“Darren! Congrats on finally getting your first Path, man,” Ryan said cheerfully, loud enough that people heard, not above normal speaking volume though. He slapped his bench mate on the shoulder and sat down.

The teacher hadn’t arrived yet and the kids were milling about, talking in groups, doing last minute homework, sleeping, eating. The same as always. Already some who had spotted him were headed over to his desk. They all stopped and stared at what Ryan had said.

“Ryan? Uh, what?” Darren asked, a deep frown on his face. He seemed aware of the people staring at them, but also genuinely confused. Did Ryan know something he didn’t? Maybe he did have his Path and he just didn’t know it yet. “Did you maybe get me mixed up with someone? I didn’t get my Path.”

Ryan just grinned.

“Are you sure? Because I could have sworn you got [Path of the Pig], man.” He pinched his nose and waved away an invisible smell. To him, it wasn’t quite so invisible. “Cause you stink!”

When Ryan laughed, the other kids joined in. He greeted the ones coming up to their desk, bumping fists and smiling. Darren hadn’t reacted yet, but Ryan saw more embarrassment slowly creeping up his face. The other kids made jokes and called him ‘piggy’. After it went on for a while, the teacher stepped inside the classroom and Ryan slid a coin over to the hunched figure in his bench. The price of one bathhouse admission.

“Take a bath,” he said.

Ryan was in a surprisingly good mood that day.

He’d gotten home late and ragged the day before, barely able to stand on his feet. After eating and washing up a little, he stumbled up the dark steps to his room and fell face first onto his bed. The moment he hit his pillow, he fell into a moonlit canopy. He was two years younger and the branches rushed past him, brimming with chirping birds as numerous as the leaves. He remembered each and every one of them, and it seemed like they did him, too, by the way their eyes followed him falling past. When he hit the ground, he sunk through six weeks older. He found the Salamanders in their underground halls, licking their eyeballs in the heat. The red crystals that specked their walls started crawling up his skin like scales. Ryan almost managed to hang on there, he held the ground with a finger’s tip and strained so hard to keep himself from falling, but then the floor consumed him with a pop once more. He reached complete darkness. Not the void. The darkness of his room that night. He was two years older, lying in his bed, too frustrating to fall asleep.

Everything he had discovered up until now, he knew, he hadn’t discovered for himself. Not truly. His Path, [Bird Singing], [Hot Skin], they had all come to him more or less like accidents. He still didn’t understand them. He was no genius, no prodigy. He just was lucky. But that was alright. He never really thought of himself like that anyway. The others had. If Ryan wanted to further his Path, he would just have to work for it, like everyone else did, too. He couldn’t just sit around like those birds and lizards and endure his problems. He had to climb.

And so he did. Ryan climbed through the dirt all the way back he’d came, until he reached the familiar grass of the shared garden behind his house. Shining through the branches of the tree above him was sunlight. Birds were twitching. His dad was calling breakfast below. It was a new day.

And Ryan had a plan.

He set Darren straight, even gave him the money for the bathhouse admission. After class, he asked the teacher where the Stranyas lived and got directions. He would go by in the evening and ask if there was any news, if maybe he could help? Ryan had some free time this weekend. He could spend it all helping them search if need be. Any excuse to skip class was more than welcome. And now he was going to ask Gardener if they could maybe go to another floor today?

“Sorry, Rye,” the instructor told him, though. “But I already have something planned for you in the Wolves’ Den. On Friday, sure. But not today. How about you see it as an exercise in endurance?”

“Alright.” Ryan sighed. Two out of three, he told himself. It wasn’t so bad.

“What do you have planned?” Lisa asked. They were standing near the entrance of the Guild, waiting on something Ryan did not know what.

Gardener grinned. Uh oh. That can’t be good, he thought.

“Offense.”

The instructor led them to a table a little ways into the Guild, into a secluded section where most of the receptions stood empty. Three others were already waiting there, a man around Gardener’s age and two boys around Lisa’s. He introduced them as his friend Gus, a teacher from another school, and two of his students, Barry and Mark.

They shook hands. Before Lisa could start up a conversation, Gardener explained.

“Our goal today is the second floor of the Wolves’ Den. We’ll be splitting you up into twos and pairing you with a new partner while we work our way up. Rather than waiting for the wolves to come to us, we’ll be carving our way through them.”

Ryan liked the sound of that.

“On the second floor, we regroup. Things are more dangerous up there. Most packs will have at least two or three fully formed wolves in their midst and their clones are a bit denser. If they hit you, they might have a weight to them. Remember that. So we’ll be rotating using the trees.”

