Dante and Waya walked in companionable silence, they were surrounded by luscious green fields that spread as far as the eye could see. Dante spotted wild plants and flowers that he had never seen before, some emanated gentle glowing lights which when approached too closely would suck back inside the flower. They walked past the occasional bushes and trees that were inundated with unusual looking fruits and berries.

He plucked several of the berries, taking nibbles to try them until he was satisfied they wouldn’t be poisonous. He placed a juicy red berry in his mouth, biting down on it, explosions of exotic flavours flooded his mouth. He let out a satisfied "Mmmmm," then made sure to collect some more as they walked past other bushes and shrubbery loaded with succulent treats.

‘Where the hell was all this when I was starving in the woods?’ Nothing seemed to be inedible which was unusual to him, he couldn’t tell if these plants were intentionally being cultivated. From his observations, the plants were sporadically placed around the open plains, there didn’t seem to be any coherent pattern to where they were growing.

The pair stopped under the shade of a tree for a short break, Dante sat down and placed his back against the trunk of the tree, taking deep breaths of fresh air in. He absorbed the expansive unobstructed views, taking some pleasure in the beauty of the untamed world he was surrounded by. He saw that Waya was still looking a bit depressed, so he took out a venison steak for himself and one for Waya, they both ate silently while staring into the distance. It seemed to barely placate her, she sulked the whole time while taking small bites out of the steak.

Dante’s mind wandered to what he should expect when they reached their destination, would it be filled with humans who were struggling to survive in the apocalyptic world? or have they been thriving and learned to integrate into a world now filled with magic and monsters. One thing he knew was that he couldn’t wait to be amongst his people again, catching up and sharing stories of their respective last moments before everything changed for them. It would be somewhat therapeutic to know he wasn’t the only human alive, that he wasn’t the only person going through this terrible experience.

Thinking about how nature had reclaimed earth, he wondered what the rest of the world looked like. Would he even recognise his old hometown if he stumbled upon it, would it trigger some of his lost memories? He guessed that they would be so badly dilapidated that he would struggle to recognise locations even if he did have most of his memories intact. With the impact that the progression of time and nature has had, this world was beyond his recognition. Not to mention the weird and wonderful flora and fauna that he was discovering every day. Nature seemed to be stretching itself out, uninhibited by the shackles of humanity who continually tried to tame it. Life was now growing in abundance and recovering what was lost. The world had probably recovered back to an equilibrium, there would no longer be concerns of a global climate catastrophe.

He now viewed the world with equal parts apprehension and excitement, he got up after resting and eating. “Ok Waya, let us continue to wherever you're taking me.”

She had been chewing her food, seemingly lost in her own thoughts when she heard her name. Realising that Dante was ready to continue, she wolfed the rest of her food and set off at a trot, happy to be distracted by the task of leading Dante.

****

In the ruined empty shell of an old crashed plane, a remnant of the humans that had suddenly and mysteriously disappeared from Earth, there sat a humanoid male who was curiously inspecting the cockpit of the aircraft.

Herodotus, or Otus as he preferred to be called, was cooing over ancient technology. “So this used to carry people to destinations all over the world? How fascinating.” He was running his fingers over the instrument panel, numerous buttons, dials and switches were spread out before him. He sat in the pilot’s seat, pretending to be taking charge of the aircraft. He imagined what it was like to fly, soaring high above the clouds like his ancestors used to before they evolved.

It was his first time inside an aircraft, the skeleton of the one that he was in could barely be recognised as a plane due to the ravages of time and nature settling in. He had seen pictures of what they looked like and had a reasonable understanding of their purpose, he let his imagination run wild as he looked outside of a broken window, the view was mostly obstructed by shrubs and vines.

‘What must it have been like to soar through the sky, swooping and diving through the clouds... oh how marvellous it must have been for my ancestors, how did it come to be that my family line would lose their feathers, grounding me in this form? To think how many more ruins I could visit and explore, if only I could fly.’ Otus wistfully thought while staring into space.

As he was peeking out of the window he spotted an unlikely pair of figures walking side by side. He leant forward, taking a closer peek through the cracked window. His eyebrows rose in surprise and bewilderment, he blinked several times to make sure what he was seeing was actually there.

“Is…is that…is that a tamed wolf?!” He clasped his hands over his mouth so that he didn’t shout the words too loudly. His mind dusted off some old memories of books that he had purchased and read several years ago, he recalled that they were incredibly worn-out and required delicate handling.

Shaking the cobwebs from his memories, he vividly remembered that there were images with text descriptions in the old language. They described a time when the ancient humans who used to rule the Earth would treat certain animals as pets, but he had never seen a humanoid walking with a wolf before.

