A Sinner’s Chance

I didn't recognize the Arachne and it was clear that she hadn't recognized me, so the fact that she knew who I was confused me greatly. Despite my doubts I nodded at her question, confirming that was indeed what I was called. I had all sorts of questions for the Arachne but before I could utter a single syllable she suddenly shifted down to my level and her hands found their way to my face, framing them as she looked into my eyes.

"I'm sorry for attacking you." she stated apologetically as she released her hands. "You resemble her so much, yet I couldn't believe that you would suddenly show up in my home."

I tilted my head in confusion for just a moment just as it clicked that she was referring me to looking much like my mother, Ashara. There were all manner of questions running through my head. "How did you know about me?"

The excitement the Arachne had suddenly died as she heard my question. "The relationship between me and Ashara is complicated, but we were on quite good terms, enough that she would tell me about her child, even if I never got the chance to see you."

There was a silence as the Arachne seemed to become lost in thought, only for me to hear Arya from my earring. "Vell, something is wrong with Steria. She got cut by some thorns and it looks bad, she's insisting she's fine, but I'm pretty sure she's been poisoned."

My heart lurched at the news. While Arya was pretty skilled in Life Magic, removing or nullifying poisons required a specific formation for each kind of poison. While I no longer had my alchemy supplies since they'd been destroyed along with the carriage, the best I would be able to do is a makeshift antidote. I lightly touched the necklace around my neck and took a deep breath to calm myself. "Have Renae gather a sample of the thorns and whatever they are attached to, she should be fine since she's not among the living. I'll come to you, stay put and make sure Steria stays as still as possible, preferably in a form where the wound is farthest from her heart."

Having finished telling Arya what to do I looked back at the Arachne and started to call out to her, only to realize that I didn't actually know what to call her. "Um... Miss?" I questioned unsure of how to refer to her.

Thankfully it caught her attention and she looked at me as she came out of her thoughts. "Ah, sorry, I never introduced myself. You can all me Neyla. Did you need something?"

I nodded as I committed her name to memory, there was still much that I wanted to talk to her about. "I'm not actually here alone, my wife, coachwoman, and-" I paused for a moment unsure of how to refer to Steria. While we were romantically entangled, she kept her distance emotionally and referred to me as her master, something I wasn't sure if was due to her nature, or because she was still technically my familiar. However, I didn't really have time to think it over so I went with the simplest answer. "Retainer are still out in the forest. I actually was hiding here since I drew two Lesser Trolls away. However, it seems my retainer has become injured. Would it be okay if I brought them here?"

I didn't want to intrude too much on Neyla's hospitality, but this was likely the only safe place within reasonable distance from them. Thankfully, Neyla seemed concerned as I told her the situation. "Of course, anyone you know is welcome here, do you know where they are?"

I nodded as I gave her an approximate distance and direction, which worryingly caused her to grimace. "They're in a very dangerous spot, we need to go quickly. I assume you're capable in fight, drawing away two trolls and living is an impressive feat, even if they were only Lesser ones."

I could only nod once more. "I'm near impossible to kill, but my range is very limited, especially since I was unable to grab my sword, but I can make do with just my claws."

Neyla pulled her glaive from the ground as she looked at me. "Can you use polearms?" she asked, her eyes focusing on me intently.

"I can, though I'm not spectacular with them or anything." I said with a shrug, wondering if she had a spare glaive that she planned to give me. However, much to my surprise she actually went into the alcove and grabbed the twin boxes I'd noted when I first came in and handed them to me.

"These belonged to your mother long ago, from before you were born."

My hands trembled slightly as I heard Neyla's words and opened the boxes to reveal two almost identical polearms, similar to Neyla's glaive, but slightly smaller, more slender, and with longer blades that had circular guards at their base. Despite them being heavier than they appeared, they were extremely well balanced. "Ashara used these?" I asked trying to keep my voice from quivering.

Neyla nodded. "She practiced a secret dual wielding technique, called Itoryu, specializing in naginatas among the many options. Even if she was unable to pass the technique down to you, I think she would have wanted you to have these."

I could barely contain my emotions as I created a makeshift thread holder to strap one to my back. I couldn't imagine how to fight with two of them at once, and I was pretty sure my Skill only covered the basics of using a single one anyway. I would have plenty of time to search Seshat's Library about the technique later, but right now I needed to focus on making it to Steria and the others.

I didn't know what would happen to Steria if she died since she bound to me via a Skill, but I wasn't going to wait around and find out.