“Plan E,” I sent to Lenna, ready to stay as hidden as possible. She’d pass that along to Dengu.

  “Free the slaves, they can take him.” Her message almost caused me to jump, but if Lenna said they could deal with him, then I could free them.

  As long as I didn’t die trying.

  Speed. Everything had to be funneled into speed, and getting my hands wrapped around a collar. Once done, it'd change the battle.

  Time ticked by, but eventually a creature crept into the canyon. The other moved in a different direction.

  Holy smokes, they split up.

  That wasn’t possible. No one could be that…

  [Beeld, Commander, Aethlelian, Level 199, Predator, Unknown.]

  Beeld moved like they knew everything surrounding them. They had to be at least 7 feet tall, with broad shoulders, and an almost chiseled metallic skin that shone white under the harsh sun.

  Whatever it was, it was more humanoid then Kabi, walking upright on two legs with only two arms, but no hair. The clothing covering them clashed with the extraordinary appearance. Some rough cloth was just flung around them, with tears, mud, and jagged holes exposing a lot of the metallic skin.

  They weren’t holding a weapon.

  Eyes darted around the area as they marched closer, without a care in the world. They passed over me, but the fast-moving gaze nagged at the back of my mind.

  The Forgers hung back in the area where the last fight had taken place.

  Beeld paused near the runes, studying the ground, then took a massive step over the trap.

  I swallowed hard and waited. It was like facing Kabi’s mother, but worse.

  They passed by my shadowy area, and I steadied myself, making sure my weapon remained on my belt. I did not need to piss this person off.

  Just free them.

  I let out a shallow breath, then leaped, aiming for the Aethlelian’s back.

  He didn’t react even as my hand wrapped around the collar.

  “Ah, there you are… Such a shame,” his words cut off as I yanked and fell to the ground behind him. The crystal flowed around my hand and into a ball, screaming at me to help. I soothed the presence inside as I shaped it into a ring.

  Beeld didn’t move.

  I rolled back away from my trap runes and waited.

  A sword appeared in his hand, and his free hand reached up and ripped the cloth off his body. As he did, a dark blue uniform appeared in its place, covering him much more effectively.

  He twisted to look at me with an almost manic grin. “We will speak soon.”

  Then he was gone. Dust rose from the place he’d lifted off with his foot.

  That was all.

  Much more dangerous than Kabi’s mom.

  Slowly, I let out my breath and carefully started back the way I’d come. The crystal from the other collar wasn’t far.

  By the time Dengu joined me, we peeked around the corner to find a mess.

  The Forgers were dead, and Beeld held another of his kind in a headlock. His eyes locked on me. “There you are. Can you free him?”

  I nodded, and before I could move closer, they were right in front of me.

  Seconds later, he let the other, now free, man go, who also yanked off the ragged cloth to be replaced by what seemed to be a uniform. This time, no weapons appeared.

  Lenna leaped down from above behind me, landing near Dengu.

  The other stretched up before turning to look at Beeld. They definitely had a conversation that wasn’t verbal, before the two of them turned to look at me.

  “What is your plan for us?” Bleed asked.

  “Plan?” I jerked back in surprise. “I don’t have a plan…”

  Lenna inched closer. “We are working at removing the Forgers from this planet. Alex has been freeing any slaves she can.”

  “Worthy goal, for one so young.” Beeld stared at me, making everything inside me want to tremble, before nodding. “We will help you with this, before we leave this place and return home.”

  [Current pledges: Lenna, Kabi, Strange, Holls, Beeld.]

  Beeld smiled at me, and then the two of them vanished.

  I blinked a few times and stretched my senses out in all directions, but nothing came up.

  “What was that?” I asked.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  “You making friends, like always” replied Lenna. “Though, I didn’t realize they would be so effective. Plus, you’re not going to believe this.”

  I turned to look at her and motioned for her to continue.

  “The Forgers don’t know the cloning facility is down, or at least these two didn’t.” She motioned to the red smear on the ground. “They saw the body and lost their composure.”

  It took a few seconds to really think about how we could use that to our advantage.

  “They didn’t have a clue?” It made sense that the higher-ups wouldn’t want to let the hired folks know that if they died here, it was real. The Forgers played very loose, and took way more risks then I would in their position.

  But that was to our advantage, and keeping something like this a secret from the rank-and-file? We could use that.

  “We need to regroup with Kabi before more of the Forgers show up.”

  Lenna nodded and smiled at Dengu, before climbing back up the wall of the canyon.

  The next meet up point wasn’t too far away.

  Dengu and I raced through the rocks heading in that direction, yet something felt off. The connection between Kabi and I hummed with energy, and my eyes widened.

  “Kabi’s in trouble…” I huffed as we sped up.

  We cared less about leaving a trail as we rushed to his location. Growls came from ahead as we turned another tight corner.

  I almost back-pedaled as something massive blocked the way. This area was a wider point in the canyon, and on the opposite side we’d set up a funnel. Nothing should be in the way.

  The rock shifted as a huge appendage swung at someone we couldn’t see.

  Without thinking too hard about it, I leaped up using my soar ability. Up I flew, even higher than the canyon walls, to the cracked topside.

