“BATTLE!” Christine roared to rouse the others. Another arrow thudded into the owl. And another. And another.

She's using some kind of rapid shot skill. The arrows kept coming, faster than Karl had ever seen her shoot before. Barbara and Murray Williams came staggering out of the Safe Zone building. Karl felt himself heal slightly as he glowed golden from one of Chenelle's spells.

I've got to get this thing to let go of me. Karl had a terrible angle to work from, with his dominant arm partially pinned and the owl mostly out of reach of his left. His mind raced through his inventory, looking for inspiration. The owl was starting to lift him up into the air...Ah.

Karl concentrated, and summoned the heaviest boulder he could lift from inventory into a grip with one arm and both legs holding it. He couldn't quite stifle a scream of pain as the owl's talon tore through a lot of his shoulder with the added weight; the giant bird was now staggering under the load, struggling for altitude, while Karl was desperately struggling to keep his grip on the boulder. Then the bird lurched at some sort of impact Karl couldn't see. A few Mana Darts and more arrows also struck the Owl before it decided that Karl was not worth the effort and let go.

As he fell, he vanished the boulder back into his inventory and did his best not to put any extra strain on his injured arm as he hit the ground with both feet and his left fist. He still let out a shuddering gasp from the pain and again when Chenelle threw two more spells at him, but his shoulder at least had most of the bits in the right places now. He followed up with a Healing Hands and the pain finally sank to manageable levels.

The owl had disappeared, but a trail of smoke in the air led off to the north. “Is it gone?”

“For now,” Christine confirmed after a quick scan of the sky. “The smoke arrow should burn for ten minutes or so. At this point it might decide that it's done with hunting until evening.” She looked down at him from her perch atop a flat rock. “We're lucky it went after you, Sir Karl. Without all that extra weight it might have gotten away with one of us, even with our attacks.”

“Damned shiny armor, drawing the eye,” Karl muttered.

“Or your shiny head,” Terry added with a smirk. Karl scowled at her without heat. He'd long since come to peace with the near total loss of his hair, but she was still being an obnoxious teenager. “Nice superhero landing, by the way,” the cheerleader added.

“We might have to lure the owl into Endurance where we can hit it with the gargoyle too,” Chenelle observed.

“Who made that big attack right before it let go?” Alain asked. “Christine, does one of your arrows pull the target?”

“Not like that.”

“It was this.” Barbara was hefting a thick rod about eight feet long that she picked up off the dirt. “It's a javelin... and it's heavy. You'd need at least a sixteen Strength to throw it like that. I didn't do it. So who did?”

It's got to be Ethan. He mentioned wanting a javelin, and he must have looted, crafted or bought one.

“We have an ally, and I think I know who.” Karl raised his voice. “Thank you—!” he stopped himself before calling Ethan's name. “Would you like your javelin back?” Karl beckoned and Barbara handed the weapon to him. He walked slowly to the edge of the clearing in the rough direction the throw had come from.

“Who is it, Sir Karl?” Christine asked.

“A friend. I met him a few days ago but he's very shy,” Karl called back over his shoulder. He leaned the javelin against the trunk of a nearby white oak, then stepped back. “I'm leaving it next to that tree. Feel free to introduce yourself if you want. These are my friends.”

There was a long pause. Then the familiar deep rumbling voice came back. “Hello.” The man cleared his throat. “I'm Ethan.”

Everyone but Murray and Tabitha gathered around, peering fruitlessly into the trees.

“Are you in Stealth?” Terry asked, looking around. “Oh, there you are. Damn, you're good.” Karl looked where Terry's gaze was focused but still saw nothing. “What? How did you do that?” the teenager exclaimed. “I had you, and you just...”

“Terry.” Her mother frowned at her. “Be polite.”

“I am! His skill is the shit!”

“Watch your fucking language, young lady!”

“Yes, Mom.”

Karl blinked and the javelin was gone.

Ethan grunted a moment later. “Thanks, Sir Karl. You okay?”

