Grem and the others whipped around to look.

A villager wearing what could only be iron armor had stepped out from around a corner, and she held a bow pointed at them. Her armor was very strange, but also very pretty. It shimmered with colors.

“Oh my gosh!” said Dav. “Is that enchanted?”

He instantly started walking towards her for a closer look.

She pulled back the arrow she had ready.

“Stop!” she said loudly.

Dav stopped, looking puzzled.

“What?” he said. “I've never seen it for real before. Can I have a look?”

The girl frowned. Dav's instant assumption that everyone was a friend was having the usual effect. She looked at Arn like she expected an explanation from him.

“That's Dav,” he said. “He's harmless, honestly.”

The girl did a double-take when she finally got a good look at Grem.

“What is that?” she said. “Why is there a mob with you?”

“Pakmog,” said Grem.

“This is Grem,” said Kim. She went over to stand beside him. “He's not dangerous either.”

“Actually he's the opposite,” Dav said. “We'd probably have been killed a dozen times by now if it wasn't for Grem.”

“It looks like a monster,” the girl said.

“Pakmog,” Grem said again. “You see me yell and hit things? How good do mobs talk?”

The girl shook her head.

“Just stay there, okay?”

“We're trying to find some people,” Arn said. He felt like he had to do something to try to cut the tension. “Friends. Our village.”

“Uh huh,” said the girl. She didn't seem surprised or impressed.

“And you are?” said Kim.

“She's Umi,” said the other voice.

The other villager walked out from behind the corner of the building. She was older, and had a serious face, but at least she wasn't pointing anything at them. She was wearing enchanted armor too.

“And I don't trust anyone wandering around with some Underworld mob,” she said.

“It's from the Underworld?” the first girl said. She stared at Grem with disgust.

“It's a Pakmog, just like it said,” the woman said. “I've never seen one before, but there are drawings.”

Dav sighed.

“Grem's fine, really. He's friendly. Well, mainly. Once you get to know him.”

“I'm Ala,” the older villager said. “Even if that's true you're not going to find a whole lot of people who will be happy to see it.”

“Grem not an it,” Grem said.

It was the first time Arn had ever seen Grem look offended at something.

Ala shrugged.

“Who are you looking for?” she said.

“Our whole village,” Kim said. “We were stuck in the Underworld, and Grem helped us get away. But when we got back, everyone else was gone. The village was empty.”

“There's a lot of that going around,” Umi said.

“Plus another villager,” Arn said. “Her name is Ama. She might be with another Pakmog. He helped us too.”

“A lot of villages have been destroyed by things from the Underworld,” Ala said. “A lot of people are looking for new places to live.”

She frowned at Grem again.

“Grem not burn anything,” he growled.

“Is your village near here?” Dav said.

“Maybe,” Umi said. “But we're not bringing... him there.”

“Our village wasn't burned or anything,” Dav said. “It was just empty.”

“All we want is to find everyone,” Kim said. “That's the only thing we care about. Plus Grem wants to go back to the Underworld once we do, right?”

Grem nodded. He was still watching Umi and her weapon.

She slowly lowered it and looked at Ala.

Ala nodded.

“We did see something a few days ago,” Umi said. “It was a big group. Off in the distance. They were all heading that way.”

She pointed.

“Do you think it could have been our people?” Kim said.

Ala shrugged.

“Sure, it's possible. But there are a lot of villagers on the move, so maybe not.”

“Why would they have left?” Dav said.

“I don't know,” said Ala. “If they weren't attacked by the Underworld then really there's only the Iron City or the Village of Peace. The Iron City is big on making plans and telling people where to go. Who knows? Maybe they thought they were in danger.”

“Someone made them leave?” said Mat.

“Like I said,” Ala said. “The Iron City might have wanted them. Or wanted them to live somewhere else. The Brother, on the other hand... the Village of Peace takes in villagers too. They tried to get us to join them once.”

“It sounds like you don't trust them,” Kim said.

“We don't have anything to do with any of them,” Ala said. “We take care of ourselves.”

Arn looked at her glowing armor again. She looked like she could, that was for sure.

“How did you get all that?” he said. “How did you learn to use it?”

