Taiga set a bowl of stew down on the small table. Mouse glanced at it from his perch on the windowsill. He looked away from it with a slight frown before returning to his watch on the people milling about the street below.

  “Still not hungry?” Taiga asked, his eyes falling to a couple apples sitting on the table, unmoving since he’d placed them there the night prior when they’d arrived back in Winolin.

  Mouse didn’t answer. Taiga sighed, setting a spoon for the stew down beside the bowl. Mouse’s eyes followed someone in the street. “Where is she going?”

  Taiga walked towards him, peering out the window. Jule skipped down the street, her bag of books bouncing at every move. She readjusted the glasses on her face before speeding up and weaving around a stalled cart. “To the library. She wants to do some research on where the rip near Winolin may be.”

  “It’s not at that old barn where we fought the disappearing demon?”

  Taiga shook his head. “I don’t think so. I didn’t see the same magic signature there as I did in the mine. So, she’s investigating.”

  “And,” Mouse’s voice pouted, “I can’t go with her?”

  “You pushed yourself because you wanted to return to Winolin, ached the entire way here, had a migraine so bad you gave yourself a fever, and what, you think you’re ready to go running down the street?”

  “It barely hurts.” Mouse scrunched his eyebrows together.

  “Yeah, at the moment. You’ll start hurting the more you move around. Take the day, rest a little more. We’ll go out tomorrow.”

  “I can go out now.”

  Taiga glanced back at the untouched food on the table. “Is your appetite back?”

  Mouse turned away, puffing his cheeks a bit in annoyance.

  “Eat at least a little, and I’ll believe you’re better. Not before that.”

  Mouse grumbled, but didn’t push the matter further. Taiga walked to the nightstand, grabbing his wallet off it and latching his wooden sword to his side. He checked the rows of coins, satisfied with the payment for the flowers and thrilled to, finally, be cleared of Sweet Bun’s debt.

  “Where are you going??” Mouse narrowed his eyes at him.

  “Ellio and I are walking the market to—”

  “What?? Without me?” His voice pitched in disbelief.

  Taiga paused, waited until Mouse stopped his interruption, and continued, “to resupply so we can take on another mission once you’re better.”

  They stared at each other for a moment. Taiga added, “unless you’d prefer staying cooped up here forever—”

  “No! Go resupply! Tomorrow we’ll take on another mission and I can go out, right?” A smile crept over his face, half-mooning his eyes in his excitement.

  Taiga laughed. “We’ll get in as many missions as we can while the weather holds. We need to stock up on money before the cold sets in.”

  This was true, and a big concern for Taiga. The temperature held its warmth for now, but once the chill swept through, he’d be limited in mobility until spring returned. They’d take fewer breaks, figure out what they could about the imbalance, and do everything they could until then. Hopefully Ellio, Jule, and Mouse could do whatever they could before the first snow.

  He reminded Mouse once more to eat, ideally the stew while it was still warm, before leaving. He descended the stairs, welcomed to some laughs from other mercenaries, and checked the tables, firepit, and entryway for Ellio. He recognized a couple mercenaries by the mission board, Ku and Telania, from their mission to Bearthatch. Ku gave him an acknowledged nod.

  Taiga could’ve gone over and asked about the missing mission for Blackcap mine’s village, but he decided against it. Afterall, someone purposefully didn’t post it, likely to prevent news about a rip. And whether those mercenaries were aware or not, someone else may hear, or they may ask around to someone who knew. It could raise suspicions to mercenaries working towards the queen’s needs.

  And Taiga would never forget what happened to his people, or that it was by the hands of mercenaries. He’d only trust those he knew to be safe. Though he wasn’t really sure if two Monx fugitives qualified, they were a lot more trustworthy than four seasoned mercenaries that flipped out at how Mouse handled demons.

  “If yer lookin’ fer yer frien’,” a mercenary sitting at a table called out to Taiga, “he wen’ ta the stables.”

  Taiga bowed his thanks, and headed out, rounded the corner, and walked into the stable. Two stalls in, Ellio stood up against the gate, whispering gently to their rust coated boy, Ghost. Taiga stepped towards them, and Ghost swung his head towards him, giving him a loud neigh in welcome.

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  “Now I understand why he took so easily to you.” Ellio smiled at his approach. “He’s usually wary of new people. Mouse can probably attest to that.”

  Taiga nodded, though there was a different reason animals didn’t take to him. Only creatures of magic were unaffected. It was why he’d hoped Sweet Bun would warm up to Mouse soon.

  Sweet Bun popped her head up over the horse stalls from where she was kept in the back. She chirped at the sight of him, bobbing up and down until Taiga made his way over. He pulled an apple from his bag and lifted it up. She stabbed her beak towards it, catching it between her jaws, and crunched it within a few seconds.

  Pieces of broken apple flung on him, which he picked off and handed back to her for her to lick up. Juice drizzled around her beak, and she purred small chirps for him. Sweet Bun headbutted against the side of Taiga’s head and buried into the nape of his neck. He brought up his hands to keep her from knocking him over, and ran his fingers through her feathers.

