They kept heading west — or “duskward,” as Rayni called it — for the rest of that day. Rayni found another demon in the afternoon. Despite its claws and multitude of teeth, the thing had once been a ferret, and its threat level was only moderate to Ana. That meant an easy fight; Ana smashed it out of the air with her severely bent and banged up buckler, and Rayni finished it off, slicing it in half with two hacks of Ana’s sword. The reward was as small as the risk, at a Lesser Crystal and a Least as a bonus for Ana, but since they were practically free Ana didn’t mind.

  The area they arrived at by nightfall was one of Ray’s favorite hunting grounds. According to her, while Delvers came through every so often, few other hunters ever went there, and the hunting was good enough that having to hide from the occasional demon had always been worth it.

  “Now, though, I figure those are just a bonus,” Ray said. “But I’d still prefer sleeping in a tree, if you’re willing to try. There are enough demons here that I’m worried about one wandering in during the night.”

  Ana wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea, but she couldn’t deny that it would make sleep a lot safer. “All right, I’ll give it a shot. Does that mean that we can skip having a watch and sleep at the same time?”

  “Should be fine, yeah. I’ve never seen a possessed creature that can climb or fly. I guess it messes them up too bad.”

  Ana looked up into the nearest tree skeptically. “So how does this work? How do we, you know, not fall out and die?”

  “It’s easier than you might think, honestly. You can tie yourself to a branch if you want, but by what I’ve seen your Agility is high enough that you shouldn’t need it. I’ve been doing this almost since I got to the splinter, and I just pick a nice, wide branch that slopes toward the trunk and settle in with a blanket. It’s not the most comfortable, but it’s fine for a few hours of sleep. I usually like to go high, but if you’re worried you can pick a lower branch. Just make sure your feet aren’t in gnawing range from the ground.”

  “Right.” Ana was going to make sure to be at least twenty feet off the ground.

  They cooked their dinner on the ground, then smothered the fire and settled in up a huge old tree where the lowest branches were high enough that nothing should be able to follow them. It ended up being a surprisingly restful night. Ana had slept in a lot of shitty places in her life, and sitting on a tree branch with her legs swinging, back to the trunk and warm under a blanket, was far more comfortable than she’d expected. Ray sat on the other side of the trunk, only a few feet away, and they talked long into the night. Ana was careful with what she told Ray, but she still talked about never knowing her parents, about a series of foster families until she ended up with the piece of shit priest and his useless wife. She told her about being beaten so badly that she couldn’t go to school for two weeks, though she didn’t tell her why, and about running away and living on the street for two years before Mr. Stamper found her. She knew that it probably didn’t fit with whatever preconceived notions anyone she’d met might have, and she didn’t care.

  She told Ray what she could about Nic, and it hurt more than she felt it should have.

  Ray told Ana about growing up in a poor forester’s home, surrounded by people who loved her but could never feed her quite enough. She told Ana about losing a sister to sickness because they couldn’t scrounge up the coins for a potion, and they couldn’t find a Healer in time. About crushing debt that always grew, and about elder siblings vanishing in the night to make their own way, just so that there would be one less mouth to feed.

  “Three years ago it was my turn,” Rayni said, and there were tears in her voice. “I made the mistake of telling them, of leaving during the day. They begged me not to go, but what was there for me to do there? There was no work for a 16-year old girl. There was nothing left to trap or hunt. All I was, was another mouth to feed, and they knew it. So they didn’t stop me. They cried — I’d only seen Pa cry once before, when Lily died — and they begged, but they didn’t stop me. And here I am.”

  “Do you miss them?”

  “Every day. I don’t miss that life. I eat better here. I have a chance of becoming something. I’ve sent enough money back with the Guild couriers to hopefully stop the debt from growing, even make it shrink a little. And I don’t want to go back to that drafty little shack. But I wish I could be with them. I miss the love. Doing anything for each other. Cuddling up in a big pile to keep warm. And I wish I knew what’s become of my brothers and sisters, those that left me, and those that I left. But Ma and Pa can’t write, so… There’s the money, and the receipt that tells me that they’re still alive to receive it.”

  “So you’re going back once the debt is paid?”

  “I’m going back sometime, but I have no idea when that’ll be. When I'm at a higher level and have more money, I guess. But… you know.”

