Mordred rifled through his cards as they walked. His mind wasn’t with his body. It still lingered on the events of the previous day. He’d gotten so many answers. So many new questions. The more he learned, the more he realized just how little he knew.

  Lee was unlike any creature he’d met before. But that was every creature. None was the same as another. All beings were special. Some were just a little more special than others… and Lee was a lot more special.

  There was no way he could allow himself to move on without exhausting his research. An opportunity like this only came a few times in one’s life. There would be no forgiveness if he didn’t complete his studies.

  He would be more prepared the next time his path crossed with Lee’s. And their paths would cross again. Soon. Mordred was certain of it. His frown curled into an eager grin. A demon as relatively low rank as Lee… she’d been able to inflict him with enough soul damage to force the use of a mending potion.

  Only the gods knew what she’d be capable of when she grew stronger. The mere idea of it sent shivers down Mordred’s back. Lee was proof of evolution within demon-kind. Perhaps she was the first of her kind, or perhaps she was one of many that had managed to remain hidden up until today.

  He had no idea which one it was… but Mordered would be damned if he didn’t find out.

  “Boss, could you stop doing that?” Fist asked. “It’s really creepy.”

  “Doing what?” Modred asked, rifling his cards back together and glancing over at her. “I’m not acting any different than normal.”

  “No,” Ace deadpanned. “You aren’t.”

  Mordred’s eyes narrowed. He wrapped his deck of cards in a strap of oiled leather before sliding it back into his pocket. “I don’t appreciate your implication. The mortal mind finds oddity in what it cannot properly appreciate.”

  “The mortal mind finds oddity in people that leer at the air,” Fist said.

  “I am not leering. I am anticipating my future successes. Ones which, I remind you, will affect all of us. Just think of it.”

  “I’m thinking of it right now,” Ace said with a dreamy sigh. “A good bed. Money. Not being out on a mission that should have ended weeks ago because we decided to fiddle about instead of actually doing our job.”

  Mordred leveled a glare at Ace. “I’ll remind you that this is our job. The desires of the Coral Empire come secondary to our true purpose. The vast majority of the Empire care for nothing other than their own power. They see no value in the true service I provide. But I care not for their appreciation or care. I am naught but a visionary.”

  “Right,” Fist said. “So are we going to pick up the pace? I’m still not sure why it is you’re making us walk when we have a dozen different, faster methods of transportation. We’re never going to catch up to Lee at this rate.”

  “It is very difficult to ponder whilst flying,” Mordred informed Fist. “You know this. My cards would go everywhere.”

  “Couldn’t have that,” Ace said.

  “Couldn’t have that,” Mordred agreed. He adjusted his fur coat. “Not at all. That would be quite the disaster. We must be intentional. Focused. Tell me, Fist — why is it that Lee ran?”

  “Because you were leering at her,” Fist said.

  “Wrong!” Mordred barked. He paused for a moment. “I think. I’m fairly sure — oh, no matter. Perhaps that did play some factor in it. But that was not the core reason. Shortly before she ran, her head tilted to the side. You saw it, yes?”

  “She was sniffing the air,” Ace said. “Maybe you forgot to take a shower.”

  “There’s more to it than that.” Mordred shook his head. “That demon’s sense of smell is incredible. She was able to keep tabs on us the whole time we were tracking her. There’s no way it took her that long to smell me. No, something else happened. She noticed something.”

  “An enemy?” Fist guessed.

  “Possibly. But that doesn’t seem likely to me.” Mordred rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “She didn’t look scared or angry. There wasn’t much time to tell exactly what she was thinking, but if anything, she seemed excited.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “What, you think her buddy showed up or something?” Ace asked.

  “I believe that may very well be the case. She was in the mountains for quite some time,” Mordred said with a nod. “But now her traces lead out of them. The most likely reason is that she noticed the scent of an ally.”

  “Another unique demon?” Fist blinked. “You think they’re traveling together?”

  Mordred’s smile returned. “I don’t know. But I plan to find out. Pondering time is over, my friends. Get your flying swords. We have a demon to track.”

  “Sure thing,” Ace said. He paused, then tilted his head to the side. “Just one question.”

