Harper held up a hand with a closed fist. She hoped it was the right signal. She’d been trying to pay attention when her father had given instructions. An idea he had of trying to make communication easier for the various Clanmembers. The worry had been that if each group had their own way of silent communications, or even codewords and shortcuts they used, it would get confusing when in a larger group.

No one would know what was being said.

She thought he was worrying about nothing, but she’d paid attention when her father and Darren, along with some others, had hammered out some signals to use. The hand up with closed fist meant stop.

Glancing back, she saw that everyone had stopped. She was ten or fifteen feet ahead of the rest, scouting, and had caught a sound just ahead. Making a motion with her hand, hoping it was the one for stay, she crept ahead.

Her Stealth skill had recently gone up, now Rank Two, which had given her increased ability to move silently over any terrain. It was an odd thing to use. The skill was considered passive, which she’d been told meant it was always active. It didn’t require the use of any Spirit, it just happened.

For her, it translated as seeing all the small twigs, leaves, branches and other things that could snap and make noise. It told her where a board was loose, or a piece of furniture wasn’t exactly level and the weight of someone passing could rock it. She knew how to set her feet, to step with her toes and not put weight down, barely touching the surface.

It made her wish she’d had that Ability, or Skill really as there was a difference, before the Connection. What teenager wouldn’t want to be able to move silently through the house and sneak out?

She moved slowly, stepping from shadow to shadow, glad that this part of the woods was thick with trees. It was an area she wasn’t familiar with. Close to Bow Lake, but past the beaches, the road had gone into Strafford and then Pittsfield. She’d driven it, but had never paid attention to the houses or woods. She thought there should be more houses. It was close to the lake, there was barely any undeveloped land.

Wasn’t there some Boy Scout camp or something further up the road? What had that turned into with the Connection’s appearance?

The noise grew louder. Someone, or something, moving through the woods. They were trying to be quiet, just not as quiet as she was. A shape came out of the shadows under the trees. The sun was just past its highest point, starting to set, and with the thick canopy of trees the ground was heavily shadowed. Made it cooler, which Harper didn’t like.

It reminded her too much of the Shadow Realm. It was always cold there. The lack of colors just added to the dreariness. Everytime she was there, it made her shiver. Not that she’d stop going. Her Shadowskip Ability was just too good.

She Activated it, stepping into the Shadow Realm. Instantly the cold increased. She could feel it on the exposed parts of her skin, where the leather armor didn’t cover. Harper knew her dad, and now her mom, hated the armor. It left too much exposed. To her, it was no different from a bathing suit. It actually covered more than her suits had. She didn’t know if their biggest complaint was the lack of cover or the actual lack of protection.

It looked good. She looked good. Harper was pretty sure Davis thought she looked good.

Focusing on the task at hand, Harper moved through the Shadow Realm. She crossed the distance between her and the elven scout in a matter of seconds. She didn’t have to move cautiously or quietly, she was undetectable in the Shadow Realm. And time moved differently, faster.

There was no color but she didn’t need it. The elf had to be a Silver Bark scout, there wouldn’t be a reason for anyone else to be in this area, so close to their camp. He was dressed in leather armor, similar in style to what Elora and that elf they had captured wore. A short sword was sheathed at his waist, a bow and quiver on his back. He was crouched down, looking toward where the rest of her group were waiting.

She cursed, glad her father wasn’t around to hear it.

Or her mother, who really hated when she or Piper swore.

They’d been spotted, or heard. The elf knew they were coming.

Or maybe he thought it was an animal.

She moved to stand behind the crouched elf, who was hidden partially by a tree. It blocked some of his view, so she stepped to the side, getting a clearer view. She couldn’t see the people from Clan Brady, which meant the elf probably couldn’t either.

He’d heard a noise and was waiting to see what it was.

Harper wondered what she could do.

She didn’t want to pop out of the Shadow Realm and kill the man. Her thoughts went down the dark path to when she’d done that in the clearing after fighting the Wendigo. She’d popped out and slain the Silver Bark Midwarden. Killed in cold blood. Murdered.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t killed before. That was the way of life in the Connected System. Kill or be killed. She liked fighting, the way she could move and use her Abilities. She just hated the killing part. Killing that elf had felt like the right thing to do at the time, but she still had nightmares.

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

The talk with Elora had helped, but Harper didn’t think she’d ever get used to that kind of killing. She hoped she didn’t at least.

Killing this scout was the right idea. It would keep her and the rest of the Clan’s presence in the area a secret. If they were discovered, the entire plan was ruined. Killing the scout would also mean one less enemy that would try to kill them.

