Spence and the others thanked Titus and watched him turn and walk back the way they had come. Spence wondered if he would hike all night or camp somewhere with the coming darkness. Then he realized Titus would probably use the cave, and that is why the torches were in place, and the gods didn’t worry about its purpose. Clever.

Caleb led the four into the copse of pines. The outer ring of branches nearly touched the ground, and they had to crawl beneath them. The inside gradually opened, with the trees there spaced farther apart and their branches starting much higher. In the center, ringed by tall, thin pines, was a round depression devoid of trees but filled with pine needles. They had found the perfect shelter. So perfect, Spence wondered if someone, or the gods, had created it just for the questers.

“Let’s gather some wood and stones and get a fire going before dark,” Caleb said.

“What about what Titus said?” Spence asked, suddenly thinking of what kind of monsters might be close.

“Other questers obviously have,” Caleb said, nodding to the charred remains of a fire in the middle of the depression. “We can keep it small. Besides, between the sinkhole and these trees, I can’t imagine anything being visible from the outside.”

Nobody argued further, and they set about collecting dead pine limbs scattered on the ground. Luckily, plenty of dry wood and stones were available. When they all had returned to the middle of the depression, Caleb used pine needles for tinder and quickly built a small fire inside a ring of stones. He stacked the remainder of the wood close to the fire. He then had Spence help him set up his tarp, utilizing rope and stakes to create a perfect semicircular shelter, with the fire close enough to fill it with heat.

“Amazing,” Spence said. “How did you learn to do that?”

“It’s what I do,” Caleb replied. “You can take your tarp and place it over the ground inside.” The fire provided the only light now since it was fully dark outside the trees.

“How did you learn to do the forest stuff, growing up in the Rockies?” Spence asked, still fascinated by Caleb’s skills.

Caleb grabbed one side of Spence’s tarp and helped him stretch it out. “My dad owns a cabin near Asheville, North Carolina. It’s been in his family for years. We spend most of his vacation time there—hiking, hunting, fishing, and camping. If something bad ever happens out west, we’ll try to make our way there and live.”

“Weird, but pretty serious skills, Rambo,” Trey said. He had been reticent since the incident that morning at the inn.

The four sat on Spence’s tarp, rummaged through their packs, and retrieved food. The meal was pretty much the same as lunch, but they were plenty hungry and glad to have it.

“Man, this walking twelve hours a day sucks! Everything I have is sore,” Spence said. “But I’ll take it over not being able to walk at all,” he quickly added.

“Yeah, I would have played a sport if I’d known I’d needed to exercise,” Morgan agreed.

“Figures,” Trey said.

“What figures?” Spence asked, dreading the answer.

“You ladies not being able to handle a little exercise. This is nothing compared to two-a-days and running the bleachers a few times.”

“Oh yeah, you’re such a stud. Let’s all bow down to Trey,” Morgan said.

“Finally, we agree on something,” Trey replied with a smug grin.

Spence tried to ignore Trey’s comment, which was actually a little tame for him.

“Too bad all the running and training didn’t stop you from freezing like a little girl in front of the wolfosaurus,” Caleb said.

“Oh no, he didn’t,” Morgan said, laughing.

“Screw you, forest freak,” Trey said. His hand moved down to the ax handle on the ground. “I can outfight you any day.”

“Uh, huh,” Caleb said, not even looking up at the incensed Trey.

Spence tried thinking of something he could do to diffuse the situation. While part of him would enjoy seeing Caleb and Trey fight, the outcome would hurt their party regardless. “Hey, what would you guys be doing at home right now? Let’s say it’s eight o’clock, and it’s Thursday night.”

The other three turned to stare at Spence with varying degrees of anger. Finally, Morgan’s face softened a little. “I’d be on the computer, on all my social media sites, with the TV on Teen Mom 2. I know, the show’s stupid, but it’s like a train wreck, and I have to check out the carnage each week.”

Spence laughed. Morgan had begun letting her personality peek through a little more lately. “Well, of course, Thursday nights are raid nights on Warcraft. I’d have the TV on, though, probably watching Ancient Aliens reruns.”

“Mountain Men on the History Channel,” Caleb replied, fishing around in his backpack for something.

Trey shook his head. “Thursday night football, of course. I think the fact three out of four of us wouldn’t be watching football is even stranger than being stuck in this nightmare.”

Just when Spence thought he had lifted the mood, Trey was there to deflate it. “I wonder what we’ll fight tomorrow?”

“Titus mentioned giants, lizards, and snakes. We’ve already fought what was similar to a lizard. I’m betting on the giant,” Caleb said, holding the apple he had retrieved from his pack.

“Gee, that should be fun,” Morgan replied.

“Nothing us band of adventurers can’t handle,” Spence chirped. However, he searched his memory for various giants he had fought in Warcraft.

“And what a band of adventurers too—a geek, a Goth, and a psycho. I’m the only one even worthy of being in a situation like this,” Trey said.

