I nodded, then walked over to where Kristi sat hunched beside her Strand Glider. She hadn't moved from her position since the Lynx disappeared, still trembling and muttering fragmented apologies under her breath. Her golden eyes were wide and unfocused, pupils dilated with shock.

"Kristi," I said gently, crouching down beside her. "Hey. Look at me."

She blinked slowly, her gaze focusing on my face with obvious effort. "I'm sorry," she whispered for what had to be the hundredth time. "I'm so sorry, Alec. I didn't want to—she made me—"

"I know," I cut her off. "You did what you had to do. No one's blaming you."

That wasn't entirely true. I was still processing my own anger about being quest-bound, but Kristi looked fragile enough to shatter if I pushed her right now.

"Can you open your glider's cargo compartment?" I asked. "We need to get everyone back to town."

She nodded mutely, pulling out her key fob with shaking hands. The rear section of the sleek vehicle hissed open, revealing a spacious trunk area with fold-down passenger seats.

"Perfect," I said, then called over to the others. "Candace, Adler—help get that bike in."

Adler's partially-intact bike was a mangled mess of twisted metal and cracked magisteel plating, but it was still recognizably a vehicle rather than abstract art that the others resembled. The three of us worked together to strip off the damaged armor plating and defensive shields, leaving just the core frame and engine block, loading everything into Kristi's car piece by piece.

"This is gonna be tight," Adler muttered.

"Stop whinin' and lift," Candace shot back, her dark whiskers fluttering with exertion as she helped guide the rear wheel into the cargo space.

It took some creative engineering and a lot of grunting, but we managed to slide the bike into the glider's expanded cargo area.

There were only two passenger seats remaining at the front.

"Kristi," I turned to the raptor. "Are you okay to fly your Glider?"

"Yes," she answered with a weary expression. "It has autopilot mode. Uhm? To… where?"

"Take Bark and Tequila to Iona," I said. "Then head home and get some rest. Okay?"

She nodded, mechanically. "Yes. I can... I can drop them at Iona first. Then… go home." Her voice was flat.

"Good." I turned to Tequila and Bark-n-Bite. "Get them loaded up."

Bark was still unconscious but breathing steadily, the healing potions having stabilized her condition. Tequila and Candace carefully lifted her between them, settling her across the fold-down seats in the glider's passenger compartment. Tequila climbed in beside her unconscious packmate, cradling Bark's head in her lap.

"Thanks for this," Tequila said quietly, her earlier defiance replaced by exhaustion. "I know we ain't exactly been friendly to you, but... Really. Thanks."

"Don't mention it," I replied.

Kristi slid into the pilot's seat, her movements still stiff. The glider's engines hummed to life with a soft blue glow, the anti-grav systems lifting the overloaded vehicle off the ground with a subtle vibration.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?" she asked, not quite meeting my eyes. "At school? If... if you still want to hang out with me after what I did."

"Yes. I'll see you tomorrow," I confirmed. "It's just a Quest, Kris, don't worry so much about it."

"Just a Quest," she nodded with a look of a shell-shocked World War One soldier. "Just… a Quest from the Butcher of Delvers."

The glider rose smoothly into the night sky, its navigation lights blinking as it banked toward the south. I watched until it disappeared beyond the treeline, then turned back to my own transportation situation.

"Come on," I said, leading Adler, Turbo and Candace toward my ancient Pontiac. "Let's get out of here before something else tries to kill us."

Candace helped Adler into the back seat, where the cheetah immediately curled up into a ball, her spotted fur matted with dried blood and dirt. Turbo sat next to her captain. The fox then claimed the shotgun seat, sliding in beside me with a contented sigh.

"You're a quality Alpha," she said with a soft smile. "That was… effective management."

I glanced at her as the Tempest rumbled to life. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Definitely." Candace's tail swished against the seat as she settled in, and I could hear a faint purring sound coming from her throat. "I've never had a male Alpha before. This is all kinds of exciting."

"Don't get too excited," I muttered, putting the car in gear. "I have no idea what I'm doing."

"None of us do," Adler mumbled from the back seat.

"That's what makes it fun," Candace added. "Addie winged it most of the time. It's how we ended up very drunk and… you know."

"Uh-huh," I said.

