"The water tribe is going to war with the Forgers?" asked Kabi.

Rees nodded his head slowly. "Our people were captured during a fact-gathering mission. We need them back."

He motioned to one of the water people behind him, who approached.

"Geto knows where they are being held, along with a group of Forest-dwellers." He hesitated, then bowed his head. "They all have collars on, but from what we've gathered they only have a little time before they will be taken to the camp."

Geto and a few of the others shivered at the word camp.

"What's the camp?" I asked, jumping into the conversation.

"A scientist runs it. He does things to those he takes. They do not return."

"Or, if they do, they are broken. Death is the release," added Geto with a solemn look, before bowing his head. His fighters tightened by his sides.

He must have lost someone that way.

"Are you speaking of Dilom?"

"That demon!" Geto's eyes locked on me and he bared his teeth. "Where?"

"I spotted him in the forest, near Needlecrest's summer village," I said, thinking back to the Forger in a lab coat. The damp rock under me felt uncomfortable, and I wanted to hurry this up.

"That is some distance away from the camp." Rees frowned before looking at me. "We must hurry. Will you help get our people back?"

"As long as we free everyone we safely can," I replied, thinking of Kabi's family that had scattered within the jungle to draw attention away from us. "I will not leave people behind of either tribe if it can be helped."

"All those we can remove from them, the better."

Geto nodded to Rees. "We will travel through the water. They can't track us that way."

He motioned through the broken wall.

I turned to Kabi. "You're coming, right?"

"Yes, I will join you."

"I will as well," said Lenna, walking across the open space. "Can't let you have all of the fun."

Geto frowned, staring at her. "Your level is low. It will be hard enough to keep Alex alive."

I chuckled. I couldn't help myself. "Kabi, have you needed to keep me alive, since I regained consciousness?"

"No." The warrior bowed his head, then turned to Geto, continuing. "Alex saved us, and helped kill a Forger." He stood up, almost glaring at Geto now. "She leads us, though with a different path."

Geto paused, along with Rees, then stared at me, sizing me up. "She leads you?"

"My life is in her hands," said Kabi with a small bow. "We all owe our lives to her. She blew up the teleportation ring at the outpost."

"I stand corrected." He waved at Lenna and me. "Come, we must hurry."

We followed him through the opening in the broken wall. On the other side, a wooden boat floated on the surface. It was larger than a rowboat, but similar in design, with three rows of bench seating and the sides curved up a little taller. The front came to a point, along with the back. So, not like a rowboat at all. There didn't seem to be an engine or ores.

Geto climbed inside as the rest of us followed. He touched the edge of the front of the boat and a white rune flared to life. The boat moved on its own, quickly speeding along the surface of the water into the darkness beyond the mushrooms.

My eyes quickly adjusted as the boat raced down what had been a street cut through the mountain. Empty buildings stood on either side, then something tingled at the edges of my senses.

"What is that?" I asked.

Geto's eyes widened. "You feel the barrier?"

"I feel something."

"You will see in a moment. It's one of our homes."

"You live in the city," whispered Kabi under his breath.

"Of course."

Light flickered ahead after a sharp turn, and there it was. A soft blue barrier covered an area reaching from stone wall to stone wall. The boat passed right through and continued on its way. A canal was cut through the city that rushed around us. People walked down streets at a higher level, and bridges crossed over top of the canal.

No one paid us any attention, but plenty of people were gathered in groups practicing with swords, spears, and daggers.

Information bombarded me from every side as it popped up, flashing by so quickly it almost made me dizzy. Finally, I closed my eyes to block it all out. My radar thrummed with the sensations of everyone we passed. I made it smaller, than smaller still, trying to find some stillness in the cacophony.

Lenna placed a hand on my shoulder, and I focused on that.

Too many auras and presences surrounded us. Finally, it lessened, and Lenna dropped her hand.

When I opened my eyes, Kabi stared at me in concern.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. That's the most people I've ever been around with my skills…"

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"Sensory overload," he muttered.

I nodded, glad he understood.

"Where are you from?" asked Geto. "This city is one of our smaller ones."

Kabi glanced at him in surprise, his fingers gripping the edge of the boat. "That was a small one?"

"Our people rule the waters, and the south-lands, your people broke off from one of the northern tribes. They are more pretentious than we."

"Why are your people going to war?" My voice floated in the darkness. "For real, this time."

"The Forgers need to be removed from our planet. They are pests that must be extinguished. By the time we discovered them, it was too late to stop them from getting a hold on the north, but we will not allow them to remain."

"Do they even realize you're a different tribe?"

"No, and we need it to stay that way," grumbled Geto, side-eyeing Kabi. "Our people shouldn't have been caught, but a Forest-dweller revealed them."

"The collars demand obedience, even when someone fights," said Kabi, meeting his gaze. "I fought long and hard enough so that they decided to kill me, but even so, there were times I was forced to obey."

"Yet you still stand."

"Because of Alex."

Geto went quiet, and I studied him.

[Geto, Skirmisher, Level 120, Predator, Unknown.]

"We will be coming out onto the surface," warned Geto. He touched another rune on the boat and energy washed over all of us.

It made my skin tingle, and it felt reflective.

Dusty purple light took over, and I needed to blink a few times to see straight. Stars glimmered overhead as we practically flew above the water.

Kabi tensed beside me, but Geto stayed relaxed.

