Chapter 28

  “Hey, ya hear me?” The man’s harsh tone snapped Danny from his staring. “I said, where are you going?” Danny’s mind pushed into overdrive trying to fabricate a cover story.

  “I—uh,” he wasn’t off to a great start. “My friend! He… was in the woods when the attack happened. I was on my way to look for him.”

  The man looked Danny over appraisingly. Knuckles tightening around the staff, Danny felt like he would snap from the tension building in the air. The man noticed. “Well, that’s a beautiful staff you have there, I don’t believe we’ve met.” Anxiety began to twist Danny’s stomach. “Would you mind letting me see it?” Danny had half a mind to tell this guy to kick rocks, but he thought that might blow his cover.

  Danny offered up the staff. “I—” Another man came jogging from the camp. He did not look like the jogging type. His huffing and puffing supported that impression.

  “Boss, he’s—” the rotund man sputtered out. “Walter, he’s— gone.”

  The man wearing Mario’s jacket narrowed his eyes and turned to face the non-jogger. “Check the civvy tents, every one. Tear them apart if you have to!” Wheeling around to face Danny, he said, “Get your friend and bring him to the center of camp. Head count in five. Anyone absent forfeits tomorrow’s rations.” He stomped back from where he had come. The non-jogger struggled to catch his breath, but hurried after anyway.

  When he was sure they were gone, Danny let out a sigh of relief. That had been a close one. One wrong move and he would have been found out. The out-of-shape one had called the other his boss. Danny had gotten lucky if that really had been the guy in charge of the Brotherhood. Lottery ticket lucky. From what Mario had said, the Brotherhood leader, Chris, was bad news. Not only was he one of the strongest, he was also the cruelest of them all: cold, calculating, and completely lacking in human empathy. Danny was certain that they would meet again, but he would need to be much stronger than he was now if he was going to survive it. Danny still shook a little when he remembered the Identification the System had provided. [Level 60 Human Berserker]

  That man had been the highest level Danny had seen, besides Aspen. The thought of what might have happened if they had come to blows haunted Danny even as he entered the obscuring cover of the forest. Mario had slid off of Ash and was lying face down in the dirt. Their trip had been hard on him. Some of the scabbed-over wounds had begun to bleed again. Danny pulled the Necklace of Rejuvenation out from underneath his shirt and put it around Mario’s neck, eliciting groans of pain from the man. Since he was over Level 50, Mario should have no problem using it.

  “Here, use this. All you have to do is…” Bruises began to fade and the bleeding cuts began to seal. “Oh, I guess you figured it out.” Taken back to his struggling in the Horror Matriarch’s cave, Danny couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed by how easily Mario figured out the Necklace. Mario pushed himself up and rested on his knees. Discoloration was still present on his face. Not even the Necklace could heal it all in one go.

  “Thanks. We have something similar back at camp. Used it a few times when I got banged up.” He tossed the Necklace back to Danny. “It’s a useful thing to have around. Where’d you find it?”

  “It was just one of the things I got from clearing a monster nest. Back in the Tutorial.” Neither of them had spoken about the Tutorial, or much of anything really. Danny wondered how different the other Tutorials had been. Probably a lot less boring, for starters. After putting the Necklace on again, Danny channeled Qi into it, hoping to get rid of the internal needling left by the loss of the Wyrmlings. He felt his energy flowing into the artifact and the warming sensation of the healing taking effect. Except it didn’t. The sensation of his internal organs being used for batting practice did not subside. Whatever injury he had sustained, the Necklace would not relieve.

  “You got a place sorted?” Mario distracted Danny from the troubling development. “Cuz the Brotherhood isn’t going to let this one fly. We gotta get outta here soon.”

  “Not really. To be honest, I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

  “So you broke into the Brotherhood camp— in broad daylight— without an escape route?”

  “Well, when you put it like that—”

  “It sounds incredibly stupid.”

  “Yeah… I guess it does.”

  “Do you have any ideas at least?”

  “Maybe…” Seeing the exasperation on Mario’s face, Danny amended, “Yes. I have an idea.”

  ___________________________________________________________

  Sunlight cast an intricate web of shadows as it broke through the canopy. Birds called back and forth in conversation, joined by the buzz of insects. A sharp crack sent a few of them to the air. Danny, Ash, Indy, and Mario all continued their trek through the forest. Breathing in the now-homey scent of the pines, Danny paused for a moment. “This is where I last saw them.”

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  “Saw who?”

  “Mask Lady! Tree people! Anyone there!?” Danny yelled.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Mario scolded. “Are you trying to get us killed?”

  “I met a group earlier. They said they were against the Brotherhood. I figure they must have a base or something nearby. Hopefully they’ll take us in.”

  “The gi- the Scouts, you mean?”

  “One of them had a mask on. They shot arrows from the trees, and this one girl used a smoke bomb like a ninja or something.”

  “Yeah, that’s the Scouts. I don’t know if that’s the best idea…” Mario said.

  “Why not? They seemed pretty sneaky. I bet they could help us lay low for a while.”

  “That’s not the problem. I’m Brotherhood, remember? Maybe they let you in, but I’d probably have better luck with Chris.”

  “Ex-Brotherhood, right? Nobody is going to hold it against you. You’ve changed.”

