“Upon arriving, he was handed a box. It had a lid, but no lock. He felt something inside it. He shook the box. He could hear something. ‘Inside the box’ The Wisest Rasts spoke. ‘Is the knowledge which you seek.’ Before the Wisest Rasts went to sleep he said: ‘But you must not open it.’”

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“Do you think he’s going to be alright?” I said, watching Thomas’ sleeping figure. He was breathing irregularly and sweating heavily, shivering despite being indoors.

“There’s no way to tell. We’ll find out when it’s out of his system. Either it’ll haunt him for the rest of his life or make a complete recovery.” The shaman answered emotionlessly.

“In the meantime, gather the materials for the ritual. You’re already aware of what I need. I trust you’ll have it ready by then.” He added.

I gave one last worried and pitiful look at Thomas, who was no doubt going through hell. Such a young boy, and yet… People affected by cloud berries were strong enough to resist its effects or not. There was no such thing as taking cloudberries in moderation. If you fell into its clutches after detoxing once, you’d die if you ever stopped taking them.

No one knew why, but it was a hard rule. They died horribly and in pain.

I stopped that train of thought. It would not do Sandra any good if I delayed my departure. I quickly gathered my supplies and prepared to set off into the forest.

Just before I hit the gate, I noticed Stoat standing by the roadside.

“What? you want to come with me?” I said, staring down at him. He nodded back.

I shrugged, “Alright, hop on… Or you can walk.” Before I’d finished my sentence, Stoat had already dashed through the gate and waited for me on the outside.

I nodded to the two guards that were on shift, who waved back congenially. Armed with short swords and shields, rifles weren’t the weapon of choice out here.

“So, we need ashfern seeds, laogai leaves, and dire-blood. I don’t know how much Thomas taught you, or if his shaman did. Do you need me to explain everything?” I said, as I followed him through the gate. Stoat nodded again.

“You remember the ashfern tree, right? We’ll the legend about them only growing on dead Rasts, is, according to the shaman, only partly true. They just need a lot of energy to grow, so dead Rasts and Ba-Rasts are excellent sources. You can only find their seeds. They look like large acorns, should be easy to spot if you can climb up to its branches.”

I tried to channel my inner teacher, despite my apprentice being someone else’s bonded. “Laogai leaves, also ridiculously rare, grow upside down, so you need to find a cliff overhang and search from there. A cliff overhang is quite rare, but laogai plants are almost always there if you find where they grow. And dire-blood should be pretty self-explanatory, just blood from a dire-variant Rasts.”

“Now then, wanna travel together or do you want to split up to cover more ground?” Again, Stoat dashed out of view before I’d completely finished my sentence. How, when, where, and why are we going to meet up again? Ugh. Just roll with it.

As I wandered farther and farther away from the walls, I slowly lost my relaxed stroll. This was quite far north, so Ba-Rasts weren’t as uncommon as they were closer to the centre. I’m still really surprised we didn’t encounter any Ba-Rasts on the way to the fortress.

The dense forestry was still as annoying as ever. I wish it was like with the cities. Why can’t we just cut down the underbrush? Sure, we’ll lose some herbs and species here and there, but then we can just wander farther out to get them. We also get the extra added benefit of increasing visibility to some extent; we’ll be able to defend more effectively against Rasts… Maybe I should propose that to the shaman? He’ll probably delight because I’m taking initiative? I mean, his bonded isn’t that agile and often has trouble moving between villages, despite its size.

I mean, except for the enchanted roads which only people that know of them and know how to ignore illusions, the roads between us and the closest village are ridiculously bad. I remember hearing it took them 3 weeks to find us for conscription… Man; it is kind of terrible how poor communication between all the villages is. I’m pretty sure there are several villages that aren’t even on the map and avoided conscription by pure obscurity. The roads between cities though… Why can’t we just build them between every village? I never even knew about them till I joined the militia, but now I think about them a lot.

A roar in the distance brought me out of my musings, and I was briefly on guard for any potential attack, but I shook my head when I realised it’s probably just Stoat ending some poor Rasts’ life. How is he going to gather the dire-blood though? Oh well, either he’ll find me to gather it for him, or I’ll stumble upon a Rasts myself.

