The Silver Bark camp looked just as Elora had described it, or mostly described it as she had been blocked by the Connection from revealing too much. Harper didn’t really understand it. The same restrictions kept Cerie from revealing too much about the Silver Bark inner workings. They had both tried to explain it. Something about keeping the Connection wanting things more competitive.

Set away from the lake, down a dirt road and in a large clearing that Harper thought she remembered as being part of a future housing development. She’d heard her father and some of the other fathers talking about it at some of her games. The complaint, not shared by her father, had been about Northwood not needing more homes, developments ruining the rural nature of the town and such. Harper and her friends had just rolled their eyes over it all. Their only concern was more homes leading to more students and the schools were already close to being overfilled.

The camp wasn’t large. Tents, looking big enough for four to six, were laid out in organized rows surrounding some larger ones in the middle. That was where the leadership would be, with the largest being in the center belonging to Hoskia Silver Bark, who should just be about to face off with her father. Or maybe they’d already fought.

Harper wasn’t sure of the exact timing. The plan had been arranged by days, since communication and travel were so uncertain. The potential for wandering bands of monsters made scheduling joint actions difficult.

It didn’t look like most of the Silver Bark had gone with the leaders to meet with her father. There were still a lot of bodies moving around the camp. But Evaluate told her that they were all in the Level Ten to Fifteen range. At least that was her best guess from the feeling that Evaluate gave her compared to her own Level.

Her father, with Elora and Cerie, had thought that Hoskia would bring his highest Leveled people thinking that Clan Brady would do the same. Cerie had said that to many Clans in the Connection, any meeting between them was a chance to show off their strength in different ways. One of those being in Levels. The Silver Bark would have more higher Leveled members than Clan Brady. A show of force could force Clan Brady to surrender.

Harper knew her father wouldn’t. They were counting on Hoskia bringing his strongest. That part of the plan had worried Harper. It was going to mean her parents, and sister, were outnumbered but both parents had assured her that they knew what they were doing. She used one of her parents favorite lines on them.

“It’s my job to worry,” she had told them.

Looking at the Silver Bark camp, she really was worrying.

Harper had climbed a tree just on the outskirts, going high enough to get a clear view and look down at the camp. She could see the tents, the perimeter with patrolling guards and in the corner were the prisoners.

The fence was made with logs placed close together, ends jammed into the ground. The size of the logs varied, the spacing between different, but all had their tops cut to a point. There looked to be spikes embedded in the tops of the logs as well. Each was about fifteen feet tall, enough for even a Connected to not be able to jump out of. The spikes would prevent climbing. There was also a net, made out of some material Harper couldn’t see, that covered the top of the small enclosure.

And it was small. The people inside were jammed, packed in tight with barely any room to move. Just looking at the people, there were children, made Harper angry. She wanted to Shadowskip into the camp and rescue the people, but knew she couldn’t.

Not yet.

There was a plan to follow.

She looked down into the forest below, away from the camp. The others were well hidden, she couldn’t even see them with her high Perception. That was good.

Looking back at the camp, she tried to look past it, into the woods on the front and beyond. There was no movement she could see, just the patrols. Harper felt impatient. She wanted to attack but fought against that impulse. That had always been her biggest fault, bad impulse control. She thought she was getting better but the weight of responsibility was heavy. She wanted that weight off her shoulders.

Harper started to shift but stopped, hearing a noise from below. An elf entry walked out from the trees a couple down from her, maybe fifteen feet. He moved toward the edge of the clearing with the camp, hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword. Head moved as the elf scanned the forest, watching and listening. Harper slowed her breathing, just as Elora had shown her. Slow and measured, quiet.

The elf moved toward the clearing but stopped, head whipping around as a branch snapped in the forest. Harper forced herself not to move, to not try and find the source of the sound. She watched the elf, not looking at him directly but a spot to the side. He took a couple steps into the trees, almost directly below her.

She could jump down on top of him, but that would make too much noise. Shadowskip and appear in front of him, taking him down quickly. But that would make noise. Her part of the plan involved making no noise.

Shouting came from the camp, drawing the sentry’s attention. Smoke rose up from the far corner, flames visible over the tents. Other guards and even the non-combat Silver Bark started running for toward the commotion. With one last look into the forest, the sentry took off, disappearing into the tents.

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The fires were her cue.

Harper Activated Shadowskip.

***

She stepped out of the Shadow Realm facing the cage. Harper held up her hands, motioning the prisoners to be silent. They saw her appear from nowhere, started to cry out, but stopped as an older man in the front quickly shushed them. He turned to Harper, walking to the log bars, shifting to a bigger gap to get a better look.

“You’re human,” he said.

“I am. My name’s Harper Brady.”

“She’s a child,” someone said from behind.

