1

Lorenzo caught up with Damon’s group an hour and a half after Jordan and Keshon embarked on their journey. The orc general was outraged. “Why didn’t you go with them?” he asked.

The Grimalkin hunter became flustered. “Um, because somebody had to come back and tell you guys.”

Damon groaned and looked toward the northern end of the realm. The other members watched him silently. “So, she’s been kidnapped.”

Armando shifted uncomfortably. “Or she went willingly,” he said quietly.

Damon turned and scowled at him. “And why would she do that?”

The rookie orc shrugged. “Because she initially refused to come, and she had that glitch accident. It may be affecting her.”

Angie nodded. “He’s right, Damo.”

Damon swore under his breath. It was barely audible over the cacophony of waves crashing to the north, which made it obvious they were approaching another large body of water.

“I think we should go after them,” Rachel suggested.

The orc general groaned. “No, we can’t. We’ve broken up the team enough already and we still have an objective to reach.” He glanced at Angie, the only remaining veteran in his group. “Hopefully, Jordan and Keshon will be able to take care of themselves… and Emma.”

2

On the western side of the realm, Harper’s group had fanned out fifty feet apart because of the ever-widening landscape. The river that stretched to the south rumbled through the terrain on their right. The realm’s border loomed over them to the left, mirroring the earth and sky.

Thao searched from the trees, excited with her cat-like abilities, but Harper told her that the likelihood of finding DNA above ground was fairly low.

“We found that foot?” the slight Vietnamese rookie retorted.

The team leader shook her head. “That was an anomaly.”

Thao sighed and climbed back down. “What do you think that is up ahead?” she asked, referring to the waves they heard to the north.

The veteran mage glanced at the red-haired Grimalkin. “There was a valley we had to cross the first time, and we got caught in a tough battle.” Harper paused. “It’s probably another river now.” Thao hummed with mild interest as the group leader continued. “Unfortunately, I think I made a big mistake that might come back to haunt us.”

That piqued the hunter’s interest. “Mmm, what’s that?”

“The mob had a nest. The team wanted to destroy it, but I convinced them otherwi—”

Harper, come in.

The mage snickered at Damon’s overly militaristic tone. Roger that, Damon, she telepathed back with a sarcastically formal tone. Our unit has just about reached enemy headq—

I am not trying to be funny, the orc general replied curtly.

She frowned. Okay, what is it?

We’ve lost three members.

3

At first, Harper thought Damon meant three members had died. She was relieved to hear the situation wasn’t as dire. He told her his group had decided not to chase after Jordan, Keshon, and Emma. After taking a moment to consider it, she told him that they made the right choice.

Harper apprised her crew, and Zack roared with frustration. “I should’ve killed that guy when I had the fucking chance.” He bashed his fist into the closest tree. While the Alabama orcs chuckled at his fierce display, the outburst startled the healers, who retreated a step.

“Maybe we should send a couple of guys to Damon’s group,” Heinrich suggested as he glanced at Zack nervously. “They’re down to six members now and we still have ten.”

While Zack expressed his enthusiasm for the idea, Harper shook her head. “We’d only be sending two members back. I don’t feel comfortable sending such a small unit across the realm.”

Zack grumbled his dissent, but the other members were on Harper’s side. They eventually resumed their trek through the woods. After fifteen minutes, they reached the valley and discovered that it had been flooded with water from the glitch. As the sun arced its descent on the horizon, gold light sparkled on the churning waves against the dark blue backdrop of the forest on the other side. In the river, Harper spotted a few bunyips, but didn’t see the giant snakes they had previously encountered in the valley.

“We may have caught a break,” she said.

The veteran mage checked in with Damon. He told her they had reached the new river, and were seeing bunyips in the water as well. She explained how her team had crossed the first river using Sierra’s boulder idea. Damon said they would follow the same procedure.

Should our two groups meet up somewhere in the middle? Harper telepathed.