“The laogai leaves where somewhere in the eastern area… Or was it north-eastern?” I mumbled to myself out loud. I took out my compass and adjusted my direction. It was probably going to take a while either way. I wasn’t a shaman, so the forest didn’t talk back to me. That ability would’ve been quite nice… Why is it you only gain it after you become the shaman? I mean, that’s not how shamanism works… inheritable, perhaps? The shaman passes it on before he steps down, maybe? No, there have been plenty of times where the shaman died unexpectedly, so that’s off the table.

I still wish I was an apprentice, sometimes. Then again, the burden is too large for someone like me. I’d never be able to carry that responsibility, I just know it.

I have to meet up with him, too. Metralia… That’s a long way from here. We never discussed how long we’ll wait for each other so I might have to hurry. Do I have to leave Thomas here? They’re searching for each other, but I don’t know what Edward will do if he sees his brother like that. He seemed quite obsessed with Thomas; I can only hope he’ll have recovered by the time we meet up.

Finally arriving at the cliff where the laogai leaves are, I see them sneakily hanging freely in the air, their roots buried in the rock above. I’ll have to climb up to gather them.

I easily started the climb, deftly grabbing hold of protrusions in the mountainside, and the occasional plant whose roots stubbornly clung to the rock, allowing me to carefully hoist myself up.

The climb itself went famously; in record time, I was hanging by my arms under the overhang gently plucking a few leaves from the laogai plants. Humming happily to myself and enjoying the 300 metre drop below me, quite the view, if you ask me. Once you get over the instinctual fear of falling, that is.

I nearly lost my grip when a snake appeared out of nowhere. It bit my left hand, injecting it full of venom. It quickly travelled down from my hand and paralyzed my entire arm. Instantly, my situation had gone from relaxing to dire.

I was strong enough to hang from one arm without too much trouble, even with the terrible grip I had, but it wasn’t finished with me. It tried to go for my other hand, but I barely dodged it with a one-armed swing, and for a split-second, touching nothing but air.

The snake somehow had no problem moving around, despite it not having any limbs. My full attention was on it as it approached me. The tribal tattoos were an obvious clue, Rasts. I go into combat mode, and I quickly think what its magical ability could be, going through every discovered variant I can think of.

‘Not venom. It would paralyse a lot more than just my left arm with the first bite. Stealth? I didn’t detect it at all until it attacked, possible. Transformation? No.’

It lunged at me repeatedly, forcing me to recklessly swing back and forth between holds to dodge. A drop of this height will almost certainly kill me, so I had to either climb up on the cliff or kill it.

I was lucky and got a good hold, pulling myself further up so I could use my legs to defend. It hissed in anger as I desperately defended myself.

‘This won’t work. It’ll outlast me.’ I thought to myself, feeling the innate fear of heights slowly creeping back, insistingly destabilising my rational thinking.

Despite its repeated attacks, it showed no sign of slowing down or changing its tactics. So, its magical ability had to be passive, or else it would have changed its approach by now. Active abilities made the Rasts more intelligent.

A new variant ability, rare but not unheard of. It’s not physical, but magical. There aren’t any distinct features beside the Tattoos.

I flinched when it caught my right leg and instantly felt it become paralyzed. Thankfully, like with the hand, the venom had spread little from its initial point of injection. ‘It’s now or never.’ I couldn’t climb up; it would doubtlessly follow me. I had to defeat it somehow.

I swung to another hold to create some distance, feeling slightly sluggish. I barely held on as I rocked back and forth, preparing to jump on it. Feeling my heart leap up into my throat as I went flying towards it.

With my right arm, I grabbed my paralyzed left and held it in front of me, hoping it would target it.

It did. It didn’t let go, but again injected venom into my arm, which did nothing at all. I locked my other arm around it and clenched myself around its head so it couldn’t attack me, simultaneously locking my left leg around it. It violently trashed around at my hold, smashing me up into the rock above, the sharp rocks easily drawing blood.

I hung on tightly, not allowing myself to let go. It couldn’t attack me directly, but I similarly could not harm it at all.

‘I didn’t really think this through. What the hell am I gonna do now?’ I thought, as it trashed me against the rocks.

Turns out, the cliff decided for me. With only a large *Crack* as a warning, I suddenly found myself free-falling half-paralyzed, fighting for my life against a Rasts. The cliff above had broken off by me being smacked against it.

The Rasts also seemed to be aware of our current predicament as it redoubled its efforts to get rid of me. I didn’t even have time to consider my options, but I simply elected to let go, and let it fling me away from the falling rubble.

