The next morning, Belmont awoke to the sounds of the camp being torn down around him. He was sore from the battle, still, and despite the best medicine that magic could afford, sore muscles were just part of the game. He slung his legs over the side of the cot in Yillie’s tent and saw Meph curled up at the foot of the bed.

  “Hey bud. Sleep well?”

  Meph flitted his tongue.

  Bel looked over at the shirts and armor on the table next to him, and grabbed the heavy off-white one that he’d put over his Blockbuster tee. There were splatters of blood all over it, and he doubted it was anything he could get rid of. He wasn’t sure what the dress code was wherever they were going, but crime scene attendee was probably off the table.

  He grabbed the Blockbuster shirt and held it up. Some of the blood had made it through, or maybe it was some of his.

  His stomach twisted, and he ignored it.

  The shirt was stretched, and when he put it on, the first thing he noticed was that the neck was almost twice as wide as it should have been, making it look more like a V-neck than he was comfortable with.

  Between the stretched T-shirt and his stained, wrinkled jeans, he felt like the guy that’s been crashing on a friend’s couch for a month while he’s “in between things.” Not a great look.

  He bent down and put an arm out for Meph. The snake crawled up and over his shoulders and Bel chuckled.

  “You might be getting too big for ‘shoulder snake’, Meph.”

  Meph flitted an unamused tongue.

  “Any bigger and maybe you can start carrying me, huh?”

  No response.

  Bel walked out of the tent and squinted into the bright morning sun. Any evidence that it had rained the day before had vanished, and the bright clear blue sky had returned. The camp was nearly empty, with only Yillie’s tent remaining. Everything else had been broken down and stacked together near the fire. It was a lot of shit. All of those tents, the gear, belongings—all piled up.

  He looked over to Julo, who was hauling some things from the area where Gracious’ tent had been.

  “How are we gonna take all this with us?”

  Julo looked at him. “Ahh, g’morning. We aren’t. We’ll wrap it up here to weatherproof it and then leave it. Maybe we’ll come back later if we really want it, but that’s unlikely. What’ll probably happen is someone else’ll come along and make use of it.”

  Bel nodded. It made sense. “Oh, alright.” He looked around and then realized something. “Umm, where are the bodies?”

  Julo pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “We dug a hole and buried them. I saved one of their swords for you. It’s pretty basic, but I saw you using it, figured you might want to keep one. Oh, and this!” He walked over and handed a leather belt to Bel. It was simple, and darkly tanned, but then Bel saw why it was important. It had a sheath for his knife.

  Bel took it, and the sword and scabbard, too. “Thanks! Is there something I can do to help?”

  “Umm, you can st—"

  Yillie cut him off. “You can eat some breakfast.” The man was sitting on the other side of the campfire with a plate of something in his hands and an open book on his lap. “I don’t know how much the Aether Sickness affected you, but I don’t want to risk it. We won’t have a far walk today, but no reason not to be careful.”

  Julo looked over at Bel. “Yeah, good call. Besides, the camp is almost clear. Once Theori is back, we’ll head out.”

  “Where’d he go?”

  “Up north to the dock. Seven probably took our boat, but he wanted to see if there was anything else for us to use.”

  Bel furrowed his brow. “Shit. I didn’t even think about that.”

  “Yeah. I told him to not even bother. Even if there had been something for us beside the boat we came in on, there’s no way Seven would have left it alone. At best, he’d cut the mooring lines. At worse, he’d sabotage it. But he wanted to check anyway, and he’s too big for me to stop.”

  Bel laughed. Coming from someone as big as Julo, that was saying something.

  He walked over to the fire and sat down on a piece of driftwood beside Yillie, who handed him a plate of food. He looked at it for a moment, because it seemed so familiar, but it wasn’t right.

  Meph lowered his head down to the plate and sniffed around for a moment before returning to his perch.

  That’s when it dawned on Bel. It wasn’t Earth food. Nothing was Earth food. The stew had been alien stew. This was a plate of alien breakfast.

  The thought excited him.

  Not that he’d run out of things to try on Earth, but there were only so many ways to stack meat, dairy, and carbs together. Spice was the name of the game, and there was an entire universe of new spices to try out.

  “Fuck yeah!”

  Yillie glanced up at him with a confused look.

