Caelan walked back across the wrecked plaza with Mynxi in his arms, her laughter bubbling like music against the fading noise of the fight. She spoke with childlike excitement, retelling every blow and dodge she’d seen, tiny hands waving for emphasis.

  “What—you’re saying I’m cool?” Caelan laughed. “No way. I’m too old to be cool. What about you, beating that scary man? How did you do something so brave?”

  “I copied you, silly!” Mynxi said proudly, folding her arms.

  Caelan smiled as they reached the group. “Happenin’? So, we’re about done here, then?”

  Aidan stretched, hands behind his head. “I have to admit—not the worst first day we’ve had in a new place.”

  Caelan laughed. “Yeah, I was trying, but damn—that monster really kicked my behind. Still, eight out of ten. Would do again.”

  Solara stepped up, taking Mynxi gently from his arms and setting her onto Keira’s lap. “Go to Auntie Keira for now, my little angel. Auntie Solara needs to deal with the funny man.”

  Behind them, the rest of the squad was already in full argument mode. Veyra and Takeshi were shouting over each other about who the clear MVP was, while Braen praised Milo’s sudden improvement.

  “Aw, stop,” Milo said, blushing. “They were barely above base level. Honestly, he might be right about that ego thing.”

  Braen turned to Lumi, who was brushing dust from her coat. “And you, our little fashion goddess—where’d you learn to do all that?”

  Lumi’s massive wizard hat dipped as she smiled, her staff resting against her shoulder. “Well, I only got here about seven or eight years ago. Before that, I used to loot a few sectors out that way. Great fabrics spawning daily, so I held it off for a while—you know, eliminating anyone who wandered into my area—until that horribly dressed moron turned up one day, made me an offer, and here we are.”

  Milo raised an eyebrow, laughing. “You follow that idiot?”

  “Ow, no, no, no!” Lumi said quickly. “I just rent the shop. I haven’t pledged to anyone yet. You know, not everyone here follows that idiot, right?”

  Their banter was cut off by Veyra shouting, “Well, who turns up to a fight drunk?!”

  Takeshi immediately fired back. “Oh, look at me, bouncing a few arrows off a shield—bleh!”

  Garron sighed deeply as he strode over. “So this is my life now.” He grabbed both by the back of their jackets and lifted them off the ground, holding them facing away from each other.

  “What is it with you giants and picking me up? What if I were wearing a dress?” Veyra snapped.

  “And thank the stars you’re not!” Takeshi barked back.

  They kept bickering, feet kicking helplessly, until Garron said flatly, “You’re not getting down until you stop.”

  The argument continued—until Caelan’s yelp cut through the noise.

  “Ow, ow, quit it, Solara! You said eight out of ten for execution!”

  “I did, yes, Captain,” Solara said between sharp slaps to his arm. “But that doesn’t nearly cover all that swearing and showing off while drunk! What if things hadn’t worked out? And you finally had it in you to declare the Revolutionary Army—yeah, great first impressions.”

  “Ow—because—ow—I knew—ow—you’d be—ow! I knew you’d be there!” Caelan sputtered between hits.

  Solara paused, the heat leaving her face. She let out a small sigh and gave his arm one last, softer tap. “Well… it wasn’t perfect. But we’ll work on it.”

  Elyria stood nearby, arms crossed, eyebrow raised as she pointed between the two of them. “Yeah, this—I’m not getting it. How did this even happen?”

  Caelan grinned. “Aw, she knew a good thing when she saw it.”

  “He cried like a baby and asked me to join,” Solara countered.

  Caelan’s eyes went wide. “Will you stop telling people that? And if I was crying, maybe it’s because someone was sick in my goddamn face, Solara?”

  Solara ignored him and looked at Elyria. “We still haven’t talked about someone running in to save the day yet, have we?”

  Elyria’s face flushed. “Shut up, shut up, shut up! What did you want me to do, watch the idiot get himself killed?”

  From where she sat, Keira called out, “Captain? What are you doing about these idiots?”

  As Mynxi clutched Keira’s jacket, Caelan spotted it and sighed. “Sorry, ladies. Captain’s duties.”

  He turned and headed toward the broken stand where Aurex and Pael were still huddled. Aurex lay half-buried in rubble while Pael knelt beside him. As Caelan approached, murmurs rippled through the remaining crowd. The ruins still shifted and cracked, piles of armour and weapons glinting in the fractured light.

  “What’s going to happen now?” someone whispered. “Is he going to run this place?”

  “Always knew Ravon would be the end of it all,” another said.

