Another day passed with Iris and Jessica hunting their way through the forest, the rhythm of kill, rest, and travel settling into something almost routine. Between hunts and camps, Jessica filled their time with teaching Iris new words.

  She wasn’t sure if she was a surprisingly good teacher, or if Iris was simply frighteningly smart—but either way, the Hell Hound was picking things up far faster than Jessica had expected.

  This is really cool. Back in Wyoming, Dad never got us a dog, even though I asked a few times. He said we didn’t have the money to afford the extra expense. I guess it made sense, he was a single parent after all, and worked really hard at the refinery…

  But, Iris wasn’t exactly a pet. No, far from it. Jessica had to worry that she was, in fact, the one becoming Iris’s pet—a suspicion that only deepened after what would be their final kill before retiring for the night.

  Prey Eliminated! Level 8 Chardbark!

  Experience Gained!

  Jessica let out a breath, her hands still shaking slightly as she held the spear in the Chardbark’s now dead body. She put one foot against its side and pulled her spear free, once again smiling inwardly that she was actually getting the hang of this.

  Then came Iris’s voice with a soft praise. “Good, Jessica…” She prowled over and gave an approving nod before nudging the dead monster. “You eat.”

  That made Jessica wince for two reasons. The way Iris said those words, Jessica almost could have expected a head pat if the pup were able to. The other problem was…

  “Oh, I can’t eat that, Iris.”

  Iris turned her head.

  “See, I can’t eat raw meat like you can. It’ll make me sick.”

  “Sick?”

  “Yeah, sick, it’s like… You know how when you get attacked and you get hurt?” Jessica turned and pointed to the torn spot on her side where the Feral Scalehound had almost fatally wounded her back when their little hunting trip first began. “Like this, but in my stomach.” She tapped her stomach.

  Iris still didn’t seem to understand. “Meat makes you stronger. It doesn’t hurt.”

  “I know, but for me, meat has to be… cooked.” She mimed holding a skillet over a flame. “Fire. Hot. Then eat.”

  Iris clearly wasn’t able to make heads or tails of what Jessica was trying to communicate. Jessica hadn’t taught her words like “fire” and “hot” yet, so she wasn’t sure how to explain any better.

  “Look, I’ll show you. Let’s find a place to stop for the night, and I’ll… try to make a fire.”

  They traveled a short distance uphill until they found a clearing against a cliff face without too much tree coverage around them. She felt like having at least one side covered and not being in the middle of the darkest parts of the forest would be the best way to keep themselves safe for the night.

  With the campsite decided on, Jessica set down the Chardbark corpse then went around gathering sticks and as much dried material as she could find. Iris the whole time watched with a raised eyebrow as if humans were some impossible puzzle that made no sense to her.

  Jessica built a firepit the way she had seen her dad back on earth do it a number of times. Dry, easy-to-burn stuff on the bottom, then create a cone of sticks over it. Once that got going good, you could add more sticks and eventually bigger pieces of wood. The only problem is every time her dad made one, he had a lighter.

  This world has magic… Why couldn’t I get some kind of fire skill?

  Instead, Jessica fished the flint from her bag and knelt beside the pit, shoulders hunching as she struck the two stones together. Sparks leapt with each strike but vanished practically instantly upon touching the dry leaves and grasses they were supposed to set ablaze.

  “Come on, come on…” She bit the tip of her tongue as she tried again and again.

  Eventually she saw one big spark land on the leaf and quickly tried to blow it. It stayed lit for a second but then fizzled out just like all the others.

  Jessica hung her head, hair falling around her face in disappointment.

  “You do this to eat?” Iris asked.

  “Just give me a minute…” Jessica muttered, then grabbed the stones and tried again. This time she brought them as close to the base of the kindling as possible and struck them much faster, her idea was to get a bunch of those embers resting in the kindling at once so there would be a better chance at one surviving.

  After several minutes of repeatedly striking the rocks, she was almost ready to give up, but then a spark suddenly landed in the kindling without dying. In fact, the bits of grass it was touching started to smoke ever so slightly.

