Chapter 19

1

John waited with Windy for the better part of an hour while the base was aswarm with activity. Both having wings, they meandered casually through the air while watching the base. John wanted to be close enough to see what was happening, but far enough away that he wasn’t in danger of a sneak attack if Light Thrower felt inclined.

“So, what’s up with Light?” John asked Windy as they waited, an orb floating between them.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Well, he’s pretty impressive. Is he someone important?”

“He is. Light Thrower holds one of the four seats.”

“Four seats?” John asked.

“They are positions of power. The four of them govern and protect the base.”

“Are all of the leaders so powerful?”

“Yes, though perhaps not as dedicated as Light Thrower.”

John felt Analyzation activate with an uneasy stir. His mind ran through the most likely scenario given the new variables. He stopped moving, hovering for a moment while he processed the situation.

“What is wrong?” Wind Striker asked, turning back to face him.

John didn’t answer. He only had until Light Thrower returned to come up with a plan. A task made all the more impossible by how much information he lacked. It was going to be an improvised performance.

“Nothing,” he finally said.

The two continued forward like awkward birds, lazily observing the base. As he watched, a lone figure, nearly overlooked amid all the relentless activity within the base, nonchalantly exited through the furthest gate from John’s position. The figure quickly ducked out of sight in the tall weeds as it began moving in a roundabout manner toward him in what John could only guess was an attempt to get behind him.

Instead of indicating that he had seen the figure, John silently resummoned Jane to the field below. With a mental command to stalk, she was off on an intercept course with the alleged assassin. John continued to watch the base, now more closely as Jane got to work.

“So, tell me about these four seats.” John said.

“You are trying to get me to give you critical information about my people?” Windy asked.

“No, nothing sensitive like that. I mean, do all four of your leaders act like Light Thrower? You know, commanding, aggressive?”

“No, they are all quite different. Calming Word is the most levelheaded of the four, usually challenging the rasher ideals of Light Thrower and Molten Ash. She-”

“Whoa whoa whoa. Molten Ash?” John interrupted.

“Yes? What is wrong?”

“What kind of a name is Molten Ash? Did he get to choose it, or did you guys just start calling him that? I mean, all of your names are kind of cringe, maybe I’m just prejudiced as a different species and all, but Molten Ash? You know that’s kind of a contradiction, right? Ash is what you get after all the burning is done.”

Wind Striker just looked at John for a long moment, unsure of how to answer. His tirade had left her uncertain if she should respond at all. Finally, she managed a feeble sentence.

“I think he chose it himself,” she admitted.

“I knew it! He sounds like a meat head.”

“Meat head?” Windy asked.

“Never mind, you were telling me about the four seats.”

“…right. So…Molten Ash,” Windy began in an embarrassed voice, “he is very loud, quick to anger, always ready to defend any position he takes with loud words or louder conflict. The others spend a lot of time talking him down from extremes. Light Thrower is like that too. Extreme, I mean, not loud and angry. Though his ideas seem to center more on the progression of our people as a whole. Mandatory excursions, monthly quotas, expansion through strife.”

John thought of Earth. How the Kumani had enslaved the human race on basically the same principles. He shook his head.

“What about the fourth seat?”

“Shadow Bite. She’s quiet. Very content to allow the others to make all of the noise. Most of the time you wouldn’t know there was a fourth seat. It is a rare occasion that she proposes anything.”

“I see, thank you for the insight,” John said.

His eyes flicked to the tall weeds below as he felt Jane move further away. If his analysis was correct, it was Shadow Bite. He was interested to see who the better assassin was, her or Jane.

John didn’t have to wait much longer before his demands were met. Once they were though, John started to regret making them. He had no idea what he was asking for.

A long procession of human prisoners, easily a hundred strong were being led out of the base in his direction. They all looked pretty rough, even from the distance, but most still wore clothes at least. John was unable to pick out his father among the throng.

John swore as he watched the crowd grow larger as the moments passed. He donned his chimera armor once more, marveling at the thin layer of chitin that had grown to replace what was burned away. The armor wasn’t fully repaired, but it had made excellent progress.

“Go down there and tell your people to return to the base. I will see to the humans from here,” John told Windy.

“I do not govern my people,” she said.

“Then ask them really nicely. Tell them I said pretty please,” he replied in all seriousness.

“What is a pretty please?” She asked.

“Just go. But tell Light I want to talk to him, so he can stay.”

Wind Striker flew to intercept the group as John continued to survey the area for signs of deceit. He felt the readiness to pounce from Jane that meant she had successfully tracked the mysterious figure and was just waiting for permission.

Was that it? Was that the only trap the Drizk had tried to lay for him? If so, perhaps he had overestimated them. As Wind Striker intercepted the group and began talking to who John could only assume was Light Thrower, John scanned the scene for anything that might prove him wrong.

