Emotion-based abilities were extremely rare, with only a scant few archetypes granting access to them.

  The Artist was foremost among those. Adeline’s gift of passion was a great example of that archetype’s gifts, which tended to focus on buffs to others, with her gift granting her the ability to stoke her allies’ energies and restore their stamina and focus at will, but Oli had learned of others growing up.

  The gift of fear, also granted by the Artist archetype, was particularly respected. While it took a very certain type of person to identify with that emotion powerfully enough to earn the gift, the ability to spark all-consuming fear within even the staunchest foe was a potent one.

  The gift of the bandit, being a blessing specifically awarded to those who bullied and took from others for their own benefit, had access to its own emotional abilities. Menacing Glare wasn’t as crippling as the terror the gift of fear could inspire, but it didn’t need to be. All it needed to do was spark a moment’s indecision, a slight hesitation, that the bandit in question could take advantage of.

  Aton had proven that ably in Oli’s fight with him the day before. Stunning Blow was more disorienting than Menacing Glare, thanks to the restriction of being delivered through an attack, but the eclipsed swordsman had used it to leave Oli helpless for just a few critical moments. If not for Cadence’s intervention, that would’ve been all Aton needed to kill him.

  This time, Oli couldn’t count on Cadence’s help, as the same challenge that had kept the numerous remaining bandits from joining in with their leader kept Cadence from a timely arrow that could throw Garret off. But there was another key difference between this fight and the duel with Aton.

  This time, Oli was ready.

  Emotion attacks were rare, but Oli’s father had, however reluctantly, purchased the services of some of the best armsmasters in Elliven to train Oli and his older sister, and they hadn’t neglected his training against even the most unorthodox abilities. So as the Menacing Glare jabbed hatefully into Oli’s mind, Garret already moving forward with a snarling grin, Oli turned all his thoughts, all his will, to picturing a great castle wall in his mind, a bastion to cast back the psychic attack.

  The force of the bandit’s ability was still jarring–but ready as he was for it, Oli’s will proved sufficient to fend off the Glare. Garret had only a moment to look surprised before Oli’s sword slashed upwards, opening a ragged cut along the older man’s chest. Blood streamed from the wound, and in the bandit’s moment of surprise, he had no defense ready as Oli began to rain more blows down on him.

  In moments, the fight was over, and Garret lay dead on the well-trod ground of the bandit camp.

  [Gift of the Vanguard] experienced gained

  Experience: 68%

  Oliver stared at the bandit’s corpse, watching it in surprise even as his lifeblood spilled out onto the forest floor. The difference between a Novice and an Apprentice was a thin one, he knew, much more minor than the jumps in power at Adept, or even Initiate, level. Yet once again, Oliver had survived a fight he really shouldn’t have. This time he hadn’t needed to be saved, at the very least, but Garret shouldn’t have gone down as easily as he did. His death was more a product of his own fragile pride and how unprepared he was for anyone to resist his Menacing Glare than any actual skill or power difference between them.

  There was every chance that, had the bandit leader been slightly less arrogant and sure of his bullying tactics, that it would be Oli bleeding his life out to water the dirt of the deadlands.

  A chilling thought.

  A hand landed on Oli’s shoulder, and he flinched, forced from his dark thoughts. He was surprised to see Cadence standing behind him, sky-blue eyes glittering. Had he really been out of it for so long that the celestial had been able to cross the clearing from their hiding place?

  Still, as he looked around the camp, the remainder of the bandits seemed at least as stunned as he was to see their leader dead, looking from Garret’s corpse to his killer with more-or-less equal shock.

  Cadence cleared their throat. When Oli looked back at them, the blue-haired celestial gestured for him to start talking.

  Right, Oli scolded himself again. Focus!

  The squire cleared his throat, trying to avoid the inevitable crack, and called out to the group, “I told you all what would happen now. Does anyone want to tell me where to find Egin? Or do I need to cut someone else down?”

  The group’s answer was a silence broken only by some uncomfortable shifting in place. The once-fierce bandits, particularly those Cadence and Oli had already wounded, seemed reluctant to even meet the two youths’ eyes, despite many of them having no small number of years over their attackers.

  Finally, one of the bandits, a rangy youth, volunteered, “We don’t know. But Garret said he did. I think–”

  “Shut up Jens!” An older man growled at the youth.

  Cadence spoke before Oliver could. “Friend, if you don’t have anything helpful to say, best not say anything at all,” they warned the older bandit. As they spoke, the celestial brought a hand down to the odd black-glass shortsword they kept on their belt.

  Oli thought the threat was somewhat melodramatic–in fact, he was sure he had read those words in a book at some point, and not a quality one–but the claim did its job. The bandit blanched and stayed quiet.

