“Cole,” Rich said, as the mosquitoes hummed and danced around him in the darkness. The moonlit clearing smelled like sweat and piss, and Pat's heavy breathing. The gun was jammed up against his neck, Rich thought. Pat knew it, too, knew he was fucked if this went sideways. “Cole, you don't have to do this.”

“It's your fault,” Cole said, and his voice cracked on the last word. “It's your... fault... Rich. Specifically your fault. You started all of this.”

“That guy you just shot started all of this,” Rich said. “He's the one that pulled me back—”

“No!” Cole roared, and Pat flinched, hands trembling in the moonlight, shaking where they were raised. “Before then. You started this. You didn't keep the bargain.”

“Bargain...” Rich blinked. “I'm coming up blank here. Work with me. Calm down and work with me.”

“I was one of the ones sent to the mountain, looking for clues. There were things down there, Rich. Things down there that knew you very well. You escaped it. But it got me instead.”

Memories stirred in the back of Rich's mind. Memories that no amount of therapy had been able to undo, memories of a voice that whispered between the worlds.

“Fuck,” Rich whispered. “You even called me Boss. And I didn't catch it.”

“I didn't call you that,” Cole snapped. “He did. It did. It looks like a man. It isn't. It isn't anything but hatred and cruelty and teeth in the darkness, teeth that chew, chew, chew on my brain. Chew on my brain. Can't even sleep he eats my dreams. And he was supposed to be yours!”

“Who sent you?” Rich asked. “Mayhew?”

“I... I think. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter now, especially. Won't send me anywhere else, ever again.” Teeth flashed in the moonlight.

“What did you do?”

“He did it! Hopped over when I refused, did what I couldn't. He did it. Sees me all the time, sees me now, but he was the one who killed him. He switched out Mayhew's heart pills for fiber pills. It was a pretty bad heart attack but at least he had regular bowel movements for a while, y'know?”

“Your kindness knows no bounds. I mean his kindness, sorry,” Rich sighed, and sat down.

“Hey! Don't try anything!”

“I'm not. We're going to be here a while, right? So I'm getting comfy. You should too. Pat's not going to do anything either. Let's all sit down and relax. You're going to drag us back to the Academy, right? The search party's on its way, I'm assuming?”

“They are. I'm assuming you're the one that did a number on the drones?”

“Nothing a day's worth of firmware reinstalls won't fix,” Rich said. “Seriously, sit down. We're not going to fight you. You've got us.”

Long silence. Pat's breathing slowed a bit, and Rich could tell he was fighting for control. This was both good and bad, because if Pat tried something Rich had no clue how it would go down.

“He said he'd let me go. I just had to hold you there while he worked. Is working. Working right now.”

Rich started in surprise.

“Oh yeah,” Cole whispered. “You think you're the only one who has a friend on the other side? Well you're right. Because he's not my friend. I'm his vessel. He's filled me up, like poison in a cup. Acid in a cup. He won't let me go. Or he will and it won't matter. The things he's made me do, the things he's shown me Rich, you would cry you would fuckin' cry. Or scream. Or both.”

“Take a seat and tell me about it,” Rich offered. “I've got nowhere to be, now. You've won.”

“Ohhhh no, I know you. Even when the dragon's not piloting you like a meat puppet, you're dangerous. No you keep those arms up!” He abruptly yelled as Pat sagged, fought to keep his arms still. They trembled, though. It was clear it couldn't last.

“If you know me then you know what I'll do if you kill Pat. You'll have to shoot me too,” Rich said, fighting to keep his voice calm. “Do you really want to shoot me?”

“I don't care. I want it out of my head. I'd fucking kill you if it wanted, Rich,” Cole whispered.

“Does it want me dead?”

“No. Nonononono. Not now. Not... important. The dragon's what matters. He.. it's going to talk with the dragon, going to offer your abomination a bargain. And if the dragon refuses, then your life's a bargaining chip. And I will take it, if it wants me to. We're not sure your dragon can survive that. But we know the dragon will cave in and give us what we want to save your life. So sit tight and you might live through this. Maybe. Not so sure about chunky here, though.” Cole jabbed Pat in the back of the neck again, with the gun. Pat gasped.

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“I meant what I said,” Rich spoke. “Do you want to be the one who ruins your master's negotiations? What'll he do to you then?”

“Shut... shut up.”

“So sit down and calm the hell down,” Rich said, once more. “I'm out of tricks. You've won. I don't have a gun and even if I did, I'm a shitty shot. You have access to my range scores. You know it's true.”

“No. No, there's a trick here. Why are you so insistent that I sit down?” Cole took a step back, and now Rich could see that he was trembling, trembling worse than Pat. Sweat glinted in the moonlight. “It's a trick, isn't it? You've got a...a I don't know, a pre-arranged code or something. Ah! It's started. He's talking to your dragon. They're bargaining...”

“I'm out of tricks, you fucking coward. You've won,” Rich slapped the dirt. “I know how things work around here. Even if I found a way to turn this around, you guys would kill my family. Or chase me wherever I went. Or something worse. Fuck's sake man, this is the Ministry! I can't fight the churches. Think!”

Cole paused.

