“Ready for the day?” a cook asked as he handed her a fresh loaf of bread.

  No. She wasn’t ready. She’d tossed and turned all night.

  “Yes.” She remembered the state of her face. “Unfortunately, Nessa took it hard. I’m collecting her food as well.”

  He nodded in understanding.

  These interactions had increased, not enthusiasm per se, but more like an investment. She didn't want to deal with it, but she knew the importance of relationships.

  Mia glimpsed a figure and froze.

  She turned, her eyes locking on the side profile of a woman.

  No.

  It couldn’t…

  The woman turned, light hitting her face.

  Mia’s eyes dropped to her neck.

  There wasn't a blemish in sight, no grotesque red line. She wasn't pretty, pale, or lifeless.

  “Someone you know?” the cook asked, a gleam in his eyes.

  Mia turned, focusing on him, forcing tension from her shoulders. The lie was easy, the shame a distant echo. “I thought she…arrived at the same time as me, but it’s the wrong person.”

  He nodded, handing her Nessa’s food. “Don’t hold out too much hope for seeing people you know. If she wasn’t in the arrival zone with you, chances are she didn’t make it to Cinderwild.”

  Mia didn’t know what to say to that. Thankfully, there were other people in line, and the whole interaction was short.

  She headed back to her tent, her movements slow and relaxed, a bit stiff, but it was the best she could do, when all she wanted to do was run.

  The pale face of that woman wouldn’t leave her mind.

  Waxy eyes open and staring at nothing.

  In some nightmares, her mouth would open, and inside was pitch black and undulating. Thin hair-like tendrils would reach out and slither into Mia’s open mouth, filling the space until she choked.

  Other dreams had her lying on the ground, arms spread, as a large axe came down on her neck.

  More still had men sitting up, their eye sockets hollow, stiff necks turning, mouths sewn shut. They’d accuse her, blame her, beg her.

  After each nightmare, she’d wake drenched in sweat. Scraps of fabric stuffed in her mouth to stop her from screaming.

  She didn’t hide from the nightmares. She remembered every detail. She sat in the terror and fear. If she didn’t control these emotions, they’d consume her. After her heart stopped racing, she forced herself to sleep.

  Mia forced herself to ignore Nessa's whimper and screams.

  She envied the freedom with which Nessa cried and screamed.

  Mia remembered the hungry gazes that watched as she set up her tent. The whispers wondering what she’d gained, what they could steal. If they could get away with it.

  Tomorrow, she’d return with a sword strapped to her belt.

  In the dawn, when hearing Nessa’s screams became too much, Mia reached out and scooped the girl into her arms, drawing her into the dark warmth of the tent. She’d hummed until Nessa stilled. Stroked her hair when she thrashed.

  It took hours for the sun to rise, but it felt like seconds.

  When the sky lightened, she tended to Nessa, who’d developed a fever.

  When the fever broke, she huffed a relieved sigh. Nessa, groggy and stumbling, ate all her broth. She held onto Mia when they broke camp.

  Instead of giving the tent to the logistics team for them to transport, Mia strapped it to her back.

  The walk through the camp was slow, and the weighted gazes scratched at her nerves. Her arm curved around Nessa's shoulder.

  Mox was waiting for her. “Interesting.” He handed her a pair of gloves and a leather-bound notebook. “That is the ledger you’ll record all the loot collected. He,” Mox pointed to a man beside him. “He will protect the ledger, and for a small fee, he’ll make sure the people you scavenge from are dead.” His smile was annoying and knowing.

  “Thanks.”

  “No need to thank me, you’re renting both the ledger and the guard.” Mox dusted his hand off. “Dan, this is Ben. Ben, this is Dan. He’s the equivalent of a silver-ranked knight. But if you’re in danger, he’ll grab the ledger and run.” Mox turned to walk away, stopped, and looked over his shoulder with a smirk. “Ahh, and he’ll keep that little secret for you.” His hand drifted up to brush his neck, tapping at the spot where the jewel in her necklace rested. “I added a fee for keeping secrets for you. You owe me a favor.”

