Only after we were out of the pass and back on the road to Danver did Prajio's anger finally simmer. He was royally pissed off from the interaction with Shask and hadn't said anything to me since leaving the wagon. I wasn't about to be the first one to speak, and I was focused on my own feelings anyway.

  Tara needed help. She had been captured and abused because I had left her to rot in her grief and shame alone. My decision to abandon her had been hateful and cruel. I hated Tara. I hated Val. I hated that whole coven of crazies, and most of all, I had hated myself for being na?ve and weak and stupid and helpless.

  When I had shut those heavy doors behind me and left Tara in the dark, I felt a morbid sense of satisfaction. The cruelty was cathartic.

  But it was wrong. I was wrong.

  I couldn't imagine how my wife would react if she knew I had abandoned someone in need. Even if I never saw Elena again, I had to try to remain the man she knew, the man she loved, and that man was a good person.

  I couldn't let Tara continue to suffer. I couldn't let her remain a pet for those Kurskin bastards. I had to save her, but I couldn't do it alone. I had to convince Prajio to help me.

  I knew just what to say to get him on my side. Yes, it meant manipulating him, but he was still the enemy…well, more like an enemy with benefits, but an enemy, nonetheless. So, I only felt a little bad about what I was about to do.

  "Prajio," I said. "Can we sit for a moment? I need to speak with you."

  He looked at me curiously. "Of course, Ethan. Let us rest here." He gestured to a grouping of small boulders.

  After settling onto a flat boulder, I made my play.

  "That girl back there in the wagon, the human. I know her. Her name's Tara."

  His eyes widened, and he leaned forward. "You know her? Is she a friend?"

  I met his eyes and nodded solemnly. "More than that." I let out a breath. "She's family. She's my wife's little sister, Prajio, and I can't leave this mountain without her."

  He looked away, and his tail began to flick back and forth. He was thinking. Eventually, his tail stopped swishing, and he seemed to come to some sort of internal resolution. "You seek my help."

  I couldn't tell if that was a statement or a question.

  "Talk to Shask for me," I said.

  Prajio shook his head. "I know Shask too well. She would never give up the girl, no matter what we offered. If she knew I wanted Tara, it would only make Shask want to hurt her more in hopes that Tara's suffering would upset me."

  "Shask is not like me," Prajio continued, shaking his head. "She would not give the girl up without a fight." He looked at me sadly. "I am not sure I can do this for you, Ethan."

  I was caught off guard by his response. I thought he would be gung-ho for this. "Tara may know where my wife is. Even if she doesn't, she's family. I must save her, but I can't do it alone."

  Prajio stood and began to pace, ignoring me entirely. He was mumbling something to himself like a crazy person.

  I didn't know what to make of his behavior. "Val?"

  'Your scaly friend appears to be having an existential crisis. Remember, Prajio thinks you are a Special NPC. You exist to enhance his game experience, and he expects you to generate more quests for him. The only problem is that outside of wargames and arenas, quests don't typically pit a Player against their own race. Killing one's kind while questing is practically unheard of. To make matters worse, Prajio doesn't have an official quest for it. You are not his friend. You are an NPC, and he is confused by what he believes is a system-driven experience. That's my theory, at least.'

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  That helped put things into perspective. I decided my friend needed another push.

  "No killing," I said. "We can do this just like we did back at the Engineers' Guild. We just need to hurt them enough so that we can take what we need. I've helped you fight my fellow human, and now I'm asking for you to return the favor."

  Prajio stopped pacing and took a deep breath. "This is different. It goes far beyond a simple favor. If I do this for you, I want something in return."

  "Anything," I said.

  "I want to join you in your quest to find your wife. We will save your sister-in-law, and if she does not know where your wife is, we will keep searching. Together."

  A pang of emotion tickled my throat, but I gulped it back down, remembering Val's words. Prajio's altruism wasn't driven by genuine compassion. This was just a game to him.

  Despite knowing this, I still felt dirty deceiving him.

  But it had to be done.

