Somehow I’d fallen asleep after the revelation I wasn’t alone outside of the Sanctuary. Thankfully, I didn't have any more dreams. Dawn broke the darkness, and the bright rays of light woke me up. My whole body felt stiff, but after making sure I spotted nothing around, I climbed down to the ground. Once there, I stretched out, making sure to remain loose. For breakfast, I scarfed down a bunch of Allosaurus meat to fill my stomach. Water washed the remaining taste out of my mouth, and I refilled my canteen from the extra jug of water in my inventory.

It would last until tomorrow, but that was all. I needed to find a water source to refill my stores. After harvesting the Allosaurous, my stockpile of meat was good, as long as I didn't get into too many fights. With the additional light, I spotted a tall upright stone off to one side of the tunnel entrance. Letters were carved into the surface, and I shuffled closer for a look.

Names.

It was a list of several names. Some I recognized from the colony ship. All were in English, scratched into the surface of the rock. Three were crossed out. I traced the letters with a finger, trying to figure out when the last one had been carved.

“Garth,” I whispered. He’d gone missing before I’d left the colony on the shuttle. The rumors were he’d walked into the jungle to be left alone. This confirmed that he’d left the Sanctuary and might not be dead. Given that he’d worked with my father, it made sense that Dad knew I’d vanish at level 25.

How much did the leadership council know about this place that they weren’t telling people? No, not the council… Xander. I was beginning to see why Hawk had such a strong negative opinion of the man.

I shook my head, but froze as the sound of something in the distance caught my attention. Within seconds I’d climbed up a different tree from last night, this one with thinner branches and more hanging vines to hide behind. The sky lightened as the sun rose and the temperature increased.

On the other side of the clearing, a faint trail cut through the ferns heading north, which matched the direction of the noise. The next time I heard it, it sounded like voices talking. My heart pounded, wondering if those like Garth remained nearby, maybe in one of those villages Noseen had mentioned. Well, that he warned me away from, while at the same time telling me to head to a dungeon. Which might need a team.

The sound of voices cut off and I focused on remaining hidden in the treetop. A fern moved near the trail, and an eye peeked into the clearing. Seeing nothing on the ground, it stepped into view.

[Dengu, Bonded Raptor, Level 23, Predator, Tasty]

Information popped up as I used Insight, and the last item in the list almost made me chuckle. The Microraptor’s heart had tasted like chocolate, so potentially a regular Raptor tasted the same. Dengu stood taller than me, with bright green and blue feathers running down its back and spine. It stood on two legs, with two short arms ending in talons. The tail finished in a flare of dark green feathers. Its head lacked feathers, and was instead covered in scales with bright thick purple lines drawn from its clearly intelligent eyes down toward its neck.

Dengu’s head turned back to the trail and it called out twice before stepping into the center of the clearing. Everything in me screamed to take the creature out. My spear already rested in my hand, but I resisted. I didn’t know what Bonded meant, but that was only the beginning of what I didn’t understand now that I was out of the Sanctuary. It seemed like a good idea to learn more before taking action.

I knew I’d heard voices.

“See, I don’t think anyone else has appeared,” said a soft female voice. “Nothing came down the trail. We should continue with the plan.” The person attached to the voice stepped out of the jungle and placed a hand on Dengu’s back. My brain screamed it was an elf, because of the pointed ears. Like one of those from fantasy novels, but green. However, her ears did have two points instead of one. Yet, she spoke English, which seemed extremely unlikely, despite the evidence of my ears.

[Lenna le Dengu, Jungle Folk, Ranger, Level 21, Prey, Unknown.]

The first thing I noticed besides her skin color was the repeat of Dengu. The Raptor had to be bonded to her, or there was some other connection. Lenna didn’t wear much armor. Her mid-rift was bare, her shirt covering her chest and shoulders, with matching leather pants. Purple and green markings dotted the armor. Over her shoulder rested a bow, and a quiver filled with arrows. The purple markings continued on the backs of her hands and up her arms. They also flared out from her dark green eyes. Braids pulled back the front of her dark green hair, but the rest dangled loose down her back.

“It was worth a shot,” added a male voice. This time someone I recognized stepped out onto the trail. A chunky metal suit covered his body, but I knew that face. This was Hammy, from the ship. Insight confirmed it.

[Hammy, Mech Warrior, Level 20, Prey, Unknown.]

Freaking Hampton Jones, one of the guys from the mission, though he hadn’t been at the colony. He’d been part of the equipment drop ship, which explained so much, including the weird armor he wore. It covered his legs like one of the mech suits that we’d used to move heavy objects when loading the ship, but thinner somehow. The armor increased his height by at least 5 inches. A thick plate covered his chest, with a dent in the center. Metal ran down each of his arms, but didn’t encase them. Instead, two bars, one on either side, ran down to his hands. They ended at his hands, which were completely encased in what looked like chunky metal mittens.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Noseen’s warning about not visiting the villages flashed through my mind. Yet, here was someone I remembered. I didn’t know him super well, but still. He’d been brilliant, mechanically, but sometimes awkward. He’d also gone out of his way to talk to a young, shy version of me that was, at times, overwhelmed by leaving Earth.

“We can head north, then, and maybe we can beat that turtle thing.” His hand raised to run through his shaggy brown hair, but he froze before he touched his head. The metal mittens covered his hands, so that was probably a good thing, since his head didn’t have any armor on it.