  “You keep sending everything back home, so how are you going to level?”

  There came a deep sigh from the other side of the trunk, deafening compared to the near whisper that they’d been speaking in so far. “Yeah.”

  They stayed out for three more days, and it was good. Not only profitable, but relaxing — when they weren’t fighting, of course. The forest was absolutely beautiful, and the weather was amazing. Even when it rained it was in the form of light, warm summer rains, the kind that refreshed and dried quickly once the clouds moved on. And other than the demons it was so peaceful out there. There weren’t even the flashes in the sky that accompanied incoming or outgoing deliveries from the Waystone; Ray said that they were too far out, and she’d know.

  Ana found that you get used to sleeping in a tree real fast when you have to, and if she’d had any doubt about the wisdom of that decision, if she’d thought that Ray was being overly cautious, she changed her mind the first time a demon came sniffing around in the middle of the night. The thing moved with deceptive stealth, and while Ana doubted that it would have taken either of them by surprise, she still would not have liked to fight it in the dark. Instead the two of them could wait for daylight, while the monster snuffled around and clawed impotently at the trunk of the tree. Rested, and with the sun up, killing the thing was, if not easy, then at least no worse than any other solo demon they’d dealt with.

  It was another two days back, making a full week for the outing, and it had been damned profitable. Ray was almost beside herself, in a better mood than Ana could remember ever seeing her as they got close to the settlement, and it pulled Ana’s own mood right up with it. Their packs were bulging with harvested plants and demon bits, as well as dozens of pelts from rabbits, badgers, foxes, and whatever other wildlife Ray had considered it worth the time to shoot and skin.

  “Eleven demons. Eleven damn demons in seven days, with just the two of us!” Ray positively gushed. “I was… I mean, you know I had my doubts at the start, but eleven demons! Do you know how many Crystals I’ve got from this? I mean, I might get more on a Delve with Irry, but the quality? And you got me two levels in Teaching, too! Teaching!”

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  Ana could guess. From kills she had two Major, four Medium, and five Minor Crystals as regular rewards, and another two Medium, four Minor, and five Lesser Crystals as bonuses. On top of that, since they left the outpost she’d picked up Skill levels, two in Axes, and one in each of Crossbows, Harvesting, Herbalism, Tracking, and Inspect, grabbing her another Medium, three Minor and three Lesser Crystals, as well as another Achievement, Skilled I. Rather than giving her Advancement Points, like her previous Achievements, this one was a little more interesting:

  Ray was higher level than her, so her rewards would be lower, but they'd still be great. Sure, they’d gone through all of their potions. Ana was still badly scratched up and had a bandage and poultice on her right forearm that Ray insisted would work. And her buckler was pretty much junk, so she’d have to replace that. But that didn’t matter. The Crystals alone were worth something like 7400 experience, or ten to twelve gold if she’d rather sell them. That gold didn’t even count the bonus Crystals. She had to eat those, and they were worth a solid 2100 experience.

  In a week she’d made enough for a full level and most of another, or several months of room and board at Petra’s. She’d put her life on the line almost every day, sure, but it was so damned worth it!

  “I can’t stop picturing how you just beat that one deer to a pulp,” Ray was saying. “I’ve never seen anyone do that with their elbows before!”

  “Yeah, well, the axe got stuck, didn’t it?”

  “Yeah, but I’ve seen people punch and kick and wrestle, and use the elbows and knees and foreheads when brawling. The way you do it… It’s like the difference between children playing with sticks and a real swordsman!”

  “Yeah. People here have no idea how to fight unarmed. I can show you some, sometime.”

  Seeing Ray so happy was just a bonus. Ana intended to stick to the spirit and the letter of their agreement. Everything they’d harvested was Ray’s. The Huntress had not been shy about the fact that from this one outing she was expecting to make two months worth of her normal income, and that wasn’t even counting the Crystals. The woman couldn’t look at Ana without grinning, and Ana was not above basking in the appreciation.

  Yeah. It had been a week of sleeping rough, waking up stiff, and getting hurt, but it had been worth it. A week well spent, and Ana was looking forward to spending a few days in town and then heading out to do it all over again, with Kaira and the others if they were back and willing, or with Ray if not. Or perhaps Kaira or someone else was running another casuals’ group in the next few days?

