by Sam Ryder
On the opposite side was Millania with her Warriors. Their line had been broken by three slightly larger demons that had teamed up to take down one of the Warriors.
I was about to move in that direction when I saw Millania. She knew her Warriors were in trouble, but she also knew what the goal of tonight was: to capture and turn one or more of the demons to our side. Her trident flashing as she struck down one of the demons, she waved me off, gesturing for me to go to Beat’s side, which actually had a chance of success.
I hesitated for a split-second only, and then ran toward Millania’s side. Experiment or not, we hadn’t valued life for a long time. That needed to change with us. I didn’t care if the experiment failed so long as we didn’t lose anyone.
I met the first of the three larger Maluk’ori head on, crushing its skull with my hammer. The resulting blast of light took out one of its partners, while the third scythed toward me with its claws. One learned quickly from fighting in the Black that the goal wasn’t to never take a hit—that was impossible—the goal was to only take nonlethal hits so you could live to fight another day. So while the demon was aiming its claws at my jugular, I turned enough that it collided with my shoulder. It reached up and raked its claws across the exposed part of my face. I let it continue to claw as I roped my arm around it and placed it in a headlock. Then I twisted as hard as I could, until I heard the satisfying sound of its neck snapping.
I flung it aside and searched for my next foe.
There were only two demons left on this side now, and they were surrounded. Millania’s well-trained Warriors had their weapons pointed business end first toward the demons so they were unable to move forward to escape the dragon. Speaking of whom, Mrizandr had eased his way in, looming over them. Silk was preparing to toss her bucket on the pair of demons. I held my breath, watching. She tossed the ooze. Her aim was perfect. It would encase both the demons, a real buy-one-get-one deal.
Just before the liquid splashed over them, the Maluk’ori fired forward, throwing themselves onto the sharp ends of the weapons wielded by Millania’s Warriors. Impaling themselves. It was suicide. A choice to die rather than be captured and turned.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
We were all stunned, but none more than Silk, who sat there with her mouth open.
My brain needed to analyze what I had just witnessed from all angles, but I knew now was not the time. There was a reason we had split the experiment into two pieces, to give us double the chances of success. And though one side had failed, we still had another side. So I didn’t dwell on our failure, I turned back around and ran toward Beat’s side of the circle.
They were in the midst of a real dogfight. At least seven demons were still alive and had injured several of Beat’s Warriors. Beat was probing with her spear at the remaining enemies, trying to force them closer to the wall of muscle and flesh that was Ton, guided into perfect position by the lioness, Nrrrf. Lace may have seen what had happened to Silk, because she hadn’t yet emptied her bucket of ooze, waiting patiently for the perfect moment when her targets were just underneath her. In fact, she was even trying to get closer to the action, her ankles hooked around Nrrrf, who stood stalwart as her anchor.
I dove into the fray, shoving the butt end of my hammer at the nearest demon to try to encourage them to retreat a few steps. The demons hissed, seeming to recognize me and my famed hammer from other battles.
It worked and two of the Maluk’ori skittered back, looking fearful. They were mere feet below Lace now. In her current position, she was struggling to keep the tub of ooze upright, but that didn’t matter. It was time. She released her payload, the liquid tumbling out in a waterfall, splashing across the two demons’ heads and shoulders. It didn’t exactly “cover” them like we’d hoped, but it did roll down the left half of one and the right half of the other.
That’s when the weirdest thing happened.
The left half of one began to fight the left half of the other, while the right half of one began to fight the right half of the other.
We all stopped, gawking at what was happening. The other surviving Maluk’ori changed course, falling upon the two with claws and teeth, ripping them limb from limb, but only on the sides covered in the ooze. One thing was clear: these creatures hated the ooze.
We had no choice now. We needed to end this and learn from our mistakes. “Attack!” I said, which snapped everyone from the confused lull they’d been in. While the Maluk’ori fought each other, we fell on them from behind, ending the fight in a torrent of black blood.
