“Are you ready?” asked Lenna through the communication stone.

  Sweat dripped down my brow as I carved the last symbol into the rock and filled it with energy. All five of them were complete. The carving knife helped. Somehow, it was even better than my crystal blades for carving the runes.

  “Done!”

  I carefully placed the rock such that you wouldn’t be able to see it from the direction they were coming. Then I crept into a nearby crack filled with shadows.

  This entire pathway we rigged, agreeing with the others ahead of time where I’d place the traps.

  Lenna waited somewhere above in a hidey-hole, while Dengu and Kabi waited farther down the way.

  This narrow, winding canyon could only have a few people move side by side, and in several areas it narrowed even farther. Yet, it was one canyon the Forgers had sent people into, searching.

  Searching for what, we weren’t sure.

  The tingle of crystals inched closer, and I swallowed hard.

  While the traps wouldn’t kill them, anyone who was nearby would be hurting. Still, if it knocked them out, I could free them later. Or at least, that was the plan.

  [An OFFENDER has been detected in your area with a bounty. You have been given a temporary boost to stats and abilities.]

  [Laze, The Watcher, Level 110, Prey, Unknown, OFFENDER.]

  First, we needed to take out the Forger with them.

  Yelling broke out and the trample of boots echoed in my direction. The carving tool went into my inventory as I clutched my knife. I slowly relaxed my shoulders and my breathing steadied.

  We each had our jobs.

  The first couple of folks wearing collars missed the first set of traps as they raced single file, not really paying attention at all.

  A growl came from Dengu, and I waited.

  Then the next two folks sprinted side by side.

  The explosion sent them both flying before they crashed into the canyon walls. Chaos broke out after that.

  Dust hung in the air and made it harder to see. Despite the poor visibility, everyone wearing a collar stood out on my radar, and the same went for Laze as he hung back and inched around the tight corner. He fired something into the crowd, but still I waited.

  The tall orange forger wore a skintight suit with black plating, and he held something like a gun, but when he fired, darts shot out.

  He inched closer.

  Wait.

  He moved closer still, past my hidden location.

  I struck. My blade slammed into the back of his shoulders, cutting right through the thin plating as I leaped on his back.

  He remained standing and swung around, but I held on, wrapping my legs around his waist.

  Claws grew from my left hand as I slashed randomly at his front. The golden lines formed, but the black plating somehow blocked them.

  He slammed backward, crushing me between the rock wall and his back. It knocked the air out of me, and I slashed again, this time at his face.

  He screamed as he slammed me back yet again, this time using all of his body weight.

  Armor formed along my back and chest, protecting my organs, but it still hurt.

  An arrow cut through the dust hanging in the air, and pierced his chest. That took him down to a knee, but he used the movement to slam something into my leg.

  Or at least, he tried to. My armor blocked it as it shattered.

  I pushed back away from him, not willing to take a second shot, and yanked my knife out of his back.

  [You have gained bonus experience from combat for surviving against level 110, Laze, The Watcher.]

  [You have collected a bounty: 8,000 credits.]

  [You have leveled.]

  The notifications threw me, not because of the experience, but because of the credits. The last couple of bounties had given me experience tokens, which were priceless, this dude was only worth 8,000 credits.

  I now had 14,500 credits, but it wasn’t like I had anything to spend them on out here.

  Shouting brought me back to the fact that this was a fight after all, and not everyone with a collar had stopped.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  I searched the carcass for a ring and found it on his left hand, immediately sinking into its presence which almost whimpered. I disconnected the collars from it, which helped its vibe.

  The shouting stopped.

  The dust started to settle, but I quickly cut into The Watcher’s back through the armor and carved out the heart. I didn’t need any of those we’d soon free seeing this.

  Especially when I tossed it into my mouth.

  Revulsion crept through me even as a sweet strawberry taste took over. I disliked eating the Forgers.

  [You have devoured Laze, the Watcher, and gained knowledge about sedatives.]

  That wasn’t what I was looking for, but now I suddenly knew the gun he had fired had a strong sedative that worked on most beings up to level 120, unless they had resistance to it.

  I snagged the gun and tossed it into my crystal inventory as I headed to the cluster of people in collars. I also tossed 5 free stat points into toughness, to keep it over half of intelligence. The rest I’d deal with later.

  Dengu had two people literally under his feet, while Kabi spoke to another. One stood away from the others, while Lenna checked on the two that were knocked out from the traps.

  Those I went to first.

  Both were Azurafolk who appeared young, and under-leveled for this area. Both were around level 60. I snapped the collars off and pulled out my healing crystal.

  “They’re okay,” whispered Lenna. “Just out. They should be fine once they wake up.”

  She motioned to the others.

  I went first toward the one talking to Kabi, but slowed down as she flinched.

  “Hello, can I remove that?” I asked, pointing to the collar.

