Anyone who goes salvaging without the right Talent along is just a bottom feeder.

Albert Maginot, Marches of the Algonquin.

The next day passed like a whirlwind. Johanna and the others settled the deal for their apartment lease, then completed the registration for residency at the City Hall, with their landlord attesting to the one-year rent payment.

And just like that, the four found themselves once again official residents in a city. Hopefully, with a better status. Johanna half expected now to have some hidden citizenship clause to come and cause them problems, but at least, on paper, they had some protection against the reach of the Warden.

Petra was not entirely convinced this was the end of their troubles, but they had little other recourse if things escalated. At least they had some money since apparently, lawyers were reputed to expect to be paid even for giving advice.

Ulrich and Miles were waiting for them just outside the northeast Gate of New Sandusky. The road coming from there went around the Lakes proper, heading toward the eastern part of the Lake Marches rather than the wilderness that was the western. It was the main commercial road to Ontario, the capital that sat on the lake of the same name.

Johanna had skimmed on her geography lessons back when she was younger, but Miles had sketched quickly the northeast for her when they’d discussed a potential target. The Lake Marches stretched all the way to the coast of the Atlantic, sandwiched between the East Coast mana zones and the tail end of the Northern Mana Barrier, a sort of mirror of the way the Marches of the Montana went to the Pacific port of New Willapaga.

“My people live a bit higher, in the Marches of the Algonquin. That’s probably even less populated than the Lake Marches. Thirsters make a fourth of the population,” Ulrich had said.

“You’re not living there?”

“This is the closest I’m going to go to quote-home-unquote,” he had replied, without elaborating.

But for the moment, they were headed to a large ruin of an Ancient city called Cleveland that both old-timers felt was a good idea.

“We’ll check some parts of West Cleveland, near the Lake. That was not my usual area back then, but people usually skip it because you can hear Canid packs hunting all the time and the south of that Ancient ruin is a lot easier and not too shabby in terms of loot. It’s a mana zone so Changed beasts tend to breed faster and grow bigger there.”

“Good. More chances of having well-preserved stuff,” Johanna replied, as they started.

“Artifacts?”

“That. And possibly Ancient books.”

“Why them specifically? I know, there is always a collector market, but it’s not much bigger than practical items. Intact clothes usually sell for more by volume and weight. Unless you recover a unique book no one’s seen since the Fall, but that’s rare. And you find that after the fact.”

“Let’s say we value them a bit more, not just in terms of prices at Macintosh’s”, she said without elaborating.

The initial stretch of road was relatively uneventful. They noticed a few wagons and farmers heading back to the various fortified farmplexes that dotted the country around the city. Johanna enjoyed the weather. It was still warm for an early May, but not oppressively so. All around, fields were already being plowed and for a moment, she could believe they were back in Valetta, heading home after a few rounds of salvage to relax and take some news of the family.

Although they were both in their forties, the older men were still walking at a good clip. Although they said they had retired recently to city jobs, they were still in good shape.

Then she caught up herself, judging people who probably had started salvaging Ancient ruins before she was even born. She tried to make small talk instead.

“I hope we’ll be up to your expectations,” she said.

Miles raised an eyebrow in response.

“You probably have never seen Talented in action.”

“Let alone five.”

“You didn’t ask for demonstrations, though. Beyond what I displayed. So, what made you believe me?” she asked.

“Because of fifty thousand dollars,” the voice of Ulrich Sengfield came from behind, as the albino man reached them.

Despite all of the clear skies and bright sun, the albino Changed wasn’t bothered, making her wonder if he wasn’t a fire adept, following what appeared his family’s tradition. He had a small bandana around his head, a sleeveless jacket, and matching pants over long boots.

“Fifty thousand what?”

“The bounty. For your desertion.”

She stopped, before starting again almost immediately.

“How do you…?”

