Year 2532, 40th of Chillwind, Hour 2 – Unknown Location – Solaria’s POV

The feeling of warmth is the first sensation I notice as I return from my dreamless slumber. It is enjoyable, until a harsh realization strikes me.

Last I remember, there was a cold, dark shed, not a cozy hearth…

My eyes jolt open as my heart rate jumps. They flick about, taking in the sights in front of me. A stone fireplace with a metal cage sits in the wall, a warm crackling fire behind the cage. I feel around under the blanket I’m wrapped in.

My armor is no longer on my person. Adrenaline flashes into my veins. I flick my ears around, trying to find a sound beyond the fire.

From behind me I hear hoofsteps on the wood.

“I know you’re awake. Don’t be frightened,” A deep voice says.

A deep voice characteristic of a Minotaur. My body goes into overdrive as I throw the blanket from my body and leap to my feet. The Minotaur is a few meters behind me, holding his hands out in front of him.

With my magic partly restored, I ignite Telekinesis and grab the Minotaur with the spell. As I pin the beast’s arms to his side, a skinny, gray wolf begins to ferociously growl at me from the foot of a bed. With my other hand, I use Telekinesis to pin the wolf against the wall.

I look back at the Minotaur with a furious glare, increasing the pressure from my telekinetic grasp.

“Wait! Stop this!” The Minotaur begs, struggling against my hold.

I open my mouth, ready to give him a burning retort.

“Please,” he says, barely audible. “Don’t kill me…”

The genuine tone in his voice catches me off guard for a second.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t incinerate you right now,” I hiss, no longer crushing him.

“I saved your life!”

“Really? And what would bring you to do such a thing? The kindness of your heart?”

“I didn’t want to stand by as another fell to Orn’gar’s sick slave trade.”

“Orn’gar?”

“The Minotaur running the bar. He has a slave trade for Clan Hytori. I thought you were going to be another victim of his, but you escaped. Knowing that you were alone, I didn’t want to allow him to take you like he has several before.”

I release him from my grasp, cancelling Telekinesis on the Minotaur.

“Do not get up,” I threaten as the Minotaur begins to stand.

I ignite and cast Internal Scan on myself, checking to see if I harmed by the beast. After an in-depth check, I see that my body was left untouched.

“Could, could you please release Drukl? He doesn’t like you restraining him.”

I look at the Minotaur, following his finger to the wolf still my telekinetic grasp.

“If I release him, he’ll attack me.”

“He won’t, trust me. Besides, what could a wolf do to you when you have magic?”

He has a point…

I release the wolf from my grasp. As it connects with the ground, it whimpers and scampers behind the Minotaur.

Both the Minotaur and I warily eye each other.

“Can I stand,” he asks after a minute of silence.

I nod, stepping back as he does.

Despite this Minotaur’s answer, I still don’t trust him…

“I haven’t given you a reason to not trust me,” he says.

“Well, you haven’t given me a reason to trust— Wait, how did you know what I was thinking?”

“I can read other’s minds if I focus on them, allowing me to see their past memories and their current thoughts. It’s an ability those of my bloodline have always had.”

I nod.

This Minotaur is either insane or a liar…

“I can guarantee, I am neither of those things.”

“Alright fine! You’ve proven you can use telepathy, now quit it.”

The awkward silence returns to the room as both of us remain in our unofficial standoff.

“Can you only spy on other’s memories and thoughts, or can you cast other spells?” I ask, only to break the awful silence.

‘Well,” he slowly says, seeming to think out his words carefully. “Yes, I can perform magic, yes, but in terms of casting, I don’t need to do that in order to use telepathy.”

He starts to mutter a few words.

“Ahh, you don’t need to do that,” I cut him off, igniting a shield spell. “You’ve already proven your abilities.”

Another moment of silence.

“My name’s Yorn, by the way.” He hesitantly sticks his hand out.

I look at his hand for a moment.

“And I’m Solaria…”

His hand drops.

“I… wish we could’ve met through better circumstances,” He says.

I don’t respond.

“There, uhm, isn’t exactly a nice place for you to sleep—”

“The floor will be fine,” I interject.

