Mia dragged Nessa through the warp gate, stepping from chaos into a battlefield, or…not.

  The field was flat. Hundreds of soldiers stood in rows, straight and still. The air smelt of sweat, metal, and damp wool. It was quiet, considering the number of people who stood in the space. The only real sounds were the crack of leather and the ting of metal. Sounds made by the wind rustling their clothes and armor, rather than movement.

  At the front are officers with spears, eyes focused on the warp gate. Behind them, the ranks stretch back men and women carrying swords, shields, maces, axes, bows… weapons Mia didn’t know the name of. A few had their grips too tight, their stiff faces revealing anxiety. But they didn’t move, and there was no fear. Every single one of them had a crest on their armor. Banner men on horseback carried flags, identifying the first and second divisions.

  The mages stood to the side, shrouded in black. Mana coiled around them like a serpent ready to strike. She could see it, the swirling colored strands that glowed with restrained power.

  There was something terrible and beautiful in the way they waited, the way the world seemed to hold its breath for them.

  The soldiers didn’t look at her or Nessa. They didn’t need to. Their presence was like a barrier, vast and unyielding. They stood ready to kill.

  Mia should be used to death, but the weight of it was different when she killed with her hands. No matter how she reminded herself, it was a necessity; the relief she felt when her hearing returned outweighed any guilt or shame associated with the incident.

  Yet, the weight of it sits heavily in her chest.

  Four more.

  It wasn’t over. She released Nessa, who’d gone quiet. The knife made a dull thud as it hit the ground. She turned to it, her mind unsure what to do.

  “Pick it up.”

  Her head turned, tilting up to stare at the face of a man she didn’t know.

  “Pick it up.”

  Mia’s eyes dropped to the ground. She processed what she was seeing.

  The blood-stained knife rested harmlessly in the dirt.

  Her back bent, fingers trembling as they curled around the knife hilt.

  “Good. On the battlefield, you never let go of your weapon.” He clapped a heavy hand to her back.

  Mia’s arm flopped forward.

  “Ho?” His grey eyebrow raised. “It seems you’re suffering some ill effects.”

  Mia glanced at her useless arm, her resolve to die crumbling faster than she’d had the thought. “Yeah.”

  “What ledger do you have?” His smile was kind, which made her suspicious more than anything else.

  Lie. But make it believable.

  “A…” Her words choked. “A Sacrifice Ledger,” she said, her eyes dropping to the knife. Mia didn’t know. It required lives, but Mia knew it wasn’t a Sacrifice Ledger.

  “Ahh,” his hand landed on her shoulder. Reassuring. Her skin crawled where he made contact. “What division are you in?”

  “The second.”

  Mia didn’t react, or she tried not to, but she’d never been more relieved to hear Mox’s voice.

  “Mox, a pleasure.” The man lifted his hand, his body angling towards Mox.

  Mia had seen a lot of ‘smiles’ since coming here, but this was the first time Mia felt an instant dislike for a person.

  “Division Commander Attika.” Mox thumbed his right hand to his chest before dropping the hand to his side.

  There was a chorus of thuds and foot stamps. Feet together, right hand thumped against the breastbone, feet apart.

  Wide-eyed, she looked at the army that moved as one.

  “I don’t remember a report of any new ledgers being recorded.” Attika didn’t even look at them, waving a hand over his shoulder as if their show of respect was a nuisance.

  Mia stood to the side, Nessa’s fingers curled in her shirt.

  “That’s because I haven’t confirmed the information. Ben visited the Secret Keeper yesterday and hadn’t… accepted the necessity of what he has to do. We are still unsure whether he’ll be able to do what’s necessary. Also, there was no recorded debt when she came through.” Mox adjusted his glasses on his nose.

  The smile on Attika’s face deepened. “How many lives?”

  It took a while to realize they were talking to her. She was staring at the knife, and Nessa’s tug made her look up to see two focused gazes.

  Mia. No last name. Girl. Sixteen. No magic. No martial arts training. Little value.

  Little Value.

  Five lives to start.

  A tithe of fifty after.

  Lie.

