“Yahh!” Josh’s exceptionally non-standard club crunched down on the back of the chimera, crumpling its spine with an audible crack. Its legs and body fell limp, but its hissing tail still struck out at him. He slapped it hard with his off-hand, tearing the snake part free and splattering it against the nearest wall. “Last one down. Next?”

“That was the last on the list.”

“Finally. Signal me if anything else comes up that your guys can’t handle.” He smacked his club against the ground to knock off the gore, gave it a quick spin, and stowed it away as he turned to go.

“You’re leaving?”

“You’ve got this, no need for me to babysit. I’ve got some long overdue visits to make. My ‘bosses’ have kept me chasing these things down for weeks, and I’m long overdue for a vacation.”

“Ah. In that case, I think the standard clearing squads can take it from here. Thank you.”

Josh waved and began to leave. A high raised banner caught his eye. Smiling, he swaggers over to the front of the elite hunters corps, ninth platoon, then crosses his arms as he listens to the platoon leader's debriefing.

He watched her, standing there so confidently, and remembered what she’d been like the first day they’d met. Recently arrived in Midrath and unfamiliar with the way of things, with who he was, but now?

As efficient as they come, she directed her platoon to their task of aiding Zion’s adopted races. Separating the platoon into squads that fit their specialities to best accomplish each delegated task took all of ten minutes, in which she didn’t realize Josh stood behind her. For the entirety of her debriefing, he made eye contact with those curious elites that spared a moment to look his way.

When they were finally released to their duties, they broke formation and dissipated. Maria turned on her heels and crossed her arms. “I wondered who it was they kept glancing at.”

Josh gave her a shrug. “What can I say? I’m pretty awesome.” He thumbed toward the banner, then the ranked crest on her. “I see you got a promotion. It’s been a long time coming, all things considered.”

“You flatter me too much.” She dropped her arms and looked around to see if any of her platoon was still around. None were. Reaching up on her tip-toes, she planted a kiss on his cheek and smiled. “Heard you were running subjugation on the big bads in the rank two territories. I can’t imagine you struggling.”

He shrugged. “You aren’t wrong. Everything there was cannon fodder. I’d say only the groups of chimera were a threat to any of the elite squads.” He glanced toward where he knew the rank three territory was. “Really makes me wonder what kind of monster controlled the whole area and how Aiden did against it.”

Maria hummed, nodding. “You could almost make a girl jealous with how highly you speak of that man. Wish I could meet him one day.”

“He does have a habit of staying busy, that’s for sure. He makes me look bad.” Josh tapped Bartholomew against the ground and sighed. “Dude needs a break, but there’s nobody strong enough to help him. Some of the things he deals with…”

“I can only imagine.” A pregnant pause passed before she shrugged. “We can only do what we can do. And from what you mentioned before, he’s not entirely alone in his struggles.”

“Not anymore, right.” The memories of the early days still stung at Josh’s pride. “The best we can do is make sure things run smoothly so he has a home to come back to when all’s said and done.”

Maria took his hand in hers. “Exactly, so let’s see if there’s anything else for us to do.”

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

*

The rest of the day was spent helping supply resources to different platoons spread throughout the territories under Aiden’s control or to the relief and aid stations setup. A few times, Josh had to escort different refuges’ occupants out of immediate danger, since there was only so far that Zion’s forces could spread in such a short amount of time.

By the time the day came to an end, tension and restlessness were all that Josh felt. Being useful only went so far when he wasn’t distracted from the soul-wrenching pain that lingered from losing BB.

After getting back to the command post setup around the portal to Midrath, Josh found a quiet place away from anybody else. With his large club by his side, he sat in the darkness with his back against a tree atop a large hilltop.

The command post continued to operate through the night, magic lamplight keeping darkness at bay. His mind wandered endlessly, the attempts to distract himself ever-failing to keep his rage in check.

So engrossed was he, Maria’s presence by his side went unnoticed until she placed her hand in his own. No words needed to be exchanged. Comforting words would only be lost to the abyss. All he needed now was this, nothing more. Her with him, then and there, a calming presence that he need not be stressed further by.

He didn’t know how long it took for his nerves to finally calm enough for him to turn to her and acknowledge her presence. “I can’t keep doing this.”

“I know.” She squeezed his hand. “You don’t have to. You’ve done enough.”

“I haven’t. There’s so much more to be done. I have to help him, have to repay him, have to…” The unsettling frustration rose like bile in his throat, cutting off his words.

“You’re pushing yourself too hard. You need a break.” She hummed in thought. “Maybe you should find Aiden, talk to him. I bet he wouldn’t want you to push yourself like this.”

Josh stiffened at the idea of talking to Aiden now. Shame threatened to overwhelm. “No, not now. He can’t see me like this.”

“Do you think he’d be disappointed in you?”

“I know he wouldn’t, but I would, am.” He took a deep breath to try to steady his rising anger. “He’s already done so much for me. How could I ask him for more?”

“He’s a friend, isn’t he?”

He pulled his hand away and turned to look at her, nostrils flaring. “You don’t get it, okay? Please, let’s talk about something else.”

The hurt in her eyes only caused his chest to constrict tighter. “If that’s what you want…” She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. “I didn’t mean to make things worse. I was just trying to help.”

“Maria.”

“Right, sorry.”

“Maria.”

Her lips drew a thin line. She looked away from him and the encampment. An uncomfortable silence settled in, one that lasted who knew how long, broken only when she snapped her fingers. “I’ve got an idea.”

He fought the urge to get up and leave, knowing it would hurt her more. She was trying to help, after all. “What is it?”

“Let’s go find our families. We’ve been doing so much to help around here when we don’t even know if our own families are okay. Let’s go.” She stood up and held her hands out for him to take. “It’ll be a good break, and we can justify it as a rescue op.” She smacked her forehead fairly hard. “I’m so stupid for not thinking of it sooner, but this is perfect.”

“We can’t just leave—”

“We’re not doing anything else right now. There’s no reason that we can’t go and find them and bring them to the command post or one of the other refugee camps.” She must’ve seen something in his face, because she deflated. “Please…?”

“Fine, let’s go.” He took her hands and rose. “But where do we start?”

“You’re familiar with the higher ups. You could likely ask one of them to see a map of the searched regions, and we can start with someplace that hasn’t been checked. Or we can go to in-processing and see if they’ve been brought in to the command post but haven’t been registered yet.” Once she got started, she kept going, breaking down all the different methods to track someone down or reciting protocol for where they’d be if they were already found.

It helped distract him from all the pain and rage, and for that, he was thankful. “I trust your judgment. Lead the way.”

No sign remained of her upset, deflated pout, and her energy was infectious. Before he knew it, they were moving, and he had a smile on his face.

He didn’t know where he’d be without Maria but was ever-thankful for her putting up with him.