Was Autumn really that naïve, or had she been cursed with dull wits? I should test her .

Cloudhawk stretched and crossed his legs, feigning disinterest . “Words are cheap . Let’s do this . Tell me where your tribe is, and I’ll check it out . If it’s like you say then I’ll think about helping you . ”

Autumn clenched her fists and was about to speak, but she swallowed it back before the words could pa.s.s her lips . At the last moment she remembered something an elder of her tribe constantly repeated, and shook her head . “The elders have said that we must never share the location of our home with outsiders, no matter the circ.u.mstances . I will not tell you . ”

“Well, it sure seems like you don’t understand the situation you’re in . ” Cloudhawk’s dark eyes became sharp, and it seemed almost as though there was a fire smoldering deep inside . All at once the whole store filled with a bloodthirsty sense, and the young man’s voice went from lazy and amicable to something from the depths of h.e.l.l itself . She trembled at the sound of it . “I don’t it like when people screw around with me . ”

He spoke slowly, calmly . To others they would not hear anything out of the ordinary .

But to Autumn the words struck her mind like a war hammer . A frigid sensation raced through her body and her throat closed up like someone’s hand was wrapped around it . What she saw in the man’s eye was b.e.s.t.i.a.l . He was a creature that had crawled its way up from the corpse-strewn mountains and blood-filled seas of the underworld . She’d never experienced anything like it, and the terrifying man seemed to close in on her with every pa.s.sing second .

She was rigid as an icy-cold feeling started to curl around her legs . Like a frigid serpent, it slithered up her legs from the ground, the creeping fingers of death itself . She knew if she moved even an inch those fingers would tear her apart .

Cloudhawk’s face split into a devilish smirk . “Think carefully . ”

Her legs trembled of their own accord . Never in her life had Autumn encountered a man so terrifying . She knew intrinsically he would crush her like a flower if she refused . Even the strongest warriors of her people wouldn’t be able to stand against this monster’s will . As fire roiled in her heart, eating away at reason .

Cloudhawk maintained a perfect, distant calm . “If you want my help, then you have to be straight with me . ”

Her teeth audible ground together as Autumn fought back . “I can’t tell you!”

The Warden was surprised by her fort.i.tude .

Autumn gasped as the fires in Cloudhawk’s eyes receded and the pressure lifted . The terrifying sensations melted away, though it felt like she’d been caught in a nightmare for decades . Her clothes were drenched in sweat .

There was a demon living somewhere beneath this man’s handsome face!

“Sure . ” Cloudhawk shrugged uncaringly . “But if we can’t come to a mutual understanding, then I’m not interested in your mission . I’ll just take what’s mine and leave it at that . ” Cloudhawk waved a hand, and flecks of sand gathered into a grasping tentacle . It reached forth and s.n.a.t.c.hed the parcel of enboncrys from Autumn’s arms, delivering it to his waiting hands . “Bring her to the bedroom so she can rest . ”

“Let me go!” Autumn jumped as a pair of young women appeared on either side of her and took her arms . She glared at the brute who commanded them, her delicate features giving way to anger . “You… you’re nothing but a bandit!” She screamed at him .

“If I’m a bandit, then I’m a gentle and handsome one . Consider yourself blessed you ran into a scoundrel like me . Neve, Jasmine, let her go . If she doesn’t want to stay here then she may go . The door’s right there, and you’re feet know what to do . If you’re so intent on dying, far be it from me to stop you . ”

Cloudhawk reached back and netted his fingers behind his head . He was perfectly at ease, like her decision didn’t matter in the least .  

“I do have to say, though, that if I hadn’t very graciously intervened then right now you’d probably be in a dark room somewhere, with big guys taking turns on you . To be honest, I’m taking a risk with you even standing here . If others knew this was where you were hiding, trouble would be coming my way . Right now you’re a juicy slab of meat, missy, and everyone wants to take a bite . ”

This very day, she’d run into a string of bad men with bad intentions . It underlined the reality that she’d made a mistake . This young man was also no good, but he’d at least spared her life . For the time being he hadn’t tried to bully her into anything or showed intent to harm .

