Behind Ren, the guardian blocked the curved-sword woman’s attack. An arrow hit a trunk hard enough to crack the bark.
He slipped into Briarheart Hollow while the other six players tried to kill each other. For once, being ignored felt excellent.
He crossed to the split tree.
Up close, the depression beneath the dead tree was clearly more than a patch of bare ground. Black briars curled around the roots in a rough circle, all of their thorns pointing away from the center. Dark red leaves covered the upper stems.
A few strands of coarse red fur were caught between them. Redjaw had used this place before.
When Ren stepped closer, the system chimed.
The Briar Crown - Stage III
Redjaw’s crown is fed.
The Briar King will return to Briarheart Hollow to complete its evolution.
Before Redjaw is slain:Find Redjaw before the public hunt.Ensure the Briar King reaches Briarheart Hollow alive.
Quest failure: Redjaw is slain before the evolution begins.
Until now, Redjaw had been valuable because everyone wanted him dead. The hidden quest had just reversed that. Two Gold for killing the wolf, or whatever reward came after Rare for keeping Redjaw alive. For once, the obvious money was the wrong answer.
Great. I’m escorting the bounty now.
A body hit the ground behind him.
Ren turned.
The fight had moved down the ridge.
The swordsman was backing away from the curved-sword woman, and not particularly well. Every time he tried to create space, she followed him.
He swung.
She knocked the blade aside and cut across his shoulder.
The guardian moved to help.
An arrow from the longbow player struck the ground directly in front of his boot.
The guardian stopped. The curved sword flashed again. The swordsman got his weapon up too late, and her blade slit his throat.
A second later, he collapsed. His body began dissolving into motes, leaving a pair of gauntlets behind in the grass.
Twenty-four Earth hours outside Pantheon, a level lost, and an item dropped from his inventory.
Horrible death penalty. I’ll stick with not dying.
Five competitors left. Ren approved of the trend.
The archer saw him near the split tree.
"What the fuck. That bastard’s inside!"
The fight paused. All five players turned toward him.
Ren rested his spear against one shoulder.
"Please don’t stop on my account."
The guardian looked from where the swordsman had disappeared to Ren.
"It’s you!"
"Yep. Still me."
The archer raised her bow.
The curved-sword woman immediately shifted sideways so she could watch both groups.
Nobody trusted anyone enough to turn their back.
Reasonable.
Then voices carried through the briars.
"...creek bends north!"
"Spread out!"
"Check the ridge!"
More voices answered.
Close.
The archer lowered her bow. The guardian swore.
The curved-sword woman looked toward the south side of the Hollow. "If they see this place, we’re screwed. Ten minutes and every idiot with a map will be here trying to trigger the quest."
"Truce," the guardian said.
She looked at him.
"You attacked us."
"And I’ll happily do it again later."
Ren nodded.
"Clear terms."
The longbow player pointed toward the split tree.
"What did you find?"
Ren looked at him.
"A reason not to let them in."
They all joined Ren in the Hollow, then moved away from the center and toward the creek before the bounty hunters arrived.
Eight players came through the trees.
Two Guardians. Three other melee fighters. An archer. A Mage. And a Swordsman wielding a spear with a red strip tied beneath the blade.
No matching colors. Just eight people who had decided two Gold was worth making new friends.
The Swordsman saw them first.
"Redjaw?"
"No," the guardian said.
The man’s eyes moved across the blood on their armor.
"What happened?"
The curved-sword woman wiped her blade on the grass.
"Players."
One of the bounty hunters laughed.
"Already?"
"Apparently two Gold accelerates diplomacy," Ren said.
A few of them grinned.
The Swordsman didn’t.
"We found large tracks beside the creek."
"So did we," Ren said.
"Where?"
"South of here. They followed the creek north, then disappeared at the stone bank."
The Swordsman frowned.
Ren pointed back down the creek.
"After that, I found six people with poor conflict-resolution skills and no giant red wolf."
The curved-sword woman glanced at him.
"Five."
Ren looked at the ridge, where the swordsman had dissolved into motes.
"Right. The conflict was partially resolved."
The bow user laughed.
Even the Swordsman almost smiled.
"Anything beyond here?"
"Thick briars," the guardian said. "We checked. Nothing worth bleeding over."
The Swordsman looked past them. For a second, Ren thought he might keep walking. Then one of the other hunters unfolded a rough map.
"If the tracks ended at the bank, it could’ve turned east."
"There’s another charcoal path that way," another said.
Ren had seen it on Mara’s map too.
The curved-sword woman pointed east.
"We heard something large moving through there."
The Swordsman looked between the six of them. Then he took a step forward.
The guardian shifted just enough to stay in front of him.
The Swordsman noticed.
Ren kept his own spear lowered. Six people suddenly acting protective of an empty patch of forest would answer far too many questions.
One of the other bounty hunters tapped the rough map.
"East makes sense."
The Swordsman looked at the guardian one more time. Then he nodded.
"East."
The bounty party moved off.
Ren waited until their voices faded.
The archer immediately raised her bow again.
Ren sighed.
"That lasted."
"Truce’s over."
The curved-sword woman drew her sword halfway.
"Then shoot."
The guardian caught the archer’s arm.
She glared at him.
"What?"
"They’re still close."
The archer looked toward the trees as if distance itself had personally inconvenienced her. Ren understood the feeling.
The longbow player looked at him.
"You got Stage III?"
"Yes."
"So did we."
The guardian nodded once.
"Same."
Good. Six players. Same chain. Same failure condition.
Ren shrugged.
"If any of us starts this again before Redjaw gets here, we’re helping them fail the quest for us."
The curved-sword woman sheathed her weapon.
"Truce extended until Redjaw reaches the Hollow."
The guardian nodded.
"Until then."
The archer lowered her bow with obvious reluctance.
Ren smiled.
"Look at us. Cooperation."
"Don’t make it weird," she said.
"Too late."
A notification appeared.
Everyone stopped.
Ren looked around.
Six players. Same timing.
That answered another question.
The Briar Crown - Stage III Updated
The crown is ready.
Redjaw is returning to Briarheart Hollow.
Find the Briar King before the public hunt reaches him.
For half a second, nobody moved. Then a hunting horn sounded somewhere south of the creek.
Once.
Twice.
A distant shout followed.
"REDJAW!"
The curved-sword woman ran first. Her longbow partner followed. The guardian and his two remaining companions went after them.
Ren ran after them.
The archer looked back.
"Don’t follow us."
Ren kept running.
"We appear to be going to the same wolf."
She faced forward again. They pushed down the ridge toward the creek.
More shouts rose ahead. Then Redjaw roared. Not the low warning Ren had heard before. This one was loud enough to send birds out of the trees.
Someone screamed.
Ren tightened his grip on the spear and smiled despite himself.
He had skipped a safe shift to stay near the front of Pantheon’s launch. Apparently the front was currently running toward a Level Thirteen Rare wolf while trying to save it from half the forest.
Mia had told him to rush. She could have mentioned what toward.