1

Keshon and Jordan touched down onto the village’s main road, having used the Boulder spell to get them across the river. As the horde of corrupted NPCs turned their way, the veteran equipped his sword while the rookie relied on her active spell. She whipped the Boulder at the first wave of zombies, blowing their skulls off. While the heads bounced like basketballs across the dirt-packed road, their decapitated bodies pounded into the dust.

“This’ll be easy,” Keshon said.

Jordan shook his head. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. That large cabin at the end used to be the village bar. There’s a steady stream coming from it.” As he spoke, a zombie lurched forward and reached for his neck. The veteran hunter plunged his sword into its head. Dark red blood splattered from the back of its head. “Ugh. This place is gonna be a mess,” he groaned.

The bodies piled up as they advanced to the center of the village. Eventually, Jordan found the sword-work too tedious and reverted to the same spell Keshon was using. The NPC’s Creature Description details appeared, but as they had seen before, it was mostly gibberish. “At least we get 14 XP from these mobs,” Jordan muttered.

Keshon grunted her reply.

Together, they mowed down the herd, which grew denser the closer they got to the bar. The Grimalkin pair soldiered on as their skin became sticky with coagulated blood.

Far behind them, Damon’s eastern group entered the village, carrying the still-unconscious Lorenzo. They hopped over the corpses littering the road and hurried into one of the log cabins. After a few minutes, everyone except the healers came out to join the battle. While Damon, Armando, and Silo equipped their swords, Angie used her bow, sniping the mobs and casting Weapon Refresh to replenish her arrows. Vlad moved to the side of the road and blasted the zombies with Fire Scorch.

They cleared the road within minutes and entered the bar in search of the spawning marker.

2

After taking out most of the zombies, they discovered the mobs were spawning from an indiscriminate section on the bar’s wall. Tearing through the spawning site was another black-and-white glitch. The corrupted NPCs were crawling out of the wooden logs. They flopped onto the floor before being eliminated by one of the teammates.

Silo turned to Vlad. “Would Cloud Nine have put a spawning marker in the wall like this?”

The Russian shook his head. “No. Dat is Pizdets.”

“This was supposed to be the gathering place.” Nevan added. “That’s why we had a spawn marker in here.” He blushed. “To keep clients, um, entertained.”

As they spoke, another zombie pushed out. Armando made quick work of it, taking it out with his sword.

“So how do we destroy the marker?” Silo asked. “After what happened with Emma, I don’t think we want our weapons or spells coming in contact with that glitch.”

Damon groaned. “Yeah. You’re right.” He glanced at Angie, but she appeared as perplexed by the dilemma as everyone else.

“We’re leaving a few members here with Lorenzo,” she commented, “and they can’t be worried about fighting these creatures.”

Another zombie popped out of the wall. This time, Vlad stepped up and ran his Baselard through the creature’s chest. He spat disgustedly onto the floor, which was cluttered with dead bodies. “I can use Fire Scorch to set da beams on fire,” he said, then pointed at the spawning marker. “Dat way, we do not have to touch dat glitch.”

The teammates agreed and backed away as he launched the fire spell at the logs surrounding the marker. Another zombie crawled out of the wall and was immediately engulfed in flames. It fell to the ground, got up, and lunged at Vlad. The burly mage retreated a few steps, while Angie fired an arrow through its head.

“Hey, mate,” Silo quipped, “we almost had a flaming Russian.” Despite the Brit’s abrasiveness, the entire party laughed, including Vlad.

3

They backed out of the bar as the flames spread throughout the interior of the large structure.

As they stood on the village road, Zahra exited her cabin and approached Damon. “This place is perfect,” she enthused, telling him that they had physically stabilized Lorenzo. She pointed at the fire pit where, many days before, the veterans had enjoyed meals. “There’s a large pot over there. I’m going to commandeer it as a wash pot to bathe Lorenzo.”

The orc general nodded. “Just make sure you don’t use any water from the large well. It’s been tainted.”

