Day Five. Mid-Morning.

The tavern was packed, more crowded than I had ever seen it before. Standing in the doorway, I scanned the room from under my lowered hood. No one had looked up at my entrance. They were all too consumed in their own discussions.

The topic on everyone’s lips, of course, was the Howlers.

The reason for the goblins sealing the village’s gates had become common knowledge, and speculation was rife amongst the players about why Ishita’s sworn had committed the killings. It was telling that no one seemed to doubt they had.

Amongst the tavern’s patrons, I spotted Jorge and a few other Tartan recruits. I looked away. Sooner or later, I would have to deal with the captain and explain the deal I’d made with Hyek. When Talon found out what was going on, I expected he would try to prevent the Howlers from leaving or from engaging the Red Rats.

To tempt Hyek into open war, I’d been forced to dangle Talon’s offer of the god-emperor’s protection before the shaman. Unfortunately, that meant an alliance between the Tartans and Howlers was now all but inevitable. If it was concluded while the goblins remained garrisoned in the fort, the sector would near-instantly revert to Tartar’s control.

I couldn’t let that happen—both for the wolves’ sake and my own—which was why I wanted to avoid Talon until it was too late for him to change the course of events.

Slipping through the crowd unnoticed, I crossed the floor and made my way to the stairs leading up. The upper level was quiet, and I found the room Benadean had allocated me without trouble.

The chamber was simply furnished, with only a single bunk, chest of drawers, and washbasin in evidence. The sight of the bed alone was enough to start me yawning again. Not bothering to clean up, I shrugged off my backpack and slumped down on the bunk.

In a matter of moments, I was fast asleep.

~~~

I awoke with a groan.

My head was ringing—literally. Rubbing away the sleep from my eyes, I sat up. The buzzing was from Game notices calling for my attention.

“Alright, alright, I’m getting to it,” I groused. Turning my attention inwards, I let the messages scroll through my mind.

The Long Fang contingent in the sector has been destroyed, fulfilling all objectives of the task: Aid the Pack!

You have completed a task! Your deeds have furthered the interest of Artem. The Marks on your spirit signature have changed.

In aiding the dire wolves, you have strayed from the pursuit of self. Once more, you acted to protect the weak, but this time without any tangible benefit to yourself. The Dark disapproves. Your Dark Mark has lessened. In future, beware of such acts of generosity. Every such one weakens you.

Once again, you have acted selflessly, striving for the betterment of your allies, heedlessly endangering yourself on their behalf. Light approves. Your Light Mark has deepened.

You have begun redressing the imbalance in the sector and rectified a long-standing wrong against the valley’s dire wolf pack. Shadow is pleased. Your Shadow Mark has deepened.

The wise Wolf knows that when it comes to defending one’s own pack, there are no rules. To protect the pack, Wolf demands you to act ruthlessly, without mercy, and with every tool at your disposal. You have done that and more. Wolf is pleased. Your Wolf Mark has deepened.

A shiver of excitement rippled through me, banishing the last clinging tendrils of sleep.

The Red Rats had done it! They’d destroyed the Long Fangs. Without any goblins hunting the pack, the wolves would be safer. And now, at long last, there was nothing keeping me in the sector. I could leave with a clear conscience.

Even if I did no more, the pack would survive, if perhaps, not thrive. I still needed to figure out a means of escape, though. And find a way of keeping the sector from falling to the Dark. Not to mention, deal with the wyvern somehow.

I sighed. Alright, maybe there is still a lot more that needs doing. But even that knowledge did not dampen my excitement. Because with my task from Duggar complete, I could finally seek out the pack again.

I rose to my feet. What time was it?

Assuming Nyzack had kept to his schedule, it had to be near noon. Past time I left the safe zone.

After cleaning up and munching through a hasty meal, I dashed out of the room. Keeping my face shielded, I padded noiselessly down the stairs, intent on hurrying through the crowded room unseen once more.

But when I reached the bottom, I froze.

The room was empty.

Or not quite. Benadean busied himself silently behind the bar and a single patron, staring straight at me, sat at one of the tables. It was Ultack.

The half-orc rose at my appearance.

Why was he here? And how had he known where to find me? There was no doubt in my mind that the Tartan recruit had been waiting for me. Feeling sudden trepidation, I nodded to Benadean in passing and approached Ultack slowly.

“The captain wants to see you,” the half-orc said, his face expressionless.

I scrutinized his face carefully but caught no hint of his emotions. “What about?”

“About the Howlers... amongst other things,” he replied.

I nodded slowly. I didn’t have to go with him, of course, but I owed it to the captain to hear what he had to say and, if it came to it, to explain my actions in person. “Lead on.”

Wordlessly, Ultack turned about and marched through the door. The streets proved as empty as the tavern. “Where is everyone?” I asked in surprise.

The half-orc glanced at me sideways as we passed through the silent village. “They’ve all left. Not an hour ago, the players trapped in the safe zone decided to mob the gates. Eventually, they broke it down, only to find the fort abandoned and the Howlers vanished.”

He eyed me again, a glimmer of suspicion in his gaze. “You wouldn’t happen to know where they’ve gone, would you?”

“I do, actually,” I replied easily, having no intention of keeping the Howlers’ whereabouts secret. In fact, I was surprised that the Tartans didn’t already know.

My response seemed to catch Ultack off guard. Had the captain feared I had betrayed him entirely? It seemed that way.

“That’s good,” Ultack said after a moment’s pause. “It’s why the captain wishes to speak to you.”