And though we’d won the night with a number of injuries but no fatalities, it didn’t feel that way. Beat summed it up well with two words:
“Epic fail.”
SEVEN
FINDERS KEEPERS
“What would we have done with a few demons anyway?” I said. “I doubt they’re house-trained, so we’d just have to clean up after them.”
“We could’ve had demon fight club,” Beat suggested.
“Or trained them to go fetch the newspaper each morning,” I said.
“No,” Beat said. “We could’ve used them to play pranks on Warriors around camp. You know, like you head to your hut to get some sleep and instead you find a demon in your bed.”
Vrill was looking at us like we were crazy. Because we were. But then, abruptly, her expression changed from weirded out to a deep, unrelenting frown. Which could only mean one thing:
Eve was back.
I turned to confirm my guess, my heart leaping just the smallest bit at the sight of the Finder walking toward us, her night-black hair pulled into a ponytail. Though she was just coming down the hill that led to the ravine and we had only barely reentered the safety of the ward shields, I could make out her expression just fine. She was frowning, too, but not at Vrill.
Nearby, I noticed that Silk had stiffened, her tail sliding between her legs. “It’s okay,” I said. “Do you trust me?”
Her eyes never left Eve, but she answered in the affirmative. “I do.”
I took off at a jog to meet Eve, hoping to get a few words in before she addressed the whole group. I reached her just as she hit the bottom of the hill. “What happened? Where are the new recruits?” We’d reached an agreement that anyone recruited by our Finders would get to meet everyone before they were oozed and upgraded to Warrior. That would allow them one final chance to change their mind and be sent back to whichever planet they originated from. Eve had argued with me heavily on this point—it would require, and waste, a substantial amount of goddess power if someone backed out—but I was unwilling to budge. Our new mantra was Those who want to fight, fight. I didn’t want any more unwilling Warriors who would eventually leave us and join one of the other tribes. This was especially important now that I knew that the Creed had joined the Morgoss.
“There are none,” she said, her voice low and even. There was a simmering embarrassment there. Eve had been Finding for years. Failing was not in her DNA.
I closed my eyes. Opened them. Realigned my expectations to reality. “That’s ok. You changed the paradigm. You didn’t bring anyone here against their will. We’ll recruit some next time around.”
She looked at me the way Vrill had just been looking at Beat and I: like I was mad. “No, Sam, we won’t. There is no ‘we’. A Finder is a solitary position. I succeed on my own. And I fail on my own. Plus, don’t you get it? We tried things your way and it didn’t work.”
“We just need to work on your sales pitch.”
“Sales pitch? You mean the whole Wanna-come-fight-monsters-in-pitch-darkness-on-a-nightly-basis? Yeah, let’s tweak that a little.” Her sarcasm was heavy, something I could appreciate. But even her pessimism couldn’t temper my optimism.
“There is a ‘we’, because we make the rules now. Why does being a Finder have to be a solitary position?” She started to speak, but I cut her off because I already knew what she was going to say. She’d explained the answer to this very question numerou
s times. “I know there’s limited goddess power to transport Finders to the Eight planets. But that’s only because you go Finding every three to four days.”
“Because it’s necessary just to maintain the size of our army.”
I shook my head. “Not anymore. We are not losing Warriors at as high of a rate these days. Heck, we added a new Warrior while you were gone. We’re already +1 for the week.”
Eve looked past me, only just noticing Silk approaching with the others. “Oh great, another returned Warrior who wants me dead. Congrats.”
“She’s willing to let bygones be bygones,” I said.
“Are you sure about that?” Eve said, gesturing in such a way that I turned to take a look. Silk blew past me, grabbing Eve by the shirt and shoving her back. Eve, to her credit, didn’t fight back. She just took it. Silk wasn’t done yet. She grabbed her again, slipping a leg behind Eve’s legs to trip her backwards. Then she pounced on her.
