Fengye!

The Maid puffs herself up. It’s almost inspiring, knowing how completely outclassed she is. “I know not what you are,” she hisses, petulantly. “But you may count yourselves in my service. Lash yourselves to my slehehehed~!”

Her voice cracks into a squeak like that of a bat frantically fluttering away. It’s not because of the flexing, advancing N’yari, but because of the curse that Zhaojun laid upon her. Even her voice betrays her. But the N’yari don’t know that. And, in a way, isn’t it heroic that she tries to stand her ground? It’s just that her body flinches, and she takes a step back, and her heel slips out from under her, and the N’yari pounce.

“Cutie!! Cutie!! Help me!! Hellllmmmffffgl!!!”

You know, Zhaojun really outdid herself. That’s some excellent cheek capacity the Maid is being assisted in displaying, and she’s drumming her feet on the ground like she was born for it. She has tumbled straight from her glimmer of dominance to giving you pleading looks as she squirms underneath two N’yari intent on turning her into a helpless, hopping prize.

The third— Jazumi, the younger sister of Machi, the N’yari that Zhaojun had plans for— drapes herself over your lap, purring. “Was this loudmouth—“ (“llmmmfff???”) “Bothering you, little lady?” Her invasion of your personal space is the opposite of the Maid’s; she is all languid insolence and a lazy grin, seeing you as having absolutely no way to stop yourself from sharing the Maid’s fate. Though you may want to bring up your leg before she tries making you pull the sled.

Unless you have something even better up your sleeve?

If it takes you a moment to drag your attention away from the Maid, don’t worry. It’s only natural to be speechless when around the raid-sisters of Grandmother Moon and their ways of handling a loudmouthed brat.

---

Han!

“I do think somebody from a Highland town could compete with anyone from my mother’s house,” Lotus says, looking at you. “Even if you were to…”

She rubs her shoulder up against you. Probably for warmth. Probably because she’s trying to hide under your umbrella. Not because she’s trying to stoke your hearth and set your heart racing.

“Go N’yari. On someone.”

She takes a step in front of you, then turns on you and stands in your way. Her fingertips brush against your front. They might as well be a wall that you’ve just run into. Because you can’t run her over or shove past her. Not her. Not Lotus. Not the little priestess you’ve already caused so much trouble for.

“I don’t think you could do that,” she adds, super incredibly off-handedly. This is a thought that just happened to strike her. Obviously. “A little kitty-cat like you. Meow.” She lets that linger a moment, her expression hidden by her makeshift veil. “What would that even look like? You, going N’yari? I’d only believe that if you showed me.”

She leans in, closer, her eyes traveling up your neck, almost close enough for you to lift her veil, almost close enough to kiss—

Then the fingertips become her palm and she pushes herself back.

“What am I saying?” She laughs nervously. “Not that I. You don’t need to. What would that even? Meow! Haha!”

---

Lotus!

Meow. Meow. You said meow out loud to the hero who’s too good for you. Twice. While trying to seduce her. Selfishly.

Go find the nearest mountain peak and fling yourself off it for your crimes. And then everyone will think it was tragic and no one will ever have to know you tried to get a beautiful strong heroic dragon girl to indulge your wanton desires by saying meow at her.

(And stop being so happy that she likes girls!! You are not necessarily included in the girls that she likes!!)

---

Kalaya!

“But where could I even start? What deed could I do to show my love how much she means— how much she meant to me, before my heart failed us both? What deed is worth doing for her? She doesn’t want me to toss in N’yari, so we can’t use yours—“ (Machi growls at this, and strains against her bindings, obviously wanting to wrestle Dima into submission.) “But what else is there for us to do? I can’t drive out the Dominion single-handedly, especially not after everything we shared, and what else threatens our land?”

The awkward pause suggests that this is not, in fact, a rhetorical question. She’s not wrong that the Dominion is the second most obvious target for heroics. But there’s an even bigger one, one that you might have briefly stopped.

