The clearing was empty when Jack stepped out of the sliding door, closing it behind him. He looked around but didn’t see Wolf. Out hunting, maybe? Or exploring. He traveled into the forest and began collecting wood for a fire.
Soon, Wolf trailed Jack. He seemed to be in higher spirits, trotting as he caught up.
“Glad to see you made it back,” Jack said. “Do some hunting?”
“Oh no,” Wolf replied. “Just some thinking.”
“Is that right?”
Wolf nodded. “I like you, Jack. You’re a hard worker. And I can appreciate that.”
“Uh huh.” Jack stacked a log onto his cradled bundle and continued his search for more.
“This thing with Red… She sure does cause you a lot of extra work. If she weren’t around, you could probably take it easy. Wouldn’t have to work so hard.”
“There’s nothing wrong with a bit of hard work, Wolf.”
“Right, but fighting zombies? Come on, that work doesn’t suit you. You know you’d feel better doing your normal huntsman stuff. So how about this? Let me eat her and you can go back to doing what you’re good at.”
“No.”
“Yeah, I figured you’d say that. So how about we turn her over to that Hnoss person, assuming she really exists. The way I see it, the zombies stop with Red dying or us turning her over. I mean, stopping the zombies is what you want, right?”
Jack stopped but didn’t look back. “Let me give you a couple additional things to think over, Wolf. For starters, Hnoss is basically killing worlds to either kill or capture Mioko. If someone’s going to those lengths, do you really want them to get what they’re after?”
“I’m sure she has her rea—”
Jack faced him. “And secondly, right now, you have no one. Mioko reluctantly brought you along, and I’m the only one vouching for you. Are you sure it’s a good idea to alienate me? Because that’s the only thing your convincing is doing right now.”
Wolf settled onto his haunches and hung his head. “I hate not knowing things. I just don’t get why you’re so willing to accept all this.”
Jack sighed. “It’s fine to be skeptical, Wolf. Just don’t dig at her too much or too often. You might not like what you uncover.”
“Well, how did you get mixed up in all this? Did she abduct you too?”
Jack kicked at some nearby wood. “Grab that for me, would you?”
Wolf shook his head. “I don’t fetch.”
“Yeah, and I don’t owe you answers, so how about giving back a little?”
Wolf scowled and gathered up the wood. “Fine. Happy now?”
Jack gestured with a nod. “Let’s make our way back to camp, so we can get a fire going. I’ll tell you what I know.”
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A long wooden log rested near the center of the clearing. They started a fire and Jack leaned back against the log, while Wolf sat across from him.
Jack sighed. “She first came to me for help with some kids—a Hansel and Gretel, I think. She had already tried to warn them about Hnoss, but apparently, all she managed to do was scare them. So, she found me. Begged me to go help them, thinking an adult could help them understand.”
Wolf nodded along. “So, I’m guessing these kids convinced you somehow.”
Jack grew distant. “More or less. When we arrived, there was a house fire. Mioko had run ahead, but I found her again. And she had found the kids. Both decapitated.”
Wolf’s nose scrunched. “Why? What could that poss—Wait, Red has a sword. Maybe, she actu—”
“No.” Jack shook his head. “If you had seen her, you’d know. She couldn’t have killed those kids. When she found them, it was as if she had found her own brother and sister. You don’t fake that kind of response.”
“I guess you’re some sort of expert on the matter.”
Jack sighed and looked at his palm as he brushed his thumb across the calluses there. “Believe me, Wolf. I know.”
“Fine. So, it’s Hnoss. She’s doing terrible things. Why doesn’t Red just leave so Hnoss doesn’t open portals around other people?”
“Lately, those tracking portals have only been opening in her home world, Jormungrund. Hnoss went to our worlds on her own. But it was because she was looking for Mioko. So the stuff happening in our world never required Mioko to be there. She just went to save as many as she could.”
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Jack fixated on Wolf. “But you wanted to know why I’m here. The answer is because I asked to be. After we found Hansel and Gretel, Mioko dumped me here—Innangard. She was going to leave me behind, and I could tell she wasn’t planning to ask anyone else for help. But I insisted and she agreed. Turns out, she didn’t plan to ask anyone for anything again. The worlds we saved… Folks were more eager to listen once she started pointing guns at them. Others evacuated because Mioko abducted children with lockbridges, the parents then rushing after their little ones.”
“Pfft, some hero.”
“She did what she had to. There were a bunch of worlds in danger and we had no way of knowing what would be attacked next. So she opted for haste over explanation. People weren’t happy about it, of course. We lost a group of Dwarfs that she was pretty upset about. And it was actually the first time the zombie thing started happening. We saved most everyone else in that world, but zombies grew more common. We got to worlds that were already being invaded. On the plus side, it didn’t take much convincing for those inhabitants.”
Wolf scowled. “The fact remains that it’s all because of Red. No Red; no world invasions.”
“Now, you’re just being petty. And you really need to be careful with those accusations, especially around Mioko. She’s not the same girl that begged for my help. These past couple of months have been rough. And this Hnoss thing is personal for her, it being her mom and all. So, I guar—”
“Wait, what? Her mom?