  “Don’t eliminate him—please! At least give us time to find a new commander!”

  Caelan didn’t answer. He just walked, steady and calm, until he stood before a trembling Aurex. The man couldn’t even speak.

  Pael suddenly moved, pulling a small knife and lunging. Caelan caught his wrist effortlessly; the blade stopped between his fingers. He turned slowly, smiling, though exhaustion lined his face.

  “Come on, pal,” he said lightly. “Let’s talk this out. Honestly, I need another drink before I fight again.”

  Pael froze, his grip loosening until the knife clattered to the ground. Caelan let him go, leaned down, and lifted Aurex to his feet. He dusted him off and gave him a few light slaps on the shoulder.

  “Come on, mate, stand up. There we go. Show me that spine you pulled out of your ass earlier.”

  “You… you’re not going to eliminate me?” Aurex stammered.

  Caelan smiled faintly, fixing Aurex’s torn jacket. “Not yet. A few questions first, and we’ll see where this goes.” His voice hardened as his eyes sharpened. “And before either of you thinks of lying to me, I’ll cut you down without a second thought. Understood?”

  Both men nodded quickly.

  “Good.” Caelan clapped their shoulders, his grin returning. “Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s start nice and calm. Easy one first.” His tone dropped cold. “The execution of a little girl. Explain. Now.”

  Aurex looked down, voice shaking. “We… we had no choice. She was compromising the western areas. We have to harvest the loot daily from the outer zones—it’s the only way we survive. She posed a threat to our existence.”

  Caelan turned to Pael. “You talk.”

  “Mr. Vallis’s assessment is correct,” Pael said quietly. “We were losing caravans to her. We had no choice but to enlist Mr. Dask again—he spent years hunting her down.”

  Caelan rubbed his chin, thinking. Then he turned slightly and called, “Little one, can I borrow you for a second?”

  Keira appeared with Mynxi, holding her hand. Mynxi peeked from behind Caelan’s jacket as he picked her up.

  “Don’t you worry about these meanies, I’m here,” he said gently.

  Mynxi nodded. “Okay.”

  “Can I ask you some questions, little one?”

  As he spoke, Keira stood behind him, glaring daggers at Aurex. “Keep those eyes on the ground, Eyebrows. I fucking swear.”

  Aurex froze. “Yes, Keira,” he muttered.

  She turned to leave, tossing over her shoulder, “Next time, put some effort into it. And it’s Master Keira to you.”

  Caelan chuckled. “Shit, maybe I should’ve given her the emerald. Wouldn’t want to be you two right now.” He looked back at Mynxi. “So, like I was saying—were you fighting his people?”

  Mynxi shook her head.

  “Do you know what happened?”

  She nodded.

  “Can you tell me?” Caelan asked softly.

  “A long time ago, that bad man used to leave me food,” Mynxi said. “Then people stopped coming. It was quiet and scary. But I couldn’t scare anyone. Mynxi was alone. Then the bad man came with those people and put me in the box. I didn’t mean to.” She clutched his jacket tighter.

  Caelan wrapped an arm around her. “You did amazing, little one. Want to go back to your aunties while I finish up?”

  She shook her head, clinging tighter.

  “Alright then,” he sighed. Turning to Aurex and Pael, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Ah, well, looks like you boys got played. Let me guess—fuckface was magically pulling crap out of his ass when you needed something? Jacked-up prices, right?”

  Aurex slumped, defeated. “I knew it all along. Honestly, I’m barely keeping this place together. We needed his manpower. I hoped that if he got rid of the excuse he’d been selling, we’d have the resources to survive.”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Caelan glanced at Pael. “You know I don’t need to invite you to fucking speak every time.”

  Mynxi, delighted, shouted, “FUCK!”

  Caelan patted her head. “Shhh. Auntie Solara doesn’t like that word.”

  “One more foot right in your ass, Captain!” Solara yelled from across the plaza.

  Pael exhaled shakily. “We did try to fight him, but… we couldn’t keep it quiet. We used to have an elite force, but they didn’t stand a chance against those animals. I don’t know if we gave up or if we were just too scared to stop him.”

  “Right, fine,” Caelan said. “We’ll put a pin in that. Now—this city. Did you find it, or what? No bullshitting.”

  Pael swallowed. “Mr. Vallis was the mind behind it. We’re actually in his starting zone.”

  Caelan blinked. “Shit. And how’d you pull that off?”

