Gray and Settie didn’t say five words on their way back to the Bonny’s Inn. They didn’t fly, and Settie didn’t say why. Gray was fairly certain that after their second kiss, she didn’t want to get that close to them.

  Settie found a last-minute carriage system in the Dice Market that people used to get themselves home after drinking too much, and of course gambling. Gray and Rynn hadn’t been able to talk about how they might pay Pinch back for bribing the guards, but maybe Gray could make money in the Dice Market at a game of chance. He considered that in the carriage on the way back—Settie rode outside.

  At the Lust City gate, the Fae guards wanted to inspect his stick, which had survived holding that much sloth mana inside of it. Their magic mirror didn’t show any signs of demonic energy, and they were free to go.

  Settie paid for the carriage and didn’t speak to him at all. She went to her room, and Gray went to his.

  Rynn met him at the door and pulled him inside. “Grayson Fade, you have got to quit kissing the captain! My heart can’t take it. I’m assuming that was who you were kissing. Maybe it wasn’t? That would be such a relief. I mean, there is no way I could compete with Princess Cassandra. Oh, wait, I don’t have to. We’re bonded, so bonded, that I could hardly think straight with you being gone, and you were so far away. Where did you go? Oh, right, probably Pit City. Wait. You didn’t go back in Old Town, did you?”

  “No, not Old Town—”

  Then she was off and running. “It just hurts. I try not to get jealous, and I know that you can’t be with anyone else, but then, I get worried. Maybe you can. Maybe I accidentally bonded with the reincarnation of Akazel the Bound, and you’ll have fifty wives. Do I want that? Do I not want that? Dammit, Mr. No, you have complicated my life.”

  “No, we won’t have fifty wives. And Settie won’t kiss me again. She didn’t want to kiss me tonight, and I didn’t want her to either. Trust me.” But he wasn’t going to tell her that their captain had gotten even more intimate with him. Rynn was already struggling.

  Gray kissed her cheek and then moved past her. Settie had brought more of Bonny’s tea with her, and he’d drank some at the Widow’s place. Now, it didn’t make his fingers and toes tingle, but it did take away the pain of his flesh. He planned on drinking more of the tea for the petal milk. At this point, the pain that had enveloped his entire body was gone but his brands still hurt.

  He picked up Rynn’s bloodless blade. He gave her smile. “I’ve been waiting months to do this.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Wait. What? Did you go to the Widow? You went to the Widow. That’s why Settie kissed you. Did it work?”

  He took a breath, felt his chest expand, and then accessed his mana. Instead of giving it to someone else, he channeled it up his body and down his right arm. The sword ignited with light and then started to buzz. “Want to spar?”

  Rynn raced over and grabbed him, kissed him, and before he knew it, they were on the bed. He wound up on his back with her on top of him. He’d been cleaned, but he still hadn’t had a proper bath. He couldn’t have smelled too good, but she didn’t seem to care. She was perfectly clean.

  She gazed down at him. “It worked. Your meridians are working. Gray, this is…this is wonderful.” She then started to cry.

  He hadn’t expected that. He pulled her down and held her.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “It worked. It was so terrifying in Old Town, with those squids, and then with the guards. And Pinch is such horrid person. She stripped when they got into the bathroom, and it was so strange, and she laughed at me when I didn’t. Then Ames came in, and she started to get naked, and then, I ran from them. I waited until they were done, and then I went. Ames said nothing happened, and nothing could’ve, right? I mean, between girls, if there is, uh, the sex act, it can still create the bond. I don’t think that happened. She makes me feel so weak, Gray. She makes me question everything there is to know about me.”

  He pulled them both up, so they were facing each other, sitting on the bed. “We are done with Pinch. Forever. She has no power over us. I don’t know what is going on between her and Ames, but it doesn’t matter. Ames is loyal to our squad. And you are a very good fighter. We are going to win Soulshred Week. Just you watch.”

  Rynn sighed. “I can’t stop seeing her face, so angry, and her fists, hitting me, over and over, and I didn’t fight back. I can’t stop thinking about it. And then she saved us? She saved us twice. And we’re not done with her. We owe her a thousand shekels, and I’m not sure Father will give me that much money. And we can’t win Soulshred Week.”