  “Sorry. Still getting used to this alien stuff. I was a cook back on Earth. I love to eat new shit, and you just handed me a plate full of it.”

  Yillie chuckled and nodded. “A cook, huh? Well, between you and Theori, we should eat well for the next few days.”

  Bel was only half listening to Yillie. His mind was on the plate in front of him. It was mostly three things. The first was some of the stew meat. He was sure he recognized it. Then there was some kind of charred plant that had been sliced to reveal a soft yellow interior, like mashed potatoes that had been shoved inside a celery stalk. The last thing was a chunk of bread. Like, actual bread. It shouldn’t have shocked Bel like it did—leavening and fermentation were practically a universal constant, but it was still nice to see something familiar. The only other thing on the plate was the sauce, which covered the meat and vegetable and soaked into the chunk of bread.

  Bel’s stomach rumbled, and he obliged, grabbing a chunk of the stew meat and tossing it into his mouth.

  “Oh, fuck yeah.”

  Yillie didn’t look up that time, but Bel saw him silently stifle a laugh.

  As much as he wanted to savor and dissect the meal, he was more hungry than he’d realized, and instead had to satisfy himself with the pure experience. The best part was the vegetable, whatever it was. It was like bone marrow, but in plant form. It was so rich and flavorful. He made a mental note to ask Theori what it was when he got back.

  He mopped up the last of the sauce with the bread and set the plate by the fire while he swallowed the final bite.

  Yillie set the book down and looked at him. “How are you feeling?”

  Bel knew it was more than a ‘How are you?’ question. “I’m alright, I think. A little sore, but alright.” He gave a thoughtful pause and continued. “Thanks again for what you’ve done for me. Twice now. No one has ever saved my life before.”

  “I’m not some miracle worker. I’m a healer, and not even a powerful one. I simply do what I can with the tools I have.”

  Bel locked eyes with him. “Don’t be modest. You saved my life. For me, that makes you pretty fucking special. So, when I say thank you, I truly mean it. Thank you.”

  Yillie smiled, but Bel could see some hurt behind it. However, now wasn’t the time to press the issue.

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  It didn’t matter, though, as Yillie already had a conversation changer in the chamber. “So, your snake is named Mephisto. That is the name of a devil. Why did you name him that?”

  Bel raised an eyebrow. “How do you know the name is the name of a devil?”

  “The Aether. It isn’t the same name to me, but the Aether gives me your meaning.”

  Bel tilted his head. “Wow. That’s actually really cool. I figured it stopped with translation, but it goes further, huh? Alright. Well, yeah, he is named after a devil. On Earth, we had a story called Faust. The most famous version of the story is a play by a man named Goethe. In the play, the main character, Faust, gets bored with life and sells his soul to Mephistopheles for knowledge and pleasure.”

  Yillie nodded. “We have similar stories where I am from.”

  “Yeah, selling your soul for power was a pretty common theme on Earth, too.”

  “In your story, what becomes of Faust?”

  Bel took a deep breath. “Depends who is telling the story. Sometimes, he continues to live a good life, and he is taken to paradise. Other times, his soul is forfeit, and he is damned.”

  Yillie laughed. “That is another common theme that our worlds share. As soon as a story hits too close to home, the ending changes to make the teller or the audience feel better.”

  “Yep. Sounds about right. I still love the story, though. And when I picked up Meph, I needed to give him a name, because the one he had before was terrible, so I went with ‘Mephisto.’”

  “It is a good name. But, more importantly, what ending to the story do you prefer?”

  Bel thought for a moment and rubbed Meph’s head before he answered. “The one where he is damned.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Consequences. Faust lives in the real world, and the real world has consequences. In the story, he does some terrible things, and there should be consequences.”

  Yillie nodded. “I agree.”

  “Speaking of consequences, I’ve had something on my mind. I don’t like the way things ended the Seven.”

  Yillie cocked his head. “How so?”

  “I taunted him with his book. I don’t like that. It’s bully behavior, and I should be better than that. Even if the kid deserves to get his ass kicked, I need to be better.”

  A low voice came up from behind Bel. “What’re you two talking about?” It was Theori. Bel admired his sneakiness.

  “Just sharing stories,” Yillie said.

  “Well, I’ve got bad news. No boats at the docks.”

  Bel exhaled. “Fuck.”

  “Yeah. But there is probably one down at the village. I doubt they crossed the island every time they wanted to leave. We’ll head there and see what we can find.”