Ryan groaned when he heard that, and, surprisingly, one of the others joined in. Barry? They grinned at each other. Comrades in suffering, eh?

“Yeah, yeah. Shaddup,” Gardener complained. “I know rotating sucks, but it’s too dangerous up there for anything else. We can’t just watch over all four of you on our own. I wouldn’t even be confident that I could watch over two of you, so I brought Gus along to back me up. We kill one pack and then we switch. Depending on how long it takes, we might repeat. Everyone understood?”

“Yes, sir,” they said.

“Good.”

Ryan had spent his whole first trip to the Wolves’ Den stuck in a tree, just ‘observing’ and hoping he would catch up on something. He didn’t. It was boring and made his back hurt. Overall, the experience sucked. He didn’t want to have to repeat that, but if he got to cut his way up through to the second floor today and then fight a whole pack … Yeah, he guessed it would be alright.

“Who goes with who?” Lisa asked. Gardener touched his nose and pointed like he liked to do when someone asked a good question. Didn’t really seem like a good question to Ryan, though. Seemed rather obvious … Again, Ryan wondered if Gardener was maybe a little dense. Childish might fit better. He still was better than his stuck-up teachers, but … but nothing. Ryan didn’t know where he was going with this. Gardener was alright.

“Ryan’s with Barry and me,” he said. The boy who had groaned earlier lifted his hand in recognition. Ryan gave him a heads-up.

“Lisa’s with Gus and Mark.” They acknowledged each other. “Gus and Markus are [Rangers], Lisa, so you’ll have to work hard to keep up. Work with [Fireballs] and your knife. You’ll take the first break with Ryan so you can replenish your Mana.

Barry’s a Fighter, Ryan, so try and see if you can pick something up from him. He’s a few years your senior and top of his class, so there’s much you can learn. Any questions?”

They all shook their heads.

“Good, then let’s go kill some wolves."

Ryan stared at a tiny grey crystal lying down the forest slope and groaned.

“Why do you keep kicking them down slopes, then?” Lisa called from across the clearing. He grumbled something unintelligible in response and started a slow descent.

“What was that? Couldn’t hear you there, bud,” she called again.

“I said, cause they’re right there, alright?” Ryan called back. It just made sense in the heat of battle. The wolves were in his way, he needed vision to see the next one coming, and the unmade were easy to kick. Ergo, kick them down a slope.

Ugh, he’d have to buy one of those crystal magnets someday. Or maybe a familiar. Too bad they were so expensive, though.

He got the first one pretty quickly, but he knew there was a second one around here somewhere … There! It was lying near at the bottom of the slope. On his way there, he stumbled over an exposed root. Quickly, Ryan windmilled his arms and bent over to steady himself on the ground.

“You reap what you sow.” Lisa laughed from above. Ryan glanced back at her leaning against a tree, an amused smile on her face.

“Yeah, yeah”, he complained. “If you can lecture, you can help. I think I saw a third crystal somewhere over there.” He pointed in a random direction and turned away to hide his grin.

“Where?” Lisa asked. “I only remember you kicking two wolves down, though?”

“Nope, there were three,” Ryan lied. He took his time getting to the second crystal, acting overly cautious after his stumble so Lisa would have to go and collect the imaginary third.

“Ah! I see it too,” she suddenly said and Ryan held back a chuckle. Really? he thought. How interesting. There was a shout and then Lisa was rushing down the slope as well, too quick to stop herself. Ryan couldn’t either and burst into laughter. It was short-lived, though. Once she stopped at the bottom, Lisa righted herself holding up a small, third grey crystal. His smile vanished.

“What? Where did you find that?” he asked.

“Oh and look, there’s another one!” Lisa pointed and took off again. Ryan followed after her, frowning. “I didn’t realize we killed this many,” she said cheerfully.

“We didn’t.” Had Gardener been fighting in this area? “I didn’t even know there was a third crystal, to be honest. I was just messing with you.”

“I thought so, too,” she said. “But look! There’s even a corpse up ahead. Maybe it was Gardener?”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

Lisa led him to a dead wolf lying at the start of a clearing and Ryan pinched his nose at the smell. He had to force himself to move closer and inspect the body. Climbers had to check and see if they were still valuable since most things from the Tower were. Too many wounds, though, and it wasn’t worth hauling back. You just cut out the crystal instead.

The teachers always told them not to pay attention to that, to just kill them and make sure you survived, but Ryan still tried to kill fully formed monsters as carefully as possible. He couldn’t really afford to ruin a perfectly good specimen, after all. Not as long as the Guild was paying.

