A brush of air touched my face, and I jerked back from staring at the lake.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Just checking something…” Noseen's buzzing cut off and I couldn’t tell where he was.

  I tried to use my aura sight, but it failed.

  “I’m not worried about my family, they are survivors,” I said, wondering if that was what he was thinking about.

  “Hm?” Suddenly I felt him back on my shoulder. “Your family will be fine, you are connected to the Sisters. If anyone goes after them, your people will take over.”

  His voice came out so matter of fact.

  “You’re sure?” I asked, not worried, but wondering how he was so certain.

  “Yes, I have seen what you can accomplish when pressed.” A chuckle came from him. “Just think about the gains you’d have made by now if you were fighting for all you hold dear.”

  “The jungle folk wouldn’t have a chance.” It almost made me feel bad for Lenna’s people, but hopefully they wouldn’t do anything dumb.

  Lenna was my best friend, and I didn’t want our people to come into conflict. That would definitely make things weird between the two of us. Or maybe not. She had fled her village to warn us about her parents.

  “It shouldn’t come to that,” buzzed Noseen. “Especially if the Pathfinder heads home.”

  “So, you can fix the portals?” I tapped my fingers on my thighs, thinking of seeing my Dad again.

  “It will take time, but my people can do it.”

  My shoulders relaxed. If we made a connection with Lenna’s world, it’d also help Kabi’s village. I liked this idea.

  “Now that my class is fixed, is there anything else I should focus on?” While it wasn’t completely fixed, and I needed to get leveling my new profession, I at least had a great path forward.

  Noseen buzzed lightly, but didn’t say anything.

  “I know you want me to keep focusing on my skills, and I have a couple I will use more to see if I can upgrade them. I meant beyond that.” I loved a checklist after all. Especially from someone who knew what they were doing.

  “At your base, you are a Devourer. You should Devour.”

  The peaceful lakeside flickered and then vanished as I woke up. He always had to get the last word in, after all. Then again, as much as I’d grown, he was still godlike compared to me, so I guess I couldn’t begrudge him his little quirks.

  Stretching felt good, and I rolled up my bedroll. Lenna and Kabi still slept, though Dengu was out with the others near the window. One watcher rested at the other gathering area, while Strange… was somewhere far below.

  Quietly, I headed back to the overlook. Sile nodded at me as I sat down next to him and the other watcher.

  Dengu stood close to the ‘window’ in the rock. “No way to enter this area.”

  The watcher next to Sile scribbled something on a map.

  “Don’t tell me he is scouting,” I mumbled.

  “He volunteered to deliver a message to another area like this, and is taking a scenic route back.” Sile chuckled. “He is committed to deliveries. My guys love him.”

  “What’s not to love? He sneaks, loves to deliver packages or messages, and has a nasty bite…” I smiled, as I studied the area I felt him in. There wasn’t a sign of him within the shadows.

  “Bug cloud near the rock cluster, something must have died there recently,” said Dengu, who then shook his head. “Beetle droppings all over.”

  Again, the watcher made more notes.

  “We have reinforcements ready in several of the nearby canyons, and eyes on those Aethelians you freed,” said Sile, giving me an update on what I missed while resting. “Less and less collared are being sent out.”

  “They have lost a good amount of crystal at this point, along with one of the only places they could clone from, and the only experiments they had, at least on this planet, in creating more. Who knows what’s going on inside that place…”

  Strange crept along the inside wall, heading away from our location and into the entrance.

  “What is he doing?” I asked under my breath. Yet as I reached out to him, Strange felt happy and useful.

  He wanted to map out the Fortress.

  “Don’t get caught…” I mumbled under my breath, and sent his way.

  “What?” asked Sile.

  “Strange is heading inside the Fortress. He is excited I’m up and he wants to keep mapping.” I brushed a few pieces of hair out of my face.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “His timing is good,” said Lenna, coming up behind me, along with Kabi.

  “We have movement near canyon three,” said the watcher. “Not a Forger, but something else.”

  “It’s the Aethlelians,” said Sile with a grin. “I’m glad they are not on the Forgers side.”

  “Of course not, they are heading for the portal so they can try and return home,” added Lenna as she walked over to Dengu, and he nudged her with his head. “I pity any who stand in their way.”

  “This is our shot to get inside, while the Forgers are distracted,” I said. We needed to find Asceto, The Shard, and Dilom. Both needed to be dealt with.

  It was time.

  “I will lead you down to the gap. Once you jump, you can’t come back that way,” said Sile as he stood. “Come.”

  I went first, followed by Kabi, then Lenna and Dengu.

  The tunnel twisted downward, and off to one side. We passed several runes carved into the ceiling, floor and walls, but I didn’t have time to study them as much as I wanted to.

  Then we hit a landing area.

  “Once we step outside, you must jump. There is a gap, but you will land inside the Fortress walls. The rune on the door we pass through makes it a safe landing.”

