Festelda shook Dahj violently while screaming at the side of his head to wake him. He had slept on his side that night, in the exact place he witnessed himself die.

Tok. “Dahj. Dahj!” Thok. “DAHJ!” Festelda cried. Clicking her tongue like the Prairie dog had taught them, she tried anything to rouse the beast ten times the size of herself.

Dahj groaned and sat up in the morning sun, holding his forehead. It continued to swirl with the memory of the previous night. The vision of his own lifeless eyes was burned into his brain.

“Dahj! What did you eat?!” she yelled, helping support him in a sitting position.

“What? When?” Everything was still quite foggy, and the grasses around him were seemingly still slightly swaying without the assistance of the wind.

“Last night! When you took rations from my pouch. I think… I think something got mixed up. I put some of my defensive fungus in the wrong pouch. Oh, Dahj I’m so sorry! You could have been killed!” she shouted, beginning to weep.

“I’m fine, it’s fine,” he said, covering his eyes to regain focus. “What the fire was that?”

“I’m not exactly sure which you accidentally ate, but I generally collect ones with psychoactive properties. They make a great non-lethal defensive consumable…What exactly did you see, anyway?” She had digressed from concern to gleeful curiosity.

“I don’t exactly remember,” Dahj lied. “The moon looked cool, that’s about it. Then it just felt like I was dying, so I laid down!”

Dahj leaned forward to brush way the ghostly sensation of something wrapped around his ankle. It couldn’t have been him. He told us he didn’t know each of us in a previous life… that the land chose us… Tentacles don’t grow out of the land.

***

Traveling that day was a slog. Dahj's stomach was churning. His mind was clouded. He wasn't sure if it was the fungus or the information discovered the previous night. He wanted to bring it up to Brenloru, but feared the information would damper the trip, or cancel it all together. Gathering accounts of the other Guardian’s deaths, he compared them to his own.

Brenloru's was caused by a freak storm, Reblex killed by bears. It only raised more questions. How could a storm that powerful brew so quickly? Bears don't typically hunt in packs, why would multiple come after Reblex? At that time, only the Designer had contact with the elements. Only the Soul of Atmosphere could whip up such a storm. Could it be possible that it was the Designer, with the assistance of the Souls that caused the Guardian’s first deaths? Why would it be in his favor for them to die? Was it a test of strength that they had failed?

No, Dahj thought, pushing the intrusive thoughts from his mind. This must have been orchestrated from the carnivore's designer. Dahj had never been given a full description of the rebel, but assumed his designer made her in his own image. This would explain the tentacle that held Dahj in place as wolves attacked him, which mimicked the similar assaults suffered since reviving. In each instance of assault, there had been at least two wolves. She must’ve known he was alive, and of importance; she’s sending predators after him to prevent his journey.

Paranoia set in as he wondered how she consistently knew his location. In the field with the red dogs. In the valley before meeting Brenloru. After leaving the Cedar Homestead to collect rations. Scanning the horizon, he suspected he was being watched now. If predators knew the Guardians were en route to the place of power, they may know about the tentacle. They would know the Designer is vulnerable – not to mention desperate – to send for strangers out on a suicide mission.

The questions were mounting. Doubt was debilitating him. He needed to have a meeting with the Designer. Until then, the other three could not know about his recent revelations; it wouldn't help the mission to plague their minds as well. Reblex seemed distracted enough as it was… for whatever reason, and Festelda had just revisited the troubling state of her gaze. Brenloru, however, seemed unwavering. Dahj admired his tenacity in carrying out the mission of a mysterious beast. He was either enlightened to some small detail that Dahj was not, or a misguided zealot.

“There – that's gotta be suitable, right?” Reblex motioned towards a plateau that stood proudly above the land.

Sheer cliffs jutted dramatically out of the soil, raising the independent plot of rock hundreds of feet higher than the surrounding valley. The group was currently too low in elevation to identify what was inhabiting the level summit of the stand-alone rock formation. It resembled a behemoth’s top-hat; forgotten in an otherwise flat valley. Dahj pretended that the giant had set it down during a rest, then forgotten it upon resuming his travels.