  She glanced at Kabi, who nodded. She bowed to me so I could reach it, and I snapped it off, taking the crystal for the tiny but growing pile in my hand.

  “Thank you for freeing me,” she said. Again she bowed, this time deeper.

  I nodded, but moved to the other person still standing. He let me remove his collar without any hesitation. Yet, tension hung in the air, especially around the two under Dengu.

  Both squirmed.

  “What’s the deal with them?” I asked.

  Kabi glanced at the woman, who spit on the ground next to the squirming pair.

  “They are collared but…” Kabi started.

  “They turned on us, feeding information to the Forgers, leading others to be captured,” the woman said angrily. She took a step closer to them with her sword in her hand. “They are traitors, and would go right back to them if given the chance!”

  “We cannot fight them,” argued one of the captives. “That way leads to death!”

  Dengu snapped near the speaker’s head, causing both of them to go still and quiet.

  I let out a sigh, but knelt down and removed the collars with ease.

  These were made of crystal with no runes. Nothing special. Just crystal shoved together in the worst way. I didn’t dare touch its essence, since I knew the internal yelling would be horrible. I’d deal with it later, when we weren’t in the middle of all this drama.

  “We can’t let them go free,” said Kabi, and he suddenly looked tired. “I don’t know what to do with them. They’re just so young.”

  I studied both of them, and realized they both were barely above level 60, like the other two. Somehow, they hadn’t died in the fight.

  They felt like children though.

  “Are the other two like them?” I asked, motioning to the ones near Lenna.

  “No, they fought against the bonds like the rest of us.”

  I motioned for Kabi to join me near Lenna. This time I kept my voice low. “What if we contain them in one of the towers? The Steadfast folks can contain them, or the Water tribe can figure out what to do with them.”

  “It’s a good plan,” mumbled Kabi, swallowing hard. “There might be another way… Can they pledge to you?”

  I jerked back, thinking of the names on my list.

  “I’d rather not.” I shook my head. “Let’s ditch them at one of the towers. If they find a way out, they find a way out. Actually…”

  I marched back near them and yanked the gun out that I’d stolen. I fired a dart into each of them. Both went down quickly.

  Dengu stepped back.

  “Now, they won’t know where we put them.”

  “It might be nicer to kill them…” said the man.

  “We have a safe place to put them, for now…” My voice trailed off as something in the far reaches of my radar moved. “We need to go. Now.”

  I crouched down, partially wishing that I hadn’t shot them since now we had 4 people who were out cold.

  The man and woman both hurried to the two kids near Lenna and each picked up one.

  Lenna jumped up and started climbing up the wall. “Plan B?”

  “Plan B,” I agreed as I hurried to help Kabi.

  He picked one of them up, and I loaded the second into his arms. “I’ll drop them at the 2nd site, then meet you both at area C” he said.

  Perfect. Well, not really, but it’d work.

  He hurried off and the two others followed him.

  Dengu and I hurried after them, waiting until they turned a corner before we took a different turn. We intentionally left some tracks for those who followed to find.

  We both headed directly to the next set of traps I’d placed this morning.

  I carefully stepped in safe spaces while I headed to an outcropping that cast a wonderful shadow across the side of the canyon.

  While we worried about the flying monsters, the canyon would be hard for them to fit into. That was part of why we’d chosen this as our battleground.

  I hid within the shadows, and pulled out my communication stone. The presence hadn’t followed, so I couldn’t trace them. Plus, the feeling of crystals didn’t follow this time.

  “Updates?” I asked as quietly as I could.

  “They are being careful,” she replied. “Only two collared, and not Azurafolk. Something else. With two Forgers.”

  I stretched out my shoulders and froze as something appeared much closer than anticipated, out of nowhere.

  “Something’s eating the carcass…” came from the communication stone.

  I’d forgotten to grab it into my inventory. Yet, this was a best case scenario. It’d really confuse the Forgers.

  Finally, two crystals buzzed on my radar much stronger than any I’d felt recently. These collars had to be much older, and used much more crystal.

  Whomever these two were, it’d be good to get some information from them once we rescued them.

  A roar echoed down the walls as whatever had started its meal didn’t want to be interrupted.

  Still, I waited. Dengu hovered farther back in the canyon, ready to pounce from above, while Lenna kept watch overhead.

  The group of Forgers and their enslaved pair must have taken care of the creature, as they continued on.

  [An OFFENDER has been detected in your area with a bounty. You have been given a temporary boost to stats and abilities.]

  [Bizero, Guardsmen, Level 125, Predator, Unknown, OFFENDER.]

  [An OFFENDER has been detected in your area with a bounty. You have been given a temporary boost to stats and abilities.]

  [Goader, The Sorrow, Level 182, Predator, Unknown, OFFENDER.]

  Well fuck.

  That wasn’t doable. Not at all.