This corpse, though, was clearly ruined. You could see it at first glance. It was littered with knife wounds and soaked in blood. It looked days old already. Gus fought with a dagger, but he seemed too stoic for something this savage. At least, he did to Ryan. This almost made him gag. Maybe the [Ranger] just didn’t care?

“Do you think Gus might have done this?” Ryan asked. Lisa shrugged from where she was crouched next to it. She was busy tracing the wounds in the air. Ryan stood a little ways back, trying to avoid the brunt of the smell, but he thought he heard her counting.

“We’ll have to ask,” she said, and then, “Oh, did you ask him about the bird?”

Ryan made a face. While they were waiting, Lisa had suggested that maybe Ryan could ask Gus about that noise in the Wolves’ Den. It was a good idea, though one he’d completely forgotten.

“No,” he admitted, rubbing his neck. “But I haven’t heard it all day.”

“No wonder you’re in such a good mood,” Lisa mused. “Do you think you could mimic it, or do you have to see it up close for that?”

Ryan knew he couldn’t mimic the sound, he didn’t know if he could even mimic birds he couldn’t see, but he tried to think of a way to explain it to her anyways.

“No, but it’s like,” he started. “I don’t know. It’s not even like any bird I’ve heard before. I’ve only heard it from the distance, so maybe it’s more bird-like up close.”

“[Enhanced Senses]?” Lisa asked.

“Yeah.”

“Must be annoying.”

“Not really,” he said with a frown. “I mean, of course, some things are unpleasant, but the Skill is great. I’d rather blame the people, or in this case-”

He stopped. There it was again, for the first time this day. And it was much louder. Because he was closer? It didn’t sound different, though, just … more solid? Lisa looked confused. So she still couldn’t hear it? It faded again and Ryan was left alone, feeling lost. He wasn’t so sure it was a bird anymore. It was too monotone, too mechanical, too … Ryan’s eyes widened.

Suddenly, his chest hurt very much.

“Ryan?” Lisa got up. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

Three days. He had been hearing it for three days now. What did that mean? He had to find Gardener, he had to explain, he had to get help, a healing potion-

The sound came again and Ryan was at the edge of the clearing, looking for the source. He didn’t even remember running there.

“Ryan?” Lisa called again.

Ryan stepped beyond the trees, jogged a short ways along its border, cocked his head. He didn’t know where to go. He strained his hearing and concentrated, but … there was nothing. Come on. Just once more, he thought, please. Once more and he would know.

“Talk to me,” Lisa was saying. She stood at the edge behind him, worried. Ryan paced, scratched his head, looked around. He had to ask Gus. He was a Ranger. He could help, find a trail, track it.

Then Ryan spotted something grey lying in the grass and he rushed towards it. Another crystal!

A low growl warned him just in time. He raised his shield as a wolf slammed past his legs. Ryan stumbled and tried to get his bearings while he pulled out his sword. A second wolf jumped him and he reacted instinctively, cutting it down. It turned into fog. From it, a maw came for his throat.

He’d screwed up.

A ball of flames hit the true wolf before it could reach him, roaring so loud Ryan flinched and fell back.

Lisa was there in an instant, helping him stand and Ryan breathed, suddenly sober.

“I’m alright,” he said. “Thank you.”

“I told you I got your back. Heads up!”

Ryan saw Lisa turn to bat something out of the air in front of her. He ducked and saw another pair behind them. It was a repeat of yesterday. Ryan bent his knees and moved left as they rushed him, blocking the wolf on that side. He followed up and cut right, parrying the one there instead of impaling it. His sword drew blood and the wolf hit the ground running, disappearing back into the fog. Ryan quickly finished the one he had blocked. It burst into smoke.

He glanced around to see if Lisa was alright, spotted more smoke curling in the air, a grey stone at her feet. In the distance, the pack was howling.

More wolves followed. Ryan kicked dirt up into the air, to see which ones were real. Two were headed straight for him, staying low. The dirt clung to both of them. Shit, he thought. He bashed one aside. The other was too quick. It knocked him to the ground, went for his neck. Ryan couldn’t bring his sword up in time. He held his arm up instead and it fell sideways into the beast’s maw. He pushed to keep it back, but it was stronger than him. It pressed closer, growling, and a thick gollop of spit formed at its lips, fell onto his face.

Ryan flinched. His arm slipped and the wolf drew blood. He screamed, first at the shock of the pain, then at the sight of his skin bulging. Blood spilled onto his face, his neck, and rolled beneath his shirt, sticking there.

Definitely real.

“Lisa!” he screamed. He was heaving, his heart pounding. “Help!”

A fireball roared, but it didn’t knock off the wolf on top of him. Was she too busy? Maybe she was in danger herself and thought he would save her. The thought made him surge.

