by Eric Vall
I stared right back as I squared my shoulders and rose to my full height above him.
“One hundred and fifty gold take it or leave it, three days, two rooms. The choice is yours,” I told him with a shrug of my shoulders and a nonchalant wave of my hand.
“Two hundred and fifty.” the manager growled angrily as his fingers played with the sets of keys he’d brought up from a drawer.
“One hundred and seventy-five.” I countered with a half-smile. The manager soured even more as he crossed his arms over his chest and huffed for all of us to hear.
“Two hundred!” the manager shouted as he slammed his fists down on the counter. I smiled widely as I slid the exact amount across the counter, already prepared for this outcome.
The manager grabbed the coins and stuffed them into a small bag tucked into his belt, and they clinked against more coin. He handed over the keys as sweat visibly ran down his forehead. He looked relieved that he’d made the deal, but in reality, I was the one who actually won. My minions gathered around me as I handed the first key to Annalise and the other to Rana, then I turned back to the manager as he adjusted his vest and breathed a loud sigh.
“Is the kitchen still open?” I asked. “We’d like to go in and eat.”
The manager lifted his head to me, more composed than he’d been a few moments ago. The thin smile from before spread over his lips, and he nodded to us.
“Yes, the kitchen is still open. It closes at the eleventh hour and opens back up at the seventh.” The manager nodded as he smoothed out his white button-up underneath his vest and rolled the sleeves up to the elbow. Carmedy sauntered over and leaned against the counter as she gave him an earnest look. The manager looked surprised for a moment as he glanced between the cat and me.
“But when do the cooks actually start coming in? Five am? Six am? Hm?” the petite alchemist questioned in rapid fire.
“That’s the inn’s personal business but, I must ask why you would want to know such a thing?” he asked the cat as he blinked slowly.
“No reason in particular,” the feline answered back through a sigh as she pushed off the counter, brushed past us and headed for the dining room.
We followed after her and once inside and out of view, Rana poked the cat in the side and hissed, “Why’d you ask such a weird question?”
“She probably wanted to sneak into the kitchens when they started preparing for breakfast and steal food.” Annalise giggled as she reached out and ruffled Carmedy’s hair. The cat jumped away but still smiled through the bright blush on her round cheeks. “It was! I knew it! You little sneak!”
“I just wanted to know! It wasn’t like I was going to do it!” the alchemist attempted to defend herself as we found a table with enough chairs for all of us and hastily sat down.
“Yeah, you say that, but you always sneak down to the kitchens and take food wherever we go! You did it on the ship to Tamarisch, you tried to do it on the ship to Machstein, but it didn’t have a functioning kitchen, and you’re going to try to do it now!” Rana cried through bubbling laughter.
I smiled at each of them but raised a single finger to my lips for them to quit their squabbling. Each of my minions nodded to me obediently and went silent. After a few moments of silence, a short woman came from the back door, noticed our table, and hurried over. Her wavy hair came down to her elbows and was a coppery red. When I glanced up at her, I blinked a few times to clear my eyes then stared at her. Her eyes were large, round and bright green like the color of mint leaves. She gave me a wide smile, and her soft cheeks bloomed pink as she tilted her head to me, her pen and a pad of paper at the ready. What caught my attention wasn’t the prettiness of her face but instead, the long and floppy ears poking out of her hair like a rabbit’s. They were spotted dark mahogany brown, light crème, and white, and she brushed one out of her face as she stepped up to the table.
“Hello there, my name is Usagi,” the rabbit-girl grinned, and each of my minions smiled back as they took her in. They seemed much less surprised than I was. I should have assumed there was such a thing as rabbit/human hybrids just like Rana and Carmedy, but the thought had never come to mind during our travels. “I’m so sorry it took me so long to get to you. We’ve been hard at work preparing the feast for the Lord’s wedding, and I was helping get everything together before the big day. Would you like anything to drink before you order your food?”
