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  It didn't take long. Another man appeared, passing through the checkpoint with the same ease as our previous target. I adjusted the focus on my binoculars to get a read on his nameplate. He was a member of Ethanolics Anonymous. Not particularly unusual on its own - a gatherer might go out to grab a few things. Even the Fringe wouldn't try to rob someone this close to the city. ... But there was still the issue of mobs. The guy clearly wasn't outfit for combat.

  I watched as he walked down the highway and turned off onto the path that led toward the Forest of Souls.

  That gave me a thought. I quickly found Jefferson's briefcase in my inventory and flipped through some of the documentation. The Forest of Souls, despite its proximity to Celestia Grand, was underutilized by Ethanolics Anonymous' gatherers, and was also one of the regions least prone to Fringe banditry. Could we have been reading too far into this? What if they were looking into the Forest of Souls as a safer gathering spot in the face of increasing Fringe activity?

  But we were journalists - we couldn't let it rest until we knew for sure. So we packed up the heater and followed the man into the woods.

  The moment we stepped under the canopy, the temperature dropped several degrees, and the sounds of the outside world faded to a muffled hush. Dense mist closed in around us, thick and soupy, limiting visibility to a couple dozen feet in any direction. Groaning sounds echoed through the stillness, like old trees creaking in the wind - except there was no wind. Bushes rustled too far off the road for us to see the source. Occasionally, I caught glimpses of glowing lights between the trees, like eyes.

  It was a distinct vibe, I had to give it that. As we walked, I wrote some notes for a little tourism ad - something to put in the filler reserves.

  Visit the Forest of Souls - If You Dare!

  The Forest of Souls is a spooky forest said to be a meeting place for the forgotten ghosts who haven't been properly released from the mortal world. It's perpetually shrouded in dense fog and you can hear the anguished wailing of the dead echoing on the wind. And best of all, it's conveniently within walking distance of Celestia Grand! Perfect for getting in that Halloween mood! But beware - some say the spirits are watching... and waiting.

  Yeah, that's gonna kill next October.

  We crept through the bushes just off the trail, forced to stay pretty close to avoid losing our target in the mist. The path wound deeper into the forest, the trees growing denser, their twisted branches blocking out what little daylight remained.

  Our target suddenly slowed his pace, looking around as if to ensure he wasn't being followed. Cherry and I froze, pressing ourselves against the rough bark of the nearest tree. After a moment, the man turned off the main path, passing under the arch of a distinctively bent tree.

  Cherry and I exchanged glances. I took a deep breath and stepped forward, following the man into the untamed woods.

  Almost immediately after stepping off the main path, the forest thickened. The air grew even colder; the silence deepened so that every branch we stepped on sounded like a gunshot. The only sign of our quarry was the faintest rustle and the occasional flash of movement up ahead, barely visible through the mist-draped trees.

  Cherry and I crept along, keeping to the thicker trunks for cover. A couple times, I lost sight of the man entirely, but always found a trace of his passage - a broken twig, a smear in the rime where his coat brushed past.

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  Then, just as I was debating a tactical retreat, I heard it: a distant, steady thumping. Not the natural, arboreal sound of a woodpecker or a falling branch, but the rhythmic, almost mechanical beat of something man-made. The sound echoed through the fog, joined by others - quick hammer strikes, the buzz of a saw, the rumbling of heavy carts, and, beneath it all, the unmistakable drone of human voices.

  We crawled the last stretch on our bellies, commando-style, until the shadow of a wall materialized in the mist ahead of us. It was a stone defensive wall, just like the one surrounding the city, but much smaller - of a more human-manageable size.

  We stopped behind a gnarled tree, our target now just a silhouette pacing the length of the wall. We watched him disappear through an opening, then waited in silence for a good minute before risking movement.

  The mist made it impossible to see very far, so I decided to deploy our drone for a closer look. I pulled the little guy from my pack and turned her on. The noise of construction drowned out the buzz of the rotors, and I sent her skimming over the top of the wall.

  What we saw inside the compound was... impressive. There was a stone keep rising in the center, partially encased in scaffolding. Multiple buildings radiated out from the core in various stages of construction. Some were simple wooden frames, others already had tiled roofs and glazed windows. The outlines of further walls had been marked on the ground with twine and stakes.

  I flew the drone lower, and as the camera zoomed in, the details sharpened. There were dozens of people working - some operating wall printers, others loading or managing supplies, still others just keeping the site moving smoothly. All of them wore uniforms, but not all the same ones. I could see the guild tags of the World Guard, Trade Union, Shake Spear, and Ethanolics Anonymous. All the usual suspects you'd expect from a Guard operation. Plenty of people from smaller guilds or no guild at all, too, likely independent contractors.

  "What's the Guard need with a secret base so close to the city?" Cherry asked. "They practically own the place already, don't they?"

  Then one of them caught my eye - Called By Blood. That was a Fringe guild - it supposedly went defunct after most of their members were rounded up for camping the pegasus unlock quest zone. But there were more than a couple present.

  "What on earth are Fringe doing out here?" I asked.

  Before Cherry could reply, a click sounded directly behind my head. I froze.

  A voice, deep and rough as gravel, growled, "I could ask the same of you, friend-o."

  I turned, raising my hands, and found myself staring at a literal bear of a man. He must have been at least six-and-a-half feet tall with a shaggy mane of black hair and a beard to match. He wore a massive pelt draped over his shoulders, and in his hands he held a long-barreled rifle. His nameplate hovered over his head: Axeman.

  "Us?" I asked. "We're, uh... Location scouting for a reality horror show about surviving in the wilderness?"

  "Well this place is taken. Now get - let's make this easy."

  He motioned with his weapon for us to stand up and start walking toward the compound. As we slowly rose to our feet, Cherry caught my eye and gave me a slight nod.

  I knew that nod. That was the 'Cherry's about to do something insane' nod. I couldn't make any motion in return. It didn't matter if I agreed or not - it was too late. This was a Cherry show now. The best I could do was keep myself alive.

  A moment later, I dove to the side, rolling behind a bush.

  Axeman pulled the trigger - the gun went off with a deafening bang, but the bullet sailed wide. Cherry, meanwhile, let out a scream and launched herself at him. For all his size, Axeman wasn't prepared for 5'2" of pure concentrated Cherry. She took the gun barrel in both hands and twisted it downward; Axeman tried to yank it away, but Cherry pivoted, using her entire body weight to lever the rifle into his face. He staggered, and she kicked him in the knee. Axeman went down hard.

  The guy was tough - he grabbed Cherry by the ankle and tried to drag her down with him. But she was ready, and kicked him in the head with her other foot, then followed up by twisting the rifle around in his hand and beating him with the stock. The big man finally slumped, out cold.

  I stood up and brought the drone back to our position. "Nice job, Cher."

  "Oh yeah!" Cherry pumped her fist in the air. "Mess with the Cher, and you get the seat!"

  I caught the drone as it descended, quickly tucking it into my inventory.

  In the distance, shouts rang out from the direction of the compound. Axeman's gunshot hadn't gone unnoticed, and the sound of boots crashing through underbrush told us others were already on their way to investigate.

  "Let's cheese it!" I said, grabbing Cherry's arm.

  We sprinted into the forest, ducking low branches and leaping over fallen logs as we cut across the woods at an angle, aiming to intercept the highway.