After leaving the tavern, we headed after Amber toward one of the city’s gates.

  She was walking next to Azura, while I walked next to Zoe, and Mari followed behind all of us with a cap over her head, hiding her face.

  “So,” Amber started. “Azura, right?”

  Azura hummed a short yes.

  “What?” Amber asked, looking confused at her.

  “A short happy hum means yes,” I expined. “A longer one means no.”

  Amber gnced at me with a smile. “So, is she retarded or something?”

  I grabbed her arm immediately and turned her toward me. Stepping close, I towered over her, my face just inches from hers.

  “You might insult me. You might attack me. You might challenge me. We might py those little games,” I said in a cold voice. “But you won’t insult my women,” I growled.

  Her first attempt at Zoe was at least subtle, but I wouldn’t let anyone call Azura retarded. No matter how pretty Amber was, or whether it was just a game for her.

  “Fuck, why do you have to be so hot?” Amber asked before licking her lips and leaning forward, trying to kiss me.

  Grabbing her chin, I stopped her, tilting her head back. She stared at me with her pale blue eyes and parted pink lips.

  “Insult one of them again, and I’ll make you regret it,” I said calmly.

  For a moment, it seemed like she was going to answer as if it were a challenge, defiance in her eyes, a smile on her lips, but then she must’ve realized I wasn’t joking or pying, because she grimaced and averted her eyes.

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  “Apologize to Azura,” I ordered, turning her head toward Azura.

  Amber shifted her gaze to the woman in front of her, and when a smirk appeared on her lips, I knew she wasn’t done with her attitude.

  “Hmmm hmmm hmm hmm,” Amber hummed.

  I grabbed her white hair at the back of her head and pulled it back, tilting her toward me, making her gasp.

  “Don't test my patience,” I said, staring into her pale blue eyes. “Or you can go back to the tavern, and we’ll leave without you.”

  For a moment, there was silence between us before she dropped her gaze. I let go of her hair, and she looked at Azura.

  “I’m sorry,” Amber whispered.

  Azura hummed, and even I wasn’t sure what exactly that meant - something around acknowledging the apology, I assumed.

  “Are you okay?” I asked Azura, stepping in front of her.

  She hummed a short yes, before I pulled her into a kiss, her body pressed against mine, just in front of Amber, to further make her realize where her pce was.

  When I parted from Azura, Amber was staring at me with anger, but also jealousy and confusion. Oh, poor little elf—so completely out of her depth.

  Mari, on the other hand, had turned her back toward us, ignoring what was happening. At least she had stopped behaving like a bitch, scoffing and growling all the time.

  “Let’s go,” I said, and we moved through the rest of the city before leaving through the gate. Amber led us along one of the roads, and I kept comparing it to the image of the map in my mind, so I’d be able to tell Gemma where the b was ter.

  After walking for a few minutes away from Antranth, we made a short stop, during which Azura got naked and shifted into her wolf form, while Amber watched carefully.

  “Does she have more than one css too?” Amber asked as we continued our trip.

  “Are you worried that you’re the weakest here?” I asked, smiling.

  “You’re the weakest, without any css,” Amber replied with a smirk.

  I squinted my eyes at her. She knew I had a css, but also that I didn’t want to talk about it while Mari was listening. She was provoking me - either trying to make Mari learn about it, which I doubted, or just trying to py me back for earlier.

  “If I remember st night correctly, you should be careful with statements like that,” I replied.

  “Or what?” Amber asked, smiling.

  “Or I’ll show you what I’m really capable of.”

  “You talk a lot,” Amber remarked.

  “Already forgotten how that ended for you yesterday?”

  Amber gnced at me, walking in silence for a moment before she spoke again, completely changing the subject. “What are you doing for a living?”

  “We’re trying to delve into the dungeon,” I replied. “We left two more people in Ortas who are part of our team.”

  “In Ortas?” Amber asked.

  “We live there,” I said.

  She gnced at me with a slight frown. “When we find that pce, you’ll go back there?”

  “Yes.”

  “But I have all my things in Antranth,” Amber protested.

  “And?”

  “And,” she scoffed. “I need to go back there.”

  “You can do whatever you want,” I said. “And we’ll go back to Ortas.”

  “Then I’ll just go back on my own,” she said, lifting her chin. “I don’t need you anyway.”

  “We’re staying at the Dragon’s Inn,” I said. “For when you miss me.”

  Amber gnced at me, then snorted and focused on the road ahead.

  We walked in silence for a longer while until Amber stopped. “It’s here,” she said.

  “Here?” I asked.