I back up to retrieve my pack, keeping the ‘Yorn’ within eyesight. I untie my bedroll and set it up. As it unrolls, I see an enormous dried blood stain on the top that I had missed.

Somehow…

“I can just grab a—"

“I’ll be fine without it,” I interrupt.

Yorn turns to a closet along the wall, opening the door and stepping inside. Sounds of rustling and shifting objects comes from the closet. The wolf, having crawled back to his bed, also notices the sounds.

Yorn reappears, carrying a wrapped bag. From within, he pulls out a bedroll.

“Here,” he holds it out to me.

“I said I’ll be fine,” my tone hardens.

He shoves the bedroll into my arms.

“Take it!. You can replace your ruined one tomorrow, but for now, just take this.”

He sighs deeply.

“Look, I understand you haven’t had the best experiences with Minotaurs, but I am not like Hytori. In fact, most of us aren’t! So please, give me a chance.”

“You’ve given me no reason to believe such a thing, except tell me ‘you’re not like Hytori,’” I snap, dropping the bedroll to cross my arms in front of me.

“I have given you several reasons!”

He holds back, taking another deep breath before continuing. “But, I’ll leave you to believe what you want.”

The Minotaur walks past me to a door next to the fireplace.

“We can discuss the terms of your staying here tomorrow,” he quietly says, before disappearing to the other side of the door.

As the door closes behind him, I feel something staring at me. My eyes meet with the wolf’s, who’s laying in its bed across from me. The judgement seeping from this animal is intense; its face almost twisted into a glare.

“Don’t you judge me!” I defend myself. “I have no reason to believe his words are truthful! If anything, I should take them as false comfort!”

The animal gives a disdainful snort, curling into a ball.

I sit against the wall next to the fireplace and rest my face in my hands.

“Uhgh, can’t believe I’m arguing with a wolf.”

Its head lifts.

“No, not a wolf,” my eyes narrow at it. “but a dog.”

The ‘dog’ doesn’t respond. Still, I gain a sense of satisfaction.

I stand again, grabbing the bedroll and use the Harmful Detection spell to search for signs of dangerous substances. There are none.

Maybe I’m being too harsh on that Minotaur…

I look at the door he had exited through a few minutes before.

He gets one chance...

40th of Chillwind, Hour 7 – Norrg’kl, Yorn’s Home – Solaria’s POV

I awake from another dreamless slumber. At first, I feel a sense of confusion as to why I wasn’t in an enclosed tent in the wasteland. My heartrate begins to pick up before the memories of earlier return.

I whip around, looking for the Minotaur. The action causes my loose mane to fall over my good eye. I pull it back, finding the Minotaur asleep in his bed. I again cast Internal Scan on myself as a general precaution, finding that I’m still left untouched.

After cancelling the spell, I quietly move to my pack at the foot of my bedroll, filtering though my equipment. Nothing is missing.

A groggy voice comes from my right.

“Your things weren’t disturbed…”

I look to the Minotaur as he awakens, choosing to bite my tongue rather than retort. He clears his throat before standing and stretching. As he gets up, the wolf follows suit. It switches from being dead asleep to overly energetic in half of a second, bounding around its master’s legs.

The Minotaur walks through the door by the fireplace, disappearing for a minute. When he returns, he has a large slab of raw meat in his grasp. The meat is set into the wolf’s bowl.

Watching the animal devour its meal is a sight.

I didn’t realize eating could be such a messy and gruesome event…

The Minotaur—

I suppose I should call him by his name…

--‘Yorn’ walks to his kitchen area. I watch him as he sparks a small fire within a little half-sphere cutout in the stone counter. While ‘Yorn’ mixes various ingredients into a bowl, I move from my pack to a small, wooden, two-seated table, tying my mane into a loose bun in the back.

“Are you hungry,” he asks.

“I’ll be fine.”

A loud growl crawls its way from my stomach.

I sigh, feeling betrayed by my own body. “Yes… I am.”

‘Yorn’ says nothing, only smiling as he works on the food.

