1

Although Jordan’s leg still felt like it could crack at any moment, he rose early from his slumber and woke Keshon up just as sunlight poked through their little wooden fortress.

“How’s the bone feeling?” she asked. Having not fallen asleep until early morning, she’d spent most of the night casting Mana Heal on his injury.

“Fit as a fiddle,” he lied.

She looked over her shoulder at him skeptically. “We’ll see about that.” They pushed away the blocks of wood they had arranged and wiggled out from under the Wood Gryphon’s beak.

Keshon stood and extended her hand to him. “Let’s see you put some weight onto that left foot.”

After being helped up, Jordan took a deep breath and tested the leg. “Snaaaaaappppp!” he exclaimed melodramatically.

Keshon rolled her eyes. “So, you’re all set, then, aren’t you?”

He nodded, surprised that his leg felt stronger standing on it. They didn’t waste any time cooking. Jordan pulled raw salmon from his inventory, unwittingly repeating a strategy Brett had used the day before. They chewed on the meat perfunctorily and climbed up to the treeline.

“Alright, hero,” Keshon teased, “Let’s see you do your first jump.”

The veteran hunter jumped twenty-five feet to the next tree. He crashed hard against the thick limbs and felt a slight pang in his left leg, but suppressed any reaction to it. “Woo-hoo! I believe I can fly!”

From the other tree, Keshon only sighed and leaped to join him. Within seconds, they were bounding over the trees again, headed northeast toward the hills and the rising sun.

2

“So, what’s your plan when we get there?” Keshon asked as they jumped from the edge of the forest and onto the fruit trees of the orchard.

“I’ll kill him if I have to,” he replied grimly. “Fuck. I should take him out regardless. He poses a threat to the team.”

As they leaped over the apple and pear trees, Keshon peered at him. “We’re still unsure whether she was abducted or left on her own accord.”

He scoffed. “You can cross that last one off the list.”

“In any case, if Emma comes willingly, and he doesn’t get in the way, I don’t think you should kill him.”

Jordan stopped. “You don’t know Brett. You haven’t seen what he has done.” He peered at his partner, who clung to the top of an apple tree. “He has to be put down.”

Keshon laughed, grabbed an apple, and bit into it. “You make it sound like he’s a rabid dog.”

The veteran jumped to her tree. “You’ll see,” he said cryptically, then started pulling more apples.

“What are you doing?”

The veteran hunter held out the four apples he had collected and they abruptly disappeared. “I have a slot open in my food inventory,” he said with a slight smile. “Each slot holds ten pieces of fruit.”

Keshon finished her apple, then checked her inventory, but it was full of meat. Jordan suggested discarding one of the squirrels, but she refused. “I don’t want the animal to have died for nothing.”

They got moving again, sprinting over the fields and past the village’s main road. More trees loomed ahead in the hills, where they hoped to find Emma.

3

When they approached the hills, they bounded up the tree trunks again, knowing they would see more from an elevated position. As they reached the crest of the first hill, Keshon stopped.

“I see smoke,” she said, pointing ahead.

Jordan followed her gaze and saw a thin line of white smoke, barely perceptible in the day’s blooming sunlight. “Yeah, you’re right.” He sniffed the air and detected the scent of burning wood.

They sped over the remaining distance and closed within a hundred feet of the site. Jordan wanted to barge right in, but Keshon insisted they explore the perimeter first. He checked that her telepathy was turned on, then suggested they communicate using that ability. She agreed, and they jumped to the next tree. The leaves rustled noisily as Jordan surveyed the ground. The moist earth was more conducive to stealth than the trees were.

Let’s continue on the ground, he telepathed. It’ll be quieter and we can equip our weapons earlier that way.

She nodded. They eased down to the forest floor, where Jordan readied his boney bastard sword. Like many of the veterans’ swords, his weapon had small blades protruding horizontally just above the handle. Keshon equipped her less impressive relegation push daggers.

Stay behind me when we make our approach, he told her.

They circled the camp and spotted Emma and Brett near a small campfire.

“You fucker,” Jordan whispered, unable to help himself.

Keshon looked over at him, startled, but they were still deep enough in the woods to go undetected. Keep your mouth shut, she telepathed. They saw the white wolves that surrounded the camp in a rough circle. What’s with that? she asked.

Jordan shook his head. Beats me, but our job just got a lot tougher. They advanced ten feet further but remained hidden by the trees and shadows. One wolf started growling, peering through the woods at them. Jordan and Keshon slipped behind trees. The trunks were large enough to completely obscure their bodies from line of sight.

Jordan gripped his sword tightly. They can’t see us, he telepathed to Keshon, who looked at him anxiously. We’ll be fine as long as the wolves don’t tra—

“You can come out, Jordan,” Emma’s voice echoed to them. “We know you’re there.”