When I reached the commander’s tent, the guards were missing from their posts, as expected. Inside wasn’t a torture chamber, but rather the private quarters of the commander. At the center were several chairs arranged around a mahogany desk, which held papers, a map, and a couple of books. Then, in a dark corner, was someone tied to a pole. Near him was a familiar ax covered in blood as if it had been used on him. Several instruments of torture were littered around it.

  In the tent’s adjacent corner was the best-looking bed I had seen since coming to this land. There were pillows on it and what looked like a goose feather comforter. It was near the ground, so I assumed there was no actual bed frame. Still, it looked closest to heaven that I had seen in a long while.

  I inched closer to make sure the prisoner was who I believed him to be. Jack, that lovable warrior, was tied to a large pole off to one side. He was restrained with a white metal cable. I needed to rethink my plan of cutting it with my sword. “We managed to get the Commander to signal an evacuation. We don’t have much time to get out of here.”

  “That voice…” Jack murmured, his tone dry and exhausted as he raised his head to look at me. He looked horrible with dried blood crusted across his skin like a grim mask. But it wasn’t the blood that held my gaze, but the way he barely moved. When I walked in, he just hung there, lifeless, as if he were already gone. The ropes bit into his wrists, cutting deep, and yet he seemed numb to it, like he didn’t even care. “Alf? Is that you? Why do you look like that?”

  I followed his eyes and thought he was referring to my new armor, but that didn’t make sense. Maybe he didn’t recognize me because I was dirty from my fall. If I were cleaner and in my usual clothes, he could have recognized me more easily. Then I realized he was talking about my color. When the Biodium mixed with me, my color had brightened, and he was seeing this for the first time.

  "You’re one to talk. You look like you started your period."

  Jack looked down at his own body and responded, “I guess I do look like a blood-soaked rag, but what happened to you?”

  “It’s a long story that we don’t have time for, but I will tell you later. How do I undo your chains?” I asked, as I began searching the room for something to cut the metal. Then I realized how ridiculous that idea was. If my sword couldn’t cut it, then nothing was going to be lying around to do it.

  “Try untying it.” Jack choked out as he coughed. “There at the bottom, that is where the other end is tied.”

  Instead of looking at him, I went directly to his feet and looked around. There was a cable that went around and was crimped back on itself to make a large loop. This was done on both sides. Between them was a piece of wood and another rope to tie them together. It seemed this was done because it was a cable and couldn’t be tied like a rope, and so it could be reused. If I was right, this was valuable as I hadn’t seen a metal cable around before.

  After studying the setup, I felt it seemed easy enough to slide the pieces apart and untie the knot in the rope. The design wasn’t meant to be difficult to dismantle, except for the prisoner who couldn’t reach the knots.

  After experiencing Jack’s strength firsthand, I thought they made the smart move using the sturdy cable. I undid the knots tied at the peg and unraveled the loops around him.

  When I finished, he fell face-first to the floor. Since I had been undoing the bindings around his feet, he collapsed right on top of me. I thought my increased attributes would let me shrug him off, but his canceled mine out, and he flattened me.

  How high of a level was he?

  He rolled over, and I continued pulling the cords off from around him. When I had untangled it, I put the rope in my bag for safekeeping and turned my attention to him.

  I couldn’t see any cuts on his body, but blood drenched his clothes, and he looked half-dead to me. He usually appeared lively with his friends or angry when facing his enemies. But in that moment, it seemed as though all emotion and energy had been drained from him. His eyes were weighed down, and his posture slouched in sheer exhaustion, even though I had freed him.

  “Thank you, I owe you another one,” Jack muttered, his voice devoid of life.

  “Jack…” I replied, wanting to say more, but I couldn’t find the right words. I’d never been able to get through his gruff exterior. But this time, I decided to speak from the heart anyway because it felt more sincere. “Jack, you don’t owe me anything. I’ll come get you no matter what, not because I owe you or you owe me, but because we are friends.”

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  In that moment, he changed. He was no longer the broken figure I had just pulled from the edge of death. His eyes lit with a sharpness I hadn’t seen, as if every word I spoke had sunk deep. Maybe he even agreed.

  He stepped forward and wrapped me in a fierce hug. His weight pressed into me, solid and alive, and for the first time since finding him, I felt strength in his grip. Then a prompt flickered before my eyes.

  You and Jack have become companions. Now magically bonded, you may feel when the other is in trouble. A companion’s link may deepen with time or eventually break, but it will never be forgotten.