There was nothing obvious out of place, but John had been fooled by subtlety more than once. He was ready for all of the Drizk to start attacking at any moment. That was why he was so surprised when one of them gave an obvious command and the rest turned away from the procession.

“Well, that’s… suspicious,” John told himself.

The entire reason he told Windy to go down there was to see what their plans were. He had expected them to make a move when he provoked them, but they had done the opposite. It was extremely peculiar.

“They want me to lower my guard for whatever they actually have planned,” he realized.

John immediately resumed his analysis of the field and everyone on it. He was certain he hadn’t missed anyone else leaving the base under cover. So where was the other shoe, and when would it drop?

Light Thrower did not continue forward with the freed prisoners. Instead, he stood and waited for the humans to reach John. John also waited, content to let the space grow.

Soon enough, the massive herd of freed humans were upon him. John floated down to hover only a few feet above the ground as he scanned the faces. He let the translation orb hover in front of him as he spoke to them.

“I have come to see you all freed. I know this is a crazy situation, but I’ll make sure you all get home. Please make your way up the river to the tree line. Wait for me there. I have to settle things with the possums and then I’ll join you.”

The pile of people all looked confused at the directions they had been given, but the group slowly started to move in the direction of the tree line. John continued to scan the faces as they started moving past him. He pointed to a man and stopped him with a word.

“You.”

“Me?” The man asked, not afraid but not understanding.

“I would like a word with you about the quality of your treatment here. Your captors had better hope I like what you have to say.” John said before drifting away from the group. The man he singled out hesitantly followed.

When they were a short distance from the group, John landed and turned to face the confused man. He had short but messy brown hair, the upkeep having been ruined by his imprisonment. His eyes were also a comforting shade of brown. He carried himself with certainty, even through John knew he was anything but. It was one of the many things he had always admired about the man.

“Hello, dad.”

2

Jack Greene stared in open bewilderment at his son upon hearing those two words. He tried to speak several times, but words never formed. John let the face plate of his armor melt away to reveal his face.

Jack’s eyes grew even wider at seeing his son’s face. His jaw wavered in overwhelming emotion. He tried to rush in and embrace John, but he held up a hand.

“We’re being watched. I don’t want them to target you because of the connection. Were strangers, okay? I need you to go with the others and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. I don’t like how compliant they’re being.”

“John how did you even find me? What have you been doing since I’ve been here?”

“It wasn’t easy,” John said, letting that be his answer for both questions.

“I’m sorry, John.”

“We don’t have time for being sorry right now. Go with the others. Start trying to set up some kind of defense against stray beasts. And don’t forget to keep your eyes open for Drizk.”

“Drizk?”

“The possum people. I have a bad feeling. I’ll join you soon. Take this, just in case you need to protect yourself.”

John loaned his Griffon Javelin to his father, whose eyes bulged from his head upon reading what he had received.

“It works best with at least ten feet between you and your target if you want to throw it. But it’s pretty good at regular stabbing too if they get close to you. If you see a Drizk, don’t hesitate. Now go.”

“John-”

“Go, dad. Please.”

Jack didn’t argue further, but John could tell that seeing his son so assertive was startling in a way he wasn’t prepared for. The revelation of Wizened weapons was also a heavy first for him. But he didn’t have the time to process the implications of either. He nodded solemnly before turning away and rejoining the others.

John turned from his father and flew steadily in the direction of the lone figure awaiting his attendance. Light Thrower was unarmed, though John knew that could be fixed in an instant if the Drizk had the notion. When he came into speaking range, he let the translation orb pass between them.

“You’ve asked to speak with me,” Light Thrower said in an even tone.

“And I thank you for accepting. I just wanted to extend my regards for the safe return of my people. After all it was only ever a lack of communication that brought you to imprison them in the first place. Isn’t that right?”

“Um, yes. That’s right,” Light responded unconvincingly.

“And now that we’ve reached an accord, no one else has to get hurt. Isn’t that right?”

“Y-yes of course,” Light said, now clearly nervous.

“I mean, I don’t want to have to summon my friend Jane again. You don’t want that either, do you?”

“No, of course not,” Light managed to say.

“Then I guess we’re in agreement. Take this translator for any future encounters with races you can’t understand. Maybe then you won’t have to blindly imprison a bunch of innocent people because of your own people’s cowardice.”

“Please, I didn’t want them to,” Light pleaded, as if something horrible had just happened.

John’s eyes widened and he turned in time to see a fist sized flaming chunk of something clear the tree line before exploding in a shower of golden sparks that quickly ignited anything they touched. As he watched in horror, the entire wood was quickly set ablaze. John cursed and turned back to Light Thrower.

Before he could say or do anything, a dark figure launched itself at him from the cover of the grass. John barely got a look at the figure before a second form bowled it over. The sounds that followed were a horrendous mixture of shrieking hisses so clearly agonized that John almost felt bad.

