Rahab—for it was indeed Rahab, wearing the simple linen dress that Sara had loaned her, her pale face flushed with exertion—picked up the horn instrument that Deva had gifted her with such hopeful enthusiasm, specifically for the purpose of sexually arousing Benjamin with its "melodic" tones.

She straightened slowly, turning to face the small girl who was still standing near Benjamin’s bloodied form.

And Rahab’s expression shifted.

"Ah," she said, her voice soft and almost bemused. "Well, well. If it isn’t my little Nyx."

She began walking toward them, her bare feet padding softly across the torn earth.

"What are you doing all the way out here, attacking my master?"

Behind her, Deva followed—her own face a portrait of utter bewilderment, her eyes darting between Rahab, the girl, and the bloodied Benjamin with an expression that asked every question her lips could not form.

The evening air of the Whispering Wilds had grown cool and heavy with the scent of torn earth and bruised grass, the remnants of battle still fresh in the craters and gashes that scarred the meadow like open wounds.

The sun had dipped lower, casting long shadows that stretched across the clearing like dark fingers reaching for the scattered debris of broken trees and shattered boulders.

Rahab stood at the edge of the destruction, her form cutting a striking silhouette against the fading orange light.

She was dressed in a deep red piece of cloth that wrapped snugly around her hips and groin, leaving her long, pale legs and her smooth thighs completely exposed to the cooling breeze.

The fabric was held in place by thin strings that tied at her sides, and it swayed with every small movement she made, drawing the eye to the curve of her waist and the length of her limbs.

Another piece of the same crimson material wound around her neck and chest, covering her breasts but leaving her entire midriff bare, from the bottom of her ribs to the top of her hips.

Her arms were naked, her shoulders bare, and her pale skin seemed to glow faintly in the dying light, almost luminescent against the dark greens and browns of the forest behind her.

But it was the collar that drew the most attention.

A dark, custom-made band of leather and polished metal encircled her throat, fitted perfectly to the slender column of her neck.

Deva’s craftsmanship was evident in every detail — the intricate etchings that ran along the surface, the small silver ring at the front where a leash could be attached, the subtle curve that allowed it to sit comfortably without chafing.

It was a mark of ownership, a symbol of her new status, and Rahab wore it with a pride that now bordered on devotion.

Benjamin, standing a few feet away with his bloodied clothes still clinging to his healing body, could not help but notice the way the collar caught the light.

He had asked Deva to make it for her, yes, but he had not expected Rahab to wear it with such open enthusiasm.

She had seemed almost giddy about the whole arrangement.

"Why are you here, mother?! I thought you were dead!" The little girl called Nyx finally managed to find her voice, her high-pitched cry cutting through the tense silence like a blade.

She had pulled her black tentacles off Benjamin’s body with a wet, sucking squelch that made him wince, the dark lengths retracting back into her form and wrapping around her body once more like a protective cocoon.

Her yellow eyes were wide, glistening with fresh tears that had not yet fallen, and her small hands trembled at her sides.

Rahab let out a laugh, that was bright and utterly carefree, that seemed completely at odds with the devastation around them.

"Ahahaha! Indeed, that was very intense, was it not? And yes, I did lose my physical form after Master destroyed it with his thing."

"Stop calling it my thing!" Benjamin yelled, his face flushing a deep crimson that had nothing to do with exertion.

He had already healed completely, his chest whole and unblemished beneath his torn shirt, his wounds closed and his blood replenished.

He had pushed himself off the cracked oak tree and stood to his full height, brushing splinters and dirt from his clothes with sharp, irritated motions.

"And Deva!" He raised his head, his blue eyes landing on the dark-skinned woman who had followed Rahab into the clearing. "I told you to stop enabling her mischief! And I thought I destroyed that annoying trumpet! How is it back in her hands?!"

Benjamin looked back at the small girl as asked: "Who even is this girl? She’s been trying to kill me for a while."

Nyx was staring up at him with those luminous yellow eyes, her tear-streaked face tilted at an angle that made her look even younger and more vulnerable than before.

Her tentacles had fully receded into her body, leaving her small frame exposed save for the dark strips of fabric that still wrapped her chest and hips.

She looked like a child who had been through too much.

And she was looking at Benjamin with wariness and confusion that made his chest ache despite everything she had just done to him.

"Ah, I am so sorry, Master!" Rahab stepped forward quickly, her bare feet padding softly across the torn grass as she moved to stand beside Nyx.

She placed a pale hand on the girl’s dark hair and patted it with maternal affection, her yellow eyes softening as she gazed down at her.

"I should have introduced you properly. This is one of the replicas I made sometime ago. I created several of them, you see, as backups. Contingencies. In case I ever lost my original body in a battle or an accident, I would have a vessel ready to receive my soul and continue my existence without interruption."

She paused, her hand still resting on Nyx’s head, and her expression grew thoughtful.

"Unfortunately, the best one out of all of them—the one I poured the most care and energy into—developed a mind of her own. She turned sentient on her own, without my intervention or my intention."

"Unfortunately?" Benjamin made an awkward expression at the wording.

Rahab continued: "And she has been calling me mother for about a century now, ever since she first opened her eyes and looked at me."

Benjamin blinked. "A century? That’s... not tallying with the short stack in front of me."