Ferdinand awoke to find that he was alone. That was rather odd, as he’d gotten so used to finding Garina staring him down at every moment of the day. He blinked, a frown crossing his lips as he glanced around the forest clearing.

A joke, perhaps? It would be just like her to disappear and wait for me to let my guard down before popping up and scaring the life out of me.

Garina didn’t pop out, though. Minutes passed, and there was still no sign of her. There weren’t any signs of a fight around his camp – not that anything in the Arbalest Empire had a chance of defeating her – so he had absolutely no idea where she’d went.

Is it possible she finally gave up on following me around?

Ferdinand was surprised to find that he wasn’t sure if he was happy or sad about that. He took one of the sandwiches he’d prepared the previous night out of his bag and took a bite out of it, chewing with a pensive expression on his face. By the time he’d finished eating, there was still no sign of her.

I suppose she really did leave. I suppose that means I’ve got to get back on with things. Odd. I didn’t expect to feel quite this disappointed.

He stretched his arms over his head, then rubbed the back of his neck and turned – only to find Garina standing an inch away from him, a wry grin on her features. Ferdinand leapt a foot into the air, letting out a slew of curses.

“Damn it all! What was that for?” Ferdinand demanded. “Do you get joy out of causing me problems?”

“Yes,” Garina replied without an instant of hesitation. “It’s hilarious. It wasn’t about you this time, though. Life goes on, you know. I’ve got responsibilities beyond tailing your bald ass around.”

Ferdinand touched his head, then scowled. “I’m not the one that asked you to stalk me. What job involves waiting to scare my soul out?”

“Gods, you’re yappy. Don’t you have something to do other than complain?” Garina said, but her tone didn’t have all that much annoyance in it. The difference was subtle, but Ferdinand had been around her for long enough to start recognizing when she was actually angry versus when she was just playing around.

Who would have thought. I can read the tone and body language of the most unhinged Apostle. I’m not sure if that’s something to celebrate or be ashamed of.

“It was simply curiosity. With all the time you spend following me around, I had started to think you didn’t have any other duties.”

“Another Rank 7 popped up. They had to be informed of where they stood on the food chain. I’m aware that I’m a thrilling presence to be around, but I didn’t realize you’d gotten so attached that you couldn’t last half an hour without me.”

“There was a Rank 7 in the area?” Ferdinand’s brow furrowed and he ignored Garina’s verbal jab. “I didn’t feel them.”

“Depends on your definition of area. She just awakened on the other side of the empire.”

“You felt a Rank 7 from across the empire? How powerful is your Runic energy?”

Garina gave him a wry smile. “Stronger than yours. Asking for a taste? I’ll let you feel it as a favor, if you want.”

“Please don’t,” Ferdinand said with a shudder. “If you can sense people at that range, I suspect being exposed to your full strength would squash me like a bug.”

“At least you know your place. Got any sandwiches?”

“I ate them.” Ferdinand was surprised to see that Garina actually looked somewhat offended.

“Both? Even mine?”

“When did my second sandwich become yours? I like making two,” Ferdinand said. He pulled the second sandwich out and handed it to her with a sigh. “There.”

“Aha. I knew you wouldn’t stiff me like that. Too much of a wuss.” Garina took the sandwich, then paused for a second. “Thanks.”

Ferdinand blinked. “What?”

“Nothing.” Garina took a bite out of the sandwich, then gestured impatiently. “Don’t you have something to do? I’m hot, but staring at me while I eat is just creepy.”If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Did you really fly across the entire empire and send a Rank 7 off in the span of half an hour?”

“Yes. Why would I lie about that?”

“It just seems… insane. Even the higher ranked members of the Church of Repose would struggle to do something like that.”

“I’m not a part of your pansy church,” Garina said, baring her teeth in a grin. “I’ve guarded this little shithole of an empire for a damn long time now, and almost nobody of worth has ever managed to slip under my nose.”

Ferdinand tilted his head to the side. “Wait. Almost?”

Garina finished her sandwich off and brushed her hands off on Ferdinand’s shirt. “There was one person some time ago. He actually managed to slip my eye, but he clearly failed at whatever it was he was doing, because I never saw hide nor hair of him again. I figure he realized that there was nothing of value in this empire and ran before I spotted him again.”

“That’s impressive. He must have been quite the mage.”

Garina snorted. “More like a cowardly rat. Don’t get any ideas. I know your Runic energy better than you do. I could find you anywhere in this empire in the blink of an eye.”

Ferdinand resisted the urge to shudder. “I have no need to get ideas, as I am doing nothing wrong. I am simply exploring the empire.”

