That night I didn’t need the sphere to sleep, nor the night after that. There was nothing to worry about, no dilemma to dwell on. The situation as black and white as could be. Find the “seed” that was sucking the life out of Yetera and succeed in destroying it, or fail and perish.

The morning of departure was cold and damp. Thick dark clouds covered the rising sun and kept the cold trapped in our bones. Every face I looked at seemed exhausted and anxious. Even my own party members—except Bryan—looked absolutely terrible.

The look of surprise I gave him must have said something. “Gotta be ready for anything as the tank,” he said while shrugging his shoulders. I was fortunate to have someone so able be my frontline.

“I just want to start moving so we can warm up,” Luther complained. Both Briele and Cid echoed his sentiment. Almost as if in response the call to move out was issued. Walking didn’t warm my bones as much as I had hoped it would.

The cold seemed to stay even when the sun was high in the sky and the clouds were cleared. Others were thinking about the battle to come, but another issue was on my mind completely. The others hadn’t seen the dragon, nor felt it, but I had.

Was the teleporter even there still? We could be fighting a dragon in merely two days. Hell, it could be waiting to ambush us on our return. No one could be sure what was waiting for us. All anyone knew was that the constant walking was exhausting and the short, four-hour sleeps were something else entirely.

We were making record pace at the cost of our physical and mental exhaustion. The Adventurer’s Guild Master explained his thinking. “We’ll reach the mountain by mid-day and get one good night’s rest inside. The following morning will be go time. No one knows what is waiting on the other side.”

The frozen wasteland was an unwelcome change of scenery, and had become even colder since our last trip. Mental exhaustion reached an all-time high and people were nearly at their breaking points by the time the mountain came into view.

Shining rays from the sun mixed with the dense fog creating a fantastical view around the peak. It was only a mountain, but in that moment, looked like a holy land—our savior from this hellish traveling.

“Is this it?” Briele asked me. Her voice was hoarse and dry from the cold weather.

“This is it,” I replied while blowing warm air into my hands. My brow had frozen over and my cheeks were red.

“Do you think the dragon is there?” Bryan asked a great question, and as far as I could tell, it was not.

“Let’s hope not.” I confessed. The worst case scenario would be the dragon returning to an empty lair. A simple sorry and an explanation wouldn’t be enough to let us escape the wrath of a dragon betrayed. Fortunately, as we got closer I couldn’t feel any soul signature.

The biggest question now was whether the teleporter was there. If the dragon returned before us in a fit of rage… that would be the end of Yetera. Sailing to West Abithos was never an option as ninety-percent or more of the battle-ready population wouldn’t make it.

I could hear sighs of relief as the first feet touched the mountain slope. We were moving on solid ground from here on out. Those who had been before spread the news about the warmth of the mountain chamber and I could sense the expectation of those around me that they would soon get out of the cold.

The fatigue of the past days vanished like it was never there. Everyone moved with renewed vigor and there was not the slightest sound of complaint. We arrived at the chamber in the mountain and I was enormously relieved to see my worst fears had not been realized—the teleporter was there and intact—the dragon had yet to return.

The Adventurer’s Guild Master wasted no time removing his barrier and entering into the chamber. He placed the dragon egg back as closely to its original position as he could remember before sealing the room again and with layer upon layer of spells. There were no chances being taken this time. He also assigned a fighter as a guard, presumably someone he trusted absolutely. She would not be coming through the teleporter but instead staying to guard the egg full time.

“Find a spot and get some rest. We leave tomorrow whether you are recovered from the march or not.” Despite the severity of his message, Adventurer’s Guild Master’s voice was cheerful, it was clear that a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. We weren’t completely out of the woods, but the worst-case scenario had been avoided.

Now that we had some comfort and people had something else to think about other than placing one step in front of the next, I saw signs of a growing anxiety. Sound traveled well in the cave, and made murmurs more audible than normal. Fear was an incredibly powerful deterrent, and even though the teleporter malfunctioning most definitely meant humanity’s extinction, I still heard the occasional wish that it wouldn’t work and the Adventurer wouldn’t have to go.

One particular spellcaster was moaning repeatedly.

“Enough!” It wasn’t the Adventurer’s Guild Master, or even Rhea who took the lead in responding. It was actually Briele who couldn’t hold in her annoyance anymore. “Stop crying and complaining!”

I could see the spellcaster wanted to jump up and retort, but she held her anger. It was obvious from the looks of appreciation that Briele gained, and the looks of annoyance directed towards the woman voicing her fears that no one would be on her side.

“Enough is right,” Vichi suddenly said. “It’s time to be quiet and keep any fears to yourself. Don’t bring everyone down with your fantasies. Go to sleep!” she snapped.

No one had any complaints with that suggestion. Everyone was ready to call it a night. My fatigue had built up to such a level that I was past the point of being tired, and had instead hit a second wind. Nothing that laying my head down for a few moments wouldn’t fix.

Everyone did just that, and no doubt many of them would have nightmares. Funnily enough, the sudden outburst had pushed my mind elsewhere. I was suddenly curious to see how Bryan would deal with teleporting tomorrow.

I’d not seen him lose his composure yet, but no doubt tomorrow he would keel over and hurl on arrival. A smile crept across my face before falling asleep.

I slept like a rock and so did many others. My fatigue vastly outweighed any anxiety and worry I had. A lot of the others though, didn’t understand what we were getting into. Even after the first few days they still probably wouldn’t.

It was just before afternoon by the time everyone was prepared to leave. The portal stone had been left with the Adventurer’s Guild Master. Nervous and excited eyes watched him as he placed it into the proper position.

