V

What Hides in Beauty

Amira sat on the deck of the mighty vessel, arms leaning on her knees, her back half-rested on the boat's rim. She absently followed the ebbs and flows of the boat as it rode the waves, staring at the floor with half-opened eyes.

The air was salty, and despite the rocking of the ship, still. The sun was emerging in earnest, bringing summer heat in with it. Solm, the mother moon, was still visible just barely over the horizon. However, Glacir, the daughter moon that orbited the first, was not. That was a bad omen for those who believed in those superstitions, Amira among them.

She had asked one of the crewmen how far they were from shore when she woke up… an hour ago? They told her it wouldn't be much longer, so she opted to stay put. No one tried to talk to her, odds were they found her intimidating. Her community called her many things back home, but 'intimidating' was new. Right now, she didn't mind the little people's anxieties. She didn't want to talk.

A few minutes later, her spacing out was interrupted by a familiar voice, as a well-dressed Aquatic woman came swaying onto the deck.

"There you are," said Rosellia. "I'm surprised I didn't hear you get up, how long have you been awake?"

"Not long. Not a heavy sleeper?"

"Not at all. Not since I was a teenager," Rosellia shook her head.

"Me neither. But I didn't wanna wake ye up- I can be quiet when I need t'be."

"Quite an achievement for someone of your stature," Rosellia chuckled.

Rosellia paused, and stared at Amira for a moment. She noticed a distance in her expression; Amira hadn't looked her in the eyes yet. Rosellia opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Fletch pushed open the door to the deck and joined the crew, Alikath a few steps behind him. "No- my father was a woodcarver! I lived in a forest! I know rot when I see it, and that hallway needs to be replaced before someone takes a wrong step and ends up plummeting into the ocean!"

"I'm not saying there wasn't rot, but- I mean we weren't even on the bottom floor, Fletch." Alikath rubbed his eyes, clearly not quite awake. "They'll get around to fixing it, it's not that big of a deal."

"Big deal!? Of course it's a big deal! Oh, sure, you think it's no big deal when it's one panel in the corner of a hallway. But then it's two panels, then it's an unoccupied storage room, then it's a floor of the ship ‘we don't really use anyway,’ and before you know it we're sinking in the middle of Lyverian waters on a piece of crap made more of bacteria than it is of wood! But hey, it's just one ship, right? It's not a big deal!"

"Fletch, you're sure your people can't fly, right?" Alikath asked, as the boys stopped walking, now among the girls.

"I don't see any wings on 'im," Amira said.

"Good," Alikath nodded. "Fletch, I'm gonna throw you overboard."

"What!?" Fletch jumped away from Alikath. "What did I do!?"

Alikath started pursuing Fletch, who cowered behind Rosellia, circling around her with every step Alikath took. “I've thought long and hard about this, buddy. It's for your own good."

"No! No you haven't! I've been here one day! You're a liar! Don't touch me! AH!"

Alikath held made a grabbing motion at the bird. By no means putting in any effort to catch Fletch, but somehow still getting him to cower behind the frills of Rosellia's skirt.

Rosellia slapped Alikath's hands down. "Stop that," she scolded.

Alikath held up his arms, and let out a toothy grin.

Fletch peeked his head out from around Rosellia's waist, and glared at Alikath. "I didn't know we even had ships this size," he said, not leaving his wall of defense as he changed the subject. "How isn't this thing a breach of the Santos Act?"

Alikath's eyebrows raised. "Wow, I'm surprised you know about the Santos Act. Do people talk about it in Clearbrooke?"

Fletch shrugged. "In the East. There's a lot of Aquatics there."

Amira racked her brain. "That's th' law regulating how many boats we're allowed to have, right?"

"And their size," Rosellia nodded. "The size is almost more important; a slew of tiny boats are less dangerous than one giant vessel."

"Pain in the neck, that is," Amira groaned. "Gro's got enough tourists ta fill up more than three boats, all I ever hear about is how much trouble folks have gettin' on the damn things. Maeve n' I almost got booked up, ourselves!"

Alikath sat on the lip of the boat, letting the breeze rustle his hair. "Not much to do about it. Lyveria insists they're too dangerous, so unless we want an embargo on our hands…"

Fletch scoffed. "An embargo might be for the best in the long run. It could drive prices down, ironically."

"Ha, right," Rosellia bumped Fletch off of her hip. "Let's see this place last three years sustaining itself off of local manufacturers. A fan of alternative medicine, are you?"

