In the Shrouded Valley, within Fraoshieval:

  Nenda rested on a wooden seat, built specifically for her after she had taken control, as her crew went about their orders.

  The second-in-command, Kesen, as Nenda had found his name was, stood beside, watching the preparations in confusion.

  “Forgive me for asking, Chieftain, but what is the purpose of doing this?”

  “Please, I do not care for formal titles. Call me by my name, or something less exalting.” She said, “And as answer to your question, I am not content to stay here, as we are. I have grander desires for us. And to protect from the potential repercussions of my desires, we are leaving.”

  “What do you mean by grander desires?” He asked.

  “This is only the start of something much greater. I intend for us to become a formidable power across much of Fraoshieval.”

  “You want to have power? For what purpose? What would possess someone to challenge the chief of an outlaw crew for leadership?”

  “I have people I owe. And there are many in this country that are in similar places as the ones I owe, and I aim to assist them. I do not understand why it is, but I feel very strongly that doing this is my true goal.”

  He seemed troubled, but did not say anything further on the subject.

  The crew continued, packing up as many of their possessions as they could. By the time the sun was set, Nenda intended to be out of the Shrouded Valley entirely, retreating into the forests further away from the populated parts of the country.

  The sun was not yet to its peak, though Nenda was still impatient.

  She knew that it was incredibly unlikely that any threat would arrive on the day after she had taken over the crew, but despite that, a feeling of disquiet had crept its way into her thoughts, and would not be shaken.

  “What is it that you would be doing right now if I had not come here?” She asked Lanen.

  “We don’t do much of anything on a typical day, unless a caravan comes along the road nearby. We need the spoils for…” He cursed.

  “What is it?” Nenda asked.

  “Every so often, we get a representative from the Tezuna family. They demand their tribute, and we give it to them. Today was supposed to be the day of tribute.”

  “And you don’t have it.” She said, understanding.

  “No! We were collecting as much as we could to try to scrape by this time, but it wasn’t enough!” He said, beginning to pace. “Oh, we’re going to die.”

  The dark-haired champion, Dasang, looked in the distance along the path, seeing a figure far off.

  “We’ll just have to deal with him.” Nenda said.

  Kesen looked at her in incredulity. “Forgive me, but are you not from here?”

  “I’m not from this part of the country, no.”

  “It doesn’t matter which part you are from, you should have heard of the Tezuna. You must be from some backwater.”

  Dasang put his hand on Kesen’s shoulder, as if to tell him that he was going too far, and disrespecting his leader.

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  Kesen breathed in, and continued, slightly calmer this time. “The Tezuna family is the most feared in Fraoshieval, excepting perhaps the Warlord’s line. Even the Conclave has to give in to their demands, when they force it. They have too much power for you two to simply be able to deal with. And on top of that, the people they send to crews like mine, with Aether users, are always Aether users themselves. The one that comes here is fast, faster than any of us.”

  “Do you not have an ability as well?” She asked.

  “I do, but I’m not a fighter in any sense. My brother, the champion, is the strong one.”

  Brothers? This is interesting, and good to know. She addressed the brothers. “Three of us, even if one isn’t a fighter, should be able to catch someone unimportant enough to send to collect tribute near some backwater village, even if he is from a family like this.”

  Kesen frowned, but nodded, giving in to her decision.

  “By the way, when I gave you my reason for all of this, you seemed disturbed. What was it?”

  He shifted uncomfortably. “I… I only wondered what benefit you would be receiving in assisting them.”

  Nenda gave him a sidelong glance, and he clasped his hands uneasily.

  The family representative was near the camp, so Nenda stood, Kesen and his brother falling in behind.

  “Act as if I have not taken control here, as if nothing has changed. I will take advantage of his lack of knowledge.”

  “I understand.” Kesen said, and Nenda split from the two, creeping around the outskirts of the camp silently.

  The rest of her subordinates disappeared, each person moving away from the center with some false excuse. It was clear that they were all very nervous around a member of the Tezuna family, fearing for their lives.

