To keep things easy, they used the traditional orcish salute—No wrath. Only Patience. First Ground Wins!

  Gray’s voice was swallowed up in the vast coliseum as he proctored the first fight between Rynn and Midj.

  Their fight was interesting to say the least. The amount of mana the goblin girl used to fuel her movement was astonishing, but she also had some kind of shield ability. She could set down a wall in front of her, which she used when the elf girl got too close. To Gray, it looked like a giant open hand, about her size, with all the fingers cmped together. Rynn finally won by evading the shield and sweeping the goblin girl’s legs out from under her.

  Midj slowly pulled herself up, her face far thinner than it had been before. She never lost her smile, though.

  Gray sparred with Ames, and while he knew he shouldn’t go easy on her, he couldn’t help but pull some blows, afraid he’d hurt her. She fought well, if a little tentatively. Gray purposefully left himself open several times, but she didn’t take the bait. Her movements, though, were elegant and she fought tirelessly. A few times, she used her mana to steady herself or thicken her skin, but for the most part, she only relied on her natural muscles.

  Gray finally got inside her defenses and forced her backward, tripping her on his leg. She went down, dropping her sword. She raced to find it and immediately sprang to her feet.

  She had a look of worry on her face. “I’m sorry. I should’ve done better. I’ll do better. I will not die for the night is long, so long, and the day should shine upon our faces forever.”

  “You did fine,” Gray lied. “But we need you to be more aggressive. I know you’re a healer, but you also have to be warrior.” He turned to Rynn. “Did you see the times she didn’t attack me when she could’ve?

  The elf girl nodded, looking a bit concerned.

  If Captain Sevanya could get permission to run a squad with only five members, each of those members had to be at their best.

  Gray gnced over at the sleeping cat girl. “I’ll let one of you wake her.”

  Ames looked helplessly at Midj, who wasn’t eating for once. She went over and shook Tomi. “Wake up, kitty. Time to fight.”

  Tomi swiveled off the bench and walked, eyes half-closed, onto the sands. “Okay. Let’s get this over with.”

  Rynn brought her a sword.

  The cat girl held it like it was covered in sewage. “What are the rules?”

  Gray found himself annoyed. “If you’d been awake, you’d know.”

  The cat girl frowned as her green eyes turned mean. “If I’d been awake I’d be grumpier, and you don’t want to fight me when I’m grumpy.”

  “You’re not grumpy now?”

  “No.” Tomi sighed. “What are the rules? I hate this fighting stuff.”

  Gray had to smile. “You’re literally standing in a coliseum designed for fighting.”

  The cat girl made a face. “Don’t remind me.”

  Rynn walked onto the sands, her bde already filled with mana. “First one to knock the other to the ground wins.”

  “Oh.” the cat girl when undid her uniform coat and flung it away. She also dropped her pants and kicked off her sandals. She stood there in her small clothes, breasts held down by a simple band of flexible fabric.

  Rynn didn’t think that was that odd, but Gray had no idea what was going on. Why was the cat girl stripping?

  Then she changed, hair covered her as her face elongated into a true cat’s face. She grew several inches taller and wider as her muscles thickened. The transformation emptied a lot of her core but the result was striking. She was now a feline hulk, taller than Rynn, and swollen with strength.

  “Okay.” The cat girl faced Rynn and swept her sword through the air.

  Gray started the match. “No wrath. Only patience. First ground wins. Fight!”

  Rynn danced backward but Tomi dropped her sword and charged forward, moving in a blur. It wasn’t long before Rynn’s sword was knocked from her grasp, and she was on the ground—on her back—with the cat girl standing over her.

  Tomi then lost the fur, the face, and the bulk. She stretched, picked up her clothes, and walked back to the bench. She rolled her clothes into a pillow and then id down. She was back asleep in seconds.

  Rynn sat in the sand, a dizzy smile on her face.

  Midj spped at the pockets of her uniform. “Darn. I thought I’d brought more bread. I think it’s lunchtime. What do you say, Gray?”

  “Not yet. Let’s work with Ames more. We need our healer to be as lethal as possible.”

  Ames nodded. “Because death dogs life at every step. Death, a dark shadow, the darkest shadow, rippling like water, in silence and starlight.”

  Rynn couldn’t hide the smile on her face.

  “Something like that,” Gray said, remembering what the strange dark elf had said of the shack. There was something about her that was off-putting, but at the same time, that mystical nature made him feel better somehow about his squad. Ames was a mystery, but hopefully she’d turn out as powerful as Tomi. The cat girl could sleep as much as she wanted as long as she could show up and fight as savagely as she had with Rynn.

  They worked more with Ames, ate lunch, and then spent the rest of the day either in mediation or training. In the heat of the afternoon, the training fields were once again empty, but Gray pushed himself and his squad. He thought they could’ve gone back to the coliseum, but he didn’t want to press his luck with Mama Cinders. What he’d seen, though, had to mean something—those hoops, the building materials, the barrels of water.

  Gray kept expecting Settie to return but she never did.

