The four rode towards the battlefront for the rest of the day. Oliver crossed his legs and went into meditation while Ashtehar yammered on about his great religion. Frey and Doevm didn’t talk.

“I think we should make camp here,” The driver said. “It’s getting dark and this place is the perfect place.” Everyone hopped out of the smelly wagon they had been sitting in all day onto solid rock. The mounds of brown and gray stone around them were too large to be called hills and too small to be called mountains. A small waterfall rained down over the flat vertical walls down into a barren lake that took up most of the canyon’s floor. Boulders and pieces of vines were strewn back down the path. Small holes hid creatures powerful enough to burrow through rock. The camping site was stuck in the middle of a thousand square foot platform between one of the walls and the lake.

“This is a terrible place to camp.” Frey argued, a little grumpy from traveling all day. “How are we supposed to sleep on solid rock?” He pointed to the trees a mile or two back, “That’s where we should camp.”

Ashtehar responded by throwing everything out of the carriage, “We are sleeping here. You two can go back if you would like. I understand if you are claustrophobic.” He pointed to the three walls. “It seems like these will collapse on us at any time, right? This is a perfect place to camp defensively. We can see out for miles. It is tough to make it past the boulders with equipment. It took us an hour on the mile getting here. No wildlife will disturb us. They are too small and not used to humans. As for what we will be sleeping on.” Ashtehar put his hand on his ring and two dirty mattresses sprang out of it. “Me and my apprentice will donate our beds to you. You two poor servants aren’t conditioned to the harshness of nature like us. It only makes sense.”

Frey pouted, “It’s OK, I can go pick some grass to serve as my bed. Come on Doevm, we need to get some firewood as well.”

“Got it, just try not to get killed this time.” Doevm teased as he was pulled along. Ashtehar and Oliver waited until the two were gone until they talked.

“Do you think they’re with the raiders?” Oliver asked. “Their stories didn’t match their appearance. I also sensed their life essence, and they’re both in the red stage. Doevm made it to the red stage about a week or two ago, and Frey did two days ago.”

“I don’t think they’re raiders.” Ashtehar touched the slight scratch Frey gave him on his neck. “When I pushed them, they didn’t attack. They were more on the defensive. I can’t determine their ulterior motive, but if push comes to shove, we’ll shove them into the raiders’ swords.”

“I understand.” As Oliver talked, the back of his white robes fluttered around. A fat rat sprinted away. He caught it by the tail and put it back under his robes, with the rest.

“How many test subjects do you have left?” Ashtehar asked as he refilled his water sac in the lake.

“I just have a few.” Oliver adjusted his robes to hide the rats hanging limp at his belt. “I’ll need more, or I’ll have to change to my usual method.”

“” Only a few left” means you failed a lot. That, however, is a good thing.” Ashtehar pulled out sticks from his spacial ring and put them together to form the tents. “Mistakes are the key to success. The more you fall, the closer you will get to the goddess. Just make sure you don’t overdo it, or I’ll make sure you never get up.” Oliver touched the many open wounds hidden beneath his hood.

…

“I’m telling you, there’s something wrong with those two.” Frey said. “I couldn’t make out a single bit of Oliver under his robes, not even his face. It’s like there’s a permanent shadow built in.”

“You’re just being paranoid.” Doevm said as he placed several dry sticks into his bag. “You just need some sleep. After your crisis, you’re mentally scarred.”

Frey scowled and kicked a pile of rocks, “While I do still have a slight headache, I’m telling you I’m OK. Just watch out for those two, will you?”

“I got it,” Doevm closed his full bag and headed back with Frey: “Did you get enough grass for our mattresses?”

“Yeah, I got enough stupid grass.” Frey patted his full bag. “How many days are we going to be traveling with them?”

“Maybe three or four days?” Doevm shrugged. “Are you sure it’s just a slight headache you’re feeling? Do you have any random thoughts or fragments of memories returning?”

“No,” Frey hiked back to the canyon. “I was hit, blacked out, and woke up days later. I don’t remember anything in between except for parts of the plant’s memories. I’m back to normal now.”

“I see,” Doevm made a mental note to stop prodding. ‘Frey, I understand where your worries about the two are coming from, but I can’t tell you. It’s too dangerous to let you continue.’

