I blink repeatedly, my pulse increasing at an alarming rate.
That’s the last thing I see before my vision goes black.
33
My eyes snap open. A feeling of doom overtakes me, yet I cannot say why. My body is charged with adrenaline, and I’m on the verge of bolting—running until my legs give out. But I don’t know why.
“You’re awake.” Moe smiles at me.
I blink. Moe? What is she doing here? For a moment I’m disoriented and confused before everything comes back to me. She followed me here and I said I would take her with me.
There was something else, was there not?
“Yes,” I answer groggily. Then noticing how late it is, I quickly get up. “We should probably get moving.”
Moe goes outside to put out the fire while I take apart the tent and the sleeping bags. With everything deposited back in the proto-realm, we start walking.
Following the map, we have some twelve hours left of walking until we reach the Gaigo-ne Mountainous Region.
As the trees become sparser and sparser, we make our way into canyon territory.
The first sign is the changed color of the rocks. If before they had a healthy, earthy look, now they are barren and greyish in color.
The vegetation is short, thin and scattered. It’s mostly shrubs, roots and some leafless plants. Brittle branches scrape against our clothes as we push past them.
The air is dry. A fine layer of dust clings to my skin, peppering my dark clothes with grey.
“This is so interesting,” Moe says in awe as she looks around. Although she’s mortal—granted, I’m notthatmuch better than her—her endurance has been surprising. At no point has she asked me to stop or slow down, keeping up with me even when the terrain became tough.
“I’ve never been outside of the Capital before. Well, I’ve barely even been around the Capital. But this…” She shakes her head. “I’ve read about these areas, but I never thought I would get to see them in this lifetime.”
“You read about them?” I raise my brows in surprise.
She nods. “I love adventure novels, and a lot of them were about the hero’s journey through uncharted territories of Tartareia. Some of the environments they conquered looked like this: barren, inhospitable and hard to traverse.”
Her expression turns wistful. “Often, I would imagine myself as the main lead in those novels, doing those acts of bravery and going on those adventures. But it was just a bit of entertainment; my escape from reality. I never thought I’d be here.”
“You’ve never said that before,” I mention, my eyes glued to her, half in admiration, half in… it’s better she doesn’t find out.
She’s kept the male clothes from before: high-waisted black trousers that cling to her curves, paired with a crisp white linen shirt and a waist-length padded jacket. She’d also kept the hat from before, though now her hair is flowing freely down her shoulders instead of being hidden away.
She’s stunning, particularly with her ruddy cheeks and sparkling eyes full of excitement.
“Why should I?” She laughs. “It’s not as if I ever thought I’d embark on an adventure.”
“Why not?” I challenge. “You could become a heroine and write your own adventure novels.”
Her eyes widen at me suddenly before she lets out a soft laugh.
“I’m mortal, Nyk. Even if I wanted, I’m basically at the bottom of the trophic chain in Tartareia. Never mind the many immortals around, or those other species that have supernatural abilities, think about the wild animals that could rip me apart in a moment.Orthose mythical beasts you’re chasing. I’d have been crazy to do that.”
“And yet here you are.”
She smiles. “Here I am. That should tell you how much trust I have inyourabilities.” She winks at me.
My lips pull up in a smile. But it soon freezes on my lips as her image is superimposed with another one, winking at me…
I blink and the thought is gone. My mood only becomes better as we continue to chat.
