Strange, outside Steadfast…

  “You smell like the young one…” whispered the voice through the grass.

  I squeaked, unsure at who was talking, and slowed down my fast run.

  “Quest! An important Quest!” I didn’t know what else to say as the grasses leaned closer around me. My feet ached at the running I’d been doing, almost flying, but I had to keep going. I didn’t have time to rest.

  I really wanted to fly. Someday.

  Maybe after this quest!

  “Only a bite, and barely that… and you serve the young one…” The grass rumbled under my feet.

  Danger, like Alpha. “Alpha fights Offenders!”

  “Hmmmm….”

  The grasses suddenly parted, and the ground firmed up under my feet, letting me move even faster.

  My stomach ached and the last bug I ate was long ago in the tunnels. Small and crunchy.

  But zoom. Quest!

  The blinking dot on my map guided me where to go, as my feet flew over the ground, each step getting me closer and closer to my goal.

  To fly. Or get big like Dengu.

  Both acceptable.

  Bright light glowed behind me, and in the distance it made the wall sparkle. The sun crested over the hills in the distance, which rippled like water. Weird talking grass.

  So close.

  Zoom!

  ###

  Whatever it was, it didn’t go for the carcass we’d left behind, which meant it wasn’t hungry, or it was looking for someone in particular. Or it was a hunter, and didn’t like prey that was already dead.

  In the distance, the land suddenly dropped off with a crack between two massive stone slabs. I couldn’t see more than that.

  Mountains stretched to the north, and in the far distance to the southeast, but right in front of us there was only flatness and nothingness.

  “We need to find an entrance, or we’ll bake once the sun comes up,” said Kabi, slowing down near me. He suddenly pointed. “There’s one.”

  He headed in that direction.

  There was a crack in a slab of rock that I’d glazed right over. It hadn’t looked big enough to fit us, yet, as we approached, its true size revealed itself.

  Kabi waited for me to enter first, but I felt nothing inside the narrow passageway. The feeling of being stalked cut off as soon as I stepped inside.

  It didn’t make sense.

  Kabi followed, along with Dengu who had Lenna slumped over his back.

  “Do you think we are far enough away to rest?” I asked.

  He shrugged, which wasn’t a good answer. He studied the crack right near the entrance, tracing his hands over the side. Then he switched to the other side.

  A rune glimmered under his hand as he touched just under eye height. The rune blazed in the air for several moments.

  “There is a barrow down this tunnel,” said Kabi with a smile. “We can rest there. I’ll search for the entrance.”

  The rune faded from view, though I could still see it behind my eyelids.

  “What did that rune mean?” I asked.

  “Safety. Unfortunately, it didn’t indicate where the barrow is…” He continued down the tunnel with a hand trailing along that wall. “I should be able to find it, though it may take a while, unless you can see the hidden runes.”

  I mentally kicked myself, and switched on my aura sight. The rune behind us hovered on the surface of the stone, and I focused ahead of us. Nothing came into view immediately.

  The stone walls towered over all of us, but there was plenty of room for the three of us to walk side by side. Well, Dengu in the middle with Kabi and me on either side, watching the walls.

  Another rune flickered on my side after a tight twist in the walls. Yet, that feeling of being hunted also came back and I paused, holding up a hand.

  Something didn’t feel right about the rune.

  Kabi glanced at me, then at the wall.

  I pushed the feeling of uncertainty down the bond, but didn’t say anything.

  He made a motion that he’d check it out. I tightened my grip on my spear and he vanished inside the stone wall.

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  I concentrated on our surroundings and the bond between us. Via my radar he continued on, paused, then headed back our way. He appeared and motioned for us to continue down the tunnel away from the barrow.

  He didn’t say anything, but kept going and we followed.

  The crevasse we followed split into three different directions. Again, Kabi traced each section with his hand looking for something. He picked the one on the far left and kept going.

  Time ticked by as we just kept going. The sky slowly lightened above us and my stomach rumbled. Dengu glanced at me more than once but kept going as well.

  Kabi finally stopped at yet another rune. He vanished inside like before, though this time he didn’t even pause to look at us.

  He started away from us and didn’t come back for a while. The tunnel stretched farther than my radar, which was rare.

  Finally, he appeared back on my radar, then motioned us inside, just as purple light started taking over the sky.

  Dengu took the lead.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Something broke into the other barrow from below, hunters most likely,” he said in a low voice. “It wasn’t safe.”

  “And this one?”

  “Solid as far as I could tell.” Kavi swallowed hard and kept going. Eventually the tunnel opened up into a small space that clearly was a natural formation, even with the steps that traveled around the outside and up out of sight. “This is an ancient barrow…” he said, his voice trailing off.

  “Smells of dust,” said Dengu, who wiggled.

  Lenna stirred on his back. Her eyelids fluttered and she suddenly sat straight up, glancing around.

  “Oh good, this isn’t the other place,” she said, sounding exhausted.

  “No,” said Kabi. “We should get rest then leave quickly.”

  Lenna’s eyes darted around, lingering on the stairs. “What about the owner?”

