As soon as Ellen was out of the way, I rushed at Helga. I’d spent the entirety of my party mates’ fights casually watching as I tightened my armor, slipped on my shield, and limbered up.

  I gathered momentum like a boulder downhill as I charged. My experience until that point told me that when faced with someone my size sprinting at them, people either took a swing or got out of the way. Either of which I could use to set up my first series of attacks within the Willow’s Wrath.

  Helga, however, simply didn’t. She was unmoved by the charge, and I had to slip to the side. I knew after watching her fight that if I ran into her full tilt, the result would be me on my ass and her imperiously looking down at me.

  I set my feet and weaved around her shield to lash my hammer down on the part of her body that transitioned from carapace to skin, and gambeson was hooked to armor. The impact jarred my entire shoulder, but Helga showed no reaction. That was a serious problem for me. The entire Willow’s Wrath style depended on exploiting reactions and the weak points on a person’s body. I was in trouble if I knew none of a species’ weak spots and was getting no reaction from the individual.

  Coping with her lack of reaction, I tried to slip further behind her, and she allowed me to do so. Quickly, I tried scanning her lower body for anywhere that looked like it might be easy to break. Like with all the others, Helga gave me the time to get set before she turned to follow. That, however, was a reaction and something I could use.

  Right as she was about to plant one of her legs, I drove the spike of my hammer into the portion where a human knee would have been with all my strength. Again pain spasmed up my arm and Helga showed no sign of injury.

  I pulled back and went to hit the same spot, but she sent her tail at me. I swayed back from the barb, which was clearly cleaned before she got here. As the stringer passed inches from my face, I saw small droplets of green forming in the pores of carapace.

  Coming back from the dodge, I brought the spike down on where her tail connected to the rest of her body. Hoping it would catch on something that I could tear off an open a wound for me to focus on. That didn’t happen, however, and all I did was open another hole in her already destroyed gambeson.

  I took a step back to find a new path of attack, but Helga used the space I created to finish turning before she jobbed at me with her spear. I stepped into the attack and deflected her first strike with my shield, swaying under the second. This was partially ideal for me, because while being attacked by someone so much stronger was never fun, it at least allowed me to show off the rest of my style.

  Like with Ellen, the rest of the fight was a quick one-sided affair. Helga was fantastic with her spear, perhaps the best I’d ever seen. Even though I knew she was going easy on me, there were moments she got past my defense and lightly tapped me somewhere with the shaft, just below the head, of her spear. The rest of the fight was spent with me ineffectively attacking or desperately defending from her effective offense.

