If not for Ana, Lesirell the Fighter’s young life would have ended on the forest floor, her face torn off her skull by the warped jaws of what had once been a deer. Instead her continued struggles and horrified screaming showed that she was still very much alive long after the deer-thing jerked its head back, its teeth not having sunk in.
Beyond the veil of her Enhancement, Fight Through, Ana knew that she was experiencing some seriously awful pain. Thankfully she could ignore it as long as the fight continued. And thanks to a combination of her Ironskin Shaping, her massive Vitality—almost ten times that of a normal, unaltered human when she was in combat—and an Achievement she’d earned, Ana only suffered some steadily growing burning sensation on her face from the deer’s acidic slobber, and dozens of thin welts from its teeth.
Ana had learned the hard way just how powerful her Guardian Angel Ability was. When one of her Objects of Devotion or a Party member got hurt close to her, she took the attack for them. Not the injury, but the hit. And while her armor, fine as it was, did nothing, her Ironskin and all of her considerable toughness applied. The result was that a bite from a monstrous bear that should have torn Deni in half had instead left Ana unconscious and with a deep crescent of scars on her front and back, and where Lessa should have had the front of her head reduced to splatter-film gore, Ana ended up profusely irritated.
“What are you standing around for?!” she roared at her Party. “Waiting for a written fucking invitation? Finish the fucking thing!” Then she repeated herself in French, finishing off with a litany of curses in English for good measure.
She needn’t have bothered with the repetition. Jisha had understood her tone if not her words perfectly in Inter-guild.
Messy and Jisha fell on the monster with a vengeance, stabbing and hacking at its joints while Ray and Perri pumped arrows into its face and neck, everyone focusing on distracting it from Lessa. Ana, meanwhile, did what she could to help without actually doing any real damage to the demon: she surged forward, grabbed the collar of Lessa’s armor with both hands, then braced her foot on the former deer’s snout and pulled. The skin on her legs burned a little as she pulled Lessa loose, but it was worth it as she dragged the stunned Fighter aside.
“Now!” Rayni called out. “Deni, now!”
It wasn’t clear if Ray’s shout was encouragement to Deni, or a warning to everyone else. The former certainly wasn’t necessary; Deni had been holding her Shaping for much longer than comfortable, and would have had to launch it somewhere soon enough. As for the latter, Ana vividly remembered having her ear singed and most of the hair on one side of her head burned off when Deni got a little too trigger happy during their very first fight together, a trait the girl may or may not have inherited from her mentor, Kaira. It was for the best, Ana decided, to always warn anyone downrange when either of those two were about to unleash.
And unleash was what Deni did. Like she was throwing a fastball, Deni’s hand pulled back then cracked forward. The bolt of plasma, more like a golf ball in size than a marble, passed from her to the demon faster than any eye could track, its passage a black and purple tear in the vision of anyone who happened to have been looking in the wrong direction. Around that afterimage were shriveled ferns and blackened bark, already beginning to smoke and steam. And at its end…
The demon was a ruin of blackened, curling skin and flash-cooked flesh. Deni’s plasma bolt had struck it high on the shoulder, just beneath its neck, and while its head was still attached there was about a cubic foot of its upper back simply missing. Ana couldn’t say what it was that had killed it; hydrostatic shock, maybe? Or perhaps its brain had cooked from the sudden heat. Whatever it was, it was dead, as evidenced by the notification she’d just received, along with a Least Crystal and a Shard; by the awful sense of diminishing, of becoming less than she should be, that always accompanied the loss of her bonuses; and most salient, by the arrival in full force of all the pain that Fight Through had been keeping at bay.
Ana hated this part. Even without her Enhancement she still had five times the Vitality and Willpower of your average human, but that only helped with the debilitating effects of pain and injury. They let her keep going despite them. What they didn’t do was to lessen the experience of pain.
Groaning, Ana reflexively raised her hand to her face. She instantly regretted it, hissing as even a light touch caused the pain of her burns to flare. Acid slobber. Why did every demon have to have acid slobber?
