The pale light of dawn scratched across the forest canopy as the group started their day. Tim was already up and had disconnected the cables from the mana pumps. He coiled the wires and packed them in their place. Tim was inspecting the mana batteries when Randal staggered out of the Mule and headed to the latrine with a limp.

McKenzie stepped out lightly before stretching in the moist morning air. The scent of grilled meat settled in her nose as her tummy began to rumble. Beside the campfire, she spotted Aerith chopping sausage and vegetables. McKenzie snuck over with a feline grin. “So, how was he?’

“He snores. Other than that, nothing happened.” Aerith chopped her knife down with excessive force. “We talked for a little bit, but what I wanted to, aiee!” Aerith dropped her knife and screamed as a boom blasted from the eastern wall.

Randal threw open the latrine door and stumbled out with his pants around his ankles. “What was that?”

Tim didn’t bother looking up. “Think it was my security system. Must have gotten something big. Nothing to be worried about.”

Randle hiked up his drawers and grabbed his sword. “I think I’ma gonna and check it out anyways.” After a few moments, he hollered out with worry. “Y’all better come and see this.”

Tim and Aerith ran outside the rest area and to the far wall. McKenzie ran atop the wall. Eight legged corpses, some as small as a fist, others as large as a dog stretched the length of the far wall. Some of the bodies still twitched, and in some places, the pile nearly reached the top. Foul liquids trickled down from the heap forming putrid puddles.

The underbrush of the surrounding leaves rustled. Tim shuddered as dark brown spiders scurried through the foliage. In mass, they came from the east. Some jumped from tree to tree leaving long sticky threads while larger ones ran along the ground. Occasionally some would try to cut across the rest area, only to burst with fire when they climbed the wall.

“That, that is not normal.”

“Yeah, I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Let’s get packed up quickly. We’ve got one more stop, and then hopefully we reach Bonsho before dark.”

After a hasty breakfast, the four boarded the Mule and resumed their eastward drive, hoping not to encounter any more spiders along the way. While McKenzie and Randle rode on the top of the Mule, the coach’s box grew uncomfortably silent. Dark, low hanging clouds settled in just above the trees. Cool wet air clung to their skin. Tim pulled his brown leather jacket tight around him.

“It doesn’t look the same.” Tim mused to himself.

McKenzie’s keen ears perked up. “What do you mean, Timmy?”

“Well, before, it seemed like the forest was kind of procedurally designed. There was a pattern to it. I could feel it. And every so often I’d get that déjà vu, and I knew what we pass next. I was usually right. But now, that pattern is gone. Or maybe I just can’t see it anymore.”

“Maybe you lost your superpower, Tim? Or maybe you’re thinkn’ this ain't a game no longer?”

“Game?”

“Sorry, but your Timmy had this idea when we first arrived in this world. Um, it’s kind of hard to explain. Because so many things are so different from where we come from, he thought this was a game. Like magic. There is no magic in the world we come from. So, he thinks this isn’t real. A virtual world.”

“I’m not sure what to think anymore.”

Aerith scooched away from Tim. “I’m not real? So, is that why, last night we didn’t…”

“Hush! Something’s coming!” McKenzie interrupted while pointing to the distance.

Before the others could ask what was happening, Randal heard it. A high pitch ringing poured over the hills in the distance. It was as if a million rusty gears were grinding and grating against each other. He unsheathed his sword and got into a crouch. In the humid air nervous sweat formed on his forehead while Randal’s eyes strained to the horizon. The noise rolled in waves across the landscape and bounced down through the clouds. It swelled and deafened as it stretched towards the Mule.

As the tidal wave of sound ripped closer, individual squeaks and squawks took shape. Then it was upon them. The trees shook and the grass shuddered. The golden sails of the Mule whipped around violently. The maddening pitch of million screams passed overhead, hidden by the dark clouds. Randal’s body shook and he dropped his sword before jamming his fingers in his ears and clenching his eyes shut. The Mule shook as the vile song boomed and rolled above like thunder.

As the noise slowly receded behind them Tim gasped for breath, having finally remembered how to breathe. As he opened his eyes, he saw Aerith cowering in his lap, her fingers still in her ears. She was shivering. Tim ran his fingers through her dark hair then hugged her until she caught her breath. Slowly she looked up at him and threw her arms around him, a tear running down her cheek. Their eyes lock onto one another’s. Their hearts pounded and their faces drew closer.

“What the hell was that?” McKenzie screamed from the top of the Mule as red liquid trickled from her ears.

“That was unfortunate timing!” Aerith stood up with a huff. Then she saw the blood. “Oh.”

While Aerith treated McKenzie, Tim checked over the sails. Some of the strands had broken. Randal watched the horizon behind them, no trace of what had happened beyond broken limbs and scattered leaves. He rubbed the stubble on his chin then spoke. “Ya know, I might be the smart one for a change.” He turned to the others. “I figure it musta been somethn’ that could fly, so maybe that was a whole flock of Karura birds? Heard a few of um in the distance before. Kinda sounded like that. Eh, but what do I know.” Randle chuckled and turned away.

McKenzie stepped over and kissed his cheek “That’s as good a guess as any.”

A few paces away Aerith was muttering to herself. “Why does she never get interrupted?”

Hours passed, but the sun refused to show itself as the clouds grew darker. Moods grew to match the color of the overcast sky as they came to a familiar place. Great dark furrows gouged out the grassland to the south were now stagnant ponds. The Mule stopped alongside the wreckage of an elvish ebony carriage that was pushed off the road unceremoniously. Heaps of broken boards smashed wheels and scraps had been tossed lazily aside and covered the resting place of Tam.

“What happened here?” Aerith asked as followed Tim to the back of the Mule.

“Hoban had a sister. Tam. This is where we buried her.” Tim replied as he handed Aerith two small bottles of wine. With another two bottles, he headed over to where Randal and McKenzie were clearing away the moldered wood. “We traveled this road when we first got here. Tam was already dead. We took what we could from the carriage before putting her to rest. Then the Akuma returned. We survived, somehow. But, thinking now, if we hadn’t done this, Hoban and I wouldn’t be the friends we are today. Thank you, Tam, for bringing us together.”

The four of them emptied the bottles of wine onto the soft earth. Then Tim talked to Form and asked it to make a resting place for Tam. Form gathered the scraps of wood and pressed them together. An ebony obelisk rose from the ground upon a stone base. chiseled upon it was the name Tamera Briarberry.

After they finished their last planned stop they rode on in silence, each lost in their somber thoughts. From the height of coachman’s seat, Tim could make out a shimmer in the distance. The gently rolling hillsides shifted green to blue. And under the gray clouds, Tim’s face formed an evil grin.

Filled with long-awaited vengeance Tim stopped the carriage and retracted the paving grill. Steam rose from his nose as he stepped down.

“Hey Tim, what are we doing here? Oh, crap, is that…”

“Rainbow grass!” Said McKenzie.