Only after we were out of the pass and back on the road to Danver did Prajio’s anger finally simmer. He hadn’t said anything to me since leaving the wagon, but I could tell he was royally pissed off from the interaction with Shask. I wasn’t going to be the first one to speak, and I was focused on my own feelings anyway.

Tara needed help. She had been captured and abused because I had abandoned her to rot in her grief and shame alone. My decision to abandon her was driven by hate. In that cave, I had hated her. I hated Val. I hated that whole damn coven of crazies, and I had hated myself for being naïve and weak and stupid and helpless.

When I had shut that door behind me and left Tara in the dark, I felt a morbid sense of satisfaction. The cruelty was cathartic.

But it was wrong. I was wrong.

After seeing the results of my actions firsthand, I resolved never to let hate drive me again. I couldn’t imagine how my wife would react if she knew I had abandoned someone in need. Even if I never saw Elena again, I would remain the man she knew and loved. I had to.

I couldn’t let Tara suffer any longer. I couldn’t let her remain a pet for those Kurskin bastards. I had to save her, but first, I had to convince Prajio to help me.

I knew just what to say to get him on my side. Yes, it meant manipulating him, but he was still the enemy…well, more like an enemy with benefits but an enemy, nonetheless. So, I only felt a little bad about what I was about to do.

“Prajio,” I said. “Can we sit a moment? I need to speak with you.”

He looked at me curiously. “Of course, Ethan. Let us rest here.” He gestured to a grouping of small boulders.

After settling into my perfect boulder, I made my play.

“That girl back there in the wagon, the human. Her name’s Tara.”

His eyes widened, and he leaned forward. “You know her?”

I met his eyes and nodded solemnly. “Oh, I know her. She’s my wife’s little sister, Prajio, and I’m not leaving this mountain without her.”

He looked away, and his tail began to flick back and forth. He was thinking. Eventually, his tail stopped swishing, and he seemed to reach some sort of internal resolution: “You seek my help.”

I couldn’t tell if that was a statement or a question.

“Talk to Shask for me. If she won’t give us Tara, then I’ll find a way to kill Shask and save Tara myself.”

Prajio shook his head. “I know Shask well. She would never give up the girl, no matter what we offered. If she knew I wanted Tara, it would only make Shask want to hurt her more in hopes that Tara’s suffering would cause me distress."

“No,” Prajio continued, shaking his head. “It would come to a fight in the end.” He looked at me sadly. “I am not sure I can do this for you, Ethan.”

I was caught off guard by his response. I thought he would be gung-ho for this. “Tara may know where my wife is. Even if she doesn’t, she’s family. I must save her, but I can’t do it alone.”

Prajio stood and began to pace. He was mumbling something to himself.

‘Val?’

“Your scaly friend appears to be having an existential crisis. He believes the System is using you to give him a unique experience in this world. The only problem is that outside of wars and arenas, quests don’t typically pit a Player against one of their own. Killing one’s kind while questing is practically unheard of. To make matters worse, Prajio doesn’t have an official quest for it. He is invested in you solely because he believes you are a Special NPC.”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

That helped put things into perspective. I decided my friend needed another push.

“No killing,” I said. “We can do this just like we did at the engineer’s guild. We hurt them enough so that we can take what we need. I’ve helped you fight my kind, and now I’m asking you to return the favor.”

Prajio stopped pacing and took a deep breath. “Very well, Ethan. But you should know that this goes far beyond a simple favor to me. If I do this for you, I need something in return.”

“Anything,” I said.

“You will allow me to journey with you. I will help you find your wife, my friend. After we save your sister, you and I shall travel together henceforth.”

He was going to help, but I was surprised to discover that I felt bad about it. I had grown more fond of Prajio as we spent more time together, and now I was deceiving him into attacking his own kind.

It had to be done.

“So, my friend,” I said with a cheeky grin. “What’s the plan?”

