“ARKLY! Stop this insanity! We’re just trying to survive for fucks sake! PLEASE!” Sylvie bellowed out as people cried and screamed.

“Me??! Insanity?! MFFFAHAHAHA! Look around! The whole WORLD is insane Sylvie! It always has been! A psychotic horrible rock, where I was denied my nature and cast out for impulses I had NO control over!? Why should I be denied and starved!!! For who’s sake, should I imprison my own instincts and desires? Mere peasants?! Whom only degrade the gene pool? PAH…The old world pandered to you commoners for far too long and we lost our way. Oh how wonderful must it have been back before then, freedom to love, freedom to have what was yours...We lost all that with all those ‘plebical’ revolutions that brought about ‘laws’ that were decided by, what, the majority? Majority of imbeciles and peasants…Rudy peasants that vote in governments and policies that cripple their own childrens futures, whilst they think they get to join our elite just because they tick a box on a bit of paper! HAHAHAHAHA!..THAT’S MADNESS SYLVIE! THAT IS TRUE INSANITY!.....But that’s all pishposh as it were...Because right now, thanks to the gods finally granting the righteous their well deserved gifts, we can return to the days of pure blood leading and giving meaning to the diluted. To the uneducated…And, to the insignificant-”

“Shut up you vile monster! You’re just a fucking pedophile!”

“Just leave us alone!”

“Bastard wanker!”

“Let them go or I swear I’ll kill you!”

“Piss off and die peedo!”

A slew of insults and slurs erupted.

He needs to die. No fucking question about it.

“How dare-SHUT UP! SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!” The figure raised a hand to one of the titans and it abruptly slammed a woman into the ground; her blood curdling scream was cut off gruesomely short.

“Another word and she dies! Do NOT make me break my playthings or I’ll get very, very cross. And you REALLY don’t want to upset me anymore than you-oh she’s already dead…Humph..How droll.”

The titan squeezed and the woman exploded like a watermelon. Right in front of everyone.

Fuck! We need their flesh. We-we need something!

My jaw clenched as I sent a message to Steve, who said he was already frantically trying to ascertain if anyone had the foresight to bring some of the flesh or bone with them..

They had not.

Fortunately, he had some of his golems remain in the base, and they were already trying to hurriedly bring some back, but it would take far, far too long for them to reach us.

Stay calm. Analyse the situation. Distance isn’t an issue for me. Time is. If I disappear, he could kill everyone he’s holding hostage.

A flurry of thoughts and ideas fell through my mind like grains of sand, and, the best I could come up with was to just play the pyscho’s game and start to put things into position like a game of chess and then hope an opportunity presented itself. I told Steve to get his golems to put the meatstitch remains near the slipfold gateway they had used, and to keep the immediate spot I was standing in strictly clear from anybody else. Then I started to place anchor points in as many places around us as possible, including at the very back in case things went terribly bad and I needed to prioritise getting Marri and Lone as far away as possible.

Hopefully I won’t have to abandon everyone.

#Godu# Siya, do you think you can covertly locate the other Carrion Baron?

#Siya# It’s stench shouldn’t be too difficult to locate. I’ll move when the time is right.

“QUIET! Quiet now! Or another one goes POP! MFFAHAHA! That was pretty funny actually..” The Baron chortled; People were absolutely livid, seething, but the threat was far too real, so everyone gritted their teeth and quietened down.

“For heavens sake Arkly, just tell us what you want from us!” Sylvie called out.

“Oh calm down tramp! I’m getting to that…Ahem.…Now liisten, I just have a small request really. There’s a man I would like to see punished. He had the audacity to try and bully me..And, I. REALLY! HATE! BULLIES!” Spittle filled words shouted out as the meatstitched slammed what little remained of the woman into the dirt.

“So it’s very straight forward. All I want is to see, is that little slimy boy Goduyne. Come on our brat. Where are you?”

Oh boy-

“Come out trickster. My associates tell me you’re in there…Hurry venom spitter..Hello! Come out NOW!! I DEMAND it!”

Keep thinking. Come on. All these fucking abilities and I-..Trickster?..Why would he-

“Last chance before people start popping you speedy little brute!”

Argh fuck it. Hopefully this will give Siya the chance she needs.

