I’m going to the village, the tall lizard-person announces. Happy, Loran reminds himself. Or is she Smith? He still hasn’t quite understood exactly why the lizard-people seem to have multiple names, and the females choose to call each other by what sound like professions. At least, that is the case for Enchanter and Hunter. ‘Reducer’ sounds more like a Skill than a profession, in Loran’s opinion. But he keeps those to himself – he knows better than to voice them unbidden. And while his master is no longer present, Loran isn’t entirely sure what the hierarchy is within the group remaining behind. The ‘pack’, according to his master.

  Loran isn’t sure whether he counted as one of the ‘pack’ or whether that is just the animals. But then what about the lizard-people? They definitely aren’t humans, but they just as clearly are as smart and capable of communicating as humans. More so, in some cases. In previous times, Loran knew a good few blokes who wouldn’t have spotted all the runes Enchanter – or was she Hunter? – has. Creating a rune as Enchanter has was far beyond the possibility of most people Loran rubbed elbows with in his short-lived time as a professional thief. Though there had been that one girl who’d been a real whizz with spotting and disabling runes to disrupt enchantments keeping them out. Even creating one once.

  Briefly Loran wonders what might have happened to her – that had been on the same final job that he had got nabbed on, getting their little band in through the window on the second floor. And then he purposefully diverts his thoughts away – wondering if she’d been considered valuable enough by the gang to spring and thereby had managed to avoid getting a collar around her own neck is a bad idea. He’d spiralled with his second master, and now knows that nothing good comes of dwelling on the past. Or the future, come to think of it. All that matters is the present.

  And right now, the present is fine. Better than fine, even. He has food, he has a bed with enough blankets that when winter comes, he’s confident he won’t freeze, and he’s so far managed to avoid a whipping.

  And his new master seems alright, though he’s wary of making a judgement this early. While the man encouraged him to relax and treated him almost like just another bloke, Loran is wary of trusting that. Perhaps his new master is a sadistic type who likes mind games and wants to gain Loran’s trust just so he can destroy it later. Why he’d want to do that, Loran doesn’t know, but he hasn’t understood a good number of things his previous masters wanted to do – he’d always considered it a good day if he hadn’t even seen one of his masters.

  Of course, in his new position, he’s likely to have far more contact with his new master – the present situation aside. At least he has an advantage this time which he hasn’t previously had. The connection between them – the Bond, apparently – feels very odd and allows for an uncomfortable amount of emotional overflow from both his master and the rest of the ‘pack’, but Loran isn’t going to complain. It isn’t every time that he has something that might give him warning of if he is about to displease the person who could send him to be beaten half to death – or more than half – as easily as he could send him to get a cup of tila. Then again, if his new master is hiding a sadistic side, he’s doing an excellent job at it, in which case perhaps the Bond isn’t as good a warning as Loran is hoping.

  The main problem now is that in his master’s absence, Loran isn’t sure who is in charge, and that’s an uncomfortable situation to be in. On the one hand, it’s only in Lord Nicholas’ house that he’s encountered people in charge who have collars around their necks. Normally slaves are the lowest of the low in any hierarchy, barely considered sentient furniture – and not even that sometimes. That would probably mean that Loran would rank even below these intelligent animals. Since it’s never been an issue before, he doesn’t know for sure.

  On the other hand, they are in Lord Nicholas’ house where three of the highest ranking servants are actually slaves who have worked for him for many years. And with what he heard of the conversation between Lord Nicholas and his master, Loran suspects they might have the same sort of Bond that he does, only with Lord Nicholas.

  But even besides those three, several of the other slaves are also ranked above more recent servants. Loran himself is very low on the hierarchy due to being both new and a slave – at least, he was. Since his promotion to the position of the heir’s manservant and personal slave, he’s skipped up a few ranks, which certainly hasn’t endeared him to some of the others, if the looks he’s received are anything to go by.

  But that doesn’t necessarily mean anything within the dynamics of the ‘pack’. Loran has been observing the interactions as much as possible – learning the lie of the land has always been essential for avoiding as much pain as possible. He’s known that since long before he was collared. And his observations are telling him that dominance in the group doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with being humanoid or not.

  Bastet, the creature who looks much like a larnatis except for the fact that her fur appears more like feathers, is a clear leader in the group, but she’s gone with the master. Loran might have thought that the leadership would shift to one of the other larnatis-like creatures, but the three who remain seem to be pretty low on the hierarchy.

  Instead, it seems that the three female lizard-people have taken over – everyone seems to listen to them when they suggest sparring or that it’s time to find food, or if they should go and hunt. Everyone except for the massive mila-like creature, that is.

  Loran won’t deny that he’s a bit nervous around her – Kalanthia, apparently her name is. Her eyes are disturbingly sharp and Loran very rarely feels emotions from her. Either she doesn’t have them, or she’s very good at controlling them. Frankly, Loran’s money would be on the latter – he’s seen enough obvious irritation in her body language to know that she feels it. While he’s no Tamer, he’s watched the milas hunt vermin in the streets of the slums – the way they put their ears back and hunch with their tails lashing after they’ve failed in a hunt is just the same.

  All of which makes it difficult for Loran to know what to do or who to obey when they’re arguing. Gods forbid his master is expecting him to lead them.

