"No."
"Cade, please."
The dew had frozen on the grass that morning — the first herald of winter's bite. It crunched under Cade's boots on her way out of the adventurer's guild. Rellger, a weathered human man with a tidy salt-and-pepper beard, followed her out but stopped at the edge of the front stoop, hands on his hips.
"Where are you going?" He shouted after her, a note of brotherly annoyance in his voice.
"I need to think," she yelled back.
When the adventurer's guild network was established, it received a burst of enthusiasm from the communities it served. Cade had no shortage of local jobs. While the weather was warm through late summer and early autumn, their clientele hadn't slowed. But now, with the looming specter of shorter, colder days ahead, Cade found herself out of work.
And Rellger wanted her to go north to Revessa.
This time of morning, her family was somewhere between a hectic breakfast and preparing the house for winter. Cade didn't feel like trying to get her ma's attention over the sound of Hark and Madley bickering in the background. She found herself heading to the only other place she wouldn't have to explain herself.
Vai-by-the-Stone was the biggest town in southeast Bellosca, which didn't mean much when the edge of civilization was in Cade's backyard. The biggest road through the middle of town was a flat expanse of dirt. The only landmarks between the townsfolk and the east coast were a handful of ruins — the "stone" from which the town got its name — and a few quiet settlements populated by people who wanted to be left alone.
The overcast sky lightened from dark grey to a flat greyish-white by the time Cade reached the house. She could tell it was the type of day where it would feel like mid-morning all day long.
She stood in front of the door. The paint had been touched up sometime in the last few months, she noticed. Cade knocked before she could talk herself out of it, and after a few nervous moments, she heard the sound of footfalls down the front hallway.
A man appeared in the doorway. He was taller than her, though not by much, and his light mouse-brown hair had grown out a bit since she last saw him. The patch of abundant freckles on his face told her he'd gotten a nasty sunburn some months ago.
"I told you to keep out of that damn sun," she heckled.
"Good morning to you, too, Cade," he said in a voice tinged with joking resignation. "Did you finally remember to come get your shit?"
Her brow wrinkled. "My shit?"
"You have one last box that's been sitting in the corner for months."
She felt a flare of agitation. "Damn it, Wynnic, how hard is it to walk that over to me? I'm down the road."
"I thought it would be funnier if I waited for you to remember." Wynnic's eyes twinkled with mischief, and he smiled as he held the door open wider for her.
They ended up seated at the kitchen table in front of a crackling hearth. Cade surprised herself with how familiar it still felt to slip back into "her chair."
"So, you gonna tell me what's wrong?" Wynnic asked, hanging a tea kettle over the open flame.
She hesitated. "Rellger wants to send me away."
"For a job?"
"For awhile," Cade clarified. "He's transferring me to the guild in Revessa."
Wynnic paused. He slid into his seat across from her at the table and gave her a long, steady look.
"That's where your mother met Acalisto, yeah?"
"I haven't told him."
The water inside the kettle hissed as it began to simmer.
"Is that the only thing keeping you from wanting to go?" he asked. "Revessa's a big city, and he doesn't even know you exist. Hell, he may not even be there anymore."
She protested, "My family—"
"Knows you're a big girl. And you don't have anybody here holding you back. You don't have to keep playing 'big fish in a small pond' anymore."
Lapsing into silence, Cade frowned at the table. The varnish still had a discolored heat mark where she'd set down a hot mug a year and a half ago.
Half-heartedly, she quipped, "You tryna get rid of me?"
He gave her a look. "Little late for that, Cade."
She scoffed in mock offense. The kettle steamed and whistled, and Wynnic's chair scraped over the floorboards as he moved to grab a hot pad. He poured the hot water over the leaves in her mug, some fragrant blend of black tea and dried peppermint.
"If anybody's meant for bigger things than Vai-by-the-Stone, it's you," Wynnic continued as he poured, "and don't you dare tie yourself down to your family when the whole reason I turned you loose is because having your own would've killed you. You belong out on that road."
Cade knew he was right. More than once near the end, he'd found her pacing out in the kitchen in the middle of the night, neck-deep in some breathless panic attack. She could feel the walls and roof closing in all around her, she'd said. She felt like her life was over.
The water in her mug darkened, stained by the tea leaves.
Wynnic slid back into his seat. "You're gonna be one of those people, Cade. The ones you hear about. Merchants and traders coming through town with stories that may or may not be true. That's you."
His words felt strange, but true, and for some reason, that soothed her.
