By all accounts it seemed like a normal day, if not a lazy one. I was up on the balcony with Enko and Helasia enjoying good times and conversation. The park was doing well, Helasia was off, and even Enko had found some time to take a break. Thinking back, it was a damn near perfect afternoon.

At some point, Helasia wandered to the back side of the balcony facing away from the reserve leaving Enko and I staring out over the trees and the river in the distance.

“I think we should take another trip to one of the ruins again,” she stated casually, “I’ve heard there’s a good site just a few towns over.”

In recent times Enko has taken an interest in the history of her world. Back home on my planet, humans have documented our history in great detail going back thousands of years. It's largely how we’ve passed information on from one generation to the next. An odd detail I’ve found about my new home is that the Mageni don’t seem particularly interested in their own history. Much of it seems to have been lost in time except to maybe the keepers, a group of ancient vampires.

“If we can find the time then let's do it,” I said cheerfully, “maybe someday we can ev...”

“What the hell?” came Helasia’s voice from the back balcony.

Enko and I exchanged odd glances at one another before turning to investigate. As we rounded the corner we saw Helasia staring down at the road moving towards the main entrance. Peeking over the rail we witnessed a strange site.

It was a large procession of different Mageni in open cart carriages being pulled by large horse like creatures. The pack was surrounded on either end with a single orc walking instead of riding. There were four carriages on either end of the convoy that each contained three men and a succubus. Knowing what I do now I believe they were actually succuben, an uncommon subset of the species. Right in the middle was a group of three carriages composed entirely of werewolves with two in the middle cart and four in the others for a total of ten wolves.

“Well that’s something you don’t see everyday,” I offered looking down at the site.

It’s not entirely uncommon for the various species of Mageni to intermingle, but this was a pretty strange site altogether.

“Oh…” Enko started before trailing off, “I… I think that’s… the governor,” she finished still squinting at the middle cart.

Helasia and I shared a look of mutual understanding. I would hope it's pretty well known by now that I despise the slave trade. On the flip side of that, there’s a soft spot in my heart for any Mageni who moves to free their husbands. Enko did it for me a long time ago, and her story has inspired several others to try. Husbands are expensive to buy, they’re also expensive to free. Even still, if a Mageni decides to try she will still have to get the approval of the governor to grant citizenship to the man in question. A similar albeit far simpler process exists for the freeing of human women. The governor is practically famous for denying these requests, even as rare as they are. She is a singular representation of everything I’ve come to hate about the Mageni culture. Helasia knew that.

We continued to watch as the group moved right past the hidden pathway to check-in at the spa. I allowed myself a mild chuckle. Even as powerful as this woman was supposedly, nobody in the know had ever thought to tell them about the other check-in. Clearly, they were here for the reserve, the road they were on didn’t go anywhere else.

Enko and Helasia moved off to the side while I continued to stare venomously at the passing convoy. A thought crawled into my head. I could personally stay here and guarantee I wouldn’t be captured by this group. That was a fate I could hardly stomach, but the runners working in the park for the next few days would have no idea who was here. I felt pretty confident that anyone in the governor's entourage was probably an amateur hunter; they were bureaucrats after all, useless in every dimension I’ve ever been in. I decided I wanted to warn them. As unlikely as it was they would set upon home base, they had the numbers to take a whole swath of runners in one trip if they figured out where we tended to congregate.

Enko and Helasia broke apart suddenly removing me from my trance. Enko rushed up to me with an apologetic look in her eyes. She wanted to go greet our esteemed guest. Even still, I knew if I asked her not to she wouldn’t. The business comes first. I closed my eyes and nodded my approval. She gave me kiss and rushed down the ramp. My eyes turned towards Helasia.

“I know you’re off the clock, but could I get you to escort me to base? I want to spread everyone out if I can.”

