“I’m really sorry about this,” I said to the woman as I tightened the strap around her wrists.

She looked at me with wet eyes, unable to say anything around the gag I’d fastened to her mouth. Seeing this stranger huddled in the corner, her entire body shaking and bound, was making me feel like a monster. Surely it would have been worse to just kill her, which was really my only other option at this point.

I was in the heart of the Outsider’s hideout. If there was an alarm raised now, there would be no way for me to make it out. After hearing Ryan’s conversation with Orion, I was glad I hadn’t just waltzed on in and pretended everything was hunky-dory. The rebel leader was on orders to kill me, regardless of whether I was one of them or not. One day, I would have to find out just who Orion actually was. He reminded me a little of Kendrick but much, much more malicious.

I could have used Kendrick’s advice right about now. The man was a master of stealth and deceit. This mission could in no way be connected to the Shadow Walkers, though. The plans I had rolling around my head would instantly break one of the Guild's rules. Not that it really felt much like a guild. I’d barely been given any missions and barely seen any rewards despite being a Jackroller.

I stepped away from the woman and took out my notepad, quickly scrawling a note to find and interrogate Kendrick after I’d finished everything else.

Turning away from my prisoner, I approached the odd-looking fern. It was emitting an odd aroma, something a little like cinnamon. I focused on it and used my Identify skill.

Aeger Fern

Properties: Lingering Sickness - ? - ?

I blinked. My Indentify skill had never shown me crafting material properties before. I guess it was getting a little stronger. That would take some getting used to. I assumed the question marks indicated properties I couldn’t yet see. I mean, what else could they signify? With this new development, I might not have so many potions blow up in my face. That would be a nice change.

I spent some time harvesting the collection of what I assumed were rare plants in this growing room. Its proximity to Ryan’s chambers seemed to imply that these were his own personal collection. I could be wrong, of course. I so often was, after all. Perhaps this was just the only room left that was large enough for these plants.

I turned for the door when there was nothing left to collect but paused with my hand on the lever. I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath to still the rapid pulse beating through my veins. I searched the hall on the other side of the door for auras, good or bad. There was nothing there.

I worried for a moment about the little Tentarat. I hate to admit it, but I had become kind of attached to the thing. Frank had practically abandoned me, Stella was still missing, and Sob was hiding far away because he simply wouldn’t fit underground. I missed having an animal companion. The slimy little creature had filled that hole inside of me.

I sighed and left the room. I wasn’t overly concerned about the woman I had left behind. She seemed like an important member of the rebels. Someone would find her eventually and set her free. I just hoped it wasn’t too soon.

I navigated the halls at a snail's pace, looking around every corner and every door with my Blindsense. I refused to stumble on another player simply because I was impatient. It seemed that aside from a bunch of guards, everyone else was in their chamber. No doubt deep in their dreams, like Ryan was. That worked well for me.

The hardest part was crossing the main hall that housed Ryan’s slab on its little island over the circular pool of water.

Five guards walked in circles around the place, eyeing every tunnel that branched off the hall with suspicion. I would have been impressed with their dedication if it wasn’t directly impacting my ability to get to Theo. This is the time something like Camouflage would come in handy.

I used my Blindesense again, hoping to find another ally, even if it was only my Tentarat friend. Unfortunately, there was nothing but moving red blotches. Rubbing at my aching temples, I looked for silver sparkles, happy when they appeared in the darkened patches of wall between the torches that lit the hall. Unluckily for me, the sparkles moved with the guards, meaning I would have only a short time in each before I’d have to run to the next.

Stolen novel; please report.

No time like the present. I ran and hid, then did it all over again. Dodge. Run. Hide. Dodge. Run. Hide. The pattern repeated itself ad nauseam as I slowly made my way around the room. I was doing just fine until my foot hit a wet patch, making my boots squeak on the hard ground underfoot.

“Hey, Melanie, did you hear something just now, or was it just me?” one of the guards asked another.

“No, I heard it too. Who’s there?” the one who must be Melanie called out.

I held my breath, pressing deeper into the sparkles. Sweat beaded on my forehead and began to roll toward my chin as I eyed the guard coming toward me. If I didn’t move soon, I’d be caught, but the pair on the other side of me had paused to search for the source of the squeak. My fingers brushed the hard grip of my sword as I readied myself to yank it free.

A wet plop atop my head startled me. I couldn’t keep the yelp at bay even as a tentacle slapped over my mouth, gripping my skin with its many suckers.

“There, I heard something again. Come out now!”

My friend, the Tentarat, climbed off my head and down my body with outrageous speed. I would have kicked the little creature's ass if it wasn’t already out of the range of my sparkles.

Screee!

The Tentarat let out his unique screech as he hurriedly crossed the floor, heading for the large pool of water.

“There it is,” Melanie cried, leaping back away from the creature. “Eww, kill it.”

“What are you talking about? It’s so cute. Leave the poor thing alone,” the first guard said, trying to follow the Tentarat with hands clapping to draw its attention.

“It is not a ‘poor thing.’ It is vermin,” Melanie said.

the Tentarat slipped into the water with a splash. The guards returned to their pacing around the room, still arguing over the classification of a Tentarat. I rushed to my next set of sparkles, silently thanking the tiny monster for saving my ass, which must have been the second or third time so far. Do you see why I like having animal companions so much? I would have to give it a name sometime soon if I was going to keep it. It had to be a good name, though. I would have to think about it for a little while.

Finally, I reached the tunnel that would lead down to Theo’s chamber. I ducked down it to the nearest shadow outside the guard's range of view before I knelt on the ground and waited. It didn’t take too long for the Tentarat to find me again. As he had before, he dropped from the ceiling right atop my head, only this time, I didn’t make a sound.

I looked up to see where he’s come from and saw one of the many grates I had been spying on the Outsiders through. The Tentarat was returning to the tunnels overhead to follow me around. That was pretty smart.

Together we moved on. I was thankful my Blindesense didn’t seem to drain my resources. I used it at length. Halfway down the tunnel, a tug on my senses told me there were resources nearby.

I hesitated. Resources were nice and all, but I was so damn close to my target. I moved one way and then backtracked to the other before resorting to rubbing my fingers through my patchy hair. I felt like two equally strong forces had grabbed ahold of my body and were pulling in opposite directions.

I swore and took off toward Theo’s chamber. If I did a nice, quick, clean job of dispatching him, I could harvest craftables after. First, I needed to know as much as I could about what really happened to my friends. There was a reason the giant of a man had kept Tony the cable snake man's location a secret from the others, and I was going to learn exactly what that reason was.

The bars over the blackened abyss came into view before Theo’s heavy wooden door did. I eyed the dark maw with frustration. It felt like hours, perhaps even days since I had been right there on the other side of the bars. It had taken so long to navigate around to reach the door. I either need to shrink down to Frank’s size or learn to squish down to nothing like the Tentarat did to slip into tight spaces. If I did that, maybe I could save some time in the future.

I used my Blindsense and focused on the aura on the other side of the door. There were more than I was expecting. Three, in fact. All three were a brilliant green color, even brighter than the Tentrarat was.

I reached up and drew my blade. My new skill might think Theo was still an ally, but I knew better. It was time to face him and make him bleed.

I opened the door and rushed inside, kicking it closed behind me. A shrill scream filled the air, along with angry bellows.

“Shut the hell up!” Frank screamed from his perch up by the ceiling.

I ignored the raven and turned my sword toward the two people huddling naked under the covers on one of the many beds.

“Sorry to interrupt,” I growled.