“Let’s circle around to see if there will be a more… approachable slope,” Brenloru said, intimidated by the vertical cliffs that made up the circumference of the massive, pillar-like geographical feature.

“What’s wrong, too steep for you, old man?” Reblex taunted.

“No, there just doesn’t seem to be any trees to grab onto, ram,” he replied smugly.

***

Circling around the pillar one hundred and eighty degrees, the group found a small path that corkscrewed up the circumference of the plateau. Consisting of crumbling rocks, it was loosely held together by grasses and roots. Precarious, but their only feasible route. As they gained altitude, more of the surrounding landscape was revealed, boasting fields of low grasses, mountain ranges, and off in the distance – wisps of steam.

“Fires?” Reblex gestured to the steam rising into the cool spring air. His powerfully legs tirelessly strode from rock to rock.

“No,” Brenloru said, huffing. He pushed on his knees with his hands to keep climbing. His antlers knocked against the side wall that stood merely inches from his left side. “Steam. Hot water mixing with the cool air. We should take note of locations to investigate later – could be the geysers we heard of earlier.”

As they rounded near the summit, Dahj head a “Tok” behind him. Brenloru had clicked to gain his attention. The moose wore a scowl as he gestured towards a bald eagle circling above the plateau.

“Probably hunting for rodents,” Dahj said over his shoulder dismissively.

The eagle continued to make full circles around the plateau from hundreds of feet in the air. Dahj had always respected the eagle; a symbol of nobility and strength. They were one of the most dominant species of the sky, mostly due to their carnivorous traits. Their long, sharp talons and a sturdy, pointed beak were utilized to rip flesh and eat meat whole. Incredible vision could detect the movement of small prey on the ground from high in the air, and exceptional speed allowed the bird to drop on a retreating meal in the blink of an eye. Dahj and his group were much too large to be considered prey, but it was best to keep an eye on any meat eaters, regardless of their capability.

Dahj took his first step onto the rounded, flat summit of the plateau with a deep breath through his wide nostrils, followed by a long sigh out of his bearded mouth. The spring air filled his lungs, revitalizing him. It smelled of pollen with a hint of freeze from the mountain tops. He marveled at the ability of the wind to carry various seeds to the top of this raised land to populate it with grasses, dotted with small purple flowers.

As he took a moment to scan the surrounding landscape, the group caught their breath. Festelda scavenged for any rations she could collect and bring along. Dahj’s pouch hummed at his waist. The moment that the appendage produced a sound, the eagle still circling above them screeched loudly. The bird of prey locked eyes on Dahj and narrowed its rotation, descending about half its original distance from the summit.

“It knows,” Dahj said over his shoulder to Brenloru. “I knew it, she has scouts. We’re being followed.”

“Leave it in the pouch. Do not touch it,” Brenloru hissed, keeping his eyes on the eagle.

The eagle screeched once more before ending its circle with a straight line, taking a route directly north west.

Unaware of the attention, Reblex continued stretching and Festelda picked a few flowers to craft a small daisy chain.

“I wouldn’t say ‘followed’,” Brenloru said slowly. “She just has many sentries. They seem to be able to detect the appendage when it is gaining power. We will need to be aware of our current position when it is ready to absorb elemental power from unique places.”

“So, he is probably reporting back to her, no?” Dahj wondered.

“Perhaps. Either way, we need to keep moving.”

Dahj removed the appendage from its pouch. It had swelled, and grown in length again. The same colors swirled from within vibrantly. Small leaves sprouted out of the tentacle. Quickly growing to full size, their lives were quite short. Severed from the tiny branches from which they grew, they lightly drifted to the ground below in the course of only a few moments. The branches now barren, they provided the appendage visual texture. Jagged pebbles surrounded the base, reinforcing the end yanked from one of the Designer’s eight sockets. The lent arm of power was beginning to represent its respective element quite well.