After a few minutes, faint bubbling can be heard from the kitchen. Yorn pulls two bowls from a wall cupboard, placing them next to the cooking food. He scoops two large wads of gray sludge with a ladle, emptying the contents into each bowl before walking around the counter to a table.

He sits across from me, sliding a bowl over before bringing the bowl to his mouth. I grasp the bowl, studying its contents.

What’s within looks exactly like wet concrete, to an unsettling degree. I smell the sludge, receiving no aroma.

As I wasn’t provided with silverware, I follow the Minotaur’s action.

Before the liquid can touch my mouth, I hesitate. My mind questions the possibility of poison having been mixed with this muck. In the end, I push the thought aside, slurping a small amount from the bowl while staying aware of my surroundings.

The warmth that floods across my body is greatly accepted. Surprisingly, the sludge doesn’t hold any taste beyond the lightest flavor of spices. I gulp down the rest, finishing the bowl not long after the Minotaur finishes his. It’s nice to eat a full meal, despite it being tasteless.

“Okay, first order of business,” he says, stifling a belch. “You are planning to stay here, correct?”

“…For now.”

“Alright. Now, I would let you stay here without charge, but I get the feeling you aren’t the type to freeload.”

“What an intelligent observation,” I snark.

‘Yorn’ sighs.

“Would you have an issue with learning the art of smithing?”

“No.”

“Are you sure? A Minotaur will be teaching you…”

The amount of sarcasm from his comment is unbelievable.

Okay, I deserved that…

“Yes… I will deal with it,” I say through gritted teeth.

“A final question, do you have any form of working attire? Neither your armor nor your under-armor will cut it.”

“Lucky for you, I have something that will suffice. Where can I change?”

Yorn points to an ajar door farthest from us with a thumb. I pull my pack to my arms with Telekinesis, walking through the door. Inside is a bathroom with an extremely modern appearance. Even with a glance, I can tell everything from the mirrors to the tiled bathtub is new.

Hmm, I’ll have to see about a bath tonight…

I unlock the under-armor at the nape of my neck and begin to strip it off.

==|000|==

After changing from my under-armor to a clean deep purple t-shirt and gray camouflaged combat pants, I exit the bathroom and walk over to the table. The Minotaur turns to look at me, giving a scrutinizing stare.

“Hey,” I snap my fingers. “I’m not modeling these for you to stare at.”

“Sorry,” he mumbles with a flustered tone, looking away. “I was expecting something warmer, that’s all…”

“Oh, I apologize for not preparing enough gear for an extended stay in this frozen Tartarus!” I stalk over to the bedroll and drop my pack on it.

“I… know it’s a sudden jump, but would you be fine with watching the shop while I go out for a few hours?”

“I can handle a shop, just show me where everything is.”

The Minotaur stands and gestures for me to follow him. He leads me through the door near the fireplace. On the other side is a large workshop.

It has everything a blacksmith could need, from a circular stone-laden forge to a cylindrical metal smelter. Large workbenches and metal shelves containing tools and simple materials line the walls, with the black anvil next to the forge. A door is directly to my left as I enter into the workshop, which I assume leads outside.

The entire room is disregarded as I’m led past it all through another door. The actual shop is through here.

The room is nice. It’s filled with weapons, tools, light armor, and metal-based supplies set on display. A single, four-paned window next to the front door lets the gray light in as ‘Yorn’ and I step in behind a counter.

“It’s quite simple,” he says. “Basically, stand here and take the payments of anyone wanting to purchase things. I have a stock book under the counter here, next to the safe. Look through it to find the costs of the stock. Oh, and put any revenue in the safe.”

I’m shown the safe and given the combination codes. Yorn also shows me around the room, pointing out where everything is located.

“Now then, I should only be gone for a few hours. If you’re unsure of something, wait until I get back, okay?”

“Sure,” I say.

The Minotaur head to the front door, unlocking and exiting through it.

As he leaves, I find the stock book from under the counter. I grab it and flip it open, beginning to half-heartedly pour through the numbers listed.

40th of Chillwind, Hour 15 – Yorn’s Shop – Solaria’s POV

Not at all surprising, the day was slow. Not a single customer, Minotaur or otherwise, showed their face while Yorn was gone. I guess that’s a blessing in a sense, but it made the hours extremely boring.

