The Second Stranger

The creature’s gray face was long, narrow, and oddly smooth.

Four oily, pupil-less eyes flickered. Sharp, dagger-like teeth twisted into a crooked grin.

I stumbled back in panic, crashing into Silas and Ruriel. They hadn’t seen the spindly limbs creeping from the bush.

“Oi! Watch it, you bloody mosshead!” Ruriel snapped, spitting on the ground.

I slapped at their legs. My voice caught in my throat as the goblin crawled toward us like a twisted spider, its grin stretching unnaturally.

“Get off me!” Ruriel growled. “What’s your problem?”

My legs wouldn’t move. Two more arms emerged from the shadows.

“Goblin!” Silas shouted.

The creature leaped.

I threw up my arms, bracing for impact.

A rush of wind. Suddenly, a hand yanked my collar, pulling me backward. The ground scraped beneath me as the beast landed where we’d just been.

Silas screamed beside me, dragged along as well.

“Move your arses!” Ruriel barked, teeth clenched as he hauled us down the path.

A sharp whistle sliced through the air above our heads, and Hopsander’s silver egg rope-dart slammed into the side of the goblin’s face.

I looked up to catch the frog-man giving us a quick wink.

“Well? Get a move on, lads.” He turned back towards the tree line and charged towards it.

Silas and I scrambled to our feet and followed Ruriel.

“Thanks for that!” I shouted to the purple-haired kid.

“Yeah, we could’ve been goblin food there,” Silas said.

Ruriel shook his head. “Body acted on its own. Don’t mention it.”

Behind us, the chaos of the battle faded the further we ran. I wanted to turn and look, but I focused on running away.

We caught up with the rest of the group after what seemed like a mile. Ahead, the group was lining up to a narrow rope bridge that swung across the canyon. Laska stood at its entrance, her voice firm as she addressed us.

“Keep moving, one at a time. Oh, and don’t look down.” She held out her hand and Mel stepped on the bridge first. She rushed across the swinging rope confidently.

We approached the bridge last. I watched Sora cross and then Rinka attempt to cross. The once terrified Sora shouted to the once calm Rinka, encouraging her forward.

“Come on, Riri, you can do it. You’re almost there!”

She was not even halfway.

“No, I’m not! Y-y-you think I’m stupid? Just forget it. Go on without me!” Rinka called out, her legs shaking just as much as her voice was.

“Oh burning hells, if it’s not one of you, it’s the other! Come on now, Rinka, we don’t have all night. Do you want to be eaten by those things?” Lucius said, waiting to cross next.

Zenobia growled. “Leave her alone, Lucius. Not everyone’s as fearless as you pretend to be.”

“It’s not fearlessness, it’s logic. We cross we live, we don’t we die. The girl can’t fall victim to her fear right now.”

Zenobia leaned past, ignoring him, and called out to Rinka, “Hey, girl! The boards are close together. You can shuffle forward. Look up at the moons and breathe in and out. Hand on the rope. That’s it!”

Rinka took her advice and inched her way across. She collapsed on the ground beside Sora on the other side.

One by one, we all crossed safely. Some of us used Zenobia’s advice. The golden-haired girl stood next to Laska, like a mini version of the Sergeant.

Hopsander and Al joined us shortly after, while the remainder of the goblins retreated into the forest. The two Cinders had held off a small army for us. The two trotted across the bridge. After the Captain stepped on the new side, he turned towards the bridge and tossed some white powder down across the wood. He nodded to himself and joined us.

The new side of the canyon was a desolate desert of gray dirt and dust. No evidence of wildlife and or plant life except for dead leafless trees. They looked like white skeleton guards lining the desert.

“We’ll make camp just down the road for the night,” Laska announced, pointing to a massive dead tree far down the road.

As we approached the large tree, I could see that it was a man-made building. White wooden planks bent and nailed together to form a massive hollow tree trunk that could fit a small bus inside..

We trudged inside the shelter, and the windy dust from outside vanished.

I overheard Al joking with Hopsander. “Back-to-back attacks from different monsters? How unlucky can our girl get?”

“Sergeant Laska does indeed have the odd tendency to attract misfortunes,” Hopsander muttered, trying to keep his voice low.

“Let’s hope the rule of three doesn’t prove itself true this time.” Al laughed and clapped the Frog-man’s back.

Hopsander chuckled in response, but Laska’s face tightened at the comment. She sat in the middle of the hollowed log. A used existing campfire sat in front of her. Laska started up a new one with some unused wood stacked next to the campfire.

