‘Who’s that?’ came a recognisable voice, with a long-dead accent of the American deep south. Nicolai felt an odd sensation upon hearing it. This was Maxine, who he’d regarded at times as a kind of moral guide. It was strange to hear her voice directly, over Local.

  ‘Hey! Maxine? It’s me, Perro!’ said Perro, faster than any of them.

  ‘Perro? Hey! Good to hear from you. Where are you? Have you come to get me?’

  'I’m locking the connection,’ said Daksh, and Nicolai sensed the connection they were using shift to a private state, so that others in the surrounding area couldn’t connect, while narrowing to focus only on Maxine rather than broadcasting their presence.

  ‘We. uh, yeah, came to get you,’ said Perro. ‘Only…’ His eyes turned to the bird on its perch far above, then to Nicolai, frowning.

  ‘There’s a problem,’ Nicolai supplied. ‘The bird. It is watching your tower. Our method to reach you will alert it.’

  ‘Ah,’ came Maxine’s voice. ‘Yeah, it’s a bit obsessed with me. It chased me up here in the first place. Whenever it’s not elsewhere, it’s sat there watching.’

  ‘We have drones, and I believe it won’t detect them,’ said Nicolai. ‘Rope, too. I will have one of our drones carry up a rope on the other side of the tower, out of its view. So long as you avoid its gaze while clambering down, it won’t come for you. We just need to avoid using any magic as that’ll pull its attention.’

  ‘That won’t work! I need to bring my equipment, my radio stuff!’ Maxine replied, desperation in her voice.

  Nicolai frowned. ‘Is it so important? We have access to the Trade Link. We can buy you more of whatever you need.’

  ‘Trade Link?’ Nicolai could hear a frown in the woman’s voice. ‘Are you guys Chosen?’ Now her tone was guarded, wary, angry.

  ‘No. We have access to a separate Trade Link.’

  ‘Uh huh.’ She didn’t sound convinced.

  ‘He’s telling the truth,’ said Perro. ‘We’ve nothing to do with them. We just want to help you.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because…’ Perro began, and Nicolai saw the boy frown, thoughtful. ‘Well, you’ve helped us. Helped me. Your words, these past weeks, the music. I don’t know if I would’ve gotten through all this without you.’

  ‘Me, too,’ said Azure, nodding where she sat beside Perro, face distant as she focused on the conversation. ‘We want to help you, ‘cuz you helped us.’

  The others all started chiming in, everyone apparently having listened to Maxine on the radio, everyone wanting to help her. Beth even looked a little emotional as she spoke, saying that while she’d been bedridden she’d spent most her time listening to the radio. Nicolai felt words in the back of his own throat. While I was in the dark, and liable to lose myself, your voice and your music pulled me out from it… He kept the words inside. The Mask wanted him to speak them, but he was unwilling to share such vulnerabilities.

  ‘Okay… well. I’m glad I could help you guys,’ said Maxine. ‘That’s why I do what I do. But the problem is, I didn’t get this stuff from any Trade Link, it was all Quest rewards. I’m pretty sure the Trade Link doesn’t sell this stuff, otherwise the Chosen would have already set up their own locked-down channel. I need to keep broadcasting. You guys understand that, right?’

  ‘Could you lower the equipment down, if we send rope up?’ asked Nicolai.

  ‘These things are bulky. I don’t know, I might be able to but it wouldn’t be easy, it would take time. I’d have to make sure everything was safe, I can’t afford to have this stuff fall and break. If the bird were to sense what was happening and come…’ Her words trailed off. ‘It would be bad.’

  ‘How are you doing for food?’ broke in Daksh. ‘The others said that you’re low.’

  ‘I’ve got nothing but vines. I gave them a nibble a while ago but sadly, they’re not edible.’

  ‘Then you should come down! The radio stuff isn’t as important as your life!’ Perro urged.

