Hunter guided Misfit Squad on a winding trail just barely wide enough for Fred to pass. The Alfar man had grown taciturn after parting with the other survivors of his village. Fred kept quiet as well, other than to give occasional orders for Hector or one of the Titans to scout something out.

They stopped for lunch and Hunter accepted a tin of meatloaf and vacuum sealed fruit slices only to hand them back moments later. He declared them lifeless and inedible garbage. Nestor enthusiastically agreed with the assessment, then ate the portion that Hunter rejected anyway, declaring 'a nasty calorie is still a calorie'.

Twice they had to knock a tree down so that Fred could squeeze through. They also managed to get close to the end of their water supply, which raised a degree of concern in everyone. No one mentioned the obvious issue out loud, but Hector suspected everyone thought it: the logistics of keeping the Titans hydrated were going to be a huge challenge.

They were debating whether to stop for dinner when Hunter announced they were close to their destination. "Breadfruit Village is a short walk from here, all down hill. Don't enter through the gate until we receive an invitation."

Fred finally broke his silence. "Are you going to tell us anything about this village?"

Hunter shrugged. "What do you want me to say?"

"Who is Mila and why do people fear her?"

Hector glanced towards the Rover. Fred had no face to read expressions on, of course, so that taught him nothing. Did their squad leader actually worry the Alfar of this village could hurt them?

"It is nothing for you demons to worry about," Hunter said, voice heavy.

"I need accurate information to make decisions." Fred's tone hardened, then. "If you don't cooperate, I will tell this Mila that you guided us here to remove her from power."

The stoic Hunter hunched his shoulders as he walked. "Tricky demon. I will tell you, then. It is not something openly spoken of, but the leader of Breadfruit Village is a beast kin specializing in human kind. She is powerful and immortal and bends all she meets to her will."

Hector glanced to Cleo and spoke softly. "Human kin? Is that what I think it is?"

"Strigoi," she confirmed, not disturbed in the least.

No one else said anything in response. Hector knew little of the Strigoi, other than they were often compared to vampires by the people of Earth. Was that accurate, though? They'd be absorbing life energy instead of drinking blood. So far as he knew, there should be no reason for them to fear sunlight. They were just creatures who preyed on fellow humans. Energy cannibals.

Misfit Squad had nothing to fear in that regard. But was this another creature Hector would need to slay before leaving Eden? He didn't want to make a habit of killing other humans, even if he had good reasons. Strigoi and Ogres were human, even if their actions were monstrous. Hunting them down wouldn't be quite so icky if they were just psychopathic criminals – they were also ethnic groups of a sort.

They knew they'd reached the outskirts of the village when they encountered the living wall. Trees sheared of their lower branches presented smooth, straight trunks that clinging vines were woven between to create flowering nets above head level. At normal heights there were strategically placed thorn bushes preventing easy passage. Hector could see that anyone who managed to slip through the uninviting living wall would be rewarded by running into a tight-packed palisade.

The trail they followed ended at a wooden gate guarded by men wielding spears. They found those spears pointed in their direction not long after they came into sight. "Stop there, foreign demons! We forbid you entrance through our walls!"

Hunter turned to Fred and shrugged. "Some say demons cannot enter without invitation. I doubt that is true, but many believe it."

"Hector," Fred said, "go ask those men to speak with the leader of the village."

"You want a Xian to make first contact with these guys?" He hadn't been having much success interacting with the Alfar so far, so Hector questioned the wisdom of the order.

"Ajax and Nestor look too threatening, my humanity would be questioned, and the Arahants would have to take those spears seriously. You're up, Hector."

Which led to him approaching the nervous guards. "Stay back, demon! We forbid entry!"

"Forbidding entry doesn't actually work, you know," Hector told them. "Call for Mila. I want to speak with the leader of your village."

The guards exchanged glances for what felt like way too long. Obviously none of them wanted to take charge of this unprecedented situation. Finally, the biggest man took half a step forward. "You must leave. We forbid entry."

Hector used a cable of force to open the gate. He included a dramatic hand gesture to make sure the primitive Alfar knew he was the source of the phenomenon. "Go get Mila."

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The guards had fallen back. One of their number spontaneously fled. The rest jabbed the air with their spears and made brave noises at Hector. There was a lot of the word 'demon' thrown in his direction. The word was rapidly approaching the same level of annoyance as 'savage' for Hector.

He looked back and shrugged to show Fred what he thought of his own performance so far.

"This is a waste of time," Nestor rumbled. "I don't think we need their help."

"I wouldn't mind some logistical support," Fred countered. "We stay the course for now."

