Fifteen minutes after that weirdly traumatizing, yet cathartic experience, I found my crew. They were in an open field about a mile down the road, watching Petri do tricks in the air. Kitz loved to show him off.

  I was rather fond of the hawk. During our journey here, Petri had been a lifesaver. With the hawk watching from the sky and Val's NPC and mob detection abilities, we were able to avoid most conflicts. Val wasn't always reliable, however, and Petri's surveillance only worked when Kitz was seeing through his pet's eyes, so we still got into a few scraps, including with that weird-ass frog, but we always kept moving forward. Beyond helping as overwatch, Petri was also our best hunter. When dispatched, the hawk would disappear, and after only a few minutes, it return with small game or even another bird between its talons.

  Between Petri's endless supply of fresh meat and all the food we had stolen from the Hunters' Guild, we had at least eaten well during those horrid weeks of constant fear and endless steps.

  As I approached the group, I watched Petri fly straight up to a daunting height before tilting back, wings tucked in a free fall. The hawk picked up speed as it fell like a rocket, and then it fanned out one wing and began to spin. It tucked the wing back in, and the hawk spun like a falling top as it dove straight to the ground. The bird had to be reaching speeds well over 100 miles per hour. At the last moment, it opened its wings and shot off at a nearly 90-degree angle, rocketing across the field, about three feet off the ground.

  I had never thought I would be impressed by a bird, but here I was. That boy could fly.

  "What do we have here?" I asked as I walked up to the group. Val’s avatar was still next to me. We had chatted off and on as we made our way here, but for much of the walk, we had been silent. Even during those long, quiet moments, Val was still there, visually, and that behavior was starting to concern me.

  Delen turned to me as I approached. "Young Kitz is showing off Petri's aerial skills. A moment ago, I asked if Kitz had the ability to fully control the hawk himself, but the boy growled at me!"

  I grinned at Delen. "So, stop asking the poor kid questions. Set your curious mind to a task other than studying our resident warg. In fact, there's a Tinker nearby. Her name's Tabby, and she's working on improving some of my gear. If you want to talk to someone about science and engineering and whatnot, you should go see her."

  Delen nodded. "Perhaps I will, as we have no plans for the day." He looked at me curiously. "We don't have any plans for the day, correct?"

  "Yes,” I said. “That is correct. You can do whatever you want today.”

  "Then, Tabby, here I come!"

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "Before you go running off, I need a word with everyone first."

  "What's this?" Ersabet asked. "Has our fearless leader decided on our next steps?"

  "I have," I said. "Our next destination will be Nessa. It's another week or two of walking from here, but we can take the roads this time. When we reach Nessa, we will take a portal to Liport, a small city on the Alturan coast.

  'Why?" Ersabet crossed her arms. "To what end?"

  "It's far away from Kurskin territory," I said.

  "Liport is, but Nessa is not," Ersabet pointed out. "It would be unwise for us to travel there. Word of your deeds is surely spreading among the Kurskin population."

  "There are no phones here," I said. "I'm sure there are some communication spells or skills, but my bet is that the people of Nessa know nothing of what went down in Danver yet. Word travels fast, but we can travel faster. All we need to do is use the portal, and we're gone."

  "Why Liport specifically?"

  "Because it's as far away from Danver as I can get."

  She looked down her nose at me. "Tell me the real reason, or I will not go with you."

  I clenched my fists, annoyed that Ersabet, of all people, would be giving me trouble in front of everyone else.

  "Come walk with me," I told her. "Delen, make sure Kitz doesn't poke someone's eye out with his hawk."

  Kitz laughed, and Delen looked like he was questioning whether I was serious or not.

  Ersabet and I, and, of course, Val, still present through her avatar, walked down the road ahead before having what I assumed would be a very frank discussion.

  "We'll be safer in Dalari territory," I finally said. "Why shouldn't we go there?"

  "How do you know of the existence of portals?" Ersabet asked. "Players know of them because we were taught about them in our years of training preceding the start of the game. How did you gain this knowledge?"

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Val staring daggers at me. "I know it the same way I know everything, okay? When are you going to accept that I'm just awesome?"

  Ersabet glared at me. "I am not in the mood for banter. Remembering your past life is one thing, but you cannot know of portals unless you were told of them, just as you can't know of the Triarchy unless someone made you aware of it. When will you tell me the truth? How far must I go to gain your trust?"

  I tried and failed not to glance at Val as she put a finger to her lips, telling me to keep quiet.

  I sighed. "Ersabet, I trust you with my life, but I can't tell you who told me."

  Ersabet stared at me in silence for a long, uncomfortable moment. "You can't or you won't?"

  "I can't," I said. "The truth would endanger both of us. After giving the people of Danver a taste of reality, I'm not inclined to take any more risks."

  She puckered her lips in thought. "So, you do have someone feeding you information. At least, that is confirmed."

  "I can't say anything else," I said. "Maybe someday I can share more, but until then, you just have to trust me. You've done a good job of that so far."

  "And look where that's gotten me," she said with a lighthearted smirk. "Whether you want to tell me or not, in time, I will have the truth from you."

  I bumped her arm with mine. "Right back at you. Don't think for a moment that I buy your line about just being in this for the fame."

  "What else is there for one of my kind?" she asked, but I could tell I had caught her off guard.

  I shrugged, not willing to push her. "I'm sure you'll answer that for me someday. For now, I don't care because I trust you and consider you a friend."

  Ersabet huffed. "You are like a dog, biting at my heel for affection."

  "I could see how that would be annoying." I gave her a toothy grin. "But you're a dog person. I can tell."