Chapter 2010: Gratitude

They’d chased Veshara into the sky and attacked her together just to make her defend herself. The woman still hadn’t cast a single spell.

"Discharged for unruly behavior is my guess," Quinlan replied. His words received no rebuttals.

Another wisp left the saber, disappearing into Synchra beneath Vex’s palm. Crimson light spread through the armour’s seams as she drank, gradually warming the metal under his hand.

"Vex is right. You kept me in one piece when that single punch could’ve taken me out, full power or not. Thank you, Synchra."

This time, the flame curled around his fingers.

Vex smiled at the response and gave the plate a final affectionate pat. She stayed while Soul Reaper released the remaining wisps, watching Synchra’s glow recover.

Once the armour was replenished, Quinlan returned the saber to its sheath and stood. Blossom had come close to inspect the returning red light, with Scar beside her still flexing her newly healed hand.

He rested one palm between Blossom’s ears and the other on Scar’s hood.

"And thank you two as well."

Blossom leaned into his hand immediately, her eyes closing in bliss as her tail began sweeping behind her.

Scar looked utterly baffled. She glanced up toward his palm, then searched his face while he continued petting her.

"You’ve both done wonderfully."

"Master can always count on Blossom!"

The dogkin managed to keep her voice low. Her tail made considerably less effort to conceal how she felt, waving so furiously that Scar’s cloak stirred against her legs.

Lilith pressed her lips together. Her companions were struggling just as badly with the sight of Scar being petted alongside the ecstatic dogkin.

A sideways look from Scar sent Void hiding her face against Jallen’s shoulder.

"I’m just doing my part," the soul general said.

"I know." Quinlan smiled at her. "Thank you nonetheless."

For all her composure in front of Veshara, Scar seemed to find that answer rather difficult to deal with. She remained beneath his hand while Blossom edged closer on his other side, plainly hoping the petting would continue for the rest of the afternoon.

It was a pleasure he could happily have indulged. Both women had kept coming at an opponent who’d already broken their bones, and he wanted them to know how much he appreciated having them beside him.

He gave Scar’s head another gentle stroke before letting his hand fall. Her eyes followed it, then returned to his with a distinctly wry look.

"When are the others coming over?"

"Oh, yes!" Vex rose. "Hubby, Raika will probably start to swim on her own if we don’t get her soon."

"She’d enjoy Sarthal," Quinlan admitted. "Or get herself killed within minutes should she attack someone like Veshara for fun."

"She’s like a beast, listening to her primal instincts. I think she’ll use them to avoid getting into such situations..." Vex muttered, sounding more hopeful than certain. But then she grinned nonetheless, happily moving on. "But if she’s coming, Orianna will too." The witch slipped her hand around his arm. "Big sis will keep Raika on the right leash."

Sera leaned against the bedpost, watching Blossom angle her head to guide Quinlan’s remaining hand toward the base of an ear.

"My mother hasn’t complained, but I know she’d like to see the outside world. I’d like to bring her."

"I can’t wait to see Elisabeth’s face when she hears about Orathis," Lucille grinned. "An entire country worshipping Nemerys and calling Lilyanna a thief..."

The elf’s mouth curved. "Perhaps she should stay at home..."

Mention of the priestess brought her father to Quinlan’s mind. Alexios, the shameless old bastard his cheeky samurai had decided was his best friend.

He wondered what the former king would make of the people here. After spending a thousand years trapped beneath Iskaris’s Suppression, Alexios could finally go out and discover how much stronger he could become. Quinlan would quite like to see him get started.

And he wouldn’t mind sharing a drink with the old geezer afterward, either.

"Alexios, Felicity, and Feng should come soon," he said. "We should find out whether they’re ready."

When they’d left, Felicity and her father still had work to finish, so Feng had stayed behind to be with them. Others had responsibilities of their own to arrange before leaving Iskaris for any length of time.

Quinlan had also been cautious about drawing attention. His companions and the Lilies already made a sizeable company. Bringing every friend and ally along would’ve made them far too conspicuous when they knew so little about the lands beyond Iskaris.

Queen Zorvanna had taken an interest in him within a week of their arrival in Sarthal as it was.

Quinlan wanted the others to have their share of it. There was far too much out here for all of them to spend their days doing the same things, and he liked the prospect of meeting up afterward to hear what they’d found.

"I’d say we’re starting to get a decent grasp of things," Aurora agreed. "We know where to find work, where to buy what we need, and which countries we should avoid for now. There’s room for the others to join us, but having them suddenly appear out of nowhere and join us would be too suspicious."

Quinlan’s hand slowed in Blossom’s hair as he considered that. Bringing them through a gate would take very little effort; explaining their arrival to people who’d been watching his company was another matter.

His alchemist met his eyes.

"How are we going to explain where they came from?"

"That’s simple," Quinlan grinned.

...

"Vindictive little bitch."

At the contract boards in Sarthal’s Adventurer Guild, the short-haired adventurer risked another glance toward the counter. The clerk was helping someone fill out a form, looking far too pleased with her afternoon.

Three weeks remained until rent was due. Three whole weeks that she could’ve spent sitting comfortably at their table, if that woman hadn’t threatened to tell their landlords how much spare time they had.

"We were trying to help her," the woman who’d invited Black for a drink complained beside her. "She could’ve just said she wasn’t interested."

"She did."

"Well, we didn’t believe her."

"I can’t imagine why she got upset, then."

Her friend gave her a sour look before returning her attention to the notices. Behind them, their usual table stood abandoned, a perfectly good afternoon of gossip going to waste while they searched for gainful employment.

It was a truly tragic situation.

"I thought you were taking the latrine job," another woman murmured.

"I was negotiating under duress."

"You were begging."

"Would you rather clean someone else’s shit or find something to kill?"

That earned a few mutters of agreement. The short-haired woman ran a finger down the edge of a posted contract, reading past the heading to the client’s request.

"What about this one?"

Her companions leaned closer. One reached past her shoulder to lift the bottom of the sheet, checking the section hidden beneath another notice.

"Hmm. We could..."

The Guild’s front door opened, and the woman nearest the aisle made a strangled little sound.

"He’s back!"

Every head at the board turned.

Lord Black stood in the entrance, his broad shoulders filling far too much of the doorway for the short-haired woman’s peace of mind. Red eyes passed over the hall from within his helmet while the women of Unbound followed him inside.

"Lord Black!"