Some time later, with bellies full of warm tea, Wynnic walked her out to the road.
"Hey," he told her, "don't be a stranger, and tell Mama Malviero hi for me."
She laughed and threw her arms around his shoulders in a tight hug. "Thanks, Wynn. I needed this."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be here."
The Malviero residence appeared in the distance as she made her way through town. Just as she expected, Cade heard Hark and Madley before she saw them. Madley was singing, if it could even be called that, and Hark had taken to chanting, "Shut up, shut up," at her as long as she continued. The slam of the front door behind Cade was muffled under the din of their voices.
"Hey!" she shouted. "Ain't you too old to be actin' like that?"
Somewhere in the kitchen, both of them fell into momentary silence. Then, in unison: "Cade!"
Two faces appeared around the corner. At twenty-three, Madley was older and had Bex's moss-green eyes and black hair; Hark was three years her junior, a whole head taller, and had their mother's full cheeks and mischievous smile. Their paternal grandfather was half-elf, and though you wouldn't be able to tell by the look of their rounded ears, the ancestry was enough to make Cade's siblings look a few years younger than they really were.
"Where's Ma?" Cade asked.
"Out back helping Dad carry in the firewood," Madley replied.
"And what are you two supposed to be doing?"
"Washing dishes."
"Then how 'bout you focus more on getting those dishes done and less on practicing for the opera?"
Hark scoffed, "I told you."
Scowling, Madley retreated from the doorway.
Cade met her ma at the backdoor. A short, full-figured woman with golden-blonde curls piled atop her head in a messy bun, Mama Malviero's broad face lit up with joy at the sight of her daughter.
"There you are!" she said, pushing past Cade with arms full of firewood. "You left so early I didn't get to make you breakfast."
"I had to talk to Rellger about something, and then I went to see Wynnic."
"Wynnic?" Ma turned and gave her a searching look.
"Don't get your hopes up, Ma. It was nothing like that. I swear you miss that man more than you miss me half the time." Cade bent to help her stack the wood next to the house. "He says hi, by the way."
"I'll have to stop by with some dinner sometime, then. What did you have to talk to Wynnic about?"
Taking a deep, cleansing breath, Cade blew out a nervous exhale. "I have to leave, Ma."
Her mother stood, turned, and looked at her for a moment. "I'm guessing this isn't the typical kind of leaving where you're gone for a few days?"
Cade held her mother's eyes and shook her head.
"Where on earth is Rellger sending you now?" she demanded, in a tone that reminded Cade of when she'd have to sneak out to see Wynn in the middle of the night.
"Revessa," she said.
She watched her ma's face change from a look of surprise, then concern, then a sad sort of realization. "And you didn't feel like you could talk to me about it?"
"I just…" Cade shrugged and averted her eyes, crossing her arms to shield herself against the cold. "I was strung out and needed somebody to talk me down."
Her mother took her by the arms and smiled sadly. "Honey, you're my hero. If anybody can go to the big city and make something of herself, it's you."
"You're not worried?"
"Oh, yes I am!" She laughed. "But keeping you here would be like keeping you in a cage. You should go."
She came in for an enveloping hug, and Cade rested her cheek against her mother's hair.
She broke the news to Bex and the kids over dinner that evening. An expressive and affectionate man, Bex hugged her and kissed her forehead; the feeling of his warm hand on her back soothed her. Hark and Madley seemed more excited than anything else.
"Ma just bought me a stationery set," Madley stated proudly. "You have to write me letters. Tell me everything."
"Buy me something interesting," Hark told her between bites of a bread roll.
"Only if you chew with your mouth closed," Cade said.
The next few days were busy. She had a few loose ends to take care of — letting Rellger know she had changed her mind, packing for the trip, figuring out how she was getting to her destination. She figured the fastest and easiest way to Revessa was by boat, so she had to account for the journey over to the riverbanks of the Riçe Tervossa and then finding a boat to take her north.
Cade picked a morning when fog pooled in the valleys between hills and diffused sunlight over the town. Her bag was packed. She was on her hands and knees in her childhood bedroom, looking under her bed for a small storage trunk to carry the rest of her necessities.
"What the hell did I do with that," she muttered to herself, growing more annoyed by the second.
A knock sounded on the front door. Somewhere in the house, Hark shouted, "I'll get it!" His feet thumped down the hallway. A few moments later, she heard his voice call out again, this time saying, "Cade! It's for you!"