“Please, I didn’t-”

“Quiet. Go back to your base Light Thrower. And pray that enough of my people survive that I don’t come after yours,” John said as he turned away from both Light and the death throes of his fellow Drizk.

John flew as fast as his wings could carry him toward the rapidly spreading inferno of the forest. His gut was twisted in worry over his father and all the other humans in danger because of his actions. Had he just doomed them all to die rather than remain prisoners?

John flew on in anxious rage as his mind tormented him. He burst through the heat of the tree line to survey the area. What he saw was both better and worse than he had hoped.

At least a dozen bodies lay burnt and unmoving amid the inferno. The sight of them filled John’s mouth with bile. Each form was a recrimination. He cursed himself as his eyes refused to look away.

What he was finally able to see when he did look away was a lone form pinned to an aggressively burning tree. He recognized the javelin he had lent his dad impaling the form. John flew closer to confirm what he hoped was true.

If he wasn’t completely crazy, Molten Ash was now dead. And unless he was a horrible guesser, Jane was just about finished ravaging Shadow Bite as well. It wasn’t how he had wanted things to go.

Had he been too hostile? Had his insults caused the deaths of more than a dozen people? Was there even a way to have avoided the conflict? He didn’t know. But the weight of his decisions hung over him.

A golden spark touched his armor and the chitin immediately began to bubble and melt. It left a crater the size of a quarter in his arm and nearly went deep enough to expose the skin. John was amazed at the destructive ability of the sparks.

“Hm. I guess ash really can be molten.” He thought as he flew toward the river.

3

“John! You’re okay!” Jack’s excited voice shouted as John approached.

His father broke away from the crowd of scared people to finally embrace his son, who landed and dismissed his armor to return the gesture. The two remained locked together for several seconds before John pulled away.

“What happened up here?” He asked.

“Like you said. There was trickery involved. One of the possums had blended into our group. Kept his face covered. They’re shorter than us, so he was able to stay more or less hidden behind one person or another until we got to the trees.”

“And then he did all of that?” John asked, booking a thumb over his shoulder at the blaze of trees.

“Yeah. I was watching him when it happened. He grabbed a rock from the ground and held it in his hand until it started to glow really bright red. Then he just hurled it into the air. It went higher than I thought the guy could throw. Way higher. When it blew, the whole forest lit up. Anyone who got touched by the embers were goners.”

“How did you take the Drizk out?” John asked.

“Like I said, I watched him throw the rock. You said not to hesitate if I saw one. My own confusion led to enough hesitation that people died. Still, as soon as he threw it, I knew. He was pinned to that tree before it even exploded.”

“Good job. You did good, dad.”

“Not good enough. If I had been faster…”

“No. It wouldn’t have changed anything. There’s no way you could have stopped him before he started doing whatever he did to the rock. And what if you got him before he could throw it. It probably wouldn’t have stopped the rock from exploding. Meaning-”

“Meaning that I would have caused it to go off in the middle of everyone if I had acted sooner,” Jack finished for him.

“That’s right. You did as well as you could have. Those deaths aren’t on you. They’re on me,” John said.

“Don’t put that on yourself, son. All of these people owe you their freedom. Your father owes you his freedom. You have done a great deed for us all.”

“What about for them?” John asked quietly as he nodded his head at the blazing inferno and the bodies within.

“John, I…” his father stopped talking as he noticed the haunted expression on his son’s face.

He paused and took in all of the trauma and hardship that had been written there since his disappearance. He glimpsed the hollow and solemn visage that had replaced the face he knew. No trace of the innocence his son had once possessed lingered there.

“Son? What has this place done to you?” He asked as the tears streamed down his face.

John didn’t have an answer. His silence only served to unbalance his father more. Soon the two were locked in another embrace as John too began to cry.

As much as he wanted to enjoy the reunion unhurriedly, John didn’t trust that the danger from the Drizk had passed. So, with a final pat on the back, he parted from his father and took command once more. With another translator, John began directing the released prisoners.

“Okay, listen up. We’re not safe yet, and I want to be as far from that base as possible by the end of the day. We’re going to move as a unit along the river until we’ve put some distance in. Then we can start gathering materials to make a rough camp before night fall. I’m going to scout the area while we do to see if I can find a base for us to use. It might take some time, but I’ll make sure we all get back to Earth.”

“What is Earth?” One person asked.

John was confused by the question. He didn’t know if the man was making a joke or simply misunderstood because of the translation. He looked at the man in suspicion.

“Earth, like the planet?” He said inquiringly.

“My planet is called Huros,” the man responded.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

That was enough to render John speechless. Assuming the man was telling the truth, he was talking to a human from another planet. The implications were so baffling that he looked at his dad for confirmation. Jack just shook his head clearly as surprised as his son.