  That night, they went out to Gorgonzo’s counter. Their new squad mates didn’t have any money, but Rynn insisted on paying. The five of them took up the end of the counter. Gorgonzo was thrilled to see that they had a goblin with them, and he insisted that they all get the baked zaba zaba, which included a hollow noddle, homemade of course, with a spicy sausage topped with melted cheese cooked to a crust on the edges. Gorgonzo offered a discount, buy four meals and get the fifth free along with a free appetizer—leaf and cheese tomatoes along with freshly baked bread and plenty of olive oil and bck vinegar for dipping. Everyone had their meal manafied except for Gray.

  The old goblin couldn’t stop grinning. ““Where you from, girlie?”

  “The Backbones,” Midj answered. “Southern Backbones, of course, because you get to far north and the magic fades to nothing. I’m from Cracker Rock. Heard of it?”

  “Have I heard of it? I have a cousin in Cracker Rock. Do you know Hootak Buzzwuggin?”

  Midj ughed and ran a hunk of bread through the olive oil, making sure to get it thoroughly soaked. “Hooter? He runs that kabob stand on the docks. Everyone knows Hooter. I have to say, the quality of his meat has gone downhill, but I defend him. People say he’s serving dog, but I know that’s not true.”

  Gorgozo only ughed. “Probably not true. I warned him that saving a few shekels would cost him in the end. It’s the dwarf in him. That comes from the other side of his family and not mine. Gluttony over greed.”

  Midj ughed at that. “That’s right! I want that on my gravestone. This bread is going to pack fifty pounds on me. Keep it coming.”

  “Good. You’re too thin as it is, girlie. Don’t let them First Field folks work you too hard.” Gorgonzo moved off to take care of other customers. His pce was packed, and they were turning people away, but that happened every night.

  Pinch was one of them.

  With Culling Day just three days away, the marketpce was wilder than ever. It wasn’t just recruits there, but families as well, along with spectators and gamblers. Gray had heard Freek saying that in the Dice Market—especially at the Chaos House—millions of shekels were won and lost each year during the Testing. It wasn’t just the dwarves who bet, since they were more apt to have Greed resonances, all the Watchfire families went to Pit City for the festivities. He noticed the duke had hired extra security, and there were dozens of cambion orcs in uniforms walking around armed with clubs. Gray would’ve thought twice about doing his cup game with the extra police around. He didn’t think they would stop him, but he’d have to bribe them, which would’ve cut into his profits.

  Midj ate half the bread and then stopped. “Have to save room for the leaf and cheese tomatoes, though the zuba zuba I’m really excited about. I love Astrian food, and it’s no mystery why us goblins like it so much.”

  “Why is that?” Gray asked.

  Midj was eyeing the bread, clearly wanting more. “It’s why we’re in the Backbone Isnds. We were the cooks for the Astrian empire, and all this Astrian food came from us. That was back when Astria was just Astria and not the Crumblends. But then bad stuff happened—don’t ask me what it was ‘cause I don’t care about history—and we took off down to the Backbones, where we settled. It was a good pce for a time, but then, the trade moved off to the east, where the Mal’Mireth Peninsu. That’s where we picked up Ames, in Ossareth. That’s in Marrow Bay, known for pirates. Ha, I would’ve liked to see dark elf pirates come after us with the captain around. Any idea where the captain went?”

  Tomi ughed. “Probably out trying to find us more women for the squad. Maybe she’s leaving a trail of wine and cheese that would lead to the barracks. It’s the pinnacle of comfort.”

  Rynn looked at the cat girl as if trying to figure out if she was being sarcastic or not. Then the elf girl frowned. “The Backbones are isnds that stretch from the Null Breaks down to the Belly, well, actually, down to the Mal’Mireth Peninsu—"

  Ames suddenly cut her off. “Drawn south, the beautiful folk, torn between envy and kindness, drawn by the magic to heal or hurt. The divine angels found the beauty there, but others, who were not perfect were driven south. Some say it was envy that murdered kindness to birth the beautiful folk, who would never be satisfied with anything. But maybe it was kindness that murdered envy or else envy would destroy the world because nothing would ever be as good as it wanted. Envy drove the beautiful folk south and south and south, where both our skin and our souls darkened and new allies were found, in the travel, in the pain, in the stab of jealousy.”

  Midj held out a hand. “Hey, Ames, what did I tell you about keeping that crazy stuff to yourself? That’s going to cost you some bread.”

  Ames only smiled. “It was worth it.”

  Gray was surprised to hear the dark elf make a joke. “So the Mal’Mireth Peninsu is where the dark elves are from?”

  Ames smile turned mischievous. “Didn’t I say that some of the beautiful folk were driven south and south and south?”

  Rynn looked troubled, but she kept her thoughts to herself.

  Gray had any number of questions about the Blood Races, but he wanted to hear more about the women and their journeys.

  “It sounds like Midj and Ames were picked up st. What about you, Tomi?”

  The cat girl gnced at Rynn and then shrugged. “I wasn’t first. I’m pretty sure that Blythe was first, and then Sindara. Then it was me. We spent two thousand years in Cradleport before leaving for the Backbones. The rest you know.”

  Gray was curious about why Tomi didn’t want to tell them where she’d come from. He was pretty sure that Rynn might know something. He’d have to ask her after dinner. They were going to walk the new girls back to First Field and then return through the captain’s wards to Ruin Manor.

  Before that, though, Gray knew that he needed to connect to each of their squad mate’s cores. Settie would be very upset if that didn’t happen, but Gray didn’t know where to start.