Jack was annoyed as he watched Lon'thul casually stroll alongside his sled. "Why does he get to walk, while I have to be dragged? I'm the only one who didn't get injured out there!"

S'haar, who looked equally annoyed about not walking under her own power, also glared at the younger hunter. "Because he was lucky enough to have been hurt little enough that he can still maintain a steady walking pace, but bad enough that he doesn't have to pull one of the more injured members of our group."

Lon'thul turned to Jack with a grin. "You're not walking because we'd never get back to the Outpost with your slow shuffling gait, old man!"

Jack popped the strap that held his knife in place and slid just an inch of steel out. "Can I stab him? Please tell me I can stab him! I don't want to kill him. I just want to give him a bit of a limp. That's all!"

S'haar chuckled as she settled back into place. "Sure, go ahead. If you can catch him, that is."

Jack looked at the hunter's stupid taunting grin before sliding the knife back and re-strapping it. "He's not worth the effort of cleaning the knife. I'll let him keep walking, for now."

Sare'en fell back to check on S'haar. "It's about time to clean and replace your bandages. So, let's take a break for now."

S'haar tried to bat the girl away, but for once, Sare'en was unwilling to listen to her hero. "Lord Jack put me in charge of making sure your wounds were cared for so you could recover quickly and properly. I don't care if you are the Lady of the camp, when I say it's time to replace your bandages, it's time to replace your bandages!"

S'haar looked at the girl in surprise before turning her attention to Jack, who eched her earlier by chuckling quietly. He had the wisdom to kill his grin and look as serious as he could before responding, though the slight tremble at the corner of his mouth belied his efforts. "Well, I mean, she's right. It is about time. She's just trying to see to your health, is all."

Seeing that she was surrounded and without allies in this fight, S'haar gave up and repositioned herself so Sare'en could go about her new set of duties. Meanwhile, Jack began rummaging around in his pack before drawing out some snacks and water. As long as they were stopped, they might as well have a bite to eat. However, when he turned to offer some to Lon'thul, he noticed the hunter was focused on the ground, his usual goofy expression replaced by one of more serious intent.

Noticing Jack's attention, the hunter turned and grinned. "It's probably nothing, but there's something I want to check out real quick."

Jack nodded and stood, shouldering his rifle as he did so. "Fine, but I'm coming with. Just to be safe."

Lon'thul looked at Jack quizzically before turning to S'haar, who grunted as Sare'en tightened another bandage. "My brave idiot wants to watch your back. Apparently, he's taken a liking to you. But take a couple of guards with you too, just to be safe."

The hunter turned back to Jack, a sly grin on his face. "I'm flattered, Jack, really I am, but this probably isn’t that big a deal. I’ll be fine!"

Jack glowered at the argu’n male. “I’m sure you will, and you’ll be even more fine with me and my rifle at your back!"

Sare’en finished wrapping up S’haar and looked up from her work. “If…you’re brining guards you might need a translator other than Lon’thul…I could come too.”

The two men turned to the girl, both looking like they were about to object when S'haar threw a bunch of old bandages at Lon'thul's head. Then, as the hunter scrambled out of the way, she spoke. "Listen, just have her stay behind Jack, and she'll be fine. Unless you were planning on doing something exceptionally idiotic?"

Lon'thul grinned and shook his head. "Nah, nothing like that. I just want to double-check something, that’s all."

Jack looked back at Sare'en. "You sure? We'd probably get by alright if you want to stay."

The younger woman shook her head. "Well, I haven't done much interpreting on this trip, and with the wolgen so recently killed, it's not likely that there's anything really dangerous in the area yet. So what are you looking for anyway?"

The hunter's grin grew even wider. "Well, if I'm not wrong, the wolgen's lair should be somewhere nearby. I just found some old tracks and what appears to be drag marks indicating prey was taken back this way. Figured I'd go take a look!"

Everyone fell silent, staring at the hunter as though he'd just turned human. Eventually, it was S'haar who responded. "And you want to go toward their lair? Have you gone mad?"

Lon'thul shrugged. "Well, they were a freshly mated pair. They were probably together only a little longer than you and Jack, and they likely don't have any pups. Even if they do, they'd be young enough that I should be able to handle them with little problem. Most of the time, they only have one or two pups anyway, and I don't see any younger wolgen tracks in the area yet, meaning the lair is either far away or any pups haven't even left the cave yet. Either way, there shouldn't be much danger."

S’haar gave the two guards a meaningful look, they nodded and picked up their spears as they stood. S'haar looked over to Sare'en. "You can stay here if you'd like."