  “Yes?” Mordred asked, shuffling around with the wide blade on his back as he attempted to unstrap it without accidentally bending the cards in his pocket. The back-strap really wasn’t all that convenient.

  “Who’s that?”

  Mordred looked up.

  A figure clad in tattered gray cloth stood a few dozen paces from them. It was difficult to make out more detail than that. Their entire body was completely covered in the tattered gray straps. Even the top of their head had been obscured, covered by straps of darkened leather that hung around their features in an imitation of hair.

  The figure was a little shorter than average. They had a relatively thin build that nobody could have said to be uncommon. Their relatively normal form was made all the more apparent by the enormous weapon strapped to their back.

  It was hard to say exactly what it was, though it vaguely resembled an incredibly unwieldy sword. The whole thing was completely wrapped in plain white cloth from tip to tip. Its hilt stuck more than two feet above the figure’s head and its end was only inches away from the ground — and it was set at an angle.

  If it had been stuck upright, the weapon would have been so big that it dug into the ground and made it completely impossible to move.

  Mordred’s eyes narrowed.

  The figure was well within his domain, but he couldn’t sense so much as a sliver of their presence. But that wasn’t to say the figure was missing. Normally, when a soul was shaped, there were abnormalities. Subtle changes in the world around them that marked where they had warped themselves.

  This individual had none of them. Their presence may as well have been a hallucination. Save for the information Mordred’s vision gave him, there was no way at all to detect the stranger.

  A long second passed. None of them moved. There was no doubt that the bandaged figure was looking in their direction. They simply weren’t speaking or making any moves to get closer.

  “I can’t sense them,” Ace muttered. “What kind of soul shaping technique are they using? Is it another demon?”

  “No,” Mordred said warily. “I don’t believe it is.”

  “Human?” Fist asked.

  “I’m not so sure,” Mordred replied. “Guard up. Don’t overextend. I’ve never seen someone with such an intense level of control over their soul. There’s a chance that this is Lee’s ally, and they might not be—”

  The figure vanished.

  Mordred blinked.

  Then they were standing six feet away from him. There had been no sound. No magical shift. No warning whatsoever. The figure had simply shifted forward as if they’d been standing there the entire time.

  Mordred’s eyes widened.

  What?

  Ace and Fist both flinched back with surprised curses.

  Mordred reached for his runes.

  “Don’t.” The figure’s voice was raspy and muted. It was impossible to place their gender — or anything else about them, for that matter. They didn’t even reach for the huge weapon at their back.

  Did they know I was going for my runes? That can’t be possible. Perhaps it was an educated guess. Shaping your soul to such an extent should prevent you from sensing anything at all, much less something so minor.

  “Who are you?” Mordred asked, his heart pounding in his chest. He wasn’t quite sure if it was from excitement or fear yet. Two encounters like this in such a short span of time was unheard of. “What are you?”

  The figure didn’t respond. They just stood silently. Mordred couldn’t even tell if they were staring at them. Bandages covered every single part of their face including their eyes and mouth, leaving behind absolutely nothing that could be used as an identifying factor.

  Several long seconds dragged by.

  Nobody moved.

  “Boss?” Ace asked.

  “Wait,” Mordred said, not even daring to lift his hand and break the uneasy stillness. He kept his gaze on the stranger. “Do you want something? Are you from somewhere? Related to Lee, perhaps?”

  “You aren’t him,” the figure said.

  Mordred blinked.

  “Him?”

  “The dead man,” the figure replied.

  And then they were gone.

  Mordred cast his domain out, scouring the surroundings.

  There was nothing. It was like the figure had never been there. The only trace whatsoever of their passing was the two indents of their feet on the grass before him.

  “What in the Damned Plains was that?” Fist asked, shuddering. “Something weren’t right with that bloke. They were weird.”

  “Weird indeed,” Mordred said. “Dead man. That mean anything to either of you?”

  The others shook their heads.

  “Sounds like they were looking for someone,” Ace said with a shrug. “Guess it wasn’t us. They seemed… dangerous.”

  “I think you may be right. Perhaps it’s for the best,” Mordred said slowly. Something churned uneasily in his stomach as if he’d eaten a bad meal. He turned his gaze to the sky and reached for his flying sword. “I wouldn’t want to be to be the poor sap that looking for. Dead man indeed.”

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