My time was up either way as Steve was sending out messages telling people we may have no choice but to run. My two final choices were to either paint the floor with him, and trigger a bloody massacre where many people I cared about would most certainly perish, whilst also putting Marri and Lone in huge danger….Or, to take Marri and Lone, and leave everyone to die…Siya would make it..And some other people might...Ugh, fuck.

They were shit options..Stupid fucking shitty options-

Unless..Maybe there is a third choice…..

An idea started to become clearer.

This is going to be dicey, but fuck it.

I had the tools to rain down some fucking barbaric retribution on this piece of shit but the one thing I needed to remember was that I also had many friends to help make it happen..Especially Siya.

#Godu# Marri, when it starts, you need to promise me you will run to Steves house if you think you or Lone are in danger, okay?

#Marri# What do you mean?! You’re not going to go out there are you? He’s going to kill you Goduyne!!! Don’t-

#Godu# Stay calm. I’m not going to let myself die. But he’s going to target you when he realises he can’t get what he wants. Trust me, if things go extremely bad, I’ll accept a lifetime of regret and meet you and we’ll just go. But I can’t leave everyone to die just like that..Nor can I leave you both behind by letting myself die. So I’ll make us a third option. However I’d rather let the world burn before I let anything happen to you or Lone.

There was a pause before she responded.

#Marri# You don’t have to try so hard and be a hero you know?..You’ve always been my hero..I…I love you so much and I’m so proud of you, always remember that. I’m scared, really scared, but I trust you…And I know you can do it.

I smirked grimly to myself.

Not sure about that..More like a violent, derranged pyschopath..And I don’t think a hero would do what I’m about to do.

A hero would have found an absolute way to safeguard everyone, and with a plan whoms key parts didn’t involve using the warped remains of humans-turned-horrors.

Perhaps if I hadn’t been captured and tortured in the arena up until only recently, I would have been a trembling wreck in the face of such insurmountable odds. But I had been captured, and I had been tortured, and I had been forced to fight against insurmountable odds. So I bared my teeth in a smile and walked out to the front.

Mortal danger and sadistic violence is just a regular Tuesday for me.

“Ah there you are, you insipid-”

“Let’s cut the shit Arkly. We’ve already killed 4 of your titans and I’ve managed to kill one of you. If you kill any more of these people now, what do you think will happen?”

He scoffed “Pah, sheer luck! You are certainly brazen if you think-”

“You’ll be fucking hunted down and tortured for as long as physically possible. And that’s not a threat, that’s a promise. We’ve got the methods to do so and-”

He scoffed again and pointed a finger. “You watch your tongue boy. Do you not care about your fellow plebs? Look at them up there! I see Tanner has somehow arisen from his little catacomb shithole. Masterful work I must say, how did you revive his meat with such precision? And you think I’m not aware of my employees weaknesses? PAH! You can kill them and these vessels all you wish, you’ll never be able to hurt me, imbecile. Not the real me. Like I said in my parting message, I. Cannot. Die. Which is more than I can say for your lot..Speaking of which, hows the wife and child, hmm? Still as tasty looking as always hmm?” He grinned a shit eating grin.

Well intimidation won’t work..But you will be fucking dead one way or another you spoilt sack of shit.

There was a pause as if he was waiting for me to suddenly start grovelling or react angrily. But I just stood there, controlling my temper, staring him down, waiting, thinking of alternatives, hoping-

#Siya# I’ve found it.

When did she even-Doesn’t matter. The arrogant cocksucker isn’t as smart as he thinks.

#Godu# Nice one Siya. Where? Any guards? Do you sense anymore like him?

My mind raced as I put the pieces together..all I needed was for a few more pieces to fall into place and that the other Baron was in a location I could reach within seconds.

Hopefully you are listening in Seren and Immo. I’ll need everything you can give.

#Siya# The thing is accompanied by just a single large abomination. The baron is inside the building you took Tanner out of. And I sense just this other one.

The pumphouse? Oh I got you now, you curious little shitstain.

#Godu# Well done Siya. Be ready for when I move, I’ll need you to move as fast as you can. You know what to do, right?

The soulbound link we had pulsed with flowing information.

#Siya# Mm. Yes. I’ll try my best. Roughly 200 strides on foot. A breath in and out for me.