What is to be done about Hell, after all?

---

Giriel! Piripiri!

“Oh, let me just go inside and get my sister,” Sagacious Crane says. “She’s running around with a priestess who really should have known better, the poor dear. You’ll have to help me with her, Giri, you simply must. Han’s going to give her such ideas.” She sighs the longsuffering sigh of the wise older sister, despairing at how her ruffian of a younger sister never heeds sage wisdom.

Of course, once she forces the door to Han’s room open, she’ll be quite shocked to discover they ran out— in the middle of the night— Han doubtless leading her into the woods to— and of course sharing the Sapphire Mother’s love is important but she can’t very well let a novice handle Han, now can she— and the yielding mud will point you in the right direction— and at that point it’ll be almost impossible to be rid of her.

Well, Hell had to be stopped. That almost went without saying. But what was its plan?

Not its ultimate goal, that much was obvious - the unmaking of order, the usurpation of the divine and total dominion over the Flower Kingdoms. Kalaya could probably guess most of what the Broken King had written as his last entry under the heading "Master Plan (Mu ha ha ha ha)", without even trying. No, it was steps two and three and four on that plan that weren't clear to her.

What the - pardon the pun - hell had Hell done so far? Sack a farm? Steal some random priestess? Suck its own castle into the Wrack-wastes? Now Kalaya was no general, but all this didn't really speak to an overall grand strategy.

Eventually there'd need to be signs of a bridgehead being established, troop movements in larger numbers, attacks on major cities. Of those, maybe Kingeater had been the start of one, but that was just a pile of rocks now.

Now Ven - she was a part of all of this - a pawn in Hell's chess set to be moved around. Promised glory if she'd just reach the end of the board. Kalaya knew what had to be done about Ven - but that was only a small part in stopping the Broken King's goals.

"There will be no throwing my prisoner into the river thankyou very much." replies Kalaya, mildly offended.

I won this one fair and square, get your own. She thinks.

"What about Hell?" replies Kalaya. "There is no greater enemy to the Realm, but I have no idea what they have been doing since we destroyed their base at Kingeater."

Fengye looks at the N'yari lying across her thighs. A creature of desire. She could see it so clearly she didn't even need the mask.

She set her hand firmly against the girl's cheek, up to her ears, behind those fluffy triangles, and scratched.

"She was bothering me," said Fengye, for if she had made a lord of hell into a mewling slave what had she to fear from a catgirl? It was a tenuous bluff, built on nothing. But if it worked...? What if it worked? "Complaining. Ordering. Thieving. After all the trouble I went through for her - but it's my fault. I only ever showed her my gentle side," she leaned forwards, not fully aware of the curl of authority in her voice. A demon binder's practiced tone of absolute command. "I'd like you and your sisters to show her my harsh side. Demonstrate to her what awaits bad girls."

[Entice: 8]

"So, do you want to take her with us?" Giriel asks once Sagacious Crane has disappeared into the inn to get her sister. They'll have a moment while she works the door. "Once we have Han with us, I doubt we'll be able to shake Sagacious Crane. She's always been the sort of person who thinks it's her job to tell everyone else how they ought to live. Not unlike the Dominion, really."

Giri laughs and hands Piripiri her teacup back, drained of its contents. If they're to pack up and leave, she'll be ready, or if they're to wait for Crane, she's content to relax and watch the wind blowing the grass between rainstorms.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.” Han laughs correctly. “Meow. Right.”