Several awkward minutes passed before a flood of warriors charged at the gate. Among their number was a woman who arrested Hector's attention without exerting any effort.

For a year or so back on Earth, a fitness influencer trained at Hector's gym. For a couple days a week their workout times overlapped. He'd found the creature to be exceedingly annoying. Over half of her time seemed devoted to snapping selfies instead of the 'work' part of working out. She also felt entitled to ask other people to stop what they were doing so she didn't have them in the background of her shot. Hector found that woman to be tiresome to an extreme degree.

And yet he still found himself smiling back every time she would give him a 'good morning'. The male portion of his brain refused to be anything less than pleased that she recognized his existence. She was just that damn attractive. Some women drew attention by being either thin or curvy or fit. That influencer woman had been all of those things at once. The combination short-circuited the mind of every man at the gym, turning them into staring morons.

This Alfar woman put that influencer to shame. She almost seemed too attractive to exist in real life. If someone showed him her picture, Hector would confidently declare her appearance expertly enhanced by makeup and lighting and angles and image manipulation software. That was hard to claim when seeing her in real life on a primitive world.

The woman slid through the ranks of the soldiers easily and approached Hector without hesitation. Her eyes glinted with a hint of playfulness as she studied him. "A Xian, I presume?"

Hector bowed deeply in greeting, then felt his face heat. Why had he done that? He wished he could claim some form of mental manipulation was at play, but Hector didn't think his mind so easily twisted. He was being stupid for entirely mundane reasons. "Are you Mila?"

She brought a hand to her chest as if touched to be recognized, causing Hector to become distracted by cleavage. "I am Mila. May I have your name?"

"Hector."

"How exotic. May I approach your friends? I haven't met with Arahants or Jinn in quite some time. And I am not familiar with the type of the large ones."

Ajax came forward in the blink of an eye to hold out his hand for a shake. "I am Ajax, Mila. My kind are called Titans."

"Titans. You must be mighty warriors."

"We are known as such," Ajax said, speaking with a degree of formality Hector had never heard from the man before. Great. They were all being made fools by their hormones.

Mila gently stroked the hand offered to her as if unfamiliar with a handshake. Nestor came forward next to introduce himself. Then the leaping idiot flew through the air to land before her.

"Hi! You're real pretty. My name is Leroy and I'm good at jumping."

"You sure are," she agreed with the simpleminded man. Hector knew she was manipulating them all just as easily. That was humbling. At least their Jinn leader should be immune with his powerful artificial brain.

"Hey there, beautiful, want a ride?"

Mila smiled shyly at the Rover. "What is it like to become a creature of metal? Surely such an empowering transformation must be majestic."

"I don't miss arms and the legs much, but the lack of other things makes romance a challenge."

"The mind is ultimately what makes the man," Mila assured him. The Strigoi next faced Cleo, who looked as horrified by the interactions as Hector felt embarrassed by them. The squad had been instantly suborned by a flirty woman.

"And I cannot imagine how competent one such as yourself must be to be worthy of such company," Mila said, looking Cleo over. "You have the look of someone with great discernment. No doubt you have earned the high esteem your peers place in you." Cleo grudgingly gave her name, looking suspicious all the while.

Mila moved back to face Hector. "What brings such great warriors to my humble village?"

"Rover Fred is our squad leader, ma'am." Hector resisted the urge to keep her attention on himself. He didn't appreciate being made a fool. Even as he very much appreciated the one making him a fool.

"So humble. What say you, Fred?"

"We're on Eden to fight off a monster invasion. There should be a rift not far from your village. We intend to close it."

"I'm aware of the rift," Mila said. "Your intervention is appreciated. Unfortunately, Breadfruit Village cannot field any warriors to assist you. We are unable to endure the fetid energies around the scar in reality."

"That is fine," Fred said. "The fighting is our entire purpose in coming here. We would appreciate logistical support. Water, food, a safe place to rest. Maybe a guide to show us the best routes to the rift."

Mila nodded along as he spoke. "That sounds very reasonable, Fred. In return, I would ask for a guarantee that none of you will harm anyone from Breadfruit Village."

"So long as no one starts trouble with us, we will be polite guests, Mila."

The Strigoi woman put hand to her heart in another eye-drawing gesture. "I swear to abide by the terms of our agreement."

"As do I," Fred responded.

Mila paused then to glance towards Hunter. "And what of you?"

Hunter cleared his throat. "Crossroads Village fell to an Ogre attack. I wish to live here."

"Cataclysm is back in the area?" Mila's easy good humor faded to something more serious. "That is bad timing with the invasion. I will worry about her later. For now, come. We will feast our visitors tonight so that they may be ready for the morrow."

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