[D Rank Surveyor Alex, Gatekeeper, Realmwalker]

  [Ascension Level: 8]

  [Role: Porter (Role Skills: None]

  [Role Level: 3]

  [Experience: 20/4500]

  [Attributes: Strength -> 8, Speed -> 10, Life -> 6, Devotion -> 0, Control -> 0]

  [Current Skills: Combat Balance(18), Motion Trance(12), Combined Arms–Axe/Shield(18),

  Holy–Storm(33)]

  [Permanent Skills: Battle Maneuvers(14)]

  [Current Titles: Empress of War (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Combined Arms, Weapon Mastery, and Battle Maneuvers by five.),

  Aggression (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Weapon Mastery, Combined Arms, and Combat Balance Skills by five.),

  Fated Hero (Increases Skill grade of Dodging, Anticipate, Battle Maneuvers, and Inspect by five),

  Eternal Motion (Increases Skill grade of Recovery, Running, Marathoning, and Motion Trance by five.),

  Tireless (Increases Skill grade of Recovery Skills by three.),

  True Sentinel (Increases Skill grade of Deflect, Dodging, Blocking, Resist, Zeal, and Combat Balance by five.),

  Still Flow (Increases Skill grade of Meditation, Focus, Recovery, Arcane, Sense, and Motion Trance by five.),

  Elite (Increases Skill grade of Combat Balance, Battle Maneuvers, Battle Mastery, and Battle Dance by five.),

  Lethality (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Weapon Mastery, and Combined Arms Skills by five.),

  Consecrated (Increases Skill grade of Holy by five.),

  War Prowess (Increases Skill grade of Battle Maneuvers, Rush Assault, and Heavy Assault by five.),

  War Momentum (Increases Skill grade of Combat Balance, Riposte, and Battle Dance by five.),

  Blitz Master (Increases Skill grade of Combined Arms, Lunge, and Charge by five)]

  Alex grimaced at the sight of her Skills. They weren’t bad by any means, but she wasn’t exactly at the top of her game. She definitely wouldn’t have reset her Skills the way she had if she had known that Warner was going to throw her in the deep end.

  Still, it couldn’t be helped. Not now, anyway.

  [Please select your intent]

  [Exploration]

  [Vengeance]

  [Patrol]

  [War]

  [Salvage]

  Explore, as irritating as it could be, was crucial now. It would at least give her some locations where Orbit’s team could attack and destroy Camps and Outposts to stabilize the portal. She didn’t think it would give her a target like an Anchor Point, but that could be overly optimistic.

  [Your intent is to Explore]

  [Quest Issued! Explore one of the following Areas: Clock Tower, Parking Garage, Pawn Shop.]

  [Quest Issued! Explore one of the following Areas: Movie Theater, Fishing Pond, Rest Stop.]

  [Hidden Quest Issued!]

  [Hidden Quest Issued!]

  [Hidden Quest Issued!]

  Alex drew in a deep breath. She didn’t know what counted for air in this featureless void, but she wanted herself to be ready for what she was about to face. Odds were, it wouldn’t be any worse than what she’d already faced in a C rank portal so far, but something told her the assumption was false.

  Letting the breath trickle out, she stepped forward as the light parted before her…

  Her foot landed on smooth stone.

  The other world stretched before her. Just as the briefing had specified, the portal exited out into a large square, the kind that occasionally popped up in the middle of an outdoor mall or a shopping center of some kind. A large, decorative fountain dominated the middle of the place, covered in statues and still lethargically pumping occasional spurts of water. On all sides, the square was surrounded by shops and buildings, entrances that led further into the center, or shrubs that lined the storefronts and gave them shade from the ever-hidden sun.

  Unfortunately, unlike the briefing, the square was filled, wall to wall, with Grue.

  There had to be hundreds there, waiting. It was a horde, made up of hundreds of Soldiers, Archers, Knights, Brutes, and Killers. Alex even thought she could see the occasional Mage hidden away in the massive numbers of enemies, milling about with the rest of them. All of them were staring out at the edges of the square, as if waiting for the arrival of threats from outside. None appeared to be looking in her direction. At least not yet.

