I held my breath as the soldier took a step into the tent, the flap swinging closed behind him, cutting off the bright light of the outside. I watched, panic trembling through my body, as he scanned the tent, the features of his face impossible to see clearly from halfway down the tent. He had a hand on his sword hilt as he walked, the weapon dangling from his waist.

  "I know you're in here. You can't hide forever." He took a step forward, his voice carrying over the quiet interior.

  I watched his head turn slightly, as if checking the room for any signs of someone. He leaned down between one of the beds. Was he checking between the beds? I pulled the blanket tighter, as tight as I could, and watched as he slowly crept closer.

  "You let that woman die for your mistakes. I must admit, that wasn't all that surprising. Most people would let the same thing happen, given the chance to stay alive."

  He kept pushing forward, drawing closer and closer. Sweat beaded on my face, slipping down my cheeks, and I had to force myself not to rush away and draw attention to where I was.

  It had already been at least seven or eight minutes since I'd donned the blanket. That meant my time was running out. Before too long, the blanket would run out of power and then—if the description was correct—it might explode. I had to make sure I wasn't under it or anywhere near Ophelia when that happened.

  The soldier continued past my row, his gaze falling on me just long enough to make my breath hitch and my heart drop to my stomach. My chest tightened, and I hoped that none of the rips in the blanket were easy to spot in the dim light of the tent. I also wasn't sure if the [Shadow Walker] skill also worked when I was under the blanket. That plus the shadows should keep me safe, shouldn't it?

  When he had continued beyond Ophelia's bed a few rows, I took a quiet step forward, my eyes locked to his back as he leaned down and checked another row in his search. I reached the end of Ophelia's bed and turned toward the entrance to the tent, keeping my back to the entrance as I watched him.

  I kept my steps slow, methodical, despite the way my heart pounded in my ears, the sound of the world fading until all I could hear was my breathing, impossibly loud against the inside of the blanket. I could get out of this. I had to get out of this.

  I had already put a good bit of distance between me and the soldier when my foot caught on something, nearly pulling me to the ground as the leg of a bed caught my boot. I grunted softly. Not softly enough.

  He turned. His gaze immediately falling on the spot where I stood, my foot pressed against the leg of one of the beds. I froze, my fingers gripping the blanket by my side, and watched as he took a step toward me, his eyes now visible in the flickering light of the lanterns that ran the center of the tent. His eyes narrowed as he watched, his head tilted slightly, as if confused by what he was seeing.

  The blanket flickered. I don't know any other way to describe what happened. One moment my vision was filled with a translucent haze, and then the next the haze began to flicker between translucency and the color of the item's actual material, blocking my vision of the soldier.

  I saw his eyes widen in between flickers. His sword shrieked with the sound of blade against sheathe. "Stop right now," he bellowed and began to run.

  I didn't wait to see how close he got. I shoved the flickering blanket off of me, holding it in my hands, and twisted toward the entrance, my feet pounding against the ground. I reached the flap in two breaths, the canvas slapping up and out as I barreled through it. Two people in robes—healers if I had to guess—leaped out of my way as I hauled the blanket outside and slid into the path, my feet slick on the damp ground.

  I let out a yelp as I crashed into the side of another tent, barely righting myself as the soldier ripped through the front of the healer's tent with his sword, leaving the fabric slashed and hanging loosely. His eyes instantly found me.

  "Stop her!" He bellowed again, rushing past the two robed healers, who scurried to get out of his way.

  I took off sprinting, the flickering blanket still held tightly in my arms. My heartbeat continued to pound in my ears, a constant reminder of the possible destruction I carried against my chest. Everywhere I looked, there were more people. Some soldiers, other prisoners. More people in robes like the healers.

  I just need to get away. Away from everybody so I could ditch this blanket before it turned me into gore.

  I looked down at it as I ran, the sound of the soldier's yelling still rose through the camp behind me as he gave chase. I couldn't run and hide forever. He was right about that. But maybe I didn't have to. I twisted another corner, the blanket's flickering increased, the material now showing more than ever.