“I think we’re in luck, Dahj,” Brenloru called to him, standing on the edge of the plateau facing due east.

Dahj joined him. Gusts of wind were stronger near the edge, making him squint his eyes. Before them, a massive canyon cut deep into the earth by a relentless river that slowly sliced deeper and deeper into soft rocks for millions of years. The walls were splashed with brilliant colors of pale gold, white, and brown. Patches of reds bled down the face – an afterthought of the mad artist that designed it. The sun shone directly into the canyon, igniting the colors. Small trees and brushes clung on for dear life, somehow picking the most precarious places to grow.

Their bright colors of life contrasted against the wide palate of stone.

“That’s our next spot,” Dahj said, reminded of the gorge where his herd would rest for winter, but on a much larger scale. “We’ll venture as deep into the canyon as we can. The Designer’s limb should be satiated there.”

***

The group descended the plateau to find somewhere safer to rest – feeling too exposed on the raised, flat land.

“Do you remember your death, Reblex?” Dahj asked, breaking the silence. He realized he had never actually heard the story from Reblex himself. Only a synopsis from Brenloru when he stood at Reblex’s side in the Cedar Homestead, before his awakening.

“I… well, yeah kind of, I guess,” Reblex stammered, surprised Dahj would be asking such a question at this time. “It was fall, I believe. Just on the brink of winter. Cold was setting in, and frost was claiming the last of the resources. It gets quite cold at the altitude us rams are used to living, you know. Bears become very competitive at that time of year, as they need to fill their bellies with as much food as possible before hibernation…” Reblex trailed off, recalling his events.

“I was with a few others… the ones I told you about. I was leading them, protecting them from desperate predators. Well, one evening, we get surrounded by three black bears. These guys must have been cutting their hibernation curfew real close. You don’t typically see black bears team up to take down prey. As they pushed in, I knocked one real good. Put him to sleep!” he chuckled proudly and puffed his chest. “But the second one, I dunno. I had reared up, dropped by head, and as my forelegs landed, I just kinda… sank. My hooves sorta fell into the earth, as if I had landed in soft sand. I guess I wasn't paying attention to my footing. My own mistake cost me my life. Before I knew it, they were on me. Growling, thrashing, biting. I can still feel the claws in my side. Never found out if the rest escaped.”

“I see,” Dahj said lightly. “Thank you for sharing.”

Soft earth… Dahj thought, drowning out what Reblex carried on about. Peculiar, for ground to just… give out like that at that altitude. His mind raced. There was no way the carnivore’s designer had become so powerful. Had she already gained the power of the elements? The ability to move segments of land? Command storms?

Dahj turned his suspicion back to his own Designer. The evidence was mounting against him. Only he had the ability to communicate with the Souls of this planet. The Designer must have requested that the Soul move the land to inhibit Reblex. He must have requested the conjured the storm that pushed Brenloru to his death.

Why am I putting my life on the line to serve the entity that killed me? What happens when we return his tentacle to him, fully charged? How will he dispose of us when he finished with our services? If the Designer truly had been here for millions of years, Dahj’s present company couldn’t be the first generation of ‘heroes’ to be sent out to power his appendages. He was just another wave of fools convinced to serve a deity. A gullible martyr accepting a death mission so that the Designer can safely stay in his giant tree, protected from the war he accidently started in the first place when he fell to his own, relentless creation.

That’s enough existential crisis for one day, Dahj thought, snapping back to reality to focus on the canyon. He needed to be prepared for the worst for his own good, without worrying the rest of the group. Perhaps he could use the tentacle against the Designer, should things go sour.

***

Dahj and his party trailed against the current of a wide, roaring river as they headed east into the canyon. The frigid water rushing past them smelled chilled, fueled by recently-melted mountain snow. The white noise of the river drowned out Dahj’s negative thoughts, allowing him to appreciate the splendor of the newly discovered region. After all, if it wasn’t for this mission, he may never have otherwise traveled this far from his typical rotation of feeding grounds. If there was this much contrast in the landscape such a short distance from ‘home’, he wondered what else the land had to offer should he travel further.

