A square piece of golden metal shined between Foruna’s fingers. The red-haired boy marveled.

  “No way, this bastard got a real golden rak!”

  The boy picked it up in a quick blow and ran away. Foruna enjoyed watching him run in circles like a child, laughing and jumping with the coin.

  “First time you see one?”

  “Hell yeah! I believed this golden rakon was just a story for kids.”

  He stopped running in the middle of doubt. He raised the coin in the light of day, studying it. The shape was about 1 centimeter square, with a 3-millimeter round hole in the center. Not sure how to visually ensure the quality of the metal, he quickly drew out a grayish metal knife and tried to scratch the golden material. The blade blunted.

  “Shit! That's real rakon! What are we going to do with this? That's huge! We could buy a house, and… and… almost anything.”

  He paused for a second, realizing what “anything” meant to him.

  “Oh… I have some brilliant ideas...”

  A creepy smile appeared on his face.

  “Yes, yes… I'm going to buy some nice time! Ha ha ha, so nice! Yeah, it's finally time to pamper myself a bit.”

  A maniacal laugh left his lips.

  “… I think one girl is not enough for a young hungry man… I need two!”

  His eyes shined. He was, after all, just a young boy discovering the world. He laughed at these beautiful moments to come.

  A dark-skinned hand took his dreams away in a flash. He abruptly returned to reality.

  Foruna had a serious expression on her face, judging such ideas a young man like him could have. She placed the coin back in her leather pouch and put her hand on his hair.

  “We have more important things to deal with before you waste our money on such a thing!”

  The boy looked terribly disappointed.

  “Ok, I’ll take only one…” he tried.

  Foruna smiled, putting an end to the bargaining.

  “I was thinking about something more sustainable for the Pebble.”

  The boy finally caught her feelings. He followed her gaze, stretching out toward the emerged lands over the ash.

  “You still want to start your own rock, don’t you?”

  The woman clutched the money pouch in her hand. The future looked amazing with a golden rak in your pocket. It allowed you to dream, to hope for better days. Building a new rock from scratch would require far more than a single golden rak. But that was a beginning. The first stone to the whole fortress.

  They spent a moment in the middle of the place, sharing ideas and details about their dreams. It was just two people laughing together. A moment of peace and friendship before the ash. And they enjoyed it as it was.

  Their laughter echoed on the wall. The six-meter-tall structure surrounded the whole city. Made of wood and white stone, it was an expensive and amazing defense against humans. Unfortunately, it was also a pretty weak protection against the dangers that were lurking in the ash. Finally, it was utterly useless against the ash itself. And despite all those weaknesses, this kind of luxury was a bare minimum to get the population through the seasons without too much trouble.

  Foruna sighed. She knew how expensive a single part of that structure was.

  They were at the city’s border. A large grassy road followed the inside of the walls, creating a space between the wall itself and the first houses of the city. This space was used as a large rest area for caravans. It usually was a place to meet, a place to share information and make preparations. The proximity to the walls allowed guards to keep an eye on the travelers during their stay. Because most of them were here for business as hunters or shopkeepers. But all were strangers.

  Right now, before the Ashing, it was a shelter for everyone that needed it... And was able to pay some raks, of course.

  During the Ashing, it was also the closest place to danger.

  Foruna glanced at the huge scratch protruding right through the wall. Discreet traces of shiny metal followed the cut. Only a rakodon could have done that. It was so deep that it could have been used to climb the wall itself.

  In the Floating Rock, the road was thinner than in other cities. Still allowing large carriages to move around, but not wide enough for effective long-range combat. This could only mean one thing. The leaders were, at best, unqualified. At worst, greedy enough to build more and more houses on the road, reducing year after year the space between the structures.

  She mocked silently. She had met the mayor and now had her own idea about it.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Along the wall, caravans prepared themselves to nest during the Ashing. In the shadow of the wall, the large wooden vehicles were aligned in perfect order. Her caravan was one of them. A cozy table and chairs were placed in front of the vehicle.

  She should have nested as well, but the mayor paid a golden rak. A mission she could not afford to refuse. Plus, this proud idiot wouldn't allow her to stay any longer in his city after the recent negotiations. Their conversations in the tavern were too intense to be left behind.

  She sighed.

  Damn it, her Pebble needed that money.

  Times were hard. And the Ashing was already coming.

  You could understand it just by looking at the people here. Slowly but surely, travelers were storing food, furs, and goods, making sure they did not miss a vital resource. Because everything would soon become expensive and hard to get. Because the doors would close for an entire month. Because people would lock their doors, securing their families and supplies. Because the ash would kill every unprepared human, or anyone foolish enough to challenge the ash during that period.

  And just because she judged that the opportunity was too important to be left, her Pebble was about to challenge it. Wonderful.

