Ana dismissed the notifications. Skill levels. Fine. Perks to help her manipulate others. Lovely. Crystals. Great. She wasn’t in any mood to care. She wanted to disappear, but she couldn’t. The vendor selling some kind of fried grains with vegetables had just refused her money, pushing a heaping serving at her as though it were a religious offering.

  While Ana looked around for a place to sit, Marra Falk, the missing captain’s wife, dragged her into the guardhouse and up to the second floor, so that she could eat away from staring eyes. She must have somehow silently communicated to Ana’s friends that they shouldn’t come, because they’d all stayed behind, even Messy. Ana had been too surprised, but not threatened enough, to put up a fight. The Clerk had very literally dragged her inside, displaying a strength that might rival Ana’s own and a determination that made Ana simply go along with her.

  Ana hadn’t spoken to Marra since the last time she met captain Falk, but she’d heard that the older woman was keeping the guards organized in her husband’s absence. She was holding up surprisingly well, and her voice was steady when she asked Ana, “The Wayfarer told you that the expedition may still be alive?”

  Ana nodded. “She said that they’d gone into a Delve and hadn’t come out, but that some were still praying to her. That was all she could tell me.”

  “All right.” Marra’s tone made it clear that a decision had been made, irrevocable and implacable. “I’m with you. The guard’s a shambles right now anyway, and it’ll just have to do without me. Where can you use me?”

  “A Clerk? I don’t know, I— we’re testing spear formations right now. Can you use a spear? Do you have any weapon Skills at all?”

  Marra had listened to her with a kind smile. “Girl,” she said. “I haven’t been a secretary my whole life. I was a Delver until Tober got his promotion, and only took this job since he’d be stuck in the office all day, and I wanted to keep him company. I’m a Clerk, sure; a whole 3 levels of it. The other 25 are in Vanguard. A melee Class that rewards a high Perception,” she clarified at Ana’s questioning look. “I can use pretty much any melee weapon you put in my hands. I may be a little rusty. Soft around the edges. I’ve been eating more and training less than I should these past few years. But you want me to hold a spear? I’ll hold a spear.”

  Ana felt off balance after what Messy had told her — the Wayfarer had given her wings as she spoke to the gathered militia, pretty much confirming Ana as her chosen champion in this place. There was no chance of her having anything resembling privacy in this place from now on. And here Marra was, as an immediate consequence of her speech, not so much volunteering for the militia as ordering Ana to let her join.

  “All right,” she said. “Talk to… I think Drisa at Administration is handling volunteers for the militia, but you may as well join us now for the afternoon class. Is that okay?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Marra said. “But if you want some advice…?”

  “Sure.”

  “You need to get used to giving orders outside of the yard. After what just happened, people are going to start looking to you for direction, no matter where you meet them. I know that it can be hard to order around people that you like. My Tober had all kinds of trouble with it in the beginning. But sometimes a clear command is more important than letting everyone figure out the best thing to do together, and unless Captain Pirta decides to fully embrace the role of martial leader in Tober’s absence, you’ll be the one that people expect to give those commands. I get the feeling that you’re not entirely comfortable, but that’s just how it’s going to be. Sorry, girl.”

  “Yeah. Appreciate it. The advice and the sympathy.”

  Marra rose, hands on her knees. “Right. Now, I’ll go upstairs and change, and you’ll finish your midday meal in peace. I’ll see you in the yard, Miss Cole.”

  “Ana.”

  “Hmm?”

  “Call me Ana.”

  Marra smiled and patted Ana’s hand affectionately. “I’ll see you in the yard, then, Ana.”

  The afternoon class was as successful as the one in the morning, to the point that Ana asked some of the officers to go around to the smiths and stores to see how many spears and similar polearms they could realistically get their hands on and how quickly. It did take some doing to get people fighting, though. Most of those who showed up in the yard, of which a third weren’t even members of the militia, just stood around gawking at her, probably expecting her to burst into divine light, or sprout wings and fly off, or something equally ridiculous. Ana had to channel her inner, slightly toned down R. Lee Ermey to get things rolling, but once she figured out how to express nearly murderous annoyance through her Connection things went a lot smoother. She even scared some of the civvies into joining!

  “Come on! Put some effort into it! Don’t worry about hurting ‘em!” Ana screamed at Seljen, the middle-aged washerwoman she went to for her own laundry. “If you can swing a laundry stick you can swing a spear!”

  “I— I don’t think—” the woman protested, standing shoulder to shoulder with two other women of a similar age. They were standing in the second line, each holding an eight foot pole, fending off their neighbors and customers who were trying to get their red-stained hands on anyone they could in the small formation.

