Chanter: We need to go. Back in the utes, guys. I’ll carry Katarina, if that’s okay.

  Katarina: Could at least take a girl to dinner first.

  Chanter Hah. Glad you’re feeling a little better. I’ll explain my race as we go, Sebastian. Sorry I never brought it up.

  Sebastian: No problem, but you are freakin’ terrifying in that form.

  Katarina: Still has the same kind look in his eyes though.

  Katarina: Wait. Did I send that? Can we delete these? Pretend like you didn’t see that!

  I laughed again, scooping up Katarina as Sebastian and Abe slid back in their vehicles. It was easy to move, and move fast, in this form, though the constant sting of the sandy wind was a nuisance. I explained my changeling race to Sebastian over text while we ran along the desert road and deeper into the zone of radiation.

  Sebastian: So you can change into any race you touch? Does it work for monsters? I mean obviously, since you’re a giant wolf guy, but would it have worked for the duskcrawlers?

  Chanter: No, not on beasts. Seems like they need some kind of humanoid form for it to work.

  Sebastian: So you could turn into an aquatic elf, like me? Or a… quokka was it, Abe? Or a human like Katarina?

  Abernathy: Aye, quokka’s right, mate. Good on ya. Gonna focus on the crafting now, with how fast we’re driving I can’t focus on that, crafting, and chat. Apologies.

  Katarina: No worries, mate!

  Abernathy: Oh fuck off.

  Katarina: He was actually human when we met him, and for nearly the whole time we were around Verdantbrook. Except when he was a cute lil otter.

  Sebastian: Oh! I remember that from the movie song!

  Chanter: Movie… song?

  Sebastian: Oh yeah, its kinda how I think of the performance you did at the inn, with the illusions. I thought it was some kind of metaphor for your good swimming skills. I didn’t realize you were literally an otter beastkin.

  We laughed at that, Katarina resting in my arms as we ran along the road. Encore updated us, letting us know that more beasts had converged on the area where we had fought, devouring the corpses and fighting each other rather than chase us.

  We slowed a bit with that knowledge, maintaining a light jog. I glanced down at Katarina. Her eyes were closed, her face slack with concentration as she focused on breathing and restoring her chi. I could see a noticeable improvement through the goggles and mask.

  Encore flew ahead, scouting. It made me wonder about the radiation.

  Chanter: Encore, aren’t you getting radiation sickness from being out there?

  Encore: Hmm? Radiation sickness? No. Well, yes, I suppose I am, but it is unable to find purchase. Or is cleansed by my body’s connection to the spiritual realm. I don’t exactly know why, but it is unable to harm me.

  Chanter: That’s interesting. We should tell Abe about that later, when he can focus on other things. He might be able to make sense of it.

  The surrounding desert landscape subtly shifted as we progressed further along the old road. The desert sand took a deeper, reddish hue and the plant life, which had been a sparse scattering of cacti and short, stocky shrubs, died out altogether. Twisted, dried remnants of trees dotted the horizon.

  The dusty breeze strengthened the further we traveled into the Deadlands. Dust devils twisted in violent patterns, spiraling up into the sky.

  It was getting progressively more difficult for me to see and breathe because of the dust. I coughed and Katarina shifted, sending me a private message.

  Katarina: I think I can walk now. Set me down.

  She followed that with a message to everyone.

  Katarina: Hang on a sec, guys. It’s getting a little too sandy out here. Chanter needs his protection. It won’t fit his current form.

  I replied to her private massage as Sebastian stopped. Abernathy kept driving.

  Chanter: You sure?

  Katarina: Yes! Put me down luteboy!

  I complied, gently placing her on the ground. I angled my body to shield her from the blasting winds, keeping my hands close in case she stumbled.

  She didn’t stumble. She stood, stretched a few times, then placed a hand on my chest and sent me another private message.

  Katarina: That was nice, thank you for carrying me.

  I started typing up a message to her, asking for her to let me know if she needed to be carried again, when another message from her popped up.

  Katarina: And no, I don’t need to be carried more. Don’t bother asking. But really. I appreciate it. Thank you. Now change back and put your mask back on so you can breathe and stop eating sand.

  She winked at me through the goggles and shifted, turning me so she was the one blocking the winds as I shifted down to my wood elf form. I equipped my gear, the goggles, and the mask Abe had provided.

  I coughed out a bit of sand and took a few deep breaths of clean air, smiling. It felt wondrous.

  Chanter: That is much better. We better go, Abe didn’t see the message and is probably way further ahead.

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  We started jogging. Sebastian noticed the steadily rising levels of Radiation Sickness first and sent out a panicked message.

  Sebastian: GUY WE ARE TAKING ON RADIATION!

  We started running.

  Chanter: Encore! Can you swoop down in front of Abe? He is too far ahead.

  Encore: Yes, though I am a bit to the west. I will head that way now. It should be less than a minute.

  I glanced at the radiation level. It ticked from 15% to 16%, then up to 17% within a couple seconds.

  Chanter: Uh, I wonder what happens when the meter gets to 100%.

  Katarina: Nothing good, that’s for sure.

  Abernathy: Shit. Fuck. Shit. Sorry mates, wasn’t paying attention. I’m turning back. Won’t take long.

  Katarina: Abe you gotta multitask, bud. You’re literally killing us.

  Abernathy: I’m so sorry! So, so sorry! It won’t happen again.

  Chanter: It’s okay man. Glad you saw chat when you did.

  Sebastian: Maybe… someone else should hold on to the pearl?

  The percentage stopped rising at 76%, then began dropping steadily as Abe’s ute emerged from the cloud of windblown-dust that obscured vision further than twenty feet away.

