The shadows under the water drew my attention as they swam back and forth. A fin stretched up, breaking the surface of the whirlpool.

  “This is so not a river,” I muttered. “It’s a trap.”

  A very good hunting trap. Whatever creature that made this had created the perfect area for it to get food. Not that it’d help me get food.

  “No easy fish,” said Dengu sadly.

  I chuckled. Some easy fish sounded so good right about now. Instead, I stared at the fin that vanished under the water. Its shadow even vanished.

  The rope bridge stretched over the water with plenty of distance, but it didn’t look like more than one of us should cross at a time.

  The thick ropes were actual vines with leaves growing on them, while the boards were tied into place at rather sizable gaps. It looked wide enough for one of those hover carts, though.

  “So, Dengu and Lenna first, then Lenna provides support for the rest of us…?” It was all I could come up with. The empty towers on the far side looked like they had spots for ranged weapon users.

  “Sounds good to me,” said Lenna, hopping on Dengu’s back. They started across before Kabi or Asceto could say anything.

  “You should have explained the crossing more,” muttered Kabi to Asceto.

  “I hate this crossing,” he replied. “The creatures below can reach up and yank people off the bridge.”

  I remained close to the edge, staring at the water. I pulled my knife out and extended it into a spear. Not that I’d throw it, but it could extend pretty far, and the thing in the water didn’t need to know I wouldn’t be throwing it. The others would go next, and I’d go last.

  Lenna and Dengu made it without a problem. “Kabi, you’re up.”

  He shook as he crossed, swords in all of his hands. The gaps in the boards weren’t a problem for his long legs.

  Asceto inched closer to me. “Am I next?”

  I nodded my head yes, but he just appeared confused. “Yes, I’ll go last.”

  The fin didn’t appear for Kabi.

  Asceto hurried across, rushing compared to Kabi, just trying to get to the other side. About halfway across, the fin crested in the water. Both Lenna and I tensed up.

  He slipped on a board and fell to all fours. The fin dipped back down as he launched himself up and raced as fast as he could to the other side.

  I stepped onto the first board, and it became clear how far apart they really were. Farther than I felt comfortable with. Yet, the more I studied the water, the more I felt like whatever hunted here was playing with us.

  Still, I kept on alert as I backed back to the shoreline, then launched myself with the soarstone across the distance. The rush of air surprised me as I flew, or close enough that it didn’t matter.

  Lenna’s eyes went wide as she fired her arrow, but it wasn’t at the water. Several small birds appeared in the sky, coming out of the rocks on either side of the river.

  [Bitty Flock, Level 100, Prey, Unknown.]

  None of the bird-like creatures came near me. Instead, they flew close, calling in a barking voice. Four wings sprouted from their bodies per side, with multiple legs, and one small beak.

  I overshot my mark as I headed to the ground on the far bank, aiming directly for the wall that blocked me. Unfortunately, it wasn’t like I could stop myself as I hit.

  I swear laughter came from the water, and the birds, as I moaned. It didn’t hurt too much, more my pride then anything.

  “Are you okay?” called Asceto, as he approached.

  Lenna just laughed. “She’s fine. Alex is tough.”

  At the moment, I didn’t feel too tough, yet I ignored that as multiple crystals registered on my radar.

  We all gathered together before Kabi entered the gaping hole in the wall. Smoke rose from several locations, from the burning remains of huts. The wall only remained standing on the side we entered through, the rest were torn to the ground.

  Kabi’s people milled about, with several folks providing aid to others, and someone cooking over a large fire farther away from us.

  We got a few waves as we passed through, but the ratio of Water Tribe to those still collared felt off. There weren’t many uncollared people here at all.

  “I’m going to find out what happened,” said Kabi.

  Asceto grabbed Lenna’s hand and pointed to the nearest collared person, while Dengu headed to a few smaller folks who had to be children.

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  “I’m going to work on something to do this for us,” I muttered, as Asceto pulled Lenna away. She smiled with a twinkle in her eyes.

  I stayed where I was, still focusing on the fact that without Asceto or me there wasn’t a way to cut the collars. We needed something like scissors, that could get rid of or negate the crystals ability to burn them. Or, for that matter, to kill the wearer before being removed.

  I sat on a broken timber and got to work, pulling the Stable mana crystal out of my inventory. The others all had other things to do, though I remained very aware that I also needed food soon. Real food that I had hunted and killed.

  If the crystals stopped burning the folks, they could just cut the metal collars. So I just needed something that forced the crystals to calm down. Ideas came to me, and I started on the easiest.

  Shaping the stable mana crystal went smoothly. I pulled a piece off and rolled it into a bracket; something easy to keep nearby. Then I dove inside to the empty space, where I usually felt a presence.

  Taking my time, I spoke to it, pulling on the mana that gathered. Intention. The intention needed to be to calm other crystals down, stop the crystal from freaking out. Yet, I didn’t want to lie to them, not knowing if the bond to the controlling ring would be broken.

