Unbound

"Alright, now pay attention to the coin. See where it goes?” Archie palmed a coin, a shiny golden one he’d taken from the Vault of Nine Kings. It was worth a lot, but mostly it had a great weight. Perfect for sleight of hand tricks.

“Into that hand!” cried a little girl, her hair tied neatly back into a dirty ribbon.

“Into this hand?" Archie flourished with the indicated hand, and the coin wasn't there.

"It's in your other hand," a young boy said, almost as excited as the little girl.

"No, it isn't!” said another, older boy. He frowned. “It's still in that same hand, but invisible. He's using magic."

"Nope," Archie said. "No magic here. All in the hands." He gestured, and from his opposing hand, he produced the coin. He closed it with a flourish and produced it with his other hand. Back and forth he moved it, pulling it from ears and noses, and even from someone's pot of gruel. The children giggled and screamed, utterly delighted. They loved it. If Archie were being honest with himself, and he always was, he enjoyed it too.

It was simple. Fun. It reminded him of his brother's kids back home and simpler times. Times before he’d gotten shot and arrested by the cops. Before he’d been snatched out of the back of a patrol car by a torrent of liquid light.

The laughing stopped, and even the chatter died away. The hair along Archie’s neck stood up and his heart pounded as primal instincts told him to freeze in place or run. He chose to freeze, just as a powerful flood of emotion nearly swept him away. It was one that Archie had grown all too familiar with over the past few days. Awe mingled with a healthy dollop of fear.

Gah, I hate it.

Archie could feel people's emotions now. It started the other day when his Body had Tempered into Adept Tier. The process had hurt like hell. His other Temperings had even come close, and he put the blame on the absolutely vile Essence Draught that he’d been given. It had tasted like liquid lightning, piss, and flowers for some reason…but it had worked. It had worked really, really well even if it had put a ringing in his ears that lasted for hours. When that finally cleared up, though, in addition to all of his boosted stats, he could suddenly hear what people were feeling.

It was the most annoying and most useful ability he’d ever had. He imagined how many times he could have spotted someone lying back when he was running cons with the smugglers. Or when to expect a betrayal, instead of living on the edge of paranoia for days or weeks at a time. Now that he had it, he had immediately put it to use and learned several interesting things.

Firstly, he learned that Beef was basically broadcasting his emotions all the time, either because he didn’t care or he didn’t have any nuance. Archie guessed it was the latter. Evie, on the other hand, was very careful with hers, as was Harn, while Vess basically only projected calm assurance, except when she was stressed out. In recent days, that was often. Even Hollow and Pit eagerly gave off their emotional states, seemingly without a care.

Yin didn't. He was a Dragon, a tiny one, but Archie had been told he used to be big and powerful once, so it made sense that he was a blank wall into Archie's new and admittedly weak ability.

Felix, however, was a different story entirely.

"Archie, Beef." The thief turned around to find the imposing man standing next to the campfire. He was stirring the pot of gruel as if he'd been standing there the whole time.

"Oh, hey Felix, we were just taking a break," Beef said. He gestured to the townies around them. "They were just telling us a story about, what was it, a wolf and a baker?"

The townie that had been talking just seconds ago stuttered out something unintelligible before lapsing into an uncomfortable silence. Archie didn't even need his Affinity to know that the dude was freaked out. The thief extended his new sense toward Felix, hoping for something different than previous attempts—but he got exactly what he expected. Instead of a blank wall like Yin, he felt a vast, unending darkness. It was like he was staring into the heart of a dead star.

A black hole.

No wonder everyone's terrified. Can they all feel this too? Archie didn't think they could. But the guy cut an intimidating figure, all muscles and fancy blue coat, with that gold eye and crown symbol stitched on it, and his own eyes. The shadow of the mountain fell over them here, enough that the cookfire was needed to help light the area. Yet it seemed darker around Felix, as if he were shrouded by something. Archie shuddered.

The man stared at him, and his eyes glowed a bright blue with red gold centers instead of pupils. They weren't the eyes of a person.