“Yeah, I'll be all healed up in a few minutes. Thanks for the assist. How have you been?”

“I'm alive, which is pretty good considering.”

“How did you find us?” Chenelle asked.

“It was you!” Terry suddenly yelled. “You were watching me!” Barbara stiffened at that. Karl felt the tension go up a notch, and started walking gingerly over to Ethan's location, wanting to defuse the situation.

“Mostly I was trying to steer clear of you, but I did follow you here when I overheard you saying that Sir Karl was in trouble. You're pretty good at Stealth, kid. I actually lost sight of you a few times, and that doesn't happen to me a lot.”

“I knew it!”

“No you didn't,” Karl teased. “You're just ticked off that someone's better at Stealth than you are.”

“I knew something was up!”

“Uh-huh.”

“I fucking well did!”

“Terry! Watch your fucking language!”

“Yes, Mom.”

Barbara hesitated, then put a smile on with effort and faced the trees. “My apologies. Terry gets very competitive sometimes.”

“I do not!”

Barbara gave everyone a long-suffering look. “Teenagers.”

“You can drop Stealth if you want,” Alain suggested. “Nobody's mad at you or anything.”

“Karl?” Ethan called.

“Yes, Ethan?”

“You got my back?”

“You have my word.” Karl looked at the others. “Everyone, he's a friend.”

“All right...” Ethan dropped Stealth.

Karl could feel everyone tense. Come on, people, is it that shocking to find a black man in New Hampshire? Although...he is pretty massive, Karl conceded. Maybe it's just that. I think he's even bigger than he was on Wednesday.

“You're...from the prison, aren't you?” Alain asked.

Karl winced inwardly. Ouch. It's actually true, but...ouch.

“I am.”

“Did you attack the Lazy Circle Safe Zone?” Barbara asked.

“No, I did not,” Ethan answered honestly.

“Truth,” Karl verified quickly, trying to stave off prejudices before they built up any steam. “He's an innocent man, wrongly convicted.”

“I'm not innocent,” Ethan objected. “I've had to do some bad shit. No point in pretending otherwise. But I didn't do anything to deserve prison when they put me there.”

That took guts.

“Ethan has a standing invitation to move into Endurance and become a resident. So far he's declined.”

“Things are ...simpler if I stay away from people.”

Karl smiled at Ethan, then looked around at the group. “I hope everyone will be kind to him and respect his boundaries. He's due for some good luck, and as you can see, he's willing to help others.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Christine stepped forward immediately and offered Ethan her hand. “Hello Ethan. Thank you for helping.” She tilted her head as they shook hands. “Did you kill two large monsters south of here yesterday?”

“Yes, I did. Are you a tracker?” Christine nodded. “You're really good. I thought I'd covered my traces pretty well.”

“You did; but nobody's perfect.”

“That was also some really good shooting just now. And fast. Was that six hits in six shots?”

Christine shrugged. “Seven hits, but it was a big nearby target.” She looked pleased, though.

“How'd you know the situation?” Alain asked.

Ethan shrugged. “Once I got here, I listened in enough to get the gist. Thought I'd come by a few times just in case you needed a hand. Glad I was here now.”

“Me too,” Karl said, then a thought occurred to him. “Oh, Ethan. We built a temporary Safe Zone right there and it has a Shop. Is there anything you need?” Just then Ethan' stomach rumbled loudly. Karl smiled. “Breakfast, maybe? Care to join us? You saved my life so it's my treat.”

“Uh, thank you, but I think I'll head out. I just wanted to make sure you were okay...and, uh, get my javelin back if I could.”

“Well, grab something to go then, on me.” Karl stepped closer to Ethan and summoned his remaining few silver coins. He had just looted a gold coin, after all.

“Thank you, Sir Karl. Much obliged. Good luck today, with your friend.” He jerked a thumb at the cocoon.

Karl waved him onward with a smile, and the big man slowly made his way across the clearing toward the Safe Zone building. To everyone's surprise, Tabitha came running over and stopped next to Ethan. She looked positively tiny next to him.

