“Using my world’s quotes, eh?” Jed asked as he shook his head. “And two different quotes? Those are from very different sources.”
“They are appropriate,” Mythlyn said, crossing her wings and arms preventing any further argument by vanishing in a burst of purple-black warp-fire.
Which served to remind him they didn’t want to stay at the scene of the crime. First they grabbed the training supplies and left a message. That done, Jed and Gwen gathered their gear and slipped up to the roof, leaping across the narrow gap to a nearby building. Then they moved from that to another, and another, only descending once they were half a block away from the warehouse.
Back on street level, they pulled their hunter gear tight about them and moved towards the nearest shadow district.
Jed had wanted to return to the Hunter’s Hall, but both Gwen and Mythlyn had been against the idea.
If the marshals had been willing to bust in on a registered training hall, then the Hunter’s Hall wasn’t safe. Which meant they were going back to the hotel where they’d first retrieved Gwen.
He just hoped Metsa would understand the message Gwen had left behind. Both of his companions had assured him she would, though he had his doubts.
Still, he’d never been on the run before, so he left it to them. Being vague probably wouldn’t help the marshals at least.
Their journey into the shadow district was mostly uninterrupted, though they did cross paths with another group of hunters, who warned them not to set out on foot so late in the day.
Gwen had offered a shrug, gesturing vaguely back in the direction of the Hunter’s Hall. That had apparently been enough of an explanation as the other group called out wishing Jed and Gwen good luck on their hunt.
Even without any sort of fence, it was immediately apparent when they passed into the shadow district, the streets darker, the buildings looming larger.
It was a lot more intimidating on foot than it had been from the buggy.
Neither of them spoke, using the simple hand signs Metsa had taught them over the last month. Jed was signaling threats he couldn’t explain away, having decided it wasn’t worth keeping the range of his warp sense a secret. While Gwen raised her eyebrows, she followed his directions.
It was only after they made it to the building across from the hotel that she questioned him on it.
“How are you spotting them? If you hadn’t pointed out that Crawler, I never would’ve seen it on that overhang,” Gwen asked after Jed confirmed they were safe.
“We all have our gifts,” Jed said, reaching up to his ears. “Mine happen to include sensitivity to disruptions in the warp.”
“That… Sotas said you could do that, but I didn’t know you had such great range. That’s going to be pretty useful,” Gwen said, shaking his shoulder while smiling. “I got pretty lucky to land you as a partner.”
Jed wasn’t sure how to respond to that, his hand drifting down to the revolver who housed his oldest friend. Who was also an archangel of death.
And had proved that fact that afternoon.
“Sure about being lucky?” Jed said gesturing back in the direction of the warehouse and the dead marshals.
“Being at odds with the imperials only proves we’re meant to work together,” Gwen said while pulling open the door of the building they’d chosen for their temporary hiding place. “You and me against the Empire.”
“I honestly just want to explore Tersue Reng,” Jed said, as he followed her in. “I’m doing Metsa’s training cause she figured it’d help keep me safe, and hunting warp-demons seems like a good way to make money and help people along the way, but I’m in it for the new horizons and the new food.”
“Definitely the food,” Mythlyn said in agreement as she burst forth from the revolver.
“Okay, okay,” Gwen said, nodding to herself. “It’ll be best if we’re on the move anyway, with the Empire hunting us. Means we won’t get as rich, but it was never about that, was it?”
“You seem awfully determined to throw your lot in with us,” Jed said as he found a broken bench and tested its sturdiness. After shifting it back against the wall, he sat down. “Not that I’m complaining, it’s just, wasn’t that long ago you didn’t want to have anything to do with me.”
Gwen slowed down, turning away and looking out over the empty street. She nodded, glancing back with a smile half-hidden by her dark hair before looking out again. “Yeah. Well, I was wrong. Might surprise you to hear, but that happens sometimes.”
“Oh, does it now?” Jed asked, chuckling as he leaned back against the wall, staring at an empty spiderweb just overhead.
