Even without shards, the ground was ruined. A crater had formed where most of the training was happening, which Zezog almost seemed happy about. As far as Owin could see, no crops were destroyed, and the house and barn were unharmed.

  What had been most impressive was Althowin’s nearly limitless supply of health potions, which she only used on Owin. Duel after duel ended with Owin unconscious or with his face pressed into the dirt.

  They stood in the wide crater with a line drawn through the middle. He could move anywhere, as long as he didn’t cross the line. Zezog would simply stand at the line and block every meaningful attack Owin threw his way.

  Althowin had repositioned herself to the edge of the crater to watch. She sat on the ledge and continued eating snacks even as dirt and wind whipped through the area.

  Owin cast Smoke Cloud to confuse Zezog and dashed through the smoke with the Incandescent Blade in hand. The berserker’s single-edged sword cut through the smoke, immediately dispersing the weak spell. Owin still tried to take the opening and ignited the blade. He swung as hard as he could, and Zezog’s sword still somehow appeared right before contact.

  Both swords rang as their edges clashed. Owin pushed for a second before Zezog’s strength was too much. He slipped to the side and tried to follow up another swing, which was deflected by Zezog’s open hand.

  Even as short as he was compared to the berserker, Owin felt like Zezog was directly in his face. Everything he did was countered.

  Despite losing every fight, Owin was moving a little faster, dodging more attacks, and even managing to stand his ground and block the world-shattering swings from a 7 Shard Hero.

  Owin dodged, pivoted, and swung. The Incandescent Blade was knocked from his hands. He ducked under the rest of Zezog’s swing and finally jumped. A fist smashed into his face, throwing him straight back to the ground.

  “Again,” Zezog said. “Keep your feet on the ground.”

  ***

  Vondaire hadn’t intended to go to Nagyati, but he had to satiate his own curiosity. Like any reasonable person, he tried to avoid going to Vekuborg as often as possible, but it was far from his first time visiting the country or the city.

  Egnatia had gone through a portal to the Golden Bull’s home rather than back to Graisetus. It could imply a closer tie between the Golden Bulls and Magna Regum than he had originally assumed, or Egnatia was somehow aware of his following and was trying to confuse him.

  It seemed unlikely. Egnatia was incredibly talented, and somewhat terrifying, but particularly intelligent wasn’t one of the descriptions Vondaire felt inclined to give.

  Unfortunately, when he arrived, she was nowhere to be seen. She hadn’t gone in the portal that long before him, but she had still managed to vanish. He had ways to find her, even in a massive city. Before he relied on any of those measures, there was plenty else to investigate. What were the Golden Bulls doing after their leader’s death? Who led them now?

  Vondaire cloaked himself and teleported out of the portal circle. The fewer checkpoints and eyes on him, the better. Nobody needed to know who he was or what he had been doing. That included Althowin and Chorsay. The less everyone knew, the better. He would keep his promises, of course, but that didn’t mean he was going to be their friend.

  Nagyati was an old city that kept a lot of its ancient charm, compared to places like Vraxridge, Oriathria, and Atrevaar that modernized. Some newer buildings stood out amongst the old, painted roofs and grand spirals. Too much of it was gold, but what else could be expected?

  He caught a few glances thrown his direction from the portal guards and some nearby Golden Bulls. Soldiers, most likely, simply hearing his faint footsteps. They didn’t know if anyone was actually there or if they were just imagining things.

  The Golden Bulls were near the river, so Vondaire headed in that direction. He could sight see, to a degree, as he walked. It gave him an opportunity to clear his mind. A lot had happened in a short time, and he was far from accustomed to being ignorant of what was happening in the grander scheme.

  Even if Althowin wasn’t going to pursue learning more about whatever was happening, he was going to uncover as much as possible. If needed, he would pass on information to Chorsay. Just enough to keep Owin safe, as promised.

  Vondaire was nobody’s spy. Not anymore. Nobody controlled him.

  Wide cement paths ran parallel to the river with a metal railing in place to stop any idiots from plummeting thirty feet to the dark water. Vondaire suspected that the railing was only partially successful because stupid people often found unique ways of hurting themselves.

  He enjoyed walking around while invisible. The spectral umbra branch made his connection with his surroundings fragmented at times. Even now, as the wind blew along the river, he felt nothing. Any stenches of rotting fish or algae infestations never reached him. Spectral magic covered him like a shield. Elemental magic could cut through it with ease, though the wind itself carried nothing of the sort. He was untouchable outside the dungeons, as long as he avoided any Shard He—

  Vondaire stopped.

  A woman leaned on the railing just ahead, staring into the dark water below. She looked as if she was contemplating jumping down, likely head first. Not that it would do anything. Not to a Shard Hero.

  Vondaire materialized. “Sofia Halaby.”

