“Yes,” Ria smiled, “making it a good option.”
“The third one is also good,” Cyra said, handing him the last page.
Exchanging pages with Cyra, Stern scanned the last option. Minor Life; bandages? We don’t need no stinking bandages. Refresh an ally with life, close minor wounds, and negate the least of poisons. Usable once per day.
Stern stared at the page intently. “Cyra, this is…” He trailed off, trying to find the right words. “Healing of any kind is rare. It’s why the alchemists do such good business. The salves and potions they make are almost always the only healing Walkers get.”
Cyra took the paper back and stared at it. “This would be helpful? Even though it’s only usable once per day?”
“Usable once right now, but it’ll likely have ways to improve it,” Stern told her. “Like the improvement option for Life Sense.”
Cyra glanced from the second page to the third and back. “Both are useful... One would make it easier for Pawly to know where the monsters are. This one would be good if you get injured, but Pawly is the one who fights for us, and you said she heals when she leaves.”
“That’s true,” Stern said. “The healing one will make you a valuable addition to any crew, though. That perk might be enough to save a life long enough for a salve or potion to be used, and if it does improve, it’ll only be more valuable.”
“Okay, I trust you. I’ll take this one,” Cyra told Ria, holding the third page out to her.
The page dissolved into light and rushed into Cyra, who gasped. She would have fallen if Stern hadn’t grabbed her and held her.
“I was going to warn you about that,” Stern said as he waited for the change to pass.
“A good choice,” Ria smiled as she collected the other two pages.
Cyra shuddered and held onto Stern as the moment passed. “That was…”
“Like a full-body sneeze from the inside,” Stern said. “Dad said it was your DNA being rewritten.”
“DNA?” Cyra asked, looking puzzled as Stern got her standing again.
“Skip it. He says a lot of weird stuff.”
“Are you ready for your points?” Ria asked, her smile a little off.
“Oh, yes, please,” Cyra said. “Maybe I can get some equipment so I can be more useful?”
“Cyra,” Stern said cautiously, “I, uh... was going to get you outfitted in Darkstone, if that’s okay with you.”
Cyra blinked at him before looking away and brushing at one of her ears. “I can’t pay you back...”
“Well,” Stern said, aware of Ria watching him, “I was thinking. You want to advance to the north, which means clearing the dungeons. I’m going that way myself. If you wanted, we could form a small crew. We’ll need more for the second three dungeons and beyond, obviously, but uh... I can get you through the next two, at the very least.”
Ria’s eyebrow rose and she looked at Cyra. She had turned away slightly from Stern and was holding one of her ears down over an eye, stroking it repeatedly.
“You… don’t mind? I almost got you killed.”
“No, you didn’t. That ass and his father almost got me killed. All you’ve done is be a good person. Besides, Pawly likes you, and... well, she’ll get upset if you leave.”
Happiness surged in Cyra, but also sadness. “We can’t disappoint Pawly. I’d like to stay with you… her, I mean.”
“Okay,” Stern said, struggling to separate his own feelings from Cyra’s.
“If you’re ready for your points,” Ria said into the sudden silence, looking back and forth between them.
“Sorry, Ria,” Stern said. “Please.”
“Stern received thirty-seven points for killing the monsters. You each received ten points for clearing the dungeon. As a crew, you have one hundred and forty-eight points. No points were awarded for style or traps, as there were none to clear.”
Stern nodded as he considered the point distribution.
“How does that work?” Cyra asked. “The crew points?”
“Crew points are normally spent according to the majority of the crew. If a contract has been signed, then the leader might be the one who gets those points to spend.”
“We can split them evenly,” Stern told Cyra. “That won’t give you enough for the best of the low-grade items, though.”
“Did you mean it when you said you’d get me outfitted?” Cyra asked.
“Yes.”
“I give you all the points, then, since I can’t pay you otherwise.”
“All points are given to Stern to spend,” Ria said. “I have approved of this.”
Stern frowned at Ria, then sighed. “Okay. Two hundred and five points in total. Collars with a single rune slot?”
A wide pink band with a single rune slot appeared under the glass of the counter. “The color can be switched, if you’d like,” Ria said.
“How much?”
“Two hundred.”
Stern sighed. “I’ll take it in pink. She liked her pink ribbon. I still have no idea what happened to it.”
“That leaves you with five points,” Ria said as the collar appeared on the counter.
Stern picked up the collar and pulled out the fire rune he’d been holding onto before applying it into the collar. “Anything for five points?”
A single chocolate square appeared under the glass.
“Done. It’s for Cyra.”
Cyra blinked when the confection appeared in front of her on the counter. “What?”
“For you,” Stern said.
