A week. That’s how long she gave herself. One week. A week to rest and recover from the night that Haytham Talleh and his cadre of mercenary Earth-mages attacked the outpost, hoping to force their way back to the Primes via the Waystone. A week to relax, as much as she could in a settlement where many were still recovering from their injuries, rebuilding what had been destroyed, and remembering those they’d lost; where many of those doing the recovering, rebuilding, and remembering blamed Anastasia Cole for letting the culprits off as easy as she had.

  One week. That’s how long Ana forced herself to stay before it became too much.

  One week after Ana and Haytham Talleh had shaken on their agreement, ensuring that the mages would vacate the square without any more loss of life or damage to the outpost, Ana and a small Party stood before the Dawnward gate, ready to go out into the forest. Perhaps that was irresponsible. Perhaps she shouldn’t trust that Tellak, Kaira, the captains, and the dozens of experienced mages, combat Classers, and others would be enough in case Talleh and his people were only waiting for her to be gone.

  Perhaps. But a woman could only take so much silent condemnation.

  Ana told herself that she was only fulfilling a promise to two of the Party’s members, but she was self-aware enough to know that she was lying to herself. Lesirell and Perrion would have understood if she needed longer. No, Ana knew that she just wanted to get away from the stares for a while.

  Ana hated being stared at. And everyone in the outpost, whether they supported or resented her decision to make truce with the mercenaries, stared at her. Never mind that the other officers and then, when they recovered from their injuries, the captains had ratified the agreement she’d struck with Talleh. Never mind that a failure to strike a deal might have ended with the destruction of the Waystone, the slow destabilization of the Splinter, and all of their deaths. All some people saw was that Ana had let the five surviving mages and their “guest,” Karti the Grand Summoner, leave the outpost with their lives.

  Well, fuck it. Perri and Lessa were happy to go out now. They already been forced to delay almost two weeks from when they’d originally planned. Now the two young adventurers, an Archer and a Fighter respectively, were raring to go and chatting excitedly with Denikla, the even younger Evoker. Deni was happy to go with her friends; not only did she love Delving, but with her away it would be less crowded in those rooms of her damaged home that were still usable. Rayni the Huntress, their scout and guide, had been planning to go out on a hunting trip that morning anyway and was happy to change her plans, and Jisha, the French teenager who was shaping up to be a reliable Fighter, was excited about any and every opportunity to go Delving. And Mestendi the elfin Duelist, Ana’s girlfriend and Object of Devotion…

  Messy had been wanting to get back out there for a while. The horror of their short campaign against Karti and his cult of Sentinel fanatics, where she'd been forced to slaughter any number of what were essentially innocent people driven murderously feral by the void plague, had shaken her badly. But in the past few weeks she’d been feeling more and more ready to lace up her boots, pull on her pack, and get back out there to kill some demons. Part of that, Ana knew, was a desire not to hold her back, but Messy had been a casual Delver for far longer than Ana had been in the Splinter. She’d enjoyed it, and being unable to join Ana and her friends had filled her with shame and guilt. This morning, though, her vividly amber eyes, thickly lined with a jagged design that flared into spikes towards the temples, shone with an excitement that made Ana’s heart race.

  Ana wondered how much of that was genuine healing and working through her trauma with Touanne the Healer, and how much was Messy's new Class. Now that she’d gone from being a Jeweler to a Duelist, would the new Class push her to fight, the way Ana’s Guardian Angel Class pushed her to protect? How could Ana know if any changes were due to the Class or their experiences?

  Was there any point in worrying about it? Probably not. But worrying about Messy had become second nature to Ana ever since she offered to make the elfin woman her Object of Devotion. And quite possibly shortly before; it was still slightly unclear to Ana where genuine, unfamiliar affection ended and the influence of her Class began.

  It was about time to head out. Nobody was fiddling with any straps anymore, and they mostly stood with their packs at their feet chatting to each other. It looked like everyone was ready.