  The rat woman looked over. She pulled a burning cigar from her mouth and exhaled smoke. “Who are you?” An index appeared over her eyes. “Vondaire Faikel? Never heard of you.”

  “I’ve heard of you,” Vondaire said. He approached slowly, carefully eyeing her backpack. She had a weapon tucked into a holder on her waist, connected to the lava-filled pack. It all seemed incredibly dangerous, even for the wielder, but Vondaire wasn’t a wizard and he had no connection to the claverstan, so what did he really know about it?

  “Do you want something?” she asked before turning back to stare into the river. Her cigar smelled horrible.

  “No. I was simply surprised to find an unaffiliated Shard Hero here.” Vondaire stopped and leaned on the railing a dozen feet away. The river was polluted. Uncloaking had already allowed the rancid smell to reach him, and now leaning over the railing brought a fresh, stronger wave.

  “Wait.” Sofia pulled the cigar from her mouth and reopened her index. She looked closely at Vondaire. “Nimble Hog? You’re with the goblin.”

  “A rather simple way of stating it.”

  Sofia pulled the weapon from her waist and pointed. Vondaire wasn’t sure what exactly it did, but he assumed being on the other end of it was dangerous. If nothing else, he would treat it as a wand.

  “Are you an enemy of Owin?” Vondaire said. He hadn’t moved from his position. If it came down to it, he could move faster than she could attack. At least until she activated all of her shards.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “All of Verdantallis is an enemy of the goblin.”

  “I would like to disagree. Plenty of people are on his side, and even more don’t care. A majority of people in Verdantallis would tell you they have no interest in what the goblin is doing. It doesn't impact them now and it still won’t in the future.”

  Sofia didn’t flinch. Smoke drifted from the cigar between her teeth. Her huge rat ears stuck out almost comically from underneath a racoon skin hat. The longer Vondaire looked at her, the less intimidating she looked. Her half-rat, half-human face was bizarre, but not necessarily scary.

  “Why are you in Nagyati?” Vondaire asked.

  “Why are you?”

  A fair question. Back in his days working for Taralim, one of the main things they discussed was how to acquire information. One had to either threaten a life, and mean it, or earn trust. There were rarely other ways to manage that type of situation. He had found alternatives before, but they were complicated and usually required prior planning or extreme violence.

  He couldn’t threaten Sofia’s life, even if he wanted to, so his only choice was to establish trust. Real trust.

  “I was attempting to follow Egnatia Lucan after she had been in Vraxridge in an attempt to spy on Owin. She was thwarted by Althowin Alegarra, but she was unphased and that piqued my curiosity. I was walking invisibly through the city toward the Golden Bull headquarters when I spotted you.” Vondaire stood upright and stared straight at Sofia.

  The Rat stared back for a long moment, letting smoke slowly drift from the end of her cigar. Her backpack shifted and hissed, releasing steam. She holstered her weapon. “Egnatia fought Althowin and lived?”

  “Not exactly. I wouldn’t call it a fight.”

  “What do you want?”

  “My curiosity brought me to Nagyati, and now it has led me to converse with you. I am simply trying to learn what’s happening.”

  “For the goblin?”

  “More myself.”

  Sofia pulled the cigar from her mouth and crushed it in her hand. With her claverstan fusion, she likely had an immunity to fire. Or so Vondaire assumed with her lack of a reaction.

  “Who are the Nimble Hogs?”

  “A group of nobodies. That’s kind of their whole thing.” Vondaire adjusted his sleeves. “I joined out of convenience when I left the Unity Force.”

  Sofia looked over her shoulder, then into the city of her right. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  “Why not?”

  Sofia stepped closer. She moved fast for a wizard, closing the dozen feet in what looked like a single step. “The Three Heads have gathered Shard Heroes.”

  “For what purpose?”

  “To kill Althowin and maybe the goblin, if necessary.”

  “The Three Heads and who else?”

  “Egnatia, Voolyn, Zevvrin, me, and Kikuno. You need to warn Althowin. I can’t stop them.”

  Vondaire took a moment to let his heart settle. “Why tell me?” This seemed sudden. A turn? Was it an opportunity to get another powerful hero on the side of the Hogs? Vondaire shook the thought from his head. He didn’t care who was on which side. He didn’t need to be involved more than he already was. Keeping his promise was simple, if he made it simple.

  “As far as I’ve seen, the goblin hasn’t done anything illegal. People are just scared, but look at me. I look scary too. If he’s more dangerous than Shard Heroes, I’ll help fight him. But . . . hunting him just because of what he could be is stupid.”

  “You’re still here.”

  “It’s not exactly a choice. They know he’s coming to the Fortress Dungeon next. I was told to be here to help fight Althowin if she escorts him.” Sofia pulled off her hat and vigorously scratched at the gray hair underneath. “I’m just trying to keep myself alive.”

  “As you should. You could leave Nagyati.”

