I tried to look at Dorin, but my sight was fixed in L’aera’s direction. I could not see behind me anymore.

  Panic began to radiate outward from my core, which still pulsed inside me. This was not how slimes were meant to be. Slimes were meant to be small, round, and adorable. Thanks to Arcane Ascendant, I was none of those things. I stared in horror at the hands that had replaced my pseudopods, but doing so only drew back my shock at seeing color.

  The only familiarity was that my membrane—or was it skin now that I looked human—sparked with green and gold mana. It was stronger than I was used to, no doubt thanks to the magic boost provided by Arcane Ascendant.

  “Suri?” L’aera reached out, resting a wing claw on my shoulder.

  I jerked, trying to look at the point of contact. Her feathers prickled against skin that had never touched the world before, sending uncomfortable sensations up my arm and into the rest of my body.

  “I…” I coughed. The words had vibrated so strangely in my body. Though I knew that Core Resonance still provided my ability to speak—as my core was definitely still somewhere inside my chest—the sounds seemed to bounce around inside my slime before reaching my mouth. The pure directionality of my voice felt wrong.

  “It’s alright. Vi’yera, be calm.” She gave me an uncharacteristically gentle smile. “Breathe.”

  “I…I don’t have to…breathe,” I said softly, trying to ignore the strange sensations.

  She chittered in amusement. “Maybe you should. A deep breath can do more than deliver life to the body. It can also center you.”

  I screwed my face into a scowl…or at least, I hoped it was one. Weeks of studying human and harpy behaviors had prepared me only to read them, not use them. Whatever face I made, L’aera had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Heat burned in my skin, and rather than face my own embarrassment, I touched the harpy’s wound and pushed my mana into the injury.

  Gold and Green mana seeped from my fingertips and into L’aera, purging the decay from her like shadows before the sun. Stitches of magic wove through the injury, closing and soothing it until not even a scar remained. When it was finished, the excess mana raced across L’aera’s skin, finding and fixing damage wherever it could. Even L’aera’s feathers were cleaned and groomed, leaving only pristine brown feathers.

  When the magic first touched her, L’aera gasped in surprise, but she quickly relaxed into the feeling, closing her eyes and letting out a soft crooning sound from deep in her throat. Her expression was almost disappointed when I withdrew my hand and the magic along with it.

  “That was incredible,” she breathed softly. “I will fetch the other injured. We will deal with the humans when they are healed.”

  Feathers flew and L’aera took flight, leaving me sitting awkwardly on the ground. I felt eyes drilling into me from all sides and wanted nothing more than for Arcane Ascendant to end so I could return to being a normal slime. This was awful.

  To my relief, it was Dorin who knelt across from me. I was surprised to see that his hair matched the color of his magic. It was the color of warm embers, which only made his glowing orange eyes even more brilliant.

  “I didn’t know you could change form, Suri.”

  “I am as surprised as you are, and I don’t much like it,” I said.

  He too, bit his lip to keep from laughing, but I saw the twinkle in his eye. Why did everyone think this was so funny? I was vulnerable; without a means of moving or even changing my field of view, I could be eaten by the first slime to come by!

  “You look a little stunned, looking at my arm like that.”

  “And how, exactly, am I supposed to look anywhere else? This form doesn’t have full range of vision!”

  “You could turn your head, for one.”

  I huffed, forcing my head to turn away from him. “Sounds exhausting. No, thank you.”

  “Worked, though, didn’t it?”

  “Just bring me the next injured monster so I can heal them and go back to a less horrible form.”

  Dorin’s eyes were filled with mirth. “For what it’s worth, your hair still looks like it’s made of slime.”

  “A small consolation.”

  The draken knight stood and made way for the injured harpies to approach. Each one knelt beside me, and I studied them. Most only had small injuries—a few scratches from a few lucky shamblers. These were fixed easily with a single application of Soothing Touch. One, though, was far worse off. She was carried between two harpies, and her body oozed with such potent decay that even the humans gasped in horror.

  “She was closest when the dryad was corrupted,” K’esil explained. “I was going to make her comfortable before the end, but if you can help her, we would be forever in your debt, Vi’yera.”

  “K’esil, I’m still just Suri,” I said, looking up at the blood-stained harpy.

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  She bowed her head but did not answer. Pulling myself closer, I examined the harpy’s magic. It was greatly decayed, with large holes ripped through the center of her magical core. She wouldn’t have the chance to be comfortable before her death. It would almost certainly come within a few hours.

  [Warning: One minute remaining on Arcane Ascendant.]

  My mana delicately leapt between us at my command. The decay fought and writhed, and I put more mana into the healing. Green and gray twisted together, chasing one another around her body like a pair of twisting vipers.

  I pushed another burst of mana into the harpy. Green and gold purged the sickly gray from her body just in time for the glow of magic to fade from my skin.

  [Arcane Ascendant ended

  Slayer’s Stance applied]

  To my immense relief, my body condensed. My sight faded back into the familiar dark nothingness illuminated by arcane contours that I was used to. Exhaustion dripped into every ounce of my slime, but despite the sheer amount of magic I’d used, I didn’t feel as weak as when I’d healed Dorin.

  [Warning: Maximum mana temporarily reduced due to manaburn

  Analysis completed for Arcane Ascendant.]

  All traces of exhaustion vanished from my mind as I asked the Creator for her report.