  My stomach growled, but Lenna thrust a bowl of hot stew into my lap. It broke my concentration, but I didn’t care as I scarfed it down. It helped, but I still needed to hunt soon.

  “Almost everyone has been freed, but a few who offered to help your project,” she said.

  “My project?” I asked. “I think I’m close, but I’m not sure since I don’t want to lie to the crystal and say that it will be freed, when I don’t think it will.”

  “What does being free mean to it?” she asked.

  I thought about her question before responding. The messages from the system as I learned to clean the crystals of outside forces came to mind. This bracelet needed to clean those same forces. That gave me direction.

  I dove right back in, this time working with the mana inside the crystal to give it a job of purifying the crystal from the outside influences. Almost like a reset to how it naturally grew.

  Hopefully, it’d work. My energy lagged again, and when I opened my eyes, there wasn’t a fresh bowl of food, which was a little disappointing. Instead, two Azurafolk sat near me, whispering. Both wore collars, yet they were different.

  One held barely any crystal at all, while the other held much more. The levels checked out. The one with more crystals was over level 100.

  They stopped talking when they noticed me studying them. Notifications hung waiting for me.

  [You have created a Crystal Neutralizer.]

  [You have gained a professional level.]

  [You have gained a professional level.]

  “Ready to try?” the first one asked.

  “It should work, but without testing it, I won’t know for sure. If it doesn’t work, I think I can stop the crystal from hurting you,” I said with some confidence.

  Both nodded.

  I started with the smaller crystal. All I did was move my new Crystal Neutralizer closer to the collar, and the screaming coming from the collar stopped.

  “It worked,” I whispered at first. All we needed was to cut it off. “Let’s try yours…”

  The thicker collar didn’t go as smoothly. The crystal still heated, but much more slowly, and it eventually went quiet as well.

  But the bracelet in my hand felt different.

  Heavier.

  “Do you need to touch them to cut them off?” asked Kabi, who had joined us.

  It snapped me back to the two in front of me. “Let’s test that out.”

  I didn’t want to say it shouldn’t matter if I touched them or not but something had changed with both of the crystals.

  The little one didn’t react at all when the one wearing it tried to cut it off with an enormous set of cutters. Neither did the bigger one.

  That wasn’t supposed to happen.

  Yet, cheers broke out, since this was something that hopefully they could use without me.

  I used my aura sight, focusing on the bracelet and only the bracelet. It glowed with more energy than expected, and the crystal collars were dead. Nothing moved inside them.

  Well fuck.

  Still, I put on a happy face, as people celebrated.

  Lenna and Kabi pulled me to the side, as Asceto gathered up the crystals.

  “These are a little weird,” he mumbled with a frown.

  “Don’t use them,” I replied quietly.

  He nodded.

  “Guess what I found,” said Kabi, who practically danced away from us. “One of those carts you wanted! Plus, several folks here plan on returning to the forests, including those from Needlecrest. The Water Tribe took messages with them when they left.”

  A hover cart rested near the far side of the outpost.

  “Where did they go?” I asked.

  “I assume they went back to the dungeon to meet up with the rest of the force near Steadfast.” Lenna pressed her lips together after her statement, like she didn’t approve. “They just left everyone here with little help.”

  “We can help ourselves,” said Kabi. “The forest is our home, we just need to clean out the Harvesters, and folks are already making ideas for that.”

  “Plus, all sorts of other creatures,” I added thinking of the beetles. “What you need are traps.”

  Kabi nodded with a bright smile, standing up straight. “Yes, something just to hold them so those who can gain levels from them can take care of them.”

  Lenna nudged me. “Do you need food?”

  I sheepishly nodded. “Yeah, some hunting would be good.”

  “Let’s get heading south then, and we can detour into the forest to do some hunting.” Lenna motioned to the hover cart. “I don’t know how that works, so someone else is in charge of it.”

  “I can use it.” Asceto snorted, before heading that way and slapping a hand on the control panel. “We just gotta follow the road, right?”

  “That’s the plan,” I said. Yet, Kabi glanced back at his people with a look of longing.

  Dengu let a little one ride on his back as he walked around the area.

  I scooted closer to him. “You can stay here you know. Don’t feel like you need to leave them.”

  He shook his head.

  “I mean it,” I said. This time, I set a hand on his shoulder, tracing the bond between us. It felt a little lighter than before.

  “It isn’t that,” He said after a moment. “Our village used to be full of people. No one is there now, and I want to see it restored.” He went quiet for another moment. “We were so happy, content with the life we were living.”

  “Rebuilding takes time, but it’s worth it.” My mind went to Lakeside Landing. “You can have that again.”

  “My parents are in Steadfast, and my brother’s with the Water Tribe…” His face fell. “And my little sisters are dead. Nothing can change that.”

  Sorrow echoed along our bond, the emotion stronger than ever before. It cut off as a scream echoed from the south.