“I don’t think I need to worry about that,” I mumbled, hoping Noseen was right about devourers.

  “Yeah, but what about the rest of us?” asked Lenna, but she didn’t pause for an answer. “It's like a bog, suddenly someone isn’t walking beside you and is sucked beneath the surface.”

  Kabi’s eyes went wide, but Dengu nodded seriously.

  “We’ve lost clan members that way,” Lenna added as Dengu padded close enough to nudge her shoulder. She reached up and touched the side of his head.

  “That won’t happen,” I said, hoping I wasn’t lying. “Let me allocate my stats, then we can get moving.”

  Noseen's warning to figure out the way to fix my profession stayed in the front of my mind. I didn’t have an answer, but I did need to find something better than my stopgap measure of using the free stats I gained. I just didn’t need to do that right this instant.

  I tossed half in quickness and the other in flexibility.

  Name: Alex

  Level: 95

  Race: Human

  Traits: Survivability, Adaptation, Hangry

  Class: Shadowstalker, level 95

  Profession: Crystal Singer, level 67

  Stats:

  STR: 363(382)

  QUICK: 673(899)

  FLEX: 666(888)

  TOUGH: 380(420)

  INT: 667(856)

  FORT: 678(867)

  WILL: 413(452)

  CHA: 248(270)

  FREE: 0

  Monstrosity: 6%

  Titles & Achievements:

  Jack-of-all-Trades

  Lucky Stars

  Giant Slayer

  Songweaver

  Citizen

  Ahead of the Curve

  The First

  System Enforcer

  Rogue Ascendant

  Skill: 9/10

  Fortified Adaptation - II

  Crystal Transcendence

  Perceptive Awareness

  Unwavering Hunter

  Shadow Walking

  Blades and Polearms - I

  Venomous Chomp - II

  Tensile Claw Strike

  Sovereign’s Call - V

  My stats had grown substantially with the new class. Just the amount that each level gave bumped me up a lot, yet I didn’t feel it the same way anymore. I didn’t get that rush, which was both a blessing and a curse.

  Thirty levels separated my class and profession. An evolution needed to happen, but I wasn’t sure the best way to go about doing it besides finding a way to use Runes.

  Closing my character sheet, I shook my head with a sigh. Then I noticed the distracted, silent presence of Kabi.

  “Are you okay?” I went for the blunt question, to get it out in the open. We didn’t seem to have time for nuance, given Lenna’s anxious looks toward the exit.

  Kabi jerked, but didn’t reply for a moment. “He rushed us out of there before I could be registered as his heir.”

  “Yeah, I noticed that.” I tapped my fingers on my leg. “What happens if you register?”

  Kabi shrugged his shoulders and his eyebrows drew together.

  “Something bad enough that they didn’t want it to happen to you, or your brother,” added Lenna. “They sent you north to keep you safe, but that was when they assumed your uncle was in control.”

  I’d missed that little bit of information until Lenna brought it up.

  “Let’s just get outside for a bit more…” said Lenna, softer than usual. “I really miss the trees.”

  At least I’d gotten a break, seeing the Lake even if it wasn’t real. Lenna didn’t even get that. Though, I wasn’t sure exactly what happened when she spoke with the stars.

  Everyone agreed, and we quickly packed up, which took no time at all.

  Kabi took the lead out of the barrow, quieter than usual. He continued heading north as we all stepped out into the fresh air.

  Strange darted ahead, as I kept pace with Kabi, not wanting him to feel on his own. No matter what, we were a team.

  I kept my radar extended as far as Strange stayed ahead. That’s when I noticed three Azurafolk approaching.

  “We’ve got company…” The words were barely out of my mouth when I dodged to the side. An arrow sliced through my old spot near Kabi.

  What the heck?

  Strange crept closer, getting a better look at the three blue Azurafolk.

  [Danlino, Runic Apprentice, Level 98, Prey, Unknown.]

  [Deveno, Sword Spinner, Level 110, Prey, Unknown.]

  [Natbino, Huntsmen, Level 105, Prey, Unknown.]

  Kabi’s swords flashed up, blocking the arrows aimed for him.

  I ducked down behind the hilltop, trying to figure out why they attacked us.

  Strange remained unseen, coming up behind them.

  “What are you doing?” growled Danlino as he smacked the one who’d fired the arrows. “We aren’t here to fight!”

  Deveno smirked and took off toward us with a sword in each hand.

  “Of course we're here to fight, Danlo,” added Natbino, chuckling. “Dev needs to remove the potential heir to keep his place.”

  Then he fired several more arrows at us, though most were aimed at Kabi.

  “He hasn’t registered yet,” argued Danlino. “There is a palace for this!”

  Natbino shoved Danlino with a growl. “Weakling!”

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  Lenna fired an arrow, and Natbino smirked as a shield appeared in front of him. The arrow sliced right through it, taking him in the shoulder. His scream echoed through the hills.

  Strange darted in and nipped his leg.

  Dengu raced to Strange’s location as Lenna continued returning fire.

  Deveno met Kabi with four swords at the ready, clearly intent on his purpose.