As if anticipating this request she simply nodded and started moving. I could probably make it on my own but it’d be just my luck to run into another hunting party before I could get to base to warn everyone. I appreciated her understanding. With that, we too ran down the ramp before heading northeast towards camp.

It felt weird running through the park with a dark hound and not away from one. We didn’t bother to take an indirect route, I wanted to get in, get out, and then get off the reserve. As we approached I took a moment to take in the whole site. Home base had come a long way from the couple of shacks it had once been. Now, multiple houses sprawled through the trees with various bridges connecting them in an intricate web. While there were many ways to get down from the canopy, we only had a single ramp to go up and a couple of counterweights. That way we could funnel predators into a single location but still get off the platform almost anywhere. Years of work had turned it into quite the fortress for the runners.

Of course, such a large population of people in one place brings considerable attention from predators. Indeed, everything that made home base a great place to hang out also made it a target rich environment for predators, although there is safety in numbers… if you’re quick.

I zipped up the ramp and headed towards the largest building that we often used for gatherings to train newbies or exchange stories. I could tell there was a fairly large ensemble of runners inside. Perfect, I can warn a bunch of em at once, they’ll spread the info, and Helasia and I can get gone befo-.

My thought was cut off by a distant but familiar sound I knew all too well. Two high notes and a low, one of the spotters had seen a predator. Fuckin perfect, I thought sarcastically. Everyone was about to scatter before I could warn them not to come back and for what? Had a dark hound found us maybe, or a tigress? I tried to recall what clients I knew were in the park. Knowing my luck it’d be a single predator, but it’d be enough to make everyone scatter before we could talk. Damnit.

As everyone in the building started filing out I flagged a couple of the veterans.

“Large group incoming, stay scattered, spread the word,” I rushed my words out towards them, hoping maybe they’d listen, it was probably the best I was gonna do.

Giving up I turned back towards Helasia who, for her part, had backed into one of the smaller cabins as soon as the alert had gone out. Even off duty, she was out here effectively as a guard. Guards are really supposed to do their best to stay out of sight and out of mind unless they’re needed. Helasia takes her job very seriously. Besides, it wouldn’t be right nor would it look right for everyone to see me, of all people, getting escorted out of camp by a guard during a predator event. I’d probably have to figure my own way out of here back to the spa and our cabin.

I decided to figure out what we were dealing with before making my next move. I approached the railing as a young runner ran by. Before I could see what was over the edge I saw a bolt of light catch him on the shoulder. He turned to me with a look of horror on his face. Based on the color and shape of the what hit him I deduced it was a stamina reduction spell. Not really harmful, but he had about thirty seconds before he’d be so out of breath he wouldn’t be able walk let alone evade. In effect, he was already caught. Sorry dude.

“SPELL SLINGER!” I shouted as loud as I could hoping to alert the others around me.

Then I chanced a peak over the rail. It’s a short list of things that can spell sling like that, but I still didn’t know what I was dealing with. It took me a few moments to process what I was seeing, there was so much movement. People running, things chasing them, spells slinging, the works.

The spell had obviously come from down below. Looking there first I saw three deceptively human looking forms. I recognized their clothes almost immediately as the succubi I had witnessed earlier in the procession of carts. How the hell were they here already I wondered to myself, not that it mattered now. It also crossed my mind that succubi didn’t normally hunt like this, the display was palpable. Then I noticed a group of three werewolves quickly bolting up the one and only ramp into the canopy. FUCK.

Helasia’s cabin was adjacent where the ramp came up. She seemed to know what was going on. The look she gave me betrayed a deep conflict within her. I figured she was offering me a way out, even though she shouldn’t. I shook my head and gave her a fleeting wave, I wasn’t going risk my reputation, let alone hers, it just wouldn’t have been right. There was a single swinging vine in the cabin behind her. She grabbed it, gave me one last look, and then was gone. Too bad the second one wasn’t there.

