"So, em, why are we waiting in the bloody snow again? I'm freezing."

Mason spared a quick glare at Seamus and put a finger to his lips for silence. His 'bond' with Streak apparently gave him a kind of intuitive compass as to which direction the animal was. So after they'd left the great tree, he'd taken them a little ways to the northwest until he'd found a sign.

It was snowing, so there were no tracks, but Mason saw scavenger birds circling not far in the distance. And he heard the quiet of the forest as prey animals hid or ran in terror in every direction. The pack was coming.

"It might not be them. But I think it is," Mason whispered. "Stay here. I'll be back shortly."

"Can I come?" Becky said, mostly unwilling to let go of his hand since the insect tunnel. He smiled and nodded.

"If you're up for a ride."

She climbed onto his back and lay tight against him, and he held her legs as he ran. For a moment he reminded himself these weren't like wolves in the real world. They wouldn't just run away or keep their distance if they smelled or heard him. They weren't afraid of men here.

But he had bonded with a wolf. His ranger 'essence', whatever the hell that was, brought him an understanding of the creatures beyond anything he could explain, and Apex Predator had already demonstrated its effectiveness. So he had no fear of them, either.

He found the corpse of a giant antelope about the same moment as the wolves. Three youths stared from the trees, waiting to see what he'd do. He set Rebecca down and came forward, squatting down next to the corpse to wait.

More and more wolves gathered around. At least ten. Maybe more. They looked healthy and strong.

"Um, Mason?" Becky whispered, getting closer to his back. "There's a lot of them. Do you think Streak is actually here? I mean, what if he isn't? Are we just going to..."

The pack growled, and a wolf twice the size of the others padded out from behind, green eyes shining in the gloom.

Mason grinned as Streak rushed straight to him, smashing his enormous head into Mason's shoulder and practically leaping into his arms as he sniffed and whined.

"OK," Mason laughed as he was forced to catch his friend. "OK. OK. I'm happy to see you too."

The pack transformed their posture, most sitting, others flopping right down with tongues out to rest.

"Better let them eat," Mason laughed, giving the giant wolf a good scratch and wrestle, even Becky relaxing enough to join in. "They're waiting on you. There'll be a mutiny."

Streak didn't look very concerned. He bounced around like a pup, then walked back and nuzzled a female until she followed shyly. Streak walked her back to Mason and sat, sticking up his nose with hilarious pride.

"Well done, very impressed," Mason chuckled, keeping a respectful distance for now. The female took her time but approached, giving Mason a good sniff before wandering away again, not terribly enthused. Finally Streak went to the carcass and started eating, and the pack followed in their proper order.

Mason shook his head as he watched them all.

"I think we're going to need a kennel."

"What?" Becky's eyes widened. "We're bringing them? Back to Nassau?"

"We are," he confirmed. When he glanced at her and saw she still didn't really believe, he shrugged. "We need guards. There's nothing better. I'll sleep sound and set no watch with Streak's pack protecting us at night."

Becky let out a breath and shook her head. "What if we get more refugees coming in? Won't they...I don't know...eat people? Like, you know, they tried to eat me?"

"Well...I..." Mason winced. "Haven't worked out all the kinks."

"Kinks?" Becky's eyes widened and Mason laughed as he pulled her closer.

"We'll domesticate them. Probably. Look, we'll figure it out."

Mason and Becky sat down and ate some dried rations, having a make-shift picnic on a sweater in the snow. If he was honest, though, he was tempted by the smell of the raw meat, and to join in and eat with the wolves...

When the pack was finished, Mason and Streak led them south to the others. For their part the wolves seemed excited to be on an adventure, their trust in Streak already obvious.

"You did good," Mason said, a hand on his friend. Then, mostly to himself. "But how am I going to teach them not to eat people..."

The civilians panicked briefly as the pack found them. It was the exact wrong thing, and the wolves growled and circled the moment the group started acting like prey.

