The army of people, led by Fire king, had been stationary for days. It had seemed strange until Demi tried to join them as a spy for us. That's when we thought that they were waiting for others to come to them so they wouldn't have to search everywhere. Now that the group was on the move, that didn't seem right. Something was off, or maybe something had changed, but what?

"I think he's in there," Saris said, pointing towards a yellow tent in the center of the mass of people. It was one of several, nearly identical, tents that were being torn down as the rest of the army moved along. "It looked like someone came out of there, telling others what to do."

"So you think that's him? The guy giving orders?" I asked.

Saris shook his head. "I don't think so. Several people came out of the tent. It's more likely that he has someone give the commands out."

"Recognize anyone from the tent?"

"From this distance? Maybe one. I think I saw Zack but I can't be sure."

Demi cursed. "I need to pay him back."

"Relax," Saris said, "I think he's working against them."

We updated Demi on Zack and Saris' meeting and how he saved Saris' life followed by our assumptions on what he might be trying to do. Saris and I didn't see eye to eye on Zack's allegiance, but I was willing to give him a chance; as long as he kept his distance. Demi seemed to agree with me. We needed to keep an eye on the enemy and now that they were mobile, we had to get moving too.

"They're heading south," Demi pointed out.

"They'll hit the edge of the forest sooner or later. We can try to beat them there and find a good place to hunker down while we figure out their next move; and ours," Saris suggested. No one argued. "We'll have to go a roundabout way so they don't spot us."

"What if we went north?" I suggested.

Saris shook his head. "We'll need to keep an eye on them at all times in case they change direction. If we go north, we won't be able to see what they do next."

"I don't really think it'd be that hard to find them again," Demi said.

"No, it wouldn't," Saris agreed, "But I want to see what they'll do next and try to figure out their motives. A lot of what they're doing doesn't make sense to me."

Demi and I both nodded, then we ran, following Saris' lead. Whenever there was cover, we took it to rest, but not for long. While we were a good distance from the army, we didn't lose track of them and it seemed like they didn't notice us. After running for what felt like an hour, Demi and I were sweating and breathing hard. My heart hammered in my chest and I took deep breaths to try and calm it down.

"I don't...know if....I can...keep...running," I managed to say.

Saris slowed to a walk. He was sweating too, but not wheezing, like I was. His legs probably didn't feel like jelly either. He pointed in the distance. "See that?" I followed Saris' finger to find a distinct line a few miles out, where the green grass suddenly turned yellow. "It's a wheat field. Once we're there, we'll turn south to find the town. After that, we'll go west until we find the forest."

"I thought we were already going south," I breathed.

"Southeast," Demi corrected. "The army is going south, we needed to move around them, remember?"

I turned to look at the marching group that we were stalking. It looked more like a massive blob and I couldn't make out enough to determine what they were doing, only that they were still going in the same direction that they had started. I turned back to Saris, "Do we need to get to the wheat field? Or can we start going south now?"

Saris turned around, looking in the distance. He nodded his head, "Sure. I don't think they'll notice us here. South it is."

We changed directions and I instantly noticed the buildings. We were closer to the town than I had realized and I could see trees in the distance too. Maybe this would be easier than I thought. Fire King's group was moving slowly and we had made a lot of progress with just the three of us. At this rate, we should make it to the forest before the army and we could find a good place to keep watch over them. But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered what difference it would make. They're such a large team, it didn't seem possible to take them down, just the three of us.

"Saris? What's the plan when we get there?" I asked, wondering if he had an idea of what to do against them. Saris didn't answer. "Saris?"

"I don't know." He stopped and looked down, hands balled into fists and his jaw tightened. "All we can do is get close but when it comes down to it, we'd just get overwhelmed in a fight and it wouldn't make a difference." He turned to face us. "That's why I keep waiting. I'm trying to find him. If I can just take him out-"

"We," Demi interrupted.

"What?"

"You said, 'if I can just take him out.' You aren't alone in this." She smiled at him and wagged a finger at herself and me. "We're not just along for the ride. Let's think this through. He has an army, but he thinks of them as tools. They don't trust him, not really. We're a team and we know each other well enough to know our strengths and weaknesses. We also know that we're in this together, whatever the result. So, let's think. How are we, as a team, going to compete against..." she hesitated and rolled her eyes, "Fire King?"

I smiled and Demi looked at me, copying the gesture. We walked, catching our breath and thinking of what we might be able to do, trying to come up with a solid plan of attack. I had the first idea, "If you can't beat'em, join'em."

"We already know what'll happen if we try to join their team," Saris said, dully.

"No, no, not them. I mean we should copy their tactic." We stopped again and all eyes were on me, waiting for me to elaborate, "If we get everyone else, everybody who hasn't been killed or isn't in his army already, then we can engage him in an all-out battle. It'll be a temporary ceasefire to grow our forces against a tyrant who isn't playing by the rules."

"That sounds like a good way to get killed," Demi said.

Saris didn't say anything right away. He focused on me with the same, vibrant green eyes that seemed to think through several possibilities instantly. He was always thinking about the next move and I always thought he was so far ahead of the game that I would never be able to support him or give him any real advice or help, but then he spoke. "That's a good idea."

"You know who you're talking about, don't you?" Demi asked, smiling. "No offense, Xander, but that sounds like a lot of risks."

"What we've been doing isn't working. They aren't going to make a mistake as obvious as showing who it is we're looking to kill. I doubt he'll even let the majority of his team know who he is. You remember the first night we were there, Xander? The guy we took for information didn't have any because Fire King doesn't want his team to turn on him. Sure, maybe he could kill them all, but then what? He'd have to track down and kill everyone here and that's hard to do, especially when the lack of food and sleep starts getting to you, isn't it Demi?"

