"So what did the lord want to talk to you about?" Cass asked as she followed Alyx through the lower district. Marco and Telis trailed behind them. Pellen hovered in between, very obviously unsure where she was supposed to stand.

Salos rode on her shoulder, his claws clenching into the fabric of her robes and poking her skin, his head swiveling back and forth. Something had him on edge. She didn't need their bond to tell that much.

Alyx rolled her eyes. "It started with flattery and sweet talking. He was under the mistaken impression that I hold power in Velillia. It took entirely too long to get him to understand I'd been kicked out.

"And then it was a mess of him trying to strong-arm me into working for him. And when he realized that wasn't going to work, he switched tactics to try to get me to do him a favor." Alyx sounded incredibly done with it already.

"What favor?" Cass asked. It was as much to distract herself from the anxiety leaking from Salos as it was her curiosity.

Alyx shook her head. "Apparently, he's been trying to get my grandmother to deal with 'some pirates' for months now."

"That sounds like the kind of thing the duchy should handle?" Cass said slowly.

"Sure. If they really were 'some pirates' and not the Zenith Confederacy." Alyx shook her head.

Pellen startled.

"And they are?" Cass asked.

"The powerhouse of the open skies," Alyx said. "Not a group that a single dragon and knight have any business dealing with."

Pellen nodded in agreement.

"So you turned that 'favor' down too?" Cass said.

Alyx nodded.

"You think the pirates are related to the missing people?" Cass asked.

"Missing people?" Alyx asked.

"No way." Pellen shook her head emphatically.

"Was that not why the lord wanted your help?" Cass asked. Then again, perhaps a city of this size had no shortage of problems. "The city guard warned me to watch out on my way in."

"I guess it's possible," Alyx said. "But I got the sense his concern was more about trade along the coast."

"If it were the Confederacy, you wouldn't be askin' if it was them," Marco said. "You'd know."

Pellen nodded again.

"Not that they're a monolith," Telis added. "Some of their captains are slyer than others."

Marco shook his head.

"Either way, eventually I got the lord to leave me alone," Alyx said. "But I had to agree to leave Kel in his manor."

"It couldn't be helped," Telis said softly.

Salos's claws clenched tighter.

Cass suppressed a wince. "Why?"

"He's too big. The local lord doesn't want him disturbing public order by roaming around the streets."

"And you're okay with that?"

Alyx scowled. "If I thought the inn had a stable big enough for him, I would have protested harder."

"And is he okay with that?"

Something warm fluttered against her soul. Salos snatched it back before Cass could identify what it was exactly.

Alyx looked away. "We won't be here long. And it's better than sleeping outside the city."

"I guess," Cass said. Cold silence dropped over her bond with Salos. She couldn't read it at all, but it grabbed at her heart and froze her lungs.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Are you okay? Cass asked Salos.

Yes, he lied. He hadn't even tried to hide it.

Do you want to rest? You could just hang out in the soul well or go back to the inn. I'm probably safe enough next to Alyx in a city like this.

The cold oozed across.

I'm fine, he said anyway.

Salos… Was this about the dream? Was he off balance from the vivid reminder of Alacrity? She wanted to ask. She wanted to say something to make it better.

But what could she say? If that dream was an accurate reflection of his past, he'd loved her. Alacrity had been everything to him.

And she'd betrayed him. She'd made him a demon.

She pushed down the anger. He didn't need her angry for him. There was nothing she could do with anger right now.

I'm fine, he repeated.

"Where are we going anyway?" Cass asked aloud. She definitely wasn't just changing the topic because she was uncomfortable.

"Supposedly, there is a shop around here that sells skill gems," Alyx said.

"That sounds highly unlikely," Telis said.

"That's what I said when the lord tried to tell me about it last night," Alyx said.

"But it exists?" Telis asked.

"He showed me a gem," Alyx said.

"Really?" Pellen asked. "Did you get to keep it?"

