“Have you two registered yet?” Savish asked.

  When Arden and Vera both shook their heads, Savish nodded hers.

  “Good. No one will learn of you until after everything gets resolved. That’s what you wanted right?”

  “That’s right. There are three more people I need to find.”

  “I thought so. I made a few inquiries about the bounty. Being one of the stronger Starborn in the area, I had a lot of responses.”

  “You didn’t tell anyone I was alive, did you?”

  “Of course not. I'm not an amateur. I told them that a client came to me looking for info on the bounty, and if it was still active. Told them that they’d pay me a portion if they could complete it.”

  “How were the responses?” Vera asked.

  “Most never even heard of Arden. There were only two places where your information popped up. Care to hazard a guess?”

  The answers immediately came to Arden.

  “Miasma and the Association. The only places that I have a relationship with.”

  Savish nodded.

  “You’re a bit special to them. You’ve taken up somewhat of a mythos with both for different reasons.”

  Vera looked at him.

  “What did you do?”

  “I don’t know. There was that Stargate, but beyond that, I have no clue.”

  “That’s part of the reason for the Association being interested in you,” Savish said. “But it's only half the picture. On a side note, learning that you two and a Blight Walker managed to clear a Stargate was a bit of a shock.”

  “I'm sure it was,” Vera said. “What's the other half of the picture?”

  Savish opened her inventory and pulled out two pictures, one of a handsome man, and the other an attractive brown haired woman. Both were recognized by Arden and Vera.

  “Your connection with these two. Red-tier protostars Cirai and Podren. The Association knows that they helped you during the cascade, and that there is a history between you all. When the cascade was mostly dealt with, the Association came to collect them, the rogue, and the Blight Walker, but they were all missing. They were the only ones who remained of the branch here during the cascade. Only the body of the rogue has been found so far. The Association doesn't want to lose them, especially the Blight Walker.”

  Quiet anger swelled within Arden.

  “Neither do I. The Blight Walker's my sister. Why does the Association want her?”

  Vera was able to answer that.

  “Because she managed to clear a Stargate. She has potential, even if she’s a Blight Walker.”

  “She’s right. Right now, the Association doesn't know if you’re alive or not. They told me to tell them if I make any progress on finding you. You disappeared like Cirai, and like a lot of other Starborn over the past two months. Something big is happening, and the Association needs answers.”

  Arden stored that little nugget of information away in the back of his brain. Starborn still disappearing was an important thing to learn for sure, but it wasn’t likely to help them right now. He had a hunch that whatever was taking away Starborn was different then whatever happened to Cirai, Podren, and Sya. It was possible that they were connected, and if it was, things would get a lot harder for him.

  Trying to learn about something that even the Starborn Association didn’t know about would be a fool’s errand. If things got out of hand, he might have to use the Spark of Paradox for something other than its intended purpose. He hoped he wouldn’t have to.

  “So I’m the potential missing link between Cirai, Podren, Sya, and whatever is happening to other Starborn. I can see why that makes me somewhat of an important figure. What did Miasma have to say about me?”

  “That's the weird thing. For the most part, Miasma’s people fell into two camps. Those who hate you, and those who’d refuse to talk about you.”

  “Okay, I get being despised. That was kind of a running theme for me for the past few years. Defending a Blight Walker and all that. But what do you mean by the second thing?”

  “Exactly what I mean. They would just end the conversation when your name came up. Like you're cursed or something, and bringing you up would be bad juju.”

  Vera laughed.

  “They think you're evil too!”

  Arden groaned and leaned his head back.

  “I haven't even done anything to them. What's wrong with my image?”

  “I'd call murder something. The ones who did talk blamed you for killing a few of their members.”

  “Lies,” said Arden and Vera in unison.

  “The only people I killed were either in the trial, or the rogue that tried to kill me,” Arden continued. “And not to sound callous, but they deserved it.”

