Deevee flew off into the woods to scout for more attackers. Ethan slowly came back to himself, just sitting against the rock he’d been thrown into, staring at the rifle that shouldn’t exist here. Selina checked on him, then moved off to help Cara at his insistence.

  Ethan was injured, but that was slowly normalizing for him, and with effort he heaved his body upward, ignoring the pain in his torso. He could feel that the splinter wasn’t too large, and pulled it out of his side carefully. He realized at some point he’d also been shot, though it was only a graze on his upper left arm. As the adrenaline faded, unfelt injuries often made themselves known.

  He stepped past the giant smoking body of the Bonded he’d killed, and found an undamaged rifle next to one of the slain gunmen. It was heavier than he thought it should be, and gray like freshly forged steel, though his eyes told him it should be black. He’d seen enough M4 Carbines in his lifetime to know that.

  He removed the half-empty magazine, as well as the single round in the chamber, having been taught how as a teenager. He shook his head in disbelief as he went about collecting the rest.

  “What are these?” Tomo asked, looking at the weapons curiously.

  “They’re from my world,” Ethan said, partly needing to say it out loud. “I don’t know how they could be here.”

  “I do not think my previous master was aware of these…weapons.”

  “They’re called rifles, the basic examples have been around for centuries. These particular ones, however, are from the last few decades.” He turned to look at the little demon. “That means there’s been definitive contact with Earth, and not just from me. There’s more of us out there.”

  “Terranova?” Tomo asked.

  Ethan sighed, still gathering weapons and putting them in his inventory. He could see that Cara was standing again, and speaking softly with Selina–clearly not in immediate danger. “There isn’t much information available here in the kingdom. Terranova appears to be overseas, somewhere in Europe–the continent directly to the East of here.”

  He carefully picked up the final weapon, the partly melted one that had fallen from the Bonded, then began searching the woman herself. “It doesn’t seem like much information makes it across the ocean, but people agree that Terranova has been around for centuries. Maybe millenia.”

  “Could they still be connected to your world?” Tomo asked.

  “I suppose it’s possible, but if they are…” he turned and looked at the demon suspiciously. “You said your master wandered for centuries looking for a way home. Surely he checked the city called New Earth.”

  Tomo shifted uncomfortably, and refused to look Ethan in the eye. “He did,” he finally whispered.

  Ethan felt his rage–never quite as tightly contained as it had been before his imprisonment–rising up. “We’ve spoken of that place before. You know that it’s my best clue for getting home. Why haven’t you mentioned that you’ve been there?”

  Tomo looked very small then. “My former master…he did visit that place. But it was a dark time for him. He was not proud of his actions at that time. He…he wished for me to never speak of it again.”

  Ethan swallowed his anger. He could feel fury bubbling up inside him, but he refused to let it out at Tomo, the Familiar had earned better than that. “What did he find?” he asked, his voice cold.

  “No way home,” the demon said definitively. “If Terranova is truly connected to Earth, that connection is very old, and my former master saw nothing of his world in that place…I do not know if that has since changed. Please do not make me reveal to you what he went through there, it will avail you nothing.”

  Ethan let out a loud sigh. “Understood, Tomo,” he said finally, then turned and went to speak with Selina and Cara, needing to force his mind elsewhere.

  “Are you alright?” he asked.

  The Archer looked at him with a raised eyebrow as she wound a bandage around a bleeding arm. “I’ll live, though you owe me for this one, Bishop.”

  Ethan’s eyebrows went up. “I owe you?” he said with open surprise. “We came to your rescue!”

  She scoffed. “I’m not a Brightsoul,” she said, and Ethan and Selina shared a look, the Nator clearly already aware. Cara tied off the bandage, then retrieved another. “I take it you tried to steal another of my Notices? When those bastards started yelling about the Church’s famous team, I expected to find a bunch of Rift Hunters nearby. Instead I find you.”

  “They were after us?” Selina asked.

  Ethan put his face in his hands, feeling like a fool. “I used the Brightsouls badge on these notices. I thought Savilar had scared them off, but these must have been the same group that attacked his team. Damn it!” He turned, his anger rising again.

  All these damned people looking to kill me and I put myself in the path of more!? He hadn’t even thought about it, he was so blinded by the opportunity to even potentially hurt the Church that had taken so much from him. He’d even brought Selina into it.

  Ethan turned back to the two women. “I’m sorry, Cara. I was hoping to run into you, maybe get you to give some pointers to Selina–she’s newly Bonded. I…I haven’t been thinking things through as well as I should, lately.”

  She seemed like she was about to snap at him, then stopped as she looked him over, curiously. “Something is different about you,” she said. Then she shrugged, and finished tying off another bandage. “They’re dead. We’re alive. Just don’t do something that stupid again.”

  She immediately began walking off, back toward Corvale. Ethan frowned, realizing that he still didn’t really understand the Archer. Selina was watching Cara leave, and Ethan caught something in the look. “Do you know each other?” he asked.

  “What? Me? No. But that’s her isn’t it? The Hunter from the Southern reaches?”

