The road ahead was unfamiliar, and even less trodden than the previous one. Though it wasn’t common for merchants to travel down the path they’d turned off of, it had been used occasionally until the bears moved in. This path, on the other hand, was far less traveled. By the look of it, nobody had used it in years.

  Marvin’s hooves stamped against the ground as he galloped, pulling the wagon with all his might. The wheels creaked, threatening to abandon the wagon entirely with each bump the wagon went over. Merlin stood on the wagon’s front bench. He held the reins tight, occasionally shooting glances over his shoulder to see if their pursuer was catching up. The leather-clad man flew through the air from one side of the path to the other, kicking off trees each time he neared them to propel himself forward. He was faster than before. There was a hunger to him. He wasn’t going to stop this time, not until he caught up with them. Charlie and his allies had no offensive power and no real defensive options either. Their only choice was to run. They had to buy time until they could find a solution.

  “Charlie do that trap thing again! Get his feet! Or hands! Or face! Just…get something!” Orb shouted in their minds.

  Charlie shook his head. “I can’t! The dungeon’s almost ready to collapse! If I use my powers now, it will!”

  “Agh! This is so frustrating! What about Koi Levi? Or the scalers?” Orb said, thinking quickly.

  “Either would prove excellent allies here if Charlie’s transfer technique wouldn’t push him over the brink of collapse. In theory, he could override his limits and hope Koi Levi and Boop can maintain the dungeon for a short while until he recovers, but the safety of the scalers would be at risk. I advise fleeing until a new opportunity presents itself.”

  Merlin looked back. Their pursuer was quickly gaining on them. “Oh yeah? What kind of opportunity? As of right now, it looks like we’re—” He paused. “Heh, actually I’ve got an idea. Mousifer, take the reins!” Merlin said, scrambling over the wagon’s front bench.

  “Squeak!” Mousifer said.

  Marvin neighed indignantly, as if to say he could follow a straight road well enough on his own. Either way, Mousifer scampered forward and then over the bench. Marvin was moving at breakneck pace, and his reins were slapping all around with no one to hold them. Mousifer timed it, and then leapt, grabbing onto the reins. He squeaked triumphantly for less than a second before the force of the reins overtook his small frame. The reins continued flailing wildly. Mousifer flailed with them.

  “Squeaaaa!” he screamed at the top of his tiny mouse lungs.

  Charlie frowned, but turned to watch Merlin as he readied a hex. “What are you doing?” he asked him.

  Merlin smirked. “My ultimate move! Being annoying as hell.” A blast of illusory flames shot forward in the direction of their pursuer from an emerald elemental hex. The man giving chase flipped midway through the air to dodge them and then kicked off another tree. Merlin had bought a second at best.

  “Hit him again!” Orb said. “Right in the chest!”

  Merlin scoffed. Three new hexes appeared, and he readied his next wave of attacks. “If I actually hit him, he’ll know they’re illusions. I have to make sure I get close enough to slow him down, but not close enough that he could feel the effects!” The fireballs shot outward. This time their assailant lost more ground on them, losing some of his momentum to dodge all three attacks.

  “We’re so dead. We’re so freaking dead. You know things are bad when Merlin’s the only one left to fight. Like seriously! This sucks, man!” Orb bounced in frustration.

  Merlin readied another three fireballs. Just before he released them, Mousifer’s scream went up several pitches. Merlin half-turned to look over his shoulder just as he was releasing the illusory attacks. Unfortunately, this affected his aim.

  The fireballs moved perfectly. Well, they’d be perfect if Merlin’s intention was to actually hit their pursuer at least. The wagon slowed down just as one fireball hit the leather-clad man in the chest.

  To everyone's surprise, the man groaned, and fell backwards in the air. His body landed with a heavy thump in the bushes beneath a tree. The wagon crept to a full halt. Merlin and the others leaned in, waiting to see any sign of movement from the bushes.

  “Squeak!” Mousifer cried out once again.

  “Not now, Mousifer!” Orb shot back. “I think Merlin just had a magical breakthrough! He actually hit that guy! He actually used magic!”

  “Great job, Merlin!” Charlie beamed at his friend. His brows wrinkled when he saw Merlin’s reaction.

  Merlin swallowed slowly, shaking his head. “No…no, something’s not right. I’ve seen my illusions break before. It’s barely noticeable to most people, but I can always tell the difference between them and real magic. The illusion definitely hit him. But that was more than surprise. He didn’t try to dodge that one. It would’ve hit him no matter what, but he could’ve gotten the core of his body out of the way based on how he moved earlier. He let it hit him. The question is why.”

  “Squeak!” Mousifer shouted one last time, panic in his voice.

  “What?!” Orb shouted back, spinning to look towards the little mouse. “Oh. Ohhhh. You see now, that makes sense. I see why you were squeak-screaming this whole time. I also realized why we stopped. We’re really screwed.”

