Re:Zero - The King of Pride

Felt was sleeping in the back of the wagon when a hand gently shook her.

Felt was wide awake in a second, reaching for her dagger when she ruefully remembered that she had lost it in Priestella.

It was still pitch black outside but Felt could see Koh was now shaking a resisting Garfiel awake.

"Koh!" She hissed. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Koh looked at her in surprise. "Nothing's wrong , little lady. It 's just time to get moving."

Garfiel groaned. "What? The freaking sun isn't even up yet!"

"I know," Koh acknowledged, "But we need to get moving anyway. We're almost to Azamiki and we don't want to waste a whole day hanging around there."

"What are you talking about?" Felt asked with a yawn as the pair reluctantly followed Koh out of the wagon.

"How much do you two know about Girali?" Koh asked as he gently woke the sleeping earth dragon.

"Basically nothing," Felt admitted.

Koh nodded. "I thought so. Well, the passage to Girali is extremely dangerous. "

"How come?" Garfiel said sharply, these words having shaken the cobwebs from his sleepy mind.

"Mabeasts," Koh said laconically, as they led the dragon who was clearly annoyed at his abrupt wakeup call to the wagon and hitched him. "Big, dangerous ones."

Felt looked incredulous. "Wow! Great time to tell us about that!" Felt complained.

Garfiel fell into a fighting stance and slammed his fists together with a grin. "My magnificent self can handle a few mabeasts. How big are we talking?"

Koh thought for a moment. "Oh… thirty feet tall or so."

"What?!" Felt gasped.

Garfiel took a deep breath. "You know something, shrimp, I think it's entirely possible that I can 't fight these mabeasts, " He said matter-of-factly.

"Wow. Very percetive, Garf," Felt grumbled as the trio climbed back into the wagon. "Koh, how the hell are we supposed to deal with monsters like that?!"

"That's why I woke you up so early," Koh said as the wagon lurched into motion. "See, the Iotuns are nocturnal. So as long as we reach Girali in the daylight, we're safe. That's why it helps to make an early start down the corridor from Azamiki to Girali."

Felt digested that. "How far are we from Azamiki?"

"We should definitely be there by sunrise," Koh said laconically. "The rule for navigating the corridor is never ever leave Azamiki after sunrise or you'll be navigating the deadly final stretch of the route to Girali after dark when the Iotuns come out."

"So, what exactly are we planning to do if one of these monsters gets up early?" Garfiel asked.

Koh shrugged. "I don't know. Laugh? These monsters can't endure the sunlight. When they come out in daylight, their bodies burst open like rotten fruit. This wagon may be slow but we should reach Girali in plenty of time before the sun sets. Assuming that the sun still sets at the usual time," He added enigmatically.

Felt yawned. "Hey, I'm going to grab some more sleep. Garf, wake me up if anything happens, alright?"

"You got it shrimp," He said.

"Look!" Beatrice whispered as they stared down through a ventilation grate in the ceiling. "It's Bubby!"

Mimi looked down. "Betty's right!" She gasped.

Puck was locked in a small cage, suitable for a cat or a rabbit. His fur was matted and dirty. He just lay there like an abandoned stuffed animal with a despondent expression on his face.

All around him were mabeasts, spirits, and magical creatures of all kinds who were also locked in magically sealed cages.

Beatrice put her hands to her mouth. "Psst! Bubby!" She whispered loudly.

Puck blinked and looked up.

His eyes widened in surprise. "Betty!" He exclaimed with a delighted expression.

Beatrice angrily put a finger to her lips.

Bubby looked around nervously and nodded.

"Betty, what are you doing here?" Puck whispered.

"Hi, Bubby!" Mimi waved cheerfully.

Puck stared up at her and waved back awkwardly.

Beatrice shot Mimi a look of dire annoyance. That is Betty's Bubby! She thought. Not yours!

Beatrice looked down at Puck. "Betty and Mimi are planning to escape, in fact!" She hissed. "We've found you! Now we just need to rescue you and find a way out!"

"How did you escape your cell?" Puck asked.

Beatrice pulled out the Multikey. "With this, in fact!" She said proudly.

Puck squinted at it. "What is that contraption?" He asked.

Beatrice looked scandalized. "That 'contraption' is Mother's Multikey, Bubby!"

"Oh. OK," Puck said matter-of-factly. "Can you use it to open my cage? The cages down here are magically alarmed."

Beatrice made a face. "Betty is sure that the Multikey will unlock the cage but Betty doubts that it would disarm an alarm, I suppose."

Mimi sighed. "So now Betty and Mimi need to find a way to disable the alarm and escape the tower! "

"Worry about this later, I suppose," Beatrice said dismissively. "Bubby, are you OK?"

Puck gave her a weak smile. "I'm fine, Betty," He said, not very convincingly. "But with the bracelet on, I'm not able to absorb mana very well and they're not giving me any."

"Bubby!" Beatrice gasped. "Have they not fed you since we got here?!"

Puck 's face fell and he shook his head.

Beatrice grabbed Mimi 's hand. "Mimi! We need to get Bubby out of here, in fact! If Bubby stays in here much longer, he could get very sick! Bubby might even…"

Mimi nodded. "We will escape! Maybe Betty can ask Julius if he could bring us another crystal tomorrow? Betty and Mimi could drop it into Bubby's cage so that he could eat it!"

"Good idea! Stay safe, Bubby! Betty will be back as soon as she can!"

The two crept off through the vents.

"Should we look for a way out of the tower now?" Mimi asked.

Beatrice shook her head. "No. Betty and Mimi need to be back before dawn. We can't risk an early patrol checking on us, in fact."

That morning, Koh, Felt, and Garfiel rode the wagon down a rocky pass through the mountains.

Koh puffed on his pipe. "See that," He pointed at a huge mountain in the distance whose crown was dyed red with fire. "That's the Jimuna volcano. Girali lies in its shadow."

Felt stared at the thing. "That's a little unspecific, Koh. I'd guess that about half the continent lies in that thing's shadow."

Koh chuckled.

"Hey," Felt asked, staring at the summit. "Why is the mountaintop glowing like that?"

Garfiel stretched with a yawn. "Because it's a volcano."

"What's a 'volcano?'"

Garfiel looked at her in surprise. "It's a… mountain that sometimes belches fire," He explains.

Felt 's eyes widened. "Why? Is it cursed?"

"No!" Garfiel said. "It's because… See, the depths of the world are very, very hot."

"How come?"

Garfiel was starting to struggle to explain all this. "Because of… the pressure that they're under. Anyway, the heat is extreme enough to melt rock."