The healer nodded then turned back to the cabin. As Damon watched her go, he saw Harper’s group entering the village. “Good. We’re all here,” he said to himself, temporarily forgetting about Emma.

4

While Nevan rushed to his daughter, weeping because of her close call with the Dryope, Harper went inside to check on Lorenzo. The rest of her crew joined Damon’s group, and they stood watching the building burn. Vlad had blasted through the support beams with his Boulder spell, and the bar was down to a huge pile of flaming rubble. The zombies kept on manifesting from the spawning site, which was now buried under multiple burning beams. Some would crawl out of the rubble, but most would succumb before disentangling themselves. One managed to drag itself across the road before being stomped by Zack. Eventually the zombies stopped coming, and the team knew the spawn marker was destroyed.

Initially, the group had worried that the flames would spread and turn into a full-scale forest fire. With no water spells, it could have gotten out of hand very quickly. But the flames stayed fairly self-contained, and the destroyed building turned into a massive bonfire.

As the fire reduced to a manageable size, Damon asked Jackson to stand guard over it while the rest of the group wandered back to the healer’s cabin.

5

“So, how’s he doing?” Damon asked the healers as the members crowded around Lorenzo, who had been strapped down into one of the cabin’s rough wooden beds.

Zahra sighed and ran her fingers through her light brown hair. “He’s as good as he’s going to be. Now it’s just a matter of time… and healing.”

“Good,” the orc general grunted. “Harper and Jordan can stay with him. You and the other rookies are heading to the tower with me.”

A grumbling of dissent spread through the members. Even Harper appeared unhappy with his declaration. Among the protests, Zahra’s was the loudest. “He needs to be cared for.”

Damon remained stoic. “And he will be.” He nodded to Harper. “She can perform the Mana Heal spells.” He gestured to the sunlit open doorway. “In the meantime, there’s still lots of daylight left and I want the newbies to level up against the spawning creatures in there.”

The healers objected vehemently, but Damon stood his ground.

“He’s right,” Harper said hesitantly. “If you get that over with today, we can proceed to the dungeon tomorrow.”

Although some dissension continued among the members, they eventually resigned themselves to Damon’s directive.

“Two things before we go,” Keshon said. She gestured at her body and Jordan’s. Having battled with a large portion of the zombies, they were caked with blood. “First, we get to clean ourselves off in the river.” Damon shrugged his assent, and the nurse continued. “Second, the corpses on the road need to be disposed of… before we go on your little expedition.”

Damon chuckled at the mild-mannered healer’s uncharacteristically forceful tone. “Sure, that makes sense.”

6

Zahra pulled Harper aside while the rest of the team got busy clearing the vanquished zombies. “If he wakes up,” she said, nodding to Lorenzo, “I want you and Jordan to try to feed him.” She walked next to the injured hunter, and Harper followed. “We’ve kept him hydrated, but if he comes around, mash some of the salmon you have in your inventory. You can use the dishes from the fire pit and mix it with some water to create a broth.” She glanced at the veteran mage with a serious expression. “Make sure he takes it whether he wants it or not.”

Harper nodded. “What are the chances he never walks again?”

Zahra paused as she sized up the veteran. “I can’t answer that. I haven’t seen the full extent of the damage because of the swelling in that area, and I don’t know what these healing spells will do for him.” She gazed at the injured hunter. “But I do know he won’t be going on any runs with the team.”

7

The rest of the team dragged the dead zombies back to the bar they had originated from. They threw the bodies onto the flaming ruins. Although the corpses caught fire instantly, Vlad still blasted them with Fire Scorch to speed up the process.

Damon then addressed the entire group. “Do what you need to get ready,” he ordered. “We leave in ten minutes.”

Jordan and Keshon hurried to the river and immersed themselves in the water, wiping away the grime that had accumulated on their skin and armor. Meanwhile, Damon and Nevan checked on the animals in the barn. The hunter grimaced. “Geez. What a sight.” Bloody skeletons were all that remained of the chickens, three cows, and horse.