  [Arcane Ascendant: mana cost: n/a. You call upon the power of the Fourth Anchor to push beyond your arcane limits. During the duration, mana is increased by a factor of 10, and one ability is augmented. The augmented ability has a 50% reduced mana cost and 200% increased potency for the duration of Arcane Ascendant. Requires Healer’s Blessing. Automatically applies Slayer’s Stance after the duration.

  Warning: Every 10 points of mana expended under Arcane Ascendent will provide one point of Manaburn. At the end of Arcane Ascendent, your maximum mana pool will be reduced by your manaburn value and will remain reduced until a full cycle of mana regeneration has been completed.

  Current Status:

  Health: 22/22

  Mana: 13/33 - reduced due to manaburn

  Injury Index: 1 - No injury detected]

  I quickly did some math.

  My usual pool was forty-six. If memory served, I used two instances of Sealing Touch during our trip to Felsporo. During the fights, I relied heavily on my absorption which required no mana—though I was starting to think I needed to reconsider that strategy in order to better utilize my skills as a slime. As such, by the time L’aera needed healing, I was near to half my capacity. Nearly every harpy who returned needed healing to stave off the effects of the decay, which amounted to twenty-three harpies. With the reduced cost of Soothing Touch during Arcane Ascendant, each harpy was healed for five mana. Which meant…

  Which meant…

  That my core ached. I could have run the numbers, but I had faith in the Creator. Slimes were never meant to do math, and I wasn’t about to start now. If I did, I might accidentally disqualify myself for the Primordial Slime evolution for doing something too un-slimelike.

  Instead, I just relaxed, content in the fact that I managed to do something good with myself in spite of the disaster I’d caused. It was nice.

  “And what about us?” Mattis asked. Several guards nodded behind him.

  “You will leave and go back to whatever hole you crawled out of!” E’rina hissed, stamping her bad talon on the ground.

  K’esil let out an ear-splitting screech and puffed out her feathers. “That is not for you to decide, Scout Sister! These humans are Las’hik. They deserve our kindness and hospitality!”

  “Don’t we already have enough troubles? Three Las’hik is enough for any colony to be in the good graces of our Great Mother. She can’t possibly expect us to take in a full hundred!”

  To my surprise, it was Tei’lian who interrupted. “And who are you to challenge the will of the Great Mother, E’rina? Last I remember, my wife was Blood Sister, not you. Or have I been gone so long that you’ve challenged her?”

  In the chaos, K’esil must not have seen the cait arrive. Her feathers immediately pricked upright. She squealed in delight before throwing herself at Tei’lian. The two fell in an ceremonious heap of feathers and fur.

  “Tei! I missed you!” she shouted, getting the upper hand and straddling his chest. “S’rina and M’neki will be so happy to see you! I’ll go fetch them.”

  “K’esil, you’re needed for the discussion. Otherwise E’rina will speak above her station and will kick every non-harpy out of the nest, including me.”

  Tei’lian and K’esil turned matching glares on the Scout Sister who puffed out her feathers. E’rina’s dislike of outsiders was clearly about more than just losing a talon. Luckily, L’aera landed once more in the group. She barely glanced at the blood sister and her husband on the ground.

  “Oh. Welcome home, Tei’lian,” she said without any more interest than if she were discussing the weather. Instead, she turned to Dorin.

  “Las’hik Dorin. I believe you were making a case for sanctuary for your people?” L’aera might have stood a full head shorter than Dorin, but her voice carried authority to every gathered harpy and human.

  The draken bowed his head respectfully. “I was. As I was saying the first time, Felsporo is gone. Many are dead, and those who remain are left without a home. We beg for your aid.”

  “Why would we want the aid of monsters?” Mrs. Malsory cried. “This creature cannot speak for us!”

  Samara stepped forward instead. “If Dorin cannot speak because he has horns, then I shall speak in his stead.”

  Not even Mrs. Malsory could argue with the respected tavern keeper. Every guard in town had sat at her bar at one point or another, and unlike Mattis and his companions, she had the wisdom of age on her side. She approached L’aera, leveling her with a cool but stern gaze.

  “Ma’am, we don’t expect your charity, but we do ask for your compassion,” Samara began. “Those of us who can work would be happy to do so for the benefit of both communities. We just need a place where those damned shamblers won’t find us, a place where we can set a campfire, maybe put a roof over our children’s heads.”

  L’aera stepped forward until she was inches away from the tavern keeper. Though Samara wasn’t quite as tall as Dorin, the harpy wing mother still only came up to her nose, yet she looked no less fearsome for it. Both women stared each other down with cool looks while E’rina continued to grumble from the background.

  After a long moment, the wing mother stepped back. “I agree with the blood sister’s council, though, in the interests of the colony, I will not grant any human permission to live in any of our caves. You may build your camps on the ground, if you so wish. The humans shall defend the earth, while the harpies will defend the skies. These are my terms.”

  Samara nodded her head in agreement. “We agree.”

  Then, she held out her hand to shake. L’aera stared at it for a long moment before K’esil took her husband’s hand and shook it dramatically for the wing mother’s benefit. Taking the hint, she cleared her throat and took Samara’s hand in a wing claw. The shake was awkward, but when it was done, the humans breathed a collective sigh of relief.

  Or rather, they did until a voice called from the forest.

  “I don’t believe it’s a commoner’s decision to make.” From the trees stepped a man with magic so sour that I had to recoil, even from this distance. He crossed to stand in front of Samara, as if daring her to question him. “Lord Vidor Pelslow. My family rules this entire province.”