“You protected my Jo. Thank you.” Tabitha gave him a little bow.

“No problem, kid.” Ethan offered his hand, and Tabitha flinched away. Ethan's face immediately smoothed to an emotionless mask and he dropped his hand.

“It's not you, Ethan,” Karl put in quickly, coming over. Lowering his voice, he added, “she's like that with all men.”

After a moment, Tabitha nodded. Ethan watched her, face blank. “Thank you,” she repeated, looking at both of them, then backed away a couple of steps before turning and walking back to the cocoon.

Karl lowered his voice to the barest whisper. “The one time she had to touch me she threw up. It's really not you.”

“We all got our shit to shovel,” Ethan murmured back after a pause, and walked into the Safe Zone. Karl rejoined the others.

“He's a big guy,” Murray said in a quiet voice.

“Does he really have a ten in Stealth?” Terry wondered.

“Or higher. He's survived over a week all by himself; I expect he's had a lot of practice, round the clock.”

“Do you think you could get him to teach me?”

“Let's not nag the man, Terry. Maybe after you get to know him better. I'm still trying to coax him to visit.” Karl eyed the teenager. “You're about to fall over, young lady.”

“Am not! I'm just...coming down from the adrenaline.”

“Were you even in the fight?”

“I was! I was just...a little slow, and...I missed.” Her voice got much quieter towards the end. She probably fell asleep and woke up when Christine yelled.

“Well, once Ethan has gone, go into the building and sack out for a while. You've been up all night. We've still got most of the day before the cocoon...opens.”

“Yeah, well...maybe. If he...goddammit!”

“Language, Terry!”

Terry ignored her mother this time. “He's gone! Look, he left the door open.”

Karl tried to hide his grin. No, she's not competitive. Not even a little bit. I bet she wanted to try following him.

Within a few minutes, everyone had gotten breakfast. Tabitha ate while sitting next to the cocoon. Ever since the ogre fight, she had only left Jo briefly to thank Ethan, or to relieve herself. She ate and slept next to the cocoon. Chenelle sat on a large rock a short distance away, but far enough that Karl felt comfortable walking over and joining her.

The healer swallowed a bite, then nodded at him. “Is your shoulder all right?”

“It's getting there.”

“Paladin, heal thyself.”

“Yeah, yeah. I can wait. I'd rather save the mana for emergencies.”

“If an emergency comes up that soon you'd be better off with full health than a bit more mana. Heal yourself.”

Karl sighed, then murmured a prayer and healed his shoulder the rest of the way. He sighed again, in relief this time.

“You make interesting friends, Karl.” He shrugged noncommittally, pleased to be able to do that without pain, and took another bite of his burrito. Chenelle took a drink of water from her bottle, and then spoke softly. “Let me guess...you spotted him somehow with your abilities, then bought him a beer or something once your radar told you that he's not malicious.”

Karl couldn't keep the smile off his face. “You're quite a woman, Chenelle Hooper.”

“I was beginning to think you hadn't noticed. But that was easy to guess.”

“Cheeky, too.”

“I'm worth it.”

“Cheeky as a squirrel with a mouthful of peanuts.”

Chenelle coughed slightly on her water and swallowed. “Is that a saying?”

“It is now.”

Chenelle sighed. With a cheerful lilt in her voice, she asked, “Sir Karl, what am I to do with you?”

Probably laugh at me, Karl thought, then smiled. “Oh, I found something you might want to see.” He pulled out his pad and cued up his Renown feed, then passed it to her. She took it from him with a quizzical look, stared at the screen a moment, then gave in to curiosity and started the clip. After a few seconds she straightened up, staring at the pad, her eyes wide and twinkling. Soon she was shaking with laughter, and holding her side. Karl took the pad back before she dropped it.

“Give it back! I have to see that again! I have to see that again!”

By the end of the second playback Chenelle was howling, with tears in her eyes, and Karl caught her shoulders to keep her from falling backwards off of the rock, apparently heedless of the danger of bashing her head open. He grinned at her. Then he gradually realized that he was holding Chenelle in his arms, leaning over her, with both of them smiling as they looked at each other. A few seconds of stillness passed as both of them grew more serious.