When Yorn returned from his ‘adventure,’ he showed me to the shed I had hidden in. Its true purpose was a storage locker for most of the raw materials used in the Minotaur’s creations.

After becoming enlightened with that information, he gave me several simple tasks to keep me busy. It is quite obvious that I’m this blacksmith’s first employee.

Finally, six hours after the doors were opened, someone appeared in the store. They were a Minotaur, but it was a welcome change of atmosphere to hear another voice outside of ‘Yorn’s.’ The two beasts chatted lightly, speaking of another Minotaur Clan from the north.

After the patron leaves, taking a decent metal axe with him, Yorn brings me to the workshop.

“Would you go and bring me five iron rocks from the shed?” he asks. “They’re in the bin marked ‘Iron.’

I silently comply, holding back a retort.

I continue past the Minotaur, leaving the warmth of the workshop through the outside door. Immediately after leaving, my body is hit with a freezing cold blast of wind. The blizzard from last night had fully past, leaving several extra inches of snow on the ground. A small filter of sunlight fell from the sky, which was a surprise to be sure.

The light did little to improve the conditions however. I sharply inhale, igniting and casting Exposure onto myself. The freezing atmosphere fades as the spell adapts my body to resist the cold weather.

That’s more like it… If only I could’ve used this last night…

I step into the shed, finding the bin with the iron ore. Touching the first rock, it feels ice cold, even through Exposure. I use Telekinesis to grab the ores instead. As I leave the shed and step towards Yorn’s home, my ears flick towards crunching snow from my right.

My head instinctively pulls back as a fist flies through the air where my muzzle was. Standing right next to me is a Minotaur, more specifically one I recognized from the night before in the bar.

I bring my leg up, crushing his genitals with my shin. He drops to the ground, not making a sound. More snow-crunching comes from behind me. Two other Minotaurs from the bar come around a corner. Using the ore in my telekinetic grasp, I hurl the rocks in their direction. Both are knocked to the ground as the rocks impact with their faces.

I pull the ores back to me before backing into the workshop.

“Leave me the farak alone, or I’ll melt your faces off!”

I slam the door shut and set a door bolt into place.

“What’s going on,” he asks.

“Don’t worry about it,” I growl.

“But—”

“I’ll handle it!” I snarl out.

Yorn holds up his hands.

“Alright, I’ll leave it alone.” He takes the ore from my grasp. “But know you’re not alone in this anymore.”

I stand there, processing Yorn’s words as I try to calm myself.

“Those three Minotaurs that’re hunting for me, who are they?”

Yorn looks up from the smelter.

“They work for Orn’gar. He runs the bar. He also runs a ‘secret’ slave trade for Clan Hytori, although everyone knows about it. Those three are Ked, Duh’n and Ce’eh. Orn’gar uses them as his hunters. They’re absolute morons, but they know how to do their job.”

“So, you’re telling me I’m going to have to deal with those three while I stay here?”

“Most likely.”

That’s not ideal… But I know exactly how to handle them…

Hmph, give me ten minutes,” I say, cracking my knuckles. “And I’ll put an end to Orn’gar’s entire system.”

“You’re not going to be killing anyone, now sit down and pay attention if you want to learn anything.”

I roll my eyes, focusing on Yorn’s words, although my plans for those hunters never fully fell to the background.

40th of Chillwind, Hour 30 – Yorn’s Shop – Solaria’s POV

For the rest of the day, I watch and listen as Yorn explains how each set of equipment functions and serves the overall picture. To be honest, most of it went over my head. In the same sense as I was his first employee, it seems as though I’m also the first he’s ever taught.

That night, as Yorn fixes up another meal, I do my best to recall what I had been taught. Not long after, a bowl of steaming stew is set in front of me. Its appearance is much more appetizing than the ‘oatmeal’ from this morning. The smells of root vegetables and meat stock makes me feel hungrier than before.

“I wasn’t sure if you Anthow’s eat meat or not,” Yorn says, sitting across from me with his own bowl. “so I went with a more plant-based meal.”