"Archie?"

The thief started. "Uh, what?"

Felix smiled gently, but his eyes still burned. "I asked if you wanted to come hunting with me. I noticed the cook pots here are kinda low, and I think we could get these people something better than gruel to eat." He looked around. “I was thinking some fresh meat.”

In Archie’s ears, an eager hunger and cautious joy overwhelmed that feeling of awe and fear from the townies. Many of them perked up, regaining some of the enthusiasm they had lost with Felix's appearance.

"Oh." Archie looked at the bowls of gruel in the nearest children's hands. Their bodies were thin and their cheeks as hollow as any beggar he’d seen in Birchstone. Archie stood, dusting off his knees. "Yeah, I'll hunt. And we'll bring back a ton of food. All you can eat!”

The townies cheered and the children joined in too, tugging at his coat in excitement. If he were being honest, and he always was, Archie didn’t hate it.

The three of them hiked into the swamp, passing quickly through it, and up into the mountains proper. There Felix led them to where thick forests spread wide over slopes, cliffs, and hidden meadows. Great swaths of land in the highlands were home to all manner of creatures, large and small, all of them running amok. Felix could sense them scurrying through trees and into warrens as they sensed their heavy-tread, all of their simple Spirits chock full of terror. Hundreds of monsters were ahead across the forest. Excellent for feeding several hundred refugees, but useless for Felix’s own needs.

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I might need to range further out, he mused after stretching his Perception to its limits.

He'd run out of Essence after his second attempt at combining his Skills. The array paired with Astrum Ascendance had devoured his store of Essence faster than Felix had ever expected. Without it, he couldn’t make a third attempt. Thankfully, he had a way to fix that. Chthonic Tribute would net him all the Essence he wanted, if he could only find enough strong monsters to consume.

So Felix had originally only meant to fetch his Unbound friends and invite them along. It would be a good chance to push their training along further, after all. When he landed in the camp, however, the refugees’ reactions had struck him. Felix wasn't unused to fearful reactions to his appearance or presence. His position as a leader, as a being of Authority, and personal power had inured him to that, he thought. Still, their immediate fear and awe toward him was off putting to say the least.

Felix had been listening to the refugees over the past few days. Most of it was nothing, just simple conversation about living hard lives. Offhand gripes, small worries, and a growing unease.

For instance, they had been offered rooms inside the fortress the first morning after Felix had arrived. The rooms were inside, beyond where the forge and the hatchery were located. There were plenty of spaces for these people to live, away from inclement weather and cold nights. Spring may have been there, but in the mountains, it was still chilly. Very chilly. Only a few had taken the Daynes up on that offer. It was clear that they were hurt and unsure of their loyalties. They had fled with the Daynes to the mountains, but for some it had been out of survival rather than trust.

Felix could feel that much in their Spirits, and he heard more than a few conversations about who was at fault for the invasion. The Dragoons were often blamed, as were the Daynes. Most blamed the Hierophant, thankfully, but those doubts never quite went away. Distrust of the Daynes and the Dragoons only grew among the refugees. Now, with Felix’s people arriving, they heard about a Dragon in the fortress. True horror and fear always followed that revelation.

All of that weighed on him as he stood among the farmers and crafters and merchants in their dirty woolens. He knew he scared them, if only because he was powerful and unknown. The Hierei was powerful and, though known, had still demolished their entire lives. Felix had to remind himself that the common people of the Continent lived in constant fear of the powerful. He wasn't going to change that over the course of a conversation, so he didn't try. He just hoped that small gestures and an offer of food would make them trust him just a little more.

“Felix?”

Ahead, Pit and Hallow emerged from the tangled underbrush. Blood marred his Hound fur, but it clearly didn’t belong to him, as it was far more liberally splashed across the Homunculus.

“Whoa,” Beef gave a sniff before crinkling his snout. “You two smell horrible.”

“Don’t blame me,” Pit said, walking clear of a thick frond. “Hallow punched a Gholgon.”