“Water, plea--” Carmedy said through a sweet smile, but Rana held up a hand and abruptly stopped her as the fox spoke loudly.
“Five ales, biggest ones you got!” The redhead grinned manically, and Usagi raised her eyebrows and chuckled as she wrote it down.
“Sure, I can do that,” Usagi assured us as she lifted her eyes from the pad in her hands, and her eyes met mine for a moment. My gaze never left her in my fascination. “And what would you like to eat for dinner?”
We quickly ordered, and Usagi hurried away to get it in. I watched her receding backside, and Annalise cleared her throat meaningfully. I turned to look at the swordswoman, and she raised her eyebrows at me.
“Yes?” I asked as the table went utterly silent.
“What was that?” The swordswoman chuckled as she pinched my arm.
“What do you mean?” I questioned her in confusion.
“She means you were staring at our server the entire time!” Rana cried as she slapped my arm playfully.
I blinked once then looked back and forth between the fox and the High Queen. “I was?” I chuckled as I rubbed my face. Both women nodded then Carmedy joined in. “Very well then, I was. It’s just I’ve never seen a rabbit-girl before, kind of like how I had seen neither of your kind.” I nodded to Rana and Carmedy.
“Actually, most women rabbits my age prefer to be called bunnies than rabbits because rabbit makes us sound old,” Usagi said suddenly from behind me as she set down a basket of steaming bread and placed our mugs in front of each of us. I looked over my shoulder at her, but the bunny-girl didn’t look angry. She just gave me a smile and a wink as she scurried off back toward the kitchen.
Usagi returned shortly with two large trays full of food and set each plate in front of the right person. All conversation between us stopped as we dug in and every once in a while, Usagi would come back in and check on us. As evening set in, more guests poured in right as we were finishing up. Usagi hurried over as we all leaned back in our chairs and sighed happily from the delicious meal. I paid her handsomely for her work, and the bunny-girl blushed as she took the coins from my palm.
My minions stood slowly, and Annalise practically had to carry Carmedy up the stairs because the feline started nodding out as we’d finished the meal. Rana moved to walk around me and head up the stairs, but I put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her in her tracks. The fox turned and stared up into my face with those dazzling blue eyes.
“Come,” I told her as I steered her out of the inn’s back door. “We’re going to go train.”
Chapter Eighteen
Rana and I stepped out in the courtyard outside the inn. The air outside was cool against our faces, but it was much warmer in the confines of the wall than outside of it, and soon, Rana stripped out of her heavy coat and shoes. Darkness had already fallen across the city, and the courtyard was bathed in golden light from the windows of the inn. The air was sweet in the courtyard, and spring flowers planted around the building bobbed and swayed lightly as we made our way to the middle where no one would bother us.
The fox’s fiery curls bounced as we walked shoulder to shoulder in the dim light, and something about her attitude caught my attention. Rana looked pensive and unsure like she had been in the Valasara desert when I’d trained her with the daggers. She had no reason to be, however. Like then, she’d learn how to use the claymore properly and wield it like an expert swordswoman.
The courtyard was dense with small trees and different plants of varying sizes, but as we moved in deeper, it opened up to a large circular grass grove w
ith a few stone benches for guests to sit on and enjoy the exotic garden. The plants were well trimmed, and I could tell that a lot of them had been used for the wreaths we’d seen earlier on Baudouin’s palace. Though the inn on Kanashimi was much larger, this one was just as beautiful with its lush garden.
I brought her into the clearing away from prying eyes, and around the tree line small lanterns hung from metal poles and lit the area enough for both of us to see clearly. I silently regarded her as I stepped to the opposite side of the clearing and reached into my void pocket for the God Slayer. I pulled it out slowly, and Rana’s eyes widened at the sight of the great weapon.
“M-Master, I don’t know…” the redhead stammered as she eyed the polearm, but I shook my head once, and my fox minion fell silent at once.