  Nicolai looked at the boy askance. In his opinion, the radio stuff was just as important as her life. Like the others, he also found himself to hold a strange fondness for Maxine, or at least her voice. But putting that aside, her presence on the radio and the influence she held as a result were the main reasons he wanted her on the team. ‘No, it’s fine,’ he said quickly. ‘Sustaining seeds are small. We can put a week’s supply on a drone and send it up. Do you have one of the replenishing water bottles, Maxine?’

  ‘I do. Thank you. Sorry Perro, but I can’t leave this stuff. My work is too important.’

  ‘We have to get her out of there!’ Perro hissed at him.

  Nicolai waved the boy’s words away. ‘We will. But not now.’ He gave the bird above a pointed glance. ‘Maxine,’ he began. ‘This is the plan. We will wait until the bird is out of the way. When we find an opportunity, we will work to get you and your things down here, then take you to our safe-place. Hopefully, something happens in the next week that keeps it busy. But if not, I’ll see if I can’t arrange something to draw its attention. Perro will keep listening to you over the radio. If you think the bird is well and truly distracted, start working the phrase, “blue sky above, green jungle below” into your words. This will be a code to inform us the bird is out of the way. Do you understand? I’ll send some rope with the food.’

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  ‘Got it,’ she said.

  Nicolai packed a few sustaining seeds and plastic-weave rope into one of a drone’s compartments. He could feel Perro’s bitterly disappointed look attempting to melt a hole through the side of his head as he did so.

  He turned to meet that gaze. ‘What do you expect me to do here, Perro?’ he asked, making a show of exasperation. ‘Snap my fingers and make the bird vanish?’

  ‘You could at least try and fly up there. Maybe it won’t react,’ said Perro. The boy seemed possessed by an unusual confidence. Why was he so determined to get Maxine out the tower? Why did he care so much?

  ‘It will react,’ Nicolai assured him. ‘It can sense the Aura ripples our Pegasi rings create.’ Perro frown intensified, a little pout forming. Nicolai frowned back, then pulled a Pegasi ring off his finger. ‘If you don’t believe me, why not go test it yourself? You’re a Cultivator now.’ He smiled like an eel, holding the ring out. ‘Go on. Take it.’

  Perro reached out then hesitated a moment, firmed himself and kept reaching only to be grabbed by Azure from the side, catching his hand in her own.

  ‘Don’t.’ She shook her head. ‘He’s right. You’ll just get yourself killed.’ She glared at Nicolai.

  In fact, they all glared at him. He pulled his hand and the ring back, frowning. Even his Mask was glaring at him! What? Nicolai asked the thing on his face. If he wants to go and get himself killed like an idiot, who am I to stop him? His Mask hissed that it was his responsibility, that he needed to look after Perro. He felt a similar kind of judgement in the glares the others were shooting at him, all but Daksh who was just sitting to the side, observing the group dynamic with interest.

  Nicolai chewed at his lip in response to the pressures of his Mask. Had he just attempted a circular method of murdering Perro? No. I just wanted him to understand. The boy would’ve quickly learned that the bird could indeed sense their Pegasi ring’s activation. He’d have been able to get away from it, surely? Nicolai would’ve saved him, if necessary. His Mask eyed him doubtfully.

  It would be a pointless risk to let the boy float up just to trigger the bird, Threat Analysis murmured.

  Nicolai grimaced, feeling pressed on all sides, from within and without. Still the others were all jabbing him with their cold gazes. Perro looked… hurt. Or something like that, Nicolai couldn’t entirely tell. Now the boy was staring at the ground.

  Why had he done that?

  ‘I would have gone with you, of course,’ he attempted.

  ‘You would?’ Perro’s eyes leapt up at him.

  Nicolai worked hard to modulate his expression, affecting surprise as though he’d thought that would have assumed so. ‘Naturally,’ he said, as innocent as he could manage. It’s my job to keep you safe.’ His gaze darted to the others, looking to see whether they believed him. He was pretty sure they didn’t. His Mask was trying to take control of his face and after a brief struggle, Nicolai gave up on restraining it. He didn’t know what to say. Maybe it would.

