"Hey, in human culture it's rude if you don't let people know what your name is. I'm just saying that the expectation is that eventually you're going to try to... I can't just keep calling you lady red cap."

  He was right but only just so much. I did appreciate it being called as such. And he followed me along like a puppy which wasn't all that unpleasant. I could get used to having a camp follower.

  "Where did you put your canoe?"

  "There's a little inlet on the opposing shore. I traveled at night."

  It was hard to know if I could trust him.

  He was a weak man but men had their uses didn't they... And not just for pleasure or having them cook your food. It wasn't even... I had to break my mind off it.

  "I'll move the cart. This would be too much. Once we load about ten bodies or so, we bring it back to the pyre." I indicated behind me where the tracks of the cart were showing. The cart itself was large and I imagine that any human wishing to use such a thing would hook a pack animal up to it.

  I tapped into the thrill and moved it. It wasn't a lot, but it made it easier. I would be able to replenish my stores on this job, at least. It was the only kind of job that let me do that without having to fight. And I did not need another fight in my hands.

  I just wanted a nice calm time.

  A lackey would do nicely.

  Up ahead there were five bodies stacked up. I moved the cart closer. "Martin, would you do me a favor?"

  "You made that sound like it wasn't a favor that you're asking for..."

  It wasn't. I was going to let him do that. I gave him the best glare I could. I hadn't left my glamour up as I didn't see the point. I was working, not trying to seal a pact with a human child.

  "It's not a favor. Now if you want to stay alive, please help me load these onto the cart. Before I have you move these, let me inspect them first."

  I was pretty sure that I caught him staring at me. He should. I would have doing the same thing.

  "Because they could be alive?"

  I turned the first one over. This one had a cut through his carotid artery. It had stopped bleeding within the last ten minutes, coating his upper body. I briefly touched it with my cap and the blood was fresh enough to give me what I needed.

  I tore off a medallion from his waist. It was brown and covered in sigils. The court would know that this one has either died or has become disconnected from their tracking device.

  "This is how we get paid. We have to burn the bodies in a pyre but the court is going to compare this to the official roster."

  He blinked several times, but to his credit he lifted the corpse up and moved it onto the cart.

  "Why can't we just burn them here?"

  I gave him a look. The body beneath the first one was slightly damp from the blood. 12 appearances. The first one had died and then three others had fallen on top of them. The next one was a clean kill.

  "Pity," I said, rolling the female towards Martin. She didn't have a lot of blood on her, mostly his but I could see the marks along her neck. Someone had choked her to death or she had been hurt very badly by some sort of beast. "How good are you with that sword?"

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  "I'm a fair... look I trained at the academy but whatever you've got...Apologies. Is there something wrong."

  I pointed to the marks. "This is unusual for here. Why would you choke someone during a trial? You wouldn't, right?"

  Martin held up his hands. They were... normal sized, covered in calluses. He wasn't lying about rowing here. Someone with interests probably got him close enough at night that he could though and he would be visible while he was traveling during the day.

  "What else could do that?"

  Behind us, there was a shifting in the leaves. "I'm not getting paid enough for this."

  "I'm not getting paid at all?" Martin took up a stance. We both faced the jungle. I could see thick grey coils moving through bushes. Thick coils that were far too large.

  I flipped the medallion into my side pouch. My work clothing might be utilitarian, but I was going to have a pouch no matter what.

  I brandished my short sword in one hand. The best thing to do would be to keep it so the beast couldn't flank us.

  It was tough to gauge the sizes. One thing that was determined to not let you see it but through my glamor I could sense that it was one of the larger pythons.

  "You didn't bring a familiar, did you?"

  "I might be an assassin but I'm not a mage." Either he was lying or human assassins didn't use magic the same way that we did.

  I wanted to finish what we're doing and move on. I waited as the rustling got further and further away.

  "Move quickly."

  I wouldn't be able to get enough blood out of this unless he could fight the jungle python.

  "What was that?"

  "That is a great question. I don't want to sit around to find out." I casually tossed the other three bodies in. Each one still had their medallion so I would just have to fish them out later.

  Instead of dragging the card, I turned it back the way it came and tapped into the thrill.

  I began to pull it as fast as I could. Martin had to start to jog and catch up. I could use my energy like this for a while but it wouldn't last forever. At some point in time we would need to think about if we were just delaying an attack or if you were truly getting away.

  "I think we've gotten away from it, whatever it was. Gods, if that thing had been nearby, I never would have gone on land."

  I had to make a strong movement to slow down. I did not want to waste all of my energy jogging away from a threat that was disinterested in me. "Chances are that it's amphibious. These islands are too small to support such a large creature."

  He shuddered. We both slowed to an even pace. I offered him one of the cart arms and he took it. Thankfully we weren't that far apart in height so we could both have one of them over our shoulders and still keep walking. This let me control our pathway and make sure that he wasn't going to sneak off while I wasn't looking.

  "That's terrifying. I think I'm good with basically forever leaving these islands."

  It was appealing, but I probably could have tamed the serpent. I've done similar before. I could take it.

  The ruts that I had made on my way out were proving to be helpful. I didn't know how many more of these poor souls I would need to wheel back but I would check soon.

  "When we return, there will be either a cleared area of the beach or on the dirt where the bodies are piled up." I went on to explain exactly how we had to try to keep them contained.

  The company was going to spend a lot of resources to burn their remains.

  Someone had to do it.

  Fae did not burn easily, and several of the applicants were human. I did not envy the quartermaster. Each trip had to be maddening in what we were being asked to do, but she clearly had it handled. Near the dock, she'd dug up a large circle.

  "There?"

  I nodded and we headed close enough to unload, minding the amount of sand. We would need to leave the same way.

  Vivian, the quartermaster, stood there. She was dressed like she was ready to head to a different ship, with the same sturdy work clothes that had come to define her level of comfort. She crossed her arms as she stared Martin down. "You're supposed to bring them in. If they're alive, you're supposed to let them run free. Oh, you don't have a token do you?"

  "I'm not part of the game. I just got caught up and the... She was able to save me from myself." Martin was staring.

  "You want me to believe that our... "

  The crunch behind us was deafening.