“Silk,” I warned. I didn’t want to intervene, but I would if I had to. This was just the sort of infighting we were trying to avoid. I’d—barely—managed to stop Lace and Silk from killing each other, but this rivalry was older and more developed.
It was at that moment that Valencia’s Locket spilled out of Silk’s upper plate of armor, dangling before Eve’s eyes, which widened at the sight. Because, once again, the locket was glowing. “You’re the one?” she said, her voice coming out a whisper.
Silk’s eyes narrowed. “So what? You think it’s strange that a shred of an ancient goddess’s soul would choose me to wield her power?” There was a challenge in her tone.
Eve shook her head. “No. I don’t. I’m…I’m glad it’s you. I always…regretted what happened with you.”
Silk flinched slightly. For a second, silence hung in the air, but then Silk said, “What game are you playing, Eve?”
“None. I swear it. I was almost killed. I saw the next world. It was…beautiful. I wanted to go there. But I came back. I came back for another chance. If you’ll give me one.”
I could see the passion blaze in Eve’s eyes, something that was rare for a woman who guarded her heart like the precious treasure that it was. We hadn’t really talked about her near-death experience, so what she’d just said was new to me too. Silk lifted her top lip to reveal a single fang. “I don’t trust you,” she said. “But I trust, Ryder. Let him down and I’ll come for you.”
“I’ll kill myself first,” Eve said.
Silk stood by pressing her weight on Eve’s chest. Once more, she just took it, waiting until the cat-woman was back on her feet before pushing herself back up. I turned to face the others. “Unfortunately, Eve’s first attempt to recruit only willing Warriors failed. Of course, our attempt to recruit monsters tonight also failed. There is some symmetry in that. Did any of you think choosing another way would be easy?” No responses, all eyes just watching me. “From my experience, easy things usually aren’t worth the trouble. That which is valuable takes hard work and persistence. Is anyone ready to give up? I will not fault you.” Again, just eyes open, ears listening to every word. “Good. I’m not ready either. We’ve come a long way, but we have miles still to go. The next Finding mission will include both Finders.”
“What? No!” The words were spoken in perfect unison by both Eve and Vrill. Which meant they weren’t so different after all. At least they agreed on something.
“Hear me out,” I said, trying to ignore the fact that both women looked like they’d prefer to remove my tongue so I couldn’t say anything else. “Please.”
Vrill opened her mouth to speak and I could see that fire in her eyes. But then her gaze softened and she nodded. I’d regained her trust. That was good. I looked at Eve. She rolled her eyes and said, “What the hell, Ryder, let’s hear your reasoning.”
“Everyone here except Eve was brought here against their will, right?” Nodding heads and a few yeahs. “Would any of you have gone willingly if Eve had told you the truth about what you were getting yourself into?” Shaking heads a few hell nos. “Exactly. Especially because it was just one stranger showing up in your life with this cockamamie story that made no sense. Especially because the story would be told by someone who’d never known any other life but the one on Tor. No offense, Eve, but you’re unrelatable to most of us.” I said ‘most’ because I’d been able to relate to her in some ways. I’d felt like an outcast from my own family my whole life. Our group was our family and yet the majority of the Warriors despised her. That would be hard, even if she’d earned their animosity a dozen times over.
“You think Vrill will be more relatable?” Eve said. It seemed to be an honest question rather than a jab at Vrill.
“To some, maybe.”
“Then I can Find on my own,” Vrill said. “We each Find separately and we’ll see who wins.” I could see that competitive spirit in the Lri Ay woman’s expression.
“Fine by me,” Eve said.
The idea of a little competition wasn’t the worst thing if it would push them to do their best, but I still didn’t think that was the right approach. “No. This isn’t what we’re about anymore. We’re all working toward the same thing, not competing with each other. You’ll go together because two voices saying the same thing may be just what we need to persuade new recruits to join our cause.”