  Merlin turned to look back and paused. He swallowed when he saw what Orb had. Bleedy hurried over and grabbed Charlie by the back of his onesie before shooting over the wagon so they could see. The reason Marvin and Mousifer had brought the wagon to a halt was standing there in the middle of the road. A man clad in thick metallic armor. A knight’s helmet adorned his face, hiding his identity.

  “I see. It was an ambush all along. He sent us down this road on purpose. We’re cut off.” Merlin peered into the forest. “The trees are too thick here for Marvin to pull the wagon into them. And we can’t go on foot because Vetica’s still unconscious. They couldn’t have planned that she’d be out of commission, but they’re certainly taking advantage of it. These aren’t ordinary bandits; it’s what we suspected before. These men are after us specifically.” He swallowed. “Which also means…”

  Sure enough, the bushes to the left of the knight ahead rustled. A moment later, the man in the leather outfit emerged from them and stood beside the knight. He nonchalantly wiped stray leaves and branches from the suit. Merlin was right. He hadn’t been injured at all.

  He’d faked it.

  What could they do here? Did Charlie dare push his dungeon to its limits? Was there any way to avoid a fight? He needed to think fast. Maybe Parent had some advice.

  He felt a strange sensation. A familiar one. The companion calling out to him used sounds instead of words, but Charlie understood the message.

  “You’re sure?” Charlie asked.

  His companion’s response was quick. A response only Charlie would be able to understand. If this was the case, he didn’t need much integrity at all. Just enough too—

  The knight started walking towards the wagon.

  No time to think. “Parent, I need your integrity back! Turn off!”

  “Affirmative.”

  His interface’s personality retreated, and the caladosian rings clanged against the floor a moment later as his aura left them. It only added enough integrity for a quick summon. One creature of a certain size could get through in the short time he opened his portal. A creature well suited for defense.

  Bonehead erupted from the ground in front of the wagon. Marvin quickly reeled backwards, rising to stand on his hind legs at the surprise. The bone-covered komodon landed with a thud on the ground. His enormous frame left a crater where he landed.

  The man wearing leather armor jumped back, his hands reaching for the knives sheathed on either side of him. “What the—” He was so surprised that he spoke for the first time. His voice wasn’t exactly what Charlie expected from a masked assassin. It would’ve suited a cafe worker or merchant, not an assassin.

  The knight didn’t flinch but stopped walking. He shifted his attention to Bonehead, observing the new threat.

  “What? I thought Parent said the scalers had to hibernate after the effects of overgrowth ran out? How is he still standing?” Orb asked.

  Though Parent was asleep, the basic interface still had its uses.

  Notice

  Hidden Trait- Horde Guard Lv. 1 has activated. When the leader of the horde is threatened, the horde guard will act. This unique trait has overridden the exhaustive effect of overgrowth.

  Notice

  Bonehead has become immune to the effects of Overgrowth Lv. 1.

  Merlin let out a sigh of relief. “Good. We aren’t on our own anymore. Still, I’m not sure he can protect us from both opponents at once. We need a plan.”

  It was obvious which of their opponents was stronger. At least to Charlie. “Bonehead! Focus on the one in metal armor!” he called out in the scaler’s mind.

  Bonehead turned back and nodded his agreement.

  Orb floated over to Bleedy. “Buddy, it’s time. I know you’re tired, but we really need you. You’ve got to use that new tooth you got. Think you've got one more transformation in you?” he asked.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Bleedy sat Charlie down on the front bench of the wagon. Then he looked down, as if to examine himself. A moment later he looked up. “Bleedy!” He nodded. He hurried over to the wolf-teeth dentures he was familiar with.

  “Not those! Use the new one!” Orb said. “We need the power of a bear here!”

  Charlie frowned. “Wait, Parent said we should try that one out before we got into combat. Maybe we should use the level two wolf-form instead?” he suggested.

  Orb froze and turned to look at him. “No. It has to be the bear. Trust me on this. I’ve never made a bad call before. Have I?”

  “You came out of hiding in Sirra when you weren’t supposed to. I spent several nights in prison with a serial killer because of you,” Merlin said.

  “There was also that time the boar chased us, and we wasted our only chance to attack because you wanted to make a reference,” Charlie added.

  “Ball!”

  “Squeak!”

  “Okay, okay. Enough with the personal anecdotes. I’ve made four mistakes,” Orb said.

  “Squeak.”

  “Okay, I’ve made a hundred and twelve mistakes. Let’s just focus on the battle at hand. Bear-form Bleedy! Let’s go!” Orb shouted.

  Bleedy reluctantly turned to look at Charlie. Charlie sighed and nodded.