“We can eat meat, but many consider it a vile practice,” I respond after cooling the bowl and downing almost half. “Personally, I couldn’t care less. Besides, Anthow’piovel need the proteins, so I fail to understand why it’s such a taboo.”

I begin to take another gulp when the most pitiful whine ever conceived shrieks through my ears. I look down to my right. Sitting next to me is the wolf, trying his best to win over my heart with oversized eyes.

Fortunately, my heart is made of stone.

“Interesting creature you have here,” I comment, watching the wolf’s begging.

“Oh, that’s Drukl,” Yorn says. “The word means, ‘Strange One’ in Tauros, which I think is quite fitting. You’ll learn that trying to figure him out will result in nothing but wasted time.”

The begging from the wolf switches from sad to creepy, as the animal hasn’t blinked since I caught on to his tactic.

“Strange one indeed.”

I try to ignore the animal and eat, but the intense gaze remains. The longer I can feel it, the more annoyed I become.

“Okay,” I set the bowl down and look at the wolf again. “This has gone on long enough!”

While I was focusing on my food, Drukl had scooched closer, now sitting right next to my leg.

‘Whatever you’re attempting, it’s not going to work. In fact, it’s doing the opposite. So please, quit it!”

He continues to stare, his tongue lolling out from the side of his mouth. I sharply sigh and try to push him away with a hand. He topples over onto the ground and starts to loudly snore.

“…”

“You’ll get used to this,” Yorn laughs.

What has my life become? I get stuck in the center of the Minotaur Lands, almost am taken into slavery, and the one Minotaur that has a consciousness has telepathy and a delusional pet…

I finish the rest of the food, wishing I had a side of alcohol to go with it.

Now then, a final order of business for the night…

“Go for it,” Yorn says as he stands and walks past me.

“…”

“I—”

“I don’t care as long as you keep it clean,” the Minotaur says from his rocking chair, a book in hand.

I hate him…

I pull my pack to me with Telekinesis again, flipping off the Minotaur before entering into the bathroom. After locking the door, I take a closer look at the interior. The whole room is styled after an Equestrian bathroom, from the tiled bathtub, all the way to the placemat.

How peculiar… I wonder how he found all this stuff, let alone got it here…

I remember Hytori and their methods of obtaining Equestrian materials.

On second thought, it might be better to forget it…

I twist the bathtub’s hot water knob as far as it can go, mixing it slightly with cold. As the tub fills, I unzip a side pocket on my pack. From within, I pull out two bottles of basic mane shampoo and fur shampoo, setting both on the bathtub’s rim.

Never thought I would use those…

I turn off the water after several minutes, stripping the casual attire from my body and toss the articles near my pack. Instant relief floods over my body as I step into the steaming water, sinking in up to my neck.

For as long as I can last, I do nothing but let the hot water soak into my fur and skin before becoming cleaner than I’ve been in the past week.

==|000|==

For the first time in five days, I feel refreshed. Back when I was Captain, I never cared too much about cleanliness, but going that long without so much a dip in water is pushing it.

I step out from the bathtub, igniting and casting Fire Cloak on myself to dry out my fur and mane.

After slipping back into my casual attire, I put the quarter-empty bottles back into their rightful pocket.

With my pack in tow, I exit the bathroom and walk over to my bedroll. Both Yorn and Drukl are asleep in their beds. Instead of joining them in slumber, I set my gear at the end of the bedroll and prepare Magical Meditation.

From now on, as long as I intend to remain in Norrg’kl, I need to spend every moment I can in my Meditative Plane. Especially if I ever hope to escape this wretched place…

41st of Chillwind, Hour 8 – Yorn’s Home – Solaria’s POV

I pull out of Magical Meditation, returning to reality. As my eye adjusts to the real world, I feel a new presence that was not there before I entered into my Plane. I slowly look down at my crossed legs.

With his head in my lap, drooling profusely, is Drukl.

…

HOW IN THE CREATOR’S NAME DID I NOT SENSE THIS!!?!

I resist the urge to splatter this mentally challenged wolf’s body along the wall. For his sake however, I didn’t want to fall on bad terms with his master. This is the only reason I roll him away semi-gently instead of launching him through the roof.