“The zombies must have devoured them,” Damon said. “At least we have the vegetable garden.” He turned to Nevan. “There’s a small well in the fire pit. Let’s check that before we leave.”

They walked to the well and affirmed the water was still drinkable. After pulling Zahra from the cabin, Damon’s crew met up with Jordan and Keshon at the side of the river. The Grimalkin pair were dripping wet.

As Jordan walked to the cabin containing Harper and Lorenzo, the rest of the group hiked alongside the river. Zack spotted Emma and Brett on the opposite shore. He nudged the veterans and gestured toward the outcasts. Damon, Angie, and Zack watched the Grimalkin hunter with their sworn enemy.

“Man. This is too surreal,” Zack grunted.

Emma waved her hand tentatively, almost apologetically. The trace of a smile graced her lips. Meanwhile, Brett beamed at them, his orange eyes glimmering in the late afternoon sun. Some of the rookies shuddered at the sight of the altered man.

Anger simmered in the hearts of the veterans who were seeing Brett for the first time since he deserted the team and killed the Jennings family. Angie nocked an arrow to her bow and aimed it at the prodigal healer, but Damon placed his hand over hers and eased the weapon downward.

“No,” he said simply.

She glared at him. “And why the hell not? This is our opportunity to take him out.”

The orc general turned to her. “It doesn’t feel right. He wouldn’t expose himself like that if he knew he was in danger. There’s something we don’t know. And we have to consider Emma.”

“Fuck Emma!” the human hunter hissed. “She’s made her choice.”

Brett watched the drama unfold with keen interest. “Have you had a chance to think about the truce?” he shouted over the cacophony of the tempestuous river. His eyes glowed with savage vitality, and the corner of his lips curled in a predatory smile.

Damon glanced at Zack, who trembled with rage, but was managing to restrain himself.

“Let’s go,” the orc general commanded as Angie looked on, bewildered by his decision to not attack Brett. The team continued north, leaving their adversary’s question unanswered.

8

“How could she go with him?” Sierra asked as the group reached the massive stone slabs that formed the steps to the tower. “I mean, I don’t know him, but even I can tell that he’s fucking evil.”

“No one is outright evil,” Rachel corrected, but it was a halfhearted attempt, more for clarity than opposition.

Sierra blew a raspberry. “Fine, fine. Evil… psychopath, morally challenged, whatever, but it was obvious he is bad news.” Madison helped her climb over a stone slab. “So why is Emma staying with him?”

As the rest of the orcs helped the smaller members of the group scale over the massive steps, Keshon tried to respond. “She said Brett could help her.” She glanced at the veterans, who looked frustrated and irritated by the conversation. “Maybe he will. Emma isn’t the same person she was a few hours ago.” She hoped it was enough to end the discussion for the sake of the veterans.

“Yeah, but those orange eyes.” Rachel shuddered.

A few of the rookies mumbled similar assessments, but the discussion died off as the teammates reached the base of the tower. From their elevated position, they surveyed the surroundings.

“It’s wetter here than around the village,” Thao said as she gazed at the pools of water that circled the tower.

Hammer grunted. “That’s the seepage.” He pointed at the path of destruction the water had carved south. It expanded from an intense but narrow torrent to a widening river. “This water is coming up through the ground.”

As the expedition group stared at the deluge, their eyes fell upon the growing glitch in the northern border. The black void shimmered around the cascading waters.

“What are those white lights, Dad?” Kylah asked.

Nevan paused as he studied the small pinpricks of light swirling in the dark space. “Those are qubits. The coding for the whole quantum universe.”

“Us too,” Vlad muttered.

A deathly silence hung over the teammates. Behind them, in the distance and out of sight, Brett and Emma watched them with mild interest.

Finally, Damon pointed at the luminous green entry portal and ordered the troops into the tower.