Gale's eyes snapped open. He laid on top of a pile of leaves at the base of the giant tree they had fought in. There were no beasts around. It was quiet. No danger around as he checked the corners of his eyes, making sure to not make any sound and keeping his breathing even.
Nothing around. He moved, sitting up, and finally seeing the footprints around him. The group had laid him on the ground to sleep.
Seriously? Not even on top of the branch?
Though he couldn't get mad. Nothing happened to him while he was unconscious. They could've left him behind. An unconscious body was clearly a hindrance to the expedition. There was also no way to know how long he'd been out.
The last thing he remembered was Rachel's face as they both fell to the ground before blacking out. She saved him. Falling from that height would've still caused injury to even her.
He wanted to believe they didn't leave him, but he saw no one around. No one even to take watch of the perimeter.
Maybe he'd been abandoned again, and maybe that would've been for the better. He would've been able to run away by himself from the tainted forest beast. The first time he saw such a twisted monster in this forest.
Tainted, it said.
Was it like a levelled up version of the normal forest beasts? He couldn't fully know. Nothing about this goddamned system told him anything. It only mentioned a mission, a vague one. Nothing to actually show him the ropes on anything.
[Exit the rift] He'd been so busy with Rachel's camp and group that he almost forgot the main goal, to get out of this world. The expedition was one way, but if there were exits around this world, he could also find them himself. It'll take days without the red marble, and it would be safer by himself.
—Right?
It's easy, Gale. Just stand up. Just leave. Yet he couldn't. Who was he kidding? It could take months or even years to find the exit himself.
"He's awake."
Footsteps rustled the dry leaves on the ground. It was Anna and Annett.
"If you didn't wake up soon, we would've set up camp to rest here," Annett said.
"Not here. We need to…" Gale got up, fighting through the soreness of his muscles. "Where are the others? Did anyone die?"
"Everyone's alive," Annett said. "They'll come soon."
Ollie showed up next through the tall underbrush. "Still tired? Just relax and rest if you need to."
Rachel, Dmitry, and Alex came through the underbrush next. He noticed the bruises on Rachel's legs and face. The rest didn't fare much better. Only Dmitry, Anna, and Alex looked better than the fighters of the group. Even Ollie had taken some hits, even though he completely dropped his bone spear and used his pistol.
"We need to go back now," Gale said. "We're out in the open. No traps. Beasts could jump us anytime."
"We can't…" Rachel sighed, walking right up to his side. She took his arm, steadying him and straightening his crooked stance. "Ollie's red marble found an exit rift. He says it's far, but we all agreed to keep going."
"We almost died, and you want to keep going?" Gale said.
"We can't waste this effort. It's our only chance to scout a rift and get everyone out of here," Rachel said.
An exit. What they were looking for and what he was looking for. He looked at the supply carriers. Anna, Dmitry, and Alex. They could probably make it a few more days in this expedition. Probably.
"Fine," he said. "But we need to move fast. This time, we stay alert."
The supply carriers allowed them to not waste resources on foraging or hunting. They were a risk. A necessary one.
"How long was I out?" Gale rolled his shoulders.
"A few hours," Rachel said. "We took turns watching."
Gale grunted. Too much time lost that could've been spent going towards the exit rift.
"We need to move," he said, eyes already shifting left and right to look for threats. "The longer we stay still, the more chance of a beast attacking."
Ollie nodded. "I'll take point. Annett on the rear this time, I guess. Gale, you get in the middle. You're probably still hurt, eh?"
"Let's get moving then," Annett said.
The supply carriers gathered the supplies left on the forest floor. Anna and Alex lifted the backpacks onto their backs.
Gale moved closer to Rachel. "This exit..."
"This exit… how sure are we it's real?" he whispered.
Rachel looked then nodded.
"It's the best lead we've had yet," she said after a brief pause. "Sometimes it led us to nowhere. This time, Ollie says the marble is making a strong pull at somewhere."
She looked away from him, hand on elbow. "You're right though, we don't know what we'll find. Whether it's another dead end or… but what else do we have to go off?"
Gale nodded. He watched her go up to Alex and help with some of the load she had. Rachel was too kind. It worried him whether that kindness would kill them one day. In this forest, being kind doesn't help with survival.
As they prepared to leave, a few snarls came from a distance. The three supply carriers froze, turning their heads to the sound.
"It's fine," Gale said. "Just forest beasts eating each other."
Everyone relaxed a bit.
"Let's head out," Rachel nodded at Ollie.
Ollie led the way. He flicked up the red marble into the air. It spun before falling forward. They moved. The forest sloped downhill, and the air became more thick and damp. Leaves rustled as they passed. Hours passed by while the group moved through the forest.
Gale had marked Xs every couple of metres. On the other hand, he saw Ollie shooting blanks at trees at different intervals than him, further than his X marks.
Everyone kept low, breathing heavily from the hours of trekking. They tried to muffle their voices to no avail. The further they descended, the thicker the vegetation grew.
Despite the boring hike, Gale felt something watching from afar. He spread out Breath of the Void just in case. Nothing. Either it was too far from his skill or just his paranoia.
They walked past the treeline into a clearing. A stone tower stood in the middle of the clearing in a perfect circle. It stood two stories high. Walls made from ordinary cobblestone, worn out by years past of weather.
Breath of the Void confirmed the building was empty of anything alive, at least.
"There's nothing inside," Gale said.
Ollie turned to him. "How do you know?"
Gale just glared back, not explaining. The silence grew awkward as Ollie waited for an answer.
"We'll camp here. Gale, you should rest," Rachel jumped in, walking to the stone tower already.
