-Callen-

  I eventually manage to get some rest before the next day. Getting up, I met up with Sis and our companions and began organizing for our trip to continue. There were only a couple tasks we needed to get done, mainly restocking arrows for Callia and hiring a larger ship with space for Sis and me to wait inside. Since Callia now had the Divine Trace, she wouldn’t be able to expose herself while we travelled, much like how I had to stay in the cabin for our first attempt at river travel. Thankfully, this city had a significantly larger port and plenty of options to choose from.

  After the attack we were more or less confined to the manor until reports came back from the subsequent investigations, but getting a spot reserved on a departing ship was easy enough with a request to some of the manor staff. Now it was only the question of if we can get a couple samples of the fast-growing plants for Nightshade. I had given up on my plan to offer transportation services to a merchant since it would risk revealing our route to whoever the “Dark Lady” was.

  Turns out my requests weren’t anything special, and plants are often taken from more successful cities and sent to smaller settlements to support development. Nox City in particular had more success than usual with this set. All it took was a somewhat hefty sum of money by normal standards that we had more than plenty of. Meanwhile, the younger butler reserved a ship that was scheduled to leave in two days, plenty of time for the city to sort out yesterday's mess. At least that’s what I thought until I was called over to meet with a grim-faced Reginald.

  “It seems whoever this dark lady is, she anticipated a failure at the gate.” I waited patiently while Reginald seemed to struggle to put together the words. Eventually he pushed forward a note. I freeze as I recognize the handwriting. Lexia rarely wrote anything, but on rare occasions she would leave a message scrawled into the side of a tree letting us know when she left to hunt. There were clear differences, but with my experience finding issues in runes, I was easily able to recognize it.

  “You believe you escaped by chance; however, everything that happened has been in accordance with my intent. We now have Jasmine Nox; she is relatively unharmed, but that will only remain so depending on your response to my demands. They are simple: from now on at noon Callen will travel to the East gate. He will stand on the gate and fill a jar waiting for him with his blood. Every jar provided will grant Jasmine another day of safety. The south is off limits.”

  Setting the note down, I shared the grim outlook that Reginald had. Jasmine had been a bit of a spoiled brat at times, but I didn’t want her to get caught up in the mess between us and Lexia. I slowly looked up to Reginald and sighed. With his family caught in this mess, he deserved to know everything we did about Lexia and her purpose. The only detail I kept to myself was Divine Trace. I still didn’t know how a noble would react to something like that, but that did leave Lexia’s motive missing. Which meant now Reginald thought his sister was abducted by some psycho cannibal that’s as strong as Callia and I fighting together.

  Looking back at the note while Reginald tried to figure out what to do, I came to several conclusions. First Lexia had Jasmine, and it was likely she wasn’t hurt. Second, she wouldn’t be able to hide Jasmine for long since Callia was here. There was also no mention of hurting Jasmine if we try retrieving her, only if no blood is provided. The south being off limits meant that's where she or Freema would be hiding while we retrieved Jasmine. Going south would break the rules, which meant it was a game of keep away with Callia; Lexia would use her criminals to delay us while she got paid in blood. Of course my assumptions could be completely off point, but this was the circumstance that made the most sense to me.

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  I reached through my bond to Callia, having her check on Jasmine’s location with instinct tracking. She was in the north a short distance into the forest. Then I ask for Freema’s location and get confirmation to the south. At this point Lord Nox entered the room and watched me while making a comment of his own.

  “Do you expect this girl to hold her end of this deal? It seems ambiguous and ripe with hidden meaning that your story still lacks context for.” He watched me carefully while I gave my reply.

  “From what I can understand, it’s a game. The Lexia we thought we knew liked fighting, but from this letter it's clear her priority is blood. The key point is my sister’s ability to track from a distance, only requiring familiarity with the target. Lexia knows she can't hide and can't overpower you, my Lord, so instead she set rules to a game. Every day a jar of blood in exchange Sis can lead us in recovering Jasmine without threat of harm to her. The rules we need to follow are to pay the jar and not to target Lexia while she waits in the south. Once we get Jasmine, Lexia likely intends to leave everything behind. After all, if she can take over a criminal underworld in just a week, she doesn’t need anything they could give her.” My explanation comes to an end, and both Noxs look somewhat relieved.

  “What does she want with your blood?” I feel the weight of some kind of skill pressing me to answer promptly. I struggle for a moment but push back enough against it to let out a partial answer.

  “I have a trait that draws in predators. I think her mindset has caused some kind of fixation.” With that, the weight lifts, and the older Nox leaves satisfied with my answer. Reginald and I follow behind as servants set about assembling a team of knights. Reginald quietly apologizes to me for his father's forcefulness in the matter. Jasmine is very similar to her mother, whom Lord Nox misses dearly, and her getting caught up in this left him with no patience.

  Sis showed up fully geared up and left for the north with three knights in support. I would’ve called it overkill, but now that Reginald mentioned his father’s mood, it was abundantly clear with the stiffness in his previously friendly and expressive face. While Sis left with the knights, I moved with Lord Nox to the east gate, where a jar sat. Giving Lexia more was probably a bad idea, but we didn’t have any other option. I cut a slit in my wrist and carefully directed my blood into the jar. It was about the size of a cup of water, so it didn’t take too long to fill up. I sealed the jar with the nearby lid and couldn’t help but feel frustrated that Lexia was getting exactly what she wanted. Still, with the task done, we went back to the mansion. I finished up preparations for our departure and got to work making some new special arrows for Sis. Everyone else awaited Callia’s return with bated breath.

  Lilia’s plan

  Lilia looked at the girl looking up at her in defiance. Then she glanced at the well-dressed casino boss, who nervously presented his prize.

  “Well, boss, I know you wanted us to get the boy, but the whole plan went to shit when the gatehouse defenses started gettin all screwy. Luckily the distraction for the escape went off without a hitch. Me and the boys couldn’t just come back empty-handed, so we ran down the runaways.”

  Lilia looked back at the girl unable to comprehend why she was brought here. She had no plans on antagonizing the city's lord beyond what was necessary to satisfy her craving. Now she was hearing about this idiot's grand plan to abduct Callen instead of just getting the blood like she ordered. It likely was only a matter of time until Callia tracked Jasmine back to her base, so she needed a new plan and fast.

  Looking back at the idiot smiling hopefully at her, she decided then and there it was time to run. At the back of her mind a whisper echoed with an idea that at first felt ridiculous but also viable. Grabbing a spare parchment, she scrawled out a quick note and gave it to the man to have delivered to the lord. While he was busy arranging that, Lilia gathered her best and craziest goons and gave them strict orders: they were to go into the northern forest with Jasmine and use her as bait. They weren’t to harm the girl under any circumstances and were only to return after Lilia sent a messenger to retrieve them.

  With that done, she left her hideout and retrieved Freema from the dojo that had been training her while they were in the city. Freema seemed to switch between excessive focus on her mission and excessive focus on training, so distracting her with a few weeks of guided training was easy enough. However, now that the lord was undoubtedly pissed off there would be no staying in this city. Together they left the city and waited in a smuggler's hideout in the south, waiting for her agent with the jar to show up. Her organization completely lacked the kind of discipline necessary for the confusing ‘game’ she set up with Callen, but getting even one jar would be a win for her.

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