“Do you think it will be a problem that you're…” Thesa looked over at Merijest.

  Although the demoness often changed size, she always towered over Thesa if only with the confidence of her posture. It was as if she had never been ill. Patches of burgundy scales dotted her cobalt-blue skin and covered much of her back and legs. Draconic wings sprouted from her shoulders while black feathers covered much of her neck and upper-chest. Her black hair was still rather short from a recent shearing and her eyes were like black glass inlaid with ruby irises around a pearl-white pupil.

  Thesa realized she was staring and averted her gaze. For her own part, she was still clad in armor with her hair done up.

  The settlement was just around the bend and she had only just considered the risk of bringing a [High Devil] into a random town. She didn't want anybody to be rude to her demoness.

  “What? Nude?” Merijest replied with a smirk.

  “Wha– No– um–” Thesa said as steam poured out of her pointed ears.

  Of course…Merijest was nude. All the time. She said she just wasn’t interested in worrying about clothes. Said it was casual, non-sexual nudity. Thesa struggled to understand. Merijest was so… alluring. How was she supposed to remain casual about that?

  Witmie, who sat comfortably on Durn's stocky shoulders, added, “maybe we should all be nude in solidarity.”

  Thesa almost gave up on her original point and before she could say more, the settlement came into view.

  It had begun as an outpost for travelers heading into the mountains of Driskle. Maps sold in stalls for meager coins demonstrated a limited layout of the area to get a dedicated adventurer into the ruins midway up the steep cliffs and mountain trails.

  One stall offered ‘blessed’ Beautuk Coins. Bags of these silver coins, most often engraved with a Three-Horned Bull, could be purchased and shared as gifts to ‘spread good will.’ The Convent had looked down on these items as somewhat idolatrous, but they were popular and so the Knights didn’t go out of their way to shut them all down.

  As more and more eyes were drawn to the demoness, she said, “I think Thesa's probably right that I'm going to attract the wrong kind of attention, so you three make whatever supply purchases you need and meet me on the edge of town. And let’s do one more top up on the allergy potions and ingredients.”

  ***

  Inside a large shop, Thesa eyed a basic explorer’s pack which included things like a compass, some rope, and even a collapsable 10 foot pole. Unfortunately, she realized she had no money and Merijest hadn’t left any with her. She tried to remember what had happened to the money she’d had on her way back when she died but she wasn’t even sure how much that had been. And anyways, that was almost two months ago. Maybe she could go find Merijest for some gold and then come back?

  Durn, who was waiting for her girlfriend to decide between a selection of stuffed toys, glanced over at Thesa and said, “you could just steal it…”

  “Wouldn’t that be…wrong?” Thesa asked.

  Durn shrugged. “Could be fun, though.”

  Thesa stared at the explorer’s pack. She looked around. The shopkeeper was nowhere nearby. Internally she debated herself. On the one hand, the only reason she couldn’t ask Merijest directly was because everyone had been staring. On the other hand, that didn’t really have anything to do with the explorer’s pack. Then again, there was a little excited part of her that thought, I’m a [Witch] now. I don’t need to follow society's rules.

  Witmie returned to Durn with a small stuffed rabbit. “This one, please,” she said, making a cutesy face. Durn smiled and rolled her eyes as she followed her girlfriend to the front of the shop. That left Thesa alone in the back corner with only her thoughts.

  In the end, the decision wasn’t based on any of her prior reasoning. Thesa stole the bag of supplies because she wanted Merijest to think she was cool.

  As soon as her feet passed the threshold out of the shop, Thesa walked quickly to the edge of town. She could not have been more conspicuous, but to her benefit a rabbit-eared half-elf with a stuffed bunny was skipping down the road singing, followed by an exasperated half-dwarf, so nobody noticed her.

  As she rendezvoused with her demoness, Thesa shrank to the ground and, to Merijest’s confusion, whispered “what have I done? I’m a criminal.”

  “If this is about becoming a [Witch], it's a bit late for second thoughts, kitten,” Merijest said, crouching beside Thesa.

