“What the hell is that?” Freya asked as Logan wiggled the scythe-rang’s tip in the snake’s head.

Logan finally saw the glint of blue he was looking for and shoved his arm in there, retrieving the gem. “A souvenir,” he said distractedly.

“You’re going to have to tell me the whole story,” Freya said.

“I will,” Logan said when he washed his hands. “You know I live to entertain you, Frey.”

“And no exaggerating!” she said wagging a finger.

“Me?” Logan turned and grinned. “Never.”

“So what happened?”

“So I faced this mighty dragon, forty feet tall, shooting lasers from its eyes…”

“Uhhuh.”

“And I managed to steal one of its teeth.”

Freya sighed.

Logan threw another smile her way. “Look, a lot has happened in these two days. Let me just finish up here. I’d like to process the snake. Is my fat— are there others?”

Freya was about to tell him, but a procession of twenty people rustled their way out of the woodline next to the pond. At the helm was Malcolm Specter, tired and tattered, but he met Logan’s eyes with that hard, all-knowing gaze.

Damn, I hate to admit I’m sort of glad to see him.

“Where the hell have you been?” Malcolm snapped.

“Same as always, father,” Logan said, tilting his head and smirking. “Adventuring, chasing tail, having a ball. It’s good to see you.”

The hard creases around Malcolm’s eyes eased, and he made a twitchy move forward. Then his eyes shifted to the people next to him. He pressed his hand into a fist, a gesture Logan had seen a thousand times, and then he nodded. Logan raised an eyebrow at that.

Did he just..?

“Why were you separated from us?” Malcolm demanded. “Why did you not seek us out immediately?”

Logan did his best not to snarl. Whatever joy of reunion was gone. “I’ve been kinda busy.”

“Doing what exactly?”

“You know,” Logan said. “I don’t like that tone.”

Malcolm looked behind him at the score of people. Most of them agents in ragged suits, with the rest of them scientists in ripped up lab coats, and the barmaid from the roof, as well as couple of faces Logan didn’t recognize.

“We will talk later,” Malcolm stated.

“Yeah, we’ll see.”

“What?” Malcolm’s voice rose in a dangerous edge. “Who do you think you are?”

“I could care less about your antics right now,” Logan said. His father flashed his eyes and squeezed his hand into a fist again. “I’m starving. Can any of you make fire? I need help with this sea monster here.”

Malcolm Specter’s eyes shot to the corpse of the giant snake. He looked at the decapitated head and the weapon Logan was holding. “You killed that?”

Logan smirked.

*

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“Quite the tale, Logan,” Malcolm muttered as he paced around in the tall grass.

Freya gave Logan the side eye. She was standing next to Logan, fixing a bandage on his wounded shoulder.

“I didn’t even exaggerate!”

Freya raised her hands. “I didn’t say anything.”

“There’s a thing called non-verbal communication, Frey.”

“Well look at you jungle-survivor, slash scholar,” she said and winked at Logan.

Logan chuckled at that. Then he sensed the bunched up agents giving him an eyeful. It wasn’t exactly friendly. One of them was almost mad dogging him. Logan just smirked and turned back to Freya and his father.

“So what about you guys? Seems like you got here bunched up.”

Malcolm nodded. “We don’t have as tall a tale as you to tell. We faced some of those green cats you mentioned, as well as those… things.”

“The ones that came from that big monster? Logan said. “Levemoth.”

“How did you manage to kill them?” Freya asked as she fussed with binding Logan’s shoulder with a strap of cloth. “All your dad’s agents had clips full of ammo, but they didn’t do much. They killed the cats after half a magazine…”

“Speaking of which,” agent Balmer muttered. He was crouched at a pile of leaves and broken branches, trying to set up a fire with a bow. “Sir, I used my last bullets to protect the little prince.”

“Take it to senior agent Takeshi,” Malcolm said.

Logan tilted his head. “The little what now?”

Balmer gave him an amused glance over his shoulder. “You didn’t know? Your codename was Prince. In the barrack room, it received an honorary addendum.”

Logan gave a glance at the other agents talking with each other a few yards away as they kept watch on the surroundings. One of them noticed him looking and spat on the ground.

Logan shrugged. He picked his ear and flicked it towards the agent.“I wish you were useful for something other than snark and latin.”

Balmer froze. He didn’t turn, but when he spoke his voice had gotten lower. “You? You talk to me about snark and being useful?”

Ohhoh. I hit him where it hurts.

Logan took a look over the agent’s shoulder. Balmer wasn’t making much progress with the fire. In the humid quasi-jungle, it wasn’t exactly an easy task. That of course didn’t stop Logan from giving the goon some well earned feedback. “How’s that fire coming along Mr. Top Of My Class?”

“Screw you,” Balmer said and got up. “How about you give it a try Mr. Daddy’s Useless Spoiled Brat?”

A rictus flashed on Logan’s face, but he controlled it. “Clever. I can see that 4.0 GPA brain worked really hard on that one.”

Asshole.

Logan crouched down and picked up an [F-grade Numa Crystal]. It was a bit of a shame to use one for this, but it was going to be fun to see the dumb agent’s jaw go slack. He whispered an intonation to make the rock grow hot red. It worked immediately and within seconds the damp leaves caught a smoky fire.

“You…” Balmer said when Logan got up. “You used some trick!”

“Sure did,” Logan said and patted Balmer on the shoulder. “Be a dear, little latin boy, and keep the fire going until we can cook this meat. You think you can be useful that way?”

Balmer looked very much like he had a lot to say, but decided against it. His face said the most of it anyway, and Logan savored it all.

Endlessly satisfied with himself, he sat down on the ground, leaned against his hands and gave a look backwards. Two of his father’s goons were dressing the snake he had killed, using the raw scythe and Logan’s Scythe-rang.

Logan had told them to be extra careful with the skin, so that it could be used. The goons had made a face, but after a nod from Malcolm Specter, they had turned sullenly and went to work with the carcass.

Malcolm scoffed. “Wasteful use.”

“The look on his face?” Logan said, closing his eyes. “Worth it.”

“I take it you have a few.”

“Might that I do.”

“Hand them over to me. I shall look into their proper use.”

Logan flinched at that. A part of him was already reaching towards the crystals. He stopped himself and placed a hand protectively over the pocket. “I think I’ll for once in my life have some leverage with you instead.”

His father got up and slowly dusted his suit. “Logan. Do not test my patience.”

Logan got up himself. “How about you stop testing mine? I just saved Frey’s life and fed this whole group. I just got the fire going and I provided the tools to process that big snake.”

Malcolm Specter was quiet for a moment. His weighty stare was upon Logan in cool calculation. “You should give these Numa crystals to me. I am the most valuable hu—”

“Not anymore, father!” Logan snapped. “Gone are your riches and your army of henchmen.”

Malcolm snarled and pressed his hand into a fist. “You keep failing to understand. I was not the most valuable human because I was rich and powerful. I was rich and powerful because I was most valuable.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, father,” Logan muttered.

Logan and Malcolm spent their time arguing with each other until the food was ready and Freya practically ripped them away from each other. Logan got to keep the crystals for now and there might have even been some begrudging respect in Malcolm Specter’s eyes at his son’s resolve. Logan must have just imagined that.

Regardless, he was content sitting on the ground near the fire as evening began to fall on their group. The food hadn’t been exactly savory, but getting some meat in his body really made a difference. Now he was sated and slowly starting to relax. Freya leaned against him and his father was with the agents on the other side of the fire. Whatever came next, at least Logan wasn’t alone.