And Harper knew the elf wouldn’t hesitate to kill her or any of Clan Brady.

So why did she hesitate?

There were plenty of good reasons to do it.

She drew her tonfas, holding them to the sides. Step out of the Shadow Realm, drive the left one forward into the elf’s chest. Slide the right one across his throat. Easy and quick. If she was fast enough, it’d be silent too. In the Shadow Realm she couldn’t use Evaluate, so had no idea of his Level but most likely was equal or higher than her own. That would be a decent amount of Spirit experience.

Harper had started envisioning her experience gain as a bar like her father did. It made it easier to gauge how close to Leveling she was and she was very close to hitting Level Twenty. This elf might even put her over the top and get the Level.

All it would take was killing this elf.

Taking a breath, she prepared to exit the Shadow Realm.

But stopped. She couldn’t do it.

Harper wasn’t naive. She was fifteen, would be sixteen very soon, still a teenager to many but not to Clan Brady. She was as much of an adult as any of them. She’d been through just as much, if not more. She’d fought and killed

She knew that the mission would probably require killing. Her father hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but it probably would. But that was different. Killing in combat was different.

She had told her parents she was ready.

But was she really?

***

She looked out over the small pond, where a running track had been, looking at the single large flower. It was beautiful, if a little odd looking. Standing by itself in the middle of the water. Small seedlings could be seen growing throughout the water, not yet popping above. Amelia Elmore, the Clan member with the Gardener Class, had identified it as a XXXX.

A Natural Resource.

With the xxx Tree, that made two that Clan Brady possessed. Cerie had said having one was rare and considered extremely lucky. Having two was unheard of.

Cerie was back at the school with Piper. It was just Harper and her parents.

It was going to be one of those conversations.

When her mother had asked her to go on a walk with them, Harper had feared what it would be about. The conversations when parents wanted to talk to a child alone, taking them away from where the sibling couldn’t eavesdrop, those were never good ones. She wasn’t expecting this one to be any different.

Her father was watching the treeline, where they assumed Silver Bark scouts were watching.

“Harper,” her mom said, sitting down on the grass. She patted it, wanting Harper to sit. “I’ve told you girls that I can’t stay..”

“I know mom,” Harper replied, sitting down, pulling her knees up tight, waiting for the lecture to come.

Dad had been giving her more responsibility. He knew her strength, understood she could take care of herself. But her father had always been the one more willing to let them, her and Piper, take more risks and try things, knowing they might be hurt. Mom was the overprotective one and Harper had a feeling that overprotectiveness was going to come back.

Which might be why her father wasn’t involving himself in the conversation. Yet. Her parents had always presented a unified front, even if they didn’t fully agree with eachother. This was going to be one of those times.

“I haven’t seen you fight,” Kelly continued, looking out at the flower. “Dad says you’re amazing. All that dance and gymnastics paid off.” She chuckled. It wasn’t a happy chuckle, Harper could feel the sadness. “I want to tell you to not fight, to hide in the school.”

Harper started to protest but her mom held up a hand. She turned to look at Harper, smiling and looking proud. A little sad but still proud.

“In this new world you’re almost an adult and even though none of us wanted this, as a family we have responsibilities that have been given to us. Because we are Bradys, we don’t run from those responsibilities as much as we might want to. We don’t hide from them. I have the column of survivors I have to watch out for. I need to return to them soon. Here, your father is the Clanchief, he has hundreds that he’s responsible for. And someday, you’ll be the chief.”

Harper looked out at the flower, pulling her legs tighter. At that moment she felt like a young girl again. She understood what her mom was saying. Her parents had always told the girls to never back down from their responsibilities, especially if it was something someone else counted on them for. Promises and responsibilities, two things to never not do.

She knew she’d be the Clanchief someday, maybe not for a very long time as the Adapted lived a long time. A lifespan that could be measured in hundreds of years. But someday she would be, whether Clan Brady was small or as far reaching and expansive as a Clan like the Silver Bark. It would be her responsibility.

That thought scared her, but she wouldn’t let her parents see that.

“What I’m saying is that no matter how much I want you to hide in the school, I know you can’t.” Kelly chuckled again, this time with real feeling. Harper looked to see her mom’s wide smile, a twinkle in her eyes. “And I know my daughter. You wouldn’t hide no matter how much we asked you to. So we,” she paused, looking up at Loch, then back to Harper. “I won’t ask you to.”

Harper turned as her father sat down on the other side. He leaned forward so he could see both Harper and Kelly.

“But there is something we will ask of you,” Kelly said.

“It’s extremely dangerous,” Loch said. “But there’s no one else that can do it.”