Valgrin held his breath as Sorvush climbed up the face of the cliff. Don’t fall, don’t be seen. Why did we send you? Stealthy or not, can we trust you.

  Skwilly bumped his knew, “Hope you guys are right about him.”

  “Me too,” Valgrin confessed. “I believe we are, but I’ll admit to a few moments of doubt.”

  “Like right now?”

  Valgrin nodded his answer to the priggy.

  Malcolm walked up behind Valgrin, Ylnah and Izzy a few steps behind him. “How’s the new guy doing?” He asked as he put his glasses to his eyes. “Can’t find him.”

  “Right about there,” Valgrin pointed.

  “Got him, I think, bit blurry. Hey, Ylnah could you make these binocular things autofocus?” Malcolm fiddled with the wheel on his Tomay’s Glasses.

  “And image stabilization,” Valgrin added with his pair still held to his eyes.

  Valgrin looked over to where Ylnah plopped to the ground, studying her pair of glasses. Minutes of silence passed by before she looked up and smiled back.

  She stood and pointed at hers, “Looking at it, there isn’t much magic to these. Some protection on the lenses and I can tell they were created with some magic, not sure if the magic alone created them or was a part of the process. Anyway, I’d have to do some more studying, then find the right magic to see if it could be infused. Valgrin would have to help me on it, not a quickly solved problem.”

  Malcolm pulled his down and faced Ylnah, “Why would you need him?”

  “I’m good at seeing and understanding magic.” She pointed over at Valgrin, “He’s good at manipulation of the magic, if there is any to manipulate. Together we have the best chance to make those changes and at the faster rate.”

  “Oh,” Malcolm grunted and raised his glasses back to his eyes. “Can’t find the critter.”

  “Over there,” Izzy pointed. “Though if he keeps going towards the ground he’ll be behind one of those columns.”

  “Think we should head that direction? He’s not supposed to get that close to the ground.” Valgrin’s tried to keep the frustration out of his voice, “He could be in trouble.”

  “Moving closer isn’t a bad idea. Even if it isn’t in trouble.” Malcolm started walking toward the Bythie camp, the others followed.

  Malcolm swiveled toward Valgrin. “Still can’t see Sorvush. Get closer or wait?”

  Valgrin scanned the terrain, his jaw tightening. "These rocks are our only decent cover. See that boulder?" He gestured toward a lonely chunk of stone sitting exposed in the clearing ahead. "We could make a dash for it, though it's not large enough to shield all of us. Still better than standing in the open."

  “Might cover all but one of us. Do we want to leave someone behind?” Izzy looked at Ylnah, “If we do it should be you, Ylnah. You can watch and come in if needed.”

  Ylnah’s shoulders sagged, “I get it, I’m the one who can’t defend herself. I’ll stay back.”

  “No,” Valgrin forcefully shook his head, “we need to stick together. For all we know their is something out there that is waiting for such a split up. If there is I don’t want to be the one that has to go tell her dad we left her on her own.”

  Izzy's mouth opened to object, but her words died in her throat as her eyes fixed on the boulder they'd been discussing. “Okay, given that point of view…I concede my point…but Ylnah you have to stay under full cover when we get there. I’ll poke out a bit, I probably have the best armor of the group.”

  “Nope, not on my watch. Better armor or not, I have,” Malcolm struck a heroic pose with his finger pointing up, “chivalry on my side.”

  Izzy rolled her eyes, “Chivalry can go fuck itself. Let’s go. Skwilly you want to be carried?”

  Malcolm, his bottom lip quivering, faked a sob as he clutched at his chest, “Mortally wounded, I am, mortally wounded.”

  Slapping him on the shoulder, with a little more force than usual, Izzy grinned at Malcolm. “Shut up already.”

  Enough of this. Valgrin stood, “Still can’t see Sorvush, I’m going to the boulder now. Anyone going with me, to quote Izzy, ‘let’s go’.” He scooped up Skwilly and didn’t look back to see who followed.

  Valgrin, Skwilly, and Ylnah had settled in behind the boulder scanning the camp for any indication of the whereabouts of their newfound friend. Malcolm coughed from behind them, then coughed again, Izzy joined in the coughing until the others had turned to face them.