~~~

In contrast to the emptiness of the village, the Tartan barracks were a hive of activity, with players rushing back and forth. I was escorted into the captain’s chambers without fuss. There, another surprise awaited me.

Sturm had returned.

I nodded to the young player, standing at attention next to the seated captain. Seeing the pair together, their relationship was obvious.

“So, you made it back,” I remarked casually, despite the tension I sensed in the room.

Sturm scowled at me. “No thanks to you!”

I shrugged and, without being asked, seated myself in the chair across from the captain. “I freed you, didn’t I?”

“Then abandoned us in the middle of the forest, and at night too!” he growled.

I rolled my eyes and very carefully did not call him a pampered fool. I still wasn’t sure what was going on, but Sturm was easy to read. He held himself stiffly and moved jerkily when he spoke. There was no doubt: the youth was angry.

Talon’s own feelings were harder to decipher. Was he angry on his son’s behalf? I couldn’t tell. The captain was a pond of stillness, silently observing but giving nothing away.

“We could have died!” Sturm shouted, resuming his tirade.

“So?” I asked disinterestedly. “You’re a soldier, aren’t you? Surely a night in the forest didn’t scare you.”

Sturm’s face turned red with outrage, but before he could yell at me again, the captain intervened. “Enough, boy,” he said mildly.

His son’s mouth closed with a snap.

The captain leaned forward and stared at me expressionlessly across the desk. “Sturm has told quite the tale.”

“Oh?” I remarked. This meeting was not going the way I’d expected. Instead of grilling me about the Howlers, the captain seemed more interested in his son’s unhappiness.

Talon nodded sagely. “First, you somehow managed to get the Red Rats to abandon their camp, then you slew two squads of elite goblin warriors all on your own, and finally, you traveled cross-country—alone and at night.”

“All true,” I said simply.

The captain’s eyebrows tilted upwards at my confirmation. “Sturm thinks you only accomplished all that because you are secretly an agent of the Awakened Dead.”

I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Really? And what? I killed over a dozen Awakened Dead players and two off Ishita’s sworn—” the captain’s brows rose higher at that—“just to remain in character? That’s ridiculous,” I scoffed.

“It’s not!” Sturm protested. “No one could have—”

The captain raised a hand, silencing his son. “Sturm, leave us.”

The young recruit stiffened, but he did not protest his father’s orders as he marched angrily out the room.

“Ordinarily, I would agree with you, Michael,” the captain continued without acknowledging his son’s departure. “The idea seems far-fetched.” He held my gaze. “But recent events have given me pause.”

Ah, now we come to it. I said nothing, waiting for him to go on.

“Where is the Howler army?” Talon asked, his voice going cold.

“Marching north to do battle with the Red Rats,” I replied evenly.

Some emotion, too quick to parse, flickered across the captain’s face. “Why?”

He had not, I noticed, questioned the veracity of my statement. Maybe, because he knows it to be true already.

I shrugged. “I needed a means to win the shaman’s trust, so I showed him Stayne’s letter.” I paused. So far, everything I said was true. Now for the lie. “His reaction was... unexpected. Hyek was outraged at Erebus’ duplicity and wanted revenge.”

The captain leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers before him as he considered my words. “So the Howler shaman abandoned his fort and committed his people to a pitched battle against what is likely to be a combined force of Red Rats and Awakened Dead because of… a single letter?” Talon asked, his voice dripping with skepticism.

I shook my head. “No, not only. I also assured him that the Tartans would support him.”

The captain whipped forward so quickly I barely caught the motion, and instinctively my hands dropped to my blades.