I didn’t know how to feel about our new acquisition.

  She honestly wasn’t worth much note, except for the fact that she was obviously a mage, and had the determination to rival a honey badger, alongside its lack of good sense.

  It had been…perhaps a month since they returned from culling the scale wolves? I needed to check a calendar sometime, the days flowed like a constant stream, and I was starting to measure time by how the flavour of the air changed with the season. Not the best for maintaining a proper schedule. I knew we were on the tail-end of summer, which meant the Reudenmire festival was just around the corner, likely in the next few months.

  I let out a sigh, I’d have to attend since Rhode wasn’t here, like I always did.

  The thought of the man brought a sliver of rage into my soul, but I controlled it. I had to consider what I was, and how people perceived me.

  It would be nice if presenting myself to the higher caste were the only burden on my shoulders, but being the best hunter in the city had its drawbacks, as did being a beast-kin. Some people would never look past my equine features, and that was fine by me, I had already proven myself to those who mattered and didn't need the approval of a few rats scurrying about. Elves didn’t have the same problem. If anything they were revered for their agelessness and uniform display of skill in the craft of their choosing.

  Yir was a competent fighter for her age, give her a few years and I was sure the girl could outmatch any of her peers. But the girl wasn’t giving herself that kind of time, determined to rush to her death.

  I didn’t get that, but to each their own.

  It would've almost beeen funny if it weren’t a literal child running themselves ragged. What did she hope to accomplish? I knew she wasn’t an idiot so the pieces weren’t quite fitting. But I could respect the decision, even if it was foolish.

  I could’ve tried to convince her to go to the universities but…well it really wasn’t any of my business. That was a weak excuse. Point was having her in my retinue had its value.

  She’d make for a great hunter if my suspicions were correct, and if she didn’t want to pursue greater power then she simply didn’t have to. She had all of eternity to change her mind, assuming she lived that long.

  And that was the crux of the issue, wasn’t it?

  Making sure she didn’t get herself killed was going to be a pain in the ass once we started introducing them to monster hunts. Seemed like the time to get them to actually try rather than get some token hits in while the adults did the real work. Exactly like Xae.

  Technically Yir was Aira’s problem, considering she was the one that took her on, but I would have to be a special kind of heartless to leave a child to die.

  Two hellions, both under my purview.

  Which only made my conviction all the harder.

  Luckily I was under no obligation to teach Yir anything, so at least that was a silver lining. But training up another apprentice to at least survive was part of my purview, at least her being a mage would hasten the process.

  And she had to be a mage, there was no other explanation for how fast she healed, or how her stamina seemed like a never ending well of bountiful power. She might be able to fool the others, but I’d met elves, and the only thing that made them special was their lifespan and skill, not counting aesthetics.

  She could be a witch, but considering she wasn’t insane, I’d take my chances on her being a mage.

  Well, she was a little insane.

  I let out a huff, disturbing the parchment on my desk slightly. I leaned back and closed my eyes. My face was a disturbing mix of deer and human, looking like neither and into a realm of uncanniness I didn't find flattering, but I learned to live with it.

  Just had to avoid mirrors.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  I looked to my right, out the window showing the street below.

  So many humans.

  I sighed and turned back to the parchment. It was expensive, but I was rich, considering my crew was the only one that managed to slay the really dangerous monsters. Those didn’t show up often, but we always got the call when they did. A weapon to protect my home, I never knew how to feel about that, so I didn't bother to try. There were better things to focus my time on.

  Like the letter.

  All I’d dapped down with ink was a simple greetings, and I’d been agonizing over the amount of myself that screamed not to do this. But I had to, it was a chance I couldn’t ignore, not with an elf under my purview. But The Four-Winged Doves…I’d rather not be involved with them. Each second I reminded myself that I didn't have a choice, and to get to writing that godsdamned letter already.

  I put quill to paper with hands that were just slightly larger than that of a human, and put as many pleasant lies as I could onto the parchment. All to flatter, and to hide how little I wanted to do this. Then came the request, and what a request it was.

  What I asked didn’t come cheap, and payment would most certainly come with a hefty favour, but I was willing to pay it. For the sake of justice, at the very least.

  I walked out of the dungeon, ragged and beaten, but alive.

  Another day, it was just another day in what was starting to form into my personal hell, but I had too. It wasn’t something as simple as a choice, so I staggered with fresh wounds past other delvers, because that was what I was now, wasn’t it? Not the glamorous life of managing a village like my father…but it made good coin, and if I needed anything right now it was coin. I walked up to a counter with a bored attendant, he looked over at me with a curious raise of the brow as I thumped a bag onto the man's desk.

  The man shrugged and grabbed the bag, emptying its contents on the desk. Dozens of small cores, jagged and imperfect, fell onto the wood with a clatter. The man looked a little surprised at the bounty, but said nothing. That’s the main reason I liked Gustav, he didn't chit chat and got straight to business. If anything was an agony right then, it would be conversation.

  Gustav sorted out the cores however the guild attendants were meant to, tallying using some mathematical contraption that I hadn't bothered learning. Didn’t have the time to. Well, not entirely honest, more like I didn’t have the energy to bother. Not with the constant training I had to go through.

  “Seven silver,” Gustav eventually said.

  “Seven and two pennies.”

  Gustav nodded, gathered the coins, broke one of them in half and handing me my bounty. I thanked the man and collected them in my bag, keeping a tight grip on my new windfall. That’d last us maybe another month, then I’d be back to the dungeon. Hopefully it was enough time to heal from the wounds the kobolds gave me. I was lucky the lizards only use blunt weapons, not that my bones agreed, but it was better than being run through.

  Especially when I started, and didn’t have a sliver of armour to my name.

  I stepped out of the guild, breathing in fresh air, letting the crisp feeling overtake my lungs. I stood there for a few seconds, enjoying the sensation, then I got moving again. Seven and a half silver! I should’ve been excited for that right? It was the most I’d been paid in any delve I'd ever done. I did good. I did good.

  I felt like I could’ve done better.

  Every step was a struggle as I walked through the city of Ortium, everyone was getting ready for the Reudenmire festival, preparing for wondrous festivities like the whole world didn’t burn to the ground.

  Well, mine did, so I had a bit of a different perspective on the matter.

  But that was no good, gloom was bad, it served no purpose but to drag me down. I had to be stronger! Had to be better. Besides, I’d already cried plenty, while Uria was sleeping.

  It had been months, I really needed to get over it.

  I walked down the street, struggling through one of the slower lanes, Ortium was certainly a shock when we first arrived. Going from village kid to a city dweller of the beacon of the empire’s magical advancement was not a seamless transition, but I liked to think I tried hard enough on the matter. Especially considering my new career, so I’d been doing good.

  Good.

  My blade’s gotten dull, hit the bones too much on the scaly monsters. It had a few chips but…well, I was saving to get something with a durability enchantment, so the most I’d been willing to pay on the blade was to sharpen it. I didn’t know how to do that though, had to leave that to the smiths, should’ve asked Yi-

  No.

  Don’t think about her.

  Please don’t think about her.

  Eventually I reached a small inn, one where we'd been renting out a room since we came. It was nice, not in the bad parts of the city at least, and the gangs didn’t give much of a care for this part of Ortium. I didn’t know why exactly, but I’d never claimed to know how gangs worked.

  I turned the key on the lock, and opened the door.

  Waiting for me on the other side was an anxious Uria, belly visibly bulging.

  The smile that she gives at the sight of my face was filled with so much kindness, and I hoped my own didn’t betray how tired I was.