Since the gauntlet I held was useless, I tossed it aside and grabbed the next piece of armor. Then the next. Levi watched me the whole time, expressing the grossness of my actions with a plethora of grimy images. Like really, I was starting to feel like I'd never get clean.

Unfortunately, no matter which one I examined, I couldn't find the maker.

"What the hell?" I muttered, "How am I supposed to figure out who these people are?" I huffed out a breath, stewing. How could I help people if they didn't want to be helped? I mean, who wears unmarked gear? I thought it was the pride of a Hunter to flaunt where they bought it from. Maybe working at Uncle’s shop had affected my opinion in that matter.

Thoroughly stumped, I stuffed some armor from each zombie into my Items Bag. Maybe one of these would be helpful. Between all the drop items and the litter from my meals, it was starting to get really full. When I bought it, I got one that would never fill up, or so I thought. After all, I'd empty all the loot at the end of every day. I never planned to be in a situation like now.

"I thought you weren't looting?" Terre asked, as he wiped away his screen. He must be done with whatever he was doing.

"I'm not, technically." I stood up, got rid of my gross gloves, and started to give myself a wet wipe bath, scrubbing my hands and arms until they were red.

Levi watched my every move, waiting to be the final judge.

"I can't figure out who the weaponsmith is, but my dad or uncle should be able to," I explained. I mean, I was good, but they were the experts.

He tilted his head to the side. "You could have done that from the start."

I sighed, heavily. "Yeah, I just..." My voice died out, but with his insistent stare, I finished the sentence. "Didn't want my family to know what I did out here." I grimaced. God, that sounded awful. "Knowing I was out here is bad enough, they don't need to know all the gory details."

"I see." Terre looked across the plateau, taking in the battle mess with a measuring glance. "That makes sense." He looked back at me. "Are you done playing with zombie guts?"

I scowled. "I'm not playing with zombie guts."

"Of course not," he amended with a state face. "Are you done digging out rotting flesh from gross armor?"

How was it possible that he could make it sound even worse than it was? Instead of arguing, I simply rolled my eyes. "Yes, I'm done."

"Good, let's call it a night." He waved his hand and a camper appeared on the ground not far from us. Fifteen feet long and screaming of money, it looked like a mini mid modern cabin on wheels. "I'm tired and hungry. I'm sure you are too." He opened the front door and reached in. A flick of his hand, the can lights turned on. "The bathroom's in the back. There's not a lot of room, but the hot water works." He left the door open and walked past me. "I still got things to do, so take your time."

I gaped at the mini home. For the most part, Hunters didn't bother packing camping gear — for obvious reasons. Why take up precious space in your Item's Bag on things you'd never use? In fact, I was the odd one out by packing things like tools and blankets. But I purposefully bought a large Items Bag for that very reason — I planned on carrying around a ton of extra 'just in case' things. But Terre blew me out of the water by even packing around a kitchen sink. Literally.

A shiver zipped down my spine and I looked behind me.

In the dying light, Terre stood a short distance away, his hands held palms up. Mist thick as soup swirled around him and spread out until the whole plateau was covered — minus a dome around me and the mobile home.

I got over the paralyzing fear for the most part, but the water vapor still unnerved me. Goosebumps spread over my skin as I hurried into the camper. It was just as nice inside. There was a love seat with a coffee table in the front part, and a small desk and chair in the corner under a floating bookshelf. A small kitchenette was across a thin storage staircase that went up the loft bed. The thin door in the back probably led to the bathroom. The color scheme was a mix of blue and neutral colors, making the place light and bright. Comfortable.

Levi clung to my neck, looking this way and that. His thoughts flashed from his black hole of a cave to this, comparing the two. In the end, he concluded that humans had weird caves. They weren't even in a mountain or hill, they could just pop up anywhere. Not only were they impossible to hide, they were full of weird stuff. He jumped onto the couch and nudged the fluffy blue pillow, wondering what purpose it served. It wasn't food, or big enough for a human to hide under, or hard enough to protect against an attack. Why keep it? It wasn't even made of gold, or diamonds.

Amused, I felt him to his devices. "Don't destroy anything. I don't own this ... cave. I doubt I can afford to fix it myself." I practically drifted to shower.

As a semi-germaphobe, it felt wonderful to wash off all the gunk from the last forty-eight hours. Taking a swim in the river just didn't cut it, even though I convinced myself it did. There wasn't a hair blow-dryer, but a little water trick was all I needed to dry my hair. Sporting my spare clothes, a t-shirt and shorts, I exited the bathroom. I'd spent so long in my armor, I forgot how good normal clothes felt.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Levi was still on the couch, looking around with suspicion. He didn't like the smell, look, or lighting of the mobile home. He didn't think that something like this could be safe and we should leave as soon as possible.

I, however, had the exact opposite impression. After hiding in black caves since I left Boulder, I'd never felt so safe. The mist outside was saturated in Terre's power; as much as it freaked me out, it was an excellent monster deterrent. But mostly, it was the homey feel of the camper that lowered my defenses. I'd been running scared for so long, I didn't know I craved a touch of home so badly until now.

I dropped onto the couch next to Levi and ran my hand over the blue pillow, loving the softness. A matching fluffy blanket rested on the backrest. I pulled it over me and sighed with contentment. The heavy wool emergency blanket I had kept me from freezing at night, but the scratchy material wasn't made for comfort. But this was heaven.

