So, I a tree hag at skeletons. I’m sure you guess how we ended up there. We ran out of arrows, we got overwhelmed, we climbed the tree to diminish the threat from their numbers. I’d stuck a globe of darkness on the ceiling, where Bernie erched, to protect us fred attacks.

  Since I needed one hand to grasp onto the tree limb I was sort of hanging from — I’d also ed my legs around the trunk for support — I only had one hand to hack at them with. I chose Redeemer, because if one of us got hurt, I’d have a much better heal with it.

  Bernie could see through the darkoo, and had her hands on a pike that she swung down at them when they got close enough.

  It was grueling work, and we were stuck.

  “This isn’t better than before you got here!” she yelled down at me.

  “It’s okay! We’ll find our opening!”

  “How?!” she yelled back.

  , I did something very stupid. I said the thing I wasn’t supposed to say.

  “I love you! We’ll figure something out!”

  “What?”

  I had two options here — deny, or double down. I’m sure you guess which option I chose.

  “I said, I love you!” I yelled, jamming the point of my sword through the eye socket of a skeleton, whose head exploded into bone fragments and purple fme.

  “No you don’t,” she said.

  “Yes I do!”

  This probably would have gone over better when I was saving her, and not hanging from a tree limb. Or maybe when we were about to have sex? Thinking back, both of those moments weren’t right either. Maybe there wasn’t a right moment.

  You gh your life thinking that the important shit, the really whirlwind, ge your life forever moments, will be surrounded by a choir of angels, and uhe full moon. In a field of flowers or whatever.

  But sometimes they happehey o, not when it's perfect.

  Maybe it wasn’t something that you waited for. Maybe it could happen anytime. Maybe it was a leap of faith.

  I did love her. I’d figured that out pretty much the moment I’d held her in my arms, nearly dead and bleeding all those weeks ago. Not only did I want her alive, I wanted her o me. I wanted her to see how damn cool she was. And I wao make sure that I didn’t miss a single sed of her splendor.

  And I, selfishly, wanted her to be mine.

  But not as my girlfriend or whatever, but as herself, as she wao be. I wanted us together as the best version of ourselves. And I khat she had some work to get there, but that I had even more.

  We weren’t perfect, but we were better together. Hell, we were great together.

  I knew I loved her, but I didn’t know what to do with that.

  But I think she o know I loved her. I think she o know that I would always be there.

  “Bull. Shit,” she said.

  Maybe you miss your leap of faith.

  “Well, how I prove it?” I said, swinging my sword and hag the arm from a skeleton. It dropped its axe, and I kicked it before it could its grip around the treelimb it was on, a it tumbling.

  Bere swung the pike, and knocked another skeleton from the other side of the tree.

  “You ’t,” she said.

  “Now, I call bullshit!” I said. “I trust you! I’m here, right now, and always. You know I’ll always be there. Why ’t you accept it?”

  “Give me something,” she said.

  “What?!”

  “Fug, I don’t know. Give me something to prove you aren’t just in it so I’ll stay with the group! Or so I’ll fuck you!”

  “Why?” I asked, hag the head from another undead.

  “Because men will say anything! You gotta do something to back it up!”

  I growled with frustration, and kicked another skeleton.

  “Like a fug promise ring, or something?”

  “Only if it’s expensive!”

  I thought for a sed. Well, the most expehing I had was magic items. This whole thing seemed a little materialist on its face, but it made some seh a sed thought. Women want to know if your words mean something. So, you give up something important, something that says you won’t run away. If you drop half a year's sary on a diam firl, it means you aren’t gonna leave it, or her, behind.

  What she reasonably believe I’d never leave behind? I didn’t have anything.

  Then I kly what I o do.

  I dropped Redeemer.

  “What are you doing?!” She excimed.

  “Five me for what I must do,” I muttered. Edge of Nothing appeared in my hand. I sliced a skeleton in half. “Heads up!” I warned. Then I threw the sword into the brick several paces from her.

  “This what I think it is?” she asked.

  “It’s yours!” I said. “Now and forever. Besides — suits you better anyway.”

  “Holy shit,” she said, grabbing the sword and swishing it experimentally. “Rubies? How’d you know that they’re my favorite?”

  “So,” I replied. “After you! You cut a path, and I’ll follow.” I looked down at the skeletons that were climbing up toward me. “And maybe hurry up.”

  “This doesn’t mean I love you back!” She said.

  “I don’t o hear it,” I lied.

  “Then follow me,” she said, detag from the ceiling, and falling.

  She diced two skeletons in half on the way down, then nded like a cat on the balls of her feet. The skeletons didn’t know what to do at first. She cut down three more before they even thought to move, and dashed out of their reach.

  I let go, and dropped down to a lower branbsp; Because I was ready for it, I didn’t get the breath knocked out of me when my chest hit it. Then I dropped to ahen a third.

