In what was possibly the first time in my life, the unthinkable had happened.

I had been wrong about something.

Although, I didn’t really feel like vocalizing this point and invite everyone’s comments on that. While I had expected danger to be looming around the next corner, the rest of the day went by without incident. It was almost disappointing, if it wasn’t for the fact that I adored spending time with those around me.

Standing above the corpses of my enemies was a close second, but also something I wasn’t about to tell Ren.

Instead, we had arrived at the town. Content enough to see that there were normal System-created people going about their business. Still awkwardly robotic and simple, but it was good enough for us to buy supplies and find lodging for the night. The three of us chose to sit out on doing the Quests, seeing as we were max level already, but found enough humor in sitting and watching the others running back and forth doing the mundane tasks.

We were keeping guard, of course. It was just peaceful. Unfortunately.

It didn’t take long for everyone to be done, and after grumbling about terrible rewards for a while, the Guild settled into having a few campfires set up while we ate and talked amongst ourselves.

Conversation turned to the worlds we had all originated from. I told them about what I had learned and people tried to work out the differences between their home worlds. Most seemed to come from a version of Othea. It took a lot of back and forth for them to decide on the three versions of that world.

From my understanding, the one that Ren came from was what came to mind when a fantasy world was imagined. It had magic and various types of ancestries, like something out of common pop culture knowledge back on Earth. Mentally, I named this Fantasy Othea.

Quinn and a couple of others came from a version that had no gods—or at least their powers were much weaker. Magic was more scarce and life was much harder. At first I was willing to brush that off as him being from a different area of the same world, but there were major geographical differences others brought up, and his view was echoed by the paladin in Fiona’s Party. I named this one Grimdark Othea.

To my surprise, Percius was from the third unknown Othea. After he let slip that he knew what Ren’s sniper rifle was, I immediately needled him with questions. Not from Earth, as he was well acquainted with orcs and goblins—something that was a factor in him joining the Party with Ruby. I had long suspected the man who attacked me with dual chainswords wasn’t from Earth either.

A world of technology and magic, the spellcaster told me. Although—he assured me—he was a bit of a luddite in those matters. He had been running a delivery through some wastelands to deliver arcane crystals—some manner of magical battery—when a portal had gobbled him up. Sci-Fi Othea was close enough a descriptor for me.

The three Earth were harder to differentiate, but I knew two of them already. Contemporary Earth, and Supernatural Earth. Normal Max from the first, and Demon Hunter Max from the latter. It was the easiest way to explain the presence of hell and actual demons. The third Earth was either too similar to one of those two, or we didn’t have anyone from there.

It was a long conversation that led us through into the early night.

Was there a point to it?

People liked to reminisce about where they had come from. Each of us was a whole story before arriving in this System world. Going back probably wasn’t possible, but I didn’t see anyone who looked as though that was their goal. Most importantly, it was something to distract us from what was ahead.

It worked so well that I totally blanked on what Ren was telling me as we settled into our room at the Inn.

“Hmm? Sorry, I was miles away.” I gave her a sheepish smile, but the scowl I had expected wasn’t present.

“Tell me what’s on your mind, trickster. You know it’s dangerous for your skull's wellbeing for it to be too full up.”

I nodded and laid next to her, pulling the covers up. “Just thinking about the future, I guess.”

She smiled and put her face closer to mine. “Quiet days at the cottage?”

“Sure, at first. I’m not sure… that will be enough. Talking about the worlds this evening, there are just so many questions I need answers to.”

Ren narrowed her eyes, but nodded gently. “The adventuring bug. We will never be satisfied sitting idle for too long.”

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“Dangerous,” I murmured.

“Unavoidable. You and I have the strength and willpower to create change wherever we go, fix the problems that others can’t. I bet you that the Lady in Red is just the first stepping stone.”

“Here I was thinking everything would be rather pedestrian after.” I leaned forward to give her a kiss. “Although, I’m sure there is a good reason why you are still fully dressed in bed.”

“As are you, trickster.” She ran a hand down the side of my face. “Are we addicted to danger?”

“Yeah.”

There was no denying it at this point. I had seen her eyes after we had defeated the Guardian. The drab expression when standing around being the healer while the others got experience from the Monster fields. We had been built around overcoming odds to the point that if we weren’t being challenged for our right to exist; we were bored.

So it was how we came to be laying in bed together, in our full outfits, waiting for the ambush.

It was coming, and we knew. Not just foresight this time, but as soon as we had arrived in our room, there was the feeling. The Guardian power of the person who could make clones or puppets. They had waited for everyone to retire for the night, so they couldn’t have good intentions.

