Ruger didn't believe the words.

"You're no soldier. You are a girl, a rich one judging by your clothes."

She found the words amusing, though, no one could tell.

Sensing zero hostility, Ruger sheathed his sword.

"We hunt a killer. Convince me you'll be useful."

Mason did a double-take.

"Wait, Ruger, you're not seriously thinking of bringing her along? Do you not remember the bloody corpse skewered to a stake."

He pointed a finger at the mound of recently disturbed soil.

"She was slow."

Mason narrowed his eyes. The killer had taken friends of his. This hunt meant more to him than taking revenge for a few stray soldiers.

"The only way you could know that is if you watched her get killed."

With ten sets of eyes on her, she didn't deny it.

"I did."

"You did."

"..."

"And you did nothing?"

"Ay, easy Mason. What could she have done?"

"Basil. Do you think we should take her with us? She's a liability. I trust all of you to watch my back enough not to get eaten. This one hasn't even told us her name yet."

Basil, the dusky veteran who received the bow, felt admonished. He wasn't good with words either. The only thing Basil knew was that leaving the girl felt wrong.

Ruger saw things were about to devolve into a spat so he took command.

"Mason. Quiet. She still hasn't answered my question."

"But-"

Brick used a hand to smack his brother's head. Mason grumbled but said nothing further.

"Mason's concerns are valid. Tell us how you'll be useful or we'll cut you loose."

They watched a gloved hand remerge from her cloak. Holding her hand flat, an arrow manifested itself.

"Enchanted by Circi the Jester. Missing is unlikely."

She offererd it to Basil. The other's watch Basil wrinkled his nose and knew what was on his mind. Enchanted arrows were expensive, and being offered one would make any of them hesitant. Even though none of them could identify or read magic, they could infer what the arrow did.

No one said anything. They waited on Basil tot make a decision since it was ultimately him who would be using it. Since time was dragging and she didn't retract the offer, he accepted it with a small thank you.

Ruger caught the girl staring at him as if to ask if that was enough. When she found his gaze lacking, she brought another item out of storage. She offered the talisman to Ruger.

Talismans were the one item that were made to be legible for even children to read. With how wide spread the items were, it made sense to let the users know what they were getting themselves into. However, the word on the magical paper was in a language that Ruger didn't recognize.

Mason's raspy gasp indicated that he understood what it was.

"That's impossible."

"What? What is it?"

"Spit it out."

Mason waved the crowding eyes away.

"It's a weapon talisman. If you find yourself without a weapon, it summons one most suitable to you. There's supposed to be only ten in existence. Who the hell are you to have this?"

"Take it. It is useless to me. As was the arrow."

Mason was practically giddy at the prospect, and he was looking to Ruger with the anticipation of a child at Christmas.

Ruger internally debated. The girl was buying her way into the group. The items she held back were probably even more useful, and leaving her might come back onto them somehow. The last thing any of the veterans wanted was to catch the eyes of whatever powers backed her.

"Fine."

Mason snatched the talisman and retreated far enough to avoid takebacks.

Brick shook his head at his brother. Being a weapons savant, the idea of using the talisman now to get his perfect weapon versus his years of experience screaming at him to save it were likely warring inside Mason this very moment. He was unlikely to pay attention to the rest of the conversation.

"What is your name?"

"Melody."

"Melody. I am Ruger. You've met Mason and his brother Brick, along with Basil and Uri."

"Uri wants gift."

The giant of a man stepped into the conversation. Melody met his flat statement in kind.

"No."

"Uri wants gift."

"..."

Melody stared into the giant's eyes as he loomed over her.

"What if Uri asks nicely?"

"No."

There was a long tick of tension before Uri bellowed a hearty laugh.

"Uri likes this girl. No fear. Okay, no gift for now."

Ruger pinched the bridge of his nose. Eyes closed, he gestured to the lurker in the back.

"Lucky is the one who disarms traps."

"Losing a few fingers instead of my life earned me a name."

"Craps is the one with the lazy eye, Prarie Dog is our lookout, and Queen is the only one in the army wearing makeup. Everyone, this is Melody. Great. Now, we're moving out before this bastard sets up too many traps—same formation. Keep Melody in the center. Lets move."

=

Most of them were comfortable moving forward in silence. It was almost uncanny how serious the veterans were. Trap searching took up the majority of the focus, even though they didn't encounter any. Maybe that was the point of the first batch of traps. They became paranoid and slowed their pace while the cannibal hauled ass.

