Spring had come, in a way, to the North. It came in the lessening of icebergs and the longer spells between storms. It came in washed away snow and startling fast greenery. In the arrival of the S&K trading fleet with new supplies and old friends. Trinity had taken to hunting [Ulf] at night, slinking along through the grass to ambush predators not used to anything but snow.

  Garm hid in the shade, the above-freezing just too terrible to endure, while Kaden took an entire crate of cargo down the ramp single-handedly. When he returned, a stack of crates had risen—carried by a squat, round [Man at Arms]. Bryce set the crates down and pulled Kaden into a hug. “Had to come see you myself. I’d heard from Jackie of course. Heard about what you were doing.”

  “Sara’s work, really. We had so much second-lifer loot left over. Ashi swore to raze Samuel’s city in return for whatever we wanted. And I wanted it all.” Kaden turned to walk away.

  “Did someone say second-lifer loot?” A woman called.

  Kaden spun to look as Wren leaped from the ship deck to land beside him. She wore grey artificer robes and carried a [Mirror Shield] on her back. And Wren looked happy. “I did. I kept most of the [No Touchum] Rods. We only succeeded in removing a handfull of rings, but I have so much loot and Sara’s been trading.”

  “I heard.” Wren took one side and Bryce took the other as they left the Skan clansmen.

  “Hold!” A guard shouted—then stopped. “They’re with you?”

  Kaden looked to the two. “Sorry about this, but they’re not exactly welcoming to visitors right now. Eve! Company!”

  Eve emerged from the harbormaster’s hut, wearing a blood red robe that let her breathe. “Wren, you could have come by FarPortal. Both of you, I need an oath that you will not war with the clans, and leave if asked.”

  “Easy enough.” Bryce followed her into the hut, and a few minutes later, they headed north through a transformed waste filled with green grass and light blue flowers, like a sea.

  A herd of [Makur] wandered past with their guards, and Kaden stopped to scratch a beautiful, magnificent male with deep blue streaks and ice hanging from his stubby horns, a mother who already lumbered, heavy with her next calf, and a scrawny, ugly [Makur] who had stopped developing about the time his adopted brother came along.

  “The bastard froze the river this morning,” their keeper said. “And the ground around him freezes solid at night.”

  Kaden shrugged. “I like him. He’s going to be a herd leader one day. Any idea what to do with the ugly one?”

  “Eat him,” the shepherd said.

  Ahead, stone pillars rose from the ground around a wide staircase, and clan members came and went in clusters.

  You have entered an area of Authority.

  Your authority here is absolute.

  Bryce sucked in air. “Oh, it’s ‘Baron’ Birch?” This reminds me of a dungeon. This really reminds me of a dungeon. Did I tell you I purchased a Barony a few hundred years ago? Not worth it.”

  “Tell that to Sara.” Kaden passed the market layer Ashi had reshaped and headed further down to what had once been the core room, where Accord members gathered around a table, arguing viciously about something. Probably Makur. Possibly Skeledeer. As he entered, they stood and dipped heads in deference as their host. “Friends. How goes the monthly accord?”

  “We’re not friends,” Kai Fen said. “And the matters of the clan are for the clan.” What came next sounded like it was spoken through a mouth of broken glass. “But we—I—am grateful for your hospitality.”

  Drokor hobbled around the table to hug him. “That much of what he’s said is true. I heard the ships are in port.”

  “They are. Bryce Burns is here. He accidentally killed a noble’s son in Verona—”

  “How was that accidental?” Kai Fen snarled.

  Bryce spoke calmly. “He kept stabbing me in the gut. Repeatedly. I got tired of it and punched him in the gut a little too hard.”

  Kaden hadn’t heard that part. He winced. “The point is, Bryce will be acting in my stead for a couple years. My quarters on the lower level are his quarters now. And we have an agreement with the [Alchemist] Hall.”

  That made everyone cheer.

  “Think I’ll introduce myself,” Bryce said. “And thanks for the offer.”

  Kaden left him there and found Trella downstairs, packing. “The Alchemist’s Hall accepted. One child from every clan will be going back to train.”

  Trella smiled as she stored the last of her gear. “That’s the only way we get long term stability. Every clan needs their own [Alchemist] to train the next. And how much did it cost?”

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “A lot.” Sara would know the exact amount. “It was all funded by Samuel’s equipment.”

  Trella stiffened at the name. “It’s a small world. Eventually, our paths will cross. You know he’s just going to go somewhere else and do this again.”

  Maybe. But if he did, and established a paradise in the desert, or any one of a thousand places, it was a large world. Kaden would find a way to sleep in spite of it.

  It was late afternoon by the time he’d loaded everything onto the ship. The [Skeledeer] was coming home, where it could bubble and ooze and divide. Vip had nipped at it once and vomitted for fifteen minutes. Now she sat in Kaden’s shadow. “You’d be miserable at home,” Kaden said. “This is cold there. You’re burning up. Stay here, go into the Domain at night. You’re the most powerful [Ulf Ravager] in a century.”

  The problem was, Kaden was near certain he was the only [Ulf Ravager], and the other [Ulf] correctly feared Garm. “If you come back, I don’t know how we’re going to keep you alive, let alone comfortable.”

  “I know many ice spells,” Ashi said. “For that matter, can you not contract with a lesser mage to build him a [Collar of Cold]?”

  “Those don’t exist. Do they?” Kaden wasn’t sure.

  “Come.” Ashi spoke to Garm, putting a hand on his back. Her skin flushed white and ice enccrusted him. He followed her up the ramp to the ship.