"We'll have Heavenfell," said Fletch.

"Heavenfell has us," Amira grabbed the boat's lip and started pulling herself to her feet. "Rosellia's right, we can't afford to rely on the Militia any more than we already do."

"Anyway," Alikath circled back, "No, this ship isn't outside of regulation, but I'm sure it's right at the limit in terms of size."

"It's huge," Fletch's eyes wandered around the deck, and the couple dozen men manning it. But he stopped, transfixed as the standing Amira once again blocked out his view of the sun.

"Yer like three inches tall, Kenku," Amira teased, looking down at him with eyes and teeth obscured in shade. "Everything's huge t'you."

The carrier ship landed on Port Romiet a few short hours later. This port was on the tip of a beach that extended a few miles out from Romiet city proper. It was a reasonable walk into town, so instead of waiting to pay for a carriage, the party of four elected to travel by foot.

The still air of the earlier sea picked up a gentle breeze, blowing sand in the path of the Ambassadors, which agreed with Amira and Rosellia more than it did Alikath or Fletch. The poor Kenku was picking at his feathers every dozen steps or so. The beach was a strikingly long and narrow path of flat sand; one could stand on the east shore and peek over at the west shore without issue. A few palm trees gave the glorified sand bar a little depth, but otherwise, this barren and well-trodden path felt like a hallway; a waiting room built from the dense cluster of tall, warmly colored buildings a couple miles northeast.

"So, who do we still have left to collect, Alikath?" asked Rosellia.

Alikath went through the list in his head. "Well, we're about to meet an Artemis Iraklidis here in Romiet. After that, we move up to Chesknot where we'll find a scholar; Viktor Konstantin. Then, there's Dez Ta-Or, who's representing Vagrant Peak, but he said he'd meet us either in Romiet or Chesknot, depending on how fast we move."

"That's it?" Amira asked. "Kinda small…"

Alikath nodded. "We'll make do. It's a little smaller than what we're used to, but we're covering most of the bases the Land District has left. We'll just have to do our best to think in the interests of the cities that won't be represented."

"What about Herrah?" said Rosellia. "And Faelyon? They're land superpowers, why aren't they sending anyone?"

"Neither responded to my missive. I didn't expect them to. Faelyon's a distant ally, since they were cut off by both the Alps and Clearbrooke until the East started getting friendly. And I think now they're busy fighting a plague? And Herrah… Herrah doesn't like us."

"It just seems a little crazy to me that we're omitting both of them, but we're representing both Thyme and Vagrant Peak separately," said Rosellia.

"Well, they have very different interests," Alikath argued. "Thyme's a city, trying to develop and reunite the eastern continent. The Vagrants just want to be left alone, and keep their refuge open. Vagrant Peak isn't just an extension of Thyme."

"I know that," Rosellia crossed her arms and puffed out her chest. "I lived in the Peak for a few years."

Those sand dunes and palm trees gave way to the fresco of narrow towers, arching bridges, and shady alleyways that was the port city of Romiet. Compared to the vast openness of Valor and especially East Clearbrooke, there was something almost claustrophobic about Romiet's infrastructure.

The city was well maintained; one of the few cities on the eastern continent that wasn't totally falling apart, but there was very little walking space along these thin roads. Buildings were constructed in clusters, with the alleys between them designed with as much care as the main streets. The roads themselves bent and turned at odd angles, so even trying to follow the main paths would feel maze-like to the uninitiated.

Romiet was, in general, a very non-traditional project; small bridges overlooked rivers a dozen or so feet below walking level, where doors and floating balconies riding the water led to homes, restaurants, and whatever else below ground. Gondolas swam lazily down these rivers- one of the few kinds of boats not regulated by the Santos Act. The city had the faint aroma of grease permeating through the breeze, homes and commercial buildings alike were never left wanting for a new paint job. While there was a general palate of reds and oranges to the decor, it seemed that every vacant wall and sidewalk was made into the passion project of an expressionist painter; swirls and bubbles of color danced around in all directions, breathing intent and life all around.

The group wandered a little. There were a few civilians walking around, but so far, this was the least dense community the group had seen by a wide margin.

Amira was starry eyed. "This is beautiful. I feel like I'm walkin' around 'n a storybook! Ha- gods, I ne'er realized how boring Gro is."

