Serene

  Will took her outside Sheerhome—pretty much the only time she had left the city—and led her down a narrow forest trail. Seeing so much nature and smelling something other than sweat and garbage might have been a nice change of pace if not for the fact that she spent every second wanting to throw up and shivering with fevers, sunlight needling her eyes. It had been almost a day and a half since she'd had a hit, and she was really starting to feel it now.

  Jumping at every unfamiliar sound, she was constantly gripping the knife Will had given her in a clammy fist. She'd heard the stories of what happened to people who ventured into the wilds. Of the things that lurked there.

  Will did not appear concerned. That didn't make her feel any better. One-eyed bastard.

  "You two make a weird couple, killer," Serene observed. She didn't have any real desire to make conversation with the Misfortune, but the shakes were starting to drive her crazy, and at this point she'd take any kind of distraction from obsessing over what might be hiding behind the nearest tree.

  "Me and Sam?" Will asked. Tall and shaggy-haired, face all hard planes and dark shadows, he cut an imposing figure. Especially with that long bright dragon fang of a blade hanging off his hip. "I was always drawn to her particular brand of crazy, and she was always drawn to lost causes."

  "'Always'? How's that work, exactly? I thought she washed up recently."

  "She did. Not two weeks ago."

  "So you can't have known each other that long, then." Serene frowned, rubbing at her sweat-slick brow. "Now that I'm thinking about it, she made it sound like you two knew each other before the Frontier. But that's…"

  "Impossible?" Will gave her a nasty smile, hopping with easy grace over a rock in his path.

  "Yeah."

  "Actually, it was only difficult."

  "You brought her here?"

  "With Nyx's help."

  "Jesus, man. That is fucked up. So if she didn't actually get sentenced here, then…"

  Will's smile widened into a predatory showing of teeth. "As far as I know, she's the only person on the Frontier who doesn't actually deserve to be here." He stopped on the path, one hand on the hilt of his saber, and cut her with that searching, one-eyed gaze of his. "Let me guess. You thought she was too good to be true."

  "Something like that." Serene's step faltered, her grip on the knife tightening. Something about his stare triggered her fight-or-flight, like he was one sudden movement away from cutting her head off. If even a fraction of what she had heard about the man was true, maybe that wasn't so far off the mark.

  "Well, she's not. She's just as good as she seems—maybe more. Even on Earth, she's a rare individual. On the Frontier, she's unheard of. If there's a person alive who can save this place, it's her. It's my job to make sure she gets whatever she needs to make it happen. It's my job to 'get my hands red', as you so tactfully put it earlier, so that hers can stay clean."

  Standing still was making Serene realize just how unsteady her legs were, and she caught herself a tree trunk to stay upright, knees wanting to buckle under her. "You're kind of a bastard, you know that?" she said. "You, what? Had Nyx take her out of her perfectly normal life on Earth and put her here? What's wrong with you?"

  "Pretty much, and a lot," Will replied. "Judge me all you like. That's what I'm here for." He turned and kept walking without waiting for her.

  Despite her feelings about the man, she was fairly confident that she would die out here if she lost track of him, so before he could slip out of sight she staggered after him, managed to catch up.

  "What have you done to her now?" Serene asked. "Where is Sam?"

  "I thought it wasn't any of your business," Will replied with a wry chuckle.

  "That was before I realized how much of a psycho you are. Now I'm worried."

  "She's going north with Mongrel. You've met him, I take it?"

  Serene snorted. "Unfortunately I've had that dubious pleasure, yes. Knowing he's along for the ride doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. What could possibly possess you to send her into the interior?"

  "I need her to find Big Deal Buck and bring him to Sheerhome. I'm planning to have him get rid of Brimstone for us, so we can put him on the high chair."

  "Hmm. I suppose you could do slightly worse than him."

  "Know him?"

  "I've fucked him a couple times. He's a sweetheart."

  "With women, maybe," Will muttered, shaking his head.

  "People love the guy, but you know he'll make a really shitty leader, right? He's got the attention span of a hamster and the libido of a bunny."

  "I'm aware. I've factored it into my plan."

  "Meaning?"

  "He'll make a perfectly serviceable ruler if he's got good advisors to guide him."

  "Let me guess—you include yourself in that list?"

  Will gave a limp shrug. "I guess we'll see once his butt is in the chair."

  A long stretch later, the trees abruptly ended as they entered out into a large clearing occupied by a smattering of farm buildings. Serene had never heard of anyone making a home in the middle of nowhere like this, at least not in the Bad Times, but Will had evidently lived here for some time.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "This place is a bit of a mess," Serene noted as they entered the main farmhouse, finding bloody handprints on the walls and possessions strewn everywhere. "You get broken into or something?"

  "Or something," Will replied.

  He brought her into a kitchen that might have been quaint if not for the copious amount of blood soaked into the floorboards, making each step sticky and gross.

  "Sam's blood," Will said before she had time to ask, as he directed her to sit down on a couch. "She suffered a brain hemorrhage after the tournament. Surgical intervention became necessary."

  "Why'd you let her fight in the tournament in the first place?"

  "I didn't. That was Mongrel's idea. I wasn't around to stop him, though, and that's on me."

  When Serene didn't move fast enough, Will took her by the arm and shoved her into the seat none-too-gently. "Wait here," he said, already walking out of the room. "I'll be back in a moment."

  "Where are you going?" Serene asked.

  "Just fetching some supplies. Don't move."

  "Don't worry. I'll be here." Serene tried on a chuckle, but it mostly came out as a queasy groan. Her legs throbbed in rhythm with the pounding of her skull—she wasn't sure she'd be able to stand up if she wanted to.

