System Lost: My Own Best Friend

"[What are you?]"

Talla's question hangs in the air, leaving me at a bit of a loss. I suppose it's only fair after I asked her the same thing, but I don't think she means it the way I did.

"She definitely saw something," Maggie says. "I felt really weirdly seen just now, and not in a good way."

"I think I might have felt it too," Violet agrees. "What was that?"

"[Everything alright, Talla?]" Draga asks, eyeing me suspiciously.

She blushes and coughs awkwardly. "[Fine! S-sorry,]" she stammers. "[Everything's fine! Allie just has an unusual magical signature—it caught me off guard.]"

"[Unusual how?]" he insists.

"[Not like that,]" Talla sighs, rolling her eyes. "[I know how to spot demons, Draga. She just has weird skills. You would too if you had to figure out the mechanism all by yourself.]"

"[If you say so...]" he doesn't look entirely convinced, but drops it. To my surprise, his attention stays on me as he goes on. "[Allie, I know you can't talk, but can you identify the kind of threats we might expect within the convergence point?]"

Huh...I guess I can try. It's not actually that long a list. I'll start with the easy low-hanging fruit—the worm still relaxing on my shoulders like a boa.

"Worm," I say, pointing at Nipper. I'm not sure how many of his siblings are still around, but there were tons of them that hatched, and I'm sure a few must have slipped away from the stalker.

Draga and Saban eye the little guy dismissively, so I try to clarify by holding up my hands and splaying out my fingers. "Lots! Many...uh...tens and tens?"

"[Oh! That's her word for ten, I think,]" Talla chimes in. "[Or something based on it? Are you saying there are twenty of them?]"

I shake my head and point up. "More. Maybe."

Talla turns to the others and shrugs. "[I think she just means there are a lot of them.]"

I point to her and nod. "Yes!"

Next up...oh, I know. I pad my way over to the corner where they're keeping my confiscated stuff. Saban moves as if to stop me, but Draga holds up a hand to forestall him as I kneel next to the candle burrito and tap the lizard hide wrapping it.

"Lizard," I add, then think for a moment. In my entire time down there I encountered somewhere between three and six, depending on how many of them were repeats. Two died to snails and Violet killed one, so if I go with the more generous estimate... "Three," I say, holding up three fingers.

"[Only three Embergazes?]" Draga murmurs. "[They must have fled the dungeon in a hurry. What else?]"

Now the tricky part. I don't have anything to represent rock snails. Though maybe...

I pick up the wooden buckler and ponder it for a moment, then snap my fingers next to Nipper's face. He follows the vibrations and slithers down my arm, where I gently place the shield on top of him and look up hopefully at the rangers.

I'm met with three blank stares and Maggie's snort-giggling.

"You look so stupid," she manages between giggles.

"Shut up," I mutter darkly, blushing from embarrassment.

In an attempt to recover from that failure, I grab the spear—then immediately drop it as Saban levels his bow at me. Cripes he's fast—I didn't even see him draw it!

"Sorry!" I exclaim, then decide to just pantomime a spear next to shield-Nipper with my fingers. "Pew pew!"

Draga and Saban both squint their eyes at me in confusion, but Talla claps her hands excitedly.

"[Oh, oh! Shield, spear, worm—you mean a worm or slug-like creature with a shell? Was the shell made of stone?]"

I point at her and nod. "Rock snail!"

"[I think she means rock snails,]" Talla says to her companions. My jaw drops at the name. "[How big were they, and how many did you see?]"

"You call them rock snails too?!" I blurt out in surprise.

She just blinks at me. "[Sorry? Did you say two?]"

"No," I say, shaking my head before realizing that's actually the correct number. "Wait, yes! Two."

"[That makes sense, they're both solitary and quite territorial,]" she muses. "[Anything else?]"

I swallow nervously. The last one is the most impossible to explain, and the one I really want to stress. The stalker is the entire reason I don't want to go back in there.

"Yes, there is," I say, nodding my head. Then I sit down and cross my arms, furrowing my brows as I try to come up with a way to explain it.

Aw, heck it. I hope they know about party games here. I was always good at this one.

I hold up two fingers and wait. After a moment of confused silence, I sigh and point at Talla.

"[Me? Two of me—blood and acid, doppelgangers?!]" she gasps.

That's a thing?! I shake my head and hold my two fingers higher for emphasis. Wait, we're not actually playing a party game, I'm allowed to use my words.

"Two words," I say, hoping Talla will catch on.

"[Two...two what?]"

"Words," I repeat, touching my free hand to my lips and then flicking them forward, then using the same hand to pantomime speaking. "Two words."

"[Two...two words?]" she asks.

I point at her and nod. "Yes! First word. Uh...word one."

She tosses her hair and scratches the base of one of her horns. "[Word...one...you want me to figure out the first word?]"

Dang, she really is good. I nod, then cover both of my eyes.

"[Blind?]" I shake my head, keeping my eyes covered. Talla quickly catches on and starts trying other words. "[Dark? Bright? Hiding? Hidden?]" I perk up and point at her, gesturing with my other hand for her to keep going. "[I'm close? Hidden, hidden, no eyes—invisible?]"