Felt 's jaw dropped. " Seriously ? "

"Yeah. And the pressure builds up and up and sometimes it needs a place to go like… well, have you ever popped a zit?" He asked awkwardly.

"Ew!" Felt exclaimed. "Fleabag, stop talking!"

"You asked!" Garfiel protested.

"Well, excuse me for not knowing that talking about a damn burning mountain would lead to a discussion about popping zits!"

"The volcano is the source of Girali's wealth," Koh cut them both off. "It erupts regularly and dumps millions of tons of minerals down onto what are called the Crimson Hills of Girali. That includes rare elements like gold, silver, and even pyroxene crystals."

"Sounds like a good place for a mine," Felt observed.

"Well, it's a great place to own a mine but not so great for the mine workers," Koh replied dourly. "See, the crystals that the volcano spits out are extremely unstable after being exposed to so much pressure and heat. They can be stabilized by alchemists for shipping but before that, they're like tiny explosives just waiting to go off. It's not unusual for miners to lose a hand or worse while mining crystals."

"Jeez!" Garfiel said. "How desperate do you have to be to mine those?"

"Not desperate," Koh clarified. "The mining in Girali is all done by slaves. It's really a small mining town but it has more slaves per capita than anywhere else in the world."

"Because they're used up so fast?" Felt inquired grimly.

Koh nodded. "Yeah. Slaves in Girali do not have a long life expectancy. "

"Fuck," Garfiel whispered. "Why don't the slaves run away or fight back?"

"It's not that simple, Garf," Koh said with a somber smile. "Remember, the Iotuns are out in force every night. A man on foot has no chance of getting out of their range before nightfall. Anyway, the only resource that Girali has going for it are those minerals so the dominant imports into town are just slaves and food."

"Food?" Garfiel asked.

"Yeah," Koh said, repacking his pipe. "Girali sits in the middle of a barren wasteland. It's difficult to impossible to grow any food out there."

"Sounds like a fun place," Felt sighed. "I just can't wait to get there…"

Subaru woke up the next morning, feeling more refreshed than he had in weeks.

"Good morning, Mili," He said, kissing the top of her head.

Emilia opened a bleary eye. "Subaru, please don't talk so loud," She groaned.

Startled, Subaru looked at Emilia, who had buried her face in her pillow and was holding her head in both hands as if fearing that it would split apart.

"Mili?" Subaru asked in concern. "Are you alright?"

Emilia moaned. "I feel so sick!" She complained. "What happened to me?"

"You drank too much," Subaru shrugged.

Emilia shuddered. "Puck always told me not to drink at the parties we attended except for the toasts. I didn't know that wine could make you sick. Does this always happen?"

Subaru shrugged. "Sometimes. Koushiro and I learned about this the hard way when we found some old bottles of saki in his basement. I learned my lesson the first time we got wasted but he kept going back for more!"

"Why didn't you warn me about this?!" Emilia whined.

"I wanted to surprise you," Subaru replied with a straight face.

"Subaru! That's not funny! I feel like I'm dying!"

Subaru bit back a laugh and gently kissed his wife 's temple.

Emilia flinched back from his kiss. "Subaru," She moaned. "Please don't! Everything hurts right now."

"Alright, alright," Subaru said soothingly. "Why don't you lay down for a bit and try to rest? I'll go out and let you try to get some sleep. I'll see if I can find you something light to eat."

"I'm not very hungry, Subaru," She whimpered.

Subaru rubbed her back. "You need to get some food in you and especially some water," He replied. "Your body needs to repair all the damage that you did to it last night."

"Promise me that you'll never let me drink again," Emilia moaned as Subaru got dressed.

"Sorry, Mili," Subaru replied as he stepped out of the bedroom. "You'll have to manage that yourself."

Emilia groaned and covered her face with a pillow.

Felt dozed in the wagon while Koh and Garfiel sat up front.

Felt had decided to nap this morning, her decision equally motivated by finally getting access to one of the blankets that Priscilla habitually slept on as well as being able to avoid listening to more of Koh 's and Garfiel's conversations about the best ways to pick up women.

Koh is a terrible influence on Garf, Felt grumbled, only half awake. It 's actually kind of impressive that anyone could be considered a 'bad influence' on that fleabag.

Oh, man. Ryuzu is seriously going to scold me for this the next time that we see her. I don 't think that I could handle being scolded by an elf who looks like a schoolgirl and talks like a grandmother.

I wonder what would happen if she met Gramps after he got to Arlem …

No. I don 't even want to think about that.

Finally, Felt stretched, got up, and moved to the front of the wagon. She saw that the sky was painted in red and gold and this sent a chill down her spine.

"Are we almost to Girali?" Felt asked anxiously. "It's starting to get dark."

"Almost," Koh answered calmly. "We should see it in a few minutes."

"Jeez," Felt whispered. "How long was I sleeping?"

"Not long, shrimp," Garfiel said, sounding baffled. "We haven't even had lunch yet."

"What?!" Felt looked up at the sky and blinked in shock. The sun was still directly overhead but it looked red and sullen as if struggling to cut through some kind of thick air.

Koh glanced at her in surprise. "You didn't know?" He asked, taking a puff off his pipe. "Recently, Girali has fallen victim to some weird kind of witchcraft. It's almost always nighttime in Girali. The sun here only shines a few hours a day. And the days keep getting shorter," Koh said ominously.

"Which just gives the Iotuns more time to move around," Felt said with a sinking feeling.

"Yeah," Koh grumbled. "That's why I made us start out so early so that we'd spend the most dangerous portion of the trip in daylight. If you believe the rumors, and you probably shouldn't, Governor Sonas has hired an army of mercenaries to protect the city from attack and defeat the curse. Normally, Iotuns can't reach Girali at all. The walk from the caverns where they nest to the city is just too long to do on a normal night without getting caught out in the sun on the way back. But now that the days are shorter…"

"I remember that Sphinx told us that she thought the mercenaries were here for their own reasons and that they were refusing to leave when asked," Felt recalled.

Koh dumped his pipe. "Yeah. I was the one who told her about that," Koh recalled. "I'm not really sure what they 're doing in Girali but the Governor, who's a cruel enough fellow on his own, is acting more like a hostage these days than a man with hundreds of soldiers on his payroll."

Felt digested that. "How are the civilians taking this?" Felt asked.

"Mostly keeping their mouths shut from what I've heard," Koh replied. "Girali is a very small town with only one industry: the mine. Most of the people who actually live there are either city guards who keep the slaves under control or they work in jobs related to processing the crystals in some way. All of the other residents just cater to the needs of visiting merchants. Six hundred mercenaries is probably larger than the total civilian population of Girali so there isn't much they could do about the situation even if they wanted to."

"Any idea what the army is doing there?" Felt asked.