One of the succubi took note of me and slung another spell my way, but I was already in motion. I turned and ran away from the ramp as the first werewolf cleared it, immediately seeing me and giving chase. Most of the quick escapes had already been used. I decided I needed to head north, there’d almost certainly still be some swinging vines there.

As far as werewolves go, she was pretty slow, fucking bureaucrats, but there’s no such thing as a slow werewolf. My lead was evaporating, quickly. Another runner came charging out of a cabin from my left and collided with me. No doubt he had hoped to find a vine in there just to discover they had been used. As we fell to the floor I took note of his build. I was clearly the faster. I gave him a knowing grin as I stood up far faster than he did and watched the realization fall across his face. Sorry man, but today you’re my salvation. I heard him scream as the first werewolf caught up to him. There were still two more, but I had a much bigger lead on them which meant they had more targets to choose from, it was unlikely they’d come straight for me at this point.

Up ahead I finally saw one, a swinging vine that could get me down to the ground. I was sure there were several more wolves down below, but there were also plenty of runners, I’d be able to pull ahead of the crowd.

I wasn’t twenty feet from the vine when a bolt of light caught me in the back. DAMNIT TO HELL. Thirty seconds I thought. Wait… My gaze shot right to the cabin nearest me. It had a stash in it, including, I hoped, a revitalizing potion. It wouldn’t be a perfect solution, but it would be enough to keep me from collapsing.

I darted into the cabin and almost squealed with joy when I found the desired bottle, downing it and swinging back towards the door like a mad man. Get me out of here. I crossed the threshold and looked left. A runner was coming right at me with a wolf on his tail. The third had apparently caught someone else.

One vine left. I could practically hear him pleading with me, but that was just too bad. You’d do the same to me, I thought as I grabbed the vine and swung down. It was gonna take us forever to get all of the vines set back up again.

Landing on the ground I tried to make sense of my situation. Three wolves up top, and a spell slinger. That meant at most seven wolves and three spell slingers down here, but a lot more runners too. I watched as a small crowd of men took off in various directions into the woods, trying to decide my strategy. Ordinarily I’d rely on my speed, but my current condition prevented that. I opted for a safety in numbers approach and tucked into where most of them seemed to be running to the west. I made it a few hundred feet before I heard wolves entering the forest.

I am not accustomed to being slow compared to the other runners. I’m especially unfamiliar with being the slowest out of a bunch. It became all too evident I wasn’t going outpace anybody, I simply couldn’t keep my breath. I rounded a large tree and dove into a small nook hoping none of the wolves had seen me. I tried to think about other options, simply put, I figured this was my best bet.

The first wolf went whizzing by about thirty feet to my left. She didn’t even stop. Then another went by at about the same place. Then a third came by but even closer. She was bigger than the other two, and looked like a proper hunter by comparison. I held my breath, praying she wouldn’t stop.

Slowing her pace, she tested the air while continuing forward. I allowed myself to relax ever so slightly. Then she stopped. No, no, no, NO. She turned around. Damnit to hell she turned around. I was partially concealed. Please let that be enough... It wasn’t.

Locking onto my scent she scanned the ground before finally catching sight of me. I thought about running, but the spell just simply wouldn’t allow me to do it. I thought about clever ploys to say, but nothing came to mind. In the end, I just sat there as she cautiously strode up beside me.

“Get up,” she said simply.

“I’m not sure I can,” I replied in earnest, “one of your friends got me with that damn stamina spell.”

She looked at me somewhat incredulously, making sure to give me a good once over before getting closer.

“And you made it out this far? No way,” she said flatly.

“Well, whatever happened… here I am.”

She continued to stare at me before finally deciding to pick me up. I decided to try the only idea that came to mind, she seemed like proper hunter, maybe the only one in lot.

“Not a very clean catch,” I started, “didn’t realize werewolves needed to hunt on easy mode.”

Werewolves are somewhat proud of their hunting skills. I figured maybe I could sway her into a more fulfilling pursuit. My comments earned me a grim smile, which I did not expect.

