“Brivaria, where did you go!?” Nyx all but shouted. The cat girl’s ears twitched and her tail swished in irritation.

  They were on the street outside the Decrune mansion. The rest of her team forced their way into the mansion when Brivaria abruptly disappeared from the Herd window in the System menu. Thankfully the guard hadn’t been called to arrest them. There’d been no portal to the Between when they’d gone down to the basement. They’d just found the dropped mana lamp and some empty rooms. Kseniya had cast numerous spells to look for where the missing people went but to no avail.

  It was only when Trixie bolted out of the basement, up the stairs, and began pawing at the front door that they realized something was up. They’d let the dog out of the house and she’d shot off into the streets. Brivaria and Talver were almost to the mansion when the fluffy, golden missile zoomed up and nearly tackled Brivaria to the ground. Brivaria ended up sitting on the sidewalk while the dog sniffed, licked, and nuzzled her. She could see and feel how worried Trixie had been. The angel hugged her dog while the rest of her team came down the street in the wake of the sunchaser.

  “We were worried when you disappeared from the herd,” Giselle added. Kseniya winced as they weren’t supposed to talk about that but Guardsman Talver didn’t seem to notice.

  “We were sucked into the Between. We found more Ogramites with Decrune weapons and armor. I also saw a number of monsters waiting in formation in the Between. Actually, why don’t we get something to eat while we talk? I’m starving. How about you, Guardsman Talver?” the angel asked, looking up at the guardsman.

  “I am kind of hungry now that you mention it. We need to inform the household of the manservant’s, uh, demise first,” he said after a pause. The angel’s wings drooped. She’d forgotten about the butler or steward or whatever he was. They’d never found his body but he was almost certainly dead.

  The Decrune staff did not take things well. The man’s name was, or had been, Harmon. Guardsman Talver was willing to swear under truth spell that neither he nor Brivaria played a part in the man’s fate but that did little to assuage the household’s ire. They were furious and vowed that they would seek justice for the missing man. They swore that Guardsman Talver would be hanged, removed from the watch, or both. They would have sworn the same or similar for Brivaria if not for Kseniya’s hostile glare. It was a bad, frustrating situation and Brivaria was glad to be away from the crying and shouting once they were gone.

  “Idiots, we did not put the monsters below their home,” Kseniya said under her breath as the group walked or slithered away. There were murmurs of agreement from Nyx and Giselle but the angel didn’t say anything.

  As an angel trained in intervention, it had always been her mission to get everyone home safely. She wasn’t naive enough to think she could save everyone. She’d learned that a couple cycles ago. Things were different now though. She couldn’t just go home to Heaven when the job was done regardless of its outcome. The people she saved or failed didn’t simply disappear, never to be seen again. She was stuck on Zlithia now. She would have to live with her failures and whatever ramifications came with them.

  That wasn’t to say she blamed herself for Harmon’s death. He was just unlucky. At least, that was what Brivaria thought at first. The more she considered it, the less certain she was. It was fairly odd that there happened to be a portal at the entrance to the armory and a monster standing immediately on the other side with a blade ready to stab whoever was there when it opened.

  It was equally odd the monster had pulled Harmon inside rather than charging out. She hadn’t seen the monster but assumed it was an Ogramite given their sheer numbers in the spaces that resembled Barton. Yet, that behavior was different from that of others. Every Ogramite she’d fought so far had charged at her. That was simply how they behaved. This one had behaved in a most peculiar fashion.

  If there was a force capable of making them form orderly lines like Zlithian soldiers then who was to say there wasn’t one capable of ordering a single monster to stand somewhere and guard a portal? Sure there was the matter of the portals themselves being quasi random but if someone had skills to make the monsters in the Between obey their commands then would it be a stretch to assume they had skills to manipulate entrances and exits too?

  She was still thinking of it a couple hours later at the Fleece and Flagon. They’d gone by the watch barracks first in order to ward off any possible complaints from the Decrune household. Watch Captain Hudson had not been present but they’d told the next most senior guardsman the whole story. They were assured the story would be relayed to the captain in its entirety and then headed off for food.

  Everyone’s collective stomachs were rumbling by the time they arrived at the Fleece and Flagon. Trixie’s tail was steadily rising in WPM (wags per minute) when they entered. The dog could smell all the good food and she let out a soft bark when Nyx asked if she wanted something to eat. Once they were seated and eating, the discussion began in earnest.

  Brivaria and Talver gave the complete version of events in the Between. Kseniya’s face was carefully neutral while the story was rehashed. Nyx asked lots of questions and Giselle became particularly scared when they got to the part about the monsters walking around in the Between version of the city.

  “They could be all around us? Even right now?” the deer girl asked with wide eyes.

  “They could and it’s so damn frustrating,” Talver shouted. His words drew looks from other tables.

  “Enough.” Kseniya finally broke her silence. “From what I understand, this is normal. These monsters exist but they sit outside our world. That they exist is not the problem. That someone is letting them in is the problem, you know?”