"Well, they've taken plenty of hostages," Koh reflected.

"From the city?"

"Not exactly," Koh replied. "See, Governor Sonas was trying to negotiate some kind of huge commercial deal that would have upended damn near every industry in the world that depends on pyroxene crystals."

"That's a hell of a lot of industries!" Garfiel said in amazement.

"Yeah. Anyway, there were dozens of VIPs in Girali a few weeks ago for the signing. Really important people from Vollachia and Kararagi."

"What about Lagunica?" Felt asked.

"Apparently not," Koh replied. "Not sure if somebody warned them not to come or if they just weren't invited to participate in this big deal. I'm not sure if anyone from Gusteko came either, come to think of it. Anyway, the mercenaries now have plenty of very important hostages to make the Kararagi government keep their distance. The Assembly of City-States threatened to starve them out but the mercenaries warned them that they'd start killing hostages if the roads weren't reopened at once. Since then, it's oddly been kind of business as usual in the city. The merchants come, make their deals, and then they leave. If you ignore all the armed troops, the city is peaceful."

"Any idea what the Kararagi government is going to do about this?" Felt asked.

"None," Koh said with a chuckle. "The Counsel-General doesn't exactly confide those details to me. They've got to do something though. The rumor is that Vollachia is threatening to march into Kararagi and deal with the problem personally. Although personally, I think that it's a bluff. Even if the whole Vollachian army reached Girali, what could they do? They'd still be dealing with a group of hostages that are going to get killed if they try to attack the city."

Felt digested that. "Any idea what the mercenaries are trying to accomplish in Girali?"

"None. They're either crazy or they know something I don't," Koh said flatly.

"I- Holy fuck!" Garfiel suddenly shouted, pointing up the mountainside.

Felt 's head snapped around. Garfiel's trembling hand was pointing at a huge cave, half hidden up on the rise

"Garf! What is it?!" Felt shouted.

"I saw something in that cave," Garfiel whispered with a white face. "Something big!"

"A Iotun?" Felt asked with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Thirty feet tall or so?" Koh asked casually.

"At least!"

"Yeah, that's about standard for a Iotun. Older ones are even bigger. And they weigh about fifteen tons."

"It kind of looked human!" Garfiel whispered. "But tall and gaunt with just one eye and long tusks. I think that it was even wearing furs."

"It's not going to come after us, is it?" Felt asked.

"Nah. This is plenty of light to fry a Iotun. It'll stay put. Unless we don't get to Girali before dark. Then we're going to have a problem."

"How much longer until we get there?" Felt asked anxiously.

"See for yourself," Koh said as they left the pass behind.

Felt and Garfiel stared out into the distance. The mountains that they 'd traveled through leveled out into a flat, dry wasteland that stretched out until it reached the slopes of the Jimuna volcano in the distance.

Sitting before them was a city, perched atop a tiny plateau that rose up incongruously out of the desert like an ossified tree stump.

A long and narrow road like a thin ribbon of earth rose up from the flat desert and led up to the plateau and the city.

Garfiel pointed up at the sky. "Shrimp! Look!" He whispered.

Felt looked up and her jaw dropped. Hovering high above the city was a flying island.

From the description 'flying island' Felt had expected something small and flat but this island was like an iceberg. It was easily a half mile across and almost as tall, a solid chunk of earth like a mountain floating incongruously in the skies.

Even stranger there was a great shaft of purple light streaming down onto the city from the island far above.

"Wow," She whispered.

"How the hell does the Captain plan to get up there?" Garfiel asked.

Felt snorted. "Knowing him, it's probably going to involve a catapult!"

Garfiel frowned and thought that over. "I don't think that would work, shrimp," He said seriously. "Even if it did get him up there, it's still a one-way trip."

Felt closed her eyes and sighed. "Hey, Koh! What's with that beam thing?" She muttered, just to change the subject.

"No idea. I hear that it started around the same time that the longer nights did so most folks think that they're related. Not that anyone has a clear idea on how they're related or what to do about it."

Felt considered that.

Koh puffed on his pipe. "This long, twisted road is what keeps the city safe," He explained. "See, Iotuns live in the caves all around the area. If they want to attack the city, they'd need to leave their caves and make their way to the city as soon as the sun sets. But it's a long walk and there isn't enough time to reach the city and get back before daylight."

"What about now that the nights are longer?" Felt asked.

"Good question," Koh muttered. "So far, the Iotuns haven't attacked the city to the best of my knowledge. No one is sure if that's because they're just not smart enough to notice the longer nights or if they're waiting until they have enough time to sack the city and then escape alive."

Garfiel sighed. "I want to go home," He muttered.

Although still only early afternoon, it was as dark as night when the wagon finally approached the gates to Girali. Felt could still see the sun high above her but now that it had passed its noon apex, the sun provided barely any light at all and it looked pale as the moon viewed through thick, black smoke.

Felt found that she could stare at the sun without even blinking.

Girali was a city with several massive buildings in poor repair. A regal palace sat on the summit, looming down over the city, and there even looked to be an elaborate arena or coliseum.

The strangest item in view looked to be a towering, slender obelisk made of shiny purple crystal that loomed over the buildings.

The city was cramped and dusty and it had a decidedly faded appearance to it as if the city had greatly diminished from what was once a regional power.

The city gate was watched by dozens of guards. Strangely enough, there appeared to be two sets of guards. One group was entirely human and wore uniforms of many different kinds.

These mercenaries were led by a Lagunica officer, a hard-faced woman with blond hair set in a neat ponytail. She was easily picked out of the crowd by the medals on her chest and her spotless white Lagunican officer 's uniform.

The other group of guards were primarily demi-human. They wore a motley assortment of clothing and armor and were led by a towering bull demi-human with black skin. The bull stood head and shoulders above everyone else at the gate and that wasn 't even counting his massive horns. He wore long trousers but no shirt and his body was rippling with muscles.

The two groups of guards stood in entirely separate groups and none of them attempted to mingle or speak with one another as Koh drove the wagon up to the gate.

Felt noticed that several of the guards cast dark looks at their counterparts in the other group.

"Hold there," The bull demi-human snorted.

Koh obligingly reined in the dragon.

"Out of the wagon," The bull ordered peremptorily.

Koh disembarked without hesitation. Felt and Garfiel slowly followed and jumped down onto the dry and sandy road.

The bull-man 's guards began to closely inspect the wagon and its cargo. A few were using strange devices to search that Felt didn't recognize.

Felt noted with interest that none of the mercenaries attempted to help in the search. The Lagunican officer just looked bored.

The bull-man stared down at the group.