“Sometimes! And I’m not wrong now,” Gwen said, still staring out into the street. “You and me, we’re going to become legends. They’ll know our names across the ring.”
“Well, long as we’re keeping it humble,” Jed said, smiling as Mythlyn sat down beside him, smiling softly.
“Humble and smart,” Gwen said, tapping her temple. “Legends take time. Metsa didn’t become the Huntress Carnaga in a day.”
“Huntress Carnaga, eh? That’s quite the title,” Jed said, looking out into the street. “What did she have to do to earn a title like that?”
“Lots of little stuff, according to Grams. Hundreds of successful hunts, some of them taking down pretty big warp-demons, just her and Sotas.”
“What’s Sotas’ title then?”
“Sotas? He’s just Sotas, no title,” Gwen said, still looking out into the street.
“Huh. Wonder how that happened.”
“I asked Grams the same thing,” Gwen said, turning back to smile at them again. “Grams said it was cause he didn’t like-”
Gwen didn’t get to finish her sentence, because Jed scrambled to his feet clapping his hand over her mouth. His senses had detected a disturbance in the warp. A big one.
A few seconds later, a solid thud echoed down the street. He met Gwen’s eyes, and after a shared nod, he pulled his hand away from her mouth and they both leaned slowly out the window.
There a massive form moved, its body easily two stories tall. Dark brown fur covered its body, and it had a pair of large beady eyes and a stubby snout that it was using to sniff the ground where they’d walked up the street.
Despite the threat, Jed couldn’t help the small smile that pulled at his lips.
“That…” he said as softly as he could. “Is what a grizzly looks like.”
…Isekai-eh…
Other than its absurd size, the warp-demon down the street was a perfect example of a rocky mountain grizzly. So perfect, Jed had no choice but to take a picture so he would always have a reference.
Gwen’s eyes narrowed when he pulled out the cell phone, though they widened into a smile when she saw the image he captured.
He smiled back even as he waved her away from the entrance.
They really didn’t want that thing’s attention.
Thankfully, despite having sniffed their trail, it didn’t seem to be interested in them and was soon wandering away.
“You have a pictcorder?”
“A… what? Is that a word?” Jed asked, turning the Mythlyn.
“I… think I know the component pieces. A picture recorder?” Mythlyn asked Gwen.
“Uh. Yeah, I don’t know the actual name for it, so I had to come up with one of my own,” Gwen said, blushing. Then she turned to Jed. “Yours is way smaller though. No way could I fit mine in my pocket.”
“A valuable device,” Mythlyn said as she stepped towards the entrance, glancing out.
Now that the grizzly was gone, Jed wasn’t too worried. He wondered if Mythlyn could have killed it. It was hard to tell how strong she was, since not everything reacted to her warp-fire the same way. Back on the station, most warp-demons had been stronger than the Raveners, with her barely having the energy to kill one in a solo fight. Most of their victories had been using traps.
Already they’d seen how effective she could be against weaker warp demons on the surface.
Now that they were holed up, Jed intended to practice some of the skills he’d been hiding around Gwen.
“Mythlyn, hold still please,” he said as he came up behind her.
“What are you… ah, practicing?” she asked as he traced a finger along her arm, watching how the warp-fire reacted to his touch, trying to reach out and shape it. He was stuck on expanding his portal, and was hoping that trying something different might help.
While it was easy enough to feel her warp-fire, shaping it was another matter.
“Do you two need to get all touchy feely with me watching?” Gwen said, scowling from the bench Jed had claimed earlier.
Jed turned away from Mythlyn for a second, giving Gwen a smile. “I’m working on my warp manipulation. In theory. And since Mythlyn’s a warp entity…”
“Wait, for real? You’re not just being all lovey dovey?”
“Much as we may care for each other, I am hardly interested in such a relationship,” Mythlyn said with a smile. “Though it is rather reaffirming to be able to hold someone close.”