  Bel felt his heart sink. He’d hoped he’d be able to avoid going back there. Seemed like there wasn’t much of a chance of that now.

  Julo stepped up. “Nothing?”

  Theori nodded to him. “Yeah. We’ll head to the village.”

  “Sounds good. I’m done with the camp.” He tossed the leather armor and white shirt to Bel that he’d left in the tent. “Yillie, you got anything in the tent you want to keep?”

  Yillie shook his head and held up the book. “Already got it.”

  Bel looked at the armor and the shirt. “You all don’t have any clothes I can borrow, do you?”

  Julo and Theori both looked at each other and laughed.

  “Yeah, no, ok, laugh it up, Hans and Franz.”

  “There are some clothes in the chest we dragged out of Gracious’ tent. I think he was planning on getting a new body, hence the smaller leather armor and the clothes. Good news is, they’re fresh, cause his rotting ass couldn’t fit into them.”

  Bel stood up and walked over to the enormous chest sitting beside the rest of the camp supplies. He popped open the lid and looked inside.

  It was full of awesome shit.

  He yanked out a pair of heavy dark wool pants and then found a decent long sleeve shirt. Below them was a pair of leather boots, some socks, and a cape.

  He laughed, remembering Balthazar’s traveling cloak. He grabbed it all and walked over to Yillie’s tent with Meph. Five minutes later, he stepped out, feeling like a new man.

  “Damn!” Julo shouted.

  Bel nodded. “Fuck yeah! This shit is dope. Why didn’t you tell me he had shit like this in there?”

  “Didn’t think you’d care, none of it’s Aether Forged.”

  Bel spun around, showing off the new digs. The black leather boots gripped the sand as he spun, and the cloak wrapped around him in the ocean breeze. “Help me get the armor on. I still can’t work the buckles.”

  Julo walked over and took the leather from Bel. Just as easy as the day before, he slid it over Bel, pulled the cloak up and over, and then buckled it all in minutes. He finished it by putting the belt around Bel and adjusting it to fit with the leather before snapping the scabbard and sheath for the knife into place.

  “I gotta learn how to do that.” Bel looked down and admired the armor. He felt like a warrior now, even if he had no idea what that was supposed to feel like.

  Julo nodded, “Yeah. You do. I’m not your squire.” He smiled.

  “Don’t get snippy. Keep doing your best and one day maybe you’ll get promoted to page.”

  “Of course, your highness.” Julo gave an exaggerated low bow.

  It had been a joke, but it all came crashing down around Bel. He didn’t like that at all. The ill feeling of it went away quickly, but he was pretty sure Julo noticed. He bent over and picked up Meph. The snake wrapped around his shoulders and, for a moment, seemed to writhe on the new fabric, like a dog circling a new bed for a comfortable spot. Bel ran a hand over the scales and the snake calmed.

  Theori walked to them. “Alright, five minutes and we’re gone.” He looked at Julo. “Start wrapping up the rest of the stuff. I’ll get this tent down.”

  “Hold on.” Bel jogged over to the chest that he pulled the clothes from. He dropped his old clothes in and shut the lid with a thud. Immediately, a weight felt lifted from him. That was the last of old Bel. “Alright. I’m ready.” He said it to himself as much as anyone else.

  It didn’t take long to get to the outskirts of the village. Bel relished in the fresh air and the fresh clothes. He was discovering new pockets all the time! The joy of discovery was quickly overshadowed by the stench of the village, though. The rain the day before had put the fire out, and the high sun overhead was now heating the damp corpses. Bel stopped before they were within eyesight of the village square and took a moment.

  Julo turned towards him. “We can go ahead without you, and then just come back if we find a boat.”

  Bel looked at him and hardened his eyes. “No, I’m good. Thanks, though.”

  Julo just nodded and turned back around.

  They came around the side of the same house that he and Gracious had, past the new growth plants on the ground. It reminded him he meant to ask about the breakfast vegetable. It left his mind as quickly as it came, though, as they stepped around the corner and into the courtyard.

  The bodies were all blackened now, charred beyond recognition aside from small pieces of buried flesh that had been exposed as ashen corpses fell from the pile in the ocean wind.

  Yillie held a hand over his nose as he walked, but Julo and Theori made no reaction.