"We are meeting with another group who are tracking the captives. They are currently farther south, and moving north toward the camp. We will keep our distance from shore until we pass the camp by."

"When are you going to target the camp?" I asked, unable to look away from the wide open sky.

"Feisty, aren't you?" asked Geto. "We can discuss it once we finish this mission. If you are captured, we don't want you to be able to say anything."

"Makes sense," I said, keeping my eyes turned upward. Strange to think I'd wanted to discover a new planet and help settle the galaxy. This adventure hadn't been in my wildest dreams. Turns out the reality of colonization was nothing like what all that training had assumed.

The cool air washed over me, and I smiled. First dinosaurs, and now a purple sky with stars. My life couldn't get any more amazing. Except, maybe, if I could explore a city with some money. Get a legit hot shower, or soak in a tub and eat a real meal. Not just raw meat from a kill. That'd be amazing.

Lenna stared up at the stars with a soft look on her face. "Dengu, and my family, are out there."

"I bet Dengu and Grizzle are getting into trouble," I added, thinking of the two dinosaurs causing Abby all sorts of trouble. She'd love them.

Lenna turned to look at me with a smirk. "Dengu isn't going to get into trouble."

"I don't know. I bet he can totally get into trouble. I mean, he bonded with you…" I joked, elbowing her lightly in the side.

She shook her head lightly but her smile felt more real.

Hopefully, everyone was fine back at Lakeside Landing.

Geto pointed to the left. "The camp is there on the shoreline, but we are far away from it."

I stared in that direction, wondering what the Forgers were doing all the way out here. It felt like it was in the middle of nowhere.

Eventually, we headed back to the shore, with trees finally coming into view. The purple in the sky shifted from a dusty color to a deeper, darker color. It was beautiful.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked as it became clear we had to be getting closer to our goal, unable to keep quiet any longer.

"We have a team of 4, not including us. We will strike from the water. The goal is to get the collars off everyone before we get them into the big boat, but if needed we can remove them once we are on the waves."

"If they have a controller, they won't have that long," said Kabi, confused. "They can burn those collars remotely."

"What?" Geto paled, gripping the edge of the boat. "We didn't know that."

"The collars will need to be removed as quickly as possible, or the Forger needs to be distracted." Kabi let out a sigh. "They normally have a ring, it's made of the same crystal. If you can remove that, they can't control the collars at all."

"I will tell the others," he mumbled with wide eyes. The boat slowed down as we approached the shore. Small rocks and pebbles covered the area, and the cove was protected on both sides by towering rocks.

"Our group should circle around and strike from land, grabbing anyone collared."

Ghetto didn't reply, only nodded.

Beyond the shoreline stood a solid cliff after about fifteen feet of beach.

The boat slowed down, then drifted to the rocks and Geto touched the rune on the front. That reflective feeling vanished. A second later, a second, larger boat appeared next to us, with four others. Geto leaped from the front and joined the others, frantically talking.

[Sile, Skirmisher, Level 124, Predator, Unknown.]

[Bera, Tideblade, Level 119, Predator, Unknown.]

[Keto, Aquabruiser, Level 120, Predator, Unknown.]

[Jalco, Phantom Call, Shadowblade, Level 129, Predator, Unknown.]

All of them had levels much higher than ours. Still, I didn't want to miss out on this fight. I'd need to move quickly from collared person to collared person to remove them as fast as possible, and I was the only one who actually could do that part.

The three of us climbed out of the boat and onto the rocky shore.

Jalco waved at us. As she approached, she gave me a bright smile. "You are the one who can remove the collars?"

"Yes. We'll need to move from person to person as quickly as possible."

She pointed to a rune on her throat and another by her ear. "I can give each of you a temporary talking rune…"

"We've used them before," said Kabi. "My brother is a runic apprentice."

Her eyes widened. "He will be more than welcome with our people. So few are born with the ability."

Her words came out smoothly, and I triggered the rune on my chest. Warmth pulsed from it and I got the impression she told the truth.

From there, it didn't take long for us to get looped in with the runes.

"The group with the captives is traveling in the forest, but close to the shoreline not far from here. They will pass by this location within a few hours. We will hide along the path that they are on."

"The goal is to rescue as many people as possible." She glanced at me, then Lenna. "I don't know what a Pathfinder does, or a Shadowstalker… How do you fight?"

"I fight with my bow," Lenna smiled as she pointed to a location high on the rocks. "I can stay there and provide support."

"I fight with my spear, from the shadows. I'll get close to any collared folks and focus on freeing them. My goal won't be to actively engage with enemies." While I hated saying that, it made the most sense. Freeing people was my purpose here, not stabbing things. And the levels of the rest of the party made it clear that stabbing things would be a challenge, in any case.

"I will watch her back," said Kabi, stepping close with a sword in his hand.

Jalco frowned and bit her lip. "I can hide in the shadows as well. I can take her side."

"I follow her," he said, more demanding.

I wanted to roll my eyes at the comment, but I resisted. "Jalco can have my back. We'll start from the far side. You can help folks on this side. I'll meet you here."

He still appeared uncertain.

"I will protect her," said Jalco.

The fact that I might need protection in this fight made my skin bristle.

"Just how high level is the Forger?" I asked, under my breath.

"The slave master is level 110, the two Harvesters with him are level 100."

Thirty-five freaking levels on me. Well, fuck.

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