Alikath kicked a rock down the street. It bounced between a metal fence, and plopped into the river. "That's no coincidence. Romiet's an artist capital for the eastern continent. It's mostly chefs and painters, but the architects got very, uh... passionate... building it."

Amira nodded. She tried to pay attention to Alikath, but his voice was numbed to nothing beneath her distractions. She was hypnotized by the stained glass windows of a book store- not noticing the flier for a foreclosure sale posted on the door.

"I don't visit Romiet enough," Rosellia lamented, breathing in the atmosphere. "It's such an awkwardly long trek, but always worth it."

"Yeah," said Alikath. "Valor's nice, but it leans too hard into being a port city, y'know? It's too much of its identity, but Romiet keeps all that noise in one district, so the rest of the space can breathe. We could learn a lot from how-"

Alikath was interrupted by the scatter of shattering glass not twenty feet away. The party shot to attention, and spotted a wave of magically infused sound rumble through the air, white waves breaking a few more windows before it died out. Around the corner from which it came, shouting and clashing metal followed, one stray arrow whizzing out from the commotion. The party gave each other a quick look, and raced to the scene.

It was chaos. An entire street had been blocked off by a makeshift barricade, thrown together with furniture and bits of scrap. On and in front of this obstacle, at least two dozen armed men and women were killing each other out in the open.

It was hard to make out clear sides in this conflict, the brawl was a disorganized mess of swinging blades and spells. The best indicator the party had to go on was clothing; a little under half of the fighters were wearing brown leather over red uniforms, while the rest wore shades of teal, grey, and white.

Fletch strided out of the way of a stray firebolt. "What do we do!?" He looked to Alikath.

"I- I don't know! I don't know what started this!"

"These clearly aren't civilians, but no one's wearing proper armor!" Rosellia squinted and pointed randomly at some of the fighters, trying to assess the scene.

One fighter in red noticed the four of them standing there, and frantically waved them away. "Get out of here!" The High Elf shouted, fending off a Genasi in blue. "Go home!"

Taking her warning as an invitation, Alikath led the party into the fray, kicking away the Genasi and freeing up the stranger's arms. Amira kept the Genasi at bay, while the other three circled the High Elf to talk.

"We know how to fight," Alikath assured her. "But what's going on!?"

The High Elf let out a sigh of relief, and nocked an arrow in her bow. "We need all the help we can get. The Cypress are pushing basilisk through this neighborhood. We blockaded to intercept them- but they're fighting back! If you can fight, defend the barricade!"

"Cypress?" Fletch asked, switching his gaze between every angle to not be caught off guard.

"A cartel- and a growing cyst on Romiet,” Alikath gritted his teeth. “That means you're with the Coalition?"

The Elf nodded, and sent an arrow into the chest of a Halfling draped in teal. "I'm an Arbantian myself, just doing what I can!"

Alikath nodded, and addressed the group. "The guys in red are a civilian militia, help them out!"

Finally given clear orders, Amira nodded, and kicked the Halfling onto his back. Not a moment later, she swung her axe overhead, and nearly split him in half with one brutal slash.

Rosellia split up from the rest of the group, taking out her hammer and imbuing it with holy energy. Taking direct steps, she swung the hammer into a Cypress thug's side, brushing him away and sending white light coursing through his body. She spun around to defend a Coalition fighter brought to their knees, saying a quick healing word to revitalize them while their backs were pressed to each other's.

Fletch stayed close to Amira, taking out two daggers and keeping his back up against her long legs. He meant to use her as cover and attack whoever tried to sneak up on her, but Amira immediately found herself frustrated by the bird following her around and tripping her.

"Back off, Fletch! I'm gonna step on ya!" She growled.

"Eep!" Fletch yelped, moving just a couple feet away; close enough to dive back under her, if need be.

Alikath stayed close to the High Elf, shooting a few firebolts off at the Cypress while the High Elf continued her barrage of arrows.

"This street always been a hot topic?" Alikath asked.

The Elf nodded. "We've let them have it for over a year now. Wasn't worth the risk to take back."

"What changed?"

"We're expecting help soon."

Alikath stopped casting, and turned to look the Elf up and down.

She was athletic, especially for an Elf. Her hair was tied up in a very messy bun, and her uniform- if it could be called that- was littered with stitched up lines where battle had clearly torn her in the past.

She was on the older side, approaching middle aged, so Alikath reckoned she was between 170 and 200 years old. On the other hand, if she fought like this often, maybe she was younger than she looked. She was rugged, and intense, but not overworn. Her calloused fingers slid deftly down the string of her bow, and her eyes stayed ever open. He could tell: This was a warrior who would champion her cause as passionately as her first day, until her body finally failed her.

