Bibi stood triumphant and tall. He would not let these trespassers run him from his homeland. He was a proud prince, no king, of the Abrams family. He would not submit to some petty rabble-rousers on his land.


    "I won''t let you sully my land further, woman," Bibi said as he clenched his gold gauntlet tightly.


    She had sent out a vine to stop him earlier, but his armor''s built-in flamethrower had stopped the attack before it became a problem. Bibi''s armor was top-of-the-line, built by the best engineers in the Twelve Kingdoms. The suit was like a walking slipship, armed to the teeth with weapons and powered by an aetheric core that animated the limbs with superhuman force. If he tried with his armor, he could probably lift at least one side of a galleon, and it was worth every doler spent on it.


    Several black objects scattered out from her hand, falling on the ground around him. He wasn''t sure what the woman was trying to accomplish, but they wouldn''t do anything to him. He shook his head, trusting in his armor to protect him from anything the woman tried.


    "What''s wrong with you?" the woman demanded as she stood defending the automaton that had defied him. "Just because you''re a noble, it doesn''t give you the right to hurt people!"


    Bibi laughed, shaking his head at her ignorance. He was surprised that she didn''t know. Granted, he was out in the sticks. The Fringes were known for their ignorance. Unlike the Twelve Kingdoms, there was no central authority, and peasants weren''t taught their place unless a noble family like his own rightly guided them. His family had been far too derelict in their duty. So, he would need to educate her.


    "That is precisely what nobles can do," Bibi said. "We bear the blood of the Founders. We are the untainted families, the last true humans."


    Click.


    With a hidden release, he opened all the panels on his armor. Long barrels extended from his arms as he raised his hands. His two shoulder guards flipped up to reveal the two cannon barrels mounted there. The two guns on his belt and the two hidden in his knees also extended outward. He would reduce the machine and the woman to bits in the next few seconds.


    "The simple truth is, we are better than you," Bibi said, taking his time aiming his weapons. "We are the ones blessed by the Scions to rule over the filth-stained remnants of humanity. When this island is brought into one of the kingdoms, my family will join the Heavenly Stars. But you won''t see that. You will be long dead."


    Bang. Bang. Bang.


    He shot off every barrel at the woman and the machine in a cacophony of smoke and fire. Smoke rose before his eyes, obscuring his vision as he blasted away, but he was sure that the shots hit. He even heard the sound of metal meeting metal as his shots hit the machine. Inside his armor, his barrels automatically reloaded, clicking into place with gears as they ejected the spent shells onto the ground around him.


    Clink. Clink. Clink.


    "Now, to deal with the old woman." Bibi strode forward, but his feet refused to move. "What?"


    "Thorn''s Grasp."


    As Bibi looked down, he noticed that black thorned vines were rising up around his feet, grasping around his arm and binding him from moving. He struggled against them momentarily, pulling hard against the vines, but they kept climbing up his legs.


    He sighed, opening the panel on his right arm that housed the flamethrower. He would need to be careful, but he could easily burn away the vines. All the woman was doing with her strange power was delaying the inevitable.


    Whoosh.


    The blade came for his head, and he only barely missed being decapitated. Bibi ducked down, and a bead of sweat ran down his spine. In the clearing smoke, he saw the machine man standing, its sword in its hand after a mighty swing, and the woman standing directly behind him. All of Bibi''s bullets had hit their target, but the machine had stood in the way. It was full of holes, leaking steam from every part like bursting white blood.


    "Fury and Stone," the machine warbled. "Let''s take him."


    "Agreed," the woman said, stepping from behind him and opening her palm. "Seed Spray!"


    Like a spout, a mass of black seeds shot out from her hand, slamming into Bibi''s armor in a deluge and then falling to the ground. None of them were able to hurt them, but as he felt one of the seeds roll down his back, he knew what the problem was. They weren''t there to hurt him. They were there to get into his armor. Bibi pulled the trigger for the flamethrower, and a gout of flame shot from his arm.


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    Fwoosh.


    It was too late.


    "Thorn''s Grasp."


    A piercing pain stuck into Bibi''s back, crawling up the skin underneath his armor. It reached out along his arms and legs, holding his body taut and stopping him from moving into position. Bibi struggled against the pulling force inside his armor, but his limbs refused to move. He was trapped in long black vines, and he could do nothing.


    "This can''t be how this ends!" Bibi yelled as spikes of pain climbed up his head, and he saw dark lines wrap across his face. "I''m a noble. I am a king. Some woman and a useless automaton can''t kill me."


    "You talk a lot," the machine''s voice warbled again as it stood over him, holding its massive sword in two hands high above its head. "There''s one thing I know. The measure of a man is taken not by his blood but by his deeds. The fury to do what is right in our limited time, and the stone to take our hardships with determination. That''s all that matters."