Candace kept up a steady stream of chatter as I drove us back to Ferguson, apparently immune to the late hour and recent trauma. She told me about the Superstore dungeon, about the various delving teams they'd encountered, about the politics of free-range pradavarian packs roaming the Western Reaches, about them camping below the violet stars and living on the road for four months. Her voice had a musical quality that for some reason reminded me of Nessy's. Though in the current moment where Nessy's songs carried emotional weight, Candace's words seemed designed to fill silence.

"You're not listening," she said after a few minutes.

"I'm listening," I lied.

"No, you're not. You're thinking about stuff," she said. "Whatcha thinking about?"

"A girl," I said.

"A girl, huh?" Candace leaned closer. "What's her name?"

"Nessy," I said.

"Ah," Candace fell silent, seemingly processing my statement.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The lights of Ferguson's outer barrier came into view ahead of us, the towering obelisks glowing with protective runes against the night sky. I could see the checkpoint ahead.

"Shit," I muttered, slowing down. "Are you three going to have issues being let back in?"

"Don't worry about it," Candace said. "I've got everyone's student IDs and passports. They have us in the city's database. We're all residents. They'll recognize us. Don't fret. Unbind wallet from nullspace!"

A large wallet manifested in her hand out of nowhere.

A large German Shepherd in a sergeant's uniform approached as I rolled down my window.

"Evening," he said, his tone professional but wary. "Identification and purpose of visit to Ferguson?"

I handed over my license while Candace produced everyone's student IDs and passports from the leather wallet. The sergeant's eyes widened slightly as he recognized her.

"Miss… Candace Rhinehart?" he choked.

"Mhmmm," Candace purred.

"You… don't look like your ID," he added, glancing at the picture in her passport.

"I've been on a recovery vacay," Candace chattered. "Got too over-stressed in Advanced Delving, you know how it is. Got my darling human to pick me up. We ran into Addie and Terry on our way here—and what do you know, they gave up on that naughty biker gang biz!"

The dog squinted at the fox, his nose twitching as he processed conflicting scents and information. Recognition warred with confusion across his weathered features.

"Miss Rhinehart," he said slowly, "your parents reported you missing four months ago. There's been a city-wide search—"

"Oh," Candace waved dismissively. "I was perfectly safe on my vacay. Just had to get away for a bit!"

The sergeant's expression remained skeptical, but he gestured for another guard to approach—a bloodhound who immediately began circling our car, nose working overtime.

"Ma'am, we'll need to verify your identity with a truth rune," the sergeant said, producing a glowing crystal from his belt.

"Of course," Candace replied smoothly, extending her paw toward the crystal that projected the Truth rune. The rune flared to life, casting light across her face. "I am Candace Rhinehart, Prima of Rhinehart Estate. This human, Alec Foster, offered to drive me back to my hometown, because I was attacked by the Magnetic Lynx and my vehicle was destroyed."

The rune flashed green. The guard's faces grew long.

"And the cheetah and lynx in the back seat?" The sergeant's partner had moved to examine Adler, who was pretending to be asleep.

"That's Adler Silvertail and Terry Lexington," Candace continued. "Former leader and delver of a motorcycle gang who has disbanded said organization and declared this lovely human as their new Alpha."

The crystal flickered slightly but still projected green glow.

"What?" The guard blinked. "Why would they declare this low level human as Alpha?!"

"They chose this human as their Alpha because he helped them out," Candace said. "See how they're bandaged up? They've met with a terrible, life changing fate about an hour ago."

"What terrible fate?"

"The Butcher of Delvers destroyed their bikes, artifacts, armor and weapons," Candace explained.

"You've... really met her and lived?!" the guard asked.

"Yes," Candace nodded.

"Slayer," the German Shepherd let out.

The bloodhound finished his circuit and returned to his partner, shaking his head. "No contraband, no dungeon artifacts, no weapons, explosive residue. They smell like blood and motor oil, and the car is slightly magnetised, but that's consistent with their story."

"Wake her up," the sergeant ordered, pointing at Adler. "I want to hear this from her own mouth."

Candace reached back and poked the cheetah. "Addie, wakey-wakey. Nice doggy wants to chat."

Adler cracked one colorful eye open, took in the situation, and sighed dramatically. "What now?"

"Place your paw on the truth rune," the sergeant instructed. "State your current status."

Adler grimaced but complied, her spotted paw touching the crystal. "Adler Silvertail, formerly Captain of the Skid Marks… motorcycle delver club. As of tonight, due to the unexpected attack of the Magnetic Lynx of Highway Sixty Nine also known as the Butcher of Delvers, I have disbanded the aforementioned organization and declared Alec Foster as my Alpha."