He considered it for a long period before answering, We’ll come to you.

4

Harper’s team crossed the river, using the Boulder spell to elevate them above the waters. Their Creature Description details appeared for the bunyips that lurked beneath the waves. Sierra noted they were at the same level as the ones they’d run into earlier. She observed bloated corpses floating on the surface too. Curiously, they were wrapped in seaweed.

Suspended above the river, Sierra looked for Harper on the shore. “Hey, I see dead bodies,” she shouted. “We should pull them out for their DNA.”

Harper shook her head. “Keep looking. You’ll see their details.”

Seconds later, the mobs' stats came up in Sierra’s field of vision:

NØKKEN (Level 33)

HP: 52

MP: 580

STRENGTH: 66

CONSTITUTION: 5

DEXTERITY: 18

INTELLIGENCE: 58

WISDOM: 72

XP: 221

DESCRIPTION: Norwegian water spirit.

“What the hell is a nøkken?” she yelled.

Harper grinned. “You know as much as I do.”

Sierra called to Kylah, who was controlling the Boulder spell. “Can you get me closer to the water?” The teenager lowered her. The nøkken bobbed like corks in the crosscurrents of the river. The skin that wasn’t covered with seaweed was slate gray and swollen.

“I think these creatures are dead,” Sierra yelled to the group. “Their eyes are shut.”

As the Grimalkin mage landed onto the soggy shore, Harper explained why it was impossible. “Every time we killed a mob, their details would disappear.”

“Well, they look dead,” Sierra commented. She removed the top of her jack of plates armor from the boulder and fitted it back on. The thick canvas sagged loosely on her frame. “I hope we don’t have many more of these trips. This material is stretching.”

Kylah laughed while the men in the crew gawked at Sierra’s cleavage.

Harper telepathed Jordan to check on him.

I’m still over the forest, he replied. Keshon is behind me, but she’s a good distance away.

Harper’s crew searched for a place to make camp, but the land on the north side of the river was muddy, with large pools of water.

“Geez, what a mess,” Nevan commented.

Jackson eventually found a small hill nestled in the woods. It was the only dry spot in the region.

5

They went to work, collecting firewood while the Alabama orcs leaned on their SeaBee experience, grabbing several fallen limbs and branches to build the skeleton for a makeshift tent.

“Now we just have to cover it with a bunch of shrubbery,” Hammer said plainly, and Nevan guffawed. The orc glanced at him, baffled by the Nevan’s reaction. “Did I say something funny?”

Nevan shook his head. “No, that’s okay, Madison. It’s an old movie reference. Let’s go find that shrubbery.” He snorted, then shuffled down the knoll to collect it. He used the Nagamarrow sword Jordan had given him at the start of the journey. The weapon had short bones that protruded above the long handle and tapered off one foot up the blade. Zack had told him the unique design had come from a skeleton mob upgrade.

As Nevan chopped at the branches and vegetation, his boots slowly sank into the wet earth. Kylah joined him and he was glad to see her work alongside him. Their relationship had been strained since they were forced into the realms because of Nevan’s involvement in the CEO fiasco.

Unlike her father, who was hacking at the foliage with his blade, Kylah sawed at the shrubs and trees with the steel Bonebase sword Harper had given her.

Nevan noticed her boots sinking into the wet earth, filling with water. “You should go back to the tent, Kylah. It’s dry up there. Let the adults take care of this sloppy work.”

She raised her eyebrows. “I’m a member like everyone else, Dad. Let me contribute.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I know. But you can help with the campfire.” He nodded toward Harper, who was arranging kindling ten feet away from the tent. Kylah glanced at the veteran mage, then back at her father. Nevan knew she liked Harper. “Go on,” he prodded. “You might learn something new from her.”

Kylah waited a moment longer, then headed for the tent with an armload of greenery. “Thanks, Dad,” she said over her shoulder.

Nevan smiled.