“Yeah, but don’t jump to any conclusions about that and don’t bring that up when she’s around. All this accusation that you keep piling on top of Mioko… I know she’s not taking it lightly. You keep openly blaming her for things Hnoss has done. You need to recognize that you’re poking a bear…wake it up and…well, I don’t even know what she’s fully capable of.”
“You almost sound like prey. You’re three to four times her size. Why would you bat an eye over anything she might do.”
“You’ve been changing somehow, right? Maybe you’re getting stronger or faster?
Wolf withdrew and looked away. “I don’t want to talk about that.”
“Well, whatever you have going on, it’s coming from Mioko. It’s the same for me. My strength and speed have grown immensely. And it’s all a product of working alongside her. So how do you expect to surpass the source of your own improvements?”
“Can we just stop with the super power mumbo-jumbo? The stuff gives me the creeps.”
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They sat alongside the fire when Mioko stepped out from a nearby lockbridge. Duffel bags were slung over her shoulder and Jack met her gaze as she approached.
She dropped the bags next to him. “One’s food, the other’s ammo and supplies,” she said, then descended, sitting cross-legged on the ground by the fire.
Wolf moved away, lying down again at the outer edge of the campfire’s glow. He made a big show of plopping down, huffing, and crossing his forepaws before lowering his head to rest on them.
Mioko arched an eyebrow. “What’s his problem?”
“He’s sulking over you tricking him,” Jack replied. “Plus, I think he’s still upset about not being able to catch you.”
Mioko rolled her eyes. She unzipped one of the duffels, took some jerky from a canister, then lobbed it over near Wolf. “Here. A consolation.”
Wolf raised his head, sniffed, opened his mouth to take it, then paused, eyes narrowing. “I don’t need to be fed,” he replied.
“Fine. Toss it back then,” she said, raising a hand to beckon his throw.
Wolf gobbled it up immediately, then yelped as he descended through a lockbridge.
Jack stood as a splash sounded from the other side. “Mioko,” he said, meeting her gaze. “What’s that all about?”
“Relax,” she replied with a flat stare. “I dumped him in a shallow stream, which is not in this railcar’s pocket dimension. He’s a few cars up, and he’ll be fine there.”
“Was that really necessary?”
“Of course it was. Apparently, he wasn’t in any hurry to get my grandmother’s blood cleaned out of his fur, so I helped. You didn’t forget about him being a wild animal, right?”
Jack shook his head and looked over to the lockbridge which was no longer open. “Well, no. But you could have handled that better. You’re not exactly doing me any favors in convincing him you’re one of the good guys.”
Mioko picked up a stick and fed its end into the fire. “It won’t matter after tomorrow,” she mumbled.
“What’s supposed to happen then?”
“We’re done, Jack. We did what we set out to. Those people are out of harms way, so there’s no need for you to accompany me from here on out.”
“Yeah, but don’t you still need to get the Obelisk?”
Mioko nodded. “You can come with me to retrieve that tomorrow, then I’m done with all this. I don’t have to return to Jormungrund at all, so I don’t care what happens there or with Hnoss.”
“But she could attack other worlds, right?”
A silence stretched between them, Jack observing her, while she got lost in the fire. Flames always had that effect with her. She just seemed less agitated while near them. Her gaze elongated as she focused on something farther away than the fire.
“Does that not bother you?” he probed.
“Look, I don’t think she can use portals without my obelisk. If she still has the ability to use portals after I get it back, I don’t care. It won’t matter. I won’t know what she’s up to, so it won’t mean anything to me. I saved what mattered.”
“What mattered to you, you mean?”
“Yeah, Jack. I took care of what mattered to me—I took care of my responsibilities. So don’t expect me to deal with everyone else’s.”
Jack sighed. “What about Wolf?”
“He’s fine. Tomorrow, I’ll drop you both off any place you want to go. You’re welcome to rejoin your village here in Innangard, but I’m dumping Wolf over in Jormungrund. He’s too dangerous to leave here with the survivors, but he’s crafty enough to not be in danger over on Hnoss’s side of things. He’s stronger now, so he only has to stay clear of her and whatever she gets up to.”
“You’d abandon the world to her?”
“Why not? The only few that matter to me aren’t in Jormungrund. Dad’s gone and Emeric is elsewhere. That only leaves you and the people we evacuated, all of which are here…a place Hnoss can’t reach unless I allow it.”
“Then you can drop me off in Jormungrund when we’re finished,” Jack replied, sitting and leaning back against the log-bench.
Mioko shook her head. “Don’t be like that. You’re just being defensive.” She observed him, awaiting an argument that didn’t come. She sighed and poked at the fire. She withdrew the lit stick, blew out the flame, inspected it, then pinched off the ember like someone might extinguish a candle with their fingers. The glow died as she massaged it between her thumb and index.
“Why do you do that?” Jack asked.
Mioko didn’t meet his gaze as she re-lit the stick. “I can’t feel it, so I don’t know. Maybe I want to.” She repeated the process and observed the soot on her fingers each time.
Jack shook his head. “One of these days, someone’s going to wake up and find you sleeping in it.”
She shrugged, brought her knees up to her chest so that she could hug them, then rested her chin on top as she lit the stick again. “Yeah, maybe,” she said, fixated on the flames.