Billid’s feet ached even though his horse was the one trotting along the muddy, sloped path of the mountain. An owl flew above them, hooting and stopping every few minutes when the road split into two paths.

  “How much longer?” Billid groaned. “Feels like we’re making no progress… I’m hungry.”

  “Leaving the cart was necessary, my young squire. The horses would struggle too much with the added weight. I put all of our food into the satchels of the saddles. You are the one with the bottomless stomach. We had food for a week, gone in a few hours.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. You’re a growing lad; you need the meat. Be sorry for complaining, squires don’t complain.”

  Bianca dismounted her horse after coming to a signpost with six possible directions. The post was rotting, filled with cockroaches and worms, a thick moss covering the names. She took a knife and tore off the green, only to find the words had faded with time. She tied her horse to the post and scouted each path with a quick glance; none stood out, but she could see the tips of cherry blossom trees at the end of one of the paths, the direction she knew that the Dragon Chasm was in. With a knife pointed in the direction, she gave a dry laugh and stared at the owl.

  “Did you make us travel all this way for us to kill Tumulus? You should know that dragon is too powerful to be fought in the Dragon Chasm. We need to lure it out, but it has no wings to fly. Billid, do you see anything that we’re missing? The Voiceless One must expect us to find something here.”

  Billid dismounted his horse and tied it to the same post. He let out a pained groan and a stomach rumble with each long step taken. He pulled out a map and tried to follow each path, but the paper was shredded to a paste by the storm.

  “I’m cold, Miss Bianca,” he said, shivering. “My arms are cold.”

  It would be warmed by the Dragon Chasm… we’d have shelter too, she thought. The Voiceless One isn’t showing favour towards the path of the blossoms.

  Bianca took off her black wool coat and gave it to her squire.

  “I can’t take that,” he said. “You’d be cold too.”

  “If it’ll stop you complaining, take it,” she insisted. “Put your hands together, make a hole in them, blow into them for heat. Tuck your shirt into your belt, keep your body heat.”

  Billid did as instructed, happy from the warmness. “I changed my mind, you’re the best knight one can squire for,” he said. “Thank you for teaching me.”

  “Now that you’re done complaining, search the bushes, search behind rocks. The Voiceless One wants us to find something before telling us where to go.”

  “Do I have to look?” Billid moaned. “I’ve been walking for so long.”

  “Your horse has been walking. Not you. Come on, you’ll get big muscles in your legs if you use them. Search everywhere.”

  “I don’t wanna use them. I’m tired.”

  “We’re almost there, I think. Think of the tale you’ll be able to tell Arrid when you next see him. You can tell him you ventured to the top of the Chasm of Death.”

  “We’re not at the top. It’s impossible to get the top. There’s no path to the summit of this mountain.”

  Bianca put her hands on her hips and stared down her squire. He sensed the tension and began to search.

  He searched behind the rocks, then behind the bushes. He even started searching under the stones, digging holes in random places with his hands.

  “Billid, what are you doing?”

  “Searching everywhere,” he moaned. “I’ve got lots of holes to dig. I could use a shovel.”

  “Are you jesting?”

  “Why would I be?”

  “Go get back on your horse. I’ll look.”

  She searched behind one of the rocks and came back before the squire had got on his horse. She held a sack in one hand, pointing at it with the other. She got his attention by calling his name like a disappointed mother.

  “What is this?” she asked. “Did you see this leather sack? Did you see it while you were searching?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you ignored it?”

  “You told me to search. I didn’t know what I was searching for.”

  She held the bridge of her noise, a headache forming. “Billid, I hate to even ask this—what did you think you were searching for?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Gods, Billid, you’re going to kill me one day.”

  “I’d never kill you,” he whimpered. “I could never. You’re nice to me.”

  “It’s a figure of speech.”

  Billid didn’t know what that meant either.

  She pointed at the owl. “And you, hooting piece of shit, you sat on that post and made me get my boots dirty when you knew where this sack was! What’s even in here, what is—oh, oh, you damned owl.”

  The owl, completely understanding Bianca’s frustration, twisted its head to look behind and avoid her judgement.