  “You don’t need to think! You need to keep those psychos from pulling down the man in front of you, because if you don’t you’re next! Now thrust! There you go! That’s it! Don’t worry about hurting them, that’s what healing potions are for!”

  Ana had a lot of anxiety and frustration bottled up, and she was going to share it with anyone foolish or brave enough to get close.

  “Thirty three spears, fourteen pikes, fifteen halberds, nine polaxes, and seven long weapons that defy description,” Tellak told Ana that evening. The numbers were the total count of the available polearms in the outpost. Ana, Tellak, and Messy were sitting in Touanne’s shop, the Healer having excused herself as they talked about weapons and violence in general. “And the smiths say that they could produce plenty of heads in the next few days, but the hafts could be a problem. Not enough seasoned wood that’s long enough. Even unseasoned wood is hard to come by right now.”

  “How about longswords?” Ana said. “Could we use those?”

  “There are certainly a number available, but for people with little to no experience? I’d be worried about them hurting each other, honestly.”

  “All right. That’s still nearly eighty weapons that we can give to green recruits. And I plan to get us access to the forest in the next week or two.”

  “Are we ready?” Messy asked nervously. Ana understood her anxiety. They were going outside the palisade the next day, and the prospect of combat was becoming very real. And one day of fighting in formation may as well be nothing at all.

  “We’ll have to be,” Ana said, running her thumb over the back of Messy’s hand. “I wish we had three months to train everyone, but with every day that passes there’s going to be more crazies. Every day, there’s the risk that a farm might fall, or that someone in the expedition dies. We can’t wait forever.”

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  “You’re right,” Messy said. “I’m just worried about— what if I can’t do it? We’ve been training, sure. Most of us have been training away from your classes, too, fighting each other. But that’s all make-believe. What if we can’t force ourselves to hurt them, when it comes down to it?”

  “That’s why everyone’s in a group with their friends,” Ana whispered. It hadn’t been her idea. Pirta had chosen the groups. But she’d seen the pattern immediately. “Messy, you may find it hard to hurt someone if they’re going after you. But I can guarantee that if it’s Petra about to get bitten, you won’t hesitate. If Deni’s about to get pulled down, you will kill. You’ll do fine, and we’ll all be there for each other afterward. That’s going to be the hard part. The aftermath.”

  “Why? I’d think killing someone would be the hard part.”

  Ana shook her head. “Killing someone when you have to, or when you’re angry enough, is easy. People do it all the time. It’s living with yourself afterward that’s the hard part. Of course,” she added in a whisper. “I’ve never had that problem.”

  “Angel, you need to stop hurting yourself over that,” Messy said.

  “Angel?” Tellak said, raising an eyebrow. Ana blushed.

  “It fits, doesn’t it?” Messy said. “She’s my angel. After today, more than ever.”

  “She’s your…” Tellak looked between the two of them, then at their linked hands. “Oh. Oh! Sure, that makes more sense, then. Should I keep quiet about this, or…?”

  “You don’t need to announce it in the square,” Ana said, “but we haven’t exactly been hiding it. You’re far from the first to figure it out. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Right. Right.” Tellak cleared her throat, looking somewhat flustered. “Congratulations? I’m— Anyway. Messy! The surprise?”

  “Smooth,” Messy snorted. “Very subtle change of topic. But, yes. Sure. Ana, close your eyes!”

  Ana raised her eyebrow minutely at her now pretty much official girlfriend then did as she’d been asked.

  “Okay, you can open them again,” Messy said after a moment.

  On the table lay a small pile of Growth Crystals.

  “What's this?” Ana asked.

  “Crystals,” Messy said glibly.

  “I can see that.” Ana felt oddly flustered. Tellak and Messy were both smiling at her, and even Touanne had found her way to the front of the shop, drawn by some invisible signal. “Why?”

  “Because you’re level 9, and we’re going into battle tomorrow,” Tellak said. “It was Wandak’s idea. The Swordsman with all the piercings? He started a collection from the officers. Everybody chipped in until we had enough to get you to 10, guaranteed — It’s an important level, you know? — and then we kept going.”

  “Listen, I don’t—”

  Tellak cut Ana’s protest off. “You will. You’re a figurehead who’ll be leading from the front, and we need you to stay alive. And Level 10 is important. Most Classes get a seriously powerful Ability at level 10, and I doubt yours is any different. We’ll be trying to get other people to 5, 10, or 15 if they’re close, as well. So take them. Use everything you need to level. Then give the rest back if you feel uncomfortable about keeping them, but I say get yourself to 11 if you can.”

