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    Once I finished my talk with my family, we left. Murmur included Dantalion, which meant I was deeply aware of exactly what was happening within the domain. Murmur not only allowed me to hide traces in increasingly detailed ways, it also allowed me to divine when someone was LOOKING for those traces.


    A few people had swept the area we were in with different detection methods, but they failed, of course, and after the sweeps stopped I informed everyone else it was time to go.


    We were headed for Ironreach now, with the Citizen leading the way. He was guiding us personally, which might have been nice of him, or might have been some kind of follow up to make sure he could get access to those scrolls. I didn’t mind either way, he would be useful to have on our side when we arrived.


    As we walked, I listened to my friends chat, and I ended up getting sucked into a conversation between Bethy and Daysia. “What I’m saying is that plants are also a kind of vampire,” Bethy insisted. “They just drink water from soil with roots instead of blood from humans.”


    “Plants photosynthesize!” Retorted our resident dryad. “That’s the OPPOSITE of vampirism.”


    Bethy scoffed. “You don’t even know. I bet I could photosynthesize. It’s just eating sunlight. Sunlight is kind of like blood. It’s warm and keeps people alive. Watch.” She opened her mouth, taking big long breaths and snapping her teeth. It would have been comical, except that I could sense the air pressure shifting and the energy inside the domain starting to sort of simmer.


    “Alright!” Chelsea said, appearing next to Bethy and putting a hand over her mouth. “Let’s not start eating energy next to the creepy monster ocean.”


    Daysia giggled, and it dawned on me that she was looking a lot less worried. Bethy’s antics had cheered her up enough to wash away the perpetual nervousness that our newest member had felt since arriving.


    Of course, seeing Bethy, Abel, and I kick ass when we’d dropped the Pale Men probably helped.


    I smiled as they pulled ahead, but to my surprise, I was joined by two more figures. Winged ones. “So,” said Holly cautiously. “You’re an angel now.”


    “Only part time,” I assured her. “It’s one of my forms. I used some of the abilities you stored for me to figure it out, but obviously I couldn’t recreate the entire racial trait.” I suspected, having learned more about abilities, that the problem might be related to Mythology. The way that racial traits worked was different than most abilities, though I couldn’t say how yet.


    She shrugged. “I don’t begrudge you the power up. It’s just…weird. There aren’t a lot of us.The tower is a select group. The catalyst and requirements for becoming an Angel are extremely strict. Most of us are from the Church originally, or born this way. Seeing a brand new angel just appear, especially one who is so…unique, is odd.”


    “When you say unique like that, I can tell you mean weird,” I deadpanned.


    She shrugged. “Well, you’re an abomination, what do you expect?” She winked to let me know she was teasing, and we both laughed.


    We were walking the walkways between two of the islands, enjoying a peaceful stroll. Despite the overwhelmingly creepy atmosphere of the misty dark water around us, the warm green light of the candles along the edges of the platforms created a tranquil and almost haunting kind of beauty.


    Callie stepped up next to me, blatantly shoving herself under my arm, and I laughed as she snuggled into my side. No matter how much we went through together, she was still the same girl I fell in love with back in Callus. “How about I make us dinner tonight,” I said as we stepped out onto an island. “Whenever we decide to stop. It’s been a while since I cooked for you.”


    Her face lit up under her mask, and for a minute, I felt like we were back in Valen as we enjoyed each other’s company. I thought about that first night we went on our mission to the underground fighting arena, Callie going undercover and me chewing her out about her driving skills. It seemed so far away, but at the same time like it was just yesterday. We’d come so far together, seen so much, and I knew we still had more to do.


    Feeling my affection through the bond, she smiled up at me softly. “You’re still the same idiot I met back at the guild. Except maybe now you wouldn’t be such a baby about letting me drive.”


    “Nope, you’re still never guiding a vehicle with me inside it,” I said bluntly. “I have no clue how you have Perception and Focus at the level you do and still suck at driving, but I refuse to be a part of it.”


    She stuck her tongue out at me, and I laughed, enjoying the memories. Before she could respond though, my Danger Sense triggered. Without even hesitating, I triggered Double Trouble, bringing Callie with me as we appeared behind Bethy, who had been walking a ways in front of us.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Behind us, an explosion rocked the dusty hard packed earth, and I spun to find an arrow buried in the dirt. The ground underneath it was shattered, and from inside it, dark twisted brambles snapped forth, tearing at the air and rock, pretty much mulching the area. Along the edges of the thorns, I could see a tenacious and malevolent energy that was seeping into the ground, killing even the stone.


    I turned to follow the line of sight, and found a cloaked figure with a drawn hood standing not far away. The figure held a black bow, built in a strange way. It was a recurve, but on the top and bottom it was also strung on the opposite side. It was so obscure it took me a second to sort through all the information on it with Dantalion. A double recurve. I’d never seen one in real life before, mostly because they were considered inferior to compound bows and most people didn’t bother making them.