Sighing, she heaved herself up off the floorboards and wandered out into the main hallway. She stopped short. Wynnic stood in the threshold of the doorway, holding the trunk Cade was looking for.
"You forgot your shit again," he said, wearing the kind of smile that suggested he was trying not to laugh.
Sheepish, she held out her arms and took it from him. "Thank you. I was just looking for this."
"Figured you might be."
Ma wouldn't let Wynnic leave without a proper visit, so he came inside and talked while Cade finished packing. There was something bittersweet about it, she thought, watching Bex and Ma laugh with Wynnic at the table while Hark spun and snapped dish towels at Madley. Cade lingered in the doorway to the kitchen and drank in the scene for a moment. The life she could have had, or rather — she stared hard at the back of Wynnic's head — the life she had.
A small voice in the back of her mind still wondered why it hadn't been enough.
"Are you good to carry all that on foot?" Bex asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Cade looked down at the trunk and her rucksack. She grinned. "Oh, yeah. I'm stronger than I look."
—
The nearest town with a riverboat was an afternoon's walk away from Vai-by-the-Stone if you walked fast. Cade had wasted more time than she would've liked saying her good-byes, and her ankles were beginning to hurt from making up for it. Coming over a hill to see the river glittering in the sun, she sighed in welcome relief.
Riçe Tervossa was one of Bellosca's greatest assets. Almost all long-distance trade and travel in the kingdom happened up and down the enormous river, which stretched from Glaedward's mountains to Revessa at the northern coast. Even on the water, the journey to Revessa would take a week at best, but Cade would know she was getting closer when late autumn's frigid chill gave way to warm humidity.
This time of year, there weren't as many crops to ship north, so the docks were sparse. Cade lucked out when a passenger boat pulled in with just enough space for a few more guests. The rooms were small but not cramped — one cot and one small seat by a window. She tucked her luggage into the rack above the seat and collapsed onto the bed in an exhausted heap.
Cade didn't notice she'd fallen asleep until she awoke to darkness. She sat up, disoriented, and took a moment to remember where she was. Her memories of the previous day surfaced from the fog of sleep.
Something about the silence and the shadow and finally being at rest broke her heart open, and she pressed her palms hard against her eyes, fighting back tears.
Somehow, she fell back to sleep. When morning came, Cade lay in bed and watched the dust in her room float in the pillar of sunlight from the window. Eventually, the smell of coffee lured her to the dining area, where a quiet handful of passengers sat enjoying breakfast. Still exhausted, she didn't care to make conversation.
Halfway through her first cup of coffee, Cade noticed a couple of the other guests were discussing one passenger in particular.
"I've never actually seen one before," one of them said.
"He had to go through Glaedward to get here, right? Why wouldn't he just take an airship?"
"I thought the same thing!"
Happy to let her own nosiness distract her from being homesick, Cade listened closer.
"Maybe he has business in Revessa."
"What would they want from Revessa, though?"
"Are you kidding? That city is crawling with ghost stories."
A nagging dread picked at the back of Cade's mind. She knew better than most that Revessa had a secret underbelly, one full of vampires, warlocks, ghosts, and dark fey. She could only think of one sort of person from beyond Glaedward who could have "business" with the undead: the nightmare elves of Iranescu.
When you live in the middle of nowhere, you get all your information word-of-mouth through somebody who heard the story from somebody else's cousin. The nightmare elves were steeped in countless legends. Cade didn't know which stories were true and which were tall tales, but she'd never been keen to find out. The nightmare elves were hunters of the undead, and she wasn't sure if dhampir counted or not.
And now she was stuck on a boat with one.
The moment Cade finished her breakfast, she found an out-of-the-way place to sit on the deck and wait out the morning. The good weather had continued, and she was determined to enjoy it. Besides, if that elf walked out and saw her, maybe her ability to sit in the sunshine would throw him off.
As the morning passed by, more and more passengers left their rooms and appeared in the riverboat's common areas. Cade grew more comfortable as the crowd thickened around her. Then, in the early afternoon, two chatty men leaning against the railing with whiskey glasses in their hands hushed and tensed when the door to the deck opened. Careful not to be too obvious, Cade watched out of the corner of her eye.
The nightmare elves were said to be taller and leaner than other elves, and he certainly fit the bill. There was a deathly pallor to his skin, and he wore his long smoke-grey hair straight and loose with a few small braids. His eyes were fully black from lid to lid. But, more than anything else, the nightmare elves were known for the way they decorated their bodies. His skin was etched with tattoos everywhere she could see, and stacks of rings adorned his pointed ears.