  That’s not a good idea, Kalanthia rumbles in response to Smith’s words. Humans are dangerous. You should wait for Markus Wolfe.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Loran would argue with that – if only mentally – except that he actually agrees with her. Humans are dangerous – only a couple of his injuries and one of his near-death experiences have come from anything other than humans. And even then, most of them were due to beasts that humans had tamed and set as guards.

  But Markus said we would visit the village – he wouldn’t offer that if the humans were too dangerous, would he? Smith presses.

  With Markus present, perhaps not, but what do you expect to achieve by going without a human? You cannot speak to them, the massive feline points out, her tail twitching slightly. Among milas, that indicates irritation. Loran slowly shifts a little further away from her – he’d rather be out of her immediate range if she’s going to get angry. Maybe then he’ll be out of swiping range – he’s seen her claws and has no desire to make a closer acquaintance with them.

  The three female lizard-people send each other quick glances and Loran notices the spikes that line their spines and form a crest on their heads are flashing different colours that seem to echo the faint pulses of emotion he feels from them.

  Great Predator, Reducer – or River? – says, stepping forwards. We were hoping that you might be willing to help us translate.

  No. Kalanthia’s tone is very final. I have no desire to visit a human village.

  What if we-

  No. Kalanthia growls, a rumble building in her chest. Wait until Markus Wolfe returns and go with him.

  She has a point, Smith, Reducer sighs, turning to the other two females. He would probably prefer us to do that.

  Are we Pathwalkers or not, Reducer? demands Smith. I have great respect for Markus, you know that. We owe him a great deal, all of us. But since when has he dictated all of our movements outside a battle? We have always had our tasks, and flexibility within them.

  This is a different world, Reducer sighs and looks like she wants to say more.

  That’s precisely my point! Smith interrupts. Loran is starting to find it difficult to keep track of the waves of emotion that are battering him from both sides. It’s more than a little overwhelming. It’s a new world! New things to learn, new places to see! Tell me that you wish to stay cooped up in this dwelling, with its tamed undergrowth, I dare you!

  There’s silence for a long moment.

  Smith, I want to learn more from this new world too, Reducer says after the pause. But Markus has our safety at heart. We know that.

  If Markus was willing to take us to the village before he left, it can’t be that dangerous. Even if the Great Predator won’t come, if we have the rest of the pack with us, we should be able to match most threats. From what we’ve heard, it seems unlikely that there are going to be Great Beasts everywhere we go.

  While that’s probably true, we don’t know for sure, Reducer points out. Is it worth the risk for just a few days? Markus will be back soon.

  We hope, Smith replies darkly, but what if he’s away for much longer than that? Then we’ve wasted all the time we could have been spending learning new things. I don’t know about you but that was a large part of the reason why I wanted to come here in the first place.

  We clearly have different priorities, Smith, Reducer tells the other lizard-person darkly. Anyway, even if it turns out there’s no danger, Kalanthia made a good point: we don’t even have any way of communicating with humans at the moment. Or are you planning on using gestures while hoping that we don’t accidentally threaten them in the process? Reducer asks, her spikes flashing with orange and irritation rolling over the Bond from her.

  You’re both forgetting something, Enchanter breaks into the conversation calmly. Both females look at her.

  What? they ask simultaneously. Loran suddenly realises that Enchanter is looking at him. And since she’s looking at him, Smith and Reducer follow her gaze.

  “What?” asks Loran more aggressively than he intended. He has a nasty feeling he knows what she’s going to suggest.

  If we need a human to accompany us… Smith murmurs thoughtfully. Loran can translate as well as Markus could. Couldn’t you, Loran?

  “I…” he doesn’t know how to respond. Technically, yes, he could translate – he’s done that a few times already when going to ask for food for everyone from the kitchens, or letting the steward know when Trouble accidentally knocked over and broke a statue in the corridor. Loran has a feeling he knows why that particular beast has earned such a name. But does he want to agree to doing something he isn’t at all sure their master will want them doing? He appreciates keeping his skin intact, thank you very much.

  That’s true, Reducer admits. Loran’s heart sinks as he feels hints of consideration coming from her. Perhaps Smith also hears that she seems willing to be convinced.

  We’ll be careful, she promises. We might not have Sirocco with us at the moment, but we’ll have our Warriors with us, and perhaps some of the others too. And you heard that leader – Nicholas. He wants Markus to be happy. Perhaps some of the guards would be willing to come with us too. And it is not as if we are defenceless ourselves, she adds pointedly.

  The moment hangs on the razor-sharp edge of a knife. Then Reducer opens and shuts her mouth with a sharp click of teeth.

  If some of the guards are willing to come with us and we’re all confident that they will actually guard us, and Loran is willing to translate…. Fine. I agree.

  As do I, Enchanter says firmly. Apparently the matter is settled.

  Unfortunately, that leaves Loran with a problem, since he doesn’t know who is in authority here. Because if he’s supposed to be in charge as the only human, and their master comes back to find that they’ve gone to the village when they should have stayed at the manor, Loran will be really in for it. Nevermind that there haven’t been any clear orders to that effect – masters tend to consider it the slave’s problem if they can’t read minds.

  On the other hand, if the lizard-people are supposed to be in charge, refusing to obey will quite likely lead to even worse consequences – the only thing masters hate more than accidental disobedience is intentional disobedience.

  So what, by Diplomacy, is he supposed to do now?

  here!

  here!

  here!

  here