"Scavenger life isn't easy, if that's what you're getting at."

"But there's a difference," Saris continued, "he would be hunted. Attacking a graveyard was a huge mistake. It might've worked in his favor if he was on his last win, like a hail mary, all or nothing, but in the next cycle, anyone and everyone who knows he's attacked a graveyard will be after him."

"Okay. But how does that help us now?" I asked.

"We use that against him. Find everyone, tell them that he's attacked a graveyard. Tell them that we need to correct this and we'll meet on a certain day to attack him and his team. We'll have a truce among our army till the end of the day that Fire King dies. That way we can disperse and continue the game as normal."

"You really think that'll work?" Demi asked.

Saris nodded, "I think it's our best shot at taking him down. We'll just have to think of the best strategy for where and when to attack. Finding and convincing all the remaining players to be on our side will be a trick, but the graveyard massacre should help persuade people quickly. With his huge army and how many people who have died already, we'll need everyone who's left to give us a chance."

"Alright, but it's not like we can find everyone in an afternoon. When do we plan the attack?" I asked.

Saris thought for a moment, looking back at the golden field of wheat nearby. "We need enough time to find everyone. It'll be faster if we split up. Then the three of us should regroup and find Fire's team. Problem is, if we give everyone a destination to meet for the attack, it might take a few days to find the Fire King's army."

"Maybe we could lure him," Demi suggested.

"Hmm. Maybe." After a moment, Saris nodded. "Tell everyone to meet at the beach ten days from tomorrow."

"Ten days?" Demi and I asked at the same time.

"Is it really going to take that long?" I asked.

At the same time, Demi asked, "Is that going to be enough time?"

"I don't know," Saris confessed. "We'll split up for now. You two take the forest and town south of here and everything east until you warp to the other side. You'll know when you do because you'll be stepping in water. Then come back and get everything from here to the graveyard. Hit major points first, the town should have at least a few teams. The forest is small, but I'd expect someone to be hiding there too. The graveyard usually has someone in it and there might be teams stalking it. Talk to everyone. Two days before we attack, meet me just in the forest. Look for slashes on the trees, I'll mark them with an X."

"Why two days?" I asked.

"Well, for one thing, we need to be on the same page, so we'll need to talk about who we found and what we expect to happen. The fewer surprises we have to worry about, the better. We'll also want to be rested up for the fight. And finally, we need to find Fire's team again and lure them towards the beach."

"You're sure you want to do it this way?" Demi said. "There's a good chance that we might not make it back. A lot of people use the act first and ask questions later method."

"That's why I'm asking that you two go together. Keep each other safe. I know this plan isn't perfect but I can't think of a better one. Can you?"

Demi shrugged, "Say please and wait for him to spontaneously combust?" She smiled, "It can be plan B."

I watched Demi's face as she looked at me, clearly processing the plan and deciding whether or not she was on board. Saris waited silently as well, non-verbally agreeing that we all needed to be committed to the plan in order to move forward. It was too risky and too big a project to do half-heartedly. But was Demi up for this? What was she thinking?

"Xander?" Saris said and I noticed that he wasn't looking at Demi, but at me.

"What?"

"I know this was your idea, but you're the only one that hasn't confirmed if we're doing this or not. We need to make sure we're all on board before we do it."

"Yeah," Demi agreed, "just cause it was your idea doesn't mean you're not having second thoughts. What do you think?"

"Oh, right," I spluttered. When had Demi answered? "I'm all in!"

Demi took a deep breath, "Well, we'd better get moving then, huh? Come on, Xander."

Saris sighed, his shoulders relaxing and his mouth curved in a slight smile. "Remember ten days from tomorrow and we attack on the eleventh. We'll do it in the morning and we'll lure the army to the beach. It's to the west...the northern west part of the map. There are some cliffs there that we might be able to use to our advantage. If we come up with a better plan, we can relocate everyone when we meet. And you two find me in the woods two days before that."

"Right. Good luck." I said.

"You too. I'm going to go this way so I don't need to run around the army. I'll see you two in a few days," Saris jogged off towards the farmland, intending to warp to the other side of the map.

As soon as Saris ran off, doubt entered my mind. I suddenly wasn't sure if this was going to be possible. I didn't know if we'd meet with everyone within the time frame Saris had given us or not and I didn't know if they would agree to help us. Maybe we'd be killed with our plea ignored. I had to push those thoughts out of my mind. This was the plan, my plan, and it was the best shot we had to knock Fire King off his throne. I hoped that we'd see Saris again and that we would be in good shape for the fight lying ahead of us.

We turned, looking at the town, our first destination, and I started to feel overwhelmed with how much ground we needed to cover. We had a lot to do and just over a week to do it. I was happy that I wasn't alone in this; I had Demi back. It felt good to be with her again and I didn't want to lose that, even though I knew it couldn't last forever. The last time it was just the two of us was at my apartment, where she comforted me after I had killed someone for the first time.

I looked at Demi only to find her looking at me. "Are you ready for this?" she asked.

"I hope so."

She smiled at me reassuringly, "It'll be okay. You've got me."

Together, we headed towards the town, leaving the forest for another day. With a little luck, we would find enough teams to help us fight against a force that threatened to wipe us all out. The game had changed and the three of us were the ones that needed to tell everyone. It was no longer just a game of surviving or dying. The unspoken code of ethics was on the line, and we needed to fight for it.