“Look, this isn’t my idea on how to do this, but here you are. Governess wants men, we get her men, it’s as easy as that.”

“You mean she’s not out here herself?” I asked incredulously.

“She’ll come out when she feels like it,” she answered with a shrug, hoisting me to my feet.

I felt defeated. Of every group that had ever been at the reserve, this had to be the one I wanted to avoid the most. I was going to be a toy for the governor of all people. My mind teemed with hate, but I tried to calm myself. I wasn’t done yet, and even if they got me for a night or two I’d be damned if I wasn’t gonna try to get out of this mess.

I could probably still walk, but I wasn’t going to let that fact on, instead choosing to feign complete immobility. It was my hope that maybe I could sneak off before they got us underway back towards the guest quarters. She wrapped me in her arms and carried me back into the camp where the succubi were guarding a group of men. There were seventeen of us in the circle.

It was quiet for several minutes before the two wolves that had bypassed me returned, both sporting another catch. Just how many of us were they planning on bringing back I wondered.

“Hmm,” one of the succubi started, “nineteen to sixteen, a good catch.”

The others nodded in agreement. With that, one stepped forward and began pacing around us. Almost everyone present had been hit with the stamina spell and was mostly immobile.

“We’re going to unfreeze you now,” she started in a stern voice, “but be warned, try to run, and there will be… consequences.”

There was a small chorus of groans from the group. Then, with several waves of the arm, the spell was lifted, and everyone regained their mobility. That was a change for the worse as far as I was concerned. I had hoped to be the only one partially mobile. It would have been easier to sneak away. With everyone on their feet, well, our captors were sure to be on high alert.

One of the less experienced runners took this as a cue to try running into the forest again. Fool. A singular bolt struck him in the back while one of the wolves casually walked after him. A moment later she emerged from the tree line carrying her prize.

“Don’t worry, I’m gonna carry you all the way back with us,” she said audibly before whispering something in his ear.

Even at a distance I could see him shudder at whatever she had said to him. At least there were more of us than them, that probably meant an okay night. As rich as the governor was, I might even score a good breakfast. So long as I didn’t get paired with the governor herself I figured I could keep my cool.

The trek back felt long, but not nearly long enough. I honestly figured, given the clientele, that they had rented several of the nicer cabins. Instead, they had opted for a large cave, which I found surprising. It was the newest addition at the reserve. I knew Enko had spent quite a few resources having it constructed. Even still, I would have thought these paper pushers would demand something nicer.

I had never been in this cave, new as it was. As we crossed the threshold several things became apparent. The first was that the area had several heavy enchantments, including air conditioning and hot running water. Ah, I thought, explains that.

The main entrance was deceptively small for how large the main cavern was. The back of the cave seemed to sport three different hallway like extensions that I wagered led into private rooms. There was an enchanted cabinet that could keep goods fresh, two private shower stalls, and several holes cut into the ground that appeared to serve as pseudo bed chambers. All in all it was quite the impressive spread. Enko had really outdone herself with this one.

One of the orcs was standing by one of the halls in the back while the other one appeared to be unloading supplies. I personally don’t care much for orcs. I had a bad experience shortly after arriving on this plane. Most of my experiences with them since that haven’t swayed my opinion much. They tend to be brutish and unsympathetic. Some people think arachne are sadists, I’d take a dozen arachne over an orc any day.

Not the governor, not an orc, I thought. I could live with damn near anything, but please not that. With any luck, I’d figure out a way to sneak out of here once things settled down some.

One of the back pits already had a group of men. From the look of their clothes I wagered they were the husbands I had seen in the cart previously. They seemed to be having a good time talking and cracking jokes.

Twelve husbands, nineteen runners, sixteen Mageni, I thought while running some math in my head. Thirty-one to sixteen? Darn near two to one. Normally I wouldn’t get those kinda odds on the best of nights, this could be an easy internment I dared to hope.