"Yes!" I cry enthusiastically. "Invisible! Second word, word two!"

"[Is this really necessary?]" Draga asks tiredly. "[I feel ridiculous watching you two.]"

"[Do you want to do a blind delve with an invisible threat lingering without knowing more?]" Talla counters. "[Go on Allie, second word?]"

I think for a second, then curl up and wrap my cloak all the way around me so that I'm completely hidden within it, then I jab a finger out through the opening like I'm stabbing something and quickly withdraw it.

I'm not actually sure what word I'm trying to get to here, but I kinda gave up on that part when I realized that not only do they not get the game, but our languages don't have the same number of syllables.

"[Uh...hatching? Breaking out?]" Talla tries, but she's so far off the mark that I have to try something else.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I point at the spear, then repeat my earlier motion.

"[It strikes from out of sight? An ambusher?]" Saban, of all people, interjects.

Close enough. "Yes! Invisible ambusher!"

I run up to Talla and point out the holes in my cloak where it got me. "It made these, see? And..."

Drawing the cape all the way back to expose my bare shoulders and point out the scar from where it stabbed me, a vaguely round, jagged patch of skin that's even paler than usual and conspicuously devoid of the freckles spotting the rest of my shoulder.

"[By the names of the Goddess!] Talla gasps. "[You fought this creature?]"

I shake my head and pantomime running away with my fingers.

"[You fled it? I see.]" She runs her fingers gently over the patch of scar tissue, frowning. She lowers her voice to a bare whisper. "[These are recent. I can see evidence of magical healing. How long ago did you encounter this thing?]"

Dang it! Why's she gotta be so clever?! I mean, it's a good thing usually, but it keeps forcing me to answer awkward questions. Especially since I don't actually know how the heck our injuries got healed.

I bite my lip and hold up two fingers. "Two days ago."

I think. Maybe less. It's hard to keep time and I don't know how long I was out after escaping.

"[Two days?]" she confirms, waiting for me to nod before continuing. "[We'll talk later.]"

With that slightly ominous promise, she turns back to her fellow rangers.

"[A monster capable of turning invisible and attacking with the force of a spear from out of sight,]" she sighs. "[That's a tier four or five threat at least. Possibly demonic if it's intelligent enough to choose its prey carefully.]"

Talla gives me a questioning glance and I nod. It spent days casing us before making its move.

"[Let's assume a tier five demon at a minimum, then,]" she concludes. "[Any objections?]"

"[Yeah, I've got one,]" Saban answers, raising his hand. "[How are we meant to fight something like that?]"

"[Very carefully,]" Draga responds for Talla. "[I agree with your assessment. Neutralizing that threat is our first priority. I don't want it ambushing us while we're trying to survey the perimeter. We're done for the day. I want us all fresh and rested for the delve tomorrow.]"

Wait, after all that they're still going in there?! I throw my head back and groan miserably.

"[It's not all bad, Miss Allie,]" Draga attempts to console me. "[I've decided to let you keep Reyna's gear.]"

"[Wait what?]" Saban interrupts. "[You can't be serious.]"

"[I am,]" he confirms. "[For the time being, the Goddess has seen fit to tie Miss Allie's fate to ours. She's survived the dungeon already, including an encounter with this demon. She's our best hope of surviving both this dungeon and our return home—but only if she's alive. So in the interest of keeping her that way, I'm letting her arm herself.]"

"[She's just going to stab us in the back.]"

Draga scoffs. "[Just because it's what you would do, doesn't mean everyone else thinks the same way. Talla, do you trust her?]"

I meet Talla's eyes and see the brief hesitation in them before she turns to look at the ranger leader. "[I think so. She's more dangerous than she looks, but she's just lost and scared. I don't know what happened with Kiera's group, but I believe her when she says she regrets it. I think she deserves a chance.]"

My eyes water a little bit as I smile at Talla. "Thank you."

She doesn't quite meet my eyes, but smiles and nods in response.

"[You're the ones that are going to regret it,]" Saban mutters darkly. "[But I know when I'm outvoted. I'll shut up about it.]"

"[Good,]" Draga says, ending the conversation with the finality in his tone.

The rangers break up to go about their own business, maintaining gear, eating, or setting up places to rest for the night. As a gesture of good faith, I decide to leave the shield and spear where they are for now. Violet can gear up when we set out tomorrow, and there's no sense making the rangers jumpier than they already are.

The evening passes fairly quietly. Dinner is leftovers from the soup, supplemented by those crackers they seem to have an endless supply of and a healthy serving of Talla's fancy sauce to cut the spice. It's still a bit painful, but I don't mind spicy food and it's actually pretty delicious, not just because I'm starving.

After dinner, Talla approaches me, taking me by the arm and marching me towards the tunnel leading outside.

"[Allie, come with me for a moment,]" she says quietly.

I blink. "Uh, okay?"

"[Where do you think you're going?]" Draga demands before we can make it far.

"[Bathroom,]" she answers tersely. "[We can't exactly dig a latrine into solid rock, and I don't fancy contaminating our main source of fresh water. Allie has no way of asking, and I'm not about to let one of you two supervise her for a toilet break.]"