  Kabi gave off the vibe that if I interrupted his fight, he’d get upset, so I headed to the other fight, which already had too many participants.

  Dengu stood over Danlino as he sat on the ground with all four hands up. He refused to look at the two other fights taking place, focused instead on the large, strange, very toothy beast who clearly wanted to eat him.

  A presence trembled at the edges of my radar, coming from the fields.

  I paused, glancing back the way we’d come before we slept, and I studied the landscape in the distance. The field rippled.

  [Flora Maw, Unknown, Unknown, Predator.]

  The green grass crested the hill in the distance, like a wave of water. Lenna's reference to a bog made me swallow.

  “Guys, time to move…” I said as I darted in the other direction, closer to Strange and Natbino. “Kabi, wrap that up now!”

  Natbino kicked at Strange, who’d been distracted by my words.

  I felt his pain as he flew up and whimpered.

  Anger rushed through me faster than I expected as I moved. Without even connecting the dots, my fist slammed into Natbino’s face with my burning knuckles. Their head snapped back as they staggered to the ground.

  Blood from the arrow pooled beneath him.

  I picked Strange up, cuddling him to my chest to touch the healing stone before he vanished into my shadow.

  That ability was way overpowered.

  “Let’s go!” I ordered the others. The presence of the devourer pushed closer, swallowing up another hill.

  Lenna shot me a confused look as Natbino didn’t get up from where he’d fallen. His chest still rose, though who knew for how long.

  “Lenna, Dengu, move!” I didn’t dare point in the direction it came from, not wanting to draw any attention to the fact that I could sense it so far out. Noseen warned me that devourers didn’t eat other devourers, but my friends were fair game.

  I also might have awakened it with my presence. No way was I gonna mention that either.

  Dengu shot after me, leaving behind Danlino, who scrambled to his feet.

  Kabi shoved Deveno back with a random kick before cutting deep into one of his arms. My stomach growled at the coppery scent.

  Danlino stared at the blood around his friends for a moment before darting after us.

  Finally, Kabi joined our fleeing group.

  I let everyone else pass me but Danlino. No one questioned me as I hung back.

  “Are you gonna cause us trouble?” I asked, keeping my voice level.

  “No trouble, just gonna outrun that with you…” His voice trembled as he glanced back, before his head snapped to me. “The plant creature only awakens at night. It shouldn’t be up right now. We have hours yet…”

  He stumbled slightly, and I grabbed an arm, pulling him upright before continuing.

  The presence behind us paused when it reached the area of the fight. Dev hadn’t noticed it coming up behind him, where he checked on the downed archer.

  Too bad, so sad.

  [You have gained experience from battle.]

  And that took care of that.

  The Maw didn’t continue into the hills, but it stayed in its current location.

  Finally, I slowed down after we put some distance between it and us. Everyone else followed suit.

  “What was that?” asked Lenna, her eyes wide and fingers clenched around her bow. “We didn’t fight one of those!”

  “That is why we ran,” I said, not wanting to mention exactly what it was in front of Danlino.

  “My father didn’t mention anything like that at all.” Kabi shook his head, but kept glancing behind us.

  “It showed up after the first attack,” huffed Danlino. He bent forward, trying to catch his breath. “Bodies just gone each evening outside the walls.”

  Lenna shivered, her eyes wide as Dengu paced next to her. His head bobbed up and down.

  Strange’s head poked out of my shadow as he chirped twice before hiding back inside.

  I paused on the top of a smaller hill with several boulders on it. “Care to tell us what that was all about?” I asked our newest companion, though at this point, he could just as easily be another casualty.

  I wasn’t the only one who suddenly focused my attention on Danlino.

  “Dev found out pretty rapidly when the Prince picked up the new bonds of the warriors out on the battlefield. He’d tried again earlier this week and failed…” His eyes flickered to Kabi, who paced back and forth. “He was his father's heir, but not powerful enough to take over.”

  “Which means Kabi was competition,” I said with a frown, eyes narrowing. “Doesn’t that make him your cousin?”

  “He was…” said Kabi, shaking his head. “This mess is why my father told us to leave…”

  “Dev said he just wanted to get a feel for your skill level. He shouldn’t have started a fight, not until after the ceremonies…” His voice trailed off and he swallowed hard, shaking his head.

  Kabi snorted and stomped ahead from the rest of us.

  “And what about you?” I asked, pulling together the picture.

  “They were my friends at one point. I swore to help Dev as he grew in power, but that was before he failed to take over the first time. After that, he became mean… He wouldn’t make a good regent of Steadfast, but none of us thought there was any other choice.”

  The rune on my chest blazed with confidence that everything he said, he truly believed. I was relieved, since I didn’t want to deal with layers of lies right now. There was too much distrust and dishonesty already.

  “Why didn’t you break the bond?” I asked, still feeling the tension rolling off of Kabi. I touched the edges of the connection, which stopped the vibrations coming from the string connecting us.

  “Break the bond?” He jerked back as his blue eyes grew wide, and he stumbled. “I’m a craftsman. Our bond is one where I create him things; if I broke that, I’d be out of a job. No one would work with someone so dishonored.”

  Kabi paused in his marching to glance over at the young man. This time full of confusion.