“Good grief, can’t find your words? You are more simple than I thought..Say, what tricks do you use to move so fast hmm? My staff tell me it was as if there are more than one of you, but I find that unlikely-..” he abruptly stopped, paused and looked around. “Unless you have the same..MFFHA! No that wouldn’t be possible. Only a nobles blood could gain access to such gifts. Oh, I’ll tell you what, since I’m a generous lord, I’ll release one person of your choice if you tell me. Hmm? What do you say? A little ‘barter’ if you will.”

Okay. This is it. I can use this.

“Really? How can I trust you’ll honour your side if I show you?” I changed my tone slightly, pretending to be lured in with his false words of hope.

“Why I’m deeply hurt! I’m a man of my word naturally! A mans word is his bond afterall. Go on, pick one and I’ll let them go in exchange for your little, circus act.”

“Right…FINE. Fine. Okay…I’ll show you-”

“Ahhh-tat-tat-tat-tat! Bear in mind that I don’t want to see any more silly bullying attempts. Any aggression towards this vessel will be interpreted by my staff as the signal to slaughter all those people up there and back down there. Understood?”

“Yes. Crystal clear. I still don’t believe you but what choice do I have right?” I paused.

“Ha, correct. Not so thick after all…But, I’m still a man of my word. I’ll release one of them.”

Nice cliche you shitfuck.

“Right. Okay. You probably have been told about my shadow-”

I slowly deployed Seren; the metallic glass rain sung in the air as my shields swirled into a storm that became her construct.

“Hmm ahhh, the robot! Yes, quite strong, very robust. A tad bit tacky in my opinion.”

“-But you haven’t seen the other-”

Gritting my teeth from the strain, I deployed Immo, the white and azure beads pushing out of my skin. It was intense deploying both of them in quick succession, but after a few deep breaths I steadied myself in preparation for my next move.

“What-Oh my word! How many things do you keep under your skin?! Are you some kind of flesh wizard!? HA! A flesh wizard!..Brilliant..so humorous-Oh but I digress, how does this allow you to move so fast? Are these your vessels and you can move between them? And remember, don’t take me for a fool, I’m well aware of what that tacky, angular thing can do.”

Seren: We’re ready darling. I won’t allow any harm to come our beloved. Make sure to give it your best wolf.

Immo: Ha. Don’t you worry about me Dae-UGH it REEKS. Oh my GOD! ACK-The stench! Count yourself lucky you don’t have an actual nose girl, DAMN!..Blergh..Ugh, Sorry! Okay, we ‘reckons’ you’ll have exactly 8 seconds after you disappear before he realises. I’ll try and slow them down if it’s earlier, but no promises.

That’s hopefully all we need.

“You’re close, Baron, but the real secret is-”

I slipfolded.

The next 4 seconds were spent with me frantically clutching onto the pile of meatstitched remains that Steves golems had piled up and then slipfolding back to the spot I had asked Steve to keep clear-

“COME OUT YOU LITTLE-”

Arklys raspy cry abruptly cut off as I dropped my cargo and slipfolded to the pumphouse with the biggest piece I could hold onto and spent another precious 2 seconds adjusting my eyes and locating the completely unaware second baron, standing in the doorway shrouded in its filthy smog. I shoulder charge cancelled and surge tackled him out the door, clutching onto him and throwing the bone shard I had in my hand, up towards Siya, who was diving down towards me like a midnight black lightning bolt.

Before we even connected with the ground, I slipfolded back to my original spot with the third baron in tow.

“-LAST COCKING, BLOODY CHANCE-W-WHAT?!”

“RELEASE THEM NOW ARKLY! OR YOU GET FUCKING ERASED!” I deployed my claws, grabbing the face of the third baron, who was still stunned from my surge tackle, and slammed him into the ground, sinking the azure black, burning tips of my guantlet into his skin; Stunned or not, the third barons muffled, panicking, moaning screams could still be heard, even as his jaw joints were locked in place by the tazered muscles.

#Godu# NOW STEVE!

He was getting erased either way, but I needed to stall him for a couple more seconds.

“WHERE-WHAT JUST?!-W-WAIT!” Arkly stuttered as he frantically looked down at me holding my clawed hand over what was hopefully the last and final baron.

I hoped the information Steve had shared with me back on the base was accurate, and still valid, because if he was wrong, then we would probably never get another chance like this again and we would be the ones getting hunted down.

