Page 50 of Breathless Recruiter

Dustin did his best to keep up, but I beat him to the water fountain in the middle of the park. I was about to tease him when hundreds of tiny objects struck my back. Looking down, acorns bobbed about in the fountain. When I turned, I found their source.

“That’s a giant tree with a face.”

Discord nodded. “I should have brought a chainsaw.”

The massive oak tree had pulled its roots free and stomped across the park. No longer inanimate, the burrowed holes for eyes had a dark red glow to them. Trees shouldn’t look mean. This one managed. With a few trees following and a bush jumping about like a puppy, this was about to become a problem.

“What do we do first?”

“Always give them a warning.”

I hovered between the contingent of trees and the path leading from the park. I held up my hand. That didn’t work. Maybe they needed directions? “Halt! What’s your—” With a swipe of a branch, another wave of acorns bounced off my chest.

“Next?” Discord stayed by my side, arms folded over his chest. “Is this when we hit them?”

“No, we need to…” I paused. Wait. No. I ran through protocols. We warned them and then we— “Yeah, I guess that’s the next step.”

I snatched Discord’s belt as he tried flying forward. “You’re going to get clobbered.” He glanced over his shoulder, cheeks red. “Teamwork.”

“Fine,” he whined like a moody teen.

I nodded to the right. He gave me two thumbs-up. When I let go, he flew out in a wide arc. I did the same, heading to the left. From two fronts, the small tree army had to divide their attention. I didn’t want to say it out loud, but having a sidekick might not be half bad.

Discord wailed, his sonic scream knocking down one of the tree minions. I flew in, fists out front, and smashed into the second, launching it across the park. By the time the leader spun around, we had already darted out of the way of its flailing branches.

“This is fun,” Discord said. “Beats listening to the bad guy ranting.”

Fun? I had never thought of heroing asfun. I understood why my people sent me to this planet. Protecting Vanguard from legions of evildoers could be a full-time job. It was work, and depending on the night,hardwork. Though, as I watched Discord throw phantom punches, a partner made it a little less work-y.

“I’ll lead the charge, distract the brute and feign to the right. Then you take him down.”

“Got it.” Cracking his knuckles, he shot me a curious glance. “What are we going to call our duo? Discord and Mr. Supreme is a mouthful.”

I pushed off, charging toward the oak tree.

“The Supremes?”

“I think that’s taken.”

“Discordians?”

“Sounds like the worst band ever.”

The tree prepared its branches, ready to pile drive into my back. Predictable. I changed directions at the last moment to find another branch waiting. Smashed in the face, I came to a dead halt. As Discord’s screaming started, I grabbed the limb and shoved the tree in his path.

“I will feast on yoooooour nutrients.”

“You talk?”

Its voice came as a loud groan, barely audible over Discord’s powers. The trunk vibrated while acorns and leaves fell from its canopy. When the screeching stopped, I expected it to buckle over and topple.

“You’re chapping my bark,” it growled.

“What now?” Discord shouted.

Our well-executed plan hadn’t panned out. Well, crap. When strategy didn’t win, there was always the standby. “Hit it.”

“What?”

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