Purple Fairy, can I add this entire contingent to my allied boon of protection?

  No response.

  Vel sighed, furrowing her brow. She would likely need to know everyone’s names here, unless . . .

  Purple Fairy, add Captain Enno’s squad to my allies.

  [You have met 1 Enno Remillia (Sword Master and Captain) in your life. Add to allies?]

  Yes.

  [Enno Remillia has received Allied Boon of Safety]

  [Enno Remillia’s squad are as follows: ]

  [Melanor Lon (Sword Master and Lieutenant)]

  [Voran Manril (Sorcerer)]

  [Rular Amati (Tracker)]

  [Maran Vil (Spear Master)]

  [Rym Arron (Spear Master)]

  [Ollo Ynon (Spear Master)]

  [Hoin Mal (Spear Master)]

  [Limil Limi (Spear Master)]

  [Renyl Umar (Ranger)]

  [Ynoran Mal (Ranger)]

  [Amron Lemil (Sword Master)]

  [Ory Venmyl (Sword Master) Deceased]

  [Add Captain Enno Remillia’s squadron to allies?]

  Yes.

  Maldwyn listed all the names, the notifications annoying as they came. At the end of them, however, her heart sank. Ory . . . That’d been the name of the man that died, the one that died on her behalf. Had she not requested asylum, no one would have died for her.

  With watering eyes, she asked, Purple Fairy, can you please condense groups like this in the future?

  [Groups with 12 or more names will be condensed for allied boon of safety]

  Not exactly what she meant, but she supposed it would work. All that truly mattered was that they kept everyone else safe now━something she wasn’t confident in.

  How could I have so much power, and then be totally clueless on how to help people? she wondered, sparing a glance behind them. Despite adding the entire squadron to her allies, she felt as if they were still being watched, and most likely, they were. Probably almost the entire time, from Aden to these knights.

  You don’t have time to beat yourself up over that, she thought, though she still did, just quieter and further in the back of her head. The thoughts crept forward, the ones that told her she couldn’t really kill the gods, could she? Not with the number of mistakes she made, and not with herself as she was now.

  Her head snapped towards a shadow moving alongside them, followed by a second one, then a third. More goblins on tigers, jumping out to chase them one at a time, their threat reinforcing her.

  After everything she’d been through, she’d be damned if she allowed an older, more insecure version of herself push her down. She wasn’t a [sacrifice]! I faced chickens from hell, damned things, a blood spider, and pirates! I’m a damn [Dark Avenger]!

  Steeling her expression, Vel followed the threads, each leading back into the woods. They had yet to face the tiger tamer, which was probably both bad and good, and part of her hoped they wouldn’t. Severing the three lines gave the tigers pause, but then the threads returned quicker.

  [Sever Link level 15]

  [Sever Link level 16]

  As she attempted again to cut the lines, Vel felt a resistance, one that brought on a headache at the forefront of her mind. Like other magic, this one had a cost, particularly when it couldn’t do what she needed.

  She gripped Voran’s waist tighter as the tigers started after them again. She pushed against the threads once more, and when her head flared like she’d banged it against a stone wall, Vel hissed, allowing the threads in her vision to disappear.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  [Sever Link level 17]

  Was it possible that her skill wasn’t a high enough level? How had she beaten the blood spider then? Because it controlled hundreds at a time, she considered. It was good to know, however, that even a failed skill could still level at her attempts.

  An arrow, fortunately, lodged into the open maw of the closest tiger. As it went down, the goblin atop it flew forward, and latched his little green hand on the tail of the spearman’s horse at the back of their formation. He took more kicks to the face than Vel expected him to stand before letting go. Voran’s sleep spell took care of the remaining tigers, and his form trembled in Vel’s hold.

  Looking at the back of his head, Vel asked, “Voran, are you okay?”

  “Yes, but I can’t cast many more spells like that,” he said. “I’m not the strongest of spell casters, highness. Forgive me.”

  “You’ve done more than enough,” Vel replied, furrowing her brow. It was up to her now, and━

  “Spearmen!” Captain Enno called. “When the next wave comes, position yourselves around the tigers. Take them out at all costs.”

  More would die for me, Vel thought, taking a deep breath. She looked at Enno, the man’s expression stiff as stone. He didn’t even know if she was the real [sacrifice], and yet, he was protecting her, doing more than his job required of him. Or was this just how the people, beyond the racism, of Ymril were?

  “I can help,” Vel insisted, Enno turning his head towards her.

  “I can’t risk it,” Enno replied.

  Vel dropped her jaw slightly as she furrowed her brow further. “Why?” she asked, hardly above the sound of the wind that flapped through her long locks.

  “Because he actually believes you’re the [sacrifice],” Voran replied. “So does the lieutenant, who has maxed his [sense motive] skill. A number of women have claimed what you have at our docks, hoping for the money and fame the Ymril would give to their reincarnated heir. None have gotten past the lieutenant’s [sense motive].”