“Sir Karl! Do you have a minute?” Christine called.

Karl immediately straightened up, lifted Chenelle upright and stood up. “Rrrgh,” Chenelle groaned between her teeth. On a whim he patted her on the head until she swatted his hand away forcefully. “Damn Paladin.”

Karl glanced at the cocoon and saw Tabitha silently watching them from behind it. You'll have her back soon, he thought at her. Tabitha nodded as if she had heard him, then went back to hugging the cocoon. Karl walked over to Christine. “What is it?”

“I'm concerned about the owl coming back.” Sense Deceit triggered at something unspoken, but Karl ignored that for the moment.

“Do you think it isn't nocturnal after all?”

“No, no, I mean we'll have to be careful on the trip back to Endurance, because it might be dusk by the time we get back.”

“Fair point. If necessary we can spend another night here. It will depend on what condition Jo is in when she emerges.” He yawned briefly. “Excuse me. It was a long night.”

“You should take a nap.”

“I might.” Karl regarded the ranger. “Still feeling okay?”

“Absolutely.” Her smile looked natural, and there was no deceit in her voice.

“Glad to hear it. You did well in the fight. How did you spot it so quickly?”

“I was watching the sky and happened to catch a fast moving shimmer. It was luck.”

“Definitely skill too. Your reflexes were fantastic.”

“Thank you, Sir Karl. 'He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze'.”

Karl searched his memory, but couldn't place the quote.

“It's from the Book of Psalms,” she explained.

“Appropriate.”

“I went looking,” she admitted.

“Well, we'll all be counting on you when it's time to hunt that thing for real.” Karl paused. “Christine, what level are you now?”

She beamed. “I leveled up last night after your counsel. I'm sixth now, same as Michael.”

Karl blinked. “You got experience points for that talk?”

The ranger nodded. “A few. Just enough. It was a big relief, too. I was so close to leveling and couldn't quite get enough kills to put me over the top before dark last night; it was really frustrating until you gave me the little extra I needed. I upgraded my equipment right away, and I'm glad I did.”

“Me too.” He paused. “Was there something else, Christine?”

“No,” she lied. Karl raised an eyebrow and she blushed. “Sorry, Sir Karl, I should know better than to try to lie to you. I...” She stopped, apparently embarrassed, and looked down at the ground before continuing quietly, “I thought maybe I should help you resist temptation.”

Karl took a breath, then held it as he waited for his brain before speaking. Finally he sighed. “I honestly don't know whether to thank you or be mad at you.”

“She's a married woman, Sir Karl!”

“I'm aware. There are also...uh...oh well, no sense in beating around the bush. Please keep what I'm about to say to yourself, Christine.” She nodded. “Apparently she and Doug have an...open relationship. Doug spoke with me and gave me his blessing. I have not pursued anything with Chenelle, though. I have no experience with this sort of thing, and I'm not sure I would even want romance at this point.”

“It's wrong.”

“Not for them. Everyone needs to make their own choices.”

“But you're a paladin! You're supposed to be an example to others!”

Karl nodded. “That's another reason I haven't done anything.” He ran a hand over his scalp. “Christine, the bedrock of my faith is that God loves us and wants us to be happy. I need to pray and try to figure out what God wants of me here. But I also need to figure out what I want. In the meantime...thank you, for interfering there.”

“I didn't overstep?”

“You did, but I've decided that I don't mind in this case. If I decide that a relationship with Chenelle is the right thing to do for everyone's happiness, I won't let your interference stop me. And it's helpful to bear in mind how others might react.” Karl snorted. “Better not do that with anyone else, though.”

“Oh of course not! You're a special case.”

“Good.” Karl yawned again. “I think I'd better eat something more and then sack out for a while. Please wake me if anything important happens."

“Certainly, Sir Karl. And...thank you.”

Karl nodded and went off to get a second breakfast, keeping one wary eye on the sky.