Despite his appearance, Cade noticed he was smartly-dressed in a clean, fitted jacket and pants. He did not look like a hunter on the prowl.
Still, she took pains to avoid him. After the first few days, she realized he had a tendency to stay out after dark and not leave his room until late the following morning. Cade opted to begin her days early and turn in at sundown. During mid-day when their schedules overlapped, she steered around him, but he seemed not to notice.
Just when she began to relax and enjoy her time on the riverboat, she left her room one morning to find him waiting outside. He leaned back against the wall opposite her door, arms crossed over his chest.
She forgot to breathe. "Do you need something?"
"Yeah," he said. "I wanted to know why you're avoiding me."
Cade sensed a bored sort of amusement lurking beneath his words, like he already knew the answer but wanted to see if she'd come clean.
"Everyone's avoiding you," she replied, fighting to stay calm through mounting alarm.
"No, no, this is different, though." He drew out his words long, overenunciating his words with a singsong quality. "See, you watched me until you memorized my schedule, and then you started avoiding me on purpose."
Frightened into silence, Cade's mind drifted back to the trunk on her luggage rack and the crossbow inside. Even if there was some way for her to get her crossbow before he got to her, she wasn't sure if it would help. All the stories said the nightmare elves couldn't die.
The one across from her gave her a long look, squinted, then tapped his chin thoughtfully. "You know, you look familiar. I've been through Revessa quite a few times traveling between Iranescu and Argenfaen. You're not from there, are you?"
Cade swallowed.
"Family in the area, perhaps?"
She stepped back when he leaned forward, looming only a finger's-length from her face, nose to nose.
After a moment, still holding her gaze steady, he grinned. "I'm fucking with you. We don't give a shit about dhampir."
The tension ran out of her body so fast Cade thought her knees might buckle underneath her.
"You asshole," she gasped.
"Look," he said, stepping back with his hands held out wide, "you were so scared. I couldn't resist messing with you a little bit."
Cade stuck one indignant finger in his face. "I thought I was gonna die!"
She stormed off towards the dining area, but about halfway there, she realized the nightmare elf was tagging along behind her. He began prattling on some nonsense about finally getting to leave his room early so he could get breakfast while it was hot. When she sat down with her coffee, he sat across from her with his hands folded in front of him.
"I'm Singe," he said.
"Singe?" she repeated. "That's your name?"
"Well, Senjalar, but they only call me that at the Orrery."
"I'm sorry, I'm not sure I'm awake enough for this. What's a monster hunter doing at the Orrery?"
As far as Cade knew, the Orrery was where wizards went to do strange experiments. She tended to stop paying attention whenever it was mentioned. That sort of magic just wasn't her thing.
He raised his eyebrows and bobbed his head as if she'd said something foolish. "Well, first of all, wizards make and conjure monsters by accident all the time. Second of all, I am also a wizard."
Cade narrowed her eyes at him.
"You try being alive thousands of years without diversifying your hobbies. Besides, it's fun to bother the academics," Singe insisted. Switching the topic, he turned the attention back to her and said, "You haven't told me your name yet, though."
Resigning herself to her fate, Cade blew on her coffee to cool it down faster and replied, "Cade."
"Oh, c'mon. Cade is hardly better than Singe."
"It's all I got. Sorry to disappoint."
She was worried he'd follow her around and talk forever, but, to Cade's relief, Singe's chattiness tapered off after breakfast. When she retreated to the deck to enjoy the increasingly pleasant weather, he brought a book with him and spent most of the afternoon stretched near her like a cat.
The next day or two passed much the same. Cade's boogeyman had turned into an obnoxious, constant companion, and Cade didn't hate it enough to tell him to go away. She found she preferred Singe's presence to the loneliness that haunted her each night.
One morning, she awoke to find Singe loitering outside her room once again. With a small, knowing smile, he beckoned her out to the deck before breakfast. Cade followed him out into warm, sticky air and gasped. In the distance, a towering castle arched over the river, tall enough for the boat to sail underneath. Banners on its pointed towers streamed in the sky, lit by the morning sun.
Beyond the castle, a broad city shimmering with light spread out before them along the northern coast.
"Not too long, now," Singe said.
The castle grew larger as they sailed towards it, until its spires reached to dizzying heights above them. A rush of excitement brought an awed smile to Cade's face as it passed overhead, eclipsing them in its shadow.