“You come from a different planet?” He finally asked.

“It would appear so.”

“That is some next level shit that I don’t have time to address right now but I have so many questions for you.”

“John!” Jack scolded at hearing his son curse.

“Is anyone else an alien?” John asked the group. They were all quiet for a long moment before one person spoke.

“Forgive me. But are we not all aliens now?”

John looked at the man in surprise. He hadn’t even stopped to consider the situation they all found themselves in. They were all foreign in The Garden. It was a different planet, if it could be called that, full of unique life.

“Huh. That’s actually a really good point,” John said speculatively.

“John, I get that we need to move, but I don’t like the idea of you going off to scout alone.”

“I’m not the kid I was, dad.”

“I can see that. But a father will always worry about his child.”

“I know. That’s why you’re coming with me.”

“I’m what?”

“Like I said, I’m not a kid anymore. I’ve been on some adventures and seen some pretty crazy things. Managed to acquire a few treasures in the process,” he said with a smirk.

For a moment. Jack just looked at his son. The haunted youth was gone, replaced by the proud and quietly confident boy he had raised. But all too soon, the façade melted from John’s face, and they both resumed their sullen demeanor.

“I’m so sorry, John.”

“You got shuffled, dad. It isn’t your fault.”

“I could have fought. I should have fought. But I was weak.”

“No, dad. If you fought, you would have died. You saw what some of them could do,” he gestured at the still burning forest a hundred yards away, “there was no way to fight them.”

“But you did,” Jack said quietly.

“Like I said, I’ve had some adventures. I’m slowly learning how this place works. But it has a lot of secrets. Like this one,” John said.

He summoned the griffon javelin to his hand, finally freeing whatever was left of the Drizk it was holding to fall or blow away. Though in his father’s possession, The Garden still recognized John as the owner of the weapon, so it responded to his summons. Jack’s face showed surprise once more as he remembered the formidable weapon his son had loaned him. He looked back to John with a question on his lips.

“Not here,” John told him.

He returned the weapon to its place within him and held out his hand for his father to take. At the contact, he permanently transferred the javelin, an enhanced round shield that looked like a tortoise shell that Liz had given him to provide for his blossoming guild, and the new pair of Advanced wings he had received.

As he was doing this, the alarm bell went off in his mind. He had left Jane to scout the situation of the base after his departure, not truly believing Light would let things go. His instructions had been to return to his mind the moment anyone left the base in pursuit. As the empty slot of Jane’s soul refilled with her return, John grew serious.

“We have to go,” he said to his dad. Then he turned to the group that were less than casually observing the conversation they had been having.

“Time to move. The Drizk are about to flood through that forest like ants on a picnic. No time to waste, everyone get moving. Follow the river. Don’t stop no matter what you hear behind you. Now, go!” He turned back to his dad.

“You’re with me,” he said.

“What are we going to do?” Jack asked.

“Whatever we can,” John said as Jane reappeared next to him.

4

“Go, cause a distraction,” John told Jane.

Jack reeled at the appearance of a glistening fox next to his son, but he recovered quickly as John turned away from him. He hurried to follow along, but his son was already flying away, wings sprouting from his armored back as they had before.

“The wings, dad,” his son called over his shoulder.

Only then did Jack finish processing the souls his son had given him. He had gained precious few of his own in the time he had spent in The Garden. And none since his capture. He still had all of his acquired souls, but when he saw the quality and tier of each soul he had been given, he wondered again how much John had been through to get them.

Jack’s eyes bulged at the gear that appeared as he summoned each in turn. He didn’t have time to think about the situation as John gained more distance with each passing second. So he launched from the ground, the wings feeling like extensions of his own body. In a few frenzied seconds, he caught up with his son.

“Do you have a plan?” He asked as he flew alongside John.

“No,” John responded confidently.

“No?”

“I’ve found that these things happen too fast to plan ahead. I’ll have a better idea when I can analyze the battlefield.”

John suddenly had an exquisite bow in hand as he flew higher over the field that Jack could see beginning to flood with activity. What looked like hundreds of armed possum men were spreading from the base in pursuit of their group. He watched in shock as his son drew back a wicked looking arrow and let it fly. Without hesitation the string was drawn back again.

No sooner than the cry of agony was heard below, the arrow had magically returned to the string and John let loose again. More shots were fired, and more cries of pain were heard. Jack was astonished at the efficiency his son showed, with barely a second passing between each shot.

“Dad, get ready.” John called back at a dumbfounded Jack.

“Ready for what?”

“Jane and I are closing the ranks. When they’re piled up, use the javelin.”

Jack looked back at the battlefield below. Only then did he notice that every shot John had taken had been at the outskirts of the raiding party. Just as he had said, the scattered possum people were quickly closing their formation.