  Alex stood there, staring out at the actual army of Grue in front of her, and suddenly became aware that she wasn’t alone. Sam had just appeared to her left, and Clara on her right. Just past Sam, Joanna was stepping into existence. All of them froze at the sight of the horde in front of them.

  Orange text flickered, and a stunned part of her acknowledged what it said without turning.

  [Hidden Quest Discovered! Destroy thirty-six Knights and thirty-six Archers.]

  [Hidden Quest Discovered! Destroy six Brutes and six Killers.]

  [Hidden Quest Discovered! Destroy four Mages.]

  Then she saw some of the Grue start sniffing the air. A few began to turn hesitantly in their direction, their noses leading them to a new source of prey. In just moments, she and her friends would be discovered, and then they would be fighting for their lives. The smart thing would be to retreat back through the portal and tell the C ranks to clear the way for them.

  Then again, where was the fun in that?

  Alex stepped forward, and that motion appeared to free her friends from their paralysis. Sam’s spear came down; Clara leveled her crossbow, and flames started to glow in Joanna’s hands. More of the Grue noticed and turned towards them.

  None of them managed to turn completely before Alex’s first lunge carried her straight into the middle of them.

  The closest ones were sent flying as her shield plowed through them. Her axe hewed a bloody ruin through the next rank, snapping spears and chopping through Soldiers alike. She pushed further into the horde, not giving the Grue time to recover or react. Frantic stabs splintered against her shield. Unguarded heads were split and overstretched limbs severed. Howls of shock and agony rose around her as the enemy awoke to the presence of their enemy in their midst.

  Those on either side of her tried to flank her, only for the others to hit them with almost as much force. To her left, Sam punched his spear through Grue after Grue, while others trying to dart in and take advantage of his lack of shield stiffened and died as he broke their minds. Flame wreathed Joanna’s sword as she cut a swath through the Grue on the right, sending blasts of blistering heat and shattering cold among those close by to keep them off balance.

  Alex felt a burst of panic as she realized they must have left Clara unguarded at the portal, at least until she started hearing the snap of the crossbow directly behind her. The shots lanced out into the crowd, picking off Mages and Killers still trying to turn and find their mark. Explosions of thorns and brambles consumed them, even as vines lashed out to grasp and slow those closer by. She glanced back, wondering how Clara was getting the angles she needed, and nearly stumbled as she saw small stumps sprouting beneath the Acolyte’s feet, forming an effective firing platform.

  The momentum of the charge couldn’t last forever. They made it a dozen or so strides into the horde before the sheer numbers of Grue collapsing in on them forced the Surveyors back. Soldiers closed ranks and charged in lockstep; Knights joined their frantic attacks, forcing Alex and the others to pause long enough to deal with them. Archers showered them with arrows. Killers took more measured shots that had to be evaded or blocked lest they cause fatal wounds. Brutes charged in, their hammers swinging wildly, and beyond them, the Mages were gathering their magic for arcane strikes.

  As the Grue crowded around them, Alex put her back to Clara’s improvised platform, as did Joanna and Sam. They formed a fighting circle, trying to protect the Acolyte as she continued to snipe their foes from range. Clara rewarded them by spreading thickets of vines around their circle, forcing the Grue to stumble as they charged. Alex tried to use her own magic to blow the volleys of arrows off course, spoiling the shots from the enemy as her axe continued to cut and kill.

  Even as they fought, the Grue continued to press in. Spears and arrows began to get through, and Alex grunted as one lucky Killer managed to stick her in the shoulder with one shot. She snapped the shaft and cut down a trio of Soldiers. A moment’s search found the Grue that had hit her, and a second of concentration put a lightning bolt through its smug head.

  As it fell, Alex felt a pulse of magic behind her, and the arrow in her shoulder shifted painfully. To her shock, it fell away from her unmarked shoulder a heartbeat later. When she glanced backwards, she saw a tangled crown of plants on Clara’s head, glowing green. The Acolyte took another shot, her eyes steady and calm as she moved to reload.

  Alex turned back to the fight in front of her, just in time for four more Soldiers to push in together. They made a hedge of spearpoints, but she slammed them aside with enough force to break half of them. A broad axe swing took two of them from their legs. The others tried to pounce at her, but her shield stunned them long enough for a backswing to leave them dead at her feet.