(Pretty girls love kittens. A kitten could lay their head in a pretty girl's lap all day. She’d dress them in pretty ribbons and brush their fur until it shone with love. She’d scratch behind their ears and never get tired of telling them how they were the cutest kitty in the whole wide world and she’s so happy to have you. She’d seal her words with precious little kisses on their cute little heads, until the effort of being awake was too much for them, and they’d drift off to the loveliest sleep…)

Her breath fills her chest to bursting and still takes in more. She gulps down the rain-kissed scent of flowers, and maybe if she holds onto it tight enough the next taste won’t be fainter. Or, maybe the dregs that are left will make her remember, and it’ll be just like the first all over again. She needs the help. She thought she could never forget her mouth, and yet, could she picture it, beneath that stupid veil? When the smile reached Lotus’ eyes, did she see anything more than torn fabric and wishes? She won’t even remember her eyes for much longer. Not when she’s got to see her skipping and dancing and laughing through the rain, twirling the umbrella over her shoulder. While visions of stars dance and fade after every blink, and before long the tingling handprint on her chest will follow, just as her bare shoulder is little more than cool and damp. Even when her heart beats so hot and loudly, and she. She just.

She catches Lotus mid-twirl. And pulls her in nice and parallel. One straight line of dragon and priestess. “You’re alright, bud.” One squeeze. One. Then she lets go, her fingers trailing only briefly across her back. “You’re alright.”

Dead wrong, too. But it was…nice. Being overestimated. Just this once.

Piripiri sputters and shakes her head. "Wait? When the fates give you a chance to leave, you take it." She isn't so crass as to tug on Giriel's leash, but she's walking away into an alley and it's a "follow now or get tugged along very shortly" situation here.

As they take another short stride across the world, standing on a rooftop near the edge of town, Piripiri turns to Giriel, serious. "I don't want to involve anybody I don't have to. If she sees us leave with Han and Lotus, I have to take her along as well. The options there are keeping her with us, which complicates my life and makes this less likely to succeed, or to hand her over to the Dominion's tender mercies, which I strongly do not want to do, and makes my life politically difficult." She gestures out at the town. "They're all innocents. Her sister is an innocent. Hell, Han is almost one. I'll do bad things to innocent people if I have to, but I don't have to right now, and I want to keep it that way."

She doesn't ask if you have any questions. She's set parameters, she expects them to be followed. And another step forward, towards her quarry.

Giri nods at that. What else is there to say, one's hardly going to argue against a person whose stance is "yes, leave the innocents out of it." She beckons the Golden Banneret, then, tugging Azazuka's body along by the arm if need be so she's not left behind either. Scampering with foxes is one thing, but there's still a contract left unfinished and Han has quite the head start if Sagacious Crane was to be believed. Giri doubted they'd waited for a lavish breakfast with Han's sister running about, after all.

"Alright then, let's go."

Kalaya!

If only Giriel were here. She could explain to you that Hell has no such master plan. The Broken King is the geography of Hell, broken and flayed; his lesser selves bring his pain to the world because it is their nature. The General sought to establish a beachhead, but dragged Kingeater Castle back into Hell out of spiteful lust for a prize. Now it remains to be seen whether the Green Sun or Whirling-in-Rags who becomes ascendant in the games of Hell.

But Dima is not a scholar of such things, and neither is Petony, and Machi is absolutely not, even if she could offer advice. “What of Hell? Do you suspect them of— oh! Oh, you mean for us to summon up something dark and terrible to defeat? To bind away some enemy for a hundred years? Yes, that would do! Some dark spirit of polluting waters!” The prospect seems to lift her spirits, just as she lifts her chin. “But who could provide us with the means of calling forth such an enemy? One of the witches?”

“Uusha’s supposed to have a witch that she works with,” Petony mumbles. “Peregrine. Not like she’d be interested in helping us, though.”

“But if she doesn’t know you’re involved, perhaps I could go find her,” Dima says, completely innocent of how badly you have messed up. It’s just an accidental stabbing, how bad could it really be?

---

Fengye!

The N’yari rather aggressively responds to the scritchies. It’s all you can do to stay upright, to avoid being bowled over completely by her. She smells like the mountain wilderness, and she is so strong that she could pick you up with one hand if she wanted to.

But she doesn’t want to. Not yet. And as a result, you get a front-row seat to the Maid being bent over the front of her makeshift sled. Oh, how she wiggles! Oh, how she complains! Oh, how she glances back at you, awkwardly, over her shoulder, as her skirt is flipped up. But she does not beg. Some sliver of pride prevents her from begging her Cutie for mercy.