Upon our arrival we were lined up as one of the men from the back stood up out of the pit and approached us. He had a conceited and arrogant demeanor that didn’t sit well with me. His appearance seemed weasel like with squinty, judging eyes and an upturned nose. His physical stature was somewhat large for a typical man in this realm, but he was still a bit smaller than myself. He continued to approach us. Even his walk seemed condescending. In short, I sincerely doubted I was going to like this man.

“Line up!” he demanded in a sharp, nasal voice.

We complied with his demand, except for the man still being carried by the wolf. I listened disinterestedly, waiting for him to speak.

“I am the governess’s first husband,” he stated rather proudly, giving pause to emphasize the point. “You lot are here to give her eminence and entourage a pleasant week.”

I cringed slightly at the thought of being here for a week. Fuck that.

“My lady is a very busy women, you should feel honored to be granted time with her at all, and I expect you to show her that gratitude,” the first prick continued.

Unamused as I was, I was also the only free man in the group. The rest of the men were getting quite anxious at the words of this man. I tried to match their expressions so as not to stick out too much.

“Now then, my lady is about to pick from you lot for her first night. Be good for her, she deserves the best that can be had.”

I found this man utterly intolerable. I knew I should just keep my mouth shut, but I couldn’t help myself.

“Nothing but the best huh,” I started dryly, “had to come all this way just to find a good lay.”

He stared at me incredulously for a moment. He drew a breath to speak but I doubled down and continued my tirade before he could get a word in.

“These poor Mageni, all these husbands and they still gotta come here to have a good time. Guess its up to us, boys,” I said turning down the line eliciting a couple of chuckles.

Oh, he was red. A stern finger came up to make a point. He drew in a sharp breath and was about to lay into me when the door behind the orc opened. He turned sharply before looking back to me with a knowing grin. He stepped away as a well postured werewolf emerged from the hall.

Posture aside, the thing I found the most interesting was that the governor was so… average, for a werewolf. She was undoubtedly the alpha of this pack, but considerably smaller than several of the other members. That was somewhat unusual.

She strode into the large space and paced up and down the line of us. I felt a hot anger creeping up my spine, but did my best to conceal it. She appeared to be feeling us out, deciding who to take with her. It occurred to me I was among the largest of the bunch and stood out somewhat. Please not me.

On her second pass she stopped in front of me. I had averted my gaze downward but chanced a look up to see if she was focused on me. We locked eyes for a moment and I almost flinched my nose in anger. That would have been a mistake. The look in her eyes was so… arrogant. I felt justified in my disdain for this woman all over again.

After taking another moment to regard me she continued down the line to my right. Scrutinizing several more of the men. A moment later, she raised an arm pointing two fingers at two men.

“These two,” she stated simply.

“Very well,” the first husband said compliantly, “you two, with me.”

The four of them disappeared back into the chamber. I was visibly relieved. Several of the other men seemed to share in my relief.

With the governor and the first husband removed, the mood in the rest of the chamber changed quickly. Most of the remaining wolves surrounded us, dividing us into groups. The succubi and one of the orcs joined in shortly after. It wasn’t long before every one of us was placed into a group. To my relief, I was claimed by a group of three wolves and five other men, two of which were from the husbands. I was somewhat surprised to see the larger wolf that had caught me and one of the orcs bow out of ensuing orgy. Instead, they opted to guard the mouth of the cave. Damn, I wasn’t going to be able to just slip out.

Two men to each werewolf is damn good odds for a runner. I’ve been the only man in a group of six before, but even one on one can be brutal at times. Given the clientele, I figured this just might be the easiest night I’ve had in a long time.

I practically laughed about three hours into the session. All three wolves in my group seemed to be satiated and giddy, stretching out onto the floor. Sex with a werewolf is intense, but most runners at the reserve are quite used to it by now. These three had to be among the shortest lasting any of us had seen in a long time. The runners in our group shared a knowing grin as even the husbands seemed to be somewhat tired from the session. Amateurs.