  Malcolm pulled at his collar, “Okay, Izzy and I talked on the way over. I apologize for stepping out of line yesterday and being a bit of a jerk today.”

  Izzy put her hand on his arm, a gesture that brought him to silence. “And I need to apologize too, especially to Ylnah. I didn’t think my words through before I spoke back there and worded it horribly. Didn’t help that I was in the wrong to bring it up at all. Please forgive me…forgive us both?”

  Ylnah quickly stood and hugged Izzy, “I understood where you were coming from, hurt a little, not because of your words but because they were the truth. Nothing really to forgive, but I do accept your apology and lets try to forget all of this happened.”

  “And now that that is out of the way,” Valgrin scowled at the group. “Get your butts behind the cover as best as we can before Sorvush has to come rescue us.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Packs rustled as they all got into position. “Find our friend yet?” Malcolm asked.

  “No and I’m beginning to worry. Wanting you guys to look first to see if I overlooked him.” Valgrin went back to watching the camp as the others joined in.

  Nearly a minute passed before Izzy broke the silence, “Not seeing anything still.” A chorus of agreement rippled through the group.

  “I’m going in,” Valgrin announced. “None of you need to follow.” He stood, katar at the ready, and strode toward the camp.

  “Wait up, you idiot,” Malcolm called after him. “At least give us a chance to catch up.”

  Valgrin turned to see everyone rushing to catch up, weapons at the ready. His foot slipped on the loose rocks as he turned back and they all advanced toward the Bythie camp. The large stones piled at the camp's entrance across the re-entrant took on an unsettling form in his vision, like sentinels guarding forbidden territory. With each step closer, he noticed the domes took on an unsettling opalescent shimmer that hadn't been visible from a distance, it seemed both beautiful and wrong. The silence pressed against his ears. No movement, no sound, no sign of Sorvush anywhere. His grip tightened on his katar as his eyes scanned the too-quiet landscape.

  “I don’t like this,” Skwilly said in a hushed voice. Ylnah voiced her agreement.

  Malcolm’s tone copied Skwilly’s, “Notice these wall stones sort of funnel us to the middle of the camp. I think it goes without saying, be alert and ready to defend yourself.”

  “Guess it didn’t,” Izzy’s voice sounded strained. “Go without saying, I mean, you said it.”

  “Jokes, now?” Malcom muttered.

  “Either that or screaming my dear. My nerves are on edge and screaming run away.”

  Valgrin turned his head sharply toward Izzy, “Ylnah, can you sense magic? Ran into something like this feeling when I went up north. It was some sort of magic making us fearful.”

  “I’ll need to be still, there’s a lot of magic here. Seems most of it some sort of stone magic, but I’ll need to concentrate to follow the patterns.”

  “We can stand guard, just be prepared to hit the dirt if we tell you too.” Malcolm spun his sai and stepped to the forefront.

  Valgrin remained at Ylnah’s side, Skwilly at her feet. Izzy stood, bow ready, behind Valgrin. The roar of the silence frayed at Valgrin’s nerves. His head snapped back and forth, I can sense something near here, or is it just fear magic?

  Ylnah sighed loud and long, “I can’t make out anything of this jumble. Their magic is different than ours. I don’t sense anything to cause us to be fearful, but that doesn’t mean much with this mess.”

  “Let’s find Sorvush and get out of here.” Izzy grumbled, “Not sure my nerves can take much more of this, I’m jumping at shadows. Not a good thing.”

  “Malcolm,” Valgrin raised his voice to a stage whisper. “You see Sorvush?” He watched as Malcolm shook his head.

  “I’ve seen Sorvush.” The tan-furred creature bounded down from the rock wall, landing behind Valgrin.

  Skwilly ran up the the Heksan almost knocking him over, “Where have you been? You weren’t supposed to go that low. We couldn’t see you and now we’re here looking for you.”

  “Whoa,” Sorvush held up four hands in a mock defensive posture. “I thought I saw something so I followed it, by the time I caught on to where I was I’d already gotten too low.”

  “Hmph,” Skwilly grunted and spun away.

  A chittering noise quickly halted speech and moving, Valgrin was sure he wasn’t the only one who tried to will his ears to hear the noise again.

