Saki

  With that, Anna became shapeless and hit me full force. I felt her enter me, but she did not possess me. Instead, she simply reasserted herself as my dress. The void’s presence melted away as she put up the barrier again, and I sighed in relief but sobbed quietly in terror.

  “Now, then, I believe there is a bridge further down to the north. We just keep going this direction. Reedril should not bother us. I t is his slow season.” Anna’s voice was once again chipper and happy, like the conversation had not just happened.

  I slowly stood to my feet. I had so many questions, but decided against them. I had a feeling she was listening in anyway. She would tell me if she wanted to. No amount of pushing would help with that, something I knew from my own experience.

  Her silence spoke volumes, and for the first time since we met, she said nothing. We silently made our way to where she had said and found a massive stone bridge. It had glittering gemstones along the path.

  The bridge was completely unharmed in a destroyed city. “Yes, Reedril kept the bridge there so the innocent could get to the other side before he leveled everything,” Anna said. Her words created more questions than answers.

  The bridge was one of the most terrifying things I had ever crossed, and I had once traveled along the side of a hostile undead army. That was somehow less terrifying than knowing something ancient, massive, and horrific lay just beneath the surface of the water.

  In the end, Anna was right. Neither Reedril nor his children made an appearance, and we got across without issue. “Wow, that was lucky!” Anna said nonchalantly after we reached the other side.

  I froze in place, and my eye twitched. “What do you mean that was lucky?” I asked, almost scared to know the answer.

  “Oh, well, it is Reedril’s calm season. His children are usually bloodthirsty as void, though!” she said with a giggle.

  I fell to my knees and sobbed quietly at how lucky I truly was. What was worse is I did not even know if Anna was messing with me or not. She was all I had as a guide. For all I knew, she could be leading me into a trap.

  “I would not lead you into a trap! We are kindred spirits!” she said, and I felt a cool rush over my body as if I was being healed by Tama’s water. I sighed and just let it cover me. It felt so nice.

  After a long moment, it went away, and I slowly got up. I had to find Tama, and now that I was across the water, I could not be that far off.

  I made my way toward the point Anna pointed out, and soon we were once again in companionable silence. As we walked, a realization hit me, and I was curious. “Hey, Anna, those scouts for that tribe. How come we have not seen any of them?”

  “I do not know,” she said quickly before changing the subject. “What is that noise?”

  I frowned and opened my mouth to ask what she meant by ‘I do not know.’ But then I also heard it. Faint, distant. But I recognized it in an instant. “Tama will kill you!” I heard Tama scream.

  My eyes widened, and I began running as fast as I could toward the sound. I felt Anna enter me, and my clothes faded away. I looked down as my skin became almost see-through and ethereal, and I watched my body literally flow through the rubble like it was not there. I was uncertain, but I needed to reach Tama, and this would help.

  I flowed through the ground for a bit when Anna asked, “Why are we flowing through the dirt?”

  I did not slow down and responded, “Trying to reach Tama!” breathlessly, even though for some reason I did not feel breathless.

  “Yes, but we are going so slow like this,” Anna said casually. I ignored her and kept running. She sighed and sounded annoyed. “I am sorry, but we need to save her, and you are being stupid!” Anna snapped.

  Suddenly, my body was no longer under my control. I felt terror overcome me as Anna took me over. But she did not. She took control, but I was still able to move?

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  Anna did something, and we floated a few feet into the air. I looked down in stunned shock for a few seconds before we started moving , f ast. It was not as fast as Tama’s blink, but I was watching the ground move past me at an alarming rate.

  We went directly through buildings, smashing into them, and just flowing through the cracks. I felt free.

  It was over in what felt like only a few seconds. Suddenly, I was back on the ground, and Anna was my dress again. In front of us, Tama was surrounded by goblins. I tensed, ready to help her fight. But then I heard them talking.

  “Tama will kill that man, and you cannot stop Tama! She will go find Saki, and we will destroy your horrible city with bad people!” Tama was screaming at the goblins, who all looked bored out of their minds. No one had their weapons out, and Tama was just pointing at them with rage on her face.

  The whole scene was utterly perplexing. Tama was carrying an unconscious woman in rags, and a little girl was next to her, holding her hand. Both of them wore slave collars.

  “Wow, I like her. I can see why you two are best friends! I bet she is what kept the void from consuming you, huh? I can definitely see it!” Anna started talking as I watched the scene unfold, uncertain what to do.

  “Look, Miss Tamaneko, was it? You bought your goods and are free to go. Please stop screaming at us. We need to get back to guard duty, and if you have a problem with the way Tweedleton’s merchants do business, you can take it up with the committee over in Surtank.” The goblin in front said, his voice having that same bored, annoyed tone the guild lady gave everyone she talked to.

  I realized instantly at that point what was happening. The worst thing ever: bureaucracy. I sighed heavily, almost wishing the goblins would suddenly attack. Instead, I took a deep, calming breath and walked over to the group.

  The moment Tama noticed me , m ost likely her nose or ears. S he swiveled, and her eyes lit up. “Perfect! As always, Saki is here! She is the smarterest person Tama knows! She will tell you why you are all wrong!” Tama said as she continued ranting at the bored goblins. I facepalmed and shook my head.

  The lead goblin turned to me and said, “Miss Saki? Can you please tell your friend that if she has an issue with the slave trade, she can take it up with the committee in Surtank. Picking fights with people in Tweedleton is a crime and punishable by six months in prison, up to eight if you kill them.”

  I wondered idly if this was all a dream, and I was hallucinating. I shook my head and responded, “I am sorry, can you please give me and my friend here a moment to speak in private.”

  The goblin looked genuinely relieved and nodded. “Please let her know that future violence will get her banned from the city. Thank you.” And with that, the goblins all left us and went back to a city gate made of junk.

  Tama watched them walk away for a minute before turning to me. She looked like she was on the verge of pulling out her sword and killing anything and everything. I needed to calm this situation down yesterday.

  “Okay, Tama, let us talk this out, okay? What happened?” I said, trying to be calm and reasonable with her.

  In response, the little girl surprisingly spoke up. “Mistress Tama bought us for twenty-five gold pieces. We are her new slaves.” She looked shy, but her words were filled with obedience. Based on the marks on her skin, she had been ‘trained.’ The thought made me sick, but it was just like the black market to do something like this.

  The little girl’s words seemed to enrage Tama even more. She grabbed the collar on the girl’s neck and gently tried to pull. The little girl immediately screamed and pleaded for mercy. Tama instantly let go, and tears filled her eyes. “No, Tama did not mean it!” she cried.

  Blood slave collars. T hose were not coming off, ever. And based on the way they were put on, they were not meant to be. If the little girl was right, Tama paid twenty-five gold pieces. Last I had checked, these types of slaves were only around five per. That meant the merchant had swindled Tama.

  Slavery was bad, but it was an inevitability of the darker parts of society. No, the real issue was trying to explain to Tama that trying to free the slaves was not some simple task she could do by burning down a single city. Even if that asshole who practically stole from her deserved it.

  Tama was clearly inconsolable, and I had to be careful with my words. I considered how best to broach the subject when Anna spoke up. “I do not see the issue. You got swindled from your gold, but you got two decent slaves out of it. The older woman seems useful enough. M aybe if you use her just right, she can start a slave colony for you. The child looks the perfect size for fanning you! At worst, you can use them as shields. They are literally trained magically and physically to obey every command.”