Running through the potential scenarios had been why I had been too distracted to listen to Ren. An attempt on our lives was fifty-fifty. Prime targets but the hardest to kill. They’d know that, especially after last time. If they were smart, then they wouldn’t be coming alone. A fight in the dark wasn’t ideal, but we had ways of lighting up an area.

“How long do you think we have?” Ren asked. “I wouldn’t mind a bit of sleep.”

I closed my eyes. The feeling in my arm signaling a Guardian’s power was close was faint. Somehow I knew to filter out the two in my Party. “If it were me, I’d wait until… three in the morning or something. When people are most settled and out for the count. I don’t mind staying up to keep watch if you want a nap.”

She didn’t seem too pleased with the idea at first, but eventually gave me a sigh. “Fine. Crack the window a little so that I can put my bird out as soon as I’m up. The rooftop is the best place for me to be if we are attacked.”

“My demonic card is already in the Tavern across the road.” We had to split the Guild across two lodgings. “I was hoping to sneak some more Tokens from Percius, but he is really sick from all the mana potions. I told him the next batch is all mine, however. Sharing is fine, but I’m a little power hungry.”

“You won’t even share with me?” she asked, putting on a pout as her bright blue eyes twinkled.

I leaned closer to give her another soft kiss on her forehead. “No chance,” I whispered.

The elf groaned and turned away to face away from me, only partially annoyed at my greed. I took this as a sign to exit the bed, an act that received a second groan.

“You know that if I stay in bed to hold you, one of two things would happen. Neither is likely to be a beneficial for our defenses.” I stepped over to the window and pushed it open slightly, a wave of cool air coming into the room as Ren muttered something under her breath.

The times we spent apart were few and far these days, the month spent in hell acting as a time multiplier for our relationship, to the point that we felt like it had been years together. Out of everyone in this world, she was both the last person that needed my protection, yet the one I would have to protect most.

I pulled out a wooden chair from my inventory and sat beside the window. Just out of range of the cold breeze coming in. What was I really waiting for? A gut feeling to come to fruition. An ache in my arm knowing that we had gone uncontested for too long. Slaying a Guardian would have let the other two know. Our strength multiplying would not have gone unnoticed.

Yet still, there was something that gnawed at me. Like a bad smell, I’d only get slight whiffs off but couldn’t place. Danger was just outside of my sight, creeping at the edges of my peripheral. This opportunity, where we were all in one place and supposedly sleeping, would be too good to pass up. One of the few times before our attack on Candlekeep where we were weak and unprepared.

So, why did I feel like something wasn’t quite right?

I looked over at Ren. She was still facing away from me, bundled up under the covers. I couldn’t tell if she was asleep or not. Chances were she could tell that things were tense here, given that she had similar powers to me. She was also tired, and soft beds were a luxury after the rough existence in the other plane. The rest of the Guild shouldn’t have much trouble getting to sleep. Tiring days all around.

At the heart of it, that was what was giving me pause for concern. I worked my jaw before bringing up my chat messages.

[Max: Are you awake, brother?]

[Wolf: sssd]

[Max: Stay alert if you can.]

[Max: I have a bad feeling.]

[Wolf: ssop]

One day we would teach him how to use the chat function correctly. At least for simple messages. Having him awake made me feel a little more at ease. We couldn’t stay up all night if we wanted to be functional tomorrow, but I also knew as soon as I drifted off, things would go wrong.

Not that it was my role to ensure everything went smoothly. I mean, I was the star of the show… the performance of the whole team ultimately reflected on me. My reputation was at stake. The show must go on, and I must…

This was terrible timing for a wave of corruption to flow through my mind. I took a deep breath and cooled myself. There was an odd desire to return to hell, but it slowly petered out as my sensibilities took control again.

The elf shifted in the bed, turning over to scowl at me—very clearly still awake. “You know, I can tell when you’re acting corrupted.”

“I haven’t moved.”

“Those little cogs in your head whirr a little faster. An off-kilter clicking that sets me on edge. Therefore, I cannot sleep.” She continued to glare, but I could tell that she was secretly thankful for an excuse to talk more.

“I’m sorry to trouble you, moonflower. I may need your full attention while I stand guard, lest I fall to crazed thoughts.”

“I reluctantly accept that I’ll need to watch over you. You’ll owe me one, trickster.” While her eyes were narrowed, a smile illuminated her face.

With a tip of my hat, I thanked her.

Together, we waited for the impending doom, content enough that we would be ready for anything.