Ugh, Felt grumbled. Trying to look this giant in the eye makes my neck hurt! And I can hear Garf grumbling. He 's not used to feeling small…

"What's your business in Girali?" The bull-man demanded.

Koh dumped his pipe out on the ground. "I'm shipping goods from Ivada. Then I'll bring goods from here back to Ivada," He said calmly.

"What goods?" The bull pressed.

"Fruits, vegetables, liquors," Koh rattled off, counting on his fingers. "I'll probably bring some pyroxene crystals back to Ivada when I leave."

The bull digested that. "I see. Are you-"

"Captain Smite!" One of the bull's guards yelled from the back of the wagon. "Come take a look at this!"

The bull-man gave the group a warning glare and then stalked off toward the wagon.

I don 't like this… Felt thought grimly. She noticed that the guards watching them had now put their hands on their weapons.

Felt cast a warning glance at Garfiel, reminding him to stay calm and not jump into anything half-cocked.

Garfiel seemed to be counting the guards with a grim look. He saw Felt 's gaze and he slowly nodded.

Felt noticed that Koh seemed completely unconcerned by these events and was calmly repacking his pipe.

Smite inspected the crates in the back of the wagon and then he returned to the group.

"You're all under arrest for conspiracy," He said flatly.

"What?! Why?!" Felt demanded.

Smite gave her a hard glare. "Do you know what this is?" Smite asked, holding up a tiny vial filled with silver powder.

Felt stared at it for a moment. "No," She said honestly.

"It's a primer," Smite growled as the Lagunica officer walked over to inspect his findings. "Something used to turn red rock pyroxene into explosives. You're smuggling weapons!"

Felt 's jaw dropped and she turned to look incredulously at Koh.

Koh stared at the vial in a very believable expression of shock.

"What?! My client told me that those crates were full of liquor!"

"And I suppose you never checked the contents of your wagon," Smite snorted with contempt.

"Why would I? I'm just a merchant! I bring goods where I'm told! I have a bill of sale and an order for delivery right here!" Koh pulled two pieces of paper out of his robe and handed them to Smite.

Smite gave a snort of disbelief but he took the papers and studied them closely.

"McCormick?" Smite asked sharply. "You're making deliveries for Arthur McCormick?"

Koh nodded fervently. "That's right! I'm just doing what I was contracted to do! I'm an innocent victim in all this!"

Smite held up the paper. "This bill of sale is dated three weeks ago."

"So?" Koh asked.

"McCormick has been dead for six months," Smite said in a tone of finality.

Koh winced.

"They're spies and saboteurs," The Lagunican officer said, speaking for the first time. "Take them in and lock them up for questioning."

Smite 's eyes narrowed. "I know my business, Colonel Brasca, " He grated. "I don't need your instruction."

"This city is under the authority of General Brendig," The woman said impassively. "Its security is my responsibility."

"I've been protecting this city for ten years," Smite growled.

"And if you'd done so competently, we wouldn't even be here," Brasca replied in an emotionless tone.

Smite snarled at her then snapped at his guards, "Get this scum to the guard house!"

Felt hissed and put up her hands, slowly followed by Garfiel as the enormous crowd of guards closed in on them.

Felt and Garfiel sat in two freestanding cages that were much too small for them. The cages sat on a cold, stone floor in a dark basement below the Girali guardhouse.

Garfiel had to sit hunched over to avoid hitting his head on the roof.

Felt had a sour expression on her face. The guards had questioned her and Garfiel extensively. Luckily, after a few hours, Smite appeared to have accepted their honest statements that they were simply hitchhikers, having come to Girali to meet with a friend for an important business proposition and that they had had no idea what was in those crates.

Felt had been dismissed as just a young girl, something that she 'd benefited from several times in the past, and she wasn't even searched so she managed to keep her pouch of gold coins hidden.

Light pierced the basement as a door opened nearby. Koh was shoved out of the door and roughly herded by two guards to another cage near Felt and Garfiel.

They shoved him inside and locked the door. Then the guards left.

Felt and Garfiel both glared at him.

"Thanks awfully for getting us into this mess," Felt said caustically.

Koh sighed and took out his pipe. "What do you want from me?" He asked.

Felt glowered at him. "How about, 'I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that I was transporting fucking bombs and that I didn 't even bother to hide them particularly well!'" Felt said sarcastically.

Koh shrugged. "OK, then. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that I was transporting fucking bombs and that I didn't even bother to hide them particularly well," Koh said with equanimity.

Garfiel bared his teeth and snarled at him, shaking the bars of his cage. "Koh! When I get out of here-"

Koh took a puff from his pipe. "Look. I was just doing what Sphinx told me to. She apparently made a deal with folks in Kararagi to smuggle explosives out to Girali to help in the liberation. She explicitly told me not to tell you. You guys were supposed to go off on your own as soon as we reached Girali and the explosives wouldn't have affected you. I didn't know that the guards had a scanner! I was just doing what Sphinx told me. If you've got a problem, take it up with her."

"I doubt that we'll ever get the chance!" Felt snapped. "I don't know what they do around here to spies armed with explosives but I doubt that we're going to walk out of this mess alive!"

"Calm down," Koh said calmly. "Those bills of sale are flawless. We're in trouble but they don't think that we're spies. They just think that we're dupes."

Garfiel snorted. "Yeah? What's the penalty for that ? " Garfiel grumbled.

"Probably still nothing pleasant," Felt sighed.

A few hours later, Felt 's head perked up as she heard footsteps approaching their cages.

Garfiel and Felt both looked anxiously in the direction of the footsteps while Koh continued to fuss with his pipe.

From the shadows emerged Colonel Brasca, the same cold-faced Lagunican woman who had been guarding the gate. Captain Smite stood behind her as well as a few guards.

The woman looked down at them expressionlessly. She took out a piece of paper. "Koh of Ivada and Sally and Maximus of Mirula," She read the fake names that they'd given her off the paper. "The three of you have been found guilty of conspiracy."

"We don't even get a trial?" Garfiel protested.

Brasca gave him a cold look. "You received a fair trial before a military tribunal."

"A fair trial that we didn't even know about!" Felt grumbled.

"Your participation was unnecessary. All that matters is that you were found guilty and were sentenced to hard labor," The woman turned on her heel and walked away.

"For how long?" Garfiel demanded.

The woman didn 't pause her stride and she vanished into the dark.

"Charming woman," Smite growled. "Get them down to the intake area. We have some new purchases today. They can all be sorted at the same time."

There were dozens of guards. Resisting or fighting back was hopeless.

Felt had been separated from Garfiel and she had no idea what was about to happen to her.