As soon as I snuggled in, all the stress that kept my nerves abuzz seeped out, leaving me a rag-doll burrito. With a sigh, I buried my face into the pillow and passed out.

*****

I woke up to the smell of coffee. What a nostalgic smell. If it wasn't for the foreign cologne that lingered in the air instead of the spicy air fresheners that Dad favored, I could pretend that I was at home. I peaked out of my fluffy cocoon, groggy from sleeping too hard.

Terre stood at the kitchenette in gray under-armor, pouring the dark liquid into a mug. He noticed me move immediately and glanced over his shoulder. "There's enough for two." He took another blue mug out of the overhead cabinet and set it in front of the coffee maker. "There's muffins and bagels in the fridge." He pointed to the mini steel fridge at his knee. "You can heat them up in the microwave or eat them cold. Both are fine."

He took his mug to the small desk across from me, turned the chair so his back wasn't to me, and sat down.

I sat up and pushed my crazy bed hair out of my face. I didn’t mean to fall asleep on the loveseat. I was so out, I didn’t remember Terre coming last night or him moving around to get ready in the morning. But he looked too freshly put together to have been up all night. The fact that I was so defenseless in front of him was a major Hunter fail. Then again, even the strongest Hunters needed a break, and last night, I was at my breaking point.

Levi crawled out of the folds of the blanket and stuck his tongue out at Terre. He looked around, didn't smell anything edible, and settled down on the blanket in a place where he could see everything. But mostly Terre. He glared at him with fierce golden eyes.

Terre, apparently, didn't give a damn. He calmly sipped on his coffee, flicked a glance at Levi, then dismissed the snake all together. Instead, he focused on me. "You never did tell me how you ended up halfway up a mountain."

"Because I rolled down from the top of the mountain." My stomach felt like a massive black hole, wanting for food. Drawn by the tantalizing smell of coffee, I climbed out of my warm burrow and filled up the mug. After loading it with cream and sugar until the color turned pale, I opened the fridge and peered at the large blueberry muffins and Asiago muffins inside. There wasn't a cold ham sandwich in sight. Thank god. After having the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner for days on end, the thought of eating another ham sandwich was nauseating.

I grabbed a bagel and a small packet of cream cheese. Maybe I should be more reserved since it wasn't my kitchen, but Terre offered and I was too hungry to care. I glanced over, only to find him staring at me. I cleared my throat and tried not to fidget. "Thanks for the food."

"Of course," Terre motioned with his hand. "Take as much as you need. But," he paused, "you still haven’t explain how you ended up here? And where have you been for the last few days? I used to pride myself on my tracking skills, but you, Miss Ria, put me to shame."

He really wasn't going to let that go, was he? Honestly, Terre confused me. I get that he was friends with my uncle, but he didn't need to be this accommodating to me. No other Hunter would. Especially after he expressed such a clear divide between us.

Still, I sat down on the love seat and summarized everything that's happened the last couple days. Well, everything that I could say. I skipped over the System tasks, and it explained it as I was compelled to go here. Terre, apparently an expert at reading between the lines, accepted it without blinking.

Terre listened intently, sipping at his coffee. There was a natural air about him that people strived their whole lives to get, but it came to him as natural as breathing. After I finished talking, and most of my breakfast was gone, he set his coffee to the side. "Tell me more about this unknown dragon," he paused and flicked a glance at Levi, "that your snake killed."

I glared at him. "I wasn't lying. Levi..." My voice died out.

Every part of a dragon was valuable. They were outrageously strong, but that threat wasn't enough to prevent Hunters from risking life and limb to kill a dragon. Now that Levi was so weak, it would be very dangerous if word got out. And Levi's life was tied to mine. I wasn't worried that Terre would kill Levi himself. He was the one of the richest people on the planet, he didn't need the money. But I didn't know who he associated with and what he talked about. What if someone overheard Terre and then came after Levi?

With that in mind, I finally finished my sentence by repeating the same lame thing I said last night. "Levi used to be a lot bigger. But," I stressed, "I have proof."

I waved my hand over the coffee table. The sample that I collected that day appeared on smooth, pale wood. It didn't look that impressive right now. It was just a chunk of pink tissue in a sealed glass vial. Once it was tested, my story would be backed up with undeniable proof, all without endangering Levi.

As soon as Levi saw the vial, he puffed up his neck and hissed at it. Man, he really knew how to hold a grudge. I mean, it was just a tiny part of the unknown and he still hated it.

Terre picked up the vial and turned it this way and that, examining the flesh.

I pinched my thumb, all the previously suppressed questions coming to mind. "Do you remember that unknown horned monkey I killed a while ago?"

Terre looked at me and lifted a brow. "Of course. That was only last week."

I paused. So much had happened since then, it felt much longer. "Right. Do you remember how it looked? And the gargoyle scales on its back leg? Kinda like someone spliced two monsters together?"

Terre nodded slowly. His eyes narrowed as he caught onto the seriousness that I was talking about.

"The unknown dragon was the same," I rushed to explain. "It looked like someone put together two different monsters — a dragon and a turtle. There was nothing natural about it. I don't know how it came to be, or why no one else has found it by now." I paused, then drove my theory home. "But I think the unknown horned monkey and dragon might be related."

*****