Then she was suddenly mobbed as every member of her Party seemed to reach her at the same time. Messy nearly bowled her over, though her Perfect Balance would never allow that from something so simple as an aggressive embrace. “Oh, goddess, your poor face! You’re all—” her girlfriend gushed once she’d pulled back, hands tracing the contours of Ana’s visage half an inch from her skin as she puffed up her cheeks. “Let’s get you back to the packs so we can get you some ointment.”
Meanwhile, everyone else hovered only feet away, making sure that Ana was okay. “Gods, I’m so sorry!” Lesirell said, her voice quavering. “It’s my fault you got hurt! I dropped my guard and—”
“Lessa, calm down,” Ana said firmly. “Yes, on some level it’s your fault. My guess is you thought the demon was disabled, and you were too eager to give Deni a good line. And yeah, I’m not going to pretend that this doesn’t smart like hell. But I’m not angry or anything, alright? You’re here to get better. So feel as bad as you need to until we’re ready to move again, then use this as a lesson in always paying attention to your enemy and never discounting them as long as they’re still free and breathing.” She paused then added, “If you feel really bad you can pay for the acid burn ointment.”
“I will!” Lessa replied. “As much as you need. Gods, you saved my life!”
“That’s the whole point of me being here,” Ana reminded her. “I can take it.”
Once Messy had led Ana out of sight of the others, Ana leaned into her. “Those were some good stabs,” she murmured. “Not that I’m an expert, but it looked damned smooth.”
“Thank you, Angel,” Messy chuckled, nuzzling Ana’s hair awkwardly. “How’re you doing?”
“Going to need some healing potion besides that ointment,” Ana replied softly. Messy’s look turned to one of concern. “Nothing really bad,” Ana added, “but I wouldn’t be surprised if Lessa would’ve had a broken hip bone if I hadn’t been there.”
“But you’re okay?” Messy asked.
“Bruised, I’d guess, but I’m walking.”
“Want me to kiss it better?”
The leer in Messy’s voice was so exaggerated that Ana couldn’t help but laugh. “Jesus, Mess, is now the time?” she asked, throwing her arm around Messy’s waist.
“Always. But maybe not,” Messy sighed. “But I saw how you dragged Lessie to safety. It reminded me of how we first met.”
“Of how you somehow, against all odds, seduced me, you mean,” Ana said. “With your hair-stroking and your songs.”
“I never would have tried, you know,” Messy said, her voice turning serious as suddenly as the fight had turned. “If I’d known about you, I mean. How you don’t really care about sex.”
“I’m glad you did,” Ana murmured. It felt awkward to say, but she meant it from the bottom of her loner’s heart. And the sex had nothing to do with it. Not that she couldn’t enjoy it, but that was something she did because it made Messy happy. It was everything else. She’d never in her life loved anyone before Messy. Not romantically, not familiarly, and not even as a friend. Not really. Messy was the first person she’d ever met who wasn’t, when it came down to it, replaceable. And without the way Messy had comforted her whenever she got hurt on that first Delve, Ana may never have known what it felt like to be cared for. To be cared about. She wouldn’t even have known what she was missing.
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The ointment helped, as did a small measure of healing potion—for the analgesic effect more than the healing. Ana was stiff for the first few minutes after they resumed their dawnward hike, but either her mind or her body seemed determined to prove gym teachers everywhere right by walking it off.
The mood was a bit more serious than before the fight for all of those same few minutes. By the time the stiffness, if not the ache, was gone from Ana’s hips, however, Lesirell had forgotten her embarrassment. Ana could only hope that the young woman had taken her words to heart and reframed the whole thing as a learning experience, rather than simply burying it and denying her own faults the way some people did far too easily. The latter was unlikely to be the case, though; as light-hearted as Lessa could be, she’d shown herself to be responsible. And responsible people, in Ana’s experience, were far more likely to be overly hard on themselves than the opposite.