Felt was trying not to panic as a guard roughly shoved her forward. She stood in a line, surrounded by other terrified prisoners. Her hands were manacled tightly together as she was forced into a narrow passage cut into the stony mountain that reminded her of a repurposed mining tunnel.

She had no idea where Garfiel had been sent. Every few seconds there was an agonizing scream that came from just ahead of her in the tunnel and seconds later, everyone in the line would move up.

The other people in the line were either dressed in ragged clothing or nearly nude. The only thing that they had in common is that none of them looked particularly young and healthy. The line was made up of children and grandparents. The only people that Felt saw in line who looked to be in their prime were all crippled or sickly in some way.

Another scream rang out, loud and piercing enough to make Felt 's hair stand on end while the other people in line cringed.

A guard roughly shoved Felt forward when she didn 't move up fast enough.

Felt turned a corner and found herself entering some kind of strange smithy.

There was only one person standing in line in front of her now, a skinny young man around Felt 's age with a missing hand. A group of five guards were working together to hold the boy in place while another guard was heating up a thick metal collar in the forge by using a strange tong-like tool. Strangely, the collar was glowing a pale blue in the fire, not red.

The opened collar was removed from the forge and carried over to the struggling young man. He fought with renewed desperation to break free as the collar approached but he couldn 't move a muscle.

The collar was placed against the young man 's neck and with a twist of the tong, the collar snapped shut.

The young man screamed and bucked in wild paroxysms of pain while the guards held him still. After a few seconds, the young man hung limp from their arms like a rag doll, panting for breath.

The guards jerked him back onto his feet and gave him a shove out the other side of the smithy and a single barked order to keep moving.

To Felt 's surprise, none of the guards paid him any further attention. The young man walked timidly out of the smithy.

A guard grabbed Felt 's manacles and started to drag her forward.

It only took a moment for Felt to realize what was about to happen to her and she jerked backward, digging her feet into the sandy floor but the hulking guard never even seemed to notice her resistance.

The guard dragged her to the same place in the center of the smithy where the boy had been standing and the other five guards all grabbed her and held her steady.

A coarse hand seized her roughly by the chin and jerked her head up, extending her neck.

Felt saw with horror that the next collar was already being heated up in the forge for her.

She struggled but the guards were unphased, seemingly utterly unaware of Felt 's resistance.

The collar was removed from the flames by an apathetic-looking guard and carried over to her with the tong-like tool.

Felt made one last desperate leap for freedom but the guards holding didn 't even sway from her exertion.

Felt stared at the collar in terror as it drew closer to her throat but strangely she felt no heat from it.

The collar snapped shut around Felt 's neck and the world dissolved into pain. She heard a long, piercing screech from someplace far away as if some poor girl was in unbearable agony.

And then it was over, Felt hung limply from the guards ' hands, panting for breath.

The guards roughly got her back on her feed and shoved her forward.

Felt desperately reached up to grab the collar and to her surprise it was already quite cool and she could feel no burns or abrasions on her neck.

Try as she might, her desperate fingers could find no seam or joint in the metal at all. It felt like a solid piece of forged steel.

A band of metal, she realized, that was never intended to be removed.

"Keep moving," A guard growled, seemingly more bored than sadistic. "Join the line outside."

A shaken Felt did as she was told.

Felt was trembling as she left the smithy, wondering what fresh hell awaited her next.

She emerged back outside where a large crowd of frightened people waited, all wearing the same black metal collars. They were standing on a sandy crag on the plateau. Nearby was a hill that seemed to have some kind of elevator platform on it.

"Felt!" A voice shouted.

Felt turned and saw Garfiel rushing up to her. "Felt! You OK?!" The towering demi-human had a black eye.

"Never mind me! Are you OK?!" Felt demanded.

Garfiel chuckled. "Don't worry about me, shrimp. I've been torn up way worse than this before," He said dismissively. "How about you?"

Felt took a deep breath. "Yeah. I'm fine, fleabag," Felt murmured, struggling for a cocky grin and failing. "That was nothing. I've been through way worse. "

Garfiel didn 't look convinced in the slightest and he awkwardly wrapped his still-manacled arms around her and pulled her in for a tight hug.

Felt took a ragged breath and her eyes filled with tears.

"I wish that Red was here," She squeaked.

Her face twisted in shame at this painful admission and Garfiel pretended not to have heard her.

Koh sidled up to them. He also wore a collar and his face was grim but he appeared to be unshaken by the experience so far.

"Front and center, slaves!" A voice roared.

The crowd trembled, like grass shaken by a powerful wind.

Felt turned toward the speaker and saw that it was Captain Smite. He was surrounded by three guards and a few men wearing similar collars to Felt.

The bull-man carried a massive, crude club that probably weighed as much as Felt did but the bull-man handled it easily with one hand.

The club was a crude work that looked like the bull-man had simply uprooted a metal pole and taken much of the cement foundation with it, giving the club 's head a coarse and uneven appearance.

The bull-man glared down at the trembling crowd, waving his club back and forth. His eyes scanned the newly collared slaves looking for anyone poised to fight back or resist.

Garfiel took a deep breath. "I think that he's trying to intimidate us," He scoffed.

"I've got news for you, Garf. It's working," Felt murmured.

Finally, the bull-man snorted in disgust and lowered his club. "You may have heard the guards call me Captain Smite," The bull-man growled. "I am 'Captain Smite' only to my friends and comrades. You maggots will call me 'Sir,' got that?" The bull roared challengingly.

No one said anything. Most of the people cringed.

Smite smirked in satisfaction. "Some of you are here as punishment for your crimes. Some of you were purchased on the market. In any event, you are now all the slaves of Governor Tolian Sonas. If any of you maggots get uppity, it's my job to punish you. " He let the words hang there for a long moment but nobody answered.

"Some of the more stupid slaves among you," He continued. "Are nursing delusions of escape and freedom. Let me crush those for you right now. That pretty necklace that you all wear is a magical slave collar. There is no way for you to remove it."

Felt swallowed hard.

Smite paused and studied the crowd for anyone poised to dispute his claim.

"The collar marks you all as slaves. While you wear the collar, your mana is completely suppressed. You will find it impossible to cast spells or to use mana to physically augment your bodies. The collars also give out a potent 'scent' that drives the local Iotun beasts into a frenzy. If you attempt to leave the city limits of Girali, every Iotun within a dozen miles will know right where you are," Smite said with a sadistic smirk.

The slaves murmured amongst themselves.

"If you attempt to remove your collar, it will explode," Smite finished smugly. "Work hard and we'll have no problems."

Smite jerked his head toward a man dressed in patched, ratty clothing and who also wore a slave collar. He only had one leg and he leaned on a crude crutch as he walked.

