Chapter 30

  As Dalex approached Batulan-bar, he noticed someone else floating over the city, patiently waiting for him. He changed his trajectory to rendezvous with the figure and soon he and Seventh were hovering together. She held Hitasa’s ream of paper on one arm.

  Before Dalex could speak, she said, “I reviewed the [satellite] footage of Castreier’s disappearance and dispatched several [probes] to investigate. There is currently a forty percent chance that I will be able to track his location.”

  “That’s good. Do you think he’s at least injured?”

  “I cannot say for certain. The defensive magic of this civilization is difficult to analyze. However, his retreat suggests that he no longer felt capable of fighting you, and that he considered his goals unachievable at that moment.”

  “What happened to you?” Dalex asked. “I could have used your help a few times in that scrap.”

  She was quiet for several seconds. “I provided targeting for the [matter transmitter] and the [orbital torch].”

  “True, that was helpful, but you said you could do everything I could. If the two of us fought together, I don’t think Arnaut would have caused me nearly as much trouble.”

  This time, she didn’t speak at all, and Dalex was left to interpret her silence. Truly, she didn’t owe him any kind of explanation, but not for nothing was he going to let her off the hook.

  “To some extent, I understand what happened at the mutt den,” Dalex said. He looked away from her, down toward the city. “I told you to wait outside, and there was a real chance more mutts might have come your way. And I believe you would have come down to help me if I didn’t get myself out of that mess. As for Hitasa and the hunters, they aren’t part of your mission, so you left them alone.”

  He locked eyes with her again and said, “But I took more damage in this fight and didn’t see a sliver of you until I asked for it. I would think a threat to me is a threat to your mission. Why didn’t you do anything?”

  She didn’t owe him assistance on the battlefield, but he still wanted to know exactly where she reached her limits.

  After another long moment of silence, she answered, “I would rather not say.”

  Dalex opened his mouth, “I–” He paused. “You don’t–” He closed his mouth and looked at her. That hadn’t at all been what he was expecting.

  “I apologize,” she added.

  “You’re not just bluffing, right? Is it possible you don’t actually have the same capabilities I do? Are you not even wearing the same armor?”

  “I am wearing armor.”

  She offered nothing else.

  A thought occurred to him. Dalex didn’t fully see her as an [android]. Aside from her mannerisms, she was too human, and sometimes even those [android] speech patterns fell away to reveal something more than just a simple robot. But still, she was an [android], an artificial being created by Dalex’s Benefactors.

  As little as Dalex knew about science fiction, he knew robots usually came with certain rules about what they could and could not do, especially when it came to human life. So far, any time she had engaged in combat with a living being, it had solely been as a way to facilitate Dalex’s needs. She may have pulled the trigger in some of those instances, but it had been on Dalex’s orders and with his instructions. While in space, all of the combat she had engaged in directly had been with unmanned voidfaring vessels.

  “Are you not allowed to harm living things?”

  Her face blanched. More than ever, it was hard to believe she was an [android]. “I do not want to talk about it.”

  Dalex took that as a yes. “Okay, okay. I just have one more question. I think it’s important enough that I have to ask: Does that apply to mutts too?”

  She looked away from him. The side of her cheek he could still see turned slightly pale red. “Mutts are likely artificially constructed and largely unintelligent. They do not pose a problem.”

  “Okay, that’s good to know.” Dalex waved her to follow him. “Come on, let’s go find Hitasa.”

  “However!” Seventh said, stopping him short.

  He paused midair, looking back at her. “Yes?”

  “I cannot manipulate [combat gel].”

  She didn’t say any more, and Dalex took that to mean she was done. “Thank you for telling me.”

  He would have to find out on his own what that limitation on {astral mortar} meant. Maybe she couldn’t form any weapons. She might have the same enhanced strength and almost certainly the same durability as him. At least he knew she could help him cast spells.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “I’ll keep all this in mind. Let’s go,” Dalex said. “We need to tell Hitasa she can stop running.”

  ***

  They found Hitasa at the western edge of the city. Dalex did a quick aerial sweep of the area to see if he could spot the observer Castreier had set on her. He didn’t see anything, but he made sure his {wards} were active before he descended to join Hitasa on the ground. Seventh remained airborne to keep watch. Even if she couldn’t hurt anyone, at least she could warn Dalex if she saw a threat coming.

  Hitasa was resting under a footbridge that passed over a dry ditch. She was out of breath and softly panting with her eyes closed. Dalex gently set down next to her, quiet enough that she didn’t appear to notice him. He heard her mumbling something like a recitation under her breath. The {charm of protection} was still floating by her side, invisible again. Dalex only knew it was there because his armor’s system told him it was.

  “Hi,” he said, “you okay?”

  His voice made her jump, and she hit her head on the bridge above her. She let out a sharp hiss of pain.

  Dalex cringed. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “On what leaf did you flutter here, human?” Hitasa said, rubbing the top of her head.

  “What?”

  She waved a hand at him. “Never mind. What are you doing here? What do you want? Castreier is in the city. He’s looking for you.”

  “He already found me,” Dalex said. “Don’t worry, he’s gone. There might be some stragglers from his team still lingering in the city, but they’ll probably clear out once they realize what happened.”