Alikath smiled, just a little, getting an inkling that he might know who this woman was.

The Coalition was fighting valiantly, but as time went on, more and more fighters in teal made their way up the wall of debris, chopping and tossing their opponents back onto the road below.

Rosellia swept her way past blade after blade, constantly on the move to heal as many wounded Coalition fighters as she could. After her fourth or so healing, she found herself defending a bleeding fighter from three Cypress thugs at once.

Rosellia beat away one of their swords with their hammer, and tried to cast a spell at her defense, but was interrupted by a polearm slicing her wrist open. Rosellia reeled back, and cried out to her friends.

"Help me!" She pled.

Amira and Fletch had their hands full, themselves. Amira was pushing against two of the Cypress with both hands on her axe's handle, while Fletch punched a few holes in the dwarf behind her. However, hearing Rosellia's cry for help, Amira looked back at Fletch, and jerked her head in Rosellia's direction. Fletch nodded, disengaged from the dwarf, and rushed off to Rosellia's aid. Amira leaned on her right leg, and kicked her left back like a horse, square in the Dwarf's jaw.

Meanwhile, Alikath and the High Elf were pushing their way through the chaos, towards the barricade. The High Elf fired an arrow, put away their bow, and spun out a handaxe, which she quickly used to cut off the hand of a charging Cypress ruffian. Alikath held out one palm open in front of his chest, and with the other, pointed two fingers at the Elf. "Duck."

Realizing what he was doing, she ducked, and not a moment later, his palm glowed a staticky yellow, with a heavy mist developing in his clutch. He spouted a quick word, "Fulmen," and a jagged line of light traveled up his shoulder and down his other arm. Then, through his pointed fingers, a mighty bolt of lightning shot out like from the midst of a hurricane. With a deafening CRRAK, the spear of buzzing energy pierced the hearts of three Cypress fighters, dropping their bodies to the dirt, and their souls to hell, in one riveting instant.

Rosellia, Amira, and Fletch all stopped to look at Alikath with wide eyes, before quickly returning to their own fights. The Elf guffawed, and gave Alikath her full attention for the first time.

"Who are you!?" She asked, suppressing shivers of excitement.

Alikath grinned. "Alikath Navarre of the Ambassadors, at your service."

"Ambassadors!?" A giddy smile broke on her lips. "We've been waiting for you!"

"Then let's go!" he shouted, returning to the action.

Rosellia cast a Guiding Bolt of light into her combatant's chest, searing his armor before stepping back and letting Fletch leap onto his torso. Fletch plunged both daggers into his target, right where the holy glow illuminated. The crook collapsed, but two more took his place.

On the other end of the claustrophobic road, Amira pushed up against the weight of four Cypress thugs, doing their best to dogpile her. She had the strength to carry them, but couldn't attack. The Coalition fighters that kept the masses distracted were steadily dwindling.

As Alikath and the Elf advanced, Alikath examined the scene. "We're still outnumbered. Are more of them coming in?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." The Elf responded. "But we can end this early!"

The Elf pointed up to the top of the barricade, a jagged yet sturdy stack on which tables and dressers clattered and creaked against one another. There, standing atop its center, was an Elven man and a Yuan Ti woman overlooking the bloodshed. The man hurled balls of poison gas down at the Coalition, as the woman rained arrows from above.

"Vyne and his bitch run the Cypress." The Elf bared her teeth as she stared. "If we can kill them, everything stops!"

Alikath nodded, and cast another spell, one he'd come to rely on to get around in combat: Misty Step. A silvery mist enveloped him and dissipated, along with his body. An instant later, mist of a similar shape spritzed above the barricade. Alikath separated from the spell and landed, giving a satisfied huff as he planted his feet and held Daemor at his shoulder.

The two gangsters gasped as Alikath swung his dagger down, barely missing the Yuan Ti. He took another swing, but this time, his hand bounced off an oval green barrier that appeared around her just as he would have made contact. He caught his footing to keep from stumbling off the barricade and clutched his now aching wrist.

The Yuan Ti jumped and kicked Alikath in the chest. Just like that, the pair's moment of surprise had fled, and they were as smug as before.

"Neat trick!" The Elf, Vyne, snickered. "You oughta show me how to pull it off!"