  The next Grue were unsteady as they came forward, their paws slipping on the fallen bodies of their comrades. She pushed out for a moment to cut them down as their attention was on their footing, and then dodged back as a pair of Knights swung at her. They charged with vicious howls, their shields up to form a wall of steel.

  She met the one on the left head on, stopping them short with a heavy impact. The other continued an unwise extra step, opening a gap between the shields. Before it could draw back, Alex slipped past and hacked through an arm and a knee.

  The Knight fell hard enough that she could behead it while she dodged a stab from its other friend. Then she swung low, under the remaining shield to cut the Grue’s ankles out from under it. It went down backwards, flailing.

  Then it died as another Grue stomped down on its throat. Ignoring the Knight’s dying thrashes, the Brute stepped forward with hammers raised to challenge her. It howled, calling its rage across the battlefield. Soldiers lunged past it, trying to dogpile her while her attention was focused on their larger companion.

  It almost worked. Alex was forced to dodge backwards, jumping and swiping at the incoming Soldiers. The closest died in a single quick swing, and then both of her feet were planted on the stump that Clara had created out of nowhere.

  Alex pushed off the stump and leapt straight into the teeth of the oncoming Soldiers. They scattered as her shield smashed into them, but their bodies slowed her momentum. When she came to a stop, the Brute was already bringing its hammers down on her, its snarl carrying the echoes of victory.

  Then Clara shot it right in the face, and it reared back as thorn-encrusted vines exploded from its own forehead to encase its head and throat. It dropped both hammers as it staggered backwards, and as it tried to claw at the growing horror of vegetation, it tripped and fell, crushing a handful of Soldiers and Archers beneath it.

  She had just enough time to smirk before a trio of arrows bounced from her shield and helmet. Alex turned to see a group of Archers on top of a hedge, drawing more arrows. They were well outside her range, and she braced herself to weather their fire until Clara could deal with them.

  Fire exploded among the Archers, scattering them as if napalm had been dropped in their midst. She turned to thank Joanna, only to see a Knight ready to chop down at her. It froze, the sword still raised, and then toppled to the ground.

  Sam was still lowering his hand when Alex caught sight of a Killer aiming at him. She slid sideways, cutting down a pair of Soldiers as she moved, and caught the shot on her shield. Fragments of the arrow spattered across her face, one of them drawing blood. The cut healed a heartbeat later with another pulse of magic from Clara.

  The pile of corpses at their feet grew as the battle continued, forming an obstacle all its own. Grue began to push them down and into the Surveyors, or pulled them away to try to keep the bodies from forming a wall. Those moments of hesitation and distraction cost the Grue dearly; Alex and the others were quick to pounce on them and end them before they could do anything else. Even as her own footing grew less sure thanks to the dead Grue cluttering the ground, Alex could see the Grue were still suffering worse. It was just a contest between the number of bodies the Grue could throw at them, compared to how long the Surveyors could fight without exhausting themselves.

  Alex wished she was sure of her side’s victory. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes since they’d entered the other world, but it seemed like she had been fighting for hours. How many more Grue could there be? She cut down another Knight, and sidestepped a blast of purple acid from a Mage. Sam got that one, with a mental strike that had to be at the limits of his range. Joanna stumbled, and Alex barely managed to cut down the Soldiers trying to pounce on her. The Adept didn’t even shout her gratitude before pivoting to cut completely through a Brute’s hammer to lop off an arm. As she finished it off, Clara’s crossbow sounded again, and a group of the Grue Soldiers howled as tendrils of voracious plant life swallowed them.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Desperation began to fill Alex as her arms ached and her vision dimmed. Her grasp of the Storm weakened. How much longer could her friends hold out if her arms were already shaking, and they didn’t have half the stamina she had gained? Everyone had a limit, and the closer the horde pushed her closer to reaching hers…

  Her thoughts cut off a moment later as she saw gaps opened up in the press of Grue around her. Was this some new tactic the creatures were trying? Eyes narrowed, she snapped a Knight’s sword and cut down its companion. Sam took the disarmed one down, and a hedge of icicle spears thrust out into the Soldiers on the opposite side.

