‘Day 257: It has been some time since Muna’s alleged transformation. Defiled still appear outside of the city gates without reports of missing children. Was I misguided, or could these monsters have crawled to Rājadhānī from other cities?

  This morning, our fortress’s [Magistrate] introduced a woman wearing a peculiar mask as one of their goddess’s “Prophets.” When I asked for her thoughts on the Defiled, she called them “Saoirse’s gift to men.”

  I find myself wondering why.’

  -Excerpt from Magni’s Memories

  I stared at the unmoving pieces of the Defiled for a long time. The firelight from the remaining torches that it hadn’t decimated reflected against its eerie skin and silver hair.

  The effects of Sam’s Skills were beginning to wear off, but the exhaustion I expected never came. I felt determined. Ready to take on her and Shizuku’s training head-on. As much as I hated to say it, Cailu was right. Staying in Ronona was the better choice.

  “Hey, Matt. Look.” Sam touched my shoulder, then nodded at a row of cabins in the distance.

  Catgirls wandered outside with hesitant steps, staring at me and Sam with dumbfounded expressions.

  Sam elbowed me in the ribs and murmured, “We saved their lives.”

  “Yeah.” I wanted to be proud, but there was a prodding sense that I could have done more. Could have saved more. I’d experienced the same feeling in Catania.

  Sam squinted as she looked up at me, then shook her head. “Don’t beat yourself up. We did everything we could.”

  “I know.” Logic wasn’t winning. But the thought only pushed me to be faster, to train harder. That would have to be enough. “We should check on them.”

  “Sure thing. But first,” Sam shoved her hand inside her [Cat Pack] and pulled free a dark piece of cloth and a leather flask, “clean up your face. You look pretty damn terrifying.”

  I accepted the cloth and she poured water over its center. I wiped away the blood I’d forgotten was there, then moved to hand it back.

  “Nah. Keep it. Wash it when we get back, but keep it.” Sam chuckled.

  We joined the huddled group of catgirls. Two of them split off to collect the broken torches and relight the ones that were still usable. The other nine exchanged fearful glances with one another, then looked at us.

  “Captain Sam, isn’t it?” A woman with white hair tied back in a ponytail stepped forward and bowed. “I’m Augie. You and I have traded before.” She looked at me and bowed again. “Spirits cradle you both for your help.”

  A Khasstead girl? I recalled Sylva saying something similar. “You’re welcome. Is everyone alright?”

  “I believe we’re all a little shaken, but we’re safe,” Augie replied. “Many of us have lived here for years and have never once seen a Defiled in these woods. I hunt them often.”

  Sam nodded. “I was trying to recall the last time I’d seen one so close to Ronona.”

  “That thing shot out of the forest like a catfish in a thunderstorm. None of us were prepared to fight it.” Another woman with short brown hair shook her head, and the golden hoops in her ears bounced with the movement.

  “My arrows would not pierce its skin,” Augie added.

  Seeing how I couldn’t break through its flesh without Sam’s buffs, trying to shoot it down would have been impossible.

  “And trying to cast magic with its speed was too dangerous,” a pink-haired girl said. “I did not want to set the outpost ablaze.”

  A bundle in the arms of the brown-haired woman stirred, then began to cry. “Shhh. There, there, Ruyah. Trivia’s gotcha, sweet girl.”

  “While I’m glad you’re safe…” Sam tilted her head and put a hand on her hip. “I’m pretty familiar with the nature of this outpost. Who brought a kitten here?”

  Trivia looked from side to side, then toward the girls collecting the torches. Her face fell. “A nice young woman named Yomi. But I haven’t been able to find her.”

  The moment Yomi’s name reached my ears, it felt like someone had knocked the wind out of me. My joints locked, my chest tightened, and it was hard to breathe.

  But this time, my reaction wasn’t out of fear.

  I looked at Ruyah, the tiny kitten in the stranger’s arms. My kitten. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. My tongue could have doubled as sandpaper.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Matt?” Sam asked. “What’s wrong?”

  “Can I see her?” The words came tumbling out. My eyes burned, and it took every ounce of my strength to step forward.

  “Uh. Alright. Sure.” Trivia met me in the middle and gently passed the fussing kitten to me.

  When Ruyah looked up at me, her crying slowed, and my heart stopped. One green eye like Yomi’s, one brown like mine. Her silver hair and tiny ears had red tips the same color as the streak in my bangs.

  My daughter.

  I’m a father…

  I knew that’s what would happen eventually, but nothing could have really prepared me for this. I felt excited, terrified, furious, and protective all at once. Yomi had taken something precious from me, and yet I… This beautiful little girl…

  Ruyah reached up for my face with a hand that could hardly wrap around my thumb, and I lowered my head down. She touched my cheek, then grabbed at my hair and giggled.

  I swallowed back my tears and looked up. “Yomi wasn’t with her?”

  “No. I found Ruyah cryin’ in her cradle, and I stayed with her. That beast wasn’t touchin’ her without gettin’ through me,” Trivia said.