  “Five,” she said. The size of the sacrifice didn’t always match what the ledger gave, but five lives sounded unimpressive.

  A tithe of fifty. She owed five lives a month; then what were the other forty-five for?

  Great Value. Huge Value. Value worth hiding.

  It wasn’t comforting to know she had value. More than anything, she wanted to be Mia, the girl with no value. Then, she wouldn’t have to weigh her choices. She wouldn’t have to stand between these men as they fought a battle with words and looks.

  Attika’s smile brightened. “Why can she access a warp gate?”

  Mox gave a long-suffering sigh. His eyes drifted to where the Second Division stood, watching. “She’s compatible with my ledger and has been working as a scribe with the Ravagers Scavenger Corp.”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Ah, so this is her. I must ask Crow about her. The scavengers of the first division have been… restless since they heard that the Ravagers have a dedicated scribe.” Attika’s smile eased, placid and kind.

  Mox pinched his brow. “Yes, the other scavengers are vocal about the unfair treatment.”

  Attika laughed, his whole body shaking. “Everyone complained when you started that school for members of the second division, but now you have more scribes than you know what to do with and can waste them on things like this.” His large hand swung out, gesturing at Mia.

  “If you want to transfer personnel…”

  “No. No. None of that. There’s no need for the High Council to get involved. Keep us in the loop about her ledger; ants' meat is still meat.” Attika walked off, his interest in her gone.

  Mia’s gaze was complex as she looked at Mox. “Can someone bring her to Senric?” Mia asked, pointing at Nessa. The girl was dead on her feet, one hand clutching Mia and the other at her throat. She cleared her throat. She wasn’t all there, swaying and sobbing.

  Mox lifted his hand, and Senric stepped out of the crowd. He nodded at Mia before ushering Nessa away.

  Nessa kept looking back.

  Mia kept a smile on her face, waving and making shooing noises. “I’ll come find you, Mox just needs a word first.” She couldn’t fathom what Nessa was going through and didn’t have the words to comfort her. Mia’s smile fell when Nessa disappeared. “I want a discount on my name change, half off. It obviously benefits you just as much as me.” She was still trembling, and her words were shaky, but she needed to stand her ground.

  “There are no after-purchase discounts. If you wanted a discount applied, you should have discussed it at the time of purchase.” Luther slipped out of the crowd, coming to stand by Mox, black-faced and silent.

  Dan stood at a distance.

  Mia’s gaze slipped to Luther, then back.

  “Luther is under a vow of silence. He won’t discuss anything he hears without permission.”

  That wasn’t comforting. She had no control over Luther and didn’t trust Mox to keep her secrets.

  But she’d joined his pirate ship without realizing.

  Attika knew who she was when he singled her out. His approach and subtle hints to change divisions were a test and an attack; distancing herself from Attika meant she’d chosen a side.

  If I live.

  “You know what type of ledger I have?” Mia's thumb picked at the nail on her index finger. The knife was there, in her palm, like a boil she couldn’t get rid of.

  “Yes. I’ve known the possibility from the start.”

  Mia nodded. “I demand retroactive payment.”

  “Denied.” Mox’s hands crossed behind his back. “Don’t you want to know?”

  “I haven’t decided on what to do.” Mia hissed, looking down to see blood pooling at the edge of her nail. She’d never seen it this bad.

  “Liar.” Mox’s ledger appeared in his hand. “According to this, you’ll do anything to live.” He turned to walk away. “You have a Life Ledger, more commonly called a commerce ledger.”

  “That’s it?” Mia asked, her heart thumping in her chest.

  “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  “What do you want from me? No, don’t answer that.” Mia looked around. There was always a need in Cinderwild, a commerce ledger where all it needed was lives. “How functional…”

  “That’s the question. Is it focused on food, potions, medicine, all of the above, or none of them?” Mox looked over the army like the Duke used to look over the Duchy.

  “And you’ll know either way because my protection comes from being a scribe, and to have that position, I’ll be in contact with your ledger. All my information at your fingertips.” Her finger stopped. “No, you can tell the type of ledger, but you won’t know the exact function.”