  “Rhino sized roly-poly coming our way,” Malcolm shouted. “No way we’ll out run this thing.” He used the crevices in the rock wall to jump to the top of it, sai out and ready.

  Valgrin's arm shot out, shoving Ylnah behind him as his katar flashed in the dim light, spell energy crackling at his fingertips. The chittering erupted again, not just sound but a physical assault that drilled into his skull, vibrating his teeth loose and shattering his thoughts into fragments. Blood trickled from his left ear. Through blurry and sometimes double vision, he watched Izzy's arrows strike the creature's carapace and ricochet away with pathetic pings. Desperation surged through him as he hurled an Ice Spear with every ounce of his power. The spell crashed against the monster's armor, leaving only a frost-rimmed scratch before shattering into useless crystals. The black-armored monstrosity barreled toward them, its segmented body undulating, mandibles peaked out from under the armor, barely above the ground, dripping with viscous fluid, closing the distance in violent, jerking lurches.

  “Nobody shoot,” Malcolm’s voice barely audible over the maddening chitters. “I’m jum…” Malcolm flew off the wall and onto the bug’s back, both sai finding a seam in the segmentation.

  The monster's screech tore through the air like metal shredding metal, its hundred-plus legs thrashing wildly as it reared up. Blood pounded in Valgrin's ears as the mind-scrambling noise cut off. He gasped for breath, skull still vibrating, and summoned every fragment of his concentration. Frost crystallized along his trembling fingers as he channeled raw power into an Ice Spear that erupted from his hands with a thunderous crack, hurtling toward the glistening, pulsating underbelly the beast had foolishly exposed.

  It crashed to the ground, laying there trembling. Malcolm soaring over it’s head, he ducked and rolled head over heels then popped up on both feet grinning from ear to ear. “Got him and nary a scrat…” He looked at the blood slowly dripping down his forearm. “Okay, maybe not nary, but not much of a scratch.”

  A metallic ping split the air as a dart ricocheted off stone, spraying Malcolm's face with razor-sharp fragments. Blood welled from a dozen tiny cuts as he threw himself sideways. Two more darts shrieked from hidden orifices in the monster's chitinous head, one grazing his shoulder with a loud, sizzling hiss. Malcolm's cry of pain fueled Valgrin's rage. With a guttural roar, he channeled every ounce of his power into his fingertips, which blazed with arctic fury. The twin Ice Daggers he launched didn't merely strike the crack in the bug's armor, they exploded through it, erupting from the creature's underside in a spray of crystallized ichor. The monster convulsed violently, legs thrashing in grotesque spasms before plunging to the ground with a massive thud that sent dust billowing around its massive, lifeless form.

  “Everyone okay?” Skwilly bellowed. A chorus of replies followed, all positive, even Malcolm’s.

  “How can you be okay?” Valgrin peeked over Izzy’s shoulder as she wiped the blood from his friends face.

  “Quick casting of a good ol’ heal spell,” Malcolm chuckled. “I highly recommend them at times like these. Did you see that perfect leap and dead-on target thrusts of both sai?”

  “If it weren’t for them, I’d not got the shot at the, obviously, less protected underbelly. If I wasn’t sure it would cause your head to grow about five more sizes, I’d call it heroic.”

  “That’s you always underselling my accomplishments,” Malcolm took the hand Valgrin offered and popped back to his feet, giving his friend a quick hug before he gave Izzy a more lingering one.

  Sorvush jumped up and down on top of the wall, two hands waving wildly as he pointed to the horizon not far from where they came. “We have more bugs on the way.”

  “Damn,” Valgrin rushed a few steps forward. “Look to be at least six of seven, hard to tell fro…”

  “No,” Sorvush interrupted, “you missed the flying ones. At least double the number when you count them.”

  “I hope the camp doesn’t have anymore,” Ylnah looked back through the opening in the wall, tugging on her hair. “I’ll keep watch on the camp so I can alert you. Holler at me if you need me to focus on the incoming.”

  Valgrin threw his head back and bellowed at the sky, "Hey universe! I didn't sign up for the 'Everything Tries To Kill You' package!" His laugh was sharp and bitter. "Where's my complimentary survival upgrade? Where’s the fun? Cause this ain’t it."