Three golden number nines erected above us where we lay dying. I closed my eyes in blissful anticipation of leveling up’s healing sensation. It arrived like a golden breath. Air reentered my lungs, shattered bones melded together again, wounds closed, and even the tiniest of aches and pains faded. I jumped to my feet and barely took the time to enjoy the feeling. Hendrix had died. I knew he’d be fine. He’d told me how it worked before, but the idea of it still hung over my heart like a toxic fog.

Ucntcme wiped her daggers clean with a soiled piece of cloth. I approached her.

“Thanks again,” I said. “First against High-Lord Mallar, and now you save us here.”

She waved a dismissive hand. “Trust me. I should be thanking you.” She looked to be barely older than a girl, yet she acted as calm and certain as one who’d lived many years.

Max joined us. The scout looked away as if unable to accept our gratitude head-on. Max eyed her with a severe look of suspicion. “My ability to track humanoids is elementary as it stands,” the elf said. “But I was certain that I’d detected someone a few miles back. It was only for an instant, and I’d never seen it again, so I decided against alerting the rest of you.” He glared at Ucntcme. “How long have you been following us?”

She kept her head level. Only her eyes looked up to meet his. She regarded the elf with no readable expression, then turned her gaze to me. “Since you and the bard left Firemane’s Run.”

Silence. If what she said was right, it would’ve meant the scout had been with us on the boat, while we climbed the tree, while I fought the beetle, while we spoke with the Sun-Touched, escorted Delrik, and up until now. “Why?” It was all I could think to say.

“Dark Talon is faster when you go through the group quests,” Ucntcme said. “I’d waited so long for someone to come around in the cultist’s tower. I didn’t want to have to wait again.”

“That’s fine,” I said, “but why did you wait until just now to help us?”

“I told you. I’m a proud freebooter. If I would’ve revealed myself before, I would’ve been stuck socializing with the lot of you. Instead, I got to keep a distance and sleep in my own camp every night.”

“You benefited off of our work,” I raised my voice a bit. I couldn’t tell why this angered me as much as it did.

“Everything turned out fine,” she said.

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“Fine? We almost died. Some of us did!” I’d found the source of my anger. It was the pain of having lost members of the party. I turned away from the scout and gazed out over the field. Delrik knelt in the middle, where he’d been most of the fight. Hendrix’s egg glowed nearby while Nikk’s was a faded faint hue in the distance. There didn’t seem to be any for the pets, and I hoped it didn’t mean what I thought it did. “Buttons? Scallion?”

“They’ll return soon enough,” Max said with the hint of a shudder in his deep voice. His face hardened as he loomed over the scout and commanded her attention. “Your little game garnered you significant dividends, but it ends now. You will complete the escort alongside us, and you will do it without the confines of shadow.”

“Duh,” Ucntcme sauntered toward the raventaur child. She turned to face us midway there. “I only revealed myself at all because you fools can’t seem to take care of anything without me.” She continued toward Delrik.

Max and I exchanged a look. “She’s right,” I said. “This isn’t the first time she’s done this for me. I guess I’m just not meant to lead.”

“Nonsense.” Max placed a firm hand on my shoulder and looked down at me with hard, yellow eyes. “You’ve displayed nothing but great character since Nikk, and I joined you. I’m confident that even a half-competent healer would be enough to change your fortunes.

He was probably right. Ever since Hendrix had first told me about the healer's role, I’d been looking forward to having one on my side. Even a tank would’ve helped us against the gnolls. The elf removed his hand and followed Ucntcme. I lingered a while longer in thought. It was most likely the composition of our party rather than its leader that caused our defeat. I was growing quite fond of Max.

I joined the others in the middle of the field. Delrik wept as the other two stood behind him in silence. I knelt beside the raventaur. “You’re alright. The gnolls are gone, and we’re going to get you home.”

He ignored me and continued to weep. He balled a tiny fist and struck the ground. “This has to stop. There’s a reason we had these monsters caged. Kaloriann had no right to release them.” He rose and flared his dark wings. “Come, adventurers. We must put an end to Mongrim’s reign. I couldn’t live with myself if I returned home while that fiend still lived.”

“We can’t,” I said. “Two of our party members are dead. The three of us would never be able to deal with him. We’d be marching to our deaths.”

“Onward, adventurers.” Delrik started forward with purpose as if he hadn’t heard anything I’d just said.

Max whistled to catch my attention. “Retrieve the bard’s egg. I’ll collect Nikk’s. Scout, you stay with the raventaur.”

Ucntcme acknowledged the elf with a mocking salute and followed Delrik. Max strode toward the far-off egg, and I started for Hendrix’s. The bard’s egg lay on a heap of dead gnolls. It glowed green and seemed so fragile. I picked it up and almost cradled it. I didn’t know what would happen if I dropped or broke it in anyway, so I protected it as if it were a newborn child.

Something purple caught my eye in the mess of fur, blood, and ragged leather. I crouched and moved a stiff, lifeless arm from on top of whatever it was. At first, it looked like some sort of long sleeve. I pulled the garment from the pile, and its unfurling revealed a pair of purple pants. I focused on them and knew intuitively that they provided eight points of defense and ten HP. I rolled them up and spoke to the egg. “You’ve got a nice gift waiting for you when you come back, buddy.”