How fucking dare she. Pushing him into a tree? The gall.

  “Wait,” Taiga called, stepping towards him. “Don’t.”

  “I’m not,” Mouse grumbled, lowering his sword.

  The woman shot him a glare, ripping away from him. Mouse held tight, and she squealed. He ignored her. She shoved him. Into a tree. A little arm squeeze was all that kept his restraint in place. Into a tree!

  Granted, he was unharmed.

  But she shoved him. With her nasty little human hands. He’d break them off and roast them over a fire for some wolves to enjoy. She sure wouldn’t be shoving anyone then.

  “Mouse, let her go.”

  “What if she runs off?” Mouse protested.

  Clicks drew all their attention back to the demon. It scampered through the trees, following the path leading to the north of town. “Mouse, after it!”

  He launched at Taiga’s command, releasing the human and sprinting after the demon. Taiga’s boots pounded behind him. Mouse debated pulling back to keep pace with Taiga, but he’d prioritize catching the demon, so he sped forward.

  The demon swung from the branches, zipping around on small but fast hops whenever it landed. A dagger flung ahead, thunking beside the demon. Its eyes swiveled to it, and it missed its jump, tumbling down onto the path.

  It scrambled around, but not before Mouse swung out, catching a cluster of thistles in his hand, and pulling it back. It shrieked in clicks. Mouse laughed, twisting its head around, cracking its neck, and letting it drop to the floor. Unlike the two demons before, this one was smaller and far more easily subdued.

  “It’s ours!” The woman, Remy, rushed past him, dagger pointed towards him as she slipped between him and the demon’s lifeless body. Her larger companion edged by Mouse whispering ‘sorry’ before dropping down beside Remy.

  The two of them hovered over the demon, speaking in hushed voices to each other. Heat boiled through his hands, up his arms, and tensed his shoulders. How fucking dare she. Not once, but twice??

  Sword in hand, he stepped towards the woman. “The heart is ours.”

  That must’ve been what they were after. But Mouse killed it. So therefore, it was his. He cracked a smile, anticipation making him giddy. If she pushed back, well, Taiga couldn’t say anything if he put them in their place, right?

  Their place, of course, being beneath his feet.

  “You weren’t freed. The Gale Order doesn’t release people. How did you get here, outsider?” Taiga stepped in front of him.

  “Shhhhh, just wait, okay??” Remy snapped at him, not even sparing Taiga a glance. “These don’t last long before—”

  The demon’s body shattered, melting into the ground. Remy shut her eyes, furrowing her brow. Her partner said something to her, and she nodded, sighing. “Fine.”

  She stood, turning to Mouse and Taiga. Impatience dripped from her lips, “what?”

  He hated her. Oh, how he could make her grovel and beg for mercy. His smile widened. “They’re still wanted, right? I can kill them?”

  Taiga considered, longer than he usually did, before shaking his head. “We’ll turn them in. Might make more money that way if there’s a reward for them.”

  “Oh, you need money?” The larger, blond one stood up beside Remy, fiddling with his hands before holding out a bluish black rock. “Here, the demon’s heart.”

  “Don’t give that to them! I want to study it.” Remy snatched it from him.

  “But we can find another. If they need money…” he trailed off, his blue eyes sheepishly finding Mouse’s before flicking to Taiga’s.

  Remy touched a few fingers to her forehead. “At least use it as leverage, Parin.”

  “It would’ve helped, yes.” Taiga spoke in monotone as he stood, blinking at her audacity to talk about it in front of them. “Goodwill would’ve worked better, though.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Can I kill them?” Mouse pushed beside Taiga, whispering to him. He knew the answer, though he didn’t like it. Taiga confirmed his assumption with a shake of his head.

  “Money.” He muttered back.

  “Look, can you just,” Remy waved her hands in the air, as if casting some sort of spell, “not arrest me? I’m researching the magic imbalance. You asked about that before, right?”

  “No.” Taiga held firm. “I’m not in the business of helping known criminals escape. Especially not outsiders wanted by the Gale Order.”

  Taiga’s eyes lit up, “In fact, the captain of the Gale Order is in town. We could bring you both straight to him.” He nodded at this before turning to Mouse, “what do you think? I’m sure he’s more secure than a jail cell. You surely won’t escape twice.”

  “Ooooooh, yesssss,” Mouse giggled as Remy’s eyes darkened at Taiga’s threat.

  “Um, maybe we can work something out?” The blond partner stepped in. “We really are doing studies on the magical imbalance here. We won’t bother anyone or say anything. We learned our lesson.”