  “I was lucky,” Aurex said quietly. “The first man I met in here wasn’t interested in fighting. His name was Joss Calder. We met—”

  Caelan’s eyes widened. “Aw, big Joss! Boy’s a fucking legend. The one up at Beech & Ember. We just moved in—aww, that reminds me…”

  Aurex groaned. “Great. All my problems in one place.”

  Caelan, without much effort, punched Aurex lightly in the face. Just enough to sting.

  “What the fuck was that for?” Aurex snapped, covering his nose.

  Caelan clapped him on the shoulder. “Watch your words—there’s a child present.”

  Pael stared blankly. “We really lost to this? We were doomed from the start.”

  Caelan just laughed, then suddenly his expression shifted to something oddly bright. “You know what I love about this place?” he asked, grinning ear to ear.

  “Are you mad? This is a war,” Pael said.

  Caelan raised an eyebrow, looking at Aurex.

  Aurex muttered, almost to himself, “I got the chance to be someone I always wanted to be… well, almost.”

  “Damn, not too far off,” Caelan said, louder now. “But there’s one thing this place has been lacking. No matter where you set up, some idiots come in and ruin it to the core. Honestly, Virelith is the first place we’ve walked into and almost felt a sense of ease. I mean, shit—imagine this. Dropped into a war with nothing but the shirt on your back. Build a whole economic system, build a whole-ass city, and—honestly? Not a bad crack at how to survive this war.

  “Obviously, there’ve been… slight bumps in the road. And a glaring failure in soldier development,” he added under his breath. “But that’s the beauty of this place. Every single one of us died before we woke up here. We all know what it’s like to want more, to push and try just that little bit harder. This place gave us that.”

  Aurex stared at him, confused.

  “So how about this?” Caelan went on. “I’ll give you your chance to run the city you’ve been trying to run. And the great news for you? We’ll be here to keep an eye on you—since, you know, the Revolutionary Army’s new HQ is right here.” He squeezed Aurex’s shoulder, grip tightening. “Just in case we need to behead any idiots like that, Ravon. Or, you know… someone who thinks executing a child is a good idea. What do you say, Rexy baby—want to go for a ride?”

  He held out his hand.

  Aurex stared at it for a long moment, stunned—then finally took it in a firm grip. “I promise—”

  Caelan yanked him closer, voice dropping to a whisper. “Don’t fucking promise me shit. Just do it.”

  Pael looked like he might pass out. “What just happened? Are we… we’re making it out of this?”

  “For today, yeah,” Caelan said, already turning away, playing absently with Mynxi’s hair. “But you’d better watch your shit. We’ll talk terms tomorrow.”

  “How?” Aurex called after him. “How are you all this strong and fast? It makes no sense. I’ve never seen anyone move like that. How did you do it? What did I miss?”

  Caelan’s grin went wide and lazy, full of cheese. “Damn, before I forget—see Sparkles over there?” He jerked his chin toward Solara. “She’s a pain about us paying for what we break. So, see that?” He pointed to the south side of the plaza, where the emerald’s corpse had hardened into jagged bars of emerald scrap, even fusing with chunks of the ground. “That’s more than last time. We’ll say that pile covers all the damage we’ve done today, yeah?”

  “You mean you, glory hog!” Keira shouted.

  Aurex and Pael exchanged a look, then nodded. “Sure. That works for us, Captain.”

  “But I’m taking half of it,” Caelan added.

  Pael sputtered. “But sir, we had a deal!”

  “Yes, I know,” Caelan said sweetly. “But asshole tax is a hundred percent. And I, Captain of the Revolutionary Army, out of the goodness of my heart, am extending an offer of half as a show of good faith. And on top of that, the cherry on top—I’ll even tell you how we got like this.”

  He stared at Aurex and Pael. The crowd around them had gone completely silent, hanging on every word.

  Pael swallowed. Aurex managed, “Deal. So… tell us?”

  Caelan grinned. “Oh, it’s super simple, really. Don’t be a completely useless piece of shit. That’s it.”

  “That’s not an answer!” Pael snapped.

  “Aw, mate, but it is,” Caelan said. “It’s pretty fucking obvious. We all woke up here, what, seventeen-ish years ago? Yet not one of us has aged a single day. So obviously, the Goddess didn’t—on purpose or by mistake—explain that the limitations our bodies had before coming here are gone. What you put into this place is what you get out of it. Ironically, a place with a ceiling… doesn’t have a ceiling. If you get what I mean.”

  “This… this is the man who defeated us,” Aurex muttered. “So incredibly uncultured, and yet somehow he’s making sense.”

