"You've got this, Saki. In and out," I whispered, my breath fogging in the chill air. The alley ahead was all Drestor, dirt turned to mud in the rain, walls of weather worn stone, and the distant hum of a watermill grinding flour for the town's bakeries. Not a city, just an overgrown village playing dress-up with a few brass-edged guildhalls and clockwork streetlamps that never worked right. Still, it had what I needed: shadows, secrets, and men stupid enough to think they controlled both.

  The voice in my skull slithered, "Skip the theatrics. Crack his mind open and take what you need."

  I clenched my fists. "Not how I work."

  A man leaned against a sagging tavern door ahead, his bowler hat tipped low. His coat was cheap velvet, but the dagger at his belt gleamed, real steel. Perfect.

  "Heard you know people," I said, letting my charm skill bleed into the words like poison in wine. "The kind who don't mind... mischief. For the right cause." I gave a Kitsune's wink. My tail twitched unseen behind my dress. But to him, it was just a smile, all teeth and promise.

  He squinted, wary. "Mischief? Are you some guild spy?"

  Resisting. Damn. I sharpened the charm, feeling my eyes flare hotter. "Let's say I need fighters. Loyal ones."

  His cheek twitched. "Fighters? You mean thugs."

  "Yes, I mean patriots," I lied, layering the charm thicker. My temples throbbed.

  His pupils dilated into a puppet's glassy stare. Gotcha.

  "Patriots... yeah," he mumbled in a syrupy voice. "But gold up front, or… "

  I laughed, light as wind chimes. "Gold? Oh, a clever man like you knows some causes are priceless." I spun, letting my dress swirl, no pockets, no hidden purses, and locked my emerald gaze on him. My vision blurred at the edges, a metallic tang rising in my throat. Too long. Hurry.

  He gripped his dagger, knuckles white. "Y-you're not right..."

  Shit. I pushed harder, my tail lashing invisibly. "You'll help me," I murmured, the charm a vise. "Because you're better than this place."

  The dagger clattered to the dirt. "...Better," he echoed.

  "Yes, better," I intoned as I sighed in relief. I felt my headache recede and my eyes stopped burning.

  The man seemed to think hard for a moment as I watched him. "I got some fellas for ya," he said, looking down at me. The distance in his eyes vanished as a smile crossed his lips. It looked unnatural to me, but I didn't care. He would give me what I wanted now.

  "Okay, where can I meet them?" I asked, my tone no longer sweet or inviting, just neutral, with barely hidden frustration. I knew the charm had settled; I didn't need to push anymore.

  The man stared at me. After a long moment, I snapped my fingers in front of his face. "Wake up, big and dumb! where do I meet them!" He continued to stare for another moment, and I was about to facepalm when he finally spoke. "Outside the gates, near the southern forest, around midday."

  I nodded before responding, "Good, then go fetch them." I paused, looking at him for a moment. "And fix that trashy haircut!" He nodded sadly, and I turned without care and walked away. The voice inside whispered, "You should have just erased him, erased it all."

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  I scowled and ignored the voice, its lies and deceit made me angry. I made my way to the adventurers' guild and entered through the double doors. The place was packed with adventurers of all kinds. Some of them are actually helpful.

  I ignored the men as they looked at me, and the women who gave me jealous glances. Pathetic, all of them. Instead, I made my way to the clerk at the desk, a young woman with brown eyes, like dirt. Some would say like honey or bark. But I wasn't feeling very generous. At least, internally I wasn't.

  "Hello, how are you? I love your eyes!" I said with a charismatic smile. I left the charm off for now. If I needed it I would use it, but for now most people were stupid and easily swayed without it, and I didn't want a headache. I also didn't want to be attacked by every adventurer here if I was caught.

  The lady looked up at me with a bored expression, and I could already tell she was going to be a pain. "What do you want? If you need a job, there are postings on the board. If you are an adventurer, you can just check your badge. Unless you are here to turn in a bounty or pay the adventuring license fee, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

  Inwardly I resisted the urge to scream at the woman. Vaporize her, it would be so easy. Vaporize them all.

  My smile widened a notch instead as I leaned closer and said, "Ah, yes, about the adventurer badge. I er... lost mine."

  The bored and annoyed-looking woman sighed and stated simply, "Adventuring badges are soul-bound. If you have lost your badge, simply will it return and it will appear in your hand." Her monotonous bored tone made me want to strangle her.

  "Yes, well, the thing is, I kind of... lost my soul?" I said hopefully. The lady looked at me for a long second before sighing. "You have 30 seconds to vacate the premises before I put a bounty on your head," she said in the same bored tone as earlier.

  I considered for a moment actually vaporizing this woman. Then the caravan came back, and instead, I turned and walked out of the building. I wove an illusion around myself to make myself far more calm than I was. The illusion was layered over me and made it look like I was casually walking with a smile on my face out the door. While my real expression was thunderous and enraged.

  That witch would pay dearly for this! As soon as I was strong enough I would...

  Erase them all!

  NO! I screamed internally at the voice. I hated it so much. It was a reminder of my childishness. Of what my innocence and naivety had cost me. It flowed through me, manipulated me. At one point, it had even controlled me. Never again. I would sooner die than ever let it out.

  I winced.. recalling the night with the clarity of a half-remembered nightmare. The frantic dash through the forest, the choking stench of decay, and the horrifying sight of a man whose skin was gray and whose eyes were nothing but empty voids. He charged at me with a violent fury I'd never seen before, forcing me to scramble through a gnarled tree root, desperate to escape. All I could think of was my mother: her gentle presence, her loving embrace. I vowed then, with every trembling heartbeat, that I'd never again wander north, where the air reeked of rot and horrors lurked in the shadows.

  That night, everything I knew was torn apart. I had spent my early days scampering through the woods with my mother and my sisters, my heart full of playful mischief and innocent curiosity. My mother had always warned me, "Never wander north, little one," her amber eyes piercing as she spoke. I didn't understand back then. But when the monsters came. Ghastly beings with loose, gray skin and vacant eyes that mimicked the villagers. I learned the cost of disobedience. I raced to my mother as the creatures struck with brutal speed. I watched, frozen, as their claws tore mercilessly through her throat and my sisters fell one by one. I lay there, small paws trembling, whispering silently, "Why? What did we do?"

  And then, amidst the carnage, a voice, soft as rustling leaves yet as cold as winter frost, slithered into my mind: "Become my claws, little fox. Avenge them. Protect what remains." I didn't understand it fully, but the coppery taste of blood and the overwhelming grief pushed me past fear. I bared my fangs and, with a broken whisper, answered, "Yes."

  In that agonizing instant, something fierce and irreversible ignited within me. My whimper died in my throat as a burning heat surged through my paws. I felt my familiar russet fur erupt into a blinding white, as brilliant and cold as moonlight on fresh snow. I sensed a stirring at my back, a strange new power, as nine dark, sinuous shadows replaced the single tail I once knew. When I tried to scream, fire burst from my mouth in a searing, unconscionable defiance. On that tragic night, the little fox who had been Autumn Sakilera was no more. In her place was reborn a Kitsune of vengeance, a creature with nine tails destined to exact retribution.

  Twelve years have passed since that fateful night, and now at eighteen, I roam a very different world. The wild innocence of childhood has given way to a hardened purpose and a cunning edge honed by pain and survival.