It was a new emotion for him; wanderlust. Bison are typically rigidly territorial. They have no interest in exploring such vast areas. However, the canyon, the plateau, the fauna, and the hot spring had given him inspiration to see how far he could stray. Perhaps when this was all over, he would trek as far as he could – until the land met the sea. He wished to witness the oceans only told of in tales.

Venturing into the canyon made large species of mammals feel small. Dahj strained his neck to follow the towering ridgeline above. The basin of the canyon only had a few hours of exposure between the sun rising on one side and setting behind the other. It was either dawn or dusk for most of the day within the rocky path. Small bends in the river created pools of slower moving water; prime resting places for spotted, multicolored trout. Their rainbow-colored skin reflected brilliantly in the sunlight, magnified and enhanced by the surface of the frigid water.

About a mile into the canyon, Dahj noticed other glints coming from the river bed, mingling amongst tumbled rocks of varying sizes. Most were mere specks, but eventually…

Dahj approached the shore of a calm arm of the river. The small, loose pebbles shifted under his weight, causing him to slide sideways until ankle deep in the crystal-clear pool. He plunged his hand through the mirror-like surface to grab a chuck of the unique stone. It was deep yellow, covered in debris of other rocks. Some specks glinted brightly in the sunlight. “Yellow rocks…” he said, presenting the stone to the group.

“Yeah, cool. A rock,” Reblex said impatiently. “There’s loads of them. What are we supposed to do here for the tentacle, any-?”

Dahj’s pouch containing the appendage started to vibrate violently as Dahj rinsed the rock in the river, removing pieces of debris.

Holding the stone in one hand, he released the appendage from its pouch. It was twisting and moving, as if still attached to the Designer. Articulating, it appeared to be reaching for the rock in Dahj’s opposite hand. Dahj obliged. Bringing his hands together, he allowed the stone within the limb’s reach. The tentacle latched on and wrapped itself around the yellow stone, squeezing tightly. As it absorbed from the rock, the tentacle flashed a brilliant gold light, which reflected off the mirror-like surface of the river before them. Dahj had to look away for the moment that it persisted to avoid being blinded.

When he turned back to his outstretched hand, the tentacle appeared satisfied. It had gone limp again. Greens, browns, and greys swirled from within. Small leaves grew and fell within moments. Stones materialized, further fortifying various parts of its skin. The once-yellow rock it had been wrapped around was now black and porous, like a chunk of exhausted pumice.

“Well it liked that,” Brenloru said in awe.

“What was that stuff?” Festelda said, scrambling to find more along the river.

“It must be a source of this place’s power,” Dahj said. “This land is fabled for a reason.”

Tumbled, rounded rocks shifted loudly from behind the group, gaining their attention. With pops and snaps, they grinded against each other under the weight of a heavy beast. Dahj whipped his head around and met eyes with a massive grizzly bear standing about thirty yards from them, cautiously approaching. Drool dripped from the exposed canines of the bear’s gaping jaw. The bear looked anxious, as if fighting an internal battle while moving towards the group. Each footstep was heavily labored, swaying the bears massive body left to right. His head hung just above the rocks.

“Did she send you?!” Dahj raised his voice over the white noise of the river to carry towards the massive beast. He quickly returned the tentacle to its pouch with impatient effort. The appendage squeaked pathetically as it was forcefully shoved into a pouch it had long since outgrown.

“She?!” the bear roared back. “You are near my river. Leave before I must take action to remove you.”

The emotion within the eyes of the bear scared Dahj more than his teeth, claws, or size. He was an omnivore. Once a powerful vigil of the forest, bears had nearly abandoned their diets of seeds, berries and plants to instead fill their stomachs with fish and red meat. Although their will was strong, the bear’s mind was weak. Paired with their size and speed made them a perfect candidate for the carnivore designer’s persuasive grip.