  “What are the odds whoever is behind this decides to make their move on the day of the hunt?” Nyx asked.

  “Pretty high though I think if the objective was to kill the nobility then they would have struck the party instead,” the angel pondered aloud. Everyone thought about that but Giselle simply looked confused.

  “If adventurers are good at fighting monsters then why send the monsters to fight adventurers?” the deer girl asked.

  “You…” Nyx started to respond but then stopped to think about that. “You wouldn’t. Wait, the nobility are going to be surrounded by adventurers during the hunt. Every noble will have a full adventuring team all set to protect them.”

  “Every noble except Count Dancarlo who has suddenly opted to go with a team of mercenaries. But even the Count will have plenty of additional protectors. Will the watch be looking out for the nobility during the hunt?” Kseniya asked Talver. The guardsman was still frustrated by the situation but he nodded.

  “After the attack on the party, Watch Captain Hudson will be moving a large number of our men to a quick response team for when those Insect Lords inevitably try to stop the hunt,” Talver replied.

  “Okay, let’s assume the bug boys are idiots,” Nyx began. “They charged into a party full of adventurers and will probably run straight into all the fully armed adventuring teams guarding the nobles. Whoever is organizing the monsters in the Between is not an idiot. What can they do with an army of monsters?”

  Trixie had finished her meal and come up to sit on the bench next to Giselle. Nyx and Kseniya began spitballing ideas about what nefarious things the monsters could be up to. Giselle and Trixie swiveled their heads back and forth and seemed to listen though Trixie was more interested in the pets Giselle was giving her. Rather than joining the discussion, Brivaria turned to Talver.

  “Are you okay?” the angel asked quietly.

  “No, how can you ask that? I don’t even know if I can sleep at night knowing that one of those things could be standing in my room with me. How can you be so calm?” he replied, matching the winged girl’s quiet voice with his own.

  “I suppose it’s because I’ve never had to live here before. They are scary but that’s why my people fight them or try to. There are lots of scary things that exist outside your world but, for most people, those things aren’t real until they see them,” Brivaria said.

  “I guess that’s true for me too but they’re real now. I want to do something about them.” The angel could see the determination in his eyes and she nodded.

  “Then do it. You fought them with your sword and with your crossbow. They’re monsters like any other. If you have levels and skills then you can drive them back. Just don’t ever try to take the fight to them. We’re lucky we got out of the Between today. We were very, very lucky there was an exit to find and just as lucky that nothing too horrifying found us. If you go too far in there then you’ll see things a lot worse than even those gaunt.” The angel knew this for a fact.

  The gaunt were terrifying and deadly foes. A single one could lay waste to all of Velk. The Cycle of Violence skill Brivaria had gained upon transforming into one was powerful and, for all she knew, that was one of their weaker skills. Yet, it wasn’t even the gaunt she worried about. There were things far more dangerous in the Between. There were horrors whose existences were beyond comprehension. That single, enormous eye in the sky had looked at her, into her. She’d felt its presence even from such an impossible distance. Those were the kinds of things that convinced her people to abandon their exploration of the Between.

  “I will,” Talver said, bringing Brivaria’s thoughts back to the present. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to sleep as peacefully as I did before today but I’d rather know about things than not.”

  They ate and went their separate ways after a bit more discussion. Nyx and Kseniya settled on the merchants as the true targets of the Ogramites. Brivaria had no idea. They were operating under the assumption that there was, indeed, a person behind the whole thing. There might not be. She knew something would happen though. The many monsters standing in formation were a guarantee of that.

  Nyx declared that the angel was no longer allowed to go on solo adventures. That Talver had been with her didn’t matter. Solo, in Nyx’s mind, meant going without the rest of the team. Brivaria was happy to agree with that. She didn’t want to wish the Between on her friends but she would have been so much happier with them at her side. There was comfort in friendship, she found. She had that with Balthazar, Xander, Anriel, and the rest in Heaven but she had friends on Zlithia now too.

  Trixie spent every minute after the meal trying to play with Brivaria and get attention. It worked. The golden sunchaser was the recipient of many pets and “good girls.” Trixie seemed to sense that something was bothering the angel and was doing her doggy best to offer comfort to her winged friend. Brivaria was touched. They played until the dog was thoroughly exhausted.

  Night came and the angel made her way downstairs to the inn’s common room, alone. It was becoming a habit though she found herself missing the company of the books in her inventory. She had taken so many from the home of Amon Ruthers, the mage who had gone missing before the incident with the hunters in Pemburne. She still wanted to read them but practicing her skills and figuring out her levels had become paramount in recent days. Just surviving in the city was leveling her quite rapidly and leaving her little time for other things.

  The night was quiet save for the steady drum of rain. The river level was rising thanks to all the recent precipitation. While the storms had calmed down somewhat, there was still a lot of rain coming down off and on. The angel imagined the people overseeing the Hunt for the Golden Hind were waiting for a break in the weather to hold the hunt. No one wanted to be trudging through the woods when the earth was wet, soft, and easily churned into mud.