  “It still doesn’t explain why your difference is so much greater than anyone else we’ve seen,” Pael said.

  “That’s simple,” Caelan replied. “Every night, once the monsters are cleared? We sweep a couple of zones. Every morning, we train together on whatever dumb shit we want to practice. And the key ingredient…” His smile turned sharp. “Taking the head off any jumped-up little piece of shit who needs to be brought down a few pegs.”

  “So you train a lot, is what I’m hearing,” Pael said.

  Caelan sighed. “Fuck, you’re so boring to be around. Yes, dipshit—what, twelve or so hours a day? Leaves sixteen hours for chilling or drinking. It’s not even a lot, really.”

  He turned to walk back toward the others, then stopped, glancing over his shoulder. “Oh, and one more thing. The Goddess is dying. Right on with—”

  “Whoa, woah, woah—say what, Captain?” Solara cut in, stalking over. “You’ve not said anything about this to me.”

  Caelan smiled, unbothered. “Might as well tell everyone. Might actually make this a bit more fun around here. It involves some guessing, but it’s the only thing that makes sense to me. Look at the facts. We all died before waking up here—what the hell is that about? Second, this place makes no sense. It’s a war, but we’ll all be sent back to our homeworlds with our memories if we win. And if we lose—why bother? That makes zero fucking sense.

  “And the bit that confused me most—the thing I didn’t get until her second speech the other day—why would she need us? She can create things that would crush whole parts of my homeworld without breaking a sweat. But she uses them to make us stronger. She wants to bestow power on the winners. Why risk that on the kind of people who’ll still be standing at the end of this?”

  He looked back toward the shattered south gate. “Honestly? This isn’t a war. It’s a fucking crucible. Whatever we have to deal with in here… what comes after? That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  Solara walked up beside him and set a hand on his shoulder—then grabbed his ear and tugged. “How much did you have to drink today? I mean, look at Takeshi, he can still barely stand. Right—everyone back to the inn. Do me a favour, Caelan: stick to the cheesy mottos and keep the crazy for the inn.”

  Caelan let himself be dragged, still smiling. “Ow, ow, ow… wait, wait, wait.”

  Solara sighed, releasing his ear. “This better be good.”

  Before Caelan could answer, Mynxi spotted Keira and bolted toward her. “Auntie Keira! We’re going for food now—are you coming too?”

  Keira swept her up with a grin. “Of course, silly! We’re having a party tonight—there’ll be all the food you can handle.”

  “FUCK!” Mynxi shouted gleefully, and both she and Keira burst into laughter.

  Caelan and Solara paused, catching each other smiling at the sight. Caelan chuckled softly. “How is she so good at that? No matter the situation, she’s always the Keira you need.”

  “Says you,” Solara replied, finally letting go of his ear. “What are we doing with the kid, then?”

  Caelan straightened his jacket. “Ah, yeah, that’d be a great look for the Revolutionary Army—save a kid and then let her loose again. Sweet kid, though. We’ll keep her. And yeah, I know—I’ll keep an eye on her. If the Revolutionary Army’s gonna stand for anything, that little firecracker’s smile will be worth it.”

  Solara leaned lightly on his shoulder. “Well, hopefully that’s what people take away from today as our first official operation—and not the drunken, swearing idiot leading us. But… you know what? It’s exactly who we needed to be.”

  Caelan laughed, leaning back against her. “Thanks, Lieutenant. Don’t worry, I’ll explain it all when we get to the inn—” He stopped suddenly. “SHIT, I forgot the booze. We need to pick it up—it’s just down the south gate. Catch you back at the inn!”

  Before he could leave, Solara grabbed the back of his jacket. “Not a chance. You’ve had enough to drink today, and I’m not letting you out of my sight. Left you for what, four hours? Look at the place.”

  Elyria turned around with a grin. “Beer? I could go for a beer. What do you think, Solara—would be nice after today, right? Do you like beer? What’s your favourite type? Do you drink often or just for special occasions? Do you always wear your hair tied back? What about a shorter cut?”

  Solara pinched the bridge of her nose. “Give me strength. Elyria, we talked about this—one question at a time, pause, remember?”

  Keira sauntered over, stretching. “What’s the hold-up here? Solara, take the stick out of your ass and put it in gear. A girl needs her pre-hunt nap.”

  Caelan and Elyria both tried not to laugh as Solara clenched her fists. Before she could erupt, Veyra shouted, “We need to stop past Lumi’s shop—my shopping’s there!”

  Aidan and Milo started chattering. “Can we check out the weapon shop? Sis says there’s one just down there,” Milo asked.