  “You’re a runic apprentice. Isn’t that important?” he asked.

  Only parts of this made sense to me. Wasn’t Kabi supposed to help his brother get up here to find a Master to study under?

  “I couldn’t find a Master to take me on; it was only with Dev’s support that I could pay for teaching to level up. Not that a warrior like you would…” He frowned, glancing between Kabi and me. “Craftsmen can get stuck without anyone to teach them the proper way to do things.”

  I almost commented about my own experience, but then my thoughts went to Sang and how she’d reacted when I experimented with the crystals. The tears dripping down her face as I combined the water crystal with another. While I had just assumed it was my responsibility to figure things out, that didn’t mean he would. Or most people, for that matter.

  Kabi circled back around to us, this time with a more calculated look on his face. “What can you tell us about this area?”

  “Just that we’ve been fighting for a while, and losing since people couldn’t connect.” Danlino’s eyes stayed on Kabi’s hands. “The creatures come in waves each day.”

  “They might be back then…” I muttered, reaching out around us.

  The Forger had run off, but if we got close enough to it, I’d be able to track it down. I’d only felt one escaping. If I’d destroyed the only cloning facility, then they were done for good. Or at least I hoped so.

  An enemy that kept coming back again and again would get old and frustrating.

  “We should keep moving, and find another barrow before dark,” said Kabi, searching the hills around us.

  “What about me?” asked Danlino, his eyes lifting to each of us. All of his hands were empty as he lightly raised them up.

  This wasn’t like Jennifer, and part of me wanted to leave him behind. Yet, it didn’t feel the same. He hadn’t tried to hurt us, and he’d been put between a rock and a hard spot.

  Kabi glanced at me, then at Danlino, shrugging his shoulders. He wanted nothing to do with this, and I didn’t blame him. As far as I knew, the Azurafolk didn’t fight one another. Though obviously that was wrong in the literal sense.

  “Well, Dan, you better keep up.” It was the best I could get out.

  “It’s Danlino…” he mumbled, yet I didn’t respond.

  I took the lead this time, keeping lookout for any of the strange grass. While the flowing grass behind us stopped before it came into the hills, I didn’t dare let my guard down. Strange stayed inside my shadow, content to take a nap after his healing.

  The hills continued, but I did my best to aim for the east, yet at an angle to stay within them. Every time we veered too close to the edge of the hills and toward the grasslands, the hair on the back of my neck rose.

  A soothing breeze kept us nice and cool, given that there wasn’t any shade to be found.

  None of us moved quietly. The grass crunched under our feet, dry as all heck. Kabi even kicked up some dust as he padded across the hills.

  I really missed the forest and trees.

  Nothing pinged on my radar. These hills were silent. It only increased my nervousness. The only time everything felt this dead was when something big hunted there. With the grasslands on one side, it just didn’t make sense. The devourer hunted in the grasslands, but this area should be more occupied.

  Something brown rested near a small depression between two of the hills. I slowed down as I studied it.

  The carcass of a beetle. It reminded me of the ones that had come to Lakeside.

  I slowed down as I approached the carcass. “Hey Dan, what usually hunts in these hills?”

  “It’s normally full of creatures we hunt,” he said in a small voice. His fingers clenched, while his eyes darted around. “I’ve usually seen Mandens and Fardens by now.”

  I nodded, and then poked at the beetle remains with my foot. It crumpled into dust.

  I paused, then squatted down and touched the dust covering most of the grass. It was the same.

  “Just how big are those waves that hit the city…” How many creatures had crossed this area?

  “Massive,” said Danlino. “But we’ve held them off pretty good. It was only when the upright ones showed up that things got rough. The warriors took one out, but the other three didn’t care.”

  “Forgers don’t care about one another,” I growled, thinking of the cloning facility. If one never really died, why would they? We’d changed that and I bet they didn’t even know.

  Something flickered at the far edges of my radar, and my lips snapped shut. I crept up the hill, keeping lower, and peered over the crest of the hill.

  I narrowed my eyes. A small trail of dust rose in the air.

  Strange appeared near my feet, blinking. “Me go see…”

  Then he just took off without waiting for me to say anything. Freaking little stinker.

  Yet, my senses remained targeted on whatever moved. As Strange dashed along the depressions between hills, staying low, I tracked the moving target. Finally, he laid eyes on it.

  My mouth watered at the image. A beetle carried giant chunks of something bleeding in its claws over its head.

  A blood trail came from deeper within the hills.

  Strange kept pace with the beetle, and I pulled back.

  “Found a beetle leaving a kill sight.” I couldn’t help but grin. We’d found a path.

  We slowly crept forward, and I leaned toward the kill sight as my stomach growled. We hit the blood trail first, and everything inside me screamed to let Strange track the beetle while we went the other way.

  Dengu leaned down and sniffed it.

  “I’m gonna check out the kill sight,” I said at the same time Leana turned in that direction and pointed.

  “We should check out what happened.” She blinked at me and nodded.

  The breeze brought more of the tasty coppery smell.

  “It’s not far,” I mumbled as I started walking, ignoring as best I could how my mouth watered.