The lack of something to hold on to disoriented me, as I twisted and turned in the air, and only had a few seconds till gravity helped me down.

With a last-ditch effort, I curled up into a ball and waited for the ground to hit, hoping it didn’t kill me on the spot.

It didn’t.

In my disoriented state, I had no way to see that I’d been flung into, not away from, the mountainside. I smashed against it like boulders falling from a rockslide, bouncing pathetically against it several times like a human meatball, and with a final loud thud smacked against the earth. The bounces having slowed me down enough that I could barely maintain consciousness throughout all of it.

When I finally landed on the ground with my back to the ground, I groaned unintentionally. Not having much energy to do anything else. Trying my best to take stock of my injuries, I concluded that I was almost helpless. Easy prey for any predator that was nearby. I suspect the loud noises had scared them off temporarily, allowing me a brief window of reprieve. They’d be back later to investigate further, though.

It wasn’t without quite a lot of effort that I sat up. Giving me a glimpse of the cliff above, or more accurately, the lack of one. The entire overhang had fallen off, simply looking like a pencil with a broken tip. It was more than just the cliff that fell; it was its supporting structure too. What was once an overhanging cliff now looked like a badly cut slope.

“Serves it right, damn Rasts. Picking a fight with me was a mistake.” I groaned again, trying to get back some of my pride. Despite the unfavourable terrain, a Rasts had almost killed me. A normal Rasts. That’d make for an excellent story, no doubt.

I stared at the bright sky for several minutes as I collected myself, hoping the venom would recede at least a little. It didn’t.

Whatever venom the snake had, it didn’t spread much. Paralysing everything around the point of injection and was possibly long lasting. I couldn’t feel any difference from when it bit me. Unfortunately, as the adrenaline receded, the pain from my left leg that I’d broken on my way down muddled my thoughts. I hadn’t broken it too badly, something that would heal on its own given time. Although I was effectively out for a few days; I’d have to recuperate out here.

I still had my satchel, which I’d stuffed with food for several days, just in case.

Taking stock of my situation, I sighed. Where was Edward when you need him? That monster could’ve crushed the Rasts with his bare fists.

The pain was quite bad, but I’ve experienced worse. Still, the injuries weren’t only external, I can definitely feel some cracked ribs. Damn snake.

I dragged myself with my only remaining functional limb into a nearby bush and collapsed into unconsciousness.

***

I’d barely stirred before something shocked me into wakefulness. Suddenly overwhelmed with sensations of pain and soreness. Every trace of fatigue disappeared in an instant. I groaned in pain as I gently crawled out of the bush I’d slept in. I did not know how long I’d been unconscious. My paralysed right leg and left arm told me it was good while, as the venom had receded a bit. The sun was also up, so I’d either only been unconscious for a brief period, or been there for an entire night.

My left leg was throbbing. I leaned against a nearby tree to inspect it further and saw my shin had been completely broken. It hadn’t been an open break, so I wasn’t bleeding, but I could see it was bent slightly. A large blue and yellow bulge occupied almost the entirety of my shin; it had swelled enormously during my unscheduled nap.

There was no way to get around it. I’d have to heal it if I had any plans to get the materials within the next week.

I broke off a few branches of the nearest tree and crawled into the bush again. I’d have to hope it was a clean break and simply correct the leg myself.

I swiftly dug a hole with my hands in the tough dirt, deep enough for my entire foot and lower shin, stopping exactly where the break was. Carefully putting my foot in the hole and covering it up to lock in place.

My leg was extremely sensitive to any movement, so I had to pause several times to readjust my focus. I carefully squished the dirt into the hole to make it even harder to move my leg, lest I have to do it more than once.

I breathed deeply to contain myself, knowing the pain I was about to experience. I took a bandage out of my satchel and stuffed in my mouth, so I wouldn’t make any noise when I inevitably moaned in pain.

‘Okay, breathe in, breathe out, calm. CALM. Relax. And GO!’ I violently twisted my leg, felt it snap into place, and a thunder of pain spawned like lightning, and I was out again.

***

‘That sucks, every time. You never get used to it, ever.’ I flinched as I sat up too quickly and agitated my leg.

The venom had receded little whilst I was napping, so I wasn’t out for long. I probably wouldn’t have to treat it, and I could depend on my natural regeneration. Although if I needed all my limbs in a hurry, I’d have to use that. I grimaced at the thought.