On the other side, the river split into innumerable smaller tributaries as it drew close to the city. No — canals. Cade leaned over the railing, so alive with adrenaline she laughed. Revessa was a city of canals that snaked around and between buildings. Footpaths lined the buildings and arched over the waterways in the form of pedestrian bridges. Daylight glinted off the sparkling water.
"So, you haven't been here before," Singe observed.
"My ma has," Cade replied. "I've been hearing about this city since I was born."
"What's your business here, then? Just visiting?"
Casting a sideways look at him, she assessed him for a moment, then replied, "I'm with the adventurer's guild. Got transferred up here from Vai-by-the-Stone."
"A-ha!" Singe sounded as if he'd unraveled some great mystery. "I knew you looked the type. I can always tell a warrior when I see one."
The ship slowed as it drifted down one of the canals. Cade looked up to the tall, elaborate buildings on either side of her and the number of people crowding the footpaths. The riverboat pulled up to a docking area facing the ocean. In either direction, she could see nothing but the packed, labyrinthine walkways and canals of the city. Her smile began to fade.
After she had gone back to her room to grab her luggage, Cade disembarked with the other passengers into a stream of people. Singe joined her on the platform. He seemed to wait for a moment, but Cade wasn't sure what to say.
"Well, it was lovely meeting you, Cade," he said.
Everything around her seemed so loud. A seagull's cry pierced her eardrum. Cade's voice caught in her throat, and Singe turned to walk away.
Cade watched the back of his head begin to disappear into the crowd. A strange sort of panic burst in her chest, and she let out a strangled, "Hey!"
Singe stopped and waited for her to catch up, her boots clapping against the stone walkways.
"Don't go," she said. "I mean— when are you leaving?"
He smiled like he'd expected this to happen. "My airship flight isn't until tomorrow morning. I've got a day to kill."
"I have no idea where I'm going. Could you help me?"
"Of course."
Her shoulders sagged. She felt pathetic. "Thank you."
Cade had a map, but she was used to navigating forests and backroads, not cities. Between the two of them poring over it and asking for directions, they found their way a few city blocks over to where the guild was. The adventurer's guild network was a newer establishment, and it stood out from its neighbors due to its freshly-painted sign and facade. The building took up nearly half a block on its own and rose above her with multiple stories.
The interior was even more impressive. Cade's mouth fell open. Rellger's rickity one-man operation down south was nothing compared to the guild hall that expanded before her. Several other adventurers gathered in some sort of common area behind the front desk. Cade found herself hung up on the fact there was a front desk at all.
A gnome sat behind the desk in a very tall chair. Her shoulders tensed when Singe walked through the door. "May I help you?"
"I'm just here with her." He pointed his thumb towards Cade.
"Yeah, I, uh," Cade rifled through her bag for her official documentation. "I'm with the guild in Vai-by-the-Stone, er, the—" She stumbled when the gnome gave her a blank look. "The Southeastern Branch?"
"Oh!" The gnome perked in recognition and reached out for her documents. "Yes, yes, I can check you in immediately."
Taking a deep breath, Cade threw an anxious look back at Singe. He gave her two thumbs up, which looked ridiculous from him, all things considered. But Cade found herself smiling even as she shot him a look.
"And how long will you be staying?"
"I'm expecting to be in town for awhile," Cade said. She felt some of her usual bravado coming back to her. "Until… Dragonfly, maybe?"
The gnome giggled as she took the information down on a form. "Smart girl, heading north for the winter."
After the check-in process concluded, the gnome scaled the side of her chair, which had a small built-in stepladder on the side, and led Cade to the dormitory. Singe trailed after them. Cade caught him making a face at a nervous adventurer and kicked him in the ankle.
The guild's modest dorms, furnished with a nightstand and desk, felt lavish after sleeping on the boat for days. Hell, she had room to walk all the way around the bed. Once Cade got her belongings put away, she threw herself onto her bed and relaxed. Singe leaned near the door.
"Food?" he asked.
Cade's arms stretched out long on either side of her. "You know a place?"
"I know so many places," he told her.
"Hmm. Give me your absolute top choice for someone who's never been here before."
Singe sucked air through his teeth. "Ooh, that's a tough one, but I think I can give it a shot."
He offered her an arm. Cade made an elaborate show of slithering off her bed and back onto her feet, then tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow.
Back into the streets of Bellosca they went. The madness of mid-afternoon was in full swing. Street musicians warmed up their instruments, and chattering crowds streamed around them. All the time, the water splashed a steady rhythm in the canals below.