Everything depended on the next moment. It was so quiet a pin drop could be heard—I hardly dared to breathe. There was moment of stillness before the symbols on either side of the device started to appear and race towards the top. A portal appeared in place, a wild jungle could be seen rippling on the other side.

The strongest guilds were designated to go in first and I found myself dangerously close to the front of the line. The Adventurer’s Guild Master would go in last. No chances would be taken at all that some people might stay behind. Fear and greed were two scary emotions that made people act wildly.

What if someone decided they couldn’t take the pressure and destroyed the teleporter? It would be disastrous. Dominik’s behaviour showed clearly that even with a loaded gun to your head, you might still pull the trigger.

The portal showed no signs of weakening as the people in front of me passed through. I made sure to stand just ahead of Bryan, so I could be watching when he appeared on the other side. A smirk covered my face before I vanished and disappeared onto the other side.

I turned around immediately as I made room, hoping to see Bryan keel over and race to the side. He did neither, and to my surprise actually showed no affects at all. How had he managed that? There was more to him than I could see. Luther, Cid, and Briele were already wiping breakfast from their mouths.

The newcomers were more concerned with calming their nausea than the potentially dangerous surroundings—a side effect of feeling secure in this large mass of people. Fortunately, the veterans were on top of things. They quickly intervened to block those moving too close to the surrounding vegetation and kept a close guard.

The space around the teleporter was filling fast as more and more people came through. In the short week we were gone vines had encroached upon the footpath and threatened to reclaim our hard work.

Tanks moved forward and began hacking and slashing while leading groups towards our camp. Like a fine, oiled machine, a group would exit the portal and be quickly whisked down the jungle corridor.

We moved quickly, a benefit of not having any immediate battles on arrival. The worst situation hadn’t been realized: an ambush waiting for our arrival. I had known this was a possibility, but had done my best to not think about it.

It didn’t take us even thirty minutes to get everyone to camp, which was now incredibly cluttered. Mages, archers, and all scouts were immediately put to work. Archers filled the trees around the camp and minions and summoned creatures swiftly departed to find where the beast tide might be located.

Under the protection of all available Adventurers, mages quickly broke down walls with the goal of rebuilding them further out. Our party was also tasked with expanding the wall. I couldn’t utilize earth magic in that way, so it was up to Briele.

Bryan and I cleared all the foliage in the path of our expansion while Cid perched in a tree above keeping careful watch. Luther had it easiest and simply waited on standby in case something untoward happened.

No one knew exactly how long we had, or what the news would be when the summoned creatures returned. It was absolutely paramount the wall was erected and fortified before nightfall. No one wanted to be caught unprotected if a battle broke out.

“What do you think will happen?” Luther suddenly asked from the back.

“Don’t know.” Bryan was quick with the response. He availed of the pause to wipe the sweat from his brow. A cloth was pulled from his pocket, which he used to rub away some of the green slime and sludge that was accumulating on his weapon.

My knowledge of the current situation was better than theirs, but I limited myself to saying, “We’ll just have to wait and see.” I left a lot of room for hope, even though I knew the situation was truly not good.

“I think… we’ll be in a life or death battle very soon.” Luther responded, and it was clear his lack of activity gave him too much time to think. Everyone else was focused on the task at hand.

It didn’t seem many people around us were in the mood for talking. We had multiple groups on either side, but could only hear the sound of hard work. It seemed that Luther was the odd one out in having time to contemplate on the situation, and his thoughts were going in a negative direction.

“You wanna come up here and chop trees?” Bryan asked. He had grasped the essence of the issue immediately. “You won’t have time for much thinking then.”

Luther scratched his head in embarrassment, “No, that’s fine. I’ll pay more attention to the surroundings.”

There were no more breaks, no more conversations, till nightfall.

That night was one of the most grueling nights I had in the wilderness. We worked hard until it was too dangerous to continue, and by then I had quite the layer of grime on my skin. Pair that with the slime and sludge and sap from the trees we were cutting and I was thoroughly sticky.

The floor I slept on felt cleaner than I did, and despite the struggle to fall asleep while feeling so uncomfortable, I slept like a rock.

News returned in the morning, and it was better than I had hoped for.

The bulk of the monster tide had remained on the east coast of West Abithos. There were random strays moving around, but a full-on battle was not on the menu just yet. Plans had been discussed and prepared for every scenario.

We were to depart in groups immediately with one goal: find the seed that was the cause of the accelerating growth in the power of monsters. The groups had been pre-planned, and even I was not privy to the setup. A small number were to stay in camp, as we needed a central hub for information exchange.

Some strings were clearly pulled when it came for my assignment. Vichi and Zachary were joining us, as well as one more person. “This is Rot.” Vichi introduced a sickly-looking man: frail and malnourished with a half-head of white hair. It looked like he would croak at any time.

His attitude seemed dismissive and reclusive, since he didn’t attempt to converse with us at all. He simply nodded in our direction as Vichi introduced each of us in turn. Our group would be an eight-person squad.

The seed’s location was fully unknown, and most of the groups were going to search for it on the west coast. This was strictly hypothesis. It would make sense from a defensive standpoint for the seed to be situated as far from a possible attack over the sea as possible; but a lot about this situation didn’t make any sense.

We were looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Our designated search area was north west towards the coast. And despite the lack of monster activity in the area, I knew it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. There were roaming beasts still about, terrible plant-life, and my least favorite monster: blood-sucking flies. It was impossible to know exactly what we would be facing just miles into the wilderness all around us.