Loch looked up at the fire tower, surprised it was still there. He’d hiked past it so many times. Something like the tower, he would have expected the Worldcore to take it for parts. The Worldcore took most things made of metal, why had it left the tower?

  Just one of those things he’d never have an answer to.

  None of the people more experienced with the Connection could provide clear answers on why it did anything it did. Every decision made by the Connected System was to force its Adapted to strive for Advancement, because that made the Connected System stronger.

  The stairs had always been closed off, not accessible to the hikers. He didn’t think the tower was ever used, but someone probably visited it now and then. There’d been a generator building, which was gone.

  How many times had they stopped and snacked at the base of the tower?

  The Blue Job hike was one of Loch’s favorite local ones. Short, only about three miles total and that was if you did the extra out-and-back to the exposed bald faced rocks, where the giants were not searching for something. The main trail was a loop from the parking lot, with the fire tower at its midpoint. Short and fun.

  “Do I go up?,” Harper asked, looking at the stairs.

  “Yeah,” Loch replied.

  Nodding, his oldest started up the stairs, Elora following. Loch walked past the tower, to where the trail leading to the open rocks had been. A stone cairn, rocks stacked on top of each other, had marked the start. Others had kept them on the trail. That cairn was gone, but the trail was obvious.

  The giants had gone through, leaving a broad swath of destruction. Loch thought he could see parts of the mountain down the trail, it was that open. Years ago, a freak tornado had rampaged through the area. Nothing like what the midwest got, this funnel cloud had still left a trail of destruction. A path ripped through the forests. The path of the giant’s reminded Loch of that.

  But instead of broken trees left at angles, the giants had torn up the obstructions, leaving stumps and craters where roots had forcibly been removed. The passage of their large feet had smashed most of it down, leaving a relatively clear path.

  He was hesitant to walk down it. Too exposed. What if a giant came up the hill to the bald top? They’d be easy to see. But then taking the entire force down the trail wasn’t an option either.

  “Dad,” Harper said from back at the firetower.

  Loch turned, seeing his daughter waving for him to join her. He jogged back.

  “You need to see this.”

  She started back up the stairs, Loch following. He felt the familiar light movement of the steel support structure as he climbed. Vibrations from the footsteps, pressure from the wind, combining to move the structure. The first time he’d ever climbed up one as a kid, he’d been scared of the movements, but his father had told him that it was designed that way.

  “Tall buildings move,” he had said. “They’re meant to.”

  Since that day, Loch hadn’t been bothered by a building’s movements.

  He followed Harper to the top and the open platform. He felt exposed, having a pretty good view for miles in all directions. Looking to the southwest, Loch thought he could see Coe-Brown. Shifting east a bit, he did see the partially constructed watchtower they were building on top of Saddleback Mountains. The construction had stopped as other things took priority and most likely wouldn’t be done before Winter. Seeing the view from the firetower, Loch moved the priority of finishing the watchtower up the Spring list. They needed the view that tower would give them. Blue Job’s tower was much lower and had a commanding view of the surrounding land. With the tower on top of Saddleback, they’d be able to see into Deerfield, Nottingham and maybe all the way into Raymond and beyond.

  He turned away from the view of the Clanhold, looking the way Harper was pointing. Elora was still there, watching. Loch moved to the rail, surprised by what he saw.

  Finding the bald tops of the mountain was easy, following it down the slope to what had once been heavy forest, Loch saw the destruction caused by the giants. He could see them, over a dozen, moving through the cleared area, stepping around the stumps. Some were pulling up more trees, others ripping off branches and throwing them on a huge pile to the side. Still others carried the trees, now just trunks, off to the other side and another huge pile. In between, off to the side, were rough hide teepees. A couple dozen of them, held up by more trees.

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  The giants had cleared what looked to be acres of forest. Trunks ripped from the ground, some broken off leaving jagged stumps. Loch had seen pictures of hurricane aftermath. That’s what he was looking at. The giants were a force of nature, destroying the forest as they searched for something.