Jack continued to watch his son orchestrate the moves of his enemies like a master chess player. As the space closed below, Jack prepared himself for the perfect moment. After another minute, John called out again.

“Now!”

Jack didn’t waste time. Though he had only thrown the weapon once before, he launched it like a professional into the crowd of enemies below. Just like the first time, when he had killed the fire wielding possum, the weapon seemed to come alive and leap from his hand with a mind of its own.

The crowd below seemed to explode apart like a grenade was thrown in their midst. Several of the furry creatures were tossed from their feet, which was nothing compared with the one who took the point of the javelin. Jack was astounded at his effect on the battle with just one throw.

He was equally shocked at the efficiency with which John and the fox below capitalized on his attack. Arrows and teeth quickly finished many of the attackers that had been thrown from their feet. He was so infatuated by the scene that the blade that came for his chest almost found its mark.

Jack barely managed to raise the shield on his arm in time to deflect it. The force of the attack unbalanced his midair hover, and he spun out of control as his wings frantically adjusted to the difference. His attacker was already on him again as he righted himself.

For a few frantic seconds, Jack was overwhelmed by the assailant. It was all he could do to keep from losing his head as the possum furiously attacked him. It wasn’t until he remembered the javelin and it suddenly appeared back in his hands that he was able to put up a reasonable defense.

“John!” He called, hoping for some support.

“Shit. I’m a little busy. Keep her at a distance. You have the reach. I’ll try to finish this up soon,” John called back.

“Her?” Jack wondered to himself as the possum continued to attack him.

He soon found that John was right. If he didn’t let his opponent get close, he had the advantage. From there, it wasn’t difficult to grab the flow of battle for himself. As he started to fight back in earnest, his enemy began to hiss in frustration.

Jack had never fought anyone in a duel to the death before. In truth, he wasn’t trying to kill the possum. He simply wanted to discourage it from the same.

Unfortunately for the persistent marsupial, Jack’s weapon soon found purchase in its shoulder. Before he could pull it back or even react to what had happened, the javelin leapt from his hand. The startled possum hissed in pain as the javelin burst from her back.

That turned to a hiss of surprise as the weapon dragged her inexorably toward the ground like an anchor dropped from on high. The descent increased in speed dramatically before landing amidst another pile up of the enemy. This impact was more devastating by orders of magnitude, and bodies flew for dozens of feet in every direction.

Jack spared a glance for his son, and found him busy firing arrows at several forms that were attempting to enter the still burning forest. Their position was starting to lose its potency.

“We have to go,” John said in confirmation.

The two of them retreated over the tops of the burnt trees. The group of humans had taken his marching orders seriously, as John could barely see the fleeing party from his vantage. They had made considerable progress up the river, but it wouldn’t be enough. In minutes, the pursuers would catch them.

“We have to ditch the wings,” John said, “they won’t be as easy to use in the thick of the forest.”

Jack followed his son as they moved ahead of the rabidly aggressive possum people below. They flew well ahead before touching down to prepare their attack. Jane reappeared next to her master as John turned to Jack.

“We have to buy as much time as we can. The plan is to draw their attention and make them chase us away from the river and deeper into the forest.”

“Start with the ones following the river then?” Jack asked.

“Yeah. We have to make them think everyone is in the trees before they catch up to the group.”

The two of them plus Jane began harassing the Drizk in any way possible as they swarmed over the land. John continued picking them off with his bow while his father took slower and less accurate attacks with his javelin. As for Jane, she was a blur of motion between the legs of any Drizk that made too much progress toward the fleeing humans.

She darted through legs, knocking her targets from their feet before playfully tugging at legs or arms to provoke them into chasing. With surprising efficiency, she gathered more and more Drizk to the cause. Soon a dozen or more of the angry possum men were chasing her toward the burnt trees.

It wasn’t a perfect method, and there were some notable outliers, but the three of them slowly began herding the pursuers away from the river. John was diligent in aiming for any who refused to take the bait. At ground level, the bends of the river made it impossible to tell how far the fleeing group had made it, so all they could do was buy as much time as possible.

As the tide of angry Drizk slowly redirected their ire toward the burning trees, John sent Jane ahead to scout and protect for the freed prisoners. He and his father moved into the trees like a pair of guerrilla warriors. Each attack they made caused some combination of confusion, fear, and rage in their enemies.

John was always mindful of their position, often signaling to Jack when they needed to retreat. The latter was increasingly amazed at his son’s ability to keep moving and planning, as though he had the whole engagement mapped out in his head. Again and again, they moved just a few steps ahead of the Drizk, making attacks of opportunity as often as possible and fleeing before the nearest pursuer got close enough to retaliate.

“How are you doing this?” Jack found himself asking as they fled yet another engagement successfully.

“No time to explain now, we’re almost to the choke point,” John replied.

“Choke point?”