  Finally, I hit the grouo her, stumbled but righted myself.

  A skeleton brandished my sword. Its head was lopped off its shoulders a sed ter, and I caught it before it hit the ground. I shoved the point over another’s shield and through its skull. I scooped the shield, and turo follow Bernie.

  She ducked a swipe, then jumped and spuhem, cut three down in succession, then ran back, bisected the two o me, then moved fain. They just fell apart before they could eve to her. Soon, she was right by my side.

  “Why didn’t you give me this sooner?”

  “I thought you’d hate that it was from Sofia,” I said, blog a blow with my shield.

  “We’ll talk about that ter,” she said, biseg the oo me, then two more, then standio me again. “But it’s just a sword. An excellent sword, so you’d be an idiot not to use it.”

  I pointedly didn’t tell her about all the times I should have used it. I wanted her to think I was smart. Or less dumb than I often seemed.

  “Well,” I said. “I protect your back,” I lifted my shield to emphasize the point, “and you lead the way.”

  “You just want an excuse to look at my ass,” she said.

  “I meahis any other time, I’d cherish an excuse to look at your ass, but we have to take this seriously.”

  “Try and keep up then,” she said.

  Her powerful legs propelled her forward. She moved like nothing I’d ever seen, leaping up over her foes and twisting, t her body over their swipes. I just plowed straight ahead, shoving skeletons aside, and battering around with Redeemer.

  Giving her space was the name of the game. As long as I kept baddies off her back, she’d whip back around and finish them off.

  What had been a struggle, was now some kind of gosh darn rollercoaster. If I stopped moving for a sed, she’d leave me behind, but I wasn’t in any kind of danger if I stuck close to her.

  Then we reached the tun, toward the ir, and even though the skeletohicker here, the tighter quarters just let her really cut loose.

  She leapt to the ceiling, then the wall, then the floor, then back again, never keeping the same pin of attack, always ging the dire she leapt from. And I was the ter of all this. I kept them off band she took them down.

  Soon, it was over. We walked briskly down the narrow hall in silence, passiy alcoves as we did. These ses had already beeied of the dead.

  I didn’t have darkvision any more, but she brandished the warm light of the ste for me to follow. We both breathed heavily, but the walk let us cool down. By the time we reached the heavy wooden door we figured was her ir, we had gotten back to an even ce for our breath.

  A torch burned from a sear the door, presumably so June didn’t trip going in and out.

  Bernie showed me the dot oe that let us know June indeed was behind the door. I’d long since sheathed Redeemer, and so gently set my shield down, to pull out Provoker. I’d procured a little less than a dozen arrows on the way here. They were of varyihs but that wasn’t too much of an issue for a short bow.

  She returhe ste, gripped Edge, theo the door. Her finger held up three. I nocked an arrow. Then her fingers showed two. I took a step bad raised my bow. Then one. My back muscles engaged and I pulled the bow back as far as I could.

  She yahe door open.

  The first thing I saw was the beautiful wrought iron delier, wax dripping from the dles. Then I saw the three people here. Then the desks with paper strewn about.

  The first person, a woman with voluminous hair and dark skirts could only be June. The man iher armor, Pistol on the desk in front of him, I assumed was Benoit. The third revealed himself to be a massive orbsp;

  They all went red. I immediately released the string. The arrow scraped Benoit’s babsp; He arched in pain. Bere threw her hunting ko the orc’s fabsp; I nocked another arrow. The entire room went bck — a spell from Edge.

  I let loose my arrow. A yelp of pain came from the bess. I sent another arrow food measure.

  The orc barreled from the bess, kill in his fabsp; He tried to go for my throat but I filed with the bow. He grabbed the bow. I held fast. Then he charged forward, smmio the wall.

  Punches smmed into my stomach.

  “Not today,” I said. The sound of g bdes echoed from the darkness. I quickly added, “Bere, I believe in you!”

  Another punch, this time to my head, sent my vision splotchy, and it narrowed dangerously. I’d never been knocked out by a punch before, but I figured this was close.

  I grabbed the knife in the orc’s fad plu into his nebsp; One hao the wound, reflexively. I tore the knife free again, juked his ter punch, then pluhe knife right through the soft spot in his armpit.

  The orc slouched, dead or dying.

  I immediately nocked another arrow a it into the darkness.

  Not knowing what else to do, I ran through the door. Bernie dropped the spell. I could see again.

  It was just us now, and two corpses.

  “Where is she?” I asked.

  “Teleported out,” Bernie said.

  “Damn,” I said. “She say anything before that?”

  “Just that, ‘her work was done anyway.’”

  “That sounds ominous.”

  “Oh, she robably just bragging,” she said. “e o’s see if we ’t discover what they were doing.”

  “Then we o go save Caleb,” I said.

  Bere nodded.

  The night was far from over.