Chapter 16

  The fox-eared beastkin behind the lodge's front desk blinked at Dalex. She looked him up and down. One side of her mouth twisted in a partial smile. She wore the same hunter’s uniform as the others in the lodge, but she seemed to be acting as a receptionist. Dalex wondered if she went on hunts herself or just dressed in the organization’s colors. She looked like the warrior type, tall and stiff-backed, though she didn’t currently carry a weapon. Not even a knife.

  “My apologies, Lord…” she began, stopping to let him fill in his name.

  “Dalex,” Dalex said. “And forget the lord.”

  “Dah–”

  “Yes, Dalex. Day-lex.”

  “Very well. My apologies, ser, but are you seeking to make a donation to the Batulan-bar Lodge or are you pursuing a role in the field?”

  “Great question…”

  “Yesui, ser.”

  “Great question, Yesui. I want to get my hands dirty. I want to glut myself on mutt blood.” Dalex looked around the chamber. “Where do you keep your applications?”

  “Applications, ser?”

  Hitasa nudged Dalex in the back, surprising him with her willingness to make physical contact. He looked over his shoulder at her and whispered, “What are you doing?”

  Seeing her face finally reminded Dalex that paper was rare in this world. No one would have an “application.” As for what he was doing? What better way to get information about mutts and the people who hunted them than by joining their ranks?

  “Never mind,” Dalex said, turning back to Yesui. “How do I join?”

  She drummed her fingers on the bar and said, “We’re outside our typical recruiting period. The city generally keeps a schedule posted in the den. Are you not from Batulan-bar?”

  Dalex shook his head, “I’m from out of town.”

  “I’m afraid the next call for new recruits isn’t for two months. If you are still in the city then, we take a week to collect names and invite anyone who is potentially fit to join the cadet pool. You audition for our hunter drills, beginning with a mana evaluation. If you have an aptitude for mana and prove yourself physically and mentally capable, you’ll spend twenty weeks training with your peers under experienced mutt hunters and then be assigned to your first hunt.”

  Dalex bit his lip. “That sounds like quite an intensive process.”

  Behind him, Hitasa whispered, “I could have told you that.”

  Seventh spoke up as well to say, “Becoming a member of the organization is not necessary. We can simply–”

  Dalex put up a finger to stop her before she suggested some sci-fi tech solution that would allow them to learn all the hunters’ secrets and track the mutts without having to interact with the hunters at all. He had his standards.

  Probably sensing a potential customer on the hook, Yesui said, “If you just want to support the Lodge’s efforts to protect Gaia Eta and eradicate the mutts, we accept donations year-round.”

  “Oh, I don’t have any money.”

  That made Yesui chuckle and then pale a little when she realized he was serious. She stammered, “You don’t– How could you–?” And then suddenly her polite demeanor crumbled. “A human without money. Well, that makes this easy. The call for recruitment is in two months. You can come back for that if you think you have what it takes.”

  She gave him a withering look, probably expecting him to feel embarrassed or outraged, but Dalex mostly reveled in the feeling of being treated normally. An uppity out-of-towner coming into a place of work and business to make demands should be given the cold shoulder. It washed out some of the bad taste in Dalex’s mouth after the entire elven population of the city had bowed to him on the way here.

  But he wasn’t going to wait two months to take a test.

  Undeterred, Dalex asked, “What would be the best way to prove I was worthy of becoming a hunter right this moment? What about that mana evaluation you mentioned?”

  Her glare deepened. If a look could make a man burn to ash, hers would do the trick.

  “I already struggle to see how you would be worthy. But you humans tend to have larger mana pools.” She sighed and walked around the bar to meet him. “If you demonstrate a high capacity for mana and can prove your access to a useful lexicon of publicized spells, we might have some things you could do. You wouldn’t be an official hunter yet, but it would be a place to start. Follow me.”

  She led them up the staircase circling around the blue fire and into one of the rooms above the main hall. The room was small and plain, with a wooden pedestal in the middle surrounded by little cubbies and cabinets. Yesui dug through one of the cabinets until she found a blue orb about the size and heft of a bowling ball. She set it on the pedestal and gestured to Dalex.

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  “You’re lucky this part is easy. Just touch the testing stone. It will light up depending on your mana reserves. The brighter the stone the more mana you have.”

  Dalex grinned. He was about to learn how much magic his body contained. If a man like Castreier had magical power to spare, Dalex had to be overflowing with the stuff. A human summoned from another world? He bet the stone would crack.

  Dalex took a big step forward and laid his palm across the top of the stone. It felt cold and powerful.

  “It is not necessary to use your whole hand,” Yesui chastised him, but she didn’t tell him to remove it.

  A second passed. Nothing happened. Dalex looked up at the beastkin. “Is it working? I didn’t short it out, did I?”

  Yesui snorted. “It’s working, alright. Where do you get your confidence, human? I thought for sure it would light up a little after you asked to be tested.”

  “Nothing?” Dalex asked, squeezing the orb a little harder. “You’re sure it’s not broken?”

  Now Yesui’s look became threatening. “I think it’s time for you to go.”

  Dalex opened his mouth to protest but stopped himself. He had outstayed his welcome. Hanging his head, he walked out of the room. The others followed him. Yesui kept a close eye on him, maybe worried he would do something in retaliation.

  Dalex and his companions descended the staircase back to the hall, Yesui’s presence prodding them from behind.

