PreCursive

  The pattered itself for the half a week.

  Fade and I would keep pace with the host of the Uprising, scouting beyond the edges in search of primarily monsters. In that time, we would e farther and farther from the army in order to find more. However, I was still returning to the wagon at night. I wasn’t meant to be going out too far after all. I could range far enough under my own power in the space of a day that it was no problem iuring out and making it back. I’d long discovered that my talent Leafwhisper Step seemed to have a poo it that helped in forest navigation, beyond just masking the noise I made.

  However, I’d found that there was something odd about the density of mohat we were entering. I’d been on this p for just over half a year now, and in my time I had done my fair scout of monster hunting. It was one of the most on duties that Grey had assigo me on all of my travels.

  I had never seen such a dearth of monsters in all that time.

  Still, what we did find was a retively high level. What we tracked down seemed te from around level fifty at the lowest, all the to the question mark range. I was lucky that Fade was with me and seemed to sense whenever a mohat was to for us was in the viity. Every time that something fifty levels or ser than I was wandered by, he would direct us away from it or find a hiding spot for us. Still, it was only one question mark that Observe would dispy for me. To my uanding, that meant that the upper end of this zone was capping out at around level owenty.

  I might, might be able to take something like that. The Stilnt Bde was absurdly powerful, after all. But it was better to be safe than sorry.

  Besides, other scouts out here were able to take something like that.

  In fact, I had met a few of them. Either by choice, or by ce.

  After all, I had been given a method of tag the main scout force. Even though I had no idea where they were.

  The golden unication that had been given to me as part of my field kit was something that Hook had introduced me to, in the st few days of introductory training I’d been given. They worked as a sort of rudimentary magical signaling device.

  The way they worked was like this.

  Eadividual that was issued to agents was bound to another back at headquarters. Wheher face was tapped, the it was lio would flip to show the indicated surface. Hook had briefly showhe receiving room in that underground bunker, filled with s suspended in gss jars and watched over by Noe Division clerks. There were certain code sequences of heads or tails to inform headquarters of what was going on.

  For instance, heads head tails heads heads meant I’d entered a monster beyond what I was capable of taking. Following that up with heads tails tails after a pause of five seds meant I was requesting backup at my location.

  There was no way that I was going to be able to remember all of the codes any time soon, of course. There were hundreds of different binations to memorize.

  I’d been given a cheat sheet in my field kit to help with that.

  Unfortunately, the s were only one way. I could only signal back to them, and they couldn’t signal bae. Hook had told me they had enters who were trying to break that barrier on tract.

  However, what might be just as important was the other that I had been given. The silver location . These s were bound to the rge map back at headquarters that I had initially only g. The location of every issued was tracked on that map by a pin that moved with it, which I had noticed after Hook had poi out to me. Each pin could be lio another, which would link the silver s. When lihe s could lead oo another with small nudges in different dires. Unfortunately, again, I couldn’t link my to another preemptively. Only headquarters could do so.

  For all its faults, it was a surprisingly effective system.

  Curious to see it in a, I’d used my messaging for the first time upon entering a strange mass of writing, meaty tentacles that returned a question mark with Observe. Seds after sending the message, I’d felt that faint tuggiion from the silver held in my other hand.

  I waited at that position irees over the monster for maybe fifteen minutes, before I was startled by a barrage of arrows leaping out at the abomination. They sprang from the opposite treeline from where I ositioned. Despite being strohan I was, the monster died in seds from the rain of pointed death, exploding into a cloud of Miasma

  Moments ter, another Noe Division member appeared above the resulting Monster Core left behind. After pig it up, I was able to get a better look at them.

  You know, I actually reized this guy. It wasn’t any of my trainers, and it wasn’t someone important like Hook.

  It was the guy who had briefly poked his head out of the hatch when I was introduced to headquarters. Finch, I believe his ame was. I’d seen the guy around a few times, but I had never had a versation with him. He’d always been super busy, rushing to and fro.

  Right now, though, he was looking directly at my hiding spot and wavihusiastically. Guess it was no use trying to hide from someone who was so much higher level than I was.

  I dropped from my hiding spot, Fade emerging from his own a few moments ter. I raised my own hand iing as I approached the man.

  Surprisingly, he crossed the distance first, g me on the back with one hand ahusiastically g my forearm with the other. I just barely mao keep myself from jerking in surprise at the uedly friendly greeting.

  “Hey, o me you!” Finch said eagerly. Behind his avian-themed mask, I got the impression that the man was smiling widely. “I’m Finch! I don’t think we’ve talked yet? Your ame was…Executioner, I think?”

  I repressed a wince. “Ah, no,” I said awkwardly. “It’s Hangman, actually.” Not that there was much of a difference.

  “Nice!” Finch said encingly. “Very intimidating. I like it!”

  Strangely, I was getting Aurum vibes from this guy. You know, back before I soured that retionship and was never able to mend it before he died.

  Wow. Nice depressing thought there, c.

  “Thanks for ing so quickly,” I said. “I…hope I didn’t take you away from anything more important.” I ughed a little sheepishly. “I kinda called this one in just to see what it was like.”

