Breck threw Juniper over her shoulder and onto the snow covered ground. The other girl barely lay winded for half a second before she rolled to her feet and tried to take Breck’s legs out from under her. Breck side stepped the attempt before aiming a kick at Juniper’s face. Another dodge, another retaliation. They were both going at it like it was a real brawl with something important on the line rather than a mock fight with a poorly cooked meal of skewered meat and blackened flat bread as their reward.

Ento and Prevna circled each other only a few paces away. Watching them it was clear that Ento had the upper hand when it came to formalized training, but Prevna had better reach and she wasn’t afraid to do what she needed to, to gain an advantage. A heart beat later Prevna threw a handful of snow in Ento’s eyes and rushed her. But what had caught Ento off guard before didn’t work a second time. Prepared for the oncoming rush, she found Prevna’s shoulders and held her in place before kneeing her in the gut. Prevna went down and a noise of approval came from my left.

Idra was supposedly practicing with her stone hammer there, but she spent most of her time watching Juniper and Ento through the trees as far as I could tell. I could have rounded out the numbers and partnered with her, but that suggestion had been vetoed by Mistaw before her and her crew went to relieve the squad currently manning the two outposts closest to us. And none of the others thought practicing with me was worth the potential punishment of getting caught once she was out of sight. I understood that falling from a wall and then getting yanked around by fast flowing water had done nothing to help my bruised side keep healing, but that also didn’t mean it wasn’t irritating to see their clear improvement while I tended to the cooking fire.

We were hidden within the edge of the goddess’s great forest, out near where the caves full of enemy fish were located as that’s where the crawler liked to harass the outposts. Mishtaw had declared that morning that since the commander had personally given me the challenge of defeating the crawler she would intervene as little as possible. If the crawler attacked one of their outposts while they were there and they had a chance to kill it, they wouldn’t let the opportunity go to waste, but otherwise it was up to me to trap and kill it with “my group”.

Surveying the seedlings around me again, I doubted there was a less accurate way to describe us. Juniper had been the one to prompt the morning’s practice session and now the others were following her lead when it came to who paired off with who. If anything I was on the outside of an already formed group that could do well enough without me. Juniper, Idra, and Ento had been close since before they came to the Seedling Palace from what I could tell, Breck had paired up with them often once they were there, and now Prevna had fought with the close knit group for a week. None of them were very inclined to listen to me after I just finished my punishment for disobedience and the first dome girls seemed on edge now that I had taken them away from the daily skirmishes.

Part of me was taken with the idea of just slipping off and fighting the crawler on my own, but even I could recognize that was worse than foolhardy given my injuries and the difficulty the whisper women had with holding it down. But it also didn’t seem very realistic to expect the other seedlings to suddenly drop the dynamic they’ve built and do whatever I say because I was given a mission.

Frustration boiled in my gut. Things were so much easier when everyone and everything wasn’t pushing me to work with others. When I could take care of my business and know that it was done well, simple as that.

Ambition is nothing without discipline.

Her mantra came unbidden and unwanted as always, but I still couldn’t deny the truth in the words. I wasn’t going to get any closer to killing the crawler glowering at the fire and ignoring my best option of achieving the goal.

“Have you fought a crawler before?” I directed question at Juniper and she smoothly disengaged from the second round of fighting she was about to start with Breck. A look and tilt of her head got Idra to leave off her half hearted practice and engage Breck instead.

I might not be able to force the younger girl’s followers to listen to me instead, but if I convinced Juniper to help the rest would likely fall in line.

Juniper eyed the crispy meat and burnt bread as she came over. Her lips thinned in distaste but she didn’t waste words complaining about the midday meal. She didn’t sit down and take any food in hand either.

Instead, she filled a small bowl on her belt with water using her blessing and started to wash off the sweat from her bouts. “Do you actually mean to kill it?”

My eyebrows furrowed. “What else would I do with it?”

Pale blue-gray eyes met mine. “You could not follow through. Stomping around and brooding seems to be your preferred option.”

I narrowed my eyes back at her. “That’s a bush calling a pine tree green.”

Juniper shrugged as she mopped the back of her neck. “I don’t stomp and I wasn’t where I was meant to be.”

“Your mark indicates otherwise.”

“My mark,” her fingers brushed over the three pronged design on her ankle,”and blessing are exactly what my people need.” Her features hardened. “My people are not in the Seedling Palace.” After a few moments Juniper drew in a breath, like she was clearing her thoughts. “You enabled the others and I to come here and do our duty. If you actually mean to kill one of the Devouring Blue’s creatures then I am duty bound to help.” I waited for the catch and she gave it to me. “But I have conditions.”

I kept my back straight and gaze aloof. As if she wasn’t handing me a thing I had thought I would have to beg for, but also hadn’t been willing to degrade myself by doing so. “Conditions?”

