That was when realized I should have been keeping an eye on the map. I seized up, not wanting to turn around. When I glanced at the map and saw a blue dot, I relaxed even though the name was not Juan. It was someone named Harper.

  Since they were not moving, I finished up and turned around. Before me was a slight woman, about 5’2”. Her black hair was held back in a severe ponytail, showing off her slender neck, perfect features, and her ears. Her pointed ears. And a pair of horns protruding from her forehead, curling up and back. Her skin had a purplish tinge, making her violet-blue eyes just pop.

  My jaw must have dropped, because I found myself closing it. My first thought was that she was beautiful. The second one was that she was a monster despite the blue dot, and I had to defend myself. Before my hand had moved very far from my side, the point of a thin-bladed sword was at my throat. Naturally, I froze as the blade moved right and then left within a hair of my skin.

  She tilted her head a little to the side and frowned. “I was going to give you kudos when you noticed me and didn’t turn around. But now I see you’re just another cocky, xenophobic asshole.” The sharp steel lightly scraped my skin as it moved up to my jawline, and my breath quickened. “You’re new, aren’t you?” she asked.

  Was she going to kill me? No, her dot was still blue. I was just acting like an idiot, and should have remembered the rules. Specifically, rule number five: Assume nothing. This dusky-skinned, horned woman expertly moved her blade as if she was considering giving me my last shave. “H-how do you know?” I said with obvious confidence. She tapped my jaw twice with the non-slicey part before lowering her blade. I almost collapsed in relief.

  “You really don’t know how to look at someone’s level, do you?” She smoothly sheathed her sword and stepped forward, offering her hand. “I’m Harper.”

  For a second, I looked at her proffered hand before taking it carefully. “I’m Finn. How are you... um?” I fumbled.

  She smiled, showing slightly larger canines. “Not human? Didn’t you pay attention during the tutorial?” At the shake of my head, she sighed. “I swear, I thought more people would be prepared for this place, not fewer. Since it’s obvious you don’t know, I’m what’s known here as a Cambion. Like, a half-demon sort of. I’m a half-elf as well, if that helps,” she said with a toss of her head before looking around. “Where’s that old-fashioned archer at? I was hoping to talk with him, and he’s usually hanging out in this low-level area.”

  “I’m right here, you unholy misbegotten Mocosa!” Juan yelled from the branches of a tree behind her, his bow in one hand. Had he been ready to kill her? What was I missing here?

  While I pondered this, the old man dropped from the tree and landed easily, like it wasn’t a twenty-foot drop. Was that something I could do once I had gone up enough levels?

  “I missed you too, you old goat!” she shouted back at him with a laugh.

  He looked at her sternly before dissolving into a huge grin. “Come here, child. Let me look at you!” Harper laughed as she ran up and hugged him. Juan, as old as he looked, swung her around in his arms with ease. There was history here, and I, being late to the party, had jumped to conclusions. Arm around her shoulders, he led her back to the camp, both still laughing. I followed, feeling a little foolish.

  I had broken rule number five. Again.

  We sat around the fire, bellies full of another excellent stew Juan had made from prepped ingredients. Harper had a wine that was much milder than Juan’s rotgut. Our cups full, Juan and I listened with interest to the news that had led to Harper traveling for weeks to get here.

  “The war in the Shadowlands is not going well. Asanog’s forces are much more extensive than originally thought, and he has hired mercenaries from across the western sea. Nallothian mercenaries,” Harper said as she sipped her wine, waiting for a reaction from Juan.

  He looked down into his cup, swirling the wine around within it. He sat like that for a few minutes. When he finally spoke, he spoke slowly and quietly. “Nalloth used to be such a serene place. I didn’t know they would work for the Empire, not after what happened.” He looked up, his eyes stony. “How many of the companies? Did you see which ones?”

  Harper looked grim. “Twenty companies, but a few left the field for unknown reasons. But from what I saw, there were the usuals. The Boar, the Bear, the Eagle, the Moose.”

  Juan groaned and put his face in his free hand. “Damn. At least it isn’t all thirty-five. Who left the field?”

  She didn’t hesitate to answer, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. “The Rat, the Sparrow, and the Falcon. At least, that’s what we could determine. They did their best to hide it.”

  I remembered the mercenary I had met soon after I got here. Was that just a coincidence? “Wait, did you say the Falcon company?”

  Harper looked at me curiously. “Yes, the Steel Falcons. Why, new guy?”