  On the other side of the courtyard, exactly where Bel had left them, were the bodies of Porvo and Gracious on the ground, with Nim still tied to the post, head slumped with a dark red stain down the front of his armor. He felt Meph tense momentarily on his shoulder, but then relax.

  As they walked past the bodies, Theori turned to look at them. He took a moment on each of them, studying the corpses of his fallen guild mates, and then turned to Bel. “You really did it, huh?”

  Bel swallowed hard and fought off a dizzy spell. He inhaled a long breath and then nodded. “Yeah. I did. I’m gonna be real with you, though. I’d really rather not talk about it.”

  Theori nodded, and they continued past. Bel let out the breath he had inhaled without even realizing he’d been holding it. Past the courtyard, it was a short walk down a narrow path towards the shoreline and where they hoped to find a boat. Bel looked around at the trees. They all seemed so familiar to him—

  “Bel!” Julo yelled from behind as Bel stepped down and felt something tighten under his foot, just a slight pressure as his boot touched the ground. Before he could react, Julo charged into his back at full speed, colliding against Bel with a crack that knocked the wind from his lungs and sent him flying, knocking Meph clear of his shoulders.

  There was a mechanical clang and a crunch, just before Bel landed, and with a groan he rolled over and lept back up to see what had happened.

  Julo lay on his side, blood gushing from the stump where his left arm had been. Beside him on the ground, next to his severed limb, was a leg snapper.

  Yillie was already next to him, and Bel watched as the man went to work. His outstretched hands glowed faintly, and as if there had been a bubble of silence around Julo, it popped, and the man let out a deafening scream as he rolled away from Yillie.

  “Stay down, Julo!” Yillie yelled.

  Julo jumped to his feet, as though he’d never taken the hit. Bel looked at him, confused, and then understood. It was the Warring Dead spell. Yillie had cast it to stop Julo from going into shock.

  “Julo!” Theori’s voice broke like a tidal wave, and Julo immediately stopped.

  The broken man looked down at his arm on the ground, and the realization set in.

  Yillie looked at Theori with pleading eyes. “I don’t have a way to stop the bleeding. My healing spell won’t be powerful enough.”

  Theori looked back at him, and then to Julo, who was holding on to the shoulder just above the stump, sweat pouring from his face, taking gasping breaths.

  Something snapped in Bel. “Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!” He ran to Yillie’s side. “Get ready with whatever you can do to patch him up. I’ll stop the bleeding.”

  Yillie snapped his eyes to Bel. “What?”

  Julo nodded. He knew what Belmont had planned. “Do it.”

  Bel thrust his hand out, and a gout of flame spewed forward. It wasn’t aimed at Julo’s chest, but just to the left of him, so that the flames cauterized the wound.

  As soon as the fire died, Yillie ran to the man. Julo, still under the effects of Warring Dead, had felt none of the pain, but the expression in his eyes told Bel that the sight of his own flesh burning away was enough to push him to the edge. His knees buckled, and the big man went down hard.

  Yillie didn’t stop. Light flooded from his hands as the skin knitted itself back together like clay until there was nothing left but the pink scar of new flesh. He fell back onto the ground, panting. Meph, who until now had been beside Bel, crawled to the fallen physician and climbed into his lap.

  Bel stepped cautiously to Julo. The man was shaking, but Bel realized it wasn’t because of fear or pain. He was sobbing. Bel kneeled next to him, but didn’t speak, didn’t reach out to touch him. He just kneeled next to him.

  Several minutes passed, and Julo looked up at Bel, the whites of his eyes blotched red. “It was my fault. I cleared the bodies. I didn’t look for the trap. I knew you had set it, but I didn’t look for it. Seven took it. If I’d have been better—“

  Bel stopped him. “Don’t say that. That’s bullshit. We can’t account for every possibility. This isn’t your fault. This was Seven.”

  Theori stuck a hand out, and Julo looked at him. He reached up with his remaining arm and took the hand. Theori pulled him up and brushed the dirt and debris off of his clothes and then brought him in for a hug.

  Bel turned away and looked back at Yillie. “You alright?”

  Yillie ran a hand across Meph’s back. “Yes. I’m fine.” He paused, and then with earnest eyes said, “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For keeping a level head and doing what needed to be done.”

  Bel pursed his lips and looked him in the eyes. “We both did what needed to be done.”