Warm radiating pain drew Vicktor back from oblivion, his heaving chest a pipe of infinitesimal shards of gss, his blood suffused with molten lead, his brain crushed by a fathomless depth.

  He was alive, conscious, and regretting every st iota of the experience. His head was resting upon something, but he could feel the soil beneath the rest of him. The pain was so all-encompassing and oppressive that he didn't even realize someone was talking to him, an unfamiliar voice.

  "Sorry kid, there's not much I can do about the pain of asphyxiation and hypoxia. I don't want to mess with any of your nerves right now, you'll be..."

  A new pain arose from his sternum even worse than before. His eyes shot open, lights dancing in his vision. A healer had been rubbing his knuckles on his sternum. Vicktor had no clue how it was so painful.

  "As I was saying, you'll be fine. No major damage, that boon of Calva's Chosen only prevented voluntary muscle movement's, your heart never stopped beating. You had the decency to be on solid ground..."

  The kneeling man paused and spared a gnce somewhere behind Vicktor.

  "You kid's py rough. Your avian friend wasn't so lucky. His innate flight magics and physiology helped him not break his neck on impact, but all six of his limbs were broken. I had to triage him first, at least the other team's healer helped me fix broken bones and ribs. She's a natural, all Chosen are, but I wasn't nearly as good at her age."

  He pced a hand on an exposed leg. Vicktor felt that he might have been able to resist the infiltration, but chose not to. The man nodded, then froze, his eyes quickly darting towards Vicktor's face, then paused on his chest for a moment before sighing.

  "Oh to live in such interesting times. Master Tosk of all people aye? Everyone has a clean bill of health, but no more fighting for the rest of the day. Rector's orders."

  The man stood, suddenly supporting an unseen weight. He nodded back to Vicktor, then strode casually back to the post he had been leaning against when the fight had started. The unseen weight vanished three steps into the stride, returning to a calm, collected gait.

  Vicktor id in the sand for a moment before a question rose to his mind, what was his neck resting on?!

  He turned his head to the right, hearing a soft clink of metal on metal and finally understood. Next to his eye y a ptinum tasset and a toned silver leg ending in a scaled foot with sharp talons.

  "You're paying for drinks" the dragon chuckled warmly, "Although I guess I still owe you dinner huh?"

  He adjusted his head on her thigh, looking up at Selia, his only discomfort being general soreness pervading him.

  "I was underground for the end, what happened? Didn't you get hit by Ar's turrets? I think I heard you break a wing?"

  Selia smiled and pce a hand on his shoulder, the gentle weight a surprising comfort.

  "Over drinks and dinner, almost nobody escaped that fight uninjured, we should recount everything together. We don't want to make enemies of powerful Mages"

  Vicktor paused, letting the soft moment st for just a bit longer.

  "Alright then!" He rose to his feet, then offered her a hand. She smiled once more, grabbing his hand and let herself be pulled to her feet. They held on tight, she was not light with all that armor.

  Their csped hands released not a moment before they had both righted themselves. Vicktor looked around for his fellow apprentices. They were where the healer had looked earlier. Two Mages and Four Chosen stood in a small semi-circle, watching as they approached. Ar was unconsciously rubbing at his back, his beak raise in a smile.

  Everyone seemed in good spirits and greeted the approaching pair with a wave.

  "You're a scary fucker Vicktor" Gralgra chortled, "But I think this terror-bird has you beat on firepower" spping Ar's back.

  "You sure? You barely flinched!"

  "Yes, I–"

  "No talk of battle until we are all three ales deep" Havn quipped, then turned and walked away, kicking sand dramatically. "To the Whimpering Whelp!"

  The Whimpering Whelp was rge single story building a few blocks from the Chosen's training area. Their party walked in four rows of two, chatting about local restaurants, tailors, and bcksmiths. Something about being in a rge group made Vicktor happy, like he was a part of something. The clicking of Selia's talons on the stone street next to him was surprisingly loud, Ar was far quiter, but he was also probably far lighter.

  Lav went to hold the rge door open for everyone, noting: "Less Chosen come here, than the bar closer to the arena. That one is kind of a stickler for their 'NO MAGES' rule. Some nonsense about a wizard paying with fake gold coins a hundred years back. Plus most Chosen don't know how to drink!"

  Vicktor wasn't sure if that was true for Chosen in general, but these five certainly knew how to spend his, Nora's and Ar's coin on brews of every grain. It wasn't until everyone had finished their fourth drink and had collectively devoured entire loaves of buttered bread, onion soup, and two full racks of swine ribs.