"Xiao, finish up here," Smite grunted, walking away. "I need to go brief Governor Sonas."

The man with the crutch hobbled forward. "Yes, sir," He said smartly although his face was grim and sullen as he looked at Smite's back.

Xiao watched Smite and all the other guards leave and he made sure that the bull-man was out of earshot before he started to speak.

"My name is Xiao Long," The man murmured. He was a tall man with dark hair and pale skin. He seemed somewhat healthier than more of the slaves standing in the crowd despite his missing leg. "I'm… I guess I'm sort of the mayor of the Shelf," He said deprecatingly. "It's a title that I got by being the one to survive there the longest. This is going to be my eighth year down on the Shelf."

A whimper spread through the crowd as they contemplated this.

Xiao took a deep breath. "I understand that you're all frightened and despairing," He said sympathetically. "I and each of the people that you'll meet down on the Shelf have all been right where you are now. We understand how you feel. This… this is not an easy life," He admitted. "But it can be a tolerable one. There are worse places to live than on the Shelf. I 've seen a few of them.

"Your collars ensure your inability to escape or to fight back. But on the bright side, you'll find that this means that you are watched much less closely than slaves in any other city in the world. Nobody watches where you go or what you and you're mostly free to roam around as you like. We have our own little community on the Shelf where we try to look after each other.

"The Shelf is separated from the rest of the world by two elevators. One leads up from the desert floor to the Shelf, we use that one to reach the hills and fields where we search for minerals every day. The other elevator goes from the Shelf to Girali proper. Some of you who are lucky enough to be employed in the city will use that to get to work every day.

"We're paid for our labors in 'talents.' They're… well, they're iron coins that you can use to purchase food and other necessities from the guards."

"What the hell is the point of that?" Felt shouted before she could think better of it.

Xiao made a face of annoyance. "Governor Sonas thinks that people work harder when they're motivated. He decided that making people buy their daily food with these worthless coins would force all the slaves to produce more for him. Talents can be spent to buy food, blankets, small luxuries, and even better housing. "

"What about buying our freedom?" One old man asked in a quavering voice.

Xiao looked somber. "You can't buy your freedom with talents," He said gently. "And you won't make any gold while you're here. The only chance for freedom would be for someone else to buy you and that…" Xiao shrugged helplessly.

"Oh no," A young woman with pockmarks all over her face whispered.

"Like I said," Xiao continued in a soothing tone. "It's not an easy life on the Shelf. But we do look after each other. We're all in this together for the long haul, like it or not. Down on the Shelf, you can buy and prepare your own food if you want to but we also make food for the whole community at sunrise and just after sundown. Err… the real sunrise and sunset," He said looking up at the impenetrable darkness in confusion. "It's just cheaper to make food in bulk and anyone can buy into the meal for a single talent.

"Private housing is a limited commodity on the Shelf. We auction them off as they become available. There is ample public housing on the Shelf and the rules prohibit barring anyone else from sleeping in whatever house you're in that night. We all just sleep wherever we can."

Xiao thought for a moment. "I suppose that's all there is to go over for now. My men and I will remove your manacles and then we'll lead you down to the Shelf for dinner. I hope that we'll all be friends."

"So, the housing units are over there," Xiao said, fighting to be cheerful as most of the new residents of 'the Shelf' looked poised at any moment to burst into tears. "And the kitchen is over there."

The Shelf itself was a flat plateau that jutted out of the main rocky edifice, far below the city of Girali. It stuck straight out like a mushroom growing from a rotten, old tree stump. There was a steep slope at one end that led from the Shelf down to the desert floor but Felt wouldn 't want to try and climb it.

Luckily, there were more than a dozen 'elevators' that led down to the desert floor. These elevators were small wooden platforms that could hold at most a dozen people on them. There was a windlass pillar built onto the platform that allowed it to move up and down along a heavy chain that connected the desert floor to the Shelf, essentially dragging the platform up and down the slope.

Garfiel leaned over Felt. "Well gee, this looks promising," He grumbled to her.

Felt nodded sardonically.

Gramp 's bar looks like a palace compared to this dump! These 'housing units' are just tar paper shacks! They look like they're barely holding together and laying down in them is just begging for 'death by splinters!'

That 'kitchen' is just a ratty old tent with a big cauldron inside!

Even the 'private housing' down here are just shacks with actual doors! These people would pay a fortune for the chance to live in some of those old broken-down houses in the slums where the beggars squat!

Felt took a deep breath. "We'll be OK here for a while, fleabag. Remember, Subaru is coming. He'll save us."

"How the hell will he even know that we're down here?" Garfiel asked in a worried voice.

Shit. I was hoping that Garf wouldn 't realize that, Felt thought in despair. I have absolutely no idea!

She touched the collar around her neck and she wanted to burst into tears.

Subaru could spend months up on that plateau and he 'd never even realize that we're down here! He and the elf might even head back to Lagunica and then…

Felt licked her lips. "Fleabag," She whispered. "I-"

"Xiao!" A hulking man raced over to the group with a wild mane of black hair and an eye that was puckered over by scar tissue. "We have a problem!"

Xiao looked at the new slaves. "This is my right hand, Baagh," Xiao explained. "If you need something and can't find me, talk to him."

Baagh snorted. "Your right hand," He growled. "Enough of this 'Mayor of the Shelf' nonsense! Come quickly."

Xiao pursed his lips. "Jenner, keep showing these folks around. Help them to get settled!"

Then Baagh raced off and Xiao followed as fast as he could with his crutch.

Felt and Garfiel glanced at each other and then followed the pair on a whim.

They caught up with Baagh and Xiao at the very edge of the Shelf where the precipitous slope led all the way down to the desert far below. Several other men and women with grim faces had joined them.

The group was peering out into the dark desert where Felt saw a vast, rocky field that glowed with an eerie purple light. Behind it was a series of rocky hills like lumps in the desert that shared the ominous glow.

"You see?" Baagh murmured.

"We've got problems," Xiao admitted.

"What is that?" Felt asked.

Baagh and Xiao both looked surprised to see Felt and Garfiel but they didn 't appear angry.

Baagh sighed. "Those are the Crimson Hills of Girali, lass," He said gravely. "Look well upon them. You will be working there for the rest of your life."

"Baagh! Don't break the poor newcomers on their first day!" Xiao snapped.

Baagh snorted. "Their hearts breaking or not breaking is something that only they can decide. "

"Why are those fields glowing like that?" Felt cut them off before Xiao could respond.

Baagh looked somber. "The mighty Jimuna volcano erupts every few weeks and lays down fresh layers of precious minerals onto those fields. Especially pyroxene. The unstable pyroxene produces the glow that you see."

"What are those black things moving out there?" Garfiel asked.