His large eyes focussed on the pair, the man looked strange, he couldn’t discern his origin species. He mumbled to himself, “Monkey maybe? No, that doesn’t seem right. Chimpanzee? Possibly, I’ve not seen one of those Evolved before. I’m going to have to see if I can get closer.”

He stood up from the pilot seat and began to leave the carcass of an aircraft, he looked back longingly ‘One day you’ll fly Otus, one day.’

Leaving the husk of an old aircraft, he picked up a large battered backpack, the exterior had all sorts of dangling artefacts from the old civilization. With a heave, he pulled the pack up and placed it on his back, stumbling backwards from the weight before recovering his balance. Inside the pack was bare essentials for travel, a few days of food and water, some camping equipment. The rest was even more artefacts.

Otus liked to consider himself a historian, he specialised in the old civilization that had either abandoned or disappeared from Earth. What he did was technically taboo, he ignored the rules set forth by the Angels. When the animals of earth evolved into their humanoid states, their intelligence jumped leaps and bounds. They grew curious and began to explore the remnants left behind by humanity. Adopting their written and spoken languages, they skipped forward technologically, benefitting from the collective science and history of humans.

That’s around about when the Angels descended from the skies, it was sudden and miraculous. They declared that the old ruins must never be explored, that they had to leave the technology behind lest they suffer the same fate as the humans before them. Instead, they would share their magical technology and teachings, the majority of his species felt pressured into accepting. How did they have a choice in the face of such powerful beings?

Otus wasn’t someone who could sit still and ignore the mysteries that littered this planet, he just couldn’t resist. His inquisitive nature and thirst for knowledge new and old drove him to search out the ruins, he would try to decipher what caused the humans to disappear. Understand their history, how they had tamed the planet to the point where they could destroy it. He recalled how at one point in time, humanity was capable of erasing itself at the press of a button, it seemed to be the leading theory as to why they disappeared. He shuddered at that possibility, barely comprehending what it must have been like, to live in a time with tyrannical people in power who could destroy towns and cities at a whim. ‘Sort of like the Angels and Demons I suppose’ He shrugged while musing upon such thoughts, then returning to more important matters.

He tried to catch up to the unusual pair, trying to make as little noise as possible. He wasn’t very subtle though, his backpack rattled, he stumbled due to the weight and fell to the ground with a clatter. He crawled on hands and knees towards the nearest bush. Peering from behind the bush, his head poked out making him visible to anyone looking in his direction. Otus's insatiable inquisitiveness got the better of him. He began to make out what he was looking at, his eyes widened and mouth gaped, he squawked, “Hu...hu...HUMAN?!”

****

The wolf and human pair had been travelling for the better part of the day, occasionally Dante would stop and investigate some of the flora, taking interest in how unusual they appeared. He paid particular interest in some large plants that sat in the shade, they were gently emanating a phosphorescent glow. When he got close enough, he soon realised that it wasn’t the plants themselves but industrious little insects with glowing abdomens. They appeared to be constructing small colonies on each of the flowering plants. He reached his finger out to touch the plants, several insects burst off the plant and danced around him and Waya, trying to determine if he was a threat. Once Dante retreated a little bit, the insects were satisfied they were no longer under attack, they returned to their prior activities leaving the pair alone and unscathed.

Out of curiosity, Dante decided to scan one.

[Mana plant Beetle- Level 1]

He took several steps back, ‘These little things are level 1?! They could be an abundant source of experience. Yet there are hundreds of them, if they are level 1 and the system is to be believed, we could get swarmed and overwhelmed instantly. I need to be more careful.’

He decided to try out ‘deep scan’, see what other information he could glean.

[Name: Flostesta ]

[System Level: 1]

[Title: Nest defender]

[Species: Mana beetle]

[State: Agitated]

The prospect of destroying a colony to obtain a ton of experience was sorely tempting, but they had anywhere from 10+ points spread across their attributes. A trickle of sweat ran down his back, he thought better of it and started to walk away a bit further.

After taking careful steps away from the plants, he and Waya returned to their walk. He thought about the possibility that he had unknowingly had a close brush with death, yet the wildlife was still fascinating to observe.

He never really had the time, felt comfortable or had the inclination to investigate the new flora of Earth, much had changed ever since it had been warped by mana. Sure he was now beginning to realise how much it had altered the living creatures but he had paid no attention to the plants. Now that he looked, these weird and unusual changes were everywhere.

Waya growled, she seemed to have sensed something nearby. Standing up from his crouched position, Dante looked in the direction Waya was facing. In the distance was someone hidden behind a bush, not very well hidden at that, this person appeared to be carrying an absurdly large pack with all sorts of useless trinkets hanging off of it. ‘What on Earth?! Another person, Finally!’