  “No,” Thesa said in a strained whisper. Her hands were busy holding her hair. “I stole…” She gestured to the bag of supplies on her back and Merijest laughed.

  “Never pegged you for a petty thief,” Merijest smirked. “But why not pay for it with the money I left?”

  “What money?” Thesa looked up.

  “I left some gold with Durn,” Merijest said.

  Thesa looked over at Witmie and Durn arriving with their own purchases. Witmie cradled the stuffed rabbit like a baby.

  “Did you tell me to steal this so you could buy the rabbit for Witmie?” Thesa asked.

  “No,” Durn said, returning the remaining gold to Merijest along with a few allergy potions. “I just thought it would be funny.”

  Thesa laid face down on the dirt and groaned.

  “By the way, we got some news,” Witmie interrupted. “The map-seller said the Knights have announced crackdowns on the borders of ItherBeau to monitor everything going in and out.”

  “We also asked about IsterNgiv, but nobody else knew where it was either,” Durn added.

  The map-seller, being more well established than those selling cheap maps on the edge of town, had a large reference map from which they were able to copy portions according to a customer’s needs. When the shop owner discovered Witmie’s budding interest in making maps, she insisted on selling the [Fighter] a [Magic Pen] which would allow her to copy and repeat images she’d already drawn. (“It’s an absolute necessity for any map maker AND if you find anything good I’ll pay for copies!”) She had also insisted that Witmie get practice by making her own copy of the part of the map she intended to purchase.

  ***

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  ***

  “Can we even be sure these ruins have a [Deity] inside?” Witmie wondered, again resting on Durn's shoulders.

  “Not certain, but likely,” Merijest replied. “At the very least, we can seek out the [Dungeon Core] for potential aid. We can’t run aimlessly forever.” Now that the demoness was back on her feet, she pressed for any chance to create more allies. Even as the party made to escape the borders of ItherBeau.

  Thesa nodded as if this all made sense to her. It did not. She hardly knew the difference between a [Deity] and a [Dungeon Core] and because she was still recovering from her transgression, she didn't ask.

  The path to the ruins was made easy by Merijest's wings. Near their destination, the party came to a steep rise and, as she had already done along the way at similar stops, the demoness ferried her [Familiars] up one by one.

  “By the way,” Witmie said, comfortably resting in the [High Devil]’s clutches. “I talked to Thesa, and I think you should just go for it. That girl is never gonna make the first move on talking about this.”

  “It would be easier if every time I tried to bring it up, she didn't panic and come up with an excuse to leave the conversation,” Merijest said. Her expression was lovingly annoyed with a twinge of her own uncertainty lingering underneath.

  Witmie shrugged.

  After carrying Durn, the Foxtapus, and Yabba, Merijest landed back next to Thesa.

  “So how am I holding you this time?” Merijest asked with a smirk. Her tail flicked.

  Thesa's cheeks reddened slightly as she shrugged. “Probably the same as the other times.”

  “I'm worried you're going to slip if we keep doing that,” Merijest replied. “Could we at least use the rope from your pack to–” The demoness stopped, recognizing Thesa’s guilt-ridden expression. Thesa had been reticent to even open the bag. “Wouldn't it be worse to have stolen it without ever using it?” Merijest asked.

  Thesa sighed. Internally a war was raging between her guilt (over the theft) and her embarrassment (of how much she liked Merijest).

  “I suppose you're right,” Thesa said, opening the bag. Merijest brought Thesa in for an embrace and began wrapping the rope around her silly little [Witch].

  Merijest lifted Thesa (stiff as a board) into the air. Before she could land near the waiting party, an arrow hit Thesa in the shoulder. The injury was small but enough to loosen her grip.

  In a moment of panic, Thesa's legs wrapped around her demoness's waist. The [Witch]’s panic only increased as she realized she did like it too much.

  As soon as the bolt had struck Thesa, Merijest zagged deftly through the air, refusing to be still as she [Party Messaged], “Did anyone see where that came from?”

  Most of their party below assumed defensive stances. Witmie stood on Durn's shoulders, trying to spot the hidden assailant.