Zhaojun really knew what she was doing, by and by. The Maid is in possession of a succulent, heavenly peach, wrapped in dainty Dominion lace. And it is in your power to stop it from being bruised by barbarian palms. Which makes withholding that mercy all the more intoxicating, no?

And, unless you raise a finger, they will leash her, let her hair loose, undo her buttons and her ties, and give her love bites up and down that perfect neck; they will bring her to the point where she does incoherently beg for you to save her, to do something, to stop them from squeezing and spanking and making her feel small and helpless.

And then they will turn their attention on you. You may have a String on Jazumi, but you will have to use it deftly, or else suffer a similar fate.

---

Lotus!

Alright.

You’re “alright.”

You are “alright.”

Haha. Ha. Ha.

That’s how she thinks of you. Alright. Nice to be around. You know, if she has to.

And she squeezes you. As a friend. And she stops touching you as soon as she can. And you can’t help yourself, you selfish little brat; you lean into that squeeze, even after she lets go, and you close your eyes, wishing that she thought you were worth more than that. That you were more than just alright.

Then a trickle of warning shivers down your spine, and you push away. “Han,” you say. “Something’s— something’s wrong.”

---

Piripiri! Giriel!

You have the tactical advantage, such as it is. You are in the thick of the trees, on a slope overlooking the two. The demigod is alarmed, but she hasn’t seen you yet; doubtless she felt the wake of the Banneret’s forceful skipping from moment to moment. If she wanted to, if she knew how, there are many ways that she could punish you for arriving like this— but she is young and lovestruck and sheltered.

Now is your chance to strike.

"She doesn't look like much, does she?" said Fengye. "Weak. Helpless. Bent over and spanked. Do you want to know a secret?"

She leaned down to whisper in the soft, velvet triangle ear of the N'yari.

"She's only like that because I will it so. Were I to will it otherwise, she could overcome any one of your warriors in battle. Because she's my little miss good girl and she will be anything at all I choose for her to be,"

The faintest bite on the edge of those gently furred ears. The softest touch of breath. "I could be for you what she is for me. Put a blade in her hand and a collar around her throat and let me turn her into a warrior again. Then, if you can beat her, we'll both be yours, however you wish us. Or... if she beats you... you'll be ours."

Messed up? Messed up?! She hasn't messed up! Her only mistake had been grabbing a sword that she hadn't known was hexed. The whole stabbing thing was not. her. fault. and that was a line she would repeat with all the certainty of the bratty tween mature, young adult that she was.

"It might not be such a bad idea ... no really." she says, noting the expression on Petony's face. "I mean, sure, I sort-of-accidentally stabbed Ushua, and there's probably a few bad feelings about that - but maybe it's an opportunity to at least explain it to Peregrine before I have to explain it to Ushua. Who knows, as a witch, maybe she can tell me more about whatever spell it was, and whatever it was that was cast on me afterwards."

By Giriel. Kalaya thinks, trailing off, one hand moving to her chest.

"Maybe help me get it out ..." She sighs, speaking almost to herself for a moment before raising her voice again to address Petony. "And even if this Peregrine hates me for what happened. It's probably something that I need to face into at some point, might as well get it over with now."

"As for the whole summoning idea, we can give that a go but let's make sure we actually get a bad one? I mean, something about summoning a demon just to bind it smacks of walking up to someone on the street and punching them just because they come from the Dominion."

"We need them both captive, quiet and unhurt. Ideally they agree to come along. You know your capabilities better than I do, so act as you see fit, I won't command you to fight your friend. Please don't abuse the long leash." The literal leash in question is tied loosely around a tree, with plenty of slack for Giriel to be able to enter the clearing from where they're standing, but draw up short of Lotus and Han. The knot itself is a formality, and the Golden Banneret is keeping you company.

