Saris and I spent the night on top of a hill overlooking a field of green grass and white flowers. Somewhere far behind us lay the graveyard where the remaining survivors were likely unaware that we had left or where we had gone. Far to our left was a dark wall that Saris recognized as the forest, but since the sun had already set, I couldn't make out the green of the leaves. It felt like we had been walking for hours and by the time Saris said we could break for the night, I was exhausted and ready for sleep. Lucky for me, we found what we were looking for. Deep in the meadow below, a mass of people were spread out, camping together in cluttered groups. It was clear that they were Flamy's army.

Saris and I settled ourselves in the shadow of a large oak tree at the peak of the hill. I scanned the group, hoping Flamy might make himself obvious somehow; like, you know, being on fire or something, but quickly abandoned my search. Flamy wasn't stupid. He had completely concealed his identity at the graveyard, never allowing his flames to die down enough to see his face. It'd be a waste of time to try and guess who he was.

"What are you doing?" I asked Saris, noticing him peering down at the army below.

"Trying to find someone."

Every time I think I understand something, Saris seems to prove me wrong. "Who?"

"Anyone I recognize."

"It's a bit dark. Wouldn't it be easier in the morning?"

Saris shrugged, "To see, sure. But we'd also be easier to see. The difference is that they have fires going, we don't. So we can recon more safely than we would be able to when the sun comes up." He seemed to be struggling to see what he wanted to. "It's just that we picked a bad spot. I can't see much from here. Hmm. I'm going down below. You stay here."

"Wait a minute!"

"Relax. I'll be fine."

"What about the chills!" I hissed, standing, "They'll know you're there."

Saris stared at me as if I were stupid. "An army that size?" He waited but I didn't know what he meant. "Think about it." He waited again. "There's no way that they don't all have chills from each other. Not this early in the game and not with that many people."

"Well, maybe," I conceded, but I wasn't convinced.

"Come here." I snuck over to Saris, careful to crouch so that I wouldn't be seen by chance. He pointed down to the army below, "You see how spread out they are?"

"Yeah."

"It's like the big team is made up of a lot of small teams who don't want to interact with each other. The closest team to us will get acclimated to us before they will the team on the opposite side," he pointed out to the furthest campsite. "The only one that might be acclimated to everyone is the leader, but I doubt that. Not to mention that he's still looking for more members to join him. We'll keep an eye on everyone for a while. If he's smart, he'll rotate the teams around so the chills go away for everyone on their team faster. That way, they can identify an outsider. But that's going to take time for them and by then, we'll be acclimated to them too."

"You sure?"

"Well, probably," Saris admitted. "Nothing's certain, but I was hoping to find Zack. I'd like to know where he is and if we get the opportunity, maybe let him know that we're around. He might be willing to be our spy on the inside."

"I don't know. Zack doesn't really rank high on my trust board."

Saris nodded. "I'm not saying we'll bring him in right away, but we might need a way to get intel after a while."

"You're sure they won't notice you if you go down?"

Saris shrugged, "Pretty sure."

I shot him my best 'you're crazy' look, but sighed, knowing his mind was set. "Alright, just signal me somehow if you need help."

"Sure."

Saris moved downward towards the enemy and I watched anxiously as he moved behind the trees, then hid behind a small tent at the outer edge of the campsite. The army was made of several teams of three to five, grouped near each other. Several teams had at least one tent, but many had none and hung around campfires to keep warm. Watching Saris in action was pretty cool. He moved swiftly and no one took any notice of him. I'm sure if I had been down there, I would have stepped on a twig or sneezed or something, giving myself away, but Saris was a pro and before I knew it, he was making his way back up the hill.

"Well?" I asked.

Saris shook his head. "Well, he's not there and he's not in one of the surrounding campsites."

"You don't think he's in trouble, do you? For keeping you safe?"

"No. Zack's clever and smart enough to not take that kind of risk. Odds are, he's near the leader."

"Hmm. Any ideas where that might be?"

"Probably somewhere in the center. It's the easiest way to manage so many people." He sat, leaning against a tree, facing the enemy. "Get some sleep. I'll take the first watch and wake you later."

I was tired and I hoped that Saris wouldn't do anything rash. I knew he was still angry, I was too, but I needed him to stay alive and rushing into the literal army of people down there is not a good way to keep himself breathing. I shook my head, pushing the worry out of my mind. He would do what's right for both of us and together, we would take down this tyrant. I laid down and closed my eyes only to be woken up before I was ready.

"Your turn," Saris said. He plopped down near where I had laid and I forced myself to get up.

I yawned, several times. Still too tired to stand, I wobbled over to the tree that Saris had been sitting under earlier and took the watch from there. I found a particularly uncomfortable root and determined that it would keep me awake. The dream Saris woke me from had been short and I didn't remember much of it, but I did remember Demi being a part of it. Not for the first time, I wished she was here. Then I wondered if she was down below, a part of the army, but I shook my head. Demi was too strong-willed to fight for someone like that.