  More and more gaps opened up as the Grue rushed in. It allowed the Killers, Archers, and Mages more shots at her and her friends, but in return they could take more shots of their own. Fire, lightning, bolt, and thorns snatched them from the statues and hedges they were using as platforms. The ones who had mounted the fountain were the easiest to send flying, with clear blasts and bolts bringing them down.

  Alex kept waiting for a clever trick to happen, or some strategy that the Grue would use to bring them down, but as more and more gaps appeared, she saw what was actually happening. The Grue were literally running out of bodies to throw at them. They had already thrown all they could at them, and when they realized it hadn’t helped…

  A few heartbeats later, the Grue abruptly turned and ran. Those creatures still breathing scrambled away, losing another handful as Alex and their others made their parting blows. Alex started to head off after them, only for Sam to catch hold of her. “Hey, we won. Let them go. We aren’t here for them, anyway.”

  She looked at him and then nodded numbly. Then half the square exploded into purple flame.

  It took a few moments for Alex and the others to find a spot that wasn’t occupied by a burning Grue. It was only at that point that Alex considered the orange text begging for her attention.

  [Battle Maneuvers advances to 26!]

  [Motion Trance advances to 16!]

  [Combat Balance advances to 30!]

  [Combined Arms—Axe/Shield advances to 31!]

  [Holy—Storm advances to 35!]

  [Hidden Quest Progress 27 of 72 targets destroyed]

  [Hidden Quest Progress 8 of 12 targets destroyed]

  [Hidden Quest Progress 2 of 4 targets destroyed]

  Going through all of that to not even complete her Quests did not say good things about getting a full clear during the mission. Then again, that wasn’t exactly the point, was it?

  Shaking away her fatigue, she looked around the square. It looked like it had been torn apart by time and some recent war. Plants had forced their way through the stones on all sides, and half the exposed surfaces were covered in ash and the remnants of the Grue. She wondered what the Emerald Bay Surveyors would make of it, once they got back to going through.

  Reminded of their actual purpose, she turned to Clara. “Dryad, can you see anyone out there?”

  Clara had slumped down on her pedestal, which was slowly wilting. She gave Alex a dazed look and then peered around. “Not yet, no. They might be out of range.”

  Sam grunted. “I think they said they were headed to the Arcade location? Does anyone have any idea where that would be?”

  Alex was shaking her head in dismay—running around in the other world looking for panicked survivors did not sound good to her—when Joanna spoke up. “They were headed west the last time the Grue spotted them. I think that means they headed back through the shopping center, towards the Movie Theater.”

  She blinked. When she stared at the Adept, Joanna shrugged. “Turns out Flash Scan is basically instant. I froze a Brute or two, and they remembered seeing the Surveyors.”

  “The Theater is one of my locations. What do you guys have?”

  Sam blinked. “Pawn Shop, Clock Tower, Small Fountain.”

  Clara brightened. “I’ve got Clock Tower too.”

  Joanna shook her head. “I’ve got the Shop and the Fountain, not the Tower.”

  Alex nodded. “I’ve got Shop and Tower. We can aim for those two, plus the Theater. Theater first, right?” As they agreed, she started heading into the shopping complex. The sooner they found the others, the better.

  As they walked, the howls of the Grue rose around them. Clearly, the horde had been beaten, but the enemy was nowhere near done.

  “Okay, are we not going to talk about what we just ran into?”

  Alex gave Sam a side look and then went back to watching the abandoned shops and buildings around them. Clara had already promised to let her know when the Surveyors showed up, but she didn’t want to take her abilities for granted. “It was a bunch of Grue. What were you expecting?”

  “It was a horde of Grue. Right in front of the portal.” Sam’s eyes were serious now, without a hint of his usual humor. “The last time we saw something like that was at Golden Swallow. Remember?”

  Joanna’s voice was dry. “I think we are all familiar, Sneak.”

  Sam shot her a sharp look. “Don’t ‘Sneak’ me, Professor. You know what that kind of ambush means.”

  Alex shook her head. “It could have been caused by any kind of Escalation.”

  “No, actually, it can’t.” Sam’s voice was very, very level. “I actually put some research into it, along with… someone else.”

  His avoidance of Zach’s name was so obvious it almost hurt, but Alex shook it off. “What do you mean?”