  “Heir?” Vel choked on the word. They weren’t expecting her to rule the kingdom at some point, right?

  “Once upon a time, your highness. Your brother and his wife now rules Ymril, and the crown will pass to his firstborn daughter,” Voran explained. “But you’ll still receive a place in the palace.”

  Vel nodded. “How do you all know that I’m the reincarnated heir?” she asked.

  “Because in your last life, our [dark seer] was called here in Ymril. We learned things from her,” Voran explained. “The high queen will teach you of our faith.”

  “Her?” Vel asked. “Is the [dark seer] not also reincarnated?”

  “Your highness, now is not the time for this,” Voran said, and as if on cue, five more tigers emerged.

  “How much further? To the capital?” she asked.

  “Look.”

  Learning to look around the tall caster, Vel saw bulbous towers in the distance, colored as if they were stained glass. They were closer, more than ever. Closer to Edard.

  She turned her gaze to the cats, searching for the threads that connected them to their master as the spearmen moved their mounts expertly. As one stabbed a tiger, the goblin atop it latched onto his spear, and yanked him off the horse.

  Vel gasped as he hit the ground, wrestling with the goblin. He fell behind, and with his size, managed to pin the goblin down. As he drew his dagger, Vel flinched, a sixth tiger jumping from the underbrush and mauling the soldier. Her eyes widened at his screams, echoing in the vast blue sky above.

  The other tigers yowled as the battle between the spearmen ensued with them. They’d fully engaged, getting left behind as well. No, I can’t let them, she thought, and as she let go of Voran’s waist, she shifted in her seat.

  “What are you doing?” Voran asked, turning.

  “Stay in that saddle, your majesty!” Enno barked. “Don’t make their efforts to protect you vain!”

  “But I can save them!” Velmira argued.

  Then Aden dropped. She jerked her head in the direction of Sandy, growling as the healer rolled against the dirt road. Pushing herself off, with a bit of [rock throw] and [feather fall], Velmira glided through the air before stumbling against the ground.

  [Spry Jump level 3]

  [Feather Foot level 10]

  [Feather Fall level 47]

  Aden dashed forward, Vel right behind him. A glow was already circling the healer, then extended towards the knights who fought a losing battle against the tigers. Two of the five [spear masters], including the one that was mauled earlier, were already down. One was off his mount, and the other was racing back, now spearless.

  He swooped low as he passed Aden, plucking him up from the dirt road with an arm around his torso.

  “No! No! Release me! I can help!” Aden screamed.

  Vel heard the hooves behind her before she felt Voran grab her beneath her arm. He was a bigger man than she was a woman, but she still needed to help him get her up, despite not wanting it. He turned the steed around, reuniting with the significantly smaller group, and placing himself with her in the center.

  “Vel,” Sigurd said, riding behind a swordsman. “It’s okay.”

  She looked at his firm gaze, and took a deep breath.

  “We’re in a war, Vel. People die, and you’re far too valuable for this fight right now. Focus on what’s ahead of us,” he said.

  He was right, and she hated it. This wasn’t going to be the last time people died for her, and considering her bigger mission to take on the gods, she was going to have to learn that there was a time and a place for her bravery.

  “Edard,” Amalia said from her other side. “Think of him. We’re so close, Velmira.”

  Vel looked forward, large wooden gates coming into view, set in a sturdy stone wall. There were bowmen atop the wall, one of them waving a hand to someone behind the wall. She couldn’t hear his voice, but she could imagine what he’d called, the gates creaking as they began to open.

  “We mourn later,” she said, feeling a tear escape her left eye. She would always hate the loss of life, no matter what. She hated that she’d been placed in a position to need to kill, and to have others give up their lives for her. She hated that she should have died, something she’d briefly thought could have saved all those lives.

  However . . . This goblin scourge was a problem before she arrived, wasn’t it? These people had cut themselves off from Alnonor recently, hadn’t they?

  She felt a chill run up her spine. These people were preparing for a war, weren’t they? Ymril didn’t believe in The Church of Retribution, a church that, to her understanding, was widely accepted by the rest of the world.

  They need me, she thought, and I need to keep a stiff upper lip.

  The gates rolled open, widening to reveal the vast city that laid beyond. Stony structures towered just barely over the trees, and she imagined that there were men watching from them, alert for any attack that might come their way.

  And perhaps it was such alertness that caused the horns to blow, blaring deep and echoing over the entire landscape.

  Growls sounded from behind them, and Vel turned to look over her shoulder. Where there were once only five or six, there were now well over a dozen wild cats, some with goblins, some without. Not all of them were tigers either. Some had black coats, and the largest amongst them had a red coat. While the others ran, this one prowled. Its yellow eyes seemed to pierce Vel’s very soul, and atop it was a priest. A human priest.

  Vel activated her [sever link], seeing dozens of threads linking all the beasts back to that singular priest in white and blue robes. He glared at Velmira, but the horse beneath her moved her forward, stretching further away from him.

  The tigers, however, were gaining.