"Mabeasts," Xiao answered. "There isn't much mana to feed on out in the wastes so mabeasts come here every night to feed off the pyroxene crystals."

Felt stared hard at one of the tiny black dots off into the distance and realized that it was a massive Guiltylowe.

"And then the Iotuns devour the mabeasts," Baagh continued grimly.

A towering, black silhouette lurched out of the darkness and into the illumination of the glowing fields.

"By the gods," Felt whispered.

The Iotun was at least thirty feet tall and it looked like a haggard parody of a human. Its pale, wrinkly skin was covered with patches of sparse fur. A single eye was set in the middle of its forehead. Its mouth was framed by enormous straight tusks and its protruding lower lip had a forest of broken teeth that stretched up across the front of its face. It wore a thin rag made of fur and leather around its nethers and it dragged behind it what looked to be a club made from a whole tree.

The Guiltylowe caught sight of the Iotun but it never even had a chance to flee. The Iotun strode forward, its slow and shuffling walk eating up a massive distance with each stride.

It seized the Guiltylowe in one huge hand. It brought the struggling beast up to a jaw that unhinged like a snake 's and then Felt watched it swallow the massive mabeast whole.

Baagh snorted. "This is what passes for the circle of life in this diseased land," He muttered.

"Baagh," Xiao murmured. "I see the Iotuns but what was so important that you needed to show me this right away?"

Baagh started to answer and then stiffened. "Xiao, look there!" He pointed.

The group stared out across the waste and saw another great figure. This Iotun stood head and shoulders above the other one and its face had a scraggly gray beard.

Xiao whistled. "Is that Old Gnawbones?"

"It is," Baagh said grimly.

"Sorry, 'Old Gnawbones?'" Garfiel asked.

Baagh nodded. "Goreax's son."

"Huh?" Garfiel asked.

"Who's Goreax?" Felt asked.

"Old Gnawbones is the oldest Iotun now living," Xiao explained. "He got his name because he's almost always seen gnawing the marrow from some corpse."

Baagh nodded. "He's the heir to old Goreax, by birth or by right of succession," He grumbled. "We gave him that name because Goreax was the first Iotun to think of making axes. Before that, all they had was crude clubs fashioned from whole trees that they had uprooted. Goreax taught them how to make stone axes using trees and boulders that they bind together with leather and with tar from the cracks in the burning mountain."

"These mabeasts can make tools?" Felt gasped.

Baagh nodded. "Aye. They even seem to get smarter over time. Goreax made the Iotuns far more deadly. Before that, we only needed to deal with crude savages armed with clubs. But once Goreax became the Iotun elder, he taught them to make axes. When Goreax finally fell, Old Gnawbones took his place. Ever since, Old Gnawbones has been organizing them and teaching them how to fight as a group."

His eyes narrowed. "There, Xiao. Look!"

Felt tried to watch 'Old Gnawbones' but she couldn't really make out what she was seeing. It looked like the giant was picking up huge piles of rocks and trying to eat them.

"Oh no," Xiao whispered.

"Aye. It's only a matter of time now," Baagh said grimly.

"How long do you think?" Xiao asked.

"This is the first night that we've seen Old Gnawbones gnawing on stone. Perhaps a few weeks yet. Perhaps only days," Baagh answered.

"Excuse me," Felt said. "What the hell is going on here?" She asked plaintively.

The two men looked down at her and then shared a rueful look.

"Iotuns are gluttons, lass," Baagh said. "Their only goal in this life are to find more and bigger sources of food. These monsters keep growing for as long as there is life in them and the older and bigger they get, the more food that they need. Normally, Iotuns are satisfied with hunting down other mabeasts for food but when a Iotun gets old enough and big enough-"

"It can't find enough food to eat anymore," Xiao said darkly. "They not only eat the other mabeasts in the field but then they start eating the pyroxene rock to try and assuage their hunger. But that won't work for very long and that's a problem. Because the only other place nearby with a lot of food on offer is us."

"An ancient Iotun will eat stone for a few days. Maybe a week or two," Baagh picked up the story. "The Iotuns won't attack Girali or even the Shelf under normal circumstances. They know that we'll fight back and that we'll likely kill at least a few of them. No meal is worth your own life. But when a Iotun gets hungry enough, it stops caring and they climb up that steep slope to the Shelf to feast on us until we can cut them down."

"You can fight those things?!" Garfiel asked in astonishment.

Baagh 's face was cold. "We'll try," He said. "But a Iotun who climbs the slope has already given up on life. It'll feast on whatever it can catch until it dies. Either we'll kill them ourselves or the dawn will catch them out and they'll burst like an overstuffed bladder."

"Will the city guards help?" Koh asked, startling Felt who hadn't even realized that the demi-human was with them. Koh had somehow even kept his pipe during his capture.

Baagh snorted. "Sonas won't waste a cracked copper on us! We're just here to work and to die! The only thing that Smite and Sonas will do is demand that we sort through the Iotuns bloated entrails after they fall and dig out any precious stones or intact slave collars that we can find!"

"Alright! There's no point in us getting into all of this now," Xiao snapped as the other slaves wandered off, their faces dark. "How many Iotuns are you thinking for this raid?"

"I've been watching three," Baagh said darkly. "Three Iotuns gnawing on stone. And now Old Gnawbones. The three will definitely come soon. The big question is if Old Gnawbones will join them."

Xiao 's face was grim. "We'll need to set up trip lines and start training the new slaves how to fight."

Baagh snorted. "We'll be lucky if we find one in a hundred that hasn't gotten all the fight beaten out of them before they came here!"

"That's still one more than we had before," Xiao reminded him.

"Hey!" Garfiel snapped. "We're not all broken yet!"

"Yeah, what he said," Koh grumbled as he repacked his pipe.

Baagh looked unimpressed. "Really? Are you ready to fight a Iotun? Those monsters could eat you in one bite, boy."

"Ready? No," Garfiel said flatly. "But your enemies don't wait until you're ready. They come when they're ready. I wasn't ready to fight a Sin Archbishop beside Subaru Natsuki either. But I did it and I lived to talk about it!"

Felt gasped as she realized what Garfiel had just let slip. "Garf!" Felt hissed.

Garfiel put out a hand, signaling Felt to be quiet as he stared into the grizzled man 's eyes.

Baagh glared at him for a moment and then he started to laugh. "I like you!" He suddenly shouted, with a clap on Garfiel's shoulder that nearly sent him to his knees. "What's your name, boy?"

"Garfiel," He said.

Baagh barked a laugh. "So be it! Xiao shall stand on my left and Garfiel on my right and no Iotun will long stand against us!"

