After two hours passed, Vas was starting to fall asleep.

The Decoys couldn’t wait forever.

The snowfall had probably made their tracks impossible to follow.

If the Risen were unable to find prey, the monsters would most likely assume that Vas had headed north. After all, why would humans go further south?

Vas gave himself a light slap on the face.

If he counted his time being unconscious, he had already taken a two hour nap.

He could make it for the rest of the day. He had to.

Vas nudged Jade until she opened her eyes. She drowsily pulled her scarf down and pushed some of the snow into her face. Then she shivered.

“OKAY that was not a good idea.”

Vas smiled and crawled down the back of the hill to where the other two were sleeping. Alex woke quickly and helped kick Joust awake.

When they were all standing and ready to go, Vas pulled out his compass. He tried estimating where the group camp would be and aimed ahead of that position.

“We should go before Joust falls asleep again.” Alex poked Joust as she said the words.

“I’m awake,” Joust growled at her. She giggled.

“We should be able to catch the main group tomorrow, if we’re lucky.” Vas decided it was time to cut into their banter before things went too far. “But the only way we can do that is if we march hard today.”

“I’d rather just sleep longer and let the search take an extra day or two,” Alex complained. Joust nodded in agreement.

Vas ignored them. If they couldn’t already see how dangerous traveling was with four people, he didn’t see the point in explaining it.

“Let’s go.”

Jade walked beside him, and the pair of troublemakers fell in behind them after a few grumbles.

They entered the forest at the bottom of the hill and Vas directed them south-west.

It wasn’t long until they could hear birds. The chirping animals were something Vas had forgotten about. He looked up to try and catch a glimpse of one, but couldn’t see any.

“Do you hear that?”

Vas glanced at Jade, who had her head cocked to the side.

“The birds?”

“No, the water.”

Jade started wandering to the east. Vas almost stopped her, then decided better of it. They were all excited by the prospect of fresh running water.

No wonder the frozen lake the night before had cracked. The weather must be getting warmer.

They reached a small stream after a few minutes of searching.

Vas emptied his filter cup onto the snow and put the cup in the water.

These particular cups had a filtration system built into the bottom. You could stuff snow or water into the bottom, which unscrewed.

After that, screw the bottom on, shake a little, unscrew the top, and drink.

Vas took a drink from his cup. The water was very cold, but it felt nice. He let out a long sigh.

“Vas, take the glove off your left hand. Let’s wash the wound.”

Jade had her cup filled and ready to pour already. Vas suspected this had been her scheme ever since she’d heard the running water.

Vas reluctantly unwrapped his hand, which sent jolts of pain through him. Pulling off the glove was just as difficult.

Joust and Alex watched with worried faces. Alex grimaced and looked away when Vas finally got the glove off.

Jade took the bandage and handed it to Joust, “Wash this for me, please.” Joust grunted in affirmation.

“It might hurt a bit. A lot.”

Jade took her gloves off and flexed her fingers. She grabbed her bottle of water.

“Try not to scream.”

Vas smiled a little. Scream? He hadn’t screamed when the bolt had shot into his hand, or even when he’d yanked it out. The most painful thing he’d done was stuff snow into the wound. . . Oh.

Jade poured the water onto his wound, and Vas couldn’t keep his body from shaking violently. The pain of the cold water almost knocked him unconscious. His world flashed white.

Vas opened his mouth wide, wanting to scream.

Jade grabbed his hand and used her fingers to rub the edges of the wound. She also helped keep his hand steady. It felt like hours of endless pain had all hit him at once.

Jade dropped her cup onto the snow and took Vas’s hand in both of hers. She examined it for a few moments. “Could I get that bandage back?”

Joust handed her the wet cloth. She wrapped it around Vas’s hand deftly and tied it on the side of his hand.

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“Give me your glove. Alex, can you sew it while we walk?”

Jade took the glove from Vas and handed it to Alex.

Alex shook her head, “It’d be better if we could use a patch.”

“Just stitch it closed for now?”

Alex nodded.

“Ow,” Vas hissed belatedly. He’d stopped himself from saying anything until now, worried he might scream.

Alex gave Vas an apologetic smile, “You did a good job being quiet.”

She sounded genuine, so Vas smiled back. “It hurt.”

Joust nodded, “That’s always the worst part. Well, that and how bad it itches as it heals.”

Vas didn’t look forward to itching skin.

“We sho—” Vas tried to say that they should get moving, but in doing so he’d turned around quickly.

His world went black for a few moments, and he was unable to see. There was a sharp buzzing sound in his ears. He took deep breaths and kneeled on the ground.

He felt Jade’s hand touch his forehead. He could hear her talking, but couldn’t make out the words.

Vas closed his eyes and focused on breathing. The buzzing sound went away after a few moments.

When he opened his eyes, Jade was crouching in front of him. “Just give yourself a few minutes before you get up. When you get up, do it slowly. Understand?” Vas nodded.

“Let’s fill up our cups and be on our way.”

Alex was staring at Vas. Joust kept glancing at him.

They were worried about him.

Hell, he was worried about him.

Jade seemed to be the only one who remained calm.

Jade clapped her hands. “Let’s go.”

Vas glanced at her.

He noticed something in the brush crouched behind her, a dark shape.

It was inching towards her.

He gripped his compass in his right hand.

“Jade, duck!” He yelled the command suddenly. Jade turned to him, confused.

When she saw him about to throw something, she dropped to the ground.

Vas launched the compass directly at the charging wolf’s head.

The charging animal’s mouth was foaming, and it snarled when the compass knocked it to the ground.

As soon as the compass flew past her, Jade leapt to her feet, drew her katana, and sliced at the animal. Her blade met flesh, but it was too shallow.

The wolf growled and lunged toward Jade, who drew her arm up to protect herself.

The wolf slammed into the ground.

Joust stood beside the beast, which he had cut in half with his battle axe. Alex had also already reached Jade with her two scimitars drawn.

Joust pulled his axe out of the ground and spat. “Can’t catch a break, can we?”

Vas stood slowly and smiled wryly at the big man. Between the two of them, Vas was taller. However, Joust had far more muscle.

“Good thing we have you here to remind us of it,” he joked.

Alex snorted. “He told you! Was this the only wolf? I thought they hunted in packs.”

Vas was already scanning their surroundings and started to shrug when he saw Joust waved a hand dismissively. “Wolves are wimps. They only really attack people when rabid. And when they’re rabid, they’re alone.”

Every time Joust hit them with his random animal facts, Vas was amazed by the depth of knowledge. With the bear he’d had his doubts, but Joust had been right. He supposed the man would be right about this as well.

The group readied their equipment, Vas retrieved his compass, and they set off.

Just as the sun was setting later that day, they reached the end of the forest and found a clear area.

To Vas’s surprise, they found the main group setting up for camp there.

They arrived and were greeted by cheers and excitement. Selene ran up and gave each of them a hug, while Tare and Fem both shed relieved tears.

Hugs and stories were plentiful.

Alex spent hours in a clearing in the middle of the encampment telling the story after story. The tale of Vas catching a crossbow bolt and using it to kill a Risen. The story of Vas running into the fray to rescue her and Jade from a hundred thousand Risen, then carrying everything until he passed out. Her rendition of the wolf incident.

Vas, Jade and Joust fell asleep in the group tent while listening to the stories.

They heard later about Alex falling asleep in the middle of telling a story and being carried to her bag by Tare and Fem.