The love making had been simple. These three really seemed to like having a man on either side of them sucking one while fucking the other. Occasionally they would pin one of us down to ride while making another fondle and caress them. The ratio of men to Mageni meant we weren’t getting passed around a whole lot, and we certainly didn’t need to completely satiate any of them. I was right, it had been one of the easiest nights I’ve had at the reserve.

I glanced longingly at the cave exit, formulating a plan. The orc and the werewolf were still guarding it of course, but I had some ideas. I glanced down at the wolf who had been using me most recently. Like the rest, she seemed to be winding down. I caught her attention and motioned towards the exit.

“Mind if I grab some air?”

She gave me a lazy wave before stretching out on the ground, seemingly drunk in ecstasy. As I stood up I caught the eye of another runner who gave me look indicating he knew what I was up to. His expression told me he expected me to fail. I gave him a shrug to indicate it couldn’t hurt to try eliciting a soft chuckle and shake of his head.

Walking towards the exit I passed a couple more of the pits which each had a similar orgy going on. All but a couple of the wolves seemed to be winding down too. It was practically pathetic.

My approach caught the attention of the orc guarding the door. She moved to block my exit without saying a word.

“Just getting some air, she said it would be okay,” I tried to say as softly and submissively as I could while gesturing back to the wolf that had let me go.

For her part, the orc looked over to the orgy pit I had come from before exhaling sharply and shaking her head back and forth.

“No,” she stated flatly.

“I just want some air, please? You can watch me the whole time,” I offered, trying hard to sell this.

She looked down at me almost angrily before shaking her head. I think she was about to make a move against me when a welcome interruption came.

“Care for a walk?” said a bored sounding voice from behind her.

I peered around the orc’s large form to see the same large werewolf who had caught me earlier in the day.

“Sounds wonderful,” I offered, still trying to sound pathetic.

“It’s fine,” she said to the orc, “I’ll take him, need some time away from here anyway.”

With that, I walked sheepishly by the orc before walking to the wolf, averting my gaze downward in a submissive gesture.

“Thank you,” I offered softly.

“Come on,” she said with a sigh as we left the cave.

As I looked back into the cave one last time I locked eyes with the runner I had left in the pit. I gave him a wink and a grin before turning back to my escort.

Our walk was actually quite pleasant. The evening air was crisp and the temperature was perfect. My escorts name was Linara, she was apparently the second in charge of the wolf pack. Her size and senses indicated to me she could easily be an alpha, but that wouldn’t be appropriate in the governor’s pack.

The first several minutes we walked arm in arm. It was her method of keeping control over me, not that I’d have stood half a chance of outrunning her anyway. I did everything in my power to sell the idea that I was thankful for the walk and that abusing her trust was far out of mind. It was an easy sell because it was true, and it would be right up until the moment I made my move. It wasn’t long before she trusted me enough to simply walk side by side. I decided to build some more rapport with her and investigated the evening from her perspective.

“So, if I may… why aren’t you participating tonight?” I asked tactfully.

At that, she glanced up into the night sky and let out a soft sigh. An ironic grin crossed her face.

“I suppose the thrill for me is in the hunt, and this wasn’t a very good hunt,” she offered.

“You captured more runners than any group I’ve ever seen,” I returned, curious.

“Sure,” she said, trailing off for a moment, “but we were told where to go, and using the stamina spells just doesn’t seem like good sport to me.”

In that regard, we agreed. Mixed groups do sometimes hunt at the reserve, but we can tailor the experience to make it more difficult in that case. Combining spell slingers with werewolves is a powerful combination. Further, knowing where to go to find home base just made the whole exercise comically easy.

“Somebody told you about home base?” I enquired.

She simply nodded. Answers how they found us so quickly.

