Makes sense, Daniel thought to himself as he came out of the trance. Like the third time he’d done this, there was less instinctual anger flaring from his oath bond, and instead he grew reflective. The gods had no doubt taken his meaning about Hunter having a soul beyond what he’d meant. Also, it helpfully confirmed that resurrection wasn’t in Hand’s domain if she with the power of a level 4 Proxy couldn’t do anything for level 2 Hunter.

  True enchanting, however, was a subject that had come out of nowhere. If he had managed to learn it over the course of a week, he was sure it wasn’t affecting him now, since most of his gains had come from working out the blast bow. It also didn’t make too much sense, Artificer-enchantment was already known as the most flexible out of what mortals could get. That Star expected it possible for him to learn, or at least comprehend, meant mortals should be able to do it. He could have also been thinking that Daniel’s Spoke would allow him access to it, but then again he was a never before seen human-Spoke hybrid.

  Ironically it was the revelation that the Crest’s primary danger was mana overflow that was the least immediately pressing, despite it being responsible for him unlocking the memories. All in all Daniel felt unsatisfied about what the memories had shown, though at least he knew one of the gods wasn’t a dick. Assuming Star was still around.

  Bottom line, the only immediately useful thing from the memory was seeing Star’s section of the pavilion. That had fallen more in line with the better-than-modern tech auditorium and given him more insight into the ruins, even if he still had no idea when they and the original pavilion Hammer had copied had been made.

  Putting those thoughts aside, Daniel listened to the outside and heard the team was still walking. Khare could leave their internal space open or closed, and while he didn’t know everything about how it worked, including where exactly the line was between Khare’s body and the hidden space, he at least knew that while it remained open, air was exchanged. Otherwise, he would have risked the same kind of suffocation he’d almost suffered from while getting into Aughal.

  He tapped on the vines around him a few times, and Khare got the message. The sounds of footsteps stopped, and he slowly began to exit. Daniel could tell by his map that they were close to where he thought the next rift was, and there was no telling whether the team was avoiding a nearby monster. Better give people a heads up instead of just bursting out and drawing a reaction.

  “Nearly there,” Daniel whispered as he exited, seeing that they weren’t missing anyone. “Good timing.”

  “Yeah, we’ve been taking it slow,” Shuni replied cautiously. She gestured to the hallway around them, which looked exactly like the ones they’d been struggling through before finding the first astral rift. “The lights cut out halfway to where we are now. Some interesting stuff in the rooms that were working, but nothing useful and none of us could read the language.”

  Daniel nodded. Part of him wanted to go back and explore more, but they were working against time. Speaking of, mission clock… about two and a half hours since we entered. Not the worst but I don’t know if Soraso will wait twice that long or not. He went from the brief interlude to inspect Tlara, who was standing by her sister and the shock runner. The Beastmaster had reclaimed her Focus from her sister, and had borrowed her stored lightning wings to wrap around herself. The thought reminded Daniel of something he’d wanted to do before the memory trigger had forced his hand. Well, two things.

  Upon his suggestion, they sheltered in a small set of rooms about as large as a two bedroom apartment, locking the door behind them. There didn’t appear to be any air vents for monsters to pop out of, and with Divination Aegis theoretically continuing to run interference, they should be safe. Daniel had to both start making more ammunition and explain why he’d isolated himself for so long, if not in whole than in part, but there was something he had to take care of first.

  “Tlara,” he said evenly, looking the Beastmaster in the eye. The, uh, better off one. It hit him in that moment that the last time he’d seen her in her true body had been after she’d Karen’d their way into Aughal and then split off. Months ago. Now she was a wreck of her former self, taking cover in one of the side rooms just larger than a closet with her sister rather than be with the majority in the main living space. In fact, it looked like he might have interrupted what she’d hoped would be a private conversation with Willow based on the look he was getting.

  The Beastmaster didn’t say anything, continuing to glare. It wasn’t as strong as it used to be, giving him more the impression of a cornered animal than one about to eviscerate you. “What is it Daniel?” Willow was forced to ask.

  Daniel detached one of his quite frankly too many bags of holding, checked that it was both the right one and only had what he wanted to give inside of it, and held it out to Tlara. “I made you some armor. You can keep the bag, too. I’m glad you’re alive,” he added at the end, though it played as if he’d reminded himself that he had to. She snatched it wordlessly, checking the contents before just returning to stare at him. Seeing her being so passive was strange, but he supposed she was recovering from an extreme-

  “Heard that pet of yours died,” Tlara said, beak finally parting to reveal it carried the same venom it always had. “The others too?”