  “Oh!” Jessica instantly dropped to her stomach, cheek practically in the dirt, positioning her lips as close to the kindling as possible as she started blowing carefully. The thin stream of smoke became a little denser until finally—a proper flame!

  “Yes!” Jessica cheered, sitting up cross-legged and pinching more bits of dried grass and leaves on top of it while softly blowing. Iris watched curiously all the while.

  Before long, the kindling was properly lit, and the sticks were starting to burn as well. She positioned a bigger log of wood overtop while being careful not to smother the growing flames, then looked at Iris with a smile.

  “See? Now I’ll put the meat over this to cook it.”

  “Cooking means you will… break the meat?”

  Jessica laughed. “No, no! Trust me, you’ll see!”

  Jessica took her knife and began cutting at the Chardbark. At first she tried getting it between the seams of its bark-like outer shell, but didn’t have much luck there. So instead she flipped it to its side and sliced at its stomach. She grimaced slightly as she did it, having never butchered anything before, but she had cooked with raw meat from the grocery store plenty of times, so she tried to tell herself it it wasn’t much different than that. Just… bloodier.

  When she had an acceptable strip of meat cut free, she found a stick to skewer it on and then held it over the freshly roaring fire. It didn’t take long before the meat was sizzling and popping, and the smell spread through their campground.

  Iris watched with complete suspicion in her eyes until the smell caught her nose. Then her expression softened into something a little more curious. “Smell… changes.”

  “Yup!” Jessica said, feeling the meat was cooked enough by now, so she removed it from the fire and blew on it to cool it off.

  She took a deep breath before taking her first bite, silently praying that this wouldn’t taste awful. She had been surviving on small rations of berries and nuts the last few days. Just one night with a hot meal inside her stomach wasn’t too much to ask for!

  It was a bit hard to tear free her testing nibble she had to saw it with her teeth for a moment, but once she did she savored the feel of actual meat in her mouth as she chewed.

  Flavor-wise, it wasn’t exactly good. It was gamey, smoky, and bland—little seasoning would go a long way. But it was warm and unmistakably real food. Jessica almost laughed from relief as she swallowed.

  “Oh my god,” she muttered. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”

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  Iris watched her closely, ears angled forward, perhaps waiting for the part where Jessica doubled over in pain.

  When nothing happened, Iris’s ears drooped. “You… not sick.”

  “Nope.” Jessica smiled, then lifted the skewer slightly. “See? Cooked meat is safe for me.”

  She tore the remaining strip of cooked meat in half with her teeth, then held the other half out to Iris. “You can try it too, if you want.”

  Iris leaned forward enough to give it a sniff, then took it into her mouth. She chewed with an assessing rise to her brow then swallowed as Jessica eagerly awaited the verdict.

  “Different… Hot is good…” Iris took another moment to think it over, looking at the uncooked rest of the corpse. “But not needed.”

  “Well, feel free to dig in, there’s plenty for both of us. I’ll need to cook my portion, though.” Jessica winked.

  ***

  As the sun sank lower in the sky, Jessica found herself with a new level of comfort out here in the wilderness. Actually, there was no doubt that she felt more comfortable now than at any moment since waking up as Elva in this new world.

  She laid back against a log, her feet taking in the warmth of the fire, and she had another chunk of wood she was busy whittling away at with her dagger.

  Her brother back on Earth was interested in carpentry, before setting his mind on joining the military. He had showed her how to whittle before, but she didn’t stick with it long enough to produce anything good. Her brother had some quite impressive creations, the one that stuck out in Jessica’s mind the most was a sculpture of a bird.

  Since there was nothing else to do before sleeping, and Iris seemed done with learning new words for the night, she decided now might be a good time to give it another shot.

  She was attempting to sculpt a dog but had to admit she wasn’t even getting close to the right shape so far.

  She looked past her dagger towards Iris, who positioned herself at the edge of the fire’s light, staring out into the woods dutifully.

  “Hey Iris… thank you for staying with me out here,” Jessica said.

  Iris looked back, ears folded down slightly. Even still, she seemed to hold a bit of a cold gaze.

  “No choice…” Iris eventually said, then looked away.