Obviously, trying to get her sack of eboncrys back was out of the question . Truthfully, she didn’t care much, but she couldn’t go back empty handed . “You can have the eboncrys, but you agreed to give me five hundred sets of equipment . We agreed . ”

Cloudhawk laughed like he’d heard the world’s funniest joke . “Miss Autumn Draper, you gave me a down payment, but I doubt you now have funds to settle accounts . This sack here is the fee for saving your life . ”

“You’re going back on your promise!”

“Calm your head down, missy . Think about it; let’s say you’ve got ten copper and you’re off to buy some bread . On the way your money’s stolen, and the thieves use that money to buy the bread you were going to get . Now, should I give the bread to them, or give it to you?” Cloudhawk snorted . This girl really had no idea how lucky she was to run into him . “This eboncrys doesn’t belong to you . I got it from a bunch of thieving brigands . Spoils of victory . I have the equipment you want, but if you want them you’ll need to pay . Hand over the rest of the money, and you get what you want . ”

“You’re full of nonsense, you-“

Autumn was so furious words failed her . Pale skin turned an angry red . She had never been good at arguing, much less in stressful situations like this, and he was far more verbally gifted than she was .

“The world out here is a fair place . When you make a mistake, you'll pay for it . Walking around by yourself while waving this sack of eboncrys about was just plain dumb . ” Cloudhawk waved a hand dismissively . “When I saw there was a wrong that needed to be righted, I stepped in . When I saw you were in need, I helped . I didn’t have to, you know . I could’ve just taken the stones and then left you to those actual bandits . Good men like me are hard to find, especially in this dirty world . You should be grateful you’re still alive, but you shouldn’t continue to push your luck . ”

Cloudhawk was being stubborn . Faced with such a shameless rogue, what choice did Autumn have?

She couldn’t fight him – she couldn’t even fight his little bird . She turned to storm out of the shop, but Cloudhawk’s words caught her feet . There were bad men like him looking for her all over the city now . Would she even get five hundred meters out the door before the next group came? Chances were she’d be a captive before she got that far .

After thinking better about it she stomped a heel in impotent fury and trudged upstairs to the second floor bedroom .

So she does have a brain .

“You’re welcome,” Cloudhawk said dryly as he watched the pair of long, pale legs disappear up the stairs . He caught the smell of her as she pa.s.sed by and a mischievous light twinkled in his eye . When she was gone he quickly pulled open the parcel, picked out a cube and held it up to the light . “Not bad, not bad at all . These are good quality, they’ll fetch a d.a.m.n good price . At least enough to pay off most of our debt . A d.a.m.n good score . ”

In truth, added together the parcel was only worth about twenty thousand gold coins . If he stuck to the price of fifty gold per armor set, then this wasn’t enough to cover the whole cost . But Autumn didn’t seem to know or understand . Did she not realize what they were really worth? However, getting more didn’t seem like a problem for her . That’s partially why Cloudhawk saved her .

He had to admit, her willpower was tougher than he would have figured . He’d tried to overwhelm her with his psychic energy, and any normal person would have collapsed under the pressure . Yet she kept her secrets, which proved to Cloudhawk that threats weren’t going to win him anything either . He’ll keep her close for the time being . Eventually he’d get his answer .

Gabriel had been seated a little apart . He had a thread in hand, and was working on a tapestry . None of this concerned him, but he couldn’t help but glance reprovingly at Cloudhawk .  What a shameless hoodlum, speaking to her like that . What sort of uncouth thug would pick on a poor young girl?

Cloudhawk caught the look, but simply shrugged as he tossed up the cube and then s.n.a.t.c.hed it out of the air . “This isn’t Skycloud . She’s gonna get herself killed . Far as I’m concerned, I’m doing her a favor . ” Cloudhawk paused for a moment . “Which reminds me . Hey Gabby? If any rats try to sneak in tonight, let Naberius deal with them . Let him blow off some steam, right? We can’t have him rearing his head in broad daylight and causing me trouble . ”

Gabriel was rather linear in character . Outside of embroidery and sculpting, his artful pursuits, there wasn’t much else that caught his interest . He wasn’t out for money or women . Most of the time he preferred to stay quiet and mind his own business . Of course, his amicable persona fled when Naberius took over .

The two fractured minds had long ago come to an agreement .

If Gabriel wanted Naberius to behave, he was expected to find materials for the sculptor to work with, at least a couple every week . The only way to make the beast sleep most of the time was to let him have his fun every so often . Tonight was just such an opportunity . Gabriel nodded . He set down the embroidery, then with a stuffy sigh walked out of the emporium .