"It's a good thing they've already eaten," Mason chastised. "This is..." he grinned, "our honor guard back to Nassau. You'll all need to learn how to behave. Which is fearlessly when they're around. They need to learn some respect for people, so please do your best to help teach them. Don't challenge them, but never act afraid. Alright?"

After a lot of 'what the fecking fecks' from Seamus and clear discomfort from Willy and Huei, they all got moving south towards Nassau. Phuong and Becky asked a lot of questions about clearing the tree, what the 'boss' was like, and what they needed to do now.

Mason answered...carefully. He decided for now not to discuss Eve at all, explaining just that it had been the last great tree and now they needed to look out further, beyond the great forest.

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"There's a big world out there," he explained. "This is a game and there has to be a way to win. I don't think it'll end until we do. So we need to figure out how."

Phuong nodded in agreement, and Mason was pleased when they stopped asking questions. It wasn't that he was ashamed or wanted to lie to Becky about Eve, he just wanted the timing to be right, and for some actual need to discuss it.

Eve couldn't leave her tree, and for all Mason knew may take decades to recover enough to even be useful. As far as Mason was concerned, she was just another of his 'druidic' obligations. A bloody good obligation.

The 'Evercold' seemed already transformed.

In many places that had before seemed lifeless, Mason could see and hear many signs of living things hunting for food or building nests. He wondered if they had somehow been hibernating, or if the usual rules of the world just didn't apply, and they'd been 'created' from nothing the moment the tree was cleansed. He supposed for now it didn't matter.

What mattered is that the horrifying frozen mists were all gone, the coldness of the winter not so harsh. They were protected from the wind in the trees, and for Mason at least the snowy trek was downright pleasant.

Eventually they reached the river back towards the mountains and home. Mason checked but didn't find his fish friend, then went to help the others cross the rapid waters one by one.

He was pretty sure his old neighbor had finally recognized him, staring at his face awkwardly until he glanced her way. But he didn’t really care or acknowledge it. He just helped her across the river like the others without a word.

Phuong and Becky stripped down to their underwear then went on their own. Mason tried not to growl as Huei and Seamus stared at Becky, the former with wide eyes.

"Don't be rude," Phuong muttered, and the teenager went red as he averted his gaze. Then the old man winked at Mason and clapped the boy on the back. "Not that I blame you. But don't worry, you'll be happy where we're going."

Mason rolled his eyes but smiled, and this time the group made it across the river without any issues. The wolves all swam like fish across, and Mason was reminded many of their kind (and maybe this pack, too) actually had gills.

They built a fire for the warmth on the other side, but after everyone was dry and ready they began the journey towards Nassau. This time Mason intended to go around the mountain with plenty of distance, not interested in another pointless scrap with goblins until the civilians were safe.

They traveled quickly, but not frantically. Mason considered running ahead on his own, but thought it best he stay with the wolves to make sure there weren't any...incidents. He also didn't want to leave Rebecca. She was still clinging to him, and he knew the incident with the bug queen had affected her more than she was letting on.

When night fell he took her a little ways from the group's camp to talk.

"I'm alright," she said, hugging him. "I've just never felt..." she closed her eyes. "It was in my mind, and suddenly I wasn't in control. Like I couldn't stop it. I couldn't do anything. I've never felt so...helpless. And I keep thinking about Sarah."

Mason nodded, understanding again the terror people had of his brother's powers. If he didn't have his own incredible protection through Apex Predator, he knew he'd feel exactly the same way.

And who knew how long that would even protect him? Every level he grew in power, so surely 'mind controllers' would too. What happened on the day their ability to control outstripped his defense?

Mason shivered at the thought, just holding Becky, mind wandering until he felt her lips on his neck. She looked around and bit her lip, and soon Mason had her pressed against a tree. When he pulled up for air she almost stomped her foot as she pouted.

"I feel gross and cold. I want a shower and a warm bed and to be pressed up against you. Not..."