The stars and the nearly full moon were blocked by thick white clouds. They tripped on random rocks and ditches, earning scrapes. After several dozens of minutes filled with cursing and stumbling, they made it back to camp. Two plain green tents were set up around an improvised firepit. The driver was fast asleep inside his carriage. The horses’ reigns were tied around a thin boulder a hundred feet away. Doevm put down the firewood in the pit. Ashtehar lit it up with fire magic.

The lake was as silent as their conversation. Small creatures slithered out of their holes and ventured to unknown places. The fire warded them off, but they watched. The four visitors chewed on salted meat, barely edible. Frey retired first. He went into his shared tent, threw down half of the grass from his bag, and lay down. He shut his eyes but didn’t go to sleep. He made sure to keep his spear within arm’s reach. Within the hour, Doevm went to sleep a couple feet away. Oliver and Ashtehar slept in the other tent.

‘Just you wait Doevm,’ Frey thought. ‘Something about Oliver doesn’t seem right. I’m going to find out what.’ He waited.

…

Frey’s bloodshot eyes opened wide. He instinctively grabbed his spear and sighed. ‘Damn, I fell asleep.’ He parted the tent’s flaps. Pure darkness greeted him. The fire had long since been extinguished and the clouds blocked all other light. Despite the quietness of the day, the night was lively. Crickets chirped, owls hooted, and unknown calls echoed in the canyon. Frey let go of his spear and sighed. He looked over at the figure of Doevm, who was sound asleep. ‘Maybe he’s right.’ Frey rolled onto his stomach and closed his eyes.

As he drifted into a slumber, one of the many noises of the night stopped, then another. The canyon quieted down to the point that Frey heard a new sound. It was far away, a small squeak. He applied his life essence to his ears. The unmistakable sound of metal scraping through bone set his hairs on end. Mumbling was followed by something wet slapped against the floor. Frey waited with his spear for nearly an hour. His life essence ran out, so he could now only hear a noise, but not what it was.

He glanced over at Doevm, who was still asleep. ‘Should I wake him?’ Frey’s eyes darted around the inside of the tent. His heart beat like a drum. When he sat up the grass stuck to his sweaty clothes. He peaked out the tent again, but he still couldn’t see anything. He closed the flap.

Footsteps came from back down the path. “Another failure.” A voice muttered. “I’m out of test subjects.” Each time the person stepped; Frey tightened his grip on his spear more. He scooted next to Doevm. The steps grew closer to the camp. It splashed around in the lake.

The clouds parted a little, letting Frey see a silhouette of a creature on the side of his tent. It was hunched over. Its back bent completely over itself. Long bent limbs had horns protruding out of them. Each movement made bone creak against itself. It stood to full height. The silhouette grew. Frey stood up in a stance and took a slight shaky breath, that was interrupted when a hand went over his mouth. He struggled and screamed to let everyone know. Arms creeped around him and locked him in place. His spear fell to the grass.

“Ssh, it’s me,” Doevm whispered. His voice was like a lullaby. Frey relaxed a bit and pointed at the silhouette. Doevm shook his head: “Whatever you do, don’t look at it.” Each word added more weight to Frey’s heavy eyes. “Go back to sleep and forget this happened.” He let his adrenaline take over and he got a burst of energy.

“Whatever you’re doing, stop it.” Frey backed away from Doevm. “What is it? Why can’t I look?” The silhouette disappeared, and something splat close by.

“We don’t know what it is.” Doevm shrugged. “That’s why you can’t look.” Frey stared at him, then at the tiny portion of dim light shining through the part in the tent’s two flaps.

“What about now? It’s gone.”

“Fine.” Doevm lie back down. “Just don’t make a big deal.” He closed his eyes. Frey retrieved his spear and left the tent. Now that there was light, Frey could make out the details. The campsite was unchanged, apart from a pair of disfigured footprints leading into the other tent. A small splat of blood was near the lake. In the center of the firepit, there was a rat’s corpse.

It was bleeding over the ash from the fire. Its skin, lower jaw, and two of its limbs were missing. Its tongue hung loose. A snake slithered along and swallowed it whole. Frey tried to beat it away with his spear, but it was too late. ‘It’s just a dead rat, why was Doevm so worried?’ Just as Frey was about to return, the bulge in the snake’s body moved. From out of its mouth, the rat crawled out with its two remaining limbs. It stared at Frey before the snake ate it again.