***

When we reached Benji’s stolen wagon, Prajio announced himself and with full confidence and authority and demanded that they relinquish Tara to him.

“She is a relative to my dear friend and travel companion.” Prajio said it matter-of-factly. “Therefore, she will be coming with us.”

Shask stepped forward and got into Prajio’s face. I was to his right, as planned. The rest of her gang stayed back, but all looked ready for a confrontation.

“You have no authority over me here Vrentris. Leave now before I make you leave.”

Prajio spit on the ground. “Fine. How much do you want for the girl?”

That was my queue.

In our previous encounter, Shask had ignored me outright. I was nothing to her. When her gaze passed over me, I was just a piece of scenery. I was beneath her and unworthy of attention.

Well, she should have paid more attention to me.

I activated Devastating Strike, leaped forward, and sent a triply-enhanced and upgraded right hook to her temple.

She collapsed to the ground, and Prajio disappeared into a puff of smoke. By the time I turned around to see, Prajio had reappeared, his elbow taking a goon in the neck and sending one more fist into his head just for good measure.

Prajio’s amazing teleport ability had brought all the attention to himself, luckily for me.

I activated Silent-But-Deadly for the first time and sprinted toward the nearest lizard. He could see both myself and Prajio from his position, but he looked at me too late and with a confused expression on his about-to-be-punched face.

My fist took him in the nose or snout or whatever, and it hurt me more than him, but it did knock him off balance, so I tackled him to the ground and mounted him.

I was raising my arm, ready to land another blow, when I felt something curl around my neck. I was yanked to the side and rolled over. When I got my bearings, I noticed his tail whipping back and forth as he stood.

Those tails were damn useful.

I moved into a boxing position, ready to scramble with him. He closed his eyes and whispered something. I watched as a thin layer of frost quickly covered his body from head to toe. Whisps of steam billowed from his icy skin.

I didn’t know what this was. Some sort of ice magic? I didn’t know what to do. I was going to die. I regretted agreeing to Prajio’s ‘no weapons’ approach. He had insisted it was the only way he could do this, so I no choice but to agree.

The frosty Kurskin charged at me, leaving a trail fog in his wake. He came at me inhumanely fast. I tried to dodge out of the way of his charge, but a cold, clawed hand reached out and grabbed my shoulder. The claws dug into me as he pulled me to him. His other hand grasped my throat. His hand felt like the icy touch of death as it began to squeeze.

I kicked at him, but it was like kicking at a wall of ice. He was so heavy. Impossible to move. My eyes felt like they were about to burst out of their sockets. My vision was fading. My throat burned.

Just as the darkness closed in, I was flung to the ground. I heard shouting and fighting and then nothing.

I coughed over and over, trying to find my breath again. My throat was on fire, but when I touched it, it felt freezing cold.

My vision returned, and I saw Prajio standing above me, his hand offering me help. I rolled onto my side and pushed myself up. “I’m okay, I don’t need help.”

“Tssk, tssk. It does not make you less of a man to accept a helping hand.”

“I don’t deserve a hand up,” I said as I gestured to the many unconscious Kurskin. “You did this, not me. I was powerless against them.”

“We can discuss your pitiful lack of self-worth later. We must make haste before they recover.”

I ran to the back of the wagon and found a semi-conscious Tara. She looked at me, but her eyes were still blank, mind lost in oblivion.

“Grab the other one,” I said.

“What?” Prajio asked.

“Grab the Dalari.”

“That was not part of the deal, Ethan. Why would we take a Dalari with us? We know nothing of her.”

“They’re brutalizing her. She is a person, not a toy to be played with. If you’re the man I think you are, you’ll pick her up right now. If you’re not, then I’ll have to drag them both myself.”

Anger crossed his expression, but it transformed into resolution. He grabbed the still-unconscious Dalari by her feet and threw her over his shoulder.

We ran away from Lucard Pass as fast as our burdened legs could carry us.