  After a moment for the group to stew on that reaction, Oli asked, as if he hadn’t been interrupted, “Well? What do you think, Jens?”

  The youth shifted awkwardly, eyes on the ground, reluctant. It was another, a stringy-haired woman, who finally answered, “Garret couldn’t keep two thoughts in his head for more than an hour, ‘less they were about hisself. He prolly had a map or somethin’.”

  Oli turned to look at Cadence. The celestial shrugged noncommittally.

  “Okay,” Oli addressed the woman this time, “where’s his bags?”

  “O’er there,” she told him, pointing at a couple packs laid against a tree near the center of the camp. Unlike the dirty, poorly-mended hempen and canvas bags most of the band was using, they were good, high-quality leather, and as dirty as they were, they looked quite a bit nicer than the bag Oli had toted with him since he left Correntry.

  Oli gave Cadence another look. They nodded. “I’ll watch this bunch, you go check it out.”

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  With brusque motions, Oliver sheathed his sword and approached the bags, making a point of not looking at the uncomfortable, intimidated bandits, as if he wasn’t worried about anything they could do. Anything to make them a little more cautious.

  The bag proved to be well-packed, and not just with Garret’s personal goods. Sundries like dirty changes of clothing, a tattered blanket, a rusty shaving kit, and a couple lumps of tallow soap, Oli tossed to one side, uninterested in the dead bandit’s belongings and trying not to connect the simple necessities of life to the unpleasant man who had died at the end of his sword minutes before.

  That accounted for the majority of one bag, and Oli turned his attention to the second. Quickly, he knew that this was a very different collection. Egin had no doubt taken the most valuable of the clan’s loot with him when he fled ahead of the rest of them, but he must’ve had to leave some of it behind. Most notable among the goods in the second pack were a pair of heavy, hardwood lock boxes and a series of individual pouches, each no larger than Oli’s hands. The purses and wealth plundered from some of the caravans the group had hit, no doubt.

  Still, there was no map. Oli’s search became more and more furious, until he finally found something, tucked away behind a false flap in the back of the bag. It was a cylinder that looked to be carved of… horn. Yes. He refused to entertain the idea that the case had been made from bone instead.

  The cap easily slid off, and when Oli upturned it, several small objects slid out. There were two keys, no doubt matches to the two lockboxes; a couple brilliant green emeralds each the size of Oli’s thumb; an unmarked vial of some no-doubt powerful potion, filled with a glittering purple fluid; and finally, a rolled parchment protected by the hard-sided case. It wasn’t the clearest guide ever–it seemed to depict heading and distances between landmarks, rather than a detailed map of the area–but it would suffice, considering Cadence’s obvious abilities for woodcraft.

  Quickly, Oli folded the map and pocketed it, slid the other precious items back into the unpleasant case, slipped it shut, and repacked the bag.

  “I’ve got it,” he called to Cadence as he stood and walked back over–keeping the bag of valuables in his hands. While he had no plans to take the goods the band had looted from legitimate traders for himself, Oli had even less inclination to leave the valuables to the bandits.

  “Okay,” Cadence said, voice grim. They turned to the bandits, and frowned.

  Oli guessed at their thoughts. “Now we need to decide what to do with this lot.”

  “Hey!” The woman who had volunteered the location of the map spoke up again. “You said you’d let us go once we gave you what you wanted!”

  Oli sighed, while Cadence pursed their lips. “You did say that…” the celestial pointed out reluctantly.

  Oli felt a frown twist his lips, like he had just bitten into a lemon.. Even if the bandits had been deprived of their leadership, they had doubtlessly killed plenty of helpless civilians in their time haunting the Flax Road. Just like with Aton, it didn’t feel right to just ignore the weight of their crimes, regardless of the circumstances. Still…

  “We can’t take them with us,” Cadence reminded Oli. They flinched, their frown deepening.

  “You’re right,” he admitted.

  “I’ll take it from here,” Cadence offered. Oli sighed and reluctantly nodded, taking a step back while the blue-haired youth turned to the collected bandits.

  At that moment, Cadence didn’t look very young, or very happy. “Okay, here’s how it's going to be,” they told the outlaws, their voice more gruff than normal. “My friend here is a little more generous than I am, but I won’t make him go back on his word. So you’re going to leave this place, and make your way to the Flax Road. From there, I don’t care where you go. Correntry, Jellis, the deadlands, Emeston. Just know this–your banditry days are over. The next time I hear rumors of attacks along the Flax Road, I’m going to be coming out personally. And next time, I’ll be shooting to kill. Got it?”