  “I suppose so? Her name is Cara Fletcher. She has a reputation for–”

  “I know!” Selina said, grinning and bouncing from foot to foot. “I’ve heard so many stories! I always wanted to meet her but she never came to the city!”

  Ethan felt the Runemistress’s enthusiasm getting to him, and he was glad for it. “Well, we almost got her killed,” he said. “Maybe she’ll let us buy her a drink?”

  ***

  Cara finished her fourth drink with the same enthusiasm as the previous three. She slapped the table twice, then raised the empty glass at Charlie behind the bar, signalling for another round–despite having her fifth already waiting in front of her. They’d been at the Guild Hall for over an hour, and much like the trip back to Corvale, the Archer had yet to feel like talking.

  Selina was practically bouncing in her chair, having barely touched her own beverage, instead waiting with exuberant patience for her apparent hero to start talking. On the other side, Ethan sipped his own, still angry with himself for accidentally putting the Archer in danger.

  “By the Goddess’s sweet teats, Bishop, would you quit sulking?” Cara said, breaking the silence. Several Hunters at nearby tables turned at the borderline blasphemous comment, but seemed more amused than offended.

  “Sorry,” Ethan said, forcing a smile. “You’re taking this–me nearly getting you killed–a lot better than I am.”

  “Yes I am,” she confirmed with a slight slur, “and that’s stupid. Don’t be stupid.”

  Ethan barked a laugh, then took a sip of his own drink, which tasted a lot like whiskey. He hadn’t decided if that was a good or bad thing yet. “I’m not used to these drinks,” he said absently. “Everything at Valanor’s place is so bland.”

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  “Are you really living with that stodgy old knight?” she asked.

  “I am. It has its…challenges.”

  “Are you even allowed to stay out this late?” she asked in a mocking tone.

  “I don’t have a curfew; he’s not my dad.” Ethan’s voice trailed off. “Though he does walk around the house in a robe he refuses to close…” Cara laughed, almost spitting out some of her drink.

  Ethan smiled back. “It’s not so bad. But–” He looked at Selina, who seemed ready to burst, and couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes. “Cara, would you mind if Selina asks you a few questions? I think she may genuinely die if you say no.”

  “Who?” Cara asked, then turned to the enormous red Nator. “You never told me your name,” she said.

  This seemed to finally break the floodgates. “I didn’t want to bother you!” Selina replied, sounding as if she’d been holding her breath. “But you’re Cara Fletcher!”

  “You didn’t want to bother me, but I’m Cara Fletcher,” the Archer repeated. She turned to Ethan. “Is she alright?” she asked, gesturing at her head.

  Ethan grinned. “You just have a fan. Is Selina your first?”

  Cara snorted. “This one’s big enough to be my first five fans,” she said, then threw her black braid behind her as she glared at Charlie, seeming to will him to bring her another drink more quickly. The man ignored her, and the Archer turned back to Selina with a sigh. “Okay Selina, nice to meet you.”

  “It’s amazing to meet you!” Selina said, and Ethan smiled. It would be interesting to see what won-out, the Rune Mage’s eternal positivity or the Archer’s grim stoicism. Although the drinks had already done some of the heavy lifting there.

  Ethan was about to encourage Selina to try again, when she spoke suddenly as if just thinking of something brilliant. “You should join our team!” she said, with absolutely no build up.

  “What?” Cara said at the exact same time as Ethan.

  Selina seemed unperturbed. “You should! You’d be amazing! And we have some really strong team members. And we’d be much safer together. Plus you use ranged attacks–the bow, that’s for ranged attacks. We’re mostly a bunch of big men with big weapons right now. Except for Ethan, I guess, his weapon is pretty small.”

  “Wait, what?” Ethan said, but Selina kept going.

  “So it would be perfect! You can’t win the tournament as an individual participant. I mean–no one can. Not just you. You’re doing amazing, but it’s not possible to compete with larger teams. But you deserve to compete! So you should join us.”

  “I use a short sword…” Ethan said glumly, and Cara meaningfully looked him up and down, then gave him a doubting expression.

  “So will you do it? Will you join us?” Selina finished, her excitement undiminished.

  Finally Charlie arrived, this time bringing three more drinks for Cara, apparently either knowing, or at least expecting how this would go. The Archer quickly downed another half a pint of the bubbly liquid that almost tasted like beer. Then she answered. “No.”

  “But, why not?” Selina said, as if that response had never occurred to her. Cara went back to her drink, and Ethan noticed a lanky man at the bar staring at them. They were making a bit of a scene, he supposed.

  “Why not?” Cara asked. “Because I’m not going to join the Church’s team? Because I’m not planning to join any team? Because I don’t want to fight any more mysterious assholes with whatever the hell weapons those were?”

  Ethan looked away, still feeling regret. The most he’d gotten out of Cara on the way back to Corvale was that she’d never seen, or even heard of rifles before. Selina, on the other hand, had looked at the weapons suspiciously, and Ethan had to try to remember if he’d ever described them to her.

  They’d only stopped long enough to fetch Valanor, but not mentioned the encounter yet at Ethan’s insistence. Cara already wasn’t speaking, and he’d explained to Selina that he wanted to get more details before informing the knight and Sav. Valanor had happily returned home for the evening, simply glad that Selina had Bonded her first Familiar.