It's a short set of orders, but she's working as she goes, setting up a few things of this and that out of her bag, a snare here, a net there. Powdered yellowfire extract, a set of darts dipped in queller's sleep, and some very expensive rope. She's hoping none of it will be needed.

And with that, she steps out into view, mask on, umbrella in hand but resting on her shoulder, a threat that isn't currently threatening. "Han, Lotus. I was hoping to talk."

"That's extremely kind, thank you" Giri says before Piripiri steps away from her. And she means it, no sarcasm, no eyeroll, you've really put her in a situation that she thinks is kind of you.

"So" she says to the Banneret, while she begins drawing a magic circle in the nearby grass. "Now that your promise is done, are you planning on departing soon? I'm sure that Azazuka would like her body back, preferably not too starving and dehydrated either. Your work is appreciated, of course, we'd have lost them for certain without your help. I rather think this whole thing was quite sloppy. What would they have done if we'd been visited by a less puissant spirit who simply told us where to find them only to arrive too late?"

Giri takes a stick and deepends the lines, as well as picking a few nearby berries to enchant, and some loose foliage from the bushes to mark the edges of the circle. "I suppose Piripiri can track, but I'm happy not to have had to spend days camping out with no fire and marching through the night to catch up with them. And that's assuming they didn't slip us in a neighboring town. I'd say the Dominion seems a lot more shoddy than I expected, but we are here and I can't really blame them for not anticipating a Rakshasa properly. Ugh, we have got to get rid of that thing, it's such a problem."

Giri shakes her head and finishes the circle, beginning her enchantment on the berries. This is nothing particularly spectacular. She's simply casting some medical spells. A circle for healing or disinfecting any wounds, and some enchanted berries to offer additional strength and fortify the body (one immediately for Azasuka the second the Banneret departs). Hopefully most of it won't even be needed, but it's a far cry better than anything combat related and nobody will blame her for being prepared.

The luggage is sliding off her back before Lotus can finish speaking. She scans the clearing, the skies, ahead and behind, above and beneath.

They don’t have to wait long.

“Bud, get behind me.” She grabs the cloth-wrapped sword from her back with one hand. (The only one she has.) “If anything happens, get down and stay down. I’ll find you when it’s over.”

To the intruder, she barks a mirthless laugh. “Funny. I was hoping to walk the roads in my own damn home in peace.” She plants her bundle into the ground, casually leaning on it. “Be a real shame if we both get disappointed today.”

(Her posture is a lie. Her balance remains perfectly centered. You know that bundle of cloth hides a blade, and one of her hands is out of sight. If you wish to test her draw, you have only to keep advancing. Her eyes are sharp. Hungry. Consuming you, and all around you, waiting for the trick she knows is coming.

But she does not make the first move. Not yet. You still have a chance to turn around.)

Fengye!

“I cannot believe you have put me up to this,” the Maid hisses. “I should just…”

She makes an attempt at making an expressive gesture with the oversized N’yari sword and squeals as it slips right out of her hands and yields to the demand of earth that all things descend. When she prances backwards in the confines of the tent, her leash bobs up and down like a wave, and she hisses.

(The rain beats down on the tent’s sides. It’s becoming an even more pleasant noise. Like a drum you can almost forget is beating.)

The poor thing had to hop to the camp after being spanked, after all. Her legs are still wobbly, like that of a silly little sheep. You, on the other hand, were carried here by Jazumi as a way of showing off her catgirl muscles. Do they call it the Princess Carry where you’re from, dear?

“…well? Do you mean to give me back my power?” She thinks she’s being subtle about it, and that the air of composure isn’t slipshod and ready to slide off her face at the slightest provocation. “Or was this just buying yourself time before you end up groveling for them, you idiot woman?”

---

Kalaya!

“That doesn’t exactly sound like a bad idea,” Petony says, and you get the feeling she’s not talking about the summoning. If she’d been trapped on that barge, she probably would have been even worse than Han. And wouldn’t that have been something to see?