"Oughta Misty Step back home, redback!" The Yuan Ti smirked, aiming her bow at his throat.

Alikath sneered and shot a bolt of fire at the Yuan Ti's torso, breaking through her barrier and searing her skin. He got ready to attack again, but was distracted by a voice from below, crying out his name.

He looked to the ground, and found that the High Elf was still at the bottom of the barricade, backing away as she was swarmed by Cypress thugs. His friends were all still occupied, and there couldn't have been more than three Coalition fighters left alive.

Alikath leapt off the barricade, inviting the Yuan Ti to send an arrow in his back on his way out. Not wanting to let him leave, she leapt right after him. The barricade wobbled, and Vyne braced himself, just in case he'd overestimated its durability.

Alikath kicked a Cypress fighter in the jaw on his way down. After catching his footing, he yanked the arrow out of his shoulder, whispering a swear through clenched teeth. He tried to help the High Elf fend off the rest of her foes, but before he could do anything else, the Yuan Ti woman crashed onto his back, shortsword already drawn.

Rosellia cracked open her opponent's skull with her hammer, while Fletch threw a bag of noxious dust in another one's face, stunning him long enough to slit his throat open. As their victims dropped, they anticipated the next wave, but let out a collective sigh of relief as none came.

The two took a moment to catch their breath, then looked for their friends. Alikath was dueling with a Yuan Ti near the barricade, but Amira was further from it. She was struggling to get away from a small crowd that had taken it upon themselves to drown the Goliath in flesh and steel.

"Do we split up?" Fletch asked Rosellia.

She shook her head. "Alikath's fine, Amira needs us both!"

The two rushed to Amira's aid, hoping to buy her the space she needed to make use of her oversized weapon.

"The Cypress? Catchy name- You've got a charming family." Alikath quipped, crossing blades with the Yuan Ti. "Could do without all the killing, though."

"Just trying to sell product in peace," she replied. "You brought the killing."

"Oh, we did do that, didn't we?" Alikath laughed. "I guess killing's not so bad, then."

The Yuan Ti swung at Alikath, and missed. As she stepped back, Alikath made a fist and cast forth a lasso made of fizzling electricity. Caught off guard by the magic rope, the she failed to dodge it, wincing as it tightened around her waist. Once it had, Alikath yanked her towards him, shocking her skin, but also swapping spots with her, putting him closer to the High Elf. As the Lightning Lure dissipated, Alikath kicked the Yuan Ti away, onto her hands and knees.

He turned around, finally ready to save the High Elf from her predicament. But to his surprise, he found she had nearly escaped it all by herself. One of the Cypress already dead, she held one arm out to keep space from another. The third, she swatted away with her axe, twirling and thrusting it like a spear.

The third Cypress tried to brush the weapon off, but it sunk into his shoulder regardless. As soon as his blood spilt, a spell activated, and a mass of thorn-laden vines grew out of the wound, chasing after the blood to greedily drink it down. In just a couple of seconds, the vines ensnared the Cypress fighter completely, rendering him unable to move his arms out from his side. The High Elf pushed him down, just in time for Alikath to stab the second crook from behind.

The man lurched and staggered. The High Elf took the opportunity to cut him open, and with a fatal laceration from neck to gut, his body dropped like all the others.

Alikath and the High Elf shared a look. Beaten and bruised, she smiled, shivers of excitement making her tremble from head to toe.

"Thank gods you're here. We really needed some good news." She wiped a smear of blood from her axe's blade onto her pants.

"Don't thank anyone yet, this isn't over!"

"Right. We can talk when the Cypress get out of here. Vyne's gonna rue the day he chose t-"

ZZZIP

An arrow flew past Alikath's ear, and sunk between the High Elf's eyes. It carried an unnatural force, burrowing halfway into her skull.

Alikath went pale. For a moment, the High Elf stood still, the shivers gone, but she didn't sway or scream. Alikath almost expected her to pull the arrow out and keep walking. But it couldn't be; her legs gave out, and she dropped to the ground.

"NO!" Alikath shouted, lurching down and barely catching her head before it cracked against the road

The Yuan Ti clicked her tongue, and lowered her bow. She looked up at Vyne, now sitting cross-legged atop the barricade.

"Think that's the last one!" She shouted to him. He nodded, and clapped his hands together.

Fletch, Amira, and Rosellia caught a break in the fighting. Just in time to see what happened.

"Was that Artemis?" Fletch asked. "Did they just hit Artemis!?"

