Brune looked over his shoulder.

  Phia had screwed her face up into an exaggerated scowl. “Humph!” She said again.

  “That doesn’t even sound like me,” Brune said. “I’ve never said ‘humph’ in my entire life, for one thing.”

  Phia and Lilly laughed hysterically, as if they’d just played the most brilliant joke on Brune.

  He chuckled and turned back to the horses.

  They’re idiots, but they’re cute idiots. I haven’t been around anyone so playful in… forever.

  Phia’s feet rapidly swished in the grass behind him. She crashed into Brune and hugged him. Reluctantly looking down, he saw her big blue eyes smiling up at him adoringly. Her ears pointed straight up and forward.

  Brune looked away.

  That face... is enough to make an orc cry.

  “Phia… You know you’re not staying with me, right? We’ll get you back to the sisters if we can.”

  “I know,” she chirped, and hugged him tighter.

  “You... You can’t stay with us. I told you before; we’re no good for you.”

  “I know, I know.” She laughed girlishly and rubbed her cheek against him, making rapid sniffing noises.

  Brune raised an eyebrow. “Are you... smelling me?”

  The sniffing abruptly stopped. She mumbled something into his stomach.

  “What?”

  “I said I like your smell!” she yelled and ran to the horses.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  THEY TRAVELED IN the shade of aspens for most of the day, skirting the base of forested hills. The flying orb was in the back of Brune’s mind the whole time. Whenever he looked through the leafy branches at patches of blue sky, he half expected to see it.

  When the late afternoon sun cast long shadows over the terrain, they came upon a meadow. A chilly breeze stirred the dry yellow grass and the hum of crickets filled the air. They made a campfire beside a large boulder.

  Phia watched Brune tend to the fire while Lilly wandered around, picking a purple-flowered herb.

  “I can’t believe we’re going to see my uncle tomorrow,” Phia said.

  “If he really is your uncle,” Brune said.

  “You don’t think he is?”

  “I don’t know… I’m suspicious. I want to talk to him.”

  Endellion sipped her tea and listened with a stony face. “I’ve actually looked into it already.”

  Brune looked at her blankly. “What?”

  “Yeah. Remember when I stopped at the messengers’ office in Farsh?”

  “When you sent the note to your mother,” Phia said.

  “Yeah. I didn’t send a note to my mother. I sent one to a detective friend.”

  Brune looked at Endellion in disgust. “Do you always lie to your fellow party members?”

  “I’m telling you now.”

  “And?”

  “And what?”

  “What exactly did you tell this detective?”

  “I just asked him to look into Rowkis Fragan. See what he could find. He has a lot of connections.”

  Phia stared at the elf with her big doe eyes. “Endellion, you mean… you were thinking about rescuing me too?”

  Endellion gave her a strange look and then stared at the fire.

  Lilly skipped up and plunked down bunches of the purple flowers. “There. Isobello Herb. Now we have plenty of ingredients, Phia. We can make some potions. Do you think we have time, Lord Brune?”

  “Absolutely. Go for it, Lilly.”

  “Thank you. Endellion, may I use your pot?”

  “Of course.”

  The fairy and the cat girl put a blanket down and laid out all the herbs and flowers they’d collected. The work quickly put them into a chatty mood.

  “Maybe you should send your mother a letter, anyway, Endellion,” Phia said. “She probably misses you. I’d like to send a letter to Sister Cassia, tell her about all my adventures.”

  “My mother doesn’t miss me.”

  “She doesn’t?”

  “No, she’s dead. Butchered in front of me when I was a girl, along with my father.”

  The dark elf stared at the crackling fire, her eyes wide and weary.

  “Oh, Endellion… I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” Endellion said scornfully. “It was a long time ago.”

  Forgetting the potion-making, Phia absentmindedly pinched her fingers. “W-was it in the Orc Wars?”

  “No. That was before my time. It wasn’t orcs or men. It was the Evolrik family. They hated the Grimholds because we always came out on top—in business, breeding, politics, warfare. By getting my parents out of the way, the Evolriks could be supreme.”

  Brune grunted and shook his head. “You dark elves are a vicious lot.”

