Even as a crowd gathered around me, I never looked away from Scalisth. As per usual, it was impossible to see exactly where he was looking due to his lack of pupils, but I could deduce his eyes were locked with mine.

“You’ve got an answer for everything, don’t you?” I said, my voice dripping with contempt for the alien man. “Everything is our fault, we aren’t prepared for what’s out there, we are just so pitiful! Look at you now, standing like you couldn’t care less that someone died under your watch!”

By now, a hand had grabbed my shoulder, but I ignored it. Scalisth continued looking down at me, his self-righteous smirk wiped from his face. He didn’t seem angry, just apathetic, like he was disappointed at even having to entertain my words.

This infuriated me more, and I was about to speak when he stopped and raised his hand in my direction. His giant palm was centimeters from my face. I felt an imperceptible change in the environment around me, and a brilliant sphere of light appeared in front of the Altum’s palm. Chaotic vortices spiraled in and out of existence in the palm of his hand. It looked like a miniature version of the Milky Way galaxy with brilliant light flickering in the palm of his hand.

I stopped moving and felt the entire clearing fall still, everyone frozen by the monstrous aura emanating from the Altum’s palm. Thought I had very poor energy perception I could tell without looking into the tapestry of blue energy that this sphere contained enough Will to kill me in an instant. I swallowed, my throat feeling dry as I stared into the brilliant orb of destruction.

After what felt like an eternity Scalisth dispersed the ball of energy. The remnant power caused torrential winds to tear at tree branches and gouge deep trenches into the ground. I felt a pressure wave hit the front of my body, causing my hair and clothes to fly backwards with immense speed. After waiting for the environment to return to normal, Scalisth put his hand back to his side, acting as indifferent as ever.

After a moment he said, “Why didn’t you do anything to stop me?” Still reeling from seeing the ball of imminent death centimeters from my face, I didn’t answer immediately. The Altum didn’t seem to like this, as he asked again, “Why did you just stand there? Why did you do nothing?”

I tried to speak, but the words caught my throat. Scalisth frowned upon realizing I wasn’t going to speak. “You were right about one thing: I don’t know everything. Unfortunately for you, though, I know more than a mere child such as yourself, and I know the reason you didn’t stop me was because you couldn’t.” He practically spat these words in my face, his expression contorting into one of scorn.

He then gestured to everyone in the clearing, “In my culture, speaking to an Honored warrior, let alone a Master like me in such disrespectful tones would’ve resulted in your death and the deaths of everyone who was foolish enough to agree. It is only because of my patience and tolerance that I allowed this child’s inane babble to go without punishment.”

His face became serious as he quietly said, “Do not mistake my benevolence for complacency. Were it not for my acceptance of this duty you would all be dead. It is a miracle of the world that only that foolish boy died before I could intervene.” He then waved his hands at me and those behind me. “Those three would be dead as well without me. As much as you might hate me, I’m the only reason you are alive to complain at all.”

I had regained my bearings from being so close to death and was shaking slightly. I wasn’t a soldier, and I wasn’t trained to be in such stressful situations on a daily basis. “I’m just a fucking grad student, I’m not made to be out here.” Despite the newfound strength I had discovered on this planet, I was still just human, and I could only take so much without breaking.

I noticed my shaky hands and clenched my fists as hard as I could to stop them. My grip was weak, as I had been fighting for my life minutes earlier. As I stood there in defiance of this pretentious prick, I finally noticed how small and weak I was in comparison. The alien’s body was tall and strong, and his Will could command the world around him to do as he pleased. I had never realized how small and weak I was until standing before him. Hell, it was taking all of my strength just to stand up and look at him.

Suddenly, a voice shouted out from the crowd behind me, “You act like we should be so thankful that you’re taking care of us, but I’m not! We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you taking us from our homes and forcing us into that damn portal!” I turned around and saw that it was Levi who spoke up, passion burning in her eyes.

A few murmurs of agreement followed as everyone could empathize with the braided woman’s words. Instead of responding, Scalisth raised his hand once more, this time facing the crowd instead of my face. The mood instantly changed, and everyone flinched, with a few screaming in fear.