“Like before, I’m going to test what you know so far and then we can move on from that,” I told her as I held the God Slayer without slamming it down on the ground. I gave her the advantage of using the blade without extracting the three from my own weapon. “Take out the Eye and come at me with it.”
Rana breathed deeply through her nose and exhaled it through her mouth as she placed her hand over her chest. Light streamed out like a beacon then the hilt slowly rose from the golden light pulsing from Rana’s chest. The fox clamped her paw around the handle and pulled the massive claymore from the depths of her chest. I knew immediately that she was holding the sword incorrectly but said nothing as she adjusted her grip on the long hilt and tested its weight in one paw. I whipped the God Slayer once from one hand to the other and widened my stance. The redhead’s eyes met mine across the clearing then hardened as she calculated a plan.
Rana ran at me with all of her might with the Eye of Alipsis held out beside her. A loud cry rose in her throat as she lifted the sword high above her head and struck down at me one-handed, but I raised the God Slayer, blocked her attack, and side-stepped out of her way. In one swift movement, I moved my left leg under hers and tripped her. The redhead fell to the ground with a loud crack and stared up at me panting for a moment. I flipped the polearm in my hands, held it out in front of my body, and gestured for her to stand with my free hand. Rana rose to her feet unsteadily, calmed her breathing, and gripped the claymore tighter in her fist. This time she swung the sword around, and I caught my breath in horror as the long blade nearly caught her leg in the process of maneuvering it around.
“Stop, stop!” I told her as I held up my hands.
She immediately dropped the sword to the grass at the sound of my harsh voice. I crossed to her and checked her leg for any damage. The cloth of her pants was cut, but she’d barely missed the flesh underneath. I poked a finger through the torn pants and wriggled it for her to see what she’d done. Rana’s cheeks flamed red, and she bowed her head in shame. I lifted her face to mine in one swift movement and looked into her eyes.
“This is why I’m teaching you. I’m not doing this to embarrass you. I want you to learn from me and do better next time,” I told her in a low, soothing voice as I stroked the soft curls atop her head.
“I know, I know you’re not trying to embarrass me, but I keep thinking about how I could have hurt my sisters or someone else on the battlefield because I didn’t know how to use the sword properly,” the fox admitted, but I gave her a gentle smile as I bent down, picked up the sword and offered it to her again.
“Don’t worry, my love. I will teach you, and you will improve in strides by the time we’re finished.” I said as she took back the sword, and I came to stand directly next to her. “With the size and weight of the Eye of Alipsis, you need to hold it with two hands. Hold the pommel with your right hand and the hilt with your left.”
The redhead did as told and her paws slipped into the place where I had instructed her. She held the sword in a tighter, more assured grip and looked up at me with a broad smile.
“With this type of handgrip, you can do many sorts of attacks just with other swords, but the good thing about claymores are the steel blade is thin but stronger than other blades,” I told the fox, “The Eye of Alipsis is double-edged, and you can use it in a swinging motion back and forth, but the weight and length will make it difficult. Here, take a few test swings.”
I waved my hand through the air and summoned four gremlins to me. The creatures snarled to life but stood in place and didn’t move at all. Their eyes stared out into space at nothing, and even as Rana stepped forward to them, they didn’t focus in on her or react.
“Now, use your hand on the pommel to swing the blade down like a hammer,” I directed, “and once you get better, you’ll be able to move more quickly and change the direction of the swing halfway through the air.”
Rana stood in front of the first gremlin, and the beast stared straight forward into space. The fox set her jaw, widened her stance and gripped the pommel in her fist as she brought the claymore back then slammed downward with all of her might. The Eye of Alipsis cut through the air, met the flesh of the green-skinned gremlin, and cut through it like a hot knife through butter.
Rana took a few steps back in shock as the gremlin’s head tilted and lay against its shoulder, not wholly severed but half way. The fox looked to me for approval, and I nodded once with a small smile and gestured for her to continue. Rana shot forward with a sweeping movement and chopped the injured gremlin’s head completely off. The creature made no sound, it only stared up at the sky with blinking eyes as it gazed up from the ground.