Ryan tried tugging his arm to the right, to get far enough to slash the wolf with his sword. Miraculously, he was still clutching the blade but it stopped him from raising his shield arm. Every bit he tugged hurt like hell and he stopped his efforts. Should he drop the sword and smash it with his shield instead? It was fully made, would that even hurt it?

Something hard hit the wolf from the side and it shifted. Its pressure lessened. Ryan seized his chance. He dropped the sword and freed his arm with both his hands. The wolf tried to pull back and bite him again. Ryan held its snout closed with his right. Just for a moment. With his left, he picked up his sword and plunged it into its neck.

The beast slumped onto him and pushed him in the ground. For a second, all Ryan did was breathe and let it bleed out on him, felt into soaking into his clothes. How was he going to explain this to his parents?

The body was almost too heavy to shove, but Ryan managed. He forced himself up, his thoughts on Lisa, and found her safe on the ground right next to him. Gardener was fighting above, keeping off the wolves. Her staff lay on the ground in front of her, unlit, and she was panting from exhaustion. That last one must have taken everything out of her.

From the slope, Gus slid into the scene and pierced a wolf into the dirt. It hit the ground and burst.

“New pack,” he said. “Fully formed alphas. We’re surrounded.”

Meanwhile, Lisa had noticed his wound. She stared at it for a moment. Then she panicked.

“Shit.” She was fumbling at her belt. “Shity, shity, shit fuck. We need to treat that before it gets infected. Uhm, clean the wound, apply healing potion, bandage …” Above them, Gardener and Gus still fought.

“There’s other dead around here. I don’t think the children killed them,” Gus said while he strung his bow.

“Other climbers?” Gardener asked.

“Maybe.” He shot an arrow into the fog.

“We’ve got to follow the crystals,” Ryan said. He got up and pulled his sword out of the dead wolf. “They lead East, away from the center.” A wolf jumped them, and Ryan cut it down before any of the teachers could. His arm throbbed and he stumbled in pain, through its bursting smoke.

“We need to retreat,” Gus said.

“Get into a tree!” Gardener yelled.

“I have to … “

“I can help,” Lisa said. “I’ve still got some fireballs left in me.”

“Ryan!”

“On your right,” Gus called.

“That’s an order!”

Beyond the shouting and snarling, beyond the sounds of combat and the throbbing blood, Ryan thought he could hear someone crying. It was just his imagination, he knew, but somewhere it was real.

Ryan screamed back.

“There’s someone who needs help!” They stared at him. Then he was running through the trees.

He barely had enough strength anymore to raise his shield, let alone cut something down. He thought he could taste the wolf’s spit in his arm. But he ran on, dodging wolves or batting them aside and following the call in his head.

It didn’t take long for him at all to reach the edge of the Wolves’ Den, where high stone walls led to a fake sky. He stepped out of the trees and heard a snarl behind him. Behind it, a girl calling his name. Ryan threw himself aside. A fireball hit the wolf and it burst into flames.

Got your back.

In the wall, there was a small cave. The rock was slanted ever so slightly below, with small ledges and handholds. Ryan reached the top in an instant, pushing through the searing pain. He stumbled into the dark and was met with a foreign scent here in this Tower. The smell of such pure flowers. There, near the back, a small shape was huddled into a ball, clutching a whistle.

“Micah?” Ryan asked.

The sounds of fighting were catching up to them, distant, but growing closer. Someone else was huffing below.

Ryan took a small step forward. His eyes were still adjusting to the dark.

“It’s me, Ryan?” Another step. He thought he saw the figure shift. Suddenly, a burning staff came clattering into the cave. It rolled past him and lit up the dark. A flash of torn clothes and filth-soaked bandages. A pair of eyes looking up at him. The flames ebbed and flowed as the staff rolled.

Then the shadow seemed to register them. It scrambled away with a shout, frantically pushing itself away from the fire and back into the dark.

“Put it out!” Ryan screamed at Lisa. She flinched but did as he said. The staff went out. For a moment, all was black.

“Micah?” Deep breaths. “Everything’s alright now. It’s me, Ryan. From your class?” A question. “Do you remember me?” he tried speaking in a low, soothing voice, one filled with confidence. He wasn’t sure what came out. “Everything’s going to be alright now,” he said again. In the distance, wolves snarled and whimpered. “Everything’s alright.”

When he got closer his voice left him. The shape was shaking in the corner of the cave, huddled into a ball of himself and whimpering. Ryan’s throat swelled up. He took a step back.

Flower Boy, he wondered. What happened to you?