“Sure.” Garina rolled her eyes. “I hope you’ve got something more interesting planned for today than walking around a forest. There’s a town not too far from here, you know. Could take a look around.”

“I am afraid I may be the bearer of the bad news.”

That earned a peeved sigh from Garina. “No, I don’t think you are. Somehow, I’d already guessed what you planned on doing.”

***

They found the alchemist, and to Noah’s mild surprise, she actually did have Mind Meld potions. It was a simple matter – and four hundred gold – for them to get two of the potions. The alchemist had mixed them on the spot before them. It had taken them more time to actually find the alchemist than it had to purchase anything.

“That was efficient,” Noah said as they headed back toward the guest houses.

“They’re easy enough to make.” Moxie shrugged. “And none of the ingredients are that rare. I admit I had some worries about supply given how far away we are from everything, but it turned out fine.”

“Not too expensive either.” Noah paused mid-step. “Wait. Money!”

“Money?” Moxie looked back at him. “What?”

“Money. The money from the auction. We never got it from Thaddius.”

Moxie laughed. “I’ll be honest, I forgot as well. We’re fine. Thaddius sent a letter to Blancwood. It showed up while you were still passed out. All our earnings were sent to Arbitage and are being held safely. He’s a swindler, but he isn’t a cheat. Once a deal goes through, he’ll hold true to it.”

Noah breathed a sigh of relief. “Ah. Good. I’d imagine it sold for a pretty fair sum, so it would have been a shame if we’d lost it.”

“Forget the money. Who’s getting their Runes changed first?” Lee asked. Luckily, there wasn’t anyone around to overhear their conversation. The streets were fairly empty and a powerful wind had picked up around them, drowning out their voices even if there had been someone close enough to overhear.

“Probably Moxie,” Noah said after a moment. “I think she’s already got a lot of overlapping Forest or Earth Runes. Shifting those around seems a bit easier than figuring out the optimal changes to make to yours, especially considering you’ve got the Demon Runes.”

“Makes sense.” Lee nodded. “It might be a bit weird to modify the Demon Runes anyway, and I might be missing some Runes to combine with. We could keep taking them from Dayton’s scroll, but we’ve been doing a lot of that lately.”

Noah didn’t need to look at the shabby scroll to be reminded of that. It was definitely on its last legs. They were so close to getting their hands on the endless Catchpaper artifact that he didn’t want to risk destroying the remaining Runes on the scroll by using up the last of its resilience and burning it away.

“Agreed. We should leave the scroll be for the time being. At least until we can pull the Runes off it and stick them somewhere better. As for Moxie – do you think we can just commandeer one of the empty guest houses to use?”

“Only one way to find out,” Lee said.

They arrived back at the guest houses a few minutes later. Lee turned her nose to the sky, then shrugged. “They’re all empty, aside from the one Karina is in.”

“Perfect,” Noah said. “This shouldn’t take too long, so I don’t imagine anyone will mind. We’ll need somewhere to stay anyways. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, eh?”

Lee tilted her head to the side. “I like that saying.”

A cold tingle ran down Noah’s spine as he got the feeling that he’d just made a bit of a mistake. He brushed it away and cleared his throat, pushing on one of the doors. It swung open easily, allowing them entry to a plain room that was identical to Karina’s.

“I’ll keep watch,” Lee said, staying outside while Noah and Moxie walked in.

“Thanks. We’ll have your Runes fixed up as soon as possible – probably right after we get the artifact,” Noah promised.

“Fixed up for the second time,” Lee corrected with a snicker. She closed the door on them.

“Ready?” Moxie asked.

“No time like the present. Do you already know what you’re going to be doing with your Runes? I imagine I probably should have asked first, but–”

“Yeah.” Moxie nodded. “I was thinking about it more. I don’t want to get so close that the Runes completely overlap, but I don’t want to go so far that I end up in the same spot I am right now. I’m thinking something like Sowed Earth and Sprouting Plant. Pretty general, but they’ve got overlap and aren’t too high reaching.”

“Seems reasonable to me. Only one way to find out just how reasonable, though.”

Moxie popped the cork off one of their Mind Meld potions and tipped it back, draining half before handing the remainder to Noah. While he drank it, she laid down on the ground. Noah laid down beside her, the buzz of the potion already starting to take effect.

The buzz intensified, and then the world went dark as Noah was pulled away, his soul yanked into Moxie’s so they could – for the second time, now – fix her Runes.

But, this time, Noah was determined to make sure their changes were the right ones. By the time he left her soul, she was going to have at least one fully perfect Rank 3 Rune.