  “That is enough. Thank you Helga. Bran of the Cult of Weeping Grace, you may join your companions for your hour break.” Arnhild’s right head spoke before she turned. Her eight legs made swift sharp motions, like stabbing daggers, to turn on the spot and she marched out the door. Helga following swiftly behind.

  ~~~***~~~

  Arnhild returned after just longer than an hour and retook the same position she had originally without a word. She waited for Helga, who kept us in her line of sight the entire time she moved, to retake her original spot before she spoke.

  “Before we begin the next portion of your Appraisal, do any of you have any accolades I can use to market your services?”

  I looked around to see if any of my teammates would answer first, but when no one did, I spoke.

  “I’ve mastered the Willow’s Wrath martial style.” I said, careful to keep any of the pride I felt out of my voice.

  “I’ve not heard of the style before. Tell me, is it common in your forest?” Arnhild’s left head asked, speaking the word for forest strangely.

  I paused for a second to wonder how she knew where the Cult was located, but decided not to question it too strictly, as the whole reason I was here was to market the faith.

  “No ma’am. I am the successor to the style, though it has a sister style that is far more common.”

  “Excellent. Does anyone else have something I can use to market you? Keep in mind, what you tell me here will not only bring bidders to your auction but help determine your minimum starting bid.”

  The room remained silent, and it looked as if no one else would speak for a moment before Maggie stepped from where she leant against the smooth stone wall.

  “You honor.” Maggie said with formality. “They are selling themselves short. Ellen is a member of the empire’s newest noble family; and heiress to one of my generation’s greatest adventurers. Mika taught himself runes and how to create his golems; every spell he casts is the result of extensive study without a tutor. Nora is a prodigy in mana control and, as far as I know, every spell in her arsenal besides the basic Bolt is self-made. Finally, see Bran’s eyes?”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Maggie paused and waited for Arnhild to answer. During the pause, I couldn’t help but wonder why she was giving away so much, so freely. I knew part of being an adventurer was selling what made you unique, but it felt unwise on a tactical level to reveal Nora and Mika’s self-taught nature. Not to mention Ellen’s value as a hostage.

  Arnhild’s right head let out a long sigh, the gesture intimidating from someone so strange to look at. It was her left head that answered, and actually seemed amused to do so.

  “I do.”

  “They are evidence of his blessing. Bran is the chosen of a nature goddess, and son to the goddess’ [High Priestess].”

  I was a little surprised she revealed the blessing. After all, who knows how the people down here felt about foreign divinities. I would not contradict or gainsay her, however. All of what she’d said was freely available information to anyone who asked it.

  “I appreciate the candor.” Arnhild said. “You may begin the final portion of the Appraisal.”

  It took us some time to arrange ourselves, which I’m sure Arnhild noted, but by the time we did, Nora and Mika had positioned themselves next to the wall while Ellen and I took point on a wedge that was filled by Mika’s golems.

  We’d spent a brief portion of the hour of rest talking strategy and concluded that while we couldn’t harm Helga, we could show off.

  Even though Arnhild called for us to begin, we waited until Helga gave the slightest nod of her head to charge. Nora immediately spun up her mist spell and Mika’s golems split in three directions; all seeking to flank the massive woman. Ellen followed only a step behind me, the plan to have her break off once I had Helga fully engaged.

  Nora’s mist fully formed after thirty second of Ellen dancing around me to attack Helga while I soaked up her attention and Mika got underneath and on her with his golems. It took another ten seconds for the forms to appear in the mist and swarm Helga, during which I tried to shatter Helga’s extended elbow to no effect.

  The fight continued for another three minutes. We were the tide; we came at her with force and fury, but she was a cliff. No matter what we did, there was no hope of affecting her in the slightest. The fight was eventually called by the left head with a mild thanks for our time.

  “Follow me to my office, please. I have some minor calculations to make before I can make you an offer on your starting bid.”

  Following after her, we slowed down slightly as Maggie motioned for us to do so.

  “I wanted to know they’d select you before I said anything.” Maggie whispered. “But keep in mind that because gold is so abundant down here, their coins are heavier than ours.”

  “What does that mean for their value?” Mika asked softly.

  “One gold down here goes for five back up on the surface. The exchange is generally the same for all their coins, so don’t be insulted when the starting offer is low.”

  Her piece finished, Maggie allowed us to catch back up to Arnhild and Helga. Helga kept herself between us and the [Appraiser] at all times, and when we approached, she shot a stare over her shoulder.

  Arnhild’s office was small, if richly appointed. Tapestries I was coming to expect of aranae art filled the room. Besides her desk, chair, and the wall hangings, the room’s only other feature was eleven statuettes of different aranae figures all done in gemstone. No two statuettes sharing the same material.

