Chapter 2022: Seriously

Quinlan needed a moment before he could answer Ayame.

He lay sprawled on the bed of wind above the clouds, sticky and drenched in sweat, his chest heaving. Black Fang remained seated astride his hips, naked and just as breathless.

She’d stowed her clothes in her pocket ring during the night, piece by piece as they became too dirty to wear.

<We’ll be down in a moment,> he finally managed through [Master’s Link].

He looked up at his equally exhausted companion.

"That was one epic duel."

Black Fang looked down at him. A damp strand of hair clung to her cheek, and he found himself smiling despite the effort it took to draw his next breath.

"You’re getting frighteningly proficient. And this is only your second battle..."

He let out a long breath.

"I might be in grave danger."

Not one to offer a proper declaration, Black Fang merely looked him in the eyes.

Yes, he was.

"Shower?" Quinlan asked.

She lifted both arms above her head.

His grin widened. Raising a palm, he summoned a gentle stream of water, warming it with his fire magic before guiding it over her. Black Fang closed her eyes while he brushed her down, allowing him to wash away the night’s mess without offering a single complaint.

Once he’d washed them both, Quinlan swept the remaining water from their skin with his magic. Black Fang rose from his lap, planted one bare foot on his stomach, then brought the other beside it.

He looked up at the woman standing on him and braced his palms against the bed of wind.

"Let’s get ready, shall we?"

As he began to sit up, Black Fang shifted one foot onto his shoulder and pushed him flat again.

"Stay."

She drew fresh underwear and a black robe from her pocket ring, entirely unbothered by what she’d just done.

"...Seriously?"

Black Fang sent him a level glance.

Yes, seriously.

Quinlan held her gaze for a moment, then grinned and folded his arms beneath his head.

"All right, all right. Just don’t take too long."

She stepped into the clean underwear without wavering on him, then drew on the fresh robe. Soft silk slid over her shoulders and gathered around her waist, the loose sash hanging within reach of his hand.

Once she’d tied the sash, Black Fang loosened her ponytail and drew a comb from her pocket ring. She gathered her hair over one shoulder to work through the tangles, then secured it again and exchanged the comb for a hand mirror.

Quinlan’s eyebrows rose.

Black Fang angled the mirror toward the morning light, then bent to set a small open pot of lip rouge on his chest. A fine brush appeared between her fingers as she drew it from her ring.

"You’re making yourself quite comfortable."

"I am getting ready."

She loaded the brush with rouge, then returned her attention to the mirror to apply the color in careful strokes. Below her, Quinlan watched the lovely mouth he’d been admiring all night acquire a deeper shade of red.

He began to chuckle.

Black Fang paused with the brush near her lips and looked down at him.

"You’re moving."

"My sincerest apologies."

He tried to hold still, his grin refusing to cooperate. Clouds stretched to the horizon beyond her, bright beneath the rising sun, while the cold beauty standing on him calmly resumed doing her makeup.

Quinlan was utterly charmed. She could have stood anywhere on the wind he’d spread beneath them, yet here she was.

Black Fang pressed her lips together and checked the result from another angle before putting the brush away. She retrieved the pot from his chest and returned it to her ring too.

Satisfied, she put the mirror back in her ring and stepped down onto the supporting currents beside him.

Quinlan finally got to his feet and let Synchra cover him in black armor again, leaving his head bare. His living armor had already cleaned herself.

Black Fang’s eyes narrowed at the spotless plates forming over his chest, prompting Quinlan to ask, "You know, I’ve never quite understood why you don’t wear proper armor."

Her gaze rose to his face.

"Those robes are sexy as hell," he continued with a smile, "but they barely offer any protection."

"Armor is a drawback."

She adjusted the sash at her waist while he waited for her to elaborate.

"My build prioritizes speed and flexibility. Heavy armor slows me down while, against an opponent dangerous enough to make me need armor, a light set would be destroyed almost immediately."

Black Fang smoothed a fold from her sleeve, apparently considering the matter settled.

Quinlan smiled inwardly. He’d expected that answer.

Even a little protection could be useful. If a piece broke on the first hit, it might still absorb enough force to spare her a nasty injury. He’d happily replace a ruined piece of armor for that.

He would discuss it with Kaelira later.

For now, he offered her his hand.

"Shall we?"

Her fingers closed around his.

