"By the roots, that depends on how fast he es to!" said Li. "Some answers could save us a lot of trouble. But bark and roots, Aira, don't you even think about killing him. That's what you're hinting at, right?"

  "Should I, you know, jolt him again?" said Aira in ption. "It helped to wake you up there on the ice."

  "Are you tree-root sure that won't rattle him worse than he already is?" asked Li.

  "Of course I'm not sure," excimed Aira in exasperation. "It's not like I pull a System menu and choose the precise fun for these energy surges."

  She stood up and made a circle around the fire.

  "Sorry, that was harsh," she said a moment ter. "I agree that some information would be helpful. Also, if we don't want to kill him, it would be better to leave him in a scious state. It's not too cold, but if he stays here until the night falls, he could just freeze to death."

  Luckily, they didn't have to make this choi the end. The man stirred and opened his eyes.

  "What?!" he excimed, scrambling ba his hands and heels from the two women. "Who are you? Where am I?"

  "So, you're moonblind and stone-dumb?" Li growled, her temper rising. "You try to sink us out there, and now you're saying you don't remember a thing?"

  The man focused his gaze on Li and then looked at Aira, notig the strange glow of her eyes for the first time.

  "What???" he excimed. "You… you… you… are an undead!" he looked at Li. "You are s with an undead! You are that bitch from Mountain View!"

  Li was ready to seize the man by his colr.

  "Wait, you just wanted me to spare him. And I don't think he'll cooperate," Aira said through Li's radio. "But now you are ready to kill him? What's happening? Should I take him out?"

  "Wait? What?" the man screamed, switg his gaze between Aira and Li. "You talk?!?"

  " you do anything else besides repeating 'what 'in every sentence? "asked Aira. "It bees a bit repetitive. "

  "Shush, Aira, "said Li. "The guy's rattled like a loose gear. Let's catch a leaf and ease him down first."

  "Ah, now you care about him? "asked Aira. "Well, alright, let's take is slower and see if he could be of any use. "

  In the end, the man started to make more sense. As soon as he realized no one was going to kill him right away, he was ready tain for his safety.

  He expihat when he was shouting, he was just trying to warrahat they were infringing oerritory of the River . Only with the chief's permission would they be allowed to enter.

  "So, how were you pnning on cheg if we had that permission from that distance?" asked Aira.

  "If you had it, you'd know how to react," the man said. "I didn't pn to put your lives in danger! I just had to scare you a bit and make you turn back!"

  "Yeah, right. That tale's got more cracks than a cliffside," said Li. "I've never even heard of this River —it's way out of Mountain View's branches." She paused, her thoughts turning over. "Even if they somehow know about our… hm… adventures. How'd you hear about it, by the way?"

  "Your chief, I don't remember her name…" said the man.

  "Tara?" prompted Li.

  "Yes, yes, Tara!" the man tinued. "She sent messages about your escape to all the neighb settlements and even further away warning us about you and your… friend. And then, just this m, another message came firming that you are still alive and dangerous. Why am I so damn lucky to be on patrol today…?"

  "So, what should we do with you?" asked Aira through the portable radio.

  "Please don't kill me!" the man said. "If I knew who you were, I wouldn't even approach the river. Just tell me where my bike is and I will slowly tinue my patrol as if nothing has happened."

  "Do you believe him?" asked Aira.

  "Well, bark and roots, if he knows about the a facility attack, he's sharp enough to steer clear of messing with you," said Li. "And if he does double-cross us, well, you flick his light off ter."

  The man was already shaking in fear by that moment. A stream of warm liquid went down his trousers.

  "Please! Tell me what else you want to know," he pleaded. "I have a family. I don't care about politid power struggles."

  "Catch a leaf, buddy," said Li. "She won't bite the bramble if you're pying it straight."

  "But I have one more thing to ask," said Aira, "What's the shortest way to the a city? Are we heading in the right dire?"

  ***

  It took them some more time to fish out everything they wao know out of this ranger. But sooarted repeating himself, showing that he didn't know much. Still, his information about the valley and the territory the River occupied was at least marginally helpful, and the rest firmed Li's suspis that the uhey were following was leading them to the a city supposedly poputed by his kind.