  I couldn't have long. I tried using [Insight] to see if it would give me an exact time, but the System returned nothing. I cursed. It had been worth a try. Pulling to a stop at the end of one of the pathways between two tents, I turned back to face the incoming soldier. He wasn't far behind me, and he appeared around the corner, his face red with exertion.

  "Finally done running?" He asked between breaths, holding his sword up toward me. "Just give it up, woman."

  I glanced to the right and left. The tents here looked to be soldiers' tents based on the fact that there were slits like windows in them. But I couldn't be sure. I didn’t need to be. My survival had to be guaranteed. Most of the prisoners here would likely be dead within a month, perhaps two if they were lucky.

  "You're right," I told the soldier, taking a step toward him, blanket shifting appearances in my hands.

  His eyes found the blanket and widened again. "What is that? Why is it moving like that? Put it down right now." His voice shifted pitches as he spoke, fear poking its way through his words.

  Yells rose from somewhere behind him. Others were on the way, I had to make this quick. "I don't know what will happen if I do that." I responded. It wasn't a lie. Not wholly. I still wasn't sure the description was being truthful. Could the System lie to me? Would it?

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Do it!" His command echoed through the surrounding air, fear tainting the words as well.

  "Okay," I responded and then tossed the blanket his way, pushing myself backwards as soon as i let it go. It soared through the air and I saw him start to move out of the way—his body ducking to the side—and then the blanket erupted into brilliant light.

  My eyes stung with the brightness of the fire and blast that expanded outward, enveloping the blanket in less than half a breath. I heard the soldier as a scream tore from his lips, flames sprinting across his body like animals running from a flood. I didn't wait to see how far the fire spread, or how much it hurt him.

  Ripping my eyes away from the painful display, I sprinted back out onto the main path and doubled back toward the front of the camp, away from the approach yells of the other soldiers.

  I was supposed to meet Lilan once their afternoon work was completed, and I still had some time to kill before then. It was probably best to put as much distance between myself and the explosion as possible, just in case anyone else had spotted me. I couldn't be sure I'd killed the man, but, based on the screams and the size of the explosion, it was unlikely he'd be moving around the camp all that much from now on. It was impossible not to feel somewhat pleased with myself as I slinked back into hiding.

  *** *** ***

  Despite everything that I'd been through, I arrived back at the meeting spot without any kind of message from the System. I wasn't sure why I'd expected something—I suppose using a magical item to sneak around isn't wholly sneaking—but the addition of the [Ironclad Body] to my skills had given me a bit of hope I might gain some experience in something else, too. There was at least positive about the entire ordeal, though. I'd learned that the System's description of items was not all for show. While I hadn't timed it specifically, had the System not warned me about the blanket's expiration time, or the fact that it might explode, things likely would have ended up a lot… messier.

  Today had also helped further confirm something I'd been mulling around in my head for a bit, too. It seemed that while I could only increase my overall level by completing quests, skills and other abilities seemed to have experience of their own. Chopping trees had given me increased [Physical Power], which had in turn given me access to a new skill. I checked my status screen to see where the skill fell in my information, and was pleased to find it below the [Passive Skills] section. These skills seemed to be active all the time, which meant the increased resilience of my body shouldn't be something I needed to worry about using or activating.

  Looking up at the sun's position in the sky, I estimated that I had at least another few hours before Lilan was finished with his work outside the camp. Smoke rose into the sky from behind me, and I wondered if the fire from the explosion had spread very far to the other tents—and if it had, how many had been hurt?

  While I was mostly sure the tents belonged to soldiers, there was a very small part of me that seemed to twinge with pain at the prospect of killing innocents in my escape. I pushed the feeling away, though, reminding myself that the end of this journey would be more than enough to justify the obstacles I ran into along the way.