  Damn it, Ana was feeling good! She was feeling good about herself, and she was feeling good about the future. She missed the internet and she missed chips — in both the American and the British meanings — and she missed chocolate and coffee and a thousand other things, but she felt so damned alive!

  The guards at the gate welcomed them back, sounding happy to see someone, anyone, and Ana understood why as they walked down the street. The outpost wasn’t the liveliest community she’d ever seen, but there should have been more people around — more noise from the taverns. Then she remembered about the expedition Falk had been putting together, a real all-hands kind of thing if Ana had understood it properly. With most of the combat Classers gone, and them being the main spenders in this weird little economy, it made sense that the town would be quieter.

  It was still odd and unexpected. Ana had thought that everyone would be back by now; she and Ray had been out for a week after all. But if it had taken a few days to get everything together… a day out, a day or two to deal with things, and a day back? Shouldn’t they be back?

  Except that the expedition had been gone for five days now. Ana and Ray asked at the guardhouse after selling their harvest at the exchange, as they went to take care of their gear. According to the two remaining guards there, a messenger had come in that morning with the news that the expedition was moving south in pursuit of a group of creatures, and it might be several days more before they returned.

  Petra's inn was oddly quiet, with so many of the regular guests being gone. Few non-combat Classers stayed or drank there, so there was only a smattering of people who’d come back in recently. The baths were equally quiet, since Ana and Ray went during the working day. Only one woman that Ana didn't recognize gave them a polite but half-hearted greeting as they came in, and she kept to herself in a corner, seemingly content to relax on her own.

  Ana and Ray did the whole ritual of washing each other’s backs. Ana barely hesitated. It wasn’t such a big deal. She’d gotten over being naked in a room full of other women quick enough, so this one small additional step was easy. Besides, she didn’t want to damage the friendship growing between herself and Ray by being, by local standards, weird or standoffish.

  Once they’d gone through the cold pool and settled to soak in the hot one, Ray got fidgety. “So, uh, I have a question. I’ve wanted to ask since we were here after the Delve, but things got in the way.”

  Ana sighed. She was too relaxed to be truly annoyed, but she was pretty sure what was coming. “It’s about the tattoo, isn’t it?”

  “If that’s what you call your body art, yeah.”

  “Sure. Fine. Go ahead.”

  “It’s not really a question, I guess. It’s just, you know, really good. Well done. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “Okay. Thanks. You going anywhere with this?”

  “Yeah. So, it must have cost a fortune to get it done, and it never made sense how you could afford it from what you told us. Or let us believe, anyway. With what you’ve told me, with the Stamper guy giving you a job and all, it makes sense, and I really appreciate the trust. Your low level is still weird, and I hope you’ll tell me about all that some day, but… Anyway, my point is, there was never any need to mislead anyone. All right? You don’t need to be cagey. You’ve got secrets, stuff you’d rather not talk about, like how you could beat the crap out of Tor, or your hidden Class. And that’s fine.”

  Ana opened her mouth, but Ray plowed on.

  “I know you didn’t choose to come here, wherever you’re from. Everyone does. And I think you should know that there are a lot of people on this splinter who didn’t come here for the easy experience. Some did, sure, and some are here for the money, like me, but a lot of the people here are running from something. Usually nothing criminal, the Guild tries to weed those out, but all kinds of things. Heartbreak, grief, abusive partners, bad family situations, all kinds of backgrounds, really. Things that many of them don’t want to talk about. So if you don’t want to talk about your background, you don’t need to hide, all right? You don’t need to make anything up. You can just be your weird self and tell people that you’d rather not talk about anything that happened before you walked through the gate or whatever, and most people will just accept it.”

  Ana sat there, momentarily stunned. What Ray told her hadn’t really occurred to her. Usually, telling people to mind their own damn business just made you look suspicious as hell, but here it was apparently a common and completely acceptable answer. She’d been giving vague answers and trying to misdirect, when she could have just said “I’d rather not talk about it,” and according to Ray people would just get it!

  “I…” Ana tried to formulate a good response, but realized that she didn’t need to. “Thank you. Really. And, in that case, I got the tattoo done by an excellent artist. I spent way too little thought and too much money on it. Beyond that, I’d rather not talk about my background, unless I volunteer something. That all right with you?”

  Ray smiled. “Yeah, that’s all right. Gorgeous work, though.”

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