  “I can back him up on that. I met him before the bounties went up. I helped him when he was in danger, and he hasn't left my side since. He didn't kill anyone when the bounties started going up. Instead, he just stayed inside and trained.”

  “That's pretty much what I thought,” Savish said. “You don't really strike me as a killer. Even yesterday when you were on edge. I can see you as a fighter, but not a killer. You’re still very human in that regard.”

  “Thank you.”

  “That wasn’t exactly praise.”

  “It is for me,” Arden said.

  “So Miasma doesn’t like Arden,” Vera said.

  “That’s a given,” Arden interjected. “When you bite someone's fingers off, it's hard for that person to maintain a positive outlook on you.”

  Savish looked at him with a confused and slightly concerned look. Vera shook her head slightly to stop her from asking about it. ‘Off topic,’ she mouthed at Savish who thankfully took the hint.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “The funny thing is its only the lower ranked members that hate you,” Savish said, glossing over Arden’s cannibalistic tangent. “The higher-ups aren't fans of you by any means, but they are also strangely thankful to you. At least, that’s the vibe I got. I actually have one of their members coming by soon to talk about Miasma. He claims that you two knew each other. You can stick around if you’d like.”

  Arden scowled and hatred shined in his eyes. He brought his hand to his mouth. The mental image of Yaan standing over him setting his mouth alight was one that would stick with him. Arden had no scars, physical or mental, but the thought would stick with him.

  Like an unfulfilled promise. An oath.

  And oaths were made to be kept.

  “If it’s who I think it is, I might have a second real life kill,” he said.

  Vera and Savish both frowned at him. The normally joking personality fell away, and in its place only malicious intent and a dark promise remained. To Vera, it was a jarring change. She fought beside him several times in the past, and he never gave off such an atmosphere before.

  ‘He’s still not all there,’ she thought sadly.

  But that was why she was here.

  She slipped her hand around his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

  “Sorry,” he said. “Trial me was talking there. Who's the guy?”

  “I don't think it's safe to tell you anymore. You're unpredictable right now. I can't have you scaring off my contact. Don't forget, but this is for you.”

  Arden sighed and stood up.

  “That's fair. I wouldn't trust my judgment either right now. I'm going to order something and try to clear my head. Sorry for the outburst.” He looked at Vera. “Feel free to keep talking. I won’t leave the restaurant.”

  Arden left the room leaving Savish and Vera.

  “You know, it's strange,” Savish said when it was just the two of them. “He’s not a killer. He doesn't have the mindset. But right then it sure looked like he did.”

  “Don't blame him too much. He's new to this. He’s still trying to find his bearings.”

  Savish brought her hand up, silencing Vera.

  “No need for all that. I was a beginner at one point as well. I haven’t had the same experiences as him, but I can relate somewhat to his confusion. Confusion leads to fear. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to violence. Do your best to keep him in line. Keep his violence focused towards Celestials and not towards people.”

  “His feelings are a bit more justified than most. He hasn’t told me much of what went on in his trial, only a few brief summations. But if the rest is as extravagant as what I’ve seen so far, then we should be happy he only has a dark side that he occasionally slips into.”

  “It was that bad?”

  “What was the level of the main monster in your trial?”

  Everyone who survived their trial had a fond memory of the core monster that they encountered. It was different for everyone, but they were always the equivalent of red-tier and of a similar low rank. The Starborn System operated with a strange fairness. It wouldn’t provide an impossible trial, because the system desired strong Starborn, not executed Aspirants. That was why the majority of the first trials had very few monsters, and weak ones at that.

  “My monster was a behemoth bull,” Savish said. “Red-tier Main Sequence. Actually gave me a Satellite that helped with food production.”

  Vera nodded and leaned in further and whispered.

  “Arden’s main Celestial was a Supernova.”

  “What? That’s impossible.”

  Vera shook her head and remembered some of Arden’s words.

  “There’s nothing that can’t happen. Only things that shouldn’t happen. A mundane shouldn’t have survived an encounter with a Supernova.”

  “But he survived. He managed to escape it somehow.”