Jack’s question was answered a second later as the two of them came upon a wide creek that flowed through the forest and eventually connected to the river they were trying to avoid. John sprouted his wings and motioned for Jack to do the same as they followed the water further upstream. In just a few moments they came upon a massive rock that sat like a hulking monolith in the midst of the stream, splitting its flow briefly in two as the water was forced to either side.

“Here,” John said simply.

“How did you know this was here?” Jack asked, seeing the plan his son had concocted.

“Strictly speaking, I didn’t. Call it a guess. Call it intuition. I just had a feeling that if we went far enough, we would come across something we could use,” John pseudo explained.

“Intuition?”

“They’re getting close again. Let’s go,” John said without explaining further.

They flew to the top of the massive rock, which had only enough purchase for them both to stand comfortably, not for them to move freely. Bow and javelin at the ready, they waited for the first Drizk to come into view. John was quicker, loosing an arrow that pinned the possum warrior to a tree briefly before the arrow disappeared from its body with a pop, returning to his string.

Then they surged from the trees like a nest of hornets. Projectiles familiar and foreign flew through the air at them while more close-range fighters leapt into the water and began climbing the massive boulder like determined ninjas. Jack began aiming for those while John continued the ranged offense.

“Keep your shield up,” John warned as Jack nearly failed to intercept a spiked ball hurled in his direction.

He looked to his son, clad in the most unusual armor he had ever seen and wondered how he seemed so unaffected at the various projectiles that had impacted it. Sharp or blunt, whatever hit John’s armor was knocked away with little more than a grunt from the man inside it. It seemed that maintaining his balance was the only true challenge the projectiles posed.

“Don’t let them past!” John shouted, a little louder than Jack thought necessary.

“We can’t let them catch up to the others!” He continued.

He noticed the floating orb John had used upon first contact with the freed humans pulsing with light as it translated his words for every sentient creature nearby. Then realization dawned on Jack. His son was making a show of things. He was hamming up the necessity of their stand, as if it were much more than the time buying diversion that it was.

“We will hold them here for as long as it takes for our people to reach the mountains!” John concluded in a similar tone.

Jack didn’t know what mountains his son was talking about, but he trusted in the mastermind that had led them so successfully thus far. Having finished the charade of chivalry, the two worked on in silence as Drizk continued to assail them from near and far.

John claimed the lives of any who passed the rock by in an attempt to surge past them. Jack continued to pick at the ones climbing the rock. After their position became unsafe to keep, John again signaled for the retreat. He noticed that his son allowed his instructions to be translated one last time before stowing the orb safely away once more.

“Fall back to the mountain!” He shouted.

Then they both rose into the air, using the break in branches that the creek provided to quickly clear the treetops. The two made a show of moving in the same direction they had been heading as the trees quickly obscured them from view. When they were safely out of sight, John signaled a silent halt.

“This should be good.”

“What’s our next move?” Jack asked his son.

“Now we go back to our people and hope this bought us enough time,” he replied.

“Do you really think they’ll believe what you said? Even if they heard your words over the noise of battle, an enemy’s words are seldom to be trusted.”

“Alone it isn’t enough. That’s why they have to be baited to keep following.”

“Baited how? I thought we were going back to the others?”

“We are. My fox companion has been playing rear guard for our people this whole time. It seems that our ruse has drawn nearly all of the Drizk away from the river. Now that we’ve gone as far off course as is safe, we will switch jobs. Jane can continue leading the Drizk towards the mountains while we make as much progress as we can in the other direction.”

Jack looked over his son’s shoulder, noticing for the first time the presence of a mountain range in the distance. When had John seen it? When had he planned to send the Drizk so far off course as to make it impossible to correct in time if they discovered the ruse?

It had been an expert tactic, manipulating not just one but two large groups of people in opposite directions. The execution of the maneuver was nothing short of perfect, and Jack couldn’t help but ask himself again who his son had to become in his absence. Whatever the answer, it was astoundingly clear how in control John was.

“I’ve set Jane on the Drizk below. We should get back before we’re noticed up here.”

“What if your animal friend is caught or killed?” Jack asked.

“Haha!” Was his son’s only response as they moved back along the creek to rejoin the river company.

5

“How did you do that?” John’s dad asked him that night as their group settled amongst the trees.

The large group had continued up the river until the sun sunk low in the sky. Then John had the most able of the company gather as many small trees or downed logs as could be found. As quickly as they could, John set about enclosing their group on three sides by having the procured timber stacked waste high in lines long enough to encamp their whole group. He hoped that would protect from the chill night air as well.

The side facing the river he left open. It would be the quickest means of egress should they need to break camp in a hurry. John sat apart from the group, joined near the shoreline by his father.

“After you got shuffled, mom tried to keep me safe from the danger of this place. She got hurt though. There was a lot of blood. You know mom, she’s never hunted a thing in her life. She’s not made for this place,” John explained.