  “Here Malvic passed the fish to that woman,” Amber expined.

  I looked around. There was nothing specific nearby—we were in the middle of the forest. I checked the map and didn’t see anything close either.

  “How do you recognize this pce?” I asked.

  Amber rolled her eyes. “It was somewhere around here.”

  “And then this woman followed that road?” I asked.

  “Yeah, and then turned between the trees into a smaller path,” Amber answered.

  “And then straight to that pce?” I asked.

  Amber nodded, with her arms crossed over her chest.

  “Lead the way,” I said.

  We walked along the road in silence. Amber was focused on the trees around us, gncing from left to right all the time. It took us about an hour before we reached a split, where the road diverged to the left.

  Amber stopped there, looking between them with a frown.

  “Where now?” I asked.

  She didn’t reply, still looking between roads, before she turned around and stared at the road we’d just come from.

  “You don’t know where to go?” I asked.

  “I know!” she snapped.

  I raised my eyebrows looking at her.

  “It was a long time ago, and it was at night,” she said, grimacing. “They turned into a smaller forest path, and we didn’t move past a split like this.”

  “So we walked past this path?” I asked.

  “Yeah…” she murmured.

  “Okay,” I sighed. “Let’s go back, but this time everyone look between the trees for any tracks.”

  “Yes, Master,” Zoe replied, before we turned around and walked back the way we came.

  “Was it on the left or right?” I asked.

  Amber frowned, thinking for a moment. “I’m not sure. It was long ago.”

  “You really were there, right?” I asked, starting to worry that she might have lied. To spend more time with me. Or to grab my attention. Or whatever reason came to her mind, it was hard to tell with her.

  “Yes!” she snapped. “I’m not a fucking liar!”

  “With what you told me you did in the past, I don’t know what to expect from you,” I replied.

  Amber gasped softly. “It’s complicated…” she murmured, averting her gaze. At least it seemed she was ashamed of the things she’d done to men before she met me. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted to bring that topic up. Certainly not at the moment.

  “Azura, do you recognize anything?” I asked.

  She gave a short bark, with her tail lowered, and I assumed it meant no.

  Amber looked at me questioningly.

  “The pce we’re looking for is a boratory,” I said. “They hold demons there, and experiment on them. Azura was born in that pce, but managed to run away when she was a kid.”

  “A kid?” Amber asked. “Did they…” she trailed off.

  I nodded slightly, and Amber grimaced, gncing at Azura with concern. At least she wasn’t a completely heartless bitch.

  “Do you remember anything specific?” I asked Amber. “What you passed while walking there? Some characteristic point on the path, or something close to the b?”

  Amber thought for a moment before she shook her head. “It was in the middle of the forest, surrounded by trees everywhere. Only an idiot would create a pce like that somewhere easy to find.”

  We walked at a slower pace for some time, while I kept staring between trees, looking for any paths or tracks, but I couldn’t see anything except trees and bushes. We were close, really, really close, but still couldn’t find the pce.

  At least I knew that, in the worst case, we could wait for the next transport and follow it. But with how close we were, I didn’t want to wait.

  “Master,” Zoe said. “There are some tracks here,” she added, crouching by the road and pointing on the ground.

  It wasn’t obvious, but among the grass and dirt, I could spot wheel marks.

  “Do you recognize this pce, Amber?” I asked.

  “No, and it wasn’t here,” she said. “It was a path, like… you could tell someone had been walking there. Here it’s just barely a track.”

  I stared at the marks for a moment. “It was at night, and they must’ve traveled through here to pick up the cargo. Now it might be a few days after that happened,” I said. “But that’s not important. If it was a clear path, we’d have seen it before. This is our best chance,” I said, pointing between the trees in front of us. “And if the b’s not there, we can come back and look again.”

  We headed off the road, with Zoe leading us as she followed the tracks.

  “Azura, shift back to your human form, please,” I said after a few minutes of walking. I was worried about how she’d react once we found the b, and preferred her in human form.

  She didn’t even ask why—just did as I asked, following my orders. But I still wanted to expin, so I walked close to her.

  “Azura, listen, I know this pce might be traumatic, and if you don’t want to get close, that’s okay,” I said.

  “My mom is there,” she replied quietly.

  That was what I was afraid of. She had a goal in her mind, but there were high chances we couldn’t save Azura’s mom without Gemma’s help.

  “We’ll get her out of that pce, I promised. But we might be too weak for that. I know people who could take care of it and bring your mother to us. We just need to find the pce, and then back off, okay?”

  Azura gave me a short hum.