  “She just left Ruyah there?” The first bubbles of anger simmered in my chest. ‘I’ll take care of her, Matt.’ She’d promised me. It was the last thing she’d said to me. And she just—

  “I don’t think it was like that. She loved that little girl with everythin’ she had.” Trivia’s gaze sank to the ground. “She would’ve fought til the end.”

  The girls around Trivia bowed their heads. Augie sniffled.

  A cold understanding seeped in, killing my anger and raising the hairs on my arms. Was Yomi the one the Defiled had snatched up and eaten right as we’d arrived? Oh my God.

  “Did you know her?” Sam asked.

  “Yeah.” Yomi…

  “Matt. I’m sorry,” Sam replied, putting a hand on my shoulder.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Matt,’ Yomi’s voice echoed in my head.

  Yomi…was dead.

  ‘I’m scared, Matt. Scared that I can’t do this alone.’

  It didn’t seem real. This woman who had single-handedly changed my perception of Nyarlea, who wandered through my dreams and laughed in my nightmares. She’d asked for my forgiveness, and I told her I never wanted to see her again. My vision blurred, and I felt sick to my stomach.

  Yomi was dead.

  The others looked up. Augie touched Trivia’s shoulder, then turned to Sam. “Myself and the others will begin cleaning where the light allows. Please call on us if you should need anything else.”

  “Sure. Thanks, Augie.” Sam waved them away, leaving just the two of us and Trivia.

  I barely recognized the exchange.

  ‘You won’t see me again.’

  “Uwahh?” Ruyah crooned in my arms. “Bunbun?”

  “Oh. Yeah. She wants her rabbit.” Trivia glanced over her shoulder. “I can take her back and go collect her things. I know a few good nyannies in Ronona—”

  “No. She’s coming with me,” I said. I wasn’t turning my daughter into an orphan. Not when I had a choice.

  “Matt, you have your training ahead of you,” Sam said, carefully enunciating each word. “Ronona has the best nyannies in Nyarlea—”

  “Is there one in the castle?”

  Sam blinked. “Well, yeah, of course. The princesses need care.”

  “Then they can teach me how to care for Ruyah between our training sessions.” I clenched my teeth and sniffed. When had I started crying?

  “Are you sure about this? It’ll take you longer to hit [Battleguard].”

  “I don’t care!” I snapped. “This is my daughter, Sam! She’s coming with me.”

  Sam studied my face in silence, and I locked her stare, refusing to blink. I wasn’t arguing about this. If Sam wanted to kick me out of her training camp, so be it. I’d figure out my own way back to Shi Island and Erina. This was non-negotiable.

  “Alright. Ruyah comes with us,” Sam said at last. She turned to Trivia and crossed her arms. “Would you mind showing us where we can find the rabbit? And her cradle, if it’s still in one piece?”

  “Yeah. Be happy to. Everythin’ in Ruyah’s room is safe, thank Saoirse. This way.”

  We stalked over wet grass and hard ground together. The only warmth in the world came from the girl in my arms, who yawned between her babbles and giggled if she sneezed. She hadn’t cried at all since Trivia handed her to me, and every sound she made cleaved through my heart.

  As soon as we stepped inside Yomi’s cabin, the scent of her hit me like a box truck. Bright fruit, cinnamon, honey. The memory of her skin tingled in my fingertips. I hesitated in the doorway as Trivia and Sam moved to light a few lamps.

  The place was small and very lightly furnished. A dining table and two chairs, a few cushions on the floor. Nothing decorated the walls, but a tall object leaning against a corner caught my eye. Curiosity drove my feet, and I shifted Ruyah to one arm to free my hand.

  Yomi’s staff. When I picked it up, the bells chimed, and I winced. I set it back down. Why the hell was her staff still here? If she did go down fighting, she would have needed her weapon.

  The alternative was so much worse to consider. That she’d heard a noise, went outside to investigate, and that was the end.

  “Matt. Back here,” Sam called.

  I swallowed my nausea and turned away from the staff. I could let my imagination torture me later. Ruyah needed me now.

  I found them in the second of two bedrooms. Trivia held a pink stuffed rabbit, and Sam had her hand resting on the edge of a cradle. There was a small chest propped open that held kitten-sized clothing, and a wicker basket filled with cloth diapers.

  “Looks like this is everything,” Sam said, gesturing to the cradle, basket, and chest. “We should be able to take it all back in one trip.”

  “I can come with ya if you’d like. I’m a Third Class, so I can help ya keep a weather eye out,” Trivia offered. “I should get some food for the others, anyway.” She held out the bunny to Ruyah and smiled. “Here’s your bunbun, kitten.”

  “Yaaah!” Ruyah accepted the rabbit and snuggled it between herself and my chest. Her eyelids grew heavy, and she yawned.

  I watched her in stunned silence.

  My daughter. My little girl.

  I’ll take care of her, Yomi.

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