  He laughed. “Why can’t we? She has no power over us. The evidence is gone. It’s her word against ours, and I don’t remember promising to let her win every game of Chaotica. I didn’t make any oaths that she can prove. And I think she knows that.”

  “What if I can’t lie?” Rynn asked.

  “I can do all the lying. Some people don’t deserve the truth. Pinch is one of those people.” He swept her tears away with his thumbs.

  Rynn glanced down. “I should be happy for you.”

  “No, you should be happy for the squad. This changes everything, don’t you see? Nothing is ever going to be the same.”

  Rynn touched his chest. “Can I see…can I see the brands?”

  Gray stripped off his shirt, which was perfectly clean. They were going to need to look into buying an enchanted chest for that. Settie had healed him, but the brand was still an angry pink color. He then stripped to his underclothes.

  He pointed to the circular brand on his chest. “It’s Midmere. It’s the waters of the Null Breaks with the Crown at the top and the Belly on the bottom. My left ankle has the brand that represents hell.” It was a circle with flames knifing up into the circle. He then showed her the brand on his right ankle, which was a circle with a triangle in the center with wings on either side. “Lastly, that represents heaven. so I have water, earth, flames, and wings. And my meridians are working. I’m not sure I’ll sleep.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Rynn frowned. “Are you in pain? Does it hurt?”

  “I drank the tea. I don’t feel all that dizzy because it’s dealing with the pain. Without the tea, I’m assuming I wouldn’t be able to function.” He turned and showed him her back.

  She let out a breath. “Your second mana mark is completely inked in. It’s beautiful. You’re an acolyte now. Like the rest of us.”

  “I am.” The itching was gone, and all that remained was his power.

  “It’s because of the trayah jalana,” Rynn whispered. “I didn’t think I would ever see it. You hear about it in legends of Zaccai of the Fire, but to actually see it? I kind of can’t believe it. I’d be okay if you were Zaccai of the Fire. He only had one wife.”

  Gray smiled. “I’m not Zaccai, and I’m not Akazel. I’m just me. We did it. Settie was mad, yes, and she stopped talking to me, but I think that was more about the kiss than anything else. Tomorrow, we’ll go to the field, and I’ll finally be able to use magic like I want.”

  Rynn sat on the bed. “And maybe you won’t need me.”

  He went and knelt. “I will, Rynn. I will need you. Always.”

  And that made her cry again.

  They talked more, long into the night, but Rynn couldn’t let go of her doubts. Gray eventually did fall asleep, after his second round of the tea, and he thought he went to the place of water and stars, but he couldn’t remember. It was like he was pulled down into the sea, down through the spirits of the dead, and into the darkness at the beginning of the universe, where there was no light at all.

  * * *

  Out on the Chaotica field the next day, Tomi sniffed the air. “I smell fish. And I smell it from Gray. Did you take a trip to Pubis Port? Or it is your time of the month?”

  Ames blushed, Rynn winced, and Midj’s mouth fell open. “Tomika Ka! You can’t say such things. You can’t.”

  All of them were standing in the center of the fields, bloodless blades in their hands, when Settie strode up to them carrying her net of balls. “We will not be scrimmaging Squad One again. And I refuse to call them the Winners. I absolutely refuse. I am in the process of finding other teams for us to play again, but for today, we’ll run some drills. Gray will pair up with each of you and run for the goal line. The three of you will try and stop them with everything in your power. Ames and I are here with healing spells, so do not hold back.”

  Tomi laughed. “I don’t want to hurt Gray.”

  Midj nodded, wincing a little. “Yeah, he’s, uh, kind of easy to take down. Because, you know, the whole meridians thing.”

  Settie scowled at him. “You haven’t told them?”

  He shook his head. Then he filled the bloodless blade with mana. It came alive, glowing with a bright golden light and sparkling with magic. A few raindrops fell from the cloudy sky, and they sizzled off the blade.

  Ames smiled and walked over and hugged him for a long time. Too long of a time. He eventually had to ease her back.

  “It worked,” she said, tears in her eyes.

  He nodded. “It worked. I’m a full acolyte now.” He got a little teary himself. He wanted to ask her about her time with Pinch in the bathhouse the night before but there hadn’t been a good time.

  Midj came over and took his hand. “Mother’s oven, Gray. It must’ve been the tea. I thought you said it just gave you tingles.”