  “What’s in the sack?” Billid asked. “Is it bad?”

  She pulled a handful of grain and seed from it, reaching to the top of the post and offering it to the owl. It ate the seeds with happy hoots, then flew off into the direction of the cherry blossom trees on the path leading upward to the Dragon Chasm.

  “Greedy piece of shit,” she joked. “I supposed gods have mouths and stomachs for a reason. Hungry little twat-owl.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “You shouldn’t speak that way about the Voiceless One!”

  “The Voiceless One is my friend. I will treat him as one. If he wants to be a pain in my ass, I’ll say what I like to him.”

  “Do you think he’s killed many opponents?”

  “Nobody remembers the opponents you’ve killed. They only remember the person who took you down.”

  “What if you never lose?”

  “Everybody loses to the darkness of death eventually.” She gave him a stern look. “Billid, get off your horse.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “Do you see how far that walk is? Five minutes at most. There is only one path up and one path down to the cherry blossoms of the Dragon Chasm. Leave the horses tied to the post, come and walk.”

  He sighed in defeat and walked up the steep path. Soon, they heard voices chattering.

  “Seems there are more travellers up here,” Bianca said. “We shall ask them what they’ve seen and then be on our way. That must be what the Voiceless One has sent us up here for.”

  She caught a glimpse of a pink-skinned cambion and then hid behind a rock, hushing her squire and speaking in a whisper. She peeked over, seeing Death, the man she was searching for.

  “That’s the prisoner!” Billid whispered. “Black hair, red eyes! A cambion too! Who are the others?”

  “Must be the ones that slaughtered the camps.” Bianca carefully summoned Dragonhammer, careful to not make a sound. “Those people are dangerous, Billid. Fight any that come for you, do not seek out combat. I will make quick work of them.”

  She rested the handle on her shoulder and crept closer. Her targets had their backs turned to her.

  Godwin wants him back alive. I don’t know how to bring back this many prisoners, Bianca thought. I should take the prisoner and the cambion, kill the rest… or maybe they will surrender.

  Vera’s ears perked up, twitching. When Bianca saw the fox had noticed her, she threw her Dragonhammer. It hit the chest of Ser Shimmer, the long handle catching Snow and Vera. The three were thrown into the murky pond. Beion dove in after them.

  “Prisoner!” Bianca yelled. “Surrender yourself to me and I will let the others live!”

  Death picked up a log and hurled it at Bianca. She summoned her hammer back to her grip and smashed it before it reached her.

  He went for her neck with the godsteel dagger, inches from the flesh of her throat. Billid struck Death with a bolt of lightning. He rolled closer to the Dragon Chasm, groaning in annoyance.

  “Miss Bianca!” Billid yelled. “I hit my mark again!”

  “Damnit Billid, I told you not to seek out a fight!”

  “I didn’t seek it out!” he claimed. “I was training my aim!”

  Snow was the first to come out of the pond, drenched and upset. She summoned Firedick and threatened Billid with it. “I just put this shirt on,” she screamed. “I’ll cut off your balls, idiot!”

  “Miss Bianca!” Billid yelled. “That one has a sword!”

  “So do you! Use the damned thing. I’ll deal with the prisoner.” She tossed her hammer away and cracked her knuckles. “The little runaway wants to fight close, so be it.”

  She grabbed Death’s wrist as he came for her throat again, then jabbed him in the throat. He repeated her action, making her choke, then threw her into a boulder, splitting it in the middle with a crack.

  “You chased us all the way here?” Death snarled. “You pest. I’ll send you back to Vatanil in pieces.” He summoned Aleion’s chain and swung it. She rolled underneath it and threw one of her own daggers for his stomach. He slapped it away like a fly, receiving a deep cut on his palm from where he made impact.

  “I didn’t follow you.” Bianca got closer. “It’s fate that brought me here. Fate wills me to bring you back to the dungeons.” They exchanged blows, neither one landing a clean strike.

  Death grabbed her clenched fist as it came for his jaw. “I hate that word.” He headbutted her, stunning her. “Fate does not dictate the victor of a battle.” He headbutted her a second time. “And you will never put me back into that dungeon.”

