At daybreak, Ike headed out. He flashed his badge at the gate, and the guards didn’t look twice. Following the path from the day before, he found his way back to the Salamander’s pit. Sandra’s axe sat beside the body where he’d left it. Hefting the axe, Ike chopped another segment off the Salamander’s body and strapped it to him.

Two trips. Three. His pockets grew heavier, and the Salamander’s body grew smaller. On his fourth trip out to retrieve the Salamander’s tail, a ratty-looking man followed him.Ike turned, expecting to leave the man behind at some point, but the man persisted, sticking close.

Ike turned. “Can I help you?”

The ratty man grinned. “You’re going to.”

Stopping, Ike looked at the man. The man looked at Ike.

“Why are you following me?”

“Hard to say.”

“Are you trying to steal the Salamander’s corpse?”

The ratty man waved his hand. “What? No. Me? Never.”

Ike narrowed his eyes. All around him in the forest, branches snapped and leaves crackled. His gaze flickered from tree to tree. The man wasn’t alone.

“But you know, if you have a big corpse that can’t be carried alone, I wouldn’t mind helping for a small fee.”

Ike snorted under his breath. The man had no idea how much of Salamander remained—but that was to Ike’s benefit. If they knew only one piece remained, they would’ve jumped him for his coin instead. Not attacking him here meant the bandits thought the body was worth more than what he’d already sold off.

If they made it to the body, the bandits would attack. Ike knew that for sure. At that point, he would no longer have any cards to play, and they’d have no reason not to rob him, too. He absolutely could not lead them to the corpse.

“We should get moving. You don’t want to be caught out in the wilds after dark. Nasty things come out to play,” the ratty man said earnestly.

“Of course.” Ike set off again, but upped his pace, jogging along the path.

The ratty man followed without breaking a sweat. The crackling in the trees fell back. Ike caught glimpses of the other bandits as they ran from tree to tree, struggling to keep up and remain out of sight.

Ike stretched his long legs. The ratty man kept pace. Faster, pushing himself to the limits of his distance pace.

The bandits around them ran all-out, giving up on hiding behind trees. Sweat rolled down the ratty man’s forehead, but he scoffed. “Trying to shake me, kid? Gonna have to go faster than that.”

“Okay,” Ike said, and activated Lightning Dash.

Lightning flashed around his ankles. The purple mist rose up around his feet. He burst off down the path. Leaves and debris flew up behind him, smacking the ratty man in the face. The ratty man spluttered, battering the dust out of his face.

Growling, the ratty man chased after Ike. He kicked off the ground with each step, using all his strength to chase after Ike. Despite his best efforts, he grew smaller and smaller behind Ike. At last, Ike could no longer see him at all.

Ike slowed, releasing his skill. His feet stumbled to a halt. He’d lost the bandits, but for how long? The bandits could still steal his gold and his Salamander tail. There was only one gate. All they had to do was lie in wait for Ike to return, laden down by the weight of the tail, then jump the tired and weighed-down version of him.

He pursed his lips, jogging on through the forest. He lacked the gear to camp out properly, something I should fix. He bit his lip, then shook his head. Regretting it now wouldn’t fix anything.

He could turn back without the tail, but the Salamander’s body wouldn’t last much longer. Lea had nearly refused the previous slice. He could fetch the tail, then double back around the bandits, but the tail would slow him down, and the bandits doubtlessly knew the forest better than him. They’d know all the bottlenecks and tight passes. He didn’t even know what to avoid.

Turning, Ike climbed to the top of a nearby hill. The wall crawled up and down the course of the land below him. Blocks of gray stone formed a wall ten, twenty feet tall. Ike gazed at it thoughtfully. Tracking his eyes up the stones, he smiled.

Branches cracked nearby. Ike startled and ran, racing toward the Salamander. 

Ike checked over his shoulder as he reached the pits. No strange sounds came from the forest, nor had he seen any sign of his pursuers for nearly half an hour. He dropped into the pit and crossed the sandy stepping stones toward the central pool.

The final piece of the Salamander sat on the pool’s edge, its tail waiting for someone to pick it up. Ike curled the tail up as best he could and strapped it to his back. Jumping in place, he made sure it sat as securely as it could on his shoulders.

Rather than follow the same path home, Ike beelined toward the wall. He checked the Salamander’s tail one last time, then set his hands into the cracks in the stone and hauled himself upward. One hand at a time, setting his feet into the cracks and pushing.