Whoever survives that is-

A thunderous boom rattled the sky as a black torpedo hurtled down.

A trilling war cry lagged behind as Siya blazed towards the line of titans, a shard of their own bone in her hands, and her trajectory sharply changed like a fighter jet as she reached the height of their shoulders. The standing baron turned around as Immo unleashed a wolfs cry that collected and condensed moisture in the air into bolts of ice that shot out like lightning, striking the titans and flash freezing their feet to the ground.

Go on Siya! CLEAVE THEM! FUCK ‘EM UP!

The moment she sliced through shoulders and head of the first titan, was the moment I clenched my fist with an enraged roar, caving in the skull of third baron and punching the remaining mess into the ground, twice, just to be completely sure. In the next few adrenaline powered heartbeats, and with a rapid thudding sound like when a car drives over the reflective cats eyes on the motorway, Siya carved through titan 2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 with supersonic jet like speed, but before she could reach 11, the standing arkly was already screaming in panic.

“KILL THEM! YOU BASTARDS! KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL! HELP ME! KILL THEM!”

Triya screams abrutly cut off, as the last titan out of the dozen slammed her and the others down into the ground with blistering, lethal speed….Siya was just a fraction of a second too slow to reach the final one and was going far too fast to adjust lower.

She missed it completely.

NOO!!!...

W-..Wait…….HA!-

However, the ground turned into a liquid that pulled the titan half way in, and a sea of very, VERY pissed off people swarmed in with various physics defying movement abilities and skills, and like a swarm of ants demolishing an unguarded picnic, they started hacking the shit out of it with pieces of bone and muscle. It didn’t matter if it was a blob of fat, a spikey shard of hardened skin or boney chitin, their own flesh turned their insane natural defenses into marshmallow.

Siya swooped up into the sky with a victory warcy, signaling the end of a feat so insane and impossible that it was something only she could have pulled off.

Seren and Immo charged forward to help extract the people that had been freed, steering well clear of the final barons dirty smog that was starting to expand outwards; the meatstitched titans that Siya had obliterated were not quite fully dead, but their forms had been severed completely in half, obscenely weakening even their execrable bodies..But our victory was far from assured, as the rows and rows of husks that had been waiting behind their bigger, more grotesque elder bothers, surged forward, albeit with a noticeably less coordinated structure.

“Y-YOU’VE MADE A GRAVE MISTAKE HERE! I WILL RAVAGE YOU ALL! YOUR WIFE! YOUR FILTHY LITTLE SPAWN WILL BE MINCED UNLESS YOU STOP RIGHT NOW! YOU-” the last baron put his hands up and green Majik started to form, but I wasn’t the type of person to give second chances or extra time to spew verbal diarrhea.

Shut the FUCK up and DIE.

I slipfolded behind him and grabbed the back of his head with a clawed hand and squeezed.

The screams of his panic and pain were immediate.

“You will NEVER, EVER, come near me or my own, AGAIN-” I briefly stopped increasing the pressure as he continued to scream, making another pathetic attempt to fire some disgusting green bolt at me, to which I tilted my head to the side, effortlessly dodging it and retaliated by brutally punched his spine, smacking the breath out of him as I processed what started as a somewhat humane thought, but spiraled quickly into sadism and a cold ruthlessness I was becoming increasingly best friends with.

Should I really kill him?..Does he deserve a trial?..Or should I exile-dump him somewhere dark, creepy and hellish.

The tunnel channel flashed into my mind, or the hills in italy that had gigantic monsters roaming.

The maggots would eat him pretty slowly..Hmm actually-

But a follow up thought shut the first down and I punched his spine in again with a sickening crack before slamming his head into the dirt and surge dragging him forward, leaving a bloody gouge in the earth, finally launching him up a couple of metres into the air.

-Nah. He’d probably find a way to weaponize those fucking pothole maggots and crevice horrors..Or breed with them…No thanks.

As he fell, I repeatedly slipfolded on the spot and completely minced him to pieces.

“You forgot the biggest, unwritten law of humanity, you sack of shit. Leave the fucking child out of it.”