  “In all the Escalation Events you’ve heard about, have you ever heard of a horde of Grue waiting right at the portal? Even in all of the stories your mom told you?” She paused, and Sam continued. “The reason the Grue don’t do that is because the portal is a massive magic drain. Staying too close to it can weaken them a lot and make them easier to kill. That’s why they don’t just stick their whole army in front of the vortex all the time.”

  Joanna stopped for a moment. “Unless the portal wasn’t acting like as much of a drain as usual. That’s what you mean, right?”

  “Yeah. That’s what I mean.” Sam shook his head. “We haven’t been able to dig anything up about Greylight’s properties before, but there has to be something this time. It’s them. They’re doing it, and we have to find out how.”

  Alex glanced back at him. “You’re probably right, but right now, we need to focus. The last thing we need is to…”

  She trailed off as Clara spoke up, her voice strained. “I saw someone. Injured, in the woods off to the right of that big building.”

  The Acolyte pointed, and Alex instantly focused. There was a patch of forest next to a large, isolated building with its own broad parking lot. She could see some Grue patrolling the abandoned cars, their forms slinking between the vehicles. “Are they moving?”

  “Doesn’t look like it. There are more than one.” Clara nodded. “Some might be hurt bad, though.”

  Alex studied the distance between them and the forest. “Are there any Grue nearby?”

  Clara shook her head, and Alex nodded. “All right. Go and get them. Bring them back here.”

  Joanna glared at her. “And you are?”

  “I’m going to scout out the Theater. Orbit’s team needs the information, and I can run fast enough to catch up to you.” The fact that it would accomplish one of her missions was only icing on the cake, of course.

  The Adept started to protest, at least until Sam stepped forward. “I’ll go with you. None of us should be alone here, after all.” He exchanged a quick look with Joanna, who nodded and split off with Clara. Both Joanna and Clara headed off along a side street, obviously looking for a better spot to cross the road that separated them from the forest where the survivors were.

  Sam watched them go. Then he looked at her. “Well?”

  Alex shook her head. “I was planning on doing this on my own.”

  “I know.” He shrugged. “If it helps, I do have Marathoning. Stealth too, though I don’t know how much that is going to matter.”

  She snorted. “I can be subtle.”

  Sam grinned. “Great. Let me know when you start.”

  Instead of responding, Alex started jogging along the street, headed in the direction of the Theater. The quicker she could complete the Quest, the closer they would all be to getting home.

  Of course, reaching the Theater had problems on its own. Without Clara’s guidance, they stumbled right into a patrol after only a couple of blocks.

  Fortunately, compared to the patrols they’d faced in the C rank portal, these were far less intimidating. A dozen soldiers, backed up by eight Knights, eight Archers, a pair of Brutes and Killers, with a Mage to lead them all. Alex and Sam rolled over them like they weren’t even there. If anything, Alex felt a little refreshed from the exercise.

  They ran into another two patrols before they finally reached the Theater. At that point, they snuck around the edges of the parking lot, keeping to the shadows of the cars and trucks that lay scattered across it. None of the sentries there noticed before Sam found a side door. He wedged his spearhead into it and wrenched it open.

  The ancient lock gave way with a single chunking noise that Alex was sure was going to attract attention, but to her surprise, none of the Grue appeared to notice. She slipped in after him, marveling at the way he seemed to meld with the shadows as they worked their way into the building.

  It didn’t take long to realize why the Screen had directed her to the place. Every single screening room had a Camp inside, and Grue walked the halls. Their filthy tents and hateful script were strewn all over the place. To her discomfort, they had to continue through the halls until she finally got a glimpse of the main concession area and the ticket booth. It was only at that point that the orange text appeared.

  [Main Quest Completed!]

  She tapped at Sam’s shoulder, and he nodded. They reversed course, moving back out the way they came. They had nearly reached the side door when a Killer stepped out from a doorway behind them. It wasted no time with surprise; instead, it lifted a horn to its lips.

  Alex heard Sam curse and followed him as he raced out the door and back into the city. They ran for all they were worth, easily outpacing the majority of the Grue. Despite the situation, she laughed as she ran, drawing an incredulous glance from him.

  Fortunately, the Grue didn’t seem interested in a long chase, and they were able to lose the creatures a short distance from the Theater. A light jog brought them back to the meeting spot, with only a pair of patrols interrupting them on the way.