  “I have to meet with Olena tonight. If I left now, they’d just send Kikuno after me. I know how it works.”

  There it was. Vondaire knew he was missing something. How would an unaffiliated Shard Hero get tied into such a mess? A number of possibilities had been floating about, waiting for him to pin one down. It wasn’t obvious right away. Vondaire knew as well as anyone that a person could easily end up in a situation they’d rather not be in because of external circumstances. But that wasn’t Sofia’s issue.

  “You’re a bounty hunter.”

  She scratched her weird rat nose. “Gotta do what I was paid for.”

  “Which is to kill Owin?”

  “No, actually.” She rested her hand back on the weapon at her hip, but she didn’t draw it. “I have a few days before I can go if things stay slow. If nobody shows up, like if you tell Althowin to stay away, I can go home and not renew this contract.”

  Vondaire looked back over the railing at the dark water. There was more he was missing. How would he just have a chance meeting with a 3 Shard Hero? And one who had been hired to oppose Althowin and Owin?

  “Why are you here?”

  “Uh.” She adjusted her hat and pulled a new cigar from a pocket on her chest. “Didn’t we just go over that?”

  “No. Here.” Vondaire pointed at the walkway. “This spot in all of Nagyati.”

  “Isaak told me to.”

  Vondaire vanished. He felt the spectral, ethereal mist swirl around him as he reappeared on the opposite side of the river. In the brief moment of his teleportation, Sofia had already drawn and powered up her weapon. It glowed as molten rock flowed through.

  “You fucking coward,” Egnatia said. The Demon Killer stood with the biggest person Vondaire had ever seen, and that was saying something when he had spent so much time with Chorsay.

  Sofia looked around, spotted Vondaire, then turned back to Egnatia. “Who are you talking to?”

  “You. Isaak was right. A spy can’t resist. I knew you’d follow me, Vondaire.” Egnatia left the giant, walking out of the dark alley she had been hiding in.

  Damn soldier hearing.

  Egnatia looked right at Vondaire. Even across the river, he could see the hard look in her eyes. “I thought you were smarter.”

  “I would listen to that critique if Althowin hadn’t just sent you flying through Vraxridge.” Vondaire adjusted his collar and smoothed out his jacket as the spectral energy surrounding him faded.

  “Funny.”

  If she wanted, she could close the distance quickly. Vondaire was fairly certain he would still be faster, but with all her shards activated, she might outspeed him in a few instances. It was better not to find out.

  The giant still loomed in the back. He wore golden chainmail and little else at the moment. There was only one person that could be.

  “Why are you spending time with a stalled hero?” Vondaire asked with his voice loud enough for Voolyn to hear easily. “Are you realizing you should find similar company to yourself?”

  Two sets of glares.

  Vondaire sighed dramatically. “It’s been an eventful day. I suppose I should head home.”

  “I’m not letting either of you go,” Egnatia said.

  Steam hissed from Sofia’s backpack as it shifted, morphing into a more compact shape. The bottom half dropped, forming into a sphere that bounced off the ground. Two antennae popped out the top as a window of molten rock appeared on the front.

  “Stop, Sofia,” someone new said. The voice was surprisingly high-pitched and accented. It was a voice Vondaire had never heard, and in this situation, that could only be bad news.

  A man had appeared not far from Vondaire. He wore a mustard colored suit and round, silver glasses. His mustache and hair were fiery red. The hair reminded Vondaire of Owin with how tall and pointy it was.

  He was barely five and half feet tall, and normally wouldn’t have been intimidating. Potions hung from his belt and a backpack kind of like Sofia’s shifted on his back, spurting out colorful smoke. He held a jeweled wand in one hand, which was currently pointed at Vondaire.

  It wasn’t just bad news. It was impossibly bad.

  “Oh, Isaak,” Sofia said. Whatever had dropped beside her rolled a bit, let out steam, and waited at her side.

  “Did you hear what she said?” Egnatia shouted, which was unnecessary with how easily her voice carried over the river.

  “We can discuss this later. Vondaire, you are hereby executed by the authority of the Three Headed Hero Company.”

  “Authority?” A spectral kunai appeared in each hand. He kept his grip loose, ready to slash, stab, or throw.

  Isaak Agapov was a wizard. His wand would still work if his mana was burned away, but the rest of his spells would be locked away. All Vondaire needed to do was get close.

  Vondaire’s breath caught as energy rushed into the air. All four shards rapidly lifted from Isaak’s shoulder. The others across the river took the cue and lifted their own. Vondaire cloaked and teleported at the same time. A massive spike of ice passed through the faint spectral energy that had remained.

  He needed Althowin. He needed to get to Vraxridge.

  Isaak turned with lights flashing in his goggles.

  “There,” Egnatia shouted, pointing directly at Vondaire.

  Damn soldier hearing.