“And she has fun teasing me about it too,” Jed said, rolling his eyes.
“I do, yes.”
“Can I… try?” Gwen said, leaning forward, looking between them.
“You may touch him if you wish,” Mythlyn said, cackling at the pole-axed expression that appeared on Gwen’s face in response.
Jed couldn’t help but chuckle a little himself. “She’s just teasing. You might not be able to touch her. Apparently she phases through most objects.”
“Hunters are infused with warp, so I suppose it shall be interesting,” Mythlyn said, holding an arm out towards Gwen.
Gwen recovered almost instantly from her shock, though her cheeks had flushed and were only just returning to normal as she took Mythlyn’s hand.
Or attempted to anyway. It seemed like there was a moment of resistance before her fingers slipping through Mythlyn in a brilliant flash of purple-black warp-fire.
“Ah. Not dense enough it would seem,” Mythlyn said, pulling her hand back.
“That smarts,” Gwen said, shaking her own hand while staring at Mythlyn. “But I think part of the problem was that I pushed too hard. It was fine at first.”
“If you wish to try again, I will not object,” Mythlyn said, extending her hand once more.
“Uh. Let’s see how long this lasts first,” Gwen said, blowing on her fingers. “Might need my hand for fighting and stuff.”
“Of course,” Mythlyn said, nodding.
The entire time they’d been making their exchange, Jed had continued experimenting. It almost felt like he could grasp the fire, it was just a smidge out of reach.
After five minutes, he decided that he might as well be making the attempt in comfort and convinced Mythlyn to come sit with him on a set of stairs that had collapsed halfway to the second story. This time when she sat in his lap, he accepted it, since it made his attempts easier.
“Really thought you two were, you know, lovers,” Gwen said as she came and sat next to them.
“As will most people who meet us, I expect,” Mythlyn said, caressing Jed’s cheek. “We do share a great deal of affection.”
“Best friends,” Jed said in agreement, though his focus was on the tiny wisp of purple-black fire he was drawing up out of Mythlyn’s thigh as he ran his finger along it. “Would’ve gone crazy without her.”
“And I would never have become sane again without him,” Mythlyn said, laying her head against Jed’s shoulder.
“Sounds more intimate than lovers,” Gwen said as she watched Jed’s hand move back and forth. “More intimate than any of mine, anyway.”
“Mine too,” Jed agreed, nodding.
“I have never had a lover,” Mythlyn said, her voice carrying a note of melancholy to it that Jed had rarely heard.
He paused and looked up towards her, brows furrowed. “I thought that wasn’t something you wanted.”
“I have no desire to take a lover, not as I am. However, I was not always a being of the warp. I was once a woman. I told myself that I was committed to a higher cause than mere love. To a more pure cause.”
“The Empress?” Jed asked despite knowing it was the only possible answer, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.
“The Empress, and the Empire, though one is merely an extension of the other,” Mythlyn said, sighing. “It is a sign of how far gone her mind is, that this decay around us exists at all. There was a time when she would have simply waved a hand, restoring the city herself.”
“That… doesn’t seem possible.”
“Oh, it wouldn’t have been instant. But it would have been fast enough as to have barely mattered,” Mythlyn said, shaking her head. “And now… well, now I do not know. Our fight was one of policy, and I will admit, I was, perhaps not as openminded as I should have been. If I had taken another path, perhaps…”
“Long time ago now,” Jed said, giving her hand another squeeze.
“Even for me, yes,” Mythlyn said, caressing Jed’s face again. One of the little purple-black flames appeared just on the edge of his vision, and instinctively, he pushed it away from his field of vision.
All three of them watched as the little bead of warp fire manifested and arched across the room, fizzling out inches away from striking the floor.
“Huh,” Jed said as Mythlyn started laughing so hard she fell off his lap.
Leaning back, Jed allowed himself a smile as he set his feet on Mythlyn’s stomach, arms crossed behind his head. Maybe one day he really would be able to manipulate the warp.