Tread Lightly

The weird, unnerving, pale, and slightly wrinkled palm of a former living man slowly sinks into my right hand, leaving a dark maroon-colored handprint that covers the back of my hand. Unfortunately, it looks like I had just put only the back of my hand into a vat of blood. Considering what the Bloody Palm does, I might have just done.

But what did it do? I don't feel any difference from before it sunk into my hand. The only new thing is the color. And the color doesn't even make it past the side of my fingers. It's like the Bloody Palm is invisible and laying its fingers over mine. Quite an odd thought.

Surprised it finally works, Earl gets back up and inspects my hand. Then he asks me a question that I'm currently trying to find the answer to.

"So? What feels different? Do you feel a well of energy or something within your palm?"

I show him the mark on my hand and describe the new development.

"I don't feel anything specifically different, like a well of energy. I feel like the Bloody Palm is invisible and intangible while laying over my hand."

Earl looks at me, and then, without asking me for any input, he puts his hand on mine to see what I'm talking about. But, then, he obviously doesn't sense anything as he pulls his hand back and picks up his pen to write. And while he scribbles notes, he talks to me.

"That is quite creepy if that's what it feels like. I would hate for something invisible to be resting upon me like that. It's one thing to be able to sense it, but another for it to disappear entirely."

I nod and agree.

"It is quite weird. Do you think I'll be able to choose when it activates or not?"

Earl looks at me and shakes his head to indicate no.

"Probably not. I mean, if you can't even sense it, how are you going to use it? There is a bright side to this, though. It means no one else will be able to notice it, either. A good ace up the sleeve that's always there to lend a hand."

I chuckle at his joke, but he looks at me oddly.

"Why are you laughing?"

Confused, I answered.

"I was laughing at your joke, Earl."

He just looks back at me with that same confusion.

"I didn't make a joke. That was all serious."

I take a second to look him in the eye and realize he has no idea the pun he made. Eh, whatever.

"Uh... Okay. I'll see you in the morning, man."

I get up and walk away, unwilling to be subject to any more Earl for the night. How did he not know that was a play on words? Is he that dense? Probably. As I step away to go to my sleeping bag, I hear him continue to jot down stuff from our discussion. That man needs to get away from his book, for sure.

But his nose being in words all the time is valuable. He's right that it could kill me if I don't know what I'm dealing with. Those Bakwas are a perfect example of his claim. So I should finally do what Edmund told me long ago. It's time to learn all the Base Sigils. Or at least the few remaining.

So, I sit down and read all twenty confirmed Base Sigils from the Prime Sigils Manual, their abilities, and what commonly has them. Even the ones I've already read to commit them to memory, but I do read from the bottom up, starting with the two new ones I haven't read.

Prowler - Increased ability to track and sense living things. Increased strength and the innate ability to find weak points. Common in any bird of prey that may have a Sigil. Also commonly found within Highland Lions.

Freak - Massively increased regeneration and arm size/strength. Hunger grows accordingly. Commonly found in Gore Howlers and Knockers.

Then, I glance over the old ones quickly just for a refresher but don't read them much in depth. They're just there for later when I look at some standard 2nd Sigils. There is so much to remember; these are only the Base Sigils. How many 2nd Sigils are there? Let's see.

Just counting the confirmed Sigils, there are twenty. And if there are two Sigils that make up a 2nd Sigil, how many different combinations are there? Fuck. That's an Earl question. I don't want to ask him right now, though, as he snores.

I'll try to figure it out on my own. Twenty. And two Sigils. Still can't make a good picture. What if, instead of Sigils, I have two different cards, and there are twenty total? How many combinations can I have?

………………..

Yeah, I still don't know. I'll just have to ask Earl tomorrow.

So, after giving up on doing an insurmountable task, I look at the most common 2nd Sigils for some of the Base Sigils. The manual's beginning also states that most of the powers and traits for 2nd Sigils come from humans and may vary in the wild.

Rogue - Major increase in speed, flexibility, and reaction speed. Commonly found in speed focused Prey like Loperds or Cyotis'

Most Common 2nd Sigil of Rogue: Thief (Rogue/Rogue)- Has another significant increase in speed and gains inherent Ether inside the feet that silences them. Can use a skill to stick to walls. Is much harder to see in the dark.

Comanche - Major increase in depth of thoughts/speed and expansion in all senses. Commonly found in intelligent and careful Prey like Sonirds. Main Sigil of the Comanche tribe within the Borderlands.

Most Common 2nd Sigil of Comanche: Geronimo (Soldier/Comanche)- Heightened senses and faster reflexes. Can easily survive in harsh climates or weather. A great leader or scout for an expedition. Can move incredibly fast and swiftly through rugged terrain. Has a skill to boost physical power and speed for long periods that can be used simultaneously with others of the same type.

Scholar - Increases intelligence and memory. Able to quickly learn new and diverse Ether skills. Rarely found in Prey, but when they are, they are highly dangerous due to their human level of intelligence.

Most Common 2nd Sigil of Scholar: Adept(Scholar/Scholar) - Gains a near-perfect memory and incredible calculation abilities. Able to even faster learn a variety of Ether skills. Can even learn a few that use affinities they do not have by supplementing the affinity with another.