"Alikath!" Rosellia shouted, watching him cradle the High Elf, giving no mind to the crowd of Cypress thugs circling him.

The three forced their way to Alikath's side. Rosellia stood beside him, while the other two kept the crowd at bay. He gently shook the High Elf's head, begging for a response. "Artemis! Artemis, listen to me! Hang on, we have a cleric, we can-"

Rosellia tugged Alikath's shoulder, beckoning him to stand up so she could take his place.

But as soon as she did, Vyne piped up from atop the pile of junk, casually sliding down the busted furniture as he spoke. "Don't touch her, sister. I'd hate to have to take your friends' healer away from them. Especially a knockout like yourself."

Alikath gritted his teeth, and pointed two fingers Vyne, readying a spell. "Don't try it," he sneered. "I'll dissolve you if you touch her."

Vyne held his hands up in surrender. "Hey! I'm not gonna do a thing to her. We don't have to make this any bloodier than it has to be. We're just here to clean up the Coalition, and none of you four are wearing red, so… well, I guess you're wearing red, but you- ha- you can't help that."

Alikath snarled. Rosellia looked up at him, desperate anticipation welling in her eyes. Golden swaths of healing magic were swirling through her fingertips- and the High Elf was losing blood fast.

Now at ground level, Vyne snapped at Rosellia. "Don't do it. You can go ahead and stand up, ma'am."

Rosellia didn't move. He rolled his eyes. "Or, you can sit there, and watch her die up close."

Alikath felt the Yuan Ti standing behind him. The tip of her arrow was inches away from the back of his neck.

Rosellia stared at Vyne. She felt the dangerous magic building up inside him, ready to wipe her away the moment she healed his enemy. She sat there, on her knees, and looked back at her ally's eyes. The High Elf looked... confused. Her blood pooled in the crevices between bricks, her breathing steadily shallowed, and she only moved in short twitches between stretches of silence. Rosellia watched every second, the power she needed to survive just a single touch away.

Fletch and Amira stood their ground, but realized that the Cypress thugs were standing still, watching them from a safe distance. They both held their weapons up to the Yuan Ti, ready to kill her if she let that arrow fly… but no one made a move.

And the High Elf was dying.

"So, who are you four?" Vyne asked. "That was a pretty impressive show, are you from around here?"

"We're the Ambassadors," Alikath muttered. "Just passing through."

Vyne smiled. "The Ambassadors!? Ha! Brilliant, we've been waiting for you!"

"We're here fer Artemis," Amira snapped. "Not fer you."

"Artemis?" The Yuan Ti's eyes narrowed.

"Uh… huh," Vyne hung one hand on his hip. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure I'm following. Why are you fighting us?"

"You're a criminal!" Fletch squeaked. "You're destroying the city, and you- you're killing Artemis!"

"Artemis!?" He scoffed. "You th- you think that's Artemis?"

The Yuan Ti lowered her bow, twirled around Alikath, stepped over the High Elf's body, and stood at Vyne's side.

She smiled, and waved at the Ambassadors. "Been waiting for the chance to meet you. Name's Artemis Iraklidis, I'll be joining you in Romiet's name."

For a beat, they stood in staggered silence. Rosellia's magic dissipated as she lost focus. Alikath's eyes widened, and his jaw slacked.

"That- that can't be!" Rosellia scoffed. "You're a... a- a murderer!"

"I didn't ask for the Cypress, I sent my missive to the city of Romiet!" Alikath barked.

"And the authority of Romiet answered you." Vyne nodded. "Or, were you expecting a bunch of buildings and rivers to start following at your side?"

"What about th' city government? What about th' Coalition!?"

"Coalition's just a bunch of paupers in red shirts." Artemis put her bow away at her back. "Few bullions of aid from Arbante and they think they own the city. They're as 'official' as we are. And what government are you looking for? Know a couple Elves with fancy powers, but they don't get shit done. We do."

"The Archon and her legislators are buddies of ours." Vyne explained. "We hope you can be, too!"

"You're out of your mind!" Rosellia hissed. "We won't take you maniacs anywhere with us!"

"Right." Vyne sighed. "Because you're so attached to this random bitch you stumbled into, what, six minutes ago? Artemis, why don't you…"

Artemis nodded, and kicked Rosellia off of the Elf's bleeding body. Then, she planted her shoe squarely on her neck, and leaned into her leg.