“HUMAN?!” The shout travelled across the expansive plains causing Dante a moment of confusion. ‘Of course I'm human, are they not human too?’

“Hello! Come out!” Dante waved in the direction of this overladen pack wielding person, he intended to greet them but also let them know that he knew they were watching and where they were.

The figure that stepped out from behind the bush startled Dante, it was a man and it wasn’t. He had a humanoid figure, an almost perfect facsimile of what a human looked like, even his face was almost human, almost. The man that stared at him had the largest eyes on a human that Dante had ever seen, enormous black pupils with yellow irises that enveloped the rest of the eye. He had a small hooked nose, bushy feathered eyebrows that rose away from his face. He had flecks of feathers on his exposed hands, his fingers had the dark tanned skin of someone who spent their life outside, working hard in the sun.

“Co...Coming!” This awkward-looking man ran towards them, his pack rattling the whole way. Dante stroked Waya's head to calm her down, her hackles were raised in response to the abruptness and sneaky way this person had tried to approach. She relaxed a little but continued her low rumbling growl, in Dante’s opinion, the man honestly didn’t appear to pose a threat.

As this person approached it became more and more apparent that this person was not a human. ‘What is he? Why does he look so human and not?’

The stranger had almost reached Dante and Waya before stopping, he seemed equally interested in Dante’s appearance. The man stared intently at the pair, his eyes bouncing between the two like they were prizes. He didn’t seem particularly embarrassed by his rude behaviour, he was blatantly staring and inspecting them both.

The laden man murmured to himself “Fascinating, fascinating a human and a…is..is that a DIREWOLF?!” He dropped his backpack in a clatter and ran towards them, his feathered yet human hands reached towards Waya without warning. Waya snapped at him and snarled. The man quickly retracted his hand with a yelp “Sorry...so sorry!”.

‘He knows she’s a direwolf? Perhaps he’s at least level 5, should I scan him? and what did he mean, fascinating that I am human?’ Dante thought about the man's words, the fact that Waya’s heritage seemed to be so surprising. A worrying thought began to occur to him, the sudden interest in Waya helped him connect the dots about the differences between her and the Grey wolf pack. ‘Wait, wasn’t there another wolf that was similar to her….ohh.’ He turned toward Waya, looking at her and feeling ashamed. He had been so invested in his own survival and pursuit of other people, he had failed to consider that the wolf had lost or got separated from a family member.

The unusual man interrupted his train of thought, “Hello human, may I know your names? where are my manners? My name is Herodotus, but you can call me Otus, everyone else does. Well, that and other unpleasant names…” The owlish man was so energetic that this wasn’t what he expected when he thought of encountering people, he was a little out of practice with other people who could speak. His only company for the past few days had been Waya and she wasn’t exactly much of a conversationalist, despite their best attempts.

Reaching out his hand, not feeling remotely concerned by this man's eccentric behaviour “Dante, this is Waya” He finished by gesturing towards the wolf.

“Otus, right? What do you mean that it's fascinating that I am Human? And if you don’t mind me asking what are you?”

Otus’s eyes widened at Dante’s acknowledgement of his heritage.

“So, you are human then!?” he stepped uncomfortably close and took Dantes hand, he didn’t seem sure about what to do with it, so he pulled the hand towards his face and began to inspect it. ‘Why is everyone I meet crazy?’ Dante released his hand and gently pushed Otus back. “Can you please explain?” Dante asked a little exasperated.

Otus just stared at his hand, a hand that had made contact with a real human. “Yes, yes. Sorry. Let me introduce myself again. I am the Historian Otus, to the best of my knowledge I know more than anyone else about Humans, besides present company of course. It has been my understanding that all humans had disappeared from Earth, it's been," He inhaled deeply, hissing through his teeth while he thought about how long since the last human had been on earth. "About 250 to 300 years since the last human has been seen. Yet contrary to my belief, you appear to be one of the humans who supposedly disappeared. Probably the first anyone has seen in centuries!”

“There’s no more Humans?!” Dante asked, a sickening pit developing in his stomach. “Are you absolutely sure?”

“Well, the world is a big place but you are the first I’ve seen, I have so many questions. What happened to the humans?!” His excitement and owlish wide eyes stared deep into Dante’s soul.

Dante sighed dejectedly before he responded “To be honest, I was kind of hoping you or someone could tell me that.''

Dante’s disappointment was written all over his face, it was equally reflected on Otus’s owlish features, the first human he had encountered was before him. A person he suspected would be a font of knowledge, someone he hoped might be able to explain where everyone had gone and the reason for the rapid evolution of his ancestors. Yet, this man couldn’t tell him.

