The enormous snake charged toward them, faster than seemed possible. Jake’s heart hung in his throat. What had he done to deserve this? He gripped the knife tight, his whole being coiled for fight or flight.

Please know what you’re doing, Cara.

She pulled back her bowstring with graceful power and whispered something unintelligible. The notched arrow glowed silver. “Three… two… one… now!”

The wood elf unleashed the arrow at the last possible moment. Jake leaped forward, knife ready. The glowing projectile buried itself deep into the creature’s hide. Light flashed, and the snake slumped on the ground.

A tidal wave of adrenaline propelled him forward. He stabbed down onto the stunned creature’s head with all his might. The dagger pierced its hide with a sickening squelch.

Critical hit! 61 piercing damage dealt! Head Wound injury inflicted!

Short blades skill increased 0 → 1!

Jake’s stomach quivered. He froze up. Cara surged forward, dropped to her knees, and drove the shorter knife into the stunned snake’s head, again and again. With a flurry of precise blows, she whittled the writhing creature down.

910 XP received!

Level increased 1 → 2!

The wood elf slumped on the ground, gasping for air and muttering something in Wood Elvish. Pale yellow blood seeped out of the snake’s wounds. Jake’s stomach churned. He looked away, but his skin continued to crawl.

Catching her breath, Cara progressed from gasping to shaky laughter. “We did it.” Still on the floor, she looked up, her head tilted, and a smile worked its way across her face. “Good job.”

Jake nodded. It wasn’t worth arguing about. He pulled the dagger from the snake and shuddered at the resulting squelch. “You did all the work.”

“Most of the work, maybe.” She positioned herself beside the arrow buried in its hide and winced. “I’ve been trained for this. I’m supposed to be good at it.”

Cracks had appeared in her otherwise elegant poise. How old was she? She looked around the same age as him, but who could tell with elves? He forced a grin. “Best monster slayer I’ve ever seen.”

She glared back through narrowed eyes. “How many monster slayers have you seen… Jake?”

He bit his lip and avoided her gaze. “We’re alive, Cara.” He pulled himself to his feet and offered her his hand. “I’m going to take that as a win.”

She stared at his hand. Her brow wrinkled, and she set about cutting into the creature. “You better not be a shapeshifter.”

Another addition to the list of dangers to watch out for. “You’re not going to… eat that, are you?”

She shook her head. “This is a dungeon spawn. I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Dungeon spawn?”

No reply. She cut loose the last arrow she’d used, the only one that had pierced its hide, with more care and attention than a single arrow warranted. Were they really that rare here, or was this one in particular important?

“What’s dungeon—”

“Dangerous.” Her nostrils flared. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the knife and the arrow tight. “They’re dangerous, human.”

He cleared his throat and looked away. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” What was he supposed to say? Words wouldn’t change a damned thing.

Cara glowered and stomped to a nearby tree. She picked out a large leaf and cleaned her blade and the arrow with it. “Clean the dagger. Who knows what that blood would do to it.”

Best to do as he was told. He picked out a similar leaf. It was far softer and thicker than expected and easily absorbed the blood.

Once again, the wood elf summoned a horn out of thin air. She blew twice this time, each as silent as the first. Strange as it was, it didn’t even make the top five most urgent questions.

There would be a time for answers, but this wasn’t it.

***

It was impressive how adeptly Cara picked out paths through the forest. Traveling was much easier, and far faster without backtracking every few minutes. She never broke into a run, but even walking, she quickly ended up ahead and frequently had to stop to let him catch up.

He clenched the dagger tight and scanned the forest. The dense undergrowth made vision difficult, and any breeze set off a cascade of movement in the foliage. It would be nice to see the next attempt on his life coming, but he didn’t fancy his chances.

It was a good thing he’d run into Cara. She moved gracefully, every step finding perfect footing. Did the bare feet help with that? There was no way his feet could have held up to that kind of punishment, and every thorn would be a landmine.

Butterflies fluttered in his chest. Elves were real! Or at least as real as anything in this place. Was any of it real, or some kind of hallucination? He’d blacked out. He might be in a drug-riddled haze in a hospital somewhere.

Hopefully not. Being trapped in an alternate reality that regularly tried to kill him was infinitely preferable to his copay.

Cara came to a halt. Her arm shot out to the side with her palm extended again. He stopped behind her. At least he knew the gesture’s meaning this time.

Had she heard something? The green tangle of the forest was more familiar all the time, but nothing jumped out as dangerous or edible. Was that movement? Winding trees and overgrown bushes made seeing anything a struggle.

Perception skill increased 0 → 1!

There! A small creature, hiding in the shadows. Tension flooded out of his muscles—whatever it was, it was small and afraid. Not a threat.

Cara notched an arrow and fired, all in one graceful motion. The arrow struck true, downing the creature in a single hit.