  “Yes, yes, I wouldn’t stop in without saying hello.” He considered bringing her to the market with him, but her size and insatiable appetite may make him regret such a decision. He gave her more pets before leaving the stable with Ellio and taking to the streets.

  They made their way to the northern part of town, where the market was finally coming back to life after the attack on the wall. Some of the people there lost their livelihoods, their shops, or even family. Now that stalls and stores reopened, he wanted to check how the recovery went.

  Several men dressed in the red robes of the church roamed by, saddled with baskets of baked goods and fresh vegetables. Taiga and Ellio paused to let them pass before continuing on. Taiga’s eyes lingered on a kid, maybe thirteen or so, at the back of the line of deacons. He didn’t look ordained yet, and snuck a bite of bread while he walked.

  “I haven’t seen many churchers here.” Ellio blinked at them. “Are they not as common in Lanria?”

  Taiga shrugged. “The queen doesn’t support the church. I think their power dwindled after she ascended the throne.”

  “Power…?” Ellio lowered his voice a tad. “I don’t know of a church that desires political standing.”

  “I don’t think they do.” Taiga lowered his voice to match Ellio’s, briefly looking over a stall of scarves and sweaters. “But they’re too independent for her liking. I don’t pay them much mind. They act unfavorably towards non-humans.”

  Well, when the church’s entire existence centered around humans, their welfare, and survival, it was of no surprise. Taiga purposefully paid them little heed, aside from keeping Mouse and himself outside their peripheral vision. They’d do no harm to him, because he was a Ganakri, but their sway over the common folk could make their stay more uncomfortable.

  Ellio only nodded to this information, before wandering towards a store of writing supplies. “Jules wants a new journal. I’ll be back.”

  Taiga nodded, continuing to look about another stall of hats. He picked one up, flipping the soft material over in his hand. He set it back, turning and spotting the young unordained boy breaking a loaf of bread in half and distributing the parts to a couple children lurking in the shadowed eve of a shop. The boy kept a large chunk for himself, slipping it into the pocket of his robe.

  He turned away, browsing about the stalls. Taiga purchased a bag of treats for Sweet Bun which Mouse would enjoy and a saddlebag for Sweet Bun. She appeared broken from when he’d ridden her before and seemed trained for carrying luggage. He’d give it a try, and slowly see how she did with some small training. The stable offered horse services, but it would be pricey to find a linlao trainer. He had experience with brief linlao training when they fought on the western front. For now, he’d see what he could do himself.

  Another stall with scarves drew Taiga to it. He looked it over, catching sight of Ellio walking out of a store and spotting him. While Taiga turned over a few items, Ellio got distracted by another stall and started talking to the owner. A cowl caught Taiga’s eye. He lifted it, measuring its height and width.

  “Looking for yourself? It seems a good fit.” An older lady rocked her chair as she spoke, glancing up at him from where she busied herself with her knit.

  “It’s not for me. Do you have anything a little bigger, with a hood?” He placed the cowl down.

  The woman shook her head. “I don’t make many cowls, dear. They aren’t popular.”

  Taiga smiled. It wasn’t about how popular they were, but rather the use. “Where do you get your yarn here? Do you spin it yourself?”

  She nodded with a wide grin. He ran a few fingers over a purple sweater. The soft fiber fluffed in his hand, smooth and gentle even for a child. He wondered how it spun and what it was dyed with, but he didn’t bother asking. It wasn’t like he could haul animals around to spin yarn himself.

  “Do you have any yarn for sale? Or perhaps know somewhere that sells any?” His fingers still brushed over the softest of fibers from her stand.

  The woman shook her head. “I think most spinners here use it themselves. I have no spare yarn on me. You can buy the sweater, though.” She nodded towards the one in his hand. “And unravel it, if you need the material.”

  “You wouldn’t mind?” He asked carefully.

  She laughed. She affirmed her decision and waved the concerns off. Taiga bowed his thanks before paying for the sweater and slipping it into his bag.

  “Found you!” Jule slid to a stop beside him, her hands on her hips with a beaming smile. Her skirts shifted at the movement, briefly wrapping around his leg. Behind her, Ellio ran up to them. “Make sure to buy food for the road, because we have a new mission!”

  “How did we… get a new mission?” Ellio asked, biting his bottom lip.

  “You signed us up for something… without asking, I take it?” Taiga sighed. “Were you planning to make me regret our partnership immediately or what?”

  “What?? Noooo.” Jule elongated her intention.

  “So you didn’t sign us up for a mission?”

  “Well, I did but—”

  “So then the only answer was ‘yes’, you signed us up and made me regret this immediately.” Taiga let her stew on it for a few long moments before letting it go. “So what’s the mission, and why did you accept it?”

  Jule’s smile returned almost instantly. “We’re escorting supply caravans!”

  She said nothing further, so Taiga nudged, “okay, and why?”

  “Yessssss see, I think their destination may be where the rip is. It’s northwest of where you two said you fought the disappearing demon before. An entire town got devastated there a couple years ago. I did some mapping while at the library, and demons have been reported all within 200 kilometers of this place, like it’s an epicenter.”

  This was actually useful information. It stunned him a moment, before her expectant eyes shook him out of it. “Good job. When do we leave?”

  Her teeth glistened with her smile. “Tomorrow.”