The swelling on my leg had gone down. I could feel now that the break wasn’t completely clean. The bone fragments that broke off were being pulled into place or reabsorbed and regrown. It would take longer to heal, but I’d manage.

It was still tender, so I winced and grimaced while I was digging it back out, often taking breaks to not pass out. I had fixed it, and it would be fine with time. I just had to take care I didn’t damage it again. My body could only handle so much.

This quick trip had obviously turned out to be longer than planned. Who knows, maybe Stoat finds me and carries me to the village, so I can properly treat myself, but I dismissed the thought after a moment with a shake of my head. It wouldn’t work, it would take too long. I’d have to recover while on the move. The laogai leaves I gathered wouldn’t last, and I don’t know where else to harvest them. I’ll have to gather the dire-blood and the ashfern seeds before I go to the village.

The trip to the cliff had taken around a day or so, but the trip back would likely be double that, depending on where I gathered the last ingredient. I needed to be efficient about gathering the other 2 to materials. The leaves spoil in around 3 days. So I have 2 days to find dire-blood and ashfern leaves. Dire-blood is the easiest to find, so I’ll save the for last. Ashfern seeds… The closest tree is normally one day away, now though…

I shook my head again trying to shake off some of the doubt I was feeling. Worrying wouldn’t do much good. I immediately started crawling through the underbrush. Hopefully, I’d dodge all the predators this way.

My slow crawl continued until nightfall, at which I simply lied down and promptly fell asleep. Any available energy went to regenerate my leg and expel the rest of the venom.

I woke up at sunrise, and the night had done well for my leg and removed most of the venom from the affected area, only feeling slightly numb and sluggish. So I could walk with a limp instead of crawl, drastically increasing my speed.

I was sure that I was heading in the right direction, but I couldn’t climb the trees because of the lack of branches. Climbable trees weren’t as common as the city folk would have you believe. I had no way of knowing how close I was. I could only estimate based on small glimpses I had of the surrounding mountains.

Stoat had run off to who-knows-where. He’d immediately left my sight the moment we exited the village. It only reaffirmed my suspicion that he wasn’t a normal bonded. If a bonded at all.

Something about the little furred creature made me feel unsafe around him. Barring his decision to give Thomas cloudberries, which was still a mystery, he just didn’t feel like a bonded. I got chills every time we locked eyes. It was like looking at a predator. Which made little sense, bonded relinquished their predatory instincts when they became a bonded. Or at least, enough of them you didn’t feel threatened in their presence.

It didn’t make sense to me. His actions don’t fit a wild Rasts nor a bonded make sense. He’s Thomas’ bonded, that much is obvious, otherwise he’d just have left him to die, but why doesn’t he act like it?

***

The second morning I finally glimpsed the ashfern tree I was looking for, having foregone sleep in order to make it. Barring my love for a good night's sleep, I was beyond exhausted. Especially when you’re heavily injured, with a broken leg and cracked ribs.

Despite my musings and doubts, I’d made it to the tree.

It sucked, but I pushed through, ignoring the harm this might do in the long term. The shaman could fix up any damage I might cause myself, especially with my special constitution. Probably.

The sacrifice might’ve been for nothing, because when I finally arrive at the ashfern tree, it’s surrounded by Rasts. All different species and variants.

What?

“What?” I say to myself in bewilderment.

The ashfern tree was in a small valley. It had swallowed up almost every other plant and tree in its surroundings, so the area turned into a small clearing. The combination of the two factors gave me the perfect vantage point, so I didn’t immediately rush into my death.

‘What the hell is going on here?’ I thought to myself. I couldn’t creep any closer for fear of being spotted. At least one of the Rasts was bound to have a sensory ability. Even though it was quite rare, there were at least 4 dozen Rasts.

This was an unusual amount of Rasts, even this far north. Ashfern trees, and even most plants, were conventionally useless to Rasts barring the herbivores. Airborne Rasts or those that were good at climbing like monkeys and squirrels might use them as a nesting area.

I squinted to see if I could spot anyone at the top of the tree. Except for the usual grey bark and sliver leaves, there was nothing abnormal.

Unless…

I sat down and focused energy on my eyes. The bright glare that erupted from the ashfern tree told me my hunch was right.

It was evolving.

Fuck.