I clapped slowly to her in approval, but she didn’t turn around this time and only faced off with the second gremlin. This time, she pushed forward with both hands tightly on the pommel and hilt and slammed the blade deep in the gremlin’s stomach. The creature keeled over but like the one before it, made no sound at all as it fell to the ground. I stood back and watched as Rana took down each of the gremlins I’d created for her, and when she'd finished, she turned back to me with a blinding smile. I nodded my head to her once, and four more gremlins appeared in the same line, but this time, their eyes trained on her.
“Are you ready for more of a challenge or would you prefer to continue cutting down enemies that can’t fight back?” I asked her.
The redhead warily looked back and forth between me and the more aware gremlins I’d summoned this time. A large smile spread over my face as her face hardened and her jaw set in determination. The adversaries I’d given her this time weren’t tough but not as easy as the first few. These would fight back but not too hard, and pride swelled in my chest as Rana took them down one by one. The redhead was getting better slowly, and the third wave of gremlins I summoned this time foamed at the mouth to attack her. She didn’t wait for my approval to go on, she only jumped right in and hacked away at them with feverish intensity. Rana’s movements were sloppy, but over time, I knew she’d get better as she had already improved over the course of this one session.
One of the gremlins ran straight at her. Its movements were loping, and its pink tongue stuck out of its mouth eagerly as it swung out at her with curled hands. Rana remained calm and used a move similar to mine from early and knocked the legs out from underneath the gremlin. Before the creature could stand up and attack again, the fox whipped the sword through the air with two hands with a grace I hadn’t seen before and buried the blade deep into the gremlin’s chest. It sunk in with a wet squelch as she placed a boot against its breastbone and pulled the blade free.
I raised my eyebrows in surprise as the claymore began to glow. It now seemed to become a part of Rana instead of just a weapon. I brought my hands together and clapped slowly.
Rana turned to me, and the smile she gave me was absolutely breathtaking. Her cheeks flushed, and her tail swished behind her shoulders excitedly as the body parts of the gremlins began to fade from view as I sent them back to my dungeon in one piece. The fox turned to face me, placed the sword upright in front of her and bowed gratefully to me. I bowed back with the God Slayer still in hand, and suddenly, before she straightened, I positione
d myself in a defensive stance before she could see. Her bright blue eyes found mine in the darkness, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise, but a sly smile spread up her lips. We danced around each other in the clearing for a few moments, but Rana broke away from the clearing’s edge and rushed towards me.
I blocked the oncoming sword easily, but there was more strength and confidence behind it now as I pushed the blade away from me. I could tell that Rana still wasn’t used to maneuvering the weighty claymore, but she bounced back from the dodge easily and faced off with me once more. The way we moved together seemed more like a waltz than a fight, and she enticed me as she twirled away from me, and her tail fanned out behind her. Rana was light on her feet and spryly jumped away from my attacks. I chuckled deep in my throat as she held the sword in both hands, but her tail came up and caressed the soft flesh of her throat and obscured most of her face from view. Her eyes pierced into mine from behind the soft, red fur and sliced into mine with heated determination.
I stared into the swirling icy blue pools of her eyes for a moment as her tail flicked and shivered in the darkness around us then I realized what she was doing as she took three steps forward with her sword at the ready. I played along with her as I let the God Slayer droop a little at my side. Her eyes widened with pleasure, and the corners of her lips curled up into a smile. I fought hard not to laugh or let my face show that I knew what she was doing as I too took a step towards her.
Right as we were at arm’s length, Rana jabbed out with the claymore but I was gone from sight in an explosion of black smoke, and she stood flabbergasted for a second as her eyes searched for me. I phased back into view directly behind her and kept my chuckles in as her head turned back and forth and searched desperately for me. In one swift movement, I dropped the God Slayer and wrapped my arms around her from behind. Rana shrieked and tried to scurry away, but I held on tightly and buried my face in her neck.