  “You are taking this better than I expected,” came Akashic’s voice. The demoness took up the familiar position across the table from the angel. Horns, six arms, bat wings, and so on—it seemed like Akashic’s form shifts had mostly settled on this appearance. The demoness was still a monochrome apparition to Brivaria’s eyes but she was steadily gaining more definition like a blurry picture coming into focus. The angel simply sat back and looked at her demonic counterpart.

  “I’m really not. I just can’t do anything about it. I don’t regret being alive but I’m an unholy creature now. That affinity didn’t just change my skills, it changed me. At this rate, I’ll never get back to what I was.” Brivaria’s words held no anger. They were hollow, empty, and rang with a sort of hopelessness that she’d never truly felt until now.

  She’d known she was changing mentally and known her path was taking a particularly demonic turn but she’d always held the hope that she could undo things or make something angelic out of them, somehow. Now, the angel was forced to confront the truth of her choices. She wasn’t the same and might never be the same. That door had closed for now and maybe forever. Brivaria needed to make the best of what was but it made her sick inside to think about it.

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing?” Akashic observed, seeming to carefully watch the angel though they both knew the demoness was a mental projection rather than actually being there. All of her gestures and facial expressions were for show.

  “It is. Unholy magic is always beaten by holy magic. It’s one of the weaker forms of magic and the creatures who wield it are always evil,” the angel said with a pout. Evil was a bit of a dramatization but not entirely wrong. The people who used fire magic generally liked fire. The people who wielded healing magic generally liked healing. The people who wielded unholy magic generally liked doing awful things. The skills and spells that came with the affinity were often cruel and, well, evil.

  “Well, that last part is true,” Akashic admitted with amusement.

  “See?” Brivaria folded her arms and the demoness chuckled.

  “Yes, I see. It is a magic meant to inflict pain, suffering, and death upon others. The ones most interested in doing these things are often frowned upon by your kind. The magic itself wants to do harm but, where you are wrong, is that it is not weak nor is it always beaten by holy magic.” Brivaria was already shaking her head.

  “I’ve fought many of your kind and my magic has always surpassed theirs. This is something I have a lot of experience with,” the angel argued.

  “And that is the source of your misconception. Holy and unholy are unique in some ways. I assume you used holy magic in another universe at some point. How was it different there?” Akashic’s words made Brivaria squirm uncomfortably. The demoness seemed to realize the problem just as the angel spoke.

  “All of my interventions have been done on Zlithia. I’ve only been to a few universes so I don’t know what you mean.” The angel’s words got quieter and more embarrassed as she spoke. Akashic shook her head in disappointment.

  “Well, suffice it to say that it is different from universe to universe. Both types of magic are. They have similar but opposing natures. Holy seeks to restore order so it is strong against those things which threaten to disrupt the natural order of the universe. Unholy seeks to unravel the natural order of the universe so it is strong against those things which arise from that.”

  “And that means…?” Brivaria asked, not quite comprehending where this was going.

  “We demons invade other realms. You fight us in those realms. We are invaders threatening the natural order so holy magic is strong against us,” Akashic explained but held up a hand so the angel didn’t interrupt what she was going to say next.

  “You angels invade other realms. Your purpose is different yet you are still invaders. Unholy magic is strong against the natives to those universes but weak against other invaders. This is why your holy magic has always felt strong. Do you ever wonder why your people do not simply invade Hell and take the fight to us directly? You would be crushed. Our best warriors are stronger than yours and you would no longer have the magical advantage.” Akashic didn’t look smug or self-satisfied at the proclamation. She wasn’t boasting or gloating. She was stating things calmly in a matter-of-fact tone. While the demoness was certainly a biased source, her words held conviction.

  “Let’s say I believe that. That means my new skills are strong against people?” Brivaria asked.

  “People, monsters, dungeons, whatever things this universe creates. The Sronya was the original demon-given name for the Between. The demons who ventured into it decided to fuse with the gaunt into what they now call the Hell Gaunt. They’ve taken up the name Sronya as their own. More than any other caste, they specialize in invading other realms and slaying the inhabitants. The class you have will give you an advantage over everything and everyone you meet here.”

  Brivaria was quiet as Akashic spoke. Her classes only seemed to get more and more awful with each advancement. The worst part was that she wasn’t as upset about it as she knew she should be. That is, the only part that she was truly, honestly upset about was that she would never become what she once was.

  Sronyan Valkyrie intrigued her just as it had when she first read the description. The idea of using unholy magic was blasphemous but she’d already used decay, quite heavily in fact. Twisted Reflection had saved her life. This new path she was on offered something unheard of among her kind. She was possibly the only angel in the universe to have these kinds of classes and skills. The idea of exploring something that no one among her people ever had was exciting and frightening in equal measure.

  “So where do we begin tonight?” the angel asked at last. Akashic smiled.

  “Where we always begin—training.”