“We called them Dune Treaders and they were the only way to travel between the Domes,” Surge said waving his arms in vague gesticulations as he described another one of his many stories while the two of them were descending another one of the massive dunes. “So we were heading out to the base because we got some news that certain people had their flesh transmuted to glass and we had to get over there right now as it was spreading quickly. We had no clue what the disease could have been and no data so the four of us jumped onto four Dune Treaders, loaded it up with as much of our equipment as we could and raced across the sandy through some of the worst wind that I’ve ever seen.”

“Interesting,” Warden said non-committedly, his tone not dulling the enthusiasm of his employee a bit. Actually the stories that he told were a wealth of information but they were told in a disjointed manner so that he was forced to devote significant amounts of concentration to try and absorb the data even when he was forced to stop to ask him for an explanation. This had been going on for what felt like hours by now and it was a testament to the surgeon’s skills that the most fatigue that he felt was mental despite the many hills of sand he was forced to ascend.

“So when we got there…” Surge’s voice trailed off as he slowly came to a stop right in front of another massive dune. “I guess I’ll have to finish the story later,” he said placing his hands in the pockets of his lab coat; his skin really. What a disconcerting thought that was.

“Is it close?” Warden asked putting a reassuring hand on the weight of his gun which remained fully charged under the sun. “Can you smell Corpse Tar or something?” He couldn’t see anything but dunes in front of him and the ocean a bit away to the right. Nothing that implied the existence of a corpse.

“Maybe if I was closer,” Surge said as if he was thinking through the question. “No, Choir just said that a Celestial Being crashed onto the planet. So I just Measured the surroundings and that thing stuck out like a star in the black sky.”

“Measured?” Warden inquired.

“As in, Measured how powerful it is,” Surge admitted immediately. “It’s not a hard skill to pick up. I can teach it to you later.” He took a quick breath before continuing his explanation. “Basically if something is powerful enough to actually leave Corpse Tar then its dead body will be potent enough to easily be Measured from extreme distances. It’s quite complex to explain,” he said. “It’s also completely unrelated to Psionics or Magic or even my own abilities. It’s like a different sense.”

“Interesting, and your ‘sense’ is telling you that it our location is just over this dune,” Warden said before he started walking forward up the sandy incline. “If this still isn’t the right place then I might just lose go crazy.” He yawned at the thought. “Why can the N-Door never just deliver us directly to the correct place?”

“I’m sorry the teleportation is too inconvenient,” Surge said as he easily kept stride against Warden’s determined pace. “In all honesty I don’t know much about N-Doors. We have our own way of travelling,” Surge admitted. “Did you ever ask Choir why the N-Doors were so inaccurate?”

“No, I didn’t,” Warden admitted after walking for a bit. “Really, I just assumed that it couldn’t be fixed or he would have already fixed it.”

“That’s quite a passive attitude,” Surge observed and Warden shrugged in response. The pair continued in silence up the dune and Warden felt his anticipation grow as he neared the top. There was a nice breeze that kicked up the surrounding sand as soon as he crested the hill and he was forced to close his eyes while he adjusted for the portion of the beach that was swayed by the wind to assault him. Finally after almost half a minute the wind died down and Warden opened his eyes before he closed them again. After two seconds of holding them closed he opened them once more and just stared at the sight in front of him before he gave one more try at closing and opening his eyes. The sight in front of him didn’t change each time.

In front of him was a gaping crater falling down a distance of well over the distance that he could just eyeball and come up with an accurate measure. The ground was a dark brown opposed to the sand he saw previously and descended sharply before gradually declining in steepness until it reached the bottom where there was a lake of ruddy water which rippled intermittently.

All of this was merely the background compared to the monster that truly captured his vision. The first impression of the creature was that it looked vaguely like a whale although compared to most of the images of whales that he had seen this one was jet-black and it seemed to lack a tail, instead it’s back trailed out into multiple firm tubes where one would sit. The illusion of whalehood was further broken by the multiple legs, like those of an insect or spider, that stood half the height of its body and were joined together by a thin webbing of reflective skin that gave it the appearance of wings or maybe they were originally wings that looked like wings. It appeared to lack a mouth but it made up for it with a trio of spectacular eyes; like the feathers of a peacock.

The whole thing lay in the middle of red lake like an elephant in a puddle preventing Warden from even seeing the other side of the crater. To describe it as mountainous would be accurate and if it wasn’t for the unnaturalness of the shape Warden would have mistook it for a small mountain range. The reason it had fallen was also readily apparent as a massive jagged gash that nearly split it in two dribbled rivers of red into the dam like the originating point of a blood-based ecosystem.

“That must be some Captain Ahab,” Warden said eying up the massive tear in its body. It looked like you could probably sail the Titanic down the river although judging from the unnerving ripples in the blood lake it would probably have the same ending.

“I think you are severely straining Choir’s ability to translate,” Surge replied dryly. “Literally all I got from Choir was ‘probably a reference to local art’. Well that’s the source of the Corpse Tar,” he said looking down at the massive whale creature. “Never seen one quite like that before.”

“So this is even out of your expertise,” Warden replied looking down at the slope. It was probably possible to descend but he would have to be careful doing so.

