My brows creased as I glanced from the shivering half-naked man on the rock to the green shadow swimming around him. I could make a water path arch over the plunge bowl, but he was a melee Hunter. He couldn’t walk on water like me. And if I just surrounded him with water and shot him at me like a missile, not only would the verdant gator catch him first, but it would draw the monster's attention this way. Me and my companions weren't strong enough to take on B ranked monsters. The only reason it hadn't gotten the man yet was because it couldn't reach around the rock's odd angle to get the man. But looking at the cracks webbing the rock pile, it wouldn't take much more to make the cluster fall apart.

Shiva tensed.

I blinked out of my thoughts and realized … the huge green shadow was gone. Alarms screamed in my mind and Levi hissed. I squeezed Shiva's sides. "Jump up!" I yelled and turned her reins towards the cliff the waterfall graced.

Shiva jumped—

Just as the plunge bowl exploded right in front of us. The verdant gator's huge maw shot out of the flying water and clamped shut where we used to be. The resounding thunk of its teeth smacking together sent an icy shiver down my spine. God, it could swallow my torso whole.

An icicle grew up, creating a platform that Shiva landed on. Her feet barely touched it before she jumped again, using icicles as stepping stones up to the top of the thirty foot tall cliff.

The man stranded on the rock wailed in despair. "Please, don't leave!"

The verdant gator rushed on land, revealing its huge, deep green body. Unlike most reptiles, its ‘scales’ were made of plant cells – freakishly strong plant cells. Algae patches collected on the top of the monster's wide back, and powerful tail and maw. The verdant gator thrashed its tail. The huge appendage smacked into the first icicle. The base shattered and the whole thing crashed down with a thud, indenting the wet soil. The monster thumped its tail on the ground, annoyed that food didn't come down with the ice. It smashed the other icicles, but by then, we were already atop the cliff.

I turned Shiva around and stared down, analyzing the new situation. Damn, I didn't expect the verdant gator to come after us before we even got the man off the rock. Since verdant gators weren't very fast on land and had zero climbing ability, I was planning on running like hell after rescuing the guy. I didn't think it would be this complicated. But I already decided I was going to get the man off the rock, so I would.

After all the icicles were smashed, and nothing edible came rain down, the verdant gator hissed in anger and rushed back to the water. The man whimpered at the monster charged right at him and smashed into the rocky island. The pillar split, half of it crumbling into the churning plunge bowl. The Hunter screamed as he wobbled on the shrinking safe zone, but regained his balance in time. The monster resumed circling the rock, its powerful tail agitating the water. With the shape of the rock formation now, the monster could reach the guy, but it didn't notice yet.

"Damn," I muttered. There was plenty of available water to reach him with a water whip, but at this angle, I'd carry him right over the verdant gator, like a donut on string. If the angle was the problem...

I reached over and grabbed some water out of the stream before it crested the waterfall. With a wave of my arm, I spread it through the air, creating a ten foot long path that ended right over the man.

I tapped Shiva's neck, then pointed at my walkway. "Freeze the water."

It took a second for her to understand then Shiva tapped the water with her hoof. The water path turned to ice and froze to the edge of the cliff, digging into the rock to anchor it to place.

"Go," I tapped her sides.

She stepped out, walking right over the opening below.

Levi dangled from her antler, watching the green shadow below. He snapped his mouth, mocking the verdant gator for being so tiny while acting so powerful. Did Levi forget he was a blue noodle right now? This snake seriously lives in denial with his little man syndrome.

The Hunter glanced up at us, down at the verdant gator, then back up repeatedly. His expression was like a face changing doll, changing from desperate hope to desperate despair.

I grabbed more water from the waterfall and threw my hand down. The water whip shot out, right at the man. He reached up to grab it, then panicked when his fingers passed right through. I expected that — I was the water element, not him. The water whip reacted to my command and coiled around his wrist. As soon as it attached, I jerked up with my magic and body. Then groaned under the weight. I was getting stronger, but he was still a typically tall and built Hunter. He definitely weighed twice what I did. It took everything I had just to lift him from this angle.

The verdant gator, as if sensing something was wrong, threw itself at the rock. Its huge head smashed into the formation, crumbling it into the plunge pool just as the man's toes left the rock. The verdant gator's reaching maw snapped shut just inches from the Hunter's raised feet.

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The water whip contracted like a rubber band, snapping back into place, lifting the guy at a whirlwind speed. He screamed as I swung the whip over my head, arching over to the cliff. As such, I didn't have enough control to slow the swing down that much.

The man landed on the cliff top with a heavy thud that cut off his scream. And didn't move.

Oh, shit. Did I just kill him?

Ignoring the furiously thrashing verdant gator below, I turned Shiva. She jumped off the ice platform, landing lightly next to the Hunter.

He groaned and rolled to his back.