  The Tezuna walked forward, meeting the brothers at the center of the camp.

  “What is this, Kesen?” She heard the man say. “You’re moving? Now, of all times? You aren’t trying to get out of your tribute, are you?”

  “Of course not. We would not dare cross the Tezuna.”

  “Good. I’m glad you know your place, scum. You should be honored to be chosen to gift those as storied and famed as we. Now, where is it?”

  “We don’t have it right here.” Kesen said.

  “Kesen, Kesen. You know that I don’t like being made to wait. You haven’t been late like this before. Don’t tell me you don’t even have it. Are you really that pathetic that you couldn’t scrounge up the slightest gift?”

  “We have it!” Kesen said. “And besides, the road’s gotten quiet. We don’t find anyone there anymore, so it’s getting harder to give you what you want.”

  “Give us what we want? Oh, Kesen. Do you still not remember? You gladly chose to give us everything you could, but our family’s grace made you decrease it so that you could keep surviving. And besides,” He said, laughing, “If you have trouble with scrounging up this slight amount, you’re even more incompetent than I thought!”

  Kesen gritted his teeth, but kept his pride in check and turned to lead the representative through.

  The man turned his back to Nenda, and walked along the path, his long black robe brushing the ground behind him as he moved.

  Nenda crept up behind them as the rest of the crew watched, giving the four a wide berth.

  The representative and the brothers made it to the center of the camp, where Nenda had been sitting, and the man of the Tezuna family smiled.

  “This is new. Has your ego inflated so much that you think you deserve something like this?” He said, pointing at the chair, taunting Kesen as Nenda rushed up behind him.

  Hearing or perhaps seeing something in the man’s face, the representative turned, noticing Nenda, as her sword began to cut.

  It sliced into his back, but a small knife he drew from his robe blocked it before it severed his spine.

  Shock registered on his face, and he ran, dodging the backhand followup strike that Nenda tried to end the encounter with.

  Dasang summoned his spirit, the glowing serpent, and it lashed out.

  The tribute-collector ducked, sprinting away as fast as he could.

  Kesen wasn’t wrong. This person is faster than either of the brothers, and he matches my speed, even as the pain immerses his body.

  Kesen drew his sword, and slashed it towards the running man. A slash materialized from midair, but the man rolled sideways, dodging the strike.

  “Damn. It probably wouldn’t hurt him too much anyway, but the fact that he could dodge isn’t good.” He muttered, but kept slashing.

  Nenda dashed forward, looking back at Dasang. “Hit me!” She yelled, and the serpent rushed towards her.

  It impacted her back as she braced herself, and the speed of the collision threw her body forward.

  She flew forward, overtaking the Tezuna quickly, and landed just ahead, raising her blade.

  The man barely escaped her slash, but as he turned to run again, a shallow cut appeared on the side of his body, and Nenda saw Kesen smile, blade outstretched towards the man.

  The short delay gave all of the opportunity needed, and the serpent collided with the Tezuna’s back.

  He stumbled forward, and Nenda’s sword cut, relieving the man of his head.

  The two brothers ran up to the scene, and Nenda looked down at what was once a proud member of one of the most powerful families in Fraoshieval.

  Kesen stared down at the body, the sudden death of a group he had been taught to idolize for years, a group he had thought was invincible, stunning him, leaving his mind blank.

  Dasang stared beside him, his impassive face giving away none of his feelings on the matter.

  Nenda cleaned her blade, and turned to the brothers.

  “There’s no returning from that. We are now compelled along the path that I had envisioned.” She said, and Kesen snapped out of his stupor.

  He turned to the group, which had silently gathered just outside of the camp to look at the scene.

  He stood silent for only a moment, before he found his words again.

  “Get to work, already! What are you standing around for? We killed the Tezuna, but that doesn’t mean we’re free! We don’t know when this man is expected back, and we need to be away from here long before the rest of his family shows up!”

  The outlaws rushed away, quickly working to complete their tasks, and Nenda looked up into the sky, at the sun, which was just now reaching its peak.