Reed tied his hair back with the strip of leather that had been holding it prior to his bath. The townsfolk had been incredibly kind. He'd gotten more than breakfast out of them, despite their current situation; he'd gotten to bathe, clean clothes, and a bag with some basic supplies. However, he'd wasted an hour and a half dithering about.

Recreating his bike, Reed would have put his bag into a compartment, but he already knew he was going to need to transform the core into something else. Instead, he pulled the straps over his shoulders and settled into the seat.

The people he was leaving behind all stood in the road to bid him goodbye. "Thank you so much for saving us," A'shia's mother said again, holding Reed tight. "My husband died last year from ogres. We lost a hundred people before they got bored and left."

"Are there more of them in the woods?" Reed asked.

"No. It was just those three," the woman said, stepping back, wiping her eyes. "May the gods bless your path."

"Even if they don't, I'll manage," Reed said with a grin.

A'shia waved at him, smiling brightly. He waved a salute at them, then started rolling, careful not to spin his tires and spray them with dirt.

Once he was a bit further away, he picked up speed.

"Bella," Reed said. "You said I was using power during breakfast. What was I doing?"

"Charming them. Though they were already inclined to like you," Bella said in his ear. "That was a fine Offering, though."

"Offering?"

"Yes, they made the meal with Intention, and their priest blessed it. Usually, we don't let Astralitar out to meet regular people until they've had some education on the local customs. You really impressed them."

"I'm always grateful for food! Especially when it's not the expired slop they served at those soup kitchens." Reed laughed. "I'd probably have ate everything on the table if they let me."

"Well, because they did it with Intention, you got more out of it than just physical nourishment. You're one fraction closer to being truly completed. Taking the Odinsphere will get you a lot further, though."

He abruptly exited the trees. The forest continued on his right, following rolling hills which graduated to mountains. Topping a rise, he got a view of the miles ahead. A spider tower stood atop another rise slightly to the south, and near it was the crossroads he needed to take a left at.

In that intersection, a clot of people had gathered. Reed couldn't tell from his current distance, but suspected they were soldiers. Upon noticing him, they rearranged into a disciplined squad, facing his direction.

"What're you going to do about this?" Bella asked.

One person stood two feet taller than the tallest guy in the pack, and he immediately knew it was Meg’ante.

“They’re not gonna know what hit them,” Reed assured the pixie and sped up. His bike didn't have a speedometer or gas gauge, but he guessed he was going a hundred. Hitting the top of the next hill, he caught air in a thrilling burst. He wasn't close enough to pull the same stunt as he had on the ogre before. However, it was impressive.

Now that he was closer, Reed could see that they wore light armor and small shields with spears. There were about ten of them. They'd blocked the road to the intersection with Meg'ante standing behind, wearing armor that looked like it was probably a core.

There was a lot of shifting among the ranks. They firmed up when Meg'ante told them to.

Reed sped closer.

The soldiers were getting nervous again.

Reed made no sign that he was going to slow down.

This was a game of chicken. Either they were going to move, or he was going through them. He didn't want to hurt them.

Bella started laughing. "She's betting on you being a Lotus."

Now close enough to see the whites of their eyes, Reed could see the fear there as the soldiers realized that this was not what they'd signed up for. The soldiers closer to the center bailed, throwing themselves into their companions on either side.

Reed threw his weight, laying his bike down in the same motion as he got on top of it. Riding it in a crouch as the roaring engine skidded across the dirt. One wheel clipped the leg of a fleeing soldier. The bike spun.

Meg'ante staggered back in horror as Reed launched himself at her.

Calling his core to him, he shifted it into power armor before it had done more than turn liquid.

His fist slammed into Meg'ante's face, sending her sailing backward.

The bike wheels hit the ground near her head as Reed reformed.

Looking back over his shoulder at her, Reed grinned. "Eat dust, Megan." His tires spun out for a second before catching and sending him flying down the road south.

Bella burst into laughter.

Reed glanced back over his shoulder to see the chaos he'd caused. Meg'ante was on a metallic horse, chasing as hard as she could, but falling behind quickly.

**

Meg’ante pulled her core to a stop and screamed as the Astralitar's figure disappeared into the distance. She wasn't mad that he'd hit her. She was mad that he'd gotten away.

What the blazes was this?

"He's a Lotus! What was that?" She wiped her face, careful of her broken nose. She'd been punched by a Lotus. According to their research, there'd only been one other Lotus. He'd been a leader in art and science, and had only been useful after the Demon Lord was removed.

What were the gods thinking sending this?

She could feel her new mask of bruise spreading across her eyes as she watched the Astralitar's cloud of dust disappear over a distant hill.