  Rebuilding my empire was at the top of my list of things to do. But before I could do that, I'd need to burn down the old one, and doing so would undoubtedly result in some… unwanted losses. I sank down onto one of the crates that lined the space between the tents and waited, letting the thoughts roam freely through my mind.

  I considered Lilan's connections with some of the soldiers, as well as his response to my not speaking up when they'd killed the woman before. Based on those, it was unlikely he would be particularly happy I'd just exploded a magical blanket between two possibly occupied tents—even if they had likely been tents with the enemy within them. There was also the possible implications that this attack on one of their own might carry for the camp, and that meant Lilan's escape plans might get pushed up, especially if the fire had spread. I had passed a few groups of soldiers rushing back the way I'd come on my way to our hiding place, but none of them had looked quite panicked enough for me to assume the entire camp was going to burn down. Even if it did, that might make it easier to slip away. I slipped that thought into the back of my mind for later, as it wasn't the worst idea I'd ever had. Though, again, I doubted Lilan would be easy to convince it was the best move to make.

  I even debated not telling Lilan at all. But I quickly struck that possibility down, as even if nobody else had managed to get a good look at my face, the soldiers seemed perfectly content with choosing who to punish from anyone throughout the camp—as evidenced by the woman they'd killed for my attack on the soldier. If I continued to operate outside the normal movements of a prisoner, I'd need to be extremely careful going forward, especially if I wanted to find Sil.

  Trying to push the what-ifs from my mind, I settled back against the canvas of the tent so I was out of view, and let myself drift while I waited on Lilan.

  *** *** ***

  The world was burning.

  Flames licked at the sky, the heat searing my skin as my mouth opened in a soundless scream. Around me, hands reached for the heavens, their skin caked with black burns, ash floating around them.

  "Help me…" a voice said, flitting across the flames.

  I blinked and then I was falling. A rush of wind erupted beneath me and I peered down.

  Eyes wide, body trembling, I met the narrowed gaze of a massive golden dragon staring up at me, jaws open as it rose to meet me on wings that blotted out the world below.

  I flailed with my arms as its maw closed around me and darkness became my only companion.

  *** *** ***

  "Hey," a soft voice said somewhere in the darkness. It was a stark contrast to the voice that had invaded my dreams.

  I jolted awake as a hand pressed against my arm, gently shaking me. Lilan stood before me, his shirt soaked in sweat and his face was covered in grime.

  "How long you been out?" He asked, but then brushed the question away. "We need to move. They're looking for someone." His mouth dipped into a frown as he pulled me to my feet.

  I looked around slowly and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. The dream sat at the back of my mind, but I tried not to think about it too hard as I let him lead me toward the main path.

  "What did you do?" He asked, his voice low.

  "Nothing," I said instinctively. "Not on purpose, at least. I set off an explosion."

  Lilan stopped, his mouth dropping open as he turned to me. "You did what? Are you out of your mind?"

  "I had no choice," I explained. "The soldier was chasing me and it was either be caught and killed or… make him explode."

  He raised a hand to his face, running it down his features. "How exactly did you make a soldier explode?"

  I bit the inside of my lip. That part was a bit harder to explain without giving away the fact that I was who I was. Which probably wasn't a concern if he already knew it anyway. "Magic." I said, keeping the answer short and simple.

  His eyebrow rose behind his hand. "You can't possibly be serious."

  "Yes, I can be and I am."

  A noise somewhere beyond the tents drew our attention and we both hurried to the corner of the tents and peered around. Soldiers had already begun to gather everyone up, encircling them. The blades of their spears and swords glistened in the dying sunlight of the evening, and I bit the inside of my cheek as I looked around for any possible escape, panic momentarily seizing my body.

  A firm hand grasped my shoulder. "Don't do anything stupid," Lilan told me and then pulled me out into the main path.

  A soldier spotted us quickly, motioning us into the rest of the gathered people. We let them push us into the squirming mass, Lilan's hand still holding tightly to my shoulder as the circle of soldiers closed in around us.