  “Thank you.” Jack looked at me in the eyes and then started to cry. He inhaled deeply and composed himself somewhat. “Thank you so much for saving me from this hell. They just kept cutting me and healing me and cutting me. They kept asking questions while striking me with my own ax to humiliate me. But I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t going to give them the pleasure. Then I gained an Ability to free myself...”

  “Why didn’t you use it?” I asked.

  “I kept thinking about it, over and over. The Ability could have given me the power to free myself, to end that bastard… But at the cost of my life… I just couldn’t… I didn’t have it in me to…” Trying to imagine choosing between endless torture and taking your own life felt unbearable. I was just glad I made it here in time, so Jack didn’t have to make his final decision.

  His breaths were getting heavier, his body profusely shaking, and his tears were running down his dried blood. I held him close until he brought himself under control. It didn’t take long, but it was something he needed to get out.

  Jack had been holding on as best as he could, but even he wouldn’t come out of this torture chamber unscathed. He wasn’t acting like himself, or maybe he was finally expressing himself more honestly than ever before.

  Something like that could reveal a person's true nature. It was something inside that we hardly knew was there. I was not saying that who they showed wasn't who they were, but people often had multiple personas and displayed different ones in various circumstances. Jack’s experience here showed me that he was strong and yet weak.

  But I guessed…so was everyone.

  When he was done, he stood up, and I did as well. My aches seemed mundane while holding Jack, and they faded away as my body slowly healed them. He looked at me and said, “What’s the plan?”

  His walls were back up, and he was putting on a smile, so I played along like nothing had happened.

  “Grab the bedding while I look around the papers.”

  “Really? Collecting loot right now?” This time, he didn’t complain about my looting, but instead said it with a laugh, even though tears were still running down his cheeks.

  Our relationship had definitely gotten closer because we both felt we could trust each other with our lives. That made me recall the prompt that popped up, which called us companions. I didn’t know what ‘companions’ meant and didn’t have time to question it, but I made a mental note to ask about it later.

  I approached the table where the papers were and was about to scoop them into my pouch when Rabbit said, “Let’s skim through them. We don’t even know why these people are here, nor if they have reinforcements or a backup location. We don’t want to leave the camp and walk directly into an ambush.”

  He had a good point, so I started pulling paper after paper, looking at each one, then the next. Under the clutter was a map showing selective regions in the south and a complete graph of the zone in the north. It must have been the pathways they had explored, with areas closer to the Union territory being drawn with more detail. For example, there was a direct map from here to the next town up, but there wasn’t anything to the left of it, as they hadn’t been to that area. Additionally, they showed paths to the Dwarves’ caves, Hidden Falls Village, a road to the Sacred Tree Village, as well as to some unfamiliar territories.

  “Arrange the pages back exactly as you found them, except this page, and take the map,” Rabbit said, pointing to one page in the pile.

  “Why? Let’s take everything and go,” I replied.

  “We don’t have time to argue, so just do it.” Rabbit showed me how the pages were organized, and I began assembling them as closely as possible to his outline within a tight timeline. After shoving the pages into my bag, I reached for the map when Rabbit stopped me. “No, not the map. Grab the quill and mark a spot on it.”

  All this felt unnecessary.

  I didn’t see why the pages needed to be arranged. Also, Rabbit didn’t need me to keep the map because he could memorize it in an instant. That was, unless there was a treasure map on the back in invisible ink.

  Probably not.

  I shrugged and marked the map exactly where he showed me.

  “Give it to Jack and tell him that he and the others are going to that spot,” Rabbit nagged me. I opened my mouth to demand an explanation, but then he interrupted me. “Trust me, remember?”

  I both trusted and doubted Rabbit. When he was serious, I could always rely on him, but when he was playful, he might get me hurt just for a laugh. Still, at that moment, I had faith in him.

  I gave the page to Jack, and he looked at the map and then back to me, confused. I then explained what I wanted him to do. When he questioned my plan, I repeated Rabbit’s sentiment, “Trust me, I have a plan.”

  Jack nodded. “You don’t sound very sure, but I trust you. I’ll lead everyone there.”

  I surveyed the room again. It seemed that Jack had finished looting and stuffing it all in my bag while I had been talking to Rabbit.

  “I put everything valuable in the room inside your bag,” Jack said. “You can do one more sweep of the tent, but we'd better leave soon.”

  Two books were left on the desk. They looked important, so I grabbed and shoved them into my bag. After that, we left the tent.