She plopped her rag into the bowl and held up a finger. “You will swear to the goddess that you will complete this challenge, so we have more than an empty promise and your whim to go on.” A second finger rose. “Idra and Ento will answer to me first. I can’t speak for the others but they have duties outside of killing a crawler.” A third finger joined the others. “And you will cleanse yourself of the misfortune following you. We don’t need any extra difficulties adding to this challenge.”

I had never put much stock in the notion of misfortune and fortune being ambient things that followed a person around and that could be bartered for or cleaned away. Cause and effect made much more sense to me, people’s actions and reactions, but what could it hurt? At best, the downward spiral I’d been on would turn and, at worst, I would still gain Juniper and her lackeys as allies.

“Fine.” I leaned forward. “But I have a condition of my own.”

She cocked her head in question.

I answered, “You will tell me everything you know about the creatures we’re fighting.”

Her lips twitched into the briefest of smiles. “We will share anything relevant.”

I debated pressing her for a handful of moments, but the risk wasn’t worth it. Her answer would have to do. “Fine.” Then I repeated the question that had started the whole conversation. “Have you fought a crawler before?”

It turned out that she hadn’t, but Ento had when she was helping her mentor keep watch one night. I learned that crawlers were flat bodied creatures, shaped like an elongated diamond from wing tip to wing tip and long whip thin tail trailing out behind. Ento said the one she saw looked like two pieces of cloth rippling together and long whiskers trailed out from its nose. Despite their wing like fins they didn’t fly and, despite their name, the creatures didn’t truly crawl; instead, they moved by gliding with the water and rippling their whole body. Crawlers could camouflage with their surroundings and curl themselves into tiny spaces. The one Ento had fought had fit into a tiny space between two rocks before launching an ambush. They were sentries and harassers, good for distractions and draining fighters’ reserves and moral.

The one I was tasked with seemed to fit that role well. Given the regularity of its attacks, it knew where our outposts were located and I doubted whisper women wanted to be tasked to those outposts, especially when they had to contend with an enemy that kept getting away after delivering painful injuries.

The other seedlings slowly trickled over after Juniper called over Ento, drawn in by her story and curiosity. Breck ate her portion of the midday meal as if she didn’t even notice that it was burnt while Prevna also took hers and picked around the worst bits. She offered me a partially playful, partially mocking smile as she did so and I made sure to take a big bite of my meal without wincing. Prevna snorted and we focused back on the discussion at hand.

Idra didn’t seem thrilled at the idea of helping me, but she didn’t argue with Juniper about it. Not in front of the group. I doubted that would last once they had a bit of privacy. Ento and Breck were ready to keep putting their fighting skills to use. Prevna gave me one of her knowing looks before shrugging and commenting that it sounded like fun.

We spent the next several hours coming up with a plan. Half the trouble was not knowing where it would attack next and we didn’t have the whisper women’s ability to jump through shadows even if a message on the wind reached other whisper women quick enough. Mishtaw had made it clear we were to make this work with our limits and abilities. They would be near in case something drastically unexpected happened or went wrong, but otherwise we were on our own.

As soon as a plan was devised Juniper stood up. “You need to wash off your misfortune before we do anything else.”

I stood as well before everyone else followed suit. Apparently, cleansing yourself of misfortune was more exciting than picking at burnt food. Juniper led us to the shore. It wasn’t that long of a walk considering that the goddess’s forest pushed close to beaches here. As we walked I looked for a pair of whisper women watching the waves, but the outpost, to my eyes at least, was well hidden.

Juniper gestured to the salty water. “Go in.”

I stared at her, incredulous. “That’s where the enemy is.”

She was implacable. “Infect the Lady and her minions with your misfortune, not us. Will it to them and the waves will wash it away. Then you can swear, like you promised.”

Prevna lifted her chin. “I’ll keep watch.”

I pressed my lips together and kept myself from arguing further. The whole thing was stupid, but the sooner I got in the water and got out again, the sooner we could move forward. I didn’t really want to strip, but ruining my gear and walking around during the cold season in wet gear was about as foolish as entering enemy territory willingly.

So I stripped down to my undershirt and Prevna and Breck kept a close guard behind me.

Juniper called after us, “Make sure you duck under! So nothing sticks!”

I huffed out a breath in annoyance before checking that Prevna and Breck really were ready and close by in case the crawler happened to be hiding right where I was about to step. I told myself that it was a whole ocean, more water than I could imagine. Surely, nothing would be right here.

My first step into the biting cold water was still very ginger.

Feeling only wet sand and salty water I hurried forward until I reached a spot where I could crouch down enough that the next wave passed over my head. I willed my misfortune on the Lady Blue. Pictured her creatures' attacks being routed and jumbled, accidents ruining their efforts, and a dead crawler hanging limply from my hand.

Then I hurried back out of the blue abyss and swore to Juniper that I would see the plan through. Still, I didn’t relax until I was fully clothed and back aways in the forest. Nothing might not have gone wrong this time, but that only meant it was more likely to the next.