“We’re just passing through, bear,” Dahj said calmly.

“I… I don’t want to attack you! I… I have never wanted to attack,” the bear replied through a slight whimper.

“You are going through a transition. Becoming an omnivore,” Dahj said to the conflicted soul. “It is a choice you must make yourself. To live off the land or consume flesh.”

“Who did this to me?” the bear cried, unable to understand his new insatiable cravings for meat and blood.

“We can explain all of that,” Dahj said carefully. “Come with us and you will have refuge, along with a lifetime of plant-based rations. You will no longer need to consume flesh.”

The bear shook his head violently and roared. “I have no choice,” he said in a low, gravelly voice.

Head down, eyes locked on Dahj, the bear charged. Festelda screamed. In that moment, the beast had lost control of his own motor function. His body performed more like a vessel than a being. Quickly lumbering along the river line, he lost his footing just before rearing up to stand taller than Dahj. As Dahj covered his face with his arms, he heard a loud CRACK.

The bear groaned deeply from within his chest before falling sideways into the river. Entering with a heavy splash, rippling waves were sent through the rushing water to the opposite shore. Reblex had charged from the bear’s left side, connecting both his curved horns with the bear’s skull. It only took one hit to black out the bear’s already-feeble mind, toppling him into the river.

Dahj watched the limp body of the massive beast drift down stream briefly before chasing after it. Smooth, rounded rocks rolled and slipped as he ran adjacent to the bear, close to the water line as possible. Pulling ahead of the lifeless body, Dahj entered the river. Lifting his knees to prevent being bogged down by the grip of frigid water, he stomped towards the beast, splashing water to his side.

Deeper water correlated with increased pressure, threatening to push his ankles out from underneath him. Fish scattered and Festelda called his name as the river dragged him south, carrying both bison and bear. Straightening his arm, Dahj caught himself open-palmed on slick rocks beneath the surface. White waves splashed the side of his face as he sputtered to keep his nose above water.

The gap between the bear was widening as Dahj stumbled to stand again, spitting water from his mouth and shaking the chill from his fingers. Had it not been for a dead tree that laid across the river, the corpse would have gained too much distance to be recoverable. Wedged between tree and stone, waves lapped over thick, brown pelt as Dahj approached to take hold.

Digging his thick fingers into loose, extra skin caused burning pain. Planting his heels did little to solidify his stance on loose pebbles as Dahj pushed backwards, grip locked tightly on the bear. Enduring one, two, three more slips while backpedaling towards shore, he released one hand at a time to brace or balance himself. Though the weight of the beast was lightened from partially floating near the surface, each yank felt heavier as the beat’s pelt slowly saturated with water.

Once beached, Dahj laid back, panting heavily. Huffing with force, he pushed fresh water through his massive, leathery nose. The others worked together to finish pulling the beast onto the rocky shore. Brenloru hung two fingers in front of the bear’s nose, then pushed into its carotid artery check for a pulse or breathing.

“Why?” Festelda said, astonished by the physical feat of dragging a bear out of a river.

“We don’t just… kill,” Dahj said between heavy breaths. “This animal went through an excruciating transition. I pity him. He used to be an herbivore, like us. We will respect and utilize his physical body.”

Brenloru sprinkled ceremonial herbs into the wind above the fallen animal. “He is still a creature of nature,” he agreed. “It’s a shame he was overcome by the carnivore's design.” Lifting one side of the bear’s lips exposed massive canines.

“Festelda, please. Do what you can to utilize whatever this corpse has to offer that could be valuable for our travels. Hide for clothing, teeth and claws for weapons, dried tendons for your traps,” Dahj said over his shoulder.

Festelda hesitantly drew her small daggers. “I’ll… do what I can, I guess. I don’t exactly have experience skinning an animal!”