The man turned back, making the hand motion again.

“Margaret, quiet now,” he scolded, turning back to Harper. His eyes moved past her to the flames on the other side of the camp. “Take it you’re here to get us out?”

“Yes,” she said, stepping closer.

In the Shadow Realm, Harper had walked around the cage, examining it from every side. She’s even climbed the logs, checking it from the top. The entrance was made of smaller logs running horizontally, held to vertical logs. One end was tied to the larger logs that made the bar, the other end fixed with a some kind of rope and stick locking system. Harper hadn’t seen anything like it before, but it worked. She had assumed the prisoners had tried to break free, but while the locking system looked simple and weak, she figured it was anything but. The thing was built to keep Adapted locked up, it had to be tough.

She ran her hands over the rope. It felt thick and strong, but was still just rope.

“We tried to escape,” the man said, coming closer. “The first night Billy,” he pointed to a large man behind him, sitting on the ground, hands tied behind his back. “He tried to break it, and the logs. Got the guards angry and they tied him up with magic ropes. We can’t cut ‘em no matter what we do. Have to feed Billy by hand, when they give us food that is.”

He spoke quietly, eyes constantly looking past Harper. She knew she had to hurry. The distraction wouldn’t last long. The man seemed to know that as well. He stepped away from the door, quietly moving among the prisoners. He got them up, had others help the ones that needed it, getting the whole group organized. They looked sad and worn. It was obvious the Silver Bark hadn’t been feeding them. Quick Evaluate on the man showed him to be much weaker than her, probably around Level Five if that. Maybe Eight. None of the others seemed to be stronger. Even Billy, the largest. He felt the strongest of them all, and that impression was more than half her Level. The man stood up, looking dejected, like the will had been beaten out of him. He was large, maybe as tall as Brian Jefferson, not as wide. He shuffled over to the door, looking down at Harper.

“I tried breaking it,” he said, voice flat. “But wasn’t strong enough.”

Harper studied the lock. It looked so simple. She knew she had a lot of what were considered Rogue Skills in the games her father had played but none of them involved opening locks. There had to be something she was missing. Taking a step back, she reached out with a tonfa.

The tip touched the wooden post. She moved it a bit back and forth. Nothing happened. It didn’t appear to be trapped.

“One of us had a knife hidden in their boot,” the old man said, coming back. He reached up and patted Billy on the shoulder. “Couldn’t cut the rope.”

“Might not be a high enough Level,” Harper said, stepping back.

She started walking around the cage again. The idea made sense. The way the cage was constructed, it wouldn’t hold her father. It wouldn’t even hold Piper. With the clear difference in strength between Levels, it would be easy enough to build an enclosure that lower Leveled people couldn’t break out of.

Returning to the lock, she threaded a tonfa through the rope loop. Holding the handle tight, she pulled the blade. It didn’t slice through the rope but she felt it cut a few strands. The rope was at least an inch thick and not a material she recognized. Probably came from the Silver Bark’s homeworld. Harper started moving the tonfa up and down, sawing through the rope.

She glanced over her shoulder, seeing that more flames had appeared. There was the sounds of fighting now, metal on metal, the explosions of Abilities going off. She hoped that Drew and his party were safe. He’d volunteered to take his group to the other side of the camp and make a distraction for her. Returning to the rope lock, she kept sawing.

The blade cut strand after strand. She could see it halfway through the rope. Harper increased the speed and pressure, pulling the tonfa toward her. The rope snapped. She stumbled, stopping the blade from flying forward. The wooden post fell, the door sagging open.

She looked up into the wide and surprised eyes of the old man and Billy. Grabbing the end, she pulled it open fully.

“Come on.”

Billy stepped out, eyes scanning the camp, showing more life. The old man moved through the cage, tapping people, talking to them, pushing at them to get them moving. Harper stepped back, pointing into the woods.

“Move, quickly, there’s people just inside the trees,” she said, as the prisoners stepped out.

They moved slowly, hesitantly, unsure if it was real or not. Harper wondered what exactly these people had been through. What had the Silver Bark done to them?

“This way,” she said again, more urgently.

The people started moving. They didn’t want to step into the woods until they saw Davis. He stepped out from the trees, moving closely, motioning with his hand. They picked up the pace, moving into the trees. Davis kept them moving. Harper could see Kim Hudson just beyond. She reached out and helped a prisoner that had tripped.

Finally only the old man and Billy remained.

“Thank you,” the old man said, Billy still watching the camp.

Harper looked up at the big man, smacking his arm as he wasn’t paying attention. She motioned to the forest. He looked from her to the camp and then the lock. With a shrug, Billy jogged to catch up with the others.

“Move,” Harper told the old man. “We’re not safe yet.”