  Hitasa whispered, “Why did we even come here?”

  “I don’t know anymore,” Dalex said.

  “I am unsure why you thought that would work,” Seventh added. “Then again, not all strategies are viable.”

  “Can’t you both see how devastated I am? I think a bit more compassion is in order. Does this mean I can’t use magic?”

  “That’s exactly what it means,” Hitasa said without a hint of the requested compassion.

  Just before they reached the bottom of the staircase, Dalex heard Yesui click her tongue loudly behind him.

  “I’m going, I’m going,” Dalex said.

  But Yesui ignored him. She quickened her pace and passed him, reaching the bottom step ahead of him and walking quickly towards the entrance. Dalex noticed a figure entering through the columns, headed for the bar that served as the lodge’s front desk. He looked human and wore an elaborate doublet almost like Castreier’s, though this one was purple.

  Yesui met him before he was halfway across the hall. She gave him a shallow but stiff bow. He was one of those humans.

  “Lord Michel,” Yesui said. “You honor us with your presence.”

  “I find that hard to believe,” the man said with irritation. “Sarnai promised she would send a hunting party to my estate this morning to do a survey, but no such party arrived. Should I assume this insult was intentional?”

  “No, Lord Michel. I simply believe there has been a misunderstanding. I spoke with Lodge Mother Sarnai yesterday, and she told me the hunting party was scheduled to visit your estate tomorrow morning.”

  The human smacked her across the side of the head. The blow flung Yesui several yards across the room. She hit the floor and slid to a slow stop on the polished stone. Her body quivered. The main hall, full of other hunters, went silent. All eyes turned to Michel, but no one moved. Here was the master among his subjects.

  “There has been no misunderstanding,” Michel said. “I specifically told her it had to be today. Where is she?” He scanned the room and his eyes passed over Dalex and his companions almost without seeing them. Suddenly, they flicked back to Hitasa and widened with surprise and indignation. “You! She-elf! You dare remain standing in my presence?”

  Hitasa paled and bowed her head. She went to her knees and touched her forehead to the floor.

  Michel’s gaze turned to Dalex. “What family are you from, boy? The humans of this city are expected to exert more control over their servants.”

  Before Dalex could respond, Yesui’s quaking voice came from the floor. “I humbly apologize, Lord Michel.” She slowly got her hands and knees and then managed to rise shakily to her feet. A bright mark glowed red on her right cheek. “I will arrange a hunting party for you. They will be at your estate within the hour.”

  “That is good,” Michel said. He strode toward Yesui, holding a grasping hand out. “But I do believe I need to speak with Sarnai, after all.”

  Yesui held her ground. “Lodge Mother Sarnai is not in today. She–”

  Michel reached out to grab her by the hair. His fingers stopped short, held back by Dalex’s iron grip. Fury passed through the human’s eyes. His mouth twisted into a wicked snarl.

  “Have you lost your mind, boy?”

  “I’m so glad you dropped by,” Dalex said. Then he called out, “Hitasa, you don’t need to bow to this pitiful creature.”

  Dalex looked in her direction and saw she had lifted her head to watch.

  “Let me go,” Michel said, his voice stern and threatening.

  Not losing eye contact with Hitasa, Dalex asked, “If an elf or a beastkin beat the shit out of a human, they’d be punished right?” Hitasa nodded, so he continued. “And if a human beat the shit out of another human? What then?”

  She shrugged, but managed to say, “It would depend on the human.”

  “You have to the count of three,” Michel thundered

  “I’ll take my chances.”

  With his free hand, Dalex open-palm smacked Michel across the side of the head. The gauntlet of his {adamantine} armor manifested to deliver the blow. The impact felt squishy, like something was in the way, but he still sent Michel flying headlong into the rock wall of the canyon. He bounced off the stone and hit the floor, leaving behind a human-sized indention in the wall.

  Michel sat up. He cracked his neck left and right. A fresh coat of rock dust covered his pretty clothes. He didn’t look injured.

  “That was a mistake, boy. What is this?”

  Dalex walked purposefully toward him. “It’s an audition, and an outlet for some recent frustration.”

  Michel got to his feet and cracked his knuckles next. “Stalwart means my body is iron.”

  “That sounds like a useful spell,” Dalex said. “Is it why I didn’t break your neck just now?” He stopped a few yards short of Michel and gestured toward the exit. “Want to take this outside? I’d rather not wreck these fine people’s establishment.”

  Michel lunged for him, screaming, “I’ll take you right here!”

  He slammed into Dalex’s lower body, wrapping both arms around his waist. Dalex didn’t budge. Michel heaved left and right, trying to move his opponent even an inch, failing spectacularly. Sweat beaded at his forehead. His grip slipped. He finally noticed the glowing blue armor that appeared wherever he made contact to Dalex’s body.

  “Whoo aaree youuu?” he groaned, the stress of exertion drawing out the question.

  “Dalex of the Expedition 7. And Dalex means you’re out of luck.”

  Dalex grabbed Michel’s arms and forced the man to rise so that they faced each other head on. When their eyes met, Dalex smashed his forehead into Michel’s nose. The headbutt knocked the snooty human back. Blood poured out of both his nostrils. Michel tried to staunch the flow with his hands, but it slipped through his fingers.

  “Guess your defense isn’t as tough as you thought.” Dalex grabbed the man around the waist and threw him over one shoulder. “Let’s take this outside, after all.”

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