It was a bit after dawn when we had our supplies and affairs in order. We’d woken up early at Ceres’ suggestion—apparently, the more volatile Defiled and Encroachers were more active during the darker hours and into midday. She’d stressed that it didn’t mean we wouldn’t encounter any, but it would at least reduce the risk.

Some of the girls we were guiding back had attached pots, pans, and other assortments of tools dangling from the sides of their hips and packs. I thought about my [Cat Pack]’s inventory restrictions and saw that many of the girls were carrying one in addition to a backpack.

“Too much for the one [Cat Pack]?” I had a feeling I already knew the answer, but I had to ask.

“Yeah,” one girl motioned to a couple of the tools on her backpack, “the pack can’t carry everything we’ll need to get started. So we gotta shoulder a little extra burden if we’re to do our jobs right. Kind of a pain to put the big stuff inside a tiny pack, too, so there’s that.”

“Right. Makes sense.” Now that I’d thought about it, I hadn’t upgraded my [Cat Pack] even once since I’d arrived in Nyarlea. I thought I remembered Keke or Cannoli had mentioned upgrades were possible, but I struggled to recall the memory. “What does it take to upgrade one?”

The girl’s brows raised as if she were pondering the thought. “I think someone needs to have a very high skill in [Leatherworking].” She shrugged. “Pretty sure that’s just the first upgrade, though. I’d ask Salt about it if you’re curious enough.”

‘Salt?’ A girl’s name is ‘Salt?’ That’s unfortunate. “Her name is Salt?”

The girl laughed. “Yep! Her mother was a strange one. Name’s Fiona, by the way.” The scrappy girl stuck her hand out, and I reciprocated with a firm grip. Her brown hair was cut short at the chin, and her orange eyes had dark red rings, like a grapefruit.

“Matt.” I gripped her hand.

“So I hear! So you’ll be protecting our squad, is that right?” She offered a firm handshake, then returned it to the strap of her pack. Her tail flailed from side to side with excitement.

I gave her a firm nod. “I am. If anyone’s going down first, it’ll be me. Our goal is to make sure you get back to Catania safely.”

“Mhm, mhm,” Fiona said, bowing her head forward and looking up at me. “Don’t let anything happen to this bodacious bod, okay?” She wriggled her hips and winked.

I think, of all the girls I’d met up to this point, her mannerisms and voice reminded me the most of a cat. Every way her body moved, the lilt in her voice, her ears’ constant rotations toward the sounds around her, it all bore the resemblance of a house cat.

I forced a smile. “We’ll have your back.”

Just as we had discussed, we marched to Catania in two groups. Our group, the one in the front, moved as quietly as possible in a two-by-five line. Each team of two was ahead of the next by at least a few feet to avoid having more than two people get ambushed at a time. The second squad stayed behind by at least a good ten or fifteen meters so they could have time to assess the situation or flee while we fought for our lives in a worst-case scenario.

Ceres and I led our group through the thicket of the forest, weary of staying on the open road for too long. Jazz and one of her chosen guards, Erina, were directly behind us. I couldn’t scratch the itch of feeling like I was one inch away from getting shanked by this chick.

If you want a chance to clear your name, now’s the time.

We snaked through the winding paths, returning to follow the road for short bursts and mostly only doing so to make sure we weren’t getting lost. When every little shrub and tree looked the same, it was essential to have something to guide you. I’d learned that the hard way.

Ceres’ armor clinked as she motioned for me to stop. I raised my hand and balled it into a fist. I looked over my shoulder to see everyone had stopped, just as we’d practiced.

“What’s wrong?” I asked in a whisper.

“There’s someone crying. A kitten?”

I frowned. “There shouldn’t be anyone else out here. Least of all a kittengirl.”

“Ignore it and move on,” Jazz stressed in a hiss. “It’s the Defiled I dealt with earlier.”

My heart skipped. “You mean the one that—”

Jazz raised a brow. “Yes, Matt. The same one that slaughtered my kin. It must know we’re close by. We need to avoid it at all costs.”

I could feel my grip tightening, and for a brief moment, I thought I might snap the handle of my axe in two. A voice beckoned me to charge at the source and put every ounce of weight I could into my swing. Vivid images of lodging the blade of my weapon into the Defiled’s skull filled my head.

What the hell is wrong with me? No, Matt. You need to protect these girls, not put them in more danger.

I took a deep breath and made a conscious effort to loosen my grip.

“My Lord, what will we do?” Ceres turned her head to look at me, a fierce look decorating her features. “If I may be so bold, I agree with Jazz. Avoiding the enemy would be the wiser option.”

“Agreed.” I nodded my approval. “We can double back to the road, then cross it and head into the other thicket. We can follow that until we get a good distance away.”

“My, my. You did make the wiser decision,” said Jazz, feigning surprise.

“Unless you have something constructive to add, shut up,” I replied, fury beginning to boil in my veins.

Jazz lifted her brow. “Well, then. Lead on, boy.”

I shot my hand into the air, closed it into a fist, then pointed to my right. Afterward, I rotated my arm around in a circle, and the gentle rustling of leaves accompanied the signal from behind me. So far, so good. The entire time we moved, Ceres never took her eyes away from where we heard the crying. Her ears remained tilted to the sound, and her footfalls were silent despite the armor.

The crying grew louder as we put more distance between us and the Defiled. I couldn’t care less how loud that monster cried. What did nag at me was that it recognized we were moving away.

There was a brief moment of tension as both groups huddled onto the road. I did a quick headcount and acknowledged that everyone was accounted for. So far, anyway. Our groups settled into the woods opposite the road, and our march continued.