Archie stepped back as the two drew closer. “Gah, just stay there. I think the stink is infecting my eyeballs.”

“What’s a Gholgon?” Felix asked, amused. The smell wasn’t nearly as bad as the others were saying. In fact, it was kind of…appetizing.

Mmm.

“A Gholgon,” Hallow said as she flicked blood from her heavy limbs. “Is a creature about the size of your head that flies with tiny wings and is very round. That roundness is due to a bladder that it fills with air—”

“And blood,” Pit added.

“—and blood. When attacked they…burst.”

“They also travel in swarms,” Pit said. He tilted his head thoughtfully. “There’s a lotta swarm type monsters in this area. Why is that?”

Felix shrugged. “Are you two still looking for more Risen?”

Pit nodded. “We haven’t had much luck yet. What’re you all doing here?”

“Hunting,” Beef said.

“The townies need food badly,” Archie added. “So we’re gonna get it.”

“Can we come along?” Hallow asked. “I could use a diversion, and if we find any suitable Bodies in the process—”

“Of course. You’re both welcome.”

All five of them traversed the forest, Felix bathing them all in his Abyssal Skein to keep a low profile. As they descended a bit further, the trees around them kept getting bigger until they were absolute giants, easily the equal of the California Redwoods back on Earth, except that these were exceedingly green and mossy. Insects the size of cats scuttled and buzzed atop the trees, flitting between the forest giants and drinking from the dew that collected on the thick moss and vines. Other creatures lived in the ground and up in the branches, most of them a lot more furry, but not all. Felix mentally marked them all, still searching for something worth devouring.

Eventually, they had left the fortress far behind and were utterly surrounded by the deep, dark forest. This should be good.

"All right." Felix stopped and handed out four skinning knives from his kit. He’d enchanted them all himself, each one made to preserve the flesh of whatever monster they stabbed, at least for a time. "Let's make this a contest, folks. Whoever brings back the most monster meat within three hours gets a prize."

“Just meat?” Hallow asked. “Can we not forage for other sustenance?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Of course you can. Addendum for everyone: meat or other edible food…stuff.”

“Lots of stuff is edible,” Pit said. “Do you mean edible to mortals?”

Felix sighed. “Yes, Pit. It has to be edible to mortals. We need to bring food back for the people in the fortress.”

"What's the prize?" Archie asked.

Felix snapped his fingers. "Glad you asked. I'll help you configure your core space."

Beef made a silent 'O' with his mouth, clearly excited. "That would be... Vess already helped me out with mine, but that would be really... that would be cool," he said, composing himself.

To Archie, who seemed unconvinced, Beef loudly whispered, "He has a Skill that can really help."

Archie's eyes narrowed. "A Skill, huh? To affect other people's core spaces?"

Felix shrugged. "It's a Unique one. Otherwise, I'd teach everybody how to do it."

"All right, big shot. I'll win this, and then I'll see what your Skill can do."

“But what do I get?” Pit asked.

“Yes, core space improvement does not entice me, Felix.” Hallow tapped her wide, rocky middle. “I do not have a core space.”

“I do, but you can help me whenever,” Pit said. “I want something neat instead.”

“Neat? Huh, well…let me think about it. If either of you manage to win, I’ll make it worth your while,” Felix said with a smile. “I promise.”

Pit shrugged. “Good enough for me.”

“Me as well.”

Beef clapped his hands, and it was like a boom in the forest. Felix was glad he’d kept Abyssal Skein running, or else every monster in a square mile would be on high alert. The teen grinned sheepishly, and much more quietly said, "Okay. Ready?”

Everyone tensed, pivoting toward the forested slopes ahead.

“On your marks,” Beef bent low, his powerful muscles bunching. “Go!"

All four of them vanished into a whirlwind of leaves and torn underbrush, swiftly escaping the reach of his Abyssal Skein. They thundered across the forest, sending panicked creatures scattering as far as Felix could sense.

He sighed. This could take a while.

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