Rheba ground her back teeth against each other. It was concerning for the furred warrior. She couldn’t find Gwyn anywhere. Nor Fiona. Nor Hal’s sister, whose name she hadn’t yet learned. For the others, this perhaps had a different kind of concern. They had their worry about not being able to find the people, yes, but they had only sight and sound to rely on. Bentalousians had the strongest noses of all the races on Resh, even stronger than some of the animals. And there were three of them.

  Blenda and Kerra having no luck wasn’t the worst thing. Disappointing as it was, Rheba was sure those two hadn’t gotten familiar enough with Gwyn or Fiona’s scents yet. They hadn’t spent a long journey trapped in a tiny vehakul with them after all. Rheba had, but she couldn’t pick up anything. There was a trail around the tables where Gwyn had departed with the odd scentless blonde girl, then nothing. Nothing to follow that could lead her to where they disappeared. It was as if the scent had vanished.

  When she met up with the others, Hal looked unusually agitated. Gone was the plastic, neutral expression he normally greeted them with. His eyebrows were practically down to his nose, and his voice was laced with vitriol.

  “What do you mean you can’t find her!” he was shouting and pointing at Harlan, who seemed slumped lower than she usually did.

  Rheba snatched Hal’s hand tightly. He didn’t wince, but looked up at her with daggers for eyes.

  “Calm down, young Hal. We are aware we need to locate the others now, and we will not rest until we do.”

  The green-haired boy spat something hard to make out and pulled his hand free. He wiped it on his pants leg before crossing his arms. Rheba sighed and scratched above her nose. Odell wasn’t back yet, but things seemed to be getting from bad to worse. Along the periphery of the beach, she noticed some odd men in black armor walking around. They screamed ‘more trouble’ in appearance alone, but that problem would have to wait.

  Hal looked like he was about to snap with some snide remark, but a gentle hand from his masked companion seemed to calm his rage, if only slightly. She smelled strangest of all at the beach, but Rheba would have to let the suspicion of the masked stranger rest until other problems were solved.

  The third most was the strange men in black, and the second was their missing friends. The first presented itself as a new scent from behind. One of worms and wickedness, if Rheba could give any names to them. The witch, Kako.

  She approached the group without making a sound, so when she finally spoke, all but the Bentalousians reacted. Some were small, like Hal’s quick flick of his finger, or Harlan’s snap of the tip of her tail, and some were large, like Masquarade jumping and shouting. When the green girl was finished, Kako continued.

  “It is good I was able to find you all, and together, no less. I felt I needed to catch up with you to tell you what happened to the Nonpareil and the others.”

  Perhaps it was the giantess's imagination, but she felt that somewhere, between her primal instincts and warrior's intuition, if they hadn’t started their search, the witch wouldn’t have shown up to offer help. She kept her mouth shut, however, since any information was helpful.

  “You see, he and his lady friends discovered a map to what might be a hidden Needaimus vault just off shore, and they have taken a boat to see if it can be found,” Kako said with a smile that told Rheba nothing. She wasn’t even sure if the witch smelled of lies, or half-truths, or anything for that matter. In the end, it didn’t do any good to ponder what she should say next. Rheba didn’t get a chance to reply before Hal blew up.

  “You, let that ascolist take Haileigh out to sea! I fabten can’t believe this!” He began to stammer something in such pure rage that the words were a slurry of vitriol. Masquarade tried her best to cool him down, but the Netzian seemed too far gone.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “More importantly,” Cecilia, who had been quiet until then, chimed in, “Odell’s been gone a while, too, hasn’t he?”

  “More importantly? More importantly? My sister is in danger with some idiot to protect her!”

  Rheba took a deep breath and looked back at the witch. Kako had vanished, completely, even her scent seemed to have disappeared. It was oddly similar to how it was with Gwyn’s.

  Hal continued to lose it, shouting at anyone who tried to calm him down. The others squirmed. Rheba got the sense that they would leave if this continued. The young man was no better than a toddler. Perhaps that was even an insult to toddlers in this present moment.

  The giant warrior wasn’t sure what she should do. If this had happened back on base, the highest-ranking commander would simply take charge. She could even imagine Zenith in a striped blur, knocking all the offenders in the head and barking orders. It was what any leader would do, but Rheba was better at punching and kicking than trying to organize the hot mess of this group.

  Off in the distance, some of the black armored men marched away, while leaving a singular one staring at them. He was a Netzian. Dirty blonde hair protruded from under a back helmet, and copper scales hung under glaring eyes. Eyes that stared at her with such ferocity that she couldn’t make sense of it. He began to march to them, with a murderer's scent wafting closer in every step.

  Rheba closed her hand into a tight fist, but said nothing as it might alarm the group. She would wait until he got close.

  Odell, coming downward from the sky, crashed into the man with a weighty thud that cratered the sand around him. Rheba’s ears shot up, and her tail went slightly outstretched, but she otherwise showed no signs of shock. The others turned to the prince. The display was enough even to calm Hal.

  “O… Odell!” Cecilia stammered, “You just landed on that man!”

  “Okay, hear me out, I know this might seem crazy, but my gut tells me this guy is a bad guy!”

  The others stared a moment. Around the outskirts, some of the other guests were looking and pointing with concerned expressions.

  “Odell,” Cecilia began to say. “I… I…” She was having trouble finding words. Rheba didn’t blame her; it seemed ridiculous, but the man already seemed fishy to begin with. She was willing to play along.

  “For now, let’s take the man somewhere private and see if he knows anything,” she said. Kerra and Blenda looked at her as if she were stupid. Hal like she was crazy. Harlan looked with an odd expression, perhaps the slightest of slight grins. Cecilia just stammered, but Rheba didn’t let anyone say anything. She marched over and hoisted the armored man over her shoulder. “Sorry, folks, we’ll take him to the infirmary!”

  She waved for the others to follow, and they retreated behind a food shack.

  The armored man groaned as he was flopped to the ground. He leaned back against the shack and rubbed his head.

  “I have nothing to say to you!” he sneered while glaring at Rheba. Odell forced a frown and cracked his knuckles, only to shake the hand as he winced in pain. Rheba shook her head. She slammed her foot into the side of the shack next to the blond man’s head. He gulped, but kept his mouth shut.

  “Should, should we be doing this?” Cecilia stammered. She mostly looked at Odell with concern.

  “Hal, how long can a Netzian last with a hand around their throat?” Rheba asked. It was a simple way to make the weak-willed talk. She didn’t even have to get a reply from Hal, the man’s face turned pale, and he started to stammer.

  “You can… do whatever you want… with… with… me. We have already succeeded!”

  “Could you repeat that?” Hal chimed in. His tone seemed curious.

  “We have this resort under our control. The hotel’s main offices have already fallen, and our guards are on patrol!”

  The green-haired Netzian spoke through gritted teeth. “Gabriella and Isabella are still back at the hotel…. Why can’t things go right?”

  “What do you mean,” Cecilia asked, “you have it under your control?”

  The man smirked. Odell smashed a fist into his leg.

  “It’s the enemy I saw. I should have acted sooner.”

  Rheba sighed and cracked the man’s head against the wall. He would be out for at least a day and concussed slightly afterward. She stood tall and turned to the others.

  “It seems we have some work to do. I for one don’t mind a little fighting to release some stress.”

  Odell nodded. “Dast, we just need to beat them up, it will be easy!”

  “You do what you like, I’m going to save my sisters, then we are going to find Haliegh!”

  Rheba looked at Harlan, and she shook her head.

  “I will do what needs to be done.”

  The giantess nodded, “Alright, then let’s come up with a plan.”