  Bleedy opened his mouth to reveal his toothless gum line. Mousifer and Orb hurried over. Mousifer grabbed the tooth, and Orb was suddenly wearing a tiny pit crew outfit. “Come on! We gotta get him back on the track!” Orb shouted.

  Mousifer hurried over and firmly wedged the tooth in Bleedy’s gums.

  Mousifer got clear, and then slapped Bleedy gently on the jaw to let him know everything was ready.

  Bleedy nodded and transformed into—

  “What the hell is that thing?” The leather-clad man asked, his fingers pointing at Bleedy. He laughed so hard he doubled over and slapped his knees. He looked back up to make sure he hadn’t imagined it. “It’s so cute! That’s hilarious.”

  The knight turned to glare at him.

  Charlie and everyone else in the wagon turned to glare at Orb.

  Bleedy didn’t look like much of a bear at all. In fact, he hadn’t grown. He’d shrunk. He now looked like a furry pom-pom. Like a hedgehog with a full-body afro. It was ridiculous. Orb floated behind Bleedy and gave him an encouraging push.

  Bleedy had almost zero control over his balance. He started rolling forward. He rolled forward and right off the front of the wagon, landing with a gentle ‘poof’.

  “Okay…a hundred and thirteen mistakes,” Orb admitted.

  Bonehead roared. Charlie looked up to see that the knight was making a move again. Bonehead rushed to intercept him.

  Though the knight had a sword sheathed at his waist, he didn’t draw it. He rushed forward at Bonehead unarmed. Beside him, the leather-clad man lifted his hands and extended them outward. A soft, scarlet glow appeared below Bonehead as a hex manifested.

  Merlin twisted his head. “A scarlet hex? But why?”

  Bonehead lifted onto his hind legs for momentum and then brought his claws crashing downward toward the knight. The knight stepped backward out of the way, but Bonehead was prepared for it. He quickly pivoted, bringing his tail around to smash downward into the knight’s side. The man braced himself. He withstood the attack with his arms in a defensive position. The force of Bonehead’s attack alone cratered the ground underneath the knight’s feet. But the man remained standing. He looked almost unaffected by the attack.

  Bonehead reared around to attack again, lifting on his hind legs once more for momentum.

  The knight didn’t allow him to attack again. He rushed forward with surprising speed. In one fluid movement, he ducked underneath Bonehead before the komodon could react. The knight delivered a crushing blow to Bonehead’s underside, right where a floating scarlet hex remained underneath the creature.

  Orb bounced in the air beside Charlie’s head. “Scarlet hexes are for searching. I don’t get it, man.”

  Bonehead roared in anger. But the knight didn’t back down for a second. He sped forward, grabbed the komodon by the tail and twisted his body. The knight swung Bonehead towards the forest.

  The large scaler crashed into several trees.

  “Bonehead!” Charlie shrieked, worried about his friend. Their opponents were strong. It would’ve taken a lot of strength to throw a creature as large as Bonehead.

  The knight didn’t waste a second. With his only obstacle out of the way, he turned his attention to the wagon. He looked over his shoulder at the leather-clad man. “You know what to do,” he said, his voice deep and oddly distorted.

  “Got it, boss. They won’t be a problem,” the leather man said. He drew two long daggers from his waist.

  “Not so fast!” Merlin shouted. He stood in front of Marvin, placing himself between the knight and the wagon. He held his hands out to either side, and a series of emerald-green hexes appeared. “Take one more step toward us and I’ll incinerate you where you stand!”

  But feigned confidence quickly turned to confusion.

  One moment the knight was before Merlin, and the next he was already moving past him.

  Charlie looked up just in time to see the knight hovering above him. He’d gotten past Merlin. How was he moving so fast? Charlie thought. How was he—

  He barely had time to process what was going on as the knight grabbed him with one arm. The momentum from the knight’s jump carried them forward and out the rear of the wagon. He skidded to a stop a dozen feet behind the wagon and turned to look over his shoulder.

  Charlie wriggled in the man’s grasp, trying to free himself. He turned back to look towards his friends.

  “Charlie!” Merlin called out. He’d already run around the wagon after them. His hand was outstretched. “No…no, not again. I won’t lose him again!” Merlin charged forward. Bonehead had recovered and was lumbering after them as well. Bleedy had reverted to his normal form, and he chased after Charlie with Mousifer beside him.

  His friends were coming to save him.

  Charlie reached a hand towards them and shrieked at the top of his lungs. Reaching out for the people he cared about most in the world.

  He blinked. An instant later, they were soaring. The knight’s powerful legs sent them rocketing through the air in a wide arc. He landed with a thud, took two more steps, and jumped again. Each leap took them over the tree line and sprung them forward again.

  How was this happening? How was this…he was being kidnapped! He had to do something. Anything. If he got too far from his friends, he might never see them again. This was a big world, and they’d only seen small parts of it. How would he find them if they got separated? What if that man in leather hurt them?