Breaking out of his morose feelings Dante looked back to Otus, he decided to move the subject elsewhere. This man seemed to be far too interested in him, “You mentioned Waya is a direwolf, is that right?”

Regaining his excitement when he looked to Waya, “Yes, an exceedingly rare species of wolf! What a fascinating specimen and tamed by you?” Waya wasn’t pleased with his renewed enthusiasm and his intense stare.

Dante laughed out loud, “Tamed, that’s a good one. I would say we have what you might call… an understanding, I suppose we could be called friends. You would be wise to not underestimate how intelligent she is.”

Otus wasn’t deterred by Dantes statement, instead, it made him even more excited. Walking circles around the pair, he had at some point taken out a notebook and was scribbling down notes, scratching at the pad while mumbling to himself.

“I’m sorry to interrupt Otus but we’re supposed to be headed towards somewhere with more people, maybe a village or something? Waya has been guiding me. Do you know the way?” Dante asked Otus, hoping it would stop him from treating them as historical artefacts in need of studying.

Breaking out of his intense study of Dante and Waya he replied “Oh yes, Greenhill village. I came from there not long ago, would you mind if I joined you?”

Hesitating, Dante eventually acquiesced, this was the first person that could communicate with him and he claimed to be a historian. Even though he seemed to be treating Dante like something to be studied, Otus could hopefully answer some of his other questions on the way.

****

Otus couldn’t believe his luck, a real human and a living direwolf to boot. Despite the disappointment that he couldn’t answer his most pressing questions, he couldn't help but stare at this man, the same species that had disappeared from Earth all those years ago. What kind of stories he could tell, the things he could explain to him. He had to follow this man no matter what.

Waya started to walk away from them, Dante turned his back to Otus and followed Waya. Otus tripped on his words as he was about to ask more questions, seeing they didn't intend to wait for him. He ran to grab his pack and clambered after the pair.

As he approached Dante, the man spoke up “So Otus, you were going to explain what you are and what’s happened to Earth in the Absence of humans.” Otus thought he could detect a threatening undercurrent to his voice.

“I was? Right, right, I was… So where was I?”

Otus began to explain to Dante what he had been taught about the disappearance of humans. He described how there wasn’t any solid or conclusive information as to what happened, all that his ancestors were able to determine was that at one point in time the humans were once rulers of the whole world. The history they were able to obtain told them that humans were able to do as they pleased, controlling almost all other living creatures on the planet. They lived in towering buildings, some that reached towards the heavens. Then the next moment, they just disappeared, for no discernible reason. That was when the frightening age of rapid evolution occurred.

He explained “As a matter of a fact, my bloodline can be traced to the Long-eared owl…” continuing his explanation about how rapid changes occurred in the absence of humans, then there was a divergence amongst the bloodlines of different animals.

Some species would begin to develop humanoid traits, within just two or three generations, they almost entirely shed their previous animalistic features. They began to collectively call themselves the Evolved, and their predecessor species was their origin point.

Much of their knowledge, language and understanding of the world was derived from the ruins and teachings left behind by the humans. That was until the Angels descended upon Earth and forbade them to go into the ruins of the humans, declaring that the species shouldn't taint their minds with human knowledge and beliefs. They had to develop their own culture and learn about the world themselves.

“Angel’s Descended?” Dante asked him.

“Oh yes, we are taught they are pure beings that control this universe. We have never seen their faces, always shrouded in deep hoods that only reveal a silhouette. They have bright halos and some have tendrils of light that look like wings. They are incredibly powerful, regularly coming to the villages to preach the word of Adam. Also, they arrive at each village once a quarter to collect their tithes, so you’ll get a chance to see them soon if you haven’t already,”

Dante reached out his hand, a pleading gesture for Otus to slow down. “Wait...wait. Angels are real?”

“Yes, I was getting to the next point. The Tithe…yes, the Angels claim it’s supposed to aid the war against the Demons. They claim Demons seek to destroy everything.” Otus was overwhelmed with excitement at having the opportunity to educate a human, it caused him to not notice how dumbfounded an expression Dante had on his face

“A war… between Angels and Demons?” Dante Whispered.

This human… had he been living under a rock or something? Otus peered at Dante, a deep studious stare.

“Dante, where have you been? This universe is at war for its very existence! How can you not know?” Otus was incredulous now, the man had been asking him questions nonstop but he wasn’t reciprocating. How could he help him if the man refused to explain his circumstances?

“I…I’ve only been back for a few weeks…” Dante replied with sadness in his voice, his eyes became intense as he took in the revelation’s that had struck him one after another.