  “You should talk,” Endellion said. “You’re part dark elf yourself.”

  Brune nodded. “That I am.”

  Phia and Lilly eyed Brune. He already regretted the turn the conversation was taking.

  “So… you’re a dark elf?” Phia said.

  Brune shifted uncomfortably, and Endellion laughed. “He hates this topic.”

  “I’m partly dark elf.”

  “Oh. What’s the other part?”

  “The other part… is Northern Human.”

  Endellion smirked. “Kind of big for a human-elf, aren’t you? Not to mention those cute little tusks. Where did those come from, Mr. Elf-Man?”

  The crease in Brune’s brow deepened.

  “So what is he then?” Phia whispered, leaning towards Endellion. She’d completely forgotten about the potion-making.

  Endellion shrugged. “He won’t tell me, but I’m guessing orc.”

  Brune laughed bitterly. “Orc wouldn’t even be that bad. Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

  “Oh, come on!” Phia whined. “You have to tell us now! It’s not fair!”

  Brune stared at the ground, looking miserable. “Well, I don’t normally talk about it, but… my grandfather was an ogre. There. I said it.”

  “I… don’t think it’s a big deal,” Phia said. “I don’t believe all ogres are bad. What about your grandpa? I’m sure he was nice.”

  “He would have eaten you. Or maybe fucked you first, and then eaten you.”

  “Oh. Well… you haven’t eaten me yet.”

  Brune smirked. “I haven’t fucked you yet.”

  Phia giggled.

  Keen to change the subject, Brune jabbed his thumb towards Endellion. “Ask her about all the fancy gear and spells she has.”

  Phia looked at the elf. “I wanted to ask about that, actually.”

  Endellion sipped her tea. “Well, my father was boyhood friends with an elf named Astrophel. He became a powerful sorcerer. When I started adventuring, he was able to give me high-level equipment and spells that I could actually use, that’s all.”

  “Oh… kind of feels like cheating,” Phia said, and immediately blushed.

  Endellion shrugged. “An advantage was available to me, so I took it.”

  “I think it brings disadvantages too, though,” Brune said. “You’re not picking up skills and developing yourself the way you would if you’d started from nothing.”

  “Okay, ogre boy.” Endellion grinned.

  To Brune’s chagrin, the conversation snapped right back to his ancestry.

  “So was it your mother’s father or your father’s father?” Lilly said.

  “Father’s father.”

  “Oh. What was your father like?”

  “I didn’t know him well, unfortunately. My mother took me and ran away from him when I was little.”

  A flood of questions poured forth. Who was his grandmother? Where did they meet? How was it even possible?

  To escape the interrogation, Brune went to fetch some dinner and cooking supplies. As he approached the trees where the horses were picketed, the animals flicked their tails and stamped their feet.

  “What’s wrong, lads? Nervous?”

  He patted his horse on the neck and opened the saddlebag. But the surrounding air suddenly became icy. Something was lurking behind him.

  Shooting a glance over his shoulder, he saw it. The sphere. Glistening like polished armor, floating ten feet away.

  Brune let out a battle cry and lunged at the orb with his club, but it vanished.

  He scanned the trees. “Show yourself, Dhar Jattab!”

  Lilly and Phia screamed.

  Rushing back towards the campfire, Brune saw a swarm of flaming bees surrounding the two girls. The fairy was brandishing a pot.

  Dhar Jattab’s young apprentice walked through the grass wearing a black turtleneck and cloak. Behind him, Veshima’s Bees poured through a portal in the air.

  Endellion strode towards him.

  “Your spells are weak, boy.”

  She raised her wand, summoning a wind that swirled through the meadow and carried away the bees.

  Turning his back on Endellion, Brune went to the other side of Phia and Lilly.

  “Come out Skull Face! Or do you send a boy do a man’s work?”

  The field behind him lit up with fire. Brune turned to see flames burning in the grass.

  “Surrender the girl!” the apprentice said.

  Endellion laughed. “You’re a virgin, aren’t you?”

  “What?” the boy stammered, apparently taken aback by the question. “Fire darts!”