The crystal blazed green.

"The Skid Marks are... disbanded?" The sergeant asked. "Why did you declare this human your Alpha?"

"Yes. This human turned out to be more impressive than I initially gave him credit for," Adler replied. "Plus, our bikes and delving outfits got destroyed near Highway Sixty Nine dungeon territory, so the whole 'motorcycle gang' thing became kind of moot."

Still green.

The guards exchanged glances, processing this unexpected development.

"Do you intend to cause trouble in town, or harm anyone, or perform illegal activities?" The guard asked Adler.

"No," Adler sighed. "I'll be good and law abiding. No violence or crime. I've a new Alpha to follow."

Green again.

"Now you!" The dog ordered, eyeing the lynx girl.

Terry placed her paw on the rune and replied to his demands with the same answers as Addie.

The sergeant made a note on his tablet before stepping back.

"Welcome back to Ferguson, Miss Rhinehart," he said formally. "Your parents will be relieved to hear you're safe."

"Eh, daddums always worries too much," Candace shrugged, acting out the rich, careless girl role perfectly.

"So, umm," I said, presenting my orange bracelet to the guards. "Now that I'm no longer magically bound to a biker gang do I have to wear this thing in town?"

The sergeant squinted at the orange bracelet on my wrist. "The Skid Marks have been on our watch list for months. That claim mark is a registered security risk," he stated.

"Was a risk," Candace corrected with an air of authority. "Check what it says now."

"Hrmmm," the guard produced a magitek wand and waved it over me. "I see."

"There you go," Candace smiled. "As you've just verified, the gang is disbanded and Alec is no longer its property. The threat is neutralized. I will be personally supervising Alec's stay in town."

"Right. Very well." The guard waved a paw at the orange bracelet. "Take off and hand the tracker over Mr. Foster."

I did as told.

The gate guard tapped a command into his console, and the magitek barrier shimmered ahead of us and vanished. "Proceed," the sergeant said.

The 10 feet thick, magisteel blast doors slid open one by one with mechanical groans, and we drove through into Ferguson proper.

I waited until we were well clear of the checkpoint before speaking.

"What the fuck was that about?" I demanded, glancing at Candace. "You're some kind of missing person, but they just... let us go? How do they know that Addie and Terry are in a gang but you're not?"

Candace laughed, a sound like silver bells with a sprinkle of mischief. "Oh, that? Simple conceptual misdirection. I've been binding the name 'Donutz' to the concept of a fictional delver. In most people's minds and Astral scans the biker Binder Donutz Loops and Princess Candace Rhinehart are completely different people."

"That's..." I struggled to process this. "That's… crafty. What kind of a princess are you?"

"No actual title, just old family," she clarified. "Daddy owns some mining operations in the Northern Reach territories. The Rhinehart family founded one of the first dungeon surveying companies back in the day."

From the back seat, Adler snorted. "Yeah, our little fox rebelled against her trust fund by becoming a biker gang Binder. Real edgy stuff."

"It was more fun than attending boring charity galas," Candace defended. "Plus, I learned some seriously useful skills. Do you have any idea how hard it is to maintain a dual identity magical binding?"

"So your parents think you've been where?" I asked.

"They know I ran away. But the binding makes it so most people—especially authority figures and Seers—can't connect Donutz the outlaw biker with Candace the heiress. It's conceptual camouflage." She pulled out a platinum credit card from her ID-storing wallet, waving it like a flag. "The best part? Daddy never cancelled my credit cards. He was hoping I'd use them so he could track me down."

I stared at the card. "You've had access to funds this entire time, and you were living as a biker?"

"Limited funds," she corrected. "There's only about twenty grand on this particular card and as soon as I use it the Scruts will come after me. Daddy's not completely naive."

"Twenty thousand dollars," I repeated slowly.

"Give or take. Why, need to buy something?"

I thought about my grandfather's burned-out farmhouse, my complete lack of dungeon gear, and the impossible quest hanging over my head like a sword of Damocles.

"I… I'll stay with my parents," Terry said from the backseat. "Can you drive me? It's not far."

I nodded.

Indeed, her house wasn't far from the town entrance and she departed quickly after offering Addie and Candace a quick hug.

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