  “No. He killed it. I’ve seen its Satellite. But the important thing is that he said that the Celestial was the easiest moment in the trial because it was just a simple fight at the end. It was everything else that broke him.”

  Vera looked at the door with sad eyes.

  “I’ve known him for a while now, and the entire time he always had something to say. A joke, a quip, or a taunt. Like the world was just a great big joke and he was the punchline. You talked about our Stargate raid. During the fight with the boss, Arden fought completely naked and was the one to beat it.”

  “Why was he naked?”

  Vera shrugged.

  “It burnt his clothes off, and he didn’t have anything else. That’s the Arden I remember. Right now, he flips back and forth between his old self and his current self. I just want him to be happy again.”

  “You’re already making good progress then. There was no humor from him yesterday. Any smiles he had were fake. Today he was different. You noticed that as well, right?”

  Vera nodded.

  “Of course.”

  “Then just keep doing what you’re doing. He’s flipping back and forth, but that is a remarkable improvement after just one night. You’re already making him happier.”

  A predatory smile appeared on Savish’s face. It was somewhere between smug and expectant, and Vera did not like it.

  “And he’s not the only one showing improvement. You also look much better than yesterday. Acting a lot better as well.” Savish chuckled. “Arden was willing to fight the Association, and you tried to fight me. You two make quite a pair. Who do you plan on fighting next?”

  “Whoever we have to.”

  Savish laughed.

  “That's the kind of answer I'd expect from a pair of fighters. What if you have to fight a mundane?”

  “I doubt anyone mundane would force us to fight with our lives on the line.”

  “How arrogant,” she smiled. “Your boyfriend just threatened a mundane, or did you happen to forget?”

  Now it was Vera’s turn to smile. Immense relief coursed through her.

  “If your contact is mundane, then Arden wasn't threatening him. There's a certain Starborn of Miasma who screwed with Arden for a long time. That's Arden’s target.”

  Their conversation continued unabated from then. There was no mention of Starborn, Celestials, trials, or organized crime. Small talk about their respective lovers became the focus of their shared time. How they met, when they realized their feelings. It was only after a few hours that they realized how long they had been going.

  A low gong rang out from the front of the restaurant and both women turned their heads to it.

  “It's already that late?” Savish muttered, standing up. "Where the hell is the contact?"

  Orange sparks coalesced around her body, and she was suddenly wearing the black cocktail dress that she wore last night.

  “I never would have thought that the dress was a Satellite. An orange-tier at that. What's the occasion?” Vera asked.

  Savish pointed up at the clock.

  “Dinner service. Here, lunches are casual, and dinners are formal. I need to walk the fine line between sexy and powerful. This helps with that.”

  “I'm sure it does. So now you have to kick out the guests here not dressed to the nines?”

  “By this time, most of them have already left. Though, I'd bet some good money that there's at least one familiar face out there confused why he's being kicked out.”

  Vera sighed. Arden was still out there, and likely done with his meal he ordered a while ago.

  “If that's the case, then I'll leave with him. We need to find a place for tonight for cheap.”

  Vera approached the door when Savish appeared between them with arms crossed. Vera knew that Savish was stronger than her by at least a rank, possibly a tier, but she was nonetheless surprised.

  “If you're in need of money, then I'd be happy to pay you.”

  Vera narrowed her eyes. She noticed the words. ‘Pay,’ not ‘lend’ or ‘cover.’ Savish wanted something in return. A job.

  “What do you want?”

  Savish opened her inventory and pulled out a second dress, almost identical to hers, and held it out to Vera. Just from a glance, Vera could tell that it fit her perfectly.

  “You’re joking,” Vera said.

  “Nope. Be part of my waitstaff for tonight.”

  “Savish, I was raised for the sole purpose of slitting monster throats. I have no experience in the food industry.”

  “I’ll pay you what I normally pay my other employees, and you can keep 100 percent of your tips.”

  Vera grabbed the dress.

  “When do we begin?”