  They had just finished the second one when Clara, Joanna, and four exhausted-looking Surveyors appeared. Alex felt a pang of grief and rage when she saw them. Emerald Bay apparently deployed in teams of five, which meant they’d lost one.

  The team leader, a man named Jonathan Sheers, told them a very familiar story. A normal Survey, without any strange activity at first. Then the horns, and a horde waiting for them right at the portal. Patrols that hunted them actively through the streets instead of just running into them. He sounded like he was in shock.

  “Beth went down while we were trying to run, and then, then they just kept chasing us. We tried to hide, but then what were we going to do? The only way out was through that horde. There was just no other way…”

  Alex saw Sam gesturing to her, and she nodded. “All right, we’re going to get you back to your portal. We’ve cleared the exit for you.” Jonathan gave her a disbelieving stare, but she continued before he could respond. “Do you have any idea where the other two teams are? Are they still alive?”

  One of the other Surveyors spoke up. “I heard fighting over by the Clock Tower, but that was a while ago. It might have been Harold’s team.”

  Another raised her hand. “Davis was out by the Garage, I think. You might be able to find them there.”

  Alex nodded, and they started off down the street. She didn’t want to send the Surveyors in on their own, not with what was left of the horde wandering around. Things weren’t quite safe yet.

  [Hidden Quest Completed!]

  [Hidden Quest Progress 63 of 72 targets destroyed]

  [Hidden Quest Progress 11 of 12 targets destroyed]

  Alex stepped back as another patrol burned. They were running into more and more of them now, but with the whole team together, it was like smashing bugs. Joanna and Clara were both getting a little tired, but they were still making good time.

  The first rescued team had gone home nearly half an hour ago. They had found what was left of the second team about fifteen minutes after that. Harold Arnoldson had brought the other members from his group to the Clock Tower in an attempt to see where the rest of the Surveyors were. Unfortunately, the Clock Tower had been in the middle of spawning a brand-new Anchor Point, and Harold and two of his team were dead before the two survivors managed to retreat. When Clara found them, they were hiding in a ruined food store, hoping the patrols wouldn’t find them.

  As Clara had healed their injuries, Alex had gone out to look at the Tower itself. A column of purple light was already forming around it, and she thought she saw larger shapes moving around the area. They took turns sneaking close enough to peek at it from the roof of what had to be a coffee shop; just that view convinced Alex that real, active Anchor Points were not something she wanted to mess with yet.

  Now, they were searching for the last of the teams. They hadn’t been near the Pawn Shop, which had been a store that the Grue had turned into an outpost. The rest of the Emerald Bay Surveyors had given them a vague map of where the Garage was, however, and Alex wasn’t going home until she had found the remainder of them.

  They were close, she could feel it. The Garage itself was looming up out of the gloom ahead of her. It was a multi-layered structure, the kind that they had once used to camp out on during her first and only Raid. This one was much bigger, though; there had to be at least eight floors, each with enough abandoned cars to hide entire armies of Surveyors.

  Unfortunately, it was starting to look like there was nothing there but Grue, filling each level and surrounding it entirely. The number of patrols just kept increasing. Alex shook her head and looked back at Clara. “You’re not seeing them at all?”

  The Acolyte shook her head. “No, but…” She put a hand to her temple and massaged it. “I think I might be hitting my limit. Between the fighting and the healing, I could just be missing them with all the Grue around.”

  Joanna grimaced, looking away from the structure. “Valkyrie, I think it’s time to go. None of the patrols have seen the Surveyors around here. Believe me, I’ve… made sure.” Alex nodded; the Adept had been using her Flash Scan at least once per fight, usually on one of the higher Grue to make sure she could learn as much as possible. “I think they might have already been killed.”

  “Or they could have gotten through the portal while we weren’t looking.” Clara’s voice was almost hopeful. “We did clear away the horde, and it hasn’t reassembled itself yet.”

  Alex looked at Sam, who was still scanning the area for enemies while a Brute burned at his feet. “Sneak, what are you thinking?”

  He glanced at her. His expression was tired, just like the others. When he spoke, his voice showed no sign of it, though. “They might be right. They could be dead.”

  She tilted her head. “But?”