I looked up and saw the same people that had come out to save me, well mostly for Tanner, back when a giant, skinny-legged, blind, insect-stickman was trying to eat us, I saw them fighting and winning against horrors and nightmares. I looked back and saw Sylvie, Marri and the other healers shouting and casting out streams of gold, green, purple and silver Majik as it sailed over to wounded people who still continued without falter even with a heavy gash in their abdomen or a sharp claw stabbed into their face. They have been doing this for months now. I saw Lyra perform an elaborate gesture with her hands, building a crescent of plasma in front of her that she waved off, sending it arcing up into the sky where it split into shooting star mortars, falling down onto targets and turning them into ash. I saw Steve co-ordinating people, protecting the healers and people with ranged attacks by manipulating walls of earth and golems made of rock, saving someone from near death with every move. I watched him pulling Triya, Ven, Terin and others out from the dirt right before I slipfolded to join them.

He saved them all, the genius bloody did it.

Triya recovered quickly with Xno shifting and reconstructing into a shoulder mounted turret with hardware that covered down her arm and extended out into a long barrel like weapon that unleashed heavy, fast moving bolts of plasma, and I even saw little Lyra speeding around carefully delivering healing tonics and also having enough strength to drag an injured person out of the way as the horde attempted to descend on them.

Amidst the fighting, Siya would cry out with an alerting trill before swooping down with absurd speed, masterfully avoiding allies but carving through large chunks of the husk ranks, whomst had even started to attack each other; whether that was a sign the manager had truly been removed for whether it was someone’s ability taking effect, who knows, but it is a welcome development either way. It was unknown if this was all the final remaining husks. after the apocalyptic siege at Aldermaston, but eventually, after Steve, the tactical earth wizard orchestrated a brilliant defensive line out of the defenders and fighters that stood near the top of the steep slopes, the tide completely turned as we transformed into a pure meat grinder that pushed back everything that dared approached, whilst projectiles and exotic energies blotted out the setting sun and obliterated the final remnants of the horde.

We had survived.

We had won.

Decayed corpses littered everywhere; charred meat, spilled blood, splintered bones, mangled guts and offal had to be tred carefully as the sounds of fighting grew quiet and the dusk air became still. Siya, Immo and a few other scouts volunteered to search for missing people and to check for any more pockets of horrors, but it didn’t take long to confirm that, unfortunately, the handful of people that had been dragged into the monsters were no longer with us. We lost Sofi, the mother who’s request was the reason I had headed to town in the very beginning-to search for her Son and boyfriend, a couple of Corporal Biggs’ team members who had followed Catara, and a couple of others that I didn’t know personally. Catara was heavily wounded and in a coma after she’d apparently dived in to bail out Biggs and his team when they got completely swamped, and there were a few others that had completely lost limbs with absurd levels of infection, eaten or just lost somewhere, so they would need to be regrown and cleansed which took repeated heavy healing to accomplish; we made the decision to setup a temporary camp on the green, which took the form of Steve making a makeshift cave big enough for the wounded and vulnerable to take shelter whilst the rest guarded the entrance or went out to collect or scavenge what little had been left behind.

Siya had confirmed that the husks were in no way completely gone, but they were aimlessly walking about, as if they were braindead. And the other scouts had come across some of these mindlessly wandering husks, reporting that the husks initially reacted to them, but they seemingly gave up and went back to their original location after the scouts gained enough distance away.

All signs indicating that their bastard overlord is truly gone.

The original plan had been to leave as a convoy and walk which would have taken 12 hours for a normal human to walk the ~80km, but, depending on how fast the slowest of us could move, we could easily make it there in 1-4 hours at joggin, 10-20 minutes for Siya to fly me there, but she could probably make it there by herself in 2 or 3 minutes I bet..Of course, this is if we don’t have to stop for people or for the wildlife..Hmm..So I suggested to Steve that I create a slipfold tether point here and they could use a gateway, but when I went to place one down..

Error. Maximum base tethers placed 5/5.

But I had to cancel that offer after an annoying message reminded me of my wasteful neglect.

Oh piss...Where did I..First one is all the way in italy, still unpaired, sitting on the road in front of the cube. Second one is paired, in the channel tunnel..definitely flooded there. Third one is in front of Steves house, still unpaired..Fourth is unpaired, wasted, floating in midair at that building in the base..And the fifth was used to bring everyone back to the safe zone from that bloody pit!..Damn I should have just connected up Steves House! FUCK!...Agh. Okay. Nevermind. In theory I could ferry everyone individually..Yeah that would be safer than forcing everyone to trek it. Tiring for me, but it would take less time overall if people line up..