  Our. So was he her partner back then? Was he why she kept looking out over the field the night they captured her? Was he her original escape plan?

  “How did you get free?” Taiga asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He glanced from the man to Remy. “And how did you get here? You weren’t following us, right?”

  Ah. If they’d been followed this whole time, they might have noticed neither Taiga nor Mouse were humans. If they noticed, Mouse could kill them. He smiled. They couldn’t risk the news getting out.

  Although that begged a new question. How could they have been followed this whole time without either of them noticing? Were they truly simple humans?

  “Seeing you in Winolin was a coincidence. We did follow you out here after seeing you talk to the guild hall people. We’re not weirdos.” She added the last part with indignance. “We saw you chasing after the demons, and wanted in. I’ve been wanting to study one, okay?”

  “Fine.” Taiga glanced back the way they came. Mouse followed his line of sight to Sweet Bun, who peeked from the trees. Taiga whistled, and she came running. “Back up to when we captured you. How did you break free?”

  Mouse shifted behind Taiga, looking over Sweet Bun. No apparent injuries or missing feathers. Nothing got to her. Good. He smiled at her, his annoyance from the outsider melting from his shoulders. “Hi, girl. You were brave, huh?” He inched towards her. She watched him uneasily, but allowed the approach.

  “There was that disaster, right?” The one with all the demons? I escaped then.” Remy looked down, “I would've died if I hadn’t. There was this huge fog that swept through. I knew it was either corruption or purity. I had to escape.”

  Mouse froze at her words. That’s right. They fought Mafgnesn right after her hand-off. He considered what may have happened to the mercenaries they’d been with, though he shook the thought away. He didn’t want to linger on those unknowns.

  “There were signs of a magical imbalance in Lanria. I knew it.” Remi nodded to her partner. “That’s why we came here; to see what’s happening. There’s problems all over the continent and—”

  “I didn’t ask about that.” Taiga cut her off.

  Mouse held out a hand towards Sweet Bun, who watched it leerily. After the talking settled down she put her chin out to Mouse. He smiled, scratching the underside, running his fingers gently between the small feathers. She clacked her beak quietly, warning him not to try anything funny. He didn’t.

  “And it’s not something for me to decide. I’ll turn you over. Your best hope is to tell the Gale Order what you know. What they decide to do with you after that point is something I can’t judge.”

  “But—”

  “No.” Taiga shook his head, turning towards Mouse and Sweet Bun. He gave her a gentle pat and a small smile.

  “We’re bringing them back with us?” Mouse asked. They didn’t need to tie them up. Neither of them could outrun he or Taiga. Even if they split and ran in opposite directions, they’d be captured quickly. Taiga nodded.

  “Make sure to get the demon heart from her. We’re cashing it.” Mouse nodded to Taiga’s order.

  “Would you please listen? I know we got off on the wrong foot,” Remy ran up beside Taiga, “but what I’m studying does have purpose. Being arrested will at best get us deported back to Monx. And at worse, have us killed. And with the border situation…”

  “Oh, so you are aware of how dangerous your presence in Lanria is?” Taiga snorted. “You sneak into an enemy country and spread fear among the people here. What did you expect to happen?”

  “I get it, I shouldn’t have tried warning people.”

  “No, you shouldn’t have come to Lanria in the first place.” Taiga sighed, patting Sweet Bun and starting back towards the lake. In all the fuss, Mouse forgot their original reason for being here. Where were those mercenaries that would take over watch here?

  Mouse paused, letting Sweet Bun and Taiga walk ahead. Remy and her partner stood without follow. Her partner looked uneasy, his eyes frantically wavering between Mouse and her.

  “R… Remy. Maybe we should go with them—”

  “I thought knights of Lanria cared more for their people.” Remy snapped.

  Taiga and Mouse both froze.

  How did she know they were knights?

  Mouse ran over the conversation in his head. Nothing Taiga said could possibly allude to it. No one could know. They couldn’t know. And since they did, they were a threat.

  He spun around, launching at her. Mouse gripped his sword in hand, twisted it around himself, and swung it. The metal tip rushed directly at her throat.

  “Mouse!” Taiga’s voice froze him in place. His sword stopped only centimeters from her neck.

  She glanced at him, fear filling her widened eyes. He’d have killed her without her ever realizing it. A tremor shook through her, though she tried concealing it. Her partner pushed her back, putting himself between she and Mouse’s sword. He allowed it.

  “Explain yourself.” Taiga’s voice hardened, and she shivered.