  Mia, overstimulated and tired, just nodded, shelving the whole conversation to examine later.

  They went through the warp gate in the captain’s tent and ended up on a new battlefield.

  There was nothing but sand and a handful of warriors. Or maybe they were soldiers, their armor had a crest on the breastplate, a brown bear wearing armor.

  In the distance, there was a shimmer of water, but it was far from her.

  Mia eased Nessa to the ground, making quick work of setting it up and guiding Nessa inside.

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  Something about this battlefield set her on edge, but there was no immediate danger.

  Crow appeared, his group following close behind.

  She studied the blue shimmer of magic that lingered in the air.

  They were in different camps. That much was clear. Where she had more than a week's worth of grime clinging to her, they’d changed clothes.

  Why didn’t they have weapons? Mia filtered through the questions she wanted to ask, settling on. “Why was there a table set up yesterday?” Mia asked.

  Crow nodded a greeting, broke off from the group, and walked over to the warriors who were waiting. He handed over a scroll and…

  “We got here early. There was a bit of a dispute about who won. Couldn’t start until they sorted everything out.” Kerrik answered.

  Mia focused on Kerrik. “Do you ever get pulled into fights?”

  Bright grinned, laughing. “On good days,” he said, walking over. “You’re Ben, right? Add a little extra to my tally as a nice-to-meet-you gift.” His hand came down on her shoulder.

  Mia shrugged his hand off, ignoring his threatening posture. “The only tally with any extra will be mine.” She kept her voice light, arms loose at her sides, and a small smile on her face.

  The group laughed.

  They hadn’t accepted her, but they weren’t weary or aggressive. Their watch-and-see attitude was better than excessive friendliness from the start.

  “Okay, Ben, how was yesterday?” Crow asked, joining the group. Everyone's posture changed. They shifted, angling their bodies to face him. They respected him.

  Interesting. “Not much to it. Take anything that might have value and don't die. But yesterday we only scavenged for thirty minutes. Is that because the battle ran long?” Mia asked. Yesterday felt long, but when she returned to camp, she realized how short a time it was.

  Kerrik nodded.

  Bright cursed, kicking at the ground.

  Crow nodded. “The barriers last a set amount of time. If the battle runs long, the time we have to scavenge gets reduced. If the battlefield’s value is high, they might cast another barrier after the Duos clear out, but that’s rare.” He unrolled a scroll, and several carts appeared. “Ben, if you have any more questions, ask Kerrik.”

  Crow’s stance widened, and his grey eyes hardened. “Listen up, degenerates, we're trying something new. You lot got pissed and moaned about the scribes shortchanging and stealing your loot, so now we’ve got our very own. Play nice. If you fuck up, they take him away, and we go back to the old system.

  “Ben, you're shadowing Kerrik again. For the first hour, you're scavenging. We fought the Nazir’s this time, so be mindful of booby traps, particularly poison. Dan is with you, so you have an extra layer of protection, but he might not always be there, so learn what to look for. That girl with you has to scavenge at least one body, or I’ll record her as absent from the battlefield.

  “For the second hour, you come back here and set up. Your duties as a scribe are simple. Sit and record, don’t move from the table, don’t touch the loot. Each team member has their own wagon. They come, empty their bags and storage spaces, you record what they have, and they transfer it to a wagon. Simple. How to record is also simple. They put the loot on the ledger, or you’ll touch the ledger to it if the item is large. I’ll say it again, don’t touch the loot.

  “Kerrik, lighten up, let him actually scavenge. He’s not stealing food out of your mouth. I’ve doubled your territory, so don’t act like you're not getting the better end of the deal. You get the rest of his territory once the hour is up.”

  Kerrik shrugged, a grin on his face. “I can’t help it!”

  “Keep doing it, I dare you,” Crow said.

  Kerrik held up his arms. “Easy, boss. I promise to behave.” The grin hadn’t left his face.