  Billid and Snow’s fighting style was strangely equal. Both were watching their own footing, awkwardly lunging for each other when they thought they had an opening, but never committing to the swing or exchange.

  “Oh, I’m gonna kill you,” Snow hissed. “I’m gonna rip you to shreds.”

  “Miss Bianca says we bury our enemies! I promise if you die, I’ll bury you and honour you!” The young squire met her sword with courage and kicked Snow in the shin. “Oh my goodness, I didn’t mean to kick you so hard! Are you alright?”

  She kicked Billid in the shin as hard as she could, then stood on his toes. Billid fell to the mud, holding his leg.

  “Doesn’t feel nice, does it?” Snow yelled. “Now hold still, I’m gonna—”

  Billid raised his boot and slammed it between Snow’s legs. She too fell, clutching her privates with hoarse breaths.

  “I’m sorry!” Billid said again. “I wasn’t thinking! I would never strike a lady in… those places…”

  “Oy, shithead!” Vera emerged from the pond with her daggers in both hands. Behind her, Beion was struggling to keep Shimmer afloat in his armour. “You think you get to strike me with a hammer? Who the fuck do you think you are?”

  “That wasn’t me!” Billid yelled, pointing at Death and Bianca, who were still fist-fighting with now-bloodied knuckles. “That was Miss Bianca!”

  “Don’t care!” Vera yelled. “I’ll fuck you in the ass!”

  Scared of her threat, Billid struck her with a bolt of lightning and sent her back into the pond. The squire stood over Snow with his sword in hand, unsure of what to do next. An owl hooted above him, blinking with yellow eyes.

  He offered a hand to his enemy. “I didn’t mean to hit you so hard,” he said. “I’m just trying to train.”

  Snow accepted the hand, then punched him in the cock. She sat on his chest as he fell over, slapping him across his face.

  “Don’t you ever try to be my friend! I’m not your friend!” Snow said. “I hope I hit you so hard you’ll never have kids!”

  The battle between Bianca and Death leaned in the favour of the woman. She had him pinned at the edge of the Dragon Chasm. “I’ll throw you off unless you submit!” she screamed, fist raised. “I don’t want to have kill you. I’m supposed to bring you back alive.”

  She’s holding back her strength, Death thought. This warrior is stronger than me. I know when I am outmatched… I need to find more strength before I can fight Godwin Valan, it seems.

  “Yield!” Bianca ordered. “Don’t do die for nothing.”

  “You yield,” Snow yelled. “Turn around too fast and I’ll cut his throat!”

  Bianca raised her hands slowly. Snow had Billid at her mercy, her sword at his throat as she stood behind.

  “I’m sorry, Miss Bianca,” Billid said. “The owls told me not to kill her. I couldn’t.”

  “Harm my squire and you all die,” Bianca said. “Let him go. He is not a part of this.”

  “You made him a part of this!” said Snow. “Your little squire kicked me in perverted places!”

  Bianca quickly took a dagger and put it to Death’s throat. “Do it. Kill my squire. I don’t take orders from people like you.”

  Snow gave a worried look at Death, then made the decision. She adjusted herself, prepared to kill Billid.

  “Fine,” Snow whispered. “I’ll kill your squire, then I’ll kill you. My husband will just have to hold on until I can bring him your soul to drain.”

  “Stop this madness!” Shimmer yelled. “Are you fools? We are all allies under the—” He was shocked upon seeing Bianca, tilting his head curiously. He whispered a request to Snow, asking her to lower her sword.

  “I’m not doing that!” Snow squealed. “Not unless the bitch puts her knife down first!”

  Bianca was just as shocked. She tossed her knife into the Dragon Chasm. Snow was annoyed, but released Billid, who fell to his knees in a cough.

  Vera and Beion joined the rest. “Fuck you,” the fox said to the squire. “That shit you did with the lightning hurt.”

  “Sorry,” Billid moaned.

  “A truce?” Beion noticed. “What for?”

  “The Voiceless One brought me here,” Shimmer said. “Is that really you, Ser Bianca, or are my eyes deceiving me?