  Ethan looked back at the two women. “But it makes sense!” Selina insisted. “I know your story! You won your village competition, you proved them all wrong! You showed that you were the best, and the best win the Grand Tournament!”

  Cara finally put down her drink, leaning back in her chair and looking at Selina. “How did you hear all that?”

  “I speak to Hunters, and a lot of people at the Runic Guild. You wouldn’t believe how much your name comes up.” Selina looked a little uncomfortable as she continued. “To be fair, it’s the common people who say the good things, the Hunters…well they tend to talk more about how irritating it is that you’ve basically monopolized Notices in a tenth of the kingdom.”

  Cara barked a laugh, drawing more attention from the man eyeing her from the bar. Ethan put a hand near his knives, unsure if the man was planning to start trouble. The Archer didn’t seem to notice. “Hardly a tenth,” she said dismissively. “But it’s nice to hear that I’m irritating some Hunters. Maybe now they’ll move their asses and actually do something for the border towns.”

  “That would definitely leave you more time for the Tournament,” Selina said, clearly not ready to give up.

  Cara shook her head. “The stories you’ve heard aren’t accurate.”

  Selina’s face scrunched up. She didn’t like to think of her stories as anything but sacrosanct. “What do you mean? You didn’t compete in your village? I heard you were one of the only women who did so. Stories like that travel quickly…I know a few female Hunters you’ve inspired.”

  Cara let out a sigh. “First of all, it wasn’t just my village, there were three, all in competition for a single Bond. My Talia,” she said, while rubbing her chest. No Hunter felt right when one of their Familiars was injured. “As for the rest, if people hear my story and it means something to them, that’s great for them, but it has nothing to do with why I trained or fought so hard to win.”

  Selina seemed confused. “That’s understandable, I’m sure you’re living your own life…but the stories–” she stopped, realizing that angle wasn’t helping. “People thought you worked as hard as you did to prove something. It’s no small thing to out-perform a few dozen men twice your size.”

  Cara looked determined then. “I don’t care who they were. Men, women, elves, Nator. I care about being the best. I’m not trying to make a point, or be anyone’s hero. I have one life to live, and I’m going to live the ever-loving shit out of it. I’m going to be everything I can be, and leave everyone else in my dust.”

  “I’ll drink to that,” Ethan said with a smile, and Cara raised her glass before following suit.

  Selina appeared contemplative, clearly having trouble aligning this brash, increasingly drunk Archer with the woman she’d heard so much about. Still, Selina wasn’t one to give up. Ever, apparently. “Then you should absolutely join us. The best win the Tournament. The best go into the Forgotten City and come out with treasures as proof of their accomplishments.”

  Thankfully Cara seemed unbothered, even slightly amused by the exchange. As she turned back to Selina, Ethan noticed the man finally moving toward their table, though he was still all the way across the common room. He had a shaved head, and a glance into the Astral showed that he was a Hunter, though not very powerful. Ethan prepared himself as the stranger approached.

  “I get what you’re trying to do,” Cara was telling Selina. “You’re a very…upbeat person, and you’re obviously used to things being easy. But I’m not interested, alright? I’m perfectly happy proving myself on my own terms. Once you’ve seen a bit more, toughened up a bit, you’ll realize that sometimes we need to do things on our own.”

  Selina’s expression turned into a glare, Cara–clearly feeling the effect of the drinks–had apparently pushed a little too far. The Nator woman was about to respond when the suspicious man finally made it to their table, then slapped his hands down on it and leaned in close. Ethan held his knife tightly, but out of sight.

  “Hello, ladies,” the stranger said in a lecherous tone, and Ethan frowned, thinking he’d misread the situation. “You two lovelies look like you could use a real man for company, this little one here clearly doesn’t know what to do with you.” Ah, right. Both better and worse, Ethan thought with a sigh.

  Cara’s face had gone serious, though Selina didn’t acknowledge the man, even as he kept speaking, his words more slurred than Cara’s. “I’ve never had an elf before,” he said with a smile for the Archer, “though I bet that changes tonight.”

  Finally Selina sighed, though she still didn’t look at the man. “Don’t worry, big girl,” he said, putting a hand on her arm. “I’ll make sure there’s room in the bed for you too.” Ethan decided that had crossed the line, and began standing up. Before he managed it however, Selina’s arm flew upward, snatching the man by his collar.

  Without looking away from Cara, and with disturbingly practiced ease, she yanked the man down, slamming his face into the table. With an equally dismissive movement, she tossed him backward into a nearby wall, where he slid down, groaning. Charlie was there a moment later, hauling the man outside.

  Cara looked from the groaning man back to Selina, who hadn’t broken eye contact. The Rune Mage spoke again. “I think you and I have gotten off on the wrong foot. We need more drinks.” She finally looked away, and downed her own beverage–something as red as her skin–in one long draw.

  Selina then waved at Charlie who was returning to the bar, holding up four fingers. The man nodded and went to work. The Rune Mage turned back to Cara. “Let’s start this over,” she said, sounding far less starstruck.

  Cara watched her for a long moment, before picking up another drink. “I’m listening.”