Ala sighed.

“You must be from way out in the woods,” she said. “You're in the old Player lands. You can find things like this. We have enough so that nobody is going to tell us what to do. And they're going to be unhappy if they try to attack us.”

But Dav was staring at her like she had told him something amazing.

“What other things can you find? How do you find them? Are they in all these buildings?”

Kim smirked.

“You've done it now,” she said. “That's all he's going to be thinking about.”

Umi shook her head, but she didn't look annoyed. She walked over to Dav.

“Here,” she said. “Have a look if you want. But don't go poking around in old Player buildings without someone who knows what they're doing. There are a lot of traps and other things.”

Dav nodded but Arn didn't think he was listening at all. He was already crouched down beside Umi, running his fingers over the armor plate and staring at the shiny reflections that twirled around on it in response.

“Incredible,” he said.

“Your friend here would probably fit right in with the Iron City scholars,” Ala said. “They spend all their time trying to understand Player creations.”

“Really?” said Dav.

Now he was staring at her like a starving man staring at sudden food.

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“I don't know. Never been. But that's what I've heard.”

Grem looked suspicious.

“Village of Dav's? That very weird village.”

But Dav stood up and he had a new look on his face. One Arn had never seen before.

“I think I need to meet them,” he said. “I really do.”

“Sounds like the Iron City is where we should look,” said Kim.

“Maybe,” said Ala. “But your friend here -” she nodded at Grem - “might be a problem.”

“A lot of people have gone to the Village of Peace too,” said Umi.

“What is that, exactly?” said Arn.

“Another village,” Umi said. “It's where the Brother lives. He takes in wandering villagers.”

Ala pointed.

“Up that way, two or three days walk.”

“Do they study the player creations too?” Dav said.

“Not from what I've heard. But I haven't heard much,” Ala said. “Nobody ever comes back from there. It's pretty big now, they say.”

“Village of Peace?” Grem muttered. “Weird name. Not sound like something Villagers say.”

“There are a lot of weird things going on,” Umi said, giving Grem a significant look.

“Do you have enough food?” Ala said. “Whichever way you go, its a few days walk.”

Arn got the feeling that the conversation was ending. Ala and Umi obviously weren't going to be inviting them to spend the night inside. Not when Grem was with them.

Kim looked around at the others.

“I think we're okay,” she said. “Thanks for your help.”

“How do we find the Iron City?” Dav said. “What do we look for?”

Ala half-smiled.

“Just go through the desert,” she said. Follow the sky cart tracks, then past the glass tower.”

“Sky cart?” said Dav.

“You'll know when you see it,” Umi said.

“Listen!” Grem said suddenly.

They all looked around – even Ala and Umi.

“What?” said Umi.

“Horses,” said Arn. He could hear the rumbling of hooves. They were getting louder.

Kim moved in next to the Pakmog and put her arm around his. She looked at Ala.

“We need to hide Grem. Please. Those men are trying to kill him.”

Ala and Umi looked at each other.

“Sounds like scouts from the Iron City,” Ala said. “They will attack anything from the Underworld.”

“Sound like big jerks,” Grem muttered.

“Please,” said Arn. “If you won't help, then tell us now so we can run!”

It sounded like the riders were nearly on top of them. He expected to see them coming around a corner of one of the buildings any second.

The two villagers turned away and spent a few moments whispering fiercely to each other. Then Ala turned around to face them.

“Fine,” she said. “It's my call. This way.”

She went up to the nearest tall and shiny building and did something complicated with her hands – they moved back and forth, like they were pushing buttons, but there was nothing there. Then without a sound a door opened up.

“Inside!” she said. “Hurry!”

They ran in without another word – Kim pushing Grem ahead of her.

“I go! I go!” he grumbled.

Ala slammed the door shut again.

They were in a room. It was a very weird room. There were glowing blocks in the ceiling, and the walls seemed to be made of metal, but it wasn’t iron.

“This is totally a player building, isn't it?” Dav said, staring around with wonder.

“Something like that,” said Ala. Now that they were inside she seemed to be watching them, interested in their reactions to everything.