“No, she shouldn’t have had to come here alone. If I hadn’t been so weak, I could have…” but the words died in his father’s throat.

“It isn’t your fault dad. But as you can probably imagine, one look at her in that state was enough to get me in here. I didn’t want Emma to lose another parent after…” John stopped talking, his meaning clear.

“After that, I came here myself. The early days were pretty terrible, but I’ve come a long way. Even got shuffled myself.”

“You were shuffled too?” Is that how you’re here?”

“In a sense, yes.”

John spent some time explaining his experiences in The Garden. He began by telling Jack about the six tiers of monster, of which his father had only known the first three. He explained that humanity at large was unaware of Divine genes and perhaps Wizened genes as well.

“You’ve done well to keep what you’ve learned a secret. If people knew you had come so far, they’d surely covet your good fortune.”

John spoke of the spiritual trial he had spent so much time completing. He demonstrated his ability to call upon the moonlight. His father stared in amazement at the luminescence he permeated when fully saturated.

They also spoke of John’s shuffle. He left out some of the more unbelievable details, like meeting a supposed God and befriending a sadistic lightning fox. What he did do was explain the rewards for completing his shuffle.

“Shuffle Master? So that’s how you found me.”

“Yes. Completing the trial was also how I gained the mental capability that I have now. Though if I’m being honest, the practice is too complicated for me to fully grasp. I’ve been working on it for a while now, but I’ve only managed to get a handle on the first of twelve branches. Even that much takes insane concentration in the application.”

“This place is far more absurd than any of us could have imagined.” Jack said in a subdued voice.

“I suspect its true absurdity won’t become apparent for quite some time.” John responded.

“John… you’ve accomplished far more these past months than anyone could have expected of you. You protected the family from retribution and danger alike. You were thrown into horrible situations in my absence, and you weathered the hardships like a man. Instead of breaking, you used adversity to grow stronger. I couldn’t ask for a better son. And I couldn’t be prouder of you.”

“I wasn’t taught to shy away from challenges. I admit, when you always said life would be full of challenges, I never quite imagined this. But I guess the idea stuck with me either way. It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve come a long way.”

“Where did you get the cool ass bow?” his father suddenly asked, sounding quite childlike.

“I knew you would be jealous,” John laughed.

“No kidding! I’m a little upset you only gave me the spear. I’ve never spear hunted before.”

“I wasn’t trying to keep it from you. It has an insane weight behind the string. I couldn’t pull it back reliably until I had a few Advanced genes.”

His father was quiet for a moment.

“Are you calling me weak, John?” He asked in a serious tone.

John laughed again, which caused his father to lose his composure as well. They both laughed easily, losing themselves in the comfort of their reunion. It had been too long since either of them enjoyed a moment so much.

They soon made their way back to the main group, finding soft places to lay upon the mossy ground on the edge of the tree line. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was better than the rocky shoreline of the river. John set Jane on guard duty as the group settled in for an uneasy rest.

The next morning the group rose as unhappy as you would expect a large group of people to be after sleeping in the cold with no beds or even blankets. At their protestations, John felt another twinge of guilt at his actions. None of them had asked to be freed, they had been forced into it. And now they were forced to follow him or die in the wilderness like helpless animals.

“Am I the good guy?” John doubted silently.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jack told him, catching the unhappy look in his son’s eye.

“We have to get to a base today or I’ll have to start hunting for everyone.” John said.

“We have wings, why don’t we take two different directions and search for a few hours. Meet back here by noon?”

“Okay, we should probably let the others know.”

So, they gained the attention of the group at large and explained the situation as well as their hope for a resolution. No one spoke out, but there were a few unhappy grumblings from some of the group. John paid them no mind. Leaving Jane on guard duty once more, he and Jack took to the sky.

“You follow this side of the river and scan ahead. I’ll follow the other side. There has to be another base somewhere. Shuffles are all about options, at least I hope they are.” John said.

The two split up and began the search. Traveling by wing was much more efficient than searching on the ground. The ground seemed to scroll by beneath them as they searched their respective areas.

John found what he was looking for relatively early in the search. It was a pretty decent sized base nestled between two large hills a distance from the river. He deemed it at least a possibility, but without going to check the base itself for hostile behavior, he couldn’t be sure of its integrity.

Still, it was a base, so he began trying to solve the issue of getting the group across the water. He spent the next few hours searching up and down the river for suitable crossing zones. His success was frustratingly limited.

When they regrouped at noon, Jack explained that he had also found a base, only it was a much greater distance away. He also claimed to have entered the base and found it completely abandoned. That peaked John’s interest.

“How big was it?” He asked.

“Pretty damn big,” his father replied.

“Bigger than Emerald?”