“Well, you’re here all week, surly you’ll have time to hunt properly,” I offered sympathetically.

For that, she returned a solemn sigh with a matching disposition.

“I don’t think there’s any challenge out here for me.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I’ve been on the front lines, with the wild humans. They have a much stronger drive to evade us. There’s nothing quite like hunting a raiding party that’s come into our territory.”

“We’ve got plenty of elusive runners out here.”

“I was hoping so, but I’m convinced otherwise now.”

“How?” I asked genuinely curious.

“You,” she stated simply, stopping to look at me.

I looked at her somewhat confused. My expression convinced her to continue.

“At check-in I found the tunic rentals. The most expensive one caught my eye and I asked about it. It’s supposed to be the trickiest runner in the reserve and I managed to catch a whiff of it before we set out. Imagine my surprise when I caught that same scent in the woods leading to you, hiding behind a tree, like it’s a proper way to hide from a wolf.”

She looked at me strangely, and I looked back at her. I felt a bit ashamed for failing to live up to my reputation, but there were prevailing circumstances.

“Well, in my defense I was hit with that stamina spell,” I started, trying not to sound defensive.

“Oh please,” she rolled her eyes, “There’s no way you could have made it that far into the woods after getting hit. Besides, you could still move, even I could tell that. I mean honestly, does hiding like that actually work? The werewolves you get out here must be pathetically out of touch with their senses.”

“Like the ones that ran right by me before you showed up?” I chided playfully.

She smiled at that before looking out over the river. A knowing grin plastered plainly on her face.

“Yeah, well, what do you expect from a bureaucrat?”

Her comment elicited a soft chuckle from me as well. I let the moment continue, standing beside her as we looked out over the water.

“Really,” I started, “I got hit by a spell, I just happened to find a stamina potion to keep me going a little longer. But there was no way I could keep up with the others, I wagered maybe you were all, uh, bureaucrats… Guess I was wrong,” I finished while casting her an approving glance.

She took a moment to ponder that before tilting her head and staring up at the night sky.

“Hmm,” she started, “well that’s a shame, guess I’ll never know what it’s like to actually hunt you then.”

“Always next time,” I offered.

She looked like she was about to say something but looking down river she caught sight of the zipline in the distance. She obviously couldn’t figure out what it was because she looked to me with a puzzled expression.

“What’s that?”

I looked down towards the line and allowed myself a subtle grin. It was all coming together.

“Oh, that’s a decoration we put out here for the guests. It’s gotta be activated though. Wanna see?”

“What’s it do?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“Well, that’s kinda tough to explain. It’d be easier to show you.”

I obviously had tried too hard to sell the idea, she cast me a look that indicated suspicion.

“Or not,” I added quickly with a shrug.

She took a moment to ponder some more before looking back at me with a shrug and a scowl.

“Sure, why not. I’m not ready to go back anyway.”

We walked down past the bridge and to the line. I approached carefully with a subtle lead on Linara. If I could leap onto the trolley I’d be home free. There was a stash on the far side that should have descenting potions. I’d be well on my way in just a few mor… damn, the trolley was on the far side. I quickly formulated another plan.

Enko has been working on her enchanting recently. Enchantresses are quite rare, and they charge a considerable sum for their services. Enko has been picking up on how to do some of the basics and as practice I’ve had her enchant a few items like pulleys and, in this case, the zipline.

I walked up onto the small dock and placed my hand on the wood mount in a particular section. The trolley started to come back across the river. Linara was watching me closely, suspiciously.

“Lets see if we have any fish tonight,” I said stepping off the dock again, trying to pull her further from it while the trolley returned.

I grabbed her hand and led her behind the dock and indicated out towards the bridge on our left.

“Alright, now just watch,” I said in a mysterious manner.

Confused as she was, she followed my cues and cast her attention towards the bridge where precisely nothing was about to happen. When the trolley had been returned I cast a disappointed expression.