“What's this?” Dav said. He pointed at one wall. It was covered with strange blocks – they were moving, with bits clicking in and out again every now and then.

“That's... well it's a secret. But it lets us talk to people.”

“Talk with clicky blocks?” Grem said.

“Like I said, it's a secret. I'm going to get in trouble for telling you that much.”

But Dav was already wandering across the room. He found a pile of maps on a table and started flipping through them.

“Incredible!” he said. “This is the whole area around here? We had one map in the village, but you've got dozens!”

Kim looked over his shoulder.

“There,” she said, pointing. “Put that one at the top.”

“Two maps!” Dav cried. “They connect! You can see where everything is! Do these all connect? You could see the whole world!”

“Well, not that much,” said Ala, who was watching him warily. “But it's very useful.”

Umi had disappeared through another door when they came in, but now she came back into the room again.

“They rode past,” she said. “They've headed off towards the desert.”

“Good,” Ala said. “We can wait here a little longer, and then you can go outside safely again.”

“They won't come back?” said Arn.

“Probably not. They’re likely heading for the Iron City.”

“What else is there in here?” Dav said. He was barely even listening to anyone.

“Food!” said Ala. “Feel free, in that chest over there.”

Arn was pretty sure they were trying to distract them from asking any more questions about this place, but he and Grem didn't need to be told twice – they headed straight over and started digging through the chest. It was stuffed with bread and cake and meat. It was more food than they'd all seen in one spot for a long, long time.

Dav didn't move though.

“I mean, can I look at some other things? The player things?”

Ala shook her head.

“Sorry. Really. I'm not kidding. I sort of wish I could, but I'm going to get in trouble for bringing you in this far. Especially with him here.”

She nodded at Grem.

Dav's face fell.

“There's just so much, I can hardly believe it. I need to see more.”

She sighed.

“You should go to the Iron City. You sound like the kind of villagers they're looking for. But I'm sorry, no. We stay safe by making sure nobody knows what we have and what we can do.”

Dav kept trying to convince her anyway, but she wouldn't budge.

In the end he took a chicken leg from Kim and sat in the corner, staring at the clicking wall blocks and looking lost in thought.

“It almost night,” Grem said. “Good idea if we sleep here.”

Ala looked like she was going to argue with the Pakmog, but when she opened the door outside, it was true. The day was almost gone, and it was getting dark.

Apparently villagers were still villagers at least. You didn't just leave someone outside at night.

“Alright, fine,” she said and pointed at the floor. “You sleep right here, okay? If anyone tries to go any farther then there will be trouble. We can call for more people if we need them.”

“Okay by me,” Grem muttered. He flopped down on the ground, rubbing his arm, and fell asleep nearly right away.

So in the end, they all spent the night in the strange player building.

Umi and Ala slept by the door that went further in. They weren't going to let anybody take one more step into the building.

“We can't thank you enough!” Kim said to them.

Once morning had come, the two women had loaded them all down with enough food to keep them going for days. Arn felt like they were sort of apologizing for not letting Dav see anything else.

Dav still looked like he wanted to just run straight into the building past the two of them.

But they were probably happy to see them go. Arn thought Grem's snoring had kept Ala and Umi up most of the night as well.

“You've seen what happens when you have Grem with you,” Ala said once they were outside again. “I don't think it would be smart for you to head to the Iron City. Not all of you anyway.”

She pulled out a map.

“We're here. The Village of Peace is north, up this way. Past the swamp and the jungle.”

“They won't attack Grem?” Kim said.

“Honestly I have no idea,” Ala said. “But I doubt it. They don't have fighters, as far as I know. Your people could be there. Maybe.”

“And if not, then we know where to look,” Arn said.

But they obviously couldn't go to the Iron City with Grem. Arn wished he had some idea what to do about that, but at least they could avoid worrying about it for a while.

Dav pointed south, back where they had come from.

“There's a whole bunch of big player houses down that way,” he said. “Would anyone be mad if we looked in them?”

“Wrong way,” Grem said.

“I know, I know. I'm just asking.”

Umi shook her head.

“No, but you'd need to be really careful. Watch out for trigger plates on the floor, tripwires, things like that. Don't push any buttons. You never know what might happen in those places. They're not safe.”