Garfiel gave a wry smile. "Sounds like fun. Well… no. No, it doesn't," Garfiel deadpanned, "But let's do it anyway."

"Did you just say Subaru Natsuki?" Xiao whispered.

Felt bit her lip. She wanted to try and cut Garfiel off but her trust in Garfiel made her hesitate.

This isn 't a slip. Garf deliberately decided to tell these strangers who we are and what we're doing here.

And he 's probably about to tell them that Subaru's coming. I have no idea what he's thinking but I sure hope that Garf knows what he's doing.

"Yeah," Garfiel said seriously. "The shrimp there and me, we're members of his inner circle. And he's coming out this way."

"Subaru Natsuki the Invincible?" Xiao whispered.

"The Breaker of Chains?" Baagh said with guarded interest. "I've heard rumors that he stormed a slaver camp singlehandedly and freed all their captives."

"It's not a story, Baagh," Garfiel said at once. "It's true. And now he's coming out here."

"Is he coming to help us?" Xiao whispered sounding both hopeful and dubious. "To free us?"

Garfiel looked at them both with a rueful expression. "The Captain is coming out here for his own purposes," Garfiel said honestly. "I can't tell you more than that right now. Those are his secrets and I don't have the right to share them. But the Captain hates slavers and he 's never met a foe that he couldn't overcome."

Either Garfiel is deliberately exaggerating or he just hasn 't been paying very close attention, Felt thought.

"We need any help that you can give us," Garfiel continued. "When the Captain comes, we need to make contact with him. We need to tell him that we're here. Look, I can't promise you anything. There's a lot of shit going on in this city and I'm not sure what even the Captain could do about it. But I have a lot of faith in my Captain," Garfiel said earnestly, striking his own chest with one powerful fist. "And I know that if you help us, he will do his very best to help all of you," He swore.

Xiao and Baagh stared at one another for a long moment.

Baagh snorted. "You speak like a courtier, boy. You ask for a favor and then you say you're not sure if you can return it!"

"Yeah," Garfiel admitted. "Look, I don't want to promise you anything that I'm not sure I can deliver on. I can't speak for the Captain! I'm just telling you what I believe."

Baagh stared at him for a long moment. "If you'd told me that your master would free us without fail, I would have beaten you black and blue, boy, for daring to lie to my face," Baagh growled.

Garfiel didn 't reply. He just stared Baagh in the eye.

Baagh started to smile. "Hm. What do you say Xiao? Shall we help them?"

Xiao seemed to be debating it but he slowly nodded. "We can't do much , " He said honestly. "But any chance is better than none. I might be able to get one of you some work up in the city. That would give you a chance to find your lord. " He thought for a moment. "There's a restaurant near the inns where a lot of people who are just visiting Girali tend to congregate. That might be your best chance to make contact with him."

Garfiel nodded. "Send Felt," He said at once. "If the Captain is here, she'll find him!"

"I said that I might be able to," Xiao emphasized. "I'll need to call in a few favors," He muttered to himself.

"Incidentally," Koh broke in, startling the group which had already forgotten that the demi-human was even there. "Where can I find the rebels?"

Felt slapped her forehead. "Gods! What kind of terrible spy are you?"

"A spy?" Xiao said in shock.

"I work for the Demi-Human Alliance," Koh said, dumping the ashes from his pipe. "My master sent me out here to try and make contact with the local rebels. They sent us a request for supplies and weapons so I'm supposed to come here, bring them a few things, and start negotiating with them. Obviously, the goods we brought were discovered and confiscated but I'm still going to try and see if I can make some kind of arrangement with the local rebels."

Xiao and Baagh just stared at him.

Baagh snorted. "The rebels? You're looking at him," He spat.

"Huh?" Felt said.

"There was a rebellion about five years ago," Xiao recalled. "It ended… badly. Baagh was the only person involved who managed to escape identification and execution. There hasn't been any sort of organized resistance since then."

Koh frowned. "What do you mean? Sphinx told me that she received a message a while back from the rebels out here."

"We did send a message to the Demi-Human Alliance," Baagh growled. "That was five years ago!"

Koh looked unsettled. "Huh… I guess that Sphinx is getting pretty old. Maybe she 's losing track of time?" He said weakly.

"Oh! Brilliant, Koh," Felt hissed. "Really fucking brilliant! You got us all captured and enslaved and you did it for absolutely no reason!"

Garfiel looked liked he was about to grab Koh and throw him off of the mountainside but Baagh stopped him and shook his head. "Down here, we need even all the fools that we can get, son, " Baagh told him.

Garfiel growled and ground his teeth.

Xiao took a deep breath. "Alright. That's enough for tonight. We need to get back to the others and get some food. Morning comes early and we'll all be heading out to the fields just after dawn."

The group split up. Xiao and Baagh went one way while Felt and Garfiel went another.

"Let's find someplace to sleep," Felt sighed.

"I'd suggest that we find a shack as far away from the others as we can," Koh murmured.

Felt glared at him. "What in the world makes you think that we want to have anything to do with you?" Felt growled.

"Well, think of it like this," Koh replied. "Do you want to use the resources of the Demi-Human Alliance to help you escape or would you rather go solo on this?"

"What resources?!" Felt snorted. "Your rebels are all dead!"

"The rebels weren't in the alliance at all," Koh clarified. "Sphinx wanted to make common cause with them so she sent me with a present. But we do have a contact here and she should be able to help us."

"Is this one alive?" Felt asked dryly.

"Probably," Koh said. "I mean, unless she's just been killed recently, she's still alive and she's an established merchant in the city."

"Who is she?" Garfiel asked.

"Sorry, buddy," Koh said ruefully. "Trade secret."

Garfiel and Felt shared a long look.

"How are you planning to make contact?" Felt asked a bit less abrasively.

"I think that I have enough skills to get work up in the city," Koh replied. "I hope. After that, it's just a matter of finding her."

"And then what?" Garfiel asked. "She helps us get our wagon back and then we sneak out of town in the middle of the night?"

"The middle of the night?" Koh asked incredulously. "The most dangerous time to be out in the desert? And we're wearing collars that will explode if we remove them and draw every Iotun in the goddamn area to us like flies to honey?"

"So, enlighten me, Koh!" Felt demanded. "What the hell is this 'contact' of yours going to do for us?"

"Well, for one thing, she might be able to help you find your friend," Koh pointed out. "For another, there's got to be some way to remove these damn collars. We just need to find it and I bet that she knows the answer or at least where to find the answer. Then we can make our escape. That's why you want the Alliance in your corner and that's why you want me."

Felt looked up at a sullen-faced Garfiel. "You know, fleabag," She grumbled. "I really hate it when he makes sense."