Scalisth’s face was stern as he kept his hand raised but didn’t coalesce any energy in front of it. “You are all too used to human society, where discussion is valid, recognized as a sharing of ideas between two equals.” He flexed his fingers, causing everyone to flinch one more time. “Here, though, the only thing that matters is strength. “

He kept his hand raised and continued, “You all approach me as if I have any reason to listen to your words. You treat me as an equal and expect me to treat you similarly, but you are gravely mistaken. I am not your equal, but your superior. To all of you here, I am the pinnacle of strength, a singular existence separated from the weaklings around me. It is because of my strength that I can silence you all by simply raising my hand.”

His face then grew into a sadistic caricature of a smile, “If you want me to listen, then you must earn it. If you want me to pay for the death of that boy, then make me.” He then looked around the crowd to see if anyone would step forward again. “That’s what I thought. As promised, I will continue to follow my obligation and nothing more. “ He then lowered his hand and turned to look out into the sky, acting as if nothing had ever happened.

I realized I had been holding my breath, tense from fear. I released a shaky breath as my shoulders sagged and my face loosened. I was then hit with a sudden wave of weakness, and I nearly fell to one knee. Luckily, Amaya was still there, and she kept me up with her body.

“Take it easy, the adrenaline’s wearing off and you’ve not given yourself time to rest.” She looked at me with a conflicted expression. One moment she looked worried, then another proud, then another angry at me for speaking out against the Altum. I tried to return her gaze but found it hard to focus on her face.

Instead, I looked down at the ground. Below my gaze, I saw my body, small and feeble. My knees were shaking, and I could see my chest rising and falling with every breath. Despite my concerning state, my heartbeat was stable and calm, beating rhythmically with no care for anything that had transpired. I focused on the beat, letting it soothe my excitement.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Good, let’s get you sat down over here.” The bronze-skinned woman took my arm and led me to go sit down as far away from Scalisth and the river as possible. Right before she sat me down I grabbed at her sleeve with my hand.

Gripping the course fabric tightly, I said in a quiet voice, “We need to start practicing. I can’t just let my survival sit in the palm of his hand.” Amaya didn’t say anything, but nodded, a determined expression on her face. She sat me down gently on a soft patch of grass, and I loosened my body for the second time that morning.

I could hear someone, probably Quentin organizing the burial efforts. His confident tone was still there, but it was more solemn and subdued than it had once been. I saw that Nora was busy helping with the burial, but she stopped for a moment and waved at me nervously.

Relaxing fully, I slumped down to the ground and stared up at the sky. We had been travelling for an hour or two, but the sun was still below the tree line. I scanned the sky, which was devoid of clouds, and looked into the blue void above me. “Is the blue energy up there too?” I wondered absentmindedly.

“Could I become strong if I learned to use my Will properly? I want to be strong, strong enough to take these people home without relying on that sadistic alien bastard.” Out loud, I said, “Is that too much to ask for?” The sky didn’t respond, and neither did the world, leaving my words to fade away in the empty air.

///

“It’s done,” a voice said from above me. I opened my eyes to see Levi standing over me, a tired expression on her face. The sun hadn’t moved in the sky, so I was probably asleep for less than twenty minutes.

I nodded, as I knew there was only reason she would come tell me something directly. Levi offered her hand, and I grabbed it. I was easily lifted off the ground, causing me to step forward to catch my momentum.

“You’re pretty strong. Do you lift?” I asked with a light tone.

Levi smirked back and flexed her arm, showing her firm muscles. “Yeah, I’m a boulderer in my free time. Keeps me in shape, you should try it sometime.”

I looked back at my arms and did notice they were very flimsy. I had a running phase in high school and used to be in pretty good shape. I would run off until I got so tired I forgot all of my problems. Eventually, I had so many problems that running felt pointless as well, so my physique declined dramatically. “Well, maybe I didn’t have so many problems as I had a lack of willingness to face them head on. Compared to this nightmare, those issues were nothing.”

We stood next to each other in silence for a moment before I spoke up. “What was his name?” We both knew who I was talking about, since Levi’s hands were still matted with brown dirt.

“Matthias, but he went by Matt,” she said with a pause. “He was the quiet type, so only one or two people knew his name.”

I hesitated before asking, “Do you think he would be angry at me?”

“For what?” Levi asked.

“For not saving him. For not noticing earlier. For not getting actual help before I blindly got into the water just to nearly die myself.” I gritted my teeth with every word, feeling guilty at the man’s seemingly preventable death.

Levi sighed, “It’s not your fault, he wasn’t your responsibility. If anything, it’s Quentin and my faults for not scouting out the water beforehand.”