My head jolted upwards and I realized that I had nearly fallen asleep. I needed to stay awake so I shook my head and patted my face, then I took out my phone. I took some time updating Tommy and Michael, then Sidra about the graveyard scene. There hadn't been much of an update on their end. Work for Michael had picked up and he was spending more time there than at home. Tommy had decided to keep us updated on his relationship with Trisha, who he was spending his one-year anniversary with soon. They were still going strong and I was happy for them, but it made me miss Demi even more. It's not like Demi and I were in a relationship, but I felt close to her and I wouldn't say no if she wanted to be closer. If it came to that, though, we'd really have to have a weird talk. I don't think I'd want to date while part of a death game, it's not like we could casually go around seeing movies and dining at restaurants. But I didn't know what she wanted after this game either. Heck, I didn't know what I wanted. I shook my head. There wasn't even any guarantee that either of us would get out of here.

Sidra had also been pulling late hours and hadn't been able to say much, only that she was thinking about me. My mom had gotten back to me though. She told me that dad had gotten sick. Nothing too bad, but he did have a fever. She was taking care of him, which probably meant that she would get sick soon too. That's how it always worked for us. Mom would take care of her family when they got sick, then she'd get sick and we'd take care of her. It's the circle of life. I still can't believe Saris has never seen The Lion King.

I heard a snap like a twig breaking nearby and I jumped, looking around. Three dark figures saw me notice them and started running towards me. It was my phone! The light of my phone must have alerted them to my presence. How stupid could I be? I jumped up into a standing position, summoning my sword and shield. Saris was still asleep, so I tossed my shield at him and heard it thud against him, waking him up. He began to protest but I cut him off.

"Company!" I tried to shout quietly.

The three figures were on me before Saris could stand up and I had to summon my shield back to block the incoming attacks. Two of them had connected with my shield, the force sending me backward and I nearly fell down.

"Keep it quiet," Saris hissed as he moved through the three, cutting one of them down within an instant.

Thrusting my sword forward, I used my ability to extend the blade and it impaled one of the remaining enemies, a girl, judging by the slim figure. Saris cut off the last man's sword arm and grabbed him by the throat to cut off any noise the man might make. Allowing his sword to vanish, Saris led the man down the hill, away from the army and beckoned me to follow. He stopped after moving far enough away that we wouldn't be easily heard by the army and threw his captive on the ground. His blade was back in his hand and he pointed the tip at the man's throat.

"We're gonna have a little talk," Saris said menacingly. The man on the ground clutched at his bloody shoulder and stared, wide-eyed into Saris' bright green eyes. "You operate under the fire user, right?" The man nodded quickly. "Why?"

"H..he's too strong," His voice was shaking.

"Where's his tent?"

"I don't know." Saris' blade moved away from the man, replaced by Saris' black combat boot. He then moved his sword down towards the man's leg and pierced the skin slightly at the knee. "I don't! I really don't!"

"Then what does he look like?" Saris asked angrily without pulling the blade out of the man's leg.

Sobbing, the man repeated but spoke quickly. "I don't know. He doesn't show his face to everyone. We've all seen him in his fire form but I don't know who has seen him when he's normal!"

We weren't getting any useful information out of him; even I could see that he didn't know anything. We were just wasting our time. But Saris continued, "Tell me more about his ability."

"I don't know! You've got the wrong guy for this!"

"What's his weapon?" Saris pressed.

"I don't know! I've only seen the fire form. I swear!"

Saris didn't move. I knew he wanted answers but this man didn't have any. "What was your role in the graveyard?" Saris asked.

The man froze, knowing what Saris wanted to hear but not wanting to give an answer. Saris' blade bit down deeper and the man shouted through tears. "I helped keep everyone inside! I'm sorry! Really! I had to do it!"

"No, you didn't." Saris pressed the blade further down.

"Saris!" I said, "Stop it."

He paused, shooting me an icy glare, "Why?"

"Because if you go around torturing people, you're no better than Flamy."

Saris didn't say anything, he just looked down at the whimpering man. Then he glanced back at me. At first, I thought he was going to ignore me and continue to hurt his victim, but it looked more like he was listening to someone. His jaw tightened and his chest heaved with a heavy breath. I was about to say something when his blade came free from the man and cut off his head, making the poor man vanish instantly. Saris began walking back to our hill, but I didn't follow.

"What was that?" I asked.

"We need answers."

"He didn't have them."

Saris stopped but didn't look at me. "You're right. I let my anger get the better of me. Sorry."

"You're not alone in this. I came here with you so we can do this together, but we're gonna do it right."

Saris turned to face me, a slight grin on his face, catching me off guard, "You surprise me sometimes. I'm glad you're here." Then he turned and continued to walk. "Come on Jiminy Cricket, I still need my conscience."

"What? You know THAT movie?"

We climbed back up the hill and carefully viewed the scene below, ready for another attack, but it didn't come. Apparently, the trio that we eliminated wasn't noticed yet, but it was only a matter of time before they would be missed. I got us found and it could have turned out a lot worse. I would not be able to contact my friends and family at night anymore. There were a lot of them and only two of us. I realized then that this fight would take a long time and we had to be careful with everything we did. Getting noticed like that wouldn't keep working out for us and we had a long way to go before we could confront the man on fire.