Orrin kept himself extremely still. With Farah’s curved blade at his neck, he didn’t want to make any sudden movements.

“I’d prefer you let us go, but I’d also say bind before kill.”

Sof nodded and waved his wand at Daniel. Roots entangled him and pulled him against a tree. His head lolled before a branch reached down around his forehead and anchored him still.

“Can I heal him now?”

Sof looked over Orrin’s shoulder and asked someone behind him, “Maya, what are their levels and classes?”

Orrin froze even more than he already was. Nobody they’d encountered had been able to [Identify] their actual classes, but this Dragoon team was a higher level than most of the guards around Silas’ house.

“They’re both only level ten! That one is some sort of fighter, but I can’t get a clear read on him. This one...it...it changes the longer I look...” the high and clear voice of Maya drifted over Orrin. “Healer, mage, healer, question marks. I’ve never heard of this. What are you?”

Sof raised his wand at Orrin and gestured.

“It’s rude to just ask like that right?” Orrin tried to stall. Telling his class to Silas and Madi had been a learning experience. He wanted to keep as much knowledge of his class to himself as he could. Sof’s eyebrows bunching together told him that he didn’t have much of a choice.

“I’ve got a few different skills but I’m not too good at fighting. Like I said, I try to focus on healing. Ira can vouch for me.”

“And just how can he do that? Ira was half-dead when we had to leave him behind. The Hospital itself would have had to rotate a few Healers around to keep him alive,” Farah asked from behind him.

Orrin turned his head just the tiniest bit to answer her. The blade was connected to a scythe. A long, curved, deadly sharp blade that represented death connected with a whisper of a touch on his jugular. “I could go and teleport him back. It was only about half an hour but now that I know where to go, I could probably get there in fifteen or twenty minutes.”

“And attack us right after you’ve left? I think not,” Farah responded and pushed the blade ever so slightly against his skin. Orrin felt something warm trickle down to his shirt.

“I can bring someone with me?”

Sof stepped forward and put his wand on Farah’s blade. “Don’t kill him. I’ll go.”

“Sof, you can’t be-“

“That’s a bad idea, mate.”

“How about I go instead?”

Every member of Dragoon team chimed in, except Bin. He had pulled himself up against the tree and was watching Orrin with half-closed eyes.

Sof raised a hand and the murmured voices cut off. “I’m going. Maya is in charge until I get back or Bin can walk again, whichever comes first. If I’m not back in an hour, kill the boy and continue after the target.”

No pressure, Orrin thought but he nodded at Sof. The man showed nothing.

Teleporting back to Ira only took fifteen minutes. Orrin was able to think of the place he’d been and [Teleport] brought him automatically to the closest locations he’d already traveled on the way out. With less time spent searching for another jump point and having to avoid monsters, Orrin and Sof appeared outside Ira’s circle of death in no time at all.

“Sof!”

“Ira, I’m glad to see you’re alive. We caught ourselves a little problem here,” Sof said and gestured with his wand toward Orrin.

“The kid is alright. He healed me up. No idea how he’s not passed out, though.”

Sof pointed at Orrin’s feet and demanded, “Stay here.”

He walked up to Ira and knelt back on his heels. The two whispered in hushed tones. Ira shook his head a few times and lifted his shoulders in a shrug, but Orrin could not make out anything said.

Sof stood and brushed non-existent dirt from his robe. He looked back at Orrin.

“Ira has vouched for you. Do you have enough mana to get all three of us back to where we met?”

Orrin groaned internally. He’d used [Increase Intelligence], level three before they’d started teleporting.

I’m going to be sick and hurting anyway, he’d thought.

His intelligence went up by fifty-five points to sixty-six total for a forty-four percent decrease in spell cost.

Nonetheless, with about ten jumps back to Ira, he’d already gone through another few pools of mana. Fifty MP per person was a lot for a spell. Adding Ira to it would mean another two hundred and fifty MP roughly.