  Before he could say anything, Settie cleared her throat. “I told you all that I would find a solution in Lust city, and I did. Let us be glad for it. Now, we only have a few weeks before the Soulshred Starts. We must be at our best.”

  Tomi cocked her head. “So what magic is he going to get? I mean, the resonances don’t matter as much for the less magi. However, I’m curious about what he can do.”

  “As am I,” Settie said. “Let’s do a little race across the field. All of you will use your mana, including Gray. Now, Gray, you’ve felt your mana go through your meridians and into the bloodless blade. You’ll now let it travel down through your legs.”

  “To the brands?” Gray asked.

  Settie glared at him and didn’t say another word for a long time.

  “Wait!” Tomi shrieked. “You got the trayah jalana! Like Zaccai of the Fire? No. I have to see them. Heaven, hell, Midmere, yes!

  She came over and tried to strip Gray herself. Gray only stared at Settie. She’d been foolish to think they could hide the source of his cure. Yes, he didn’t need to tell them about their poaching trip. It was best that Tomi and Midj remain in the dark. But he couldn’t let her or Bonny get any credit.

  After he took off his jacket and shirt, Tomi couldn’t stop smiling. “Now, be careful. You have a ton of mana. When I first started to run with mana, well, I hurt my muscles. We’ll have to take it easy. This is amazing. This is totally amazing.”

  “Yes,” Settie said with a scowl. “Now, let’s ee if he can use his newfound powers.”

  They were back at the far end of the field with the entire field in front of them—the red kill strip, the muddy grass of both base fields, the kill strip at the other end, and the end zone.

  Gray turned to Rynn. “Any tips?”

  “It’s like Tomi said. Don’t strain yourself. You can channel the mana through your meridians, yes, but your muscles might not be able to take the extra power. You could tear something.”

  “But I can be healed, right?” he asked.

  Rynn called to the Quelling elf. “Can you heal torn muscles?”

  “I can.” She paused. “A small tip for Gray. If you are having trouble, breathe with your legs. The mana will know what to do.”

  He laughed. “Breathe with my legs? Okay. And I’ll eat the run with my feet because my toes are so hungry.”

  Ames nodded without cracking a smile. “You are correct.”

  Gray closed his eyes, felt his core, and then pushed power down into his legs. He felt the power radiate out into his muscles. He couldn’t believe how strong he felt.

  Settie had a bloodless blade. “We’ll start with a Beastkin salute. There is a time to rest. There is a time to run. First runner to reach the opposite goal line wins.”

  Gray and the rest of his squad bowed and repeated the words.

  The dragon woman raised the sword and then let it drop. “Run!”

  Rynn was the fastest off the line, followed by Midj, who immediately started to slim down. Ames followed, and then Tomi, who might not have been giving it her all. She wasn’t in her huge cat beast form, and that was probably to give her less bulk so she would be quicker.

  Gray was sprinting, but he couldn’t keep up. He felt the muscles in his legs working, he felt his heart pounding, he felt the air filling his lungs, and yes, he had mana, but he wasn’t using it right. He wanted to go faster. He wanted his leg muscles to be bigger, stronger, better. He had the mana in his core and in his meridians, he just had to use it.

  It started to rain, but the weather didn’t matter, not one bit.

  What had Ames said? Breathe with his legs?

  He wasn’t sure how to do that, but he could imagine his breath going to his legs. He inhaled and imagined that breath going down to his muscles, and that was what did it. He took off but ran too fast, tripped into Tomi, and both ended up on the ground.

  Tomi grabbed him and hugged him unexpectedly. “You did it! You felt that, right? Because you’re using ancient brands, just like Zaccai. Level with me. Do you feel like an avatar?”

  Gray laughed as he sprang to his feet. But his muscles were so filled with mana, he jumped too high and yelped as he sailed back down. He didn’t land right and ended up on his butt. He got up, a bit more careful, and took off. But again, he breathed too much mana into his legs, and he tripped and ended up on his chest.

  By that time, Midj came jogging back. “I won, sure, but Gray really can do it. He really does have mana now. For real. Oh, boy.”

  Settie sighed. “I had a drill planned, but first, Gray needs to learn how to run. And to fight, I would imagine. Would he breathe with his sword, Amaranthis?”

  She nodded. “Exactly.”

  It was going to be a long day.