We settled into the hollow tree as the heat from the fire filled the open-air shelter. I felt my knees buckle, and I fell to the floor. I didn’t realize how tired I was. Embarrassed, I looked around at the others only to see everyone else fall to the ground from exhaustion. However, the Cinders looked unfazed. Laska looked down at the group and counted out loud.

“…eight, and nine.” She grinned to herself and rolled her shoulders. “We are all accounted for. All right recruits, take a rest. We are safe here.”

The day’s events played through my mind like a fever dream - the chase, the goblins, the incredible strength, and the powers the Cinders seemed to have. It all felt surreal.

Despite them possessing no ‘magic’, Hopsander, Al, and Laska were…superhuman.

A sharp chirp cut my thoughts off. I looked up to see Al running out of the hollow tree building and returning with two familiar companions. Beside him stood Goro and Gora, the two massive beetles that had pulled our wagon earlier. They chirped happily, antennas wiggling.

“Had to climb a long way to get back to us,” Al explained proudly. He patted Goro’s horn. “But these beauties are tougher than they look.”

Tevin, the large boy, sprang to his feet. His eyes wide as he approached the beetles. His head was level with the huge shells.

Rinka let out a surprised laugh. She had calmed down from the terrifying bridge crossing. “Would you look at that? Tevin doesn’t act like he looks at all!”

Zenobia nodded his head. She was sitting next to the fire warming up her hands. “Tevin loves the creatures.”

Laska sat down by the fire as well and pulled out some jerky to eat.

Silas spoke up hesitantly. “Is it... is it safe to camp right now? The goblins just attacked.”

Laska’s confident grin was oddly reassuring. “Oh, we’ve got our tricks and gadgets for safe sleeping.” She nodded to Hopsander. “The captain spread Pillardust. Consider it repellent for monsters and creatures of ill intent. Courtesy of Baldred’s Pillar.”

Confusion rippled across the kids. I felt Fern’s curiosity mingling with my own.

—What’s Baldred’s Pillar? I wondered.

Laska waved away our questioning looks. “You’ll learn soon enough at Ash.” She glanced around, clearly trying to shift the focus. “That’s enough talk. Get rest everyone. We leave in five hours.”

As if on cue, a musical cooing sound came from the beetles. The two stood off to a far side of the hollowed area. The cooing song grew louder. Their eyelids flickered.

Al stood up and held a finger to his lips, motioning everyone to be quiet. He crouched up to get the best view of them and Tevin slowly joined him.

“They’re doing this now?” Laska said, standing up and putting her hands on her hips.

“Shh! Let my babies do what they do! Everyone watches this miracle. The Dance of Eggs,” Al whispered and waved his hand down, motioning us to quiet again.

The beetles' song grew louder, and the coos turned into sounding almost human. They rocked their large bodies slowly and lifted their wings. The black carapace gave way two four translucent wings that stretched into the twin moon sky. The bright teal light from the moons shined through the wings, spreading stained-glass like projections around the camp.

— Which one is which? I asked Fern.

— ‘I think the one without a horn is Gora, the female?’

Underneath Gora’s wings were well over fifty small pearl orbs.

Or, Eggs.

Goro danced his body around his partner to their coos. Gora stayed in place, her wings spread, exposing the eggs. Their movements were oddly graceful for creatures so large.

Al patted Tevin’s back. “Oh, you’re in for a treat, big guy! Watch closely now.”

We all stared in fascination as Goro opened his wings and tilted toward his mate. Gora leaned into Goro’s open back. The eggs gently rolled from under her wings to Goro’s.

Al turned to us and explained. “The eggs are in their final stage now. They’ll mature under Goro’s wings for the next month until they are ready to hatch. It probably will happen by the time schooling starts. You’ll be in for a whole new treat then as well!”

As we watched, Gora’s appearance changed. Spikes grew on the sides of her head. Goro’s horn, once pointed, flattened and widened into a shield-like structure.

“It’s Gora’s turn to guard now,” Al said proudly. “She’ll protect Goro and the eggs until they hatch.”

The twin moons twinkled overhead as the beetles finished their dance. Laska sat back down and lay on her back.

“I won't repeat it. Rest. Now recruits.” She said.

The rest of us got the message and laid down in our own spots, using the pack as a pillow.

The Pillardust Hopsander spread earlier calmed my nerves so I could try to sleep off the exhaustion from running.