Sare'en looked back and forth between the hunter and S'haar, finally resting her gaze on Jack's rifle. "But it shouldn't be dangerous, right? And if it is, they'd stand a better chance at coming back safe if Jack goes with them? So either it's safe, and I'm in no danger, or it's not safe, and they need Jack's help..."

As the girl trailed off, S'haar spoke up again. "Maybe, but you still don't need to go. Lon’thul can understand Jack just fine."

Sare'en shook her head. "And what about the others? There are not enough headsets to go around. So the simplest solution is for me to go. I'll just...make sure I stay behind everyone else. The best thing I could do is probably stay out of their way, if anything does happen."

S'haar looked over at Lon'thul. "How sure are you that this is safe?"

The hunter shrugged, but his grin didn't fade. "If any large pups are a serious threat, I'll see their tracks long before getting to the lair. If that happens, we'll pack up and leave. But if there are any too young to be a threat, now is a great time to put them down, before they slowly starve or grow into a real threat."

S'haar looked at the younger woman, who still looked resolute, before turning back to Jack and Lon'thul. "Lon'thul is in charge. The only exception is that Jack can call an end to this any time he wants, for any reason he wants. Jack, keep Sare'en safe. Don't do anything stupid, and call for help if you need it."

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As the group formed up and walked out, Angela finally added in her own two cents over Jack's headset. "This should be interesting."

*  

Em'brel was shaking her head in frustration. "But why does this work?

Angela floated over the table from the lone emitter in its center. It still consumed some power, but much less than anything the ship would use, and it was necessary for helping Em'brel with visual aids. Though she only got to use it when Em'brel turned it on, and even then, her range of motion was far more limited than she was used to. "Well, remember how energy can't be destroyed, only converted? A slightly oversimplified explanation of Faraday's Law states that you can convert magnetic energy into electrical energy by forcing the magnetic field to interact with an electric circuit. For example, an easy way is to force a wire loop to rotate within a field generated by powerful magnets."

The girl sighed. "So now we have to find magnets?"

Angela shook her head. "No. While the kind of magnets you'd find in nature would technically work, they'd produce so little power it wouldn't really be worth the effort. It would be like building a sail on a cart to help you move it when you could just push or pull it with no real strain. Instead, the magnets we'll use will require me to pass a current through some copper wire wrapped around an iron core. It will be several orders of magnitude stronger than anything you could find in the wild."

Em'brel tilted her head to the side. "But I thought you needed this to acquire electricity. Won't consuming power to make power defeat the purpose?"

The AI smiled at her student. "It would, if the power we created didn't vastly exceed the energy we consumed. Trust me on this. That's not the part you need to worry about. For now, just work on getting the windmill up and running. I'll worry about getting you the magnets we'll need. I know where I can find some that will perfectly suit our needs."

Em'brel sat back and stretched. "Alright, if you say so. Tel'ron is finishing up some parts I need to secure and support the wood frame. We'll be beginning construction soon. If everything goes smoothly, we'll get the whole thing put together in a little over a month."

Angela nodded. "That's good to hear. I should have plenty of power for that. I'm just not looking forward to another month of isolation. It gets...lonely in here."

Em'brel smiled sadly. "I miss you too, but this is all so that you'll be around for a long time. I'll give up a month now, if it means you'll be around years more in the future."

Angela projected a brave smile. "Yeah, I'm not going anywhere any time soon."

Ger'ron chose that moment to knock on Em'brel's bedroom door. When Em'brel opened it, he nodded to both women. "Em'brel, Lady Angela. Not to intrude, but it's about time for the guards to practice. You'll have to come with, so I can keep an eye on you while making sure they're properly training."

Em'brel nodded. "Alright, just let me get my headset, and I'll be there!"

Angela smiled. It was nice of Em'brel to include her in everything, now that so many of her systems were shut down, but what she didn't tell the girl was that it just wasn't the same. The amount of information she could take in from the headset was a pittance compared with what she was used to. She was...diminished, and she could feel it all the way to her core.

Honestly, this simplicity would be maddening for someone whose mind was usually broad in scope and fast in its processes. But luckily, Angela had her little side project to keep her mind occupied when all else failed.

*  

As the group approached what looked like a rather large cave, Lon'thul crept ahead, carefully examining the ground as he did so. Whatever he saw seemed to fit into his expectations, because he waved the rest of the group forward.

Jack double-checked that the handgun was properly loaded and ready before returning it to his holster and checking the rifle. He made sure to attach a silencer to prevent the cave's acoustics from permanently damaging everyone's hearing if and when he fired.