“I guess. You aren’t going to leave him behind again?”

Sof’s face soured but Ira let out a bark of a laugh. “Sof tried to hang me from a branch and carry me. I wouldn’t let them waste the time. I can still do much now that you’ve helped me recover.”

“But...um...what about...you know...” Orrin pointed, “your leg?”

Sof waved his wand around the stump of Ira’s missing limb and then yanked back and down. A small piece of wood grew out of the leg and rapidly matured into a small sapling. Sof reached down and gently broke the tree into a rough approximation of a prosthetic.

“It’s not pretty, but I’ll be able to hobble around.” Ira stood with Sof’s help and began to test out his new limb. He was unsteady and almost fell, but Sof caught him.

“Whenever you are ready. We really shouldn’t keep the team waiting. Farah’s a stickler for punctuality.”

Orrin had to stop and recast his [Increase Intelligence] spell again on the way back when it ran out but they made it back within the hour.

“Ira!” A girl no older than twenty tackled the man and dropped her scythe. Orrin watched as the rest of the Dragoon team came out of the woods to congratulate Ira on not dying.

Sof and Bin retreated a little and talked with their backs to Orrin as the others approached Ira.

A woman standing over six feet tall and the stature of a heavy-lifting bodybuilder shook Ira by his shoulder before returning to a large club that she’d rested against a small tree. Orrin mistook the club as a tree itself at first.

Another female with blonde hair and wearing a mottled blue robe pulled Farah off Ira and said a few soft words to him before dragging the girl away. Farah reminded Orrin of one of his favorite K-pop death metal bands. She was wearing a black dress with lots of metal bits. A classic Goth.

The men of Dragoon waited their turn and gave fist bumps and handshakes in a typical manly fashion. A short man with shifty eyes and a bow in his hand climbed back up a tree after welcoming Ira back. Two identical men with the stance of fighters approached Ira from either side. One wore heavier armor and had knives, hand axes, and even a few javelins strapped all over his body. The other had only a rapier and leather armor. If their load-out hadn’t been so different, Orrin would never have been able to tell them apart.

The final man to approach gave a grunt at Ira and then retreated to his own corner of the woods. The man was almost as big as the female with the tree club, but he held only a large tower shield with no visible weapon. He did have a bunch of water skins strapped all over his body and began to drink right after sitting down again.

“Orrin?”

Orrin sighed and realized Daniel had regained consciousness. He waved to Daniel and then flicked him off.

“What? How?” Daniel stuttered. “Can you ask these guys why I’m tied to a tree?”

Orrin used [Identify] on Daniel and saw that his health was at 50/300.

“Sof,” Orrin interrupted the man’s talk. “Can I heal my friend and go now?”

“Yes to heal. No to go,” Sof didn’t elaborate and began talking with Bin again. Orrin noticed he pointed at him a few times.

Orrin walked up to Daniel and healed him back to full health. Then he punched Daniel in the stomach as hard as he could.

“Guh. What the hell?” Daniel asked angrily.

Orrin double-checked Daniel’s health. His punch had only done one damage.

“The next time you decide to lie to everyone, remember that I’m on your side. If you’d told me, I could have got us here with [Teleport]. I could have kept you from getting jumped by McFisty over there. I could have buffed you so much that even a Fogbinder would have run from you,” Orrin trailed off from his whispered rant. “You’re my only friend here. Don’t fucking leave me behind.”

Daniel’s fury at getting hit withered as Orrin spoke.

“I’m sorry. Again.” Daniel lowered his eyes as best he could while still strapped to the tree. “I just thought that-“

“You didn’t think.” Orrin poked him in the chest. “You never do. You think you are invincible and I can’t cast resurrection yet, so stop getting into situations where you can die.”

“You found a resurrection spell?” Daniel’s eyes lit up.

“No, you fucking idiot. That’s not a thing.”