I finally released the breath I was holding. Oh good, I didn't actually kill him. But he was definitely going to be sore until he got healed. Only then did I realize that I now had a half-naked thirty-something-ish man on my hands. In the middle of the wilds. And there were several hours between here and Boulder. Saving a stranger was one thing, but getting close to him was another. But I couldn't just leave him now, could I? That would completely negate the reason why I saved him.

His eyes cracked open. After a second, his expression cleared and he stared up at me. "Thank you," he croaked, still winded.

I gave a stiff nod. "Sure. Where is your team?" After all, I knew better than most that an E ranked Hunter wouldn't come out this far alone. I just wanted to pawn him off to someone else as soon as possible.

He tsked bitterly and slowly sat up with a pained groan. His side was already turning black and blue, courtesy of me, but he didn't complain. "To hell with them." He turned his head away from me and spit. "Thieves are what they are. They took everything I had, then pushed me over the cliff." He motioned to the waterfall with a shaking hand. "I barely managed to climb on that rock before that damn monster showed up."

Ah, so he was cannon fodder, strung along by a stronger Hunter. Most of the time, it's because the stronger Hunter wanted to use the weaker one as a meat shield. Sometimes the stronger Hunter wanted a meat shield and a bonus paycheck via the black market. The scenario was so rampant that once a dead Hunter's gear hit the black market, the original's family lost claim to it. It simply wasn't worth the authority's efforts to right the wrong.

His story was so common, I wasn't surprised. Hell, I went through something similar, only my team didn't actively try to kill me. I didn't know which was worse. Playing the good guy, while scheming behind my back, or actively ripping off their mask. Both sucked. E Hunters took up a third of the Hunter population, but they also had the highest death rates because it wasn't just the monsters that killed them.

Staring at him was uncomfortable, so I looked away. I mean, I've been swimming lots and grew up in a house of males, but this guy wasn't in a swimsuit and Dad was adamant that Micah stayed clothed for my sake. "Is your mount bonded to you?" I asked. If it was, the thieves couldn't take it. "Where is it?"

He stood up, holding his sopping, muddy boxers up with one hand and pointing with his other. "Yes, she's a half mile that way."

I grimaced. I didn’t know if I could follow him that long with this much skin showing. "Do you have any clothes in your Items Bag?"

He shook his head in resentment. "They took everything. Even my Items Bag."

Damn, that's merciless. Then again, they probably thought a corpse wouldn’t need gear, huh? And if they destroyed the Items Bag, the authorities couldn’t trace the magical signature on the stolen items. Resigned, I took my emergency blanket out and tossed it to him. "Here." It was easy enough to get another one.

But I didn't offer to let him ride with me. I'd already been burnt once by traveling with strangers. This man wasn't a family friend like Terre, so there was no way I was going to let him that close to my back. Half a mile wasn't long and the ground was soft enough for his bare feet. All the weaker monsters would naturally flee from Shiva, so it would be a relatively safe walk.

"Thanks." He wrapped the blanket around his body, just as relieved as me.

"Lead the way," I nodded my chin in the direction he pointed.

He jerked his head in agreement and turned without asking for a ride.

After all, any smart Hunter wouldn't let him on either. Hell, most Hunters would have left him to his fate on that rock. Benevolence really wasn't a thing in the Hunter society. Well, not with the ones that survived past the first year.

How long would it take for my compassion to wither away?

A short, quiet trek later, Shiva paused and lifted her nose, sniffing the air.

Levi raised his head from the crevice in my armor's collar where he was lounging. He tasted the air. Then sent me an image of a rotten carcass.

I smelled it a second later, the familiar smell of death.

The Hunter pushed a large leaf aside — and gasped in horror.

A large hairy boar lay in the small clearing ahead, soaking the moist soil with its blood. Dozens of pink-capped walking shrooms littered the carcass, their merrily swaying tops slowly turning blood red. Walking shrooms were drawn to living things, but they were too slow to catch abled prey. However, the hairy boar sported a gaping slash on every limb, deep enough to sever muscles and sinews. Each cut was too precise, too clean. Too man-made. Someone — this guy's supposed team — disabled the hairy boar, then left it to be drained by the walking shrooms. What a horrible way to die.

The hair around the boar's snout and chest were displaced, probably from when the other Hunters stole the mount's saddle and harness. It would have resisted being touched if it was bound to this guy, but an E ranked mount couldn't stop a strong Hunter. I personally didn't care much for piggish monsters — thank the suspies for that — but I pitied this dead mount.

"Sugar!" The Hunter's voice cracked as he dropped to his knees in front of the carcass.

The walking shrooms were too intoxicated with their current meal to bother with the fresh blood that collapsed so close to them. They just happily continued to drain any remaining blood in front of the mount's rider.

My lips pressed into a thin line. It was already the later afternoon, and we were still a couple hours from Boulder. I had planned to take the guy to his mount, then leave to find the flying ginkgo that Uncle needed. The last task he gave me got derailed when I found Una in the mud golem's pit. I wasn't going to let that happen again, just because I found another stranded person in the wilds.

What should I do now?

*****