  I smiled a cheeky grin. "What's the plan?"

  ***

  When we reached Benji's stolen wagon, Prajio announced himself and, with full confidence and authority, immediately demanded that they relinquish Tara to him.

  "She is a relative of my companion," Prajio said matter-of-factly. "And, she will be coming with us."

  Shask stepped forward and got into Prajio's face. I was to his right, as planned. The rest of her gang stayed back, but all looked ready for a confrontation.

  "You have no authority over me here, Vrentris. Leave now before I make you leave."

  Prajio spat on the ground and sneered at her.

  That was my cue.

  In our previous encounter, Shask had ignored me outright. I was nothing to her. When her gaze passed over me, she only saw Prajio's pet sitting in the background. I was beneath her and unworthy of attention.

  Well, she should have paid more attention to me.

  I squeezed a small rock I had picked up earlier, activated Devastating Strike, stepped forward, and delivered a triply-enhanced right hook to her temple.

  She collapsed to the ground, and Prajio disappeared into a puff of smoke.

  He reappeared closer to the wagon and jabbed his elbow in the neck of a Kurskin and followed up with a downward punch to his head just for good measure.

  Prajio's amazing teleport ability had brought all the attention on himself, and I took that moment to activate Silent-But-Deadly. I sprinted toward the nearest lizard, who was focused on Prajio. He caught my silent blur in his peripheral vision and turned to me with a confused expression on his about-to-be-punched face.

  My fist took him in the nose or snout or whatever, and without magical forces powering my fist, I think the punch hurt me more than him, but it did knock him off balance, so I tackled him to the ground and mounted him.

  I raised my arm, ready to land another blow, when I felt something curl around my neck. I was yanked to the side, rolling off him. When I got my bearings, I noticed his tail whipping back and forth.

  Not fair.

  I moved into a boxing position, ready to defend myself. The Kurskin closed his eyes and whispered something. His body shimmered with a wave of frost, and in seconds, he was coated from head to toe. Whisps of icy vapor danced across his skin.

  I had never seen anything like this before. It must be some type of magic I didn't know what to do. I was going to die. It was a mistake coming into this with no weapons, but Prajio insisted. I was the one who said 'no killing,' so I had no choice but to agree.

  The frosty Kurskin charged at me, leaving a trail of fog in his wake. I tried to dodge out of the way, but a cold, clawed hand reached out and latched onto my shoulder. The claws dug into me as he pulled me to him. His other hand grasped my throat. His grip was like the icy touch of death as it began to squeeze.

  I kicked at him, but it was like kicking at a wall of ice. He was so heavy, impossible to move. My eyes felt like they were about to burst out of their sockets. My vision was fading. My throat burned.

  Just as the darkness was closing in, I was flung to the ground. I heard shouting and fighting and then nothing.

  I coughed over and over, trying to find my breath again. My throat was on fire, but ice-cold to the touch.

  My vision returned, and I saw Prajio standing above me, his hand outstretched to me. I rolled onto my side and pushed myself up. "I'm okay, I don't need help."

  He tssked. "It does not make you less of a man to accept a helping hand."

  "I don't deserve a hand up," I said as I gestured to the many unconscious Kurskin. "You did this, not me. I was powerless against them."

  "We can discuss your pitiful lack of self-worth later. We must make haste before they recover."

  I got over my awe of Prajio's combat prowess quickly and ran to the back of the wagon, where I found Tara, still unconscious.

  "Grab the other one," I said.

  "What?" Prajio asked.

  "Grab the Dalari."

  "That was not part of the deal, Ethan. Why would we take a Dalari with us? We know nothing of her."

  "They're torturing her," I said. "She is a person, not a toy to be played with. If you're the man I think you are, you'll pick her up right now. If you're not, then I'll just drag them both myself."

  Anger crossed his expression, but it transformed into resolution. He grabbed the still-unconscious Dalari by her feet and threw her over his shoulder.

  We ran away from Lucard Pass as fast as our burdened legs could carry.