Mentalist - Sensitivity to others' emotions. Able to direct others easily using this sensitivity and slightly affect others' minds. Rarely found in Prey, but well-known examples are the Mindpushers.

Most Common 2nd Sigil of Mentalist: Telekinetic(Mentalist/Freak) - Gains the ability to move small objects with their mind. Every thought has a little bit of Ether within it. Has a skill to use large amounts of force with their minds. A mighty Sigil that many should be wary of.

Occultist - Increased sense of Ether and control of it. Able to perform simple Ether rituals like Strengthen, Bleed, Sleep, and Charm. Rarely found in Prey near the edge of the Borderlands but are very common in the deep towards the Badlands in demons or similar creatures.

Most Common 2nd Sigil of Occultist: Maimer(Occultist/Trapper) - A very acute sensitivity and control of Ether. They can create objects out of their blood and have them linger. Commonly used for traps and retreats. Can even make weapons out of blood. Most dangerous when wounded.

Augur - Gains a sixth sense that is sensitive to danger. Increases the ability to make predictions based on situational clues. Excellent hearing and eyesight. Rarely found in beasts or demons of any type, commonly found in Otherplanars.

Most Common 2nd Sigil of Augur: Extrasensor(Augur/Augur) - Potent danger sense. One is required to be stationed at every region's headquarters to raise alarms for danger. Therefore, higher-level centers have higher Sigiled Augurs present.

I break off from skimming the information. I just couldn't handle reading it anymore. It's just so much. I tried. I really did. I mean, I read like six of them. That's almost half, right?

They just put me to sleep. Although, I do get a piece of immediately helpful information from this. Which is that all high-level Hunter locations have people who can basically just sense danger. That's a valuable thing to know since I'm likely wanted.

But it is so tiring to read that I'm drifting off. So I'll just have to leave it for the morning. So, as per my nightly ritual for the past few weeks, I embark upon my daily seizure.

I push Ether down into my right arm while lying down and attempt to treat it for the saturation that plagues it. It's much more challenging than yesterday because I've used a lot of Ether tonight activating the Bloody Palm. The Ether is much more sluggish and hard to control as remnants of what I used previously remain in my body, not quite yet expelled.

I succeed eventually, though, as my arms stiffen, my legs convulse, and agony wracks my body, telltale signs I succeeded in my treatment. Now I just have to be careful not to lose grip on the Ether I've used and let it slowly drain away with the pain.

The good ol' usual lullaby to my nights.

**************

I wake up with my head elevated and reflexively shoot up from my lying position. I hear a panicked "Wait-" before my forehead smashes into another person's face. I roll away and put my arms up before I realize who it is. Elizabeth.

She has blood coming down from her nose as she holds it, looking at me full of worry. I apologize, but Elizabeth speaks first before I can get the words out of my mouth.

"It's fine, Wyatt. Don't worry about it, it's my fault. You were still shaking from your treatment earlier this morning, so I put you on my lap to keep you from hitting your head. So it didn't work out, huh?"

I look at her bleeding nose and feel terrible. She was just worried for me, and I slammed her in the face with my forehead. I need to be more careful. I-

A voice from the side distracts my thinking and makes me turn to look. It's Leonard.

"I don't know. I think you're a bit too jumpy, Wyatt. But, I mean, Elizabeth, he did hit you after waking up without even opening his eyes."

Elizabeth speaks up for me nearly instantly.

"It's good that he's jumpy, Leonard. Without it, we would've died back in Harmony Town. We must be more careful around him when he's sleeping or resting."

Leonard just shakes his head and makes a short remark before turning and getting ready for the daily walk. Earl also joins in from the side after him.

"Yeah, okay. I sure don't want a bloody nose."

"Same. Remind me not to move him or wake him while he sleeps."

I ignore the duo of Leonard and Earl and go over to Elizabeth. I show her how my Ma taught me to fix bloody noses.

"Just lean your head back all the way and close your nostrils with your fingers. Yeah, like that. You should be good a little bit. Sorry by the way, and thanks for sticking up for me, Leonard. And for not letting me slam my head into rocks. Earl would probably laugh and just call me dumber if it happened."

Elizabeth nods as much as she can, even tilting her head back. Then she tries to wipe away the kindness she did for me.

"It's no big deal. Just speaking the truth, Wyatt. And someone gotta take care of you if you don't."

She has a slight smile tugged on her lips as she communicates. It makes one come to mine as well. Now that her head is tilted back, I notice how long her hair is for the first time. Its beautiful darkness slides down like a waterfall to her lower back. She usually has it up in a ponytail when traveling, but I guess she let it down this morning.

I just get distracted by her for a few moments as she continues to try to fix her bloody nose. Then, I feel a slap on my back as I sit next to Elizabeth. It's Earl, and he whispers into my ear.

"Come on, Wyatt. Stop gawking and get ready to go."

I break from this distraction and awkwardly turn away from Elizabeth to pick up my things. Then, I quickly get ready to start walking.

