Chapter Thirty-one

  “I ’t believe I died.” Harmony moaned from bed.

  Ambrosia started with a skeptical look from her spot soaking in the room's luxury bathtub. “You look pretty healthy to me.” She responded after hearing all about the night's adventure.

  “The bde went through my heart. My blood stopped pumping. Life slipped away. It leveled my [Stride] skill.”

  “Don’t expect us to kill you to level it more. I know you love your training, but please don’t do that iionally.”

  “I’d….” Actually, she had sidered that during her own time iub. It had gone all the way to level five from that little i. “I promise not to do that.” Her hand touched her chest where the bde had jabbed through. At least not while the memory was fresh.

  “Good. You know I will lose sleep tonight writing songs to cover this excitement.”

  “You mean fiasco.”

  Water spshed a bit as Ambrosia animatedly waved her arm about. “Lady Harmony White dodges death while temple clergy wat, helpless. The song could almost write itself. Drama, pain, and the mourned prince m before he realizes you’ve survived.”

  Harmony tossed a pillow in her friend's direissing the tub.

  “Would you rather the sheets get their spin ouation? A catchy tune carries further than a gossip dump.”

  Songstress and the Flows, public retions arm. As long as you didn’t mind having no real trol over it. “Just make me look good.”

  “Always, Beautiful.”

  Harmony closed her eyes thinking it would take forever to fall asleep.

  Soon after Ambrosia slipped out of the tub, returhe pillow, and tucked the lightly sn maid more tightly uhe covers.

  The neancer awoke, hand clutg her chest trying to feel her heartbeat, the memory of ag without it thumping still in her mind, too vivid to be a dream. Even that stress was less than knowing sequences would arise from her night out. It would be foolish to tinue as though nothing happened.

  Goosebumps prickled her skin as she performed her m routine. [Cold Touch] ag up slightly. Night snapped into pce, driving the lingering chill away.

  There on the door, the knock wasn’t Bates or Ambrosia. Bates was slow and steady, Ambrosia would have entered without knog, not g if she was dressed yet.

  Harmony opehe door to see the first sequence from st night. The four bodyguards assigned from the guild waited. [Recall] let her at least remember their names with a high degree of accuraick, Drew, Jeff, and Justin. “Yes?” She asked.

  “You should have told us you were going out. We ’t do our job if we aren’t there.” Nick started forcefully.

  “There were no allowances for bodyguards at the private event, and I wao go inito.”

  “We could have coordinated with event security. You wouldn’t be the first lord or dy who liked to slum it.” Jeff added offhandedly.

  Having experienced real slums personally, she twitched in dislike at the term. “Theaff would know the secret. Which means it wouldn’t have been a secret at all. I’ve worked at such events and word spreads quickly the more people know. I doubt that would have improved my safety. There were no signs that I would be in danger either way.”

  “You’re not even aware of the kinds of danger you’re in. There are Naewauld loyalists who are ed the Asdant Games will make Hazeldown the more important city. The general dislike of neancers always feeds some fanatics, with the fact you’re an aristocrat stirring them up more than normal. Outside influehat dislike any gains for the guild. Even overly enthusiastis of your portrayal in song and paper. Trust us to know how to do our jobs.” Drew said.

  Was she going to do that again? Go to some big party and make a se while in Naewauld? It’s not like she had many free days when she o evolve soon.

  “Fine. I’ll let you know before I go out again.” Si wasn’t happening, it was an easy promise to make. “Now bodyguard me down to breakfast.”

  Bates and Ambrosia were talking to Captain Ellis, that social iigator she’d met her first time at Ma Bell’s table. All three of them had a look of hashing out business, which expined why the bodyguards had fetched her rather than Ambrosia’s usually cheerful smile.

  Harmony took a small fky pastry from the table, no point in fag more sequences on ay stomabsp; She nibbled her way towards the group.

  “Good m Captain Ellis,” Harmony said with a slight curtsy.

  The captain bowed deeply, “Lady White, we’re deeply ashamed that you were accosted in our city. It was our mistake to not provide you additional support immediately after your notoriety started to rise. Two guards have been assigo assist your team in any ossible.”

  “Oh, you need not trouble yourself. There isn’t a scrate.“ Harmony answered while leaning into her social skills. A pointless refusal sidering she’d seen how involved he’d been talking to Bates and Ambrosia. Even if he accepted the refusal, she knew her staff wouldn’t.

  “We must insist. As the nonpartisan peacekeepers of Naewauld. It is our duty to see that you’re not invenienced again.”