“All of existence is a big place,” Surge said before a look of concentration overtook his features and he raised his hand. Bones rose from the ground forming into a crude staircase that reached about ten percent of the way down the slope. Having done that, he placed his hands back inside his pockets and proceeded down the stairs.

“You could have done that the whole time,” Warden said before he followed him. “Is there a reason why I was forced to scrabble up all the other hills?”

“I was right beside you walking the entire time,” Surge replied. “Why are you in such a hurry? Concerned for your secretary?”

“Shouldn’t I be?” Warden replied.

“You shouldn’t,” Surge replied. “She will be fine, but the process isn’t pretty. She would probably appreciate you not being there for the worst of it.”

“But what if…” Warden started pulling a list of reasonable objections out of his head.

“There’s nothing dangerous around her, the cage is linked to me so I instantly know if there’s any trouble, I left at least three days of Nutri-gel with her and there’s no way that I can improve her already near-certain survival rate without tools that I don’t have,” Surge said. “Believe me I do take patient safety seriously. Wendy is tough, probably tougher than you or she think.”

“I know that,” Warden said. “You never did tell me what her race was.”

“No, I did not,” Surge replied just as chirpily as ever as the stairs started building themselves as they walked. “Man this is actually harder than just summoning a lot of bone. It’s the detail really. I just can’t get the detail right.”

“No need to change the subject. I’m not going to pry,” Warden stated. “Which part of the body would contain the Corpse Tar? I wasn’t expecting the actual corpse to be so big.”

“Normally one of the vital organs,” Surge replied. “I’m thinking the brain for this creature but I would have to get closer. Feel like taking a swim and finding out for me.”

“In that water?” Warden said instantly as they reached halfway. “Did you not see the ripples? Even ignoring the unsanitary nature of swimming through blood I’m half certain that if I were to jump in the water I would be attacked by Sharkbears or something like that.” They were silent for a moment as Surge’s face adopted an interesting look. “Oh don’t tell me that Sharkbears exist?” Warden said exasperated.

“Our translator seems to think so,” Surge said. “They’re critically endangered though and I think most of the universe are hoping they’ll stay way. It’s actually illegal not to shoot one if you see one. They’re fricken pests.”

“That sounds like a story but doesn’t really solve our problem of crossing the lake to get the Corpse Tar,” Warden said. “Can’t you build a bone bridge?”

“You think a bridge won’t startle whoever is in the water?” Surge observed. “You’re being very optimistic today.”

“Optimistic would be assuming the water is just full of harmless fish,” Warden rebutted. “Can you measure them?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure the majority aren’t that strong,” Surge said. “The ones nearest are all under Level One which means you’re on equal grounds.”

“And you can defeat them easily,” Warden agreed. “What are you implying?”

“Why don’t you deal with this?” Surge said as the pair reached the bottom. “So far you’ve been given a beating in every fight you’ve been in. Why not use this time to do some impromptu shooting practice. Take this time to acclimatize yourself to your new improvements.”

“Are you sure this isn’t just laziness speaking,” Warden said narrowing his eyes.

“We call that projection where I come from,” Surge replied instantly. “Does that translate properly?” On seeing Warden hesitate, he sighed. “Your gun is solar powered and the sun is high in the sky. You are shooting beings that you actually have a chance to defeat. You have recently had minor improvements done to your body and last, but not least, you are being watched over very closely by somebody who can resurrect you if you die.”

“Only if it’s within seven minutes,” Warden pointed out.

“I left Coldreach, teleported to 842D, sprinted past the customs, tracked you down and revived you in four,” Surge replied. “Just try not to jump in the blood lake or I’ll have to jump in as well.”

“I hadn’t agreed yet,” Warden said but it was a weak retort. He had treated Wendy and Surge as his enforcers when it was neither of their primary jobs. In one movement he pulled his gun out of the holster and saw the lion’s head pulsing with red light as if it was eagerly awaiting battle. “Do you think I can get powerful enough so that I’m no longer a burden?”

“That’s the aim of the Paths,” Surge said sitting down on the hard ground. “No matter how much training a human does they can never be stronger or faster than a Sharkbear. However by following a Path individuals can step past the limits of the species. I previously forbade you from using your Precognition,” he said slowly and carefully. “I still say that you shouldn’t take any Psionic Enhancers yet but this might be a good time to train your natural Precognition.”

“I can’t use my Precognition,” Warden admitted.

“Well then it’s a perfect time to learn,” Surge said as a spear of bone appeared in his hands. “Are you ready?”

“I’m…” Warden hesitated before he tightened the grip on his gun and took a firing stance. “Let’s do this, Surge.”

“Excellent,” his surgeon said as he moved his arm back and the next thing Warden heard was a sonic boom as his arm blurred and the spear disappeared. In front of him, about two hundred feet away, the blood lake exploded under the impact of the bone spear before the water descended coating the dirt in a light shower.

Tense seconds passed as the waves of the blood lake raged around before they slowly quieted down until after about forty seconds there were only ripples remaining and Warden turned back to Surge.

“Hey do you want to___” ‘hit them again’ went unsaid as the new warden of Coldreach felt a chill down his spine and he turned back just in time to see the blood lake explode and monsters to spew out of the vermillion waters.