Scarlet was running as fast as she could trying to keep up with Keera’s longer legs when the other woman before her started to slow down, maybe two-, three-hundred meters away from the shore-line. Both women were gasping for breath, unable to speak and Scarlet felt herself stumble as her lungs tried to supply her screaming legs with oxygen. Her mind was still reeling with the awe-inspiring existence they had just fled from, her body shaking from the fear of another near-death experience.

“Take over…” she managed to gasp out, before sucking in another breath, forcing herself to keep walking, to prevent her muscles from locking up on her. Next to her, Keera was doing little better, her biggest advantage was that her monster had been in its crystal and didn’t try to break her control in a bid to flee. The limited awareness of the crystal-state had been a blessing for her. Still, Keera heard Scarlet’s words and interpreted them as an order to take over guarding them, just in case a crystal monster attacked them in their weakened state, so she dropped Badgy’s crystal, despite the lingering headache from her psionic exercises.

Despite their bodies whimpering in protest, they forced themselves to continue walking, ready to give it their all if they heard the monster leaving the lake and pursuing them.

“What in the darkness of space was that?!” Keera asked, once she had enough air to talk without sounding like a landed fish.

“Remember what the Doctor told us?” Scarlet replied, taking another deep breath before continuing, “About the first crystal monsters they discovered? That they had the size of buildings? I think we just met a medium sized one.” she finished, before the lingering adrenaline and resolving tension caused her to start giggling at the thought that there were bigger, more ferocious monsters out there.

“I thought that was hyperbole…” Keera muttered, almost to herself.

“No, not quite. I saw a different monster when I was out alone, it was smaller, only the size of a small house, but hey, that was big enough to make me a believer.” Scarlet replied after getting her giggles under control.

“And you went back out?!” Keera asked, almost incredulous.

“Of course. I refuse to be hemmed in. I told you that it’s rather likely we will stay on Verdun for a long time, maybe until the day we die. I refuse to live in fear! And there is only one thing to make sure that I don’t need to be afraid. That’s to be the biggest monster there is.” Scarlet replied, her voice turning a little harsh.

“You see, I want to be the very best, to travel this world they want to make our prison. To make it my own. I will travel across the land, searching far and wide and every challenge along the way will make me stronger.” she stopped for a second, taking another deep breath.

“I will battle every day to claim my rightful place.” again, she paused, this time not for breath, but for effect.

“Or I might die tomorrow, but that’s just fine with me. I once read that some ancient people had a saying. ‘Live free or die. Death is not the worst of evils.’”

The sheer intensity in her voice caused Keera to tremble. It made it obvious that Scarlet was speaking from the depths of her heart, that she meant every word.

“You are not going to stop until either outcome is reached, are you?” Keera asked, mostly rhetorically. She already knew the answer, that Scarlet would either accomplish her goal or she would die. And, when looking into herself, she felt that she was lacking a similar conviction. The only thing she could see was that she wanted to stick with Scarlet, to help the other to reach as high as possible.

At the same time, there was another realisation, one she wasn’t ready to share. From what she had seen in Albertina, the other psions were mostly contend, looking for their own personal safety and comfort. She doubted that they would just continue to train and struggle after seeing such a monster, let alone seeing one every time they went out. She had a feeling that they stuck to the areas they knew, where they felt relatively secure, simply collecting their quota with as little risk as possible.

But what if the controlled crystal monsters could feel that? Keera had noticed that Scarlet’s crystal monsters seemed to obey much easier and part of her doubted that it was only because Scarlet treated them like actual, living beings. It seemed to easy an answer. But if they felt Scarlet’s conviction to become the strongest? That would mean that their existential drive, to devour other crystal monsters and become powerful, aligned with Scarlet’s conviction, that both parties wanted the same thing. It was a scary idea, that the monsters were capable of such calculating thought but it seemed to fit with what she had seen.

She just needed a away to test it. She knew that she was lacking the pure drive to power that Scarlet had expressed but she felt that she could stick with Scarlet, following after her. She wouldn’t be the best, the strongest. But she would be strong. Maybe that was enough of an conviction for Badgy, if her idea was anything but a delusion. She would have to find out.

“Keera, are you paying attention?” Scarlet asked, shaking Keera from her pensive thoughts.

“Nothing important, I just had a thought.” Keera waved it off and focused on their surroundings, making sure that no monsters were sneaking up on them.

Scarlet, on the other hand, had taken out the healing-solution that the Doctor had given them and was following after Keera while carefully spreading it over Cyca’s crystal. Internally, she was a little torn, part of her was disappointed that Cyca had tried to shake her control when confronted with the massive monster but, when she looked at it realistically, she knew that it would be too much to ask most creatures to face a monster so much more powerful than them instead of trying to save themselves.

Maybe, now that she had carried Cyca along with her, taking a risk, the monster would understand that working together, even to the point of risking their lives, was the strategy to success. She also considered if she should let Crysna out but was a little apprehensive, fearing that he might try to devour Cyca’s crystal. Even coming too close to Badgy was something she avoided while Cyca was weakened, feeling that it was an unnecessary risk.

They continued on, Scarlet letting her monsters rest, while Badgy took out another crystal monster, this one of the nutty squirrels. Scarlet was still under the impression that the varied forms and abilities of crystal monsters were contrary to everything she had ever learned about biology, even xeno-biology. Part of her wondered how long it would take for the existence of Verdun to become known to the rest of the Federation and if the Federation would be forced to let researchers travel to the planet to find out more.

Just the idea was making her grin, once that happened, the Federation would have a major problem. Currently, the Federation could keep control by restricting materials that were send down, it was hard to build things without a way to mine and process iron but if researchers wanted to work on the planet, it would mean that a certain amount of development would have to be done. And that would allow the current prisoners to dictate terms, by simple virtue of power. The Federation had tried to pacify the surface, trying it again with an added guerilla force would end in the same kind of disaster as the first try. And the prisoners were in the ultimate survival training-camp, where a brutal, natural selection was separating those who could fight from those who couldn’t.

After about an hour of continuous walking, Scarlet felt that it would be a good idea to make camp and rest. She wasn’t operating at full power, merely pushing on thanks to her willpower and stubbornness, unwilling to show weakness.

“I think we crossed enough distance to be sure that the monster won’t follow us. And those trees over there,” Scarlet pointed to a couple of easily climbable trees, “look like we could make camp here.”

Keera just nodded, taking off her pack and starting to prepare camp by having Badgy use his ability to manipulate earth to dig a fire-pit. Scarlet on the other hand decided that it wouldn’t hurt to sit for a minute, simply to get off her feet.

It was a surprise to Keera when she heard a soft, purring snore from behind her and when she turned around, Scarlet was visibly asleep, leaning against a nearby tree. Smiling, Keera decided that, for once, she would take care of the other and started to prepare some food, planning to rouse Scarlet when they could eat.