We rode out of town. Penny whined and I could sense she was taunting the other horses to keep up with herself. I thought about what people said about her and nothing matched. This was not a lazy mare, this was a sprinter through and through. I was getting used to riding without a bridle, just sending her my will through our link. Penny was extremely smart also. So, why was she regarded as lazy?

"Is it because you are a prima donna, Penny?" I ask the horse out loud.

She relishes, shakes her head and buckles up to make me bump my butt in the saddle. I guess that she didn't like the mental image of a prima donna.

Oh, well. The roads around here are terrible. It seems the properties are claimed haphazardly and the road has to go around them. Because the properties are small, less than an acre in size, most of them, the road goes back and forth and sometimes you move two kilometers only to find yourself on the other side of the road. At least I got to see a lot of farms. Most of them are focused on subsistence, with a diverse amount of vegetables and orchards. It is very colorful, at least. Farmers wave at us, some of them shout threats.

After a while, I removed the tunic Brendan gave me. My shirt was dry again. My goal is also in sight. There is a large rock just protruding from the ground and up. It looks like a miniature Devil's Tower, like the one in Wyoming but shorter. The geometric columns are just like that. The geologist in me is salivating. I never got to visit Wyoming but the place is a rich source of ores and minerals. I expected to find veins exposed in the open. The only thing that told me it wouldn't be so easy was the fact that the road leading there didn't have any large wagons moving through it. Therefore, no mines.

Samus also told that a trip to the mines took weeks, not a couple of hours. Maybe I could find some untapped resources. Yes, I had to go there and check. Penny caught in my excitement and broke into a gallop, almost knocking me out of the saddle. The other two horses and their eunuch riders were caught in the dust cloud she kicked up.

I laughed. The feeling of the wind blowing past me was refreshing. I did Kevin Costner and opened my arms.

We reached the boulders underneath the stone formation. Penny didn't want to walk over them, as it would only take a loose rock to break her delicate horse legs. I dismounted and played with her neck and head. Penny headbutted me as the adrenalin was still running in her, compelling her to sprint and run wild. I looked back and saw the two riders coming behind. They apparently let me go ahead to follow outside the dust cloud.

"I'm going to climb that rock now and collect some samples, you hear me? Please be a good girl and go graze in that clearing by that tree."

I slapped her flank and Penny obeyed. I stretched my arms and shouted. I was feeling awesome. Brimming with power. Energy, posssibilities. This morning surely lifted my spirits. Even the pain from the haymaker was mellowed by the cuddling I got in exchange. Aww, I wanted to devour Brandon. I picked a random rock and checked. I could see it had some calcite crystals and feldspar, confirming the volcanic origins of this rock formation.

I prepared several ziplock bags for the samples. With Decompose, I didn't need to keep the rocks as I could refine them in the field and only bring back the finished material but I didn't want to destroy this beauttiful landmark. I was in awe of its magnificence. I should really have visited Wyoming. The one there is at least four times larger than this one.

I wiped a tear as the nostalgia of a lost world washed over me. So many places to visit. All lost because of two asshole gods and their stupid worshippers.

But this was my reality now. I dumped the calcite out of the rock into a bag. The transparent-white cristals just crumbled from the rock, leaving it looking like pumice. I closed my eyes and channeled Decompose into the rock, trying to find the resonances. I could sense iron. Probably magnetite. I removed the iron from the rock into another bag. Then I removed the silicon, leaving a mix of brown dust in my hand and a nugget of silicon on the other. I poured the dust into a third bag. I labeled them. Calcite, magnetite, trace elements.

The catch-all term for 'stuff I don't want to properly identify'.

I also stored the silicon in a trash bag. Not that the silicon was trash but I didn't want to leave it behind.

The eunuchs approached. "Mistress, what should we do?"

"Get some shade under that tree. Watch the horses. I am going to survey the area a bit. Maybe climb the rock. Do you have a name for this place?"

He nodded, "God's finger, mistress."

Well, between God's Finger and the Devil Tower... nah. Who's comparing? It was time for exploratiion. I changed the SD card in the GoPro and checked the battery. The camera still had a couple of hours in it but I should start charging my devices or I'd be without them. I took the headband and strapped it in, affixing the camera and started the recording.