    "Father!" Bibi cried out as the sword came down.


    Then he knew no more.


    <hr>


    Erin sagged as she closed her gate. The man who had called himself a king lay on the ground, his armor destroyed and his body in two pieces. Gary stood over him, leaning forward with steam hissing out from his body. His hands still held onto his sword''s hilt. Erin wanted to approach, but even with her training as a healer, Bibi was a gruesome sight.


    She took a few deep breaths before she could make the trip. She placed one hand on Gary''s shoulder and leaned over to inspect him, but his eyes were no longer glowing, and the steam was fading away. The swing he had made was his final one. She knew little about machines but was sure he wouldn''t move again.


    She stepped away from him, holding her hands to her side and unsure what to do. She had called him nothing more than a machine in the room, but his words made him seem so lifelike. If a machine could speak like that, was it any different from a person?


    Was Mari less than a person? That was the real crux of the problem. Ever since she had met Mari on Nowhere, it had wriggled in the back of her mind: What made a person human? What made them different from a slipship or from a guidance system?


    She had no idea.


    However, Gary clearly had thoughts and feelings. He had thought he was a man, healed by Runa and willing to fight for her safety. Was she so cold that she could deny what he had done?


    She shook her head as she turned to the two remaining men. They stood frozen as they watched the scene, and neither of them had tried to intervene. Now, they looked at each other but didn''t approach.


    "What about you two?" Erin asked. "Are you ready to fight for him?"


    "No, ma''am," one of the men said, raising his hands. "We were forced into helping him out. He killed our captain and took us as hostages."


    Erin narrowed her eyes.


    "What about the others?"


    "Those were bounty hunters he hired to hunt bearcats on the island," the man said. "They won''t be too happy that he''s dead because he threatened to put them out if any harm came to him. We might be safe because no one knew our names, but there will be a price to pay if his family hears he''s dead."


    Bounty Hunters. Erin sighed. That would complicate things. She was certain that Alex, Jean, and Sayed could handle themselves, but it also meant that the bounty hunters had an incentive to bring them in. It wouldn''t be as simple as: ''Your boss is dead, so give up, and we''ll all leave.''


    Though, if Bibi''s threat was real, there was room to negotiate.


    "Go back to your ship," Erin said. "If the hunters don''t return in a day, assume they''re dead or not coming back."


    "Don''t need to tell us twice," the man said, nodding to his friend as they walked back toward the elevator platform.


    Erin turned away, making her way back toward the room. She would get Mari, and they would go and find Alex first. Two of the bounty hunters headed north, so he was the most likely to need help. If she was lucky, they could negotiate and settle things peacefully.


    If she wasn''t lucky, things were about to get more complicated.


    As she walked toward the entrance to the keep proper, two figures burst through the large wooden doors. Both were dressed in the typical black and red of the Military Police. One was an old man, and his uniform was a little askew. It took Erin a moment, but she recognized him. Captain Grayson of the Arbiter, the very ship they stole on Lundao. The other looked like a lizard mixed with a man, complete with his yellow eyes and red scales.


    Erin froze her hands out at her sides. She didn''t know them but recognized the captain''s bars on their coats and at the collar. Erin had gotten stronger but wasn''t ready to take on two captains. If they knew or guessed who she was, she was about to be in for a bad time.


    "This island is under quarantine," the lizardman hissed, his tongue flicking out as he scanned the area. "We need to arrest you. Do not resist."


    "First, where''s Ortega?" The Captain Grayson held his hand. "We can save the rest for later."


    "I..." Erin paused, her mind racing for what she should say.


    They didn''t recognize her, which was a good thing by itself. She had a wanted poster, but it wasn''t like the Military Police could memorize everyone who might be on one. She wasn''t as infamous as Alex. So long as she didn''t announce who she was, she wouldn''t immediately draw too much attention.


    "I''m sorry! I was forced here by that man over there. He said he was a king and he was here to retake his homeland. I sent the other people on the ship back down!"


    "Miss." Captain Grayson eyed Bibi''s corpse before looking her over. "If you''re going to lie, you probably shouldn''t do it while standing in front of me. I''m a Path of Will user."


    Erin suppressed a curse, her ears burning as she realized the problem. She didn''t have anywhere else to go, so she opened her gate, knowing she would be in for a fight.


    "Demon''s Thurst."


    "Spirit Battement!"


    Two figures shot out from behind the captains in a blur of motion, knocking them away. Captain Grayson dodged an attack, jumping away from the door and out into the park. The lizardman was less lucky, a foot catching his head with a solid thump and sending him flying before he caught himself.


    Erin couldn''t help but smile. Sayed and Jean stood before her, laughing as they stepped out from the keep. She wasn''t in the fight alone and wouldn''t have to try to take out two captains. There was a chance they would all walk away from this after all.