  He went and got a pail of water and a rag so that she could clean off the worst of the filth, as well as a change of clothes, then left again. He was gone a while that time, which gave her enough time to slowly and laboriously struggle into the new clothes. She thought they smelled like Sam.

  As she looked around the place, she saw one of the cabinet doors hang ajar, the glint of bottles inside. Maybe she could stand after all…

  Then Will suddenly returned, breaking her out of her thoughts. He placed down a small vial on the dining table with a sharp click, then slid a folded-up note next to it.

  "Choose one," the Misfortune said in a cold, stern tone.

  Serene already knew what the clear vial contained, eyeing the chunks of amber residue, but she asked anyway. "What's that?"

  "Opium," Will replied. "Very pure. Very potent. I use it on rare occasions for pain relief. You'll likely never experience better in your life."

  Serene swallowed hard. How could her throat be so dry when the rest of her was soaked in sweat? "And the note?"

  "Read it."

  Reluctantly, Serene picked up the scrap of paper and scanned over the neat writing inside.

  I, ______, hereby vow that I shall never imbibe an intoxicant for recreational use for as long as I live.

  In return, I ask that my 'Illusion' skill be granted the power to affect all five senses with each single cast.

  And so our accord is made.

  "What is this?" Serene asked.

  "A divine vow," Will replied. "An exchange with our late goddess. Adhere to the first clause, and you gain the benefits of the second."

  "Right…"

  "Like I mentioned earlier, your prowess with Illusions is significant."

  "Well, I have four ranks in it, so I'd certainly hope so."

  "Those will help with the scope and duration of your casts, but you have a rare talent at creating lifelike Illusions. You don't even have access to the Ideality attribute, which makes it even more impressive. Augmented by a divine vow, it will serve as a basis for a solid build. One that could prove very useful for the city and its people—one that will take you beyond the need to sell your flesh for petty cash, at a bare minimum."

  "When it says I'll never 'imbibe an intoxicant for recreational use'," she said, making air quotes, "does that mean what I think it means?"

  "Yes it does. Hence the choice." Will spread his arms, motioning to the two items. "If you choose the opium, I will send you on your way with the rest of my stash and enough money to have made it worth your time coming all the way out here. Let's say… a thousand glories. Not a bad turnout for half a day's work, wouldn't you say?"

  Serene couldn't take her eyes off the little glass bottle, the resin within. So much of it… Her stomach was vibrating with unease, cramping hard, and her entire body was getting itchy like she was covered in bug bites.

  "If I take it…" Serene cleared her throat, voice gone croaky. "Even if I take it, I'll never make it back to the city."

  "I'll escort you, of course."

  "Bullshit. You've told me too much." She tore her eyes off the beautiful sight of the deep, rich, sun-colored residue with some effort, meeting Will's inscrutable gaze. "I've known people like you all my life, killer. With what I know now, there's no way you'd just let me walk."

  "You have a very low opinion of me, Serene." His dark eye carved into her with the precision of surgical steel, the other stitched-shut and sagging grotesquely. "Are you saying I'd kill you?"

  Serene held his stare for as long as she could, refusing to back down, but eventually found her gaze sliding off to the side anyway. "I'm saying there's a good chance I'd end up in some kind of 'accident' or take a sudden 'trip' to the next octant over, never to be heard from again. Are you really going to deny it?"

  "I wouldn't do that," Will said. For some reason, the softness in his voice put her even more on edge, raising the hairs on her arms. "You're Sam's friend." He stood back from the table with a sigh, folding his arms behind his back. "But you're right. I can't let you walk away. I'd need to confine you here until Brimstone has been taken care of."

  "As a prisoner?"

  He pursed his lips in a sort of noncommittal almost-shrug. "Pretty much."

  "What would Sam think of that?"

  "I imagine she'd take issue with it." He smiled. "She'd forgive me, though. She's nice like that." He bent forward and slid the opium vial closer toward her. "I was telling the truth about this, though. It would be easier to keep you prisoner if you're doped up. I'd give you as much as you like."

  Serene considered her options. In truth, she was trying to consider anything other than that beautiful, perfect little bottle, shining so splendidly. Just from the look of it, she knew it was as pure as Will claimed. She already knew the feeling it would give her. The best feeling in the world—nothing at all. Total oblivion.

  "Take it," Will coaxed, sliding the bottle another inch. "Go on. It's all right." His one eye never left her face, never blinked.

  Ratcatcher stepped out from behind him, half his face a ruin, the other half grinning madly. "Take it," he said.

  "Take it," Will repeated.

  "Take it," Ratcatcher echoed.

  "Take it."

  "Take it."

  "Take it."

  Ratcatcher crept up to her until he was barely an inch from the side of her face, whispering into her ear. "Take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it take it—"

  Serene picked up the note. It felt like a lead weight in her hand. "What do I do with this?" she asked.

  Will smiled, and pocketed the vial. Its sudden absence was a great blow to her already fragile sanity. "Just say the words, adding your actual legal name where prompted. I assume it's not really Serene?"

  Serene made her choice then, knowing she'd regret it. She rushed through it while the better part of her still had some sway, not giving herself a second to back out. "I, Catherine Hall, hereby vow that I shall never imbibe an intoxicant for recreational use for as long as I live. In return, I ask that my 'Illusion' skill be granted the power to affect all five senses with each single cast.

  "And so our accord is made."

  For a while, nothing happened. Then, when Serene was just about to ask if she had done it right, her vision was flooded with a flash of light, imprinting words on the backs of her eyeballs.

  [Divine vow accepted.]

  Blinking the unpleasant light away, Serene sank back into the couch and hugged herself tight. She wanted to throw up.

  Oh, what have I done…?