“Uhh, well that’s not right,” I said, frowning, “may I?” I gestured back towards the dock letting go of her hand.

For her part, Linara just stood there confused, allowing me to put about fifteen feet of distance between us. I was right at the edge of the dock when I turned around to address her.

“OH!,” I exclaimed excitedly, “man do I have a treat for you.”

She looked at me still confused.

“What kind of treat?” she asked trying to grasp the situation.

“Well Linara,” I said casting my eyes down to her feet, “I’m gonna give you a challenge.”

Before she could finish processing my words I turned and bolted up the dock. I have to admit, her reaction time was even better than I had anticipated, but I left nothing to chance. I simply had too much of lead.

My body flung out over the water and zipped down the line. I heard the distinctive sound of claws on wood as Linara clambered onto the dock. I heard a shrill howl come from behind me. I wasn’t sure if she was more excited or pissed. The exacerbated shriek that followed answered my question. She’s pissed. Well, you did want a challenge I thought.

I hit the far side and continued into the woods. A short run later I entered a small clearing that contained a dead drop full of supplies. I noted a campfire was active as I ran up to the space. Moron, I thought, it’s not even that cold.

Bursting through the woods I gave the runner sitting by the fire quite the scare. He recovered quickly once he realized who I was.

“Descent, now… and swap tunics with me,” I added quickly.

He looked at me confusedly while producing two descenting potions, one for each of us. The potion would mask our scents for the next hour or so, I could tell he wasn’t sure why I’d want to swap tunics. In truth, the potions don’t do anything for whatever is on the tunic itself. That said, most of the time that’s enough. However, Linara had already proven her sense of smell was exceptional, even amongst wolves. I did NOT want to get captured again, there was just no way that could go well for me.

He continued to resist the idea of swapping tunics. He probably didn’t like the idea of having my scent on him for whatever was coming this way.

“Dude, she won’t be after you… please,” I said quickly.

Anyone else might have had a hard time getting a runner to intentionally paint a target on their back, but I have a reputation as being fair to the runners I outmaneuver. He had to know I wouldn’t intentionally get him caught this way. I was pretty sure Linara would forfeit him if she did manage to catch him, which I felt was still unlikely. She wanted me, plain and simple.

We swapped tunics and took off in different directions. He headed east towards home base. That would be a mistake in my mind, but he was free to make his own decisions. As for me, I already settled on heading north. I’ve made a great little hideaway for myself that a lot of the other runners don’t even know about. It had crossed my mind to try and just get out of the park, but now that other runners had seen me already captured, that just wouldn’t be right. I’d have to play the game, and I’d have to play it right.

I made good time getting to the treehouse. Running up to the counterweighted pulley I kicked the hook holding it in place and zipped up to the platform. Stepping off I decided I should take stock of what food I had stashed away. A week was a long time to hold, and I was sure I’d need food before the time was up. More distressing, I was probably going to need more descenting potions if I was gonna make a food run. One problem at a time I guess.

Before I could open the stash I caught sight of a strange bottle with a note underneath it. It took me a moment to realize what it was. Years ago, when I had first come up with the descenting potions, the initial formula I had crafted had been all too effective. It lasted for days, sometimes longer. This was the bottle I had originally used to package it. The note underneath it confirmed my suspicions. It simply read: Love, Helasia.

She must have figured I’d find a way to escape and that I’d likely run to here. It was almost eerie how well she knew me, but thank goodness for that I guess. I downed the potion and retrieved what little rations I had in the stash.

Feeling much more relieved, I settled down onto the floor to enjoy my meal before turning in for the night. It was gonna be a long week, but at least I was in a pretty good spot to get through it. Before nodding off I noted I could occasionally hear a wolf’s howl in the distance. The thought of how the governor must look when she learned she had lost one of her prizes brought a smile to my face. In the end, it had been a good day.

TO BE CONTINUED