"Fine. I'll set up outside the tower," Gale scouted the floor for usable branches. None of the group members knew how to make traps or alarms. Food could be recovered too. Charcoal would also be needed to purify water. Mom always said that you can never have enough supplies. But dad also said that too much supplies will slow him down.
Rachel sighed, "Fine. But take breaks if needed."
Annett and Ollie started patrol. Gale's mind wandered. The others didn't get how urgent survival was in this world. They weren't at camp anymore with safety in numbers. Every rest could mean death.
He watched Dmitry, Anna, and Alex go into the tower. Dmitry tripped on a stone, catching himself before falling to the ground. Frustration built up in Gale as he saw that sight. Clumsiness was a death wish in the forest.
Gale worked through setting up the camp. He made simple alarms from the branches he got nearby. Vines twined together with sharpened sticks. If a beast snapped or walked through the vines, it would make a sound loud enough to alert him. It wasn't too loud that it would attract other beasts from further away.
He watched the tower while working, staying alert. Good shelter, but only one door that led to the inside. If a beast attacked them while they were in the tower, they'd be trapped.
Hours passed as he worked on the alarm system around the circle of the clearing. Sweat ran down. Muscles still ached from the previous fight. He pushed on. Pitfalls were next. Sharp wooden spears with sharp stone edges did a lot of damage to those damned beasts. The others would need the protection more than him.
Rachel came over to his working area, "Gale, can you please rest? You're pushing too hard."
He shook his head, still working on a trap. "Can't. Not safe yet."
Rachel knelt beside him. "We're all worried about you. You can't keep going like this."
His hands stopped for a second, and he looked at her. For a moment, he almost gave in, wanting to rest with others around. Her presence distracted him. Her voice was low and soothing, momentarily dulling his paranoia that he admits inwardly that he has.
Then it came back. He imagined a beast coming up at them and ripping her to shreds.
"I'll rest when we're safe," he went back to work.
Rachel was about to say something, but leaves parted nearby. Gale jumped up, his hand on the sabre by his hips.
Annett and Ollie rustled through the bushes, arms full of strange pulsing fruits. Gale looked at the fruits, curious. His grip on his sabre loosened.
"Damn it," Gale shook his head. "Announce yourself before entering. I nearly took your heads off."
Rachel stepped forward, sighing. Her eyes relaxed before continuing, "He's right. We're all on edge here. Any sudden movement could be mistaken for a threat."
Ollie and Annett looked at each other. Both sighed and forced smiles.
"Sorry," Ollie then held up a fruit. "We got excited about these fruits. They're different from the ones at camp."
The fruits glowed red and pulsed. This one was shaped like a cantaloupe with bulging veins all over, still beating hard.
"They look revolting," Gale said.
Ollie smiled. "They may look ugly, but they taste amazing. Sweet and juicy as a dragonfruit."
Gale squinted as he examined the new fruit. He'd learned the hard way that looks could lie in this forest.
"Put them in the cache in the tower," he pointed at the stone building. "Fruits are short-term. They spoil fast. We need to hunt later, make jerky for long-term storage. We might only be a day from camp, but that could stretch into weeks if we're ambushed and lose our way."
Rachel nodded. "Good idea."
Ollie and Annett went to the tower. Gale picked up the slack from the distraction caused by the three. His hands moved faster, now not caring too much about quality. It was better to get it done fast.
Rachel watched him, almost putting a hand on his shoulder. Before she could speak, Alex ran out of the tower, looking towards her.
"Rachel!" she yelled, out of breath. "Dmitry and Anna are gone!"
Gale's head snapped toward her. "What do you mean, gone?"
"There's a door to the basement. They went down an hour ago and haven't come back up."
Rachel's mouth gaped before saying, "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"I thought they were exploring," Alex said. "But it's been too long. Something's wrong."
"Ollie, Annett," Gale called out. "Get back here. We have a situation."
Everyone gathered around him. He watched their faces, each one exhausted, their breathing rapid and shallow.
"We need to go after them," Rachel's voice trembled.
"We can't all go. Someone needs to guard our supplies and watch the perimeter," Gale said.
"I'll stay," Alex said.
"No. You can't fight. Ollie, you stay with Alex. Your gun is our best defensedefence if something attacks the camp."
Ollie looked ready to argue but stopped when Gale glared at him.
"Rachel, Annett, you're with me," Gale said. "We'll take the bone knives. Tight spaces mean close combat."
As they got ready to enter the tower, Gale thought about what might happen in small spaces. Underground passages, hidden doors, a labyrinth even. All dangerous, but they had no choice. They couldn't leave Dmitry and Anna behind.
"Stay alert," he said. "We don't know what's down there. Trust nothing."
Rachel and Annett both nodded. They each took a bone knife from Gale.
He took a deep breath to steady himself. Something waited beyond that door. Not out in the forest, but inside a closed space. He didn't know whether it would be something different from what was in the forest or the same. It would be a beast that could fit in a tight space. That spelled trouble. It would be more agile if it was smaller.
Alex led Gale to the hidden door where Anna and Dmitry disappeared to. He touched the door and felt a familiar energy come through the cracks. Upon opening it, he saw the stairs descend below into total darkness that seemed to try to invade upwards of the stairs. Shadows clung to the walls, with tendrils in each corner seeming to reach for the doorway.
"Rachel, light it up," Gale said.
Rachel lit one hand. Her eyes widened, staring into the dark. "I... I can't see anything. It's just... darkness."
"What do you mean?" Gale asked.
"There's... space. I feel it. But even with light, my eyes can't..." Rachel stopped, her hands shaking.
Annett spoke up, voice tight with fear. "She's right. It's like looking at nothing."
Their words told him he was the only one who could see past the darkness. The energy felt familiar but strange.
Gale balled his fist. "I'll go alone. You two stay here and guard the tower. If I don't come out in an hour, I'm dead."