Ivkhavu, somewhere…

  I straightened my spine as I sat in the restaurant. Voices filled the space and I glanced over at the waitress. “A crispy drink, something like a Tangla if possible.”

  “Of course, Sir.” She bowed her head at me and scurried on the multitude of legs she had.

  Boiling lava still rumbled in my core, but I resisted letting any inch of it show. Calm, composed, and ready for elevation with my people, that was all anyone would ever see.

  The glass appeared at my elbow, and I took a small taste.

  Crisp, almost dry, but good enough for this meeting.

  Information management and collection was my focus. I needed to know how to spin this before my meeting with the council. The lack of information flow from my last post was the only saving grace. Keeping a tight lid on things would give me an opening, one I needed to take advantage of.

  A cloaked individual sat across from me, and set a token on the table. The one I would recognize anywhere.

  Good.

  “I heard that you have information to share…” they said in a careful voice. One completely forgettable.

  I shared the notification to the being across from me.

  “Shadowstalker…” They shook their head. “This isn’t enough.”

  “I saw it transform with my own eyes. It’s just a baby.” I kept my voice low and pulled a piece of paper out of my jacket before sliding it across the table.

  They flipped it open and quickly closed it before nodding. “Our business is concluded.”

  My eyebrow rose.

  Then they stood. “They will be in touch.”

  I resisted smiling, and instead sipped my drink as they vanished out of the shop. I could practically taste my revenge.

  #

  Alex, on the road…

  The rune glimmered in the center of the road, as we almost crashed into a large rock on the other side. Various beings appeared on my radar as they raced in our direction.

  “There’s a trap rune in the road, and we have incoming!”

  Yet, given the rune and no notice of Forgers, I bet this was just Kabi’s people.

  The six people dashed out of the treeline, but slowed down when they saw the group of us.

  Kabi slowly climbed off the cart, and went over with all of his hands free.

  “This is going to take forever,” I muttered to Lenna.

  “I wasn’t expecting this many detours on the journey south.” She pressed her lips together. “The trap is a good idea, though.”

  None of the other Azurafolk had collars, and Kabi only spoke to them for a little before they vanished back into the trees, though they waited just out of sight.

  “Well, that was fun,” he said, as he climbed back into the cart. “They are hoping to trap some Forgers, but haven’t seen anyone on the road for several days. The rune was left by one of the Water Tribe as they came through the area on the way north.”

  “So we should expect more of them?”

  “Yes, but they are centered on the road. As long as we stick to that side, we should be fine.”

  Asceto rubbed his face. “At some point we need to rest. I can’t guarantee I won’t fall asleep driving.”

  “Let me drive for a bit, and you can sleep,” I said without thinking. I needed sleep as well, but with the rush from almost crashing, that wasn’t happening soon. I took over and stayed close to the edge of the left side of the road. We crossed three more rune traps, but didn’t trigger them.

  Time passed slowly as we just continued on.

  I switched off with Lenna to get some sleep, and by the time I woke back up we were on the side of the road, letting the battery recharge.

  The days passed slowly, with me trying to find a rune to help charge the battery faster. Resting on the side of the road, with some hunting when Harvesters appeared, and then just trying to stay awake as nothing changed in the forest was the routine.

  It took us two days to pass the turn for the cloning lab, and another eight to get to the destroyed outpost.

  I didn’t crack the code on mana gathering. Not a chance. Right now, I couldn’t even touch the mana all around us, and couldn’t even see it with my aura sight unless something died.

  The sun pounded down from above as the cart stuttered to a stop, the road ending. The destruction to the forest wasn’t as visible as I thought it would be. Vines grew across the massive clearing, and some broken cages rested on their side. Smashed wooden crates littered the ground in piles, but that was all.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  Nothing else remained.

  Except for a strange grey line near two stones still stuck in the ground.

  “That was the portal…” I said, climbing off the cart and walking in that direction.

  Birds chirped in the distance as dark clouds crept in our direction.

  “We should find cover before that storm hits,” said Kabi in a rushed voice. “Sometimes the rain goes on for days.”

  “Can we reach your village?” asked Lenna.

  “Not from here. There's an abandoned guest home nearby, though.” He turned away from the clearing and headed to the trees.

  Asceto moved the cart under some mushrooms that grew closer to the ground a little deeper in the forest, then joined us as we followed after Kabi.

  A cloud hung around him, as we quietly crept through the jungle.

  My radar remained clear for the most part, though some smaller creatures popped up that weren’t anything to be worried about. The farther we traveled through the trees, the more of them registered.

  Finally, Kabi paused next to a tree with a rune carved high into the trunk. Somehow, it made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

  He motioned for us to go in.

  It opened almost immediately into a large open area carved out of the trunk. The remains of an old fire rested in the center, surrounded by broken wood, scattered straw, and pottery.

