"Sara!" Paul yells into the churning darkness, "Shout if you can hear us!"

I clench my fist impotently, watching the ion storm light up the sky in a shade of morbid green. The sickly illumination doesn't help at all, in fact it seems to make the darkness worse. The ion storm acts like a sponge, sucking up all ambient light in the Rift. The wind howls around us in protest as the Rift is forcibly rearranged by this awful, malign force.

Sometimes I wish that all problems could be punched into submission.

Before Paul can shout out once more, both of us are struck by a rising sense of nausea, almost like vertigo. We manage to grab on to each other just in time as the ground undulates threateningly under our feet.

"Another shift's incoming." I manage to groan out, "A big one from the feel of it."

"Blast it all." Paul swallows down the puke welling in his throat, managing to keep some dignity, "We can't get to Sara like this!"

"She's safe." I insist, "This Rift is benign. There's nothing terribly dangerous here. And even if there was, it would be fucked by the Reality Shift as well."

Paul nods, "I hope so, Robbie. I really do."

A high pitched whine screams into our ears and there's a sense of being physically pulled. The Rift's geography was rearranging itself again and we were being taken along with it, whether we liked it or not.

"Oh, please, be safe Sara." Paul whispers to himself as we cling to each other for dear life.

"Look! Up there!" I shout in alarm as a lance of emerald lightning slashes across the sky. The turgid clouds are cut asunder and part, revealing the full moon basking in its gentle halo. The moonlight bears down on the land, calming the feverish quakes and relieving us from that dreadful pressure.

"The Regulators say that the moon is a goddess, watching down on us." Paul pants out in relief, "Maybe it heard my prayer just now."

"Never thought you believed in that crap a cult spouts." I steady myself, finding that the former incline had evened out substantially.

"I don't." Paul scoffs, "But when you're in desperate straits, you'll ask anyone or anything for help. Even if it is, as you say, crap."

The moonlight drives away the darkness ever so slightly, revealing that Paul and I are somewhere in the forest. No landmarks we can orientate ourselves by though. But at least we are safe until another shift rips through the Rift. Its a good spot to wait the crisis out and even better, the moonlight seems to be suppressing the ion storm.

Maybe someone is looking out for us after all.

"Do you believe that there's a god ruling in heaven?" I finally ask the boss.

"We have awakened souls, Robbie." Paul muses, "Not everything that exists is something that we can see."

"Never took you for a religious man, boss." I quirk my eyebrow at this declaration.

"Just being open minded." Paul shrugs distractedly after a moment's thought, his mind clearly still on Sara's predicament.

The wind blows again, not in an angry howl but instead with a patient insistence. Carrying with it a familiar voice.

"You hear that?" I suddenly perk up.

"Paul ... Robbie ..." the voice is faint but certainly there.

"Sara, we must have been placed close by during the last shift!" Paul concludes excitedly.

"And thanks to the moonlight, we can find our way about." I cheer, "Let's get going boss, before the Rift acts up again."

Paul and I set off, heading in the direction of Sara's voice. The moon serenely watches over us from its place in the sky, illuminating our way. With the terrifying darkness being kept at bay, both of us make rapid progress through the forest. I can even smell salt in the air again, meaning we're close to the crimson lake, a major landmark.

"The moon is really kind, isn't it?" Paul whispers softly to himself, with an embarrassed look on his face.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"Huh, whazzat you said?" I shoot back, not really getting the meaning.

"Never mind. We should hurry. The clouds are gathering again." Paul points up to the heavens.

Damnit. The ion storm was growing stronger once more, fencing itself around the moon, eager for an opportunity to strike. Already the moonlight had begun to wane. Both Paul and I pick up the pace, flowing through the trees. At the same time, I keep racking my brain, trying to remember what those Regulator pamphlets said. Paul's muttering seemed to be a reference to one of their teachings.

"Paul ... Robbie ... !"

We're incredibly close now. Sara's voice is coming in loud and clear. But the moonlight has dimmed, no longer showing the way forward. And worse still, the ground had begun to quake once more.

"Not now! Not now!" Paul curses, torn between rushing into the darkness and the relative security of staying beside me. The air grows heavy and stagnant, boiling with pent up energy.

I grimace at the sky. We're so close to Sara! And the moon fails us at the critical moment. Nothing in life is ever easy. The ion storms flares in triumph, blossoming into an emerald explosion which blots out the moon.

The wind roars like an enraged giant and Paul is swept clear from my side. Falling on to my knees, I grip the ground for all my life is worth. This Rift is safe. It has to be. The alternative would be too horrible to consider.