  He stared at each of us until we nodded. “It gives a stealth boost, and slows down the fall. Just land on your feet.”

  I wanted to see the runes. My fingers itched to write them down in my notebook, but now was not the time.

  “I’ll go first,” said Kabi, and he moved before anyone else could say anything. He launched himself through the ‘door’.

  It glowed for a moment, then Sile glanced at us, I went next.

  A rush of energy soaked into my skin as I passed through the stone, then I found myself airborne, falling slower than gravity would dictate.

  Kabi hid behind a rock below, head like a swivel.

  I landed without a problem, and Strange’s map snapped into place. He’d come this way as well, and I now had a pretty good idea of where to go.

  Notifications hammered my brain and I forced them to close. My body shook at the influx of offenders in the area, and the added temporary stats I’d been granted to try and tackle the problem.

  By the time Lenna and Dengu landed, I’d steadied myself and knew the way to go that kept us away from the wall. I only cared about two notifications, and dismissed all the others.

  [Asceto, The Shard, Level 155, Prey, Unknown, OFFENDER.]

  [Dilom, The Hybridizer, Forger, Level 65, Prey, Unknown, OFFENDER.]

  Dilom had gained ten levels since I’d spotted him on the bounty list, but it felt like it should have been more than that given this planet and its ranking.

  None of that mattered as I led the others through a small side entrance of the Fortress. Dust and debris filled the tunnel, but we carefully made our way inside, moving slowly to not leave a trail behind us.

  Orange dots littered the distance, with a large grouping off to one side. Yet, that wasn’t where The Shard stood out on my radar. He was off in an area Strange hadn’t explored yet.

  Strange still crept along, much farther ahead but at a slower pace than us. He moved closer to the gathering of Forgers, but only to travel down a nearby tunnel. Then he broke off, heading in the direction we wanted to go.

  “Be careful,” I sent to him again. Who knew what the Shard was capable of? Already, its level was up there, but if we caught them off guard we should be able to take them.

  The hallway cleared up, and it was noticeable that this area was in use.

  A beetle strode out of a gap in the hallway that led to a caved-in room. It carried a big stone over its head, and didn’t see us at all as it turned in the direction we wanted to go.

  I resisted killing it as it merrily traveled down the hallway.

  We followed it to an open area with better lighting. Scraps of different types of materials piled up in large sorted bins. The beetle stacked the large boulder in a pile with others. All of us carefully stayed out of sight as it went back the way we’d come.

  Three openings branched off from the room, but Strange had only explored one. It was the one that came a little close to the orange cluster.

  Other Forgers were scattered throughout the rest of the Fortress.

  Strange crept closer to the dot which was The Shard. I monitored the map for a few moments to make sure no one moved closer to us.

  The communication stone in my pocket grew warm.

  I wrapped my fingers around it and Sile's voice came out.

  “They are starting the journey out of the Canyons. It won’t be long.”

  I nodded, though he couldn’t see it. I just sent a confirmation back and then headed down the same path that Strange had. If we moved quickly enough, it should be fine to get to the other side before the distraction came into play.

  This corridor was much less dusty than the earlier ones, and the floor had a thin carpet down. Then it opened the fuck up.

  No walls, no railing, nothing.

  I paused.

  The walkway extended out over the room that the cluster of Forgers were gathered in, eating, chatting, and generally relaxing. Bits of broken conversations floated up from below.

  I did not want to walk across that.

  Kabi shook his head, voting against it as well.

  An orange presence moved down one of the unexplored corridors, coming in this direction.

  We didn’t have a choice. A fight here would be heard by those below.

  I frantically pointed the way back with a hard shake of my head, and pointed across the way.

  At least it was solid stone, and big enough for at least two people of Kabi's size to cross at the same time. I started across, staying directly in the center, in the darkest part since all of the lights were coming up from below.

  Kabi stayed right on my heels, followed by Lenna and Dengu, who didn’t seem to mind the heights at all.

  A loud bang echoed through the space, making everything below us fall silent for a few seconds.

  “Looks like Chokepoint got someone,” said a deep voice. A few folks laughed, but they cut off as the sound repeated itself several more times.

  I picked up my pace, assuming that was the first distraction, and I didn’t want to be standing above all of these Forgers when the rest of the party showed up.

  A loud explosion echoed through the room, making everything shake. Dust drifted down from the ceiling, and I crouched down, lowering my center of gravity.

  Off to one side, giant doors remained closed.

  A loud commotion came from below.

  Kabi tapped my shoulder and pointed in the direction we had to go. Motioning me forward. His eyes were wide and his face pale.

  I nodded and started moving again. At least we were more than halfway across the space.

  Almost there.

  That orange presence in the room behind us began to rapidly move in our direction, and I suddenly picked up my pace.

  We had to get out of sight!