  Crow shook his head. “Jonas, Nick, Alex, Sam, and Wheat, you’re on armor duty, collect a storage space. Remember, undamaged pieces. Any questions?” He nodded when they stayed silent. “Good. Do this smartly, no unnecessary risks. If you die, we’ll leave you here.”

  The air had changed.

  The friendly smiles and camaraderie vanished as if they never existed.

  Mia felt out of place, but projected calm.

  They descended on the bodies, Mia joining the pack.

  Kerrik whistled. “Come here.”

  Mia walked over. Dan followed close at her heel. He didn’t speak, didn’t acknowledge her presence. He reminded her of the guard at Mox’s side. Silent, but watching.

  “Look at this, what do you see?”

  Mia examined the body. Male. Early forties. Nice armor, dented. No, that’s not it. Kerrik wouldn’t have called her for that.

  Be mindful of booby traps, particularly poison.

  She scanned the body. “His hand.” There was a small bottle clutched in his palm.

  “Perfect.” Kerrik nodded. “They're not always that easy to spot. Look at this one.” He took a few steps to the right and pointed.

  Mia ignored the flicker of happiness at his praise. She examined the body and the surrounding space, but couldn’t find anything out of place. “I don’t see anything.”

  Kerrik bent, pointing at a place where the flesh on the man’s arm bulged.

  Mia looked at the body again, noticing the swelling. “What the…?”

  “Nazirs are a nasty lot. They want to take as many enemies with them as possible. If you touch this body, he’ll pop, spraying poison all over the place.” Kerrik, circled. “Sometimes they shove a booby trap under their body. If you remove the weight, it triggers.”

  “Spraying poison all over the place,” Mia finished. She imagined a body falling in the middle of battle, only to be stepped on, poisoning everyone around them. “Won’t that kill their own people?”

  “Use your eyes.” Kerrik pointed out a few bodies. “You can tell our guys from theirs. Look, we’re purple in the face, veins green and prominent, eyes bloodshot. The Nazir’s either take antidotes or are immune to their poisons. Don’t know which, probably both." Kerrik, put the body into his storage space. “On the plus side, they’ve got a bunch of weird beliefs that mean they commit suicide instead of waiting around for us to kill them.”

  Mia realized what differed between yesterday and today. The battlefield was quiet. There weren’t even vultures or ravens circling. She shivered, swallowing hard. That’s also why the scavenger came empty-handed, Kerrik’s axe absent. “All our guys are dead?” She asked, unsure about aligning with Ashfall and all that might mean.

  “Now you know why poison is so terrifying,” Kerrik said.

  Why fight? She wanted to ask. How did they fight, how did they win? She didn’t dare to ask. The bodies today were different. Yesterday, she could hardly tell who belonged to which side, but today there was a clear difference.

  The Nazirians were young, healthy, muscular, and had sharp weapons.

  On our side, old and feeble men wore leather and carried wooden shields.

  “Why collect it?” Mia asked. “The body?” she clarified, when he looked back with a raised eyebrow.

  “I’m not turning it in as loot. It’s not worth much to the ledger since it doesn’t contain that much mana, but potioneers, alchemists, and dark mages will pay a premium for Nazirian poison.”

  “So why didn’t…” Mia paused, a low chuckle slipping out. She straightened. Looking at the battlefield, she didn’t see it at first, but the more she focused, the clearer the small blue lines dividing the field became.

  The first bottle of poison was on a body in her territory. Kerrik couldn’t claim it until the hour was up. He’d also pulled her into his territory, where she couldn’t collect.

  “I don’t have a storage space, so I can’t take it, but it rubs me the wrong way to let you have it for free, so how about this: you introduce me to the people you’d sell something like this to.” Mia’s heart raced, but she kept her chin up and her voice level.

  “Heh, I’ll just double back for it.”

  Mia bent, lifted a leg, pulling a boot off.

  She tested the weight in her hand.

  She tossed it at the body.

  A plum of purple floated in the air.

  “I can give it to you, but you can’t take what’s mine.”