Caleb was now carving the apple with his dagger. He stopped to stare at Trey, the dagger tip pointing at him. “Seriously, what is wrong with you? Were you dropped on your head? Did you eat paint chips? What is your malfunction? We’re not in high school, and you don’t have any of your neckless, idiot jock friends here to laugh at your stupid jokes and bullying. We can walk away tomorrow and leave you to be the hero all by yourself.”

Trey leaped to his feet and stepped outside the tarp, holding his ax in his hand. “I swear I’ll cut your head off, you little wannabe mercenary! By the way, what do you and your dad do together all that time you spend camping in the woods?”

Caleb’s sword was in his hand by the time he reached his feet. He also stepped outside the tarp, and the two squared off in front of the fire. Spence and Morgan scrambled to their feet and moved to flank Caleb.

Spence was sick and tired of Trey and trying to make peace. He couldn’t take it anymore and also couldn’t risk a chance of Trey hurting or killing Caleb. He struck his staff on the ground, and it came to life with a power surge. The crystal flared brightly, much brighter than the fire. “If you fight Caleb, you have to fight me,” he said, his voice just slightly quivering.

“Not a problem, dork.” Trey swung his ax back and forth several times.

Morgan pulled her bow off her back and nocked an arrow. She tilted the bow to the side and drew the string halfway back. “And me.”

Trey looked at Morgan and then Spence and finally Caleb. His smirk faded, and his face suddenly reflected a rare uncertainty, if not a touch of fear. After a tense moment, he slung his ax over his shoulder. “We’re done. You losers are on your own.” He retrieved his pack from inside the canopy and headed to the fire's far side.

Spence struck his staff on the ground, extinguishing the glow, and the other two slowly put away their weapons, keeping a wary eye on Trey. They could barely see him through the flames and the darkness beyond. Spence and Morgan sat on the tarp, and Caleb joined them after throwing more logs on the fire.

“Tomorrow morning, we’ll pack and leave without him. He’s on his own. If he tries to join us, we ignore him and continue with our mission,” Caleb whispered. “We need to keep watch tonight, both for monsters and Trey. I don’t trust him. I’m not sure if he’d kill us in our sleep, but I could see him taking our weapons or packs. Since I wake up early, I can take the last watch. Who wants first?”

Morgan exchanged a look with Spence. “I normally stay up until one or two o’clock. I can take first,” Morgan said.

Spence nodded. He fell asleep quickly, so he wouldn’t have much trouble sleeping during Morgan’s and Caleb’s shifts.

Caleb lay on the tarp, using his pack as a pillow, and pulled his blanket over him. He left on his mail shirt and placed his sheathed sword close beside him. Spence watched and then emulated him on the opposite side of the tarp. The ground was pretty soft with the pine needles, and between the heat from the fire and the blanket, Spence was comfortable. Morgan sat in front of the fire with her bow lying across her knees. It didn’t take long for Spence to fall asleep.

A rough hand shaking Spence’s shoulder saved him from a marauding pack of monsters. He peered up to see Morgan standing over him. He blinked a few times and shook the images of his last nightmare from his mind. He sat up, grabbed his staff, and stood beside her. “Any trouble?”

“No, fairly calm. I heard some strange noises in the distance, but nothing close to the trees. And nothing from our ogre.” Morgan lay down beside Spence’s spot, using his larger pack for a pillow. She used her blanket, though.

Spence stood in front of the fire for a while. The size and heat of the fire indicated Morgan had added some more wood. He tried peering through the flames to verify that Trey was sleeping. He could make out a dark shape but could not determine his position and if he were under his blanket. Once, he thought he heard a wolf’s howl in the distance, but it sounded miles away.

He finally sat on the edge of the tarp where Morgan had sat and laid his staff across his lap. Although his dreams seemed to have lasted all night, his body and mind felt like he had only napped for a few minutes. He was worn out physically and mentally from the past three days and dreaded the morning. He had been excited about being in a strange new world—one in which he had power. But the previous three-day hike wasn’t fun, and he was confident tomorrow’s march wouldn’t be any better. Plus, they would have to fight something again. Even with weapons and armor, they could all die. All the previous questers had failed and died in the same strange new world, with similar weapons and armor. He also wondered about Trey and how that situation would resolve itself.

He stared at the dancing flames as his mind raced wildly between the uncertainty lying ahead to the certainty he had left behind. He did feel like he had a role to play now. They actually consulted and valued his opinion, despite some occasional teasing and ribbing. He had a weapon that had saved them all in the first battle. He was a nobody and confined to a wheelchair in the real world. He had no friends, and no one asked or wanted his opinion. He hated school and his teenage life. After his wreck, he lost hope of adulthood being better than adolescence. He would have to depend on others to help take care of him for the rest of his life. Here, in Nibiru, life was already better, despite the cloudless cold, hiking, and danger.