I shook my head, “He may be our leader, but we all have a duty to each other out here. If we’re not there for each other, then we have nobody.”

Levi smirked, responding, “From our conversation earlier, I don’t think you would’ve said the same thing an hour ago.”

I frowned and responded, “Yeah, well I hadn’t watched a man die an hour ago.” I realized I had been a bit harsh and gave Levi an apologetic look. She waved her hand away, dismissing my apology.

“Something like that has a way of changing people, I guess.” She smiled, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Come on, we boiled some water, and everyone has already gotten some.”

We both made our ways to a congregation of people, most of them gathered around a small campfire. I walked through the crowd, who all let me in without trouble. The bone bowl was sitting off to the side, filled halfway with still-steaming water.

Once I got the okay from Quentin, I took a few gulps of water. It was hot and uncomfortable to swallow, but it did wonders for my dry throat and restless stomach. After drinking a hefty amount of water, I sat the bowl down on the grass and let out a refreshed sigh. I immediately felt better, and the light headache I had began to fade away with every passing second.

“Now that we’ve all had water, we’ll need to head out.” Quentin, who had grabbed the attention of the crowd, had a tired expression on his face. Hesitantly, he looked over to Scalisth, who was standing and staring across the stream. “Scalisth says we’re going to try for fifteen kilometers a day, so we need to get going to have enough time to establish camp.”

A voice emerged from the crowd, “Won’t we need water? How can we guarantee we’ll find more along the way?” A few people voiced their agreement and Quentin nodded wearily.

“The Altum has promised that the location we entered at is consistent with the route he planned ahead. He said that there would be access to water at ten kilometer intervals throughout the trip. Apparently this place is south of some mountains, so there is a lot of water flowing through the region.”

With the matter settled, we prepared ourselves to resume our march. As we got back into our loose formation, I went back to walk with Quentin and Levi. They both looked at me for a second before looking amongst themselves.

“Did you not tell her?” Quentin tried to say quietly.

“No, it didn’t really feel appropriate to mention,” the woman responded back.

I sighed, then said, “What is it?”

The two looked at me with sheepish expressions, but Quentin spoke up first. “Well, after Matthias’s passing, we have an empty duo to fill.” He gestured near the front of the gathering, where a man was standing alone.

Levi added on, “That’s Luca, don’t know his last name. He’s a quiet guy who doesn’t seem like much for conversation. He definitely won’t be up for it after what happened.” Quentin shot her a stern look, but she ignored him and gestured for me to go talk to him.

“Just who I want to talk to, the guy whose friend I killed,” I thought as I slowly made my way over to him. People shot me weird looks as I walked past, but no one said anything, which made me feel exposed.

I didn’t get very close before the man, Luca, turned his head and locked eyes with me. I tried my best to put on a convincing smile, but knew it looked half-assed at best. I got a nod in response as the man turned around. He had an average build and plain features. His brown hair was cut short, and his face was similarly ordinary.

“Luca Wietts,” was all he said once I was standing next to him.

“Olivia North,” I said in a similar fashion. He didn’t say anything else, even after we started walking. As we approached the stream to pass it I noticed him hesitate for a half second before he started walking across. My eyes scanned for signs of the beast that attacked us, but its body was submerged once the water level rose back to its previous level.

I walked silently beside the man, trying my hardest to keep a consistent pace despite my exhausted state. “Should I say something to break the tension?” I wondered inwardly. Using my peripheral vision, I could tell that Luca hadn’t so much as looked at me. Was he not as concerned with me as I was with him? My instincts told me that I just needed to give him space, so I left him alone as we walked in silence.

The next few hours of walking were marked by nothing interesting happening. We took five minute breaks every hour or so, which gave people time to rest, go to the bathroom, or chit chat with other duos. Luca still didn’t look at me, opting to sit below a tree trunk every time we stopped.

By the time we broke up to make camp, I hadn’t spoken more than two words to Luca the entire four hour walk. We went our separate ways immediately upon finding a suitable place to sleep. He made his way to sit with a large group by the fire while I went to sit with Amaya. We both agreed to do some experimentation for an hour or two before going to bed, since we knew we were going to need the sleep.

In the middle of our joint practice, I looked up into the night sky. Without the light pollution present in large cities, I could see thousands upon thousands of stars illuminating the night sky. After we went our separate ways, I went to sleep while staring up at the brilliant array of lights, wondering which, if any, was Earth.

///