  He flung several darts of flame at Endellion. But in the same instant, the elf deflected his attack with a tremendous blast of wind that sent him tumbling into a boulder.

  He staggered to his feet. “Bitch!”

  Endellion raised her eyebrows.

  He tapped the boulder with his staff. “Grundalin, come forth!”

  A portal opened up in the boulder, and a troll-like creature with gangly arms, sagging breasts, and wild hair crawled through. Standing to its full height, it towered over the young sorcerer and Endellion.

  “Holy fuck,” Brune muttered.

  “Kill her!” the boy yelled.

  Endellion raised her wand, but Grundalin moved faster than the blink of an eye, landing ugly blows on the elf. Then, wrapping one hand around Endellion’s legs and grabbing the top of her body with the other, it picked her up.

  The monster bent Endellion’s body like it was snapping a twig. Then it lifted her above its head and threw her to the ground.

  Phia and Lilly ran to Endellion as Brune faced Grundalin.

  The female monster swung her long arms in a rapid blur. But Brune matched its speed, ducking and dodging with shocking dexterity. He landed a sledgehammer-like punch on Grundalin’s stomach and then an uppercut to her chin.

  She stumbled backward.

  The apprentice watched with clenched fists. “Grundalin! Destroy him!”

  But before Grundalin found her footing, Brune yelled, “Arrow of Death!”

  The air around Brune turned black, and Grundalin’s movements slowed as if time had almost stopped.

  Brune raised his palms.

  Black flames exploded in front of him and an arrow-shaped projectile blasted through Grundalin’s chest, leaving a gaping hole.

  Grundalin dropped to her knees, gushing blood onto the grass as she disintegrated into the air.

  The apprentice pulled his hair. “I can’t believe… How could you...”

  Brune looked at him wryly. It wasn’t like he hadn’t used up a huge chunk of mana.

  “Don’t feel bad, kid. That’s a killer trump card.”

  Sweat ran down the boy’s face as he trembled and looked around the meadow.

  “Looking for your master?” Brune said.

  As if in response, a shadow fell over the field and a stale breeze stirred the grass. Black mist blew over their heads and blotted out the sky.

  “You’ve done well, Cenric,” Dhar Jattab’s voice buzzed in the air.

  Dhar Jattab had appeared on the other side of the campfire, where Brune had originally expected him.

  “You’ve been running from me for two days, but you call me the coward,” he said. “You kidnapped the girl you were meant to help, broke the law, and disgraced the guild. Now you’re a fugitive—”

  Brune pointed his fist. “Chaos Wave!”

  A pulse of flame blasted over the sorcerer, but he remained perfectly still—except for his eyeballs, which rolled around to observe the flames.

  When the blast subsided, Dhar Jattab was completely unscathed.

  He snorted. “I’ll give you one chance, Mr. Hargish. Hand over the girl.”

  The sorcerer seemed to grow taller. Black mist swirled around him. His eyes glared at Phia.

  “Come to me, girl. I’m returning you to your husband.”

  Phia gripped Endellion’s bow. “No!”

  The sorcerer raised a long black staff at Brune. A beam of sickening yellow light blasted into Brune, sending him stumbling to the ground.

  Phia screamed.

  Dhar Jattab’s withered lips moved as he muttered a spell. Bluish light began pulsing down the beam from Brune to the sorcerer.

  “Ah…. fuck!” Brune held his head as if a vice was crushing his skull.

  Endellion writhed on the ground and tried to talk, but only hacked and clutched her ribs. She finally rasped: “It’s a mana drain. Not good.”

  Lilly, sitting beside Endellion, beat the ground. “If only I had my magic!”

  Phia pulled an arrow from the quiver as doubts assailed her—What if I miss? What if the arrow doesn’t hurt him? What if it just makes him angry and he hurts Brune even more?

  Ignoring those fears, she nocked the arrow, aimed for the sorcerer’s face, and let it fly.

  “Owwwwwwwwww!”

  Dhar Jattab roared like a dad who stubbed his toe. His spell abruptly stopped, and a stream of watery black blood drizzled over his albino-white face.

  “Who did that?” His unblinking eyes rolled around in search of his attacker. They rested on Phia.