“If two are better than one, then why not three?” Vrill said. “You should come, too, Sam.”
Eve responded immediately. “That’s impossible. We have limited power to use to travel between worlds. Supporting two Finders is difficult enough. Three? Airiel will have to rest for weeks in between missions.”
“She’s right,” I said. “Maybe one day we’ll be able to have three Finders. Four. Five. But we’re not there yet.”
“Sam Ryder!” a voice boomed across the wasteland.
I have to admit, I startled. But then I realized whose voice it was. “Airiel?”
“Yes,” the echoey voice said. “I am resting now, but we are with you all the same.”
I glanced around. None of the Warriors seemed too impressed that the Three were spying on our private conversation. Airiel, however, wouldn’t understand that. The Three were too far removed from the reality of mortality to understand respect for privacy. “Then you understand our dilemma. We are trying to recruit as many willing Warriors as we can, but a single Finder’s chance of success is limited.”
“You are right, Sam Ryder. We agree that Vrill and Eve should Find together.”
“Too bad you don’t give the orders anymore,” Vrill said.
“We do not. The choice is yours.” That made Vrill perk up. She was still learning to accept this new version of the Three and Eve—less dictators and more democratic. “But…I will also say that we agree with you, Vrill.”
“About what?” Now she was genuinely curious. So was I.
“About Sam Ryder Finding with you. His status as Demigod grants him wide ranging flexibility in his actions.”
Now it was my turn to say the same two words both Vrill and Eve had uttered at my suggestion. “What? No!”
“Again, we will leave it up to you to decide which course to take, but we believe the next Finding mission should include three. Now, I need time to recover. Come to me with your decision in three days’ time. I will be ready.”
“Three days,” I said. “That’s too soon. She needs to recover.”
“You shouldn’t question the goddesses,” Vrill said. Once again, she demonstrated her dry wit.
“Yeah, Ryder,” Beat said. “What? Are you afraid of a little Finding mission with two beautiful women who happen to hate each other’s guts?” Leave it to Beat to sum things up with such accurate bluntness.
“No, I’m worried about sapping the power of the one goddess whose chest isn’t hollow.”
“There you go again with your one-track mind. Do you always have to talk about women’s chests?” Beat grinned at me.
Getting no support from any of the three women I was cl
osest to, I pleaded my case to the group. “Remember, this is a democracy now. We all make the decisions together. What does everyone think?” I held my breath. The thought of a Finding mission with Eve and Vrill at the same time was the thing of nightmares.
“If it’ll improve our chances of getting some fresh meat—I mean, recruits,” Lace said, “then I agree.”
“Millania?” I said, hoping for a second opinion to bail me out. I considered the quiet Oceanian to be a very wise woman.
Her blue gills flared slightly as she seemed to consider the notion. “With you along, the chances of success improve from eighteen-point-two percent to forty-three-point-nine percent. You must go.”
I gawked at her. “Did you just do those calculations in your head?” I asked, my computer analyst brain already trying to sort through the dozens of variables that would need to be considered in such a calculation.
Her expression neutral, Millania said, “No, I made them up. But it doesn’t change the fact that you need to go.”
Jesus Christ. When had everyone become comedians? I glanced at Beat, who had covered her mouth and was trying, and failing, not to laugh out loud. Her comedic influence was growing deeper by the second. I appreciated it, to be honest. A little levity was necessary when one feared for their own life and the lives of everyone they cared about every second of every day. “I guess the tribe has spoken,” I said. “I’ll go with you. In three days.”
Vrill turned and walked away. Eve turned in the opposite direction, crossing back over the line to her side, the distance between the two women growing with each step. It felt like a metaphor, one that had me trapped in the middle of it.
I was regretting my suggestion that Vrill and Eve Find together now that I had to come with them. Then again, maybe it was for the best. Maybe with me there they wouldn’t kill each other. At least not right away.