  Sure, pile on the bodyguards. It’s not like she had any pns other than climb Nae’s Garden and work towards evolution. That is after resolving the mess Adric had gotten into. Maybe if she surrounded herself with enough prote, annoyances would leave her alone. “Well, if you insist. Has there been news of the motivations behind what happe night?”

  “Clearly a crime of opportunity. Sadly, in the jurisdial battle, the temple took custody of the man. They’ve beehan forthing, insisting the man acted alone. Do not be shocked if they reach out to you.”

  Great. Politibsp; Rather than a long sigh, [Poise and Bearing] helped pster a smile on her face. “Your is appreciated. May the rest of my trip here be a smooth ast.”

  Harmony took that as a time to leave. Stig around the hotel was going to attract more problems. Hyath was waiting and together they had more practical obstacles to deal with.

  The corpse of the brood mother wooze sat behind the pair as they stared up the stairs to the sed floor. The guardian had proved resistant to the skill-damaging attack. Like there was ara yer of prote to get through. Not too different than some of the extra resistance found when using neancy skills in Old Bones.

  “Karoak.”

  “No, why don’t you go first.”

  “Grrak.”

  “I know you hate stairs. I'm thinking I should get some kind of danger-sense skill stone. I already picture the synergies, bined with [Analyze] I see how dangerous something is. Twisted, I could use it to figure out the most dangerous strike for me to use against oppos.”

  “Grumph.”

  “No. I’m not stalling. Don’t imply I’m afraid. You’re the scaredy cat.”

  Hyath forced the issue by hopping up the stairs toward the sed level. He wasn’t no cat. And loathe as he was to admit it, there was something satisfying in using his oys to cut things. You could only kick, stomp, and crush with your mouth so much befetting bored. There was also the strain of authority, no way was he going to let Harmony suffer through that, if he o give her a little nudge he would, even if it meant stairs.

  The sed floor tasted awful. Prey o be made of meat. These living pnts were an abomination. A swipe sawed through loose vines on the floor. Their thiess matched the ohat had so embarrassingly snared him st time. Too much time beiant to use tools. They be a stepping stoo power instead of a crutch. The past doesn’t predict the present.

  Slowly Hyath pulled more authority from Harmony lessening her burden, so much potential need not be too strained. Agreeing to guide had been a supreme choibsp;

  “Move your fat ass. Time to see if we snap these sticks.” Harmony urged.

  With a hey were off. Hyath ag as bait in the lead, his least favorite role. It made sense since Harmony’s tack had the potential to cripple them, but that didn’t mean he liked it. Size was being an issue, as rger shadows o be found for proper ambushes.

  Oh, a tree limb fell with a ssh. Hyath hopped back, but it was only one of several. A twiggy, one of the sed-floor abominations, their branch arms swung vigorously f a few more short jumps. Having hopped out of reach, with ah-wreng creak it started to uproot to give chase.

  Now! Hyath felt the call for a through their bond, but he didn’t need prompting. Spurs ready he unched bato the fray.

  Harmony’s strike rimed and waiting as she made her move. Her familiar’s job was to keep those four arms occupied. The dungeon guides had beehat the best time to attack was when they were uprooting themselves. The roots would be pulled taunt as the Twiggy yanked out, too slow and they would tuck them inside of their base.

  This experiment didn’t use her skill-damaging strike. For the sed time ihan a day, Harmony found herself strikiween some proverbial legs. [High Hick] with an aura of [Cold Touch] her foot smmed into the roots c them with frost. The twiggy locked up almost as though it was silenced.

  Harmony hacked away with a sharpened wooze brood mother tooth to limited effectiveness. Five seds. The twiggy wound up again.

  Hyath had mao saw off two limbs in that time, all she managed was deep scratches. Not good enough. They o hahem in packs of four or five he end of the floor. Each strike to damage skills took almost two minutes between usage and strained her. Eight and ten-minute fights were too long, assuming it worked.

  The twiggy lunged all attad no defense. Why defend when you were a dense block of wood resistant to most attacks. Even teams w to make it a pile of toothpicks took time.

  That made it easy to step in through the opening those missing limbs made easy and sm her palm onto it. Pop. The skill p the movement was easy to see, it fractured, and the mobile tree fell with a crash.

  Food measure, Hyath sawed off all but one limb and they waited. It was healing, but at the rate she could feel it would be maybe a day before it could get moving again. Not easy work, but not everything be as simple as dusting the hallways.

  “Let’s get hunting.”

  “Croak!”

  And they were off.