“I like all kinds of stuff about dangerous people, bandits, the like. I got sent the notice of the Montana bounty calling for the capture of four Talented, dead or alive. Fifty thousand is pretty high. Probably close to a record for a group of mere deserters.”

Seeing as she was mute from the surprise, the thirster smiled, showing perfectly white teeth – and normal canines.

“I’m not going to judge you. Although I am going to be very curious about how exactly you met Snowbound. But yes, I knew you had Talents and significant ones. The bounty notice said so, even if it was light on details.”

“Is that going to be a problem?”

“If you’re worrying about bounty hunters, operating in Independence State would make their work a bit complicated since it’s about Montana lawbreakers. They’d get branded as murderers since I doubt anyone would risk trying to capture you instead of killing you. So, the most likely scenario is that any bounty hunter would call upon a judge to examine the charges, get him to order you arrested, and then kill you when you inevitably resist and claim the bounty. That means having lots of lawyer correspondence involved as the extent of the charges isn’t detailed enough on the bounty leaflets. You might not be aware of it happening, of course, but that’s not going to be very fast.”

“That’s why you were trying to get residence?” Miles asked.

“You didn’t guess? You’re getting senile, MB,” his friend replied.

“Yes, that’s what someone suggested to us,” she confirmed.

“Smart move. This escalates lawyering to higher heights. You’d probably get involved directly to present a defense against the charges as citizens and thus be forewarned. Of course, you may still get someone stupid enough to try to get you without all that paperwork, but proving it for the bounty afterward might be a bit difficult if they break the law here.”

“That does relieve me. A little bit.”

“I’d love to see that play out, but I’m more interested in how you ended up in that situation in the first place,” Ulrich said.

“It’s complicated,” Johanna said.

“Unusual situations often are. Talented are rare. Multi-talented, like you and your friends, even more. Young talented? Probably as rare as hair on a dwarf’s head. And yet here you are… and you found an earth sorceress along the way. Which is supposed to also have – what are you calling it? – Mana Sight as well.”

“Look, it’s going to be hard to believe. I mean, I can show you a few things, but…I said it’s complicated.”

She looked at the two men – a man and a thirster, at least – and winced.

“But if we find what we’re looking for, then you’ll have answers. And some proof.”

“In the East?”

“No, here hopefully. The East… let’s say, it’s the next step up.”

“And if we don’t? Find what you’re looking for, I mean,” Ulrich said.

“Then I’ll have to figure out a plan B. But until then, as I said to Miles, keep a look for Ancient Books.”

“Books? I mean, they sell well, but not Artifact-well.”

“It’s complicated.”

With the fine weather, camping was easy. They found traces of what Miles said was a recent caravan campsite. The caravan had probably been there a day or two before them, heading toward the Algonquin, and they might even catch up before they veered off into Cleveland, as the commercial road went between two Ancient ruins.

The evening was an occasion to showcase some abilities, with Laura cleaning up some light scars on Miles’ hands, Peter demonstrating knives moving instantly between spread hands, and Petra raising her stone slicers-shields. That was also a time to learn more about the location.

The south of the Great Lakes, she learned, had been scavenged early on. Most of anything worthwhile had been recovered even before the Wars of Unification. What you had left was mostly stuff that modern industry could duplicate, but was cheaper to get from Ancient warehouses or homes. Alium and similar metals from Ancient times always got some prices, but it was increasingly hard to find, even in the larger ruins. Ancient Steel was a surprising mix of better-than-modern products and “cheap stuff” nobody wanted.

Miles wasn’t too surprised at the Alium trade back from Valetta.

“You have some places that do specialize in that. If you have one nearby, it’s probably a good sale. Macintosh just exports the stuff in bulk, and every merchant on the way will take a chunk of the final prices.”

Both men were happy to let the youngsters take watch, but the stretch of commercial roads proved to be safe, without the slightest hint of predators prowling. A quick breakfast later, they started toward their target, leaving the field-dotted landscape behind.

