I flinched, anticipating the gut churning free falling sensation ... that never happened.

As soon as Ghost's paws left the gray stone, a thin stretch of mist appeared like a path that cut through the air. No matter how strong the updraft that raced up the side of the plateau was, it stayed firm as steel. Ghost landed on the mist and sprinted ahead, following it as the path stretched out to stay a steady five feet ahead of him. The path curved and aimed for the gap between the two mountain peaks. Karmin's clucktrice followed on the mist road just behind Ghost's tail.

Holding onto Terre’s side to stay steady, I watched the world look so small below as we climbed the mist higher, up to the top of the neighboring peak. I didn't know mist could be used like this. Honestly, it was really cool, like we were running on a cloud. Yet, I couldn't help the bubble of disappointment that grew inside. I really want to know how it felt to soar on a flying tiger. And this wasn’t really flying – Ghost was only running. It was like waving a double chocolate cookie under my nose then cruelly smashing it into a lump right before my eyes. Totally not fair on every account.

"Is this how you travel all the time?" I couldn't resist asking, raising my voice over the chilly wind. What was the use of having a flying mount if you never fly on it? Then again, maybe this way puts less strain on Ghost?

"Only when we’re in a group," Terre said over his shoulder. "Ghost flies faster than ChoCho can run, so this way is easier for staying together."

ChoCho? I glanced at Karmin's brown clucktrice. Ghost's gallop was leisurely — almost carefree — but ChoCho was running with all its might to keep up.

Karmin noticed my glance and flashed a smile. "Don't worry. If you get dizzy and fall, I'll catch you."

"Thanks," I said, even though that was unlikely. Still, it was nice to know someone outside of my family had my back. It was a first.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I mentally kicked myself. Terre already made it clear that we were different, and the odds of us becoming a team was nil. Thoughts like this were only going to lead to disappointment. I shouldn't even entertain the idea.

Levi shifted on my neck, looking around calmly. A reassuring feeling came through our bond, letting me know I wasn't alone. Then he filled my thoughts with images of him proudly flying through the air. When he gets bigger, he'd show me the proper way to fly. No disgraceful cheating by running on clouds.

A smile curled my lips as warmth spread through my chest. I reached up and ran a finger over his smooth head. Exactly five strokes later, he slapped away my finger.

"That's one temperamental snake," Karmin yelled over the wind.

I looked over my shoulder. "Yeah, he is. It's part of his charm."

She shook her head, perplexed. "If you say so. I just hope it doesn't cause trouble for you."

"So," Terre spoke up. "The task is to clear out the monsters around the communication tower and reconnect the power."

Wait, how are we supposed to connect the power? Perplexed, I leaned over and searched the ground below. It took me a second to spot the thick, eroding poles set in a line across the mountain side. There were big, uneven gaps between the power poles; the connecting poles had probably rolled down the mountain slope at some point in time. And the wires that strung them all together were long gone.

"Are you going to use an energy crystal to power the tower?" I asked Terre. It might take years for the power lines to get repaired, what with the lack of manpower and the monsters drawn to where humans collected. But an energy crystal didn't need a working power line. It could be inserted and left. Sometimes powerful monsters were drawn to them, but most of them avoided the gems.

"Yes," Terre confirmed. "The government is working on perfecting compact solar energy, but out here, who's going to keep the panels clean? A crystal is a lot easier."

"As for the monsters in the area," Karmin piped up. "We actually don't know what to expect. None of the scouting parties ever returned."

"Right," Terre said slowly. "And that's why they called us."

For the first time, a trace of worry surged in me. What did I get myself into?

*****

For such an important thing, the communication tower didn't look like much. It was a very tall four-sided triangle made of thick steel beams, sporting a handful of large circular disks. Well, it would have been taller if it was still upright, but at the moment, it leaned on the building right next to it. The red and white paint on the beams were so chipped and stained, I would have never guessed their color if it weren't my history textbooks. The surprisingly sturdy A frame brick building was plain gray..

The red stone clearing that it all sat on was bare, with no foliage of any kind. Surprising for how big the area was. At one point, the tower probably sat on the top of the mountain, but now the entire shelf had slid down until it was backed with a fifty-foot sheer wall. A small pond collected on the other end of the shelf, the stagnant water clear enough to see the empty stone bottom. It had no in or outlet, so the pond was probably created by trapped melting snow.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Luckily the tower fell against the building, and not into the pond. Water wasn’t kind to building materials. That's why most of the ruins along the coasts were un-reusable.

"I bet there aren't many standing communication towers left," I said, looking down at the structure.

"No, there aren't," Terre agreed. "They actually wanted to use a tower closer to Boulder, but they're all too damaged to recover. It's a miracle this one's still so upright after two apocalypses and all the earthquakes that went with them."

