By the time the squad dragged themselves back through the guild doors, dusk had fallen. Darian’s squad was battered and bruised, armor torn, cloaks soiled, the stench of beasts clinging to them.
Margarette looked up from her desk in shock, her ledger slipping from her fingers. Worry swept across her face. “What happened to you all?”
Lily took the lead, composed despite the mess around her. “Later. They need care first.”
Margarette nodded quickly, gathering her skirts as she hurried them toward the infirmary.
The guild’s infirmary smelled of boiled cloth, herbs, and metal. Narrow beds lined the walls, and healers moved quickly around the room as they were brought inside.
Kellen cursed loudly as the healer pressed a bandage to his wounded thigh. Finn gritted his teeth while his broken arm was set. Rowan whimpered like a fox. Brennar sat upright and calm as his shoulder was stitched, his once-neat scarf ruined. The twins, battered and scratched, continued to bicker until a strict healer smacked them both. Garric clenched his jaw as his claw wounds were wrapped, blood still oozing. Darian stayed silent, jaw tight, as his chest was bandaged, his pale face stark against the blood-stained cloth.
When it came to Lily, she sat calmly on the cot, hands folded, her dark eyes unwavering.
The healer approached, moving quickly and confidently. He lifted her arm, checked the skin where the poison had touched, and looked for cuts or bruises on her sides. He frowned. “No wounds, only marks on the surface. Strange… with all that blood on your clothes, I expected worse.”
Lily only shrugged. “I told you, I’m fine.”
From the next bed, Darian turned his head to them. “That’s not true. She was struck, too. I saw the venom on her skin. We all saw it.”
Garric, leaning heavily on his spear, gave a firm nod. “She should be half-dead by now.”
Lily only lifted a shoulder, calm. “I’ve always healed fast. Venom, poison, they never last. I hunted since I was a child. Took plenty of stings and bites. My body learned. It’s nothing unusual.”
Silence held for a beat.
Finn arched a brow. “Nothing unusual? Holloway, that’s the strangest thing I’ve heard all week.”
Rowan chuckled. “Next she’ll be saying she drinks snake venom with breakfast.”
That earned laughter from the twins, who nearly tumbled from their cots. Even Garric’s mouth twitched with the faintest of smiles.
Lily’s lips curved in something close to a smirk. “I told you, I’m not normal. Never claimed to be.”
The laughter carried on, their jokes easing the weight of the near slaughter. To them, her words were only dark humor, a rough joke to lighten the air.
But Darian did not laugh.
He lay propped against the wall, pale, and his bandages freshly bloodied. He stared at her a moment too long.
And Lily, though she did not look his way, felt it all the same.
The door creaked open, and a Guild officer entered, robes neat, quill tucked behind his ear. He strode in confidently, until he caught sight of them. Bandaged, bloodied, and sprawled across the infirmary cots, the squad looked more like survivors of war than hunters returning from a simple culling job. His step faltered, eyes widening despite his effort to keep composed. “What… happened out there?” he finally managed.
Darian pushed himself upright, ignoring Garric’s hand on his shoulder. His chest was bound tight, blood still seeping through the cloth, but his voice came furious, cutting through the thick air of herbs and blood. “We were sent with false information. The contract described a single marrow-hound, but we faced a pack led by an alpha. My squad nearly died for it.”
The officer blinked, startled. “A pack? That’s… that’s impossible. The scouts reported one stray.” His eyes flicked across the squad, then fixed on Lily… His quill hand twitched. He cleared his throat quickly, adjusting the quill as if it were merely out of place, his face smoothing back into its practiced calm. “…None of this makes sense. No squad should have survived a pack. Not with an alpha.”
Darian’s composure cracked. His fist struck the cot rail, rattling it. His voice rose, louder than Lily had ever heard from him. “So what? Were you expecting corpses? An easier report for your damned ledger? Kellen’s leg was nearly torn off, Finn’s arm snapped, Garric was bleeding, Brennar was ripped open, Rowan was half-maimed, and I carry claw marks that should’ve ended me. Half this squad would be dead if it weren’t for Holloway. Without her, you’d be scratching our names in the death ledger instead of your damned quill.”
The officer blanched, fumbling for a response. His hand twitched, adjusting his quill though nothing needed writing. “I-I will check the records. Likely a mistake in scouting. It won’t happen again. I swear it.” He left quickly, rattled, quill still clenched.
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For a long while, no one spoke. The only sounds were the rustle of bandages and the quiet bubbling of herbs in the kettle.
At last, Rowan gave a low whistle. “Never thought I’d see the day our captain barked loud enough to rattle the rafters.”
Finn’s grin came off slanted, half in pain, half in bravado. “Almost worth getting mauled.”
Rowan leaned back on his cot with a sly grin, even as his stitched arm twinged. “You know what rattled me most today? Not the hounds, not the alpha, our captain actually spoke to Holloway. With his own mouth. Not through Garric.”
Brennar, soft but certain, nodded. “Aye. I heard it too.”
The twins perked up immediately.
“Wait—he did?” Jaro asked, wide-eyed.
“He did!” Teren crowed. “I thought my ears were ringing, but no, I swear I heard it.”
Kellen gave a low laugh. “About time.”
Darian looked away, silent at first. A hint of color crept up his ears as the silence stretched. The others leaned in, expectant. He waited a beat. “She’s… different.” His eyes flicked to Lily, then away just as quickly. “She fights harder than most men I’ve commanded. I’ve never seen a woman kick marrow-hounds like wild boars. She’s not… like a woman. She’s like us. Like a man.”