  Finch literally waved me off, stepping back. “Nah, don’t worry about it. You did me a favor, anyway. I’m out here doing the same thing you are, hunting monsters. That Tubur Ripper was just about in my range, so it erfee. Hook se here because I’m getting close to my one-fifty.”

  Just it was a on practice. I'd grown to level sixty-nine from all the hunting I'd done. I uood the desire to be just on the precipice of another skill.

  I nodded, a little relieved. So, Finch was more than double my level. I wasn’t surprised, sidering how quickly he had taken out the mohat arently some kind of Ripper variant. I paused, though, figuring I might as well him something that was on my mind.

  “So…” I trailed off, eyes lingering on the spot where the Ripper had died. “What have you seen out here?” At Finch’s curious tilt of his head, I eborated. “I’ve heard from some of the higher-ups that they’re suspicious about the monster density. Have you seen anything?”

  Finch crossed his arms, humming. “Well…” He drawled. “Maybe. I’ll admit, this isn’t my first time ranging in hill try. The hat I’ve entered tely has been very low. But, maybe the tribes have just been hunting more?”

  Tribes?

  Wait. I remembered now. Months and months ago, Grey had referred to Bleddyn’s people as the ‘Hill Tribes’. Did that mean my old friend’s family was somewhere in this area? Suddenly, I was struck by a nearly overwhelming desire to find Thunderheart and reassure them he wasn’t dead or ensved any longer. I suppressed the feeling though, figuring I could just ask Horey about it ter.

  “But that’s not all,” Finch tinued, an audible frown in his voice. “I…look. Do you mind ing with me?”

  I raised an unseen eyebrow at my senior in the Noe Division. “Sure? I don’t mind. I doubt Fade does, either.” I said, gng down at my panion. He just chuffed at me, ung. “But what’s up?”

  “When you signaled for backup,” Finch said slowly. “I had just found some tracks. Suspicious ones. And…not moracks. I think they were human.”

  I suddenly felt much more alert. “Loyalist, do you think?”

  Finch shrugged. “I have no idea. I didn’t get a ce to look at them closer before I came running. I remember where they are, though. And, look. It could just be nothing. This stretch of the ti isly uninhabited, ya know? Even with the monsters.”

  “Lead the way, then.” Exging o set of nods, Finch, Fade, and I broke out into a sprint through the sparse forest.

  ………………………………………………………

  Finch was faster than I was, which I was entirely unsurprised by. Even running Sylvan Vigor at three-fourths strength, I was barely able to keep up with him as we dashed through the underbrush. After about ten minutes of sustained sprinting at high speed though, Finch suddenly came to a stop.

  When he did, I couldn’t stop myself from doubling over in exhaustion. Fade was a bit tired himself, audibly pantio me. Looking up after a brief rest, I found Fineeling in the dirt of the small clearing he had led us to, closely iing something. Wandering over to join him and croug down, I tried to see what he had been talking about. I nearly didn’t, until Fade joined me and started sniffing a certain patch of grass. Looking closer, I was just barely able to see the slightest impression of a footprint in the pressed leafage below.

  God, even with the trag experiehat I’d gained, I could barely make it out. I was instantly both suspicious of the track, and amazed at Finch’s own trag ability. I would never have noticed this out here on my own.

  Only someohat was trying to mask their trail would leave something like this.

  Find I stood up and exged a ghrough our masks. “That’s the only ohough,” Finch said, his clear. “I ’t find anything else. I’m thinking this was a momentary mistake that they didn’t notice.”

  I frowned, gng around. “Did you check the whole clearing?”

  Finodded. “Yeah, I did. I had even started cheg the surrounding area when I was called away.” He spread his hands, shaking his head at the same time. “I was hoping your wolf could pick up a st trail si doesn’t look like they left a physical one.”

  Both of us looked down at Fade then, who was still snuffling around in the dirt. After a moment though, he looked up and shook his head from side to side.

  I could see Finch blink in surprise at the surprisingly humaure before he cursed. “Well,” He sighed. “Damn. Sorry, but we ’t just let this one go. We’re going to o scour this entire area for miles, now. It might take days, but I don’t think we afford to let even a single leaf go unturned. I’m going to call this in.” He reached behind him for his own pouch of field supplies, presumably for his unication .

  I sighed but nodded. It was going to be grueling work, but it was what we were out here for.

  Finch stopped mid-movement, though, jerking in surprise at something behind me. I almost got the impression his jaw had dropped. Curious, I turned around myself, only to feel a smile grow on my face.

  Fade’s horns were glowing with the green and blue of trated Aether once again, in a way that I had only seen a few times in the past. The young wolf was visibly trating on something, with the glow on his hrowing brighter every moment. Finally, with a loud bark that echoed oddly through the barren trees around us, the Aether…

  Fizzled out?

  However, something did happen.

  Before Find I’s astonished gaze, footprints outlined in dimly glowiher appeared in the grass and dirt, leading away from the now faintly glowing inal one.

  “Ah…,” Finch trailed off. “Or we could follow that. That works too.”

  I kneeled down to scratch Fade’s head, as he panted in renewed exhaustion. “Thanks, boy,” I murmured. He licked my hand iurn.

  I stood back up and exged a gh Finch. In unspoken agreement, we took back off into the forest, following the faintly glowing footprints, with Fade following behind us.

  Deeper into the forest.