  “This was our welcome hut, a place for visitors to gather before visiting the village. There is a stream nearby for getting clean as well.”

  Kabi moved to clean up the area, while Lenna and Asceto joined him. Dengu padded around sniffing everything, while I searched for something to put the broken things into. Finding nothing intact, I made a pile against one wall.

  As we cleaned the space, we uncovered a nice carpet that flowed around the room. Sleeping areas were spaced around the outside walls, but the cushions were gone.

  Each of us chose a space and set up our stuff.

  “Where’s the stream to get clean?” I asked, quietly. The somber space made me want to be quiet.

  “The trail is just outside to the right, you cannot miss it.” Kabi gave me a soft nod, but didn’t join me as I stepped out.

  Dengu followed, and I discovered Kabi was right. The trail was well established, and led to a small stream, with an impression of a pool. Not deep enough to swim in, but I could sit in it.

  Small animals scurried around the forest, but nothing of concern as I got clean.

  Dengu kept watch, but then walked through the stream as well, searching for fish.

  “Gonna stay out here?” I asked as I redressed.

  “Yes,” he said, his snout tracing something in the water.

  Lenna passed me on the trail and I waved, but didn’t say anything.

  Kabi stood near the doorway with a frown, but brightened as I approached. “The rune is broken that hides the door. Do you think you can fix it?”

  His hand rested near the edge of the opening.

  “Sure.” I sounded more confident than I was, but I’d give it a shot. Not needing a watch would be good. The invisible rune had been broken by a gash in the wood. Instead of trying to repair it, I imprinted the same one right next to it in a clear section.

  As soon as I pushed mana into it, it hummed and the door vanished, leaving Kabi and I outside the hut.

  He tapped it with his hand and the door appeared. Relief flowed through our bond, but lighter than usual.

  “This is good,” he said with a smile. “If you can fix these, then we can get the village up and running much faster than I thought. Safe doors are important.”

  “It will all work out,” I said, as he tapped it again and I stepped inside.

  Sleep was first, then we could get to work finding Kabi’s village, and more importantly, the dungeon entrance.

  Noseen didn’t visit me during my rest, but I woke up with a start as something larger crossed into my radar.

  It crept along the edges, not paying attention to our location at all. I didn’t move from my sleeping roll and no one else stirred. Not even Dengu, who slept in front of the door.

  Whatever it was lumbered through the forest, very, very slowly. It had to be close to the stream area, and it lingered there for a long time before it again, very, very slowly lumbered away.

  All the while, I stayed up watching.

  I rolled over and went back to sleep. While theoretically you couldn’t catch up on sleep, I wanted to test that out.

  #

  “Alex, you gonna get up?” asked a voice near my head.

  I rolled over, cracking an eye to see the door open and bright purple light streaming in. Something cooked over the fire now going in the center of the room.

  Dengu, Kabi and Asceto weren’t inside. Or on my radar.

  “Where are the others?” I asked Lenna, stretching before packing up my sleeping roll.

  “Back at the portal site, looking for anything salvageable.” She turned the hunk of meat on the spit. “Dengu caught some creature this morning for breakfast.”

  It smelled good.

  “What do you think about all of this?” I asked, motioning my hand around.

  Lenna frowned. “I don’t think reclaiming his village is going to be as easy as we hoped.”

  I paused and tried to stretch my senses out even farther. All that did was remind me of Strange, who remained far away, and not moving.

  “We weren’t here that long ago, and Manee had been living in their home.” I thought back to that situation and my mind landed on the home that had been filled with destruction and dead Forgers.

  “All the Forgers who escaped into the forest had to go somewhere…” she said as her eyes drew together. She poked the roasting meat again. “I just want us to not rush into anything.”

  “We don’t need to rush. It's not like Noseen or his people are going to show up anytime soon.” I snorted. “Heck, they need to even find the planet first…”

  Yet, that thought trailed off when I remembered that Dengu found his way here with the bond, and Noseen could use my dreams to talk to me.

  Still, I didn’t expect things to move quickly.

  Chatter drifted through the open door as Kabi and Asceto walked back in our direction. They carried a few hunks of metal, which they dropped outside the door.

  “Where’s Dengu?” I asked Lenna.

  “Fishing, in the stream. He loves water, and now fishing.” She chuckled lightly before turning toward the open door. “Food is done.”

  Lenna pulled the meat off the fire and a pan I hadn’t noticed under it, with something cut up cooking in it.

  She filled bowls with the veggies and slices of the cooked meat before passing them out.

  All of us ate quickly. Even though I could eat raw meat, this tasted amazing. It was almost like potatoes and a pot roast ration packet, but somehow better.

  “After food, can we scout the village?” asked Kabi.

  “Sure, but last night there was something large wandering around, so we want to be careful.”

  Lenna's head jerked up and she almost dropped her bowl as Dengu raced inside, panting.

  “Smell fire…” he growled sniffing again. “In the forest.”