  Arnhild took out a small slate from behind her desk and quickly scratched something into the stone with one of her foremost legs. The five of us, along with Helga, stood in silence as we watched the woman work. The only sounds besides our quiet breathing and the muted scratch of her leg against stone, was a whispered conversation between her two heads.

  They spoke in a language I was unfamiliar with, but it flowed far more freely across her tongues than the Trade Tongue so I assumed it was her native language. The power play annoyed a small part of me, but we were very much so in her power so I ignored that thought. A smaller, petulant part of me wanted to whisper something back in the High Chant, but I squashed that.

  Still, the thought of doing so brought a small chuckle to my lips. The laugh echoed through the near silent room and brought everyone but Arnhild’s attention to me. I was spared from any questions when Arnhild finished whatever she was writing with an expansive flourish of her leg.

  “Apologies for the wait, but I have good news. For the tier you’ve signed up for, you are all far better than the usual fodder we get here. I am proud to say that we can begin the bids for your services at five gold for a term of three weeks.”

  Nora looked to the rest of us before she spoke, but none of us had any objections to the price.

  “That would be welcome.” Nora said, trying to match Arnhild’s formality. I noticed Maggie tense slightly at Nora’s agreement. “Is there an estimate on how high we can expect the price to go?”

  “Unfortunately, I cannot give you an accurate assessment of what your final price would be. I can say that whatever it lands on will be because of what kind of audience attends your auction.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “For your average [Officer of the Matriarchs]. Five gold is not an insignificant portion of their monthly budget. However, if you get lucky and a spiress or tribal deputy takes interest in you, you may expect a much larger fee.”

  Arnhild paused after that. Whether she wanted to see if we had a question or was waiting for us to contest her evaluation, I wasn’t sure, but when none of us did, she continued.

  “Now that we have that over with, when are you looking to be on the ballot?”

  “Preferably within the next two days. We’re looking to get started as quickly as possible.” Nora said after a barely noticeable glance to the rest of us.

  Arnhild’s right head rolled her eyes while the left shot its counterpart a dirty look and turned to speak with us.

  “I could do that for you. But I would prefer it if you waited for at least three days before declaring yourselves. That way, I can work with some of my associates to drum up interest in your service.” Arnhild said with a small shake of her heads. Interestingly, they both shook in different directions.

  Nora paused for a second and looked like she might ask us for our opinions, but a nudge from Maggie changed her mind.

  “That sounds fine. Before we agree to anything, may I ask what you get out of us going for a higher price? Why are you pushing for it?”

  Arnhild considered us for a moment. It wasn’t the consideration one gave a political rival. Nor was it the consideration you gave an equal’s request. It was the look of someone wondering if they should indulge a child.

  “Aside from a larger fee, the prestige.” Arnhild’s right spoke.

  “Meaning?” Nora prompted.

  The right shot an annoyed look at the left before she continued.

  “My position within the auction house is an enviable one. Suffice to say, prestige is a required part of keeping it.”

  The answer was just vague enough to keep most of the details obscure, but it painted a pretty clear of the politics at least within the auction house. Appraiser was probably either a cushy retirement job or a stepping stone to further advancement.

  Granted, it would never be a highlight in someone’s career because as far as I knew, the city we were in now was about as far away from the heartlands of both the Ozzate matriarchy and the Mirthrun Republic as one could get.

  I could also guess from her word choice that there was another appraiser here or at a different auction house competing with Arnhild for profit. Why else would landing us a larger fee help her keep her job?

  “ – a place we can stay while we wait for the auction?” I missed the first part of Nora’s follow up question.

  “Unfortunately, the city only provides housing for humans already under contract of some kind, and we ask that you stay on the premises until your lot. To avoid stirring up any complications with the populace you understand.” Arnhild’s left head replied.

  Ellen looked uncomfortable with the notion of staying within the bounds of the auction house, but didn’t object when Nora agreed to the term. I wasn’t the only one to notice Ellen’s discomfort as Mika laid a soft hand on her back and leaned over to whisper something to her.

  “Helga, would you mind leading our guests to the adventurer suites, please?”

  Without word or acknowledgement of the question, Helga walked out of the room. The rest of us following behind her with quick thanks for the appraiser’s time as we left.

  Past a certain point in the walk, the number of art pieces we passed lessened, then vanished all together. Hallways that before were marvels of artistic talent reduced to plain red rock. Helga never slowed or paused for us. She even doubled back several times. It was only after she’d done all she could to confuse us on the windowless auction house’s layout that she paused at a door made from blue and white ceramic and gestured for us to enter.