  By the moment they fihe interrogation, Li was feelier and was eager to tiheir hike a further away from the unlucky ranger of the River .

  The two women sidered taking away the vehicle for a brief moment. And Aira expressed her hesitation about the sledgehammer the mao hit the ice. But in the end, she decided it was less handy than her makeshift warhammer. As for the electric bike, and that's what the man called his mount, Aira and Li agreed it would be too suspicious if he lost too much equipment during patrol.

  Still, they took away his backpad some of the smaller items in pensation for the stuff Li lost during her under-ice dive.

  Soon, they left the man on the shore and moved away from the river. Aira's s showed that there were still no other humans in their viity and that the uhey were following gained more distance ahead of them.

  "I think I sehe a city and its inhabitants," said Aira when the human ranger was left behind and couldn't overhear. "It's hard to distinguish their energy signatures when so many of them are together and when it's that far. Also, I feel how much it draio spread my probing to that distance."

  "So, the city's truly crawling with undead?" Li asked. "It's not just old roots and stories?"

  "There are some people there," firmed Aira. "I'll tell you if they are undead whe closer. Or, at least, I hope I'll be able to firm if their signatures are simir to the one we are following all these days."

  It didn't take long for Aira and Li to return to their habitual trekking routi seemed that soon they'd have a routine for every situation: building a home at an a bunker, defending during a siege, crossing half of the world to explore an unknown and mysterious a city. Was there anything this journey could throw at them they wouldn't survive and e out of even stronger?

  ***

  Surprisingly, there was no pursuit. It looked like the ranger decided to keep his word and just tinue his patrol along the river's shore.

  Acc to his testimony, Aira and Li were only a couple of days away from the outskirts of the a city. But he didn't know how far that haunted settlement spread. Legends said that it took at least two days to cross it. Maybe even more. There was no ohere to tell the story, as the undead would supposedly allow no human to pass he ter.

  By that time, the uhey were following, well, the supposed uhey were following, reached the area that Aira sensed as a blob of energy within which it was impossible to distinguish any separate signatures.

  As before, Aira had to ply with Li's daily schedule. They made oop at around midday for lund then had dinner before Li went to sleep and breakfast in the m. On the one hand, spring wasn't the best time to travel long distances. Ihere was still some snow. And even if it wasn't there, the ground was ofte, slowing down their progress.

  During their breaks, Aira trained, practig her energy manipution to improve her agility and enduranot only that, she stantly trained in p and draining energy sources. Even if they only had half of them left after the unpleasant river crossing experiehat was enough to test her skills. And, of course, cheg the surrounding areas and probing for humans and natures was a stant duty for Aira.

  Luckily, it seemed they were moving farther away from any human activity. As Li mentioned during their stay at the a facility, humans preferred to keep their distance from the undead and rarely ventured closer to the old cities.

  As they traveled, they talked about their hopes and fears. Aira shared stories of her world, tales of magid battles that seemed like something out of old myths and fairy tales to Li. Iurn, Li spoke of her life as a rahe challenges she faced, and the people she had left behind.

  One evening, as they sat by a campfire, Li looked thoughtful. "How often do you think about your world?" she asked, her voice soft iwilight. "I'm away from my town for just a few months. And I still have a e bad see my friends… well… maybe. But even I feel sad every time it es to mind."

  Aira stared into the fmes, her expression ptive. "Every day," she admitted, her voice tinged with a mixture of longing and acceptahis world has its owy, its own challenges. But every smallest detail reminds me of my old world. My friends. But I'm here now, and I have to make the best of it."

  "The most ret thing that made me think about it was quite bizarre, really," Aira tinued. "It was that enrge beaver beast that helped me to pull you out of the water."

  "What's a beaver?" Li asked, curiosity on her face. "And what you mean helped to pulled me out? By the frost on the pine, you've been holding out on me!"

  "Yeah, we have these animals, beavers. They live he rivers and even build structures with wood," said Aira. "So, I sensed an animal swimming near you uhe water. And… I didn't see any other solution, so, I just… sort of raised it as an undead!"

  "What ihorny thicket?!" Li yelped, her voice sharp with surprise.