Halfway up, his hand slipped. Ike dropped, his heart in his throat. Lightning flickered around his hands. As he fell, he jabbed his hand into the mortar. The Lightning Grasp pierced through the softer mortar, and he caught a grip on the stone once more.

He lifted his foot. Lightning flickered around it, as well, and he set it into the gaps between the stone. He made short work of the wall with both techniques active. At the top, he hopped up onto the wall and turned around, meaning to climb down.

An invisible wall pushed hard into his back. Ike bounced off. He pitched forward, almost tumbling into the forest on the other side.

“Wha—” He spun around on his toes, and barely managed to kill his momentum before he fell off. Balancing on the wall, he reached his hand forward.

No wall, invisible or otherwise.

Could it be? Ike reached behind his back and grabbed the very tip of the Salamander’s tail. He pushed it toward the wall.

Gold sparkles barred the tail’s progress past the wall. Ike reached his hand forward, past the sparkles. He moved through unimpeded. Curious, he slid his hand toward the Salamander’s tail. Resistance built up as he grew closer to the tail. The air completely solidified around the tail, a solid wall right around it. Ike moved the tail-tip around, but the sparkles moved with it. No matter what he tried, he couldn’t push the Salamdander’s tail past the midpoint of the wall. 

Ike looked up, imagining the gold sparkles arcing high into the sky. In his mind’s eye, he saw the gold shield he’d seen protecting the undercity that night, when he’d run with the orb and the mages had battled overhead. The orb lit up, sloughing off black ink.

It’s the same kind of wall…no, when it’s magical, it’s…a barrier? Entranced, he waved his hand back and forth over the boundary. No resistance, until he moved toward the tail. How odd.

He turned his head and looked along the length of the wall. The wall was about a half-pace’s width. The stones had fallen out of the wall here and there, leaving jagged gaps in the stonework along the top. Ike eyed the gaps, then the wall, and nodded to himself. Turning his body carefully, he set off at a walk along the wall’s top. Occasionally, the tail brushed the barrier and bounced back, but the force of the bounce wasn’t enough to dislodge him.

It wasn’t ideal, since he was still on this side of the wall, but it was better than forging a path through the woods at the mercy of the bandits. Ike kept an eye on the forest. His elevation made him easier to see, but it also allowed him to see further into the forest.

For a long time, Ike walked in peace. The sunlight beamed down on him. Trees rustled in the light breeze. His hair ruffled in the breeze. He took a deep breath, enjoying the clear air on the far side of the wall.

No one to yell at him. No one to pile on more work. No one to hit him or berate him. Just the sun, the wind, and the Salamander’s tail on his back.

He hopped over a gap and paused, staring out at the wilderness. Untamed forest stretched to the horizon. Foothills rolled up to enormous mountains in the distance, where bitter stone peaks pierced the sky. Nothing but wilderness, as far as the eye could see.

He turned the other way. The wall circled the base of a large foothill. The slums sprawled down the lower hill. Over the slums, the undercity stood proud. Stone towers reached for the overcity, but fell short of the floating crown overhead. The overcity glittered, all gold and ivory. Today, it laid in a hush. Only a few people floated about its spires today. They looked no larger than insects. Tiny glittering bugs, so small, so distant from him.

Again, the urge welled up in him to walk away. Leave it all behind, and never come back. Forget his uncle, forget his troubles. Set off into the forest and never come back.

Again, he repressed it. Not yet. The bandits were the most clear evidence of his lack of preparation. He knew too little about the wilds, and wasn’t strong enough yet to ignore his knowledge gaps. More strength, more gear, more preparation, and then he’d set off forever and never look back.

He tapped his pouch. Pay his uncle back first, then figure out his next steps. If I know anything about my uncle, it’s that he won’t forgive a single missing copper. If I vanish, he’ll find me, no matter where I go. I need to pay him back to sever my ties with him.

Something moved in the forest. Ike squinted through the trees. Dark bodies wove between the tree trunks, rapidly closing in on him. The bandits!

Ike took off at a run. He glanced over his shoulder, only to find the dark forms following him. They were humanoid, but somehow wrong. Pale, slender limbs flashed from beneath tattered robes, and deep hoods completely hid their faces. They glided over the woods without even rustling the underbrush. Ike glanced over his shoulder, fear creeping up his spine. Those aren’t the bandits. What are they?

Ike sped up, hurtling along the wall. The dark shapes silently chased, ever so slowly closing in on him.

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