The words landed heavy, and then—
The squad erupted in laughter.
Rowan slapped his thigh, laugh sharp and sly, like a fox in the henhouse. “Like a man, he says! Gods, Holloway, you’ve been promoted!”
Finn wheezed, clutching his bandaged arm. “Darian, you’ve the charm of a stone wall. ‘Not a woman, she’s a man!’ That’s one for the tavern.”
Even Garric’s lips twitched, his usual calm cracked by the absurdity.
Lily’s brows rose high. “I’m clearly a woman, Darian. Last I checked.”
“Strange, Darian. You don’t get stiff around Brennar, and he acts more like a lady than any of the women around,” Rowan teased.
The room howled even louder, but Brennar remained unbothered. “In fairness… Lily, you do act more like one of these guys half the time. If you want lessons in how to act like a lady, I’ll gladly lend my help.”
Jaro nearly fell off his cot again, wheezing, while Teren pointed at Lily and shouted, “She’s blushing!”
“I am not,” Lily shot back, though the barest heat touched her cheeks. She folded her arms, smirking despite herself. “If it means the captain will finally speak to me like a normal person, then fine, treat me like a man. But don’t forget that I can still break your bones when I like.”
The squad roared again, laughter filling the hall despite their wounds. The fear and blood of the cliffs seemed to go away, leaving only a rough, hard-forged bond.
Even Darian, though stiff and red at the ears, allowed the corner of his mouth to twitch, just once, before he turned his eyes firmly to the wall.
And this time, Lily felt herself part of their circle.
Meanwhile, somewhere else in the guild, sleep was hard to find. Alone in his room, the Guild officer leaned over his desk with the lamp creating long shadows over scattered papers, talking to himself.
"So... Holloway’s stronger than she looks." His mouth twisted. "But still new. Not much record yet. Just luck that her squad made it back alive." He paused, staring at a map tacked to the wall, marked with ominous red circles. Under his breath, he whispered, "There are forces at play here... paths not meant to cross."
With a small shiver, he turned his attention back to the desk and pulled out a slip of paper, his pen scratching as he wrote:
Probationer Lily Holloway → Temporary assignment, Captain George’s squad.
He carefully placed it on top of the caravan contracts, ensuring it appeared as just another guard job, nothing suspect.
...
Morning brought noise back to the Guild Hall. Clerks shuffled papers, hunters swapped tales, the air alive with chatter.
Margarette looked up from her ledger as the officer handed her the slip. She frowned slightly but said nothing, tucking it among her records.
By midday, word reached Darian’s squad.
Darian stood in front of Margarette’s desk, arms folded tight, his bandaged chest seeping just a little through his tunic. His jaw set hard, eyes fixed not on her but on the parchment in her hands. “What do you mean she’s being moved?” But the question was spoken toward Garric at his side, as if Margarette wasn’t even there.
Margarette frowned. She was used to Darian’s odd way giving orders through Garric, never looking at Lily, but now, not able to meet Lily’s eyes, he seemed not to want her to leave.
She held up the slip. “Orders. Temporary assignment. Since Lily was uninjured, she must continue probation work. Captain Servis’s squad has a contract leaving this afternoon. She’ll join them until you recover.”
Darian’s gaze remained fixed on the slip, never on her. His words, flat and hard, were still aimed at Garric. “She’s with us.”
Margarette’s mouth pinched, and unease flickered. Strange, she thought. He never wanted a woman in his ranks, yet now he fights to keep this one.
“And she will be again,” she assured. “But rules are rules, Darian. She can’t sit idle while the rest of you mend. Once you’re fit, she’ll return.”
The squad had gathered around, catching the conversation.
The twins were the first to burst out.
“Not fair!” Jaro shouted. “She’s ours!”
“Yeah!” Teren crossed his arms. “Captain Servis’s team is boring.”
Brennar held Lily’s arm, worry in his eyes. “You sure about this? You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
“I’ll be fine,” Lily answered. “It’s a simple guard job. I’ll manage. Don’t worry. I’m not trading you boys for Captain Servis’s men.”
Finn sighed dramatically, leaning back against the desk. “That sounds like heartbreak, Holloway. You say it so casually, like my feelings don’t matter at all.”
“You’ll live,” Lily said.
“Cruel as ever,” Finn grumbled, covering his heart as if she’d stabbed him.
Rowan snorted. “You’ll survive, lover boy. George’s squad won’t know what to do with her anyway.”
Even Kellen grumbled, “If she comes back soft from sitting with George’s men, I’ll blame you all.”
“Soft?” Lily said with mock offense. “I’ll come back sharper. Just watch.”
The twins puffed up together. “If they mistreat you—” Jaro started.
“—We’ll pound them flat,” Teren finished.
Margarette finally cut in. “Enough dramatics. She’s not gone for good. This is temporary. The moment you’re back on your feet, she’ll be reassigned to you.”
“See? Nothing to fret about.” Lily slung her satchel over her shoulder. “Rest up, all of you. Don’t fall apart without me.”
The squad groaned, muttered, teased, but their eyes followed her as she walked away, already sensing the gap her absence left.
In another office across the hall, the officer paused over his ledger, a trace of a smile curling at his lips before he turned away, quill still in hand.
🪶 How do you feel about Lily being reassigned to another squad?