“Then it’s settled,” Dima says, clapping her hands together. “Come morning, we head for Holly!” Which is to say, she intends to march you right back to the highlands, to go find Peregrine and, by extension, Uusha.

Machi makes an amused mmph and gives you a Look, as if to say: oh, you’re getting yourself into trouble, little lowlander, and only I will be able to save you in the end.

---

Giriel!

“Oh, the daughter of Hymair is where she is required to be,” the Banneret says. Her voice is high, enthusiastic, slightly breathless. “But my job’s not done.”

And she takes you by the wrist. Rather forcefully.

“Come along~! We have to go find my dear, darling Zhaojun!”

Can you even believe it? She wants you to abandon Han to the mercies of Piripiri so that you can play some small part in Heaven’s inscrutable politics, so that you can go and confront that spirit again all collared and unprepared! But what other choice do you have? The Banneret is likely to take Azazuka’s body off into only Mercury knows where, and this might be your only chance to go and stop that spirit!

What are your priorities in this moment, Giriel? To Agata, to Han, to Azazuka, or against Zhaojun?

---

Lotus!

You glance behind you. No, this isn’t a distraction so that someone else could flank you. That’s what you’d do if you were ambushing someone, so maybe… “Han,” you say, and your voice trembles like a reed in the wind, and wouldn’t you know it, the wind is kicking up, the rain rolling down and spattering on the umbrella you’re still trying to hold over Han, “maybe she really does want to talk?” Maybe she’s just here to scold you. Or to confirm that you’re safe and to let you know that Agata’s extending an invitation somewhere. Or maybe it’s one of Mom’s servants in disguise!

You peer over Han’s shoulder, trying to see through the rain whether this really is a human person or something that’s good at pretending.

Han’s attention doesn’t leave their unwelcome visitor, not for a moment. But pause she does.

“If an honest talk’s all she wants, she could ditch the mask, not jump out of the forest as soon as we’re alone, maybe start with telling us how the hell she caught up to us so fast. Or knew where we’d be.”

And, while she’s at it, tell her if they’d ever met, because dammit all, she’d swear she’d heard this voice somewhere before.

“But dear old Red Wolf didn’t put you to all this trouble just to check up on us, did she?” Her eyes flicked to the telltale choker around her neck. “Still time to walk away, you know. Plenty of road out there. Lots of places two people can disappear to. If you’re worried about what to tell your boss,” and her smile is full of teeth. “I can think of bigger problems.”

"Really?!" Giri's eyes go wide and she looks up and down at the Banneret. "Why does she matter so much?! Why has Heaven even intervened here?"

Giri sighs, spits, kicks the dirt, throws up her hands. But there's that extended hand from the Banneret and this is a time limited offer. She glances back over her shoulder at Han and Piripiri. This was frustrating. Why were her obligations always thrown against each other like this?

It's Azazuka that decides it at the end. Azazuka and a bit of observation that made her think Piri wouldn't want her to abandon Azazuka either. Piripiri too had been courteous and thoughtful towards Azazuka earlier, and throughout their time on the barge. Piri was competent, Azazuka was possessed. She was now quite determined to get the Golden Banneret done with her business (ideally without stranding them in the middle of nowhere, but even that was mostly a bonus at this point). Mission Get Azazuka's Body Back was going to be the thing, and Giri thought (hoped, prayed, begged) that her captors would agree with her decision.

So, she took that hand, wherever it might lead. Good luck Piri, good luck Han and Lotus. She hopes it all works out for you, and that maybe the healing circle is even a bit useful if you can figure out what it is.

"I'm glad you're on board!" replies Kalaya, giving Petony a hug and not totally misinterpreting her comment. "I was worried you'd think it was a terrible plan."

Stepping up, and shouldering her equipment, she gives a small huff.

"Kinda wish we'd bumped into you before we'd walked all the way here" she says, directing the joke at Dima "But we want to help, so I guess our path is set! Back up the mountains!"