  “Honestly, it wouldn’t hurt,” Aidan said. “Haven’t seen much variety since we woke up here.”

  Braen grinned. “Oh! And we can grab food from that place we had lunch—the food was lovely.”

  Lumi slammed her staff into the ground, pointing toward the restaurant. “Onwards! You heard the lady—food!”

  Keira sidled up next to her, Mynxi perched on one arm. “We haven’t met properly yet—I’m Keira, your new BFF, and we’re gonna tear this place apart.”

  Lumi blinked, nervous, giving a shy laugh as Keira’s evil giggle rose into a full laugh—joined quickly by Mynxi.

  Takeshi groaned. “I just want my bed.”

  Elyria tilted her head toward Solara. “Yeah, but my jacket? Plus, a drink would be nice. Imagine how good it’ll feel when we upgrade it with the emerald scrap—mmm, delicious.”

  Caelan and Solara exchanged puzzled looks. “Upgrade? The fuck are you talking about?” Caelan asked.

  Solara elbowed him sharply, keeping her eyes on Elyria.

  “What do you mean?” Elyria said. “It’s the whole thing behind them—her hand, your sword.”

  Caelan handed her the sword Solara had bought him. Elyria walked to the pile of emerald scrap left from the monster’s corpse and placed the sword atop it. The metal shimmered, then the bars instantly turned to dust.

  Caelan almost cried. “That’s money!”

  “That’s coming out of your cut, Elyria!” Solara barked.

  “What cut?” Elyria said innocently, handing the sword back. “Here—try it now.”

  Caelan drew the sword and blinked. “The hell? It feels… lighter? Heavier? The shit?”

  “Give it a spin,” Elyria said, tossing him a chunk of wood. He sliced through it effortlessly and stopped, grinning. “Mate, you’ve got to try this.”

  “Wait—what happens if you use the normal ones from the White Deaths?” Solara asked.

  Elyria blinked. “Didn’t anyone listen? The Goddess clearly explained this the day after we woke up here.”

  Caelan frowned. “What shit are you talking about? No, she didn’t.”

  Garron walked over, rubbing his temples. “I think we’d best make our way soon. I don’t know how long they’ll last before they start up again.”

  Solara thought for a moment, then raised her voice. “Right, everyone, listen up! No arguments! Captain, Elyria—you’re with me. We’ll get your dumb booze, and then we’ll grab Airhead’s jacket. While we’re at it, I’ll get us all some lovely tea. Everyone else—Garron’s in charge. So listen carefully, no misunderstandings: Veyra’s shopping, then food, then the inn. We’ll meet you back there.”

  “Can we just quickly—” Aidan started.

  Solara turned, eyes glowing with menace. “NO ARGUMENTS.”

  Milo laughed nervously. “We can go tomorrow. Oh—and Cap, just to let you know, the bar thing works on food.”

  Caelan froze mid-step. “Say that again?”

  “He’s not lying,” Aidan added. “The food we had at lunch was actually pretty good.”

  Caelan turned to Aurex, pointing. “YOU TWO—SPEAK NOW! IS THIS TRUE?”

  Aurex went pale. Pael nodded. “Yes, sir. It’s the cornerstone of our economy. And now, with another type of scrap bar, who knows what we could elevate our offerings to?”

  Caelan deflated. “I’m going to burn this place to the ground.”

  “Sure you will, buddy,” Solara said, patting his shoulder before addressing the group. “Right—see you all back at the inn. One hour, no negotiations. Do what Garron tells you.”

  “Thanks for that, Solara. More babysitting,” Garron grumbled.

  “Pfft, don’t pretend you don’t enjoy it,” she teased.

  “Well, it’s certainly more colourful conversation than when I used to talk to myself,” he said with a chuckle. “Leave them to me, Solara. I’ll get them back.”

  “Shit! Bob!” Caelan suddenly shouted, running for the south plaza gate. “I’m coming, buddy!”

  Elyria groaned, chasing after him. “Hey—wait for Solara, you idiot!”

  As everyone began to wander off, Solara stood alone in the plaza’s wreckage. She looked around the ruins, a small smile creeping across her face. “So this is us, then?” she murmured. “I can live with that.”

  From somewhere beyond the gate, Caelan’s voice echoed: “Ow! What the hell was that, Solara? Your weird little friend bit me again!”

  Elyria’s voice followed. “He started it!”

  Solara shook her head and began walking toward the noise, muttering to herself, “So much more colourful, you weird and wonderful idiots.”