  Ana silently looked at the three women in the room with her, then picked up one of the Crystals. Even without inspecting it looked like a Major, if she had it right. Adding them all up, there were at least 8000 points worth of Crystals there. She had three Lessers, seven Minors, a Major, and a Greater herself, for a total of 4100 points.

  She wanted to refuse. She didn’t need charity. But… it wasn’t charity, was it? It was a gift, from people who wanted to see her succeed, who believed in her. Who believed that she was their best hope. They were using her to invest in their own immediate futures.

  If she ate all her own Crystals, she’d need another 6300 points to get to level 11. She gingerly picked up a Greater Crystal, the largest on the table, and absorbed it into her storage. The others smiled, and nodded at her encouragingly.

  “All right,” she said. “Thank you.”

  With that she picked up exactly 4700 points worth of additional Crystals, and ate everything she was holding.

  The combined effect of gaining two or three points in every Attribute, and three Enhancements all kicking in at once, sure was something! Ana shook her head, willing the world to stop shaking. At the same time her already sensitive hearing expanded to take in seemingly every detail in and outside of the house. She could hear five heartbeats and five different breaths, each distinct. She could hear the subtle creaking of Jancia’s bed, and the soft bubbling of something in Touanne’s lab, and yet it wasn’t overwhelming. Everything was just there, available if it should interest her and in the background if not.

  Then Messy’s heart rate shot up. She practically moaned and collapsed forward in her seat, her forehead hitting the table as her nails dug at the wood. Ana was out of her chair and beside her in an instant, one arm gently wrapped around her shoulders as she put her cheek flat on the table, trying to look in Messy’s eyes, trying to make sure that she was all right. Tellak and Touanne were right behind her.

  “Mess! Are you okay, Mess?”

  “Ana! Oh, gods beyond! Ana!” Messy’s eyes were half closed as she panted into the surface of the table. “What— what just— oh, gods, I feel good!”

  “You—? Oh. Oh!” Ana laughed with relief as she remembered the Ability, whose description she’d barely read. “You just got hit by 11 points of Vitality, Mess. It’s a Party effect from my new Ability.”

  “That’s what Vitality feels like?” Messy was mumbling, like she was only half there. “Why haven’t I been boosting my Vitality all the time?”

  Meanwhile Touanne had been checking Messy’s vitals magically, her hands on her fellow elfin woman’s arms. “She’ll be fine,” Touanne confirmed. “She just experienced some… unexpected, extreme well-being.”

  “Are you in a Party?” Tellak asked, looking confused. “Why? Actually, forget I asked. So your new Ability gives your Party a bonus to their Vitality equal to your level? That’s strong!”

  “We are, for our own reasons, yes,” Ana confirmed, still smiling down at the dopey look on Messy’s face. “And that’s not all the Ability does. It boosts Endurance, too. And it lets me share my Enhancements for both Attributes.”

  “At what range?”

  “No limit.”

  Tellak let out a long, slow whistle. “That’s one hell of a level 10 Ability. I had no idea Companions got such strong Party boosts!”

  “Yeah… Tellak. Touanne. There’s something you two should know.”

  Ana didn’t tell them the full details of her Class, but she told them that it was a hidden combat Class, focused on protecting others. Neither seemed terribly surprised, nor annoyed that she’d kept it secret for these past weeks. If anything, they expressed gratitude that she’d chosen to share the secret with them at all. And if Ana had told Touanne previously, in some weak moment — she honestly couldn’t remember — the Healer was far too polite to mention it.

  “Sorry, Mess,” Ana said as they were walking home after squeezing in some practice in both shaping and masking. Her new Acuity Enhancement had helped significantly, letting her focus on multiple aspects of the mana constructs at once.

  “Whatever for, Angel?”

  “For surprising you like that, when my new Ability kicked in. And my Class was kind of a secret between the two of us, wasn’t it?”

  “Ana, if you ever want to surprise me like that again, go ahead. Anywhere, anytime. I can’t put into words how good it felt. I’m still tingling! Do you know my Endurance and Vitality are both more than two thirds higher? By the wild and wandering Goddess, I can’t remember the last time I felt so alive!”

  “And the secret?”

  “Is yours to tell, to whoever you wish. Besides, I know everything it does. They don’t. Besides, I…” Messy smirked and leaned in, kissing Ana on the cheek, “am your ‘Object of Devotion.’ I win by default.”

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