The Elf let out a quiet choke. Rosellia trembled, her beaded tears finally streaming down her cheeks. Amira and Fletch lowered their weapons and tried futilely to look away. Alikath stood in place, fists clenched so hard his fingernails nearly cut open his palms.

With one last helpless twitch, the Coalition ranger's body gave out, and her life was snuffed away beneath Artemis' heel. Artemis lifted her foot, scraped off her heel against the brick road, and went back to Vyne's side. He rested his hand on the back of her neck, gently wrapping his fingers around it.

"Vyne wasn't happy to let me volunteer, you know," Artemis said. "Didn't convince him for nothing, did I?"

"They're right," Vyne gently brushed specks of dirt and blood off of Artemis' face. "Artemis is my right hand. I'm putting a lot of faith in you, putting them in your care."

"Of course," he went on, "If you really aren't interested in our hospitality…"

The crowd of Cypress thugs closed in on the Ambassadors. Fletch and Amira pressed their backs to Rosellia, neither lifting their weapons back up. Rosellia looked at Alikath, waiting for him to say something. But he was transfixed, staring at the floor. "...Alikath?" she whispered.

"...Romiet's the only port town in the East… but if we take in a criminal…"

"Am- am I hearin' ye right!? We can't seriously consider this, can we?" Amira tried to hide her trembling hands by her waist. "They'll just kill us in our sleep, Ali!"

"Or they could kill us now." Fletch offered.

Alikath took a deep breath in… and let his hands hang at his side. Rosellia noticed a little crackle of blue energy twisting around his fingers.

Then… he breathed out, and shook his head. The crackle dissapated and died. "There's already too few of us. If this is what Romiet really is… then we'll take Artemis."

The three other Ambassadors looked at him with frenzied eyes.

"Ye can't be real!" Amira's voice cracked.

"Ali, there's another way!" Rosellia pleaded. "We can get out of this, just-"

"I've made my decision. I'm sorry, but I'm not ready to take your input on this. Not yet."

"The man has spoken!" Vyne projected, patting Artemis on the back. "Go ahead, babe."

Artemis stepped forward, and stood in front of Alikath. She looked up at him, but he avoided eye contact.

"So, I take it you're headed into the continent, and not back to the port, right?" Vyne asked. "I would say your way out is a clear shot ahead, just past the Stonehills, but we've got this barricade in our way-"

"I'll take care of it." Alikath muttered, pulling out his dagger. Vyne and Artemis both perked up, not given the chance to really observe the weapon until now.

"Daemor?" Vyne whispered, touching his lip. "Huh… go figure."

Vyne stepped aside, and gave Alikath the floor. He held the dagger upright with his outstretched left hand, and made a cup with his right, closer to his chest. He focused, and cast a spell; a mild cantrip that summoned a gust of wind forth from his right hand. This gentle breeze, instead of spreading out as wind normally would, bent and blew into the red gem at the pommel of his weapon.

The dagger glowed with an even mightier golden aura than it already had. After a moment of humming, the gem expelled its own gust of wind from the other side of the pommel, exponentially stronger than the one that went in.

The mighty tempest roared out from the dagger's gem, and pushed against the shoddy barricade with an overwhelming force. The scream of a raging tornado rang through the street, and the wooden wall soon crumbled and scattered into dozens of helpless desks and chairs, snapping and dragging against the road as if an explosive had displaced them.

The barricade fell in no more than fifteen seconds. Alikath stopped casting the cantrip, and Daemor soon returned to its regular gentle glow. The way cleared, Alikath looked at Vyne, the bags under his eyes weighing heavier than usual. "Is that what you wanted?"

Vyne scratched his head. "Well, I was gonna tell you that you had to climb over, but this saves me a few hours of work. Thanks, partner."

Alikath didn't respond. The four original Ambassadors marched begrudgingly down the street, a greater distance between them than they had arrived with. While Artemis would soon join them, Vyne stopped the Yuan Ti first, and put a hand gently on their cheek. "You've got big plans, I'm sure. I'll admit I'm impressed by your initiative. I'm excited to see you work."

"You give me too much credit," said Artemis. "Gonna use them to help us branch out, that's all."

"You do that," Vyne smirked. "If you make me regret this, I'll make you swallow your tongue… you understand me?"

Artemis blushed. "...Mhm."

Vyne slapped Artemis lightly on the cheek, and stepped back. "Alright. Get out of my city."

Artemis turned around, and ran off to catch up with their new companions.