"All right," Colin told the team. They had pulled up at the edge of the mesa, overlooking the canyon and mine below. Sage listened intently as Colin laid out the scoreboard. "According to the story in the Book of Legends, we need four items to summon Coyote: an ear of corn, a raven's feather, a woven blanket, and a totem of some sort from the chief of the imprisoned Indians who are down in the mine right now. We've got the raven's feather, and I have good reason to believe that Captain Williams is in possession of the corn and blanket. I thought until now that Williams and his team were in the mine, but now I'm not sure. I've been examining the minimap again with my Read the Dev Notes, and a secondary pop-up appeared."

Sage’s ears pricked up. “You think Shad’s somewhere else?”

“Let me get to that.” Colin sketched out a crude map in the dirt at the edge of the cliff. "Right, we're here. That dam is over there."

He pointed to the great stone and earth wall blocking the canyon about a mile to their west. From Sage's vantage point, she could see water shimmering behind the dam and a narrow ribbon of river snaking its way through the canyon below. "The mine is across the valley, down below, on the other side of the river. We've got this tram over here running across the valley to that set of ladders and walkways.”

Sage could make out the scaffolding and rickety-looking walkways leading from the top of the other cliff down into the mind from here. They looked narrow and terrifying, just the sort of place to avoid having a fight.

The tramway itself crossed the gorge over to this side, connecting with a tower about a half mile from where they now stood. She’d been keeping an eye out, watching for movement, but there didn’t seem to be anyone guarding it. That was good; they’d be able to use the tramway, hopefully, to get themselves into permission.

“On my map, the mine itself is marked, 'Rescue prisoners 0/12+6,’ which is why I believed that Captain Williams' party has been taken captive and are being held in the mine. It’s telling me there should be twelve prisoners, but actually there are 18. However, there's a secondary objective over by the dam which says, 'Free captives 0/2.’ That one has an optional reward for me, which says, ‘The gratitude of your superiors.' I suspect that Captain Williams is one of the two being held there."

Sage turned and squinted in the direction Colin had indicated. She couldn't see anything. The dam was tall, and the day was bright. Shimmering air hovered between her and the dam.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"So what do we do?" Greta asked "Do we go there first or the mine?"

"We need to be careful,” Sage said before Colin could answer. "Something about that second objective bothers me. I think the fragment is trying to get us to split up."

"That means we shouldn't do it. We'll be playing right into its hands," Brian countered. He was being a thorn in Sage's side. She wished Rok’gar would help rein him in. After all, her orc classmate was supposed to be in charge of the squad Brian had been part of. Sage's own teammates, Greta, Amaya, and Third Molt, were at least listening to what everyone else was suggesting. Brian just seemed to want to be contrary.

"Yeah, about that," Colin clenched his jaw and sighed. "There's a timer on the 'Gratitude of Your Superiors' quest. It's stuck at 27 minutes. I think something is going to trigger that timer starting down once we go after one or the other objective."

"So we go there first," Sage said at once. "We get Shad out, and he helps us free everyone else."

Colin cleared his throat. “So, uh. On the mine, there's also a frozen 27-minute timer that says ‘watery doom.'"

"Well, that's helpful," Sage said. She crossed her arms. "What do you think that means?"

Colin pointed at the dam, looming over them. "I'm pretty sure once we go after either quest, we're going to have 27 minutes before the dam breaks. If we don't rescue both your brother and the prisoners, then it all goes up in smoke."

"Or water," Sage said, sighing. "All right. Divide and conquer it is. I'll go after Shad."

Colin shook his head. "I have another idea. You still got the other half of that teleport beacon I gave you?"

"Sure. Why?"

"This feels like the sort of thing where we might lose people," Colin said. "Whatever happens, we've got to get the token from the chief in the mines and then summon Coyote. So what I'm thinking is, I go after your brother and whoever this other prisoner is, and we make a break for it. The mesa to summon Coyote is there." He pointed northwest past the lake, where a tall, flat mesa rose above the surrounding landscape. "It's on this side of the river. If the dam collapses, it's going to be nearly impossible to cross. I need to get to them and get across the dam before it collapses. Meanwhile, you all get into the mine, clear everyone out. Whatever happens, you get that totem from the chief and you bring it to me. I'll have the beacon ready to go and active. As soon as you get it, you step through."

Sage looked around at her team. Their faces were set. "We can do this, Sage," Greta said.

"It sounds really dangerous," Sage said. "If someone gets killed for real, I won't forgive myself."

"You didn't get us into this," Amaya told her. "The fragment did. And we're not just your teammates. We've all got classes now. You were facing much more dangerous things when you were eleven. We can't back down now."

"I could," Brian said.

Rok’gar finally turned on him, snarling. "Then you wait here," he said. "When we return, I shall be sure that everyone hears of your cowardice."

Sage held up a hand. "That's not helpful. We're school kids out of place. Nobody here asked to be here. But," she said, sighing, "that doesn't mean we can't make the best of it. All right," she turned back to Colin. "We'll do it."