Alyx shook her head. "The skill was useless to me. I wasn't going to agree to hunt pirates by myself for it."

"It was for a specific skill." Pellen nodded to herself like that explained everything.

"I'm not sure you understand," Alyx said. "This wasn't granting experience toward a skill I didn't have. This gem promised to grant me a new skill."

"What!" Pellen jumped, freezing on the spot.

"Is that unusual?" Cass asked. She and Pellen had found something similar in the Velillia Catacombs.

"It's unheard of," Pellen said. "Most 'skill gems' are crystallized skill experience. They grant progress toward skills you already have, and they are rare enough. I've never heard of a crystal that grants a skill."

Is this different from the crystal I touched in the Temple of the Deep's shadow hall? Cass asked.

Yes, Salos said.

Cass waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't.

"And a shop is just selling them?" Pellen asked.

"According to the lord, someone in this city can make them," Alyx said. "If they can be made, they'll be sold."

"But he failed to say who he gets them from?" Telis asked.

Alyx nodded. "He was trying to bribe me with them. He must have a supply somewhere."

"They are likely not publicly available," Telis said. "We would have heard about it in Velillia if it were."

"We won't know until we look," Alyx said.

"By which you mean you won't know until I look?" Telis asked.

"Please and thank you, Telis," Alyx said.

Telis shook her head. "Of course, I will begin now."

"And in the meantime, we might as well look ourselves," Alyx said.

"Do you have a lead?" Telis asked.

"Nope," Alyx said.

Telis shook her head.

"We could try the market?" Pellen suggested. "It's a Willsday, so there should be one running on the pier."

"Are you from Belden?" Alyx asked.

Pellen shook her head. "Um, no, not quite, but my family spent a lot of time around here. But, more importantly, they sell everything at the market."

"Sounds good," Alyx said. "Lead the way."

Pellen shuffled to the front of the group, her soul quivering in her chest.

"Are you looking for a specific skill?" Marco asked as they walked.

Alyx shrugged. "Kind of."

"We could work on it."

"Yeah." It was a dismissive sort of agreement. She knew it was an option too.

Marco shook his head. "As you like, girl."

"Thank you," Alyx said quietly. He snorted, his head still shaking.

What do you think? Cass asked Salos. If I could buy a skill, what should I look for?

I doubt you have the money for that. But—Salos turned the question over carefully—you would benefit from a wizardry skill. Perhaps gestural? Learning chant would probably be difficult for you on top of using a skill to speak the common language.

Cass nodded. That sounded like a good idea. Pellen had all sorts of useful spells, and the only limitation on the breadth of her spells was what she could memorize or find quickly in her tomes. That was flexibility.

You had a runic skill, didn't you? Cass asked, remembering his stat sheet he'd shared ages ago. Can you do inscription magic too?

He knew enough to break the containment circles in the temple's basement at least.

Salos's claws clenched into her shoulder. I know a little. Not enough to draw a circle from memory. Not enough I should be drawing them up from reference, if I'm honest. But she—He shook his head. Cass could feel him changing his mind about what he wanted to say. It was convenient for me to know how to break protective inscriptions and the like in my line of work. That's all.

There was a lot more there. Cass could feel it swirling just on the other side of their bond.

There had to be something she could do for him. Salos—

He hopped down from her shoulder. I think I should go check on Kohen.

Now? Cass asked.

He didn't look back. Who knows what he's up to.

Do we care? she asked. They'd be leaving Belden soon enough. Kohen wasn't going any further with the caravan. He wasn't their problem anymore.

He could be plotting against you, Salos said. You never know.

I mean. I guess? Cass said. He was running away from something. This was an excuse. She could feel it. But what could she do about it? If he didn't want to talk about it, he didn't want to talk about it.

Stay with Alyx until I get back, Salos said, slipping into a shadow and out of sight.

Cass sighed, his emotions drifting further and further from her as he scampered across the city.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.