  “Only Hunter died,” Daniel answered through freshly gritted teeth. Be nice. Be the better person. Don’t think about how quickly you could cut her throat if you went into Beast Mode. “We are going to find the others and get him back.”

  “Sure,” she shrugged. “When the fuck are we getting out of here?”

  “We’re going to clear another rift, and that will give us enough information to get to the entrance.” It was a fair question, he tried to remind himself. She probably hadn’t heard what he’d said to Shuni, and it wasn’t as if she could just wait five seconds for him to go over it with the rest of the team. Damn it. She’s getting to me again. He turned to Willow, hoping that she would be a moderating presence.

  Instead, he witnessed the betrayal of the ages as she stood up and walked past him. “I’ll check on the others. Let us know when you’re ready to start.”

  What the fuck? Daniel asked himself as he blankly watched her leave. He glanced back at Tlara and then quickly kept his back turned. “What are you doing?”

  “The fuck’s your problem? You gave me the armor. Not like there’s anything to look at,” she added bitterly. What he’d given her was the basic leather vest that most people on the team wore, which covered the torso and extended most of the way down the hips. Putting anything over the legs or arms was a bit complicated because of how stiff the material got after being enchanted, something Daniel was trying to work on, and in Tlara’s case arm armor would also impede her use of Grow Wings.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  It wasn’t exactly scandalous, then, that Tlara had stripped off the toga’d lightning wings and the remnants of what she’d been wearing underneath to put on the armor instead. The main difference in avianoid gender was solely below the belt, but Daniel found human sensibilities hard to ignore even if they didn’t apply. Also, there was her wound, which was frankly gross to look at. If she works like humans do, she might be missing intestine. Can normal healing fix that?

  He sighed and tried for a more diplomatic tone. “Now that you have your body back, I guess you and Willow don’t have any reason to come back to this place.”

  “Yeah, fuck that.” He turned his head slightly and heard her exasperation. “What, it’s not like this place traps you inside, tries to kill you with bullshit, and has nothing for me to dominate.”

  “And if Willow wants to come back?” Daniel asked. “She’s not going to be able to without your bond to protect her. She would have died already without it.”

  Tlara was silent for a few moments, though it might have been her finishing with the armor. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on with all of this. A year ago I was happy just breaking the minds of monsters and using them to beat the shit out of other ones. I was happy,” she repeated, more to herself. “Then you show up with all of your insanity. Figures the Thormundz was your fault in the first place.”

  “I didn’t ask for this,” Daniel replied tersely. He did turn around then so he could look Tlara in the eyes. “You know where I come from. I’d only been on this world for a week when we met, and out of everyone, you gave me the most hell.”

  “The most what?”

  “It doesn’t matter. All of that was because of what you thought Hunter was. Well, you were wrong. I thought, maybe, what you’d been through would give you some kind of perspective, but-“

  Tlara stood and jerked a finger at him. “Fuck you. Do you know how fucking selfish that is? ‘Gee Tlara, I hope the worst fucking experience of your life can at least make me happy’.” The air turned heavy as something in Tlara’s glare put him under pressure, though she either wasn’t using it fully or it was a weak ability. “Do you want an apology? To hear you were right? I’ve been through enough shit for this to be the first thing you try to pull.”

  “You’re not the only one suffering,” Daniel reminded her defensively, beginning to not care if they could be overheard by the others.

  “Really? You fucking say that?” Tlara gave him an incredulous look. “Our parents died! Not that I give a fuck where Mom’s rotting, Crest or the Astral. I’m pretty sure I heard that Cleric friend of yours lost family. Fuck, even the gestalt that’s somehow still tagging along lost their progeniwhatever.”

  “So?”

  Tlara opened her arms wide. “I’m only seeing one person putting on suicide missions for a lost fucking cause.”

  Daniel’s anger continued to flare and he took a step towards Tlara, though it seemed she had warmed from the conversation as well and didn’t back down when he did so. “Willow can still sense Hunter in the astral. We’re getting him back.”

  “And I’m sure that makes everyone else who doesn’t have that chance feel fucking great.”