  “But we haven’t found any Grue that would have killed them, either.” He sounded almost reluctant to admit it. “If they got hurt at the portal and retreated here, they would have run into more Grue. If it was me, and I was looking for a new place to hide…”

  He trailed off, as if remembering. Abruptly, Alex realized he had to be going back to how he’d felt at Golden Swallow. She’d never asked him about his first team, the one that had been killed the first time the Killer appeared there. He’d been the only one left from it, with the others either dead or having quit, but he’d never talked about them before.

  Then he pointed at a nearby building, one not nearly as tall, but still high enough to rise above the trees. “That would be a good spot. You could see it while you were running, and that would mean you could see if a big pack of Grue were coming for you. I would hide there.”

  Alex nodded. “Then let’s check that spot.” Joanna started to protest, and she held a hand up. “If they aren’t there, then we’ll head for home. I want to give it one last try, though.”

  The Adept studied her for a minute. Then she sighed. “All right, let’s get moving. We’ve already been here long enough.”

  It turned out that nearly half the building had collapsed at some point. What had once been a small café with an outdoor seating area on top had become a hollow shell. Debris covered most of the ground floor, with abandoned tables half-crushed beneath boulders of concrete and rebar. The remnants of a countertop lay half buried beneath a fallen light fixture, and the door that led to what might have been a kitchen was choked with rubble.

  Towards the back of the building, there was still a staircase that led up to the second level. It actually seemed more like half a staircase; a sizable chunk of masonry had taken a bite out of it about halfway up, leaving the rest teetering over the space.

  Alex looked at it with a careful eye. She looked at Clara. “Anything?”

  Clara shook her head. “Sorry. Nothing I can see.”

  Turning back, Alex checked around the area. Then she shrugged. “I’ll check it out. Then we go back to the portal.”

  They nodded, and she picked her way across the rubble to reach the staircase. She looked up at it and then took a deep breath. Stepping lightly, she walked up the steps, trying to walk carefully. The last thing they needed was for her to break her leg going up a broken staircase.

  To her surprise, the steps were far steadier than she expected. She felt a spark of hope flare as she reached the top of the stairs and saw a closed doorway. It looked like the latch had been broken a while ago, and now it was being held shut by a pit of plywood.

  It looked like something someone would put into place if they were trying to brace it shut. She edged her way up to the door and then shoved it open. The door sprang open after the second shove, and then she stepped out onto the top floor.

  The remnants of the seating area were still there. At least two tables were still standing there on the slice of the roof that was still standing; the rest had probably ended up in the rubble pile below.

  A third table, however, had been tipped up on its side to act as a makeshift barrier. Alex’s eyes narrowed as she saw a shadow move behind it. “Hello? I’m human.”

  The person behind the table froze. A moment later, they spoke. “You aren’t from Emerald Bay.”

  “No. We’re contractors. We’re here to get you home.” Alex stepped forward carefully. “How many of you are there? Are you wounded?”

  “It’s… just me.” A blonde-haired woman peered out from behind the table, her eyes still shadowed by fear. “You’re real? You’re not an illusion?”

  Alex nodded. “I’m real. My name is Alex.” Howls rose from the direction of the garage, and she glanced in that direction. She could see Grue moving, but she couldn’t tell which direction they were heading through the trees. “What’s yours?”

  “Kim. My name’s Kim.” She stood up from behind the table, her hands trembling. Kim had a bow in one hand, but she didn’t seem ready to use it. “Can we go now? The Grue…”

  Alex interrupted her, trying to be gentle. “We cleared a path, but it won’t stay that way long. We need to go, now.”

  Kim nodded, her eyes still a little vague. She took two steps, and then crumpled to the rooftop. Alex watched her for a moment, wondering if it was a trick of some kind.

  Then she walked over and picked up the woman. Getting back home was already going to be bad enough. Would dragging an unconscious Surveyor along really make it that much worse?

  They took turns carrying Kim back. By the time they reached the portal, a new horde had already started to gather, though it wasn’t even a fraction the size as before. Alex charged in on her own, catching them by surprise and scattering them, while the others ran for the portal.

  That final fight brought her the last few kills she needed, however, and as the corpses burned, Alex headed for the vortex herself. It wasn’t bad, for a first mission. Not bad at all.