Then he shook his head. “Fuck you. This is a trick. You want me to sit down? No. You sit down, tubby. Down, Pat. But keep those hands up, where I can see them. “

“Fuck it,” Rich groaned, and put his face in his hands. “There's no way we can convince you to let us go, is there?”

Cole sighed. “It's got me, man. Hooks in my brain. Teeth in my dreams. Only way out for me is through.”

“Well, you're half right,” Rich said. “Greg, do it.”

The gunshot echoed through the trees.

Cole stood for a second. Then his hand dipped, and Rich heard a CRACK behind him, followed by a boom as the pistol fired. Something... splinters, maybe? Fragments of the bullet, or the tree it had hit, something stung the back of his neck, and he raised a hand to check, found it wet.

Cole toppled.

“Holy shit,” Pat whispered.

“Thanks man,” Rich said. “Second one I owe you, Greg.”

“We need to fuckin' move!” Greg called out from where he'd been hiding in the trees about two hundred yards back. “Plan still good.”

“Mostly,” Rich said, feeling the adrenaline ebb in him. Feeling numb. Another kid was dead because of him. He didn't have time for guilt and Cole had dug his own bed, but... if he'd been truthful then he hadn't deserved what that thing had put him through.

“Mostly,” Rich repeated, as he looked down at the dark shape that was Cutter's crumpled body. “Pat, are you good, man? Can you move?”

“I think so. I need to piss so fucking bad. And my legs feel like noodles.”

“Take a minute, do what you have to, then go search the tent. I'll check Cutter. Look for anything we can use. Hopefully he left something.”

“Won't be necessary.”

Pat and Rich froze, as Cutter spoke. Then Rich started laughing as Cutter sat up.

“You were faking! You were faking the whole time!” It was definitely adrenaline shock, but the whole thing was hysterically funny, way funnier than it should be.

“I couldn't get a clear shot, and if I moved there was too much risk. Best to keep still and wait. But you fixed it.” Cutter worked at his fatigues, and Rich heard the velcro of a Mark six ballistic vest as Cutter worked it loose and checked the plates. “I'm proud. You've come a long way.”

“I'm still not trusting you,” Rich said. “Turn over the gun. Pat, check him for others. Greg, aim for the head if he tries anything.”

“No, you're clear,” Cutter said. “Besides, he confirmed what I'd already concluded. That thing that rode him wasn't sure if killing you would stop the dragon. I've got no reason to believe that it would. And now I'm not sure stopping it would change what's happening.”

“What is happening?” Pat whispered, as he rose and headed toward the tent.

“My bug out bag is on the right,” Cutter advised. “Do you have an escape route?”

Rich nodded. “Yes, just over the hill. We can talk once we're in the wagon. Let's move.”

“Wait. Wagon?”

They made better time than Rich had expected, but then both Cutter and Greg had night vision goggles. In a matter of minutes they were down in the bottom of a dry streambed, staring at an honest to god wooden wagon, with an anxious horse staring back at them from where it had been hitched up and left.

“I've got a few favors with the local Mennonite underground,” Pat said. “If we can get to Schmalhofer's farm, they can hook us up with the Eastern Railroad.”

“Eascan? We'll have to move fast,” Cutter said. “They'll be expecting it, the Pennsylvania border's close enough.”

“Everything's pre-arranged,” Rich said. “My parents will meet us there if everything works out. I spent a good deal of money setting this up, after Pat provided the connections. Pat, you know how to steer this thing?”

“More or less. Load up. Got a long ride ahead.”

“We are literally not out of the woods yet,” Greg said, pointing back up the way they'd come. There were lights back in the trees now, miles away but still visible.

“Shit.” Rich rubbed his chin, and came to a decision. “Pat, drive us. Cutter, goggles on and keep watch. Greg... I think I need you back in the game.”

“What? There's no time to worry about that! Your dragon's got this, right?”

“The stakes are bigger than you think,” Cutter said.

“And unless you can drive a wagon, we need Pat up front,” Rich said.

“Why don't you go? Seriously, I'm not in a headspace to play... and shit, I couldn't anyway. There's not net access out here.”

Cutter sighed. “You never needed net access. That's the cargo cult part of it. So long as you believe, then you can get in without—”

“No, I've got it covered,” Rich said, and pulled out a darknet router.

He didn't have it covered. The thing wasn't connecting to anything, had the ports shaved so it was just a block of plastic that lit up in a convincing manner.

“Shit, is that safe?” Greg whispered. “Won't they track us?”

“I had three days to work on this. We're fine. Go, make sure Rotgoriel's safe, all right? If it's too bad, come back and tell me.”

“You sure you don't want to go yourself?” Greg asked.

Rich considered it. Then he shook his head. “No. No, we've landed in trouble doing that before. I don't know what he's doing. I might pop in at exactly the wrong moment. You, not so much. You don't exist over there until you cross over.”

“I'm not as important. Got it.” Greg's teeth flashed in the moonlight. Then his eyes gleamed, as he pulled the night vision goggles free and handed them over. “All right. If things are quiet I'll be back quickly.”

He wasn't, though. And as the minutes stretched on, Rich knew with growing certainty that something had gone wrong.