  “Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “After I learned what spells I had and how to use them, this guy came into the meadow and introduced himself as Xander. He said he was a mercenary and had the shape of a hunting bird about to strike—maybe a falcon—on his armor.”

  “Well now, boy. You were very lucky. That does sound like the Steel Falcon crest, and one low-level Nallothian mercenary cook is way too powerful for you to handle, let alone a scout! This changes things,” Juan said seriously. He drank his cup of wine in one gulp and began packing his things. “We’re too close and under-prepared. We need to leave and find some more people to help stop them.” He glanced at Harper. “You alone? Did anyone come with you?”

  Harper looked puzzled. “I came alone. The council decided you’d only talk to someone you knew. But why run? We don’t know for certain that this Xander guy is connected to the Steel Falcons. Besides, you should be able to run circles around these guys, Juan. You know this area and how to wear them down. They’ll retreat, not knowing how many of us there are.”

  “NO!” Juan yelled, causing Harper to shrink back. “I don’t do that anymore! I know what the Nallothians became after the fall of their country. Fighting the Empire taught them to fight dirty, and will punish the locals for whatever I do. Too many people have paid for my actions. The village. The people. They would pay for anything I might do!”

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  He stood there fuming and gestured at me. “And then there is Finn! He’s not ready for this. He’s only level two! I’ve just barely started training him, Harper. No, we leave now.”

  Harper looked down, chastised. “I just thought. I thought you had enough time to...” She nodded slowly and put the few things she had pulled out back into her pack. The pained look she gave me was full of what I assumed was pity for me.

  In that moment, it became clear there would not be a chance to make money or level around here. As nice as it would have been for my chances of survival, learning and getting stronger in a safe area was just not in the cards for me. We were leaving, and there was a good chance I wouldn’t survive. But my pack was ready. My mana was full.

  In minutes, we were moving north at a fast pace. It was late in the day, and the sun’s light made our shadows tall. It wasn’t long before we passed the Hollowbrook Farm turnoff and entered even more unfamiliar territory. No one spoke as we walked. My mind raced as I tried to figure out what was going on. That guy Xander really screwed me again.

  Harper was part of the group fighting an empire, and that group wanted Juan to help fight them, like he was a major hero. I only fit into this as a what, a sidekick? A meat shield? No. I refused. I needed to survive and find the answers that would get me home. And for that, I had to step up and be more.

  Harper pushed me into the bushes and undergrowth beside the road. “Stay down!” she told me before going to stand with Juan, who already had an arrow nocked. Then I heard hoofbeats getting closer. The sound of a mounted group grew louder until they were pulling up about fifteen feet away. The light was good enough for me to see that they wore almost the exact same get-up as that prick Xander had.

  Looking at my map, I could see that these mercenaries were red-tinged. I looked closer at the leader on the map, and I could see he was a lieutenant named Mott. And Lieutenant Mott was level 35. The eight others with him were a mix of low thirties. Fuck, fuck, fuck! I couldn’t move, and I prayed they couldn’t hear my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest. I was a rabbit, pissing itself and hoping the wolves wouldn’t eat it.

  Mott sneered. “Well, ain’t it the hero of the Dew-kissed Rose? Lose any other queens, hero?” The laughter of the men riding with Mott was a hateful, mean thing to hear. Though I had only known Juan for a day, he had been kind to me, and I really needed his help. Of everything in this fucking place, Juan was the most real thing here. The only reason I had decided this wasn’t some fever dream, or I had gone crazy. And they were laughing at him? Fuck no. It was time for me to act, no matter how dangerous it was.

  I had stopped listening. My legs shook as I stood. The adrenaline rushing into my blood made me want to run away, but rage filled my heart. Everything I cared about had been taken away, and in return I was stuck in a screwed-up medieval world with magic and monsters! And now I had to do something, anything, to fight back.

  “.... a Mage. Wearing a red and maroon poncho. Brown hair.” Mott stated as I stepped forward, my right palm aimed at him.

  He looked at me with surprise. "Where did you—"

  I snarled two words, “Ice Shard.” Power flooded me, freezing my bones in glorious ecstasy. The immense pressure threatened to burst out of my skin, pain so great that it confused my brain into thinking it was pleasure. All of it roared through me, through my arm at the moment I cast the spell. What came out was no spear of ice, but a massive, jagged javelin of dark glacial blue inevitability.

  It sped toward Mot’s head and pierced through his left eye. I watched, shocked out of my anger by the size and the shape of the overpowered Ice Shard, the feel of it. He swayed for a moment before falling off the other side of his horse. The prick must have gotten tangled in the stirrup, because when the spooked horse took off, it dragged him bouncing along the ground.