Still holding her hand, he tilted the supporting currents until they hung headfirst above the clouds, shoulder to shoulder. Black Fang turned her face toward his, their heads level and her hair dangling into the emptiness beneath them.

Quinlan grinned at her and released the wind holding them up.

His stomach lurched as they fell. The clouds rushed toward their faces, swallowing the sunlight in cold white mist before they burst through the underside into open air.

Far below, the forest spread around a thin, shining stream. Their fortress looked tiny beside it, the towers barely distinguishable from the walls, but it was growing larger with every heartbeat.

Quinlan released her hand as the treetops rushed closer.

Black Fang swept one leg through a graceful arc, her hips following until her feet pointed toward the ground. Her arms stayed at her sides throughout the turn, black silk streaming around her legs.

Quinlan turned a palm. "[Gust]."

He drove a forceful current of wind beneath his shoulders, swinging his armored body upright and bringing his boots beneath him as he faced the approaching clearing.

The treetops shot past. Inside the walls, Brena looked up from the breakfast fire, and a shriek reached him through the rushing air.

"AAAH!!"

He spread a hand toward the earth.

"[Mass Flight]."

Wind surged beneath their feet, arresting the plunge just above the grass and sending dust racing across the clearing.

Black Fang touched down on the balls of her feet, graceful as ever. Her robes settled around her ankles as she straightened.

Quinlan’s boots struck the earth with a solid thud, and he sank into the landing before driving himself upright beside her.

Tavi was standing beside the fire with her bowl clutched against her chest.

"WHERE DID YOU TWO COME FROM?!"

Della looked from the gap in the wall to the sky, then back at them.

"You were... up there?"

"How far up?!" Brena blurted, staring at the clouds they’d fallen through. "I didn’t even see you until you were about to hit the ground!"

Black Fang walked past all three women and sat beside the fire. She filled a bowl from the breakfast pot, took up a spoon, and began eating.

Tavi watched her swallow.

"Black Fang...?"

The assassin took another spoonful.

"We had important business to attend to," Quinlan replied pleasantly.

He sat beside Black Fang and helped himself to breakfast.

"Isn’t that right?"

Black Fang paused with her spoon near her mouth and gave him a sideways look.

The demand for silence in those violet eyes came with a very clear threat. Quinlan’s grin widened as she turned back to her breakfast, dismissing him before he could offer another word.

He took a mouthful, looking thoroughly pleased with his morning.

...

Once everyone had eaten, they packed up. Tavi returned the borrowed blanket to Ayame, and Black covered his face again as Della led the company out through the gap in the wall.

The wooded hills rose ahead as the path climbed away from the stream. At a fork, Della opened the contract’s map. The latest greenskin sighting was marked near a ravine farther uphill, and she took the trail that would bring them there.

Beside her, Ayame had loosened her katana in its sheath. The morning’s conversation continued farther back, but the company was spreading out enough to watch the trees on both sides.

Blossom stopped ahead of Della, her nose lifting toward the breeze.

"Master. There’s fighting up ahead. Blossom can smell people."

Her tail began wagging.

Della tightened her grip on her spear. Beyond the bend, the trees hid whatever had attracted the dogkin’s attention, but a dull impact reached her through the ground.

"How far?" Serika asked.

Blossom pointed uphill. "Just beyond those trees. Lots of greenskins too."

Kitsara moved beside her and caught the wagging tail, keeping her hand screened behind her own white tails.

"Good job as always~"

The dogkin glanced back at her, then faced the trail with renewed seriousness. Her tail continued trying to escape the foxkin’s hand.

Black passed Della on the outside of the bend, his women spreading out behind him. She hurried after them with Brena and Tavi close at her heels.

The first scream reached them before they cleared the trees.

"KILL THEM!!"

Della stepped onto a shelf of exposed rock and stopped so abruptly that Tavi caught her shoulder.

Below them, the wooded ravine widened into a basin between steep slopes. Greenskins packed its floor, pushing around boulders and through the brush while more poured down from the trees. A barricade of sharpened trunks crossed the far end, where several muddy trails vanished into the woods.

Bodies covered the ground between that barricade and a low ridge in the basin. There were thousands of them. The living climbed over the dead to reach the people fighting along the ridge, slipping in blood before scrambling upright again.

"Della..."

Brena’s crossbow was already in her hands. "Is this the nest we signed up to clear? No way, right?!"