"[Fine]," he relents. "[Don't take too long.]"

Come to think of it, I do have to go. Pretty bad, actually, but something tells me there's more to it.

We walk in tense silence down the tunnel leading outside. As we emerge, I cover my eyes and squint as I'm bathed in the gentle warmth of the sun. The actual sun. It's up this time, though already getting low in the sky. The rings are still visible, if anything even brighter in the sky during the daylight. They hurt to look at.

Talla gives me some privacy to relieve myself, and when I come back I find her sitting on a rock and staring up wistfully at the sky, the pale blue expanse already starting to fade into purple and orange hues.

"[I've always loved the sky,]" she says without looking at me. "[So much that I made it part of who I am. An astronomer, among other things. The Goddess' light, the great wheel—it's all so beautiful and I knew even when I was a girl that I wanted to know everything about them.]"

I'm not sure why she's telling me all this, but I quietly join her on a nearby rock and just listen.

"[But I'm an indecisive person,]" she continues. "[The sky wasn't enough for me, and it certainly wasn't enough for my parents, who insisted that I should have more practical pursuits for my core class.]"

She sighs and rests her chin in her hand, turning to look at me.

"[I always thought—can't I be all of it at once? Scholar, Astronomer, Doctor, Mage...at one point I even considered joining the sisters of the clergy. Now I'm a ranger. I spent my whole life and a lot of my parents' money to build my way up to a four-star class, and I'll probably spend most of the rest of it trying to earn it back. Especially on a ranger's salary.]"

I blink in mute incomprehension and she chuckles mirthlessly.

"[Sorry, I'm rambling aren't I?]" she sighs again. "[A bad habit. Draga is putting a lot of faith in you, and I guess I think it's only fair that you should be able to trust us, too. So...here's the truth. There's almost no documentation on your kind anywhere. If there was, I'd have read it—or at least read about it. We know that dungeon borne appear sometimes—usually dead—and...that's it. I don't know what happens when we return home and turn you over to the church, but I'm worried that it won't be good for you.]"

Yeah I, uh, was kind of getting that vibe, but I've been mentally filing it under "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

Talla gives me a long, pained look when she sees how unfazed I am by her confession. "[I cannot imagine what you must have been through to become so strong at your age. And I know—I know you're not really a child. But you are young, aren't you?]"

I shrug weakly. "I guess so."

"[But you know, despite myself—I think I envy you,]" she admits. "[I've been trying to make sense of it. To understand how you can be so many things at once. Chaos magic, an extra class slot, or perhaps even a particularly devious demon—but no, none of those theories fit.]"

She turns to face me, meeting my gaze dead on.

"[Until I saw you,]" she says. "[All of you. I thought you were like a different person after demonstrating your magic, or while we were scouting—but that's it, isn't it? You were a different person. Two of them, at least, plus yourself. Multiple souls inhabiting the same body. Please, if you value my honesty tonight—the trust I've extended—please tell me. Am I right?]"

"Kiss her!" Maggie shouts in my ear. "I mean, uh, tell her! I think she's legit."

"And I think Maggie is compromised by her feelings," Violet sighs. "But Talla does seem trustworthy. We need an ally—a real ally, not just people keeping us alive as a meal ticket. But it's up to you, Allison—you're a better judge of character than we are."

I sigh, chewing on my lip. It's not like lying would do us any good anyway. She already knows, she's just asking for confirmation. My answer here is symbolic. It's not about whether she's right or not, it's about whether I trust her enough to share something so personal and potentially dangerous.

But she's covered for us so far. Helped us understand the world we're in, bridged the gap between us and the other rangers, and even warned us about the potential dangers of trusting the rangers—herself included.

Violet is right. We need a friend. And I think—I hope—that Talla is that friend. I gaze up at the sky she's so fond of, admiring the twilight hues reflected around the brilliant rings. A part of Talla that she shared with us—and I can see why it means so much to her.

"Yes," I confirm quietly, holding up three fingers. "We are three."

"[Huh,]" she says. "[That's a lot younger than I thought, I guess you are a child.]"

I start punching her in the shoulder and she giggles as she fends off my onslaught. "[Sorry! Sorry! I couldn't help myself! I'm just kidding!]"

With one last poke to her ribs for good measure, I cross my arms and pout while I catch my breath. Unbelievable! I thought we were having a moment!

"[Though I do have another question, and this one might be crucial to our survival,]" she adds, a touch more seriously. "[If you're three people—does that mean you have six class slots?]"

I hesitate, then wobble my hand in a so-so gesture. "Eh, not quite? It's more like four."

"[Four? That's a strange number. But that's still remarkable—you should be able to get to a four-star class with ease!]"

I nod. That was kind of the plan, if I remember Maggie and Vi's brainstorming sessions correctly. To be honest, I kinda tune out when they start talking numbers.

"[Alright, I know this is a little too personal, but would you be willing to tell me your actual classes?]" she asks. "[I'm going to try to convince Draga to postpone hunting the demon until you reach tier two so that we can craft the perfect class for your escape.]"

"Oh. Fuck. Yes!" Maggie crows. "I knew I liked her for a reason!"