“A boon,” Vale repeated suspiciously.
“Yes!” Christopher straightened his shabby robes eagerly. Even that small movement made the vial dangling from his staff swing irritatingly, and Vale had to resist the urge to snap it off so it would stop distracting him.
“Your wilderness void hosts many strange and powerful plants,” Christopher continued. “We would have whatever is best to defeat our enemies. Poisons that have no antidote in our realm. Wood that cannot be burned by mortal fire. Pollen that explodes in burning toxins! Do you have these?”
“I have many dangerous plants,” Vale admitted. “But none of them have been tested on mortals.”
“That’s fine!” Christopher grinned harder. Another drop of sweat ran down his face, plastering his red hair to his forehead. “Whatever you grant us, we will be eternally grateful.”
Vale growled, considering. He had never entered into a deal with mortals in the past. But he could spare some plants—more than a few, as his void was so overgrown. Whoever the mortals wished to kill with those plants was none of his business.
But the woman…
Hecouldeat her. He was overdue for a meal. He last ate weeks ago, or possibly months.
Or, Vale thought, remembering his light-mote assistants who had died so long ago.I could take her as an assistant. If he had someone else to help—even a mortal, who was so much smaller and less capable—he could even get his void under control. Make it balanced and content again, the way it used to be.
Vale loomed over the stone slab. The young woman flinched, pulling her limbs in like she wanted to curl into a ball, only to be stopped by the ropes. Her face betrayed only a hint of the primal fear he could smell on her. It was overpowering, even thicker than the blood dripping from her arm.
She must have volunteered, Vale decided. Otherwise, she would be screaming and struggling for her freedom. A brave thing to do, with her uncle insisting he could do whatever he wished to her once he brought her back to his void.
Vale straightened. The group of humans—the Circle, as Christopher had called them—gripped their weapons warily, watching Christopher for an order.
“I will need time,” Vale told Christopher. “To gather your boon.”
“That’s fine!” Christopher said again, his face ruddy with leftover perspiration from channeling the Summoning spell. “Actually, we have a date. One month from now.”
“One month,” Vale repeated. He looked at the evening sky, considering. Time ran out of step with the mortal realm in many Skullstalker voids, but his void was not one of them. “That is acceptable.”
Christopher nodded, the vial tied to his staff swinging wildly with the motion. “Fantastic! So, do you accept our trade?”
He gestured at his niece, who stared up at Vale nervously.
Something foreign stirred in Vale’s chest. Her eyes were huge and full of tears, which she was trying desperately to blink back. Vale was struck by their intense green, so much brighter than her uncle’s. If they got any brighter, they could even rival his own.
“Mighty Skullstalker?” Christopher prompted.
Vale tore his gaze away from the woman’s fearful face. “I accept.”
Christopher sagged in relief. “That’s wonderful. Isn’t that wonderful, everyone?”
He turned to his Circle behind him. The group made noises of agreement, though none of them let go of their weapons.
Christopher gave them a brash grin. Then he jogged up to Vale, motioning for him to lean down. It was such an absurd request that Vale considered eating him for it. Then he leaned down obediently, curious what this sweaty mage would say and still tempted to snatch that annoying vial swinging from his staff.
Christopher spoke softly. “Do yourself a favor, don’t eat her first thing. I am assured my niece hasmanyskills. You will find her very useful.”
There was something pointed under his words. Vale could not figure out what. He straightened and turned toward the woman, one sharp claw outstretched.
She flinched again, then forced herself to stay still. Vale watched her with detached interest as he sliced through her bindings. He could not help but wonder what she was thinking. He had not told them what he was planning, after all. For all she knew, he planned to devour her the moment he took her back to his void, as her uncle assumed.
The last silk rope snapped. Vale lifted the woman into his arms, surprised by how light she was. He had never held a human before. This one was satisfyingly plump, more so than any mortal of Christopher’s Circle. But she fit easily in his arms, barely heavier than a spinetree branch.
Vale resumed his spot in the middle of the bloody Summoning circle the mortals had drawn into the dirt.
“Until next time, dearest niece,” Christopher called, waving his staff at her.
The woman lifted a timid hand, red with her own blood.