“Incoming,” Tom said abruptly.

Johanna stiffened, and Miles threw a look at her.

“Problem?”

“Someone, or rather something, is coming to attack,” she said, dropping her backpack.

Miles didn’t discuss things. He immediately stopped, looking around for whatever was coming. Tom had already unclipped his mace weapon, and the rest of the team was starting to spread to offer minimal targets.

Ten seconds later, a canine figure burst out of the undergrowth, charging toward the left of the group. Then the Canid stopped abruptly, almost falling over its legs.

“What?” Miles muttered behind her.

“Petra locked him,” she explained briefly, before aiming her hand and shooting a fireball.

There was a shout behind her, but she ignored it because, at the same moment, two additional Canids bounded out of the vegetation that had hidden them, just as the fireball singed the first Canid’s fur.

Fuck, I need to remember to shoot at their feet. They dodge.

Tom rushed to the leftmost Canid while she debated internally the tactics. The incoming beast was met by his mace, and the mace won handily, throwing the furred menace back several yards with a surprised howl.

The first canid was still locked in position by Petra, so she wasted no time throwing a new fireball at a lower angle. She got immediately distracted by the flash of manalight that came from the side, as one of the beasts activated some magical effect.

“Beware, magic, stand back!” she called out.

The first canid was convulsing on the ground, its fur burning hot and heavy. Its movements were already slowing as it died from the cooking fire. But she had no time as the other two canids reached them already.

The first was met by Petra’s stone-slicing arm extensions, and he tried to twist to avoid the sharp edges. But the other was rushing Johanna, and white fog lines were trailing the beast. The streak of white on the fur and the condensation made her realize the beast was certainly using some form of ice-based magic, but she shelved the thought, raising flame in hand in front of the beast.

The Canid dodged and she raised her hand to fire… and stopped as its head separated and flew into the grass.

“Be careful. If I can’t notice you’re there, I could throw you a fireball in the face,” she swore at Peter as the short man flicked Swordcutter.

“Oops.”

She turned to see what Petra was doing, but Tom was already throwing the Canid to the ground with a mace hit. As usual, the hit blurred, as if he was hitting twice – she was pretty sure her husband had a special Talent for that by now – and the Canid tried to rise, only to find itself stuck in place.

The mace rose and fell and the Canid’s head spewed blood over the grass as it broke open under the hit.

Silence reigned.

Then a clapping sound came, and Johanna turned to see Ulrich applauding.

“I don’t know about the East Coast. But if that’s what your team can do, you’ve got the Marches’ ruins locked up. I knew I was betting on a winner,” the thirster said, half-laughing.

“So did I,” Petra replied.

She ground her two arm covers’ edges together, making a grinding sound before the two vanished and she put her hands on her hips, striking a theatrical pose.

“And I’ll follow her to the East Coast and beyond,” she added, making Johanna start to flush.

“Less than a minute,” Miles whispered. “Not even a minute and a Canid pack erased without a scratch. Like that.”

“The Warden undervalued the bounty,” Ulrich said to Miles as the expedition advanced as the sun slowly came down, announcing the evening.

“If he put it too high, people would have started asking the wrong questions instead of hunting them,” Miles replied, throwing a look back at Johanna as the fire sorceress – sorry, Fire Shaper – followed, chatting with her husband.

“What I want is figuring out what she wants from us. Compared to them, we’re chumps,” he added.

“Sorcerers have limits. From what I heard of grand-uncle Markus, after a while, his fire went out, no matter what he wanted. And it took a lot longer to get it fully back,” Ulrich replied.

“They did it in under a minute. And I’m guessing she’s got way more oomph than your old uncle.”

“I doubt all Talents require the same mana. But there’s probably a good reason. If only to have us carry the loot while she and her team blast their way through hordes of Changed.”

“Well, if I’m a secondary character in an epic novel, I hope I get more than an honorable death to add spice.”