  Hot air slammed into me, and then I started to fall, but not before a dark shape in the air turned in my direction. The Golaith beak pointed right at me as it twirled about in the air.

  Thankfully, the direction changed as gravity took over. Turning my attention back to the stone golem thing, I landed not so gracefully on its shoulder area.

  Kabi dodged in front of the giant rock creature as a massive hand slammed down.

  On the far side of the open area, a large snake creature hissed at the Golem.

  I yanked back at the last moment from striking the rock creature. “Kabi, retreat! Incoming!”

  I then leaped back to Dengu, who sniffed at the creature's backside.

  “Rock hard,” he said with a sad voice.

  “Not our fight…” I added, as Kabi dodged around the golem.

  The violent hiss came again, and Kabi started running back the way we’d come. “It’s a gas!”

  We all followed.

  A dark shape passed overhead, cutting off the sunlight for a second. We all sped up.

  “Is that…” asked Kabi.

  “Yes, I saw it coming.” I kept my eyes peeled. “We should retreat to the safe area.”

  Rocks fell off the side of the cliff as Lenna launched herself down. “We need to move, now!”

  No one argued as she took off, going in a different direction then we’d planned. Multiple times she glanced up and her eyes remained that deep silver glow. Finally, she slowed down as we approached the area with the runic safe house.

  Multiple presences flared on my radar, and I jerked to a stop with a hand up.

  I pointed ahead, and motioned I would scout out the remaining distance. Strange didn’t come up nearby, so I knew it couldn’t be reinforcements from Steadfast.

  [An OFFENDER has been detected in your area with a bounty. You have been given a temporary boost to stats and abilities.]

  [Jetzo, Mercenary, Level 130, Predator, Unknown, OFFENDER.]

  [An OFFENDER has been detected in your area with a bounty. You have been given a temporary boost to stats and abilities.]

  [Deale, Mercenary, Level 133, Predator, Unknown, OFFENDER.]

  [An OFFENDER has been detected in your area with a bounty. You have been given a temporary boost to stats and abilities.]

  [Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Predator, Unknown, OFFENDER.]

  I backed away slowly after spotting several beetles and a few collared Azurafolk. I was thrown by the fact that the third OFFENDER notice didn’t have hardly any information on it.

  The Unknown name and level freaked me out a little, especially since the other two were already in the 130’s, and mercenaries to boot. The only time I’d seen that before was with Nessie, and frankly, I didn’t believe this thing could be in her league. Unfortunately, I had no way to really know.

  The biggest problem was, they were too close to the entrance to the hidden safe area for us to approach.

  I retreated to the others and we retraced our steps.

  “Is there a different way to the other tower?” I asked, trying to think of the mental map. I wished for Strange's ability to automap things out right now.

  Lenna shook her head. “No, the other path is already blocked, though the Aethlelians are hunting on the way to the fortress.”

  A grim smile crossed my face as I glanced up.

  “I dislike that look,” muttered Kabi. “Whatever you’re thinking isn’t going to go well.”

  “We could go above, or I could try to lure the Goliath to this location.” While I didn’t want to jump that high again, the Forgers would scatter if the Goliath came, same for the rest of them. We might even be able to free a few folks in the panic.

  “It might not help get us to the safe house, plus we cannot bring anyone else there…” said Lenna with a frustrated look.

  “Why not?” I asked, slightly confused.

  “Every time I ask about it, I get warned bad things would happen…” She ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m not willing to test that.”

  Dengu huffed and shifted from side to side. “Plan.”

  “I’ll jump up to get the Goliaths attention, and then we will retreat away from here and see what happens. We have that crack near the first area we can hide in. It isn’t as nice as a barrow, but it’s still hard to see.”

  I glanced at everyone and no one appeared impressed.

  “Unless…”

  “Let’s do it,” said Kabi, his eyes darting all over the place. “Just waiting here is unsettling me.”

  Taking a deep breath, I leaped up, this time using a little less power. I flew up and just barely landed on the topside. Again, that blinding sun hit me, like a wave.

  The Goliath flew in my direction with a limp snake in its grasp. I bounded up and down a little, and the second it noticed me, I started running.

  Panic gripped me, and I knew if I climbed back down we were fucked. I had to put a little distance between it and my friends. The presence of the Forgers and others with them shown on my radar like beacons.

  The Goliath flew much faster than I ran, each moment gaining on me. My lungs burned and sweat soaked down my back as I hurried, giving it my all until I finally jumped.

  The snake hit the ground first. Dust and rocks tumbled after me as I rolled, trying to limit the damage from the fall. My armor took the brunt, even as something snapped in my leg. I kept rolling, getting as close to the wall as possible.

  Screams echoed all around me as I curled up tighter into a ball in the shadows.

  This hadn’t been the plan, but as soon as it’d spotted me, I knew I was fucked.

  Hopefully, Lenna got the others to retreat.

  My radar buzzed around me as everyone fled in all sorts of directions. Something screamed at the Goliath. Yet, nothing seemed to notice me, and I yanked on the healing crystal to fix whatever I’d broken.

  Pain flickered through me as the cracked bone healed. I ground my teeth together to resist making a noise.

  I needed to get the heck out of here before anyone realized I’d caused this. And definitely before the Goliath noticed that its intended prey was just sitting here, waiting for it.