    “Who are you,” I asked the figure as I considered what we should do. I didn’t believe we couldn’t beat them, in fact, between me, Bethy, and Abel, the chances of us crushing this person were high, even with the frankly absurd level of damage that shot had done.


    I wasn’t sure exactly how strong that attack was, but I suspected this person was like me, having already condensed a Chronicle. That was actually a good thing. It meant they were monstrously strong, but it also meant this wasn’t one of the disposable disciples that would be willing to rank up in here.


    With a Chronicle at D-rank, this person would hit B-rank smoothly with no bottlenecks. They only needed to accumulate stats. Not even a god would waste a genius like that on a place like this.


    On the downside, that meant this person was strong enough to threaten me, and honestly might be even stronger than I was. I didn’t believe they were more talented, but we were at similar levels, and they might be much further into D-rank.


    The figure was silent for a moment, but eventually, they reached up to push back their hood to reveal…an elf. I’d met elves before, so that wasn’t strange, but this particular elf had a different vibe. Her eyes were blood red, and her teeth were sharp and jagged, like a shark’s. She seemed predatory, even violent, without actually doing anything to imply she was threatening us.


    “Heathen,” she said in a surprisingly melodic voice. “You have stolen from the gods. You will return that which you have taken, or you will meet your end. So states the Wild Hunt.”


    I triggered Mornax, pushing my defense up as high as I could get it. Just in case. “Firstly, I didn’t steal anything. I was invited to the Fields of Strakkenthar, and I claimed my prize there in good faith. Secondly, I don’t have those items anymore, so it wouldn’t matter if I HAD stolen them, because I can’t give them back.”


    She sighed, withdrawing a small bottle from a pouch at her side. “If you must continue down this path, I can only do as I have warned.”


    To my surprise, Bethy stepped in front of me. “I know what you are,” she said in an uncharacteristically serious tone. “Heaven Murder Elf. I heard you were extinct. You’re brutal, but you have a code. Is there really no other way to settle this?”


    My blood went cold. Bethy sounded…worried. Genuinely nervous even. I’d never heard of a ‘Heaven Murder Elf’, but then, I’d never heard of lots of things. Especially stuff related to the vanished gods, who knew how long it had been buried in the annals of history. More than my own knowledge though, I trusted Bethy’s instincts, and almost as importantly, I trusted my powers.


    Murmur was still active right now. A stealth ability even C-rankers couldn’t punch through, this D-ranked elf had penetrated with no fanfare. In fact, it had taken me a minute to realize she was even DOING it, because she was so casual I’d forgotten the fact that she wasn’t supposed to be able to see us.


    The elf stared at her. “Verdyn is the initiator of the Wild Hunt. Within the laws of this chase, we, his children, are entrusted with the sacred duty of pursuit. There is no surcease. No stay of execution. We must hunt. We ARE the hunt. And you are prey. I will allow you a moment to say your goodbyes, for once the final hunt is upon you, the only outcome is death.”


    Bethy stared hard at her, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. It took me a moment to realize what the expression on her face was. It was sadness. She empathized with this person, and didn’t want to have to hurt her.


    I gathered Heaven Murder Elves were rare, probably almost unique at this point. Bethy was also unique, and probably felt some kinship with another blood focused species. Because the elf STANK of blood. It wafted off her in clouds, I felt like I was suffocating in an ocean of copper scented red.


    “Shane,” said Bethy in an oddly detached voice. “Don’t interfere. I’ll handle this.” She focused on the girl. “You’re a hunter, so you must understand how this works. In this world, the hunter is kind and the prey’s life is in their hands. So if I beat you, that means I’m the superior hunter, and so you would belong to me. Is that correct?”


    There was no romantic implication behind that question, even if the wording would normally have implied one. This wasn’t a matter of romance, but of pure primal might. Survival of the fittest, the winner was king.


    Bethy didn’t like that kind of mindset, and while she would proclaim power over enemies sometimes for her own amusement, I doubted she was excited about the idea of claiming a subordinate like this. That said, I could see where she was going with this. While under normal circumstances, this situation would be a hopeless case of kill or be killed, we had some wiggle room here.


    The elf was acting as a sort of huntmaster, a dedicated participant of the Wild Hunt. She must have information on the others, and even details on the hunt. If she was with us, we could question her. Moreover, I could sense through Dantalion the almost fanatical devotion she had to the construct of this hunt. She would honor the deal if she agreed to it. Her belief would allow nothing less.


    The elf stared at Bethy for a moment, then nodded. “I will. Your logic is sound. Best me, and become my master, fail, and your souls will be handed over to my master. I warn you, the horrors of such an existence are beyond your imagining. Are you sure you don’t wish to simply hand over the objects? I can even spare your lives.”


    “Like I said,” I sighed. “I don’t have them.”


    She nodded grimly. “Very well. Defend yourself, hunter, and shoulder the fate of your friends.” Her hand blurred for the quiver on her back, and Bethy exploded into a wave of bats, and the battle was on.