"Robbie!" Paul's voice echoes over the distance.

"Boss?" I yell back. Wonder of wonders, I'm still in the same spot from before the latest shift. A thin weak beam of moonlight showers down on me, anchoring my position.

"Is Robbie OK?" Sara's voice chimes in as well.

"I think so? Robbie's too tough to be done in so easily." Paul answers. Almost as if the two of them managed to reunite?

"I'm fine!" I shout back, "What happened to the two of you?"

"We're together!" Paul yells, "The, uh, last Reality Shift put us in a bit of a pickle, but there's nothing to worry about."

"Pickle?" I repeat back dumbly, not having the slightest clue as to what's going on.

"Well, Sara and I, our clothes -" Paul begins to explain before he's abruptly cut off.

"Everything's fine, Robbie!" she says in a rush, "As fine as can be!"

"Uh, cool. I guess." I'm beginning to feel a little bad for both of them right now, "You want me to try and join up with you guys? We seem to be pretty close by."

"That would be -" Sara begins to speak just as the ion storm flares again. The world goes topsy turvy for a split second, sending me reeling. As reality shuffles itself about, I nearly wet my pants as a pair of orange eyes stare at me through the churning darkness with an expression of elemental hatred.

Then the moonlight reasserts itself and I'm back in the forest.

"Sara? Boss?" I holler with all my breath. No response. Both of them must have been teleported further away. I'm all by myself now.

"Right. I remember now." I snap my fingers, "The moon is kind to lovers. That's what the Regulator pamphlet says."

I'm not into the whole freaky cult, though it seems they were right on this count. Wishing Sara and the boss all the best. Sincerely. I give the moon a casual salute, commending it on a job well done.

"No lover for me it seems." I sigh as the moonlight remains focused on my position. There's no further guidance forward with the moonlight insisting I sit here for the time being. The forest is quiet, as if all the animals had gone to sleep. Everything is peaceful.

Too peaceful.

Whomever that pair of orange eyes belonged to, it was obviously nearby. All the other animals were scared shitless of its presence. That's the only reason I can think of which explains the sudden deafening pall. My spine crawls at the realization of this new and sudden danger.

I need to move. Now. No matter what the moonlight says.

The moment I step away from the illuminated circle, the darkness treacherously embraces me once more. My sight is useless here. The moonlight temptingly beckons me, urging me to return to the safety of its circle.

No. I mustn't do it. The moonlight had become a beacon, attracting whatever predator lurked in the woods. As Carl's assassin flunkies said before, darkness would have to become my cloak of invincibility. I've got no spells to that effect though and the "position" would cause me to move too slowly. Time is of the essence, especially when a shift could occur at any moment.

If I can't see a way out thanks to the darkness, then I'll do the next best thing. I'll smell a way out. The scent of salt in the air had become pervasive. The crimson lake was as good a place for me to retreat to.

Focusing, I rouse my soul into action, feeling a rush of energy soak every fiber of my being. My skin hardens, turning me into a human battering ram. I won't be able to navigate past the trees, so I'll just smash my way through. With an explosive lunge, I begin tearing my way through the forests.

My shoulder immediately makes contact with a tree and bashes it drunkenly to the side. Roots that would otherwise trip my feet up are simply torn out from the ground through the force of my footsteps. My body might be growing sore from all the collisions but against the forest, I might as well be an unstoppable force.

The trees begin to thin out and I catch glimpses of the crimson lake. Unlike the forest, the crimson lake reflects the emerald glow of the ion storm, painting the vicinity in a lurid shifting shade of red and green. A lone figure stands by the side of the lake, staring into space in silence while fog gathers around the knees. Squinting, I try to make out who that person is but its no one I recognize.

A woman wearing a barbaric collection of ragged furs and badly damaged armor plate. That's who it is. For a moment I'm worried that I've fled from one danger only to meet with another but the aura of sheer fatigue dripping off the woman tells me otherwise. This is not a person looking for a fight. I should be safe with her, more or less.

The fog swirls, blocking off my view as I breakout through the tree line. A few seconds of pushing past the fog later, I'm greeted by the crimson lake in all its dubious glory. I look around for the woman and find no sign of her. She had disappeared.

But that doesn't mean I'm alone.

A single rat sits by the lakeside, pensively staring at its surface. The clouds part and the moon glowers down on me with disapproval. And in that moment, I understand one thing clearly.

I am not meant to be here.