  “Alright, people, listen up,” Ana said, a combination of her Attributes, Enhancements, Skills, and Perks making her impossible not to pay attention to. That, and the fact that everyone automatically looked to her to lead them at this point. “This is going to be a bit of an unusual outing, but I’m sure it’ll be fun and profitable for everyone. When we get into a fight—and I’m hoping we get into plenty of those—I’m going to try to hang back. I may be throwing an axe or three to practice Throwing, but I’ll only get stuck in if I really need to so you all get the highest contribution you possibly can. I’m still taking an even cut from any Delves we clear, ‘cause I’m so close to Level 20 I can taste it, but if I have to get seriously involved in killing too many demons something’s gone wrong, alright?”

  Her young companions—everyone there except Messy was younger than Ana’s twenty-six years—all nodded their understanding.

  “Good. Now. Ground rules are simple. Rayni decides where we go. You can all make suggestions, but if she says forward, we go forward. If she says south, we go south. If she finds a Delve and says that it’s out of our league, then we’re not going in. Other than that, we’re equals here. We can discuss things, vote, whatever works. The exception is that if we’re in an emergency and I give an order, you follow it. If I tell you to run, you run. Even if that means leaving me behind. Are we clear?”

  There were some less enthusiastic nods at that, but no one objected. While only Messy knew the details of Ana’s Class, they all knew how much more resilient Ana was than anyone else in the Party. They also knew that as long as Ana had people nearby to protect, she would. As long as they were close enough for her to absorb any wounds that they took, she would. It was easy to think of a situation where everybody, Ana included, would be more likely to survive if they ran and left Ana to buy them time. She could hold her own and disengage when everyone else was safely away.

  Well, more likely she’d fight with berserk fury and kill whatever had forced them to retreat. Then she’d collapse from pain and blood loss when her combat bonuses wore off, but that just made it all the more important that the rest of them survive to pour a healing potion down her throat.

  Ana clapped her hands. “Great! Just want to make sure that everybody’s clear on that. But it’s not going to be relevant, ‘cause we’re all just going to have a good time, right?”

  As one, everyone echoed her. “Right!” Except for Jisha, who looked confused. Not because she hadn’t understood the spiel—Ana was fairly confident that she had—but because she hadn’t been there for Ana’s speeches to the militia.

  “We’re all gonna Level our Classes and Skills, and come back with Crystals to spare, right?”

  “Right!” everyone echoed. Including Jisha this time, who was quick on the uptake. She was a half-beat late but made up for it with enthusiasm.

  “Of course, right!” Ana said, giving them a genuine smile. She’d hated giving these speeches before, no matter how effective they’d been. It was a lot more fun when it was just her friends and the stakes were low. “In that case, if everyone’s ready, let’s head out!”

  “Great speech, Angel,” Messy said through her smile, pulling Ana in for a side-hug and planting a loud kiss on her newly shaved sides, right above her ear. The others cheered and hooted, and then everyone threw on their packs and headed out the gate.

  Despite everything that had happened in the last few months and the tense situation in the outpost, the mood was practically indistinguishable from Ana’s first Delve, when she’d headed out with Kaira’s group of casuals: an all-female band of part-time amateur Delvers that Kaira called Ladies’ Night. That was how Ana had first met Messy, who Ana had later learned had developed a crush almost immediately, cemented once she first saw Ana fight; Rayni, whose Danger Sense had alerted her to Ana so strongly that she’d made an ill-considered attempt to blackmail Ana after she figured out that Ana was hiding her true Class; and Deni, who’d been a first-timer, just like Ana, and whose life Ana had saved when a possessed bear tried to take a bite out of the girl’s chest.

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

  That Delve had been a pivotal experience in Ana’s life. The only thing to ever have a more positive impact on her future was when Mr. Stamper, her former employer, had found her behind an IHOP and rescued her. She’d been covered in blood, and still clutching the knife she’d used to kill a man who’d beat her half to death after deciding that robbing her wasn’t enough.