A headshot would take him down.

All three of them turned back the way they’d come.

I needed to make a choice.

“Hey, Hammy, is that you?” I called out from my hiding spot.

Dengu roared and darted in my direction before Lenna spoke up. “Dengu!” The dinosaur froze, but its eyes searched the undergrowth for my voice.

So, it was smart, but not smart enough to look up.

“See, I told you someone showed up,” whispered Hammy at Lenna, as he turned toward the clearing. “We don’t mean you any harm, since you could probably kick our asses.”

“Ham!” growled Lenna.

“What? They’re probably level 25 if they came from the tunnel.”

I chuckled, moving out from behind the vines and letting my stealth drop. “You’re not wrong.”

“Alex?!” Hammy took a step forward. “I didn’t expect to see you here. Woah, and you’re rocking it!”

Lenna didn’t say anything, but I felt the Insight she used. It caused me to want to itch the back of my neck. My eyes flickered toward the Raptor. It hadn’t moved, but its eyes were locked on me. I stared back.

“You can come down,” he called. “Oh, do you want to kill a turtle with us? It’s a greater creature.”

I didn’t move, not yet.

Dengu glanced away, toward Lenna. He squawked at her.

“Friend,” she answered quietly.

I shortened my spear into its knife form and then put it away on my belt. Then, I slowly climbed down, not using my full speed. It required me to turn my back on the three of them, but I wasn’t overly worried. I still had quite a few advantages, if they decided to try to jump me.

“This is great!” Hammy kept talking. “We’ll be able to beat the turtle, and I can finish that quest. You didn’t add your name to the rock, Alex. It's a list of those who have left.”

“And the crossed-out ones?” I asked.

“I did that when I heard they died.”

I turned around slowly, looking at Lenna.

She flashed me a smile. “My name is Lenna Omalee and this is Dengu, my bonded pair. We are of the Klee Tribe.” She held out her hand.

I smiled and shook it, motioning toward the stone. “I can add my name."

“I did that correctly?” whispered Lenna toward Hammy.

“Yeah, you shook her hand right.”

“So, how long have you known each other, and how do you know English?” I asked while I used my knife to carve my name into the stone, careful not cut too deep. Hammy’s name was at the top of the list, which I hadn’t noticed before.

“58 days,” answered Hammy. “About a month after the crash…” His voice trailed off, then his voice sped up. “But we’ve been leveling together and formed a team. She isn't speaking English, she's speaking common.”

I paused, confused. "We're speaking English…?"

"Yes, but she hears what's called common here, and when she speaks common, we hear it in English." He held up a hand. "I don't know how, but it is what it is. I wish I understood how, but I think it's something the System did when we were welcomed."

I shook my head and finished carving my name. “So, turtle?” I turned back around to find all three of them looking at me.

This time Lenna spoke up as Dengu sniffed in my direction. He caught me looking at him and turned away, moving down the path.

“Ham needs to finish his quest before we can tackle the dungeon,” she explained. “There is a Greater Creature,” she motioned toward the west, “that we need to kill to move forward.”

Hammy must be on the first quest still.

“What level is it?” I asked.

“23. We tried to take it down before, but we had to flee,” explained Lenna. She strode behind Dengu as he took the lead. Hammy waited for me to go first, before continuing down the trail after me. “Dengu’s claws couldn’t cut through the shell, and my arrows bounced off.” She hesitated, then continued. “You use a burning crystal, though. That should cut through the armor.”

“Those are really rare. How’d you get your hands on one?” asked Hammy, interrupting Lenna. He swatted at the bugs that appeared as we walked under the canopy. The air around me remained clear. “Freaking bugs…”

“Inside the Sanctuary we found a bunch, but not everyone can use them.”

“They are sacred,” said Lenna. “Only the strongest of our tribe can use them to cut. You are tested once you become an adult. Yet, you already have one.” The disapproval was heavy in her voice. Hammy elbowed her in the side.

“We tested everyone soon after we discovered them,” I explained, trying to be diplomatic. “Especially since none of our weapons worked here. We needed something to help.”

“That makes sense. Your people aren’t from here, and you aren't jungle folk.” She motioned toward the sky, glancing over her shoulder at me. “You have different customs, just like the other races.”

The humidity felt different as we walked through the undergrowth. The air didn’t feel as wet here, and the sunlight wasn’t heating everything. I appreciated the change. My clothing under my armor didn’t stick to me as much as I hiked after Lenna.

Lenna kept stepping off to the side and glancing at me, but the narrow trail couldn’t fit us both walking side by side. I got the impression it made her nervous to have me walking behind her.

“So, how is the colony going?” asked Hammy, cutting into the sudden silence. “I haven’t gotten an update in weeks.”

“Tell me about that, how do you get updates?” I asked, dodging the question for a moment.

“I try to meet up with anyone who gets booted out, and sometimes people come through the tunnel. I ran into your dad that way, but that was around when I met Lenna.”

“Ham created a thing that warns us when people or creatures get teleported,” added Lenna. She flashed Hammy a smile, and he turned bright red.

“Wait, my dad?” While I wanted to know more about what the mechanic had created, the fact that he’d met my father out here seemed important. Somehow, he’d made his way out of the Sanctuary and through the tunnel. That explained how his level had been higher than anyone else, and how he seemed to know where I’d end up, but why had he kept it all secret?