Standing in front of the APC, Valteria and Xander gave the outside of the vehicle a once over, circling it.

  “It’s certainly... spacious, if size is anything to go by,” Valteria commented.

  “Should have space for everything we need and your suit,” Xander said, patting the metal siding of the vehicle. “It’s okay, you can say it: the thing’s pretty ugly. It’s definitely an example of function over form.”

  “You said it,” Valteria agreed.

  “Come on, let’s get this thing on the road and out of the governor’s way.” Xander opened the back hatch and climbed in, gesturing for Valteria to follow. Once she was inside, he pulled the hatch back up into its closed position and locked it in place. Xander instructed Valteria on how to operate the seatbelt and once she was properly strapped in, he got in the driver’s seat and strapped himself in.

  Once again, he got looks of surprise and interest from the guards at the gate, but he was let through with no hassle. It was a lot easier to leave the estate than it was to get in, Xander thought to himself. Xander drove around the outskirts of Rock’s Bay until he found an abandoned field that was on the same side of town as The Ruby Chair and parked. He left Lynx and Atlas in the APC again with instructions to discourage anyone brave enough to try and get inside. From there, he and Valteria walked back to the inn.

  Xander checked in on his teammates’ rooms to see if they were in. Fortunately, they all were, though in various states of readiness for a trip. Frazay was completely packed and ready, but the rest of the team needed a little more time. Xander made sure to let each of them know that he’d been paid and there was nothing holding them back from heading to Breks tomorrow morning. They’d meet at dinner to decide if they needed more time to pack or prepare.

  Xander spent most of his time before dinner laying on the bed and watching Valteria organize then reorganize her pack, then start making little adjustments to her suit.

  “Nervous?” He asked, after he noticed she’d loosened and tightened the same screw three times in a row.

  “No!” Valteria said defensively. “It’s just... well, okay, yes. A little. It’s been a while since I’ve been on any kind of contract, and never with a team.”

  “Everything will be fine, don’t worry about it,” Xander reassured her. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. Or the rest of the team, for that matter. Not that you’ll need my help with your suit, to be honest.”

  Valteria sighed. “I’ve also never fought someone before, you know? I mean sure, there was the tournament, but that was different. The only things that I’ve taken down before are animals and elementals. Never...” she paused for a moment, taking in a breath, before continuing on quietly, “never a person before.”

  Xander nodded solemnly. “I get it. It’s certainly not something that’s... pleasant. And, if things go well, you won’t have to. But we both know that things don’t always go well. I can’t tell you if there will be a fight or not to rescue this girl. I can’t tell you that taking a life is easy, in any way. But sometimes, it’s necessary. To protect yourself, or someone else, you might have to take a life. I don’t know if that makes it ‘right’ to do. But I think being worried about it is a sign that you’re a good person. It’s not something to be taken lightly. And we all handle something like that differently. You’re welcome to talk to any of us about it – I imagine we all have differing viewpoints on it. Just know that whatever happens and however you feel, I’ll be here to help you,” Xander said, getting up and giving Valteria a hug.

  Valteria returned the hug and took a deep breath. “I, ah, I never asked... and I guess I already know the answer now, but, you’ve killed someone before?” She asked abashedly.

  “Unfortunately, it comes with the mercenary line of work sometimes.” Xander said.

  “How... how do you deal with it?” Valteria asked carefully.

  Xander paused, thinking of how best to phrase his thoughts. “I guess there’s a certain amount of justification that goes into it for me. I don’t wantonly go around flailing my mace and killing anyone who gets in my way. The people I’ve fought have had it out for me or my friends, or someone nearby who didn’t deserve it. They made the choice to fight, and in doing so they have to accept that people will defend themselves. That doesn’t make it right, and it doesn’t mean that I don’t... regret having to have done it, but it is something I can live with.”

  “Is it wrong for me to ask what it was like? The first time, I mean,” Valteria asked with a tinge of nervousness.

  “No, I can imagine some curiosity is natural, even if it is a morbid subject.” Xander responded. “I can’t say I remember it perfectly... it was hectic and dark. We were on a bodyguard contract, you see. For a nobleman’s daughter – the nobleman was a key supporter of the city guard and a crime syndicate was trying to kidnap her as leverage. Anyways, we were returning from a dinner she’d gone out to when a bunch of them popped up from the rooftops. I caught a crossbow bolt to the left shoulder first thing, pretty sure it broke my arm before I got it healed up. But I managed to put a couple of them down with my pistol. I wasn’t thinking about it at the time. Just defending myself, going off my reactions and my skills. It was only after everything finished that I realized that was the first time I’d killed someone. But I don’t feel particularly bad about it. They tried to kill me first, and kidnap a teenage girl at the same time. Like I said, they accepted the risks when they tried to make that move.”