Cloudhawk turned the gramophone back up, and turned it up to the loudest it would go so he wouldn’t be bothered by the ruckus .

The old record began to spin and music filled the room . Cloudhawk shut his eyes and lost himself in the melodies, entirely content . He’d only been here a few days, but he was finding that he rather liked this sort of life . No one looking over his shoulder, no constraints, total freedom, and a few coins in his pocket . Honestly he wasn’t sure what he was thinking, trying to get to the elysian lands all those years ago .

But it was no wonder . Such was the way of most men, no?

In fact, all of one’s wishes and expectations came down to where they were in life . Hopes changed as the years pa.s.sed, but it was always a mystery when you had your face pressed up against it . It only made sense when you stepped back . People were always unable to get a grasp of the truth in the middle of living it . His wild desire to flee the wasteland was a perfect example . But if the whole world was a wasteland, where to hide then? Cloudhawk finally understood that the only real oasis existed in his heart . Although he was out in the bone-dry wasteland, he carried a green paradise with him wherever he went .

Oddball began to squawk at him .

Cloudhawk’s eyes popped open, and he looked down to see the tiny bird furiously flapping its wings . It was excitedly hopping around the eboncrys cubes . He’d raised the divine creature for three years, and in all that time the little bird hadn’t changed much at all . It maybe grew a little, and its wings had fully developed . That’s how it’d dealt with the Highwaymen .

The range of their shared visual connected had grown by four or five times since the beginning . He figured the limit was about five hundred meters by this point . He could instantly communicate with the critter so long as they didn’t separate farther than that .  Oddball, of course, didn’t have much combat ability on its own . The bird relied on Cloudhawk’s psychic energy, and its master had learned in the last few years how to capitalize on Oddball’s abilities .

For instant, Oddball could shoot through the air at the speed of sound now .

Beyond the sheer speed, Oddball was also capable of moving with perfect control . With its keen feathers, Oddball was able to rip through foes before they even knew what happened . The only way normal enemies could protect themselves was if they were covered in armor . Otherwise they were left exposed to its slicing wings and bullet-like impact .

Then there were the feathers .

Oddball’s skill at flinging feathers like throwing daggers was exceptional . They weren’t enough to deal with more formidable characters, but the critter’s harmless appearance took many off guard . Oddball’s subsequent attacks often came as a surprise .

Cloudhawk was confident there was still more for him and Oddball to discover . Divine creatures were a unique cla.s.s of relics . The stronger the master, the stronger their pet . So long as Cloudhawk continued to improve, he could expect Oddball to become ever more impressive .

Oddball’s beady eyes were fixed intently on an eboncrys cube .

“Is this what you want?”

Cloudhawk curiously picked one up and offered it to the bird, who plucked it from his fingers . Bird and cube fluttered down to the ground, and Oddball proceeded to throw it down, and peck at it with his beak . The eboncrys fractured into several jagged pieces . Tremendous energy was contained in those cubes, especially considering their size, and kept very stable . They were also hard, but Oddball could knock its beak against something with the force of a bullet, so it was no surprise they broke .

The creature gobbled up the pieces one by one .

Cloudhawk watched with some measure of surprise . He didn’t expect his little friend to scarf it down like that . Through their emotion connection he could feel the bird’s satisfaction, even joy . Evidently this was a delicacy, and likely far better for the little thing than the feed from Skycloud . This was bad news . If Oddball got a taste for these, how many would he need in a year to keep his companion fed?

There were only about a hundred cubes in the parcel he took from Autumn . Not enough to feed Oddball for very long . To confirm his fears, Oddball quickly finished his meal then looked pointedly at Cloudhawk . He sensed it clear: the feed he’d been giving him previously was bird food . Garbage!

Cloudhawk was distressed . This d.a.m.n critter was a serious responsibility!

This was the difference between a normal relic and a divine beast . Relics didn’t change once they were forged, but divine beasts developed over time . A thing like Oddball had tremendous growth potential, and the eboncrys seemed like it would help . It seemed unavoidable . Cloudhawk had to get more of the stuff for his little friend .

This was going to be a problem . Cloudhawk had to come up with a solution .

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