  “Who d’you think you are, you little sp–” The same older bandit that had shut up his younger companion earlier tried for bravado–but suddenly, faster than Oli could observe, Cadence moved. One moment, the celestial was next to him, and the next, they were in front of the offending bandit, shortsword bare, its black glass tip resting against the man’s neck.

  Oli knew the gift of the bandit granted a speed boost similar to the one his own gift of wind had given him, but the outlaw seemed as off-guard and unable to follow the celestial’s movement as he had been. Just how does that gift of theirs work?

  “Friend.” Cadence’s voice was more quiet and threatening than Oli would’ve thought possible from the normal cute, jovial little celestial. “I thought I asked you to keep quiet.”

  Silence, so thick that it could practically be cut by a sword, lay over the camp as Cadence made their threat. Everyone, Oli included, held still, unsure what the celestial would do next. Finally, after a moment, Cadence lowered their sword, and said, “Go. Now.”

  Jens, the younger bandit from earlier, tried to protest, “But our supplies! We need them!”

  “So did the people you stole them from,” Oli scolded the youth. While he was shocked at Cadence’s obvious anger, his own frustration was only slightly better controlled. These were criminals. In a just world, he could guide them back to Jellis in chains–but the only thing keeping the dozen bandits from overwhelming their two lone adversaries was fear, a defense that was permanent and impenetrable as a fog bank. If he or Cadence pushed them too far, their anger might overcome their fear, and while the two would no doubt take their fair share with them, they would not survive that fight.

  “Now. As my friend said. Go.”

  #

  “I don’t like it,” Cadence said a few minutes later, after the ragged group had fled.

  Oli was still watching the ridge they had disappeared over carefully. The woman who had spoken up had given them a thoughtful look as the rest of the band turned around, and Oli suspected that she had figured out their ploy just a hair too late. Still, if she managed to rally the rest of the group…

  “We should get moving,” OIi told Cadence.

  “To where, though?” Cadence asked. He still wasn’t sure if they had noticed the same thing Oli had, but they seemed ready enough to leave the camp, and Garret’s corpse, behind them. “Do we follow the map? Or go back to Jellis?”

  Oli frowned. He hadn’t really considered that–now that they were moving, it seemed natural to keep going, to go after this Egin character. But Cadence was right. This camp had been enough of a risk, and it was one that still threatened to turn back around on them. On the other hand, they could head back to Jellis easily enough. To find out how Beryl was faring, to see Rose…

  Oli was surprised to find that the thought of the girl, and their parting kiss, didn’t stir the blush he had expected. He shook his head, scolding himself again to stay focused.

  “What do you think?” he asked Cadence.

  The celestial frowned. Their gaze seemed to drift off for a minute or two, before they asked, “Can I see the map?”

  Oli shrugged, handing the folded parchment over to the celestial.

  Cadence’s blue brows knitted together as they looked at the sheet of paper, examining the directions. They turned it a few times, as if orienting it, then turned their whole body, looking from the paper to the sky. The whole process went on for several minutes before they announced, “This sucks.”

  “What?”

  “These aren’t the most straight-forward directions I’ve ever seen. I can’t tell if the path is winding because of the terrain, or the need for secrecy, or what. But overall, it’s going to be taking us to the southwest.”

  “And Jellis is… where exactly?”

  Cadence pursed their lips thoughtfully. They turned against, lifting a hand to sight down, waved it a few degrees side to side. It took a lot less time than it took to check the map before they said, “That general direction.”

  It was more or less the opposite way, more east than southwest. “We moved more south than west last night,” Cadence explained. “The more we follow this map, the farther we’ll get from Jellis. It’s leading us deep into the deadlands.”

  “We could try to head back to Jellis, then follow the map from there.”

  Cadence frowned. “Maybe. If we get some of Elway’s hunters with us… but we’d have to go to Jellis, get help, come back to this camp, and navigate from here. The map is set up so it’ll be useless from anywhere else.”

  Oli groaned, remembering Aton’s advice that had set them on this path in the first place. Once this group of bandits didn’t show up at the back-up hideout, Egin would figure that they got followed just like this. He’d be unlikely to give them a day or two before he fled yet again, and this time, they’d be unlikely to find a handy map giving them direction to his third location. There was no way they could get back to Jellis without losing the bandit leader for good.

  “It’s your call, “Cadence told him. “I’m the one that forced my way into this little adventure. Just like yesterday, if you want to call it, we can.”

  Oli sighed–then he remembered the carnage on the Flax Road. Hugo and his employees, even their animals, had just been simple people trying to make a living in a difficult time. They hadn’t deserved their fate.

  He couldn’t just let it go now.

  “We keep going,” Oli decided.