  He tried looking for the Si-Te-Cah, thinking the pale white skin and flaming red hair would be easy to spot. But he couldn’t see the relatively smaller person among the taller giants.

  “There, that hill to the right,” Elora said, pointing to a spot off center. “Move,” she grumbled as a couple giants crossed in front of whatever she was looking at.

  Loch waited for the giants to move, watching the spot Elora had called out. There were a couple of exposed hills, no more trees to cover them up, just dirt and rock. Some small clusters of boulders remained, but others had been moved, the push marks in the ground evident. The giants finally moved out of the way, letting Loch see the hill that had interested Elora.

  It wasn’t much different from the others. A little shorter and wider, but still bald faced rock, dirt and stumps. Then he saw the crack. Thin and jagged, but an entrance of some kind.

  “A Dungeon?”

  ***

  “That does not make sense,” Little River Stone grumbled. “I do not believe the Si-Te-Cah would go through all that trouble just for a Dungeon.”

  “The only things able to be taken from a Dungeon are rewards,” Cerie said. She sat on Piper’s shoulder, her glow as low as she could get it. “And those are somewhat random. It’s to prevent someone from targeting a specific Dungeon over and over to get the rewards. The Connected System wants the Adapted to move on from a lower ranked Dungeon to a higher ranked. If there were valuable Resources in a Dungeon, the Adapted would remain there and never strive for more.”

  “But Dungeons do have unique Resources,” Piper said. “Things only found in those Dungeons.”

  “Yes and no,” Cerie replied. “A Dungeon might have a plant or monster that drops a specific kind of hide, but similar will be available at higher Ranked Dungeons. Remember, equipment has Level ranges. A sword made with materials from a Low Ranked Dungeon will only serve the Adapted for a set number of Levels before they have to upgrade. If they like the properties of that sword, they would find equivalent higher Level Resources to have a new sword made.”

  “That makes sense,” Piper said, returning to her sketchbook.

  She still wouldn’t let Loch see what she was drawing. It had to be detailed, she’d been working on the same sketch for a long time.

  “Having the Hillgrowl clear all that land wouldn’t have been necessary if they were looking for just a Dungeon,” Cerie continued. “Dungeons are meant to be found.”

  “So a Natural Resource in a cave?,” Loch asked.

  “Yes. Such things are rare but are known to exist,” Little River Stone said.

  “The Si-Te-Cah will be in the cave,” Loch said.

  He looked around the camp. It was a cold night. No fires this close to the giant's encampment. People huddled around their tents, extra blankets over their shoulders. None were sleeping yet. Loch could feel the tension in the air. Tomorrow would be the fight with the giants. People were amped up, ready. They needed sleep but the anticipation was making it hard. Loch felt the same way. He could feel the energy coursing through his body. It was like before a big client meeting, or a baseball game back when he’d played. Ready to go, not wanting to wait. Wanting to get it over with, good or bad.

  They’d fall asleep eventually.

  “At least there won’t be giants,” Drew said. “From what you described, they won’t be able to fit.” He turned to the Sasquatch. “And you said that the Si-Te-Cah is the only non-giant here?”

  “Correct.”

  “Will you be able to fit?,” Loch asked the big Sasquatch.

  “I do not know,” he replied. “I should as I am not that much bigger than the Si-Te-Cah.”

  Loch looked around the small group gathered at the base of the firetower. Piper was there so Cerie would be, otherwise she would have been sent to the tent with her sister. Davis being there had angered Harper, wondering why she couldn’t, but as Davis was in charge of one of the teams, he needed to be in the final planning session. The other adventuring team leaders were there, along with Jason Hermann, who Darren had put in charge of the guards. One of the first guards Loch had recognized by sight, Jason had Advanced quickly, wanting to be given greater responsibility in the Clan.

  “Okay,” Loch said, addressing them. “That means we’ll have to change things up a bit.”