.
"Wha- what is it?" Liza asked, seemingly from beneath the Tundra drykon's wing. She paused before speaking so quietly that Cadmus couldn't make out the words.
Bloodflight pulled back his wing to reveal Liza and Mar'kostâwho was in his true form and seemingly intact. Given their current state of relaxation as they rested against the drykon's side, Cadmus could only assume that his men had greatly exaggerated the beast's aggression. Either that, or Liza had managed to calm him since the attack.
Cadmus dismounted and loosely tied Sparrowfoot's reins to a branch before nearing the group. "Everyone okay?"
Mar'kost shrugged. "As okay as I can be after being shot multiple times."
"They shot you?" He looked back at the men he'd brought. They were all illuminated by glow orbs and visibly tense. "They said Bloodflight attacked you."
"Her name is Glacier," Liza muttered.
Unsure what to make of that, Cadmus gave Mar'kost a questioning look.
"Glacier made it clear that she won't be tied up or sold without a fight. She told everyone except me to leave so she could speak with Liza. Your men fired on her, and several of the bullets ricocheted to hit me. She defended herselfâwithout using lethal force, as you must have seen. She would have died if Liza hadn't commanded the other drykons to defend her. Once everyone had run off, we came here so I could heal." He cleared his throat sheepishly. "We didn't intend to be here so long, but I suppose we must have drifted off after such an exhausting day."
Cadmus wanted to take him at his word, but Mar'kost's team had painted a very different picture when they arrived with Falek earlier that evening. "We need to talk."
"Now?"
He nodded and offered Mar'kost a hand up. "Can you shift?"
"I believe so, but I don't have enough arka to do it for long, perhaps half a myriblink."
"Don't do it yet." He led Mar'kost away from Liza and Glacier. Once he was sure Liza couldn't hear, he spoke in a low voice. "Your team said that girl-"
He groaned. "I assume they told you she's rendered me into a poor, helpless soul beholden to her will?"
"Something like that."
"Do you remember the recurring dreams I mentioned, the ones featuring a strange human woman?"
"That her?" He looked back at Liza, who was staring at them with wide eyes.
"Yes. I've been... communing with her for several months now. At the very least, I consider her a friend." There was a wistfulness in his voice that told Cadmus everything he needed to know.
"You fancy her, and you've acted the lovestruck fool. That's why your team thinks she's got you under her thumb."
"I wouldn't say I've acted the fool." Feathers bristling, he crossed his arms. "It's perfectly reasonable to prevent people from killing my friend, no matter how dangerous she technically isâand I use the word 'technically,' because she hasn't attacked anyone unprovoked. What would you do if a stranger were holding a knife to your throat and threatening to kill you?"
"Who-"
"Raeve. Liza was only trying to defend herself. Perhaps the force she used was unnecessary, given how unlikely it is that Raeve actually intended to kill her, but how would Liza know her intentions?"
"That what happened to her wings?"
Mar'kost nodded. "She's lucky to be alive."
"Then Liza is dangerous."
"As I said, technically the answer is 'yes,' but I have no reason to believe she's a violent person by nature, merely defensive."
"Let me get this straightâyour teammate, who you've said before fancies you, threatened to kill your powerful lady friend, and you've been keeping both of them in the same hotel suite?"
Mar'kost opened his mouth and paused, feathers drooping. "I can't afford to pay for another room at Ruin's Point, and it isn't safe for her to stay at a cheaper place."
Cadmus punched him in the arm, eliciting a yelp. "Ya know I have a spare room, stones-for-brains. She'll stay with me."
Mar'kost looked relieved but still a little worried. "And Glacier?"
"Won't fit in the spare room, and the stable hands won't go near her, so she can't stay in the stables either."
"Oh, I don't believe she needs to be provided with shelter or food. But she'll likely visit Liza, and Liza would be devastated if your men killed her."
Cadmus frowned. "I'll tell 'em to leave her be so long as she doesn't hurt them or the livestock, but it's best if she doesn't stay on the property much." He paused. "Liza can control her?"
"Well..." His uneasy expression made Cadmus nervous. "Glacier is, shall we say, a free spirit. She generally respects Liza's wishes, but I don't believe Liza could force her to do anything against her will."
"Uh huh. Let's keep that between us. Don't want the men panicking and gettin' hit by their own bullets again. A few nearly bled out before we got healing potions in them." He paused, looking back at Glacier and Liza. The drykon's lips were pulled back in a snarl. "The two of them get hurt?"
"Not majorly. I removed the bullets from Glacier. They weren't deep. As for Liza-" He swallowed, a nervous tic he'd picked up from Cadmus. "She hit her head. I don't believe she'll suffer any lasting effects, but the impact did crack the- You won't tell my team about this?"
"Course not."
"Well, she's been growing crystage inside her all over, and some of it cracked. I don't know how important it is for a human-Ortai hybrid to have intact crystage, but-"
"A what now?"
"Hmm?" He blinked his abnormally large eyes. "Didn't my team say... Liza is a descendant of Shiel. She comes from a world without arka, which I believe rendered the Ortai mortal enough to reproduce with the native speciesâhumans."
Cadmus raised a hand to stop him. This was all too much. He could deal with a powerful telepath, but an Ortai? "You mean to tell me that girl-" He pointed at Liza. "-the one Harker's been calling a madwoman and Raeve threatenedâis an Ortai?"
He nodded. "An Ortai-human hybrid. She was raised to believe she was human and that magic didn't exist. I haven't the faintest idea why the Ortai didn't care about preserving their history."
Cadmus sat on the ground and stared at Liza. "Didn't it used to be, only Ortai and their Knights could ride drykons?"
"Yes." Mar'kost sat with him. "Apparently, wild drykons consider Ortai the only beings worthy of riding them, but Glacier made an exception for me due to my relationship with Liza."
"She angry we ride drykons?"
He shook his head. "She views domesticated drykons as stupid creatures who deserve their fate for allying themselves with people."
"Liza thinks that?" She'd seemed like such a sweet girlâwhen she wasn't pulling a crazy stunt like breaking a drykon in the air.
"No, Glacier does. Liza isn't sure what to think. I believe she's overwhelmed. It would do her good to eat and sleep in a proper bed."
It took Cadmus a minute to catch the hint. "Right, right. Sparrowfoot'll take her back to the ranch real quick. I'll send the men back, and we can walk. Talk things over."