Once done, Jack crept toward the cave. Or at least he crept as well as the pain in his leg would allow him. The glare Lon'thul directed his way told him he wasn't anywhere near as quiet as the hunter would like, but the grin that came with it softened the blow and made it apparent he wasn't overly worried. "No tracks outside yet, but there are a few smaller tracks inside the cave. Everyone be ready. At this size, they should be far less dangerous than a kovaack, but it's best to be safe."

Jack's stomach spasmed at the statement, and he rechecked the safety, keeping the rifle pointed low and away from everyone. Then, as they advanced into the cave's darkness, the guards and Sare'en lit torches while Jack activated a low-intensity light he'd mounted on the underside of the rifle's barrel. Everyone took a moment to allow their eyes to adjust, during which Jack visually swept the cave. Unsurprisingly, there was nothing but rock walls to see, but he fanned back and forth, regardless.

Lon'thul had his bow ready and a spear near at hand. Despite his confidence, he was crouched and ready for action, though judging by his grin, he still wasn't too worried. The two guards both had their spears in hand, and the expressions on their faces clearly stated they weren't as confident as the hunter as they searched the darkness. Last was poor Sare'en. She was all but crouched behind Jack. Even if she was small for an argu'n, she was still larger than Jack. The image of such a large woman trying to hide behind such a tiny man might have been comical, if everyone's attention wasn't focused on the cave ahead.

After everyone's eyes adjusted as well as they were going to, Lon'thul resumed his advance, with a guard on either side and Jack and Sare'en following behind.

As they approached a bend, Lon'thul signaled everyone to be still and listen. Some slight scuffling could be heard, but the way sounds bounced off the cave walls made it impossible to pinpoint the origin of the sounds.

To her credit, Sare'en remained perfectly silent, even though her hands were shaking horrendously. Jack could tell her hands were shaking because she held onto his shoulder as she hid behind the smaller man. It wasn't much of a problem, until her claws started piercing through the top few layers of his skin.

Jack rested a hand on one of Sare'en's, making the younger woman realize what she was doing. With a jerk of her arms, she withdrew her hands, knocking her elbow into the wall and dislodging a bit of debris. As it settled, it became apparent that whatever had been making the sounds in the next chamber had stopped.

After a few moments, Lon'thul resumed his movement, but he only had to walk a little further before much louder scuttling could be heard. Jack raised the rifle and pointed the cone of light at something that appeared to be the size of a mastiff charging through the darkness.

Even with the silencer attached, the gun's bark was thunderous in the cave, but at least it was low enough that Jack wasn't too afraid of any hearing loss. Between the rifle and Lon'thul's arrow, the beast was knocked off its feet and lying on its side.

The hunter slit its throat to be sure, but it was clear the thing had been dead before it hit the ground. The hunter was just cleaning his knife before resheathing when the sounds of another creature could be heard charging him in the darkness.

Before Jack could get a good line on the beast, it bowled into Lon'thul, knocking him onto his side. Jack was afraid to take a shot with the hunter and beast rolling around, vying for dominance, but the two guards didn't have the same problem and moved into position.

Lon'thul had his knife wedged into the mouth of the beast, keeping it from chomping down while forcing the lower fangs away from his own face in the process. He also had most of his body wedged under one of the beast's arms, pinning it in an awkward angle so it couldn't get proper leverage. The last claw was extended outward, held in place by the hunter's other arm.

It was clear that neither combatant could do much damage to the other at the moment, and in a more drawn-out fight, things might have ended in the wolgen's favor. Unfortunately for the beast, its time was up as both guards laid into it with their spears, being careful not to hit the hunter.

This one didn't die as quickly as its sibling had, but eventually, Lon'thul could get his knife around to finish the job. First, there was a whimper, and then the poor thing lost the will to fight in its final moments.

Once the body went limp in an unmistakable manner, the hunter extracted himself from under the body and gave himself a quick once over. Luckily aside from a few new bruises and some slightly reopened wounds, he seemed to have gotten away with any real injuries.

With a relieved grin, the hunter finally spoke up. "Well, my old man would probably lecture me for an hour or two about letting down my guard, but that could have gone a lot worse. Thanks for the assist!"

Both guards were muttering their relief when Jack heard another noise in the cave. Turning and raising his rifle, he found a third pup on the other end of the cave. He raised the gun to finish it off, but this one didn't seem to have the fight in it the other two had. It just cowered against the wall.

Jack didn't feel good about it, but Lon'thul had been right. Leaving it here would be crueler than putting it out of its misery. So he raised the rifle again, this time taking careful aim. He was determined to make this one a quick and clean kill...