  Hitasa let her hand fall to her side. “Castreier is gone?”

  Dalex grimaced. “Not in the sense you’re hoping for. He retreated for now, but he’s still alive. With any luck, I dealt him some grievous injuries. Maybe he’ll bleed out before we see him again, but I wouldn’t count on it. Either way, it’s safe to go back to the inn.”

  “The inn has a hole in it,” Hitasa said.

  Dalex looked at her sideways. “What does that mean?”

  Instead of answering, she added, “And I don’t think the owners and staff will be back there tonight.”

  “Is that where Castreier found you?”

  “And they probably wouldn’t want us staying there again, anyway.”

  “Are you feeling alright, Hitasa?”

  She slumped onto her back, staring up at the bottom of the bridge. “I am tired. Twice today, I thought I was dead.”

  “It’s been a long twenty-four hours.”

  Hitasa pointed up. “There is a thing following me, a spinning ring that shoots invisible arrows.”

  Dalex nodded. “The {charm of protection}.”

  She turned her head to look at him. “You know about it?”

  “I put it there. I didn’t want to freak you out.”

  “Freak me out?”

  “Make you worry.”

  She closed her eyes and sighed. “Yes, I would have been upset.”

  “And are you now?”

  “I just want to go to sleep.”

  Dalex looked around at the ditch. “This isn’t the best place for it. Why don’t we head over to the Hunters’ Lodge and look up Dava. I think we can convince him to find us a couple of beds.”

  Hitasa didn’t answer. She breathed deeply in and out, fast asleep. Dalex scooped her up into his arms and flew over the city toward the lodge, keeping low and slow to avoid strong winds and the chill of altitude.

  The Batulan-bar he passed over was alert and confused. Both beastkin and elven residents were out in the streets in their night clothes, looking at the sky and holding conversations about what might have happened. They had likely seen the fireballs and lightning. They had certainly heard the thunder from a cloudless night, and might have even heard the commotion of collapsing buildings and fighting soldiers.

  A few restless souls managed to spot Dalex flying over them. They called out to their friends and family, pointing at Dalex and his sleeping burden. He wondered how many people knew Castreier had been in the city with such a large force. Would he have known it himself if he had bothered to ask anyone about news from Batulan-bar in the last two days?

  Dalex spotted the hunters’ lodge from the air and set down at the top of its steps. The main hall was mostly empty. A few hunters gathered around the reception bar, among them Yesui, and, to Dalex’s delight, Dava himself.

  Setting Hitasa down on one of the couches in the corner of the hall, Dalex approached the hunters.

  “Wecome, Dalex,” Dava said. He looked a little worse for wear, but he was alive and standing on his own two feet. “Is everything alright? Has Hitasa been injured?”

  “She is fine, just exhausted.”

  Yesui wasn’t nearly as happy to see him. “You should not be here. The Wolf Brigade is in the city looking for you and the she-elf. They came through yesterday and demanded to know who came in contact with you and where you had gone.” Her glower deepened. “You caused the lodge a lot of trouble.”

  “Well, if it’s any consolation, I cleaned up my own mess. Castreier shouldn’t be a problem again.”

  Yesui’s eyes narrowed, bending the scar around her eye and an angry angle. “What did you do?”

  “Broke his nose. Figuratively.”

  Now the fox-eared damekin pinched the bridge of her nose. “And why, may I ask, did you come back here after you did that?”

  “I need a place to stay. It sounds like the inn I was using has… well, it’s probably not an option anymore.”

  “I believe the answer to your problem is to go away. Leave the city. If an inn won’t take you after what you–”

  Dava put a hand on Yesui’s shoulder, and she stopped. “Allow me to take it from here, Yesui.” He turned to Dalex and said, “I have space at my home. You can stay with me. All three of you.”

  “It’ll probably just be two, but are you sure?” Dalex asked.

  At the exact same time, Yesui said, “Have you lost your instincts?”

  She put a hand out toward Dalex, gesturing for him to shut up, and stood in front of Dava. “A man like Jean Castreier isn’t going to turn tail and run just because some kid knocked him on his ass.”

  “I did a bit more than–”

  “Be silent,” Yesui interrupted him, “the adults are talking.”

  Dalex shrugged and stood back, leaving them to sort it out on their own.

  “I’m well aware of the situation, Yesui,” Dava said.

  Yesui shook her head. “You weren’t here yesterday when he swept through. He brought a hundred of the Wolf Brigade with him, and he was dead set on turning this town over until he found the kid. If he’s still alive, he’ll be back. If he’s dead, the dragons are going to rain fire on Batulan-bar until the river dries up.” She adopted a mocking tone. “Dalex of the Expedition Seven is an existential threat to this city.”

  Dava smiled and rested a hand on her shoulder. “You might be right, but I think there’s a chance he’s the greatest boon to ever befall Gaia Eta for the last thousand years.”

  Before Yesui could protest any further, he added, “I will take him in. Your name and the reputation of the lodge won’t be involved at all. Tell the matron or don’t; it doesn’t matter. I think she’ll see soon enough what I’m talking about. You will too.”

  He turned away from his fellow hunter and limped toward Dalex. “Come on, friend. I’ll put you up tonight and see about something more permanent for tomorrow. In the meantime, I think we have a lot to talk about.”

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