I frowned and glanced at him. "I know I said I'm handy, but I'm not an engineer." This thing needed structural and technical help. I learned my way around tools at the shop, but nothing to this degree.

Karmin laughed, "Yeah, we aren't either. Our degrees are in business. Luckily, we don't have to do anything fancy."

"The Guides aren't compatible with old world tech," Terre explained. "All we need to do is install a Guide transmitter. It's compatible with the communication antennas and should work automatically. It won't help cell phones for now — they're hoping to get that up and running by the end of summer — but it should increase the Guide's communication range to a hundred and fifty miles with the next update. And the Guide map should increase to the Utah border."

Both of which would be awesome. If the communication range was bigger, then I could have stayed in communication with Uncle Maveric. Terre could have picked me up immediately, and I wouldn't have needed to travel through the wilds. And no one was going to complain about a larger map. In fact, some Hunters thrived on adding details to the current map.

"The end goal," Terre continued, "is to make a connecting line all the way to the west coast. Then we won't have to rely on the internet to communicate, we'd just use our Guides."

"Wow."

It's funny. Decades ago, worldwide communication was so easy. Just a push of a button. Phones and emails still have that ability, but only if you're in a city. As soon as you leave the walls, it's a dead zone. And with cities being so few and far between, the ninety-nine percent of the world was a communication nightmare. Guides have a wider contact range, but they didn't have the internet — they were powered by magic. Magic wasn't a bunch of 1s and 0s — it didn't have the ability to communicate with electric things.

"I don't sense anything," Karmin said, scanning the ground. "Do you?"

I shook my head, even though my input was unnecessary. Their awareness was a lot better than mine.

"No," Terre said slowly, his eyes serious despite the slight smile on his lips. "I don't. But there has to be a reason all the scouts disappeared."

I glanced at him. "Do you think it was the wraith?" The zombies used to be humans. Maybe they fell victim before they got here?

Terre gave a low hum. "Possibly. We'll find out when we get back to Boulder and they identify your zombie guts loot." He flicked a glance at me, his eyes alight with humor.

"They don't have zombie guts on them anymore!" I flared, and was immediately annoyed with myself for falling into his rise. I glared below, refusing to look at him.

Levi opened his itching mouth ready to get revenge for me, but he didn't dare make a move until I gave the okay — that way I'd take the blame if he missed his attack. Knowing Terre's reflexes, he would.

"There's a story behind this and I'm dying to hear it," Karmin piped in.

My lips pursed together. "It's nothing."

"Ria has a stomach of steel, that's all," Terre said.

"Only with armor," I muttered, remembering the suspy poop. That really did turn my stomach.

"Right." Terre didn't press it more. Instead, he guided Ghost down. "The government wanted us to anchor the communication tower with chains to keep it standing," he explained. "It's easier to keep it upright and work on it from there, over bringing the gear and labor force they'd need to put it back up."

"Is that based on experience?" I wondered.

"Yes," Terre said. He pointed at the steel tower. "I have chains with hooks we can stake to the ground. They should suffice until the actual team gets here to finish the job."

"Are we going to try to stand it straight?" I asked. The tower was huge and obviously heavy. Then again Ghost was an A ranked monster. He should be strong enough to lift it. Add in Karmin and Terre, and it shouldn't be too hard. As long as they don't accidentally knock it over in the process. I glanced at the pond not far away. I could use water to help prop it up?

My thoughts stuttered to a halt when a low rubble of rock sliding against rock thundered around us. In an instant, half of the cliff in the back of the cleaning broke away from the mountain.

"Rock slide?" I gasped. What if it buried the tower?

Terre thrust out his hand. Thick mist pooled around the tower and building, blocking them from view.

The rocks didn't follow gravity and rolled down the hill to the tower. Instead, they suspended in the air, then snapped together with another thunderous rumble. Dust rained down as rock merged with rock, creating a brown cloud that swept up against Terre's mist, before it abruptly stopped. The two clouds battled for space, but the dust cloud was the clear loser.

From the depths of the dust, a bulky thirty foot tall humanoid figure rose up. The stone giant stomped its wide feet and three fingered hands on the end thick rocky arms flexed with the crunching of stone. The black pits that represented its eyes focused on us, as if furious that we woke it up. Then it opened its oversized square jaw and roared, the sound so low I could barely hear the gravelly sound. But I felt the aura that blasted out with the action.

I flinched, my body instantly weak. I leaned towards Terre, shaking hands grasping his sides tight to keep from sliding off. Levi curled into a ball at the nape of my neck, just as miserable.

ChoCho's eyes rolled and the clucktrice sidestepped in agitation before Karmin brought it back under control.

Terre swept his hand in front of me and used his aura like shield to block the stone giant's attack.

Able to breathe again, I sat up straight and stared down at the monster. "I know why the scouts never came back."