  Valteria nodded, slowly. “I think I understand. I guess I won’t really know until it happens, though.”

  Xander nodded in agreement. “I don’t think anyone really knows until it happens. But if or when it does, we’re all here for you.”

  Valteria leaned against Xander. “Mmh. Thank you. For being there for me.”

  “Always,” Xander said with a squeeze.

  Everyone gathered together at one of the larger tables for dinner.

  “So, now that Xander’s been paid, when do we leave?” Frazay asked excitedly.

  “Do we have everything we need?” Graffus asked. “Food, travel supplies, anything special for the job we might want?”

  “I should be set for traveling, and I don’t need any special equipment since my skills are all fire based,” Atrax stated.

  “Xander, can you silver our weapons?” Gabrelle asked, hopefully.

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  “Shouldn’t be a problem to cover everything in a layer of silver,” Xander responded.

  “Excellent,” Frazay exclaimed. “So we can go tomorrow?”

  Xander shrugged. “I guess so. APC is ready to go outside of town – long as you all have food for the trip I don’t see why not. Everyone else in agreement?”

  A round of ayes and yeses were had around the table, and it was decided that they would be leaving tomorrow morning. Valteria’s ‘yes’ was a bit more timid than the rest of the team’s but still firm.

  After dinner and back up in their room, Xander turned to Valteria. “Sure there’s nothing else you need?”

  Valteria shook her head. “No, I should be set. I’ve got all my adventuring things packed, and I made sure to pack food as well. If you’re able to silver my hammer, and maybe the fists on my suit, that’s all I can really think of.”

  Xander nodded. “Should be straightforward. Just coat it in a layer of silver. Add a couple of runes so it doesn’t go poof in a day. Nothing too hard.”

  Valteria sighed. “’Just magic some silver out of thin air and put some runes on it,’” she mimicked. “You really have a unique skillset there, you know that? I’m pretty sure you could do some real damage to an economy if you put your mind to it.”

  Xander shrugged. “Probably. But I don’t want to, so it’s okay!” He paused. “Hopefully no one else figures that out and puts me on some kind of a list. Ready for bed?”

  “I guess so. I’m still a bit nervous about going on this contract, but I should sleep soon. We’re leaving early in the morning.” Valteria said, huffing out a ‘I don’t want to go to bed but I know I should be responsible and go to bed’ kind of sigh. “Can we snuggle for a while before I sleep?”

  “We can snuggle all night if it helps you get to sleep,” Xander said.

  I didn’t take Valteria all that long to fall asleep, Xander’s artificial warmth and his arms wrapped around her lulling her quickly to sleep.

  Early next morning, Xander heard knocking at the door and Frazay’s voice. “Come on, it’s time to get up and get going!”

  “Okay, alright,” he called out.

  Valteria turned over and grumbled, “Is it morning already?”

  “It is,” Xander informed her. “And Frazay is already up and ready to go.”

  “Ugh,” Valteria groaned, and stretched. “She must really want out of town.”

  Xander rolled onto his side, idly rubbing a hand over Valteria’s bare stomach. “Yeah, I think she does. All of them do, really. They’re so used to constantly moving on to the next contract that they don’t know what to do with themselves if they have more than a week of downtime. They are people of action, and inaction chafes at them. Personally, I like to have time to laze about here and there.”

  Valteria wiggled closer to Xander. “I usually keep fairly busy myself… it’s just that it’s all about running the shop and creating inventory and all the other things you have to do to keep a business afloat. Not as exciting as mercenary contracts, but still very time consuming. Not that I don’t mind lazing about with you,” she added.

  “Mmm, good. I’m glad,” Xander told her. “Now, though, it’s time to stop being lazy and get dressed!” He stopped rubbing her stomach and poked her in the belly button.

  “Hey, that tickles!” Valteria exclaimed, throwing her arms out to defend herself.

  Xander rolled out of bed to escape the flailing, hopping to his feet. He manifested a set of his everyday clothes onto his figure once he was up.

  “That’s not fair, how come you get to get dressed instantly?” Valteria pouted.

  “It’s very not fair,” Xander agreed. “Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about it, so you’re going to have to go through the laborious process of getting dressed. Not that I mind. It’s a great view for me to have.”

  “Hmph,” Valteria grunted. “Now I’m going to get dressed as quickly as I can just to deny you the show.”

  “Awhhh,” Xander whined.

