Stern woke groggily— his dreams had been disjointed and nightmarish. All of them centered on rescuing Vulk, and each had gone horribly wrong. Every fresh nightmare had been worse than the last, but Stern would only go back to sleep each time, too tired to try waking up fully. Soft snoring came from either side of him. He smiled at Trish and Cyra curled up with him. The tent they were in took him a minute to place, and then he recalled the party.
The Walkers who’d gathered had celebrated Vulk being free. The few Walkers who had healing got Vulk fully patched up. The only thing showing he’d undergone any trauma was his missing beard. Emma had clung to him the entire evening, as if afraid he’d vanish again if she let him go.
A couple of hours into the party, just as the drinks really started to flow, a contingent of city guards approached the camp. Sarah met with them and explained they were just having a party for a friend who was recently returned to them. The captain in charge of the unit reminded her about the laws regarding parties held by the river, then left with his men.
Cammie had been a little distant for the rest of the party, just keeping an eye on her brother. She brushed off the few men who tried to cheer her up. Cyra sat with her for a while, speaking softly, and Cammie relaxed before everyone finally called it a night.
I’m going to cover the loose ends, and we might as well settle in for a week or two. It’ll give Vulk a real chance to be with Emma and make his choice, Stern thought. And if we’re doing that, it’s time to send the letter, as well.
Trish shifted, murmuring as she did, “Mhm? Is it time to wake up?”
“I can see the edge of light against the tent,” Stern whispered.
“Time to wake, then,” Trish sighed.
“Is it?” Cyra mumbled, wiping at her tired eyes.
“Probably,” Stern replied.
“How long are we staying?” Cyra asked softly.
“I’m thinking two weeks, at least,” Stern said. “Give Vulk and Emma a chance to figure out what they want.”
“Probably a good idea,” Trish agreed. “We can spend that time with Cammie, driving home the point that we’re here for her.”
“Yes,” Cyra nodded, then kissed Stern’s chest. “Thank you for holding me.”
“You’re very welcome,” Stern said, kissing one of her ears. “Did you sleep okay?”
“A nightmare or two about your plan, but I was able to shake them off,” Cyra said.
“Same,” Trish said. “Also a bad one where we were all ambushed. You?”
“Nightmares all night,” Stern exhaled. “My last one was like yours. “
The sound of people stirring outside the tent got them to sit up. The whispered conversations going on were benign, so the trio relaxed.
“Are we staying at the inn?” Cyra asked as she started getting her clothing situated.
“No. I want to cover a loose end. I’m going to get dressed in my good clothes and go back to Garton and rent a home from him. I can play off the delay as one of my retainers getting injured and delaying things.”
“So when he hears about Bloodcoin, he doesn’t think to tell the guards about you?” Trish asked, getting her boots on.
“Muddle things a bit more, at least,” Stern said.
“Is two weeks going to be enough?” Cyra asked.
“No idea, but it’s a good start,” Stern said. “I’m going to see if the dojo here has specialty training rooms. If they do, maybe we can help Cammie by giving her something else to focus on.”
“I’ve heard about those,” Trish said. “Never used one myself.”
“Use that and normal training with her. Then, we can see about distracting her with other diversions.”
“I wanted to go clothes shopping with her,” Cyra said. “She doesn’t have a dress, like Trish and I do.”
“Sounds good. If Vulk is going to stay with us, I’ll see about taking him out for a bit, too.”
“Good,” Trish smiled. “I hope he stays with us, but this was…”
“Rough,” Stern finished for her. “Yeah. I’m also going to send my parents a letter asking for help.” They both looked at him and he explained further, “Going to ask them to have someone pull their mother out of the dungeon. After that, I want to have her transported down here to them.”
Trish inhaled sharply. “That might take both of them from us.”
“But it would be good,” Cyra said. “They’d have what they always wanted, what they thought they had to do. It would be up to them to choose their path from there.”
“I…” Stern trailed off, taking a deep breath before pushing on, “I think it’ll mean Vulk stops. If Emma is serious and his mother is back, he’ll stop. I won’t fault him at all, considering what he just endured.”
“Cammie might go on with us,” Cyra said hopefully.
“We can hope,” Trish nodded.