***

An hour passed as they quickly became intimate with the internal anatomy of a grizzly bear. Slitting the throat, they oriented the body downhill towards the river to drain blood before the icy fingers of rigor mortis had clutched the corpse. Festelda hopped around the animal multiple times. Hand to her chin, she envisioned the perfect approach to skinning the omnivore. First, she removed the claws one by one, then the teeth. They would be best suited for additional daggers and another one of her traps respectively. Then she skinned the skull. Exposing veins, bones and flesh made her flinch, but he pushed forward.

“This would make a fine hood,” she said, cringing after removing the skin of the head. The sight of a lidless eye gazing through her made her drop the skin to the ground with a shriek.

“The pelt will insulate in the cold,” Dahj added, suspecting that his own would no longer be sufficient during the winter. “We’ll rest for the remainder of the day and lay it out in the sun to dry. Do what you can to scrape the fat and tissue away with the edge of your knife.”

***

The group exited the canyon into the field they had entered from. Bare patches and large boulders jutting out of the soil interrupted the dominant spread of wildflowers and grasses. Mostly unchallenged, the grasses had grown so tall they had fallen to their side under their own weight. Dahj scoffed at the misfortune of this valley never being utilized by his herd. They would have gorged themselves here!

The smell of sage was kicked up, filling Dahj’s nostrils from the pelt over the land. The sun was near setting, and he needed to find a place to dry it. Orange-red light exploded off the horizon, mirroring his current emotions. His mental state was still fragile from negativity. Regretfully, he assumed this trip was only going to end in pain. He feared for the others as well; pitying their naive nature to follow the word of the Designer for so long.

Dahj sprawled the pelt on the face of a large rock, skin side out to dry in the sunset. He laid on his back, around the other side of the rock to be alone with his thoughts. Festelda deployed her traps around the rest area. It was to be a full moon that night. Any extra defense was important on such nights; as predators were generally more active when assisted by late-night visibility.

Brenloru approached Dahj as he stared at the sky. The clarity of the night sky allowed for every star to be easily visible.

Brenloru joined Dahj’s gaze. “Fascinating, isn’t it?”

“What do you think they are?” Dahj asked. “I’ve never seen them so bright.”

“Well, other moons, I suppose. Just much further away,” Brenloru replied on a wild guess.

“There are many unanswered questions behind this mission, Bren. I know you are too smart to not have your own suspicions,” Dahj said, eyes darting back and forth from cluster to cluster of ‘moons’. “You have known the Designer much longer than I. Do you truly believe he is to be trusted?”

“I understand why you may be feeling cautious, Dahj. But this – everything. The plants, the animals. They are all his work,” Brenloru said as he waved his arm, palm up, across the horizon. “His actions are fueled by his passion of wanting his species to thrive. He simply needs our help. Millions of years’ worth of work lost to blood thirsty predators, should we fail.”

“Are we truly the first ‘Guardians,’ you think?” Dahj asked.

“If we weren’t, we would probably have more at his disposal,” Brenloru said with a chuckle. “I mean he sent us out here basically naked, still learning how to walk with hands that are barely functional! We truly are his last-ditch effort.”

Dahj looked at his leathery hands again, squeezing the odd fingers into a fist.

“There is a food chain establishing itself on this planet. If we don’t act quickly, we will soon find ourselves at the bottom,” Brenloru said.

Dahj grunted in agreement.

“He really changed my interpretation of the scale of things, the Designer,” Dahj said in a low voice, returning his gaze to the night sky. “Do you ever desire to see more of the world?”

“Well of course. Now that I know it is much bigger than I originally perceived. I desire to experience the change in landscape. It can’t all just be mountains and fields.”

“Have you considered returning to the north?”

“Under no circumstances,” Brenloru responded sternly. “That place is for ice and rocks. Living creatures do not belong there.”

Dahj’s eyelids grew heavy. “We will, brother. When this is all over and I’m done with this squirming thing, we will see the world.” He drifted off under the stars, comforted by Brenloru’s reply. It was believable, after all. The Designer’s creations only ate that which grows out of the ground; he didn’t seem to have any ill intent or motive to become vicious.