  The knight was moving so fast that the wagon and his friends were quickly fading into the distance. The heartbreak he’d seen in Merlin’s eyes was too much. Charlie wouldn’t leave his friends behind. He looked down at the armored glove that held him and gripped it with both of his hands. He brought his mouth towards it and bit down as hard as he could. His two baby teeth hardened by the dungeon sank right through the armor and into the hand beneath.

  “Agh!” The knight grimaced but refused to stop moving. Even as Charlie dug deeper. The knight was tough to endure something like this.

  A surge of power suddenly exploded through the forest. Birds took to the skies all around them, fleeing the feeling. At first he thought the knight was getting ready to retaliate for his bite, but Charlie quickly realized it wasn’t coming from him.

  The knight realized it too. “What?” He turned to look over his shoulder.

  Charlie stopped biting and turned to look back as well. Something dark, a blur, shot through the trees. The blur moved so quickly it was like the knight was traveling in slow motion. Charlie’s eyes could barely process it as the blur shot from tree to tree on either side of the path and in an instant floated beside the knight. The knight lifted his free hand to react.

  Shing!

  The knight kept moving through the air. Most of him, at least. His left hand had been cut clean through at the wrist. Armor and all. The metallic glove fell to the ground behind them and tumbled where it fell. The knight landed, skidded for a moment, and then kicked off again. He brought his injured arm inward, and Charlie was able to see partially inside it. There was no blood. There was nothing. His eyes shot open. Was this some sort of magic armor? Was there nobody inside? The armor adjusted its arm again, and Charlie couldn’t peer inside anymore.

  His kidnapper appeared more concerned about the new threat than the missing hand.

  It looked from side to side.

  Charlie heard something behind him. Was this another attack? He turned in the knight’s grasp to look, just as the blur rushed past. A blur of black. It shot past them and kicked off another tree on the far side of the knight before careening directly towards them again. The sun glinted off a black blade for just a moment.

  Charlie was so surprised he shrieked. The blur stopped mid-attack; the flash of a blade swing averted as the blur seemed to suddenly shift mid-air. Instead of a blade, dark boots swung around and hit the back of the knight. Charlie and his kidnapper were sent flying downward toward the earth at high speed.

  Charlie’s eyes remained locked on the attacker. The blur kicked off of thin air, as if a tree was behind it, and shot after Charlie and the knight as they fell. A hand emerged from it and reached for Charlie.

  Charlie smiled when he realized who it was. He reached out to take her hand as well.

  But the knight was getting ready for a rough landing. He pulled Charlie inward toward his core and tucked his body around him. The knight rolled mid-air to ensure he landed on his back. The knight’s powerful arm kept Charlie firmly secured on his chest. They crashed and tumbled several yards, but somehow Charlie was safe throughout it. As if the armor was protecting him. After landing and skidding to a stop, the arm went limp. He sat on the knight’s stomach and looked around for Vetica.

  She appeared beside them and quickly picked Charlie up.

  “Vetica! You’re awake!” Charlie smiled.

  “Of course I am. I sensed you were in danger. Heard you shriek, I think. I also heard someone call me a liability. I think it was Merlin. Me and him are going to have to have a talk when we get back. And don’t worry, the others are okay. I struck that assassin down before I left. They should have him tied up by now,” she said, smiling softly.

  Charlie noticed something roll around inside his onesie. He pulled the collar away from his neck and peered inside. Orb looked up at him. “Is it safe to come out now? I swear I almost pooped myself when I saw that knight coming right for us. Thought I’d duck in here for safekeeping, you know?”

  Charlie smiled.

  Vetica turned her attention to the knight. He hadn’t moved since the fall. The smile on her face disappeared. “Now, to kill this worm that thought he could dare lay a finger on you.” She lifted her dagger, and the astral hex manifested without a word from her.

  “Nuh huh huh,” a man said from behind them. “Put that knife down.”

  Vetica didn’t move. Charlie looked over her shoulder to see the leather-clad man standing behind them. He held a dagger against her back.

  “Wait,” another voice spoke. Charlie froze and turned to look toward the knight. He sat up with a groan. “I’m too old for this.” His helmet was cracked, and the voice distortion wasn’t there anymore. The man’s voice sounded normal now. It sounded familiar.

  The leather assassin hesitated. “Boss, you sure?” he asked.

  “Yes, enough of this.” He lifted his hand to unlatch the helmet around his head. A moment later, the helmet fell onto the ground, and the man looked Charlie in the eye. “Hello, Charlie.”

  Charlie perked up; his eyes grew wide.

  He knew this man. He knew him very well.

  “Richard?” he asked, seeing the man who had adopted him after he’d come to this world.

  Richard. The knight behind the mask was Richard.