  “Look, uh— here’s the thing. I might have undersold myself a little when we first met. I wasn’t just some lackey. I was Chris’ second in command. And some of the things I did back in the Tutorial… I’m not sure they’ll be very understanding.” Mario said.

  “Oh. I’m sure it will be fine. You’re one of the good guys now. You’ve even got the face to prove it.” Danny gestured to the still present bruising marking Mario’s features. He turned away to continue on his search for the “Scouts.” “Besides, it couldn’t have been that—” By the time Danny processed what was in front of him, he had already planted his nose into the massive man’s chest.

  The man wore a dark brown t-shirt. It was littered with holes and you could still see dirt stains despite the color. His frame was that of a professional bodybuilder. Over his dirty shirt, he wore a black jacket with the hood up. His jeans were frayed at the knees. Further obscuring his identity was a familiar looking mask. [Level 45 Human Ranger]

  Ash let out a fierce-sounding bark. “Looks like your calls worked,” Mario said. His flat tone indicated his excitement on the matter. The intimidating appearance of the stranger dampened Danny’s enthusiasm as well.

  “Come with me.” He said. The voice wasn’t high-pitched by any means, but it was not the thundering echo that Danny had expected from the imposing figure. It made him feel a little better, like this man might actually be mortal after all.

  “Okay.” Danny answered. He put a hand on Ash’s back to settle her. While he had been hoping to see a familiar face, he had gotten what he had asked for.

  “Okay!?” Mario said. “What do you mean? This guy comes out of nowhere, and you are just going to go with him, no questions asked?” The fact that a man who looked like he had been on human growth hormone since he was toddler had snuck up on them so effortlessly was troubling, but they were on the same side. What was the harm? On the other hand, maybe it was better to be safe than sorry.

  “Where are we going?” Danny asked the masked man.

  “Maxwell wants to see you.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “The one who can hide you from the Brotherhood. That’s what you're after, right? Although I wasn’t expecting you to be bringing one of them with you.” The masked man growled out the last part.

  Feeling the tension, Danny smiled nervously. “Yeah, he’s switching sides. Turning a new leaf, you know?” The man continued to glare at Mario. Danny couldn’t clearly see his eyes, but he was in a glaring sort of stance. “Everyone deserves a second chance, right?” That elicited a snort from the stranger, but he seemed to relax.

  “Whatever, not my call.” He muttered. “You coming or what?”

  Danny nodded.

  The man seemed satisfied enough and led the way deeper into the forest. Mario lingered a fair bit back, putting distance between himself and the stranger. Danny hung back a little as well. “I told you,” Mario whispered. “If anything, this guy had a mild reaction. Once we get to wherever he is taking us, it will be a whole lot worse.”

  “Relax,” Danny whispered back, “you heard what he said. It’s up to whoever is in charge. As long as we convince them, it will be fine. Even if it goes sideways, it’s four against one.”

  “Why are you like that?” Mario’s voice rose. “You don’t know any of these people. How can you say it will all be fine?”

  “Well, what do you want me to say? We are screwed majorly? That we are up against impossible odds and have no chance? Is that what you want to hear?” They weren’t whispering any longer. “I say it’s going to be fine because it has to be. If it’s not… it has to be.”

  The walk was silent after that.

  ___________________________________________________________

  On the trek, Danny had learned that the man’s name was Samuel, although he went by Sam. Conversation hadn’t picked back up with Mario, so Danny had found a new conversation partner. Being alone during the Tutorial had taken its toll on him and Danny found it difficult to refrain from talking when he now had company.

  Sam had been a fast food manager before the Integration. He looked like he could be a full time fitness influencer, so Danny found his true occupation to be pretty ironic. Contrary to his appearance, the man was friendly. He entertained Danny’s small talk, but Danny could tell that he was still wary of Mario. It didn’t help things that Mario sulked half a dozen feet behind them, or the fact that they traveled with a massive monster-wolf. Regardless, the rest of their trip passed without incident.

  “We’re here,” Sam said. It was… nothing. In front of them lie a stretch of forest like the rest. Except for the fact that the normal grass and shrubbery was replaced with thorny brambles. Danny wasn’t exactly sure where “here” was, but he was not excited at the prospect of wading through the spiky plants.

  Sam, however, seemed unperturbed. He waltzed right through without flinching. Then he disappeared.

  “What the!?” Danny was understandably surprised. “Where did he—”

  “I knew it!” Mario said. “He led us out to the middle of nowhere.” Flames sparked to life in his hands. “I bet that invisibility trick is how he snuck up on us in the first place.”

  “Careful! You start flinging fire around and we’ll have a much bigger problem on our hands.” Danny scanned the surrounding area. He trained his ears on any sound that might indicate where Sam had gone. Did he really mean to dispose of them out here? Based on their talk, Danny didn’t think Sam would do such a thing. Then again, how much did Danny really know about this guy?

  Come to think of it, how much did Danny really know about Mario? The rescue mission, their chance meeting after the Tutorial ended, Danny had felt like they were close, but in reality they were barely more than strangers. After so long without human company, he may have gotten attached too quickly…

  Out of nowhere, a hand grabbed Danny by the collar. And pulled. Everything went dark as his vision was consumed by the thorny brambles.