  The words that emerged did not move through his conscious mind. They came straight from his Mask into his mouth, bypassing him entirely.

  ‘I’m sorry, Perro—all of you. If at times my behaviour is odd. If I seem like I don’t care.’ The words were coming fast. ‘I do care, I care.’ He was staring with real earnestness at them. ‘But you should watch out, because he doesn’t.’ His voice, suddenly frantic, was not under his control. ‘You need to keep an eye on him. You need to get away! You don’t know—‘ Nicolai froze, face twisting. What the fuck are you doing? He grabbed for his Mask and pulled, ripping it almost entirely off his face, eyes flicking between the others as he sunk into a wary silence, something bubbling inside of him.

  Perro gaped at him, they all did.

  ‘Him? Who are you talking about?’ said Azure, her face a screwed-up picture of confusion.

  ‘Ha. Ha. Ha,’ pronounced Nicolai. ‘Just a dumb joke, don’t know why I thought it was funny. Sorry about that. The point is: I care.’ He smiled, holding his Mask at bay lest it alter his expression. He needed to get things moving. ‘Our main focus will be working out a way to test the bird, hunting for a method to distract it.’ He looked to Perro, adopting a determined expression. ‘As soon as we find a way, we’ll get her out of there. All good?’ he extended his fist meaningfully.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Perro, smiling now, bumping Nicolai’s fist.

  Nicolai moved the fist to Azure next, who frowned at him.

  ‘A dumb joke? I’m still confused, what was—‘

  He waved a hand. ‘I got mixed up, that’s all. Happens to everyone.’ He bounced his fist up and down in front of her.

  She rolled her eyes but also bumped it. The others looked confused but that confusion was quickly fading, seeming to accept his words. He’d gotten away with it. We’ll talk about this, he promised grimly to his Mask, which he could feel glaring sullenly up at him.

  A look to the side revealed Beth, staring at him, wearing a big frown.

  ‘What?’ he asked.

  She shook her head. ‘Thought I saw something weird. On your face.’ She peered at him. ‘Huh. Guess not. I dunno.’

  His Mask? Had she seen his Mask? It had crept back into position now, though at least it wasn’t trying to invade his thoughts and control his face. Had it been visible as something separate when he’d pulled it half-off? Could any Cultivator see it?

  ‘Many odd things about this world,’ he said, dredging up another smile.

  They worked to send a drone up to deliver the sustaining seeds to Maxine. In the midst of this Nicolai found a moment of peace away from the others, where he reflected. He felt he was doing an increasingly poor job blending in. His Mask. The dark urges. His own shaky understanding of how to be human. He was a mess. Signs were starting to show. He chewed at his lip. What to do? He didn’t know.

  He shook his head. Just keep moving forwards. Keep working towards growing stronger. Wait for Paxolnaz to turn up with its promised information on the location of the Lizard. Survive. Accrue more resources, improve his stock. All of that, he could do.

  ‘She’s received the sustaining seeds,’ said someone from behind him.

  Nicolai grunted, nodded. ‘Let’s go, then. Back to the safe place.’ It would take some time to deal with the bird. He would be best served by building more funds; rifles and the 7.62 ammunition they used was expensive.

  As they all rose from the stone, there came a sudden rumbling, a faint tremor going through the castle. The trees of the forest rustled, the stones below them groaned, Maxine’s tower above let out a mist of ugly dust and rocked slowly side to side. High above, the bird, feeling the shake, let out a cry.

  The shakes ended quickly, everyone letting out faint sounds of relief.

  ‘Another one,’ murmured Daksh.

  ‘Feels like they’re all the time now,’ added Beth.

  As the others spoke, Nicolai’s ears were perked, and he heard something. An odd rattling noise. Another shake? But there was no movement. His gaze was drawn to a nearby opening into the castle just across from Maxine’s tower, large and dark.

  Light glinted off from insectile chitin within, a rippling sea of movement in the dark, coming quick toward them.