  Jessica blinked, then frowned. She had hoped Iris was beginning to trust her and see her as an ally a little more… but she knew she couldn’t blame her, considering why and how they came to be together in the first place.

  “You know… I really don’t want to control you or force you to stay with me. I promise, one day when I think of a way they won’t be able to just find you again. I’ll help you escape. I’ll help you be free.”

  “Promise?”

  “It means… something you will do. No matter what.”

  Iris just stared into the darkness. Motionless. Until, eventually, she spoke a single word. “No.”

  Jessica blinked. “No?”

  “Free? Free for what? There is no free.”

  Not just the words, but the deepness of her tone broke Jessica's heart. “I really am sorry… But don't you want to get away from these people?”

  “Nothing for me. My… family is gone.”

  “I'm… sorry,” Jessica said again, wishing there was more she could say. She didn't even think it was worth trying to convince Iris that she didn't have anything to do with what her people did to her family. She did not feel she deserved to be relieved from the responsibility, no matter how little say she had in it.

  There was silence for a long while, nothing but the crackling of the fire disturbing the night.

  “I really do… want to help you,” Jessica said. “The truth is, I do understand. What it's like to lose everything. I had a different life before this, and I miss it.” She let those words hang for a moment before adding, “If… there is anything I can do, please tell me.”

  “Do?”

  “I mean, if right now you don't know what you want, or how to move forward… I guess what I'm saying is, if one day you do, and there is any way to help, I will.”

  Iris huffed through her nose; it was almost like a sardonic laugh. “Want… This word…” Her paws clenched, digging into the dirt. “I want one thing.”

  “You… um… w-well, what is it?”

  “I want to kill.”

  Jessica sat up, staring at the pup. “Kill?”

  “My father is killed. My family is lost. There is, large human. Monster rider.” She turned her gaze back to Jessica once again; there was nothing but coldness there. “Your father?”

  “He's not my…”

  “My father is killed. Your father is alive. I want…” Her paws dug deeper into the ground, her small body tense. “I want to kill.”

  “I-I mean…”

  What could she say? Words were completely lost to her. The Hell Hound pup stared back with an assessing glare.

  “You say help. Help do this? To kill?”

  It sounded more like an accusation than a question, and when Jessica could only respond by lowering her eyes, Iris had her answer.

  The pup got up and walked away, skulking into the darkness, away from the fire.

  “I-Iris… wait,” Jessica tried to call after her, but the pup kept going.

  Jessica remained by the fire, the heat prickling against her skin while her thoughts tangled into knots.

  She wanted Iris to accept her. Not just tolerate her. Not just stay because there was nowhere else to go. Jessica wanted trust. Wanted forgiveness she knew she didn’t deserve. Wanted the pup to look at her without that cold, measuring distance, as if weighing whether Jessica was just another kind of cage.

  But Jessica knew better, and knew that truly is all she could be to the pup. Any closeness they gained was out of necessity. Having her teach her words, hunting with her, tolerating her presence at all. Iris would do none of it if not for the fact she would likely be killed otherwise. She was kidnapped, taken from her family, and now just trying to survive.

  Jessica felt ashamed, realizing she was being foolish and insensitive to mistake any of it for a budding friendship. Despite whatever the stupid system might say about their supposed bond, Iris didn’t want to be here, and she didn’t want to be her friend.

  And then there was the word the pup had chosen so easily. Her one desire.

  To kill.

  Jessica hugged her arms around herself, staring into the flames.

  Planning a murder wasn’t some abstract thing. There would be blood, screams, and consequences that she couldn’t even imagine. And Valrok was no ordinary man. Would it even be possible for them to pull it off?

  He was massive. Armored. A dragon rider who commanded beasts like tools. Even if she hated him, even if she loathed what he’d done to Iris and her family, even if she knew it was the only way to help Iris find peace… It would take power and strength neither of them had.

  The idea of Iris clinging to that want, carrying it like a guiding star, made Jessica’s chest ache.

  “I-I can’t,” she murmured to herself. “I can’t just…”

  But the fire didn’t argue.