They killed another demon before noon, this one a revenant fox covered in sharp, thorn-like growths. They took it down without much issue, going more slowly and carefully than against the possessed deer. Afterward they pegged it at Level 15 by comparing Threat Levels.
“That’s two demons in one day, with pretty high Levels for being so close to the outpost,” Rayni commented thoughtfully. Messy hummed her agreement, and the Huntress continued, “It might be a fluke, but I’m not too surprised, with the Waystone the way it is. I’m just glad we have you with us, Ana. A half-Party with our average Level really shouldn’t be fighting demons like these. One slip-up and… yeah.”
“Yeah,” Lesirell agreed, staring and expressionless at the reminder of the day’s first fight. “One moment you’re winning, then the next: no face.”
Perri leaned in and gave her a comforting sidehug. “No big loss in your case,” he said in a tone whose gentleness rivalled Touanne’s best efforts.
“Fuck you,” Lessa said, resting her head on her friend’s shoulder. “You just hope I’ll get dragged down into your league.”
To Ana’s silent bewilderment the big woman seemed genuinely comforted by the insult. She shot a questioning look at Jisha, who just looked back curiously, as though this was entirely normal and she wasn’t sure what Ana wanted.
Ana was growing increasingly convinced that she’d never understand those two, to the point that she was getting worried about what she might be missing; not just between them, but in general. It was as though there was a whole dimension to friendships that she’d been blind to her whole life, and whose existence she was only now becoming aware of.
That night, as Rayni sat her watch, Ana joined her by the fire. They sat on opposite sides, their backs to the flicking flames to spare their night vision, but that was no hindrance to people with their respective levels of Perception.
“Brings you back, doesn’t it?” the Huntress asked shortly after Ana had sat down, speaking so softly that no one but Ana could possibly hear.
“You and me taking a watch together, wondering if tomorrow will be the day we score a rich Delve?” Ana replied. “Yeah. Is your Danger Sense still screaming about me?”
Rayni chuckled. “Like a rabbit in a snare. I’ve been ignoring what it has to say about you for months now, but it never gets any quieter. But it’s like with Irry, yeah? I know you now. So while I know that it’s right, and it’s literally true that you could kill me at any moment, I know that you won’t. You’re not like that. You’re… I guess you’re just good people.”
Good people, Rayni said. Was she?
As though Rayni could hear Ana’s self-doubt, she continued. “Don’t get me wrong. I know you’ve done some things that most people would consider pretty, ah… harsh. I think everybody knows your policy on traitors, even if you haven’t done anything about the ones that got hauled back from the north. But you only wanted them dead in the first place because they literally joined in a plot to kill you and destroy the Splinter, right, so I think anyone who judges you for that needs to go sit in the forest for a while and really take a good look at themselves. And that’s the thing, isn’t it? All the people you’ve killed, all the hardship you pushed us through, it was to protect all of us. Hundreds of innocent people are alive who’d be dead if not for you.”
Rayni fell silent for a while before finishing with, “Sorry. I’m rambling. What I wanted to say was that I appreciate you, alright?”
“Yeah.” Ana’s voice was a little thin. A little breathy. There may have been a small smile on her lips, and an itch at the corner of her eye. “I appreciate you too, Ray. Thanks.”
“Any time, Marshal,” Rayni said, making the title sound like just another friendly nickname.
Ana let the comfortable silence linger for a few minutes, as much as it could between two people who could hear each other’s heartbeats. “Hey, Ray?” she said, allowing herself to be natural, to hesitate and sound uncertain instead of burying everything except relaxed confidence behind the mask she so often wore.
There was a soft rustle as Rayni turned on her seat to better hear. For a habitual loner, she could be incredibly perceptive to people’s moods. “Yeah, Ana?” she replied. “What’s on your mind?”
“Are you still coming with us?”
“At the end of the cycle?”
“Yeah.”
“Of course I am. Where’s this coming from?”