  Growth.

  Mox, Senric, Crow, Lady T. They were forcing her to grow. They never chose for her, but there was a right and wrong choice.

  Was it a war between the divisions?

  Was the political situation of Ashfall volatile?

  Why else would you need access to resources no one else knew about?

  “I’m not the only person you found with a Life Ledger, am I?” Mia asked.

  “No, but they are far less interesting than you.” Mox adjusted his glasses and strode off.

  Mox had no reason to give her that information. But everything he said served a purpose.

  Her stomach twisted.

  Dan approached. “Mox has asked me to inform you that there won’t be any scavenging today. The Ravagers set up camp by the river.”

  “But Ashfall doesn’t have a river…” Her voice trailed off. But the map she’d seen in Troy’s tent showed a mountain in the distance and two hills with a river running through. Her eyes hit the horizon, the tip of the mountain piercing the sky. “Why was the camp attacked?”

  “We’ve been having problems with the Perts recently. They’re an emerging group that doesn’t abide by established rules, attacking without a barrier in place. They mostly deal in slaves, making the camp a prime target.” Mia had never heard Dan talk that much.

  “Is the trip to Ashfall usually done by warp gate?” She asked, already knowing the answer.

  “That’s significantly cheaper than feeding, housing, and transporting hundreds of people.”

  Mia looked at the mountain. It had natural defences, not to mention that a mountain has abundant resources. “That’s their hideout.”

  Dan nodded. “More importantly, this is undiscovered land.”

  “How can there be undiscovered land?” The Drunn Empire didn’t have access to or explore every area on the Vassa continent, but they knew where everything was.

  “A barrier surrounds Cinderwild. And the land inside has biomes that appear on all nine continents, but more surprisingly, the space often gets larger. A new desert will appear, or a new mountain.” Dan started walking, and she followed.

  That led to continuous wars as they tried to expand by claiming new territory.

  “Mountains have mines, don’t they?” Mia asked.

  “More often than not,” he answered. “You’re taking this well.”

  “This is the most I’ve ever heard you speak.” Mia’s voice was high.

  “Avoidance.” The word was heavy between them. “You didn’t speak to me. I got the impression you were afraid of me.”

  “I’ll go to sleep and wake up with another part of me broken. What am I supposed to do other than avoid that?” Mia was afraid of him, and Luther, and Mox, and Senric, and Troy, and Crow, all of them and none of them. Most of all, she was afraid of herself. “You’re a reality I don’t want to face.”

  “Fair enough, but I guess you won't be paying me to help you kill people.”

  Mia drew in a sharp breath, the knife falling out of her hand. When it came out, it was a slow, painful wheeze.

  ***

  Mia sat at the edge of the river. She’d abandoned her tent at camp, and with her uncertain future, she didn’t want to spend the money to get another one.

  Nessa sat by the fire, her bruises gone, but she was subdued. She hadn’t approached Mia, and Mia was giving her some space to sort out her emotions on her own.

  Mia held up the knife. It was heavy in her hand. Heavier than she expected.

  Mia never thought she could do it…end a life.

  She remembered the way his eyes went wide, the way his mouth opened in a silent scream, the way his breath stopped, body slumped.

  He wasn’t different from the rabbit. Large. More dangerous. But just as dead. Just as easy.

  It never occurred to her that a person could just…stop.

  The water moved.

  It didn’t care about anything.

  She dipped her fingers in, hating the way her left arm swung forward. Cold, sharp, unforgiving.

  “I did what I had to,” she whispered.

  The river had no answer for her.

  “I’ll do what I have to!”

  Mia didn’t feel better. She probably never would. Life after life would end until it became as normal as ripping teeth out of a man’s skull. Knowing her, she’d adjust quickly.

  No. She didn’t feel better, and that was alright. Something new, a quiet, hard thing, grew inside her.

  It wasn’t forgiveness.

  It wasn’t peace.

  It was truth.

  She killed a man. She’d carry that and keep going.

  Mia stood, wiped her hand on her jeans, and walked to the fire.

  The knife was gone.

  The memory wasn’t.

  But neither was she.