  Abernathy: I’m so close to finishing this canister. Just need a little bit more time. Can I please keep the pearl? Promise I won’t pull off again. I moved the chat window so there’s no way I will miss it.

  I was about to respond when a wave of force washed over the land. It came from the center of the Deadlands, slamming a wall of sand into us. Both utes flipped several times.

  Katarina stood in front of me and did something with her chi, slicing through the wind. It parted around us, redirected in either direction as it blew past. She stumbled and I reached out, catching her under both arms before she could fall.

  “I’m fine,” she coughed out. “Check on Abe and Sebastian.”

  The wind was gone. The blast had smoothed out the sand all around. Both utes had been blown back several hundred feet by the blast. I glanced down at the status screen and saw that the radiation sickness had begun accumulating again.

  I cursed under my breath and transformed, swapping my equipment as I shifted into an alpha arctic kobold. I scooped up Katarina and began backtracking to Abe and Sebastian.

  Chanter: Are you guys okay?

  Encore: I am fine, most of the explosion travelled along the ground. I was up high and only jostled a bit. I will make my way back to you.

  Sebastian: Yeah, these straps held me in place. Bruised up a bit, but alright. Don’t know about the ute though. Also I’m upside down. And cant get out.

  Abernathy: I’m alright too. Safety restraint system held. Glass domes held too. Glad I double reinforced them with mana and some plastics I worked up. Should be able to fix any damage, but I’m stuck too. Utes weren’t designed to be upside down.

  Katarina: Turtle utes, got it.

  Chanter: We are almost there.

  I glanced at the radiation sickness. It was still at 1%. I looked further into the debuff and the number updated to 1.08%, then to 1.09% as I watched.

  Chanter: Whatever that shockwave was from, it seems to have seriously lowered the radiation levels of the area.

  Katarina: You’re right! It’s going up waaay slower now!

  I sat down Katarina as we approached the radius of the pearl. The radiation levels immediately dropped and the status vanished.

  Both utes were upside down, but seemed undamaged. Sebastian flailed about within his. Abernathy watched Sebastian, a small frown on his face, his arms crossed.

  I jogged over to Abe’s ute and flipped it over with relative easy. It as lighter than I expected. He rocked slightly as it settled back upright.

  Sebastian’s ute was just as easy to flip. He popped the door along the side open and was promptly sick out the side of his ute. Abernathy crawled out of his ute and looked around.

  “What the hell was that?” He asked.

  “No clue. Do you think that blast is going to spread the radiation out into the surrounding areas?” I pulled a water flask from my inventory and offered it to Sebastian, who nodded gratefully as he took it.

  “That’s a good question.” Abe responded, manipulating some unseen interface. “I don’t know enough about radiation pollution and it’s effects to make a good guess about it, though. Damn I’m so close to finishing this.”

  “I think I’m good to go.” Sebastian croaked, offering the half-empty water flask back to me.

  “You can keep it,” I said, turning. “How are you feeling, Kat?”

  “I’ll manage.” Her voice wasn’t convincing, but the look in her eyes was. I nodded.

  “Fair enough, let’s go then. Should be easier to get that relic now. Glad all that sandy wind is gone.” I replied.

  “Uh, speaking of the relic.” Sebastian said. “Look at the map. What the hell?”

  I pulled up the mini-map and saw the quest indicator slowly moving away from us, towards Bornholdt Keep.

  “Do you think someone else got it?” Abe asked.

  “Is that what caused the explosion?” Katarina asked.

  “No clue.” I replied.

  “You’re a Bombastic Busker. Explosions are supposed to be your thing.”

  I smiled. “Glad you’re feeling better, Kat.”

  “It’s moving slow. We can catch up if we hurry. Looks to be on the other side of those buildings in the distance.” Abernathy punctuated his statement by sliding back into his ute.

  Sebastian did likewise and we started making our way back down the road towards the structures and the slowly retreating quest marker. Encore flew high above in wide circles, his white fur blending into the sky. I wouldn’t have been able to find him, but for some part of our bond.

  The buildings in the distance didn’t match any I had seen in the world up to this point. They were of a modern construction that I recognized from real life. Half-destroyed walls of brick and vinyl, metal warehouses, and a variety of buildings that had been brutally assaulted with windblown sand for many years.

  It reminded me of a military base I had visited with a friend once when I was a child. His father had been some high ranking military official and I had accompanied them on base to go grocery shopping. The remains of the buildings we ran past were different, but similar enough to bring back those memories.

  Abernathy: This place is right spooky. Looks like a military base. From real life.

  Katarina: I was just thinking the same thing.

  Sebastian: Damn, me too. Why would they program a real life military base into a virtual, fantasy world?

  Chanter: Hard to say, probably has some kind of history to it. Remember the story of how humans first came to this world? The portals?

  Sebastian: What?

  Chanter: Oh right, you weren’t there for that. I’ll tell you later. Might have something to do with that.

  Katarina: Yeah, there’s probably some bogus lore explaining it. Holy shit guys. See that up ahead? It look like that is where the blast came from!

  A large section of the ground ahead had been torn up, leaving a crater about thirty feet wide that had collapsed into itself. Exposed rebar, fresher and not discolored from years of exposure to the sandstorm, stuck from the bare ground in a tight circle around the crater.

  Abernathy: See those rebars sticking outta the ground? Used to be other buildings around here too, got blown back from the blast. Yeah, I think this is where it originated.

  Sebastian: How the hell could someone have walked away from a blast like that?

  Abernathy: I don’t know, but I’d prefer not to stay here too long. This place is right creepy.