Isaac tried not to smile as Francisco hung from a tree branch.

  “That branch will never take your weight,” said Felicity, biting into an apple. “I mean, I’m surprised it’s held your big ass for as long as it has.”

  Francisco glared at her—then immediately slipped. He caught himself with a panicked yelp, clutching the branch like a baby cub would its mother. “Shit on a stick!” he snapped, unleashing a colorful rant.

  Felicity burst out laughing while Isaac kept a straight face.

  “I’ve got a damn branch trying to enter my virgin hole. Why don’t you two fuckers help me?”

  Isaac and Felicity shared a look before they both crossed their arms. “We would,” said Isaac, “but in between fighting for our lives and keeping you alive, while you slept through the attack on us, we are just so tired. So climbing trees to retrieve your clothing is just a step too far. I mean, look at this.” Isaac tried to lift his shaking arm above his head but failed. “You see that? That’s fatigue, that is. Battle fatigue and stress.”

  Felicity copied Isaac and came to the same result. “Same. I would love to help, but my arms are just so heavy.” She swung them from side to side like they were made of jelly. “I’m just so useless right now. I think the best thing me and Isaac can do is sit down and take a rest.”

  They both sat down, hands under their chins while they watched Francisco.

  Naked, apart from his boxers, Francisco stared their way with a death glare that spoke of unspeakable things he would do to them once he got down. “Listen, and listen to me good, you pair of donkey dicks. I’ll remember this, and I’ll get you both back for this. You mark my words.”

  Isaac placed his hand on his chest while he looked at Felicity with a wounded expression. “Does he…does he think we had something to do with this?”

  “He can’t. We already told him that while he was asleep, the enemy stripped him of his clothing and threw them in the trees. If it wasn’t for our swift action, then he would be completely naked right now.”

  “He’s lucky really.” Isaac nodded. “To have such good friends like us.”

  “Why the hell would some forest bandit want to get me naked before they killed me?”

  Felicity snorted as she tried to get her words out. Unable to, she created a circle with one hand and pushed her finger in and out of it with the other.

  “It’s lonely out there in the woods,” said Isaac. “Just like prison or being out at sea for months on end. A man gets desperate. His lustful thoughts are too much to bear, and before you know it, he’s striping naked some stranger he found in the woods to have his way with them. Again, like I said, you’re damn lucky to have friends like us.”

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  Francisco looked them dead in the eye as the wind pulled at his boxers with hearts on them and branches whipped his goose bump–covered skin. “Mark my words. I shall remember this. If you two fuckers want to play with the—”

  “Chop-chop, lover boy,” said Felicity. “Time’s a-wasting, and you don’t know if any of those guys have friends who’d want a piece of that fine ass.”

  Muttering under his breath, Francisco continued for the search for his clothes as they both fell over laughing.

  ***

  Isaac inspected the bodies at his feet.

  All of them wore gray cloaks and combat trousers. He ran the material through his hand and was amazed as it felt like durable silk that hid the contours of his hand. Each attacker wore a demon mask that covered their heads completely. Even up close, the attackers looked like mythological beings that were told to scare kids. Isaac pulled off a mask and saw a grubby human face. Caucasian, with a patchy beard and missing teeth, the individual would never win a beauty contest. A tattoo of an emerald gemstone set in the roots of a tree covered the side of his neck.

  Issac de-masked them all and checked their bodies over.

  What he found was a mixture of humans varying in age, sex, and color. All had tattoos of emerald gemstones. All looked like they needed a good wash.

  “What do you reckon?” asked Felicity.

  “Judging by their attire and state of uncleanliness, I would say that they have been in the wild for a while. The way they fought tells me they may be trained, but not to the highest level. Whatever group they are from has something to do with that tattoo,” said Isaac, pointing to the emerald tattoo.

  “It was the same tattoo we saw on that severed arm, remember?”

  Isaac nodded.

  “The tattoos obviously mean something?” said Francisco, inspecting a corpse closely.

  Isaac shrugged. “It could be something as simple as a gang tattoo. We could be looking into things way too much here.”

  Felicity asked the one question Isaac was dreading. “Do you think they are responsible for the deaths?”

  Neither he nor Francisco answered.

  “I mean,” she continued, “the hacked-off arm was a member of their gang, but the other bodies we found. The torso. The…the family.”

  Isaac locked eyes briefly with Francisco before settling on Felicity. Her eyes bored into the attackers—her fist clenched by her side.

  “Possibly. But this is The Other Side, where strength rules. Anyone could have done that to—”

  “But the most likely culprits are these fuckers, right?”

  “Yes, this gang, whoever they are, are the most likely culprits. Why they killed that family—who knows? Are there more of them? Most likely.” Felicity went to speak, but Isaac pushed on. “Can we do anything about it? Not as we are. Not without knowing their numbers—the Aura levels in their ranks—where they are based. The list is endless. And unless we want to spend weeks in the wild hunting for them, then I suggest we continue our journey to Green Emerald domain and just be on the lookout for any more danger.”

  Felicity’s jaw worked from side to side as a vein in the side of her neck pulsed.

  Isaac knew that wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear, but it was the only one he would give. The truth was, if they stopped to help everyone they came across, they’d never finish what they started.

  “There will always be people who need help,” said Francisco. “We can’t save everyone.”

  “Then what is the point of getting strength if we allow the cries of the innocent to go unheard?” She walked away, leaving both of them staring at her back.

  Francisco went after her, but Isaac held him back. “She’ll understand soon enough.”

  “But what if she’s right? What are we doing all this for, if it’s not to help those who can’t help themselves?”

  Isaac watched them go, questions he didn’t want to face pressing in from all sides. They couldn’t see the bigger picture. He was doing this to defeat HIM. And unless they completed that task, it wouldn’t matter how many bandits they killed—this would never end.

  Focusing on the bigger picture was the right thing to do. That’s what he told himself. He just wished he believed it as strongly as he once did.