  Two busty human barmaids had just finished collecting the mugs, bowls, and trays when Havn, spped the wooden circur table.

  "What a fight! Havn enjoyed it despite getting thoroughly trounced! Havn didn't even hit anyone!"

  Ar countered quickly, "You kept me too high up, you still almost hit me several times, Havn. If you weren't there, Selia might've had a better chance to get at Vicktor. Plus, I might've been able to figure out Meryl's boon if nobody was lobbing a dozen daggers at me."

  "True. True. I still got hit in the chest with that damned shot of yours."

  Gralgra rested her giant hairy arm on Ar's slender shoulder.

  "Hey you weren't the only one. I don't usually take it on the chest."

  The rge woman giggled fiercely, she had drunk far more of Vicktor's coin than Havn, or anyone else. "Stood my ground too! Even though that probably woulda killed me without the protections."

  Vicktor spoke up, his curiosity growing faster than his manners could restrain himself.

  "Alright, Nora. What happened with you? I didn't see you at all."

  "I went hunting, I killed Meryl twice before she managed to use her boon on me. Stars above I hate that thing. I could use my magic on my muscles just fine, but I couldn't move them in the slightest."

  The two busy barmaids arrived with another round of drinks.

  "CHEERS!" Mugs cnked and they all drunk deeply.

  "So anyway," Vicktor continued, attempting to ignore the metaphorical hole emptying in his bank account "Meryl? How does that boon even work? I guess I don't know how most boon's work..."

  The small woman had removed her mask to eat and drink, her bck hair cascaded down onto her bleached bone corset, she had remained immacute despite eating and drinking as much as the rest of them. The white mask y over one breast.

  "Ray of False Death, it was first given to a priest of Calva five hundred years ago. It was a way to assist couples who wished to elope or run away from their overbearing families. It disrupts the souls connection to part of the nervous system. It's not a common boon, generally you have to know it's avaible and then want it. It's non-lethal and often picked by those who want to be mage-hunters or one of a few priests who will still help people fake their deaths. I am one of the former, I became aware of its existence because of the tter. Maiden Calva has not commented or weighed in on it's use to any of her Chosen. It, like so many other divine matters, it is a moral judgment up to the Chosen themselves."

  "Huh, okay. How would I fight against it?"

  "It requires line-of-sight and I need to channel it for a few seconds before releasing it, hence the two arrows I took to the chest. I do not fear death, but being struck in the same pce, twice in a row made me worried I would meet the Maiden. Get better at keeping your mage-sight active permanently. It's not easy, but must be done during a fight."

  Ar and Nora looked slightly disappointed and Vicktor felt simirly. They had likely hoped there would have been some easy way to counter it, but there seemed to be none. At least it was single target...

  "Cheer up!" Lav had a wide smile on her handsome face. "You almost won the fight at the very end. You got every single one of us in that huge sand trap of yours, it probably would've counted if that soil hardening didn't end when you lost consciousness and Selia kissed air back into you. You should have seen her face after, beet red!"

  Selia's cheeks reddened and hid her face behind a quickly draining mug of ale.

  "Wait, I got everyone?"

  "Yeah even that healer, Ar and Nora. Everyone. Great Job."

  "Oh..."

  Vicktor fell silent for a moment, a few of chosen cocked their head in confusion. Nora and Ar's eyes gleamed with a hidden light.

  "Oh, I intentionally broke apart that sandstone after a moment, if I had passed out, the sandstone would have actually remained solid. I guess we actually won that then, right? Or would it have been a tie?"

  The five Chosen's jaws dropped. Beer dripped down Gralgra and Lav's chins.

  Selia stammered, "So it was a tie, we all would've died. Shit, Shit Fuck. I don't get your secret..."

  "Havn have to pay for beer? Havn Sad" Said Havn.

  "We can still pay," Ar said coolly, "It was a tie, we didn't really win."

  Lav spoke up for the rest of the Chosen, "We'll throw in the cash to tip the waitresses."

  "Sure!" Vicktor wanted to deescate the situation. "All the beer and soup has gotten to me, I need to hit the restroom! Let's try not to kill our new friends."

  He stood, turning to leave when Selia grabbed his arm, stood, then lowered her maw to his ear and whispered into it, the hot breath sending pleasant shivers down his spine.

  "now"

  "Huh?" Turning his head to look at her.

  "your reward, now."