  “Like we literally didn’t just bring you back? If I hadn’t done any of this, you’d either be running around as Spinner or dead if that pack had gotten to you.”

  “That’s not the fucking point!” Tlara’s hands shook and she clenched them to stop it, going so far as to slam one against the wall to vent her rising pique. “You’re acting all high and mighty, Mr. I’ve-Got-a-Spoke, like your life is the only one that matters. Fuck no, I’m not going to help you get that ringcat back and fuck you for even asking.”

  In some ways, Daniel knew she was right. He could blame the oath bond all he liked, but there had been times he’d acted uncharitably to the rest of the group. It was extremely hypocritical coming from the person who’d tried to flee the Thormundz the first chance she’d gotten, who was now wearing enchanted armor he’d just given her. He still wanted to bite back with something, comfortable in the knowledge that he could take her if the argument got physical, but it was the thought of doing that that cooled him slightly. “That’s a lot of words when you could have just said no.”

  “You’re the one who brought up Willow,” Tlara replied angrily.

  “I’m also the one who got her out of Aughal.” Daniel shook his head, abandoning that tack. He wouldn’t win an argument with Tlara by comparing merits. “It doesn’t matter. Who knows how long you’ll need to heal. It’d also be better for Willow to get experience fighting monsters her level, all she’s doing now is soaking experience from us.”

  “Yeah!” Tlara’s look turned confused for a moment as she found she had pounced on willing prey. “And what’s with that anyway? Do you have a thing for her or something?”

  “N-“ Daniel actually used a Moment to honestly consider the question before fully answering with absolute confidence. “No. I just care about my friends.”

  “Sure,” Tlara half laughed, unconvinced. “And you aren’t trying to get with that Rogue you first met out on the streets at night.”

  Trust Tlara to hone in on another of Daniel’s emotional weak points once he had covered the initial one. Not that there was anything there either, he just hated being reminded of Claire. “Why are we fighting?” he asked wearily, practically ceding the issue. “This is just wasting time.”

  “You’re the one who started this,” Tlara replied, a little bemused. “I just want to get the fuck out of here.”

  “I just thought-“ Daniel shook his head, dispelling whatever he was about to say. “Fine. Stay here or don’t, but, what are you doing?” He asked as Tlara suddenly walked up and patted him on the shoulder. For some reason, she was smiling.

  “Nothing. Fuck, but I think I needed that.” She sighed and looked down. The rage she’d been casting was gone like it was never there. “I guess after everything I have to be nice to Willow now.”

  “What about me?” Daniel complained.

  “Bring me back from the dead and we’ll talk.” She paused by the threshold and looked over her shoulder, having now fully reversed how the conversation had started. “Oh, and if I ever apologize to anyone, I’ll only fucking do it once, you got me?”

  “Don’t tell me that’s your apology.”

  “Nah,” Tlara said, still smiling. “I’ll wait til you’re both here and just do it at the same time.” She left Daniel to continue staring at the far wall in her wake.

  She’s a hypocritical asshole and a coward that lives off of conflict in the worst way, Daniel thought, collecting himself. But damn it if I can’t completely hate her. Neither could he get the image of her crying in Willow’s arms out of his head. Why couldn’t his mortal enemy have been that jerk Kahvin? At least he was completely unsympathetic.

  …

  “Sorry for keeping everyone waiting,” Daniel said awkwardly to the room at large, sure everyone had heard at least some of his conversation with Tlara. Definitely the shouted bits. Shuni was pointedly looking away from him and Daniel realized he hadn’t given Tlara an answer on that end.

  Ah hell, but it’d be awkward to bring that up now. “I know we’re all stressed and we won’t have a chance to relax until we’re out of here. Based on what my map says, we only have one more fight before I’ll know enough to get around any other potential danger. Before we leave, though, I know you’re owed answers. Like I said, I have a Spoke. I’m mostly cut off from it, but on occasions I feel connections to something, and if I focus on that, I can receive information from the Octyrrum.” Not entirely the truth, and he felt bad about spinning a lie, but he was keeping the entirety of the divine pavilion secret while Cloak’s mind wiping threat was still at play. It got the gist across.

  “As far as what we saw in the lectorum, it’s something I already knew about. I’ve seen one of them up close, and since we’ll be telling Soraso about it and the worst has already happened, I might as well tell you. The Octyrrum isn’t the only side with gods…”