  ‘Who was greedy now...’ she thought.

  One more mission and they could relax for a bit.

  She sat at their table and took her hunting knife to cut the shell of a reddish fruit. She threw a piece to Garan that caught it in a blow and bit into the tender flesh.

  ‘Everything’s going to be fine.’ she reassured herself.

  She would make sure it went well.

  She bit into the fruit and saw a skinny girl heading toward them. Her deep black hair contrasted with her pale skin. From the distance, you could easily confuse her with a child, but what made her recognizable from far away was her blood-red chasuble of the medics.

  “Mom’s home,” said the boy with a smile.

  The tiny woman stopped at the table, lowered the hood of her cotton dress, and sat onto the closest log, dead tired.

  “Aaaaah… I can’t move anymore,” she moaned. “Why is everyone here sick or hurt...”

  “Oh oh!” exclaimed the boy. “Sounds like you found some clients!”

  “I’m done for today...” she sighed.

  Garan let the girl recover for a moment, until he could hold it no longer.

  “Guess what, Mom! Foruna got a dive for us! We leave today!”

  “Don’t call me Mom! You monkey!”

  The girl froze.

  “Hu? A dive?! This late in the season?”

  Foruna cleared her throat.

  “Well… Uh… The client has been very nice and comprehensive… So uh… He offered one golden rak!”

  “No way!” exclaimed the woman.

  Her astonishment quickly gave way to concern.

  “But… Can we make it before the Ashing?” she worried.

  Foruna smiled.

  “It’s fine, Vetz,” reassured the warrior. “It’s the same rock we planned to go to next Blooming. We just have to go a bit earlier than planned. An opportunity, if you ask me!”

  Vetz rubbed her eyes.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe we should stay on this rock and let the tide pass… Rushing to another one feels a bit like a mistake.”

  “About this...” commented Foruna, scratching the back of her head. “I might have been a bit hard on the mayor. Not sure…”

  Vetz opened her tired eyes right onto the huntress. The warrior was sitting on a log, standing stiff as a board, smiling way too much. Not a real smile. A “sorry” smile.

  “What did you do?” asked Vetz with a cold and hopeless voice.

  Foruna, embarrassed, felt like walking on eggshells.

  Fortunately, two guards interrupted them. They were bringing a carriage with a small shipment.

  “Five barrels of hydromel,” spat the first one. “As you ‘asked’, miss bearer...”

  “Did you say ‘hydromel’?” exclaimed Garan.

  He jumped on the cart.

  “No way! Is it for us? Huuuu, you kidding me, Foruna! That’s very kind… I… I won't forget it! I swear.”

  He opened a barrel and got the smell of it.

  “Aaaw, delicious. Don’t be mad, big boys, we will carry it with all the respect it deserves…”

  Garan stopped in the middle of his sentence.

  “What the hell do you have on your face?”

  He took a better angle of the guard’s face. This poor man had probably been beaten by some terrible creature.

  “Mister, your nose is… I mean, it’s not in the correct place right now.”

  Foruna cleared her throat.

  “Wow, that looks painful,” continued Garan. “I mean, you took it straight! Ouch. That’s very bad looking. You should definitely do something about it.”

  Foruna cleared her throat loudly.

  “Oh god, you look terrible. No offense. It’s just not natural to get that curve on your nose. You should do something about it, quickly. If you don't, you're going to stay disfigured your entire life. Ah, it’s probably too late now…”

  “Shut up!” strongly commanded Foruna, embarrassed. “Get that mead in our caravan instead of mocking people, you little monkey!”

  The boy moaned, but did the job.

  “I’m just helping! He should do something about this,” he said with wide gestures.

  Foruna turned to face the guard from her seat.

  “I apologize, he is absolutely adorable... most of the time…”

  Foruna recoiled slightly. She had recognized him. The young guard from the tavern… Of course. And he was in a really bad mood.

  He glared at her, anger in his eyes.

  “You'd better shut your monkey’s mouth!” he spat. “You don’t even see the truth, do you? The mayor just saved your meaningless life this morning.”

  He spat on the floor.

  “And you push it to get hydromel?! Are you stupid, playing with your own life? Fucking bearers. We were about to kill you in that shitty tavern!”

  Foruna frowned, glancing at his nose. It was bad looking, indeed.

  “I’m sorry, mister. Don’t take it personally. I was dealing with your rock and you were in my way.”

  The guard stepped in, getting way too close. He towered over her, standing near the table.

  “Fine. Happy to serve, but, see, I want a favor in return.”

  He looked at her body with interest.

  “And I’m sure you’re a reasonable woman.”

  Slowly, he extended a hand and pulled on her shirt lace, revealing her cleavage.

  Foruna looked up at him from her seat, full of disdain.

  “I warn you, mister, you don't have what it takes to handle me.”