Finding Steve up top sinking corpses into the dirt, I floated the idea and let him know about my mistake.

“Hmm dang that’s a shame about using up, maybe you can cancel them somehow? Either way, don’t beat yourself up man, I think it was worth it, look around. You pulled us from certain death. You’re a hero.” He gave me an informal salute and smiled.

“Hmm personally, I think everyone else looked death in the face and backhanded it..Can’t believe everyone fought like mythical warriors. You’re all crazy strong and coordinated. Me? Bleh, I only gave people a lift..” My mind randomly drifted and then abrutly twitched from horrible scenes of the arena. The forced violence and brutal acts I committed blared into my thoughtspace like I was haunted, screaming at me that people would be sickened by my presence if they knew what I’d done, what acts of violence I had committed..

Yeah..that nightmare hasn’t gone away yet..

I started to feel cold and clammy.

“Hmm. Heh, sure okay man. Anyways, we all make a brilliant team, or I suppose an army, or maybe we should call ourselves a guild now? Yeah, probably about time we give ourselves a guildname..Will need Tanners input on that..” Steve chuckled to himself, smiling whilst shaking his head. It completely discombobulated me and washed away the intrusive flashbacks.

Guilds?..HA! If he can stay so goddamned chill after everything then so can I! Guildnames?! THAT’S what he puts his focus on right now!-

“Maybe we should call ourselves the Titan Slayers? Or perhaps stick with the classic Adventurers Guild? Need Tanner to inspire with some of his, ‘colourful’ imagination…Yeah..” He stroked his thin, stubble covered chin.

HAHAHA!

I burst out laughing.

You are the best Steve.

“Yeah mate, ha-Oh but knowing Tanner he’d suggest something like ‘Boner busters’ or ‘Clunge Crusaders’ or, how about ’Necro…..nobblers?’”

We burst into fits of teary laughter for a good solid minute as we tried to come up with a better name than Necro-nobblers.

I really did make it home.

“Ah man..Feels a bit tasteless laughing after such a gruesome situation but, keep calm, carry on and all that, shit haha!” Steve went quiet but then snorted, making me push air out of my nose laughing.

“Ahem. Anyway, I think we would be all better off travelling the good old fashion way if that’s okay? Believe or not but we’ve trained heavily for this kind of thing, and when I say old fashioned way, I mean jogging leisurely at 20-30kmph and the like..” He looked round and let out sighing hum.

“Alright, no worries mate. And yeah, kinda makes cars pointless right? I’m pretty sure I’ve clocked 80+. Mad times.”

“Yeah it is pretty crazy. Oh some of us can glide in the air now.”

“Oh really? Yeah I got one of those skills.”

“Wild. Nice.”

There was a silent pause as we both looked around at the carnage and gore.

Steve broke the silence.

“All this violence and death. It seems pointless afterwards doesn’t it? But at the time you feel like nothing else matters except for obliterating the enemy, right? Even though we’re all just brains sitting in skeletal meat mechs. Bags of bones just battling it out..Well, these are all just mindless zombies but-” He sniffed casually and clucked his tongue. “-I dunno, at least that’s how I feel..I wonder if this was what it was like for folks in some of the old worlds wars. I wonder how long we can keep on living like this and what the kids will grow up like in such a violent environment..Little Lyra has even killed a few things man..And that makes me feel shitty..But I guess we don’t have the luxury of worrying about stuff like that anymore, right?”

I’d gone over topic in my head long ago and I had come to a simple conclusion.

“I wouldn’t think about it too much mate. These monsters won’t pause to think about the morality of anything so I don’t. I just focus on surviving and trying to stop people I care about getting hurt. It will be painful if we don’t and it will be painful if we do. So I just, do.”

“Yeah..Yeah! Keep it simple, ha! Such a melee fighter mindset..But thanks man. Good to have you back…Right, well, I better get back to burying this mess. We’ll probably move out in 30 minutes, once people are healed up.”

“Cool, sounds good. See you in a bit then.”

I turned and started to walk away.

“Oh, um, Godu?”

“Yeah?”

“Was it..this bad over there? Where you came from?”

Pausing, only to contemplate if I should white lie or not since I already knew the answer..I decided on truth.