Ana’s stupid worries left her in a sigh. “I’m just… I’ve told you a bit about my background, right?”
“You’ve told me some, and I’ve guessed some, yeah.”
“I’m not exactly used to being surrounded by friends. Not saying I’ve been suffering in my loneliness, or anything, just that now that I am, it’s nice. The idea of striking out with you, Messy, and Jisha, and Irry, Tor, and Omda, it’s… I’m looking forward to it. I expect it to be stressful and dangerous as hell for all of us, but I’m still looking forward to it.”
“Sure, I can see that,” Rayni said. “So am I. But why would you think I might be pulling out all of a sudden?”
Ana scowled into the darkness. “The Ascender and the Summerlands, for one. We’re going to have one of the guild’s most powerful families coming after us, and they have at least one more Ascender among them. One that’s actually survived for decades, so she can’t be a complete arrogant moron like her brother was. That’s on top of the goddamn cult of the Sentinel, and everything they can throw our way. And there’s all this bullshit with Haytham, and me letting them go. I mean, that woman Aaspiyah, she almost killed you, Ray! You and Messy both. And I’m just letting her go. Doesn’t that bother you?”
“Not really. I’m not vengeful by nature, I guess. Now, the other thing? Having gods and Ascenders hunting us, just because we’re close to you? That’s terrifying. No way to pretend it’s not.”
“So why not distance yourself?”
Rayni laughed grimly. “You think that would help? Too many people know who you’re close with, Ana. Maybe I’m cynical, but do you think they wouldn’t target us to hurt you? Next to you is probably the safest place to be, in the Splinters or the Primes. Why would I abandon and hurt my friend—that’s you, by the way—if all it’ll do is make me less safe?”
Ana snorted, smiling despite herself. That sure was a way to look at it.
“Besides,” Ray continued, “I’m still entirely convinced that sticking with you is the most lucrative path forward. If I’m ever going to have a hope of Leveling while paying off my family’s debt, not just keep it stable, I’ll need to stick to your side come sun or hellfire.”
“The truth comes out,” Ana deadpanned. “You just like me for the Crystals.”
“That, and you’re a fun drunk,” Ray agreed. “An expensive one at this point, but fun.”
The wind whispered through the trees, and the fire snapped and popped for a few long seconds before Rayni asked, “Are you worried about the others?”
“Messy, no. Not at all. Jisha… probably not. For all that she likes some people here, she’s attached to me, and thank God for that ‘cause I like the kid, too. Kaira and the guys, though? Man, I don’t know. I like Tor and Omda, but we’re not close like I am with Irry. Tor’s got his parent here, Omda… I don’t know. Is anything happening with him and Tellak?”
“No clue. She’s silent and he’s sneaky.”
“Yeah. Anyway, if they change their minds and don’t want to go, would Irry? Or would she stay with the Party who took her in when everyone else thought she was too much trouble?”
“Right,” Rayni said. “My turn?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. First, Irry adores you. She’s not going anywhere no matter what. Second, Tor and Omda aren’t going to change their minds. They’re principled, both of them. They know you’ve got a hard time ahead of you, and that you’re going to make a difference, and they’re not going to abandon you any more than I am. Third, have you talked to Messy about this?”
“No,” Ana said reluctantly. She might have lied, but she was pretty sure that Rayni would talk to Messy if she did. The Huntress liked to meddle—that was how Ana ended up on her first date with Messy. Feeling a need to explain herself she added, “She already worries enough about me. I don’t want to add my abandonment issues to her load.
“She’s a tough girl. I’ve known her longer, but I’m willing to bet you know her better. Tell me that I’m wrong.”
“You’re not,” Ana admitted.
“Damn right I’m not. So talk to her. I’m not an expert, but I’m pretty sure a relationship is supposed to be about more than killing stuff and being adorable together.”
Ana sighed heavily. “Sure. You’re right. Once we’re back, I guess.”
“That’ll do,” Rayni said, as the fire kept crackling.
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