Alex didn't let his expression change at Orchid's revelation, but it wasn't easy. There was no reason for Absolution to be hunting him. Until the Assembly, they'd never even met.
Absolution had already made it rather clear that he didn't think much of Alex, but it made absolutely no sense why the man would be hunting him. He'd been the highest ranked person on the local leaderboard for the 2nd Initialization Event, but Alex hadn't said a word to him.
They'd never interacted before the Assembly — and Alex refused to believe this was purely because he was a Nativeworlder. There had to be other natives on the leaderboard. Too many of them had references to things unique to Earth in their names… and even if they hadn't, if Absolution knew who he was, it shouldn't have been possible for the man to already know he was a Nativeworlder just from looking at him.
"If you know anything about a Native that can enter the Mirrorlands, it would make my job a lot easier," Orchid said. "I know this is my responsibility, but—"
"I don't," Alex said. "That isn't part of my skillset. There are a number of creatures that can enter the Mirrorlands. Patrolling it in its entirety would be impossible."
Orchid's shoulders slumped. "I thought as much, but it was worth a try. Damn it. It's fine. I'll find the Nativeworlder and deliver him to Absolution, and then I'll have my chance to remove him. I promise I won't fail the Starfallen."
"I'm sure you won't," Alex said. He supposed the idea of him being the native she was looking for would be so ludicrous that the thought hadn't even crossed her mind. Claire had been insanely effective at convincing her that the two of them were Starfallen members.
The three of them continued their trek up the hill, devoid of energy to continue the conversation any longer. The sun continued to beat down on their backs as they continued along the hills, which had started to sprout thick green grass now that they'd left the desert surrounding Valley Ford.
The only mercy they'd been granted was that no Outworlders had come after them. It seemed their return had gone completely without notice.
For that matter, the majority of the trip had been quiet. They'd seen the occasional monster flying through the sky or passing along the hills in the distance, but most of them had been in the upper ranges of Novice or the lower ones of Initiate.
That was good for the sake of making progress. It was less so for Alex's rapidly growing boredom. There was nothing to do but walk. He wasn't exactly exhausted — his System-empowered body was more than capable of walking for ridiculous stretches of time, but there was absolutely nothing happening.
Aside from the occasional conversation Claire struck up, it was agonizingly boring. Orchid rarely spoke first and was largely focused on doing something with her new stick to prepare it to be a staff, and it was a small miracle that Claire was even able to say anything with the severity of her worsening sunburns.
He continued to lead them in the direction of the Region Boss, putting one foot in front of the other. It was the only thing that kept him sane. They were getting closer to the monster every day. It wouldn't be long before they were upon it.
And, finally, something in the monotonous walk changed.
The three of them crested a hill and arrived at the top of a large valley. A large chunk looked to have been taken out of the world years ago, as if it had been struck by a meteor, and what remained was a bowl-shaped indentation.
And within the basin was a jungle.
Thick trees loomed, packed in like the rush hour of a train, and gentle mist swirled at the edge of the treeline. The scent of fruit and rain lingered, even at the top of the valley, and the quiet roar of rushing water rose up from dozens of small rivers that ringed the valley, flowing down from the edges of the basin. Some of them emerged from halfway down the edges of the valley, stemming from what must have been underground lakes or passages.
"Whoa," Claire breathed, raising a hand to block the sun from her eyes as she looked down into the valley. Light caught within the mist surrounding the trees and shimmered like a thousand dancing faries. "That's… something. Please tell me that's the direction we're going? I'd kill to get some cover from the sun."
"Thank any god that's listening," Claire said, starting down the sloping hill into the valley below. Alex and Orchid followed after her — and Alex became increasingly jealous of Orchid's staff, which was a very effective stabilizer when heading down a precarious surface.
He nearly tripped over his feet three times on the way to the treeline. The slope got steeper the closer to the bottom of the basin they got, turning to something near a sheer cliff at the edges of the forest.
The rushing rivers around them muted out the sounds of the forest for the most part, but he still caught the distant chirp of birds and the rustle of a stray breeze that dipped into the valley and brushed its fingers through the thick trees.
It was peaceful. Beautiful, even. A place didn't feel like —
"Is that someone screaming?" Claire asked, pausing at the edge of the cliff, about fifteen feet above the forest ground. There was a ring about thirty or forty feet wide between the treeline and the base of the cliff, filled only by grass and small shrubbery dotted with multicolored fruits and flowers.
Alex paused. He tilted his head to the side to listen, then shook his head. "The only thing I hear is the river."
"No, I hear it," Orchid said. She crept over to the edge of the cliff and squinted down at the treeline. "And I swear it's getting closer."
Aaron's day had started out pretty great.
After the Apocalypse, that had become increasingly rare. He'd much preferred when his biggest worry was getting out of bed in time to get to work at his family's restaurant.
Mom always said that life's the dealer and all we can do is smile and play the hands we get dealt. After all, we only lose when we stop playing the game, right?
Aaron wasn't so sure that rule still applied.
His mom hadn't gotten a chance to tell him what she'd have thought about the apocalypse. She'd died two years before it, from a stroke. His dad had sworn up and down that it had been caused by stress from debtors coming after their business, but she'd never once let on to the rest of them that she was stressed.
Aaron was pretty sure she'd been the lucky one.
A looter had shot his dad in the back of the head whilst robbing their restaurant for supplies two days after the System announced the apocalypse.
Now all that was left was him and May.
If his little sister hadn't made it this far, Aaron was certain beyond a doubt that he'd have already given up. But there was nobody other than him left for her. And so, his mother's words rung true.