Thankfully, the ‘dog’ didn’t bother me as I eat.

“Is there a secluded spot within Norrg’kl,” I ask.

“There is,” Yorn responds. “Why?”

“My concern with it is none of your business.” I snap.

Thinking of magic, thinking of magic, thinking of magic…

Yorn gives me a skeptical expression.

“…The most secluded spot I can thing of would be behind the warehouses at the northmost point…” he says, watching me closely.

“Alright,” I say, thinking about several different spells.

I gather my armor, pack, and under-armor with Telekinesis, dipping into the workshop and heading to the shed outside before Yorn can ask any more questions. I cast Exposure onto myself, quickly changing from my casual attire to my armor. My shortsword, axe, and Glaze’s pistol are strapped onto my body as well.

With my weapons secure, I step out from the shed and work my way to the warehouses Yorn spoke of.

==|000|==

This new day had returned to the standard Frozen North weather, no longer allowed the sun to shine. It instead covered the settlement with a thick layer of fog. The winds were blowing hard, making it difficult to travel.

On top of the fog and winds, finding the warehouses is not as easy as Yorn made it sound, especially as I try to get around without drawing unwanted attention.

Thankfully, as I find the stone and wood buildings, the activity of others is non-existent. Just me and the three hunters that have been trailing me since I left the shed.

I slip between the two structures, squeezing my way to the back. There’s nothing behind except a snow-covered clearing between the buildings and the outer walls. I walk to the center of the clearing and turn to face the warehouses, crossing my arms.

“I know you’re out there. You all can’t grasp the concept of stealth,” I call out, easily hearing the poor attempts at sneaking from the ‘hunters.’

From around the outer warehouse walls steps the three, two on my left side and one on my right. The two on the left hold rope and strips of cloth; the right one draws a crossbow, notched with a bolt.

I flip back the hood, revealing my purple and gold helmet.

“Come with us quietly,” the Minotaur with the crossbow commands. “Or we’ll do this the ‘fun’ way.”

“Hmm,” I say. “The fun way sounds more entertaining.”

I ignite and cast Sphere of Silence, sending the range of the spell out to the warehouses.

The Minotaurs all share a glance.

I duck back as the bolt from the crossbow cuts through the air in front of me. The two on the left charge at me, one of them drawing a battle-axe.

Drawing the shortsword with a quick brandishing, I deflect a strike from the axe, spinning around and sliding the blade along the Minotaur’s back. He yells out, falling forward. The second Minotaur reaches for me, the rope in his other hand.

I draw Glaze’s pistol, activating the blaster. I point the barrel at the second Minotaur, firing two MCB rounds into the beast’s chest.

The blue energy bursts out from the barrel, tearing into the Minotaur and searing small holes in his chest. He collapses onto the ground as I turn and fire three more shots into the Minotaur with the axe.

The last Minotaur has reloaded his crossbow, aiming it at me again with panic on his face. I smirk, igniting Telekinesis and ripping the crossbow from his grasp. He turns to flee after losing his weapon, but I latch onto his legs and drag him over to me.

“Orn’gar chose the wrong Anthow to mess with,” I snarl, drawing my survival axe from its belt and unsheathing it. “And I think you’re the perfect subject to use as a message for him…”

The last Minotaur screams, trying to crawl away. His cries are silenced by the Sphere.

Orn’gar’s POV

I hate the daytime. There’s nothing to do. Business is slow, meaning profit is slow. And to add insult to injury, those absolute idiots still haven’t found that Unicorn! It can’t be that hard! With a body like hers, she’s a curved sword amongst broken hammers!

I storm into my storage room in the back, searching for something strong enough to help me cope with the idiocy I

was working with. Grabbing a thick bottle of whiskey, I undo the cork and take a massive swig.

The rocking sound of my back door exploding inward makes me spit my drink everywhere. I spin around in surprise, ready to face whatever’s assaulting my building.

Lying on the floor, blood still flowing from the gaping wound, is Ked without his body.

“K-Ked…?” I stutter, inching over to him.