“I’ll hope, but I’ll prepare for the worst,” Stern said. “I know that, if they do, it’ll be my fault.”
Both of his lovers hugged him. “No. You’d have given them a grand gift,” Trish told him.
“You would have helped them,” Cyra added.
“While costing us,” Stern said. “Maybe not friends, as I doubt they’d stop being our friends, but quality crewmates.”
“Everyone chooses when they stop,” Trish said gently. “You doing this just proves how selfless you are.”
“We should go,” Stern said, hugging them back.
“Breakfast in ten,” a voice echoed over the camp. “Get up and get ready to pack up, clean up, eat, and go.”
“Damn,” Trish chuckled. “Sarah can be a real alpha when she wants to be.”
Cyra snorted. “That’s bad, Trish.”
“And yet not wrong,” Stern said, kissing both of them before releasing them. “Let’s go.”
~*~*~
Sarah had everyone ready and the camp broken down in short order. Breakfast turned out to be a breakfast soup— it wasn’t as good as they’d had before, but it had still been decent. During breakfast, Sarah asked Stern how he wanted to handle going back into the city, as the guards would surely hear about an irregular being involved. Stern explained his plan for getting back in, and then how he planned to settle in for a bit. After hearing it through, Sarah agreed and moved off to make arrangements.
That’s how Stern and Vulk ended up in the middle of the few dozen Walkers. They were both covered by cloaks and walking stooped over, slowly trudging along. When they reached the city, Stern could hear Sarah talking to the guards, then them being told to enter. Shortly after entering the city, the Walkers split apart, all going separate ways. When they were out of sight of the gate, Stern and Vulk removed their cloaks, as it was too hot for them.
“What did they ask?” Stern asked Sarah.
“About the six people in cloaks. I told them they were hungover, and the sun was too bright.”
“It can be,” Vulk grunted.
Emma held his arm. “Are you going back to the inn, Vulk?”
“Yes,” Vulk said softly. “We’ll be here for a few days, at least.”
“Emma, can you come with us?” Stern asked. “I have an idea and, since you’re invested in Vulk’s wellbeing, I think you should hear it, too.”
Emma stared at him for a few seconds before she smiled. “Please?”
“Okay, back to the inn, first. I need to change,” Stern said. Before he started walking again, he turned to Sarah. “I owe you, Sharp Ears. If you have need of us, just send word and we’ll come.”
Sarah bowed her head. “I would say you don’t, but I’ll keep that promise in my pocket for if the worst happens.”
“We’ll honor it,” Trish said, “especially if it comes to that.”
“I’m glad we were able to help,” Sarah said, watching the other crews and Walkers walk off. “It was good to see more people united.”
“Won’t they talk about what happened?” Emma asked.
“Walkers stick together,” Vulk said softly. “They won’t.”
Emma fell silent, her lips pursed as she thought about what Vulk said.
The Sharp Ears and Pawsitively Irregular crews said their goodbyes before they separated, the last two crews to do so.
~*~*~
It wasn’t too long before they made it back to the inn and up to the room. Stern motioned everyone to sit. Once they had, he spoke up, “Okay, I had an idea. If you agree to it, I’m going to rent a home for us to stay at for the next two weeks. We’ll stay there to decompress and train. I’ll also check with the dojo to see if they have specialty training rooms, and rent one or two of those, if we can. This will let us recover and still hone our edge. It also means that some of us have a chance to figure out what it is we want.”
Vulk and Emma looked at each other when Stern said that.
Cammie’s lips twitched down, but she said, “I’ll agree to this plan. Will you see if they have a trap room?”
“I was planning on it,” Stern smiled. “Your skills will be needed even more when we advance north again.”
Vulk glanced back at his sister, then to the others, and exhaled slowly. “Yeah. I’ll agree.”
“I’d like to have more time with Vulk,” Emma said, reaching over to take Vulk’s hand.
Trish and Cyra both agreed.
“Okay, I’ll go set things up. Get your stuff packed up. I hope to move as soon as I get back, which might be an hour from now.”
“Can I go with you?” Cammie asked.
“If you want to, but I’ll need you to get fully geared, like a guard.”
“I can do that,” Cammie said, as she was in her armor. “Do I need anything else?”
“Take my crossbow,” Stern said, unstrapping it from his bag. “I’ll be back shortly.”