My anxiety faded away as the crying grew more and more distant. Defiled or not, I couldn’t imagine anything in this world legitimately crying for over a half-hour. Then again, I’d never had a baby to deal with, so maybe the Defiled had a contender after all.

And aren’t you excited to deal with them now? I pushed the thought away.

We stopped when we could no longer hear the crying. I threw my hand back into the air and spread my fingers out, shaking my hand from side to side to motion that it was break time.

I heard an audible sigh from some of the girls. Shortly after, Fiona found her way to my side.

“Want a snack?” she asked.

Jazz met her with a stare that could pierce any heart. Not in a fun way, either. “Get back to your position,” she snapped.

Fiona pulled down her lower eyelid with her middle finger and stuck out her tongue. “Back off, lady. I’m talking to Matt, not you.” Fiona brought her attention back to me. “Well, Matt? Do you want a snack?”

I blinked. “Uhh, sure. I’ll take something.”

Jazz shook her head while Fiona reached into one of the pouches on her backpack and pulled out something very familiar from my old world. It looked like beef jerky, and it certainly smelled like it too. I could feel my mouth watering at its very presence.

“Got some dried meat if you’re feeling the rumblies.” The strip of meat wobbled in her hand the same way someone might try and tempt their dog to run out to the backyard, only to have that trust betrayed when your owner shuts the door behind you.

Am I that dog right now?

“Might as well beg for it while you’re at it,” Jazz said with a smirk.

“Please abstain from making such critical remarks of my Lord,” Ceres said with a frown. “I think you should accept the offering. It is the gracious thing to do.”

“Then I’ll have some. Thanks.” I took the strip from Fiona and rotated it in my hand. It looked like the real thing. Question was, did it taste like the real thing?

“It’s not going to hurt you. Just take a bite!”

“Well, here goes nothing.” I clamped down with my teeth and tugged. The meat resisted, and as it did, I yanked harder. Half of it broke off, and I slid the freed piece into my mouth like a lizard. It was a bit saltier than its modern-day counterpart but not quite as tough. I chewed it without a word for several seconds. My eyes widened, and I looked Fiona dead in the eye. It was a little slice of meaty heaven. “You’ve done something amazing for me today.”

“Nice!” She flashed a toothy grin and rested her hands on her hips. “It was made by yours truly, cured and salted to perfection.”

“Almost,” I accidentally said aloud. I nearly choked, swallowing the jerky as my realization. “But it’s so close! So very close!”

Jazz rolled her eyes. “Commit to your words, Matt. If you’re going to say something, just say it.”

Ceres giggled and committed a couple of fingers to her lips. “My Lord had a moment of brutal honesty.”

Fiona’s shoulders slumped. “Still not there yet, I see. Well, going to have to keep working on my recipe then.” Fiona turned to leave and waved as she did. “Guess we better get back to it. Catch ya later, Matt!”

When she disappeared, I was reminded of the other half of the jerky in my hands. Try as she might, Ceres couldn’t hide her desire. I handed it over.

“Here. You can have the rest.”

Ceres waved a hand. “No, my Lord. I cannot.”

“This ‘Master’ ‘Servant’ routine is growing dull. We need to keep moving and stop playing make-believe.” Jazz stretched her arms high above her head, turning one way and then the other. The bones in her spine cracked, and a relieved sigh escaped her lips. “Ahh. Utter bliss.”

“You prefer we call you Mistress—” Erina began.

“Mm? Have I not earned the title?” Jazz flashed her a sharp smile.

Ceres sighed and held out her hand. I put the remainder of the jerky in her palm. As I was about to signal for our groups to start moving again, a rustling came from a few meters ahead.

Jazz motioned everyone to complete silence.

The rustling continued as Ceres, Jazz, and I readied our weapons. I turned my head to see Keke, Cannoli, and Ravyn had done the same a few meters behind us.

And then an arm appeared from within the shrubbery. Small and thin, like a child’s. Coughing and hacking followed, and soon a small kittengirl appeared, bloodied and bruised, her hand clinging to her shoulder.

“Help—”

Before the girl could get more than a single word out, a dagger found itself between her eyes. It’d happened so fast that I hadn’t registered Jazz’s appearance beside me.

“Get away from her!” Jazz threw up an arm and commanded.

Ceres, Jazz, and I backed up, forming a semi-circle between the kittengirl and the rest of our squad.

The kittengirl blinked as a thin line of blood trickled down her forehead, past the bridge of her nose, and dribbled off the edge of her chin.

A sinister smile played on her lips.

“You’re the one from before.” Her voice sounded hollow yet contained. As if she was speaking behind a mask. Her blue hair started to move as if a strong wind carried it. The girl’s veins began to enlarge, and the points of her nails grew sharper by the second.

Another dagger found its way into the kittengirl’s body, landing in the dip of her throat. The kittengirl ripped it out of her own throat and threw it in the same direction it came from.

“[To Dust]!” Jazz cried.

We braced for the return of the dagger, but just before it could land, it disappeared into a lump of sand and landed in Jazz’s hand. Jazz stepped forward and threw the clump of sand into the kittengirl’s eyes, eliciting a bloodcurdling scream.

The kittengirl squirmed and roared. “Sister!”

Hanging from the tree above her was a girl who looked identical to her. She hung from one of the branches above by her tail—like a monkey. She flashed a malevolent smile before swinging down onto the ground beside her other half.

“She’s back,” said the twin. “That’s good. I was just getting hungry again.”