  She’d thought that Mr. Stamper and his two bodyguards would hold her for the police, but they hadn’t. Instead, he’d talked to her. He’d listened. He’d understood, and he’d seen not a teenage killer but a possible asset. He’d covered for her, cleaned her up, and helped her finish her education. Then he’d moved her to the UK and gave her a job. He made her the woman she was today, beneath all the System crap. He’d been the father figure she’d lacked for the first sixteen years of her life, and if not for him she’d almost certainly be dead or in jail.

  Ana would never stop being grateful to Mr. Stamper for as long as she lived. Even if she’d never see him again. Even if he’d probably try to kill her if she did, after his beloved son died on her watch. Even if she wouldn't hesitate to kill him and anyone he sent after her.

  Not that it mattered. Ana never expected to return to Earth; as far as she knew, there was no way back.

  But that wasn't something she wanted to think about now. Nor did she want to think about how it felt like she was letting herself be pushed out of the place that had, at some point, become her home, however temporarily. She had a week of beautiful weather and demon slaying to look forward to with her friends and the only love of her life, and she’d be damned if she let any dark thoughts ruin that.

  They walked with eager steps along the well-trodden path up the sloping mile of clearing between the outpost and the forest. Rayni walked in a foursome with Deni, Lessa, and Perri at the front; from the sound of it, the three young women had made it their mission to fluster the Party’s only man with dirty jokes and innuendo. Perri was fighting back valiantly, swinging nimbly between pretending not to understand and raising the stakes. It looked like it should have been uncomfortable for the kid, but by their body language everybody was having fun. And those four had been out before, going on a week-long Delve with Rayni before Ana’s own first outing with Jisha, so Ana figured they had a dynamic that worked.

  Ana walked at the very back with Messy to her right and Jisha to her left, wondering how she’d lucked out to the point that she actually had six people and more who were genuinely happy to be around her. Never in her life had she ever counted more than two or three people at once as actual friends.

  And yet you would sacrifice them all for the elfin girl, a voice whispered in her head. Fascinating. Such a waste that you are hers, and not mine.

  Ana did her best to ignore it. It may be so soft and non-descript that she might have mistaken it for her own thoughts, but she knew that it wasn’t. Nor was it the Wayfarer’s airy, feminine tone. It was someone else.

  Normally, deities could only contact mortals under specific circumstances: to respond to prayers with vague guidance, for example. But Ana had an Enhancement, Connected, which made her an exception. Any god or goddess that so desired could speak to her directly, though it took a great deal of effort that decreased as Ana’s relationship with the divinity in question improved. This made Ana sure that the voice didn’t belong to the Sentinel, the Lord of Order. He was invariably described as male, and she couldn’t imagine him being so calm if he ever tried to contact her, but more than that she loathed the bastard, and she couldn’t imagine he’d waste the effort to send vague suggestions at her. No, this was some other divinity that had taken enough of an interest in Ana to put in the effort of sending her their thoughts. And they did so at least once every day, which was more than could be said for Ana’s own patron goddess.

  Whoever they were, they kept encouraging her to rest. To let go of responsibility and let someone else shoulder it. The fate of the world, they said, was not hers to bear.

  They were almost always wrong, of course. Through no fault of her own, Ana had been made an important piece in the game for the fate of the world. But in this one instance, they were entirely correct.

  Up ahead Deni, the same age as Jisha at no older than sixteen, laughed at something Lessa had said. Ana liked the girl. She had fire, but also a lot of heart. And Ana would break her neck with her own two hands if that was the only way to save Messy from some terrible fate. The same went for Jisha, whom Ana thought of as almost an adoptive little sister, and Rayni, who’d overcome the constant alarm of her Danger Sense to become Ana’s friend, because she thought Ana was worth it. Ana would slaughter them all for Messy, if she could find no other way. She would hate it, and she would avenge them against whoever was responsible for that obscene fictional situation, but she’d do it. And she wouldn’t feel a shred of guilt.

  With the same lack of guilt and empathy that would let her kill her closest friends to save the only person she’d ever loved, Ana banished her thoughts of the voice and what it knew that she could do.

  “How does she feel?” the French girl to her left asked in accented Inter-guild, gesturing with her eyes up the length of the halberd Ana carried.