  A few minutes later, Eve emerged from the harbor master’s house and shook hands with person after person as she approached. “Trella’s loaded, Ashi is in the crow’s nest, as far away from the students as she could get. Sara and Sevin are in the Southern Continent. She likes her men tanned.”

  “She told me. I said if she would handle selling all that loot I would handle Party Leader duties for a vacation.” Kaden wasn’t worried this time. He was delighted that Sara seemed to have found something lasting. “Two hundred and eighteen days until we disband the Holding.”

  “We’ll see.” Eve seemed confident he’d change his mind and want to expand his ‘kingdom.’

  This time, Kaden was happy when the ships set sail, heading south. Heading home.

  ###

  Every step came faster as Kaden saw the distant green of FangWood. They’d traveled through the night, urged by Sara’s messenger birds that they shouldn’t delay. This far south spring was already present, green fields of beans and corn surrounded the Holding. Garm raced ahead while it was still only unbearably hot, while Eve and Ashi stayed with the wagon, and Kaden and Trinity hunted for what little they could find.

  Most monsters fled when Trinity gave chase.

  West would bring them around to Verdant Vineyards, East to the road closest to the Holding, and from there, south to Verona. Kaden took them east, though he swore the first rays of dawn showed giant honeybees fanning out across Fangwood.

  The long, curved shores of Echo Lake felt welcoming, and then, at last, the gateposts of the Holding with stubby stone towers and the crushed remains of a servant’s quarters. The slate exterior—

  Kaden stopped

  The outside of the simple farmhouse was undoubtably slate stone, white to the eye, and the ramp where once they’d shot monsters was now a complete turret with glass windows that captured the morning sun and guard rails.

  As he stared, the Vichorean Assistant buzzed through the walls and made a minor repair, moving on to clean the eves with pure mana.

  “We’ve got visitors,” Kaden said. He’d thought it was just anxiety to be home, but no, there were definitely visitors. Two centurions, Sevin, and Kaden.

  Kaden sprinted to the door, which was wider—much wider—with Trella close behind him. When he threw open the door, Sara hissed at him. “Shush! Don’t you dare make a sound.”

  In the kitchen, Mistress Scylla cleaned, humming to herself.

  Kaden stared. “There’s another Centurion. Who’s here?”

  “James is out back cutting up a boss monster,” Mistress Scylla said. “Please, we were up all night with the baby.”

  Baby?

  Kaden looked to the hearth, where Sara rocked a bundle. “You…”

  “Did you not know how to prevent that?” Trella asked. “Because I could have explained it. We have a puppet show version in Shadowvale every initiate has to watch. It’s called ‘Kids: They hurt coming out, and then they hurt for the rest of your life.’”

  “She’s not mine,” Sara said. “I think if I hadn’t touched the box, it would have been fine. Some sort of preservation spell, but the moment I did, it opened. Look in your bedroom.”

  Kaden headed to the bedroom while Trella continued to stare. On the center of his bed sat four slats with a base. A giant red ribbon lay in sections, trailing off the bed, and in the center sat the sort of pillow where you’d put a piece of salami you were proud of. “What the hell?”

  A knock at the back door heraled the arrival of Mr. Dervish, who looked to the box and nodded. “Old. Old, old magic. Don’t know what you got into or where, but there were legends, stories about this. The original iteration of the System, loot came in actual boxes. Boxes you had to open. Boxes you had to dispose of. There’s a story about a second-lifer who defeated a demon king and died under the boxes that were his reward.”

  Kadne picked them up, marveling at the material, which looked like wood but had to be metal. “I was hunted by a dragon. It said I earned a ‘copper token reward.’ It would be waiting for me at home.”

  “Reward.” The giant approached, setting sides back up. “Could be. The man who trained me when I was young said all the old parts of the System were still there. Most of them weren’t active, but they were still there.”

  “What kind of reward is a baby?”

  Mr. Dervish shook his head. “Apparently one worth a copper token. It ain’t just ‘a’ baby. The way I heard it, some goblin king with a fancy hairdoo and too much makeup would steal a child. Then you had a limited window to complete some Quest and get them back. Don’t know whose she was, but I’m guessing they didn’t.”

  “And then,” Trella spoke from the doorway. “The System just penalizes Kaden by giving him a baby? A random baby? Did we ask for a baby? Did he forget somewhere to check the box saying ‘No babies in loot boxes?’”

  “I didn’t ask for anything,” Kaden said firmly. “I was happy to be getting a [Crystal Cappuchin] in ten years. I wasn’t a hundred percent certain about adopting Garm.”

  “Do not say so!” Ashi shouted.

  Vip circled around Trella, then leaped on the bed and sniffed the box. *Slow.*

  “No one asked you,” Kaden said. He returned to the living room. “I take it you already know?”

  Sara nodded, holding out her arms. “She’s tiny. We had a [Healer] over, she estimated three months. Not the first or the last orphan left by the System.”

  Kaden clutched her carefully, freezing as she started to fuss, and then using [Beast Soul] to project calm. Apparently infants and animals had a lot in common, because the skill didn’t complain. He carried her out and sat in a rocking chair.

  Stupid System.

  Even stupider loot box.

  The shadows welled up around him as Trella joined him. “Sorry, I’m not angry at you. I’m furious with the System for treating children like toys.”

  “You want to hold her?” Kaden asked.

  “Please, no. I was serious. If you want kids, take a FarPortal north and Basu would ride you like a sled until she gets pregnant. I can barely tolerate adults, children shouldn’t be subject to me, and I know it.” Trella sat down beside him. “You want to keep her, don’t you?”

  Kaden already knew his answer.