By the time I'm ready, I notice everyone else already is. I was the last to wake up, which made sense because I was the last to go to bed. So, they all had plenty of time to prepare. Elizabeth even got Esther ready to go before she put my head in her lap, and I hurt her.

I say a quick sorry for being last and another to Elizabeth for her bloody nose. Then, we set off.

We walk for several hours through even more dry dunes and cold air. It's almost winter, and you can genuinely feel it, even in Bonedunes. And we finally learn why it's called Bonedunes, not just the "Dunes" around midday.

We walk upon a massive graveyard of bones. As far as the eye can see. It reaches out into the horizon. Within our sight, though, are a wide range of sizes of bones. There are probably millions of small bones that belong to creatures like humans and medium-sized beasts, but the larger ones? The larger ones are insane.

Some of the larger bones are so tall that I swear they have ice on them. They have to be at least a hundred feet tall. And none of them just stick up into the air. The big ones have commonly broken up skeletons of massive creatures, so they are anything but just white trees. The largest fossil we see is a skeleton of a spiny creature that is roughly a hundred feet tall and a few hundred feet in length.

The whole group, including me, just gawks at the majesty before us. What the hell used to live here? We all look to Earl, our resident genius, for answers. He sees us turning to look at him and doesn't answer until Esther yells at him excitedly.

"What are those things, Earl? Are they dinosaurs?"

Earl laughs but answers.

"No, Esther. Dinosaurs aren't real. Those are Goliaths. Most were killed before humanity was ever even blessed with intelligence by the old gods. The remaining ones dwell deep within the Badlands."

So cool. I want to climb one. I propose the question to the rest, and all but Earl agree. And so, because we voted democratically, we find a significant, probably ten times my height, and mostly intact skeleton to attempt to climb amongst the edges of the boneyard. It's pretty easy for me with the ability to infuse Ether into my fingers, well, at least my right hand's fingers, and hold on tight.

Because of this, I am forced to help everyone else climb atop the Goliath's skeleton. It's challenging to haul someone up a skeleton while not falling yourself. I feel like a monkey or something as I jump from natural handhold to handhold. I actually notice that increased precision now.

My fingers can accurately find the best place to hold onto all alone. It saves me effort and time when climbing up the skeleton, but we eventually all make it to the top. By the time we do, though, the sun is beginning to set, so we decide to make camp on the top of the skeleton as we watch the sun settle in the crease of the horizon and bathe us in darkness.

We decide to go to bed early so we can wake up early and move on, for we wasted too much time climbing this skeleton earlier. Only Earl didn't forget that we are still running. Running from the break. We should be fine now, though, right? We're out of Tornridge; supposedly, that was the one my father kept safe. So, we should be good now.

While thinking this, I perform my nightly treatment and fall asleep shaking like usual. But in the middle of the night, I woke up for some reason. A tingling in my ear is the cause when I come to consciousness, but why?

The air is silent and unmoving as I open my eyes, trying to figure out what's making my ears tingle. This time, I make sure to assess the situation before moving, but something's not right. It's far too quiet, especially for my ears to tingle. We usually hear coyotes, owls, and bugs throughout the night, yet not tonight.

I sit up and look around. I fell asleep feeling relatively safe from being this high up, but now that I think about it, this is probably a perfect place for predators to hide in wait. While I look around the top of the hotel-sized skeleton, I hear scratching. Quiet, but still there.

Slowly and carefully, not to reveal my position, I rise as I draw my daggers. I mutely tap Elizabeth's head with my boot, who keeps sleeping close to me for some reason. Not that I dislike it, but it's abnormal. She opens her eyes to the disturbance and looks at me with my daggers drawn.

I put a finger to my lips to keep her quiet and point toward the others. Finally, she gets my meaning and moves to wake them up. After getting the wakeup started, I move closer to the edge, where I hear the quiet scratching. It's getting louder.

I peer over the edge slightly and see a sizeable eight-legged creature rapidly climbing up the massive skeleton. It takes me a second to recognize what it really is. It's a fucking enormous spider.

One that has a leg that is the size of me. And that is already halfway up the structure of bones.

I motion over to Earl, who is now awake, and he comes over to me. He leans over, sees what's below, and shakes for some reason. Shakes terribly. Like he's freezing or something. But it's not that cold. Then he turns to me and hugs me before whispering frantically into my ear.

"I will never, never, never, never, never be annoyed in any way by your sleep paranoia. So please, let's get the fuck out of here."

The second he speaks, I see the spider twitch and then move faster, heading up. Fuck. It heard Earl. I think it was just moving up here curiously. Now it knows something is here. That's some bad luck.

Earl screams, putting noise into the otherwise silent night as the spider nears the top with its furry legs tapping with a quiet unfitting of its massive size. I thump him on the head to shut him up before shoving him back as far as possible without hurting him.

Then, I begin circulating my Ether in the only way I can for combat, focusing on my upper body and head. Finally, I begin Bloodhound's Step as my body begins to lower, and I drop to all fours with my knuckles on the ground and my daggers tightly wrapped in my fists in preparation for the spider to arrive.