Daniel closed his eyes and sighed. “Listen. I know I keep fucking up. I heard this group of high level guards had been sent out to essentially die. You know they were sent out here to just harry the Fogbinder so it couldn’t regroup and attack the Wall right away? Like, they were sent out to die, Orrin!”

“Yes. We were.” Sof snuck up beside Orrin. “But we also all volunteered. None of us plan to actually die today.”

Bin trailed behind Sof with his arms crossed over his impressive chest. The sleeveless leather armor he wore creaked as he stuck his fingers into the opposite edges under his arms.

“Why did you attack me? I was trying to find you to help.” Daniel tried to turn his head but only succeeded in scratching his forehead against the small branch holding him down. “Could you at least let me move my neck?”

Sof waved a hand and the tree dropped Daniel to his knees. The druid stepped forward and put his hand out. “I’ll apologize for nearly killing you but I would do it again. Don’t sneak up on a person in the Pass. Ever. But especially when a surprise demon pulled the same stunt and wiped out a few platoons just a few days prior.”

Orrin saw Daniel’s anger flare as he took the extended hand before standing. He got his face under control quickly, but his friend noticed.

He’s not used to not getting his way, Orrin realized. Everything always came easy to him back home. Even the teachers could be convinced of doing it Daniel’s way.

Orrin hadn’t stopped to think about it, but Daniel’s proclivity for running into danger shouldn’t have been that surprising to him. Daniel was the striker on the soccer team and a wide receiver on the football team. He was popular at school, with both the teachers and the other kids. He usually had a girlfriend. His home life was stable.

He’s not used to having an actual problem to deal with.

“Well, now that I’m here...” Daniel tried to turn on the charm and smirked at Bin. “That was a great sucker punch. Want to see who can take out more monsters?”

Sof shook his head. “No, I’m afraid you two are going back to the Wall per our agreement. Ira needs to get to the Hospital. No offense, Orrin, but I’d prefer if someone with the proper...credentials took a look at him.”

“But I got all the way here on my own. Doesn’t that count for something? You haven’t even seen all that Orrin can do,” Daniel wheedled.

“We’re going back, D.” Orrin looked around for Ira and caught him talking with Farah again. “Hey, Ira. You ready to go?”

Ira turned to Orrin and nodded his head. As he looked away, a dark shape raced out of the tree line and hit Farah’s legs from behind. She bent backward and Orrin heard a snap as a bone broke.

Another three Fetid Canines dashed out behind the first and grabbed the Goth’s dress and arm. They dragged her away from the group.

Daniel started to yell and pulled his short sword off his back. Sof was screaming orders to the rest of his team. Ira was already pointing toward the first dog, his metal attack jumping off his hand and cutting the monster.

Orrin cast inversed [Increase Dexterity] on the canines pulling Farah. His Intelligence was still boosted but the Will buff had worn off during the teleporting trip. It didn’t matter, as the twenty-five dexterity off each beast appeared to be enough.

Bin was next to Ira, both punching the canine into the dirt. The brothers and the body-builder female were beating and stabbing one of the prone monsters, while the rest of the team took turns breaking the other two into pieces. Farah was holding her arm awkwardly against her body but still was able to let gravity do its work to push her scythe blade into one of the canine’s eyes.

Sof had disappeared.

Orrin pulled up his [Map]. Over fifty red dots were running right toward the party.

“There’s got to be fifty more coming from the west,” he yelled out. “Daniel and Ira, get over here. We need to leave.”

Sof pulled himself out of the tree right next to Orrin. His eyes were a little wide. “There’s more than fifty. I counted over twice that coming.”

“I can only see a mile out. I can try to teleport everyone away...but I might need a few trips.”

Sof shook his head and pulled his wand back out. “It’s a little late for that. You can escape, though. We came out here to buy time for the city. Bring Ira back and make sure to report in.”

Sof turned back to his team with a sad smile. “It’s been an honor, you failures. Lowest kill count buys the drinks when we get back home.”