“Yeah..It’s pretty fucking bad.”

It’s actually way worse in some ways..

“Oh. Bugger…” He deflated.

“Yup.” I sighed sympathetically and patted his shoulder. “But it’s not all doom and gloom.”

Pausing, I thought of Grave, Mya, Vyolyn; even Vamp, Kate, Kjell and Viki’s Family. Survivors.

“There’s people out there that are kicking the shit out of these horrors. Humanity hasn’t thrown in the towel that’s for sure.”

Steve eyes lit up and he grinned. “Damn that’s bloody good to hear. Looking forward to hearing about it..and hopefully meeting them? Once we’re sorted here that is. Oh man, maybe we could even start trading or something? Helping each other out you know? We had something similar with the base and it worked really well..whilst it lasted anyways..” He visibly deflated again as he knelt down and placed a hand on the ground that sent out glowing lines of brown Majik through the earth, travelling up to corpses and offal, turning the dirt into a bizarre liquid consistency that swallowed the gore.

It was surprisingly tough to see his optimism crumble, so I awkwardly laughed and gave him a thumbs up in an attempt to keep his spirits high.

“Ha don’t worry mate, I’m sure once we’re settled we can do the whole guild and trading thing. You’ll no doubt be part of the guild council right? I’d vote you as guildmaster to be honest.”

His face truly lit up like a Christmas tree at the thought and he gave me a double thumbs up before going back to his work.

I went back to Marri who was resting with a bowl of stewed something that smelled delicious and I spent some time sitting down and just cuddling up next to her and Lone as she shared some with me.

“So, who’s your underage flying girlfriend? Didn’t know you were into other species...” She snickered as she put Lone down on a large pillow covered with her cloak, although there was a tiny hint of concern hidden behind her words, I knew she was just teasing me. I rolled my eyes and scoffed, turning towards her in preparation to retaliate against such brutal teasing, but she surprised me by leaning forward and planting a long, intimate kiss on my lips. It utterly flustered me and that type of kiss had always been her weapon when she wanted something to go her way or if she was feeling particularly playful.

“Hah-girlfriend? Y-y-youuu-youuu-think your so bloody, bloody funny, huh! Ahem. Let me tell you something miss…” I stuttered into an awkward stutter as my heart started thudding like I’d dunked my head into a bucket of cocaine. My retaliation failed as I was unable to articulate properly, my mind overruled by urges as hormones started to attend battlestations and flare up. Her youthful, beautiful face had months of tears and worry written all over it, but it seemed that my reaction was exactly what she had hoped for as she softened into a love filled smile as she leant into my chest.

“Good. You’re still you..Phew..I was slightly worried that you’d changed, earlier..But you’re still my big, smushy, yummy man.” She playfully bit my chest. “Woa-wowzer, where’s all the Dada bod gone?! It’s like biting metal..Gosh, guna have to get some cushion on you hon! Can’t have vegetables without some meat!”

I chuckled and kissed her head, inhaling her familiar scent and wallowing in her immensely healing and soothing presence.

Easily could take a thousand years in the arena as long as I know she’s okay..But don’t take that as a fucking challenge universe. Please.

“But back to the subject..Could you tell your poor lonely wife how you met such a beautiful and kind creature? She didn’t even hesitate to shield us when that thing turned up out of nowhere. Even when the bloody bastard was hammering down, she refused to let anything happen to us…She was like a real superhero. She moved so fast...Actually like a superhero..Sorry but I'm in desperate need of answers..Maybe Start from the beginning? Why did you disappear? Where have you been? And why did it take you so frickin long to get back mister!!”

Smiling and taking the lighthearted hammerfists she gave my arm, I checked in on Siya via mindspeak and sent my thanks to her again; she was happily hunting with Triya whom’d she’d started to hit it off with, and they were keeping busy obliterating the unwanted wildlife..

“Alright, alright!..Oh dear I feel embarrassed looking back on it..Um, the ability is called Slipfold and it essentially lets me instantly move between two points in space. Instantaneously.”

“Wha-wow, okay, I'll admit that is pretty cool honey.."

“Yeah, ha thanks..And can I just say in my defence, me and Steve did test this skill plenty beforehand..so we thought we knew how it would function..But, in short-”

I sighed with preemptive shame.

“It all started because I tried to use it in a bit of an idiotic way..”