Not because they were.
Because they had to be.
So as far as May was concerned, the world wasn't ending. This was just an opportunity to go on a fun little camping trip.
There weren't monsters lurking in every shadow waiting to kill them all. There was just a really big game of tag going on, and they had to make sure they never got caught.
And the other people in the forest with them when the apocalypse had started in true — the ones that had died screaming and the ones that had banded together to defend their little camping ground — they were their new friends.
He wasn't sure that May believed any of the words that came out of his mouth. But she was alive. That was all that mattered.
Life was strange, and the hand it had dealt this time around was a steaming pile of shit, but Aaron didn't have much choice but to play his cards and smile. It would have to give him a new round soon enough.
Day by day, life had gone on.
And in ways, things had improved… at least, for a short while.
A group of strange aliens had shown up at their camp after the apocalypse had warped it into a giant forest, clad in armor straight from the Middle Ages. Some of them had horns. Some had scales and multi-colored skin, and some were covered in fur so thick he couldn't make out heir faces.
He'd thought they were demons.
May had decided they were friends.
And for some reason, they were.
The strangers showed them how to defend themselves. They helped them fight off monsters when they attacked the cabins.
It had taken a remarkably short time for the surviving humans in the campsite to realize they didn't give a shit what the newcomers were. There was no time for fear or bigotry when death was knocking at the door.
Allies were allies, and allies were always welcome.
A blue-skinned demon had moved into the cabin with Aaron and May. She was about his age, and she got on with May perfectly. Her name was Abby. Well, it wasn't, but that was the closest he could get to pronouncing it. He was still working on getting it right. Her laughter every time he got it wrong had been motivation to keep trying — one of the last good cards in a dwindling hand.
In turn, she'd been showing him how to fight by demonstrating combat techniques against some of the weaker monsters near the edge of camp.
And that had been where things had gone wrong.
An Initiate 3 monster had leapt from the trees while she'd been showing him a move. A mutated praying mantis of some sort, its eyes glowing red and blood dripping from its undulating, hairy maw.
It had caught her off guard.
Aaron had watched her armor crumple.
Her arm came off at the shoulder, falling to the ground with a spray of blood before he could even try to say a word of warning.
Abby had yelled for him to run as she fell.
She'd said that she had things handled as it impaled her leg with one of its claws. As raised the other for the kill.
Aaron hurled a rock at its head.
The monster's gaze had snapped to him.
Only then had he taken Abby's advice to run. It was the only option a Novice 4 had against a monster . And so he'd run — not for safety, but to take the monster away from the demon he'd only known for a few days.
"Shit!" Aaron screamed, his heart pounding so hard in his chest that he could barely draw in a breath. Adrenaline wrapped his neck like a noose and his feet slammed into the soil, propelling him forward.
A jagged claw slammed into the tree behind him with a loud crack, shattering the wood and spraying his back with debris.
He didn't dare to look back. The monster was right on top of him, and the split instant it took him to turn would be all the time it needed. Pain burned in his lungs and his body begged for him to give up. He refused it.
There was only a single chance for survival. And no matter how small it was, he clung to it like a drowning man to a thin plank of driftwood.
Aaron had to buy enough time for the others to find Abby. If they all came together, they could defeat this monstrosity. The chances of that happening in time were probably zero… but he couldn't afford to think about it.
There was a chance. And if there was a chance, he had to keep running.
The back of his neck prickled. Some primal instinct screamed in his ears and he threw himself forward. Red-hot pain burned against his back and he let out a cry as he hit the ground in a roll, tumbling across the dirt. Leaves and sticks crunched beneath him as he slid out of the treeline.
A hiss rose from the forest behind him. Aaron rolled over, blood slicking his back as his breath came out in desperate gasps and held a hand up before his face to block out the burning sun.
The monster emerged from the forest, chittering and clicking in excitement. Blood dripped from its claws. It advanced on him, mandibles opening in anticipation of a meal.
Aaron desperately pulled on any strength he had left to muster, but his trembling legs were shot. They refused to find purchase on the ground beneath him.
He could do nothing but watch as the mantis grew closer.
"Fuck," Aaron breathed, his hands tightening in helpless weakness at his sides.
I hope they don't tell May what happened.
The monster's sycthelike arms rose.
Aaron didn't close his eyes. He stared up at the monster, defiance burning in his features. It was the only thing he could do. The only card he'd been left to play.
A crunch echoed out. It bounced off the trees behind him like a fading echo.
Aaron stiffened, but no pain exploded through him.
The monster had frozen in place.
Then, slowly, its head rolled forward. It parted from the mantis' shoulders and fell to the ground with a quiet thud. It rolled to a stop before Aaron's feet. Green ichor dripped from the monster's chest where five shimmering blades protruded from it like sprouting silver flowers.
The blades slid out from the mantis. It crumpled, dead.
And standing behind it was a nightmare.
A gray body like that of a mummified dancer, clad in mirrored armor that merged with its flesh to form an abomination. The top half of its face was covered by a glossy mask, revealing only the razor-sharp silver teeth that lined the monster's grinning mouth. From its back rose a spiny metal wing, glistening in the light brightly enough to burn Aaron's eyes.
Primal fear swirled in Aaron's chest. This was no mere monster.
It was an angel — one of the biblical sort.
It was beautiful and horrible and inevitable.
"Have you come for me?" Aaron breathed.
"Not exactly," a voice said from behind him. "But you really shouldn't turn your back on a monster like that."
Aaron didn't get a chance to turn toward it. The last of the strength in his body evaporated. His limbs went limp and he collapsed, unconscious before his head hit the ground.