“I should go see my parents,” Emma sighed.
“We’ll walk with you,” Stern said. “Just give me a few to change.”
“Yes, please,” Vulk said quickly.
“We’ll get her there safely,” Stern said, heading for his room.
~*~*~
It took longer to leave than Stern had thought, but that was because it took Vulk longer to let Emma go. Eventually, they let go of each other, and Stern, Cammie, Pawly, and Emma left the inn behind.
They’d barely started down the street when Emma asked, “Cammie… would you hate it if I loved your brother?”
“No,” Cammie said. “I would love it if he found someone to care for him… but will you tie him down?”
Emma fell silent for a moment. “I want to say no, but I worry that he’d never come back to me. Maybe it’d be a dungeon that kills him, or he might meet another woman while out with you and forget about me.”
“He won’t forget about you,” Stern said softly. “The love you feel for him? He feels just as strongly for you, Emma.” Stern gave her a smile. “I can feel the love between you two. One of my irregular perks is empathy.”
Emma stared at Stern and almost stumbled for a second, but she caught herself and looked forward again. “Empathy… so you really… feel the love?”
“Yes. It’s the same feeling Trish, Cyra, and I have for each other. It’s real for both of you.”
“And we wouldn’t leave him in a dungeon,” Cammie said.
“But sometimes, whole crews fall,” Emma shuddered.
“That’s true,” Stern nodded, “but our crew wouldn’t stay fallen for long. You have my word on that.”
“How can you be so sure?” Emma asked.
“My family wouldn’t allow it,” Stern said. “I won’t tell you who, but they have the power and money to make sure we’re brought back out. But, as this nightmare has shown, it’s not always dungeons that are dangerous. That’s life, though.”
Emma fell silent, and Cammie shifted over to walk beside her. “I’ll welcome you as my sister, Emma, but let me tell you why Vulk and I are Walkers.”
“Your mother,” Emma whispered. “Vulk told me.”
“Yeah. That’s why he’ll keep running,” Cammie said.
“Give me a moment,” Stern said suddenly. “I need to check my mail. I’ll be right back out.”
Both women paused, seeing that they were in front of the post. “Don’t take too long,” Cammie said.
“I’ll be quick. I just need to check something.”
~*~*~
Stern was true to his word— he was back outside in a few minutes. “Sorry about that. Let’s go.”
“Your family has power and money?” Cammie asked.
“Yes.”
“Is that how you met Darkhand before?”
“It is,” Stern nodded.
“You’ve met them?” Emma asked with wide eyes.
“Yes.”
“Are they as friendly as my father says?” Emma asked.
“Were you too young to remember?” Stern asked.
“Yes.”
“All the members of Darkhand are good people,” Stern said. “They want to help others as much as they want to push to the very last dungeon.”
“The Goddess’ promise?” Cammie asked.
“Yeah. Same reason I run.”
“Isn’t that a myth?” Emma asked.
“No. There are thirty-three tiers of dungeons, each with three dungeons. When you pass them all, they say the last dungeon— the final test— is opened to you,” Stern explained.
“But they’ve only found twenty-five tiers,” Emma said.
“So far, but the twenty-sixth was found recently, and at least one of the three dungeons.”
Cammie’s lips pursed. “I haven’t heard about that.”
“I have,” Stern said. “My family told me that Darkhand is going to go north to help with settling the city and running the dungeon.”
“They must be amazing,” Emma sighed. “They’ve never come back since the one time they all came to the tavern.”
“They might, in time,” Stern said. “All crews need downtime.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Emma sighed. “Is that why you’re taking two weeks?”
“One of the reasons,” Stern said.
“We take days off after every dungeon to train,” Cammie added. “This time, we’re taking longer. Emma... please don’t hurt him.”
Emma took Cammie’s hand in hers. “Sister… I will never knowingly hurt him.”
Cammie’s lips twitched into a smile briefly. “I wish Mother could be here to hear you. Can you wait on marrying him?”
“If that’s what you need to approve of us, then yes,” Emma said.
Cammie gave her a nod. “Thank you, Emm… Sister.”
Emma’s smile was bright as she squeezed Cammie’s hand.
Stern had felt the love and worry from them, but felt like they’d be okay now.