  The cat girl stared with her mouth open, amazed at what she’d done.

  “You?”

  Endellion coughed. “Good job, Phia. He’s been using a magic protection spell. Ow! Fuck, Where are my potions?”

  “I have them here,” Lilly said. “I already gave you a healing—”

  “Give me the red ones. I don’t care about the green.” She snatched one of the small vials of red liquid and drank the whole thing.

  Dhar Jattab wiped the blood from his face. The skin of his brow twisted into a frown. Staring at the girls as though his eyeballs would pop out, he swept his staff in their direction.

  Lilly threw up her hands in a reflexive motion, as if she were throwing up a magic shield. But the magic attack knocked into her like a battering ram. She let out a pitiful sob as it catapulted her into an enormous tree trunk.

  Endellion, already lying on the ground, ducked her head and escaped the blast. Phia stood completely unscathed, as if nothing had happened.

  She ran to Lilly and threw herself over the fairy, wailing. “Lilly! It was my fault! This is all my fault.”

  Lilly coughed and opened her eyes, wheezing to get her breath.

  Phia’s face contorted with anguish. “Lilly, please be okay…”

  She bent down and smooshed her cheek into Lilly’s cheek, wiping tears all over the fairy’s face. “I know we just met a few days ago, but I feel like I’ve known you forever. Please don’t die on me. I’m sorry I was jealous you were flirting with Brune. You can flirt with him. I won’t be jealous anymore—I promise. We can share him. Please Lilly... ”

  The fairy raised her hand and patted the back of Phia’s head. “I’m okay, Phia,” she said through her pain. “It takes a lot more than that to kill a fairy. Please help me up.”

  Phia helped Lilly limp back into the meadow.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  DHAR JATTAB RAISED his staff above the ground.

  “Fallen Ones, come to my aid!”

  A portal opened in the air, and two dark shapes hurried out. It was hard to see them clearly, as if they were shrouded in night. But one had clawed, dragon-like wings and talons, and the other was a mountain of shaggy fur.

  Brune lobbed a fireball over the summoned monsters’ heads. It crashed onto Dhar Jattab, knocking him over.

  “Owww!”

  The portal closed.

  Brune laughed. “His Magic Protection doesn’t work while he’s summoning!”

  “Capture the cat girl and kill the others!” Dhar Jattab said.

  The dragon-like Fallen went for the girls. Phia fired an arrow and Lilly threw a pot. The arrow disappeared into the beast’s shadowy form while the metalware bounced off its head with a clang.

  Lilly screamed.

  “You okay, Lilly?” Phia said.

  “No! I’m fucking pissed off I don’t have my magic!”

  “Get behind me!” Endellion said. Her right arm hung limp and her legs weren’t working all that well, but the potion’s strength buff was coursing through her. Raising her sword, she clashed with the dragon-like Fallen while Brune wrestled the shaggy one to the ground.

  Dhar Jattab repeated his incantation, “Fallen Ones, appear before me.”

  “He’s summoning!” Brune bellowed. He fell back and lobbed three fireballs at the sorcerer before the shaggy Fallen crashed into him.

  Endellion used one of her most powerful spells, conjuring a swirling black cloud over Dhar Jattab. A hailstorm of ice bullets battered the sorcerer.

  Unfortunately, by casting this spell, Endellion left herself open to a wicked hit from the dragon-like Fallen. It knocked her into the air and sent her tumbling on the ground. She came to a stop near the large boulder where Cenric, Dhar Jattab’s apprentice, was standing.

  But this didn’t disrupt Endellion’s spell; the ice bullets hailed down onto Dhar Jattab for 11 seconds. By the time it was over, the sorcerer was laid out on the ground and his portal was closed.

  Two more Fallen had emerged. One of these dark figures seemed to be a mass of gnashing jaws. The other was a winged monster with long arms; it immediately flapped into the air.

  Endellion was back on her feet, thanks to the strength buff—but a claw immediately slashed her leg.

  The gnashing jaws also flew towards her.

  “You’re dead!” Cenric said. “You should have given up when Dhar Jattab gave you the chance!”