Cyra glanced at the collar in his hands, then at the chocolate. “You… you mean the candy, right?”
Stern blinked, feeling her trepidation. He looked at the collar he was holding and chuckled. “Sorry, the collar is for Pawly. The chocolate is for you.”
The relief was clear in her face as she timidly picked up the chocolate. “Thank you.”
“I wish you both safe runs,” Ria said just before she vanished.
“Oh, she wasn’t real?” Cyra asked.
“As real as Pawly, I’m sure,” Stern said. “There’s a lot of contention over the storekeepers. Are they fragments of people who passed and wanted to help the Walkers, or perhaps the Goddess created them just for this reason? No one really knows and they refuse to explain it.”
“I have a lot to learn,” Cyra said softly, quickly eating the candy. Her eyes widened at the flavor— she’d never had chocolate as good as this one.
“I can help. It’ll take a few days to travel between the cities, so we’ll have time,” Stern said. “On that note, I’d rather leave the city tonight and camp on the road.”
“Yes. Leaving this city behind is for the best,” Cyra said, her sadness surging.
Stern swallowed as he pushed down the grief. “Today is the first step on a long road,” he said, “but you’ll have friends beside you for it.”
Cyra glanced at him and smiled before looking back at the collar. “She likes pink?”
“She liked the pink ribbon I’d gotten her. Was a little sad when it disappeared, so this is the next best thing. Since it’s an enchanted item, it’ll scale with her size change and the rune on it will let her do even more damage.”
“I’m sure she’ll love it,” Cyra said.
“The door leads out to the city. I’ll summon Pawly in her base form, give her the collar, and then we’ll head straight out unless we need to get your stuff.”
“All I have is a few more pieces of clothing like these,” Cyra said, looking down at her patchwork clothes.
“I’ll get you better, and warmer…” Stern trailed off. “Maybe we should stay in the city tonight instead. The nights get cold right now.”
“No!” Cyra said quickly. “Please, I want to leave. I can handle the cold.”
“Okay,” Stern said, feeling her rising panic. “Out of the dungeon and out of the city. Let’s go.”
Cyra was the first one out the door, and Stern was right behind her.
Stern knelt when he left the store behind. Pawly was already forming by the time his knee touched the ground. “Hey, Cyra got you a present,” Stern said, showing her the collar.
Pawly looked at it, then at Cyra, and chuffed.
“You like pink?” Cyra asked, not wanting to correct Stern in front of Pawly.
Pawly chuffed again and extended her neck to Stern.
Stern got the collar buckled on. “It won’t pull off, so be careful about trying to squeeze into places. I want to double-check that it sizes like it’s supposed to, as well.”
He worked his fingers in the right pattern and Pawly expanded in front of him, nearly knocking him down. Stern exhaled when the collar expanded with her.
“It has a fire rune on it,” Stern told her. “Anytime you damage something, it should heat slightly.”
Pawly chuffed, headbutting him and knocking him onto his ass.
Cyra giggled. “I think she likes it.”
“Yeah,” Stern chuckled. “Go thank her, furball.”
Pawly stood up and slunk over to Cyra, purring as she rubbed against her legs.
Cyra smiled and used both hands to pet Pawly. “Who’s a pretty girl, hmm?”
Stern got to his feet and stretched, looking at the shaft that would take them back up to the city streets. “Pawly, we’re leaving the town and going back to Brightstone. Cyra is going to be part of our crew.”
Pawly purred and bumped Cyra harder, staggering the lykian.
“Thank you for accepting me,” Cyra whispered as she knelt and hugged Pawly tightly.
“I’m going to dismiss you until we settle down for the night or if trouble comes up,” Stern said. “I know you hate walking between cities.”
Pawly chuffed.
“Go home,” Stern said.
Pawly faded away and Cyra gasped, as she clearly saw Pawly’s exit this time. “That was... disconcerting, her eyes and teeth staying longest.”
“Yeah. Scared a lot of people when we were younger,” Stern nodded. “You ready?”
Cyra stood up straight and nodded. “Yes.”
“Next leg of our journey: Brightstone,” Stern said, walking to the ladder.
Chapter Twenty-one
The guards nodded to them as they went past, and Stern gave them a curt nod in return. His steps were sure as he led the way out of the city. The sun was nearing the horizon already, and Stern briefly considered staying the night in an inn. The memory of Cyra asking him to leave tonight came back and he kept walking.
Cyra followed Stern, her steps quick to match his longer stride. She caught sight of people seeing them and stepping aside and shrank in on herself. After a minute, she realized that people weren’t watching her as they moved, but Stern. Her insecurity vanished as anger came forward.
“Easy...” Stern said as he kept moving. “I’m used to it.”