  “We can’t rush in there or do anything stupid, okay?” I asked.

  She gave me another short hum, but this time it wasn’t enough.

  Grabbing her hand, I stopped her. “Azura, answer me using words.”

  “Okay,” she replied quietly.

  “You will not rush in there. We’ll find it, back off, and then wait for my friends to save your mother. That’s the best way. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Azura whispered.

  I let go of her hand, pecked her lips, and moved quickly to catch up with Zoe, Amber, and Mari, who were walking ahead of us. It took maybe half an hour before Zoe stopped the whole group.

  “Something’s in front of us,” she said quietly, pointing ahead.

  We moved forward more slowly, until I could see a long building. It was only one story tall, so it was impossible to spot from afar, hidden by the trees. But as I looked it over, I realized this wasn’t some small, secret b.

  Whatever this pce was, it was huge. I could count at least four long buildings, with metal fences surrounding them.

  “That’s it,” Amber said.

  “Azura?” I asked.

  She let out a short hum of confirmation.

  We did it. A wave of satisfaction rushed through me, this was it. I found the b. Gemma’s mission, completed. The reward was within reach. Mari would stay with me longer, providing security. But now wasn’t the time to celebrate.

  “Okay, good job everyone. Now back off,” I commanded.

  Everyone followed, and we moved back into the trees, away from the b. I wasn’t sure if Gemma had known how big this pce was, but it made sense now why she warned me so many times not to rush in.

  I had no idea how many people were inside or how strong they could be, but with a pce this size, charging in would’ve been suicide. Still, I was happy. We did it. I completed my first mission from Gemma, and I’d get my reward.

  Healing Mari. I gnced at her. We still needed to confirm everything one st time, but now wasn’t the moment for that. I walked over to Azura.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  She let out a hum, not quite a yes, not quite a no. Something in between.

  “Let’s stop for a moment,” I said, once we were far enough from the b.

  I hugged Azura to me, her head resting against my chest. Zoe stepped in and hugged her from the other side, wrapping her arms and tail around us, sandwiching Azura between us.

  Amber and Mari were both watching, each with different emotions. Amber with frustration, jealousy, and irritation. Mari… just sadness. Nothing more, nothing less. I doubted that healing her would fix everything, but maybe it would help a little.

  I leaned down and kissed the top of Azura’s head. “We’ll get your mom out of there. Everything’s going to be okay.”

  Azura hummed softly into my chest, clinging tighter. I wasn’t sure what else to say, so I just held her, and while I did, I opened the map in my mind, trying to gauge our position and the b’s location. There wasn’t anything distinct nearby, just a turn off the road. I wasn’t sure how to pass that info on to Gemma.

  Maybe it was time for our meeting, so I could show her in person. Or maybe she’d send someone else to handle it.

  After a moment, I leaned back. “Let’s move,” I said.

  Everyone agreed, and we started walking back toward the road. In the meantime, I checked how best to reach Ortas and thought about what to do about Amber, who needed to return to Antranth. She still lived there. All her things were there.

  “We need to go this way, back to Ortas,” I said to Amber once we were finally back on the road.

  “Come with me back to Antranth,” Amber said, staring at me.

  “No,” I replied.

  “We made a deal, asshole,” she protested. “I showed you where that pce is. You must answer my questions. And you promised me an additional reward.”

  “And I’ll keep my word,” I said. “You’re coming with us to Ortas,” I stated.

  Amber scoffed. “All my things are in Antranth.”

  “You’ll go back there tomorrow, after your reward,” I said.

  “Just like that?! You’ll send me away?”

  I stepped closer, until we were nearly touching. “What’s the matter, Amber? Worried you’ll miss me?” I asked, brushing her white hair back and cupping her head as I leaned in.

  She scoffed, staring into my eyes, but when she parted her lips, no words came out.

  “I see you’re having trouble making a decision,” I whispered, my lips brushing against hers. “So I’ll make it for you, little elf. You’re coming with us to Ortas, and we’ll fuck you until your mind turns to mush, until you forget what tomorrow even means.”

  Then I kissed her hard, forcing my tongue into her mouth, and just as abruptly, I pulled back, breaking the connection.

  “Let’s go,” I said, turning toward Ortas.

  Azura and Zoe moved up beside me, while Mari walked ahead on her own. I didn’t have to look back to know Amber would follow.

  It was all a game to her. She needed someone to take control, to give her an order she could pretend to hate but secretly wanted. And I’d pyed my part perfectly.

  I was wrong.

  I felt it. A sudden appearance of mana behind, rushing straight toward me.