  Her thoughts circled back, slower this time, forced to follow paths she didn’t want to walk. Iris’s clenched paws. Her flat voice. The way she’d said my family is gone, like a statement of fact rather than grief.

  Valrok had taken everything from her.

  He’d torn apart her pack. He threw her into a cage like an animal and handed her to his daughter—to Jessica—as if she were a gift he had just picked up somewhere. As if she were his property to give away. How could she ever have a bond with Iris under these circumstances?

  Valrok certainly deserved to die, but that didn’t didn’t mean she could promise Iris blood. It didn’t mean she knew how, or when, or even if it would ever be possible. But she understood that even if it was impossible, Iris couldn’t imagine anything else.

  When everything is taken, what is left but the desire to take something back?

  Jessica pushed herself to her feet.

  “Iris,” Jessica called softly as she stepped away from the fire, letting the light fall behind her. “I’m coming.”

  The forest swallowed her almost immediately. Shadows pressed in, branches creaked overhead, and every step sent small sounds skittering through the underbrush. Jessica slowed her pace, wondering if Iris had actually left for good this time.

  Then she noticed a flicker of light above her and looked up to a thick tree branch. Iris’s white eyes stared down at her, her black fur turning her into a vague shape in the night.

  “Valrok took everything from you,” Jessica said. “And he put you in a cage. I can’t say that… he doesn’t deserve to die.”

  Iris’s eyes narrowed into thin white slits. “More words.”

  “Yeah,” Jessica said, almost like a confession. “I… don't have much else I can offer. But… I really wish I did.” She let out a deep breath. “I’d do anything to make things right. Even if killing me would satisfy you, I'd say go ahead and do it.”

  The forest held its breath.

  Iris’s ears flattened completely, her small body tensing on the branch. She didn’t leap. She didn’t snarl. She simply stared, head tilting by a fraction, as if re-examining something she thought she already understood.

  “Stupid,” Iris said at last.

  Jessica flinched, but she didn’t look away. “Probably.”

  Iris dropped from the branch without warning. Her wings sprouted half-formed from her back to allow her to glide down and land soundlessly a few paces away. Then the wings retracted again as she began pacing a slow half circle around Jessica, white eyes never leaving her, glowing in the darkness.

  “You say kill you,” Iris said. “You think this is… fair?”

  “I don't know. But Valrok… He's too powerful; neither of us has the strength to do it, and I won't make a promise I can't keep. But I don't want to pretend I owe you nothing either. Yet, I don't know how to even begin to make things right.”

  Iris stopped in front of her. “If I kill you. My father is still killed.”

  Jessica swallowed. “I know.”

  “And your father… Valrok… lives.”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you are… nothing.”

  It hurt to hear Iris call her nothing. Maybe it was a guilty, selfish kind of hurt. But Jessica believed they had bonded this last week, not because the system said so, but because she had felt it was true. But maybe she was fooling herself. How could Iris ever feel anything towards her but hate? Any “bond” in this circumstance was really just mutual survival.

  “I’m weak…” Jessica eventually said. “I've been nothing but afraid since I came here. I've just gone where I was told, did whatever I had to, and every day just prayed I'd float by without anyone noticing me… Even before… this life. I never had a reason to fight for anything. I just… floated by, until one day it was gone.”

  Iris tilted her head, not understanding what she was talking about. Jessica figured she'd have to try to explain to her later that she's not really from this world, but that wasn't the point she wanted to make now.

  “This last week…” Jessica continued. “I never killed anything until we fought that monster together. And… hunting with you… it was scary every time. My hands would shake, still shake, every single time. But… it's less now. Everything we hunt… I guess it becomes just a little more bearable.” Jessica took a deep breath. “If I promised to help you kill Valrok, I don't feel like I would be able to keep it. Yet, just a few days ago, I didn't feel I could kill anything with this spear… so… maybe…”

  “You would kill your father?” Iris asked, though it felt more like she was trying to call her out on her bullshit.

  “Valrok is not my father,” Jessica answered.

  Iris studied her a moment longer, then began walking back to the fire.

  “Iris?” Jessica asked.

  “Half promise,” the Hell Hound said without looking back. “But if you break it… you are nothing.”