Floating through walls turned out to be a lot easier than I expected, simply because I could extend a tendril through the wall from the other side and then just focus my attention periodically to check if I was still inside the wall. Neat, huh? If I was still in the wall though, I just couldn’t ‘perceive’ much of anything: I definitely could not ‘see’ through solid matter.

One safe room looked pretty much like the next, and I would have probably gotten lost if I didn’t have the soul-rope. There were a few dozen rooms like the one mother and I were in, occupying most of the first and second floors, but father wasn’t in any of them… and when I tried to go higher I got stuck! Panicking for a moment, I felt rather silly when I realized that it was only due to reaching my maximum range (I was woven throughout the complex like a pair of shoelaces).

Eventually I got myself organized and went higher, where I spotted Jaws sitting with a group of soldiers! Oh man was I happy! Then I suddenly felt like crap because I realized… there is no way I can tell mom… I sent my attention back to check on her and saw that she had laid down where she was and fallen asleep, her purple hair pooling on the stone floor.

I still didn’t want to risk missing Mark if he… crap… still haven’t decided on a term for it. Argh! Screw it, I’m going with ‘online’. Computers for the win! … Anyway, I still didn’t want to risk missing Mark if he came online. So I figured I might as well scout a bit more, since my soul-rope was already stretched out to the third floor.

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Shit, shit, shit, I’m on fire! No... I’m IN fire! My mind went blank as I started freaking out and I tried to extend out of the fire, momentarily forgetting that I would leave a soul-trail right through the heart of the blaze anyway. Hot, hot… hot… … hot? … No…. not hot…

I tried to calm down, looking back at the bonfire that I was still partially inside... No immediate pain presented itself, so I thought that maybe, just like I couldn’t tell whether a wall was cold, I couldn’t tell that fire was hot. So… I can’t feel hot and cold, or hot and cold can’t feel me... or both? I was still worried so I re-condensed back into my body and woke up – everything felt fine… I tried moving my arms and legs and started to stand up (I could do that now, but it was really hard) before realizing that an 11-month-old infant walking around would probably freak everyone out. Close call.

About an hour later I had returned to scouting and had my attention back on the roof, but this time I kept to the edge of the building. I popped up just beside an armored guardsman (wearing what I recognized from the RPG’s I played as Half-Plate – woohoo, geek power…) who was busy reloading a large crossbow. I moved closer to the edge of the roof and looked upon a truly gristly and disturbing scene…

There were dead villagers by the score down in the large square courtyard, dimly illuminated by the bonfire and the faint light of the coming dawn. Dozens of shadow wolves were feasting on them or busy dragging them further away, and the soldiers on the roof were trying to shoot the wolves down with bows and crossbows. It was obviously an attempt to preserve the dignity of the fallen, and I probably would have started to tear up (just a bit) if I had my body with me. They had downed a few dozen shadow wolves over the last few hours, and a few others had arrows sticking out of them here and there.

Then the focus of the guards suddenly changed and they all ran over to another corner of the roof. I followed behind them, accidentally poking through the kneecap of a guard in my effort to get a clearer picture (he didn’t notice). As I focused my attention in that direction I noticed a loud sound coming towards us, and a short time later a large group of villagers and soldiers came into view, battling their way towards the fort. There were a few hundred civilians, most of them armed, dozens of children, and 14 soldiers wearing painted armor that I had never seen before.

They were obviously having a bad time, but some of the soldiers were simply amazing to watch! I saw one wiry woman leap through the air, spinning madly with a huge sword in each hand as she chopped off the heads of three wolves in quick succession. All of them looked like figures out of a freaking kung-fu movie, and I could hardly believe what I was sensing as a large man ran towards a building, then ran straight UP the fucking wall for at least three stories. What, had he never heard of gravity? Then, to make it even worse, he vaulted straight into a crowd of Shadow Wolves, who actually started fleeing as they saw him drop! What the hell…

He landed sword first, slicing right into the head of a wolf and then straight through into the stones below. The guards on the wall around me let out a gasp as a circle of fire rapidly spread out from the site of impact, badly burning at least ten other wolves around him. As they got closer, I noticed that there was another man who was periodically shooting lighting from the end of his spear, killing or wounding each time he struck. And that wasn’t even all of it. They left a trail of furry bodies behind them, moving ever onward in the direction of the fortress.

The guards around me on the wall let out a rousing cheer, but I was starting to think I was dreaming. Superpowers!? What the fuck kind of world is this!?!?