I walked around, climbed boulders, collected samples. I found pyroxene crystals embedded in the rocks, then tiny pieces of apatite. It is awesome when you can strip the silica and see what is inside a rock. Kaolinite meant aluminum. None of the materials existed in quantities that justified a mining operation and unless I found a fault or some upturned terrain feature, it was not economically viable.

Well, that only when you can put a price tag on your own labor. I had no idea how much my power would be worth but to me, I paid only in time to use it. I hadn't tried mass-scale Decompose, but this small crush-rocks-get-mineral-nuggets play didn't tire me at all. It came as easy as breathing. And the more I did it, the easier it got.

And so I went on. I got some gypsum, quartz, granites, and andesite. I had samples containing magnesium, potassium, chlorine, and fluorine salts. These minerals for me were like flowers for other girls. Even more, now that I could get them easily.

I found a family of rabbits living in the gap between some boulders. They came to me and I could pet them. No fear of them whatsoever.

My sample bags were full. Long ago they were sent to storage and I only summoned them when it was time to add more minerals. I was at the base of the rock now and eager to climb. I went around, collecting whatever rock looked different or those I knew had some rare mineral. In tiny quantities though but it could add up. I probably had around four kilograms of magnetite, for example. That was enough iron to make two swords.

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After a few minutes of walking around the boulders, I found a good spot to start my climb. I wasn't too worried because I could easily create handholds with Decompose. I could probably bore a tunnel through the rock and make a staircase going up. I steeled myself and started to climb. I made the handholds large enough for my boot too. So I crawled up the rock, making good time. I glanced sideways sometimes and was presented a gorgeous landscape. I knew the true prize would be up there so I resisted the urge to take in my surroundings now and kept climbing.

The breeze was hot and dry but helped banish the sweat. When I reached a ledge that could support me, I turned and sat on it, legs dangling. I should be about thirty meters up and halfway through. I looked and saw farms, forests, some small ponds, grasslands, open plains, and signs of smaller settlements in the distance. I was with my back to the grasslands plateau so I couldn't see it but the view of the valley was teeming with life. I could see flocks of birds flying kilometers away, dark clouds moving over the treetops.

I took my canteen and drank half of it while I gave my body time to rest. I poured some of the cool, refreshing liquid on my face. My heart was pounding strong, my body ached for the challenge of finishing the climb. And so I did. The geometric rock pillars narrowed as some of them ended. I kept going up slowly, making sure to create handholds that would last.

I was a seventh of the climb from the summit when I heard a raptor bird cry. I looked around, scared, and finally saw them.

Two majestic eagles, with brown and white feathers and a green neck like a mallard flying around. They were measuring me up. I'd probably intruded in their territory. They were large. Larger than a bald eagle, their wingspan reaching almost three meters. They seemed to be as big as the brazilian harpy. They swooped and dove, flying close to me. I dug into the rock with Decompose, making holes I could hold onto even if they tried to yank me from the rock.

They did a second pass and one of them even brushed the tip of its wing on my back.

I'd fall fifty-something meters if I lost my footing. They shrieked and made their passes but I noticed they weren't attacking. They just flew close and then retreated. After a while, I decided that staying there and losing stamina was worse than whatever scratch these overgrown birds could cause and I kept on climbing. Several minutes later, I was granted accesss to the summit. It wasn't a smooth top as I thought. It had tons of small bumps and loose rocks and pools. Some holes seemed narrow but deep. It was as if the top of this rock was on the wrong side of a bombardment.

I walked carefully. Then one of the eagles soared up past the summit. I looked at it and the eagle dove straight at me. Before I could throw up my arms to protect my face it pecked my eye, tearing my eyelid. I crouched and covered my head with my arms. My eye was fine, being indestructible, but the eyelid burned like hell. All I could see with that eye was the red of the blood. It took a few minutes for the regeneration perk to start mending the torn flesh. The bleeding stopped in half the amount of time it should take.

Shouldn't I be safe from attack from animals?

It healed. I had some blood stains in my shirt but I'd solve this by cutting off the offending part and then waiting out for the reconstruction to happen off-camera in storage, later. I cleaned my face and hands with Decompose, with the unexpected side-effect of destroying my nail polish.

Oh, well. Lesson learned.