And so she sets off again, pulling Machi along behind her.

"Do I appear to have a vast well of stolen demon energy inside me?" said Fengye. "Am I glowing with the stolen fire of Malfeas, hell's legions at my command? No? Well that's because I never took your power, you ridiculous girl. It's all still there. It's just... shaped differently."

She paused, frowned. This was dangerous. A demon tricked was helpless only for as long as the trick remained. She needed to be cautious.

"You struggle against your restraints," she said, "with the intention to break them. You can not, because your restraints are your strength turned against you. Rather than fighting to be the General, allow yourself to be the Maid."

"No, she did not." Piripiri agrees easily. She's a good ten paces away, and has stopped, turning her head to look around at the forest. "The mask means a whole lot of things. Right now it means I am not my own creature, and have orders and a role to fulfill. And you know that. But I do want to talk, first, because I'm hoping here we can agree on something that works for us all."

"I want you two to be happy. Genuinely! Come with me, quietly and willingly, and we'll simply be off the map for a few weeks, maybe a month or two. Lot of places three people can disappear to. You two won't have to worry about anybody hurting either of you while you're with me, and after the needed moves get made you both can simply be on your way. I can also make sure to teach you both some dragon-lore that I suspect neither of you got from your upbringing. Take a vacation in comfort, under my protection, and not directly in the Red Wolf's custody. There's hunting lodges aplenty that nobles use only once every few years, I'll make sure we're burgling one of the jerks. Get to spend quiet time together, get to know each other better, with nobody after you, no pressure, no soldiers, nobody there you have to hide your true hearts from."

Her eyes are burning jade, locked on Lotus's as she takes a step forward, hands out to her sides in a question, an offer and an enticement. "I can make sure nobody gets hurt, and you both are safe and happy. All you have to do is kneel and obey, just for the moment. I promise. It'll even end up fun for you both." One eye winks at Lotus, and that, Han, is when you realize that she might not have aimed that offer at you.

Enticing Lotus with the promise of a good time, 8.

Fengye!

Fighting in the mud is, evidently, what is done around here. There's no protection from the rain here, save for what the branches overhead break, and the N'yari revel in the opportunity to show off how tough they are, how good they look with wet fur, and how steady their feet are in the constant mire of the wilderness.

You are seated on a throne of lootboxes and repurposed bamboo, with a covered mug cupped in your hands, filled with some spiced alcoholic drink that the N'yari have brought down from their mountain homes. The N'yari flanking your throne have one hand casually on either shoulder, reminding you that you are not yet out of the peril. And that peril is looking rather certain, given the disparity between the two combatants on the field in front of you.

One of them is Jazumi, who is flourishing her oversized blade to show off, to the cheers of her raid-sisters. She scampers past the Maid, who is stumbling and trying to keep her footing in the mud, and smacks the Maid right on her rump, which elicits lewd hooting and a breathy gasp from the Maid. The tip of her sword drags in the mud, and she runs into her own crossguard, a ridiculous little comedy act.

But before you can offer advice, you are grabbed from behind your throne. Big, soft arms wrap around your chest and half tug you out of the grip of the N'yari. "Hello, Zhaojun," someone bubbles into your ear. "What a naughty little thing you are~"

---

Giriel!

A N'yari raiding camp!

The Banneret has given away most of the opportunity for surprise, but it's very clear to you what's going on here. How could it not be? You are a witch, after all. The sorceress and the Maid were caught by N'yari as they wandered lost in the woods, and now, well, it seems that the sorceress has convinced them of her power while the Maid is being forced to fight for their entertainment. And that's dangerous; that might awaken some of her latent power, if she gets angry enough, if she's allowed to use a sword enough. And having her bindings snap would be perilous for anyone around, most of all the sorceress.