I shakily pull a rolled piece of parchment from his gaping mouth. Drawn in blood, the messy words running down the page, is:

Your death will not be as painless

I stare at the words, realizing who’s the cause of this brutality, before throwing the parchment away from me. Grabbing my whiskey, I return to the main room, feeling shaken to the core. I down what remains in the bottle, taking a deep breath as the burning liquid slides into my stomach.

Out through my door window, my eyes catch something purple and yellow.

Across the street, where I saw the Unicorn disappear two nights ago, is her, the Demoness. The one-eyed gaze she sends to me sends pulses of terror into my veins. I duck down behind my counter, reaching for the dagger I keep hidden underneath. It’s clutched against my chest.

The door fiercely flings open.

My composure disappears as a shrill scream leaves my lungs.

“Orn’gar! What the farak is your problem!?”

I refuse to move, keeping my eyes shut tight and the dagger clenched in my shaking hands.

“Hey! Orn’gar!”

A hand shakes my shoulder. My eyes open and the dagger instinctively shoots forward.

“What in the All-Father’s name is wrong with you?!”

I look up, seeing Julr stepping back from me.

“O-oh,” I stutter, silently praising the All-Father. “I-it’s just you, J-Julr.”

“What’s wrong?” I hear F’jub’s voice ask.

I stand up, peering past him to look out the door window. The Demoness is gone.

“Well?”

“I-I’m fine! Heh…” I nervously laugh. “J-just had too much to drink… Heh heh…”

The two share a concerned glance before ordering their desired drinks. As they tell me what they want, my mind can’t lose the image of the Demoness, and the bloody threat still sitting in my storage room.

Solaria’s POV

I watch Orn’gar’s head disappear behind the counter before ducking around to the back door of Yorn’s home. I enter into the shop, making brief eye contact with Yorn as I head into his living area.

I start to strip off the armor plates when Yorn appears in the doorway.

“What did you do?!” his alarmed voice causes me to stop doffing my armor.

I pause for a moment before continuing to remove the plates.

“I did what was necessary.”

“I figured you were going to scare Orn’gar and his hunters, not murder them!”

Yorn steps over and grabs my donned gauntlet, blood still staining the metal. I jerk my arm from his grasp.

“Orn’gar’s still alive!” I snap. “And his hunters wouldn’t have stopped their harassing unless I killed them!”

“There were several paths you could’ve taken!” Yorn protests, regret mixed with his tone. “But you chose the worst! Why?!”

Hot anger flashes across my body.

“Maybe because VIOLENCE IS ALL YOU LEATHERSACKS UNDERSTAND!!”

Yorn steps back. I notice the hum of magical energy crackling around me.

“Your kind has done nothing but steal, torture, and violate my race!” I continue. “There is no reason or excuse you could give that would justify their actions!”

“Their actions may not be right, but taking revenge against them is not the way to solve this, nor is it the way to solve anything!”

“You have no right to lecture me on what’s right or wrong…” I snarl, dangerously close to beating the life from this sahkira.

‘Enough!” Yorn yells. “We will end this discussion now before either of us does something we’ll regret, but if you wish to continue staying here, you will not senselessly murder anyone else!”

We both glare at each other, loose objects whipping around the room from the magic surrounding my body.

“When you regain control of your senses, you can join me in the workshop!” Yorn sternly says. “But until then, I suggest you get ahold of your magic before you break something…”

Yorn turns around and storms back through the doorway to the workshop.

I don’t move, holding still and trying to not explode with fury.

That FARAKING leathersack thinks he can dictate my actions! But, for now, I will play by his rules… I’ve already done what I needed to… And soon I’ll be strong enough to leave…

I silently doff the rest of my armor and cleaning the blood stains. Without a word, I change back into my casual attire and join Yorn in his workshop.

Author's Note

Alright, will all the previously posted chapters back up, the story will fall into a weekly upload starting next Sunday for Chapters 6-9.

Also, I remade the Magical Spell Explanation™ stuff, sticking it into this Google Doc instead of the Author's Note. I feel like that method will work better than it did before. It will be updated as more chapters are uploaded.

As always, feel free to leave a comment!

--Thanks to HoneyBacho for assisting with editing and world continuity