Following the tracks back into the bog made some of their moods wane. Wet socks did that.

Queen was the first to notice Melody's dry clothing despite being knee-deep in muck like the rest of them. A curious hum later, and the smooth-skinned soldier was next to Melody chatting her up.

"Say, do you have any more of that special clothing? I can tell by your hair that you know how to take care of yourself. You wouldn't come out here without some hair product and skin ointment, and if I may say so, it is working flawlessly. I'd love to get all the deets later, but a girl can bite her tongue and hold out while searching for a killer. It's my boots that are killing me."

"..."

"Why don't I go barefoot, you might ask. Tried that. Didn't do any good. Mud is good for the skin, but the scrapes were anything but. I used to have a pair of glorious heels, also enchanted to stay clean, and wondrously comfortable. Unfortunately a snobbish noble lady saw me in them and decided that it was a crime. I spent two weeks in that dingy jail with the most butt-ugly bastards I ever did see. After Ruger bailed me out I was down my favorite kicks. I couldn't afford a second set, so here I am, stuck wearing apparel I otherwise wouldn't be caught dead in."

"..."

"Anyway. That's that. No use crying over spilled milk; my mascara will run. I know, you know. Still. Are you sure it isn't possible you have a spare? I could work off the price. Hell, I might consider quitting the army to work it off. So what do you say? Can you help a girl out?"

Queen looked at Melody expectantly. She stared ahead blankly. Queen usually carried most of the conversation with just about anybody, so a lack of response was about par for the course. Zero response was unusual for him.

"I admit I'm used to some reaction. I know how to manage the stares, looks, and questions, but I admit I've never had someone ignore me quite like this."

Ruger looked back and hissed.

"Queen, back in formation."

"Ah. Sorry boss."

As Queen glided back into place, he heard Melody's voice. She wasn't looking at him, but her words couldn't have been for anyone else.

"Heels don't suit me."

Queen rubbed the back of his head.

"Agree to disagree, but that is alright."

Knowing that the words couldn't be further from flirtation allowed them to lapse back into silence again. The group headed up a peculiar ridge when Queen overheard Melody whispering something too softly to decipher, and Lucky's shout made it even harder.

"Bog Bear!"

=

The ridge turned out to be a shallow den, and the beast residing inside decided food was more important than its home. The collapse of the small hill broke up their formation. Nearly all of them had time to jump back except for Queen. He took a dive into the mud. Ruger pulled to his feet and set about issuing orders.

The beast was a tank with claws. The layers of mud and grime attached to its fur made landing solid hits more complicated than necessary. Basil didn't even bother with arrows.

From Melody's safe vantage point a dozen yards away, she watched how smoothly the group worked together. They kited the monster with ease, someone new getting its attention the moment it was about to attack. The only sour point was they couldn't land many good hits.

The way the fight was going, it was going to be a battle of endurance. That was until someone got annoyed.

"Uri dislikes pointless fights."

"Wait, Uri. Don't be an idiot."

Uri charged in without heed.

Rearing onto its hind legs, the bear took a swipe. Uri ducked under and grabbed the bear's paw in an armlock. He then threw the bear over his shoulder. The beast landed on its back with a whoomph.

"Sit."

Uri punched the Bog Bear.

"Stay."

It snapped at Uri. Uri punched it again. And then a third time.

"Stay."

Knocked unconscious, the bog bear couldn't disobey.

Uri nodded his head, satisfied. He squared his shoulders and examined the blood dripping off his fist. It seemed that teeth were a hazard of punching a bear in the face. Wiping his hand on his pant he started walking away.

"Let us go before beasty wakes up."

While indignity still bounced around inside the other's skulls, Basil felt obligated to point out the obvious.

"That's a Bog Bear. They hold grudges. Killing it now would make our lives easier."

"Beasty won't follow. It knows better."

Basil looked to Ruger for help.

"We can kill it quickly."

"No."

"Uri-"

"Uri wrestled bear and punched it in face three times."

He held up three bloody fingers.

"If still worried, Uri will stand in back and wrestle again, yes?"

Ruger rubbed his temple. There was no fighting it. He cut his losses and accepted that Uri would now be bringing up the rear. With a full headcount and no significant injuries, Ruger didn't see any reason to stall.

Melody seemed to reappear the same way she'd disappeared at the start of the battle. She pointedly disregarded the downed bear.

"Shall we continue?"