“Hard to tell by memory, but I think so, yes. It certainly wouldn’t be any smaller than Emerald base.”

“Hm,” John said, deep in thought.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I think we should ask the people which base they want to go for. Both have advantages and drawbacks. I’m sick of making difficult decisions. Let democracy decide.”

“I won’t argue the point,” Jack said.

So, they explained what they had each found. They laid out the differences in distance and approach and asked the group to pick as a whole. This took more time and deliberation than John had expected of them.

Eventually, it was decided that if they could find a way to fjord the river, they would go to John’s base since it was a great deal closer than the other. If they could not figure a way across, the group would resign themselves to a substantially longer walk to reach Jack’s base. And with that, the group was at work.

John loaned a couple of the translation orbs out to keep communication flowing amongst the people splitting up to test different ideas to cross the river. One group used green fibrous plant material to tie some of the thicker trees together in a long walkway over the water. This was quickly proven impossible, as the river was far too wide for even a half dozen trees to breadth. Attempting to tie more than that together became near impossible to maneuver without losing it to the current.

Another group tried to throw summoned spears with lengths of grapevine tied to them across the water. Unfortunately, even the mightiest throw fell short of the far shore. The group returned defeated.

It was a third group of minds that devised a working strategy. Instead of lashing downed trees together in a long plank, they tied them into a series of twenty-foot barges that could be steered with long poles fashioned from the tallest saplings that could be found. After John witnessed the success of the group’s test voyage, he left the group excitedly constructing enough of them to carry everyone while he returned upriver to make contact with the base.

As he approached the base, he noticed a lot more ordinary activity around it compared to the almost military nature of the Drizk base. The base itself was smaller than emerald base, marking it as very low rank. The inhabitants were humanoid, though something alien as were the Drizk. When he was close enough, he noticed they had insect-like heads, and six limbs to match, though they walked upright like humans.

They had pale green exoskeletons, and each of their arms had a sharp blade like protrusion. Their bulbous eyes were black and seemed to take in the world around them one jerking head turn at a time. They all scurried around like any human civilization John had ever seen.

Even more surprising was the lack of surprise or hostility at his approach. He intercepted one of the bug people and introduced himself using his last remaining translator. The bug looked at him and the sphere with general interest before chittering a response.

“Hello, human. What do you need? Kahlkix is very busy.”

“Kahlkix? Is that your name?”

“Kahlkix is me, yes. State your business, human. Patience grows short.”

“I need to know who is in charge here.”

“In charge? There is no charge. Kahlkix is in charge of Kahlkix. No ruler is needed.”

“Then who do I speak to about not attacking a large group of humans that seek shelter here?”

“Chinitza are familiar with humans. Will not attack. But if you wish to be polite, speak with Chinitza at the gate and tell them of this human group before it arrives. They will make arrangements.”

“Very well. I will take no more of your time. Thank you Kahlkix.”

John moved off to find the gate attendants as instructed. He found them in due course, doing little more than stand around somehow looking bored in very human ways. He approached them with translator at the ready.

“Greetings human. How might we assist you?” One of them said much more politely than Kahlkix had been.

“I come to ask for safe transition of many humans who have been imprisoned by the Drizk. Some are in the middle of shuffle trials. They just need admittance to the base to finish their trials or return to their bases. Will there be any issue with that?”

“Your request is acceptable. Many humans live here already, as do plenty of Drizk who find their people too extremist. We guard the walls from monsters, not allies. Bring your people, they will be safe.”

John was hesitant to believe the words of the bug person in front of him. Upon looking around, he noticed a plethora of different species meandering around the base. True to the word of the guard, none of its people seemed to mind others in their midst.

“Thank you,” he finally said before flying off to meet the group.

Upon returning to the river, John found the freed prisoners already on the proper shore. They were working their way towards him in the early evening light, making considerable progress. He flew down to meet them, quickly finding his father.

“That was quick,” John said.

“I think the idea of another day without food was an excellent motivator,” his dad replied.

“The base is small, but they shouldn’t give us any problems.”

John addressed the group then, explaining the insect people they would soon be seeing. No one seemed to have an issue with the information, so he let the matter rest. With gusto that only extended captivity can engender, the group seemed to sail across the space and through the hilly grasslands wherein the base could be found.

As with the night before, either the area was free of dangerous beasts, or their group was simply too large to entice predators. They moved unmolested through the hills and fields. John was relieved that at least one thing seemed to be going well.

Despite their haste, it was still a much longer journey on foot. Hours passed them by, the sun scrolling across the sky to begin its descent. When the modest base did finally come into view, John was more than ready to be done with the task.

As the Chinitza had promised, no trouble was to be had for the beleaguered humans. John watched with satisfaction as each person was led where they needed to go. When most of the humans were safely within the base, John turned to his father.

“Take me to the other base,” he said.