Admittedly... that had also been hot. He'd been grinning the whole time.

No fear.

No hesitation.

This… was not Peace. He acted more like a Sword than a Lotus. Even if she'd not been bespelled, she would've been turned on by that.

She’d been sure he would stop. Dylan would’ve. Even if he’d known without a doubt he wouldn’t hurt anyone, he would’ve paused long enough for Meg’ante to get her hands on him.

Where was he even going?

Clenching her fists, she turned her core to return to the palace guards she'd left at the crossroads. They were tending to their wounded, though there wasn't much, since they'd broken ranks before the Astralitar's steed had hit them.

Her best bet now would be to get ahead of him. The road he was on would take him close to another jumptower.

She sighed as she recalled something Dylan had said. “Hate to see you go, but I love watching you leave…” What had this one said his name was? She couldn’t even remember.

“What now?” the man in charge of this squad asked.

“To the jumptower. We’re going south,” Meg’ante ordered. “We’ll be better prepared for something like that next time.”

**

Snow lowered her hands from the seersphere and sat back.

“Those are not the actions of a Lotus,” Me’ello said in frustration.

The giantess queen nodded in agreement. “That boy moves like he knows how to fight.”

“Impossible,” Beltaz said, flipping through the pages of his book. “Astralitars are always young and easily impressionable.”

Snow stared at the cloudy sphere. Her clear visual of Meg’ante and Reed’s interaction was no longer visible in the glass.

Amel’issa leaned against her shoulder, tail curling mischievously. “What do you think?” she asked. No one else was paying attention to them. They’d turned on Baltaz about his having no information. They’d tried spying on Reed directly, but Bella’s presence had prevented them from seeing anything. Instead, they’d resorted to focusing on Meg’ante.

“He’s not a boy,” Snow said softly. “He’s nothing like what we’re used to because we rushed the summoning. Because none of the sacrifices were good enough. The gods are angry. This man is our punishment.”

“That just your thoughts?” Amel’issa asked.

“The Spirits,” Snow said softly. “They’ve been ignoring my calls ever since they delivered that message. Reed has accepted the mission to make us suffer.”

Ears folding, Amel’issa’s tail stopped its lazy twitch. “But what about the Demon Lord?”

Snow could only shake her head. She didn’t know. “The Spirits just told me that the gods are angry, and we will receive no further help until we’ve been punished.”

“Then we need to capture him and convince him that punishing us is a bad idea,” Saffron said, coming to stand at Snow’s other side, mouth hidden behind her fan.

“That isn’t going to work,” Snow said.

Saffron flicked a cruel gaze down to Snow. “He’s a boy, easily swayed by baser needs. We just need to trap him with that.”

“He isn’t a boy,” Snow said with a soft sigh.

Turning away, Saffron scoffed. “They’re always boys. And even if he’s not a boy, he’s still male.” She turned partially to look at Snow and Amel’issa again. Her lips quirked into another smirk as her gaze flicked back to their faces after a meaningful glance at their chests.

Snow inwardly sighed and looked at the other side of the room. Even though the Spirits hadn’t told her, she already knew that Reed wouldn’t be swayed by cheap tactics. Standing, she pushed her chair back. “We should get going south, then,” she said with conviction, though her voice was soft and didn’t garner the attention of anyone else in the room.

Saffron snapped her fan closed. “Oh? Do you know where he’s heading?”

“No, but allowing Meg’ante unchaperoned access to him isn’t in any of our best interests,” Snow said and looked at her rival.

“Good point,” Amel’issa said and pushed off the desk, tail swaying. She led the way from the room. Snow and Saffron followed. Their parents continued arguing over whose fault it was that they were in their current situation.

In the hall, the Feliz turned to face them, arms folded as she walked backward. “So what’s your plan, Saffron?”

“As if I would tell you,” Saffron scoffed, walking past her.

“We won’t catch him at all if we don’t work together,” Amel’issa said. “Besides, we did agree to a fair competition.”

“That was with Dylan,” Saffron dismissed as she walked ahead of them.

Snow wrapped her arms around herself. Dylan had been so sweet. She still couldn’t believe he was dead. He hadn’t deserved that. Flicking her gaze toward Saffron, she realized she wasn’t wearing a pleasant expression when Amel’issa did a double-take. The Feliz didn’t say anything, though. She flicked her tail and ears; an expression of understanding. Snow didn’t want to harbor hate in her heart, but Saffron had crossed a line and her continued disregard for Dylan stung like salt in a wound. Snow understood that Saffron wanted to be Di'alletta, but Snow had cared about Dylan as a person.

Lowering her gaze, she walked behind Amel’issa and Saffron.

Falling further behind… I’m only doing this out of duty and I hate it.