  Kabi froze, his eyes going wide. “That’s just a story.”

  “That’s not what the stars said…”

  He turned toward the tunnel we’d entered from. “We need to leave then.”

  “Guys, what owner? I need food, and we’ve been going for ages, so I need more information before we just leave. Rest would be good.” I glanced between the two of them, but neither of them said anything.

  Dengu suddenly sat down and Lenna almost tumbled off his back.

  “Fine, let’s rest. I’ll tell you after we sleep and eat.” Kabi plopped himself down near the wall. “No fire.”

  There wasn't a ton of space for all of us, so I sat close to him. Dengu moved over before laying down, taking up most of the space. Lenna sat down and leaned against him.

  I snacked on meat from my inventory and gave some to Dengu in pieces that he could swallow. The Manee meat went down easily.

  Lenna and Kabi both ate rations. I passed around the water stone so everyone could refill containers and water skins.

  “The stories say that the first Immortal created the badlands with his ascent,” Kabi finally said. He motioned to the stairs leading up. “The really old structures are said to be his. It's taboo to explore them, because no one knows how he’d react if he comes back…”

  “I mean, wouldn’t he want people to use them and rise as well?” I asked. I wanted my family to follow in my footsteps, and hoped Lakeside Landing was doing well.

  “Who knows? You cannot predict, or question, the First.” Kabi shook his head with a frown.

  “The First…” I mumbled thinking of my title.

  “The first Immortal,” Kabi continued. “He created all of this, way before we walked on two legs. No one has seen him in ages.”

  “So is he an Azurafolk?”

  “Something like us, the first stepping stone to what we are. Without him, we wouldn’t have become our people, like we are today. Firsts lead their people to greatness.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “We wouldn’t be civilized without him.”

  Lenna locked eyes with me, but I turned away. She knew about my title but didn’t bring it up.

  I didn’t feel like I led the other humans to greatness. I didn’t feel like I was leading anyone but our little group, and I certainly didn’t want the responsibility for everyone else.

  “The stars whisper that he is still here, sleeping,” said Lenna.

  A shiver went up my spine at her words. “Like, here here?”

  All of us glanced at Lenna waiting for her answer, but she only shrugged.

  Just what we needed, an ancient being waking up and being upset we’d bothered them. Though, maybe he’d toss the Forgers off the planet without a fight.

  I narrowed my eyes thinking of Dilon. Nope, he had to die again, and this time for real. I closed my eyes and tried to get some rest. Sleep was needed, just enough to recharge a little before we continued on.

  “Now you show up,” grumbled a speck I couldn’t see.

  At least I assumed it was Noseen, though I hadn’t a clue where we were.

  Darkness with specks of bright lights surrounded me. A breeze that spoke of rain, mud, and danger flowed past.

  “What’d I do this time?” I asked, sitting up. The dirt under my fingers felt cool as I crossed my legs.

  “Some ramifications of you destroying that portal have come to light.” Noseen chuckled, and the deep sound sent a shiver down my spine. “All good things, though the sooner you remove the Forgers from that world, the better.”

  “I’m working on it, but it's a massive world and I don’t have wings.” A buzz came from near my shoulder.

  “You are less squishy; something’s different. Did you fix your class?”

  I let out a sigh. “I’m on track.”

  “Good.” The buzzing cut off and I felt him land on my shoulder. “The Great Ones are watching and taking an interest.”

  My chest felt heavy for a second and then I brushed it off. “Are they the ones causing the dark smoke in the sky?”

  “Smart. I said you were smart.” The air rippled beside me as Noseen took shape. He sat like me on the ground. Yet, I still couldn’t see much around us. His eyes glittered in the low light.

  Questions bounced around inside my head, and for once it didn’t feel like we were rushing.

  “I have the title, the First. Is that important?” I asked, hoping for a straight answer.

  “Good question. It gives you rights once you reach a certain point, but you need to get there to find out what. Right now, it isn’t important, and anyone who says it is doesn’t understand the truth.” He grinned, and multiple teeth glowed in the light.

  “Lenna warned that we must grow stronger, that something is coming…” This time it wasn’t a question, just a statement.

  “She is a pathfinder, she hears whispers from the Great Ones…” Noseen let out a sigh. “Growth is good, but if you grow too fast you may have a weak base. You are smart. Practice your skills.”

  That made sense, my base needed to be solid to build upon it. My skills were that base.

  “I spoke to the Flora Maw,” I added as an afterthought.

  “They spoke to you?” For once, Noseen sounded surprised. Then he stared at me intently. Or at least, I assumed so with the pressure I felt in the center of my forehead.

  “They said something about the rocks rumbling in my passing.” It reminded me of a blessing I’d heard once on a show or something, but I didn’t know why.

  He hummed a little under his breath.

  I didn’t dare interrupt him.

  He finally spoke after several moments. “The Flora Maw believes you are someone worth watching.”

  Great, more pressure.

  “So, I have plenty of eyes watching me.” I snorted. “Yet, there are all these Offenders wandering around doing whatever they want. Who is watching them?”