He looked away. Better she didn’t see his grimace. It had been a clean kill, not so different from how he hoped any animals he’d eaten back on Earth had been slaughtered. Seeing wasn’t the same as knowing, but that was his problem, not hers. One he had better get over soon.

“Do you not learn to hunt when young, in your world?”

The first words she’d spoken in more than an hour, and he was a deer in the headlights. “Err… no. Not anymore.”

She strode toward her kill with a bounce in her step. “If you stay, I’ll teach you.”

The sharpness in her inflection at the end—did that mean he should be quiet again? He nodded, and took a good look at the creature. It was a lot like a small raccoon, except greener, and with barely any tail.

She retrieved her arrow and cleaned it before handing the body to Jake. He gulped. Its dead, lifeless eyes stared back at him, but it was either carry it or risk angering the lady with the bow.

Besides, she’d be more likely to spot anything trying to kill them. Better that she focused on that and he carried the stinking carcass than vice versa.

All in all, a win. A sour tang formed in his mouth. Hopefully it wasn’t far now.

***

After another hour of silent travel, Cara signaled Jake to halt. She wore the warmest smile yet. “We’re here.”

He bit back the response, “That’s always true.” Technically correct, but not helpful. Where was here, and what made this section of forest any different from the last few miles of it?

The tree trunks were thicker, but otherwise, bushes, weeds, grass, damned thorns—it was all more of the same. The wood elf cocked her head, studying his reaction with an almost smug grin.

He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. There had to be clues, he just had to find them. Wasn’t this supposed to be her village? Level 1 perception or not, he couldn’t have missed an entire village. Not unless there was an invisibility spell involved, but that scarcely seemed fair.

That grin of hers was all the incentive he needed. His chest tightened, but he wouldn’t let her win if he could help it. He’d work it out.

She leaned against a tree, more relaxed than before. That meant safety, which likely meant the village was here. If he couldn’t see it, then…

He smiled and looked up. It looked the same as anywhere else, trees mingling together higher and higher in a magnificent arboreal dance. No, not quite the same. It was hard to tell with the perspective, but a few of the trees widened out as they rose.

They had to be at least ten feet wide in places, some even as wide as thirty feet or more. Abnormally large branches connected them, if they even were branches. If it weren’t for the bark, they could easily have been elevated walkways between skyscrapers.

“That’s incredible.” Vertigo pulsed in his stomach. He pulled his gaze back to ground level, and the glow of Cara’s smile. “Your village is built into the trees.”

Her fleeting frown spoiled the progress he’d just made. “Our village is one with the Great Tree, not built into it. The Forest provides for us, and we look after it in turn.”

It had grown like that? That raised many more questions than it answered, but he didn’t press his luck. One more question for the growing mountain. Getting to safety was the immediate concern. “How do we get up there?”

She pointed up. A simple lift was on its way down, a ten-foot circle of solid wood suspended by green ropes. Or were they vines? A guardrail came into view, with a couple of elves leaning over it, bows in hand.

“It’s all right, Jeremy!” Cara called up. “He’s safe.”

Jake smiled up and waved. Trusting that he wasn’t going to kill her was a good first step. A small one, but he’d take anything right about now, especially if it meant being safely off the forest floor.

She tilted her head and a pensive expression took over. “Unless he’s a shapeshifting dungeon spawn.”

Well. It had been nice while it lasted.

***

Questions. Jake had many of them, but so did the wood elves, and, as is so often the case, the people with weapons got to ask them.

“There’s really no levels where you come from?” Jeremy asked for the fifth time. He looked down at Jake, his expression a combination of incredulous and gruff.

The elf was significantly taller than Cara but shorter than Jake—at least, he would have been, if Jake hadn’t been tied to a chair.

Jake shook his head. “No! No levels, no magic, no Great Trees.” His wrists chaffed against the ropes with every futile attempt at emphatic gestures. How many times would he have to tell them before they’d believe it?

Jeremy turned to the other elf and asked her something in Wood Elvish. Even after thirty minutes of questioning, Jake still didn’t know her name. She’d watched silently, saying nothing besides the occasional barked command, always in Wood Elvish.

The intensity with which she studied him raised the hairs on the back of his neck. Tension hung thick in the air. Jake wasn’t sure what Jeremy had asked, but it felt like his life hung in her hands.

At least if he was going to die, it would be in an intriguing place. The whole room was inside a tree, with some kind of smooth bark covering the walls. Alien, yet utterly natural at the same time. Just as Cara had said, this wasn’t built into the tree, but part of it.

Cara. He couldn’t even see her. She was in the room, seated behind him. Both times she’d spoken, the unnamed woman had silenced her. She wouldn’t be able to save him this time.

Both of his interrogators wore leather armor like Cara’s, and, just like her, their feet were bare. Was it some kind of uniform? Soldiers, or border guards? There probably wasn’t a distinction.