Grem nodded.

“Weird places, like Grem think. We stay away.”

Dav looked like he wanted to do nothing more in the world than head straight down south and start exploring.

But instead he sighed and said a polite thank you to Ala and Umi.

“We would have been caught if it weren't for you,” he said. “Or worse. I really appreciate your helping us.”

Ala nodded.

“You've seen some of our secrets. You can thank us by not telling anyone.”

Kim looked serious.

“Not a word. Promise.”

“Grem promise too. We Pakmog not big jerks.”

He gave the two of them a significant look.

Ala smiled a little bit.

“I believe you,” she said. “We will keep that in mind.”

They left the tall buildings behind them, moving carefully and keeping an eye out on the horizon for any sign of horsemen.

“Villagers riding horses,” Dav said. “Whoever they are, they are doing things nobody has ever done before.”

There was a real sound of admiration in his voice.

“They tried to kill Grem,” Kim said.

“I know, I know. But I'm sure I could explain to them that he's friendly. Make them understand.”

“They didn't seem like they wanted to talk,” Arn said.

“Grem not going to that place,” Grem said.

“Don't worry,” Kim said. “We're not going to abandon you.”

But they all knew that if their people weren't at the Village, then the Iron City was the only thing left. Arn thought about that as they started walking into the swamp.

We can't just say “okay thanks bye” to Grem. But what are we supposed to do?

He really hoped they didn't have to make that choice.

The swamp went on all morning, but just past noon they came up against a wall of green.

“Those things trees?” Grem said.

“I guess so,” said Arn.

“They're huge,” said Kim.

“It's a jungle,” Dav said. “I've read about them.”

“Is there even a way through?” said Kim. “I can't see anything in there.”

The trees were huge and wide, and covered with vines. But worse, the ground was covered with dense plants – vines, bushes, smaller trees, just an absolute mess of leaves and branches.

“I don't see that there's any choice,” said Dav. “It's fascinating. Sometimes there are old temples in the jungle, the books say.”

“What in those?” said Grem.

“Treasure. Or that's what I read, anyway.”

Grem shook his head.

“Nobody leave treasure lying around. They make sure anybody try to take it, they have big problem.”

“How do you know that?” said Arn.

“If Grem have treasure, that what he do.”

“The books do mention traps,” Dav said.

Grem nodded.

“We stay away from those things,” he said.

The jungle slowed them down. They spent most of the afternoon pushing their way through the bushes and climbing up and down vines when they ran into cliffs. Grem went at the front, his muscles clearing the way as much as he could, but there was no way to do it fast. Now and then they saw speedy little animals running away from them, but they were so fast that it was hard to get a good look.

Arn thought they might have to spend the night there.

But all this stuff will probably slow the mobs down too, at least, he thought.

So there were probably worse places to be.

Grem held up his hand.

“Man watching us,” Grem said. “Following us.”

They looked all around. The jungle was so thick that they couldn't see more than a few blocks in any direction.

“Where?” Dav said.

“I can't see anything,” Arn said.

“Smell man,” Grem said. “Hear man sometimes. He over that way.”

Of course, Grem used the word “man” to mean just about anyone from the Overworld who wasn't a Pakmog. So there was really no way to know what was actually following them. Only that it was somebody.

Grem pointed to his right.

“How close?” Kim said.

Grem shrugged.

“Not too far,” Grem said. “But he stay away on purpose. Just watching.”

“Why?” said Dav.

“Dav have fancy brain, he tell Grem.”

“I don't know. I guess we just keep going. You tell us if he gets any closer, okay?”

Grem nodded.

“He sneaky, but not too sneaky for Grem. I tell you.”

Arn didn't think he'd be able to sleep knowing that whoever-it-was was out there in the woods, being sneaky.

They set out their torches when the sky grew dark, but they didn't see or hear a single mob all night long.

But just like he thought, Arn didn't sleep a wink. He kept looking up, expecting to see a face staring in at him from the leaves.

He didn't think Grem was sleeping either. The Pakmog didn't say anything, but Arn glanced over at him a few times, and his eyes were never shut. He was just watching the woods.