  “Good,” Ana replied. “I’ve got the balance dialed in, and I’m confident with my chops, sweeps, and thrusts. I can’t wait to try it out for real.”

  Jisha took a moment to parse everything; she still wasn’t entirely confident with the language. “Don’t try too hard,” she finally said with mock severity. “You watch and help. Do not break my weapon!”

  “As long as you don’t break mine,” Ana shot back, nodding to the weapon and shield on Jisha’s belt.

  “Tope-là!” Jisha said, holding her palm out. Ana slapped it, and the deal was sealed.

  For this Delve, since Ana was supposed to be hanging back, the two had swapped arms. Ana took Jisha’s halberd, which suited her perfectly; she’d been wanting to learn the Polearms Skill and pick up a few Levels anyway. Jisha, meanwhile, was giddy to be carrying Ana’s own weapon, a one-handed battle-axe with a multi-faceted lump of steel the size of a ping-pong ball on the reverse. Along with the hammer-axe, she also carried Ana’s buckler. Both were Engraved so that as long as their wielder pushed mana into them, they were practically indestructible.

  It was a perfect situation for the girl. Not only did she get to practice with two classes of weapon, thus training two Skills, but she also had ample opportunity to practice handling mana; something she was going to need to become very familiar with if she wanted to become a Life-mage. And she did want to become a Life-mage very much. She was never going to be a Healer like Touanne—she enjoyed fighting far too much for that—but she wanted to be able to help her friends and allies after a battle.

  Ana approved whole-heartedly. At the end of the cycle, in fifty days, she was leaving this Splinter. A few people, Jisha among them, had promised to come with her, if she’d have them. And wherever Ana ended up, with a god gunning for her she’d inevitably see a lot of fighting. Ana could imagine few companions more valuable than a friend who could also patch her up when she inevitably ended up half-dead.

  The halberd wasn't the only new weapon Ana carried. The other new addition wasn’t the throwing axes she'd flirted with since running out of ammo for her pistol, though; for some reason she never quite got the hang of them. Her friend Torden, though, had observed her problem and found her an alternative.

  Instead of regular throwing axes, Tor had found her a brace of something called hurlbats. The evil things looked a lot like small axes, except that they were made entirely of steel. They were in the shape of a Christian cross where one of the arms was the axe bit, and every point of that cross was pointed and sharp enough to cut and pierce flesh. When thrown it didn't matter how they tumbled or which end hit the target; as long as they didn’t hit side-on, they’d do some damage. For someone like Ana, who tended to hit with every part of her throwing axes except the sharp bit, they were perfect.

  She also had her crossbow—she didn’t think she’d ever use it in serious combat again, but she liked shooting it, and it was good for hunting—and an assortment of daggers. Ana didn’t like short bladed weapons, but a readily drawn dagger had saved her life a few times. True, she could do significantly more damage with her bare hands at this point, but that didn’t mean she was going to deprive herself of an option.

  As the Party entered the forest, the shade of the trees reduced the searing heat of the direct sunlight to merely baking. This morning was one of the hottest Ana could remember, not counting the bizarre flashes that had come while the white obelisk had been actively destabilizing the Splinter. Despite the sun having risen only a few hours earlier and still being low in the sky, Ana could already feel her tunic clinging uncomfortably to her back. She could imagine all too well what it was like back in the outpost, where the stones trapped the heat and the buildings stood close enough that any breeze had to lie just right to pass down whatever street you were on.

  Goddess, she was glad to be out of there. At least out here the heat was bearable, especially with the gentle breeze coming down from the unreachable mountains to the north. That alone would have made the Delve worth it, even if she hadn’t been looking forward to getting away from the outpost and the stares she’d had to endure on a daily basis for the past week.

  Yeah, she told herself, raising her face to the mottled sunlight and breathing deep of the scents of the forest. A relaxing week or two away in the wilderness, spending time with people who appreciated her and taking out her frustration on some horrid creatures that deserved anything she did to them, was just what she needed.

  and read 8 chapters ahead of both Splinter Angel and Draka! You also get to read anything else I’m trying out — which is how Splinter Angel got started.

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