But my irritation at the bird or the loss of the nail polish was quenched by the sight. I could see the entire town, the grasslands plateau, the main river, the farms, the villages in the distance. The summit was large enough to build a few houses on. I knew I should've bought the binoculars with a rangefinder feature. But at the time it was a thousand Euros investment. Oh, well. I can't have everything.

I took the GoPro and did a slow panoramic 360 with myself in the frame. I wish I could show it to Theresa. Was she really dead? It was so unfair!

"GoPro stop recording!"

I shouted at the camera and stored it. I took the bag of silicon and fashioned a seat for me. Then I sat on it and cried.

There was stilll some blood hidden under my eyelids and my tears were pink.

I felt the darkness creep up my soul and fought it back. What good grieving would do? I was wealthy, powerful, almost immortal. But I couldn't just forget and leave the world I was born in behind. So I took my phone and recorded a video message for Theresa.

I sent it to her number. No signal.

The phone still marked the day I died. It said erroneously it was 8:37 in the morning. I looked at the date and I really wished this was some kind of 'trapped in a VR world' and some emo dude with a fidget spinner armor would come to rescue me. But no.

I tasted my tears, they were salty and bloody. The pain was real. Everything was real.

"Fuck you, professor Andrews," I cursed out loud. I allowed myself one F-word.

I had half the mind of just running and jumping off the edge. Would I die? Would I break every bone in my body and suffer for hours as my body re-knitted itself. But I wasn't crazy enough to go through it.

I don't know how long I stayed there, sitting on that silicon chair. When I calmed down, I took the selfie stick and the camera. I did another panoramic shot with me in the frame then a third, slow one focusing on the landmarks. Obedient, the GoPro took in snapshots when I ordered.

The battery level dropped below ten percent though. I stored it and took out the binoculars. I checked around, trying to get a grasp of the distances. I could try and triangulate it but it felt like too much work. Besides, I could get a good measurement by studying video shots. My goal was to identify large landmarks so I could find this place in the god-satellite images Tarhun gave me.

Then I saw a mess of feathers and angry diving at me through the binoculars. I couldn't see the slingshot though. I ducked and stored the binoculars. The eagle's talons flew centimeters away from my face. I'd been hurt more than enough times today, given that the optimal amount was zero.

The eagle landed on my silicon chair and pecked the material. Then I saw the other one flying around. A mated pair? Was I intruding on their love nest? The other eagle landed next to the chair. There wasn't enough room for both in the backrest. I carefully approached. They kept turning their heads to stare at me. But they weren't making those warning sounds. When I was three meters away, they flew off and down past the edge. I waited for a while but they didn't return.

The sun was about two hands from sinking behind the horizon, from where I was. I had even less time to the sunset from the surface. So I started to climb down. It would be even harder than going up. I should've used my climbing gear to get down safely but I was too angry for that. My frustration mounted up. Brandon didn't respond to my advances. I was practically throwing myself at him. Tarhun, Dark One and Andrews. The eye-pecking eagles. Being basically alone in another world.

I just recklessly climbed down.

Fortunately, I didn't fall down dozens of meters and broke every bone. I reached down with little time before the sunset. The eunuchs were already worried.

"Mistress, we must return to town. The sky-lords are angry and the time for them to hunt is nigh."

I pointed up. "Do you mean birds with sharp talons, crooked beaks, green necks, and nasty temperament? I've met them."

Surprise and awe washed over them. "You did? And you are alive? They are vicious monsters!"

I nodded. "Yeah. They tried to poke my eye out. If I weren't me, I'd be with an eyepatch now. Or dead. But let's go. These nasty birds of legend sometimes like horse meat."

Penny wasn't amused at my joke.

We rode back. Night caught us halfway through the sinuous road. I can swear we'd have half the travel time and double the farmland if the roads were straight. I summoned my selfie stick and attached the LED lantern on top of it. Then I turned it on and held it above Penny's head.

"Let's go. At least now we can see."

We met some scared farmers on the way. They kept moving only because the town gates would close soon. One good thing was that they gave us right-of-way.

We went home. Penny was quite satisfied with the ride. I left her with the guards and went home. Everything was fine. There was no crisis to solve, nobody trying to kidnap me.

That might be considered a win. I took a hot bath, wrote my journal, cataloged my minerals. Then I went to sleep.