It would be best for everyone involved if you took possession of the Maid and the sorceress, and stopped either of them from having exciting swordfights or speaking. Give the mask to the Banneret and she'll take Zhaojun back to Heaven, and then you'll be left with Azazuka and your prisoners and--

Actually, you should probably hang onto Zhaojun's mask until you've been escorted away from the camp by the Banneret. Which means you'll need to get hold of it before the Banneret does. Which is a problem, because it's swinging from the belt of the N'yari dueling the Maid.

---

Ven!

The din of forgework is everywhere. Your arm itches at the shoulder. The molten metal writhes and tries to escape its molds, and you force yourself not to look away, until the afterimage of it is seared into your vision. Your most glorious teacher tempers the metal with the touch of his blackened fingertips, and then drops his creation into a barrel. The barrel strains, then bursts, spattering boiling black blood across his apron, across his tools, across your boots. Hearth-imps rush to dab it away with their yellow rags, and the Green Sun strides heedlessly through them to bring you the third of his gifts, cooling, dark as night.

The lock is a puzzle made of teeth. The waves on the outside are the waves of his sister-bride, frothed with acid and bile. The ring for the chain is elegant, a spur, as unbreakable as his edicts. This one is a gift. Your choice. The first is for the creature that was the General, and the second is for the creature that has twice disrupted Hell, but this one is for whosoever you choose to give to him.

"When you bring them back," he says, his eyes disassembling you, peeling away all that you might try to hide from him, "then you will have your heart's desire."

Your companion smiles, thinly. There is a fire in her, too. If you stepped away from this path, Peregrine might drag you back here herself. She needs you to win. Only the Flower Empress can wield the temporal power she needs to carry out her greatest experiment.

Time to go on a date with your consort-to-be.

---

Kalaya!

You go from dreams about fire-breathing pigs to awake in the flash of an eye. You reach for your sword, but a hand's already on your wrist, pushing it back against your chest, and warm metal presses over your mouth, pinning you down against your mat ruthlessly.

"Hey," your girlfriend whispers in the dark.

You're at an inn just inside Holly, and Petony is still snoring on the other side of the room. Nearer the door, the third occupant shifts uneasily. It's just the three knights to a room, right, your mind's catching up to you, and their retinues are sharing the common room downstairs.

But Ven's here, impossibly, quietly, stinking of sweat and metal, and there's someone else in the room. In the dark, it's impossible to tell who, but they've got something long slung over one shoulder.

She lets her palm slide down from your mouth, her fingers trailing on your lips gently, and then tugs your sword-hand. The universal signal for "let's go without waking anyone else up."

---

Lotus!

Okay, clearly, this is a trap, right? She'll say anything in order to hand you right back to the Red Wolf.

But it's her. You know. The one who was so kind to you on the barge. What if she's telling the truth? What if--

what did that wink mean. what did that wink mean? it was clear, through the mask, she was winking at you, both of you fun, is she? is she flirting with you? does she? and Han? she and Han? um??? you are no stranger to that sort of thing, in concept, because you have grown up among gods, who are both jealous and non-monogamous, but the thought is looping in your brain, and Han, she doesn't, so maybe?? maybe kissing mysterious Dominion woman okay? but is it okay when it's Han you really want to be kissing? and?? "mysterious domineering woman initiates blushing virginal innocent" is, even you know, a thing in cheaply-printed commoner broadsheets, the kind that have a prayer to your mother at the top.

"You'll have to MAKE us," you say, and then your thoughts catch up with how much you would like her to make you actually and wow you are the worst girl, selling Han out like that, Han doesn't want, doesn't deserve... Han doesn't deserve being kissed by... Han. Uh. Han. Uh. Han. Getting kisses. From Dominion agent. Like she deserves. Someone who knows how to make her body. Aaaaaaaaaaa. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

The sound you make might be mistaken for fear instead of distress over how conflicted the thought of Han getting what she deserves from someone who isn't you makes you feel, and that thought is so much a Thought that it's completely trampling out the thoughts of being ravished by someone who's actually interested in you, but don't worry, you can melt down over that later.