  Mott’s men pulled out their weapons in outrage — a variety of swords, clubs and other medieval murder utensils. I hit them once with chain lightning, causing one of them to drop his weapon in surprise before grabbing a wicked axe from his belt with a glare for me.

  Unfortunately, that was it for me as the world started spinning, and I stumbled. I was out of mana again and had no idea how, as between the Ice Shard and the Chain Lightning I should only have used 26 MP. They were charging at me on horseback, and all I had was a goddamn dagger that I didn’t even know how to use! I tried pulling it from my inventory and dropped it almost immediately before sitting down hard.

  I did my best to focus on the men about to ride me down. Suddenly, arrows and knives sprouted from all but one mercenary, who turned and rode like the devil himself was after him while the rest fell to the ground. Their horses milled around uncertainly before moving away from their unmoving riders, wide-eyed and huffing.

  The world continued its wobble, and I sat in shock at how quickly the whole thing had ended. A groan escaped me. I should have been dead.

  “SHIT!” Harper grabbed a free horse and rode off after the fleeing mercenary. Juan calmly walked over to the dead and began carefully removing his arrows from the corpses with his knife and a prayer in Spanish for each man. I watched him for a moment before bending over and emptying my stomach. What had I done? I heaved until it hurt.

  I fell back on my ass, horrified, clutching my knees. Juan finished and sat down next to me. He just sat there, saying nothing as I stared at the ground. “I killed him, Juan. I killed that man because I was angry at him and scared,” I said, shaking. “So goddamned scared, Juan. I don’t want to die here, and it seems so much more real and terrible and–”

  “I know.” He whispered.

  “Why, Juan, why?” I said. I was babbling, and it wasn’t making sense to me. What I needed was for him to make sense of it for me.

  The old man sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know what they wanted with you, Finn. But they were looking for you. They knew who I am in Nalloth, even if it now lies in ruin from the unending civil war. I couldn’t prevent the incursion that led to the death of the Queen. Now, all that comes out of there are mercenaries. Massive companies of men and women who hire themselves out to pay for their ongoing misery,” he said, pain in his voice. “There’s likely a bounty on my head there.”

  When I said nothing, he put his hand on my shoulder. “What’s done is done, boy. I wish we could have dealt with them without bloodshed, but even if they decided we knew nothing, they were still going to attack. This is not always a pleasant world, Finn. I’m sorry I didn’t have the time to prepare you for this.”

  There were tears in my eyes that I hadn’t noticed until I wiped them away. We just sat there quietly. After a while, Harper rode up, jumping off the horse. “We need to get going,” she exclaimed, and grabbed her knives from the bodies. She looted a couple of things from the bodies, including weapons.

  She looked at the horses grazing nearby. “We don’t have much time. I got him, but not before some of his friends saw me.” She pushed some strands of hair out of her face. “Juan, grab the kid and let’s go!”

  Juan looked at me. “Finn? Do you know how to ride?”

  “No,” I said quietly. “Grew up in the city. Rode a bike, if that helps.”

  “Well then. We don’t have a choice. You’re going to have to learn on the go. And I doubt we have time to make friends with the horses.” He strolled to the three horses that hadn’t run off and gathered them up.

  Harper got up on her pilfered horse and walked it over to me. She held out a short sword in a sheath. “Here. You need something. I’ll teach you how to use it later.”

  I took it from her with shaky hands. Not that I wanted to have a use for it. “Thank you. For offering to teach me.” I looked into her eyes when I spoke. They were cold before, but there was a softening in them. She understood the horror and self-loathing.

  “Yes, well, it’ll take you some time to get used to it. I’ll get you to where you don’t slice your leg off. Now get up on your horse, on the left side.” She gave me a tight-lipped smile. I tried to return it and turned away. “Oh, and New Guy?”

  I turned back to her. “Yes?”

  “Try not to fall off.”

  'Well. That escalated quickly. Bravo, Finn the Mage.

  Can you believe this guy? Doesn't know what he's doing, stumbles into a quest to kill wolves (probably could have found something safer, but nooooo!) and somehow survives! And then meets someone who can teach him how to survive! Only to mess up a totally safe training situation in a starter area... cause you know things would have been hunky-dory if he hadn't had messed with that Xander character. Right?

  It gets worse! Now he's killed a mercenary!

  Finn's a menace!

  Someone should do something. Maybe...'

  -The Voice