  Her shoulder still pained, Thesa cast [Blindfold] in the general direction she suspected the arrow had come from. As Merijest dove into the bloom of darkness, Thesa's half-elf [Infravision] flicked on. She scanned the surrounding brush.

  Hiding behind a small thicket of silver-barked trees shaggy with leaves, she could see the heat tones of a single humanoid. Thesa pointed and Merijest summoned a disproportionate punishment of icicles for the attacker.

  But the unknown assailant quickly retreated, with a summoned aura guiding most of the icicles harmlessly around their target.

  Like a hawk, Merijest followed the archer, ready to reign righteous fury. Then, hearing a moan of pain from Thesa, Merijest’s attention shifted to protecting her [Witch].

  The pair quickly joined the grounded party.

  “What was that?” Witmie asked as she helped Merijest lay Thesa on the ground for a quick healing spell.

  “Not sure,” Merijest replied. With her canine teeth, she bit hard on her lip and spit blood on the wound. Then with a flick of her hand, the arrow embedded in Thesa’s shoulder began to remove itself, even as Thesa cried out at the pain. The Foxtapus, the Bronze Motif, and Durn formed the vertices of a protective triangle around the healing scene.

  Yabba, the Nest Walker, placed its wooden torso/head next to Thesa’s face and spit out a dead bird. This did not help.

  Merijest’s focus was tied to the spell, trying to remove the foreign object from Thesa’s body with minimal damage before she could begin healing it.

  Thesa gritted her teeth and seethed. The pain had flowered out, suggesting the arrow might have been tipped with poison. She shared this information via [Party Message].

  “You’re going to be fine,” Merijest said. There was worry in her voice. Poison could be a toss up. Nine times out of ten, it was a temporary nuisance. The other one time, though…

  ***

  Thesa briefly lost consciousness, waking up in a tent with Merijest leaning over her and kissing her forehead. A chill blossomed from the bloody lip-mark left behind, followed by an eclipsing warmth.

  Thesa was sweating profusely and, noticing this, became primarily concerned with grossing Merijest out. Was she too close to the demoness? This fear was neither actionable nor based in reality.

  Thesa woke up some time later to Merijest fully asleep beside her with a comfortingly cold, demonic hand still on Thesa’s cheek, checking her temperature.

  Thesa tried to say something, only for the shift in her face to cause the sleeping demoness’s hand to momentarily slip so that her fingers touched Thesa’s lips. Failing to manage the energy to address this latest, grave transgression, Thesa didn’t even manage to say anything before falling back asleep.

  ***

  The next morning, the ailment had passed. A one-day poison, Merijest decided. Exiting the tent, Thesa realized the party had somehow found their way to the ruins while she was unconscious. She also realized her hair had come undone, so she tried her best to redo it from memory.

  As they sat around a nearly-dead fire, eating breakfast, Durn asked, “we still don’t know who sent the archer?”

  “Nothing I recognize,” Merijest shrugged with frustration.

  “Probably one of Ailgeth’s trainees,” Thesa said. Then seeing no recognition from the others, she explained, “She is sometimes called the Arrowhead Knight. Maintains a small group of trained archers underneath her.”

  “Is she dangerous?” Witmie asked.

  “She’s the best archer in the region,” Thesa explained. “Not to mention having access to powerful arrows and a team of well-trained underlings.” She sighed, heavily. “She and her team are certainly the fastest moving of the Knights, so it would make sense for her to track us directly rather than trying to cut us off.”

  “And you think that was a trainee, because?” Merijest asked.

  “If it were Ailgeth, it would have been worse,” Thesa answered. She brought her forearm, with an ever-cold, red mark of the incubating Peppermint Wyrm to her forehead. The cool sensation was nice, even if thinking about the creature beneath her skin too much might cause her to lose consciousness again.

  “So we’re already within the grasp of another Knight?” Durn asked.

  “Seems like it,” Thesa said. Her thoughts flicked for a moment to the question of Peter and what his Eminent Class would look like.

  In real life, you should not remove a foreign object that is embedded in a wound. Please learn some basic first aid from anywhere that is not my fantasy story.

  ***

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