  Downstairs, the team met for a light breakfast, the common area mostly empty at this early hour. Atrax was blearily eating alongside Graffus and Frazay. Gabrelle seemed to have already finished her meal and was idly brushing any tangles out of her hair.

  “So the couple finally joins us, eh?” Frazay teased.

  “It’s hardly been ten minutes since you told us to get ready!” Xander protested.

  “Well, the rest of us are ready, so eat up and let’s get going!” Frazay insisted.

  “’Ready’ is a relative term, here,” Atrax mumbled. “I could go for a few more hours of sleep.”

  “You can sleep on the ride up,” Xander consoled Atrax.

  Atrax grumbled incoherently in response.

  Once Valteria had a hasty breakfast, Xander led the team to the APC outside of town. They looked like quite the procession, armed and armored as they were, carrying their gear, and trailed by a giant cat and a juvenile blue drake. They drew as many eyes as a menagerie traveling through town would have.

  They arrived at the APC, still waiting for them where Xander had left it, with Atlas and Lynx waiting motionless and silent inside. It was a bit of a tight squeeze to fit everyone, their gear, which included Valteria’s suit, and Freyja and Trion the drake. Fortunately, Freyja and Trion didn’t seem to mind being in close quarters with each other. Once he finished instructing the team on how to operate seat belts, Xander moved to the driver’s seat, turning around before he strapped in.

  “Everyone okay back there?” Xander asked. “We got everything we need?”

  Xander was met with a chorus of agreement, as well as a yowl from Freyja.

  “Let’s get moving, then!” Xander said excitedly, disengaging the APC’s brake and beginning to move forward, angling them towards the nearest road. “So uhh, how do we get there?”

  Frazay had come prepared to navigate, having in her possession a map of the general area of Sempta. She’d made a mark on it in the general location of Breks. It was Northeast of Rock’s Bay, near a large swath of forest, which appeared to be poorly mapped. The town was on the road’s nearest point to the forest. Xander presumed that the town probably produced a lot of lumber, or perhaps furs and other things one could harvest from a giant forest in a magical land.

  Xander followed the roads pointed out by Frazay, who had appointed herself navigator, since it was her map, leading them generally Northeast. They passed through several crossroads and small hamlets as they traveled further away from Rock’s Bay. It seemed as if the distance between each one was larger than the previous, and soon they were out of the more populated areas near to the coast. They reached a town that evening. Perhaps ‘town’ was a bit of a generous description. It was a crossroads with an inn and a few houses and farms surrounding it. The inn did not have accommodations for Trion and Freyja, lacking anything but a few stalls for traditional mounts, but the owner was convinced to allow the cat and the drake to room with their owners – as long as the animals were paid for as guests and a promise to pay for any damages incurred.

  Once again, they were awoken by Frazay, still eager to travel. The team gathered up, had breakfast, and was off once more. Valteria’s estimate of three weeks of travel was predicated on the speed of a wagon, and as such, after some closer calculations by the team, they decided that it would take something closer to a week and a half to reach Breks. Xander reminded them that how fast he could go depended on the conditions of the roads, but was largely ignored.

  The remainder of the trip was much the same. They passed through the occasional village, often situated at the crossroads of two trade routes, but for the most part they slept out under the stars on the side of the road. Towns were scarcer around this area, and nature abounded in their absence. Birds sang, deer were plentiful – if Freyja’s catch rate was anything to go by – and small animals constantly rustled the underbrush. They even spied a bear crossing the road one day, a mother and two cubs. They weren’t like any bear Xander had ever seen before on Earth, however. Instead, they had a longish, ash gray coat. The trio of bears paid them and the APC little heed beyond speeding up their saunter to a slight trot to avoid the large, strange thing they were being presented with.

  It was a week and a half on the dot that they arrived in Breks. It was larger than the other towns they’d passed through to get there, though, of course, nowhere near as large as Rock’s Bay. The town boasted a grand total of two inns, one on either end of the town, which was constructed along the sides of the road in a narrow strip of civilization amongst the wild land it stood on. The veiled forest could be seen a few miles away, looming as grand forests often did. Xander still wasn’t sure why it was called the ‘veiled’ forest, but had yet to ask. It sounded ominous, but less so than if it were named something like ‘The Blood Forest.’

  One of the inns had a few specialty stalls for larger animals, and as such was the natural choice for the band of mercenaries. Once they had settled reserved rooms at the inn and made provisions for parking the APC nearby on an empty plot of land next to the inn, they set off on foot. The innkeeper was helpful enough to provide directions to both the mercenaries guild hall and the mayor’s home.