Cyra nearly stumbled. “What?”
“You felt worried and anxious, and now you feel angry. Well, felt angry. You must have noticed them shying away from us.”
Cyra didn’t know what to say, but her anger dimmed as she tried to understand how he knew.
“I’ll tell you when we stop for the night,” Stern said as he kept up his pace.
Cyra shook her head and continued to walk quickly to keep up with him. He might be slouched and moving at an easy pace for him, but it was a fast walk for her.
“I thought about stocking up on provisions, but we can hit the inn tomorrow night and make it a moot point,” Stern said idly. “We’ll only get a few hours of walking in before we’ll have to stop.”
“Understood,” Cyra said, her breath a little ragged.
“I’ll slow down once we’re outside the city,” Stern told her.
Cyra didn’t reply, focused on keeping pace with him.
~*~*~
The guards at the gate gave them a questioning look as they left the city. One of the men on the wall called out to them, “A room at an inn is better than a tumble behind a bush!”
Cyra hunched farther as laughter followed them. A pang of worry shot through her as she thought about what the guard said.
“No,” Stern said and eased up his pace. “Not even if you offered. You need time to accept what you’re doing and why.”
Cyra was glad he slackened his speed— she fell into step beside him, breathing a little fast. “How do you know what I’m thinking?”
“I don’t,” Stern said, “not exactly.” He exhaled deeply before continuing, “One of the perks I was born with lets me feel what others feel... makes me feel would be more accurate. If someone hates me, I feel that hatred, and well... it makes me angry, too.”
Cyra inhaled slowly as she thought about some of the things that she’d felt near him. “Uh…”
Stern scratched his cheek. “Yeah... awkward, isn’t it? Hence why I said not even if you offered right now. Your whole life was just flipped upside down. You have a little hero worship.” Stern snorted. “Saying that about myself is just odd, but mostly, you’re confused and hopeful about achieving your dream. The core of sadness is still there, though. The loss of all of your family still eats at you, and there’s residual anger over Skippy, as well.”
“You know me so well,” Cyra said softly.
“I don’t,” Stern said. “I just feel you. The closer I am physically to someone, the more they impress on me, but with your feelings and what you’ve been through, I can figure it out.” Taking another deep breath, he added, “I understand the loneliness you feel. Outside of my family, that was me— I had my family and Pawly and that was it. Friends… well, that never worked out. I knew who liked me or didn’t, and the few that did, didn’t like that I always knew how they felt and ended up hating me.”
“But you have family,” Cyra said softly.
“I’m the oldest. I know my brothers and sisters love me, but they also resented me some. They thought I got special treatment. Mother told me that was natural with siblings, but it still weighed on me,” Stern said, a little surprised that he was sharing so much with Cyra.
“You left?”
“I did, but they all knew. They made sure I had enough to get by, and helped me get to Darkstone to attend the academy. Dad was a little flummoxed by my decision to go it without their help, but he agreed. They had a small party when I left, gave me the gifts, and sent me off.”
Cyra sniffled slightly. “Your family sounds wonderful.”
Stern mentally kicked himself. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring it up like that.”
“No,” Cyra said quickly. “It’s nice. I just wonder if it would have been the same for me if…?”
“Do you know anything about their deaths?” Stern asked.
“Just that they died in the north looking for another dungeon,” Cyra said.
Stern’s lips pursed. “Do you know what that means?”
“They were Walkers.”
“They died a little over ten years ago?”
“Fifteen, at least,” Cyra replied curiously. “I was a small child.”
“That means they were prismatic, at least,” Stern said softly. “A bit before they…” He trailed off, thinking.
Cyra glanced at him. “Stern?”
“Sorry. I just think that it’s odd that your parents died and none of their crew helped your grandmother,” Stern said tightly. “It goes against the Walker code.”
“They might not have known,” Cyra said. “She was my mother’s mother. She had a different name.”
Stern stared into the slowly darkening sky. “Did your mother not get along with your grandmother? No... if that was the case, how did you end up with her?”
Cyra felt a pit of sadness open in her heart. “I don’t know. I can’t even see their faces. My first memory that I can recall easily is my fifth birthday. Just me and Gran. She’d managed to get a small cake for me and told me how happy they would’ve been if they could have been there. It wasn’t for another year before she admitted that they were dead and weren’
t just running dungeons and unable to come home.”
Stern stumbled when Cyra’s sadness welled up. Catching himself, he exhaled. “We should stop for the night. It’s getting dark.” The sun had vanished and the sky was slowly losing the little light that remained.
Cyra sniffled. “Sorry. I’ll try harder.”
Dungeon Walkers 1 Page 17