Jeremy seemed reasonable enough, although understandably incredulous at his claims. The woman? Less so. Her jaw clenched when she looked at him. More accurately, when she stared, her lips pressed tight together, lacking even the slightest hint of sympathy.

And now everything hung on her. Assuming she was in charge, what would her orders be? The rock in his stomach grew heavier. The dead look in her eyes did not bode well.

She scoffed, theatrically brushed herself off, and strode out of the room.

He swallowed. What did it mean? Had she washed her hands of him? Was he too dirty to be around? Or—

No. He had to hope it wasn’t that. They wouldn’t. Would they? Reasonable or not, Jeremy struck him as a man who’d do what had to be done. His heart raced.

Jeremy sighed and plastered on a smile. “I guess you’re our responsibility now.”

“Your responsibility?” His breath caught. Was he safe, after all?

“Yes. You do something wrong, Cara and I will pay the price alongside you.” Jeremy leaned forward and untied Jake. “I hope Cara’s faith in you is not misplaced.”

“What about your faith in me?”

The elf chuckled, his smile a little less forced. “I have faith in Cara.”

Jake lifted his hands and rubbed his wrists. “Thank you.” Finally free, he stood up and smiled at Cara, who scowled back. What was that about? “Both of you.”

Jeremy glanced between the two of them. “I’ll leave you to it. We should talk more later. I have other duties to attend to.” He swept out of the room, leaving Jake alone with the still scowling Cara.

“So,” she said, leaning back into her chair and crossing her arms. “There are some rules.”

“Rules?” Where was this going?

“I’m responsible for your care. Where I go, you go.” She let out an animalistic growl. “You’re not allowed weapons while in the village, and you’re to stay away from the children as best you can. Understood so far?”

Jake nodded. “Sounds reasonable.”

“Good. Finally, if you want to stay here, you need to make yourself useful. What are your profession skills?”

He stared back, unsure how to break it to her. There wasn’t anything he could do about it. At least for now, he was damned near useless here.

Her eyes widened. She blinked twice and slumped into a sigh. “Let me guess, you don’t have any? Of course not. You mentioned being a scholar, didn’t you?”

“Of sorts.” He doubted that Computer Science would help much in a forest.

“If you wanted to do that sort of thing, you’d need a big city, anyway. No need for a human scholar here.”

He had no intention of being a scholar, but his feathers ruffled at the idea he couldn’t because he was a human. “Why does it matter that I’m human?”

“How long will you live? Seventy, eighty years? Maybe a hundred, with a good healer?”

Understanding crept in. He nodded. “Hopefully.”

“What’s ancient history for humans is lived experience for elves. It’s hard for humans to compete with hundreds of years of study and contemplation.”

“Alright, so scholar’s out then.” Not that it would have done him any good anyway without a computer. “What else is there? What are you?”

“Me?” She raised her eyebrows and paused. “I’m a Bowyer and a Leatherworker. I like to make my own equipment, no matter what anyone else thinks about that.”

“Why would anyone think badly of that?”

“It’s—” She turned away and growled. “We have grandmaster Bowyers and Leatherworkers in the Forest. We don’t need more. They’d love it if you picked something useful, like Herbalist or Forester, but it’s up to you.”

That was enough prodding for now. “If I’m going to stay, I need to make myself useful somehow, though, right?”

“Everyone in the Great Forest gives how they’re able. It’s how we survive. Right now, if you’re willing to hunt alongside me, that’d be more than enough.”

“Why do you say, ‘right now?’ Is that related to the dungeon spawn?”

She closed her eyes, and her expression hardened. It didn’t soften again when they opened. “It’s more dangerous out there than ever. We’ve lost some hunters already.”

Jake turned away. Once again, he’d stuck his foot in it. “I’m… sorry. I didn’t know.”

She shook her head and stood. “It’s okay. No one particularly close to me, thank the Forest, but closer than I’d like.” Cara took a deep breath and headed for the door. “Come. I’ve got something to show you.”

She led him through a series of walkways between platforms, all formed out of the trees and seamlessly merged together. Or was it tree, singular?

Some walkways were covered, with window-like gaps for the sun, while others were open to the elements. The few wood elves they encountered openly stared as they passed. Jake smiled at them as best he could. Being an outsider was nothing new.

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere that reminds me how good I have it, no matter how bad it feels at the time.”

She didn’t elaborate beyond that. He’d find out soon enough.

They came to a platform with no other walkways coming off it. An intricate wooden totem stood at the center, painted gray and inscribed with writing. The script was unrecognizable—Wood Elvish, perhaps?

Cara kneeled before the totem and gestured for Jake to do the same. “This is a shrine to the victims of the Age of Heroes.”

“Heroes?” His stomach quivered.

She bowed her head and became unnaturally still. “No matter how bad it gets, be grateful you don’t live in a world with Heroes anymore.”

His jaw clamped shut. An icy chill spread through him. He checked and rechecked his status. It steadfastly remained the same.

Status: Hero