"Not banged against a tree?"

They both grinned, and Becky nodded.

"I want that too," he said, wanting desperately to comfort her. "We'll wait," he said, taking her hand. "Tonight we'll just sleep in the sleeping bag, then tomorrow we'll be home in our room, and we'll open some wine and stay in a warm bed all day."

Becky nodded and hugged him, and he breathed her in and smiled.

"Can the great Mason take a break from the world for a day? Just for li’l old me?" she asked. Mason wasn't exactly smooth, or great at saying the right thing, but he wasn't stupid either.

"For you I can," he said, hoping it was true.

That night he did what he promised, holding Becky in their sleeping bag until she slept soundly in his arms. He saw some of the others struggling to relax with the predators wandering around them.

But the sound of Streak and the pack nearby comforted Mason exactly as he thought it would.

Nothing in this world would slip by a pack of restless wolves, and for the first time he felt a little of the comfort he sometimes did behind Nassau's walls, even in the wild. Someone he trusted was finally watching those he loved while he slept.

* * *

The morning came too quickly, and Mason struggled to leave the warmth of Becky's arms and rise. Every natural instinct in his body wanted to rip off her clothes and wake her up with his mouth between her legs. But there were, well, other people around. And things to do. Too many bloody things.

He checked on the wolves and found they'd made a few kills in the night, but fed them pretty much all the rations he had left. Streak allowed him to hand it to each wolf personally, helping to form a bond of trust. He thought it best they got used to that, and would have everyone in Nassau take their turns feeding them.

The camp eventually roused with the dawn, and after a brief breakfast and some grumbling, the party was back on the 'road' to Nassau. Mason walked with Becky hand in hand, but eventually grilled both her and Phuong to make sure they knew where they were going without him. Phuong passed, Becky failed.

"OK so I haven't been paying attention!" she rolled her eyes. "But I know that's south and I'd figure it out eventually!"

Phuong tsk'ed and shook his head in silence, which seemed to generate more shame in the poor girl than anything Mason could say. Mason put his arm around her.

"We'll give you a pass this time. But look for landmarks. You can see some mountains pretty clearly there in the distance, especially if you climb a bit. We should probably come up with some names and descriptions to tell them apart. Mount Nassau? The Nassau range? OK, someone creative should, hey maybe our cartographer here could..."

Mason froze as he heard wood snap.

He glanced to find several wolves with their ears flattening, then heard foliage whipping back, loud footsteps crashing through the trees. He summoned a Claw and gestured to Phuong, who nodded and summoned his sword.

"Mason? Is that you?" a young voice echoed through the trees. "It's me! Billy! Oh thank God. Thank God."

Mason unsummoned his blade and ran towards the voice. Young Billy the Brewer fell to his knees a few steps from the group, and Mason lunged forward to catch him. He was trembling with exhaustion, eyes bruised and skin pale, covered in what looked like tree branch scratches.

"What's wrong?" His gut flipped in fear. How and why in the name of God was a civilian so far out and alone in the woods?

"It's goblins," Billy said, gasping for breath. "I was out...it doesn't matter. I saw them. Outside the walls. They chased me, but I tricked them. And I got away. I think they're attacking Nassau. There were so many. Hundreds. I don't know. I just ran North. I thought maybe...I just ran."

Mason lifted the civilian to his feet and put both hands on his shoulders, amazed he'd survived, nevermind reached them.

"You were incredibly brave, Billy, and smart. You did good. Real good."

He handed him to Phuong, then met the man's eyes.

"Run to Nassau with Seamus. Don't stop for anything. I don't care if a civilian drops, we'll find them after. You understand?"

Phuong nodded, and Mason didn't look to see how anyone else felt about it. He activated Speak with Nature and gestured for Becky to get on his back.

[Follow me] he commanded Streak and the wolves. [We're hunting goblins. A lot of them.]

Then he opened Wayfinder, aimed directly at Nassau, and ran at full speed.