It was cold. No one had a blanket except Tevin. Who, before even sitting down, placed his blanket on top of Goro’s back.

He looked back at our confused faces.

“It’s for the babies,” He said with a huge grin on his face.

Al laughed and gave an approving thumbs-up.

I jolted awake, my heart racing as if I’d been running from those demon wolves all over again. Silas was shaking my shoulder, his golden eyes wide with urgency.

“Erik, wake up! We’re leaving soon.” He said. He held out his hand and pulled me up.

I blinked, trying to clear the fog from my mind.

“How’d you sleep?” I asked him.

“Not as good as you did. Your snoring was so loud!” Silas laughed.

“I’m surprised how deep I slept given I was so stressed before bed,” I scratched my hair and wiped gray dust off my pants.

Laska shouted over the camp. “Move it, newbies! We’ve got ground to cover!”

I walked with Silas out of the hollowed-out tree and saw Al already outside with Goro and Gora. The massive beetles seemed alert, their antennae twitching as if sensing something in the air.

Hopsander stepped up next to me, his webbed hand resting on my shoulder. “The beetles can sense danger,” he whispered, his bulbous eyes fixed on the path ahead. “That’s why they’re leading the way.”

“Isn’t that so amazing!” Tevin shouted behind me.

I jumped, not expecting him to be there, caught my breath, and nodded to him. We started to walk down the only road there was.

Hours passed as we trudged through winding dead trees and gray dirt hills. The twin moons had retreated, replaced by a harsh sun that soaked my tunic with sweat. The landscape resembled a dried-up lake—small holes dotted the ground, and large boulders lay scattered across the hilly terrain. Gray and red dust clung to our boots.

The group was eerily quiet, each person lost in thought. Their vigor from yesterday had vanished; they all seemed so... sad.

—Why? I wondered.

—‘They’re all like me, Erik,’ Fern said. ‘Slaves who’ve suffered abuse after abuse. The scars, the bruises, the fears—it’s in the details. No matter how they act, they’ve faced untold tragedy. And now they’re being thrust unwillingly into the most dangerous land on Stylos: Ash.’

Guilt washed over me. I’d been so caught up in my situation—being pulled into Fern’s body, searching for Noah, trying to understand this strange world—that I hadn’t grasped the trauma these kids had endured. My past hardships paled in comparison.

I looked around, really seeing them for the first time. Mel, with her fiery hair and fierce demeanor, hiding the pain of what that mage had done to her, and where she came from. Silas, quiet and fearful, carrying burdens from the docks of Corello. Rinka with her hidden mysterious burn scar. Even Lucius, his haughty attitude masking horrors he’d endured.

I accepted the guilt and understood them a little more. I made a silent promise to myself: That I would be there for them, supporting who I could at the academy. Watching the Cinders fight, showed me that a path to power exists. That power could get me closer to Noah. And to succeed in all of that, I’ll need powerful bonds with others like me. Of course, I was worried they might discover my true nature someday, but until then, I’d do my best to be the support they needed. At least for now, it felt like the right thing to do. I could see these kids all hurting individually. Maybe I could help.

“Look!” Sora’s gasp snapped me back to reality. She was pointing ahead.

Far beyond the rolling gray dunes, mountains loomed in the distance. Behind them, barely visible, was the same giant shadow I’d seen before we crossed the bridge. It dwarfed even the mountain peaks. So tall, it seemed to pierce the sky—a colossal pillar of stone.

Laska let out a laugh. “That’s Baldred’s Pillar. The 13th Pillar.”

We stared in awe at the massive landmass. Hopsander opened his mouth, perhaps to explain the Pillar, when a deafening roar shook the air.

One of the distant mountains moved, unfurling into a towering monster that turned toward us. What I thought was a mountain stretched a long neck skyward. The beast had four massive legs and an enormous tail—primordial, like a dinosaur or dragon. Even from a mile away, we felt the ground groan with each of its steps.

THUD.

“That’s not good,” Hopsander croaked. “Seems we’ve woken up the ol’ girl.”

Laska cursed under her breath, her hand instinctively moving to the hilt of her sword.

“What is that?” I whispered.

“The guardian of the Ash Mountains,” Laska replied, a chill in her voice. “The Grootslang.”

The ground rumbled beneath our feet, the behemoth’s approach relentless. Al sighed, glancing at Goro and Gora with a hint of pity.

“Well then,” he said with a wry smile. “Time to run, eh?”